Seeing the familiar place, Sayuri called out, "Lord Hagoromo?"
"So, you have finally arrived." Hagoromo said.
Sayuri looked around and saw she was the only one.
"Am I only here now?"
"Yes, and I believe you have some questions for me."
"How did you know?" Sayuri asked.
"I know everything" Hagoromo joked.
Sayuri giggled and then asked, "I know you are hiding some stuff. What is it?"
"Do you think everything is a coincidence?"
"What do you mean?"
"The events that happened, do you think everything was a coincidence."
Sayuri thought for a moment and replied, "After the boulder incident, Rin got kidnapped again and died."
Reality hit Sayuri, "Black Zetsu."
"Yes."
Analysing all the events, Sayuri went, "So first he wanted to kidnap Obito and manipulate him. Then zetsu would make him see Rin's death. That would break him seeing the girl he loves died and then manipulate him even more."
"You are correct."
"But why Obito? Why not anyone else?" Sayuri asked.
"Uchihas are emotional, but Obito is extra emotional and that makes him victim to manipulation. While he can be passionate but when used in the wrong direction it can be catastrophic."
"But how do I play the role here?"
"Look" Hagoromo said and Sayuri saw the scene in front of him.
Obito was crying while mourning over Rin when Sayuri observed a black figure roaming around in the background.
"He tried again."
"Yes, since the first plan failed, he tried doing it again. However, you where there, and that prevented him from making contact. Now you know why I called you."
Sayuri looked at Hagoromo, "But how long can I protect him?"
"Your mission is to protect Obito as long as Zetsu lives."
"How can we kill him?"
"You can never kill him; he has to be sealed."
Sayuri eyes widened at that, "But how?"
"Show me your mangekyou sharingan" Hagoromo commanded.
Sayuri activated her mangekyou sharingan.
"The mangekyou sharingan can cause blindness but not the eternal mangekyou sharingan."
"I am aware Lord Hagoromo."
"Come here."
Sayuri went near him, and he put both his hands on her eyes. Sayuri felt a mild burning sensation, and everything became better.
"What did you do to me?"
"I infused some chakra in you to prevent you from going blind. The mangekyou sharingan at the end will cause you blindness. You need it to help save everyone from zetsu."
Sayuri nodded.
"For now, you can leave. Your next target is to locate black zetsu."
"How?"
Hagoromo just gave a knowing smile and disappeared.
Sayuri woke up with a headache, but she didn't care. In fact, she didn't care about black zetsu as well.
Finally, after a long time, she was meeting up with Anko and Kurenai for lunch and she didn't even want to think about any problem.
Quickly finishing off her breakfast, she went back to her room to take a bath and prepared her clothes.
She wore her black shorts and a black t-shirt with the Uchiha symbol behind it. She let her hair loose and left the house.
"You are leaving early." Shika said, watching Sayuri leave.
"I know, we are meeting up at the park before." Sayuri said and left.
She ran towards the park and found that Anko and Kurenai are not there.
"I did arrive early." She said and sat on one of the benches.
"Damn it."
Sayuri turned and saw Anko behind her.
"I came here before you." Sayuri teased.
"Next time, I am beating you." Anko replied and they hugged each other.
"Where is lover girl?" Anko asked.
"Hopefully not with her tongue in Sarutobi's throat."
Anko and Sayuri began to giggle.
"Haha, very funny you single assholes." Kurenai said, glaring at them with fake anger.
"Oh look, Mrs. Sarutobi is mad." Sayuri teased.
"Hush, we must not anger the daughter-in-law of Lord 3rd. Oh forgive us kind soul." Anko replied in a dramatic manner.
Kurenai started laughing and she embraced them.
"So, what are your plans?" Kurenai asked.
"Dessert" Anko replied.
"No, we cannot have dessert for lunch."
"Party pooper" Anko said.
"Let's go to the new BBQ place." Sayuri suggested.
"As you say, oh great jonin." Kurenai teased this time.
"I still cannot believe she became a jonin and we are not. We need to catch up" Anko said.
"Honestly, I guess it's because I activated the mangekyou sharingan" Sayuri replied.
"Show us?"
Sayuri nodded and activated her mangekyou sharingan. With Hagoromo's chakra, she will no longer become blind, so it became easy for her to activate it whenever possible.
"Looks cool." Anko said looking at her pattern.
"That is very pretty" Kurenai said admiring her patter.
Sayuri deactivated her mangekyou sharingan.
Anko, Kurenai and Sayuri continued talking about their missions and how challenging some of them where. Also, Kurenai kept on boosting about Asuma to her friends.
"You girls are just jealous." Kurenai concluded.
"What for?"
"Singlehood."
"Excuse me." Sayuri replied.
"Oh, my bad, nothing happened with him?" Kurenai asked.
"Nope."
"Did you bother telling him?" Anko asked.
"He is still into Rin."
"Ouch. Well don't worry too much." Anko said.
"I mean, if you are destined to be Mrs. Obito Uchiha no one can stop you."
"Whatever you say, Mrs Asuma Sarutobi." Sayuri hit back.
"The hokage calls for you, Uchiha."
The girls turned around and saw a masked man behind them and recognized him as Obito, seeing his signature black spiky hair.
"Yes, coming." Sayuri said and Obito left.
Kurenai and Anko got a teasing smile.
"Well, off you go, your hubby just called you for a meeting." Anko said and winked.
"I cannot believe he would cut our girls day out short. We will see the movie with you, do not forget us, Sayuri." Kurenai said with fake tears.
Sayuri smiled and hugged them one last time and went towards the hokage tower.
When she entered the office, she saw Obito and Kakashi wearing civilian clothes and waiting for her.
Once she entered the door was firmly closed making sure no one could hear them.
Minato stood up and said, "I have a new mission for you, Sayuri Uchiha."
Sayuri nodded and Minato said, "From now on, you will no longer be Sayuri Uchiha but Hikari Tanaka, the kunoichi that murdered Daichi Namikaze, the father of the 4th Hokage, Minato Namikaze."
Sayuri's eyes widened at that, "But I have not killed anyone, I have not killed your father sensai."
Minato said seriously, "I know that. My father passed away last month but I kept the news a secret."
"How is this related to everything?" Kakashi asked.
"We need a spy. Someone must spy on the Akatsuki. I believe she will be the perfect candidate. With a fake bounty on her head, Akatsuki would want to recruit her."
"But why me?" Sayuri asked.
"I believe you are capable for the job. Only you can make sure this our mission is a success. You will be gone for only 3 years."
Obito spoke up for the first time, "But joining the Akatsuki is a suicide mission."
"In a way yes." Minato said silently, "But Sayuri has the moeru that can protect her. Also, Obito and Kakashi will be officially assigned to assassinate you."
Obito and Kakashi became silent almost shaking.
'What is sensei thinking?' Kakashi thought.
'I cannot kill her; I will not kill her. Why me? Why does it always happen to me? I loved Rin and I ended up killing her and now that I developed feelings for her, I must kill her.' Obito thought.
Minato understood the restlessness in Kakashi and Obito's mind.
"What I mean is, since you two are the top ANBU members, people would believe that I send you to kill my father's murderer. Just keep an eye on her and make sure she is fine. Only fight when others are there but not with the intension to kill."
Sayuri was still silent about everything.
Obito protested, "But others can kill her."
"We are in war Obito, anyone can die at any moment. This is for the best." Minato said.
'Lord Hagoromo said, everything is not a coincidence and things happens for a reason. The goal is to locate black zetsu, maybe this can help.'
"I will do it." Sayuri said.
"No" Kakashi and Obito said at the same time.
She turned towards the boys, looked them in the eye and said, "I will do it."
"Do you realize that you can literally die?" Kakashi asked.
"Yes, but I will not die." Sayuri re-assured.
"How can you give us this assurance. In my case, I can use kamui and escape, what about you?" Obito asked, worried about her.
"Don't worry Obito. But sensei, if I escape people can see my face."
"You will be given a mask." Minato confirm. (A/N : Similar to VIP masks from squid games)
Sayuri nodded.
"Tomorrow night." Minato said.
Shuichi and Shika where not happy about it.
"Are you sure?" Shika asked.
"Yes,mother. I will leave mid-night, please do not stop me."
Shika was about to protest but she felt a hand on her shoulder.
Shuichi observed his daughter and her determined face, "Promise me to come back after 3 years."
Sayuri nodded, "And write to us."
"Yes."
Hugging and waving her parents goodbye, she looked at the small luggage that she had,
'Good thing, I bought stuff that I would normally not wear. No one would suspect me in these clothes.' Sayuri thought.
When she went near the exit, she saw Minato, Obito and Kakashi standing, waiting for her.
"I wish you well Sayuri and I apologize but I need to leave now for a meeting but my wishes along with Kushina's and Naruto's are with you, always. Please be careful." Minato said and left.
"Hime-chan"
"Yes, Obito-kun?"
"Can you reconsider? What if you die?"
'So, you do care Obito-kun, but as a friend? What do I have to lose now? I can die anytime.'
"I cannot promise you anything." Sayuri said and turned towards Kakashi, "Take care of this goofball. He will probably just be sad."
Kakashi nodded and Sayuri continued, "You know Obito, ever since I was 13, I got a crush on you."
"What?" Obito and Kakashi said at the same time.
Sayuri looked at Obito, "I love you; I really do. I thought I would tell it to you before leaving. Who knows if I will be alive after 3 years or maybe even 1 month?"
Sayuri looked at Kakashi one more time and said, "You take care as well."
Before both the boys could reply Sayuri ran away from the village out on her mission.
Obito knees gave away and he sat down on the floor, "Obito?"
"I love her." Obito confessed.
Kakashi's eyes widen, "Since when?"
"Almost 6 months. If only, if only I told her earlier, maybe." Obito felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Kakashi,
"We should trust her Obito? Once the instruction comes, we will need to follow her."
'Don't worry Hime-chan, I will protect you.'