Chapter 7:

*static*

"-Entry Log 143: Dear Diary, We have finally perfected the teleportation on small mammals without any iniures. We have lost a few- *static* -uka dogs, as well. All in the name of science. Their sacrifice wasn't in vain, however, as our last test was a success. Our test subject, Subject #328, better known as Kuroma- *static* -as successfully teleported from our teleporter to our mainframe, located 30 meters, or roughly 100 feet away! Not only have we successfully teleported the subject, but this means that Dan- *static* -ally convince Master Hiruzen to allow for human subjects! Oh, and not getting torn to shreds by Tsume for losing her hound is nice as well."

*static*

*static*

"-Entry Log 150: Dear Diary, Our conversation with Hiruzen went almost smoothly. While we were able to get human subject, yes, Hiruzen still felt it was an unnecessary risk in losing multiple shinobi, but seeing how trail and error is how we've come this far, he let us use corpses. Never thought id be happy tha- *static* -ime thugs and shinobi in our bingo books. Sho-

*knocking on a door is heard*

"Uh Lord Orochimaru?"

"Yes, Dr. Hirukama?"

"My lord we've made a wonderful discovery! We thought you must know about it!

"Go on Doctor"

"So while you were perfecting the teleportation process we have discovered other uses that the element could be applied for. For example, this.

"A soldier pill? That's what you've stopped my recording?

"Quite right sir, but what makes this one special was that it's been infused with 115."

"In- *static* -15. Fascinating who's idea was it to do such a feat?"

"It was actually a happy accident sir, you see- *static* -ver a bag of soldier pills that then touched the rock. We didn't notice for about a week, once we did however instead of disposing them we decided to test it on a lab rat that was victim of an unfortunate test gone wrong. When we fed the rat a piece of the contaminated pill, it was revived!

"Show me the footage if there is any immediately! This might be another way we could secure more funding for Di- *static* -earch."

*static*

Present:

Kakashi opened his eyes only to be met with a bright light. Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw he was in a small room. It was well kept just a thin layer of dust on the table across his bed. Or should he say futon? It seems he got carried by his team. He saw the door to his room slightly opened, which led to a hallway. The source of the blinding light was a window to the left of him. The rising sun shining in his one opened eye. He was about to stand up when his door opened, further revealing a beautiful dark blue haired woman with a pink shirt and long blue dress. 'I believe I'm assuming I'm in Tazuna's house. Good, we made it.' Trying to stand up, his arms, that were holding him up collapsed on him. Causing an undignified grunt as he hit his head on the floor.

The lady rushed up to him and helped him get comfortable again. "You need to stay put and rest. I may not be a nurse, but I know when someone needs rest." she told him. Allowing himself to be pampered a bit by the attractive woman, he was settled back into his futon. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Haven't been pushed like that in a while." She finished tucking him in and checking his temperature. While a ninja is supposed to be tougher than the average civilian, no one wasn't gonna get some illness for being in wet clothes for a prolonged period of time. Both the teacher and the blond were soaking wet when they arrived, so that was her main priority. Although she didn't mind slightly undressing the masked man.

"I'll go let your students know you're awake." she walked out of the room, leaving Kakashi with his thoughts. He hoped the Hokage could send any form of backup. The chance was slim considering that all the people he would want are already doing their own search. Sometimes, he wondered if the rediscovery of Element 115 was more trouble than its worth. Even if his sensei believed in the applications for it, he still felt messing with the rock was.. unnatural. Sure, the new soldier pills they developed by infusing them with 115 are extraordinary, but the other half of the story was much darker. His musings were cut short by the sound of a knock on the door, followed by the sounds of foot steps entering. Sakura walked in first, followed by Naruto, then Satsuki. A suspicious amount of space in-between them. "Yo, anything interesting happen while I was out cold?"

"NO, no, nothing at all. Nothing interesting happened. Right, Sakura?" she gestured through gritted teeth and a light blush. She got caught snuggling up to her blonde teammate this morning by both Tsunami and Sakura! What's worse is the evidence they had on that stupid camera. She was just enjoying her Naruto's company and warmth, and now she had to deal with Sakura's stupid knowing smile. Wait, no, Naruto wasn't hers yet. Wait, no, there is no not yet. Shut up! "Hmmm, interesting? No, no, I don't think anything happened. Wouldn't you say Na-ru-to?" she said in a teasing manner. She's gonna punch Sakura in her stupid pretty face.

"No, not really, Satsuki and I just fell asleep together studying a scroll that her father allowed me to study after we got here." he stated cheerfully, failing to see said Uchiha tense and turn a few shader of red darker. "Aww, having study dates already, I see? And all you needed was some alone time." Kakashi joined the teasing with an eye smile. Sakura giggled, Satsuki refused to make eye contact with anyone, and Naruto just smiled and put his arm around his black haired teammate. "Yeah, I love spending time with her! She's great company!" Satsuki turned a darker shade but didn't pull away from his embrace. It was a nice little team banter. It's a shame Kakashi had to ruin it.

"As fun as it is teasing Satsuki, we have bigger matters to discuss." This caught the genins' attention, and they sat at the foot of his futon."I believe Zabuza is still alive." Everyone looked at Kakashi scared and confused before Sakura spoke, "But sensei we saw him die! You checked his pulse and gave it the clear." she didn't understand. There's no way he could've gotten up from the state he was in. "That's what I thought at the time but looking at the evidence laid out in front of you, I dont believe thats the case." he said Slowly lifting himself up he decided it was time for a little pop quiz to see if they were paying attention. "Naruto do you remember the weapon that was used." The orange clad shinobi thought about it for a sick before responding. "Oh uh yeah it was like two thin needless or something. they hit him in the neck." Kakashi nodded "Good job Naruto. Theyre called senbon needles. Now Sakura," his head and looked over at Sakura. She fidgeted under her sensei's gaze. "As our smartest kunochi here what are they primarily used for?"

"They're mainly used for acupuncture and medical reasons by medical nin," she gasped. Satsuki sucked her teeth. "My mom used to use senbon when she was a kunochi. Like Sakura said mostly for medical purposes, but she said with precise aim you could knock someone into what looks like a death state." The genin looked at each other in realization. Kakashi watched the scene unfold in front of him. Seems these three together are smart, after all. "Exactly, which means he'll be back. Although with the damages he sustained, it'll take him a bit to recover." "Can one of you pass me the light blue soldier pill? It's in the case in my bag." Sakura walked over to it and rummaged through his pack. multiple sealing scrolls, kunai packs, and a pack of soldier pills, all of them sorted by name. Blood pill, chakra pill, and a weird one she's never seen before. It was a light blue pill that seemed to glow a bit in the darkness of the bag. It was separated from the rest of the pills. "This one?" she asked, unsure if it even was a soldier pill. "Yep, that's the one." she handed it to him, which he held on to for a second. The three sat there watching. Waiting to see what was under the mask. After about a minute or two, Naruto spoke, "Ugh sensei, aren't you gonna eat it?"

"I don't feel like it right now." he said nonchalantly, causing his genin to fall over. "Oh, come on!" Both Naruto and Sakura yelled while Satsuki had a growing tick mark on her forehead. Before they could complain some more, Tsunami and Tazuna walked in. "Alright, you brats, let's leave the teacher to his rest. I'm gonna head out to the bridge soon, so I'm not sure how you wanna do protection." Tazuna stated. He had to start soon to bring Gato's reign to an end. "This is true. I'll have all of you gaurd Tazuna today while I recover, although if you want to do some training, the chakra control exercises should do for the day." "We already know how to walk up a tree. We don't even need a running start anymore!" Satsuki stated clearly frustrated about the lack of any new training. "Oh yeah, prove it." Kakashi challenged her. She wasted no time walking up the wall and then hanging upside down from the ceiling. "See?!" Kakashi just looked at Naruto, "You too, Naruto." Naruto wasn't too happy about that. "What? Why?"

"Just do it," Naruto grumbled but complied till he was standing next to the ravenette. "Good now, dance." he said as if it was the most casual thing in the world. "I beg your pardon." Satsuki said immediately. She almost slipped off till Naruto caught her and held her till she restuck. Sakura giggled, and Naruto just looked confused. "Dance? Like as if we were at a party?" he asked, wondering if he misheard.

"Eh, more of a galla but sure." Kakashi shrugged his shoulders. "How is this gonna help against Zabuza!?" a red-faced Uchiha asked the jonin. "Well, if you can dance together for more than 10 minutes without any of you falling, then I'll teach you the next part. If you can focus on dancing instead of focusing your feet, then by that logic, you won't have to focus on chakra control during a fight, right?" Sakura said, supporting Kakashi. She was sure that was the real reason for the request, but she liked to believe it was a way to get at her friend. "Ugh, I hate it when you're right." the Uchiha grumbled before she relented. She tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach as Naruto wrapped one arm around her waist. The fingers intertwined in their free hand before they started swaying in a dancing motion. Not even 40 seconds in, there was some toe stepping, and they both came crashing down. Naruto was, unfortunately, the cushion. "I thought so." Kakashi chuckled as two pairs of glaring eyes looked up at him. "So there you go, protect Tazuna while you train. That goes for you, too, Sakura." said girls smile faded as she realized she would probably end up like her teammates, rubbing her head and cursing under her breath. "Dang it," she mumbled.

"Well, that was fun to watch, but I came to say that we have a bit of breakfast ready. I'll bring up yours, Kakashi-san. Come on, let's go, the man needs his rest." Tsunami ushered the gouo out the room and closed the door behind them. He waited a few seconds before looking at the pill that Sakura handed him. It seemed to pulse a small light blue hue, one of Division 9's more successful experiments with 115. They weren't field tested just yet, but all lab results that came back said nothing but good things. He lowered his mask and took the pill. He felt a sudden burst of energy, causing him to jolt up and take a deep breath. He took a few more breaths and waited a bit longer. He felt great, and there didn't seem to be any side effects. He stood up slowly and moved around while throwing a few punches and kicks. "Huh, I feel like how I was before the fight. No brusing, cramps, or sores. Just feel a little revived. Looks like they did some good after all." He stated to himself. If infusing a simple chakra pill with 115, reduced the healing time from a week to an hour, what else could be possible? "No wonder Danzo is so interested in this element." he looked into his bag and pulled out the container. 'Hmm, only two pills left. That explains the urgency of this mission.' He mused to himself. It's still better to keep up appearances of a bed ridden shinobi, so to many questions, don't get asked. He lied back down in his futon, and a few moments after he resttled, Tsunami walked in with a plate of food which Kakashi was grateful for.

Sakura watched as her teammates dance on the side of the pillars of the bridge. Her and her Naruto clone finished the exercise fairly quickly, mostly because of her leading him around, but the job was done. The clone went to go help with the construction process, which seemed to speed up production. Having a ninja that can just walk up a point and help lay construction equipment was very handy. She watched over them a bit before she got bored and decided to check on her teammates. They seemed to be doing alright for themselves. They swayed left and right before Naruto got a mischievous look on his face. She watched as Naruto twirled Satsuki around and pulled her close to his chest before he picked her up and spun them around. Satsuki squealed at the action before she gave him a slap on the chest. "Don't do that. I can fall!" she yelled at him. Sakura rolled her eyes. 'Ha, yeah, right, you've been dancing for about 20 minutes now. You're just using this exercise as an excuse,' she thought to herself with a smile. Still, they were adorable, so she didn't mind observing. Plus, the blackmail material she was getting from observing this alone was a treat itself. Although she couldn't wait to see Ino pretend she wasn't jealous over this fact. She really should've saved that camera Tsunami had.

"Hey, M-Mr. Tazuna" a group of workers walked up to said man. They seemed on edge, probably the threat of Gato. "The fellas and I have decided that we can't do this anymore. W-we have to t-think of our families. We are risking too much!" Figures, Sakura wishes this was the first one the day. She's watched as more and more decided to abandon the project. "You cowards! I am doing this for my family too, you know? If you're alright with watching your families slowly waste away, then fine! Leave and hope that we finish it before Gato gets more power!" Tazuna yelled at the man before getting back to work. The group looked at each with shame on their faces. Maybe he had a point, but at the end of the day. they were scared. So with that they walked off the bridge to rejoin their families at home having given up.

Tazuna leaned over a table with the rest of the bridge blueprints and a bunch of tools before he yelled in frustration and threw everything off the table. Sakura ran up to the man to check on him, followed by her two teammates. "Everything ok old man?" Naruto expressed his concerns "Yeah you sure you'll be ok?" Tazuna sighed deeply before he spoke. "As much as I call them cowards for leaving, I don't blame them. Everyday they work never knowing if itll be their last. I understand yes but I'm losing more works by the day soon it'll only be a handful of us working on it. It'll take months to finish at this rate." They looked at the man with pity. Everything was falling apart. The looming threat of Gato was just too much for these folks. If only they had more people willing to help then they can be free sooner. They just needed..more.. workers "Hey, Naruto," Satsuki caught said blondes attention "Can't you make solid clones?" she asked him with a small smile on her face. Sakura's face lit up with realization at the suggestion. Naruto blinked at Satsuki before giving her a foxy grin. "I like the way you think, Satsuki." Tazuna raised his eyebrow Sakura looked at Tazuna "How many workers do you need?" she asked her client. "Uh 50 to replace the ones we lost but if you can get an extra 50 somehow.." he trailed off. These kids were starting to get his hopes up. They knew something that might help!

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

In a poof of smoke over 120 Naruto's appeared before him. Tazuna and the workers all stared in shock at the sea of orange clad blondes. The hard hats were being passed around. There wasn't enough for all of them, but they all stood at attention nonetheless."Naruto Uzumaki, reporting for duty," they all said in unision and saluted, making them seem more of a battalion rather than workers. Satsuki leaned over the table and threw her head back. "So do you think these will be enough to cover the men you've lost?" she asked smiling smugly. Sakura joined in. "What's wrong, not enough?" she teased. Tazuna began to chuckle before falling into full-blown laughter. "Hahahaha, you kids are the greatest! Alright, everyone, grab a group of blondes, and let's get to work!" With the workers' moral raised, they all cheered and started taking groups of Narutos to direct them. The bridge construction was now on schedule.

Gato's mansion:

"You FAILED?!" A short man with shoulder-length spiky hair yelled out and small rounded glasses. He wore a black business suit with a tan dress shirt and dark purple tie. He was currently frustrated at a currently bedridden Zabuza and his damned boy. These were supposed to be elite shinobi, and they can't take out a simple builder? Zabuza growled at the man "He had stronger protection than anticipated. If you don't believe me send your men and watch them die for all I care. I will kill both the builder and the man defending him next time." His thoughts wandered over to a certain blonde. 'And I won't make the same mistake of underestimating that stupid brat."

"And how long exactly will next time bridge!? word has it, the bridge is back on schedule and might actually be finished sooner than expected! Do you hear me!?" The short man reached over to the man before his arm was grabbed by a strong grip. He screamed in pain amd looked over to the young boy held his arm tightly. His gaze promised more pain, "Keep your filthy hands off him!" Haku yelled at the man before throwimg him back. "AH, THE BRAT BROKE MY ARM!" he shouted in pain.

Gato's two 'samurai' gaurds stepped foward. One a light-skinned man with bluish-white hair and black eyes. Lined markings are tattooed under his eyes. He wore a dark purple hat on his head, the top of which extends far beyond the top of his head and a blue jacket with multiple pockets and tied to his waist was a blue handled katana. The other, a tall man, who wore an eye-patch over his right eye and has brown hair which he parted in three which was up in an elaborate topknot. He arm had an intricate tattoo that seemingly stretches across his entire left side and left right, inner thigh, as well as a stitched scar on the left side of his forehead, and the left side of his mouth. He also wore a loose-fitting kimono, with the top half of the outfit fallong around his waist leaving his upper body exposed. Bandages were wrapped around his waist, which carries a fairly long sword. His skin was pale and had beads of sweat falling down his forehead.

They both drew their swords, while Haku stood up, ready to defend his Master. Although he didnt have to do much considering that not a second after this the tall one fall to one knee and started having a coughing fit. "Waraji!" yelled the shorter one. who rushed to help his comrade. "Ugh get a hold of yourself you idiot. Come on let's go. You better get the job done you hear me! Or don't expect any pay!" Gato yelled as he left. He nursed his arm and muttered under his breath on why he hired idiots as intimidation. As they left the coughing fit seemed to get worse before a thud in the hallway was heard. "Oh for Kami's sake, someone come pick this dumbass up! " his voiced trailed down the hallway.

"Haku once I'm healed up we take Gato force him to pay us, and we get out of here." Zabuza said in a manner that left no room for arguments. Haku however was confused. "I'm sorry, Master, but why not just complete the mission?" He had no qualms taking Gatos money and leaving him for dead but something spurred this on. "Something is happening here. I'm not sure what but I'm hearing these goons talk about a power source. I believe Ive seen it myself. Some weird glowing blue rock or meteor. I've been seeing more and more of his men get sick. If I'm being honest with myself, I believe I'm sick too." Zabuza told his young student.

Haku face was instantly that of concern as he looked at him. "What do you mean? does this feel different somehow from a common cold?" Zabuza looked at Haku "No I don't know why but I feel as if this is all connected to that rock. Just being around it made me feel.. uneasy. Sickness might be a side effect perhaps?" He didn't know. Nor did he expect Haku to know. "Do me a favor Haku, keep your distance, I'm not so sure how this sickness works or what it could do."

And another chapter up. A little longer than expected but oh well. Rewatching has gone a little slow because of work. Plus I've started watching Lord of the Rings for the 1st time so I'm gonna be interested in that for a bit. Besides that I really hope you guys are enjoying this stort of mine. It's actually getting more attention than I realized and honestly make me feel warm and fuzzy inside that im making something people are enjoying!