Greetings, you lovely readers of mine I hope whenever you are reading this, it finds you well and I welcome you to the next chapter of Shadows Apprentice. Now I don't exaggerate at all when I say that while I was plotting out this story in my notebooks, that these next couple of chapters quickly became some of my favorites. So, without any sort of long-winded speech let me just close the opener as always by thanking everyone who's shown me support. Even if you haven't reviewed, I see your likes, favorites and the couple very nice direct message and you are still much appreciated. Wouldn't be doing without y'all.
Chapter 6: Ambushed
After the initial bumpy introduction, it seemed as though the team had individually come to the silent decision, save perhaps Kakashi, to not engage Tazuna directly unless he directly questioned or addressed them. Which suited Naruto just fine. If he hadn't been a client, he probably would've knocked his block off for his sour attitude towards the quote 'kids' that had to be responsible for him. It wasn't just Naruto either. Sasuke couldn't understand why their age or rank really mattered for a C rank mission and he never did take kindly to being underestimated. Especially by a stranger not even from their village. And Sakura, being the target of his initial fit just all around didn't care for him outside of the professional obligation she had as a shinobi. So, the tense silence reigned over the group as they walked along, Sasuke guarding the rear, Kakashi walking directly beside Tazuna, and Sakura and Naruto out front. The weather was cooperating at the very least. The Land of Fire had been in the middle of a heat wave for a while, and while it was starting to taper off a bit, the sky was still crystal clear without a single cloud to be seen anywhere and anytime the sunlight hit their faces, it warmed their skin as the early morning slowly began to shift into the midday.
"Have you lot ever even been outside of the village this far?" Tazuna asked. Kakashi glanced at him. "I just meant, if you've never been to where were going, you might not get what you bargained for. This won't be some glory mission, that's for sure," he muttered.
"Shinobi missions rarely are," Kakashi said. "You needn't worry. While this might be the first away mission for the kids, I've got experience enough to deal with what might be coming. Though I hardly think even genin would have trouble with robbers like the ones you have harassing your workers. Especially these genin if recent memory serves me well." That made them smile. "The truth of the matter is, a single jounin is typically enough for such a request. So don't think of it as you are dealing with rookies as bodyguards think of it as…your overprotected for what you might be expecting," he reasoned. Tazuna shifted his pack a little, eyes darting away. Maybe it was his imagination, but Sasuke didn't believe the man looked any more assured. If anything, he appeared to be more stressed.
"So, what's the big whoop with this bridge anyway? Why would people bother targeting something so small?" Naruto asked. He'd directed the question at Kakashi but before his sensei could answer him in any way, Tazuna let out a grunt, eyes narrowed in at Naruto.
"It might seem like small fry to you, kid, but for my home it's going to be a vital lifeline. See many in the Land of Waves live in poverty by just about every standard. Trade is difficult for many merchants because of the distance from the mainland and the sometimes-stormy seas. Even the Hidden Mist doesn't exactly bend over backwards to make sure we have any worthwhile access to more than the bare minimum. That is why this bridge is so crucial. It will remove many of the barriers, invite more people to possibly invest in the land and see to it that we live up to the potential many of us believe we have. Many of these groups of thugs don't want that. The land has served as their prime target for what they deem as their easy life because, so few pay attention to us. The bridge will bring more money, and more money means stiffer opposition to whatever they try and accomplish. My daughter believes that since taking our supplies here and there hasn't stopped us that I'm the next logical target."
"Makes sense, I suppose. Though why reach out to the leaf? Even if you don't get along the best with them, you travelled further for our help and risked more than if you would have gone to the Mizukage," Sakura said, glancing over her shoulder. Tazuna didn't answer. She exchanged a look with Naruto and could tell he was thinking something like her. Tazuna wasn't telling them everything after all. Naruto put a finger to his lips, his way of saying 'Drop it for now' and Sakura reluctantly agreed with a nod. They couldn't afford to waste energy on an argument right now. Instead, after a few minutes she decided a change in subject might be in order. Naruto had been grouchy since they left the gates, so maybe she could help "Say, before I forget, did you ever get that shuriken trick you were working on done?" she said. Naruto chuckled and scratched at the back of his head.
"Nah, not really. I can use the shadow clones of the normal sized shuriken pretty good but trying it with a bigger one like that messes with my angle on it. Really, I'm starting to wonder if adapting it to a larger one is worth the trouble. A swarm of demon wind shuriken's SOUNDS cool, in theory, but it might be out of my league until my chakra control gets better," he said with a sigh. "I'll get the hang of it eventually, though. Once we get back, I'm going to double up on the time for it." Sakura smiled at this. She always did admire Naruto's determination. He never seemed to let any sort of setback be anything but a temporary roadblock. He'd been like that since she'd met him.
"Well, just let me know if you need a training partner, okay? Were on a team now, so I want to be there for you if I can. Plus, if I'm being honest, I'd love to see how the progress comes along firsthand just to see if this crazy idea of yours will work," she said. Naruto's face went just a touch redder, but he nodded eagerly. The additional small talk helped a lot with the easing of nerves and the cooling of any tempers that were still at play. Naruto was smiling more and making a joke or two about a funny story he'd heard Asuma telling to Iruka one day. Time continued to tick by as they walked, and it was at least another hour before Sasuke finally spoke for the first time in a bit.
"Kakashi-Sensei, you keep looking to the left and right. Is there something wrong?" Naruto and Sakura stopped, as did Tazuna. Neither of them had seen it, but Sasuke's position as rearguard of the group made him able to see even subtle movements of the people in front of him. Kakashi nodded.
"For the last little bit, we've been followed." Naruto's eyes widened and Sakura gulped a bit, and even Sasuke tensed up. None of them had sensed any movement, but then they hadn't been anticipating it like their sensei must've been. "The thing is, unless I'm mistaken, these aren't common robbers following us." He paused for a moment then, with a flash of his hand upwards, the genin gathered in around Tazuna in the standard defense formation. Sasuke directly in front this time, Naruto on his left and Sakura on his right. It was one of the best forms you could take when you expected a VIP to be hit from multiple angles. Kakashi took a stance and, perhaps picking up on the fact that their cover had been blown, the enemy appeared. It took a second for Naruto to even figure out what he was seeing. They appeared to be nothing more than black blurs of movement. But when one of them paused for just a second to throw a few kunai at Kakashi, he saw someone with a Hidden Mist headband, a thick scratch running through the center of it. Rogue ninja? How the hell were they even here, and why? The mans face was covered by his breather mask and his long spiky hair, but the whole team could see the wild look in his eyes as Kakashi and him clashed blades. The situation only got worse because he wasn't the only one. Kakashi was forced to fight the other ninja whenever he managed to repel the first one's attacks. This second one appeared to be dressed the same, save for the slight difference that this one's hair was a bit shorter.
"Forget this! I'll hold him, you get the old man!" one of the rogues snarled. His companion nodded and, ducking his head, made a beeline for the group.
"Naruto?" Sasuke asked quickly.
"Go. Me and Sakura got this," he said. Sasuke nodded and ran to meet the ninja. Naruto quickly made a shadow clone to fill the gap as Sasuke went in for a quick series of strikes. It didn't seem to phase the man, but he at least managed to keep the ninja at bay. Naruto winced, seeing Sasuke take a particularly bad shot to his throat. It threw his friend off balance long enough for the rogue to, with a flick of his wrist, wrap him up in what appeared to be chains. Sasuke tried to wiggle free, but anytime he managed to get a little slack worked out, they were just tightened up again, and he was lifted off the ground and slammed back down roughly. This repeated two more times.
The real Naruto grit his teeth as he watched this. He didn't want to interfere and leave Sakura down another real person but eventually he couldn't take it. Sighing, he exchanged a look with Sakura, who nodded giving him the ok. He ran to assist, leaving one more clone behind with her so the formation wouldn't be broken. Naruto threw a hard punch into the side of the ninjas head, rocking him backwards. While he was getting his wits back, he helped Sasuke free. "Always have to save your ass, huh?" he joked.
"It's a nice change of pace from me having to save yours," Sasuke said back with a smirk. It vanished quickly; eyes widening in horror. "Naruto!" Naruto turned to see what had happened, and barely got his arm up in time to deflect a slashing attack from the ninja. He attempted to counter, but the man was ready for it. He swept Naruto by the back of the leg and swung upwards with his clawed hand again. The impact sent Naruto skidding away from Sasuke.
"Naruto!"
Naruto struggled to a crouching position clenching at his arm, blood running between his fingers. He didn't notice immediately, but as he tried to get upright, he felt his legs lock up and his arm starting to go numb where he was cut. He tried to force his way up anyway, and instantly regretted it, a shock running up his spine. With a poof, the clones he had stationed beside Sakura went away, and she was forced to take the front position, her sides exposed. Kakashi looked up from where he was and saw this, his one visible eye narrowing as he faced his opponent again. He didn't have more time to waste. This was going to have to end.
"Naruto! Are you okay?" Sakura shouted. She wanted to run to him, to help, but with Naruto's clones gone she didn't have a choice but to remain here. If she didn't, Tazuna would be completely open. Sasuke was furious, seeing his best friend hurt and his strikes against the ninja only increased in ferocity, to the point where a hard kick to the side cracked the chest plate the ninja wore underneath his cloak. However, this only seemed to enrage the man further. He grabbed Sasuke hard around the neck, and was preparing to strangle him, but before he could even think to perform the action, Kakashi was behind him, and with one quick yet forceful chop right to the back of the neck, the ninja dropped like a sack of bricks. He weakly looked at Kakashi, utterly dumbfounded.
"H-How…but…my brother…"
"Is dealt with. You're both done here." Sensing the danger seemed to be past, Sakura broke from the formation, running to Naruto who was sitting up now, grumbling as he looked at the wound. It was fairly deep, but he'd seen shinobi bounce back from far worse. Why was his body reacting like this? She helped him to his feet, but only for a moment so she could move him to rest against a tree near the side of the road. She winced as she reached down, pulling the cloth of his torn jacket away from the spot to get a better look at it. The claws had torn four long, serrated wounds into his skin. She reached around to dig into her pack for some bandages, shushing him quietly when he tried to stand.
"Let me clean it first, okay?" she said gently. He wanted to argue but seeing the worried look on her face melted away any resistance he wanted to offer. He sighed, gave her a slight smile, and relented. While this was going on, Kakashi had restrained the two ninja that had attacked them. He studied their faces closely, letting out a grunt when he realized who they were.
"Who the hell are these people?" Sasuke asked, rubbing at his neck as he came to stand by Kakashi.
"Jounin the from the Hidden Mist, or rather former judging from their headbands. They are known as the demon brothers, Gozu and Meizu. I crossed paths with them once a few years ago. But back then they were still loyal to their village. Given that their headbands are crossed out, that doesn't appear to be the case anymore." He looked over and saw Sakura tending to Naruto's arm and frowned. "Sakura! Before you bandage that, you need to administer an anti-toxin if you packed one," he said. "These two were famous for their usage of quick acting poisons. If you don't take care of that, it won't matter if you fix the external damage." Sakura nodded and hurriedly began searching for the proper thing. Kakashi turned to the unconscious men again and his frown only deepened. He had suspected that someone involved with the mist was on their trail. Earlier in the day, he'd noticed a small puddle. Benign on the surface, sure, but the dry weather simply didn't track with that being there. He had considered brining it up, but if he had, there was a chance the two ninjas might not have attacked, and they they'd be none the wiser as to what type of enemy they were REALLY dealing with. Still…his decision to try and force a confrontation had gotten Naruto hurt. Guilt gnawed at his stomach, along with a quiet sort of fury. His gaze fell on Tazuna who flinched at the dark look he saw there. "Mr. Tazuna…we need to have a serious talk," he said flatly.
Naruto let out a quick gasp of pain as he felt the little injector enter his neck. The effect was near instantaneous. As the anti-toxin ran through his blood, he felt feeling return to his arm, the numbness slowly being chased away. With a clench of his fist, he nodded, and Sakura got to work, quickly bandaging his arm. "It's a good thing you thought to pack those medical supplies. I might be up a creek without it," he said.
"Well I wanted to be prepared for anything that might happen. Remember when we went on that survival challenge at the academy, and you spent half of it down with food poisoning from those berries you found?" She laughed softly at the glum look on his face, showing he remembered all too well. "Well, after that I decided I wasn't going to be caught flat footed if one of you dummies went and got yourself hurt again. My dad is a medical corps ninja and I had him put together an aid pack with all the essentials," she said with a smile. Naruto made a mental note to thank Sakura's father when they got back to the village for that sort of foresight. She looked over to where Kakashi and Sasuke stood and sighed softly. "Guess we were right, huh? Something big is going on if there are rogue ninja after him," she said. Naruto nodded, getting to his feet with Sakura's help and, after a quick check to make sure his feet weren't still numb, he walked over to listen in on the conversation.
"The devil do you mean a 'serious talk'? Tazuna demanded. Kakashi's look betrayed no emotion, but when he spoke, his voice was that same low, uncompromising voice you'd expect from a teacher whose students were hurt because of someone else's foolish choices.
"When you put in your request for your mission, you only paid for a C rank mission. The harshest sort of resistance that you expect from a class of mission such as that are, as we previously outlined to you, robbers and other non-shinobi threats that are beyond E and D rank threats. Had we been aware that you had rogue ninja, especially those like the brothers after you, we would have charged you for a B class mission or higher. Furthermore, we never would have sent genin on this mission. Nobody under chunin rank or higher would have even been considered for the mission, much less actually sent on it. So, the way I figure it, there are two distinct possibilities as to why you've gone and done something so unbelievably stupid as to lie to not only us, but Lord Hokage. One, you were aware of the extreme threats to your life, far beyond the scope of the mission you paid for and simply didn't want to or couldn't afford to pay for the higher protection level. Or two, you didn't know that you were a marked man by whoever sent these two and this is just as surprising to you as it was us," he said.
"Well, if those are my options, I'm betting it's probably the first one," Sasuke grunted. Kakashi nodded.
"I believe that's correct. The Land of Waves, as we discussed, is not a very prosperous place, and it would stand to reason that you wouldn't have the money needed for a B rank or higher mission. And I suspect that you didn't go to the Mizukage with this request, as Sakura pointed out would have made more sense, because you were afraid if your ruse was discovered by them, you'd lose what little offers of help they DO grant you. Understandable, but not forgivable. Anyone of my students could've potentially died just now. Naruto is lucky he isn't sick from the poison or worse at a minimum. So, if you expect us to go one step further with you, you better lay your cards on the table now. No more lies," he warned. "Trust me. I'll know if you do." Tazuna, jaw clenched, let out a breath through his nostrils and nodded.
"Your correct. The brutal truth is that my work on the bridge, my efforts to connect us to the mainland and make life better for us has brought the ire of a very wealthy, very dangerous man down on our heads. Gato." Kakashi's eye widened.
"As it Gato Industries?" Tazuna nodded.
"Th same. You heard me mention that few merchants deal with transporting goods to my home. Gato is one of the only ones, but he doesn't do it out of the kindness of his heart, I can assure you. He gouges our people for every coin he can make off us, and he does so because he knows that we have no other options. If he ever decided to cut ties with us, it's untelling the damage it could cause to us long term. When word reached him of my plans to build the bridge, he tried to intimidate me. Then, when that failed, he began to send thugs to intimidate my workers. And so on and so forth…the escalation of his tactics just kept getting more extreme until finally word reached me that he had contacted the Demon Triad," he said softly.
"Well, that's a pleasant name. Who is the Demon Triad?" Naruto asked, looking at Kakashi.
"They're all former Hidden Mist ninja, many of whom were high ranking within the structure of the village, who attempted to overthrow the Mizukage. The coup failed and the leaders, The Triad as their known now, all went into hiding, operating mostly from the shadows." He glanced over to the bound-up men. "My guess…they're the ones who sent those two. And when they don't report back in, they'll likely try and interfere directly," he said. Tazuna visibly gulped at the thought of that. "Well, this is definitely a fine mess we've gotten ourselves into. We may need to turn back and get some reinforcements," he said. Shocked expressions met his own. "I don't like the idea of it, either. But we must consider the fact that if they send more people after us, we'd be seriously risking ourselves, beyond the scope that should be expected of you all as genin."
"You can't be serious! We've already lost enough time on the bridge as it is, and now you want me to sit around even longer?" Tazuna snapped.
"I don't think you have the high ground to mouth off to us right now," Naruto growled, calmed only when Sakura put a hand on his shoulder.
"Easy Naruto…I don't like it either, but he has a point. His people can't stay as they are much longer. Every minute counts in situations like this. Kakashi-Sensei, I understand what you're saying, and ordinarily I'd probably be all for that, especially with Naruto's arm. But if we turn back now, by the time they put a proper squad together to match the difficulty, they'll have had the extra time to send those people. If we keep moving now while we have them off balance, we may have some time to think of a plan," she said. Naruto and Sasuke nodded.
"She's right, Kakashi-sensei. We turn back now, we'd just be playing right into their hands," Sasuke said. Kakashi sighed heavily. They had a fair point. A lot of their better ninja were already tasked out as it was. And if The Triad was involved, this was easily an S level mission. Getting a fitting squad together for that would take at least a couple days. And all the while, they'd be putting pieces into place to try and get at Tazuna no matter what obstacles you tried to throw up. Eventually, he nodded.
"Very well. If you all think you're able to really handle this, then we'll stick with it. But be warned, when we have some free time, we're going to get some serious training in. Understood?" They all nodded and then set off. Naruto glanced at his arm, not seeing but feeling the bandage on the wound. He gripped at it, feeling the throbbing pain radiate through him and he decided. He wouldn't let himself get caught out like that again. He made an oath to himself right then. Whoever these guys were, whatever they wanted to throw at them, he'd see this mission completed. No matter what.
And were done. Sorry for the delay in getting this to you guys, I've had a wild couple of days. What did you think of my changes to Sakura's family? I figure her taking to medical ninjutsu so fast in canon, it would have made sense for someone in her family to have SOME type of training I hope you enjoyed the chapter guys. If you'd take a moment to leave a review, I would be very grateful to you. Even if you don't though, I still love ya for just taking the time to stick with me.
See you next time, fellow readers
-Elise
