The Uchiha In The Leaves (KakashixOC)

by inlovewithjuicey

What happens when Raven finally returns to the Village Hidden in the Leaves? Her life is flipped upside down when not only does she find the man that had awaited her return the whole time she was gone, but she finds someone she never thought she'd see again.

4. 4: The Land of Waves

*Kakashi's P.O.V*

As the kids ran through the woods their mission was clear and they knew what they were doing. They all answered Raven and I when they heard us through their earpieces.

Sasuke's voice was heard first. "This is Sasuke, I'm at point B."

Sakura spoke next. "It's Sakura, I've made it to point C."

And finally Naruto. "Naruto, I'm at point A. Believe it."

I scolded Naruto through the headset. "You're slow Naruto."

Raven cut me off. "Okay, squad 7. The target is moving, follow it."

The kids all surrounded a bush. I watched them closely. "What's your distance from the target?"

Naruto was first to answer. "Five meters. I'm ready, just give the signal."

Sasuke agreed. "I'm ready too."

Sakura was quick to follow. "So am I."

"Okay, now!" The kids all jumped at the bush, catching a small brown cat. Naruto had it in his grasp. I spoke to Sasuke. "Can you verify the ribbon on the right ear?"

"Affirmative, we've got a positive ID."

Raven sounded excited as she grabbed my arm. "Right, lost pet, Tora, captured. Mission accomplished."

Naruto was never happy with the missions I picked out for the squad. "Can't we get a better mission than this! I hate cats!"

When we got back with the cat I would say that the owner was happy to see her. The cat was squashed up against her as much as it could be without hurting or killing it. It clearly didn't want the attention as it screamed against her.

The three of us stood before her and Naruto came out with one of his dumb comments like always. "Dumb cat." He laughed "He deserves to get squashed."

Sakura stared at her in horror. "No wonder he ran away."

We all stood before the Hokage to get our next mission. He spoke to us. "Now then, for squad 7's next mission we have several available tasks. Among them, babysitting the chief counselor's three year old, helping his wife do the shopping, digging up potatoes, and-"

Naruto interrupted him. "NO! I want a real mission. Something challenging an exciting, not this little kid stuff! Come on old man!"

I was dumbfounded by what he had just said, not that it should have surprised me. Nothing Naruto does anymore surprises me.

Raven looked over at him. Naruto, enough."

Iruka stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "How dare you?! You're just a new Genin with no experience, like everything else you start with simple missions to work on your skills and prove yourself!"

Something was bothering him today. Naruto began again. "Are you serious? Babysitting it not a mission, it's just a stupid..."

I stopped him by punching him in the head, making him fall to the ground. I was never going to hear the end of this later. "Will you put a lid on it?"

The Hokage spoke next. "Naruto, it seems you do not understand the tasks you have been given." Naruto stopped rubbing his head and bellyaching to look up at the Hokage. "Listen, many kinds of tasks come into our village every day. From babysitting to assassinations. These requests are carefully recorded and analyzed." He pointed to the scrolls in front of him. "Then they are ranked A, B, C, or D, depending on their difficulty. We ninja are also ranked by ability. Hokage at the top, Jonin, Chunin, and Genin at the bottom. At the highest level we pick missions and assign them to ninja with the proper experience. If the mission is successful we receive a fee that supports our village and our work. Since you are untried Genin, just starting down the Shinobi path; you are given D level assignments of course."

We all zoned out about halfway through this little speech and began our own conversation, regretting it not long after. "Silence!" The Hokage was pissed now.

I rubbed the back of my head. "Oh... sorry."

Raven smiled an apologetic smile at him.

Naruto made another wisecrack of the day. "You always lecture me like you're my grandfather or something. But, I'm not that little brat that used to pull pranks all the time. I'm a ninja now and I want a ninja mission."

Raven glared at Naruto and then looked back at me. "We're going to hear about this later."

I rubbed my head again nervously. "Yea, we are."

The Hokage chuckled. "Naruto wanted us to know that he's not a brat, just a former brat, and he wants a mission. So be it." We all looked up at him. "Since you are determined I'm going to give you a C ranked mission. "You'll be bodyguards on a journey."

Naruto turned around to face him. "Really? Yes!" He jumped up. "Who, who? Are we guarding a princess, or some big wig counselor?"

"Don't be so impatient. I will bring him in now." He looked to his right. "Send in our visitor."

A bigger man in a sun hat who was clearly intoxicated came out. "What the? A bunch of little snot nosed kids?" He took another swig from his bottle. "And you, the little one, with the idiotic look on your face. You really expect me to believe you're a ninja?"

Naruto laughed and looked at both Sasuke and Sakura. "Who's the little one with the idiotic look on his..." He then realized that he was the smallest of the three.

Naruto tried to run at him and I grabbed the back of his jacket. "You can't demolish the client Naruto. It doesn't work that way."

He took another swig. "I am Tazuna and I'm a master bridge builder. I must return to my country. I'm building a bridge there that will change our world and I expect you to get me there safely, even if it means giving up your life."

As we reached the gates Naruto was the first one out. "Yea! Alright!"

Sakura was clearly annoyed. "What are you getting so excited about Naruto?"

"This is the first time I've ever left the village. I'm a traveler now, believe it."

Tazuna was not amused. He looked right at me. "Am I supposed to trust my life with this runt? He's a joke."

I laughed. "He's with me and I'm a Jonin, along with Raven here, who's also a Jonin from a different village. No need to worry."

Naruto turned around and pointed at Tazuna. "Hey, never insult a ninja, it's a big mistake. And I'm one of the greatest ninja ever. Someday I'm going to be a Hokage and you'll look up to me. My names Naruto Uzumaki. Remember it!"

Tazuna took a drink. "Hokages are powerful and wise, you are puny and brainless. The day you become Hokage, I'll sprout wings and fly."

"Shut up! I'm willing to do anything to become Hokage no matter what it takes. And when I do everyone will have to admit that I'm the top ninja, including you!"

"You can become Hokage ten times over and to me you'll still be a nobody, a loser."

"I'm going to make you pay for that right now."

Naruto jumped at him and both Raven and I grabbed his backpack. I was getting annoyed with this already. "I told you you're supposed to protect the client, not attack him."

Raven looked over at me as Tazuna began to walk. "Well he is kind of being an ass."

I made an agreeing noise so that I didn't encourage Naruto.

As we walked Sakura tried to make conversation. "Hey, Mr. Tazuna, can I ask you a question?"

"What is it?"

"Your land is the Land of Waves right?"

"Yea. What of it?"

She looked at me. "Kakashi-sensei, there are ninjas in that land too, aren't there?"

I looked over, happy to teach them something. "No, there are no ninja in the Land of Waves, but in other countries there are hidden village, each with their own different customs and cultures where ninja reside."

"To the people of this continent the existence of Shinobi villages means strength. In other words, that's how they protect themselves and maintain the balance of power with neighboring countries. The ninja villages are not controlled by any government. They're independent and have equal status.

"Now a small island like the land of waves has natural protection from the sea, so there's no need for a ninja village. The five ancient lands that possess Shinobi villages are the Lands of Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind, and Earth. They each occupy vast territories. Together they are known as the five great Shinobi nations."

"The Land of Fire had the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The Land of Lightning has the Village Hidden in the Clouds. The Land of Wind has the Village Hidden in the Sand. The Land of Earth has the Village Hidden in the Stones."

Raven cut me off. "The Land of Water has the Village Hidden in the Mist. That's where I came from after my clan was wiped out. That's where I became a Jonin."

I started again. "Only the leaders from these villages are permitted the names Kage, which means shadow. Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage, Tsuchikage. These are the leaders, the five shadows that rein over thousands of ninjas."

Sakura got excited. "Then Lord Hokage is really important!"

They all stared straight ahead of themselves and I spoke up. "Hey! You all just doubted Lord Hokage, didn't you." They all looked nervous. "That's what you were thinking." Sakura and Naruto shook their heads. I put my hand on Sakura's head. "Well, anyway, there are no ninja battles in a C ranked mission, so, you can relax."

Sakura spoke up. "And we're not going to run into any foreign ninja of anything like that?"

I laughed. "Not likely."

As we got farther and farther the group got quieter and quieter. Nobody knew what to say anymore. Raven and I walked at the back of the group. Every so often I would take her hand when no one was looking, holding it for a couple of minutes. I noticed something as we walked. I slowed Raven down and looked. There was a puddle in the middle of the dirt and it hadn't rained in a long while. We both slowly started to walk again. Suddenly a noise come up from behind us. I was the first to turn around. There were two ninja coming toward me with chains. "What?" The chains wrapped around me and I felt myself get squeezed. As soon as I was able to I used my substitution jutsu and jumped into a tree. Let's see what these kids can do.

I probably should have told Raven my plan before we started, but maybe her panic being real will kick the kids into gear. Raven looked around as fast as she could. "Kakashi!" Her face was full of fear. She never fought alone since the attack. I knew she could do this without me, she didn't need me as much as she thought she did.

She had not fought without someone of been in a situation where she needed too since the night that Itachi attacked her family. I could see her panic setting in more as she looked around for Sasuke. The two ninja were behind Naruto.

They spoke to him, trying to get them riled up. "Now it's your turn."

Naruto turned around. They got their chains ready to whip and lunged at him. Naruto froze and from out of nowhere the Uchiha siblings got to work. Raven hollered to Sakura. "Protect Tazuna Sakura." Sakura jumped in front of him and stretched her arms out. Sasuke and Raven jumped into the air. Raven took out a ninja star and caught the end of both of their chains, spiking them into a tree. Sasuke came right up behind her with a kunai, putting it through the center of the ninja star to keep them in place. I hadn't seen better teamwork in a long time.

With Sasuke around Raven seemed almost calm while she fought. Both ninja tried to pull their chains out. Sasuke landed on both their arms and kicked them both in the face, causing them to both fall backwards, yanking their chains right out of their ninjas ran and as Sasuke and Raven thought they knew where they were going they split ways. Raven let Sasuke stay the course he was on since it was easier for her to change ways with her experience. One of them was headed right for Sakura and Tazuna. Sasuke jumped in front of them. The other was headed for Naruto again. Raven jumped down in front of Naruto.

As the ninja hit the ground in front of Raven I saw the rage that I had seen in her the day that she had left the village to find Itachi. I knew she was going to become unfocused. It was time for me to intervene. Before I could intervene Raven lunged at the ninja, she wasn't thinking. As she lunged the ninja grabbed her arm and flung her against a tree on the other side of him, the opposite of where Naruto was. She hit hard and collapsed on the ground.

I jumped down from the tree I was in and lunged, grabbing the two ninja by the necks, standing in front of everybody. They all stared at me. "Hi." Sasuke didn't look impressed. "Naruto, sorry I didn't help you right away. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. I just didn't think you'd freeze up like that." I walked over to Sasuke. "Good job Sasuke, very smooth." I looked over at Sakura. "You too, Sakura."

I began to talk before I turned around. "And you, Raven, I'm glad that you're now-" Raven was still laying on the ground by the tree. I hadn't noticed that she hadn't gotten up. That wasn't like her. I began to worry a little. "Raven?"

Sasuke looked over to where she was. "Raven?" He pushed me out of the way and ran over to her. He dropped next to her, panic filled his voice. "Raven, are you okay?" She didn't respond to him. She must have been knocked unconscious by the hit.

I tied the two ninja up before I ran over to her. "Move Sasuke, she's just knocked out." I took the water bottle that I had attached to my side and splashed water on her face.

With a jolt Raven sat up, she winced in pain and grabbed her side. "Crap, my rib." She tried to stand up, but wobbled and fell back down.

I slowed her down. "Hang on, relax a second. You were unconscious."

Sasuke dropped next to Raven and she reached out for him. You could read the terror on his face like a book. Since they had found each other Raven was his weakness and he along with myself was hers. She pulled him in and reassured him. "I'm fine Sasuke, it's just a rib. I've had worse... trust me."

He smiled and we both helped her stand up. When he was calmed down he looked over at Naruto, ready to taunt him. "Hey,"

Naruto looked up. "Yea?"

"You're not hurt are you?" Sarcasm was all over his face. "Scaredy cat."

Naruto went to step forward at Sasuke and I stopped him, noticing his hand. "Naruto, stand still. these ninja have poison in their claws. We need to take it out of you quickly. You have to open the wound and remove it." Naruto looked panicked now. I know he was scared, but it was the only thing to save him. "It's in your blood so don't move around, that spreads the poison." I redirected my voice. "By the way, Mr. Tazuna."

He seemed shocked that I was talking to him. "Yea, what?"

"We need to talk." We all stood around the ninja. "They're Chunin from the Village Hidden in the Mist. Their specialty is relentless attack. They'll keep fighting no matter what the sacrifice."

One of the ninja spoke up. "How did you know about our ambush?"

"A puddle on a clear day? When it hasn't rained in weeks?"

Tazuna sounded angry. "In that case, why did you leave it to the Genin and the panicky Jonin to do the fighting?"

Raven glared at him and the ninja on the tree spoke, taunting her. "Raven, he would be so ashamed to know that the one he trained turned out to be such a wimp. He'd be so disappointed." Raven turned around and glared at the ninja who chuckled. Who were they talking about?

Raven lunched at them a little and I grabbed her arm. "Shut up you disgraces. My 13 year old brother just whipped your asses."

I spoke back to Tazuna, ignoring what had just happened. "I could have taken them out quickly, but then I'd have learned nothing. I needed the kids to see how real the situation was too, that's why I didn't say anything to Raven." she turned her glare from the ninja to me. "I had to know who their target was and what they were after."

"What are you getting at?"

"I wanted to know whether they were after us; ninja attacking ninja, or if they were after you; the master bridge builder. When you put in your request you asked for standard protection from robbers and highwaymen. You didn't say there were ninja looking for you, hunting you down."

Raven saw where I was going so she joined in. "If we had known it would have been a B ranked mission or higher. Our task was simply to get your to your destination and protect you while you finished building your bridge. If we knew we were wielding attacks from enemy ninja we would have staffed differently and charged for the cost of a B ranked mission." I stopped Raven, seeing how angry she was getting.

"Apparently you have your reasons, but lying to us is not acceptable. We are now beyond the scope of this mission." I tried to make myself sound like an authority figure.

Sakura tried to sound apologetic. "We're Genin, this mission is too advanced for our training. We should go back. And I really think we should get Naruto back and treat his wound and get the poison out as soon as possible. Back in our village we can take him to a doctor."

"Naruto's hand could become a problem. I guess we should go back to the village."

Naruto wasn't having this at all. He took his kunai and stabbed it into his hand, opening the wound. "Why am I so different? Why am I always..." He turned away from us.

Sakura ran toward him. "Naruto! Stop that! What are you doing?"

"I worked so hard to get here. Pushing myself until it hurt. Training alone for hours. Anything to get stronger, to reach my dream. I will never back down again and let someone else rescue me. I will never run away. I will not lose to Sasuke." At the sound of her brother's name being mentioned Raven smiled a little. "Upon this wound I make this pledge. Believe it. Bridge builder, I'll complete this mission and protect you with this kunai knife." He turned back toward us with the knife still in his hand. "Don't worry. Ill be fine." He had a determined look on his face.

I was getting concerned. "Naruto, that was really cool how you took the poison out and all, but if you lose anymore blood... you're going to die."

Naruto began to panic. Raven walked forward. "Give me your hand, it's a good idea to stop the bleeding now. Seriously.""

Naruto began to panic even more. "NO, no, no. I'm too young to let it all end like this."

I tried to snap him out of it. "Naruto, show Raven your hand."

Naruto ran over to Raven, still panicking. "Help, help, help."

Sakura was angry. "Naruto, you've got a self-abusive personality. It's called masochism."

Raven took his hand and stared. When she wasn't moved while she looked at it, I looked over. "Kakashi."She motioned for me to come over.

I walked over and we both stared at it. Naruto noticed that we weren't doing anything and got worried. "Uhm, you guys have a really serious look on your faces. Am I okay?"

I grabbed some bandages from my bag and handed them to Raven. She tried to calm down Naruto while she worked. She wrapped them around his hand. "Yea, you should be fine."

He sighed in relief and looked over at me before thanking Raven and walking away.

As we got farther down the path everyone seemed to calm down from the event before. Raven and I hung back, talking about what had just happened, careful that no one could hear us. She spoke first. "What would make the mist ninja come after him?"

"Maybe he owes them something, that's the only thing that I can think of. Nothing else really explains it. What did they mean when they said that 'he' would be disappointed in you? Who are they talking about?"

"That's a long story that I can't explain right now. It has something to do with when I was in the Village Hidden in the Mist." She stopped and gave me a small, weak smile before continuing. "What made Naruto heal that fast Kashi?" Raven only ever called me by my pet name when no one was around.

"I can't explain that now either. I'll tell you tonight when everyone's asleep as long as you tell me what the mist ninja meant."

She gave me a look of worry before agreeing

Tazuna had finally led us to the edge of the water, heading to where his bridge was going to be. We hopped onto a boat and settled in. I sat on the farthest end with Raven next to me. The boat was crammed so me having my arm around her shoulders didn't seem like a big deal. It was something we could get away with this time.

There was fog all around us. It was the protection for this small village. Sakura was scared. "The fog is so thick, you can't see anything.

The person steering the boat spoke in a whisper. "The bridge isn't far now. Our destination is just ahead. The Land of Waves."

We all looked forward, not able to see anything through the fog. When Naruto was finally able to see something he hollered. "Woah, it's huge!"

The driver got angry with him. "Quiet! I told you no noise." He was whisper yelling back at him. "Why do you think we're traveling like this, huh? Cutting the engine and rowing, moving through the dense fog. It's so they don't see us."

Naruto covered his mouth and seemed apologetic.

I looked over at the bridge builder. "Mr. Tazuna, before we reach the pier I want to ask you something. The men who are after you, I need to know why. If you don't tell us I'm afraid I'll have to end this mission when we drop you ashore."

Tazuna was annoyed. "I have no choice but to tell you. No, I want you to know the truth. Like you said, this is beyond the scope of the original mission. The one who seeks my life is a very short man who casts a long and deadly shadow."

Raven looked up. "A deadly shadow? Who is it?"

"You know him, at least I'm sure you've heard his name before. He's one of the wealthiest men in the world. The shipping magnate, Gato."

I had heard that name before. "Gato? Of Gato transport? He's a business leader, everyone knows him." I was in shock.

"Gato. He's a very famous tycoon from a company that's true, but below the surface, with the same ruthless methods he uses to get businesses and nations, he sells drugs and contraband. He uses gangs and ninja. It was one year ago when Gato first set his sight on the Land of Waves. He came to our island and used his vast wealth to take control of our transport and shipping. Anyone who tried to stand in his way simply disappeared. In an island nation a man who controls the sea controls everything. Finance, government, our very lives, but there's one thing he fears. The bridge, when it's complete, will join us to the land and that will break his control. I am the bridge builder."

Sakura was putting the pieces together. "So that's it? Since you're the bridge builder you're getting in this gangster's way?"

Sasuke looked over at Raven and I. "That means those guys in the woods, they're working for Gato."

Raven looked over at him again. "I don't understand, if you knew that he was dangerous, knew he'd send ninja to eliminate you, why did you hide that from us?"

"Because the Land of Waves is a small, impoverished nation. Even our nobles have little money. They common people that are building this bridge, they can't pay for an A or B ranked mission. It's too expensive. If you end the mission when you drop me ashore there will be no bridge. They assassinate me before I reach home. Don't feel bad about that, of course, my sweet little grandson will be upset. He'd cry 'Grandad, I want my Grandad' and my daughter will condemn the ninja of the Hidden Lead, denouncing and blaming your for abandoning her and father and living her life in sorrow." Of course he would bring up kids and grandkids. Anything to sucker us in. "Oh well. It's not your fault, forget it."

I rubbed my forehead through my headband and looked down at Raven, who had sunken down in the boat further. "Well, I guess we have no choice. We'll have to keep guarding you." Raven looked up at me and then held her arm out to Sasuke, who leaned over on her, sighing.

"I'm very grateful." Tazuna smiled.

Raven grabbed at her side and winced a little. I looked over at her. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"I'm not leaving you guys, I'll be fine." She sat back up and winced some more. She was in a great deal of pain, she had to have been to show it. "It's an old injury, it's just been hit again."

I knew what she had meant by 'old injury'. It was something that had happened while she was saving Sasuke from Itachi, but she would never let him know this.

The driver spoke. "We're approaching the shore, Tazuna." He looked down. "We've been fortunate, no one has noticed us so far."

"Nice going." Tazuna appeased him.

The Land of Waves came into sight as we went through a small tunnel. When we reached the pier we all climbed out of the boat. We thanked the driver who wished us luck and drove back off. Tazuna turned to us. "Take me to my home and by that I mean get me there in one piece."

Raven and I hung back some again so we could talk as everyone else sped up ahead. I looked over at her and I knew she could hear the concern in my voice. "The next ninja they send wont be Chunin, they'll be Jonin, like us."

"These guys aren't ready to fight a Jonin, Kakashi. They don't have the skills. They could barely take on us at subpar." She was starting to get her panicked voice back.

"Keep yourself calm of the kids will notice Raven." I put my hand on her back since no one was looking.

Seeming to relax, she looked back up at me. "I know, I'm sorry. I'm just worried about who they're going to send. They've got some pretty tought Jonin in the Mist Village. I can think of one in particular." She had knew this personally.