Ch. 18

As Naruto's team left the room, he looked into the briefcase and grabbed everything Sakura would need. He walked over to her and handed them to her. "Here you go…" It still hurt to talk to her, but seeing her have such joy at the new development made it hurt a little less.

Sakura's cheeks remained a light pink as she looked down shyly and smiled before accepting them. "Thanks." Naruto gave a smiling nod, turned around and walked back over to the briefcase. Naruto put his uniform back in the briefcase, then closed it and motioned for Sasuke to follow him. "Let's get ready." Sasuke nodded and followed him out the door.

Sakura stood in the office smiling as she looked down at the uniform Naruto had just given her. Tsunade and Kakashi looked at each other, then Kakashi interrupted, "You should probably go put it on…"

Sakura was knocked out of her daze and nodded before replying with a slightly embarassed, "Yes, Sensei."

As she started walking towards the office door, she stopped short of grabbing the door handle.

She turned and looked at Kakashi and Tsunade inquisitively, "There were only three outfits in that briefcase. This one is exactly my size..." Her eyes started watering as she asked, "How did you guys know he'd pick me?..."

Kakashi immediately smiled and said, "Because we know Naruto."

After a short pause, Sakura smiled, then nodded and walked out the door.

Tsunade turned to Kakashi, "That went better than expected..."

Kakashi wore a slight grin as he replied, "I think it's because we aren't the only ones trying to help..."

Naruto and Sasuke were now changing in different stalls of the men's restroom.

"So what happened out there?"

Naruto looked up as he slipped into his uniform, "What do you mean?"

"I mean when Kakashi gave you the burden of choosing our last teammate, you looked like a fish out of water. Then you regained your composure, and chose Sakura…"

Naruto was finally in his uniform. He just needed to put on his shoes. He let out a slight sigh, "Do you remember when you went out for…"air" last night?"

Sasuke smirked at the jab thrown at him. "Yeah."

"I talked to Kurama… He basically said the only reason I was having so much trouble with Sakura was because I wasn't trying."

Sasuke was now finished changing and walked out of the stall. "So now you've decided to try to fix things?"

Naruto walked out of his stall and looked at himself in the mirror. The uniform looked sleek but somehow bulky due to the armor. It didn't feel that way though. It felt as light as a feather. After he was done examining it he replied to Sasuke, "Yeah, basically. I mean I can't change what happened, so I've just gotta try to focus on the future." The voice he replied in made it sound like he was trying to convince himself.

Sasuke had his mask in his right hand and his original fighting clothes in his left. He pondered over Naruto's words, then replied, "It looks like he was right."

Naruto kept looking at himself in the mirror as he replied, "Maybe."

Sasuke gave him a glance before asking him, "What does that mean?"

Naruto smiled but put his head down a little, "Nothing much. It just still hurts, that's all..."

Sasuke looked over to Naruto and saw that although he had taken a huge step in mending his relationship with Sakura, he was still in a lot of pain. He paused for a moment, then replied in a firm voice, "Naruto, I know it hurts, but if you could somehow find a way to push past that pain, you and Sakura could have a really great relationship."

He looked over at Naruto who was downcast but obviously paying attention before finishing his thought, "Just keep at it."

Naruto stared at himself in the mirror for a few seconds before slightly smiling and turning to Sasuke. "I knew the mountains had been good for you." Sasuke looked away and grunted before changing the subject, "Hn. Where do we put our clothes."

Naruto hadn't thought about that, so he just turned to the briefcase. "I guess we'll just put them in here until we get back." Sasuke placed his neatly folded clothes in the briefcase. They rested there with the Uchiha logo clearly visible.

Naruto put his ANBU gear on top of them and, last of all, placed his fox shaped ANBU mask on top.

As Sakura changed into her uniform she wondered what could have caused such a quick change in Naruto. She knew Sasuke was trying to help, but could he have really made that much of an impact? She didn't even get to apologize to Naruto like she had planned to.

As she started putting on her shoes, she let out a small sigh and noticed her eyes were watering. Soon after, felt tears were running down her cheeks. At first, she thought they were tears of joy, but then she realized she was feeling a little sad. She let out a slight sniffle as the tears kept running down her face. Her feelings were becoming more and more confusing to her. She was supposed to be happy… Naruto was finally starting to go back to normal, and their relationship was finally looking like it would improve. So why was she sad…

As she finished changing, she walked out of the restroom stall with the clothes she had been wearing in one hand, and her mask in the other. She looked in the mirror and wondered why she was still feeling sad when she heard a knock at the door. "Sakura, are you almost done?" Hearing Naruto say her name in a semi-affectionate way again cheered her up a bit. She felt her body relax a bit as she smiled and yelled out, "One second." She grabbed some tissues to clean herself up, but her face still looked a little off, so she decided to put her mask on now before she walked out of the restroom. Naruto and Sasuke were facing away from the restroom as she walked out.

As she walked out of the restroom, the two of them turned around. Naruto and Sasuke both noticed she already had her mask on. It was pretty obvious that some tears had been shed, but Naruto just pretended not to notice and Sasuke did the same.

Naruto opened up the briefcase and said, "You can put your clothes and shoes in here." She nodded as she placed her ANBU gear on top of the pile, followed by her shoes and ANBU mask. Naruto gave a slight smile before closing the box, then looked at the two and said, "Let's go."

Tsunade and Kakashi were standing on training ground 3 when they spotted the three shinobi in the distance. Kakashi waited for them to arrive then gave them some final instructions. "Remember, this is purely a reconnaissance mission. There shouldn't be too much activity in the Rain right now because it's still pretty early in the morning, but try not to be seen anyway. Do not engage with any enemies unless absolutely necessary. Is that understood?"

The three shinobi gave nods of understanding, then Kakashi turned to Sasuke, "Take it away."

Sasuke turned and looked at an open space, then his Rinnegan started glowing a vibrant purple. The region began to quickly warp into a different space-time and before long, a purple, swirling portal was formed.

Kakashi turned to the three nin, "Good luck." The three nodded, then Naruto entered the portal, followed by Sakura, then Sasuke.

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke exited the portal and found themselves standing at the edge of a forest. It was raining, but not heavily. It was more like a faint drizzle. The raindrops were barely audible as they fell against the forest leaves. Naruto looked up as raindrops soaked his mask and body armor. They were definitely near their destination. He looked out into the distance and saw the distinct skyscrapers that were unique to the city. The skyscrapers stood tall and elegant with very clear-cut edges, angles, and borders. Surrounding the city was a large lake. It was definitely the Hidden Rain Village. He looked over to Sasuke and whispered, "Nice work." Sasuke turned and gave a curt nod.

As Sasuke nodded, Naruto's head slightly tilted to the side as he looked at him rather quizzically. Sasuke asked, "What is it?"

Naruto looked slightly puzzled as he replied, "Your Rinnegan…It's missing those dots that are usually there…" Sasuke turned away and looked out towards the city, "It's fine." Naruto looked at him with a little bit of concern but decided to drop the subject.

After that, Naruto turned to Sakura then back to Sasuke. He pointed to the highest tower in the city. "The information we need is in there. Just follow my lead. You guys ready?"

Sasuke and Sakura nodded in agreement. Naruto turned to face the village, "Then let's do this."

Author's Note

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