Chapter 8

o

It didn't take Naruto long to get a safe distance away from the village and then cut over to the road. Once there he dropped to the ground and took off at top speed towards the Wave Country. He was exceedingly thankful that there was only one quick route from Konoha to Tazuna's village, it made his search infinitely easier. Of course, it also helped the bad guys get the drop on his team the first time around, so there were some draw backs, but for the moment he was glad for it.

Last time it had taken them a few days to get there, but they had been walking at the time and he was much faster now – though still not as fast as he'd been before he'd been turned back into a child, but that would come as his body grew and muscles developed. As near as he could figure, Team Eight had left almost a week ago (assuming they'd left that same day he saw them in front of the tower), that meant that they should have already reached the Wave Country, and with it, Zabuza and Haku. Naruto knew that there was a good chance that his friends were already dead, but until he saw it with his own eyes, he wouldn't accept it.

And if he did see it with his own eyes, Zabuza and Haku would come to greatly regret it.

The path to the Wave Country was hardly a straight one. It worked its way around meandering creeks, along small rivers, and occasionally was diverted to make passage over a particularly hilly area a little easier. Naruto didn't follow it much. He knew roughly where the island was and headed in that direction, only using the path when it happened to work its way near him and even then only using it long enough to check that Team Eight had actually made it that far before returning to the shorter path through the trees.

He had never been a great tracker. Kakashi had once told him that it was because he was always in too much of a hurry to stop and look for the finer details needed to track anything smaller than a one ton bear. It was distinctly possible that if any other team had gotten the mission, he would have simply had to go to the Wave Country to see if they had survived the trip. Team Eight, however, was unique in that they not only had their four human members but also had Akamaru with them.

The little puppy probably spent three-quarters of his time in Kiba's jacket or on his head, but he had to get down occasionally if for no other reason than to relieve himself somewhere other than on Kiba's head. A small pile of dog droppings, usually covered by a bit of dirt or grass – which did little to hide the scent, but made it easier to accidentally step in Naruto discovered – or a few puppy paw prints were all he needed to see to assure himself that they'd reached that far on the trail so that he could return to the trees above and race along through the forest, quickly (he hoped) gaining on his future friends.

ooo

Naruto's clone waited until the last possible minute before drinking the disgusting milk, praying that Naruto would either fall asleep or that there was some sort of a distance limit to the jutsu that would cause him to vanish before the task fell to him. His only solace was the fact that as soon as he vanished, Naruto would instantly know about the foul taste as if he'd drunk it himself.

"Bottoms up," the clone told him with a grin that would have earned him a punch in the face were it not for the fact that they had to remain whole for as long as possible.

"Shut up," the first clone groaned as he poured the milk into a cup and tried to fish out as many white chunks as he could. The sour smell made his eyes water and his nose wrinkle even before he brought the semi-liquid up to his mouth. The clone closed his eyes, pinched his nose shut and took two deep breaths, preparing himself for what was too come. Then he tipped back his head and poured the milk straight down his throat, trying to taste as little of it as possible. He gagged the moment the last of it tumbled down his throat, but managed to keep it down. "Ugh, I'm going to be sick."

"That's the idea," the second clone replied with a sympathetic smile. "Just hurry to the Tower, show Kakashi-sensei how sick you are, and then come back. What could be easier?"

"You drinking the milk and me staying here and eating our ramen," the first pointed out, clutching his stomach as it rumbled unpleasantly while the milk made its way down.

"Yeah, well, too late for that. Hurry up."

The first clone groaned and stumbled out the door, his stomach heaving but the determination to secure a day or two of excused absences for Naruto by keeping the acidic bile where it belonged until his mission was complete.

Several minutes later he was standing with his team while the Third read the list of possible missions for them to take. It was just more of the same boring stuff that he – or at least Naruto – had been doing since he became a genin… again. There was babysitting to be done, weeds to be pulled, roofs to be fixed, pets to be found… the usual stuff. The clone was almost happy that he wouldn't have to do any of it.

"Naruto, are you alright?" Iruka asked from his seat next to the Hokage. "You're looking a bit green."

The Naruto clone opened his mouth to reply, but quickly closed it again as bile made a rush at the sudden opening. His cheeks puffed out comically as the milk found its retreat once again cut off, and then swallowed hard, forcing it back into his stomach for a little longer. He gave his head a small shake and regretted it instantly as a new wave of nausea hit him.

Sakura and Sasuke edged away from the clearly ill blond, not wanting anything to do with whatever was about to happen to him.

"Why don't you take the day off and go see a doctor, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

The clone managed another shake of his head, but was beginning to wonder if it wouldn't be better just to stab himself in the leg so his ordeal would end. He strongly suspected that when he finally did puke, it would be enough to release him anyway.

"Alright, well, just go home then," the silver haired jounin sighed. "I think the mission will be easier without you while you're in that condition."

The clone nodded thankfully and fled the building. He made it half way home before the nausea became too much for him and he was forced to duck into an alleyway and try to empty the contents of his stomach onto the ground.

Only a faint whiff of smoke ever came out of the alley and the two remaining Narutos in the world cringed simultaneously as they were treated to the memories of their companion's unpleasant morning.

ooo

Near the middle of Wave Country a tall structure hung from the trees shaped like a gigantic beehive. It had been built around a thick tree trunk and was suspended in the air by numerous ropes tied to the surrounding trees, with a small wooden walkway winding its way up into its bowels. A house or large building would have been easier to build, easier to maintain, and easier to get in and out of, but Gato did not want easy, he wanted impressive and his fortress was definitely that.

Gato had always been small and weak with poor eye sight that required glasses and frizzy hair that stuck out comically. As a child he'd been ridiculed for his appearance and weakness both by his father and by the children of the small village he lived in.

Though his appearance had changed little over the years, no one laughed at Gato now.

Because he had no friends and because he feared the bullies that would pounce on him should he venture outside, he had nothing to do but study and learn. The subject didn't matter, only the learning. He read every book in his family's small home and then he began begging his mother to borrow books from the surrounding families so that he could learn what they held as well.

His intelligence brought him praise from his teachers as he answered their questions with ease and often came to them looking for additional and more advanced school work so that he might keep on learning, but the other students hated him for it. A small child was amusing to push around for a few giggles from time to time, but a small child who made you look foolish in front of your peers needed to be destroyed.

It was there, on the playground staring down at the mud that was red with his blood, that Gato learned one of the two most valuable pieces of information he would ever come across. The strong always picked on the weak and no amount of intelligence or fact memorizing would ever change that.

The second would come just a few months later when his father took his family on a small business trip to a nearby city. They traveled with a caravan of other families making the same trip. Because of the amount of people traveling and the large number of bandit attacks that occurred in those days before the Great Ninja War, the caravan pooled its money and purchased the services of a small team of ninja. Along the way, a large group of bandits did attack and every last one of them was slaughtered by the caravan's ninja guards.

As he watched a lone ninja defeat two physically imposing men in the blink of an eye without even seeming to move from the spot where he stood, Gato learned of his most important lessons: money could buy protection… and power.

From that day on, he worked hard doing small jobs where his weak muscles didn't matter and where his sharp mind could bring him more money. Sometimes he was a tutor, other times a store clerk, and eventually an accountant in a small shipping company. Along the way he used what money he could spare to purchase helpers who would either protect him or take out someone who stood in his way. Bullies from his youth were shown what he had gone through and those few who survived regretted their treatment of him, or so he liked to think.

He made sure that any violence was never traceable back to him, keeping his hands clean as he earned, bought, and bullied his way up the chain of command until he sat at the very top, richer and more powerful than ever.

Under his leadership the small shipping company – which was renamed 'Gato Company' – began to expand, swallowing up smaller companies, driving competitors out of business, and always strangely immune to the violence that sometimes shook the shipping yards. Soon Gato and his company were the primary shipping company for much of the continent. He had ships in every harbor, filled with cargo bound elsewhere, and charging a hefty price to carry it.

It was around this time that he began to stick his fingers into other pots. One small, under the table, deal to carry a few boxes of illegal goods earned him such a large profit that soon almost half of his cargo was labeled as something it was not. Drugs, weapons, even a few slaves were all moved around the coast by his ships and he never looked back.

It was about this time that he began setting his sights on other ventures. Being a rich entrepreneur was all fine and good, but he still would never be the biggest kid on the block until he actually owned a block. He wanted to be like a daimyo, in power if not in name. And to be a daimyo, one had to have a country.

Taking over a large country would have been impossible, no matter how much his company grew, but a smaller country, one without a ninja village to protect it was another matter altogether. And so, little 'Gato-chan' who had been mocked, beaten, and made to eat mud as a child set his sights upon the Wave Country.

Taking over the small island's shipping industry was simple and with that in his power, not even the current daimyo – who Gato planed to have replaced soon – could stand against him. He practically owned the country. He controlled the villages, he controlled the taxes, he even had the power to act as law – his laws, of course – enforcement. The only thing that stood between him and total control was a stupid old man and the bridge he was building.

When Tazuna first began to build his bridge, it was all a big joke to Gato, but as the bridge grew closer and closer to the mainland, the joke quickly became far less funny. Tazuna was from a village that was already supposed to have been subdued back when he first started taking over. It had only taken one public execution for to put the simple fishers in their places, but just as one death could bring the town under his control, one man could take everything away from him. With the bridge completed, his shipping company would not be as needed, that would force his prices down and with it his profits and power over the daimyo.

He had tried to break Tazuna's spirit, sending men after any villagers who worked on the bridge, but the old man kept preaching about the importance of the bridge and many continued to help him build it. Soon it became obvious that Tazuna needed to be eliminated, but doing so would require a more overt form of violence than Gato normally liked to use if he could help it. When he learned that Tazuna had gone to Konohagakure to purchase some ninja guards to protect him, Gato's hand was forced.

He found the strongest missing nin around, Momochi Zabuza, the Devil of the Hidden Mist. Zabuza had asked for an outrageous amount of money to kill the old man, but Gato had agreed, not really planning on paying anyway for that was another lesson he'd learned: you can always hire more criminals when you get rid of the ones currently working for you. Zabuza brought with him a few men, the so-called 'Demon Brothers' as well as a strange little boy with delicate features named Haku. The four of them used Gato's own Wave Country headquarters as their own, and now Gato was going there to see for himself the news that had been reported to him a few days ago.

Zabuza had been defeated and was lying in bed, unable to fight.

As he walked up the winding ramp, his designer shoes stepping gently on the finely cut wood, his exquisitely tailored suit softly swishing whenever he took a step, and his two samurai bodyguards keeping pace with him, Gato could feel his irritation growing. He wasn't planning on paying the full amount to Zabuza, but the ninja and his companions still ate and used up resources and resources cost money. If Gato was paying money in any form, he expected results. He was not running a charity.

"So," he said as he entered Zabuza's room without knocking, "even you have come back defeated." He put his hands in the pockets of his expensive suit pants and shook his head in disappointment, "It looks like the Hidden Mist's ninja are pretty pathetic."

Zabuza was lying on his back under thick covers, his mouth, neck, and shoulders bandaged and his eyes staring up at the ceiling.

"You can't even avenge your own men?" Gato pressed, stepping closer to the prone form of his employee. "And you call yourself a devil? Don't make me laugh."

Haku was seated on a stool next to the bed, his long, black hair pulled back in a feminine bun. The boy's eyes turned towards Gato and radiated hatred. Zabuza didn't even bother looking away from the ceiling.

When the missing nin didn't reply, Gato's two bodyguards, Zori and Waraji, stepped forward, their thumps pressing against the crossguards of their katana, readying the blades to be pulled from their sheaths at a moments notice. They were impressively intimidating figures – which was why Gato had hired them. Zori's hair was longer and he looked for all the world like just some punk kid in his baggy shirt and long shorts, but he was tall and the tattoos around his eyes made them look even more dangerous than they normally would have. Waraji wore nothing but a wrap around his waist and an eye patch, but he was a powerful looking man and the swirling tattoos that wound their way along his upper body only added to that very accurate impression.

Haku's hands flexed, but the boy did not move from the stool. All of his attention, however, was now on the three men rather than his master.

Gato grinned and stepped forward confidently. "Hold on for a second," he ordered as he straightened his dark sunglasses. He stepped right up to the bed, ignoring Haku and looked down at Zabuza. "Hey," he whispered mockingly, "there's no need to stay quiet." He raised a hand and reached for the bandages around the ninja's mouth. "Maybe you'll talk if we—"

His comment was cut off by a grip of iron wrapping around his forearm. Haku rose to his feet, never releasing his master's employer. "You will not touch Zabuza-sama with your dirty hands!" he hissed in a voice that carried none of the normal soft gentleness that had led Gato to believe that Haku was actually female the first time he met him.

Gato tried to pull away, but the boy was shockingly strong. "Rele—"

Haku twisted his wrist sharply to the side and there was a loud crack as Gato's arm broke.

Waraji and Zori reacted instantly, their hands instinctively moving to draw their swords.

For a single breath, no one said or seemed to do anything. And then the two samurai realized that they had pulled nothing but air from their sheaths and that Haku was now standing between them, a sword in either hand, the blades lightly pressing against their throats.

"You shouldn't do that," he growled, a strange sound to hear coming from his pretty lips, "I'm pissed off enough as it is!"

Gato held his arm gingerly and looked over his shoulder at the boy before turning back to Zabuza who had continued to stare up at the ceiling throughout the entire confrontation. "One more time!" the business man yelled, his composure leaving him in his fright over having lost control of the encounter. "If you fail me one more time you won't be welcome here anymore. Remember that!" With as much dignity as he could muster he scurried back to his bodyguards as their swords were returned to their sheaths for them by Haku. The three men hastily retreated from the room, slamming the door behind them.

When they were gone, Haku relaxed, his body sliding back into its natural, peaceful posture. He turned back to his master and quietly sat down on the stool, looking as though nothing had happened to disturb his observing of Zabuza.

"You didn't have to do that," Zabuza muttered. He lifted his right hand, refusing to acknowledge the pain the small movement gave him, under the covers of his bed, a kunai rested in his left hand, just waiting to strike at whoever was in range.

"I know," Haku replied calmly, "but it is still too early to kill Gato. If we cause a commotion, they'll be after us again and I enjoy the peace of the forest. We must be patient for just a little while longer."

Zabuza smiled at his companion and let the covers fall once again. "Of course, you're right." His eyes slowly drifted back towards the ceiling and his smile faded. "How long will I be stuck like this?" he asked for what must have been the tenth time since he had awakened in the forest and pulled the senbon from his throat while Haku in his Hunter-nin mask looked on.

"A few days more is all," the long haired boy replied sweetly, "your strength should already be returning. Another three days, perhaps four, no longer than that."

"I still think you should have killed them rather than putting me in that damn temporary death."

"My apologies, Zabuza-san," Haku smiled, "but you never told me to kill them."

"You're too kind for your own good," Zabuza growled.

"Yes, you're right. I am sorry."

"I don't need your apologies, only your strength."

ooo

"H-how are you feeling today, sensei?" Hinata asked as she quietly stepped into Kurenai's room and found the jounin awake and partially sitting up.

"Better, thank you, Hinata," the older woman replied with a warm smile. It had been three days since they had stumbled into Tazuna's house, Hinata, Kiba, and Kurenai covered in her blood. Kurenai really didn't remember much of what had happened until last night when she had finally managed to remain conscious long enough to form a few long term memories. Hinata and Tazuna's interestingly named daughter, Tsunami, had been caring for her as her body struggled to replenish the lost blood. During her more lucid moments before the pain medication that Hinata prepared for her took over and her body forced her to sleep, she had heard the story of the Hunter-nin and the death of Zabuza.

Shino and Kiba had accompanied Tazuna to the incomplete bridge and watched over him as he and a couple of other men worked, argued over the plans, and argued even more over the danger of continuing the construction. According to Kiba, at least two of the men had looked ready to quit and only a lot of pleading had kept them on the job for one more day. Given the size and complexity of the bridge, it would take Tazuna and his small work crew at least two lifetimes just to come close to finishing it.

Tazuna claimed that it was no big deal and that more workers would show up the following day, but somehow Kurenai didn't buy it. From what Kiba and Shino had told her, the townspeople moved around like the living dead. They were upright and went about their daily schedules, but there was no life in their eyes. Gato owned this town and they all knew it, no one would stick their neck out for fear of having a blade pass through it.

"I brought you some clean bandages," Hinata smiled, showing Kurenai the white strips of cloth as well as a small clay bowl with water in it.

"Thank you, just shut the door first," Kurenai said as she began to open the loose fitting robe Tsunami had given her to wear while she rested and recovered. Kurenai's green chuunin vest was ruined and her other clothes were too tight to wear when being treated for an injury such as hers. Hinata gave her a questioning look as she did as she was asked.

"I saw Kiba take a peek in here last tome," Kurenai explained, "You'd think the guy had never seen a woman's breasts before…" she flashed a mischievous smile at the younger kunoichi and then added, "or maybe it's just that he's never seen any as nice as mine!" She chuckled at her own joke and then winced as her side protested the action.

"I-is the pain killer wearing out?" Hinata asked worriedly as she hurried over and knelt next to her teacher's futon.

"It's fine," Kurenai sighed as the pain ebbed. "I don't want any more medicine anyway."

"But sensei…"

"I said it's fine!" Kurenai snapped with more force than she meant to. She instantly regretted it when she saw Hinata recoil as if struck. The young ninja whispered an apology and began mechanically removing the bandages that covered the ugly wound.

"I'm sorry," Kurenai said after a moment. The bandages fell away, revealing an angry red line with dark stitches crisscrossing it. Considering their supplies, Hinata's limited knowledge of medical jutsu, and the short amount of time that she'd had to heal, Kurenai thought the wound looked remarkably good, certainly there would be an unpleasant scar, but very few people would ever see it anyway and there was currently only one who wasn't a medic-nin that stood a chance of seeing it – assuming she continued to find him interesting and attractive long enough, which seemed more and more likely every time they saw each other. "I… I don't like being laid-up like this. It makes me feel useless and irritable, but I'm not mad at you."

Hinata nodded as she dipped a clean, brown rag into the bowl of water and dabbed at the wound to clean it, still not meeting her teacher's eyes.

"I don't want any medication because I need to have my wits about me, we're going to go train today," Kurenai explained as Hinata pulled out the fresh set of bandages and began winding them tightly around her waist.

"T-train?" Hinata asked, finally looking up. "Why?"

"If Gato can hire someone like Zabuza just to hold on to this place, there'll be more coming eventually." She shifted her weight back and forth, testing her injured side and the flexibility her bandages left her with. "We don't have any reliable means of calling for help short of sending one of you back to Konoha to carry the message, which would only make us weaker until you returned, and I won't be a hundred percent for a while, so you three will have to get better and make up the difference."

"Um, if Gato is going to send someone else… h-how will we have enough time to get stronger?"

Kurenai winked and smiled reassuringly as she reached up and pinched Hinata's cheek affectionately. "Trust me. I know what I'm doing." Silently she added, 'I think.'

ooo

A few hours later, Kurenai led her team into a small clearing in the woods. She hadn't planned on teaching them this technique for a while yet, but after seeing Naruto's apparent mastery of it – which implied that Kakashi had his team on an accelerated training schedule – she had rethought her plan. If her team was going to make a name for themselves and earn a moment in the spot light with the other teams with the more well known members or parentage, they were going to have to pick up the pace. They eventually reached a small clearing surrounded on all sides by tall, thick trees with few low branches to get in the way of her genin. They would be perfect for climbing.

"Today we're going to learn to climb trees," she explained as she turned towards her team.

"Uh, Kurenai-sensei, I climbed trees when I was a little kid. How is this training?" Kiba asked as he stared up at the large trees in front of them.

"Because this time you aren't going to use your hands," Kurenai replied with a smile. Kiba and Hinata still looked confused while Shino looked about the same as ever but his sunglasses – and, presumably, his eyes – were watching her carefully, which might have meant that he was waiting for an explanation. "I can only show you a little because I haven't recovered completely yet, but just watch."

She took a few ginger steps towards one of the trees and then placed her foot against it and began to walk straight up, apparently ignoring all laws of gravity. After only three or four steps she turned and walked back down, pressing her hand against her side which was once again flaring painfully. Hinata took a step forward to help her, but Kurenai waved her off.

"I'm fine," she told the younger ninja, clearly lying, but not leaving room in her voice for her claim to be challenged. After a moment the pain ebbed and she stood a little taller and continued the lesson. "This exercise will help you learn to control your chakra more easily. It's not flashy, but it's tough and requires a lot of concentration and precision.

"You have to control the amount of chakra you release and then you have to bring it out of the proper area. You can't climb the tree the way I just did if you release half the chakra out of your hands when all of it needs to be going to your feet. And at the same time, you'll fall if you fail to bring out enough or bring out too much while you climb. Training like this will also help build up your stamina so that you have more chakra to use as well." She looked around at her students and smiled cheerfully. "This can be a difficult skill to learn, even for seasoned shinobi, but I think you can do it." 'If Naruto can figure it out, any of you can,' she added silently."You just have to gather the right amount of chakra at the bottom of your feet and you will stick to the tree. It doesn't take much chakra, but you have to push it out of your feet, which can be difficult. If you use too little, you won't stick, and if you use too much, you'll just be pushed away. Got it?"

None of them looked excited after hearing about the training… though they hadn't exactly seemed thrilled from the get go. Hinata, Kurenai knew, was terrified of trying something new in front of her teammates because she tended to fail and at least part of the reason she tended failed was because she was terrified of trying something new in front of her teammates. Kiba usually lost interest when things got technical, but was a quick study and would eventually figure it out. His chakra use normally fell into the 'good enough' category, good enough to get him by, but not particularly great. The fact that this would be a hard skill to teach Akamaru only aided his lack of enthusiasm. And Shino was Shino. Kurenai had no doubt that he would master it quickly, assuming that his father or another Aburame Clan member hadn't already taught him how to do it.

She reached into the pocket of Tsunami's robe, pulled out three kunai, and tossed them to the three genin. "Use these to mark your spot as you climb, that way you can see if you're getting better. I'd like all three of you to eventually be able to walk all the way to one of the top branches, but running to gain some momentum might help at first. I'll stand back and give you any help I can, but this is something that you will at least partly have to figure out for yourselves. Go ahead and start whenever you feel ready."

Kiba dashed forward, managed three steps up the tree and then felt his foot sink into the wood, with a cry of alarm he fell backwards and landed on his head. He lay still for a moment and then sat up rubbing his head and looking up at the footprint buried in the wood just slightly above eye level. "Damn."

Hinata tried to think positively as she ran towards the tree, but felt her doubt creep back in just as she started to take her first step up the trunk. Her fear made her hesitate and when trying to bend the laws of gravity, she who hesitates is lost… or at least smacks her head against the large tree, which is what Hinata did.

Shino, on the other hand, did not hesitate. He ran forward and then up the tree making it a full ten steps before slashing his kunai against the trunk as he flipped down and away, landing gracefully. He looked up and checked his first attempt without comment.

Kurenai watched her team's initial go at it and sighed, but was careful not to show any disappointment on her face. It wasn't that she'd thought they would get it right away, she'd just hoped that there would be a little more to work with in the beginning. Telling Hinata not to be scared, telling Kiba to pay more attention before he split his skull open, and telling Shino good job, seemed to be where most of their training sessions started.

"Good job, Shino," she said as he finished calculating the current height he was capable of. "Make sure you keep the chakra flow to your feet constant and you'll have it in no time." Her eyes shifted to the blue haired girl in the middle, "Are you alright, Hinata?"

"Y-yes, sensei," Hinata replied quickly, her face burning with shame.

"Don't be afraid to fall, but expect to stick to the trunk. When you hesitated, you stopped pushing chakra towards your feet." Kurenai smiled reassuringly at the young Hyuuga and then added, "It's okay to screw it up. No one gets it on their first go."

"I'm okay too," Kiba groaned from the ground. Akamaru had come over and was licking his friends face and wagging his tail, earning himself a scratch behind the ears.

"I wasn't worried about you," the jounin smirked, "your skull is too hard for a little blow to the head to hurt you. And even if it did, it would only be an improvement."

"That's cold, sensei," Kiba frowned playfully. "So, what did I do wrong, other than falling on my head?"

"You tried too hard and didn't pay enough attention. Too much chakra, not enough control."

Kiba nodded and looked back up at his footprint. "Well, it shouldn't be hard to beat that mark at least."

Kurenai smiled and the three tried again. Two hours later Shino could take about twenty steps before losing his grip on the tree. Kiba seemed to be hovering around the fifteen step mark, but was quickly catching on to where he was going wrong and was improving almost every try. And Hinata was slowly gaining enough confidence to actually show what she was capable of. It was, Kurenai reflected from the shady spot she sat in and occasionally called out encouragement and instructions from, a predictable training session. Actually, they were doing better than she'd thought they would after their first day.

Kiba continued to be done in by excessive chakra use and inattention, but would probably be able to reach some of the lower branches by the following day. Eventually Hinata would realize that she had the best chakra control of any of them and master the skill quickly; it was just a matter of her convincing herself that she could do it. And Shino, as always, approached the training from a strictly logical standpoint, evaluating his failures and successes until he saw what his problem was and made it to the top. Kurenai was certain that within a week or two he would be able to ascend a tree without even a second thought. Perhaps, if they were still here at that point, she would start him on the more advanced water walking training.

All three were breathing hard, the exertion of pushing chakra through their feet and maintaining its flow as they ran quickly draining their stamina, but none of them complained and none of them stopped working.

'They really are a great team,' Kurenai thought happily as she slowly got to her feet. "Alright you three, we're going to miss dinner if we stay out here much longer, let's head back in and you can work on it some more tomorrow."

Akamaru barked excitedly at the word 'dinner', or at least Kurenai guessed that was what he was so happy about, and Shino and Kiba nodded and followed her. Hinata, however, continued to look up at her tree.

"Hinata?" Kurenai called when she noticed that the girl was not following.

"I... I would like to stay a little longer, Kurenai-sensei," Hinata replied taking a deep calming breath.

Kurenai watched her for a moment and then nodded, "Don't stay out too late. I'll make sure to save you any crab or eel that Tsunami-san cooks."

Hinata wrinkled her nose and laughed softly at what she hoped was a joke as her team walked back to Tazuna's house. Then she turned back to the tree, braced herself, and began to run towards it yet again.

ooo

Since time began, people had lived on the shores of the great ocean, harvesting its fish, waiting out its terrible storms, and enjoying the salt in the air. Some couldn't even remember a time when a member of their family had ever left the town they were born in for any reason, let alone moved away. They lived on the beach, they worked on the beach, and eventually they died on the beach. Naruto had visited many coastal towns in his lifetime and Ginoza was indistinguishable from about seventy-five percent of them. It looked old, run down, weather-beaten and smelled strongly of raw fish and salt water. There were a few new houses – visible because they stood a little straighter, having not been beaten by as many storms – but even the new wood on these homes looked about the same as the old wood on the older homes.

Most of the villages like Ginoza that Naruto had visited had been bustling with people either trying to buy or sell fish. Children had laughed and run along the docks with their little fishing poles, upsetting the older men and women who were actually trying to catch a few fish. Large, barrel-chested men with dark tans had tended to their nets and boats, jovially telling stories of adventures on the sea to each other while they worked.

In this, however, Ginoza was quite different. There were no children playing, no men with funny or exciting stories, and no fish being sold to the highest – or loudest – bidder. This could have had to do with the fact that it was getting close to evening when Naruto first stepped foot in the town, but even with that excuse, it seemed eerily quiet to him. What few people he saw quickly went about their business and then hurried home as if they were afraid of being caught outside for too long. Naruto called out to a couple of them, trying to get their attention, but his voice only seemed to hurry them along.

No one smiled.

Finally he spotted and old man with a fishing pole and a large bucket that held the fruits of his day's labor. The man was moving more slowly than the others, either because of the weight of his bucket or his age, and Naruto hurried after him.

"Hey, old man," he said as soon as he'd caught up, "have you seen a couple of kids about my age, a dark haired woman with red eyes, and an old guy come through here lately?"

The man didn't reply other than to give the young ninja a shrug and try to shuffle away a little faster.

Naruto had never been one to accept being ignored and after getting plenty of it from the rest of the villagers in this town (not to mention the ignoring he got back in Konoha) his frustration was already at the breaking point. He reached out and snagged the man by his shirt and spun him around, water sloshed out of the bucket and drenched both of their sandals, but neither took much notice of it. "I'm talking to you, old man," he growled threateningly. "Have you seen them?"

The man gave a hesitant shake of his head and refused to meet Naruto's eyes. "I didn't see nothin'," he muttered.

Naruto's small fists dug into the man's shirt as he lifted him off the ground, a feat that surprised and scared the fisherman. "Do you live around here?" he demanded. The man nodded fearfully. "Then you sure as hell saw them or know someone who did, they'd stick out too much for you not to know about them. One was a small girl in a jacket with dark hair and pale eyes, another was a loudmouth with a white puppy either in his jacket or on top of his head, and the other one... well..." Naruto's rant paused as he tried to think of how to describe Shino, "...well, you'd have heard about those two. And you definitely would have heard about the woman, she's too good looking to ignore. Now either tell me what you saw or point me to someone who will!"

"I… I can't…" the man whispered. "P-please… if Gato-sama finds out about them…"

"Gato?" Naruto frowned and lowered the man back to the ground, "Who's Gato?"

"He runs things around here," the man quickly replied as he smoothed his shirt. "He… he has spies everywhere."

It took a moment, but at last Naruto remembered who he was talking about. Gato was the one who'd hired Zabuza and would eventually be the one who hired the men who killed Zabuza. He was, technically, the real problem, though Zabuza posed the more immediate danger. "I won't tell, but those are my friends and I need to find them, they're in danger."

The man shook his head once more, but this time gave a small motion with his fingers towards one of the docks. "Kaji-san might know something about them," he whispered and then hurried in the opposite direction as Naruto turned towards the indicated dock.

The dock was old and rickety, looking like it wanted nothing more than to finally collapse into the sea and was just waiting for the right opportunity to do so. Every step Naruto took upon its wooden planks caused it to creak and sway slightly. The man at the end of the dock, Kaji, knew Naruto was coming from the moment he stepped onto it.

"Are you Kaji-san?" Naruot asked, trying to keep his voice soft and polite despite his growing impatience.

"Who's asking?" Kaji replied curtly as his hand moved towards a knife that he'd been using to clean a few fish earlier.

Naruto ignored the man's question, the last thing he needed was for this man to have a name to go with an already pretty distinct face. "I'm looking for a group of ninja about my age and an older woman with dark hair and red eyes. They would have been traveling with an annoying old man named Tazuna."

Kaji's eyes widened and his hand tucked the knife behind his back to conceal it. "I don't know what you're talking about. All I use my boat for is fishing all day, every day."

Naruto looked the man up and down, wondering if he was the same man who had taken his team over to the small island that was the Wave Country. It had been far too long for him to remember the man's plain face, but he supposed it was possible. "Look, I'm not working for this Gato person you guys are all so worried about," he said with an annoyed sigh, "I just want to find my friends."

Whatever he should have said, the name "Gato" was not it. Naruto had barely finished speaking before Kaji threw the knife at him – not even bothering to aim or watch to see if he'd made contact – and leaped into his boat, pulling the cord to start the engine the second his feet touched down. Naruto easily dodged the knife, which would have been hard pressed to hurt him anyway as the blade had rotated away from him by the time it reached him, and stared after the fleeing man.

He could go after him, perhaps even catch him after a while, but it was pointless. Kaji was obviously the one who had taken them or he wouldn't have been so freaked out about getting caught and that meant that they were already over there. The only thing Kaji could tell him would be how long ago they'd crossed the strait and Naruto was certain that they'd been too far ahead of him for it to matter much at this point. The only question was whether or not they'd run into Zabuza… and, if they had, who had managed to survive.

Naruto looked down at the dark blue water, grimacing at the waves. Water walking was easy when the water actually stayed still or was only slowly moving, when it was a churning ocean it could be like trying to run up a slide while someone poured sand down from the top.

"Damn it, I hate doing this on choppy water," he grumbled as he took two steps back and then ran to the end of the dock and jumped as far as he could out into the water. His right foot hit a wave as he came down and he nearly fell, but managed to steady himself quickly, and then took off across the sea, leaping over waves every couple of steps and cursing the gods every time two crashing waves gave him a mouthful of salty water.

ooo

Kiba was not a fan of children. They were annoying, they treated Akamaru like he was a toy, and they were loud. Of course, a lot of people thought that he was loud and annoying – his sister, for one – but he was usually loud for a reason, kids were just loud… and stupid.

Tazuna's grandson, Inari, on the surface, looked like a cute little boy, always helping his mother or going fishing. The team hadn't even known he existed until their second day in the house when he walked in and quietly sat down for dinner. In Kiba's eyes he'd even earned himself a few points for offering Akamaru a little food, but not touching or talking to the puppy in a demeaning sort of way. Then he'd turned his dark brown eyes on the other ninja from Konoha sitting at the table and scowled at them from under the green-striped bucket hat that seemed to be a permanent fixture atop his messy black hair.

"You should leave," he told them in a dead voice. "You'll just die if you stay here."

That was it. Just thinking he could come in and say something like that without even introducing himself or offering an explanation. "You'll just die…" and then he didn't even have the balls to stay there so Kiba could yell at him. After he'd made his little pronouncement he'd got out of his seat and went upstairs and didn't come back down even when his mother called for him.

Tsunami had apologize profusely for her son's rudeness, which made Kiba even more annoyed with the kid, and then Tazuna had told them the story of the boy's adoptive father, Kaiza, who had been a hero in the village and who had befriended Inari even before his mother married him.

When Tazuna explained that Kaiza had been falsely accused and then executed in front of the entire village, including Inari, Hinata had cried, but Kiba had grown even more annoyed with the boy. A crime like that shouldn't just be meekly accepted! The kid's dad was murdered and Inari just… what? Gave up? It was an insult to the father who'd loved him and tried to teach him how to be a real man.

He'd said as much and received a shocked look from Hinata and an annoyingly calm explanation from Shino that Inari was only a little boy with no training in anything that would allow him to defend himself or his village.

They'd argued all through dinner about it. Shino and his damn logic had, as always, sounded so right, but that was only because Kiba's passion was harder to put into words. It was easy to point out cold hard facts, but facts didn't rule most people's lives the way it did Shino and the rest of the Aburame clan. Kiba could understand Inari not being physically able to try to avenge his dad, but to just let Gato and his men mentally and emotionally defeat him as well… well that was inexcusable no matter how many facts Shino pointed out.

So now, as they sat at the dinner table eating their food and waiting for Hinata to return from the training grounds, Kiba couldn't help but glare at the little boy who was quietly eating his fish looking for all the world like a corpse that had climbed out of the ground, cleaned itself off and come down to dinner. There was just no life in the kid's eyes!

"Did you let anyone kick you around again today, kid?" he asked.

"Shut up," the little boy replied listlessly.

"Leave him alone, Kiba," Kurenai warned from across the table.

"Sorry, sensei," he sighed, "I just can't understand someone who'd give up so easily. You'd think he wasn't even angry at the people who killed his father."

"Stop," Kurenai hissed at him.

"I mean, if it was me," he continued just wanting to get a little more out so he could make his point without arguing with nearly emotionless Shino, "I'd be pissed, but maybe he didn't really like his da—"

"I didn't!" Inari shouted, showing signs of life for the first time since Kiba met him. "I didn't like him! I don't care that he's dead! And I won't care when you're dead either!" And then the boy turned and fled upstairs without acknowledging his mother's call for him to come back.

Everyone stared after the boy and then turned to Kiba, who suddenly felt bad for pushing things too far. Inari was, after all, just a little boy. An annoying little boy, but a little boy nonetheless.

He sighed and gave his head a little shake as he mentally kicked himself for being so mean. "Sorry," he whispered and actually felt it.

Before anything else could be said, Hinata knocked softly on the front door and then came inside. Her face showed her confusion at the tense atmosphere in the house, but her presence actually helped defuse the situation considerably. No one wanted to have to explain it to her and without doing so it would be hard to yell at Kiba for his thoughtlessness, so they forgave him, or at least that's how he took it.

A small glance that he caught from Tsunami made him wonder if he didn't have an ally in the room anyway. Maybe he'd only said what needed to be said.

'Stupid brat,' he grumbled as he savagely dug into the simple meal.

ooo

By the time Naruto found the bridge, he was completely soaked, freezing cold, and beyond exhausted. His little body just wasn't used to expending such large amounts of energy over prolonged periods of time. He quickly walked to one of its supports, up the pillar, and finally onto the proper side of the bridge. From there it only took him another few minutes of running to reach the island and with it, Tazuna's home town.

The town before him was actually fairly large, he'd forgotten how big the place was, though it looked far more run down than the last time he'd stood on the bridge and looked at it. He supposed that after a decade or so of prosperity this village would more closely match the one from his memories.

There was no one around, but it was getting dark and this village was even more used to living under Gato's thumb than the one on the mainland. While it was good that no one would see the blond haired stranger in the orange clothing, it would make finding Team Eight – assuming they were still alive (which they were, he tried to convince himself) – that much more difficult. The lake was located somewhere past the outskirts of town to the west, but Naruto couldn't remember where Tazuna's house was – and that was where the living Team Eight should be.

He really didn't want to go to the lake.

So long as he didn't see any evidence of their deaths, his friends were still officially alive. If, however, he went there and had the proof in front of him, he would have no choice but to accept it.

Naruto stared longingly at the town, hoping that one of the houses would stick out as being the bridge builder's home, but all of them just looked old, wooden, and sparsely lit. After a moment he decided that he had no choice and began to drag his tired body towards the woods at the edge of town.

Once he reached the woods it was possible for him to travel much quicker, but he chose to drag his feet instead, taking as much time as possible. Tree hoping had always been easy, even when he was young, and the feeling of the cool salty breeze blowing in his face and chilling his damp skin helped to wake him a little, but he wasn't looking forward to the destination. The journey took less than half an hour, even at his slowed pace, and when he arrived he was pleasantly surprised to find no bodies waiting to be identified.

In the growing darkness he could see that the ground along the path had been torn up and spotted a kunai lying in the grass a short distance from it. Just as he started to let himself believe that they had either avoided Zabuza altogether or had managed to survive the battle, his nose caught a whiff of blood on the breeze. Instantly he turned in the direction it had come from and began to search the ground with his eyes. The source was not hard to find.

Naruto closed his eyes and swallowed hard. There was no body, but there was a lot of blood on the grass. He stepped towards it and knelt down, brushing his fingers against the sticky dyed-red blades. It was dry and the covered grass crackled under his touch, whoever did the bleeding had done so at least a few days before, though for a tracker of his mediocre skill it was impossible to tell how long exactly.

Naruto forced his eyes away from the dark spot and searched for any other clues he might find. There was another small patch of blood a few meters away and some footprints, but that was it.

He would have to look elsewhere for his answers.

Naruto took a step back towards the town, but stumbled as his vision blurred in front of his eyes. "Damn it," he grumbled as he tried to take another step, but nearly fell.

After a full day of running, without having slept the night before, and with his energy halved by the use of a shadow clone, he'd already just about reached his body's chakra limit. Unless he started augmenting his energy with demon chakra – which, he knew from experience, was not a very good idea – there was no way he'd be able to do any more hunting until he'd sat down and rested… and had a bite to eat, of course. He would just have to let his hopes rest on the fact that there were no bodies to collect. In the morning things would be clearer anyway.

He stumbled to a nearby tree and somehow managed to scale it, finding as comfortable a spot amongst the branches as he could and looked around wearily as he took a few bites of a ration bar he'd been carrying in his backpack. It was going to be hard to stay awake all night after what he'd done that day, but there was no way around it. He couldn't afford to fall asleep and have the remaining shadow clone in Konoha vanish, not this early anyway. He'd have to sleep eventually, the following night or the one after if things hadn't been resolved by then, but he could at least make it forty-eight hours even if this body wasn't used to such things.

With a deep breath and a promise to remain awake he settled down for the night, staring up at the stars and wondering what he'd find in the morning light. Given that he couldn't sleep, he knew he was in for a long night of worry and struggle.

"No bodies," he begged quietly as he took another bite of the disgusting ration bar. "I can handle anything but bodies. Just let them be alive, that's all I ask…"

ooo

After dinner, Hinata slipped upstairs to go to her room and clean herself up a little. She was tired, but feeling better than she had in days. After her team had left, she'd found it easier to do the tree-climbing exercise. She couldn't do it perfectly by any stretch of the imagination, but she'd been able to go up at least as high as Kiba and had nearly caught up to Shino.

It wouldn't be enough to get a "well done" from her father, but she'd long since given up hope of ever being that good at anything. In this one area she didn't feel like she was going to hold her team back too much and that was enough for now.

As she passed Inari's room, the door slightly open, she heard the sounds of crying from within. She paused at the door and considered going in. It would be rude to intrude upon the poor boy's grief… but it would be unkind to leave him to cry alone.

When her mother had died, she'd often cried herself to sleep at night, wishing for some sort of comfort to come. Her father had never cried, nor had any other Hyuuga that she'd seen. Grief was a personal thing, not to be shared with others. Yet she was certain that it would have been easier for her if there had been someone to hold her and love her while she poured out her emotions.

She opened the door farther before she could talk herself out of it. Inside she found the little boy sitting on his bed, cradling a picture of his father and staring out the window at the stars and the sea as tears streamed down his face. She wanted to talk to him, but couldn't think of anything to say. She could sympathize with his feelings of loss and weakness, but she didn't know how to lead him away from them as she felt just as weak as he and so she was left standing there feeling like an intruder.

Finally she took a deep breath and quietly asked, "I-Inari-kun… are y-you okay?"

"I'm fine," he replied in a cold, dead voice, quickly wiping at his tears to hide them.

Hinata watched him for a moment longer and then tentatively stepped closer and sat down next to him on his bed. "Y-you must… m-miss him," she whispered, scarcely believing that she was going to bring up such a painful subject.

Inari's jaw flexed. "Who?" he asked defiantly.

"Your father."

"I don't miss him!" he hissed, his eyes suddenly becoming glassy as more tears welled up in them despite his efforts to wipe them away. "He was nothing but a liar."

Hinata stared wide-eyed at the boy in shock. "W-what do you mean?"

Inari's face twisted as he fought down a sob that was trying to come out. "He promised he'd always protect me, but he lied! He can't protect anyone because he's dead… and you'll die too if you try to fight Gato!"

Hinata was silent for a long time, trying to think of something to say, but finding nothing that seemed appropriate. Finally she reached out a tentative hand and placed it on the boy's back. He flinched away from the contact for a second, but then slowly leaned into it.

"My mother died… a-a long time ago… when my sister was born," Hinata whispered as they sat there looking out at the night sky. It was odd to talk about it again, the only other time she'd spoken about it had been with Naruto… and he'd laughed by the end. Still, there was something about saying the words that seemed to make it easier each time, like an old wound that was finally being allowed to heal. It probably helped that she could now see that Naruto had not meant to hurt he with his laughter, his appearance and confusion back in Konoha proved that much, though it didn't explain what he could have been laughing at if not her story. Hinata pushed those thoughts quickly from her mind and added, "I-I know that it hurts to lose someone you love."

Inari didn't reply, instead choosing to brush his hand across his face in an attempt to wipe away tears he hoped to hide. He let himself lean more against her hand until she was practically hugging him.

"I-I don't think that she has left me though," Hinata continued not even totally sure of where she was even going with her story. Her mouth seemed to be running out in front of her brain. "She… she is with me, I think, watching me. M-maybe she's even proud of me…" she paused, memories of past failures running through her head, and then added, "…sometimes, anyway."

Inari snorted contemptuously. "Yeah, well, I don't think my dad is watching over me… and I don't care if he's not proud of me. If I tried to stand up to Gato and his men, I'd just get killed…"

"P-perhaps," Hinata conceded, "but maybe he is just waiting for you to b-be in need of protection… instead of living in fear all the time." It was an old Hyuuga tradition to believe that the spirits of their ancestors continued to look out for them and guide them. Most probably didn't believe in it anymore, but Hinata liked to think that there was some truth in even the most fanciful of stories.

Inari huffed indignantly, but didn't offer a counter argument, probably he didn't even care.

Hinata fell quiet, wondering how it was that she found herself able to talk to this little boy she barely knew when she was too scared to say more than a few words to anyone outside of her team – and sometimes not even them – back in Konoha. Perhaps it was because she and he had both lost a loved one or because both of their lives had changed so drastically when that loved one had died… or maybe she was just so tired from doing the tree climbing training that she didn't have the energy for her normal fear and hesitation.

"I used to cry for my mother… at night when no one would hear me, w-when my family would consider it more appropriate to allow my grief to show. For a long time, I could think of nothing but what I'd lost. The smiles, the hugs, the feeling of safety… and then slowly, very slowly, I began to think not about what was no longer there, but about what I had been able to enjoy. All those memories that I had that would stay with me, the way my mother remains with me. My little sister, Hanabi, she never got to see those things, she won't be able to remember just how much our mother loved us… so, though it hurts to have lost her, I am actually blessed to have had what little time I did to feel all those wonderful things that a loved one gives us. Those thoughts helped ease the pain… so it wasn't as overwhelming as it had been before. It still hurt, but little by little the hurt goes away and all you have left are the good memories that make you stronger."

It felt like the longest stream of spoken word that had ever come out of her mouth, and she didn't even remember stuttering as she said it, she barely remembered thinking. She just opened her mouth and out it came. Whether or not it meant anything to Inari, she couldn't say, but she felt a sense of satisfaction with what she'd managed to tell him.

She waited for a moment longer and then stood up, gave him a small bow, and then practically fled back to her own room.

From the window just be low Inari's, Tsunami let out a soft sigh, having listened to the whole conversation, and then turned her sad, thoughtful eyes back to the housework that needed to be done. Upstairs, Inari sat perfectly still for a long time, thinking of things he had seen and of words spoken to him long ago by the man he loved.

o

o

A/N: A boring chapter, but it had to be there. Sorry, Naruto has to get to the Wave Country and Team Eight has to do something while they wait for him. There will be a little more action in the next one (very little) and a lot more in the following one. Given that the Wave Country arc takes up two and a half volumes of the manga (almost six months at one chapter per week for those who were reading it back then), I don't think this is too bad really.

This chapter has gone through a bit of revision real recently in an attempt to cut out a lot of repeated stuff in the next chapter… which is getting even more revision. Unfortunately, actually working on these chapters a little forces me to slow down just a bit on the updating (it's nearly been four days since the last update, a new record with this story), but it can't be helped. In addition to changes in this chapter, there have been a few tweaks to past chapters, nothing major, but Naruto now has a conversation with Sasuke in chapter 5 (before Sakura tries to ask him out and then ends up eating with Naruto). A reviewer pointed out that I shouldn't just say "conversations with Sasuke weren't going well" but should actually show it. It's not a major conversation and it changes nothing, but now Naruto's Uchiha troubles are shown, not just told.

While reading through and changing some things in this chapter, I found myself wondering why I didn't have Kurenai consider calling for support. That's what I would have done if I were in their situation, but then I don't know that there's ever been a case where someone has actually called for reinforcements in the manga – maybe during the Kakashi Gaiden, when Minato goes to help the other Leaf ninja who are pinned down… but that's about it. Kakashi definitely doesn't consider it in Wave Country arc, Shikamaru doesn't really have the option to do so during the Sasuke retrieval… what other missions are there? I had to put the 'no way to call home' part in there to make an excuse for it. Hopefully that works.

Also, sorry if the tree climbing thing was too much of a retread of what's already been done. I thought about it long and hard, but couldn't come up with another type of training that they could really do – though having Kurenai see Naruto use the skill seems like as good an excuse for it to reappear as any. Given the improvement Team Seven had after this training, it's pretty obvious that it helps a lot and I can't imagine that other jounin wouldn't know this as well… Anyway, it is what it is.

So, funny story. Back when I first wrote this chapter which was about… oh, seven months or so ago, the town that Naruto visits in this chapter was called "Minato" (it translates as "Dock," which is why I chose it as the name of a fishing town). Little did I know at the time, Minato would actually end up being Naruto's father's name! Crazy little coincidence. I didn't even notice until just last week when I reread the chapter and though, 'why is this town named after Naruto's dad???' So, Minato was replaced with Ginoza, which is a real village (with a population just under five thousand) in the Kunigami district in Okinawa, Japan… I bet you didn't think you'd get a Japanese geography lesson when you started reading this Author's Note, did you? Hopefully you're all paying attention, there's going to be a test towards the end of the story and if enough people fail to get it right, I'm leaving you all with a horrible cliffhanger – something like Naruto being captured by Orochimaru and facing torture and execution – and never updating again…no, no, I wouldn't do that! Not for failing a test… failing to review on the other hand… ;)