Obito-Sensei Chapter 43
Show of Force
Almost six months after Naruto had come back to the Village Hidden in the Rain with a near death experience under his belt and told him in deepest confidence that he was worried he might love Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha sniffed at the cold March air and wrinkled his nose.
"Gross," he muttered, looking around the wetlands he'd found himself in. "How the heck can you stand to sit around in this stuff?"
The water at his side scowled at him. "It's not like it becomes part of me," Suigetsu grunted. They were slinking through the wetlands and leaving a trail of distrubed algae in their wake. The Hozuki was masking their trail with a little current generated by his invisible body; it made the greenery drift back together and clump up once more, as if they'd never been here. "Big talk from a guy who went swimming in a pit of blood, don't you think?"
"Wish Naruto hadn't told you that," Sasuke grunted as he stepped around a log. There was a frog on it that stared at him with wide curious eyes as he skirted the obstacle, and Sasuke wondered for a moment if it was a lookout before dismissing the thought. He couldn't see any active chakra in its body. "You make me sound like I was happy to do it or something."
"Hey, aren't you supposed to be squad leader? Can't you two shut the fuck up?" Sasuke looked back at their third member, and Tayuya scowled at him. The girl had pinned her long red hair up with her hitai-ate to keep it out of the water, but the air was thick with moisture so it wasn't doing much good. She huffed and crossed her arms. "Can't believe I thought you'd be some elite dude," she muttered, and Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"We're still a good distance from the hideout," Sasuke said pleasantly. Tayuya's scowl only grew fiercer. "But you're right. Let's be silent from here on out, huh?"
The girl looked like she was going to blow a fuse; Sasuke couldn't help but take some petty joy in it. Tayuya had been recommended to him as a genjutsu and interrogation specialist, but the mission had been going on for three days now and there hadn't been a good one among them.
Tayuya was brusque, cocky, and considered herself indispensable: Sasuke didn't think of anyone as indispensable except for his own team, and it was hard to take someone who was cocky seriously when he was a year younger and a rank higher than them.
Since he'd made Jonin right after the new year, he'd led a half dozen missions. This would be the seventh, and on each of them he'd been encouraged to take a shinobi from outside their cadre. A deliberate widening of his bond with his friends, he sometimes wondered, or just to make sure he was an effective leader regardless of who he was commanding? The Amekage were smart, so it was probably both.
Sasuke had learned a lot in the last three months. What he considered the most important lesson was that no matter how accomplished they were, whether they were a ninja or not, most people were pretty stupid. Seeing behind the scenes in Rain only made Sasuke glad he hadn't been able to do the same thing in Konoha. Even if he was given less managerial duties than other Jonin thanks to his age, the impression he got of Rain was that things got accomplished on the backside more through inertia and stubbornness than good policy. And since Rain was successful and wealthy, he had a creeping suspicion that was how it was in most places.
Most people didn't know how to fill out paperwork. Most people would miss the field to sign their name on a mission report even if it got handed back to them with everything highlighted in bolded yellow. Most people would look at an obviously prepared position, shrug, and say "I'm sure it'll be fine" before almost getting their eye stabbed out, like that moron Meizu Yubi. Sasuke hadn't been unhappy to give him the boot; he wouldn't work with that fool again even if the Amekage demanded it.
Sometimes, he wondered if this was how Itachi had felt. His brother had made both ANBU Captain and Jonin when he was just twelve, two years before Sasuke could say the same. He'd always known Itachi was smarter than him, stronger than him. Was that what had let him look around, look at their family, and decide he had the right to say if they lived or died?
Sasuke didn't know, but that didn't stop him from second guessing himself. He'd never done that before, and he hated it.
Nevertheless, being a Jonin was a lot like being a Chunin except there was more paperwork involved. Everyone seemed impressed with what, to him, was a mostly meaningless achievement. To Sasuke, it didn't seem like a big deal. Maybe it was because it was a promotion from the Land of Rain. He still didn't see this place as his real home. He was here for his friends, and for his brother. Everything else was a distraction.
Itachi was still nowhere to be found. That didn't surprise him. Rain would never advertise him. But if Sakura couldn't find him, he would keep digging, scratching at the scab until it fell off or found blood. It was the only thing he could think to do.
"Fearless leader?" Suigetsu asked, and Sasuke blinked as he realized they'd been walking for a good ten minutes, his eyes automatically scanning the wetlands for their target. "Still with us?"
"Yeah," Sasuke muttered. "We should almost be there." The wetland stretched as far as he could see in every direction, just an endless dark mass of muddy water, thick algae, tiny islands, and forest debris. Thick trees with exposed roots grew sporadically throughout the area, stretching dozens of meters up with greedy canopies. In a place like this, they needed all the energy they could get.
The Land of Rivers kind of sucked, he decided. At the very least, it hadn't made a good first impression. But then, it was flood season. Maybe this place looked nicer when it didn't have a couple feet of rain a day on top of melted snow coming in from the highlands to the north and west.
"Want me to go ahead?" Suigetsu asked, and Sasuke nodded.
"Yeah," he said, crouching down in the muck so he was almost level with Suigetsu's floating head. His high collar kept any from rushing down his shirt; he was glad he'd had this cloak customized, even if Naruto and Suigetsu had constantly made fun of it. "Quietly. There should be a steep drop off right before the hideout; apparently it's almost like a waterfall. See if anyone's outside and come right back."
Suigetsu started to say something, and Sasuke smirked. "Don't. Unless you think you could do it without hurting anyone."
"Damn." Suigetsu sulked off and left Sasuke and Tayuya alone in the water. The girl crouched down on top of the water, and Sasuke glanced back at her.
"You're more visible like that," he said. She frowned.
"I'm not a squirt like you," she declared, even though Sasuke was positive he had a couple inches on her. "Why're we being sneaky anyway? They're just smugglers. Shouldn't be a problem."
"We don't want them destroying any contraband," he said like he was explaining gravity to a child, and Tayuya bristled. "And they might have a shinobi or two. We'd feel pretty stupid if we got stabbed or blown up cause we rushed in, right?"
"You might," Tayuya grumbled, before she realized what she'd said and winced. "Like those eyes of yours wouldn't see it coming anyway."
"I can only see what's in front of me," Sasuke said flatly, trying to make it clear he wasn't interested in talking anymore. Even if he was younger, he was still her superior. It worked: for the moment, Tayuya shut up. They sat in the turgid, freezing water for another couple minutes.
Almost a year, Sasuke thought at one point as he watched for the swirl of liquid chakra that would mark Suigetsu's return. He'd been gone almost a year. Would his mother even recognize him anymore? Maybe it wouldn't seem as long to her because she was older, but to him the time seemed like an impossible gulf. He'd be fifteen in another couple months. Hell, Sakura would be that old even sooner. Just a week from now, he was pretty sure.
How much longer did they have to spend in their home away from home? He shifted as he realized he was getting impatient; not just with Suigetsu, but with the whole ordeal.
Before he could dwell more on that, Suigetsu returned. His friend's head popped out of the water, and Sasuke turned to it as Tayuya let out a muffled curse.
"Lights're on," Suigetsu said, before making a face and spitting out a leaf. "Gross. The place is pretty concealed, but I listened for a bit. At least four guys are up and around, but I bet there's more: there's two skiffs there, and they could probably hold that many and some each."
"Any ninja?" Sasuke asked, and Suigetsu shook his head.
"If there were, they were inside. I didn't see any." He frowned. "Doesn't mean shit though. Couldn't get much done from that far away."
"Good enough," Sasuke said, straightening up. "Let's move out." He looked back at Tayuya. "Tayuya, it's up to you to disable them. On my mark, okay?"
The girl nodded, suddenly all business, and removed a set of bright yellow earplugs from her vest. She tossed them at Sasuke and he caught them with a nod back, reaching up to stick them to the side of his neck with chakra. She reached for another pair, and then gave Suigetsu a glance. "Do you… need these?"
The water rippled; a shrug. "I can just get rid of my ears for a bit," Suigetsu said. "I'll watch Sasuke for the signal."
Tayuya nodded and they were on the move once more, silent but for the occasional splash against their bodies. The hideout came into view.
Sasuke had to admit it was ingenious: the place was essentially a mud shack set in a watery depression, wreathed with algae and vines. Even with his Sharingan, it barely stood out but for the faint artificial light creeping out from a couple sections of the greenery. Hidden entrances, and a concealed dock to boot. It was no wonder smugglers hid out here; miles from any civilization and nestled amidst the wetlands even motor-powered skiffs wouldn't leave much of a trail, and if law enforcement did end up coming the sound would be obvious from far away thanks to the water; they'd have plenty of time to make a getaway.
But they weren't law enforcement; they were shinobi. Sasuke made two quick hand motions and his squad peeled off to either side of the hideout. Now that he was closer he could hear what Suigetsu had mentioned. Several men talking, gambling by the sound of it, and the low hum of a gas generator. That explained the light. He waited for everyone to get in position. Tayuya and Suigetsu both stood up on top of the water, and Tayuya gingerly removed something from her jacket: a stainless steel flute in immaculate condition.
She looked at him, and Sasuke reached up to put his earplugs in. Tayuya took that as the signal: she put the flute to her lips, and began playing. Sasuke didn't need to imagine the sound of the flute piercing through the air; he could see how chakra streamed from Tayuya's core and poured out her mouth, mixing in with the sound waves from the flute and being carried as far as the music could carry it. To his eyes, it was like thick streaks of ink were being flung into the world at high speed.
The music flooded the hideout, and Tayuya shifted, upping her tempo.
Sasuke didn't hear the result; he couldn't hear much of anything. He rushed forward towards one of the sources of light and kicked down the flimsy wooden door he found there, sure that Suigetsu was doing the same at his corner.
A pretty competent breach and clear, he thought as his Sharingan instantly adjusted to the sudden change in light. He dashed forward as the door fell to splinters, taking in the whole room. The hideout was bigger on the inside then he would have supposed, with two whole floors. It was divided into two rings, top and bottom, with the latter digging deep into the earth with a circular slope connecting the two along the inside of the outer ring. The floor was wood, and lights were hung from the low ceiling.
Everywhere he looked there were crates and packages strewn over the floor. There were also tables and cots, and around the nearest table were five men, all older and rough looking. They were all paralyzed, slumped over in their chairs or on the floor, their eyes filled with terror.
"My leg!" Sasuke could read lips with perfect accuracy, and one of the men was saying that over and over, fingers scrabbling for the limb but unable to reach it. Sasuke was glad he couldn't see whatever the man could; he looked like he was about to have a heart attack. "What's happening to my leg?!"
There were more smugglers downstairs, all dressed in plain clothes and clearly caught in the middle of a sleeping shift. They convulsed in their cots, jerking at invisible phantoms as Tayuya's chakra resonated around them. Suigetsu was down there, going from man to man and confirming they were down. He gave Sasuke a thumbs up and a cheeky grin.
Sasuke looked back to see Tayuya enter through the same breach he had, the flute still pressed to her lips. He frowned; you weren't supposed to come through the same entrance as someone else, especially when you were a small team. Moving in a predictable vector was death to a shinobi.
His eyes shifted up, and his mouth pressed into a grim line.
"See?" Tayuya mouthed at him around her flute, interrupting the melody for just a moment. "Easy as-"
As she was speaking, a shadow detached from the ceiling right over her head. There was a dirty blade in its hand as it fell, the short sword angled to pierce directly into Tayuya's spine.
The shadow was fast, but Sasuke was faster. As Tayuya's eyes went wide and she spun to follow his line of sight, Sasuke brought his hand up, making a one-handed hand sign and breathing harshly into his palm.
Gokyakū Eisō.
He flicked three fingers in Tayuya's direction. A line of fire leapt from his hand, a concentrated beam of light that shot forward like a laser.
It pierced right through the shadow's arm, and the blade went off course. Tayuya ducked and struck out, knocking the shinobi away as Sasuke charged forward, pulling a knife from his belt. She didn't take her mouth of her flute the whole time: he had to admire her dedication to keeping the genjutsu active.
The man that had dropped from the ceiling was older than Sasuke but still young, probably only eighteen or nineteen, and he rolled as he hit the ground despite the hole in his forearm. He swapped his sword from one hand to the other and came up from his tumble in the same motion, teeth bared and ready for a fight.
He didn't have time to look surprised before Sasuke threw his kunai into the man's shoulder and drove his knee into the shinobi's throat, slamming him into the side of the hideout and almost breaking through into the wetlands beyond.
Sasuke's aim had been true; the rogue shinobi's eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped, instantly unconscious. The Uchiha stepped back, glancing at Tayuya, and nodded. She lowered her flute with a sour look.
"You got lucky," she said as Sasuke plucked his earplugs out, and he shrugged.
"An operation like this would be stupid not to have a shinobi around," he said, looking over the man. He was dressed in plain blue clothes and didn't seem to have much on him besides his sword. An amateur who relied on stealth and a weapon, Sasuke thought; scary to clueless guys like these smugglers, but not the kind of ninja he would consider a threat.
He reflected, not for the first time, on the fact that his team had totally warped his perception of what a real ninja was.
"More importantly," he said after a moment, nudging the man's body, "how did he avoid your genjutsu?"
"Tch." Tayuya sneered, wandering over and gesturing at the shinobi's right hand. It was still wrapped around his sword, but Sasuke noticed the pinky finger was bent back at a grotesque angle. "Resetting your chakra isn't effective at escaping the illusion when the music is constantly refreshing the genjutsu; this guy must have been smart enough to realize that. Pain is the only real counter."
Sasuke nodded, filing that fact away. "Guess he wasn't a complete amateur," he said, before calling out. "Hey, Suigetsu, everything okay down there?"
"Peachy!" Suigetsu called back. "Couple of them have woken up! Should I put them back to sleep?"
"Depends," Sasuke said, walking back to the pit and leaving Tayuya with the unconscious ninja. He looked down into the sleeping quarter and found a half dozen terrified men staring up at him. Eleven in total then, more than they'd supposed. He let his Sharingan flash, the tomoe slowly rotating. "Are they feeling cooperative?"
"Very!" One of the men called up. He looked like the oldest, with a huge bushy grey mustache and an impressive scar across his forehead. "Very fucking cooperative!"
"Glad to hear that," Sasuke said with a smile. He crossed his arms. "It's a pleasure to meet you. We've been commanded by the Nation of Rain to commandeer one of your shipments." He made a show of looking around at all of the crates. "Will you help us find it?"
"Rain?" the man asked, obviously confused. "Not Rivers?"
Sasuke shrugged, leaving the man nonplussed. "Well, uh… Hiro! Suja! Help the nice shinobi find what they're looking for, would you?" Two of the younger men shot the obvious leader dirty looks, but he glared at them and they realized they weren't exactly in a position to negotiate. They made their way up the spiralling slope to Sasuke, and he greeted them with a neutral smile.
"We have no interest in the rest of your cargo," he said, and the men glanced at each other, equally put off by his age and his tone. "We're looking for a specific shipment from the Land of Iron."
"What, that one?" the younger of the men sneered. "It's long gone." Sasuke stared at him, and the man tried to stare him down. After a couple seconds, he broke out into a cold sweat.
"I can tell you're lying," Sasuke said, trying to sound patient. It wasn't the whole truth, but someone like this wouldn't be able to tell that. Sure enough, the man stiffened up, and his friend closed his eyes, looking like he was praying under his breath.
"I'm…" the man hesitated. "I'll show you." He led Sasuke and his friend to the corner of the hideout as Suigetsu chatted with some of the men downstairs. The Hozuki always had a way of combining joy and menace: Sasuke was a little jealous of it sometimes.
"Here," the smuggler said with a gesture, pointing at a small lockbox nestled among a stack of crates, some covered in algae. "That's all we've got from that place."
Sasuke strode forward and picked the box up, feeling its weight and examining the seal of the Land of Iron on the front. It matched the description exactly, with a somewhat complex lock keeping its contents secure. He let out a content grunt and came back with it, loosely carrying it in one hand. The men stared.
"Shit," the older one muttered. "It took me and Jahan to lift it."
Sasuke glanced down at the lockbox: it was pretty heavy, he reckoned, but he hadn't thought someone without chakra would be that weak. Something else he'd forgotten in the pounding rain. He looked back at the men and shrugged.
"This is all we needed," he said, and the smugglers gave him an incredulous look. "Our apologies for interfering in your business." He was moving back towards the inner ring getting ready to call out to Suigetsu and Tayuya when something caught his eye. He frowned.
Sasuke diverted towards the table the men had been gambling over. It was strewn with dice, cards, and miniature soldiers, as well as each of their stakes. He leaned down, looking over it. After a moment, he scooped up a fistful of bills. They were script from the Land of Fire, Ryo stamped with the distinctive seal of the Daimyo's Court.
"Oh c'mon man," the younger smuggler, Hiro, groused. "You don't gotta take the cash out of our pockets, do you?"
"It wouldn't matter if I did," Sasuke said thoughtfully, laying out the bills on the table and looking them over with a careful eye. He set the lockbox down and placed a hand on the table, leaning in. "These are counterfeit."
"What?" The other smuggler, Suja, stepped forward. "No way. Those bills are clean. I checked them myself."
"Are you an expert?" Sasuke asked dryly, and the man frowned.
"Yes, actually," he said. Sasuke couldn't help but laugh, and the man scowled at him.
"Hey kid, I might not be a ninja," he said as he cautiously approached. "But I know my money. I spent ten years making fake paper in the Land of Water; it's a tricky business, but these bills are the real thing." He reached out to pick one up, and Sasuke allowed him. "See? It's got the Daimyo's seal, the secret flame, even the holograms." He turned the paper to allow some of the dim electric light to shine through it and reveal the security features imprinted around the edges of the cotton fiber. "You can't fake that."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "And yet, it is," he said, taking the bill back. The man let it leave his hands without protest. "It's not a printing deficiency either. The hologram is a fake." There was something in the play of the light on it that only he could see: as subtle a difference as a real bill having a vertical printing and this one being horizontal. It was something he couldn't describe, only perceive. His Sharingan cut through all deception.
He'd never thought those distant lessons with his father would have come in handy. When he'd been younger, he'd had no interest in joining the military police, but despite that his father had sat him down one day and walked him through several different enforcement policies, including how to create and identify fake money. Itachi hadn't been there; the lesson had been beneath him, and Sasuke, desperate to catch up, had been more sure than ever that boring police stuff like that wasn't the secret to closing the gap with his brother.
Funny that it would resurface now when Sasuke was still chasing after him.
Suja grunted. "Fake enough to be real if I can't tell the difference."
"Yeah…" Sasuke muttered. "Why bother creating a counterfeit bill like that?" He looked around the table, talking to himself. "Let alone this many…"
He blinked. "Where did you pick up these bills?"
Suja raised an eyebrow. "Fuck if I know, that's Todo's money."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow back, and Suja got the hint. "Todo!" he shouted out, and the response came a second later.
"What?! They done stealing from us yet?"
"The boss wants to know where you got that Land of Fire Ryo!" Suja yelled, and there was the quiet sound of bickering for a moment.
"That market in the Land of Waves!" Todo eventually responded. "From that corporate dude!" he hesitated, and there was a round of snickering. "And his lady friend!"
"Good enough for you?" Suja asked. Sasuke frowned.
"No, but it'll have to do." He doubted these men tracked where they picked up small bills religiously. He scooped the counterfeit bills up off the counter. Hiro protested, but the words died in his throat when Sasuke removed three feet of ninja wire from his pack and dropped it, still coiled, on the table.
"That's worth at least a hundred," he said as the smugglers stared at him. "Better than some fake money, right?"
Hiro looked doubtful, but Suja just inclined his head. "We appreciate it," he said between gritted teeth, and Sasuke smirked.
"Tayuya, Suigetsu! We're leaving!" he called out, and when he received two affirmatives turned back to the smugglers.
"Have a nice night," he said, and then he left the hideout, the lockbox in one hand and the fake money in the other.
###
Two days after Sakura turned fifteen, Sasuke was training with her and Naruto out on the great lake surrounding Amegakure. They came out here when they wanted some privacy, and to spar. Ame didn't have as much open land as Konoha did, and many of its training grounds were underground or inside buildings, which Sasuke found stifling. The lake was a good change of pace in that regard, and it made training that much more effective: keeping yourself suspended on the water was a good constant exercise.
"So wait, I never thought about that," Naruto panted, staring up at Sasuke and glancing between him and Sakura. He was on one knee, his other leg sinking into the lake. "All the countries use Ryo? Isn't that a little weird? How's it have any value then?"
"It's not that strange," Sakura coughed. She was rising from the water too, a little slower than Naruto. Sasuke had knocked them both beneath the surface moments before. Lately, he found their spars more interesting if it was two on one.
Sakura cracked her Flowing Water Blade like a whip as Sasuke slowly rotated, keeping them both in sight. "The nations need a general currency to ensure trade isn't interrupted, and Ryo was the most reliable when it was adopted. And all the countries have their own mark, like Sasuke said. It was actually the Land of Earth's first, you know."
Her water sword looked different from the last time he'd seen it, Sasuke noted. She'd dulled the blade so it wouldn't be lethal, but his Sharingan could make out thousands and thousands of tiny particles of ice running through it, swirling within like countless shining blades. As it rotated, the ice moved out, providing semi-solid teeth. He'd known Sakura had been working with Haku for the last year, trying to learn some of his Ice Release techniques; maybe she'd finally made some progress. The disruptive chakra inside the blade would only increase its already ridiculous cutting power.
"Seriously? What the heck did they base it on?" Naruto's face screwed up as he finished getting up. "Rocks? Wait, maybe actually though. Like, valuable rocks?"
"Rice," Sasuke said, a little irritated. His friends were just chatting instead of taking the session seriously. "It was based off of rice, Naruto. Before shinobi were common, if you couldn't feed your citizens your government would fall in an instant."
"It's a good thing mass production has gotten so efficient," Sakura said, looking a little surprised at herself. "With so many shinobi around, wars over food would be pretty horrible."
Sasuke gave her a cockeyed look. That was something the Sakura who was trying too hard to join the Akatsuki would say, not the real her. She noticed his look and grinned.
"Don't get distracted," she teased, and then they were all in motion. She swung out with her water blade, its arc carrying it low and fast across the water and picking up a wave from the lake. Simultaneously, Naruto was charging in. His hands were glowing with medical chakra, iridescent scalpels emerging from the tips of his fingers.
It was a good strategy: Sakura attacked from a distance, and Naruto trusted her with his life, moving in close and trying to disable the target. Nonō Yakushi had taught him some offensive medical jutsu after he'd proved capable of healing others; Sasuke sometimes wondered if it was something beyond coincidence that his own chakra was apparently incapable of fixing others.
Sasuke dove under the water, the water blade whiffing over his head, and popped out like a leaping fish right in front of Sakura. She leapt back with a grin, all teeth, and slashed out with her other weapon. The water blade extending from the knife Ino Yamanaka had given her wasn't nearly as long as her sword, and was rigid instead of flexible, but it was still almost four feet long. If it weren't for the Sharingan, Sasuke would have taken the sword to the chest and lost their competition in an instant.
Instead, he twisted down, Sakura adjusting the angle just a moment too late as Sasuke slid under her attack and kicked her legs out from under her. Sakura fell, and he reached out and almost gently pushed her head under the water as she let out an indigent yell.
Naruto was right behind him, yelling a war cry, and Sasuke knew he was already too close for him to turn and block his attack. Instead, he just leapt straight up, sticking some water to the bottom of his body to create a plume of vapor and blind his friend for a second. Naruto ran into the explosion of water with a wild swing, and Sasuke kicked him in the back of the head.
His friend exploded into smoke, and Sasuke blinked in shock as two hands came up out of the murky water and fastened around his falling legs, yanking him down below the surface. His Sharingan could make out Naruto's smirking face in perfect detail, just for a second, before his friend headbutted him.
It hurt like hell: Naruto's hitai-ate slammed right into Sasuke's forehead and he reeled back as Naruto kicked him to the surface. He broke from the water and flopped onto it, lying on his back and staring up into the sky as little white stars danced across his vision.
"Ouch," he muttered. Naruto breached next to him and rested his arms on the top of the lake with a laugh, and Sakura came up a moment later.
"Hey, did you get him?" she asked, and Naruto blushed before he nodded. Sasuke turned his head and watched him with amusement. His friend really was hopeless.
"Yup! Worked like a charm, Sakura!" Naruto said, and Sasuke sat up to look at the both of them as they were rocked by the lake's gentle waves.
"You made yourself bait, huh?" he asked. Sakura smirked. Sasuke had an old, half-complete memory, and had to shake his head to get rid of it. He must really have been too nostalgic for his own good.
'You wouldn't have used Sakura as bait, would you?"
"Well, it worked pretty well. I guess you guys win this round." He looked up, back towards the city. "And just in time, from the look of it."
They followed his line of sight and found a familiar face making its way to them across the water. Literally: like he had back in the wetlands on that mission in the Land of Rivers over a week ago, Suigetsu Hozuki was basically just a loose collection of facial features spread out across the lake. As he drew closer, he pulled himself back together and stood up, his body becoming apparent.
"Hey!" he shouted, and Sasuke gave him a lazy wave, still lying down on top of the lake. "You didn't answer your pager!"
Sasuke sat up, propping his elbows on the surface as Naruto and Sakura turned and waved as well, keeping themselves suspended by their arms as they dangled the rest of their bodies down into the abyssal lake. "I left it at home. It's not waterproof," he said. "Suigetsu, can you tell me why the hell in this country of all places Jonin can't get waterproof pagers?"
Suigetsu scoffed and looked up into the drizzle sweeping down on the lake and filling it with millions of miniscule ripples. "Just keep it in a waterproof bag, for fuck's sake. That's what Zabuza-sensei does. Then I wouldn't have to drag my ass all over the village looking for you." He made an impatient gesture with both hands, like someone trying to beckon a disobedient puppy. "C'mon! Up and at it." He muttered something rude under his breath, and Sasuke rolled his eyes and flipped to his feet, riding one of the lake's small waves up.
"What is it?" he asked. Suigetsu gave him a shrug.
"Dunno, you and Zabuza-sensei both got dinged. He told me to go find you." Both of the Jonin in the cadre who were also in the village, Sasuke noted. Nonō was on a mission at the moment, loaned out as a medical ninja. "You've got separate meetings, apparently."
"Alright," Sasuke said with a nod. He looked down at Sakura and Naruto. "Race you back?"
Naruto opened his mouth, looking like he was about to say something and glancing at Sakura. Sasuke hid a smirk behind his stone face. But before Naruto could finish his thought, Sakura started clambering up out of the water.
"Sure!" she said. "Naruto, you wanna come too?"
"Well duh!" Naruto declared, leaping up out of the water like he'd been born to do it. "Suigetsu, you count down!"
"I'm not doing that," the Hozuki said flatly, and Naruto started running.
"Good enough for me!" he shouted out as Sasuke and Sakura chased after him. Sasuke focused on running, overtaking Naruto as Sakura kept pace with him, but he couldn't help but wonder what was waiting for him at home.
Who had he kept waiting training out here on the lake?
###
Sitting at attention in Amegakure's central tower and watching the fan on the ceiling struggle to keep the air in the room fresh, Sasuke wondered who was keeping him waiting.
When he'd returned to his apartment, his pager hadn't given him much of anything: it had only told him to report to this level of the tower. When he'd arrived, someone else had been leaving the room; a taller teenager with blond hair pinned up in a ponytail. Deidara, Sasuke was pretty sure his name was. He'd smirked at Sasuke as he'd left, and the chunin at the door had ushered Sasuke in instead, closing the door behind him.
And then he'd found a comfortable place at the oak table dominating the middle of the room and waited. For about twenty minutes now, he was sure. Sasuke was patient, but he was still only fourteen. He had a limited well of the stuff.
Right as he was wondering if he should get up and take a look around, the door to the room started to open. Sasuke turned back, keeping his back straight, and then shot out of the chair as it became apparent who was coming through.
Nagato Uzumaki gave him an amused glance and a wave of his hand. "Sit back down," he said, his voice gentle, and Sasuke did, his posture just as perfect. The Amekage made his way around to the other side of the table and sat down, his purple eyes fixed on Sasuke the whole time.
"Amekage," Sasuke said, his voice that of a model shinobi. "My apologies for my delay."
"No worries," Nagato said as he sat down, leaning forward in his chair. "I ended up having some business of my own to attend to, so it worked out, right?"
Sasuke was astonished to find that he was a little nervous. He'd met both Yahiko and Konan alone before, but never Nagato. The last member of the triumvirate was also the most private, and seemed constantly busy, to the point where Sasuke wondered whether that was just an excuse. But now, alone in the room with him, Sasuke was sure that Nagato had been doing something. The air around him crackled with ozone, chakra boiling off him in a wash of heat-wave like energy. Did the man just have no chakra control, or was it something else?
Was this his version of control? He hadn't been like this when Sasuke had first met him the year before.
"Forgive my appearance," Nagato said, and Sasuke realized he'd been staring. He blinked, chagrined, and the Uzumaki smiled. "It can take some time for my chakra to get back under control."
Sasuke didn't dare answer, and Nagato huffed. "You don't have to be so stiff. You're here because of your sterling work, Sasuke."
"Thank you, sir," Sasuke said, very carefully staring straight ahead and trying to ignore Nagato's boiling chakra.
"That material from the Land of Iron you secured all ended up being pure," Nagato said. "It was no surprise it was being smuggled north; it would have been worth quite a bit on the market."
"It was heading for the Land of Lightning, wasn't it?" Sasuke asked, trying to relax. "I'm surprised their government didn't just purchase it directly from Iron. Going through Rivers first was dangerous."
"They would have if they could, I'm sure," Nagato said. His eyes were unnerving, both kind and cold at the same time. Sasuke couldn't read him. "But Iron has strict tariffs on the export of its chakra conductive metals, and it seems the Land of Lightning has exceeded their limit. And early in the year too…" He drummed his fingers on the table, resting his chin in his other palm. "But that's not for you to worry about. I wouldn't be here just to give you a report on how the mission went, right? You were there, after all."
"Yes sir." Sasuke shifted, realizing that Nagato was trying to read him just as much as he was the Kage. They were both unfamiliar with the other. It made him feel a little more at ease. "Then, why am I here?"
"As I said, because of your incredible performance," Nagato said with a shrug. "That, and the counterfeit currency you discovered."
"Oh?" Sasuke asked, genuinely surprised. The money had been weighing on his mind. The same question he'd had back when he'd discovered it had repeated in his head lately. Why bother making fake money that only a Sharingan could discern as false? What could be the motive? "Is it confirmed, then?'
"It took some time, but yes." Nagato leaned back, his red hair flowing down to the back of the chair. "It's an almost flawless counterfeit: none of our treasurers had ever seen such a thing. According to your smugglers, they found it in the Land of Waves. We are interested in following up on that lead."
"It's not much of a lead," Sasuke muttered, before leaning forward. "For what purpose? So that we can produce the counterfeits ourselves?"
"No," Nagato said with a smile. It was as Sasuke thought: Nagato had wanted him to ask questions. The Amekage was trying to place them as equals in this conversation, even though that was an obvious lie. "Making fake money like that is a tremendously dangerous thing. Normal counterfeits are usually produced simply to make an additional profit. Make one-thousand fake Ryo, pass it off as real to someone too naive to tell the difference or sell it to other suppliers for twice the manufacturing cost: that sort of thing. But in this case, Ryo that can almost always pass as the real thing, and specifically for the Land of Fire… that indicates an inflationary scheme."
Sasuke cocked his head, and Nagato mimicked the motion. "Are you familiar?" he asked.
"Somewhat," Sasuke said. "If Fire's Ryo lost value, its debts would become more severe, for one. And it could lose value…" He blinked.
"Yes. Either by no longer being trusted as an international currency due to the presence of these counterfeits, or simply because too many bills were printed and distributed. If the counterfeiters have enough of a supply, they could even induce artificial hyperinflation." Nagato grinned. "And that would be extremely bad for everyone."
"So you want Rain to go to Waves and find the counterfeiters?"
"We want you to go to Waves and find the counterfeiters, Sasuke," Nagato said. He leaned forward. "We want you to take the entire cadre too. Everyone that's available. We've got a bit of a scheme, you see."
"The entire… a scheme?" Sasuke asked. The entire cadre would mean everyone but Nonō and Kabuto, who were both out of the village at the moment. That would be himself, Naruto, Sakura, Karin, Suigetsu, Haku, and Zabuza. What the hell kind of mission was he being trusted with here?
"Rain isn't trusted by any of the nations," Nagato said bluntly. "Which is mostly our own fault. But if we were to track down such a dangerous source of economic instability and turn it over to the Land of Fire's government instead of keeping it to ourselves, it could be the first step towards building more legitimacy."
Sasuke felt another question stir, but he answered it himself before it could be spoken aloud. "And you want us to do it," he said. Nagato cocked an eyebrow. "You want Naruto, Sakura, and I to be the ones to do it, right?"
"Smart." Nagato crossed his arms. "Yup. That's a part of it. Defectors aren't looked upon kindly by any of the villages. Even us, when we've welcomed so many. I suppose that's hypocritical of us. But if you and your team were to be integral to tracking down this counterfeit currency, perhaps it would take some of the sting out of you leaving Konoha."
What a bizarre mix of political calculations and naivety, Sasuke thought as he met the Amekage's gaze. Did he really think that would work? The hatred that the village had to be feeling for him, for his team, for Obito, the same kind of hatred he'd felt for his mother, wasn't guided by anything so rational. Its foundation was an instinctual lashing out at betrayal, at subverted expectations; even if he and Naruto and Sakura came back today and told everyone the truth while carrying in all the counterfeiters on their back, some of that hatred would remain. It was a poisoned well now.
Sasuke tried to forget the cool spring air, the conversation on the balcony, and nodded. "I understand." He said. Nagato stood up, and he did as well. "When do we leave?"
"As soon as possible," Nagato said. "There's no guarantee Waves will be your final destination, though I have a feeling the counterfeiters may be based out of there. With their recent economic success, it would be sensible for a currency operation to set up shop in that country. Lots of money coming and going." He started making his way towards the door, and Sasuke slowly followed.
"I'll gather everyone, then," he said, and Nagato turned back towards him, his hand on the door.
"Sasuke, you'll be the team leader for this mission. You get that, right?" he asked, and Sasuke narrowed his eyes.
"Zabuza has more experience," he said. Nagato gave him an amused look. "He would be a better fit."
"What you should say instead is that Zabuza has plenty of experience," Nagato said with a little laugh. "You need it more than him. He probably won't like taking orders from someone your age though. Sometimes, that's just the reality of the situation." He started opening the door. "If you're worried, delegate to him. He'll live with it."
Nagato stepped through the door. "You've got great things in your future, Sasuke. Let this one be the first."
Then he was gone, and Sasuke stared, not sure if he was supposed to leave the room as well. By the time he stepped out, there was no sign of Nagato Uzumaki. He stared down each of the corridors, then up at the ceiling, blowing out a breath.
"Crap," he muttered, and then he went to find his team.
###
"Uh, so this is definitely overkill, right?" Suigetsu asked, looking over the assembled group. Sasuke absolutely agreed with him. Naruto, Sakura, Karin, Haku, and Zabuza were waiting for the two of them down on one of the bridges leading out of the city, looking up with obvious impatience. Naruto and Sakura were talking about something, while Zabuza was standing with his arms crossed, practically glaring.
Sasuke suppressed a shiver. If he was perfectly honest, he'd much prefer the older shinobi to lead this mission. Even if he had the authority to direct him on paper, the reality of team dynamics was often very different from that. He looked to Suigetsu to find the other teen grinning meanly at him.
"Looks like the old man isn't such a fan either," he said. Sasuke grunted.
"We'll figure it out," he said, turning towards the stairwell and making his way down from the bridge suspended over the street. The sun was already starting to set: they were leaving late, and at the end of the month too. He wondered if there was a deeper meaning to that. "You're not gonna be giving me trouble too, are you?"
"Hell no, who do you think I am?" Suigetsu said, acting offended. "If the Amekage put you in charge, that's their business. Besides, we're just hunting down some moneymakers, right? It's not like you're gonna have to make any hard decisions, man."
They reached the street level. "I doubt it will be that simple," Sasuke said. "The whole cadre wouldn't be sent in that case." Naruto made an impatient gesture, yelling something about getting going. Sasuke and Suigetsu broke into a jog. "I bet they think the same thing that I do: that any operation like this would know that the only people who'd catch them, the only people who'd get sent after them, would be shinobi. They'll be prepared for that."
"No one's gonna be ready for seven badasses from the Nation getting dropped on top of them," Suigetsu said with a scoff as they joined the group. Sakura smirked in agreement, and the boy flashed her a grin.
"Let's get going," Zabuza ground out, pointing across the bridge. "The Land of Waves is two days away."
"Have you been there before, Master Zabuza?" Haku asked. Sasuke didn't say anything about the man directing the team: he just made sure that no one moved until he took the first step. "It's a small country near Water, isn't it?"
"Never," Zabuza said, his tone short.
"It's not as small as it was," Sakura said as they started making their way across the bridge. Some shinobi waved goodbye to them, and she waved back with a smile. Every member of the team was packed for a long trip: this was a mission without obvious parameters when it came to length. "The Gato Corporation had blockaded it a while back, but it crumbled a couple years ago after the owner died, and since then it's become a major trade hub." She got a distant look, and Sasuke wondered what she was remembering. "I guess it's kinda like Rain, in that respect."
"Neat!" Naruto declared. Everything Sakura said was neat to him, Sasuke thought with a smirk. Naruto noticed the look and stuck his tongue out at him. "I wonder what kinda stuff they trade there."
Sasuke was silent as the others talked. He didn't feel like he had anything to say. Maybe it was because this was his first major mission, or maybe it was something else, but all he could think was that it didn't matter what Waves traded, or how big or small it was, or anything else.
For the Amekage's plan to work, for Sasuke to prove himself trustworthy enough to find out if Itachi was really here or not, they had to get to Waves first. They had to be the first to find the counterfeiters, when there was no guarantee the other villages or countries hadn't already taken note of the money as well.
All that mattered was beating everyone else to that punch.