Chapter 22

When Pakkun left, we spent several minutes just talking amongst one another. Kakashi didn't say much, instead his eyes were glued on his bingo book. I had taken a peak at what he was looking at and my suspicions were confirmed when I saw him looking at some missing Mist shinobi.

Most likely we'd be dealing with at least some of them, if Hiruzen allowed us to go that is. I'd be surprised if he called back since each of us, Naruko, Satsuki, and I, could basically be considered a low jonin even if our official ranks didn't reflect that.

"So who are these businessmen you mentioned before?" I asked Tazuna. I had been dying to know but wanted to let the question come up more naturally.

Tazuna's grimace returned at the thought of them. They must be worse than I thought.

"Dastardly demons those three. The first one who showed up to our land was Gato, a short smug fuck of a bastard." Tazuna paused, remembering our age.

"We're shinobi, don't hold back for our sake." I waved his concern off and he gave me a slow nod in return.

"Gato robbed us of our food, forcing us to ration what little we had, his men would come into our village and take what they wanted." His face darkened considerably. "Even our own people."

His implication didn't go misunderstood by anyone. This Gato was a lot worse than the one from canon if he was up for taking people from their families and using them for his men's pleasure.

I eyed the older man carefully before my eyes widened in horror. Did they get to his daughter!? From what I remember she was quite beautiful, and if they have no qualms about taking people…

God…I hope I'm wrong.

"What about the others?" I forced down my anger and asked through gritted teeth. Gato was going to die, I would make sure of that.

"His 'partners' came about a year after him. A man named Sento, he's pretty much the opposite of Gato, tall and lanky. There are rumors that he comes from the Hidden Mist Village as a missing shinobi, but we've never been able to confirm that. Then there's a woman, if you can call her that, by the name of Atsuko, ugly fat bitch."

Gato, Sento, and Atsuko, two of those names didn't mean much to me, but Sento did. If he was a missing nin for the Mist, The Blood Mist, then he was somewhat powerful, at least chunin, and probably had allies who went rogue with him.

I have a strong feeling this mission will definitely be an A rank, let's just hope some fucking Akatsuki member doesn't show up in attempt to capture Naruko and make it an S rank.

"Are they both as bad as Gato?" Satsuki asked, and I could see in her eyes that, depending on his answer would decide if she'd be dealing with them as well.

"They don't poke their heads around us as much as Gato, but I've never seen or heard of them reprimanding him for his actions either." Tazuna frowned.

That makes sense. As horrible as Gato is, he keeps the populace from lashing out, which means he holds incredible use to them and that's without taking into account his net worth. If I had to guess, I'd say Sento is the military man who deals with big problems, Gato is the mob boss that deals with internal issues, and Atsuko is probably doing something important as well.

I need more information, but I can get that later.

I walked over to a tree and sat down, pulling out my bingo book. What Kakashi was doing was smart. We would definitely be fighting missing Mist shinobi, so why not take a peak at our potential enemies.

As I flipped through the pages, eyeing any Mist shinobi that caught my eye, my brow raised when I saw a familiar woman.

Basic Information:

Name: Mei Terumi

Sex: Female

Age: 28

Recognizable Traits: Ankle-length Auburn hair, Green eyes, Tall.

Former Village: Kirigakure (Hidden Mist)

Former Rank: Jonin

Chakra Control: ?

Genjutsu: ?

Ninjutsu: Kage-level

Taijutsu: Jonin-level

Personal Data:

Registration ID: ?

Date of Birth: May 21, ?

Blood Type:

Height: 174 cm (5'7)

Weight: 53 kg (117 lbs)

All of her data regarding mission completions, promotion ages, and more we're filled with question marks. I knew how much of a powerhouse this woman was, an absolutely deadly force of nature. A human volcano if you will.

I highly doubted I would be seeing her during this mission, but the small possibility was there.

Konoha lacked a lot of information on what exactly was going on in the Bloody Mist, but we did know for a fact that it was the village versus the rebels. The rebels are of course being led by Mei Terumi. Though to fund such a thing would be incredibly hard without taking on missions from willing offerers, and considering the strife between the village and rebels, I can only assume that the mist village kills those that offer missions to rebels, which would leave them crippled and in need of money.

At this point in time, I've basically come to terms that there would be rebels in Waves, but her…Let us pray she does not make an appearance.

I saw several more familiar faces in the book, Chojuro, Kisame, Zabuza, Haku and plenty more. Haku barely had any information on her.

Yes, her, yet another person genderbent by this universe. Honestly this was the first one that actually made sense. Justice has been served.

*Rustle*

I perked up at the sound of the bushes rustling. Naruko and Satsuki both pulled out kunai as well, their eyes locked on it. Being a sensor was great, since I already knew exactly who it was.

"Yo." Pakkun burst from the bushes. "Kashi."

"Pakkun." The man looked up, closing his bingo book. "So what will it be?"

Pakkun remained silent, eyeing each one of us. I dislike these moments of tense silence that create pointless tension for the sake of dramatic effect, but they never cease.

"Lord Hokage gave the green light."

Tazuna dropped down to the ground, relief lighting up his features.

"Hell yeah!" Naruko cheered.

"Did he say anything else?" Kakashi asked, single eye narrowed.

"Yup, expect reinforcements sometime soon, Lord Hokage said he'd handpick some people and send them your way. They won't have to be burdened by shinobi speeds, so they should either link up with you all before you arrive, or shortly after." Pakkun explained before looking at Tazuna. "He had a message for you, bridge builder. "Lying about mission criteria is a serious crime, you will be punished once this mission reaches its end, until then, my shinobi shall clean up this mess.""

Tazuna nodded, fully understanding the implications of his words, a smile tugging at his lips.

Man really doesn't care that he'll be punished as long as his people live without being oppressed. Gotta respect that.

I highly doubt he would face incrimination once Hiruzen read the mission report, or heard it from my own mouth. Though I do expect him to tax the fuck out of Waves, like the Monopoly man dropping a house card on someone with six hotels.

"Alright, then we're moving forward." Kakashi got up from his seated position and started walking towards our destination.

"See ya, Kashi." Pakkun poofed away.

We followed after our jonin-sensei, resuming our formation on our way to the Land of Waves.

—

Three Days Later

Walking, and more walking. Resting for a night then walking again. That had been our day in and day out. Had it been just us shinobi, we would have been there on day one. We'd easily be able to travel at jonin speeds and hold that pace, but nah. Tazuna's here so we gotta walk.

I offered to carry him, but the old man apparently still had his pride. Which didn't make much sense to me, he practically begged us for our help, and even if I understood his pleas, his pride meant jack shit to me at this point.

I still respected him though.

We had finally arrived at the coast. Tazuna had paid a man to take us into Waves under the cover of the foggy early morning and eventually we made it across the water.

"So this is your home." Naruko hummed as she stepped off the little boat.

"Yes, for as long as I've been alive." Tazuna smiled fondly.

"Let's hope we can clear it without any issues." Satsuki grumbled as she got back into formation.

"Keep your eyes peeled." Kakashi ordered as we ventured deeper into the land.

"Sir, yes sir." I saluted, getting giggles from Satsuki and Naruko and going completely ignored by Tazuna and Kakashi.

As we walked, I was constantly flexing my sensory chakra. I absolutely didn't want to end up getting my head cleaved off by Zabuza's massive sword.

Pause.

Or getting a senbon to the neck from an admittedly hot Haku. No, I think I'd rather return home with my beloved girls to hug my other beloved girl so that we could grow old together in peace.

Yes, I'd like that a lot.

"So, old man, you guys got a beach here?" I asked Tazuna. The man turned around and blinked at me.

"We do...This is an island…Why?"

Alright, in my defense the place we entered the island wasn't a beach, how the hell was I supposed to know that somewhere around the perimeter of the island was a beach?

"I'm interested in buying some real estate here, a vacation home if you will." I explained with a wiggle of my eyebrows. He didn't need to know how I planned on building a massive beach house here where my women and I could come and relax in the future. Nor did he need to know about how I intended to basically be a pseudo Gato to these people. Nowhere near as bad, but considering this place was about to become a prosperous trading state once we were done here, I intended to start my business. Manga, anime, video games, board games, radios, televisions, etc. If it existed in my last world, I was bringing it here…for the most part.

"Kid, if you can free us from those tyrannical bastards, you can have the damn thing. It's been filled with all types of filth since those asshole's henchmen took it over. No one owned it before anyways, so I doubt the people would care either." He shrugged.

Oh Tazuna, poor, old, STUPID, Tazuna.

He had no idea the value of such a place. FOOLISH.

As we walked, I day dreamed about older Naruko, Satsuki, and Hinata in swimsuits playing beach volleyball. Then I daydreamed about suntanning while Mei Terumi gave me a drink to sip on, while Samui fed me grapes. The sight of grown Sakura and Ino massaging my feet with oil. Shizune in her own swimsuit oil Tsunade's nude back. Konan and Karin standing there with Akatsuki themed cloth that barely covered their privates.

That was only a glimpse of what could be.

I would ensure it would be that, and so much more!

Then I faltered in my steps, completely snapped out of my thoughts. Not wanting to give up that I sensed something.

"Kakashi."

Kakashi didn't stop walking but turned around to eye me. My eyes were narrowed at him, hoping to explain what I had sensed through my gaze alone. His facial expression hardened as he turned back around and continued walking.

"How many?"

"Two."

Our voices were barely above whispers, the people I sensed were at least a couple hundred meters away. Hearing our conversation was out of the question, but reading my lips wasn't, at least if they were who I think they were, and I didn't want to take that risk.

"Can you take one of them?" Kakashi questioned.

"Of course."

One jonin level chakra signature and one chunin. I could take on the latter.

"Good. Naruko, Satsuki, you are to protect Mr. Tazuna." The jonin man ordered. Both girls gave curt nods, Naruko eyeing me worriedly. "I can feel it now. One, jonin level, masking it very well, experienced, and very deadly, three hundred meters south east. The other, mid chunin, sloppy, inexperienced, six hundred meters north east, on your go, Lei."

It was time. Time for our first real battle, a real battle with real stakes. I had no intention of losing.

Losing meant death.

We took several more steps forwards, and right as I took my next, I dashed off as fast as I could manage with my weight seals towards the north east. Kakashi did the same moments later towards the south east.