Naruto gazed at his surroundings with awe. He had heard from some passing birds that the Land of Waves was impressive, but he himself had never actually seen it. And man, was it impressive. There was water as far as he could see, which was far indeed. A few stray boats dotted the horizon, but other than that the water was perfectly clear and still.
I guess they were right, Naruto thought. I've never seen anything like this. Team seven stared at the endless sea, not paying the slightest bit of attention to Kakashi, who was currently trying to lecture them.
"And so I stuck a rubber chicken up his butt." Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura spun around and stared at him. "Finally. I've been trying to get your attention for at least three minutes!" Team seven mumbled out an apology.
"As I was saying," Kakashi continued, "this scroll contains highly valuable information that Wave county needs right now. There was no one else available to carry out the task of delivering it safely, so we were chosen. I expect you all to be on your guard." Naruto nodded, but he wasn't happy.
Why does Wave need that scroll so bad? I haven't heard of any big raids or attacks or anything, so what's the problem? It can't be about business or a treaty; Konoha already has a treaty with them, and we already do business over there. Sandaime wouldn't break either one of those contracts; we depend on them too much. So what is it about?
As Naruto thought this, his teammates were becoming suspicious. It wasn't like Naruto to be quiet for that long. Or have that serious expression on his face.
"Naruto," Sakura ventured, "are you okay?" Naruto snapped out of his reverie.
Oh, man, I gotta think of something! Naruto worried for a split-second before, I got it! Naruto let out a gigantic burp. It almost blew Sakura away, and Sasuke had to reach for a handhold.
"Wow, that was a good one!" Naruto grinned. Made it.
Sakura, now able to stand, scowled. "You mean that's what you were doing? Building up a burp? We were worried about you!"
Naruto made himself look sheepish. "Yes?" Sakura hit him on the head. "Ow, ow, ow! Sakura-chan, why'd you do that?!"
"You're being an idiot!" she yelled.
Sasuke smirked. "You should be used to it by now, Sakura." Naruto pouted.
Good, they fell for it. I'm safe.
A few minutes later the boat that team seven was on pulled up beside a dock leading to the main city of Wave country. Kakashi quickly let down the anchors and tied a rope connected to the boat to a hook on the dock. Sasuke got off first, then Sakura, Kakashi, and Naruto, as usual. But that was okay with Naruto; it fit with his character.
The group made its way to a large building in the center of town. They had to stop a few times to let Sakura, who was gawking at the various kinds of stands lining the streets, catch up. Naruto took note off all of the entrances and exits of the building, all while keeping a look of amazement on his face. The team was ushered into the building by somewhat disturbing security guards. Their bulging muscles rippled as they opened the doors. Sakura grimaced as she walked past them.
An attendant led them up a flight of stairs, then to a door at the end of a long hallway. The attendant knocked on the door, then opened it without waiting for an answer.
"Sir, the team from Konoha is here," he said. A mumble came from inside, to which the attendant replied "Yes, sir." Team seven exchanged glances. The attendant ushered them in, then closed the door behind them.
Naruto raised an eyebrow at the man behind the gigantic desk in the center of the room. He looked as if he should have died about two hundred years ago. His eyes were nearly hidden beneath his many wrinkles, and the few stray hairs he had were pure white. His hands were callused in the places where Naruto's were, without the genjutsu. This man was no stranger to the way of the ninja.
"Welcome," the man said. His voice was raspy and all but intelligible. "I am the chief parishioner of Wave country." Team seven nodded in respect. "I believer you have a scroll for me?"
Kakashi withdrew the scroll from his vest pocket and handed it to the parishioner. The old man glanced over it, then resealed it.
"You are dismissed," he said, waving them away. Just as the team turned to go, a huge boom sounded from the direction of the docks. The parishioner gazed unseeing at the window. Naruto reviewed the exits in his mind as he rushed over to the window with the rest of his team.
Smoke filled the air near the docks. Black shapes could be seen emerging from the smoke, darting from rooftop to rooftop. Screaming followed in their wake.
"Let's go," Kakashi said. Naruto hesitated, glancing at the parishioner.
"Go," he said. Naruto nodded and quickly followed the rest out the door. The parishioner smiled sadly and gazed out the window once again.
Team seven raced toward the intruders. Barely one minute had passed before they arrived in the midst of a battle. The villagers of the town were fighting hard against the invaders, but they were not trained to fight. They were being slaughtered. Kakashi performed a few hand seals and created a torrent of wind to confuse the intruders. They created hand seals for themselves and neutralized Kakashi's wind.
"They're ninja!" Kakashi yelled. Naruto grinned. Finally, some action!
Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura leapt into action. Sasuke started spitting fireballs, Sakura created a few genjutsu, and Naruto created shadow clones to help fight. Soon they were caught up in the battle. As soon as they took down one opponent, another would appear. Naruto grit his teeth. He was far beyond any of his teammates skill-wise, but he had not done much fighting against opponents that were not made of wood or smoke. Sasuke and Sakura were not doing any better, and he had lost sight of Kakashi. Plus, he had to be extra careful not to have blood drawn. If Seishi, who was hanging around the town until it was time to leave, smelled Naruto's blood, he would immediately come to his aid, no matter if he was supposed to be hiding or not.
Suddenly a kunai grazed across Naruto's arm. A thin stream of blood appeared. Naruto took down the thrower of the knife, but it was too late. He heard a growl come from behind a nearby building. Seishi leapt into the fray, tearing at the men in black. Naruto saw Sasuke glance at the gigantic dog, but another wave of attackers soon swamped them, so he couldn't brood too much on the help of the dog. Naruto grimaced. He knew that Kakashi would probably become suspicious after this.
With the help of Seishi, the tide of the battle turned in favor of the villagers and team seven. When there were only a handful of the men left, they fled. Silence reigned for a few moments. Then , as everyone realized that they had won, a cheer arose. Kakashi appeared next to Naruto and raised an eyebrow at him. Naruto grinned at him.
"Good thing that dog appeared, right Kakashi-sensei?" he said. Kakashi narrowed his eye.
"Good thing, indeed," he said. Naruto sent a thought out to Seishi.
"Get out of here!" he told him. Seishi pulled his disappearing act and vanished into the crowd.
Sasuke and Sakura soon joined Naruto and Kakashi. They were both panting, Sakura noticeably more than Sasuke.
"What was up with the dog?" Sakura asked.
"Wolf," Kakashi corrected her. "It was a wolf, and I don't know what it was doing here, or why it only fought the enemy, or why it disappeared as soon as the fight was over." Team seven blinked. Kakashi put a hand over his eyes. "Nevermind," he groaned.
The foursome made their way back to the parishioner's office. When they got there, however, they realized that there was something wrong. The guards at the entrance were nowhere to be seen, and the doors were lying a few feet from the doorway. The edges of them were charred. Uh-oh, Naruto thought forebodingly.
"Stay here," Kakashi told them. Yeah, right, Naruto thought. He silently created a kage bunshin and replaced himself with it. The rest of his team didn't notice a thing. The clone stayed with Sasuke and Sakura while the real Naruto followed Kakashi.
Kakashi crept up the stairs and down the hallway. The door to the parishioner's office had a huge dent in it, as if a log was forcibly thrown at it. Kakashi, unaware of the blond shadow tailing him, pushed the door open.
The chief parishioner was lying facedown on his desk, a kunai and several shuriken protruding from his back. Kakashi went over to him and checked his pulse. Naruto already knew he was dead.
Kakashi bowed his head when he detected no pulse and started to back out of the room. He stopped, however, when he realized that the scroll they had delivered was missing. He cursed and started digging through the desk. Naruto crept in closer to see what he was searching for, but had to retreat almost instantly when a stray pen nearly took off his ear. He didn't want to risk getting hit and alerting Kakashi of his presence.
A few minutes passed and Kakashi had found no sign of the scroll. He cursed once again and headed for the door. Naruto ran through it just before Kakashi did and beat him to the bottom of the stairs. He quickly switched places with the bunshin and tried to act normal. Normal for the Naruto he was portraying, anyway.
"Okay," Kakashi said, "the parishioner is dead." Sakura gasped at the announcement, and Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Naruto put on a "what?" expression. "He was killed by the ninja who invaded the town," Kakashi continued. "They also took the scroll that we delivered."
"Great," Naruto said, "we did all that work for nothing!" He pouted accordingly. Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Moving on," Kakashi continued with a look at Naruto, "I don't know who those ninja were, but they took the scroll and that means that they are our enemies. We need to report this to Hokage-sama. We leave tonight." Team seven groaned, but complied.
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Somewhere near Fire Country
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Naruto was becoming increasingly more preoccupied the nearer they got to Konoha. He knew that his house was burned, but he didn't know to what extent. Seishi had left before he could see what happened. Speaking of Seishi, Naruto needed to figure out how to make sure no one saw him on further missions. Kakashi was suspicious enough as it was; Naruto didn't need Seishi to further complicate things.
Naruto was shaken out of his thoughts by Kakashi's voice.
"When we get to Konoha, I will go directly to the Hokage tower. You all will be free to do whatever." Kakashi said. Team seven nodded. Naruto thanked his lucky stars. Good, now I won't have to explain to anyone about Seishi just yet.
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Konoha's front gates
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Team seven was briefly halted by the guards at the gates, but once Kakashi told them who they were, they were easily let through. Kakashi headed for the Hokage tower and left the rest of the team standing in the road. Okay, then…Naruto thought. He shrugged and left Sasuke to fend off Sakura by himself. It was time to see what remained of his house.
Well, that's all for now!!! Hopefully it won't take as long for the next chapter to get written!!!