"Well, Tazuna-san," Kakashi's voice was light, almost cheerful, a chilling contrast to the two bodies tied up at his feet, "that was quite a bit more exciting than simple 'bandits,' wouldn't you agree?"
"They were strong, I'll give you that!" Tazuna snapped, sweat shining on his brow. "But a jōnin like you handled them! What's the problem? They're defeated!"
"The problem," Kakashi replied, crouching to examine Gōzu's gauntlet, "is that 'bandits' don't usually use fast-acting poison or chūnin-level concealment techniques. And they also don't usually cause a rookie genin to have a prophetic panic attack in the Hokage's office."
The comment, delivered with a lazy calm, made Naruto flinch. Kakashi glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, and his single visible eye narrowed.
"Sensei, wait," Sakura's voice cut through the air. It wasn't a shout, but a sharp, precise statement. "There's more."
Kakashi looked up, his attention now fully on her. He had seen her weave chakra threads from nothing. He would listen to her.
"Go on, Sakura."
"Your story… it has holes," she said, her gaze fixed on the builder. The [Analytical Eye] was active, processing the inconsistencies with terrifying clarity. "You say you're poor, but your clothes, though worn, are made of high-quality fabric. That's not the clothing of a laborer. And your accent… you lose it when you're nervous. It isn't the rough accent of a worker from the Land of Waves; it's more refined. You're hiding more than just the danger. You're hiding who you are."
"What nonsense is this brat spouting?!" Tazuna roared, his face turning red.
"Sakura-san is right to be cautious, Sensei."
Hinata's voice joined in, soft but unwavering. Everyone turned to her.
"The chakra of those two… it wasn't just concealed; it was being actively suppressed. It's a technique hunter-nin use to avoid being detected by standard sensors and dōjutsu. They weren't waiting for just any traveler. They were waiting for you."
Sakura's analysis had dismantled Tazuna's persona; Hinata's had dismantled the enemy's strategy. Together, they had painted a picture of A-rank deception and danger that left no room for escape.
Kakashi stood up slowly, the lazy air around him having completely evaporated. He approached Tazuna, his shadow falling over the trembling bridge builder.
"Tazuna-san, the lies stop now," Kakashi said, his voice devoid of all kindness. "Or we leave you here with your two new friends. Your choice."
The bridge builder crumbled. The story came spilling out: a torrent of desperation about a tyrant named Gatō, a bridge that was the only hope for freedom, and an entire country that would die with him.
"No ninja village would accept such a high-risk mission for the miserable price I can afford," he concluded, tears rolling down his cheeks. "So I gambled… I bet my life that a low-level team could get me home."
Kakashi sighed.
"The protocol is clear. A mission of this caliber is far beyond this team's capabilities. We must return."
He turned to his students, their faces a mixture of shock and a strange, new determination.
"However… this is an unusual situation. The decision to continue is not mine. It's yours. Vote."
"We continue."
Sasuke's voice was instant. Cold. Sharp.
"Your reason, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.
"My reason is simple," he said, his black eyes fixed not on Kakashi, but on Hinata and Sakura. "Those two were trash, but if we're going to face an elite jōnin, I need to measure my strength. I won't run from a challenge that my teammates can apparently handle."
It wasn't teamwork. It was pride. A wounded pride that now demanded he not appear weaker.
"Sakura," Kakashi said.
"My decision is based on logic," she stated, her voice firm. "Abandoning the mission now would damage our reputation. Retreating would be illogical. We've already revealed that we know the threat. If we leave, Gatō will simply send others. Our only logical course of action is to continue."
"Hinata?"
"My duty is to protect my comrades. Now that I know the true danger, abandoning them would be unthinkable. My place is here, with them."
Kakashi finally looked at Naruto, who had remained unusually silent.
"And you, Naruto. What's your vote?"
Naruto smiled. It wasn't his idiotic grin, but a genuine one, filled with a warmth that seemed to dispel the tension.
"My teammates have already said it all. Sasuke wants to be stronger, Sakura wants to be reliable, and Hinata wants to protect us. Those are all a hero's reasons."
He gave a thumbs-up, his smile now radiant.
"And a hero is someone who doesn't turn their back on people who are suffering! Tazuna-san is suffering, his whole country is suffering! We can't abandon them! We'll continue the mission, believe it!"
The decision was unanimous.
"It's settled then," Kakashi said. "Prepare yourselves. From this point on, every step is on enemy territory."
They resumed their march, but the air between them had changed. Sasuke no longer walked in isolation; he stayed closer, observing Sakura and Hinata with a new, unsettling curiosity. Humiliation mixed with a pragmatic need to understand what had made them so… effective.
After several minutes of tense walking, Kakashi stopped.
"Sasuke."
The Uchiha looked at him, expectant.
"Go one hundred meters ahead and stay alert. I want to test your long-range detection ability. Report via the communicator if you notice anything out of the ordinary. Consider it a direct order."
Sasuke nodded sharply. The task, a solo mission that acknowledged his skill, was a balm for his wounded pride. He disappeared into the trees without a word, a swift shadow.
Sasuke's absence created an instant bubble of privacy. Kakashi turned to the remaining three.
"Naruto."
"Sensei," Naruto said, his voice grave. He knew this was the moment. "I know you have questions. I have an explanation."
Kakashi crossed his arms.
"You have my full attention. And it had better be good, because my opinion of your outburst in the Hokage's office is still… under review."
Naruto swallowed hard. He looked at Kakashi and then at Sakura.
"What I'm about to tell you… you can't repeat it. Ever. To anyone. I'm asking you this not as your teammate, but as… well, as Naruto."
The vulnerability in his tone silenced them all.
"Sensei, I'm telling you this because I trust you," he began, his gaze fixed on Kakashi's visible eye. "I know what kind of person you are. Underneath that book and that lazy attitude, you're someone who protects his friends above all else. I know it. That's why I have to tell you."
He took a deep breath, the air seeming to catch in his lungs.
"The reason I knew about the mission, about the ninja, about the puddle… is because I have memories. Memories of a future I haven't lived."
Sakura opened her mouth, but Kakashi raised a hand, silencing her, his expression now intensely focused.
"Naruto, that sounds like a fairytale you've made up to explain your panic."
"It's not!" Naruto insisted, his voice breaking. "It happened right after I graduated. There was… a blue screen. A flash. And suddenly, I had the memories of another life in my head. A life where I watched ours… like a story on a screen. I don't remember living that life, Sensei, I just have the information. The memories. I saw our lives, our battles… our deaths."
The word "deaths" hung in the air, cold and heavy.
"That's why I lost it," he continued, his voice now a desperate whisper. "I remembered this mission. I remembered you almost died, Sensei. In the mist, against a swordsman. And I remembered that Sasuke… he… he almost died too. I panicked. I tried to stop it the only way I could think of, but I just ended up looking like a coward, a madman."
Sakura brought a hand to her mouth, her eyes wide. The puzzle of Naruto was assembling itself in her mind, and the picture it formed was terrifying and tragic. The boy she called an idiot wasn't one at all. He was someone living with the weight of knowing how and when his friends were going to suffer. Guilt over how she had treated him struck her with an almost physical force, leaving her breathless.
Kakashi remained silent, but his mind was racing. The pieces fit together with horrifying precision. Naruto's outburst in the office, his specific knowledge about Gatō, his strange warning about the puddle, the explosive and illogical growth of Hinata and Sakura… It was an insane theory, but it was the only one that explained all the facts.
"Sensei, it's true," Hinata said, her voice soft but firm, stepping to Naruto's side. "I don't know how, but it is."
"And there's more," Naruto said, his voice regaining some urgency. "My knowledge isn't reliable anymore. It's changing. In my memories, Hinata wasn't supposed to come; she never volunteered. And Sasuke… he wasn't supposed to demand we take the mission. I was the one who was supposed to complain. My actions, my words… even the power I gave them… they're altering the future I know. Every time I change something, the path gets darker, more unpredictable. What if that just leads us to a bigger monster down the road?"
He looked at Kakashi, his blue eyes filled with a plea that transcended that of a simple genin.
"That's why I'm asking you. If anyone finds out about this—the Council, Danzō… they might try to eliminate me to protect their secrets, or lock me up to use me as an oracle. I can't let that happen. Kakashi-sensei, please. When we get back, you have to take the credit. Say you had an informant in the Mist, that you recognized the poison, any excuse. Make something up, but my name can't come out."
Kakashi looked at him for a long, long moment. He saw the boy who had been ostracized his whole life, the clown who shouted to be seen, and he understood it was all a mask. Beneath it was someone carrying a burden that would make any elite jōnin collapse. And he was entrusting it to him.
"Naruto," Kakashi said finally, his voice grave, devoid of all laziness, "what you're asking me to do… is to hide S-rank intelligence from the village. To lie in an official report."
Naruto nodded, his face pale.
"I know."
Kakashi sighed, a long, weary sound. He looked at Sakura, who was nodding with tears in her eyes. He looked at Hinata, whose hand now rested on Naruto's arm in a gesture of unwavering support.
"Alright," Kakashi said. "Your secret… our secret… is safe. Consider it done. From now on, my primary mission isn't just to train you. It's to protect you."
The gratitude on Naruto's face was so overwhelming that for a moment, he couldn't speak.
Suddenly, Kakashi's communicator crackled to life.
"Sensei. One hundred meters ahead. The path forks. No sign of pursuit. The perimeter is clear."
It was Sasuke's voice. Cold, professional.
Kakashi brought the communicator to his mouth.
"Understood, Sasuke. Hold your position. We'll regroup with you in two minutes."
He turned off the communicator and looked at his new, strange team.
"Well," he said, his eye curving into something that almost looked like a genuine smile, "looks like our scout is competent. Let's go. We have a bridge builder to protect and, thanks to our local prophet, I now know we have a Demon to hunt."
They resumed their march. The sun filtered through the trees, but the world felt different. More dangerous, yes, but also filled with a new, terrifying potential. Team 7, with its temporary member and its reality-altering secret, walked toward the Land of Waves—no longer as a group of dysfunctional genin, but as a four-person conspiracy in the heart of a storm that was just beginning to form.