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The Fox's Brush.	By : spookymuffin Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1114 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 7
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Sakura sat with her knees pulled up to her chest and watched as her fish turned brown in the flames of the fire. She had found it a little hard to meet her teammate’s eyes when they had returned to camp from their little ‘excursion’. Fortunately, her embarrassed jitters had begun to subside as they slipped into the familiar fireside routines... and if she found it difficult to look at Sai without thinking of what he looked like in the throes of orgasm then that was something that would surely pass as well. She hoped.
“Sai” Kakashi said, pulling Sakura from her thoughts “I’m going to need you to tell us everything you know about Root”
If Sai was surprised by the question he didn’t show it “What do you want to know?”
“Anything you can think of” Kakashi answered amicably “We have plenty of time and even the smallest detail might be important.”
Sai was looking a little uncomfortable now and Sakura supposed that had more to do with the vague nature of Kakashi’s question than the actual subject matter; Sai had always had trouble with indirect requests.
“...When Danzou-sama was alive Root was an organisation concerned with protecting Konoha by any means necessary.” Sai began, still looking unsure “I would assume that these remnants have the same motivations... and are therefore, most likely to be from the second tier of the Foundation.”
“Second tier?” Yamato asked.
“Root was divided into two tiers, a first and a second.” Sai explained “The first tier was made up of operatives who had been raised within Root since childhood, under Danzou-sama’s direct supervision. The second tier was made of shinobi who joined the organisation of their own free will because they shared Danzou-sama’s ideals... or disagreed with the Third’s. The two tiers very rarely interacted.”
“Why separate the two groups?” Sakura asked, not really seeing the point in dividing your forces over such a trivial matter.
“Danzou-sama was always very adamant that emotions were something that a shinobi should discard, that they were something that could only negatively affect your ability to complete your missions...” Sakura caught the way that Sai’s eyes flicked to Naruto as he spoke “He was worried that the second tier members who had been raised outside of the Foundation would contaminate those from the first tier with their emotional instability.”
“Then why bother having a second tier in the first place?” Naruto asked, but Sakura thought that she might have already figured out answer.
Kakashi spoke up before Sai had the chance to respond and confirmed Sakura’s suspicions “It was the only way for him recruit shinobi with clan techniques.”
“Yes.” Sai affirmed “Two of the second tier members that were closest to Danzou-sama were from the Yamanaka and Aburame clans.”
“I don’t get it...” Naruto said “wouldn’t he just need an orphan from one of those clans?”
“Naruto...” Sakura said with a sigh. Trust him to ask a question that a first year academy student would know the answer to “Most of the old clans in Konoha have signature jutsu and the only reason that those techniques stay within their specific clan is because the workings behind them are a closely guarded secret. They aren’t genetic abilities like a bloodline limit and technically speaking, anyone could learn them.”
“Most importantly, it means that it’s not just enough to be born a Yamanaka, or a Nara or an Aburame. You have to be raised within the clan to learn their techniques.” Yamato finished for her.
They were silent for a few seconds before Sai spoke up again “The second tier shinobi were completely loyal to Danzou-sama, that’s why I believe they are most likely the ones who are trying to perpetuate his ideals.”
“Wait a second-” it was Naruto again “are you saying that the first tier weren’t loyal to Danzou?”
“Loyalty was one of the many emotional states that Danzou-sama discouraged in the first tier operatives.” Sai stated simply “it was not considered necessary.”
“That’s why he put that seal on you” Sakura said with dawning realisation “he couldn’t trust the first tier shinobi to remain silent out of loyalty so he had to literally seal their tongues.”
Sakura supposed that a shinobi with no emotions, one who had been conditioned to follow orders their whole life and was sealed in such a way that they could never betray your secrets would be an efficient tool. But what if, despite their training, that shinobi were to develop desires that lay outside of the Foundation? Without loyalty to Root or pride in their position there would be very little to hold them to Danzou if that happened... the speed with which Sai had gone back on his orders to assassinate Sasuke suddenly made a lot more sense.
“That girl with the dog mask that we fought earlier” Kakashi started “you said that she was in the same age group as you... are you saying that she’s not from the first tier?”
Sakura held her breath as she waited to see if Sai would lie. They had all seen the empty almost dead look in the girl’s eyes and she was sure that she wasn’t the only one who had recognised it. It didn’t happen anywhere near as much as it used to (thankfully) but she had seen exactly the same look on Sai’s face many times through the years, as if something had just switched off behind his eyes. There was no way that the girl was anything but first tier.
“No, she is...” Sai said carefully “I was surprised to see her here... but I didn’t recognise the other two. I assume that they are from the second tier.”
He had told the truth and Sakura knew that she should be relieved but there was that unsettling feeling again, like Sai wasn’t telling them the whole truth; she was sure that the others must have felt it too.
“Other than that-” Sai continued “Their command structure is identical to that of the rest of the Konoha ANBU. I’m not sure that I have anything else of use to tell you; most of what I know concerns Danzou-sama in some way... and that is now largely irrelevant.”
“That’s fine, Sai” Kakashi answered “You’ve told us more than enough”
Sakura watched Sai closely for a moment, hoping to see something in his face to reassure her but his expression was impassive and his eyes were fixed on the fire. She wondered if he really could betray them ...betray Naruto...
“...You don’t trust me” Sai said finally, it was a statement rather than an accusation and his expression didn’t change. It hadn’t been directed at anyone in particular but his words hit Sakura like a slap in the face and she had to take a second to reassure herself that he had no way of knowing what she had been thinking.
“Sai!” Naruto cried, reaching out to grab his teammate’s shoulder and shaking him slightly “of course we trust you! Right, guys?”
Sakura was grateful that Naruto had first looked to Yamato for confirmation, giving her the time to school her expression.
“Sai...” Yamato started wearily “You spent your whole life in Root; of course we’re going to worry...”
“Yamato-taichou!” Naruto exclaimed; looking far more wounded than Sai himself “Sai would never betray us!”
“Naruto, calm down” Sakura said, trying to sound soothing “we’re just being realistic.”
“Sakura-chan-!”
“Yamato, Sakura” Kakashi spoke up and Naruto fell silent “I understand your concerns but Sai has chosen us over Root before... and I trust him to do the same again.”
Sakura knew that it was true but she still couldn’t shake the uneasiness she felt; that there was something that they were missing here. She caught the look of hurt disbelief that Naruto shot her before he turned his attention back to Sai and she felt terrible.
“Thank you, Kakashi-sensei” Sai said quietly and Sakura felt one hundred times worse when she heard the genuine gratitude in his voice. Maybe she and Yamato were just being paranoid after all...
A heavy silence fell upon the group, the easy camaraderie that they usually shared lost for the moment. Sakura drew her knees back up to her chest and nibbled at her fish half-heartedly, she barely even tasted it and had to resist the urge to put it aside; it was important to make sure that she got enough food the day before a mission, even if she did feel sick to her stomach all of a sudden.
**
Yamato watched Kakashi closely as he spoke and was a little disconcerted when he couldn’t tell if his senpai was just trying to boost Sai’s confidence or if he actually completely trusted in his loyalty.
Their squad had been working together in its current incarnation for almost five years now and Yamato trusted his teammates with his life, but it still seemed foolhardy to ignore the possibility that Sai might be torn between his old life with Root and his new one as a member of Team Kakashi.
He could see that Sakura shared his concerns and while he could understand how Naruto’s view on the matter might be skewed by his relationship with Sai (yet another reason why this team evaluation could not come too soon), he couldn’t quite get his head around Kakashi’s willingness to believe that Sai would make the right choice.
Uchiha Sasuke’s current status as a missing-nin proved just how much experience Kakashi had had with people who would put their own interests above that of their team.
**
Naruto bit into the fish he had skewered on a stick and ripped it in half before chewing on it bad temperedly; small bones crunching unpleasantly between his teeth and doing nothing to sooth his temper.
He was pissed off at Yamato-taichou and even a little angry at Sakura-chan for doubting Sai, but more than anything else he was angry with himself.
He felt almost sick to his stomach with disappointment in himself, he had jumped to Sai’s defence without hesitation but he had still felt the smallest flicker of doubt in the back of his mind all the same. That little flicker had rapidly festered into a sick mess of fear and anger that felt like it was constricting his chest and making it difficult to breathe.
He sneaked a look at Sai from the corner of his eye and felt his resolve strengthen. It didn’t matter, he thought to himself, he wouldn’t let it happen again. He would not lose another one of his important people.
He swallowed the fish in his mouth and took a few measured breaths until he began to feel a little better. He scooted across the short distance between him and Sai and rested his head on his teammate’s shoulder; feeling a warmth that had nothing to do with the fire when Sai leaned into him and rested his cheek on the top of his head. Naruto caught Sakura watching them from across the fire and he could quite clearly see how guilty she looked.
He shot her what he hoped was a reassuring grin; it felt a little stiff, like it sat on his face awkwardly, but she returned it with a small smile of her own and it was enough for him to feel like things were okay between them again.
**
After dinner Kakashi assigned them the same watch order as they had had the previous night and watched the three youngest members of his team get ready for sleep even though it was still early; although he was sure that it had more to do with the oppressive atmosphere than any desire to be well rested for the mission tomorrow.
Yamato had made five huts again but Kakashi knew that one of them would remain empty tonight as he watched Naruto and Sai squeeze into the same sleeping bag. He couldn’t help but smile when Naruto made a sound that was very close to a shriek and started complaining loudly about Sai’s cold feet.
He sat down in front of his own shelter, fully prepared to take an extra watch to make up for everyone else going to bed early. Well, not everyone else, he thought to himself as his co-captain sat down beside him “Not going to sleep yet, Yamato?”
“I’m not really tired just yet, Senpai...” Yamato said, looking out over the fire and not elaborating any further.
Kakashi shrugged and didn’t push or complain; if Yamato wanted to miss out on an hour’s sleep then that was his business... and with another person awake it meant that he was free to dig his copy of Icha Icha Violence out of his weapons pouch.
The familiar cast and scenarios within immediately grabbed his full attention and almost a full half hour passed by before Yamato spoke again.
“Kakashi-senpai?”
Kakashi looked up from his book curiously. “Hm?”
Kakashi watched as Yamato opened his mouth and closed it again before frowning at the fire, obviously having difficulty putting what he wanted to say into words.
“I’ll be keeping an eye on Sai, don’t worry.” Kakashi said, taking a stab at what he assumed Yamato must be trying to get at.
Yamato turned and looked at him thoughtfully “...Then you do think he might turn on us?”
“I wouldn’t have gotten this far in life without being cautious, Yamato” Kakashi said and realised that it came out harsher than he intended when Yamato stumbled over himself to correct him.
“I know that, Senpai... it’s just that what you said earlier...”
“I said what needed to be said.” Kakashi responded simply “whether I believe it or not is hardly an issue.”
Yamato considered him for a few seconds and Kakashi met his gaze steadily; eventually his co-captain looked back out across the fire, seemingly satisfied and Kakashi went back to reading his book.
**
Sai woke up three times during the night, the first time was when Sakura called him for his watch and he was a little troubled by how long it took for him to detangle himself from Naruto (who managed to stay asleep the whole time) and get out of the sleeping bag; precious seconds that he couldn’t afford to waste if they were caught off guard.
The second time was when Naruto came back to the hut after his own watch and startled Sai into pinning him to the ground. Sai apologised but he didn’t think that Naruto really seemed to mind...at least if the way that he felt something hard digging into the inside of his thigh was any indicator. He had kissed Naruto then but, unfortunately, any further activities were curtailed by Kakashi’s weary warning from the other side of camp and they retired to the sleeping bag again.
They had lain facing each other, nose to nose, and Sai discovered that trying to sneak kisses without Kakashi noticing and the desire he saw in Naruto’s eyes as he pressed their erections together through their clothes was more than enough to push the thoughts about how vulnerable they might be to an enemy attack out of his mind.
When he fell asleep again it was with a small smile on his face.
**
Sai found himself standing in a familiar corridor, a corridor that he knew did not exist anymore. It was destroyed, along with most of Konoha, in Pain’s attack on the village three years ago. The seemingly impossible situation did not disturb him because he was very aware of the fact that it wasn’t real, that he was dreaming.
He walked slowly down the hallway and turned when he reached the open doorway at the end. In the centre of the small dormitory he saw a little boy of maybe three or four years old, sitting on the floor with his knees hugged to his chest. Sai took in how his pudgy face was blotchy and that his eyes were red from crying.
Sai almost failed to recognise the child as himself; the expression of sorrow on the boy’s face twisting it into something that he can’t ever remember seeing in the mirror.
During the Fourth Great Shinobi War after his brother’s soul had been freed and the false body Kabuto constructed had crumbled away, Sai had felt the unfamiliar sensation of tears falling. That was the first and only memory he had of crying, but he assumed that the scene in front of him was a memory all the same; if only because he didn’t think that his mind would be capable of fabricating something so completely alien to him.
The dream shifted and Sai was suddenly not alone with his younger self, he watched as a young version of his brother sat down beside the little dark haired boy and put an arm around his shoulders.
“Don’t cry” Shin said softly and Sai was surprised when he felt an almost physical pain twist in his chest “We’ll get strong and we’ll leave this place together, okay?”
**
Sai started awake for the third time that night and blinked up at the ceiling of his hut through blurry eyes. He felt anxious (which was unusual enough) and confused; usually his dreams, or at least the ones that he remembered, were just jumbled images and sounds with little meaning... but that dream had been something entirely different.
His could feel the beginnings of a headache building behind his eyes and noticed that his vision was slightly... off somehow. With some effort, he managed to free his left arm from the confines of the sleeping bag (being careful not to disturb Naruto) and when he reached up to his face with a slightly shaky hand he was surprised when his fingers came away wet.
He rubbed at his eyes with something akin to disbelief as another tear slipped down the side of his face and pooled unpleasantly in his ear. He might have found this unusual occurrence interesting under normal circumstances, something to be considered while he perused the psychology and physiology books in the library maybe, but he only felt lost...
It was still dark and Sai knew from his internal clock that there was still close to an hour before they were supposed to be getting up. He knew that he could get up and spend the remaining time with Yamato by the campfire but the idea of having to explain why his eyes were (no doubt) puffy and red seemed less than... desirable at the moment.
He rubbed at his face with the back of his hand until it was dry enough that he could almost pretend that the tears had just been part of that unusually vivid dream. He tucked his arm back into the sleeping bag and closed his eyes, wanting nothing more than to fall back asleep, thinking that this whole situation might seem less unpleasant when he looked back on it in the light of day.
Naruto tightened his grip around him in his sleep and mumbled something intelligible (Sai was sure that he heard the word ‘ramen’ in there somewhere) into the side of Sai’s neck. He tried his best to push the dream out of his mind (with little success) and snuggled a little closer to the warm body beside him.
He knew that even though he had never had any trouble sleeping before (usually drifting off seconds after lying down) that this time unconsciousness would be long in coming.
**
Sakura couldn’t help but notice how, compared to yesterday morning, her teammates were more than a little subdued this time around.
There was no arguing about breakfast, which was mostly because they had a ready supply of fish to eat, but she was sure that the fact that Naruto was still quite obviously upset with Yamato probably had something to do with it as well. It was hard to make small talk when one member of your squad looked like they were trying to make another spontaneously combust with their eyes.
Sakura had just finished packing away her sleeping bag when she noticed that Yamato and Sai were standing together by the river. While she was too far away to hear what they were talking about, she could tell easily enough from their expressions and body language that they were being civil and she allowed herself to hope that things were beginning to go back to normal. That was until Naruto marched over to them, interrupted their conversation and loudly declared that he needed to talk to Sai alone. Sakura watched with mild annoyance as Naruto dragged his confused teammate away from an equally bewildered Yamato.
It was a little ridiculous, she thought to herself with a frown, that Naruto was still holding a grudge when Sai himself seemed to have forgotten about the matter entirely.
When everyone was finally ready to leave she felt more than a little relieved, glad to have the distraction of the journey and impending operation to keep her mind off of Naruto and his contrariness.
**
Kakashi hoped that the six hour journey in almost complete silence had given Naruto the time that he needed to cool down but also knew from experience that he was probably expecting too much.
He had seen the way that Naruto kept looking to Sai as if he was worried that he might disappear at any second and he knew that Naruto was more scared that angry.
Kakashi knew that Naruto didn’t have a single physical scar on his body; that the Kyuubi made sure that even the spot where Sasuke’s fist had passed through Naruto’s chest was as unblemished as it had been on the day he was born.
Sasuke had been unable to leave his mark in Naruto’s flesh but he hadn’t needed to; Naruto was scarred just the same.
**
Sakura felt the familiar twinge of anticipation as Kakashi raised his hand to bring them to a stop and she surveyed the area around them carefully. They were at the top of an incline that swept into a deep valley and she could see the ruins of a village nestled below, where the forest began to taper off.
“Okay this is it” Kakashi started and unfurled a scroll that showed a simple map of the village “Neji’s report shows that most of their activity is concentrated in this building” he said, tapping the paper with his index finger.
Sakura could see that the building he was pointing to was the tallest one in the village and when she looked up she could see the real thing looming in the distance; unsurprisingly, it was in much better condition that the surrounding structures.
“We’ll be splitting into two teams for the beginning of the operation” Kakashi continued “I’ll lead one and Yamato will take the other. We’ll work our way into the building from opposite sides and try to collect as much useful information as possible, hopefully without them noticing that we’re there... if they’re as similar to Konoha ANBU as Sai has told us then they should, at the very least, have personnel files stored here.”
Kakashi paused and Sakura caught the look that he shared with Yamato before he spoke again, as if he was confirming something “Yamato, you’ll take Naruto and Sakura... Sai is with me”
Sakura felt her eyebrows raise at the unusual arrangement. Whenever their team was temporarily spit for a mission Naruto would be paired with Yamato (in case he lost control of the Kyuubi’s chakra) and Sai was usually put with them too... she always went with Kakashi. He was way too reckless with his sharingan (and his health in general) to risk not having a medic nearby.
Added to that was the fact that Kakashi and Sai were both mid to long range fighters and it didn’t really make a lot of sense for them to be in a team on their own... or at least it didn’t until she realised what Kakashi was driving at.
He obviously wanted to keep Sai where he could see him while separating him from Naruto and herself at the same time.
“Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto said, obviously having realised their sensei’s motivation as well “I thought you said that you trusted-”
“Naruto, do not question my orders” Kakashi said, his voice was calm but Sakura could hear the threat there and Naruto had obviously caught it too because he snapped his mouth shut so fast that she heard his teeth click together.
Naruto didn’t try to argue the point any further and Kakashi and Sai split off from the group and started down the incline; Kakashi giving them a small backhanded wave before they disappeared from sight.
**
Naruto watched Sai’s back as he walked away. His teammate didn’t look back even once and Naruto felt that awful pressure around his ribcage again; like he couldn’t get enough air into his lungs. He didn’t feel angry anymore, just unsure and a little uneasy.
He almost jumped out of his skin when a hand landed on his shoulder.
“Don’t worry.” Yamato said, reassuringly “if anything happens they just need to mould their chakra and I’ll feel it through the seeds.”
Naruto exhaled deeply and smiled despite how shitty he was feeling; touched that Yamato would even bother to try and make him feel better when he knew he’d been nothing but a total asshole ever since dinner yesterday. “... Thanks, Yamato-taichou.”
Yamato smiled back at him “Let’s go”.
**
A/N:
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The Fox's Brush.