The Two Charms

Reaching their base, Guren tells her people that Orochimaru personally handed her the duty of guarding Yūkimaru. She warns that they are being tailed, but Rinji has already caught the trail of four ninja and a dog, and Guren deduces the trackers must be Konoha shinobi rather than Akatsuki. As the rain eases, Team 8 readies to advance, though Shino stays behind after finding only a thin remnant of survivors he intends to breed back to strength. In her office, Tsunade is startled by a messenger toad bearing word from Jiraiya.

Down at the lake, Naruto and Konohamaru coach Gamatatsu through failed Water Release attempts until Naruto pinches the toad's nose and forces a result. Before setting out, Guren orders Yūkimaru to remain, and the white camellia stitched on her back stirs his memory of the mother who never came home. Terrified of losing Guren too, he presses his lucky charm necklace on her, insisting the crystal camellia she once gave him now serves as his own talisman. Elsewhere, Naruto spots Sai buying ink and correctly reads it as a sign of an assignment. Bound by orders to keep quiet, Sai fumbles a lie, drops a book on lying, and confesses the mission.

Furious, Naruto storms to Tsunade and begs to join the Orochimaru Search Team, vowing to leave the Rasenshuriken unused. Shizune insists they hid it to shield him and that he cannot yet save Sasuke, but Naruto answers that he already knows his limits; Jiraiya taught him that home is wherever people care for him, and since he cares for Sasuke, Konoha is that home, and he trusts he can bring him back. Tsunade agrees, unsettling Shizune, then reveals Jiraiya's scroll, which asks her to give Naruto his chance because the boy has a rare gift for changing people. Guren later notices a red camellia and thinks of Yūkimaru. Kiba scents a bat, prompting Kakashi to route the team on a careful detour, and once Naruto joins the mission he enlists Gamakichi to refine a cooperation ninjutsu. At the gates, Sakura and Yamato reassure a rattled Sai, and Hinata's Byakugan locks onto the chakra of four shinobi.

Yūkimaru gives Guren his good-luck necklace, afraid she will not return. Sai accidentally exposes his secret assignment to Naruto, who then convinces Tsunade to add him to the Orochimaru Search Team by swearing off the Rasenshuriken. Jiraiya's letter reveals the Hokage's true reason for relenting. Kakashi's squad evades Guren's tracking bats, and Hinata senses four enemy shinobi ahead.

The episode belongs to the anime-original Three-Tails' Appearance arc, pairing Guren's storyline with Naruto's return to active pursuit of Sasuke. It runs under the opening Closer and the ending Bacchikoi. The title's two charms refer to the keepsakes exchanged between Yūkimaru and Guren, echoing the theme of what people carry to feel protected.