A certain kind of intelligence

"So... how do we make use of the fact that we have a hostage?" I asked into the tense silence of Tazuna's home as we sat around the living room with Tazuna, waiting for his family to get back.

"Oh, so just to be sure, you didn't just exchange our experienced Jonin teacher who could guide us for a hostage, you exchanged him for a hostage you don't know how to make use of?" Sakura pointedly asked, her green eyes boring into me.

"To be completely honest I was hoping that you would forget about that whole... ordeal with the hostage negotiations from the sheer joy of finding out I was alive. Not that you are wrong about the fact that I screwed up that whole thing, as I absolutely did, just that I was hoping I would avoid the consequences of my actions" I said.

"I mean, I'm super happy that you're alive, it's just, well, you kind of got our sensei captured" Naruto said, settling us into a new bout of tense silence.

I slowly stood up and walked in the direction of the kitchen "so... what do you guys want to eat?" I asked tentatively.

"Seriously? That's it? Do you think it'll all just be fine because you made a couple of jokes? Your reckless stupidity got our sensei captured and now we're stuck with a hostage we don't know what to do with!" Sakura snapped at me while Sasuke just kept glaring at me.

"I'll have you know that this time it wasn't just reckless stupidity, in fact, there was a certain type of intelligence behind it, sure it's the kind of intelligence where you need to squint really hard just to be pretty sure it's actually intelligence and not just a new kind of stupid, but it's there!" I said defensively.

"then why did you start the hostage-taking if you knew you aren't good at it" Sakura asked pointedly.

"Because, as I said before, when you have a hostage and they don't, you don't need to be good at negotiating" I said

"Then why not accept their deal and get Kakashi back when you had the chance?" Sakura asked.

"that's more complicated, of course not too complicated since I did manage to figure it out, but more complicated, nonetheless. You see, the problem isn't really that I didn't want Kakashi back, the problem was that we know literally nothing about whoever Zabuza is working with. So, for all we know the only thing stopping the person from tearing us to shreds is the fact that we have a hostage. And while I'm confident that you guys improved a lot while I was away, and while I do think I could manage to take on two, maybe three unarmed four-year-Olds. I still didn't really feel like going up against a person who can reach Jonin speed, meaning that they are, if we are being extremely conservative, a high Chunin, or, if we decide that speed was their weakest area, a high Jonin." I explained

"oh" Sakura said, looking slightly stunned.

"And if you are wondering why I didn't tell you right after they left, well, we have no real way of knowing if they did leave, they could have been right beyond the tree line for all we know" I said

"huh" Naruto said.

"Why are all of you so surprised? I'm a smart guy! I had to be with how horribly weak I used to be, if I weren't I would have never been able to make it through academy" I said, slightly miffed about just how surprised they were

"You just used to be an incredibly stupid, consequence-ignoring, arrogant, reckless, idiot" Sasuke grunted.

"Thank you for being so gentle Sasuke, I really appreciate the kind way you said it. But even though Sasuke is being so nice, we really should get started on lunch, so, does anyone want something speci-?" I tried to ask.

"Ramen" Naruto respond before the question was even asked.

After looking around and making sure everyone was okay with the idea, going over and poking the bound and chakra collared Zabuza a few times to make sure he wasn't up and that he was okay with ramen if he was awake. Then I started to prepare the food as I thought over what Sasuke said. Was it true? Had I stopped being reckless? Not that I minded my newfound ability to think things through a bit, but, well, I didn't want to stop being reckless altogether. Wait, why do I want to be reckless? The thoughts only continued from there, but honestly? It was nice in a way, just thinking while I cooked again after so long filled with servants making any and all food within fifty meters of me.

"The ramen is ready!" I called out of the kitchen as I took the largest bowl I could find and filled it to the brim since when Naruto is involved then no matter how fast you think you are at eating you won't get a second portion.

Five minutes later we sat around the dinner table, eating, talking, and, in Naruto's case, lying face down into the table complaining about how I didn't make enough ramen.

"So, I've been thinking about this a lot, and I would like an answer" I said in my most serious tone.

"If it's about our mission then just tell us what you wanna know and I'll tell you" Naruto said, interrupting his whining about insufficient ramen supplies to look up curiously from the table.

"The mission? Why in the world would I want to know about the mission?" I asked while faking confusion.

"Because it's the most important thing that's going on" Sasuke said.

"Sure, sure, I guess it's sort of important, but more importantly, what happened while I was away? How did the group react to me leaving for a while?" I asked.

The intensely awkward silence which immediately ensued told me that something was wrong, very wrong. as in, even Sasuke looked away for a moment while Sakura and Naruto looked down without answering, only looking pained and like they were regretting something.

"What?" I asked

"The group fell apart" Sasuke said tersely.

My eyes widened in surprise as I looked around between the three of them before speaking "but why? I mean, I know I sort of assembled the group or whatever, but even I know that I wasn't necessary for you to be friends"

"it's just" - Sakura's eyes flickered to meet mine for a moment before looking away - "i don't know... you're right, you weren't necessary for the group, but the way you just disappeared like that... it created a huge amount of tension in the group" Sakura said with a sigh before silence settled over the group.

"So..." - I finally broke the silence - "I think we should choose a temporary leader, not someone with absolute control, just to decide how we want to go about doing what we want, making everyone's ideas into plans and other matters like that"

"That sounds like a good idea" Naruto said.

"Great! I nominate Sakura" I said.

"Wait, me?" Sakura exclaimed in surprise.

"Yep, you" I said with a beaming smile, ignoring the implied question completely.

"But why?" she said.

"Well, it was just a choice between you and Sasuke-"

"HEY!"

"-and while effective communication is Sasuke's top priority, sometimes his communication just happens to be so effective that he says everything he wants to say with just a single grunt-"

Sasuke grunted in annoyance.

"-so, I think you're the best option" I finished.

"Oh, uh, thank you, I really appreciate it. But what about you?" Sakura said.

"Oh no, no, that is NOT a good idea" I said with a chuckle.

"Why?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Well, you know how the first mission I led was a huge failure where I was captured and banished?" I asked.

"yeah" Naruto said.

"Well, it only went downhill from there" I said with a grimace.

"How?" this time it was Sasuke's turn to ask

"Half the team ended up dying a slow painful death by bleeding out, the other half barely made it out alive" I said grimly, making everyone suddenly fall silent.

"How many were on the team?" Sakura asked quietly, like she was afraid I would shatter from the slightest sound.

"Does it matter? Suffice to say that it was my fault, and I should never lead again" I said bitterly.

"...ok, if that's the case then I guess I'll lead. First of all, I think it's important that we always have two people guarding Zabuza, and two people guarding Tazuna, secondly, I would like it if we found something other than Anno's whip to tie up Zabuza with" Sakura said while glancing at the hogtied Zabuza.

"I can take care of that" I said.

"You can? Do you have some sort of connections to get things from merchants?" Sakura asked.

"I do, it's called money" I said

"I mean special things, like bindings strong enough to hold Zabuza" Sakura said with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh no need to worry about that part, I'll add the special part, I am a rather decent fuinjutsu... well, not master, but something that means pretty good at what I do" I said with a smirk.

"Really?" Naruto asked.

"Of course! in fact, I might just be the most incredible talent in the field of fuinjutsu of our generation, and sure, some may argue that it's only because I'm the only one in our generation practicing fuinjutsu. And while they may be right, they also have no proof, and I can thus say anything I want without the being able to prove me wrong"

"Fine, fine, if you can then go make something to keep Zabuza down, take Sasuke and Tazuna with you, Naruto and I can guard Zabuza in the meanwhile" Sakura said.

"Thank you, now come on Sasuke, I've barely been able to work on my smithing for a year and I have so many fuinjutsu ideas I want to test out"

And so, I dragged Sasuke and Tazuna out to find a forge for me to work in.

Hours later we walked towards the Tazuna house, hungry for food after a long day of work, well, I worked, the Tazuna just sat around complaining that he was wasting his time while Sasuke practiced hand seals.

"I still don't understand why I had to sit around in a forge instead of being with my family after so long away" Tazuna grumbled.

"that's because there are two worst-case scenarios, one, the shinobi pretending to be a hunter-nin frees Zabuza and we all die in a gruesome slaughter. Two, they get you and demand Zabuza in exchange for you, in which case we'll have to try stealing you back since even if we agree to their demands, we'll still die by Zabuza's hand about three seconds after we free him" I explained.

"Then why not have one of you guard each of my family and Zabuza? Then we can still move around somewhat normally" he argued.

"Because while your family is important, they aren't essential, meaning that while we will do a lot to help them out, we can survive without them, we can't do that if either you or Zabuza gets taken" I explained, honestly tired from explaining it again and again.

"But why aren't my family counted as essential? What if I stop working on the bridge when they die"

"Because you've definitively proved through all our interactions, especially by having this particular interaction about a thousand times, that you're more stubborn than a damn Iwa shinobi rock-head, and they're the type to hit their head against a rock wall just to see which breaks first" I groaned.

We continued to bicker until we finally arrived at the house, at which point Tazuna gave up like the weakling he is and I went over to put my newest creation on Zabuza.

[Chain of unity

Tier: C

A long chain of interlocked rings, each ring engraved with a fuinjutsu seal which makes all damage done to the chain be applied equally on all rings, thus forcing anyone attempting to break the chain to shatter the entire chain]

I whistled happily as I draped the chains all around the assassin's body, at least, I was whistling happily until Zabuza's eye's snapped open, and he glared at me.

"argh!" I yelled as I fell backward in surprise.

"Where am I? Why did you not kill me when you had the chance?" he asked, glaring around in suspicion.

"You can't just wake up so suddenly when someone is tying you up with chains! I fell! I could have hurt myself" I berated Zabuza.

"Who are you? Why didn't you kill me?" he asked, glaring at me.

"Would you just for one second? I'm the one asking questions here, at least im supposed to be the one asking questions here, so stop taking my- stop that! They won't break either way so leave them alone" I said, before cutting myself off when I noticed that he was trying to break the chain.

"By the way, I would have thought it was obvious, I mean honestly, you of all people must have heard of hostages. I mean I know that Zabuza, mister greatest assassin in all the land probably isn't in the habit of kidnapping people and more in the habit of just finishing them off, but you must at least be familiar with the concept" I said.

I was only met with an angry glare.

"You know what? I think I'll go grab the others for a quick talk about what to do with so just... sit tight" I said with a small smirk before walking away.

I walked towards the table in the living room and started speaking "hey guys... and Tazuna's family, Zabuza woke up, and I feel like now is a good time to talk about the whole, 'we aren't really sure how to make use of a hostage' thing"

"What! Why didn't you tell us that Zabuza was awake?" Sakura asked

"I just told you!" I defended myself.

"Oh, uh, right" she said awkwardly.

"...after a short conversation" I said nonchalantly.

"I KNEW IT!" She yelled.

"GUYS! I get that it's important for you two to be right, but we really need to talk about Zabuza" Naruto said.

"Yes, yes, I'll play nice" I grumbled.

"We could torture him" Sasuke suggested, even though he sounded cautious about the idea.

"Do you know how to torture people? Because I certainly don't" I asked

"isn't it just about, like, stabbing them?" Sakura asked even though she was clearly uncomfortable with the idea.

"Sure, but we also need to make sure we don't stab him too hard and accidentally kill him..." I said before we all slowly sank into a tense silence, no one seeming to really like the idea of torture.

"I guess... but no, we shouldn't" I said.

"What?" Naruto asked, looking deeply apprehensive about even asking.

"We could make a stack of random statements, and then lock Zabuza in with Naruto and Sasuke while they argued over them, but I don't think we should, there is a line between torture and the cruel and unusual, and it's a line we should not cross" I said solomnly.

"you're right, there are some lines, the lines between human and monster, that even shinobi should not cross" Sakura agreed, ignoring the scowling Sasuke and grumbling Naruto, something about a stupid teme dragging his reputation down.

After a few minutes of long contemplative silences only interrupted by bad ideas, I finally spoke up "I honestly can't see a way that we can use Zabuza, for now, other than as a way to deter his partner from attacking" I sighed getting mumbled agreements from everyone else.

"So, for now, we just need to keep this stalemate going until the bridge is done, whoever is protecting Zabuza can train while keeping watch on him, and the ones protecting Tazuna can... protect Tazuna, I'll even introduce all of you to the tree walking exercise tomorrow, how about it" I said with an optimistic smile.

"You can do the tree walking exercise? When did you learn it?" Sakura asked.

"No, no I do not, but! I did read about it on the day I was banished, so I know the theory behind it"