I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.
Summons
Ryuu stepped into the house and Fu smiled over at him from where she was cooking.
"How'd it go?" Fu asked.
"No good," Ryuu sighed. "Hinata still isn't confident enough to ask Naruto out. I don't know what to do with her."
"You could always put her under a genjutsu to give her a confidence boost," Tayuya suggested.
"No," Ryuu sighed. "That's no good. That'd just make them think I manipulated them into dating."
"Isn't that what you're doing?" Tayuya asked.
"Yes but they don't need to know that," Ryuu said.
"You could try locking them in a room together," Fu said.
"Naruto's not bright enough for that to result in anything," Ryuu said. "Eh. I'll figure something out. So, what did you two do today?"
"Not a lot," Fu shrugged. "We worked on Tayuya's taijutsu a bit, and I helped Naruto with his Wind Style training, since someone wasn't there to help him."
"He knows what he needs to do," Ryuu said. "So does Kakashi."
"Yes, but you agreed to help him, and you're not," Fu said.
"Yes I am," Ryuu said. "He just doesn't realize it yet."
Fu rolled her eyes as Ryuu finished setting the table, Fu setting the food on the table just as Yugao walked in, smiling as she smelled the food. They all got cleaned up and sat around the table, Ryuu taking a moment to pray before digging in. After they had eaten, Ryuu gave Fu a quick kiss and thanked her for the meal before he left, heading into the village. After a while of walking, he reached Tsunade's office, knocking on the door. A moment later, it opened and Kabuto smiled upon seeing Ryuu.
"Ah, Ryuu, perfect timing," Tsunade said. "I was just about to send Kabuto for you."
"Why?" Ryuu asked, Tsunade motioning for him to enter.
He did so and placed a Silencing Seal on the door.
"I've received a message from Sasuke," Kabuto said, Ryuu turning to him. "He wants to meet with you right away. He sent us a location to meet him at."
"I sense this isn't going to be as easy as heading over and having a nice peaceful chat," Ryuu said.
"No," Tsunade said. "The location is on the border of the Land of Lightning. Relations with the Hidden Cloud have been...spotty, recently. You can't be detected, especially meeting with a Missing Nin like Sasuke."
"Any idea what Sasuke wants to talk about?" Ryuu asked.
"No," Tsunade said. "That's why it's extremely important that you go."
"Who am I taking?" Ryuu asked. "Naruto, obviously."
"Actually, Naruto is needed for a mission with the rest of his team and Yamato," Tsunade said. "Kakashi will be going with you, though."
"Who's Yamato?" Ryuu asked.
"Oh, I never introduced you, did I?" Tsunade asked. "Kabuto, could you please go and get Yamato?"
Kabuto nods and leaves, the seal deactivating as he opened the door, before reactivating when it closed.
"As a heads up, Yamato knows about Sasuke," Tsunade said. "Anyway, you'll be taking Fu and Kakashi. Aside form that, I would like you to take Tobi, since I still don't trust him, and I recommend you only take anyone else if they're absolutely essential and trust worthy. Sasuke will likely have to fight you all to escape without giving up his secret."
"I'm going to tell Fu and Kakashi the truth on the way, and Tobi knows, since he had his eye on me for a while, apparently," Ryuu said. "Aside from that, I don't think I'll take anyone else. What is Naruto's mission?"
"Someone desecrated a grave," Tsunade said. "It was one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, so the Fire Temple asked us to look into it, so I'm sending Naruto's team and Yamato."
Just then, the seal deactivated and Kabuto stepped in and out of the way, allowing another man with messy brown hair and a mask-style forehead protector to step in as well, Kabuto closing the door again.
"Ryuu, this is Yamato," Tsunade introduced him. "He's an ANBU temporarily working as a Jonin and a stand-in for Kakashi."
"Why?" Ryuu asked.
"I possess Wood Style Ninjutsu," Yamato said. "With you around her, Fu is safe from the Akatsuki, more or less, but Zetsu can appear anywhere, and is incredibly dangerous. However, as a fellow Wood Style user, I can help fight him better than most, due to knowing how his ninjutsu works."
"So you can grow roots out of your body?" Ryuu asked.
"Roots?" Yamato asked. "No. Beams." He held out a hand, a small, square metal shaft extending from his palm a few inches, the end of it as a point. "I can make them various sizes and shapes."
"Impressive," Ryuu said, activating his Sharingan for a moment before deactivating it again. "It's weaker than Zetsu's. Zetsu forms actual trees and roots. But I suppose you would be extremely helpful."
"He was assigned to guard Naruto for another reason," Tsunade said. "You've seen the necklace Naruto wears, right?"
"The little green crystal?" Ryuu asked. "Yeah."
"It's capable of suppressing the Nine-tails' chakra, when combined with my Wood Style Ninjutsu. Since Naruto doesn't have control of his Tailed Beast, he goes berserk when he uses its power," Yamato said. "You know about the tailed Beast Cloak?"
Ryuu nodded.
"During his training with Jiraiya, he reached three tails and was lost to his anger," Yamato said. "However, at four tails, he entered a state where the cloak was more condensed and darker."
"Version Two," Ryuu said.
"Right," Yamato nodded. "When he entered that state, he went completely out of his control and nearly killed Jiraiya. However, Jiraiya managed to bring him under control again. However, the chakra left Naruto's body covered in severe burns."
"Yeah, the chakra's corrosive," Ryuu nodded. "And it doesn't heal well, even with Medical Ninjutsu. The chakra's so strong it fights against Medical Ninjutsu."
"I'm there to make sure that Naruto comes back under control if he loses control," Yamato said.
"Okay," Ryuu nodded. "That's smart. So, about my mission. Ground rules. If we get discovered or caught, what are we allowed to do?"
"Try not to," Tsunade said. "However, don't start a war. No fighting if it's not necessary. If you're arrested, I'll try and get you released, though, it might be a while."
Ryuu nodded. "Alright. I can handle that. Did Sasuke give a timeframe for when to meet him?"
"Two days from now," Kabuto said.
"Well, I'd better get moving then," Ryuu smiled. "I'll send word with Yomo if we run into an emergency, and a normal hawk if anything else happens."
"Why?" Tsunade asked.
"Because Yomo's faster," Ryuu said. "I can use a reverse summoning jutsu to send him to Yugao, who knows to send him to you if he ever gets sent to her."
"I'll keep her off of any missions until you get back," Tsunade said.
"Alright, see you whenever I get back," Ryuu said, turning to leave. "Oh, and Yamato, Naruto's supposed to be learning to use his Wind Style chakra to learn a handful of ninjutsu I'm going to give him, and also learning to combine it with his Rasengan. In the mean time, have him split a waterfall with Wind Style Chakra."
Yamato nodded and Ryuu let his Silencing Seal fade, leaving the room and heading quickly to his house, heading up to his and Fu's room. She was in the middle of sharpening her tanto, and smiled up at him as he entered, not bothering to stop.
"I went to see Tsunade," Ryuu said. "I was going to ask for a vacation extension."
"But something came up," Fu smiled knowingly. "What is it?"
"Sasuke wants to meet," Ryuu said.
"I see," Fu nodded. "Must be important then."
"Yeah," Ryuu sighed. "Technically, you're supposed to only just now be finding out about this."
Fu smiled. "As if you could keep a secret from me."
Ryuu smiled and opened Yomo's cage, Yomo hopping out on to his shoulder. Ryuu tapped his foot and Tobi rose out of the ground.
"You're coming too," Ryuu said. "And how many times have I told you not to spy on Fu?"
"But Tobi likes Fu," Tobi said. "She's really nice to Tobi."
"Don't care," Ryuu said. "No spying."
"Okay," Tobi sighed.
Ryuu picked up his tanto's harness and pulled it on, followed by his kunai pouch and finally his ninja tool pouch. He turned to the door, where Fu was waiting patiently with Tobi, who had pulled on a black cloak with a hood, which was down at the moment. Ryuu picked up a scroll he had written most of the Wind Style Jutsus he knew on and they left, heading to the Third Training Ground. Naruto and Kakashi turned to them and Ryuu tossed the scroll to Naruto.
"One clone working on them while the rest work on whatever you're doing at the moment," Ryuu said.
"I'll be helping him with his training," Yamato said.
"I take it I'm going on a mission?" Kakashi asked.
"Yeah," Ryuu nodded. "And you should be ready for Orochimaru. There's a good chance we'll meet him."
"I see," Kakashi nodded. "I guess I can get the specifics on the way. I'll meet you all at the Main Gate."
Ryuu nodded and they went to the gate, Tobi travelling in the ground to keep anyone who didn't already know about him from learning about him. Ryuu stared at his right hand as they waited, remembering the first time he had worn Tobi and had used the Cutting Sprigs Jutsu that Zetsu kept using without even realizing what he was doing.
"Hey Tobi, am I able to use Wood Style Ninjutsu?" Ryuu asked. "Because of my arm?"
"Yeah," Tobi said without revealing himself. "I can teach you if you want."
"Sure," Ryuu nodded.
Just then, Kakashi landed in front of them, a pair of scrolls on his hips.
"What're those?" Ryuu asked.
"Just some special surprises for Orochimaru," Kakashi said. "Shall we?"
"Yeah," Ryuu nodded, leaving the village with the others and turning North, Tobi growing out of the ground as they travelled. "Okay, so, the specifics of the mission are...complicated."
"How so?" Kakashi asked.
"You remember how Sasuke deserted the village out of the blue to join Orochimaru, and we all almost died trying to get him back?" Ryuu asked. "Well, that was actually all a ploy by Sasuke and myself to get him into deep cover in Orochimaru's...group? Organization?"
"Sasuke's in deep cover?" Kakashi asked. "So he's not a traitor? Thank God."
"Yeah," Ryuu smiled. "I figured you might say something like that. Anyway, he contacted Kabuto that he needed to meet with me right away, so we're heading to the border of the Land of Lightning to meet him. There's a chance Orochimaru will show up, and there's also a chance we'll be arrested. If we are, Tsunade ordered us t not start a war. She'll try to get us released if we get arrested. But, obviously, we should make an effort to avoid that."
"That would probably be for the best," Kakashi agreed. "Do we know what it's about?"
"No," Ryuu said. "Only that it's important."
Kakashi nodded. "Very well. May I ask what the two of you have planned for Itachi if you ever meet him?"
"We both want him to explain his actions," Ryuu said. "Beyond that, it depends on his answers."
"I see," Kakashi nodded. "Alright. Why was I sent?"
"I think Tsunade just wanted an excuse for you to find out the truth," Ryuu said. "But it might be something else. Maybe to help us escape trouble with the Land of Lightning."
Kakashi nodded. "That's true."
"Tobi, do you sense Zetsu?" Ryuu asked.
"No," Tobi said. "But Zetsu's faster than me. He might show up while we're there. You and Sasuke together would be a threat."
"Good," Ryuu said. "I'm glad they're scared. It'll make them make mistakes."
Tobi remained silent, so they all continued on in silence as well.
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