Tryst in Wave

Being dumped right before a month-long mission really sucked Konohamaru thought. In theory it should actually be the best time to be dumped. After all, you wouldn't accidentally run into your ex and have one of those awkward moments until you are thoroughly over each other. In a village as small as Konoha was that was too possible. Of course, when you had two teammates that were dating it could be frustrating.

“Would you two knock it off,” Konohamaru snapped.

There was a moment of silence before Udon stuttered out, “But we're just holding hands and you're ahead of us.”

“It's unprofessional.” He spoke with authority he didn't possess, “We are going to be meeting with the client soon and.”

“Knock it off Konohamaru,” Moegi interrupted, “You're just still sore that your boyfriend broke up with you.”

The young Chunin felt his cheeks flush, both because it was true and because his friend had just announced to anyone in hearing range that he was gay. Granted, the road was abandoned but still, it was something he didn't like others announcing. He felt someone grab his elbow, and when he turned around, he was staring directly into Moegi’s eyes. “Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you like that.”

Konohamaru blinked and then felt ashamed as her words sunk in. Senichi and he had not been in a serious relationship, especially compared to his two friends. Looking at it now, he could really only see two good traits in the boy. First, he had been good looking and second, at fifteen he had only been one year older than him. Konoha didn't have a large population of potential dating partners so they had gravitated towards each other more out of convenience than anything else.

“Go back to making out,” Konohamaru said in way of apology.

“We were just holding hands,” Udon protested again.

The unofficial leader of the team picked up his pace trying to give his two friends a little privacy but soon his thoughts were brought back to Senichi. Really, now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure if he had even liked him that much. Sure, he had a passing resemblance to Naruto with his hair color and his overall attitude but where Naruto legitimately cared about others, Senichi had been a narcissist.

At least that was how Udon had described him after first meeting him. Moegi had been a bit more subtle saying, “If you like him.” Later, he had looked up what a narcissist was and now could agree with Udon’s opinion. The former honorable grandson finally admitted to himself that maybe he had just liked the idea of having someone more than the person himself. Not that it improved his mood.

The trio continued on in a silence that could only be sustained by friends comfortable enough with each other to not talk. The small path that they were on merged with a larger one that was more crowded. Then, they were at the bridge to the Land of Waves and all three paused at the sign that hung above it. Udon was the one who broke the silence with the thought they were all thinking. “You know I always thought he was stretching the truth when he told us about the name.”

Before either of the other two could respond, a voice spoke up from behind them, “Hey, I'll have you know we named it the Great Naruto Bridge long before he became famous.”

They turned to face the voice and before Konohamaru could speak, his throat went dry. The voice belonged to a teen probably the same age they were. He was maybe an inch shorter than Konohamaru but had broader shoulders. Judging by his calf muscles, he was strong.

He didn't seem to be in a uniform but had a Naginata which he was leaning on like a staff. He smiled gently, not showing any teeth. “So you are the help from Konohagakure,” the comment was flippant, but it lacked hostility.

There was a moment of silence as Konohamaru's team expected him to take the lead, but after a moment Moegi stepped forward, “Yeah, we are.”

The teenager waved her off, “Let me guess. You're Moegi,” he said pointing to her, “Then you're Udon,” he said addressing the other boy, “And that would make you Konohamaru, right? Naruto wrote to me about you. He said you three were among the best.”

“So you're Inari then,” Moegi said blushing at the praise.

He was about to respond when Konohamaru spoke up for the first time, “We are the best.” The teen then mentally kicked himself as he realized that the boast, while true, was a bit off in the conversation. Why was this cute boy throwing him off? He really wasn't all that special.

Inari had been smiling since they had met and glossed over the awkward moment with a comment that was directed at him alone, “You're a lot like him.” Konohamaru felt his cheeks warm at that but thankfully no one seemed to have noticed. Inari, who seemed to take Moegi as their leader, was addressing his next question to her. “I can either take you right to the briefing or show you to your hotel rooms.”

“Rooms?” Moegi's question nudged Konohamaru for his opinion.

“Yeah that sounds good,” he agreed not really thinking about it.

“Follow me then,” the teen with the fish hat said walking past them and onto the bridge. After a minute, he called over his shoulder, “Do you know the history of this bridge?”

Udon spoke up for the first time, “Yeah, Naruto likes to tell the story about his first real battle.”

“Are you that Inari?” Moegi questioned.

Surprisingly, the teen laughed nervously, “If you're asking if I was the kid with a crossbow then yes.”

As soon as they reached the other side of the bridge they entered into the shopping district which was crowded. There were so many people that at times Konohamaru lost sight of their guide and was only able to keep track of him by the gleaming blade that poked above the crowd which functioned as a convenient beacon. The crowd thinned slowly and then they came to a sudden stop.

Inari gestured to the wooden building, “The Sea View Inn.” He paused for a second and looked across the street where there was another series of buildings, “Not the most accurate name.”

Their guide led them inside and Konohamaru instinctively took in his surroundings. He had been to dozens of Inns like this over his short career. They were all different and yet they were all the same. The only notable feature in this one was how young the clerk was. She was probably a little younger than they were.

Looking up from a magazine she was reading she smiled and said, “Hi Inari. Are these the special guests?”

Their guide said, “Yes Akemi. Can you give them the keys, I can show them to their rooms.”

The former honorable grandson smiled at the other's discomfort. It was obvious that the girl was interested in their new acquaintance and it was equally obvious that he was not interested. The girl tossed two keys to himself and Moegi without taking her eyes off of Inari.

“Rooms eleven and twelve. They're on the second floor at the end of the hallway. They're both twins. You can find them on your own, right?”

“No problem,” he said it without thinking and bounded up the stairs closely followed by his two friends. Reaching the end of the hall, he looked down at his key to see a number twelve engraved on it.

The room was pretty much what he was expecting. Longer than wide with a small closet right behind the door followed by a bathroom and then the two beds. There was also a small couch that could seat two with a table and two chairs nearby.

“Nice,” Udon commented.

Konohamaru hadn't noticed that his friend had followed him into the room. Tossing his pack onto one of the beds, he said as innocently as he could, “I thought you would want to be with Moegi.”

His friends face reddened and he wouldn't have been surprised if his glasses had fogged up, as Udon pushed past him to get to the other bed, “We don't do that.”

“Do what? Spend time together? Have long talks into the night?” Konohamaru always found it funny that when Udon was embarrassed that even the back of his neck turned red.

“We've made out, but that's about it. How far would you like to go with that Inari boy you're so hot for?” Moegi spoke up from behind him.

This time it was Konohamaru who blushed as he turned to face his other teammate. She had entered the room silently as neither of the boys had bothered to close the door. “What are you talking about?”

His female teammate rolled her eyes, “You know who. The boy you were ogling not five minutes ago.”

He cringed, wondering if he had been that obvious, “I was just looking.” There was little point in denying it, although he wanted to.

She smiled, “Are you going to ask him out?”

“No,” Konohamaru responded instantly.

“Why not? You would make a cute couple.”

He rolled his eyes as if it was that easy. “First, I'm going to be here a month, and second, I don't know if he's interested. It's not like I'm asking a girl, you know, he might get mad and if we have to work together it would be awkward.”

“Oh come on, nothing ventured nothing gained.” She grinned slyly, “Were you this hesitant when you asked out Senichi? Because I have to say this one is definitely an improvement, he walks upright.”

Konohamaru felt his lips start to turn up in a smile, but answered firmly, “It's not happening.”

“Guys, shouldn't we get going,” Udon interrupted. “Remember the briefing?” He flinched as both of his teammates glanced at him, one annoyed and the other grateful.

o0o0o0o0o0o0

The building that Inari led them to after they left the hotel had a small sign next to the door. It said headquarters of the National Guard for Wave Country. “What's the National Guard?” Konohamaru asked rolling the unfamiliar words around in his mouth.

“Well, were kind of a lot of things. We're sort of the police, but at the same time were responsible for maintaining and building public works within the country. The organization is less than two years old.”

“Why did you join Inari?” Moegi questioned.

“Well, I had been watching my grandfather build things since The Great Naruto Bridge and I was his apprentice for a long time. We even went to Konohagakure to help rebuild it. Not long after that, my grandfather told me that there wasn't much more he could teach me and I just needed experience. The guard was recruiting, so I joined up.”

“But doesn't that mean you have to do police stuff too?” Konohamaru asked.

Inari shrugged as he led them down an empty hallway, “I don't mind. To be honest, I kind of like helping people like that.” He stopped at the door and knocked before saying, “Capt. Kuroda, the ninjas from Konohagakure are here.”

There was a moment of silence before a muffled voice said, “Enter.”

The four of them filed into the room as Konohamaru took it in at a glance. It was a conference room, but there were only two men standing at the far end of the table. Both were dressed in traditional clothes, but at the same time they were very different. The first wore a dark blue kataginu with the crest of Wave country on it. In contrast, the other man’s was made out of very fine silk which radiated wealth. He gazed at them with cold blue eyes, as if they were bugs under a magnifying glass. Konohamaru took an instant dislike to him.

The man with the Wave country crest on his clothes spoke up first, “Thank you, Inari that will be all.”

Inari saluted and left. Konohamaru kind of wished he had stayed, but at the same time was happy to see him go because he was distracting. Reasserting his unofficial role as team leader he spoke up and introduced his team, stressing that they were all Chunin.

The rich man turned to address the other, who was presumably Capt. Kuroda, “I've worked with ninja before, but they still seem a bit young for this mission.”

Konohamaru was about to object to that, but as he opened his mouth both of his teammates poked him with their elbows. Fortunately, Capt. Kuroda came to their defense. “Mori, I assure you that the Leaf has always provided us with top quality ninjas before and I personally stress the importance of this mission, which was also reflected in the price we paid.”

Mori, as the man was known, now glanced back over at the trio and nodded, “All right, I guess I will give you the details now.” He reached into his pocket and tossed a small round object at Konohamaru. Catching it, he looked down to see a small perfectly round sphere that was blood red. His two teammates both leaned over to look at it.

“That is something called a Blood Pearl, and you'll probably never be this close to one again. They are very rare and very expensive. To own one means wealth. In fact, they're so rare and prized that they don't even have to be perfect spheres. Jewelers design pieces around the shape the pearl is.”

Konohamaru looked up from the thing in his hand. “Aren't all pearls round?”

“No,” the man answered looking down at him, “It's actually rare.”

“So you want us to guard a shipment?” Udon questioned.

“No, we will be handling that. We need you to guard the divers.” He gestured towards the map and they gathered around it. The map was of Wave country and the man tapped on one bay that was not too far from where the main city was. “Blood Pearl's only occur through some very rare circumstances. They're impossible to farm and can only come from the sea. Their distinctive color is actually caused by a rare type of algae that only plume sporadically. One of these plumes is just about to finish happening. We're going to harvest everything in the affected area. It should take about a month.”

Capt. Kuroda took over the briefing. “Mori’s company has made a deal with Wave. We provide them with security and exclusive access. In return we get twenty percent of the profits. Your village will be paid by both of us.” He tapped the bay on the map and continued, “We're cutting off this entire area and will be providing a five-man squad from the National Guard, but you may act independently of them.”

Konohamaru nodded and after a second of thought said, “Eight, eight, eight.”

“Excuse me?” Mori said with a raised eyebrow.

The former grandson smiled, taking a slight pleasure in the man's confusion. “Eight hours on guard duty, eight hours of sleep and eight hours of downtime.”

“Downtime?” The man echoed, “What do you mean by that?”

He nudged Udon to explain, “Well, you see whenever someone is on guard duty for an extended time, it can easily become fatiguing. Downtime, even if it's only a few hours, helps keep the mind sharp.”

The former honorable grandson tossed the pearl he still had back at the man deliberately high, causing the man to lunge to catch it. “We'll sleep on site so at a minimum there'll always be two of us there, but most of the time it will be the three of us. When do you want us there?”

“Come to this building an hour before dawn and we'll have someone escort you there,” Capt. Kuroda said glancing over at the other man. After a second he added, “That will be all.”

The three excused themselves, and almost as soon as the door was closed, Moegi rounded on Konohamaru. “Did you have to treat the client like that?” She demanded.

“What? The guy was looking down at us.”

She pursed her lips and he found himself wishing that she still harbored a crush on him. Things were so much simpler back then when she had been just like Udon.

“This is why you were the last of us to be promoted.”

That stung, but he wasn't going to show it. “So what, I'm still going to be Hokage after Naruto.”

“Guys, come on it's over with.” Udon spoke up acting as peacemaker.

They left the building without saying another word, but paused as they saw Inari leaning casually against the wall. He no longer had his Naginata, but smiled as he approached them.

“Hey, did the meeting go okay?”

“Um… yeah, it went fine.” Konohamaru said nervously.

“That's good.” Inari said scratching the back of his head. “I was wondering if you three would like to go out and eat. I mean, we will be working together and I figure we could get to know each other a little and I figure that would be a good thing.”

Moegi smiled and glanced over at Konohamaru before she said. “That would be nice Inari, but Udon and I want to get in one more date before the mission starts. However, I'm sure Konohamaru would like to join you.” Grabbing Udon by the hand she pulled him away, leaving the two boys alone.

o0o0o0o0o0o0

Konohamaru was nervous, which was stupid because it was not like they were on a date or anything. Okay, it may just be the two of them at a restaurant and Inari was insisting that everything would be on him, but as far as Inari was concerned, he was straight. If the young Sarutobi had any say in the matter, it would stay that way too. Still, once the two of them had overcome the initial awkward silence it had gone pretty well.

They had started out by talking about Naruto. Apparently, ever since Inari had visited the Leaf village, Naruto and he had been exchanging letters on a fairly regular basis. Naruto had told Inari that he had wanted to accept the mission, but his Genin team was going to be taking the exam now and he couldn't leave the village. Personally, Konohamaru didn't think they had a snowball's chance in a fireball of passing, but that was Naruto’s optimism for you.

Mentally, the future Hokage canceled his plans to kill Moegi the next time he saw her. He didn't know why she had suddenly become so interested in his love life, but he wished she would stop. The young ninja was having a nice time, but he was not on a date.

“So, what's the story with you and that innkeeper?” Konohamaru asked during a lull in the conversation.

“Akemi?” Inari questioned. “There's really not much to say, Akemi and her mother run that Inn which they started back when her father was still alive. About a month ago they were robbed. After it happened, her mother ran into the street shouting they had been robbed. At the time, I was only a block away and I ended up chasing down the guy.” The slightly smaller teen shrugged, “Ever since then she's been sort of like that. I guess it's my own fault for stopping and seeing how they're doing.”

Konohamaru nodded in sympathy. “Something similar happened to me about a year ago when I was escorting a caravan through an area where there were lots of bandits.”

“So you know what it's like. My mom and grandfather say I should go out with her, but it wouldn't seem right.”

“Yeah, I understand,” he replied taking a sip of his soda. What he didn't add was if it had been the girl's twin brother who had offered to take him into the bushes he wouldn't have hesitated. “So what's your rank in this National Guard thing anyways Inari?” His companion looked down and away, and again Konohamaru thought how cute he was, but quickly tried to banish that thought.

“I'm a lieutenant. I have four people who work under me and we patrol about ten blocks when I have to patrol.”

“Oh, that's impressive.” His respect for the boy had just increased tenfold, and oddly, it made him even more appealing to him.

Inari shook his head, “Not really. I think I've been given a little special treatment because what I did at the Bridge when I was a kid. My grandfather is kind of famous too because what he did and all.”

“It was kind of the same with my grandfather,” Konohamaru confided. “My grandfather was the leader of the village, and when I was younger everyone treated me special. I got away with a lot more than anyone else could have. Of course, when I met Naruto that all changed.” Pain usually didn't bring back good memories, but remembering how his friend had hit him during their first meeting was one that could.

The conversation turned back to Naruto and shortly thereafter they finished their meal. Inari paid and said he had to leave because he had to get up early the next day. Konohamaru watched him walk away until he was swallowed up by the crowd, feeling far more than the beginning of a friendship blooming.