Reincarnated Gamer Rei

Chapter nineteen: Kousuke back for more!

After a while we end up on a boat, I lean over the side with my hand in the water, giggling to myself quietly. The water was cool, but not freezing since it's spring. Sakura put her hand on my back, making sure I didn't fall in.

"Woah! It's huge!" Naruto shouts. I giggle a little harder, hiding my face into my shoulder to muffle the noise.

"Wha-? Quiet! I told you no noise! Why do you think we're traveling like this? Huh? Cutting off the engine and rowing? Moving through the dense fog? So they don't see us." The owner of the boat scolds harshly while trying to remain quiet.

"Mr. Tazuna." Kakashi-sensei starts, "before we get to the pier, I want to ask you something. The men who are after you, I need to know why. If you don't tell us, I'm afraid I'll have to end this mission when we drop you ashore."

"I have no choice but to tell you. No- I want you to know the truth." I scoff softly into my arm and move my hand around in the water pouting. Lying geezer. "Like you said, this is beyond the scope of the original mission. The one who seeks my life is a very short man, who casts a very long and deadly shadow." Not deadlier than the Nara clan's shadow though, I'm sure.

"A deadly shadow?"

"Hm."

"Hm. Who is it?"

"You know him. At least I'm sure you've heard his name before. He's one of the wealthiest men in the world. The shipping magnate, Gatō." He speaks somberly.

"Gatō? Of Gatō transport? He's a business leader, everyone knows him." He says in realization, while he realized who it was I realized something else.

I lift my head, turn around, and look at the others while I giggle profusely, "His name means cake." It also means cat in Spanish, but they won't understand that one. Naruto and Sakura giggle with me, Kakashi-sensei shakes his head with slight amusement and Sasuke turns away, a hint of a smile on his face.

"Who? Who? What? What?" Naruto persists as he calms down.

"Gatō is a very powerful tycoon from a very famous company, that's true. But below the surface, with the same ruthless methods he uses to take over businesses and nations, he sells drugs and contraband. Using gangs and ninja." I frown, drugs and contraband, huh? Didn't really think that'd be a thing in this world. Marijuana's not too bad but the other stuff, I wouldn't touch that stuff with a ten thousand foot pole. Of course in this life, I probably won't touch weed either. "When Gatō first set his sight on the Land of Waves, he came to our island and used his vast wealth to take total control of our transport and shipping. Anyone who tried to stand in his way simply disappeared. In an island nation, a man who controls the sea controls everything. Finance, government, our very lives, but there's one thing he fears. The bridge, when it is complete, it will join us to the land and that will break his control." He pauses, looking up. "I am the bridge builder."

"So that's it. Since you're in charge of the bridge, you're standing in this gangster's way." Sakura realizes, holding her hand to her chin instead of on my back, now that she's confident I won't fall in while I keep playing with the water.

Sasuke turns to look at her, "That means, those guys we fought in the forest, they were working for Gatō."

"I don't understand. If you knew he was dangerous, knew he would send ninja to eliminate you, why did you hide that from us?" Kakashi-sensei presses.

"Because the Land of Waves is a small impoverished nation. Even our nobles have little money. The common people who are building this bridge, they can't pay for an A or B-ranked mission. It's too expensive. If you end the mission when you drop me ashore, there will be no bridge, they'll assassinate me before I reach home." Something tells me he's not finished, and I am right when he keeps speaking in a different tone. "But, don't worry about that. Of course, my sweet little grandson will be upset, he'll cry 'grandad, I want my grandad'. Oh, and my daughter will condemn the ninja of the hidden leaves denouncing and blaming you for abandoning her father and living her life in sorrow. Oh well, it's not your fault forget it."