Land of the Waves

Kakashi did not spare the two mist ninjas that attacked them. They were killed and buried after being interrogated. Of course, this was done out of the sight of Naruto and the others. And as Kakashi expected, they were hired to kill Tazuna the bridge builder.

Right now, everybody on the team is riding on a boat inside the outer waterway of the Land of Waves. A thick layer of fog covered their visions, so the boatman had to slowly paddle.

However, they could already see the massive bridge that has yet to be completed.

[A/N: I'll be frank. Most of the stuff here is carved from the Anime. It's just a good reminder for those like me who hadn't watched it in a long time. Hence, this chapter might be a tad bit boring.]

"Wooow!! It's so huge!!" Naruto cried out from the front of the boat.

"H-Hey!! Please keep it down. I took this boat out under the cover of the fog!" The boatman panicked. The bridge construction was strictly being watched by Gato's criminal organization. If they knew that he brought in outside ninjas, his family could be in danger.

"Eek–!" Naruto covered his mouth. He didn't know what was going on, but it seems like he did something bad.

"Mr. Tazuna, I want to ask you something before we arrive at the pier…" Kakashi asked Tazuna about the real situation of the bridge.

Tazuna knew that he couldn't hide it, especially from professionals like Kakashi. He went on to talk about Gato targeting him.

"One of the world's richest men!?" Kakashi was shocked. He had read much news about Gato succeeding in the business world here and there.

"Yes… On the surface, he's the chief executive of a successful shipping company… But underneath, he is into drug trafficking. He also deals in contraband using gangs and Ninjas with the tainted money that he had gathered. When doing business, he practically had no boundaries. When that man laid his eyes on the Land of the Waves one year ago…he used his wealth and violence to enter the country. And before we knew it, this man had taken complete control of the island's maritime transportation and shipping industry." Tazuna had a frightened look on his face. Bad memories encroached upon him.

He continued: "Having a tight grip on the ocean in an island nation like the Land of Waves, this meant that Gato had control of finance, the government, and the people… We can't even resist due to not having any ninja village in the Land of the Waves. The only thing that Gato fear is the completion of the bridge that will connect the Land of the Waves to the outside world."

"Then, those Ninjas from before were Gato's men?" Sasuke looked at Yasui and Naruto.

"Yes, I would presume so. They seem to have been from the hidden mist, and the Hidden mist is right next to the Land of the Waves." Yasui nodded.

"Why did you keep this a secret from us, Mr. Tazuna?" Kakashi continued his questioning because he wanted to know every detail.

"The Land of the Waves… is a very poor nation, and even the feudal lords have no money. Of course, we ordinary citizens have no money either. Even after pooling all of our money together, we can't even afford to make requests of Rank B or higher from the Hidden Leaf Village." This was the truth that Tazuna felt ashamed of.

"If you guys stopped the mission, I would have died for sure. But there's no need for concern! Even if I die, I still have my cute grandchild who will turn eight… that will cry his heart out for me! And my daughter will only blame the Hidden Leaves Ninja for failing us, and she will only grieve for her whole life! Hahaha." Tazuna laughed with a crafty look on his face. If there's a time to play the shameless pity card, then it is now!

"Ehhh!" Naruto could feel the shamelessness coming from the old man Tazuna.

Sasuke also wanted to spit in the water for hearing such shameless words from Tazuna.

"Well, I guess we have no choice then. We'll continue being your bodyguards." A drop of sweat appeared on Kakashi's head after looking at his squad and Tazuna.

"Ohh!! If that's the case then I am grateful!" Tazuna was amazed that his shameless plug worked. He had thought that they will be returning right after taking him to the Land of the Waves.

…

…

Yasui and the squad shortly arrived in the Land of the Waves.

Yasui looked around and took in a deep breath of the moist air. They said their goodbyes to the boatman, and they continued on their journey to Tazuna's house.

After walking for just a little bit, Naruto suddenly ran ahead of everyone and threw a Kunai while shouting: "OVER THERE!!"

This even made Yasui shout wtf in his head. He hadn't spotted any enemy movements.

Kakashi and the others were as equally as bewildered as Yasui. Naruto's display made them wonder if they missed something.

"Oh, It's just a mouse! Kahaha!" Naruto stood up and rubbed his hair.

"Idiot! There was nothing there in the first place, Naruto!" Sasuke went up and kicked Naruto on the bum for his stupid farce.

"Please, Naruto. Don't use Kunai Knives so recklessly. It might injure some random people!" Kakashi felt extremely powerless. Naruto's randomness is just making him concerned for no reason.

"Hey, brat! Stop doing stuff like that! You almost scared me to death!" Tazuna felt like his heart almost came out of his mouth. The little shithead had been annoying him through the whole journey, and he's doing it even more now!

"Huh!? I sense another presence over there! No, it's over there!" Naruto threw another kunai randomly into the bushes.

This brought rage to Sasuke and he kicked Naruto down, starting to stomp on him as he did it.

When Naruto went to pick up his Kunai, he spotted a white rabbit that was almost scared to death by the kunai that he threw. It was just a centimeter away from taking the rabbit's life!

"Mr. Rabbit! Are you alright!? I'm sooo sowwyy!!" Naruto went to pick up the white rabbit and picked it up, cradling it in his arm.

Tazuna and Sasuke watched on as Naruto made a clown of himself.

"Kakashi sensei. That rabbit shouldn't have white fur in this normal temperature." Yasui walked to Kakashi's side and whispered.

"You noticed it too?" Kakashi whispered it back. There was only one explanation for this, and it is that the rabbit was raised by someone in a cold environment.

"Yes…" Yasui then turned his head to one of the trees not far from them.

"Everyone get down!" Kakashi yelled to everyone.

The Executioner's blade came flying down to them. If Kakashi had not warned everyone, they would've been cut in half!

The executioner's blade flew and horizontally stabbed halfway through a tree. Zabuza then appeared on the executioner's blade with the body flicker technique.

Kakashi recognized who Zabuza was. As an S-class ninja from another village, Kakashi couldn't be mistaken that it's one of the seven Ninja swordsmen of the Hidden Mist village.

Naruto immediately prepared himself for battle because he didn't want to be called a scaredy cat by Sasuke. If there's a fight, he had to be the first one to go in.

"Well, well. If it isn't the Rogue Ninja of the Hidden Mist, Zabuza Momochi." Kakashi went forward and raised one hand, stopping Naruto from doing anything stupid against the S-class ninja.

…

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[A/N: Yeah, I feel that it's good to keep some background information the same. However, I will be changing stuff more frequently in the next chapters! Dattebayo! Thanks for keeping up with my experiments.]