In Naruto: Reborn with Talent

Gato smugly climbed the ladder towards the top of the bridge from his ship anchored underneath it. He could already see the surprised and enraged expression of Raiga.

His plan was impeccable.

Making a deal with the Sound Village would certainly allow Gato to spread his influence far and wide. Sure, he could not doublecross them to save money but these were not some rogue ninjas nobody would miss. No. This deal was a game-changer for Gato. He could push his influence into the major nations with the Sound Village as his backer!

'To think all it would take is a bit of financial support.' Gato shook his head. He knew there would be a much bigger price in the future but he didn't really care. He had enough money and while he was indeed greedy and stingy, even he could admit that much, he didn't become one of the richest men by not knowing when to let go of temporary benefits for long-term fortune.

Gato was aware that once this plan is successful, the Sound Village would most likely want to use his new position as the hidden ruler of the Land of Waves to spread their own influence. Gato... was a businessman, however. He wanted to be the top dog, that's why he started with his profession, but he didn't care to rule over people. He liked to order his grunts around but being responsible for their actions and well-being? No, thank you. That was not for him.

Being a tyrant suited him quite well. He had it all. Power, even if only indirect one. Wealth, and yes, it was satisfying knowing most of it was taken from someone else. Women, Gato did love the resignation on the faces of his bed warmers and the fact they were unwilling and illegal slaves did not bother him at all.

Letting the Sound Village use the Land of Waves as their outpost would not bother Gato at all as long as his businesses would not be affected. Who cared about these poor bastards anyway?

Finally reaching the top of the bridge, Gato quickly but silently ordered his thugs to gather around him. It was time to give Raiga Kurosuki the surprise of a lifetime!

While the man would most definitely slaughter Gato if he didn't have allies, he would no doubt not expect the Sound ninjas to stab him in the back!

What Gato didn't expect was to see Raiga at the mercy of an unknown petite woman who held a sword under his neck but that only made Gato halt for a second before a grin again sprang up on his face.

'I knew I should have never trusted Raiga! Honestly! The man can't even complete the mission despite having reinforcements.' Gato exasperatedly thought.

It didn't matter to him that Raiga lost. The two famous jonins, Zabuza and Kakashi, seemed dead on their feet. That meant Raiga did his money's worth. Not that Gato intended to pay him. As for the two women... Gato spared them a cursory leer before disregarding them. Oh, he would certainly order his men to capture them but he didn't deem them a threat.

That's why when the redheaded woman let Raiga go and turned towards Gato, her ice-cold eyes looking straight at him and making him involuntary shudder, Gato didn't care that it seemed the rogue ninja betrayed him. He was confident in his preparations and allies.

"Heh, scum as always, eh, Gato." Raiga sneered looking at the gathering of bloodthirsty thugs, making Gato widely grin at the naive fool.

"If you did your job well, I wouldn't have needed to take things into my own hands. You have only yourself to blame." Gato confidently exclaimed, pushing his nose up to stare at Raiga who was at least three times as tall as the midget.

"I see..." Raiga lowered his head and tightly clutched the Kiba blades. Betrayal was a common sight in the life of a rogue ninja but that didn't mean Raiga liked the feeling of being betrayed.

"Sakon, Jiroubou, take care of the fool!" Gato shouted, pointing at Raiga.

Sakon and Jiroubou appeared among the gathered thugs, looking quite irritated at their role of nanny for the short stuff. Alas, Orochimaru ordered them to keep the wealthy midget happy and safe so he can pay them for their efforts.

Keeping him safe was easy. There was no one with enough balls to oppose Gato in the Land of Waves. Keeping him happy, however... Sakon could only sigh in exasperation.

'Sakon, persuade that woman... Sakon, show him the error of their ways... Sakon, can't you use your ability to make me taller? Sakon, Sakon, Sakon... for fuck's sake, one of these days, I am going to gut the short piece of shit!' Sakon ground his teeth.

'Calm down, brother. His usefulness will run out eventually. Your time will come.' Ukon, who was hidden in Sakon's body, mentally responded, getting an annoyed grunt of reluctant agreement from Sakon.

As for Jiroubou... as long as he was fed and watered, he didn't care much. He knew he was on the bodyguard duty because of his strong defensive Earth Jutsus. He also knew his intelligence would prevent Gato from giving him complicated tasks. That was perfectly fine for him. Sakon could have them. Hehe...

He may not be the smartest but he surely knew how to make use of it to get less work and more food. All it took was to offhandedly lie that the more he ate the stronger his Earth Jutsu became and he received an all-you-can-eat buffet from Gato.

Frankly, Jiroubou didn't dislike his current job. Not at all.

When Raiga saw the two Sound ninjas, he raised his eyebrow at them, 'Wasn't there supposed to be only three sound ninjas? Where did these two come from?' Outwardly, however, he amusedly spoke, intending to provoke his opponents, "Hooh~? That's it? A fatso and freak?"

Jiroubou's eyebrow twitched and his lips curled into a sneer. He understood the insult. Nevertheless, he turned towards Sakon and smirked, "He called you fat."

The high-pitched whiny sound of repressed irritation was so worth it!

"Whatever..." Sakon eventually muttered, his expression scrunched in a grimace. "Let's just deal with them so you can go back to gorging yourself to an early death."

"As if you and your brother didn't have your pick of women under Gato..." Jiroubou scoffed with an eye roll in his last retort before he turned around and focused on Raiga when they arrived in the space in-between the gatherings of Gato's thugs and the spot where the two women and two exhausted jonins stood, intent on watching the spectacle.

Zabuza was quite amused at the carefree attitude of these two while Kakashi looked at them as if they were idiots. Ringo didn't care enough so she just indifferently wondered how much time would she waste here and Anko... well, she had an inkling the two had no idea how strong Raiga was and probably thought their allies were still in the game.

'Poor bastards.' She snickered.

Raiga looked at the two cocky brats... because fifteen-year-old shits didn't deserve to be called adults... and inwardly sighed. 'Such confidence and arrogance. To think I was once like them.' He wryly grimaced, remembering his own past self before his ass came in contact with Ringo's boot.

Unknown to the three combatants, just as their clash was about to commence, they thought the exact same thing.

'Well, let's just get this over with.. I will finish this in a jiffy.'