Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrificial Beauty ❯ Espionage ( Chapter 9 )

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or any of its characters, that right is reserved for Masashi Kishimoto.
First, a concern I wanted to address:
I received an unsigned comment in response to chapter one on FF.net that I was very hurt by. I will fully admit that stories I have read have been an inspiration for my story, but that’s true of every story I’ve ever read, every movie I’ve ever seen and even (crazily enough) real life. I used a story device to explore some subjects that I thought could be explored further- in a way that interested me.
Because of this, I would also like to thank taixi (a guest reviewer), for calling them on this. It made me feel much better that others also felt that it was a ridiculous accusation.
On a lighter note…
A special thank you to my guest reviewer Laurie, your review held good insight and I was grateful for your point of view, thanks.
And an even bigger thank you to Juniper11 for being such a lovely beta! Without her help I would surely have given up on this chapter for at least another month…
PS to all: I’M SO SORRY THAT IT’S TAKEN ME SO LONG TO UPDATE!! But, as promised on my profile, I will never abandon my stories- just take two years to update them… @.@
Shiromuku: a traditional Japanese wedding kimono, entirely white as according to Shinto tradition.
Yugakura: Hot Springs Country
Break
Chapter 9: Espionage
To say that Kakashi had been surprised when he returned to his room to find Sakura and her things missing would be a vast understatement, but to find upon further inspection that she had managed to find a way into Mejiro's training facility wasn't. She was a consummate professional. Now, though, nearly two weeks later, Kakashi found himself wishing that she had been just a little less good at her job.
Avoiding Mejiro was literally impossible since she was the one he was supposed to report the progress of the girls Thus far, however, he had managed to avoid letting her so much as touch him. She had laughed at first, viewing it as a game similar to cat and mouse, but he was sure that her patience would soon wear thin.
A change of tactics was in order.
He wasn't sure if his new idea was any better, or if it would even end up being his worst idea yet, but it was the only thing he thought might stand a chance of success. Mejiro would never stop until she had cornered him, but he couldn't allow that poison Sakura had said was nothing more than a strong aphrodisiac into his system again. It was far too strong.
So that left him with henge-no-bunshin.
It really wasn't that good of an idea since she was a shinobi that indulged in all kinds of depravity during sex and he had no way of ensuring his clone could endure it, but it was either that or fuck her himself and hope to hell she didn't find a way to break him.
It had to work.
Break
Sakura woke slowly, feeling almost drugged with the strange pleasure pulsing through her system. She could feel Kakashi straddling her as she lay on her back in the bed, his soft hands caressing her skin and leaving tingling trails of sensation in their wake… Wait, soft?
Abruptly opening her eyes, Sakura was only barely able to force her instinctive scream into a startled 'eep!' before scrambling backwards, away from the black haired girl that had been above her.
Mei.
Sakura had met the girl briefly the previous day when she had been assigned as the girl's roommate in the training barracks. With black hair and honey-golden eyes, she was one of the most beautiful girls Sakura had ever seen.
Mei laughed as if Sakura had just told a merry joke. "Come now Saki-chan, surely your Kakashi-sensei has used chakra tendrils on you before?" Slowly calming her breathing Sakura shook her head.
Cocking her head to the side like a Raptor studying its prey Mei looked over Sakura's form, and it was then that Sakura realized she was naked. another startled 'eep' Sakura whipped her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around them. Her heart was beating almost out of control, this girl had somehow not only climbed onto the top bunk and straddled Sakura without waking her, but had stripped her too! All of her training should have made such a thing impossible… Just the thought made Sakura shake inside. After all, if she had done all that, what else could she have done?Or rather what else had she done?
"You're fat." Mei's words were like a slap to the face, delivered matter-of-factly though they were. "How far along were you?"
Surprised by the question, Sakura answered automatically. "Four… I think."
Mei snorted. "You shouldn't have gained so much. We'll have to put you on a restrictive diet and get that flab off of you soon. Otherwise Mejiro-sama will put you on the civilian rotation when you're allowed to be of service next month." Mei sat cross-legged and leaned back on her arms as if sitting on Sakura's bed talking while the other girl was naked was the most normal thing in the world. "It's the worst rotation, you know, since they're civilians we're not allowed to fight back when they hit us. Not that it matters all that much, but at least with the shinobi we can have some fun."
At the last, Mei smiled like a predator playing with its dinner and the image sent a shiver down Sakura's spine.
"But, Kakashi-sensei…"
Mei snorted again and rolled her eyes. "I'm sure that by the time you're able to be of service to him again Mejiro-sama will have given him a taste of her; and no man can stop with just the one taste… After that, you won't have to worry about him anymore."
Shoving down the terror that was squeezing her heart, Sakura forced a smile and slowly lowered her legs. "Do you think a month will be enough time?" She looked down at herself with a nearly disgusted look. "Kakashi-sensei wouldn't let me do anything but fuck and eat since I got pregnant, I'm really out of shape."
Mei leaned forward and it was all Sakura could do to sit still when she cupped Sakura's breast and ran her thumb over her nipple. The movement sent a shudder through Sakura's body that was instinctive. It made her feel dirty, but she refused to pull away and Mei smiled.
"We'll get you back in shape Saki-chan…" Eyes heavily lidded with what might have been Mei rubbed her thumb over Sakura's nipple again, this time with one of the chakra tendrils she had used before and Sakura couldn't suppress the moan that escaped her throat. "Ah, so sensitive… It's a pity we can't use any toys until you've healed, but we can still play…"
With that Mei pushed Sakura onto her back, lay between her parted legs, and began sucking on one nipple while continuing to run chakra tendrils over the other.
Sakura was close to shock, she didn't think she should fight the girl off if she wanted to put herself in a position that would be of real use on this mission; but she was afraid of the sensations coursing through her. Afraid of how much she liked it.
But this was a mission, and she would do whatever it took to bring these people down.It was a thought that she would hold onto tightly until the job was done.
When Mei switched breasts and ran her spare hand down Sakura's belly to her clit, Sakura nearly came off the mattress with a cry at the delicious sensation, and Mei laughed before she did it again.
Again and again until tears were streaming down Sakura's cheeks and she came with a scream.
Laughing again, Mei lightly caressed Sakura's cheek. "We're going to have fun this month Saki-chan. Until you're fully healed, I'm off the shinobi rotation and assigned exclusively to your training… aren't you lucky?"
Without waiting for Sakura's response Mei vaulted out of the bed and landed neatly on the floor, calling over her shoulder. "Take a shower and dress for breakfast, we'll start training in an hour." And with that she walked out the door.
For long minutes Sakura laid in the bed shaking before she rose to take a hot shower; and if a few of the water droplets rolling down her face were saltier than the others, there was no one else to know.
Break
Two weeks later.
The voices were hushed at first, becoming more distinct as Sakura crept silently down the corridor. Over the last month she had become quite adept at navigating the maze-like corridors of the underground facility, taking any free time given her to explore. She had learned which door hinges creaked and which guards she could get past without expending any chakra, and it served her well.
It had surprised Sakura when she had first learned that Mejiro was the actual leader of the group, her combat abilities were probably on par with a strong chuunin or a tokubetsu jounin- but she was nowhere near Taka's level. What it all came down to though, was control. After the episode with Kakashi the previous month Sakura had spent enough time listening behind doors and observing the men of the facility to realize that it was some sort of chemical reaction that the men had when coming into contact with her saliva… as well as 'other' bodily fluids.
Sex with Mejiro was quite literally addictive, and the men who had slept with her even once were compelled to do whatever she asked of them just to have another taste of her. They weren't able to force her because Taka was never far from her side; and even when he was, the threat of what he would do to anyone who touched her without permission was deterrent enough. Especially since she was more than willing to spend the majority of the day on her back… or against a wall… or bent over a table… or, well, pretty much any sexual position there was- she wasn't all that picky.
As Sakura finally came to the door the voices were coming from, she noted that it had been left partially open and she peeked through the slight opening; observing the room in horrified fascination. The room itself was average, about the same size as her studio apartment, but with a few rows of chairs to the right and a slightly raised platform to the left from which Mejiro was addressing the room. Next to her stood a girl of about thirteen.
Sakura had seen many horrors in her time as a shinobi, but as a woman she found this to be one of the most heinous. The girl stood there quietly as Mejiro explained to the others in the room that Suki was six months pregnant with the child of the leader of Stone's largest border town. Mejiro had sent the girl to him, arranged it so that he wouldn't know of her own involvement, insured that Suki became pregnant, and then 'kidnapped' the girl. Suki, and her baby moreover, was now being held as captives to ensure his cooperation. The girl said nothing, but just stood there holding her stomach with arms covered in bruises and eyes empty of hope.
"The fool gave into all of my demands as soon as he received the picture of her like this, so this is what each of you will do as well; one girl to each major border town. You will get in, get the leader or one of his close subordinates, get knocked up, and send us word to take you back… Yes Mei?"
Standing near the back of the group with a smile on her face stood the girl who had been both Sakura's mentor and tormentor for the last month, just the sight of that particular smile made Sakura shudder. Of all the girls in the compound, it was Mei that Sakura was the most wary of. She was fifteen, the first of Mejiro's 'recruits,' and she had been with Mejiro and Taka since she was ten. It made Sakura sick to think of what the girl had gone through, but even worse was what she had become- Mei was perfect in Mejiro's eyes.
She took pleasure only in fucking, trapping, and killing men and women alike. Like a cat, she was more interested in playing with her prey than eating it; and she had been assigned to mold 'Saki' into the perfect killing machine. Over the last few weeks Sakura had learned that that particular smile as one usually reserved for the suffering of others.
"There are only ten major border towns, but there are more than twenty of us here, why?" Mejiro smiled at Mei's words.
"Handlers. Those of you who are not breeders already know who you are; you will each take one of our little broodmares and set about prepping them for the task at hand. Mei and Hana will be taking the two largest of the facilities, so each of you should take two girls. Anything else?" When Mei did nothing but smile wider and no one else had anything to say Mejiro dismissed the lot with a wave of her arm and Sakura took it as her signal to leave as well, swiftly running on silent feet down corridor after corridor until she was nearly to her destination.
Using a mirror to look around the corner before darting across the hallway and into the unmarked door that led to Kakashi's room, Sakura couldn't help but feel nervous energy bubbling up through her. Sakura had learned a great deal about the way the band of rebels operated over the last few weeks.
The doctor, the gardener, the carpenter, the teachers, the bodyguards, and even the kitchen scrubs were all male; paid not only a regular wage, but also had almost unlimited access to the young girls. The girls themselves were educated and then thrown into the field. A bodyguard would be assigned to each mission, and the missions themselves would range anywhere from a simple booty call for a pedophile, to an assassination for someone willing to pay enormous amounts of money for someone who would not ask questions or become squeamish when it came to women and children.
And now she knew why they had been so successful thus far, Mejiro held nothing sacred and held no loyalty to anyone or anything but her own ideology.
When she really thought about it, this was probably why Mejiro hadn't put her into the seduction classes yet… Mei had refused to give even a hint as to why 'Saki' had been excluded thus far- but now it made sense. If Mejiro even suspected that Saki would be unlikely to perform as mercilessly as her 'handlers,' it only made sense that she would plan to use Saki as a 'breeder.' It was still strange that she had been given so long of a recovery period though, the normal recommended time was one to two weeks…
When she was safely inside Kakashi's room it was easy to see that it was empty, but Sakura was loath to leave a note in case of an unwanted set of eyes finding it. Just waiting wasn't really an option either... Looking around the room, she made a beeline for his pile of dirty clothes lying on top of a chair in the corner of the room in a very un-Kakashi like display. Quickly she checked the clothing pile for something out of the ordinary, going through all his pockets until she found what she was looking for.
It was a large coin that had one gash in the rim, and not something that anyone else would be likely to find suspicious. Taking the coin, Sakura walked over to the dresser and set it the corner with the gash pointed in the 7 o'clock position. She would just have to risk that he would be able to find her at the appointed time and be sure that she was somewhere relatively remote.
Without allowing herself any more time to potentially get caught Sakura walked to the door and listened carefully to be sure that no one was in the hall before slipping out and stealthily making her way back to the barracks. She could already tell that the mission was nearing its end, but the closer the end came the closer, too, came the danger. They had no more room for mistakes.
Break
Kakashi scanned the area for chakra signatures briefly before creeping through the darkened halls that led to the girls' barracks. This wasn't a usual meeting place for them, but Sakura had been unable to get anywhere else without attracting attention- so here he was. The soft scrape of a shoe against the cement of the floor alerted him to the presence of another person, someone good enough to conceal their chakra from him.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura's whispered words allowed Kakashi to relax his tensed shoulders marginally.
"Saki, are you alone?" He was sure that she was, but they were never supposed to break character if they could help it.
"Hai Sensei…" Stepping out from the shadows Sakura held her hand out to him with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Without another word Kakashi took her hand and followed as she led him into a small room down the hall, a room barren of everything except a bunk bed and a tall dresser. She led him to the upper bed and then sat on his lap, facing him with her knees on either side of his hips.
Leaning in she whispered, "Mei watches me too closely to leave easily if I'm not sure of where she is, but I don't think she'll go out of her way to stop us from meeting so long as she doesn't suspect that we are meeting for more than an assignation." With that she began to kiss his neck, biting here and there through his mask.
Kakashi felt the urge to kiss her, but refused to give into the temptation. Instead, he took hold of her waist and flipped them around so he was hovering above her on the bed. His fingers nimbly reached under her and unhooked her bra, pushing it and her shirt above her breasts without removing them. "Tell me."
Sakura struggled to keep her thoughts together as his fingers ran lightly over her exposed skin, leaving goose bumps in their wake. It was a difficult task to keep the whispered flow of her observations steady. She could feel his warm breath caress her skin as he breathed in her scent and it didn't matter that he wouldn't remove his mask, just the thought of him taking a pert nipple into his mouth sent her heart racing.
An image of Mei in the same position flashed through her mind and she immediately snapped wholly back into what she was supposed to be doing.
She clawed at his shoulder in mock frustration before finally grabbing a fistful of his hair and pulling his face away from her. "Sensei… Mejiro-sama said…"
Kakashi tensed above her for a moment before dropping his head to her shoulder and breathing deeply. He got the hint, she had yet to receive permission to engage in actual intercourse yet. "Alright Saki-chan, alright…" He took another moment to breathe her scent in deeply before moving his mouth briefly to her ear. "What did I need to know?"
Sakura looked into his eye as he himself above her again and gripped his arm firmly for a moment before pressing a pre-arranged sign into his bicep.
'Mission End'
Kakashi stared at her for a moment, judging the certainty of her expression. Then he nodded once and left her bed as smoothly and quietly as if he weighed no more than a feather and was out the door before she could bring herself to sit up again.
She sighed a quiet breath of both relief and worry. They had whispered and planned during the hours they spent in the bed of the cabin before coming the compound, trying to leave nothing to chance- but that didn't mean everything would go smoothly. Right now Kakashi was going off to summon Pakun, to call for reinforcements now that they knew they couldn't afford to wait any longer.
Because if they waited until after the girls had spread out to all the major border towns, they might lose all chance of out this group's influence. Sakura wasn't an idiot, if they just took out Taka and Mejiro someone else (probably Mei) would just take their places. They had to stop all of the girls strong and brainwashed enough for Mejiro to deem them worthy of being 'handlers' before they had a chance to leave the compound.
Mejiro hadn't said when the girls were to depart while Sakura had been listening and 'Saki' couldn't ask about something she had no business knowing anything about in the first place, so they had to move now. They were out of time.
Break
One month in general didn't really seem like a long time, though on missions a month could drag out longer than imaginable; but when it came to planning a wedding- it felt like minutes.
When Ino and Sakura had been little girls, even before falling for Sasuke, they had planned out their weddings to the T. What their dresses would look like, what the bride's maids would wear, what kind of flowers they would use, and even the food they would serve. So when Ino had first begun planning for the real thing she had been relatively confident that they had everything under control.
She had forgotten for a moment exactly which family she was marrying into.
This would be a traditional wedding. She couldn't wear the strapless mermaid-style wedding dress, the bride's maids couldn't wear black halter dresses, and the guests would not be eating pizza from the expensive pizzeria down the street. In fact, the only thing she had been able to salvage from her original plans was her desire to use white and blue orchids as the centerpiece for each table. She hadn't wanted to compromise on so much of it, but when she had gone to get Neji's support- she just couldn't say a word.
Unlike most future grooms she had heard of, Neji had been doing just as much to prepare for their wedding as she had; and when she walked into his uncle's study to find him going over the list of things needed for a 'traditional' Hyuuga wedding- he had been smiling. A soft, whimsical smile. After a moment of watching him she had finally asked him why.
"I've always known that my marriage would be a traditional one, but my uncle has allowed me to make one small change."
Ino's eyebrow quirked a bit at the thought of his stern uncle allowing any kind of break with tradition, let alone Neji even asking in the first place. "What is it you wanted to change?"
Neji's smile grew just a fraction wider. "It is traditional for a Hyuuga bride to wear a muku; my uncle has allowed me to choose a kimono that I felt better suited to you instead." He motioned for her to come over to him as he held a photo out to her.
Ino wasn't sure if she was more surprised that he had wanted to, or by the loveliness of the kimono he had decided on. At the hem the color began as a deep blue that grew lighter as it went up, by the time it reached her collar it was the color of her eyes. Hand painted across it white cranes, both flying and at rest next to pale blue pools. Here and there she could see white orchids around the pools of water, and across the right shoulder was a single black crane with a lavender eye holding an orchid in its mouth. The obi was a solid purple of the same shade as her normal shinobi attire, and the cord tied across the front was of the deepest crimson.
It had taken her breath away.
Now, with only days left before the big event, she couldn't help feeling that this wedding would be far superior to the one she had planned as a pre-gennin child. The only thing she would change at this point would be the absence of two of her closest friends. Sakura of course was off on some botany adventure (bleh), and Shikamaru had been called away to some long-term mission with Naruto (on the same night as her first date with Neji none-the-less). She imagined that they would both be quite surprised to come back and find her happily married and the thought of it made her grin.
"It's a good thing Neji's not here to see that, one look at your face right now and any sane man would head for the hills."
Ino rolled her eyes at her mother's sedate sarcasm. "Neji's a jounin."
Shizo studied her embroidery work with a critical eye without looking up at Ino. "Yes, I suppose that most jounin have seen too much to be deemed sane by any normal standards."
Not being able to help her snort of laughter, Ino turned back to her own sewing project- her mother almost always got the last word and no amount of protesting would change that. When it came to Yamanaka Shizo it was better to simply let these things go unless you had a particularly barbarous quip to come back with.
Their current project was Neji's wedding outfit. Ino had felt that after he had gone to such trouble to custom order a kimono according to his own design for her it was only right for her to make his herself… with a lot of help from her mother. The cut was still the traditional haoiri- hakama, but instead of black trim on black it was a deep purple trim against the midnight background; and instead of being an unadorned black haoiri, there was a white crane with a blue eye across the left shoulder.
Just imagining him wearing it as they stood together before their families gave her goose bumps.
Break
Neji fingered the sleeve of the haoiri before him ; it was as well made as it was unexpected. His face remained placid, but he could feel bloom in his chest as he looked back down at the accompanying note.
'Because words can't fully express all that your gift meant to me, I had to find another way to tell you. Will your uncle disapprove do you think? 3 Ino'
"If you let anyone see you smirking like that they might think you knocked her up already." Neji cleared his face of the smile he hadn't known was there and looked up to see Genma leaning against the door jam with a senbon hanging from the corner of his mouth.
"I don't think you were invited to the wedding rehearsal Shiranui- san." The ice in Neji's words made Genma wince, but he shrugged it off and threw a scroll which Neji caught with ease. "Tsunade-sama regrets the necessity, but you're going to have to postpone the big event, we have a mission."
Neji frowned, but held back any comments until he had finished perusing the mission scroll, rolling it up and looking back to Genma with a grim expression on his face. "So…"
Genma smiled. "It explains a lot, doesn't it?"
Neji merely grunted in response before putting the scroll in a pocket of his vest and moving towards the door, pausing when Genma spoke again.
"We'll meet up at the main gate in an hour, and since time is of the essence, we won't be stopping for more than a water break until we reach the compound."
Nodding in acknowledgement Neji moved past him and walked down the corridors of the Hyuuga compound until he reached the room where he knew Ino, her mother, his aunt, and Hanabi were preparing for the wedding rehearsal. He paused outside the door for a minute without moving, he wasn't sure how to say this without sending them into a fit. The wedding was supposed to take place the next day, but now not only was he going to have to skip out on the rehearsal- he was going to have to post-pone the wedding itself.
There was a very good chance that he wouldn't be able to leave here without a little bloodshed…
Shaking off the feeling of inevitability, Neji knocked; he was only a little surprised to find Ino throwing herself into his arms the moment the door had fully opened.
After a moment he wrapped his arms around her for a quick embrace before taking a hold of her shoulders and pushing her back a few inches. Ino looked up at him with an expression of both affection and frustration that caused him to raise an eyebrow in question. She rolled her eyes at his typical silent response.
"Can we just elope? I've heard very nice things about Yugakura this time of year…" Ino looked up at him with the smile that was just a little bit saucy and Neji couldn't help his pained expression at the thought of what he was going to have to say, and in an instant Ino's smile dropped. She knew something was off, and her muscles tensed as she reached behind her and closed the door without looking away from him. "What's wrong?"
Taking a moment to check the hallway for prying eyes Neji took Ino's hand and pulled her into an embrace, whispering into her ear. "I have a mission."
Ino pushed him back with more force than she'd intended and spoke through gritted teeth. "What happened to not on any missions before our wedding?"
Neji tried not to smile, though he feared a quirk of his lip escaped. Ino was dazzlingly lovely when she got her back up. After no more than a moment, though the quirk was gone and he was giving her the solemn expression the seriousness of the situation called for.
"It's imperative." Ino didn't look convinced, but she didn't argue either. Her displeasure was evident the tight press of her lips and her ineffectually pumping fists, but she was shinobi. Displeased or not, she wasn't stupid or selfish enough to put their wedding before the safety of the village.
Not having the time it would require to truly calm her, but not wanting to leave her in such a state either; Neji took her hand, uncurled the fingers and placed a sensual kiss against her palm. The action arrested her immediately, and she stared at him with her jaw slack.
Neji couldn't resist the smile this time and pulled her against him for a soul-searing kiss. He pressed her body against his own tightly and ran a hand up her back to delve into the hair at the base of her neck as he tasted the sweetness of her mouth. Her hands grasped at the fabric of his haoiri as she attempted to meet his passion with her own. But just as quickly as it began, it was over.
She looked up into his pale eyes with confusion and concern as he gently caressed her cheek with his fingers, holding her eyes with his own. "I'll be back."
Unable to do more than nod, Ino dropped her hands and watched him walk away until he disappeared around the next corridor. Then she let out a breath, straightened her spine, and went back into the dragon's lair to face the women in the room who were even more likely than her to go into an outright tantrum over the postponement of the wedding. After all, her mother and his aunt were the ones who had planned the whole affair.
Break
Walking with his shoulders slumped Naruto scuffed his foot against the gravel strewn path and let out a dejected sigh. His companions walked equally slowly, but for different reasons. Unlike the Kyuubi container the other three didn't heal overnight- and though their confrontation with Sasuke and his gang had been over a week ago, they were still forced to take the road home as slowly as civilians due to their injuries.
"Naruto-kun?" Hinata's voice roused a small smile from him as Naruto turned to look at her.
"Don't worry Hina-chan, I know that there was nothing else we could have done. I just wish…" He faced forward again with a pained grimace, unwilling to voice the bleeding ache inside of him. A timid touch on his forearm made him turn back to her a moment later though.
A light dusting of red colored Hinata's cheeks and she pulled her hand back to her chest as if his skin had burned her, but when she spoke her quiet voice didn't stutter. "There's nothing wrong with wishing Sakura-san and Kakashi-sensei had been the ones to go with you Naruto-kun…" She let the words sink in for a moment before continuing. "But don't doubt for a moment that Sasuke-san would have changed his mind if they had been there. He wasn't wild with rage, or crazy, or possessed; he didn't even seem angry anymore, just… He just, doesn't want to come back."
Naruto's fist clenched as her words rang true. He'd known that, of course, had known it since the last time they'd gone after him; but that didn't mean he wanted to believe it. This had been his last chance…
"It's okay Hinata-chan, I know…"
Unspoken words hung in the air. Words of pain and betrayal, words of friendship and promises, words of triumph and words of defeat; Sasuke wasn't going to come home to Konoha, and nothing Naruto did could change that.
"Yes Hyuuga-san, don't worry about Dickless- he's too witless to stay down for long." Sai's comment had the immediate, intended, effect of sending Naruto into a rage that sent him chasing after Sai with violent intent.
After a few minutes of chasing him, however, a thought suddenly occurred to him and he let Sai dart away as he stopped in the middle of the road causing the others to stop as well. They looked at him in concern when he didn't say anything at first, but with a renewed sense of purpose, he looked up at them with a grin.
There was one last thing he could do for his broken team.
Let Sasuke go.
"Come on guys," Still smiling, Naruto turned back the way they were going before looking at his companions over his shoulder. "I bet even civilians could move faster than this. If we just run without chakra I bet we can make it back before Baa-chan has time to sober up again-
His words caused Hinata to smile, Shikamaru to roll his eyes, and Sai to put away his sketch pad. Naruto was himself again, and they were going home.