Endgame in Wave

Rooster was not pleased with the report from Deer. The rescue attempt on the maid was a failure and cost him another three ninja he could not replace. He looked at the map of the island he had laid out with the daimyo. They were vulnerable to the east and south. The ocean covered their north and west but with boats out there he could not consider those secure.

Deer commented that this was turning into a chess match of strategy and Rooster could not dispute that. In that context he had lost a rook and a pair of pawns basically for nothing in return. The other side had only the King and an uncounted number of pawns

Rooster on the other hand had lost thirty percent of his total to death or injury by now. To make things worse, if he remained on the defensive, he would lose through attrition as Gato hurled his pawns at him. Before their position could be relieved, he would either run out of supplies or ninja to hold it.

He needed to change the game while still keeping his King; the Wave daimyo, safe.

The land forces dispatched by Gato were soon spotted by the chunin lookouts. Rooster frowned at the size of the forces once more. There were fifty in each and mainly men in the colors of the Wave. He gave orders to his ninja. His team would join with two of the remaining chunin and face the southern force. The other ANBU squad would face the eastern force with the other pair of healthy chunin. Team Yuugao would remain in the ruins of Uzushio as lookouts and last line of defense for now.

Gato sent word for his special group to move in. These were some of his best men. He only wished the poor quality ninja the financially desperate Sound village had sent him lived longer. He had gotten a bargain price for the five teams of low level chunin but now he regretted it. The missing ninja working for him had also been reduced to a single squad. This fight was getting expensive for him but he was past caring about cost. He needed that daimyo dead and his own rule recognized as legitimate.

The 'mercenaries' who had stolen away the Wave daimyo turned out to be ninja themselves. He just needed to capture one alive long enough to learn which village the scum belonged to. Once he knew that, he could slowly plan its demise. His previous captive had simply vanished from the cell he had been in with no trace. Damn all those magicians and their tricks.

Lights flashed between the ships in the channel and soon one close to the ruins of Uzushio lowered a number of small boats. The boats made their way to the rocky shore and the small beaches there. Thirty men in the colors of Gato's private guard climbed out of the boats and crept quietly toward the ruins, as yet unnoticed.

Naruto checked over his gear once more. The situation had forced both Sakura and him to give all but one of their explosive tags, all their shuriken and most of their kunai to the others. His primary weapon right now was his well worn kodachi. The time Yuugao-sensei had spent teaching him the sword had been satisfying even if quite difficult. His confidence grew each time he trained with it. Now, it would fulfill the purpose of all swords. He tried not to dwell on taking more life but it still bothered him to do so. Sensei told him often that if it stopped bothering him he needed to find something else to focus on as a ninja. Not all hidden villages thought that way but it was a mainstay in the teachings of Konoha.

His thoughts were broken when Sakura nudged him.

"Focus Naruto," the pink haired girl admonished him.

"Sorry," he replied with a small smile.

The teenage girl turned back to what she had been doing so Naruto focused on what he had been assigned. They had been sent to watch the eastern approach to the ruins for any mercenaries that had slipped past the ninja engaging the enemy. The low grass covered dunes near the rocky cliff the former hidden village sat on were difficult to look at for long. The waving grass grew hypnotic as it moved side to side. The teens made sure to nudge the other one every few minutes to relieve boredom and make sure the other was focused on their assignment.

Satisfied that no one was in sight, Naruto focused on the mental exercise that sensei had taught him to train his sensor ability. Overall, the ability turned out to be above average but not strong enough to warrant specialized training. He felt chakra sources begin to appear in his mind's eye. The chakra glow of Sakura behind him washed out a good deal of the animals nearby so he tried to push that out of his 'sight'.

Slowly, he managed to get something off behind them near the shore. A single human sized moving source had moved up into the edge of the ruins from the ocean.

"Sakura, I sense something. Is there a lookout near the ocean?" he asked his teammate.

"No, just us. Why?" the girl asked.

Naruto focused once more and detected additional smaller chakra sources. "There is something moving there and it is too big and too many to be an animal," the boy replied.

Naruto focused and made a hand sign to conjure a pair of shadow clones. One immediately dispelled to take the information to the clone with Rooster while the other ran towards the beach north of them to investigate.

Less than two minutes later, Naruto shuddered as the clone was dispelled by force.

"Sakura, my clone was ambushed and killed. We have a problem," Naruto said as he stood. The boy created a new clone to send to Yuugao then turned to move north in person.

Sakura frowned as she checked her sword and the few remaining kunai and shuriken she had been allotted. She followed after Naruto in silence after a few seconds.

Off to the east, the sounds of battle erupted.

Bird cursed under his mask as the mercenaries closed in on his team. They had moved in spread out enough that most jutsu would not take care of more than one or two. These were experienced mercenaries who might have fought ninja in the past since they worked in pairs and covered each other well. They were leaving few blind spots when his team could sneak attack. Bird increased his speed to engage the mercenaries but he could not tell by looking which mercenaries were of high quality and which were mere fodder. Being outnumbered ten to one had allowed the enemy to surround their position once the fight began.

One of the chunin went down, dead under a trio of blades. The military ninja simply lacked the raw power to overcome the odds facing him. Bird knew ninja were not suited to stationary defense against pure soldiers. They were mainly strike and fade troops not stand and fight ones. Without the ability to move around enough, even the ANBU in the team had gotten minor wounds. The pile of bodies slowly increased but not quickly enough.

After the second chunin and one of his ANBU team had fallen with injuries, Bird signaled the remaining two healthy members to grab the wounded to break out and head away from battle toward the ruins. With luck the enemy would not pursue the two ninja moving away and focus on him. He frowned that he might not get to see the birth of his niece or nephew but that could not be helped. His remaining teammates were out of the blast zone

"Fire style: Death Blossom," Bird said after a half dozen hand signs. The jutsu converted nearly all of his remaining chakra to fire type and it detonated taking out everything in a fifty meter radius including nearly all remaining enemies on the eastern battle zone. Bird fell to the ground unconscious and barely breathing.

The last ANBU member and the chunin ran back in and dealt with the survivors before hoisting the unconscious Bird up and heading back to base to treat the wounds.

In Iwa, a blonde man looked around sensing he had just missed something artistic.

Naruto closed in on the beach as Sakura caught up to him.

"We will attack just like we did in the forest a few weeks ago, Sakura. Call out targets and I'll get them first. We have a few kunai and our swords. We start with the ones that look like leaders and inflict casualties first then mop up afterwards," Naruto said in whisper.

Sakura nodded and pointed out likely candidates. Each genin slid their last kunai into a point back grip for a slashing attack. Running on the top of rocks would be dangerous but it was the only advantage the pair had until the enemy was in among the ruins. They waited for the right moment.

Gato's men were wary since the lead man had killed a ninja that vanished in a puff of smoke. They were alert for anything and the minutes crept by with nothing happening made them focus for any hint of an attack. A mercenary slipped on the wet rocks and fell twisting his ankle. The men around him looked to the sound for a brief moment and that became the signal for the genin to attack. Their chakra enhanced limbs let them cover the twenty yard distance from their ambush point to the lead mercenary in moments. A pale man in the front died with a slit jugular vein before he noticed he was under attack.

Naruto pushed off a rock to the second man with Sakura going the other way around him. Each genin sliced one of the man's arms at the bicep. His scream of pain as he fell alerted the men behind him they were under attack. The remaining men were now focused on the pair of teens before them.

Some of the mercenaries had bunched together amid the rocks as the lead ones halted but the trailing ones did not. Sakura almost grinned as she activated her sole explosive tag on its kunai and hurled it into a group of six men. The explosion echoed along the shore and off the ruins behind them. Naruto barely flinched as the tag blew up as he ran back toward the ruins with Sakura. They could not do much more at that point against prepared foes. Training told them to not to stand and fight if they could help it.

The ruins themselves were dozens of walls and shattered buildings over several acres of land. Grass grew in and moss had softened the rubble but even after a quarter century it was still a maze of hiding places for the ninja to fight from. A noise behind them made them turn to see the old man in his worn uniform and Uzushio headband.

"This is my village. I will defend it," he stated in a firm voice.

Neither genin mentioned that it was no longer a village but a mere ruin. They just nodded after glancing at one another.

The man went through a series of hand signs.

"Rolling Fog technique," he whispered. In moments a bank of fog rose from the ocean and flowed up over the ruins. Visibility was reduced to a few yards as the mist settled.

"I could make it as thick as the Hidden Mist technique but I never was good at blind fighting and it has been a long time," he whispered to Sakura.

The girl gave the old man a sad smile as she heard the mercenaries cursing at the fog. She slid her kunai back into its leg pouch and pulled out her brass knuckles instead of the kodachi. Long bladed weapons would not work as well in the broken rubble again more skilled swordsmen. Focusing chakra into her feet, she scaled a shattered wall and waited a dozen feet up nearly invisible in the mist. Naruto seemed to fade into the mist as he found a dark place to blend into where his clothing would not stand out as much before disappearing under a henge. He drew a second kunai and held them like trench knives and waited.

The mercenaries cautiously entered the ruins as the fog had taken away their advantage in numbers. The remaining men grouped together in trios or quads and split up. They knew the fog was not natural and the ninja were waiting. But to turn and run meant death at Gato's hands. To go forward could mean death at the ninja's hands. Their sole chance for living existed by defeating the ninja so they moved ahead.

Naruto waited motionless as one group passed him by. Without disturbing his henge, he silently stepped up behind the trailing man. As he had in the northern forest months before he clamped one hand over the man's mouth. The difference here is he also cut the throat of the man before leaping away with the corpse. A single pebble dislodged by the mercenary's foot and a swirl of fog was the only proof he had been there.

Sakura clung to a lintel with chakra in her feet and fingertips. The trio of mercenaries passed below her without looking up.

'They are observant for hired swords but they are not ninja,' she thought as she evaluated her opponents. Ninja are trained to think in the vertical aspect as well as the horizontal. She struck straight down with her brass knuckles to the crown of the trailing man's head. A dull thud like a dropped melon was heard by the two up front. They spun to see the dead man behind them on the ground with half his skull caved in and nothing but a swirl of fog.

The old man watched a quad of mercenaries work through around a shattered building. The ancient ninja remembered how that one building had looked decades before and the name of the shopkeeper as well. He nodded slowly to a voice only he could hear as his hands went through a series of seals.

'Nasal Water Globe Encasement,' he thought as the fog around him thinned as his jutsu called on the water vapor. The men all grabbed at their faces as balls of water formed in their mouths and over their noses. Their fingers slid through the water but the old ninja kept up his jutsu from hiding. Minutes crawled by as the men were forced to inhale and painfully drowned. The Whirlpool ninja kept up his jutsu for an additional minute after the last stopped moving before releasing it and moving in to slice the throats of the downed men.

The stealthy killing by Naruto, Sakura and the old Whirlpool ninja only took minutes but it was enough for the real defense to arrive. Yuugao came running up from her position to the south to support her team. She drew her sword as she entered the fog and soon the clang of sword fighting erupted before silence fell once more. In her wake, a dozen mercenaries lay bleeding and either unconscious or dead.

The jonin traced Sakura in the higher parts of the ruins and came up from her side stopping just close enough to be seen through the mist and making a small noise followed by a recognition gesture. Sakura moved closer to her teacher and they whispered to each other.

"How many enemies?" she inquired.

The pink haired girl gave a tally and what she had and Naruto had dealt with before the fog jutsu had been used. Yuugao nodded and added in her kills. She gave a coded bird call out to draw Naruto to a meeting place before leading Sakura in the direction the code called for them to move. Minutes later, the team was together.

Naruto only had two additional kills but both had been silent pickoffs. With the bodies Yuugao had spotted that left less than a dozen enemies remaining.

"Both of you are doing a good job on hitting and moving. Leave the open fighting to the samurai or higher level ninja," Yuugao told her students with a nod.

"It was harder during that battle in the forest right before the Chunin Finals. There we had to keep moving and stay two steps ahead of a lot of ninja," Naruto commented.

Both genin shuddered a bit at the memories of that night but forced them back down since they were 'on duty'. A short distance away, they heard another group of enemies fall down and headed in that direction. The old ninja had killed off the remaining enemies in the ruins with his water jutsu during their meeting. They had to go report to Rooster on what was happening.

Rooster was not happy with the situation in the slightest. The southern force of mercenaries had been routed with no casualties on his side. The strike at the ruins also held firm but confirmed for the enemy knew where they were located. His chess analysis was still holding and he was down more pieces than before. The enemy sacrificed more replaceable pawns away and still held a stronger position. If he did nothing but repulse attacks his forces would be whittled down one by one until they all fell. He had to change the game.

'If I say this is troublesome once more, the Nara clan is going to adopt me,' he thought as he rubbed his face. In chess when the king cannot be protected in its castle, it steps forth onto the board and relies on motion as protection. It was a dangerous option but less so than remaining still at this point. Also, since this was life as well as chess, it opened up a chance for additional pieces to join in the game. He turned to face the Wave daimyo. They would need to act quickly.

A few miles to the south, mobs of civilians frightened off by the 'ghosts of Whirlpool' were clumping together in a farming village to decide what to do when a voice echoed from the north.

"My people listen to me," called out the Wave daimyo.

Heads turned to see the true ruler of Wave coming down a hill surrounded by a dozen men and women in ragged garb with ninja headbands on. A number of them appeared wounded but mobile. An elderly man looked in awe and said, "The symbol of Uzushio? Is the Whirlpool returning?"

The daimyo stopped near a large clump of men and women.

"My people, I have been held captive by the Finance Minister Gato for months now. He stole this country and is raping it for his own ends. These people have come to my aid to free me. Now, we must all work together to cast him out of our country!"

A majority of the people there looked shocked but several nodded in agreement. They had not been treated well by the soldiers and mercenaries in recent months and the words of their leader made sense.

One man cried out differently

"Gato has been building fields and making the roads better. He built a power plant for us."

"Did he? Do you have power to your homes? Do you have more food on your tables? Can you travel along those roads without being stopped by a soldier asking where you are going?" responded the daimyo.

The man shrunk back and meekly replied, "No, none of those things."

The daimyo had their attention now as more people came up as the civilians gathered closer from both directions.

"Gato lies to you. He claims to be making the Wave Country better in my name but is he really doing that? He hired many mercenaries and brought them here. But who is he protecting? The Wave does not need that many soldiers to keep the peace. I had few and they remained close to me not spread out all over the countryside. They never took things from my people before Gato came. They never killed any of you. So who are these soldiers here for? They are all Gato's men to see that he keeps his rule over you."

The crowd was nodding in agreement at this point and many were looking angry.

The elderly man who recognized the headbands spoke once more.

"Is Uzushio returning? Are the Uzumaki coming back to free us from Gato?" he said in a pleading voice.

The daimyo frowned. He knew that old man was a village elder of the farming town. The man had lived here his entire life and acknowledged the Wave as his home now. But the man had been alive when the island had been the Land of Whirlpools .He didn't want to fall back on the previous rulers of this land but he needed to get that elder on his side. It would go a long way towards getting the doubters to fight.

"I have not decided if Uzushio will return or not. These ninja were brought in and wear the symbol at my request to show all of my people they are here for me and for them. But to let you know one important thing, I will have one introduce himself. Naruto, come up here."

Slowly, from the back of the group of ninja, the crowd saw a blonde haired teen come up and stand beside the daimyo.

"Tell them your full name please," the daimyo commanded.

Naruto looked back at Yuugao and Rooster who both nodded.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I was assigned to this mission to free your daimyo," the blonde said in a firm voice.

The elder looked skeptical at first as he processed the name he heard, "Maelstrom, a fine name for an Uzumaki. The Uzumaki have returned to free us," he cried out in joy at last.

The crowd cheered after the elder until the elder spoke once more, "Are others coming back as well? Is Whirlpool being restored?" he asked hopefully.

Naruto looked nervous at that question. "My parents died when I was little. As far as I know, I am the only Uzumaki. The Wave Country is your home now. I'm not here to bring back anything except to free your daimyo from Gato. Wave or Whirlpool, he is the rightful ruler of this place, not Gato."

The elder nodded and cried out, "Down with Gato."

The crowd took up that and began to chant 'Down with Gato'. Then without warning a number of kunai flew from the brush. One struck the elder, one struck Naruto and one struck the daimyo; all three hit solidly in the chest. The plain clothed ANBU jumped at the bushes and quickly captured or killed another squad of Sound ninja.

The crowd had gasped in shock at the attack and gathered around the elder while the ninja gathered around the fallen leader. Naruto was getting back up with a slight gasp as the bloody kunai was pulled from his tunic. Only the tip had penetrated through Naruto's armor and had left no real damage.

The aged elder was gasping for breath but there was nothing the people gathered around could do for him. He coughed out some blood and died. Many roared out in anger as the elder had been loved by many and in his small farming village within the Wave. He had in his own way more acknowledgement than the daimyo himself.

The crowd had been about to storm off when a raspy voice cried out, "Wait!"

The stunned crowd looked to see the daimyo standing once more with just a tear in his robes. The ones closest could see the gray of ANBU style body armor peeking out from underneath. The daimyo had been wearing the formless chest piece of Yuugao's body armor under his robes as protection. Now he was glad that Rooster had insisted on such a measure.

"Wait," he repeated. "We cannot just rush in or we will lose. I underestimated Gato once and we all paid the price. We must plan first and see the best way to win. Time is on our side for now. When the weather clears, we can get word out of the Wave for aid against Gato. I can see a few of my former guards in the group. I want you to organize the people here while I confer further with the ninja."

Rooster frowned as the ANBU squads gathered in closer. He whispered to the daimyo. "Time might work for us but as long as Gato controls the bridge and the ocean, we have no means of getting word out. Even with the animal summon relaying messages to Konoha; any help from them is days away at the earliest. Gato will work to crush us as soon as he can bring his remaining forces down on us."

The daimyo nodded. "We have one other thing working for us. It appears Gato dismissed all of my personal retainers. None of the men in official uniform are people you need to worry about sparing. That would be the best place to start."

Rooster nodded in return. "That we can do something about," he said. He turned to his ninja and gave orders. "With the addition of local help, it gives us some more options. My squad will remain with the wounded chunin on guard duty for the daimyo. His personal retainers along with trusted locals will form an outer perimeter. Bird, take Yuugao's squad and go back to escort the daimyo's wife and the maids to us here along with the old ninja. The other squad and the healthy chunin will go out on a recon and eliminate any uniformed enemies. Pay close attention to the ones who appear to be leaders. Remember that your basic mercenary fights for money and dying is a sure way to end getting paid. The ones in it for a paycheck will give up or leave rather than get killed once the body count starts rising quickly. Gloves are off and everyone fights to the best of their ability."

The squad and team left to the south while Sakura looked over at her teammate.

"Naruto, you ok?" she asked.

Naruto shook his head no.

"The daimyo was pretty honest with the people but he told a few lies as well. We aren't here at his request. We only wore the Whirlpool headbands because the old man asked us to before and the daimyo did again before we came here. I know they aren't big lies but why didn't he just say the real things?"

Yuugao sighed as she struggled for an answer.

"Naruto, if he told the complete truth right now, the people would lose faith in him and his ability to lead them. Gato would end up winning because the people wouldn't stand against him. He bent the truth but the essence of what he said is still valid. It is kind of like what the Hokage said about the Yondaime defeating the Kyuubi. People are told he killed it but in a way it is true. When you die one day, it will die with you. So, in effect by sealing is within you, he did kill it. It is a small lie now that becomes the truth in the end but it hurts less than the complete truth right now."

Naruto thought about it as they headed out north back to the ruins.

In the harbor town, shouts rang out from various checkpoints as sneak attacks began to wipe them out one by one. In each case, the youngest and most junior of the soldiers and mercenaries were spared to run away. The ninja wearing a spiraled headband made one thing clear to each one allowed to live; get out of Wave if they wanted to live. Those few fled in terror after having seen their superiors cut down. They passed others who also took a look at what was happening. The paycheck mercenaries began packing up their gear and headed for the bridge. Others at the bridge began to join them and soon a trickle of men crossed in spite of the uniformed military trying to stop them.

Soldiers in the uniform of the Wave were the next targeted. They were cut down to a man from ninja in ambush. A slaughtered patrol was sent back headless on their horses as the afternoon wore on and attacks increased. The citizens of the town knew something was happening. The people taken off early that morning had yet to return. The streets grew empty and quiet as the civilians locked themselves away and prayed for their own safety.

Deer and Boar were pleased that something was finally going right for them. They were in their element as stealth and assassination were the primary business for ANBU operatives. They continued working on destabilizing the remains of Gato's forces.

On the Fire Country side of the bridge, fleeing mercenaries were a sign of something happening in Wave. Haku picked up his master's sword and headed back toward the bridge. The Demon of the Ice found little resistance as he walked. The one man who tried to stop him on the Wave side of the bridge was cut down. That death meant the crossing was left unguarded as his squad abandoned their posts in fear.

Dozens more mercenaries followed in the wake of the first deserters as word spread across the island. Eventually, men loyal to Gato personally heard what was happening and brought the man word of events in town.

Gato frowned as he considered the situation. He estimated that he was down to less than a quarter of his original forces by now. Only his most loyal people could be counted on now. He gave an order to be passed to the remaining people he felt were worth his time. It was time to leave the Wave Country. Since he had nothing remaining of value locally that could not be replaced, he was moving in less than a minute. In the end it would not matter. He had wrung enough money out of the country to cover all the expenses he had incurred in the attempt to take it over.

Haku broke into the office minutes later to find nothing but smoldering papers in a trash can and a still warm cup of coffee. The Demon of the Ice narrowed his eyes and set off in pursuit. His chase ended standing on the dock as the personal yacht of Gato was beyond his reach out onto the ocean.

Hours passed as the situation in Wave settled down. The men Gato left behind in his evacuation surrendered completely to the 'Whirlpool' ninja and the revived personal guard of the Wave daimyo. Night fell on a large gathering at the port town near the bridge.

"We have won a great victory together," the Wave daimyo called out to the people who had gathered. "We owe a debt beyond price to the ninja who freed me from captivity and all of you from the bondage of Gato. I promise that we shall pursue his arrest and punishment above all else. But, for tonight we celebrate the gifts we have and tomorrow we shall set things right in our country."

The people cheered and the celebration went on into the night. The Leaf ninja slid out of sight at some point and departed the island with no fanfare after collecting the bodies of their own fallen.

Jiraiya growled as he held the pile of notes he had bought up from the various legal and underworld money lenders he knew. So far he had bought up nearly seventy five percent of Tsunade's outstanding IOU's and loans. All the people who had sold them to him laughed but agreed to pass the word not lend money to the blonde Sannin again.

'Tsunade has enough debts that even my Icha Icha sales from the past year three years barely cover it. This plan is sure to drive her out into the open since she will have no money and no access to more money. The toads made contact with the slugs but she has not summoned one in over a year now so that is a dead end. I will have to come up with more help for this. Sensei should be able to get me someone else,' Jiraiya thought as he sipped some sake.

Naruto was quiet as his team made their way back to Konoha. The entire affair in the Wave bothered him. They had succeeded in their assignment but it felt hollow. Hundreds died and the primary person responsible had escaped at least for the moment.

Sakura nudged her blond teammate out of his thoughts.

"Your face is going to stay that way if you keep pouting, Naruto," the pink haired teen said.

Naruto nodded slowly but wanted to say something but Yuugao spoke first.

"I know it is hard to accept, Naruto, but this was a good mission. We did the right thing for the most people. The people who worked and fought for Gato might not have been all evil but a large majority were not what most would consider 'good' people. They were gangsters and thugs. Hired killers."

"Are ninja that much different, sensei? We are hired and do missions that involve all kinds of unsavory things. We kill. We steal. What makes us any better than them?" Naruto asked in a low voice.

Sakura unconsciously nodded as she recalled the family picture she had left on the mercenary only a few days before.

"We try to make thing better for people, Naruto. So the people under our protection do not need to do the things we do or make the choices we make. So they can sleep at night without worrying if tomorrow they will die for no reason because someone with too much power decides they should die. In the end it is not a major difference but remember we do it so others can enjoy the benefits of our sacrifices and we hope that in time no one else will need to make them."

Naruto just nodded and continued to ponder as they headed home to Konoha.

Next Chapter: Hunting the Sannin

Authors Note: It has been too long since an update but creating a chapter I could be content with was not easy. I trashed dozens of endings and even this one is not completely sitting well. It goes against my liking to leave an unresolved ending but that is life. Every mission cannot have a happy ending.