Kabuto stood in front of sai and turned to him. "Looks like you've been taken captive by your peers." As Sai was going to answer, naruto shut him up. "I won't let you get in our way!" naruto used a rasengan straight from the beginning as the blonde tried to attack Kabuto from above just for Kabuto to step to the left and kick naruto in the gut. The clone poofed as naruto readied his next attack. The clones surrounded kabuto and commenced in tai jutsu just to all be poofed due to kabuto's skill in the jutsu. Yamato attacked with large branches of wood that kabuto avoided while holding sai under his armpit.
Two of the branches connected to the ground and allowed for sakura and (y/n). Sugimoto quickly ran up as she stole some of the wood release from yamato and held Kabuto's feet in place as sakura punched him in the face, causing him to make a hole in the hollow rock structure behind him. The white haired male hit a hornets nest and quickly exited the area, forcing him to land and put sai down before having to kill the attacking hornets. Sugimoto helped sakura keep standing as she held onto her wounded arm. "Sakura, will you really be ok? Seeing you like this now means later it will be a problem as well." sugimoto spoke as the pinkette watched kabuto free sai.
"Ill be fine, we need to get sasuke back." she answered as sugimoto nodded and helped her get back to the flat earth. (Y/n) eyes widened before she slowly let a smile melt onto her face. Sai had twisted one of kabuto's arms behind him while pushing on his shoulder. "What do you think you're doing!?" kabuto asked as he glared up at sai. "If people can change, then so can I. But there are somethings that dont change." sai answered. "Sai, you mean.." naruto whispered as sai looked up at him. "That bond, show it to me. I want to see it for myself." sai answered as yamato approached. "Keep a tight hold sai." yamato surrounded kabuto with wood and put him in the same spot sai once sat. "I hope you know what you're doing sai." naruto looked at the raven as sai looked at him. "Im curious of this bond that you and sasuke share." he paused and looked at sugimoto. "Along with what you and him have as well, it was an interesting reaction when your name is spoken." sai added as he looked back at naruto. "I cant say I know what it means, but I want to understand it." sai held the same fake smile but some how it felt more genuine, of course he wouldn't know how to make a real one but maybe this was the best he could for now.
"Just by watching you guys, I realized I wasn't able to erase the bond with my brother. If it really is such an important thing to me, then ill be able to figure out why by observing it between you two and sasuke. That's all I was thinking." sai finished explaining before kabuto begin to chuckle. "What the hell is so funny?" sakura asked as kabuto looked to the group. "You people obviously dont know the real sasuke." the white haired male commented as yamato's clone walked forward. "Alright, tell us where he is." yamato's clone demanded. A long silence followed before kabuto answered. "By now he has probably finished his training and retired to one of the inner rooms."
"That could be true due to sasuke immediately training with orochimaru when I got there. There is no reason to believe he is lying." sai spoke up. "Inner room is a really vague answer is it not. Do you simply want us to search every room in that labyrinth as you three leave out a different way?" sugimoto asked with a slightly annoyed smile. "Well even I dont know where it is. The inner recess is riddled with rooms. Not talking just one or two." kabuto answered again. "Well then, I guess we will have to search everyone of them." naruto yelled. "Sure, you're bound to find it if you search at random. However, if you aren't careful where you look. You might stir up a hornets nest." kabuto warned. "Lord orochimarus quarters are located there as well." he warned again. "Well thank you for being so forward with us." yamato's clone thanked as kabuto laughed again. "Oh you shouldn't be thanking me." kabuto smirked.
"Why? Don't believe we will make it out?" the clone asked. "Nope." kabuto said whip popping the 'p'. "Why you-" naruto growled as the clone yamato held out a hand. "Guess we never know till we give it a shot. Let go team kakashi." yamato instructed as the team entered back into the hole. Upon entering the inner ring, yamato stopped the team. "Alright, let split up into teams of three. Sakura and me, sai and naruto, and (y/n) you're on your own. We have reason to believe you are the safest." yamato instructed as the group nodded. "Well, you guys be safe." the beautiful (h/c) wished before walking in her own direction. She honestly didn't know why she came here, she missed sasuke immensely but she wasn't naïve. She knew sasuke wasn't coming back with them. He was here for power. She passed by multiple doors and followed the swirls of familiar while also icky chakra.
She wondered what he looked like now, how different his voice sounded, how strong he had became. A smile crossed her lips as she continued down a long corridor. Another reason she came was for orochimaru as well. She knew that they had information that she wanted but she could always ask the one male in the akatsuki. Well both options were easier said than done. She felt herself getting closer to someone but she couldn't tell if it was sasuke or orochimaru. But would it matter? She would hopefully get something out of either one of them. Noticing a flight of stairs approaching, she went further down, the temperature growing more damp and cold.
She pulled some water out of her bag and drunk from it as she made it down the flight of stairs. She walked down the hall in front of her before she reached a split, she felt the chakra coming from infront of her. This meant that one of the halls looped around and led back forward. A hall to her left and right. She took the left hall and followed down the path before coming to a dead end. Turning around, she took the right path as well, but it too was a dead end. "How annoying." she voiced as she went back to the split. She touched the wall and felt around for any loose rocks before knocking on it as well. She heard an echo reply before she put her index and middle finger up. "Release." she spoke as the wall dissipated. She walked down the hallway as she felt the chakra getting overwhelming. She paused when she saw a rat run past her, she picked it up as she noticed it was made of ink. "Sai? Have you found him?" she asked as the mouse jumped from her hand and ran in front of her.
She followed after it, running as fast as she could. Her heart was beating quickly as she raced through the halls. She was far more excited to see him than she had originally thought. She came upon the hall and saw sai with a door open. "sai-" she called for a huge explosion to go off. The explosion sent her flying before she skidded on her feet to a stop. She saw sai ahead of her, he stood up as he stared up at who she could only assume to be sasuke. Before she could walk towards sai, sakura went flying past her. The pinkette ran full speed at sai before she grabbed his collar. "You better tell us exactly what you're up to, because I swear-" sakura began to yell but was soon silenced by a voice. "Sakura." sasuke demanded as sakura paused and slowly looked up as well. (Y/n) couldn't even will herself to move, she didn't know why but it almost felt wrong to be here. Wrong to go see him. Yet she still forced one foot in front of the other. Naruto was pushed into action too as him and yamato ran passed the woman who couldn't find it in her to run.
She feared what he would say, what he would think if he saw her now. She bit her pretty brownish-pink lips as she finally made it to the crater created by hers truly. The sun blinded her as she squinted and covered her eyes. When her iris adjusted, she looked up to see him when she noticed his head snap to her figure. She couldn't help the smile that melted on her face. He wore dark blue pants, with a blue cloth that covered him from his stomach to his knees hung. He secures them with a purple rope belt, he also wore a white long-sleeved shirt kept open at the torso and black arm guards that cover his forearms. "You came as well, (y/n)." sasuke announced as the woman nodded. "I assume, kakashi is here?" sasuke asked. "Unfortunately, kakashi couldn't make it, so I'm here in his place. Team kakashi is here, to escort you back to the leaf." yamato announced as the smile on (y/n)'s face fell. She didn't like this, she wasn't going to force him but if she didn't do anything again then the team would be in great danger but if she did fight for him to come back, she would be denying him his dream. She hated the thought of it. Her left nails dug into her thigh as she tried to calm her rushing nerves.
Sasuke looked down tiredly at yamato and the group, his gaze lingering here and there before settling on sai who pulled out the blade on his back. "I knew it! Sai dont!" sakura yelled. "Why are you yelling? What's going on?" sugimoto pried her eyes from sasuke to sakura. "(Y/n)! Sai's mission is to kill sasuke. We saw it in his bingo book." sakura cried out. "What?" sugimoto asked before sasuke spoke up again. "So that guy is my replacement? I thought the team already had a weakling. He was babbling about protecting me and naruto's bond." sasuke boredly spoke as sakura looked surprised. "Sai-" she called. "Its true, I was to assassinate sasuke. But im done following orders and from now on, I think for myself. I think you guys can help me bring back those old feelings that I thought were lost. Things that were once important to me. I dont know much about you sasuke, but I know how naruto, sakura, and (y/n) were willing to risk their everything for you. They dont want to lose anything with you and would do anything to keep that connection safe. I might not understand that clearly but you sasuke, you must understand." sai finished.
"You're right, I did understand. And that is exactly why I severed our bonds." sasuke voiced firmly. Sugimoto held her face together but if it was quiet enough, you'd be able to hear the small crack in her heart. Because this was exactly what she feared, this is what she wanted to run from. "You see, I have a different bond now. Between my older brother and me. It's the bond of hatred. You see, those bond will lead you astray. It weakens ones ambitions and distracts you from what really matters. Am I wrong. (Y/n)?" he asked as the woman dug her nails deeper into her thigh. Blood slowly dripped down her leg, soaking her socks. She understood, but-.
"Then why didn't you kill me that day? Weren't you going to break our bond, sasuke!" naruto yelled. "The reason is simple, its not that I couldn't break our bond. I was just doing what my brother had done before me. It was a strategy to gain power, nothing more." sasuke explained as naruto gritted his teeth. "What are you talking about?" the blonde asked. "I dont owe you any explanations. All I can tell you, is that day when I left you lying there. I spared your life on a whim, nothing more." sasuke jumped down and put an arm around naruto. He was quicker than before, though sugimoto still was able to keep up. "You know, come to think of it. Wasn't it your dream to become hokage? All the time spent chasing after me would have been better spent on training. Wouldn't you agree, naruto?" sasuke asked.
Sugimoto knew, deep inside of her. Sasuke would kill naruto today. She hated the neutral plane she was standing on. Who does she help? Who does she side with? "My whim tells me to finish what I started." sasuke voiced as he pulled his chokuto from its sheath. "How could I be hokage, when I couldn't save a friend, right sasuke?" naruto asked. Before the sword raced towards naruto's back. But sai quickly grabbed sasuke's wrist. "That block was the correct one." sasuke praised sai as sasuke surrounded his body with chidori. (Y/n) move away as she watched in awe. He had gotten so much stronger. She watched as sakura encased her fist in chakra and ran to sasuke. "Oh lord." sugimoto breathed as she ran past sasuke who was point his sword towards the pinkette. She swatted sakura's wrist, dispelling her chakra as the pinkette raised a brow. "What are you doing?" she asked sugimoto as the woman moved to the side to show yamato's kunai go through the sword, resulting in the sword stabbing into yamato's left shoulder. Chidori coarse through the sword and into yamato causing his body to go numb. Sasuke then looked to naruto to which it almost seemed like he was scoping through the blondes mind. As he did this, (y/n) approached sai. "Are you alright?" she asked as he gave a blank stare. "Im fine, why?" he asked as she sighed. "Well getting hit with an attack like that would suck you know?" she answered as yamato pushed sasuke back with some wood from his shoulder.
Sasuke jumped up on the ledge before he revved up a jutsu that was quickly stopped by orochimaru. Kabuto also arrived and once the three were done talking, they slowly dissipated into flames but the woman noticed sasuke looking at her with a more nostalgic look than earlier. As the group let the quick event digest, naruto hunched over and began to cry as sakura turned her back to the group and allowed herself to cry as well. Sugimoto approached naruto first, she picked him up by the collar and approached sakura as well. "What are you doing?" naruto asked as the woman held both sakura and naruto.
"You two still have me so enough crying and we will try again another time." she told the two as she caringly stroked both of their backs. The two took their moment to cry before wiping their eyes and pulling away. "You all have me as well. 4 is better than 3 right?" sai asked as the woman nodded and gave him a smile. "Thanks sai." sugimoto thanked as the group cut their losses and head back to the village.