Naruto: The Uchiha Chronicles Re-Version

Hey everyone, welcome to the penultimate chapter of this re-work. After this there's just one (maybe two if I create a fight scene for Sasuki and Haku and make it a different chapter), and then I'll be off for a bit to work on new chapters.

On with the story.

Arc III: Land of Waves Escort Mission:

Chapter 17: Plan and Train, Preparation for Battle!

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Naruto was woken up by a shaft of sunlight coming in through the window. He let loose a groan of annoyance. Stupid sun. Groggily, he opened his eyes, and found himself in an unfamiliar room. He was laying on a futon; the ceiling above him was covered in worn wooden paneling, the same for the walls and the floor. The room was clearly worn down but was well taken care of. For a moment Naruto wasn't sure where he was. How had he gotten here? Then he remembered. He was in Tazuna's house. After the battle with Zabuza was over, they had made their way to Tazuna's. The last thing he could remember was getting Kakashi settled into bed; and then everything went black.

'I must have passed out. The other's probably put me in here.' Naruto sighed. He'd really overdone it yesterday. If he had been alone, he would've been screwed. An experimental flex of his fingers told him that his arm was working again, even if it was a bit stiff. Yesterday when he had told Sakura that his arm would be fine in a day, he hadn't been lying. He did downplay the damage, though. Most of the nerves in his arm had been completely shot. That wasn't even mentioning the muscle damage that had been done.

Naruto sat up with a grunt. His body was stiff from yesterday, but after a bit of movement he would be fine. He pushed himself up and to his feet, before stretching his arms above his head and letting loose a yawn. "Aaaaah. I better go find the others." He muttered to himself.

Upon exiting the room, he could tell from his vague memories of last night that he was on the second floor. Kakashi's room was down the hall, right next to the stairs. Even though he was sure the man would wake up soon, Naruto made sure to keep his footsteps silent as he passed the room Kakashi was in.

He paused for a moment at the top of the stairs to listen to the voices coming up from below. From the sound of it, most of the people in the house were there. 'No time like the present.'

Naruto made his way downstairs, where he found Tazuna, Sakura, and Sasuki sitting around a low table. He took note of the small boy and the black-haired woman sitting with them. Judging from the similarities in appearance, they were probably mother and son.

The bottom step creaked as he stepped on it, drawing the attention of the people around the table.

As soon as she saw him, Sakura's face lit up. "Naruto, you're awake! We were so worried when you collapsed last night." She exclaimed.

Naruto rose an eyebrow, and turned his eyes to Sasuki. She didn't show as much emotion as Sakura, but he could see the worry in her eyes.

"Sorry about that. I was pretty tired from the fight. Using Body Flicker like I did puts a big strain on me. I'm fine now, though." He replied.

"Alright, well come have a seat. We saved you a spot next to Sasuki." Said Sakura. Naruto nodded, and took his place at the table. As he did, Sasuki glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes.

It looked as if she was struggling with whether to say something. "I'm glad you're alright." She finally whispered, too quiet for anyone but him to hear. He acknowledged her words with a nod, so as not to draw any attention to her.

"So, has Kakashi woken up yet?" He asked the group.

The black-haired woman across from him shook her head. "No, he hasn't. But when he does I'm going to give him a piece of my mind. He's setting a bad example, overexerting himself like that."

Naruto wisely chose to remain silent. Truth be told, he didn't get his habit of pushing himself from Kakashi. Though he did look at her and her son quizzically. He had yet to hear their names.

As if she had heard his thoughts, Sakura motioned to the woman. "This here is Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter. She's the one who set up the room for you last night. And that there is her son Inari." She explained.

"It's nice to meet you. Thank you for taking care of me" Naruto greeted, with a slight bow of his head.

Tsunami waved off his thanks.

"Please, it was the least I could do. You protected my father. Why don't you stay there, and I'll get you some food. The rest of us have already eaten." She said.

Naruto nodded with a rare smile. After he had eaten, they sat around the table talking. He spent the time grilling Tazuna for details about Gato, such as how many thugs he had on his payroll. Around midday, Kakashi finally woke up. Naruto and his teammates gathered around their sensei's bed as Tsunami prepared some food for him.

"You know Kakashi-sensei, that eye of yours is amazing; but if it does this to you, I don't think it's worth it. You can barely move!" Sakura chastised him.

Kakashi chuckled, and his eye curled in one of his special smiles. Naruto had a distinct feeling that if he was able, the man would be rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Eh, you may have a point. But I didn't have a choice. Zabuza was a strong opponent. If I hadn't given it my all, we might not have won." Replied Kakashi.

Sakura nodded reluctantly. "I guess you're right. But at least he's gone now. That hunter ninja killed him, and took his body."

Her words stirred something in Naruto. He thought back to the battle, and how Zabuza had been killed. The way he had struck him through the neck was quite impressive. Though it was a little odd. 'It's weird. It's really hard to kill someone with senbon. Not to mention he took the body away. Hunter ninja are supposed to destroy the body on the spot.'

The more he thought about it, the more unsettled Naruto felt. From the look in Kakashi's eye, he could tell the wheels were turning in his head as well.

Suddenly, Kakashi sat up with his eye stretched wide. "How could I have been so foolish. The hunter took the body" He growled.

Naruto snapped his gaze to Kakashi. He could tell what he was thinking. "Kakashi-sensei, you don't think …"

Kakashi nodded grimly, and he felt like cursing. "So Zabuza is still alive. Damn." Naruto cursed.

Sakura looked at them in shock. "Wh-what do you mean, the hunter ninja killed Zabuza. Kakashi-sensei, you said it yourself, Zabuza had no pulse." She said.

From her place against the wall, Sasuki spoke up for the first time.

"The hunter used senbon. It's hard to kill someone with those, not without hitting an organ. But they are perfect if you want to put someone in a deathlike state. There are several nerves in the neck that make that possible." She said.

Kakashi nodded grimly. "Yes. Zabuza is still out there; and he'll be back. And no doubt that hunter ninja will be with him."

In the wake of that statement, everyone was silent. They sat there in contemplation. Finally, Naruto couldn't take the silence.

"So, what now? We could try to take out Gato while Zabuza is down." He suggested, drawing curious stares. "If we kill his employer and there's no chance of getting payed, Zabuza would have no reason to complete his mission." He explained.

Kakashi nodded in agreement. "Yes, that is an option. Although, I'd prefer if we had a little more preparation first." He said.

"Like what?" Sasuki asked.

"I want to go to the next step in your training. Each of you have advanced far, but I have an idea for training that could help you increase the power of your jutsu. We'll begin tomorrow." He answered.

Soon enough, Tsunami arrived with his food, and Naruto and his teammates left so he could eat in piece. Naruto spent the rest of the day resting, and wondering what Kakashi had in store for them.

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The next morning, Kakashi took them out to a clearing near Tazuna's house. The clearing was surrounded on all sides by towering trees, remarkably similar to the ones they had in the Leaf. From the sound of running water, Naruto assumed that there was a river of some sorts just on the other side of the river. The most noticeable thing, or things, as it were, were the three giant piles of leaves up around the edges of the clearing, spaced apart evenly in a triangle formation.

He'd seen something like it before, when his grandfather was teaching him elemental manipulation.

"Sensei, what's with the leaves?" Sakura asked in confusion.

Kakashi–who was leaning on a crutch to help him walk–hobbled over to the leaves and snatched one up. Luckily they were piled higher than his waist, so he didn't have to bend down to get it.

"The leaves, Sakura, are for your training." He said. "You've already learned the tree and water walking exercises, so you have the minimum chakra control needed to begin this exercise. Generally, I'd want you to have a bit more experience with a few higher-level exercises, but the control you have now is good enough to begin this training."

"And what is this training?" Sasuki asked, her arms crossed, a scowl on her face. No doubt she was annoyed at the fact Kakashi was beating around the bush.

Kakashi chuckled at her demeanor. "What I'm going to teach you is the first step in an advanced form of chakra control, which will allow you to mold and define the nature of your chakra; in other words, adding an element to your chakra. If you're able to complete even part of the training, it will increase the power and control of any elemental techniques you know." He explained. "Now, I'm going to create a couple clones, and each of us will take one of you to the side to use one of these," Kakashi reached into his equipment pouch, and brought out three pieces of familiar looking paper. "Pieces of litmus paper to determine what your elemental affinities are, that is, the element, or–as the case may be–elements, your chakra is predisposed to. After that we'll teach you how to perform the exercise."

As it turned out, Naruto ended up getting the original Kakashi helping him. While his clones went to help Sakura and Sasuki, Kakashi pulled Naruto to the side. Once they were alone, Kakashi gave him a serious look.

"I want you to know, there's more than one reason I chose this method of training. Sakura told me what happened in the battle with Zabuza, with your arm seizing up from your lightning jutsu." He said seriously. "You didn't look too surprised when I brought out the litmus paper. Come to think of it, Sasuki wasn't that surprised either once I explained it. Tell me, you two've already had some nature transformation training, haven't you?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto nodded. "Yes, we have." He answered, confused by what Kakashi was getting at.

Kakashi's eye narrowed. "But not for lightning for you I take it?" He persisted. Naruto's stomach dropped. He was beginning to realize what Kakashi was getting at. Reluctantly, he nodded once more. The serious look in Kakashi's eye became as close to furious as Naruto had ever seen. "You've had nature transformation training, so you must know how dangerous it is to try and control an element with no hand signs if you haven't trained to control it. We both know the only reason you didn't do permanent damage to yourself is because of the tailed beast sealed inside of you."

Naruto looked at Kakashi with wide eyes. Nobody had ever mentioned the fact he had Kurama sealed in him before; they were too afraid of the Hokage's law.

"Don't look so surprised. The Hokage informed me you knew of the Nine-Tails when I took this team. I figured I'd skip the beating around the bush, and get to the reason why you thought you could get away with such reckless behavior." Kakashi told him. "In any other situation, you could very well get yourself and your teammates killed doing something like that. Don't do it again." His eye was locked on Naruto, imparting the seriousness of the situation. Finally,

Kakashi closed his eye, and took a calming breath. When he opened it, he was back to his usual laidback look. "Now that we understand each other, let's get to the training. First, even though I'm sure you know them, we'll check your affinities."

Kakashi led him back to the clearing, and then handed Naruto a piece of litmus paper, and looked at him expectantly. With a resigned sigh, he took the paper and channeled his chakra into it. The results were instant. First, the paper split in half Then one half burst into flames, while the other crumbled into dirt at the edges.

"Hmm, a dual primary affinity to wind and fire, and a weaker affinity to earth." Kakashi mused. "How much nature transformation training have you done?" He asked.

"I've completed the training for wind and fire. I'm partially through earth." Naruto answered. Kakashi hummed in thought.

"Very well, let's start you on lightning then, even if it's not one of your initial elements. Your objective is to cause the leaf to shrivel up by pulsing electricity through it. To change the nature of your chakra to lightning, you need to envision your chakra vibrating at an extremely high frequency." Kakashi instructed.

Naruto nodded in understanding. He automatically placed his hands into the crossed-shaped seal of the shadow clone jutsu.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi asked quizzically. Naruto rose an eyebrow.

"Training. The clones give me their memories, so I can increase my training exponentially. Sasuki uses it too, though not with as many." He told him.

Kakashi's eye widened. "I've never heard of someone training that way, but it sounds interesting. Very well, carry on. Depending on how this works, I might use this method with the others."

Naruto shrugged, and proceeded to create fifty shadow clones. The clones and the original quickly got to training, losing themselves in the repetitiveness of it.

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Three days after they began their training, Naruto sat with his team around the dinner table. All of them were worn out from their training, especially Sakura. After he had seen how effective Naruto's method of training was the first day, Kakashi took the time to teach Sasuki and Sakura the Shadow Clone jutsu, so they could use it to increase their training. While neither could make anywhere near as him–with Sasuki managing a surprising seven, and Sakura two–it had still noticeably sped up their progress with the leaf.

As Tsunami brought their dinner into the dining room, Sakura was barely sitting upright. She would probably go to bed as soon as she finished.

Half-way through his first helping of rice and fish, Naruto noticed Inari glaring at them across the table. He disregarded it at first; it wasn't the first time he noticed the boy giving them dirty looks. Naruto wasn't sure why the boy disliked them, nor did he particularly care why. He usually just ignored it in favor of eating Tsunami's food. The woman was a genius at making delicious meals from minimal ingredients.

This dinner, however, was different from the previous two. For whatever reason, that day Inari decided to speak up.

Naruto heard Inari mumble something quietly; all he could make out was "Why?". It was so quiet Naruto almost missed it.

"Pardon?" Naruto asked, more to be polite than anything.

Inari spoke up, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I said why are you all bothering to train so hard?" He asked. "It's not like it's going to make a difference; you can't beat Gato!"

"Inari, apologize!" Tsunami exclaimed.

"But Mom, they're all going to die!" He whined.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the boy. "Us, die? From that fat little midget? Don't make me laugh." He scoffed.

Inari fixed him with a harsh glare. "It's easy for you to talk big; you don't know what Gato's done to this country. You people don't have any idea what it's like to suffer, tucked away in your big comfy village!" The boy yelled. "You don't know what it's like to lose someone you love!"

Immediately, the atmosphere in the room became tense. Naruto didn't have to look far to know why. As soon as Inari had mentioned them not knowing what it was to lose someone, Sasuki had stiffened beside him. She was now glaring at Inari, her killing intent unconsciously leaking out. 'Well this isn't going to be good …'

"What are you talking about, this will be very entertaining!" Nine-Tails laughed.

Naruto scowled. 'Shut up Nine, now's not the time.'

Sasuki stood up abruptly, her expression thunderous. "You don't know anything about us, brat." She growled. Without any warning, she wound back and slapped Inari across the face, before storming out of the room.

The sound of the door slamming broke the silence of the room, accompanied only by Inari crying. Tsunami was instantly at Inari's side, cradling his cheek. She glared at the remaining members of Team 7.

"Wh-what the hell was that?" She asked angrily.

It seemed the other two were still too stunned to answer, so Naruto took the task. He fixed Tsunami with a glare of his own, making sure to make it as condemning as possible.

"That was the result of your son's dumb belief that he actually knows anything about our lives. He sits here in this house, with a mother and grandfather who love him, and food in his belly, yet tries to lecture us about suffering?" He asked incredulously. Tsunami seemed stunned by his words, as if he'd slapped her. Naruto directed his gaze to Inari. "As for you, you don't know us. It's not my place to tell you her story, but know that you couldn't even comprehend what she's been through, or Kakashi or I for that matter."

Naruto pushed what remained of his food away, and stood up from the table. As he left, he turned to look back at Inari one more time. He knew what the boy's outburst had been about; they learned of what happened to Kaiza the other day after Sakura had noticed the torn family photo. "Another thing, don't presume that just because your stepfather failed when he stood up to Gato, that it will be the same for us. There's a big difference between a brave civilian, and a team of determined shinobi that have trained to fight since they were younger than you. Gato's army of amateur thugs has no chance against us."

With that, Naruto left the house. He didn't bother to look back to see what the aftermath of his departure was.

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Upon leaving the house, Naruto tracked Sasuki's chakra signature. He was only half surprised to find her in the training ground they'd been using the past few days. For a moment, he considered going to her and checking on her. That idea was quickly shut down by the Nine-Tails.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. With how chaotic her emotions are, and enraged, she'd likely not take any attempt to help her very well. Right now she's feeling vulnerable, and that vulnerability infuriates her. Helping her would only make it worse." The Tailed-Beast advised him.

Naruto wanted to ignore the fox's advice, but he knew he couldn't. He'd come to trust Kurama's judgement in these matters. Ultimately, he decided to send a few clones to watch over Sasuki and make sure nothing happened to her.

He himself, meanwhile, jumped up onto the roof, and laid down to watch the stars.

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Naruto went out to find Sasuki as soon as he'd woken up. She hadn't returned the night before–no doubt training until she dropped–and he didn't want her to go without breakfast. As he walked, he couldn't help thinking about the conversation he'd had with Kakashi the night before. He'd been expecting to be scolded, but to his surprise, Kakashi had actually supported his actions. He wasn't sure what the man said to Tsunami, but whatever it was had calmed her down. When he'd left, she had actually greeted him, albeit awkwardly.

He received a surprise as he took the last bend in the path to the training ground. Someone else was coming down the same path, though in the other direction; and it wasn't Sasuki. It was surprising since he hadn't seen anybody in this part of the forest except for them.

At first, he thought it was a girl, what with the long black hair, pink kimono, and feminine facial features. But as they drew closer, he noticed a slight bump underneath a black choker. No doubt an addams apple. The feminine looking boy was carrying a basket filled with herbs. Naruto inclined his head slightly as they passed each-other.

A few seconds later, he froze as flashes of memories from his clones suddenly hit him. Naruto whipped his head around and stared in the direction of the boy. 'That kid … he's the hunter ninja.' His clones had seen the boy crouched next to Sasuki and sensed his chakra. They were going to intervene when they saw that it looked like he was going to try and kill her, but ultimately he'd simply shaken her awake. The conversation that followed made him raise an eyebrow. 'How odd. He's not what I'd expect from an associate of Zabuza.'

Even though he knew she would be, Naruto was relieved when he saw Sasuki sitting in the clearing, perfectly fine, and staring at the ground in contemplation/.

"Good morning," He greeted her. Sasuki looked up at him, an odd look on her face.

"Morning," She greeted back, and then went back to staring at the ground. Naruto rose an eyebrow at her demeanor.

"I came to check on you, since you didn't return last night." Said Naruto. He still didn't get a response, so he decided to take a seat and see what was bugging her. "Is something the matter?"

Sasuki looked up at him, her eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Did you see that boy that was just here?" She asked. Naruto nodded.

Her gaze fell to the ground. "He and I were talking, and he said something odd." She told him. Even though she didn't elaborate, he had a feeling he knew what was bothering her. "Tell me, do you have anyone precious to you, that you want to protect?" Sasuki asked, her eyes boring into his.

Naruto took a moment to consider the question, though he didn't really have to. The answer was rather simple. "Yes, of course," He said. "There's the Hokage, the Ichiraku's, Shikamaru, Kakashi, Sakura," He paused, and watched as her expression fell slightly. ", and of course, you. You are my best friend after all.
He said. "Why do you ask?"

It was rather amused to see the slight dusting of pink across her cheeks at his frank answer.

Sasuki hesitated to answer, as if she wasn't sure. "I–that boy, he said that you can only become truly strong if you have someone precious you want to protect," She said, her eyes looking into his uncertainly. "Do you think he's right, is that how you've become so strong?" Sasuki asked.

This time he didn't have to fake the contemplation. What the boy had said was remarkably similar to the ideals his grandmother had. "Well, I'd like to believe my skill and the quality of my teacher had something to do with it," He began. The two shared a fond smile at the thought of his grandfather. He hadn't taught Sasuki nearly as much, but she was also a student of his. "But yes, I'd say it is. I know to protect everyone I care about; I have to become strong enough to protect them from anyone. It drives me to be stronger than I could if I was only doing it for myself."

A frown appeared on Sasuki's face. "The night he slaughtered our clan, my brother said something to me. He told me to hate him. To let that hate make me stronger, and one day face him." She said. Her eyes met his, an almost imploring look in them. "All this time, I've been doing what he said. I've let my hate for him fuel me to become stronger, so I can kill him. Was I focusing on the wrong thing all this time?" She asked.

Although he knew he had to be careful how he handled this, Naruto felt grateful to Zabuza's associate. He'd provided an opportunity to get through to Sasuki. Naruto chose the words for his response carefully.

"Well, that's hard to answer. I guess the question you'd have to ask yourself is this; Which do you want more, to get your revenge, or," Naruto paused for a moment to make sure he had her attention. "To make sure he never takes someone from you again?" He asked. "Only you can decide that." Naruto took a moment to place his hand on her shoulder. "Just know that whatever you decide, I'll support you. I decided a long time ago I'd stick by you through thick and thin."

Sasuki took a long time to consider his question. He almost thought he would have to give her more time. It was a life altering decision, deciding to completely change your point of view on life. After a half hour of silence, Sasuki finally looked up, her eyes filled with a determination he hadn't ever seen there. "I've decided; I want to become stronger. I don't want Itachi to take anyone else away from me." She said. Her eyes locked with his. In a far more vulnerable voice, she asked, "Um, will you help me? I'm–I'm not used to trying to get strong for someone else."

Naruto smiled, one of his rare genuine ones. He didn't even have to think about the question. "Of course," He said. "And I think the first step will be getting you some breakfast so you don't pass out while we're training today. Let's get back to Tazuna's."

Sasuki nodded in agreement, a small smile on her face. Together, they made their way back to Tazuna's, where breakfast was waiting for them.

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"Alright, we can begin discussing our strategy." Kakashi said.

It had been a week and a half since their confrontation with Zabuza, and Naruto and his teammates had been called into Kakashi's room. Naruto wasn't quite sure why they were there—though he suspected it had something to do with their plans to deal with Gato, because for the past week Kakashi had been having him scout out Gato and his operation with his clones. Together, the team gathered in a circle in the center of the room, a map of the Land of Waves in the middle.

The map was covered in markings that denoted how Gato moved his shipments, with the location of his main hideout–and mansion–marked by a bold red 'X'. Also on the floor, was a blueprint with the layout of the mansion.

"Zabuza should be recovered in a few days' time, which means that the time to strike and render him harmless by killing Gato is now or never. Now, thanks to Naruto's clones, we now have plenty of information on Gato's operation. The target is here–" Kakashi pointed his finger at the spot that marked Gato's main base. "–at Gato's mansion. Luckily for us, Gato relies mostly on his army of hired muscle to protect it. Apparently, he also likes to keep the missing ninja he hires away from there in case they turn on him. That's the good news," He explained.

Sakura looked at him wearily. "So what's the bad news?" She asked.

Although he couldn't see Kakashi's face, Naruto got the distinct impression he was frowning.

"The bad news is that, since it's so close to the time we expect Zabuza to recover, we can't risk Tazuna's safety by leaving him unprotected." Kakashi replied. "It means that we'll have to send enough force to take out Gato and his thugs, but keep enough force behind to repel Zabuza and his accomplice if necessary." There was a grim look in his eye, and it set Naruto on edge. It seemed as if Kakashi himself wasn't fond of the plan, and he didn't know how he felt about that. "One of us will go on the mission to Gato's, while the rest protect Tazuna."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly, and Sakura and Sasuki seemed downright shocked. Now he knew why Kakashi didn't like his own plan. The man was big on teamwork, and this would essentially leave one of them on their own.

"Who's going to be the one to attack Gato?" Sasuki asked tensely. Her question caused Naruto to think.

When you actually took time to consider the mission and what it involved, there were only two people on the team with the power to carry it out unharmed; not to mention having actually taken a life before. Him and Kakashi. He wondered which of them Kakashi would choose.

Kakashi hesitated to answer the question. He closed his eyes, as if to give himself strength, and in that instance Naruto knew his answer.

"I've thought about this long and hard, and in the end, I've decided that Naruto should be the one to take out Gato and his army." He finally answered, his eye on Naruto. For a moment, there was silence, and then at once Sakura and Sasuki began to protest together. Naruto himself, remained silent, as he processed the information. He wasn't quite sure what to feel. All he knew, was that he would perform his role.

"Are you kidding?" Sasuki asked incredulously.

"That's suicide, you can't expec–" Sakura protested. She most likely would have said more, but Kakashi cut her off.

"That's enough." He said sternly. His glare managed to silence the two girls. "I chose Naruto because it has to be one of the three of you to take out Gato, since I'm needed to handle Zabuza. Naruto has the power to pull it off," Kakashi explained. His eye then turned to Naruto. "Besides, he's the only one of you to have any experience killing, isn't that right?"

Naruto shifted uncomfortably. Not because he was ashamed of having killed before, but because he was afraid of what his teammates would think. Indeed, they were giving him odd looks. Sakura looked shocked, while Sasuki had an expression on her face he couldn't quite read.

"Is that true?" Sakura asked hesitantly. "I mean, I heard what Zabuza said back when we fought, but I didn't think it meant anything. Have you really killed before?"

Naruto licked his lips, which seemed suddenly dry. "I, I have." He admitted. "When I was six, a Cloud shinobi attacked me after I saw him, and some others attack a Leaf ninja. My bloodline awakened and killed him during the chase. I'm not proud of having killed, but I don't regret it. I learned to make peace with that aspect of our lives a long time ago." He closed his eyes for a moment, and tightened his resolve. When he opened them, he looked at his teammates, and especially his sensei, with determination. "I can take out Gato and his goons." He declared. "Now, what do you need me to do?" The last part, was solely for Kakashi.

Kakashi acknowledged his words with a nod, and pulled the blueprints of Gato's mansion over the map. "The plan is relatively simple. Gato sends his men out to collect taxes every Sunday. Every other day, he keeps them all at his home, except for a small patrol at dawn and dusk," He explained. Kakashi then pointed to the main gate. "This here is the only entrance in or out; at least by conventional means. He only has two people stationed on the outside. The rest patrol the grounds and mansion in roving shifts. Since the security is so thick, I think it would be best if you use your clones to swarm them. You'll scale the walls and hit them before they know what's happening." Kakashi told him. "Do you understand what you need to do?"

Naruto nodded, his gaze riveted to the plans. He knew what Kakashi meant. With the layout of the compound, any attempts at stealth would be a waste of time. He would inevitably need to take out a few guards, and by the time he got to Gato, they would be discovered and the alarms would sound, allowing him to escape. No, the only option was brute force.

"I understand," He said verbally. "While my clones take out the thugs, I fight my way directly to Gato, and take him out." Naruto narrowed his eyes in thought, and looked at Kakashi. "Gato doesn't seem like the type of man to use banks. If I come across any taxes he might have taken from the people of Wave, should I retrieve it?"

Kakashi stroked his chin in thought. He took a few moments to respond. "I suppose so, but make sure you take out Gato first. You can search the compound after." He replied. His gaze then turned to Sakura and Sasuki. "As for you two, you'll be coming with me to the bridge, to protect Tazuna." He ordered.

Both girls nodded, although Naruto could tell they were reluctant. Especially Sasuki; she was very clearly not happy with the arrangements. Whether it was because she wasn't going to be involved in the battle she knew would be happening, or because he would be entering that battle alone, Naruto couldn't tell. Either way, it was good enough for Kakashi, apparently.

"Good, now that we all know our roles, let's get to sleep. One way or another, tomorrow will decide the outcome of this mission." He ordered.

Little did they know, just how right he was.

-x-x-x-x-x-x- NTUC -x-x-x-x-x-x-

Alright, there you go, the penultimate chapter in this re-write. Whether I make the fight scene or not I'll for sure be posting this by August 5th. See you then.

So, til next time,

RinneTaicho, Signing off!