Building the Bon

I still couldn't quite Body Flicker on top of the water, even with the tricks I'd stolen from Zabuza, but my technique had still all-around improved with the free training time I had had.

Kakashi was still thank-fuck-fully sleeping it off, but I knew he was going to wake up any day now soon, so I was enjoying my last few days as a free man in the way I best knew how. With intense training and reverse-engineering stolen jutsu.

Sakura and three units of Naruto clones were guarding Tazuna today at the bridge while I and Naruto trained back at the house while keeping an eye on the bridgebuilder's family. Naurto had gotten half-decent at the fundamentals exercise by now, but the end results still rarely differed from the first time. He just got tunnel vision and then 1-2-3 they died in the same pattern. Or well, the last one survived and then awkwardly waited until two other units had finished and then they started again from the top until only one clone truly remained.

He had units running around on the water, along the forest floor and even some running in the trees, getting used to various kinds of places he might have to fight in, which I hadn't even had to tell him to do. Guess even broth brains have a good thought once in a while.

Meanwhile, I was getting the hang of sealless Body Flickers, half-tiger seal Midnight Flickers, and refining my water talking technique whenever I had to walk back to dry land with the stuff Zabuza was doing. Since I couldn't repulse against the chakra in the water like I could against solids, I had to do something like creating a double paddle beneath my feel, sort of like the keel on a ship but both ways. It made it easier to kick off the water's surface with just my feet and gave me some more distance.

And I was also getting the hang of gliding atop the water, the usual alternative to Flickers.

It was hard to generate initial thrust, but once I was in motion it was pretty easy to keep gliding. Like trying to sprint on an ice rink, or on an air hockey table or something.

Finally, I also had a pair of Shadow Clones hanging around as birds, giving me a lot of good intel over what was going on in town and on the major roads while I waited for Haku's signal for Gatou showing up, with one of them trying out the Sharingan genjutsu on the other.

So far the results had been pretty promising.

I could do some pretty basic stuff, but even with a Shadow Clone I wasn't too confident in pulling off complex brainwashing on myself without having it result in some bad juju for myself. So I contented myself with just messing with basic sensory illusions, hypnosis, and mind-reading.

Because apparently yeah, I could read people's minds if they stared into my eyes for long enough.

Uchiha Stronkest! Sharingan Number One!

While the Sharingan was strictly inferior to the Byakugan in seeing chakra and certain other things, it had the ability to affect it to an extent. Not much, almost like the extent to which you could manipulate chakra without handseals, feeling somehow immature. But when you made eye contact with someone else it was like something clicked and a connection was formed, allowing you to read their internal chakra flow much better and control it.

So genjutsu, which was manipulation of someone's internal chakra to create various effects, was literally one of the easier sealless applications of the Sharingan. I just had to push a little and things happened. Though maybe that was still just because it was my own clone doing it to another clone, sharing the same chakra and coils.

I also felt like I could probably start messing around with memories if I wanted to, but that wasn't something I was going to try out on myself. Or even Naruto for that matter. Wouldn't do for him to literally become a broth brain if I scrambled his mind on accident. Or hell, ran into the Kyuubi within his mind. That had been a thing in some fanfics, I remember. Though, if the Kyuubi was a big tiddy konner, maybe I could work out a booty call schedule without Naruto figuring it out...

Hmm, bad thoughts again.

I looked around to see if Naruto had noticed. He was weirdly sensitive about my strange thoughts. He hadn't, but he looked distinctly annoyed anyhow for some reason.

"Problems, Naruto?" I asked, approaching him. I was due for a break anyhow.

"It doesn't feel like I'm getting any better," he whined, frowning like he wanted to set his reflection in the water on fire. "Like with the tree and water stuff I was constantly getting better, but with this..."

I snorted and he looked up immediately, before scowling even harder as he looked down again.

"Yeah, yeah. Iruka-sensei always said that it takes time for hard work to pay off..."

"Naruto, you're an idiot. Your clones are all you," I pointed out. "They all get better at the same rate, more or less. So as the defender gets better at defending, the taijutsu attack gets better at attacking."

That wasn't strictly true and I would probably have to train with him at some point to work out whatever bad habits he ingrained from this kind of training, but at this point keeping him motivated was more important.

He was looking at me now again, slack-jawed with surprise at what I had said.

"You should be trying out different things with your clones. Tell them to get creative, like when you were pranking people. Have the defender try whatever stupid thought comes to mind and see how it works. If it doesn't, fine, no big loss. If it does, try it again. You have effectively infinite clones; start throwing the paint cans on the wall and see what sticks."

"What sticks...?" Naruto shook his head. "You've never pulled a prank in your life, Sasuke."

I rolled my eyes at his continued whining. "Okay, make one unit right now."

He did so, so I approached the defender and took him aside, putting a conspiratorial arm over his shoulders. "Alright, I want you to try something new out. Don't attack at all, but instead try to goad the taijutsu guy into jumping in front of one of the thrown shuriken or kunai. Keep your focus on staying on the move. Don't stop, just keep backing away and force them to come for you and make sure you see them both at the same time, so they're lined up. Then when the taijutsu guy attacks and the kunai get thrown, move so that the taijutsu guy runs into the kunai's path. After that, finish off the kunai guy, right?"

"But I don't want to run away," the clone stated sullenly.

"It's not running away if you're making them look like idiots. You're pranking them." He wasn't sure if he accepted the logic entirely, but it would have to do. "Go get 'em, tiger."

I almost popped him by slapping him on the back and ruined the entire thing.

As I settled to watch next to the real Naruto, one of the longest-running fights suddenly played out as the defender clone just kept moving, slinking between every attempt by the increasingly frustrated pair to pin him down. In fact, quickly enough the defending clone was grinning and goading them on as the bewildered-looking real Naruto watched on with confused amazement.

Finally, it happened; the taijutsu clone got frustrated and dove at the defender just as a mistimed throw was loosed and one of the duo was popped. The next second the solo clone was pelting the throwing-only clone with shuriken and chasing him down. It only took ten seconds for the defender clone to be the last man standing and he was grinning and throwing double peace signs and posing exuberantly in front of the real Naruto.

"How?"

"Tell him," I nodded at the clone.

"Make 'em look like idiots!" the clone said, when I had meant for him to pop and share the memories. But I guess the phrase was the crystallized essence of some realization, that he had had simmering in the back of his mind for a while now and the idea came perfectly across even through words, as the look of enlightenment took over the real Naruto.

I rolled my eyes again.

"Well, if the defender gets too good, feel free to up the unit size to four and have two throwing clones. It'll make things both easier and harder for the defender, so it all balances out."

And it would make him better at teamwork with himself. Once he had that down pat, he was going to be a real menace against normal foes.

"I guess your evil eyes are good for something, huh," Naruto commented strangely. I still wasn't sure what he was talking about, though he had been calling me that for years by now. Suddenly the blond boy's eyes lit up as he pointed behind me. "Oh, hey! Look, Kakashi-sensei's up!"

Ah, fucking hell. I turned around and there our jounin-sensei stood. Still tired-looking and using a pair of crutches, but up on his feet and out of bed. And he had seen us standing on the water outside of Tazuna's house. Oh well, time to go face the music.

"Aww fuck," I cawed quietly.

The other raven's mind immediately snapped back to reality, the numerous layered illusions I had been putting him under all shedding off as its Sharingan whirled to life. We could both see Haku's signal, a white cloth tied to the top of a tree in the distance, fluttering in the wind.

Gatou was coming.

"Should I pop and inform the original or do you want back up?" the raven, who had until seconds prior been completely illusioned, cawed in query.

"You pop. The original can send a fresh one if he deems it necessary."

Nodding the raven vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving me alone. I still wasn't entirely confident in my ability to brainwash someone, but with his scumbag bodyguards to experiment on before Gatou, I'd probably have a decent enough act slapped together. Zabuza and Haku could replace them under disguise, anyway.

On silent wings, I took off and made for the hideout.

Slipping in through a window, untransforming in the process, I land on all fours silently inside the strange hide-out. Hearing nothing, I make for the room where Zabuza had last been resting and almost get poked by Haku as he comes to meet me with senbon drawn.

"Is he here yet?" I ask quietly, trying to look over the older boy's shoulder as I ignore the iron needle at my throat.

"...No. But Zabuza-san sensed his approach. He will be here shortly."

I nod.

"Okay, I'll take your place, since Zabuza's the one who should handle all the talking. Stay out of sight and wait until they leave."

Before the boy can object, I raise a lone hand up and transform into his likeness with a smooth, soundless jutsu, which obviously impresses him more than he'd like to admit.

Zabuza spies me as I go past Haku, looking like two peas in a pod, and he growls.

"What's this? Not feeling so confident in your eyes?"

"I'm just properly paranoid. I'll sound Gatou out first and see if I can put him under my spell. After that, if I have to I can do his entourage as well. Haku can keep an eye on them out of sight, so I'll just pretend to be your meek little apprentice."

I offer a smirk clearly unfit for this elegant face, to which Zabuza responds with a sneer visible even through his bandaged face.

"Fine."

Gatou and his two hired thugs, looking little more than street punks with katanas at their hips, show up.

The shipping tycoon swaggers in as if he owns the place, utterly unaware of just who he's actually dealing with and the sheer vastness in potential for violence between the two parties here.

"You actually had the gall to come slinking back with your tail between your legs. What picking after your subordinates, what 'Demon of the Hidden Mist', huh? You can't even kill an old man!"

I sit beside Zabuza's bed, back to the door where the three stand. Should I stand up and try it now? No, I want to get eye contact with Gatou without the two thugs being any wiser.

The sound of two katana clicking out of their sheaths just enough to bare the habaki echoes quietly through the room, the tension rising.

"Calm down, you two..." Gatou walks past his two hired swords and I smirk, eyes meeting Zabuza's to see the man approaching through the reflection. Could I actually hypnotize him through a reflection? Hmm, considerations for later.

"Now, Zabuza..." Gatou walks past me, arm reaching for the cover over the Kiri nin's body.

I turn, hand grabbing the tycoon's sleeve and our eyes meet. Red, spinning searing tomoe delve deep into his psyche and freeze the world for that instant, everything else fading away as we become as intimate as two human beings possibly can.

I read his thoughts, touching the shock and awe with a feather-light tendril of thought, and then erase his memories of that instant, layering it with a false impression of light being reflected from my eyes from a torch on the wall behind his back—there is no torch there, but the human mind is so impressionable and poor at fact-checking what it already considers real, the mind actively re-writing memories as it remembers them, always and constantly degrading those recollections further and further away from the real events, and—Oh, I think I might just be a natural at this stuff.

I had always scored extremely high when it came to Machiavellian traits in the Dark Triad-personality tests, so that didn't really surprise me.

I knew for a fact, now that I was inside this man's mind, that I could completely and utterly bend him to my will. Inputs and outputs; prior memories and experiences; old traumas and chemical imbalances; all coloring and touching his reactions and personal drives. It would be so, so easy, to just condition him into whatever I wanted now that I had root access to his brain.

Especially because someone had already done all the damn hard work to make him so predictable and pliable, setting up all the groundwork so to speak.

Someone with a fucking Sharingan.

Oh, fuck. Abort, abort right fucking now.

It was obvious now that I was looking around.

Something flickered familiarly scarlet over here, a faint wisp of spinning tomoe over there. Panic and other emotions, uprooted and disconnected, remnants from the time when the original conditioning and brainwashing had taken place. And well now, who exactly had it been that had been an absolute master of genjutsu? Who had taken it to a whole new level, with an instant, unbreakable, perfect illusion that created a world where they had perfect control over someone, where just this kind of fine-tuned mental breaking and rebuilding could be done?

Fucking hell. I can't match this level... I couldn't even put it into words immediately. I thought I'd be able to break someone's mind and bend them to my will...

But after seeing this, did I really want to go down such a path?

I touched absolutely nothing else in his mind, trusting that the man would remember and rewrite the already edited events so many times before whoever had done this came to check on his work again, that my little bit of meddling would be impossible to detect. Not like, or against all the wholesale redecoration that had gone inside this fucker's head already.

Gatou was a walking, talking puppet, with effectively zero free will of his own.

Sharingan vanished, Zabuza the only one able to see it as I let go of Gatou's arm, blood-red draining into mere warm chocolate. I had been fairly gentle with the man, only wanting his attention for the eye contact.

But since plans had changed, I had to make sure he wanted me—or, well, Haku—dead. The stubby fucker stepping Haku's corpse and pissing off Zabuza only happened because of how much he wanted Haku dead.

So I broke his fucking arm.

He squealed like a stuck pig and immediately the bloodlust behind me spiked.

I vanish on the spot, appearing between the two hired thugs, stealing their swords and tripping both up so they crash onto all fours, conveniently lined up for a double beheading if I so chose. A second of absolute stillness and silence passes, Gatou eyeing me in between pained whimpers with a terror-stricken look.

"Zabuza-san requires his rest. Please leave, before it may become necessary for me to wash blood out of the hardwood floors."

Bloodlust isn't so hard to use, having had two very excellent examples to ape after in the forms of Kakashi and Zabuza. I might not be able to scare any real opponents away with them, but these borderline civilians are easy to terrorize.

They scamper out as if their pants had been set alight and the devil was on their tail.

I sigh and ignore the pointed stare Zabuza is giving me.

Haku shows up again a second later as the house is secure from all-but-one unwanted visitor, clearly wishing to hover over his master but refusing to show weakness before me. So I undo the transformation and sit down.

"We've... got a massive fucking problem."

"You failed," Zabuza's eyes narrow.

"I aborted the attempt, because I'm properly paranoid," I object.

"What part of breaking his arm and antagonizing him like that is 'properly paranoid'?" he asks, more than rightfully annoyed.

Right. Need to talk quick and get on the level with him.

"Brainwashing someone isn't easy. You have to pull out a lot of things, force disassociations to happen, and then put in the right conditioning and then make sure nothing can just conveniently un-do any the changes or set off unexpected reactions, especially if the target needs to appear mostly unchanged... I'm sure you can appreciate how difficult it can be to properly do that to a human being; turning them into a perfect tool."

The bed-ridden man doesn't react, but Haku clearly stiffens.

"Which is to say... imagine my surprise when I find out that all of it has already been done to Gatou."

That finally got a reaction out of the Kiri nin, his eyes narrowing as he looks ready to bolt out of bed. Haku, noticing this, almost panics in turn.

"And it was done by another Sharingan-user at that. So unless you're thinking that Kakashi is going around brain-washing people to create jobs for himself..." I chuckle weakly. "Then, there's really only one pair of Sharingan that could be behind it," I say, still a little overwhelmed. "Anyhow, I read some of his triggers and this will buy us some time and keep him predictable. Because at this rate, he was planning on showing up with a bunch of mercenaries to kill you two, once you're tired from fighting Kakashi."

Well, that's what happened in canon, so I can pretty much pretend that I saw something like that in there.

At this point, even as I'm telling the truth, I'm flapping. The only evidence I have for Itachi already brainwashing Gatou is in Gatou's head—meaning I'm the only one who can say that. A more than convenient cover-up, if say, I had just plain failed to deliver on what I had promised previously.

But it looks like Zabuza knows something about this, since he's sort of buying it. Maybe he suspected that Gatou was looking to double-cross him since that had been kind of obvious from the start, or maybe he knows something more.

"Tch..."

The Kiri nin is still hesitating, so I raise my hands. "Look, I screwed up. But I can't brainwash him to just hand him over on a silver platter anymore. If I do and then return to Konoha, the moment the original brainwasher comes back to check up on his investment, he'll immediately find out and then you're fucked and all my works for nothing."

I let them mull that over for a second, their cool regard unchanged.

"And I know that it looks really suspicious, too, because I'm the one who promised something and then I'm changing the deal based on facts that you guys can't verify... All I can tell you is that I don't want to fuck you over; it's not in my interest to just have this shitshow with Wave Country over and done with. Not even if it's cleanly in Konoha's favor. I want to trust you guys and I want to help you guys out, in return for the help I asked for before. Quid pro quo; an equal relationship without bullshit. So, I know this might just look like I'm hustling you, but I swear I'm not, for whatever little my word is worth."

"...It does look a little too convenient for you, the way things are falling into place."

"Zabuza-san...?" Haku asks, glancing at him quickly before wary eyes return on me.

I don't react, waiting.

Having said my piece, there's little more that I can do. If they do decide to cut it off here... I'll probably try to take them out before the bridge. With Zabuza still out of it and Haku being Haku, I should have the ability to at least make them run away. They're strong, but I have the advantage. Because as much as I like them, I'm not keen on Kakashi finding out about what I've been doing behind his and Konoha's back.

If these talks came to light, I would have to make a run for it, everything else be damned.

"I had Haku check out one of your comrades before now. And while he's something else, if he's anything other than a greenhorn genin, I'll eat my own sword."

I blink and exhale, looking up at Haku who seemed to somehow been cheered up but merely remembering the encounter.

"You, ah, talked to Naruto?" And oh boy, that was a pretty smile he had. I guess Naruto gets along with the ice-boy where I just get the cold shoulder. Must be some hidden 'have an actual tragic backstory'-social bonus that just doesn't apply to me. "Yeah, he's... His heart is in the right place, but he's about as dumb and disciplined as a box of wet kittens."

Give me a year with him and he'll be making waves like you won't believe, though.

Ignoring me, he continued.

"You're still one big question mark. Uchiha or not, you're still just a runt too. So, it seems a little too far-fetched for some complex plot on just your part." Zabuza says, gaze heavy on me, before he growls. "On the other hand, it did seem awfully convenient that the hunters backed off right when we approached Gatou. Almost like so long as they knew where we were, they didn't care..."

I waited to see if he was going anywhere with that, keeping quiet for a long second until it seemed like he wasn't going to say anything more on that subject.

"So we're still on?"

He chuckled darkly. "We're... 'still on'."

I nodded, exhaling with relief I hadn't expected the answer to elicit. Or, at least the degree of it.

"What you said actually... Probably confirms some things I've suspected before. Your plans will have to change if brainwashing is off the table." Zabuza looked incredibly grumpy just then. "How much do you know about the Mist rebellions, really?"

"Very little beyond what I've actually already said. Konoha has a lot of Kiri history prior to the Third Shinobi World War, but it's all Konoha propaganda from what I could tell."

I mean they had a whole section on some career genin taking on the Seven Swordsmen, but nothing on the internal politics of the Hidden Mist? I hope it's just a matter of clearance, because sheesh, talk about chugging the propaganda kool-aid. No way that shit actually happened.

Zabuza nodded and I had to wonder what he thought of me, for making such overt plays based on so little information. "It's just as well. The... resistance has suspected for a long time that the Fourth Mizukage is under someone's control. He's been acting erratically for years now, bleeding the Hidden Mist and Water Country both dry for no real gain. Even the bloodlimit purges only seem like a prelude, given the way he's been acting."

I nod, listening with furrowed brows. So it's not that he's bleeding them that's a problem, but that he's pointlessly bleeding doing. Bloody Mist, indeed.

"There have been several attempts at ousting or assassinating him over the years... But all have just made things worse." Zabuza talks in a low voice, scoffing as he pauses "Not just due to the retaliations from the Mizukage, but also due to friction between factions. Some wanting to tough it out, others looking to placate him, others agreeing vocally with his policies..."

He trails off, and I can see just how tired he really is.

Not just from his injuries, but in general. A weariness that goes deeper, the kind that erodes at you as a human being. Sure, this guy had started out as a classmate-killing maniac who gets all warm and tingly from murder, but there is no real rock bottom to hell; there is always a way for things to be worse.

Not even a 'Demon' is safe from that.

I wonder how much it has to do with picking up and raising Haku... I look at the older boy, standing in silent vigil beside his master. Wave arc had been memorable because, despite the ideology of being a perfect tool that he espoused, even Zabuza had had a heart in the end.

Blinking, I realize I had zoned out for a second and focus on what Zabuza is saying again, hoping I hadn't missed something important.

"—but now, with the Water Country's borders so heavily guarded, funding and supplying anything has been getting... difficult. So, I defected, taking the blame for a few failed operations and to have the freedom of moving outside of the Water Country."

He's acting as a disposable tool for the resistance, taking away heat and trying to support them from the outside. He's actually living his ideology and not just blowing hot air. Though, how much of that was actually him talking, and how much of it was the Bloody Mist in him?

I speak up: "And this is where Gatou comes in, I assume."

Zabuza nods minutely, as much as his bed-ridden head can.

"He has a near-monopoly on shipping and often deals directly with the Daimyo, being just powerful enough that the Hidden Mist can't get rid of him or mess with his profit margins too much. So killing him isn't on the table, for them or for us."

"Because it would make it even harder to support the resistance if the Mizukage gets free reign to fuck with the shipping, too. But conversely, if you can make use of him, the Mizukage can't block you so easily anymore." I nod, thinking it over. "But both Gatou and the Mizukage being under Sharingan genjutsu seems... a lot less likely than just Gatou, to be honest..." I muse out loud, now pretty blatantly fishing.

Zabuza sighs.

"The Kubikiribōchō..." He looks at his massive sword, eyes solemn. "It's previous owner, Juzo Biwa, was a missing-nin from Kiri, on the run on the mainland until he one day returned to Kiri. He ran into an ambush with the Mizukage and died, but..."

"His partner, Uchiha Itachi managed to make it out alive," I finish, guessing at the rest, finally naming my brother as the culprit, not having wanted to seem as if I was trying to force him in just to push my own agenda. Like I was trying to goad Zabuza into making an enemy out of him. Raising a hand to my brow. I continue. "And I bet they were wearing black cloaks with red clouds on them while it happened, too."

Zabuza looked like he wanted to shrug.

"I wouldn't know anything about that. I only know so much because it led to me getting the damn seversword. But it would explain a lot. The whole affair was covered up fast afterward, unlike a lot of later coup attempts," he says grumpily.

There was probably a lot of history there. But I wasn't going to start poking now.

"Right. Okay. I knew my brother was running around with Hoshigaki Kisame as his current partner, but I hadn't known he had worked with another Kiri swordsman before. It fits with what we know, though." I cross my arms. "I guess since we're laying all our cards on the table, I should fill you in on that, too. They're working for some high-level missing-nin organization called Akatsuki, that seems to be after the tailed beasts, though I don't really know why."

Really should have paid more attention to the series, but I suppose hindsight surpasses even the Sharingan.

The manga had been finished for years by the time I got here, but I never bothered to read up on any of it. Too many flashbacks and too little interesting stuff going on, in my mind. The fact that I watched all the Naruto fillers up to episode two-hundred-whatever and then dropped the series a handful of episodes into Shippuden had always struck me as more than a little funny. But when most of the fanfiction I had read managed to make Naruto a badass without a timeskip, but then canon throws away three years with Naruto apparently accomplishing fuck-and-all with Jiraiya...

Well, it's no wonder I dropped the series as hard as I had. Literally hadn't touched it in over a decade or something. Before, well, whatever this is. Hmm?

Zabuza is staring at me.

"What?"

"The... Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, he's the container of the three-tailed beast. We... had thought that it might be the tailed beast's fault that he..." Zabuza trailed off, thoughtful at the implications.

Oh boy.

"Well, that pretty much cinches it then."

Akatsuki really was playing hardball despite how incompetent Itachi had been at capturing Naruto. If they had effectively the backing of an entire country, not just a number of high-ranked missing-nin... That meant they had a lot more resources to work with than I had imagined before. At this rate, they'll probably assume I was defending Naruto when I killed Itachi and then would be coming for me, too.

Which, to be fair, I would probably be on Naruto's side.

Idiocy and brain full of broth aside, he was the main character with a fairly unambiguous role morally speaking in the plot of Naruto. At worst if I backed him, he'd probably become the Ramenkage and declare everyday mandatory ramen day. And hell, if all else failed I could just set myself as a shadow ruler and keep the worst of his idiocy from spilling over.

Because Naruto was going places. I just had a funny feeling like that.

"Okay, let's reel it in. We're now working together to liberate the Hidden Mist Village from Yagura, Akatsuki, and Uchiha Itachi, correct?" I asked.

Zabuza nodded immediately.

"Okay, so for now we can let the big picture be. Because holy shit, we don't even know where to fucking start with this shit. So we have to focus on the immediate problem: Gatou."

"We can't kill him," he repeats.

I nodded. "Yeah, I know. In the long-term that's not a problem. I took a look inside his head and I know how to work around him. We'll just do a man-in-the-middle attack on him instead. You two will replace some of his key lieutenants in the shipping industry. You can handle the shipping to Water Country like that and then lie your asses off to Gatou, keeping him out of the loop so long as you're careful."

Haku looked slightly daunted by that prospect, so I smirked at him.

"What's the matter, pretty boy? Not so good with a Transformation jutsu? Don't worry, we can Sharingan pump them for all the important information so your covers will be solid. It'll keep you safe from hunter-nin, too."

That detail seemed to cheer him up, some.

"So really the problem is Wave Country. And old man Tazuna and his bridge, I suppose."

Zabuza cringed. "Gatou will not give up on the bridge so easily. This country has become an obsession of his."

Yeah, like I figured. And that was going to be a problem.

"Yeah, he even came to chew you out himself. Forget him just turning on you, at this rate he'll call Kiri on you, right?"

The swordsman nodded and I had to sigh again.

This was the point where I was being tempted to play at a hard man, making hard choices. Sacrifice Wave Country and get the help of Zabuza and Haku, potentially even the support of Water Country down the line. Hadn't I been dismissive of the suffering of all the people here before I had been saddled with team 7? Hadn't I been disgusted by all the people as I walked the dirty streets, uncaring of their plight?

But I wasn't a sociopath, whatever else I was.

I hated games of strategy and I wasn't fit to be a leader of men. Not on any grand scale anyhow. Any loss was unacceptable; in tactics games I aced everything or I tried again. I fucking refused to engage if I didn't have at least a chance at perfect victory. In fact, I had more than occasionally characterized myself as a coward before, because I just didn't play long odds...

But, I didn't want to sacrifice Wave Country.

Yeah, it's still the best idea. When in doubt, follow canon. It's why I hadn't hesitated to break Gatou's arm before. Because while I could change things, it felt like there was still a tendency for the narrative to revert to canon. Guess we're doing the bridge fight.

I open my eyes.

"It's not a problem; it's an opportunity."

Zabuza and Haku look at me askance.

"Tell me, how would you two like to try out dying?"

Ippen... shinde miru?

"Well, you certainly seem to take well to being in charge, Sasuke," Kakashi commented dryly after Naruto and I finished our report of what had happened since he lost consciousness.

He hadn't said anything during our reporting, be it of our training schedule or of keeping an eye on Tazuna and his family, and even with the memories returning from one Shadow Clone regarding Gatou showing up at Zabuza's place, I wasn't too worried, since the Clones had proved themselves plenty resourceful on their own already. Though, I was a little unhinged from reality for a few seconds, unsure whether the clone had been hallucinating and had died accidentally since its memories were a real mess from all the Sharingan practice before it dispelled.

At least I was pretty sure I was getting some experience in resisting genjutsu from all of it, at least.

"Of course. Being superior comes naturally," I commented coldly, reverting to asshole-fu now that Kakashi was back. I don't know what he was after by commenting on my performance right off the bat, but if he wanted to fuck around again...

Even Naruto noticed the immediate shift in tone, judging by how fast his head swiveled to look at me.

Kakashi looked at Naruto.

Naruto turned to look at Kakashi.

They both turned to look at me.

Then, finally seconds after they had been spoken my words registered in the blond's head. He jumped up, pointing an accusing finger at me. "Hey! You're not better than me!"

"Naruto... I bet you can't even fit twelve shuriken in your mouth," I drawled dismissively, not even looking at him.

"Huh? Yeah, well... Just watch me! I can fit way more shuriken in my mouth than you can!"

Hearing the sounds of shuriken clinking against shuriken, even knowing how he would take to my words, I still palmed my face. Almost a whisper, I complained to Kakashi. "I mean, am I supposed to feel proud about being lumped together with him, or something?"

"...Maa, maa..." Even Kakashi was looking a little amazed at how easy Naruto was. "For now, let's put the shuriken away."

"Just let him do it. Dumb children don't learn that fire is hot without burning themselves a few times first," I commented, just in time for Naruto yelp as he cut the inside of his cheek on the first shuriken.

"Ow, h—ch!"

"When you say you had them train... What exactly did you show them?" Kakashi asked, sighing as Naruto was already putting in the second shuriken, stacking them in an unexpectedly clever arrangement.

"Tree and water walking. If we're fighting on the bridge or near the house, both will be useful. They both picked it up real quick. Aside from that, I had Naruto work on the basics with Shadow Clones and Sakura do stamina drills." The Chakra Strings weren't really all that useful and had only been meant to keep her too occupied to bother me, so that didn't really count. "No point in expanding their arsenals at this point and just confusing them."

"Hunhamenhals?" Naruto asked, looking at me. "Huu hwan shum unihs hnow?"

"Naruto, don't talk with shuriken in your mouth. You're spitting all over the floor and table."

"Oh, sorry. You want me to make units and go train fundamentals now?" he asked, carefully but hastily getting the shuriken out of his mouth. "The last couple were done since a while ago now..."

I glanced at Kakashi who was looking us over, eye unreadable.

"...Why don't we give Kakashi a demonstration instead. You and I spar on the water and you can try out what you've figured out so far?"

Naruto's expression went dazzling at the suggestion. "Alright! Loser has to buy the winner ramen at Ichiraku! I'm so kicking your butt this time!"

I turned to Kakashi, raising a brow. Come one, ass. Let me show you how much better than you I am at this shit.

"Well, why not... Far be it for a sensei to stunt his cute students' growth," he answered with a bland smile.

As if that isn't exactly what you've been doing all along. What a fucking dick.

We exited Tazuna's house, deciding to try it all out on the water a little ways off.

Raising the half-tiger seal and knowing that it set me right and ready to throw out pretty much any of my jutsu from the word go, I smirked as Naruto did the same in the standard sparring greeting. Maybe all that tree-hugging stuff wasn't a complete waste, after all?

"Go," Kakashi drawled after a second.

Naruto shot forward hands flying into the Shadow Clone jutsu's seal and nine clones popped into existence. Aaand already they were easily classified; three taijutsu rushers, three defenders hanging back and three thrower clones spreading out.

He's partitioning the skills into definite sets. Good thing we sparred before it had time to get too ingrained as an idiotic habit.

I rush forward, eyes black as midnight and pop all three taijutsu clones with quick punches and defensive footwork to neutralize throwers' angles of attack, a pair of kunai in hands as I emerge from their smoke in time to deflect a hail of kunai.

Clattering steel against steel as I pass through the volley unscathed I toss the weapons into two wide-eyed throwing clones. The original Naruto is already looking demoralized and I could probably crush him now if I wanted to by just cutting past the rest straight to him.

But this isn't about me...

I go for the first of the defending clones and immediately it's like hitting a brick wall. He's actually reading my unarmed attacks, putting back pressure without overextending, and a mere second later the last thrower is flanking me, forcing me to back off. It takes a bit of tricky flipping and rolling around to break the defending clone's leg and cause him to pop.

Back on my feet, I eye the original and the three remaining clones.

"Naruto."

He blinks, guard lowering just a little. Another bad habit, but work in progress here.

"You're not doing the fundamentals drill right now. There's no point in having some clones hold back and only some going all out. They can all do whatever they want."

He blinks again, realizing that just now four times over as in unison they all go wide-eyed.

If I can get him to fluently switch between close-range attacker and long-range attacker roles, he will turn into an absolute menace. But, well, broth brain.

"Heh, you're screwed now, Sasuke!"

"Whatever. Bring it," I answer, raising a challenging hand.

It immediately degenerates from there; two clones rush me at once with kunai, as the two other Naruto run to flank me on either side, pelting me with shuriken and forcing me to keep moving, giving me no openings to exploit or good angles to cover with.

Fuck, his timing is actually getting pretty good!

I grab ahold of one and toss it into the incoming thrown kunai, my eyes going wide as the kunai is dispelled in mid-air without any of the clones popping, which handily distracts me long enough for one of the clones to nearly sock me in the jaw.

Partial cancel—You can do that?!

I'd have to remember that, might turn out unexpectedly handy.

A third Naruto, fresh out of kunai, comes running in as the tossed one manages to roll back onto his feet on impact with the water without popping, and suddenly it's four limbs against twelve, forcing me to give ground to keep from being overwhelmed. Keep an eye on the last one; ears open for any more pops; he's about to pull something!

Twelve becomes sixteen and finally, I'm forced to dip into something unfair; Kakashi's snake-strike lashing out like lightning out of the clear sky, popping a clone unexpectedly and leaving an opening in their teamwork. I slip through with a roll-turned-handstand and kick out at two Naruto, popping one with the right foot and catching the real Naruto in the chest with the left, sending him flying back.

There you are...

The last clone has time enough for a panicked expression before I slam an upside-down leaping knee into his face and get my regular bearings atop one of the wooden pier poles, kneeling opposite to the last Naruto on the high ground as he recovers from the kick.

I'd been steadily moving the fight this way while retreating from the clones.

We stare at each other, blood rushing through our veins, the intensity of my grin matching his determined scowl.

Hands flash—"Shadow Clone—"

But I'm faster, Flickering behind him, my knife hand pressing against his throat from the side as I skate behind Naruto, barely bleeding out the acceleration without taking him with me.

A chop there with the Flicker's speed and he'd have been out like a light. Assuming I had the brachial stun pegged down, since I'd never actually done it on anyone before. But hey, carotid artery, trachea, lots of funny little nerves running up and down there - hitting the neck, even unarmed was bound to do something.

Or it might just cut off his head, who knew with chakra-enhanced strength.

"Aaand halt right there..." Kakashi calls out, ending the fight.

Naruto is scowling, eyes hooded. He thought he'd do better.

As if a few days would be enough to bridge several years' worth of effort.

"Maa, well, that was interesting, I suppose..." the jounin drawls, apparently unimpressed.

I scoff.

"Interesting? I suppose you could say that, when the dead last who failed the Academy exams three times becomes good enough to crush any regular chuunin team, with less than a week of training."

Oh, yeah. That twitch in the eye. Kakashi knew it too. That level of teamwork didn't necessarily stand up to everything, but in terms of most head-on conflicts, it would be more than enough.

"What?" Naruto looked up, startled.

The copy ninja was looking at us again, eye somehow distant and uncomprehending, as if he couldn't quite register what he was seeing, yet unable to deny reality at the same time.

I sigh and shake my head.

Fuck this guy. I've had days off from him and already I want a break...

"Whatever. I'm going to relieve Sakura so she can come back here."

I walk on dry land, giving them just enough time to object, before I Midnight Flicker the fuck out of there, flying so fast with the explosive start given by the Body Flicker that it barely takes me a minute in the air to get to the bridge.

Still the best jutsu ever.

Reversing the transformation a few meters off the bridge, I flip in the air and land with my hands in my pockets.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura calls out from between two Naruto clones amidst a chorus of groans.

Naruto loved being on protection detail with his sweetheart as much as she hated it. It had taken some browbeating to get her to see the sheer usefulness of having a backup and direct line back to the original Naruto for communication. Or rather, the necessity of it. She was by no means the most reliable teammate, and if Tazuna died because I was dumb enough to trust his life in her hands, then I'd never live it down.

"Hn," I grunt by way of greeting, raising my shirt's collar to protect my neck from the wind. "Kakashi's back up. You should go talk to him, too. I'll take over the rest of the shift." And before she can whine about wanting to stay with me, I glare at her with crimson murder. "Now."

She slumps in defeat, turning to leave with regretful steps.

"And take three Naruto with you. No one goes anywhere alone," I remind her as I turn to head for Tazuna to inform him of the change in watch.

Maybe I can mess with some of the Naruto clones left behind? Weave some light illusions and train my Sharingan genjutsu? It should be light enough that Kakashi won't notice the chakra expenditure... And just then my second Shadow Clone pops, memories of Gatou and negotiations with Zabuza and Haku rushing in.

I blink.

Fucking Kakashi. Couldn't he sleep a little longer?

As if I wasn't in a bad enough mood already. Now we would have to accelerate the plan by at least a day. Wouldn't do to have an actual jounin up and poking into my conspiracies, now would it?

A—aah, now I need to review all this stuff...

Training was one thing with Shadow Clones; the experience and knowledge they accumulated tended to get processed into passive skill increases after a night of sleep well enough, and the observations they had made along with their thought processes weren't an issue either, as I had already noticed a couple of times. Especially with the Sharingan's perfect recall, as I had already noticed against Kakashi. Sometimes I even found it amusing how I or a Naruto clone would have the same thought twice separately.

Did Shadow Clones disprove the existence of free will? Maybe not. But they did highlight some of the user's shortcomings when it came to cognition and thinking, making predictable patterns of thought and habits stand out.

Specifically, the mistakes they made, which were more difficult to spot after the fact, but easier still than spotting your own mistakes. The slightly different context allowing you to think it over from another perspective, the same way you'd sometimes have a realization while showering or going to the fridge, rather than when it had been relevant.

It was something I was getting a little paranoid about, too, now that the genjutsu practice clone had popped earlier: could I be brainwashed through the returning memories of the clones affecting my reasoning and judgment, where I as the original might have been able to resist it?

For instance, my clone had made some mistakes with Zabuza.

For one, Zabuza completely controlled the flow of the discussion. I babbled and talked a lot, joking and making references to back before, whereas he kept himself mostly controlled through it all. For another... The plan to rely on canon to squirrel away Zabuza and Haku, giving them the chance to escape Gatou, the hunter-nin and Kiri, has one really big issue which I should have considered...

The plan was relatively simple: Stage the bridge fight and use it as a chance to fake Zabuza's and Haku's deaths.

Since Gatou was planning on taking them out, we would have all the important parties present for such a ploy. With the Hidden Mist jutsu and my Sharingan genjutsu, it was perfectly manageable for us to control who saw what and stage the events convincingly. Done right, we'd not only clear the mission and fake their deaths, but also scare away Gatou from Wave Country for good. Win win win.

Optimally, we'd get Inari to stage his little revolution again by either allowing the mercs to show up again and having Naruto be his inspirational self, or then by inducing some courage back into him through the liberal application of the Sharingan...

But now that Kakashi was awake, a lot of my possible moves had been removed from the table.

So Inari was now no longer a predictable or malleable element, meaning I would have to inspire the locals to resist Gatou post hoc. Well, so long as the bridge was finished and they got some hope, maybe it would work out. Tazuna seemed to think so, at least.

Else he would have long since given up on the bridge.

Kakashi would also want to inspect the site of the battle and would want to confirm the bodies, so as to avoid a repeat of the previous time. Fool me once, and all that. Which meant... That I'll need enough human bodies in an unrecognizable state that even Kakashi, with his tracking hounds and Sharingan can't refute my carefully narrated version of events.

Which means that Gatou's mercenaries are about to become so much disposable theater prop for me.

What 'I'm not a sociopath'...?

What 'I'm not willing to throw away Wave Country'...?

Here I am, calmly planning to bathe this bridge in blood and gore for convenience's sake. I wasn't even hesitating or questioning the choice; it was just the obvious solution. Was it because they were nameless mooks, or because they were on Gatou's side? Live by the sword, die by the sword? Because they were dumb enough to be mercenaries in a world with superpowered ninja running around? It kind of seemed like a service to the world; purifying the gene pool of some really dumb bastards...

Or was it because I just wanted to get away with a massacre?

I wouldn't exactly be pulling a Guts or a Musashi here, facing off against relative peers and proving my mastery against them in a showdown for the ages, but I couldn't deny that it held some appeal for me.

Following pathos, where logos and ethos failed me, I had chosen to embrace the path to power.

Back before, most of the games I had played eventually featured a massacre of some sort, and usually without the gravity something like that actually deserved. In some games reaching body counts in the thousands wasn't even all that unusual, so here and now, the thought of cutting down a hundred or so much weaker enemies didn't register as anything more than something I just could do if I wanted to.

Maybe once I was knee-deep in the blood and gore, amidst the wailing, begging and dying, I'd feel different about it, but right now...

Sharingan whirled in my eyes, lips threatening to curl up against my will. What was it that Itachi claimed as his reason for the Uchiha massacre...? 'To test my capacity'? Yeah, I sort of understand that feeling now, bro.

...it was exciting something within me.