Hey guys!!! For those of you who have already read my story once, I am pleased to announce that a brand spanking new chapter will be added to the story after this one! Never before seen! Lol And for those of you who have no idea what I am talking about it is ok! Anyways thanks for reading! And the more you comment the faster I update! Next chapter is kinda important too! Thanks!

Brittney

Sai had been looking for Naruto and Sasuke for a while and still had not found them. It would be noon soon, and he would have to go meet Sakura at the clock tower. Hopefully Sakura had better luck and had found Naruto and Sasuke already. Sai figured now would be as good a time as any to call his mice back and see if they had found anyone yet.

Sai looked around for a good place to summon his mice out of people's view and spotted a deserted alley way behind a small restaurant. After slipping into the alley way, Sai took off his backpack and pulled out an empty scroll. He brought his hands together and was about to perform the hand signs to bring back the mice when he suddenly heard Naruto cry out somewhere nearby.

Sai immediately put up his guard. He quickly shoved everything back into his bag and began scouting the area for Naruto. Luckily Naruto had let off a large amount of chakra when he was attacked and Sai was able to locate him within seconds. Sai didn't have time to push his way through the crowded streets, so he quickly jumped onto the roof of the restaurant and began running on the roofs of the shops.

Sai approached the alley where Naruto was and stopped before advancing any further. Cautiously Sai took out some kunai and held them ready to attack. Whoever had cornered Naruto was not letting off any chakra and Sai guessed that they were concealing their chakra levels; this made it more difficult for Sai to asses the situation. Not wanting to waste anymore time, Sai quickly jumped in front of Naruto, in an attempt to shield him from the enemy.

"Don't worry Naruto! I will protect you!" Sai shouted.

Sai gritted his teeth and prepared himself for the attack. Nothing happened. Sai looked around in confusion; no one was there. The alleyway was deserted except for himself and Naruto. Where were the people who attacked Naruto? Did they already defeat him? Was it too late? Sai turned around to look at Naruto preparing himself for the worst.

Naruto quickly grabbed whatever was on his back thinking that it might be an exploding tag and….

"Argh!!!!" Naruto cried in agony.

Everything went black. Literally.

Naruto blinked a few times before wiping the ink off of his face. He couldn't believe that he had fallen for one of Sai's ink mice again! Naruto surveyed the front of his shirt and grimaced. Ink was splattered all over his clothes, not to mention his hair and face. Why did this always happen to him? Naruto slumped down on the ground and looked at the two mice that were sitting next to him. They almost seemed to be mocking him for his idiocy. Naruto growled at them. He would have loved to smash the other two mice, but he didn't want to get more ink on him than he already had. He would have to be content with only killing one.

How could he have been so stupid?! Naruto laughed at himself and gave a sigh of relief. Naruto's supposed stalkers were no more than Sai's stupid tracking mice. He had been so paranoid that he thought everyone was out to get him, when really no one was. Naruto laughed again. At least he wasn't being followed by anyone dangerous. Now hopefully Sai would find him and the group would all be back together. Being alone for too long did things to Naruto's head. To think, for a second Naruto thought that Akatsuki was chasing hom.

As Naruto waited for Sai to find him, he tried to wipe as much ink off of him as possible. So far Naruto had only managed to clean his face off, minus a few smudges here and there, and was now working on his hair. Naruto had forgotten how much trouble getting ink off was, and was starting to become a little annoyed. He could just picture the look on Sasuke's face when he saw the mess Naruto was in. Sasuke would never let him live it down.

"Stupid Sai! Why can't he get a different way to track people? Preferably one a little less messy and idiot proof. I think he just enjoys seeing me make a mess of things and likes trying to trick me. This is the last time this is happening though! Next time I won't fall for those stupid mice again!"

Naruto stood up and stretched. His hair would just have to remain black until he was able to take a shower, and he didn't even bother trying to fix his clothes. Last time the ink never came off, even after Sakura tried washing Naruto's shirt five times after becoming sick of hearing Naruto complain. At least he brought a change of clothes and wouldn't have to wear the same shirt tomorrow.

Suddenly Naruto felt another presence and Sai appeared out of nowhere as he jumped in front of Naruto. Naruto just stared at Sai in confusion. What the heck?! Sai had his kunai ready to attack and was yelling something about protecting him. What was Sai talking about? Naruto was fine.

Finally Naruto realized that Sai must have heard his yells and had thought that he was being attacked. Naruto smirked and crossed his arms waiting for Sai to realize that there was no one attacking him. Leave it to Sai to jump to conclusions; Naruto would never do that. Yeah right!

Sai turned around and looked at Naruto. Naruto just stood there looking back at him with an amused face. He didn't look like he had been in a fight; unless a typewriter attacked him. Why had he yelled then?

"Naruto are you ok? I heard you yell. Were you attacked?" Sai asked placing his kunai back into his bag. Obviously they weren't needed.

"Yeah I'm fine. And the only thing that attacked me was your stupid ink mouse!" Naruto said pointing to his hair which was now a mixture of black and blonde. "I look like a bumble bee for heaven's sake!!"

Sai examined Naruto. He could see that Naruto had gone up against one of his mice and had lost. Sai tried to hold back the smirk that was threatening to spread across his face as he looked at Naruto. His head did look like a bumble bee that had been squashed, and his clothes were a mess. Finally Sai got tired of holding back his smirk and let it free as he remembered the last time that Naruto had come across one of his mice. Would he ever learn?

"So you are alright then?"

Naruto just scowled at Sai's smirk and nodded reproachfully.

"I am glad to find that you were not hurt." Sai said as he gave Naruto his trademark smile.

"Yeah, yeah. So I guess you aren't with Sasuke or Sakura then." Naruto said changing the subject.

"Unfortunately no. I was just about to call my mice back to see if they had found anyone when I was interrupted by your cries for help." Sai replied.

"They weren't cries for help. I was just surprised that's all." Grumbled Naruto as he crossed his arms and looked the other way.

"I see. My mistake." Said Sai as he gave Naruto a disbelieving look.

Sai kneeled on the ground and pulled out his blank scroll for the second time that day. He quickly performed a flurry of hand signs before he yelled "Return!". After he was done Sai stood up again and waited.

Black mice began appearing almost immediately and Naruto made sure to keep his distance. Sai couldn't help but smile to himself as he watched Naruto glower at the mice and mutter things under his breath. Within minutes all of Sai's mice had returned; minus the one that Naruto had killed. Naruto looked at Sai waiting to see whether any of them had managed to locate Sasuke or Sakura. He wasn't really sure how the whole thing with the mice worked, but he decided to leave that part to Sai.

"So? Did they find either of them?" Naruto asked impatiently.

"Yes. Sakura and Sasuke are together and I know where they are. We shall meet up with them now. But please stay close and do not get lost again. I do not think Sakura will even bother looking for you if you do. She was already irritated enough when we split up to look for the two of you. I don't think she'll take it very lightly if you turn up lost again." Advised Sai giving Naruto an uneasy smile.

With that Sai grabbed his bag and put the scroll back inside. After slipping his bag back onto his shoulders Sai began to walk out of the alley. He paused, however, when he made it to the main road and looked back at Naruto as he waited for him to catch up. Naruto shrugged and slowly followed Sai. All of a sudden he wasn't as excited to be back with the group.

"Just great! Now both Sasuke and Sakura are going to be grumpy. One or the other is bad enough, but both of them mad at the same time will be torture. The rest of the day is probably going to either be pretty quiet, or full of a lot of sarcasm and smart ass remarks from Sasuke and Sakura. Well at least Sai isn't grumpy…Yeah right, like that helps me. I think I would rather put up with the silence than stick with Sai for the rest of the day."