Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This is an AU fic.
"Rearranging the Puzzle Pieces".
Part 1, Chapter 4
In a house in the Uchiha Compound
Team 7 had been packing beforehand before the mission. Their packs setup for a month long mission, they proceed into the tower.
In the Hokage's Tower
"Team 7, it is a surprise to see you again, but without your sensei this time. Has Pakkun explained the situation to you three?", the Sandaime asked.
Team 7 nods.
"I will let Pakkun finish now. Pakkun, proceed." The Sandaime said.
"Well, kids, I'm gonna let you three in on a major secret." Pakkun stated. "It turns out the Yondaime left a whole bunch of his teleportation seals all over the Shinobi World. Just before he died to the Fox, he used the Multiple Shadow Clone while holding his famous kunai and also while accessing the Fox's chakra at the same time. Nifty, huh?"
Naruto was astounded. "By the Sage! That's awesome, dattebayo!"
Sakura and Sasuke were shocked. "No sage damned way...", they said in unison.
Team 7 asked, "So does that mean...?"
Pakkun nods and responds, "That's right! This is how you three will get to Wave. Via teleportation! Or better yet, via the Hiraishin! Well, sort of."
Team 7 asked, "How will that work?"
Pakkun said, "It's matter teleportation via time space chakra, like what the Masked Man used."
Naruto asked, "The Masked Man? He looks kinda familiar, -ttebayo. At least his hair does…"
Pakkun inquired, "His hair? Seems you know a bit more than us…"
"Once I get to Kakashi-sensei,I'll ask him, -ttebayo." Naruto answered.
"Keep in mind, that this'll be a one time only trip. The Hokage prefers that this privilege not be abused, to save on chakra needed for future trips. Once you three get to the Land of Waves, you and your sensei will have to go back to Konoha the long way."
Team 7 nodded and Naruto spoke up. "Is that why you wanted us to prepare for a month long mission?"
Pakkun nodded. "Just in case the rains around and in Wave screw things up after your mission. You may miss your Chunin Exams this year, but just in case you miss them, field promotion clauses have been setup in advance just in case of invasion."
Team 7 was in shock, and Naruto asked again. "Field promotion clauses? I've never heard of those, -ttebayo."
Pakkun explained, "You know how in wars and stuff, you can get promoted to higher ranks depending on what you do? Well, since the Chunin Exams are said to be a substitute for war, these clauses apply here also. Depending on how well you do during the Chunin Exams, even if we get invaded, you can get promoted to Chunin. Neat, huh?"
Team 7 nodded.
Naruto spoke up. "So, who do we talk to?"
"You three can talk to the Hokage's Guard Platoon. They're right over there." Pakkun points to the three shinobi who know the Hiraijin. "Those three shinobi over there know the Hiraijin."
"Ok...so what can we do?" Naruto asks.
Pakkun answers, "You three need to get into the circle while they use their hand signs to perform the Hiraijin. When there's a mark placed in a destination, these three can teleport there. I did some scouting in Wave, and it turns out that the Yondaime placed a mark somewhere there. It's a house a mile or two where Tsunami's house is, so it won't take you that long."
Pakkun looks at the three. "Like I said, this is a one-time trip. Now are you three ready to go? Got your bags packed and everything?"
Team 7 nods.
Wave Country, a nondescript house
Team 7 arrives in the house via teleportation.
"This house is quite empty…what happened to it?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke looks at it. "It's abandoned, and also condemned. Looks like the people couldn't afford it."
Sakura adds in. "Or more like it was foreclosed on. Look at the 'for sale' sign."
Team 7 looks at the sign.
FOR SALE, BY ORDER OF GATO SHIPPING CORP.
"Gato, huh? Looks like the guy we need to deal with, -ttebayo." Naruto said.
"Save that for after we help Kakashi-sensei, Naruto." Sasuke stated.
Team 7 hears the sound of rain.
"We need to check our packs. Got any raincoats?" Sakura asks.
Team 7 gets their raincoats out and wears them.
As they walked out of the house, wearing their raincoats, they spot a house.
"There's Tsunami's house. How far out?" Naruto asked.
"Two miles out, to the north of us." Sakura answered. "Let's go."
As they proceeded into the area, they hear an old woman with blue-white hair wearing a bag around her waist and wailing.
"Amaterasu-sama! Tsukuyomi-sama! What have we done to deserve yer' wrath? We have devoted ourselves to ya'. We have held festivals in yer' honor and some of us traveled ta' Konoha to make offerings ta' Amaterasu-sama."
"Hey, old lady!" Naruto exclaims. "Get out of the rain! You'll catch your death from the cold."
"Old lady? Ya' dare call me an old lady? I do declare, you have such disrespect! Such disrespectful behavior these days from shinobi like yourself. I have a name, young man. What is your name, shinobi-san?", the old woman asks.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, Genin of Konoha and part of Team 7. And you are?"
The old woman gasps. "An Uzumaki? Here? By ta' Sage! You remind me of a clan member I ain't seen in years." She bows to Naruto. "I am Uzumaki Harumi, Naruto-san. I live here in Wave. I will find some shelter, do not worry. By the way, before you leave, do ya' have a weapon that I can use? I need to make an offering to Hachiman-sama." She gets a rusted knife out of her bag and shows it to him. "I would like something more durable than this knife, as I will offer this knife to Hachiman-sama when I visit this shrine."
Naruto thinks of something. "A weapon?" He gets a kunai out of his backpack and gives it to her. "Will this help?"
Uzumaki Harumi nods with a look of sheer bloodlust. "Oh, this will help greatly. I have not had a chance to hold a kunai in years, let alone even wield one. Thank you, Naruto-san. Thank ya' very much! I am a former chunin of Uzushiogakure. When it fell, many of our clan members wandered throughout the Shinobi World. Two of mah' clan members ended up in Rain. One ended up in Wind, five are in Fire, and ah' ended up here in Wave." Harumi puts the rusted knife away in her bag.
Team 7 nods. "You're welcome, Harumi-san." Naruto says. "And by the way, if you need shelter from this rain, there's a house right where we were that will help."
"Thank you Naruto-san." Harumi says. "By the way, do you know where the Shrine of Hachiman is? I heard it travels a lot throughout this area. I gotta make an offering to Hachiman-sama before the dang thing vanishes again."
"It's two miles out, I think. You can follow us if you want, -ttebayo." Naruto answers and Team 7 starts running, while Harumi follows along and runs after them.
Harumi suddenly sees a bunch of musicians and patrons running near them.
"What ta Sage-damned hell is going on here?" Harumi asks.
A musician tells her, "The blond-haired shinobi is right. Someone moved the shrine near Tsunami's house, but it needs to get moved out of the country. The flooding's getting worse, but I heard that we can move the portable shrine to Fire Country. There's some prime real estate near the Shrine of Inari in the old district that we can use."
Harumi, with a look of confusion, asks, "What old district? We don't have such stuff here. Wave Country ain't got that."
A drummer answers, "The old district of the Fire Capital, in Fire Country. I have a friend who is getting a bunch of ryo from playing in teahouses there! I also heard from the nobles that the Fire Daimyo hired him for a performance in the Fire Palace. He's gonna be playing during the Lunar Festival this year!"
Harumi is intrigued. "Interesting. What does he play? And what do ya' mean by the 'Fire Palace'?"
The drummer responds, "He plays a shimedaiko, while I play a wadaiko. They're both drums, and the shime's the smaller of the two. And when I mean 'Fire Palace', I mean the Fire Daimyo's Imperial Palace."
The musicians, Harumi, and Team 7 were shocked.
The drummer stated, "Surprised, huh? I never knew the Fire Daimyo had that much power. The Daimyo of Wave Country, who oversees this country, has a smaller house in comparison, and even that's not as grand as the Imperial Palace in the Fire Capital. I heard our daimyo's gonna be seeing your country's daimyo soon for something very important. I also heard that two more daimyos will be seeing your country's daimyo also, and ours as well."
Naruto sees Harumi follow them right along. "You've got some good speed, -ttebayo. I'm surprised you can keep up with us."
Eventually, Uzumaki Harumi and the musicians stop near Tsunami's house, where the portable shrine is.
"Well, this is my stop, Naruto-san. I will let y'all go on ahead." Harumi turns to Naruto and bows. "Thank ya' very much, Naruto-san." Harumi adds, "By the way, if ya' ever see a white-haired Inuzuka with a ninken and a brown-haired samurai, tell 'em that Uzumaki Harumi says hello and that I would like to meet them in the Fire Palace sometime soon."
Naruto nods and says, "Sure. But who's that brown-haired samurai?"
Harumi says, "That is Himiko, my daughter...er...granddaughter. No clan, or masters, bless her heart."
Suddenly, a brown-haired samurai sneezes in a house on a no-name part of Fire Country, near Konoha.
"Himiko-san, what's wrong?", a black-haired samurai asks.
"Masahiro-san, I think someone's too damn eager to spoil mah identity...mah true identity.", the brown-haired samurai answers. "Granny, ya' really shouldn't 'ave done that..."
Masahiro starts thinking of something. "Forget about your grandmother…what will your parents think about this?"
Himiko scoffs at the question. "Fuck em'. I ditched mah parents for good as soon as I started eloping with 'ya, Masahiro-san. And ah' was better off."
Team 7 proceeds into Tsunami's house.
Wave Country, Tsunami's house
"Greetings, Team 7." a woman bows. "I am Tsunami. Your friend, Kakashi-san, is in bed, and quite sick, I might add."
"Is he poisoned?" Sasuke asks.
"Not anymore, thank the Sage. He managed to bleed out the poison, but now he's lost a lot of blood. He ended up bleeding all over my carpet of all things. If you need to take the carpet out to examine the poison and blood stains, you can go ahead." Tsunami answers.
"Thanks, Tsunami-san. How is he doing now?" Sasuke inquired.
"He lost a lot of blood, and I think he has a fever as well." Tsunami answered.
Sasuke sighs, "Sage damn it! Looks like someone will have to get some flowers so I can make a salve or tea with them. Hopefully, that can reduce the fever."
He then looks at Naruto and Sakura. "So, who will it be?"
Sakura raises her hand. "I'll do it. What about the blood loss?"
Sasuke answers, "Don't worry about that. We've got blood pills just in case. Go and get the flowers." Sasuke gets a blood pill out of his pack to give to Kakashi.
Sakura nods and gets her raincoat, and puts it on to go out.
Wave Country-undisclosed flowerbed
Sakura goes to get a bunch of flowers needed for a salve or even tea. She looks at the flowerbed and is quite overwhelmed, so she proceeds to speak to her tailed beast telepathically for guidance.
These flowers are beautiful! But there's so many of them! Sanbi-san, can you help me figure out which flowers I need?
Sanbi-san? My dear vessel, I have a name.
I'm sorry, Sanbi-san. What's your name again?
My true name is Isobu, my vessel.
Sorry, Isobu-san. By the way, how did I get the right to your true name?
You earned that right by gathering information and figuring out that the pathetic human that ordered my sealing, who you humans call the "Toad Sage", is currently on a suicide mission to destroy the Akatsuki, by order of the various Daimyo of the Shinobi World. If it wasn't for the Toad Sage, we would be free from greedy humans wanting our power for selfish gains, nor would we be sealed up into a statue to be used as a weapon.
By the Sage! Isobu-san, I'm sorry! I didn't realize…
This is not your fault, my vessel. If you ever meet him again, use my power and send this bastard to the Pure Lands. And by the way, if Uchiha Clan law still applies in this world, he can be executed on charges of bloodline theft and doujutsu theft as well, seeing that damned eye he has is never his to begin with!
Wait…whose eye is it?
It belonged to the late Uchiha Shisui.
Oh, Sage's balls! How did you figure that out?
It was all thanks to the Toad Sage, who had ordered someone into sealing me into you 10 years ago.
Oh, wow! I can't believe it's been that long. By the way, do you know which flowers help with fever?
Try some peppermint, my vessel. There should be some below you, as well as some other herbs that would help.
Sakura then spots the peppermint below.
Thank you, Isobu-san!
Sakura gets the peppermint from the flowerbed below, as well as some other herbs that might help with fever and returns to Tsunami's house.
Wave Country, Tsunami's house
"Welcome back, Sakura-san. Did you get the flowers?" Sasuke asks.
Sakura nods and gives the flowers and assorted herbs to Sasuke.
"Nice job, Sakura. Now all that's left is to make the tea. Tsunami-san, if you please?"
Tsunami nods and turns on the stovetop. A blue flame starts to light. Sasuke then puts the flowers and assorted herbs into the teapot along with enough water to make three cups.
Sasuke nods and says, "Thank you for the help, Tsunami-san. That should be enough for now. All we have to do next is wait."
Suddenly, there was a knocking on the door.
"I'll get it." Sakura and Naruto said in unison.
They saw two samurai at the door to Tsunami's house, waiting to kill Kakashi so that the mission would fail.
The two decided to separate the samurai and scatter to different parts of Wave to make sure the citizens wouldn't be harmed.
Wave Country-undisclosed flowerbed
Isobu-san, there's so much open space here! I better not disturb the flowers, so I'll have to make this quick.
Sakura proceeds to chase the samurai into the flowerbed.
She then chases the samurai around, in chakra cloak, running around and around, until the third time, when she activates one tail, punches the ground, and a spike of coral impales the unfocused and dizzy samurai fully.
A sudden extreme gushing of blood and a guttural gurgling signaled the samurai's ascension into the Pure Lands.
The spike of coral suddenly disappearing, she then seals up the corpse into a scroll, the massive pool of blood being the only indicator of a battle taking place here. After that, she goes back to Tsunami's house to wait for Naruto.
Wave Country-alleyway
Naruto, ever the resourceful shinobi, decided to go ahead and chase the samurai into an alleyway.
Luckily, there were boxes scattered all around.
And so, Naruto took the chance. He used the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu to make clones to hide between the boxes.
The samurai was waiting. He suddenly blocked one kunai with his sword. Then two, and then three.
Up until he suddenly couldn't block ten. Or even twenty. And then, he felt something pierce his neck in an unguarded spot. Once, twice, multiple times. And then his chest...and also his lungs.
He suddenly felt lightheaded and collapsed on the floor in a bloody pile, dead.
The clones dispelling, Naruto had the idea to try this trick again, with a lot more shadow clones next time...and maybe with exploding kunai! Or even the shadow clones could explode henged as kunai.
Mission accomplished, he sealed the corpse up in a scroll, then he went back to Tsunami's house to wait for Sakura.
Wave Country-Tsunami's house
Naruto and Sakura went back to Tsunami's house. The teapot steamed and let loose a whistle to signify it was ready.
"So, how did it go?", Sasuke asked.
"Surprisingly easy." Naruto and Sakura said in unison, while explaining what happened with them to Sasuke.
"Impressive work, you two. Now help me pour this hot tea." Sasuke says. Naruto and Sakura prepare three cups of tea for Kakashi to drink.
Kakashi then drinks the tea.
"Impressive work, my cute little genin." Kakashi says. "Now all that's left to do is to get rid of Gato and his mercenaries."
Suddenly, a knock on the door.
"I'll get it." Naruto says. He opens it and sees a boy with a crossbow.
The boy with a crossbow bows. "Greetings, shinobi-san. I'm Inari. No relation to the deity. You know where Gato went? I was expecting him to show up after his hired samurai were gone, but all I see are his mercenaries and no one else, except for a couple of businessman hired by him wondering what happened."
The shinobi shrug.
"Say, Mom, wanna help get rid of some mercenaries?" Inari asks.
"Sure, Inari-san. I'll join you and your friends." Tsunami answers. She then adds, "By the way, where are the mercenaries, anyway?"
Inari has a smile on his face. "They're at the bridge. Once the mercenaries are gone, the bridge will be finished soon, and my grandpa's dream will finally come true."
Tsunami balks, "Wait...Inari-san, even with the flooding?"
Inari's smile dissipates. "Oh, right...crap. I was hoping our country could get some revenue out of the bridge and everything before the flooding gets worse and the bridge has to get demolished...but I heard that three daimyo of various countries, including the Wave Daimyo,are planning something as a substitute just in case the bridge doesn't work. Um...mom...did we piss off the kami or something?"
Tsunami answers, "We probably did, somehow. That's the only other reason why the flooding got so bad here. We probably didn't give enough prayers to Tsukuyomi-sama, or something like that, and now she's taking her anger out on us."
Tsunami adds, "Say, where's Tazuna?"
Inari says, "He's on the bridge where the mercenaries are. Need a weapon?"
Tsunami gasps. "Tazuna is at the bridge already? Give us some weapons, please!"
Naruto says, "Don't worry about that, -ttebayo. Look!"
Naruto and Sakura unseal the scrolls and remove the katanas from the dead samurai.
Tsunami gasps. "Thank you, Naruto-san! Are those for us?"
Naruto nods. "Yes, but for only this battle, -ttebayo. You gotta put them back when you and Tazuna are done."
Tsunami nods and takes one katana, while Sakura gets the other.
"The other one will go to Tazuna-san once we're at the bridge." Sakura says.
"So, what are we waiting for? Let's go join Grandpa Tazuna at the bridge!" Inari goes off and runs, while Tsunami and Naruto run off, following Inari. Sakura was about to run, until she saw Sasuke staying at the house.
"Sasuke, come and join us!", she exclaimed.
Sasuke shakes his head. "Sorry, Sakura, I can't. I gotta make sure Kakashi-sensei is alright."
Sakura nods her head and runs off to join the others.
Wave Country-unfinished bridge
When the four came to the bridge, the battle had already started. Several Kirigakure hunter nin in white masks were easily taking care of some of the mercenaries, while two more shinobi from Kiri, one with a huge sword and bandages across his face, while another with black hair tied up in a bun who came out of a mirror made of ice, decided to back off and let the four people take care of things.
"Anything else I should do, Zabuza-sama?" the shinobi with black hair and a hunter mask on his face inquired.
"Nothing else, Haku. We gotta get back to Kirigakure and debrief. Let them clean things up here." Zabuza answered.
Zabuza told the Kirigakure shinobi to cease combat and retreat via hand signs, and the group retreated.
The four members saw the many corpses already, but there were still some mercenaries left to fight, and Sakura remembered to give a katana to Inari.
Inari then saw Tazuna struggle to fight a mercenary, and ran out to give him a katana.
"Grandpa! Here! Catch!" Inari threw a katana to Tazuna, who caught it easily.
"Thanks, Inari-san!" Tazuna unsheathed the katana, and prepared to cut a mercenary down. "You're not hurting my friends, you bastard!" Tazuna then swung his katana downwards in an attempt to cut the mercenary down. A deep slash and blood gushing from the chest and stomach area signified a proper cut from the katana. Eventually, the mercenary passed away from blood loss.
"Nice job, Grandpa!" Inari said, firing his crossbow and putting a crossbow bolt in a mercenary's head, in which said mercenary fell dead.
"Anything I should do, Naruto-san?" Tsunami asked while unsheathing a katana.
Naruto answered while casting the Shadow Clone Jutsu, "Go for the vitals, -ttebayo! And take on those guys one at a time. It won't work for you if you get outnumbered. You'll just end up dead."
Tsunami nodded and walked calmly with her katana wielded.
Luckily, it didn't take long for her to duel with a mercenary. She raised her katana and slashed downward, just like Tazuna-san. Luckily, it worked, and the mercenary died a bloody death.
Suddenly, another mercenary attacked, and Tsunami countered and gave a deep horizontal slash towards the stomach in response. Surprisingly, it worked, and the other mercenary died bloodily as well, his entrails showing as he died.
"Nice job, Tsunami-san!", Sakura said, while at two tails and easily cutting down the rest of the mercenaries with a kunai.
Eventually, all the mercenaries died at the five members' hands.
Tsunami and Tazuna wiped off the blood and sheathed the katanas to give back to Naruto and Sakura.
"That was intense...is combat normally like this for you shinobi?" Tsunami asked, panting from exhaustion.
Naruto and Sakura nodded. "Yes, but it's normally faster than this, -ttebayo, especially when battling other shinobi!", Naruto exclaimed.
Tsunami looked ready to collapse. "Let's go home. I hope this mission is over now..." Tsunami stated.
"Don't worry. It is." Sakura stated.
Wave Village-Tsunami's house
The four went back to the house, along with Tazuna.
Sasuke looked at Tsunami and Tazuna, who looked ready to collapse. "Uh...you two alright? Looks like I gotta prepare some more teacups..." Sasuke stated.
Tsunami and Tazuna panted. "We're just tired right now. Intense battle." They said in unison.
"Hopefully, this mission is over now. The mercenaries are gone, Gato's left the country, we can return the katanas and give the corpses back to whoever wanted it. What else is missing?" Kakashi asked.
"The bridge! My dream can be super-realized now!" Tazuna said.
Suddenly, they heard rain. A lot of it.
"Well...crap. Looks like we'll be here a while." Sakura said.
Tazuna nods. "Looks like I can explain some things to you all while this rain stops, and since Gato left so suddenly, he left a bunch of assets to pay for the bridge, and your mission as well."
Kakashi nods. "Gato's assets in Wave can easily cover for the mission payment. Looks like we can wait until the weather calms down."
Team 7 nods and prepares to listen intently to what Tazuna has to say.