Previously:

'I should be becoming stronger…' Naruto thought, remembering how he had been training everyday since becoming a genin. 'I've completed many missions and even practice my jutsu everyday by myself and with April. I'm never going to need saving ever again… I'm not going to be afraid and try to run… I won't lose to Sasuke… I swear it on this pain in my left hand.' His wounded hand was trembling from the pain as blood flowed down his kunai and dripped onto the ground. "With this kunai… I'll protect the old man. We're continuing the mission!!" He declared with determination burning in his eyes.

Chapter 11: Disembark

"Naruto…" Kakashi said as they all stared at him. "It's nice that you took out the poisoned blood so spiritedly, but… anymore, and you'll die from lack of blood."

"Seriously, it's gushing out like a fountain!" April said anxiously. "Apply some pressure to it already!!"

"…!!" Naruto gasped, flinching in shock as he started to visibly pale. "No!!! That's bad!!!" He yelled. "I can't die from something like this!!"

"Let me see your hand." Kakashi said, squatting down in front of his anxious student, while April started pulling medical supplies out of one of her pouches.

"No!!! Save me, Sensei!!!" Naruto yelled, panicking.

"Naruto, are you a masochist? What were you thinking!?" Sakura asked him.

"He clearly wasn't." April stated rather bluntly as she handed Kakashi a roll of bandages, causing the younger girl to sweat-drop.

"!" April and Kakashi's eyes widened slightly when they realized the wound was actually getting smaller.

'The cut… It's already healing…' Kakashi thought, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Umm… Hey… Am I going to be… okay?" Naruto asked nervously. Why did those two have such serious expressions on their faces…? It was kind of scary…

"You should be fine." Kakashi said calmly as he finished wrapping his hand. 'Must be the power of the nine-tails.' He thought, shooting April a quick look to remind her not to say anything to the others, since he knew she already knew the secret from being involved with the incident with Mizuki. She gave him a subtle nod to show she understood.

"… Sensei…" Tazuna said, addressing Kakashi. "I… Have to talk to you. It's about this mission…" That got everyone's attention. "You're right, this job is most likely outside of your duties. It turns out that a super dangerous man is after my life."

"Super dangerous man?" Kakashi asked.

"…" Tazuna seemed hesitant to answer.

"Who?"

"You've probably at least heard his name before." Tazuna said with a sigh.

"…" Kakashi just stared at him, waiting for him to say it.

"A wealthy shipping magnate… a man named Gatō." Tazuna finally admitted.

"?" April had personally never heard of him, but she could tell this Gatō guy must actually be pretty famous by their sensei's reaction.

"Huh!!?" Kakashi said as his eyes widened, obviously surprised by this turn of events. "Gatō… From the Gatō Company? He's one of the richest men in this world."

"Yes." Tazuna replied grimly. "Officially, he runs a large shipping company… but secretly, he sells drugs and other illegal items, using ninjas and gang members to takeover other businesses and small countries. He's a very nasty man."

'Oh, great. So on top of enemy ninjas, now we have to worry about the Godfather, too?' April thought, sweat-dropping. She could see where this was going now.

"It was about a year ago when he set his sights on the Land of Waves." Tazuna continued. "Through money and violence, he quickly took control of the country's shipping industry. Gatō now has a monopoly on all business traffic in the country. On an island like the Land of Waves, controlling the sea means the power to rule over the wealth, politics, and people. The only thing he has to fear now is the completion of the bridge."

"I see…" April said with a frown. That explained why Gatō would put a hit on an ordinary guy like Tazuna-san.

"So, you as the one building the bridge… became an obstacle to him." Sakura said thoughtfully, holding her chin.

"Then, those ninjas were hired by Gatō?" Sasuke said.

"…?" Naruto sweat-dropped, feeling totally lost.

"Gatō is the bad guy, and he's sending other people to do his dirty work." April whispered upon seeing his confusion.

"Oh…" Naruto said, frowning. Why didn't they just say that in the first place?

"But what I don't understand is, if you knew ninjas could be after you, then why did you hide that fact when you hired us?" Kakashi asked.

"Is it a problem of money?" April asked.

"Yes. The Land of Waves is super poor." Tazuna answered as bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. It was embarrassing, but she had hit the nail on the head. "Even the Feudal Lord has no money. Of course, we don't have much money either… not enough for the expensive B-rank mission." Kakashi furrowed his brow slightly. That was probably because of Gatō's monopoly on the island's shipping industry.

"So, you sacrificed safety for economy." April concluded. "Is it because shipping is the country's main industry, and all the money from that ends up in Gatō's pocket?"

"That's part of it." Tazuna agreed. This girl was turning out to be a lot more capable than she looked. "Well, if you quit your mission now, I'll definitely be killed… But don't worry about it!!!" He said with a brilliant shit-eating grin. "If I die, my cute ten-year-old grandson will just cry his eyes out for several days!!!"

"…" Kakashi said as he and April stared at the man, slumping slightly as Naruto and Sakura started sweat, feeling guilty. Sasuke looked unimpressed.

"Oh, yeah, and my daughter will live a miserable and lonely life hating leaf ninjas forever. But it won't be your fault. Not at all!!!" He added, laying it on really thick, as he delivered the final blow.

"Well, I guess we have no choice." Kakashi said with a sigh. We'll protect you, at least until you get back to your country."

'I win.' Tazuna thought with a straight face as he turned away.

'He's completely mastered the 'guilt-trip jutsu' April thought, sweat-dropping. She was sort of used to dealing with this kind of thing. That was a guilt trip that would have made Casey's mom proud…

–∞–

"The mist is so thick, I can't see what's ahead." Sakura remarked as they were all ferried across the sea in a small boat. Fortunately, they had managed to make it off of the main continent without any further incidents.

'Yeah, it's worse than LA smog…' April thought wryly.

"We should see the bridge soon." The owner and driver of the boat informed them as he paddled and steered through the currents with an oar. "The Land of Waves is at the base of the bridge." As they continued forward, the silhouette of a massive structure started to loom into view.

"Wow!!! It's huge!!!" Naruto shouted excitedly. as they got their first clear view of the bridge causing so much fuss.

"Hey, be quiet!" The ferryman whispered-yelled nervously. "Why do you think we're hiding in the mist and not using the engine? We'll be in deep trouble if Gatō finds us." Naruto quickly clapped his hands over his mouth as nervous beads of sweat rolled down the side of his and Sakura's faces, while his fellow genin stared at.

'Well, it is pretty impressive…' April thought, glancing back up at the incomplete bridge. It looked like it would probably be about the same size as the Golden Gate Bridge once it was done. She smiled a little nostalgically at the memory of the familiar landmark. She missed the view of the bay from that red suspension bridge.

"…" Kakashi said, quietly observing everyone's reactions as he kept on the lookout for any signs of trouble.

"We're almost there." The ferryman said as the land ahead came into view. "Tazuna, it looks like we've avoided detection so far, but… Just in case, we'll take the route that has vegetation. It will make it harder to spot us."

"Thanks." Tazuna said. He appreciated the risk he was taking to help them. Everyone was silent as the boat glided through one of the arches of the smaller arch-bridge that had been built to connect to the larger bridge. April blinked as they emerged from the dark tunnel back into the bright light of day.

"Heheh. Wow." Naruto grinned, staring in wonder as they entered a small bay that was scattered with some small, mangrove-like trees, surrounded by houses that had been built right on the water. They all looked like they were on stilts. April smiled slightly. At least Naruto was enjoying himself. The ferryman carefully maneuvered through the vegetation and pulled his boat alongside the dock on one of the buildings that connected to the land and let them off.

"This is it for me." The ferryman said. "Goodbye and good luck."

"Yeah, super thanks." Tazuna said as they watched him speed away, using the motor on his boat. "Ok!! Get me home safely." Tazuna told the ninjas once he was gone.

"Hai, Hai." Kakashi said as they all started walking, with Naruto quickly rushing forward to take the lead. 'If we get attacked again, it'll surely be a Jōnin rather than a chūnin…' He thought with a sigh. Couldn't say he was looking forward to that.

'I'm surprised they haven't sent another assassin yet.' April thought, sticking close to their client, as she carefully scanned the area for any signs that might give away the hint of an enemy. 'Oh, crap… I just jinxed us, didn't I?' She sweat-dropped and resisted the urge to face-palm.

Naruto furrowed his brow slightly in annoyance when Sasuke increased his stride to catch up and walk in the front with him.

"Okay… I'm not going to let this guy take the good parts anymore." Naruto thought, gritting his teeth, as he rushed out ahead, stopping to look around. "!" He suddenly gasped and quickly drew a shuriken. "There!!!" He shouted, throwing it into the bushes on the side of the road.

"!" Everyone else exclaimed in surprise. What the…!? They all stared at the bushes, waiting for something to happen. There was dead silence. Not even a thud or a groan.

"…" They all said as they glanced at Naruto, who was still holding the position he ended up in after throwing the shuriken, unimpressed. This was starting to get awkward now…

"Heh… Just a rat." Naruto said suavely as he straightened up, trying to play it off. If they weren't in such a dire situation, April would have laughed.

"Stop trying to act cool!!!" Sakura snapped. "There was nothing there!!"

"Hey, please stop using your shuriken..." Kakashi told him, sweat-dropping. "It's seriously dangerous." Naruto was going to end up killing some innocent passerby if he kept this up…!

"Hey, midget!!! Stop acting like a moron!!" Tazuna shouted as multiple veins throbbed on his face and arms. "Don't scare us like that!!" The brat nearly gave him a heart attack!

"Hey, I think I see a shadow!!" Naruto exclaimed, ignoring them. "No, Wait!! It's over there!"

"…" Kakashi, Sasuke, and April all deadpanned as they watched him continue to jump around like an idiot. Did he have any idea how ridiculous he looked…?

"!" Kakashi and April suddenly whipped their heads to the side.

"There!!!" Naruto yelled, throwing another shuriken at the exact same spot that had caught their attention.

"I said stop!!!" Sakura shouted angrily, giving him a good whack.

"Oww!! Someone is after us, I swear." Naruto said defensively, rubbing his sore head, as Kakashi headed straight for the bushes with April on his tail.

"Yeah, right!!!"

"Ah…" April said, sweat-dropping, when she saw the 'threat' she thought she had sensed. It was a defenseless little white rabbit… The poor thing was paralyzed with fear, twitching. Naruto's shuriken had only missed it by an inch. 'Maybe I'm just getting paranoid…' It certainly didn't help her nerves to have Naruto constantly yelling out false alarms and flinging sharp, pointy objects everywhere…

"Oh!!" Sakura gasped when she came over and saw the poor rabbit. "Naruto!! What have you done!!?" She shouted incredulously.

"The poor thing nearly died of fright…" April said, glancing pointedly back at her loose-canon of a friend.

"I didn't mean it!" Naruto said, flinching guiltily. "I'm sorry little rabbit!" He cried as he scooped it up in his arms, cuddling it. The poor rabbit was so stunned, it didn't even react.

"Oh, it's just a rabbit." Tazuna said, relieved. For a moment there, he had been worried when Kakashi and the purple-haired girl had also reacted. Looks like it was just a false alarm.

"Say, Naruto… Have you ever heard the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf?" April asked.

"Huh?" Naruto said, furrowing his brow in confusion as he glanced up at her. "No…"

"Hmm. Guess I better tell you then." April said with a brilliant shit-eating grin. "It's a children's story, but…"

'That's a snow rabbit… Yet it's spring, what's with the color of it's fur?' Kakashi wondered while April told the others her little story. 'The snow rabbit changes color based on the amount of sunlight. White is its color during the winter. This is a rabbit that's been kept in a cage for use in the substitution jutsu. So they're here already…' He thought seriously, narrowing his eyes slightly, as he glanced around.

"… Then the wolf ripped the boy to shreds and devoured him. The end." April finished calmly as Sakura, Naruto, and Tazuna stared at her in shock. That was supposed to be a children's story? That had been pure nightmare material… What was wrong with the people from her country!?

"What kind of ending was that!?" Sakura demanded incredulously.

'A realistic one...' Sasuke thought.

"So, just to make sure you understand, Naruto, the moral of the story is: don't tell unnecessary lies or raise too many false alarms, or you could end up like the boy in that story." April explained patiently. "Now calm the heck down and save your energy for when there's a real emergency!" She scolded him sternly.

"Y-Yeah…" Naruto said, sweating nervously, as he nodded his head vigorously to show that he understood. He had forgotten how scary April could be when she was mad…

'That's my kind of story.' The enemy ninja hiding who was spying on their group from a nearby tree thought as he sized up them up. 'I see… No wonder the Demon Brothers didn't stand a chance.' He gripped the hilt of his sword. 'The Hidden Village of Konoha's Copy Ninja, Kakashi of the Sharingan, is here.'

SHP.

"!!" Kakashi gasped as the assassin sprung into action. "Everyone, get down!!" He shouted.

"!" The others all gasped in alarm. April instantly threw herself to the ground, pulling Tazuna and Naruto down with her as a ridiculously huge blade came flying at their group with such speed that they all just barely managed to duck in time.

"Whoa!!" Naruto exclaimed as it passed over his head.

FWIP. FWIP. FWIP. THUNK!

As the blade of large sword hit the trunk of a tree, a dangerous-looking mist ninja landed on it, using the flat side as a platform as he looked down on them. Kakashi immediately straightened up to face the enemy.

'This guy is…' He thought, narrowing his eyes slightly when he realized who he was dealing with.

'Hehe, here's my chance.' Naruto thought as he and the others got back on their feet as well. 'This time, I won't lose to Sasuke.'

"…" April furrowed her brow as she stared up at the ninja and the huge sword. She'd seen plenty of zanbatō in animes and mangas, but nothing like that in real life. A bead of nervous sweat rolled down the side of her face. Now that he wasn't hiding, it was easy to sense his chakra. The man standing before them was nothing like the chūnins they had faced before. This guy… was really dangerous…!!

"Well, well. If it isn't the Hidden Mist's missing-nin, Zabuza Momochi-kun." Kakashi said.

'Ready…' Naruto thought, preparing to rush the enemy. 'Go!!'

"!!" April gasped in alarm when he suddenly shot forward. Thankfully, Kakashi stopped him before he could get any further.

"!" Naruto exclaimed, surprised.

"Everybody get back." Kakashi said firmly in a tone that left no room for argument. "This one's on a whole different level."

"…" Zabuza said as he stared down at them, waiting for Kakashi to make his move.

'Against him…' Kakashi thought, reaching for his forehead protector. "It will be a little tough… unless I do this…" He said aloud, preparing to readjust his forehead protector so that he could use both eyes.