Chapter 3 – Ambush! In Wave

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters do not belong to me

Morning brought with it a red sky, causing Kakashi, who was on watch, to pause. Taking a deep breath, the silver-haired jounin brushed aside his worry, and set to work.

First, was to get the fire started again (he'd let it die out as an attempt to conceal their camp in the dark), followed by sorting breakfast while a clone got his cute genin up; beginning with Sakura, as she would probably want to visit the stream first, without the boys around.

Hearing the annoyed yell as she was woken, Kakashi sighed in resignation. They were still on the road, potentially surrounded by enemies, and still at least a day's travel til they reached their destination. Honestly, what were they taught in the Academy?

Despite having woken Sakura up first – and then waiting ten minutes before waking the boys – she was still the last one out of their tent, meaning she would have to wait til after breakfast to go down to the stream, as even Tazuna, old man that he was, was waiting.

Breakfast was a quiet affair of gruel, the pinket not having woken up enough to cause a disturbance, and the boys having the sense to avoid unnecessary noise.

"Right, if we continue at the same pace as yesterday, we should reach the village before nightfall," Kakashi eye-smiled happily.

Sakura groaned.

"I don't think I'll be able to go at that insane pace again so soon sensei, can't we step it down a notch, at least for the morning?"

Tazuna blinked.

"Aren't you guys ninjas? I thought you were supposed to be fast as lightning or something normally, and were going slower 'cos civvies like me can't keep up?"

Kakashi nodded, frowning.

"That would be correct, Tazuna-san, or at least it would normally be the case. The Academy must be having issues with teachers, or perhaps the students aren't paying enough attention in class?"

Kakashi shrugged helplessly.

"Either way, I'll need to speak to Hokage-sama about this when we get back, maybe the other sensei's too while I'm at it."

It was early afternoon when Naruto suddenly stopped his muttering and clapped his hands over his ears, wincing.

"Naruto, you alright there?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto shook his head.

"It's too loud," the blond whimpered.

Sakura scoffed.

"Don't be an idiot, Naruto, it isn't any louder than it was a minute ago, BAKA!"

Tazuna frowned at her.

"Kid's got good ears, the river's just the other side 'o the hill." He pointed to the hill they were walking round. "The road goes round 'stead of over 'cos the other side's sheer. T'was a landslide 'bout twenty or so years ago, so we had to change the route."

Sakura snorted.

"Yeah, well, you don't know the baka, he's always doing annoying and stupid things for attention, it's ridiculous! Back at the Academy, he couldn't even go ONE DAY without some sort of prank, in fact, I'm actually surprised he even managed to graduate!" Sakura started ranting – again.

"Sakura, shut up," Sasuke growled, having watched as Naruto seemed to shrink into himself.

Sakura froze, a wooden sign with the words 'Shut Up' written on it stabbing into her back.

"Yes Sasuke-kun," she smiled.

Rounding the hill, Team 7 were greeted by a huge expanse of water, with mist rising from the surface, which prevented them from seeing very far.

"Tazuna, you're back!"

Hearing the cry, Team 7 spun round to find a man standing next to a small rowing boat, waving at them.

"Akio! Everything ok?" Tazuna asked, clapping the man's shoulder.

Akio snorted.

"Oh, yeah. Everything's just peachy. Gato's raised the taxes again, it's another 50 ryo to take your boat out unless it's for fishing, now. Not to mention the extra 20 ryo if your out longer'n you told the harbour master, so we'd better get goin'."

Tazuna nodded.

"Right, better get aboard, then." He grinned. "It's good to be able to sit for a little."

They all climbed aboard the boat, Kakashi lifting Naruto in as he didn't want to remove his hands from his ears. Once everyone was seated, Akio pushed off, steering the boat carefully with a paddle. The further out they went, the more Naruto folded into himself, causing Kakashi to shift closer and cover the blond's hands with his own, attempting to if not stop, then muffle the noise.

"Seriously, what's wrong with him, it's not THAT loud!" Sakura huffed quietly.

"It's most likely the sound of the water against the bridge supports," Tazuna shrugged. "Our ninja village WAS called Uzushiogakure for a reason, you know."

Sakura turned red, before huffing.

"Well, if he's this affected, how's he supposed to complete the mission?"

Kakashi's eye narrowed.

"There are a variety of techniques that can be used, but we need to wait til we're off the boat first."

"There are? Why didn't you use one before we got on the boat?" Sasuke demanded.

Kakashi shook his head slowly.

"Unfortunately, I didn't have enough information before we got on. Like I said, there's several different options that could work, each with their own strengths, weaknesses and time-limits."

"Hn," Sasuke nodded.

Soon, the partly completed bridge came into view, stunning the genin.

"It's huge!" Sakura breathed, attempting to calculate the size.

Tazuna snorted.

"Well, of course it is, it's got to travel about half a mile to connect Wave to the Mainland, what did you expect?" Tazuna shook his head, exasperated. Weren't shinobi supposed to be reasonably smart?

Before long, the boat finished it's journey, and the small party of five disembarked.

"This is as far as I go, good luck," Akio whispered, glancing around at the mist nervously.

Tazuna nodded before reaching out and shaking Akio's hand.

"Safe sailing, Old Friend."

Akio nodded back, before pushing off and sailing downstream.

Once Akio and his boat had disappeared into the mist, Kakashi clapped his hands softly.

"Ok, team, let's get going. We should get to the village before sunset. Be careful, if there IS another enemy, they're most likely to attack now, before we get there." Kakashi eye-smiled, before turning towards the path. "Same formation as earlier."

His cute genin nodded and moved into position around Tazuna.

"Right then, Tazuna-san, shall we?" Kakashi gestured to the path.

Tazuna sighed, and started walking.

"Well, it was nice to have a rest crossing the water."

Soon the travellers were swallowed up by the mist, not noticing the pair of red eyes watching them leave.

The Land of Wave used to be a happy place, full of bustling trade and laughing children. But, that was before Gato took over. Now, the countryside was silent and empty, the inhabitants not wanting to draw attention to themselves, lest they gain Gato's ire.

And so, it was through this hauntingly silent and mist-ridden landscape that Team 7 found themselves following their client, the slightest sound seemingly amplified. The faintest gust of wind, an enemy breathing down their necks. For once, even Naruto was silent.

After a while, the pressure got too much, and Sakura (to Kakashi's dismay, not that he was overly surprised, mind you) exploded.

"Urgh! This is soooo stupid! Why are we creeping around, when Sasuke-kun can beat anyone?" The pinket raged, startling her companions.

"Ne, Sakura-chan, don't go giving away our position, dattebayo!" Naruto protested, while Tazuna huffed in annoyance.

"Were you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Stiffening slightly, Naruto frowned and discreetly pulled out a kunai, unnoticed by his companions save for a lone, black eye. The next moment, the kunai was cutting through the air and disappearing into the shrubbery beside the path.

"NARUTO!" Sakura growled, while said blond raced over and parted the leaves, revealing a scared, snow-white rabbit.

"BAKA! What was that for?" the pinket demanded, completely forgetting her earlier explosion. "Stop trying to be better than Sasuke-kun!"

Naruto frowned down at the rabbit suspiciously, along with Kakashi. Easily picking up that something was wrong, Sasuke shifted his weight onto his back foot, preparing to move quickly.

"That's weird, this time of year, the now rabbit's fur should be brown..." Kakashi mused, before his head shot up in alarm. "DUCK!" Kakashi grabbed Tazuna and threw himself down, closely followed by the three genin.

A moment later, a gigantic sword came spinning through the air, burying itself halfway up a tree. If possible, the ever-present mist appeared to thicken, as a low chuckle rang out.