Treacherous Dealings/A New Mission Part 1

The next morning, Einjeru woke to find she never took care of herself before going to sleep. "Is it morning already?" She looks at the clock to see it's 6:30. Groaning, she got out of bed and took a quick shower, putting on fresh clothes. By the time she went to make breakfast it was 6:45. "Dad! We need to meet up with Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke early!" She prepares a cup of coffee for her chronically late father, along with a sunny-side up egg, a couple slices of bacon and a piece of toast. She had the same thing except substituting the coffee for tea.

It then became 7:00 and she went to check his room. "Dad?" She sees a mop of silver hair peering out of the blankets. "Alright dad. Your breakfast is getting cold and I am not going to be late on account of your actions! Get your butt out of this bed." She gets a groan in reply. "Come on Einjeru… Let me sleep. Did you forget what today is?" She shakes her head. "I know today is your birthday, but I went through the trouble of making you breakfast and your other adorable students would like to see you."

Kakashi turns around and looks at her in a tired manner. "My coffee better be the way I like it. No sugar or cream right?" Einjeru smiles and says "Everything is as you ask it to be dad, now up." He lazily gets out of bed and heads to the bathroom. He takes a whiff of the air and says "Breakfast smells as good as it always is. I kind of missed this for the two years you were out."

At the same time, Naruto was getting out of bed and looking at the time. "Oh crap! It's 7:15 and we're supposed to be meeting at the memorial stone in 15 minutes." He rushed around his apartment, making toast and grabbing his clothes to freshen up with. He ended up slipping on his sheet though. "Ow… That hurt…"

Sakura was at the Yamanaka flower shop looking at bouquets to leave at the memorial stone as a token of respect. Ino says to Sakura "So what are you looking for Sakura? Anything special?" Sakura turns her head. "Ino. I was just looking into some flowers to leave at the memorial stone. Einjeru said she tends to do that in honor of her mother."

Ino walks up to her saying "Einjeru loves getting a Rose bouquet with sprigs of Lavender thrown in, sometimes a little Wolfs-bane. By the way, it's Kakashi sensei's birthday today. Does your team have any plans post-mission?" Sakura shrugs saying "Einjeru knows Kakashi sensei the best. If she didn't say anything then the rest of us wouldn't know." Sakura looks at the time and says "Oh! It's almost time to meet. Can you give me a bouquet of white roses?" Ino prepares it along with Einjeru's normal requests, expecting her to come in soon. "Here you go Sakura. Say hi to Sasuke for me." Sakura nods. "Will do Ino."

In Sakura's mind, her inner voice rung out saying "I'm no longer vying for his attention. From now on, I'll let him come to me."

Sasuke was already at the memorial stone, looking at the lone Uchiha that was marked. "Obito… Whoever you are, I wish I could have met you." Sakura comes up and sees Sasuke. She comes next to him and says "How long have you been here?" Sasuke shrugs saying "A few minutes, give or take. What are the flowers for?" Sakura gives a small smile. "It's to honor those who have fallen. I got the idea when Ino told me about Einjeru's habits after the chunin exam invasion."

Naruto comes up and says "Hey guys. How long have you been here?!" Sakura and Sasuke look at him thinking "Could he be any louder?" Sakura then says "Not long. Have you seen Einjeru or Kakashi sensei?" Naruto shrugged. "I heard Einjeru was going to make a stop to the flower shop before coming here." He gets a nod in acknowledgement. Kakashi and Einjeru appear with bouquets of flowers in their hands.

"Sorry it took so long guys." They look at them and say "You guys are on time. It's odd for Kakashi sensei." Kakashi gives a lazy eye-roll and says "Well since we're here together, we might as well go to the hokage tower together." They all walk towards the hokage tower to receive their first mission as a squad after so long.

By this point, Lord Kazekage was ordering the attack of a black and red cloud colored cloak wearing blonde on an odd looking bird. In the birds' mouth laid Gaara, the kazekage's son and jinchuuriki to the one-tail shukaku. The blonde gives a grunt saying "This villages concept of art is dull compared to mine. Art… Is an explosion!"

Explosions rung around the hidden sand shinobi, and the bird flew off. Kankuro looks at the kazekage as not the kazekage, but his father and says "What do we do? We can't just let them have Gaara." The kazekage says "Send a message to the leaf on Takamaru. He's our fastest messenger. Level 1 emergency dispatch." One of the messenger people did so immediately and Takamaru was out of the village in less than 15 minutes.

A couple hours later, Team Kakashi was near the tower after a leisurely walk and catch up. Kakashi looks up to see a bird flying to the message delivery room. "That bird…" They start making their way in the tower and to the office when a person from the cypher division rushes by them. They continue their trek to the hokage office as if they didn't see her running by them. In her office, Tsunade looks at Team Kakashi with a disreputable eye. A voice in her head rings off as she looks at them, saying "Late, hot-heads, vengeful, and a medical nin. These guys… Will they make it?"

Before Tsunade could even get the words of their mission out of her mouth, the cypher lady ran in saying "Pardon the intrusion milady, but we have a level 1 emergency dispatch from the sand village." Tsunade turned to Team Kakashi and says "I was originally going to give you a C-Rank, but this emergency dispatch is more important. Team Kakashi. You are to report to the Hidden Sand village and assist them with whatever they need. You guys are to leave immediately."

They immediately left the tower and grabbed their supplies. They met at the main gate and took off in a mad dash for the sand village. Einjeru was right behind Kakashi wondering if he had a feeling. "Dad? Did you have a feeling that something like this was going to happen?" She got a sigh in return with Kakashi saying, "I had a feeling when I saw that bird flying above and someone from the cypher division ran past us."

Einjeru remained quiet after that, leaving Sakura to say "I'm pretty sure it isn't all bad. Maybe it was an accident that they needed extra hands with." Einjeru says "Well that is hopeful optimism, but a level 1 emergency dispatch is more serious than that. We'll find out within three days." Naruto was too quiet and Sasuke gave his usual demeanor.

"Brat! The shukaku is in trouble. He's going to be taken out. You guys are going to have to pick up the pace, or something bad is going to happen." Naruto says "But how Kurama?" Kurama shakes his head and tries to sleep. Naruto comes out of his head. He put more chakra into his step and got past Einjeru. Her eyes widened by a large fraction. "Is something wrong Naruto?" He doesn't say a word. "Naruto? Answer me." Still nothing.

Einjeru snarls a little. Kurama's voice pops into her head. "Something you need princess?"

"First of all, don't call me that. Second of all, what the hell did you say to Naruto?!"

"Whoa, calm down. I only told him that Shukaku was getting extracted. I didn't expect this reaction. I just said that if we didn't pick up the pace it would be too late." She groans mentally. "Looks like we'll have to pick up the pace don't we?" More chakra was placed into her step.

They start coming up to a tea shop to see Temari outside. They stop in front of her. She says to them "This is the direction of the Hidden Sand. Why are you guys heading this way?" Kakashi says "The hidden leaf received a level 1 emergency dispatch from the kazekage. We're the team that's being sent." Her train of thought immediately went to Gaara. She also thought, "Well that explains that crack when I was enjoying my tea."

Einjeru looks at Temari, her mind in a dark place at the moment as she thought back to the first chunin exams. Her mind kept saying "She's the teammate of the crazed maniac that wanted to kill everything in sight… I know our nations are supposed to be allies, but… I don't know if I can trust them. I thought I was dead that night…" Her eyes were a dark shade of purple and Naruto shook her out of her thoughts, a saddened look on his face.

Kakashi looked at Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke and Einjeru thinking "Naruto is uncharacteristically quiet, Einjeru was lost in thought as though a dark memory creeped up on her on account of seeing this girl, Sakura is calm, and Sasuke hasn't said anything regarding Itachi. What is going on with these guys?" Temari then said as if she had somehow read his thoughts, "I think it's me… I remember them from the chunin exams 2 years ago."

Einjeru however, blinked her eyes and shook her head to reinforce Naruto's shaking. "I apologize; I was lost in thought." Her eyes faded to black as she looked to Kakashi. "Sensei? Shall we move?" Everyone looked at her and she replied to their incredulous looks "We have a level 1 emergency dispatch to answer. It would be best if didn't sit here twiddling our thumbs." Kakashi nods saying "You're right. We need to move." They continue to the Hidden Sand.

At the same time, the cloak-wearing shinobi weren't wasting any time going to their hideout. "Sasori, my man. Tell me something. How did you come from a village with a horrible art sense?" The hunchback-looking, black and red cloud cloak wearing shinobi, aptly known as Sasori replied "Art is eternal beauty. Deidara, your explosives are a nuisance. Puppets are an art-form that last forever. That is true art."

Night falls and team Kakashi plus Temari set up camp. Einjeru decides to take the first watch and sends out 8 clones to watch out for every direction while she sat with the rest of them. She thinks to herself "Naruto has been acting weird since the other day. Does it have to do with what Kurama said?" Her mind drifted out of the conscious realm into her mindscape.

Her inner self looks at her saying "You know, Kurama wouldn't lie about this." Einjeru looks at her restrained inner counterpart nodding. "I know, but it still takes three days to make it to the sand, plus time to make it to their hideout. I don't know if we can make it." Einjeru opens the mental cage and comes in, a determined look on her face. "I know we haven't seen eye to eye, but…"

"Before you say it, your body can't handle the full powers that your mark has inhibited. Unlocking them right now would kill us both. The time will come when the power can be undone. Just be patient." Her inner self wondered if she should tell Einjeru the truth about the way the powers are to be unlocked.

"What do I do? I have yet to choose someone to take the test of faith… Mom said I had to choose someone soon… By my birthday no doubt. It's just shy of two months off."

"So this is what this is about, eh? Let's see… There's Naruto: your soon-to-be mate completely, Sakura: the girl that you had just started warming up to before you left for training, Sasuke: the boy that is bent on vengeance, and Itachi: the older brother figure that Sasuke is bent on vengeance for. It's all in what you consider trustworthy." Einjeru then thinks to herself "There's also Shikamaru and Choji, but they only know so much… I don't want to involve them or Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke unless it's a last resort."

Einjeru looks at her inner self saying "I need to talk to Itachi. The probability that I will encounter him on this mission is high." She got a nod in return. "Now you need to wake up. Your guard shift is almost over." She opened her eyes to see Naruto, still bothered. She looks at Sakura to see that she was looking worried, and in turn her eyes went to Sasuke.

Sasuke was unconscious and sweating profusely. Einjeru's mouth was dry from hours of meditation and it was noticeable when she spoke. "Is… Sasuke… Okay?" Sakura came over with some water and guided the canteen to her mouth. "An odd chakra started to flow through his chakra coils as you were guarding and meditating. He was setting up the tents."

Einjeru nods and says "I'm going to disperse the clones and go for a walk." As soon as she was out of sight, she started to run to the clones' locations. "I can't believe one of them saw Itachi. Luckily he ignored the clone, or I'd be in trouble." She got to the first clone and asked about anything suspicious. The clone pointed behind Einjeru. "Besides that crow, nothing out of the ordinary."

The clone disperses and Einjeru looks at the crow saying "Itachi was watching the whole time." She threw a kunai at the crow to see it disperse. "A summoning?" Her instincts told her to look left, right, forward and behind. Just before she looked behind her, a flock of crows appeared and in the flock was Itachi. "It's been a while Einjeru."

She put on a farce and said "What do you want Uchiha?" He looks at her surprised. "Your mask is well prepared for having it developed in less than thirty seconds. What are you doing here?" Einjeru gave a huff and puffed out her chest in an attitude. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Itachi got slightly disgruntled, but didn't show it. "Alright princess, what has you like this?" If there was a way to get under her skin; it was calling her princess. Her farce came off her face, and all that was there was pure rage as she tackled him. "I hate being called that!" Itachi sighs and says "Fine, Einjeru. Now that I see your true colors; what are you doing?"

Einjeru shakes her head. "I couldn't tell you that even if I wanted to." Itachi sighs and says "No doubt that Kakashi taught you the ANBU guarding protocols. Are you on mission?" Einjeru remained quiet and averted her gaze from his eyes. He notices this and pushes her off. "I see. Is there something I should know?" Einjeru shakes her head thinking "I can't say yet… I haven't decided, or more like I can't decide."

Itachi says "Are you thinking about that encounter 2 years ago?" Einjeru shakes her head and puts her mask back on. "Don't ask questions you don't want answers to."

"This is cryptic, even for you Einjeru." Itachi looks at her curiously. "If you want answers, ask my mom and grandpa. I won't tell you anymore."

A wolf that was watching the encounter thinking "Why is she telling him this? Does he know the secret?" Anjera happened to cross that line of thought and flashed over to the location. "What's going on?" She looks down there to see Einjeru and Itachi talking. "So… She has been thinking about this hard, is she choosing Itachi?"

Itachi says "I'd hurry to the Sand if I were you. I knew word had spread regarding the one-tail." Her body tensed up and she looked at him with a look so fierce it could kill. He started to walk away and Einjeru grabbed his wrist so tight that she could've broken it if she wanted. "Itachi. Tell me what you know about what happens to the jinchuuriki when their tailed beast is extracted."

Itachi noticed a small amount of killing intent filling the air. "This is about Naruto, isn't it?" Silence. He got really hesitant about saying the next sentence coming out of his mouth. "When the tailed beast is extracted, the jinchuuriki dies." She lets go of his hand and immediately disperses her other clones. "I won't say that I saw you, but you better not be at that hideout." She disappears in a swirl of leaves and reappears in the camp.

Kakashi sent Naruto out for guard duty after asking what kept Einjeru. She says in a cheery voice and with a smile not unlike Kakashi's eye smile, "I just fell on the way back. Everything's fine." Kakashi's face looked grim, as though he's seeing right through Einjeru's façade. He gives a smile in return and Einjeru went into her tent and exhaled sharply.

Anjera appeared behind Einjeru and said "What's wrong?" Einjeru almost flipped when she heard the voice of her mother. "I don't think team Kakashi should have been sent on this mission. Naruto could be killed." Anjera laughs at this declaration. "So, you, the princess of demons is scared of a bunch of ninja who don't know Ao from Ko?" Einjeru huffs at this question, her mind was partially there, but not. "I've been thinking really hard about this test of faith. I think this is why I'm scared. Itachi also told me something that scared me." Anjera looked at her.

"It's about the tailed beasts isn't it? While they are tied to us, there's more to it. Have you heard of the Sage of six-paths?" Einjeru shook her head. Anjera looks at her and gives a small smile.

"Well here's a bedtime story for you. Before there were people who were born with chakra, there were ordinary people who were very superstitious. One beautiful, starry night; a star fell from the sky and where the star crashed, emerged a beautiful woman. The man who found her was the leader of a nearby village. He took her in and showered her with gifts of affection."

"Did he fall in love with her on sight mom? I don't really care for stories like this, if that's the case."

"No he didn't, at first. He saw her as a goddess and felt he had to pay tribute. As the seasons went on, he felt a strange feeling coming on and wanted to pursue that kind of relationship. During the time he was courting her, another village decided to attack due to water rights. The attacking village decided to kidnap the woman."

"Oh great, a damsel in distress. Why bother to tell this story… It's going to have a happy ending isn't it?"

"Well, technically this story is nowhere near ending. The ending hasn't been written. This is the story of shinobi. Now where was I? Oh; in self-defense, the woman killed her kidnappers. However, because of a treaty, the man had to kill the woman, so she went to the tree that she crash-landed near and eat this forbidden fruit to survive."

"Why was it forbidden? Did it have lethal properties?"

"I'm not sure, but when she ate the fruit, she had powers beyond compare. The thing was, she was pregnant with the mans' children. A set of twins, both boys."

"Was one of them the sage? If it is, then this just got interesting."

"Well, it's said that the Hyuuga and Uchiha clans are descendants of the woman's bloodline as well distant ones such as the Senju and Uzumaki clans. The sage had the rinnegan however. His brother got their mothers byakugan."

"Then how are the Uchiha, Senju and Uzumaki descendants of the sage? How do you know this?"

"Well, the twins grew up and overthrew their mother. She had become somewhat of a tyrant. The woman utilized the power of this horrid beast against the sage and his brother. In the end, the brothers sealed away their mother. The sage separated the beast into 9 individual parts. We know them as the tailed beasts."

"What happened to the monster? Also, you never told me where you heard this from."

"I'm not sure what happened after it was split, but what I'm telling you is a legend passed down from generation to generation in the demon kingdom, so if it's all true or not I couldn't tell you. I think that I heard that the husk of the monster became the moon, and that the brother took the responsibility of staying with it."

"Then what did the sage do with the tailed beasts then?"

"The sage dispersed the tailed beasts to different regions, the hidden villages didn't exist yet, so I guess they lived peaceful lives. The sage eventually found himself a lover and had two kids. During which time he wanted to spread peace, so he created ninshu: the shinobi creed, not to be confused with what we know as ninjutsu. His eldest son started turning it into something unlike what it was created for."

"What about the clans? You never explained how the Uchiha fit into all this."

"I'm about to. The eldest son was gifted with a special set of eyes. We know them as the sharingan. While the younger son didn't have such gifts, he had a big heart and was thick-headed and had an abundance of chakra. Does that answer your question?"

"Well that explains the Uchiha and Uzumaki. What about the Senju?

"The boys got old enough and the sage had to choose a successor. He chose the younger one because of his ability to spread love. The elder one didn't like it and started to take down the system that sage built. During the first battle between them, the younger one awakened a special bloodline known as the wood style. The battles waged on and the hidden villages started to form. The villages continue to stand strong to this day, forming legends such as in the hidden leaf with the sannin, lord third and your dad.

"Thanks mom… It doesn't help with this situation, but it helped me to calm down a little. I'm still scared for Naruto."

Anjera took Einjeru's headband off and tucked her hair back behind her ear. "I know, but as a shinobi you must confront this. You're not the only one who has a nightmare about those they care for. I fear for you every day because of the dangers." Einjeru yawned and her eyes started to droop. Anjera smiles and says "Goodnight my kit." She disappears to let Einjeru sleep.

The next day, the group set out early to the Hidden Sand. Taking food pills and water along the way so they can reduce the amount of time for stopping, the group found their stomachs growling frequently. Although in Einjeru's case, it made her nose hone in on everything. She caught a whiff of poison and old wood. Kakashi noticed the looks of sniffing and gave a sign to stop. Sakura then noticed a trail.

"Kakashi sensei. It looks like a battle took place nearby." They followed the trails to find a black-clad shinobi laying on the ground facedown. Temari's face almost dropped. "Kankuro!" She went up to him and kneeled. Einjeru changed forms and prepared to carry him on her back. "His best bet is to make it back to the village."

Kankuro groaned, pointing at his puppets, or what remained of them. Sasuke grabbed the remains thinking "Whoever battled this guy knew the weaknesses of the puppets." They double-timed to the village and managed to make it to the middle of the desert by nightfall. They went to a nearby cave and waited out the sandstorm that appeared out of nowhere.

Sakura checked Kankuro over to see what kind of poison was used. Her expression was one of shock. "I never encountered this kind of poison before. It specifically targets the muscles of the vital organs. From the looks of it, it's been in his system for over a day." Temari nods in understanding and looks outside the cave in a somber manner. "Unfortunately we can't move until this sandstorm is over."

Sasori and Deidara made it back to their hideout. The leader appeared as a shadowy figure on one of the fingers of the statue. "You two are late." Sasori shakes his head in an annoyed manner. "Deidara had to make it a show, so it took longer than expected." Itachi and Kisame appeared as shadows. Itachi shook his head and said "Well that show attracted the attention of the Hidden Leaf. Reinforcements are on their way."

Deidara chuckles in an amused manner. "Do you know any of the reinforcements Itachi?" Sasori shakes his head and says "We have a tailed beast to trap." The leader then said "Itachi and Kisame. I want you two to deal with the reinforcements. I'll take 20% of your chakra for the diversion."

Einjeru in the meanwhile was sitting at the cave entrance. Sasuke joins her and says "Why are you over here instead of with Kakashi and Naruto? You seem more family oriented than you're displaying." She looks at Sasuke and shakes her head. "It's complicated Sasuke. You could be helping set up instead of asking me about my personal actions."

Sasuke chuckles at the reprimand and looks at her seriously. "It's Temari and Kankuro isn't it?" Einjeru shakes her head. "My problems lie beyond the scope of our mission. It's more personal than anything." He shakes his head in a disapproving manner. "You encountered something during your guard didn't you?" Einjeru snarled and said "Sasuke, did my dad ask you to poke at me and see if I would spill? Because if he did I will say this: Do not ask me about this until we are back home! I'm not in the mood for this!"

Her yell echoed through the cave. Sakura came up and asked Sasuke to help her out with making Kankuro comfortable. Kakashi comes up and says "You didn't have to yell. Your voice is powerful enough as is. I know this much; you are hiding something." Einjeru ignores the statement, putting out this much, "What I encountered in the woods is something I have no intention of revealing at this point in time. We are on a mission dad, and we are pressed for time as is."

Her thoughts went to the story Anjera told her. In her mind, she thought "Even if it is a legend, if all the nine tailed beasts are reunited, it will be the end of shinobi life as we know it. Maybe it's one of the recurring nightmares that I keep having." She looked at Kakashi and said "In the woods, I saw something that could potentially bring ruin upon us. It's complicated to explain, so please don't ask."

Back in the village, Tsunade was busy trying to figure out how to appease the civilian council on approving Naruto to go on such a mission. Shizune said to her "Milady, if I may, do you think that a potential diplomatic mission was one to send Naruto on? His demeanor alone could cause an incident." Tsunade shook her head. "That's why Einjeru is there. Although, something seemed off-putting about her before she left."

Shizune nods. "She isn't one to take missions quietly, is she?" Lord Third comes across them and says "Einjeru may have dissent about the Tora mission, but she isn't one to voice it. I'm pretty sure if something is bothering her, it will come out."

Tsunade smiles softly. "How are you Sarutobi sensei?" Lord third looks at Tsunade, a grim look on his face. "Tsunade, I know you have faith in them, but I got a message from Anjera. You may need to send out a back-up squad for Kakashi's team. Also, I am well."

Tsunade looks at Lord Third saying "Anjera was with them? How?" He hands her the scroll saying "According to this, Einjeru had a run-in with Itachi on her guard patrol. They're going to need back-up if they're going to make it." She reads through the scroll thinking "There's the off-putting feeling I felt coming from her before she left." She then says "You brushed off my question sensei." He was silent for a few.

Team Guy was reporting to the hokage tower to receive a mission after a harsh training session. Shizune was waiting for them. Guy looked at her curiously, wondering why Lady Tsunade's assistant was sitting outside. Shizune looks at team Guy and says "Follow me. Lady Tsunade is busy so she'll assign you a mission when she is able to."

Team Guy did as they were requested; but only after a youth speech from Guy and Lee. Neji and Tenten sweat-dropped at their actions, but did as asked. Shizune started leading them to a room across the hall from Konohamaru and company. Neji says "Something is going on." Lee agrees in a youthful manner saying "What do you think of the situation? It does seem unyouthful."

Tsunade looks at Hiruzen in an annoyed manner. He looks at her and says "Anjera does have the ability to teleport from wherever she is to where Einjeru is. Their chakras bounce off each other. It's the same with Kakashi. When you share similar chakra, it helps. However, I only know what's on the scroll as far as information goes. Do you have a team in mind for backing them up?"

Shizune at this point comes up to them. "Lord Third, Lady Tsunade. Team Guy and Team Ebisu are awaiting instruction." Hiruzen smiled fawnly at Shizune and says "So Konohamaru is being patient. This is a first." Tsunade then says "I have the perfect team to back up Team Kakashi." Shizune instantly knew it was team Guy. They start walking toward the rooms and Tsunade starts to open the door on the left.

Shizune then tried to tell her that it was the wrong door but didn't get the words out in time. Tsunade calls out to the unsuspecting team, "You guys have a S-Rank mission!" Konohamaru leaps up and down for joy as Ebisu paled in fear for the young genin. Shizune then says "You opened the wrong door milady. The team you're looking for is across the hall."

Konohamaru deflates and Ebisu takes a sigh of relief. Hiruzen takes a look at Konohamaru fondly and says "You'll make it one day Konohamaru." Konohamaru calls out to him saying, "Gramps! Can we get some dumplings later?!" Hiruzen nods and follows Tsunade to the next room.

Team Guy was sitting in the room patiently waiting as the door opened. Tsunade comes in and sees them. "I have a S-Rank mission for you. It's a backup assignment to the Hidden Sand." Guy spoke up saying "Who's the team we're backing up?" Tsunade smirked in the back of her mind, but dreaded the reaction of Guy and Rock Lee. "You guys are backing up Team Kakashi."

Guy gets exuberant and says "So Einjeru and Naruto had returned?!" He got a nod and continued. "How youthful this day has become! Lee! We must hurry and help our comrades!" Rock Lee jumps up saying, "Yes Guy Sensei!" Neji and Tenten face-palm at this act. Tsunade says "May I continue explaining the mission now?" Neji and Tenten grab Guy and Rock Lees' mouths and nod. Tsunade goes on to explain the mission and all the knowledge that she knew.

"Team Kakashi was sent to the hidden sand in response to a Level 1 emergency dispatch. However, during her guard patrol Einjeru encountered Itachi Uchiha. She is alright as far as we know, but Team Kakashi will need back up as this may have grown deeper than the Hidden Sand, Hidden Leaf or even team Kakashi know. You guys leave immediately."

Team Guy left the office immediately and headed for the gates of the village. Guy says "We must go at double the speed to catch to Kakashi and them." Rock Lee then says "I say we go at triple the speed so we can meet them at the Hidden Sand!" They went on youth rant before Neji shut it down saying "No matter what speed we go at; it will take three days to get to the hidden sand." Guy replies "Then let's go!"

Neji and Tenten sigh as Lee and Guy take off full speed. They fall in and start their trek to the Hidden Sand.