Chapter 11: Loss & Gain
Asuma and the rest of the recently informed group arrived at the holding cells, which actually were the same cells used to hold Ronin prior to his escape. Naruto, Asuma, Hinata, Shikamaru and Haku wasted no time investigating the area for any clues. Ronin and the rest would have assisted but knew he had no investigative skills to contribute with and would only get in the way.
Hinata's byakugan didn't find anything that stood out that they wouldn't find with normal eyesight. The rest of them didn't find any sign outside of the signs of lock picking on the door's lock.
"Putting aside the fact that the watchers weren't trained soldiers and easily knocked out, this has all the signs of an skilled infiltrator type of ninja." Asuma said.
"Why didn't you put your men on the job, Ronin-san?" Naruto asked.
Ronin sighed and replied with frustration. "I did order the first watch but the villagers were adamant to take part in the guarding of Gato and his flunkies. I advised against it, but ultimately I didn't feel there was any real harm in allowing them the satisfaction of securing them until their sentencing. So the next watch consisted of men from the village."
"This regrettably was the opening the unknown ninja needed to accomplish their mission easily." Asuma deduced, gritting his teeth lightly in anger.
"But who would know of his arrest and want to help him escape?" Tazuna asked in dismay.
Naruto narrowed his eyes as he had a fair idea who was behind this. "The Org." He simply said.
"The Org?" Tazuna asked.
"Yes. It's obviously short for the word "Organization". I read about them while I snuck around in here. I don't know if that's their actual name, as they are very secretive, it wouldn't surprise me if they are, at least partially, led by professional ninja. They are apparently a group that has dealings in various crime syndicates and the likes of Gato around the world. They also keep in touch in some form or another with ninja. Exclusively missing nin as far as I can tell."
"Would these documents still be here?" Ronin asked.
Naruto suddenly had a worried look and bolted towards the office upstairs, shouting back. "You guys check out the documents in the vault, I'll check out his office."
"I'll come with you!" Haku said.
Nodding, Naruto ran with Haku upstairs.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Zabuza muttered as he and the rest went to the vault to rummage through it. Ronin, who heard him, grunted and nodded in agreement.
They opened the vault and went inside, soon finding the containers of documents and searched through them. They did find the documents that Naruto spoke of before that detailed Gato being disappointed with Zabuza's efforts and intending to betray him and his group. While it didn't surprise Zabuza, it removed any small lingering doubts to Ghost-san's credibility in the matter. He growled and smashed his fist into an ornate object made of gold. It flew at the wall, bounced off it and landed, not a dent on it.
"Be mindful of the objects in here, Zabuza. While most are illegally acquired items, they are, nevertheless, possessions of the people of Wave and of my late lord." Ronin reproached, though he also was simmering in anger on behalf of his men that Gato considered sending to their deaths against Zabuza.
"I could always punch you instead." Zabuza growled, hotly glaring at Ronin.
"Oi, oi." Shikamaru called. "Don't we have more important things to do than butting heads here?"
"Right you are, Nara-san." Ronin said with a cold glare at Zabuza, before both moved on to continue searching.
Meanwhile in Gato's former office
"Anything, Haku?" Naruto said as he flipped through page after page of documents detailing various things.
"Nothing yet, Naruto-san." Haku said idly, still looking.
Glancing at Haku, Naruto said. "So you figured it out, did you?"
Glancing back with a friendly smirk, Haku replied. "You left enough hints that it wasn't hard to deduce your identity. Or at least the identity of the person I met on that bench."
"Yeah, well..." Naruto shrugged. "I hope you'll not tell anyone, not even Zabuza. I hide my identity and my alternate identities for more than one reason, and not just for myself either." Naruto said, adding the part of multiple identities as a way of obscuring the fact that Naruto was his real name.
"I understand, Naruto-san. I wont divulge it to anyone. You have my word."
"That's good enough for me." Naruto said with a wide, but unseen grin.
After a few minutes of further searching, neither had succeeded in finding the desired papers.
"Damn." Haku muttered. "They appear to have been removed, most likely by the agents of the Org."
Slamming his fist on the desk in aggravation, Naruto growled in anger. It angered him that Gato got away and someone managed to cover their tracks so thoroughly. But he calmed down after a moment passed.
"It's not actually that bad." He said, pensively.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, we still have to learn what the others may have found, for one. But even if they didn't find anything either, I still got photographic evidence from both rooms. The Org and Gato can't know that. Unless you gave them reason to suspect it?" Naruto asked.
"All I mentioned after discovering the evidence you left behind was that someone had broken into the mansion to probably do some kind of sabotage, assassination or rescue attempt, but had left. After we searched the office and the entire mansion for possible booby traps and other dangerous items, Zabuza-sama was the one to suggest that this intruder might try again and thus we set the ambush. Beyond that we never speculated in detail, though I can't speak for Gato himself." Haku replied.
"Right. But even if they suspected, they can't do squat about it. Come on, let's head back down to the others."
Downstairs
"Troublesome, there's not anything on the Org in here at all. Whoever they sent to clean up any evidence was a thorough bastard." Shikamaru declared with frustration.
"Zabuza-san." Asuma addressed. "Didn't you get in touch with Gato through the Org. Ghost-san seemed to believe they sent you his way, or at least that that is one of their methods of business."
Zabuza grumbled in recollection for a moment before answering. "Missing nin have ways of moving about and doing business while being constantly on the move. There are places, similar in some respects to bounty bureaus in the field, that facilitate the forwarding of black-market dealings and missions for mercenaries, which missing nin tend to become.
I went to one of those and got whiff of Gato's job offer through one of those. It was recently placed too, a day before I arrived. If the Org had a hand in acquiring my services for Gato, then I can't see how, unless they own the system. But even then it's still rather random who'd get the job, so if they wanted me specifically, it seems too random and risky using that method. Besides, there's never been any suspicion of a larger organization than the one that works as a broker for information and illegal supplies. And that is not enough to be the Org as we know it, or rather suspect it to be."
"It could still be a front for the Org. Ghost-san did say that they are apparently masters of keeping a low profile, after all. Perhaps it works like an octopus, one arm dealing with that and the others dealing with Kami knows what." Asuma mused out loud.
"That is an unsettling thought." Ronin said lowly, rubbing his lightly bearded chin.
"And it is far from being a stretch..." Zabuza added, looking grim.
"Ano..." Hinata began hesitantly. "It s-seems we've d-done all we can for now. H-Hokage-sama is the one wh-who should t-take the next s-step."
"Hinata-san is right." Tenten agreed. "There's no use thinking further about it."
"It's a drag, but they're right, we can't do more."
"I'd have thought you'd think not having to do anything further would be a welcome change." Asuma quipped lightly.
Shikamaru scoffed. "I do, but it is a bittersweet thing because of who got away. Which makes it a drag."
The group had to chuckle a bit at the young man's attitude.
Just then, Naruto and Haku came back.
"We're back. And we've got nothing." Naruto announced, to the group's mild dismay, since it didn't come as a shock. "Well that is if you don't count the photographic evidence I took the first time I was here."
"WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE?!" Zabuza and Ronin roared comically.
Naruto, now flat on his back from the gust of oral wind, that should have been classed as a jutsu in his opinion, sat back up, rubbing his neck in embarrassment. "Umm... oops?"
Hinata and Tenten giggled while the rest, save Haku, grumbled in irritation.
"Anyway, Asuma-san, I'll give you copies for the Hokage to read through. He'll want to know about this organization as well. I'll bring my own boss the originals."
It went without saying between the two that their bosses were one and the same, if you didn't count Yokai-san.
"I'd like to do my own investigation, is there anything useful for me in those photos of yours?" Zabuza inquired.
"Nothing truly useful, you basically know already what's there to know that's of use. Sorry." Naruto replied.
"With the day we're having, I don't exactly have to sit down in shock." Zabuza quipped.
"Tazuna-san." Asuma spoke up. "You might want to hurry as best you can to finish the bridge."
"Why's that?" Tazuna wondered. He already felt he had sufficient reason to get that finished as soon as possible, even with Gato gone.
"I may be wrong, but I'm thinking there may be a risk of Gato getting some kind of reinforcements from this Org group. But if the bridge is finished before he could arrive with them, he would have to back down and disappear from here for good, seeing as the Daimyo wouldn't allow for any criminal activity, and certainly not any activity from him, period, once he gets briefed on his activities."
Nodding in agreement, Tazuna decided to head out to start right away, despite it being late in the day. Ronin ordered a bunch of his men to act as guards for him and his crew.
"Seeing as your samurai will do the job of protecting Tazuna until the completion of the bridge, I'd say our job here is done." Asuma observed.
"Indeed. And once finished, me and my men will seek out our new lord to ask to be reassigned into his own forces. Though we'll wait until the Daimyo's own samurai arrive before leaving. I will not leave one single gap open for those bastards to get through." Ronin said.
"Alright then. Listen up, team! We're going to the bridge." Asuma stated.
"Why there?" Tenten asked.
"Because before we leave, we will make a final arrangement with Tazuna. To get the proper payment sent to Konoha after they have gotten their economy back on their feet."
"A-rank pay or what?" She asked further, obviously with eager interest. The rest of the Genin were just as excited at that prospect, though Shikamaru kept a disinterested look on his face, and Naruto's was still hidden.
"At the least, I think. Given the small army of men we faced in addition to the ranking of the missing nin we fought, we may even get an S-rank, but I doubt it."
"S-rank...?" Tenten whispered inaudibly.
"Let me be clear, I said I doubt it, but I doubt it will go lower than A as well." Asuma reiterated.
"Troublesome, it would probably be a bothersome prospect to explain to the council how a fresh genin team and a jounin, even with a little backup, managed to do an S-rank mission, let alone be allowed to attempt it. There's probably more problems involved than that to take into account as well. We're lucky as it is to be in the A-rank category."
"But it's not exactly our fault it turned out the way it did." Chouji argued.
"Maybe not fully, but we had reason to believe the mission was of higher rank before even arriving in Wave. It's considered foolhardy and in certain ways perhaps even treasonous to risk new genin like that. I believe in order to spare Asuma-sensei, Hokage-sama will have to reduce the rank on that fact alone. A C-rank turning out into an A-rank is still kinda excusable, if presented right."
Asuma nodded, smiling at Shikamaru's deduction skills, even if it was delivered lazily.
They all left the mansion and headed to the bridge, on the way, Ronin barked out an order for his men to form up behind him.
The procession arrived soon at the bridge, where Tazuna and his crew were already hard at work.
Asuma had a brief chat with Tazuna, who quickly agreed to the new deal on behalf of his village. Ronin commanded a good portion of his men to assume guard positions on the bridge while the rest would patrol around the village itself. There was no more need to guard the mansion so strongly, so they left it to the villagers themselves.
Deciding to be courteous to their charge/host, they paid one last visit to Tazuna's family. Zabuza and his group decided to remain outside since they didn't have any relation, positive or negative, that warranted goodbyes.
Tsunami was slightly saddened to see the village's heroes leave, but she knew they couldn't remain. She thanked them for their service that in truth went beyond their responsibility. This demanded no less than her bowing onto all fours as was the custom for truly grateful individuals.
Inari, being a kid, simply ran and hugged two people, Hinata and Naruto, whom he simply knew as Ghost-san.
"Please, promise me..." He pleaded, tears running.
"Promise what, Inari-kun?" Hinata asked softly.
"Promise me, that you will visit? Both of you?"
Hinata and Naruto glanced at one another, but Naruto answered. "Well, Inari. I can't exactly promise that I will be able to, but I do promise that I will make it a point to come visit if and when I travel nearby."
"I-I promise the same." Hinata said, softly stroking the back of the pre-teen boy.
Tsunami went to Naruto and surprised him with a hug as well.
"I wish I could let the name of perhaps the most important person to the liberation of Wave be known." She spoke softly. "But we will always remember you, Ghost-kun. Thank you for all you have done for us, and I say so on behalf of the entire village."
"B-but I wasn't alone in, we all took part in that." He tried to argue.
"But without your freeing of Ronin-san, the village would have been plundered by Gato's men, and the women... well, anyway. And without your victory over the pirate fleet, my father and your friends would have died and our hope would have been extinguished. And perhaps closest to my heart, you, and Hinata-chan, helped my baby, Inari-kun, to let go of his bitterness and become the happy boy he once were."
Inari nodded tearily yet happily. Hinata smiled in both appreciation of the praise she and Naruto received as well as pride for Naruto. Naruto himself was overwhelmed, as his rubbing of his neck clearly showed.
"Ah, well, you're very welcome." Naruto said bashfully, Hinata bowed lightly in agreement.
Then Tsunami went to Shikamaru and, to the surprise of the whole assembly, kissed him on the cheek, causing him to blush. It looked very comical with his shocked look, Naruto had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing.
"That was for saving me and Inari-kun from those two vile men before." She declared with a warm smile.
"I... uh... that... just..." He stuttered before he finally smirked lazily but kindly. "You're welcome. It was part of my job, after all."
"Well," Naruto began suddenly. "I have one more stop before I leave Wave. It was a pleasure to meet and work with you all. Safe travels and maybe we'll run into each other again down the road sometime. Ja ne!" Naruto said before he left.
Tsunami smiled a slightly sad smile. "I wish there was some way to honor him publicly for his deeds." She said. But then she looked at Hinata and her smile turned into a knowing one. 'But perhaps...' She thought to herself.
As Naruto walked towards the village, he opened up a communications link to his sensei.
'Ghost Stalker to HQ, come in!'
"HQ here, go ahead." Came Yokai's voice in his head.
'I never really got an answer to that thing I asked about the women. What's the word on that?'
"Hokage-sama has approved of it and begun the negotiations with the craftsmen's representatives. You can give the ladies the okay to travel to the Leaf. All you have to do before that, though, is write a note for the gate guards to receive upon their arrival. Write the following; Wave trainees and apprentices from Wave. That is the message they will be waiting for. Oh, and let them also know that the Leaf expects them to keep professional contact and business relations with the Leaf as part of their payment for services rendered."
'Understood. Thank you, and I bet they say thanks as well. Ghost out!'
"It was a good thing of you to suggest, Ghost. HQ out!"
Naruto soon after arrived at the, now former, brothel. It was recently decided to be turned into a hotel at a proper time when the funds were sufficient for the project. Until that time, the women were free to live there.
Though that was soon going to be unnecessary.
Naruto entered and Deshio, who had returned there after the dinner at Tazuna's, welcomed him with a warm grin.
"Ghost-kun! Welcome." Her greeting garnered the attention of the other women in the place, who happily added their own greetings.
"Hiya ladies!" He returned. "I've got some good news. The Hokage of the Leaf has agreed to my idea and is already setting things up with the craftsmen there. One thing, though. The Leaf wants you to agree to keep professional and business relations with them once you've learned all you can and return here, it's part of your payment for their help. All I need to do now is write a note for the gate guards so they know who you are once you all arrive."
He immediately started doing just that amid the cheers of the elated women. While writing the short message, the women already started packing their things and chatting animatedly with one another about their plans for the future.
Naruto was soon finished. And Deshio came to him and hugged him. "Thank you for bringing hope to me and my girls. We now face a much brighter future thanks to you."
"Yeah, well... I couldn't not do something to help, you know? Besides, you should really thank the Hokage for agreeing." He tried to downplay his own part.
"Perhaps, but your part was equally important." She then turned solemn. "I believe you're finished here in Wave now, aren't you?"
He nodded.
"Well, I hope to see you again sometime, Ghost-kun. I think I speak for all the girls here when I say that." She got a chorus of agreements from the slightly dampened women around them.
"Thank you, Ghost-kun!"
"We'll never forget you, even though we don't know your name or your face!"
"Come by if you need something once we get started!"
And the farewells followed that general sentiment. Naruto had never been so flustered as he was from this mission.
After that, he and the group left and traveled towards the Leaf, though they did so separately. Zabuza and his group decided to follow the team to the Leaf, if for nothing else than to meet their new "employer" before heading out again.
Back at the bridge
Tazuna was taking a small break, sipping some water and chatting idly with Ronin. During that break, he saw Tsunami coming with the Daimyo's former servants and a handful of other women from the village, some of them from the former brothel. They were all carrying some water and light snacks for refreshments.
"Ah, Tsunami-chan. You all are a sight for sore eyes." He welcomed his daughter with a hug after she put away her burden.
"More like what we're carrying are a sight for sore eyes." Deshio said, being one of the women that came. They all laughed at that.
Inari came running, he was carrying a crossbow, loaded and ready for bear (or a bear-cub at least).
"PantRonin-san, I pant want to stand watch too pant."
Chuckling at the boy's eagerness, he ruffled his hair. "Very well, young man. But keep that safety on and stand and guard Tazuna. Me and my men will cover the rest."
Saluting, Inari went to stand beside his grandfather.
After a while of small talk and enjoying the refreshments, Tsunami spoke up.
"Ne, father, what will you name the bridge once it is finished?"
Tazuna rubbed his beard in contemplation. The whole assembly was holding their breath at the imminent revelation.
"Well. When I started building it, I simply thought to name it either after myself or in honor of our late lord. However, I find myself wanting to honor our heroes with it instead."
"I agree!" Tsunami said happily. "And I may have just the thing!"
"Oh? What then?"
"Well, this bridge is rather tall, always standing above the occasional mist, right?"
He nodded, the crowd following the conversation closely.
"How about we name it after one of our heroes, and this hero is also a personal hero to our family as well for helping Inari-kun to let go of his bitterness."
"Naming it after Ghost-san is understandable, but it sadly is a unsuitable name as well." Tazuna commented with some regret.
"I know that, father. But how about we name it after the young girl, Hinata, whose name means "Sunny Place"?
Tazuna's eyes widened a bit at the suggestion. The young girl had fought valiantly and was of personal help as well to Inari. Yes, she would make a fine choice to stand for all the heroes of Wave.
"Agreed."
But then, a rumble shook the bridge and they all had to mind their footing, lest they fall over.
"What's happening?!" Ronin bellowed over the noise.
The former head servant, Reizoku, bent over the side of the bridge. He gasped loudly in shock.
"The water! The waters around the bridge are forming whirlpools!"
All present looked over the side, and just like Reizoku reported, there was a number of whirlpools forming on each side of the bridge, though thankfully none were present beneath it to cause problems for the construction.
"Is this a sign?" Tsunami muttered to herself in wonder.
"What was that, Tsunami-chan?" Her father asked, still looking at the natural phenomenon appearing before their very eyes.
"Tell me, father, does the stretch of water beneath the bridge have a name? I don't recall it having one."
"Why no, why do you ask?"
"How about we name it the Naruto strait, now that it has gotten whirlpools?" She asked with a wink.
Tazuna grinned broadly. "That is an excellent idea, Tsunami-chan."
"Pardon me, but isn't there some kind of risk to the bridge form all this?" Ronin asked.
"I don't believe so. The holes at the bottom don't appear to be too big and are far enough way that there's no risk to the bridge's support." Tazuna reassured.
Once the initial surprise abated, the crowd returned to their places. Tazuna addressed them.
"My people! I have decided on not one name, but two names! The bridge shall be named The Great Hinata Bridge and the strait beneath it shall henceforth be referred to as the Naruto Strait!"
The thunderous cheers of approval could even reach, though only barely audible, the already departed teams. They smiled even though they were unaware of just why.
Elsewhere
A dark chamber suddenly was weakly illuminated by a series of finely crafted candles on a large round table. Surrounding this table was a group of individuals, all wearing cloaks and masks representing either an animal or mythical creature.
One of them had just released the hand sign for the jutsu that ignited the candles. It was performed without sounds or declaration.
One of the other members of this gathering called out. "Bring him!" The person's voice was distorted to hide both gender as well as identity.
A door opened, bringing a brief, glaring light into the room as someone was all but thrown into the room like a sack of rice.
The person in question rose and dusted himself off and readjusted his glasses, all the while sporting a thoroughly intimidated visage. He knew who he was in the presence of.
"Seiatsu Gato." One of the cloaked members addressed. "You have failed in your task." The same person declared with a noticeable tone of disapproval.
"H-hai, but it wasn't my fault! It w-was..."
"Be silent." The command was delivered almost conversationally. But Gato knew better. These people didn't take any form of disrespect without severe repercussions to the offending party. Something he once experienced and had no desire to repeat.
"Do you think us so foolish as to not have eyes and ears everywhere, especially where we have a vested interest? How do you think you were removed from captivity in the first place?"
Another spoke up. "We are already aware of the uprising of the villagers of Wave through the actions of the one called Ronin. We are already aware of the Leaf's ninja that extracted him from your holding cells."
And another. "We are aware of the... phenomenon that sunk the conscripted pirate fleet."
Yet another. "In short, we are aware of it all."
Gato, sensing that he was allowed some freedom to speak now, asked. "So... what will you do with me now? As you are no doubt aware, by your own declaration, I am not at fault for the series of events that lead to the lost grip over Wave that I... you had."
"Do not be mistaken, we do hold you accountable for the loss of Wave."
"But..."
"Silence." Again came the quiet command. "Aside from that phenomenon, everything that transpired was confirmed to be a result of your incompetence and negligence."
"We believed you capable, at first, of handling the Wave situation, but we were sadly mistaken. You kept that former Samurai captain as an object of amusement instead of ridding yourself of him and the threat he represented. You were ruthless in your handling of your subjects, instead of trying to treat them in a way that would make them more responsive to your command."
"How do you mean, if I may ask?"
"Do not speak again unless allowed." Came a warning. "We are referring to your treatment of the former servants and villagers. The plan was to take over control of Wave, not to play tyrant. You forced them to act in desperation, which led to the Leaf getting involved. You greed ultimately made our control over the people of Wave disappear like sand seeping through fingers."
"You will pay the price for your lack of restraint. Have no fear, you are still of use and wont be killed. But you wont be of use for a... small amount of time."
"Remove him."
Again the door opened and a cloaked figure with a mask like the ones worn by the secretive members already inside the room came and drug the sweating and whimpering Gato out of the room.
"This setback is unfortunate."
"Yes, but it isn't without new opportunities."
"Agreed. We can use this in another way. But what use was this we have of Gato?"
"Surely you haven't forgotten Gato's assets elsewhere? His crimes might be revealed in Fire Country and subsequently make him an outlaw there. But there are other places in the nations who aren't as... harsh in their response. At the most, he may get some boycotting from certain trade partners, but nothing too serious. We can still use him for gathering funds. But his place in the organization has reduced by his own hands. He wont be able to be of the same potential use like the Wave opportunity granted us."
"Yes, that much is clear. And what opportunities can we find with this loss?"
"We may have lost a considerable source of funds and base of operations in Wave. But remember the laws of progress #22; Whenever someone gains, someone else becomes envious of that gain.
We can use that envy to our favor."
"Hmm, I see your reasoning. Very well. Standard operating procedure for the rivals then?"
"Right. Keep our eyes and ears open, the neighbors will react to this development. We just need to learn how they react and act ourselves once we do learn."
"Very well, I declare this meeting adjourned. For the Concord!
"For the Concord!" The rest chorused, then as one backed away into the shadows of the chamber before the lights blew out as if from a breeze.