After the meeting ended, Sakura voluntarily walked Itachi to the gates. It was to ensure no trouble would come upon his presence in the village. It seems the Akatsuki will focus solely on capturing the Tailed Beasts that they wouldn't be taking any precautions or investigate the villages they'll be attacking. A mistake from Madara's arrogance.

This time round, Sakura was trailing behind the criminal, staring intently at his back with mixed feelings which included regret and guilt. She wanted so desperately to say something to him, but no words would leave her mouth, no words formed in her mind. It was blank, but also a mess. It was something she could not explain; the strong desire to speak but the emptiness wouldn't be filled in her mind.

She thought back to the meeting and questioned the true reason she and Shikamaru were summoned.

The participation of the two 'newbies' were not necessary in the meeting because no plans were to be plotted yet, she was sure. She pondered if they were asked to join just so the Hokage has two ninjas in his disposal to perform tasks which requires the knowledge of Itachi's long term mission. It was a possibility, but she could not be sure.

When the pair reached the gates, she further escorted him beyond the confines of the village until the Chunnins who guarded the gates were out of sight.

The raven haired criminal stopped in his steps and turned around, landing his gaze on a pair of emerald eyes. The heiress halted and stared at her company, opening her mouth to say a word but closed it in an instant as she shied her gaze away. For years and years she had grown to hate the man, by his betrayal, it would take time for her to accept him again. She needed to calm herself, to forget all the hate she held towards him. While her head was in a mess, one thing was clear: Sakura Haruno felt guilty.

The Uchiha saw this and he pat her head just like the old times when she would frown over her failure at a stunt or when he wouldn't allow her to follow him around. With a cool exterior, the young Haruno was quite clingy, only to the ex-heir of the Uchiha clan though.

She looked up at him with a light blush dusting her pearl cheeks; she missed this gesture, she missed him. Tears pricked her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. The older Uchiha stared in sympathy and suddenly regretted his choice. Even if he had to bear with the pain, he wouldn't want to see his little pinkette cry.

He had asked Minato for the presence of the two geniuses in the meeting.

Because he didn't want Sakura to continue misunderstanding him again.

Tagging Shikamaru along was only for her to express her troubles as he knew the Nara clan's heir is her best friend. Or he was.

"I'm sorry." She muttered softly.

He shook his head and released his hand from her head. "It was all for show, for Akatsuki to believe my betrayal to the Leaf Village."

She wiped away her tears and said, "I understood your passion as a shinobi of our village, I should have trusted you, I should have known, but I didn't. I hat-"

He shushed her.

"Things may not have worked well if you did believe in my loyalty. Return to the village, we will see each other soon."

Fresh tears rolled down her face again, hurt by his order to return to the village. It was as thought he didn't want to see her, but she had definitely mistaken. Even though it had been a very long time since they both caught up with each other, the older Uchiha knew her well enough. He raised two fingers and poked her forehead and gave a gentle smile.

"Until next time." He disappeared in a flock of crows.

She looked up into the sky and her eyes followed the crows. "Until next time.." She repeated softly with a small ghost of a smile; Sumire rubbed her cheek on the side of Sakura's neck.

On the next day, the Konoha 12 was gathered in the Hokage's office, along with their respective mentors, the two legendary Sannins, and Shizune.

"I have a very important mission for all of you." Minato announced. "I've heard rumours that the safety of all Tailed Beasts and their hosts are at risk. The Akatsuki is targeting them for their own plans." He said and looked at his son.

"So what can we do?" He asked seriously, worrying for his fellow jinchurikis.

"I want all of you to camp out and be ready at all times in case something happens. Act immediately to save them." He continued, "As for Naruto... You are one of their targets. You will be sheltered in the village."

"No! I will not stay here and do nothing!" The sun-kissed blonde protested.

"I cannot risk to have you out there in the open. The Akatsuki work in pairs and each of them are extremely strong! If you're captured by them, you will lose your life."

The entire room grew quiet as Naruto absorbed the words of his father. His fists clenched.

"They will not bother to heal you after the extraction." The Hokage stated. "You will die."

"But why? What would they want with all that power?" Tenten inquired.

Minato closed his eyes and intertwined his fingers on the table before saying, "They want to start a war."

"What?!"

Everyone gasped, aside from the two geniuses who had heard about this before.

"This is ridiculous!" Tsunade stated.

The Akatsuki is an organisation of well-known S-class criminals, but they did not do anything particularly bad. All they had done was following the orders of their clients. Nobody knew or expected their plans of creating a war, so this news was quite astounding to hear.

Naruto's fists clenched as he gritted his teeth and spoke, "I am a shinobi of Konoha and I will not stand idly by as my comrades risk their lives to protect the jinchuurikis against powerful enemies." He may be a knucklehead, but he is certainly determined to live by his Will of Fire.

The Fourth Hokage fixed his gaze on his son and he sighed. "Fine." The younger sun-kissed blonde lit up. "I knew convincing you would be futile, you're as stubborn as your mother."

He smiled proudly at his son. "You've received enough training with Kurama and proven yourself to be a capable ninja. Come home safe, Naruto, the same applies to all of you."

Naruto smiled, moved that his hard work over the past few years were recognised by the father he idolised.

Five files were placed on the table, files for the village Hidden in the Sand, Hidden in the Mist, Hidden in the Clouds, Hidden in the Rocks, and Hidden by a Waterfall respectively.

"Each team will be camping in each land, stay close to the hidden villages. Guard the perimeter in case the Akatsuki decided to be sneaky." He began. Then, he faced Team TP. "As a team of elite Jounins, you will not perform this mission as a complete group. Sakura and Sasuke will guard Sunagakure(Sand); Kakashi and Neji guard Takigakure(Waterfall). Team Asuma is in charge of Kumogakure(Cloud), Team Kurenai would guard Kirigakure(Mist) with the assistance of Tsunade and Shizune, and Team Gai will go to Iwagakure(Rocks) with the assistance of Jiraiya."

The representatives of each team took a scroll which consists of the informations of the Tailed Beasts and the jinchuuriki they should be looking out for.

"Stay low and don't be discovered by the villages, your presence should not be known unless absolutely necessary. You are sent there as a back up if things were to go wrong."

"Lord Fourth, how long is this mission?" Ino asked.

"It can be very long, I'll send Jounins to take your positions when they return. This mission will be executed in shifts." He answered. "We don't know when they will take action, so we must be on our toes for 24 hours."

"Got it."

"Move out." He ordered.

Everyone left the room and proceeded to pack their things. Every team left the village as soon as they gathered at the front gates. Sasuke and Sakura were the first group to take off, leaving Neji to huff in envy. It wasn't like he had any bad thoughts about the two being together, he just wished he could be with her. Aren't everyone in love like this? Who could blame him for being upset over it? He can't help but feel the pain tugging his heartstrings. Of course, he wouldn't allow his emotions to get in the way. He waited patiently for his mentor; eventually being the last to leave. Typical Kakashi, always being late.

While Raimu noticed his comrade's distress, he only kept his cool. He believes in Neji, no doubt.

The silver-haired ninja was not blind or stupid. He knew of the feelings both of his male students possess for the pinkette and he could see the sadness lurking in his colourless orbs. Kakashi pondered, was that how Obito felt when Rin followed him around? That misery of seeing a loved one following another.

"Let's go, Neji."

==

Dedicated to Pretty_Pale_Potatoe for following me and voting on this story!

This is where it'll be very different from the previous version. In case you're wondering why some of the published dates written below are in 2018 when this story was completed in 2014, I made sure to write its published in 2018 for NEW plots in this story just in case there are some confusion or conflicts which arose about the matter.

Just for you guys, I found time to update despite my very very busy schedule. I took the opportunity of being sick to write hahaha! Is anyone studying or planning to study art in university/college?

~Joelle

Published: 5 July 2018