Disclaimer: I don't possess Naruto, which is probably good as there are probably few exorcists in Konoha.
For Naruto, going through a day he had already lived through was a pain. Once again, he had no choice but to watch events as they unfolded. He dared not leave to find Sasuke and Sakura, though there was no doubt in his mind that they were out there searching for him.
There was always the option of charging into the bungalow, announcing his presence and getting ganged up on, but the blonde decided that was a bad idea very early on. Thankfully, the pariah was more resourceful than that. There was a way for him to communicate with his teammates without sounding an alarm. After some strict observations, the Uzumaki found it.
Yoriiji was a bit of a character among the ranks of Gato's men. The black-goateed man was about twenty years of age, and had scars all over his hands. None of his coworkers ever really thought to ask about those, however. The real distinguishing characteristic of the young man was his small bladder. It was almost unthinkable that someone as capable and brutishly strong as Yoriiji would have such an issue, but anyone who shared a shift or duty with him would come to realize that the man would leave almost every other hour to 'drain the main vein'. As a result, no one thought it odd when the vest-wearing thug in question wandered away from his post in front of the bungalow into the swamps to do away with his inner burden.
In the pre-dawn darkness, Yoriiji spotted a suitable bush and headed for it. He hadn't expected the blow to the side of his head. He didn't even have time to realize he was hit before he was out for the count, and his attacker had to grin to himself, blue eyes sparkling. A handsign was executed, and Naruto became Yoriiji down to every last visible scar.
Damn, I'm good.
Withing a matter of seconds, the real Yoriiji was stashed behind a tree and restrained as a precaution against waking up ahead of schedule. After the cords were secure, Naruto wandered back to his victim's post. No one was the wiser. Several of the men even joked with him, earning a very Yoriiji-like glare from the shinobi in disguise.
The sun came up during the next two hours, and before the sky lost its' ethereal glow, an order was issued among the ranks that caused the inner Naruto to kick all gloating aside. It was the order. The 'capture Sakura and Sasuke' order. 'Yoriiji' grimaced. The next part of the plan wasn't going to be easy.
Within minutes, the small army of lowlifes were on the march into the forest, muttering amongst themselves and looking in all directions. Naruto remained impassive in his disguise. Thankfully, that was how Yoriiji generally acted anyway.
The troupe marched. Time passed, and Naruto pretended to have to go to the bathroom. There was no suspicion against him, and in the thirty second time-slot that allowed him, he searched for his teammates himself. He was unsuccessful, though, and returned to the troupe as a relieved-looking Yoriiji. Once again, jokes were made. Again, for the sake of staying in the character he was supposed to be, Naruto glared.
The walk continued for another good twenty minutes before one of the thugs keeled over inexplicably. Naruto surpressed his exitement and realized the cause was a kunai he knew very well. His friends had arrived, and wthin fractions of a second, Gato's men were in an uproar.
Sasuke chose his targets carefully from his perch in a nearby tree. He only had a few weapons left, but every projectile remaining went to good use. Five men went down with little difficulty while the group ran about in confusion. With a smirk, Sasuke chose his last target and tossed the weapon at a goateed figure. The knife whizzed through the air, but there was no satisfying sound of it sinking into flesh. There was no scream of agony from the man. Sasuke nearly fell out of the tree when he realized the vested thug had actually caught it, and was examining the object carefully in the middle of the battlefield with an unsettling smirk.
An iron chain thrown against the tree indicated that the Uchiha had been found out, and the prodigy had no choice but to drop down and fight in close quarters. It would have been tremendously easier if it weren't for what happened next.
Sakura screamed and kicked against her captor. Truth be told, she had just landed a few punches before her pink mane had been grasped from behind. Smelly, burly arms quickly stifled her and locked around her neck, one hand pressing a sharp object to her neck.
"One more move, and I slit her pretty little throat!"
Sasuke's head turned around so fast it looked like it would swivel off. Upon seeing Sakura in danger, his eyes widened. His hands dropped to his sides. The men he had been fighting quickly closed in on him, and had only time for two punches before something rather noticeable happened to the man holding Sakura. Namely, he fell over with Sasuke's last kunai in his neck.
Gato's men were distracted from their prey yet again, and their eyes fell on the traitor, Yoriiji. Sasuke realized that he was free, and got himself to a more tactful position before he realized that a shocked Sakura hadn't moved. Her eyes were on Yoriiji, and he walked over to her with a look on his face that the Uchiha didn't like.
"You son of a bitch, Yoriiji!" the shouting began.
"What the hell?!" Termite yelled somewhere in the mess. The traitor was their new target, and the thugs immediately charged the man who took out one of his own comrades. Yoriiji didn't even bat them an eye as he approached the kunoichi who regarded him with fascination.
"Look out!" Sakura suddenly shouted, and 'Yoriiji's' eyes widened before a bladed object sliced through his neck. Sakura would have screamed if she didn't notice the rippling. The man who had been standing before her vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving no trace of a human in that place.
Both the two Konoha ninja and Gato's men were apprehensive of the man now. A few from the crime-lord's posse started to bolt, but Sasuke flew at them and thrashed them properly.
"Where are you?!" the Uchiha demanded at the trees and rocks around him, searching for the man who had concealed himself.
The remaining thugs began to shout and scream, and Sasuke turned around to see them twitching on the sod. Sakura backed up against a tree to protect herself against the deadly ninja they had run into before 'Yoriiji' stepped out from behind it.
Sasuke flew at the stranger, but he sidestepped it easily, chuckling.
"Come on, Princess. You can do better than that, can't you?" came the juvenile voice of Naruto from a body twice his size. Sasuke's jaw dropped, and Sakura's joined it.
"Naruto?!" they demanded at once, shifting between relief and murderous intent. Sakura had to grab Sasuke so he couldn't attempt to attack again.
"The one and only!" Naruto grinned, removing the henge and standing before his friends in all his orange glory. "Sorry I didn't leave a note!"
If looks could kill, Naruto would have been dead twice over in the next five seconds.
"What the heck are you doing, you idiot? Do you know how WORRIED we've been?" Sakura demanded, causing the Uzumaki's expression to lose some of its mania.
"Probably, most likely. It wasn't like I did it on purpose, you know. I just.. I just ran into one of Gato's men, you see, and I thought I should investigate."
Sasuke growled at this. "You couldn't have left a message? A well-concealed note?"
"Not really. What if someone else found it?"
"Who would find it?!" Sakura demanded, hands on her hips.
"Any other ninja that might be in Gato's employ!" Naruto retorted, crossing his arms.
"Those chances were slim to none, Dobe, and you know it," Sasuke condescended, a dangerous aura emitting from his form.
"Well, if I told you the person that I trailed was in fact the masked boy with Zabuza, would you change your mind about that?" Sasuke stopped emitting anger, and all negative emotions that were directed at the demon-boy were dissolved.
That go their attention.
"He liked to retrace his steps a lot, you know. Paranoia of being followed?"
Sakura lifted her hand to the forehead she hated so much and let it rest there.
"You mean, you put yourself in that much danger just to retrieve information?" she asked, drained.
Naruto regarded her seriously. "Yes, and I've found out a lot. I just need a little longer at the hideout, and-"
Sasuke's hand locked on Naruto's arm like a vice, and Sakura regained some of her irritation.
"You're coming back with us, dobe. Kakashi needs you at the bridge." Sasuke commanded, his voice steady and harsh.
In the blink of an eye, Naruto grabbed his teammate's wrist and threw him into a bush.
"No," he insisted, looking from Sakura to Sasuke with determination. "I need to do this. It might save more than a few lives."
"What is so important that you'd turn us away empty-handed?!" Sakura practically shrieked in his ears.
"Gato is going to betray Zabuza. I just have to prove it." Naruto explained, playing with the tassles on his jacket.
"-and you're just going to show the proof to Zabuza and expect him to back down? Are you crazy?!" Sasuke inquired, his face contorting in confusion.
"That's pretty much the size of it. Wither that, or I whack Gato," Naruto nodded. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some reconnaissance to d-"
"No way in hell, Dobe. You've lost it." Sasuke stated seriously. Sakura gave a sound of agreement.
Naruto's face darkened, and he grew quiet. "Twelve hours, guys. Give me twelve hours. I'll stop Gato's plot one way or the other. You have my word."
Sakura stared her teammate down. In a flash, she moved to slug him, only to have Naruto shoot off into the distance with amazing agility. She made to chase him down, but Sasuke's arm shot out into her path.
"If we retrieve him as he is, he may be more dangerous than the enemy. We'll report back to Kakashi, and if he doesn't return in twelve hours, we'll know he's a lost cause." the apathy in his voice was astounding.
Sakura bit her lips. She really hoped that Naruto knew what he was doing. If he died, she didn't know what she'd do. Once again, he had saved her life.
Author's note: Katsimus is as amazed as you are at the amount of words in this chapter. Hopefully, certain reviewers won't feed me to a starving minority, or come after me with robots. Enjoooy!