"How did Sakura manage to leave?"
Naruto sounded more curious than alarmed.
Her defection had never happened in the original story.
Still, when he thought about it, the idea was not entirely absurd.
After they had failed to retrieve Sasuke, Sakura had already tried to leave Konoha and search for him alone. Tsunade and Kakashi had talked her out of it, and she had no idea where to begin looking.
Something similar had happened in the original story, too.
Now, however, she had a way to find him.
The bikōchū could follow Sasuke's scent straight to his location.
But that raised another question.
The beetle had been kept in Tsunade's office.
How had Sakura obtained it?
Tsunade sighed and explained.
Yesterday, Sakura had volunteered for a mission outside the village.
Before setting out, she had stolen the bikōchū.
Tsunade bore some responsibility for the opening Sakura had exploited.
With Konoha so short of personnel, she had retained only two guards for the Hokage's office. They alternated between day and night duty, leaving just one stationed there at any given time.
Tsunade herself was not always present. Occasionally, she took her paperwork to an izakaya and worked over a drink.
Sakura had waited for one of those absences.
As Tsunade's apprentice, she was a familiar face. With a harmless smile, she had offered the guard a cup of specially prepared tea.
The tea contained a sedative.
Once the guard lost consciousness, she took the bikōchū and left.
That was no longer a matter of a girl sneaking out to see someone.
She had drugged a Hokage guard and stolen something from the Hokage's office.
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"So, Hokage-sama. Do you want her brought back, or killed?"
Tsunade frowned.
"Bring her back first."
"Then I'm not going."
Naruto folded his arms.
"She wants to find Sasuke. Do you think she'll willingly return with us? Even if we drag her back, she might just run away again."
"You—!"
Tsunade's palm struck the desk.
She held back her anger and glared at him.
Team Seven had given her nothing but trouble.
She had barely become Hokage before Sasuke defected. Now Sakura had followed him.
Naruto had stayed, but getting him to obey an order was another struggle entirely.
Why did I ever agree to take this job?
Her glare shifted to Kakashi.
"Just look at your Team Seven, Kakashi!"
Kakashi's already weary eyes drooped further.
He had no answer.
Tsunade drew a deep breath and turned back to Naruto.
"This is an order. You will go, and you will bring Sakura back."
Naruto rolled his eyes, then met her glare.
His expression made his thoughts perfectly clear.
Keep pushing me, and I might leave, too.
Tsunade's answering look was just as fierce.
Try it. I'll kill you myself.
Naruto lifted his chin.
Go ahead, then.
"You—!"
The desk shattered beneath Tsunade's next blow.
If Konoha had not been so desperately short of shinobi, she would have been tempted to settle the argument with a single punch.
But Naruto had already reached the strength of an elite jōnin. Killing Raiga Kurosuki, a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, had proven that.
She could scarcely afford to lose someone like him.
The others did not understand the silent exchange.
They did, however, recognize Tsunade's temper.
One by one, they withdrew from the office and put some distance between themselves and the doorway.
Naruto waited until they were gone.
"If you want me to go, let me sign the Shikkotsu Forest summoning contract."
"What?"
Tsunade's anger briefly gave way to suspicion.
"You already have a contract with Mount Myōboku."
"Does that mean I can't sign another one?"
She said nothing.
Her silence was answer enough.
Naruto remembered that Sasuke had been able to summon both snakes and a giant hawk in the original story. There was no rule limiting a shinobi to a single contract.
Tsunade studied him.
"Why do you want a contract with Shikkotsu Forest?"
"To save lives and heal the wounded."
Naruto grinned.
"Does that answer satisfy you?"
He could tell he had won.
After another long silence, Tsunade formed the summoning seals.
A sizable blue-and-white portion of Katsuyu appeared in a cloud of smoke.
A green scroll emerged from the slug's mouth.
Naruto took it, unrolled it, and wrote his name in blood without hesitation.
Sakura, I really should thank you.
Between himself and his female avatar, he now had contracts connected to all three great sage regions.
He had signed with Mount Myōboku and Shikkotsu Forest. His female avatar held the contract with Ryūchi Cave.
Those connections would be invaluable once he acquired the [Senjutsu Body].
They might even determine whether he eventually left Konoha.
…
The pursuit team departed shortly afterward.
Four jōnin led the operation: Kakashi Hatake, Might Guy, Kurenai Yūhi, and Asuma Sarutobi.
Naruto joined them, along with Lee, Tenten, Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Shikamaru, Ino, and Chōji.
For Konoha in its current state, gathering four jōnin and someone of Naruto's strength was already a considerable commitment.
Most of the younger shinobi were still genin, but they could at least handle Orochimaru's ordinary subordinates.
Team Eight also offered a thorough combination of tracking and reconnaissance skills.
Tsunade's orders were clear.
They were to make every effort to retrieve Sakura. If an opportunity arose to bring Sasuke back as well, they were to take it.
If Orochimaru proved too much for them, they were to abandon the mission and preserve their lives.
Kakashi and the other jōnin had no illusions about the danger of confronting Orochimaru directly.
Their best chance was to retrieve Sakura quietly.
Better still, they could intercept her before she reached him.
With that in mind, they traveled at a punishing pace.
The younger shinobi gritted their teeth and struggled to keep up with their teachers.
When Naruto noticed Hinata breathing heavily, he lifted her onto his back without breaking stride.
Several others glanced at them with envy.
Ino found herself watching longer than she intended.
Why didn't I notice him back at the Academy?
Her feelings for Sasuke had gradually begun to fade.
Unlike Sakura, who had grown up outside a shinobi clan, Ino had a clearer understanding of what it meant to abandon the village.
Had Sasuke stayed in Konoha, she would probably still have competed with Sakura for his attention.
But he had defected.
He was now someone they might have to face as an enemy.
That made her question whether she should keep pursuing him at all.
Tenten looked away from Naruto and Hinata, then glanced at Lee ahead of her.
"Lee…"
He turned toward her with renewed enthusiasm, flashed a brilliant grin, and raised his thumb.
"Tenten! This is the springtime of youth Guy-sensei always talks about!"
"Right… your youth."
Her shoulders sank.
Meanwhile, Kiba and Shino worked alongside Kakashi's ninja hounds to follow Sakura's trail.
Akamaru, the hounds, and Shino's insects had all memorized her scent.
For a while, the tracking went smoothly.
Then, after two hours of traveling at full speed, they encountered a problem.
Sakura's scent split.
One trail led northwest.
The other headed northeast.
She had deliberately laid a false trail to divide and mislead her pursuers.
Kakashi called a halt.
After a quick discussion, the jōnin divided the team.
Kakashi and Guy, the stronger pair, would take Lee and Tenten northeast.
Naruto would accompany Asuma and Kurenai northwest, balancing the strength of that group. Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Shikamaru, Ino, and Chōji would go with them.
If either group discovered that its trail was false, it would change course and catch up with the other.
If they found that Sakura had already reached Orochimaru, they were not to act alone. They would notify the other group, regroup, and decide how to proceed together.
Before separating, they marked two temporary rendezvous points on the map.
Then both groups set out.
The hunt for Sakura had begun.
None of them knew whom they would encounter along those two trails—or what would stand in their way.