Chapter 12

We had boarded a small boat that was to take us to the land of waves. Everyone was silent though somehow I had gotten sat next to Sasuke with Naruto and Sakura in front of us staring at me. Well, Naruto was staring, Sakura was more like glaring. Probably because Sasuke had set next to me forcing her to set next to Naruto. I could just hear her thoughts now, thinking something along the lines of 'how dare you set next to, MY Sasuke.' But seriously, couldn't they just find somewhere else to look? I like being in the background, unnoticed. Except by those I wish to see me. With my elbows on my knees, I fold my hands in front of my face. Closing my eyes I first take in the sound of the motor cutting off making the existence of the water slapping against the boat more evident. Before this childish form took over my thought process I reveled in staying in front of my opponent. The thrill of manipulating those around me to achieve my ultimate goals.

I... was one of the best at what I did. I could even manipulate Light in the directions I needed him to go. I was at the top of my game carefully analyzing everything before even making a single move. After this childish form, however, I have never met my old standards. I have mainly jumped into action without thinking through the situations clearly. I know bits and pieces of what is to come. I should look at them like a puzzle that I need to fit together. A choreographed dance that I need to memorize and recreate. Back there I had barely remembered the two mist chunin, the puddle had sparked a fuzzy memory. But now, for this trip, I need to take a breath and use the pieces I have at my disposal in order to complete this mission.

First, let's think back to when we first left the village... No. a little further. Remembering back to my apartment before I had teased my cousin. -"It's time. We are leaving for the land of waves in an hour." I spoke as I pulled the storage scroll from inside the box I had yet to be able to unpack. -

-"Are you worried?" Aphrodite questioned as I heard her set on my bed. What's wrong with her lately? She hasn't been hyper or overly happy. Makes me wonder what has happened to her.-

-"No. I am pretty sure with how hard we've been training I will be fine. Maybe even I can keep Naruto out of trouble."-

Good, now back to when we left the village. Tazuna had been walking beside Kakashi. The bridge builder whom I had recognized right away when we were receiving our mission. Then, the puddle. I somehow remembered two mist chunin and threw a paper bomb at the puddle so they would come after me instead of Naruto. But why? Why did I want them to come after me instead?

Naruto had frozen in the fight. He said it himself even though I had focused on the attack. He was scared. That rings a bell. It was his first real fight so of course, he was scared it should have been logical. So here we are on a boat where they have cut off the motor to travel more secretly through the mist aka fog…

Mist. There were two mist chunin. Mist surrounding the land of waves. Two pieces. Now break it down a little more Kira don't miss anything. There was a puddle because Mist is known for… water techniques. The land of waves is surrounded by water and mist. Mist Chunin, Mist around the island. Water techniques... Water. Even hearing my own thoughts is making me want to groan, they are barely even coherent.

"I have no choice but to tell you." Tazuna's somber voice pierces my thoughts causing me to bow my head. Resting my forehead upon the knuckles of my hands. "No, I want you to know the truth. Like you said. This is beyond the scope of the original mission. The one who seeks my life is a very short man that casts a very long and deadly shadow."

"A deadly shadow?" I hear Kakashi's question followed by some kind of grunt from Tazuna. "Hmm, who is it?"

"You know him. Or at least I'm sure you've heard his name before. He's one of the wealthiest men in the world. The shipping magnet Gato."

"Huh? Gato? Of Gato transport? He's a business leader, everyone knows him!"

"Who who? What what?" Naruto stupidly interjects.

"Gato is a very powerful tycoon from a famous company, that's true." Tazuna continues. "But below the surface, with the same ruthless methods he uses to take over businesses and nations, he sells drugs and contraband using gangs and ninja." Of course, he has to pause for dramatic effect. "It was one year ago when Gato first set his sights on the land of waves. He came to our island and used his vast wealth to take control of our transport and shipping. Anyone who tried to stand in his way simply… disappeared. In an island nation, a man who controls the sea controls everything. Finance, government, our very lives but there is one thing he fears. The bridge! When it is complete it will join us to the land and that will break his control… I am the bridge builder."

"So that's it. Since you're in charge of the bridge you're standing in this gangster's way." Sakura concludes certain of her being correct.

"That means those guys we fought in the forest, they were working for Gato." Sasuke catches on.

"I don't understand. If you knew he was dangerous, knew he'd send ninja to eliminate you, why did you hide that from us?" Kakashi questions. He seemed rather irritated or annoyed. I just sighed causing the silence to ring out.

"Isn't it obvious Kakashi?" I state finally opening my eyes to see them looking at me. "What, I haven't been sleeping. Anyways. This Gato guy has control of their transport and their shipping. An Island nation would make its money fishing and trading. Without boats, nothing is coming into the nation. Meaning it is decaying. No food, no jobs… no money. Being reduced to impoverish living they couldn't afford the rate our village charges for anything higher than a C-rank. So he had to keep important information back to keep the costs where the Island could afford it. So he pretty well had to cross his fingers and hope for at least chunin ranked ninja…" Glancing between my teammates before my eyes finally falling on Tazuna who gives me a nod.

"It is as she says. It is because the land of waves is a small and impoverished nation, even our nobles have little money. The common people who are building this bridge cannot pay for an A or B-ranked mission. It's too expensive. If you end the mission when you drop me ashore, there will be no bridge. They'll assassinate me before I reach home." I have no doubt about that. "But don't feel.."

"You know, I see where he's coming from." I cut him off from what I feel would be a pity party knowing a drunk. Closing my eyes again I set my chin on my hand. "Look at what we've seen already. If it weren't for us the drunk would already be dead. If we return to Konoha when we drop him ashore this nation will have no means to beat this cruel gangster... It's been bothering me though." I say as I look towards my left out of the boat.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asks as I try to ignore their attention and how their eyes were now intently upon me.

"What Tazuna just said clarified some things for me. I had been wondering why ninja was going after a simple drunk bridge builder. So that question has been answered. Yet, knowing now that this Gato guy is the one who sent the mist chunin after us I had to ask myself. Why mist? Until it occurred to me. The nation is as Tazuna called it an Island. We are surrounded by water which the mist is most known for. And since Gato originally sent mist chunin after us… I can only make an educated guess on what is coming next."

"What what what?!" Naruto pipes up at me.

"Tch. Loudmouth tone it down. It's logical to say that he sent mist after us once. He will likely send more mist ninja after us. But… they will be a lot stronger than the chunin we had faced. He'll send heavy hitters after us and what are we?" I open my eyes and pin each one with a glare. "One fool, one weak shrimp who relies on book smarts rather than strength, An ill-tempered emo boy, A perverted old man, a drunken pig, then me… an Ice queen with the worst attitude out of all of us." Closing my eyes again after officially causing their veins at their temples to bulge out in irritation. "Let's face it. Our next fight may be jonin level or higher, even if we work as a team we will barely manage to make it out alive especially since the majority of our group are too arrogant to truly work together as a team."

Which would lead the strongest of us, trying to beat the enemy alone in hopes to save us all. There is no way we can win. With silence still echoing around us, I bite at my bottom lip. The only way we'd stand a chance is by working together. Using each other's strengths. Kakashi is fast and knows a lot of jutsu because of his Sharingan. Naruto heals quickly and is too bullheaded to stay down for long, he's also loud and loves to yap so he could distract the enemy at a time we need him to. Sasuke is a good aim and knows a fireball jutsu which could be used to our advantage against water style jutsu. While Sakura's book smarts could evaluate the details around us and keep us younger ones in the know about certain things but otherwise... Useless. I myself could use some of what Aphro and I have been training with to help turn the tides but wouldn't that give us away too easily? It's quite possible. So I could stick with my usual know-how. Moving fast, unseen, and setting traps to lead the enemy into. But traps... They aren't that useful during an actual fight and if the opponent is a jonin as I believe he will be then they won't work. I would have to rely on taijutsu, chakra stepping, and possibly the lowest rank jutsu I've been practicing. Let's face it though. Us Genin are pretty well useless.

*

"Alright, before we train with the scrolls we have. We need to figure out your chakra types. I can pretty well guess them but let's just make sure alright." Aphrodite says as she holds up a stack of small papers. Before handing me one. "You've learned to focus your energy aka chakra to different parts of your body. Now what you need to do is hold this paper and send your chakra into it. It will burn if you are fire, wrinkle if you are lightning, crumble for earth, tear in half if you are wind, or become wet if you are water. Let's focus on your main chakra type for now. So go on do it." Aphro explained to me with a smile and took a step back away from me.

Holding out the piece of paper I close my eyes imagining my chakra flowing through me. Before finally slowly redirecting the flow to my hand towards the paper. A pain in my hand from the intense heat caused me to yelp and drop the paper before I could even open my eyes to see what my nature looked like. It was fire without a doubt. I had known from the burns on my hand. "Fire." I stated unnecessarily to myself as I look at the ashes that were once the piece of paper.

"So it seems. Lucky for you since you enjoy blowing stuff up with paper bombs. Now, in one of the scrolls, I read we should get you used to burning things before actually practicing a Fire release jutsu. Fire release is performed by building up your chakra inside your stomach or lungs so you can release it by mouth. You will need to know this as you train."

*

I have that jutsu up my sleeve, but the art of the ninja is deception. It would need to be the last thing for me to use. So the question is. What are the possible situations with probable reactions? Stepping out of the boat I follow the others though my eyes were now open and watching in front of me. Everything feels as if it's moving in slow motion. Allowing myself to blink I nearly smile before adjusting my gaze up to the sky. Images of possible scenarios running through my mind slowly so I can focus on every tiny detail.

*3rd person*

When Kira had finished speaking all of team seven including Tazuna just seemed to stare at her. To Naruto, Kira seemed rather odd. In school, she was always cold and seemed like she enjoyed being the best at everything. As if she was throwing it in everyone's faces that they couldn't match up to her. But ever since they were put on the same team there has been a different side to her showing. She was still cold to be sure. But, she was also proving she wasn't just book smart. She had patience unlike what he originally thought. Just like now, she was just sitting in silence thinking about something Naruto couldn't even begin to fathom. Sakura on the other hand was more glaring at her, feeling as if Kira was just trying to show off for Sasuke. As if Sakura was going to let her have him. She was convinced that she will show Kira up but so far all of her attempts have proven futile. Kira is strong, resourceful, and she may actually be smarter than Naruto. Sasuke however was setting in silence next to Kira. Letting her words run through his mind. No matter how many times he ran through what has happened up to this point, he couldn't disprove her theories. It is quite possible they will be going against an even stronger enemy than before. It isn't impossible. Gato would see that his previous ninja had failed so he would throw bigger guns at the bridge builder than before. There was no other way he could see it.

Kakashi however was looking at her seeing not a bright young twelve-year-old. He was reliving the conversation he had with the third. If she is in fact older than she is right now. Then wouldn't it be her life experiences that are speaking at this moment, rather than just someone who graduated at the top of her class? The look in her eyes somehow unnerved him though. She said it was bothering her but she seemed more certain than confused about what is going to happen. Even as they were walking through the trees he watches her look up to the sky lost in thought. Pushing him to wonder what exactly was running through her mind at this precise moment.

The girl in front of him now wasn't the girl he had heard about while she was in the academy, she was far from the little child that had tried to attack him just outside of Konoha. The Kira before him now wasn't even the girl who had thwarted his attempts against her teammates during their survival test. That girl was cocky, full of arrogance, and quick thinking. The girl in front of him now, however, was in her own little world as if she was profiling every little thing that has happened through her eyes since receiving this mission. To be honest, the look in her eyes right now was a look he hasn't seen a fellow ninja have in a long time. She's calculating as if she herself was dwelling on what she had spoken, and was now possibly imagining post-battle strategies. One thing was clear to Kakashi at this moment. Though her skills are genin level, without a single jutsu known to her. Mentality-wise, she was of a much higher level. This not only sparked his curiosity but also made him feel as if he should keep an eye on her. To watch her development, or perhaps aide her further in her development rather than only training her alongside the team.