The legacy of the yellow flash

Part-30

"Naruto, take this. Use it as soon as you see an opening."

Naruto accepted the small vial Shikamaru handed to him. "Gotcha. I gotta hand it to you man. You've learned a lot about the enemy from just one encounter."

"That may be, but I still don't have much info on the other guy, unfortunately."

Naruto waved the statement away. "We'll take what we can get. Beggars can't be choosers."

"Though it's very impressive how quickly he was able to incorporate me into his strategy, given how abruptly I joined them."

"Given how lazy he is, I'm surprised he didn't fall asleep. He must've used a lot of brainpower at once." Kurama said

"You can't resist making fun of others, can you?" Naruto asked the fox with a sweatdrop

"I've got nothing else to do," Kurama replied

Shikamaru's voice called him back to attention. "It's imperative that you memorize the simulations. The success of this plan depends on it."

Naruto put the vial in one of his pockets and stood up. "Now that we're done planning, you guys ready to go?"

"Hai!"

Naruto looked at his second-in-command. "I'll let you take this one. I'm not familiar with the routes you guys took or what route they took."

Chouji piped in. "We'll search the route from the fire temple to the exchange point. There has to be something there."

Shikamaru shook his head. "Perhaps, but I wouldn't hold my breath."

Naruto clapped once. "Alright! Let's roll!"

Almost a day later, they found themselves on the route that was seldom used to get to Konoha. It was basically a dead forest, with the topsoil of the ground eroded and trees have lost any semblance of life a long time ago.

Naruto stood up from where he was inspecting the ground for tracks. "I got nothing. The rain wiped out any clue that might have led us to a trail. What do we do?"

Shikamaru tsked. "Our plan is useless if we can't find our enemy."

Chouji spoke up, sounding doubtful. "Well they did say they would return...but they would be smart enough not to go to the same spot, right?"

"There should be two squads watching the exchange point," Ino added in.

"It wouldn't be a problem if we were only dealing with Hidan, but he's with the other guy."

Naruto snapped his fingers. "Let's look at this another way. Even if they take a different route, their targets remain the same. Capturing me, and stealing Asuma's body for the bounty."

Chouji spoke up again, sounding worried. "Naruto, are you sure you'll be fine?"

Inwardly, he smiled. Chouji was a true friend, always worrying about the safety of his friends. "Don't worry. If they are after the bijuu inside me, they'll want to take me alive. They'll be restraining their attacks."

Shikamaru nodded. "They're heading for Konoha then. That narrows down the area we need to search."

"How do we find them though?"

Shikamaru looked up to the sky as if searching for an answer. And to Naruto's mild surprise, he got it. "We'll use that," he nodded to an owl.

Naruto smirked and nodded. A moment later, Ino slumped to the ground after her consciousness left her body. He settled down against a trunk. It could be a long wait.