Chapter 195: Leaving the village (Part 4)

Naruto couldn't believe his eyes. "K-Kakashi-sensei!? But he was…!" Relief flooded him as he saw Kakashi standing there, alive and well. His heart, which had been pounding with fear, finally began to settle. The battle was over, and Kakashi had won.

Yet, Naruto still needed to make sense of what had just happened. He looked back to where he'd seen Kakashi's body seemingly torn to shreds, but instead of blood and gore, there was only a pile of wooden logs. His mouth fell open.

"A substitution jutsu," Naruto realized aloud, his voice filled with a mixture of awe and frustration.

Sasuke, retrieving one of his kunai that had been thrown during the skirmish, smirked inwardly. Show-off, he thought.

Meanwhile, Homura, another member of the team, watched as Kakashi stood victorious. Homura's body, which had been tense with the effort of maintaining a special breathing technique, finally relaxed. His muscles ached as if they'd been pulled taut, and his vision swam slightly as the adrenaline faded. He coughed into his hand, and when he pulled it away, he saw a smear of blood. I need to perfect this technique, he thought grimly, his mind already racing through what needed to be done. And what's my clone doing? he wondered, thinking of the shadow clone he'd left behind in the village. If something had gone wrong, he needed to be ready.

Kakashi began walking toward the group but then stopped, as if something had just occurred to him.

"Sorry, Naruto. I didn't mean to leave you hanging back there. I didn't expect you to freeze up like that."

Naruto's eyes widened, and he looked down, shame coloring his cheeks. He's right… I totally froze up. Sasuke and even Homura were able to act, but I just stood there…

Tazuna, the old bridge builder they were escorting, let out a sigh of relief. The situation had looked hopeless when Kakashi had gone down, but now things seemed to be under control. Phew, we made it through somehow.

Kakashi turned to Sasuke. "Good job, Sasuke. You stayed calm and ready the entire time." His praise was genuine, though he knew Sasuke had probably guessed that Kakashi's defeat had been too easy. Even so, Sasuke hadn't been able to pinpoint the exact moment of Kakashi's escape—it had all happened too quickly.

Very smooth? Homura thought to himself, puzzled by Kakashi's choice of words. Who says that? And what is my clone up to? His mind, always racing, was already considering the possible consequences of leaving his shadow clone in the village unattended.

As Homura pondered this, Kakashi's gaze fell on him. "Homura, you acted quickly to protect Naruto, but you were too eager. You left yourself open and failed to coordinate with Sasuke. After attacking the enemy, the proper action would have been to retrieve Naruto and regroup, not to rush in without a plan."

Homura didn't reply. He knew Kakashi was right. His decision to protect Naruto had been impulsive, driven by emotion rather than strategy. He bowed his head in acknowledgment of his mistake. Kakashi was not just a teacher, but their superior, and Homura had no choice but to respect his authority.

Sasuke turned to Naruto. "Hey."

Naruto and Homura both looked at Sasuke, surprised. It was rare for Sasuke to initiate conversation, especially with Naruto.

"Y-yeah?" Naruto responded, uncertain.

Sasuke's next words, however, caught them both off guard. "You're not hurt, are you? You little coward."

Naruto's face turned red with anger. "SASUKEEE!" he yelled, ready to launch himself at the other boy.

"Naruto!" Kakashi's voice cut through the air, stopping Naruto in his tracks.

Homura, watching the scene, was baffled. Is Sasuke… joking? The typically aloof and serious Sasuke had actually taunted Naruto—something had definitely shifted in their dynamic.

Kakashi quickly assessed the situation, his sharp eyes catching the small cut on Naruto's hand. "Stand still, Naruto. These ninjas have poison on their claws."

Naruto's eyes widened as he looked at the cut. It was shallow, nothing serious—or so he had thought. But now that he knew poison was involved, panic began to set in.

"You need to open the wound and get the poison out, fast," Kakashi instructed. "Don't move too much or it'll spread through your bloodstream."

Turning his attention to Tazuna, Kakashi's tone grew more serious. "Mr. Tazuna, we need to talk."

The old man, caught off guard, tensed up. "Y-yeah?"

Kakashi continued, "You haven't been entirely honest with us, have you?"

As Kakashi spoke, he tossed the unconscious bodies of the Demon Brothers onto the ground. They stirred slightly as they hit the dirt, groaning in pain. Homura and Sasuke moved to tie them up against a nearby tree.

"These two are from the Hidden Mist Village," Kakashi explained, his voice calm but firm.

One of the brothers, barely conscious, muttered, "H-how did you know about our ambush?"

Homura, tying the ropes tightly around the Mist ninja, noticed how the man was trembling, his muscles twitching uncontrollably. What did Kakashi do to him? he wondered, suspecting some kind of nerve damage or intense pain had been inflicted.

Kakashi explained that he had noticed the suspicious puddle on the road—a clear sign of a trap when it hadn't rained in weeks. His attention to detail had saved them all. This revelation made the genin realize just how far they had to go to reach Kakashi's level of expertise.

Tazuna, now clearly nervous, asked, "If you knew about the ambush, why didn't you step in sooner?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I could've taken them out at any time, but I wanted to see what you kids could do." His words stung the Demon Brothers, who realized they'd been used as a test.

"But more importantly," Kakashi continued, "I wanted to confirm something about their target." He looked directly at Tazuna. "They weren't just attacking us randomly. They were after you."

Tazuna's eyes widened. "What? No, they attacked you first, and then that blond kid!"

Sasuke, ever the strategist, spoke up. "It's standard procedure. Take out the strongest first, then deal with the rest."

Kakashi nodded. "Exactly. Once they realized we wouldn't go down easily, they targeted the next easiest victim. But their real target was you all along, Tazuna."

Tazuna's silence spoke volumes. Kakashi pressed on, "This mission isn't what it was supposed to be, is it? It's not just a simple escort job."

Finally, Tazuna broke down and told them the truth. He explained how the Land of Waves was under the control of Gato, a ruthless businessman who had turned the country into a living hell. The bridge Tazuna was building was the only hope the people had to fight back, but Gato wanted him dead to ensure the bridge was never completed.

Kakashi listened, his expression unreadable. He had seen many tragedies in his time as a shinobi, and this was yet another. Gato's reputation was well-known—on the surface, he was a shipping magnate, but beneath that, he was a criminal who wouldn't hesitate to use violence to get what he wanted.

"This is worse than we thought," Homura said, his tone caught between empathy and something darker. The reality of the situation was sinking in for all of them. This mission was far more dangerous than they had been led to believe.

"If you knew how dangerous this was, why didn't you tell us?" Kakashi asked, his voice calm but with an edge of frustration.

"Because," Tazuna replied, his voice heavy with guilt, "the Land of Waves is poor. We couldn't afford anything more than a C-rank mission. But if you turn back now, I'll be killed before I can finish the bridge. And without the bridge, my country has no hope."

Kakashi sighed. This was a lose-lose situation. If they continued the mission, they would be risking their lives for little to no reward. But if they turned back, Tazuna would almost certainly be killed, and the Land of Waves would remain under Gato's thumb.

Before Kakashi could make a decision, Naruto suddenly grabbed a kunai with his uninjured hand and, to everyone's shock, stabbed it into the wound on his other hand. Blood dripped onto the ground as Naruto's face twisted in pain, but his eyes were filled with fierce determination.

"I'll never back down again," Naruto declared, his voice shaking but resolute. "I won't let someone else rescue me. I won't run away. " Bridgebuilder, I will complete this mission and protect you with this kunai! That's a promise!"

Sasuke somewhat watched in stunned silence. He had never seen this side of Naruto before—the sheer willpower, the refusal to give up. It was as if Naruto had transformed in front of his eyes.

Homura, too, was taken aback. He knew Naruto was stubborn, but this was something else. This was the resolve of a true shinobi.

"We're continuing this mission!!!" Naruto proudly declared.

"...Naruto, that was cool and all how you took out the poison, but if you lose any more blood your going to... " Kakashi stopped himself from finishing the sentence but it was enough to convey his message.

" N-no, no, no, no!! I am too young for that yet! No!" Naruto yelled as the crimson liquid was now being spread all over the place as naruto began to move in a panic.

"Show me your hand." Asked Kakashi, Naruto soon obliged.

Only for soon enough Kakashi's face to tense slightly at the sight he was currently witnessing.

"(The wound is already healing...this healing power, has to be...)" he internally uttered unable to continue the thought process but the being responsible soon appeared in his head.

"Fine, I'll tell you how to proceed, Naruto. You clearly don't think before you act. *sigh* to think I'd have to treat a guy... I'm so not liking that. " Homura said as he took out.

 He went to kakashi's and Naruto's side and started applying a special ointment. 

"You...You... (he heals fast! Way too fast! he never healed that fast before...though I've never seen him get injured this badly. Maybe it is for the best that I am doing that...)" Homura thought to himself as he was finishing to bandage naruto's wound and then proceeded to burn the blood covered sheet he used as it was a type of procedure.

Homura watching the sheet burn thought how it was a missed opportunity to study naruto much further but he was rather more conscious of giving some of his enzymes to naruto as it was not in the original story.

But it was unlikely that naruto would gain anything from that, especially not powers or genetic modifications like awakening a sharingan one day, but it also meant it was now a deviation.

A major one.

Naruto was an Uzumaki and the host of a tailed-beast, there was no way to understand the full impact of it, but it also meant that if Homura took Naruto's blood the chances of integration are even better since they had exchanged genetic material him gaining something.

Normally DNA receive from transfusion vanishes, Homura's DNA is not normal and his cells, and leukocytes do tend to adapt to the owner's as they try to become compatible with host.

He had ran enough test to know that much, which meant some amount of homura's genetic material would still exist and bond with Naruto's...this just complicated things.

If he did not give Naruto the ointment after mentioning it, it would have been suspicious.

He wanted for Kakashi to somehow allow him to return to the village or push him further towards choosing the village since it seemed something that Haruno Sakura would do in the original timeline.

He couldn't say that he didn't have anything that could be used to treat poison so he chose to mention a sketchy ointment to remove doubts and even mentioned something akin to a secret but instead it seemed that kakashi trusted him more since he agreed to it being used.

It was probably because he knew that naruto would be fine either way due to how fast he was healing.

"So, what are we actually doing?" asked Sasuke.

"Hm, Naruto already accepted the mission even after knowing that we were being deceived..." Kakashi says as he looked towards Tazuna and Naruto who looked away, embarrassed " Still, this complicates things a bit." Besides, he was the team leader not naruto.

Kakashi knew of Naruto's temper and his tendencies to be quite headstrong, simply disagreeing could make Naruto try something foolish. 

"Kakashi" Tazuna, called out to the silver haired jounin.

"??" Kakashi was slightly surprised by Tazuna calling out to him with a serious look on his face.

"I have no choice but, no, I want to tell you the truth..." the bridgebuilder's voice gradually became more serious as he began to show his real emotions on the surface. "As you said, this mission is beyond the scope of a simple escort mission," he added.

Tazuna went on to explain the real situation he had found himself in. How a man named Gato, a famous merchant among many things had basically taken control of the land of waves, how he hired unsavory individuals, among them many who were shinobi to illegally gain money and subjugate whoever defied him.

The tale only got grimmer and grimmer, as the land of waves was never a powerful country much less a wealthy one, as soon as Gato showed up they were practically at the mercy of the latter, the bridge is the final means that the people of the land of waves have found in order to fightback; but even that last hope was now being threatened. 

 "..." Kakashi listening to Gato's tale was at a loss for words, not because he did not know what to say exactly, situations like those happened quite often in this world, he had witnessed many tragedies. Nonetheless, a shinobi must have a firm grasp of their emotions and not be swayed by the moment. 

Especially after hearing the name Gato. On the surface, Gato was an incredibly famous and wealthy businessman in the shipping industry, but he was also quite infamous in some less than savory circles as a ruthless tyrant who would do anything to get what he wants. If such a man was involved with the current mission, things would not be so simple.

"This is pretty bad," Homura casually said. His greed and empathy were fighting each other to the point the statement could originate from either emotion.

Though a ninja should not be swayed by neither of those two emotions since they were both unbecoming of a ninja, nonetheless, Homura's weird tone that seemed both sad and excited managed to reflect the core of the current situation. Things were not going to be easy, this was far more than what the team had bargained. 

"That means, the ninjas we just fought were working for Gato," Sasuke added.

"If you knew how dangerous all along, and that he would send ninjas after you why would you hide that from us?" Kakashi understood that even if Tazuna understood the severity of his situation, a C-rank mission is not the kind of mission taken by the most competent ninjas a village has to offer.

It was overall foolish to simply put one's life in danger, especially when the man targeting was such a powerful individual.

"Because the land of waves even compared to most nations...is quite impoverished, even our nobles have very little money, the people building the bridge can't pay for a normal b-rank or A-rank mission, " Tazuna said, to Homura's horror. 

It means this was a lose-lose situation, trying to steal from a greedy man like Gato would be impossible, he had too little time and such a man probably had contingencies for keeping his money in a safe place where no one was privy to.

This means too much work for low pay, he looked at his jacket, it was a type of normal but modified flak jacket that he had already reinforced because they would be fighting Zabusa at some point, but that investment was already one foot down the drainer since it already had a large cut on it from one of the demon brother's attack. 

"..." Kakashi.

"If you end the mission when you drop me ashore, there will be no bridge. They will eliminate me before it is completed," Tazuna declared, seemingly trying to tug at the heartstrings of those present.

"Old man..." Naruto was partially hooked by the trap set, unlike the others who were far more pragmatic and could tell what was happening. 

"But don't feel bad about that, Of course my sweet little grandson will be upset and...cry about it," he added.

"(...I hate kids, so I don't really care about that... so...,)" Homura thought losing interest in the story being told. 

"Oh! And my young beautiful daughter single mother daughter will condemn the ninja of the hidden leaf, living her life in sorrow. denouncing and blaming you for abandoning her father." Tazuna said with seemingly a heavy heart.

The illusion of the statements before being the heartfelt grief of a man about to die was completely shattered, to give place to emotional manipulation; though ninjas are able to subdue their emotions, at least that is the usual narrative. 

"B-beautiful!?" Homura blurted out, as if it was the only part he listened. 

"Hey, calm down! Didn't you hear that she has a kid?" Naruto said.

"So, what? I am not that selfish that the plight of children is something that would fall on deaf ears. Besides, I heard single in the mix! And I abhor the idea of beautiful women crying, as shinobi we can't go back on our word anyway since you already said you would protect him!" Homura stated, arching back to Naruto's previous statement. forgetting all about Zabusa.

Normally homura shifted to a different mindset during missions and was ready to put up with almost anything but this mission was already dead, in fact they should really go back to the village and report it or at the very least fulfill the bare minimum of the request and simply escort Tazuna back to his country.

"Y-you know, you're not fooling anyone... and I wasn't going to take it back... Fine! Let's do it!" Naruto, said. 

"You two morons, sh*t up!" Sasuke stated. 

Though both Naruto and Homura wanted to give him a piece of their mind, they definitely were in the wrong and couldn't argue. 

"Um..." Kakashi looking at the situation was a bit perplexed.

Still, Tazuna knew that the big fish was the man himself since he was a jonin, in other words an elite ninja, the genins were just a bonus. 

 "Ah, well it is not your fault! Forget it!" Tazuna said to Kakashi, acting like a kind old man unlike his prior introduction.

"(This old man will probably hold a grudge aganst from the afterlife, if he could...)" Naruto thought. "K-kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called out Kakashi, seemingly urging him to accept.

"...Well, I guess there's no other way, we'll keep guarding you," Kakashi said in a somewhat defeated tone.

"(YES!!!!) Then, we should hurry to the land of waves!" Tazuna's previous sad atmosphere vanished in an instant.

To the non-surprised stares of the leaf shinobi, who knew all along of the old man trying to trick them into agreeing.