Naruto Senju Shippuden

Chapter 8

Naruto and the new team stood at the gate 55 minutes after leaving Tsunade's office. "It is nice to be on time for once," Naruto says melancholically. It was clear as day he missed Kakashi's eccentricities. "Let's move out," Yamato says with a sympathetic smile. They finally left not long after the remarks.

They were walking at a civilian pace. Naruto was seemingly ignoring the newcomer. However, he focused on the boy's chakra to see if there were any irregular fluctuations, indicating an action was about to be taken. It was eerily smooth. Like someone had forcibly made it so. "Come on, Naruto. You can't ignore him forever. You are going to have to fight with him if something comes up," Yamato scolds his first student. "Hai, hai..." Naruto says as he walks straight ahead. They continue to walk in silence. "Just so you know... There are already three team members, and you aren't one of them," Naruto says as he walks past Sai. He just smiles his creepy fake smile. Naruto didn't even make eye contact. "Comparing me to that cockr-" Sai starts in the same flat tone he has. But a sharp blade gets put on his throat before he can finish his sentence. "I may not be as fast as Kakashi, but I am still a lot faster than you," Naruto says and presses the blade even closer. "You know nothing of him or what he has gone through. I suggest you shut the fuck up before I cut your tongue out for you," Naruto warns. Sai raises his arms. "I give... I won't say anything like that around you..." He says in a flat tone. "Glad to be on the same page for once," Naruto says as he walks away from Sai. Sakura was looking worriedly over at Naruto. She didn't want to see him lose control again. However, she did agree with Naruto that this was no permanent change in personnel.

Naruto and Sai didn't have any more incidents for the next few hours. Sai understood the power difference between them now and didn't want to put his life on the line more than he had to. They took a break for dinner and slept for the night in one of Yamato's wood houses. Naruto received some dirty glances from Sakura after she knew Mokuton could make houses. Naruto, who preferred sleeping outside, never used the technique when they were out on a mission. Naruto tried to play it off by looking as innocent as possible.

Naruto and the rest of Team Yamato are walking again. Sai did glance at Naruto every now and then. Naruto caught him every time. He just sends him one of his terrible smiles. "This way," Yamato suddenly says and walks off the pathway into a forest. It was narrow and dark. "What is the meaning of this taicho? I thought we were on the right path," Sakura says after catching up to him. "Tsunade-sama said it could be a trap, right..." Yamato says. "We don't know if there are traps on the way to the bridge on the path," He explains. They walk until the sun goes down, and Yamato pulls out another mokuton house in the middle of a clearing.

"Gather up for a second. There is something I would like to ask Naruto," Yamato says after everyone has made themselves ready for sleep. "What is it?" Naruto asks as he sits down to Yamato's left. "It is about Sasori," Yamato says. "I'll warn you. We didn't exactly have a conversation..." Naruto answers. "That's fine. I just need a physical and voice description," Yamato says. "Well, he was piloting two puppets. The interesting one is the first one," Naruto starts. "Why is that?" Sai asks. "He only used the other when I smashed the first one. I guess that Sasori rarely uses the other unless there is a dire situation or the first one breaks beyond repair," Naruto answers. "He ..." Naruto starts to explain.

After 20 minutes of in-depth questioning from Yamato, and Sakura filling in some blanks that Naruto missed, Yamato had a pretty good picture of how Sasori acts and talks. Unfortunately, neither Naruto nor Sakura had seen the puppet move, so they made an educated guess. "I'll go first alone since there is a chance that this is an Orochimaru trap," Yamato says. "Couldn't we hide underneath the bridge so we can jump any potential ambushers?" Naruto asks. "And what if they bring a sensor? It is too risky for the whole team to get caught up in an ambush," Yamato answers. "There you go underestimating me just like Kakashi..." Naruto says with a pout. "It is not that I don't value your skill. It is just that I don't want to risk some of my comrades doing something we can avoid," Yamato says as he offers the young Mokuton user a small, kind smile. "I'm sure Kakashi-senpai felt the same way..." Yamato says, trying to bring Naruto back. "Fine, whatever," Naruto says.