It was a two day excursion moving at the fastest speed that Team 10 could collectively muster to get them from the side of the country they were on all the way to the other side where they were meant to head over to. A message from Konoha to Asuma and his team informed them that they were needed to head to Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves) to provide assistance to another squad of genin along with their jounin sensei that were in over their heads.
Despite cutting a very good pace to make it to the coast that was where they ran into a problem as getting from the mainland to the island nation would prove to be rather bothersome in itself as seemingly no ships were making their way to or from the country.
Ino had a hand on her hip as the three genin of the squad took a rest in a port town at the border of Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire). She looked out at the ocean where she could barely see the outlying island at the outer limits of the horizon, "How did anyone else get there in the first place? What are we supposed to do if we can't even reach the place we're supposed to go? Are we just going to fail our mission off of a technicality or something?"
Naruto was sitting on the edge of a nearby wharf, kicking his legs over the edge and looking at the ocean, he had never seen it up close before, it was great, "Asuma-sensei is handling it Ino. All we can do right now is just wait for him."
"Yeah Ino..." Shikamaru said, laying down in a pile of thick rope as makeshift bedding, "Asuma's a jounin, they're supposed to be experts at every aspect of shinobi life. I'm sure he can find a way to get us to Nami no Kuni sooner rather than later. Until then just chill out and rest up... No doubt whatever we end up doing once we get there is going to be troublesome."
Ino rolled her eyes and walked over to the pineapple hair-styled genin, poking at him with her toe, "Shikamaru rolling out of bed this morning and putting on shoes was troublesome to you."
Shikamaru closed his eyes and let out a yawn, "That doesn't mean I'm wrong about this though, does it?"
Ino looked at him with a twitching eye before giving up on him and turning back to Menma who was for some reason doing pushups, "Menma what in the world are you doing?" She asked him.
Menma didn't stop and continued, "I'm bored to death here Ino."
"You should be resting. We ran all the way here." She said, trying to convince him to stop for the moment to save some energy, "What's going to happen if we run into trouble-?"
"-When we run into trouble." Shikamaru cut in blithely.
"Right." Ino said, acknowledging the fact that he was more than likely right about that, "What's going to happen when we run into trouble and we have to fight? You'll be all tired."
"Nope." Menma said brightly, "I'm A-ok. And pushups never made me tired, I might as well do something while we wait. *laughs* At least I'll be all warmed up when it's time to actually fight right?" Ino shook her head at his answer and plopped down at the edge of the wharf much like Menma had done beforehand with a sigh, "What's the matter Ino?" Menma asked, slightly concerned, "You look upset."
Ino panned her eyes over to him, noting that he had stopped with his random exercise so that he could listen to her, "Well, why is it us that had to go? There had to be a squad with more experience that could have been sent."
Menma got up and dusted himself off, "Come on Ino, you were one of the best in our class, are you saying you can't handle it? And Shikamaru is smart, really smart. Like, he's scary smart. Naruto's just as strong as me. Besides, we've got Asuma-sensei with us and a whole 'nother team. We should be fine."
Ino smiled at his attempt to make her feel better about the situation, "And what about you Menma? You talked about us but you didn't say anything about yourself. What do you bring to the team?"
Menma stared at her for a moment before rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, "Uh, I can cut things?"
Ino gave him a deadpan look in response, "That's really not funny Menma. That better not be how you really see yourself. Besides
Naruto You're the only one out of us that is good at actually attacking. With your Lightning style, swordsmanship and that taijutsu of yours I think you're the strongest genin on the team."
*Cough Cough* "Second strongest." Naruto said.
Shikamaru spoke from over where he was laying down, "Ino's right Menma. In an active battle you and Naruto are the only ones that can guaranteed beat their opponent single-handedly. Ino's jutsu puts her at a disadvantage in case she misses, my jutsu is good for trapping and I have to find other ways to beat people. Without you two on this team we'd be sitting ducks. You or your clones can watch Ino's body when she uses her jutsu and you can finish off the people that I get with my jutsu."
Ino lightly slapped the side of his leg and grinned at him, "You're our teammate Menma, so stop it with the fluctuating self-esteem. Sometimes you think you're the baddest genin in the land, other times you think you shouldn't have even graduated. Do you need me to go into your head and get you all sorted out?" She said jokingly.
Naruto rolled his eyes, "Hey I don't think you want to do that Ino. Iruka-sensei said that Menma's mind is a scary place."
"That's because he knows how much of a closet pervert he is." She quipped right back at Menma, jokingly raising her hands in the seal needed to fire her Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Switch Jutsu), "Get ready to black out for a few minutes Menma. I'll kick you awake when I'm done with your body."
Menma started bouncing on his toes, "You have to hit me with it first." He gloated in a challenging manner.
Ino winked at him, "From this range I barely have to aim. Shikamaru, watch my body would you?"
"Alright that's enough of that." Asuma said sternly as he made his way back over to the group, "Stop playing with your jutsu. Those are meant for serious work." There was no humor or anything in his voice.
Naruto looked at Asuma strangely, "Asuma-sensei yesterday Shikamaru took control of me with his shadow and made me slap myself. You laughed so hard you swallowed your cigarette. What's changed between now and yesterday?"
How could he put this that wouldn't tip them off to something being wrong in Naruto's psyche? Asuma quickly rattled off an answer, "We can't get to Nami no Kuni by normal means when over a year ago there was never any problem doing so. That has to mean that things are rather suspicious either here or there and I would rather the enemy that may or may not be watching know what you can do because you decided to play with your jutsu while you were bored."
He almost cringed at his response. That excuse was flimsy at best and he knew it. Hopefully they wouldn't call him on it if he had a serious enough look on his face... and they didn't, "Sorry Asuma-sensei..." Menma and Ino said in unison.
Naruto began to go into deep thought. Still, in his head he needed to come up with something better. That excuse would only work for the duration of this mission. He might not come up with another one if they decided to mess around like that again, and the last place he wanted Ino to be was crawling around in Menma's head, lest she come across a dark little secret... one that could potentially tear her mind asunder.
Shikamaru gave Asuma a long hard look for being so strange about Ino using her jutsu. He placed it in the back of his mind for later and spoke up, "So do you have a way for us to get over there or are we landlocked and have to go home? Because I'm completely cool with going home."
Asuma sighed at Shikamaru's expected attitude, "Remember Shikamaru, there is always a way to get anywhere no matter what... and it's called money. We're going to pay someone with a boat to take us across, but we're going to need to get some money fast. They want way more than I have on me to make the trip."
"How much?" Naruto asked.
Asuma scratched his nose, "Um, 300,000 ryo."
Naruto and Ino stared at Asuma blankly after hearing the amount of money they needed to gain passage to Nami no Kuni. "What!" Both of them exclaimed simultaneously, getting Asuma to clean out his ears after hearing both loud blondes shout at him.
"Yeah..." Asuma said when the ringing in his ears stopped, "Apparently there's a sort of blockade around Nami no Kuni. Ships trying to get onto the island have to pay a steep tax to get in. Apparently it's orchestrated by the powerful shipping magnate Gato. He's got control of Nami no Kuni's trade routes, so unless we can actually pay for passage aboard a ship and the extra that's needed to actually get there, not to mention the amount that they need to pay to actually be allowed to leave."
"How in the hell are we going to get 300,000 ryo?" Ino asked angrily, "We're kids! A month's worth of D-ranked missions doesn't top out at 300,000 for all four of us combined! It barely tops out at over 100,000!"
Shikamaru sat up from where he had been laying down and began thinking while Ino fumed over the situation while Menma tried to calm her down and Naruto stared at his frog wallet sadly . "Hey." Shikamaru said, getting everyone's attention, "I think I have an idea." Everyone moved over towards him, "Naruto and Menma how long do you think your Kage Bunshin can hold a Henge?"
XxX
(Twelve Hours Later – Nami no Kuni)
As night had fallen, from a distance at the outskirts of a port town in Nami no Kuni, Team 10 watched the ship they had taken to the island nation disembark back to the mainland hastily. They had slipped off of the ship unseen while Gato's 'harbor patrol' had gone on the ship and collected the money from the captain. Instead of a patrol, they looked more like a bunch of thugs, "Damn good plan Shikamaru. And good work you two." Asuma said to the lazy genin, the orange-aficionado and the young swordsman as he patted the nearby twin brothers' hair for a job well done, "So when do you think those Kage Bunshin of yours will dispel?"
Naruto started counting on his fingers, "I don't know, we can hold a Henge for like a week straight if no one makes us break it and we have to split my chakra evenly to make one Kage Bunshin. The longest I've ever had one out was four days straight and I just had it doing odd jobs; cleaning my house, studying some notes, just useless stuff that didn't take chakra and I just let it be. I blacked out when I dispelled it though."
Ino snapped her fingers and pointed at him, "Oh yeah! That was the day you didn't show up to the training field a week ago wasn't it?"
Naruto nodded, "But these ones are holding the Henge so I don't know." He let out a sigh, "We made... a bunch. And they're still holding out so we don't get busted. I'm going to black out again when they go though, I know it, so can we get to where we need to go fast before I do?"
"How many did you guys make?" Ino asked.
Menma thought for a moment, "We made enough to put in that sack in increments of 5,000 ryo, so we made 10 each."
Shikamaru shut his eyes to think, "One clone can last four days doing nothing, they can hold a Henge for a week, and they each made ten clones, all Henged. The clones can last almost a day and a half as they are before they dispel if nothing happens, and we were on that boat for twelve hours, so I would say that they have at least another twenty four hours before they fade."
"And by then everything should be good. The boat should be back in Hi no Kuni, and the Henged clones should be placed with other forms of money so that they can disappear. With any luck it will be assumed that someone in the organization took the money." Asuma said, wrapping it all up, "Alright then. That's plenty of time for us to find the team we're meant to assist so we can get the full breadth of the situation."
Shikamaru took it upon himself to ask the question everyone else had neglected to ask thus far, "So who are we here to help? And what are we even doing in this country in the first place to help them out?"
"All valid questions..." Asuma said as he led his team along away from the village. He sparked a cigarette as Naruto, Menma, Ino, and Shikamaru looked at him expectantly, "...That I will answer once we get to where the team is shacked up at."
"We hate you Asuma/Asuma-sensei." All three of the younger ninja said in unison as they followed behind with dry looks on their faces.
Asuma exhaled a plume of smoke and walked along with a smile on his face, "Ahh, the sounds of teamwork, such a beautiful thing." He said before breaking out in a run, prompting his team to follow behind swiftly.
XxX
(Two Hours Later)
KNOCK KNOCK
"Coming!" A knock at the door garnered the attention of a beautiful dark-haired woman that made to open the door before being stopped by Sasuke, who pulled a kunai and went to answer it in her stead. Opening the door, keeping his weapon hidden from view, Sasuke saw four of the students from his class that graduated along with a larger bearded man with a cigarette in his mouth and a vest much like his sensei's.
"You must be Kakashi's student, Uchiha Sasuke right?" Asuma asked blowing smoke at Sasuke as he did. Intentionally or not, he couldn't tell.
Sasuke held back a cough and waved the smoke out of his face, "Yeah, and I guess you guys are the team Kakashi sent for to help us, right?"
Asuma nodded, "Correct kid. Team 10 at your service."
Sasuke looked back at the woman inside of the house and gestured to her to let her know everything was okay. At that point she came to the door and greeted the new arrivals with a warm smile, "Hello, my name is Tsunami. You all must be the group of ninjas sent to help the others protect my father." She bowed to them.
Asuma smiled at the woman, "Well I am Sarutobi Asuma." He pointed behind him at the kids, "The lazy looking boy is Nara Shikamaru, the blonde girl is Yamanaka Ino, the boy reading a book with swords on his back is Menma Uzumaki and the blonde boy in orange is Uzumaki Naruto." Shikamaru waved half-heartedly, Ino smiled brightly at her, Menma looked up from his book and Naruto gave her a grin, although the thing about him that got her attention was the thing she saw him holding in his mouth and trying to light at the same time.
"Well it's nice to meet you all." She said before pointing at Naruto and Asuma, "But I don't allow smoking in my house, I'm sorry."
Naruto blinked before looking at her with puppy-dog eyes. He hadn't had one in days and he hadn't even taken a puff yet. He thought he deserved one after single-handedly paying their ferry with his chakra. Couldn't he at least imbibe a bit before he blacked out with a monster headache in a few hours? Tsunami refused to budge on the matter due to the unchanging expression on her face and Naruto dropped the cigarette with a sigh before putting it out under his foot. Asuma did the same only with more hesitation, but upon doing so they were invited inside.
Sasuke stood off to the side as they all came in and Tsunami closed the door behind them. He looked at everyone pass him uninterestedly until Ino walked past him, "Hello Sasuke-kun, I missed you all of this time." She said, getting a roll of the eyes out of the stoic genin.
Apparently Naruto wasn't the only one who had sensor capabilities because when Ino said that, Naruto could have sworn that Sakura did too when she yelled down the stairs before she was even see, "Leave Sasuke-kun alone Ino-pig! He was doing just fine before you shoved your snout into the house!"
"How could I shove my snout into anything with your massive forehead already filling the place up?" Ino yelled back, "I know Sasuke-kun is sick of your company after two months. Now he can spend time with a real kunoichi."
Menma looked at Tsunami as the two young female ninja began squabbling over Sasuke who looked like he would rather be anywhere but there, "Do you have anything hard to hit one of them with?" He asked dryly, "Because if not we're going to be here all night."
Ino turned to Menma, ignoring Sakura for the moment, "Menma you really wouldn't hit me would you?"
Menm shrugged vapidly, "I've already done it before."
"Those were spars." Ino sent back at him. Seeing him turn away, mumbling 'So?' made Ino smirk in victory, "Now where were we Forehead?" She asked, about to start up a whole new series of insults between herself and Sakura.
"Alright enough." Asuma cut in, getting sighs of relief from Naruto, Menma Shikamaru, and even Sasuke, "Where's Kakashi? We still need to understand the severity of the situation and I kind of want to hear it from him."
Sakura looked at the jounin she had failed to notice during her spat with Ino and got herself together, "Kakashi-sensei is upstairs with Chouji. He has chakra exhaustion from the battle."
Naruto looked over at Sasuke, "You guys fought? Who did you fight?"
Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets and walked upstairs as it was clear that was where the group was soon heading, "A jounin."
XxX
(30 Minutes Later)
Naruto, Menma, Ino, and Shikamaru stared blankly at Team 7 with their jaws quite slacked at what they had just heard. Everything was clear and simple when they were told of the mission to protect Tazuna the bridge-builder. They were still along for the ride when they were told about being attacked by the two chunin Demon Brothers, they were somewhat lost when they were told that a Momochi Zabuza, high-class jounin missing-ninja, was next to attack them, but hearing how the battle played out somewhat assuaged how they were feeling. But the combination of everything heard beforehand along with the amassed knowledge they continued to be given as well as the full scope of the situation hit them rather abruptly. Menma seemed to shake at hearing that name, Zabuza Momochi, not only was he one of the greatest swordsmen in the world but this was probably one of the only chances he would have to go up against one of the greatest swordsman.
A long silence was broken when Shikamaru spoke, "So you're telling me that we just ran all the way across an entire country, scammed our way onto a ship to get here, and we can't even leave now until this bridge is built because the blockade of the trade routes are locked down tight?"
A nod from Chouji and Sakura was the response. Ino spoke next, "And you just got through fighting two chunin and one jounin that you thought you killed, but he got away because someone that was able to pose as a hunter-ninja and actually fool your jounin sensei into thinking the jounin was dead got away with him to let him rest up for the next go around?"
Naruto finished up for them once Ino's question got a response with another set of nods, "And in addition to that, the one orchestrating all of this is one of the richest men in the entire world and he actually has Nami no Kuni under his heel and has full control of the country? Not only that, but he kills anyone opposing him and that includes the guy you're here to protect because the bridge would ruin his hold on the nation?"
Again, a nod from Sakura and Chouji. "I see..." Ino said before turning to Asuma with anime tears running down her face, "Asuma-sensei can we go home?" She asked, getting a face-fault out of Naruto who sprung to his feet swiftly after.
"No way Ino!" Naruto said, "If Chouji, Sakura-chan, and Sasuke-teme didn't cut out and leave after they knew what they were into we can't just leave. We pulled one over on that Gato guy and his thugs when we first got here before we even knew what was going on, we can do this!"
"It's a jounin Naruto, a jounin and a hunter-nin." Ino said, not really feeling too good about this whole thing.
Naruto pointed over at Asuma and the downed Kakashi, "We have two jounin and the rest of us."
Ino found herself somewhat on the losing end of the reasoning, but did not let the matter die, "If this Gato guy has enough clout to control the country he has to have a lot of people working for him to enforce his rule. That's an army Naruto."
Menma scoffed and pointed at himself and then to Naruto who grinned and waved to her, "We're an army Ino." He said, getting some confused looks from Team 7, "Besides, the only thing Gatō has is money. Everything he's built is for a profit."
Sasuke deadpanned. "Well, that's obvious."
"That means he's easy to be taken down. The people that he has guarding his mansion are low-life bandits that will do anything for the highest bidder. Maybe one of them can use chakra like a ninja but it wouldn't be much, a mid-level genin jutsu that I know we could handle."
Kakashi raised his one visible eyebrow. "What are you getting at, Menma?"
"We go in during the night, full force or stealth, and take Gatō out while he sleeps. We get ahead of Zabuza and take out his reason for wanting to kill Tazuna. Or simply take the money and give it to Zabuza, stopping him from coming after us for taking away his payday."
Everyone at the table was impressed by Menma's idea for dealing with Gatō, and Zabuza in extension, it was thought out and covered almost all angles.
"Y-You want to kill him?"
"It's not a matter of want but need. That man must die. There is no consideration for the damned Sakura."
Ino looked at Menma and was shocked by this. Not by her teammates words but in the tone of how he said it, the look in his eyes. If Menma would kill he would feel no remorse, no pity.
"That's risky." Tazuna spoke. "Something could happen if all of you go together, I'm not trying to be selfish but I gotta look out for my family's safety."
"I understand fully but I wasn't thinking it'd be a team mission."
Kakashi narrowed his eye. "A solo mission?"
"You actually think you can take on an entire guard mount by yourself? And here I thought you were smart, closet pervert."
"For your information, Sas-gay, I can take on this guard mount. My clones watched them for a few hours today and their patterns aren't that hard to figure out. Besides, I plan on taking Naruto with me so if something were to happen, he's got my back."
XxX
(Gato's Headquarters)
A man walked into Gato's office with a serious look on his face. The small businessman in a suit and diminutive sunglasses sat at his desk flanked on both sides by two bodyguards. One, a young man with white hair, marks under his eyes, a dark purple hat on his head, and a blue hooded jacket. The other was a shirtless man with brown hair, an eyepatch, tattoos on his body, and a few scars to go with them. Both of them were in possession of a katana to go with their bodyguard status.
The man stopped in front of the desk and started speaking, "Boss our boys got some information from the ship that stopped here earlier today and left right after. Two of them disembarked and ended up telling us that a team of ninjas got off of their ship. We never saw 'em, but they are ninja, so I figured it was worth telling you."
Gato let out a growl, "What, are they coming out of the woodwork now?" He said in a seething voice, "That whelp Zabuza better get it together and get his ass in gear. Grr, I'm not paying him anyway, but he doesn't know that and I expect him to get the job done!"
The man spoke to Gato again, "Apparently four of them were just kids."
Gato lifted his right arm to reveal a cast on it, "Zabuza had a kid with him too, and the little bitch did this! But you might have a point. A few kids can't take on an entire contingent of my soldiers." The greedy little man smirked and laughed to himself, "Something to think on I guess…"
MIDNIGHT_____________________________________________
Naruto and Menma had a hard time wrapping their head around the fact that Kakashi and Asuma actually agreed to his plan to take down Gatō during the night. What surprised the twins more was that it was only them as each others backup. What that meant confused Naruto. Did Kakashi and Asuma trust them more than the others or did he simply want them to get plenty amount of rest? Frankly, they didn't care either way. They were just glad they were finally getting to do something.
Naruto was perched on the same branch he was earlier that day, waiting for the right moment to jump over the fence and sneak his way into the mansion without being seen. He looked at his brother who was on a branch across from him they looked at each other and waited for another few minutes, allowing the guards to change out, before doing just that.
Once inside became a bit more challenging. They weren't able to scout the guards movements from their position on the tree so they would have to play it by ear and have a bit of luck to find Gatō's sleeping quarters. Their instincts told them that Gatō would sleep on the top floor, so that any intruder would have to go through a level or two of his hired guard mount.
Their instincts were right, Gatō's room was on the top floor of his mansion. The man must be either very trusting of his guards or he simply didn't want someone watching him while he slept. The two didn't care either way.
Naruto choked out one of the bandits that stood guard outside Gatō's room and dragged him out of sight while Menma slashed out the other bandits throat with his katana. They thought it was odd that there was only two guards but decided to continue on. Naruto tried to open the door but it was locked. He should've figured that one. The blonde knelt down and began to pick the lock with a small pick and a thin rod of metal. He was just about to click the final pin in place but he felt a knife against his neck, or what he thought was a knife.
"You two are impressive. I never would've thought someone could sneak past all these guards and myself."
"Get up."
Naruto and Menma hesitated for a moment before complying the order.
The masked hunter-nin kept the senbon against the both of their necks as she moved to the door. She knocked three times before it unlocked and Zabuza emerged, his massive sword already drawn. Just beyond Zabuza was the man himself, Gatō.
"It was two freaking kids that snuck past my entire guard mount!" Seeing Gatō angry made Menma smirk in pride, which was quickly punched off his face by Gatō. "Their pay was just cut in half."
"Wow, big talk coming from a man in his boxers."
Gatō hit Menma in his knee with his cane, bringing the blonde to his knees once more. "I do not think I won't kill you. Keep running your mouth and I will have your head sliced clean off your body."
They both didn't show any emotion or indication that he was even remotely scared by Gatō's threat and he knew full well Gatō wouldn't hesitate to give that order. They were a little curious why they weren't killed on the spot, they learned long ago to never question a blessing.
"I never imagined a genin would have the skills to sneak past a mansion of guards virtually unnoticed." Zabuza said.
"Just lucky I guess."
"No one is that lucky, you were taught. And there aren't many out there that have such good stealth techniques."
Menma's fist began to clench.
"I don't care if he was taught or not Zabuza. He's here and needs to be dealt with."
Zabuza eyed his employer momentarily before lifting his sword off the ground and resting it on Naruto and Menma's shoulder. He rose it far above his head, posed to bring it down with grace and accuracy.
"Don't worry, you'll see your teammates by tomorrow night."
Naruto and Menma felt only a slight pinch of pain when the sword separated his head from his neck, there wasn't even a shocked expression on the blonde's, now, rolling head. There was a small moment of silence before the body and head burst into an explosion. Zabuza and the Hunter-nin were able to jump out of the way in time but Gato was slightly caught in it.
"Son of a bitch! It was just a fucking clone!" Gato yelled as the pain from the third degree burns he got began to kick in.
"And you couldn't tell the difference?!"
"Those kids had mastered the Kage Bunshin Daibakuha, a stronger and better version. Meaning it's nearly impossible to tell a difference."
"Then what am I paying you for?! You're nothing more than an overrated butcher!"
Zabuza snapped and grabbed Gatō by his neck. The business owner gasped and pleaded for air. The former Kiri ninja could easily snap Gatō's neck, and had to resist the urge to do so, but knew if he killed Gatō then his plan to over throw the Mizukage and the Kirigakure government would die with him.
"You watch your mouth, Gatō."
Zabuza dropped the smaller man to the floor and turned to walk away, Haku following.
Gatō rubbed his throat, trying to sooth the pain. 'Not only are you going to pay Zabuza, those kids will too.'
-Hidden in the tree-
Naruto and Menma breathed out heavily as the memories of his clone came back to him like a rushing river. He looked over to Kakashi, who was patiently waiting by reading his perverted book.
"Well, how'd it go?"
"They're coming after Tazuna tomorrow." Menma answered
Kakashi nodded. "It's a good thing I was planning to have the full team on protection detail tomorrow."