"That's good. I was worried the village would notice I was gone." Sakura said lazily, lying down on a sofa.
"That's not the case. You didn't even bring your communicator with you, so how would anyone know where you went?" Naruto replied carelessly, still posing by the window.
"Alright, alright! They've already left. No need to keep up your 'heroic figure' act anymore." Sakura rolled her eyes at him. This guy always loved joking around like this.
"I'm just practicing. Soon, when it's my turn to save the world, I want to leave a cool-looking silhouette for everyone in the Shinobi World." Naruto chuckled.
"Oh, right. Konoha just released a new model of communicator."
"Really? Did you manage to get one?" Sakura's eyes instantly lit up, "I've been waiting for it, but the information from the Intelligence Division has been inaccurate and kept on delaying it."
"I did get one, but I don't know the password."
"How could you not know the password? New devices don't even have a-" Sakura cut herself off mid-sentence, then suddenly realized what he meant.
"Naruto!!"
"Just kidding. The new communicator hasn't been released yet. I don't really use this thing much." Naruto said with a laugh.
"Hmph, so those incidents in the Land of Fire were your doing, right?" Sakura said, "I heard some things from Konan. You really like using Sasuke's name to do shady stuff, don't you?"
"That's different." Naruto retorted, "Sasuke's a Missing-nin, so doing that kind of thing is part of his job. Can you even call it 'shady'? Besides, I've never been to the Land of Fire's capital."
Hearing this, Sakura covered her mouth and laughed, knowing full well how sly this guy could be. She didn't bother pressing further.
"Alright, I should get back to work."
Naruto didn't stop her. He knew Sakura had been extremely busy lately, he might be the only one with any free time left. The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt, as if something was about to happen.
But after turning it over in his mind, there were just too many places where things could go wrong. Whether it was Kumogakure or Iwagakure, with so many holes to plug, it didn't matter much anymore. He'd deal with it when the time came.
…
Konoha.
"Something's happened… Yamato's gone missing." Kotetsu rushed into the Hokage's Office, his voice trembling. Yamato was mild-tempered and kind, and he was on good terms with the gatekeeper duo.
"What happened?"
"He was kidnapped. There were signs of a struggle at the scene."
"Yamato is quite powerful. Who could have taken him?" Kakashi frowned but knew he had to act, "Go inform Asuma and Naruto."
He didn't expect Naruto to take on missions for the village, but if Yamato was in trouble, Naruto would probably step in. The two weren't exactly strangers, and Naruto had no reason to stand by and do nothing.
"Yamato got captured?" Naruto blinked in surprise.
By the time he heard the news, it was already the next afternoon. He had just returned from Amegakure and hadn't even eaten when Choji delivered the shocking update.
"Yeah." Choji said, looking worried.
Others might not know, but Naruto was aware that Yamato wouldn't die… most likely, he'd been snatched by Kabuto for blood extraction. After all, Yamato's body contained Wood Attribute Chakra. But whether they'd take anything else was another question.
Naruto wasn't in a rush. Even if he had known earlier, he wouldn't have prepared much… first, it wasn't practical, and second, it wasn't necessary.
Kabuto, the 'Dream Fulfillment Master', wouldn't kill Yamato. What evil intentions could Kabuto possibly have? He just loved orchestrating grand spectacles.
Still, since Kakashi had called on him, Naruto wasn't about to refuse. He accepted the mission without hesitation.
As they walked home, Naruto noticed Choji's troubled expression and couldn't help but lightly kick him. His eyelid twitched as he said, exasperated, "Relax, Yamato's definitely fine. Why are you so worried?"
"Huh? Why'd you kick me?" Choji looked up, confused. "I was just thinking… Ino's been acting a little off lately. Have you talked to her?"
"No, I've been busy. What's wrong?" Naruto asked.
"It's nothing. It's just… she seems gentler lately." Choji said, frowning. "It's weird. Don't you think so?"
"What's wrong with being a little gentler? Would you rather have her kick you in the ribs or something?" Naruto scoffed, brushing it off.
Girls had their mood swings every month, so it wasn't unusual for them to act a little strange.
Though Naruto played it cool, he made a mental note to check on Ino after dealing with Yamato's situation. If something really was wrong, it was best to catch it early.
'Logically, there shouldn't be an issue… we'd just seen each other a couple of days ago, and if there had been anything off, I would've noticed then.'
…
The village quickly assembled a four-man team to search for Yamato: Lee, Tenten, Naruto, and Shino. Without wasting time, they grabbed their gear and set out.
Naruto already knew where Yamato was, so he didn't seem too tense. Tenten looked like she'd put on a little weight, though it wasn't obvious on her face.
"Why would anyone suddenly kidnap Captain Yamato?" Tenten wondered aloud.
"Who knows? Maybe someone took a liking to Yamato's looks." Naruto said casually as they traveled, "Boys need to be careful outside too, you know. They have to protect themselves."
He was on familiar terms with Kakashi, Asuma, and others of their generation, so he was used to calling them by name. Besides, he didn't like formalities without a sense of purpose, so he just called them whatever made him feel comfortable.
"Haha, Naruto, you're always joking." Tenten narrowed her eyes and giggled, and the atmosphere became less tense.
"How is that possible? Yamato-sensei isn't even handsome," Lee said, looking utterly confused as he turned his head to speak.
"Maybe girls these days prefer honest, dependable guys?" Naruto was as carefree as ever, "The fact that someone took Yamato actually suggests they have some kind of ulterior motive."
"Yeah." Shino had always been a man of few words, speaking only when absolutely necessary.
Tenten felt something was off and glanced at Naruto suspiciously, lowering her voice to ask in a mysterious tone, "Why do you seem to know so much about this? Did you kidnap Captain Yamato or something?"
"Why would I kidnap Yamato?" He rolled his eyes, "To build me a three-bedroom house? Though, that's not a bad idea. Maybe I'll consider it next time."