The Aftermath, Shopping and Backup!

It didn't take long for the group to drag their exhausted bodies to a rather large wooden house. Tazuna gently knocked on the wooden door, and the group heard shuffling sounds alongside a pitter-patter of footsteps before the door was unlocked and opened by a beautiful woman.

"Dad, you are back faster than I thought you would be. Did Konoha reject our request or-" The woman asked hurriedly; she had been worried about her father the moment he stepped out of the house to seek aid from Konoha.

However, her voice was cut short as she realised that Tazuna wasn't alone and was accompanied by a black-haired boy, a pink-haired girl and blonde… quintuplets?

"Don't worry, I have requested the aid of these super-powerful ninjas; you should have seen the things they did." Tazuna smiled, downplaying the dangerousness of his experience to ease his daughter's worries.

Meanwhile, the Genin only had one thought. 'That's Tazuna's daughter?!'. It was no exaggeration to say that Tsunami was much different from what they would've expected from someone related to Tazuna. She had a mature beauty about her, with a motherly smile as she doted upon her father. While Tazuna was just so… Tazuna. It didn't make sense.

"Oh, I am so sorry to have neglected you. I am Tsunami, the daughter of the bridge builder you were hired to protect. Thank you for coming to help Wave." Tsunami smiled at the Genin before seeing Kakashi lying unconscious on the stretcher.

"Oh my, is he okay?!" Tsunami pointed at Kakashi's unconscious body.

"He's stable, but I would like it if we had a comfortable bed that he could rest in while he recovers," Naruto answered politely, to which the woman nodded her head rapidly. It wouldn't do for the ninja that had been injured protecting her father to be mistreated.

"We have a spare bed in the guest room, although we didn't expect so many ninjas…." Tsunami invited them in while being slightly ashamed that she couldn't provide good enough hospitality for the Genin. They had only anticipated only 1 ninja accepting the mission, so they borrowed a single bed from the nearby neighbours.

'It seems like I will have to prepare more for dinner tonight', Tsunami thought to herself after leading the group to the spare bedroom.

Naruto and his clones gently lifted Kakashi onto the bed before the clones dispersed, shocking Tsunami. 'So they weren't quintuplets, but a super ninja technique?' If others could hear her thoughts, they would be convinced that she is Tazuna's daughter.

After politely shooing everyone out of the room, Naruto concentrated, his hands glowing green once more. This time he focused on performing a more in-depth diagnosis technique to determine if Kakashi had any internal bleeding or shaken organs.

'Hmm…No internal bleeding or organ damage, and It seems like I managed to cover all of the broken ribs and bruised muscle.' Naruto noticed that the bruising on Kakashi's chest had already started to fade. 'But…'

Naruto closed his eyes, sensing that Kakashi was involuntarily moulding a large amount of chakra, which was directly transferred and consumed by his Sharingan eye. The eye was eating just a little less chakra than Kakashi was actually generating.

'At this rate, it seems like Kakashi-sensei will be out of combat for a week or so… I wish there was a way that his chakra recovery could speed up.'

Initially, Naruto thought about using his chakra exhaustion recovery medicine, but it wasn't potent enough to instantly fill up reserves as large as Kakashi's. In addition, it was meant to be taken orally instead of intravenously, which was practically impossible to administer since Kakashi was unconscious.

"Hmm….I wonder…" Naruto muttered in thought as an idea came to mind. It wasn't the best idea to attempt something he had never tried before on his unconscious teacher, but it wouldn't put the man in danger.

It was a risk he was willing to take, as Naruto didn't know if Gato had hired any more powerful ninja on the same level as Zabuza, which meant he would feel safer if Kakashi was conscious as soon as possible.

With his eyes still closed, Naruto's index finger moved towards the left side of Kakashi's head before tapping the side of his temple. If anyone was watching, it would seem like he didn't do much and was just poking at his unconscious teacher. But if a Hyuuga was present, they would see that Naruto had closed the tenketsu leading to Kakashi's left eye.

After the tenketsu closed, Naruto quickly sensed that Kakashi was no longer involuntarily moulding chakra. Instead, his reserves were filling up much, much faster than they were before.

The blonde stayed in the room to monitor Kakashi's condition for a while longer but determined that Kakashi's Sharingan hadn't been affected and that the tenketsu wouldn't be forced open. After double-checking the Jonin's condition, Naruto left the room and joined the others downstairs.

"Kakashi-sensei should be up later tonight, so don't worry about him," Naruto reassured everyone, who sighed in relief. While Sakura and Sasuke didn't show it, they were still wary that another enemy ninja would attack them after Zabuza was killed. Knowing Kakashi would be awake later soothed their worries.

"By the way, Tsunami-san, I figured I would let you know that we have backup arriving soon." Naruto notified Tsunami, who suddenly looked a little pensive. He was inwardly confused at her sudden change in demeanour, but it was quelled as Tsunami raised her concerns.

"I didn't expect so many ninjas to be arriving, so I haven't prepared enough food or bedding. I would go visit the local shops, but Gato's thugs are still terrorising the town, and I would rather not leave."

Naruto shared a glance with Sasuke and Sakura but noticed that they were practically dead on their feet. "It's okay, Tsunami-san. How about I escort you?"

Tazuna looked relieved hearing this. He knew that the blonde was much stronger than he looked and had no doubt that his daughter would be in safe hands.

"We will guard Tazuna and Kakashi until backup arrives then." Sasuke declared, happy that Naruto took the initiative to perform another chore. While he knew that guarding their client and his family was an important mission, he was pretty tired and had had no interest in visiting the shops.

Sakura had no rebuttal to Naruto's proposal, as she was even more exhausted than Sasuke was.

Tsunami still looked a little pensive hearing Naruto's words, instead wanting their Jonin to escort as it would be safer. But seeing Tazuna's relief and slight nod relieved her. Although she didn't know the boy's abilities, she knew that her father was convinced of them, so she would trust Naruto too.

…

Naruto and Tsunami were walking down the road towards the village, making small conversation to ease the awkwardness. However, the moment they stepped into the small town, their conversation died as Naruto frowned at what he saw.

There were very few people on the streets, making the village almost desolate. The small number of people present were adults and children alike who were begging for food and money so that they could live another day. Naruto looked at the expressions of everyone in the village. Almost everyone looked soulless. He could see they clung to a single hope. The bridge.

He couldn't help but wonder how Tazuna had managed to secure the funds and materials to build the bridge if Wave's condition was this bad. Naruto had no doubt that the man wasn't collaborating with Gato, as constructing the bridge was opposite to what the vicious businessman wanted. But he couldn't think of any other explanation.

Tsunami seemed sad but accustomed to the state of the village was like. While she tried to make her trips as brief as possible, she had to stock up on food occasionally and knew the state of the village. Although she knew she couldn't do anything about it right now, she hoped that building the bridge would restore Wave to its former prosperity.

It didn't take long for the duo to finish their shopping. Naruto couldn't help but notice that the food prices were much higher compared to Konoha. Even if there was some form of import tax, there was no reason for it to be this high.

"Gato has replaced most shop owners with his own people, charging as much money as possible for food and other common necessities, so he can bleed us dry of our money." Tsunami answered Naruto's non-vocal question while sighing in sadness.

Naruto looked confused. "How did Gato manage to control so many businesses? Wouldn't you have noticed earlier if he was attempting to gain a monopoly on Wave?"

"We were tricked." Tsunami responded bitterly, remembering her country's foolishness for trusting the businessman. "Gato came to us, saying that he wanted to help develop Wave to make the country more prosperous so he could also expand his companies.

"Initially, we were wary of him, but he had donated a lot of money to build more advanced fishing boats and other essential buildings, so we dropped our guards. We didn't know that he was slowly acquiring the shops in Wave, starting with luxury shops, before eventually reaching his hands to the typical food shops.

"Of course, while we were suspicious at the time, we didn't think much of it. The man had put a lot of money into developing our fishing industries, and Wave was the most prosperous than it had ever been before.

"However, one day, a rumour spread that someone had seen Gato perform nefarious activities such as drug smuggling. We didn't believe it at first, thinking that someone was trying to dirty Gato's name, but more and more witnesses spoke of the same thing.

"At that point, someone investigated and noticed the suspiciousness of Gato's acquisitions. That he had managed to control our imports and exports. Gato seemed to notice our distrust in him budding as he swiftly sent his thugs to start terrorising the village into obeying his orders.

"At first, many people stood against him. There was no way that they would just allow him to control us like we were his slaves. However, Gato started executing people, slowly eroding everyone's will to fight, and then one day…."

Tsunami finished as tears welled in her eyes. Naruto didn't expect his curious question to elicit such a response but apologetically looked at the older woman, who waved off his concerns. "I am sorry about that… As of now, we are trying to build the bridge to cut off his monopoly and finally expose to the world what type of man Gato is, so he could never do such a thing again."

Naruto nodded his head in agreement. Although he had heard that Gato's monopoly in Wave made Tazuna want to build a bridge to free them, seeing and hearing are two different things. The ramifications of Gato's actions on the civilians in Wave hit him a lot more than he had anticipated.

"Excuse me… Do you have any spare food?"

Naruto turned to the source of the voice, seeing a young boy dressed in dirty rags standing in front of an even younger girl dressed similarly. The boy looked vigilantly towards them, but his stubbornness melted away as he saw the pitiful condition of the girl behind him as he begged Tsunami and Naruto.

They had bags full of food. If they were kind enough, they might be able to share the food.

Naruto crouched on one knee, looking the boy in the eye, who returned the stare unflinchingly before smiling. "Sure thing, but first, how about you gather others like you and your little sister and meet me here."

The boy looked confused; he asked for food, not to be a gofer. In his mind, it was a simple yes or no question. The strangers would either give them food, or they wouldn't.

Not caring about the boy's response, Naruto created several shadow clones, surprising Tsunami.

"You know what to do," Naruto ordered, throwing two scrolls at the clones. One of the clones took a scroll before vanishing in a puff of smoke, while the others followed the boy and girl to their spot.

After everyone had left, Naruto looked at Tsunami, who was confused at his actions and smiled at her. "I figured I would cook some food for everyone. It is the least I could do while the bridge is built."

"But… Why? Why are you doing this?" Tsunami looked emotional. She didn't expect the boy to help them. To help Wave. His mission was to protect Tazuna from Gato's thugs, nothing more and nothing less.

Hearing this, Naruto looked a little sad before turning away. "Since I have the power and ability to help them, I will. There's no reason needed to help a person in need." 'I will never be like them', he thought the last part to himself. They had rejected his pleas for help, cries for attention. He would never be like them.

"Thank you, Naruto-san." Unknowing of Naruto's internal problems, Tsunami smiled at the boy, receiving one in return as they headed back to her home.

…

As the duo neared Tsunami's house, Naruto heard an unfamiliar voice from inside, alongside some heavy coughing. Initially, he was wary of the unknown person, not knowing if it was their reinforcements or an enemy. However, after hearing Kakashi's voice too, he relaxed.

"Father, we are back." Tsunami greeted, opening the door. Naruto peeked his head through the entrance; everyone was sitting at the dining table. Sasuke and Sakura still looked a little tired, but they looked much better than earlier, while Kakashi still looked worse for wear.

"Naruto-san, Tsunami." Tazuna greeted

"Kakashi-sensei, are you feeling okay?" Naruto asked concernedly. He didn't expect the Jonin to be up so soon. By his estimations, the man would still be unconscious for another couple of hours.

"Well… I am much tougher than I look." Kakashi gave an eye smile but was inwardly surprised himself. He expected his ribs to heal naturally in two weeks while his chakra would recover over 1 week. However, his ribs were well on their way to recovery, while his chakra was at full capacity.

In addition, something felt off to the man, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Kakashi wondered what Naruto had used to help him heal so quickly; he couldn't feel the familiar aftertaste of eating a solider pill to restore his chakra, so it couldn't be that.

"I am sorry I didn't get the chance to introduce myself when we arrived. I am Kakashi Hatake, the leader of Team 7." Kakashi politely extended his hand to Tsunami, who shook it gently.

"My name is Tsunami. Thank you for escorting my father; I am grateful." Tsunami was regretful that Kakashi was harmed during the escort of Tazuna but was happy to see him up and moving like a healthy person.

"I am Hayate Gekko, a Tokubetsu Jonin from Konoha." Hayate also extended his hand but retracted it to cover his mouth to cough deeply. "I apologise. I didn't have time to pick up my chronic cough medicine."

"Will ordinary cough medicine do?" Naruto asked, reaching into his pouch to pull out a small vial and handing it to Hayate.

"I am not sure; I'd have to check." Hayate looked surprised, gently taking the vial from Naruto and taking a small sip. Almost immediately, he felt relief from taking medicine. It wasn't as potent as his specially ordered cough medicine, but it was much better than before.

Hayate stiffly smiled at the blonde-haired boy. "Thank you, that was a big help."

"No problem, here are some spares." Naruto handed his stock of cough medicine over to Hayate. He had never had a cold before and didn't personally need any of the cold and flu drugs that he had made and bought.

"Thank you." Hayate once again thanked the boy, gently stuffing the medicine vials into his pocket. "I have heard about your exploits from your team members and the client, good job on the escort."

"Hehe, it's no big deal. We didn't manage to kill Zabuza anyways" Naruto scratched the back of his head bashfully before dropping a metaphorical bomb on everyone present.

"Eh?!" "Wha?!" Sakura and Tazuna screamed in shock; they clearly saw Zabuza be killed by the hunter ninja. Sasuke had some slight suspicions after seeing that senbon was used, but he was also inwardly shocked when it was confirmed.

Hayate and Kakashi nodded their heads in agreement. They had come to that conclusion earlier but didn't expect Naruto to come to the same conclusion. "He's right. Although he is out of commission for a good 2 weeks, Zabuza is still alive." Kakashi stated.

"However, it isn't your job to worry about him or his assistant. Don't worry and leave everything to us." Hayate added.

"You can't expect us to do nothing", Sasuke stated, not happy that he was being treated like a child. How could he become stronger and finally kill his brother if he is being coddled and avoids any danger?

"You're right. We don't expect you to do nothing. There's no guarantee that Gato has only hired Zabuza and his assistant; we have already come across Gozu and Meizu.

"On the chance that there are other enemy ninjas or thugs, you will be fighting them instead. We are saying to leave Zabuza and his assistant to us; they are out of your league." Kakashi explained, causing Sasuke to grumble but reluctantly accept.

Sasuke was confident in his own abilities, but he wasn't arrogant. He knew that no matter what he was trained in, there was no way he could fight Zabuza in 2 weeks. Meanwhile, Sakura was relieved that they weren't tasked to fight against that monster again.

Naruto, on the other hand, shrugged in admittance. He already guessed that he wouldn't be forced to fight either Zabuza or his assistant after backup arrived. There was no doubt that his little trick in the previous fight had elements of luck, and he knew that he couldn't yet stand against the swordsman.

"Right, now that we got that out of the way, let's eat," Tazuna said. During the time they were all talking, Tsunami had already spent the last 30 minutes cooking food for everyone and was already dishing up dinner.

"Tazuna-san, how did you manage to afford and transport all the building materials?" Naruto asked curiously, wondering if Tazuna was secretly rich or had a hidden escape route or something.

Tazuna raised his brow at the sudden question, "Well, we were planning to build a bridge even before Gato arrived. If we wanted to expand the village and increase our profits, we had to find a way to connect to the mainland to increase the number of trading routes. Gato's arrival only sped up the construction of the bridge."

"But where did you get the money from?" Although she didn't know if any ninja was present, Sakura knew that Wave wasn't a very big country, and it would be hard to raise the money to build the bridge.

"We actually have a monopoly on the majority of fishing imports to surrounding countries like the Land of Fire, Land of Tea. We used to export to the Land of Water too, but recently there has been some infighting, making it too dangerous to continue.

"However, the main reason we were able to procure the funds for the bridge is because Wave is home to a very particular type of fish that sells for an extremely high price due to its rarity and taste. This fish is the Ice Jade Fish." Tazuna finished triumphantly, only to receive some confused looks.

Naruto looked confused before remembering an entry that he had read in the library. It is about a very rare fish born with a relatively high amount of chakra, which slowly nourishes its flesh as it grows to make it even more succulent and flavourful than a typical fish.

This fish is found in the depths of the water, which are below 0 degrees Celcius. Where it is found, alongside its blue-green colour, give it its name, Ice Jade Fish.

"Ice Jade Fish?! Do you think it's possible if we could get some before we go?" Naruto drooled while imagining using the world's most expensive fish to make ramen or use in other fish dishes.

"Oh, you know of it, huh? Sure thing, kiddo, we can pack a few for you," Tazuna agreed wholeheartedly, causing Naruto to grin with excitement.

"You know of the fish, Naruto?" Kakashi asked curiously; he didn't expect his student to know about such a random thing like Ice Jade Fish.

The others also looked curiously at the boy, who briefly explained the details of the fish. "In fact, you have probably seen this fish too, or maybe even eaten it, Kakashi-sensei. This is the fish that is usually served at Daimyo banquets or eaten by extremely rich merchants.

"That fish?!" Kakashi exclaimed in shock. He had the honour of trying that fish once, and he could easily say that it was the best tasting food he had ever eaten in his life.

"Yes, fortunately, due to its rarity, even though it is an extremely expensive commodity, neighbouring countries haven't developed an interest in robbing our industry.

"This is because they don't have experience in fishing Ice Jade Fish like we do, so they would rather purchase them at high prices. Of course, it would be a different story if this fish was more common but retained its taste and texture." Tazuna explained.

Hearing this, Kakashi and Hayate also managed to convince Tazuna to allow them to take some fish home with them too. Sasuke and Sakura looked at the happy trio strangely but also asked one for themselves.

Upon finishing food, the group thanked Tsunami for the meal before heading to bed to rest. Kakashi stated that he wanted to start some different training with the group, making Naruto's hopes go up that his teacher would actually teach something.

Author's Notes: Whaddup! Sorry for the delay in this chapter. Hopefully it isn't boring, but I wanted to expand upon the situation a little more, while adding some explanations that I haven't seen being made.

Firstly, hopefully, this dialogue explains some things that aren't mentioned in canon. I always wondered how Tazuna managed to afford to build 100s of meters of bridge if Wave was in a horrible state or how Gato managed to control Wave so easily, so here's my fanon explanation.

About the Ice Jade Fish, that is just something I made up. If Konoha has special trees with chakra induction paper or super durable wood grown from Hashirama's chakra, why not have Ice Jade Fish? Or other tasty chakra animals?

Were you guys surprised by what Naruto did to Kakashi? I thought of this idea when I was studying tenketsu on the wiki page, it isn't exactly canon, but I hope it makes sense since he has been learning about tenketsu for the 8 gates.