Author Note

Hello everyone and welcome to another chapter of Regret.

Last chapter, Gaara and Naruto agreed to notify other villages regarding the danger posed by Akatsuki. This way, they could avoid other Jinchuurikis from being captured by the organization. Gaara sent a letter to Tsunade so that Konoha could convince the Raikage regarding the organization and how Kumogakure must act towards their Jinchuurikis protection. Thus, Tsunade called in Team Kakashi and passed the mission to them. Will they be able to convince the proud Kage or they will return with the same answer given to Sunagakure.

Check it out and see what happens!

Chapter 14 – The Land of Lightning

Beta: Kyuubi123

After the Hokage's order, it didn't take more than half an hour for Team Kakashi to appear at the Hokage's office for a new mission. Well, at least Naruto, Sakura and Yamato were already present. Quite to the Hokage's dismay, Kakashi was still due to show up. Kakashi was one of Konoha's top elite jounin and it was only because of this that Tsunade tolerated the man's habit of tardiness. Anyone else would be punished severely. Meanwhile, she guessed that it would be a good time as any to introduce the fourth member of the team to Sakura. The girl was looking at him the entire time anyway, probably wondering who he was and what was he doing here as well seeing as only Team Kakashi was summoned for this new B-ranked mission.

"Well, seeing as your sensei is still due to arrive, I might as well tell you about some changes to the team Sakura" By the mention of her name, the medic chunnin looked at the Hokage. "The jounin next to Naruto will answer by the name of Yamato, he's an Anbu, so his identity is to remain secret. I trust that with the amount of time you passed with me and Shizune, you can understand that. The reason behind his addition is that Team Kakashi isn't yet complete. A four-man unit is standard Konoha protocol and not meant for genin teams alone. He'll be the last addition to the team as second in command. Usually, I'd be placing an equally skilled shinobi, a chunnin, but with the enemies we're facing now, a jounin level shinobi is better suited to face the enemies Team Kakashi will be facing. I have high expectations that this team will be one of the strongest ever"

Sakura nodded as she looked at Naruto.

She knew about the Akatsuki from their last mission towards Sunagakure. What she didn't know, however, is why they were after Team Kakashi. She knew that Kakashi had an entire page in the bingo book and Yamato was an Anbu, so it was hard for anyone to know who he really is, thus, targeting him was out of the question. That left herself and her teammate Naruto. She doubted that anything she ever did in her career managed to piss anyone to the point that someone would want her head for it. Naruto, on the other hand, remained a mystery. She remembered how Akatsuki went after Gaara because he was the One-Tailed Jinchuuriki and she also remembered that Kakashi said something about Naruto sharing the same fate as Gaara.

It couldn't be that Naruto was a jinchuuriki as well, right? If it was true, then someone would have told her, seeing as they were teammates, right?

So many mysteries surrounded Naruto, she reasoned. By looking at his aloof and neutral expression, she couldn't read him like she used to. Before, he was as open as a book, screaming his opinions never once keeping it to himself. Now, he was collected, even aloof to the situation. She was half expecting him to question the Hokage's decision in front of everyone, or at least question the necessity of even adding a fourth member without any need, in his book. He did nothing, though. It frightened her that someone could change so much in such a short time. Not once did he give her any indication that his previous behavior was a front, a cover-up.

Sakura stopped her musings, once Kakashi entered with hands on his pockets, greeting everyone. He even greeted the pissed off Hokage, who was slowly considering punishing the man for his tardiness habit.

'Top elite my ass, next time I'm sure to punch him in the face to wipe that smile off his…'

"About time you got here Kakashi. Now, that everyone is here, I'll begin. As you all know, the Akatsuki is a powerful organization whose single goal, or at least what we're aware of, is hunting the Bijuus. Therefore, the Kazekage tried sending a letter to Kumogakure in order to let them know of said threat. The Yondaime Raikage dismissed Gaara's concern, though, arguing it to be futile, considering Suna's reputation as the weakest hidden village. Because of the rejection, Gaara asked us to assist in convincing the Raikage of the danger posed by the organization. This will be your mission, Team Kakashi. We already arranged a copy of everything Jiraiya and Konoha gathered on them to be delivered to the Raikage. The success of this mission is to convince the Raikage to listen to what we have to say or at least take a look at our file, that's all. It's considered a B-ranked mission"

Neither Sakura nor Naruto has been to Kumogakure before, and they smiled at the prospect of visiting another hidden village, besides Sunagakure.

Kakashi just picked the sealing scroll with the information on Akatsuki, before turning to the Hokage. "What guaranties do we have that the Raikage will even listen to us? If Gaara himself signed the letter, than anyone below Kage level would receive the same answer. Perhaps, this mission is better suited to Jiraiya-sama or even you Hokage-sama?" The fact that Kakashi questioned the Hokage's orders could have irritated anyone in command, but not Tsunade for the single fact that Kakashi had loads of experience out there and his opinion mattered a lot to her. She indeed thought about what Kakashi had said. Why would the Raikage value more Kakashi's position than the Kazekage himself? Sure, the Yondaime Raikage must have known that Gaara was perhaps the youngest shinobi to take the Kage's position and that alone showed a village's weakness. Kakashi, however, was respected by everyone because of his skills and achievements over the years. Surely, if Konoha sent a person like Kakashi to inform Kumo, then they would know that the problem was indeed serious.

"I thought of that, believe me. First, that pervert is rather difficult to track and I don't want to waste my time finding him and convincing him. Second of all, where Gaara is a Kage, he's rather inexperienced. The Raikage respects strength, thus upon seeing you, he'll know that something is up. If he still does not believe, then there is nothing we can do except convince the man to accept the information regarding the Akatsuki. As I recall, Kumo has two Jinchuurikis and one of them happens to be the Raikage's brother. You could use this to…let's say…improve your odds of success" Kakashi nodded, before ushering his team to meet him at the gates. The man vanished soon after, leaving the three other members to leave, using the door. Before they left, though, the Hokage ushered Naruto to stay a moment. Yamato left right away, but Sakura remained looking at both Tsunade and Naruto for a few seconds, before leaving as well.

"Naruto, as strong and skilled as you managed to become under Jiraiya's tutelage, this mission won't require any of it. It's a diplomatic assignment involving a kage from another village, hence the rank given" The blond nodded as he knew where the Hokage was going with this. Indeed, the boy wasn't known for his social skills or his inaptude to stay silent, opting from time to time to voice his frustrations out loud. He only listened to the woman, though, without responding it right away. "Although the Raikage is not known for formalities, let Kakashi do all the talking. I know that you want to protect the other Jinchuurikis from being captured, but this is a sensitive situation and needs to be treated as such." Tsunade was reluctant with even assigning this mission, considering the possible ramifications between villages. She didn't want to focus on Akatsuki as well as another war.

"I understand Tsunade-baachan." The name itself brought a smile as he continued. "I won't open my mouth unless someone asks me a question directly. I do have one question, though, about Sakura. While she has yet to know, I don't believe that Kumo will be secretive about it. What if she hears from the Raikage that I'm also one of them? Wouldn't it be best if she didn't come along?" Tsunade nodded and smiled at the question. Something that she never thought would happen, but Naruto did show an improvement in intellect, even if it was innacurate in this case.

"Kakashi is aware of this, Naruto. He knows how to talk to others, without giving too much information. Now, seeing as you're now thinking ahead, which I congratulate you for, let's take your suggestion and analyze it, shall we? What would happen if Sakura knew that her entire team was sent on a mission without her? The girl is smart and she'd know something was off, immediately. Afterwards, she would fetch for the reason and that's where the problem is. She would work hard, but eventually she would have an answer and it might actually be the actual hidden truth that you don't want her to know about." The blond nodded with a smile, as he didn't think of the problem from said angle. But before he could acknowledge a response, Tsunade jumped in with another question. "Naruto, Sakura is your teammate. If you want her to trust you with protecting you, I believe she must know about it. And it works best if she gets to hear it from you."

Naruto looked at the Hokage in surprise at the advice.

"The decision is yours Naruto. The law forbids anyone but you from speaking the truth. Take the time from the trip towards Kumo and choose whether you think that Sakura should be made aware of your situation or not. Now, I believe you must be quick in assembling your gear for the trip. It's almost time for you to meet your team, I believe" The blond nodded and left like Kakashi did, using a shunshin, leaving the Hokage alone with her work. She knew that the boy was conflicted about said topic. She knew that it wasn't the topic alone, but rather to whom she asked Naruto to tell. Sakura maybe his teammate, but the two shared a history together. Even though Naruto moved on with Yuugao, Sakura was still part of his genin team. It would be the same with Sasuke, if the damn kid didn't betray Konoha.

===With Naruto===

After leaving Tsunade's office, the blond went straight home where he packed everything he needed for the trip. He separated some clean clothes, a spare set of kunais and shurikens, some empty scrolls just in case and his bo-staff and sealed everything inside a larger scroll, before placing it inside a hidden pocket on his special vest. The entire procedure took no longer than five minutes, so he had some time before he needed to meet his team for the mission. He went to a small balcony where he just stood, looking towards the clouded sky, at the same time wondering about what the Hokage said about him telling Sakura about the Kyuubi.

The law created by the Third stipulated that only he and he alone could divulge his position as a jinchuuriki. Others, though, would meet the death penalty. Therefore, if he was to inform Sakura, then she wouldn't be able to tell others, unless she wanted to give up her life. That being said, even if he told her, his secret would, in theory, be safe with Sakura. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell her. He was only scared of what would happen if for some reason, the news reached everyone within Konohagakure. It was a risk that he didn't want to take, thus he supposed it would be better to tell her once they were a few miles away from the village. He also had to tell her about the law. He knew that the chance of her being pissed at him for keeping the information from her was one hundred and ten percent, thus he reasoned he could use the same weapon against Kakashi, when the man questioned about his new skills.

Once the time was up for him to leave, he left a note on top of the kitchen table in case Yuugao comes looking for him. He didn't have time to tell her personally, but something inside him knew that she wouldn't need a note to know when Naruto was available or away for a mission. Such is the privilege of being an Anbu captain, he smiled. He locked his door and jumped towards the nearby rooftop, towards the gates, but not before greeting the weirdest neighbor ever, one called Maito Gai.

As he hopped between buildings, the blond thought about the Raikage and his personality.

Tsunade said that the man was a proud warrior, who only respected strength and skill. He wondered if the man would dismiss Konoha's concerns just as he dismissed Suna's. Having not one but two highly trained Jinchuuriki probably let him assume that no organization would be strong enough or even capable of capturing one of Kumo's Jinchuurikis. In Naruto's opinion, that way of thinking was ludicrous, considering that one of the Akatsuki members managed to capture Gaara and he was the damn Kazekage. No matter how tough the two-tailed and the eight-tailed jinchuuriki were, Akatsuki knew how to deal with them. The known members of the organization possessed powers that could easily subdue any shinobi. Kisame had his sword which was able to eat chakra. Itachi had his Mangenkyou Sharingan. The other two they knew were dead, but so far only four members were revealed. The others still remain hidden somewhere, but there wasn't a doubt in his mind that they were as powerful as the already known ones, if not more.

As soon as he reached the gates where he was supposed to meet his team, Naruto wasn't surprised to see Sakura and Yamato already there, engaged in some sort of conversation. He supposed that Kakashi would take at least another half an hour to arrive. The chunnin wasn't much thrilled about having to wait for Kakashi together with Sakura. If by any measure of bad luck, they run out of topics to talk about, there was a huge possibility that the girl would ask questions about their mission and the Jinchuurikis. Naruto wanted to tell her, but he couldn't do it, so close to the village. His presence alerted Sakura and Yamato as they turned to the approaching form of Naruto. The blond waved at them as he approached their position.

"I take it Kakashi-sensei is late once more…" Naruto asked, already coming with a subject to distract Sakura for the time being.

"No surprise there! It's quite infuriating…the worst part is that we never know what he's doing, instead of meeting his team" Yamato smirked at this. Apparently, Sempai's tardiness is well-known throughout the entire village.

The three conversed for a while about multiple topics, ranging from Lightning Country's geography to the respective hidden ninja village called Kumogakure. Naruto thanked the heavens for Sakura's never ending curiosity about other countries. She didn't stop asking questions to Yamato about Lightning Country and Kumogakure, regarding its population, its shinobi, their skills in combat, among other subjects. Surprisingly, Yamato knew quite a lot about the region, to which Naruto assumed that Yamato was sent there on quite a few occasions to investigate or even, he dared, infiltrate. In the end, Yamato managed to hold Sakura's focus enough time so that when the topic was finished, Kakashi appeared via shunshin, showing a happy salute to everyone.

"You're late Kakashi-sensei!" Everyone flinched at the woman's angry tone, though for one simple reason. Sakura had the Hokage's freakishly strength. One punch could be their end!

It didn't mean that Kakashi wouldn't throw his usually lame excuses, though.

"Ah…sorry about that Sakura, you see an old lady was having difficulty carrying her bags, so I decided to help her. Her house was pretty far, though" The man was scratching his head in fake embarrassment, but he managed his point across. After a long time doing the same thing over and over again, Kakashi became a professional at being late and inventing lame excuses for such. He, thus, lead others to believe that nothing out of the ordinary happened, just like he wished others to think. It wouldn't do for others to know what he really does every day. "Okay Team, let's move towards Kumogakure. If we move faster, chances are we reach the village entrance in three days. Let's move…Naruto you take the lead. Sakura and Yamato will be in the middle and I'll take the rear." The team nodded, before they vanished towards Lightning Country's Ninja Village.

===In River Country===

The battle that took place between Deidara and the ninjas from Konoha ended up leveling a few sectors of the forest near the cave where the Ichibi no Shukaku was almost extracted. There were rocks and debris everywhere as a result of Deidara's final ninjutsu, composed basically of blowing himself up after using his clay. It was quite an ending to a powerful shinobi, blowing himself up in order to take out as many enemies as possible. Unluckily for him, the blast was disrupted by a low-level but quite useful wind jutsu, courtesy of Konoha's Jinchuuriki. Suddenly, someone or rather something emerged from the ground. It appeared to be some kind of plant, before a portion of cloth could be seen, as if the plant was wearing clothes. When it fully emerged, the vines opened up, revealing a strange human being, half white and half black.

Upon further inspection, a scratched Kusagakure headband could be seen, indicating that this man, if he could be called that, was a missing-nin.

He looked around the destroyed forest for any signs of what he was looking for. The loss of Deidara was a huge blow to Akatsuki, but what was more important was the ring the man wore. Zetsu was sent especially to collect the ring that every Akatsuki member had. Also, he was ordered to get rid of Deidara's body, after he found the ring. His acute hearing caught a faint noise of some rocks being moved, before surprisingly so, Deidara's head emerged from the ground, panting from lack of air. Zetsu looked at Deidara and smirked, though his other half wished the man was killed, so they could eat him.

"It seems you got your ass whooped Deidara…" The dark half said, much to the other half's amusement. The strong voice alerted the Iwa missing-nin, before he turned to meet his comrade Zetsu.

"Such a delight to see you too Zetsu, hn. One more word and I'll show you my art." By now, his entire body was out of the ground. Zetsu could see that even if the man managed to survive the explosion, his body took quite a lot of damage and it would take a little while to recover. Deidara, for his part, cursed Konoha for losing. Because of his suicide strategy, he didn't see what happened after he used his technique. He cursed at himself as well for not capturing the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, before he remembered the fight. He never knew that Sasori-sempai could be beaten like that. They were equally matched, Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and Sasori, but it all changed once the Konoha shinobi used the fox's chakra. Sasori didn't have a chance and certainly he didn't as well.

Next time, the story will be different, Deidara reasoned. He now had some unfinished business with Naruto.

===Heaven and Earth Bridge===

A great distance away from the events, a long hooded figure approached the bridge from the west side. The scenery was quite peculiar, as from both sides of the bridge, the same forest could be seen. It looked like a major earthquake happened here some time ago and separated what was once a united land. The mysterious human being looked that no one was on top of the bridge, which to him sounded odd, seeing as his master was quite clear that they were to meet and he knew that when Sasori said something, he meant it.

As soon as he stepped on the bridge and walked all the way to the middle, he realized that something wasn't right.

He couldn't sense the presence of his master approaching from the other side, which meant that something must have happened to him. He looked briefly to his back and saw the place where his real master was hidden. He gave a brief flare of chakra and immediately Orochimaru appeared behind his second in command Kabuto. Orochimaru knew about Sasori's control over Kabuto and managed to break the seal placed by Sasori. He was using this opportunity to kill Sasori once and for all, thus diminish Akatsuki's numbers. A puppet master of Sasori's caliber would be quite troublesome to deal with and the snake sannin didn't know what Sasori was capable of.

"So the rumors are true, then…" Kabuto said, earning a nod from Orochimaru.

"It appears so, Kabuto. It was said that Hatake Kakashi and the Kyuubi brat managed to defeat Sasori, when he attempted to capture the One-tailed Jinchuuriki and Kazekage of Sunagakure. It' safe to believe that we are much closer to our goals now with Sasori's death and we didn't have to move a finger to do it" The smile on Orochimaru's face caused his second in command to smile as well. For now, Orochimaru and Konoha have a common enemy and seeing that Konoha has defeated not only one member, but two shows that Konoha was prepared to get rid of Orochimaru's enemy for him. Right now, the only hindrance to Orochimaru's life was the organization. And with Konoha defeating them one by one, Orochimaru's opposition vanishes. "Let's go back to the base Kabuto. The sooner that Sasuke-kun is ready, the sooner I can take over his body and finally reach my ambition" Kabuto smirked, before following his master back to their hidden base.

Neither of the two spotted the small toad that appeared from below the bridge. Jiraiya managed to follow Orochimaru's trail since he left Rice Country and wondered what he was doing near Grass Country. He heard the conversation and smirked at the fact that Orochimaru was scared of Akatsuki as well. It didn't bode well for him knowing that in a way, Konoha was doing his partner's dirty work. But he couldn't do anything about that. Akatsuki was after Naruto or rather the beast living inside of him. He couldn't afford to let the organization roam free, even if it means that he, or Konoha, will end up dealing with the enemy of their enemy Orochimaru. Nevertheless, his mission wasn't to kill Orochimaru, but rather to stop him from taking over Sasuke's body. Tsunade didn't give a rat's ass to the Uchiha's welfare, but she'd rather not allow Orochimaru to possess the Sharingan. The man had orders to kill Sasuke, if he had to.

As soon as he realized that no one would spot him, he followed the enemy's trail towards the hidden base. If Sasuke is there, then Jiraiya's mission will be over sooner than he expected.

===Team Kakashi===

Two days later and Team Kakashi had already crossed Lightning Country's border. From here on out, they were in hostile territory. So, it was mandatory not to attract attention until they reached the entrance of Kumogakure. As soon as the team crossed the border, they noticed the immense changes in scenery compared to Fire Country. Instead of miles and miles of forests, they could see an entire path of mountains surrounded by small rivers on the horizon. The path towards Kumogakure would be harder now considering that in order to cross the field they had to use chakra to jump between mountains. Sakura asked if there wasn't any civilian route towards the village, before Yamato explained that the only one was heavily patrolled by Kumo.

"Either way, they'll spot us as soon as we use chakra to hop between these mountains. Since the end of the war, Kumogakure opted to increase their ninja capacity, focusing more on increasing the patrols around the country. Sometime, we'll be seen by them anyway. Let's go…" Kakashi explained, earning a nod from his team as they jumped towards the nearby mountain. During their travel, Naruto and Sakura observed that clouds would hide the top of the mountains, which was quite interesting because they weren't travelling above the real clouds above. What no one knew or perhaps only the chunnins, was that the clouds served to hide the special detection seals that allowed Kumo to spot invaders. As soon as the first Konoha shinobi landed on the first mountain, the seal were activated, alerting Kumo.

Kakashi's only visible eye indicated that he already knew this.

He estimated that they would be approached by a team of Kumo in no more than two hours.

After passing about twenty miles of mountains, everyone's danger senses tingled. Naruto was the one that acted first, molding his chakra through hand seals. The others, seeing this, trusted their lives on him, gathering closer to his location. Immediately, a rain of shurikens charged at the Konoha group. Naruto was already in position, even before the projectiles appeared. No one expected such hostility from Kumogakure, but seeing as they just trespassed without authorization, ending up justifying said action.

Fuuton Shouheki no Jutsu (Wind Release: Wind Barrier Technique)

The blond focused the wind barrier in order to protect all four. The small typhoon projected around them managed to block the shurikens, just as the team landed on one of the mountains to the right. The team of Kumo landed on the mountain from the opposite side as both teams faced each other. It took a few minutes, before Kakashi cleaned his throat and took and step forward, as in showing that he was the leader of the team. Immediately, a very gorgeous blond woman kunoichi, with breasts as big as Tsunade's, stepped forward as well.

"Kumo Shinobi, we are here under orders from our Hokage in order to speak with your Raikage. It's of great importance that we deliver him a message" Samui just crossed her arms below her breast.

"Sharingan no Kakashi…as your Hokage should've known, it's customary to notify Raikage-sama prior to trespassing in our territory. By any means, we should interpret this lack of attention as an act of hostility and respond as such." The woman's voice was rather cold, showing that she had experience and skill to back up any sort of threat. Plus, the fact that she knew Kakashi showed that she didn't have anything against facing him in battle if needed be. The scarecrow jounin was by no means an amateur in diplomacy and responded as such.

"Konoha and Kumogakure are neutral with one another. As such, there is no obligation of a prior notice from the Hokage. The message is of great importance and it concerns Kumogakure greatly. Furthermore, by the way your team greeted us, it can be considered an act of hostility on our part as well. As I remember correctly, we allowed Kumo leniency for crossing our border without permission. Are you now saying that the same courtesy does not apply to Kumogakure?" The woman snorted at the response, but the man was right. Here she was hoping to at least win a verbal assault against the famous Sharingan no Kakashi. Plus, looking at the opposite team, she knew that the odds of Kumo winning were quite poor. They had two jounins, whereas she was the only jounin from her team. Also, she was quite uneasy upon looking at the blond chunnin from Konoha. Something about his chakra that felt familiar and that worried her greatly.

"Very well, I'll allow your team to go see the Raikage. But on the condition, that we escort you towards the village. Also, I'd advice not to try anything, as soon as we arrive, a team of Anbu will accompany us as well." The entire shinobi population of Kumo could follow them for all Kakashi cared. His mission was only to catch the Raikage's interest regarding Akatsuki and nothing more. His mission didn't require the Raikage to actually act upon his information, but only so that he actually listens and accepts the scroll containing the information.

"We accept."

As soon as Kakashi spoke, the team from Kumo started moving once more towards the village, followed by Team Kakashi. In no time, the clouds became thicker, creating a similar environment to Kirigakure, except that it wasn't exactly a heavy fog. Because of this, it became much more difficult to maneuver throughout the mountains. One of the aspects of being a hidden village is that it must be built in a place that can literally hide the village, so that enemies don't spot it easily. Suna had the desert and desert storms. Konoha was surrounded by forest, thus it was easy for the enemy to get lost or even alert the Anbu patrol before he or she reached the walls. Kirigakure was surrounded by a heavy mist that only one those who knew the path, managed to find Kirigakure. In order to enter Iwagakure, one had to go through different caves in order to find the right path. (AN: Just invented!)

Kumogakure was no different as the clouds made it almost impossible to even spot the village on the horizon. Like Kirigakure, one must know the right path or else they would be lost easily.

Nevertheless, the Konoha team focused on a simple formation that allowed everyone to follow the right path. With Kakashi first and Yamato last, he could see if Naruto or Sakura would move away from the right course. The entire trip took more or less six hours, before the hidden village finally appeared. The scenery didn't change much from the country's landscape. Several mountains surrounded by river. The Raikage tower could be seen at the highest mountain and rest of the village was scattered around the kage tower, at the lower mountains. Like the Kumo jounin promised, as soon as they passed through the village entrance, a squad of the village's Anbu appeared next to Samui, before both teams escorted the team from Konoha. They walked through a path that went from the village entrance directly to the Raikage's Tower. Instead of jumping through mountains like before, they choose to walk calmly towards the tower.

Like everyone expected, every single citizen from the village, being civilian or shinobi, stopped what they were doing and looked at the shinobis from Konoha. It wasn't every day that such a thing happened and some wondered what Konoha did to deserve such hostile treatment. Only the shinobi knew that this was basic procedure stated by the Yondaime Raikage. It not only served to prevent any enemy from retaliating but also to show to foreigners the strength of Kumogakure. A third purpose was to scare the enemy, but none of the members from Konoha showed any signs of being affected by said display of hostility. Of course, with two jounins and the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, it wouldn't be a good idea to piss them off. It took little more than ten minutes before the entrance of the Raikage Tower was visible. The leader of the Anbu squad, then, turned to Samui and told her that his squad would accompany Konoha's team from now on. The woman nodded, before her team vanished with a lightning shunshin.

He, then, turned to Kakashi.

"Hatake Kakashi, I expect that you treat Raikage-sama the respect he deserves. If one of your team even dares something, we'll be forced to take action."

The Anbu member even raised the killing intent to get his point across. It was useless however, as Kakashi just focused on his as well.

"Direct threats to my team will be met with the same level of hostility Anbu-san. I'll abide by your regulations, no problem. Your threats are unnecessary" The man nodded and ceased his intention before walking inside the tower. The team from Konoha soon followed. Sakura was beginning to cower under the pressure, but she managed to maintain her composure long enough not to show that she was intimidated by such level of aggressiveness. As a medic-nin, she wasn't accustomed to facing enemies trying to kill her. The Hokage used her killing intent on occasion, but Sakura, somehow, knew that the woman wouldn't finish her. Against Sasori was different, because the man was focusing in killing Elder Chiyo, not her.

Once inside, the team was surprised to see that inside the Kage Tower, was an enormous dojo where a lot of ninjas were found training their taijutsu. The Anbu saw their curiosity and decided to enlighten Konoha for a bit.

"Raikage-sama created this dojo in order to train our most gifted ninjas. Raikage-sama believes that any shinobi is strong given the appropriate training. Therefore, he established a list of objectives for every ninja under his care. Those who rise above it, gets access to this special dojo and access to high level techniques. Kakashi and Yamato nodded, while looking at some of the ninja trainees going through some taijutsu katas. Naruto spotted two chunnin his size and probably his age, sparring against one another. He smiled upon seeing the well-coordinated moves. He remembered how long he took to perfect his taijutsu and applauded Kumo's mentality. A part of him wished to test his ability against one of these guys. He saw that the area wasn't reserved for taijutsu only, but ninjutsu and kenjutsu as well. He knew from Yuugao that Kumogakure managed to train some nice kenjutsu users a couple years back. Perhaps, it started once the Yondaime Raikage started running the village. He was amazed at some elemental techniques that the ninjas practiced. A few he recognized, but others he didn't. His eyes landed on a brunette kunoichi that was performing a long sequence of hand seals and in front of her was a wooden dummy.

Fuuton Tsuingufuu Kansei (Wind Release: Twin Tornado Trap Technique)

Instantly from both sides of the dummy, two tornados appeared, before the dummy was massacred under the pressure. Naruto smirked and began taking notes of the technique, hoping to incorporate to his arsenal as well. Briefly looking, he managed to see that it was a close-ranged technique and the seals sequence wasn't that different from some of his techniques. He turned his attention forward, so that none of the Anbu knew that he was spying on Kumo's techniques. He snorted, though, seeing that they were the ones who brought the team here. Plus, no one would expect someone to simply master a technique just by looking at it. It didn't mean that Naruto couldn't take notes and practice afterward, right? Soon, they reached the stairs that would lead straight to the Raikage's office. Climbing it took quite a while and Konoha team wondered behind the necessity of such a long set of stairs. It took close to ten minutes, before the office door was visible. The Anbu, then, turned to Kakashi and reminded him to show their respect to the Raikage. The squad soon vanished, but Kakashi and Yamato knew that they just entered the office and hid in the shadows, just like Konoha Anbu did.

When the door opened, the team from Konoha took a moment to see the Raikage's office and it didn't look much different than the Hokage's. The room was a bit more spacious and a few couches could be seen next to some shelves on the left corner. The Kage's desk, like Konoha, was placed near the back window. They all assumed that every Kage enjoyed getting up and looking at their village from the office. Now what was really shocking was seeing a man with white robes and the trademark kage hat in front of them and he was doing some biceps workout with weights that would probably be equivalent to a normal human being's on each side of the iron bar.

"So...it was quite surprising when this morning I found out that a team of Konoha tried to reach our village without my consent." His face was shadowed because of the lack of light in the room, but when it showed, the team from Konoha had a better look at his appearance, white hair and a thin mustache. The man showed his teeth a lot, Naruto mused. The Raikage used to scream a lot instead of speak, so it wasn't surprising that he would snarl at the enemy. He had the body build to carry any sort of threat though, not to mention that the man was a Kage level shinobi. His proficiency with lightning jutsu was what placed him behind this desk. The Raikage needed less than five seconds to study the team brought before him, before landing his eyes on the most immediate threat of the bunch, Kakashi. "So Hatake Kakashi, tell me…what was the Hokage thinking by sending someone like you to my beloved Kumogakure?"

Kakashi took a step forward and bowed in respect to the man, before looking at the Kage directly in the eye, which earned him even more respect from the Kage. The Raikage respected strength after all.

"Greetings Raikage-sama, first of all I'd like to extend Konoha's gratitude that you freed your busy schedule to attend us. And please bear in mind that the reason of us being here is of great importance. Given the fact that Akatsuki's…."

"I'll stop you right there Sharingan no Kakashi and ask if this is related to my dismissing the Kazekage's letter concerning some no name organization composed of S-ranked nins, which according to him, is after the tailed beasts" The smirk on the man's face indicated that he didn't need much of an answer and must have treated Gaara's letter with the same smirk on his face. "There was a time when Konohagakure was considered the strongest of the five great hidden villages. I've come to respect a great number of shinobis from Konoha. The Shodaime, his brother Nidaime, Hiruzen that old monkey, which was a great friend of mine and possibly the strongest shinobi of his time. The Yondaime Hokage was undefeated and even your father Konoha's White Fang. Now to see such a village cowering because of one organization composed of what, nine shinobi even if they were rumored to be S-ranked nin, it's quite pitiful. I'll give Konoha, the same answer that I gave to Suna." The comment even raised a few snorts from the man's secretary and even some of the hidden Anbu team, but none of the Konoha team was amused. In fact, Naruto was livid, but managed to control himself in front of the Raikage. However, the man wasn't Kage for nothing and looked at him the same instant.

"You even have the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki right there and you're still cowering…" As soon as the comment reached everyone's ears, Sakura was the one that looked at Naruto with worry.

Flashback on

After one day of travelling, Team Kakashi decided to stop for twenty minutes. Naruto took this opportunity and called Sakura to talk with him alone for a while. Kakashi and Yamato already knew this was bound to happen sometime and it was better that he did it now, because surely the Raikage would, if he didn't. And the impact would be quite large on the level of confidence between one another. The law estimated that only Naruto could tell the truth about his condition and such, he would have to tell not only Sakura, but everyone he felt that needed to know. Naruto and Sakura walked for a while, before they reached a small lake surrounded by thick trees.

"What is it that you want to tell me Naruto?" The look in his eyes showed her that whatever the topic was, it was quite serious. The blond for his part, didn't want to tell her right now. But for the sake of the mission and for her trust in future times, he had to.

"Sakura, I was actually planning on telling you this on a later date, but seeing what this mission involves, I believe you have the right to hear it from me before you hear it from someone else, worst yet, someone you don't know" The woman nodded and surprisingly so, didn't utter a word in response. She never saw such seriousness in his look and it frightened her greatly. Ever since they met at the academy, the blond was always this happy go lucky idiot who smiled every day for no reason at all. They grew up and still the blond smiled at her. Only when he came back from his trip did he change and it wasn't subtle as she had thought it would be. Naruto took her silence as authorization to explain. "Our mission is to inform the Raikage of the Akatsuki organization so that he could better protect the jinchuuriki under his care, the two-tailed demon cat and the eight-tailed ox. There is a special reason, however, why the Hokage picked our team to act as messenger for the Raikage. Like Gaara, I happen to be a jinchuuriki as well…"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Sakura widened her eyes slowly as her mouth in dire shock. Instantly, her memories started showing her images of their interactions together. The fight at Wave Country, the Chunnin Exams, when Naruto used some mysterious red chakra and fought a man that Sasuke couldn't hope to defeat, using his bare hands. She also remembered that when their team roamed through Konoha, the villagers would look at the blond with hatred. Back then, she thought nothing of it, but now everything was explained. She, then, racked her brain in order to remember any event in Konoha concerning a tailed beast. It didn't take her more than ten seconds, before she looked at Naruto.

"You…you're the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki?" Naruto could pick up her shocked tone and could only nod as her mind was making its own conclusions. "But….why you didn't tell me before? Why does everyone say the beast was killed by the Yondaime Hokage sixteen years ago?"

Naruto sighed and looked at her eyes for a moment. He didn't care as much if the woman would loathe him like some in the village still do. Still, some part of him figured that explaining to her in a way that wouldn't take away from their relationship as teammates at least. He went into teacher mode, remembering the explanation given to him by the Sandaime Hokage a long time ago.

"The Kyuubi no Yoko was a creature made entirely of energy. It didn't have a physical form. Thus, the only way for him to deal with the creature was to seal it somewhere. An object wouldn't be able to hold such a strong chakra and surely no scroll would be able to" Despite her shock, she heard every word. "Therefore, the only option the Yondaime Hokage had was to seal the beast into a human being. A grown up, with his chakra coils already developed, wouldn't be able to sustain the power as well, so that left a newborn for the sacrifice. It happens that I was the only one born that day. Thus, with a heavy heart as the Sandaime Hokage explained, he sealed the Kyuubi no Yoko in me and sacrificed himself for the procedure. What you might be asking right now is why the real truth wasn't revealed to the population, right? The Sandaime Hokage thought best at the time to create a half-truth to be taught at the academy and forbid anyone from telling our generation of what really happened. I'm the only one who was able to tell the truth…" Naruto couldn't finish the explanation before Sakura slapped him in indignation.

The blond took the blow without even lifting his arm to stop it. He just looked at her, then. He was about to turn his back away from her, figuring that like others, she would hate him when she screamed at him once more.

"Why didn't you tell me, you idiot? We're supposed to be teammates…I don't care if you're a god damn jinchuuriki, what I care about is you, baka." Despite the verbal slapping, Naruto smiled at her typical response.

"It's not exactly something you speak so easily about, is it? What did you propose I did? Invited you for some ramen and on the way, say…hey Sakura…guess what, the Kyuubi isn't dead and it's living inside me right now" her face showed more indignation, but at least the tone wasn't so serious anymore.

After Naruto explained, Sakura bombarded him with questions, which he answered without holding back information. It was needed for the sake of the mission.

Flashback off

Kakashi cleared his throat and decided to use some of the big guns in order to convince the man.

"Raikage-sama, I trust that the letter sent by the Kazekage didn't tell you some of their names, am I right?" Kakashi didn't have to wait for the man's response, before he started with the small but very powerful list of the names. "The first member Konoha knew belonged to the organization was none other than Uchiha Itachi, who single handedly killed his entire clan in one night. Next on the list, is Hoshigaki Kisame, former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist, responsible for murdering a great number of high nobles from Water Country" The first two names already manage to drop the Raikage's smirk as he listened to Kakashi. "Recently, Suna was attacked by two new members. One is called Deidara of the Hidden rock and Akasuna no Sasori. All four of them are S-ranked missing ninjas. These were the names that we already know of and there are five more members whose identities remain a mystery thus far. However, it's safe to say that are at least as powerful as the first ones, if not more. With all due respect, Raikage-sama, even if you didn't show us any, the power of this organization is enough to concern any leader, who cares about his shinobi. I trust that one of the Jinchuurikis is your brother correct? Now what would you do if he was captured by them?"

The sudden silence that reached the room was quite deafening, but Kakashi wasn't yet finished. His mission didn't only involve warning the Raikage, but making him accept Konoha's information on Akatsuki.

The information regarding Sasori's death was inside the scroll, so the scarecrow jounin didn't feel the need to tell the Raikage.

"Now, Raikage-sama, I have here very detailed information regarding the members' known abilities and history as well. Information that if taken into consideration, could save your brother and the Two-tailed Jinchuuriki Nii Yugito" The Raikage looked at the scroll in Kakashi's hand and almost unconsciously reached for it. The man's pride was a big as his muscles and his confidence in Kumo's shinobi had no precedents. However, after hearing those names, the man doubted if he could beat one of them, let alone two. Suddenly, his eyes recovered the usual fiery explosion, before he looked at Kakashi.

"You brought some new information I wasn't aware of, Kakashi. However, in order for me to accept your scroll, there is a condition" Kakashi maintained his composure, but inside he was cursing the man in front of him.

He knew what the condition would be, as he knew the Raikage's character.

"If your jinchuuriki wins a battle against my brother, then I'll accept the scroll." Kakashi didn't know how to respond, but when he looked at Naruto's face and saw a pleasant smirk, he sighed in dismay. 'I'm sure this boy will be the death of me sooner than I expected'

"Condition accepted Raikage-sama"

Author Note

Ok, I'm not that evil…

So I'll let my readers choose. Either start working on the next chapter of Regret or choose the next chapter of my Full Moon story.

What will it be?