Chapter 27

After I explained what had occurred regarding Haku to Naruko, she fell asleep in my arms. I wasn't physically exhausted, the natural energy slowly leaking out of my body wouldn't allow me to sleep after all. So I was more preoccupied with watching Haku ponder on her purpose.

As if I'd let her out of my sight. She was still a threat, not an overly powerful one, but I wouldn't put it past her to try and assassinate Kakashi in his sleep.

It's what I'd do.

Through Clone #2's eyes, I watched her as she sat on a tall tree branch, twirling a flower in her hand. My clone was inside a nearby tree, completely undetectable to anyone, except maybe a Hyuga, though considering Hinata couldn't distinguish a clone tree from a normal tree, I doubted anyone else could.

Perhaps if they had access to sage mode? Yes, I think that may be the exception.

With Haku not moving for hours, I turned my attention to my wood golem who was still stomping around. Like my wood clones, it took no chakra to keep it around. However if it suffered damage, I would need to touch it to heal it.

The wood dragon coiled around its neck surveyed the town as its wearer moved around the perimeter. The massive golem had scared the civilians shitless, I could hear screaming as they fled into their houses out of fear.

"Kid!" Tazuna burst into the room, immediately startling both Naruko and Satsuki awake. Satsuki had drawn a kunai, ready to cut down whoever posed a threat but fell back down in pain. I made my way over to her, using Mystical Palm on her left kidney again. The sudden movement she had just done had undone my previous healing and her internal bleeding had resumed.

"Sorry." The old man apologized, much more quietly this time. "I need to know, are you still in control of that…thing?"

"I am." I frowned, applying as much healing to Satsuki as I could. The Uchiha girl flinched at the distant stomps, her eyes widening in slight panic. "It's my wood golem," My lips turned upwards as her shoulders relaxed and she let out a relieved breath.

Even though I had never used the jutsu, all my girls, Tenzo-sensei, and Gramps knew that I could.

"You're an idiot." Satsuki slapped me on the back of my head. "You went and fought their leader all by yourself!"

I rubbed my head with a wry smile. Did she forget that she and Naruko fought two jonins and a chunin?

"And won." Judging by her face, she was very unamused by my answer. "Why don't we just worry about you, is that okay?"

"Agreed." Naruko crawled over and wrapped Satsuki in a hug. It was a gentle hug, to avoid aggravating her wounds. "Lei and I aren't the best with medical jutsu, you need a doctor."

"If it's a doctor you need, I got a guy. If you're sure that golem and dragon are tame, I'll calm the town." Tazuna went to step out of the room-

"Wait." I stood up, walking over to him. "I wouldn't be surprised if some of those mercenaries or shinobi under Sento decide to come into town with all the commotion going on. I won't leave you defenseless."

"I appreciate that, kid." The old man grinned and walked out. I sent one last smile to Naruko and Satsuki which was returned with looks of worry. "We'll be fine, just take care of Kakashi-sensei." Then I closed the door and made my way downstairs.

"You just got back and you're already going back out!?" Tsunami asked, hugging her father tight.

"We're only stepping out for a little while. We'll send Jin over and calm the town down. The golem is the kids." He jabbed a thumb at me. "It's controlled."

Tsunami looked at me, her face full of questions. I gave her a curt nod before her eyes returned to her father, worry still true in her beautiful features.

"Stop worrying." He laughed. "We'll be back by dinner, take care of your mother while we're gone, Inari."

The boy a few years my junior looked up at his grandfather from behind his mother's leg. This entire time he had been glaring at me, it was honestly nice to have his angry gaze off of me.

"I-I…don't be a hero, Grandpa." Inari whispered, Tazuna rubbed his head, ruffling his hair in the process.

"I'm just an architect, Inari. I don't have a fighting bone in my body, we'll be back later." The man moved towards the door, I gave a bow to the older woman along with her son.

"I will ensure he makes it home without a single scratch on his body. You have my word."

That didn't seem to calm either of them at all and the boy had started glaring at me again. A man's word in this world was a very valuable thing, amongst civilians. Among shinobi however, it meant absolutely nothing. Shinobi lied, cheated, and stole to get whatever they wanted, and I'm sure they don't believe me to be an exception.

Tazuna and I walked out of the door. I gave a dismissive glance to my wood golem who had decided to sit on the outskirts of town, just waiting. He would be useful later, but not in the town. I didn't want to destroy any property, even if I could build it back easily with my Wood Release.

Speaking of Wood Release.

"Tazuna." I said suddenly, earning his attention. "Do you require my assistance to build the bridge?"

The man raised an eyebrow. "You know how to build one?"

"No." I shook my head. "I know I can use my Wood Release to build one very quickly though."

His eyes widened slightly at that. "Wood Release? As in the same type of shinobi jutsu nonsense that built the forests within the Land of Fire? That Wood Release?"

I'm not even surprised he didn't notice I was using it. He's a civilian that probably thought everyone could use the jutsu I was using since I'm just a kid…until he saw the massive fucking golem and probably had more questions than drinks in his life.

"Yes, the very same. My full name is Lei Senju, Lord First, Hashirama Senju, the man who created the forests in the Land of Fire was my grand-uncle."

That got him to pause in his step and look at me like I had just gone from a powerful kid to a really important powerful kid.

Not much of a difference, but I liked seeing that look on people's faces.

"So you want to build the bridge with your Wood Release?" He asked after a while, the gears in his head turning again.

"That's what I said earlier…yes."

Even without fighting people the bridge would take at least a month and some change to build, but with my Wood Release…

"I could build it in a day, I may need to use more natural energy, but I'm sure I could do it in under a day."

He looked at me like I had grown a second head but just shook his head. "Shinobi bullshit, I'm not gonna question it anymore. If you could build it that quickly it would be extremely helpful. Though you'll need to follow my schematics, and are you sure your wood will be long-lasting?"

The old man practically set me up for a sexual pun, but those responses are reserved for women, also this conversation was pretty serious, so I refrained.

"Of course, it's your bridge. As for the wood I produce." *Cough* "It's much tougher than normal wood. It's enforced by my nature chakra, making it very tough, tougher than any material you intend to use, at the very least. Much like Lord First's creations, this bridge will last, perhaps forever, if not that long, then very close to it."

"Then I'd be glad to have you on the team." He grinned. We continued walking until we reached a house that was a great deal larger than Tazuna's home. The old man knocked on the door and we waited as footsteps approached.

The door swung open to reveal an old man, older than Tazuna. White hair and tired brown eyes looked up at us. He was really short.

"Tazuna boy. What can I do for you?" He asked, stroking his long white beard.

"Dr. Jin." He bowed. "We're in need of your services."

The old doctor, Jin, grimaced at Tazuna's words. "The mercenaries hurt someone again?"

"No, everyone in town is fine…to my knowledge. The shinobi I hired were hurt trying to protect me, we'd appreciate it if you took a look at them."

The elderly man looked at me, my bow matching Tazuna's. "Shinobi you say." It was clear he was feeling empathetic towards me, as most civilians tend to. Shinobi is a lifestyle as it is a profession, it's very common for people to die young, and extremely uncommon for people to live long.

That's exactly why the oldest shinobi are the most terrifying.

"I'll take a look at em. Where are they?" Jin sighed, taking a step forward and we moved out of the way to allow him to step past us.

"My place. Thanks, Dr. Jin."

The doctor waved off Tazuna and set off in the direction of the latter's house.

The rest of our time out was spent going around door to door and letting people know the situation regarding the wood constructs. They relaxed considerably once they knew not only were they under my complete control, but they would deal with any mercenaries or shinobi that attempted to ransack the town.

Eventually, we made our way back to his house, stopping at the front door. Tazuna looked back at me. "Why did you stop?"

I strengthened my resolve as I looked up at him with a lack of emotion in my eyes. "The loss of three jonin as well as one of the Seven Deadly Swordsman of the Mist is bound to leave them rushing for reinforcements. I won't let them gather more people and make this mission harder, I'm going on the offensive."

Tazuna looked at me like I had lost my mind, clear concern in his eyes. However as he began to process the truth in my words his shoulders slumped as he ran a hand through his gray hair.

"I understand, but are you sure you can handle the rest of them alone? If the rumors about Sento are true-"

"I'll cut him down all the same."

He paused, taking off his glasses and pocketing them. "At least come inside and eat dinner, you haven't eaten anything today."

That was…a good idea. I wasn't so hungry to the point that it was noticeable or anything, but eating was definitely a smart move.

"Fine."

His mood increased a bit and we continued inside. Upon entering the house, we saw everyone at the table, even Kakashi who still looked incredibly tired. Tsunami served food for everyone, her eyes noticing us, a happy and relieved smile gracing her lips.

"Welcome home you two."

Tazuna walked over, giving his daughter and grandson a tight hug. "I said we'd be back by dinner, didn't I? Haha!"

The scene was heartwarming, but the smell of the foot prevailed over watching the rest of it unfold. I made my way to a seat between Satsuki and Naruko that they had left for me.

"Anything interesting happen?" Satsuki asked with narrowed eyes.

"Nah, it was all pretty boring. Just going door to door for hours." I answered with a regretful frown. This all could have been avoided if I just kept the wood golem away, but I wanted it to be a sign to the mercenaries who were really just bandits with good-quality weapons and a bit of killing experience.

"Boring is good." Kakashi hummed as he took a bite of his rice. "Means things are going well."

I didn't refute his words. He was right after all.

"Did you go to any shops?" Naruko asked with more than a little excitement. "We should bring Hinata a gift!"

"That's a good idea." I smiled at the blonde. "I didn't, but we can stop at one before we leave."

The Uzumaki girl nodded sagely, completely proud of herself for coming up with such a thing.

We didn't talk much more as we started to eat. We had not eaten all day so we didn't hesitate to devour the food in front of us.

Within minutes we had all had our fill, all food completely gone from the table as we had cleaned our plates.

"Thank you for the meal, Mrs. Tsunami." Kakashi bowed his head slightly.

The woman gave him a thankful smile with a hint of sadness. "It's just Ms, you're very welcome, Mr. Shinobi.

"I see." Kakashi sighed, understanding that she was a widow. "I believe we should introduce ourselves if we're going to be staying here, I'm Kakashi Hatake, a jonin of Konohagakure and the sensei of these three." He gestured to us while looking at us expectantly.

Naruko, Satsuki, and I looked at each other. The Uchiha girl and I focused on Naruko who was sitting next to Kakashi.

"Oh, me next?" She asked, earning nods from us. "Oh, okay then! I'm Naruko Uzumaki, a genin from Konohagakure and the future Hokage, believe it!"

"In your dreams short stack." Satsuki snorted, Naruko's attention turning to her, her neck snapping to see the chuckling Uchiha girl.

"Lei Senju," I spoke up before the two could start an argument. "Genin from Konoha, and the actual future Hokage."

"Lies!" Naruko shouted and I wagged my finger at her.

"You can try and compete, Naruko, but I'm simply built different. I appreciate the competition though."

"You-"

"Satsuki Uchiha, same as them, but without the Hokage bit." Satsuki introduced curtly.

"What a lively bunch of shinobi you all are." Tsunami giggled into her hand. "You're all quite close aren't you?"

We looked at one another, then at Kakashi.

"Not him." Naruko pointed at Kakashi.

"Nope, never." Satsuki agreed.

"Fuck that guy."

"Language please." Tazuna chastised, his eyes going to Inari who was still glaring at me, as he had the entire dinner.

"Sorry about that, we're only half serious anyways." I chuckled as I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. "I believe I should be excusing myself right about now, thank you again for the dinner, Ms. Tsunami."

"No, thank you, all of you for bringing my father back to us." She bowed lowly, her head nearly touching the table.

"It's our mission, shinobi see the mission through. No need to thank us for anything." Kakashi stood up, his eyes narrowing as they met mine. "Perhaps you should explain to me where exactly you are going in confidence."

I shrugged, making my way out of the house followed by Kakashi who was using crutches to move around.

Once we were outside, I looked at him, determination shining in my eyes. "They've lost their head and now they're running around, scrambling to get it back, I won't let them."

"So you're gonna attack them?" He asked, no judgment in his tone.

"Yes, I'll start with the beach where the mercenaries are, locate the bastards in charge, and end the oppression this land is facing."

Kakashi remained quiet for a while, looking up at the evening sky. "Three hours." I raised an eyebrow at the lack of context. "I want you back here in three hours, if you're not, I'll come looking. We won't go on any C-rank missions for a long time if you make me have to step out of this house again. Am I clear?"

I gave the man a shit-eating grin. "Rest your weary bones, sensei. I'll be back in one."

With nothing left needing to be said, I ran towards my wood golem, mounting its head and directing it towards the beach. Tazuna had given me the location while we went door to door, so I knew exactly where it was.

The loud stomps of the golem were like drums of death for the mercenaries, and I knew they heard them.

I wouldn't let a single one live, they would all die.