Why Another Mission?

The Rinkaichū larvae soon turned into pupae. Then they broke free and emerged as adults.

Sakura nervously took out Sasuke's clothes, ready to let the newly emerged insect catch their distinctive scent.

Naruto hesitated as he watched her. Should he stop Sakura from finding Sasuke? Then he thought, What the hell do I care?

The Rinkaichū sniffed Sasuke's clothes, beat its wings, and flew off in a certain direction.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried out before she could stop herself. She stepped forward as though she might see him at any moment.

Whoosh!

But Shino reached out and caught the Rinkaichū, sealing it in a special container.

"What are you doing?" Sakura demanded.

"Are you planning to go after Sasuke right now? He's with Orochimaru. We have to report this to the Fifth Hokage first!"

Shino's voice was as calm as ever, but it left no room for argument.

"But..."

Sakura hesitated. She knew Shino was right. How could she possibly defeat Orochimaru on her own and "rescue" Sasuke from his supposed suffering?

So she had no choice but to follow Naruto and Shino back to Konoha, her head hanging low.

"What? You actually succeeded?"

In the Hokage's Office, Tsunade stared at them in disbelief.

She had let Sakura and Shino try only to help Sakura give up. She hadn't expected them to succeed at all, and now...

This made things difficult.

At present, only she and Jiraiya in all of Konoha could stand against Orochimaru.

But Jiraiya was gathering intelligence on Akatsuki. She couldn't reach him for now, and she had no idea when he would return.

As the Fifth Hokage, she had to stay and protect Konoha. She couldn't leave lightly. If an enemy found out she was gone, the village would be in danger!

"Sakura, you know the