Eclipse

Idiot Men Fighting Idiot Battles

We packed our temporary camp up as soon as Kakashi forced us up. I didn't try interacting with everyone else around me while we walked, I was still bitter. I probably would be until we were safely on our way back home. I just couldn't stop my mind from jumping to the worst case scenario, something that only made me jumpy and paranoid to all hell.

I'm in my own head for most of the journey that day, but I can tell we get pretty far. We should be in Wave sooner than the three day estimation. Naruto's being a menace to the fauna around us, tossing out kunai and threatening the plants with shuriken. It's a waste of weaponry. I would have scolded him by now if I had the fucking patience. I think if I started telling him off, it'd only lead to me shouting at him, and the kid just doesn't deserve that.

I don't think I've ever been as mad as I am now in either life. My hands are still shaking, and it has nothing to do with the near death experience. Walking further towards Wave feels like a death sentence. I want to beat Kakashi into a bloody pulp and make everyone see sense. We're asking for things to get worse, for some enemy we're not ready for to hit us while we're down. Even if we could face a threat physically, Gato is a political enemy.

I'd eat my own boots if he hadn't bothered to cover his ass legally. If we barge into his territory and start interfering with whatever plans he has, are we putting our village at risk? Wave is under Water Country's jurisdiction, even if it's a highly contested piece of land between Fire and Water. Meddling now could cause (further) tension between the two Daimyos and put the Hokage in hot water for doing such a thing without informing Fire Country's lord in the first place.

Wave is a civilian town. Shinobi have no claim over it. I tugged at the short strands of my hair absently, a furious scowl etched onto my face. If only I could update the Hokage about all of this somehow. This is ridiculous . It's not that I think Tazuna doesn't deserve help, because he does, but it shouldn't be given to him by an inexperienced genin team. This mission should be bumped up at least one rank, if only because of the political ramifications, and preferably handed off to Mist as its designated hidden village.

My scowl deepened, tugging at my skin harshly. Except that Mist is, presumably, in another civil war. They haven't been taking missions anywhere but their home turf and a lot of shinobi have been leaving its ranks. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if those shinobi brothers were formerly part of Mist. We're in so much deep shit.

The worst part of this is Kakashi's blatant refusal to my initial protests. If I pointed out everything I thought of now, would he listen to me? Or would he scoff and tell me I'm being ridiculous? Am I being ridiculous? I don't think I am. Man has gone to war for much less than a piece of land. Kakashi clearly had recognized the shinobi that Gato hired, but he didn't provide any information on them. He didn't even respond when I asked if we would be able to survive them.

My scowl lessened into a disapproving frown. I need to get my hands on a bingo book. They're restricted to chunin and up in Fire Country, which is fucking stupid to me, but I can get not wanting to encourage genin into becoming bounty hunters. Naruto nearly decapitates a rabbit. I hiss out his name, the tone sounding venomous in my ears.

I take a deep breath, failing to contain my look of utter contempt, and clench my jaw to prevent me from taking my anger out on the wrong person. Naruto had started apologizing nervously, rambling on and on.

"Just shut up," I snapped, pinching the bridge of my nose. It was all I could do to contain the absolute fury curling around my system.

Sasuke looked at me consideringly, seemingly having a realization a few moments later that made him pale. Kakashi simply looked amused, a stark contrast to Tazuna's aversion to my anger. Clearly he knew he was the cause of it. Naruto's jaw clicked shut and he hurried to put down the rabbit he'd traumatized, avoiding my judgemental gaze.