The wind whips around me, stinging my face and eyes. The wind is colder than I'm used to as I draw my cloak tighter around myself. Wave appears to be an average of 17° colder than Konoha, which probably shouldn't come as a surprise. Even with the summer solstice having only been a week ago the water drops the temperature quite a fair bit here.
Tree's rustle, and I adjust myself a bit to take a peek at them only to see a pair of squirrels fighting over food. The tree limb bowing the appropriate amount for what I can see. I let my eyes freely roam once more as I think about the fight I witnessed. Our Sensei is skilled, that I couldn't begin to deny. Moving faster than I could track at times and the Sharingan eye he has.
The skin around that eye looks tight and tense, and a nasty looking scar goes over it covering even the eyelid. He definitely lost his original eye at some point and likely got it as an implant. Yet I know for a fact there's no record of it in my father's books. Notes are slim on the matter in question but apparently it is a bit more common than one might think for an Uchiha to swap eyes with another Uchiha.
Even my father and my brother had exchanged eyes, a whole book in my father's clan head vault was dedicated to keeping track of such transfers. As well as 2 sets of Sharingan eyes kept in some form of stasis in jars of fluid.
A branch snaps and I find a Kunai in my gauntlet covered hand, crouching my way forward as I peer over the roof. Standing there munching on a particularly green plant is a rather rotund brown furred animal I'd never seen before. Sitting on 4 squat legs with a rounded elongated face, 2 smaller ones vaguely circling it looking for other tasty greenery. It's easily big enough to be a person under a henge, though I'm unsure how dedicated people would be to eating a plant. Could be a Genjutsu.
It just kind of huffs and settles down at the base of a tree, munching at some shoots of wild onions. The little ones rooting around in the undergrowth and playing in a puddle. I go back to gazing out across the way before I feel a buzzing in my vest. The timer Taicho gave us to know when to swap watches.
I slide into the second floor window and knock on the door to the room with Sakura in it. Taicho and Naruto are both crashing in the guest room, Sakura basically gets to sleep in the bathroom by herself. I can hear some rustling before the door opens to her bleary eyed, Kunai held loosely in her hand, and her short hair ruffled up.
"Your watch leader." She rolls her seafoam green eyes, smoothing out her pink hair.
"Shut up with that team leader crap. Bad enough we have to do it for Taicho." The annoyance in her voice while true enough doesn't hide the half grin on her face.
"There's some kind of weird animal to the west of the house, big enough to be a henge for a person. None of the traps have been triggered except for a Kunai launcher that a rather heavy weight squirrel set off." She nods a bit, filling her canteen and motioning for me to lead her out. We both slide up into the roof with ease and slip over to the west side of the house silently.
She squints a bit at the animal before nodding, mindlessly gnawing on her knuckle like she does when she's thinking.
"It's a capybara, the world's largest rodent. A rather common animal for this area. Known for being peaceful and incredibly friendly." I just kind of blink as I look over it again. Now that she's said it I can see the features of a mouse in there.
"So, not a Genjutsu?" She shrugs a bit, giving a hiss and shaking her hand a bit as she manages to bit through the callous she's built up from the habit. A bit of blood weeping from the tiny wound and seeming to stand out against the pale moonlight reflecting off her skin, as though she's some kind of Geisha.
"Like you said, it's big enough that it could be. I don't think so cause of the little ones. They don't usually stray far from mom." I nod a bit, not really feeling like I can trust my voice for some reason. My heartbeat seems to rock in my chest, and my throat is dry.
Now is not the time for this, we're on a mission. A very dangerous mission that requires me to be at peak efficiency for my team.
"Sasuke? Are you alright?" I refocus on the world around me, only to find us almost nose to nose as her oceanic eyes peer into my Coal black. I jerk back, almost losing my chakra grip on the thatch roofing of the house and clear my throat.
"Yes, sorry. Just lost in thought." My voice cracked on the sorry, and I felt my ears turn a bright angry red but she's doesn't even seem like she heard it as she nods.
"Good, go get some sleep." I nod, quickly taking the excuse to leave the situation before I found myself finding more details. Such as the fact she's wearing just a sports bra and fishnet. I left my cloak in my spot for her and disappeared inside, closing the window behind me.
I take a few moments to catch my breath, collect my thoughts, and calm my heart. Sliding through the door into the guest room with Taicho and Naruto.
Taicho is leaning up against the corner of the room out cold, Naruto is curled up in another corner in a nest of blankets mumbling in his sleep. The bed coincidentally has been left abandoned with nothing but the sheets sitting on it. I find myself staring at the ceiling, wishing that I could see the stars through the ceiling.
Sleep feels like nothing more than a blink, before the sun is streaming into the room. Taicho nowhere to be seen, and Naruto slowly sitting up in his corner. The creak of the door frame, and both of us turn towards it. Throwing stars finding their usual place in the grooves of my fingers as Naruto's katana finds purchase in his calloused hands. Sakura stands in the door frame, her hair wet and sticking to her head in a pattern reminiscent of my own hair. A hand on her hip as it holds her flat cap. Leggings and a sports bra are the only things that clothe her as she glares at us, stepping forward to grab fishnet armor from Naruto's pack.
"Up and at 'em boys. You're missing breakfast and we're burning daylight." I shake my head a bit, moving up and grabbing the few things I need. My clothes are still clean from the other night so I don't need to bother changing. Naruto sheathes his katana, brushing his shoulder past hers as he heads downstairs. He reminds me of a dog sometimes, the way he brushes up against us just to get physical contact.
"Do we know if Taicho has any major plans?" she gives a little huff, pulling on a button up plaid shirt that she doesn't bother to do the buttons on. Turning to face me as she stretches a bit to pop her shoulder.
"Hell if I know, he took over watch last night and just seemed… in a bit of a funk. I know Naruto clearly trusts him, but I can't help but be pissed over the whole ambush." I nod a bit, my hands tucked into my pockets as we head downstairs. Tazuna, Naruto, a kid probably 8 or 9, and a woman that I can see has a similar face structure to Tazuna, likely in her mid 30s. Naruto is eating in a robotic manner, and I can feel the stress that it's causing Sakura. She sits next to him, a hand resting on his shoulder as she whispers to him and I can't help the feeling of my blood boiling at it. I can put that to the side for now though. Talk to them, and more importantly my therapist, after the mission. I sit on the other side of her, as the woman serves us food. A simple cut of some kind of meat and a homemade bread that looks thin as paper.
Sakura takes her plate gratefully, I give them a simple nod. While I may be used to much better quality I don't wish to insult them for sharing what they do have. The meat is lean, not in a cultured way, as though the animal had been on the cusp of starving when it had been put out of its misery. The bread, paper thin looking, is just as filling as one could expect. Though it does have a nice nutty taste to it, likely some kind of local edible nut added into it to try and make up in terms of calories. We finish our plates up as Taicho steps into the room, scratching at his scalp a bit as he reads from his little orange book once more. I can't say that I much approve of him reading such blatant porn in public. Having said that being a shinobi is a stressful job and we need to take relief where and when we can.
"Alright you three, here's how this is going to go." He doesn't bother to look up more than a glance, making sure he has our attention with that overtly dry tone of his. The page audibly flipped with nothing more than a twitch of his thumb. Sakura bristles a bit at her first proper look at the book but says nothing as Naruto leans back to listen better. "Sakura, I want you to go out and patrol the village a bit. Take Naruto with you and have him adjust to the terrain around here, dip into the woods and what not. I need him to know that bridge as we're likely going to be fighting a fair bit around it. If you see anyone other that Tazuna's workers around try and scare them off."
"Understood Taicho, Naruto let's go." Sakura first stands, gives a half bow before dashing upstairs to grab the rest of the equipment she needs as Naruto waits by the door. He turns to me, setting the top of the book against his chest as he seems to mull over something.
"Sasuke, as you're the best at moving unnoticed of the three of you, I want you to start skulking around the woods. I want a second layer of traps set up, I trust you to be able to make yourself scarce, and that Zabuza won't want to approach too close without knowing exactly where I am." I roll my shoulder a bit, running through the trap options I have. My ninja wire is limited, down to a single spool after the traps we laid last night but I can bum a few sets of kunai off of Naruto. He tends to act as a bit of a pack mule for kunai and throwing stars for me and Sakura.
"Do we have any spare wire Taicho, my personal stash is down to a single spool." he gives a soft hum, his eye flicking up as though it can see through the ceiling to his pack.
"I don't believe I do, check with your team before they head out. You handle the East and North side while I start on the South and West." I nod, moving quickly to catch them before they head out the door. Sakura is already down the stairs so I'm able to catch her by the arm.
"Do you have any spare wire I can use? Taicho wants a second layer of traps." she shakes her head, giving a soft sigh.
"No I don't, and I know Naruto doesn't either cuz I just dipped into his stash. Tons of kunai and explosive seals though so help yourself." I nod a bit, letting her go.
"Thanks, and both of you stay safe." she nods, patting my shoulder before I can hear the door click closed as they leave. I track them through the second floor window after working my way up the stairs, watching as they leave via the footpath towards the village proper. The only safe space for about a 20 meter circle around this house.
Tazuna is set up close to the coast of the island on the northern side, so I don't think I need to layer as many traps up there as I should to the eastern side of the house. With a restock of kunai and explosive seals I head back downstairs, pausing at seeing the woman fretting as she looks out the window.
"Is something wrong, did you see someone outside?" she jolts a bit, taking a half step away from the window and the other half away from me. I didn't get a proper look at her before as she'd been careful to keep her hair in front of her face. Her eyes have dark circles under them showing she doesn't sleep well, but more distinct than that is a set of two scars where someone went after her face with a knife.
"N-no, sorry… Thank you. For doing this." she takes another step back, seeming to shrink in on herself and I just kind of blink. I'm not good at this kind of situation, this is a Sakura problem. Comes with the whole team leader thing.
"It's our job, and we strive to do the best we can." she blinks rapidly, at first I think it's just a way for her to process the thought but then I realize she's fighting back tears. My reflexes are good but I'm still caught off guard by her surging forward and putting me in a hug. Hot tears dripping onto my head and neck as I'm shoved into her not insignificant assets.
"T-thank you, so-so much. So many people I know have died, and I know you aren't here to kill Gato but it still means so much that you're trying to protect my father." I gently try to exfiltrate myself from her arms, but a woman in the process of an emotional breakdown clearly has better skill at holding onto someone than the trainers we had at the academy. Though it might have to do with the fact that I would really rather not hurt her.
"Ma'am if you could please let me go, I have a job to do." as though she was gripping onto a hot coal I'm let go and almost dropped to the floor as she had partially picked me up. With naught more than a whisper that I couldn't properly make out she bows hard enough that I worry for her back as she disappears into the kitchen. I shuffle a bit, unsure if I should go after her to make sure she's ok or if I should go outside. Taicho steps into the room, securing the last of his pouches and bags and pauses at what must've been my visible confusion.
"I take it you spoke to Tsunami then, Tazuna's only daughter." I nod a bit as he opens the door and we head outside.
"She seems… thankful." he nods, giving a short rough chuckle that makes me do a double take at him.
"People who don't have hope for a very long time, when they see it again grip onto it as tightly as they can." he pauses, kneeling down and pulling his headband up so he can look me in the eye. One dark gray and the other an active three tomato sharingan staring in my coal black eyes. "Currently, we're the only hope they have. So we have to do the very best we can. I realize you and Haruno don't trust me yet. And that's understandable, but I need you too."
I slowly nod, wanting to step back from the intimidating sight of an active sharingan that has clearly seen full war. I could swear that I can catch sight of a younger Kakashi stabbing people with kunai or frying them with lightning. So much horror and emotion buried in that spinning sharingan that I couldn't even comprehend all of it before the headband is pulled back down over it.
"Where… where did you get that eye?" My voice is shaky, and my legs tremble ever so slightly as I collect myself. He stands up slowly, brushing the dirt off his knee.
"During the third Shinobi war, in an ambush my team was caught in I lost my eye. My Uchiha teammate was trapped, being crushed under several tons of stones. All that was free was one hand and his head." We're walking for the tree line now, he's sorting through his backpack as he pulls out a much more worn book. The cover is filled with dents, holes, and burn marks. In the back of it a simple picture of a very young Kakashi, a girl I don't recognize, a boy wearing a pair of goggles with a pair of active Sharingan, and the fourth Hokage as he ruffles the Uchiha's hair.
"Team picture?" He nods, snapping the book closed as putting it back into its place.
"We'll be taking one once we get back to the village. With his wounds we had no way of getting him out. And he didn't want his eyes taken by the enemy. Rin, our medic, gave me the eye as we were on our own. I've had it ever since." My hands are white knuckling my backpack straps as my teeth rub along my bottom lip. This is clearly him trying to offer an olive branch. Giving me information about something important to both of us in an attempt to get some trust.
"Thank you for telling me this. My clan has always kept very strict records of such exchanges, and it now falls to me." He blinks a bit, nodding slowly.
"I suppose that makes sense. If you need me, send up a glare and run like the shinigami himself is after you." I nod, and with a surge of chakra find myself becoming one with the shadows.
A good 15 meters into the trees to better stretch out the two different layers of traps I begin to set them. I use my wire sparingly as possible, simply missing up leaves and actively messing with the bark on big tree limbs. I need to make it look like traps have been going off on these spots whenever animals have wandered over here to make them not want to travel on them.
Catching squirrels to trap them and pin them down via Kunai to a tree limb is gruesome, but it will sell the bit and allow me to save precious resources.
By the time I've worked my way to the north I'm below half on the last of my wire, most of my exploding seals are gone, and I feel a little guilty about killing the squirrels like that.
A Kunai is drawn and ready as I begin to hear rustling in the underbrush. My breathing shallow and my steps light as feathers, creeping along a partially charred tree limb that I'd just thrown an E rank ninjutsu at. Waddling out of the bush is that animal again with it's two little ones. Sakura called it a capybara, and it just kind of meanders it's way through the branches and plants on the ground as it eats it's way along.
It's big, and heavy set. Hope goes a long way, but a full stomach goes even farther. A simple toss and the Kunai is buried in the back of its head, the two little ones just trying to nudge at its mother. I grab it and toss it over a shoulder unminding of the blood weeping from it, and tuck the two small ones under the other arm despite their squirming.
No more than a minute or two of jumping through the trees to get back to Tazuna's home. I can spot a little fenced in area, likely for a goat or cow of some kind and deposit the two of them there. Then I go around the corner of the house, a shed stands mostly abandoned and dilapidated. Poking my head inside I can see quite a lot of abandoned fishing gear collecting dust, some of which would clearly be worth some good money if refurbished.
Aside from the fishing gear I find what I'm looking for, a deer rack. A bit of rope to tie it to the side of the shed and put the Capybara up to let the blood drain out of it into a pan for disposal not as close to the house.
Stepping into the house I find myself nervous as I approach the kitchen, knocking twice on the open door as I peek in. Tsunami is standing at the sink, washing some rice with the slow methodicalness of someone doing something for the hundredth time.
"Tsunami-San,' she jolts a bit, turning as though surprised I'm trying to get her attention. "Whilst I was out setting traps I came across what I was told was a Capybara. It's rather on the larger side so I hunted it and have it draining. I thought you could use the meat…. Having to feed us and all." Her hands are waving back and forth across her chest a bit. Her eyes wide and face flushed.
"You.. you didn't have to, I don't wish to cause trouble for all of you!" I shake my head a bit, realizing now that I should've had Sakura handle this.
"What does it matter. Gato's goons'll just take it again." I pause a moment, seeking the new voice. It's the kid, hiding against his mom's side and clutching at the dress as though he was a toddler. A simple pair of overall, a ratty t-shirt, torn bucket hat, and pretty recent looking black eye spell a simple story.
"I don't know about that, would you like me to look at your eye? I am a medic… in training." His scowl becomes more prominent as he tucks himself closer against her, one of her hands coming down to rest on his back.
"Thank you Shinobi-San, perhaps after lunch. Will the rest of your team be returning in time?" Her voice is shakey at best, but it's also the first time she hadn't really stumbled over her words. I nod, stepping back and out of the kitchen. Taicho is just exiting the tree line, his brow furrows a bit at seeing me already at the house.
"Uchiha, are the traps all laid?" I shake my head a bit, only now realizing that I'd technically abandoned my post.
"I took a brief reprieve as I had found a wild capybara and brought it bac-" he nods a bit, waving off the rest of my explanation as he scratches the back of his head.
"Food will do them good, get them to trust us a bit more. Good thinking. I'll take whatever wire you still have and half of your remaining explosive seals." I nod, already pulling my pack off my back to begin pulling the necessary things for him, "Head into the village and meat up with your team. Now that they know the layout of the village I'd like Haruno to draft a simple map so that we can make a basic battle plan." I hand over the remainder of the spool, and half of my explosive notes.
"Understood, should we return right back?" He rolls his shoulder a bit.
"If Haruno feels something critical needs done, or if there are your run if the mill bandits around the bridge clear them out. Otherwise yes. Send up a flare if Zabuza or his accomplise make an appearance." I give a small bow, starting off at a jog down the foot path that leads to the village proper.
My backpack jolstles on my back a bit as I fish a ration bar out of my pocket, opening the wrapper around the chalk like substance with my teeth and just kind of cramming it in my mouth. While tree climbing doesn't cost much chakra doing it for several hours can be tiring. It's no soldier pill, but feeling something in my stomach after that light breakfast does wonders for giving me a second wind.
A good 10 minutes later I hit dilapidated houses and buildings all along a cobblestone road that's in poor repair. The people are mostly dressed in rags, and coated in dirt. Clearly Tazuna's family is a fair bit better off than the village proper.
My jog slows to a stroll, as I take in more and more. Up in a tree bare of leaves hangs several men, their bodies swinging gently in the breeze with partially rotted skin. Broken necks and missing eyes seeming to stare at the sky as though seeking a reprieve.
It sent some kind of chill up my spine that I couldn't explain, now carefully skirting around the tree. On this side of the road are alleyways between houses and what were probably once stores. I can catch glimpses of emaciated women, and children, curled up in boxes or piles of trash.
I don't have the food to help them and keep myself in good condition. By Kami I wish I did though. I force myself to keep walking, hoping that distance will make that sight not haunt me. If this mission goes well, the village will owe us a lot of money. My clan could offer to send food down, get them on their feet.
I shelve the thought as I hear a cry of pain ahead of me. My feet breaking into a sprint as I can feel the bladed fingers of the gauntlets seem to stretch a bit in anticipation.
Naruto is trapped on the defensive against two katana wielders, but seems to be holding them at bay well enough. Sakura is currently dancing around a man that looks like he ought to be in a sumo ring, the club he's using is probably as big as Tsunami's son.
With nothing more than a sharp whistle Naruto ducks, and a single breath later both of the katana wielders are taking a Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu to the back. Their cries of pain seem to ring out across the water startling several birds. I'm already moving, trying to ignore the smell of cooking flesh and the moans of pain.
Leaping onto the sumo wrestlers back, the gauntlet blades easily finding purchase into his flabby skin creating rivers of blood that weep down his back as I climb up.
He had managed to trip Sakura, the club being reared back as I jumped into him. Now rather than trying to strike her, he starts to fall backwards. Clearly intending to land on his back and crush me. I decided to copy something from Taicho's fight, doing a handstand on his shoulders, letting him stun himself on his back like a turtle.
He gave a grunt, grabbing me by the collar of the shirt. I didn't know what exactly he intended to do but I didn't want to find out. A gauntlet was raised, intending to slash across his throat.
Blood.
Yet I'm not stained by a drop. A katana blade is firmly planted in the sumo wrestler's eye socket, his body going limp. Naruto's sunset jacket seeming unstained as it keeps the spray of blood off of me. I work my way out of the dead man's grip only to find a pair of hands clutching my shoulders.
"Are you alright? I tripped in a hole and saw him grab you, and oh Kami!" Sakura is distraught to say the least. Her face is bruised from taking a fall in the dirt. Creating a pattern of yellow and blue up around her eye and sprawling across her forehead and cheek.
"I'm fine, Naruto stopped him." He nods, not saying anything as he uses the man's clothing to clean his blade. Her eyes dart between the two of us, my emotions roiling inside me versus his cold as steel exterior. She gives a shaky little nod, letting go of me and stepping off to the bridge proper looking as though she's checking up on a few men and women surrounded by steel I beams and bags of concrete. Naruto steps up beside me, nudging my shoulder with his.
"Thanks for the help there, those two had me pinned down." I nod, unable to offer words and simply patting him on the shoulder. My eyes trailing along the ground before finally coming to the two smoldering figures who are now laying unmoving on the ground.
My therapist is going to have a field day with this, specifically with how I can't really feel a single scrap of shame as I move towards them. Ready to loot the corpses.