Demon: Welcome back to the Orphan Trio.
Creeper: It's about time.
Lexboss: I've been waiting for this for a while.
Demon: I have too, honestly. Well, time to get going.
GoodWriter: I wonder how the Demon brothers will fare against these three.
Creeper: I hope they wind up a bloody mess.
Demon: You always hope for a bloody mess.
Creeper: Damn right.
Lexboss: Alright! I've been chomping at the bit! Let's go!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way. Nor do I own Ninja Warrior/Sasuke in any way.
"Talking" – Thinking – Demon/Summoning Speaking/Jutsu – Demon/Summon Thinking
The Orphan Trio, Chapter 12: Troubling Waters
"He's a client. He's a client. He's a client."
Kurohi was quietly chanting his mantra, trying to keep his cool. Team 7 and Tazuna were currently walking through the forest, having left Konoha about three hours ago. Unfortunately, Tazuna spent half of those three hours drinking himself into an unbelievable drunken stupor. However, that wasn't what was irritating the Dark user.
What was pissing him off was the fact that Tazuna was spending the other half of the time complaining about being protected by "a group of stupid kids". No matter how many times Kakashi reassured the drunk, he kept saying he was going to die before they made it to Wave. Toshi ignored the drunken rant and Naruto was surprisingly calm as well, but Kurohi was reaching the end of his ropes.
Kakashi could tell, and he heard the Genin's mantra. On one hand, he wanted to reprimand Kurohi and ask him to stop, but on the other hand, he couldn't give the Genin flak since he was doing the same mantra in his head. Tazuna was easily one of the most irritating clients the Jonin had dealt with in his entire career. 'I'm not surprised he wants protection,' Kakashi thought as they continued on, 'If he talks like this to everyone around him, I wouldn't be surprised if someone wanted to kill him.'
As the group walked down a path, they noticed they were approaching a puddle in the road. Tazuna paid it no mind, continuing to drink from the jug in his hand. However, Kakashi took notice of the puddle. 'That's odd, it hasn't rained in weeks.' The Jonin thought before passing the puddle. The white-haired ninja noticed the three Genin were on alert, Toshi slowly closing his book. 'Good, they've learned to spot small details.'
The group walked past the puddle, seemingly not noticing it. Soon after they passed, the puddle rippled, and then two individuals started rising out of the water. The two individuals were clad in dark cloaks and each sported a water breather. The marks on their headbands were of Kiri, but there was a line through the symbol. On one hand of each of the individuals was a large gauntlet with a large spiked chain attached to them.
Suddenly, the two ran towards the white-haired Jonin, quickly wrapping the chain around the Jonin. The three Genin turned in time to see the two cloaked men pull on the chain, tearing the Jonin to shreds before their eyes. The Genin stared in horror as pieces of Kakashi flew through the air before falling to the ground. The cloaked figures snickered. "One down", one of the figures stated. The other nodded before staring at the group. "Now, time to eliminate the target!"
The two speedily rushed the group, hoping to strike hard and fast. However, they did not expect the Genin to recover quickly and go into action. Toshi ran towards one of the men, lightning coating his fists. "Lightning Style: Lightning Fist!" Toshi slammed his lightning fist into the gut of his opponent, shocking him immobile for a moment.
Meanwhile, Naruto ran forward, slamming his fist into the gut of the second individual at the same moment, knocking the wind out of the man. As soon as the two mist ninja were stunned, Naruto and Toshi jumped back, allowing Kurohi to throw some hand signs before throwing his palms towards the two ninja. "Dark Style: Dark Ball Jutsu!" The Dark user shot two dark balls at the mist ninja, blasting both towards a nearby tree. The two started to stand up before they heard a clang and found they couldn't move their gauntlet-clad hands. Looking up, the duo noticed a kunai stuck into the tree with the chain stuck to it.
"What the hell? How is that kunai holding our chain to the tree?!" One of the ninja asked, shocked. Toshi smirked before cracking his knuckles. He had managed to use his Magnetism Attract on the kunai he threw, but he wasn't going to let those two know that. No point in giving his secret away to the enemy. However, it didn't matter as the two quickly separated their gauntlets from the chain, running straight at Tazuna, who was standing on the side, frozen in shock and fear. The three Genin jumped in front of the old drunk, but the two ninja managed to quickly sidestep past the three, raising their gauntlets to eliminate the old man.
Thinking quickly, Toshi used the Substitution jutsu to switch places with Tazuna, surprising both the drunk and the two advancing ninjas. Charging his Lightning Fist in both hands, the Magnet user slammed his fists into the ninjas' faces, shocking them again and knocking them to the ground. This time, Toshi used his Iron Control to restrain the two ninjas, ending their fight.
The three Genin sighed in relief seeing that the two mist ninjas were restrained. "Phew, that was close." Kurohi said, wiping his face of sweat that appeared during the fight. "Yeah, but what are we supposed to do now, without Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, worried. Toshi and Kurohi both looked unsure, also wondering what to do. Tazuna was barely recovering from the last couple minutes.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, Naruto." The four looked towards the tree line where Kakashi walked out, eye-smiling. "You won't have to worry about that any time soon."
"Kakashi-sensei!" The Genin shouted in joy and relief at seeing their sensei unharmed. Looking over, they see that the pieces of "Kakashi" had turned into pieces of log, indicating a Substitution. After realizing the Jonin had pretended to be killed, Tazuna sobered up and shouted to the ninja.
"What the hell! I could have been killed just now! Why did you hide out in the forest like that?!" Kakashi walked over, tying the two ninja up with ninja wire. Then, the Jonin looked over at Tazuna, an accusing glare on his face. "Well, at first, I was going to just jump in as soon as they thought they had me, but they said something about "getting the target". So, I wanted to see who they were referring to.
"If they were after Konoha ninja, then this would be a case of missing-nin attacking a village. However, if they were targeting you, then this would mean there was someone who had them attack you." Kakashi made a clone, which took the tied up ninjas and dragged them into the forest. "The fact that they attacked you means that this is more than a simple C-Rank mission. You said that you needed protection from simple bandits, but these two are more than bandits." The Jonin said, causing Tazuna to sweat.
Naruto was confused and spoke up. "Do you know who those two were, Kakashi-sensei?" The blonde asked, to which the Jonin looked to him. "Yes, Naruto. Those two are known as the Demon Brothers, a couple of B-Ranked missing-nin from Kiri. They left Kiri not long after the rebellion in the Mist started. Rumors claim they left with another powerful ninja, but the identity of that ninja is not confirmed." Seeing the clone return with the two missing-nin, who now looked a bit worse for wear, Kakashi turned to Tazuna.
"Now, Tazuna. You need to tell us what's really going on here. If you don't tell us the truth, then I can't guarantee that we can protect you. Realistically, we were lucky to handle these two without much trouble. They were Chunin in Kiri, while my students are recent Genin. Chances are whoever hired them will hire higher-level ninja once they find that these two were stopped." The Jonin said to the scared bridge builder.
Seeing the serious look on Kakashi's face, Tazuna sighed in defeat before leaning against a tree. "Okay, fine. I guess I have no choice. The truth is, Wave is in serious trouble right now. Wave was a thriving land, but a few years ago a man arrived to the island and turned Wave into a shithole. He took over the island and killed anyone who was in control of most of the exports. The bastard is a man named Gato."
At the mention of Gato, Kakashi's eyes widened. "Gato, as in Gato's shipping? He's the one who took over Wave?" Tazuna nodded sadly as he continued explaining. "Since Wave is struggling so badly, I thought that if we were connected to the mainland, we could wrestle control away from that bastard. So, I started working on that bridge. Unfortunately, with the bridge on its way to completion, Gato caught attention and decided to kill me."
Kakashi was surprised that Gato had taken over Wave. He knew the land had been in some trouble lately, but he didn't realize the shipping magnate had taken over. Still, something was confusing him. "I understand needing protection, but why lie about the severity? This could have easily gotten you killed." Tazuna sighed solemnly before looking at the Jonin.
"As a result of Gato's control of the land, Wave is extremely poor at the moment. We were barely enough to afford the cost of a C-Rank mission; there was no way we could pay for a higher level." Kakashi leaned against a tree as well. "Tazuna, if you had explained all of this to us, we could have set up some kind of payment plan." Tazuna sighed before he drank from the jug, gulping nearly half the contents. "We were desperate. I wasn't sure if Konoha would accept it if we didn't have the money up front and didn't want to take the chance."
Kakashi nodded to his clone, which then dragged the two missing-nin to the original before dispersing. The Jonin pulled two scrolls from his jacket, opening one and placing the two on it. Using a hand seal, Kakashi sealed the two ninjas inside the scroll before rolling it up. The Jonin opened the second scroll before writing something inside. "Well, the mission has been accepted, so we cannot just abandon it now. However, we also cannot protect you without backup." After rolling the second scroll, Kakashi used a few hand signs before summoning a messenger hawk. The hawk took the two scrolls before flying off, heading directly to Konoha.
Unlike the typical summoning contracts, Hawks had two separate contracts. One contract required blood like most summons, and were often used in combat purposes or scouting. However, messenger hawks did not need blood tributes, nor did they have problems with other summoning clans. It was custom for all Chunin rank ninja and above, in Konoha at least, to sign the messenger hawk's scroll for easy access to message transport. Kakashi was glad for this, since he got the Dog contract from his father and didn't want to lose it.
"So," Kakashi continued, "We will continue the journey to Wave. However, until another team from Konoha arrives to help us, you will not be able to work on the bridge. Once we have our backup team, we can watch over you while you work on the bridge." Tazuna was stunned, expecting the team to leave him to die. Tears rolled down his face as he dropped to his knees.
"Thank you, Kakashi. Thank you, on behalf of all of Wave." After Tazuna calmed down, the group headed on, hoping not to run into any more trouble.
(page break)
A couple days passed slowly for the group as they continued to travel through the area. Since they were dealing with an area not too far from Kiri, Kurohi had taken a few precautions. His Kiri headband/belt, which belonged to his mother, was no longer around his waist. He had placed it in his bag to prevent anyone from thinking he was involved in Kiri. He also removed his bandanna, since it had his clan's symbol on it. When asked, Kurohi explained that while his clan wasn't as famous in Kiri as, say, the Uchiha was in Konoha, they were somewhat well-known within the Mist, so he didn't want any unwanted attention. As a result, his spiky black hair was exposed to the air for the first time in who knows how long.
Surprisingly, the group hadn't run into any trouble since their run-in with the Demon Brothers. They had gotten word that the four would receive the bounty on the two missing-nin and the capture would go on their records, which excited the three Genin. In addition, they learned that another team was on their way and would arrive to where Tazuna lived in a few days.
Tazuna was a bit more relaxed, talking to Kakashi while the group kept walking. Suddenly, Naruto noticed a rustle in the bushes and threw a kunai into the bush. This got the attention of the group as Naruto went to check the bushes. The blonde sweat-dropped as he pulled out a scared rabbit. As Naruto let the rabbit go and retrieved his kunai, Kakashi was watching the white-haired rabbit run into the forest.
'White fur? That rabbit's fur should be brown this time of year. This means it was kept in captivity. That must mean…!' Kakashi's eye widened as he heard a slight whirring sound. "Everyone get down now!" The Jonin pulled Tazuna to the ground as the Genin ducked. A second later, the group heard a loud thunk, followed by an evil chuckle.
"Well, what do you know? My target is being protected by the famous Copycat Kakashi." The group looked up to see a large sword imbedded in a tree, a man standing on the handle. The man wore blue-camo pants and blue sandals. He was shirtless but had a sling on his chest. The man also sported arm braces and leg braces with blue-camo. His headband, showing a line through Kiri's symbol, was tilted to his side. The man's lower face was covered by bandages. The man stared down at the group, still chuckling.
Kakashi's eye narrowed as he looked at the man. "Zabuza Momochi."
Demon: Chapter 12 is finished!
Lexboss: I'm surprised how well they fared.
Creeper: I'm bummed the two didn't get obliterated.
GoodWriter: I'm starting to think you're gonna get some hate for the fight. They took down two Chunin easily.
Demon: Yeah, well think about this. Two of them had fought and survived for years and were trained somewhat by their families before that. Naruto got some serious training too. And, this is three strong Genin vs canon where it was an untrained girl, a loner, and a complete moron.
Lexboss: Still, people may not like the results.
Demon: Well, it's fan FICTION. If they don't like it, they can get the fuck off my story and write one themselves. I really don't give a shit if they don't like it.
Creeper: Wow, a bit violent today, aren't we?
Demon: If it's one thing I hate, it's fucking morons who bash a story because it doesn't suit the canon to the letter. Writing like the canon defeats the damn purpose of fan fiction in the first place.
GoodWriter: Okay, someone needs to cool off a bit. Read and review everyone!
Lexboss: No flames!
Demon: I'll shove them up their asses!
(GoodWriter drags Demon out of the room)