Chapter 10 – Emergency Mission to Mura Kazan

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters do not belong to me

Previously on Secret Keeper: While on their way back to the Village after a successful mission, Team 7 received an Urgent missive from the Hokage, sending them off to the north...

By the time the sun rose, Team 7 had already eaten breakfast and were back in the road – this time heading north.

"Ne, Sensei? Why would the flood season come earlier this year? And, why send us? I mean, um, isn't it usually a more, um, experienced team who takes this mission?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi hummed.

"It's possible there was more snow up in the mountains, I guess?" he shrugged. "As for why us? It's an Emergency Mission. These tend to go to the closest available team, sometimes another team is also sent along as back-up, so don't be surprised if one turns up." Kakashi eye-smiled.

"Oh," Sakura nodded, falling silent for a bit.

"So, what's the mission, exactly?" Naruto suddenly piped up.

"Hmm?" Kakashi turned towards the blond.

"All you've said is that it's flood season, and we're heading to Mura Kazan," the blond frowned. "What are we meant to do?"

"Ah, Naru-chan! We're to prevent the village from flooding!" Kakashi eye-smiled.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Isn't this mission given out every year? Surely a solution to the problem's been found by now?"

Kakashi shrugged.

"You would think so. Unfortunately, most chunin view this particular mission as a holiday in the mountains, and focus mostly on preventing the village from flooding, instead of finding a permanent solution."

Naruto huffed.

"Then, we'll just have to raise the bar. Plus, just imagine how stupid all those chunin'll feel, if we manage it!"

Sakura and Sasuke's eyes lit up, already imagining the benefits.

"We'd overtake the rest of our class!" Sakura grinned, before bursting into giggles. "Can you imagine Ino and Kiba's faces?"

"We need a plan." Sasuke pointed out. "Where's the water coming from, where's it going? Does it go straight through the village, or simply close enough to cause an issue? What's the ground like?"

Kakashi suddenly found himself the centre of attention. He sighed.

"I hate to tell you, this is the first time I've gone to Mura Kazan. I don't even have a localised map of the area, as we weren't aware of this emergency."

All three genin sweat-dropped.

"You don't know anything about the area?" Sakura cried in horror, her vision of Ino's face bursting into a puff of smoke.

Frowning, Naruto turned off to the side, seemingly staring at nothing.

"What kind of jounin are you, if you don't prepare for every eventuality?" he asked finally.

"Maa, maa, Naru-chan. This mission's pretty much the only one coming from Mura Kazan, and is almost exclusively given to chunin. I have a generalised map, as the village in included on the edge." Kakashi shrugged, before pulling a scroll from his pouch, causing his genin to gather round.

The genin spent the rest of the day plotting and planning their various strategies, while Kakashi provided tips and suggestions.

"Oh!" Sakura suddenly exclaimed, before turning to her blond teammate. "That technique you used on the bridge!"

"Huh? What about it, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, tilting his head innocently.

"Well, did you create the tags, or are they like those explosive tags you can buy?" she asked.

Naruto blinked, before awkwardly rubbing his neck.

"I, umm, I-I made them," he stammered, obviously embarrassed.

"Great!" Sakura beamed. "What else can you do?"

"Um," Naruto blanked, the rest of Team 7 staring at him expectantly. "I'm not really sure?"

"Huh? But, don't you have different seals?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Well, yes, sort of. It's more like, uh, a language! Yes, that's it. There's a set number of, uh, signs? Symbols? I'm not sure what they're actually called, and, depending on which ones are used, and where they're placed and linked, you get different, um, sentences." Naruto tried to explain, before grabbing a stick and crouching by a patch of exposed dirt. "For example, this is the basic explosive tag sold in shops." He drew the sequence, making it larger than the tag. "You have the explosive charge here, with the power level linked in, and a casement to stabilise it so it doesn't simply blow up from shinobi using chakra nearby. Then, you have the fuse linked into the casement, so it will blow up. The rest of the design is stylistic, often including the creator's signature." Naruto looked back up at them with a grin. "Still with me?"

Sakura nodded eagerly.

"So, how does the flash tag differ?"

"Well, it's pretty much the same." Naruto scratched his head nervously. "The only real difference is the middle sequence, as it's a bright flash of light, instead of an explosion." he shrugged.

"What about that technique from the bridge? Were you using the seals to move, or some sort of teleport system?" Sasuke asked, his eyes narrowed in thought.

Naruto frowned.

"Technically, it's a hybrid of Fuin and Ninjutsu, using the seal as an 'anchor', and space-time ninjutsu to move between them."

"So, could we use a variation of it? You said earlier fuinjutsu was like a language." Sakura mused.

Naruto nodded slowly.

"We'd need somewhere to store the flood-water, and something to put the seal on that the water wouldn't simply push aside or otherwise destroy."

Frowning, they all fell silent, Naruto wiping away his diagrams.

"Wait!" Sasuke exclaimed, staring down at them. "What if you etched the seal on the ground, in the water's path?"

Naruto's eyes brightened.

"I could incorporate a protective sequence to withstand the water, it wouldn't need much maintenance, just a status check every couple of years or so to ensure it's stability, or maybe ass in some sort of status level to the protective sequence, and tie it into something so the villagers can check it themselves? We'd still need somewhere to store the water, though, unless we put a second sequence on the other side of the village so the flood simply bypasses it?"

"As fascinating a conversation as this is, we really should be heading off," Kakashi clapped his hands together. "Besides, maybe the solution will become clearer once you see the lay of the land?"

Nodding, they headed off again, gathering food for supper as they went.

Two days later, Team 7 arrived as the village of Mura Kazan, nestled safely beside Aisu Pass. The surrounding area was a mix of hard rock and dry dust, with small, level pockets containing very dry soil. Waiting for them, just outside the gates, were the village council, who lost no time in briefing Kakashi of the growing situation, the genin listening closely.

"Um, excuse me? Where does the flood-water actually come from?" Sakura asked, growing impatient.

Startled, the chieftain turned to her.

"Well, let's see, most of it comes from Mount Yogan, with a smaller lot coming from from Mount Iou," he motioned towards the smaller of the two. "Mount Iou has a fertile region on the other side, and most of the flood feeds into it's river. We're just unlucky to be on the drier side," he smiled sadly.

Sakura blinked.

"What about rain, surely the flood's not the only water that comes here?"

"Fraid so. We plant what we can, and make the trip round Mount Iou when we need water." A councilman explained, only to stare as the three genin started exchanging looks and hand gestures.

Kakashi simply stood back, eye-smiling, and let them work it out, this was their mission, after all.

Eventually, Sasuke turned back to the council.

"How much water, exactly, comes down in the flood, and does it always use the same routes?"

The council blinked, before slowly nodding.

"We can have someone show you the routes the water comes tomorrow, certainly. As for the amount," the councilman shrugged, "We've never really measured it?"

Instantly the genin formed back up, this time whispered snatches of conversation added to the mix. The council decided to simply watch them, bemused. Coming to a decision, Sakura spun round to the council once again.

"Is there a large, unused space anywhere nearby?" she asked.

"Yes, there's a fairly open area just to the north." the council exchanged glances. "May I enquire why..?"

"We need to create a large basin," Sakura informed them. "Then, it should solve most of your flood problems."

"A...large basin?" the chieftain queried hesitantly.

"Um, yes? Or, at least, a large, deep hole?" Sakura struggled to explain.

"Why would you need to create something like that?"

"To hold the flood-water, obviously." Naruto snorted, having had enough of the questions.