Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me, I don't write this story for profit, and the rights of the owners are of course not touched in any way.
So this was how the stranger had come to us.
„Don't worry about the girl", he said. „We haven't hurt her and we don't intend to hurt her. And neither do we want to exchange her for Naruto. She is just staying with my team in order to make sure that I will return safely. Naruto may decide freely. Where is he anyway?"
„Downstream, swimming in the river."
„It's no use", Yamato intervened. „Naruto belongs to our team, he cannot leave on a whim in order to join you. Return to your team and send Sakura back – if she is not with us in a reasonable amount of time, we will get her back."
„I would prefer to tell my message to Naruto, the Jinchuuriki, himself."
„I'd prefer that too, Yamato", I said. „It's a new situation, and we should discuss it all together as a team."
„What's new about it? Our task is to retrieve Sasuke and take him back to Konoha, not to give Naruto over to him."
„Well, it would seem to me that at least one thing has changed: We have found him now, so we won't have to search any more. We should discuss now how we can persuade him to come back with us. The only alternative is to fight him and his team and take him back to Konoha by force."
He did not answer, and it for a moment it occured to me that he might think this a viable alternative.
„Go and fetch the boys", I said.