EDIT 7/17/19: Grammatical errors fixed, extra text early on about Sasuke's thoughts on Sakura and Naruto, cleaned up dialogue.

Episode 7: Investigation in the Field

The flattened grass that made the forest's natural pathway eventually came to an old and traveled dirt road. The trio had been following it for long enough that Naruto asked at regular five minute intervals 'are we there yet?' Sasuke noted they had passed the first sign indicated the nearest village five minutes ago.

Lifting a stray vine away from his face, Sasuke scowled down at the time that was indicated on his Pokédex. They wouldn't reach Taizaku Gai until another ten minutes at most. Ten minutes more was an excruciating amount of time to spend any longer with these two chatter boxes in front of him. Since their time in the deeper regions of the forest, the two of them seemed to have taken to each other like Venomoth to a flame. And every comment there after that he would make was given some annoying, stupid comeback by that damn blond.

Sakura, he could at least admit, didn't act like she tried to intentionally get on his nerves. She still did though.

She couldn't hold a proper fight with that Budew of hers; at least he could beat up Naruto's Vulpix for a solid fifteen minutes before it caved. Sakura, however, just shied away every move and ran to her Pokémon's aid at the slightest scratch.

Sasuke clicked his tongue in aggravation at the latest training the three did at the behest of Naruto during their last break. What the hell does she think she'll ever accomplish, babying her Pokémon? Traveling could be rough, when he was still in regular contact with his older brother during his travels he had attested to the dangers he had to face. Sasuke understood those dangers, knew his pokemon had to be ready to face territorial pokemon, or shady people.

He couldn't fathom how the bright eyed girl could have not considered the trouble they had already encountered and not thought to train her pokemon to be able to handle them. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew Sakura was smart.

He knew her name academically, she was always ahead of him in the academy during written exams. Typically only beaten for top of their year by that Nara Shikamaru guy in their class. But interacting with her face to face made him realize why it was only theory she had excelled at and not practical application during the mock battles for kids with registered pokemon participated in. Haruno Sakura, from his point of view, is a weak coward.

At least she cooked stew when the blond wanted to share his boxed ramen. So no one died of sodium overdose.

That, however, did not change his thoughts on her.

Looking back after the girl made a squeaking noise, he found her toppled over in the dirt. He raised a questioning brow and turned to the other boy for answers, but he wasn't much help. Naruto held back joyful laughter as he helped the girl back to her feet. A raised tree root looked to be the culprit. He rolled his eyes.

"Hurry up, we're almost there," he muttered before moving forward.

That was another thing with her. She was slow and clumsy, she got tired fast, and she had to look at everything like it was the first time she's seen it.

And then Uzumaki Naruto… Naruto just failed at everything he was supposed to do. He's asked to watch the stew so it doesn't boil over while Sakura went and did…girl stuff in the forest, and he finds himself smacking the blond when he has to clean hot stew out of his hair. It didn't matter that he shared a name with some well like mythologist or whatever. The boy was nothing if a good punching bag for Murkrow.

Dark eyes roved the widening path for any sign of the village they were headed toward when, in the distance, his gaze caught a tall figure standing under a tree. Sasuke couldn't tell from here who or what it was, but if it was a trainer…

Sasuke smirked to himself and felt for the miniaturized ball containing his Murkrow.

"Hey, who's that over there?" Sakura asked from behind him.

"Dunno," he muttered as they got closer. Unconsciously, Naruto and Sakura caught up with his speed and zeroed in on the tall figure of a man. He seemed to be talking to a device and had yet to notice the three teenagers. Yet, as their footsteps got closer, they watched a messy bed of light colored-hair shift as the head turned in their general direction. None of them could make out the face yet from a few yards off, but Sasuke caught the stranger hanging up what he knew had to be a Xtransceiver. But he still couldn't make out the man's face under the shade of the tree.

"Yo, you three kids heading into Taizaku Gai?" The man spoke in a deep, tired sort of voice. Sasuke saw Sakura twitch at his sudden speech.

"Yeah, what of it, old man?" Naruto furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Ahh… Well, I think you three should probably head back to wherever you came. Taizaku Gai isn't the safest place to be right now."

"Safe? Has something happened in the village? Are the locals ok?" Sakura asked in that same high pitch Sasuke noticed she'd get when she was nervous.

The man scratched the back of his head with a sigh, like it would be a bother to explain. "Well, you could say some ruffians have taken to locating there—"

"WHAT!" Naruto gasped loudly. "Then what the heck are we doing out here, we should go kick some bad guy ass!"

Sasuke looked up into the sky with beseeching eyes. He felt this was a good time to ask what he had ever done to Aceus to deserve having to travel with a hot headed numskull like Naruto. even as he glared back at the blond and hissed out the start of a reprimand the same time as the girl beside him.

"Wait—"

"What?" At least Sakura seemed just as lost as he in the blonds train of thought that lead him to thinking they should interfere in some kind of investigation going on in the town they were heading towards. She had her arms bent out in front of her with her hands splayed out as if unsure if they should be waving back and forth or is she should hit something.

Honestly, he might light her a bit more if she went a head and smacked the shit out of the idiot.

"Naruto, we should let the police handle it." Sakura broke out of her dazed and incredulous expression before him and even the clearly unimpressed silence of the adult in front of them. The boy in question looked crestfallen as Sakura patted his back and looked up to the stranger with a nervous green stare.

"The police are doing something about it, right? Are you with the police?"

"You could say that…"

"Not exactly a straight answer, though," Sasuke butted in with narrowed eyes. Tanigakure was the nearest city after Taizaku, but that was at least a few weeks of traveling on foot. And if these two decided to follow, Sasuke would be stuck even longer with them.

"I didn't realize I had to answer to a bunch of kids," the stranger pointed out with a crinkle in his lone eye, the other covered by a shockingly light hair color.

Sakura tugged lightly on Sasuke's jacket. "Hey… Maybe we shouldn't fight, he did warn us about the activity going on in the village. Maybe we should just camp out tonight and move on to the next closest one."

But Sasuke didn't want to. He glared down at the pink-haired trainer and shoved her hand away from his arm.

"I don't care what's going on in Taizaku Gai as long as I can get rid of the two of you." The dark trainer shoved passed the taller stranger with a huff, his voice cold and uncaring. "As long as I don't get bothered, they can do whatever the hell they want. And now that we're here, we can separate."

"Charming friend you got there," the stranger with the shocking hair hummed; Sasuke could feel their stares as they watched him separate from the three, but he didn't look back. He didn't want to. Once he was far enough from the two, who had plagued him with a lack of silence, did he breath out a sigh of relief and enter a tiny little village.

Sakura pursed her lips at Sasuke's retreating back and sighed, letting her hand drop back to her side. She shouldn't be too surprised by now at the boy's hostility—he practically exuded it.

"Charming, ha, that's a good one, old man. That bastard is as charming as a raging Miltank," Naruto muttered with a shrug.

"What do you think we should do? We did only agree to stay together until Taizaku Gai… Should we just go on to the next town?" She turned to Naruto, who closed his eyes in thought.

"Meh, I dunno, I mean, I'm not really afraid of whatever bad stuff is happening here, and I kinda don't like the thought of leaving without helping. It's not cool to just walk away when you know there are people out there you think you can help, ya know? And what if Pokémon are in danger or something?" he argued.

Sakura furrowed her brow and looked up to the stranger. "Are Pokémon involved in this trouble you warned us about?" she questioned.

The man scratched the back of his head. "Eh heh…funny you should mention that, actually…" He looked down at the two with a tired look and sighed. The look she gave the man sent a drop of sweat down his forehead. "Look, I'm not even authorized to tell you, so why don't I just escort you to the Pokémon Center so I know you two don't run into any trouble." The man turned on his heel and started walking down the road towards town.

"If you're a police officer, then why are you handling Pokémon-related crimes?" Naruto, in a rare moment of cleverness, piped up. Sakura looked to Naruto and nodded at the sense he made. Regular police didn't handle crimes relating to Pokémon—that was the League's job.

"Uhh…"

Sakura and Naruto looked into the stranger's dark eye. It crinkled a little before he sighed and brought his hands up in defeat. "Ok, ok, you caught me. I'm from the Pokémon league. I was sent here to investigate some recent reports of illegal, high-stakes battling," he admitted.

"High stakes?" Sakura frowned. "You mean like…gambling?"

"Yup."

"What? Gambling and Pokémon?" Naruto looked back between the two in confusion. "Is that a thing?"

Sakura shook her head and gave a little smile. Naruto didn't seem like the type to pay attention in class. She could only imagine what the academy might have been like if she had been friends with a boy like him.

"In history class, you dork. During the Third World War because so many things like money and material were being used to fund the fighting it was temporarily made legal for regular people to essentially take another persons money after winning pokemon battles. Something like fighting for survival? There was this whole big philosophy about only letting the strong survive. Once the war was over and the provinces made peace that way of thinking was shut down pretty harshly by the people running the country.," Sakura explained.

"Smart girl." The tall man nodded. "Seems whoever is orchestrating this whole charade is after more than just some extra cash, though; many trainers who are taking part in these illegal battles lost their Pokémon to the ones to initiate the challenge."

There was a shocked silence for the two trainers. Sakura moved her palm closer to the Poké Ball holding her Budew inside. Naruto's lips were pale as he pursed then together, his eyes held a pensive look.

"H-have you gotten any sort of lead on these bad guys? I don't want to lose my Pokémon!" Sakura looked up at the man. He stopped short in his long strides and put a heavy hand on her pink head.

"Hey, I'm an experienced trainer and a lackey of the Pokémon League, you'll be fine as long as you stick close to me." He gave the kids a lazy thumbs up.

"Hey, who are you, though? You never gave us your name. You could be one of those bad guys for all we know," Naruto grumbled. Sakura's eyes widened a bit, and she stepped closer to the blonde.

"Way to ruin my mystique~. But don't worry, I really am with the League. Hatake Kakashi at your beck and call and all that," he introduced.

Taizaku Gai was a small town where the locals knew each other, and the main profit were the berry exports into Konoha. The three, walking into the village, passed by a bench with a trainer petting a yawning Ponyta. Sakura focused her attention to a scrape on the Ponyta's hind leg; the trainer glanced up and gave her an apprehensive stare before focusing back on their Pokémon. She kept an eye on them once more before turning back and focusing on the road. But a nagging feeling made her steps heavy and stiff. She looked up again, turned her head left and right—eyes were on her.

Sakura opened her mouth nervously and looked to Kakashi, whose gaze had narrowed and concentrated to the street ahead of them.

"Kakashi…," she murmured, catching Naruto's attention.

Kakashi glanced down at the two with that same eye crinkle. "Ah, so you can feel it too?" he asked.

"What's going on?" she whispered.

"It's what several trainers reported feeling as soon as they entered the village," the man informed. "My advice? Just don't go and accept any offers to battle."

"So wait, people or whatever are spying on us, sizing us up or something. Is that what you're saying?" Naruto raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Yup, I think they're sizing us up." Kakashi shrugged. "Ah, here we are!"

Looking forward, the trio were in front of the Pokémon Center. Its iconic bright red roof a beacon of relief in this forest village. Sakura sighed in relief, hoping once they were inside, that creeping feeling down her spine would stop. Looking over to Naruto, who grinned her way, they turned to Kakashi.

"Hey, why don't you have lunch with us, Kakashi? I kinda don't like this whole idea on betting on Pokémon like this. I still want to help you." Naruto pointed a thumb towards the doors. His wild grin never faltered.

"Hmm, I don't think that's a good idea, Naruto, I am a professional after all."

"So, you have an idea of who you're after then?" Sakura asked politely.

"Uhh…not exactly."

The teenagers made a face at the adult before grabbing his wrists and dragging him inside. Sakura, for all her uneasiness, didn't think it was right to just leave it at that, either. Kakashi looked like he needed help tracking down the ring leaders of this illegal battling thing, and Naruto didn't look like he would let something like this slide so easily either.

After retrieving a room key from the nurse at the front desk and dumping their packs inside their room, Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi headed for the cafeteria to grab a bite and insist to the investigator that he needed their help.

"I really don't think it would be wise on my part to let a bunch of kids help me do my job," Kakashi spoke as the three sat down. Naruto gave him a weird look as the man refused to lower the mask hiding most of his face. Sakura was a little more discreet with that minor fault though and busied herself with taking a sip of tea.

"Hey, let's get one thing straight." Naruto smacked his hand on the table with a huff. "I'm fifteen, not a kid!"

Kakashi, however, just raised a dubious eyebrow. Sakura sighed. "I think what he means is…it doesn't matter," Sakura murmured through her cup. They turned to her and she gulped. "I don't think any of what you told us sits well with me,either. And well…what if…"

"If?" the light-haired man urged her.

"Well… What if Naruto and I maybe—," she started.

"OH! I get it, Sakura! What if me and Sakura took part in these battles and drew out the mastermind?" Naruto cheered. "Sakura, you're the smartest person I know, that's a great idea!"

"That's a dangerous idea," their current companion countered. "You two don't look all that experienced in anything, I bet you just left home recently. I can't put greenhorn trainers in a situation where they couldn't take care of themselves."

Sakura lowered her head thoughtfully. She had figured that much; she didn't even like battling in the first place. But what was going on now was against the law, and a lot of people or Pokémon could get hurt. Naruto didn't seem like the type to just let something like this pass, either, especially with it going on right under his nose.

"Hey, it's a good plan, Old Man. What other ideas have you got to end whatever is going on? We can handle ourselves just fine. You're talking to the girl who defended herself from a wild Ursaring, and I'm just awesome!"

The investigator turned to the girl with a skeptical look, and she flushed humbly.

"More like I survived, but really, you'll have our back, right, Kakashi? I'm sure you'll help us if things go wrong," she pointed out. There was a pause for Kakashi to take a moment to think before he took another long look at the grinning Naruto and wide eyed Sakura and sighed.

"I can't believe I'm agreeing to this…"

"Neither can I."

At the sound of a fourth voice entering their conversation, the three turned to see Sasuke standing mid-step in front of their table with an unimpressed scowl. He held a tray in his hand with a half-eaten meal.

Naruto wasn't fazed at all by the more-than-annoyed expression he gave them and shouted out, "AH! Sasuke, perfect, you can help us with the plan, too!"

"Hell no."

"Eloquent, too, isn't he?" Kakashi nudged Sakura's shoulder playfully; it brought a soft giggle to the girl as she held a hand to her lips to hide her amusement. Her smile faded though as soon as Sasuke promptly ignored Naruto's enthusiasm and focus his venom on her.

"Don't bother trying to gain their attention, you wouldn't last a minute in a real battle. Much less something with such high stakes. One mistake and you can say good bye to that Budew of yours," he spat. A cold stab hit her in the gut as all his words did. She turned away with a frown, holding her Budew's Poké Ball tightly.

He was right, of course. She wouldn't be able to handle it, but she thought she should at least try. Naruto looked happy enough to help, and she wanted to stick close to him.

"Big words for a kid who can only talk tough." Kakashi cleared his throat and eyed the dark-haired trainer with a dull look. Sasuke's shoulders tensed ever so slightly as Kakashi caught Sakura's attention with a pat on the head. "All trainers and Pokémon start out weak. That's what growing is used for," he stated before standing up. "And since the two of you were so adamant that I let you help me, I will—"

"AW YEA—"

Kakashi held up a hand to silence Naruto before he shouted out his excitement for the plan.

"And I'm dragging this little Stunky Head into this." An eye crinkle and pointed finger later at the very dissatisfied Sasuke, and the three were whisked off to the men's room there at the Pokémon center to talk more in-depth of this harebrained scheme to draw out a possibly dangerous criminal.

However, it took twenty minutes after the fact to stop Naruto from laughing that Kakashi used Sakura's nickname for their broody and spiteful companion.