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"You're here."
Kiba and Akamaru emerged from the thick mist like ghosts. Akamaru immediately nuzzled Naruto's leg, whining with a mix of relief and affection. They hadn't bothered with stealth; Kiba's nose had caught the familiar scent of the Konoha "Circle" long before they reached the perimeter.
"What's the situation?" Kakashi asked, his voice sharp and professional as he noted the fatigue in Kiba's eyes.
"Teacher Kurenai's been hurt," Kiba said, his expression darkening. "Luckily, Hinata's picked up some Medical Ninjutsu over the years and gave first aid. But Kurenai says she's out for at least three days."
Kiba delivered a quick briefing: they had been ambushed by the Demon Brothers, whom Akamaru sniffed out instantly. Then came Zabuza. The "Demon of the Mist" had found his signature Hidden Mist Jutsu completely countered by Team 8's specialized detection—Kiba's scent, Shino's insects, and Hinata's Byakugan. However, Zabuza's raw power was immense; Kurenai had taken a heavy blow to the shoulder while shielding Tazuna from a giant shuriken.
"show us the way—now!" Asuma's voice was ragged. The long trek had drained his body, but the news of Kurenai's injury had set his nerves on fire.
Kiba led them to a crude wooden shack clinging to the coast. Inside, Tazuna jumped from his chair, brandishing a wooden stick. "Who are you? What do you want?" he barked, though his voice shook.
"Konoha reinforcements, old man," Kiba growled. Akamaru bared his teeth, and Tazuna instinctively clutched his left arm, backing away. Naruto noted the fresh bandages there—it seemed Kiba's temper and Akamaru's teeth had already given the client a taste of their displeasure regarding his lies.
Inside the back room, Asuma dropped to his knees beside Kurenai's bed. The others tactfully filed out, Naruto closing the door behind them to give the couple privacy. Shino immediately moved to the window, his sleeves rustling as a black tide of insects flowed out to form a defensive perimeter.
"Looks like this mission's gonna be a pain," Shikamaru muttered, leaning against the wall.
Kakashi turned his one-eyed gaze toward Kiba. "Striking a client is a breach of the code, Kiba."
Ino opened her mouth to argue, but Naruto caught her arm, shaking his head.
"Still," Kakashi continued, his tone turning icy as he looked at the trembling Tazuna, "circumstances are special. When a client falsifies a mission rank and puts Shinobi in lethal danger, they forfeit the right to traditional courtesies. Nice hit, Kiba."
Tazuna's face went paper-pale. He dropped into a desperate dogeza, his forehead hitting the floorboards. "Please! Save this country!"
He began to sob, telling the tragic tale of Gato's tyranny, the execution of his son-in-law Kaiza, and the bridge that was their only hope for economic freedom. "I know I lied! But I couldn't afford an A-rank fee! I thought... I thought a C-rank would be enough to get me home!"
The younger Genin—Sakura, Ino, and Choji—felt a flicker of pity. But Naruto stepped forward, his boots clicking softly on the wood.
"So you couldn't scrape together the cash..." Naruto's voice was cold, devoid of the warmth he usually showed his friends. "Or did you just drink it all?"
Tazuna froze.
"That flask at your waist," Naruto pointed a finger. "That's high-quality sake from the Land of Fire. This shack and this village can't afford luxury imports. Did your 'bridge fund' run out, or did your drinking habit burn through the mission fee before you realized you needed a real escort?"
Naruto stepped into the old man's space, his blue eyes hard. "You gambled on a C-rank fee, betting that Konoha Ninja would be too 'heroic' or too 'soft' to leave an old man to die once the truth came out. You risked the lives of my friends—my family—for the price of a few bottles of premium liquor."
The room fell deathly silent. Tazuna instinctively tried to hide the flask behind his back, his guilt written in every trembling line of his face.
The pity in the room vanished. Even Sakura, who was usually the first to sympathize, looked at the old man with a sudden, sharp disgust. The "poor bridge builder" was revealed as a reckless gambler who viewed Shinobi lives as a cheap insurance policy.
"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, not looking away from Tazuna. "The 'hero' act is over. How do we want to handle this 'client'?"
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