"Why would someone purchase children from the Fire Nation…" Naruto said in a slightly depressed tone. "I mean shouldn't there be enough children in the village already? I remember there being many orphans in the orphanage I grew up in."
Naruto hadn't said it directly, but the meaning was clear.
If someone wanted to purchase kids in such a roundabout way by hiding and disguising themselves as shinobi from another country to make a purchase, it was safe to say that they probably didn't have the brightest intentions in their minds.
No one spoke about it for a few seconds before Yamato interrupted their thoughts with a slight *cough*. He bent low and then under the gaze of everyone pulled out the dead Aburame shinobi's tongue.
"Eww…what are you doing Yamato-sensei?" Sakura asked when she saw Yamato touch the shinobi's tongue without even wearing gloves.
Yamato suddenly felt a little self-conscious about an action he was performing for as long as he could remember but quickly explained-
"The shinobi died unnaturally. He should not have died simply because of a stab wound since Tachibana-kun doesn't use poison on his kunai. This means that there are some seals at play and since there are not on any visible spots on his body it is likely that-"
Yamato didn't have to say anymore.
The tongue that had been pulled out was marked with a set of five black lines with the bottom two being fragmented.
"What is that!?" Naruto asked as Yamato gave them a closer look at the seal.
"It is probably the seal that killed him.", Yamato said while Tachibana looked at it closely.
'Tsk. It's compressed…and I don't know the method used to do that. So I can't uncompress it with my skills alone.'
"So we have to figure out who in the village can use such complicated seals?" Tachibana threw out a guess to keep the conversation moving.
Yamato nodded.
"We will work as a team to figure out the identity of the mysterious shinobi behind the shadows trying to purchase children."
Everyone's eyes hardened and they all nodded.
Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto had righteous intentions but Tachibana was thinking something else.
Tachibana wondered what Tsunade and Yamato had spoken about when they met in the trees in their hiding spot.
'Their conversation was short for Yamato-sensei to have given her any important information about his 'birth' or rather 'creation'.'
'So they probably decided on a time to meet up later?'
'Especially since I can see that little slug in his Jonin flack jacket…'
'But if they do that then, I might not be able to spy on them…'
'How can I motivate Tsunade further so she willingly follows us to the ROOT headquarters?'
Tachiaban thought for a few seconds before giving himself a mental nod.
'I just have to dangle a bait in front of her.'
'And Yamato will deliver this bait for me.'
With an aim in mind, Team Seven decided on short teams to deepen their knowledge of the cursed tongue eradication seal through an investigation in the black market.
Naruto and Tachibana were one team while Sasuke and Sakura formed another. Yamato would act alone, but his clones were going to keep watch on his genin.
As they walked back towards the village to split up and go do their 'research', Tachibana suddenly froze in his steps.
Everyone was startled by Tachibana's sudden halting as they all quickly scanned their environment for any enemies.
But when they saw Tachibana looking up into the sky with his eyes rolled backwards into his head, they felt a slight chill creep up their spines.
Tachibana's head suddenly turned towards Yamato, who felt like in his current state, Tachibana was looking right at his soul. As if he was being judged for his sins to decide if he would go to heaven or hell.
Before anyone could do something or knock him out of whatever statea he was in, Tachibana opened his mouth to speak.
"On a snowy mountain, a single lie can tumble down to create an avalanche but a simple truth can help maintain its beauty."
Tachibana kept looking at Yamato for a few more seconds before he suddenly closed his eyes and returned to normal.
"Huh? Why are you guys looking at me like that?" Tachibana asked giving everyone on his team a weird look.
Naruto opened his mouth and tried to speak something but words never left his mouth. He shivered a little, before scooting closer to Sasuke and finally hiding behind him.
Sasuke was a little unnerved too but he had no where to go and hide when Sakura hid behind him too.
Tachibana finally looked at Yamato with an annoyed expression and spoke in an irritated manner-
"What are you all doing? You guys look like you've seen a ghost."
Yamato *gulped* audibly before he just nodded and asked, "Don't you remember what you just said Tachibana-kun?"
Tachibana only gave him a weird look before shaking his head.
"I said nothing. I was completely quiet. Why? Did I mumble my thoughts out loud?"
Naruto was frightened even more and he almost held Sasuke's hand out of fear but Yamato quickly signaled them to ignore the issue and continue following him.
Tachibana simply wore a confused expression before nodding and following Yamato as his teammates made sure to keep their distance from him.
"Argghhh!! Come on, I'm not going to eat you or something." Tachibana joked but none of them listened.
Meanwhile, Yamato was thinking deeply about what Tachibana said-
'Is it a warning from fate to tell the truth to Tsunade-sama?'
'Can I even lie well in front of her?'
'But was Tachibana-kun just pretending? No…why would he do that? But is he really some sort of a spirit medium?'
Tachibana who had his spirit vision turned on, looked at Yamato's thoughtful aura and celebrated internally.
'I guess he'll be more inclined to speak the truth to her now.'
Entering the village, Team Seven split up while Yamato moved to a secluded corner in a rather dark alleyway before calling out to Katsuyu.
"Katsuyu-sama, I'm ready to meet Tsunade-sama."
The little white slug with blue stripes on its body slid out of Yamato's flack jacket before looking at him with some confusion.
"What happened? Is Tsunade-sama not ready to meet me yet?"
The slug looked around for a few seconds before speaking calmly.
"I felt someone gaze at me for a few seconds some time earlier, would you happen to know who did that Yamato-san?"
Yamato's back instantly straightened.
'Tachibana was able to detect Katsuyu-sama?'
'A slug that not even I noticed entering my dress?'
Yamato was slowly starting to believe in Tachibana's talent in future seeing as he spoke to Katsuyu.
"He was a genin in my team. He was suddenly possessed by some strange entity that gave me a warning."
"Oh?" Katsuyu appeared to be interested and Yamato obliged.
"He claims to be able to divine about people's fates and he told me that I should speak the truth in whatever I do next."
"How interesting…I would love to meet this genin shinobi who can see the future. The only other creature that I know that can do that is the Great Toat Sage."
The words brought a certain sense of calm in Yamato as he realised that there were far to many things about the world that he didn't know about.
'Perhaps Tachibana-kun really is a seer.'
Yamato nodded to his thoughts before he spoke again, "I'd like to meet Tsunade-sama please."
"As you wish Yamato-san. I hope you heed to the advice your student has divined for you, it is appropriate and wise."
"Worry not Katsuyu-sama. I shall do my best."