I opened the door to my home and got tackled to the floor with a big bear hug.
"Auntie Anako!" Konohamaru yelled. "I missed you!"
I chuckled and ruffled his hair. "I missed you too."
Konohamaru let me up and I stood up after him. I looked in the kitchen and noticed Asuma and Kurenai sitting at the table.
"Oh hey!" I said, waving at the two.
"How'd you mission go?" Asuma asked. I walked over to the table and sat down.
"It was good. Really exhausting though." I said, putting my head down on the table.
"Was it successful?" Kurenai asked, sipping her tea.
"Yes it was."
"Auntie! Tell us all about it." Konohamaru said. I stood up from the table.
"Konohamaru, there will be times when you go on missions and there'll be information that you do not disclose with others. This mission is one of those." I said. "I'm going to go to my room. Please leave me alone."
I left the kitchen and went to my room.
I leaned against the building after telling Lady Tsunade about the spy.
"Can we trust it?" Tsunade asked. "It could just be a trap that Akatsuki has planned; they could be waiting for you."
"If it's a trap, we'll fight." I said.
"You say you'll fight, but Kakashi is going to be out for a week. And there is only six days. I guess I'll have to form a new team."
"Lady Tsunade." Shizune said.
"What?"
"In that case, let's just send a different team. Even if we send Anako like you said, you must leave Naruto out."
I shot Shizune a glare. How can she say that?
"Shizune, Anako is, like you. One of the few shinobis I can trust in. I am definitely sending Anako's team, Team Kakashi, on this mission."
"Then wouldn't it be the same if my team went?"
"No it wouldn't be the same." I said. Tsunade and Shizune looked at me. "Naruto and I both are trying to get our old teammate back. We believe more than anyone that he can be rescued."
"Those strong feelings will bring success to this mission. You and Anako are different." Tsunade said, backing me up.
"Understood." Shizune said.
"Well, now that you've heard it all, what do you say Naruto?" Tsunade said, looking up.
"I'll go looking for another member right away!"
Naruto went off; I laughed and shook my head.
"Always rushing; I hadn't even finishing talking. I will fill in the gap left by Kakashi and Sasuke." I felt my heart tighten at his name. "Tell that to Naruto too."
"I will." I looked at Shizune.
"Don't worry Shizune; I made a promise to myself." I said to her. "I won't let anyone harm Naruto."
"Tsunade… I'd like to speak with you. Come." Koharu said.
"Anako, do not stray far." Tsunade said.
I nodded to her and went to her office. I tidied up a bit for her and about 10 minutes later, she returned.
"Lady Tsunade." I said.
"Those elders are a pain. They really are." She said, sighing and sitting down. The talk she had with the elders played in her head.
"Lady Tsunade, I intend to keep that self-promise I made." I said. "I'll give my life before I let Naruto get taken."
"I know you will. It's time to go meet your team." She said. I nodded and made my way to the door.
"Thank you."
I left her office and went to meet Naruto.
"Hey Anako!" Naruto yelled, waving at me like a madman. I smiled. Total déjà vu right there.
"Hi Naruto. We meet our new team today."
"I know. I wonder who it'll be."
We made small talk until two guys showed up.
"Hiya." The boy with short black hair, Sai, said.
"You!" Naruto yelled and pointed at him. I learned he had a scuffle with this kid.
"Um, from now on, Team Kakashi… I'll be taking his place for now." The new leader, Yamato, said. "I am Captain Yamato."
"I'm sorry about before. I just wanted to see my new teammate's ability. I just didn't realize I'd have to look after the little prick with no balls."
"What did you say!?" Naruto yelled.
I grabbed him before he could go after Sai.
"Hey! Just relax Naruto. We don't need to be fighting right away." I said. I looked to Sai. "That was rude."
Sai gave a fake laugh. "Is that so?"
"You won't make friends saying that type of stuff."
"I like everyone, even you fatass."
I deadpanned and let Naruto go. Did he seriously call me fatass? Yamato grabbed me before I could get to Sai.
"Fatass? I am not a fatass! You asshole!" I yelled at him, struggling to get to Sai.
"Hey! Anako, calm down! Remember what you told Naruto."
I calmed down and Yamato let me go. I walk over to Naruto.
"You're not fat, Anako." Naruto said.
"Thanks." I mumbled.
"Anyways, the four of us will be going on a mission soon. Since there is no time to throw you in a cage and get used to each other; let's introduce yourselves."
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki."
"I'm Anako Sarutobi."
"I'm Sai."
"Well, now that we know each other, that's the end of it." Yamato said. "Now I'll explain our mission."
"From here, the four of us will proceed to the Tenchi Bridge. There we will intercept the spy that the Akatsuki has in Orochimaru's hideout and bring them back. This is a chance for us to find out about Orochimaru and Sasuke Uchiha. We will assemble at the front gate in an hour. After sorting out equipment, we will depart."
Yamato and Sai left and Naruto and I made our way.
"I just don't like that asshole, Sai." Naruto said. "Why is he taking Sa-?"
"Please. Don't say his name." I said, cutting him off. "I've heard it enough today."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Anako." Naruto said, giving me a sad look. "Anako, can I ask you something? And be completely honest with me." I nodded for him to continue.
"When I left, I heard you weren't the same… Is that true?"
"What do you mean? Of course I was the same." I said, giving him a fake smile. "Why wouldn't I be the same?"
"Well, Sa- I mean he left and then I did. You were by yourself."
"I was fine. I have other friends, you know."
"Oh, okay then. I'll see you soon." Naruto ran off and I went home myself.
I didn't want to tell Naruto the truth. It might upset him and that was the last thing I wanted to do. After packing and saying bye to Asuma and Konohamaru, I made my way to Tsunade's office. I knocked and she said to come in.
"Hello Anako. How'd the meeting with the new teammate go?"
"It went umm, bad."
"Really? Explain?"
"Well first of all, Sai and Naruto hate each other already. Sai called me a fatass." I said.
"That bad already…"
"Yes…"
"Well, the only thing you can do is keep Naruto calm and under control."
"I'll do what I can. One more insult and it'll be the other way around."
A knock came and Tsunade said enter. The door opened and Danzo stood there.
"Danzo, what is it?"
"You have assigned an elite ANBU to be the leader of Sai's team?"
"It's Team Kakashi. Not Sai's team." I said to him.
"Oh what a pleasure it is to have both princesses in my presence at once. Anako, I hope you are doing well since your father's death." The way he said my name made me want to punch him square in the face.
"I've been fine." I said.
"Anyways, Tsunade?"
"I choose the person who stood the most since Sandaime was in office." Tsunade said.
"Excellent, but I hope he hasn't taken Sandaime's teachings to heart… That old man always was afraid of getting into disputes and making decisions." I refrained myself from saying something nasty to him. "Anyways, I am satisfied. Now I can go and eat. Goodbye."
Danzo opened the door and left. I unclenched my fists and looked back at Tsunade.
"I do not like him." I said.
"As the student of the moderately thinking Sandaime and granddaughter of the Shodai Hokage, he hates me." Tsunade said and I laughed at that.
"As daughter of Sandaime and his rival, he hates me too." I said. "We're in the same boat."
"Yeah we are. It's time, Anako." Tsunade said.
"Well, I'm off." I said.
I left Tsunade's office and made my way to the front gate. The guys were there and I stood in between Naruto and Sai. Yamato stood in front of us.
"Right then. Team Kakashi, departs."
About three hours into the mission, we all stayed silent. It was honestly an awkward silence. Naruto just kept glaring at Sai.
"What is it?" Sai asked. Naruto just glared again. "Please stop looking at me like that. Don't make me hit you."
"Every damn thing you say just pisses me off more!" Naruto yelled, shaking his fist at Sai.
"I don't have any malice towards you."
"Liar!"
"I'm just trying to put on that attitude for you." Sai was refereeing to how he acted.
"Aha! You do have malice. Why the hell are you here? All you do is piss people off!"
"Hey hey, don't say something like that right in front of your captain, Naruto." Yamato said. "Teamwork is the most important thing in a group. I though Kakashi taught that to you. Someone like you in a team with the great Kakashi; what is with you?"
"It's because he's not a member of Team Kakashi!" Naruto yelled, pointing at Sai. "The other member is Sasuke." Another tug.
"This guy is just taking his place, someone to fill the gap. I'll never consider someone like him as a team member."
"Well, I am glad you think of me that way." Sai said, fake smiling. "I wouldn't want to be likened to the weak shit-for-brains Orochimaru's clone who only cares about power and ran off-"
I cut Sai off by punching him in the face, sending him flying far away from us.
"Anako!" Yamato yelled at me.
"Please forgive Naruto for the things he's said. Me on the other hand, you don't have to forgive."
"And here I thought you were the nice one." Sai said, rubbing his face.
"I'm not nice to heartless bastards like you. And don't ever expect me to be. Next time you say something bad about him, I'll fucking kill you." I said, saying the last part with a fake smile of my own.
"Gotcha. Those smiles you've been giving me are fake. I'll remember that." Sai said, standing up.
A big wood cage appeared behind Yamato. No way! That's the First Hokage's secret jutsu and only his. Wood Release.
"If you guys don't stop arguing, I'll toss you in a cage. I said we don't have time to waste, but we've got five days until we have to be at the Tenchi Bridge. As the mediator here, here is my proposition. You can spend a day or so in here and work out your differences, or we can to a hotel that has hot springs. What'll it be?" Yamato made this scary face that made Naruto freak out. "You guys really don't know me well either. I like being nice and friendly, but I have no problem controlling you with fear."
I sat in the springs with the other girls. I mindlessly looked down. Naruto yelling broke me out of my trance.
"Why are you always taking about penises?!"
The other girls began to laugh. Ugh, really Naruto. He can be embarrassing sometimes. I got out of the springs and went to put my clothes on. Once I was out, I noticed Captain Yamato coming out as well.
"Anako, what was punching Sai all about today?" He asked.
"I have my reasons." I said.
"Care to share those reasons?"
"No. Goodnight."
I left him and went to my room. After changing into my night clothes I laid down. I closed my eyes and realized I wasn't going to get much sleep tonight. I heard the guy's minds and made sure they were asleep. I slipped out of my room and went to the bridge outside. After pulling my knees to my chest, I placed my head on my knees. I tried to stop my tears from forming, but it didn't work. For the first time in over a year, I cried over Sasuke.
I sat up in the bed and looked at the window. I actually did get some sleep. I stretched and noticed that Sai was drawling outside. I had no desire to go see him, so I got ready for the day. I made my way outside and leaned against the wall; opposite of Yamato. Naruto walked past me to get Sai and I heard him yelling at him. I sighed and pushed off the wall.
"Let's go!" I hollered at them.
I heard Naruto grumble a few curse words and they joined us. We were on our way again. I didn't speak the whole time. Nightfall soon fell on us. I heard Yamato clap his hands together.
"This will be a good place to camp."
A big house was suddenly in front of us.
"This isn't camping." I said.
Once we were settled in, I realized we'd all be staying in the same room; which is fine by me.
"Everyone gather here for a bit." Yamato said. "Also, I need to ask you something Anako."
We all gathered around Yamato.
"What do you need to ask me?"
"It's about the Akatsuki's Sasori. I got ahold of his file from Suna to start. But I need you to tell me everything you know about him; his personality, speech-style, mannerisms, habits, and anything else. You're the only one who has seen Sasori with your own eyes."
"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked.
"The spy who got into Orochimaru's hideout is expecting Sasori to show up at Tenchi. That means, that while he might see right through it, we need to disguise one of us as Sasori."
"Being a spy carries serious risks. We're not the only ones taking this seriously." Sai said.
"Also, incase this is a trap, I am going to be the one in disguise. I want you three to lie in wait until a signal."
"I know Sasori wasn't lying when he died." I said.
"Either way, that spy… there's no doubt he's a very skilled shinobi."
"Let's do this." Naruto said.
"Right, now for the real problem. I've already told you the concrete plans for the mission ahead. Our objective is to capture, under no circumstances must the target be killed. Even if we have to battle. If they're killed, we lose valuable information. This mission is more difficult than simply defeating the enemy. Given that it's a target mission, I'll go first. And you will be back up. The strategy is simple. First, I will retrain them and if a battle situation arises, you will all prepare to fight. I'll signal you. And if we reach a situation as in part two, then we must fight via a buddy system. When one person moves, the other will look after them. The principle of this system is mutual support. I will decide the buddy system. First, Naruto and Sai, second, Anako and myself."
"Why can't I be will Anako?" Naruto asked.
"I am the medical ninja of the group. Therefore I have to be the last one standing in case of a nasty situation. If I die first, then who will heal you three? No one." I said.
"Exactly. Keeping that all in mind… this isn't exactly normal, but tomorrow we'll spend a day doing team exercises. I know nothing about all you other than what is in your files. I'd like to know things about you. Like your fighting methods, battle skills, and array of jutsu. And through getting to know each other, strengthen our teamwork. You might think I'm being too serious, but that's how I do things. So put your all into it."
I nodded my head and we all went to our sleeping spaces. After about an hour, I fell asleep.
Naruto and Sai were after Yamato. I sat on a tree branch and played with my hair. I didn't get to do the exercise since Yamato was my partner. Sai caught Yamato and him and Naruto began to argue. I jumped down from the tree branch and landed next to Naruto. He walked off and I looked after him.
"Why does he care about Sasuke so much?" Sai asked me.
"Don't say his name around me." I said. "But Naruto thinks of him as a brother."
"Oh. I don't see why he should care."
"I know I said I'd kill you for bad mouthing him again. But I agree with Naruto. I'll work with a piece of shit like you to save him."
"Anako, you're very… yeah… you got a soft spot for Naruto, don't you?"
"He's my best friend. Of course I've got a soft spot. Unlike you, I've got feelings."
I walked away from him and went to Naruto.
"Just ignore him." I said, placing my hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah. Let's get going. We've got to be there at noon or this will all be for nothing."
Noon came and we were at the bridge. We stayed hidden while Yamato went to the bridge. The spy was there. I read the spies mind and gasped; covering my mouth. I glared hard. If looks could kill, I could kill a whole army.
"Who is that?" Sai whispered.
"Kabuto."
Here is chapter 4! :) If you didn't already guess, Anako is still upset about Sasuke. Also, in the later chapters, it will be explained why Naruto asked Anako if she changed. I hope you all enjoy! Please review! Don't be a silent reader. I'd like to hear from all the readers. I am open to suggestions as well! :)
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StarTrail
And thanks to the new followers and favorites! :) I love you all!
