Fates Web
Chapter Eight: The Wave Mission
Author Notes: Feast your eyes on this Saturday chapter. I will be taking some time to do some story boarding. I won't be updating until next weekend.
III = Interlude/ character perspective switch.
Bold text = Inner voice/ something important speaking.
There will be no crossovers, or characters from other shows.
Walking around the town at night is something that just never grew old. He enjoys it the most when he needs to get some information. A figure with a beige cloak and an Oni mask walked down the dark streets of Konoha. The mask was a deep scarlet color with a wide grinning face that gleamed with sharp teeth and blood red eyes.
Walking down the concrete sidewalk he came across a bar popular for its policy of catering to Shinobi.
Entering the building he takes a seat where a few people are talking. Occupying an empty seat he leans down while a woman is asking if he wants anything. "Fire Whisky" replied the presumed Anbu.
When his drink arrived he sipped the beverage while looking around. The night was picking up and more patrons were entering.
The masked Oni taps on the table to get the bartender attention.
"How can I help you sir?" Asked the graying man with an apron.
"Rumor has it that the village pariah has graduated. Is that true?"
"Do you live under a rock?" asked the Bartender. The man shakes, informing him he has been away on a long mission. "The rumor mill has it that the little brat graduated and is on Hatake Kakashi's team. " said the scruffy man.
The masked Oni froze.
"What?"
The silver haired bartender scowls, "If you want any more info I want my due."
Without hesitation the Masked man dropped a stack of Ryo that made the bar man raise an eye. The barman looked at the bills on the table and took them.
The stranger smiled, "So what can you tell me".
"Don't say where you heard it from, but the kids teammates are Sasuke Uchiha and some monkey from Kumo." The Bartender sneered near the end.
The Anbu listened to what the man had to share. Surprisingly he knew much about the goings-on in the village, from the Civilian councils latest scandals, to the rumored security around the village's 'demon child.'
"So you heard from Sayako that the Hokage placed two squads of Anbu to guard a mere child?"
The bartender nodded and renewed his conversation.
When the barman finished he looked up only to realize the man had disappeared. When questioned by the Anbu later, he would only recall a flash of red.
(Meanwhile, In The Hokage's Office)
The Sandaime Hokage's face set into a grim mask that exaggerated the wrinkles and stress lines of his face. He had seen most of what had happened, up to the part where the masked Oni began asking about the last Uchiha.
But then his crystal ball started to glow red. The image in the ball looked like it was being consumed by black flames, and the Hokage began to panic.
"What in Rikudo's name is going on?", he questioned.
Suddenly the face of someone he knew all too well appeared in the orb and it laughed in that awful voice, making the aged leader cringe. Then the face disappeared and the orb cracked, then exploded.
Sarutobi's pipe dropped to the floor as he looked at the place where the ball used to be in horror. He knew all too well who's face that belonged to, and even if he didn't, that Rikudo forsaken laugh was unmistakable. It was definitely him.
"Anbu", He said gravely.
Six Anbu dropped down and kneeled.
"Alert the barrier team to be on high alert for any discrepancies, but do not let on that anything is amiss." He said with gravel in his voice.
"Yes, Hokage-Sama!"
The Anbu dispersed, leaving the aged Kage alone.
If he was making his move so soon then Hiruzen would need to answer in kind. For now, he would leave the issue alone, until he had the forces to combat any unforeseen variables.
The Hokage's thoughts went to a certain container of a bijuu. It was best that Naruto would be out of the village for a time. With that man lurking around who knows what could happen.
His eyes went over to a picture of the Yondaime on the wall, "The past never stops haunting us, does it?"
The picture did not answer and the old man was left to his thoughts.
Naruto arrived at the village gates at the crack of dawn. Sasuke and Dai were already there.
"YEASSSSS! It's my first time out of the village! I'm so excited!" He threw his arms out struggling to contain his energy.
Tazuna stopped sipping his Sake for a moment as a bead of sweat dripped down his forehead, "F-First time out of the village?"
Sasuke gave a suspicious look to the old bridge builder, eyes narrowing in contemplation, "Is that a problem, old man?"
Tazuna quickly shook his head, causing Sasuke to grow more suspicious.
Soon enough Kakashi arrived. The masked Jounin waved at them, "Yo."
Naruto cheered, "Kakashi-Sensei lets hurry up and leave!"
"Wow there!" Kakashi held up his hands.
Kakashi's one eye crinkled, indicating his smile, "I need to check with the client first."
All eyes turned to Tazuna.
The man took a large swig. "I'm ready to leave."
"Good, let's go then."
(Some time later.)
After traveling for two to three hours Naruto noticed a small puddle ahead.
'That's odd. It hasn't rained for weeks.' He thought.
Suddenly, two blurs shot out of the small puddle. They both had long, black hair and wore metal claws on one hand that gleamed with a sick sheen, a spiked chain was connected to each of their claws, keeping them connected.
They had Hidden Mist headbands on with a scratch crossing the symbol out, and the larger of the two had two horns on each side of his headband, while the shorter one only had a single horn in the center. They both wore gas masks and bandages on the bottom half of their faces, leaving only their eyes exposed.
Chains wrapped around Kakashi and squeezed. The Jounin exploded and his blood was all over the ground; and his flesh had been scattered about.
"One down."
"SENSEI!" Naruto screamed.
Sasuke moved and stood in a protective manner in front of Tazuna while Naruto was frozen.
Naruto couldn't move.
'... Demon'
"... Murderer'
'You killed him!'
Naruto bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. This was a real fight with ninjas, not some civilian with a grudge. Kakashi was dead and they were on their own. 'Move Damnit!' He screamed.
The men chuckled and gave the trio menacing looks.
Dai was the first one to regain his bearings and move against the enemy Shinobi.
"Lightning Release: False Darkness." A bolt of lightning shot from Dai's open palm and connected with the chain connecting the brothers. The two spasmed and howled in pain, but quickly shook off the shock and charged the white haired child.
Dai ran to engage Gozu and ducked a swipe of the Chunins metal claw. Using chakra to enhance his arm he shoved a fist into the Nuke nins solar plexus.
The older man's eyes bulged and he kneeled over, puking his stomach contents.
"Gozu!" Meizu charged at the completely open Dai and raised his claw to tear open the boys throat.
Naruto broke out of his trance realizing his friend was about to get torn in two. With a yell he withdrew a kunai and jumped in front of his friend. He barely deflected the sharp claw from cutting his arm off.
"You little motherfu-"
Naruto threw a handful of dirt in the man's eyes, and to keep his dirty fighting style in character he then kicked the man in the gonads.
"ARGHH!"
The ninja crumpled in a crying heap and cradled his family jewels. Gaining a slight reprieve Naruto checked the long gash running down his arm. On further inspection, he noticed a dark purple liquid dripping down his hand. He cursed and checked the downed ninja's claws, seeing the same liquid running down them.
'Poison...'
The two NukeNin slowly rose to their feet and made to attack, when a gloved hand cuffed them unconscious. The four looked over to see Kakashi leaning against a nearby tree with his orange book out, "Miss me?" he drawled.
Naruto gaped, "H-how?"
They looked over to the dead Kakashi, only to see a splintered log.
Kakashi crinkled his eye in a smile, "Kawarimi is a very useful skill."
Kakashi moved to begin tying the downed ninja to a tree, "You three did well." Kakashi said congratulating the team, "Sasuke you protected the client and kept him safe. Dai you reacted timely and stunned the enemy, giving Naruto enough time to help you", Kakashi turned to face Naruto, "Naruto you did well against a superior opponent, and you protected your comrade, but you froze up and almost got Dai killed."
Naruto lowered his head in shame.
"But why didn't you help us?" Dai asked the question all of them were wondering.
Kakashi hummed, "I needed to see whether these two were targeting us or the client."
The Scarecrow turned his head to fix Tazuna with a serious gaze, "Something you want to tell us Tazuna?"
Tazuna sweated bullets and dropped to his knees, "I'm so sorry!"
Tears dripped down the man's cheeks, "There's a man named Gato after me. My country is in ruin right now. If I can build my bridge then trade will start coming in and we can break his stranglehold over us."
"Gato? As in Gato of the Gato company?"
The teary eyed man nodded, "Yeah, that bastard took over my country and makes us pay ridiculous taxes. If we don't pay up he kills us or worse. If I can complete the bridge my country will be free of his rule."
Dai grinded his teeth together, "Tazuna, I swear I'll help you, even if no one else will."
Naruto moved to stand beside his friend, "So will I!"
Kakashi turned to Sasuke. "What do you think? Fighting enemy ninja is beyond the scope of this mission. Should we return to Konoha?"
Sasuke snorted, "As if I'd chicken out now."
Tazuna breathed out a sigh of relief. Maybe there was hope for Wave after all.
Kakashi clapped his hands. "It's agreed then. We continue the mission. Before we move on however, I think Naruto needs some medical attention."
Everyone turned to Naruto, who looked unhealthily pale.
"Darn it."
III
"Hey Mr. Tazuna, when are we getting to the land of...what was it again?"
Sasuke scowled, "Naruto can you at least try to remember important details?"
Naruto scratched his head, "It was something like land of waters? No, land of w-"
"Land of Waves" Came Tazuna's irritated voice.
"That's it!"
Sasuke groaned. Why couldn't his knuckle headed teammate take this mission seriously. It's like he took a complete 180 in personality at times. He could be cold and ruthless one minute and be a complete idiot the next. He remembered the blond kid freezing in place with eyes that no one their age should have, except he knew those eyes.
It was like staring in the mirror.
He was starting to think there was more to his teammate than he previously thought.
Over with Naruto the boy was chewing his lip and occasionally glancing at his hands. 'Blood covered palms' A voice whispered in his ear, 'Murderer'
"No, no, they attacked first. I'm not like them."
Kakashi gave his mumbling student a wide berth and made a mental note to get in contact with Inoichi when they returned from the mission, if they returned. He had a bad feeling about this.
"Dobe" Sasuke let out an insufferable sigh, "Will you get over your hang up and focus on the mission."
Naruto bristled, "Shut up!"
Sasuke gave the blond a glare, "Maybe if you stop whining I will"
"Why you!" Naruto lunged at his teammate, who dodged and gave the former a sneer.
As they were tumbling around, acting like children, Kakashi idly pondered what life would be like if he hadn't been forced to take on a team.
"What was that?" Dai threw a kunai into the bush's ahead.
Naruto and Sasuke stopped their fighting at the unknown threat. Kakashi approached the bush and peeled it back to reveal a snow white rabbit.
Dai held up a hand to his mouth, "Hell yeah! We're eating well tonight."
Naruto eyed the rabbit with a perplexed look, as if dissecting a puzzle.
Kakashi dead panned. Was food all these kids thought about?
'Wait... It's coat is out of season.' Kakashi thought.
"Get down!" Naruto yelled, having realized what was happening a second before the Jounin.
A large cleaver flew through the air and dug several inch's into the trees bark. A tall man with light-grayish skin and bandages covering his mouth appeared on the blades handle.
The man wore black shinobi pants and a sleeveless black shirt, open toed sandals, and cowhide armguards.
Naruto gulped at the fearsome killing intent the man radiated.
Things just became dicey.