Naruto and the rest of team 7 went into the Hokage's office.

Tsunade looked up to team 7 "ah, there you are. okay so for today, we have either collect-"

Akinen groaned loudly.

Tsunade grew a tick mark "is there a problem?"

"hell yes there is, these missions are a waste of time. come on you old lady, give us a higher ranked mission already."

"what did you just call me?" Tsunade said while cracking her fists.

Naruto chuckled "sorry for her behavior Tsunade-chan. she didn't mean it, right?"

Akinen shivered at the slug sannin's killer intent "yes, I meant to say golden lady, I swear."

Tsunade sighed "whatever."

"but seriously can we please have a higher ranked mission?" Akinen said.

Tsunade looked towards Naruto.

Naruto smiled "I'm sure that we'll handle it."

Tsunade looked around her desk "the only highest ranked mission I can give you all right now is escorting a Suna ambassador."

"we'll take it." Naruto said.

Tsunade looked at Naruto "fine, but you are bringing two jonins."

"can I pick them? cause I have two people in mind."

she nodded.

"well then. if nothing else, let's do it." Rikisu said with determination.

Ryuken stayed quiet.

"okay, you have a week before you all head out, so prepare."

team 7 all nodded.

a week had passed and team 7 was currently waiting for their sensei to arrive with the two other jonins.

eventually they came.

"okay guys, allow me to introduce to you guys, my teammates." Naruto said.

he first pointed at the person to his left "this is Sasuke, yes as in the last Uchiha, Sasuke."

Sasuke smiled and waved at his friend's genin "nice to meet you."

then he pointed at the girl to his right "this is Hinata. the current Hyūga heir."

Hinata smiled "hello there."

Akinen, wanting to tease her sensei, grinned "oh, is she your girlfriend?" she asked in a teasing voice.

"yes, I am." Hinata said happily.

Akinen face planted.

Rikisu then bursted out laughing and Ryuken gave a small chuckle.

Akinen grew a tick mark "QUIT LAUGHING!"

Naruto sighed "welp, let's get going."

it has been a few days since they left Konoha.

currently they were sitting around the campfire.

Sasuke decided to make some small talk "so Naruto, how is training to use the hiraishin going?"

Naruto smiled "well I finally got the idea, but still can't use it yet."

Rikisu raised an eyebrow "why not?"

"sorry but that's something I can't divulge with you."

"why not?" Rikisu said.

Sasuke scoffed "geez, why is it a bad idea to let others know some secrets of one of the most powerful jutsus that helped us win the third shinobi war?" he said in a sarcastic tone.

"yeah sorry guys, but Sasuke is right."

Rikisu sighed.

Ryuken patted his back.

"anyways, all I need to do is some extra training and I think that I will be able to use it."

"oh yes, because Kami knows you're not fast enough." Sasuke said.

"question, Naruto." Kokuō said.

'yeah?'

"how are you going to get sage mode exactly?"

'what? you think I can't? come on if Jiraiya and my father could, why can't I?'

"fair enough."

"you know." Gyūki said "I just realized something."

"and what would that be?" Matatabi asked.

"we've never had a jinchūriki that also had sage mode."

the bijūs all collectively realized that what Gyūki said was true.

"huh? I wonder what the results will be." Saiken said.

"if I were a betting bug, I'd say devastating." Chōmei said.

"now I'm really curious." Son Gokū said.

"me too. hey gaki, learn sage mode as quickly as possible and combine it with our chakra." Kurama said.

'okay, I promise.'

"sensei?" Akinen said.

"huh? oh sorry I was busy talking to my friends."

"huh?" team 7 said.

"wait, you haven't told them yet?" Sasuke said confused.

Naruto nervously chuckled "guess not."

"told us what?" Ryuken asked.

Naruto sighed "guess it's a good time to tell you all."

Naruto then proceeded to tell his students of his jinchūriki status.

they were all shocked.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US THIS SOONER!?" Akinen yelled.

"it simply didn't cross my mind, sorry."

Hinata giggled "ah yes, it just slipped past your mind. I understand, I sometimes forget that I have the byakugan and just don't ever use it in situations where it would be beneficial."

Naruto rolled down some tears "why must you be cruel to me, hime?"

"there there." Hinata said while patting her boyfriend's back.

after some walking, they finally made it to Sunagakure.

the current kazekage, Rasa, was making them wait for the ambassador.

she finally arrived.

"hey guys." Temari said.

"hey."

Naruto then noticed that Gaara and Kankuro were next to him.

"hey Gaara, long time no see." Naruto said with smile.

"likewise, shame that you aren't staying for long, I would have loved to have another sand manipulator competition." Gaara said.

"heh, I'll make sure that the next solo mission I have will take me to Suna."

"anyways." Kankuro said "make sure that you tell Shikamaru that if he disrespects Temari, Gaara and I will kill him."

Temari slightly blushed "WHAT DOES HE HAVE TO DO WITH THIS!?"

Kankuro rolled his eyes "Temari, we know for a fact that you begged father to be the new ambassador so you can have an excuse to spend more time with him."

"it's nothing like that!"

"sure, and my favorite prank isn't sand in sandwiches." Gaara said.

"screw the both of you, let's just go already."

Akinen groaned "WHY IS THIS DESERT SO HOT!?"

"you know, it's very un ninja like to complain about stuff like this." Ryuken said.

"screw you!"

"HEY!" Naruto yelled "knock it off or else you both are walking the rest of the trip in your bare feet."

"yes sensei." they both said.

as the walk continued, night started to rise.

they decided to make camp.

currently the genin were sleeping in tents, while the rest were hanging around the campfire.

Sasuke was currently reading the bingo book for Suna when he noticed something "hey, where's the puppet guy... Sasori?"

"you didn't hear?" Temari asked.

"hear what?" Hinata asked.

"just a few days ago, Sasori was found dead."

silence.

"who killed him?" Sasuke said.

"that's the weird thing. no one knows. his dead body was only found recently by hunter nins who said that he was dead for about two days before his body was discovered." Temari said.

"so someone just kills a S-class missing nin and doesn't report it?" Naruto asked.

Temari nodded "hunter nins say that he was most likely killed from behind, being caught off guard and stabbed through the chest. they also reported that he lost his right arm. although, they don't know why."

"huh weird, I remember hearing something similar." Sasuke said.

Naruto looked towards his friend "really?"

"yeah, apparently a missing nin from Iwa called Deidera was also found dead by a couple of villagers. no one knows who did it, but they say he was caught off guard and was dead for at least a day before his body was discovered. they also reported a missing limb, an arm as well I think."

"Kami." Temari said.

"you know... if I remember correctly I distinctly remember Jiraiya said that those two were apart of the Akatsuki." Naruto said.

"do you think they're connected?" Hinata asked.

"I'd be surprised if they weren't. I mean two S-class missing nins are caught off guard and killed, not reported dead until their corpses are discovered by some third party, with a missing arm, and said missing nins were likely apart if the same criminal organization? sounds too coincidentally to me."

no one said nothing.

Sasuke sighed "well, it's probably nothing to be worried about for now. I hope."

no one said anything. they all decided to leave it there.

and that's all, leave a review and tell me what you think.

a bit of filler but next chapter won't be.

join us for Obito's return.

thank you all for a hundred favorites by the way. I never expected that this story would be as big as it is now, and I am so happy that it is.

also yeah, it crossed my mind while writing this that Rasa at the end of the invasion due to Nagato, would actually still be alive.