I don't own Naruto. Mr Kishimoto Does.

Author's note: Hey there Readers!, Looks like we've finally entered Arc 3! I Hope you guys enjoy! I would also like to thank you guys for the Reviews. Favorites, and follows :)

Still, I haven't found a Beta Editor yet, so I'm really alone on this one.

Expect some grammar and spelling mistakes along the way.

Thank you for Understanding :)

Arc 3: Phase 2

"So do you think she could help us again with the plan?"

"It is most certain Lord Orochimaru, if you wanted to speed up the process."

In a dim-litted room, the snake sannin sat down on his chair as his eyes focused on a certain direction of the screen. The source of light, which came from the projector, created the visualize images of the plans for the certain future. It also gave new information to the snake sannin, which currently being explained by his silver haired henchman.

The information was all about a certain former female individual, who used to be part of the snake sannin'a brigade. The topic about her only came to life when the changes in his body began to take effect. The deteriorating process was increasing as more time passed by.

"I assure you that her whereabouts could be easily trace, that will happen if you give me some time to track her current location." Kabuto added to the information, it was true, it's been a very long time since she left.

Silence had took over, there was uncertainty on the snake sannin's eyes. Sure he understood the fact that Guren would be a benefit for his plans but time was running short, and he needed the best possible way to avoid being part of the deteriorating process. This vessel was rejecting him and he knew it would all over once it reaches the breaking point.

As for Sasuke, He just wasn't still ready yet. He hadn't reached his full potential and it may take some time for him to be the immediate candidate. Not just that, all of his test subjects weren't fit to be vessels. They all had weak bodies which also couldn't take the impact of his experiments.

Even though, Kabuto did his best to find the most possible ways, the snake sannin still wouldn't agree to each one of them. His heart would probably prefer the Uchiha himself as the best and final candidate for being a vessel. But still, it wasn't the right time yet and they had to choose other options.

"Why would you hesitate?" A faint male voice was then suddenly heard whispering only to the snake sannin's voice.

"Don't you want to achieve your goal as fast as possible?" The faint voice added again.

There was this feeling of encouragement that suddenly surged up within the snake sannin's mind. He suddenly felt as if these options or proposals were now very important to him. He didn't understood what was happening to him but he moved his and nodded unconsciously.

Kabuto was surprised to see that the snake sannin nodding and agreeing with his proposals. It was very strange for him to see the man like that as he would normally be standing on what he believed in. No one could easily convince or persuade him, but this time, it was a rare moment.

"Just go with the plan Kabuto, Make sure that things will go according to what you've discuss." Orochimaru finally spoke, his tone and words were clear as day.

Kabuto simply nodded in understading, with him getting the permission he needed, it was safe to say that he can now proceed to the next step. After all, the intention was for the greater good.

A win-win solution.

The two men thought that they were making up the decisions by themselves, it was unbeknowst to their knowledge that another presence was with them inside the room. Undetectable and free, the presence was revealed to be that of a familiar figure standing from behind, influencing their minds to decide.

Tensai knew from the start that these two men were one of the easiest ones to manipulate. Sure, they were deemed dangerous by these villages because of how many they have killed, but to him and the organization, they were just ordinary throwaway pawns for the greater plans ahead.

There were these specific events that the organization needed to achieve. In order to reach and make those events happen, they chose specific individuals such as the snake sannin and Kabuto, whispering to their ears, and influencing their decisions to create a domino effect which will lead them to that event.

The organization, which was established, long ago after Kami's sacrifice, had a goal of creating a new world away from the old one. They've been manipulating and changing events in history into their advantage, without the knowledge of the council or from any of those officials from the Pure land. They were also not alone on this one.

Their true goal was only a secret for now.

A small smile formed across the dark brown haired man's lips. So far everything was according to the plan. There were no interruptions or whatsoever, he had took over this operation by himself in hopes of avoiding any errors that would take place if one of the members took over. It was only a moment then when he suddenly felt multiple presences that had entered the place.

His eyes then drifted to a spot where a group of monitors are located, showing the different areas of the hideout. In a few moments, Each of those monitors began to off one by one and in that time, he caught a glimpse of feathery white blocking the view before going all static.

"The monitors are going off!?" The voice of Kabuto then exclaimed. The annoyed silver haired man immediately went to the said area in. an attempt to check and fix the problem." They always go off at the wrong time!" He added.

Orochimaru just only shook his head and placed his hand on his forehead." I guess you need to replace those outdated piece of technology Kabuto." He commented while the silver haired man ignored the snake sannin's comments.

Tensai stood there silent as he observed the silver haired man panicking. Although, he paid no heed to the man's worries as his attention directed towards the newcomers and a small devious smile forming around his lips.

"Looks like their finally here."

(EXPLORING)

"You think that's the last of it?"

"Yeah, I think it is, for the time being."

Boruto let his focused eyes down, as he disabled the supposed last of the CCTV cameras in the whole area. Whenever they managed to come across one, they would immediately proceed to disable it by hooking out all the wires inside the cameras and trying their best not to dropped them on the floor. Making a lot of noise is not their best priority right now.

Once the disabling process was finished, they took a couple of minutes to rest. They didn't even bother to count on how many cameras that they have disabled but rather just focused on discussing the strategies on how will they navigate the whole hideout.

"Looks like this Orochimaru guy has hundred of rooms in this sanctuary." Showtaro commented as he observed the metallic and wooden doors." Does he intend to keep his victims inside there for a long time there?" He added.

Naruto gave the first little chuckle." Well, everyone in the team used to think that the snake bastard was obssesed with kidnapping and keeping children." He said." Although, I think he is still doing it till this day."

Showtaro gave a disgust cringe." Well, I guess this will be the only and final time that we would discuss this." He said as his mind can't even imagine the scenarios of those kidnapped children.

The duck himself was disgust to hear that the human would commit horrible acts such as this. It makes him wonder on why the people in this world had slowly been corrupted and after Kami's sacrifice, the corruption had become more worst.

They continued the journey without discussing the topic more further.

Boruto took the reigns as the temporary leader of his group, which consists of himself, his young dad, and Showtaro, who were exploring the corridors of the hideout for a good amount of time already. They've been into each room that they came across and so far there were still no signs of their target.

They already had expected that the search wasn't going to be an easy task and so without any complains, they continued and still kept on going as the rest of the time passes by.

Despite the thoughts and worries that continued to circle around their minds, the guys, especially Boruto were able to keep in touch with the other team via a walkie talkie that the blonde rookie himself had brought for this mission, The other team, which consisted of the raven haired rookie and the pink haired kunouchi were the reasons why there was calmness around the the guys

Boruto, indeed was secretly thinking about his raven haired teammate for the past hour. The Uzumaki teen gave a sigh of relief when her voice first came out from the walkie and that's when the first conversation between the two camps started.

"Bolt, do you copy?" The voice of Sarada , from the walkie, finally came out.

Boruto then immediately pressed the button and replied." Yup, looks like the reception is wide and clear beneath the ground." He commented with a little chuckle.

"How's everything so far?"?The voice of his teammate asked." Have you guys found any clues to P-Sasuke's whereabouts?"?She added.

Boruto gave a sigh." Nope not yet." He said before turning his head towards his young dad and Showtaro, who were also eavesdropping or just listening to their conversation. At the same time, both of the guys then turned back to their former positions and pretended as if they weren't listening the whole time.

Boruto gave a short laugh as he shook his head before turning his attention back to the walkie.

"We're still sweeping the corridors, most of the rooms that we came across were pretty much empty." He explained." So far, no signs of Sasuke or Sai here." He added, he had to admit that these guys were really tough to locate in a place like this. They pretty much almost looked the same, except that Sai was more socially awkward than the brooder.

The two continued to talk about Sai, and the next step that they would do if they either of them crossed paths or encountered him during the search.

"Stupid Sai!"

"Gay Idiot!"

Naruto can be heard blurting out a number of offensive and foul comments which caused the rookie and Showtaro to give away surprised glances at him, with Boruto mostly having the serious looked at him.

"Yeah same too, looks like this will take a lot of time for awhile."?The voice of Sarada replied at the same time.

Boruto gave another sigh before turning back to the walkie." I know Sarada, but we still gotta keep searching." He replied." I have a feeling that we're getting closer to either of those two, so be ready." He added.

There was a brief moment of quietness that took over, Boruto can sense that his raven haired teammate was dipping in her thoughts.

"Yeah, we'll be ready." The voice of his teammate finally replied.

As the conversation concluded, Boruto placed the walkie back on his pocket. He took a deep breath as he turned around to face his young dad and Showtaro, who also had just finish eavesdropping.

"So how did it go?" Naruto was the first one to asked.

"Did the girls finally found something?" Showtaro added.

Boruto simply shook his head and gave a sigh." Nope, they haven't found any traces of the two." He explained, before directing his eyes towards Showtaro.

"So Showtaro-san, you said that this hideout is also a part of your investigation? He asked.

Showtaro gave a surprised look before nodding." Uhmm, Yes, I was actually planning to asked you two, if you could also assist me during your search." He said, as awaited for the blonde's response.

There was a moment of quietness that took over before the rookie gave him a smile and nod." Alright, if you could just tell us the details and more about this investigation." He said, while the other simply nodded.

"I will." Showtaro replied.

As for Naruto, confusion took over his mind. His eyes darted between the two guys as he wondered about this investigation that they were talking about. He only knew that Showtaro was a kind of summon but he didn't know that he also had a mission of his own which was pretty strange and new to him.

Exactly, what was this investigation all about?

(MEANWHILE)

Sarada sighed as she closed out another door yet again. It was probably the hundreth door and room that she had searched through only to discover the disappointment yet again, as like many other rooms from before, it was all nothing but empty and no signs of either Sai or Sasuke.

"Still no sign either of them here."

Sakura simply nodded, the pink haired teen had already expected that this was going to be a tough search. There was also uncertainty in them that they weren't sure on which of the two guys will they search first. Anything can happen during this search, but still, both of their two targets were considered to be dangerous as of now.

The two girls continued their search as they found themselves exploring the hideout, traversing through occasional mazes and searching through every room that they came across which all turned out to be empty so far. The two girls wondered the purpose of these rooms, What were they all for? Why there were more than a hundred of them in this very hideout?

It was yet another mystery as the raven haired girl came up with several theories, a couple of them were considered to be the most possible or logical theory with one suggesting that the rooms could be intended for the snake sannin's newly recruits for his gang that would follow or obey anything for his goals or the rooms could belong to his experiments.

Having the same thoughts, both girls' minds slowly drifted to certain person. At this time, they can't help but think of a raven haired teen known as Sasuke. Anxiousness and excitement were slowly creeping up to them, they were really not sure on what to do if they ever crossed paths with him during this search.

At the same time, both girls felt each others worries, they both turned to each other and let out the same question:

"Are you alright?" They both said to each.

"You look very worried." They added both again.

"Jinx!" They softly exclaimed before giving their own little chuckles.

"I'm so sorry about that." Sarada was the first one to speak while scratching the back of her head.

Sakura gave a smile and sigh." Me too." She said." I guess we're having the same mind waves right now." She added, not knowing that the rookie was thinking about the same person right now as her.

"I know, searching for two troublesome people is kind of stressful." Sarada gave her own comment. Using Shikadai's signature line.

Sakura reacted to the raven haired rookie's statement, reminding her of a lazy friend named Shikamaru. Indeed those two teens were considered to be troublesomes as of now, leaving this tough task or challenge for the girls and rest of the team to locate by themselves without a main leader in their brown haired sensei.

While continuing the search, the conversation also continued between them.

"You've been keeping that anxious face for awhile." Sakura commented, as she voiced out her concern for the rookie. She had been wondering on why she looked more nervous now than the time of the incident back at the bridge. What was really bothering her? Was this some kind of rookie trauma affecting her and if not, then what was it?

Sarada simply gave her a reassuring smile." Nope, I'm just fine." She replied." It's kind of a surreal thing for me in a mission like this." She added." As if this already had happened before."

There a slight puzzlement from the pink haired teen's eyes before raising both of them in a surprised." You mean like a strange case of Dejavu?" She tried to clarify.

Sarada simply nodded." Something like that." She said. Although, she knew that this kind of experience already had happened before once.

Sakura was bewildered, she was aware that the rookie was a first time Shinobi and only been assigned into her second mission, but it did really made her confused and intrigued her the fact that her rookie counterpart was having the same feelings as her in this mission. As if, she knew what was gonna happen next or that she also somehow knew Sasuke even though she'd never met him before.

Sarada kept quiet, she tried her best not to expressed her true feelings about the subject. Although, there were times that she couldn't help but to let out some of the emotions that she had been hiding inside of her. She never knew that she would be meeting her Papa once again, or at least the younger version of himself.

She could feel already feel the moment getting closer.

(LATER ON)

As their search continued throughout the neverending corridors, the two girls encountered a couple of challenges, with one of them in the form of CCTV cameras attached on some of the walls. The only solution that they had was to sabotage or break each one of them carefully, but when they were about to do what they have to do, surprised came in directly, as it turned out that the cameras weren't even working and were just there as a display.

This baffled the two girls even more, they were in a potential high class hostile hideout and the cameras weren't even working. What was really going on right now?

"I'm starting to get the feeling that these cameras were only here for display just to intimidate anyone who dared to go through here." Sakura spoke this time, examining her surroundings.

Sarada simply nodded." I know right, since this hideout have cameras that don't even work, then couldn't they afford some proper lighting system rather than be using a torches?" She added and wondered.

"Well, I guess so, looks like their money management just really suck." Sakura added, which automatically causes an exchange of small laughter between the two.

"Oops, I really didn't mean to be laughing my butt off right now." Sarada said and apologized.

Sakura manage to calm herself down." It's alright, we've been so serious for the past hour that we almost forgot how to laugh." She explained to which had a point. They really need to at least release bad tension that had been building up inside of them.

Sarada just smiled, she understood that they needed this little moment to get a sigh of relief, In fact, it was only short-lived as their search was almost over by stumbling upon an unexpected new presence heading towards their direction.

Foot steps were suddenly heard as a shade of shawdowy black could be seen from a near distance to which immediately alerted the two teens.

"Someone's coming!" Sarada whispered to her pink haired counterpart as they turned their heads around to look for any areas or spots fit for hiding.

Sakura could only nod back as she also attempted her best on not letting her anxiety get the best of her as she also checked out some of the rooms surrounding them. Maybe these rooms or at least one of them isn't locked this time.

As luck was on their side, a certain room was not locked, and the pink haired kunouichi immediately turned the knob and quickly opened the door." Got it!" She said, before turning to the raven haired rookie.

"Sarada! quickly in here!" Sakura called out as quietly as possible and signalled the rookie to rush as fast as she can inside.

Sarada did not hesitate, as the newcomer was fast approaching, the raven haired rookie wasted no time and rushed towards the room, carefully semi-closing the door so that they can have good view of the newcomer.

(INTERVIEW)

"Our hearts were really pounding, we were in the middle of a conversation trying to calm ourselves down and the next thing we know, we're already getting into a state of panic on finding a hiding spot from this unexpected newcomer.

And something came up and we began to think that this could be either of the two."

-Sarada

"We waited for about several seconds for this person to show up. Lo and Behold, we finally found something that was definitely a part of the jackpot.

And to explained it simple terms: The person that came up in front of our eyes was indeed Sai."

-Sakura

(DISCOVERED)

Heading back towards his own room, Sai walked through the dim-litted corridors once again with new thoughts and a new perspective in his mind. The young member of root was quiet as he thought about his previous conversation between him and the boy back at the small canteen. The conversation was very much interesting and it gave him more information that he needed about his target.

The infamous story of Sasuke Uchiha had reached into a level that can be considered as a local tale or rumour amongst the Root, and for them, locating this certain person was already challenge for them because of his ellusiveness. He was already part of the of their top most wanted persons to assassinate for the sake of their superior's measures to protect the village.

There were already many attempts and many members that were sent to locate the guy and eliminate him. Nobody knows what happened to the rest of those members, since some of them returned with failure in their bags or some had never returned back. Sai found himself, as one of the recent attempts and he had to make sure that this attempt would be successful this time and the last.

The last thought that came up into his mind was about "Mitsue" the boy that he had a conversation with earlier at the canteen. Mysterious was the only word that he could give as a description for him. It was this innocent and calm boy, who provided him more about the place and learned that even he himself has difficulty of locating the guy since this was a very wide and convoluted hideout that can be already compared to a maze.

With that said, he finally had a plan formed inside his mind.

Sensing that his journey back to his room was nearing completion, Sai took the last few moments to think about his time at the canteen, the poor people there who were probably taken away from their homes and forced to work or be subjects under an insane man's experiments. Speaking of Mitsue, the boy spoke as if he had been in this place for a very long time, he had the eyes of someone longing to rest from all this mess.

As much he wanted to help the boy, it was very much not a part of his mission. His mind was focus on one goal and that is to locate the rogue Uchiha and eliminate him.

Sai stopped his tracks as he found himself staring at the brown wooden door which act as a bridge between him and his temporary room. As he was about to reach the knob, he suddenly felt something from behind as he stopped and turned around to see nothing but the blank space. For a several moments he observed his surroundings to see if he can catch anything suspicious with his eyes, he even walked a a few steps to investigate and so far not a single soul was around.

Concluding that no one was following him, the black haired teen then grabbed the knob and opened the door, he immediately entered his room and closed the door shut.

(MEANWHILE)

Both girls released their breath as they sighed in relief. They had been hiding in that small corner for a good amount of time now, as they also kept their eyes on a certain black haired teen.

"Looks like he went back to his room." Sarada whispered as she was the first one to go out from the hiding spot followed by her pink haired counterpart.

Sakura had a blank and clueless expression, for the first time, she didn't knew on what would be the next step after this, she was behind the raven haired rookie and for a few moments was depending on her and was about to asked the next step, before her main self came back to her.

"I think, we should carefully sneak in and surprise him." The pink haired teen suggested, as she took over and pointed towards the door while slowly heading towards there without making any loud foot steps.

Sarada simply nodded." Good Idea." She said as she gave the pink haired teen a confident smile.

The two teens then positioned themselves beside the door as they readied themselves for their first action inside this very hideout.

(MEANWHILE WITH SAI)

Immediately after entering his room, Sai quickly resumed back to his works. The young root headed towards the table where The scroll and the rest of his things were placed. So far there weren't any signs of Kabuto or anyone breaking into his room and rampaging through his valuables, they were all intact from what he last saw before.

Sai took a deep breath as he continued on his plan, opening his bingo book, flipping the pages, and stopping at a page which contained the details of the known information of his target. At the same time, he was also looking at the scroll and it's symbols as his mind was deciding on which Ink creature would be best to used at this time.

For the past couple of minutes, he began constructing his plan, taking any best possibilities and crossing out anything that would lead him to a dead end. He reminded himself that this hideout was a very huge place and he cannot locate his target all by himself, so he needed a faster and efficient way to do it.

When He finally decided on an Ink creature to summon, the young teen immediately formed several types of hand signs as he began to summon a number of the Ink creatures. Although, the only catch is that it may take some time for his summon to materialize in its physical form, so he had no choice but to wait.

It was at this time that the young teen began searching through his back pack to find a certain book of his. Confusion and Panic began to creeped out as there was no trace of the book. Sai was getting annoyed, he kicked the foot of the bed in frustration as he realized that his carelessness got the best of him earlier as he assumed that he dropped his book somewhere in the forest during the incident at Tenchi Bridge.

It was at this time that he suddenly heard a knock coming from the door. Sai immediately turned around to face the source of the knocking. His right hand then grabbed the Kunai and proceeded to slowly walked towards the door.

"It's either him or Kabuto." He thought to himself as he kept guessing between the two. Although, it doesn't really matter for him right now.

As he reached the door, there was this feeling of cautiousness that took over, sensing on whoever is behind the door, was hostile and also had bad intentions. So he gripped his Kunai tight and reached for the knob yet again.

By the time He had readied himself and was about to tilt the door knob, something very unexpected had happened as the door in front of him suddenly burst open hard that it directly hit him in the face and sent him sliding on the ground and towards the table which he crashed on.

"Shannaro!" A familiar voice of a girl was then heard exclaiming.

Sakura kicked the door so hard that it was forcibly opened and literally broke the knob. She entered the room with her usual rage, unaware that she already hit a certain person in the head." Alright Sai where are you!?" She exclaimed one more time.

Sarada was a bit startled when this happened, from being in a nervous state, her young mom was suddenly fueled by her motivation as she suddenly stood up and performed this strong kick that pretty much broke the door. The other surprising part was that Sai was coincidentally near the door and unfortunately became the victim.

"Uhmm, I think you just accidentally knocked over Sai." Sarada let out her first words over.

Sakura managed control her emotions as the rookie's voice calmed her down. She then quickly realized on what she had done just now and gasp.

"Oh no Sai! Are you alright!?" She began to freaked out as she rushed towards the young root, grabbed by the shoulders and forcibly began shaking him as a means to wake him up which also wasn't any help.

Sarada could only sighed and shook her, she recall how her Mama would freaked out in certain situations similar to this. But at least for now, they have a found something that is a part of their goal.

The only thing unbeknownst to them was that several Ink summons in the form of a mouse had finally formed and had escape the room.

(INTERROGATION 1)

Being stuck and trapped on a chair after being unintentionally hit on the head wasn't Sai's main expectations, he could still feel the pain as a small bruise appeared on his forehead. He found himself staring at the two girls in front of him, who had the obvious intention of getting answers from him.

Sarada stood as she observed the teen, she had been keeping this serious face as a means to intimidate him, however her stare doesn't even affect the teen since he had no emotion at all.

On the other hand, Sakura had more sympathizing look, her feelings were in between whether to still trust the latter or maybe-->>

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