5- The Best Laid Plans

In the forests surrounding Kemurigakure, an ominous looking lone figure stood, looking out over the steam rising from the hot springs to where he knew the village stood. He had suffered a bad defeat to the Konoha ninja. He had not been ready for it. Surprised by two Genin, a young Smoke upstart and a single Jounin, whom he believed must be the infamous Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi. He himself was nursing cuts and some minor burns from that annoying Katon jutsu. The Uchiha boy had also singed the ends of his black hair, giving it an even more jagged and unruly appearance.

He had not been expecting so strong a defence from the Leaf ninja. If he had then maybe he would not have suffered such a bad defeat. Not only had the Rain-Nin mistaken one of the Leaf Genin for the Umatatsu girl, but one of his men had been taken captive, and if they tortured him he might snap and reveal their plans. He cursed himself for getting overconfident and swore that next time he would not go so easy on them.

However, if the Leaf was helping, it was not good news. They had managed as much as they had with grit and determination. The presence of these new ninja might cause a drop in the morale of the band of Missing-Nin and might cause them to lose heart. This was not good at all.

With fierce black eyes that seemed to have red and blue flickers of flame in them, he stared into the smoke. His goal was so close, but a direct attack on the village would fail, or even if it succeeded they might end up destroying the very thing they were looking for.

The Cloud ninja, Ketsume, knew that it would not take much longer to find what they were looking for. He knew that one of the Umatatsu clan would know. They had accidentally killed the only son among the three children of Umatatsu Isamu before they knew who he was, but there were still the two daughters left. They were sure to know Kemurigakure's biggest secret; who among them carried one of the most fearsome Bloodline Limits in the world?

---

When the Jounin discussed their plans, Kakashi and Gai agreed that their teams would work independently. A group of nine ninja travelling together would attract too much attention. Neji explained where he had seen the enemy's camp and Isamu marked it on a map of the area. The camp was in the middle of dense forest and would be easy to spy upon, but there were very few ways to get to it and if the enemy were being at all vigilant, any direct attacks would be easily stopped.

Instead, they decided to separate the forest into sections, with a team of ninja working one section at any time. Gai's team would have a larger area, as they had the Byakugan to make detecting attacks easier. Genma and Kakashi and his team would take a slightly smaller section of forest that had plenty of easily defensible positions. A team of experienced Smoke ninja would work the third section, a part of the forest they knew very well. Sharino and Nekoya would act as go-betweens, silently running between the teams to coordinate attacks and help when necessary. If one team were attacked, those two would be fastest moving through the forest to get help if it was needed.

The plan was designed to lure the band of Missing-Nin out into the open, where they could be more easily attacked. It would begin at first light the next day. Kakashi's team had already been given lodgings across the town in the Nekozaki residence, so Isamu invited Gai and his Genin to stay at his house. Then the Konoha ninja left Sharino with her father.

"Isako must go with the Smoke team. You know she is one of the best we have at this sort of combat," Sharino said, hardly daring to look at her father. Sharino was by far the most talented child he had, partly due to her unusual upbringing, but Isako, her sister, was also a very skilled Kunoichi. Yet since the attacks started, Isamu had kept Isako in the village. She had not been assigned a single mission since their brother died. He had been reluctant enough to send Sharino out, but after Kenshin and Isamu himself, she was possibly the strongest Jounin the village had. He couldn't deprive his teams of her skills without sentencing many of them to death, especially now that Kenshin, too, had been killed.

"I've already decided who will be on the team. Isako will remain here," Isamu replied.

"Father! She has fought many times, in situations with worse odds than these! You cannot shelter her from this. It would be shameful!" Isamu looked at his daughter and had a flash of memory of the time when he had first seen her. She had not been born in the Smoke village, and he had not seen her until she was five. Even at that age, she had already mastered several jutsu; it was clear from her earliest years that she would be a strong ninja. Now, at fourteen, she practically had the weight of the village on her shoulders.

"Isako will remain here!" he said, more forcefully. Sharino clenched her teeth to prevent herself from shouting at her father.

"Is there anything else you want me for, father?" she said. Isamu looked at her and tried to see her as his daughter rather than a warrior of the Smoke village, but for some reason when he looked at her, he could not. He either saw the grim young woman with the Katana and the forehead protector, or he saw the tiny little girl who hadn't even recognised her own father when he appeared to take her home.

Isamu wanted to tell her how much he cared about her, but it was difficult. He had spent a long time gaining her trust, her respect and eventually her love when he had found her and brought her to a home she didn't know. He had wanted to get to know his youngest daughter as he knew Isako and Daisuke, their brother. But it seemed there were some boundaries that could not be surmounted, and as she grew closer to him in strength, they grew farther apart as father and daughter. Sighing to himself, he shook his head.

"No, thank you. I will speak to you tomorrow before the mission sets out." Sharino bowed and left the room, leaving her father alone with his thoughts.

---

"Naruto," said Sakura. "You've been rather quiet during this mission. Not like your usual self at all. Is there something wrong?" Naruto looked at her from a half-finished bowl of food. He smiled unconvincingly.

"I'm fine! It's just, this mission… I don't even really know what it's all about. And that Sharino: She's not much older than we are, but she's treated like an equal by Kakashi-Sensei!"

Sakura was not convinced. Naruto had been shocked that Haku, a boy their own age, could be as strong as he was, but he had not shied away and he had not been quiet like this. Something about the mission was getting to the Genin. The whole sombre mood of the journey to the Flame country had infected all of them. Something about the mission, the country, or possibly Umatatsu Sharino, had gotten under Naruto's skin. It had quieted him, made him seem strange to those used to his being bouncy, hyperactive and constantly reaffirming his dream of becoming Hokage.

Though maybe it was nice to have quiet once in a while, Sakura found that she missed the old Naruto.

"Naruto," she said. "The ninja of the hidden Smoke need a strong Leaf ninja to help them defeat these enemies. The Smoke village is our ally…" Naruto looked at her and as their eyes met he saw and understood what she was trying to do. He smiled, something that was still only a remnant of his normal smile and nodded.

"Unnhh!" he said. Sakura smiled.

"Hi guys!" said Kakashi, appearing behind the table.

"Kakashi-Sensei!" exclaimed Naruto. Kakashi nodded a greeting.

"Why weren't we allowed to attend the meeting?" said Sasuke. Kakashi shrugged.

"I believe Sharino did not want you there," he said. Naruto pointed an accusing finger at his Sensei.

"Who is Sharino? I've never heard of her before but you're acting as if she's some great ninja!" he said. Sakura smiled at Naruto. This was more like him. Far too loud for the location, disrespectful to someone who was obviously important in her village and asking inappropriate questions. In fact, Sakura was so pleased to see this side of him back again that she forgot to scold him.

Kakashi sat down beside them at the table and sighed deeply, as if explaining was too much hassle. However, his three Genin were all looking at him, waiting for him to tell them, so he nodded.

"The Umatatsu clan is the greatest clan in the Smoke village. They have special techniques and jutsu that have been passed down since before Konoha was founded. Isamu's grandfather helped fight in the battle where the Second died. Isamu himself and a small group of ninja from this village were among those that helped fight in the battle where the Fourth died. Sharino is the youngest child of Umatatsu Isamu. She was known as a genius ninja child. Now, she is Jounin level. Almost as strong as me…" Naruto was awed.

"Almost as strong as you?" he repeated, his voice low and his eyes wide.

"I saw her in the clearing, using the Doton technique that you used against me in the bell training," Sasuke said. There was a smile in Kakashi's eye.

"They don't call me the Copy Ninja for nothing," he said. "Aside from the Enton jutsu that are almost unique to their village, Smoke ninja and the Umatatsu clan especially are renowned for their skills in Doton jutsu. I copied that technique with my Sharingan from Sharino's father, many years ago now," he said.

"Kakashi-Sensei," Sakura said, "If the Smoke ninja mostly use Doton, then how did Sharino get so skilled at using Fuuton techniques, like the one she used in the clearing?"

"I do not have all the answers," he said. "But many ninja use a variety of jutsu. I believe one of the clans here favours Katon jutsu, much like the Uchiha clan…"

"That would be my clan," said a young voice behind them. They turned to see a red-haired boy, with a tabby cat at his side.

"I am Nekozaki Nekoya and this is Toramaru… I'll be fighting with you tomorrow, so I thought I'd introduce myself."