Chapter 14: Wave Country

A/N: Shorter than last chapter, but a quick release time!

-o X o-

A heavy mist settled on the water surrounding us, and I nervously pulsed my Byakugan again to make sure no enemies were making a stealthy approach. We had found a local fisherman willing to row us the last stretch of the journey to Wave Country, and the tension was palpable. Even Naruto, normally so boisterous, was somber and subdued, staring futilely out into the mist. We traveled in near silence, only broken by the soft strokes of the oars as our guide propelled us through the water.

At least the mist was natural. I couldn't detect any chakra permeating it, meaning Zabuza was unlikely to be stalking nearby. By this time, he and Kakashi must have had their first clash, and that left me worried. I felt confident that Anko and Kakashi together could beat Zabuza, but canon Kakashi had struggled the first time around, perhaps due to overconfidence or some rusty skills. It may have turned out differently this time, due to the difference in his genin team combination. But if he got caught in another water prison, they wouldn't have Naruto to come up with the shadow clone fuma shuriken trick to free him.

"Do you see anything?" Anko asked quietly, having noticed my subtle chakra pulse as I checked our surroundings again.

"No," I replied. "The mist is eerie, but natural. I can't detect any foreign chakras within my vision radius."

The boatman cleared his throat. "The mists are common out here, shinobi. But you are right to be on guard. Wave is in a tight spot, and unsavory characters use the mist to ambush and rob others as the opportunities arise- even if their target is just a simple fisherman. I ask you to finish your business quickly and move on. We rarely see ninja in these parts, and you'll surely give the locals a fright when they see you."

Naruto frowned at that. "What do you mean, old man? Why are the villagers scared of ninja? Do any shinobi mess with the people here?"

The fisherman sighed. "Aye, sometimes. We don't have much, but we have no means to secure and protect the little we have. Every now and then, a lone ninja or small squad passes through, and will help themselves to the scant resources they find here. Though, since Gato came around, we haven't seen many ninja types here."

"Gato? Who is that?" I asked innocently.

The man spat into the lake to express his disgust. "Tch, a local crime bus and business tycoon. He took over Wave about two years ago and turned the place into his personal headquarters. He runs a shipping business, though what he transports is beyond me. The Wave citizens certainly don't produce anything worth shipping, and he doesn't hire locals to help with any of his personal operations."

I frowned and looked at Anko. "Any ideas on what he could be secretly manufacturing?"

My sensei shrugged. "I assume drugs of some variety. It would be lucrative while not demanding much labor. It would also explain the secrecy around the operation."

"If Gato is running such a shady operation, isn't there some governing authority that the people can appeal to?" Akiko asked.

The boatman shook his head. "For one, Wave is independent. Our glory days are long past, but even in recent years, we used to have a small ruling council. Gato made short work of them once he moved in, either buying them off or convincing them through more physical arguments. Even if word got out, no foreign entity has any incentive to step in to help a struggling land like Wave. Old Man Tazuna is the only one truly resisting Gato now, trying to build a bridge to the mainland that would open an avenue of trade and travel. If there is opportunity for business to be done here, it will attract the eyes of more powerful people- or so Tazuna used to say. Once Gato started targeting him specifically, he snuck out of town and hasn't been seen since, so maybe he gave up too and decided to cast his lot elsewhere."

"No, he hasn't given up," I said, drawing the boatman's attention. "He came to Konoha to enlist the aid of ninja. He didn't explain the whole Gato situation though, and it sounds like the thug hired some ninja of his own to protect his private island investment."

"The question is, how much was he willing to spend?" Anko said, frowning. "Wave is closest to Konoha and Kiri, but if he is trying to keep his operations secret, he probably wouldn't make an official request to either of us. Kiri is known to take morally dubious missions, but they may take advantage of him or extort him if they find his business is exceptionally lucrative. Which means he probably hired a few rogue ninja, deserters. They tend to work for cheaper rates, and they aren't backed by a village, but they are rarely stronger than chunin level."

"Sensei, do you have a bingo book?" I asked. "It might be worth researching any rogue Konoha or Kiri ninja. Ninjas are all about information, after all."

Anko grinned. "Glad you're applying the lesson. I might let you look through it when we get to Wave and meet up with Kakashi's team. Focus on scouting for now."

"Sure, but why doesn't Konoha issue bingo books to genin?" I asked, performing another Byakugan pulse. Still no visible threats. "That would be some useful information for us to have access to."

"Genin are easy targets," Anko replied. "We try to keep our bingo books from falling into enemy hands- it gives them information on targets, but worse, it lets them know what we know about the targets, and what we don't know. Only Tokubetsu jounin and jounin are issued their own copies, though chunin are allowed to consult the copies in the Hokage Tower archives. Genin generally don't have access at all, but I'll make an exception for you lot. Just don't go getting captured and start spilling state secrets, ok?"

"Yes, sensei," we chorused.

"We are nearly there," the boatman spoke up again. "The coastline of Wave lies about half a mile from here, but I don't dare go any closer. Are you sure you can make the swim? I'll charge extra if I have to row you back."

Anko stood and dropped a small bag of coins on the seat. "Thanks for the lift, we'll be fine from here," she said, hopping out of the boat and standing on the water. Then she tossed the man two more coins. "And that's for your discretion. You never saw any ninja today. You just had a lucrative fishing experience. Got it?"

The man nodded. "Aye, miss. I'll be on my way then."

The three of us hopped onto the water's surface next to Anko, Akiko holding Sokudo in her jacket. With a last nod to the boatman, we began the trek across the water to Wave. Naruto's water walking skill had improved by leaps and bounds during our last few days of training in Konoha, and we jogged the entire way without incident.

Anko called us together once we reached the shore. "First order of business is finding Team 7. This will be good training for all of you. We need to infiltrate the city and do reconnaissance, obviously without anyone knowing we're here. Naruto, I want you to make ten clones, henge them to look like the locals, and then set out. The real you will travel with Tedashi. Akiko and I will go together and see if Sokudo can pick up on Kakashi's scent." She pulled out a familiar looking blue face mask and held it out to Sokudo to smell- and how did Anko come into possession of one of Kakashi's face masks? I'm not sure I want to know.

Anko just smirked at my dumbfound and slightly disturbed expression as Sokudo took a sniff. The small dog then hopped out of Akiko's arms to start exploring. Naruto and I took that as our clue to go as well.

We henged into middle age looking men, wearing tattered cloaks with cowls that obscured our faces. But after entering town, we realized that even our weathered cloaks stood out as finery amongst the locals. Most were wearing rags and scraps sewn together in haphazard coverings, and we soon henged again to better blend in. We travelled quickly, easily avoiding most people altogether as I scanned every structure in my vision radius. We focused on the heart of the city, while the clones headed to the outskirts and beyond.

"I hope we find Sasuke's team first," Naruto whispered, after nearly an hour of searching. "If one of my clones find them, they'll have to come find us afterwards to let us know, and that could take a while. We should have thought of some kind of signal."

I snorted. "Naruto, if your one of your clones find them, you can just have him pop, and then you'll know where it is! You remember whatever they learned."

Naruto paused for a second. "Holy crap, you're right! Argh! But even though I know that now, my clones don't know. They're going to come looking for us if they find anything."

I rolled my eyes. "Then make another clone, and have that one pop, then all your other clones will know what you know about dispelling if they find something."

"Tedashi, you're a genius!" Naruto exclaimed, to my amusement. Another clone appeared, gave the original a salute, then popped. A second later, Naruto facepalmed.

"One of my clones found them ten minutes ago, he was about to come looking for us. No wonder Kakashi sensei looked so amused. The clone hadn't quite left yet, though, and popped just in time to save my dignity, I think. Let's go, I'll take us there. The other clones will look for Akiko and Anko sensei unless you have another idea to get the message to them too."

I shook my head. "Nope, just tell your clones to look for them the old-fashioned way, unless they find us first. Let's get going. Was everyone on Team 7 alright?"

Naruto frowned. "Kakashi sensei looked exhausted, he was leaning on a crutch when I saw him, but no visible external injuries. Sasuke had a few bandages, but he was moving around fine. Hinata-hime looked unharmed, just tired. Kobi was lying in bed though; his hand was all bandaged up."

"Dang, I hope he's alright. Let's go."

We swiftly made our way to the location Naruto indicated, and we were greeted at the door by a young woman who introduced herself as Tsunami, who quickly let us in once we dispelled our henges. Anko and Akiko arrived a couple minutes later, and we all gathered around the dining room table for a debriefing, including the injured Kobi. Tazuna and Tsunami also stood nearby, and neither jounin asked them to leave. I noticed the small form of Tsunami's son, whatever that kid's name was, peeking out from his bedroom door.

"So, what's the situation?" Anko asked.

"Hinata, would you like to give the report?" Kakashi asked with an eye smile. I wondered if he had a reason for having Hinata do the recap, or if he was just being lazy.

Hinata nodded. "Yes, sensei. On our way to Wave country, with Tazuna in our escort, and while still in Fire Country, we were ambushed by two rogue ninjas. Judging from their headbands, they were formerly of allegiance to Kiri. With my Byakugan, I noticed their ambush before we were in range, and we dispatched them without issue. In the process, Sensei deduced that they were targeting our client, and we reevaluated our mission. Kobi suggested that we renegotiate with the client, and I suggested that we send a message to Konoha with a status update. We unanimously voted to complete the mission, so we continued to Wave.

Interesting, so that caused the canon divergence, I thought. Kobi, being from a civilian merchant family, saw the value in renegotiation, and Hinata, trained to be extra cautious as a valuable clan heir, suggested a call for backup.

"Upon approaching Wave Country, we ran into a far greater threat: Zabuza Momochi, another rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist," Hinata continued. Anko grunted in recognition, but neither of my teammates seemed to recognize the name. "He is an A rank rogue ninja, and it appears Gato has hired him to protect his investments and assassinate our client."

"You lot tangled with the Demon of the Mist, formerly one of Kiri's top assassins, and you're all still here to tell the tale? Not bad, Kakashi," Anko said, giving an appreciative whistle. "So, what happened? Is he dead?"

Hinata shook her head. "No. Sensei engaged in combat with Zabuza, but I noticed another ninja hiding a short distance away, looking for an opportunity to strike. After I called out a warning to my team, the hidden ninja sprung into action, trying to target Kakashi sensei. Sasuke and Kobi engaged the new threat, while I positioned to defend the client."

"He was fast," Sasuke added, irritated. "Faster than I am. He trapped me in this prison of ice slabs and started flinging senbon at me."

"He only caught Sasuke; I was still outside the ice prison thing," Kobi added. "I was looking for an opening or a weakness, when I saw Zabuza created two water clones that sprinted for Tazuna. Kakashi destroyed one, and I went to help Hinata engage the other one. It cut off three of my fingers when I screwed up trying to block his giant cleaver of a weapon with a kunai. In hindsight, I was lucky that was all I lost."

He looked at his heavily bandaged hand and grimaced. I peeked with my Byakugan and saw that he was missing his pinky and ring finger past the first knuckle, and his middle finger was mangled and messy. It was gruesome, but he had a point; he was lucky to just lose parts of his fingers.

"It was enough, though," Hinata added, softly. "Kobi deflected his blade, and I was able to get a Jyuuken hit in, enough to dispel the water clone. Kakashi took the upper hand against the real Zabuza after that, even copying his Great Water Dragon technique, and kept Zabuza on the back foot. When Zabuza realized he was losing, he called for Haku to retreat. Pursuing would have left our client at great risk, so we instead tended to our injured comrades. They got away."

"Yeah, Sasuke looked like a human pin cushion," Kobi said with a snort.

Sasuke grunted. "He didn't hit anything vital. I avoided any crippling injuries, but I still have a lot of minor damage to heal from. Plus, when I saw Kobi and Hinata get attacked by the Zabuza clone," his eyes shifted red as he spoke, revealing a single black tomoe in each, "my Sharigan activated. I was able to track the masked ninja much easier after that and avoid most his attacks, but they took off before I could come up with an effective way to land a counterstrike."

"After that, Tazuna led us here to his daughter's house, and we've been recovering here. Zabuza is a threat we will have to deal with for this mission to be a lasting success," Hinata concluded.

Anko nodded once the story was fully recounted. "Got it. I'll show the kiddos what Zabuza looks like, but could you give us a description of his sidekick?"

Hinata nodded. "Yes. He is a young male, maybe fifteen years old. He is slender and slightly taller than Sasuke, with long black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing Kiri hunter nin attire, which we suspect would have been used as a ploy to launch a surprise attack if I didn't see him lingering in the forest. Senbon was his weapon of choice, and his jutsu involved a kekkei genkai, Ice Release, to create a structure of chakra-linked ice mirrors. He can near-instantaneously travel from one to another, which allows him to rain attacks on someone caught in his jutsu from any angle."

"A kekkei Genki, huh?" Anko muttered. "Interesting. No wonder Zabuza took an interest in the kid. Well, Kakashi, we were sent to support you. What's the plan?"

"We have two options," he replied. "We can either wait for him to attack Tazuna and then strike back, or we can try to find his base of operations and bring the fight to him. Obviously, both plans have pros and cons, but since we now have a jounin infiltration specialist in our midst, I'm thinking we can do we both. We can all rest here and plan for two or three days, until Sasuke and I are back to fighting shape. Then Team 6 can track down and investigate Zabuza's location, while Team 7 stands guard. If you find him before they're ready to attack, you'll report back, and we can take the initiative."

"Wait," I said, surprised. "We're going to track down Zabuza? What if he finds us as we're looking, before we find him?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Ah, such little faith in your sensei. Don't underestimate her abilities in stealth and infiltration. I'm sure you'll be fine. Additionally, Zabuza doesn't know you are here, and he won't expect us to make an attack in our current condition. Once you find him, we can launch a combined attack to defeat him."

I nodded, a bit surprised at Kakashi's full confidence in Anko sensei, and by extension, his confidence in us.

"But since we still have some daylight left, let's do a little training!" Kakashi said cheerfully. "We need to improve our little minions' skills before our next engagement."

The suggestion was met with unanimous approval, and we headed out to where the forest met the sea to begin our training. Anko and Kakashi had a quiet discussion on the way, probably to confirm the training plan, and when we reached the shoreline, Kakashi spoke up.

"Alright, my little genin. Seeing as how we are in Wave Country, it is important that you all master water walking as soon as possible. If you cannot fight at full strength while on the water, you will be a huge disadvantage against our opponents here. Naruto, you spar against Sasuke. Hinata, you're with Akiko- and no Jyuuken allowed for this. Kobi, due to your injury, I want you to focus on the leaf sticking exercise on shore. The pain suppressants you are taking can have an adverse effect on chakra control, so don't push it too hard."

Naruto, of course, pointed out that I hadn't been given an assignment. "What about Tedashi?"

Kakashi nodded and looked at me. "I've heard that you are the most proficient in water walking and wouldn't benefit much from water sparring. Anko also informed me that you have some potential in manipulating lightning chakra. I'll see what you can do, and maybe give you some pointers."

"Woah, no way!" Naruto yelped. "Sasuke, get your butt in gear! We gotta master water battles so that we can learn some awesome lightning jutsu too!"

"Whatever," Sasuke muttered indifferently, but I caught a curious gleam in his eye as well, and he wasted no time following Naruto onto the water.

"Hey now, I never said-" Kakashi began, but it was too late. Both boys were already stumbling around in the distance, trying to keep their balance while executing acrobatic combat maneuvers. Hinata and Akiko weren't far behind them.

Kakashi sighed and looked over at me. "So, you're already working on elemental manipulation? How ambitious." He thought for a minute, then pulled out a storage seal which released a short tanto. "This a chakra blade. This one is a bit special and has been tuned specifically to lightning manipulation for decades. It won't channel other elements well, but it is eager to channel electricity, and even functions a bit like a crutch when it comes to converting your chakra to that nature. Give it a try, direct lightning chakra into the blade.

He handed over the tanto, and I concentrated, gathering chakra into my palm. I started spinning the chakra in my hand, letting it move and spin and collide, converting it to lightning chakra. A stray spark danced along my hand as the charged chakra separated. I focused on channeling that charged chakra into the blade, and immediately the blade seemed to drink the chakra near my fingertips. In fact, even as it pulled at the negatively charged chakra, it seemed to repel the other half, away and back up my arm.

I channeled more chakra into my hand, and the tanto blade erupted in electric sparks. It glowed bright blue in the middle, and white hot along the sharp edge of the blade, and small bolts of errant electricity sparked off it in random directions. "Woah," I managed to utter.

Kakashi tilted his head. "Interesting," he said. "Go ahead and cut off your chakra flow before you-"

But his warning was too late. One of the larger errant bolts shot out in my direction, striking me in the chest and causing me to spasm and drop the blade with a start. "Ow, that stings," I muttered, looking at the smoking burn mark that marred my jacket. Kakashi looked pleased and amused.

"Obviously, you've figured out that electric nature chakra is erratic and difficult to direct," Kakashi said wryly. "You did better than I expected, to be honest. You don't even need the blade's help. Be cautious, though. Lightning is a dangerous element, difficult to direct, let alone control. Still, you did a respectable job with the conversion process, and the next step is to work on guiding it. Once you begin to tame the lightning, to direct that wild energy, then you can start learning the useful stuff."

"Like your Chidori," I said. He quirked his head again. "Everyone knows about that technique," I continued. "But I can only imagine how difficult that would be, to condense that much lighting to a tightly knit ball, minimizing the excess spillover, and essentially turning your hand into a directable, dangerous lightning bolt."

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, condensing that amount of lightning is difficult, and maintaining it while moving is harder still. It helps that the jutsu stays in the palm of my hand- the further from your body lightning chakra extends, the less controllable it becomes."

I nodded. That seemed to make sense with what I knew from lightning techniques- the Raikage's lightning armor didn't extend far from his body, for obvious reasons. Darui had that Laser Circus thing, but I think that one is a kekkei genkai technique that incorporated water release somehow, so who knows the mechanics of how that works. Canon Sasuke developed that Chidori Stream beam of light; was that extremely high-level lightning chakra manipulation? Or was it not actually lightning nature at all? Anyway, once the chakra left the body, it ought to be attracted to the nearest positive ground to balance out its charge. Any ranged technique would need to find a way to counteract or overpower that natural inclination.

"Most lightning nature ninja are close range fighters, due to the difficulty in controlling mid or long-range techniques," the Copy Ninja continued. "I know the Hyuuga generally aren't keen on elemental jutsu, but if you plan on incorporating elemental techniques into your arsenal, you should keep that in mind."

I picked up the tanto I had dropped and looked back at Kakashi. "How do I practice? I tend to lose control when I gather too much lightning chakra in one place; can that be contained with better chakra control?"

Kakashi eye smiled again. "You catch on fast. Yes, that is one trick behind lightning jutsu. You won't need the handicap blade anymore," he said, taking the tanto back, "just focus on controlling the lighting in your hand. As you get the hang of it, you can practice projecting it away from you. A simple shockwave, though difficult to aim precisely, can still be an effective close-range technique for beginner lightning users."

"Thanks, Kakashi sensei," I said, handing the tanto back over. I walked a safe distance away, and then started building up lightning chakra in my hand. Kakashi gave me the greenlight to play around with lightning nature, but I only had two or three days to make it do something useful.

-o X o-

AN: Welcome to Wave Country. Next up, Tedashi gets to try his hand at scouting the enemy. He's a Hyuuga, and the veteran infiltration specialist Anko is here, so what could possibly go wrong?