Ink's Notes:

Hello everyone! Thank you very much for the kind reviews~! I won't say anything else since quite a bit happens in this chapter, so let's just get right into it!

Chapter Five

Two days later, as the sun was setting, the unlikely group arrived at the village they were to be protecting. Naruto was at the front, already charging ahead to find a place for them to spend the night, followed by Sai, who said he was going to report to the village's mayor that they had arrived.

This left Kakashi, Sakura and Marco at the entrance of the village, with one additional person standing between them.

Tama adjusted his feet, looking around the village that, up until about two days ago, he'd been targeting with his group. If he could even still call them that. They'd likely begun considering him a traitor when he hadn't showed up to the meeting they were supposed to have this morning. He muttered under his breath, thinking back to how he'd gotten himself into this situation.

Two Days Earlier

"Guys," the pink-haired woman, who the blond kid had called 'Sakura', spoke up, catching his and the others' attention, "What do we do with him?"

"Good point," the silver-haired man pointed out, bringing a hand to his mouth, which was covered by a mask. "He cooperated with us, so killing him would be stupid at this point."

Tama was internally relieved. He was glad they weren't going to kill him, at least. Before this, he hadn't known fear. He was strong, and most opponents he could either dispatch easily or give a run for their money. He'd had no reason to think that anyone could defeat him without at least being battered and bruised too much to take him in.

That was, until today. He found himself looking at that weird bird for what must have been the twentieth time since he'd woken up. The bird was quietly watching him, though Tama could swear that he seemed angry about something.

Tama was still having trouble believing what had happened. One minute, he'd been getting rid of the wards that the ninja had set up – they were good work, but he knew how wards worked and could take care of them pretty easily – when the bird had suddenly attacked him. Everything from that point in had been a blur. He'd shot a few earth jutsu at the bird, but the bird had just shrugged them off as they'd gone through him, before launching counterattacks. Tama barely had time to react as he was hit with what felt like a wing reinforced by steel, though how that was possible he had no idea. He'd just been recovering from the blow when he caught sight of the bird's wing.

No, at that point in time, it hadn't been a wing. He was sure he was imagining it, but it was like the bird's wing had turned into a human arm. Then a very human fist had hit him square in the face, and the force of the impact had momentarily blinded him. The next thing he knew, it felt like he was being pummeled by a very human opponent, and a well-placed blow to the head had knocked him unconscious.

He had woken up to three layers of three different kinds of rope and the four shinobi he'd been planning on attacking standing before him, and that bird…

Tama felt that he'd had every right to freak out at that moment in time.

He brought his attention back to the shinobi's conversation when he realized they were talking about him, trying to figure out what to do with him. The silver-haired one seemed to want to take him to Konoha, while the black-haired man said that they should call ANBU and have them take him back. The blond argued that ANBU would just kill him and they couldn't trust them to take care of him, and the one he was pretty sure was named Sakura was arguing that they should bring him with, since he might still have information and Marco could keep him in line.

Marco? Was that the bird's name? He glanced at the bird in question, who had just left his perch in the trees in favor of Sakura's shoulder.

Tama cleared his throat to bring their attention to him. "I'll- go with you," he nervously spoke. "Once- Once your mission's done, you can decide what to do. Say I was captured during battle, or something," he frowned. "Certainly can't go back to my group after having been beaten by a bird, no matter how much of a monster he is."

Sakura slammed her fist into his head, and he fought the urge to yelp in pain. "Marco is not a monster!" she snapped at him. Well, he supposed that answered the question about whether or not Marco was the bird's name. He whined quietly as Sakura turned back to the group. "Well, that settles it. He'll come with us. We'll keep his hands tied so he can't use jutsu, but as long as he cooperates, we can take the rest of the ropes off." She turned to him, and her features almost became demonic. "You will cooperate, won't you?"

Tama quickly nodded. As the blond removed the ropes keeping his body restrained, he wondered what sort of a demon this woman had to be to keep control over a monstrous bird like Marco.

The silver-haired one helped Tama to his feet, and then positioned him between himself and Sakura. "Well, let's get going," he said, his tone a rather lazy one. "We still have two days of walking ahead of us."

He heard Sakura groan, and he almost sympathized with her. Two days of walking with these people didn't seem like it'd be the most enjoyable experience in his life.

Present Day

"Yoi."

The sound brought Tama to attention, and he looked over at Sakura and the bird. Sakura had already slipped into a loose battle stance and was looking around, and Marco was scanning the area, lifting his wings so he could fly off of his perch at any given moment.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" Kakashi asked, his eye narrowing as he glanced around and his hand hovered over his kunai pouch.

"It's just- I've noticed that just before someone shows up, Marco tenses up and says 'Yoi'," Sakura explained, glancing at the bird that was still on high alert. "I think it might be an animal thing, but maybe he can sense danger and is trying to warn me."

Kakashi nodded, and was debating going to look for anything that might be threatening to them when Marco slowly calmed down, Sakura relaxing shortly afterwards.

"Whatever it was is gone now, huh?" Kakashi asked, and Marco nodded in response. He gently pushed Tama forwards. "Come on, let's go catch up to Naruto before he puts us all in the same room."

Sakura shuddered at the thought, before taking one last look around and hurrying after Kakashi and Tama.

Sakura found herself sharing a room with Marco while the boys were all sharing a room with Tama. She wondered how they'd fit and how Tama would sleep while restrained, but she supposed it wasn't her problem anymore. With a sigh, she took a seat at a table in the small room, placing the dinner she'd gotten for herself and Marco in front of her. The bird in question happily flew over from his perch by the window, eager for some food. As Sakura set aside his part of the meal, which he began munching away on, she found herself wondering about him. She really didn't know much about Marco at all – she only knew his name, species, and that he somehow knew how to fight and hunt. Sakura sighed, eating her own food, and aside from the sounds of Marco's lack of table manners, they ate in silence.

Once the two had finished their meal, Sakura decided to change into something more comfortable to sleep in. As she changed, she noticed that Marco had turned his head away and lifted his wing to block his view of her. She smirked in amusement, before finishing up and looking at the bird. "Marco, I'm done," she smiled, and the bird cautiously lowered his wing, confirming that she was indeed decent before relaxing his posture.

Sakura sat down on the bed with a sigh. She stared at the phoenix perched on the chair in front of her, who was staring right back. They locked eyes for a moment before Sakura decided to speak.

"How did you get captured by those traders?" she asked.

Marco thought for a moment, then outstretched his wings and flapped them up and down. "You were flying…" Sakura determined, and Marco nodded, before clapping his wings together in front of himself, attempting to mimic a hand sign. "Someone used a jutsu…" He nodded again, then jumped off of the chair and landed on the ground. "Which brought you to the ground, where they captured you?" Marco nodded again, before flying back onto his chair-perch. Sakura thought back to how Marco pinned people to the ground and added, "Is that why you always pin peoples' hands behind their backs?"

"Yoi," the phoenix responded with a nod. It made sense, Sakura thought. If he'd been captured by a jutsu, he'd want to make sure people couldn't use them on him when he had them pinned. Then again, that was a very human way of thinking…

"Marco… what exactly are you?" she asked, all of her previous thoughts about him possibly being human rushing back at once.

Marco tilted his head to the side. "Yoi?" he asked, and Sakura figured that he didn't really understand what she was asking him. She decided to elaborate.

"I mean… you behave a lot like a human sometimes," she explained, "Just… little things, like your mannerisms, and the way you act sometimes, and your fighting skill…" She could swear Marco was frowning. "I've been thinking, with your skill, maybe you were a shinobi that got hit by a jutsu that turned you into a bird…"

Sakura bit her lip as she watched Marco look down. Judging by his reaction, she was right, but she wanted to hear it from him.

"Yoi," the bird nodded sadly.

Everything fell into place. Marco had been a shinobi, likely on some kind of mission, when he'd been hit by a jutsu – likely a forbidden one – that turned him into what he was now. It had likely taken him a while to adjust to his new body, and he'd probably been flying around looking for a way home when he was captured and had realized that any family he had likely wouldn't recognize him. It was likely that he was still adjusting, given his still human mannerisms – that, or he was trying to keep them in hopes that it might turn him back somehow.

"Marco…" The bird looked up, only to find himself being hugged by Sakura. "It's okay. Even if I can't turn you back… I'm still your friend. I'll help you get through this."

Marco seemed shocked, before slowly wrapping his wings around her. They remained this way for a few minutes, before Sakura let go with a smile. "Heck, maybe I can help you learn to speak again," she grinned, to which Marco seemed to smile in response.

"Yoi!" he exclaimed, bringing his wing to his forehead in a mock-salute.

Sakura couldn't help but laugh. Her new pet might have been a human-turned-bird, but he was still her friend. But… maybe she should keep him being human a secret. Who knows what the rest of Konoha would do if they found out?

And so brings Chapter Five to a close. Tama's stuck with the group, Sakura knows Marco's human, and sure enough he will begin talking soon enough. Where will things go from here? Well, I guess we'll find out together, won't we?

-Ink