Another One

"Turns out a super powerful and dangerous man is after my life. Although short, he is a man with a very long and dangerous shadow. You've probably heard of the name before, the wealthy shipping magnate, Gato." Tazuna explained, Kakashi slightly widened his eyes.

" Gato, the founder of Gato Company? One of the world's few extremely wealthy people. That Gato?"

Tazuna nodded. " Yes. Officially he runs a shipping company and appears to be nothing more than a legitimate businessman. However underneath that front, the man is one of the rulers of the criminal underworld."

" He is known for using gangs and hiring ninja to ruin countries and initiate hostile takeovers of other business. He uses his business as a cover for his black market operations, smuggling drugs, contraband....even slaves..... "Tazuna whispered. Naruto crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at hearing Tazuna's words.

"How can a person be this evil? All this for a couple thousand Ryō? What did this world ever do to him?" Naruto whispered to himself while Tazuna continued giving them more information.

" He came to the Land Of Waves a little over a year ago. Through money and violence, Gato quickly took control of the country's shipping industry. He now has a monopoly on all business traffic in the country." Tazuna continued. Sakura hummed and nodded.

" That makes sense. The Land Of Waves is really nothing more than a string of islands. They have no other way to trade and receive supplies other than their shipping routes. By taking control over that Gato effectively controls everything." Sakura mumbled. No one questioned where she got that information from.

The night before Team 7 had set out on their mission she had gone over to the library and gotten a geography book and had looked up any information he could on the Land Of Waves.

Kakashi had told her one of the times after their spars that it was important to gather any information he could before a mission began, because there was always a chance that the mission could go to shit.

Anything she learned about the mission, whether it was about the client, the climate both geographical and political, the terrain or any number of seemingly useless information could prove to be the key that got her and her team out alive.

"The girl is right." Tazuna replied while nodding.

"On an island nation the man who controls the sea, controls everything from finance to government, to our very lives. Anyone who even attempts to stand up to him straight up disappears. However, even Gato has fears....and the one thing he fears is the bridge. " Tazuna added.

" Well that explains why he's after you.... "Naruto mumbled.

" Once the bridge is complete it will connect the Land Of Waves to the mainland and you won't need ships to get supplies. Since you're the master bridge builder, you're in Gato's way and he wants to off you. " Naruto added while performing a throat slicing motion.

"That means that this Gato is the one who hired those ninja. But Tazuna.... " Satsuki narrowed her eyes at Tazuna.

" If you knew this was going to happen, knew that Gato was dangerous, why did you lie to us and most importantly the Hokage about the mission? " Satsuki asked him. Tazuna sighed and palmed his face.

" Geez, you guys are more curious than cats." He grumbled before clearing his throat.

"Since Gato has come our country has been reduced to nearly nothing, even the Fuedal Lord has no money. What they and the rest of us commoners have hangs in the balance of building the bridge." He sighed.

"We poor people are the ones who are paying for this mission, we simply don't have the money to afford a B or higher rank mission. They're just too expensive. " He smiled at the team of Konoha Shinobi.

" If you drop me off and abandon me when we get ashore, there will be no bridge. Gato will no doubt kill me before I can even get home." A thick uncomfortable silence followed as the Shinobi digested everything Tazuna told them. Naruto grinned at him.

"You're pretty stupid, old man. And that's coming from someone like me. If you have tell the truth to gramps, the Hokage, I'm sure he would have been able to arrange some kind of agreement to give you a team of Chunin or even Jonin and set up some kind of payment plan. That's just the kind of guy he is. " Tazuna looked down after hearing that from Naruto.

"Now that I said it, I think I can understand why you didn't say anything. You had no way of knowing whether or not we would have helped you if you had been honest." Naruto looked at the man with a fired up expression.

"As I said last night, I'm not abandoning you and the country, old man! That's the kind of guy I am and you better believe it!!" Naruto declared. Satsuki smirked while Sakura grinned at Naruto's words. One thing they liked about Naruto was his kindness, kindness that this world desperately needs.

"Well, I suppose we can continue the mission." Kakashi said at last but not before looking at the three Genin.

"However, if at any point I feel we're out of our league and I order us to abandon the mission, you three will follow my orders to the letter. Are we clear?" He asked in a commanding voice. The three genin nodded at their sensei's words.

" Thank you.... " Tazuna smiled as he looked at the group.

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Two days later....

When Team 7 got to the coast it was to find a thick fog had rolled in. Tazuna had led them to a man who had been willing to offer them passage across, and now the six of them were inside a motorboat to cross the waters and head into the Land Of Waves.

Currently the motorboat was off however and the boatman was rowing, so as not to attract attention from anyone that may want to cause their group harm.

"The fog's pretty thick. The only thing we can see is the way below us." Naruto commented. Sakura nodded.

"Yeah, which is why we should be even more cautious." She replied. The Shinobi were on the lookout for ambushes, they did it in a way that was subtle as to not scare Tazuna and the boatman giving them passage.

"We'll be able to see the bridge any minute now, as soon as you set foot on the other shore, you'll be in the Land Of Waves. " The boatman said quietly.

As if on his words the fog parted where they were going to reveal the bridge. The group looked up as the shadow of it loomed over them. Even at the angle they were seeing it at, the large unfinished bridge was a sight for the group of genin.

Naruto whistled at the majestic sight. "You're pretty good at this, old man. I didn't think a drunk old man like you was capable of building something like this." He commented, gaining Tazuna's glare.

" Thanks, brat. " Tazuna grumbled sarcastically, making Naruto snicker. The boat moved silently as they made their way closer to the Land Of Waves.

"We're almost there everyone. Just under this archway and past the mangroves and we'll reach the pier." The boatman told them.

Everyone snapped to attention as they made their way under a large archway, passing through it and coming out on the other side to a small inlet lake. The Land of Waves has many rivers running through it and is famous for its mangroves, which are filled with all kinds of lifeforms.

There were several buildings around the bank, and a few sparse trees located around and in the water.

Team 7 noticed that the buildings were rundown. Some of them even looked burned out, no doubt from Gato's thugs using violence to bring the population under Gato's heel.

The boat made it to the dock and the Konoha ninja plus one super expert bridge builder got off of it. After Tazuna and the boatman exchanged farewells the group set off again.

For the most part it was silent, only the sound of footsteps could be heard. Naruto was taking point again, while Sakura and Satsuki were located on either side of Tazuna.

Kakashi was taking up the rear, his adult novel safely stashed away in his pocket due to the seriousness of the situation.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he heard something rustling and turned to look at a bush. He shook his head and continued moving, paying extra attention to his surroundings.

As they continued, Naruto suddenly threw a kunai into a bush, startling Tazuna and gaining multiple curious gazes from his teammates and sensei.

"What's wrong Naruto?" Sakura asked him. Naruto signalled her to be quiet as he walked towards the bush and moved the bush branches aside, only to find out that small white rabbit shaking like a leaf with a kunai right beside it.

"Poor rabbit, I'm so sorry about him." Sakura whispered before grabbing the rabbit and attempting to sooth its rattled nerves. Satsuki knelt down beside Sakura and started petting the white rabbit's soft head.

"Woah...." She immediately found herself addicted to how fluffy the rabbit was. She secretly glared at Naruto who was conversing with Kakashi.

"Sensei, I could he wrong about this, but isn't a rabbit's fur supposed to be brown this time of year? We have the same type of hare in Konoha, and they have a brown coat this time of year." Naruto asked him.

'I should know, because I skinned them at least a hundred times when I was younger and had nowhere to stay.' Naruto thought to himself, suddenly remembering the days when he went to the forest to hunt for food.

"Yes, you're right. A white rabbit at this time year means it was raised in doors..... That could only mean that someone used it for a substitution..." Kakashi whispered, Naruto narrowed his eyes. Their next enemy was hiding somewhere. Kakashi who had been using chakra to enhance their senses heard a whoosh. Naruto who had enhanced senses due to him having the Kyuubi in him heard it too.

They both widened their eyes at the same time, hearing the sound coming closer to them.

"Hit the dirt/Get down!!!!"

To be continued...