Of Tales now and Long Ago

Of Future plans and Kirigakure

Chapter TWENTY THREE

Sakura confirmed the presence of Orochimaru, Kabuto, Sai and Sasuke with a single nod.

"The entrance is right underneath that slab of rock." Yamato said.

"Sasuke's there, huh?" Naruto murmured.

"Yeah." Sakura rolled her shoulders.

Yamato reached out and placed a hand on his clone's back. Instantly, the clone's form changed, and the wood was absorbed into his hand until it was nothing but a small seed like thing in his palm. "Here." He led it out to Naruto, then created another and gave it to Sakura. "Swallow these."

"What is this?" Sakura asked curiously. She held it up, then inspected it with her Byakugan.

"Simply put, it's a tracking device of sorts. It will allow me to track you down even if we are separated." Yamato told them. "I planted the same thing in Sai's food and clothes."

"So that's why you could track him down." Sakura mused.

"When did you...?" Naruto trailed off.

"I went back to the room before you and Sai did, back at the hot springs, remember? Yamato asked.

Naruto blinked, the memory coming back to him.

"Now you know why I went out of my way and treated you guys with my own money to such a lavish stay at the hot springs."

"I could have paid." Sakura pointed out. "I even offered."

Yamato turned to her and Sakura had the distinct feeling that he was frowning at her. "I can't ask you pay for something which was my idea."

Sakura shrugged. A day or two in some lavish ryokan wasn't going to even put a dent in her clan savings, but if he wanted to pay, Sakura wasn't going to argue either.

"Anyways, everything Tsunade-sama said was correct. Being cautious with Sai sure did pay off." Yamato straightened. "Now, hurry up and take them."

Sakura and Naruto glanced at each other for a split second before doing as told.

"Ready?" Yamato asked.

He received two confirming nods.

"What's our method of infiltration?" Sakura asked.

"We're going with this by the book, so we'll use a doton technique to get us through from underground."

"The base is surrounded by rock." Sakura reported.

Yamato nodded. "I suspected that. Don't worry. I have a plan."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

After a while, Yamato stopped his team with a raise of his hand. As Sakura had said, hard rocks were blocking the access to their base. He reached out and ran his hand gently over the rock blocking their way.

"That's nothing." Naruto said. "I can easily destroy it with my Rasengan."

"But that'll alert the enemy." She turned to Yamato. "And you said you had a plan."

Yamato nodded. He placed a hand on the rock and narrowed his eyes. He easily busted through the surrounding rocks with his wood.

He crawled out of the hole and into the base, Sakura and Naruto following.

"The infiltration part was a success." Yamato said. "Sakura, I'm going to put you in charge of sensing the enemies. We'll now look for Sai." He turned to face one end of the corridor. "This way."