Alrighty, on to this chapter.
Chapter 27
An eagle glided on thermals high above the ground, the gate of the Leaf Village, its destination, not far off in front. The morning sun was just peaking over the horizon, and the walls were awash with an orange glow reminiscent of fire. The eagle could see every detail of the drowsy village, but it remained focused on the highest tower. As it neared the tower, the eagle tucked its wings and dived into an open window of the post office and grasped a stand with its talons.
The woman on duty jumped at the rustling of wings and blinked away sleep to see the eagle and the message wrapped around its leg. She rose and stretched, thinking it was a report from the border. When she unwrapped the message and read the sender's name, the woman frowned, and when she read further, the frown became a look of alarm. She rolled up the message and dashed out the door toward the Hokage's office.
Naruto was having a peaceful dream that was rudely interrupted by something knocking on his window. He grunted and rolled over, hoping the knocking would stop, but it was insistent. With a snort, he cracked open an eye and nearly hit the ceiling in surprise.
Guy waved merrily from outside his window with a bright smile. "Naruto, I have a mission!"
"We just got done with one yesterday, sensei," protested the blonde, rubbing his eyes. He glanced at his alarm clock. "It's not even seven yet."
"I know, but this one is from my rival! He needs a bit of help."
Naruto frowned. Guy's rival Kakashi was a Jonin. He should certainly be capable of handling most of what was thrown at him. Why did he want their help when even he couldn't deal with it? Why not send a Chunin or another Jonin? Before Naruto could voice his thoughts, Guy was gone. He rolled his eyes and stood. He froze; something squishy was underfoot, and that something had a voice.
"Hey, watch where ya step, ya big oaf!" Gamakichi wiggled out from under Naruto's foot and glared at him. "I was havin' a good dream, too."
Naruto pointed a finger at him accusingly. "I thought you dispelled yesterday! What are you doing in my apartment?" he demanded.
"Home gets boring after a while, man. I wanna see this world more."
"You'll see it plenty whenever someone summons you. Now dispel before I make you!" Gamakichi pouted and blew a raspberry at him before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Naruto shook his head exasperatedly and dressed, and then he left for the Hokage Tower.
Neji and TenTen were there when he arrived to Mission Report, TenTen looking groggy and Neji stoically irritated. Guy was nowhere to be seen, but when Naruto started to greet his teammates, their sensei bounded toward them and brandished a slip of paper at them. "I have the message that Kakashi sent asking for help with a mission that has gone awry, and he wants whatever help he can get."
"Then why us?" asked Naruto. "If he's a Jonin and can't handle it, why send another Genin squad and a Jonin? Why not just one Jonin or a couple of Chunin?"
The Hokage heard him and projected his voice across the room. He explained, "We're a little shorthanded on Chunin right now, and the closest Jonin besides the Genin mentors is a day away. It was either you or Team 6 because of your experience, and Team 6 is away on a mission." He straightened some papers. "You'll do fine. Tell them the mission details, Guy."
Guy nodded. "Team 7, Kakashi's Genin squad, was assigned a C-rank mission to escort a bridge builder named Tazuna to the Land of the Waves and to protect him while he built, but Tazuna didn't tell them that someone wanted him dead and had sent high-level shinobi to kill him."
"Why is this sounding eerily familiar?" mused Neji.
"We know that this someone, Gato, sent two Chunin-level assassins after Tazuna, but Kakashi and his team defeated them. That's the most information that Kakashi has provided in the message."
Naruto grimaced, and he spoke what the others were thinking. "If those two Chunin failed, this Gato guy will send deadlier shinobi. They're in danger."
Guy nodded. "We have to hurry to the Land of the Waves. Kakashi left a day ago, and the message came in this morning. Meet at the village gate in an hour."
Naruto burst into his apartment and rushed to gather his pack and sealing scrolls. He put his pack on his bed and stuffed it with scrolls labeled clothes, food, cookware, and other things. He zipped it up and shouldered it, but before he left, the picture on the nightstand caught his eye. He picked it up and examined the picture. The birthday picture with everyone in it. Everyone. One less now, but not forgotten. Naruto smiled. Definitely not forgotten.
He set it down and turned to leave, intending to visit Iruka before he left. He'd like to know about this, but Naruto would have to leave early, but Iruka would understand.
It was five minutes until Team 9 was supposed to leave, and Naruto still hadn't arrived. Guy crossed his arms, wondering where his student could be. The blonde was usually fifteen minutes early every time, but he was nowhere to be seen. TenTen had just arrived, and Neji had arrived twenty minutes ago. Where was Naruto?
That answer came when the blonde skidded out from the nearest corner and ran toward them. He came to a screeching halt and apologized, "Sorry I'm late. I had to take care of a few things."
Guy waved his apology away airily. "You still had five minutes to spare, but you're later than usual. Why?"
Naruto shrugged and dodged the question. "I just had to take care of a few things, talk to some people." Guy frowned but then relented; Naruto's business was entirely Naruto's.
"Alright, Team 9!" he shouted to get their attention. "To the Land of the Waves! We'll make it in a day! Or less than a day!" TenTen groaned but strapped her pack tighter, and Naruto and Neji did the same wordlessly. "Onward!" They took to the treetops and flitted away.
Gato watched the Newton's cradle through his sunglasses, the small steel spheres hitting and transferring energy and forcing the sphere at either end to fly up. It was monotonous, boring, draining, and exactly the thing he needed to calm down.
The first two assassins, those blasted Demon Brothers, failed. The last two assassins he'd sent after the first botched attempt almost succeeded in killing the bridge builder's bodyguards, but the sidekick of the duo hadn't wanted to fight them. Gato's fist clenched and unclenched. It was pity that the bodyguards hadn't killed them. This was getting expensive.
There was a knock on the door of his opulent office, and Gato gruffly said, "Come in." His head intelligence operative entered and bowed respectfully. "What is it?" Gato's tone was brusque brushed with worry. He turned off the recorder under his desk. "What happened?"
"The bridge builder's bodyguards have sent for more shinobi. One of my agents saw the white-haired leader send off an eagle after being attacked by the Demon Brothers, presumably telling what had happened," his operative informed. "We were unable to intercept it, but it's highly likely that the Leaf Village will send more shinobi. What is your response?"
Gato was silent, contemplating his options. He could either send hired shinobi to intercept the arriving Leaf shinobi or quickly kill the bridge builder by sending the two assassins he had sent before again. The complicated part was that it was reported that the powerhouse of the two he'd sent had been heavily injured. Again, a pity he wasn't killed. Gato took a deep breath. The least expensive option was to send the two from before again, but if the report was true, he'd have to hire someone else.
"Get another hired killer on the line," he said. "One on the level of that Zabuza guy. Keep him on the line just in case Zabuza can't go out and try to kill that Tazuna bastard again." Gato rose from his seat, itself not a great action because of his diminutive stature, but his stride was brisk and arrogant. "I need to see about Zabuza."
Gato's speed boat skipped across the tops of the waves, Gato at the back enjoying the built-in bar. He was sampling the scotch when the speed boat turned sharply, and the amber drink spilled all over Gato. Sputtering in anger, Gato started to berate the driver before he recognized Zabuza's hideout looming out of the perpetual mist and thick forest that surrounded it. The driver looked nervous, but Gato ignored him and stepped out with his samurai bodyguards, Waraji and Zouri.
They made their way up the spiral pathway to the hideout, and Haku, the sidekick of the duo, the boy who looked like a girl, turned to the door as it admitted them. Gato grinned when he saw the prone figure of Zabuza on the bed. "So even you have come back defeated," he said snidely. "It looks like Mist ninjas are pretty pathetic." He walked closer. "You can't even avenge your men, and you call yourself a devil? Don't make me laugh." Suddenly, Waraji and Zouri tensed and drew their swords just an inch from their sheaths. "Hold on a second," ordered Gato impatiently. He drew closer to the bed and reached out. "How about-,"
Haku's hand lashed out and seized his hand in an iron grip. "Don't you dare touch Zabuza-san with your dirty hands," he whispered hoarsely, the hatred evident in every word. Gato struggled, and his bodyguards fully drew their blades and lunged. In an instant, the two were empty-handed and had their own swords to their throats. Everyone froze, and Haku lowly growled, "You shouldn't do that. I'm pissed off at the moment."
Sweat beaded on the samurai's faces. Dropping the swords, Haku reappeared next to Zabuza's bed, making Gato blanch and take several steps back toward his men. Gato shakily said, "Just one more time! One more time and you're out of here! Remember that!" He hightailed back to the boat, his bodyguards just behind him. Now speeding across the water for the second time, Gato looked at the bottle of scotch for a while before taking a swig directly from it. He needed it to calm himself and to give him courage in his next choice.
His head intelligence operative was waiting for him at the docks when Gato arrived. Gato stepped off and looked at the operative. "Any word about another contract in the making?"
The other man nodded. "Yes, and he is held in high regard among assassins in the Land of the Mist."
Gato sneered. "Mist ninja aren't worth shit."
"But they are cheaper than those from other lands," he countered. "With one word, he and his band of henchmen will be sent to kill the shinobi reinforcing Tazuna's guard or to kill Tazuna himself."
"No! Not Tazuna!" snapped Gato waspishly. "I have special plans for him. He and his family will end up just like that Kaiza fuddy-duddy do-gooder. Go ahead and send them to kill those incoming ninja, but leave Tazuna to me!"
Team 9 slowed their pace once they had crossed the Land of Fire's border, meaning they would reach their destination in six hours instead of five. They had descended from the trees and had taken to the road, Guy in the lead with TenTen and Neji right behind him. Naruto trailed, not wanting to waste too much energy.
"What do you think happened?" shouted Naruto to his team. "It has to something serious, don'tcha think?"
Guy shrugged. "Who knows? All I know is that when my rival calls for help, he really does need it. Whatever it is, it's not something to take lightly."
"So we must be on our guard," added Neji.
"Nothing out of the ordinary so far, though," said TenTen.
Guy nodded. "But if these ninja ambushed Kakashi, they could be hiding in plain sight and still not be noticed."
Neji sighed in frustration. "If only I had my eyes back."
"Don't worry, Neji," reassured Guy. "I can sense an ambush before it happens."
"And it's entirely another thing to actually stop it from happening." They were quiet, agreeing with the fact, before Naruto had another question.
"So who is this Gato guy? He's the guy who sent the ninja after Tazuna, but who is he? I've never heard of him." Neji and TenTen looked toward their sensei, wanting to the know the answer to the same question.
"Gato," Guy began, "is the founder of the Gato Company, a shipping corporation that controls almost all of the shipping between the islands and the mainland. He's a very short man with a long, dark shadow that hides the drug dealing and smuggling operations he finances and profits from. He's ruthless, ambitious, and has enough wealth to hire an army."
"Then why not send an army?" asked TenTen.
"He works through scaring people into submission and strangling their businesses in an impoverished country, but he's not afraid to use force, however. Tazuna is one of the few not afraid of this man, and the bridge he's building proves it."
"Why is Gato so determined to the bridge from being completed?" Naruto asked. "Is it just because he wants to keep his power over the people of the Waves?" Neji frowned; he sensed that was part of the answer, but there was something else, something about the islands and mainland.
"That's part of it, Naruto," said Guy. "But it's not the entire answer."
"Trade," Neji realized. "Gato wants to keep his control over trade in the region as well."
"You've got it. That's why he wants Tazuna dead. Without him, the Wave people lose the last of their hope." He came to a halt, and the Genin nearly crashed into him. They had arrived at the shore of a sea that was blanketed with a thick mist. Naruto tried to squint to see through it, but it was no use.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"We're on the coast that Tazuna is building towards. About two miles out from here we'll hit the Land of the Waves." Guy stretched. "Now I really see that water-walking training go to use." He stepped out on the water and beckoned them. "Come on!" He dashed off, and his Genin, after exchanging looks, followed.
Naruto kept his eyes trained on TenTen's back, her pink shirt a beacon in the mist. The water rippled out under their feet as they ran across it, and they passed a small fishing boat whose fisherman gaped at them and then ducked his head quickly. Naruto didn't have enough time to wonder about the strange act before something massive appeared from the mist. He stopped, craning his neck to gaze up at the massive shape. His team was still in front of him, they too gazing up at the shape.
"What is that?" demanded TenTen.
Guy smiled. "That's the bridge that Tazuna is building."
"That giant thing?" gawked Naruto. "That thing's taller than the Hokage Tower!"
"This will bring tourists as well as trade," Neji commented.
"Sh! They'll hear you." They turned to see the fisherman they had passed earlier. He had a panicked look on his face, and he made a shushing gesture. "No more. They'll know where you are," he whispered. "Go on, but not another word."
They nodded, understanding what he meant, and ran the rest of the way in silence. They felt the shore under their feet before actually seeing it. Naruto glanced at the others and opened his mouth to ask a question, but Guy put a finger to his lips. Naruto frowned but kept quiet until they were about a half-mile from the shore. The Guy turned around and asked, "What were you going to ask, Naruto?"
"Is that guy going to be alright? That guy who warned us?" he blurted out.
Guy shrugged. "I don't know, but if he keeps his head down, then he should be better off. We were lucky he had the courage to warn us." He looked around at the forest around them, face creasing as if sensing something. "This forest doesn't feel right. Let's go. Tazuna's home isn't much further ahead." They made their way deeper into the forest, and Guy ordered them to stay close. "I have a feeling something's going to happen."
The forest path they were following opened up to a small lake, but it looked like something had destroyed it. "The lake is half-gone," observed TenTen, "and I see trees uprooted and on their sides. What happened here?"
"A battle," Guy guessed. "I think that Gato sent someone else to kill Tazuna, and Kakashi and the other ninja caused this."
"Two ninja did this?" repeated Neji, eyes widening. "The other must have surely been a Jonin in power."
"And you're completely correct, Hyuuga." A man with strange green hair walked out from the forest in front of them. "Gato sent Zabuza to kill Tazuna, but he failed in doing so," the man continued flatly, straightening the sleeves of his black shirt and dusting off his grey pants. His demeanor was detached and cold. "The bodyguards were tougher than he expected, and he has more problems with you four coming."
"Who are you?" demanded Guy. "I don't know you from any Bingo Book."
"Good. That's because everyone who has ever fought me died. Unfortunately for you, I'm here to kill on Gato's orders." The man drew a tanto from inside his shirt. "And I never fail to fulfill a contract."
Naruto tensed, ready to take off his weights, and Neji beside him summoned his tonfa. TenTen drew her hammer, but then Guy warned them not to interfere.
"Team 9, get back!" Guy shouted. "Leave him to me!" He took out something from his jacket, a pair of nunchaku, and whirled them as he closed in on the man. The first swipe missed narrowly, and the man lashed out with his tanto. A nunchaku swooped in to knock it away, and Guy leaped forward, smashing into the spot the man had been. The man reappeared near the Genin and stabbed.
"Not so fast." Neji intercepted the tanto with his tonfa and kicked out to create space. The man stepped back and swiped at TenTen who ducked and summoned her hammer to try to shatter his kneecaps, but the man escaped. Naruto created a clone which generated a whirlwind that propelled a shuriken at the man who dodged and disappeared.
He reappeared at the lip of the lake. "Interesting. For Genin, your reaction time is stellar. I think you deserve to hear my name before you die." He twirled the tanto theatrically. "My name is Hiru of the Mist."
"Leech?" translated Naruto. "What, you gonna suck our blood?"
Hiru smiled wryly. "Something like that." The Genin tensed, but then Guy blew past them in a green blur.
"Leave him to me! He's not an ordinary ninja!"
Hiru nodded. "Correct." Hiru dodged a whistling nunchaku and dove with his tanto, but the other nunchaku was already in motion to knock it away. Hiru stepped to the side and tried an elbow blow to Guy's neck, but suddenly the man wasn't there. He reappeared behind Hiru and kicked him in the back, sending him skipping across the lake. He stopped himself, but then Guy delivered a knee strike under the jaw. There was a crack, and Guy's face was stony as he threw his whole body into a single shin kick into Hiru's stomach.
The man tumbled away and slammed into a broad tree, and Guy lowered into a fighting stance, on guard for any deception, but the man didn't vanish into smoke or suddenly take off at a blinding speed. He instead rose calmly to his feet and brushed himself off with a slightly annoyed expression. "That hurt, I'll have you know." His words were slurred and thick, and he frowned in confusion before popping his mended jaw into place. "That's not an experience I'd care to repeat."
"Then surrender and leave," Guy suggested, nunchaku resting on his shoulders. "I don't want to fight you."
"No. My contract says I have to kill you, and I never fail a contract." Hiru fixed a crick in his neck. "You have to die."
Guy's tone was regretful. "Then I have to kill you."
Hiru nodded. "Now that the feeling is mutual, I think this fight will not take as long." With that, he charged at Guy who whirled his nunchaku before meeting Hiru head-on.
The team watched as their sensei and the mysterious assassin became nothing but blurs flitting across the water. Every time the blurs would collide, the sound of metal clashing into metal would ring out. TenTen tried to follow their movements with her eyes, but she sighed in frustration after a minute of seeing nothing but the moment when they collided. Neji had better luck, seeing when they collided and changed direction, but he saw nothing else. Naruto, used to following Guy's extreme speed, fared the best, but he was still worried.
"That Hiru is keeping up with sensei too easily," he said. "He's matching sensei's speed, and I don't know anyone else who can do that."
"Maybe this Hiru man is the fastest in his village," Neji suggested. "Much like Guy-sensei is to the Leaf Village."
"Maybe," conceded Naruto. "But you've never seen Guy-sensei actually fight at his fastest. This is half of what he can do, and most people usually stop here."
TenTen piped up, "Maybe Hiru isn't most people."
Naruto chewed the inside of his cheek in worry and turned, biting his thumb. He slapped the ground, and Gamakichi appeared, yawning largely. "Whatcha want?"
TenTen and Neji were unsurprised; Naruto had called on the small toad during their last mission to carry a message. They suspected Naruto had summoned Gamakichi again for the same purpose, and they soon found they were correct.
"Gamakichi, I want you to find a village ahead of us and ask to see Tazuna." Naruto turned his head as another clash rang out. He turned back to Gamakichi, a fearful light in his eyes. "Hurry. This guy isn't normal. I can smell it." What prompted him to see that was beyond him, but the point was made. Gamakichi was off.
They heard another clash, this one louder than the rest. They looked around to see the two men had seperated and were standing at either side of the lake. Guy was panting and hunching his shoulders, but Hiru hadn't broken a sweat. His tanto dangled loosely by his side, and he had a confident smile.
"I thought Might Guy of the Leaf would be more of a challenge," he said. "Sadly, it looks like your life ends here."
Guy glared at him and wiped sweat from his brow. "I'm not done yet. I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve."
Hiru bowed mockingly. "Then show me. Nothing you can do will change the outcome, and once I'm done with you, the children will be next."
"If I die, those so-called children will defeat you." The Genin felt a surge of pride, and Naruto smiled and yelled out at Hiru.
"That's right! Nothing gets past us, not even you!"
"I doubt that very much." Hiru shifted his attention back to Guy. "Now, to dispose of you." He started to run at him, but then Guy pressed his hands together palm-to-palm. Hiru came to a halt and watched as the chaotic scene unfolded.
"First Gate: Open!" The water around him started to bubble. "Second Gate: Open!" The bubbles came faster and bigger. "Third Gate: Open!" The water began to part under him. "Fourth Gate: Open!" The lake swirled around him in a giant whirlpool, and then Guy opened the next gate. "Fifth Gate: Open!" His skin turned red like Lee's had during the struggle with Sayuri, and miraculously, he hovered in the middle of the whirlpool he'd created.
Neji grasped for words as he watched. "Sensei is...is floating. The pure, unadulterated force of his chakra is keeping him aloft."
"Amazing," TenTen breathed.
Naruto was ecstatic. "Woo-hoo! Beat the hell outta him, sensei!"
"Get ready, Hiru!" roared Guy. "Because here I come!" He tore toward him, fist drawn back for an earth-shattering strike. Water parted before him in towering waves. The very air vibrated with his chakra. Meanwhile, Hiru hadn't moved an inch, but as Guy approached at terrifying speeds, his tanto rose as if to meet him head on.
"A pity such a display is all for naught."
Guy suddenly froze in mid-step, and at the same time TenTen fell into Naruto. He lowered her slowly and was about to shout at Neji to help before he too fell to the ground. Naruto was panicked, but then an overwhelming exhaustion came over him. He caught himself with his hands, but his arms trembled and gave out. He fell to the side away from TenTen, and he watched lethargically as Guy struggled to keep himself afloat.
"You see," said Hiru, "I truly am a leech. However, I don't feed on blood. I feed on chakra."
"But you didn't even touch me," argued Guy weakly, trying to tread water but failing.
"I didn't need to. My plants had already attached themselves to you."
"Plants?"
Hiru smirked. "Before you saw me, my plants had already crawled their way beneath your clothes. Right now, they're resting on your back. I can bring them out and show you." Naruto felt something slide up his back, and he managed to just turn his head to see a mass of tangled vines. Two vines were poking ahead of it like antennae, and another pair latched onto his skin and dragged itself closer to his face.
Naruto, fueled by fright, whipped his head around to TenTen where another vine creature was prodding her neck with an antenna. It's checking for a pulse, realized Naruto, cold fear spreading through his body. He looked over at Neji to see a vine creature resting on the back of his neck. Guy had one that slowly crawling its way to cover his face. Naruto felt antennae slithering on his cheek, and he quickly tried to tear the vine creature away.
But it was stuck, a single, thick vine having painlessly pierced his skin and refusing to release. Naruto pulled at it again, but this time a scorching pain flared through him, leaving him breathless and more tired than before. His lethargy had increased, and he could no longer fight the creature, but Hiru had noticed.
"Oh, look. One of your students had strength left to resist my plants. He must've been a strong one. Unfortunately, he has to die."
Guy forced out another question. "How-how do you absorb the chakra?"
Hiru waved his tanto. "My tanto is a receptor for the chakra my plants send to me. I admit that you almost overloaded it while opening the Gates, but it was no use to try to produce more chakra than I could take."
"But-but that was more chakra than one man could handle."
Hiru's smirk grew wider. "That's why I have five other men working for me." Five ragged-looking men appeared behind Hiru. "They take the excess chakra. I take only what I need to heal and energize." He motioned toward the stricken shinobi. "Kill them, men, and fulfill the contract. I don't want to dirty my hands with blood."
The men laughed, and they hauled Guy up onto the ground to grip him better. Four sauntered over to Naruto, Neji, and TenTen. Hiru smiled, seeing that the job was about to be completed, and disappeared. One man each had every of them except for Naruto where one restrained him and the other would kill him. The vine creatures retracted the feeder vine once in the men's grips, and they crawled into the men's clothes. Then the men moved to do their task.
Naruto watched as the man pressed the knife against his neck. He could smell the earthy scent of the men and hear their heavy breathing. The one restraining him sat on his back and restricted his breathing. There was nothing he could do. He was helpless. His eyes closed as the knife came down.
The knife never came.
There was a choking sound, and the man on his back slid off. Naruto drew a welcome breath and opened his eyes. The men had fallen over, hands clutching their sliced necks. He moved his eyes up. Kakashi, supported with only crutches, looked down at him with only a slightly interested look. "Hi. I got your message, and your little friend nearly gave my students a heart attack." Naruto smiled before the adrenaline keeping him awake stopped flowing. He slumped, falling into a deep sleep.
Kakashi harrumphed and gestured for his students to come out from the trees. Sakura looked at awe at the men lying dead but strangely not bleeding. "How'd-how'd you do that, sensei? You've got crutches!" Sasuke grunted and crossed his arms moodily. Sai simply smiled.
"I'm a Jonin, Sakura, and being a Jonin comes with keeping secrets very well." He tossed the crutches aside and picked up Guy. "Now, each of you grab someone. We need to hurry just in case someone comes back."
Hours later when night had fallen, the necks of the men began to heal. Vines sprouted out from the sides of the wounds and wove themselves like stitches to close them. When the wounds were closed, the men's eyes started to blink and move. Slowly, each one of them sat up, the wounds nothing but green scars. As one, they rose and sank into the ground, intending to inform their master of their prey's escape.
If there's some misspelled words about halfway through, sorry. My computer went kaplooey, and I had to switch to another that has a program that doesn't have a spell check. Or grammar check. Or anything really. Anyway, TOODLES!