"YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT?!" Chie exclaimed as Tsunade covered her ears in response to Chie's remark, "No, I refuse to believe" Chie crossed her arms as Shizune and Reiko sighed.
"Tell me it's not true Reiko" Chie turned to Reiko and held on her shoulders, "I wish I could Chie but it's true, mom already double checked and so did Shizune" Reiko explained as the former looked at the Hokage with eyes of disbelief. "Relax, she won't die from it" Tsunade leaned back on her chair, Reiko held on Chie's shoulder and smiled; "It's fine Chie" she assured as Chie sighed and nodded.
"You both are set to leave tomorrow, report to me here first thing in the morning" Tsunade stated as Chie and Reiko nodded, "I would have a guy to assist the both of you but Sora, Neji and Lee are out and so is Shino and Kiba. I can't send Choji and Shikamaru out" Tsunade took out a notebook and started to write down a few notes. "Why not Naruto?" Reiko inquired as Tsunade shook her head, "I'm sending them out on a mission too, they should be here any minute" she explained as Reika nodded.
"You two have to prepare" Tsunade stated as Chie shook her head, "I've been packed since last week" she explained as Shizune looked at her; "Oh yeah, you've been waiting for a mission since last week" Shizune giggled, "I'm always ready!" Chie beamed. "And you Reiko?" Tsunade inquired as Reiko nodded, "I packed last night because I couldn't get proper sleep" she stated as Tsunade nodded. "I won't be holding the both of you for long" Tsunade said as the two motioned towards the door when Team Kakashi walked inside.
./././././././././.
"Deidara, someone's following us" A menacing figure stated as a blonde haired boy turned around, "Return Gaara" Said one of the three sand siblings: Kankuro. "Oh yeah, this Jinchuuriki had siblings un" The man named Deidara examined Kankuro. "This must be Kantarou or was it Kanpachi..." Deidara trailed off as Kankuro hissed.
"My name is Kankuro!" He exclaimed as he pulled out all his scrolls and summoned his three loyal puppets: Kuroari, Sanshuo and Karasu. Deidara motioned to get off his clay bird when he was stopped, "I'll handle this one Deidara" said the othet figure as Deidara smirked, "Whatever you say Sasori-dono, just hurry up" he said as he went off.
"I won't make this long" Sasori grinned as Kankuro gritted his teeth.
./././././././././.
"Just in time" Tsunade stated as Reiko and Chie walked to the back of the room and watched as Naruto and the fifth had a heated conversation about Team Kakashi's C-Rank mission.
Reiko could only grin and where the conversation was going, Chie looked over at Reiko and sighed. "How are you going to tell Kankuro?" Chie inquired as Reiko shook her head, "I guess I'll have to cross that bridge when we get to Suna" she explained as a decoder barged inside the room.
In a flurry of motion, Reiko could only pick up some of the words; her mind was set on one person, 'Kankuro' she thought as Tsunade looked at Reiko and Chie.
"Reiko, Chie" Tsunade called for the two who stood in attention, "Team Kakashi, I'm assigning you five this mission. You are to go to Suna and get information about the situation then send a report back to Konoha, should Suna require any help, you are to follow their instructions" She stated as the five shinobi nodded. "You are to waste no time and leave Konoha immediately!" Tsunade ordered as the team walked out of the office.
'Wait for me Kankuro' Reiko told herself as they made their way towards their respective homes to collect their things.
In a few minutes, the team assembled at the village gates with Tsunade, Shizune and Iruka-sensei to see them of; "Reiko, whatever happens control your emotions" Tsunade stated as Reiko nodded, "Don't let anything piss you off too much" her mother added as Chie wrapped an arm around Reiko's shoulders. "She's in good hands Tsunade-san! I'll take good care of her!" Chie beamed as a scoff was heard when Jiraiya appeared.
"You can't even take care of yourself, how do you propose to take care of Reiko?" Jiraiya crossed his arms as Chie glared at him, "Says the person who couldn't even look after his own daughter" Chie spat as the sage rolled his eyes and walked over to Tsunade. "I assume you know about what happened to the Kazekage" Jiraiya remarked as Tsunade nodded, "I'm sending Team Kakashi and 2/3 of the Konoha Special Squad to assist them" she stated which seemed to alarm Jiraiya.
"You do know about Naruto and the Akatsuki right? What about Reiko?" Jiraiya whispered as Tsunade sighed, "This was the best decision I could make" she reasoned as Jiraiya looked at Naruto and Reiko. "You two watch over each other" The Sage stated as Reiko and Naruto nodded in unison.
"Best we get going now" Kakashi said as the team nodded, "Don't forget to send reports alright?" Shizune reminded as Reiko nodded in response. "Let's go!" Chie pumped her fist in the air and began to run, "Take care!" Tsunade waved as Reiko smiled followed after Chie, the others followed suit.
./././././././././.
Temari was seated on a bench in a small stopover spot on the way to Suna, enjoying her Odango as she did so. Looking around she swallowed and was about to take a sip from her cup of tea when a crack appeared on the cup. This made Temari blink and bite her lower lip, gathering her things she walked over to the counter and settled her bill.
'Something's up' Temari told herself as she walked past the table again, eyeing at the tea cup she nodded to herself and continued her journey back to Suna - a thousand questions popping in her head but she paid no attention to them except for the question: "What's going on?".