Chapter 19
"Everyone do the wave! And then watch people mess it up! Seriously, the wave looks so weird to an outsider, can it really be done perfectly?"
"Gaku-san, once again I must commend you on your excellent suggestion to have young Masaru and Tenten become sparring partners!"
"Ah, don't mention it, really. It was nothing..."
"Nonsense!" Gai boomed, flashing a beaming grin and a thumbs up. "You have shown such compassion in your recommendation! Not only did you think of your own student, but you also considered the development of my own team as well! Truly, Gaku-san, you are a most youthful and caring member of Konoha and we are better for having you!"
"R-right..." Tenzo smiled nervously, eying the sunbeams that radiated from Gai's beaming form. Coughing into his fist, he briefly flared his chakra in an attempt to dispel the genjutsu that must be causing that. Alas, the sunbeams remained, and his shoulders sagged slightly as he turned to look at the two genin. "Er, anyways, we should really watch right now, don't you think?"
"Indeed!" The Green Beast bobbed his head in agreement and the sunbeams faded as he turned to survey the sparring match, much to Tenzo's relief. Growing up in the cold and ruthless ANBU Root division had left him socially stunted compared to most people, and even now Gai's energy and enthusiasm could sometimes overwhelm him. How Kakashi put up with the man, he had no idea, though at this point he suspected Kakashi did so less out of his own free will and more because he had no choice.
Either you adapted to Gai's energy, or you went crazy. Tenzo saw no in between, and fully respected Tenten for maintaining her sanity after putting up with him daily. For now, he pushed away the thoughts of the jounin standing next to him in favor of watching his student fight.
Pride swelled in him as he watched Masaru swerve around a punch from Tenten and quickly slam his leg into her side, sending her flying backwards. His student had a knack for close combat he'd only been able to fully appreciate since they started the joint spars with Tenten. Most genin tended to stick to the basics taught at the academy, but Masaru had already started incorporating unorthodox moves into his taijutsu even before he graduated, showing a creativity for fighting and creating a foundation for his own unique style.
Still, as he watched Tenten regroup and launch herself at him with a flying kick, Tenzo found his gaze repeatedly trail towards Masaru's face, scrutinizing his eyes rather than his movements.
"Tenzo, I believe Masaru has activated the Sharingan."
Tenzo stared at his former senpai in shock, his mouth suddenly dry. Swallowing, he searched for words and managed to stammer, "When?"
"I'm not sure, but I suspect he activated it a while ago. I don't think he's aware of it though."
"What? How? When?" Tenzo shot him a questioning look, but Kakashi seemed to ignore him in favor of signaling the bartender.
"Can you refill his drink?" he asked, and when Tenzo opened his mouth to protest his former commander shot him a sharp look and added, "Trust me, you'll need it." Clamping his mouth shut, Tenzo sat in obedient silence as she refilled his glass. Only when she'd bustled away again did Kakashi resume. "Ryoko claimed the Sharingan activates in response to severe emotional distress. That's why most activate it during life or death situations on the field. So, going by that logic..."
He trailed off and offered his companion a pointed look, letting him put the pieces together himself. Tenzo didn't fail to disappoint, his eyes widening in comprehension as he sucked in a sharp breath.
"The massacre," he whispered, and suddenly felt very grateful Kakashi had the foresight to order a refill. After downing a good chunk of the burning liquid, he breathed a small sigh and frown, massaging his chin. "I don't get it though. Going by that logic, Sasuke should have activated it too, right?"
"Probably," Kakashi agreed. "If he did, he must have repressed the memory though, or he would have tried to activate it before now. It makes sense, since Itachi psychologically tormented him. Masaru, however, was physically tortured, and he was unconscious due to his injuries rather than psychological distress, so it's plausible his memory would be more intact than Sasuke. Twisted as it sounds, it also makes more sense than Itachi sparing him due to a singular surge of pity in the middle of a massacre."
His words made Tenzo grimace, and this time he signaled the bartender himself. "Just leave the bottle," he requested glumly, and she raised an eyebrow but acquiesced. Sighing, he downed the remainder of his current drink and filled the glass once more. "So to make sure we're on the same page, you think Itachi spared Masaru because Masaru activated the Sharingan that night and thought he would be a good challenge in the future."
Kakashi didn't reply right away, just staring at his drink. Then he yanked down his mask and downed the contents of the glass, the open display of his face shocking Tenzo and making him nearly choke. Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, Kakashi sighed and grabbed the bottle to refill it, chugging it in two short gulps before slamming the glass down.
Only then did he turn to look at his companion, and in that moment, with his face on almost full display save for his left eye, the silver-haired man looked several years older than his true age.
"I'm saying the Uchiha clan massacre is a fucking shitshow, and there's definitely more to it than meets the eye," he declared in a low voice, and tugged his mask back into place before disappearing.
A pained shout drew him out of his reminisces, and Tenzo blinked as he saw Tenten had pinned Masaru to the ground with an arm twisted behind his back. Growling, the boy jerked his body to roll over, pulling the startled kunoichi down with him. As they began wrestling he huffed a quiet sigh but smiled faintly at the scene. Ever since talking to Kakashi he'd been watching Masaru more closely, looking for signs of the Sharingan, but he had yet to see even a hint of red in his eyes.
Still, he didn't take that to mean that the Uchiha boy had not activated it. He knew Kakashi would not have mentioned it unless he had a specific reason to suspect it. Until Tenzo could confirm it with his own eyes though, he'd just have to wait.
"Okay, you two, that's enough," he called, clapping his hands to call the two genin to attention. "Good forms overall, there are just a few things..."
The plan Team Seven worked out went like this:
Mornings started with an hour of training before the trio of genin would have breakfast with Tazuna's family and accompany him to the bridge. Following Sakura's plan to have Naruto aid in building the bridge, six clones would accompany them with five transformed into bland civilians, while at Sasuke's suggestion the sixth would transform into Kakashi. Real ninja like Zabuza would undoubtedly see through the guise, but they hoped to fool the rest of Gato's thugs and hide Kakashi's absence.
Construction went on for anywhere from eight to ten hours each day, so they broke it into three two hour shifts sandwiched with a one-hour shift in the morning and a final shift that ended whenever construction did. After some discussion they decided all three genin would attend the first and last shift since they expected Gato and his forces to go for an ambush first thing in the morning or at the end of the day, and the rest of the shifts featured one real genin and the Kakashi clone.
During the middle shifts the other two genin would train in the woods behind Tazuna's house before both would head to the bridge to relieve the person on duty. At the end of the final shift all three would escort Tazuna home, at which point they'd do a perimeter check before having the Kakashi clone disperse. Without Kakashi around to provide the assurance of suitable backup, the trio never ventured anywhere alone, whether that meant moving in pairs or with a transformed Naruto clone.
On the first day of implementing this schedule, Sasuke made the first major discovery.
While hiding behind a tree from Naruto during a sparring session, he had been spotted by one of the blonde's numerous shadow clones. The Uchiha immediately popped it with a shuriken before it could give away his location, only for Naruto and the other two clones to descend on his position moments later with determined shouts.
After popping the clones and subduing the impulsive idiot (seriously, a head on assault with a kunai while screaming at the top of his lungs?), Sasuke hoisted the smaller boy up by the collar and demanded, "How the hell did you find me!?"
"I saw you!" Naruto snapped indignantly. "Duh!"
"When?" Sasuke challenged, because he knew Naruto been heading in the opposite direction just moments ago.
"When you popped the first clone!" Confusion briefly marred Sasuke's features before comprehension slowly dawned on him, his body stilling at the realization.
"...Wait. Your clone saw me. And I popped it. And you remembered that?"
A beat of silence followed, the boys staring at each other in shock as the implications of this discovery settled in.
"Ecstatic" did not do justice to describe the look on Sakura's face when the pair informed her of their revelation about the properties of Naruto's shadow clones. "So the memories of shadow clones carry over to the real you when they popped?" she asked, and Naruto shivered at the excitement in her voice. A manic gleam twinkled in her eyes as she looked at the blond with an almost predatory smile that left even Sasuke mildly unnerved, and Naruto shuffled slightly before nodding.
"Uh, yeah, I guess so," he replied hesitantly, and suddenly Sakura was right in front of him, gripping his collar with a crazed grin on her face.
"This changes everything."
Indeed it did.
When Tsunami entered the living room to ask if their genin guests wanted tea, she had been startled to find ten different copies of Naruto scattered around the room with various books on bridge building. Each had the same long-suffering expression almost begging for the sweet release of death, but Sakura would not allow them to stop no matter how much they complained. Their sacrifice made construction proceed faster though since the knowledge let Naruto provide more help than just hard labor, and while it didn't speed things up as much as the genin would like, they welcomed any improvement.
Revelation number two came from Tazuna.
While explaining the reasoning behind their plan to a curious Tsunami and a sulky Inari over dinner, they got into a tangent about the epic battle between Kakashi and Zabuza. Naruto's enthusiastic recounting of his heroics in dispelling the water prison jarred a certain memory in the bridge builder. "Ya know, I'm surprised you guys need a boat to get off the island," he commented idly, earning curious looks from the assembled genin.
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
"Well, it's just during that crazy fight, shortie over there got dunked in the lake—"
"Hey!" Naruto grumbled irritably.
"—but it looked like your teacher and that crazy killer stood on the water," Tazuna finished. "Didn't he ever teach you guys how to do that, or is it too advanced for a couple brats?"
The question had led to a long pause from the genin, three pairs of eyes exchanging calculating looks. How the hell they failed to notice Kakashi and Zabuza standing on water was beyond them, but once dinner ended the trio met in the bedroom to brainstorm how the heck the jounin did it and—more importantly—whether or not they could replicate it.
Building off her preexisting knowledge and her memories of the fight, Sakura had surmised chakra control played some role in the act. The two men hadn't executed any particular hand signs to allow them to defy physics, and they had walked on water as naturally as land so the act had to be subconscious. She excused herself to go to the woods and experimented in channeling her chakra in various ways in a safe environment.
Half an hour later an overjoyed cry summoned her teammates, and they rushed outside to find the pink-haired girl sitting atop a high tree branch with a giant grin. "Guys! If you pool chakra in your feet you can walk up trees!" To emphasize her point she swung off the branch and angled herself so her feet impacted against the trunk. Sure enough when her sandals smacked against the bark they clung to the tree like glue, keeping her firmly in place while she stretched her arms with a cheeky grin.
Stunned by the sight of their teammate standing horizontally on the side of the tree, the two boys had immediately put it to the test. Following her directions on how to coat their feet in chakra, they ran to the nearest trees and tried to race up them. Their first tries did not work well. Loud crashes echoed as the bark gave way under the force of their chakra, the trunks splintering inwards and leaving large gashes in the wood.
Undeterred by their initial failure, they kept up the training for another hour before going to bed, and early the next morning they woke up and resumed training under Sakura's watchful eye. With her helpful guidance and tips, they figured out how much chakra to channel into their feet and managed to get the technique down by the end of the day.
It didn't take a major mental leap to connect coating their feet to stick to trees to walking on water, but when they attempted to put it into practice, it they had more trouble.
"Ha, you guys look like wet rats!" Naruto jeered, pointing at his teammates with a mocking laugh as he stood on the surface of the river. Bobbing to the surface, Sasuke gritted his teeth in an irritated scowl as he glowered at the blond.
"How the hell is the dobe the only one who got it so far?" he sputtered angrily.
"Obviously because I'm awesome!" Naruto boomed, crossing his arms with a smug smirk. Next to them Sakura's head popped out of the water with a loud gasp, coughing and shaking her head as she waded towards the banks.
"Maybe we should try this somewhere more shallow," she mumbled, grimacing. The speed of the current made it harder to stand on the water because they had to maintain a constant control of their chakra to account for the differences. Sasuke grumbled as he followed her and pulled themselves onto land, while Naruto just easily walked across the surface.
As soon as both his feet had planted on the ground, Sasuke whirled around and shoved the blonde into the water. He smirked as Naruto's startled shout got cut off as he plunged into the depths with a large splash, and when he bobbed to the surface and began spewing hateful insults at the smug Uchiha's direction Sakura just doubled over holding her stomach as she laughed.
While Naruto could maintain his control long enough to cross the sea to the mainland, they didn't want to send him. Their entire strategy thus far hinged heavily on his shadow clones to provide backup, and Sasuke and Sakura couldn't afford to defend Tazuna alone during the time it took Naruto to run to Konoha and get help. It would take at least one day to reach Konoha running at top speeds—though probably longer since they didn't have particularly high expectations of Naruto's ability to remember the route—and Zabuza could recover any day.
As it stood, though, their new skills would provide little aid other than giving them more options for fleeing in the event of an attack. They might be able to buy some time if Zabuza and his assistant showed up, but it would take a miracle to actually beat them. Kakashi had yet to reappear, and in the end the genin found themselves with no other choice but to hope the stranger would follow through with his word and release their teacher.
The bleak nature of their circumstances hung over them at all times like a dark cloud, the constant threat of Zabuza's imminent attack always lingering in the back of their minds. Tazuna's grandson Inari did not help alleviate their grim moods.
"Why do you guys even bother trying?" the sullen boy roared, jabbing a finger at them over dinner one night with a dark scowl. "No matter how hard you train it won't change anything! You're all just kids! You won't ever stand a chance against Gato and his men! You'll just die!"
His cold words cut into the trio like knives, assaulting them with the insecurities and doubts that had been haunting them ever since Kakashi got kidnapped. Sakura flinched and squeezed her eyes shut to prevent the sudden surge of tears threatening to spill while Sasuke sharply turned his head away with his teeth gritted. Naruto, however, just sat perfectly motionless, his fists clenching around his silverware as his body began trembling.
"So you think we're useless?" he whispered, his voice low.
Malevolent energy suddenly seeped into the air, making the three civilians present flinch while Sasuke and Sakura snapped their heads to stare at their teammate wide-eyed. A dark aura seemed to radiate from his body as he bowed his head, dropping his silverware onto the table with a loud clatter.
"You think we don't realize the risks?" he snarled, his voice taking a feral quality as his lips curled back in a furious scowl. "Our teacher got kidnapped by some masked lunatic and a fucking psychopath with a giant sword wants to kill your grandpa. Do you really think we don't get how screwed we are? Because believe me, we get it! It's on our minds all the time. But! We can't just give up!"
He slammed his hands on the table and sharply rose to his feet, tears pricking the corners of his eyes as he lifted his head to glare at the stunned boy. "If we give up now, we'll die! We'll all be taken down without a fight! But if we try, we might have a chance at getting out of this alive. Yeah, it's small, and yeah, we probably won't be able to do anything, but if we're gonna die anyway then we should at least put in some effort! Screw rolling over and accepting death! We're Leaf ninja! If we go down, we're going down fighting!"
Fire burned in his eyes as he roared at Inari, and on either side of him his teammates began to stir, a spark of renewed resolve flickering into their faces. Naruto's words served as a fan for the Will of Fire that burned strongly in them, stirring the dwindling flames and igniting them into a roaring inferno of hope and determination.
They failed to notice the shadowy presence watching them from the window, a small smile touching scarred lips concealed behind a crimson mask as it flickered away. The masked man stepped into Kakashi's room, watching the fall and rise of the blankets covering the silver-haired jounin as he laid atop a soft mattress. His prisoner tiredly turned his head to look at him, his eye narrowing.
Two days remained until Zabuza's projected recovery date, and he still had work to be done before Kakashi could rejoin them.
