Tazuna's daughter, a willowy woman with a heart-shaped face named Tsunami, prepared breakfast with Sakura while Naruto and the other boys took their turns in the small washroom. Mayu had gone back to Kaine's home for the night; Kaine's head wound, while not overtly serious, was still affecting her, and they had agreed it would be better for at least one person to always be with her.
The breakfast, while predictably involving fish in almost every dish, was delicious, and it was at the breakfast table (two separate tables had to be pushed together to make enough room for all of them) that they met Tazuna's grandson Inari, who turned out to be a gloomy young boy in a dull green jumpsuit.
"Isn't he cute?" Tazuna said with a fond look down at the boy, who continued to mechanically spoon fish stew into his mouth. Sitting across the table, Naruto silently paralleled him.
"He said we're all going to die," said Menma sourly. Sakura nodded in indignant affirmation beside him.
"From what you guys were saying about Zabuza, it doesn't sound too far off," said Rai, as he picked at his plate (he hated fish). "How did you guys escape anyways?"
Menma pulled back in his chair with a proud look. "We didn't escape. I almost got him, but some hunter-nin finished him off instead."
"You almost got him? It was all sensei!" Sakura scoffed.
"And what held Zabuza in place for him?" Menma jabbed a finger at himself, leaving no room for question. "That's right, my Mind Transfer Jutsu."
"Oh is that what it was? I just thought he'd paused to scratch his butt."
"Nope, that was me. Butt scratch and all."
It was hard for Naruto to imagine anyone looking as proud as Menma did at that moment.
"Are they always like this?" Rai asked Sasuke, who grunted noncommittally into his stew.
Suddenly, there was a thumping sound as Inari forcibly put down his utensils. The scattered conversations around the table skidded to a stop, and sliding his chair back, Inari dropped to the floor.
Tazuna turned around in his chair. "Where are you going, Inari?"
"To look at the ocean from my room."
Tsunami wiped her hands on her apron. "What about the rest of your breakfast? You skipped dinner yesterday too."
"I'm full." Inari slid the door open and left. Menma and Sakura shared guilty glances while everyone else – except Sai, as usual – averted their gazes.
"I'm sorry," said Tazuna after a short silence. He took a heavy sip from his cup. "He's been like that since Kaiza died."
With the mood in the room having rapidly plummeted, the rest of the breakfast was quiet. To most everyone's relief, soon after breakfast had ended, Mayu and Kaine arrived. While Kaine and her estranged in-laws began to awkwardly exchange greetings, Naruto discretely pulled Mayu away from the bemused spectator crowd.
Sliding the door shut behind them, Naruto turned around to see Mayu looking a bit pale. She was playing with her hair again, as she always did when she was nervous. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she said, though her eyes darted to the closed door.
"You don't look well. Did something happen?" Naruto critically looked her up and down, but besides the pallor, she seemed fine.
"No, I'm fine," Mayu insisted. As if to prove her point, she let go of her hair and crossed her arms across her chest. "What'd you want to talk about?"
"Mayu – we're going to head back to Konoha today," said Naruto, thinking it'd be best to get straight to the point. Mayu's face fell, but ignoring this, he forged forward. "Sakura's team already dealt with the missing-nin that attacked, and now that Kaine is here with Tazuna and the others, Team Shirakumo can protect her too. There's no reason for us to be here."
"Kaine-san only agreed to come here because you guys were here," Mayu said quietly. "And they can't always be watching over everyone, they've got their hands full with Tazuna-san's family – "
"What do you plan to do, then? Protect Kaine for the rest of her life?" Naruto interrupted her. Taking a step closer to her, his voice dropped in volume. "Or are you going to kill Gatō?"
To her credit, even as her entire face reddened, Mayu did not take a step back, choosing instead to look firmly back at him. "What's the point of escorting someone to their village, only for them to be killed as soon as we leave them? I don't want to just follow the mission details to a T, collect the money, and go back home. I want to do it properly."
"And I want to do my duty as team leader properly," said Naruto, letting some of the frustration he felt seep into his voice. "You do realize you're putting us all in danger here?"
"We're - we're always in danger," Mayu said hesitantly.
"You're right. But you're asking to risk the lives of our teammates just so you can feel better about yourself," said Naruto harshly, and as soon as the words had left his mouth, he regretted them. Mayu flinched backwards and her gaze dropped to the floor. As the seconds silently ticked by, he rapidly searched through his experiences for words to alleviate the situation – and found nothing. Finally, he added lamely, "It's not like they don't have money. If Kaine-san really wanted better bodyguards, she could have paid for a higher-level mission."
When Mayu didn't respond, Naruto sighed.
That could have gone better, he thought to himself. Not wanting to look at Mayu's bowed head, he looked around the room instead, and almost immediately, his gaze landed on the sliding door. His eyes narrowed. He took a silent step forward – and in one quick motion, slid it open.
A streak of black flashed out of sight, leaving behind only one lone blonde figure standing awkwardly by the door.
"Ehe...he..." Menma laughed uncomfortably, his eyes rapidly flicking from Mayu's downcast figure to Naruto's blank face. "I was just - uh...looking for the bathroom. You wouldn't happen to know where it is?"
Deciding that confrontation wouldn't be worth the time, Naruto pointed a finger in the opposite direction. As he watched the boy scamper away, Naruto considered the streak of black he'd seen: obviously, someone else had been with Menma, and he was willing to bet his tantō that it'd been Rai. But why hadn't he come in and said something?
Several seconds passed as Naruto stood still in silent contemplation, and soon, from the other end of the hallway, a pink head popped out.
"Naruto?" Sakura sounded suspicious. "What're you doing? Everyone's waiting."
"Sorry," he said. Looking back at Mayu, he gestured toward her. "Come on."
Mayu mutely bobbed her head and followed him back to the room where everyone else (except Menma) was gathered. Some of the ice seemed to have been broken, though Kaine had made a point of sitting on the opposite side of the room from Tazuna.
Naruto caught Rai's gaze, but the other boy only flashed him a grin before returning to his apparently all-consuming task of flattening out the creases of his pants.
"How are you feeling, Kaine-san?" Sakura asked, as everyone settled into their cushions. "You look better than you did yesterday, but..."
Kaine slightly bowed her head. "It was a slight concussion. I just needed some bed rest. I'm fine now, thank you."
"Quite the luck she's got there," said Sai, a small smile playing at his lips. "Although judging by how they attacked, I don't think the assailants were trying to kill her."
"No...they were only warning me," Kaine said in an odd voice. Her eyes hardened as she looked around at the room's occupants, before coming to a rest on Naruto. "Now, getting to the matter of business today – Naruto, have you reached a decision as to your team's next action?"
Naruto paused, quickly looking at each of his teammates in turn. Sitting nearby, Sai looked neutrally back; farther away, Rai, with an unusually serious look on his face, looked down at the ground; and Mayu, on the opposite end of the room, looked straight at him with a creased brow.
"Before that, I'd like to hear what Team Shirakumo intends on doing," he said. With that, everyone looked at the jōnin, who was currently resting his splinted leg across two cushions.
As Shirakumo opened his mouth to speak, a conflicted expression quickly flitted across his face. "Three days ago, I sent a missive to the Hokage explaining the current situation, and requesting further orders. While I await his reply, we are on standby." Noticing Tazuna's downcast expression, he hastened to add, "Personally, I feel that it is our duty as ninja to deal with any immediate dangers that risk the safety of our client...however, the ultimate decision is in the hands of our village. That is the best I can offer you."
"That's already more than enough," Tazuna grunted.
"...what I don't understand is why you need our help," Sasuke suddenly spoke up, surprising Naruto. The Uchiha boy, while not exactly taciturn, had not struck him as the type to take initiative unless the situation absolutely called for it.
Kaine turned coolly towards him. "What do you mean?"
"You clearly have at least some money, as you've been funding the bridge's construction. Why rely on us, instead of properly hiring ninja to deal with the matters here? Or are your pockets not deep enough?"
Kaine opened her mouth, and then closed it. Her hesitation was painfully obvious. However –
"In gratitude for saving my life, I do owe you all some answers," she said slowly. "And even if you cannot help us, I have confidence...or hope, that you will not turn on us." Kaine closed her eyes.
"The Wave country's daimyō is in Gatō's hands. We cannot raise any form of direct rebellion against Gatō, and hiring any ninja above chūnin level would be received as such."
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