DISCLAIMER: No matter how much I want it, I do not own Naruto. I am still only borrowing the characters and promise to return them in good condition – well, maybe slightly battered!

Chapter Thirty-Five:

'C' is for Capable

We hold together; we put up with each other.

We stick together; no one will slow us down.

We remain loyal to you; we stand by that.
We follow the rules if we are allowed to rule…

~Rammstein~

"So," said Naruto gleefully, "How long do you think it'll be before his buddy tries to ambush us?"

Kakashi shook his head. "I doubt he will since that man isn't with us."

"Bummer," said Naruto with a crestfallen look.

He kicked a small stone and watched as it skipped across the dirt trail. The forest grew darker as they continued their trek. The trees crowded around him and welcomed him into their dark; their canopies merging into a long natural arch. A speck of white up ahead caught his eye.

He stopped as soon as he reached it, curious as to what it was. Kneeling down to read the inscription, Naruto called out, "Hey guys, check it out."

It was a memorial, a list of names, apparently several members of the same family. Down one side of the little monument, a line of kanji said they had been killed.

By bandits. In this forest.

So the samurai had been right; it really was a dangerous area. Outlaw gangs had been widespread since the chaos of the civil war years in this area. The daimio's men had been trying to catch them all, but in mountain country like this, finding every group was next to impossible. Some bandits were clever, skilled ex-warriors with local knowledge on their side.

Naruto felt his heart grow heavy for these victims. Since their survivors could afford a marker, the family was most likely rising merchants or minor nobles. Perhaps they had travelled to establish a new business opportunities or maybe to go visit a relative, only to tragically die.

He sighed. These people would have had bodyguards, but for it to end this way, bodyguards were clearly not enough. Sorrowfully, Naruto bowed his head and offered a quick prayer for the slain.

"Look," Said Sai, pointing at the writing, "The inscription was just a few weeks ago. I wonder if they are still in the area."

"Probably," admitted Sasuke. "Come on, we need to catch up with Sensei."

Naruto stood up, brushed the dirt off his pants, staring at the memorial. He was about to move when he suddenly stopped and looked up into the thick canopy. He turned his head left and right, listening intently with a thoughtful frown on his face.

Every bird in the surrounding forest had abruptly stopped singing.

~~O~~

A hundred paces downhill, Kakashi stood at a sharp bend in the road. They hurried over to him and saw what he was looking at; a large group of farmers huddled together.

Team seven studied them. There were around two dozen men and women, in roughly equal numbers. Perhaps from the same village or at least the same region, they ranged from an old, stooped couple to a handful of youths.

Pressing into each other, back to back and shoulder to shoulder, the farmers peered into the tops of the trees just as Naruto had. The forest's ominous silence continued. An older woman, in a series of frightened whispers, urged the group to stay still and quiet.

Sai tightened the chin sash holding his sun hat in place. "What is the plan, Kakashi Sensei? Do we help these people? We are supposed to travel to Makkari undetected."

"Of course we have to help them," replied Naruto indignantly. "Do you want them to get killed like that other family?"

Sai shook his head. "What use could we be to those farmers? We are not obliged to protect them. In fact, if they were attacked, we technically are not allowed to protect them.

Even as Sai said that, he questioned himself. We are supposed to take the easy option: escape. Whatever happens to these defenseless people is simply not our problem. In fact, they would be helping us by tying up the brigands' attention while we steal away. During the chaos that would surround the bandits robbing their victims or carrying them off as slaves, we could vanish through the forest and go about our mission. Why am I even considering helping out?

He said it aloud, struggling to convince himself. "Not our problem."

"That's a bunch of crap!" yelled Naruto angrily. "We have a duty to protect those that are weaker than us. Listen to your heart Sai."

Sasuke looked at the terrified faces of the farmers. Feeling torn between morality and his sense of duty, he was mere paces away from the edge of the group when the first horseman burst between the trees.

The farmers screamed for help and huddled closer together. The ground rumbled. Branches snapped, twigs crackled and flicked into the air as three more riders charged from their hiding places. Sai turned a smooth circle, looking the attackers over. Two were archers, the other two spearmen. All four bandits wore armor, but not one of them had a matching set. Most likely they had pilfered these mixed fragments from the dead of some great battlefield. Each rider was a patchwork of randomly colored plates as they galloped in circles around the screaming, praying farmers.

Steeling his resolve, Sai stood up straighter and announced, "I too wish to give them aid Sensei. It is the right thing to do."

"As do I," said Sasuke quietly.

Kakashi calmly turned a page in his book and looked up. "Can you do it without blowing your cover?"

"I believe it is possible."

"Hn, of course."

"Then Sasuke, you do it."

"Yeah! Alright then, let's go kick some ass!" shouted Naruto excitedly.

"Uh-uh," said Kakashi, shaking his head. "This is all Sasuke."

"What! Why?" pouted Naruto. Sai didn't say anything but Kakashi didn't miss the way his eyes glinted in frustration.

"Mah," he said serenely, "There are only four of them. And besides, you all agreed it was his turn after that pickpocket incident in the last village."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and muttered in disappointment, "Tch, Sasuke gets all the luck." Sai couldn't agree more.

~~O~~

Sasuke wasn't quite sure how or why, but some part of him had reached a decision: a quiet escape was out of the question. But he was also to conceal the nature of his skills as much as possible. There'd be no going for his sword. He removed his pack, set it on the forest floor and moved to intercept the bandits.

While the others squeezed together, one foolishly brave teenage girl stood apart, holding her walking staff like a sword, eyeing the riders. He could see that she was frightened, but still she stood against them. Sasuke shook his head, motioning for her to join the protection of the group. She ignored him. Without a thought he started making for her. At the same time, one of the men slowed, stopped circling, and trotted his horse straight at the girl.

The mounted spearman closed quickly on the girl. Sasuke put his head down, grunted, then ran hard and fast for the bandit. There, he'd committed himself to the fray. Now what? Without a weapon, just how should he try to stop them?

The idea came to him just in time. As he dashed up to the bandit's horse, Sasuke pulled a shuriken from the pouch inside his jacket, hiding it in his hand so that only a few dark, sharp spikes peeped between his fingers. He twisted his body, right arm lashing out in an arc. A split second later, when the rider noticed him and raised his spear, Sasuke ran out of range.

Ignoring the girl now and glaring at Sasuke instead, the bandit pulled hard on his reins, turning to chase his new target. His mount took another step when the wide leather strap holding its saddle in place came apart, a neat slash courtesy of Sasuke. The saddle suddenly shifted, slid to the right, and then tipped forward, breaking away from the horse. Dropping the spear, the brigand toppled from his mount, turning in the air with a frightened yelp. He landed on his back beside the scrambling group of farmers. The strongest of the men quickly surrounded him.

Sasuke was already running for his next target when the bandit sat up, dazed, only to find himself ringed by the very people he had been about to harm. The citizens glanced at one another, nodded, and then as one, pounced on the fallen spearman. He went for his sword, but two men trapped his arm before he could draw it. Behind the skirmish, a mounted bandit archer lifted his bow. He took aim at one of the farmers pinning the downed bandit's sword arm.

Unnoticed by all, Sasuke grabbed a large branch from the ground and sprang into view beside the archer. His arm briefly becoming a blur; he struck with all his might and then dropped to the ground, threw the broken stick down and landed in a low crouch. With a loud twanging sound, the rider's bow broke. The arrow had launched and string snapped at the same time.

The mounted archer howled with pain and began desperately grabbing for the arrow that had just penetrated his foot. Sasuke scrambled out of sight behind the bandit's horse. With gritted teeth and an angry shriek, the archer slid from his saddle. He hit the ground hard then curled up, cursing and screaming, trying to pry loose the arrow that pinned his sandal to his foot.

Sasuke stood up. The two remaining bandits were riding straight for him, one from each side. The first wielded a bow, the second a suspiciously rust stained spear.

He waved urgently at the girl, catching her eye. "Get them ready to run," he shouted. "As soon as I move, you lead your people out of here and don't look back!"

"Who are you?" she called; her eyes wide in surprise. "What are you?"

"I am a…" His mind went blank for half a second. "I am a warrior monk."

Sasuke slapped the rump of the wounded bandit's horse, causing it to turn in panicked circles. He dashed, low to the ground, toward the other mounted spearman.

The rider, now a bit apprehensive and frightened, gripped his spear tightly and thrust it at Sasuke impulsively.

He sidestepped the stab with fluid grace and seized the spear's shaft in his free hand, leaning back as he secured his hold. With a twist and a grunt, he tugged it from the man's grip. Spinning around, Sasuke tossed the spear, point-up, to one of the more aggressive farmers.

The disarmed bandit snarled at the boy pilgrim and scrabbled for the sword hanging in a sheath at his hip. Sasuke sprang up to the horse, deftly cut the spearman's saddle strap with the shuriken in his hand, ducked into a fast roll under the animal, and came up running on the other side. As he streaked off, the saddle strap gave way and the bandit, with sword half drawn, crashed from the horse in a fast, uncontrolled somersault.

Now only one of the robbers, an archer, remained mounted. He turned sharply to see Sasuke accelerating at him. Cursing, he quickly raised his bow and nocked an arrow.

Tucking the shuriken into his jacket as he ran, Sasuke charged in a zigzag for the final enemy. The archer let fly. His shaft whizzed into a blur that passed within a hair of Sasuke's neck.

Leading with his hip and shoulder, Sasuke intentionally crashed into the side of the archer's horse, startling the animal. As it shied sideways, whinnying, he grabbed the rider's stirrup and foot with both hands, twisted, then pulled hard. The archer gave an agonized cry and slid from the horse to stop his hip from dislocating.

Springing clear as the archer fell; Sasuke turned a circle, hands raised defensively like knives, eyes darting about. He checked each opponent before giving a single, crisp nod. It was done: he had unhorsed them all, and without resorting to his sword.

He turned proudly and met his team as they came closer. "Well, that certainly was entertaining," he said sardonically.

"Hey Duck-butt, you missed one," said Sai in a bored tone as one of the men sat up directly him. Before Sasuke could react, Sai picked up a rock and smashed it against his head.

Sasuke's sharp retort was drowned out by a loud squeal.

"My hero!"

Sasuke sighed heavily as he heard the farm girl's voice. "Just what I need," he thought to himself, "another annoying fan-girl."

His eyes widened in astonishment as she shoved past him and launched herself at Sai, hugging him tight and kissing him all over his face.

"WHAT?!"

Naruto sniggered as the confused artist tried to extricate himself from the sobbing teen as politely as he could.

Sai had no idea what to do. The feel of her body pressed up against him made him feel funny. He tried to protest, "But I did nothing… not that I do not appreciate your form of gratitude. Really… please stop putting your lips against my face. An adult mouth contains up to one thousand different types of bacteria as part of the human flora and oral microbiology, but about one hundred to two hundred species may live in them at any given time."

"I don't care; you're so cool the way you knocked that man out!"

"Those who care for their teeth and have a relatively clean mouth have one thousand to one hundred thousand bacteria living on each tooth surface. Those that do not have a clean mouth have between one hundred million and one billion bacteria on each tooth."

Sasuke hid his shock (offense? disappointment?) and grabbed a roll of bandages from his pack to dress the puncture holes made by clenching the shuriken in his hand.

"Not bad Sasuke. Not bad at all," murmured Kakashi as he turned a page.

"Why me?" thought Sai. "You know, many diseases are related to oral bacteria," he added weakly.

"That's nice..."

"I am... I am a... a... I am a monk! Females are not supposed to kiss me!"

"You're so cool the way you don't show emotion. I just know that I'm the one who can show you how!"

Sasuke almost felt sorry for him.

...

...

Almost...

Finally, after Sai's face and neck turned the most brilliant shade of red, Sasuke decided to be kind and intervene. "You need to depart now in case there are more of them," he sternly warned. The girl nodded, beaming up at Sai. She then reluctantly pulled away from him, slowly walked over to her companions, and urged them to run.

As the farmers rushed off downhill, matching their pace to the limits of the oldest among them, Sasuke picked up his pack and threw it over his shoulders. He glanced over his shoulder at the fleeing group.

He saw what he had hoped to see. There she was, at the edge of the throng, getting the others moving, looking back every few seconds, watching as long as she could. "Tch, girls are annoying…"

Naruto came up behind the Uchiha and threw his arm around him. Grinning broadly, he sang out, "Aww, my poor-poor Sasuke Teme… would you like me to get you a straw so you can suck it up?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, shrugged Naruto's hand off his shoulder, and muttered, "Baka." He turned back to guard the bandits and let out a long, relieved breath. Any moment now she, along with the farmers, would vanish from sight around the bend, off to the safety of the next village over the mountain.

Should these robbers try for a comeback, they were free to act as they saw fit. While it mattered what farmers might witness and go on to describe at a festival or in some crowded tavern, it was of no concern what a bandit saw. No one would believe anything he said, so Sasuke and the rest of his team could now do whatever was called for. Were they still dangerous? He cautiously inspected his foes.

The first bandit Sasuke unhorsed had been knocked out by some farmer's solid punch briefly. Although heavily bruised and bleeding from the rock smashed against his skull, he now looked sound asleep. His comrade with the arrow in his foot was still curled in a ball, whimpering as he gingerly tried to pull the shaft free. The third bandit Sasuke brought down had cut his arm with his half-drawn sword while falling. Having lost a lot of blood quickly, he was pale and weak. He struggled to tie a tourniquet around his arm with a trembling hand and his teeth. The fourth unsaddled robber was trying to get to his feet using his undrawn sword as a crutch. Judging by his twitchy movements and constant wincing, the man's leg had barely stayed in its hip socket. He would be useless for combat for weeks.

"What should we do with them Kakashi Sensei?" asked Sai as he looked them over impassively. "Should we kill them?"

"No, that won't be necessary. Just leave them here and we'll alert the authorities when we get to the next town."

Sai frowned. "Are you sure that is wise? What if they get away? What if they go after more innocent people?"

"They aren't going anywhere soon and if they do, they won't get far. If we kill them, the authorities could become suspicious. We are too close to our objective to risk that now."

Team seven nodded, hoisted their packs and resumed their slow, tedious trek through the mountains. In two days time, they would arrive in the village of Makkari.

In two days time, they prove they were worthy of being called shinobi.

In two days time…

In the forest canopy above, the birds resumed their singing.

AN:

Well, I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Sasuke had really been neglected lately! Don't worry, Sai and Naruto will be having their turns in the next few chapters!

Please remember to review and thanks to everyone that followed/favorited/commented on the last chapter! An extra special thanks to my anonymous reviewers: Stephanie, Young and Gamma89 - I wish I could send you a PM personally thanking you for your support. You people are awesome!

Ja Ne,

AZFAERYDUST