Glitter in the Sky | A Shikamaru Love Story

Chapter 39

I'm so pissed. Apparently Sai is traveling with Orochimaru. And not only that, but Sakura has decided that lying to Naruto about what really happened to him is the best course of action. I tried to tell him, because he deserves to know, but she elbowed me so hard, I think I'll have bruises for a month. We found Sai's belongings in the crater that Naruto made, and now between Yamato's clone and I, we're trying to track him. He betrayed us. Or at least, that's what it looks like to me.

Apparently he approached Orochimaru by himself, and handed him information before following him and Kabuto away. And apparently Sai is working for some guy named Danzo who does not like Tsunade and might be trying to destroy the village. I knew something felt off with Sai! I knew we couldn't trust him.

Yamato seems to agree. He seems to think we might have to "get rid" of Sai. Basically, this mission turned into a possible assassination mission very quickly. Neither Naruto or Sakura have ever been on an assassination mission. They also aren't coping well with Yamato's leadership style. It's much different from Kakashi's. Fortunately, Kakashi prepared me for the reality that he wouldn't always be my mission leader. I did missions with pretty much every jonin in the village while training so that I would be able to adapt. It's clear that neither Sakura or Naurto had this. And it's holding them back.

So really, it's up to me and Yamato if it comes to killing Sai. Luckily, I have almost zero qualms about killing him. He betrayed us. He constantly insulted Sasuke, even though he was planning something similar to what Sasuke did. He didn't save me and Sakura when we were falling to our deaths. Basically, the guy is an ass. He's going to wish Orochimaru killed him when I see him.

So now, we're currently running through the forest, trying to catch up to Yamato's clone while I'm scanning for any danger that may lie in the woods. Orochimaru isn't dumb. He probably knows we followed him. Both Naruto and Sakura are struggling. Honestly, I want to tell them to go back to the village and send backup that's not injured and almost passing out. But they'll never stand for it. We finally had to stop and rest when Sakura almost fell out of a tree. We really don't have time for this though.

"Yamato. Let me go ahead. They need to rest, but we need to hurry if we're going to catch up to them." I said firmly. I can track them, and I'm strong enough to at least hold them off until the team can catch up.

"No, Kaori! It's too dangerous!" Naruto yelled and glared at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Naruto, don't argue. I've been on missions like this before, and I'm not injured. It makes sense for me to go ahead." I explained bluntly. He continued his glare, but I ignored him.

"How confident are you that you can beat all three of them?" Yamato asked skeptically. I sighed.

"I know I can beat Kabuto. I've done it before. And I'm pretty sure I can beat Sai. I'm not sure about Orochimaru, but I can at least hold him off." I said confidently. Yamato sighed, but nodded.

"Okay. Find my clone and continue with him, but take a flare." He said and handed me a red stick. I took it and put it into my weapons pouch. "If it gets too challenging, use that, and I'll be there as fast as I can." He explained. I nodded and took of in the direction that I sensed Sai's chakra from. Yamato's clone would be nearby for sure. When I found him, he was waiting by a river, watching Sai, Orochimaru, and Kabuto disappear into the forest on the other side of it. I approached him and stood next to him.

"Real you told me to find you." I said quietly. He nodded.

"I'm just following right now. We're not attacking yet." He instructed. I sighed but did as I was told and followed him across the river. We kept following behind them, sticking a fair enough distance away. We jumped through trees until we made our way to what looks like the desert. Everything is sandy and rocky. My least favorite climate. We stopped behind a rock when we saw them stop. They split open a huge pointy boulder and stepped inside before the boulder closed.