Ink's Notes:

Hello! It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry for the delay, I've been a tad sick, but I'll try not to let it keep me from making updates! I think I might as well respond to a few reviews, so here we go...

Krazyfanfiction1: I feel like breathing fire and whatnot should be limited to the Mera Mera no Mi, so I probably won't have Marco shooting fireballs and whatnot. Although, the "becoming bigger for transportation" is an interesting idea. Maybe I'll find a way to work it in...~

6Lisa9: Thank you! I'm glad to know I have your interest~ And yes, his 'instinct' is in fact Haki! It's just, no one really knows what Haki is, so they're making assumptions.

xlunatica: I admittedly hadn't thought of that. Either Marco was careful to hit him in places it wouldn't be immediately evident, or when Sakura gave him a minor healing, it might have fixed him up enough so that they wouldn't notice. I get the feeling at least one of them knows more than he's letting on, though.

I think that takes care of that. Thank you for all the kind reviews, and on to the next chapter!

Chapter Six

"Say, Kakashi?" Sakura began, catching the copy-ninja's attention. "Do you think Pakkun and the other dogs would be able to help Marco learn to speak?"

Their little group stood on the outskirts of the village. Sai was closest to the entrance, keeping an eye on Tama, who had agreed to warn them if one or more members of his group showed up. Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura and Marco were all close enough that they could get there in a few seconds if needs be, but far enough that Marco wasn't freaking Tama out.

Kakashi turned his attention to Sakura and the bird that had made himself comfortable on her shoulder. For a moment, there was silence, but Kakashi was saved from having to break it by Naruto, who did the job for him.

"Hey, Sakura-Chan, why do you wanna teach Marco how to speak?" he asked, crossing his arms as he stared at the bird. Marco returned the favor, looking entirely too smug for Naruto's liking. He muttered something about not wanting to hear what insults the bird could throw his way, and Sakura gently slapped him upside the head.

"Because, Naruto, Marco already understands us, and if we could understand him then he could be a great help on missions," Sakura explained. "He's able to hunt, can scout out enemy camps from the sky, and is highly sensitive to-"

"Yoi!" Marco suddenly perked up, turning towards the entrance to the village.

"-Danger," Sakura finished, sliding into a loose stance as a group of three approached the village. She paused when she realized that Marco had stopped looking at them, and had closed his eyes. Naruto and Kakashi had already gone over to where Sai and Tama were, as Tama seemed to be saying something to them while Sai was flipping through his bingo book.

"Yoi," Marco spoke, in a hushed tone, so only Sakura could hear. She looked to him, and he gently pointed his wing towards the inside of the village. The unspoken message was delivered, and Sakura made sure that the others were occupied before dashing off in the direction Marco had pointed.

Sai, Naruto and Kakashi found themselves facing off against three missing-nin who seemed to know Tama. There was one man and two women, each looking ready for a fight. The man had pale yellow hair and was dressed in various blues, the first woman had black hair and was dressed in various reds, and the second woman had brown hair and was dressed in various greens. Each of them wore a forehead protector with a crossed out symbol on it, each one from a different village.

Naturo glanced at Tama. "Say, Tama, these guys from your group?" he asked.

"Former group," the black haired woman responded, reaching for an axe that was on her back. "We suspected his betrayal when he didn't show this morning, but the fact that he's here with you secures it."

Tama frowned, fidgeting with the ropes keeping his hands tied. He looked to the ground, feeling somehow rejected.

"Ah, here we are," Sai spoke up, having flipped to a certain page in his bingo book, and marked two others with his fingers. "The man's name is Rai Dendo. He specializes in lightning jutsu." He flipped to one of the other pages as the man now identified as Rai smirked. "The black haired woman is Moya Netsu. She specializes in fire jutsu." He flipped to the last page he'd marked as Moya gripped the handle of her axe. "The brown haired woman is Mizumi Hitaru. She specializes in water jutsu." As Sai put away the book, Mizumi grinned and cracked her knuckles.

"I see our reputation precedes us," Mizumi sneered, sliding into a battle stance. "You guys must be the Konoha shinobi who're protecting this village."

Sai, Naruto and Kakashi each slid into their own stance in response. Rai followed suit, but Moya didn't draw her axe yet.

"Say," she frowned. "I thought there were four of you plus one bird." Tama shuddered at the mention of the animal, and Moya cast a wayward glance at him, but didn't press the matter. "Where's your fourth member and her pet?"

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked. "Sakura-Chan's right-" He turned as he pointed to the space that Sakura and Marco had once occupied. "Eh? Where'd they go?" he frowned, before looking over to the missing-nin they were facing off against. "You didn't do something to her, did you?"

Moya frowned and turned to her allies. "Say, you don't think it's possible that…" She was interrupted by Rai waving her off.

"Bah, impossible," he grinned. "Don't underestimate our leader's abilities." Moya looked worried for a moment, before finally drawing her axe and holding it in front of herself. "All right, kiddies," Rai grinned, practically sparking in excitement. "Here's how it'll go down. We're gonna trash you, take care of the traitor," Tama flinched at his new title, "Then meet up with our leader and wreak havoc. Sound good?"

"Not particularly," Sai deadpanned as he readied a paintbrush and sketchbook.

Naruto frowned as he and Kakashi readied themselves for battle. "I hope Sakura-Chan's okay," he muttered.

"Yoi!" Marco called as he flew ahead of Sakura, leading her down the streets. Sakura didn't know how he was doing it, but he was somehow avoiding crowds of people and leading her through alleyways so they wouldn't be delayed.

"Are you sure about this, Marco?!" she yelled up to him, and he nodded before continuing along their path. Sakura had figured out some time ago that he was leading her towards the mayor's office. It made sense, she reasoned. Tama had said that his group had four members, not including Tama himself, and only three of them had been at the gate. That left one member unaccounted for, and if them appearing at the gate was just a distraction…

Sakura grimaced. If the fourth member really were targeting the mayor, his or her success would mean that the town would be thrown into chaos. That would let the group of missing-nin do whatever they wanted, take whatever resources they needed… and who knows how many innocent people would be hurt.

She clenched her fists as Marco led her into the space in front of the mayor's office before flying down and landing on her shoulder. "Is he already inside?" she asked the phoenix, and after a moment's contemplation, he shook his head. "Then-"

"Oh, dear. And here I thought you'd all be at the gate."

Sakura spun to face the owner of the voice, bringing her fists up, while Marco jumped off of her shoulder and hovered in the air next to her. They found themselves facing off against a man with spiky blue hair, dressed in black pants, a gray shirt, and a white vest. He was calmly resting one of his gloved hands on a katana that was slung through a belt on his left side, and he was flexing his other hand at his side. The man only smiled at the cold reception, looking from Sakura to Marco and back to Sakura.

"Konoha shinobi," he greeted, nodding to Sakura. "Pet bird." He nodded to Marco. "I trust my earth specialist has been treated well while in your care?"

"So you're the leader," Sakura responded, to which the man replied with a smug grin. Sakura frowned. Trust her luck to land her with facing off against the group's leader.

"That's right. Kyo Tabin, at your service." The grin didn't leave his face as he bowed a little too deeply and too dramatically. As he straightened himself out, he gently tilted his head, eyes never looking away from Sakura and Marco. "Now that I've given you my name, why don't you give me yours? It's only polite," he pointed out.

Sakura frowned, not seeing much harm in it. "Sakura Haruno," she responded. "This is Marco." She gently tilted her head to indicate the bird in question. "I assume you're a B-Rank missing-nin like Tama?"

"Yoi," Marco frowned, shaking his head. Sakura blinked, looking at the still grinning shinobi before her. Marco didn't seem to think he was a B-Rank… then again, how would he know? Maybe he was from the same village? But if he wasn't a B-Rank, and he was the leader of the group, then that would mean…

Sakura paled. "A-Rank?" she asked. A grin from Ryo was her only response. Sakura steeled her courage and tightened her stance.

"You know, there's really no point in us fighting in the middle of the street," Ryo frowned, and Sakura blinked, confused. "From what my wind clones told me, you'll likely worry yourself with keeping bystanders safe, and now that you know what I'm after I have no reason to hang around until I've taken care of you, since you'll just try to stop me from attacking the mayor otherwise…"

"Wind clones?" Sakura asked.

"Ah, yes. I had some wind clones following you when you arrived, but your bird seemed to notice them, so they stopped. Best not to blow my cover, right?"

Sakura took a moment to process this, and then grimaced. "So what are you saying?" she asked, preparing herself for a surprise attack.

"I'm saying we should move to a more open area," Ryo answered, turning away from her. "Follow me."

He moved briskly away, and Sakura hesitated for a moment. What if this was a trap? When Marco began gliding after Ryo, she paused. Even if it were a trap, she couldn't just let this guy do as he wanted. If she didn't follow, she had no guarantee that he wouldn't start attacking bystanders to lure her out. So Sakura balled her fists and began walking after him, picking up her pace so as to not let him out of her sight.

And so ends Chapter Six! ...Yes, I did use Google Translate for the missing-nin's names. I'm admittedly rather nervous about the next chapter, since I don't have much confidence in my ability to write fight scenes, but I might as well give it all that I've got!

I also won't be showing Naruto, Sai and Kakashi versus Rai, Mizumi and Moya. Sorry to disappoint, but the story is about Marco and Sakura, so I'll be focusing on Marco and Sakura versus Ryo instead.

Well, I'll see you next time! Thank you for all the kind reviews~!

-Ink