Undone

Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Everything belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Tazuna was a grumpy, bespectacled old man who greeted them with a frown as the two genin teams walked into the small teashop sitting in the middle of the village. He was dressed simply, in the type of clothes that poorer civilians usually wore. Nothing about him gave away the fact that he was currently on the run from one of the wealthiest underground organizations on the continent.

"They sent a bunch of kids this time? Is the leader of Konoha serious?"

"We apologize for disappointing you," Kakashi said curtly, sending the man a hard look. "Our Hokage sent a bunch of kids to complete this A-rank mission. If you have complaints, you can always either ask a different village for help or face off against all those thugs and mercenaries by yourself."

"Watch it, Kakashi. You're scaring him," Asuma muttered beside him, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "I thought you were called out on intimidating your clients when you were younger."

Kakashi only glared at him.

The six genin watched this conversation intently, their heads swiveling around to glance first at Kakashi, then Asuma, and Kakashi again until Shikamaru let out a long sigh.

"We'll just leave this up to our teachers," the Nara drawled in a bored voice before heading for the doorway. "C'mon, Ino and Chōji."

Naruto blinked. "Do we leave too?"

"What do you think?" Sasuke asked out of the corner of his mouth, jabbing Naruto in the ribs. "It's obvious that Kakashi doesn't care. But Asuma, he's uncomfortable with us hearing top-secret info. I thought we made that clear on our way here."

"So we leave," Sakura said firmly, grabbing both of them by their shirts and proceeding to half-drag, half-guide them out of the teashop.

"You know, Shikamaru, I think Kakashi-sensei wouldn't have minded if we stayed and listened to their conversation," Sakura said as soon as the half dozen genin walked out of the teashop.

"Asuma-sensei would cry if we heard all of that 'top secret' information," Chōji said before Shikamaru even opened his mouth to reply, putting on air quotation marks with his fingers at the 'top secret' part. "He's squeamish about stuff like that, especially since his father is the, you know."

"His old man's the what?" Naruto asked, turning around to look at Chōji.

"The Hokage. You didn't know?" Ino asked, turning around and looking at Naruto as if the answer was obvious.

"Of course he doesn't, Pig," Sakura said suddenly, whirling around and sending Ino a look. "He doesn't have parents who know everything like yours."

A short-lasting feeling of shame appeared inside her as she said this, but she quickly pushed it away. There was nothing wrong with her defending a fellow teammate, especially a teammate who helped her plenty of times during Kakashi's training that came straight from Hell. It didn't matter if he was the dunce of the class.

Naruto gave Sakura such a mawkish look that Sasuke cringed.

Sakura sighed.

But he really did act like an idiot sometimes.

Chōji produced a bag of potato chips from his backpack and ripped them open, ignoring the awkward silence that had taken over the group. "Mm. She packed me barbeque. My favorite."

He began crunching on them loudly, causing a scornful expression to appear on Sasuke's face. It was obvious that he decided against saying anything. The way he pressed his lips into a tight line and looked away told Naruto enough.

Ino still had her jaw open. The difference was obvious. Kakashi must have had done something extreme to get Sakura to stand up for the one person that everybody in the village hated.

"There isn't enough room to have all eight of you live in my house," Tazuna said quite frankly as soon as the two genin teams arrived at his house, around two hours after leaving the village they had met Tazuna at earlier. They had walked all the way over to the edge of the country before taking a boat to the small island that was known as Wave Country.

"We don't need to all live in your house," Kakashi replied quickly, glancing at his three students. "Two people can stay on guard at all times while the rest make camp. Is that okay?"

To be honest, he knew full well that there probably weren't going to be any ambushes. Previous experience had taught him that. But he was still ticked off that Tazuna had been so dismissive of the genin earlier, he had to have a reason to annoy him.

"We're camping out?" Ino immediately protested, her hands going automatically to her face. "I can't sleep in the wild. There's bugs and dirt! My skin will be irritated by the grass!"

"Then you guys can stay in the house, Pig," Sakura muttered irritably. "It's not like I want to share a camp with you anyways," she added, this time more quietly so Ino wouldn't hear.

"There's room for at least four of them," said the woman standing in the doorway of the small building, her hands resting on the shoulders of the small boy standing next to her. "We can actually make room for all of you in the house, if you want. It'll be a little crowded, but you can all fit in."

"Thank you for the offer," Naruto said, bowing down and remembering his manners. "But we've lived in a forest for a while already. Roughing it with the trees is completely fine with us."

"If you say so," Chōji muttered under his breath, shifting his backpack around as he spoke. "I have no intention of sleeping in the grass."

"At least my old man sent me," Asuma said finally, drinking his second cup of tea. "I get the feeling that things would've gone worse if Kurenai were here instead."

The eight shinobi were all gathered in the tiny living room of Tazuna's house, crammed into the small space and trying to get as comfortable as possible. Asuma and Kakashi had both taken spots at the small dining table while all members of Team 7 leaned against the wooden wall, resembling statues the way they stood still with their arms closed and their eyes closed. Sasuke was the one who had started off in that position. Sakura copied him because she found it amusing. Naruto copied Sakura simply because he thought it was funny if all three of them stood in the same position.

The members of Team 10 all sat on the ground.

Kakashi nodded. "Mmm."

Asuma frowned at Kakashi before reaching into his pocket, only to be called out by Ino.

"No smoking in the room!" the blond girl called out half-heartedly from her spot on the ground. It sounded like she said it more out of habit than worry for her sensei's health.

Kakashi sent Asuma a look. "I will tell Kurenai everything."

"Fine."

The Sarutobi put the pack of cigarettes away, sighing before pouring himself another cup of tea. "I'll just drink my tea while you plan out all the strategies."

Kakashi ignored him. "We're going to kill Gatō."

"We're what?" Naruto asked loudly, looking slightly confused. "And isn't Gatō the one who's after the grouchy bridge builder?"

"He's the one who sent Momochi Zabuza after Tazuna in the first place. It's safe to assume that if we want to receive the right amount of pay for this mission, we'll have to at least rob Gatō of a giant chunk of his money. It would be easier to just kill him," Kakashi said absentmindedly, staring at the tealeaves floating around in Asuma's cup.

Of course, they had killed Gatō in the original timeline too. There was nothing wrong with doing it again. But the timeline had changed. This mission wasn't supposed to have occurred until one week later. And a team of chūnin had already been sent, which meant-

"Hey, Kakashi. Snap out of it," Asuma's voice hit him, followed by a sharp snap in front of Kakashi's nose. "I thought we were going to plan strategies."

"Yes," Kakashi began. "Gatō likes to play dirty. He doesn't care about using underhanded techniques and playing dirty if it means he can get what he wants. I worry about Tazuna's family's safety. Who knows if Gatō would send his minions after a defenseless woman and child?"

"I see," Asuma muttered, turning to look at the genin. "But we couldn't risk having more than one person guard them. We need to put all of our efforts into defeating the Demon of the Hidden Mist. He is the main reason this is an A-rank, after all."

"Naruto, how about you go?" Kakashi asked, suddenly, causing Sasuke to snap his head around.

"Calm down, Sasuke," Kakashi said, waving a hand in the Uchiha's direction. "I think you're a lot more valuable fighting against the main enemy itself rather than guarding against an enemy that might not even come. Naruto's more flexible. We've no idea who Gatō might send, but I'm pretty sure that that person wouldn't be somebody as strong as Momochi."

They'll just be low-ranking chūnin and dropouts from villages, Kakashi thought to himself.

"But doesn't he have somebody with him? The masked person?" Naruto asked suddenly, surprising everybody else.

"Yes. He has a Hyōton user with him," Kakashi answered slowly. "It's a Kekkei Genkai. We'll have to handle him with care."

"What's a Kekkei Genkai?" Naruto asked quite frankly, causing Sasuke to give a rather annoyed hn.

"A Kekkei Genkai is an ability that is passed down from generation to generation in a clan. Genetically. They can't be learned by anybody from another clan," Sakura said, acting just like the perfect, studious student she normally was, turning to focus her jade eyes on Naruto. "A good example would be the Byakugan that Hinata has. The Hyūga all possess it. Activating it is something like a coming-of-age ritual for them."

"You mean that thing she does when the veins around her eyes bulge and she can see me even when I'm behind her?" the blond boy asked, raising an eyebrow and causing the whisker-marks on his cheek to shift slightly.

"Yes. I meant that."

"But Shikamaru's Kagemane no Jutsu isn't a Kekkei Genkai," Sasuke added, seeming to relish the chance to teach Naruto something he didn't know. "It's a Hiden technique. That means that although it's unique to the Nara Clan, other shinobi will be able to replicate it if they are taught the basics."

"Basically, everybody can learn it, but we just choose not to let anybody else know, " Shikamaru drawled, turning to glance at Naruto. "That's all you need to know for now."

"So this Kekkei Genkai thing. Is it really special or something like that?"

"Most of the shinobi clans in Konoha don't possess Kekkei Genkai. The Senju Clan has Mokuton, which has only appeared with the First Hokage throughout the village's entire history. And there's the Byakugan of the Hyūga that we mentioned earlier. Then there's the Sharingan, which appears only in the clansmen of the Uchiha Clan," Sakura said before trailing off, turning to cast a sheepish look at Sasuke. "I don't really think I should explain anything other than that, right, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke shifted at his spot by the wall, closing his eyes before letting his arms drop to his sides. "Yes. There's nothing else you need to mention."

Sakura looked extremely embarrassed. Judging by her and Sasuke's reaction, this probably wasn't a topic that they didn't want to touch upon.

Naruto decided to not touch upon it any more. He acted pretty dense sometimes, but he was plenty aware that an uprising had gone on in the village a few years ago after an entire clan of people were massacred in the middle of the night. Sasuke became alone after that. Nobody was there to pick him up after school ended. Even when Sasuke sprained his ankle during taijutsu training, there hadn't been anybody there to take care of him.

It wasn't a coincidence.

"Order!" Kakashi called out suddenly, catching Naruto's attention and shutting everybody else up with a loud, sharp clap of his hands. "So our strategy has already been decided. Naruto will remain near Tazuna's house at all times, keeping guard over Tsunami-san and Inari. The rest of us will be there to escort Tazuna everywhere he goes. As soon as Momochi appears, we will assume formation. The genin will guard Tazuna in a circle while Asuma and I take positions in front. You guys," he pointed in the general direction of the genin in the room, "will guard the client and hold the masked figure at bay. Asuma and I will take care of the Demon. Sound good?"

"Good," Naruto muttered half-heartedly. "So do I join up with you guys once I finish bashing their heads or something like that?"

"Yes. By all means, it'd help to have another genin on the battlefield."

"'Kay."

"And Naruto?"

"Yes?"

"We're going to have Asuma here train you in the basics of Fūton over the next few days," Kakashi said cheerfully, clapping a hand on Asuma's shoulder as he pointed at Naruto. "No high-ranking techniques, of course. Just enough for you to have some more techniques in your arsenal."

"How do you know what chakra type I am?" Naruto asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow at Kakashi.

"It's the only chakra nature that both your parents shared," Kakashi replied.

And of course, I know.

Even though they spent most of their time away from each other and only gathered for meetings, it was obvious that there was a large gap between the two teams.

Sakura's outburst to defend Naruto during the first day was enough for Ino to stay away from her former friend. With the only two girls in the group ignoring each other, that basically meant Sakura and Ino would have nobody to talk to.

As for the others, it wasn't like they were really good friends in the first place. Naruto was well acquainted with Shikamaru and Chōji, but they were only acquaintances. Shikamaru had always been kind enough to him, but he always chose Chōji over Naruto when they were had free time in the Academy. Sasuke was famous for being stuck-up and not associating with anybody, so it really wasn't much of a surprise when he kept quietly to himself while the others tried to make small talk.

Key word: tried.

The few days spent in the Seventh Training Ground had taught Sakura that appearance truly didn't manner. She could have died if her hair got caught on the branches while she ran away from the bear. There was no way she was going to risk that.

With the pride of her appearance gone, everything else seemed to matter less too. What was the point of having perfect, long nails when they always got dirty after a training session? Why did having smooth and pale skin matter when she would spend hours under the sun, only to get that skin covered with dirt and mud over and over again?

With beauty and clothes out of the question, there were few topics that Sakura and Ino can actually discuss without making the other feel significantly awkward. Sakura had always been horrible at flower arranging. Ino hated reading. There was no way they could ever talk about their hobbies with each other.

It wasn't like they wanted to talk to each other in the first place.

Sasuke probably had even more problems with Ino than Sakura. Every time Ino tried flirting with him, even batting her lashes, it took both Naruto and Sakura's combined efforts to calm him down. Even then it was barely enough to keep Sasuke from taking his sword and slicing her blond hair to ribbons. Or maybe her skin.

But then again, bloodstains were hard to clean off. Besides, Sasuke was pretty sure that Ino's hair was more important to her than her life.

Naruto got along with Shikamaru and Chōji pretty well when he wanted to. The three would sit behind and talk while the other three drifted off, alone. But most of Shikamaru's and Chōji's conversations were about stuff that Naruto had never even heard about. There really wasn't much he could contribute. Instead, he chose to practice the basics of cutting leaves with chakra that Asuma had taught him earlier.

The Academy days were gone.

It wasn't until their third day in Wave Country that they met the infamous Demon of the Hidden Mist.

Naruto, as planned, was stationed at Tazuna's house, hopefully alert and not dozing off against the tree trunk that he had been leaning on when they left. There were only five genin and two jōnin on the bridge as the mist gradually began to surround them and obscure their vision.

"Assume formation!" Kakashi immediately barked out, causing all of the shinobi to shift around and form a loose circle around Tazuna. "Our enemy's a Suiton user. Expect some Water Release attacks."

Sakura's eyes widened and the hand she was holding her kunai with trembled as she saw the figures gathering around the circle, seeming to have appeared out of the mist without any warning.

Before anybody could move a muscle, Sasuke flung out a hand, reaching for his sword with his other hand. "They're mine. I can take on a couple of Bunshin by myself."

"He's all yours, then," Kakashi said evenly, not even bothering to turn around as Sasuke moved impossibly fast, cutting up all seven clones effortlessly within seconds. There was nothing but a couple of water puddles on the ground by the time he was done.

"He destroyed all your Mizu Bunshin, Zabuza-san," the masked figure said quietly as he and Zabuza emerged out of the mist, sounding slightly surprised.

"Do it, Haku," Zabuza muttered dismissively. "A couple of genin isn't enough to defeat us."

Sasuke could tell that the masked figure was smiling as he closed in on the small circle of genin.

Naruto was cutting up leaves.

He was sitting on one of the branches of the tree outside Tazuna's house. It wasn't very high up, but it was sturdy and the leaves helped conceal him from the sight of enemies. It wouldn't work against sensor types or higher-level shinobi, but it was enough to fool a regular chūnin or anything lower than that.

"Now," he murmured quietly to himself as he cut another leaf with a burst of chakra, "where are those heads I have to bash?"

The Wind Release training was going well. Naruto had managed to cut up the leaves quite easily after learning a trick from Kakashi. The man had taught him to create a dozen Kage Bunshin before ordering them to all try to cut a leaf in half with chakra. With that, he managed to pick up the trick to it much more quickly.

Asuma had been pretty pleased with the improvement. He had taught Naruto a few lower-level technqiues, a couple C-ranks and a B-rank, that Naruto was itching to use in battle.

Patiently, he waited under the cover of the leaves. An opponent was bound to appear any time soon.

He waited until he finally sensed two chakra signatures coming in the direction of the house. Judging by their speed, they were obviously jumping from tree to tree, powering their leaps with chakra.

Smiling, Naruto reached into his pouch, pulling out a handful of shuriken. His aim wasn't as good as Sasuke, so he wasn't sure he could hit targets moving at this speed from far away. But he could definitely land in a few hits after they stopped outside the house.

If that failed, he still had those Fūton techniques.

"So this is the house that we're supposed to ambush? It doesn't look as grand as I thought it would be," muttered one of the figures, reaching for the sword that was strapped to his waist with a smirk on his face. He had purple tattoos under his eyes.

"What do you think? Our target's a poor bridge builder's daughter and her son. Of course their place wouldn't be so grand," the other one wearing an eyepatch snapped, unsheathing the sword at his waist and pointing it at the house. "We just gotta storm it and kidnap 'em, right?"

The leaves ruffled as Naruto released the shuriken.

It took them too long to realize that there were two wicked-sharp spinning blades heading in their direction.

"Score," the blond muttered as one of the shuriken lodged into the Eyepatch's legs. Tattoo whirled around and glanced in the direction the shuriken had come from. "Who's there?"

Naruto, for once, was truly grateful at Kakashi for making him wear less noticeable colors. If he had been wearing his precious orange jumpsuit, his location would have been immediately given away.

"Fūton: Reppūshō!" Naruto whispered out, clapping his hands together.

A fierce gale went rushing in the two men's direction, effectively knocking them off their feet.

It was then that Naruto leapt out of the tree, landing gracefully with both feet on the ground. "Now, I heard you were going to kidnap Tsunami-san and Inari. I wonder if that will be possible when you're both knocked out cold on the ground."

Their eyes widened as he reached out, grabbed both of them by the shirts, and slammed their heads together.

"Mission complete."

Never had he ever been more grateful for Kakashi's Hell training. It was doing them quite a lot of good.

Author's Notes

So I think this chapter is more on the longer side, which I'm proud of.

I've been procrastinating so far because I recently got into Kuroko no Basuke. And I kinda binge-watched everything over the past week, so I didn't have time to finish the chapter.

I apologize. *bows deeply*