Five- This… Isn't What I Expected
"You're from Wave Country, right?" Asked Sakura from behind me.
"What about it?" Tazuna grumbled to my right. I exhaled in boredom; we had been walking for hours. Hopefully we'd be able to stop soon.
"Ne, Kakashi-sensei, are there shinobi in that country too?" Sakura asked the jonin next to me.
"No. There are no shinobi in the Wave Country. However, hidden villages and shinobi do exist in other countries, though their culture and customs may be different."
"The five countries of Fire, Wind, Water, Lightning, and Earth hold the largest landmass and most influence, and are called the Five Great Shinobi Powers. The Land of Fire's Konohagakure no Sato, the Land of Water's Kirigakure no Sato, The Land of Lightning's Kumogakure no Sato, The Land of Stone's Iwagakure no Sato, and The Land of Wind's Sunagakure no Sato. Only the leader of each village is allowed the title of 'Kage'. The Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Tsuchikage, and Kazekage are known as the Five Kages. They are the shinobi who rule over the tens of thousands of shinobi throughout the countries." Kakashi-sensei finished his lesson and I frowned. Was the Hokage really that powerful? It was kind of difficult to believe that the old man was that strong.
"Oi." We all looked to Kakashi-sensei.
"You all just doubted Hokage-sama, didn't you?"
"What? No… Of course not. Haha…" I said awkwardly. Yes. Kakashi-sensei put his hands on Sakura and I's heads.
"Don't worry. We won't have any battles in a C ranked mission." He said, eye smile in place.
"I wasn't worried." I grumbled, a childish put on my features.
"Well then we don't have to worry about there being foreign shinobi." Sakura said with a smile. I noticed Tazuna frown. What was up with him? He had been acting oddly.
()()()()
The bridge creaked under our feet as we stepped onto the wooden planks. It had been about thirty minutes since our conversation, and I was still getting bad vibes around Tazuna. Something about him made me uneasy. We left the bridge and arrived once more on ground. As we walked, I noticed a puddle on the ground. That's strange… But, I didn't give the mysterious puddle much thought. Someone might've dropped their canteen or something, and we weren't very far from the river. Hmm.. I would've thought it dried up by now, it was really hot. Confused, I kept on walking.
There was a loud noise and next thing I knew, Kakashi-sensei was wrapped in spiky chains.
"Sensei!" I yelled. They pulled, and he was reduced to a pile of gore. A squeak left my mouth and I covered it with my hands. I couldn't believe- He-He really- No, calm down. Deep breaths, Akemi. You're a kunoichi. If.. If you can't handle someone….. dying, why'd you become a shinobi? I forced myself to calm down. They were behind Naruto now. Move. Move, dammit. Move your legs. I commanded, and began shakily walking, and eventually running. A shadow fell on me and I looked up to see Sasuke, who had leapt to help Naruto. He pulled out a kunai and shuriken, and threw them, pinning the chains to a tree. He landed on the two shinobi, and broke the chains. I pulled out my two katana and began running, but the two split up. One was going towards Naruto, and the other was going towards Tazuna and Sakura. Which one did I go for? I decided. Sorry, Naruto. I blocked the shinobi's attack with my left katana, and I charged up the blade with chakra. The blade immediately was cloaked in flames, and the man stepped back before the flames could burn him. As he did, I swung my right katana at him, slashing his thigh. The cloth ripped, and red blood flowed out of the shallow cut. I went up to him to continue the fight, but suddenly, the shinobi wasn't there anymore.
"What?" I asked, and looked to my right. The two of them were trapped by Kakashi-sensei. My mouth fell open in shock.
"Hey."
"Kakashi...Sensei." I said in shock, a smile on my face.
"Wait.. Then that was.." Naruto said looking over to where we thought he had died. It was a pile of logs. Kawarimi.
"Naruto, sorry for not helping quicker. I got you hurt…. I didn't think you wouldn't be able to move." Kakashi-sensei said.
"Anyways, Sasuke, Akemi, good job. Sakura, you too." He said, and I remembered how she had went to block the attack with her own body. Maybe she wasn't as bad as I thought. Naruto seemed lost in thought.
"Oi." Said Sasuke, and Naruto looked at him.
"Are you hurt… Scaredy cat." Sasuke teased.
"Back off Sasuke, it was our first fight. I'm surprised I was able to move at all. Don't act all high and mighty." I said with a frown, and brandished my bloody katana at him. He looked like he was about to retaliate, but kakashi-sensei intervened before we started fighting with each other.
"Naruto! Their claws are dipped in poison. We need to take it out right away." Kakashi-sensei said.
"We have to open the wound and leech out the poisoned blood. Don't move too much, or the poison will spread throughout your body. By the way, Tazuna-san… We need to talk."
()()()()
"These guys are chunin class ninja from Kirigakure. They are shinobi known to keep fighting, no matter the cost." Kakashi-sensei said, gesturing to the shinobi tied to the tree.
"How did you detect us?" The one on the right said, scowling at us. I scowled back.
"It hasn't rained in the past few days, and today it's sunny, so a water puddle shouldn't exist." Kakashi-sensei answered. The water puddle… I frowned; if I had focused on it more, maybe Naruto wouldn't had gotten hurt. If I had put more thought into it, maybe they wouldn't have attacked us at all.
"Why did you let the kids fight when you knew that?" Tazuna asked, and for once, I agreed with him. I didn't mind fighting, but it was a little cruel to let us think he had died. My legs were still shaking slightly.
"If I was up to it, I could've killed these two in the blink of an eye. But... I needed to know who the target of these two was." Kakashi-sensei said, and I frowned. It was Tazuna, right? Why would they be after us? We were genin.
"What do you mean?" Tazuna asked, and I again found myself agreeing with the old man.
"In other words, were you being targeted? Or someone from our team? We have not heard anything about you being targeted by shinobi. Your request was to be protected from armed groups like gangs and robbers. This is a mission that's above B rank." At this I gasped. What was that old man doing? Why did he lie about something like this?
"Our job was to support and guard you while you completed the bridge. If shinobi are our enemy, this is an expensive B rank mission." Kakashi-sensei continued and it suddenly made more sense. Tazuna probably couldn't afford a B rank.
"You have your reasons, but it only troubles us if you lie in the request details. This wasn't part of the mission." Kakashi-sensei said.
"This mission is out of our league." Sakura said.
"We'll be fine. Kakashi-sensei is a jonin, and we aren't helpless. The only problem is…" I trailed off in thought. If whoever hired these guys found out that they failed.. They'd send out someone stronger. These two were chunin, so the next would be jonin. I gulped. Kakashi-sensei was a jonin, so we would be fine. I thought. I didn't want to have to rely on him to protect us, but we didn't really have a choice.
"Let's quit! It's out of our league. We need anesthesia to take the poisoned blood out of Naruto. We need to go back to the village and see a doctor!" Sakura yelled.
"This sure is a burden. Let's go back to the village to heal Naruto." Kakashi-sensei said, and I was about to object when Naruto interrupted me by shoving a kunai in his hand.
"Naruto! What the hell?" I yelled.
"Why am I so different….. Why am I always… damn it! I should be stronger… I've finished lots of missions and practice techniques every day. I'm never going to do something that requires someone to help me. I'm never going to be frightened and try to back out of things…" He said.
"Um… Naruto.." I said, pointing to his hand which was gushing out blood.
"I'm not going to lose to Sasuke. I vow that to this pain in my left hand, dattebayo." He continued, not listening to me.
"I'm going to protect the old man with this kunai! The mission is still on." Naruto finished with a pained smile.
"Naruto, it's nice that you took out the poisoned blood so spiritedly, but.. you're going to die from blood loss if you lose any more blood." Kakashi-sensei said, and there was an awkward silence. And then, Naruto freaked out.
"No, no, no, no, no!" Naruto yelled, swinging his hand around and slinging blood on us.
()()()()
The sky was dark and the fire crackled from it's place in front of me. I awkwardly shuffled closer to the flames to warm my body, sighing in relief when warmth flooded me.
"Ah, it feels so good to stop walking. Especially after what happened." I said, laying down and relaxing on the grass. I didn't get a reply, not that I was expecting one. I was mostly talking to myself.
"What do you guys make of this?" I asked, gesturing to the sleeping Tazuna. Naruto scratched his head with his bandaged hand.
"He shouldn't have lied, but we can't go back. We told him that we'd guard him and protect him, and I never go back on my word." Naruto said, for once talking quietly so we didn't wake the bridge builder.
"Neither do I."
"I'm glad he lied." Sasuke suddenly said. We all looked at him, and the flames cast shadows on his face.
"If this had been made a B rank, we never would've gotten it. Those two were chunin, so if there's more, next is a jonin. We get to test ourselves. I can't wait." He said, clenching his fists in what I guessed was anticipation. I stared at him for a moment, before letting out a short laugh.
"That's the most I've ever heard you say." I said, grinning at him.
()()()()
"This mist is so thick I can barely see anything." Sakura said, turning her head as she looked around.
"I can't see shit." I said, attempting to see past the boat. We had woken up at five this morning, walked to the shore, gotten on a boat, and had been stuck in this bloody mist for an hour. I was tired, and I had to pee. Bad.
"We should be able to see the bridge soon." Said the boatman.
"Thank god."
"If we move along the side of the bridge, we'll be in the country of Wave."
I saw a large structure through the mist up ahead and gasped. The bridge. Fucking. Finally.
"It's huge!" Naruto yelled in amazement.
"Yeah." I said faintly.
"Oi! Be quiet. we're using this boat in the mist and I'm rowing instead of the engine to hide. In other words, if we're caught, we're in trouble." The boatman said, and we shushed.
"Tazuna-san.. Before we get to the pier, there's something I need to ask you. The identity of the ones after you and the reason they're after you." Kakashi-sensei asked, and I looked at the old man.
"Or, we can call this mission off when we get ashore." Tazuna sighed.
"It looks like I have to tell you the real story."
"As you said, this mission is most likely out of your job description. An extremely terrible man is after my life. You should have all at least heard of the name… Marine transportation billionaire Gato." Tazuna said, and Kakashi-sensei's eyes went wide. Gato… the name was familiar.
"You mean the one from the Gato Company? He's one of the richest men in the world." Kakashi-sensei asked.
"Who?" Asked Naruto.
"Yes. He is the president of a Marine Transport company on the outside… But underground, he uses gangs and shinobi to smuggle drugs and contraband goods. He also does nasty jobs like takeovers of other companies and countries. A year ago, he set his sight on Wave. He entered this country using violence and wealth as a shield, and he quickly took over the country's sea traffic and transportation. On an island like Wave, controlling the sea means controlling the wealth, politics, and people. And the one thing that Gato is afraid of… Is the completion of the bridge that's been under construction for a long time." Tazuna finished, and we looked up to the bridge. It was hard to think that such a simple thing like a bridge could cause all this fighting.
"I see. So as the one building the bridge, you became an obstacle." Sakura concluded.
"So those shinobi were sent by Gato." Sasuke said, and I nodded.
"I guess now he realizes that chunin won't cut it." I said quietly, and Sasuke nodded.
"But I don't understand. Why did you leave this out of the request?" Kakashi-sensei asked.
"Wave Country is not a wealthy land. Even the Daimyo doesn't have much money. And we do not have much either. We don't have the money for a B rank or higher. If you quit your mission after I land, I'll be killed for sure while I go home. But there's no need for you to blame yourselves." Tazuna said, and my eyes narrowed. He was trying to guilt trip us.
"Only my cute little grandson will cry and cry some more. And my daughter will just hold a grudge against Konoha shinobi and live a lonely life. But it's not your fault." He finished, and I scowled.
"So.. You want to talk family?" I asked, suddenly angry.
"Have you heard of the Hato clan?" I asked, not really wanting an answer.
"All that's left of them is me, my uncle, and my cousin. Our clan's money has dwindled away over the years, and we have only a small amount left. Up until I became a genin, we were barely scraping by. My uncle is a jonin and is always gone on missions to feed us, so I have to juggle taking care of my five year old cousin and going on missions. If I die, who will take care of little Suzu? If I die on this mission, my uncle will have to quit his life as a shinobi to take care of Suzu, and will have to find work somewhere else. My family relies on me. I'm the only mother figure Suzu has since her mother died when she was two. Imagine what would happen if I left her." I ranted, letting out a breath when I was done. Everyone was staring at me now.
"But no, it's not your fault. Let's just get this mission over with. We said we'd help, let's help." I grumbled, and that was that.
()()()()
We glanced down at the terrified rabbit underneath the tree. Naruto had been fooling around and threw the kunai where he 'sensed someone' and it landed right above the rabbit's head. Funny, I would've thought that rabbits would be brown this time of year. I wonder what type of rabbit it was…
"Everyone! Duck!" Kakashi-sensei yelled, and we hit the ground. The next thing I knew, a huge sword flew through the air over my head and landed high up in a tree ten feet away from me. A man stood on top of it. He had bandages wrapped around his mouth, and his skin a dark yet pale tone. A Kiri hitai-ate was tied around his head, and he looked very familiar. Where did I recognize him from? I looked at his sword, and suddenly I knew.
"Oh my, my, you're Zabuza Momochi, the nukenin of Kirigakure no Sato." Kakashi-sensei said and I paled.
"One of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist." I whispered to myself, and Sasuke sharply turned his head to look at me, as did Sakura.
"Stay back, everyone." Kakashi-sensei said, sticking his arm out to stop us.
*Flashback
A young Akemi sat in the living room with her Uncle Noboru. She could hear sounds coming from the kitchen, where her Aunt Kaori was cooking dinner.
"Tell me more about being a shinobi!" Akemi said, bouncing on the couch. Her uncle chuckled.
"You want to know about being a shinobi? Are you going to be one?" He asked and Akemi nodded.
"Yeah! I'm gonna be a strong kunoichi and kick people's butts! Just like you!" Akemi said, making kicking and punching motions.
"Well what do you want to know?" He asked playfully, picking her up and setting Akemi on his lap.
"Tell me more about those swordsmen from… uh.." She asked.
"Kirigakure?" He asked and Akemi nodded furiously.
"Yeah!" She said, a grin on her face.
"Well, one of them is named Zabuza Momochi. He uses this huuuge sword, called Kubikiribocho." He started.
"How big is Kubi..kiri..bo..cho?" She said, struggling with the name.
"Kubikiribocho is as tall as me, and just as wide!" He said.
"Nuh uh, you're lying! No way!" She yelled.
"Yes way! He's so strong, he can hold it with one hand, and he is a master of using it." He said.
"Just like you with your swords?" Akemi said.
"He's even better."
*Flashback End
I gulped; my uncle had told me about the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist, and I had read about them on my own as well. Right now it would be best for Sensei to handle it, and if he needed help we could all jump in later. But one thing was for sure; there was no way we'd be able to beat him by ourselves, even if we worked together. We needed Kakashi-sensei for this one.
"Why?" Yelled Naruto in response to being held back by Kakashi-sensei.
"Listen to Sensei, Naruto. This guy's different." I said, keeping my eyes on the Swordsman.
"Looks like one of you has some sense. I hope they don't all act like him." Said Zabuza
"If he's our enemy…. I need this." Kakashi-sensei said, and began to pull his hitai-ate up.
"I'm guessing you're Kakashi of the Sharingan." Zabuza said, looking at Sensei. Of the sharingan? I looked at Sensei in confusion, and saw Sasuke look at Sensei angrily and confusedly. It didn't take a genius to figure out why. Sasuke was an Uchiha. The last Uchiha. To hear that somebody used the Sharingan, the prize of the Uchiha, would be confusing and possibly infuriating. I wouldn't be angry, but I could see Sasuke being pretty pissed.
"I'm sorry, but I need you to hand over the old man." Zabuza said from his sword perch.
"Everyone, form the Swastika formation. Protect Tazuna-san" Kakashi-sensei said, his voice deadly serious. We immediately complied.
"Don't join the battle." He said, and I knew this would bother Naruto.
Kakashi-sensei lifted his hitai-ate, revealing an eye that was blood red.