AN: Note that I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or any of the characters from either Anime. This work is a fanfiction written out of my love for the series and not in any attempt to make a profit.
Proofread by: Author and Kyluxia
And so, the next chapter. Two chapters in one day as promi-… well, nearly as promised. Enjoy the reveal of the team to meet.
Chapter 44: Uprooted, Black Rose
Having finished only one bowl of ramen each, Naruto and Sakura followed Jiraiya's clone back to where the real Jiraiya was waiting for them, likely along with the new team from Konoha, and possibly along with team fourteen.
While Naruto had been complaining about his ramen rampage having been cut short all the way there, it immediately stopped and was instead replaced by a large grin as he spotted the real Jiraiya, or rather, the team he was with.
"Sasuke, Karin!" Naruto yelled, as he ran over to greet his friends, leaving Sakura to stare in surprise at the team, while Jiraiya's shadow clone dispelled itself with a chuckle.
As expected, beyond Sasuke and Karin, Kakashi was also there as the supervising Jōnin. However, the third teammate of what the twins suspected was the current team seven, was unfamiliar to them. A criminally pale boy, wearing all back with an air of emotionlessness around him, was looking over at Naruto in curiosity as he ran up to them.
For a moment, Sakura merely considered him odd, before Heikō made a connection as to why it felt familiar to them. "ROOT!" Heikō screamed in their mind with enough alarm to shock even Fukō awake in their mindscape.
However, before Sakura knew what had happened, she found herself lying on the ground with Kakashi holding her down. "Sakura! Drop your weapon." He ordered her, making her blink in surprise before the pain from being thrown to the ground blossomed all over her back, and the feeling of cold iron in her hand made her realize she was in fact holding a kunai in her right hand.
Letting go of the kunai, she looked back at Kakashi, wondering what had happened exactly. "What just happened?" She vocalized her confusion, something Heikō was equally eager to find out, as, despite Fukō's awakening, they had confirmed no mental intrusions or dangers.
"You tried to attack, Sai," Sasuke answered them, revealing himself while Kakashi moved off of them, having confiscated their kunai. Spreading their senses out to feel their surroundings, the twins also noticed that Kakashi had managed to pickpocket most of their other weapons as well. Although he had actually let them keep their storage scrolls, so they weren't entirely defenseless.
"Seeing Sai seems to have triggered a reaction. It wasn't entirely unexpected, but I'm still surprised. Seems that Danzo really did mess them up beyond what we thought." Kakashi commented, making Sakura frown.
"What are you talking about? Do you realize that you came here with a ROOT agent?" Sakura asked, trying to look behind Kakashi, where she knew said agent was, Sai, as Kakashi had called him.
"Former, ROOT agent," Sai interjected, stepping out from behind Kakashi. Sakura couldn't help but glare at Sai. While they had lost nearly all of the memories Danzo had forged for them, Sai was one of the faces they had managed to keep, under the argument of being able to identify ROOT agents would be an incredible boon. Naturally, they had jumped through several hoops to keep it from messing with them and pulling out associated memories that would instill ROOT training into their subconscious again. They had managed to preserve optical memories as disassociated pictures, writing instructions to themselves concerning them, before completely wiping out any previously attached memories to be safe, leaving them without any idea what the memory was or why it was even important. Only the physical, written instructions they had left themselves allowed them to connect the memory to something new, and associate it with ROOT safely, in a manner they could understand. Fortunately, they had managed to salvage more than just the memory about a few ROOT member's faces.
"Show me your tongue," Sakura ordered him, smirking slightly as she saw him stiffen, before, to her surprise, Sai obeyed. They had expected the seal on his tongue, showing his undeniable association to Danzo. On top of it, however, they were surprised to see an additional seal.
Noticing their surprise, Kakashi decided to explain. "It is actually why we are here, in part at least. With the last letter you sent back to Konoha, the Hokage decided enough was enough and managed to uproot Danzo together with his organization. Unfortunately, he managed to get away, but most of his organization and information were seized in the attempt to arrest him. Sai here was one of the ROOT freed, and after we managed to seal away his cursed seal, he asked to be put on a team to learn how it is to be a true Konoha Shinobi." Kakashi explained although Sakura wasn't all that inclined to believe. Heikō agreed not to trust Sai but was still willing to give him a chance, which Sakura could agree was fair. They had narrowly escaped being brainwashed themselves, and while they couldn't remember the training ROOT went through, they knew some of the broader strokes of it. One of which was the final exam, where they had to kill their partner.
"Has he been given therapy?" Sakura wondered, knowing the option of having your mind walked through by the Yamanaka clan. "Someone must have checked his head, right?" She asked, slightly horrified to see Kakashi shake his head.
"It would have been an ideal way to sort through those truly loyal to Danzo over the village, but the seal on their tongue prevents it. It's not safe, either for the ROOT agent, or the Yamanaka that would have to work on them." Kakashi explained, before offering Sakura a hand to get her up, now that she no longer showed any aggressive behavior.
"I see." Sakura simply stated, frowning as she accepted Kakashi's hand and let him drag her to her feet.
"I apologize for being unable to prove my allegiance to Konoha. I understand you do not see ROOT in a favorable light after what Danzo attempted to do to you. That being said, may I just say that I am impressed by your ability not only to avoid being caught in Danzo's plan but also to learn from what he tried to force on you, Black Rose." Sai told them, making everyone pause.
"Black Rose?" Naruto asked, confused at the title Sai had given Sakura, especially since Sakura barely wore anything black.
"Aww, I was hoping he'd give her a funny nickname," Karin complained, pouting, making Sasuke scoff and Kakashi chuckle, confusing Jiraiya, Naruto, and the twins.
"Sai has a habit of giving new people he meets not all that flattering nicknames," Kakashi explained.
"I've read that nicknames help build relations between friends," Sai informed them with a slight frown. "I've been getting better." He protested, glaring slightly at Karin.
"Yet you refuse to change mine!" Karin exclaimed, which drew a smirk from Sasuke.
"Oh, now I have to hear this. What's her nickname?" Naruto asked, seeing that even Sasuke found it humorous.
"I call her-" Sai began, only for him to be immobilized by golden chains shooting into his body, leading back to Karin who was glaring at him.
"Don't you dare, or I'll suffocate you!" She threatened him.
"-Bondage Princess" Sai continued, before gasping as Karin went through with her threat and an additional chain lashed out, wrapping itself around Sai's throat.
Sakura couldn't help but chuckle at the nickname. It definitely wasn't flattering, and she could see why Karin despised it. The glare she received was worth it, better than getting strangled anyhow, but it did kind of clue the twins in as to why Sai might have seen fit to give Karin such a nickname.
Normally, Sakura wouldn't condone Karin choking someone, but she had warned Sai, and the way she was choking him was in all fairness, safe. It did suffocate him, but she could see that the chain was only constricting the airflow in Sai's throat, rather than causing damage to his throat. Well, no lasting damage at least. Karin likely knew what she was doing, concerning her apprenticeship under Tsunade. Not to mention that neither Kakashi nor Sasuke had reacted with alarm. They were seemingly already used to Karin behaving similarly towards Sai.
Naruto and Jiraiya however were caught off-guard, and as a result, they tried to, and soon managed to convince Karin to let Sai go before he passed out. It was a little creepy, how unphased Sai looked about nearly being strangled into unconsciousness looked, seeing him smile slightly.
"Then, what about Sasuke? What's his nickname?" Naruto asked, getting a chuckle from Kakashi, a laugh from Karin, although she was still trying to scowl, crossing her arms, while looking at Sai, only to smile as she looked over at a now scowling Sasuke.
"Duck prince," Sai informed them, now openly smiling as Naruto began howling with laughter. Sakura couldn't help but smile at that while turning her attention towards Kakashi.
"Cyclops," Kakashi informed them before they could even ask what his nickname was.
"Fitting." Jiraiya decided, giving Sai a nod of approval, which he accepted with a nod of his own.
"Well, that was… exciting. You guys are here to deliver information and switch with team fourteen?" Sakura inquired, to which the entirety of the current team seven nodded.
"Precisely. I believe these can be delivered straight to you." Kakashi told them, giving away the smile behind his mask with his one visible eye, while offering them a small bundle of letters, the one on the top addressed to Naruto, from Hinata.
Smiling, Naruto grabbed the bundle and untied the twine used to tie them together, quickly separating the letters into two piles, one with letters for Sakura and Heikō, the other for himself.
A quick look through the letters by the twins revealed them to be from their parents, Ino, Karin, Sasuke, and Tsunade, like they had expected. Although the letters from Sasuke and Karin might be redundant by that point, it was still nice to receive them nonetheless.
"So, I'm assuming these will explain what those chains were, Karin?" Sakura inquired, holding up Karin's letter while looking at the girl in question.
"Oh, Right! Yes, it's explained in the letters I sent you. It's apparently an Uzumaki ability, Naruto might be able to do it as well!" Karin exclaimed excitedly.
"He might actually be able to. Kushina claims she could. Apparently, she could create barriers and seals with them, using her special chakra." Heikō informed Sakura, having decided to show and tell Kushina what was going on outside to give her a look at Karin, another relative.
"Really? What do they do?" Sakura asked, in response to the information Heikō relayed from Kushina.
"Besides acting as creepy, prehensile tentacles made of chains?" Karin responded, chuckling. "They actually suppress chakra. I can stop Sasuke from using his Sharingan if I hit him with them." Karin explained proudly.
"Nothing escapes the Bondage Princess," Sai interjected, making Karin go from happily proud, to outright murderous. Sai wisely began running from Karin, as she once again materialized her chains, before shooting after him, demonstrating just how useful her chains could be. She used them as additional limbs, allowing her to grab onto nearby buildings and propel herself forward quickly, almost flying after Sai, who gave off a laugh as she gave chase.
Kakashi and Sasuke sighed, while Sakura giggled at the sight, and Naruto and Jiraiya stared after them in bewilderment.
"Are they always like this?" Naruto asked Sasuke, who nodded an affirmative. "I don't really mind, since it was usually how things ended up between us before Sai joined us, but he actually seems to like it, and for a former emotionless ROOT puppet, he has a mean pranking streak from trying to get back at us. I blame you Naruto, Konohamaru taught him the concept of pranks." Sasuke revealed although he was smiling as he complained.
"What about you and Karin then? Ino wrote that there were rumors you were dating." Sakura asked, only for Sasuke to scowl again. "Stupid fangirls. Karin and I aren't together. Kakashi can attest to that." Sasuke informed them, and as Sakura turned to look at Kakashi, who was once again reading from his little orange book, he decided to confirm, proving that he was still following the conversation, even as he didn't look up from his book.
"They get along like oil and water… although, I believe there's a lot of bubbles in the mix as well," Kakashi informed them cryptically with another one of his eye-smiles.
AN: Sai's nicknames aren't entirely what they are in canon. For one, he is younger here than when we first see him in canon, and unlike in canon, he is learning to interact less because it is a mission and more for his own personal benefit, as well as on recommendation from others. As a result, some early misunderstandings might have been corrected before Sai met team seven. Now, explaining his nicknames, Cyclops is easy to understand. A nickname based on Kakashi's one Sharingan eye being constantly hidden from view. Bondage Princess was one of the nicknames Sai made without fully understanding the implications, but the chains that he found resembled whips brought him to the concept of BDSM, and seeing them in action, how they suppress another person's chakra and keep them from escaping by constricting around them… Yeah, it is understandable that in his attempt to appeal to her with the title of princess, he didn't realize what it would mean to add the word bondage to it in an attempt to refer to her abilities.
Duck Prince, do I have to explain that one?
Black Rose… Sakura's first response to Sai was subconscious, but she immediately earned his respect, as she correctly assessed him as a threat and acted immediately. Sai considered it to be a befitting action of a Kunoichi, a killer, perhaps even an assassin. What better way to represent that, than the iconic flower that represents death? A black rose. The rose, or specifically, flower thing came from Sai's interactions with Ino, who was the one to actually get him to realize how hurtful, or unthoughtful his nicknames could be. While he tries to put more effort into them and didn't end up calling Sakura Ugly, he instead did what he tried to do with Karin, and appease any slight he might have performed against her and give her nickname some form of beauty in the form of a rose, which Ino considered a very romantic flower. Naturally, all girls love romance, apparently?
Don't agree with my logic, or thought of something you think is better? Feel free to tell me. Reviews are free.
Kyluxia here. Here's some fun trivia. Sasuke's nickname in Japanese is Ahiru no Ojo, but the Kanji used in the noun version of Ahiru can mean "easy mark". This makes a lot of sense from Sai's perspective, as Sasuke and his eyes can be very flashy and easy to spot. Until next time!