The most reputable estimate of how long it takes for a fully-grown Momochi-Hoshigaki shark to devour an average adult is about 3 seconds. Th 2e sharks in Wave Country aren't known to attack humans except in rare cases, usually territorial disputes or a dumb teenage fisherman trying to look cool.
Kaiza wasn't someone most people knew him would call dumb.
Kaiza had heard this from a couple of old men on a riverbank once. The old men were friendly and salty, giving him lessons on the right hours to catch the biggest fish from years of shared experience, and hurling pedantic insults at passers-by and unfamiliar persons.
He'd shown up when the Land of Waves was still a humble fishing and trading nation, a fisherman looking for an opportunity to find work. He'd found success alright, but not in the way he'd imagined. He became a hero to the people, resolving the disasters and turmoil that plagued the Land of Waves. A woman, Tsunami, and her father, Tazuna, welcomed him into their home after Kaiza had rescued Tsunami's son from drowning.
Truly there were few alive who rivaled the courageousness Kaiza embodied. He fixed structures that were vital to the townspeople, saved animals from dangerous heights, protected weaker children from stronger ones, and was always there to help people in need whenever they asked. The scarred, muscular arms he bore with him were wide enough to embrace an entire nation of people.
That was why the criminal named Gato ordered his thugs to chop them off.
At first Kaiza proved too slippery for his rank and file to bring in. They torched the local pub to draw him out, threw caltrops at his feet to slow him down, threatened to rape and murder his family at the center of town. The last threat was what had forced him into confronting Gato's men.
An entire gang of thugs holding swords and clubs stood at one side of the street. Kaiza on the other, holding nothing but the sweat between his fingers. The battle that took place was incredible and terrifying. No one had ever pictured Kaiza as a violent sort; he was a protector, using his powerful limbs to lift things and to build things. No one expected for him to throw a haymaker that would send a man rocketing back into someone else, or for him to fight tooth and nail to swipe a spiked bat away and crook it directly into another man's face.
Kaiza stood tall after several minutes of desperate fighting and clawing. A pile of twenty masked men scattered around him, he demanded with bloodied teeth and gums that Gato leave the Land of Waves and never return. Gato showed a trembling finger pointing directly at Kaiza, vowing revenge.
Months passed. Tsunami was now expecting a second child. Kaiza and Tazuna had gone into business together and maintained the Land of Waves trading with other nations. Tazuna hired a team of builders that he managed from an office in town. Kaiza, preferring to stay on his feet, agreed to be a runner and delivery person for them. The Land of Waves was an isolated island nation and lacked proper passage across the water, so Kaiza took a boat back and forth to bring goods across the water.
Kaiza was on his way to the mainland to fulfill a trade with some merchants one day when, without warning, the surface of the sea darkened. Then, a powerful, discolored shark exploded through the waves and snatched Kaiza's torso in its jaws. The fabled hero barely had time to scream as he was tackled underwater and never seen or heard from again.
In less than twenty-four hours, Gato returned to the Land of Waves and announced himself as the new "daimyo."
Tazuna came home one day to deliver the bad news to his daughter and grandson. The Tazuna-Kaiza Shipping Office was attacked and he and his workers were forced to leave, making way for Gato to claim the building as his head office. No one knew where Kaiza was or of his grisly fate. As the weeks passed, some even thought he'd abandoned them. His grandson Inari and Inari's mother grew despondent, but Tazuna resolved to find a solution, if not here then elsewhere.
The Land of Fire was home to a ninja village, a village hidden in the leaves.
Naruto Mugenden
6
The Land of Waves and Sharks!
–
When they ran out of trees they walked on the water. When they ran out of water they found the shore. The Land of Waves.
Nobody recognized him or said hello. He didn't see Tazuna or Inari. The townspeople cowed through the streets. And nobody recognized him; this was, after all, Sai Uzumaki's first time here, chaperoning two kids. A motionless ceiling of flat clouds blocked the sky. Children and parents dotted the streets, shrinking into the buildings. The air had a taste to it. They wandered a while, finding that the stores weren't rescued or filled the way Naruto thought they would be. His eyes wandered to his side often where the Raijin Timer was sitting, tucked in a backpack.
The Fourth gave them good advice about remaining stealthed, and keeping their appearance as ninja of the Hidden Leaf concealed in public. An impressive kunai in their hand everywhere they went was sure to gather some unneeded attention.
"Hey, hobo-sensei…"
"Please don't call me that, Naruko," he grouched.
"...this town and the people here aren't looking so good."
"I know."
"Are you sure we're in the right place?"
"I…" The truth? He didn't. "There should be a bridge here and…"
They were at the entrance, and a large gap between one side of unfinished construction greeted them. Naruto turned around and noticed the tall grey building situated between one side of town and the other. Houses were low to the ground and the roofs patch jobs. Some even had tarps and tent coverings instead of proper materials.
"No bridge, huh," Kurama said as he moseyed from Naruto's side. "So, what now, oh fearless leader?"
"I'm thinking, I'm thin-king," he replied, grabbing his own hair.
"Excuse me?" said a woman's voice from behind them.
She had long dark hair that went to her shoulders. Her plain clothes stretched around her belly and a small child hid around her waist, holding her hand. Naruto remembered Inari's stuck-up little face.
"Are you folks ninjas by any chance?" Their looks gave away their surprise. "I didn't mean to stare, but the way you three carry yourselves, and the way you walk, plus the forehead protector in the girl's hair… Those are the kind shinobi usually wear."
Naruto glared at Naruko who took her pigtails in both hands and mouthed her apology with a full blush.
"My son and I are having dinner in an hour. You're welcome to join us, if you would like. I'd like to make a proposition to you three, if I may."
–
Their host was a pretty woman named Tsunami. Tsunami's house was located by the water on a big pier. The inside had a floor that went directly into the ground, so they didn't take off their shoes when they sat down to eat. They were seated at a big table with her and her son. The kid in the fishing hat was named Inari. Hobo-sensei whispered when they weren't in earshot that these two were people he knew from his world, and that they apparently didn't remember or know a thing about him.
"Tsunami, um, your belly is… are you going to be a mom?"
Tsunami smiled at Naruko while setting another plate on the table. "Yes, for the second time." The smile wavered and her hand went to pat Inari's head.
Naruko, Kurama, and Sai-sensei were together on one end. Inari sat with a dull look, not getting up or making eye contact with them. His mom came to sit, laying a pot of stew on the table. Everyone thanked her and started digging in. Inari ate quietly and only asked his mom to pass the salt. Sai had a big, goofy grin and ate slowly. Kurama noticed Naruko hesitating and asked what was wrong. It was nothing, she lied and started eating too.
This is… hardly a meal. "Thank you for the good food, Tsunami."
Tsunami gave her a blushing smile and told her she was welcome. Tsunami was the kind of person Naruko hadn't gotten used to being around. Sure there was her sensei; sensei, the word had come out of her so easily just days ago. Sai was unlike anybody she'd ever met except maybe Iruka. She paused, her hand trembling. Sai and Iruka treated her like she mattered. She liked that, but it was different. They were her teachers and they knew more about her than she did about them, especially in Sai's case. This time it was… oh how to describe it! It was like she and Tsunami were on an even playing field of getting to know one another and, more importantly, Tsunami didn't ignore her.
Her son was a different story. A half-pint, no taller than Naruto, hair squashed under a smelly-looking hat, looking more like the frilled ends of a broom underneath. The kid sure didn't say much and he kept giving her weird glances at everybody, stirring his dinner around with no destination.
"You said you, uh, had a proposition for us…?"
Tsunami cleared her throat to answer Sai's question. "Yes, I did. Now that your bellies are almost as big as mine…" She smirked. "Your headbands tell me that you belong to a ninja village, correct?"
Iruka-sensei had given her the headband and recoiled when she threw her arms around him in a bear hug. Sai had told her while they were walking across the ocean about what Lord Fourth had told him; that they could be recognized, and that somebody might not like them because of it. She didn't understand that. She'd never left the village or met anybody who hated the village.
When Sai confirmed, Tsunami went on to say, "My husband and father were in business together, but that changed not long ago. You've seen our streets. The people of this country are owned by a man named Gato. He's a crime lord who needs to be done away with." She glanced at Kurama and asked if it was alright to continue. When Sai asked what the problem was she continued, "I don't have a lot of money to pay you, or any right to ask children for assistance with this matter-"
"So don't." Eyes turned to Inari, his voice quieting hers. "Mom, if you ask them to help us they'll just end up getting killed for nothing."
"Inari!"
The sudden raise in his mom's voice was the boy's warning; he got up from the table, apologized then excused himself without another word. Naruko pushed her food forward.
"I'm sorry, this really isn't a discussion to be had around children."
Inari was barely up the first few steps to the house's second floor when he heard Naruko's voice shout. Her body seemed to move on its own.
"What did you just say you little brat?"
The boy turned sideways a little out of fear, but he had that damned smug look on his face. He repeated what he'd said. "It'll all be for nothing if you go up against Gato and get yourself killed."
Naruko balled a fist. "I should forgive you since you're just a stupid kid, but if you're old enough to talk about ninja stuff at the table then you're old enough to hear this. We're a group of super-ninja from the Village Hidden In The Leaves! I don't know who this Gato-chump is, but he's toast, believe it!"
Sai recalled her, asked her to sit back down, and leave the kid alone. The damned, flat look stayed on Inari's face as he focused on her. "Are you stupid? You don't know anything, do you? Heroes don't exist."
"Why you little-"
"Inari, enough, go to your room."
"Naruko, that's enough."
The two older people in the house gave their strictest voices, so that was the end of it. Naruko clenched her teeth and padded back over to the table, her butt sounding on the bench. Kurama scooted away from her yet asked her what was wrong, why she'd gotten so pissed all of a sudden.
Naruko told him it was nothing and went back to eating in silence.
–
They listened to the rest of Tsunami's story and it confirmed something Sai had wondered about.
Two and a half years ago Team 7 had gone to the Land of Waves by accident. They ended up getting mixed up in a battle with Zabuza who, it turned out, wasn't a completely heartless monster. Zabuza took care of that Gato-asshole and Kakashi, Sai, and his teammates had made sure to give Zabuza and Haku a proper burial before departing.
That hadn't happened here, for some reason. Tsunami didn't know a thing about Konoha or Team 7; had no idea who his comrades were, and for as long she'd lived here never seen any ninja besides him and Naruko. She'd thought it lucky to run into them even if they were still in training (which both of them technically were). Her dad was off in the mainland trying to bring a team home with him. She knew that he would fleece them as shinobi protection was famously expensive.
Naruko had already rattled off they were from the Leaf; if Tsunami hadn't already picked that up from the symbols on their headbands. Tsunami detailed, still giving uncomfortable looks at Kurama as he sat there, seeming ill but intensely curious about her history, how she'd had almost everything stolen from her by Gato and his men. Any sense of security one could have in the Land of Waves was supposed to be the army of razor-toothed sharks that leapt out of the water at any sign of trouble. He didn't bring up, or even want to think about how they'd entered traveling from the sea.
When Tsunami asked if they would be willing to provide protection from Gato, for her and her son at least until her newborn came along, the answer was an uncertain sidelong glance.
Tsunami's face moved in a way that made him lurch. "Oh it's okay," she said, hands wandering up for her face and pressing it worriedly, "I understand if you can't, Mr. Sai-sensei. If you leave now, Gato's men will come to our door and probably do away with me. My precious Inari will be all alone with his no-good grandfather. They probably won't even last a week since neither of them knows how to cook or do laundry."
Sai groaned and said they would stay for the time being and help where they could, an unfamiliar feeling rising in his chest.
So, yeah, they were staying. Naruko and Kurama had no objections and looked mopey-eyed, Naruko even moreso at the thought of abandoning Tsunami too. Sai stood and asked to go outside for a bit to get some air (and process his thoughts), going first to wash his hands before going for the door.
Sai accepted it now that he was stuck in the past again, and almost cursed at the special kunai, the "remote" he'd been given. Why couldn't he control where they ended up? His frustration went, as it always did, into the part of his brain that never backed down from hardship. They would wait out their time in this world, help if they could since Team 7 wasn't here apparently, and go to the next world - he was sure the next one would be one of their homes!
He turned the sink off, dried his hands, and started to leave. Naruko and Kurama both finished their dinner. It hadn't been much, but considering where they were no one had any right to complain. Sai pulled the front door open and was greeted by the face of a man with blue skin and deep slits in his cheeks.
"Hello there," said the man, arms folded over a broad chest. A black, sleeveless shirt covered him, and striped arm warmers matched the ones around his ankles.
Sai turned his neck. "Tsunami, uh, you know this freaky-looking guy?"
Tsunami had gotten up from the table and started moving about the kitchen nook. When she heard him, her face whitened.
"My name," said the man with the freaky cheeks, "is Kisame Hoshigaki, currently a proprietor of Gato Shipping Industries. I'd so very much like it if I could come in and rest myself. I've been quite busy today, you see." Before Sai could make conversation or even stand aside, the tall man brustled past him flashing his teeth at everyone. He asked if it was okay with their host for him to barge in. Tsunami stuttered her reply that it was okay, the dish cloth in her hand shaking as she spoke.
Sai closed the door behind him, eyes narrowing.
"Well looky here, a nice house on the water, a nice family living in it. My my, you really are living good if the rest of the houses I visit are any indication."
Sai eyeballed Naruko, who was returning to the living room when the new person entered, and Kurama, still at the table and amazed by the man's appearance. He got out of his seat when the blue-skinned man sat down. Then the memory trickled through Sai, remembering the man's shoulders and voice as he sauntered behind Sasuke's brother carrying a huge, wrapped-up sword. There wasn't a single person in the room who wasn't keeping their eyes peeled on Kisame.
The timer on his seal said they had six more days here.
"You've got weird marks on your face like mine."
Kisame turned his head to Kurama. "Heh heh, I keep my claspers to myself kid, so don't go implying we're related or anything." He peered over, slightly more intrigued. "Although now that you mention it, yeah, I can see that. Yours are more like whiskers like a gerbil, or a fox or something."
Kurama smiled at him as Tsunami moved to the door that led to the stairs. The ones Inari had gone up. "I'm sorry, Mr. Hoshigaki-" He held up his hand and said that Kisame was fine. "I just want to tell my grandson to brush his teeth before he goes to bed."
"Ah of course," said Hoshigaki. "Wouldn't want the boy to have teeth like mine."
Tsunami's face squirmed out of view as she went up the stairs. Sai made himself stand between the blue-skinned man, and his two charges. Then Kisame rose from his seat, the same one Sai had originally sat in.
"Hope you don't mind if I grab a glass of water," he said.
Sai nodded and watched him go to the sink. Naruko followed Sai's facial directions and steered clear, but only stopped to offer the man one of the house's few drinking glasses. Water rushed from the faucet, loud in the quiet space. He took a small sip and set the glass to the side with his hand gripping it. The water suddenly stopped without him moving his hands from the counter or the glass.
"Kisami-"
"It's Kis-ame, kid… what was your name?"
"Kisame," he corrected, not answering the question. "You're… you're Akatsuki aren't you. That freaky shark guy with the sword."
There were footsteps from upstairs and a tiny voice, Tsunami's, muffled by the floorboards.
"Well I don't know what an Akatsuki is, nor do I appreciate being called a shark guy," Kisame replied with a laugh that made his request for water understandable. "Though I guess that's not an inaccurate description, heheh."
"You didn't answer my question."
"Funny, I didn't." Naruko and Kurama listened to the two of them, not sure what to do or where in the room to go. "
Sai paid attention to the weapons the man walked in with. Senbon needles lined his waist. He could use or throw away as many as he liked and probably never run out. A sword poked from his left side, sheathed for now and Sai hoped that it would stay that way. It wasn't the giant cleaver he remembered. He wanted this to be a nice guy version of Kisame. The next words from his mouth, however, proved that he wasn't.
"You're not very stealthy for Hidden Leaf ninja, are you," he said as more of a statement than a question. "Walking around in a town like this with your headbands, not even bothering to throw on a disguise. You must be really strong to be this confident. I'm moister than usual just thinking about it."
Sai's face tightened. "You've been following us?"
"Since you came within 200 meters of the border, using your chakra to carry that boy cowering over there here for some reason. I'm under standing orders to terminate any foreign entities that breach the Wave's border, but I figured I'd see where you were headed first."
Naruko asked what he meant but Kisame ignored her. Kurama watched silently. Sai remembered Minato's words. Kisame had already been an enemy in Sai's world.
Sai chose his next words carefully. "Are you here to eliminate us?"
The wooden ceiling creaked and groaned. A bubble popped in Kisame's drink despite the calm. Naruko's sandal pushed against the floor, her back tensing.
"Yeah, pretty much."
Kisame's foot connected with his face and the teenager went crooked. Noise surrounded him as his head crashed into the wall, denting it. The bits of consciousness he had left managed to hear what Kisame was saying to him. Naruko's cries were the last thing he heard, lying on his back with his arms and legs completely useless.
–
"Sai!"
Naruko ran to him, the wall around the impact showing black lines and splinters. Sai's eyes were barely open and the top of his forehead protector was wet with blood. He couldn't move, or at least didn't. She whipped her eyes at Kisame and growled. The bastard was smiling at them, still holding the glass she'd stupidly given to him, still full of water.
Kisame slowly lowered his foot. "I'd suggest you three skip town. That was an act of mercy on behalf of the Gato Shipping Company's top assassin, Kisame Hoshigaki of Shark Country. Accept no substitutes."
He glanced down at the water and set it on the ground. "When the concussion wears off, you might want to give this to him. Tell him there's plenty more people's homes with walls for me to use."
Sai was still too out of it. Parts of her face were going numb even as her lips moved. "If you ever lay a hand on my sensei again… I'll kill you."
When the man laughed at her, her vision started going red. "Such big words from a little girl. Ok, let's see it then. Hope you realize I just knocked your sensei out cold with a single hit."
Naruko balled her fists then made a hand seal. "Take your best shot fool. I'll give it back to you a thousand fold."
More than a dozen Naruko's covered that side of the room. She couldn't see Kurama among them, and she hoped he was taking cover. Kisame clasped his right hand and cracked his knuckles. He made an amused comment over the number of copies she'd made and casually kicked the glass on the floor with the tip of his sandal. The water made a dark stain on the floor, the part that was actually part of the dirt.
"Shark Style: Ground Shark Bullets."
That little puddle of sink water rose from the floor into a staff-shaped column of water. Kisame said nothing when the newly-made fountain grew bigger, and suddenly a huge shape twisted free of it, baring sharp teeth and a long, sleek nose. The shark that came from the fountain made a howling sound, a bloodthirsty missile in need of prey, finding it when it slammed into and closed its jaws around Naruko or one, maybe two of her copies.
Then another shark, and another ravaged the others. Naruko after Naruko fell to the beasts that seemed to be made out of nothing but water. Naruko wouldn't surrender easily. She pounded with her hands, kicked with her feet. The shark refused to let go and, moments later, swallowed that clone whole, smoke lingering around its mouth as the clone dispersed.
Naruko was overcome watching her selves be depleted. She ran forward on autopilot, not really having a plan or countermove ready. Kisame saw her lunge at him over the sharks and her fist winding back to clock him right in the face. She landed and hit the table instead, scrambling on all-fours to retarget her foe, getting to her feet and throwing a kick at his head. He hardly moved, stopping her kick with a hand, and doing it again when she reversed and punched, moving his hand slightly to do so.
She hopped and swept her leg for his midsection. Standing on the table had finally put them at eye level. Kisame caught her leg with his hand then tossed her back-first to the floor, her body making a thick, packing shudder when it hit dirt. The air flew from her lungs then repeated as a sheathed sword came around Kisame's side, and smacked loudly on top both of her legs with a crunching sound, Kisame kneeling down to bring his entire weight down with the blow.
Her legs ignited followed by the rest of her. For several moments she merely sat there half-straightened, crooked, the air coiling in her lungs. Even though she was screaming at the top of them, she still heard Kisame say. "A lesson to the young about picking fights with people you aren't prepared to handle. That one's free, kid. "
The rest of his taunting was deafened by a ringing noise. The front of her knees had deep crevasses in them, skin and bone sinking almost to the floor. The sheath had simply crushed them underneath. There was no moving or escaping. Even calling for help was out of her reach.
Kisame stayed there watching her, uttering things that didn't make it past her ears. He looked over his shoulder to Kurama, monitoring the boy, looking back, arms flat at his sides with a scowl on his face. Tsunami came running seconds after Naruko's shouting and covered her mouth. Kurama just kept staring at the scene, not running to her nor running away. Sai was twitching, seemingly coming to, but it didn't matter.
The man asked a question, but not at her. "Well are you just going to stand there, shrimp, or are you smarter than your big sister?"
Kurama didn't say anything, didn't look at him, at least not directly.
Kisame headed for the door, took one last glance over his shoulder, and called him a creepy freaking kid in a muttered tone. The door gently closed with a mild click. The room was empty save two injured shinobi and a smashed, knocked-over table, and a panicked woman who'd had the sense to make sure her child was hidden from the bad man.
Tsunami rushed over to her just moments and despaired over the girl's broken legs before Naruko finally blacked out.
–
Waking up in a boat wasn't the start of the bad things that had happened today, but it damned well made how bad things were, and how bad they were about to get, sink in for Kakashi Hatake.
"Your genin carried you the whole way here." Tazuna wasn't high on his list of favorite people, but as of right now he was the only adult closeby, looking right at him. "I'm sorry to say this Mr. Jonin-sensei, but we can't stay here. They don't call this the Land of Waves and Sharks just because there's a gangster running it."
"Kakashi-sensei!"
His genin - Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke - looked minimally worse for wear. Naruto and Sasuke had their hair roughed up and Sakura probably needed a change of clothes. There was salt water in everybody's clothes, as expected from a life-or-death situation with a Water Style user. Sasuke rang out his shirt while Sakura occupied her attention elsewhere, and Naruto was apparently designated look-out, flattening his hand over his eyebrows. He spun when he heard Sakura.
"I feel like I just got mauled by a bear."
"Kakashi-sensei, we tried to get you to Tazuna's house…"
"...but there was all of this damage and some people were hurt!"
Kakashi asked what Sakura meant by that. She filled him in: the weird-looking boy with the mask was gone after taking Zabuza's body, Tazuna brought them to his daughter's, and the evidence of a break-in was, ironically, visible once you stepped inside. Kakashi looked over with the little energy available to him to the second boat being tied to his. There were two others in even worse shape than him; a blond teenage boy whose features had a faint familiarity in them, if not for the dried blood around them, and a girl with splints around her legs.
"My daughter," said Tazuna, "said these two were ninja from your village. No idea what they were doing here, but they were willing to be hired." He frowned. "They were followed, and one of Gato's fixers came knocking, put these two right where you see them now."
"Are they alive?" Kakashi asked.
"Not for long if we can't move them. We're going to one of my crew's houses. Not safe to be on the street or on the water or that matter."
Kakashi saw a pregnant woman and a small boy beside her, sitting on the other end of the second boat. The daughter and the grandson Tazuna had alluded to earlier. His next move was to look at Sasuke, as if the gesture was all that was needed.
"We didn't spot any attackers, but…"
But with people like Zabuza working for this Gato character, there was no telling how outclassed they were, or how stealthy their enemy could be. Thoughts of Zabuza's survival clouded his thoughts. No, that was impossible; the wounds Zabuza received were fatal. Unless he'd missed something? The feeling of missing details strummed his mind with each passing second; gave him a weird feeling. He rolled it around, accepted his conclusion, spat it back out; regurgitated. It didn't make any sense.
The conclusions slammed against him. Corpse-erasing shinobi usually worked in teams, first off, and secondly they made sure to do the disposal on-site. If that boy hadn't then…
"He said his name was Kisame Hoshigaki."
When Tsunami threw that out there, Kakashi was the only one unlucky enough to pick up its meaning. He was glad to be wearing a mask so that he could school his features better, ignoring the freezing blood in his body. If his team saw his face now they would start to panic, or at least more than earlier.
His face went so stiff that even Naruto picked up on it. When asked why, he told them part of the truth, and it was just enough to raise their fear.
"Kisame is another Zabuza. If he attacked your family's home, and if he's on Gato's side, we don't stand a chance against them, especially with my current condition." He peered at the other two and memorized their injuries. The boy likely had a concussion. The girl… might never walk again.
It was a long boat ride to Tazuna's supposed sanctuary. Tazuna apparently used the last of his remaining favors with the boat's rower for doing so, and Kakashi couldn't be sure if the perimeter was safe or not, but they didn't have the luxury of safer options. Kakashi heard over the course of the boat ride, Tazuna's grandson chattering his teeth over how Gato was going to kill them all. That this was what he knew would happen once somebody came along and tried playing hero.
Nobody said much of anything, agreeing or disagreeing, after that.
–
They were in a smaller house when Sai woke up and the pain in his skull and the back of his upper neck was almost unbearable. That didn't hold a candle to who he saw sitting across from him, hand on his side pouch with probably more than a few shuriken ready to go. That stupid young face, those tentpole arms, and that stupid glare.
"Sasuke?"
Saying that he'd stepped back in time would've been too easy, and of course it wasn't the same comrade he remembered. Sasuke was looking at him with that same level of poisonous disinterest they'd had back at the academy. For a minute he was two years younger again, thinking of all the ways he could teach Sasuke a lesson, one-up him in front of Sakura, and finally get his respect.
"I don't know who you are or why you look like Naruto," the younger Sasuke said. "But let's get one thing straight, I don't trust you, and my team and I are on high enough alert."
Give me a reason was the gist of it. He noticed the shuriken glinting in Sasuke's throwing hand.
Right to the point as always, Sasuke asked him, "What are you doing in the Land of Waves? You aren't from the Hidden Leaf. Why are you pretending to be?"
"Look, I'm not…"
"You and that girl were banged up, but that doesn't mean we have to trust you. How do we know you weren't just in some sort of pay dispute and won't go back to Gato?"
"You really don't trust me at all, huh Sasuke." The words were warm and searching, a friend to a friend. The shame of it was that Sasuke didn't see it that way. Sai tried to relax and be as normal as possible, but then he remembered Naruko, Kisame, and Tsunami.
"Tsunami and Inari are fine. That girl," his voice lowered.
Just as Sai's eyes widened he began to get a better picture of where they were. Sakura and another boy (with his exact hairstyle and the same colored clothes) were barefoot, crouching over a bed-ridden man whom he knew had to be Kakashi. Tsunami was ringing out a cloth from a small pan of water, paying brief flicks of attention toward her son over in the corner. There was a small channel of water in the center with two parallel wooden platforms. Bare walls on every side; fishing hooks, lures, and musty boots that mixed with the seawater in his nose.
It was some kind of boathouse by the water. Tazuna stepped in from the other end and closed the door behind him. He sighed and acknowledged Sai, surprised to see him awake already. He walked to another bed on the other end of the cramped makeshift home to a spare futon. Naruko's eyes were covered. Not her entire face, but still. The blanket was pulled over. They weren't splints like the ones medical ninja used in the field. Someone had borrowed what was on hand: fishing rope twirled and fastened around rolled-up newspaper and small, ankle-length wooden boards, and a belt was tied on one leg for some kind of support. Sakura was a particular kind of uncomfortable and couldn't bring herself to look in Naruko's direction. Inari mostly stayed by himself, looking down at the water.
Personal knowledge kept him from springing out of bed to go to her. That, and the dangerous looks Sasuke and Kakashi gave him. Naruko was a Jinchuriki, just like he was. She would heal in no time, but a lump rolled down his throat before he asked what that fish-faced bastard did to her.
Tsunami stopped applying the wet rag to Naruko's forehead and had to cover her face so as not to cry. She failed. "It was the most awful thing. That man he's, he's inhuman. To do that to a little girl." He heard her through choked, wet sobs, giving everybody else a reason to tense their faces.
Except for Sasuke who did his best to keep watching him with a sideways stare. And Kakashi, who spoke up on the matter. "I'm sorry your companion is in such bad shape. We are ninja from Konoha and I guarantee you, if we can do anything to help, we will."
In no small way Naruto admitted it was comforting to hear Kakashi's voice again.
"But first, my team and I need some answers. Who are the two of you, really? Tsunami says there were three of you when you arrived at her home. The other boy who was with you went missing."
Sai stared at Kakashi directly. Then took a deep breath through his nose.
"Kakashi-sensei, I'll tell you everything I can."
–
Naruto Mugenden
Chapter 6
TO BE CONTINUED