AN: Hello, readers! Just because I love you guys so much, I'm going to post Chapters 38 & 39, tonight! I hope you guys enjoy them! I won't place a pre-chapter Author's note for the next chapter, but there will be one afterwards. As always, let me know what you think! Enjoy Part IV of the 'Dammit, Danzo! Arc'...!
Chapter 38:
Anko followed after Sai as the boy led her through the forest towards the direction of the Root headquarters. The boy had told her that Naruto was most likely heading there, so he could rescue Sasame. Sai had also told Anko that Naruto's plan would end in disaster, since he already helped Sasame and a close friend of his find a means to escape the base while Naruto was out cold. In other words, if Anko and Sai didn't stop Naruto right now: Danzo would finally get what he wanted.
Anko grit her teeth in irritation as she observed the pale-skinned boy in front of her. She had been suspicious of Sai since the first time she saw him, but now, she wasn't sure what to feel about him. She hated the boy for the fact that he only caused Naruto's life to be more difficult, but also knew that her student valued Sai as a trusted friend. She would have to talk to the blonde-haired boy about not trusting others so easily. That is: if the boy didn't already learn that lesson after being knocked unconscious by his 'so-called friend'. Normally, Anko would delight in telling her gullible student that 'she told him so' but in this instance, she felt nothing but sadness for him. Naruto had struggled so much just to keep the few friends he had; only to be turned on by one of them. Anko couldn't even imagine the turmoil the boy must be feeling. Of course, this was a very bad thing for Naruto as well. Losing Sai as a trusted friend would only cement his belief that he needed to try and rescue Sasame, at all costs now. Hopefully, Anko could get to him in time and talk some sense into that thick skull of his and convince him to let the situation be handled by the Hokage!
Sai stopped on a branch, just ahead of Anko and turned to her, making the Snake Mistress narrow her eyes distrustfully at him.
"You better have a good reason for stopping, brat!" Anko barked as she placed her hand on her kunai pouch. She smirked when she noticed Sai flinch somewhat.
"There's someone approaching us at a high speed, Mitarashi-san." Sai informed her, causing Anko to narrow her eyes further.
"So you're a sensor ninja now?" She asked skeptically. "How do I know you're being truthful?"
Sai sighed as he ran a hand through his inky black hair.
"I already explained this to you, Mitarashi-san," he began in exasperation, causing Anko to scowl at him angrily. "But the fact of the matter is: you can't know if I'm telling the truth or not. But, I have nothing to gain from lying to you when my life is in your hands. If you need more proof, look..."
Sai pointed at the tree branch above Anko's head, and she glanced up to see the smiling face of Shisui Uchiha, who was hanging right above her head.
Pulling out a kunai, she carelessly flung it straight at him, causing the teenage Uchiha to widen his eyes, and hastily substitute with a fallen branch on the forest floor. He glared up at her and crossed his arms.
"What was that for!?" He bellowed angrily. "I was just messing with you!"
Anko clicked her tongue in irritation.
"Yeah, well: now;'s not the time for fooling around, Shisui!" Anko replied heatedly.
Shisui shunshined up to the branch and landed softly beside her, and stared at Sai curiously.
"That kid looks like a Root operative," Shisui mused aloud. "What are you doing with one of Danzo's men?"
Anko pointed at Sai.
"This brat knows where Naruto is," Anko explained. "I ran into the little rodent when an ANBU squad and I took out his little group as they were searching for Naruto no doubt. Afterwards, I struck a deal with him: he lives as long as I find Naruto alive and not captured."
Shisui nodded, but eyed the boy warily.
"I could feel a chakra pulse as I traveled towards your location," Shisui informed Anko. "I'm assuming the boy is a sensor?"
Sai nodded and answered for Anko.
"My name is Sai, Uchiha-san," he said politely. "And yes: I am a sensor. I can explain more about my situation as we travel. It's best we keep moving; I have a feeling that Naruto-san is probably very close to the entrance of Lord Danzo's base by now."
Anko fumed slightly at Sai's suggestion.
"I'm in charge here, brat!" She barked in outrage. "Don't start acting like you can give us orders!"
Shisui raised his hands in a placating gesture.
"Easy, Anko-san," Shisui pleaded. "Sai-san is right. We need to keep moving: the sooner we stop Naruto-kun, the better, right?"
Anko continued to glare at the pale-skinned boy who met her gaze evenly, and then nodded curtly. Shisui sighed in relief and then turned towards Sai.
"If the both of us use our sensory abilities, we'll be able to find Naruto-kun faster that way," he suggested. "Just so you know: I don't trust you at all, seeing that your one of Danzo's, but as long as you don't give me a reason to attack you, you have nothing to fear from me, or Anko, clear?"
Anko glared at Shisui indignantly for speaking for her, but the Uchiha ignored her in favor of staring down Sai, who nodded in understanding. Shisui smiled, nodded and then pointed forward.
"Well," he said expectantly. "Lead on, Sai-san."
Sai nodded, and began to travel once again, Shisui and Anko falling into step behind him.
Anko bit her lower lip as they hopped from tree branch to tree branch, all the while thinking that she really needed to wallop her student when she finally met up with him.
Sasame huffed in exhaustion as she pushed Shin in his wheelchair down another long hallway. She glanced down at the boy, who was pale as a ghost and shaking slightly. She frowned and stopped.
"Are you alright, Shin-san?" She asked concernedly.
Shin turned in his seat and smiled at her, although Sasame could clearly tell that the boy was forcing it.
"I-I'm fine, Sasame-san," he reassured her. "Let's keep moving; we're getting close to the exit..."
Sasame nodded, but continued to frown as she began pushing the boy again.
She was well-aware that Shin was in agonizing pain, but the boy refused to admit it. He simply waved off her concerns as they traveled through the gloomy and drab base, and tried to direct her as best as he could. There were several times throughout their journey that Sasame had insisted they stop for a moment to let Shin get his bearings, but the silver-haired boy had adamantly declined, saying that he could rest as soon as they were safely out of the base. Sasame worried that the boy was pushing himself way too hard and way too much. There was an extent to how much someone in Shin's condition could move: she was concerned that if the boy didn't take a break soon he would end up injuring himself further, or worse.
She shook her head as she steered them around another corner that Shin directed her towards, and tried not to think about what might happen. Shin was right: they needed to escape before they worried too much about anything after that. Even though this was the case, Sasame couldn't help but think about Naruto, who was probably on his way into the base as they traveled. What would happen if he somehow managed to get captured? It wasn't so much of the 'how', Sasame thought, but more about the 'when' he did. She had no doubt that Danzo would not have sent Sai's group out looking for her friend, and the thought of the despicable man getting his hands on Naruto terrified her.
Her thoughts were disrupted when she heard Shin speaking to her.
"O-once we reach the end of this hall," Shin gasped, as his body convulsed in a tremor of pain. "W-we need to go left, S-Sasame-san..."
Sasame nodded and began to speed up slightly. If she could just get them out of here...
"STOP!" cried a voice from behind her.
Sasame wheeled around to see two Root agents quickly closing in on the two of them. She froze in fear, until Shin screamed:
"SASAME-SAN! RUN!"
Sasame spun back around and, gripping the handles of Shin's wheelchair so tightly her knuckles turned white, began to run at a breakneck speed, away from their pursuers. Panic overtook her as she ran. They couldn't be captured now! Surely Danzo would kill them both!
The two of them traversed hallway after hallway, making very sharp turns at the end of each one, until they ended up in a large cavernous room that had many bridges crossing both above and below them. Sasame briefly recalled that it was the same room she had remarked upon while entering the base with Sai. That meant that the exit had to be just across this bridge! Hope beginning to fill her depleted spirits, she dashed along the bridge, her eyes locked firmly on the exit on the other side.
Her pursuers began to throw kunai and shuriken at the two of them, and because of the narrow path they were on, many hit the metal railings of the bridge, making a deafening 'clanging' sound that echoed throughout the large chamber. The sound of the kunai being thrown reminded Sasame of her escape from Rice Country with her father, and she couldn't help but draw parallels between her current situation and back then. Terror filled her as she continued to run.
When they were only thirty feet from the other side of the bridge, a kunai found it's mark in her left shoulder and she cried out as her shoulder exploded in pain. She fell to the ground hard, and let go of Shin's wheelchair, which sent the boy rolling a few feet in front of her, before coming to a stop. Shin rounded in his chair, wide-eyed and looked back at the girl.
"Sasame-san!" He cried. "Are you alright!?"
'That's a stupid question!' Sasame thought scathingly as she felt the place the kunai was still lodged. She winced when she touched it, and removed her hand to see it covered in blood. Her blood! She felt all of the color drain from her face as she looked at the red liquid on her palm.
'This is it!' She thought forlornly. 'This is the end for us!'
She felt hot tears begin to run down her cheeks as she lay on the ground, unable to move because of the pain she was in. She heard the footfalls of the two Root operatives steadily approaching and glanced wearily at Shin, who was still looking at her in alarm from his wheelchair.
"I-I'm so sorry, Shin-san," she breathed, as tears ran down her face. "I-I couldn't do it..."
Shin shook his head vigorously.
"Don't give up, Sasame-san!" Shin replied. "We're so close! We can still make it!"
Sasame was touched by Shin's belief in her, but she knew she had to face facts: she couldn't get up, and the Root operatives had them beat. Resisting was only a shortcut to death that she didn't want to take. She didn't want to die though, but what other option did they have besides letting themselves be captured? She lowered her head onto the cold, stone floor helplessly.
"Dammit," she cursed as she felt her tears and blood begin to soak the floor around her. "Is this really how it's going to end?"
Suddenly, there was a loud cry of defiance from somewhere above her, followed shorty by two grunts of pain. Sasame picked her head up slowly and dragged herself with her good arm and legs to see what had just happened. When she was completely turned around on the floor, she gasped in a mixture of shock, anger, and gratitude.
Walking towards her, with a fierce determination blazing in his cerulean eyes, was none other than Naruto Uzumaki!
Naruto's eyes widened in alarm when he saw the small, but rapidly growing, pool of blood forming around Sasame's body. He rushed over and knelt down beside her to assess the damage.
"Oh, Kami," Naruto whispered as his eyes caught sight of the kunai still wedged in Sasame's flesh. "We have to get that kunai out and the wound bandaged!"
Sasame, still in shock from both her pain and the sudden arrival of Naruto, could only babble out a single question.
"N-Naruto-san..." Sasame stuttered as the boy began to yank his bandage wrappings off of his arms. "Wh-what...?"
Naruto interrupted, glancing up at Sasame in concern.
"Sasame-chan, this is probably going to hurt; a lot. But please hang in there, alright!?"
Sasame didn't even have time to brace herself before Naruto yanked the kunai out of her shoulder. She let out a loud string of curses as he did so, causing Naruto to sweat-drop at her language.
'And here I thought Sasame-chan was a really timid person!' He thought in astonishment.
After securely bandaging the girl's wounds, Naruto was shocked when the girl hit him hard on the head with her good arm.
"OW!" Naruto wailed. "WHAT THE HELL, SASAME-CHAN!?"
His anger disappeared instantly when he saw that her eyes were filled with tears.
"YOU IDIOT!" Sasame screamed, causing Naruto to flinch. "WHY DID YOU COME HERE!? DON'T YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS IT IS FOR YOU TO BE HERE!?"
Naruto scowled and crossed his arms.
"I'd think you'd be more grateful that I came in here to save you!" He roared back in reply, causing Sasame to wince, and shake her head furiously.
"That's not what I meant!" She retorted angrily. "Of course I'm happy you came to help; but Danzo's hoping that you'll show up!"
Naruto blinked and squinted his eyes in confusion.
"Danzo?" He repeated slowly. "He's the guy who captured you, right?"
Sasame nodded.
"His plan was to use me as bait to bring you right into his base!" Sasame explained desperately. "Now that you're here, you've just done what he wanted you to do all along!"
Naruto's face darkened and he quickly hopped to his feet, gingerly pulling Sasame to hers at the same time, despite her protests.
"Then we need to get out of here, now!" Naruto reasoned.
Shin, who watched the two's exchange with a somewhat baffled and amused expression chose that exact moment to speak up:
"So, you're the infamous Naruto-san that Sasame-san and Sai told me about, huh?" He said with a bright smile.
Naruto turned to look at the boy, surprised he didn't notice him before. Being the suave person he was, Naruto bluntly pointed at the boy and declared:
"Who the hell are you!?"
Shin sweat-dropped and glanced at Sasame, who shook her head in exasperation.
"Naruto-san," Sasame began. "This is Shin-san, he's a good friend of Sai-san's and mine as well. I promised Sai-san I'd help Shin-san get out of the base-"
Naruto's body shook with anger and he wheeled on Sasame.
"WHY ARE YOU DOING ANYTHING TO HELP THAT DOUBLE-CROSSING BASTARD!?" Naruto roared, causing Sasame to take a step back in fright. "HE'S THE REASON I'M SO LATE IN GETTING TO YOU! SOME FRIEND HE WAS: HE KNOCKED ME OUT RIGHT AS I WAS ABOUT TO COME IN EARLIER TO SAVE YOU!"
Sasame scowled at Naruto, in a warning gesture, but the boy wasn't done.
"SASUKE AND ANKO-SENSEI WERE RIGHT ABOUT SAI! HE'S NOTHING BUT A HEARTLESS ASS, WHO CARES MORE ABOUT HIMSELF THAN HIS FRIENDS! IF HE EVEN UNDERSTANDS WHAT THAT WORD EVEN MEANS-!"
There was a loud, resounding 'whacking' sound that echoed throughout the chamber as Sasame stood up, walked over to Naruto, and slapped him hard across the face. Naruto's tirade ended instantly after her slap, and he gingerly placed a hand on his now reddening cheek, looking at Sasame in shock.
She had fresh tears streaming down her face, that was contorted into a look of outrage. Naruto blinked and lowered his hand from his cheek.
"S-Sasame-chan, w-why...!?" Naruto began weakly.
"DON'T TALK ABOUT SAI-SAN LIKE THAT!" She bellowed at the whiskered boy, who recoiled slightly from her harsh tone. "I FEEL LIKE A HYPOCRITE; BECAUSE I DID THE SAME THING WHEN I MET SHIN, BUT THEN I LEARNED THE TRUTH ABOUT SAI-SAN! HE DOES UNDERSTAND WHAT FRIENDSHIP IS: MORE THAN YOU KNOW!"
Naruto took a step back from Sasame and narrowed his eyes at her. Did Danzo do something to Sasame? What happened to the sweet girl he had befriended at the Academy? Because this wasn't her.
"You're saying that I don't understand?" Naruto began in a quavering voice that soon cascaded into a roar. "Then...WHY DON'T YOU EXPLAIN!?"
Shin chose that time to interject once again.
"Naruto-san, please!" He cried pleadingly. "We don't have time for this! We need to get out of here!"
Naruto turned and cast a heated glare at the wheelchair-bound boy, but Shin locked his gaze on him, unnerved and determined. Naruto glanced back at Sasame who refused to meet his eyes, but continued to shake in anger.
Shin glanced between the two of them and sighed.
"Naruto-san," he said, his gaze still locked on the boy. "I understand that you're confused and most likely hurt by Sai's actions, but if we get out of here, I promise I'll explain everything. And Sasame..."
Shin turned his head to look at the girl who cast her gaze at the ground.
"I appreciate you standing up for Sai, but there was absolutely no reason to hit Naruto-san. He doesn't know what Sai's true motives are, and he had a right to be angry..."
Sasame sniffled and cast a nervous glance at Naruto, who fixed his gaze on her, with an unreadable expression.
"I-I'm sorry, Naruto-san." Sasame apologized. "I-I shouldn't have hit you..."
Naruto placed a hand on his cheek again and then his expression softened.
"I forgive you, Sasame-chan," Naruto said quietly. "I-I just never thought you'd do something like that..."
Sasame hung her head dejectedly. Naruto, seeing that his statement wasn't making his friend feel any better, began to laugh.
"But, I guess I deserved it!"
Sasame looked up at the now-smiling boy in bewilderment. She had just slapped him and he was laughing about it!? What was wrong with him!?
"N-Naruto-san, I-" She began weakly.
Naruto waved off whatever she was going to say and added:
"Don't worry about it Sasame-chan!" He said cheerfully. "It's in the past now! We need to get out of here, right?"
Sasame smiled slightly and nodded. She then walked over to Shin's wheelchair and gripped the handles, turning back to Naruto who was now standing behind her.
"Thanks for coming to save us, Naruto-kun." Sasame said with a large smile, that mirrored the boy's.
Naruto blinked and then scratched the back of his head as he chuckled.
"No problem!" He replied. "That's what friends do, right?"
Sasame couldn't help but be grateful for being able to muster the courage her first day of the Academy when she asked Naruto if she could sit by him.
"Right!" She replied.
All three of them smiled at each other until a new voice broke apart the warm moment.
"Well, isn't this touching..." Came a raspy voice from the other end of the bridge.
All three of them turned to see Danzo, in the flesh, strolling towards them with a large platoon of his Root operatives trailing after him.
"At last," Danzo said with a twisted smirk. "You've finally shown yourself, Uzumaki. I was beginning to think you didn't care about your friend there."
Danzo shot a look of disdain towards Sasame who stepped back in fear. Naruto however, stepped forward and grit his teeth in outrage.
"So you're the bastard that took Sasame-chan, huh?" Naruto growled. "What the hell did you want to see me so bad for!?"
Danzo said nothing as he continued to approach. When he was halfway across the bridge, he replied:
"I think we both know the answer to that question, Uzumaki," Danzo stated in a cold tone. "It's not so much you that I'm interested in. It's what's inside you that has my interest..."
Naruto felt his body freeze up at Danzo's statement. He cast a nervous glance at Sasame who was looking at him concernedly.
"Naruto-kun," she breathed anxiously. "W-What is he talking about?"
Danzo rose an eyebrow in interest.
"Oh?" He asked in a surprised tone. "Surely you've told your friend here about your secret? Or have you not, Uzumaki?"
Naruto snarled audibly as Danzo's face grew into a sadistic smirk.
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Naruto barked.
Danzo however, continued speaking.
"Well, Sasame," he continued as he slowly approached the three of them. "The truth is Uzumaki here contains a very powerful weapon. A weapon that I would like to make use of..."
Naruto began to shake with uncontrollable rage.
"I SAID: SHUT THE HELL UP!"
Danzo actually chuckled as the boy began to give into his emotions. He could feel the Kyuubi's chakra sealed inside the boy starting to leak out.
"Ah, emotions," Danzo said pseudo-fondly. "Such a wonderful thing...But not suitable for a ninja-in-training. No, they only make you weak. Like Shin over there."
Shin glared at Danzo ruefully, as did Sasame. Naruto continued to level the man with so much resentment, it actually caused some of the Root ninja to hesitate slightly as they walked towards them.
Danzo however, continued to slowly stride towards them unaffected by the boy's rage, his wooden cane's 'click-clack' resounding each time it hit the stone floor of the bridge.
"Because you see, my dear," Danzo went on, smirking cruelly at Sasame as he did so. "Your dear friend Uzumaki here is actually the host of the-"
Danzo's next words were cut off as a deafening explosion rang overhead, causing large amounts of debris to fall from the ceiling. Quickly reacting, everyone who was in harm's way swiftly got to cover, barely missing the large pieces of stone and metal that crashed down on the bridge and subsequent structures.
Danzo narrowed his visible eye as the dust cleared, revealing a large gathering of ninja, although he only had eyes for the one leading the pack.
"I was wondering when you'd show up..."
"Hiruzen."
Anko, Shisui, and Sai arrived at the large tree in the middle of the forest and landed at it's trunk. Anko crossed her arms in irritation and leveled a menacing glare at Sai.
"Brat," she growled. "This is nothing more than a giant tree! Do you really expect us to believe that Naruto is somewhere up in the branches or something!?"
Sai turned to look at her and shook his head slowly.
"Not up, Mitarashi-san," Sai explained. "but, under."
Anko narrowed her eyes at the pale-skinned boy.
"And what's that supposed to mean!?"
"I think he means this, Anko-san." Came the voice of Shisui, who was standing a few meters to the right of her, looking in awe at a thick patch of moss.
Anko and Sai walked over to him, and Sai smiled at the Uchiha.
"Very observant, Shisui-san," Sai complimented. "This is the entrance to Root's headquarters. Naruto-san is down below."
Anko snarled and grabbed Sai by the collar of his shirt, hefting him into the air.
"I thought you said Naruto hadn't been captured yet, brat!"
Sai nodded his head, and it took Shisui's intervention to get Anko to put the boy down.
"He hasn't," Sai gasped, once he was on solid ground again. "At least, I don't think he is. Besides-"
Sai froze, his eyes widened and he quickly swiveled from Anko to look in bewilderment at the entrance of the base. Shisui did so as well a second later, causing Anko to grit her teeth in irritation.
"WHAT IS IT NOW!?" She roared, causing the two of them to look at her.
Shisui had a thin line of sweat running down his face as he replied:
"I-I can sense Naruto-kun's chakra," Shisui breathed. "And...it's mixed with it's chakra...Something bad must've happened!"
Sai turned to Shisui with a questioning look, but Shisui either didn't notice or purposely ignored him in favor of speaking directly to Anko, who paled.
"Then we need to get in there and make sure he's alright!" She replied, running over to the thick patch of moss and practically tearing it aside from the concealed entrance.
"Sai-san, you know the layout of the base, right?" Shisui asked the pale-skinned boy who nodded. "Then, you need to lead us to where Naruto-kun is and-!"
Shisui was cut short when a large tremor nearly knocked the three of them off their feet. After a moment, it passed, only to be replaced by a deafening blast.
Anko blinked and looked around in bewilderment.
"W-was that an explosion!?" She stammered.
Shisui and Sai looked equally confused as the three of them looked around the surrounding area for any sign of smoke.
"I don't know..." Shisui replied breathlessly, but then got a hold of himself. "It's not important at the moment! We need to get down there, right away! Naruto-kun's our first priority!"
Anko couldn't agree more. She quickly grabbed a hold of Sai and pushed him towards the long stairwell. When he glanced back at her in confusion, she crossed her arms and clicked her tongue impatiently.
"What?" She demanded. "You're the Root brat here. You know the base, so you get to go first and lead!"
Sai narrowed his eyes at the Snake Mistress, who returned his expression ten-fold. He sighed and began to trek down the stairs.
Shisui shot Anko an anxious look, which she returned as the two of them followed after Sai, disappearing into the darkness.
AN: And the cavalry arrives! What will Naruto's reaction be when he finally runs into Sai again? Will everyone make it out if the base in one piece? And once again: will Danzo ever stop being a dick? Find out this and more in the next episode of Dragonball Z! *AHEM* I mean: The Fox's Shadow!