DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does. I don't own Hikari Aino.
A/C: Constructive criticism is warmly welcomed and appreciated, as well as readers' suggestions/ideas. (Particularly when it comes to Lemons – I really suck at those! :S) Flames and mean comments are not welcome – saying 'no offence' means squat. If you don't like what you're reading don't leave a comment!
AMBUSHED
Someone told me, "Love will all save us!"
But how can that be?
Look what love gave us.
A world full of killing and blood spilling.
That world never came.
Naruto jumped around cheerfully - his mood infectious.
At least to me.
For some reason he continuously annoys Sakura and she finds the greatest pleasure in putting him down a peg, or at least putting him back in his 'place'.
"What are you so excited about?" Sakura asked, frowning at him.
"This is my first time leaving the village! I'm a traveller now, believe it!" Naruto answers excitedly looking like he had overdosed on sugar.
I giggled and ran to catch up with him and started dancing around with him. Sakura rolls her eyes and shakes her head, looking over to see what Sasuke's reaction to Naruto's childlike behaviour was. She is dismayed when she sees that Sasuke had a small smirk on his face that indicated that he found the both of us to be amusing - not that he was likely to join in with the fun, mind you.
Tazuna looks at Naruto in disgust and turns to Kakashi with a sceptical tone in his voice.
"Am I supposed to trust my life to this runt? He's a joke!" Tazuna complained. Kakashi laughed indulgently. Naruto was starting to grow on him.
"He's with me, and I'm a Jounin. So you don't need to worry."
Naruto quickly turned around when he heard Tazuna's doubts in his capabilities.
"Never insult a ninja! It's a big mistake, and I'm one of the greatest ninja ever!" He bragged.
"Someday, I'm gonna be Hokage and you'll look up to me! My name's Naruto Uzumaki, remember it!" He said obnoxiously and stabbed himself in the chest with his thumb.
Tazuna snorted humourlessly.
"Hokages are powerful and wise," Tazuna muttered, taking another hearty swig from his bottle.
"You on the other hand are puny and brainless, and the day you become Hokage will be the day I'll sprout wings and fly."
Naruto growled and started a heated talk with Tazuna while everyone else sighed in annoyance.
"You can't doubt his dreams! If he says he's gonna be the Hokage someday, then that may happen." I cried out angrily.
Tazuna turned to me and frowned.
"Humph. Dreams are for fools…" He muttered and turned away.
I glared.
"Fools, huh? I'll show you." I retorted under my breath and moved to re-arrange his face. But Sasuke suddenly stopped me.
"Let it go." He suggested and I stopped to look at him. He looked like he was trying to decide whose side to be on, as he was clearly unsure that Naruto could actually achieve his dream too.
"But he-" I protested.
"I know, but there's nothing we can do to change his opinion." Sasuke insisted, tightening his hold on my shoulder slightly, which made me blush - curse my shyness.
"Besides, he's the client and we cannot harm him as Kakashi already stated to Naruto… no matter how much we may want to put that asshole in his place." He added dryly and glaring at Tazuna's back.
I nodded and waited for Sasuke to remove his hand from my shoulder. He didn't and I started getting uncomfortable again.
"You can let go of my shoulder now, Sasuke. I'm not going to attack him." I reassured Sasuke.
He smirked, clearly noticing my traitorous inflamed cheeks.
"Don't wanna." He teased and stepped closer to me. I froze and looked down.
He chuckled.
"What's the matter? Am I making you uncomfortable?" He murmured into my ear and sent shivers shooting down my spine. I whimpered quietly.
"No…" I whispered, but my cheeks continued to get warmer.
I could feel Sasuke's body heat pressing against me and could smell his breath on my face he was so close. The smell of mint invaded my nose and I smiled slightly.
"Hmmm. The colour of your cheeks tell me otherwise." He tells me and I shiver again as his fingers start stroking my bare arms and he tucks my hair behind my ear.
Stop right now, Hikari… I warn myself, and I want to obey, but my body seems to have a mind of its own. I close my eyes and lean my head against his chest. I take a slow deep breath in to calm myself down.
"Sasuke, I-"
"Hey, Sasuke-kun! How's it going?" Sakura sidles up next to Sasuke and clutches him arm, interrupting us and shoots me a warning glare to stay away from Sasuke. For once, I'm glad as I take the opportunity to escape from Sasuke's grasp and retreat away to a safe distance.
Thank you, God!
I giggle when I hear Sasuke mutter "Damn you, Sakura…" under his breath as our annoying pink-haired teammate starts prattling in his ear about something completely pointless.
"I told you, you're supposed to protect the client not attack the client," I hear Kakashi scolding Naruto as I sidle up next to my blonde-haired best friend, and watched him frown.
I snap my head up slightly when I suddenly sense something wrong.
What the…?
I glance over to where I sensed the foreign chakra and frowned contemplatively. Naruto notices this.
"What's wrong, Hikari-chan?" He asks.
I shake my head, waving away his concerns.
"Nothing. Probably just a bird." I lie - but still feel cautious.
"Say, Mr. Tazuna," Sakura said after walking for a while.
"What is it?"
"Your country is the land of waves, right?" Sakura asks curiously.
"Yeah, what of it?" Tazuna replies rather defensively.
"Kakashi-sensei, there are ninja in that country too, aren't there?" Sakura turns to Kakashi who shakes his head.
"No, there are no ninja in the land of waves. But, in other countries, there are hidden villages, each with their own customs and cultures, where ninja reside."
He went on to discuss the different fire and wind lands, as well as the leaders. I grin and nod to show that I understood - even though I originally came from the Village Hidden in the Snow, I was still interested in learning about the other villages and lands surrounding them.
"Wow, so Lord Hokage's important!" Sakura exclaimed proudly.
But both Naruto and Sakura had doubting expressions on their faces. Something that Kakashi immediately picked up on.
"Hey! You all just doubted Lord Hokage, didn't you? That's what you were thinking?" Kakashi sternly said.
Naruto and Sakura quickly shook their heads no, but look guilty that they had been found out. Kakashi shook his head.
"Well, in any case, there's no battles in a C-rank mission, so don't worry." He hastened to re-assure us.
There it is again! I thought immediately looking behind me for the source of that chakra and noticed Sasuke looking around also.
Good! I'm not the only one!
The walk grew quiet and peaceful. Nature was at it's fullest, and everything made a relaxing sound, then Kakashi started reacting to the obvious chakra spike Sasuke and I sensed and looked around too. Shrugging, but also frowning as well, Kakashi continued walking forwards. Suddenly, there was a loud explosion that rocked the very foundations of the Earth and two men suddenly surrounded Kakashi and bound him in some heavy chains.
"What?" He said in disbelief.
"Kakashi-sensei!" I cried out in horror. Naruto and Sakura joined in with my panic and confusion about where these men had randomly come from and right before our eyes, Kakashi was instantly crushed by the chains.
"Oh no! Kakashi-sensei!" shouted Naruto, just as the two men suddenly appeared behind him with evil leers on their faces.
"Now it's your turn!" they promised.
Immediately, Sasuke starts throwing kunai at them and pins their chains to nearby trees. Then he kicked them in the face - but they managed to escape and turned their sights on both a panicking Sakura, who was trying to maintain her cool and me.
"Stay behind me!" she ordered Tazuna, gripping a kunai tightly at her chest.
Sasuke frowned, jumping in front of Sakura and I. The man's iron glove was about to make contact with Sasuke until Kakashi suddenly appeared out of nowhere and put him into a half nelson.
"Hi," was all Kakashi said.
"Huh? But he was-!" Naruto said, catching on very slowly.
He looked over and noticed a bunch of logs where Kakashi had supposedly died. "Kakashi-sensei...used the replacement jutsu!"
Kakashi walked away before turning to Naruto.
"Naruto, sorry I didn't help you right away. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. I just...didn't think you'd freeze up like that."
Tazuna sighed, relieved.
"Good job, Sasuke, very smooth. You too Sakura." Kakashi complimented them. Sakura smiled triumphantly, while Sasuke 'hn'ed' and turned away. Naruto and I sulked - I felt... Useless. Despite how much I tried to help protect Tazuna.
Sasuke glanced Naruto with mild concern.
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"You're not hurt, are you?" He turned, smirking at Naruto who frowned at him in confusion.
"Scaredy cat." Naruto growled - clearly not liking Sasuke's teasing.
I smacked Sasuke firmly on the shoulder and threw him a disgusted look as he grunted and glared at me. I ignored him and went over to Naruto to inspect him for the injury Sasuke obviously had spotted. Kakashi followed and looked at Naruto with a serious look in his eyes.
"Naruto, these ninja have poison in their gloves, so stand still. We need to take it out of you quickly."
Naruto glanced at his bleeding hand and whined. How did he not notice that? I picked up his bleeding hand and inspected it unhappily.
"You have to open the wound and remove it," Kakashi continued. "It's in your blood so don't move around. That spreads the poison."
Kakashi grew serious and turned to the worried Bridge Builder who was pondering his next move.
"By the way, Tazuna-san." Tazuna jumped a little.
"Y-yeah, what?"
Kakashi went over to the two ninjas and grabbed them by the scruff of the neck.
"We need to talk." He said over his shoulder and set the semi-conscious men under a tree and tied them to it.
"They're Chuunin of the village hidden in the mist. Their specialty is relentless attack and they keep fighting no matter what the sacrifice."
One of the men spoke suddenly spoke out.
"How did you know about our ambush?" He asked with confusion.
Kakashi spoke in a voice that said, 'Really? Do you think I'm stupid?'
"A puddle. On a clear day, when it hasn't rained in weeks?"
Tazuna turned to him.
"In that case, why did you leave it for the Genin to fight?"
"I could have taken them out quickly, but then I would have learned nothing." Kakashi explained sounding very matter-of-fact like.
"I had to know who their target was, and what they were after."
Tazuna stiffened and I raised an eyebrow.
"Hm? What are you getting at?" He gruffly defended.
Kakashi counted out the evidence on his fingers.
"This: I wanted to know if they were after us, ninja attacking ninja. Or, if they were after you. The master bridge builder."
Tazuna flinched again.
"When you put in your request, you asked for standard protection, from robbers and highway men. You didn't say there were ninja looking for you, hunting you down."
Tazuna began to sweat.
"Otherwise, it'd be a B-rank mission. We were only supposed to help you until you got home to build your bridge. We should be paid for a B-rank mission."
Our client paled - obviously realising that he was in trouble and about to be reprimanded by an elite ninja who had the ability to kill him without blinking an eye.
"I'm sure you have your reasons, but lying is not acceptable. We now have to stay with you the whole way." Kakashi stated sternly.
"We're Genin, it's too advanced for our level of training," Sakura tried to reason, kindly. "And I really think we should be treating Naruto's wound to get the poison out as soon as possible."
I almost dropped Naruto's hand in shock, just as Naruto's jaw went slack. Sakura…was being…NICE? Kakashi nodded in agreement.
"His hand may be a problem, so we should go back to the village," Kakashi said. Growling, Naruto stabbed his hand with a kunai.
Everyone stared at him in shock.
"N-naruto! STOP!?" I yelled running at him to take away the kunai, but Naruto stepped away from me, digging deeper with the weapon.
"Why am I so different?" He gritted out. "Why am I always...gah!"
Sakura rushed forward to help me.
"Naruto! Stop that, what are you doing?"
Naruto glared heatedly at each of us.
"I worked so hard to get here, pushing myself until it hurt! Training alone for hours, anything to get stronger." He winced.
I smiled fondly at my friend, finally understanding why he was doing this - but also feeling slightly worried about the amount of blood he was losing.
"I want to reach my dream. I will never back down and let someone rescue me."
Sasuke and Sakura looked impressed.
"I will never run away, or lose to Sasuke-"
Sasuke's slight smile dropped and he frowned, offended.
"Upon this wound, I make a pledge: Bridge builder, I'll complete this mission, and protect you with this kunai knife." He turned and grinned. "Believe it."
Kakashi had a small smile on his face, but like me also looked extremely worried.
"Uh, Naruto, that was really cool how you took the poison out and all."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"But if you lose anymore blood, you're going to die."
Naruto froze and had a panic attack.
"Oh shit! No, I don't wanna die!" He shouted. "I haven't been made Hokage yet!"
Kakashi sighed and started to bandage his wound but we did notice that he had a really serious expression on his face. For the rest of the day we continued walking down the road until we arrived at a foggy sea port. A rower was there, ready to take them to Tazuna's town.
Sakura squinted into the thickening fog.
"The fogs so thick, you can't see anything!" Sakura whispered.
I shrugged having grown up in a place where fog was common.
"I've seen better." I disagreed, and hopped into the row boat, sitting down on a seat and remaining silent. I barely registered Sasuke and Naruto's presence when they sat down either side of me. But even they were quiet - a first for Naruto, not so much for Sasuke.
After a few minutes, the rower spoke.
"The bridge isn't too far away now. We'll be at the Land of Waves." We nodded but didn't say anything. Suddenly, a large incomplete bridge came into view in front of us.
"Whoa, it's huge!" yelled Naruto, causing the rower to glare at him.
"Quiet! No noise. Don't you see why we're moving like this? So they don't see us." We looked at him in curiosity. Kakashi turned to Tazuna.
"Mister Tazuna, before we reach the pier, I want to ask you something. The men who are after you...I need to know why."
Tazuna looked uneasy at Kakashi's question.
"I have no choice...rather, I want to tell you," Tazuna admitted.
"The one who seeks my life is a very short man who casts a very long and deadly shadow."
What the…? That's a weird description…
Kakashi frowned at him.
"A deadly shadow?" Kakashi asked. "Who is it?"
Tazuna sighed.
"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."
Kakashi gasped.
"Gato? Of Gato Transport? He's a business leader, everyone knows him."
I snorted, causing Sasuke to snigger beside me.
Beg to differ…
Naruto voiced my thoughts exactly.
"Who, who? What, what?"
"Gato," Tazuna said, "He is a business tycoon from the industrial world, that's true. But below the surface, he uses the same ruthless methods to take over businesses and even nations."
He swallowed fearfully before continuing his explanation.
"He sells drugs and contra bands by using gangs and ninja. Gato came to the Land of Waves about a year ago. He came into our island and flaunted his wealth to take control of our transport and shipping. IF anyone stood in his way, they suddenly disappeared."
My eyes widened fearfully.
"On an island like this, the person who controls the transport controls everything." Tazuna said, sadly.
Wow. That's cheery… I thought sarcastically. I'm glad nothing like that is happening in Konoha…
"There's only one thing he really fears and that's the bridge. When it's complete, it will join us to the land and that will the control he has over us. I...am the bridge builder." Tazuna said fearfully.
Sakura suddenly got a 'light-bulb over the head' expression on her face after Tazuna said this.
"So that's it," Sakura said, breaking his long and boring talk. "If you're building the bridge, then you're in the gangster's way."
"Which means-" Sasuke added, tuning in. "Those guys in the forest, they were working for Gato."
"Which means that they won't be the only ones that we're likely to meet on the rest of our mission." I added. Naruto looked confused and bored and barely following this important conversation.
"I don't understand," Kakashi said. "If you knew he was dangerous and sent men in to eliminate you, why would you hide that from us?"
"Because the Land of Waves is a small, impoverished nation. Even our nobles have very little money. The common people who are building this bridge can't even pay for an A or B rank mission. If you end the mission when you drop me off, there will be no bridge and I'd be assassinated." Tazuna looked up at all of them.
"But, don't feel bad about that. Of course, my sweet little grandson will be upset and cry. And my daughter will condemn the ninja of the Hidden Leaf and blame you for my early death and leaving her all alone in the world."
Sasuke rolled his eyes unsympathetically, just as Sakura, Naruto and I flinched uncomfortably at the thought. But I was surprised at Sasuke for being so unfeeling, considering he lost everything and I scowled at him - something that he ignored entirely.
"Well," Kakashi started, tapping his headband. "I guess we have no choice. We'll have to keep guarding you."
Tazuna looked extremely triumphant - but managed to adjust his expression before any of us noticed.
"Oh...I'm very grateful!"
Before long, the sky cleared and the world seemed a whole less gloomy. The rower dropped us off at the docks and departed quickly after.
"All right, take me to my home in one piece," Tazuna demanded.
I scowled at him - not pleased with his bossy attitude. We were doing this out of the goodness of our hearts (and because we had been assigned this by the Hokage to prove we could do missions instead of the mundane 'missions' we had been assigned before). He should be a little more polite about it.
But I wasn't going to hold my breath that that was gonna happen any time soon.
