Going Back To The Hidden Sand.

Three months passed in the blink of an eye.

'After months of Naruto nagging Ichika and me, we allowed him to begin the academy early.

I pulled some strings and put him in the same class as Sasuke and the others.

Of course, this would mean he'd be starting earlier than expected and some things would've been difficult for him, but that's not what will happen.

With my help and lessons, Naruto will quickly adjust to the tiresome work from the academy.

I'll make sure he doesn't get left out when he starts.

He'll start in 4 days, Ichika and I will be there to wave him off.

I find it tiresome when both he and Sasuke ask me how to graduate early as I did.

It's not my fault there's no more war now, and no more need for child soldiers, well… It kind of is my fault, to be honest.

Anyway, I'd help Naruto as often as I could.

I'm sure it would satisfy Minato with how much I've helped him.'

Ryuu thought to himself as he looked at the sky outside the window.

Winter had arrived, it was snowing every day.

Kakashi was standing beside him while they waited for Sakumo to sign some documents.

Ryuu wasn't wearing his Anbu uniform because he was told to go immediately by Sakumo.

"Alright, I'm all done." He gave the documents to Kakashi.

"Make sure they get them there safely." Kakashi nodded.

Ryuu gave him a fist bump, and he flickered away.

"You have a mission for me?"

Sakumo nodded.

"Yeah, it's in Sunagakure. A B-rank."

"Suna? Is it another infiltration mission?" Sakumo shook his head.

"No, the Kazekage requested your help with something." Ryuu tilted his head.

"Rasa?" Sakumo nodded.

"He hasn't revealed much about what he needs, but he's asking for you."

Ryuu held his chin and started thinking about it.

"This could be one of two things, an assassination attempt or maybe a way to make amends.

Sigh.

Either is fine, I'll go by myself, I'll send Nobu if I need backup, he'll get here fast."

"Be careful." Ryuu lifted his eyebrows.

"I'll be fine, Sunagakure doesn't have anyone who could threaten me, this'll be a cakewalk." Ryuu put his hands behind his head in a relaxed manner.

"Ryuu, be serious!"

Ryuu's head dropped depressingly.

"Right, sorry." He murmured to Sakumo.

"You know you aren't just a regular shinobi anymore.

You're far more than that.

You're more of a symbol in Konohagakure, you don't have the privilege to fool around or risk your life for no reason.

Your life stands between Konoha and war with other countries.

You also inspire many people in Konoha, you have a responsibility that requires you to be alive, don't you understand?"

"I know, I know, I wouldn't have gone this far without thinking about that first, you know."

Sakumo rubbed the bridge of his nose, stressed that Ryuu couldn't understand his responsibilities.

'Dad has been lecturing me on this for a week straight.

I'm so tired of it, you know.' Ryuu sat down and put both his legs on the seat.

"Look, if it eases your mind I'll take a Chūnin or Jonin with me, is that alright?"

"Since I know you're too stubborn to accept an Anbu following you, I'll allow that.

Now get your feet off the seat!"

"Alright, alright, quit nagging me already, dad." Ryuu calmly removed his feet.

"I choose Shisui, he and I were already supposed to go to Suna during the war, but Jiraiya-sensei sent him back because it was too risky.

It's only fair that we go now."

"Shisui huh?" Ryuu nodded.

"He came from a mission recently, right?"

Sakumo nodded.

"Yes, two days ago, I suppose we could have him join you on this mission."

Ryuu nodded.

"I'll inform him about the mission." Sakumo nodded.

Fwoosh!

Ryuu teleported out of the Hokage's office and headed towards Shisui and Itachi, who had sat down at the edge of the cliff.

"The situation with the clan and the village is only getting worse.

If we don't do something soon, they'll have a civil war, the clan won't survive this and the village will lose people too.

Itachi, has sensei told you about a plan or anything that will avoid conflict?"

"He's the only one keeping the clan at ease now.

But he says if things get worse, he has one way to avoid conflict and loss, Kotoamatsukami.

He wants to use his Kotoamatsukami and if he can't, he wants you to do it instead."

"I see…"

Shisui reached for his eye.

"I haven't used it yet but from some tests from sensei, he revealed that I have 5 uses in a day for each eye before a ten-year cooldown.

If they weren't my own eyes and I did more than that, I'd have to wait 10 years before using either." Itachi nodded.

Fwoosh!

Ryuu appeared behind them.

"Shisui, we have a mission, get ready."

Shisui stood up.

"Itachi, we've never gone on a mission together, have we?" Itachi shook his head.

"I wouldn't worry about that too much, you're a Chūnin now and soon you'll also be an Anbu member, we'll have plenty of missions together, you know?"

"Yes, father is only interested in you being my captain when I join the Anbu."

"Exactly." Ryuu put his arm around Itachi and walked a little further from Shisui.

"Itachi, I know you're not a kid anymore, so you can stop worrying about me treating you like one when you'll be under my wing, I'll be your captain, not your brother."

Itachi's eyes widened.

"You… figured that out?"

Ryuu nodded, he lightly pushed Itachi's head and walked back to Shisui.

"Anyway, I have to go, otherwise Shisui's going to bother me on our way to Sunagakure." Ryuu winked and teleported with Shisui to Sakumo's office.

Sakumo gave them a brief explanation of the mission and after that, Ryuu went to get his Anbu gear.

Ryuu and Shisui were in the forest heading towards Sunagakure.

Ryuu preferred running there just in case they could find someone else to help. However, he cut the journey from days to hours or even minutes.

"Since when do I ever bother you, sensei?"

Ryuu smiled.

"Don't worry about it Shisui, I'm just fooling around, you know."

"You always fool around, it's kinda difficult to know when you're being serious."

Ryuu scoffed.

"Is this your way of saying I should become more serious?"

"That's not what I'm saying, sensei."

"Then what do you mean by that?"

"Nothing important."

Ryuu looked at Shisui.

'He's so bothered by the clan's problems.' Ryuu said to himself as he observed Shisui.

"Quit worrying so much, will you?"

"Sensei you…

Noticed?"

"Of course I did, just relax Shisui, if we work together, nothing can stop us.

This internal conflict between a village and one of its greatest clans only hinders the progress made years ago, by the first Hokage, and that's because of lord second's fears which Lord third partially inherited.

Minato was different, he was gifted not just with intelligence and skill but also with charisma, I'm sure he would've stopped this conflict by now.

Now we have my father, he's in a worse position compared to lord third and Minato.

He wants to prove to the Uchiha that they're still a part of this village, but he can't simply bring them back, if he does, the village will see it as favouritism because of his history with us.

It's such a problem but you and I will have to help him sort it out however we can, Itachi too.

You two are very special, you know?

Not just to me or the clan, but to the entire shinobi world.

You both see the bigger picture, I find it ironic how the clan with a great Dōjutsu can't see the bigger picture."

"The bigger picture?"

Ryuu nodded.

"I'll explain that to you after the mission, we've reached sand borders, we have to be wary here."

"Sure."