[Tazuna's House — Nightfall]
After completing their day's guard duty at the bridge, Team 10 returned — weary but steady.
In the dim yard beyond the porch, Team 7 still trained — movements slowed but determined, feet flickering against bark under the last threads of twilight.
Tree walking.
No simple drill — not when every ounce of control mattered.
Dinner passed quietly, the strain of the day plain across every face.
Even Sakura and Ino barely spoke between bites.
The decision for tomorrow came easily, their will be a rotation:
Team 10 would begin chakra control training in the morning.
Team 7 would take up guard duty in their place.
As the meal ended, Naruto spoke — voice even, gaze calm:
"I will take the night watch."
No one objected.
Team 7 was spent — they needed rest.
Team 10 needed clarity for the precision training ahead.
Naruto — already known for endurance beyond his peers — would handle the watch alone.
But across the low-lit room, Shikako's gaze lingered on him — a slight narrowing of her eyes beneath the calm mask.
Not doubt. Not suspicion.
Calculation.
He's going to move.
Their talk on the bridge had left its mark — of that, she was certain.
And though he had said nothing of the stranger he had clearly met — had not even hinted at it — the way he had listened, weighed her plan, then chosen night duty again… the signs were there.
He wants to act while others rest.
She almost smirked.
Yet beneath the analysis — faint, unbidden — another thought stirred:
I want to see what he does.
Not as a mission . Not as another point in a long mental map.
But because the way he moved, the way he considered her words — rare for a shinobi her age — made her want to understand more.
And perhaps... to be part of what came next.
She caught herself mid-thought — shook it off.
Nara first. Strategy first.
But the flicker remained.
[Land of Waves — Outskirts — Late Night]
The stars burned bright above the dark treetops — sharp, cold pinpoints in the hush of night.
Naruto stood alone beneath the canopy — cloak trailing faintly behind him, gaze steady on the restless sea of shadows.
Behind him, the village slept.
Night duty. The perfect cover.
But tonight — it was only the beginning.
His fingers shaped the one-handed seal with practiced ease.
In a breath, Shadow Clones flickered into being — steady, disciplined reflections of his intent.
"Find Gatō's hideout.", they already knew back in their head.
No wasted motion.
The clones scattered at once — shadows against shadows, vanishing into the unseen edges of the land.
Naruto remained beneath the stars — silent, waiting.
Watching.
Planning.
[Tazuna's House — Girls Room — Late Night]
The house had long fallen into quiet.
Soft breaths rose and fell from the room — teammates deep in needed sleep.
But not her.
Shikako rested on her side, one arm tucked beneath her head, eyes half-closed as the faint moonlight slipped through the weathered shutters.
Her mind should have been sorting through tomorrow's training.Through angles of approach. Chakra control paths. Possible counter-moves.
But instead...
Her thoughts circled back — again — to the way Naruto had stood by guardrail of bridge earlier.
Too calm. Too certain.
Not reckless — that wasn't his style.
And tonight... taking the watch alone.
No one had questioned it. She hadn't either.
But still, here she was — awake, fingers drumming faintly against the thin blanket.
"He's going to move."
She had been sure of it the moment he spoke.
And now... she could feel it.
Part of her wanted to follow — to track, to see what he would do.
Another part — the quieter one that always tried to balance Nara instinct with sense — said otherwise.
He won't act foolishly. He listened. He weighs risk.
And somewhere beneath even that:
I don't want him walking into this alone.
A rare flicker of unease twined through her thoughts — foreign, lingering.
It wasn't about the mission. Not really.
But she pushed that down — for now.
Trust. That was the choice she made.
And in the quiet of the night, Shikako Nara closed her eyes — not to sleep fully, but to wait.
Knowing that out there in the dark, beneath the stars and the trees — Naruto Uzumaki was already moving.
[Streets Near Gatō's Hideout ]
One of Naruto's clones moved silently through the winding village streets, eyes sharp and focused. Following a group of Gatō's goons as they slipped through shadowed alleys and avoided the main roads, the clone stayed hidden in the darkness.
The trail led to a secluded, heavily guarded compound — Gatō's hideout. The clone paused briefly, then popped out of existence, sending its gathered memory back to Naruto.
[Tazuna's House — Forest Outside]
Naruto's eyes snapped open, the clone's memories flooding his mind. Without hesitation, he formed ten shadow clones with a quick, single-handed hand seal — each stepping away silently to cover different parts of the village.
"Keep watch on the houses around the bridge. Report anything suspicious immediately," Naruto ordered firmly.
[Gatō's Hideout — Night]
Alone, Naruto moved swiftly and quietly through the fog-veiled streets.
Moonlight barely touched the worn rooftops, and the sea wind carried the scent of salt and damp stone.
Each step was soundless beneath his cloak — his body honed to silence.
The clone's memory burned clear in his mind — the winding path, the guarded gates, the faces of men without honor.
Now, before him, loomed the stronghold: a squat, reinforced building of stone and timber, tucked at the edge of the village where few dared to tread.
Rough stone walls rose around it, broken by gaps where armed men paced with slack, brutal confidence.
No proper discipline. But numbers made up for it.
Naruto circled in shadow, watching.
Nearly three dozen men.
Some half-drunk, others sharp-eyed — all dangerous enough in a pack.
They spoke in low voices — boasts, threats, laughter edged with cruelty.
Through a narrow breach in the side wall, Naruto slipped inside — silent as shadow.
Within, the air grew heavier. Fouler.
The stench of unwashed bodies and cheap alcohol thickened each breath.
He moved along the beams above — crouched, unseen — gaze scanning every shadow.
Storage crates lined one wall. Weapons. Stolen goods.
But in a dark corner, half-hidden beneath torn canvas, a heavy metal locker caught his eye.
Its surface was scarred, the lock thick — the kind used to keep something either dangerous or deeply valuable.
Naruto's sharp gaze narrowed.
Lowering himself silently, he moved closer — shadowed by the stacked crates.
A faint click — the locker had been left partially unlatched in haste.
Inside—
Stacks of ryō notes. Bundles upon bundles, some carelessly tied, others stuffed in sacks.
Blood-earned wealth hoarded in the dark.
Gatō's fortune.
Naruto's jaw tensed.
This — this was the price extracted from the Land of Waves.
But his gaze moved on, sharper still.
Another step, another glance —
And then, his breath caught.
Near the back wall, behind stacked barrels and a rusted chain, stood a crude iron cage.
Inside—
Women.
Perhaps a dozen.
Their faces were pale, eyes hollow. Some clung to one another; others sat slumped, as though hope itself had withered within them.
Marks of bruises and grime marred thin limbs.
Naruto's fists clenched beneath his cloak, the fabric straining faintly.
His breath steadied — cold, controlled.
This was no longer about builders or stone.
Not just about a bridge.
This was filth beneath filth — a rot that reached deeper than he had seen.
Gatō's greed had no end.
Naruto's gaze swept the room once more.
Too many guards to strike alone — not yet. Not at the cost of risking the women inside.
Patience. Precision.
A plan must come first.
He breathed slow — memory marking each path, each post, each gap in the guard rotations.
The count of ryō. The weight of their crime.
Then, without a sound, he withdrew — slipping out through the rafters.