Hello! Back with chapter two! Not too much of a deviation from canon this chapter but hey, sometimes that just happens. Regardless I still hope you all enjoy the read.

(Marshalanime does not own Naruto)

The fog was dense as the group was being ferried to the Land of Waves aboard a small fishing boat. The man transporting them, a friend of Tazuna's, had cut the engine and was rowing them the rest of the way.

At the front of the small boat sat Honoka staring out into the deep mist. Since she'd suddenly appeared to save them the woman had traveled alongside the group. Out of everyone Sakura had become the most interested in the teen, the fact that she had yet to utter a single word peeked the pinkets curiosity.

"Sensei..." Sakura began in a hushed tone as she turned to Kakashi. When he turned his one visible eye to her she continued "Who is that woman? It seems like her and Naruto know each other".

It probably would have been better to ask Naruto about this but Kakashi figured she didn't want to pry unnecessarily into the blond's past, especially after the conversation they had earlier. "Kushina, Naruto's mother, sometimes takes him out of the village to travel. During their last trip a few months back they encountered Honoka on a strange island. There was nothing for her there, so she came back to the village with them" Kakashi gave the short version of events, no point in getting his student's head filled with spirits and experimental summoning creatures while they were on a mission.

"The bridge isn't far now. Our destinations just up ahead, the Land of Waves" the boat owner told them. Moments later the sight of the massive bridge drifted into view even with the mist that surrounded them. It was truly a sight to behold.

"Woo! It's huge!" Naruto exclaimed as he marveled at the structure. Unsurprisingly the boat owner chastised the blond for the outburst, they were after all traveling in silence for a reason. Naruto instantly covered his mouth with his hands with an apologetic expression followed shortly after with a smile from Honoka as she patted his head reassuringly.

"Tazuna," Kakashi began as he turned to the bridge builder. "Before we reach the peer I want to ask you something" when the man remained silent Kakashi went on, "The men who are after you, I need to know why. If you don't tell us, I'm afraid I'll have to end this mission when we drop you ashore".

No more putting it off then, with all eyes on him Tazuna began "I have no choice but to tell you. No, I want you to know the truth. Like you said, this is beyond the original scope of the mission. The one who is after my life is a very short man who casts a very long and deadly shadow".

"A deadly shadow? Hm, who is it?" Kakashi asked.

"You know him, or at least I'm sure you've heard his name before. He's one of the wealthiest men in the world, the shipping magnet Gato" Tazuna says, surprising Kakashi.

"Gato? Of Gato Transport? He's a business leader, everyone knows him" Kakashi says.

"Gato, is a very powerful tycoon, a famous company that's for sure, but below the surface with the same ruthless methods he uses to take over businesses and nations he sells drugs and contraband using gangs and shinobi. It was one year ago when Gato set his sights on the Land of Waves. He came to our island and used his wealth to take total control of our transport and shipping. Anyone who tried to stand in his way simply disappeared. In an island nation a man who controls the sea controls everything, finance, government, our very lives. But there's one thing he fears, the bridge. When it is complete it'll join us to the land and that will break his control. I, am the bridge builder" Tazuna tells them.

"So that's it, since you're building this bridge you're standing in this gangster's way" Sakura summed up.

"That mean the guy's we fought in the forest were working for Gato" Sasuke added.

"I don't understand, if you knew he was dangerous, knew he'd send shinobi to eliminate you, why did you hide that from us?" Kakashi asked the bridge builder.

"Because the Land of Waves is a small, impoverished nation. Even our nobles have little money... The common people who are building this bridge, they can't pay for an A or B-ranked mission. It's too expensive. if you end the mission when you drop me ashore there will be no bridge, they'll assassinate me before I reach home" Tazuna tells them.

Glancing up the old man then said "But don't feel bad about that. Of course my sweet little grandson will be upset, he'll cry 'Grandad! I want my grandad!'" using his best 'little kid voice' in regard to what his grandson would say. "Oh, and my daughter will condemn the shinobi of Konoha, denouncing and blaming you for abandoning her father and living her life in sorrow" Tazuna tells them. "Ah well, it's not your fault. Forget it" the man adds.

Turning to one another the shinobi all shared the same guilt ridden expression. "Well... I guess we have no choice, we'll have to keep guarding you" Kakashi says as he turns back to Tazuna and shrugs his shoulders.

"Ooh, I'm very greatful" Tazuna sincerely says while on the inside he was grinning like a mad man for getting them to continue the mission.

A little while later brought the group to a large stone wall build to break up large waves before they could reach the shore. As they went the boat slipped into one of the many tunnels built into the wall. Once they'd past through they were met with the sight of a town built around and partially over an estuary with many trees growing out of the water. Apparently the fog hadn't crept to this side of the wide stone wall they'd past through as the sun was shining and they could see without restriction. Once they were on try land the boat owner told Tazuna to be carful before starting up his motor and driving off.

Tazuna lived outside the town, so even though they were finally in the Land of Waves they still had to walk to a different part of the island. Though at least it wasn't too far away.

'The next shinobi they send wont be chunin, they'll be jounin, elite shinobi with deadly skills' Kakashi thought to himself as left the town. Scanning the immediate area the man's lone eye landed on the back of Honoka's head. Even if she wasn't suppose to be here her presence helped relieve a lot of stressed he'd otherwise have. Her skills may prove invaluable on this mission.

As they were nearing Tazuna's home Honoka walked up to the blond. From behind Sakura watched them with raised eyebrows as the red haired teen leaned in closer to the blond, their shoulders brushing up against each other every now and then. 'What are they doing? Don't they realize we're suppose to be on the look out for enemy shinobi right now?' Sakura thought to herself, oddly more irritated by the display more than she should be.

A quick glance to the side had her letting out a sigh as her eyes landed on Sasuke. 'If only me and Sasuke could be like that' the pinket thought to herself, picturing her and the Uchiha walking side by side.

Just as Sakura was pulling herself out of her thoughts her blond teammate reached into the weapon pouch wrapped around his leg. Pulling a kunai out Naruto turned to the side and tossed the weapon into a patch of bushes along the path and putting the others on edge in the process. After a moment the blond straightened himself out and relaxed his body with a confused look on his face. "Did I miss?" the blond thought aloud. Honoka let him know that they were being followed but still, you'd think he'd get a reaction if he tossed a kunai at the guy.

If nothing else the blond's question seemed to kill the tension he'd just made. As the others were grumbling or shaking their heads at the blond Kakashi went over to investigate. Pushing the brush aside the jounin found a startled white rabbit below the Kunai that was now embedded into a tree.

"Naruto! Look what you did!" Sakura angerly told the blond when she saw the poor bunny. For Naruto's part he immediately felt bad for scaring the thing half to death and rushed over to it, picking it up and cradling it while apologizing.

Kakashi however had a different reaction, a much different reaction. 'That's a snow rabbit, but the color... They only have white fur during winter, when the days are short and there's little sunlight' the silver haired shinobi thought as he looked around at the bright forest around them. 'This rabbit was raised indoors away from the light which can only be for one purpose, a substitution jutsu' looking over to Honoka he saw the woman on guard while the other were focused on the rabbit. 'So they're already hear' Kakashi thought to himself.

Hidden in the shadows of the forest a tall, muscular man with short spiky black hair watched the group. Similar to Kakashi's black mask this man's lower face was covered with white bandages. The headband he wore sideways displayed the markings of Kirigakure, marking him as a shinobi originating from that village. He wore no shirt with the only thing covering his chest being a belt that supported the massive sword on his back. The clothes he did wear consisted of baggy pants with a stripped pattern and white arm and leg warmers with a blotchy brown pattern on them.

'Hm, no wonder the demon brothers failed in their mission' the man thought as he reached up to grab the handle of his weapon. 'It's the copy shinobi from Konoha, Kakashi of the sharingan' the man thought to himself as his eyes came to focus on the silver haired man.

Feeling an oncoming attack Kakashi spun on his heel while telling everyone to get down. From the trees the massive sword of their enemy was spinning right for them, aimed to take of their heads. As the everyone ducked to avoid the blade Honoka rushed to the center of the group, golden chains erupting from her back. Shooting out in front of her the half dozen chains formed a quick barrier between the group and the sword, sending the blade tumbling back.

Jumping into the open the sword's owner grabbed its handle before it could crash against the dirt. "That technique... so You're an Uzumaki then? To think there are still some of you left in the world" the man commented as he and Honoka stared each other down.