Chapter 11

Soon they were in Tazuna's house, getting to know his daughter and the kid that Sasuke wouldn't deal with, he'd leave the Talk-No-Jutsu to Naruto if he even decided to do it this time, he went to go rest along with Kakashi and Naruto since Sakura would take first watch, in the morning after breakfast they would head to the bridge.

The morning had come quickly enough, Naruto would leave two clones at the house to protect it just in case, and Sakura would do overwatch while Naruto would create a lot of clones to help speed the process by doing a lot of the manual labor work.

Since they could communicate over a long distance with the pigeons since normal C-Rank missions weren't allowed to get communication earpieces. It is funny how seals work since you could create something akin to Bluetooth with them.

After a while, Sasuke would need to either make his own or buy the ridiculously expensive piece of equipment so it was easier to communicate, as summons took a bit longer than 'Instant'.

With that, Kakashi left a clone but his real body went with Sasuke to the reported hideout of Gato, with Naruto's help the bridge would take at most a week Kakashi and Sasuke would be scoping the place out in the meantime. Looking for patrol patterns, sleep schedules, how well they were equipped. How many were there in total, and plan out how they wished to approach the situation in the first place.

Gato had a decent villa set up on a cliff, with the back of the villa facing the swirling seas, which was a huge disadvantage, as it made the place easy to infiltrate. They didn't get near it yet, for now, Sasuke used his Sharingan while Kakashi half a binocular to examine the place.

Kakashi clicked his tongue. ''There doesn't seem to be a lot of protection around the villa... It almost looks like a bunch of civilians could take over if they came in force."

"True, but fear is a powerful weapon, especially when they know he has ninja on his side, even if it's not very many. But this can't be all his thugs."

Kakashi chuckled. ''Good job on your observation, yes we'll scout around, look for heavy foot traffic. Meet back here in an hour."

With a nod Kakashi vanished from the tree, the first place Sasuke was going to check would be the cliffside, an underground cave full of henchmen under an evil villain's hideout that was a rich merchant? Seemed like it'd fit the picture.

Sasuke began to run while keeping low along the cliff face, using his increased perception to look around for a possible entrance, it took him a bit but he did find something. A large section of the cliff seemed discolored to the rest, this could mean anything but he decided to check it out.

What he found was a pretty well-done camouflage mesh. Following it, the crashing waters helping hide his already quiet footsteps, he followed it up before finding what looked to be some sort of hidden bush-like entrance, the ground around it heavily flattened with a few cart tracks. It meant the entrance and walkway must've been large enough to cart down.

He saw a flash of white and he looked up, seeing a few hundred meters away was Kakashi with his eye smile, giving a thumbs up before he seemed to fade away.

Seemed they didn't need the hour before Sasuke headed back around, once he was to the new spot, Kakashi was reading one of his books. "What did you find on the cliffside?"

"Camouflage mesh, pretty decent. quite large along the cliffside, I followed it up, and as you saw it was near the entrance."

"How thick was the mesh?"

"I tried to listen, and I think I heard fire crackling from torches maybe, but the water was loud, but if I could still hear it even over the water, not that thick. It's heavy as hell though. Most likely to not be disturbed by the winds."

Kakashi nodded before he turned to look at Sasuke, a light in his eyes. "Now, a question my cute little Genin... Do you want to infiltrate by yourself?"

Sasuke squinted a bit, going into his thoughts. Could he? Yes, for sure. It wouldn't be too hard to infiltrate by himself. Worst case as long as he made it to the mesh, he could go between the mesh and the cliffside for a quick getaway. Both Haku and Zabuza would be out of commission for a few more days at least, Zabuza might be awake already but he wouldn't be able to move yet. Haku would stay by his side and with the demon brothers out of the way.

It shouldn't be hard, maybe a few thugs?

"Do you wish for me to carry out the assassination as well?"

Kakashi shook his head. ''We don't know about the Hunter Nin, their speed was about... Mid-Chunin rank, so worst case you could run away. Until we can confirm where they are, we'll make no movements. If Gato is smart, he'll keep them close. For now, you'd only get in, find what you could about the layout of the inside, look for any information you can find, then get out."

Sasuke thought over it a bit more before he nodded. "I can do it."

Kakashi nodded before he raised his showing brow. ''Now, or later?"

"Now, it'd be easier for it to be night, but sometimes you can't choose when."

Kakashi smiled behind his mask before he nodded. ''Then, have fun Sasuke. Stay safe, stay smart. Do not extend yourself, the first sign of trouble, you run. If you aren't out by sunrise, I'll come in ready to take it off the cliffside."

Kakashi reached into his pouch, before pulling out a pill. It was a soldier pill. ''Take this in exactly two hours, any earlier and you'll get sick because you've eaten recently, any later and you won't have the energy to get through the pill, understand?"

Sasuke nodded, taking the pill in its wrapping and putting it into his pouch before he began to head off.

As he left Kakashi watched him, muttering beneath his breath. ''I hope you're successful... If I add this to my report, the Hokage will be forced to consider giving you back the Uchiha Clan seat in the council..."

Kakashi shook his head before returning to his book.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Inside the room Zabuza and Haku were in.)

"Zabuza!"

"Quiet ya damn brat." He groaned out, taking a shaky breath. "Those kids were good, especially that black-haired brat. He was able to take my sword, disperse my hiding in the mist technique, and even able to capitalize on a split-second log and use replacement. The pink one seemed useless, however."

"About that Zabuza... He followed me."

Zabuza raised a brow to that, looking to Haku. "Smart enough to see through the hunter trick? Good head on his shoulders... Did he catch you?"

There was a soft nod from Haku who was gripping at her pants. Unsure how she should approach this.

"And... He just let you go?"

Haku shook her head before she took a breath. ''He asked me a question, and then asked for a request."

Zabuza raised a brow before he spoke. ''Go on."

"He asked why we were working with Gato. ''Zabuza is a missing-nin, but he wouldn't fall so low.' I told him it was because of the rebellion."

"And the request?"

"He offered us work... Not like Gato's work of harassing a village, he asked us to become Subsidiaries to the Uchiha clan, stated that because of him being the last one he could drop a few million Ryo at any point... He offered not only to pay us but to also help us gain forces and power for the rebellion... All he asked for was Loyalty to the Uchiha clan."

Zabuza frowned, his mind working as he thought over the request. It wasn't bad, not at all. A few million Ryo? That was a lot, especially for a war effort. Mei would appreciate that kind of support.

"You said Uchiha... You mean that brat who got his clan whipped out?"

Haku nodded.

"How well did he catch you?"

"I didn't even feel his approach, he was suddenly behind me with a paralysis jutsu ready, even if I had you in my arms his grip was tight and he was using his Sharingan. I didn't feel his guard drop at all, and he was just a clone."

Zabuza's brow raised higher to that. ''Just a clone was able to get to you?... I'll think about this, is there a way to contact him?"

"He said all I would need to do was the release seal and look to the sky."

Zabuza chuckled a bit. ''Means the brat has got a way to watch us, hm? Contact him."

There was a chuckle from the corner of the room. ''Already here.''