Hallo! Got this one up alot quicker then the last, please remember to review! I got an alright turn out for the last one, why not make an effort for a little constructive criticism with this one as well?
The hour passed, and the two sauntered their way into the land of Wave.
The sea breeze smelt fresh, yet salty, on the nose and tongue. Naruto had always enjoyed the place, and was beginning to feel happier about his surroundings. The always morose Sasuke seemed deep in thought, yet Naruto left him to it.
To his left, he could see the pier, where Tazuna and Inari used to live. Now, they had moved inland – Tazuna's construction work had grown, and he was required by some major villages for building plans.
The tree's where the two of them had once spent a day and night climbing there way to the very top using only their feet – now, the idea of doing such a thing seemed so simple. There was once a time when crime and hardship and ruled supreme over this land – but now, as could be seen, it was a place full of potential.
Naruto spoke. "So where should we go first? I want some ramen, Wave country style!" His happiness shone through his words.
Sasuke cast a side glance at the blonde to his right, before putting on the blandest voice possible. "The first thing I have to say is that ramen is ramen, dobe. The second is that we are here to do a mission. Focus."
Naruto laughed. "Hah, Sasuke-kun, you always were a brown-nose!"
The Uchiha's eyes flashed red for a second, before he laughed as well. "If it were not you saying such a thing, you would be dead now."
Both of them grinned, yet slowly the laughter died out. They headed further into town, and away from the sea. The plan was to go and talk to the mayor of the town and take a look at his militia. They had been told by the Hokage that they were to extend a hand of friendship, at the very least – if not mention the idea of alliance.
Entering the mayor's offices, they approached a desk. Sasuke handled the proceedings, while Naruto toyed with a very small flower – imbuing chakra into it seemed to make it grow a little bit. Smiling, he looked away when Sasuke nudged him. They were moving, seemingly to the mayor's office.
They reached a very regal wooden door, heavily set with finery's and inscriptions. It opened onto a room of red carpet, with shelves of books and tapestries adorning the walls. Whoever owned this room was of some power, it seemed.
"I see you've noticed my collection?" said a voice.
Naruto looked over to the end of the room – behind a large desk sat a small, whispery man. Both he and Sasuke shared a glance before stepping forwards.
"Gato left them here after his untimely departure – most of them were sold for money to use for building up the country, but I kept some of the ones I liked for myself." The voice was soft, and slightly raspy. As they neared, it could be seen that the speaker was of middle age and thin, with grey hair just covering his scalp and a thin moustache, curving on his cheeks.
"So, ninja from Konoha, I am Masaru, the mayor of this village. Your names would be...?" the voice hightened as he ended in a question. For some reason, Sasuke did not feel comfortable in answering.
"I am Sasuke," he eventually said, "and this is my fellow shinobi Naruto. I have visited this land once before, while my friend has been here since on his travels." Sasuke kept the uneasiness out of his voice. Despite the simplicity of this mission, the whole room made him feel nervous.
Masaru looked at the two of them, before smiling a wide, toothy grin, showing off the gold fillings he seemed to have a mouthful of. He spoke. "Ah, so there is no need to show you around then!" He laughed hard, yet was not remotely bothered by the lack of amusement from Naruto and Sasuke. "Would you like to come to the training grounds and see our current development?"
Sasuke nodded in agreement, and the small, dwarfish man raced out of the room, begging them to follow. They did so, as Naruto muttered to Sasuke, "Something feels wrong."
"I know," whispered Sasuke. "Keep it quiet and act normal until I work out what it is." Naruto nodded very slightly and the two carried on walking. Masaru was quite happy to chat away while Naruto gave non-committal noises every now and then – both shinobi were taking the surroundings in a lot more then they were the conversation.
They left the building and headed down the road in a direction that they had not gone before. Heading inland, they started heading down a path in the forest. The greenery around them was lush and ripe with life, and the birds were in plentiful supply. In the distance, however, the noises of a workforce could be heard in the distance.
Another clearing was entered, perfectly circular. This one, however, was absolutely huge, and had been made big enough for a 1000 or so men to practice in easily – Sasuke knew this, because he could see them all.
Stretching off in the distance were lines and lines of men, all in white, going through the motions of training. Some were punching and kicking, some were practicing with weapons – including shuriken. And others, Sasuke noticed, were just standing there. That's odd... he thought.
"And here you are, boys! Our very own practical defence team!" Masaru announced. Naruto was impressed with the sheer number of militia that seemed to exist.
Masaru carried on talking. "Come, follow me. I'll take you to the big boss around here!" He started bustling forward again. Naruto followed, but Sasuke dallied for a second. He was very curious as to what the men were doing – apart from staying still.
There was a large tent erected at the corner of the clearing, with all the supplies needed for training. There was also a few rooms inside it which seemed to be for housing. Out of one of these came a large, black bearded man. He saw Masaru and bowed, before noticing the two Konoha nin. A surprised look flashed across his face before it settled and he smiled slightly towards them. "Good day, Masaru-sempai. And the two Fire-nin – we welcome you. I am Osamu. I can see from your clothes you are an Uchiha," he said, looking at Sasuke. "And you I do not recognise. Your house name?" he asked Naruto.
"Uzumaki Naruto, Osamu-san," Naruto replied. "I doubt you will have heard of it."
"You doubt correct, Uzumaki. However, you are the one who's name sake is on our bridge, I realise, which means you have done tremendous deeds for this country." Osamu smiled again.
"We tried our hardest, Osamu-san." Naruto said. As he did, Sasuke looked out of the door – the men that were simply standing there had just flashed a bright white light – and a lot of commotion had just started. One man seemed to of been pinned down to the ground, while others were restraining him. That is odd... he thought. Definitely something to report back to Kakashi-sensei.
Naruto, Osamu and Masaru were still talking. Masaru said to Osamu, "Indeed, Osamu, these men are national heroes! They quelled Gato and reinstated trade into this land! And all at the tender age of 12."
Naruto smiled. "A long time ago now."
Sasuke's senses flinched. Something was coming. However, he couldn't activate the sharingan without them noticing. He just had to react in time.
Osamu's smile could not possibly get wider. "Well, Uchiha and Uzumaki. I'm sure you won't mind in helping us again?"
Naruto looked confused. "How so, Osamu-san?"
Sasuke began to feel on edge. Was that shadow natural?
Masaru was also smiling. He turned to Naruto. "You will see." The smile that had made them both feel so uneasy before now became downright evil. It was the last thing Naruto saw before collapsing.
As for Sasuke, he had been expecting some sort of attack, and he saw the man in white run through the door and come at him with, ironically, a bokken. He drew his ninja-to quicker then the eye could see and parried before sending the man to the floor, before Osamu stood up and hit him with a large fist, knocking him straight out.
Some time later...
Sasuke's eyes grogilly opened. Although the attack had been expected, that punch really hurt. His head was pounding, and he was finding it hard to focus his eyes. He could feel Naruto sitting near him, but was not yet able to see him. He breathed heavily and kept his eyes closed for a minute or two, before trying to see again. Now his sight was much clearer and his head felt better, he looked around.
Naruto was staring around. He had woken up first, taking a lighter knock then Sasuke. The room was dark and grey, bland with nothing but a blanket. He had not yet tried to remove himself from the room, and was still awaiting a chat with Sasuke before such a thing was tried. They were sitting directly across from an unmarked door, which did not seem to have any handle from the inside. He already knew how to get out. He just wanted some confirmation that it was a good idea.
"Sasuke, you awake?" he asked.
"Just about. Where are we?" Sasuke pulled himself up from his lying position and sat back against the wall. Level with Naruto, he surveyed the area.
"Who knows? Should we bust out?" Naruto asked.
"Not just yet." said Sasuke. "Wait until one of them comes for us. It will give us some information on why we have been treated like this. We know we can get out whenever we want, anyway."
Naruto thought about it, before agreeing. "OK. But I'm gonna kill Masaru. Seriously."
Sasuke smiled. "Feel free. I want Osamu, personally." Nobody punches an Uchiha.
They sat in silence and waited. Their weapons had been removed, and they had been treated somewhat roughly on their way to wherever they were. A few new bruises were on both their bodies that had not been there before.
Naruto listened for any noise, while sitting back, resting his head against the cold, lustreless wall. The Uchiha next to him sighed. Sasuke was still feeling the effects of that punch, and didn't like it.
A bolt slid open in the door, and both of them were alert straight away, injuries forgotten. The thick door swung open, and light poured into the room. The two Konoha nin flinched and then waited for their eyes to adjust. As they tried to see, two men, dressed just as the ones in the forest had been, came into the room and stood at opposite sides of the door, before being preceded by another, small man.
"So," Masaru said, "you wake?" He looked at the two shinobi. He did not expect a reply, and so carried on regardless. He began pacing around the room. "I find myself with a problem and, luckily, a solution, boys. The problem?" He stopped his pacing and looked at the two ninja. "I have an army to raise, and nobody to teach them how to army." Now he smiled. "The solution? Well, two men just walked into my country waving a flag of peace who know exactly what it is to fight." The relish he put on the last word did not make Naruto any happier. Fighting was necessary, not enjoyable.
Masaru carried on talking, and began his pacing also. "So, this is the deal, which you will accept. You two stay here, become Wave nin in good gesture and we and Konoha ally. You then become happy little sensei's for my happy little recruits. All good with you two?"
Sasuke grimaced. "And what if we refuse?" He muttered.
Masaru's smile flashed once more, as evil as the first time. "Then Wave takes it's brand new little secret and burns Konoha to the ground. If not further." The smile disappeared. "The letter has already been sent to Konoha about your change of committal. You will be given your new forehead protectors and garments tomorrow."
Masaru and the two other guards turned and walked out the door in a swish of black cloaks. The door slamming and locking behind them. Footsteps faded away outside the door.
Naruto and Sasuke turned and looked at each other.
Naruto spoke first. "We're a bit fucked aren't we?" he said.
Sasuke smiled, and looked forward again, leaning his head back.
"Only while we want to be..." he muttered. Naruto's eyes widened, before he laughed. Hard.
Hope you guys all liked this chapter, I think I did alright with it. Again, I have no idea when the next chapter will be up. As well as that I thought you should know that I'm planning on updating chapter one soon - the storyline won't change AT ALL, so you won't be missing anything - it'll just be longer. It's only 900 words at the moment, and it's really bugging me. I'll stick it in an A/N when it's done. Happy reading, and PLEASE, remember to review every chapter!!
