Chapter Text
They’re almost done breaking camp when Sai asks, “Are we stopping again before we cross?”
Sakura pauses. “I wasn’t planning on it. Why would we?”
“So Naruto can change.”
“What?!” Naruto drops his pack entirely as he jumps to his feet.
“Is the purpose of your outfit not to enhance your stealth training?”
---
They cross the border undetected despite Sai’s concerns by evening they’re setting up camp in a cave near the opening pass of the mountains they’ve come to map. With trap rings and transformed clones at 48, 27, and 16 feet, Sakura finally lifts her order for silence, allowing for whispered conversation as they eat their rations for the night.
“Keep an eye out for rabbits and birds’ nests tomorrow,” Sakura says, eyeing the other ration bars with a sigh.
“We have plenty of ration bars, though,” Naruto says.
Sakura turns to him, brow raised. “They’re ration bars.”
“Conservation of resources is important in case of unexpected delays.” Sai adds.
Naruto’s face freezes and then he’s suddenly right next to Sai whispering into his ear softer than Sakura has ever heard him, soft enough she can’t quite make out what he says. Sai shakes his head but then pauses when the whispering continues.
Sakura sighs.
“Perhaps it may be best to keep our interaction with the environment as minimal as possible as stealth is our priority.” Sai says finally.
Sakura looks at Naruto, who is nodding seriously. She looks at Sai, whose face is as blank as she’s ever seen it. She looks back at Naruto.
“Nice try. Next time don’t scheme where the mission leader can see you. Now, what’s the real reason?”
“Sakura, you wound me-”
“He is afraid that if we have meat, you will insist on being the one to cook it.”
Sakura breathes in. Breathes out. She counts to three.
“They’re ration bars.”
“Yeah,” Naruto says. “They are.”
---
The next day, Sakura has Naruto make more clones for keeping watch and stay in Sai’s general vicinity so he can focus on his work while she makes a general exploration and outline of the range and Sai starts on the detailed mapping of the area closest to their camp.
She returns in the evening, pleased to inform the others that they should only need three or four more days for a complete map, well within the mission timeframe.
Naruto cheers in a whisper. “That means we should be back in time to train with Danzo-sensei next week, right?”
“Right,” Sakura says, smiling.
“Danzo-sensei?” Sai asks.
“Councilman Shimura Danzo,” Sakura says. “He trained us for a while when Kakashi was on a mission and still does on some of his free days, which is very kind of him, even if he insists otherwise. Do you know him?”
Sai gives one of his rare, blank smiles. “Only by reputation. It must be an honor to be trained by such a shinobi.”
“Eh, he’s okay,” Naruto says, stretching his arms behind his head the way he thinks makes him look so cool. “I mean he’s old and kinda uptight but he’s pretty strong and all.”
Sakura rolls her eyes, catching Sai’s gaze as she does. “Naruto thinks everyone who makes plans is uptight.”
“Any plans?”
Naruto nods. “Who needs to plan stuff? You just do it and see what happens.”
“Ah. That explains much about you.”
---
They’ve just finished making the final preparations to head out the last night in the mountains when a clone runs in with a scroll and hands it to Naruto before high-fiving him and disappearing.
“Yes!” Naruto only remembers to whisper halfway through the word but Sakura just counts them lucky it’s his first slip. “You guys have to see this!”
“What is it?” Sakura asks.
“I felt bad since I’m the only one who didn’t get to help draw the maps so today me and some of my clones drew this instead!” He unfurls the scroll, revealing… an abstract drawing? “It’s us!”
“That’s very sweet of you, Naruto,” Sakura compliments honestly.
Sai opens his mouth, hesitates, then says, “It is very bright, like the two of you. You chose the colors well.”
“Thanks!”
Naruto throws an arm around Sai, pulling him into a hug. Sai freezes until Sakura comes up on his other side, making it a group hug to whisper in his ear, “You’re meant to put your arm around him as well.”
Sai nods and Sakura feels an arm come up behind her, resting against her back. She closes her eyes and tries to memorize the feeling.
---
Sasuke is waiting at the gates when they get back, which Naruto immediately takes advantage of by tackling him to the ground in what he’s taken to calling a ‘flying hug.’
“Naruto! Get off!”
“Never!”
“We still have our reports to make, Naruto,” Sakura says, laughing and pulling them both to their feet. She uses her hold on Sasuke to pull him in for a hug herself before linking her arm with his to drag him with them to the Tower, Naruto joining in on his other side and dragging Sai along with him.
“This seems like a dangerous position to be in in case of attack,” Sai says, looking down at his linked arm but not pulling away.
“Oh, it is,” Sakura says, laughing again. “But it’s a good way to make sure these two don’t wander off. Sometimes that’s more important.”
Sasuke’s ears redden but he leaves his arms where they are.
---
They report to Iruka-sensei at the Tower before heading towards the compound.
“Ah,” Sai says, one arm still linked with Naruto, “this seems to be where we separate.”
“You could come to dinner,” Sasuke suggests. “If you want to.” Sakura bumps her shoulder against his and he kicks her ankle. She decides not to escalate when Sai nods.
---
Their training session with Danzo-sensei is a few days later and he works them as hard as ever. When they break for lunch, though, he asks how the mission went, “Only if you are allowed to say, of course.”
“It was awesome!” Naruto says. “I mean, no fighting or anything, but the mountains were really pretty and it was super cool that drawing can be a whole mission!”
“We missed having Sasuke, of course,” Sakura adds, nodding towards him, “but Sai’s artistic abilities were definitely an asset for this sort of mission.”
“And how was he as a teammate otherwise?”
“Good,” Sakura says. “Very dedicated to the Shinobi Rules.”
“Ah, that’s good. A rare quality these days, though.”
“Right,” Sakura says. Emotions are a detriment to the disciplined shinobi. “I guess it is.”