Kakashi looked around at his students. He wanted to see what effect the information would have on them. Sakura's expression was a combination of surprise and fear. Sasuke was lost in his thoughts thinking the information over. Naruto didn't seem to comprehend the situation having his, I'm lost but, I'm not going to tell anyone look about him.
After seeing Sakura's reaction Naruto apparently decided he needed to know, "Sensei, what's a musket and why are they forbidden?"
"Didn't you pay any attention in our classes?" Sakura said, as she slammed her hands on the table while standing up. "Sometimes I swear."
"That's enough Sakura," Kakashi said silencing her before she could draw attention to them. "I know you're afraid but that's not a reason to take it out on Naruto." He then turned his attention to Naruto to answer his question.
"I personally have never seen one but it's been described to me as basically a metal pipe which is blocked off on one end. You put gunpowder in it and then a small metal ball. You then ignite the gunpowder which sends the ball out the other end at a speed so fast; you can't track it with your eyes. Not even a Hokage would stand a chance against one."
"If these things are so powerful, why don't we use them?" Naruto asked.
"The answer is a bit complicated, as you probably noticed Naruto, most ninja tools are not used just by ninjas. For example, swords are used by samurais. Kunai are used by many people, though not for their original purpose. The few tools that are exclusively used by ninja serve no purpose to civilians. On the other hand a musket could serve many purposes to civilians such as, hunting and self-defense. So you see if people wanted them they could get their hands on them.
"Also,when you compare the effort it takes to use even, the simplest jutsu or even a weapon, the musket is simple to master.That is why they are not permitted to be made in any country on the continent. If they were permitted our entire way of life would collapse throwing all the nations into chaos" Kakashi finished with a sigh.
"So are we going to help him?" Sasuke said breaking his silence that he had held himself in since they had left Konoha.
"Will meet with him tomorrow whether or not we help is another matter. It will depend on the details of the mission. Finish eating, I am going to rent a room at the inn for us tonight." Kakashi then stood up and left the restaurant wanting to consider the situation they suddenly found themselves in without the distraction of his students.
As he left the restaurant Kakashi seriously considered summoning Pakkun to track down Katsuro Date, so he could at least get some more information from him now or perhaps kill him whichever seemed more appropriate at the time. However, Cloud ninjas were notorious for hiding their tracks even among ninjas. Trying to locate his camp now would be useless; it probably wouldn't be there until morning.
Instead Kakashi concentrated on trying to look underneath the underneath. It was possible that this Katsuro was lying and wanted to ambush Kakashi so he could claim to have killed the copycat ninja. He looked young enough to do something that stupid. However,there would be no way for Katsuro to know that he would be here at this time. Even if he did knew that he would be carrying the daimyo's message back there was no way to be sure of which path he would have taken back. That little fact also meant that the other two of his leading theories were equally unlikely. Which were to steal the Uchiha bloodline or to capture the container of the nine tailed demon fox.
By eliminating the other possibilities it left him with the conclusion that the Cloud ninja was telling the truth. Which raised other questions such as why would Katsuro choose to make a potential allies wait to get more information on the mission? There seem to be two possible answers to that question. Either he wanted to show that he would be the one in control of the mission or more likely he didn't want Kakashi to get reinforcements from the Leaf Village. However, with only two days there was no way Kakashi could report this to the Hokage and have her dispatch an ANBU team which would be the ideal situation. This of course presumed that the two-day timetable was real.
Unfortunately, he didn't seem to have a choice other than to meet with him tomorrow. Having resigned himself to the situation, he began reviewing all the information he knew about Kumogakure. That wouldn't take long there wasn't much known about the Village Hidden among the Clouds. They had never participated in the Chunin Exam even when they were allied with Konoha. They also went to great lengths to hunt down any of their missing ninjas. Even the exact location of their village had been a mystery until recently. They also took in many missing Nin from other villages.
The ninjas themselves used mostly lightning-based jutsu. However, as a side effect of their policy of taking in missing ninjas there was no guarantee of what exactly they might use in a fight. In addition, they pursued their missions with the single-mindedness that was only surpassed by the Mist ninjas.
Kakashi sighed, he had suddenly found himself in a situation no ninja liked being in, which was responding to events rather than causing them. Having his team caught up with him in the same mess wasn't helping the situation. However, if there was a ninja making muskets he had to be stopped. Having two genin teams as their only support wasn't an ideal situation but you worked with what you have. The fact that their allies would be from the Village Hidden in the Clouds wasn't comforting either. To say, the Leaf and Cloud villages had a bad history would be putting it lightly.
Kakashi had one last thought before he entered the inn to reserve a room. It was that he was not going to enjoy the next few days.
Naruto watched his sensei leave the restaurant. As he turned his attention back to Sakura he tried to continue the conversation. "Sakura, who exactly decided muskets, would be forbidden and what else is." Sakura glared at him with a look that meant I can't believe you just asked that. He hated when she looked at him like that. It wasn't his fault he could never pay attention to all those history lessons. After all how could history make you a better ninja?
"You really should have learned about this at the Academy." With a sigh she began to answer his question."Long before, the system of the hidden villages was established, there was a great war. This war was worse than any war we've known since. It was because the people back then had weapons that we can't even imagine now. There were some that could destroy an entire village the size of Konoha in an instant. Others could kill everyone in an area but leaves all the buildings intact. The situation was made even worse because, no matter where you were you always knew exactly what was happening. This helped to spread anger which fueled more atrocities."
"How could they always be in contact" Naruto interrupted her lesson? "Think about it Naruto. Do you remember when we had to find that missing cat? She waited until he nodded in acknowledgment. We used those radios, well apparently back then they had radios that had a much greater distance than we have today. You understand."
He kind of did understand. If you had a radio that could broadcast your orders from hundreds of miles away it would be a lot faster than a messenger hawk or hand delivery.
She continued "well when the war was over the side who had won got together and they made a list. Anything that had made destruction on such a large scale possible was put on the list and forbidden. The list came to be known as the Forbidden Weapon List. Anyone who tried to make something that was on the list was severely punished. It was made the duty of the daimyo's to enforce that law. As a result the first hidden village was founded to carry out the punishments.
"As time went on most people forgot even how to make many of the things that are on the list. However, occasionally when somebody does find a way to make a forbidden weapon they are still punished. It is actually considered one of the most important duties of a hidden village. It's just extremely rare these days."
That kind of explains everything, Naruto thought to himself. He could feel a grin form across his face as a thought occurred to him. "I guess this means we'll have to help them. I'm sure glad we got this boring mission now." He paused, seeing Sakura expression changing. He tried to enlist Sasuke support for his opinion, but when he looked over he didn't see him sitting there anymore. Before he could say anything Sakura was already shouting at him. "Don't you realize how dangerous the situation is," as she leaned over the table to hit him.
The meeting with Kakashi couldn't have gone much better than it had, thought Katsuro to himself. He had provided Kakashi with enough information that he wouldn't be able to just walk away. No self respecting ninja would ignore such statements without at least attempting to confirm them. With the two days timetable he could not possibly report to Konohagakure and have them dispatch an ANBU team. Kakashi would have no other choice but to assist his team in their mission.
He paused for a moment in his retreat from the village to observe the terrain. He spotted what he was looking for which was a slight depression in the ground and walked into it. He then took out a small bag from his vest and started to spread the contents on the ground. The bag contained the dried remains of a plant. It would have an effect on dogs similar to catnip for cats. If Hatake Kakashi attempted to use one of his tracking dogs to hunt him down this would render them useless. After taking a whiff, any tracking dog would be lying on his back and contemplating the universe. It wouldn't do any permanent harm to them but, the dog certainly would not want to do any tracking for the rest of the day.
Even with that little trick he wanted to make sure that there would be no chance of a premature meeting. With that thought in mind he quickly formed his hands into the seals and with a great deal of concentration was able to perform the Shadow Clone Technique. He looked over at his clone to make sure that it was perfect, it was. He sent his clone west to the stream as he proceeded south to meet up with his team.
When he did meet up with his genin team his good mood was replaced by an annoyed one. He had expected they would be patiently waiting for him or already resting up for tomorrow. Instead, Shiori had pinned Otonashi against the tree and apparently was trying to strangle him. Ever since Chikao the third member, of the team, had been promoted to a chunin, little fights like this had been breaking out between the two of them. It's not that these two weren't at a chunin level themselves they just seemed to lack the maturity for that rank.
"Shiori what are you doing to Otonashi?"
She was startled at the sound of his voice, letting go of Otonashi she quickly turned around and tried to look innocent. "Sensei well you see" seeing an innocent act wouldn't cut it she looked down at her feet. She said in a quiet voice "he ate the pocky I was saving for after we completed our mission."
Katsuro didn't bother trying to hide his annoyance with the two and said, "We are on a mission, remember that. If I had been an enemy I could've slit both of your throats and you would have never known I was there." He glared at both of his students who were looking suitably ashamed for their actions.
Katsuro paused, allowing his irritation to fade before he continued "we will be moving the camp during the night and will meet up with the others tomorrow morning. I'm going to tell them everything we know then. After that I'm going to suggest to them that you two spar with two of them so we can all be familiar with each other strengths. Remember, I want to get a look at what they're capable of doing I already know what you can do."
"Sensei, what about the other one on their team we won't know what they're capable of?" Otonashi spoke up while still rubbing his throat.
"One of them wears the symbol of the Uchiha clan on his back. We know there was only one survivor from that massacre. When we heard that the survivor would be participating in the finals of their Chunin exam, we sent a spy to observe his performance. From what I've heard from those who did read the report they were impressed. Presumably his teammates are at least somewhat competent considering how their exams are set up."
Katsuro looked at his two students, as an idea for some additional training began to form. With a grin he said, "As punishment for you two being caught off guard earlier, you must acquire as much information as you can from the genin. However, they must not be aware of what you're doing. Approach it as if you're trying to make a bingo book entry on them."
A single figure made his way up a steep slope. The only illumination was provided by the moon when it broke through the overcast sky. It took his entire concentration not to lose his footing on the loose shale that made up the slope. Even with his full attention his foot would occasionally slip causing a cascade of small stones to slide down the hill. However, this had the benefit of announcing his arrival to the people on top of the hill.
Once reaching the top he could see the outlines of several structures surrounded by a wooden fence. He also could see two samurai standing guard at the entrance. The first was tall and lean while his companion was smaller and stocky.
"Who goes there," the smaller of the two asked with the tone of someone reading from an uninspiring script.
The newcomer responded by saying, "I am a friend of the samurai and of peace. My name is Iwato and I am expected by the Master Blacksmith here" he then proceeded to take off his forehead protector. Dropping it on the ground he proceeded to stomp his foot on it. This was the closest thing to heresy a ninja could commit.It was not only disrespectful to his village but, to all those who had ever fought in its defense.
The smaller guard gave a nod in acknowledgment. "Follow me, you are expected" his voice dripped with contempt. He then turned to open the gate. They proceeded in silence through the darkened compound. None of the buildings had windows which light normally would come through. Iwato could make a guess at the purpose of most of the buildings, there was a dorm and that building was probably used for storage. However, the building that looked like a large blacksmith workshop was probably not for making swords he thought to himself.
Instead of stopping at any of these buildings however, he was taken through the entire compound and to a building that didn't look larger than a shack. The guard knocked and waited for permission to enter. When he did open the door, light from a small portable lamp poured out.
Entering, Iwato saw a middle-age man who was hunched over a table working on something that he could not see. The man stood and turned to introduce himself. "My name is Shigeki Obara I am the head blacksmith here and formally from the Village Hidden in the Clouds." He bowed respectfully, "I presume you are from the Council who wish to know the progress I've made here."
"Yes, they are quite eager to know if you've made any progress. They have provided you with the materials and men you asked for and now wish to see if your claims are true."
Shigeki had a grin on his face that would look more proper on a 10-year-old then the face of a weary old man. He held up what he had been working on when Iwato had come in and said, "this is a fairly typical example of our work here. We have about 150 of them ready but, I've been playing with this one. I've manage to increase its accuracy to about 1000 yards with a new technique that I invented. It will add time to the manufacturing but, I'm sure the Council will agree that'll be worth it."
Iwato took the weapon and examined it. To him it appeared to be a pipe that rested in a wooden stock. The only complicated part about it was the firing mechanism. He knew that its simplicity understate its deadliness. With a touch of awe in his voice he said, "So this is a weapon that can kill any ninja. It seems odd; we wish to ensure peace by destroying the ninjas but to do so we have to create even more weapons."
"The samurais don't have much of a choice. The ninjas are living weapons our only purpose is to kill for the advancement of our villages. The only hope for lasting peace on this continent is to give power to someone who has honor; the samurai are the only ones who can do it."
Iwato wasn't surprised to hear such hatred coming from his comrade. He didn't know what events had driven this man to hate what he was but, he was sure there past had much in common. "I understand I was dispatched from my village to observe the Sand and Leaf's borders. They want to know which side to support if they start going at each other again, despite the fact that we have a peace treaty with both sides. Not to mention that they're supposed to be each other's allies."
"Disgraceful" Shigeki said while hanging his head in shame feeling guilty to be in the same caste as them. After a moment he asked, "Anyway, how long until you have to report back to your village?"
"I have to make a full report on your operation here to the Council. I should have enough information within a day or two. Then I have to drop-off my report with my contact to the Council. I really should observe the borders for a little while just so I can make my report sound convincing to my village."
"Fine,just don't get in anyone's way. You will sleep here tonight, the samurai prefer to have as little to do with us ninja's as possible not that I blame them," said Shigeki with a grimace.
Iwato sighed, "You know I envy you being permitted to leave your village by the Council."
"The Council needs its spies in the hidden villages. You are doing important work" Shigeki said in an effort to comfort him. "Don't worry your time will come, the time of the ninja is at its' end."