Mission to the Land of Waves - 7

"You okay, kid?" Anko rested her hand on Haku's shoulder while he absently put away his senbon.

"Oh." He looked startled, "There's not a scratch on me sensei, but I should be asking you that question."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, we were pretty freaked out when he got you stuck in that weird bubble Anko-sensei!"

She waved them off, not much bothered by what had transpired, "We got off easy. It could have gone much, much worse. Can you imagine what would've happened to Tazuna-san if Haku hadn't distracted that brute?"

"I would've had a rough time..." Gaara answered and Tazuna smirked, more appreciative of his body guards after encountering the powerful Mist jounin.

"Yeah, you would've." Anko murmured, "We should get going. He may be gone for now, but he'll be back for Tazuna later, I'm sure."

"I live close by," Tazuna seemed truly relieved to be alive, "If we're lucky enough to avoid any more ninja, it should be less than an hour's walk."

"Yes! And when we get there can we find something to eat? I'm starving!" Naruto inquired, upset that they had skipped breakfast that morning after Jiraiya had not shown up.

"That's a good idea." Anko agreed, also appearing to be a bit peckish, "Maybe they'll have some dango in town..."

They set out again, exhausted, hungry and kunai within reach. More than ever Gaara seemed irritable due to the fact that he had seen the least action of any of them, granted he was the best suited to defend Tazuna should Zabuza reappear.

And the knowledge that Haku actually knew a missing nin from the Mist Village was also unsettling. Gaara knew that as much as he could've put up a fight against the nukenin, he would've been undoubtedly critically wounded or worse if Haku had not distracted Zabuza.

'He knows about Haku's Kekkei Genkai as well...' Gaara frowned inwardly, keeping a wary eye on their client, 'That puts us at a disadvantage, no matter how strong Haku-kun may be.'

Naruto patted Haku on the back, grinning as they walked, "That was awesome Haku-kun! You blew bandage-face away with that jutsu!"

Haku sighed, rubbing his arm humbly, "I'm not much of a fighter at all without water...I was just lucky I suppose."

"But still! Luck or whatever it was, you chased off a jounin!" Naruto emphasized 'jounin' by waving his arms about, "Of course Gaara-kun and I helped!"

"Of course." Gaara agreed tersely, not wanting to give all the credit to the tall, frail-looking boy.

"Will you three shut up?" Their client looked irked once again, "Whenever you start talking, we get ambushed. Do you notice a recurring pattern?"

"Coincidence," Naruto insisted, "Besides everyone's still in one piece so it isn't really a problem!"

Anko smirked, "You'll get used to it eventually, Tazuna."

"This is where you live?" Haku asked Tazuna as they entered a desolate-looking village. It showed clear signs of poverty and hunger. The dirt streets weren't very crowded and buildings appeared to be vandalized and even uninhabitable. Roadside food stands had little to offer, with only a few items sitting on the dusty shelves, untouched.

"It isn't really what you'd call living." Tazuna replied grimly.

"I don't suppose they have any real medical facilities or such in this area then?" Anko asked, noting a sickly homeless person seated on the side of the street, shivering with cold.

"There are a few..." Tazuna answered slowly, "The real problem is affording anything around here. Gato has taxes on nearly every necessity there is in this town, and not many people are as financially stable as my family." He paused, "But even so...everyone has lost something precious to Gato and it has to end...the people cannot go on living like this."

Gaara looked down as he felt a small hand tug on the sash tied around his waist. A small child, maybe four or five, with tousled hair and a round, dirty face looked up at him in silence. At first he didn't understand until he watched the pleading brown eyes begin to water and tear.

Begging.

Not noticing that he had fallen behind, his companions continued on, discussing the village's hardships and Gaara stood in the center of the street, watching the starving little girl tug desperately on his sash.

'I know suffering.' Gaara's eyes softened considerably and he kneeled down, removing the girl's hand from his sash.

"You're hungry." He said quietly and he watched the child struggle to give an answer.

Gaara fished through his back pouch, not bothering to count how much money he had retrieved and handed it to her, "Here."

"Eh?" She looked confused. It was probably been the first time anyone had given her anything.

"Go on, you can keep it." He patted her head gently and she grinned, deeply grateful to the kind stranger with a large gourd.

Gaara stood and watched as she tottered away towards a shabby-looking young woman who he guessed was the girl's mother, apparently bartering with a shop-keeper. After having one glance at what her daughter held up to her, the woman looked up frantically, making eye contact with the red haired boy.

She seemed to understand.

So he left, not wanting to think about how many people were in serious need of help. He would give up the shoes on his feet if it would do them any good. The only way to break the shackles of oppression chaining the people down in the village was to end Gato's tyranny, 'And I will.'

"Tsunami, I'm back," Tazuna grunted as he shuffled into his house, which was noticeably larger and more stylish than many of the homes they had passed by on the way.

A young woman with dark indigo hair and black eyes poked her head out of the kitchen while drying a dish, smiling, "Dad, I'm glad you're back! Did you have a safe trip?"

"Yes," He then gestured to the four people standing quietly behind him, "These ninja from Konoha have saved my life at least twice today. I've invited them to stay with us until they are prepared for their journey home."

Tsunami smiled at Anko's group, "Welcome! I hope you'll stay for dinner tonight! We'd be happy to have you."

Naruto grinned, "Sure we'll stay! I'm starving-" Anko smiled while she pinched the boy's lips shut.

"Try to be more respectful, Naruto. These people have invited us into their home without even knowing us." Anko went on, removing her hand from his face, and he nodded, somewhat annoyed.

Gaara untied his gourd and set it down carefully before taking a seat between Naruto and Haku, who had just been served tea by Tsunami. She looked up as a small figure slipped into the room, "Inari, there you are! Come and meet the nice ninja who've been looking after Grandpa!"

A small, eight-year-old boy trudged inside to stand by Tazuna, his shifty gaze examining the shinobi one at a time from beneath his hat, "Ninja?"

"That's right!" Naruto confirmed with a grin, "We've fought off dangerous enemy ninja to bring your grandpa home safe and sound!"

Inari frowned, "You don't look that tough."

Gaara regarded Tazuna's grandson while he and Haku sipped their ginseng. Naruto gave a reserved glance to Inari, "Is that so? Well you'll be impressed to hear that we've saved his life more than once during the course of the day."

"So what?" The boy snapped, "You save people or whatever, but it doesn't matter because in the end everyone dies eventually! So what's the point?" Without warning, Inari turned on his heel and fled, leaving his mother calling after him as his footsteps thundered up the stairs, leaving Naruto deeply insulted.

"Man! What's his problem?" Naruto wondered, slurping his tea in irritation.

The same question occurred to Anko, Haku and Gaara.

"You'll have to forgive Inari. He's a bit sensitive about things like that..." Tsunami said with a sigh, "Would anyone like more tea?"

"What do you mean he isn't dead yet?" Gato sat behind his desk, glaring at Zabuza, "I didn't hire you to play around with them Zabuza. Stop wasting my time."

The Mist nin's voice was dangerously low, "There's been a change of plans."

"What?" The statement had the conniving shipping magnate worried.

"There's a boy, a very interesting prospect..." Zabuza went on cryptically, "It's very rare to come across such a valuable find."

Gathering his nerve, Gato went on, "You've already been paid half. You hold up your end of the bargain and kill the bridge builder as we agreed, and after that, you can do whatever the hell you want."

Zabuza's eyes narrowed, "You have no place to describe to me the things I can and can't do, you brainless parasite," He paused, smirking again as he thought, 'The Hyoton boy. Before this is over, I'll have a fine tool to finish what I've started.'

"If that's all you've got to say then get out of here and get back to work," Gato replied curtly, fearing the zanbato slung on the nukenin's back, "I told you I don't care what you do so long as you kill the old man, got it?"

Zabuza ignored him, walking out of the office deep in thought and closed the door behind him with a resounding bang.

Two body guards on either side of Gato's desk gave him incredulous looks after the unstable jounin departed, both concerned that their lives could end suddenly should the Mist nin become angered.

"I don't trust that bastard, not as far as I can throw him." Gato ground out, his fists clenching, "If he's sidetracked, there's sure to be a double-cross. That bastard won't get the job done on time..."

"What do we do about him then?" A gaunt-looking guard asked, his hand resting on the sword tied at his side.

"We finish off the old man without him," The shipping magnate decided, "Once he finds this 'interesting prospect' of his we kill him and the kid, just to make things fun."