"We divided ourselves amongst our people, to each according to their needs. Of number, five wast truly in dire needeth of our blessing."

- The Book of Log

C11: Wave After Wave (Pt.1)

"-and so, we departed from Sasuke's house at 10PM and slept properly for the first time in weeks."

Kakashi looked at his jubilant students as they debriefed him on what they did during the month he conspicuously vanished.

Naruto stopped talking to take a deep breath before he made to continue, but was interrupted by Sakura, "After that, we spent the rest of the month doing missions until we finally managed to beat the record, a few days ago."

The blond didn't look happy, "That isn't precise enough Sakura, sensei asked us to give him a debriefing and you just summed up almost two weeks' worth of-"

Sasuke interrupted him this time, "I'm siding with Sakura this time, sorry Naruto but we've been here for almost two hours with you trying to give sensei a full breakdown of what we did."

Just before Naruto could speak, he cut him off again, "And I really don't think he needs to know what food we ate at my place or the number of children Anako-san has either. They just aren't relevant to the mission."

"And he doesn't need to know the exact timings either," quickly added Sakura.

The silver-haired Jounin smirked underneath his face mask. These three made quite the trio.

"You… should have informed me of your concerns sooner," said Naruto evenly.

"It's kinda rude to just interrupt someone while they're saying something," replied Sasuke, "And I'm tired of standing up. It was fine because all of us were taking turns to tell stories, but two hours is way too long."

"I understand what you are trying to say, but we cannot stop now," Naruto adopted a slightly more serious expression, "There were plenty of things that went down in the last two weeks, like Ruruka's mother undergoing treatment for PTSD because we triggered some of her repressed memories during our spring-cleaning mission at her place when Sakura released some firecrackers from her pouch."

"Hey!" Sakura exclaimed, "I didn't mean to do that. I simply… forgot that I had placed my self-igniting fireworks in that pouch."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He'd seen how irritated Sakura was getting every time the client called her darling, "Sure Sakura. Anyway, we also got thrown out of her house, so that was kinda funny."

"On the topic of getting kicked out of someone's house, the moment Sakura's mother saw Sasuke's face, she kicked us out too."

Sakura looked slightly uncomfortable.

"I still have welts from where she threw that frying pan at my back," Sasuke mused as he rubbed said welts, "All for trying to help her so-tired-daughter-that-fell-asleep-during-a-mission!"

"I did warn you when we first met that she had a problem with ninjas," Said Sakura, "Anyways, can we not talk about that?"

There was a slight pause before the blond continued, "The only other events of import in the last two weeks consisted of myself having to go to hospital after getting a severe concussion because I didn't dodge a cricket ball that hit me right at the back of my head and Sasuke having a panic attack when we went to a tomato plant and he saw that people deliberately break tomato plant branches to plant them."

"Too many plants Naruto," muttered Kakashi, the first words he'd said to his team in the last hour.

Sakura hummed in approval.

"He wasn't like this until I introduced him to Nii-san," Sasuke stated in a way of explanation.

Their sensei nodded, "Ita-chan has a pretty awful sense of humour… and that's coming from me."

Sasuke looked extremely confused and mouthed the words, "Ita-chan?"

Kakashi had an air of self-satisfaction as he responded, "He lost a bet. The only one he's ever lost mind you, which is mostly because he almost never takes any."

The resident Uchiha mouthed the same words over and over again. Naruto was enjoying the show, admiring his friend's ability to look like a broken clock. Sakura already having lost interest in the entire conversation, took out a Rubik's Cube and fiddled with it.

Their sensei looked at them for a few minutes and seeing that everyone had drifted off into their own worlds, decided that it was the best time for his announcement, "It is time for me to reveal to you your prize for being good little genin and beating the record and going the extra mile to do a nice round three hundred."

All three of them focused on him. Sakura put away her Rubik's Cube.

"I appreciate round numbers."

He took out four extremely fat and misshapen books with memos, sticky notes, tags, cardboard and pieces of paper jutting out from each page. Naruto could have sworn that a few pages looked like they'd been burnt, drowned and probably had miso ramen spilt on them.

"Sensei…" Sakura looked unsure of what to make of them, "What are they?"

Kakashi eye-smiled at them, "Well, I'm glad you asked. These suckers took a lot of work, which is why I had to go on a little… sabbatical, completely approved by the Hokage of course. I had to face off against an immortal owl-monk, a guy with way too many rods stuck in his body to be healthy and of course, one of the hardest people to find, an Iwa ninja with a nasty temper who kept on spewing lava at me when all I wanted was an autograph."

Sasuke's eye-twitched at what seemed to be a blatant lie, but Itachi had drilled enough etiquette into his head to stop him from expressing his dissatisfaction with the validity of the story any further.

Kakashi ignored his Uchiha's twitching eye and turned towards the blond, "I got a few autographs from people you might like. Got some from the daimyos and kages… and a few other people."

He then looked meaningfully towards Sasuke, "I added in extra details on the slightly more uncommon places to travel and esoteric sights since I know you like those kinds of things. More importantly, I put in all the rumours of cool artefacts and strange happenings that occur in some places."

He lastly turned towards Sakura, "And for you, I've enclosed a children's guide to using puppets because I know just how much you enjoy playing around with your wooden toys."

All three of them just looked at their sensei in shock and awe.

"You may have for all intents and purposes, not even been our sensei since we've become a team because we have barely seen you, but this…" Naruto stopped, trying to search for the right words that would truly express what he felt without assuming anything of his teammates feelings.

"Makes up for it." finished Sakura.

"You were gone for a month; how did you manage to get info on so many places?" asked Sasuke as he paged through a copy that he'd taken from his sensei.

Kakashi acted like he was trying to think of an answer to build suspense, "Trade secret, although I have been doing this for a long time. Anbu teaches you many things."

"How do you have this much information on all these ninjas, surely no one would actually publish the fact that their PTSD trigger is a teddy bear? And the signatures you mentioned, they sound almost impossible to obtain and could definitely be exploited for stealth and sabotage missions."

Kakashi nodded solemnly in Naruto's direction as he responded, "Trade secret again. But if it helps, I combined all the Bingo books from each hidden village, big and small, from Kumo to Hoshigakure."

"How did you get your hands on Sunagakure's puppet techniques?"

"Now that, Sakura, I can answer. I may, or may not, have stolen instructions on how to use puppets from their academy because they have abysmal security in that area. It isn't anything super-advanced, but you can work out stuff like that on your own."

The pinkette nodded before turning her attention to the cuttings of an academy leaflet on puppetry.

Naruto was paying more attention to the screen that had popped up when he'd grabbed his copy of the Bingo Book.

Would you like to add [Bingo Book] functionality to your UI?

Yes/No

"Sensei, why do you have an extra book?" asked Sasuke as he paged through the best hot springs in the Land of Fire.

"Just a spare in case someone loses their copy or it mysteriously vanishes," said Kakashi as he tried to think up of what else he should do with his team. He wasn't really sure what to do with Genin. From the briefing he definitely did not miss, he knew that he was supposed to train them. But how? Anbu style training which was inappropriate, anything else might require… actual effort.

Maybe something tamer, but still useful? They seem quite easy-going for a team seven all things considered and for some reason, I actually quite like it. But that does mean that they're more likely to die too though…

"Kakashi-sensei, can I have the spare please?"

Kakashi gave Naruto the extra book without question.

"Team, what do you think we should do now?"

Sasuke looked at his teammates who seemed completely out of it. Sakura was basically shut off from the world, trying to absorb as much as she could from the leaflet. Naruto had a smile with a dazed look on his face. It looked like it'd be down to him, "Sensei, can we do a C-rank, please?"

Their instructor took a look at them and nodded, "I think I'll teach you three, tree climbing and water walking, that should make up for the entire month of training we missed. Then we can do one." Kakashi quickly calculated the least optimistic deadline, "In half a month? I'll leave you some time to do missions during downtime if you want."

The Uchiha nodded and Kakashi looked on at his other genin, hoping for their input. None was forthcoming. They had all returned to looking over his presents for them. Well, he assumed Naruto was looking at it on those screens he mentioned when he was a kid.

Naruto looked at the HUD floating over his sensei's head as they waited for the chunin at the desk to find a mission for them. The Bingo Book added a new window that appeared when he focused on the mugshot that hovered over a person's head. It was a strange long-side up rectangle which had weaknesses, strengths, titles, rankings, village of origin, common locations, descriptions and depending on who he was looking at, more or less stuff. At the bottom of the window, all it said was.

The system is not responsible for the veracity of information stored on this page

For Kakashi-sensei, it said some… interesting things. He was an S-rank ninja from Konoha and… typically hung out with his 'cute little genin'. He was pretty sure the man had written his own little additions to the Bingo Book because no self-respecting village would describe his instructor as 'the sexiest man alive, single and ready to mingle'.

His weaknesses were interesting though, low chakra levels and a dislike of improperly peeled fruits. His strengths were 'everything that mattered' and 'Ninjutsu' along with a rogue Sharingan which apparently was 'kindly gifted by a friend'. His titles included 'Sharingan no Kakashi', 'Copy Ninja Kakashi' and the strangest ones, 'Friend-Killer' and 'Cold-Blooded' Kakashi.

Naruto decided to ignore the last two. His description went on to elaborate how he knew a thousand Jutsu and has reportedly… sliced a lightning bolt in half.

Right… this Bingo Book's going to have quite a few inaccuracies. I'm better off sticking with the HUD that pops up.

"Kids, we've got our mission. Tazuna-san wants us to escort him back to his home in the Land of Waves, he's afraid of Bandits and so, hired us."

The client looked at them, holding a bottle of Sake with disdain in his eyes and perhaps a bit of fear. He stroked his greyed goatee as he spoke, "They look weaker than the runts in my village," His eyes narrowed as he looked at Naruto's distinctly not muscular arms courtesy of his lack of strength points, "I thought I asked for shinobi, not little brats."

Naruto just stared blankly at him unsure of what to do, while Sakura pointedly ignored his comments, leaving Sasuke who seemed to be the only one who had any interest in defending himself, "You asked for a C-rank mission, sir," He looked back at his comrades to see if either of them was going to help him out, "We can handle it."

The aged man just drank in response.

"That was a lot of fun," Kakashi deadpanned, "When do you want to leave Tazuna-san?"

"Tomorrow at the crack of dawn," Tazuna's eyes started brimming with tears, "I'm the Bridge Builder you see, and we need to make it back as soon as possible to complete our bridge. The whole country will prosper when I'm done with it and we need it after the Depression and…"

Tazuna took a long draught, finishing off the bottle and walked off.

Naruto looked concerned, "Why didn't he finish his sentence?"

"You'll get used to it, my cutesy little blond," Kakashi patted the blond's head and vanished.

"Is everyone ready?"

Kakashi held the straps of his backpack trying to act distinctly civilian as he looked at his students who were definitely not even attempting to blend in. If he squinted, maybe Naruto's pumpkin coloured jacket and that black t-shirt with the Uzumaki crest on it which he wore when he was a kid, looked slightly like what a normal person might wear. The shuriken holster above his right knee and the standard Konoha headband gave him away. The wear and tear on the white arm warmers and his clothing, in general, screamed that Naruto hadn't changed his clothes for some time. Knowing the blond, he probably spent the last half month training, eating, sleeping and doing nothing else.

Sasuke's blue freshly ironed short-sleeved shirt with the Uchiha crest proudly plastered across its back gave him away too easily. He'd have told him to change it if it actually mattered. Nothing should pose any threat to his team on this mission. He wore matching arm warmers with Naruto too, which was slightly adorable in Kakashi's eyes. His white shorts and the extremely prominent kunai holster hurt Kakashi's Anbu senses though.

Sakura's was the most obviously not civilian in his opinion. She may not have had a huge crest screaming out her heritage, but all those pouches around her waist and bandages on her arm stood out like a sore thumb. Although the ones on her right shin appeared to not be for fashion. She always had that part covered and considering her proclivities if Kakashi was a betting man, he'd have pegged her having an odd shaped scar on it. A fallen wrench perhaps? He remembered a Sunagakure Jounin who was so ashamed of how many oddly shaped scars he had, that he wrapped himself till he looked like a mummy.

Kakashi shook his head, trying to wipe away the memories of his encounter with the bandaged maniacal puppeteer.

"No response? Great, let's start walking. Diamond formation, I'll take point, Sakura can take back, Naruto the left and Sasuke to the right."

Tazuna breathed a sigh of relief which would have been unnoticed if Kakashi hadn't been there causing his lone eye to narrow in thought as he walked through the forest with his team. None of them even tried to engage in conversation with the client. Why did he have to get stuck with the team of social recluses?

Wait a minute, is Naruto…

Just as Kakashi lamented the social ineptitude of his team, Naruto began speaking to the client.

"Tazuna-san, how are you doing?"

The man looked at him slightly disconcerted, "I'm doing alright gaki, you're a strange one, ain't you?" The man rubbed his head in a manner Kakashi was pretty sure signified that he had a massive hang-over.

When you consider that he clearly looks like he can handle his liquor considering the way he drinks… today has just become a lot more interesting

Kakashi walked for a little bit, humming all the while.

You don't see puddles in the middle of a heatwave that often.

Sasuke threw a kunai at the puddle and within an instant two men replaced the puddle and made for the genin.

Kakashi considered leaving them to fend for themselves, after all, he had drawn blood on his first mission, but he didn't feel comfortable letting them fight any ninja, even these two. From their ragged looks and metal gauntlets with a chain made out of shuriken running between them, it was pretty obvious that these were the 'Demon' brothers of Kiri. Chunin who were pretty weak all things considered.

The decision to intervene was taken off him when Naruto ran towards them head-on, while Sasuke launched a fireball. The blond wasn't stupid enough to risk himself like this without a plan, so he just watched.

"Naruto!" yelled Sakura as she threw something, Kakashi could just make out the seals on the paper ball, messily drawn. In a split second, just as one of the ninjas made to slice Naruto up with the claws protruding from his gauntlet, he vanished, replaced by the ball.

"Kai!"

Just as Sakura yelled the word, it detonated right in his face.

Amateurs

Kakashi had underestimated his team and he actually felt a little bit bad about it. To make up for it, he shunshin'd to the second brother and jabbed his chin before either him or Sasuke realised that he'd even appeared.

One punch, two… Oh, he's already passed out.

The silver-haired Jounin grabbed the body by the collar and dragged him to his brother.

"Tie them up."

Sakura quickly tied them up, while the blond looked dazed. He seemed to be looking at one of those screens again.

"So Tazuna" The Hatake turned his head to face the man, "Is there something you haven't told us?"

The man sweated, "I didn't have enough money to afford a B-rank… my entire country has been taken over by the shipping magnate Gato, his company essentially runs the country, strangling any competition and bankrupting everybody."

Kakashi's eyes just narrowed, "So what you're trying to tell me is that you lied about the parameters of a mission, thereby endangering my team… and yourself, clearly."

The old man's face fell, "Please help us." He looked at his unapologetic face, "I have a daughter and grandson… They've already lost their husband and father to him, please don't let them loose me as well."

The guilt-tripping may have worked on someone else, but Kakashi was unamused, "Why are they chasing you?"

"My bridge to the mainland is the only thing that can save this country which is why Gato is sending ninja after me," He turned towards the children, Sasuke seemed almost ready to budge, "Please, help us."

Naruto looked aside and so did Sakura. Sasuke looked ashamed as he also tried avoiding the man's gaze. Kakashi could tell from the look of their faces that they wanted nothing more than to help the man, but this was way out of their league. If he hadn't been on that one-month sabbatical, he wouldn't have known that Momochi Zabuza hung out with them and that guy was a can of worms he didn't want to open.

Tazuna backed away from the group and started screaming, "Please… HELP ME!" Sasuke was shaken, Naruto had no emotion while Sakura was biting her lip, "I will die if you don't escort me back home and my entire country will be destroyed!"

There was a pause in the conversation as Tazuna panicked. No one spoke until a little rabbit hopped near them.

Sakura looked at it puzzled, "Kakashi-sensei, why is there a white rabbit here?"

White rabbits at this time of year could only be found in a pet store. Being out here, so far away from civilisation meant only one thing.

"DUCK!"

He trusted his team to heed his advice in the time which he used to pull up his headband to reveal his sharingan and with it, he realised his mistake.

Naruto's glazed eyes looked into his as the Uzumaki's head came flying towards Kakashi along with the sword that severed it.

It lay on the floor in front of him, eyes clearing as it swivelled on the spot.

Kakashi felt the world stop as he stared into his blue eyes and Minato-sensei's stared back at him.

Dead.

"Naruto?"

He ignored the screams of his genin as they realised what had happened. He'd failed again. He was as useless now as he was back then. Nothing had changed. He still couldn't save anyone he cared about.

His eyes started bleeding as he looked away from… it.

He saw Sasuke's sharingan pulsating with fear.

He looked up at Zabuza.

Kamui

The man's leg ceased to exist causing him to fall.

Something caused Sakura to scream.

Kakashi blinked.

Naruto opened his eyes.

Pitch black.

Nothing had changed.

He closed it again, thinking about what just happened.

Woah! There's so much on these Kirigakure ninjas here! The Demon Brothers, Gozu and Meizu. They've recently started working with Zabuza of the Hidden Mist who is one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist…. Notable Kiri ninja?

"-white rabbit here?"

That's nothing to worry about, probably a run-away pet. Anyway, Kurosuki Raiga… his lightning nature is powerful enough to manipulate raw lightning? That's amazing.

"DUCK!"

Duck, why-

This was his fault.

His failure to pay attention finally killed him and probably everyone else too.

He sat still.

Why am I sitting? And on what?

It was quiet. Just himself in this never-ending darkness.

He closed his eyes, remembering all the times Iruka-sensei warned him. Sasuke joked about it. And now they all suffered for it.

This was his fault.

He'd died before, but there was nothing like this. A window simply popped up saying 'Die' or 'Revive' before. This was his first time dying after the new update.

Endless darkness.

He didn't even realise what had happened.

And that is the problem.

Maybe if he'd told his team about his ability, they would have warned him. Maybe if he'd trusted them more this wouldn't have happened.

Why am I so useless?

Sakura had her cool tools. Sasuke had his elemental jutsu. And what did he know?

A big fat nothing.

His kekkai genkai may have turned the world into a game, but in reality, it had just made him content with mediocrity.

If I had to fight an enemy one on one, I'd be annihilated.

He could run away with his kawarimi, disguise himself using henge and even make illusions of himself to distract, but nothing helped him fight. The last half month spent…no.

Wasted

Perfecting water-walking and wall-climbing.

He was a liability.

"If I hadn't been so fixated on doing the extra D-ranks to complete the quest, I wouldn't have sacrificed training."

The blond leaned against the chair.

I'm not the only one affected by my ineptitude.

The inky blackness was suddenly washed away by a swirl of bright yellow.

They weaved in and out all around him.

Naruto remembered this place. It was like that weird dream again, but this time, instead of the discomfort there was… a feeling of contentment. It felt nice being surrounded by these colours. They reminded him of the safety he felt looking at Anbu masks.

Nothing could hurt him here.

They danced around him until an indistinct yellow figure twisted out of the surroundings and reached out to him.

The blond waited for it to disintegrate like it always did, but instead it grabbed his hands.

R&R (Suggestions and advice are always welcome!)