The mission
The bright moon hung high in the sky, its light spilling over the entire village, as if draping it in a white veil.
Uzumaki Hane lay on the rooftop, gazing at the bright moon, her thoughts swirling.
That day, after reuniting with Naruto, they found the others, and the group searched the beach for three whole days, but they couldn't find any trace of Tobi, as if Tobi had never appeared there.
The group had no choice but to return to the village. By the time they arrived, it was already dusk. Kakashi went alone to the Hokage's office to report the situation to the Hokage, while the others went home.
So, after returning home and tidying up, Uzumaki Hane went up to the roof, lay down, and pondered what to do next while admiring the moon.
***************************************
"Yu, Yu... Yu..." Uzumaki Hane was suddenly woken up and looked around in a daze.
"Where am I...?" Uzumaki Hane looked around and realized that she was on her own roof, where she had fallen asleep last night.
With a whoosh, a figure appeared in front of Uzumaki Hane, looking down at him and saying, "Yu, let's go to Granny Tsunade's place together." The person who came was Naruto, the culprit who woke Uzumaki Hane up.
"Oh," Uzumaki Hane regained his senses and said to Naruto, "Naruto, are you going to find Sasuke?"
Naruto nodded and said, "Orochimaru is clearly dead, so why doesn't Sasuke come back?" As he spoke, Naruto's face was full of worry.
"Alright, let's go to Teacher Tsunade's. Wait for me." Uzumaki Hane sighed as he looked at Naruto's worried face, thinking to himself, "Perhaps I should have Sasuke back back then." Then, Uzumaki Hane went back to his room to tidy up before heading to the Hokage's office together.
Just then, Yamano Koromo came over with breakfast, presumably knowing that I was back, so she came especially for me.
Having missed Yamano Koromo for a long time, Uzumaki Hane pulled Naruto to sit down and have breakfast together, recounting what had happened during that time. Yamano Koromo listened attentively with a smile the whole time, and before long, they had finished breakfast.
Naruto had been waiting impatiently for a while, so he grabbed Uzumaki Hane and rushed towards the Hokage's office, leaving Yamano Koromo at home to tidy up.
Arriving at the Hokage's office,
Tsunade was engrossed in her work when she saw Uzumaki Hane and Naruto arrive. Tsunade wasn't surprised, clearly knowing that Naruto would be eager to come to her given his personality.
Tsunade smiled and said, "Alright, Naruto, don't rush. I also wanted to discuss this with you. I just sent the Anbu to bring you, Sakura, Sai, and Kakashi over. I didn't expect you to arrive so quickly."
"But, Granny Tsunade..." Naruto scratched the back of his head and said, "Orochimaru is already dead, but Sasuke doesn't want to go back to the village. I'm worried."
Tsunade looked at Naruto and said, "Alright, let's discuss this again once the others arrive."
Since Tsunade had said that, Naruto could only suppress his impulse, but he still found it hard to calm down Earth Flow and forth in his office.
After a while, Sakura and Sai walked in. Naruto's face lit up with joy, and he immediately went to greet them, calling out, "Sakura, Sai, you're here!"
Before Sakura and Sai could even speak, Naruto immediately added, "By the way, where's Kakashi-sensei? Why isn't he here yet? Is he late again like usual?" Remembering Kakashi's usual bad habits, Naruto became even more anxious.
"Naruto, don't worry, I'm coming." Kakashi's voice came from the doorway, followed by Kakashi's lazy figure walking in.
"Kakashi-sensei, you've finally arrived! Granny Tsunade, let's begin!" Naruto exclaimed impatiently upon seeing Kakashi.
"Granny Tsunade, I have an idea," Naruto then said loudly.
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Naruto in surprise and doubt. Naruto, who was not usually good at using his brain, was the first to come up with an idea.
Naruto, oblivious to the strange looks from the others, said with a serious expression, "Weren't we trying to capture members of the Akatsuki? If we capture Uchiha Itachi, wouldn't we be able to find Sasuke?"
"Oh..." Tsunade looked at Naruto and said, "So, in order to see Sasuke, we're targeting Uchiha Itachi, who's the most likely candidate? That method might work. But what if the opponent is Uchiha Itachi?"
At this moment, Sai spoke up, "I think if we capture the Akatsuki members, we might be able to find Uchiha Itachi's whereabouts."
"Yes, I did issue orders to each group to capture Akatsuki members if possible," Tsunade said in a deep voice. "However, this order is difficult to carry out. Judging from the guys we've fought so far, every Akatsuki member is very strong, making it difficult to capture them alive."
Naruto and the others also recalled their experiences fighting against the Akatsuki members, realizing that this idea was indeed difficult to realize.
"What should we do then?" Naruto shouted.
"Well, until we find Uchiha Itachi, we can only try our best to find all the clues." Kakashi walked towards Naruto and said in a deep voice.
"We need to prepare more for this. Could you give me some time?" Kakashi looked at Tsunade and said respectfully.
"Alright, Kakashi, I'm leaving this entirely to you," Tsunade said directly.
Then everyone went back to their respective homes, waiting for Kakashi to prepare everything before notifying them to set off. When they left, Naruto seemed sullen, as he wanted to find Sasuke as soon as possible.
******************************************
Kakashi led Naruto, Sakura, and Sai away from the Hokage's office, leaving only Uzumaki Hane behind with Tsunade.
"Teacher Tsunade, is there something you need?" Uzumaki Hane looked at Tsunade, wondering what else Tsunade.
Tsunade looked at Uzumaki Hane and said in a deep voice, "I know you just returned from a mission, and I didn't want to trouble you with this, but you're the only one most suitable for this task right now."
"Teacher Tsunade, please feel free to ask if there's anything you need?" Uzumaki Hane said directly, seemingly unconcerned.
"Yesterday morning, Jiraiya suddenly received news about the Akatsuki's base, so Jiraiya set off for the Akatsuki yesterday morning, intending to infiltrate it and investigate the Akatsuki's secrets," Tsunade said to Uzumaki Hane.
"What? Jiraiya-sensei went to the Akatsuki's base?" Uzumaki Hane was somewhat surprised, not expecting Jiraiya to go there so quickly.
"Yes," Tsunade nodded and continued, "That's right. For some reason, ever since Jiraiya left, I've had a lingering unease in my heart, so I plan to send you to support Jiraiya."
"Okay, Teacher Tsunade." Uzumaki Hane readily agreed, "Then, where is the Akatsuki's base?"
"Amegakure..." Tsunade stood up and looked out the window towards Amegakure.