What If Konoha Honored the 4th Hokage's Dying Wish
Chapter 11
- Wave Arc – With a Twist -
Team 7 then spent the next five weeks and knocked out 5 D-ranks per day. By the end of their 5th week, they completed their 100th D-rank mission. They had actually had fun competing throughout the missions. Hinata was surprisingly quick with her hands, so she managed to win a few times when it came to tasks like picking weeds, painting fences and organizing various things for various shop owners. Sasuke liked the physical D-ranks.
Most of the farming tasks became strength and agility competitions between Sasuke and Naruto. Naruto would set his gravity seals to level 5 to make it fair. Hinata would do her part in these missions, but she couldn't keep up on the strength requirements. Level 6 gravity still made Naruto feel like he was being crushed and super lightheaded, so Tsunade and Kurama had forbidden him from using it. They thought he would have to go through puberty before his body could take the strain.
Team 7 became famous among the civilians. The normal bitching and moaning that could be heard by genin squads doing the missions was absent during team 7 missions. They were the exact opposite. They were lively, polite and competitive. The civilians that requested the missions started watching the games the genin made from the mission. The back and forth between Sasuke and Naruto made it entertaining enough. This high praise reached the other jonin Sensei, and they all marveled that Kakashi was such an effective sensei. If they only knew.
Hiruzen watched team 7 enter his office. He had been keeping his eye on this all-star genin team. That is why he had no qualms about allowing team 7 to be the first rookie genin assigned a C-rank.
"Ahh, team 7. I must say, you are the talk of the town. Kakashi, you have my gratitude for training such a talented team. It seems I may have underestimated your ability as a teacher."
All members of team 7 broke eye contact with the Hokage and suddenly found various things around the office interesting. Kakashi eye-smiled and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.
"You honor me, Hokage-Sama. Team 7 is reporting for their first C-ranked mission."
Iruka shuffled in his corner. These kids left the academy just over a month ago and the Hokage was going to send them out of the village. Iruka had voiced his concerns, but the Hokage shot him down and said this particular team was ready.
"Alright, Kakashi. Team 7 is assigned to escort the bridge builder Tazuna back to Wave country. Once there, team 7 will guard him until the bridge is complete. A side mission will be to establish positive political ties with the Wave." He made a motion to his ANBU guard, and they brought Tazuna into the office.
Tazuna was a fairly tall old man with a big gut. He wore a plain grey shirt with the arms cut off. He had a towel wrapped over his shoulders and around his neck and he wore a plain pair of glasses. There was nothing special about him, except for the pungent smell of cheap booze.
Tazuna looked at team 7 and wasn't impressed. "How are a blind girl, a cripple and two little brats going to be able to protect me?"
Tazuna didn't notice the blonde move. He didn't feel the sake jar leave his hands. That is why he was so surprised when the brat took a swig of his sake and said, "Wow, that is some cheap shit." Naruto handed the sake bottle back to Tazuna at normal speeds and gave him a confident smirk.
"Old man, if it is everyday bandits and thugs, you are worried about, don't. If there are ninja chasing you, you need to tell us now." As Naruto mentioned ninja, he sensed that Tazuna was nervous. The overall feeling he got was that Tazuna was hiding something.
Naruto made meaningful eye contact with the Hokage, "Hokage-Sama. Please tell Kitsune I am leaving the village. He was expecting to train with me this week."
Hiruzen got the message and nodded. "Will do, Naruto-Kun." Hiruzen flashed ANBU hand signs to Kakashi and Naruto, "Keep your eyes open, Naruto permission granted. You can show abilities if needed."
Kakashi's eye widened in shock for just a second, then he addressed his team.
"Pack for a month-long trip. This is a mission, so all restrictive seals will be released. Meet at the front gate tomorrow morning at 7am."
With a chorus of "Hai, Sensei!" team 7 left the Hokage office. Hiruzen knew that Kakashi and Naruto could handle just about anything that came at them. He would keep a rapid response ANBU force ready if they called for it.
Naruto took Kakashi out for dinner. He henged into his older form and they sat down at a table in the jonin bar. They ordered their food and Naruto threw up a privacy seal.
"The old man is undoubtedly lying to us. The Hokage feels the same. I think he knows about something going on in Wave that the client isn't telling us about."
"Yup, Ototo, I got the same feeling. We will proceed with the mission. If need be, this will be your coming out party. The Hokage clearly wants us to get into Wave's good graces, so we will just have to take it seriously."
"Gotcha, I will have Kyu in the seal. If things start getting messy, he can be our backup."
With that out of the way, they enjoyed their meal and shot the shit. Kakashi had really missed spending time with Naruto. The hole in his heart always seemed to shrink when he hung out with the blonde. It was thanks to Naruto that Kakashi had started getting rid of his bad habits. He still read smut in public, but he was showing up on time and putting some actual effort into being a jonin sensei.
The next morning came and team 7 met Tazuna at the front gate. They set off as planned and Naruto produced eight clone captains that escorted the team in a diamond formation. They had been walking for half a day when something finally happened.
"Sasuke, Hinata, my clones picked up two enemy ninjas hidden behind a genjutsu up ahead. They are nothing special. I want you two to deal with them. Kakashi and I will back you up." Naruto whispered quietly to his team.
The whole team looked to Kakashi, who gave them a nod.
Hinata was nervous as she activated her Byakugan. She could clearly see two ninjas hidden in the ground below a genjutsu of a puddle. She took deep breaths and prepared herself. She had to prove to team 7 and herself that she could to this.
As she approached the puddle, she gave a hand sign to Sasuke. Each of them darted to a separate puddle. The rapid movement caught the two shinobi off-guard. They barely had time to get their defenses up as they jumped out of the ground and engaged their two opponents. With Hinata's first flurry of hits, Hinata had rendered Gozu's left hand, the one connected to the chain, useless. Thus, he was forced to fight Hinata one handed. Hinata used this opening to step into Gozu's guard and land several hits to his stomach and chest. Gozu fell to his knees and coughed up blood. Hinata hit a point on the back of his neck that paralyzed him. She took a deep breath and turned to watch the conclusion of Sasuke's fight.
As soon as Hinata gave the hand sign, Sasuke activated his Sharingan and attacked the puddle on the right. When Mezu jumped from the ground and parried Sasuke's first strike, he was surprised by the boy's speed. He panicked for a split second when he landed and saw two one-tomo Sharingan looking back at him. Sasuke used that to throw two shuriken that pinned Mezu's chain to a nearby tree. As Mezu struggled to free his left gauntlet from the chain, he was hit by a great fireball jutsu. His screams, the sound of his flesh burning, and the smell made Sasuke run to the side of the road. Once there, he fell to his knees and puked up his lunch.
Kakashi praised the two for their performance. He had Naruto tag Gozu and put him in a prisoner scroll. Mezu's body was put in a storage scroll to be taken back to the Hokage. Both scrolls were given to a fox summon that sprinted back to the Hidden Leaf. Kakashi then turn to Tzuna and put on his most intimidating face.
"Now, Tazuna-San, mind telling me why there were ninja waiting to ambush our group?"
After a lot of stuttering and begging, Kakashi got the truth out of Tazuna. Wave was in a terrible situation with a shipping magnate named Gato ruling over the small island nation. Gato had bought up all shipping and transport to the island and was strangling the life out of the Wave economy. Tazuna started the bridge as a last hope to bring life back to Wave. Gato had sent his goons after Tazuna and that is when Tazuna travelled to the leaf for help. He apologized for lying and said that he didn't have enough to pay for anything higher than a C-rank mission.
Team 7 had been listening to the whole story. Kakashi needed the team's buy in before they continued.
"Okay, team. This is now outside the bounds of a C-rank mission. This is beyond what I normal genin squad can handle. I know we are not normal, but I want to know if you wish to continue or should we head back to the leaf and let another squad take over?"
Sasuke responded immediately, "I want to continue. This is the perfect opportunity to challenge myself."
"No surprise there." Thought Naruto and Kakashi simultaneously.
"I would like to continue and help Tazuna-San as well." Hinata said meekly.
"You know me, Sensei. I am in." Finished Naruto. He then thought, "Kyu, be ready. I may need to summon you or borrow some chakra if this goes tits up."
"You got it, Kit." Replied Kurama. He may have tamed down quite a bit, but the thought of blood and battle got him excited.
Kakashi then turned to the old drunk, "Okay, Tazuna-San. It is your lucky day. We will continue the mission. Upon completion, you will pay for an A-ranked mission. The Hokage will be open to a payment plan."
The group continued with the mission. The next day they met up with a friend of Tazuna that ferried them across the ocean channel. The group gained their first inkling of respect for Tazuna when they saw the magnificent bridge. It was truly something to behold. It looked like the massive structure extended halfway out into the channel. When they landed in Wave country, Naruto started sensing an overwhelming number of negative emotions. They walked for a bit, then Naruto sensed two high-level chakra signatures. One of them was filled with bloodlust. The other was being heavily suppressed and had a gentle feel to it. It reminded Naruto of the feel of Hinata's chakra. He channeled Kurama's chakra into his eyes and ears to help him deal with the mist. It was this enhanced clarity that let him hear a massive blade slicing through the air.
"Get down!" He grabbed Tazuna and Hinata then hit the dirt. Kakashi and Sasuke followed suit.
The blade implanted itself in a tree and a tall man with bandages covering his mouth, no shirt, and pinstripe pants appeared on the blade.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Sharingan no Kakashi. No wonder the demon brothers failed. Hand over the bridge builder and your brats will be spared."
"No can do, Zabuza Mamochi, Demon of the Hidden Mist." Kakashi said as he lifted his hitiate that was covering his left eye. The newly exposed, 3-tomo Sharingan spun rapidly as Kakashi prepared for a fight.
Naruto created a clone captain, which then covered the bridge builder, Sasuke and Hinata in a protective barrier. Naruto stepped forward and whispered to Kakashi, "You handle Zabuza, I am going to get his friend and invite them to the party."
Kakashi nodded at Naruto. Zabuza saw the genin step forward, "Get out of here, brat. This is a fight between real shinobi. Go back to your mommy and come find me in 10 years."
Naruto just chuckled. "If you only knew, Zabuza. If you aren't careful, I will show you what a true demon is."
Zabuza didn't like being disrespected by a brat. He grabbed his sword and jumped out onto the water. He raised one hand above his head and kept the other in a ram seal in front of his chest.
"Water style – Hidden Mist jutsu" Said Zabuza. Naruto watched as a mist layered in Zabuza's own chakra spread out over the field. It was dense enough to nullify Naruto's vision, but not his other senses. He confirmed where the other ninja was and prepared to make his move.
'Wind style – Great Breakthrough' Naruto said under his breath. He channeled quite a bit of his chakra into it and aimed it at where Zabuza was. He didn't wait for the aftermath, he disappeared using shunshin and appeared behind a ninja in a Kiri-hunter mask. He slapped a paralysis seal on the ninja and activated it.
Meanwhile, a great wall of wind laid waste to the field in front of Zabuza. The mist cleared and revealed a water wall that protected Zabuza. All Zabuza could see was Kakashi standing in front of the barrier that contained team 7 and Tazuna.
"Where did that damned brat go?"
"To deal with your friend." Replied Kakashi in a bored tone. "Are we going to do this or what?"
I won't bore you with the details, just imagine the canon fight between the two.
Naruto has caught the hunter-nin in his arms before she could fall. From this distance, Naruto could smell her. Naruto removed her mask, revealing a beautiful face with a delicate complexion. The paralysis seal let the ninja move her head, so she peered into Naruto's brilliant blues.
"Good afternoon, ninja-san. It seems you have bested me. Now what do you want with me?" she asked.
"Oh, not much. We can start with a talk while those two fight it out. I am Naruto." He said as he sat her propped up onto a tree. The then leaned back on his arms. "What's your name and why are you here?"
"I am a hunter-nin from Kiri…"
"I would appreciate it if you didn't lie to me, sweetheart. It doesn't really work on me. I know you are with Zabuza, so I want to know who you are and why you follow him?"
The ninja paused, weighing her options. "My name is Haku Momochi. I have pledged my life to serve Zabuza-Sama and will give my life to help him accomplish his goals."
"Hmm, okay. Why?"
The question caught Haku off-guard. She gave him the short version of her life of suffering because of her bloodline. After killing her own father, Zabuza had taken her in and trained her, so she pledged her loyalty to him.
"I am sorry for you suffering. Before we go join the boys, let me say this. If you love Zabuza, don't die for him, live for him. Think if you blind loyalty actually makes him happy… We need to go." Naruto sensed the fight had turned against Kakashi and he wanted to stop things from escalating.
Naruto appeared with Haku slung over his shoulder in front of three Zabuza clones with Zabuza holding Kakashi in a water-prison behind them. Naruto saw Zabuza preparing to cut Kakashi in half so he pressed 'whirlpool's edge' against Haku's back.
"Ah, ah, ah, let's not be hasty Zabuza-San. I wish to make a deal with you."
The boy's calm voice and demeanor concerned Zabuza. This kid shows no fear whatsoever and he bested Haku. "What deal, kid?"
"Well, I am Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, that blade you carry was forged by the Uzumaki. If Mist stayed true to its word, which is unlikely, you pledged to never raise that blade against a member of the Uzumaki clan. I wish to know if you still uphold that vow and why you work for a piece of shit like Gato."
"Crap. I did swear that oath kid. But I took a job from Gato to raise money for the rebellion in Kiri."
"Well then, that makes this easy. I am going to kill Gato, whether you wish to stop me or not. He is the worst kind of human trash. I will kill him within the week. When I do, I will take his blood-soaked wealth and give it back to the people he stole it from. If I doubled what Gato is offering you, a promise on the pride of the Uzumaki, what would you say?"
Zabuza was taken aback. He had taken a job so his pride as a ninja demands he finish it. However, this kid unnerved him. He casually claims to be the son of an Uzumaki and … the fourth Hokage?
"Tell me, kid, who was your father?"
"Oh, you just now caught that? The fourth Hokage was my dad. I will sweeten the deal. If you release my sensei, stay out of our way for one week and deliver a couple letters to the leader of the Kiri rebellion for me, I will quadruple what Gato is offering you."
Zabuza was Gob-smacked. He heard a click in the corner of his mind but thought nothing of it. Naruto slid that picture into Haku's battle kimono for a few laughs later on. Zabuza let Kakashi out of his water-prison and Kakashi jumped over to Naruto, gasping for fresh air. Naruto returned the favor by removing the paralysis seal from Naruto.
"You got one week, kid. I will be in a dugout near Gato's hideout. I will hold you to your word, on the pride of the Uzumaki."
"Sure thing, Zabuza. See you later, Haku-Chan." Thank goodness the mask could cover up Haku's brilliant blush, otherwise Hinata would have gotten jealous. Naruto gave them a casual wave goodbye before the two disappeared in a swirl of water.
Naruto turned to a stunned team 7 and a bridge builder with his chin hitting the ground.
"Pick you jaw up of the ground, Tazuna-San, we have work to do."
Team 7 walked through a destitute and hopeless town. Naruto was being overwhelmed by all of the negative emotions. Shops were boarded up and partially destroyed. Kids roamed the streets in rags, begging for scraps. The look of hopelessness in every eye enraged Naruto. The reactions for team 7 were much the same. This was the first time either of them had seen true poverty. It broke Hinata's heart every time she made eye contact with a child. She had already given out her ration bars, as had Sasuke and the others. A small dent on the mighty injustice of this land. Tazuna urged the group on and walked ten more minutes to the west.
Team 7 came upon a modest house on the edge of the ocean. There was a small dock with a paddle boat tied to it. It was that very paddle boat that Tsunami had rowed to give a chance to Tazuna to get to the leaf. Team 7 entered the home following Tazuna. They came face to face with a lovely mother figure that introduced herself as Tsunami.
"Kit, that there is what we call a M.I.L.F. Let me out so I can meet her!" The sudden yelling from Kurama had startled Naruto. He put him on mute for the time being.
"Good evening, Tsunami-San. Thank you for inviting us into your home. I am Hatake Kakashi and these are my genin. We will be staying here until Tazuna finishes his bridge. Thank you in advance for your hospitality." Kakashi finished with a polite bow, which was mirrored by the team.
"It is I who should be thanking you, Kakashi-San. Thank you for bringing my father home safely and for your continued assistance." She returned the bow.
Tazuna had set off into the kitchen to grab some sake while team 7 got set up in their room. Hinata was going to sleep in Tsunami's room. Once they were set up, Kakashi pulled Naruto onto the roof for a chat.
"Thank you for saving me earlier. I was in a pinch there. However, what were you thinking negotiating with a missing nin?" The chiding tone in Kakashi's voice annoyed Naruto.
"Well, Sensei, I made a judgement call. I could feel the purity coming off of that girl. Zabuza didn't feel evil, per say, but he felt determined and full of bloodlust. So, I figured he could be negotiated with. Plus, I didn't want to kill Haku. She is beautiful under that mask. I am thinking of making a similar offer I made to Kumo and Iwa. If the rebels are close to unseating the Mizukage, then I want to support them. Killing people for being born with bloodlines is sickening."
Kakashi had gotten used to Naruto's surprises. Still, he couldn't help but shake his head in amusement.
"You really are a lot like you father when you talk like that. Except one woman was enough to keep him happy."
"Oh, can it, Ni-San. If Mist accepts, I can have four of the Great Five bound together. That would be a good step in the right direction for my dream. Okay, to the task at hand." Naruto took back control of the conversation and redirected it to solving their current problems.
Naruto and Kakashi spent the next couple of hours planning. Tsunami had wrapped their plates for them so they could eat when they were done. Kakashi loved working with the focused Naruto. The plan broke down into four parts.
1)Recon. They need to locate Gato's base of operations and any potential hideouts of his thugs. They need to know if there are any more missing nin and the number of thugs he has.
2)Infiltrate. Take out a couple of thugs, have Naruto's clones transform into them and get a good look at the inside of the base.
3)Fight. Take the initiative and surprise Gato. After locating the ninja, they will need to be the first to go.
4)Repair. Seize Gato's assets and help wave recover.
With an idea of how they wanted to proceed, Naruto created 10 shadow clone captains. They were each assigned a part of the island to scout. Two more shadow clone captains were created to watch the town. If any thugs tried to rough the townspeople up, they were to deal with them discreetly. Enough is enough.
The next day, Kyu showed up claiming to be backup from Konoha. He made quite the impression on Tsunami with the same style of introduction he gave to Tsunade. The shadow clones had returned with their information Naruto created pretty detailed map for team 7. Kakashi was going to go with Naruto to get eyes on Gato's hideout, which is an old ocean liner that is beached on the east side of the island.
There were also four smaller hideouts that Gato's thugs manned scattered around the town. One clone found Zabuza's dugout and scared the crap out of Haku. The clone blushed at her partially naked figure before Zabuza ran to the entrance of the hideout only to find the blonde kid. After a tense exchange, the clone let him know that he was just scouting the island. The clone told Zabuza that he will be informed when the attack is happening.
Kakashi was concerned about the three rogue Iwa ninja in Gato's employ. They had freshly marked hitiate. The scout clone said there was one jonin level and two chunin level. If team 7 had to fight them and Zabuza, things would get messy. As long as team 7 retained the initiative, they will be able to take them out relatively easy.
The primary concern for the Konoha team and for Tazuna was the safety of the townspeople. This put Kakashi in a tough spot. He knew Naruto could make a crap-ton of shadow clones to protect the town, but doing so would make him less than 100 percent for the fight. Kyu offered to protect the town but Kakashi was worried about leaving a biju unattended around a village with no defenses. It took Naruto's convincing before Kakashi gave the okay for that part of the plan.
The main objective for day two was to take out some thugs and have Naruto transform into them. Naruto's transformation was much more effective than a henge, so if they ran into ninja, they shouldn't catch onto him. The objective for this was to map out the ocean liner and locate the ninja, any hostages, Gato's office and his safe.
Naruto wore a cloak with his stealth seal as he entered town. He got up on the roofs and spread clones out throughout the delapidated town. Around noon, Naruto watched three thugs with shoddy weapons walk into a local baker. The thugs harassed the owner and threatened to kill his daughter if he didn't feed them. Naruto had one of his clones 'henge' into Tsunami and enter the bakery. The clone then immediately left as if it were scared. The ploy worked and the thugs followed the fake Tsunami into a nearby alley. Before any of them registered something was wrong, Naruto retrofit their heads with a kunai. He sealed the bodies away after taking their belongings and clothing. Three clones 'henged' into the thugs, put on their clothing and weapons and walked back to the ocean liner.
When the clones got to the ocean liner, they walked under the big banner reading 'Gato Industries' and did their best to fit in with the crowd. The clones reported into a bandit named Sajime when they returned to the ship and were told to go to the crew's quarters. This area was not nearly as nice as Gato's. There was broken glass and spilled drinks littered throughout the hallway. The lounge was furnished with dilapidated furniture that smelled like the scum it seated. The lighting was poor but there were easily 20 mercenaries just sitting around playing cards and drinking.
"Yo, Hachi, how did the trip into town go? Did you bring any back for us?"
The Naruto clones didn't know which bandit was Hachi, so they guessed.
The clone in the middle said, "The damn baker didn't have enough to fill out bellies. How could we bring you lot anything?"
"I wasn't talkin' to you Denu, so shut yer' fuckin' trap."
The clone of Denu scowled at the talkative mercenary. The man stepped up, put his shoulders back and chest out. "You got something to say, punk."
The clone unsheathed the poor-quality katana and unseated the unknown bandits head with a surprising speed. The whole room gawked at the Denu clone.
"Whatchya' goons lookin' at? He picked a fight, and I finished it. End of story."
This earned the cloned Denu a trip to Gato's office, escorted by one of the three ninjas.
"What's an Iwa ninja doing here in Wave?" Denu asked with curiosity in his tone.
"Shut yer trap, bandit scum. Don't put yourself on equal footing with me." Replied the ex-Stone ninja.
"Aww, c'mon. I heard some pretty sweet things about ninja, seen some scary shit too. You got a name or am I gunna hafta call you stoney?"
"Tsuchi Maru. I left Iwa because the Kage there betrayed us. He dares ally with Konoha scum. Even offered them his fucking granddaughter. So, me and my boys left. End of story."
"Nice ta' meetcha' Maru. Name's Denu. You gunna kill me for killin that guy?"
"That's up to Gato. Now shut up, I am done talking to you."
"Hai, hai." Replied the cloned Denu waving him off.
Gato's quarters were in the captain's quarters and had been renovated with extravagant tapestries and carpets. It did spruce up the old, abandoned ship a bit. Denu was taken to Gato's office and questioned about killing one of Gato's men. Gato ended up liking his brutality and told Denu to get a raiding party together. He heard Tazuna was back in town, so he wanted the bridge builder brought back. The cloned Denu accepted the mission and gathered 10 guys to go hit up Tazuna's house.
While Naruto was doing this, Kakashi took Sasuke and Hinata out to train on the ocean. Water walking on wavy water was significantly harder than on a calm lake. Therefore, by the two sparring in a wavy ocean, their chakra control should improve greatly. Normally, Sasuke would beat Hinata, but the water was the great equalizer. Hinata had much better chakra control than Sasuke and water was her element. The spars tended to go in Hinata's favor the longer they fought for.
Team 7 regrouped with Tsunami for dinner. Kyu sat next to the lovely woman and was laying it on thick. The dinner as going fairly until Inari, Tsunami's son, broke down and lost his shit. He kept screaming about her they were going to die and Gato's too strong. The boy ran out of the house followed by Naruto. Naruto took Inari to the docks and was talking to him.
"Inari, I was sorry to hear about your stepfather. It sounds like he was a great man." Naruto let the boy get his sniffles out. "It is my goal to become a man like Kaisa. He was called to fight for something greater than themselves. He went to the Pure World knowing that he did all he can to fight against the evil of this world."
"What's your point? Gato killed him and he left mom and me all alone." Pouted the boy.
"My point is that Kaisa was and is a hero. He understood that all evil needs to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Kaisa stood up to evil and fought for his people. I ask that you do not dishonor his sac…"
Naruto cut off his statement as he sensed somebody trip is security tags.
"Inari, I need you to go back to the house. Tell my team to lock it down. There are men in the woods east of here coming this way. Go! Now!"
The boy scurried off to the house and Naruto leaped off to prepare a proper welcome. He could feel that his clone that was leading the group. He took out 'whirlpools edge' and decided that he would kill all but one of them.
The cloned Denu was leading the bandits through the woods toward Tazuna's house. They were loud, obnoxious and disgusting creatures. Talking about rape like it was the best thing in the world. Bullying and killing defenseless people. There was no need to feel sorry for trash like this. Denu saw a blur, heard the swish of a blade cutting through the wind and saw the head fall. It wasn't until the 4th head hit the ground that the ragtag group reacted. There were five bandits and one Naruto clone left. Naruto himself stood in front of the remaining mercenaries, holding his black and red wakizashi with one hand. With an exaggerated flick of the blade to clear the blood, Naruto raised his head to address the bandits.
"Who feels like talking in exchange for their life?"
Three bandits raised their hands and two growled at him and held their weapons at the ready. The clone that was imitating Denu killed those two from behind and then transformed back into Naruto.
"I tell ya, boss, it sucked being that guy. Keep the one in the middle, he will talk." Then the clone dispelled with a final two-fingered salute to Naruto.
Kakashi showed up as Naruto was cleaning his blade on the jacket of the merc chosen to remain alive. He could see the fear in the man's eyes and smell the urine running down his leg.
"Was this really necessary, Naruto?"
"How about you take my clones memories and then try to ask me that question again." He pointed to the bandit. "I told him I wouldn't kill him in exchange for information. I made no promises on your behalf. Have fun."
Naruto disappeared in a wind shunshin to go cool his head in the woods. Kyu found him lying down on a thick branch a couple hours later.
"You know, Kyu, I promised you to make the world a better place. I promised I would never give up. And I won't, but this darkness eats at you. It clings to you and makes you feel dirty. I think I understand how you got lost in your hatred for humanity now." The low, contemplative tone Naruto was using worried Kyu.
"You know, Kit. I still feel that way. I can't wash away centuries of what you are feeling overnight. But you know what, Kit? When I am around you, that hatred flees." Kyu paused and hesitated a bit before continuing. "The Sage created us to be partners to humanity. He envisioned a world where we would work alongside them. Where people would understand each other. That is why he decided to share his chakra with humanity. He hoped that, through the art of Ninshu, humans would come to understand each other, and us. Then the darkness of this world took Ninshu and corrupted it into its bastardized form, Ninjutsu. Then the humans sought to enslave us biju with the very gift our father gave them. That is why I was blinded by hatred for centuries. Until I met you, Kit."
Kyu walked up the tree trunk and bent down to ruffle Naruto's hair. Kyu's words hit Naruto hard.
"Would the Sage be okay with me using this corrupted power to cleanse the world of this filth? Would he condone the slaughter of those pigs that call themselves human? Will Kami bless me or let Yami deal with me when I die? I have already killed hundreds, Kyu." Tears began to fall from Naruto's face.
Kyuubi picked Naruto up and pulled him into a hug. "And I have killed thousands, Kit. Do you believe me to be an evil monster? Would you condemn my soul to suffering? The way I see it, you have taken on the mission the Sage left to me. Except you have not let yourself fall into the darkness. Your strength of will shields you from it, Kit. Fear not, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, if you fall into the darkness, I will drag you back out of it."
Naruto wailed into Kyu's shoulder and found solace in his hug. After a few minutes, Naruto stepped back from the embrace. "Thanks, Kyu. I really needed that." They walked back to the house together and Naruto went straight to bed.
The next morning, Naruto told them about what his clone saw. He drew out a map with key locations highlighted for the group. The Iwa ninja were in the quarters located just below Gato's. He told them about Tsuchi Maru, the jonin, and the other mercenaries there. Kakashi had scoped out the vessel last night and noted the guard patterns.
Kakashi laid out the plan. "The best time to strike will be 3am. The guards are undisciplined. If we are lucky, we will be able to kill the Iwa ninja in their sleep. We should do everything we can to not raise the alarm before dealing with those three. Naruto and I will deal with the ninja. Sasuke will target the mercenaries' quarters, do not hold back Sasuke. These men are scum. Naruto's clone confirmed that much. Hinata will extract the women held below deck. We will deal with the outposts after the ship is secured. Kyu will protect the village in our absence and Naruto will protect the house with clones."
Once Kakashi had finished, "Kakashi-Sensei, these ninjas essentially defected because of me. Instead of killing them, could we slap paralysis seals on them? Send them in a prisoner scroll back to Iwa, as a show of good faith? Also, Gato is no threat. I say we capture him alive and let the people of Wave decide his fate."
"If we can subdue the ninja in their sleep, I am ok with that plan. However, I will not endanger anybody here for that purpose. If they fight us, we fight to kill." Was Kakashi's curt reply.
A chorus of "Hai, Sensei" was the response. Sasuke was disappointed that he couldn't fight the ninja, but he would at least get some combat experience from this. Naruto pulled Sasuke aside later in the day.
"Hey, bro. I wanted to talk to you about your part of the mission. I know you got your first kill a couple days ago. I know it affected you, it affected me too. When you are in there, you cannot freeze up. You cannot let them get the drop on you. These men abandoned their humanity a long time ago. The state this country is in is proof of that. Promise me you won't freeze, brother."
"Hnn. I will be fine, Ruto. Thanks for the heads up. We will see each other after the mission." The Uchiha held out his arm to Naruto and the two clasped forearms. It was amazing to see how much Sasuke had changed after receiving training and instruction from Naruto. Naruto could still sense the darkness of Sasuke's desire for revenge, but his determination and desire to protect dwarfed it now.
Naruto spent the day securing Tazuna's house with privacy seals and Kyu went to go watch over the village. Team 7 did mission prep and final checks right after dinner. Naruto gave stealth tags, flash tags and a stack of explosive tags to each member of the group. Tazuna, Tsunami and Inari watched them leave the house shortly after nightfall.
Around midnight, the group took up positions around the vessel. Naruto dispatched a shadow clone to let Zabuza know that tonight was the night. Haku gave the Naruto clone a hug and wished him good luck before it dispelled, much to Zabuza's chagrin. Team 7 watched the activity on the boat die down as the night drew on.
Just before the guards' shift change at 3am, team 7 equipped their cloaking tags and walked up the side of the vessel. Each member of team 7 was responsible for neutralizing a guard and then the guard's replacement. This was the most difficult for Hinata, who killed the man with an over-loaded Juken strike to his heart. Naruto was looking at her and made eye contact with her when the deed was done. That look in his eyes helped her harden her resolve. After taking out the replacement guards ten minutes later with very little sound and no resistance, the group split of to complete their assigned tasks.
Naruto and Kakashi wall walked to the floor below the captain's quarters. Naruto could hear muffled thumping coming from the floor above, but he toned it out. He and Kakashi staged outside the door of the Iwa missing-nin's room. Naruto slapped a sound dampening seal on the door in an effort to eliminate the creaking when opening the door. The two entered the room with paralysis seals in hand. They slinked through the room without a sound and attached them to the foreheads of two of the missing-nin. They activated the seals and then the action began in earnest.
The jonin missing-nin was a light sleeper and the thumping coming from upstairs wasn't helping. When he felt the chakra flare produced by the seal tags being activated, he immediately jumped out of bed. He saw two shimmers near the beds of his companions. He grabbed the alarm clock sitting on his bed-side table, charged it with bokuton (explosion) chakra and threw it like a makeshift grenade at one of the shimmers. Kakashi had heard his movement and was able to dodge the projectile, but the shockwave produced by the explosion of the makeshift grenade threw him hurtling toward the missing-nin. Naruto acted immediately and darted at the Iwa ninja before he could land a hit on Kakashi. The wind-chakra enhanced punch shattered the ninja's collar bone and propelled him into the wall.
"Kakashi, we have gone loud. I will handle him, go secure Gato."
"Be careful, Ruto. Don't let him touch you with that bokuton chakra." Choosing to trust his little brother figure, Kakashi darted out the room and up to Gato's chambers.
Maru got to his feet and took a shaky breath, "That hurt, brat… Hey, you're that kid that Ohnoki betrayed us for. Oh, this is perfect! I am going to blow you to kingdom come boy!"
Naruto created two clones to secure the prisoners. The clones grabbed the ninja and took them to the rendezvous point before Maru could stop them. Leaving Naruto in an enclosed space with an explosion user. He didn't like the battle environment, not one bit. Naruto charged a Rasengan in his right hand and jumped toward Maru. Maru dodged, as expected. Naruto used the Rasengan to blow a hole in the side of the ship and jumped out onto the deck of the ship. In the chaos of the explosion, Naruto deactivated the 'Rasengan' and created two clones. As expected, Maru chased him outside.
"You can't get away from me that easy, bastard. You will pay for what your father did to my family!" Maru shouted and then darted at Naruto. With a fist full of bokuton chakra he lashed out at Naruto. A clone Naruto substituted with the original to take the hit. In the ensuing smoke screen, Naruto performed three hand signs ending on tiger. He brought his hand to his mouth and thought 'Katon – flamethrower jutsu'. The condensed stream of flame tore into the smoke and struck Maru in the back. He flew forward from the pressure of the jutsu and slammed into a shipping container.
He struggled to his feet, only to feel a pressure on his neck. Then the world rotated wildly until he heard a thud and was looking at the floor of the ship. Then his brain shut down and his soul left his body. Naruto sheathed his wakizashi, put Maru's remains into a storage scroll and raced back into the ship to complete the mission.
Twenty minutes later team 7 met at the rendezvous point. Sasuke was covered in blood and had a gash on his right arm but was more or less okay. Hinata was paler than normal and had a few specks of blood on her face and jacket. She was leading a group of 15 women that looked destitute and broken. Naruto walked over to her, put one hand on her shoulder and the other hand gently lifted her chin until their eyes met. Hinata's eyes were glistening in the moonlight with tears. She buried her face in Naruto's chest then cried out her emotions.
Kakashi looked the best out of team 7. He would fully admit that he had the easiest part of the mission. Gato only had four thugs positioned as a security detail. It barely took Kakashi 20 seconds to deal with them. Another 20 seconds and a couple explosive tags made Gato's metal door fly off its hinges into the far wall. A chop to Gato's neck and a prisoner scroll later made Kakashi's the fastest and cleanest job of the night. Kakashi smiled at the girl that was being sexually assaulted by Gato and told her that he would take her back to town, she nodded eagerly and follow him off the ship.
Kakashi ordered Sasuke and Hinata to escort the captives back into town before he and Naruto went and looted the ship. Well, it was mostly Naruto's clones putting everything into scrolls and cataloging their loot. Kakashi was able to crack Gato's safe and secured details on his operations, contact lists and a shitload of gold and Ryo. Naruto put Zabuza's pay and a couple water ninjutsu scrolls in a separate scroll. Tidying up the ship took 3 hours, even with a hundred clones. As Kakashi and Naruto left the ship a beautiful sunrise peeked over the ocean. They had one more stop before returning to Tazuna's for some well-earned R&R.
Kakashi and Naruto approached Zabuza's dugout slowly. They flared their chakra to let him know they were coming. Zabuza and Haku emerged from the bunker and gave a short greeting to the pair.
Naruto stepped forward. "As promised, here is 1.2 million Ryo. I added a 200,000 Ryo bonus in there from my personal bank as an unofficial contribution to the war effort. I ask that you deliver these two letters to the leader of the rebellion. Haku, I wish to give this last letter to you. It should explain a bit. I would ask you not to read it until you have won your rebellion though." Naruto finished his statement with a slight blush.
Zabuza looked at the kid in front of him with a hint of amusement and a lot of suspicion.
"Why, Gaki? You don't even know us. Why would you go so far for a pair of missing-nin?"
Naruto smirked at Zabuza. "Mainly because of Haku here. I have only felt chakra with such purity from one other person. After hearing a brief version of your story, I wanted to help. I believe the rebellion is in the right and anything is better than a maniac that seeks out war."
"Damn, Gaki, you are a strange one. Well, I will deliver these for you and Kiri will owe you one when we win. I wish I could say it was a pleasure, Hatake. We will have to finish that match of ours another time. You too, Gaki, next time I see you, you owe me a spar."
Naruto smirked and nodded. He wasn't ready for Haku to walk up to him and plant a quick kiss on his cheek. "I look forward to seeing you again, Naruto-Kun." She grabbed Zabuza's arm and force him to walk away back to Kiri.
"You will pay for that one next time I see you, brat!" Screamed Zabuza while he was being dragged away by Haku. He quieted down after Haku whispered something in his ear. Naruto's keen hearing picked up the word 'picture'. When it clicked, he burst out laughing.
Team 7 took the next day off and joined the town's celebration. They got their loved ones back and Tazuna was dividing the spoils from Gato's hideout. Later in the day, Gato was strung up on a cross and had both of his arms broken. He was gagged and left to die on the cross. It was the same way he killed Kaisa. Kyu saw it as a fitting punishment.
The celebration dragged on late into the night. Kyu and Tsunami didn't come home until the next morning. Naruto was sitting in the kitchen when they walked in. Tsunami's hair was a mess, there were bits of twigs and leaves scattered throughout her unkept brown locks. She was holding her sandals and her kimono hung loosely off her form. She walked past Naruto with a slight limp and gave him a meaningful look. The kind of look that says 'say anything and I will beat you senseless'. Kyu and Naruto smirked at each other and gave a mental high-five. Naruto learned a lot from those memories when Kyu dispelled.
Team 7 stayed in wave for another two weeks. The villagers kept bringing them gifts as they helped finish the bridge. Every able-bodied villager could be found helping Tazuna on the bridge, along with 200 Naruto clones. The villagers ended each day visibly closer to achieving their goal, while Tsunami and Kyu ended each day in each other's company. The bridge was finished at the end of the two-week period and team 7 left with much fanfare. Tsunami became the newly elected Daimyo of Wave country and sent a letter of gratitude and friendship with team 7. The memories Naruto got when Kyu dispelled left him blushing for the whole trip back to Konoha.
Team 7 reported into the Hokage and gave him the rest of the mission payment from Wave country. Really it was money confiscated from Gato, but hey, who's counting? The non-monetary items confiscated from Gato were given to the Hokage as well. The Intelligence department would be grateful for the information on Gato's associates and business partners. Team 7 was given one week off and pay for an A-ranked mission.