Chapter 16

Kakashi wanted to die. He was sure of that now. He would have loved nothing more than to drown in the ice cold water they were floating in. All that Kakashi could think of was how he was just like his father.

I mentored a traitor to the Leaf Village…He thought. I have done just as my father did…sacrificed our people for a self-righteous and twisted sense of nobility…Naruto you coward.

Naruto was the one doing all the paddling back to Dotou Island. Kakashi was still in pain from using the Sharingan and his chakra was regenerating back at a snail’s pace. Even if by now he was somewhat stronger than when he had tried confronting Tazuna but emotional pain could affect chakra regeneration. In Kakashi’s distress his chakra grew back maybe an inch every mile.

The two of them did not utter a word as Naruto paddled back to where they sailed from. Neither of them had the courage to utter a word. Naruto’s own chakra was a deep blue liquid, whatever mixed feelings he had right now inducing sadness. Kakashi remembered with great confusion the yang chakra he emitted for a moment.

Hmm…He thought. The child of light…I thought that was just a myth. A fairy tale meant to comfort little children. Could…could there…there actually be some merit to that…?

No. He reasoned. No. There is no place for fairy tales or delusions of grandeur in this world. One must cast those aside or be eaten by the wolves of this evil Earth. And I shall not allow Konoha to be devoured by wolves…at least not again.

It was not until Naruto stopped at Dotou Island that Kakashi felt he had any strength left. He paddled up to the dock to which a rope ladder was thrown down for them. They looked up to see Gato’s other two sword wielding bodyguards, Zouri and Waraji, looking down at them as the ladder landed in front of them.

While Naruto climbed it rather easily, Kakashi was straining with every move of his arms and legs not to fall. Not only was he in physical pain but the mental strain of what to say to Gato was killing him. It was even more terrifying than facing Zabuza in its own way.

There’s no point in lying. Kakashi said. That will only make it worse. Is there any way I could make it seem as though Tazuna had another ninja with him? No…Gato would pretty easily figure out that was a lie. And to lie to their client never brings anything good for a shinobi. Maybe if I play up my tiredness…he will reward us. We did kill Zabuza after all…maybe I can use that as leverage to get half price.

Once they reached the top of the deck, Waraji, the bigger of the two bodyguards, gestured down the street.

“Master Gato is expecting you,” he said.

Kakashi nodded respectfully before he followed the two bodyguards. Naruto walked behind with his face downcast and not daring to look anyone in the eye. It was clear that he was ashamed of himself to some extent. Part of Kakashi felt pity for Naruto as a result of his understanding of his own failing but that was replaced by immense anger.

You should have known better, Naruto Uzumaki. Is all he could think. You should have learned by now that life and war is hard. Death is required for the continuation of life. What a naive child you are…what a waste it was for you to have been so skilled in ninjutsu only to waste that hard work on a soft and weak heart.

Kakashi looked at the filthy streets and shabby houses around him along with the gaunt faced and empty eyed people. Some could be seen injecting or ingesting green powder as they lay on the street, collapsing in ecstasy from the addicting substance.

But Kakashi felt no remorse. It was a pitiful sight for sure but his own country would be the same if they did not have continuous funds. Money was the lifeblood of the world and the less people had it, the more desperate they were. If Kakashi didn’t do dirty work for people like Gato, the Hidden Leaf Village would degrade into the same state.

Gato merely figured that out. He thought. He’s just one of the many symptoms of this cruel and unjust world.

The two bodyguards led them to one of the few places in the city that wasn’t downright abysmal looking. Kakashi supposed it was Gato’s residence but he couldn’t imagine he had a permanent one here. It must have been a nice inn.

He was right when he walked inside it. The inn was fairly clean and the lobby was almost sparkly. The receptionist there even had a uniform.

Must be the one place Gato makes sure of in this drug town isn’t as gross as manure. Kakashi thought.

They were led to Gato’s room for Kakashi to see the rest of his team residing inside with the shipping magnate. Sasuke lay on one of the white linen beds with the area of his body from the neck down covered by a blanket and a wet towel over his eyes. He moaned a little despite Kakashi recognizing he had healed some.

Hinata sat in a corner sobbing. An open casket was prepared with Sakura’s body inside. Haku lay in a corner, bound by the fetters Kakashi put around her. If he had to guess, Waraji or Zouri had dragged her in. Gato sat in a corner on a black wood chair before looking up at Kakashi and smiling.

“So,” he said. “I take it Tazuna is dead.”

Kakashi winced in pain, a grunt of regret coming from Naruto. He hated his student even more that he had to be the one to explain to Gato what happened. Naruto got to play the hero of his own story while Kakashi took the brunt of the responsibility.

“Well…” Kakashi said. “No.”

Gato glared. Kakashi winced in pain as he could feel Gato’s words before he even uttered them. It was at that moment he wished to have never promoted Naruto to the rank of tokubetsu jonin. Kakashi was so secretly enamored with the boy’s skill that he overlooked that Naruto had never been able to kill a restrained prisoner.

The young kid had accomplished so much with so little chakra it was amazing to see his hard work bear fruit. He thought it would be a waste of a potentially powerful shinobi to let him go. He figured that Naruto would be willing to kill on the battlefield when his life was at risk as other genin had done. Unfortunately, Naruto proved to be more selfless than that.

“What do you mean?” he asked. “Do you mean…? He lives?”

“He escaped,” Kakashi said.

Gato’s rage broke at that moment. Kakashi could see it etched in his face. There was no denying Gato usually got what he wanted. In one way or another, Gato’s desires were met exactly when he wanted them to be. To outright say that his request was denied was akin to slapping him in the face.

“How, Copy Ninja?” Gato demanded. “How?!”

Referring to him by his legendary title was a way for Gato to rub salt in the open wound. It was a way of saying that despite his renowned abilities, Kakashi had failed such a simple task of killing an unarmed civilian. He was lower than dirt that he did not accomplish such a task with his immense prowess and experience.

Kakashi was trying to think of an excuse as best he could. He was trying to do so quickly, while maintaining a stoic expression. As he tried to suppress his emotions so Gato would not know he was fudging the truth, what little chakra Kakashi had turned to lightning nature.

It’d be highly unlikely that Tazuna had any skilled ninja left protecting him. When he fled, the Hidden Mist ninja were clearly trying to kill Gato and the Konoha ninja. Their intent was to eliminate the threat to their land more so than keeping watch over Tazuna at that point. It was what Kakashi would do. And Gato knew it.

Never lie to your clients. Kakashi had been told.

“My subordinate let him escape,” he admitted.

Gato turned to glare at Naruto. The younger ninja was startled by the hateful gaze of the crime lord. He looked shaken by the expression of anger and distrust that bored through Naruto.

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Kakashi felt a bit of catharsis as his subordinate felt the brunt of the crime lord’s anger. Kakashi would have definitely killed Tazuna had he been able to only for the responsibility to be shared by Naruto who ultimately could not. Kakashi was glad as Gato looked ready to start striking Naruto with his cane, raising it in fury.

This is what you get for not obeying the mission’s request. He thought.

“Why you little-!” Gato said. “How-How dare you-!”

He tried to breathe in deeply to calm himself only to become more incensed.

“So?” he seethed. “Was this your little plan, Copy Ninja? Not kill Tazuna as a conspiracy to waste my time?”

“What?” Kakashi asked sharply.

“Trying to undermine my shipping company?” Gato asked, looking back at him. “You feel that I’m too powerful and so your two villages schemed to help take me down?”

“N-No!” Kakashi said, rather startled and breaking his stoicism. “Of course not! W-W-We would never-!”

“Then tell me why this little brat let Tazuna escape!” Gato shouted as he pointed his cane at Naruto. “Tell me why I should think anything less when your trusted jonin or whatever couldn’t even kill a drunkard bridemaker! Am I crazy?! Because I must be crazy to hear that your ankle biter let the very man I wanted dead live!”

To Kakashi’s surprise, Naruto defiantly raised his face to Gato who stared at him in anger.

“Tazuna,” he said. “Was merely trying to do the best for his people.”

Nooooo. Kakashi thought.

“Noooo,” Gato thought. “You little rat.”

“He risked his life to raise the Land of Water out of the poverty you put it in,” Naruto said. “And because of that…because of that I couldn’t assassinate him.”

Gato looked like he was ready to explode. Kakashi had never been in a room with this kind of volatile anger. He had been around dozens of men with murderous rage before but this was new. Naruto’s words alone could cause an easily frustrated person like Gato to cause a world-shattering event.

The sheer power that Gato’s name brought, not to mention his money, meant he could launch a full-scaled assault on Konoha out of revenge. Of course, like any good businessman, he preferred more subtle methods of control. Gato fancied himself a puppet-master and expert company leader and it would hurt his pride to be so brazen. It was also more cost effective.

However, it was definitely within his character for the shipping magnate to wreak havoc on an entire country out of revenge. This was something Naruto risked by being so blunt. He had no tact and just said whatever came to his mind. Kakashi wouldn’t be surprised if Gato sanctioned the Hidden Leaf by not requesting missions from them anymore, meaning between 10-20’s percent of the village’s income would no longer be there.

It was a somewhat well-kept secret that the Hidden Leaf had grown so powerful due to taking jobs from the most unethical of sources. At least, it was well kept from the general populace. It was more open and well-known amongst the shinobi of the other Hidden Villages.

“Why?!” Gato shouted. “Why would you let him go?!”

Naruto’s face became more stoic, his water chakra evaporating to wind as his idealism and ambition took over.

“I can’t let myself be bullied and pressured into throwing away innocent lives,” he said. “And if that means I’ll never be a true ninja…then that is my nindo…my ninja way.”

Naruto looked almost as if he was about to cry, trying his hardest not to get more emotional than he was. All Kakashi could do was look at Naruto with pity. He both hated and feared the young man’s weakness. He was too old to be dragged down by such naive childishness and foolhardy resolve. It was at that moment Kakashi hated him for his lack of resolve.

“Well…” Gato said. “This venture has failed.”

“What do you mean?” Kakashi asked.

“The bridge was in its final stages of completion!” Gato said. “Not only on Dotou Island but several others that make up the Land of Water! Tazuna being alive for just a few more weeks means they’ll be connected…and my control of this place becomes weaker and weaker.”

He glared at Kakashi, his sneer growing colder and colder.

“You have failed me, Copy Ninja,” he said. “Expect no more assignments from my end. At least…at least until further notice. You will have to regain my trust.”

Kakashi became scared at that moment. The angrier Gato became the more vengeful he would be against the Hidden Leaf. And that meant the longer he would withhold extremely well-paying missions that gave the Hidden Leaf so much power. But something else dawned on him that made him even more sure of Gato’s wrath.

The Hidden Mist might have been desperate to fight off Gato…He thought. But Gato must have also been desperate to fight off Zabuza and the others! A hundred million dollar reward is huge, even for a mission from his shipping company. It all makes sense now between fighting the Yuki clan and Zabuza…he was desperate for Tazuna to die.

“Well…” Kakashi said. “Please…maybe we failed in this venture but…but that doesn’t mean you can’t hire us again-”

“Again?!” Gato shouted. “Again?! Why, so you can fail again? You have lost my trust!”

“Please,” Kakashi said. “Give us another chance…”

“No,” Gato said. “I will now have to resort to other means. Cheaper means. No…I must abandon it. Do you know how much this venture of trying to kill Tazuna has cost me? I don’t think you could grasp the amount, Copy Ninja. And I’ve been throwing the lives away of ninja around the world who have tried killing both him and Zabuza…and now even the Leaf has failed me…”

“We can do more…” Kakashi said. “I told you that-”

“Would you like to face the Mizukage of the Hidden Mist?” Gato asked. “Is that what you would like to do?”

“The Mizukage?” Kakashi asked. “Wh-What-?”

“Because she has now been more involved in the operations of attacking my shipping company,” Gato said. “She has taken a more active approach in dismantling my shipping company and personally launching terrorist attacks against me. I take it you would want to avoid that kind of conflict or…would you be willing to still fight on my behalf?”

Kakashi became nervous at the thought. He was aware of the systematic addiction Gato had tried to instill into the Land of Water. He even remembered that some of the Leaf ninja had gone on missions assisting Gato in such. But for the Mizukage to be directly involved was downright dangerous.

It was things like this that led to war between the shinobi villages where their highest ranked members were fighting on the battlefield. It was a common and accepted thing for ninja to die for the missions that were a necessity to the village's economy. But Hokage fighting was another issue entirely.

The various powers that be would pit the villages against each other as their own personal armies could very well go too far and give the Hokage good reason to disrupt their business. The world was run by different corporations using the shinobi villages for subterfuge and as private militaries. When the Hokage got involved between nations or corporations going against each other, that could lead to war between different shinobi villages. And that would not be good.

“I…” Kakashi said. “I don’t think we’re interested. We…we would not want to risk…killing another Kage. As well as I know Hiruzen…he would not allow such.”

“Well then I won’t be needing your assistance for a while,” Gato said. “Because that’s what I would need. And you have only made things worse by killing Zabuza. At first she didn’t want to get very involved as it would lead to all out war but…now with the Devil Hidden in the Mist dead…she has no choice. Especially with Tazuna so close to completing several of the bridges.”

We really have failed. Kakashi thought. This was a critical juncture in our relationship with Gato and we have lost his support.

“With her number one soldier dead she will be forced to take a more active role in the effort against me…,” Gato said. “All the money I’ve invested in this place…potentially down the drain. Tazuna is alive and as punishment…you will receive no more assignments from me.”

“Please…” Kakashi said. “Killing Tazuna does not mean we have to get the Mizukage involved. Does it?”

“At this point it does!” Gato said. “It’s why your reward for this mission was so high! If you had killed Tazuna here and now the conflict would be over and my monopoly of this land would have been cemented! But now…now that he has been allowed to live longer…finding him and attempting to kill him again may very well require all out war. And that is because the Mizukage is probably now personally guarding him with Zabuza dead.”

“This can be worked out,” Kakashi said, sweating nervously. “If you would tolerate us a little bit longer…I will personally see that-”

“Failure will not be tolerated!” Gato said. “And I will not give up on this just yet. I will go to the Village Hidden in the Sand…they have shown a willingness to work with me. Even if it means killing the Mizukage herself…something which I also doubt your Kage would allow. Expect the Hidden Sand to take the assignments your village would have received.”

Kakashi now felt more hopeless than ever. They had not just failed their mission. They had made Gato distrust them to such an extent he would withdraw their assignments from Konoha. This may have been Kakashi’s greatest failure in recent memory.

My failure of promoting Naruto and preventing him from letting Tazuna live…He thought. It’s worse than my father’s.

Gato then turned to Sasuke lying in the bed as he recovered before looking at Waraji and Zouri who stood behind Naruto and Kakashi.

“I paid for this boy’s recovery because I was sure Tazuna would be dead by the time you two arrived,” Gato seethed. “Now that you two have wasted my time…get him out of here.”

He then looked at Sakura's casket, then Hinata and Haku and spat in the latter’s direction.

“And take the rest with you.”