Yamato continues the process of supressing the Kyuubi until Naruto is freed from the red aura. Once he finishes, he retires the wood pillars, and Naruto falls on his knees on the ground. A desperate tearful Sakura rushes to his side to aid him. Then, she starts to heal his burns, but she realizes it's not as quickly as usual, the past times the Kyuubi's chakra helped and he was cured faster, now is slower. While his skin regenerates and returns to normal, she asks Yamato to teach her how to supress the Kyuubi, but he explains that given his cells, he's the only one who can do it, and he's not even as good as the First Hokage was, he's just an experiment. She's sad and feels that it's always the same, what she does for Naruto are simple little things. To comfort her, the captain tells her that "it doesn't matter the size of the the things you do for him", what's important is how much she cares about him, he already noticed how much she... loves him. That's what he could have said if Naruto's awakening didn't interrupt him. She was surprised at Yamato's words, like if she didn't realize what she feels towards her partner. When he wakes up, he calls her, and asks what happened. She starts sobbing, but with tears of joy, as she sees him back to normal. He notices her tears, and gets worried but she lies saying she had something in her eyes. The emotive reunion is inadvertently ruined by Naruto, who wonders if Sai said something about her forehead or her super strength that made her cry, and in that case he will hit him to defend her. But for mentioning her forehead and strength she gets upset and punches him. It's curious how again he blew the nice moment with her just like in Shippuden pilot. But he didn't mean to, he was worried given how he doesn't like see her crying. Anyway, this scene was really nice, one of the top moments between Naruto and Sakura. Yamato said it all, basically every simple gesture she made, each action prove how much she cares about Naruto, how much she loves him. Those tears while seeing him wake up and call her name tell what she feels. Not to mention how she rushed to aid him when he fell unconcious, this was noticed by the captain too. As for Naruto, his gestures say a lot too, it's like he didn't notice Yamato when he woke up, he only looked at Sakura. And yes, then she punched him, but this is written by comedic issues, she knows it doesn't really hurt him, and is her personality (like Kushina). What is great about these moments it's that they are themselves, they don't pretend, they show genuine care for each other. Honestly, they were the best couple on this anime, even if they didn't got to a relationship, it was natural.
As for the rest, Sai manages to convince Orochimaru with a mysterious message from Danzo, and a letter with certain information. Kabuto is surprised when he arrives, but his master decides to let Sai join them. This is sudden, so Sai is forced to leave behind some of his stuff, including the book with paintings of his brother, which fell when he was taken down. After they leave, Yamato, Naruto and Sakura reach the place, as the captain told them that Sai left. When Naruto asks what happened given all the destruction and the broken bridge, and why he was unconcious, Yamato simply wonders if he doesn't remember, looks at Sakura, who tells him that Orochimaru knocked him out. She lies to protect him from the sad truth, to not cause him more pain. Then, Yamato reveals that Sai left with Orochimaru, so Sakura asks if he was forced. The captain denies it, saying his clone saw the conversation, and he thinks Sai is on a secret mission by Danzo, that's why his clone is following them. They ponder about the betrayal, Naruto doesn't think he would be a traitor, but the other two know Danzo and consider it an option. About this, considering the future, and how Sai firmly called Sasuke a traitor, it's clear that his mission is not in Orochimaru's benefit. If the Sannin bought his scheme is because Danzo in the past made business with him. But for now, this is a diversion for the viewer. Anyway, something else to consider is the similar reactions of Naruto and Sakura. At first, she thought Sai was forced to go with the enemy, and Naruto, despite disliking Sai a lot, neither thought he could be a traitor. Only when Yamato mentions Danzo, Sakura remembers her talk with Tsunade and starts to agree with Yamato's theory. But Naruto knew nothing about this, so he needs more explanations. Still, what I mean is that they don't have the tendency to mistrust people, no matter how ruede they could be, they share the same idea. This is something that comes from the first part, Naruto and Sakura always try to see the good in people.
As for the rest, Sai manages to convince Orochimaru with a mysterious message from Danzo, and a letter with certain information. Kabuto is surprised when he arrives, but his master decides to let Sai join them. This is sudden, so Sai is forced to leave behind some of his stuff, including the book with paintings of his brother, which fell when he was taken down. After they leave, Yamato, Naruto and Sakura reach the place, as the captain told them that Sai left. When Naruto asks what happened given all the destruction and the broken bridge, and why he was unconcious, Yamato simply wonders if he doesn't remember, looks at Sakura, who tells him that Orochimaru knocked him out. She lies to protect him from the sad truth, to not cause him more pain. Then, Yamato reveals that Sai left with Orochimaru, so Sakura asks if he was forced. The captain denies it, saying his clone saw the conversation, and he thinks Sai is on a secret mission by Danzo, that's why his clone is following them. They ponder about the betrayal, Naruto doesn't think he would be a traitor, but the other two know Danzo and consider it an option. About this, considering the future, and how Sai firmly called Sasuke a traitor, it's clear that his mission is not in Orochimaru's benefit. If the Sannin bought his scheme is because Danzo in the past made business with him. But for now, this is a diversion for the viewer. Anyway, something else to consider is the similar reactions of Naruto and Sakura. At first, she thought Sai was forced to go with the enemy, and Naruto, despite disliking Sai a lot, neither thought he could be a traitor. Only when Yamato mentions Danzo, Sakura remembers her talk with Tsunade and starts to agree with Yamato's theory. But Naruto knew nothing about this, so he needs more explanations. Still, what I mean is that they don't have the tendency to mistrust people, no matter how ruede they could be, they share the same idea. This is something that comes from the first part, Naruto and Sakura always try to see the good in people.
