Let It Begin

8. Assembling A Team

Sasuke and Sakura walked through the destroyed hideout. Finally, Sasuke led her into a room she had seen before. As they entered, Sakura saw that the room was softly lit by a blue glow. The source of the glow was the liquid inside of a large glass tank placed in the middle of the room. The liquid was too thick for Sakura to see what was inside of the tank, but she could guess. Her hand clenched into a tight fist as she began to imagine the experiments Kabuto and Orochimaru had performed on the person who was the most probable occupant of the tank.

Sasuke walked up to the glass, took his sword, and struck the glass. He stepped back as the liquid poured out of the tank. Sakura walked up to Sasuke, looked at the pool at her feet and said:

"Suigetsu, wake up. Quit playing dead."

The water in the pool rippled and slowly took the shape of a man. The man stretched and said;

"I'm finally out. Thanks, Sasuke," Suigetsu paused and looked at Sakura, "Sakura...miss me?" Suigetsu asked. Sakura immediately turned away with a blush on her face.

"Put some damn clothes on! We are here to talk to you." she yelled.

"If you guys are here...Then you defeated Orochimaru, Sasuke." said Suigetsu, ignoring Sakura.

"Suigetsu, you're first. Come with us..." said Sasuke.

"I'm first? What about the others?" he asked.

"Karin and Jugo." Sasuke answered.

"Do we have to? I don't like Karin." Suigetsu complained.

"Karin can find out where Itachi is." Sasuke replied.

"'I just need the four of you to cooperate. You don't have to like each other,'" Sakura lowered her voice in an imitation of Sasuke, "That's what you said, right, Sasuke?"

Suigetsu opened his mouth to continue complaining, but shut it again, when he saw Sakura shaking her head; it was no use.

"Fine, but I have a condition," said Suigetsu, crossing his arm, "I heard rumors that you were the one who defeated my old Senpai Momochi Zabuza. I want his sword. I'll only join you when I have that sword."

"Fine, let's go." Sasuke agreed.

"For the last time. Put some damn clothes on!" Sakura yelled and stormed out of the hideout.

XXXXXX

One by one, they leaped into the trees and took off in the direction of the Land Of Waves where Haku and Zabuza were buried. Three hours later, Sasuke and Sakura stopped at the front gate of the bridge.

"The Great Naruto Bridge, huh" Sakura whispered and walked across while reminiscing about the bridge's history.

Sasuke, Sakura and Suigetsu were walking down the path when a boy ran around a corner and bumped into them. The boy blinked a few times before saying, "Is that you, Sakura?"

Recognizing this voice, Sakura stared harder at the boy and realized that the pre-teen in front of them was Inari. Inari chatting with them, expressing how happy he was to see Sakura and Sasuke again and commenting on Sakura's appearance, calling her beautiful.

"Oh, thank you, Inari." she said, blushing.

"Where is Naruto?" Inari asked, having not yet been aware of their defection.

Sasuke stared at Sakura, who stayed quiet for a moment, trying to think of something to tell him. With a forced smile, Sakura told Inari that they and Naruto had had a fight and that he was ordered to stay in the village to cool off, while she and Sasuke went on a mission. Satisfied with her explanation, Inari soon left, and the trio continued down the path.