Doing the Wave

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHORS NOTE:

So at last we get to the Wave Arc. Here is chapter 40. Enjoy!

[ ] signifies hand signs

Last time:

Fire Country, Konoha, Hokage Tower

"…And that concludes Team 11's verbal report Hokage-sama." said Yūgao. "The mission went far smoother than I estimated but if we hadn't been so close to home and weren't able to contact Jiraiya-sama about the matter then it wouldn't have worked out so well."

Tsunade nodded and said, "Never look a gift horse in the mouth Yūgao. You and your Team did well and combating an enemy ninja bumps it up to B rank. A three-day turnaround is good for such an investigation. Turn the red clay you sampled and the body over to forensics. Jiraiya and I will decide how we can help out Miss Futaba. You are dismissed."

Yūgao turned to Team 11 and said, "Lunch is on me guys. Let's go eat Team 11!" She chuckled as the three genin cheered. 'I really do have a great bunch of kids…'

…

Chapter 40

Fire Country, Konoha, Hokage's Office

It was Saturday morning and Jiraiya was looking over a map of Konoha along with Tsunade, Hiruzen and Hanako. "We're talking about upgrading the seal defenses of the entire village; not just the outer walls." said the white haired sanin. When Kushina-chan upgraded the outer walls it was still during the Third Shinobi War. Some of the defensive seals in the village proper date back to Mito-sama's time."

Hiruzen nodded and said, "Seeing it all mapped out really gets the point across. I honestly had no idea our seals were this out of date."

Tsunade sighed. "Ideally Uzumaki Naruto-kun is our best choice but it would be a monumental task for just one person."

"You forget that Naruto-kun can make dozens and dozens of shadow clones Hokage-sama." said Hanako with a smirk. "He's already proven he can seal the entire village with his rather epic prank a few months ago."

Sarutobi cringed. "…And the water tower still looks like a giant ice cream cone. Some of those 'decorations' just won't come off because we can't figure out how he did it." Hanako patted Hiruzen's shoulder. She still thought him being dressed as an over the hill geisha was absolutely hilarious (though she'd never admit it).

"Well, I really hate to push it all off on Naruto-kun's shoulders." said Tsunade. "It has to be done though. Can you and the ANBU Sealing Team help him Jiraiya-kun?"

"We'll figure out a way." said Jiraiya. "If nothing else Naruto and I can make the seals and the Sealing Team can apply them. They are learning quickly under Naruto's tutelage."

…

ANBU Headquarters

Meanwhile Naruto was teaching his ANBU Fuinjutsu class. His clones were hard at work helping his students while Naruto lectured on different levels of exploding tags. "So as you can see; by changing these two symbols a standard exploding tag can be made to cause a crater from as small as an individual foot to as large as fifty feet. Just remember that the actual explosive power is the same and the detonation would either be concentrated or spread out evenly. If you want to blow up something huge you'd still need a demolition level exploding tag."

Mouse raised her hand. "Yes Mouse?" asked Naruto.

The always quiet mouse asked, "What would be the point in changing the blast radius to such a tiny size Fox-sensei? It would be completely overkill to attack one person that way."

Naruto smiled. "But it would be perfect to blow a hole in an armored door or wall. It would also be much easier to manage because you could set the direction of the explosion like we discussed last time. Conventional explosives aren't as flexible or controllable."

The class seemed to absorb this quickly with sounds of understanding. Sloth asked, "Then what would be the point of a fifty foot blast radius? It would only knock people out instead of kill them."

The blonde sensei nodded. "You answered your own question Sloth. It would be a non-lethal attack used to render the targets unconscious for capture. It would rupture a few eardrums though."

"Could these same symbols be used on a shock tag Fox-sensei?" asked Gazeru curiously.

Naruto raised an index finger. "Exactly! Any type of trap tag could be modified the same way. You just have to think outside of the box. The same goes for all seals. They can be modified for different uses just by changing a few symbols. I want you all to practice modifying standard trap tags to do something different. Give me a standard tag of your choice plus three variations also of your choice. That is your homework for tonight."

The orange loving ninja said, "Now for an example. Allow me to demonstrate a low yield shock tag modified to work directionally." Naruto quickly activated a seal on his desk and said, "Let's see who our surprise guest is."

A bolt of blue electricity shot across the room from Naruto's desk to an empty chair which revealed ANBU Salamander who was mildly electrocuted and he yelled, "Yeeeooch! Son of a bitch!"

Naruto stood up from his desk and went over to the singed and smoking Salamander. "Now I will demonstrate a paralysis tag." said the blonde as he slapped a tag on Salamander's chest which froze the ANBU in place. Naruto smiled pleasantly and asked, "Is there a reason you've been sitting in on my class or do I need to send you to ANBU Dragon?"

Salamander squeaked out, "I was sent by ANBU Dragon! I was supposed to evaluate your teaching methods for him. It's just routine!"

The blonde leaned down and said in a bone chilling voice; "Why were you under a genjutsu then?"

"It was so you'd teach naturally; honest!" squealed the paralyzed Salamander.

"Tsk, tsk." said Naruto channeling his inner Hanako Obaa-chan. "I've known you were here since the moment you sat down fifteen minutes before class. You are ANBU and you got caught like a genin! Shame, shame, shame! What will Dragon have to say?"

…

Ten minutes later ANBU Commander Dragon was sitting at his desk in his office sporting a massive sweat drop. ANBU Fox just rolled the still frozen Salamander in on a two wheeled dolly and said, "I believe this is yours Commander Dragon. I found it was misplaced in my classroom." Dragon would have sworn Naruto's smiling fox mask had a wider smile than usual.

Dragon groaned. "Will you please undo whatever you did to Salamander? He was just there to do a routine class evaluation."

Naruto grinned under his mask and said, "Certainly!" as he removed the paralysis tag. "Next time let me know so I won't mistake Salamander for an enemy spy. Later!"

Dragon just shook his head at Naruto's antics. 'I guess he'll always be a prankster…' thought the ANBU Commander.

…

Ichiraku's Ramen

A bit later Naruto was sitting at his favorite ramen shack for lunch when Hikari appeared in a body flicker. She said, "What you did to Salamander was terrible!" Then she burst into uncontrollable giggles.

The orange loving ANBU Brat smiled and said, "But it made you laugh. Join me?"

Hikari quickly sat down and said with a smile, "Salamander is kind of a jerk actually. He deserved it."

…

The young couple was soon eating ramen and discussing Naruto's last mission. "A dominatrix?" laughed Hikari. "How do you land yourself in these situations?"

"It was bad enough being in a place like that to begin with." said Naruto in a flat tone. "Brothels are nasty."

"Well, at least everything turned out okay in the end." said Hikari. "You could have been chained up and whipped after all." she added helpfully.

Naruto cringed at the mental images but smiled at the purple haired kunoichi's laughter.

…

Konoha Mission Hall

On Sunday an old drunken bridge builder by the name of Tazuna put in a C-rank mission request for a Konoha ninja team to protect him from bandits while he completed building a bridge. He neglected to mention missing nins and a corporate tyrant named Gato were out to kill him…Oh well, those were minor details, right?

…

Monday morning Team 7 made up of Sarutobi Asuma, Haruno Sakura, Akimichi Choji and Sai was called in for a C-ranked escort mission to the Land of Waves. Considering their last mission had been a bit of a bloodbath (bandit extermination) they were welcoming a nice, easy escort mission in a scenic area.

Tazuna took a swig of sake, looked at the three genin and let out a belch. Choji and Sakura looked less than impressed…and Sai had his fake smile as usual. "I asked for ninja and I get these three brats?!" asked Tazuna rudely. "The girl looks like she should be playing with dolls; the fat kid looks like he ate one too many buffets and the pale kid looks like he's never seen the sunlight before! What the hell is this?!"

Sakura was gnashing her teeth and Choji had steam coming out of ears…and Sai had his fake smile as usual. Asuma body flickered in between Tazuna and his genin to prevent the client from being violently dismembered, cooked and eaten without sauce. "I assure you that my genin are quite capable sir. Besides, I'm a jonin and can easily protect you myself if need be." 'Please don't kill the client kids.'

Tazuna looked at Asuma and said, "Well, at least you look formidable. "I'm the super bridge builder Tazuna and I expect you four to protect me with your lives!"

The ever-timid chunin Shinji was at the mission desk and was quivering at the killing intent coming off Asuma's ANBU Brats. 'Someone is going to die on this mission. I hope it's an enemy and isn't Tazuna-san…'

Asuma turned to his genin team and said, "Everyone pack for two weeks and meet at the front gates in an hour. I want to set out as soon as possible."

…

Wave Country/Fire Country Border

Hours later, Team 7 was in a diamond formation around Tazuna as they walked along. The old bridge builder was drinking but seemed nervous as hell the way his eyes kept dating around. He was skittish as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs and the genin all noticed it. 'Is this guy paranoid or is someone out after him?' wondered Choji.

Sai thought, 'Our client is far too nervous for this simple of a mission. Was he assaulted on his way to Konoha?'

The walk was trouble free until they spotted a puddle on the ground. Sakura hand signed to the others, [genjutsu] and Choji, Sai and Asuma all nodded. The rosette then said, "Genjutsu kai!" and sent out a pulse out chakra.

The missing nins from Kiri known as the Demon Brothers were surprised they'd been discovered so easily and the right handed one said, "Get the old man!" Sai ran at them with his Tantō and cut the right-handed one down with a fatal strike to the neck. The left-handed one yelled "Gōzu!" as his brother fell with his lifeblood spraying all over. Being still attached to his dying twin with the chain between them slowed the left-handed brother down for a moment which proved fatal –Both Sakura and Choji hit him with kunai in the throat with terrific speed before the chain disengaged. The Demon Brothers were dead…and Tazuna looked ready to get sick.

Asuma nodded and said, "Good work team. I recognize this pair from the bingo books. They were Gōzu and Meizu, the Demon Brothers of Kiri. They were chunin level missing nins. He sighed. "…And they were obviously after our client."

"G-good work team?!" choked out Tazuna. He looked terrified at the sheer brutality and death displayed by the genin. "But-but they are just kids!"

The chain smoking jonin shook his head and said, "They are ninja." He looked back over his shoulder and said, "We're collecting the bounties on these two. Take the heads and gear and seal them up for later. Destroy the rest. I'm going to talk to our client." 'It sure feels like a Monday.' thought Asuma dourly.

…

Asuma talked to Tazuna to ascertain exactly what was going on while his three genin did the grisly work of stripping and decapitating the bodies…

…

"…So let me get this straight." said Asuma. "The shipping magnate Gato has a stranglehold on the economy of Wave Country and your bridge is the only threat to that." Seeing Tazuna nodding sadly Asuma sighed again. "This was supposed to be a run of the mill bandit protection mission and we've already run into B-rank missing nins."

"It's all right." said Tazuna. "I'll go on alone. My poor daughter and sweet little grandson will go to their graves knowing I died bravely even though I was abandoned by my protectors from Konoha. They'll hate Konoha ninjas forever and the people of Wave will never escape Gato's tyrannical rule over them…"

Asuma listened and decided to discuss the situation with his genin since they were listening to Tazuna as well. "Well, you heard his story people; what do you three think we should do?"

Tazuna was obviously eavesdropping and hoping the genin's heartstrings had been pulled…

"Technically the client lied so our contract is null and void." said Sai. "We aren't obligated to continue. I say we go home."

Tazuna had a face fault so epic that he cratered the ground.

Sakura said, "I want to help the people of Wave Country, but we can't afford to get in over our heads. There may be stronger missing nins waiting for us."

Tazuna thought to himself 'Bless her; at least the girl wants to help.'

"I want to help too." said Choji. "We should call for backup from Konoha and charge the appropriate mission fee. That's standard procedure in cases like this."

'These kids are heartless!' thought the bridge builder. 'I don't have any more money!'

Asuma nodded. "We'll send a messenger bird back to Konoha then." He turned to Tazuna and said, "Well Tazuna; we've decided to continue the mission once backup arrives. You can set up a payment plan with the Hokage once the mission is completed and Wave Country recovers economically."

Tazuna cried anime tears at the idea of an extended payment plan but finally relented when he saw the ninjas getting up to leave…'I guess it could be worse…' thought the old man. "Alright, it's a deal." said the bridge builder.

…

Konoha, Hokage's Office

Three hours later Tsunade was looking over Asuma's request for backup and looked over the roster of available teams. 'Kurenai's Team 8 is on a courier mission. Gai's Team 9 just returned from a mission and need to recover a couple of days. Anko's Team 10 is on an escort mission…and Yūgao's Team 11 is on standby for the other genin Teams.' "Considering they've face S-Class missing nins before I'm sure they could handle it." she thought aloud. Tsunade turned to Shizune and said, "Get me Yūgao and Team 11. I have an A rank mission for them."

Shizune nodded and sent out a messenger to retrieve Team 11…

…

Yūgao and her team were practicing the body flicker at the training grounds behind the Natsume home. Naruto, Maya and Hinata finally hounded their sensei into teaching it to them and were thrilled to be able to use the technique themselves. The chunin Shinji from the Mission Office came trotting up and saluted. Yūgao motioned for her team to stop and said, "What can I do for you chunin?"

Shinji said, "Jonin Uzuki Yūgao, you and Team 11 have been summoned to the Hokage's Office for a mission."

The purple haired sword mistress nodded and said, "Understood Shinji. Please inform Hokage-sama we are on our way."

Shinji nodded and vanished in a body flicker…

"Well, it looks like our practice is over for today." said Yūgao. "Let's head to the Hokage Tower and see what our assignment is."

…

A few minutes later Tsunade heard Shizune announce that Team 11 had arrived and said, "Send them in Shizune."

The entire Team entered and assembled before the Hokage and saluted. "Uzuki Yūgao and Team 11 reporting as ordered Hokage-sama." said Yūgao crisply.

"At ease." said Tsunade. "A situation has arisen and I need Team 11 to back up Team 7 in the Land of Waves. Their C rank went to B rank and Sarutobi Asuma requested backup."

"What exactly happened?" asked the purple haired jonin.

The Fifth Hokage sighed. "Their client Tazuna lied about the level of the mission. He hired Team 7 for a C ranked escort mission in case of bandits. As it turns out Tazuna has been targeted by the business tycoon Gato. Team 7 has already run into B rank missing nins. They dispatched them without too much trouble but Asuma suspects there will be more given how much money Gato has in his accounts. I'm assigning this as an A-rank for your Team to back up Team 7."

Tsunade handed the mission scroll to Yūgao who opened it up and looked over their orders. "When do we leave?" asked the jonin.

"As soon as possible." answered the Hokage. "Team 7 will be waiting at the border near Wave Country until you arrive and you will coordinate from there."

Yūgao turned to her genins and said, "This could get messy really quick. Pack for a month with a double weapons load and meet at the front gates in an hour."

…

Wave Country/Fire Country Border

By evening Team 11 arrived at Team 7's camp. Choji was fixing dinner and Sakura was on watch when she saw the familiar form of Uzuki Yūgao arrive. The rosette smiled and said, "Yūgao-sensei; it's good to see you! Asuma-sensei, our backup is here."

Asuma stood up and saw the purple haired swordswoman and the rest of Team 11 arrive in the firelight. "Yūgao, I'm glad Team 11 is here."

The ANBU jonin nodded and said, "We got here as quickly as possible. Is anyone injured?"

"We're all fine." said Asuma. "I have a feeling that things are going to get hot soon though."

Soon all the genins were quietly greeting their old classmates and discussing what happened so far on the mission to Wave Country. They also introduced the newcomers to Tazuna.

"Sounds like putting an assassination out on Gato would be the easiest solution." said Maya as she sat down at the fire across from Tazuna.

Tazuna looked at the beautiful silver haired girl and saw the Reiki balanced across her lap. He asked, "What's a young lady such as yourself doing with such a huge sword?"

Maya's blue eyes pinned the bridge builder in place over the firelight. To him her eyes seemed to be raging infernos and he shivered a bit. Maya said, "I am the guardian of my family's sacred blade. With it I will cut down all those who threaten any who I love and protect." She exposed about two inches of the Reiki and showed its razor-sharp edge. "Trust me Tazuna-san. I can handle this blade quite well."

"I-if you say so." replied Tazuna fearfully. Maya smiled and nodded as she slid the Reiki back into its sheath and set it back down in her lap.

…

The next morning after breakfast the two Konoha teams discussed their strategy. Asuma said, "We can either move as one large unit or Team 11 can remain hidden and sweep the area around Team 7 as we travel. It's safe to say Gato at least knows about team 7 escorting Tazuna here."

"It would be best to maintain some element of surprise." said Yūgao. "Team 11 will be orbiting close by. If an enemy is dumb enough to attack Team 7 directly, we will ambush them."

The ninjas all nodded in agreement and Yūgao and her team vanished into the forest. Soon Asuma and Team 7 were back in a diamond formation with Tazuna in the center travelling as normal. The path through Wave Country was misty and a rather ideal place to set up an ambush.

That was when six ninjas appeared openly blocking the path to Wave Country. Their leader had green hair and an umbrella. He wore a Rain Country jonin's gear and an Ame headband with a slash through it. Asuma said, "Rokushō Aoi, A class missing nin…You not only defected from Konoha but now Ame as well? That's not a very good track record."

Aoi growled, "Sarutobi Asuma of the Twelve Guardian Ninjas...Hand over the bridge builder and I'll let you and your little genin go. Otherwise…I can't guarantee your safety. I wield the Sword of the Thunder God and I can kill you all without effort."

Sai thought back to his bingo book. 'Rokushō Aoi was an instructor in Konoha that stole the Second Hokage's legendary lightning chakra sword. He defected to Ame and now has apparently defected again. Aside of his sword he has an umbrella that he uses to create the Senbon Shower technique that peppers his foes with poison senbon needles. His comrades seem to have umbrellas too so it's safe to assume they are ex-Ame ninjas as well.'

The green haired missing nin mentally growled to himself, 'Where are the other four? They were supposed to attack from behind while I distracted Sarutobi and his brats with my speech.'

….

A few hundred meters behind Asuma and Team 7, Yūgao and her genins were pulling four dead missing ninjas off the road and into the surrounding forest to hide the carnage. The purple haired jonin hand signed, [That's it for this group. Move out.] Getting a round of affirmative hand signs Yūgao vanished in a body flicker along with her genins…

…

Aoi was starting to get a bit nervous. 'Where the hell are the others?' "This is your last chance to surrender the old man Sarutobi. You don't want your little genin team to die do you?"

Asuma was getting tired of waiting. 'I'm going to die of old age and boredom at this rate.' "Are you going to continue to spout off or are you going to attack Aoi?"

The green haired missing nin lost his temper and said, "Oh, to hell with it!" he threw his umbrella into the air and said, "Senbon Shower!" as he launched hundreds of senbon at Team 7.

The chain smoking jonin yelled, "Hard cover! Those senbon needles are poisoned!"

Choji grabbed Tazuna and pulled him behind a nearby tree as his teammates also ducked into the forest. Aoi activated the Sword of the Thunder God and said, "I'll take Sarutobi, you five get his brats and the target!"

Yūgao appeared out of nowhere above Aoi's group and cut down one of Aoi's followers before he could react. She said, "Naruto back up Asuma! Your wind can block his lightning. Everyone else protect the client or wipe out Aoi's men!"

Sakura quickly joined Choji to protect Tazuna and called, "We've got the client secured! Wipe them out!"

To Tazuna the whole spectacle was a blur. He heard the clashing of blades and blood seemed to be everywhere. His eye focused briefly on Hinata who effortlessly decapitated a missing nin before she blurred into motion again. Soon the only enemy left standing was Aoi who was trying to defend himself against both Asuma and Naruto. Naruto kept blocking Aoi's sword with the wind chakra enhanced Shippuuhime Asuma had already wounded Aoi twice with his trench knives when the missing nin body flickered out and ran for his life screaming, "Next time I'll get you Sarutobi Asuma! Just you wait!"

Naruto asked, "Should we pursue him? He knows our true numbers."

Asuma shook his head. "Let him go. The client's safety comes first."

…

After everyone was checked over for injuries or possible poisonings the two Konoha teams and Tazuna got back on the road. Maya stretched and said, "Well, we got nine of the ten. It's a shame about Rokushō Aoi escaping alive though. It would have been great to recover the Sword of the Thunder God."

"He didn't seem like that great of a swordsman to me." said Naruto. "If that blade hadn't been made of lighting chakra…"

Yūgao replied, "Rokushō Aoi isn't as powerful as he portrays himself to be. He is dangerous but he is not exceptional. If he hadn't run away; you and Asuma would have killed him for certain Naruto-kun. He relies on that sword too much and doesn't have the skill to use the Sword of the Thunder God to its full potential."

Asuma nodded in agreement. "Still, we have to stay alert in case more enemies attack us."

And now onwards to Wave Country…

…

POSTSCRIPT:

Well, a short chapter but it sets up things nicely for this Arc. I never intended to do the Wave Mission because everyone and their brother already have. Hopefully this version will be a little different and interesting. One thing to keep in mind is Zabuza and Haku aren't missing nins in this story because there was no Kiri Civil War. As seen earlier in the story they are regular Hidden Mist ninjas. I'll have to think of an appropriate baddie to take on both Teams 7 and 11. Rokushō Aoi just doesn't cut it. See you next time. Blue out. 7/23/23