A week and six days later, making it a total of three weeks they'd been in the past, Sakura and Yamato decided to head out and do some scouting to the chagrin of Nagato, Yahiko and Konan still didn't trust them just yet "It's okay Nagato-kun, we'll be back soon" Sakura assured.
Yamato was waiting for her as they trekked through the caves heading down the mountain together "So what's the real reason we are heading out" the brunette asked making sure to keep his voice low in case one of the orphans were following them.
Sakura frowned "I want to check in the Village and see if we can't pick up on any information about Tsunade-shishou, Orochimaru and Jiraiya, it can't be to long from now until Hanzo christens them as the Sannin" she explained.
His onyx eyes widened and Yamato felt like hitting himself "Can't believe I didn't think of that sooner" he slapped his forehead as they exited the cave, he'd been leaving tracking seeds all along the path so they didn't get lost trying to go back through them.
The pinkette giggled "I feel a bit bad leaving Nagato behind though, he really is to sweet, though Yahiko's really trying my patience and Konan is adorable" Sakura sighed glancing around and channeling a little chakra into her ears to see if she could overhear anything.
"Yeah, he looked like a hurt puppy, we'll just have to reassure him that we aren't just going to up and leave him when we get back, by the way do you think we should split up" Yamato chuckled before turning serious as he craned his neck around trying to see if he could spot any Rain Shinobi.
The pinkette tapped her chin in thought "Hmm, we might be able to pick up on something quicker if we did, where and time" Sakura finally sighed emerald eyes scanning the mass of people ears still perked up waiting to pick up on any sordid piece of information she could gather.
It was his turn to think over the question "The Mountain, and say two hours, any longer than that and I fear Nagato-san will definitely freak out" Yamato decided and Sakura nodded in acceptance "Good luck" he waved as they faced opposite directions and set off.
With a deep breath, Yamato squared his little shoulders and marched forward, keeping mostly to the shadows trying to remain mostly unseen which wasn't all that difficult considering the adults ignored orphan children to the point of abuse.
The only thing he had to watch out for was a shinobi, and with his limited abilities, he definitely had to be more careful than usual, if he were still an adult it would be easy to locate and eavesdrop on a ninja of the Hidden Rain Village.
For the first time Yamato cursed the fact that he'd been sent back in time as a child, but he knew the importance of the mission, prevent Madara from getting his hands on Obito, and stopping Danzo from lying to Hanzo about the Rain Orphans, making sure Yahiko lived.
And then of course, ending Madara's life and sealing Zetsu, which even he didn't know how they were going to manage that unless they came up with a seal, or Sakura was holding out on him, in the last year, Yamato had learned more about the pinkette than he had in the time he'd been leading Team Seven.
She was extremely sneaky, her intelligence levels were off the charts, though not quite topping Shikamaru, Sakura was an amazing actress when the situation called for it, her charm and wit got her into places most wouldn't be able to get into.
Her medical prowess was nothing to laugh about, even if Sakura couldn't access those abilities right now, and above all she was a deadly kunoichi who knew over a thousand ways to kill an enemy, and Yamato had no doubts that if someone tried to touch the Rain Orphans, they were goners.
He felt the same way, and he definitely wasn't going to let Sakura carry the whole burden of the mission herself, he had after all made a promise to Tsunade that he'd protect her, Yamato smiled at that, he doubted she even needed protecting.
But he'd watch just make sure, a second later Yamato was distracted as he felt the first flare of chakra other than Sakura, on the very edge of his senses, for the first time in weeks, his onyx eyes widened and he sneakily inched his way towards the bar he'd felt the chakra at.
It was a man and a woman "Did you hear, Hanzo-sama has holed himself up in that place again, after telling everyone to hold off from joining the fight" the man slurred obviously upset about not getting to fight to protect his country.
The woman rolled her dark blue eyes "Good, at least he isn't crazy enough to sacrifice all of us just to end the war between those stupid villages" she snorted tossing back her drink not quite as drunk as her companion before twisting her neck around.
Yamato quickly hid behind a large sign as her dark blue eyes scanned the spot he'd just stood in and suppressed his chakra to the best of his abilities, which was sadly not as good as they would be if he'd still be an adult, damn he really needed to get over that or it would keep being a sore subject for him.
Once the woman was certain that their was no one listening, having droned out most of her partners continuous stream of drunken talking she tuned back into her conversation "...and then Hanzo-sama was like all NO and blah blah blah" her partner slammed his fist down on the bar.
"You know you're getting entirely to worked up over this" she sighed resisting the urge to just knock him out and haul his ass home to his wife, a slew of colorful language was directed at her and she leaned her head in her hand.
"No..not..hic, even listenin..to me are...hic, you" the man knocked back another glass of whiskey, it burned on the way down his throat, he clenched his brown eyes shut "I'm...tell...tellin ya... Hanzo...hic, -sama should just...get the...bloody war..hic over" he shouted garnering stares.
With a sigh and having had enough of her partners drunken rambles and pretty sure that someone was listening in on them, she stood struck the man on the back of his neck tossing some ryo down to pay for their drinks "Up you go" she grumbled throwing his arm over her shoulder.
Yamato watched the duo as the woman half dragged half carried the man down the muddied streets to wherever, it hadn't been much information, but at least he'd be able to tell Sakura something about Hanzo and that he didn't seem to be anywhere near dubbing the Sannin, the Sannin yet.
Since he didn't think he'd get anymore information, considering how lucky he'd been, Yamato doubled back to the mountain and took shelter from the rain, hoping that Sakura returned quickly or he was going to go crazy from the wait.
In all that time that Yamato had stumbled across an interesting pair and overheard their conversation, Sakura had been slinking down the streets of the Rain Village, being careful not to run into anyone and basically being invisible.
It sucked big time that she couldn't sense a shinobi half as well as she could when she'd been a teenager, and that the only time she could sense someone was if they were extremely close and even then she had to be extremely cautious not to alert them that she was listening.
Sakura sighed softly emerald eyes peering around in hopes to catch sight of a ninja, or overhear something, though she'd long since stopped channeling chakra into her ears not wanting to overdo it and have to give up so soon.
It was completely ridiculous what they had to resort to in order to get a scrap of information, 'It's for the good of the mission' Sakura reminded herself keeping a vigil lookout as she weaved in and out of crowds and through the mass of civilians going about their day.
A snippet of conversation caught her ears and she stopped cold in her tracks, pivoting on her heel her emerald eyes caught sight of the duo and from the gleam of silver on their foreheads, they were shinobi, Sakura's lips curved upwards and she started after them.
When she was close enough chakra was channeled into her ears again and suddenly Sakura could hear their conversation "Can you believe Hanzo-sama called us to his office, to discuss patrol times to keep those damn Stone and Leaf Shinobi out of the Village" one boasted obviously proud.
The second male frowned slightly, she couldn't really tell through the rain and because she was still to far away to see "What if that's not what he called us there for, listen Hanzo-sama can be a little crazy sometimes and very cautious" he shushed the one who'd boasted.
"You're just sore that you still just a genin and I was recently promoted to chunin" the younger one stated in a matter of fact tone "Even if Hanzo-sama is a very cautious person, at least he knows how to run this country" he huffed.
Clearly the older man was ruffled and rolled his eyes "I'm not sore, and I have no problem with being a genin, it means I'm kept away from the front lines for awhile, and sure, but have you ever actually seen Hanzo-sama do anything to help this country truly" he questioned.
Sakura sighed 'These two are absolute morons, do they even know how to be discrete' she thought shaking her head disappointed in the lack of tact Rain Shinobi seemed to have, even if they were a genin and a newly promoted chunin, they clearly didn't know what it meant to be a shinobi.
Lost to her thoughts she didn't realize that the two men she had been tailing and eavesdropping on their conversation had stopped, until she promptly ran into them and the older one lifted her up by the back of her shirt "Look what I caught a nasty little brat" he smirked.
"Hey let go of me" Sakura shouted wiggling as hard as she could, but his grip was to strong, so in the end she just gave up and hoped to kami that she didn't get in to much trouble, or that it took to long before Yamato panicked and came looking for her.
The two men peered at the tiny pinkette "Guess we should take her to Hanzo-sama, tell him that she'd been tailing us for the better part of twenty minutes and listening to our conversation" the younger exclaimed hoping to get rewarded and possibly get another promotion.
Accepting her fate, Sakura crossed her arms and glared at the ground "Good idea and don't go thinking you can take all the credit, I'm the one who caught her" the older boasted proud of himself for being able to catch her in the act of eavesdropping.
Soon enough she was being dropped, nearly on her head if she didn't do a little roll and land roughly on her backside "Ouch" Sakura glared once more getting to her feet barely being able to see over the desk behind it seated in a chair was the famous Hanzo of the Salamander.
"Hanzo-sama" the older one stepped forward slamming his hand down on the pinkette's head to prevent her from running "Caught this little brat sneaking along behind us and eavesdropping, she got some chakra in her" he pointed at Sakura.
Hanzo peered over his desk to see the tiny child and raised a brow "That girl, she's just a child, but I do detect a hint of chakra" he leaned back in his chair trying to decide on the best course of action, he didn't really like the thought of punishing children, and the pinkette was obviously an orphan.
Taking a chance "Please Sir, I didn't mean anything, I was just practicing, see I'm trying to get strong to protect my friends and they kind of dared me to eavesdrop, I didn't realize that it was an important conversation" Sakura waved her arms making herself look as if she was about to cry.
Surprised that she'd come outright and admitted it, Hanzo blinked in confusion "You want to be a shinobi someday" he questioned eyeing the tiny child, she was probably no more than seven, possibly a bit younger than that.
"Mhm" she hummed sweetly softening the man up to her childish appearance "I want to become the best medical ninja in the world, all while protecting my precious people" Sakura vowed emerald eyes bright with her determination.
A chuckle filled the air and she knew her plan was working "That's some serious dedication, I look forward to seeing you in my ranks in the near future, May I Have You're Name To Remember You By" Hanzo asked staring the pinkette down.
Glad that she was getting let off the hook, Sakura sighed inwardly in relief "My Name Is Sakura and I look forward to the day I can take up the mantle as a shinobi as well Sir" she bowed politely hiding her smile before straightening again emotions under lock and key.
Angry that she was going to get away free without any form of punishment "Hanzo-sama, she was eavesdropping" the older male protested grasping Sakura by the back of her shirt again to stop her from leaving the office.
"Let her go, or you'll be demoted" Hanzo ordered and Sakura hastily scrambled towards the exit when she was released, "Now we have patrol times to set up, sit" he commanded committing Sakura's name to his memory and hoping he saw her in the future as a Rain Shinobi.
Happy to be able to get out of that sticky situation, not that she'd gotten much information, Sakura legged it towards the mountain and to the cave, as she entered it someone jumped out at her "Why the heck did you take so long" Yamato actually pouted at her.
"Got a little held up, met Hanzo and everything, I'm just glad he's soft towards little kids and that he likes hearing dedication from them" Sakura huffed swiping a hand through her hair face twitching at how easily she'd been caught.
Yamato blinked "You got caught, but how, you're sneakier than I am sometimes" he frowned and Sakura nodded "But you didn't get punished" this time she shook her head, "Oh well it's about lunchtime" Yamato sighed.
Sakura let out her own echoing sigh "Hanzo is a little different than I imagined, at least he's not a total crazy bent on the Rain Village's destruction" she breathed lowering her voice as they trekked through the caves, Yamato leading the way.
"True, true, I still can't believe you actually got to meet him, what was he like" the brunette inquired whispering just in case the Rain Orphans were waiting for them close by, it wouldn't do to let them catch onto the fact that they aren't from this time.
A smile curved her lips upwards "He's actually pretty nice to kids that is and doing a bit of acting it was easy to sway him in my favor" Sakura snickered remembering the look he'd given her after she'd made her vow "Though he knows my name now" she admitted.
Not totally surprised "You must have impressed him, at least later on when it will truly count, he'll be easier to approach" Yamato nodded pointing out the advantage of making contact with Hanzo so early on and Sakura's eyes lit up in understanding.
Obviously she hadn't thought of that "Good point, the only problem is figuring out a way to show him the truth if it comes down to that, I won't risk Yahiko's life" Sakura rubbed at her arm as a chill set in, with that, their conversation came to a halt both of them wanting to get back.
The minute they were back in the cave the Rain Orphans occupied, Nagato set Chibi who'd been in his lap to the side and launched himself at Sakura "Sakura-chan, Yamato you're back" his rinnegan eyes held the concern he felt for two of his friends.
"Yes, we're back Nagato" Yamato patted the boy on the head consoling him for the moment "We would never abandon you, just remember that" he smiled reassuringly and Nagato turned his complete attention on Sakura as he moved over to the fire to warm up.
Feeling touched that the red head had worried, Sakura wrapped her arms around Nagato "Hush now, Yamato and I aren't going anywhere, you're stuck with us forever" she teased and his cheeks predictably flushed while Konan laughed.
She and Yahiko had, had their doubts on whether the two cousins would return as well, but they were just as glad that they had, "Yeah, yeah whatever" Yahiko sulked pretending like he hadn't spent the last two and a half hours agonizing over Sakura and Yamato prolonged absence.
"I'm just happy you guys came back" Nagato finally pulled away from Sakura and Chibi bounded towards them "Chibi-kun is to" he picked the pup up scratching him on his head while Sakura smiled at him with a fond smile.
Konan hid a smile behind her head "Yeah welcome back" she called when she felt like she wouldn't burst into giggles because of how cute the pinkette was, or how well she managed to calm Nagato down when it truly mattered.
Yamato grinned watching the red head and the pinkette interact before Sakura walked over to the fire that he'd just left to pull out a blanket and stood before it "Admit it Yahiko-san you missed us to" he couldn't resist teasing.
Yahiko snapped his head around and stared at the brunette in disbelief, before his cheeks turned red "Whatever" he huffed trying to hide his embarrassment as Konan and Sakura broke down in giggles at his denial over the statement.
Not wanting to cause to much trouble, Sakura dug around in her pack for a moment and emerged with a scroll unsealing some items to make lunch with before sealing the rest back away, fish stew was soon bubbling away in a pot over the fire.
"Eat up you guys" she called when it was done sitting next to Yamato with her own bowl clasped in her hands, Nagato followed along soon after sandwiching her between him and Yamato like usual, and it didn't bother her half as much as usual.
This time Yahiko couldn't help but comment "You know you're to kind for you're own good" he pointed out but kept a good hold on his own wooden bowl, Sakura flashed him a smile "Perhaps it's not a bad thing" the orange haired boy admitted.
"Everyone needs a little kindness Yahiko-san and I've got it in abundance" Sakura quipped after sipping some broth and chewing on a piece of fish, her eyes sparkling with the fondness she held for the each of them.
Yamato grinned "Yeah, Sakura's good at that, and she'd do anything to protect us, even you and Konan-san" he explained to their shock, the rest of lunch was eaten in silence with Chibi getting some bread rolls and some cooled stew.