Chapter 77 – Missions to Iwagakure no Sato

"Talk"

'Think'

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto sensei.

"Iwa was attacked by Akatsuki"

"What?!" "How's that happened?"

Kakashi took a deep breath before telling the others "Gaara and his siblings were at Iwa when it was attacked by missing-nins from Iwa and Suna. They fought and one of the missing-nin's last effort was to blow up Iwa. Temari has gone missing, Kankurō was badly poisoned and Tsuchikage sacrificed himself to save his people. Gaara send a message, asking for help. Since, we are the closest to Iwa, Hokage commissioned us to deliver this to Iwa" Kakashi showed a piece of folded paper.

"Are we allowed to know what that is?" asked Noriko.

"You'll find out later" answered Kakashi.

"Are we going to help Iwa?" asked Naruto.

"That…I leave it to you" said Kakashi. Shisui has wrote '…knowing Naruto, he most probably wants to stay and help but Noriko might not. She's not as forgiving as Naruto although she may agree with Naruto if Tenzō decided to stay and help too. Nevertheless, your team will only has three days to help, five if the situation is dire and then you all have to return'

"When are we leaving?" asked Tenzō.

"Now, if all of you are prepared" said Kakashi.

"Wait, Kakashi-san, can I talk to you alone?" said Shibuki.

Kakashi raised his eyebrow in surprise but nodded his head.

"Fū is Takigakure's Jinchūriki" informed Shibuki "Judging by your lack of reaction, I guessed you've figured it out"

"I've made my surmise" said Kakashi.

"I want you to take Fū for your mission in Iwa. She rarely went outside, and like you said, she needs experience to hone her skills. As payment, I'll inform Fū that she's allowed to talk freely with your Jinchūriki…just Konoha's Jinchūriki about her and her bijū"

"We may stay there to help" said Kakashi.

"That's ok. Fū will be Takigakure's representative to aid Iwa"

Kakashi cocked his head and said "Your mission applied to the whole team but your payment benefits only to Jinchūriki. I don't see how that's fair"

Shibuki smiled sadly "You are tough, but that is a fair request. Unfortunately, Takigakure doesn't have much resource, and I cannot trade our hiden jutsu…how about a business trade?"

Kakashi contemplated for a while. If they were not pressing for time, he would write to Hokage who would handle the negotiation. Unfortunately, he has to be the one who make the decision and it has to be now; moreover, the information about Jinchūriki was very rare.

"I agreed to take Fū. I'll write to Hokage about our agreement although you have to discuss with Hokage about the trade deals" said Kakashi.

"Agreed" said Shibuki.

While Kakashi and Shibuki were discussing, Naruto, Noriko and Tenzō were discussing about the attack on Iwagakure no Sato.

"What do you think? Should we stay and help?" asked Tenzō.

"Of course we should!" said Naruto.

"How about you, Noriko?" asked Tenzō.

Noriko was quiet for a moment before she spoke "Half of me was thinking, serves Iwa right for launching a sneak attack on us, but the other half was asking, what if the attack was on Konoha?... … …so I don't know Tenzō"

"But Noriko…we won our fight!" argued Naruto.

Noriko turned to Naruto and retorted "What happened if one of us died? Would you feel the same?"

"I- I don't know. But I know that didn't happened and I don't think it's the right thing to do to abandon them" Naruto turned to Tenzō and asked "How about you, Tenzō?"

Tenzō put his hand on his chin and said "I can see the points in both sides. I'd suggest we finished our mission first. After that, I'd like to assess the situation in Iwa before make any decision"

Fū was listening to the conversation before she chipped in "That's sounds like a fun trip. I wish I could follow…"

"You may" said Shibuki with a smile "Under strict condition that you will listen to Hatake Kakashi's order and not running off somewhere"

"Really?" Fū's eyes gone wide before running towards Shibuki and hugged him "Thank you thank you thank you! I promise!"

"Let me help you pack" said Shibuki as both of them walked towards the waterfall "There's something I want to talk to you…"

"Is that true, sensei" asked Noriko.

"Yup" said Kakashi "Team Kakashi now has two mission; first is to deliver this (he pointed to his pocket on the jōnin vest) to Iwagakure no Sato and second is to ensure Fū's safety while she's with us"

"This is a weird time to accept a mission" stated Tenzō.

"You are right, but Fū is a Jinchūriki, and Shibuki-san has kindly allowed Fū to have Jinchūriki Talk with Naruto and Noriko"

"What?"

"Oh, you didn't know? Ehehehe" Kakashi scratched the back of his head.

End Chapter 77

Bijū – Tailed Beasts

Hiden jutsu – Secret Technique

Iwagakure no Sato – Hidden Village of Rocks

Takigakure no Sato – Hidden Village of Waterfall