30 Chapter 25: Learning Truths

Well I'm happy so many of you enjoyed the last chapter. And the changes I've made so far to the Nami mission. Let's see if I can continue to please. *nods*

In other news, a fanfic author, THE-DUDE remixed has recently posted his first fanfic, a Justice LeaguexPrototype crossover. If you're interested, please give it a read, or tell your friends or readers about it.

So, nothing else to state here, so let's get moving then. On to the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Assassin's Creed. They are the properties of Masashi Kishimoto and Ubisoft respectively.

Chapter 25

Learning Truths

Nami no Kuni

No one seemed to notice when two figures entered the bar in the western part of the town. Then again, the few patrons in there were more interested in enjoying their drinks and mulling over their own problems.

Mukei and Ameyuri bought a bottle of sake to share, and sat down in a remote corner of the bar, here they quietly began to pour the sake into cups. Mukei slowly sipped his, before speaking. "Did you see the thugs roaming the streets?" He murmured quietly.

Ameyuri just nodded, sitting back. "Yeah. There are a lot of them here. I'd say it's very likely we found Gato's current base of operations."

"Yeah…now we just need to find Gato," Mukei said, only to shift as a new person entered the bar.

Said person was dressed in the clothing of a fisherman, a conical wide brim hat on his head and hiding his features. Like many in Nami, his clothes were worn and ragged. He quietly placed a couple of coins on the bar, getting a bottle of sake before sitting at the table next to Ameyuri and Mukei. The two tensed as the fisherman poured himself a drink, before he spoke in a low tone. "You're an awfully long way from Mizu, aren't you Mukei-san?" He asked, lifting his head enough to reveal the face of Raphael.

The sight of the Assassin made the two relax, and Mukei grinned. "Raphael-san, it's good to see you," he said, only for Raphael to slightly shake his head.

"Not here. Finish your drinks and then head towards the north part of town. I'll meet you at the outskirts a half hour after you leave," he said, before going back to his drink.

The two pirates glanced at each other, then shrugged and went back to drinking, making quiet conversation. Eventually they finished, and left the bar, following Raphael's instructions.

Half an hour after they arrived, they were soon joined by Raphael, who simply passed them, discreetly signaling them to follow him. As the two did, Raphael checked to make sure they weren't followed. "It's good to see the both of you. I take it you got my message about Gato being here?" He said.

"Obviously, or else we wouldn't be here," Ameyuri said with a bit of snark, as Raphael just smiled.

"I've confirmed that Gato is here. He's in a large mansion on the east side of the island," he continued. "I've also found a possible point of infiltration, which I can use to sneak into the mansion. However, in order to be successful, I need the aid of a boat or ship," Raphael said.

Mukei shook his head. "Why not just storm the mansion? We wait till we confirm Gato is in there, my men sneak up to the mansion in the dead of night, and we attack the place. We'll be able to overwhelm the guards and kill Gato before he knows what is going on."

"A good plan, with one small complication: Gato has hired at least two missing nins, one of them a jounin with the other being of unknown skill and ability. I'm sure you're familiar with the jounin, Ameyuri," he said, looking to her. "It's Zabuza Momochi."

Ameyuri stiffened at that, before growling softly. "Zabuza. The one who started it all, and destroyed the Seven Swordsmen," she murmured.

"We don't know where he is. All we do know is he's recovering from the fight against our two jounin. He could be in the mansion, and if we attack, he'd massacre your crew, Mukei. No, for now we should infiltrate the mansion, learn what information we can," he said simply.

Mukei nodded quietly. "Alright, what do you want to do exactly?"

"We'll use a boat to slip around to the cliff near the mansion, at which point I'll climb up that side and slip into the mansion. After I gather what information I can, I'll return to the boat, and we'll leave," he said. "Simple as that."

"A simple plan. Good. Those have less chances of messing up on us," Ameyuri said. "When do we begin?"

"Tonight, if possible," Raphael said. "I want to get this done quickly."

Mukei produced a map. "Very well. Here's our ship's location. Meet us here in the evening and we'll head out as soon as you're ready," he said.

Raphael took the map and nodded. "Right. Good luck to both of you," he said, heading off with the map stored in his shirt.

Mukei and Ameyuri watched him go, before Ameyuri smiled. "So, let's go get ready then. We've got an exciting night ahead of us," she said, as the pair started to head off.

Meanwhile, in the wood outside Tazuna's home, Anko grinned as she twirled a senbon needle around her fingers while looking at Ino. "Alright Ino. I think this will be an excellent tool for you to use," she said, tossing it to Ino, who fumbled to catch it, almost dropping it. "The senbon needle. It's small, light, and can be deceptively lethal if you know exactly how to use it," she said.

Ino looked at it, blinking. "How is this lethal?" She asked.

"Normally, it's not unless you strike vital points, and even then that's damn near impossible," Anko said. "Course put one of these through a person's eye, or enhance it with wind or lightning chakra and strike the heart or neck, and you've got a different story. But no, these are designed more for incapacitation. Like what our fake Hunter nin friend did with Zabuza," she said, pulling out a second one. "They hit Zabuza right in the neck, at a nerve point that simulated death. Strike elsewhere in the body, and the pain and blood loss leads to them being weakened. But…while the needle itself isn't necessarily lethal…it can be made so with a few additions," she said, pulling out a bottle.

Ino blinked, as she saw Anko dip the senbon needle into the bottle, holding it there for a few moments. "In case you haven't realized yet, this is poison," Anko said. "Senbon needles are perfect for delivering poison to a target, and killing or incapacitating them. Launch a barrage of these at an enemy, and they'll be dead or unconscious in two minutes flat. Unless you're being stealthy and want a slower acting poison," she said.

Ino's eyes widened, as Anko grinned. "This is part of why I wanted you on my team, Ino. You're knowledge of plants and herbs means you've got a head start already on studying and using poison. What do you think?" she asked, pulling out the senbon needle and lightly tossing it up and down with one hand while putting the poison bottle away.

Ino stared at the needle. "I…guess that makes sense," she said, remembering some of her father and mother's lessons on different plants and flowers. Including which ones were deadly.

Anko grinned as she stowed the needle away. "Perfect. Now obviously it'll take lots of practice before you get good enough to use senbon needles by hand, so instead, we'll start you off with one of these," she said, pulling out a scroll and unsealing a small series of five tubes with strings attached to one end of the tubes, and straps mounted underneath. "This is a senbon launcher. Completely undetected if worn under a sleeve. In your case though, we'll wear it over the sleeve, for now. Hold out your arm."

As Ino held out her left arm, Anko strapped the launcher to it. "The launcher is spring loaded, so you push the senbon needles into each tube, and it'll lock the launcher for each tube in place. Then pull the string for the tube to fire. We'll start with normal senbon, till you have experience with poison," she said.

Ino shifted it a bit to feel more comfortable, as Anko pointed to a tree. "Hit that target, and let's see how you do," she said.

Ino raised her arm, adjusting her position as she tried to aim, before firing.

Elsewhere, Sasuke was grunted as he practiced various kata against a tree trunk, sweat glistening on his forehead. He had been practicing for quite some time, in order to try and vent his frustration.

He didn't understand how Naruto had been able to keep up with him in the taijutsu battle. He was an Uchiha, trained by Uchiha in their established fighting style. He was being taught by Kakashi Hatake, one of the most famous jounin currently in the village. He should be leaps and bounds ahead of anyone else in his year group.

And yet yesterday, Naruto had kept up with him. He wasn't better, that much was certain, but nor was he weaker. He was even with Sasuke, and it drove the young Uchiha mad trying to figure out how this boy from a practically extinct clan, and with a lesser teacher, could possibly keep up with him.

Growling, he punched the tree, before pulling back and shaking the bruised knuckles on his hand. He didn't look up as Sakura approached, though he heard her.

"You should rest," Sakura said quietly. "If you push yourself anymore…you could hurt yourself. And that would be bad for the mission." Of course she spoke more out of concern for him then the mission, but she knew she needed to try and sound professional.

Sasuke just glowered a bit, focusing on the tree as he started some kicks. "I'll be fine," he stated in a neutral tone, grunting as he kicked the tree.

Sakura bit her lip, moving to the side so he wouldn't hit her, but so he could see her out of the corner of his eye. "Do you need a sparring partner?" She asked.

"No," Sasuke grunted, still kicking the tree. "And even if I did, I would prefer Kiba. He can keep up with me," he stated a bit harshly, his frustration starting to bubble to the surface.

Sakura looked a bit downcast at that. "O-oh…w-well…could you maybe help me then?" She asked him. "If…if you can help me grow stronger…I'll be less of a weak link, yes?"

Sasuke stopped at that, and looked at her. Part of him recognized her words, and knew she was right. Their team was only as strong as their weakest link. Currently, Sakura was weak in the taijutsu area, though she was showing skill with genjutsu and chakra control. Abilities Sasuke knew he needed work on as well.

At the same time though, he felt like helping her was a waste of time, and he should instead focus on his own training. He needed to get strong, so that the Uchiha could rise to greatness again. So that he could protect the clan, and bring the man who murdered his father, uncle, and others to justice.

Sakura shifted a bit, feeling Sasuke stare at her. She was afraid he was going to reject her offer, until he spoke up. "Very well," he said. "In return…perhaps you could help me with my chakra control. It still needs some work," he said.

Sakura smiled, and nodded, as Sasuke moved away from the tree. "Adopt your fighting stance," he said.

As she did so, she couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth and happiness. She'd show Ino that Sasuke wasn't that bad. He just needed to open up to people.

Kakashi meanwhile was at the bridge with Kiba, Naruto, and Hinata, keeping watch over the bridge builder and his workers. Outside, he looked calm, but inside, he was mulling over the events of the previous day.

He had not expected the outcome of the fight. He had believed that Sasuke was superior to Naruto in taijutsu, given the boy's almost obsessive training regime, and his own personal tutelage. Yet somehow, Naruto had forced him to call a draw, before they badly injured each other. How had Anko pushed him to be that strong? It made no sense to him.

He glanced up from his book at the blonde haired boy, and tried to think of another way to get into Naruto's good graces. Maybe he could offer the boy something instead? A ninjutsu perhaps? He knew Naruto was both a fire and wind user, and with wind being such a rare element outside of Kaze no Kuni, Naruto would be hard pressed to find anyone who could properly tutor him.

Smiling, he thought of one particular jutsu he could teach Naruto. The Shinkū Taigyoku (Great Vacuum Sphere), a C-ranked wind ninjutsu, though it could be very powerful when properly controlled (1). He just smiled as he put away his book, and approached Naruto. "Hey Naruto, may I speak to you for a moment?" He asked.

Naruto blinked as he looked up, before shrugging. "What do you want Kakashi-sensei?" He asked, while a group of his shadow clones moved by, carrying supplies Tazuna and his crew needed. Tazuna had leapt at the chance to supplement the losses his work force had suffered so far, and so Naruto had supplied him with clones to make up for the men who had quit out of fear of Gato.

Kakashi just gave him his patented eye smile. "You've got a wind affinity, right?" He asked. When Naruto nodded, he continued. "That's a pretty rare element in Hi no Kuni. You probably won't find many people who can teach you ninjutsu for that element, outside Asuma-san," he said.

Naruto just slowly nodded, a bit confused. "Yeah, but Anko-sensei already mentioned working something out with him. She thinks I could learn a lot from Asuma regarding my wind affinity," he said. He actually was looking forward to that because Anko had told him about how Asuma utilized his wind ninjutsu to enhance the capabilities of his weapons, something Naruto thought would be useful. He could channel wind chakra into his sword or hidden blades, giving them extra cutting or stabbing power.

Kakashi mentally frowned at that, deciding he might have to have a word with Asuma when they got back to Konoha. Externally, he just kept smiling. "Well that's good. But you know, I've got a few wind ninjutsu I've copied over the years. I could teach you a couple, if you like."

Naruto blinked at that. "Uuhh…thanks, sensei?" He asked, confused as to why Kakashi wanted to train him.

At that moment, Kiba spoke up, having heard them as he passed by on a patrol of the bridge. "What the heck sensei? Why do you want to train someone else from another team? Shouldn't you be teaching us ninjutsu?" He asked angrily.

Kakashi raised his hands, still smiling. "Now, now Kiba, I'll be happy to teach all of you some ninjutsu too after you show me you can work as a team. Besides, there's nothing wrong with helping fellow Konoha shinobi, is there?" He asked. Kiba just snorted and stalked off angrily, as Naruto sighed and turning, getting back to work.

On the shore, Hinata meanwhile had adopted a lookout position, hiding in the branches of a tree with her bow drawn and an arrow ready to be drawn. She was periodically using her Byakugan to scan for intruders.

Now she did so again, only to blink and frown as she saw someone. It looked to be a young woman, not much older than herself, wearing a pink unisex kimono and gathering herbs. Now this wouldn't be suspicious if not for two things. For one, said woman seemed to be glancing in their direction a fair amount of times, as if studying them. Maybe she was looking at the bridge being built, or maybe it was the shinobi she was studying. Hinata couldn't tell for certain.

What she could tell however was that the girl had well developed chakra coils, with at least chuunin or better chakra levels. The young woman also had the same color hair as the fake hunter nin who rescued Zabuza, and as Hinata took in more details, she noticed that the girl had the same color nail polish.

Hinata's eyes widened in realization, before turning and raising her bow. Drawing the arrow back, she fired it high into the air, as a prearranged signal. The people on the bridge could see it, but someone in the forest couldn't because of the trees.

Kakashi and Naruto both saw the arrow and both mentally tensed knowing that Hinata was warning them they had an intruder. Kakashi just smiled at Naruto. "You keep working here. I need to go handle some 'business', if you know what I mean," he said, casually walking off.

Hinata slowly but carefully made her way through the treetops, carefully jumping onto solid branches, trying to disturb the leaves as little as possible while circling around the girl's position. She soon was behind the girl and to the left, and slowly began to approach, moving closer to try and get a bow shot. She could have probably made the shot from her original hiding place, but she wanted to try and capture the girl for information.

She soon found a spot, and crouched, slowly steadying herself as she began to draw her arrow back. She was steadying herself, aiming, when there was the crack of something underneath her. A rabbit landing on a twig.

The girl immediately whirled, seeing the rabbit, but also seeing the flash of sunlight on the arrowhead as Hinata released it. She threw herself to one side, avoiding the arrow as Hinata quickly dropped to the ground, drawing a second arrow from the storage seal on the bow and preparing to fire, only to see the girl vanishing in a shunshin. Kakashi landed next to the abandoned basket, as Hinata joined him, retrieving her arrow.

"A lot of these seem to be medicinal herbs. I take it that was Zabuza's accomplice?" He asked Hinata.

The former Hyuuga nodded as she stowed the arrows away and collapsed the bow, stowing it in her back holster. "I believe it was her. She had a few similar physical characteristics to the Hunter Nin, as well as a large chakra pool. And her escape obviously was that of a well-trained kunoichi."

"So she was spying on us, as well as gathering herbs to help heal Zabuza of his wounds. Interesting," Kakashi said softly, picking up the herbs. "We'll inform the others after Tazuna is done for the day. For now, we'll return to watching over him."

"Yes sensei," Hinata said, following him back towards the bridge.

Haku meanwhile was panting softly, more from adrenaline then actual exhaustion. She had been so close to being caught there, to failing her master, it was frightening. But she had escaped, though without the herbs she needed. Frowning, she knew she'd need to gather more, and soon. For now, she'd need to recuperate, and be more careful in the future. She headed towards their hideout, checking to make sure no one was following as she did.

Kumogakure no Sato

A the Raikage quietly grunted as he pumped iron with one arm, reading a report on his desk with the other. Not much had changed in the years since the desertion of Yugito and the assassination of one of his best strategists. Life in the village had gone on, though there were tighter security measures in place.

A had not forgotten though, and even now he still made plans, plans to bring Kumo to the prominence of power. Even now, there were rumors circulating that might give him the chance he needed to strike against Konoha and the deserted Yugito. Her presence in Konoha made it obvious they had been the ones behind the incident, but Kumo could not strike back at Konoha. Not with the information they undoubtedly had on Kumo's dirty secrets thanks to Yugito and the operative who had infiltrated the village.

Now though, they had a chance. A smiled as he set down his weights, and finished reading the report before him. It was from one of his spies in Suna, who had confirmed that the Kazekage had been meeting with Orochimaru, the rogue sannin of Konoha. He didn't have all the details on their meetings, but when a man who hates Konoha meets with a village that was being slowly bled financially by the same village he hates, something big was on the horizon. And A planned to take advantage of it. Pressing the button on his intercom, he contacted his secretary Mabui. "Have my strategists and analysts report to my office immediately," he said.

Elsewhere, three Kumo genin were busy training at one of the training grounds. Or rather, two of them were training, while the third sat nearby. Omoi, a white haired, dark skin boy, looked up from sharpening his sword. "So you two hear that there was a sighting of Yugito Nii near the border?" He asked. "You don't think she's going to infiltrate Kumo, do you?"

One of his two teammates, a red haired dark skinned kunoichi named Karui grunted as she slashed at her training dummy with her katana, practicing her stances. "If she does come here, Kirabi-sensei will put that bitch down for good. Traitors like her deserve to die," she said.

Next to her was a blonde girl with pale skin and a cold expression on her face, wielding a tanto. Omoi spoke next to her. "What do you think Samui?" He asked.

Samui just kept attacking her own dummy, finally speaking in a cold voice. "It doesn't matter what I think. What matters is she's an enemy of Kumo, and will be dealt with. Permanently," she said, stabbing the dummy with her tanto.

Nami no Kuni

A boat stealthily made its way along the coast of Nami, the rowers pushing their paddles deep and slowly to minimize noise. Besides the two men rowing, Mukei and Raphael crouched in the boat. The night could not be more perfect, as it was moonless, ensuring no light reflected off the water and gave away the boat as they neared the cliffs that Gato's mansion sat on.

Raphael glanced up at the cliff side, adjusting a pair of gloves he was wearing that had spikes on the palms, as well as spiked attachments to his boots. "This should be fun," he said quietly.

"You can use chakra, so why don't you use that?" Mukei whispered.

Raphael chuckled softly. "In a world where shinobi constantly use chakra, you start to expect it. And as such, defenses are built around detecting or negating chakra. No, that's a last resort. If I can get in traditional ways, I will," he said, as the boat moved as close to the cliff face as possible. "I'll give you the signal when I'm coming back," he said, reaching out and grabbing onto the rock face.

As Mukei urged his men to move the boat off slightly, Raphael began climbing, gripping onto rocks when he could, and jabbing his claws into the rock when necessary to stay on the surface. He slowly continued upwards, doing his best to make as little noise as possible. At one point the cliff began to push outward, and he found himself dangling by only his hands, unable to secure his boot claws into the surface. He could feel the strain on his arms, and the glove claws, so he decided to risk it, and channeled chakra to his feet, sticking them to the cliff face as he slowly continued to climb.

It took him a half hour to make it to the edge of the cliff, where he paused. He slowly griped the edge of the cliff, pulling himself up slowly to peek over the edge. He slowly scanned the area, seeing a few meters of clear space, the wall around the mansion, and a single thug patrolling it armed with a bow. Raphael stared intently as the thug was moving away from him, his back to him. Like a shadow he slipped over the edge and quickly headed to the wall, leaning against it as he reached it. He waited a few moments, before quickly moving down the wall towards the guard.

The thug on the wall was quietly patrolling, sighing in boredom as he did. He stopped when he heard what sounded like soft scraping noises, and turned to look around for the source of the noise. At that moment a hand came up, grabbing him by the collar and yanking him down, smashing him into the wall and knocking him out.

Raphael quietly slipped over the wall, placing the guard on the wall's walkway. He grinned as he found a flask on the man, and opening it, smelt a rather foul alcohol inside. "Perfect," he said as he propped the man up and poured a bit of the flask's contents on him, making it seem like the man was drunk.

With that taken care of he dropped down into the grounds and began to sneak towards the mansion. It was at least a three story building with multiple windows all over. Raphael quietly headed towards the 'west' part of the mansion, hoping to find a point of entry there. He knew from experience that most mansion layouts were fairly standard. The 'east' or 'west' parts would contain the bedroom and work spaces of the occupant. So by starting there, he had a one in two chance he'd find Gato's office area.

Reaching the windows at the ground floor, he glanced inside, only to duck as a guard went past the window. Slowly inching up and peeking in, he dropped down after seeing several guards in there smoking and playing several games of chance. It was apparently a break room of some type, and he doubted Gato would sleep above a group of guards. Quietly crouching, he made his way towards the 'east' side of the mansion.

Over there, he found the ground floor room to be empty, so he slowly worked a small blade into the latch on the window, and unlocked it, slowly sliding into the room before closing and locking the window behind him. Glancing around, he found himself in some sort of lounge, with two doors. One would lead out into the hallway, while the other probably connected to the room at the front of the mansion on this side. Moving to the door leading to the hallway, he crouched down, pressing an ear to the door and listening intently. He waited ten minutes, simply listening for any noises, before slowly opening the door enough to peek out.

The hallway was dark and empty, with no sign of any patrolling guards. Slowly Raphael slid out, closing the door behind him, and made his way to an intersection in the hallway, where he leaned against the corner and glanced around it. He pulled back when he saw the back of a thug there, and quietly began to assess the situation. He could lure the man to him and either knock him out or kill him, but that could cause a problem if there were other guards patrolling beyond this thug and they noticed him gone. He could try to find another way around him, but that could waste time and lead to more guards. So Raphael went with option three. He slowly pulled out a small rock from one of his pouches, and gently tossed it down the hallway, sliding behind a hallway table as the rock clattered on the floor and hit a chair.

The thug he had encountered heard the noise and turned around, coming to investigate. As he stepped into the hallway Raphael was in, he glanced around, confused, before turning towards where he had heard the noise. Raphael used that moment to quickly but quietly sneak into the previously guarded hallway, leaving behind the confused guard.

The new hallway led Raphael to the main entranceway, where he slipped into a wall alcove, and began waiting. After a few minutes, when no guard appeared, he stealthily headed up the stairway in the entranceway to the next level. At the next level, he turned towards the 'east' wing, and began to make his way down that hallway.

He blinked in surprise when he didn't run into anymore guards. Apparently Gato only cared about guarding the ground floor, and outside his own bedroom, if the footsteps above his head were any indication. Still, he moved stealthily, checking the rooms he came across. Most of them were guest bedrooms and such, until he came across the final room. It was a large office, with a desk and a couple of maps pinned to the walls. Raphael quickly slid inside, locking the door behind him. He pulled the curtains on the windows, and lit a small candle, before he went to work, turning to the maps on the wall first.

The first wall seemed to relate to his efforts with Gato Industries. The map was marked with various ports and trading outposts across the Elemental Nations, with each one having numbers next to them. Raphael studied them, before dismissing it. It was dealing with the productivity of the locations, indicating number of transport caravans and cargo ships each location had on hand. Turning to the other map, his eyes widened.

The map was also of the Elemental Nations, but the towns marked on it were different. Some of them had no apparent advantage for trade routes. Not only that, but the towns were all connected by lines, showing routes going straight each, reaching each countries capitals, and heading towards the Shinobi villages. Raphael blinked in confusion as he studied the map.

"Why would you care about these towns?" He asked quietly, pulling out a scroll and starting to sketch of the map. As he did so, he pondered the question. Gato had no legitimate business with the Hidden Shinobi Villages. Each of them had their own private civilian mercantile guilds that did business with other groups, but usually handled their own transportation so as to save money and bolster the village's finances. They would even hire their own shinobi for guard duty to further cut costs, and to help demonstrate the skill of the villages' shinobi. So why would Gato care about routes connecting towns to the Hidden Villages? He glanced up again, eying the board, before they narrowed as he saw something else. Almost every route all seemed to be leading back to one point: Tetsu no Kuni (Land of Iron).

Raphael quickly finished the sketch, placing a question mark next to Tetsu no Kuni, before turning to the desk. He quickly began checking the drawers, ruffling through the papers. Most of them were documents regarding Gato's Industries, things that were of little use to him. A few though he found interesting, regarding illegal activities such as drugs, black market weapon deals, mostly involving buying and selling, as well as a few other illegal activities. Raphael quickly made a shadow clone, quietly thanking Anko for teaching him that technique and getting his chakra levels high enough to make at least one clone. The clone set to work copying the illegal documents down, while Raphael kept rifling through the drawers. Finding nothing else, he turned, studying the rest of the room.

The office had a pair of book cases, and Raphael moved to them, starting to examine the books and bookcases. The first one, after a fifteen minute examination, proved to be a regular bookcase filled with books. The second one, however, revealed something more interesting.

Raphael sighed as he pulled on one book, seeing a row of them swing out. "Talk about clichéd," he murmured quietly, finding a safe behind them, one with a key lock. Pulling out a lockpick, he quietly set to work, and soon had the safe unlocked. Opening it, he smiled as he found several documents. Pulling them out, he set them down, looking at the first one. As he read it, his eyes widened, before narrowing as he read:

Gato, we have received your latest reports. We are not pleased with your inability to weaken the shinobi villages from within. However, your work in securing the towns we will need for our eventual plans does mitigate your mistake. Ensure that Nami no Kuni is completely under your control as soon as possible. It will make an excellent base of operations in future plans. The list that accompanies this letter indicates which towns you should concentrate on acquiring within Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni, after you have finished with Nami. Do not fail us again, Gato. But more importantly, do not fail your family.

Raphael blinked, as he pulled out a second document, one that contained a list of towns in Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni. He handed it to his clone, who had finished with the documents of Gato's illegal actions, and quickly wrote the town names down as well. Raphael shifted through the other documents, finding lists of weapon supplies that had been acquired, groups of men who had been recruited and sent to Tetsu no Kuni or other parts of the various Nations, as well as what appeared to be plans for turning Nami into some type of island fortress. Raphael moved beside his clone, the two dividing the remaining documents and copying them onto the scroll.

When they finished, Raphael dismissed the clone, and immediately began returning everything to its proper place, making sure the office looked like it had when he had entered earlier. Securing the safe, he closed the fake book covering over it, only to blink as one book fell out of a higher shelf. He picked it up, blinking as he realized that the book was far lighter than it should be. He opened it, only to find that it was a box disguised as a book, with a scroll sitting in the hollowed out section. He blinked as he saw all the dust on it, and realized that obviously it had not been touched for a long time, probably well before Gato took over the mansion. He slowly picked it up, wiping away the dust to reveal a few kanji, most of which were illegible. One was recognizable though, the kanji for 'summoning'. Curious, Raphael stored the scroll into his pouches, along with the scroll with all the information he had learned. Moving to the windows, he glanced outside, to check for any guards.

The guard on the back wall was still unconscious, but the one on the side wall would be a problem. He waited patiently, seeing the man patrol along his wall until he reached the part that connected to the back wall. He turned, and began heading down along the wall again, and as soon as he was out of sight, Raphael slipped out the window, closing it behind him and carefully using the small blade to lock the latch again. He skillfully dropped down the side of the mansion, grabbing hand holds to slow his descent, and soon was on the ground, crouching and panting lightly. One mad dash later, he was disappearing over the back wall before anyone could see him.

Grinning at his success, Raphael, prepared to climb down over the edge when he heard someone start shouting on the wall top. Cursing he glanced up, only to feel a small sliver of relief when he realized it wasn't that someone had spotted him, but the guard he had knocked out had apparently woken up, and was calling out an alarm. He quickly slipped over the edge of the cliff, and began to climb down again as he heard people shouting and running around above.

A quick chakra descent later, he was sitting in Mukei's boat, grinning as they rowed away. Mukei chuckled as he saw Raphael's grinning face. "I take it you found out some interesting things?"

"You could say that," Raphael said, as they rowed off into the darkness, leaving behind the mansion.

Tazuna's house, next day

"Gato's connected to someone or someone's who have designs on the Elemental Nations," Raphael told his fellow assassins the next day. The four of them were currently inside Tazuna's living/dining room, looking at the scroll of information Raphael had copied last night. Ino was currently outside, practicing with her senbon, while Kakashi and his team trained and watched over Tazuna.

Raphael indicated the map he had copied. "Apparently, Gato was ordered by someone to not only take control of a number of port towns, but also towns along these routes here. Judging by the other map I saw, he's gained shadow control over a number of the towns, but he's still working on the rest. He was also ordered by this person or group to weaken the shinobi villages, which is why he has been trying to get his men into them. As for Nami…apparently their intent to turn it into some fortified base for whatever this group's plan is. Whoever Gato is working with or for…they have big plans for the Elemental Nations."

Anko studied the map carefully, before tapping Tetsu no Kuni with a kunai point. "What about here? What's the connection?"

"That is what I can't figure out," Raphael said quietly. "They have no shinobi and practically no contact with anyone associated with shinobi. From what I understand, their only contact with anyone outside of Tetsu no Kuni is when dealing with merchants or the occasional need for a neutral meeting ground between leaders and factions. And yet these routes connect Tetsu no Kuni to almost every other country, their capital, and their hidden shinobi village, if they have one."

Hinata studied it carefully as well. "Well…what could they use these routes for? Trade routes?" She asked.

Anko shook her head. "No way. If they were trade routes, they wouldn't connect to the hidden villages. We have our own mercantile guilds who handle village trade. No, this is something else."

"Do you think they're maybe invasion routes?" Naruto asked, making the other three look at him. "I mean...an invasion army needs things like food, supplies, weapons and stuff, right? What if these routes are that? Supply routes for an invading army?"

Raphael glanced at the map again. "It's possible…except why would Tetsu no Kuni want to invade any of the Elemental Nations? They have no quarrel with the shinobi, and even if they did, they could never hope to match the entire Elemental Nations. Could they?"

Anko shrugged. "I doubt they could. Tetsu no Kuni samurai are definitely well above the level of the samurai in the other nations, but almost eighty percent of their samurai can't wield chakra. They'd never stand a chance against shinobi in open battle. The only reason no shinobi village has ever conquered Tetsu no Kuni is because the weather there is harsh and unpredictable, and they know their land better than anyone in the world. Even their non-chakra using samurai could cut a shinobi force to pieces using the geography and weather to give them the advantage. Outside their land though…I don't know, it's hard seeing this as plans for an invasion."

"For now, there's nothing else we can do about this, until we learn more. Currently, we need to focus on taking down Gato and protecting Nami. So we'll need to find a time and moment to strike at Gato. We'll continue reconnaissance, and find that moment," Raphael said, rolling up the scroll. "Hinata, Naruto, you two keep training. We need to be as strong as possible for the coming assassination."

The two nodded and headed off, while Raphael sighed, putting the scroll away. "To be honest…Naruto's suggestion scares me," he told Anko quietly. "Jiraiya's spy network has heard of rumblings in Tetsu no Kuni. A movement against chakra wielders. My own spy network has heard of a few people across Hi no Kuni who are talking about the same thing. If Gato is connected to this movement…it could explain a lot of things," he said.

"So who is behind this movement exactly? What do they expect to accomplish?" Anko asked.

The Assassin mentor leaned back a bit, arms crossed. "That's what we need to find out. If someone's looking to start a war…I want to try and stop them ahead of time. Maybe if we coordinate with Jiraiya, we can find out more."

"And maybe if we capture Gato, we can 'persuade' him to tell us more," Anko said, a dangerous tone entering her voice.

"Something to think about, when we know his thugs won't raze the town down," Raphael said. "For now, we watch, and we train."

Anko nodded and got up, only to be stopped by Raphael. "I found something else at Gato's mansion. I think it's a summoning contract," he said, pulling out the scroll he found. "I don't think it belonged to Gato, as it had a lot of dust on it when I found it."

Anko took it, slowly opening it. Unlike the exterior, the interior seemed pristine. There were a couple signatures of previous summoners, along with their fingerprints left in blood. Anko glanced at the title of the summoning contract. "Huh…fennec foxes…what the heck is a fennec?" She asked.

Raphael shrugged quietly. "Not sure exactly. But apparently, it's something that involves foxes. Any thoughts on what we should do with it?"

Anko rolled the scroll up, glancing at Raphael. "Well…I don't need it, because I already have a summons…sort of. What about you?"

Raphael shook his head. "No. I'm not quite active enough to need one. We could take it back to Konoha, see what Hokage-sama thinks."

"Oorrr," Anko said with a grin, "we could see if one of my cute little genin want to sign it. Might be nice to have a summoner on the team."

Raphael nodded as he stepped back. "You understand it better than I do, so feel free," he said.

Anko nodded, storing the scroll away. "I'll wait till we get back to Konoha. Right now we need to focus more on the mission at hand," she said.

At that moment, Tsunami came downstairs, causing the two to look up. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I was about to go shopping for ingredients for dinner. I don't suppose I could trouble you or your genin for an escort?" She asked Anko.

"Happy to help," Anko said as she stood up. "So shall we?" She asked.

As they left, Raphael sighed, touching the information scroll again in his pocket. Part of him still thought about what his allies had mentioned. Especially Naruto's idea. What scared him was that out of the ideas he could think of, that was the one that sounded most realistic. Shaking his head, he sighed as he moved outside to train.

Meanwhile, at Gato's mansion, the business tycoon was currently in his office, looking over reports. Outside, he could hear the cries of the guard who had been found drunk last night, yet had insisted on claiming he had been attacked, even going so far as to raise a false alarm. Currently, said man was being 'punished'.

Gato looked up as the door opened and both Zabuza and Haku entered the room. Gato barely even smirked as he saw Zabuza was trying to hide a barely noticeable limp.

The ex Kiri jounin growled softly as he stood in front of Gato. "What do you want Gato?" He demanded, while Haku remained impassive behind her mask.

Gato simply smiled as he stood up. "I just thought you'd be interested in hearing the plan I've devised to handle the bridge builder," he said.

"I told you, we'll handle him and his escorts," Zabuza said angrily, trying to bite back a small lance of pain.

Gato's smile faded and he growled a bit in anger. "Unless I'm mistaken Zabuza, there are two of you, and nine of them. And last time, they would have killed you if not for your assistant. So excuse me if I decide to try and make sure the job gets done properly!"

Zabuza was about to respond, but Haku restrained him with a slight bump, causing him to reign in. Gato began to speak. "My plan is simple. I will have several civilians rounded up, and we'll announce that if Tazuna does not surrender himself, they will be hanged. Perhaps even a child or two. If Tazuna surrenders himself, that is that. However, I believe something more plausible will happen."

"And what's that?" Zabuza asked.

"The Konoha shinobi will undoubtedly try to convince him that they can stop the hanging. They'll divide their efforts to rescue the people who are to be hung, and protect the bridge builder. And that is when we'll strike. You and Haku will engage the shinobi guarding the bridge builder, keep them distracted and wear them down, and in the critical moment, my men will rush them, slaughtering them and the bridge builder. I will even finish work on the bridge, in order to bring in new resources to help complete my takeover Nami," he said with a smirk.

Zabuza studied Gato for a moment. "What makes you so certain the Konoha shinobi will act the way you're expecting? They could very well ignore the hanging all together."

"Because they know if they do, Tazuna will turn himself in, and their mission will fail. They'll want to complete the mission, and receive their pay. That is how you shinobi operate, isn't it?" He asked with a smirk, making Zabuza clench his fist. "How long until you're recovered enough to fight the Konoha shinobi?"

"Three days at the most," He said, as Gato nodded.

"Then two days from now, we'll begin the operation," he said. "You two are dismissed."

The two shinobi turned to leave, as a thug quickly moved over to Gato as he signaled him. As they stepped out of the room, and the door closed, Zabuza turned to Haku. "Wait here and listen," he said.

Haku nodded before moving behind a pedestal with a vase and casting a genjutsu, before wavering out of sight. Zabuza meanwhile left with a clone that took on Haku's appearance.

Haku quietly knelt down and listened by the door, invisible to anyone as she gathered intelligence on Gato.

Konoha

Yugito hummed quietly as she made her way to her apartment, having just returned home from a border patrol along the border with Kusa. She was looking forward to a nice long bath and a good meal, two things she had been missing while she was away. As she approached her door though, she stopped, eyes going wide, before she smiled slightly.

Attached to the door of her apartment was a bag, with a smiling kitty face on it. Shaking her head ruefully, she took the bag and opened, giggling as she saw an adorable kitten plushie inside. Now one might think this was insensitive, given her status as the Nibi jinchuuriki, but Yugito actually adored cats, something she had confided only to Anko, Kiseki, and Iruka. She pulled out the plushie, and blinked as she saw a note attached to a ribbon around its neck. Pulling it loose, she began to read it.

You are cordially invited by one Iruka Umino to dinner this Saturday evening at seven o'clock. Dress is formal. If you accept, simply give a wave now.

Smiling, Yugito turned and began to wave, before heading inside, catching a glance of a fast moving figure leaping from the building across from hers and heading off. Sighing happily, she closed the door, and hugged the plushie close to herself.

"You've got a good catch there, little kitten," Matabi purred inside, happy for her container. Yugito just nodded, before squealing and rushing to her room with her new plushie.

Elsewhere, Yakumo was blushing a bit, resting from a workout and watching Lee workout. The reason why was because due to the heat, he had actually pulled down the top of his suit, and was working out bare chest. And Yakumo could only blush to his physique and the sweat glistening on him.

Lee soon finished, and got up, coming over and grabbing a towel as she glanced away. Trying to take her mind off of the image in her mind, she glanced at his supply belt currently set to one side. "So ummm…I noticed you have a pair of tonfa? Do you know how to use them?" She asked.

Lee smiled at that. "Gai-sensei thought they would be appropriate with my fighting style. Since I am unable to use nin or genjutsu, he wanted to give me as much of an advantage in my taijutsu as possible," he said. "I am still learning though, and would not say I am proficient in them. Yet," he added.

Yakumo nodded quietly. "Kurenai-sensei…she said something similar to me recently. That perhaps I should add something to my arsenal, to supplement my genjutsu. I'm not sure what type of weapon works though. Do you have any thoughts?" She asked.

"An intriguing question," Lee said, laying the towel around his neck. "I would assume something that was light and quick, perhaps easy to use as well. Allow me to speak with Gai-sensei, perhaps he might have some thoughts on it?" He asked.

Yakumo smiled and nodded at that. "Thank you," she said, only to get up. "so umm…when we're done, would you like to go get lunch with me?" she asked.

He flashed a smile, giving her a thumb up. "I'd love to," he said.

"G-Great," she said, settling into her stance. "S-shall we?"

And soon the two were sparring again, with Yakumo trying hard not to look at Lee's chest.

That Night, Tazuna's House

The two teams quietly ate dinner in the dining room, spread out and ensuring the family had seats around the table. Tsunami had returned with what few groceries she could scrounge up, while Anko, Kakashi, Raphael and their genin teams had supplemented with some fish they had caught and some of their own supplies.

Tazuna smiled as he finished his food, taking a sip of sake from a saucer. "The bridge work is going well," he said. "I'd say two weeks at most, and it'll be finished. And Gato's reign will be over."

"Then we'll need to be extra careful. Gato won't just let you ruin his grip on Nami. He'll undoubtedly strike, and soon," Kakashi said.

"And Zabuza will be looking for vengeance. Fortunately we have a numbers advantage, so we should be able to handle him and his helper, if she's his only help left in Nami," Anko said. "With any luck, we'll be able to take down Gato, and soon."

At that moment, Inari slammed his hands down on the table. "You all should just shut up! Pretending like you're going to win! You can't! Gato's just going to kill you all, so stop pretending you're big shot heroes!" He shouted angrily at them.

The shinobi all glanced at Inari, feeling a mixture of surprise, sadness, and in a couple of cases, annoyance or anger. They knew the reason behind Inari's anger, thanks to Tsunami explaining it to them when Sakura asked about a picture hanging on the hall, that had a corner that obviously held an unknown man's face ripped off of it. The man missing from the picture was Kaiza, a local fisherman who had saved Inari form drowning, and risked his life to close a flood gate during a storm to prevent the town from being flooded. He had been like a father to Inari, until Gato came. Kaiza had stood up to Gato and his thugs, but had been beaten, then publicly mutilated and executed in front of everyone. The sight of Kaiza's death had traumatized Inari.

Kiba now answered back, feeling annoyance and arrogance. "Yeah right kid! Gato's nothing but some greedy midget. He's got nothing on us," he said with a smirk.

"Shut up! You all have no idea what it's like to live here! What it's like to be living in pain and suffering! You all live happy lives but you don't know anything!" Inari yelled angrily, only for the hat on his head to be yanked off by a kunai and buried in the wall behind him.

Naruto sat there, his hand still outstretched while anger was evident on his face. "Will you listen to yourself bitch?" He said, slowly standing up. "You sit there, acting like your pain, your problems are the only ones in the world, that what you've gone through is the worst in the world. Believe me kid…the things I've seen, the people I've run into, there are more than enough people out there who would happily trade lives with you. So shut your mouth and stop disrespecting your grandfather and Kaiza," he said angrily as he stormed over, grabbed his kunai, and then stormed out of the house.

Tazuna merely looked down, while Tsunami looked to the three adults. "I-Is he okay?" She asked quietly.

Anko just let out a soft nod. "He is…though he's not wrong," she said, directing her comment to Inari, who shakily looked up. "Naruto has been an orphan from the day he was born. What's worse is the majority of people in our village hate him. Most would be happy to see him gone or dead, if not do the deed themselves. He didn't have anyone in his life until he was six years old," she said. "Hinata here? Her own clan and father basically made her believe she was the most worthless thing alive, and threw her out on the streets. Myself…the man I trusted and adored like a father…betrayed me and left me for dead with a symbol of his cruelty and betrayal, marking me forever," she said, unconsciously reaching back to the left side of her neck. "Inari, your pain and loss are bad…but Naruto is right. There are others who have lost and suffered worse than what you have. You still have your mother and grandfather, who are doing everything they can to give you a good life. You shouldn't dishonor them, or Kaiza," she said, before setting down her mostly empty dishes. "I'm going out to my tent. Hinata, take first watch," she said quietly, as she left.

Hinata nodded, following Anko's example. One by one, the shinobi began to head off to their rooms or tents, leaving behind Raphael with the family. Tsunami quietly began to clean up the dishes, while Tazuna just sighed, gently placing a hand on his grandson's shoulder.

Raphael chose this moment to speak up. "Inari…I am sorry if Naruto frightened you," he said. "He has had a hard life, one that I tried to make easier, and may have made all that much harder in the process. But he and Anko are not wrong. However…do not take fear or anger from what they've said. Instead…learn from it. They have suffered so far, but they have found new life, and happiness."

Inari trembled a bit, looking up at Raphael, as he continued to speak. "Kaiza…he was, and should still be considered a hero. Because he was willing to lay down his life for those he considered most precious in his life. Do not dishonor his memory Inari, but instead honor it, and embrace who he was. Strength comes not from numbers of men, or money, but from having something or someone that is worth fighting, and even dying for. Your grandfather fights for the freedom and future of this village. Your mother fights to give you a better life. What will you fight for, Inari?"

Raphael slowly got up, before bowing to Tsunami. "Forgive Naruto for his actions. And thank you for dinner," he said, before heading outside, leaving behind a confused and pensive young boy.

Elsewhere, Zabuza sighed as he looked out the window of his room. "If what you heard was true Haku, then we have only one choice," he said quietly.

"It is true Zabuza-sama," Haku said, standing near his bed where he was lying. The former Kiri jounin just sighed, before turning to her.

"You know what to do then Haku," he said, as the girl nodded and vanished in a shunshin.

So…I had originally intended for this chapter to cover the end of the events of Nami, but as I came to 7,000 words and realized I was still a fair amount from reaching a good transition point, I decided to split this chapter into two chapters. So next chapter will be the conclusion of the events of Nami. Finally.

I'm sorry if this chapter is a bit…well choppy or rushed. To be honest…I've been distracted this entire month. Just…life in general. So I'm sorry for the lateness of this chapter and/or its poorer quality.

So, until next tie my readers. Hopefully I can do better.

1. There is no ranking for this ninjutsu, but it seemed fairly simple enough, so I went with a C-rank.