New Beginnings, New Fate

by FreeTheKyuubi

When Naruto finally had enough, he left Konoha in attempt to get away from it all for a while. He didn't expect to meet someone who would change his destiny and become the one thing he had always wanted, family. Naruto/Tenten, Jagaa(OC)/Kurenai (not Anko. Sorry) 'M' for language and sexual humor. (yes, the start is cliche, but I hope the rest of the story entertains you)

10. The Will to Fight

A/N: Well, first off I want to say that you're all traitors for siding with my murderous muse. I swear, she hasn't stopped smirking the entire time we were working on this new chapter since the last one, the one I thought people wouldn't think much of, got the most reviews of all chaps to date. Needless to say, she's sickeningly pleased with herself. Of course, she had also been pretty upset that she couldn't hit me with any of her shots last time, so she went out a bought a friggin shotgun to increase her chances of hitting me by widening her range. Seriously, why can't I have one of those cute, sweet, encouraging muses instead of this smug, homicidal, gut toting alcoholic? It's just not fair.

(The distinct sound of a shotgun being charged sounds and FTK begins to sweat bullets.)

Uh, ha ha, just kidding. Uhm, we all know I would be nothing without my muse. She's the heart and soul of the story after all…Thank God she put it away. That's was freaking scary. Well anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chap almost as much as last chap. Now read on to find out.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Naruto, but I have come into the rather depressing knowledge that my Muse owns me. She even showed me the documentation.

Chapter10: The Will to Fight

"You ready to go yet, Brat?" Jagaa called from the living room as he waited on his sunny-blonde brother.

"Almost!" Naruto called back from the kitchen, his voice distorted by the cup of ramen he was shoveling into his mouth as he tried to eat as much as possible before the mission, due to having been limited by how much the was allowed to take.

"That's the last cup! Understand?" Jagaa stated firmly, earning a despaired whine from the boy. Shaking his head at Naruto's insatiable love of ramen, Jagaa did a final once over of himself to make sure that he had everything when a light knock caught his attention. Frowning slightly, Jagaa turned to the front door. "Hmm, didn't think we were that late yet." He muttered to himself, figuring somebody had been sent to fetch the two of them for the mission. Shrugging once, he walked over and opened the door to tell whoever it was that they would be leaving soon.

Naruto was just throwing away the cup that had contained the noodles he recently consumed when a strange squelching sound caught his ear. After looking down to see if he stepped in something, thankfully finding that he hadn't, Naruto shrugged and finished disposing of his garbage just as Jagaa's voice came from the living room again, this time holding a strangely light, almost musical tone. "Oh, Naruto. By any chance, did the scroll you keep you're pie throwing machine in go missing?"

Naruto frowned slightly at the question. He didn't remember telling his brother about that. "Yeah, I lost it a few days ago during a mission." Naruto replied as he walked into the living room. "But how did you know…that…?" Naruto's jaw dropped as he stared in bewilderment.

Jagaa turned to face the younger blonde with a blank expression, his entire torso and the left half of his face covered in pie crust and chocolate filling. "Oh…call it a hunch." It was at that moment, a large gob of pie filling dripped from the end of Jagaa's nose and landed on the floor with an audible plop.

That was Naruto's first near death experience due to being unable to breathe from laughing so hard.

X X X X X

"Would you stop laughing already?" Jagaa growled at the boy at his side as they reached the rendezvous sight for the convoy to Wave country were Kurenai, Ino, Sakura, Sasuke, Hinata, Kiba, and surprisingly Kakashi were already waiting, watching the pair with a mixture of anger at their tardiness, Team 7 being the only ones really supplying the anger, and curiosity at the way they were acting.

"It…d-dripped off…y-y-your…nose!" Naruto laughed harder as the image replayed in his head.

Jagaa rubbed his temples in irritation. The worst part of it all was that he didn't even have the right to really get mad about it because he knew that if it had happened to Naruto, Jagaa himself would have been laughing his ass off to…and probably would later anyway once his irritation died down.

"You're late." Kurenai's stern voice drew his attention to where the woman was standing with her arms crossed and her eyes hard.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Jagaa sighed as he apologized. "We got held up by something…Speaking of which." Jagaa turned to Kakashi accusingly. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about the pie machine set up outside of my door this morning. Would you, Cyclops?"

Kakashi looked over his book at Jagaa, his visible eye twinkling. "Well, there are several paths that can be taken on the road of life. I suppose it's possible that one of them may have lead to an event like that."

Jagaa's eye twitched behind his glasses. "Would it really be so hard to just say 'Yes'?"

The silver haired man's eye shifted to show his smile. "Yes."

"…When's the last time I told you that I hate you?" Jagaa asked.

Kakashi grasped the edge of his chin in thought with his free hand. "Hmm, I think it was about two weeks ago."

"I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you." Jagaa paused for a moment and did a quick count on his fingers. "I hate you. I hate you. I hate you."

"That was two too many." Kakashi pointed out.

"I know. I was covering tomorrow and the next day just to be on the safe side." Jagaa stated.

"Ah." Kakashi replied in acceptance before going back to his book.

"Plop." Naruto sniggered, mimicking the sound of the pie filling hitting the floor and causing a vein to appear on the Jagaa's forehead. This was followed by two, rather audible thuds as the scarred man's fist slammed into the back of the boy's head which was sent him face first into the ground.

And still he laughed…though a bit more painfully than before.

Jagaa sighed again and shook his head. "Sometimes I think I made him too tough." He muttered to himself before facing the rest of the assembled Ninja. As he did though, he noticed Kurenai was staring at him with wide, shocked eyes. "What's up, Princess?"

Still staring as if she had never seen him before, Kurenai spoke almost hesitantly. "You…apologized to me."

Jagaa's eyebrows rose in surprise. "What? That can't be right."

"It's true," Sakura said in support of her female sensei, "and it wasn't sarcastic or anything either. You didn't even follow with an insult of some kind."

Jagaa was starting to look a bit panicked. "I must have! At least a 'Bite me' or something!"

"Nope." Ino piped in with an evil smile. "In fact, you almost sounded…polite."

The blood drained from Jagaa's face. "Nu uh! No way! I refuse to believe that! I do not do polite! There's no possibility of polite! You all must have misheard me! Yeah, that's it! It's all just some horrible misunderstanding!"

"I'm afraid not, Jagaa-san." Hinata said calmly, a small smirk playing on her lips. "You really did give Kurenai-san a seemingly sincere apology."

Jagaa gaped at the group, his mouth opening and closing like a landed fish before rounding on Kakashi and pointing dramatically as he shouted. "Damn you, Kakashi! This is all your fault!"

Kakashi just smiled at the other man before turning the page of his book.

Meanwhile, in a private little room at the Hokage tower, The Sandaime Hokage could be found sitting behind a table and staring down into a little crystal ball and grinning like a four year old at Christmas.

"It's about time you all showed up!" Tazuna called out gruffly as he joined the assembled Ninja. "The wagons are all ready to go, so we'll be moving out within the next ten minutes." The elderly man pulled out a jug of Sake and took a long draw before wiping his mouth and continuing. "I don't care how you plan to do it, but I expect you all to protect this convoy with your lives, because we are entrusting you with ours, and I mean that in more ways than one."

As the rest of the group nodded in acknowledgement, Jagaa raised his hand like a student in class, his mood seeming to have started returning to normal. "Excuse me, but I have a couple questions before we go." Tazuna regarded the scarred man for a moment before nodding for Jagaa to continue. "Okay, first." Jagaa pointed at the jug in Tazuna's hand. "Do you have more of that?"

Tazuna raised an eyebrow at the question as he answered. "Yes, I've got another few bottles or so. Why?"

"Just checking before I did this." The next thing Tazuna knew, his jug of Sake had appeared Jagaa's hand and the content was disappearing down the dirty-blonde's throat. "Ah, I needed that." The scarred man said dreamily followed by a slight burp before he continued talking to the indignant Tazuna as if nothing had happened. "My second question is why you wanted a minimum of four Jounin guarding this convoy when a team or two of Chuunin would have been just as effective, and probably cheaper. I mean, from my experience, a convoy this big isn't usually in much danger, at least not with what you're carrying."

"What do you mean by that, Jagaa-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"He means, that these types of convoys don't get attacked by small bands of thieves very often, and any that might be feeling brave enough to do it would be scared off by the sight of armed guards or Ninja." Naruto cut in, shocking everyone but Jagaa with the professionalism in his voice. "There are larger, more organized groups that might attack it, but that's only if it was something worth the losses they could take. So, unless these wagons have some kind of treasure hidden in all that wood and metal, the chance of a large group like that attacking is pretty low."

"It's just like the brat says." Jagaa followed up. "All the experience I have dealing with this kind of thing says that you don't need the level of protection you're asking for, but for some reason you've been pretty adamant about getting it. I'd just like to know why."

Blinking slightly, the other Ninja looked at pair of blondes in mute amazement before shifting their gazes to Tazuna who was looking a little hesitant. "Does it really matter? I'm paying for the help I ask for aren't I?"

"It matters if you don't want to be killed because we were caught off guard." Naruto replied in a hard voice, shocking those who knew him even more. "You're obviously expecting something bigger than just some chance bandits by the amount of protection you want. We need to know what that is."

Naruto gave the man a steely gaze that made the Tazuna flinch back a bit. Soon after, the old man sighed and nodded. "Okay, the truth is that there is someone who fears this convoy reaching its destination, and even more than that, he fears the completion of the bridge we're are building to connect our island to the main land."

"Who is it?" Ino asked with a tilt of her head. "And why would they be so afraid of a bridge?"

Tazuna's eyes grew hard. "His name is Gatou, and he fears it because if this bridge is finished, it will completely undermine his attempts to take over the Wave. Gatou wants our island because of its strategic positioning in the sea transportation business, and has been trying to force us into submission by hiring thugs to raid our town and attack our supply ships. We've been fighting back with everything we have, but he has more money and an endless supply of ruthless underlings to do his dirty work."

Tazuna moved as if intending to take a drink, only to remember that his jug had been taken. With a small growl at the loss of his Sake, Tazuna continued. "This bridge would change everything though. Trade would skyrocket due to the more convenient method of travel, and in turn, so would our economy. If he looses his ability to cripple our trade and supply, he looses his chance at taking over." Tazuna looked to each of the listening ninja in turn, his eyes determined. "That's why we need to protect this convoy no matter what. It may cost more to higher so much protection, especially when all he's ever sent is low class thugs, but to us, this is our chance to keep our freedom. We've put everything we have into this and we'll lay down our lives to see this bridge built. So you can imagine how little we care about putting forth a bit of extra money." The old man's eyes were filled with determination that dared the Ninja to try to fault him.

"All righty, let's get this shit moving then." Jagaa grinned before downing the rest of the Sake he'd stolen and throwing the bottle back to Tazuna. "We're already late aren't we?"

There was a loud crash as everyone except Jagaa, Naruto, and surprisingly (or maybe not) Kakashi fell down.

"What? That's it?" Ino yelled as she jumped to her feet. "After that third degree you two were giving him, that's all you have to say?"

"We weren't giving him the third degree, Ino." Naruto replied. "We just wanted to know the job details so we'd know what to expect."

Ino gave the other blonde a skeptical look. "Oh really? Sure seemed like an interrogation to me."

Naruto's expression filled with mischief and he looked up at Jagaa. "Hey, Nii-san, she thinks that was our idea of an interrogation. Think we should show her what our real interrogation tactics are?"

Jagaa smirked evilly at the blonde girl, who was starting to feel a bit nervous. "I think that's an excellent idea, Brat."

Ino took a couple steps back apprehensively. "What are you going to do?" Jagaa's smirk grew a little wider and the next thing Ino knew, Jagaa was kneeling down beside her on one his left knee and pulling her up to sit on his right like a chair as her hands were pinned behind her head at the wrist by a strong grip and her legs held together by the ankles like an improvised restraining chair.

Before the girl could even attempt to struggle free from her confinement, Naruto stepped in front of her with his arms crossed and wearing a stern expression. "Yamanaka Ino. Where were you on the twenty third night of the seventh month at half past nineteen hundred hours?"

Ino looked at the other blonde with a mixture of contempt and confusion. "What the hell? That doesn't make any sense!"

"She's not talking, Jagaa-san." Naruto said professionally to his current partner in torture.

Jagaa nodded firmly. "Give her 'The Treatment', Naruto-san."

Ino's eyes widened. "Wait a minute! What the hell is the-Kyaahahah!" Ino was cut off by fits of hysterical laughter as Naruto's fingers started dancing along her sides, stomach, and under her armpits.

Stopping his tickle assault, but still keeping his hands dangerously close, Naruto looked Ino dead in the eye. "If I eat eight bowls of ramen in the morning, eleven in the afternoon, and sixteen in the evening, how many bottles of Sake will Nii-san have drank throughout the day?"

Flushed from her laughter, Ino glared at the boy like he was an idiot. "How the hell am I supposed to know-Bwahahaha-s-stop you bastard-hahaha!"

"Don't let up until she talks." Jagaa ordered. "I'm curious about the answer myself."

"Roger." Naruto acknowledged as he doubled his assault on the helpless Ino.

"Gahahaha-stop-wahaha-quit it you-pffthehe-fucking assholes-gahaha-I'm gonna kill you both-hehehe-cock sucking bastards-hahahaha!" Ino screeched, tears in her eyes from laughing.

As Ino continued to swear and shout death threats at her assailants, the rest of the group could only stare in mute amazement, blinking every few seconds since words seemed to have escaped them.

X X X X X

"Dear Kami does it feel good to be on the road again!" Jagaa shouted joyously from the middle of the wagon train where he had been positioned along with Hinata and Sasuke. Looking down to the Uchiha, Jagaa grinned. "Don't you think so too, Emo?" Sasuke glared at the man in response before turning away with a grunt.

Putting on a stricken expression, Jagaa turned to Hinata and whined piteously. "Hinata-chan, Sasuke's being an anti social weenie." There was a very audible growl from the Uchiha for that comment.

"Maybe it's because you called him an Emo?" Hinata replied. Her lips twitching as she tried to hold back an amused smile.

"But he is!" Jagaa complained. "I bet you he has scars all over his wrists and shit."

Hinata gave the man a deadpanned look. "Somehow, Jagaa-san, I don't think you have the right to criticize anyone about having scars."

"Hey," Jagaa defended indignantly, "my scars aren't some pathetic cry for attention. Mine are legitimate badges of honor to commemorate the fights I've lived through and my over all Bad Ass-ness." The scarred man then paused for a second before grinning. "Except some of the scars on my back. Those are badges of a different kind of honor."

"JAGAA!" Kurenai's voice snapped from about seven wagons back where she, Naruto, and Sakura were guarding the rear. "Stop being obscene! We're on a mission!"

"What?" Jagaa called back, a smirk visible even from that distance. "I'm talking about the scars of child hood accidents. What are you talking about?"

Kurenai's face reddened in both anger and embarrassment. "You were not and you know it!" Her embarrassed response earned audible laughter from the scarred man ahead.

"I could have told you he'd do that." Naruto grinned at Kurenai. "He was baiting you from the beginning?"

Kurenai gave Naruto a sidelong glance. "How do you know that?"

"The tone of his voice." Naruto answered simply. "The only time he talks like that is when he's purposely trying to be overheard."

"I didn't notice anything different." Sakura said.

"I've known him a lot longer than you." Naruto replied with a light smile at the pink haired girl. He could honestly say he had been pleasantly surprised by Sakura's attitude since the start of the trip, being much more relaxed and friendly than he could have ever thought possible from the Sasuke obsessed girl. They had even had a short, but enjoyable conversation a little after the trip started, mostly with Sakura looking for some dirt on Jagaa, but still enjoyable. 'I guess this is how she is when she's not trying to catch the Teme's attention.' Naruto thought.'To bad she'd probably just revert any time he was around. We could probably be friends if it weren't for that.'

Kurenai's eyes narrowed in thought as she looked at the sunny-blonde boy beside her. "If you know him so well, could you tell me how to make him take his position seriously, instead of acting like a disgruntled five year old?"

"Do I look like a miracle worker?" Naruto deadpanned, earning a small snort of amusement from Sakura and a slight twitch of lips from Kurenai. "Nii-san won't take anything seriously if he doesn't have to, and when he does, it usually means someone's about to die." It was a bit disconcerting how casually the boy said that, but neither female had much time to think about it since Naruto was still speaking. "Anyway, you can't get him to be serious, but you can get him to be nicer to you."

"How?" Kurenai asked in a faintly desperate tone.

Naruto grinned foxily at the red eyed woman. "Prank him."

Wind passed through the trees as Kurenai came to a stop and stared at the boy as if he were some sort of unknown life form. "Prank him?"

"That's what I said. By the way, you're falling behind, Kurenai-sensei." After a quick shake of her head, Kurenai jogged a bit to catch up with the grinning Naruto and the giggling Sakura. Once the Jounin was next to them again, Naruto continued speaking. "Your problem, Sensei, is that you're too serious about, well, everything. For people like me and Nii-san, that's almost the same as putting a large target on your forehead." Naruto grinned at the red eyed woman. "Nii-san isn't kidding when he says that pissing you off is his favorite form of entertainment."

Kurenai's eyes hardened and her teeth clenched slightly. "And you're telling me, that the only way to get him to stop is to prank him?"

"No." Naruto said with a shake of his head. "That's how you get him to lighten up on you. Did you see the way he calmed down for a little while after Kakashi-sensei used my pie machine on him?" Naruto had to stop for a little while due to laughter as the image of a pie covered Jagaa replayed through his mind. "Anyway, that's what you have to do. You have to show that you're not afraid to go toe to toe with him at his own game, and then he'll start to respect you. Just be ready to be in a prank war for a while. He'll want to test you to make sure it wasn't just a one time thing." Naruto grimaced as he kept speaking. "To be honest, me and Nii-san were in an ongoing prank war for almost six months until we both decided to use laxatives on each other…on the same day. Let's just say that an afternoon of near Mortal Combat to use the bathroom is good sign that it's time to call a truce."

Sakura spewed a fair amount of saliva and ended up choking a bit when Naruto said that last part, an image of the two blondes stuck in the door way to the bathroom as each tried to get in before the other one.

Kurenai managed to control her own reaction so as not to end up in the same state as Sakura, but left proof of her amusement with the slight upward curve of the corners of her mouth. Tilting her head back, the woman stared thoughtfully at the passing clouds as she walked. It would go against her nature, very much so in fact, but if it were the only way to get Jagaa to start behaving better, it might be worth it. With a nod to herself, she gave Naruto a sly, sidelong glance. "So, prank him, huh?"

Naruto grinned mischievously at the woman as he patted the still coughing Sakura's back. "Prank him."

"GAHH! WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP ALREADY YOU FLEE INFESTED LEG HUMPER!" Ino's voice suddenly rang out, startling everyone. "YOU HAVEN'T STOPPED YAPPING SINCE WE LEFT KONOHA!"

"I'LL TALK TO AKAMARU ALL I WANT YOU RETARTED BLONDE!" Kiba's voice shouted back.

"HEY!" Naruto and Jagaa's voices yelled out in sync at Kiba's verbal attack on Ino's hair color and its indirect application to them.

It would be half an hour and a change of groups later before the extremely loud argument between the Yamanaka and Inuzuka would finally be brought to an end.

X X X X X

About two weeks after leaving Konoha, the last of the wagons had just gotten off the large freight boat that had carried the convoy across the open water to land on a secluded beach in the Wave Country.

"All right, that's the last of them!" Tazuna yelled out once the final wagon touched ground on the shore. "Hitch up the oxen and get ready to move out! You all had plenty of time to rest on the boat!" There's was a chorus of agreement from Tazuna's workers as they all set about their tasks. While Tazuna and his group were preparing the wagons for departure, the Konoha Ninja had gathered together a bit off from the group for a tactical meeting.

"We're all going to have to be extra vigilant from here on out." Kakashi said to the group, his orange book put away to show his seriousness. "If what Tazuna said about this Gatou person is true, then he is desperate to stop this group from reaching their destination. Now that were in the Wave, it will be easier for him to send a large enough force to pose a threat."

"That would be the best strategy." Kurenai agreed. "Instead of shipping smaller forces over and doing minor damage, he could set up an ambush with everything he could spare, and if he's really as rich as Tazuna-san said, that could be a very large number."

Kakashi nodded. "Fortunately, it seems Tazuna-san thought of that as well and said he's chosen a path that will use mostly open areas with a few movements through forest areas and only through the least wooded areas as possible when we do."

"So we can see the enemy coming and have room to fight when they do." Naruto clarified, earning an approving smile from Kakashi.

"Exactly, however, that doesn't mean we won't have to take roads that will have thick forest around it at least a couple times." Kakashi added before turning to Hinata with a smile. "So, Hinata-chan, we'll be counting on you to keep watch for us during those times." The Hyuuga girl rolled her eyes at Kakashi's term of address but nodded in understanding.

"Hey, Nii-san." Naruto suddenly spoke up. "Do you have any contacts in Wave that could help us out?" The other Ninja looked over to where Naruto and Jagaa were standing to hear the answer, but instead saw Naruto frowning up at an unresponsive Jagaa who seemed to be staring off into the trees. "Nii-san?"

Jagaa's head jerked slightly and he quickly turned his face to Naruto. "Huh? Oh, contacts. Yeah, I have a couple, but it won't do us any good."

"Why not?" Ino asked, cutting Naruto off who gave her a quick, somewhat annoyed look.

"Well for starters, I'd have to go talk to them personally, and finding them would take longer than it will take to get there." Jagaa said with a shrug. "Also, if this Gatou guy is really that desperate to stop these wagons, he's probably already set up watches and ambushes across half the country to catch us, so my contacts wouldn't be able to do much more than tell us where the bigger ambushes are, and even that would take some time for them to get the information." Jagaa shook his head. "No, it's better to just keep doing as we've been doing. Staying wary of attack and choosing routs that give us enough room to fight large numbers."

The others all nodded their agreement and Kakashi spoke again. "All right, it's settled then. We'll keep the same groups of three we've had and stay in the same order of movement. Any objections?" Kakashi looked to everyone in turn, but nobody disagreed with the decision so the silver haired man smiled. "All righty then. Let's get going shall we."

As the group of Konoha Ninja started moving back to the wagons, Jagaa felt a tug on the back of his shirt and turned his head to find Naruto looking up at him with a concerned expression. "Nii-san, can we talk?"

Jagaa's head tilted slightly as he looked down at the boy. "Sure. What's up?"

"Are…are you okay, Nii-san?" Naruto asked hesitantly, as if not sure how his brother would react to the question.

Jagaa's eyebrows rose slightly. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you've just been so…I don't know…it just seems like you've been getting quieter and more distracted the closer we've gotten to Wave." Naruto paused for a moment, taking a breath before continuing. "Now that I think about it, you did this once before to, just a couple months after I met you. I didn't notice it back then because I didn't know you very well at the time, but I do know we were in Wave Country at the time."

Jagaa's expression tightened almost unnoticeably to anyone but Naruto and the scarred man turned away with a small sigh, but no answer.

Naruto's eyes hardened slightly at his brother's strange behavior. "Nii-san, are you hiding something from me."

"Everyone has something they hide from others, Naruto. Even the people they care about." Jagaa faced Naruto again with a faint smirk. "You should know that better than anyone."

Naruto flinched back a little, his hand unconsciously grasping his stomach at the implication. "Sorry, Nii-san. I didn't mean to pry. I just…" Naruto trailed off, unsure how to express his feelings on the matter, when a comforting hand came to rest on the top of his head. Looking back up, Naruto saw Jagaa smiling warmly down at him.

"I know, Brat. No need to feel bad." Jagaa said as he playfully ruffled Naruto's hair. "I just have a bit of history here, that's all."

Naruto smiled lightly as he knocked away the hand that was adding to the disarray of his spiky hair. "So, will you tell me about it someday?"

"Maybe someday." Jagaa smirked mischievously. "But for now, it's for me to know, and for you to drive yourself insane wondering about."

"Stingy Bastard." Naruto said with a false glare.

"Damn right." The scarred man laughed giving Naruto a light slap to the back of the head. "Now let's get back to the group before Princess gets her panties in a twist over the fact were not there."

"Oh, speaking of Kurenai-sensei." Naruto said as the two of them started walking back to the wagons. "You may have to watch out for her in the future."

Jagaa looked down to the boy with a curious frown. "Really? What makes you say that?"

"Because I told her that the only way to get you to lighten up on her was to prank you." Naruto said easily, laughing to himself when he saw Jagaa nearly trip over his own feet.

"You didn't." Jagaa laughed. "Do you think she'll actually do it?"

Naruto grinned. "She did seem pretty desperate to get you to start taking your job more seriously, so she might."

"Ah well, I doubt it'll be anything to worry about." Jagaa shrugged. "I mean, come on. This is Princess were talking about. Does she even know how to pull a prank?"

"Be careful, Nii-san." Naruto warned. "She could surprise you if you're over confident."

"We'll see." Jagaa said in an unconcerned voice.

"Jagaa!" Kurenai's shout rang out. "Quit wasting time and get back here! We're leaving!"

"…You know. I find it distinctly unfair that she singled me out like that without even mentioning you." Jagaa pouted to the younger blonde. "What did I do to deserve that?"

"JAGAA!" Kurenai shouted again.

"I'm coming! Keep your freaking panties on, ya damn Banshee!" Jagaa yelled back irritably.

"Nope, can't imagine why she'd ever single you out." Naruto said sarcastically earning a grin from Jagaa as the two of them continued walking towards the wagons and a now pissed off Kurenai, whom Kakashi was in the middle of trying to talk out of attempting to kill Jagaa in front of the clients.

X X X X X

"All right, everyone, we'll take an hour rest here!" Tazuna shouted to his workers, who gave a quick cheer as they pulled the wagons closer together to make them easier to defend while they rested. Due to a washout on the route Tazuna had originally planned, they had been forced to take a longer and more densely forested route than Tazuna wanted. So far, they had gotten through without incident, reaching the spars clearing they were currently in for a rest, but they still had a large stretch of woodlands to go before they would be back on the originally planned path.

"I guess this would be a good time to eat some lunch then." Kakashi said to the other Konoha Ninja as the nine of them regrouped once the wagons were set up. "Three people at a time, one Jounin, two Genin, just like normal."

"Blondes eat first!" Three voices yelled out as Ino, Naruto, and Jagaa all whipped out there respective lunches with giant grins on their faces.

"You know, that's really unfair." Kiba complained to the rest of the group as the three blondes plopped themselves on the ground and started happily munching on their food. "Don't we have another group of three with something in common that can compete with them for eating first?" Akamaru barked his agreement from his place on Kiba's head.

"Not really." Hinata said with an irritated shake of her head. "Any other groups that might be formable wouldn't be as natural as theirs, and therefore wouldn't be able to compete very well."

"You sound pretty sure of that." Kiba said with a raised eyebrow.

"I've been trying to mix and match groups inside my head since they started doing that." Hinata replied, a small twitch forming in her right eye. "Believe me. I'm certain."

"Well, I don't care if I'm the first to eat or the last as long as I get to eat with Sasuke-kun!" Sakura squealed, hugging the brooding Uchiha's arm, who just gave her an annoyed glare.

Kakashi smiled down at the four remaining Genin. "Now, now, as long as everybody gets to eat it doesn't really matter who goes first does it."

"It's the principle." Kiba pointed out as Hinata nodded in agreement.

"You see." Naruto was saying to Jagaa around a mouth full of his sandwich, seeing as he was out of ramen, as he pointed at Sakura. "She's easy enough to get along with when the Teme isn't around, but once he is…" The boy trailed off and a shudder wracked his body.

"Hey!" Ino said indignantly. "Don't insult Sasuke-kun!"

Naruto glanced at Ino uncertainly before looking at Jagaa. "I thought you said she wasn't as bad as Sakura anymore?"

Jagaa shrugged. "She's gotten a lot better since I first met her, but sometimes she-" Jagaa stopped and his head snapped up before he quickly climbed to his feet, even the wind seeming to pick up in anticipation as a small smirk came to his face. "So much for lunch."

That was all the man needed to say to alert the other Ninja for battle, but before they could start moving to separate positions, Hinata caught sight of something through her activated Byakugan.

"Look out!" The Hyuuga girl yelled in warning at the sight of a giant blade spinning through the air straight at them, and a mass jump cleared all but two of the Ninja jumped clear, with only Jagaa and Naruto remaining, the scarred man calmly watching the large weapon heading for them and the whiskered boy seeming to have decided it wasn't even worth getting up for as he sat on the ground taking a drink from his canteen.

"Jagaa! Naruto!" Kakashi yelled in panic bringing the attention of everyone else back to the pair, their eyes widening in shock when they saw that neither blonde had yet to move.

Even as Kakashi yelled, the blade closed the distance making it impossible for the pair to move in time even if they wanted to now. However, it was soon shown that both had good reason to be unconcerned as Jagaa's right hand shot out with perfect timing to catch the hilt of the large weapon. Using the blades momentum, Jagaa brought his arm up and spun the sword around his head a few times to get it under his control before slashing it down to his side, the blade hovering only inches above Naruto's head who was calmly taking another drink from his canteen.

"You know, Nii-san. I didn't ask for a hair cut." Naruto reprimanded the man, giving the large sword a pointed glance.

"You could use one though." Jagaa grinned. "Besides, I missed anyway. I guess you were shorter than I thought."

Naruto glared at Jagaa for the insult to his height.

A low, rhythmic clapping sounded through the clearing coming from a lone tree about thirty meters away. "Well, well, well. Who would have thought that I'd run into you two on this job." A deep, slightly raspy voice called out as the speaker came into view. Crouched on one of the thick lower branches, a man wearing grey camo print pants but no shirt, a hitai-ate worn on the side of his head instead of the front, and white bandages wrapped around the lower half of his face, was looking down at Jagaa and Naruto with piercing black eyes. "It's been a while, Jagaa, Naruto."

"Yeah, life's funny that way." Jagaa replied with a smirk. "I see you're still trying to compensate by using this overgrown Butcher's Knife, Zabuza." As he spoke, Jagaa sent the blade spinning at the man in the tree the same way it had come at him, the man catching it by the handle and spinning it a couple of times just like Jagaa had, only bringing it to rest on his shoulder instead of at his side.

"And I see you're still as irritating as ever." Zabuza growled back as he shifted his sword to rest more comfortably.

"Momichi Zabuza!" Kurenai gasped, her eyes going wide. "The 'Demon of the Mist' and former member of the Mist's 'Seven Swordsmen'! Why is he here?"

"I'll give you three guesses." Jagaa said sarcastically.

"Hey, Uncle Zabuza!" Naruto called cheerily, jumping to his feet and waving to the shirtless man. "Is Haku here to?"

In response to his question, a small gale of wind and leaves howled next to Zabuza before fading away and leaving a boy wearing a loose, green shirt, baggy grey pants, and a white, oval shaped mask with two red markings on it standing next to Zabuza on the tree limb.

"Yes. I'm here as well, Naruto-kun." The new arrival said in a pleasantly smooth voice as he reached up to remove his mask, revealing a feminine face that made placing his gender a very difficult thing. "It's nice to see you again." The boy said with a warm smile.

"OH MY GOD, HE'S GORGEOUS!" Ino and Sakura shrieked in true Fangirl fashion, little hearts forming in their eyes as they stared at Haku, while the boy himself shifted a little uncomfortably.

"Seriously, Haku," Jagaa complained with a bit of despair in his voice, "couldn't you at least get a haircut or something! I feel like I should be worrying about my sexuality whenever you're around!"

Haku blushed lightly. "I'm very sorry, Jagaa-san, but I am content with my appearance as it is."

"Leave Haku alone, Nii-san." Naruto chastised his older brother. "He's just fine the way he is." Haku gave Naruto a grateful look, who just smiled in return.

"Are you sure you're not gay?" Jagaa asked suspiciously.

"If you're all finished catching up?" Zabuza growled with hard look between Haku and the two blondes below. "We have a job to do." Standing up and fully displaying his impressive height, Zabuza swung his giant sword around and pointed it at the wagons behind the group of Ninja. "We were hired to kill everyone in that convoy and destroy all the supplies. If you're all willing to stand aside, then you won't have to die."

"Oh, come off it, Bandage Face." Jagaa said, tilting his head and raising a single eyebrow. "I could take you on alone, and from what I hear, the Cyclops and the Princess over there," Jagaa indicated Kakashi and Kurenai with a jerk of his thumb, "are no slouches either. Do you really think you can win with these kinds of odds against you?"

Zabuza's eyes gleamed down at them all in a way that showed he was smirking confidently underneath his bandages. "Just me and Haku? No, we probably couldn't win trying to fight people like you and 'Copy Ninja Kakashi' at the same time." Zabuza paused and did a sweeping motion with his sword. "But, then again, who said it was just us?"

"NII-SAN!" Naruto shouted and the three Konoha Jounin spun around and saw at least twenty men rushing out of the trees from the East and charging the wagons. A series of warlike shouts rang out as another ten appeared out of the North and sounds of yelling and branches breaking from the South signaled even more enemies coming towards them.

"So what will you do now, Jagaa?" Zabuza asked with an amused gleam in his eye while Jagaa grit his teeth in anger.

A woman's scream pierced the air as the first group of enemies closed in on the wagons, one with a sword raised to end the life of the woman screaming, when blast of wind and debris erupted in the middle of the attacking group.

Where once were twenty charging men, now twelve corpses and two groaning injured lay on the ground, clumps of dirt and vegetation falling around them as Jagaa stood in the middle of the massacre sending a wave of killing intent towards the six that had managed to jump clear, revealing their Shinobi training.

"Naruto! Hinata! Kiba! Ino! Sasuke! Sakura!" Jagaa shouted the Genins' names with commander like authority. "Spread out and take care of the weaklings! I'll handle the Ninja in the ranks! Kakashi! You and the Princess take on Zabuza and Haku!" Without waiting for a response, Jagaa launched himself at the remaining six men of the group.

Five Genin and two Jounin were locked in a state of shock at the complete change in the scarred man's demeanor when Naruto's angry shout shocked them even more. "You heard him! Quit staring like idiots and do what you were hired for!" With an animal like growl, Naruto charged at the attackers coming from the north, sending shuriken and kunai flying ahead of him, killing five instantly and wounding three more before he arrived in there midst and started attacking with lethal intensity.

At the sight of Naruto charging into battle without a trace of hesitation, Sasuke felt a jealous rage boil inside of him and immediately attacked the enemies who had just arrived from the South with a flurry of Shuriken, grunting in satisfaction when four of the men screamed out in pain and dropped to the ground. Pulling out a kunai, Sasuke closed the distance and began attacking ferociously, determined to show his superiority to the blonde.

"Kiba!" Hinata shouted, getting the still stunned Inuzuka's attention as she sprinted after Sasuke with her Byakugan pulsing. "You and Akamaru go help Naruto! I'll cover the Uchiha!"

Kiba gave her a thumbs up and a feral grin. "Got it! Akamaru!" The puppy gave a yip and jumped on Kiba's back as the boy made a seal. "Juujin Bunshin!" A burst of smoke later, Akamaru stood on Kiba's back as identical copy of his master before jumping to the ground. "Let's go, Akamaru!" Kiba shouted, getting half growl, half bark in response from the transformed animal as the two of them charged towards the group Naruto was already wreaking havoc on.

"Come on, Sakura!" Ino shouted at her teammate as she to rushed into the fray, heading for a few enemy that had managed to get past the other Genin and Jagaa and were almost on top of the wagons. Shaking her head, Sakura took a quick glance between Ino and Sasuke for a second but quickly made her decision and started running to where Sasuke and Hinata were fighting.

Ino rushed the man that was the closest to the wagons from his right side, but he saw her coming from the corner of his eye and turned to face her, raising his sword into the air and making a clumsy swing for her neck. Ducking the attack, Ino sidestepped to the man's left, and drove her foot into the side of the man's knee. There was an audible pop as the knee bent in sideways followed by a blood curdling scream of pain as the man fell to the ground, clutching his ruined limb.

Ino flinched back at the scream, having never caused an injury like that to anything other than a training dummy before, and it almost cost her life when another enemy appeared behind her with an axe poised to cleave the girl's skull in two. Ino's senses kicked in too late for her to avoid the attack as she turned to see the man behind her. However, just before the man could deliver his fatal blow, a tan, muscular arm viciously slammed a large hammer into the side of her assailants head with a sickening crack, dropping him to the ground like a rag doll. Looking to where the attack had come from, Ino's eyes widened in disbelief when she realized the identity of her rescuer. "Tazuna-san!?"

Holding the same type of small sledge hammer in each hand, Tazuna looked down at Ino with a slight smirk inside his determined eyes. "What are you doing just standing around for, Girly? We got a fight on our hands!"

"B-but, why are you fighting?" Ino asked.

Tazuna's eyes hardened. "Didn't I tell you before? Everyone here is willing to lay down their life to get these supplies through! So you can bet your ass we're going to fight!" A pained cry caught the pair's attention, and they looked over to see another of the attackers fall to the ground with an arrow sticking out of his chest. Looking back to the wagons, Ino saw men jumping to the forest floor with swords, clubs, hammers, and anything else that could be used as a weapon, while the women of the party stood on the wagon seats, firing arrows and bolts from bows and crossbows at the attacking men. Tazuna looked back and grinned at the blonde girl in front of him. "Come one, Girly, time to do what you're getting paid for! We'll back you up with all we got!"

Despite the danger, Ino let out a grin of her own. "You got it, Boss!" Turning around, Ino charged at the newest enemies with Tazuna rushing in behind her.

X X X

"It would seem the plan worked, Zabuza-san." Haku said in a slightly remorseful tone as he watched Jagaa and the six Genin rush over to fend off the attacking mercenaries.

"Yeah, but it won't keep them occupied for long." Zabuza replied through narrowed eyes. "We were only able to find about thirty Chuunin worth anything before we came, but that wont be enough to hold off Jagaa for more than ten minutes, and that's if were lucky." Zabuza's eyes shifted down to Kakashi and Kurenai. "We have to finish those two off before he kills the Chuunin and comes back to help. You take the woman. I'll fight 'Copy Ninja Kakashi'."

Haku put the white mask back over his face. "Hai, Zabuza-san."

"There coming." Kakashi said, his hand going up to his hitai-ate and uncovering his Sharingan. "I'll deal with Zabuza, but don't underestimate that Haku boy."

"I know." Kurenai replied as she kept her eyes locked on Haku's masked figure.

"Sorry, Kakashi," Zabuza called down to the silver haired Jounin as he pulled his sword of his shoulder, "but I have to make this quick. If I don't kill you before Jagaa finishes off his opponents, things could become difficult."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Zabuza." Kakashi said easily. "In that case, I'll do my best to finish this quickly as well. I have cute little Genin that I need to look after anyway."

The two elite Jounin leaked large amounts of killing intent as they held each other's eyes, neither showing fear or hesitation. Without another word, the two Ninja blurred and re-materialized with a clashing of steel as Kakashi held Zabuza's blade at bay with a single kunai. The stand off held for a few seconds before the leapt apart and into the trees to give themselves more room to fight. Kurenai felt a chill run down her spine as the two near legendary Jounin disappear into the surrounding forest, but was suddenly startled by a soft voice from the rear.

"Excuse me, but are you an acquaintance of Naruto-kun's."

Kurenai gasped and whirled around with a Kunai in hand to face Haku, her nervousness starting to rise. 'He's fast! I only took my eyes off him for a second and he managed to get behind me. He's definitely not an ordinary boy!' The woman shook her head and processed what Haku had just asked her. "I don't really know Naruto, but I am partnered with his brother Jagaa."

"I see." Haku said in low tone, a strange, cold air starting to rise from his body. "That is good to hear. I would hate to make Naruto suffer by killing someone close to him."

Kurenai's eyes widened as the cold air actually solidified, forming a dome of mirrors surrounding her. 'A Kekei Genkai!' She snapped her eyes back to Haku just in time to see the boy merging with the mirror directly behind him. As soon as he had completely sunk into the ice mirror, an image of the boy appeared in the rest of the surrounding mirrors, each image simultaneously pulling out several senbon needles and poising to attack.

"I have no grudge against you, Kunoichi-san," Haku said in a resigned tone, "but it is Zabuza-san's order that I finish this as quickly as possible. I'm very sorry." As soon as he finished, senbon needles started flying at Kurenai from every direction at impressive speeds, and the Kunoichi knew she was in trouble.

X X X

Jagaa was starting to get irritated by the careful and guarded attacks the Ninja he was fighting were using on him. It had been a little more fun initially when some of them had tried to get around him and attack the convoy by blending in with the other mercenaries, but they figured out rather quickly that Jagaa seemed to know who was a Ninja and who wasn't as he made sport of picking them off from a distance, and had given up on that approach in favor of what could best be described as harassment attacks. If only they would have been stupid enough to all charge in at once in an attempt to overwhelm him, he would have already finished the fight and been helping Kakashi and Kurenai smack Zabuza and Haku around, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

'It's like they're stalling me!' Jagaa realized as he dodged around a kunai slash to his abdomen before bringing his blade down and neatly taking the attacker's head off. 'That damned Bandage face! He must have done some recon before attacking!' Sensing the incoming attack, Jagaa back flipped over the long chain stretched between two Chuunin that tried to wrap around him from behind put a kunai in the skulls of two others that tried to rush him from each side while he was upside down. Landing smoothly, Jagaa stabbed under his armpit and impaled the Ninja that had attempted to blindside him before standing up and smirking at the two Chuunin with the chain.

"The 'Demon Brothers', huh?" Jagaa commented as offhandedly as his irritation would allow. "I suppose it was you two who did the recon for Bandage Face. I'm surprised I didn't notice you though." Jagaa leaned back and let several Kunai fly in front of him, responding with a few shuriken without bothering to look and smiling at the pained cry that followed. 'That's seventeen! Judging by chakra signatures, about fifteen to go!'

"We knew they would be hiring Jounin." The brother with a large claw on his left had stated.

"So we were extra careful in observing." The one with the claw on his right hand finished.

"I guess that explains it then." Jagaa growled as he blocked the shuriken aimed for his back by moving his sword behind him. "But I know you can't actually expect to kill me with just this, can you?"

"No, we don't." The first brother answered. "However, beating you was never our objective. We just have to keep you busy until Zabuza-sama and Haku-sama have killed the other two."

"And since Haku-sama has already activated his bloodline," The second brother continued, a noticeable smirk in his voice. "That Kunoichi won't survive for much longer anyway."

Jagaa's expression hardened and his chakra spiked. "Is that so?" Jagaa's sword slashed in front of him and the Demon Brothers' eyes widened as they jumped away as fast as they possibly could. Behind the spot that the pair had just been standing, three other Chuunin who had been waiting to attack fell into two cleanly cut pieces, their now lifeless eyes locked in a state of confusion as to what had killed them. Jagaa pulled back his blade and faced the now frightened brothers that had managed to avoid his attack, his tone going lethal. "Then I guess I don't have time to keep playing with you anymore."

X X X

Kiba couldn't believe what he was seeing as he and the transformed Akamaru fought the mercenaries that were managing to get past Naruto. The amazingly few that did anyways. Could this really be the same blonde air head that he had befriended over a year ago? The same boy who went gaga over ramen and half the time acted like a clueless idiot? If it weren't for the sunny-blonde hair and the whiskered cheeks, Kiba would never believe that the hardened professional he was seeing at this moment was really his best friend.

Ducking under a sword swipe to his head, Naruto drove his kunai under into the man's armpit, severing the major artery. Ripping out the kunai, Naruto grabbed the man's sword and threw it with all his might at another attacker, putting the blade through the man's throat all the way to the hilt. Rolling out of the way of a club coming down for his skull, Naruto sliced through both of another man's Achilles Tendons. The man screamed in pain and fell to the ground, only to be silenced when Naruto drove his kunai into the man's heart. Leaving his the kunai in the dead man's chest, Naruto launched himself at a new opponent, ramming his fist into the mercenary's throat and collapsing his wind pipe before moving on again.

Kiba dodged away from the club coming at his face before slashing the attacker arm with his claws. The man cried out in pain, but Kiba cut the cry off by slamming his fist into the man's jaw and knocking him unconscious, just all the others he that he had fought. Another cry rang out and Kiba looked over just in time to see another man fall to the ground with an arrow in his chest.

Kiba mentally cursed at himself. Naruto didn't seem to be having any trouble killing the enemy, and even the women in the convoy weren't hesitating to finish them off. So why was the thought of killing these men bothering him so much? Hell, even Akamaru was killing easily. Tearing through throats and with claws and fangs in true canine like fashion, but Kiba...

The Inuzuka growled low in his throat as his anger with himself continued to grow to new heights. The odor of an irregular bather caught his attention, and Kiba sidestepped the spear thrust to his back. His anger at himself becoming rage from the cowardly attack, Kiba grabbed the spear with his left hand, jerking it and the man holding it forward, and spun backwards along the shaft to throw a vicious slash at the man's neck, ripping open his jugular.

The man's gurgled scream froze the Inuzuka boy in place as he watched the man fall to the earth and drown in his own blood, killed by Kiba's own hand. A wave of nausea washed over him as he realized that he had finally, and irreversibly, killed another human.

He heard a barked warning before something rushed past him and was followed by yet another dieing scream. Spinning quickly, Kiba found his transformed partner crouched over a man who had just had his throat torn out that had been sneaking up behind Kiba. Looking at his master with reprimanding eyes, Akamaru barked at Kiba to keep his mind on the fight. Shaking his head, Kiba thanked his canine partner and dove back into the fight, forcing his nausea down through willpower alone. He would worry later about what he had just done, and may soon do again, but for now, he had a job to do.

Attacking with new determination, Kiba shattered the kneecaps of another attacker and was moving to another, when Naruto's voice rose above the chaos shouting "Sakura!" as the boy himself sped past Kiba at speeds the Inuzuka didn't know his blonde friend was capable of. Following Naruto's path, Kiba saw what Naruto had seen, and his eyes widened.

X X X

She'd done it without thinking. She'd done it to save the life of her client. She'd done it because she had no other choice at the time. So, why? Why was she feeling like she had just committed some irredeemable sin as she stared into the dieing eyes of the man whose chest she driven her kunai into just before he could kill Tazuna? Why was the bile building in the back of her throat and demanding release, even as she fought with everything she had to keep it down? She had done the right thing hadn't she? She knew she had done the right thing.

So, why?

Ino started violently when a firm yet gentle hand came to rest on her shoulder and she looked up into Tazuna's understanding eyes. "Thanks, Girly, you really saved my bacon! But don't go spacing out just yet! We still got a fight on our hands after all!" Swallowing the down the bile that was still trying to force its way to the outside, Ino nodded as determinedly as she could manage. "That's the spirit!" Tazuna grinned, whipping around and raising his hammers into the air. "Come on you scum sucking bastards! Just try and get to these wagons!" With a mighty war cry, the old man threw himself at two new attackers and started hammering them into the ground with strong, solid blows.

Feeling encouraged by her client's willingness to protect his countries hope, Ino started running in behind him to help and protect the old man when Naruto's cry of her rivals name reached her ears. Looking behind her, Ino saw the blonde boy running as fast as he could with a panicked expression, and quickly twisted her neck to see where he was going. As soon as she did, she cried in horror at what was about to happen.

"SAKURA!"

X X X

Hinata danced around attack after attack with a graceful ease that few could match as the enemy fell before her like leaves falling from a tree in autumn. Twisting around a stab to her chest, Hinata spun around behind the man and struck a glowing palm into the lower left side of his back, destroying his liver with a burst of chakra. As the man fell, Hinata ducked a swipe to her head from behind, spinning around in a crouch and springing forward and striking the new opponents chest with another chakra infused palm, rupturing his heart.

It was surprisingly easy for the Hyuuga heiress to take these men's lives. Fueled by the knowledge that they wouldn't hesitate to kill her given the chance, which was being proven again and again as she danced around lethal blows, and the experience of being forced to do something that was far worse to her than killing an enemy she had never met before, every strike she made was made to be fatal.

However, even as she killed her own opponents, Hinata couldn't help but feel revolted at the Uchiha fighting alongside her. The raven haired boy was not only willing to kill his enemies, he was startlingly eager to do it. His eyes told of his desire to kill any enemy within his reach and that he very well may try to go through an ally to get to them. Hinata had actually been forced to put some distance between herself and the blood-lusting Uchiha in order to avoid a situation that could put her fighting against a teammate, even if he was only a temporary one.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

The shouted attack and a sudden burst of heat made Hinata whip around in surprise as Sasuke launched his fire attack at three of the mercenaries that had gotten past them. However, Hinata also saw something that Sasuke hadn't and panic struck her as she yelled, knowing it was too late for the warning to reach.

"Haruno!"

X X X

It wasn't enough.

That's all Sasuke could think as he drove a kunai into the skull of one of the attackers. He wasn't doing enough to show up Naruto.

It had been bad enough that the blonde had been the first to rush into battle after Jagaa, making Sasuke look as if he had hesitated, but that wasn't what was eating at the Uchiha the most. No, what had infuriated the Sasuke more than anything was that Naruto seemed so…Professional!

There was no hesitation in the blonde's attacks. No doubt in his movements as he systematically killed the attacking mercenaries. Instead, Naruto tore through his enemies with hard eyes and a grim expression faster than Sasuke had ever seen the other boy move before. It enraged him to think that Naruto had most likely been holding back in their previous spars. It was a blow to his pride as a ninja, and even worse, as an Uchiha. Driven by his growing anger, Sasuke had attacked and killed his own opponents without pity or remorse. If Naruto could do it, then Sasuke could as well, and he would do it better, no matter what it took.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw three men running for the wagons and, still driven by his desire to outdo Naruto, the Uchiha boy's hands started flashing through seals. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" The attack erupted from Sasuke's mouth and straight for the three mercenaries who screamed in terror at the sight of the large mass of fire closing in on them. Smirking to himself at three more kills, and in a much more impressive way than Naruto had yet done, Sasuke turned back to his other opponents, never seeing the flash of pink hair that had appeared behind the three men just as Sasuke launched his attack or hearing the warning cry from the Hyuuga heiress.

X X X

Sakura was frightened as she barely dodged her opponent's clumsy swing. She wasn't ready for this. This shouldn't have happened.

Why was it like this? Sakura had been so sure that Kurenai-sensei, Jagaa-sensei, and Kakashi-sensei would be doing most of the fighting if anything happened that she hadn't been worried about he mission in the least when they started, even after Tazuna had told them about the person that was trying to stop the bridge supplies from getting through.

All of that changed though, when those two Ninja showed up and somehow managed to get all three of the Jounin in separate fights, leaving only the Genin to fight the common hired thugs.

Now Sakura found herself fighting for her life with none of the powerful figures she had been leaning on near her. She hadn't even been able to get close enough to Sasuke-kun to try to draw strength from his presence before she had ended up against her first opponent, making it all she could do to dodge out of the way of the attack that nearly ended her life. In truth, Sakura knew that she probably already would have been killed if it weren't for Hinata and Sasuke in front of her, taking down most of the attackers before they could pass, and the support from the men and women of the convoy who were helping fight against anyone who managed to get past their Shinobi escort.

Sakura leapt back to avoid the blade that almost cut her in half before jumping forward again and planting a foot in her assailants face, making him stumble back as he spit out blood and teeth. Before the man could recover enough to attack again, a crossbow bolt impaled him in the eye and dropped him to the forest floor. Sakura didn't know who it was, but somebody seemed to have noticed that the pink haired girl didn't seem able to kill her opponents and had been acting like her back up, finishing off anyone she injured. The pink haired girl was extremely grateful to her unknown help, since it was the biggest contributor to her will to fight, but her fear and inability to kill the opponent refused to leave her. Still, she somehow forced herself to keep going, to keep dodging, to keep fighting.

She had to, if she wanted to live.

"SAKURA! SAKURA/HARUNO!"

The sudden shouts, accompanied by agonized screams, reached the pink haired girl at the same time a large, orange light caught her attention and she whipped her head around with wide, horrified eyes at the sight of the large ball of fire that had just incinerated three men now bearing down on her.

Her body froze, taking away any chance she may have of avoiding the attack, and she could only stare with wide, nearly uncomprehending eyes at what would be the instrument of her death even as her heart and soul silently cried out for someone to save her.

"Doton: Doryuheki no Justu!"

A mass of sunny-blonde hair blurred into existence in front of her and a wall of earth shot from the ground just in time to intercept the oncoming attack. A crash of earth and fire filled the air around the pink haired girl with heat and debris as she stood locked in her trance like state, unable to believe she was really still alive.

"Are you all right?" A concerned voice asked and soon Sakura found herself staring into the bluest eyes she had ever seen. "Sakura?"

Sakura shook her head at the call, managing to get some sort of grasp on reality again, but still feeling extremely lightheaded. "Y-yes. I'm all right."

Her savior, who she could finally recognize as being Naruto, gave her an appraising look before grabbing her shoulders and setting her down against the earth wall. "Stay here! We'll handle the rest!" Sakura nodded mutely, still in a state of shock as to what had just happened. She could see the relief in the blonde boy's eyes at her being okay, but she could also see something else.

Rage.

He was furious about something, but in her current condition, she couldn't quite comprehend what it might be. She was considering questioning him on it, but another familiar shout seemed to have drawn the boy's attention, so she decided it was probably better to wait and ask later. Naruto looked down at her one more time as if to make sure she was really still in one piece before pulling a kunai from his pouch and vanishing from her sights in a burst of speed.

Once the boy was gone, Sakura was able to recover just enough to whisper the words that had been running through her mind since the boy had appeared in front of her to answer her silent prayer.

"Thank you."

X X X

Hinata all let out explosive breaths of relief at Naruto's barely in time rescue of their pink haired comrade. Unfortunately, Hinata's relief was short lived when her Byakugan caught movement coming in from the north, and her eye's widened at the sight of hundreds of more Mercenaries rushing out of the trees.

"REINFORCMENTS! A LOT OF THEM! COMING FROM THE NORTH!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. It only took a couple of seconds for Naruto to shoot out from behind the defensive wall with a kunai held loosely in his left hand while he formed a cross shaped seal.

"NII-SAN!" Naruto shouted to Jagaa who was facing the oncoming horde surrounded by dead bodies, with his left hand out stretched and an irritated expression on his face. At the sound of the shout, Jagaa turned around to see Naruto coming, and his face lit up as if in understanding before changing into a smirk as he repositioned himself so his hand was now facing Naruto.

And then her jaw dropped.

X X X

Jagaa grabbed the left arm that was coming at his side with his own left hand, twisting his body and throwing the clawed appendage into the chest of the identical attacker coming from behind. The still living brother cried out in rage and grief, but the cry was died along with the one crying out when the claw his brother had been wearing was rammed into the base of his skull by Jagaa, killing him instantly. Their bodies going limp, the two brothers fell to the forest floor, embracing each other in death.

"…I hope Bandage Face and Girly Boy didn't like those two very much." Jagaa muttered as he turned back to where he could feel Kakashi and Kurenai's chakra signatures. "All right, time to-"

"REINFORCMENTS! A LOT OF THEM! COMING FROM THE NORTH!"

Jagaa swore loudly and turned towards the sounds of a very large amount of people, confirming Hinata's yell, and he felt his annoyance rising as he expanded his senses and saw that there was nearly two hundred at least that were about to burst through the trees. Cursing his luck at the knowledge he could probably handle that many without resorting to anything flashy if he was on his own, and probably would just for the fun of it, but with the convoy and other people behind him he really didn't have that option. Sighing irritably, Jagaa raised his free left hand, since his sword was held in his right, and held it in a loosely open position in the direction the hired 'Dead Men', at least that's how Jagaa thought of them, had just started emerging from.

'This is probably gonna raise a lot of questions that I don't really feel like answering, but I'll dodge those later.' Jagaa thought, before adding sarcastically to himself. 'Unless someone has a better idea.'

"NII-SAN!" Naruto's voice drew Jagaa's attention and he faced back to find the boy rushing towards him with a kunai held loosely in his left hand as he formed a cross shaped seal. Jagaa immediately recognized the seal and his face lit up in understanding.

'Not bad, Brat.' Jagaa thought, his lips forming a smirk as he shifted his stance and held his left hand out to Naruto. The boy smirked in response and picked up his speed just before jumping into the air straight at Jagaa.

"Kage Bunshin no-" Naruto's flying form reached Jagaa, who grabbed the front of the blondes shirt as he threw the boy forward at breakneck speed. "-Jutsu!" Naruto shouted just as Jagaa's grip left his shirt and hundreds of Narutos materialized into existence, all flying at the same speed as the original with a kunai held out in front of them like human Javelins on a deadly flight path directly into the mass of attacking enemies.

Screams of fear, pain, and death filled the clearing and the surrounding forest as two hundred men were felled all at once by an equal number of identical blondes that disappeared in bursts of smoke on impact.

Having already found themselves in a far more difficult fight than they had signed on for, that last action was enough to break the remaining attackers resolve and send them running back into the forest with terrified shrieks. A loud cheer erupted from the men and women in the convoy as they waved their weapons in the air in victory.

Jagaa didn't join the celebration though, due to the fact he could still feel the flaring of chakra from Kakashi, Kurenai, Zabuza, and Haku, meaning that their battles were still being fought. Seeking out the closest pair of chakra signatures, Haku and Kurenai, Jagaa vanished like a gust of wind to intervene.

X X X

Yes, Kurenai was in serious trouble. That had become more apparent with every passing second as she blocked and dodged the barrage of needles coming from all directions with everything she possessed. Even though the needles hadn't been flying faster than anything she could handle normally, the shear volume of them were starting to wear her down as several managed to get through her guard and give her grazing injuries that were painful even if not lethal. What was hurting her the most though, was that even if the boy slowed down his rate of attack for a moment, the second Kurenai tried to form seals to create a Genjutsu that might be able to turn the tide to her favor, Haku would immediately pick it up again in order to force her to break her seal sequence and defend herself from the rain of needles.

'If I could just get out of this dome, I could win!' The woman thought desperately as she looked for any chance to succeed in that goal. She had tried to make a rush for the gaps in the mirrors several times, but every time Haku would block her path with an increased number of senbon, forcing her back to the middle of the dome of ice.

A new wave of needles came at her, and Kurenai once again found herself ducking, dodging, and knocking senbon needles out of the air with one of the kunai in each hand. 'At least he's starting to slow down…but then again, so am I.' Kurenai thought with grit teeth due to the stinging pain from her injuries. 'If I can just last a little longer though, I may be able to get out of here.'

"It appears I am starting to reach my limit. This technique is rather draining on my chakra after all." Haku said in his usual polite tone. "However, I can not allow you to join your teammate in fighting Zabuza-san, since that may prove difficult even for him." Haku raised his right fist with three senbon needles held between his fingers. "I will end this now!"

Kurenai braced herself as the newest barrage of needles came at her and had just moved her leg in preparation to dodge when a piercing pain hit her in the back of the thigh. The surprise hit managed to stop Kurenai's movement, and before the she even had a chance to register what had happened, several more senbon struck her thighs and calves almost all at once. Screaming in pain, Kurenai dropped to her hands and knees, her kunai slipping from her grip and landing several feet in front of her with a steely clatter.

"It appears you didn't notice, Kunoichi-san." Haku said calmly down to the pained woman. "My earlier attacks were not so much intended to hit you, as they were to analyze your movements and dodging patterns." Kurenai wanted to curse violently when she heard that, furious to find out that she had been being toyed with the whole time. She glared at the boy's image as he drew his arm back for a final attack, his voice going low and remorseful. "I'm sorry."

As the senbon needles rained down on her this time, Kurenai knew she was done for. Her legs had been paralyzed by the weapons embedded into them, leaving her completely unable to move, much les dodge. Fear and anger mingled together as the red eyed woman watched the weapons close in on her. Fear, that she was truly about to die and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Anger, that she had let it come to this in the first place when she knew she could have won easily if she hadn't let herself get trapped in the dome of mirrors. But whether fear or anger stood as the dominant emotion didn't matter anymore, she was about to die, and that was that. Bowing her head in a mixture of defeat and shame, Kurenai closed her eyes and waited for her end.

Instead, she felt a blast of wind erupt around her as the sound of metal hitting earth filled the air. Snapping her head up in surprise, her eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of Jagaa's black clothed form towering in front of her like a dark guardian angel, emitting an aura of power and danger that she would have never thought possible from the sarcastic, annoying man she knew.

"This fight is over." Jagaa said in a professional, lethal tone that made Kurenai swallow unconsciously. "You and Zabuza are the only ones left, Haku. Do you really want to continue now that you don't have anyone else to keep me out of the fight?" Jagaa's chakra flared and even the very air around them started swirling as if marking the arrival of a powerful storm.

Haku appeared to flinch back at the display before speaking. "It seems I have no choice. I will withdraw." The images of the boy faded away until only one remained before Haku slowly stepped out of the ice mirror and disappeared in a small whirlwind.

The panels of ice shattered like planes of glass, falling to the ground with a strangely musical melody. Turning back around, Jagaa kneeled down to Kurenai and started inspecting her legs. "Hmm, it doesn't seem too bad, but we'll have to wait to take out the needles. So…" Without warning, Jagaa put one arm under her legs, being careful to avoid the protruding weapons, and the other one under her back, lifting her up easily as her arms instinctively wrapped around his neck.

"W-what are you doing!" Kurenai nearly stammered, her face flushing deeply at the intimate way she was being held even as she glared accusingly at the scarred man holding her.

"I told you." Jagaa stated seriously, catching the red eyed woman completely off guard agian. "We'll have to wait to pull out the needles, and I'm not leaving you here alone when you're injured."

Kurenai felt her breath hitch in her throat as she stared up Jagaa, astounded by this new side of him. Was this professional, protective person really the same man that had been going out of his way to make her life so difficult for the last month? If it really was, then why was he acting so…

"Hold on, we're going to check on Kakashi." Kurenai didn't have a chance to respond before she felt the slight shifting sensation that came before using Shunpo, and she quickly tightened her grip on the man's shoulders as they vanished in a swirl of wind.

X X X

Copy Ninja Kakashi stared hard into the black eyes of The Demon of the Mist, Zabuza, as each of them looked for an opening for their next attacks. Kakashi's left hand was across his stomach, nursing the gash Zabuza's sword had dealt him, while Zabuza's own left arm dangled uselessly at his side due to Kakashi impaling his shoulder with a kunai in return.

"Hmm, you're not bad, Kakashi." Zabuza said with a trace of bitterness in his voice. "I thought for sure this would have been over all ready."

"Thank you." Kakashi said simply, his eyes never straying from his opponent's.

Before anymore words could be spoken, the two elite Shinobi felt a large spike of chakra that Kakashi thought he recognized and Zabuza's eyes flashed in annoyance. "Tch, it looks like we took too long." As soon as Zabuza finished speaking, there was a howling of and Haku materialized beside him.

"I'm sorry, Zabuza-san." The boy said respectfully. "I was unable to kill her before Jagaa-san arrived."

Zabuza's eyes shifted to the boy at his side, giving him a half annoyed, half understanding look before closing his eyes and sighing irritably. "It doesn't matter. I wasn't able to kill Kakashi either, so it wouldn't have made a difference." The Demon of the Mist's words were emphasized by another howling wind and three sets of eyes shifted to where Jagaa had just arrived with a furiously blushing Kurenai in his arms who seemed determined not to look at his face. Zabuza's eyes narrowed on Jagaa, who gazed steadily back, as if daring him to make an attempt. Instead, Zabuza let out a grunt and turned back to Haku. "We're leaving."

"Hai, Zabuza-san." Haku said with a nod and the two of them vanished in a howl of wind.

Expanding his senses to make sure that Zabuza was really clear of the area, Kakashi sighed in relief and pulled his hitai-ate back down over his left eye. "You certainly took your time coming back."

"I had to make a detour." Jagaa said simply, unconsciously shifting his grip on Kurenai to support her better and causing the woman's flush to deepen.

"Mah, whatever." Kakashi shrugged turning in the direction of the wagons. "Let's just get back and check on our…" His words died away as he fell face first onto the forest floor.

"Kakashi!" Kurenai cried out in alarm as Jagaa moved next to the silver haired man.

Kakashi was panting heavily as he lay on the ground, but he managed to turn his head just enough to give the pair a wan smile. "Ah, sorry about this. Using the Sharingan takes a heavy toll on my body and I also took an injury to my stomach. I guess I just couldn't hold out any longer."

"You have the Sharingan?" Jagaa questioned with a frown. "You're not an Uchiha though."

"It was a gift from my best friend." Kakashi said in a tired voice. "But that's not the point right now. The point is that I can't move, so you'll have to leave me here and come back for me once you make sure that our teams and clients are okay."

"Why would we have to leave you?" Jagaa asked, getting a confused look from both Kurenai and Kakashi. Turning his neck so he was facing Kurenai, a small, almost unnoticeable smirk ghosted to his lips. "Don't slap me for this." Before Kurenai could ask what he meant, Jagaa shifted his left arm so that it was directly under Kurenai's rear before taking his right out from under her legs, leaving her sitting on his left arm like a chair. If the red eyed woman had been blushing before, it was nothing compared to now as his hand grasped her left cheek firmly to keep her in place. As Kurenai tried to fight back her natural instinct to slap him, since he had at least sort of warned her with his request not to be slapped, Jagaa reached down and pulled Kakashi off the ground by the front of his Jounin vest before none to gently throwing the taller man over his shoulder like a sack of grain.

Kakashi let out a pained grunt as his wound was aggravated by the rough treatment. "Excuse me, but why is it that I get treated so roughly when you've been so careful with Kurenai?" He asked indignantly.

"Quit complaining, Cyclops." Jagaa said without a trace of apology in his voice. "I'm the one who has to have your ass by my face. Now hold on." The wind picked up around them as the three disappeared with a Shunpo to where their teams and clients were regrouping, leaving only the echo of Kakashi's sullen response behind.

"It's not like my view is much better."

X X X X X

"Empty out the load in the fifth wagon and spread it out amongst the others! We'll use it to carry the most severely injured!" Tazuna's voice carried through the clearing as the three Jounin materialized among the bustling people. "Treat the minor injuries on sight! If you can still walk, you walk the rest of the way!" The old man was received by shouts of understanding as everyone purposefully set about following the guidance.

"How bad is it?" Jagaa asked immediately, still carrying his fellow Jounin.

Tazuna snapped around in surprise at the sudden arrival, but his face quickly went serious again. "Out of fifty three of us, seventeen were injured, some minor and some serious," Tazuna's eyes darkened and his voice lowered, "and five were killed."

The two Jounin being carried felt a slight tightening of the arm carrying them and Jagaa's voice dropped as well. "I'm sorry." Kurenai looked up to Jagaa's face after his reaction and tone, but nothing in his expression betrayed what he might be feeling on the matter, making it unclear if he truly felt something at the lost lives of the clients or if he was simply being polite.

Tazuna face saddened at Jagaa's condolences. "So am I." Taking a deep breath, Tazuna reined his emotions and looked at the three Jounin resolutely. "But we knew the dangers when we started this and we were the ones who chose to fight instead of cowering in our wagons. We're just lucky all of you were here. None of us would have survived that attack if you weren't."

Jagaa nodded in understanding before speaking again. "We need to go check on our teams."

"Right." The old man agreed. "I need to oversee the rest of the group as well." Tazuna turned and walked back to the wagons as Jagaa started heading towards where the Genin of teams 7 and 8 gathered near one of the nearby trees. As they got closer, Kurenai noticed that something seemed off with the six Genin. The most obvious thing being the way Hinata and Kiba seemed to be keeping a firm grip on the blonde's left arm while his right dangled limply at his side and taking to him with low voices and worried eyes. The whiskered boy himself seemed to be having some sort of internal struggle as his gaze kept shifting from Sakura, who was sitting on the ground staring into the distance with dull eyes as Ino rubbed her back and whispered reassurances to the girl, to Sasuke, who was the only one who looked completely normal, his blue eyes flashing from concern to unbridled fury with each shift.

"Jagaa-sensei, Kurenai-sensei, Kakshi-sensei." Ino said in relief as the three Jounin arrived on scene, drawing everyone's attention.

"Is everyone okay?" Kurenai asked as Jagaa kneeled down and carefully set her on the ground before removing Kakashi from his shoulder and laying the man on his back and putting his hand directly over Kakashi's wound, surprising the red eyed woman when she saw Jagaa's hand start to glow a soft green and Kakashi's wound began to close.

"Yeah, we're all okay." Ino paused and looked down at Sakura. "Well, no one got hurt at least, but Sakura…" Ino trailed off and had to take a slow, deep breath to steady her emotions. "Sakura was almost killed."

Kurenai's eyes widened at the news of what had almost happened to one of her Genin, and her head snapped over to look at Sakura. "Sakura? Are you okay?" She asked, but the girl made no response and instead continued to stare blankly.

"Tch." Sasuke's annoyed grunt sounded for everyone to hear. "To almost be killed by opponents of that level. What pathetic excuse of a Kunoichi."

"THAT'S IT!" Naruto roared, throwing Kiba and Hinata from him violently before grabbing the Uchiha by the throat with his left hand and slamming Sasuke against the tree. "YOU SON OF BITCH! YOU WERE THE ONE WHO ALMOST KILLED SAKURA, YOU FUCKING IDIOT!"

All three Jounin snapped their heads over to Naruto and Sasuke, Jagaa's expression becoming incredulous while Kurenai and Kakashi's eyes went wide. "WHAT!?" Kurenai screamed in shock, unable to believe what she had just heard. Jagaa and Kakashi managed to control their own out bursts, but each of their faces had gone stony as they looked at the Uchiha that was currently being strangled.

"What…are you…talking…about?" Sasuke gasped out as he struggled against the arm holding him against the tree, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't break the vice like grip that was cutting off his air supply.

"What am I talking about? WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT!?" Naruto's grip tightened even more and Sasuke could swear he saw the blonde's eyes take on a purple hue. "I'M TALKING ABOUT THAT KATON JUTSU YOU USED THAT ALMOST ROASTED YOUR OWN TEAMMATE ALIVE, YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!"

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, but still managed to stay defiant despite his dwindling oxygen supply. "She wasn't…there…when I…attacked."

"YES SHE WAS!" Naruto shouted, his anger flaring higher than ever at the Uchiha's obliviousness. "ARE YOU SO GOD DAMNED BLIND TO EVERYONE BUT YOUR ENEMY THAT YOU DON'T EVEN CARE IF YOUR OWN TEAMMATES GET CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE!" Sasuke was starting to see spots as Naruto paused, letting up just enough to ensure that Sasuke didn't pass out, before growling at the Uchiha. "When you're on a mission, your team is the same as your family! Are you such an arrogant bastard that you're willing to kill your family just because you're out to prove something?"

Sasuke's eyes widened and his struggles stopped as Naruto's words hit him like a blow from a hammer, his mind flashing to a certain memory of that terrible night.

/Flashback/

"Why!?" An eight year old Sasuke cried out with tears streaming down his face as he looked at the shadowed figure in front of him. "Why did you kill everyone!?"

The figure raised his head and revealed two fully evolved Sharingan staring at Sasuke with a cold intensity as he answered with a single sentence. "To test myself."

/Flashback End/

All the fight died away from the young Uchiha as he turned his head away from Naruto with wide, haunted eyes. 'Am I really…just like him?' Sasuke felt as if his spirit was shattering inside and his body went limp in Naruto's grip.

Confusion mingled with the whisker marked boy's anger as Sasuke's body became like a rag doll in his hand and his expression became like that of damned man. His anger waning slightly at the pathetic sight of the normally proud Uchiha, Naruto grudgingly let him go, allowing the raven haired boy to slide limply down the trunk of the tree and sit unresponsively at it's base as the blonde turned away with a snort of disgust.

Several sighs of relief could be heard when Naruto finally let Sasuke go. The loudest being from one Yuuhi Kurenai who, after letting her relief be known, turned to glare at both Kakashi and Jagaa. "Why didn't either of you try to stop him? He's your subordinate," She pointed accusingly at Kakashi before shifting the point to Jagaa, 'and he's your brother!"

Kakashi, who was laying fully on his back again now that the situation was over, shrugged painfully. "Well, for one thing, I can't exactly move very well at the moment. The other is because Naruto more or less did what I felt like doing when I heard what Sasuke almost did." Kakashi's visible eye darkened and seemed to become almost self loathing. "Those who don't care about their comrades are worse than trash."

"Well said." Jagaa murmured.

Kurenai shook her head in exasperation and looked up to Jagaa. "And what about you?"

Jagaa's attention stayed focused on Kakashi's wound as he answered. "I knew Naruto wouldn't kill him, no matter how much he may have wanted to, and nothing he said or did was wrong as far as I'm concerned." The green glow faded from Jagaa's hand and he turned his head to Kakashi's. "All right, Cyclops, seems you're gonna live."

"You don't have to sound so disappointed you know." Kakashi said with frown.

"Think of it as replacement for today's 'I hate you'." Jagaa said with a light smirk before turning back to the Genin. "Naruto! Get your ass over here so I can check your arm!"

"All right, all right, I'm coming." The boy said as he walked over to the three Jounin with his left arm across his chest and gingerly holding his dangling right. "I can tell you right now that it's dislocated though." He grunted painfully as Jagaa took the arm in hand and started feeling along its length.

"Yeah, that's fairly obvious." Jagaa commented loudly, his voice then dropping low so that only Naruto and the other two Jounin could hear. "It's also broken and needs to be set. I know it'll be healed by tomorrow since it's you, but it would draw a lot of questions you probably don't want. You know what that means right?"

Naruto grimaced. "Yeah. It means I'm in for a lot of pain."

"Yep." Jagaa said in a much louder voice. "Relocating your shoulder is gonna hurt like hell, but at least you'll still be able to use your arm." An almost unnoticeable smirk made its way to his face, and the other Jounin could just make out the veiled amusement in his voice. "Good thing it wasn't broken too, huh."

Naruto growled slightly at the man. "Yeah, especially since any arm injuries were your fault for throwing me so damn hard."

"Hey, it was your bright idea." Jagaa defended calmly. "You should have braced yourself better." Jagaa reached up and gripped around Naruto's bicep with his left hand even as he discreetly wrapped his right around the middle of the boy's forearm. "You ready?"

"Not really." Naruto gritted out as he prepared for the coming pain.

This time Jagaa's smirk appeared in full force. "Sucks to be you then." With a firm downward jerk and sharp push forward, Naruto's joint popped back into place audibly, drowning out the quieter crack of his bone being set with a quick twist of Jagaa's wrist.

Naruto screamed in pain and started hurling obscenities at Jagaa that no twelve year old should know, much less say, as he gripped his throbbing arm tightly near the shoulder. Naruto's reaction caused Ino, Hinata, and Kiba to flinch violently at the thought of how much pain he must have just been in, and even managed to pull both Sasuke and Sakura out of their trance like states to stare at the sunny-blonde in shock.

"See." Jagaa said with his smirk still in place. "That wasn't so bad. Was it?"

The glare Naruto sent his brother could have melted steel. "Fuck you, Nii-san! I hope you burn in the deepest pit of hell for all eternity while being fucked up the ass by some giant sized fag named Teddy." Several mouths fell open in shock at the boy's declaration, including Tazuna's, who had just arrived on the scene, drawn by the cry of pain.

"Teddy?" Jagaa asked in amusement, not seeming phased in the least by Naruto condemning him to eternal damnation.

"…Shut up. It was the first name that came into my head." Naruto grumbled.

Jagaa chuckled lowly but his expression soon became serious again and he turned to Tazuna. "Hey, Tazuna, do you think you'll be able to fit Kakashi in somewhere on the wagons. He's not gonna be able to move for a while, let alone walk."

Brought out of his stupor at Naruto's language, Tazuna hastily agreed. "Sure. We should be able to find a place for him. Hell, I'll carry him myself if I have to."

"Thanks." Jagaa said appreciatively before continuing in a more professional tone. "By the way, I think it's safe to take the most direct route to your village now. I can pretty much guarantee that we cleared out any and all of Gatou's hirelings."

Tazuna nodded and bent down to hoist Kakashi up and support him on his shoulder. "Good. That means we should be able to be there by tonight, instead of tomorrow evening."

"Good to hear." Jagaa responded and turned to the Genin. "You six go help them in anyway you can to get us on the road quicker. Once we start moving, Hinata and Sasuke take point, Sakura and Ino stay midway, and Kiba and Naruto guard the rear. Any questions?" The six Genin shook their heads and Jagaa nodded. "All right, get to it then." The six Genin all nodded and started following Tazuna, who was supporting Kakashi, back to the wagons, Sasuke and Sakura each trailing at a much slower pace than the rest.

Watching the final two in the group for a moment, Jagaa turned and moved back to Kurenai. "All right, I finally have time pull these things out." Jagaa gently traced the area around a few of the needles with the tip of his fingers. "Yep, it's a good thing we didn't rush to do it though. Haku targeted specific muscles in your leg that could have left them useless if we'd just ripped the needles out. As it stands though, you should just be sore for a couple hours, a day at most, and then you'll be fine."

"How do you know all that?" Kurenai asked, another unwanted blush rising on her face. She knew Jagaa was only examining the wounds, but the soft caresses of Jagaa's finger tips were sending frighteningly pleasurable shivers down her spine.

"Because that damn girly boy did the same thing to me once when I insulted Bandage Face." Jagaa said with a low growl. "I swear. That's the last time I let needles hit me on purpose just because I don't think they'll do a lot of damage."

"Caught by your own overconfidence, huh." Kurenai smiled mischievously. Strangely happy to see a bit of the Jagaa she was used to surfacing again. "I guess that's what they call 'Just rewards'."

"Yeah, maybe." Jagaa said with a small laugh, surprising the woman yet again with his lack of a comeback. "Now hold still. This is going to sting." Gripping a needle firmly, Jagaa carefully pulled it from the woman's leg. Kurenai gasped and put her hand on Jagaa's shoulder, squeezing tightly as he removed another with slow and meticulous movements. Finally, after what felt like hours to the pained woman, Jagaa pulled the last needle out of her right calf. "Okay, hard parts over." Jagaa said lightly placing his hands over the wounds where they once again started glowing a soft green. "I can't do much about the bruising, which is the main reason your legs still won't work well right away, but I can at least close the wounds."

Kurenai propped her hands behind her so she could lean back as she watched the puncture marks in her legs fade quickly from Jagaa's administrations due to their small size. "You know, with all those scars you have, I'm actually surprised that you know any medical jutsu."

"Is that so?" Jagaa said with a small smirk. "Then you'll be really surprised to know that the one that taught me basic medical jutsu, was one of the people that gave me most of the injuries that caused these scars."

Kurenai's eyes widened in shock. "Are you serious?"

Jagaa laughed at the woman's response. "Yep. It was one hell of a fight too, but surprisingly, none of us were killed. Hell, we even ended up becoming friends when it was all said and done. Kind of like one of those 'Fateful Meetings' people like to talk about." Jagaa shook his head with another low laugh as he continued. "Anyway, once the fight was over, I started taking care of my wounds in my usual way, and I guess the shock of how I did it inspired Hitomi, the one who taught me, to give me some crash courses in healing techniques." Jagaa moved to another wound as he finished, closing it within moments.

"What did you mean by your 'Usual' way?" Kurenai questioned.

"I'll tell ya some other time." Jagaa replied as the glow around his hand faded away. "There. That's the last of them." He declared proudly.

Kurenai gingerly touched her legs and made an attempt to stand, only for her legs to immediately buckle and send her back to the ground. "…It seems you were right about not being able to walk." She grudgingly admitted.

"I told you so." Jagaa smirked, and Kurenai turned away with a huff, crossing her arms in front of her. The next thing she knew there was something sliding under her legs and lower back in a familiar way, and Kurenai snapped her head back around. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

Jagaa paused in his attempt to pick the woman up and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I'm gonna carry you again, obviously. Or did you already forget that you can't even stand, let alone walk."

Kurenai could feel the heat rising to her face again, and it was really starting to irritate her that it kept happening. Especially when it was Jagaa of all people that was causing it. "Right." She agreed grudgingly. "Fine, just take me to the wagons and I'll ride in one of them."

"Nope." Jagaa replied with a smirk, making the woman gape at him. "Seeing as we're partners, it would be terribly bad manners of me to dump you off on the clients, right? No, no, it is only proper that I carry my teammate as a true partner should." Jagaa grasped his chin and nodded several times. "Yep, it's only right."

Kurenai was glaring daggers at the dirty-blonde. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Immensely." Jagaa said with a wide grin and Kurenai had to restrain the urge to go for a Kunai. "So, Bridal or Piggyback, which do you prefer?"

"You're really going to force me to let you carry me?" Kurenai asked in disbelief, receiving a mischievous grin in response. Finally she sighed and raised her arms. "Fine, then at least make it piggyback." Smirking triumphantly, Jagaa turned around and helped the woman hoist herself onto his back. "Your hands better not stray anywhere further than my thighs this time." Kurenai warned dangerously. "You don't have to carry Kakashi anymore."

"Ahh." Jagaa mock pouted before looking with a small smile. "Just kidding. Don't worry, Kurenai, I won't do anything today. We're still on the job after all."

Kurenai's breath caught in her throat when Jagaa addressed her by name for the first time since they had met. She didn't know why he did, or what it could mean that he had, but for some reason it filled her chest with a strange, comfortable warmth.

"But seriously," Jagaa said suddenly, snapping Kurenai out of her thoughts, "who would have thought I could play the 'Knight in Shining Armor' role so well. I mean seriously. Here I am rescuing damsels in distress and carrying injured princesses on my back like a true gentleman. I just hope you don't fall head over heals in love with me because of my considerate nature and over all charm. I'm not interested in getting into a relationship after all."

And just like that, the warm feeling was gone, replaced by rising irritation. "I can strangle you from this position you know." Kurenai emphasized by tightening her grip around Jagaa's neck.

Jagaa just laughed as he walked towards the wagons with his fuming passenger on his back.

X X X X X

Joyful shouts sounded throughout the convoy as they traveled up the main road of the small fishing town they had arrived at. All around them, lights and homes flared into life, lighting up the darkness as people rushed from their homes and welcomed the arrivals with cheers and applause.

"This is quite the welcoming." Kakashi said in an impressed tone as he leaned against the improvised side wall that had been made to keep from falling out of the seat of the wagon. They had been unable to find a spot to lay him down due to the number of other injuries, but Kakashi seemed content with the arrangement.

Tazuna turned to the silver haired man with a proud, yet grim expression. "I've said it many times. This bridge is everything to us. So naturally it would be well received. I can also guarantee that at first light tomorrow, every able bodied person who can help in some way will be working on completing it, even those of us on this convoy."

Kakashi nodded, but didn't say anything else.

"This is amazing." Ino said in awe as the cheers and applause filled the air. "The whole village is turning out to welcome everyone."

"Yeah." Kiba agreed. "I know it's not really for us, but it feels pretty good to be part of the side getting the welcome."

"Sure does." Naruto grinned as he looked around. "By the way, where's Nii-san?"

"PUT ME DOWN ALREADY!" Kurenai's angry scream rose even above the noise of the welcoming. "I CAN WALK NOW DAMN IT!"

"You know, you're being pretty bitchy considering you were the one who was sleeping while I did all the walking!" They heard Jagaa retort. "I was even nice enough not to complain while you were drooling all over my-gah-keh-uge-guh!"

"DIE! DIE! JUST DIE!" Kurenai screamed over the sounds of Jagaa being strangled.

"Oh, there he is." Naruto said brightly, appearing completely unconcerned about his brothers dwindling oxygen supply and causing a sweatdrop to form on Ino, Kiba, and Hinata's foreheads.

"Those two are a strange pair of brothers." Ino commented to Hinata in a whisper, to which the Hyuuga girl just nodded.

A ways behind them, Sakura was watching her fellow Genin with something close to a glare. She didn't know why, but she felt resentful to the four in front of her for seeming so relaxed. Wasn't it less than twelve hours ago that all of them had been fighting for their lives against hundreds of hired bandits, and yet now they were happily joking and admiring the welcome as if it had never happened.

It just didn't seem right.

Grunting almost resentfully, Sakura turned away from the four and looked over to Sasuke. She felt a small amount of relief to see that he to seemed bothered by the situation, just in a different way judging by the way he was so intently staring at the ground, his eyes troubled and clouded. Thinking that this would be a good chance to talk to him alone, Sakura turned to walk over to the Uchiha, when the image of a giant fireball bearing down on her flashed through the girls mind.

Sakura froze mid-step, a cold chill running through her body. Unconsciously she wrapped her arms around herself as she stared into the ground with wide, dilating eyes as her mind replayed everything. She could still feel the heat from the orange flames as they crashed against the wall of earth. She could hear the sound of burning the vegetation as the knowledge that it could have been her burning instead filled her mind. If it hadn't been for Naruto…Sakura shuddered, unable to bring herself to finish the thought.

"Hey, Nee-chan."

Sakura was snapped back into the present and she looked down to find a young boy wearing an old metal helmet, a quiver of crossbow bolts slung across his back, and resting the actual crossbow on his right shoulder.

"You okay, Nee-chan?" The boy asked. "You don't look so good."

Sakura shook her head a little to clear her thoughts and gave the boy the best smile she could manage. "Yes, I'm fine. Thanks for asking though." She said in a forced, cheerful voice.

The boy grinned and scratched his nose with his free left hand. "That's good. I was worried when I saw that big fireball flying at you. I couldn't shoot that like I could the goons that had been trying to hurt you."

Sakura's jaw dropped and her eyes widened to impossible sizes. "That was you!" She gasped out, too shocked to manage a yell.

The boy's grin widened and he held out his hand. "Yep. The names Inari. Nice to meet you Nee-chan."

"S-Sakura." The girl responded holding out her hand automatically. "M-my name is Sakura." The pink haired girl couldn't believe that the young boy in front of her had really been the one who had saved her numerous times during the battle. He couldn't be more than ten years old, and every shot that had prevented her own injury had been fatal for her attackers. How could such a young boy, a civilian no less, have been able to take the life of another human, and now stand here grinning at her as if he had done it many times before.

"Okay, well, see ya later, Sakura-nee-chan." Inari said with his grin still emplace. "I have to get home and let Kaa-chan know I'm okay." The boy turned and ran a few meters but quickly stopped and turned around raising his left hand in a pleading way and closing one eye conspiratorially. "Oh, and do you think you could keep it a secret that I helped in the fight. Kaa-chan is already gonna be mad enough at me for sneaking onto the bridge convoy. She may ground me forever if she finds out about that." Sakura nodded dumbly in response and the boy grinned wider and ran off while waving back at her. "Thanks a ton, Sakura-nee-chan! Bye bye!"

Sakura almost fell to her knees in disbelief as she watched the young boy run off. How could this really be happening? She had been saved, multiple times, by a little boy who couldn't be older than ten, while she, who was supposed to be the trained Ninja, had barely been able to do more than act as a hindrance against the attackers. How could a civilian child have the resolve to kill someone, even from a distance, and yet she could not even though it had been her job, her mission, to protect those of the convoy.

Even if it meant killing.

"Nii-san/Jagaa, stop flirting while you're on the job/mission!" Naruto and Kurenai's voices shouted simultaneously.

"I'm not flirting!" Jagaa yelled back indignantly. "I'm just trying to improve relations with the local populace!" His voice dropped but Sakura was just close enough to here him as he turned back to the woman he had been talking to. "So, how interested are you in improving relations?"

"NII-SAN/JAGAA!"

For a moment, Sakura almost felt like laughing at the exchange, but her amusement was quickly drowned in weight of her melancholy. After all, how could she laugh, when she was so close to crying?

"Shinobi rule number 35, a Ninja must never display their emotions." Sakura whispered to herself as she fought with everything she had to follow that one rule.

She could at least do that much.

X X X X X

"YOU FOOLISH OLD MAN! HOW COULD YOU NOT EVEN NOTICE THAT YOUR OWN GRANDSON HAD SNUCK ON BOARD YOUR WAGONS!?" A woman with dark hair and black eyes, which were currently narrowed in fury, screamed at the top of her lungs at a cowering Tazuna.

Both the Jounin and Genin of Konoha were standing off to the side out of the angry woman's line of sight to hopefully avoid her motherly wrath as they watched the sweating Tazu. Inari, the boy Sakura had just met and also the boy in question, had edged into the group as well and was hiding behind the Jagaa's legs as he supported Kakashi on his shoulder, apparently deciding the scared man would be the best defense against his angry mother should she direct her attention at him.

"B-b-but, Tsunami-chan, h-how was I supposed to know that he had snuck on board." Tazuna pleaded his defense. "I had a lot of other things I had to keep track of, and nobody ever told me that they had seen him-"

"DON'T TRY TO PASS OFF YOUR FAILURE AS A GRANDFATHER BY BLAMING THE CIRCUMSTANCES!" Tsunami shouted, somehow increasing the volume of her voice again and causing everyone watching to wince.

After what seemed like another half an hour, but was probably more like ten minutes, the woman finally stopped shouting insults and lectures at her cringing father, the woman snapped around and narrowed her eyes on her son. "And you!" The boy yelped and hid further behind Jagaa as his mother bore down on him. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!? HOW COULD YOU SNEAK ALONG WHEN YOU WERE TOLD HOW DANGEROUS IT COULD BE!?"

Inari gulped as he gathered his courage to face his furious mom and peeked out from behind Jagaa's legs and spoke in a strange mixture of defiance and fear as he looked up at her. "Because… Because Tou-chan would have gone."

The woman who had been a towering storm of fury only moments before was stopped cold by the boy's words, her eyes becoming hazy with a far away look. Catching herself, Tsunami quickly shook her head and hardened her gaze on the boy again. "I don't care what he would have done! You're too young to be putting yourself in harms way like that!"

There was an audible snort and every head in the room turned to Naruto who looked like he was trying not to laugh. "What?" He asked at the questioning stares. "I was doing missions with Nii-san when I was seven and made my first kill when I was eight. So I don't really buy the whole, 'Too Young' thing."

Naruto turned his head to look directly at Tsunami, his blue eyes going serious. "Age doesn't matter when you have something you're fighting for. If you have something you believe in, or something to protect, you fight for it no matter how old you are."

Tsunami was momentarily taken aback by Naruto's mature response, but her motherly instinct quickly kicked back in and she met his gaze with her own. "That may be true for a Ninja, but he's just a normal boy. He's not strong enough to do things like that."

Naruto's gaze didn't falter in the slightest. "If you're not strong enough, then become stronger. If you're not fast enough, then become faster. If you're not smart enough, then gain wisdom. Those are the words you live by if you have something to protect or fight for." Naruto brought up his right hand and formed a tight fist that whitened his knuckles. "It doesn't matter if you're a Ninja or a civilian, an adult or a child. You have to protect what you hold dear by your own strength."

All but one pair of eyes widened in amazement as they stared at the sunny-blonde boy. For those that knew him, it was yet another shock of how different and mature the boy had somehow become since leaving Konoha for the mission. Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari however, were struggling to keep their emotions under control as the boy's statement reminded them of a certain person.

"Heh, nice speech, Brat." Jagaa said with a smirk, cutting off the silence that had settled into the room.

Naruto smirked back at his older brother cheekily. "I thought you might like it. It was yours after all."

Jagaa's smirk widened slightly but he made no comment.

There was a muffled sniffing and the Konoha Ninja looked over to see Tsunami wiping her eyes while Tazuna's own eyes had become glassy as he stared at the bottle of Sake in his hand and Inari came out from behind Jagaa's legs to stare at Naruto with a mixture of admiration and sorrow.

Naruto started to get distinctly uncomfortable and looked over to Jagaa in confusion. "Did I do something wrong?" Jagaa just shrugged, causing Kakashi to grunt as due to the ripple of pain that ran through him from the movement.

"Oh, no, you didn't do anything wrong." Tazuna said quickly, wiping his moistened eyes. "No, it was just that your words reminded us all of the person who is considered a hero in this village." Tazuna turned and motioned for the group to follow him as he started walking towards the back of the living room to a set of double doors. Once everyone had gathered behind him, the old man pushed the doors open.

Several gasps arose from the group of Ninja at the interior of the room they were being shown. The walls had been lined with numerous shelves, each filled from end to end with a beautiful assortment of flowers and two softly glowing round lanterns hung from the ceiling, illuminating the room with an almost mystical light. In the back of the room on an ornate stand was a large picture of a dark haired man with his right arm held up in front of him and his left hand holding his bicep. It was clear by his rough, weathered features, darkly tanned skin, well defined muscles from strenuous work, and the single piece of white rope around his head that the man had most likely been a fisherman for the village. The only real oddity marking him from any other fisherman you would see throughout a port city was the several scars that adorned his arms and the single one on his chin. However, despite this unknown man's rough appearance, the man's eyes held a friendly warmth that mingled with his good natured smile and gave him the image of a reliable friend.

"This man's name was Kaiza. He was a drifter that came to our town to be a fisherman and ended up becoming a part of our family. He was also the one who came to be know as the Wave's Hero." Tazuna declared with a sadness tinged pride. " The reason your speech affected us so much, was because he used to always say that you should protect what you hold dear with your own two arms. Similar to protecting it with your own strength don't you think." Tazuna sniffed a little as he continued. "Before Gatou's arrival, he earned the title of a Hero when he saved the entire village from being washed away in a flood by braving the raging waters and making it possible to close the floodgates just in time." Tazuna's voice dropped, fading almost too much to hear. "But it was after Gatou came that he truly did become our Hero…at the cost of his life."

/Flashback/

The villagers gathered around the chain link fence that had been erected in the center of town and stared horror struck as the one they thought of as a hero to their town hung beaten and bloodied from the cross he was tied to. The strong arms that he had proudly declared so many times that he would use to protect what he held dear were gnarled and bruised making it painfully clear that they had been broken in several places.

In the front of the crowd, pressed up against the fence, Inari, Tazuna, and Tsunami watched with tears streaming down their faces as they helplessly looked on.

An ugly little man that looked like a cross between a troll and a human walked up beside the cross wearing a suit and a pair of round sunglasses and looked amongst the gathered crowd with a smirk of confidence and contempt as he started to speak. "This man has disrupted the peace and order of this town by breaking into my company and physically attacking my men." The ugly man's smirk widened sickeningly as he looked up to the man on the cross. "He will now be executed. I just hope that something like this will never happen again." Still smirking the trollish man turned to walk away when he was stopped in his tracks by the sound of a low, pain filled laugh and turned back to the man on the cross. "What are you laughing at? You're about to die." He spat contemptuously.

"…You…really are…pathetic." Kaiza said with a pained smile on his face as he looked down at Gatou. "Do you really think…you can take over this country…like this?"

"Of course." Gatou sneered up at the man. "You'll serve as the example of what happens to anyone who crosses me and fear will do the rest. This country will be mine soon enough."

Kaiza smiled almost pityingly at the little man. "If that's what you think…then it shows how much of a fool you really are." Kaiza's voice steadied and gained strength with every word he spoke. "The people of this country won't just let you walk over them without a fight. They'll protect their homes and their loved ones from a monster like you."

A low murmur filled the air at Kaiza's words and Gatou quickly turned back to the gathered crowd, his eyes widening. Throughout the gathered townspeople, Gatou could see their eyes changing from being filled by a deep fear at what they were seeing, to a slowly hardening resolve at what they were hearing.

Kaiza took notice of the change as well and raised his voice to address the gathered people. "Do not let fear or doubt control you! Only you can, the people of this village, can protect it from people like him! For the sake of yourselves! For the sake of your children! For the sake of your grandchildren! Protect what you hold dear by the strength of your own arms!" Kaiza lowered his head slightly and fixed his un-swollen eye on Inari, a calm smile rising to his face. "For the sake of the people you love. Fight!"

Inari's eyes widened as he stared into the steady eye of the man that had become his father, his tears stopping as he felt the man's inner strength and resolve wash over him like a comforting hug.

Throughout the crowd, eyes hardened and fists clenched tightly as the words of the beaten man worked deeply into their minds and hearts. Along the front rows many people began grabbing and shaking the fencing that separated them from the man tied to the cross, the sound of grating metal and cracking concrete signaling the effectiveness of their angry efforts.

Gatou's eyes widened behind his glasses and he fearfully took a few steps back, unable to believe that the short speech of a dieing man had riled the townspeople up to this extent. Turning quickly to the nearest guard, Gatou pointed urgently at Kaiza. "Shut him up!" The trollish man snarled. Smirking happily, the guard drew his Katana and stabbed it into Kaiza's chest without hesitation.

The shaking stopped and the crowed stilled as they all stared on in horror, the shock of seeing the man they had been hoping to rescue being stabbed through the lung halting them in their movement. However, before Gatou could feel any pleasure in the silence of the crowd, an animal like roar ripped through the air and his head snapped over to the impaled man.

His eye narrowed in pain and blood dripping from his mouth, Kaiza let out another savage roar as he ripped through the ropes binding his legs to the cross in an inhuman feat of strength and will. Glaring down and the frightened little man, Kaiza's bloodied right leg shot into the tycoons face, severely breaking his nose and sending the little man reeling backwards and into the ground where he lay screaming in pain. Kaiza's glare softened into a bold confidence and a proud smile rose to his face that couldn't even be marred by the blood dripping from his mouth as he spoke down the screaming man. "Just…a little…something…to remember me… by…" Even as his words faded, Kaiza's bloody smile never left his face as his head slowly dropped to hang limply over his chest, never to rise again.

Cries of grief and rage filled the air and the assault on the dividing fence was renewed with unimaginable force. Within seconds, the poles holding the fence gave way under the mass of people, falling to the ground in a crash of metal as the crowed charged forward with hate in their eyes, picking up poles, rocks, and anything else that could be used as a weapon.

Panic gripped the Gatou's men as they saw the mass of angry townspeople bearing down on them. With screams of fear they turned and ran for their lives towards the harbor, the one who had stabbed Kaiza pausing just long enough to scoop up his injured boss before fleeing to the emergency ship, leaving behind the few that had not reacted fast enough and were being beaten to death by the very people they had sought to intimidate. Making it to the ship with little distance between him and the murderous mob, the grunt kicked the gangplank off the ship and ducked behind the sidewall as rocks and metal rained down around them.

"GO! GO!" Gatou screamed to the captain as he covered his head, ducking down next to the underling that had saved his life to avoid the projectiles, blood still flowing freely from his broken nose. "I promise you! This isn't over!" Gatou swore as the ship started pulling away. "I'll get this country under my control if it's the last thing I do!"

Back on the pier, the masses were finally forced to accept Gatou's escape and turned back to the town, a somber silence falling over them as they began encircling the area and staring sadly at the scene before them.

Cut down from the cross he had been bound to, Kaiza now lay on the concrete with his head cradled gently in Tsunami's lap as the woman cried silently, her tears dripping off her cheeks and onto Kaiza's pale face. Inari's own tears were far from silent as the young boy clasped his father's in his own two small ones, his grieved wails cutting through the silence of the onlookers as he clutched it to his chest while Tazuna stood off to the side, his own tears freely running down his cheeks.

And through it all, the gathered townspeople could only watch. Watch as a family cried for the loss of someone dear to them. However, even as they stood in respectful silence, the people of the Wave could not forget the bravery of the man that now lay lifeless amongst his loved ones and his determination to fight for the very end for what he believed in. Many people that day were forced to look inside themselves that day and ask if they too would be willing to fight that hard for the people they loved and the place they called home.

Looking down at the calmly smiling face of the man that had done just that, they found their answer, and that answer would hold firm in their hearts from that day forward.

/Flashback End/

Tazuna fell silent as he finished his story, unshed tears glistening in his aged eyes as he gazed on Kaiza's picture alongside Inari and Tsunami as they too tried to hold back their resurfacing pain while the Konoha Ninja watched in respectful silence.

"...Fighting to the very end." Jagaa said in a low, commending tone, finally breaking the quiet. "I can appreciate that."

Tazuna sniffed and wiped his eyes. "Yes. He was an amazing man, and a true hero." Shaking his head slightly, Tazuna looked up to the Ninja and gave them what was obviously a forced smile followed by an equally forced cheerful tone. "Well, I just felt like I should show you this and explain why we are fighting against Gatou so hard, but I really think it's time that we should all try to get some rest. We've had a long trip and work is going to resume on the bridge at first light tomorrow." Tazuna moved through the group and out of the room, gesturing for the Konoha Ninja to follow him. "I'll show you all to the rooms you can use." With a few nods of acceptance, the gathered Ninja fell in step behind the old man, none of them making comment on his change in demeanor.

Taking up the rear of the group, Naruto paused just before leaving passing through the doorway and looked back at the remaining two figures. Just in front of Kaiza's picture, Tsunami was on her knees as she and Inari clung to each other, their eyes closed and their teeth clenched and their tears quietly rolled down their cheeks.

Ocean blue eyes hardened, taking on an icy haze as he watched the scene until finally turning away and walking out of the room.

X X X X X

"Why do we have to wait a week!?" Naruto demanded as he and Jagaa stood on the small dock connected to Tazuna's house under the crescent moon.

"Because I said so." Jagaa said with a tired sigh. Honestly he knew that Naruto wouldn't be happy about the delay, but he had hoped the boy would be more open-minded. "Just trust me on this. Okay, Brat?"

Naruto glared at his older brother for some time before finally letting out an explosive breath. "Fine, but what am I supposed to do while we're waiting?"

"Why don't you train?" Jagaa recommended, idly scratching his chin. "You're not on restriction anymore because of your Genin status, so now's a good time to get familiar with some of your more powerful techniques again."

All trace of anger vanished from Naruto's face as his eyes lit up in excitement. "You're right! I had completely forgotten about that! I mean, sure, I was using chakra to enhance myself during the fight with Gatou's goons, but I didn't even think about the fact I could use some of my badass techniques to take them out!"

"…That's probably a good thing then." Jagaa said with a slight frown. "You tend to get carried away when you're excited."

"I'm not that bad." The boy protested to which Jagaa just shrugged. "So what are you going to be doing for a week then?" Naruto questioned, hoping for some kind of explanation for the delay.

His brother's evil grin was all the answer the boy needed.

X X X X X

Sunlight fell through the curtain in her borrowed room, casting its golden glow upon Kurenai's face and rousing her back into the waking world. Slowly pushing herself up from the futon she stretched her arms high over her head, dropping her left arm to give a little extra tug on her right and enjoying the overall sensation. Finishing her stretch, Kurenai removed the blanket covering her lower half and reached down to rub her legs lightly, smiling when she didn't feel any residual pain from the needles that had impaled them the day before.

'I guess he really did know what he was talking about.' She thought, her smile becoming a little softer as she remembered Jagaa's reassurances that her legs would be fine. As she was thinking about her partner, he smile turned into a small frown as she realized something else from the day before. 'I never did thank him for saving me. I'll have to remember to do that today. I owe him at least that much…no matter how much of pain in the ass he is.' Nodding to herself in resolve, Kurenai rose from her sleeping place to find her partner Jounin.

Upon arriving at the room Jagaa was supposed to be sharing with Kakashi, Kurenai could admit she wasn't too surprised to find that the scarred man wasn't there. What did bother her though, was when Kakashi revealed to her that Jagaa hadn't come to the room and slept at all the night before. Still, she honestly didn't know Jagaa's sleeping habits very well, so it could be normal for him to, say, fall asleep sitting on the couch, or out on the porch, or even on the roof as even she had done a couple times while looking at stars. Feeling a bit more at ease at the possibilities, she resumed her search for her wayward teammate.

Unfortunately, her unease didn't stay away long as, upon further exploration of the house, Kurenai found that not only Jagaa, but her entire team was missing. Neither Ino nor Sakura had been in the room that had been designated for the Kunoichi Genin to share, and Hinata admitted that the three of them had gone to bed at the same time last night, but the Hyuuga girl had woken up the only one in the room and that was the same story for Sasuke as well. Kiba telling her that the Uchiha had gone to bed the same time as him but was gone when he woke up.

Starting to feel a bit panicky at the absence of her team, Kurenai began her search with new vigor, going to absolutely every room in the house on by one, not caring who she may walk in on or disturb. It was because of this process she stumbled across a rather unusual sight, a sight that did nothing what so ever to alleviate her current worry.

In a small room that was probably used for storage, Naruto was dressed in what looked like priest robes and kneeling down in front of three crudely drawn crayon pictures of Sasuke, Sakura, and Ino, slowly waving an olive branch in front of him and chanting in a low tone. Cautiously stepping into the room, Kurenai spoke in a gentle voice so as not to startle the boy. "Naruto, what are you doing in here?"

Pausing in his chant, Naruto looked back at the woman with a somber expression. "Oh, it's you, Kurenai-sensei. Well, you see, Nii-san said last night that he was going take Sasuke, Sakura, and Ino on a week long survival training trip." Turning back to the pictures, Naruto raised his olive branch again. "So I'm praying for their souls."

Kurenai paled.

X X X X X

Somewhere deep in the forest the night before

Three pained grunts sounded as three burlap sacks were dropped unceremoniously on the forest floor followed several splashing sounds as the ones carrying them turned into puddles of water. After several moments of struggling, the first of the three sacks opened to reveal the raven haired form of Uchiha Sasuke as he crawled out of his burlap prison, followed soon by Sakura and Ino as they to escaped their confinement.

"What the hell is going on?" Ino demanded, coughing several times from the proximity of her face to the ground. "Did the enemy get us?"

"Nope." A familiar voice replied in a smug tone. "But you can think of this as a lesson as to why you need to train your danger senses better. I was practically pouring hostile intent before I shoved the three of you in those sacks and not one of you even flinched. At least Kiba started to stir and Hinata almost caught me."

"Jagaa-sensei!?" Ino shouted, jumping to her feet and pointing at the man. "What do you mean and why did you bring us out here?" Behind her Sasuke and Sakura also climbed to their feet, their glares at the scarred man demanding answers.

"Okay, since you asked." Jagaa started, adjusting his sunglasses in a professional manner, "To be brutally honest, your performances during the attack today, well, sucked." The three Genin bristled at Jagaa's words but he continued before they could protest. "So, in order to prevent being embarrassed again by the team I'm partially in charge of, we're going to have a week long crash course in keeping your cool in stressful situations." Jagaa flashed the three of them a sinister smile that sent chills down their spines.

"Welcome to Hell, boys and girls."

A/N: Well, there it is, all 22,534 words of it, not including A/N, making it the longest chapter I have ever written by at least 4,000 words. It may not stay on top for long though, because with everything I want to put into the next chapter, it could become just as long, if not longer. We'll see what happens.

On a final note, my muse and I have a bet going on how many reviews this chap will get, but since you would probably all side with her again just to spite me, I'm not telling you our guesses, so there.

…What? I'm not bullying the readers. I'm just trying to keep it fair since they seem to like you better than me. Wait a second! I didn't insult you or anything. I was just-Gah! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!