Eclipse

Nursing Your Idiot Sensei Back to Health

Kakashi's fever had yet to break, but it at least wasn't getting any worse. Tazuna was telling us a bit more about Wave, all of which was horribly depressing.

"Thanks to Gato, the town is dying. He's taxing everyone for whatever they manage to grow, not that the soil was much good to begin with. Our people are starving. This bridge is our last hope."

I hummed, furrowing my brows. "What about fishing?"

"What about it?"

"Well, you live by an ocean," I said slowly, looking him in the eyes. "Is Gato preventing you from having a fish market?"

He sighed heavily. "The water is too disturbed for fish to come anywhere near our usual fishing posts. There's only so far we can reach, and more often than not, Gato's men will catch you in the act and beat you to submission."

"Huh. Okay, so where do the fish usually congregate?" I asked, leaning against my fist.

"Usually about... forty to fifty feet into the ocean? Something like that."

I glanced at the boys, wondering if they were following my train of thought. I turned to Naruto, the selfless bastard, and quirked a brow up at him.

"Think you can handle water-walking in that far?"

He grinned at me, sharp teeth poking out of his smile. "Duh! I'm gonna catch so many fish."

My eyes slid to Sasuke. "You can handle making sure he doesn't drown himself?"

Naruto squawked in protest. "Hey, I don't need a babysitter!"

Sasuke crossed his arms and ignored Naruto. "Of course I can."

I nodded. "Good. If either of you need anything, send a clone."

"Should I leave a clone with you, too?" Naruto asked, eyes wide with concern.

I huffed and gave him a small smile. "Good thinking, kid. Two sets of hands are always better than one."

Naruto beamed, a proud look on his face. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Make sure you're back by noon," I called idly.

The boys nodded (Naruto sarcastically had called out 'aye aye, captain) before grabbing their things to leave. Naruto stationed a clone outside the house, which then turned to two clones as the first clone whined about getting bored. I turned to Tazuna once Sasuke shut the door behind them.

"So, exactly how politically covered is Gato?"

Tazuna grimaced. "Nothing is confirmed, but we suspect he has the Water Daimyo's silent backing."

My eyes widened a little. "And that's why you came to Konoha. Gato is backed by the state, which would leave your town as awful, if not worse, than it is now."

He nodded, rubbing a calloused hand over his weary face.

"Before Kakashi passed out, he said that the shinobi that appeared was a Mist hunter nin. Do they usually trek this far into your territory?"

"No, but they've been getting bolder. Usually they don't bother bein' discreet about the whole murder thing. Sometimes they don't even dispose of the body; just take the head and move on."

His face looked sour. I guess mine would too, if I had to deal with what he was dealing with.

"That one was awfully strange. Small and different. Their uniform is outdated. The Mizukage's been marking his own with magenta, that one still had his mask from the last Kage."

I frowned, my brows furrowing.

"Maybe a rouge bounty hunter?"

Tazuna's grimace worsened. "Hope not. Most shinobi avoid this place, attracting more killers is the last thing we need."