A/N: A huge huge thanks to Fugitivus, Solochely, one unnamed Guest, and Nonoel. Your reviews carried me through writer's block, or well. more like planner's block, which i only finally cracked last week.

Now that I finally wrote the first page of the chapter after this one, i feel confident enough to post.

Chapter 18 To Prove Yourself

Sakura sat under a tree close to the training ground they'd been using today and ate from one of the bento boxes that Sasuke had made. She couldn't quite make sense out of Yamato's reaction to Sasuke's reveal. He hadn't seemed surprised, though still not quite believing his eyes. Ugh, that didn't make sense, how could someone show those expressions at the same time?

How had his mindset changed towards Sasuke? Did she have to start thinking about what if they allowed Sasuke to come with them on this mission?

What if she lost him? What if he died? Would it be her fault? Having 'owned' him, she should be held responsible, shouldn't she? Would she be willing to risk that? Then again, every time they went out on a mission, they potentially risked their lives, if he wanted to be part of the team, he probably should be allowed to make that decision to take the risks for himself, regardless of her ownership.

She didn't want to lose him, didn't want to see another person in her life die.

But… she knew why he was trying so hard. He wanted to see his brother, that, she could understand very well.

"I would want to see my family one last time too if I had a chance." He did have the option she didn't, and it hurt. She was jealous, and at the same time, she knew, she wouldn't bring it over herself to keep him from meeting his brother without good reasons.

Well, Naruto being a target of said brother may be one of those reasons, but when had Naruto not been a target? The Kyuubi hadn't been the only reason for making his childhood difficult, his mischievous nature was a component as well, but it had been a big part of it, and no one would ever know how Naruto would have come out to be without his identity as a Jinjuuriki hanging over him.

Sasuke should not have to fight his brother, but it might very well be the only way for them to meet. And Sasuke was right, he did know Itachi better than most, anyone, even if Yamato and Kakashi had worked with him back in the days. Even if Sasuke hadn't seen him in three years, he'd still know about the part of the tactics that Itachi had developed in the years before his capture. And he was a native Konohanian. He should have grown up here, graduated from the Academy together with her and Naruto. Who knows, they might even have been put into the same team. He shouldn't have ended up as a slave.

She still was unsure.

00A00

Sasuke felt pain lace through his side as Sakura's blade touched it and retaliated by sending a zap through his own blade. It hurt, she'd gotten him good. The electricity had come so instinctively, that he seemed to somehow have bypassed his seal reacting. But to be fair, they hadn't been fighting to the death and his electricity, though certainly painful, was way less damaging, she was already standing up, healing the slight burn on her thigh.

"Here, let me heal that." She held a hand over his wound, willing her chakra to work with his and stitching it back together. "That was too close."

"I told you, I can't fight with you as I would with other people. And I nearly got you, I had to be careful not to trigger the seal." Excuses slipped out so easily too.

"Fair."

They were both quiet while Sakura healed his wound. Sasuke could tell, there was something she wanted to say, but was still working up the courage to speak.

"Something's on your mind." he finally prompted.

She looked up, then down again, before she spoke: "What if I lose you?"

Sasuke stared at her, a bit taken aback. He eventually settled on a: "I'm not easy to kill," voicing it a touch harder than necessary.

"You're my responsibility. I didn't buy you to risk your life trying to gather some intel that has zero significance to you."

"I may be your responsibility, as far as daily needs go, but if you are willing to give me a chance to decide for myself what I want to risk or not, then that decision is not yours to carry, is it?! And I am a ninja, I have been trained as one, and I like the work one does. It's part of my identity. Taking on missions that might not hold personal significance to me is something I'm used to. It's even easier that way sometimes. Makes it easier to stay focused."

"Why should I allow you?"

"What are your risks compared to another teammate? You are in control. You can reign in my recklessness, whether I want you to or not." He spat that last part. "Since I told you how to issue orders through the seal itself, I cannot do things on my own unless you let me. You however can issue orders at me without even seeing or talking to me, and you know I'm an asset. I'm no longer in hiding. And you have to admit that I'm skilled."

"What if someone takes interest in you when they learn that you have the Sharingan?" Sakura had heard enough about Orochimaru's obsessions with bloodlines, and they were about to go on a mission where they possibly could encounter him.

"As far as I know, the slave seal doesn't tolerate multiple 'owners' at the same time. As long as you hold on to your slave seal, and don't die, no one but you should be able to subjugate me that way."

"Really?" Sakura had heard of some villages that tried to break prisoners of war through such seals to gain information. Now Sakura understood why it wasn't always working. A slave didn't have to follow orders, he would only try to avoid bans and being tortured through the seal. Which she was sure, happened all too often. And she'd seen the effects of her brief test on Sasuke.

"I'm pretty sure… If the guards absolutely can't handle a slave, they need to call the holder of the master seal, who then punishes through the seal itself. I think they would give more people the owner seal if it would help with handling their more unruly slaves, so at least the common seal design probably only accepts one master."

"Hmm," Sakura murmured thoughtfully. "I assume you can fix rips in your own clothing?" she said, signalling the subject at an end. They continued practising until late afternoon before returning to the apartment.

Only when Sakura was alone she allowed herself to finish her thought trail. Sasuke was good, really good. She suspected that he still wasn't at full strength, despite having been here for months (healing from starvation took time) but he was a force to be reckoned with. Intelligent, fast, with a bloodline limit, and a wide variety of techniques as well as the ability to mask his identity. He was from here.

She still hadn't really allowed herself to see him as a Konohanian. Their ties with the academy class, as well as her infatuation back then, were just too likely to cloud her judgment. However, she couldn't deny that it would be a waste of skills to not try having him join their forces.

And anyway, it wasn't like they never borrowed other ninjas, who weren't sworn to Konoha. Sasuke's intentions were shady, but if she gave him no chance, he could never prove himself. And she could see it in his eyes, being a ninja was his identity. He'd been denied his familial identity since he'd been eight, so he became a ninja first and foremost, instead of an Uchiha, or a Konohanian, or even just a person, an individual.

Oh, he had his quirks, things that made him stand out as an individual. He was blunt and antisocial. Sakura suspected that at least partially had to do with what happened to his family and his upbringing after that, though.

He'd be a worthy asset, he seemed deadset on protecting Naruto.

He also seemed deadset on meeting his brother.

She probably should give him a chance to..

She hadn't had a chance to see her parents one last time. No day went by without wishing she'd have had that.

00B00

"I'd like to tell the Hokage who I am. I know she knows, but I feel it's important to acknowledge my identity to her personally."

Sakura quizzically looked at Sasuke as he said that. She hadn't quite expected something like that. It wasn't that surprising, however, considering his recent behaviour, another try to get into their good books, and a reasonable one at that.

"I'll see what I can do."

00C00

Visiting the Hokage to officially tell her who he was, was about as awkward as Sasuke had expected. Sasuke knew that she had already known. Shikamaru had never promised to keep his identity secret. Their deal consisted of Sasuke helping with Shinobi work, and Shikamaru 'helping' him to find out what he wanted to know.

These days, Sasuke doubted that Shikamaru was trying to help him at all. Well, he had a little bit, but it felt as if he was throwing him bread crumbs only.

Lady Tsunade had thanked him for his honesty, but what difference did it really make? She'd probably known from the day Shikamaru had confronted him.

He left the Hokage's office feeling empty.

00D00

The team went to visit Kakashi once more. By now, he was allowed to get up, to everyone's relief. The visit was short, however, as visiting the Hokade had involved waiting for an audience, and that had taken up quite a bit of time. Yamato had scheduled training and given their upcoming mission, that took priority.

00E00

After another half-hour-long exercise, they sat down in a circle to discuss strategies. Sasuke was surprised to be included.

"Since the decision on if Uchiha-san will join us hasn't been made yet, let us discuss the information we have and develop core strategies first that don't depend on it," Yamato said, before laying out the facts:

"The mission targets information on Orochimaru, a missing-nin of Konoha. He's known for unethical experiments. He's one of the legendary Sannin and extremely dangerous."

"And the other Sannin are?" Sasuke bluntly asked, it wasn't his fault that he didn't know about weird Konohan titles, but San-nin meant three people, it sounded like a codename for a special ops team, and by the sound of it, something had caused them to split up.

"One became the current Hokage and the other is Jiraiya, a pervert. Together with Orochimaru, they had been a genin team once upon a time. Jiraiya has been responsible for Naruto's advanced training. And as you probably know, Tsunade has trained Sakura as a medic. Orochimaru has been a missing-nin for years. Multiple attempts have been made to eliminate him, but too many Shinobi have been either killed or captured by him to be used as test subjects. So, as long as he's not targeting Konoha directly, we put that on hold."

Sasuke nodded in understanding. "My brother knows him. He warned me to not ever let him see my Sharingan, or let him know I even existed."

"That's very reasonable. We have to be careful, Orochimaru likes to put a seal on his preferred victims. Though the slave seal should at least provide you with some protection."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes but said nothing, he remembered explaining Sakura about the possessiveness of the seal, but how would Yamato know about that?

"We are expecting an informant of late Sasori, the puppet master. Sasori had him spying on Orochimaru. So, with my wood-style jutsu, I'll imitate Sasori's puppet Hiruko and meet him, I'll try to get as much information as possible while keeping up the charade, once I think he suspects something, I'll give the signal for you to come out and we'll apprehend him. Sai had sent out his mice to create a map, they came back this morning, here is the map he drew:"

They discussed placement and how to ensure that the spy wouldn't get away, then went back to practice. Sasuke tried his best to be an asset and think about how to keep tabs on Naruto without being obvious about it. The fourth day of working on convincing all the people who needed convincing for him to go on this trip quickly dipped into the evening twilight. Only two more to go.

00F00

On the fifth day, they had an unexpected visitor watching their practice.

"You're out of the hospital," Naruto shouted, running towards Kakashi and abandoning what he'd been doing, which earned him a sharp rebuke from both Kakashi and Yamato, but at least Kakashi's eyes did twinkle in understanding.

Sasuke didn't like it, but what was he to do? At least Naruto came back to practice right after.

Once they took a break, Kakashi first gave his team feedback, then motioned for Sasuke to come for a talk.

"You're a much better fighter when you're not hiding your heritage. Itachi taught you well."

Sasuke had to refrain from rolling his eyes.

"I fought him on the last mission," Kakashi spoke.

He observed Sasuke, but the reaction was minimal, he wasn't surprised, showed no worry, no interest.

"I heard."

Probably Naruto, Kakashi thought. Oh well. Since Sasuke had warned them, he'd probably guessed they'd meet Itachi sooner rather than later. The boy had worried about Naruto leaving the relative safety of the village and Kakashi understood why.

"Itachi has now officially outed himself as our enemy with this attack."

"So? He right out told you that you should treat him as an enemy before he made his move. It was only a matter of time."

"We're still worried that you'll turn against us once you meet with your brother."

Sasuke groaned: "Of course you are." but he didn't try to reason his way out of the statement.

Kakashi could respect that. His intention with this conversation was twofold, he wanted to see how Sasuke was coping with interpersonal matters in the meantime, and he wanted to hear more about Itachi. Kakashi knew Itachi how he had been before the massacre, he wanted to hear how he'd been after. Of course there still were about three years missing even for Sasuke, but Kakashi hoped to at least gain a basic understanding of whom Itachi had become after going into hiding.

"Tell me about your brother."

Sasuke looked at him displeased. "What do you want to know?" it was obvious he didn't want to talk about it but seemed to realize that blocking off would not serve him well.

"How did he take care of you after you both left the village?"

Sasuke sighed again. "Let's go for a walk."

Kakashi easily fell into step with him as Sasuke started talking.

"He carried me out of the village, I passed out at some point. when I woke up, I was alone. When he came back, I had a panic attack and he… I think that first time he tried to give me space, but he also said that we had to move. Sometimes he'd just grab me and hold me close, no matter how much I thrashed. It went on for months, as we travelled wherever."

"By the sounds of it, he saved you."

Sasuke looked pained. He seemed to mull something, at battle with himself. Kakashi was determined to wait it out and get some answers. Shikamaru had told him that Itachi had killed the clan, Kakashi was curious what reaction he would get.

When Sasuke finally squared his shoulders to reply, there was a lot of spite in his voice: "Spared me, more like."

Those four words gave an awful lot of insight, and so did the delivery.

"Shikamaru probably spilt the beans already, so I might as well tell." Sasuke's tone was bitter.

Kakashi neither confirmed nor denied the boy's words. He wasn't surprised.

"What is your deal with Shikamaru? I know you agreed to work for us, was his side of the bargain to not reveal your identity?" Kakashi challenged.

"No, he never promised that. He offered his help to find out what I was looking for, but that was probably just sweet talking, now that I think about it. A way to extract information out of me."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. The resentment and disappointment stood bitter in Sasuke's face.

"I don't think so." The older ninja spoke carefully. "I think he is trying very hard to get to the bottom of it."

"Yeh, sure, he is. But he's not going to tell me, he isn't."

"And why do you think that?"

"Because all he does is throw me half-assed hints and demand more information to do research, but he hasn't shared any results. I know he knows something."

"Hmm. I'm not getting involved."

"So you know something too?!" Sasuke said, tone accusatory.

"Not for certain. And I'm not telling you anything more, I don't want you to hear pieces without understanding the context."

Sasuke huffed. "Of course." signalling that he had expected it and saw the matter as closed.

00G00

A summons early in the morning, early enough so it would most probably not interfere with anything. It was one of those calls that Sai dreaded. He'd schooled his face into an expressionless mask. Kneeling in front of Danzo always made him feel vulnerable. It had only gotten worse after he'd become part of Team 7; after he'd begun to care again.

"Sai," Danzo's cold voice addressed him and Sai pushed his feelings deep down, out of sight and thoroughly hidden.

A short while later he was back outside, not looking forward to rejoining Team 7 as they were about to meet up for a bit of hanging out and resting, rather than training.

He hated the words that had now burned into his mind. Being a slave under Danzo meant that you quickly learned to memorize your orders down to the exact wording. Anything less was extremely painful and dangerous.

It had concerned the upcoming mission, and he wasn't at all surprised. He felt bad for Sasuke, the guy wanted so badly to come with them, and now Sai was wishing for him to not be approved for the mission. This time, Sasuke hadn't even given Sai any reason to. Instead, Danzo had.

He didn't want to stand by as someone whom he'd come to think of as a friend, fought for his life. He didn't want to be encouraged to stage their death without seeming involved if he had the option. And it was 'encouraged' only, because Danzo hadn't found a safe way to word the order without compromising Sai in any way. And Sai knew he only wasn't being sacrificed because he'd be impossible to replace on Team Seven. It was a small relief.

But, he'd been ordered to not let damage come to Sasuke's eyes and to bring them back home. Regardless if Sasuke lived or died.

Of course, he was also to figure out Orochimaru's motives, and if possible, to take him out too. That part, Sai at least didn't mind so much.

Now he'd be late for Team 7 hanging out.

00F00

Team 7, for once, was meeting at Kakashi's flat. The reason for it mostly being, that they were on standby to get called into the Hokage's office for the final details of the mission.

It was Sasuke's first time in Kakashi's apartment, and they were just hanging around the kotatsu. Everyone was kind of doing their own thing. Kakashi was reading the books that Sakura hated. Sakura and Naruto were talking with Yamato, and Sasuke was sitting, arms crossed, waiting, hiding his restlessness. He had a lot of practice in that, after all. No one spoke about the impending meeting, but they all knew. And Sasuke couldn't help but worry about the outcome. Sai was late.

Someone suggested a card game and so they found themselves doing that. Sai arrived and just sat next to them, waiting for the round to end.

Sakura won and they set up the next round including Sai. Then Sakura turned to cook as the others started on an action movie. Which was of course when the summon came.

Team 7 had a good eye-rolling laugh about it as they pulled on their shoes.

They were called in one by one and Sasuke grew more agitated by every call. He knew they were all talking about him in there. Naruto gave him a friendly punch upon return. After the last one of them had returned, Sasuke expected to get called in, but he wasn't, instead the doors closed, probably in closed counsel. Everyone was quiet.

00H00

"So, what do you think?" Tsunade asked Shikamaru, who had quietly been listening to everyone beforehand.

"Sakura, Kakashi, and Sai, all think that Sakura should be able to control Uchiha Sasuke through the slave seal, so that's a good start. Yamato does too, but he still doesn't like the idea. Overall, there are mostly positive voices, and even those who have doubts stated that they'd like to see Sasuke succeed, so he should be given a chance to prove himself."

"How do you see the danger Uchiha Itachi proposes at this point? I feel that Naruto was not sure what to say on this, but that he is aware that it could be a strategy to get both Uchihas out of the village and together. Uchiha has been very overprotective since he met Kisame however, and Naruto doesn't seem to think that that is an act."

"It's hard to say, honestly, neither do I. Uchiha Itachi is dangerous, and seeing that his Partner is Hoshigaki Kisame, an S-Class Missing Nin, I'd say it is safe to assume that he is too. But they're targeting Naruto, and if you still want to send him out, then there's not much we can do about it. He might show up, he's unpredictable.
"Sasuke is very divided about his brother and I think Itachi's order further confused him. I'm not sure how much he trusts it, but he seems to follow his brother's word anyway, which, I suspect, is because he does want to meet his brother and confront him. That said, I do think the worry about Naruto, and his determination to protect him may actually be genuine too. He's afraid of being encouraged by his brother to form bonds because he's afraid they will be ripped away again. Sasuke is afraid of what his brother is capable of and Naruto did befriend Sasuke. Sasuke thirsts for bonds, though he denies it." Shikamaru said.

"He is surprisingly stable for all that happened to him. At the same time, his concept of trust is very complicated. I don't think he sees it as attainable to be trusted or to trust. Then again, not many Shinobi do, after a while. Furthermore, he doesn't feel like he belongs, because he's been robbed of his home." Tsunade admitted. "Sai is right that Sasuke needs to be integrated, and such a mission gives him a sense of being trusted and an opportunity to bond with his teammates. And he's a native here, he has a right to be part of Konoha, and he wants to be a Shinobi. He won't heal if we try to shelter him, nor will he learn, it just breeds resentment." Tsunade continued, "I do worry for Sakura, too, though. I wanted someone who wasn't involved in all of this, someone safe, he isn't that and I worry she'll get worse if something happens. She hasn't figured out what I wanted her to learn at all yet."

"I think they're in the same boat, both of them are very afraid of forming attachments, at least, them both being skilled Shinobi, they can both take responsibility for those choices. Sakura's parents were casualties in a robbery gone wrong. and losing a teammate as a genin is a terrible experience because you're young and ill-prepared for the horrors of the profession and more easily overwhelmed, regardless of how good you are skill-wise."

"You're right, I'm just worried." Tsunade, for once, looked old, not physically, just her expression, burdened by the choices she had to make. But she picked herself up quickly. "Go on."

"I think for now it's not too risky. This is not a mission seeking out Uchiha Itachi, and so far it seems that Itachi wants to have Sasuke integrated, Sai is right, too, in that regard: A mission outside will lead to stronger bonds, for both Sakura and Sasuke. And Sasuke won't be able to dig around in the Uchiha's past during that time, which I think is a good thing for now. Gives me some more time, as I still haven't quite put everything together. Either way, he will have to be closely monitored in the future, but I think the mission should be okay."

"Orochimaru, if they cross paths, will likely take interest in the boy."

"Yamato reported that Sasuke had been warned of this by his brother. Yamato stated that he'd been told to never even let him know he existed. He also said that the Slave Seal should provide him with some protection, and apparently, Sasuke had told Sakura the same thing. I think it should be alright."

"Alright. Let's call them all in"

00I00

Of course, Shikamaru had been in there all along. The whole team had been called in and Sasuke just wished that they hurried the decision along. He formally bowed as he greeted the Lady Hokage. Thankfully she got straight to the point.

"Are you willing to risk being discovered by Orochimaru?"

That was blunt. But he'd been thinking about it ever since they had gone through the mission details.

"Yes, I am willing to risk it."

The Hokage smirked. "Orochimaru is known to give some people who catch his fancy a cursed seal."

"I won't be able to avoid him forever if I want to be an active Shinobi."

"You could go a long way without meeting him, this may put you into his very line of sight."

"I am sick of staying behind."

"Orochimaru won't like that you're a slave. He may offer you to get rid of the slave seal. Inspire loyalty through dangling freedom in front of your eyes." Tsunade's gaze turned cold.

"I don't know how to remove it. I don't know what would happen to me if Sakura died."

"Orochimaru will know how to remove it, I can assure you. He would need Sakura for it though."

"I'm not planning on getting her killed."

"Oh, I don't mean killed. There are other ways to undo the slave seal, but you need an active owner seal for it."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"If he realises that Sakura is the slave seal's holder, she will be in danger, too."

"We're all in danger. You're not keeping Naruto home despite knowing that the Akatsuki want him. You place him in danger too. Why is this with me and her a problem?" Sasuke crossed his arms.

"Touché. Well, Sakura, can you hide that you're the slave seal owner?"

"To a certain extent? We've been practicing it."

"Good."

"Well. I think that's it. You're in."

Sasuke felt some tension leave his shoulders and he had to hold back a relieved smile. He was already about to formally bow when the Hokage took word again.

"But… I'll have you know. the seal is bequeathed to me. Don't get Sakura killed, it won't set you free. Dismissed."

00J00

The next hour at home was spent packing. Going through the motions felt unreal, like part of a different life. And Sasuke couldn't shake the thoughts from that last revelation. The slave seal was bequeathed to the Hokage herself. He couldn't get distracted thinking about this.

Packing only took so long however, the rest of the day was spent mentally preparing, and relaxing the body.

Sasuke still couldn't quite wrap his mind around it. Sakura would have to lift the ban on leaving the village's borders. She hadn't done so yet, she may not even be fully aware that it was in place. She'd been a bit busy when they had left the last time.

He just never had thought that he'd leave here without being returned to a slave house. He'd been expecting to be returned within the first two weeks.

He'd been here for months now. suddenly with goals, with perspective. He had a life again, a safe place. It felt unreal.

And he'd worked so hard to get approved, he was not quite prepared for the emotional impact. Now he'd leave that safe haven and take the next step. He hadn't realised how safe he'd started feeling here. It had been a foreign feeling after so long without. But oh how quickly he'd gotten used to its comfort.

But he'd potentially meet Itachi, he may get some answers. Closure. That was all he wanted… Wasn't it?

That unsureness was creeping back in and he pushed the thoughts away. Maybe it was better to think about the bequeathing of the seal after all. When had it happened? How did it work?

He really wanted to know.

He didn't dare to ask.

00K00

At noon, Sai and Kakashi came over to spend the rest of the day together as a team before they were leaving. Sai was untypically quiet.

Naruto and Sasuke were doing their reading exercises again, Kakashi watching them curiously. Everyone was a tad bit distracted. It felt more like beating time to death than anything else.

They went to Ichiraku's for dinner, then went to bed early.

Sakura couldn't shake her thoughts. Sasuke would come with them tomorrow. She remembered how he'd been at their side last time, right until they crossed the border. He hadn't been able to cross. She could still prevent him from coming. She hadn't lifted the ban yet. Ugh, it would be so awkward.

Despite seeing how capable Sasuke handled himself in combat, she hadn't been able to shake the feeling of worry.

In a way, she was starting to regret having gotten the one slave who had shown obvious ninja qualities; who hadn't been afraid to hide them. She suspected there had been more in there, unfortunate to have been captured on the job, but he'd been the only one openly showing his skills. The only one who purposefully tried to scare potential buyers away.

But she was also glad. She'd never thought to see Sasuke again. And she had freed him. He was right, he deserved a chance as a ninja, it wasn't right of her to keep that heritage from him.

00L00

They met up at the gate at 3 am. It was dark out and a cool breeze tried to caress any skin it got to. Sasuke stood right next to Sakura and Sai felt a pang of frustration course through him. He had yet to warn Sasuke. There just hadn't been a good moment to try to talk to him alone, and he had wanted it done before being outside of the village. Naruto was always there, and Sasuke seemed really determined to stick by his side whenever possible.

He also still didn't know how to actually warn him. He couldn't outright tell him. Danzo's seal prevented him from doing that.

He stepped up to them in greeting and stayed quiet after that.

00M00

Yamato observed their gathered little group. This was going to be a difficult mission, and not for the reason one might expect. Naruto was being hunted by the Akatsuki. And if the mission with Sasori's spy went wrong because Orochimaru had caught wind of it, Sasuke quite possibly would have to reveal himself and would become Orochimaru's target as a result.

Yamato would not be surprised.

And then there was Sai. Yamato may not remember his time with Orochimaru, but he certainly remembered Danzo's training and expectations. He remembered his methods. The guy was power-hungry and there was no question he had his eyes on Sasuke. Yamato just wasn't sure if he wanted Sasuke under his thumb or out of the picture. Either way, he'd need to watch Sai closely.

Yamato knew Sai long enough to know that he wasn't on board with Danzo's schemes, but the guy wouldn't be able to let them know, and Yamato knew very well how much Danzo knew about how to manipulate people under the slave seal.

Their team's constellation was far from ideal for this mission. they really should have sent another group, but due to coordination issues, that was not possible. Having more team members than usual did not make the situation better if Yamato felt that each of them were in danger, and couldn't be trusted fully on top of it. He pushed those feelings of dread away, cloaking himself in a layer of indifference.

He had voiced his concern with the Hokage, and apparently, someone was looking into Danzo, so she wanted Sasuke and Sai out of the village. And Naruto, there was nothing they could do about that but hope their team was strong enough to withstand an attack. Team Seven was one of the best for a reason.

The village was barely safer, Gaara's kidnapping had shown that.

And Yamato's skillset was ideal for this mission. ANBU and Woodstyle. Perfect to imitate Sasori's puppet. They had to trust in all of their power combined. Yamato would have to trust each member of their team to look after themselves and not make any stupid moves.

It wasn't easy. But he had a plan to keep up with them at least a little bit.

00N00

The gate was ominous, Sasuke still felt phantom pains looking at it, he remembered too well how much trying to pass it last time had hurt. Sakura's refined chakra was intense, and their chakra's interacting to uphold the seal's restriction was hell.

"Let's go," Yamato said.

Naruto and Sai nodded. Sakura was reluctant, Sasuke just looked at her, apprehensive.

"So, I… Come with us?"

"You have to mean it," Sasuke said sharply. "Don't ask."

"Okay. Come!" She stepped through the gate.

Sasuke had sweaty hands, but he refused to be seen as weak, even though every muscle in his body was tense in anticipation of pain. Determined, he braced himself and stepped over the invisible line. Relief swept through him as nothing happened.

"Alright, let's go, everyone."

00O00

They travelled for the whole day, taking breaks only when necessary. Yamato had taken them to an Onsen, telling Sai and Sasuke to hide their slave seal just to make sure they weren't faced with any discrimination. It went off without a hitch. He didn't tell them that he had hidden tracking seeds in the food. He kept out his senses whenever one of them moved out of sight for whichever reason. He was already starting to distinguish between them. Everyone was tired, everyone was apprehensive. They took turns keeping watch.

They continued travelling the next day. Sai sent out his mice to scope the area again when they got close. They finalized their plans, got into position, and waited.

There was a lone figure in a hood approaching. It was time.

00P00

A/N 02.04:24: Reviews feed my muse! So, if you like what I do, pretty please?