It took them three days to reach the Land of Waves, and that was mostly due to a general refusal of the fishermen nearest to the island to go there. They had finally found some transportation with an old man and a small dingy. And the less said about that man the better.

But that's a story for another time.

For now, they'd reached the village their assignment was located in. The place looked like it had seen better days. Much better. There were more orphans here than in Konoha, even with the attack of the Kyūbi, and the window of every shop showed almost nothing of worth. The people looked miserable, apart from the few drunken thugs, covered in tattoos and holding swords.

The client's house was on the outskirts of the village, looking much nicer than any other they had passed. Maybe having a construction worker present had something to do with that, Naruto figured.

"Are you ok, dear?" Kagura looked over at her younger student (boyfriend, lover… each one held up, as far as she was concerned).

"No. But I will be. It's just that…" He took a glance behind, at the direction of all the misery they'd seen. "Seeing something like that… it isn't easy."

"No, it never is." She put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "The best thing you can do now is put it out of your mind." He looked at her surprised. "I know it sounds a bit crass, but right now you can't do anything about it. Worrying will only distract you from the real danger."

"I guess you're right." He sighed. "Let's just… let's just get on with this." The pale-haired woman nodded and rapped on the door three times.

"Yes?" The door swung open to reveal Sakura, Naruto's one-time would-be teammate. "Oh, it's you two."

"Why, aren't you sweet?" Kagura sweat-dropped before giving the girl a slight glare. "Has nobody taught you not to open the door entirely when in enemy territory faced with an unknown number of unknown opponents?"

"Uh… no?"

"Well now I have. Move." Kagura shook her hand in a shooing motions. "Go fetch your Sensei, girl. We're busy." Naruto just sighed and shook his head.

"Sorry about her. Be nice Kagura-sensei."

"Fine." She pouted. "I told you not to call me that."

"Well I can't exactly call you what you want me to when we're on a mission, can I?"

"Why not?" Sakura had, by this point, ran away to get her Sensei, leaving the two bickering ninja.

"Because it's unprofessional. And more than likely indecent."

"Who cares if it is? I told you to call me that, so you're allowed."

"Right…" Naruto sighed again. Sometimes he wondered who exactly, of the two, was supposed to be older. "Hello Miss." He turned to the woman next to them, watching the two with amusement. "My name is Naruto, and this is my Sensei, Kagura. We're backup sent here from Konoha."

"Hello. My name is Tsunami, I am Tazuna's daughter. Thank you very much for agreeing to protect my father while he finishes his bridge." She bowed in thanks to them.

"Oh is that what we're doing?" Kagura muttered to herself. "Where's the silver-haired idiot?"

"She means Kakashi Hatake, the Sensei of the team that came here before us." Naruto explained to the bewildered woman. "Didn't you send Sakura to get him?"

"Like I'll trust that one to do anything." Kagura huffed.

"He's upstairs, resting from his battle." Tsunami said. "Just up these stairs and to the right. First door on the left."

"I'll go up, Naruto-kun. You stay here and… I dunno, socialize or something. Have fun."

"Socialize?" Naruto asked in vain as his Sensei walked up, glancing into the living room of the house where Sasuke Uchiha was glaring at him while muttering to himself in a corner, another pale black-haired boy was glancing at him with a disturbingly blank impression while drawing something on a pad in a completely different corner than the Uchiha, and a small boy was alternating between glaring at Naruto, Sasuke and the other boy. In a third, also separate, corner. "Right… So, Tsunami-san, was it?" The woman nodded, guiding him to the kitchen table. "Why don't you tell me something about the situation with this village?"

"Very well Naruto-san. Tea?"

"That would be lovely, thank you. You wouldn't happen to have Jasmin, would you?"

"No, I'm sorry, but Jasmin is very hard to come by here, and very expensive."

"That's alright." Naruto sighed. "Well, I'm listening."

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"Oh, it's you." Kakashi muttered when Kagura came into the room, putting his orange book away on the bedside table.

"You know, your little pink-haired student said the same thing when we came." She crossed her arms in front of her wrapped chest. "What have you been teaching them, exactly?"

"Oh, a little bit of this, and a little bit of that." Kakashi shrugged. "We?"

"Naruto-kun and I. So what happened to the almighty Copy Ninja?"

"Oh, just the Demon of the Bloody Mist, that's all."

"Zabuza Momochi?" The man nodded. "And he beat you? Didn't you use to be good at this?"

"That's hurtful." Kakashi faked a sniff. "I'll have you know I had to protect three brats and an old man. I'd like to see you do better."

"If he's alive you might."

"Oh he is, no doubt about that. The Hunter Ninja that took his body away used senbon to the neck. Probably worked with him. Say, now that you're here, and me being bed-ridden and all, I was wondering if you could be at all persuaded to…"

"No."

"But you don't even know what I was going to ask."

"I do, answer's still no."

"C'mon Kagura-chan, please…"

"No. And don't call me that."

"Please…"

"I said no, dammit. I have my own student, you take care of your three brats."

"Mou, no fair." You could practically see Kakashi's pout through all the stuff obstructing his face.

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I'm kinda scared to look at when I update this story last. And it'll definitely be a bit awkward when 'Demigod' gets her turn. Yes, she's a 'her'. They all are. Don't think about it too hard.

And I'm still trying to find a bead on Kagura's attitude and demeanor. I think I have an idea, but we'll see in the next few chapters how it goes.