Chapter 10 – Nami no KuniPrelude: Trouble in Wave Country

Hey people, Tibo's back.

So begins the Wave arc. If I was just focusing on canon I could do this in two chapters or so since it would just cover the showdown with Zabuza, however I've decided to add a little more of my own material as I think Gato's was under-utilised as a villain. Therefore I'm splitting this arc into four separate chapters. This first chapter is a short one, as the title suggests its only a prelude and pretty much sets up what action is going to be taken over the rest of the arc.

Team 7 will meet Naruto during this arc. Honestly, I do not like Sakura and though I'm not one for bashing, it's largely unavoidable as far as she concerned unless you fundamentally change her character (which I won't be doing). My main issue in canon is more with Naruto's fixation on her than her character itself, it's quite inexplicable (Naruto's pretty much a fanboy). Sasuke's a bit easier since he'll likely keep his questions regarding Naruto to himself initially (though he'll probably take some form of action later). In canon he comes across as a douche but again I think that's largely a result of perspective. The whole rivalry thing detracts from both characters, if Kishimoto had made the manga about Sasuke, (some kind of anti hero – revenge plot) he would have been a more sympathetic figure, but instead we have Naruto as the main and both characters suffer for it, Naruto comes across as an idiot and Sasuke as an arrogant tool.

However, neither Sasuke or Sakura are particularly relevant to my plot, unlike canon Naruto doesn't have an unhealthy obsession with both of them and generally won't care what either of them do unless it affects him directly in some way. He certsinly won't consider people who hurt and deride him on a regular basis as 'precious people' (in canon I don't think he ever understood the concept; probably because he just swiped the idea of Haku in passing and started calling it his nindo). So don't expect either Sasuke or Sakura to feature too heavily, Sasuke will have a role since Orochimaru wants him but it won't be a huge if he gets too annoying Naruto will just off him.

I decided to make Kakashi largely indifferent to Naruto (instead of hostile, I found it difficult to write him as a positive influence since all evidence in Part 1 suggests otherwise) though he'll be curious/suspicious about him.

In regards to Kushina, I'm inclined to keep her as she was in canon at the moment (as part of the seal, though I could make her a more permanent resident than she was in canon). That way I can still have a confrontation between the two (and Kurama as well) but not have it take too much away from the plot or contrive a way of keeping her alive that may or may not work. In any event it is still ages away and I'm not going to make a final decision this far out.

In response to some reviews/questions:

Cold blue:

I'm still working on the plan for resurrection. It's a bit easier since their souls are still walking around they just need a body. Akeginu will be the first but it won't happen for a while (after Oto infiltration in the outline).

Tayuya is pretty much confirmed, I like her sound genjutsu and doki (needed a long range fighter). Still undecided on Karin, she was a bit annoying in canon but she was smart as wised up eventually, also she won't have any real connection to Sasuke in this so that annoying fan girl esque behaviour will largely be avoided.

Spirit link animal is coming up during the chūnin exam 1 month interlude (so is a certain basilisk character as well). I'm still not completely decided on the animal though the owl is leading at the moment, I like the snake but Anko and Orochimaru pretty have that covered pretty well.

Rikudou Naruto:

He has kamaitachi, see the earlier chapters where Akeginu teaches him the technqiue, as well as his fight against Aoi where he uses it. He also has regeneration, see the same chapter with Aoi, it has a flashback for his first deal with Kurrama. His regeneration is superior to Tenzen's though. He will have a spirit link (chunin exam arc), though maybe not with a viper, I'm considering other creatures at this stage. I'm leaning towards a bird because Naruto hasn't been using his full skill set recently because Konoha has eyes on him.

No Akatsuki members will be killed by B rank nin in my fic — period. I hated that in canon, especially Sasori's death. Sakura, a girl with barely three years of serious training, taking down the greatest puppeteer in history – what a joke. Hidan aside most of those guys are geniuses and incredibly strong, no borderline B rank ninja will be inexplicably taking down S rank in my Fic. Sasori and Kakuzu will be particularly difficult for Naruto as they use proxies in battle and his eyes won't work on puppets.

Ddcj1900: Probably Kisaragi Saemon since he's a bit more of a stable personality. Hates Iga less too despite the fact that his sister died at their hands.

Ozzam40K: You're right about the ninja, they have essential become the main fighting force. Ninja in Akeginu's time were essentially intelligence operatives, or at most covert special forces.

55: Yūgao? Maybe, I'll definitely consider it, she'll be chasing Naruto regardless to get the full story from him.

Affirmative Bloodline: Kagerou's ability is heavily implied to be bloodline, especially in the novel where it states that only females in her family possess the ability to breath poison when sexually stimulated. That and the ability is designed for kunoichi to make their seduction more lethal.

Shadow's Blades: Yeah, I added Araki to give Naruto some contacts high up in Fire Country's government and outside Konoha's influence. When I add OCs I add them for a specific purpose or too add some extra depth.

Serialkeller: Good tactics can make up for a lot of weaknesses and deficiencies or in Naruto's case allow a strong person to win comfortably without relying on high level techniques.

roboguy45: They can't really force him to reveal his techniques because it would set a dangerous precedent. There's no way the shinobi council would allow it because it would be setting off warning bells in their heads, theoretically the council could demand access to any technique they want. Since no one would be able to reproduce the genjutusu ability he could get away with calling it a hidden jutsu or even a bloodline (which would be reasonably accurate since it's a mutation).

[Standard disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Basilisk]

It was near midnight when Yūgao and Naruto arrived in the small archipelago nation of Nami no Kuni. They had made good time. Wave Country was located off the coast to the east of Fire Country, roughly two days travel from Konoha; Yūgao and Naruto managed the trip in little over a day.

After their meeting with the Hokage, Yūgao had given Naruto fifteen minutes to re-supply before they headed out on their new mission. Although this mission was urgent and time was of the essence, heading out without checking their supplies would be negligent at best, particularly since they had just returned from a mission themselves. After resupplying Yūgao and Naruto had left immediately and headed east to Wave Country. They travelled far more quickly than Team 7 did, since there was no client to slow them down they could move at a fast pace, and since Naruto knew how to water walk they could cross the narrow stretch of water separating Wave from Fire Country without waiting for a boat.

Their arrival in Wave had been a novel experience for both of them. Neither had seen the bridge before; construction hadn't begun when Naruto sent his shadow clones out to Wave when he was younger. Naruto had to admit the sight was impressive and would be even more so once the bridge was completed. The bridge was massive, the straight between the island and the continent was several kilometres wide so building a serviceable bridge to across it would be an engineering marvel.

Naruto wasn't naïve as to what the bridge represented either, nor the implications of building it. He knew the Wave Country well, it was a small nation that had no ninja village of its own and for the last decade or so had been held in an iron grip by the Gato Company. The main town was a port that was ideally situated so that it was the main thoroughfare for merchant vessels seeking to trade between Water Country and the southern part of the continent. It was this fact was what made Gato and his company so powerful, he controlled the port, and thus controlled Wave Country. All the tariffs and taxes on all goods moving in and out of the port went straight to his purse, and anyone who wanted a favour in regards to trading in Wave had to go to him to get it. This bridge Tazuna was building would link the country to the continent making the need for ships along that route redundant and thereby severely reducing the Gato Company's profits. It was also symbolic of the Nations emancipation form the Gato Company. These factors are what led to Gato hiring A rank missing nin to dispose of the bridge builder and prevent the bridge's completion.

Wave Country was an interesting case study. Quite often economic success was good for a country, it resulted in a boom that was profitable for a large portion of the populous, but not in Wave. Gato was a very greedy man, not content with the enormous profits gained from the port he used his wealth to hire mercenaries to extend his influence to black market trades and extort the locals out of any potential profit they could gain from the port either from forcing them to hire his own men as security or through raising interest rates on loans so any debts would be impossible to pay back. Gato's extensive black market trades ran in everything from drugs and weapons, to women and slaves. The man had his fingers in everything and if Naruto and Yūgao were successful, the removal of Gato and his empire would be felt across the entire elemental nations.

Naruto and Yūgao had eventually stoped running as they drew closer to the port town where Team 7 and Gato were located.

"According to Pakkun the bridge builder's house should only be a short distance to the east from here," said Yūgao as she stopped to catch her breath, they had been running non stop all the way from Konoha and it had taken a lot out of her, even Naruto with his amazing stamina looked winded. Before they had left Kakashi's nin-ken had provided them with detailed directions before dispelling so Kakashi could summon him again and be made aware that reinforcements were coming.

"Sensei…before we meet Team 7 I'd like to propose a course of action," said Naruto, stopping Yūgao from heading off to meet Kakashi.

Yūgao folded her arms and looked inquisitively at her apprentice," Oh?"

Over their last few missions Yūgao noticed that Naruto had a tendency to do this from time to time. Normally it would be unusual for a jōnin–sensei to take advice from a newly promoted genin, especially on an A rank mission but Yūgao had learnt quickly that Naruto was brilliant when it came to strategy and tactics. Someone had shoved a disturbing amount of tactical information into Naruto's mind when he was younger. Most of it was theoretical of course, Naruto didn't have the experience to put all that information into practice, but that was all right since that's where she came in. Naruto would propose a course of action and she would use her experience to tweak and amend the plan to their particular situation. That arrangement had been working well so far, very well if she was being honest with herself. In fact she couldn't recall ever having worked so well, so quickly with anyone before. She definitely valued his opinion and once Naruto had reached chūnin and had a few more high rank missions under his belt she had every intention of recommended him for an ANBU position were hopefully they could continue to work together.

"Let's hear it," said Yūgao, deciding to hear her apprentice out.

"Well…right now we hold an advantage over Zabuza and Gato due to the simple fact that they're not aware that we're here in Wave. Even if they expect Kakashi to send for reinforcements as long as we hide our presence, we maintain the element of surprise," explained Naruto.

"So what… you're suggesting that we lay low instead of joining up with Team 7, ambush Zabuza, and… use Team 7 as bait," said Yūgao immediately understanding what Naruto was getting at. The element of surprise could be the deciding factor in taking out Zabuza, in fact it could make a difficult fight a lot easier provided their timing was right. She was a bit concerned that someone as young as Naruto was proposing using fellow rookies as a distraction. After being in ANBU for several years the idea wasn't foreign to her, she recalled one S class mission when an injured teammate had to stay behind so the rest of the team could get away, she had never seen him again. However she hoped Naruto wasn't too comfortable with the idea of using teammates as throwaway shoji pieces. The other concern was that they were Genin not ANBU, ANBU had a chance of surviving being distractions for an A rank nin, genin not so much.

"That's risky Naruto."

Naruto shrugged, "The reality is that they're targets, nothing's going to change that. We should use it to our advantage, the mission has a higher chance of success that way."

Yūgao sighed, yep he wasn't too concerned about their safety, but she knew he didn't intend to let them die, even if the only reason was because it would mean failing one of their missions. "All right, I see where you're coming from and I agree, but we will be monitoring them closely. What about Gato?"

"As far as I see it we have two options, either assassinate the head…so Gato himself, or destroy the company from the bottom up. Assassination is risky because another director could replace him and nothing much will change, but if we destroy the company's foundations then not only will we cripple the company but we will have Gato on the back foot, distracted and hopefully we can kill him as well."

Yūgao nodded her head; she had come to a similar conclusion on their trip over here. Taking out Gato wouldn't work, they needed to take down his company or at the very least his operation here in Wave, "You're right Naruto, but we'll have to do some groundwork. We were assigned this mission with relatively no notice so we don't have much information on the Gato Company's assets here in Wave."

"I can help there sensei…several years back I sent some shadow clones here to gather information, I know all about Gato and his company, though the info will be a few years out of date, " replied Naruto as he tried to recall what his clones discovered all those years ago.

"What did you discover?" Yūgao asked, she was aware Naruto used his shadow clones as spies and scout from time to time, but not that he sent them so far abroad.

"That Gato is bleeding Wave dry. His main source of income is the large port where most of the ships form Water Country pass through to deliver goods to Fire Country, but he also makes a lot of money through other means. There's a large brothel in town which he uses it to recoup most of the money he pays his mercenaries since they frequent it regularly. Unfortunately most of the women there are locals forced into work either because they're broke and owe Gato money or Gato's mercenaries have kidnapped them."

Yūgao clenched her fist at that, this Gato needs to die and quickly, the man's a parasite.

"I also know that the Gato Company also traffics in drugs and slaves on the side, he stores both 'products' in the area but the location is not common knowledge," continued Naruto.

Yūgao thought for a moment, "We can't touch the port, to many ships from Water and Lightning Country pass through it, not to mention all the goods on their way to Fire and Wind Country. Its too hot, destroying any of that stock would create a huge incident...How significant are Gato's black market dealings?"

"Significant, but not so much that he can't survive without them, but...ah I see where you're going, if we were to take them out it would be a huge loss in profits for him, certainly enough to distract him from Team 7," said Naruto.

"I'm a bit worried he'll think Team 7's behind the attack," pondered Yugao, they didn't really need even more heat being brought down on them.

"Its possible, but not likely, he'll probably have them watched and Zabuza would have informed him that Kakashi is injured. The more likely scenario is that he'll think someone's moving in on his territory, Yakuza or someone like that," said Naruto, "Either way, if he does stick his head up out of the ground we can use that opportunity to chop it off."

"All right, so we know about the brothel, but as you said we need to confirm its still there. You know Naruto that place will likely have some information on Gato's other businesses. The sex trade and human trafficking are pretty closely linked, some of the woman must have come from his slavery operation," said Yūgao.

Naruto nodded his head in agreement, perhaps one of the women could give them more information, if not surely some of the guards at the brothel could be...persuaded to help.

"But first thing, we'll need fresh information if your plans going to work," said Yūgao.

Naruto made eight shadow clones who then henged into various civilians. "This is how I did it before, but that won't work as well if there are any decent ninja around, they'll detect the henge."

Yūgao nodded it would blow their cover before they were ready to move, "We'll just have to do it the hard way then."

"We won't have to do all the work sensei," said Naruto as he held up a scroll. He tossed it to a clone who unsealed it to reveal various sets of clothes and wigs.

"Something you're not telling me Naruto?" Yugao asked as she eyed the wigs, make up, various dresses and kimonos.

"Can't always rely on henge sensei, any competent ninja will see through them so sometimes its better to actually have a physical disguise," explained Naruto, silently hoping his sensei didn't think he was a cross dresser, something he only ever did when he needed to disguise himself as a woman. This was how Akeginu had collected information back in her time and she was adamant that he learned how to do it too. She didn't want him over relying on chakra based techniques. "So what do you want to be sensei; prostitute, rich man's mistress or travelling pharmacist?"

Yūgao gave Naruto a level look before saying flatly, "What do you think?"

Naruto just smiled warily and handed her the pharmacist disguise, "It won't be too much work, we only have to confirm that my old information is still accurate, and if it isn't then we will have saved a lot of time anyway."

"All right we'll go with your plan Naruto," said Yugao as she gazed at her new get up.

"What about timing sensei? When should we move in?" Naruto asked.

"As soon as possible and before Zabuza does. Hopefully destroying some of Gato's infrastructure will distract him from the bridge builder, maybe even divert Zabuza or any reinforcements Gato has ready. But that depends on how quickly we can gather the info we need and how accurate it is," explained Yūgao before pausing, "We'll need to inform Kakashi too, at least in regard to him and his team playing the distraction."

"They might be watching the bridge builder's place," commented Naruto.

"It's certainly possible and that's why I'm sending you. Use that amazing stealth of yours, sneak in there and deliver this message to Kakashi," ordered Yūgao as she handing Naruto a scroll.

"Unless you have a summons up your sleeve?" Yūgao asked with a raised eyebrow, she wouldn't be surprised, Naruto kept pulling out new techniques whenever he damn well pleased and she still hadn't had that conversation with him about his genjutsu. She tried not to feel hurt that he was still holding out on her but failed. She felt that they had developed a good repour over the last few months, but obviously Naruto still didn't think it was good enough to trust her with his true abilities.

"No…I don't have a summons sensei," replied Naruto giving her an odd look.

I hope I didn't come across as too suspicious of him, thought Yūgao. The last thing she needed was to distance him further, despite his personable demeanour she knew he didn't trust anyone, herself, Hayate, and the Hokage included. The boy had a wall up between him and everyone else, he hid behind pleasant banter and jokes, using them to brush away any attempts people got to know him. She knew he was showing large parts of his personality but she definitely wasn't seeing all of it. She couldn't help but reminded that the best way to lie was to tell the truth but not the whole truth.

"All right then, Naruto you deliver that and I'll set up camp. First thing tomorrow we'll head into town and start gathering intel," said Yūgao hoping to move Naruto thoughts along and back to the mission.

"I'll see to it sensei," said Naruto before disappearing in a cloud of blood.

Several minutes later Naruto was gliding through the trees heading towards Tazuna's house. As instructed by his sensei he was on route to inform Kakashi that they would not be joining his protection detail.

As he moved through one of the few woodland areas on the island he thought of Yūgao, she had been acting a bit odd around him lately. It has started ever since he used his new genjutsu on her in the capital. The casual banter that characterised their conversations was now strained and he wasn't sure why. Surely she knew before hand that he was keeping things from her, perhaps the reality of that being made obvious reminded her of it. He didn't have anything against her personally, in fact it was the opposite, he quite liked her. She was a competent kenjutsu user, had a professional attitude and treated him with respect that he had never really received from a Konoha citizen before. However, despite that, the fact remained that her priority was the Hokage and Konoha, not Naruto. He had little doubt that if ordered she would stick that chokuto of hers straight through his back. She certainly was reporting regularly to the Hokage about him and while that remained the case they could be nothing more than associates, transparency would be a dream and there would always be a wall between them. It wasn't personal but it was fact.

Honestly, he was a bit surprised she adopted his plan so quickly; he figured he'd have to be a bit more persuasive due to the element of risk involved. It was the right course of action of course, teaming up with team 7 meant simply waiting around for Zabuza to ambush them, not really a sound tactical move, but Konoha had an odd fascination with teammates, love and other positive emotions. He didn't really understand it, when he looked at Konoha he saw corruption, hypocrisy, and hate. To him the "Will of Fire" was a hopeless ideal, one not really conducive to ninja work and one, which Konoha only gave lip service to. He couldn't understand how Senju Hashriama came up with the philosophy. The man had been exposed to war his entire life, how could he have such an optimistic view on human nature? The Shodai Hokage was arguably the strongest ninja of the modern era, certainly not a fool yet he had developed such an irrational concept. Naruto didn't understand, it wasn't that he would abandon a teammate, he certainly wouldn't throw away Yūgao at a moment's convenience, its just that he believed that when put under pressure the darker aspects of human nature would win through, human's were selfish creatures and would always look out for themselves before anyone else. (1)

"That's easy for you to say dear, the only person you actually care about is a wandering spirit," said Kurama, typically she had chosen one of his rare and brief moments of reflection to voice her opinion. "You're not exactly putting yourself out there..."

"Why do you care?' Naruto asked, he couldn't figure out what angle she was trying to play.

"Wouldn't you like to know, but really shouldn't you be concentrating on your surroundings?"

"What are you up to Naruto?" Asked a voice from directly to his left.

"Fuck," exclaimed Naruto as he was abruptly thrust out of his musings with the Fox by the sound of a voice, indicating someone had actually managed to sneak upon him. Reacting instinctively he immediately body flickered twenty metres in the opposite direction and drew his katana, settling into a defensive stance with his katana out directly in front of him. However, he stopped when he saw the figure of Akeginu standing across from him with an amused expression on her face.

He took a deep breath and regained his composure; he could just hear the echo of Kurama's laughter inside his head. Damn spirits, it didn't matter how sharp his senses were he wouldn't be able to sense an intangible spirit unless it was something like a Yokai, that is something with its own unique form of power or chakra.

Kurama, you distracted me on purpose didn't you?

Naruto cursed when the Fox didn't respond.

"Akeginu, don't sneak up on me like that," said Naruto. He was happy to see her despite the initial stressful contact; he hadn't seen his sensei in person for well over a week.

"Oh? Naruto…you of all people have no right to say that," said a mirthful Akeginu.

"Tell me about it."

Naruto ignored both of them, the two women, and he used the term 'women' very loosely there, weren't even communicating and they were still on the same page. No doubt Yūgao would be laughing her arse off if she saw this.

"I see you got my shadow clone," said Naruto trying to move the conversation along before making a bigger fool of himself. Yesterday, he had sent a shadow clone to update Akeginu on the development and inform her that he would not be back for another week.

Akeginu gave him a knowing smile before responding," I did… I tried to find you but you had already left, so I followed you out here."

"Why?"Naruto asked.

"It's good to get out of those ruins every once in a while and it sounds like this Zabuza character is strong, so I wanted to see you kill him first hand," replied Akeginu.

"Nothing else?" Naruto asked.

"No," said Akeginu not looking him in the eye.

"Uh huh."

"Its possible that I…may have been a bit lonely there by myself, but what do you expect, I've gotten used to having you around…its pretty boring there without you to train with and its not like anyone else can see or speak to me," said Akeginu.

Naruto rolled his eyes, it was clear she was a bit concerned about him taking on someone strong but it was like pulling teeth out to get her to admit it. He decided to let her save face and move on, "According to his bingo book profile, Zabuza's skilled at kenjutsu and a master at silent killing."

"Pff, please I've been around for a while and I've never seen one of these new world ninja do something quiet. Silent killing is easy with all the jutsu these ninja have for support but even then they still don't do it silently… always screaming the names of their attacks for no reason, its annoying as hell. Try silent killing in broad daylight with nothing more than your kunai, if you can pull that off then you're a master at silent killing," said Akeginu as she finished ranting.

"I know, you taught me how to do that remember…you're not going nostalgic on me are you?"

Akeginu just narrowed her eyes at him. Naruto had just gone awfully close to calling her old and she knew just how to get back at him for it. As quickly as her eyes narrowed she adopted a sultry smile before walking towards Naruto hips swaying. Naruto stood still as a statue as he watched her before she passed straight through him.

Naruto shivered, it felt like he had just dived into freezing water or a cold wind had just blown directly through his body, "Damn it Akeginu, don't do that."

"Hmm…I've never had a man complain about being inside me before," said Akeginu with an ardent smile. I've still got it, she thought as she spotted his blush.

"Very funny," said Naruto blushing a little as he tried to ignore the image her remark conjured in his mind and failing miserably. Fortunately his hood and the darkness of night hid his blush from Akeginu. Though he suspected she knew exactly what type of reaction her remark would get out of him. Maturity and experience with Kurama aside Naruto was still a sixteen-year-old boy and Akeginu was just about the most attractive woman in the entire elemental nations.

Deciding to grant Naruto a reprieve Akeginu peeked over his shoulder at the bingo book that Naruto had pulled out, "Hmph, it says here he uses a six foot long Zanbato, what kind of silent killer lugs something that big around? You'd probably hear him coming from Iwa."

"He'd be able to move easier with chakra but sill, you're right it isn't a silent killing weapon…hmm, apparently Zabuza makes extensive use of hidden mist jutsu to hide his movements, and mask sound, just like we do," said Naruto.

"Hidden mist?"Akeginu asked.

"It's a jutsu that creates a thick mist using water manipulation, it's a standard jutsu of Kiri," replied Naruto.

"Well, now you definitely have to kill him," said Akeginu with certainty.

"What…Why?" Naruto asked. He had been planning to personally take down the missing nin anyway if only for the bounty, but he was interested in his sensei's reasoning.

"To prove that our Iga mist is superior of course, " replied Akeginu as if it was obvious. He had taken note of numerous of example of Akeginu's pride over the years, it was one of the few weaknesses the woman possessed, that and her undying hatred for anything Kouga related. Though it was that same drive to prove themselves the strongest and pass human limitations with their techniques that made them so formidable in the first place. "Is this your pride talking again?…And didn't you want me to keep the Iga techniques secret?"

"I don't want you showing people how to use your techniques, I never said anything about not killing people with them, that's what they're for after all. It fact I would like nothing more for you to slaughter every ninja you come across using Iga ryu. We revel in combat against other ninja, we're designed for it Naruto. That was the source of our hate with Kouga, two ninja clans existing in the same territory both wanting to be the strongest. It was only a matter of time before we came into conflict and over the years with so much blood being spilt all that was left was hate."

"That's very reasonable of you," noted Naruto surprised that she admitted Iga was as much at fault as Kouga.

Akeginu shrugged, "I'm not blinded by my hate anymore, that was what got me killed in the first place. I don't let it control my actions these days… though I still hate those bastards."

"Uh huh…so you want me to take Zabuza down using blood mist then?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, it's the best way to improve your use of it," replied Akeginu.

"The Konoha ninjas might see it, it'll raise questions," said Naruto.

"What of it? It's not like they can force you to teach them it. You've been able to run rings around their ANBU since you were ten, if they pressure you, you can simply disappear and they can experience your blood mist firsthand. Surely your Hokage knows this."

Naruto believed he did, it was one of the reasons the Hokage had started treading carefully around him, not to mention his tenant. If push came to shove he was confident in his ability to deal with whatever Konoha threw at him. Between his mystic eyes and his blood mist he was confident he could easily escape should Konoha decide to force him into a corner.

"Naruto, in terms of your Iga techniques you've reached as far as you can go with just training alone, you need experience against strong opponents to improve, this Zabuza will be the perfect stepping stone for you," instructed Akeginu, firsthand combat experience was the best way to grow as a ninja.

"Then so be it, before we leave Wave, Zabuza will be dead at my hands," said a resolved Naruto, Akeginu hadn't steered him wrong before.

Akeginu gave him a curt nod showing she was pleased with his decision.

"So…what do you mean when you asked 'what am I up to'?" Naruto asked referring to Akeginu's original question.

"You know what I mean. What are you really after here?"

"Nothing…," said Naruto, not looking her in the eyes.

Unfortunately Akeginu wasn't buying it, "You're after the Gato Company aren't you?"

"Am I that obvious?" Naruto asked, a bit peeved she figured it out so quickly.

"No, I just know you too well. I taught you how to think after all," replied Akeginu.

Seeing that she knew what he was up to Naruto decided to explain himself, "My intention isn't to take the Gato Company per se, that'll be in ruins by the time Yūgao and I are done with it. What I want is to relieve Gato of his hard capital, that'll still have value when the majority of the companies assets will be worth nothing or be food for creditors."

"Ah…so you're making contingencies…very good Naruto," said Akeginu, giving him a little applause.

"As you pointed out, my position in Konoha is precarious at best, its common sense to prepare for the future, " said Naruto.

"Do you plan to just keep the money?" Akeginu asked.

"Don't know yet, I'll decide after I get my hands on it and have a better idea of what type of figures I'm working with. To that end would you mind finding Gato's headquarters for me, my hands will be full dismantling his various businesses."

"Sure, it shouldn't be too difficult, I'll even scope it out for you," sad Akeginu.

"Thank you sensei," said Naruto, while he may find out where the headquarters is during his current assignment, Akeginu being ethereal could locate it much easier and even investigate with absolutely no risk. "All right, if there's nothing further I need to deliver this message."

"Don't mind me," said Akeginu as they headed south east towards the bridge builder's house.

Not long after their conversation Akeginu and Naruto arrived at the bridge builder's house where Team 7 was staying.

"So this is where the bridge builder lives?" Akeginu asked.

"Apparently. Team 7 is also there," replied Naruto as he examined the house. It was a wooden two-story structure on the outskirts of town with an amber coloured roof and pale wooden boards making up the walls of the building. Notably, the house was built on the sea with stilts used to keep it above sea level. This meant it was as accessible by boat as it was by the bridges that connected it to the Island.

"Can you go take a look?" Naruto asked.

"Fine, I'll be right back," said Akeginu taking off towards the house. Naruto watched her phase right through the door.

Several minutes later Akeginu exited the house and made her way to Naruto.

"Well?"

"They're all in there. The bridge builder's with a woman who looks like she might be his daughter in law or a really young wife, and a sullen looking kid that's most likely the grandson," replied Akeginu.

"What about Team 7," Naruto asked.

"Now there's a sorry bunch. Their sensei looks like he just ran to Iwa and back, he's completely exhausted. Its some mask wearing guy with one eye, and weird silver hair," said Akeginu.

Naruto nodded his head as she described Hatake Kakashi, the copy nin and sharingan user, arguably Konoha's strongest Jōnin, though Yūgao, and Might Gai might have something to say about that.

"The kids aren't very interesting either. One's just sitting their glaring at the wall, the others walking around with a fake grin plastered on his face and don't get me started on that pink haired child, the girl's an affront to every kunoichi in history. Its like she was raised by some sexist arsehole who designed her as an insult to the entire female gender," said Akeginu channeling her inner feminist.

Naruto could only agree with her assessment of Sakura, the girl was single-handily undoing all the good work done by women such as Senju Tsuande and Chiyo of Suna, women who worked hard to be regarded as excellent ninjas. Now anyone who saw her would associate kunoichi with women who just became ninja's to fawn over good looking guys.

"Naruto can you kill her for me? I'd do it myself if I still could," said a dejected Akeginu; she sounded like she really wanted to kill Sakura personally.

Naruto would be lying if the thought hadn't crossed his mind on more than a few occasions, "I'll think about it."

"Naruto," whined Akeginu.

"She'll probable be killed during the fight anyway," said Naruto trying to placate his sensei. "Anyway I need to go deliver this message," said Naruto as he escaped his sensei's pleas.

Keeping to the shadows Naruto made his way towards the structure, his mind thinking of the best way to enter. If the missing nin where doing there job properly the place was being watched, but his senses didn't pick anything up in the immediate area besides the people inside. Still, better safe than sorry, thought Naruto as he reached the building. Looking up he saw a window on the second floor, that'll do nicely.

Ascending the wall he entering through the window and found himself inside a bedroom, several temporary beds were littering the floor.

Team 7 must be staying in this room, observed Naruto.

He peeked his head through the doorway and seeing that the corridor was empty, left the bedroom. He made his way silently down the hall, crouched down low like Akeginu taught him, so his knees would absorb his weight. She had trained him to walk across gravel and broken glass without making a noise, and even move across rice paper without marking it, something that was next to impossible without the deftest of footsteps. Akeginu speculated he could even move across a nightingale floor without making a sound, too bad there wasn't one around to practice on.

He moved to the staircase and started to move down it, careful not to place too much pressure on the floorboards, a creaky floorboard had been the end of more than a few ninja. As he reached the ground floor he could hear a child yelling at someone. Tantrum? Naruto wondered. His eyes opened wide briefly as he heard rapid footsteps moving his way. Jumping quickly he clung to the upper part of the walls and just managed to avoid the child charging past him and running up the stairs.

That was close, thought Naruto as he descended back down to the floor. That was likely the child that Akeginu had mentioned earlier. I wonder what his problem is? No matter, it's none of my business.

Sneaking up on Team 7 wasn't necessary in the slightest, but it had been several months since he last observed them and he wanted to see if training under an A rank nin had improved any of them. Needless to say he had his doubts.

Peeking around the corner he got his first look at Team 7 since his clone had attended the graduation test. They hadn't changed much, Sasuke was brooding in his usual blue get up and his hair was still doing its usual imitation of a duck's arse. Sakura like always was fawning over him despite the fact that the Uchiha was clearly annoyed by her presence, if the frown and slight twitching of the eyes were anything to go by.

Boring, he thought as he turned his attention to the two more interesting members of the group, the Team leader Hatake Kakashi and a boy he had never seen before named Sai. He narrowed his eyes as he focused in on the boy Sai who despite appearing unaware was the exact opposite. That one is more than he appears, thought Naruto. The boy was pale, almost as pale as he was, with dark hair, and a creepy smile. He was paying particular attention to a book in his hands. Naruto could tell by the way he held himself that he was different form the other two genin, his awareness and mentality were on a completely different level. Where as the Uchiha was daydreaming, probably about murdering his brother knowing him, and the pink haired fan girl looked like she was suppressing the urge to masturbate, Sai's posture showed he was ready to react at any sudden threat, and the way his eyes moved around the room showed he was constantly vigilant. If not for the shadows cloaking the staircase Naruto was sure that the boy would have spotted him.

Sai huh…he's like me, definitely trained outside the academy, I wonder who trained him? He had an idea but as of yet had seen nothing that could confirm it.(2) I'll have to watch that one more closely than the others.

His eyes shifted to the two civilians in the room, an attractive young woman with dark hair and pale skin, and a drunken old guy who must be Tazuna. They were explaining to Team 7 that the boy's father Kaiza had been executed by Gato for trying to resist him. Unfortunate, but common enough; it was the usual fate of those who tried to fight oppression. It took a lot of lives to successful achieve a revolution.

Deciding he'd seen enough and Naruto entered the room and moved up behind Kakashi, "Hello Kakashi-san."

Kakashi sighed, he was tired, very, very tired. So tired that even his literature wasn't enough to stop his eyes from trying to shut. Chakra exhaustion was always a pain. His fight with Zabuza had exhausted his chakra supplies completely, and they was still nowhere near the level they needed to be if he was to take on an A rank missing nin. He could only hope that his reinforcements arrived in time.

He had summoned Pakkun earlier in the day while he was training his genin. His ninken had informed him the reinforcements were on route and should be here either late tonight or tomorrow morning. It was a weight off his shoulders, in hindsight he should never have allowed Sasuke to talk him into continuing with this mission, the Hokage was going to tear into him when he, or rather if he got back to Konoha.

After Sasuke and Sai dealt with the Demon Brothers he had interrogated Tazuna who told him they were up against the Gato Company, definitely not a C rank mission. The Gato Company was one of the most influential corporations in the entire elemental nations, they would be able to afford the best ninja money could buy. He was proven correct when Momochi Zabuza, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, later attacked them. That could have ended badly, fortunately Sai had managed to use one of his ink creatures to break the water prison otherwise he and his team of genin would have been dead.

Looking over at his genin he wondered what he else could do to fix their current situation. He was definitely regretting not training them more before setting out on this mission, knowing a few jutsu or being just a little faster could make all the difference in the coming battle. After he figured out that Zabuza was still alive he started training his team properly, starting with their chakra control. Not surprisingly Sakura could do it almost straight away, her chakra reserves were next to negligible so it would have been almost impossible not to complete the exercise. Naturally Sasuke had trouble, being a member of the Uchiha clan meant his reserves were higher than normal so it would take practice before he could scale the tree. The boy was serious about his training though, so it wouldn't take long before he could complete the exercise. Sai had had completed the exercise relatively easily, something that infuriated Sasuke. It wasn't surprising though; the Hokage had informed him that Sai was likely one of Danzo's men sent to keep an eye on Sasuke.

Sasuke was an investment by the council so it wasn't surprising that the most influential member of the council had someone other than himself watching Sasuke. He had had his run-ins with Danzo before. The old man was dangerous and had tried to recruit him in his younger days after he had lost both his team members. Not many people knew about Danzo's influence unless he wanted them to, in fact he was pretty sure Tenzo and maybe Inoichi were the only ones beside himself in the ninja corps who were aware of Root, except for the actual members themselves. Danzo didn't exactly advertise for positions. As long as Sai didn't actively hurt Sasuke he was fine to let him be a part of the team. (3)

Thinking about Sai inevitably led his mind to the genin that Sai had replaced. The Hokage still hadn't told him what the deal was there, but whatever it was it was highly unusual. Originally the boy had been placed on his team because the council wanted a sharingan user present in case the Kyuubi took control. However, the boy had been reassigned at the last minute without explanation, he didn't know whether it was to make way for Sai or if Sai had been a didn't really have anything against Naruto, originally he had been a bit he ambivalent towards the boy as he contained the creature that killed the man who had been like a father to him, however he also knew enough about sealing and his sensei's skills to know that Naruto was completely innocent and certainly wasn't the Kyuubi, though there were still some risks especially if Naruto was injured badly. Nevertheless after the Kyuubi attack he had thrown himself into ANBU work trying to forget about the whole incident. He pushed back the guilt that existed in the back of his mind, the guilt which tried to remind him that he had essentially abandoned his sensei's son. (4) It wouldn't be the first time he had messed up badly and it was too late now to make much of a difference. Reports said that Naruto was the worst ninja prospect in history so he didn't take them seriously, he'd always been one to form his own opinion based on first hand evidence rather than second hand reports especially in regard to a subject as sensitive as Naruto. It didn't matter though, right now his focus was Sasuke, the boy reminded him too much of himself at the same age, a lot of talent and too much anger. If his promise to Obito meant anything he would help Sasuke overcome his trauma and turn help him make the most out of his potential. (5)

"Hello Kakashi-san," said a voice from behind him.

Kakashi lost his usual coolness and almost jumped out of his pants in surprise when he heard the voice from directly behind him. How the hell did someone sneak up on me? Turning with reactions that could only be acquired through vast battle experience he drew a kunai and prepared to defend himself and his genin as he was greeted with the sight of a hooded ninja. He relaxed a little as his eyes immediately picked out the Konoha Hia-ate around the ninja right arm.

"You lot are a bit too skittish aren't you…last I heard Zabuza was still injured," said the ninja.

Kakashi look at his genin who were all standing up with kunai drawn, wondering whom this new ninja was. Turning back to the ninja he took a closer look at him. The ninja looked young but he couldn't get a good look at his face due to the hood he was wearing, all he could tell was that the ninja was very pale. Judging by height and build he was of similar age to his genin, but Kakashi's years of experience picked up on few notable things. Firstly the stance, this ninja held himself with confidence. Not the confidence or arrogance that came naturally from being brought up in a powerful clan like Sasuke but confidence that came from experience, this ninja definitely knew how to handle himself. He wasn't fooled by the casual way the ninja was holding himself with his armed hanging loosely at his sides; this guy was prepared to react to the slightest hint of a threat. He also took note of the katana on the ninja's hip, an odd place for a ninja to keep his sword as most tended to keep it on their backs so it didn't get in the way when moving around. Did that mean this ninja was a kenjutsu specialist? But as far as he knew only himself, Uzuki Yūgao, and Gekkou Hayate were considered highly ranked kenjutsu users in Konoha. Finally the ninja was dressed oddly, it wasn't the dark colours, which looked to be a mixture between black and navy blue, that was relatively standard. Nor was it the hakama pants, while they weren't standard issue amongst Konoha ninja they weren't that uncommon. No, it was the lack of a vest, the unusual sleeves and the sandals that stood out.

The lack of a vest meant genin, but that couldn't be right, any ninja that could sneak up on him had to be jōnin and a highly ranked one at that, but he didn't look very old either. Very odd, thought Kakashi, is this ninja a new ANBU member? Then there were his sleeves; they were very long, almost too long and spread out wide at the ends for some reason. In his current stance with his arms hanging down the sleeves covered his entire arm and hands. Wouldn't that be impractical? thought Kakashi, though maybe he uses them to hide weapons. His sandals weren't standard issue either, in fact they weren't Shinobi sandals at all rather they were black dyed waraji with black tabi worn underneath. (6) It was an odd choice of footwear for a shinobi considering they virtually provided no protection or ankle support.

I can't really comment on his clothes though, thought Kakashi as his mind turned to some of the eccentric clothes various Konoha ninja wore. He shivered as he thought of Gai's green spandex.

"I don't believe we've met," said Kakashi, uncharacteristically eager to find out who this new ninja was.

"You're correct we haven't met."

"Ah…," mumbled Kakashi, a little off put by the ninja's abrupt reply and demeanour.

"I'm here with Uzuki Yūgao, we're your reinforcements," said the ninja.

It didn't escape Kakashi that the ninja had completely ignored Kakashi's attempt to get him to introduce himself.

"This is from Yūgao," continued the ninja in a business like tone as he handed Kakashi a scroll.

Kakashi took the scroll and read it quickly. "So Yūgao wants to ambush Zabuza, when he comes to attack the client?"

"Yes, it'll gives us the biggest advantage during the fight, an advantage I expect we will need. You and your team will act as the distraction."

Kakashi suppressed a sigh and nodded his head, no one ever liked being bait but the plan was sound, rather than simply adding to the protection detail Yūgao was going to use Zabuza's expectations against him and surprise him during the fight. It avoided in the worse case scenario in which Zabuza would call in his own reinforcements. Still, the plan put him and his team at risk, he would have to trust that Yūgao got her timing right. Between the two of them and the unnamed ninja she brought with her they should be able to deal with Zabuza and his associate.

"Just keep doing what you've been doing, we'll be in the area. See you around Kakashi-san," said the still unnamed ninja before disappearing in a cloud of red mist before Kakashi could question him further.

Kakashi's eyes widened at the unique shunshin, was that blood?

"Sensei who was that?" Sakura asked.

"Our reinforcements, he's with Uzuki Yūgao, an ANBU Captain."

"Was he ANBU too?" Sakura asked.

"I'm not sure…I don't think so he looked a bit too young, we can ask Yūgao when we see her."

The next day found Naruto and Yūgao wandering through the streets of town, both had ditched their ninja gear and were dressed as travelling pharmacists. Naruto had told Yūgao that the last clone he had sent here used this disguise and that he had the medical knowledge to pull off the charade. She hoped so because her knowledge of pharmaceutical products was extremely limited.

As they walked down the main street towards the port Yūgao looked around disquietly, "Was it this bad when your clone visited?"

Naruto shook his head as he looked at a couple of children in rags. "No, it was bad but not like this. Its looks like they've been suffering more in recent years."

"As the rich get richer the poor get poorer, it seems Gato and his cronies are the only ones benefiting from the influx of trade into Wave," said Yūgao.

Naruto agreed completely, as he looked around it was clear that any wealth that was coming in through the port wasn't filtering down to the locals, or if it was Gato was stealing it through illegal means.

Naruto slowed down as they turned the corner, "There it is Yūgao…up ahead, that's the brothel."

Yūgao looked towards the building. So this is it, thought Yūgao as she gazed at the structure. It was non descript, though it was in better condition then the surrounding buildings. It was a large two story, rectangular shaped building with a tiled roof and wooden walls painted red.

Yūgao checked their position. The building was located right on the edge of the port district. Close enough for visiting sailors to walk to, but still out of the way. I'm going to enjoy burning this place to the ground.

Yūgao turned to Naruto, "I've seen enough, lets get back to camp and start planning. We can hit this place tonight."

"So how do you want to play this?" Naruto asked after they had gotten back to camp. His clones had just dispelled and he was now sure that his information was up to date.

"What information do we have?" Yūgao asked her apprentice.

"Not a lot, besides the brothel we know that Gato's trafficking human out of some place on the island but we don't know where," replied Naruto, "its the same deal with the drugs. Unless we get a witness or interrogate one of Gato's men we won't know."

"Okay, we'll hit the brothel tonight, then we can concentrate on finding his trafficking rings," said Yugao.

"It'll be simplest to just blow the entire structure with some explosives notes," said Naruto.

"Yes, but that would kill everyone inside," countered Yūgao.

"So," said Naruto with a shrug, "We're here to take down Gato not rescue townspeople."

Yūgao gave her apprentice a level gaze, "Nevertheless, if its possible I'd prefer to rescue them."

Naruto put both his hands up in a placating manner,"Relax Sensei, I agree with you, I'm just wondering how you plan on pulling off this rescue, it won't be easy moving people around town."

"It shouldn't be too difficult to neutralise Gato's men," replied Yūgao.

"True, I'm more worried about the women. What do we do with them?" Naruto asked.

"We can hide them in the forest until we're done."

"Maybe, but Gato's bound to search this place afterwards and the women can't hide like we can," replied Naruto.

"We'll have to take that chance, don't forget one of them may have the information we're looking for."

Naruto nodded his head, it was certainly possible that one of the woman came from the trafficking ring and could give them some more information on it.

"Get ready, we move into position at midnight," said Yugao.

Foot Notes

(1) He hides it reasonably well but Iga Naruto is extremely skeptical in regards to human nature. He's not quite misanthropic but he is antisocial, something which manifests in general distrust and scepticism towards people. It isn't a coincidence that the two 'people' that know him best are Akeginu and Kurama, both of which can't be considered human. Part of his development will be losing that misanthropy, not by becoming a naïve fool but by just learning to trust a select few people.

(2)Naruto has some awareness of Root, but not the exact nature of the organisation or who runs it, as far as he knows there's just another elite ninja corp besides ANBU operating in Konoha.

(3) I wouldn't read too much into this, he can't really do anything to remove Sai since a council member put him on his team and history suggests that he doesn't care enough to put up much of a fuss.

(4) Yes in my fic he knows, I'm pretty sure he did in canon too but I'm not certain. In regard to Naruto's heritage most will be ignorant of it. If too many knew it would have leaked at some point, so its Hiruzen, Jiraiya, Tsuande, Kakashi, Danzo (figured it out), Elders, maybe some of the clan heads (Nara, Aburame – they figured it out) .

(5) As they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

(6)For those who don't know they're Japanese straw sandals, common footwear back in the past. Eg. Shingami in bleach where them. Tabi are Japanese socks that have a split between the big toe and the other toes so they can be worn with sandals. Naruto wears the same footwear the ninja's from Basilisk wear.

Author's Notes

Kakashi was hard to write, canon doesn't really give us much of an idea about his intentions towards Naruto in Part 1. His actions suggest sabotage or indifference, I went with the later. It doesn't matter much either way; Kakashi was significant character in Canon because he was Naruto's sensei, in my fic he is not. Yugao is Naruto's sensei so she will be getting the focus.

I figure that Naruto knows how precarious his position in Konoha is, he knows that the Hokage is the only reason the Council hasn't either turned him into a mindless weapon or further restricted his activities. Therefore its reasonable for Naruto to make preparations for the event that his position in Konoha deteriorates.

We'll start to see some more development in regards to Akeginu/Naruto from now on. To date their relationship has been sensei/student, carer/caree, sister/brother etc, at least from her perspective anyway. However the reality of not having Naruto around as much anymore and possible not around at all will start to hit her and act as the catalyst as he spends more and more time away from her and the ruins. There will also be some conflict as other women appear on the scene, she already doesn't really like Yūgao, and she doesn't even know about Kurama yet.

Tune in next week for Yugao and Naruto's first action against Gato.