Chapter 6

Kakashi was standing on the bridge watching Tazuna and his men work. It had been three days since the meeting with Zabuza. Menma had done a surprisingly good job when he scouted out that secondary base. Sasuke and Sakura had mastered tree climbing and were nearly just as good at water walking now.

As Kakashi mused he felt a chakra signature appear nearby. Turning he found Haku standing there with a frown on his face.

"Yo. Zabuza already healed up?" Kakashi asked with a wave.

"No. He still needs a couple of days until he is fully healed, but that's not why I'm here. We have a problem," the boy said. "It seems Gatō isn't going to wait for Zabuza-sama and I to make our move. He's been watching the bridge nearing completion and we fear he may make a move tomorrow."

Kakashi frowned at the news. The bridge was only a couple of days away from being finished. If Gatō was going to attack tomorrow it would throw their plans off.

"Tell Zabuza we'll meet tonight. We'll figure out what to do with Gatō then," Kakashi told him.

Later that evening team 7 had gathered at Zabuza's hideout once again.

"You're sure of this?" Kakashi asked.

"Yep, he's been gathering his men at his mansion. I saw it when I was out earlier," Zabuza replied.

"You really should stay in bed, Zabuza-sama. You'll heal faster," Haku said with a frown.

Zabuza grunted and muttered something about 'mother hens'.

Kakashi shook his head and turned to Sakura. "Perhaps you'd like to explain what your idea was now? We did go through the trouble of making sure the workers didn't show up tomorrow."

Sakura nodded before stepping forward. "I think we should move up our attack."

"And why, exactly, would we do that?" Kakashi asked.

"One of our main concerns with attacking the base was how quickly Gatō and his men could muster forces to retaliate, right? Well, the bridge is further away than his mansion is. It will give us a bigger window to work with," she explained.

"If there are no workers tomorrow, then why would Gatō be at the bridge?" Sasuke asked.

"Clones," Sakura told them. "Zabuza and Kakashi-sensei can make water clones and Menma can make those mud clones. If we have them all henge into workers to make it look like they're working on the bridge he'll show up. That will delay them from assisting the base."

The group nodded, it made sense.

"Not only that," she continued. "Even if they are just clones, they're still ninja clones. They could at least thin out his ranks a bit. That way help will take longer to show up, and there will be less to deal with when it does."

"You know, when I first saw you guys I thought Pinky there was useless." Zabuza said with a grin. "I guess she's not dead weight after all.

Sakura flushed and sputtered at his comment.

"It's well thought out. We'll strike in the morning after we confirm they're at the bridge." Kakashi spread out the map Menma had drawn. "Three entrances and six of us means three teams of two. Sasuke and I will be team one. Menma and Sakura, team two. Zabuza, you and Haku will be team three."

He pointed to the west entrance. "Sasuke and I will take the west." He pointed to the south entrance. "Zabuza, I'm sure you want to have some 'fun' so you and Haku will take the main entrance to the south here. Menma and Sakura will take the east."

Kakashi turned to Sakura. "Sakura, I want you in charge of getting the slaves out. Menma, do what you can to support her and try to drive any thugs towards the rest of us." Menma nodded.

Kakashi turned back to the table to roll up the map. "Meet us on the bridge at dawn to get the clones set up before we head for the base."

It was a few hours after dawn. The group had already stopped by the bridge and left enough clones to make it seem as though the village had redoubled its efforts to get the bridge built. They figured if they made it seem that some of the men who had quit had rejoined it would encourage Gatō to show up even more.

Menma and Sakura were hiding in the trees outside of the gate they were going to assault. It was a waiting game for now, waiting until Kakashi reported that Gatō was at the bridge.

"You nervous?" Sakura asked quietly.

Menma looked over at her and studied her. "This was your plan, Sakura, have a little more confidence."

"I know. It's just... this is our first big fight, you know? What if I mess up?"

"I'll be there to pick up the slack. That's why we're in pairs," he said. "I don't think we'll have to worry too much, though. They're simple thugs. Just keep your eyes open and you'll be fine.

Sakura nodded to herself. 'He's right. They're just thugs. I'm a ninja! This will be easy!'

Gatō and his thugs arrived at the bridge to find the 'men' working. Looking around and not seeing any ninja, Gatō seemed to gain confidence.

"Today is the day you worthless villagers learn never to cross Gatō once and for all," the midget shouted. He pointed at the Tazuna clone. "Kill them all!"

An arrow sunk into Tazuna's head turning him into a pile of mud. The vicious smirk that Gatō had quickly disappeared as he looked around to find his men dying and the 'workers' dissolving into mud and water. "What? What's going on?!"

Just as he was screeching a thug ran up panting and wounded. "Attack... east base... ninja..."

"Damn it, it's a trick! Stop playing with these things and kill them, we have to get to the base!" Gatō shouted at his men.

It would take them some time to finish off the clones.

"Gatō is at the bridge. Team two, hang back a minute and let us start the attack. Once we have their attention get those slaves out of there." Kakashi's voice came over the radio. "Zabuza, you want to start us off?"

"Hell yeah!" A thick mist covered the area and moments later there was an explosion and sounds of fighting coming from the south gate. Before long the sounds of fighting could be heard coming from the west gate as well.

Sakura and Menma waited another two minutes until the base seemed to be in complete chaos. "Now!" The two shot out of the trees and blurred in through the now unguarded east gate. It took them only seconds to reach the cages buried inside the camp. Menma stood guard as Sakura went around to the cages breaking the looks and freeing the captives.

"Hurry, the east gate is clear. Let's get you out of here!" She shouted before leading them away.

Menma brought up the rear setting fire to everything he could on the south side of their path to encourage any enemies to flee towards the other two teams. He stopped when he noticed a building his clone hadn't been able to snoop around in when he was spying before. Quickly creating a clone he sent it to help Sakura as he went to check out the building.

"Team two here, the villagers are free." Sakura's voice reported over the radio.

"Good. Get them safely to the village then come back and help us clean up," Kakashi replied.

Knowing that Sakura and the villagers would be fine even if he didn't send a clone to help, Menma continued into the building. He had expected at least a few thugs but so far the place was completely empty. Sneaking through the halls he eventually came to what appeared to be a command room. Carefully checking the room for anyone he walked in after making sure it was clear.

'Well this explains why he wasn't able to sneak in here,' he thought. If this really were a command room they wouldn't let just anyone in.

Walking over to a large table he found several folders and a large map with four separate locations marked on it. He frowned at it. One of the locations marked was the base they were at right now and another looked like it was where Kakashi had said Gatō's mansion was. The third mark was the same size as the base they were currently attacking. Gatō's mansion was larger than the two, but that wasn't what worried him. He looked at the last mark and his frown deepened. The mark indicated that place was even larger than Gatō's mansion.

'I hope these are future plans and not places that already exist.' He reached down to one of the files on the table and flicked it open. As he flipped through the pages it only got worse. 'Damn, Kakashi-sensei needs to see this.'

He was so wrapped up in the file that he almost missed the sound of a sword cutting through the air. He dove to the side but still took a nasty cut to his right shoulder. Gritting his teeth in pain he pulled out a kunai and whirled around to parry the cut coming to take his head off. The enemy growled at this and went for a large swing. Menma dodged the attack causing the enemy to overextend. Seeing the opening he delivered a bone-crushed kick to his chest and sent him flying through a wall. As his enemy went through the wall he thought he saw the flash of metal on his forehead but shook it off.

Just as he was going to turn to gather up all the information on the desk, two large men entered the door, and there on their foreheads...

'Shit. I wasn't imagining things, he really does have ninja working for him.' Menma frowned.

He readied his kunai and waited for the two to attack. The two charged at him simultaneously. Menma threw his kunai at the one on the right, forcing him to dodge and slow him down to stagger their attacks. He quickly snaked his hand into his pouch and ducked under the attack of the first enemy that had lunged at him with a kunai of his own. When he tried to retaliate the man jumped back, only feeling a light swipe across his stomach.

"Hah, you missed!" He sneered.

"Nope." Menma jumped back putting more distance between them making a single hand sign as he did so. The exploding tag on his stomach went off killing him.

The second enemy who had still been in range of blast had been blown into a wall. Pulling himself out he roared and charged at Menma like an enraged bull. Menma quickly drew another kunai to defend himself. The first blow he blocked hit hard enough to make him stagger back a few steps and jarred his injured shoulder, sending a lance of pain through him.

'Tch, hits like a truck.'

The blows didn't stop as Menma was reeling back. Each blow was as hard as the last and they kept coming faster and faster.

'Fast... too fast! Shit!' Menma realized he was being backed into a corner. As he was being forced back something odd happened. The blows looked like they were beginning to slow but he was still barely managing to block them. With a heavy attack the enemy ninja broke his guard and flung him against a wall.

"It's over." The ninja said. Just as the kunai was about to come down and kill him the man's chest sprouted a spike of steel followed by a spray of blood.

The man gurgled and slumped to the floor revealing a pale and shaking Sakura. "I... I killed..."

Menma breathed out a sigh and placed his good hand on her shoulder. "Thank you, Sakura. You saved me."

"Uh... yeah... sure. " She looked up at him and blinked. "Your eye changed. It looks like the Sharingan."

Menma raised his kunai to his face to look at his reflection. His eye was red with two tomoe in it. "Sharingan... am I an Uchiha? Is that who my parents were?!" He grunted and grabbed his wounded shoulder.

"Ah, you're injured! We need to get that taken care of." Sakura said worriedly.

Menma waved her off. "No, it can wait. We need to gather that stuff up," he said pointing to the table. "Gatō and his men will be here any minute. Let's grab it and meet up with the others."

Sakura quickly gathered up all the materials on the table and sealed them into a scroll while Menma pulled the headband off the ninja and slipped it into a pocket. As they were leaving the building Menma turned to Sakura. "How did you get here so fast? You are supposed to be guarding the villagers we freed."

"We were supposed to protect them," she said with a glare. "On the way back I tripped and you caught me. But you t-touched my b-b-br-" she flushed darkly. "There was an accident! I... sort of hit your clone and turned him into goo."

Menma stared at her flatly before lowering his gaze. As his gaze slowly dropped to her chest she turned darker and darker. "I see. Come on, let's meet up with the others."

The two hurried over to where Kakashi and Sasuke were to find them setting traps. Shortly after Zabuza and Haku arrived.

"You guys ready to go?" Kakashi asked setting his last trap.

"Yeah, we're ready. It's a shame we can't stick around," Zabuza grumbled.

Menma handed Kakashi the scroll of information. "We're ready too."

Kakashi gave Menma a curious look as he clutched his bleeding shoulder. "Let's go. We've finished what we came here to do and I'd rather not be here when Gatō shows up with more men."

Gatō and his thugs showed up minutes later. "Get in there and get those fires out! Find the ninja that did this and kill them!"

The sounds of multiple traps could be heard going off as his men rushed forward. Gatō grit his teeth in anger. In the end, he only lost more men, as most of the buildings were rigged with explosive tags.

The group had returned to Zabuza's hideout after the attack. Sasuke was sitting in a corner and seemed infinitely pleased with himself. Haku was treating Menma's shoulder wound while showing Sakura the proper methods and which herbs would help with the healing process. Zabuza was relaxing. Kakashi was pouring over the information that Menma and Sakura had retrieved and was becoming increasingly worried.

With a subtle gesture Kakashi beckoned Zabuza over to look at the map. Menma caught the motion and discretely listened in while the two began to talk.

"Know anything about this?" Kakashi questioned Zabuza.

"Plans for the future, maybe? That's the base we just hit, and that's Gatō's place right there," he replied, pointing at the map.

Kakashi nodded and quietly placed a folder on the table. "I hope they're only plans, but this folder leads me to believe he's already started."

Zabuza picked the folder up and began looking through it. Menma's wounds were finished being treated and wrapped so he stood, pulled an item out of his coat pocket and walked over to the table.

"He has started," he said, tossing a bloodied headband on the table. The symbol on it was the same as the symbol for Gatō's company. "This belonged to one of the ninja that attacked me."

Kakashi frowned and sealed everything back into the scroll before turning to Zabuza. "You feel like talking a walk?"

"Got nothing better to do," he said.

Kakashi turned to his team. "You guys head back to the Tazuna's house. I'll be back this evening."

Kakashi and Zabuza had already confirmed the existence of the second base and were headed for the fourth and largest mark on the map. They stopped in some trees on a small cliff overlooking a clearing. In front of them stood a massive castle-like structure with the beginnings of walls being built around it.

"I didn't think the little bastard was actually trying it," Zabuza said quietly.

Kakashi sighed. This mission had just gotten a lot more complicated. There was no doubt in his mind now that Gatō would seize control of the bridge once it was complete. He quickly pulled out a scroll and wrote a message before summoning one of his dogs and sending it to Konoha.

Their simple C-rank protection from bandits mission had just become a mission to topple a tyrant and liberate a country.

Gatō was setting himself up as the Daimyō of Wave.

End Chapter 6

A/N:

I've got a question for people. I've been keeping the chapters between 2-4k words each. Is that length good? Do you like the quick updates with 2-4k chapters? Or would you rather have slower updates and longer chapters?