Naruto, the 4th member of Team 7

The Land of the Waves

After Naruto had his cool moment, Kakashi sensei tended to his wound, reminding him that major blood loss could lead to death.

The rest of us were standing by watching.

Sakura seemed to remember that Sasuke and I had left the group previously, "Akiko, are you feeling better now?" she asked me softly with a worried look.

I smiled at her for real this time, "Mm, I am now. Thanks for asking, Sakura." She smiled in relief after hearing it.

After a while, we continued our journey. We reached a small port where a man with a similar attire to Tazuna san was waiting for us in a boat.

We got into the boat and settled down before the man started rowing.

It wasn't too long after that when we got surrounded by a thick mist, making it hard for us to see what's in front.

"This is a really thick mist, I can't even see ahead." Sakura said worriedly as she looked around.

The man must be really familiar if he's sure of which direction to go.

He continued rowing before finally speaking, "The bridge should be visible soon. When we reach the bridge, we'll be in the Land of the Waves."

Upon hearing that, I squinted my eyes to see if I could see the bridge first . The moment I saw it I was in a loss for words.

The bridge was so big. Even though it isn't complete, you could already tell it was going to be really big and long. There were lots of scaffolds and cranes on the bridge signifying that construction work is in progress.

"Wowww!! It's huge!" Naruto exclaimed. Told you it was big.

"H-hey! Please keep it down!" the man said frantically. "I took this boat out under the cover of the mist and I'm rowing by hand instead of using the engine. If they find us, we'll be in deep trouble."

Naruto immediately placed a hand over his mouth while the rest of us shared a look.

"Tazuna-san, I want to ask you something before we reach the pier." Kakashi sensei spoke up which made us all turn our attention to him.

Tazuna was quiet as Kakashi-sensei continued.

"I want to know the identity of your attackers and the reason why they're after you. If you don't tell us, our mission may end once you reach land."

Ehh, what did I miss? I was confused so I turned towards Sakura to ask her. But she must've read my mind because she filled me in on what happened quietly.

"Basically, Kakashi-sensei thinks the ninjas from before were after Tazuna-san and that this is higher than a C rank mission."

Did not expect that. Sasuke was right about him looking guilty.

We all looked at Tazuna quietly, who seemed to be deep in his thoughts, probably thinking if he should tell us the truth or not.

Finally he looked up at us "It appears I have no choice but to tell you. Frankly, I'd like you to listen."

"Just as you said, this may be beyond the scope of your mission. Actually, I am being targeted by a terrifying man."

"A terrifying man? Who?" Kakashi sensei asked the question that was in everyone's mind.

"You guys have probably heard of his name at least once. A shipping magnate by the name of Gatou."

"Eh?? Gatou? Are you referring to Gatou of the Gatou company?" I blurted out. That guy's rich, why would he target an old man like Tazuna?