A/N 1: In my story, shadow clones do not each take [1 / (x+1)] of your chakra. It's magic, it follows complex rules, but just know that if he creates 999 clones he's not necessarily working with 1 /1000th his max chakra. In canon, the given rule is obviously false, as even Naruto would've died from chakra exhaustion his first use of it against Mizuki. Between the countless bunshin he made and his horrible chakra efficiency, he would have fallen over and died. It's just a weird mistake thrown in to try to make things make some sense. I'm just glad Kishimoto has never tried to explain why most ninja don't henge into objects, get carried into towns, and un-henge; if you look at the Narutopedia articles, either everyone should be able to morph into solid objects, or no one can, and Naruto's windmill shuriken trick against Zabuza was an error. It doesn't say one way or another, but there's no reason only Naruto can do it.
A/N 2: So there are two rather glaring anachronisms in this chapter, one can be explained away by saying that there was a Tacoma bridge in the elemental nations that tore itself to pieces. The other one is just personally hilarious, and anyone who has watched 1776 might get the reference. Sorry if anachronisms and references to pop culture bother you, but some scholars say that a bunch of the things we don't get in older literature are pop culture references to the relevant time. So it's a tradition older than Shakespear.
oooooo
"WHA- what do you mean he's not dead?" Tazuna asked fearfully. "He had two big-ass needles going through his neck! I mean, sure, you were turned into a puddle of meat that one time, but you checked him for magic and stuff, right?"
The genin were silent, trying to figure out what they had missed. If Kakashi said Zabuza was alive, then he was alive.
"Obviously the 'hunter-nin' was involved, but how did they pull it off sensei?" Naruto asked, as Sasuke nodded with a frown.
"It was the senbon, wasn't it? Anyone good enough to use senbon as a primary weapon could put a stationary target, like the defeated Zabuza, into a temporary death," Sakura put forward.
"Yes. When the nin left with the body instead of starting to destroy it immediately I knew we had a problem. But I was moments away from collapse, and I wasn't sending you three to assault an unknown enemy; even if it did mean we'd be seeing them again."
Everyone felt the weight of this revelation press down on them. "How long will it take for both of you to recover? Will he be attacking us tomorrow?"
"No, even for a man of his fitness, his injuries plus the false death will take at least a week to recover from. During which I will be recuperating, and you three will continue to train. Because in a week's time we'll be fighting not only Zabuza, but also the masked nin."
Silence met this declaration. Tsunami didn't really get what was going on, not having seen the fight. Tazuna was seesawing between despair and the glimmer of hope that remained- the fact that Kakashi had decisively beaten the swordsman once he had gotten freed from the water prison. The genin were wondering if they could take on the mystery ninja, as they knew Kakashi would be busy with Zabuza.
"Of course there are other aspects," Kakashi said, interrupting everyone's thoughts.
"Huh?"
"Zabuza is being paid to target Tazuna. If we simply kill Zabuza, someone else will be here within a week or two, trying the same thing. And even once the bridge is complete, all it would take is for a bomb or a few demo-tags to destroy key points of the bridge and reduce all that work to nothing."
Tazuna's eyes lit up, transforming the man. "WHAT? SABATAGE MY BRIDGE? Over my dead body! You said Konoha would do whatever it took to solve Wave's problems, right? What will it take for you to kill Gato? The man is scum, and we won't be safe until he's gone!"
Kakashi nodded weakly. "That is the answer of course. The only other question is whether we wait until we've defeated Zabuza and his partner, or launch a preemptive strike."
"We should attack soon. With his employer dead, and still wounded from the fight, Zabuza will just move on, right? If Gato had more ninja in his employ we'd have met them by now," Sasuke opined.
"Yes, we should strike while Zabuza is too weak to fend us off. He might not even be staying near Gato," Naruto agreed.
"Assuming we go with that, where is Gato located, and how many mooks does he have protecting him? A man like him needs his status recognized, and will want to be protected at all times," Sakura theorized.
Tazuna answered, still maddened by the thought of his work destroyed. "Everyone knows where Gato stays, it's not a secret. Most of us have been inside the courtyard once or twice too, when he would declare an edict. I can draw blueprints of what I've seen. Of course, no one knows what the interior is like, but I can tell you he probably has 200 or so scum-sucking motherfuckers working for him as enforcement. They go out and steal, rough up the villagers occasionally. Thankfully, he keeps them on a leash; there haven't been any random murders or rapes, but I know that's only temporary. Once I'm dead, or his power is cemented, those bastards will have no restraint."
"Of course, if they went too far, the people might rebel, even if they do live in fear. He knows he plays a dangerous game. Unfortunately, it sounds like he's playing it well so far," Kakashi replied. He shook his head, "Two hundred, you three could do it if we played it smart, but I don't like the idea of you killing that many so soon."
"Not to downplay the significance of killing, but the mercenaries he employs are only human in body. I've been around the world a while, I've seen men like these, I'm sure you have as well. If you kill Gato and leave them alive, our towns will run red as they pillage and burn everything they run across," Tazuna added.
"I'm aware. I've done this sort of thing before you know. But despite barely counting as human, it's still unpleasant killing them unless you're used to it. I don't know if I can put this on my students."
Said students were silent, not voicing an opinion one way or another. As much as they wanted to say they could do it, none of them had any desire to kill even a fraction of two hundred mercenaries.
Sasuke spoke up again, "Why don't we send for reinforcements? Doesn't the situation justify it?"
Kakashi was slightly surprised that he was the one to suggest it, but nodded. "It does, but think about it. The Hokage told me this mission was likely to go bad, yet we were sent anyway. That means there's not much chance of reinforcements, everyone who can handle this is probably busy. The only other genin team that's ready for this is team Gai, and if I recall, they're out of the village on a C-rank as well."
Kakashi sighed and closed his eyes. "The Hokage put his trust in me, and I nearly failed him, and the three of you. The more I think about it, I'm afraid we don't have much of a choice. What we're going to do is the closest I hope you'll ever come to seeing war. In five days time, we'll assault Gato's stronghold, assassinate him, and obliterate his troops. Now lets all go to sleep, I need to heal as quickly as possible, and you three are going to need your beauty sleep for the next few days. The academy doesn't train you for operations like this, it shouldn't have to."
"You're all idiots."
"Huh? Who was- who's the brat?" Naruto asked.
"Inari, my son. You should be in bed sweetie, it's late," Tsunami tried to herd her boy away.
"You can't beat Gato, it's impossible! You'll all just die if you try to oppose him!" he shouted as his mother dragged him away.
"What the hell is his problem?"
"My grandson lost his stepfather to Gato, back when there was still resistance. Kaiza was sort of a hero around these parts. He saved quite a few lives, organized relief efforts after typhoons, stopped bar fights. Big things and little things, he inspired people with all of them. When Gato arrived, it took a while to understand what was going to happen. Kaiza figured it out earlier than most, and led a small group of farmers who would pick off the mercenaries when they got drunk and alone. They even managed to steal some ships and hide or sabotage them." Tazuna stopped, and stared out the window.
"It didn't last," Kakashi concluded, having heard similar stories before.
"Of course; Gato laid a trap, and Kaiza and his men fell for it. The next day, all the nearby villages were rounded up by his men and brought to see the resistance drawn and quartered. It put out any semblance of spirit or fire in the people of Wave."
"The kid saw his father executed?" Sakura asked, horrified.
"Yes. Now he believes, like most of the people here, that Gato has already won. They just live waiting to find Gato's men at their door one day."
"I suddenly don't feel as uneasy about killing a few hundred bastards," Naruto growled.
"Hnn, when you think about it, we're not killing, we're saving lives," Sasuke said.
"No! Never forget that you are ending a life, even if it saves hundreds! The fact that a few taken lives, usually of nasty people, will save many is the point, of course; the reason we do what we do. But never forget that every life has value, even if it is negligible in some cases. One must accept that a few animals will be burned for the next crop to grow and allow it. But one must also acknowledge those lives lost, or you will lose your heart." Kakashi let that sink in.
"… Oh, and if one of you could find a suitable branch, I might be able to get around tomorrow if I lean on it."
"… Way to ruin the mood sensei."
"No need, I have a few walking sticks from my earlier days you can use," Tazuna offered.
"All right, sleep now."
Kakashi closed his eye and turned his head slightly. Within moments, his breathing pattern had changed. Everyone left to get to bed; saying it had been a stressful day was putting it mildly.
oooooo
Naruto woke up to the smell of eggs and rice. If this trend continued, he was going to start loathing waking up to the aroma of cooked food. The last time had been the morning after their first kills, and now right after a fight with an A-ranked ninja. He shook his head as he sat up in his bedroll. Tsunami had given them futons, but they had put the sleeping bags on top of them. Checking that Sakura was still asleep, he stood up and stretched his body in just his boxers. Twisting his neck back and forth, he did a bastardized stretch routine before putting on his outfit.
As he buttoned the last few holes, he heard Sasuke let out a muffled yawn. He too sat up, checked Sakura, then silently got out of his bag. Naruto tilted his head up quickly in greeting, and Sasuke made a halfhearted wave, before stretching momentarily and dressing. Naruto ignored the tempting scent wafting from the kitchen and looked at Sakura. He was awfully tempted to mess with her; while the two boys had attempted to be silent; they were still sleepy and had made sufficient noise that she should have woken. He eyed a half full glass of water on a dresser, and reached for it.
Sasuke grabbed his hand, "Not now dobe, this isn't a good time for strife in the ranks," he mumbled quietly.
Naruto paused, and retracted his arm with a shrug and a nod. "Fair enough, but I'm going to tell her how you came to her defense while she was all helpless," he replied quietly, with a grin.
Sasuke shook his head softly, "I have a headache, and her reaction to your shenanigans, while normally humorous, would kill me just as surely as that big-ass sword."
Naruto shrugged and rolled his eyes. "Fine, truce on account of headache, and likely getting ourselves killed in a week."
Sasuke snorted, then winced a moment. He grabbed the water and slowly drank it, moving over and sitting in the one chair in the room.
Naruto stood over Sakura. His fun taken away, the fact remained that she still ought to be awake. He poked her shoulder with his toe a few times. "Sakura, wake up. There's food waiting."
She stirred, then opened her eyes. "Time to get up already? Damn… Uh, I don't suppose you two could let me get dressed?"
"How are we stopping you? You've got on underwear," Naruto asked, pointing to the top of her bra straps, visible on her shoulders that were barely sticking out of the bag.
"Get out, would you?" she asked, somewhat exasperated.
"Yeah yeah; come on Sasuke, let's get some food."
The boy nodded, rubbing his stomach, and followed the blond out of the room.
The two followed the hall towards the smell. Upon entering the kitchen, they were greeted by the sight of Tsunami sitting next to Kakashi, spoon-feeding him rice and egg, and what appeared to be the only slice of bacon. Kakashi's eye was drilling a hole through Tsunami's cleavage, which the boys imagined would be very appealing from that angle. Naruto chuckled and walked up to the table as Sasuke shook his head with a small grin.
"Sensei, shouldn't you try to heal some before you try to seduce our beautiful hostess?"
Tsunami looked around and realized how it appeared, and just how much the older ninja could see. She gently hit Kakashi's nose with the spoon and turned around; when she turned back she was blushing slightly and had arranged herself more appropriately for guests, but was still smiling.
Kakashi eye-frowned, "One day you're really going to regret doing that kid."
"Hmm, I don't know which of you is going to be more trouble; a lecherous teacher-slash-ninja, or a bold-as-brass student learning under the first one," Tsunami said.
"Oh, don't let their innocent faces fool you, all three have plenty of lechery in them."
The two boys' faces turned red at being called out in such a way in front of this woman they had hardly met.
"I believe it, I remember what being that age was like. Ugh, before I know it, Inari will be chasing all the girls… Assuming you can take care of Gato."
This reminder of the problem put out the enthusiasm in the room. Tsunami frowned, wishing she hadn't carelessly blurted out her thought. She brought another spoon of rice up to Kakashi's mouth, but he seemed disinterested now. The boys decided to get some food in their stomachs and moved to the counter, starting to put food on their plates.
"Come on ninja-san, you need to eat."
"Thank you, but I'm not that hungry."
The boys turned back to the table just as Tsunami pulled her shirt open and pushed Kakashi's head between her breasts. She left him there a moment before pulling him back. "Now are you going to eat?"
"Yes ma'am!"
Tsunami smiled, before looking at the boys, who had their mouths open at the spectacle. "I'm sort of a part time nurse, I find that bribery works very well when getting patients to cooperate. You just have to figure out what your patient wants," she said, before closing her shirt and tucking herself away. She raised another spoon to Kakashi's mouth as if nothing had happened, where he happily ate it.
Sakura walked in and smiled, seeing her sensei well enough to be out of bed already. "Ah, Tsunami-san, thank you for cooking!"
"Quite all right, just leave an egg and a ladle of rice each for Inari and Tazuna, they don't eat much in the morning."
"It smells wonderful! … Are you guys all right?"
The boys snapped out of it. "Yeah, we're fine." They sat down and tucked into their food, glancing at Tsunami occasionally.
There was silence as everyone ate, until- "Sasuke, you think our medical plan lets us choose where we're treated?"
Sasuke choked mid bite and coughed a little rice out.
"Why would you want to be treated anywhere besides Konoha hospital? It's the best medical establishment in Fire country; most consider it the best in the hidden countries, top three at worst," Sakura asked, confused.
"Oh, fringe benefits, for example…"
Everyone besides Naruto and Sakura let out a chuckle.
"I guess I missed something."
"Don't worry, I'd be surprised if you would have appreciated it."
oooooo
Breakfast ended without anything else of note happening. The four ninja headed out with Tazuna to the bridge, where they could multi-task protection and training. Two Naru-clones carried Kakashi and a sleeping bag; he'd oversee their training between naps for now. They arrived to find most of the workers there already, following directions Tazuna had left while he was gone. When the bridge builder and ninja appeared, the crew clapped and quietly cheered, glad he was back, but not wanting to attract attention from the wrong people.
Tazuna hopped up on a crate. "Thank you," he began, "I'm back, and I brought ninja of the Leaf like I said I would. Thanks largely to donations by you all, they've agreed to make sure our bridge will be completed! But we're not out of the woods yet! We still need to build it, but I know with your help we can get it done in record time!"
The men cheered again, spirits raised by the speech. Tazuna started issuing orders and getting updates on the progress. The ninja watched the crew starting to work, the kids fairly impressed with the organized chaos that seemed to be going on. Tazuna retreated back to their group for a moment.
"A few of my men quit while I was getting you; I don't suppose the blond duplicator has any construction experience?"
"I can carry, hammer, saw, and use a screwdriver, wrench, or socket-set. Beyond that, you'll need to teach me, assuming sensei says I can spare some clones. But didn't you say no one had any hope left in them? These guys seem optimistic."
"They're the only ones. Working on a solution gives them something to cling to, and I still loose another worker every week. Well, can he help out Kakashi-san? Even carrying things would be helpful."
Kakashi managed to shrug one shoulder. "Eh, 15 enough?"
"Sure, that would be super-great!"
"Okay Naruto, just follow directions and don't mess with stuff unless they tell you to."
Naruto nodded and signed his trademark seal. There were now 18 blonds, all but three of which followed Tazuna farther onto the bridge. The two clones that had carried Kakashi laid the sleeping bag at the base of a tree, and helped him down to it.
"So what is our training, sensei?" Sasuke asked, his headache thankfully gone.
"Seeing as I'm still pretty useless, you three are going to work on dodging. The masked nin probably uses senbon as a primary weapon, and when we're going through two hundred mercenaries your spatial awareness will need to be at full power at all times. It doesn't take skill for a third fool to step behind you and run you through while you're paying attention to his two buddies. So, Naruto, I want you to make 20 clones and have them search the shore for good throwing stones. Bring them back here and make 60 clones with copied bags of stones. Then the three of you will go into the forest and dodge until lunch. No fighting back or running, just dodge. If you can dodge a stone, you can dodge a ball-" Kakashi yawned, "-istic kunai. Naruto, don't hold back, have them attack as if you were the enemy, just don't throw head shots hard enough to knock unconscious. Go."
The genin nodded. Naruto pointed at his two clones standing with the group, "Make nine more each and get stones, one of you see if there are a few spare sacks lying around the site. We'll use the spare storage seals I've got to help with the weight issue."
The clones nodded, and multiplied, before spreading out on the coastline looking for stones.
oooooo
It was almost lunchtime, and Sakura, Sasuke, and the real Naruto didn't look so good. The Naru-clones had taken Kakashi's directive to heart, and were quite happy with the teacher-sponsored chance to make their teammates, and even their creator, hurt. For the first half or so, they had let the stones fly fast and furious, synchronizing their throws with other clones on both the tactical and strategic levels. Patterns and traps, hiding a rock from one target by throwing it from the opposite side of another target, they were ruthless. They were also making it a matter of honor between them to see who could score the most points and assists. Sakura had briefly tried attacking Naruto-prime when she heard she was worth fewer points than the boys, but gave up when they focused on attacking her whenever she got too close to him.
Sasuke had managed to go relatively unscathed for quite some time, going ten minutes before his first bruise. The problem was that he was using more energy to dodge at that level, and as he got tired he started to pick up more and more bruises and cuts. As a result, he was rapidly losing value in the game. Sakura wasn't doing so well, though due to her lower point-worth, she was also attacked less frequently, meaning she wasn't quite as tired. Naruto-prime had done about the same throughout the training session, his stamina offsetting his lack of grace. However, as Sasuke diminished in value, he was being targeted more often, and was starting to pick up a number of shiners himself.
The Naru-clones were excited, this was the most throwing practice he'd done in quite a while, and it was even better since it was practically live fire conditions.
During the second half, since two of their targets had become too tired to effectively dodge, most of them were trying trick and/or stealthy shots, as opposed to the elaborate patterns that several clones would perform together earlier.
"Off the tree, back of her head," one clone called his shot.
"Meh, four points,"
"Come on, that's five points easy, maybe six."
"Five if she doesn't realize it's coming until it hits her," a third mediated.
"Fine…" The clone reached back and hurled the jawbreaker-sized stone, sending it spinning through the air, where it bounced off the indicated tree, and right over Sakura's pink head. "Damn it, she ducked!"
"That is the point of this exercise, remember?"
"Yeah yeah, I just wish she'd dodge the others' pitches, not mine."
The other two clones in hearing distance looked at each other and frowned. One punched the whiney clone while the other secured its nearly empty bag of stones. All the Narutos stopped a moment and shook their heads, while Naruto-prime got pegged for his lapse of concentration.
*TWEEEEEEEET*
Everyone in the forest stopped and looked at the noise's origin. It was Tazuna, walking up and holding a whistle that Kakashi had occasionally used to gather them together with. "Yo, it's time for lunch, Kakashi wants you back."
The horde of blonds jumped out of the trees, and followed the four flesh and blood humans back to the worksite. Everyone reassembled around Kakashi, who was sleeping.
"Don't worry, he told me one of you should wake him when it was lunchtime," Tazuna said, when he noticed the genin hesitating.
Sakura nodded and reached down and tapped Kakashi's shoulder. Nothing happened. Sakura frowned, "Sensei, it's lunch time, you asked to be woken?"
Kakashi opened his eye and yawned wide, the fabric of his mask showing the shape of his open mouth. "Ahhm, yes I did. Thank you."
"Sensei!" about half of the clones called out at once, then frowned at each other. They seemed to silently communicate with one another, before one clone got pushed forward. "Do you want us to train during lunch, or can we help with the construction?"
Kakashi shrugged just one shoulder again. "You've all probably used too much chakra for more serious training. If you want to play builder, and Tazuna can use you, go ahead."
The sea of blonds turned to Tazuna, who looked very pleased about the sudden influx of labor, even if it was untrained. "Well, I don't have time to train you all a second time, but you can carry things and be gopher boys."
Naruto-prime asked, "Wait, you trained my clones?"
"Yes, just some basic but essential jobs that need doing. Riveting, mixing cement, and so on."
"Well if I end the clones you taught, then all of us will know those skills."
Tazuna blinked. "Damn, if you ever decide not to be a ninja, you'll be able to make a fortune in just about any field you want. Although, if you were really that amazing, one of your clones would have told me that at the beginning."
The rest of team 7 chuckled, knowing that Naruto sometimes focused on the wrong scale of the picture and forgot fairly important things. Naruto-prime pointed at the spokes-clone, who dispelled itself. Over the next minute, several of the bridge-clones ended themselves after they stopped what they were doing. Two of the nearby clones scooped Tazuna off his feet and carried him off towards the bridge, the rest following, despite protests that Tazuna was "perfectly able to walk, set me down this instant!"
Naruto-prime laughed at himselves, while the rest of the group sighed.
"Now that that's over with, Tsunami brought us all lunch. It's rather basic, but remember that some of this country's residents are going hungry." He swung his arm over, pointing to a sack with four bento in it. "I think I'm good enough to feed myself, but don't tell Tsunami-san, alright? I've got a good thing going."
Sakura snorted, while Sasuke and Naruto chuckled, and Naruto tossed a thumbs-up at his sensei. Sakura picked up the bento and passed them out. All four of them were hungry; after the painful training the genin had done, they imagined they felt like Kakashi looked.
"So," Kakashi started between bites, "you'll be doing that exercise for the next two mornings. We'll strike four days from now. After you finish eating, you'll practice chakra control for an hour to let your bodies rest. Then it's a free for all on the water against more of Naruto's clones. Assuming you're good on chakra Naruto?"
The genin had let out a few groans hearing their schedule. "Yeah, I'll have recovered a lot in an hour, another 60 clones?"
"To start with; you'll actually be fighting back, so you'll need to make more as you go. Just don't be stupid; if you get too tired there are other forms of training you can do. Since you'll be fighting on the water, I'll make a few rules. If you fall underwater, that counts as a death. If you're too tired to continue, come back to shore. Remember that we'll be fighting 200 men, plus Zabuza and the masked nin may turn up. That means it's necessary to conserve your stamina and chakra. This means you Sasuke."
Sasuke frowned but nodded, barely slowing his intake of food.
"Good, I guess that's all for now. Eat and rest, then practice chakra control."
oooooo
Lunch had been finished and the genin were resting a few minutes before starting on chakra control.
"I don't suppose any of you have used the chakra diagnostic jutsu since I taught it to you?" Kakashi asked.
His students shook their heads, intrigued at the thought of seeing how much they had improved.
"Why don't you give it a shot? It should be interesting to see how far you've come. Naruto, you start this time."
"Ah, well sensei, I'm afraid I don't remember the seal order. Let me go last again, I'll pick it up by then."
Kakashi sighed, "Fine; Sasuke, start us off."
Sasuke nodded and stood up, running through the seals slightly slower than normal so Naruto could see. "Chakra Diagnostic no jutsu."
A blue circle appeared floating in mid air as expected. Last time it had been oblong horizontally, about the size of a dinner plate, though not as tall. Now it was about 13 inches at it's widest, and the vertical portion had filled out quite a bit, though it was still slightly ovular.
Sasuke smiled, enjoying his progress made visible and more easily quantifiable.
"Pretty good. The best bit is your control though. Despite increasing your reserves, you managed to increase your control a fair bit. Your lightning affinity has grown slightly from practicing the jutsu I gave you as well. Good job. Sakura, you're up."
Sakura stood and completed the jutsu. Her circle appeared, and nearly disappeared, as Sakura was so happy that her focus wavered. Instead of the skinny oval the size of a tea saucer, now it was about nine inches tall, not too much smaller than Sasuke's first one had been. Hers too was still an oval, but compared to what it had been, it looked wonderful.
"Wow, great job Sakura!" Naruto praised.
"Impressive growth," Sasuke admitted.
"Thanks guys! I've been working hard, but I didn't expect this!"
"That's the good news Sakura, the bad news is that it won't be that easy from now on," Kakashi warned.
"Huh?"
"You saw how much Sasuke grew, he hasn't been lazy. Your reserves grew quickly in size because you haven't worked out much before. But now it's going to be much harder to grow at that pace. The larger your reserves, and the better your control, the harder it is to get to the next level in either. So be prepared that the next time you check, it won't have grown nearly so quickly."
"That's fine, I'm still happy with what I've done! I'm not scared of hard work anymore sensei, even if I grumble a bit about it."
"Good! In that case, congratulations. Naruto, you got it now?"
"Hai, Chakra Diagnostic no jutsu."
The same, slightly purple, humongous oval appeared, not seeming to have changed much since the last time. Naruto frowned.
"I'm not sure why you're frowning, your reserves don't need to increase, though they have slightly. What you needed was control, and you got some," chided Kakashi.
The genin looked closer at the strand going across the center of the oval. It looked noticeably calmer than it had the last time, but it was still very chaotic compared to his teammates'.
"Naruto, you have a lifetime of improvement ahead of you; one day you will be very powerful, but that's going to take time. In the meantime, you still have a lot of advantages."
Naruto nodded and let the oval disappear.
"Having seen that, I think instead of chakra control you all should work on jutsu. I want you to actually be able to blow away the mist this time Naruto. Sasuke, you could send lightning back up through the senbon the masked nin will be throwing. Sakura, practice the underground fish technique. It may be possible for you to get good enough to temporarily drag one of us, or Tazuna, underground. Sasuke, we should talk for a few minutes before you get to work." Kakashi waved Sakura and Naruto away, and they dutifully spread out and started working on their jutsu.
"Have I displeased you somehow?"
"No, in fact I was rather surprised with your patience. I had told you that it wasn't the time; well, it is now. I assume you still want to know why I have the sharingan?"
Sasuke nodded.
"Some of the story is personal, and someday I might share more of it with you. But the short version is that I was teammates with an Uchiha. During the Third Great War, our sensei was needed elsewhere and we had to continue a mission. There was an ambush, and I lost my eye, while he sustained a fatal wound. During the fight he had finally activated his eyes, and he told me to take one of his to replace the one I lost." Kakashi closed his visible eye and started to say something, but stopped.
Sasuke kept quiet; it was obvious this was very emotional for his sensei, despite the dry tone of voice he was forcing himself to use, and although he had dozens of questions, Sasuke wasn't stupid enough to blunder through this minefield of a topic.
Kakashi continued after a few moments. "Things were rough with your clan when I returned, but somehow things settled, and I was able to keep it. Not to brag, but I was already an outstanding ninja; with help from a few sympathetic members of your clan I managed to train and learn how to use it. Eventually I became as good with it as many of the best Uchiha, except for the chakra problem. I can't turn it off, and it draws more chakra than it would for an Uchiha anytime it can see something."
Sasuke paused, "Thank you for this, sensei. Your explanation opens as many questions as it closed, but I'm glad you told me as much as you have. I'll withhold my curiosity for now, but I'd like to have your perspective on several topics. You are my last link to my clan in a way, and you must have some insight on things I have questions about."
"That's fair; I owe you that much. Thank you for being reasonable about this, I'll try to answer as many of your questions as I can. But for now we need to focus on the mission."
"Hai, I'll get to work."
oooooo
One Day Later, Wednesday Night
It was evening, the second day of training having gone much as the first. The genin were doing some light sparring in the yard after accompanying Tazuna to the 'market' for food. They had found some edible foodstuffs, but the three had offered Tsunami the rations they had packed to add to the next few days' meals. Rations might suck, but they were nutritious, and hopefully if they were cooked into a meal it wouldn't turn out awful.
"Yo, dinner's ready," Kakashi called out from the porch. He was getting around with two of Tazuna's walking sticks today, and looked much healthier.
The genin halted their battle and headed in, hungry as always.
"Ah, thank you for donating those ration packs, protein is getting hard to find. I've been told by relatives in the military that rations are awful, but I was still surprised how hard it was to integrate one into a meal. Still, I think it was worth the effort for the extra nutrition it added," Tsunami said brightly.
"I'm sure it will be great," Sakura started, "although we've been fairly lucky so far, most ninja eat rations as is."
"Remember that 'field trip' they took us on in the Academy? They force-marched us along the road to the capital for a day, then the next day we were marched back. Rations were all we were given to eat; Choji almost had a panic attack when they took away the bento he had managed to smuggle with him," Naruto reminisced.
"And you guys have never seen the serious rations," Kakashi chuckled.
The genin didn't like the sound of that. "What're you talking about, sensei?"
"The rations you've eaten so far are basically granola bars made of specially bred and improved nuts and soybeans. The rations we get for longer missions are half-inch cubes with bland candy shells covering chunks of basic nutrition; nearly pure protein, fat, or carbs. They taste of nothing, and if the shell breaks, they taste vaguely unpleasant. They aren't awful so much as they are completely unsatisfying."
The genin made faces imagining such a food.
Everyone was sitting around the table now, as Tsunami served stew into their bowls.
"Itadakimasu," they called out once everyone was served.
"Hey, this is great, you did fine."
"Yeah, I wish we could've eaten like this on that field trip."
"And we'll have plenty of energy to crush Gato and help this country."
Only Kakashi noticed Inari tighten his grip on his spoon.
Dinner continued, with Tazuna explaining some fundamentals of engineering, and how they were overcoming various problems. The genin explained some of their training in response. Eventually both groups gave up trying to understand anything complicated that the other said, while Kakashi mentally chuckled.
"Look, I don't know a sine wave from a tidal wave, but it doesn't really matter. You build the bridge; we'll kill anyone who tries to stop you. Division of labor, you are truly the most important invention," Naruto said, getting tired of Tazuna trying to explain why resonant frequencies were bad, and growing bored of hearing about this 'Tacoma Bridge' he kept nattering on about.
There was a clatter as Inari's spoon hit his bowl. "How?"
"How what, gaki?"
"How can you be so cheerful knowing you might die when you fight in just a few days?"
"Well, first of all, I trust Kakashi to make a good plan, and not risk our lives unreasonably. He says we should be able to pull it off, and I agree. Secondly, we're probably still too naïve for the idea of really dying to sink in. I'm completely certain I'm going to live through this, despite knowing that my life will be in constant danger."
"You're admitting you are too stupid to be afraid?" Inari asked, astounded.
"Geez, when you put it like that…"
"Gato has dozens upon dozens of men, how can you possibly beat them all?"
"Inari, stop bothering them-" Tsunami started.
"It's alright, he asked a question. I'll answer with another. Have you ever seen ninja fight?" Naruto asked. Dinner had come to a halt by now, everyone watching the spectacle play out.
"No, but what can you do that my dad and 23 of his friends couldn't?"
"… Magic," Naruto replied, as he held up his left hand, a small flame on each finger.
Inari's eyes widened, and suddenly a wind swept through the open window, blew out the lit digits, and rustled Inari's hair, leaving all the other lamps alone.
Inari opened his mouth, then shook his head and ran out of the room.
"Inari!" Tsunami called, then settled into looking unhappy when she heard his door slam closed.
Naruto looked at his stew. "I'm sorry, I thought that would reassure him. I'm usually better with kids…"
"The problem was that it did reassure him. In an odd way, Inari doesn't want us to beat Gato," Kakashi said.
"What?" Tsunami demanded.
"Calm down. You said his father tried guerilla tactics against Gato, but got executed. If anyone defeats Gato, though Inari will be thankful in general, a part of him will see that person or group as doing something Kaiza wasn't able to. He resents the fact that his father wasn't able to conquer this obstacle. A boy's image of their father at that age is special. Kaiza sounded like an extraordinary man, but to Inari, he was probably godlike. To Inari, if Kaiza couldn't defeat Gato, who could?"
"Damn that Gato asshole," Naruto growled, "screwing up everyone's lives like this." He lifted his bowl and drained the whole thing as if it were a bowl of ramen.
"Excuse my manners, but I need to let off some steam," he said, heading for the door. "Sasuke, you want some after dinner sparring?"
"No thanks, I'd like to actually keep this food in my stomach. Anyway, some of us get tired after a day of training."
"Don't wait up for me," the blond called over his shoulder, before the front door closed.
"Should I get him sensei?" Sakura asked.
"He's a big boy, he can take care of himself."
oooooo
Naruto created 50 clones that immediately spread out and started to practice the wind jutsu he had been taught. The most important one was gale palm, as he would be trying to blow away mist until Zabuza got bored and attacked without it. Assuming Zabuza was even up and about enough to fight. If they were lucky, it would just be the masked nin and the thugs.
The blasts of wind were much stronger than they had been when he had performed it three days ago. It wasn't just the training, he had also been cautious about using a jutsu in the middle of a jonin level fight the previous time, and had toned it down. Now he was being ordered to do it, and with the practice they were getting he was going to blow away the competition.
He frowned at the bad joke and made another set of clones, which started blowing their breath on kunai. He wanted this jutsu badly, but it was of secondary importance. Still, practicing this could only help his control of wind, and therefor his ability with gale palm. He sat and tried to float his kunai.
oooooo
Haku thought of himself as a simple person. He was a tool. Privately, he would occasionally admit from time to time that yes, he was as complex and complicated as the next person, but it was all secondary to being a force through which Zabuza's will extended.
So when Haku nearly tripped over the blond ninja that was partially responsible for his master's state of health, it annoyed him to no end that he was unable to immediately send a senbon through the brat's eye and shish-kabob his brain. Haku stood above the genin, staring at his chest as it rose and fell. After what had felt like minutes, Haku knelt down and reached towards the younger ninja…
…And had to stop his normal reaction and act like a civilian when his arm was caught by another copy of the blond.
"Sorry miss, you shouldn't sneak up on a ninja, I could've stabbed you thinking you were one of Gato's thugs."
"My apologies! Wait, two of you? Ah, you're one of the ninja that the rumors say got brought in by Tazuna-san! You're awfully young to be fighting, aren't you?"
"Heh, I better get used to hearing that, I guess. Nah, I'm at the age we start getting assignments out of the village," the clone said, letting go of her arm. "One moment."
He gently kicked the iteration of himself that was lying on the ground a few times, then once a bit harder when that got no response. He was rewarded by getting stabbed in the foot with a kunai, and disappeared. Naruto yawned and sat up, then shook his head and looked at his guest. "Ah, sorry! I didn't expect a visitor out in the middle of nowhere like this. I guess I was right to warn you about being stabbed though," he chuckled. "What're you doing out here anyway?"
"Ah, I'm gathering some medicinal herbs for my friend, who is hurt. What are you doing?"
"Well, it looks like I fell asleep training."
"You're training? Why? You look pretty strong to me."
"Thanks, but I'm just a genin. And although my sensei killed this really tough ninja Gato hired, there could be more, and even if there isn't, he has a bunch of mercenaries that might attack."
"Well, I'm glad you're protecting Tazuna-san! I was going to ask you if you would like to help me pick herbs, but you sound pretty busy."
"Yeah, I am, sorry. Oh! How about I send a few clones with you? They're great help."
"That would be nice I guess… They act like you in every way?"
"Yep! They're pretty amazing, and I'm probably the only person who can make as many as I do!"
A handful of clones chose this point to come into the clearing. "We came when you stabbed the other one, boss. We're pretty much all drained, we think we ought to pop and let you get a fresh batch started."
"Fair enough, good work guys."
"Wow, you can make a bunch of copies, how many can you make?" Haku asked as the group popped and dissipated into the air.
"Bunches upon lots upon loads. Comes from having the largest chakra reserves in the country! Hold on and I'll get you some personal peons."
A moment later 50 clones appeared, all but one of which ran off into the woods. The remaining clone split itself into four, who waved at the girl. "Zugzug! We know some basics of herbalism, but you'll have to tell us what we're looking for."
"Sorry I've got to run, but my team is probably worried about me. Or they will once they wake up. Oh, make sure that the clones don't grab any thorny or poisonous plants; they're very fragile. But other than that, they're perfect copies, if you want conversation or something. Bye!"
Naruto leapt off through the forest by the light of dawn, back towards Tazuna's house.
"So, what kind of plants are you looking for?"
oooooo
An hour later, Haku's basket was full. "Thank you for all your work Naruto-san, you've been very helpful."
There was only one clone left, and it was walking him back to town. Haku hadn't been able to persuade it that he would be fine on his own.
"Don't worry Haku-chan, we learned a fair amount about plants with you. When they got popped, boss learned everything we did!"
"Wow, you are truly a remarkable person. Tell me, do you get stronger for yourself, or for others?"
"Well, I'd like to say others, but it's both really. Being strong is awesome, but not using your strength to help your friends or loved ones would be a shitty thing to do. I'll do just about anything to get my friends out of trouble."
"That's a good attitude to have, I suppose. Full marks for honesty, too. I'm glad you have precious people. I think no one can be truly strong without someone you want to protect."
"I didn't for a long time."
"Huh?"
"Oh, nothing; it's depressing. It's just- I was alone for a large chunk of my life. That's why my friends I have now mean so much to me."
"Oh, why were you alone?" 'Damn my heart, I'm already too close to him. Don't make it worse like this…'
"Accident of birth. These birthmarks remind people of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and I was born sometime around the attack. Throw in some superstition, fear, and the need to blame someone, and suddenly I'm the village pariah."
Suddenly Haku stiffened for a moment. "I'm sorry that happened. I'm glad things got better though. I'm sorry, but we need to part ways."
"Huh, are you all right? I'm sorry if that was depressing; I'd like to walk you home though."
"It's alright, I'm fine. I just want to be alone now. By the way, I'm a boy," Haku said before he walked off quickly.
Unexpectedly, the clone followed, running up to him. "Wait a second, something's wrong. There's no way you're male. The band around your throat wouldn't totally obscure your Adam's-Apple, and apologies for being crude, but if I augment my nose, I can smell your femininity. Are you hiding from someone? I can help!"
'Fuck, of all days to forget aftershave! Why did he have to be so perceptive? Why did I have to convince him I'm male?' "You're mistaken, I think I know my gender. Furthermore, you can't help any more than you already have, because I don't need any help Naruto-san. Respect my wishes and leave me be!" she demanded, coming to a stop.
Naruto skidded to a halt a bit past her, and she didn't bother to hide her growing worry.
"Look, I'm sorry if everything really is fine, but my gut says that something is up with you, and I want to help. We may have just met, but you are important enough to me that I need to help you with whatever is wrong!"
Haku winced, "Fine, see this plant?" She picked up an herb from the basket by its root.
"Yeah?"
"Catch," she said, tossing the plant at him quickly. His reflexes kicked in automatically and caught the plant. "Sorry!" She managed before the clone popped, the mildly poisonous stinging nettle falling to the leaf-cluttered forest floor.
Haku walked over and picked up the plant by its root, then dropped it back in the basket. She would have time to calm down once she got away. He probably wasn't a tracker, but he could apparently use his nose. She needed to get back to base and cover her tracks.
Only then could she worry about hardening her heart enough to kill someone so similar to herself.
oooooo
≈ 50 Minutes Earlier
"I wonder if anyone is awake. It's barely past dawn," Naruto said to himself as he hopped down in front of Tazuna's house. Walking up to the door, he heard some odd noises. Deciding to sneak in, in case there was trouble, he eased open the door and followed the sounds.
'Well damn. Kakashi is either really smooth, or she hasn't had any for a long time…"
In the kitchen, Tsunami had given up all semblance of being a caretaker and was straddling Kakashi's lap, the two making out passionately, and his spoonful of rice forgotten on the floor. Her shirt was totally off, and though Naruto couldn't see directly from here, it appeared Kakashi's hands were both hard at work with her breasts.
Tsunami broke the kiss, "You're sure you can tell if anyone wakes up?"
"I promise. Are you sure you're ready though?"
"It's been over two years, I'm at peace with Kaiza's death. I need this, just make sure to use this," Tsunami pulled a condom out of a pocket and gave it to Kakashi.
"Um, I know a jutsu that-"
"Sorry, I don't know enough about ninja to trust something like that. It's that or we don't do it. Please don't make me finish myself off again, I've needed to do that much too often the last few months."
"Sorry, of course I'll wear it Tsunami."
Naruto was dumbstruck. It was as if he had taken a wrong turn and walked into a Playshinobi letter. 'I never thought it would happen to me, but yesterday my sensei started banging a hot milf right in front of me and…' Hell, this would fit perfectly in Icha-Icha: Lone Samurai and the Desperate Housewives! He crept to the left to get a better view.
Apparently Kakashi knew he was there, however; as when he did so, Naruto's sensei stuck his hand behind Tsunami's back and shot him the finger. Naruto rolled his eyes. When he didn't move after a few moments, Kakashi started using tactical hand signs. Naruto's eyebrows went up. He'd not known you could say that in hand code, especially one-handed. He actually blinked at one especially evocative threat, and started to retreat back towards the front door. As Naruto slipped out the front, Kakashi's hands met, and started to open the condom package.
Naruto blinked a few times in the front yard and wondered if he was under a genjutsu. Figuring it was rather too surreal and pointless to be an illusion, the blond decided against using a kai anywhere it might bother his sensei. Instead, he pondered what he should do; his clones were already training. 'It seems to me the most productive thing I can do is to make sure Kakashi gets his sexual healing uninterrupted. Especially if he's even half serious about some of those threats.'
To that end, Naruto swung around the house and stealthily slid the window to their room the rest of the way open. He eased himself in to see Sasuke holstering a kunai onto his belt next to his sleeping bag. "You're lucky you have blond hair, Naruto. *yawn* I'm going to see if breakfast is ready. Tsunami's pretty amazing."
Naruto snorted at the unintentionally bawdy observation, and made the sign for silence, then attention. Sasuke immediately stopped and signaled: enemy?
"Not exactly," Naruto whispered, and hastened to explain when Sasuke began to frown, "Kakashi and Tsunami are… otherwise engaged in the kitchen, and wish to be left alone. On pain of a shuriken enema, if I translated Kakashi's message right."
"What are you talking abo-" Sasuke hissed under his breath, until he was interrupted by a muffled moan. "… In the middle of the kitchen?" he asked astonished.
Naruto shrugged. "Not everyone's from Boston, Sasuke. Anyway, all we need to do is make sure nothing interrupts them until they're done."
Sasuke face-palmed. "Incredible. This is what we've been lowered to?"
"Who ever said that ninja work would be glamorous? I figure we're good as long as Sakura doesn't wake up."
"Fine. I don't suppose you have a mahjong set tucked away somewhere, do you?"
"No, but I've got a deck of cards. Ever played Mao?"
"Yeah, But I don't remember most of the rules…"
"Perfect!"
oooooo
"Ahh!"
…
…
"Thank Kami; they're done. We can get something to eat now."
"Again? Well, if you insist Tsunami-hime."
rustle … creak creak creak…
"Is that the table? Please tell me he's not nailing her over my spot. Or her brat's, that would be wrong."
"Damn, go sensei! By the way, we both need to draw a card for talking."
*groan*
oooooo
creak creak creak creak creakcreakcreakcreak-
"Yes!"
creak creak
…
…
"Sweet Kami, please let them both be satisfied."
…
creak creak creak creak
*whimper*
"Yawn… Why're you guys up so early, something going on?"
"Point of order: oh crap."
"Stop being weird and tell me what's going on. Actually get out so I can dress, then tell me what's going on."
"Ah, I'm afraid we can't do that."
"Yes, to quote Naruto, 'Kakashi and Tsunami are "otherwise engaged" in the kitchen, and wish to be left alone. On pain of a shuriken enema.'"
"That's where the threats started, they escalated from there."
"You don't mean they're-"
"Sweet Kami, right there!" creak creak creak
"… Yes, we do."
Naruto wished he had the sharingan to forever remember the look on Sakura's face.
"Hmph. Males!"
"Hey, it takes two to tango, this is the third round so far, and she hasn't gotten off of him for even a short break. Kakashi's a lecher, but don't blame it all on him."
Sakura frowned, "Fine, what do we do until they get done?"
"Well, we were playing Mao. Or rather, Sasuke was slowly losing his next paycheck to me via card game. I'll skip offering to deal you in at strip-poker-"
"A wise choice," Sakura interjected.
"-and ask if you have any card games you prefer."
"How about 'Jump Out the Window so your Partner can Dress Herself'? You've probably never played, but I bet you can guess the rules."
"You've got underwear on, and we've all seen each other naked now. If you want I'll turn away, but I'm not jumping out the window in the middle of a Mao game."
"I've been told I'm rather anti-social, but I do know it's not a good idea to bring up the fact you took nude photos of a girl against her will."
"Shut up dude, you were the one who wanted some since you refused to come with. And I was trying to tactfully avoid that subject."
"Please, you're about as tactful as a grand fireball to the face."
"I resent that. I can be delicate when the situation calls for it."
"How can you say that with a straight face? You have the grace and tact of one of sensei's books. You have the subtlety of Mighto G-."
"Dude, there's hyperbole, and then there's fighting words. Don't say anything you can't take back."
"Hnn."
"Great, and now you've reverted. You want to play a game or not, Sakura?"
"Fine, finish your round and we'll start playing rummy. Ten ryo hands sound good?"
"Hnn."
"Sure. Order resolved."
Sakura started dressing while the boys played the last hand.
Sasuke had a small smile; he was finally going to give Naruto a card. "Penalty for taking too long."
"Hmm? Oh, damn. My clones that were helping this nice young woman popped. She's quite the botanist."
Now it was a smirk- "Unnecessary talking."
Naruto frowned and took his penalty cards, and then played a nine of hearts. Sasuke quickly played a six of hearts, "One card!"
Naruto raised an eyebrow, it appeared this would be Sasuke's first win since they started. "Six of spades," he said, addressing the spade.
Sasuke grinned insufferably and lay down his final card. "Seven of spades, have a nice day, Mao."
Naruto looked at the pile of cards for a few moments before snorting, then grinning. "Good job, I'm lucky at games of chance like you wouldn't believe. It's sometimes annoying not to be able to loose."
"You looked like you were enjoying winning just fine."
"Only because you owe me 90- sorry, 80 ryo now. That's almost two bowls of Ichiraku's."
"Have you tried getting in betting halls?"
"Of course, but since I'm not old enough, they throw me out as soon as I start winning anything serious. It'll be fun once I'm of age; they'll still throw me out, but not until I've won a lot more."
"Okay guys, let's play some rummy," Sakura said, plopping down next to them.
"See, that wasn't too difficult, was it? And neither of us watched, either."
"Shut up and give me the deck, I'll deal."
"Uh-oh Sasuke, I detect a card shark."
Sakura snorted. "If I was a shark, I would've said I didn't know how to play rummy, but it sounded fun. Then I'd shyly ask if 50 ryo hands were enough, before sitting down to play in just my underwear."
"… You know, I was kidding before, but that sounds scarily accurate."
"It is, I have nearly eidetic memory; I've teamed up with Ino to shark several games from time to time. She'd be the eye candy, I'd be the innocent, naïve beginner, and by the end of the day we'd have enough cash for a shopping trip. But this is a game between teammates, so I'll be upfront, and not use all of my skill."
Naruto had a gleam in his eyes that his gang would have recognized as a sign to either hide from impending doom, or quickly get an alibi. "YOU!" he said at normal level, which was quite loud compared to the whispers they had been conversing with.
"Me?"
He returned to near whispers, "Yes, you! Once we are of age, you and I shall travel from town to town, visiting all the casinos and betting halls of note, and making fortunes while under disguise! With our powers combined, we'll win more money than Tsunade looses! We'll be able to buy our own country, and rule benevolently over our people, kicking the asses of anyone who tries to disrupt our territory! Pit bosses will have nightmares about us, but no one will actually know what we look like between genjutsu and physical disguises!" He turned to Sasuke suddenly. "You won't speak of this, right?"
Sasuke looked a bit unnerved, actually, as if Naruto had suddenly turned into a talking fire hydrant, and Sasuke was barely making his sanity check.
"Um, don't worry, no one would believe me anyway."
"Wait, with sunglasses… it would work! You can be the third member once you awaken your blood limit! With the three of us assembled together as one mighty team- Sakura's brain, Sasuke's body-language analysis and dice and roulette precognition, and my pure luck- we will own the gambling world!"
Sakura smacked him across the face. "Stop being… that."
Naruto shook his head and slowly blinked. "Wow, sorry about that. But seriously, the three of us need to go to a casino when we're older."
"Fine, but for now, shut up and play."
oooooo
creakcreakcreakcreeeeeeak
"Ahh-!"
*Grunt*
"I swear; if they start again, I'm going to walk in and start eating anyway. They can do it in front of me or not as they wish."
"You could just make enough noise that Tsunami knows we're awake."
"… That might just work."
"My plans have a surprisingly high chance of working."
Sakura snorted, "Give them a moment to relax though, it would be rude to ruin Tsunami's afterglow," she advised.
"This will be her third glow in under an hour, I'm not sympathetic. YAWN! BOY WAS I TIRED. HEY NARUTO, WHAT DO YOU THINK IS FOR BREAKFAST? MAYBE LAST NIGHT'S STEW OVER RICE? SHOULD WE LET SAKURA SLEEP?"
Naruto grinned, hearing chaotic noises coming from the kitchen, while Sakura shook her head in disapproval.
"Let's give them two minutes to straighten up, then head out for food," Naruto suggested.
"Fair enough."
"I can't believe you, Sasuke. That was mean."
"You only had to sit through a third of what we have, Sakura. It gets tiresome, and I want to eat and I really need to go to the bathroom."
"Dude, you could've hopped out the window and used a tree."
"That's fine if we're on the move, but there is a toilet less than a hundred feet from me. Man created the toilet, and it was good."
"… Okaaay," Naruto said, looking at Sasuke askance.
…
…
"Alright let's go. And act discrete, Naruto, we don't want to embarrass Tsunami," Sakura reminded.
"Give me some credit, I'm the one who came in to stop you two from walking in on them, I know what to do."
oooooo
The trio entered the kitchen after taking turns in the bathroom to find the smell of cleaning solution almost covering the scent of sweat and sex. A bit of the left over stew had boiled over the pot (likely from neglect), and Kakashi and Tsunami were eating breakfast. Kakashi was the very picture of cool, calm, and collected, but Tsunami was flushed, her hair disheveled, and apparently couldn't stop smiling.
"Ah, they're up! How did my students sleep last night?"
"Fine sensei, the training knocks me out senseless at night," Sakura answered.
"I fell asleep in the woods and hopped back in the window a few hours ago, then went back to sleep," said Naruto.
"Hnn, had better, had worse."
"How did you two sleep?" asked Naruto, as he dished some rice and stew into a bowl.
"Like a baby, I usually sleep well while I'm recovering."
"Ah, the usual, Naruto-kun."
"That's good. You look pretty healthy today sensei, do you think you're up to getting physical?"
"I might be able to help train you hands on, yes."
"Sakura, watch where you step, those were my toes. I don't know sensei, Wave is so much more humid than home. We all get awfully hot and wet outside during training, you might strain yourself if you try to push past your limitations."
"Don't worry Naruto, I know my anatomy and my body well. I know just how far I can push things without going over the edge. And even if I get all sticky, my bandages are coming off today, so I can take a nice hot shower this evening."
Naruto sat across from Kakashi, the two smiling wickedly at each other. "Sakura, please stop kicking my leg."
Sakura groaned.
oooooo
They were all sitting around the table when Naruto froze mid bite. "Why would she do that?"
"Who do what, Naruto?"
"Oh, this young woman I met in the forest. She was looking for medicinal herbs and found me asleep. I left her four clones to talk with and help collect the herbs, before coming back. She started acting really odd at the end, then dispelled my clone."
"Please tell me you didn't tell her any strategic information, Naruto," Kakashi said.
"No, I told her you had killed a strong ninja that Gato had sent. Oh, I bragged that I had the largest chakra reserves in the country, but I doubt she believed me, assuming she even understood what chakra reserves are."
"Hmm, well watch out for her, the situation smells funny."
Tazuna entered the kitchen and almost stumbled. He sniffed the room, looked at his daughter, then at Kakashi. "Ah, good morning. How did everyone sleep?"
"Oh for crying out loud, don't you start too!" Tsunami let out. "You all know Kakashi and I were together, I don't even care as long as Inari doesn't find out. Just stop making remarks. And stop egging your student on, Kakashi!"
"Apologies."
"Sensei, you should have cleaned the room better, the smell alone…" Sakura complained, now that the cat was out of the bag.
"You already knew, and I didn't want to do any jutsu, even simple ones."
"Is that why you didn't soundproof the room?" Sasuke asked, annoyed.
"You could hear us?" Tsunami asked, becoming more embarrassed.
"Don't worry, just the highlights. Oh, and you'll want to oil the table before next time," Naruto informed her.
"Shut up you guys, you're embarrassing her!" Sakura admonished.
"Hell, you're embarrassing me!" Tazuna said, sitting down at the table. He ate a bit, then looked down at the table. "Oil the table, brat?"
"It was quite squeaky."
Tsunami blushed and hid her face.
oooooo
The group had left the kitchen over an hour ago, and Tsunami was reheating the breakfast again for Inari.
"Hey mom, did something spill? There's a weird smell mixed with that pine cleaner smell."
Tsunami sighed.
oooooo
"Alright, my easily annoyed genin, today we will be going over plans and doing some reconnaissance. Tazuna has given us his estimates of the layout of the base. It's basically a fort, large walls around a common area, where the facilities are. At the back of the fort, across from the one door in the walls, is Gato's combination living and work space. Tazuna said this building here always has a lot of smoke, so it's probably the cookhouse. These large buildings are the barracks, that's going to be the area with the most fighting. On the walls is a lookout tower on each corner. Those are the important locations. As to how we're going to reconnoiter…"
oooooo
The four ninja were in a tree to the east of Gato's fort, preparing to do some scouting. "Remember, I set up those eight logs at the base of the tree incase we need to make an escape, but that's last resort. Remember, it's a soft target, but we have to assume Zabuza and/or the masked nin is inside the compound," Kakashi cautioned.
The genin nodded and got set.
Kakashi signaled Sakura. She cast her invisibility jutsu on herself, leapt down from the tree, and ran across the kill zone outside the fort. Sasuke and Naruto could track her progress from the disturbed grass under her feet. She got to the base of the wall and they lost her, though they could imagine her running up the wall and onto the top of the watch tower. A minute later, they saw a mirror flash from the spot they had chosen.
Kakashi looked through his binoculars, checking the three nearest towers. "Good… … Now!"
Both boys performed henge, and Kakashi snatched the two resultant shuriken off the ground and tossed them to where Sakura was waiting. She caught them and dropped them on the slanted roof, where they immediately turned back into Naruto and Sasuke.
Sasuke was panting, and sat down on the sun-warmed tiles. Naruto handed him a ration bar and a pouch of drink Kakashi had given them for this moment. Sasuke grabbed them and partook, still breathing deeply. A minute later Kakashi appeared, as they had planned.
"You okay Sasuke?" he asked.
The boy nodded. "You weren't kidding about solid henge using a lot of chakra."
"Yes, it's normally a chunin skill, and choosing a form drastically different in mass than yourself like that is tough. I'm going to find out who taught it to Naruto and send them to T&I."
"Meh, moot point, it was Mizuki; it's likely I can't use the regular henge like with bunshin anyway," Naruto added.
"Ah. Now that we're here, we get to observe. I only have one extra pair of binoculars, so Sakura gets to use them until Sasuke recovers, then you can take turns. Naruto, you are going to henge into a generic looking mercenary and look around at ground level."
"Um, you sure sensei? Shouldn't I send a shadow clone? That was the original purpose it was for, spying, right?"
"Yes; however, we must not allow them to know we're coming. If the clone pops, you're safe, but they'll know there was a ninja. If someone finds you out, you might be able to take them out discreetly. You should be safe as long as you don't meet Zabuza or the masked nin. If you do, return immediately. Your goal is to get in Gato's main building and find his records and/or safe. You know the other things you should make note of. Go on; in the worst case, we back you up, and we start a day early."
"Let's not even entertain that thought sensei. Wish me luck guys!"
His teammates nodded, and Kakashi waved his hand as he held the binoculars to his face. Naruto immediately leapt forward, just off the edge of the guard tower. As soon as he cleared the level the lookout was stationed at, he shaped a breeze to blow him back to the fort's wall. Making contact with a soft thunk, he ran down the rest of the way in the shadow of the wall created by the early morning sun.
Now on the ground, Naruto found no cover, so quickly performed the solid-henge. Going for average, he made himself into a 30-year-old man, with a short black haired queue, stubble, and an axe. Looking around, he casually strolled along the edge of the wall towards the cookhouse, where he might be able to hear some information before trying to access the main building.
oooooo
'Jeez, getting around at civilian pace is so slow,' Naruto thought to himself. 'Seriously, I know the place is big, but this will take forever going around the perimeter. Screw it, I'm about to move out of the shadow anyway, I'll cut a straight path across.'
Naruto left the wall and made for the cookhouse. As he got closer, it became clear they were correct, as the smell of food wafted over the breeze. There was now obviously some noise being made inside, and he hoped that with 200 of them around, a new face wouldn't be noticed.
Instead of a door, there was an animal skin, which he pushed open and entered. There were long tables and benches in rows, with a few men sitting here and there drinking beer or, in a few cases, tea. Naruto made sure not to stop in the door and stare, and kept walking towards the other side of the room. There were three cafeteria-style lines along the far wall, and drink stations along the sides. Apparently, breakfast was not yet ready, as the lines were closed. Naruto walked over to a drink station, and looked at his choices. There was beer on tap, and kettles of water sitting over cans of Sterno. Deciding against beer, he picked up a kettle, and poured the hot water into a cup with a teabag. He took his drink and sat down at a table nearby, and started to listen to any conversations.
Unfortunately, it quickly became clear that it was too early for rumormongering, as almost all of the men sat alone and nursed their drinks. Naruto knocked back the last of the tea and made a face at the taste. It was worse than the cheapest tea he had found and bought in Konoha as a kid, which was five kinds of sad. Standing and heading to the door, he placed the cup in the marked bin and walked out.
'Well that was a bust. Still, you'd think that I'd be able to do something of importance at the eatery, it's like a pub, you always learn things in a pub,' he complained to himself. 'Wait, that might work…'
He swung around the side of the building and looked for a door back to the kitchens. Instead, there was a porch with crates of preserved meat, as well as produce. Naruto spotted the door he assumed would lead to the kitchens, and grabbed an apron from a peg next to it as he walked in.
"There you are, you're late, and we're behind schedule with breakfast soup! Chop up that box of onions and all of that sausage and add it to the cauldrons. Be quick about it, ya half-witted bastard!" A rough looking man with scars and an eye-patch yelled-slash-directed Naruto, pointing at boxes and vast pots of simmering broth, large enough to boil a person.
Naruto hurried to the station the man had pointed at and grabbed a knife. He started slicing up the produce piled next to him, getting into the swing of things as other culinary-inclined mercenaries stripped chicken meat off the bones or measured scoops of salt and pepper before tossing them in the pots. Naruto couldn't help but grin, thinking of his approaching first practical prank, as he ran the sausage past his knife, dicing it to a steady, quick beat. Making short work of the sausage, he grabbed a bowl and slid it all in, before taking it and dumping half in each of the master pots. The onions were more difficult, as the knife wasn't very sharp, and the onions were cheap, with plenty of acid in them. It was taking effort not to be overpowered by the smell, and his eyes were already tearing up.
This time when he had finished, he checked to make sure no one was watching before pulling out his storage seal full of pranking tools. Deciding on the 'Omega-Level Biologicals' section, he sliced a finger open and activated it, grabbing the three vials that appeared before tucking the seal away again. As he dumped the onions in the pots, he discretely poured each of the vials in, before mixing the pots up with a large wooden spoon hanging nearby. He turned towards the door and was on his way out…
"Where the hell are you goin'? Just because you're done quick don't mean nuthin'. You're good at choppin', huh? Get all that chicken they're pullin' off the bone minced for the pot pies this afternoon."
Naruto turned around and headed back, starting to question the decision to come in here. However, the thought of all the mercenaries shitting themselves for the next two days brought a smile to his heart, and he returned to cutting, knowing it was worth it.
oooooo
Half an hour later, his smile was not so bright. Unable to take it anymore, Naruto enacted his escape plan by grabbing a chicken bone, and tossing it. The bone flew across the room, hitting the arm of a man cooking bacon. He dropped the skillet, pouring bacon grease into the fire, which flashed up and set the unfortunate scumbag's clothes on fire.
"Fire!" Naruto cried, pointing, as the man ran towards the sinks. As everyone rushed to help the man or douse the fire, Naruto dashed out the door, flung off his apron, and quickly changed appearances.
As he got off the porch, he could see random mercs walking around now. He walked towards the main building, but stopped and walked behind a pile of crates, getting out his communication mirror. He'd have to risk the spotter in the guard tower seeing it; they couldn't decipher it anyway, assuming the spotter recognized it as code in the first place.
Putting the mirror in a spot of sun, he flashed it at the top of the eastern tower.
.- .- ... / -.. . - .- .. -. . -.. .-.-.- / ... - .- - ..- ... / -. .-. . . -.
He waited for a reply and got two quick flashes, then nothing. Nodding, Naruto continued towards the main building. He wasn't approached by anyone, despite the area filling up with more mercenaries. Passing a rather busy building that had been assumed a small barracks; Naruto slowed as he encountered signs of something he had dearly hoped wouldn't be present.
Naruto sniffed the air to double check, and processed the heavy odor of sex. It wasn't like this morning however. It smelled unhealthy, both literally and figuratively, and hung over the area, like a gloom, pervading the air and stretching to more of his senses, as he attuned to faint moans coming from the building.
Fuck, now he needed to find out if they were part of Gato's slave trade. Kakashi had warned that there were likely going to be women in the camp. Often prostitutes would zero in on a military camp or other congregations like this, but since Tazuna had confirmed the rumors that Gato traded in humans, Naruto needed to know whether they had to rescue captives or not as well as the assassination and massacre already lined up.
Reluctantly heading towards the building, Naruto grew more uneasy as he picked up the scent of blood.
Plastering a grin on his face, he stepped past the animal skin into the waiting room, where five men were sitting, waiting for a turn, he supposed.
"Welcome, we got a new set of girls in yesterday, try one of 'em before they get all loose and used," the man standing behind the counter suggested. "They look pretty good still, take your pick!" he slapped at the wall, where two-dozen pictures of nude women were stuck up, with prices, ages, and fake names written beneath. The ones on the left had their prices crossed out a few times, and new ones put on, whereas the ones on the right looked new. Naruto gripped his hand hard enough that his nails started cutting into his flesh; some of the women, girls really, were his age, one looked disturbingly similar to a classmate at the academy.
Managing a suggestive leer, he laughed. "Tiger-Lilly looks like a bunch of fun. Unfortunately I've got duty now, but I heard about the new girls and wanted to size them up. Keep them revved up for me!"
"You betcha, but don't take too long, the new ones get used up fast, and we're shipping out the 'bargain bitches' to the mines in Salt Country next week."
Naruto kept down his bile and nodded before stepping out. Reversing his direction back to the pile of crates, he barely made it before retching, the lingering scent still clogging his nose. He was able to keep his breakfast, but knew he couldn't continue the mission like this. Straightening himself, he meditated a few minutes before withdrawing his mirror. He flashed a rapid but infrequently used code that signaled aborting the mission while still having green status. Not waiting for a reply, he performed a kawarimi with one of the bug-out logs.
oooooo
Naruto appeared at the base of the tree. He ran up it and made a clone before copying the earlier trick. His clone hurled him across the gap before popping, and he landed with a thud against the roof next to Kakashi, before transforming back.
"Report."
"We're green, but I was unable to complete the mission… I … found the female slaves."
"You were gone for longer than that, what happened?" Kakashi asked, as Sakura and Sasuke grimaced.
"I released a stomach-flu virus in their breakfast. They should have diarrhea and be dehydrated for the next two days. Other than that, and learning that there are two dozen female captives, I gained little knowledge of value."
"Can you resume ground work later today?"
"I'm not sure. I need some time."
Kakashi nodded and handed his binoculars to Sakura. "You two stay here and continue surveillance. I'm going to debrief Naruto. Come on, let's replace ourselves back to the logs."
oooooo
Kakashi listened to the whole story. "You did some stupid things, but it worked. You stayed on you toes and got out free and clear. Not bad." He slung his arm around Naruto's shoulder. "We're going to get them out, and they'll go to Konoha hospital. Everything we can do for them we will."
"He said they were shipping out the old girls to the mines, how many have they gone through? Gato's been here for at least two years!"
"I can't tell you that, not that you really want to know. We're going to end it though."
"I know, it's just… the smell was so much like this morning… but so different at the same time."
"Go back to Tazuna's and get our lunch, take your time. By the time you get back you should feel better."
"Hai. Oh, um… if you and Tsunami get together again, could you be more discreet? It's going to be hard enough dealing with the 'happy-sex' smell when I get our lunch."
"Of course, if I had known…"
"No, it's fine… I'm going to go now."
oooooo
Several hours later, the four ninja were eating in shifts while watching the compound.
"Sensei, I think it's the masked nin coming in through the gate!" Sakura exclaimed.
Through the gate, which had been opened around 8 a.m., came the masked nin, walking straight to the main building. The mercenaries left the nin alone until they got to the guards, who stopped them. After a brief exchange, the ninja handed a scroll to the guards, and walked back out of the complex. Kakashi and Sakura followed the guard with their binoculars, inside and to the central second story room, where they had easily spotted what could only have been Gato, several hours ago. Gato received the message and read it, before tearing it up. He sat still for several minutes before sending the guard out of the room. The guard ran out to the front of the building and slammed his hand down on a button on the wall.
A foghorn went off, drawing the attention of every mook in the camp. Bodies disgorged out of every building as every mercenary to a man stopped what they were doing and congregated in front of the main building. Shortly Gato appeared on the balcony with a megaphone.
The richest scumbag in a several country radius stood on a platform and began to speak. "As you know, I've hired a notorious nukenin to kill the last remaining speed bump between me and complete control of this pathetic nation. He has failed twice, defeated by a group of ninja from Konoha. Two days from now, he and his little whore sidekick are going to attack the bridge and kill everyone there. What he doesn't know is that we are going to follow behind, and kill anyone left, whether it's the baby devil, or those tree huggers from Konoha.
"At which time, my power will be consolidated, and you can feel free to do as you wish to the nearby villages. The farther ones are still off limits, we need domestic labor and food for some things, but otherwise, go wild!"
The mercenaries cheered and a few tossed hats in the air. Soon a chant started up: "GATO! GATO!" The man himself waved, and returned to his room.
oooooo
"Well, we learned that Zabuza and the masked nin stay somewhere distant," Kakashi said. They had returned to Tazuna's house after listening to the speech. "That will make things much easier. Sasuke, go to the butcher and buy a roll of paper. Naruto, you and I are going to be making many storage seals. Konoha will want all of the information from Gato's files, and it will be easiest to seal the papers away and carry them back, as well as any money. This afternoon we'll take care of last minute details and sleep, then we'll attack at three a.m."
oooooo
End Chapter the Eleventh