AN: Here's the next chapter, it should cover the majority if not all of the Wave arc.
Oh and wedge formation is simply N
I D
N R
The initials match up to the placement by first name as well.
Short and sweet, just the way I like it.
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ROOTS OF THE TREE
Chapter 2
The Rain…
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The five young shinobi to be approached the gate with their supervising ANBU agent.
"Alright," The ANBU spoke getting the squad's attention, "once we leave the gate you'll be on your own. Should the mission call for it, I am an available resource; however, do try to complete the mission without my assistance. Now it's your lead Uzumaki."
"Yes sir. Alright squad I want a standard wedge formation, I'll take point with Yamanaka on my left and Aburame on my right. Hyuuga, take Yamanaka's left and Uchiha take Aburame's right. Now move out."
The four instantly fell in and took off out the gate after their squad leader, the ANBU trailing only slightly behind.
"Neji, Rika," Naruto called over the rushing wind, "If anything seems suspicious activate your doujutsus and alert the rest of the squad."
"Rodger squad leader," the two replied as they leapt through the trees.
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An hour after leaving the gates, rain started crashing down around them. Pulling their cloaks a little tighter to hold off the cold the group increased their pace. Wave was still a day away at this pace.
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Besides the rain, nothing special happened on the way to Wave.
The group arrived at twenty-two hundred hours wet and exhausted from running a whole day in the rain.
Naruto turned to his squad examining their exhausted state. Being a Jinchuriki let alone of the Kyuubi no Kitsune had its benefits almost unlimited chakra and stamina both.
"Uchiha, Yamanaka," he ordered, "go locate an inn for the duration of the mission, 1000 ryu allowance."
Pulling out the mission scroll he called out to Neji and Disasuke, "We will be locating the client a Tazuna-san, and getting any updates on the situation."
The two nodded and walked behind Naruto to where the directions said the house could be found.
As the three walked through the small village they noticed the tell-tale signs of an economic depression. People still had money; still had food, but luxuries were none. People seemed strained and hurried and exhausted.
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The shinobi to be, found the house a few minutes later a little outside of the village. A man with black hair sat on the front steps of the porch a small knife held loosely in his grasp.
The group purposely made noise as they approached to alert the man of their presence.
"Is this the house of Tazuna-san" Naruto asked walking up to the man. The man stood up abruptly and brandished the knife.
"Y-yes, and who are you." He sputtered at the three.
"We are shinobi of Konoha, here in response to Tazuna-san's request for aid."
"Oh," was the intelligent reply as he put his knife away, "well alright come in. My name is Kaiza and I'll bring you to Tazuna."
The man Kaiza brought them into the house and led them into a furnished area where an elderly man sat drinking sake.
"Are you the Shinobi I asked for," he slurred out.
"Yes sir, Tazuna-san." Naruto replied with a nod.
The old man raised a brow at the apparent age but let it slide, who knew with these shinobi these days, kids a little older than your grandson killing for a living.
Naruto then pulled out a map and handed it to Tazuna, "Tazuna-san if you would, please mark the areas the bandits are positioned and my team and I will eliminate them. Also note any other threats and those will be taken care of as well."
Tazuna once again raised a brow at how easy the boy spoke of eliminating but once again didn't say anything. He took out a pen and marked three areas on the map
"These are the camps" he spoke," however the bandits are controlled by a man named Gato. You may know of him as business tycoon, but in reality he makes money embezzling money out of Wave, leaving us poor."
"He also sells our women and uses our boats for shipping drugs. That man is evil; however his death was not in the request. If you can take out the bandits we will be able to take care of him."
"Understood sir," Naruto replied before taking the map and leaving the building.
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"Hyuuga," Naruto turned to Neji as they made their way through the village," locate Yamanaka and Uchiha."
Neji nodded before, with a burst of chakra, activating his byakugan.
"A building only about forty meters ahead of us called 'the waterlog'."
"Weird name," Naruto mumbled to himself to which the other two just shrugged.
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The boys walked into the inn and met the girls near the front desk.
"So this is it," Naruto asked the girls.
"Yes, room 112," Rika confirmed tossing him the keys.
The five left the front steps and went down a hallway on the left reaching room 112.
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"So, what's the plan," Rika muttered after the door was shut.
Naruto turned to his squad and pulled out the map lying it down on the bed, "Tomorrow at 0 five hundred hours, we will begin routing the different camps."
He pointed to the northern most point a little outside the boundaries of the village.
"Uchiha and I will hit point A, the rest of you will hit point C here on the eastern border of the village. At 0 six hundred hours we will regroup and attack point B to the west together."
Naruto then turned to the ANBU hidden in the corner of the room.
"Sir."
"Yes, Uzumaki," the ANBU asked.
"I would like your assistance. While not in the mission perimeters, we were given permission to eliminate any threats." At seeing the ANBU agent nod he continued, "The bandits are controlled by Gato of Gato enterprise, I would like for you to assassinate him tonight before we move out in the morning."
The ANBU shifted his hand to his chin and struck a thinking pose. "Well it is your mission so it's your call, and Hokage-sama gave you leeway. Very well, I should be back around 0 one hundred hours."
He checked his watch before adding, "Right now I have twenty-two-four-five hours. If I'm not back before you move out, investigate the residence but take no action."
"Yes sir, I'll keep watch till 0 one hundred or until you get back." Naruto replied before setting himself up at a desk and memorizing the terrain from the map.
'Already a good leader,' the ANBU thought to himself as he jumped out the window to search for Gato's whereabouts.
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A few minutes before one, the ANBU leapt back into the room through same window he used to exit.
When he entered Naruto was still at the desk reading over the map.
The ANBU cleared his throat catching Naruto's attention before speaking.
"I successfully assassinated Gato and eliminated any hostiles in the area. After you clear points A, B, and C we can return to Konoha."
He paused for a second before adding, "The rest will be up to you."
Naruto simply nodded before waking Neji to keep watch, while not really necessary in a non–shinobi village… complacency kills.
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The nest morning Naruto woke up silently and, skipping his rituals, donned his gear. He had only had a three hours of sleep waking up at 0 four hundred hours, but a few can be better than a lot, you're simply more aware.
He left the room no doubt waking the others up to get ready and waited outside in the cool air. The stars where nice here not like in Konoha where the blue glow of lights snuffed out the star shine, Wave was simpler, less electricity and less lights so the stars shone brightly in the sky.
A few minutes later he was joined by the rest of his squad and the ANBU agent.
"Alright," Naruto began," Hyuuga, you're in charge of group two and will attack point C. Uchiha, your with me to point A."
He gave Neji a brief of the terrain near point C and added one last comment before splitting up and heading to their separate points.
"No unnecessary risk, your lives are more important than any mission and never leave a comrade behind."
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Naruto and Rika took off from the others reaching their destination in only a few minutes. They still had some time before the attack was scheduled to happen so they simply observed the enemy.
The camp was… for lack of a better word. Pathetic. There was maybe fifteen bandits and none of them had any idea how to use chakra. Hell only one of them was awake and he didn't seem like he would be for very much longer.
Naruto couldn't help a small smirk as the time shifted to 0 five hundred and he gave the signal to Rika for the attack to begin.
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A man under the employ of Gato sat beside a fire. He was the watchmen and he had been up all night so when the kunai went into the back of his head and he slumped to the ground the thought of being dead didn't even pass his mind.
Naruto and Rika crept through the silently sleeping camp. Neither had killed before but it was expected of them and they had no qualms when it came to duty.
The pair simply held a hand over the victim's mouth as they slit their throats and ended the men's lives.
Ten minutes later they camp was empty of the living besides the two intruders and not one of them had known until they were already dead.
Naruto motioned to Rika and the two took off towards point B to wait for Neji's group.
Neji's group was only twenty minutes Naruto's. It seemed their guard had been more observant and had managed to alert a few others. The battle was over relatively quick still but Disasuke took a graze to the shoulder, nothing more than a shallow cut.
The group waited for the allotted time to begin before attacking. The sun was just starting to rise and with it a few of the bandits. The camp only consisted of thirty or so bandits no more skilled than any of the others and to this squad they would fall like wheat to the scythe.
With the strike started Naruto dashed forward decapitating a man from behind and brining his tanto back around into the kidney of another.
Twelve bandits fell to the preemptive strike, but now they other were awake and ready at the sight of their dead comrades.
Neji, with his byakugan active, danced around the enemies felling them with gentle taps of his fingers. Taps that sent pulses of chakra into the body destroying internal organs.
Naruto not wishing to waste chakra simply stuck to his tanto delivering fatal blow after blow with Ino right after him tanto flashing in the morning rays.
Rika activated her level one sharingun and started sealing, a few seconds later unleashing a grand fireball jutsu and burning the camp down around them.
Disasuke simply stood back and had his kikaichu devour the meager chakra of anyone who managed to escape the onslaught.
Stabbing a man through the heart and kicking him into the burning remains of the camp, Naruto sighed before whipping the blood off his tanto on the clothes of a dead bandit before sheathing it.
He turned to his squad as they cleaned their equipment as well, "Alright squad, form up on me, were heading back to the inn."
Receiving a nod, Naruto dashed off towards the inn with the rest of his squad following.
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AN: I guess I'll end it there for now. Not too actioney but I'm not too competent at fight scenes and this was more of a slaughter.
Just some tidbits but Gato is dead, Kaiza lives, Uchiha massacre doesn't or hasn't happened yet, not sure which. There's simply no need for the coup, and screw Danzo and his crazy sharingun arm. Seriously wtf.
I left out the assassination scene simply because Naruto's squad isn't involved and it serves little to no plot development. That and I would probably do a terrible job at it.
Anything you're confused on just PM me and I'll be more than happy to fix and or explain.
Special thanks to ShadowFang1412, first and only review so far, thanks for the encouragement and hope this chapter didn't disappoint.
Read Enjoy and Review please