At the Hokage tower

"Enter." The office door opened and the two jounin walked in.

"Akane, Shikamaru, you're both here. Good, I won't have to explain this twice."

"What's this about, Tsunade-sama?" They both figured they'll probably be going on a mission together. Shikamaru is one hell of a strategist, but he can't do much in the live battle... What kind of mission is it?

Tsunade took another sip of sake and simply stated - "The war is over."

"WHAT? How? When? Why?"

"Akane, calm down. If I didn't know better I would think that you didn't want it to end."

"Then it's good that you know better, Tsunade-sama."

Same time, Sunagakure

The Kazekage was sitting at his desk, going trough some papers. Then a knock on the door was heard. He called for the visitors to enter without rising his head.

"You called us, Gaara?" Two ninja in their twenties walked in, a tall man with brown hair and purple paint on his face and a blond woman with her hair picked up in four pig tails with a giant fan on her back. (A/N: I used the "man" and "woman" expressions since Kankurou is about 21 and Temari 22, so it kind of fits better than "a guy" and "a girl", doesn't it?)

The red head looked up to face them. "I have a mission for you."

The man slightly smirked. "About time." His smirk didn't last long – it was interrupted by a short but painful hit in the arm. "Shut up Kankurou!"

"What was that for?"

"For making dumb comments. You can be so annoying sometimes!" They were now facing each other, shooting death glares.

I can already feel a headache coming... He stood up. "You'll either shut up on your own or I'll make you myself."

The other two froze at the sound of his voice, than started to apologize. After a few quick "sorry-s" and the younger man's sight of irritation, they finally went quiet. Then Kankurou spoke. "So what's the mission?

Gaara sat down and looked at them. "You are going to be my escorts at the meeting with other kages in the River Country." And before anyone could interrupt him again, he added - "We are signing a peace treaty."

The older siblings went wide eyed. "Wait! Does that mean the war is over?"

"Technically, yes. But we still need to make it official, and make sure it stays. Anyway, we're leaving in an hour, so get ready."

Several minutes later, Konoha, the front of the Hokage tower

Two shinobi were parting towards their homes. "See you later Shikamaru, and don't be late!"

"That's my line! Troublesome woman..."

Akane was walking down the street, on her way to the Uchiha compound. I better hurry... Getting packed is going to be such a pain. I don't even know what to pack. What kind of clothing am I going to need anyway?

"I've just received a letter from the Mizukage. Apparently, all the kages have reached a decision to end this mindless slaughter, therefor we are going to meet to put it all on paper – a peace treaty."

Shikamaru cleared his throat. "Alright, we get the picture. So how do we fit in it?"

"Simple, you two are coming with Sakura, Shizune and myself, to the River Country, where the treaty will be signed. We are leaving in an hour, should be there by tomorrow noon and we are staying there for a week. Any questions?"

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, why are we going?"

"Akane is my bodyguard and you will be advising me. After all this time we finally have a chance to end this war, and I want to make sure we do it right. Now, if that's all, you're dismissed."

Good thing River Country has the same climate, I don't have to worry about any weird weather. Like in Suna... Then the realization hit her. He's going to be there! Of course he is. She mentally rolled her eyes at herself. When did I become so clueless? I think I've been spending to much time with Naruto. She walked inside her house, straight into her room. Why am I so nervous? So what if he's going to be there? That's none of my business. And besides, even if I assume that he will recognize me, it's not like he's going to try anything. I doubt he would risk the future of his village just to kill me.

Akane finished her packing as quickly as possible, and went to find Sasuke to tell him about the mission. He was on the training ground with the rest of the team Kakashi, minus Sakura. "Hey, Sasuke!"

Sasuke was forced to suddenly stop his spare with Naruto by dodging his attack, which caused the blond to end up in the nearby tree. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too. Now don't go all hug-able and lovable on me, you know how emotional I am."

"Akane."

"Yes?"

"Why are you here?"

"Oh, yeah, right... I'm going on a mission with Tsunade, I'm sure Sakura already told you about it."

"Yeah, she mention it, but she didn't say anything about you."

"Well, I'm leaving soon, so wish me luck."

Sasuke just stood before her and smirked. "Just try not to blew it. There are more lives at stake than just your own." She hit him in the arm. "Why do you have to be such an ass?"

"What can I say? I'm just trying to be a good brother."

"Yeah, with trying being the key word." She turned around and began to walk away. "Take care Akane. It would suck if you got killed."

She stopped and turned her head slightly. "I didn't know you cared."

"Annoying you is a lot of fun, I don't want to be rid of it yet."

"Whatever." And with that she was gone.

At the main gate

Ha! I'm the first one here! So much for Shikamaru and his "don't be late" comment. Akane decided to stand in the middle of the opened gate and wait. Several minutes have passed and there was still no sign of anyone. "Where the hell is everyone?"

"You mean Tsunade-sama and her escort?" Akane turned around to face one of the guards. "Yes, have you seen them?"

"They left just a few minutes before you got here."

"Oh, that's just great." She turned around and ran of into the forest. Tsunade wont let me hear the end of this... I'll just have to try and catch up to them as fast as possible.

And she has. When they stopped to rest. "Why did you guys leave without me?" Akane wasn't angry for long, she was automatically suppressed by Tsunade. "Where were you? Wasn't "we're leaving in an hour" specific and clear enough for you?"

Akane put her hands is front of her defensibly and began to back away. "Sorry, Tsunade-sama! Won't happen again! Promise!"

Tsunade just sighed."Never mind. At least you found us before we reached the meeting point."

Morning, next day, town in the River Country

Tsunade was walking into a hotel with the rest of the group behind her. Akane was lifelessly staring in an unidentified spot on the Hokage's back. Finally... I thought we'd never get here! I so need a shower!

They all got keys to their rooms and went to freshen up a bit, since they had a couple of hours before the first meeting starts.

Akane got out of her bathroom ten minutes later and put on her clean clothes. She laid on the bed. I might as well have a short nap too... This is going to be a very long week.