Return to the Village

Sasuke tossed out those words and ran off. Gato's location was easy to find; everyone in the Land of Waves knew it. He just had to grab someone and ask.

However, when he arrived at Gato Manor and saw countless guards lying on the ground, Sasuke hurried upstairs. The moment he opened the door, he found four Anbu forcing Gato to open his safe.

"Oh? Uchiha Sasuke, what are you doing here?" the lead Anbu asked through his mask.

"Ha, I knew I was too late. You must have already made your move." Sasuke curled his lip and walked into the room, looking at the opened safe.

"How did you know?" an Anbu asked curiously.

"Isn't it obvious? Isn't the Land of Waves' importance to the Land of Fire clear enough? Whether for surveillance, defense, or a war with the Land of Water, this place is needed. Konoha couldn't possibly lack intelligence on it. So, knowing all that, it would have been unreasonable to send only our team. Zabuza wasn't some nobody. Even Kakashi-sensei might not have been guaranteed to beat him, so a team of Anbu was necessary. Then after Zabuza was killed, what would the Anbu do? Naturally, deal with Gato. Our team's training was over, which meant there was no longer any need for Gato to exist. And wasn't his enormous wealth exactly what Konoha needed?"

"Smart. No wonder the Third Hokage praised you. But did you come here for the money too?"

"Why not? If you hadn't arrived yet, I could've taken more. Now, I'll just take the cash. It isn't much anyway. Oh, and let me remind you—don't take all of his wealth, especially the shipping company shares. At least give some to the Daimyo of the Land of Waves. Only benefits can bind them. Also, once the bridge is finished, send trade caravans here immediately. Even giving things away for free would be fine. Then buy large quantities of seafood to take back. And one more thing—my Barbecue Restaurant needs to import lots of seafood. Don't forget." As he spoke, Sasuke searched the room until he found a bag, then took all the cash from the safe.

The Anbu did not stop him. It had originally been his team's mission, and they did not care about that little bit of cash. They were simply very curious about how Sasuke had thought of so much.

"Goodbye." Once Sasuke had packed the cash, he left directly through the window.

"Send a message to the Hokage and report what Sasuke said. Then wait for the Hokage's orders. Take everything for now. If the Hokage agrees, he'll send an envoy to meet up with us." After considering it, the captain decided to leave the matter to the Hokage.

After receiving the message, the Third Hokage gathered his advisers to discuss it. They thought Sasuke's idea was excellent. Konoha was now offering timely aid, using shares to win over the Daimyo and supplies to win over the people of the Land of Waves. In any case, it was all Gato's money. From then on, they would have a foundation here and would also gain control over much of the Land of Waves' economy.

Sasuke no longer concerned himself with the Anbu's actions. Carrying a bag of money, he returned to Tazuna's house. "I'm back," Sasuke called as he entered, only to see Naruto arguing with a child. "You're no match for Gato. You'll be killed." Inari was being rather stubborn.

"Oh, Sasuke's back? Did you take care of Gato? Why didn't you wait for me?" Naruto asked. "Take care of Gato? That's impossible," Inari continued shouting.

"I'm terribly sorry. This is my grandson," Tazuna apologized.

"It doesn't matter. Gato is finished anyway. Look, this is money I got from him. Let's split it up. Tazuna-san can have a share too." Sasuke had no time to argue with a child.

"What? Gato is finished?" Tazuna asked in disbelief.

"That's right, he's finished. Better days are coming for the Land of Waves. The bridge can resume construction as soon as possible, and once it's done, we can go home. I'm starting to miss Konoha." No matter what they thought, Sasuke carried the bag upstairs. He first checked on Kakashi, then told him about the Anbu. Kakashi was not surprised, and Sasuke knew that even if Kakashi had not known the plan, he could have guessed it. Otherwise, he would not have continued the mission over a few words from Tazuna. It had been a very dangerous matter. After what happened with Obito, Kakashi could not possibly be so arrogant. He had merely done his utmost in battle to cover for the Anbu.

"Don't tell Naruto and the others. It's enough that you know." That was Kakashi's instruction. Sasuke understood Naruto's place in Kakashi's and the Third Hokage's hearts, and he had no intention of telling Naruto anyway. It was a burdensome matter. Sasuke divided the money into five shares, one for each of them and one for Tazuna.

"Whoa, that's so much money! This is enough for me to eat a whole lot of ramen." The ramen fanatic still only cared about ramen. The rest was simple. Every day, Sasuke went alone to protect Tazuna at the bridge. It was a mission, after all. Naruto and Sakura trained under Kakashi, while Kakashi recovered from his injuries. At last, the bridge was completed. It would no longer be called the Naruto Bridge, but the Great Naruto Bridge.

Kakashi had recovered, and it was time for them to head home. At some point, Inari and Naruto had become good friends. That was normal, though. They were both idiots, according to Sasuke.

"Whew, we can finally go home. I really miss Ichiraku Ramen." On the way back, Naruto happily ran ahead. They no longer needed to move slowly on the return trip. They were all ninja now, so they only had to travel at Sakura's pace. Ninja traveled like kangaroos, hopping from tree to tree. It conserved more stamina; otherwise, they could only run along the road.

Konoha's gates were truly enormous. Sasuke stood beneath them and looked up, then went with Kakashi to hand over their travel permits to the guards. These were essential for leaving and returning to the village. Leaving or returning without a record counted as desertion or espionage. That was no joke.

"All right, I'm going to submit the mission report. You're dismissed. Gather at the Mission Hall tomorrow." With that, Kakashi vanished in a flash. I'm so jealous. When will I be able to learn that? Maybe when Itachi returned to Konoha to capture Naruto, Sasuke could ask him. He wondered what Itachi's attitude would be like and whether he would go mad.

"Sasuke, Sakura, let's go celebrate!" Naruto shouted. "Celebrate? Celebrate what?" Sakura could not understand Naruto's way of thinking.

"Of course, our first high-level mission! A Jonin mission! That's worth celebrating." Naruto spoke seriously. He felt it was a major event.

"Yeah, let's celebrate." Sasuke smiled and agreed with Naruto. He needed to relax as well.