Chapter 44

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aj173682: Glad to hear you're enjoying it. I've not yet nailed down exactly what's going to be happening in the latter stages of Shippuden, but Naruto will definitely be involved in the Pain Arc. As for your second question, I'll leave that unanswered as we're closing in on the Konoha Crush.

Loose Ends

Tri's left eye slowly peaked open, a few moments ahead of his right one as it tended to do, the Sharingan allowed for faster visual perception after all. He was greeted by the makings of a rather pleasant morning, the waves slowly, almost lazily rolling onto the beach. The slightest of breezes rustling the branches above them. But something seemed off.

His eyes should have been greeted by the waves rolling in towards the shore, he'd fallen asleep with them in his direct line of sight. But instead his vision was filled with the paling leaves and dark brown wood of a tree.

Lifting his head he was quickly able to suss out what exactly had happened, but had no answer as to how it had happened. He was now laid out on the soft grass and no longer leaning back against the tree. Somehow during the night he and Sakura had apparently shifted about two to three feet away from the tree.

As for Sakura herself, she seemed to still be asleep. But was no longer curled up on top of him anymore as she had been when they'd fallen asleep, she'd slid off to his right at some point during the night. His right arm had been commandeered as a makeshift pillow while her own right arm and right leg were tightly laid across him. 'Guess I ain't going anywhere then.'

But after a few minutes of staring aimlessly above at the tree and sky he tried to sit up, Sakura, however, actively resisted, mumbling, "No, too early." Her grip on him tightened a little, her chest pressing into the side of his ribcage, "Oh, so you are awake," he remarked.

No answer.

He tried a second time, again she resisted, "Nooo," she groggily complained holding him in place. Deciding that wasn't going to work given her substantial strength, he changed tack. Leaning in as best he could he whispered in her ear, "Sakura-chan. I can feel your breasts against me just fine, you don't have to crush me."

It did the trick, her eyes shot open and she sat up in a flash which would have for an amusing sight as she attempted to disentangle herself from Tri. She couldn't stop the blush creeping up her face as his full statement was worked through in her mind. "Sorry, Tri," she apologised. "It's ok," he replied finally able to sit up himself, "Besides, I wasn't complaining," he naughtily whispered to her. "Shut up," she said playfully hitting him before taking a big yawn.

"That was a mighty big yawn. Did you not sleep well?" The dark bags under her eyes stood out greatly against her fair skin. "No. I kept waking up during the night and had trouble falling asleep again."
"How come?" he asked in concern, his voice flipping from playful to serious. "My mind kept replaying Kusuri's death, those same few seconds repeating over and over." He tried to comfort her, a hand gently rubbing her back, "Things like this are to be expected, Sakura. It only happened yesterday."

"Have you ever had bad dreams like this before?" she innocently asked. "In a sense," he replied, his mind drifting to the dream he'd been having for years. Even now it was still little more than a garbled, blurred mess of sound and colour.

"At least it's a peaceful morning," Sakura said more positively. "That it is, I quite enjoy hearing the waves crash against the beach every morning. It must be fantastic here at the height of summer."
"You think anything interesting is happening back home?" she asked, wishing to change the subject. "Probably not, the only thing I know that's happening is the diplomatic exchange with Iwa. Which means Naruto-kun's probably bored out of his mind right now."

-(*)-

Konoha

"Ah! You minx!" Naruto hissed.

He was currently stood in the middle of a now rather familiar hotel room, a pair of long, strong legs wrapped around his waist with his arms under Kurotsuchi. Holding her lithe body up, they made the most of the five or so minutes they had. In the evenings they took their time, but the few minutes they stole when Naruto arrived to escort her to the Hokage tower in the mornings were fast and frantic.

And Kurotsuchi had just pulled on his earlobe a little too hard with her teeth.

"You're so aggressive in the morning Kuro-chan," he managed to say before she kissed him again. "I know, I have to make the best of the little time we have," she said after they'd broken for air, "Besides, I know you love it," she sultrily whispered to him.

With a smirk he pinched her ass in retaliation, she jumped in his arms, a surprised squeak escaping her lips bringing her neck level with Naruto's eyes. Before she settled back down he took full advantage, laying a trail of light, quick kisses along her jaw and across her neck. "Mmm," she lightly moaned at the sensations, her hands freely running through his thick hair, "Remember, no marks or love bites."

"Don't worry I didn't forget," he reassured her as he shifted his hold on her to free up an arm. He took a hold of the neck of her shirt with his index finger and thumb and slowly pulled it as far down as he could without hurting her or damaging it. Naruto was very thankful she wore something looser fitting today than the normal red turtleneck-like shirt she usually donned.

"A part of me thinks that you want me to take my shirt off," she said as he kissed as far down the exposed skin of her upper torso as her shirt would allow. He brought her back down to eye level and kissed her on the lips, "And a part of me wants to simply tear this shirt off and continue kissing down your body."
"Mmm, that does sound exciting but I'm afraid it'll have to wait, sweetie, we've gotta go," she said as she spared a brief glance at the clock.

She unwillingly unhooked her legs from behind him but he didn't let her down and after his own brief glance at the clock saw they still had around sixty seconds or so. He carried her over to and gently set her down in the chair in front of the dressing table. Plucking up the brush from said table he began to straighten out her short hair, it had been a roaming hand of his that had messed her hair up to begin with and he would now rectify that.

"You're proving to be very useful you know," she said in approval, enjoying the bristles lightly trailing across her scalp. "Is that right? Well, if that's the case then I'll have to remember to do things like this more often then," he said before putting the brush down.

She smoothed her shirt out to minimise the chance of creases. Travelling over to the bed she picked up her pouch belt and fastened it around her waist. "Alright, we'd better go," she said. "Hang on Kuro-chan, there is one more thing."
"Which i…" she was quickly spun around and a seriously fierce kiss planted on her lips.

Her chest was heaving when Naruto finally broke away. He'd leaned her back so she was almost horizontal, his arms around her the only thing stopping her from falling over entirely. "Wow," she breathed, "You're definitely useful to have around." He lifted her vertical once again. "Will I see you again tonight?" He nodded, "There are a few things I need to do so I'll be a little later than usual but I'll be here," he answered picking up the scroll.

"Ok," she smiled. A quick peck on the lips and they were out the door.

-(*)-

"Yeah, completely bored," Tri repeated with confidence.

"I supposed we'd best get back before the others come looking for us," Sakura sighed as she stood. With a sigh of his own Tri replied," I suppose you're right. Hell knows how we're going to pass the time until the bridge is finished. We can't leave until it is."
"I'll take the monotony of having little to do over fighting for our lives."
"That's true," he conceded accepting her hand so she could pull him to his feet.

She knelt down to pick up the blanket, she folding it up before handing it to him. With a small nod of thanks he sealed it away.

Before she could walk away he pulled her into another hug. "If you ever need someone to talk to, then I'm happy to listen. But if I'm not available then there are always the Yamanaka councillors you can go see." She gave a slow nod as he released her. "Come on then, let's go," he gently encouraged.

-(*)-

"Zabuza, there's something, or rather someone I wanted to ask you about, if you're willing," Tri said across the kitchen table. The man who not twenty-four hours ago had been the enemy lifted his head and stared back. "And pray tell, who might that be?"
"He's a former Kiri Nin and I guess is still, technically, a member of the Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū, Hoshigaki Kisame."

Zabuza, who had been in the midst of depositing another clump of rice into his mouth froze briefly and studied the Shinobi across from him. "And why would you want to know about the Kirigakure no Kaijin?" he inquired as Kakashi, Sakura and Meshikamaru, all of whom had heard of Kisame listened in with interest.

"Because I've now run into, for one reason or another, the wielders of three of the seven swords of Kirigakure. And I can't help but shake the feeling that I'm gonna run into Kisame one day and if I can't run then…" he trailed off. "What was it specifically you were interested in?"
"Abilities, strengths, weaknesses, combat style, anything I can use to delay until I can withdraw or force a stalemate."

Sasuke snorted, "What's the matter? You sound like you're scared of him." Tri levelled an unimpressed look the young Uchiha's way, "Fear? No. But bluntly put, as things stand, Kisame would likely kill me in a straight up fight. He's an S-rank missing-nin for a reason."
"What does S-rank mean?" Tazuna curiously asked.

"It's a grading system used to measure the threat level of a Shinobi. It goes from C-Rank to S-Rank with C being the lowest and S being the highest," Kakashi explained. "The Genin here are all C-Rank as they're only six months out of the academy while Kakashi and Zabuza are both A-Rank. Sakura I'd say is B-Rank, perhaps a year or two from obtaining an A-ranking," Tri added.

"You forgot yourself Tri, you're an A-Rank too," Kakashi said, "there's even a few who suggest you should be S-rank." The Uzumaki shrugged his shoulders as the Genin gave him a shocked look, Zabuza was also giving him a weird look, it almost looked like respect but he couldn't be sure.

"Alright, I'll fill you in, but only if you hand over the details," the wide grin on his face revealing his sharpened teeth. Tri grinned back and slid a thin folder across the table, "I said I would," he reminded Zabuza as he picked it up and opened it.

Inside was a colour photograph and a single sheet of paper covered in locations, names and a various assortment of other details. "Oh, of course," Zabuza laughed as he recognised the face in the photo, it featured a beautiful woman with a single visible green eye, the other hidden behind a bang of her long auburn red hair.

"You recognise her I take it?"
"Yeah, Terumī Mei. A name and face I've not seen in some years, I really shouldn't be surprised it's someone like her."
"From what I've been able to gather, which admittedly isn't as much as I'd like, is that she's been building a following for a few years now with the end goal of ridding Kiri of Yagura. And apparently has, by all accounts, met with some success."
"Again, can't say I'm surprised, Yagura has alienated a good number of people over the years. Alright, I'm satisfied. So, Kisame."

Tri was a little surprised he'd been satiated so quickly but happily indicated he should start. "Quite simply, Kisame lives up to his nickname, he is a true monster of a Shinobi. Utterly without mercy and with chakra reserves that would make you Uzumaki's blush. I'm yet to encounter anyone who has more than him. But don't let his savagery and borderline sadism deceive you, he is a smart, cunning individual with a keen eye and perceptive mind.

"He is a master of Suiton Jutsu, capable of expelling quantities of water to rival lakes from his mouth in moments and has a fondness for sharks, there was talk of him even having a shark summon but I've never seen it. Beyond Suiton he is capable in two or three other natures, but he rarely uses them, his Suiton has always been sufficient for simply overwhelming everyone he comes across.

"And we've only talked about the man himself, he carries the greatest of the seven swords, a weapon with a mind of its own that you have to both force your will upon and have it accept you lest it drain your chakra entirely, Samehada (Sharkskin). The slightest contact with it will see your chakra pulled from you. Furthermore Samehada can use the chakra stored within itself to heal it wielder making Kisame stupidly hard to kill.

"As for his combat style…" Zabuza paused a moment to think on it. "I'd say his use of Samehada and high impact Suiton Jutsu in tandem are enough to beat pretty much anybody. A battle of attrition won't work because he has so much chakra and Samehada will have opportunities to steal yours. As for beating him, Genjutsu is probably your best bet but only if you can separate him from that sword.

To be frank you'd be best copying my idea. 'If you see him, turn around and walk the other way.' Is that the sort of info you were looking for?"
"Yeah, it's something to start in, my thanks, Zabuza." As Tri replied, Zabuza rose to his feet, "Good. Now I'm going to go bury Haku, if any of you care to join me."
"I'll go," Tri said, "And from the looks of it, so does Rezano," the teenager nodding vigorously, a strange site given the sombre look on his face.

The others all declined to join them so it just left the three of them, Zabuza left Kubikiribōchō in the questionably lax care of Kakashi before setting off, Haku's body held in his arms.

The opening minutes of their trek passed quietly as they meandered through the endless trees that covered most of the island, only the rustling of branches in the wind and the chirping of birds in their nests reached their ears.

"How's your girlfriend?" Tri suddenly asked, utterly blindsiding Rezano, the reaction clear to see on his face as he blushed. "S-she's not my girlfriend, Nii-san," he quietly said, his voice seemingly a mix of equal parts embarrassment and disappointment. 'He knew who I was referring to though,' Tri mentally chuckled.

"She isn't? What the hell are you waiting for?"
"Just because she's one of my closest friends doesn't mean she sees me as anything more than that." 'That sounded like frustration this time. Let's see if I can't drag a few answers out of him.'

"Oh Kami, please save me from the naivety of teenagers," he bemoaned with a facepalm, he made sure to overplay it to ridiculous levels. "Come now Rezano, you're a smart kid. Surely! Surely you've noticed the way she acts around you." Rezano cast a quick glance at a clearly listening Zabuza before looking back at Tri. "Ignore Zabuza," Tri reassured him, "He'll keep his trap shut, won't you?"
"Mmm," was his mumbled reply. "See, not a word. Now spill," Tri smirked.

"Umm, she does that thing where she pokes the tips of her fingers together whenever she talks to me. Are those the kind of things you're talking about?" Tri gave him a big nod, "Yeah, those are the kind of things. Now this finger poking, does she do it when speaking to anyone else?" Rezano took a few moments to comb his memories, "No, or at least I don't think so" he came back.

"Ok, can you think of anything else she does?"
"Um, she seems to speak much quieter when she's speaking directly to me or if she knows I'm within earshot."
"What do you mean by quieter?"
"I've seen her during some of her sessions with Naruto-kun and she spoke louder and more… I dunno how to put it."
"More confidently?" he suggested trying to guide him. "Yeah," he quickly agreed, "it seemed much easier for her. But when I showed myself she went quieter again."

"Hmm. Can you think of any others?"
"There is one more."
"And what's that?"
"Again, it was during one of Naruto's lessons with her. She'd been trying to get this new move combination down, she'd spent hours on it. It was just me and Naruto watching her. And then she got it, she's one of my dearest friends so I went and gave her a congratulatory hug – as you do."
"As you do," Tri agreed.

"Right, it was just after I'd let go that I realised her face had gone bright red. Before I could ask why, she shot off. I guess she went home, I don't really know. But whenever she saw me for like a week her face would go red again. I don't think I did anything wrong, did I?" Tri shook his head, "Trust me Otouto, you didn't do anything wrong."
"That's what Naruto-kun said as well."
"You've talked to him about this too?"
"A little."

'Seems it isn't just me who's noticed then. Although it's not exactly hard to miss.' "What do you think I should do Nii-san?" Tri puffed out his cheeks, "That's not really a question I can fully answer. So let me ask you; What do you think you should do?"
"I…I don't know," he said glumly. He got a supportive hand on the back of his neck, "I'm not surprised and before you start, I wasn't expecting you to be able to answer, you're still young after all."

"But what I can do is give you a few words of advice," he said offering an olive branch. "Be honest with her, don't lie and just tell her how you feel."
"Huh? Tell her how I feel?" he questioned in confusion, then it clicked, his eyes widened. "B-But I never…" Tri burst out laughing, "You didn't need to Otouto, it was written all over your face. Notice how I never once said which young lady I was referring to." That made Rezano blush again.

"Hey now, nothing to be embarrassed about. Just make sure you're ready to catch her when you tell her." Zabuza snorted while Rezano found himself again confused, "I don't get it."
"Well think about it, she blushed bright red just from you hugging her. You tell her that you fancy her and she might faint on the spot. Best find a nice patch of long grass just in case you miss her."
"Nii-san!" he exclaimed playfully pushing him away.

It resulted in an on/ off pushing match that lasted several minutes.

"Zabuza, have you seen anywhere you think Haku would have liked?" Tri asked while giving Rezano a nuggie. He'd kept quiet while the two brothers playfully pushed each other around, he knew he could trust both to be serious when the time came. "Not quite, the trees around this part of the forest are fairly sparse though. That's what I'm looking for so there might be somewhere nearby that fits."

A few clones burst into existence. "Nii-san, how do you do that without making the hand-seal or speaking?" Rezano asked. "Practice my sibling, lots of practice. Oh, and supreme chakra control," he teased, flashing him a toothy grin. Rezano scowled back, his chakra reserves dwarfed even Tri's and his control suffered greatly as a result. "Git," he mumbled under his breath before forming the crossed finger hand-seal, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Unlike Tri's clones who appeared without a wisp of smoke, Rezano's appeared in a great cloud, the smoke was a sign of wasted chakra, the more smoke, the more chakra. "Your control needs more work, Rezano," Tri noted. "I know, I know," he heaved a sigh. "But my reserves grow as I train so it never seems to improve. I use forty-eight clones for an hour a day but it doesn't do much."

Both knew it would continue to be a source of frustration for him too. His control would certainly improve as he got older but his chakra reserves would keep growing until he'd fully matured physically. It would be another five or six years before he could fully overcome the problem entirely.

The smoke cleared to reveal Tri's six clones were surrounded by six dozen. "Tsch, show off," Tri said with a mock-sniff while Zabuza rolled his eyes at them both. "Alright Zabuza, describe what you're looking for and this rabble'll find it."
"Ok, that'll work," he murmured in approval. "What I'm looking for is a vaguely circular clearing at least ten feet wide with no trees within its circumference. There needs to be minimal greenery on the ground, preferably short grass or a bed of wildflowers. "Got that?"
"Hai," the small army of clones said in unison before rushing off into the surrounding forest. The real Rezano went with them, the real Tri did not.

Zabuza watched the colourfully clad Shinobi mindlessly weave through hand-seals at an astonishing pace. "You know, you're one strange person," Zabuza said after a minute. "How so?" Tri casually asked, his hands continuing to idly stream through seals. "Yesterday I watched you beat Gatō half to death with just your left hand before carving his throat open. Now here you are, not twenty-four hours later, giving your teenage sibling advice on girls."

He briefly chuckled, "Speak for yourself. Not twenty-four hours ago I watched you chop a few dozen people into a pile of screaming limbs with nothing but an honest grin on your face. And now, here you are, seeking the perfect burial site for your deceased friend and comrade."

Zabuza glared at him, his eyes narrowing slightly, "Touché," he conceded, "Perhaps we live in a strange world?"
"That we do Zabuza, that we do."

-(*)-

"Does anybody want to say anything?" Tri quietly asked them as Zabuza climbed out of the rectangular grave he'd just placed Haku's body in.

The battalion of clones had taken around half an hour to find something resembling Zabuza's description but it wasn't quite enough. So they'd returned to searching and thankfully twenty minutes later they found somewhere the Missing-Nin was happy with.

"I will, if you don't mind," Rezano said with no small amount of apprehension, Zabuza's curt nod reassured him somewhat as he stepped forward to kneel at the edge of the grave. "I certainly can't claim to have known you for long, nor can I claim to have known you well, hardly at all in fact. But still, in the short time I did, it was profoundly clear how much you cared for those you referred to as your 'special people'.

"So much so that you willingly gave your life to safeguard one of them. And I am certain that if I become half as dedicated a person you were then I'll have become a fine person indeed."

Rezano stood once more, wiping away an errant tear with the back of his fingers as it threatened to streak down his cheek, his piece now said. "Thanks kid," Zabuza said in a rare moment of emotion, "You're welcome," he responded with a small smile on his face.

Zabuza had remained at the edge of the grave having never backed away, his arms hung limply by his side as he stared down at the face of perhaps his only ever friend. "Do you want some privacy?" Tri asked when Zabuza didn't say anything. "If you wouldn't mind," he quietly answered, more emotion leaking into his voice. "Of course not. Do you remember the way back to the house from here?" He nodded.

"Alright, the shovels over there when you're ready." Zabuza had politely refused Tri's earlier offer to create the grave using Doton and had instead dug it himself with the shovel. With a hand on the back of Rezano's neck he led them both away.

Rezano waited until they were well out of earshot before speaking, "You know. Zabuza's not that bad."
"How do you mean?"
"Well, he's not too different from us. He likes and dislikes things and people, just like we do. He just happens to dislike more than he likes.

"He was clearly sad to lose Haku, he just hid it really well," he continued. Tri nodded his agreement, "You missed it yesterday but the first thing Gatō did after showing up yesterday was mock Haku's death. That proved to me that he gave a damn because he turned on Gatō immediately.

"Everyone had justifications for what they do, regardless of whether they consider themselves good or evil. What decides whether they are good or evil is whether you can justify the cost afterwards.

"Zabuza only worked for Gatō because he wanted to raise money that he could use to overthrow the current Mizukage, Yagura. Now on the surface that sounds like a bad thing, right?" Rezano nodded. "But Yagura is currently in the midst of leading a countywide massacre of anyone who possesses a Kekkei Genkai, his justification is that they can't be trusted, that if allowed to live would seize control of Kirigakure.

"Haku was one of what is probably thousands of people in Mizu no Kuni who possessed a Kekkei Genkai. In the past I've referred to it as the 'land of a thousand Kekkei Genkai.'"
"But if Yagura were removed then Haku might have been able to go back if she wanted, and all the other people with Kekkei Genkai would have been safer," Rezano accurately surmised. "Bingo. But in order for Zabuza to get the money from Gatō, he had to kill Tazuna-san. Now would you say that his life is worth sacrificing to get rid of Yagura?"
"No," he immediately said shaking his head. "Why no?"
"Because Tazuna-san sounds like a much better person than this Yagura."

"That is true and I agree with you but it's more complicated than that. Consider all the people it might have saved in Mizu no Kuni for example. Also, the money Zabuza would have gotten likely wouldn't have been enough to finance this coup of his. So he'd have to take more missions from people like Gatō. How many good men and woman like Tazuna-san would have had to have died before he had enough funding.

"And there's no guarantee that the coup would have worked. Zabuza could have found himself back at square one. So I think we can collectively conclude that Zabuza's actions are not justifiable in our eyes, but at the time they were in his. The actions taken by even the most abhorrent and evil person are justified in their eyes and those who follow them but not in ours, thus we label them as 'evil' even if their end goal actually sounds like something worthwhile.

"Do you understand?" he asked, finishing his short monologue.

"I think so. You're saying that it's never as simple as just calling someone good or bad."
"Yeah, things are rarely as simple as they seem," he said before ruffling Rezano's bright blonde hair. "Gerroff!" he laughed pushing his hand away.

Silence fell over them for a few moments before Rezano spoke again, "So does that mean you were justified in killing Gatō yesterday?"
"I certainly do, but that's just me. What about you? Knowing what you do now."
"He was an awful person, I saw the evidence of that myself. He was selfish and happy to see others killed to suit his own ends. But you're killing him freed this island from him. Yes, I think you were justified."

"I'm glad you agree and yes, even if we only consider his crimes against the people of this island, I was justified in killing him. But his crimes stretch far beyond here across Hi no Kuni. It is because of one of these crimes in particular I was put on this island. As you now know, I came here solely to kill him. The Daimyō of Hi no Kuni himself ordered his death. A few years ago Gatō's financed and planned the kidnapping of the daughter of two senior politicians who'd thwarted him for years, I won't give you the details but the final few hours of that young woman's life were horrific."

"So I should have killed him yesterday?" he glumly asked. "I believe it would have been better for you long term if you had. You'd have been blooded and you'd have made the world a slightly better place. But don't dwell on it too much, it's done now and hindsight's always 20/20," he reassured him. "Yeah, me and Kakashi-sensei talked about 'being blooded' yesterday."

"Ok, take what Kakashi told you, what I've told you and what you now know about Gatō and cast yourself back to yesterday. Knowing all that, do you think you would kill Gatō? Not could, but would."
"After everything you and Kakashi-sensei have told me – Yes, I should have. But would I have? I-I don't know."

With a hand on the shoulder Tri brought them both to a stop. "Then you've learnt something from all this, that's important. You now understand why I did what I did yesterday and you're a stronger Shinobi for it."

Rezano stepped forward and almost bowled them both other as he gave his brother a hug, "Thanks, Nii-san."
"No problem, Otouto."

"Hey, Nii-san. You said that some people will do things that others might consider 'evil' to accomplish their goals."
"I did."
"Then let's say you had to do something bad to protect our family. How far would you go?" The question was innocent enough, Tri looked down into Rezano's eyes for a split second before looking away again.

He didn't answer.

-(*)-

Around a week later

The week that followed while lacking the looming threat was certainly put to good use despite the reservations of some.

The Genin collectively and individually had been kept busy. They would alternate between individual training one day and aiding Tazuna in the finishing of the bridge the next.

Rezano, when he wasn't training or building had forged a quick friendship with the young Inari. The death of Gatō seemed to get through that sorrowful, stubborn, defeatist shell he'd erected around himself. That boy was gone and had been replaced by a bright-eyed, exuberant boy who had taken to following Rezano around pretty much wherever he went.

Sasuke conversely seemed to be allergic to Inari's new positive attitude but that wasn't to say he was miserable – well, not all the time. The days immediately following the battle had seen an arrogant smirk plastered on his face. Kakashi had eventually, after some tough persuasion from Tri, had a talk with his young charge where Sasuke would admit to discovering he'd awoken his Sharingan whilst battling against Haku.

Upon this discovery Sasuke's training time was split between improving his tree climbing and learning to call upon his Kekkei Genkai at will, however, they were unable to coax a second emergence of the Uchiha's legendary Dojutsu.

Meshikamaru had a far quieter time of it, able to focus all her energies on improving her water walking. By the week's end she was able to walk freely and begun jogging and jumping around. It wasn't a acrobats performance by any stretch but it meant she, along with Tri and Sakura, was well placed to enjoy watching her two teammates, who'd moved onto water walking for the last day or two, plunge through the water's surface repeatedly.

The major surprise of the week was Zabuza, the initial awkwardness soon passed as everybody grew accustomed to his presence and his sarcastic sense of humour. When not being talked through the ins and outs of Tri's intelligence network he provided the Genin with some intriguing titbits on how to improve their balancing on different surfaces. It shouldn't have come as a surprise considering his use of a heavy sword almost as long as he was tall. He even taught them some of the basics for fighting against sword users.

As for Sakura she exhibited day by day improvements as she came to terms with the loss of Kusuri, her smile began to return and her struggles to sleep faded after another two nights under the tree. But some could sense a growing anxiety as the bridge neared completion, it meant their return to Konoha was drawing closer. She was able to distract herself for the most part with the training of the Genin as well as striking up a friendship with Tsunami.

But the days of training, aiding in construction and general distractions were now at an end. The bridge, an impressive construct of wood and steel was now finished, the smile on Tazuna's face as he hammered the final nail into the final plank that formed the walkway was a special experience, a huge crowd had gathered to share in the moment. And while they had little to make it much of a celebration, that didn't stop them.

And after a late night the Shinobi were again assembled under the metal framework of the bridge, ready to bid their final farewells. Despite Tazuna's best efforts to persuade them to stay another day or two they had to decline, their mission was completed and they were now expected to return.

"Are you sure there is nothing I can do to persuade you to stay another day or two?" Tazuna tried for perhaps the fifth time that morning. "I'm afraid not Tazuna-san. There are a Chūnin Exams Konoha need to prepare for." Behind Tri, Kakashi's sudden look of surprise went unseen, the veteran Jōnin had completely forgotten about them – somehow. He hadn't put any thought into whether his team were ready. 'Well, at least I still have a few weeks to think it through.'

"But that's not to say you won't see any of us again. I have a feeling this one will want to visit at some point," Tri said placing a hand on Rezano's shoulder.

"There is one more thing I need to do before leaving, however," Tri said stepping forward. "A few of my clones have been busy the past few days running around sorting everything out." He extended out a hand within which was a slim folder similar to the one Tri had handed to Zabuza a week earlier. "This isn't everything, the other half I left on your kitchen table as it would have been rather awkward to carry around."

"What is this?" Tazuna asked opening the folder and beginning to read the first of several sheets of very official looking paper. "The situation surrounding how your island was isolated happened because you were totally reliant on outside means for importing anything, outside means you couldn't control. I've taken action to ensure that can't happen again. So now you aren't restricted to a single way of bringing stuff to the island."

Tazuna's hands began shaking as he understood just what he was holding, Tsunami reading over his shoulder. "As you've probably noticed, that is the ownership deed to an east coast naval transport firm registered in Hi no Kuni, only one previous owner. Now you won't be entirely dependent on the bridge. I've changed the owner to the island of Nami no Kuni itself, so any future transferring of ownership would require a successful referendum and the approval of the secondary guarantor."

Tazuna flicked over a few sheets and his eyes widened as he noticed who the secondary guarantor was, "How could you possibly get them to agree to this?" he asked in amazement. "Surprisingly easy, he owes me a favour or two. He was rather annoyed to hear what happened here and more than happy to sign as guarantor."
"T-thank you," Tazuna hoarsely said. "You're most welcome, Tazuna-san. But sadly I believe it is time for us to depart."

There were many individual goodbyes, Sakura and Tsunami, Rezano and Inari being just two of them. But it was the two youngsters who provided the impetus to jerk on the heartstrings, Tsunami unable to stop a few tears slipping down her face. In the space of a fortnight her island, her home was now free and it felt like her son had been returned to her.

Zabuza even slipped a whispered apology to Tazuna.

Finally the Shinobi turned and began to head across the brand new bridge. They got all of ten feet before they stopped. Turning, Tri called back, "You're going to have to think of a name for it you know."
"Maybe you could name it after Kaiza?" Rezano quickly suggested. Looking down at his younger male sibling he smiled approvingly, "A fitting name, Otouto." A discussion already seemed to be underway between the islanders as they started walking again.

"I think you might have hit on a winner there, Rezano," Sakura commented. "Thanks, it certainly seemed a better choice than my first idea."
"And that was?" Sakura asked. He held his arms up as if writing it in mid-air, "The Great Naruto Bridge." He barely finished speaking before he burst out laughing.

"Jeez, could you imagine," Tri laughed, "We never tell him either. Just let him find out some other way." Many shook their heads as the brothers snickered together, the idea seemed hilarious to them both.

Kakashi had a question of curiosity but waited until they reached the opposite end of the bridge before asking. "Tri, you mentioned you'd left something else back in Tazuna and Tsunami's kitchen, care to share what exactly?"
"I handed over a transport company but you need money to run it and carrying large amounts of money around is incredibly tedious."
"How much did you leave them exactly?"
"It's not a case of what I left them, but more a case of what Gatō left them," he said innocently. "And…?" Kakashi said trying to get an answer out of him. "Uh, 7.5 million," he calmly said. Kakashi lowered his little book a little to look at the back of the ANBU who was currently walking in front of him. "That's an awful lot of money," his voice that same ever calm.

Tri shrugged, "As I said, it wasn't mine. To be honest a great deal of it was possibly stolen from the Islanders anyway. So think of it as me returning what was theirs with a good chunk of interest. Tazuna is probably the best person to entrust such a sum to as well. He had the drive to lead a bridge building project so making sure that money is well spent should be easy."
"Hmm, that does seem pretty sensible," Kakashi conceded before lifting his book back up and turning the page, a light giggle soon following.

Zabuza tried and failed to suppress a shudder of disgust, it had quickly become a pet hate of his and he regretted having it explained to him. He definitely wasn't a fan of Kakashi's favourite literature.

Sakura had noticed Zabuza's display of revulsion and gave him something to help him take his mind off it, "What's your plan, Zabuza?" He took a moment to compose himself, "I'll be taking my leave of you all before long. I'm headed south a ways before crossing over to Kiri."

His statement was half true, he would indeed be returning to Mizu no Kuni but he wouldn't be finding transport to the south. In a few hours he'd double back north, cross into Kaminari no Kuni and find transport there.

Tri was walking a little ahead of their troop. He stopped for the second time and spun on the spot to face the others who themselves were brought to a stop. "I'd like to take a moment to inform you all that what Zabuza just said, as far as you're all concerned, was never said. None of you know where he's heading or what he'll be getting up to, he told none of you anything before he just upped sticks and left, understand?"

Sakura and Kakashi were the first to respond, "Hai," both said clearly understanding the firm, impassive tone of his voice. The Genin soon followed, not fully understanding. "The Hokage will be fully informed, but only him and only by me. Think of it as an introduction to keeping secrets, you'll be doing it often during your career.

"Now then, let's go home."

End Chapter