Naruto Fanfic - Prisoner of Nightmare

Chapter Forty-One[XLI]: Red Waves - II

Uzukaze Naruto opened the window from Sasuke and Sakura, allowing them to enter before slinking inside himself and shutting it behind himself. The three of them had discussed what to bring and decided to pack extra-everything; kunai, shuriken, shinobi wire, or seals in Naruto's case. They also brought lots of water, soldier pills as a last resort, and some non-perishable food that helped increase one's recovery rate courtesy of Akimichi.

"Good, you made it on time," Kakashi said. He gestured toward Tazuna, who seemed a bit anxious and smelled strongly of sake, nearly making Naruto grimace. Kami-sama, he really hated the smell of alcohol. Sure, he could tolerate it much better as Kenko, but as Naruto. . . it was a very different experience. It brought back unwanted memories. "This is Sako Tazuna, he is the man we will be escorting to Nami no Kuni."

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto bowed in greeting. "Kon'nichiwa, Sako-san," the three of them said in sync.

Tazuna raised a brow, frowning. "You sure these little brats will be able to protect me?"

Kakashi eye-smiled. "I couldn't even promise you that if you had a whole squadron of ANBU protecting you, Sako-san." Tazuna seemed to falter a little. "But rest assured, we will try our very best to do so, I have faith in my team."

Tazuna cleared his throat awkwardly, shifting his weight. "Well, I expect you to protect me with your lives." He took a swig from the flask he had. "I am a great bridge builder after all!"

Kakashi nodded, turning his attention to Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. "You heard Sako-san, even if this is a low-risk mission, protect him even at the cost of your own lives. I will be doing the same."

"Hai, sensei!" They chorused. It was mission etiquette to protect the client even at the threat of your life ending. That is, of course, only if doing so would make it so the client was safe. No sense in giving up your life if the client would die right afterwards, that's just stupid.

Pleased with their response, Kakashi moved his hand over his wrist and unsealed three porcelain masks that Naruto recognized to be the masks he used with temporary ANBU except with some subtle designs. He gave Sasuke a navy blue mask that had circular eye-holes with a red circle in the centre of the forehead, Sakura a forest green mask that had almond eye-holes with the outline of pink sakura petals around them, and Naruto a black mask that had narrow eye-holes with an orange triangle on the nose.

At their slightly confused looks, Kakashi explained, "Since you three are young and inexperienced, Hokage-sama and I thought it would be best if your identities remained undisclosed in case there are information brokers around. You are to use your codenames from this point on, don't let me catch you using your real names or there will be consequences."

They nodded, putting on their respective masks. Naruto understood well the underlying meaning in Kakashi's words, thankful that this was the approach they were taking. Sasuke was the last Uchiha and therefore an important bargaining chip if captured by the likes of Iwa or Kumo, perhaps they would even try to steal his Sharingan. Naruto, on the other hand, was the jinchūriki of Kurama, should his identity get revealed, well. . . enough said.

"Good, now it's about time we depart. Sako-san, do you have everything?" Kakashi asked pleasantly.

Tazuna nodded warily, looking slightly put-off by the threat even if no one else was. "Yes, I do."

"Then, let's go."

•°•

Uzukaze Naruto remained vigilant as they walked, the safety of their client at the forefront of his mind. They had been travelling for around two days now and should be arriving at the shore of the ocean soon where one of Tazuna's acquaintances would take them directly to Nami no Kuni. Yes, they could walk on water to get there, but the weather couldn't be guaranteed and Sasuke and Sakura weren't at the level that they could walk on truly stormy water yet.