Chapter 6: Path of Stealth & Combat
Naruto woke up well before the day dawned, all but Asuma were fast asleep since the last shift of the night watch was his. A brief nodding of acknowledgment passed between the two before Naruto moved on to his mission.
Naruto intended to make use of the cover of darkness at a time when the guards would be at their most relaxed, and tired, state. After all, who would wait until almost the crack of dawn to make their move?
Briefly looking out the window, he saw that it was a cloudless sky with a not quite full moon. It made it risky to go across non-shadowed areas without applying his stealth ninjutsu. Still, he doubted that there would be any guards walking about in town at this time of night, they'd all be posted at vital areas, such as the mansion.
Speaking of the mansion, Naruto realized that Gato would be home, asleep. However, he gave his word to Ronin that he would be the one to deal the avenging blow, if possible. Which meant that Ronin took priority. Besides, even if Naruto removed Gato from the picture, his goons would not magically disappear. Ronin was still a mission VIP that could help turn the very local, and very imminent rebellion in the villagers' favor.
Deciding that Gato was going to have to wait a bit longer, Naruto set forth for the mansion.
With his ninja speed, he was there within 15 minutes. He could spot the very first rays of morning light appearing on the ocean horizon. Very briefly, Naruto noted that the mansion was ideally located if one wished to enjoy watching the sun rise above the sea.
Abandoning his train of thought, Naruto figured that he'd have a greater chance of remaining undetected if the went the back-way. The same way he went in the last time he was there. Utilizing his ninja skills, he determined that there were no guards on the other side of the door... well, he really only listened on the door and peeped through the keyhole...
Anyway, it was one of the easiest locks he ever picked and he was inside not even half-a-minute after he started.
Applying his "Spirit Stride" jutsu, he snuck by some dozing guards guarding the stairs to the upper level, one even mumbling in his sleep.
The stairs leading below was unguarded, which struck Naruto as odd. While he didn't remember seeing guards posted here, there were guards moving about during the day that sort of made the point moot. Now, however, there should have been at least one on duty, at least if you asked Naruto.
Shrugging in an uncaring manner, Naruto proceeded downstairs. He soon arrived at the door that contained Ronin in the room beyond it. Knocking lightly, he soon got a response.
"Yes?"
"It's me. Ghost-san." Naruto said.
Some light shuffling could be heard before Ronin's voice was heard closer to the door.
"Have you come to release me at last?" Ronin asked with an impatient air.
"Yeah, and I've got your weapon. I'm glad to tell you it's in great condition still." Naruto said happily.
"Very good," Ronin said, relieved. "I'm as ready as I ever will be till I get my weapon back once more. Open this door for me, please."
"One opened door, coming right up." Naruto said even as he started the lock-picking process. The door's lock was more massive than the back-door he picked a minute earlier, but nothing he couldn't handle.
Moments later, the door was unlocked and Ronin swung it open. To Naruto's surprise, he wasn't greeted with a grateful former prisoner's face. Instead, his throat was gripped and himself slammed at the opposite wall. Not quite unable to breathe, Naruto was still choking and thoroughly shocked at the turn of events. Looking at the assailant, he saw Ronin himself. A bearded, slightly scarred face of a hardened man in his thirties looked back at him with an angry scowl, his brown eyes seemingly piercing his own with their steely stare.
Quickly regaining his wits, Naruto spoke. "Not quite... the thanks... I was expecting." He choked out.
"You could be an impostor, luring me into a trap. Or Gato could have sent you to trick me from the start. I have to make certain you are indeed the person I spoke to before. And if you are him, that you intend to keep your word." Ronin stated, a hard tone in his voice.
As a ninja, Naruto could understand where he was coming from. He supposed that, as Samurai, they had to have foresight just as much as ninjas had to. Showing his empty right hand to the disgraced Samurai, he proceeded to slowly produce the scroll containing the man's katana, all the while the owner's eyes followed his actions.
Unrolling the scroll and unsealing the weapon, all while still being choked, Naruto finally presented the sword to its master. Seeing his beloved blade just as it was before they were forcibly parted, Ronin let Naruto go as he took the weapon. Naruto tried his best to muffle his coughs as he massaged his throat.
After a few moments of inspecting the blade for any dents or anything else amiss with it, Ronin deemed it as pristine as it ever was. Sheathing it and attaching it to his person, Ronin then turned back to the young ninja that was not quite recovered from his throat being mistreated. Ronin then did what Samurai are absolutely not known to do. He bowed to the ninja.
"My gratitude and apologies, Ghost-san. I now know you are a man of your word and I will therefore trust you, to a point."
Clearing his throat lightly before speaking, Naruto replied. "You're welcome and apology accepted. Ronin-san. I suppose when it comes to trust, Samurai and Ninja think in the same way."
Nodding in concession to the point, Ronin then asked. "So what is the next step, Ghost-san?"
"Well, all this is sort of on your shoulders. Without you and your Samurai on our side, we'd be in one big mess. So, really, it's 'what's your next step' now. I'm just along to help and protect you for now."
"I don't need protection," Ronin started gruffly. "but I, nevertheless, wont refuse it. From where I stand, I believe our only course of action is to make a statement through force of arms."
"Eh? What do you mean?" Naruto asked, not sure if he liked where this was going.
"I mean that in order to inspire my men to abandon their current employer and rejoin me as Samurai, they would have to witness for themselves that I have indeed returned and that I am able to bring about the change our home is in dire need of. This is done by me fighting their, so called, mercenary comrades."
"But they're too many!" Naruto pointed out.
"Hai, all at once, they are. But the ones in this building should be just the right amount for a demonstration."
"Um... where are the rest then?"
"They are probably guarding the docks and the village itself."
"I didn't see anyone down there." Naruto said, now starting to grow concerned about the lack of mercs.
"Indeed? That seems like a poor strategic play of Gato. And, though I loathe him, I would be in error to believe him to not know how to deploy his men."
"He's not a military man, Ronin-san."
"True, but one does not have to be in the military to know at least the basics of how to position men. And Gato has shown to be a shrewd man as well as prudent. It stands to reason that he is a more dangerous foe, strategically, than his appearance might dictate."
"That... is worrying. If this is one of three places he has men stationed at, and the other two are more or less empty. And the ones here aren't that many either... Where are they all?"
"Why, they are at the trap we've set for you and your comrades, of course." Came a voice from the stairway.
Turning to face the voice's source, they saw a group of mercenaries, of which there were a handful of the former Samurai mixed with the rest of the lowlives. They looked apprehensive at the prospect of having to fight their former commander.
Also among them was the fake Kiri hunter nin. The mask still covering the face, one could still see the dismay at the idiot mercenary's foolish reveal of their trap.
"I must point out that, while we have numbers on our side, it is always foolish to reveal a trap prematurely." The nin chided.
"Who cares, they're as good as dead anyway." Dismissed the merc uncaringly.
Sighing in exasperation, the nin turned to Naruto. "Well, it turned out pretty much as I suspected it would."
"And what was your suspicion then, shinobi?" Ronin inquired tersely, his hand fingering the handle of his weapon. Naruto was likewise readying himself for the inevitable imminent conflict.
"That the ninjas protecting the bridge builder learned of you, Ronin-san, and would make a move to break you out of imprisonment. Though I am surprised that an unaffiliated ninja would do it. Tell me, what reason you do have to operate against my employer?"
"My reasons are my own. And as for you figuring out that Ronin would be a target of rescue, that reeks of bullshit." Naruto darkly accused. "No way did you have a reason to think so on your own or you would have advised Gato to assign a tighter security inside and outside the mansion."
Naruto had a distinct impression that the enemy nin smiled behind the mask as he/she responded. "I will admit, it helped when I saw evidence of a previous break-in."
"What evidence?" Naruto demanded. He didn't think he left any clues behind that he was ever there.
"When I was in Gato's office yesterday, I noticed a small spot of dirt on top of a file cabinet. It looked as if it came from the soil just outside the mansion. This lead me to believe that it was stood upon by an intruder. Why, I couldn't even hazard a guess. But someone was there, obviously searching for information and possibly Gato's life.
I informed my master of my findings and he, in turn, informed Gato, who promptly looked for anything out of place. Nothing, nor anyone, seemed missing or out of place, to your credit. But Gato was sufficiently rattled that he and my master worked on a trap for you and the other ninja guarding that bridge builder he wants eliminated."
"Besides the obvious one here, what other trap do you have set up, Haku?" Naruto asked. Half to keep them talking while his mind worked feverishly on a way out or the best way to engage the enemy once battle was joined. Half to learn of the other trap so he could, in the event he survives, could help thwart it.
"So you learned my name, well done." Haku complimented. "Zabuza-sama and the Demon Brothers you forgot to deal with after your first battle are preparing to ambush the bridge builder and the Konoha ninja at the bridge as we speak. The pirates have already set sail in order to evade any sabotage attempts and will arrive to the bridge to provide fire support in case they need it sometime during the fight. The remaining mercenaries are moving into position to teach the town itself a lesson about resisting Gato's rule." The nin looked and sounded somewhat remorseful during the reveal of their plans. As if working for Gato left a bitter taste in the mouth.
Thoroughly upset by what they heard, Naruto and Ronin were aching to go and join their comrades in arms against their foes. But first they had to deal with the ones in the room, possibly the entire mansion if they weren't all downstairs with them already.
'This is a giant mess, all because of a spot of dirt.' Naruto thought with a mix of dark humor and remorse for his blunder, mostly the latter.
Suddenly, the nin produced senbon from somewhere and brandished them between the fingers in a threatening manner. "Enough talk. Now we end this. Zabuza-sama needs me down by the bridge."
The mercs, sans the former samurai, held their weapons at the ready and charged at the two. Ronin reacted quickly and got between Naruto and the group. The moment they reached him, he drew his sword and swiped at the three closest mercs, decapitating one and slicing the throats of the other two. He didn't recover for a second swipe. Instead the first swipe was merely the beginning of what can only be described as a morbidly beautiful dance of blood and death as he wasted no movement, no matter how quick, in his parrying, evasion and slicing down of his opponents. It was a marvel to behold, or it would have if Naruto wasn't preoccupied with the masked nin.
Naruto had to dodge and deflect a seemingly endless flurry of senbon being thrown at him by his enemy, giving him little to no time to work up a strategy to even get close.
'This is crazy!' He thought in disbelief at the amount of senbon coming at him. 'Unless the guy's got a storage seal somewhere, it shouldn't be possible to carry that many senbon, let alone throw them so fast!'
Thinking frantically, he finally had an idea as he took notice of the opened door to the former prison. It was opened outwards, not inwards. Making his way back, making it look like he was loosing ground, he finally took cover behind the door and made the hand seals for his Haunting Hunt jutsu.
'Ghost Style: Haunting Hunt' He thought out the name as the jutsu started to take effect just Haku came around the door.
Finding nothing behind the door, Haku was momentarily stunned before remembering that this one was proficient in stealth and jumped back. Reacting quickly, Haku made hand signs rapidly.
"Ice Style: Demonic Ice Mirrors!" Haku called out, and immediately after, several mirrors of ice appeared around them in an almost igloo fashion, with gaps between the mirrors.
Wasting no time, Haku jumped into one of the mirrors and initiated a barrage of senbon several times more severe than when the fight started. Naruto, while still cloaked, knew that it wouldn't avail him long. Any moment now he would be hit by the senbon that Haku threw about in an effort to locate him. And every second that passed made the floor harder to traverse with all the senbon riddling the floor, posing danger to his feet just as well as regular caltrops would.
He briefly considered squeezing through the gaps between the mirrors, but they were just small enough to prevent anyone passing through. Most likely they were that narrow partly because they were indoors and partly because Haku couldn't risk him slipping out unseen.
Suddenly, Naruto was struck by a few senbon in his right calf. It didn't reveal his position, but it hurt and debilitated Naruto a fair bit.
In desperation, Naruto summoned a couple of his Phantom replicas to divert Haku's attention, if only briefly.
That was when he noticed it. The senbons didn't disrupt them enough to cause them to disperse completely, no matter how many or rapidly they were struck. The senbon harmlessly passed through.
A plan started to form within Naruto's mind, but first he needed to determine how Haku was doing this barrage. Looking up at the mirrors, he saw that in every mirror, Haku's image was... reflected or something in several mirrors for a split second before the ones that didn't have Haku's image had them instead. To the untrained eye, Haku would appear to be within all mirrors at once.
'Haku's... simply that fast?' Naruto deduced in disbelief. 'Well, if speed is the game, then I'll remove it from the board.'
Naruto summoned many more phantom squad members and had them positioned, one by one, at the mirrors with their blades drawn and covering the mirrors from edge to edge.
Haku saw, with horrified astonishment, that the senbon were ineffective against the clones. And said clones were now a threat as well since they mirrors with their blades, preventing them from being useful. As more and more mirrors were being rendered useless, Haku realized that there was no other way than to discontinue the technique, or risk being cut up when passing out from or into a mirror covered by a blade.
Then again... if senbon have no effect on the clone, would the clone have an effect on solid matter at all?
Deciding to calling the perceived bluff, Haku jumped to a covered mirror.
Only to suffer the sensation of being drained severely of chakra around the midsection.
Unable to maintain the jutsu any longer, Haku fell out of the mirror onto the floor. The ice melting away into pools of water.
Cheering inside his mind, Naruto dispelled the phantom squad and approached Haku, cloak gone and blade drawn and poised at Haku's throat.
"Do you yield?" Naruto asked.
A moment passed as Haku apparently contemplated that statement.
"You should not show mercy to your enemies." Haku said in a sad tone.
"Maybe, but I'm not in the habit of killing defenseless foes if I can help it." Naruto said neutrally. "Besides, I believe that you don't deserve to die, but to live."
Haku regarded Naruto from the floor briefly. "Why do you say that? I have lost to you and have forfeited my life."
"I don't think you particularly want to be in Gato's employ, given how regretful you sounded about it before. That leads me to believe you disagree with what he's doing to this land and its people. That is a sign of a good person. And good people deserve to live. Simple as that.
And another thing, losing does not guarantee death. Granted it is the most likely outcome, but there are those with a different nindo. A different view on what it means to be a ninja. Mine is, among other things, to protect. That does not automatically mean I kill whatever is a threat. As you and I both know, today's enemy is tomorrow's friend in the world of the ninja."
"But the opposite is also true." Haku commented.
"That's true too." Naruto said as he removed the blade from Haku's throat and kneeled down to look Haku in the eyes, barely visible through the eye holes of the mask. "But I believe mercy and kindness is the way to help along the betterment of the world."
Chuckling, Haku remarked. "A naive sentiment. But one I happen to share, believe it or not."
Grinning, Naruto responded. "I do, believe it. I have ever since I first saw you."
Puzzled by that statement, Haku nevertheless said. "But it wont matter. I am a broken tool and must be disposed of."
Shocked by that, Naruto asked. "What are you talking about?"
"My reason for being is to serve Zabuza-sama as his tool for achieving his dreams. Now that I have lost, I am useless to him and should be allowed to die."
"I am all to happy to oblige that."
Ronin had danced through the group of mercs seemingly with no effort, cutting them down one by one as he went. The former samurai were hanging back, witnessing the slaughter of their "comrades".
"Samurai!" Ronin called out to his former subordinates. "The time has come..." evaded and slashed "to rise up..." parried and elbowed a merc's face "and retake our land..." cut another merc's tendons before flipping over the victim's back "from the tyrant Gato!"
Deflected a blade into another merc's stomach "I have returned..." stomped on a foot and stabbed through the mouth "to reclaim my position..." dodged a thrown dagger that hit a merc behind him in the eye "as your commander!"
Stabbed backward into an enemy's gut and drew his sword for dual-wielding "Regain your honor..." parried with one blade while stabbing with the other "by rejoining me in battle..." dual slashed a merc into four pieces "to free your home once and for all!"
Seeing the valor and skill that their former leader displayed despite being out of the game for a considerable while impressed them. One drew his blade and rushed into the fight and slew one merc before going for another. That was the spark that lit the fire as the rest followed suit and quickly ended the remaining mercs. Their own skills had not waned much, which encouraged them even more.
It was at that point that Ronin looked at his men, nodded in pride and addressed them further.
"Welcome back, warriors of Wave. You have taken the first step in regaining not only your honor, but the freedom of our home. Fall in and follow me and I will lead you to victory and glory."
"Hai!" The men responded as one.
Ronin turned and saw that Ghost-san had his blade at the enemy nin's throat. Suddenly, to Ronin's surprise and disapproval, he removed the blade and crouched down to speak further with the enemy.
Approaching the two, he caught on to the words of the defeated foe.
"Now that I have lost, I am useless to him and should be allowed to die."
Brandishing his blade, Ronin approached them. "I am all to happy to oblige that."
Naruto, however, immediately stood up and positions himself in Ronin's way.
Ronin frowned and spoke in a hard tone. "Get out of the way, boy!"
Naruto met his steely gaze with one of his own, slightly impressing the man. "No, killing a defeated and harmless enemy gives no one any honor. Haku, here, was merely a hired blade. One that didn't agree with the things Gato has done and is doing. I believe that we can kill two birds with one stone here."
"Elaborate." Ronin demanded.
"For one, Haku's a good person that's only doing this because of Zabuza, their group's leader. As one who knows all about honor, you should appreciate the value of remaining loyal and dutiful to one's master. Sparing Haku would be to our credit on a personal level.
Then there's the fact we can interrogate Haku for information. Anything we can learn about Gato's forces is a boon for our side, wouldn't it?"
Ronin wasn't sold on the first part, though he wasn't exactly against such a standpoint either. But the second part was what convinced him to stay his blade.
"Very well, Ghost-san. This one shall live, for now at least." He said as he cleaned his blade before sheathing it. "But the information better be worth it."
"It will be, wont it Haku?" Naruto said, looking at his captive.
Haku sighed in resignation. "As long as it is information about Gato's forces, I am willing to comply. But I wont betray my master. I request you let him leave once Gato is defeated."
"You are in no position to request anything." Ronin said harshly. "Despite being only a hired blade, he has to answer for his crimes against this land and its lord."
"Ronin-san." Naruto began. "Would you be swearing a blood feud against another samurai serving his lord if he was the one to fell your own lord?"
Regarding Naruto with a contemplative yet hard glare, he shook his head after a moment. "No, I would be striving to strike down the lord himself."
"Then Gato, being the 'lord' in question here, is the one you truly want to go after, right?"
Ronin had to admit, this ninja had remarkable insight into the ways of the samurai. He couldn't help but chuckle.
"You are a surprising one. You know how to talk to me." He then turned to Haku. "If events will allow it, I shall offer Zabuza a chance to stand down and leave in peace. But know this; if he resists, I shall not hesitate to engage and destroy him." Ronin said firmly.
Haku nodded in agreement, knowing that was the best one could hope for in a situation such as this.
"Is Gato present in the mansion?" Naruto asked.
"No. He's out somewhere with his men. Which group I do not know, or I would have told you." Haku replied.
"Ronin-san. Let's take Haku with us and question as we move, the others may be in need of us as we speak." Naruto said urgently, as he was reminded that time was of the essence.
"Agreed. Are you capable of walking?" Ronin asked Haku.
"Yes, but not very well." Haku replied, still feeling the effects of the phantom's blade.
"Aizu! Get over here and help this ninja keep up with the rest of us." Ronin commanded.
"Hai, Taishou!" The man known as Aizu acknowledged and did as ordered.
"We have to hurry, who knows how bad things have already gotten." Naruto urged as he took point.
Asuma had taken a quick reconnaissance trip to the docks to see whether the pirate ships were there, before he decided the next course of action. However, to his dismay, the ships were already gone. He supposed they were out on patrol or something.
That unfortunate development would no doubt cause problems further down the road. But it did little in changing what had to otherwise be done. He turned around and headed back to Tazuna's home.
Inari was quiet during breakfast, but had a distinctly improved demeanor as he was no longer bitter and sulking. Instead he appeared thoughtful as he ate. His thought didn't seem to be of the happy kind though.
Hinata, having seen the troubled look of the boy, decided to have that talk she wanted to have with him before, once breakfast was finished.
Knocking on his door, she softly called. "Inari-kun, are you in there?"
"Yeah. Come in." Inari called back. Hinata could tell from the way he spoke that things have improved, but there were still room for more.
Closing the door behind her, she went to sit beside him by the window he was looking out of.
After a small while, Hinata started the conversation, speaking softly and caringly. "You appeared to be a little troubled by something at the table, Inari-kun. You look just as troubled now, in fact. What is the matter?"
Inari's head bowed in thought. He then looked outside again as he answered. "That Ghost guy told me of what his life's been like. It was way worse than my own. And he still goes through life with his head held high." His head bowed a little again as he continued. "It makes me feel weak and useless by comparison."
"You shouldn't think like that, Inari-kun. You are not even ten years old. You can't be expected to be able to face such hardships as strongly as N... Ghost-kun was and is able to."
"Why not? He was able to, doesn't that mean that I should be able to too?" Inari asked slightly agitated by his own troubled thoughts.
"Ghost-kun is a special case, he's much stronger than most I know." 'And I imagine most of who I don't know too.' She thought to herself. "That doesn't mean that you are weak, nor worth less than him or anything like that." She said comfortingly, her hand on his shoulder.
The ache in Inari's heart was soothed by her words, but not completely gone. "My... hero, Kaiza, died, defying Gato. He was strong and brave, but he died against Gato's might. I... couldn't help but resent people who thought they could bring hope, bring help to us. It reminded me too much of him. I had lost all hope, and I didn't even want to have it back, because it hurt so much." Inari said, sniffing and sobbing quietly.
"But I never stopped admiring him or stopped loving him as if he was my real dad. He taught me to work with all that I have and fight for what was right with all my strength and courage. But when he died, I just couldn't do it anymore."
At this point he was openly crying and bawling.
"He would be so ashamed of me!" He cried into Hinata's shoulder. She embraced him and held him until the tears subsided.
"I don't think he would, Inari-kun. I may not have known him, but from what I have learned of him, he seemed to be a wise and strong man. I would say he'd be proud of you."
"Why?! What have I done to deserve any pride from someone else? I don't deserve it from Kaiza, from mom or my granddad."
Hinata shook her head with a small smile. "No, Inari-kun, that's not true. While you may have suffered and become bitter before, which is perfectly understandable, the fact that you are rethinking things and realizing your faults is in fact to your credit. To realize and admit where you gone wrong and work towards making things right is a sign of strength and courage. And from someone your age, that is very impressive and worthy of pride."
Sniffing, Inari pointed out. "I didn't say I would make anything right."
Smiling kindly, Hinata said. "You didn't have to. I can see that you want to. You wouldn't have these thoughts and feelings if you didn't have the desire to make things right again."
"I... I just don't know how. What do I do?" Inari asked with a sad, lost expression.
"It's simple Inari-kun. Ask your mother and grandfather to forgive you. Talk to them about what you have talked to me about. You can work things out from there, as a family."
Inari thought about it for just a moment before nodding with a smile. He didn't waste any time either, he ran to the door. Before he ran out, he turned around. "Thank you, Hinata-san."
"My pleasure, Inari-kun." Hinata replied happily. Inari then went out the door to see his family.
'Yes, helping others that suffered in ways similar to yourself is very gratifying, Naruto-kun.' Hinata thought as she felt very happy about what had just transpired.
A short while after that, Asuma came and summoned his team for the daily watch. Shikamaru was assigned to watch the house, Tsunami and Inari. Asuma, Hinata and Chouji went to the bridge.