Elusive {Book 2}

The New Guy

Sasuke and Naruto had both checked into their own hotel room for the night.  They hadn't really planned out what they were going to do.  This was like their three day vacation.  So when Naruto and Sasuke saw each other the next morning, they had no idea what they were going to do.  That was until a scorpion approached the two.

"Namikaze-sama." The scorpion greeted.  Naruto furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.  "Sakura-sama has a letter for you."  Naruto glanced up at Sasuke before picking up the small scroll the scorpion held.  "She asks that I bring your response to her." The creature claimed, explaining why it had yet to disappear.

"Why?" Sasuke asked.  "Is everything okay?"

"Sakura-sama is alright.  She is in search of ingredients for a poison.  She needs Namikaze-sama's advice."  Sasuke looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not sure why she would need my help.  I don't know anything about poisons.  Why doesn't she ask Sasori?" Naruto asked.  The scorpion looked at the blond and then to the Uchiha. 

"I'm not supposed to tell you.  Sakura-sama doesn't want you to worry.  But it would be better if you knew." The scorpion said grasping their full attention.  "Suna was attacked by Otogakure.  Sasori-sama was poisoned, and Sakura-sama is trying to make an antidote.  Sasori-sama left notes of possible ingredients, but Sakura-sama said that it wasn't enough.  So she sent me with a letter."

"But Sakura's alright?" Sasuke asked the scorpion. 

"Hai hai.  Sakura-sama is fine." The scorpion confirmed.  Sasuke inwardly sighed with relief.  Naruto opened the scroll and read the letter out loud.

"Naruto, you know your way with plants right?  Remember a long time ago when you said you learned about them to impress Hinata?" A tiny blush tinged Naruto's cheeks at this.  "I need your help.  It's for an antidote.  The poison causes low blood pressure, fever, cough, fluid in lungs, and breathing difficulties.  Know any plants or anything that could help?  -Sakura."  Naruto looked up from the letter before thinking. 

"Dobe?" Sasuke asked, curious to hear what Naruto would say.

"Well, I'm not sure.  She could try looking for some ginseng for the low blood pressure.  Maybe some fennel, it helps with breathing troubles." Naruto explained.  The scorpion nodded taking the information in.  "I'll write it down for you." Naruto said running off to grab a blank scroll and writing tool. 

"Holy Hashirama." Sasuke mumbled watching his blond friend scribble the words onto the paper.  The Uchiha was most likely going to go into shock, due to his best friend's knowledge of  plants.  Sure he knew that the blond knew something about them after he had revealed that he had learned about gardening to impress Hinata, but he didn't expect Naruto to have this much extensive knowledge.  When Naruto was finished writing and he gave the scorpion the scroll, he caught Sasuke's look. 

"What?" He asked nervously.  Sasuke rolled his eyes and scoffed with a small smirk. 

"Geek." He taunted.  Naruto's face turned red and he glared at Sasuke. 

"Thank you Namikaze-sama.  Goodbye." The scorpion said.  "Uchiha-sama, I'll tell Sakura-sama that you were worried about her."

"Wait no-" The scorpion had already disappeared.  Sasuke's shoulders slumped as Naruto began to laugh heartily, patting the Uchiha's back. 

"Ha!  And I thought you were emotionally constipated like everyone else in your clan!  Turns out you're not!" Naruto claimed with a grin.  Sasuke scowled at the blond. 

"At least I'm not thick headed." He grumbled pulling himself out of Naruto's grip.  Naruto's eyes widened.

"Hey!  What's that supposed to mean!"  Naruto asked but the Uchiha was already walking away.  Naruto caught up to Sasuke who watched with amusement. 

"So you just decided to learn about plants to impress Hinata?" Sasuke asked scepitcally.

"Well," Naruto rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.  "I was walking past the Hyuga compund one day and she was planting some flowers and so I offered to help.  She told me about how she loved plants and flowers."

"So you went to the library and checked out as many books about plants so you could impress her with your knowledge of them." Sasuke said bluntly.  Naruto grinned and looked at Sasuke.

"Is it that obivious?" Naruto asked.  Sasuke facepalmed. 

"Dobe you act like a love sick puppy." Sasuke muttered.  "An oblivious lovesick puppy."  Naruto didn't hear the last part though as the blond shrugged. 

"You act emotionally constipated around Sakura.  I doubt she thinks you like her." Naruto claimed.

"Dude I'm honestly convinced that Sakura thinks we're gay." Sasuke admitted running a hand through his hair.

"WHAT?" Naruto screamed.

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Choji missed Shikamaru.  Things on team ten were weird without his pineappled hair friend, and the new replacement didn't help anything.  In fact things had just gotten weirder.  The moment Ino had seen the guy, she flung herself at him in an attempt to flirt.  At first Choji thought it was going to be a one time thing.  She sees him, she flirts, they leave for a mission, she forgets about him.  But then it was revealed that the pale black haired guy was going to be on their team until Shikamaru had completed a few missions with a chunin team. 

Forget being a one time thing.  Ino was estatic, Choji was cautious, and Asuma was welcoming.  The new guy-Sai, seemed okay at first.  Then he began with the nicknames.  Ino was enraged when she heard that hers was "ugly".  Choji and Asuma couldn't help but silently laugh, whether it was at the blonde's anger, or Sai's future misfortune. 

Though they stopped laughing when Sai had called Choji "fatso".  Choji, blinded by anger, dropped his chips and charged, only to be held back by Asuma, who let go of the enraged genin when Sai had called the man a "cancer enthusiast".  Apparently, Sai had learned the hard way that he was offending others, but he just shook it off with a fake smile that annoyed Choji to no end. 

It was after their first meeting did Choji wish Shikamaru was there. 

Now, a week later, Shikamaru still had yet to rejoin their team.  Ino had quickly forgiven Sai and had begun to flirt with him again.  Choji just stood back and watched the interaction eating his chips, while Asuma had accepted the fact that things were going to be like this until the Nara returned. 

Team ten had gone on a few missions with this new Sai character and had deemed that he was a formidable ninja, despite his terrible social skills.  This kind of reminded Choji of a certain Uchiha who had left the village over a year ago.  Sai was similar to Sasuke in so many ways, from his pale skin to his social awkwardness. 

Only a day after their fourth mission with Sai did Shikamaru finally return.  The Nara, finished with his chunin mission, was allowed to rejoin his team, and relieve Sai of his temporary spot.  Choji hadn't expected to see Sai after that.  But surprisingly, after that, the Akimichi saw the pale boy around the village even more, much to Ino's delight. 

It confused Choji.  He had never seen Sai before in his life, and then suddenly after he met him for the first time, Sai sticks around.  Even Shikamaru questioned it, and he wasn't there on the team with Sai.  Ino was the only one who didn't notice, having put majority of her attention on the pale boy. 

But the pale boy seemed to enjoy the attention Ino was giving him.

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Hey guys! I started school yesterday, so I typed this chapter earlier this week so I could upload it on time. Future updates might take awhile and I apologize ahead of time for that. I'm going to be working on this story as much as I can. I've also got 'possible' future stories in the works that I do when I'm bored in my spare time. But the Team Seven Series is my first priority.

Any suggestions?

What do you guys want to see more of?

See ya!