"I see," the Hokage answered quietly. "It is a terrible shame, but these things do happen."
"Yes Hokage-sama," Kurenai said dully. Sasuke and Shino had both been allowed to return home. There was no need for anyone else but her to report in.
"Zabuza will go on our wanted list immediately, about of a million ryu seems fitting." He looked at Kurenai questioningly. "Are you sure you don't want me to issue one for his partner as well?"
She shook her head. "From what both Sasuke and Shino tell me they'd be dead if it weren't for him, I don't want to repay that mercy by placing a bounty on his head."
"Very well," Minato said. "Then there's the matter of Gato," the Hokage said grimly. "Since he hired Zabuza and ordered the mission where a leaf nin was killed I consider him every bit as guilty."
"He's a billionaire though, a well respected businessman," Kurenai said bitterly. "If we kill him won't that hurt the village's reputation?"
Minato grinned coldly. "Don't worry Kurenai, for every task there is a perfect tool. Gato will be dealt with." He looked at her with regret. "I am afraid I will have to suspend you from active duty until I can reassign you."
She lowered her head in shame. "I apologize for my poor judgment Hokage-sama; I take full responsibility for Sakura's death."
He nodded. He had no doubt that Kurenai was a fine kunoichi and that she truly regretted what had happened. But…
"You should never have gone to Wave after being attacked by the Demon Brothers. The moment you realized it was no longer a true C-rank you should have returned immediately and cancelled the contract. I know your students were all willing to press on in spite of the danger, but that is why we entrust our young Genin to senior Jonin ninja. The village and I expect you to be the one to make the decisions based on your own experience and best judgment. Your original decision to return was the right one. Allowing the client and your students to change your decision was the mistake."
She could only stand there and nod miserably. The Hokage was right; ultimately it had been her choice. She alone was responsible.
Having rebuked her Minato let her down easy. "We all make mistakes. Maybe in the future you can try being a sensei again, but for right now something else might suit you better."
"Yes Hokage-sama," she said dully. She would have to talk to Sasuke and Shino, not just to say goodbye but ready them for a new instructor.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Wow!" Naruto said as he ship pulled up the dock. "So this is Torikae? It's amazing!"
"Not too bad for your first time out of the village is it?" Kakashi asked.
Naruto could only nod. The island was only about two miles wide and a mile deep at its thickest spot. Except for where the wooden piers were the entire ocean front was sandy white beach. There were hundreds of men and women playing in the water or lying on the sand with very little on. Hinata thought it rather scandalous; Kiba was drooling at some of the girls in their tiny swimsuits.
Beyond the beach just about every inch of land had a massive building on it. There were luxury hotels and casinos that stretched higher than the Hokage Tower and were two or three times as broad. Many of the buildings were splashed with gold paint that made them shine under the tropic sunlight. At night there would be neon lights that would fill every part of this city.
"This can be a very fun town, but expensive," Kakashi told them as they went down the ramp. "They say everything is for sale here and they're not joking."
"So you've been here before Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.
"Once or twice," he said.
As they left the docks and entered the casino district Naruto and Kiba noticed a number of… scantily clad women standing about.
"Hey sensei, how much would she cost?" Kiba said pointing at blonde girl in denim shorts and a red bikini top.
Kakashi studied her for a moment. "Probably about 5,000 ryu, though you might be able to negotiate it a little lower."
"Really?!!" Kiba exclaimed, he'd been joking.
"Sensei!" Hinata cried.
"Heh, sorry," Kakashi said though he didn't seem too sorry. "Kiba try and remember we're here on a job. Also you're only twelve."
"That's like 84 in dog years though!" Kiba argued.
Naruto couldn't help looking at some of the other barely dressed women out there. A buxom girl with long black hair who could not possibly be older than 18 winked at him as he walked past. He couldn't help but blush.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled.
"What?" He jumped. "I didn't do anything!"
"Make sure you don't!" She grabbed onto his arm.
XXXXXXXXXX
Tsunade was at the craps table of the Golden Kami casino. Standing behind her holding Tonton their pet pig Shizune looked unhappy.
"Lady Tsunade, don't you think we should leave now?" Shizune asked pleadingly.
"What are you talking about? I still have money left!"
"Isn't that when you should quit?" Shizune said desperately.
Tsunade smiled at her. "Don't worry; I can feel my luck about to change." She put down a stack of 10,000 ryu chips and tossed the dice.
"Snake eyes!" The dealer sang out. "Shooter craps out!" her little stack of chips was swept off the table.
"I see your luck hasn't changed Tsunade."
She looked over to see a familiar face mostly covered by a mask and hitai-ite. "What are you doing here Kakashi?" She asked gruffly.
Kakashi gulped, a hostile Tsunade was a dangerous Tsunade. "Maybe this is just coincidence."
"No it's not," she said flatly. "If you were here on your own you'd be in one of the strip clubs a couple blocks over."
"There are strip clubs?!" Kiba said excitedly.
Tsunade noticed the three kids standing behind Kakashi. "Don't tell me the village made you a sensei!"
"Heh, afraid so, my sensei finally cornered me into it."
At the oblique mention of Minato Tsunade appeared a bit unhappy. "How is he?"
"Fine, he's just fine," Kakashi told her. "As a matter of fact, the reason I'm here…"
"I knew it!" She said accusingly. "He wants me to return to the village doesn't he?"
"Well… technically the Fire Daimyo does. We're here to just deliver a message."
"You can consider it delivered, now go!"
"Hey! My father wrote you a letter the least you can do is read it! Even if you are a Sannin and a former teammate to the great Jiraiya you should still show a little respect!"
Tsunade stared at the mouthy little brat who had just taken his life in his hands. He had spiky blond hair, three scars on each cheek and was dressed in a trench coat. Now that she was taking a good look at him she knew who he was. "Naruto," she breathed. "You're Naruto! Kushina's son!"
He nodded proudly. "That's right; I'm Namikaze Naruto, son of the Yondaime Hokage and Uzumaki Kushina. And I came all this way just to deliver this to you." He held out a sealed envelope to her.
"Excuse me," the dealer called. "But please toss the dice or pass them to the next shooter."
"Oh all right," Tsunade put down her last fifty thousand as Shizune groaned and muttered to herself about living on the street. She then handed the dice to Naruto as she took the letter from him. "Here, you throw them for me; your father always had the devil's own luck. Maybe you got some too."
He stared at the dice she'd put in his hands. "What am I supposed to do with these?"
She nodded to the other end of the craps table. "Just toss them down there."
She then stepped away from the table to nervously open the letter. She had not heard from Minato in over twelve years. Not since Jiraiya's funeral. Taking out the single sheet she saw the message was brief and to the point.
Auntie,
Please return to the village.
Minato
She couldn't help but laugh. "Trust him to say more with seven words than most could say with seven hundred."
"Since you're laughing does that mean its good news?" Kakashi asked.
Smiling she showed him the letter.
Kakashi grinned beneath his mask. "Trust sensei to get right to the point."
"That was one of the things I always liked about him," she agreed. "It's been a very long time since he called me, 'auntie.'" She looked questioningly at Kakashi. "Does this mean he's forgiven me?"
"Well… I don't know if forgiven is the word, but he's not angry any more at least."
She thought about that and chewed her bottom lip. "Well that's something, and I'm grateful he let me finally see Naruto. I wanted to right after the funeral but he wouldn't allow it."
"Well then why not come back? You can get to know him and see about mending fences with sensei."
She looked at the letter again and frowned. "Minato wasn't the only thing keeping me away you know; I still have a lot of issues with the village."
"The original request for your return isn't from the Hokage but from the Fire Daimyo. If you refuse this request to return he might force sensei to officially recall you."
She gave Kakashi a dangerous look. "That sounds like a threat."
"It's not meant as one!" He said quickly. "But the Fire Daimyo is not someone easily refused."
"Whether I go back or not will be my decision Kakashi! No one else's!" Tsunade said furiously. "As a matter of fact I don't think I will…"
"Lady Tsunade! Lady Tsunade!" Shizune cried excitedly.
"What is it Shizune?"
"Look! Just look!" She was pointing excitedly to the craps table where a crowd had formed.
"What's going on?"
"It's Naruto!" Shizune said excitedly. "He just six straight passes!"
"Seven! Winner!" The dealer sang out as the crowd gave a hearty cheer.
"Make it seven straight!" Shizune said in amazement
Tsunade stared at the crowd that had the boy completely hidden from view. "Has he been doubling up with each bet?"
Shizune nodded.
"If he started with 50,000 and doubled it seven times," Kakashi did the math in his head. "That would come to 6,400,000."
"NARUTO STOP THROWING!" Tsunade screamed and forced her way into the crowd to the twelve year old's side.
She got there just as he was about to throw again. He looked up at her in surprise. "Why? I thought I was doing pretty good."
She quickly took the dice from him. She had no sense of discretion when it came to her own gambling, but when someone else was involved she still seemed to understand what odds were. She looked to the dealer. "I'm cashing out."
The crowd moaned but she couldn't care less. "Naruto," Tsunade said sweetly. "Before we head back to Konoha how would you like to learn how to play poker?"
XXXXXXXXXX
In a large mansion just outside the city of Fukushima Gato was in his office going over the latest acquisition he had in mind. A minor shipping company he was interested in was refusing to sell. He'd had some quiet discussions with the owner's brother who would inherit the business if anything unfortunate happened to him. The current owner would have a little accident and the buyout would go through, and at a lower price too. It was all just part of doing business.
He loved business and he loved making money. He had figured out a long time ago that human life wasn't worth much. If killing the right people improved the bottom line then he never gave it a second thought.
The whole thing in Wave country had been a perfect example. The people there had still been trying to oppose him. If that damn bridge had been completed all his investments would have been lost. Killing that old drunk had finally put an end to that and snuffed out the last hopes of the locals. Now most of the Wave's economy went straight into his pockets. Sure the people there were on the verge of starvation, but so what?
The one and only regret was that Zabuza and Haku had gotten away before the Mist Hunter nins could arrive. But that was all right. He had a small army guarding him and the local Lord was in his debt… literally. No nuke nin would dare come here, and sooner or later Zabuza's luck would run out.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
He looked over to his window to see a raven sitting on the ledge tapping its beak against the window. Grunting he decided to ignore it and keep working.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
He glared at the bird. The bird didn't seem to realize just who he was bothering.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
He could call a servant in but that would waste time. He got up from behind the desk to shoo the annoying bird away.
"Get out of here you damn bird!" He opened the window.
Out of nowhere a whole flock of ravens stormed into his office.
"Hey! Hey get off of me!" Gato shouted and waved his arms about furiously.
They seemed to listen and vanished. In their place was a man in a black cloak with a raven mask on. Even as Gato was inhaling to shout for his guards a hand clamped down over his mouth.
"Look into my eyes Gato and accept your just punishment." A cold unfeeling voice whispered.
Panicked Gato did just that, looking into bizarre red eyes and feeling himself slip away.
XXXXXXXXXX
He found himself in a colorless landscape beneath a full moon. He was chained to a post with his wrist bound painfully above his head.
"What… what is this place?!" He screamed.
"This is Tsukuyomi," the same emotionless voice answered. "Here I control time, space, and even matter. My orders are to torture you as much as possible before killing you. The Hokage intends that your punishment fit the crime, so for the next seventy two hours I will cut you into pieces."
Gato was speechless as a dozen copies of the man slowly approached him, each holding a sword in his hands. "Wait! Do you know who I am?!" He cried.
"You are the shipping magnate Gato," the other man replied. "More importantly you are the individual who hired Momochi Zabuza and caused the death of the leaf ninja Haruno Sakura. For this the Hokage has ordered your torture and death."
"I'm a billionaire damn it!" He screamed. "My life is worth a million times more than some common ninja!"
"In your eyes I am sure that is so, obviously you are a man who values only money. Fortunately my Hokage is a man of honor. I would not expect you to understand what that means. I will also not bother trying to explain as there is little point."
All twelve versions hacked into him, cutting off his arms and legs chopping into his ribs and belly. None of the wounds were fatal and he stayed conscious and able to feel every last cut. His screams and cries for mercy did not affect the ninja in the least.
At last, mercifully, he died.
Or thought he did.
Miraculously he awoke still chained to the post, his body whole again and the twelve copies standing in front of him patiently holding their swords.
"I will torture you for seventy two hours," the ninja repeated. "Seventy one hours, fifty nine minutes and fifty nine seconds remain."
Before the ninjas even started cutting again Gato was screaming.
XXXXXXXXXX
In the real world Gato pitched over and collapsed without a sound.
Itachi carefully checked his pulse, there was none. A middle aged man with high levels of stress it was not surprising that the extended torture session would be more than his heart could stand. There was not a mark on his body, no sign of forced entry, no sign of a struggle, the cause of death would be stress related heart attack.
Itachi left the way he'd come in, careful to close the window behind him.
