"Kakashi-sensei, what is going on?" asked Naruto.
"There is definitely something wrong here," he answered. "The way I see it, we now have three specific objectives: finding Gai and Lee and assisting them if necessary, checking the dam to make sure it hasn't been tampered with, and observing the phenomenon of the water in the village."
"So...one team per objective," said Sakura.
Kakashi thought for a while. "No, I don't think so," Kakashi answered.
"Then what?" asked Sasuke.
"We need to reform our teams by our strengths. Sakura, I need to you to go find Gai and Lee. They might be hurt and you are our healer. Naruto, go with her. You are a fighter and can assist in case of any threat," said Kakashi.
"We're on it," said Naruto. The teammates looked at one another, nodded, and disappeared in a flash.
"Tenten, you and and I will head up to the dam two villages away. I have the sharingan and can see if any type of sabotage has been committed. I will also be able to see any hidden enemies. You are my back-up," he continued. "Sasuke and Neji...you both have strong, but different, eye-based jutsu. Explore the town and note any strange occurrences you see. See if anything is amiss and deal with it. Now go!"
The four remaining shinobi scattered into two different directions.
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Naruto and Sakura were in the approximate location of where Gai and Lee should have been in a matter of minutes. There weren't any villagers there...in fact, no people were there whatsoever. It was surprisingly quiet. Sure, they could hear shouts and screams in the background as well as the sound of running water, but where they were was just...creepy.
"Sakura, what do you think?" Naruto said.
"Shhh," she said. She was obviously onto something.
"Sakura, what...," he tried again.
"Shhhh!" she said more emphatically. That shut him up.
After about thirty seconds, she asked, "Naruto, do you sense anything?"
He closed his eyes and concentrated. "I can tell something is off, but other than that...nothing. It's too quiet."
"Exactly," she replied. "There is something here. I can only sense a slight disturbance - ," she rambled on a bit. She set her hands in a familiar fashion and shouted, "RELEASE!"
Just like that, the world seemed to change. Trees were broken all around them and to their side lay Rock Lee, unconscious and battered. They went from calm and serene to frantic in the time it took to speak only one word.
"Sakura!" Naruto shouted to his teammate.
"Go find Gai!" she shouted back. "That way!" she pointed toward the sound of breaking wood thinking that he might still be in some sort of battle. "I'll handle Lee here."
Naruto swooped away towards the sound while Sakura quickly examined Lee and started to heal him.
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Neji and Sasuke walked into the center of town keeping their eyes activated and their ears open for any suspicious sounds. They were able to find quite a few villagers who were hidden within the various buildings near the center of town.
Sasuke entered the closest home where people were hiding. He entered respectfully knowing that someone lived here and, in fact, were currently in here. He needed to intrude, however, because he and Neji needed to gather more information about what exactly was going on.
"Hello?" he said in his normal tone of voice. "We are Leaf shinobi - there is no need to be afraid."
"He speaks the truth," added Neji. "We just need to talk to you. We are on your side, but we need to know what we are up against and what has happened."
A small, older man came out from behind a wood panel in the wall. It was quickly shut behind him - there were surely others still back there.
"Greetings," said Neji.
"What information can you tell us that would help us protect you? Why are you still here if the flood may come back at any second?" asked Sasuke.
"This is no ordinary flood," spoke the man. "It is very much an unnatural occurrence."
"What do you mean?" asked Neji.
"By leaving we may escape our enemies, but there is no guarantee if we leave or if we stay. We may be just as safe here as we are in fleeing. There are foreign shinobi out there. I have seen them with my own eyes. They are controlling the water and are killing their intended victims as well as those who happen to get in their way."
"Foreign shinobi?" said Sasuke to himself.
"Missing nin…just as I thought," said Neji. "This village may be one prone to floods, but just as Kakashi suspected, there is someone controlling the water." He turned back to the man. "Do you know why they are doing this?"
"I did overhear one of their discussions while hiding," he disclosed. "From what I can tell, they are merely acting as pirates."
"Pirates?" repeated Sasuke.
"Yes, pirates. They plunder riches and valuables for themselves or to sell," the man explained.
"Uh, this does not seem to be a very rich village," said Sasuke.
"Oh, you have no idea...," started the man.
Neji interrupted, "Sasuke, don't be an idiot."
"What?" said Sasuke, not appreciating Neji's tone.
Neji sighed. "This village is one of the sutoreji Tsunade created."
"Sutoreji?" Sasuke repeated. "What's that?"
"When Tsunade took over as Hokage, she made many changes that she thought were critical for the good of both Konoha and the Land of Fire. It turned out she was right in doing so. Under the Third and his predecessors, the majority of all emergencies supplies were kept in the Leaf itself. Lady Tsunade decided to spread it out around the Land of Fire so that even if the Leaf were obliterated, the Land of Fire could still survive and could even help rebuild the Leaf if need be. She had great insight, especially in light of what Pain later did."
"I agree that it was a smart decision," said Sasuke. "But exactly how was I supposed to know that? I wasn't even here when she did all that."
"It just shows that you are not yet ready to be a shinobi again," said Neji. "Useless," he muttered under his breath...though Sasuke did catch it.
In a flash, Sasuke had Neji up against the wall. His forearm was against Neji's neck.
"My point exactly," Neji managed to whisper.
Sasuke pulled back. He looked at the old man whose eyes were now wide as saucers.
"Damn shinobi," he muttered shaking his head. He knocked on the wall panel and re-entered the secret space behind the wall.
"Now look what you've done," said Neji.
"Me? You're the one taunting me. I'm trying my best here. Way to go leaving me high and dry just waiting for me to fail just because I wasn't in the Leaf the entire time you were."
Neji ignored the comment.
"So they're after the supplies...do you know what kind of supplies?" Sasuke asked, trying to get past what had just happened. He was trying to be professional.
"Food, weapons, but this village is especially known for the medicines it has in its storage spaces," Neji answered.
Neji led the way back outside of the house.
"Now what?" Sasuke asked.
"Byakugan!" he shouted and did a quick scan of the village. "There!" he shouted and pointed.
"What is it?" asked Sasuke.
"There is a wall of water coming...," he said before jumping away in the direction he had just pointed.
Sasuke quickly followed.
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It took Kakashi and Tenten a bit more time to make it two villages over to the dam that fed the river going through the village. Nothing seemed amiss to either of the shinobi as they approached.
"Do you see anything strange?" Tenten asked Kakashi. His sharingan was already uncovered and activated.
"No, not really," said Kakashi. "Nothing looks broken or otherwise out of sorts."
"Let's head into town. Maybe there is someone who takes care of the dam that we can talk to," suggested Tenten.
"Good idea," said Kakashi.
Getting into the village proper only took a few extra minutes. They landed in the center of town right where a great many people were walking. The people were surprised to see two strange shinobi appear right in front of them. Many of them fell silent while a few mild screams could be heard from the ladies who were really startled.
"We are really sorry to barge in like this," said Kakashi. "To explain our purposes very quickly, we are shinobi from Konoha. Arizuma village is currently having some flooding issues and we are here to make sure the dam is secure. Has anyone here noticed anything strange about the dam or the flow of water as of late?"
"Yes!" came a lone shout from behind them. Kakashi and Tenten turned to face the man who had shouted. He looked to be in his fifties and sported a fluffy white beard and what looked to be a captain's cap. "I am Shusaku Okimaki. I am in charge of the dam and have several workers reporting to me. A few nights ago, I was told that the flow had seemed to increase two-fold. We thoroughly inspected the dam and could not find any reasonable cause. The gauges are still reading the same as before. Even the flow looks to be about the same, but our manual measurements downstream show the higher flow. However, we chose only to observe at this point. Based on our calculations, even twice the flow should not cause harm downstream so we didn't think it was a rush to figure it out right away."
"Thank you for that information," said Kakashi. "You have just given us something to go on. Let's go Tenten."
Tenten was a bit lost, but followed Kakashi nonetheless.
"Sensei, where are we going?" she asked.
"Back to the dam," he replied.
They landed right on the top of it and looked down. The flow didn't seem to be strange at all.
Kakashi made a hand signal and shouted, "RELEASE!" Instantaneously, more water was pouring from the gate in the dam. He heard several bells and whistles sounding knowing that the gauges were probably now registering the correct water flow. It was true that the flow would...make that should...not hurt the downstream towns. But now, at least, those in charge of the dam were reading their instruments accurately.
"A genjutsu?" said Tenten.
"Yes, a very simple one," said Kakashi. "The additional flow would simply allow for more water down in Arizuma village. It would not do much harm in and of itself."
Tenten looked to one side of the dam. The bearded man stood there watching the two shinobi. He heard the bells and whistles and knew that his alarms were now going off. He saw the additional flow directly and it all made sense now. "Thank you!" he shouted and waved.
"Let's get going," said Kakashi to Tenten. "There are no enemies here."
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After getting a few minutes of Sakura's medical attention, Rock Lee started to groan.
"What's going on?" he asked weakly.
"Hold still - you aren't done yet," said Sakura.
"Sakura?" Lee mumbled. He closed his eyes and faded away again.
Naruto had made it to Gai's side. Gai looked exhausted so he very much appreciated Naruto's coming to his aid.
"What's the deal?" Naruto said to Gai.
"There are two of them. One is an earth-type. The other is a lightning-type and, from what I can tell, is the one who formulated the genjutsu that made us hard to find," said Gai.
"How'd you know you were hidden?" asked Naruto.
"He seems to be quite arrogant and told me to give up immediately because help would not be coming because of it. He just right out told me," explained Gai. "How did you break it?"
"Sakura - ," Naruto answered.
"Ah," Gai answered knowingly. Sakura had amazingly perfect chakra control, but because of it, could sense even the most powerful genjutsu. It was common knowledge in the Leaf so Gai understood immediately.
"Watch out!" shouted Naruto. A huge boulder was heading right for Gai. They had noticed that Gai now had company and the enemy was using the little bit of distraction to strike.
Gai dodged and swung around to kick the earth-type in the gut with his leg.
"I think it's kind of funny that he told you of all people to give up hope," said Naruto.
"He obviously doesn't know me very well," agreed Gai. "I'll distract them while you prepare your rasengan."
"Got it," answered Naruto.
Gai charged the earth-type shinobi once again kicking and punching. The other enemy, seeing the battle, jumped in and helped to get Gai off of his comrade.
Naruto made clones of himself to not only help distract the two enemies, but also to form a ransengan. Before the enemy knew it, Naruto was flying towards him with a powerful spinning ball of chakra. He could not dodge and was immediately caught in the gut by Naruto's ninjutsu. He yelled out and fell to the ground, a gaping wound near his stomach.
"You got him!" shouted Gai to Naruto.
Gai quickly turned to pinpoint the location of the second 'foreign shinobi'.
"Where'd he go?" Naruto shouted.
"I lost track of him and he disappeared!" shouted Gai.
"Damn!" shouted Naruto. "Let's get back to the village - he probably went to join the others."