Team Yamato were well on their way to their secret rendezvous with an unknown person.
Shanan had had the chance to meet Tenzo before Naruto and Sakura showed up and was able to perform a secret Omoidasu on him before having to refer to him by his codename in front of them.
And Kakashi had been right. They really were good friends. He had trained her well in the ANBU. She was much better at being covert and a lot quicker on her feet thanks to his training. And he was a lot like Kakashi in so many ways. But he could also be a bit more silly at times and maybe even a bit naive from time to time.
He had always been quite amused by her stories of being a typical teenager. And had grown to appreciate her defiance and insolence in situations when he only knew how to be formal and polite. But he'd also helped her work on her formalities and diplomacy when it was called for and taught her to take serious situations more seriously. They worked really well together. He was very skilled and had unique talents and Shanan truly admired him as a leader, as a partner and as a dear friend.
"Oh, Tenzo! Where've you been?" she asked him, a bit disappointed she was only just now meeting him again.
He leaned against the window sill and folded his arms. "Oh, you know. I was on a solo mission and came back and you'd been banned from missions until you and Kakashi could unlock a new technique and they gave me a new partner," he explained. "I checked in on your progress in between missions to see if you were ready to return, but everytime I asked, Lady Tsunade grew more and more impatient about it."
Shanan suddenly felt guilty. She knew she and Kakashi had made the choice to spend a few months working on no-handed jutsu training instead of working on her Sharingan. Although, even if they had, the Kaitei would've probably just happened sooner anyway. She had no way of remembering if she'd considered her friend and ANBU partner's feelings, though, and worried that she hadn't. "Aww… You couldn't come and see me?"
"I tried to, Shanan. But I didn't even have time to train or take any breaks for a while. And then when I finally did, I'd heard what'd happened." He looked at them a bit sadly. Not that he wasn't happy for them, but he'd remembered how much Shanan struggled with her teenage feelings for both Sasuke and Shikamaru. They'd discussed it a lot, because Shanan was never good at keeping anything in and he liked being partnered with a talker for once. He had gotten so used to it, he tried hard to get his new partner to open up, but after half a day, neither of them could stand one another.
"Well damn… I think I missed you, Tenzo. I mean, how could I not?" She smiled softly at him.
"I think I missed you too," he admitted as he gave her half a smile.
She suddenly smirked at him. "Tenzo...?"
He immediately stopped smiling and shook his head at her. "Don't say it."
"I love you, Tenzo!" she said as she laughed.
Kakashi lowered his head as he shook it at them. He'd never seen them together, but wasn't surprised that Shanan had brought this side of Tenzo out of him. It was one of the reasons he'd wanted Tenzo to train her, not just for Shanan, but for him too.
"Stop being an idiot," Tenzo said as he rolled his eyes.
As soon as he looked away, Shanan seized her opportunity and jumped up to hug him. She knew he'd hug her back. He hated hugs, but he didn't fight them. And she was right. He gave her a quick squeeze the same as always.
"So you still don't love me?" she asked as she let go.
He chuckled at her as he folded his arms again and shook his head. "Nah..."
She could hear the affection in his voice as he said it, though, and could tell he was lying anyway. She'd always been able to tell that he was lying.
"Ok…" she said with a contented sigh as she sat back down next to Kakashi.
She had no doubt in her mind that he would be fine with Naruto, since she and him could be so much alike in many ways.
They also had a new member, Sai, that they had been forced to take. He seemed interesting, to say the very least.
They set off a few days before the meeting was scheduled, so that they could practice what to do a few times so that hopefully their cover wouldn't be blown. Tenzo was to pose as Sasori and get information from the contact that was supposed to meet with him.
Their rendezvous, as it turned out, had been with Kabuto. And they ended up meeting Orochimaru as well. And of course, things had gone awry when Naruto's nine tails took over.
Sai disappeared with Orochimaru and Kabuto and the rest of Team Yamato went after them to retrieve him, even though he had betrayed them and was working for Danzo, who was as untrustworthy as Orochimaru himself.
Sai had had a change of heart along the way and agreed to help Team Yamato again once Naruto spoke with him. He couldn't help that he'd been raised by Danzo to be an assassin, but he didn't want to do his dirty work anymore.
In finding Sai, they also, finally, met up with Sasuke.
Anyone could tell, just by looking at him, that he looked stronger and more powerful. More prepared to take anyone on and even more mature than he always had been. Naruto had almost been speechless as he looked up at him. But he was also happy to see his brother. After three long years, he'd really missed him a lot.
"Sasuke! It's really you. I knew you'd be alright!" he yelled up at him excitedly. Team Yamato were all standing in a pit where Orochimaru's hideout had caved in and Sasuke was standing on the edge glaring down at them.
Sasuke stood there quietly, assessing the group and the situation. He wanted to ask where Shanan was, but he had to continue to come off as cold and as disinterested as possible around Orochimaru and Kabuto. He had to seem as though he didn't care about his life or anyone in it because of the promise he had made in exchange for power. He was to train and get strong, kill Itachi and then let Orochimaru take over his body, since his had been weakened during his fight with Lord Third before he died.
"I assume Kakashi is nearby?" he asked the group seemingly indifferently.
"No, I'm taking his place this time," Tenzo told him.
"No Kakashi, huh? I expected to see four people coming to retrieve me someday, but two of you are quite the surprise. Why not the other two?" he tried asking as casually and as coldly as he could.
Naruto, Sakura and Tenzo all knew that he was asking indirectly about Shanan, specifically, but Sai was completely in the dark.
"They had separate missions," Tenzo yelled up at him.
Without a word, Sasuke had run so fast, that it almost seemed as though he'd teleported himself next to Naruto as he looked slowly over at Tenzo.
"You're lying," he said flatly. He stood there with his elbow resting on Naruto's shoulder, facing the opposite direction of Naruto. "Why not the other two?" he asked again, a bit more impatiently and more so to Naruto this time.
Sakura seemed to catch on that he somehow had the same ability as Shanan when it came to knowing if someone was telling the truth or not. Shanan always called people out on their honesty just about as firmly as he had when she was being lied to. It made her jealous knowing that they were similar in any way, but she knew about Shanan's abilities, so wasn't surprised either.
"They're both in the hospital," Sakura told him. It wasn't a complete lie.
Sasuke looked at her and seemed satisfied, although he was still a bit disappointed with her answer. He would have preferred Shanan to be there after all this time.
"Don't worry," Naruto had caught on. "Shanan's doing really well. She's beautiful, she's talented and she's... she's happy," he said softly.
Sasuke didn't say anything in reply to Naruto's information. Instead, he jumped back to where he had been standing before on the edge of the pit and started to walk away. He didn't want to, but he still had some work to do.
"Not so fast, we're here to take you back to The Leaf with us," Tenzo told him.
Sasuke turned to face the group and looked down at them as he kept his face expressionless. It helped that he didn't know the man addressing him. "I won't be returning with you guys today," he said to Tenzo, still as flat and as cold as he could as he looked over to Naruto. "Naruto..."
"Yeah? What is it?" he asked.
Sasuke swallowed the lump in his throat as he remembered the last time they'd seen one another. "Don't try to find me again without those other two. I don't care to see these people again. And by the way," he continued reluctantly, "I hope you've been training. I only spared your life last time on a whim." Not the truth, but he made himself say it anyway. "I'm sparing it this time so that you can deliver my message for me."
"What message?" Naruto asked.
"That if you show up with anyone else next time, I'll kill all of you," he told him as he turned around. He never could be sure who was watching him.
"Sasuke, wait!" Sakura yelled after him.
"Don't make me change my mind about this time, Sakura. Not after I gave you permission to return with the other three." And with that he left them all standing there.
Naruto was suddenly very angry with himself. He had promised to bring Sasuke back and he still couldn't get through to him.
"How can I be Hokage if I can't even save my own brother?" Naruto wondered out loud as he clenched his fists. And then he smiled as realization swept over him. "If Shanan had been here, he wouldn't have threatened us. In fact, he wouldn't have hesitated to come right back home with us. I just know it. He wanted to see her!"
"I definitely think you're right about that." Tenzo told him. "He only mentioned Kakashi so that he wouldn't have to say her name."
"Who is this Shanan?" Sai asked them curiously.
"She's my big sis. I'll tell you all about her on the way back," Naruto said.
If Sai was going to be around them more often, then he would need to know what had happened. He'd need to know why Sasuke was important to Naruto and Shanan and the rest of them. He'd need to know about the Kaitei and how complicated everything had become since then. It was going to be a lot to explain. But they had the whole trip home to do it.
When team Yamato finally returned, Naruto and Tenzo showed up to the hospital to tell Shanan and Kakashi about having seen Sasuke.
"He looked intense," Naruto said. "But... he said he was disappointed that... both of you guys weren't there."
Everyone seemed to look at Shanan who was looking down as she listened intently, kicking herself for not going with them.
"He also said that if anyone else shows up besides the three of you and Sakura next time, then he'd kill everyone that did show up," Tenzo added.
"He didn't mean that," Shanan said confidently as she looked up at him quickly.
"I don't know about that, Shanan. I've never met him before this, but... I believed him. He was definitely upset that two people he didn't know were sent after him."
Kakashi thought for a moment. He didn't like the idea of Sasuke finding out about them and losing his mind completely in front of Shanan. She wouldn't understand what was happening. But they obviously couldn't try to send anyone else after him in the future.
"I'll make sure I'm there next time," Kakashi said quietly.
"So will I," Shanan added. "A part of him must really miss all of us, so maybe it'll help," she said as she smiled.