Warnings: oocness, but it makes sense in my head.
Chapter One: Thus Enters Gekkou Hayate!
The ninja observed the three genin from his perch in the tree, sizing each child up. But none of them met standards.
The Uzumaki brat was pale, shaking slightly. A ninja should always be prepared to face death, and a ninja should never look away from it. The brat should not have even been allowed to graduate from the academy.
And the Uchiha whelp? The academy teachers practically sung his praises, and even Hatake Kakashi had uttered a few, very brief compliments toward his skill level. The whelp was arrogant, and would likely get his fool-self killed along with whatever teammates happened to be with him.
And the Haruno chit, who was among the "most intelligent students we've ever had," would likely die her first year, leaving friends and family to grieve. And if by some miracle of chance the chit did live through the first year cull, well, she looked well on her way to becoming one of those kunoichi.
Hayate, for the past three hours, had been observing the genin, per Sandaime's orders. There were questions which needed answering, and Sandaime-sama always disliked the idea of throwing children to the Torture and Interrogation unit—even if it was the easiest and fastest way to learn how and why Sharigan no Kakashi was dead. Hayate also found himself slightly curios as to who passed the jounin's infamous genin test.
None of the brats noticed his presence. They hadn't posted a watch while they were digging the graves. Their client was no where in sight.
These observations had led Hayate to conclude this: the brats should be dead. Not allowed to see another day, not free to grow and become the great the ninjas every single person seemed to think they be. What in heaven's name had Kakashi-senpai seen in these children?
"At least Kakashi-sensei had the decency to arrive on time to his own funeral," Haruno said, eliciting a hollow laugh from the Uzumaki brat.
Hayate's fist clenched.
"I'm sure he's rolling in his grave," the Uchiha whelp replied blandly. Both of the other genin giggled.
The kunai flew over Haruno's head before Hayate even realized he threw the damned thing. Haruno shrieked, while the two boys instantly flew into an on-guard position. Classic academy reaction, Hayate thought with distaste.
"No need to get worked up, brats," Hayate said, drawing their attention to him. The Uzumaki brat and the Haruno chit took in the leaf hitae-ate, instantly relaxing. Naïve fools.
The Uchiha whelp didn't seem as satisfied. "Who the hell are you?"
"Sandaime-sama sent me, whelp, to escort you lot back to Konoha," Hayate didn't even bother hiding his distaste for the mission. "Personally, I could do without having a babysitting mission, but, what can I say? We hardly have a choice in the missions we take."
The Uzumaki brat winced.
Hayate fought back a smirk. "As of now, your mission is considered completed. The three of you are to be fully packed and at the bridge in an hour. Understood?"
"What…why?" the Haruno chit exclaimed.
"You are not to ask needless questions," Hayate continued. They also, apparently, had no respect for their superiors. "You are to not cause any further trouble for the bridge builder, his family, or myself. You are to obey my orders without question, are we clear?"
"Yes, sir," Uchiha said, cutting Haruno and Uzumaki off before they could protest any more.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Your things are not going to pack themselves!" The three genin practically leapt away from him, sprinting off in the direction in of the house.
Tazuna sighed in contentment as a hardy cheer rang through the workers. After nearly six months of construction, of dodging Gatou's men, of trying to ease the fears of his laborers the as of yet unnamed bridge was complete!
"We did it, Tazuna-san!" a young man he recognized as Ryuu shouted, waving down from one of the supports.
Mirth and good cheer descended on the townsfolk for the first time in nearly three years, ever since Kaiza's death. But at what price? Tazuna wondered. Of all the people who stood here now, basking in the glory of the finished bridge, none of the four who fought for its completion were here. One of them was dead, and the other three were just children, far too young to have been caught in this mess.
"Would you be Tazuna-san?" The voice was calm, caring with it a sense of foreboding and eerie familiarity.
"I am, why?" Tazuna asked. He studied the face of the young man in front of him…he looked strangely familiar.
The man's lips formed a thin line. "I am Gekkou Hayate, a jounin from Konoha. I was sent to collect Team Seven."
"Ah," Tazuna said. "Well, they should…"
"I've already spoken with them. They should be here in an hour or so."
Silence settled between the two of them, reminding Tazuna of the tension right before Kakashi-san and Zabuza fought in the mist. Why wasn't this man with the three genin? Wasn't he their new teacher?
"Do you know," Hayate said, breaking the silence, "why a hidden village has mission rankings, Tazuna-san?"
Oh, shit. He wanted to talk about that. "Why is that?" Act clueless and maybe they'll leave you alone—standard allude Gatou's thugs tactic thirty-four.
"Hidden villages want to ensure that the ninja sent to complete a mission are capable of surviving that mission," Hayate replied, his voice not rising above a deadly whisper. "And when a client down-classes a mission or underestimates a situation, do you know what happens, Tazuna-san?"
"Oh, tell me, what happens?" Tazuna paled when he realized he'd said it out loud.
"People die," the ninja growled.
"Are you saying it's my fault Kakashi-san died?"
"It is your fault."
"How was I supposed to know Gatou would hire ninja?!" he protested.
"Do not play dumb with me, Tazuna-san. I know you and every single bloody person in this town knew Gatou hired missing nin with frightening regularity," Hayate spat.
"And what prove do you have?"
Hayate eyes held a malicious glint and seemed very, very familiar in that moment. "You do remember when a bunch of missing nin dragged Mitsuharu Akinari and a few of his friends out of his house in the middle of the day, don't you?"
Tazuna could envision the look of abject horror written on the four's faces as they were dragged out of their shop and brutally whipped in front of the entire town. Tazuna had known Akinari-kun rather well; after all, the boy was the one who first gave Tazuna the idea to build the bridge. After the missing-nin left the young merchants in the stocks, Kaiza freed them and helped the four onto a boat off the island. No one had heard from them again.
"And that was just the beginning wasn't it, Tazuna-san?"
"It was," Tazuna admitted.
"So," Hayate drawled. "You willing threw a bunch of rookie genin, fresh out of the academy, to face your monsters? When you could have hired our own monsters to fight them, Tazuna-san?"
"We didn't have the means!"
"Konoha expects full compensation for an A-rank mission, whether or not you have the means."
"I have a family to think about!"
"And what about Kakashi-senpai? You think he doesn't have friends who'll mourn his passing?" Hayate said.
Tazuna closed his eyes briefly. No, he hadn't thought about that. They were ninja, the best mercenaries in all of the Five Countries. You weren't supposed to think about the loved ones they left behind. Ninja were tools, they weren't supposed to have feelings. They were supposed to lie their lives down on the line for their client, but, weren't they lying their lives down for their village, for their family, for their—what was the term Naruto had used?—precious people? "I will do my best to pay for the mission." It was the least he could do.
"Good."
"Hayate-san!"
Tazuna looked up, startled. But then smiled when he saw Naruto running up the road to the bridge, pack slung over one shoulder, Sasuke and Sakura following closely behind him. "Naruto-kun."
"You finally finished the bridge, neh, Tazuna-san? Congratulations!" the blonde boy half-shouted, smiling from ear to ear. Well, he looked a bit better than he did this morning.
I don't deserve this. "Thanks." Tazuna turned an eye toward Hayate.
"I'm sorry we can't stick around, Tazuna-san," Sakura chirped in. "But Hayate-san says we have to be back in Konoha by the end of tomorrow."
"The end of tomorrow? It's at least a week's journey from Konoha to the Lands of Waves!"
"Don't worry about us, Tazuna-san!" Naruto shouted.
"We should get going," Hayate interjected. "Unless, of course, you three want to not sleep tonight."
"Not sleep?" Tazuna asked.
"Yeah, they made sure we could stay up for at least sixty hours in the academy," Naruto said. "It was hell on earth, but Iruka-sensei said…Oy, get back here!"
Tazuna shook his head at the blonde's antics. Yes, they should get back to their families, shouldn't they? After all, the three were still children, despite all that they were also ninjas.
AN: Yes, I know Hayate seems like a bit of a jerk. He isn't really happy right now, though, so I suppose its to be expected. And for those of you didn't catch it, Hayate and Akihari are the same person. Please review!