Naruto Alternate

Vol 2 Chapter 9 Hidden in the Mist

Tazuna

     He had hoped that they would have been closer to his home before the first real attack began. He didn't anticipate they would make their first attempt practically on the doorsteps of Konohagakure. The cat was now out of the bag, would they still go along?

     "Hinata check how far the poison has spread in Miku's hand and Miku stay as still as possible so it won't spread further. Now Mr. Tazuna These ninja appear to be Genin from Kirigakure It was quite impressive to take down one of them Miku, these two, in particular, are a rather dangerous pair, or rather were a dangerous pair. They got careless, however, a pool of water in a place that hasn't seen rain in days? Sloppy."

     He knew? "If you knew why did you let them attack you?"

     "I could have killed them at any point but I wanted to know who their target was. Were they after you? Or was their target one of us? There was no mention of any ninja rogue or otherwise in your request, only Bandits. Such an Escort would be within the parameters of a C-Ranked mission. This, however, places it as a B-rank, quite possibly an A-Ranked mission. Protecting you from ordinary dangers would be well within mission but if you are expecting other ninja then that is beyond this assignment. Plus there is Miku's condition"

     "Kakashi-Sensi, there is no trace of the poison in Miku's blood system." Tazuna noticed the girl's hand was bleeding a bit more than it had after the battle and noticed a new cut in her hand. She attempted field surgery to bleed out the poison? Isn't that risky? Kakashi made his way over to his subordinate.

     "It needed to be done"

     "This goes a bit beyond bleeding out the poison you might be on the verge of losing too much blood." Kakashi cleaned off Miku's hand staring at it for a moment. Tazuna could still see the new puncture but he could have sworn it looked like the cut from the chain was already healed.

     "About the request I submitted to your village. As you guessed it is a bit more dangerous than I had lead you to believe. There is someone after my life and he has far more resources than I can muster."

     "Who is he?"

     "You probably have heard of him in the field of Maritime transport, his name is Gato" This could be when I lose them, Tazuna gave a sign. I might have to bring out the big guns.

     "You mean Gato... of Gato Shipping and Transport? The Gato? They say he's one of the richest men in the world.

     "He seems legitimate on the surface but under it, he's a ruthless criminal who regularly employs bandits, ronin, and ninja. We learned this the hard way when he came to the land of Waves not that long ago. Originally we thought the connection would boost trade, but Gato has been using his resources to strange us. Rumor has it he is planning on moving his office to our land and he is no longer interested in just being a businessman but wants to rule. If we can complete our latest project then we can break the siege we are under, a bridge to connect us to the mainland."

     "As overseer of the construction then you would very much be in his way," Hinata spoke as she helped bandage Miku's hand.

     "So these ninja who attacked us worked for Gato, didn't he start his empire in Mizu no Kuni... the Land of Water?" Kakashi's students seemed to be well informed; the one named Sasuke had spoken up.

     "If you knew you were the target of Gato and that he had ninja at his disposal why didn't you inform us?"

     "Because of the stranglehold on our nation we have little resources and the simple fact is a B-Ranked team would be well beyond our budget currently. If you turn back now then I am as good as dead. Don't worry you won't have to be there to see the crying face of my daughter and my ten-year-old grandson. You won't have to see the bridge fall into stagnation and Gato coming into rule of his own nation."