Chapter 11: New Team Members

The trip back to the Leaf Village seemed shorter than the hike to the Sand Village, but I knew that was an illusion. It did not take long for Sakura and Tenten to walk with me, separating us slightly from the others so we could talk alone. I had a feeling I knew where this was going.

"So..." Tenten said casually. "What's the deal with you and that Akatsuki? The one you stopped us from attacking."

"You were friends when you were living with the Akatsuki, right?" Sakura said in a gentle tone.

I nodded. "Deidara and I formed a strong bond. We're good friends."

Tenten looked at me with uncertainty. "Are you sure you're just friends?"

I looked away while we walked. I had dedicated myself to the truth, and I could not lie... but I could evade the question. "Does it matter? There are two others in the Akatsuki I have different relationships with, but I would act the same with them."

"I'm not suggesting you would let your feelings get in the way with your judgment. I'm just... curious."

"That's why you didn't want to fall in love, right?" Sakura said. "You were worried your emotions would take over you... but that hasn't happened at all. I find no fault with your actions."

I looked at her in surprise. "Really?"

"I thought you acted well too," Tenten said. "It's just... that must be a tough situation... being in love with someone you can't have."

My expression softened, and I nodded. It seemed these two were allies. They understood my troubles. "Yes, but what's even more difficult is seeing him make bad choices and not being able to make better ones. That goes for my other friends in the Akatsuki too. I'm not going to give up, though. I'll find a way to get Deidara on the right. I'll save him. And the others too."

Sakura smiled. "Of course you will. And Naruto will help you."

I smiled slightly in return. "Yeah. Right." After how everything played out, I was not so sure anymore. I tried to tell myself that this was a unique case and Naruto would be more understanding next time. Still, I could not help but worry. Despite this, I was determined to save Deidara with or without Naruto's help.

We finally arrived at the Leaf Village. Guy and Lee, with the former carrying Kakashi on his back, ran most of the way to see who could get their first. Guy claimed he was first and Kakashi was second, leaving Lee at third. This caused Lee to tear up. I rolled my eyes at their antics. We immediately started for the hospital to take care of Kakashi since he still could not move after using his Mangekyo Sharingan.

"Oh! He's awake!" Naruto once Kakashi stirred from his bed. It was later in the day, and my team decided to wait by Kakashi's hospital bed to make sure he was fine.

"So, I'm back here again," Kakashi muttered.

"Good job, Kakashi," Tsunade said, appearing by the door with Shizune.

"Master," Sakura said in surprise.

"Lady Tsunade," Kakashi said and tried to stand up.

"No, Kakashi Sensei!" Sakura gently pushed him back down. "Don't push yourself."

"I examined you earlier, but you need to be in bed for a week" Tsunade said. "It will take a few more days until you can return to duty."

Kakashi sighed. "I guess that's how it goes."

"Seems it will still take a while until you can master the new Sharingan."

"Yes."

"Just rest. Try not to push yourself for a while. Team Guy should rest today too. You can turn in the report later. Let's go, Shizune." Tsunade turned to leave.

"Yes," Shizune said, walking out the door after her.

"Oh," Sakura said. "Master!" Tsunade stopped for her. Sakura turned to me. "You should come too, Katsumi."

I shrugged. "Alright." I knew she probably wanted to talk to Tsunade about something that happened on the mission, but why didn't she want to speak in front of Naruto and Kakashi? I pushed my curiosity away as I followed Sakura, Tsunade, and Shizune to the hospital balcony.

"Is it regarding that matter?" Tsunade said to Sakura as soon as we were alone.

"Yes," said Sakura.

"Did you tell Kakashi?"

"Since Kakashi Sensei has been like that all this time, I haven't yet."

"How about Naruto?"

"You haven't even told me yet," I said, still immensely curious about what was going on.

Sakura glanced at me before turning back to Tsunade. "I thought I should first consult you."

"Give me the details," Tsunade said.

"It's what I heard from the Akatsuki member, Sasori. He said it was a reward for beating him. He said, in ten days, go to the Tenchi Bridge located in the Village Hidden in the Grass at high noon. He has a spy working as one of Orochimaru's subordinates and was supposed to rendezvous with him there."

My eyebrows rose. "Orochimaru?" I knew what that meant. We could find Sasuke.

"Tenchi Bridge, huh," Tsunade mused.

"Four days has passed, so it will be in six days."

"Can you trust your source?"

"Considering the situation, it's safe to say we can trust it." Sakura turned to me. "I would like your opinion though."

I thought about it for a moment. "Kiku said Sasori just surrendered and left. How did that happen?"

Sakura nodded. "That's right. I didn't do much except fight him. Kiku was the one who was talking to him. She might be able to tell you more."

"Can you summon her?" Tsunade asked me.

I nodded. "Sure thing." I quickly performed the summoning jutsu, and Kiku appeared, stretching out before me.

"Hello, Katsumi," she said brightly. She looked around at the others. "Sakura. Lady Tsunade. Shizune. What can I do for you?"

"Is Deidara alright?" I asked her.

"He's fine. Don't worry."

"Did you follow him back to the Akatsuki hideout?" Tsunade asked.

Kiku shook her head. "No, he couldn't allow that. I stayed with him until he met up with Tobi."

"Tobi?"

"Someone who's with the Akatsuki but not an official member," I explained. I wondered what he thought about the entire situation with Deidara. He had wanted me to give up.

"He said he's a member now," Kiku said. "He claims he's Deidara's new partner since Sasori ran off." Sakura and I exchanged a look.

"So, he doesn't think he's coming back?"

"Doesn't seem like it. And I don't think he is either. He seemed pretty determined to start a new life away from it all."

"What did you say to him?"

Kiku sat down and scratched her ear. "Not much. I just built off of what you already said. His grandma may have had a part in it too." She shrugged. "He seemed tired of this life and wanted something better."

"That does not mean he is not still a threat to us," said Tsunade. "However, if he has betrayed the Akatsuki, they will likely hunt him down. We can assume he will lay low for awhile."

"Then he likely told me the truth," said Sakura.

"Perhaps, but what would you do if it were a trap? There is a possibility that Orochimaru is just bait, and the Akatsuki will be waiting there. This may have been arranged beforehand."

Sakura looked determined. "If it is a trap, I'll fight with all my might!"

"Fight? Kakashi will be in bed for more than a week, but we only have six days left. For that matter, ever since Sasuke left, Team Kakashi has been short on staff."

"But most ninja squads have four members like us."

Tsunade glanced at me before looking back at Sakura. "Katsumi's special circumstances require an additional ninja."

"Oh."

"We can only add another member and create a new team."

"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune said.

Tsunade turned to her. "What is it?"

"Then, you should send a different unit to investigate the situation. Even if you let Sakura and Katsumi go, you should leave out Naruto!"

Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "Shizune."

Shizune straightened up. "Yes."

"Like you, Sakura is one of the few ninja whom I can trust from the bottom of my heart. I will definitely let Team Kakashi go, mostly because Sakura is on it."

"Wouldn't it be the same if my team went?"

"It's not the same! Sakura, Katsumi, and Naruto are both desperately trying to seek out Sasuke, their former team mate. They wish to save Sasuke more than anyone. That strong desire will lead the mission to success."

Shizune still appeared worried. "You and Sakura are different, I understand, but, for this mission, Naruto should-"

Tsunade gave her a harsh look. "Now that he's heard this what would Naruto say?"

Suddenly, Naruto jumped down from the room, and said, "Let's search for our new team member immediately! Later!" Then he dashed off.

Tsunade groaned. "Sheesh, that impatient brat I wasn't done talking yet."

I laughed. "That's Naruto for you."

Shizune stepped towards Tsunade. "Won't you reconsider this one more time?"

Tsunade looked at her. "Reconsider what?"

"The issue regarding Naruto! It's too risky to allow Naruto to take part in this mission. If something were to happen-"

Tsunade's expression hardened. "Don't make me say it again! Team Kakashi, with Naruto, Katsumi, and Sakura, will handle this mission. I've explained my reasoning!"

Shizune winced. "I understand that, but it's not really 'Team Kakashi' because he can't even go with them! The situation is different from when we dispatched them to the Hidden Sand!"

"That's true," said Sakura, appearing worried. "In the previous mission, the enemy was clearly after Naruto. We were able to prevent that because we had Kakashi Sensei with us, who knows Naruto very well. But we won't have Kakashi Sensei on this mission. It's understandable that Shizune would be concerned."

"That's not what I'm worried about," I said. "It seems to me that the Akatsuki is going to chase the jinchuriki in order, starting with the One Tail. Itachi had ulterior motives for going after Naruto that one time. Naruto is his target anyway. Deidara also had ulterior motives for what he did. No one else is as impulsive as him, so Naruto should be fine." I paused. "But going after Orochimaru is sure to make Naruto emotional. If he loses control again..." I bit my lip and looked away.

"Don't worry, you two," Tsunade said. "Those points have been taken under consideration. I'll find two members to fill in the holes left by Kakashi and Sasuke. Make sure to tell Naruto as well!"

I nodded, feeling relieved. "Sounds good!"

I barely had enough time to go home and wash up after the mission. Luckily, my family members were all out. Soon, I found Sakura and Naruto at the spot where Tsunade told us to meet. I was curious about who our new team members would be. Kiku chose to come along and sat at my feet. Naruto seemed excited about the whole thing.

"Nobody's here yet," Naruto said. "Did Granny Tsunade really arrange new members for us?"

"Yep," I said.

"Be patient," said Kiku.

"It'll be okay," said Sakura. "We just got here a little too early, that's all. We've still got a little bit before the meeting time."

"I hope they don't turn out to have the habit of showing up late like Kakashi Sensei," said Naruto.

"Hi," said a boy our age as he approached us. He was smiling, but something seemed off about it. Kiku sniffed him curiously.

"Hey!" Naruto cried, sounding outraged. "It's you! You're the guy who was up on the roof earlier." Sakura and I exchanged a confused look.

Then another man - this one a jonin seeming around the age of Kakashi - appeared before us. "As of now I will be taking Kakashi's place in Team Kakashi," he said, "and-" He paused as he noticed Naruto glowering at the other newcomer. "This is going to be a nasty mission."

"Naruto, do you know him?" said Sakura.

"He's the guy who attacked me earlier when I was with Shikamaru and the others!" Naruto shouted.

I blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"Stop it, Naruto!" Sakura snapped.

Naruto turned to the older man. "Come to think of it, who're you, mister?"

"Oh, could it be?"

"The other new member of our team," I said.

The man nodded. "I'm the replacement captain for this team while Kakashi is in the hospital. Call me Yamato. Captain Yamato. You're comrades on the same team, so you guys need to get along."

"C-Comrade?" Naruto said with wide eyes, looking at the other boy. "This guy?"

"Sorry about before," the boy said with that same smile. I noticed Kiku sniff him suspiciously. "Since we're going to be teammates from now on, I just wanted to find out how strong you were."

"You didn't have to go through the trouble of doing that."

"But thanks to that, I now know you're a worthless guy with questionable equipment."

Naruto became enraged. "Hey, what did you say? We're going to be teammates! Damn you!" He tried to strike the boy, but Sakura held him back.

"Don't start fighting right at the start!" she snapped.

"Some things are inexcusable!"

Sakura let go of Naruto and turned to the boy. "But you're kind of a rotten guy, aren't you?"

"Is that so?" said the boy.

"People won't like you if you say stuff like that."

"I like nice ugly women like you."

Sakura glared at him. "Hey, what did you say? Try repeating that, you twerp." She attempted to pounce at him but was stopped by Yamato.

"He's not great at talking to others, is he?" I said quietly to Kiku.

The cat shook her head. "I'm better at talking to humans."

"What's up with this?" Yamato said. "I don't have time to put you all in a cage to get used to each other. Come on, introduce yourselves."

Naruto crossed his arms. "Naruto Uzumaki."

"I'm Sakura Haruno," said Sakura.

"My name's Sai," said the new guy.

"I'm Katsumi Nishioki," I said. "This is Kiku."

"Well, that's enough getting acquainted for now," Yamato said. "I will now explain our mission as Team Kakashi. The four of us will now head for the Tenchi Bridge capture the Akatsuki spy who has infiltrated Orochimaru's organization and bring him back here. It's an opportunity for us to get information on Orochimaru and Sasuke Uchiha. We will obtain a precious source of information with which we can draw up plans for both the assassination of Orochimaru and the retrieval of Sasuke. Be sure to proceed with caution!" We all agreed with this. "We'll meet at the main gate in an hour! We'll leave once you've equipped yourselves with your Ninja tools!"

I left for my house with Kiku. Once we were far enough away from the others, I began to speak to her in a low voice. "What do you think about the new guys?"

"Yamato seems alright," Kiku said. "Sai, though..." She paused and then shook her head. "I couldn't get a good read on him. He reminds me of Itachi and Sasori. He hides his emotions well."

I nodded. "Do you think he's intentionally suppressing his emotions like Itachi or unintentionally repressing them like Sasori?"

Kiku shrugged. "Beats me. Just keep an eye on him."

"Will do."

I dismissed the cat and focused on getting ready for the mission. It did not take too long. Soon, I was outside Tsunade's office. I did not know if she would listen to me, but I figured I might as well give her my concerns. I entered when I was granted permission. She did not look too surprised to see me. "Katsumi," she said, "what can I do for you?"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "It's about Sai, the ninja you assigned to our team. There's something... off about him. Kiku agrees."

Tsunade still did not appear surprised. "I had a feeling you would say that."

My eyebrows rose. "Really?"

"He is affiliated with an organization that supposedly disbanded. I can say I share your concerns."

"Then why did you assign him to our team?"

Tsunade gave me a serious look. "I had little choice in the matter."

I frowned. "What do you mean? You're the Hokage. Don't you have the final say?"

Tsunade's expression tightened. "Yes, that is technically true, but there are political complications that must be taken into account. I cannot go into detail. I hope you understand."

My eyes narrowed slightly. I remembered Itachi telling me something about that before. There were things about the village that I did not understand. I wanted to know more, but I did not think this was the time to press it. "Yeah, I get it."

"Good. May I ask you to please try to get along with Sai? You can be wary of him, but do not forget your objective."

"Of course, but I don't think I'm the one you should be telling that to. Naruto already has a problem with him. I guess they got in a fight?"

Tsunade sighed. "I was afraid of that. Would you mind helping Naruto keep calm?"

I nodded. I knew she was asking this for more than just Sai's sake. "I'll do my best." I paused, hesitating. "Do you really think he'll be fine without Kakashi?"

Tsunade gave me a small smile. "Do not worry about that. Actually, you may be bale to provide valuable input at the meeting I'm about to have. Would you mind joining me?"

I smiled back at her. "Sure, no problem." I was glad she trusted me enough to involve me in something like this. Plus, if this was about Naruto, I wanted to do everything I could to help. With that, we set off.