023 - The Mission {PT. III}
THE LAND OF WAVE
Tsunami wasn't too happy to find us alone with her son. It took a bit of effort, but we managed to convince her to sit down for a conversation.
"You want to be Inari's guardian?" she asked confused. She stared at us her eyes squinted in suspicion. "How old are you? Sixteen? Seventeen? Aren't you too young to be considering becoming someone else's guardian?"
"Thirteen actually," we told her. The woman blinked, nonplussed. We shot her a reassuring smile. "But that shouldn't be a problem, no?"
"Thirteen? Are you joking? I will have you know young man, this is not the time for jokes."
We waved her off. "My age isn't important," we told her. "What is important is Inari's well-being going forward. Your son and I have spoken at length already. He spoke to me about Kaiza and what happened to him. And as I am sure you are aware, I suspect your father, Tazuna, has suffered a similar fate. I would prefer such misfortune does not befall the boy as well."
"...Inari spoke to you about Kaiza?" Tsunami asked, her bewildered gaze swivelling to match her son's blank ones.
"Yes." That was a lie of course, but, at this point, we doubted the boy would tattle on us.
"I hope you don't mind?"
"...No. No. Not at all." The woman fell silent for a few moments before turning to face us again. "What exactly would your guardianship entail?" she asked.
"Monetary support for feeding and clothing, as well as education," we replied. "Also, I would be leaving a clone behind to protect you two and oversee his education."
"...That's generous," she replied hesitantly. Confused. "Thank you."
"It's no problem," we said as we made to leave. "Oh, and due to the need for discretion, I will have an alibi created for the clone. An old friend of Kaiza, or brother, most probably. That shouldn't be too suspicious. He will arrive a few days later and take up residence with you two. Just act natural when he gets here; it's likely your house would be under observation for a while, so try not to give us away."
"...I understand."
We turned to face Inari who was staring at us unblinkingly. "Be good, ok," we told the boy, patting his head dotingly. "I am here now. No one would hurt you or your Mama ever again, I promise."
***
Reattaching our tail proved much harder than discarding it.
In hindsight, it was a bit of a tactical error to not send a clone to Tazuna's domicile instead, but the insurance offered by our main body was too much to ignore for a task of such importance. Either way, duping Kakashi's shadow was not impossible; just very problematic.
We returned to the rendezvous point Kakashi decided on earlier without further incident. And guessing from Naruto's countenance, they had made significant progress in their investigation.
"That Gatō bastard!" the blonde scowled as he and Sakura entered the clearing. Kakashi trailed behind them reading that novel of his, apparently unbothered by Naruto's tantrum. In the distance, we felt his clone dispel, and almost simultaneously the Jōnin's gaze flickered to meet ours.
"How did your mission go, Sasuke?" he asked us.
"Productive," we replied. "We were able to narrow down the description of the ninjas hired to assassinate that architect. Missing-nin from Kirigakure most likely. Although, they would have most likely erased their tracks by now given their employer is dead."
Kakashi nodded, still reading his book. "Well, that concludes our investigation. We found an unmarked grave a few kilometres northeast of here. The corpse buried in it matched Gatō's description. From what we heard about their relationship, the missing-nin he hired was most likely responsible for his death. Probably after he tried to swindle them out of their fee … That Gatō fellow was a really nasty one. Drug peddling? Human trafficking?"
Kakashi sighed as he shook his head, finally putting his book away.
"What do we do now, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.
"We'll wait a bit longer to see if anything else pops up before returning to the village to give our report."
"...Are we just going to leave these people like this?" Naruto asked, aghast. "After everything that bastard Gatō has done here?!"
"No, Naruto," Kakashi said, ruffling his hair. "We are going back to the village to inform the Hokage about this matter so more tangible aid can be sent over. We cannot just simply decide to take action; as Sasuke mentioned earlier, there is a balance of power we must respect. The local lords must be informed and the Daimyō has to be carried along if we are going to be able to effectively help these people. Do you understand, Naruto?"
"...Yes, Kakashi-sensei."
***
We arrived back in the Land of Fire three weeks later, our mission a partial success. The missing-nin responsible for Gatō's murder remains unknown but from his description, Kakashi claimed to have a few suspects in mind. Overall our first B-rank mission ended on a positive note, tactically at least. We suffered no losses and completed our main objective without any incidents. Although, our teammates, naively, would beg to differ.
Either way, their thoughts on the matter didn't matter. We adjusted our backpack as we neared Konoha's main gate. There was so much to do and so little ti—
We froze.
"Sasuke?" Kakashi called, turning to face us, his brow crooked in confusion.
We ignored him, letting our backpack slide off our shoulders as we blurred into motion, covering swathes of land in a blink of an eye as we homed unto a familiar chakra signature. A smouldering emotion flared to life in our soul.
Loathing.
The weasel turned to face us, its brow arched in surprise.
"Who is the brat?" the one standing beside the accursed creature asked. It stood nonchalantly, seemingly unbothered by our arrival. Both wore black cloaks with images of red clouds scattered across the surface. The weasel's partner carried on his shoulder a strange blade; it was wrapped in bandages and bore a unique aura. Sentience? It didn't matter.
Our attention returned to the weasel. "...Sasuke," it exhaled, favouring us an expressionless stare.
Two things happened next:
1) Our chakra churned.
2) All hell broke loose.