Waiting Game

Chapter 14

"I've been meaning to ask you all this for a while now, but, I've never really had the chance," Tazuna began grimly. Everyone went silent as we listened into his question. "Why did you all stay back and protect me even after I lied about the mission?"

"'Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage. But those under the wing of a strong leader, cowardice can not survive.'" Kakashi closed his eye as he relayed the words from memory. "That was a quote from the First Hokage."

"Hmm," Tazuna hummed before looking over to me. "What about you, white-haired kid? What were your thoughts when you agreed to protect me?"

"Yeah, Onee-chan! What were you thinking?" Sakura asked curiously. I was about to decline to answer, when I saw the intrigued looks from Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi.

"Well," I began awkwardly. I then spat out the exact words that conjured up in my mind when the situation first occurred. "There is the possibility that Tazuna is lying to us, but I don't think that's a fact. A 6% chance, at the most. 1:0. We might get hurt, or possibly die. 67% chance. 1:1. If we survive, Konoha will get an ally, a good one at that too. 2:1.

"We would get more experience if we survive, and more morale. 3:1. The danger still deserves to be kept in mind, so I'll give it an extra point. 3:2. This would make other corrupt businessmen think twice before attacking the Leaf, or any other shinobi or civilian nations, but it would also make them more aggressive towards us; a double-edged sword. 4:3.

"I believe it would be a good idea to stay on mission, but to stay cautious of anything and everything. We need to keep every possibility in mind, train a bit while we're out here, and so on."

...

"Sugoi..." Naruto whispered to himself, then turned to Sasuke. "That's the most I've ever heard her speak!" Sasuke hit him over the head.

"Loser!"

I had left before the end of dinner, watching as a conflict steadily arose between Naruto and Tazuna's grandson Inari.

Silence.

I need... silence.

Sitting at the edge of the dock, ripping my toes into the cool water; it soothed me. My sandals were right next to me, lying on the wood of my 'seat.' Not before long, the young child sprinted outside and sat down next to me. However, in his frenzy of tears, he didn't notice I was even there.

I... recognized someone in need of comfort... but at the same time, I didn't really care. I scooted away from the crying child.

Then, all of a sudden, Inari threw himself into my lap and wrapped his arms around my waist.

I drew in a gasp; I didn't expect this, nor did I think that he knew I was there.

Sobbing, his arms only tightened around me. I recognized someone in need of comfort... in comfort of me. I slowly forced my arms upwards, and around the small kid's entire body. This was as close of a hug that I could get to him... This was the second time I had awkwardly comforted the poor child.

After a moment, I heard the soft sound of footsteps. I peeked around, careful not to disturb Inari. It was Kakashi.

"Can I talk to you, Inari?" Kakashi asked. Immediately, Inari stopped making noise and buried his face into my shirt. He shook his head violently. "Tsubaki, a little help here?" I ignored his being, preferring staring out into the sea. "Please? Oh well, I'll just talk anyway."

He plopped right down next to us, but left a respectable amount of room in between the two parties.

"Naruto can be a little... harsh, sometimes. But, he doesn't hate you..." We both stayed silent, hugging each other close. "Your grandfather told us what happened to your father... You probably don't know this, but Naruto also grew up without a father. In fact, he never knew either of his parents and he didn't have a single friend in our village."

Inari shifted at these words, looking over to Kakashi-sensei.

"Still, I've never seen him cry, sulk, or give up. He's always eager to jump in; he wants to be respected... that's his dream," Kakashi went on.

-

"And my future dream is...," Naruto inhaled dramatically, and I slowly cringed away; he was about to yell. "TO BECOME THE GREATEST HOKAGE! THEN THE WHOLE VILLAGE WILL STOP DISRESPECTING ME! A-and start treating me like I'm somebody... Somebody important!"

-

"And he'll put his life on the line for that in a heartbeat," Kakashi looked over to the two of us. "My guess is he just got tired of crying and decided to do something about it. Even though he's young and still learning, he knows what it means to be strong; like your father did. I think he knows better than any of us, what you're going through." I bowed my head at this. 'Admittedly, true. Maybe I should have paid more attention to the signs of one who suffers.'

Kakashi reached out, and pat Inari's head from over my arms.

"What Naruto told you earlier, as cruel as it sounded, he's probably told himself that a thousand times." Though his words never changed in the factual tone, he closed his eye in a smile. Inari looked up to Kakashi in thought, somberly.

"Hold on, what the heck is this?!" Tazuna yelled. I looked up from twirling my senbon in my fingers to see-

"...oh boy..." All of the workers on the bridge were each knocked out, unconscious on the ground.

"What happened?! Someone was here; someone got to them!" Tazuna went on, taking a frightful step back. Kakashi look ahead, peering past the man. 'Looks like Zabuza is finally up and ready... time to end our deal with Haku...'

As suspected, mist began engulfing us once again on the bridge.

'In a moment, everyone's gonna step back and protect Tazuna at all sides. I told them not to leave Naruto...' "Sasuke, Sakura, Tsubaki! Get ready!" And guess what all three of them did? Backed up to keep Tazuna protected from all sides. I stepped away from them.

'You're all bunched up together. If Zabuza decides to strike there, they're all gonna die. Idiots...' Sasuke and Sakura each grabbed their kunai. Kakashi, however, put a hand up for a hand-sign.

"Sensei, it's Zabuza, isn't it? This is his Hidden Mist Jutsu!"

"Sorry I kept you waiting, Kakashi," came the scratchy voice. "I see you've still got those brats with you... even the one that was killed!" I narrowed my eyes and equipped my senbon between each finger. "That one, the boy, is still trembling! Pitiful."

'I expected more from a Shinobi; he couldn't even read Sasuke's excitement correctly...'

Suddenly, clones surrounded the three ninja and Tazuna. Tsubaki- I mean I- had already sought out refuge in a tree away from them.

"I'm trembling with... excitement!" Sasuke declared, smirking. Zabuza gave a smirk of his own from behind his bandage mask.

"Go on, Sasuke," Kakashi allowed. In a quick flurry of blue, Sasuke sliced each of the water clones in half. Then, Haku stepped out of the mist with the true Zabuza.

"So, you could see that they were all clones, huh? The brat's improving... Looks like you've got a rival, Haku!" Zabuza teased.

"My rival is not that one... it's her," Haku said from behind his mask.

"Huh? Pinkie? She doesn't look like much," Zabuza rolled his eyes as Sakura cowered back slightly.

"No, I meant that one," Haku pointed at me before throwing his senbon out. Throwing my own, I blocked each of them from the air.

"Oho! Even better! The undead one!" I jumped down from my tree, seeing as hiding was futile with Haku there too.

We two senbon-wielders gave each other a nod with meaning; our short peace treaty ended so we wouldn't deviate from our missions.