"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."
...
At her words, Tazuna's face went taut with surprise.
"What do you mean 'in Gatō's hands'? Is he being kept physically captive?" Naruto asked, intrigued against his will.
"From what we know of our last reports, the daimyō and his immediate family are all being kept in house arrest inside their main residence," Kaine confirmed.
"And you can't just assassinate Gatō?" Rai piped up, looking confused.
"Oh we've tried," said Kaine bitterly. "But the assassination attempt failed, and Gatō killed Lady Awa - the daimyō's wife - in retaliation. The daimyō then made a public renunciation, labeling the actions of any who dared to defy Gatō as mutiny."
"Who is this 'we' you're talking about?" Sasuke pressed, and then looked meaningfully at Tazuna, who seemed to now be making a passable imitation of a guppy. "It can't be the bridge builders."
"Just a group of the last couple of stragglers with a backbone left in this country," said Kaine with a venomous look.
Rai scratched his chin. "But you haven't tried again since your first failure? Don't you think you gave up too soon?"
Kaine shook her head. "You don't understand. Why do you think I was in Konoha? Why do you think I've been traveling around the nations?"
"...to sell things?"
"I've been arranging meetings with the Kage of various hidden villages with the aim of making an alliance between theirs and Wave country. But almost every nation has turned me down...including Fire country."
"Really?" Sakura looked perplexed. "But wouldn't an alliance benefit us? It'd bring more trade into our country."
"Not necessarily..." said Shirakumo gravely, his arms crossed across his chest. Until now, he had remained silent with a neutral expression fixed on his face, but it seemed he had reached some sort of decision. "As it stands now, Gatō's shipping ventures benefit all of the neighboring countries. There are no tariffs or regulations in place along the coastline, making it an excellent waypoint for maritime trade with farther and wealthier nations such as Water and Tea country...and Gatō is making this possible by taking the money directly out of the citizens' taxes."
"Yes, Gatō knows what he's doing." Kaine nodded. "He's a parasite, and so long as his actions don't harm the other nations, nobody will lift a finger – because ultimately, Wave country was never powerful or unified to begin with. If Gatō were removed from power, there would be an economic vacuum...the few markets that exist would fall into chaos, and none of the other nations want to risk that. The only nation that would pay attention to my proposals was Lightning country, and their condition was that they be granted complete control over Wave country's economy."
"And what did you say in response?" Naruto asked.
Kaine gave him a thin smile. "That I did not have the authority to make such a decision."
Despite himself, Naruto felt respect for the sharp-tongued woman burgeon inside him. She was clearly doing everything within her power – and beyond – for the sake of a country that she hadn't even been born to. For a moment, he wondered if it was revenge for her brother that pushed her, but immediately dismissed it. If retribution had been her sole aim, Kaine would have arranged for Gatō's assassination, damn all the consequences. Instead, she was clearly thinking for the benefit of the nation rather than her own gratification, even at the risk of her own life.
However, no matter how pretty her goals were, in the end, they weren't his business – nor was he interested in making them his.
Tsunami was refilling everyone's teacups, and as he politely declined his cup, Naruto looked directly at Mayu. Surely she would understand? They were ninjas. They weren't heroes. At his pointed stare, Mayu turned pink, and she opened her mouth – when with a loud bang, the door slid open to reveal a blonde figure.
"Menma! Where've you been?" Sakura asked in a scolding tone as she got to her feet.
Ignoring her, Menma brandished a sealed scroll in his hand. "I've got it - the Hokage's response to Shirakumo-sensei's missive. A messenger jōnin found me at the docks."
Immediately, Shirakumo raised his hand, and Menma handed it to him. With bated breaths, everyone watched as he unfurled the scroll. For several minutes, it was quiet; Naruto closely observed Shirakumo's face as his eyes rapidly moved across the scroll paper, but as expected of the jōnin, his expression gave nothing away.
When Shirakumo finally spoke, however, the note of disbelief in his voice was clear. "My team and any other Leaf teams in the vicinity have been ordered by the Hokage to remain in Wave country and to do whatever is necessary to guarantee the safety of our clients," he said slowly, and Naruto felt his eyes widen. The uneasy buzzing tension was back, sending alarms ringing in his head. Looking up from the scroll, Shirakumo locked gazes with him. "The Hokage's seal is on it."
"So?" Kaine said softly. "What will your team be doing, Naruto?"
...
"Look, I've really gotta make my next delivery," said the tokubetsu jōnin, scowling back at Kakashi.
While messenger birds were commonly used within the village walls and on occasion by mobilized teams to send messages back to the village, tokubetsu jōnin specializing as messengers were used to deliver important and direct missives from the Hokage to teams stationed in faraway regions. Kakashi had spotted the messenger slipping away from the house that Naruto and the others were currently in, and feeling in his gut that something was off, immediately pounced on him in the neighboring forest.
"What was that message you delivered?" Kakashi pressed, shoving the jōnin more roughly against the tree.
"I told you, I don't know. I'm just the messenger!" the jōnin protested, putting his hands up. Kakashi noticed that he was young, for a messenger jōnin. He didn't recall seeing him around the village either, but that was becoming more and more common these days, as he spent so much time outside the village walls on extended missions. "It was from the Hokage!"
"That's funny," said Kakashi, with a look that suggested he found it anything but. "I just exchanged messages with him several days ago. You'd think he'd tell me about such a thing."
The jōnin shrugged. "Kages' minds work differently from ours. Mere ninja like us can't hope to understand them," he said sagely. "And anyways, the Hokage's seal was on it."
Kakashi paused. "Did you receive it directly from the Hokage himself?"
"No, I picked it up in Water country at the waypoint," said the jōnin, still struggling to free himself. "Look, I'm behind in my deliveries as it is and I kinda wanna get back home by the end of this week..."
Reaching a decision, Kakashi let him go, and the jōnin straightened. Muttering darkly to himself, the jōnin stretched back his shoulders before leaping nimbly away and disappearing from sight.
He didn't like this – why would the Hokage send a separate message to Naruto and the others, while neglecting to tell him? And why send it all the way to Water country first, instead of sending a direct messenger? Sure, there were many more messengers going between Water and Fire countries, but still – either the Hokage was up to something, or...
It was extremely unlikely, but even the Hokage's seal could be faked by a powerful fūinjutsu master.
Now, Kakashi found himself with a dilemma. He had to know what that message had said – but at the same time, he couldn't get any closer to the house, or he would be detected. And if it turned out to really be from the Hokage, then he'd have effectively failed his own mission of observing Naruto from afar for nothing.
Uncomfortably, Kakashi folded his arms across his chest. He'd give it a day to see what happened. Knowing Naruto, he and the rest of the team would be leaving Wave country soon and heading back to Konoha. In fact, he was surprised they'd stayed as long as they had. Wanting to avoid running into them on their way back, Kakashi had stayed along the borders of the country until nightfall – and then found, to his surprise, that they had decided to spend the night.
However, Naruto was the practical type, and Kakashi fully expected the boy to try and go back to Konoha as soon as possible. But of course now, the Hokage's missive changed things, and Kakashi felt himself growing worried.
He wondered if it was just his nerves as team leader, and being unable to actually do anything. Regardless, if Naruto and the others didn't start going back home soon, or if they started acting strangely on the way back – if things came to it, he'd make a new decision then. Kakashi supposed that if he found himself cornered, he could find a way to get Shirakumo alone and have a talk with the other jōnin.
But for now, as promised, he would keep watching.
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