The next day Naruto stepped out of the tent. Looking around he gawked at what had been done. The majority of the fence had already been put up and the garden was complete. He clenched his fists in frustration. "Is there nothing left for me to do?"
The blue-eyed girl that he had seen walk in his tent the day before walked up to him. He blinked in surprise when she spoke. "Are you okay mister?" Naruto's facial features softened. Grinning he replied, "I'm better. What's your name?"
"Kaisei."
Izumo had finished demonstrating to the men and women how they could use the kunai as a useful gardening tool. After the people were able to properly handle a kunai, Izumo showed them basic defense techniques a kunai could give them. This was easy for the men since most of them had been through wars in their younger days.
Izumo decided to make his way to the prisoner's tent after he was pleased with what the people had learned. He smiled when he heard Naruto's muffled laughter under a pile of kids. The children were having so much fun with him and his shadow clones.
Izumo nodded to the elders standing outside of the Kabuki's tent.
"Izumo." One of the elders walked up to him. "What will you do with this man?"
"You won't have to worry about him anymore. We'll take him back to our village for interrogation."
"What if other ninjas come looking for him?" Another elder asked.
"Well, while this is unofficial business, I'd like to come back about once a week for at least a month. I'll need to talk to the Hokage first."
The elders bowed. "Thank you. I hope we can repay your kindness." Izumo bowed in return, then entered the tent that held their enemy.
Kabuki was bound in a steel cage created by Kotetsu. A seal had been placed around the cage to prevent him from using any techniques. The bound enemy looked up to his captor and snarled. Used to this kind of behavior from working at the prison, Izumo didn't flinch.
Slowly he kneeled down next to Kabuki and narrowed his eyes.
"While you sit there, do you think of what you've done to these people?"
There was no reply.
"You could make yourself useful around here." Kabuki looked up in disbelief. The calmness in Izumo's stare affirmed him that the Konoha ninja was not mocking him.
Ashamed, Kabuki turned his head to the side and stared off at the wall. "There is nothing I can do here. By now these people hate me." He narrowed his eyes as memories of his continual raids on the small towns took place. "They all do."
"You sound more willing to sulk about it than do anything." Izumo sighed. This guy was going to take some work to get through. He clapped his hands on his pant legs and stood up to leave.
"Wait." Kabuki's voice was low but pleading. "There might be something I can say to help."
Izumo rubbed his chin piece in thought. "Oh?"
"After this, I betray Orochimaru." Kabiku continued.
Sweat trickled down the side of Izumo's face. Orochimaru. If he's involved then... what is he after? He nodded to the prisoner to continue.
"I never talked to Orochimaru directly, so I don't know where he is. It was always through one of his subordinates. From what I do know is that he hired me and a bunch of other renegade ninjas after the attempt at crushing Konoha. There was a lot of things he promised us, like power." Kabuki's eyes seemed to glaze as he stared off at nothing in particular. "For those who resisted... well, no one heard from them again."
Izumo turned his back on the man after he finished. He was analyzing the turn of events and tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together. "Of course. It makes sense."
Kabiku stared at the red circle on the back of Izumo's jacket. He didn't particularly understand what he was talking about. To him, there was no sense in any of this.
"We'll have to take you back to Konoha. The Hokage will want to know about this."
Kabuki snorted and crossed his arms. "If you can get me there alive that is. There's always a backup just incase things go wrong. I don't expect to live much longer."
Izumo turned his head back to Kabuki. "Never underestimate a Konoha shinobi." With that he left the tent.
Kabuki's thoughts drifted back to the blond haired ninja he fought. He sighed and thought out loud. "That was my mistake."
Kotetsu was standing in the tower of the new gate when he heard Izumo call out his name. He made his way down and noted the concern on Izumo's face. "We have to leave tonight."
"Why so sudden?"
We need to inform Hokage-sama about Orochimaru's intent."
Kotetsu narrowed his eyes. "Orochimaru!?" Izumo nodded. "I'll explain, but let's find Naruto first."
That night Naruto stood at the gate with his backpack as he waited for the others to arrive. He was the first one there since Izumo had told them why they were leaving that night. If Izumo was right, then Orochimaru was causing these smaller villages to be continually pillaged so that they would not grow to help Konoha when the time to attack came. Even if Izumo's assumption wasn't right, he still knew one thing was true; Orochimaru was involved. Naruto clenched his teeth as he tightened his grip on his backpack's straps.
A few moments later Izumo and Kotetsu walked up to him. Izumo took one last glance back at the silent crowd. Kaisei stood at the front of the crowd clutching the leaf carving that Naruto had given her earlier that day. She watched as the three Konoha ninjas turned their backs and began their trek back home with Kabuki. They had all helped this village more than the village could ever repay, but she felt her heart sink when she saw the blond-haired ninja walk away.
"Naruto!" Kaisei called out with tears welling in her eyes.
Naruto turned to see her one last time. "Be careful!" Some of the tears streamed down her face.
Naruto grinned at her. "Aa! Don't worry about me!" Naruto stuck his thumb up in the air to reassure her. "I promise I'll come back one day!" Kaisei smiled. She felt a wave of happiness come over her. The crowd watched as the four ninjas walked away until they disappeared into the darkness of the forest.
A/N: Kaisei means resurrection.
Now that they've left the village, the trip home is all that's left before this story's end.