#16 - The Waves: Part 6

They arrived at Tazuna's house just after sunset, carefully going through back alleys and eventually arriving at a rather decent sized house - especially compared to some of the shacks they had walked past.

"Dad, you're finally back," the door opened before any of them could knock and a woman greeted them at the gate, she took one look at their bedraggled state and ushered them into the house.

"Honestly, you seem to invite trouble - I'm sorry about him, and you have my sincerest thanks for not ditching him in the woods," Tsunami bowed to them.

Sasuke was socially inept and Naruto had Kakashi on his back, so that made Tsubaki the defacto team leader.

"Of course - would it be possible for us to rest here for some time? Our teacher won't regain consciousness tonight," Tsubaki asked politely, gesturing to Kakashi, Tsunami smiled and guided her to a room.

"We a spare room through the back there, I'll set up a futon for your teacher, so why don't you take a warm bath?" She said and Tsubaki looked from her to Tazuna in amazement.

"There is no way you raised her, right?" Tsubaki whispered to Tazuna, once Tsunami had led the boys away to the spare room.

"How rude, she spent most of her life at my side in construction sites you know," He declared proudly. Tsubaki stared at him incredulously,

"You took a child to a construction site?" she asked,

"It was perfectly safe, she had a hat and everything," he shrugged. Tsubaki shook her head before following after her team. She watched from the doorway and Naruto unceremoniously dumped Kakashi on the futon and Sasuke flicked the blanket over him uncaringly.

There were three other futons set up next to his and Tsubaki realised they would all be sleeping in this room tonight.

"Naruto, don't you dare go anywhere near that futon without taking a bath first." Tsubaki snapped when she spotted Naruto about to flop face-first onto his bed. He froze and then whined the entire way, dragging his feet to the bathroom.

"Use up all the hot water and I'll kill you," Sasuke snapped just as they heard the bathroom door shut.

* * *

As Tsubaki had predicted, Kakashi didn't wake up that night, or the morning after. It was some time after lunch - when Sasuke was helping with the laundry and Naruto was cleaning dishes that he woke up.

The two boys had woken up early, too worked up and anxious to sleep in and had been roped into housework while Tsubaki took care of Kakashi. He got a fever during the night from overexertion - and Tazuna had managed to procure some crutches for them (somehow) which she knew Kakashi would need because one look at the bruises on his legs and it was obvious there was some clear spraining if not a fracture.

But in the afternoon, when he finally stirred, Tsubaki came to sit by his bedside.

"I guess that's what happens when someone outside of the Uchiha clan uses the Sharingan huh?" She asked she didn't know the circumstances under which he had gotten the Sharingan, but she knew this was something that happened - Kekkei Genkai were often stolen from the corpses of their owners, especially during war.

She didn't ask, because frankly, it wasn't something she felt comfortable knowing about just yet. She had only just started respecting Kakashi after all.

"Thank you," he sighed, looking down at his bandages, he had been changed out the clothes he had been wearing and into the pyjamas.

"D-did you-?" He asked hesitantly, but Tsubaki understood immediately and flushed deep red as the others walked into the room.

"No! Tazuna and the guys changed you!" She snapped and Kakashi nodded hastily.

"Ah right yeah, thanks," he said quickly, and thankfully, Tazuna changed the subject,

"Well, since you defeated such a powerful ninja, we probably don't need to worry for a while right?" he asked happily. Tsubaki frowned,

"Actually. Kakashi-sensei, about that Tracker nin -" she began but Naruto interrupted her by flopping down next to her and whining,

"What even was that masked-kid?" He was still confused and frustrated, so Kakashi calmly explained it all to him. Tsubaki bit her lip the entire time because even as she listened to his explanation, it wasn't making sense to her.

Kakashi glanced to her from the corner of his eye - something like certainty settling in on his gaze that Tsubaki had picked up on something even some experienced ninja might overlook.

"As I was saying, a tracker Nin is supposed to dispose of the body right there and then, as soon as they get the chance - but what did the one with Zabuza do?" He asked Tsubaki stared at him eyes narrowed and gaze sharp,

"How are we supposed to know? The kid took Zabuza away," Tazuna said, not understanding the point of the question.

"And consider the weapon the tracker ninja used as well," Kakashi gave them one more hint, Tsubaki's eyes widened as her suspicions were confirmed, and it seemed Sasuke was starting to get it as well, if he had more time to think about it, he could probably come to the conclusion by himself.

Naruto, however, was getting more and more confused, "the needles, right? What about them? What are you talking about Kakashi-sensei?" He asked impatiently.

"Wait, no way," Sasuke gasped, catching on.

"Yeah, it's exactly that," Kakashi sighed,

"What have you guys been going on about?" Tazuna snapped, finally snapping from impatience.

"Most likely, Zabuza is still alive," Kakashi announced.

"What! You checked to see if he was dead though!?" Naruto screamed, even Tazuna and Tsunami were speechless in their shock.

"Yes I did check - but that was probably just a state of near-death. That tracker nin used a senbon, which has a very low chance of killing its target unless it hits a vital spot. In fact, it's originally something used for medical procedures like acupuncture therapy. Tracker ninjas are excellent medics and know all about the structure of the human body. Putting people in a state of apparent near-death shouldn't be too hard for them," Kakashi explained,

Tsubaki sighed, leaning back and sitting down more comfortably in front of Kakashi's futon, she had come to that conclusion a few hours ago, but it felt real now that Kakashi had laid down the facts for them.

"So most likely, that tracker ninja wasn't there to kill Zabuza, but to save him," Tsubaki finished the trail of thought off.

"Eh?! You knew already Tsubaki?" Naruto asked Sasuke glanced at her too, eyes narrowed. She shrugged,

"I mean, logically speaking, the fact that he carried away Zabuza's body, which was heavier than his own didn't make sense - it would slow him down, and Zabuza is valuable enough to have a tracker ninja trailing him - meaning other people would want his corpse as well and there was something valuable to be found from it- it made more sense to destroy it as soon as possible but he didn't do that. If he needed evidence of Zabuza being killed, then his sword or his head would have been enough, his actions were contradictory so I figured there was a chance he wasn't a real tracker ninja at all," Tsubaki explained.

Kakashi nodded, it was becoming clearer, what he needed to do to teach his team. They were each suited to different things, but if they agreed to what he was planning for them, then they could become one of the best, most well-rounded teams out there.

Naruto, with his boundless stamina and mental fortitude, Sasuke with his desperate competitiveness and polished technique and Tsubaki with her sharp logic and vast knowledge - they each brought something unique and necessary to the team. It was almost nostalgic and he wondered if he was projecting his own memories on to them - because his chest was hurting a little.

"We will be moving with the assumption that Zabuza is alive and that tracker ninja is his alley - which means we need to make preparations," Kakashi declared, gazing around at his team. Naruto was trembling slightly, a small grin on his face. Kakashi almost scoffed - to think there would be someone here who would be happy that Zabuza was still alive.

"You won't be able to move properly for another week," Tsubaki told him,

"That won't be a problem because the ones preparing will be you guys. I'll be assigning you some training," Kakashi explained.

Tsubaki frowned, this mission was only for a 3 week period, it had already been 3 days, and even if they trained for another 2 weeks, there was no way they would get to the point of actually standing up to Zabuza, especially when he had support.

But... Maybe they could get to the point of not needing to be protected. If it was a one-on-one fight, there was no doubt in Tsubaki's mind that Kakashi would have won. But he had to think about protecting them which held him back.

The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth.