"Okay, Team 7. We need a plan to get rid of Gatou," Kakashi said the next day, after digesting their conversation from the previous day. "Seina. What was your idea?"
"Basically, I can impose my will on someone with my powers and force them to do whatever I want."
"...," there was a moment of silence as they contemplated her words. "I thought it was going to be a more complex plan. Are you sure you can use it on a ninja? How does it work?"
"I would have to touch them with my powers. So, I need them to stay still enough to hit them."
"I see. You need my help to capture someone alive who's strong enough to reach Gatou and kill him."
She nodded, and Kakashi-sensei thought about it for a few minutes. Then, he started asking her how long the technique would last, if anyone would be able to notice the difference, if they could break free from her control, if they would perceive her attack... Her head hurt from thinking so much about the Imperius Curse.
"Okay. I want you to try it on me. I want to feel it," Kakashi-sensei told her, and everyone looked at him in astonishment.
"Are you willing to let me make you my slave, even for just one minute?" she asked incredulously.
"I trust you."
Trust. It all boiled down to that. After all, they were both trying to trust each other. Kakashi-sensei knew practically all of her secrets because she had trusted him. Now, Kakashi-sensei was trying to trust her. Perhaps it was intentional, to show how committed he was to earning her trust, perhaps it was because of the mission... but, nonetheless, it was unusual for a ninja to submit like this to someone, even someone close.
"Okay," she nodded, and they exchanged looks. In that moment, she did it. "Imperio... Clap."
The jonin relaxed under the curse, and although he tried to break free from her control, he was no match for the magic. In less than a few seconds, he began to clap. Sasuke and Naruto looked at him, amused, and Seina lifted the Imperius.
"Wow... I've never felt anything like that. I felt you, but I couldn't resist," he said.
"I can be more delicate," she assured him. "Since you gave me permission, I wanted you to know when it was going to happen."
"Try it again without me noticing," he said before she could finish the sentence.
Anticipating what he was going to say, she looked at Kakashi-sensei and used the curse mentally. She made him stand up, spin around the room a few times, and sit back down.
"Is that it?" the jonin asked.
"Yes."
"Did you feel it this time, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked curiously.
"He didn't feel it," their teacher said, and Sasuke looked at her puzzled. "He's still under my influence."
Naruto and Sasuke turned their heads to look at her, and then she released the jonin. Kakashi-sensei blinked and observed her in silence.
"Wow... With that jutsu, you could extract secrets from anyone."
"I know, but I'm not going to use it on my comrades," she said. Kakashi-sensei nodded. Trust.
"If you do it this way, no one will notice they're being manipulated. Being a technique that you can keep active despite the distance, you could use it on any of Gatou's ninjas. Can you become invisible?"
Seina used the enchanted bracelet she had for that. Not only did it make her invisible, it also concealed her scent, sound, heat, and presence. Kakashi-sensei raised a hand, and she touched it. She let her teacher hold her hand and examine the space where she supposedly was, with an excited look on his face.
"It's incredible," he whispered and then asked her to come back. He lightly squeezed her hand and let go. "Alright. This is what we're going to do, Team 7. We'll protect Tazuna until the bridge is finished. If we're lucky, before that happens, Gatou will send his ninjas to stop it. We'll deal with them and preferably leave the strongest one for Seina to subdue and use to take out Gatou himself. If we're not lucky, Gatou will wait until the bridge is finished and we leave before acting. If that happens, we'll hide and watch the bridge. As soon as they attack it again, we execute the previous plan."
"What if they take too long to attack the bridge? How long are we going to wait here?"
"I don't think it'll take them long. Consider that he already sent Zabuza. He doesn't seem willing to wait much longer. However, if I'm wrong, we'll spread some rumors about fake deals between the Wave and another country that interfere with his business. That will push him to act."
They nodded at the plan and gathered their things to accompany Tazuna to the bridge. Like the other day, they were present all morning, preventing anyone from sabotaging the work, but apart from a few quarrels among disgruntled and nervous workers, nothing happened. It was clear that the people of the village were not dangerous. Not for Tazuna nor for the integrity of the bridge. Gatou was the only problem, but with him, they could only wait.
"There's something you didn't tell me, right?" Kakashi-sensei asked when they returned to Tazuna's house again.
"Yes, but it's nothing that affects me. Someday I'll tell you." she assured him.
"Alright. I just wanted to thank you again for trusting me. I know it must have been tough for you," Kakashi-sensei smiled.
"It wasn't about trusting you, sensei. You weren't the problem. I don't know how, but I feel like you would do anything to protect us... However, not everyone would do the same, and you are just one person."
Kakashi-sensei pondered her words and nodded with a serious expression. When they arrived at Tsunami's house, she had already prepared food for her family, and Seina took out a few bentos. Luckily, she had prepared enough food for a month, despite Naruto's criticisms of being overprepared; otherwise, she didn't know how they would eat for much longer without the bentos.
"Aaah..." Tazuna sighed, massaging his neck. "I'm tired of working on the bridge."
"You're pushing yourself too hard, Dad," his daughter scolded him.
"Well, at least it's almost finished."
The brat appeared, and Seina knew by his expression that he was about to explode. Naruto, with his head laid on the table, looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Why are you all trying so hard!? No matter how much you train and protect my grandpa, you can't defeat Gatou's men! No matter how hard you try! Weak people always lose to strong people!" the boy shouted at his team, even though none of them had spoken yet.
"Shut up. We're not like you," Naruto told him, more serious than ever.
"You shut up! You don't know anything about this country! You're just a meddler! What the hell do you know about me!? You and I are different! You're always cheerful and clowning around! You don't know true pain!"
"Is that why you pretend to be the protagonist of a tragedy and cry all day?" Naruto laughed dryly, unimpressed. "A crybaby like you can just keep crying. Crybaby!"
Inari ran out of the house to his mother's displeasure. The others began to have dinner, not knowing if Inari would return.
"Keep eating, guys. I'll be right back," Kakashi-sensei told them.
Seina saw him leave after Inari. Naruto and Sasuke just nodded and kept eating, talking to Tsunami and Tazuna about the bridge and Gatou. She, curious, listened intently in the direction of the porch. She heard Kakashi-sensei sit on the wood.
"I don't think Naruto said that out of spite. Tazuna told us about your father. Just like you, Naruto and Seina lost their father, and their mother, on the same day they were born. Not only did they lose their parents, Sasuke also lost his at 6 years old. The truth is, my team has a difficult and tough past, just like you."
"Huh?" Inari made an incredulous sound. "But I've never seen them complain or cry."
"Seina and Sasuke are strong, and Naruto tries to make people recognize that, that's his dream. They're probably tired of crying. They understand what it means to be strong, like your father. This team understands your feelings better than anyone else."
She stopped listening to Kakashi-sensei, but she didn't forget his last sentence. He didn't say Seina, Sasuke, and Naruto, but "this team." He had included himself as well. She continued eating dinner, her gaze lost in the bento. When Kakashi-sensei returned, alone, he sat in his seat in front of her. She listened as Inari seemed to be debating, between sighs and indecisive steps, whether to enter or not. She looked at the jonin, who was eating with his usual quickness to avoid showing them his face, and Kakashi-sensei met her gaze. It was clear that both of them knew she had eavesdropped on the conversation. She nodded imperceptibly, as if to let him know that it was okay, and she stretched out a leg to touch his foot. She wasn't going to ask him in front of everyone, but she at least wanted him to know that he wasn't alone in his pain. All of his genins understood him.
She slowly withdrew her foot, but to her surprise, Kakashi-sensei stretched out his leg a little and placed his foot next to hers, halfway between the two of them, while they ate dinner. She couldn't suppress a smile as she listened to the jonin join the conversation, finishing his bento without anyone seeing him.
The next day, she had a bad feeling. Something told her that their period of tranquility was over. She communicated this to her team, despite having no evidence.
"Mmm... About a week is what it would take for Zabuza to recover from those injuries," Kakashi-sensei thought aloud. "Be on alert today."
They left the house behind, hoping everything would be the same as the day before, but upon reaching the bridge, they saw a few dead bodies on the ground. Tazuna ran to his workers, horrified, while Kakashi-sensei and the others tried to sense any presence. Just as the jonin turned to look at her, probably to urge her to use some of her powers, she felt a presence with ill intentions brushing against the protections she had placed in the guest room of Tazuna's house.
"What's happening?" the jonin asked, seeing her worried face.
"Someone with bad intentions has entered Tazuna's house," she whispered.
Immediately, a mist began to appear, one they had seen before, and Kakashi-sensei stifled a frustrated growl, realizing they were about to be attacked just when Tsunami and Inari were in danger. There was a silent debate for a couple of seconds about what to do, and then he turned to look at her.
"Go with them, Seina. Report to me through Naruto and wait for orders."
"Hai!" she used shunshin and disappeared from there.
It took her only a few seconds to reach Tazuna's house. She saw two ninjas, likely Gatou's mercenaries, dragging Tsunami away. Just as she was about to intervene, Inari appeared. In what was the bravest act she had seen from the boy to date, he shouted at the attackers to release his mother.
"Shut up, kid, or you'll receive!"
"Let go of my mother, idiots!"
Both ninjas, irritated with the boy, left Tsunami tied on the ground without a second thought and lunged at them with their swords drawn. She used kawarimi to swap Inari with a nearby log.
"Kawarimi!?" they turned upon hearing her, as she placed Inari next to his mother, now free from restraints. "Who the hell are you, brat!?"
"Nobody interesting," she smiled, realizing she had a great opportunity.
With a couple of clones she had hidden upon arrival, she knocked them unconscious with a blow to the head. Some ninjas really talked too much.
"Naruto, Sasuke. Did you see all this?" she asked. "Inform Kakashi-sensei that I have two unconscious ninjas for our plan."
"...He says to give it a try. We're fighting Zabuza and someone named Haku. Kakashi-sensei's orders: Protect Tazuna's house and instruct Tsunami and Inari to stay inside. When you're done, return to the bridge."
"Understood," she muted the connection briefly and turned to Tsunami, who was holding her son tightly against her chest. "Kakashi-sensei's orders. You must stay inside the house until further notice. I'll put up a barrier around the property so no ninja can enter, but you must not leave, understood?"
"Hai, Seina-san. Thank you so much for saving us."
"Hurry, I have to return to the bridge," she urged them to enter the house and protected it with a few magical barriers that she erected in just a few minutes. "And now you two... Imperio. Imperio... Behave normally. Kill Gatou and his mercenaries. Try not to be discovered until Gatou is dead. If discovered, use all means to eliminate as many of Gatou's mercenaries and Gatou himself. Rennervate."
She watched as both ninjas opened their eyes and got up without attacking her. They turned around and headed toward Gatou's base. With a bit of luck, that man would be dead before the day was over. She turned and used shunshin to return to the bridge. When she arrived, she observed the situation for a few seconds. She saw Sasuke, with what seemed to be the Sharingan activated and many scratches from senbon needles inside some kind of ice dome, Naruto attacking the person who must be Haku, stationed inside the ice, without moving in front of Tazuna, and Kakashi-sensei fighting Zabuza. She saw her brother's kunai being intercepted by a hand of flesh and bone accompanied by half a body, as if Haku had extended his arm and part of his torso out of the ice. She knew it was her chance.
She used shunshin again and punched him with all her might. Haku was sent flying out of the ice, unconscious from the stupefy she used upon touching him in her attack.
"How is this possible!? What have you done to him!?" a voice growled behind her, as he saw is ally lying unconscious on the ground and the ice technique disappearing.
She saw him throw a few shuriken at her to kill her, but before she could defend herself, Sasuke stepped in, deflecting Zabuza's weapons with his own shuriken. Seina tied up Haku and made sure he wouldn't wake up unless she revived him or in 5 or 6 hours. Before Zabuza could continue attacking her, Kakashi-sensei leaped at him to divert his attention.
"Is he dead?" Naruto asked, though he sensed he wasn't.
"No. Just unconscious."
"I would have liked to test myself against him," Sasuke clicked his tongue, grabbing the prisoner and leaving him next to Naruto, who created a couple of clones to watch over him.
They watched as Zabuza and their master exchanged taijutsu combos until separating again.
"I thought Haku was a good weapon. A killing machine without fear or feelings. I thought your team was garbage, but maybe I was wrong," Zabuza muttered. "I'll have to kill you to make amends for my mistake."
Kakashi-sensei tried to raise his ninja headband to use the Sharingan, but Zabuza lunged at him with a kunai. Seina suppressed a grimace at seeing her sensei block the stab directed at his face with his other hand. Damn, she should have inscribed the runes all over his clothes and not just on the vest.
"Another round of Sharingan, Kakashi? You won't be able to defeat me a second time the same way."
"There's no worse ninja than a braggart," Kakashi-sensei replied, finally lifting the ninja headband.
As soon as he did, Seina knew she should have mentioned his healing. How could she have been so stupid? Of course, he would use it again! She wondered with a blank mind how Kakashi-sensei would be able to use that deactivated eye, if he wasn't even aware of the difference when, to her astonishment, she saw the black eye turn into the Sharingan. She exhaled deeply, realizing she had stopped breathing. She had no idea what had happened, but she thanked Merlin that Kakashi-sensei hadn't lost such an advantage in the fight against Zabuza.
"I know how that eye of yours works, Kakashi. In our previous fight, Haku arrived in time to witness the end and tell me everything he discovered about the Sharingan," Zabuza informed him. "Now I know how to defeat you."
The mist returned denser than ever before. Seina, Sasuke, and Naruto surrounded Tazuna even before Kakashi-sensei asked them to.
"Protect Tazuna!" he shouted, then stood still as he tried to locate Zabuza.
"I can't see anything!" Naruto yelled in her head.
"Quiet, Naruto, let me listen," she quickly ordered him, closing her eyes.
She realized a second before he appeared before them that he was going to attack them. She didn't know if Kakashi-sensei had heard it like she did or anticipated it because he appeared in front of her, covering Tazuna's back, and intercepted Zabuza's sword strike with his chest. She suppressed a scream realizing that, if she hadn't sewn those runes on him, he would be badly wounded right now.
"Impossible! I got you!" the Mist ninja growled, supremely angry. He then disappeared.
"You seem to believe that I've survived in this world solely with the Sharingan. I was a member of the Anbu. I'm not just a ninja who knows how to copy techniques... Let me show you my own techniques."
Seina watched with a smile as Kakashi-sensei summoned what seemed to be different breeds of dogs that, guided by the smell of Zabuza's blood on the kunai, pounced on him, leaving him trapped. The mist slowly dissipated, and now that Naruto could see where they all were, he used a wind jutsu to clear the bridge completely without hurting anyone.
"Your name, Kirigakure deserter, didn't take long to reach Konoha's ears. You tried to kill the Mizukage, but your coup failed, and you had to flee with your comrades. You're trying to gather money for revenge while evading ninja hunters. Am I wrong?" Kakashi-sensei asked as he began molding chakra and performing hand seals. "That's why you work for scum like Gatou. You're dangerous. You're trying to kill Tazuna, whose bridge is the only hope for his village. Your ambition demands too many sacrifices from other people."
From Kakashi-sensei's hand emerged some sort of lightning that covered his arm. He jumped toward Zabuza intending to kill him when he broke free from the smaller dogs and twisted his torso to avoid a direct hit to his heart. Wounded, Zabuza held his stomach, panting, but continued attacking Kakashi-sensei, or at least trying to.
"You can't go on," the jonin told him. "I've blocked your arms, and you're losing too much blood. Soon, not even your water jutsu will keep you alive."
Zabuza fell to the ground on his knees, and his gaze shifted to Haku, who was still tied up and unconscious.
"In the end... it seems you were right about my future. Only death awaits me."
"Let him go, Seina," her teacher asked gently, and she revived the ninja.
It took him a couple of seconds to realize where he was and the condition of his "master." Using kawarimi, he freed himself from his restraints and knelt before Zabuza with a horrified expression.
"Haku..." called out the exiled ninja just as they felt multiple people approaching them.
"Is that... Gatou?" Sasuke asked, then looked at her. "Isn't he supposed to...?"
She shrugged. Before they could wonder what had gone wrong with their plan, Gatou snapped his fingers and they threw the corpses of the ninjas she had imperiused at Zabuza's feet.
"You thought you could kill me!?" Gatou yelled at Zabuza. "You found out I wasn't going to pay you, didn't you? Your plan has failed, even though you've cost me many men. I was going to kill you quickly, but you'll pay dearly for this. Starting with that boy of yours."
From Zabuza's increasingly pale face, he realized that Gatou had been using him and planned to get rid of him as soon as possible to avoid paying him. Haku created a clone to support Zabuza almost entirely and defend himself if necessary. Then he looked at Gatou with a glint of hatred in his eyes.
"I won't allow you to finish off my master!"
"Look at us. Do you really think you'll escape this alive?" Gatou asked sarcastically. "If I let you go, I'll end up dead. It's nothing personal, just business. You understand, right?"
Haku pulled a weapon from his kimono and lunged at the businessman. At that moment, Seina knew he wasn't thinking clearly because it was obvious he couldn't easily take out Gatou, surrounded by mercenaries as he was. Perhaps the shock of seeing Zabuza on the verge of death after regaining consciousness had been more impactful than she thought.
"Wait, Haku!"
Haku ignored Zabuza. He managed to kill some ninjas surrounding and protecting Gatou but failed to finish off his former client, despite stabbing him in the shoulder with the kunai. In less than a couple of minutes, Seina watched with horror as Haku lost his life trying to protect Zabuza.
"Kid," Zabuza called out, and they turned to look at him. "Lend me one of your kunai, will you?"
Naruto walked up to his side. Then, Team 7 along with Tazuna, the bridge builder, watched as Zabuza died trying to avenge Haku by using a kunai in his mouth. Luckily, the ninjas he used under the Imperius seemed to have defeated quite a few mercenaries because when he tried to flee from Zabuza, he didn't have enough men to prevent being killed even though Zabuza was clearly on the brink of death due to Kakashi-sensei's wounds.
"...Sorry, Haku," Seina heard, and they all watched as he fell dead to the ground.
The few remaining mercenaries seemed to debate whether to confront them or flee after their sponsor's death. When they saw the villagers, led by Inari, raising their sticks and clubs in the distance, running toward the end of the bridge, they turned around and ran away.
Seina looked at her teammates. Sasuke seemed neutral about what had just happened, but Naruto was on the verge of tears. She thought about Haku's words at the beginning of the fight, how he saw himself as Zabuza's weapon, about what he suffered in his country because of the powers he had, and how Naruto hadn't been able to help him at all.
"Grandpa!" Inari shouted, and Tazuna made his way through them to pick up his grandson.
"Wasn't he supposed to be at his house?" Kakashi-sensei asked with an exasperated sigh.
Seina saw his bloodied hand and took it. The jonin let her. She removed the glove and washed the wound before disinfecting it. Then, she used medical ninjutsu to close the somewhat deep wound. She ended up applying an ointment to prevent scarring before giving him the repaired glove with a simple spell.
"Good as new. Thanks, Seina," Kakashi-sensei smiled, squeezing her shoulder.
She watched as Sasuke healed himself where he could, so she ended up treating his back wounds. Fortunately, Naruto had only a couple of scratches, like her.
"You saved us!" Inari shouted, smiling radiantly.
Naruto apologized for his words from the day before as they all walked back to the village. They spent some time receiving thanks from the villagers before going to Tazuna's house. Seina removed the protections, and they all sat in the dining room chairs with sighs of exhaustion.
"Thank you so much for what you've done for this country," Tazuna said with a bow. "We'll never forget it."
Kakashi-sensei accepted the thanks graciously and the offer to stay one more night to rest. They took turns showering and then ate their bentos in the backyard, looking at the sea.
"In the end, everything worked out," Kakashi-sensei said. Thankfully, no one was injured.
"I hope they can use the bridge to improve their lives, now that they're not threatened," Seina said.
Naruto stared at the waves, eating almost mechanically. Seina leaned against her brother, providing support as she realized that Haku and Zabuza's deaths had truly affected him. Sasuke, on the other side, touched his knee with his leg. Seina tried to change the subject.
"So, you were in the Anbu, Kakashi-sensei. What's it like being in the Anbu? What mask did you wear? And most importantly, when are you going to introduce us to your ninken?"
The jonin laughed at her.
"Can't you guess what mask I wore?"
"The dog one?"
"That's right."
"Uh," she thought aloud, realizing something. "You were literally the Hokage's dog."
"...You could say that," Kakashi-sensei acknowledged. "Being in the Anbu was tough. Missions always have a certain risk of death, but at the same time, you learn a lot."
"And what are the requirements?" Sasuke asked. Both of them looked curiously at the jonin.
"Are you interested in joining the Anbu?" he asked with a serious expression.
"At least I want to become a jonin," she informed, and Naruto and Sasuke nodded.
Kakashi-sensei fell silent, contemplating the blue horizon. For a second, she thought he was going to dissuade her from even thinking about entering the Anbu, but he didn't.
The next day, they completed the mission in the Land of Waves and set off back home.