Kyoko in Naruto Shippuden

Naruto was jumping from one foot to another, "Baa - chan, am I really going to Ame as a representative?"

Tsunade nodded, "Yes, you have two missions. One is to find out if Nagato is really hiding the S - rank shinobi."

Naruto perked up, "Oooh! Oooh! He is, he is. He told me, he is housing them to keep an eye on them and to make sure they do not cause any trouble."

Tsunade twitched, "Did he name them?"

Naruto, "No, he mentioned they signed a sealed contract where they are not allowed to speak each other's names even under duress."

Tsunade sighed on hearing that, "I see. Very well focus on the second objective then. Figure out their reason for going after the tailed beasts. We cannot have one nation holding on to multiple beasts at a time. Though technically Suna has a baby Shukaku now, but still."

Naruto nodded, "I understand."

Itachi pat his shoulder, "Do not fret, Naruto - kun. You will not be doing this alone."

Naruto nodded, "Right! You are right."

Sakura, "That's the spirit. This is a four month mission and we will succeed. Just watch!"

Tsunade, "Alright then, you three. Go get ready, you are leaving tomorrow morning."

Sakura nodded, "Yes Hokage - sama."

Itachi, "Understood Hokage - sama."

Naruto, "I will bring back a souvenir for you, baa - chan."

Tsunade (⁠ノ⁠｀⁠Д⁠´⁠)⁠ノ⁠彡⁠┻⁠━⁠┻, "Do not call me that."

Naruto grinned as he rushed out while Itachi smiled at the hyper blond and Sakura stifled her laugh. This was not the first mission they had with the hyper blond though it was the first diplomatic one. Tsunade - sama was slowly making Naruto take part in the political arena despite the fact he was one of the main medical Shinobi in Konoha. Itachi and Naruto waved goodbye to Sakura as she left in her apartment's direction, which was located close to the T & I office. The blond remembers the day Sakura moved out from her parents home, her father was crying and bragging about his smart baby. Sakura had turned really pink as her hair as she tried to get her father to stop wailing.

Mr Haruno was a retired Shinobi but it did not mean he stopped training, he still had a muscled figure and helped Sakura move her items to her apartment. Sakura's mom is a civilian and despite her reservations about the Shinobi lifestyle it did not stop her from supporting her only daughter from becoming a Shinobi. When Sakura had eventually announced she would mostly be stationed inside the village the relief in her eyes was obvious. When her daughter became a Chunin, Mebuki had feared that one day she would get the news that her little girl had been KIA during a mission. It was a very common way for shinobi to die and the main reason many civilian families dreaded and yet were proud when their kids became Shinobi.

Naruto stopped outside his own apartment which was closer to the Uchiha district, "I will see you later Itachi - nii."

Itachi nodded, "Of course Naruto - kun. I will meet you at the gate."

Naruto smiled, "Yes, say hello to Shisui - nii for me."

Itachi nodded and left for the district, it was no longer an estate especially with how the Clan had grown the past decade. Many civilian Uchiha had opted to marry outside the Clan especially after the thorough genetics session Sasuke had forced the entire Clan to attend. It was hilarious and cute watching his baby brother order the older Clan members around and if they disagreed well that's what their parents were for. Itachi shook his head away from those memories and waved at the young children who were greeting him. The kids squealed at the waves and giggled as they played among themselves.

Shisui, "Itachi - kun, you are back."

Itachi, "Naruto says hello."

Shisui chuckled, "Of course he did. New mission?"

Itachi, "Yes, we are to head to Ame and work out a solution for the new alloy they created. It is perfect to mold as an inner armor for the Shinobi vests."

Shisui, "I heard about that. How is Naruto taking it?"

Itachi hummed, "He is looking forward to seeing Nagato - sama again. I suppose I do not blame him considering the Kage of Ame is the only other Uzumaki alive."

Shisui, "I only hope Naru - chan does not get taken advantage of. His goal to find other Uzumakis is not exactly a secret."

Itachi, "Sakura - chan and I will not allow that to happen."

Shisui perked up, "Oh! The little Blossom Fairy is going too?"

Itachi snorted, "You know she hates that title."

Shisui shrugged, "I mean, she won that title fair and square in her under cover mission."

Itachi, "That is true. She did really well protecting the Flower Princess candidate of the Lightning Daimyō's court."

Shisui, "Exactly, now, when are you leaving?"

Itachi, "Early morning. There is a bus headed there with civilians looking for jobs. At the same time there is another one heading to Konoha."

Shisui had a contemplative look, "You know, I really hope this works out for Naruto's sake. He would be really sad if this fails."

Itachi nodded seriously, "A sad Naruto means an angry Sasuke."

Shisui sighed exasperatedly, "Even worse than that, it means a furious, murderous and trigger happy, Kyoko - chan who has created some of the more dangerous jutsus."

Itachi, "True. Mother, I am back."

Mikoto, "Welcome back dear. I see you have returned from your mission too, Shisui - kun."

Shisui, "Yes, it was a very mind numbing mission though. Thankfully, it ended without incident."

Mikoto nodded, "Most escort missions tend to be boring which is actually a good thing. Go clean up, dinner will be in three hours."

Itachi, "Sasuke might bring Naruto over."

Mikoto, "I will prepare dinner for Naruto too. He always brings one of his home made desserts with him so I will skip on the dessert."

Sasuke did end up bringing Naruto for dinner along with the standard Shinobi travelling bag swung across his shoulder. Naruto was talking about the latest alloy creations and how it was really useful as an addition to seals. Sasuke nodded and mentioned that some of the new surgical equipment was made out of a new alloy. It was different from the previous ones but the use and quality were better, it was lighter and sharper to use. Fugaku just quietly listened in on his family's chatter as he finished his tea. The man was very satisfied with his life and Mikoto agreed with him.

Naruto, "Good morning, Sakura - chan."

Sakura rushed to where her fellow shinobi were, "Was I late?"

Itachi, "No, you are on time. We just arrived two minutes ago."

Naruto, "Everyone looks sleepy though."

Sakura, "It is early morning."

Conductor, "Ride to Ame. Ride to Ame."

Itachi, "That's us."

Naruto nodded, "Come on! Let's go."

Sakura, "I think I will take a nap too."

Itachi, "Get some rest. We have to blend in and it is still early anyway."

Naruto yawned, "Yeah, I agree."

Itachi smiled as his kouhais leaned back to rest while the bus travelled in relative peace crossing the different villages and settlements located around Konoha. The older Shinobi knew Naruto had created clones and disguised some of them to stick to the bus as small insects while the rest henged as them and travelled on foot across the land. If anyone approached them with intent to kill or attack them the clones would warn them and they could deal with it. The early rays of the sun peaked over the horizon as they traveled through Fire country passing by many smaller settlements.

Naruto rubbed his eyes, "The bus stopped."

Sakura bit back a squeal at the cute behaviour, "For breakfast. Want to have some tea?"

Itachi got up, "Might as well. We are blending in after all."

Naruto, "Oooh! I see Hato Sabure being sold."

Sakura, "I love those."

Itachi, "Well then imouto and outoto, let us order a pot of tea with biscuits for breakfast."

Naruto, "Yay!"

Sakura grinned as they sat at one of the tables acting as siblings going to Ame for work. The other civilians who were more awake now talked and shared their reasons for travel with them. Naruto was the most invested in gossip and spent the rest of the trip till the next stop learning about the latest news and rumour. It was fascinating to watch Naruto work in Sakura's opinion, she knew Jiraiya - dono had trained Naruto specifically in collecting information. But the thing is knowing about something and watching something in action were two very different experiences.

Sakura, "Naruto, lunch."

Naruto, "Coming nee - chan. I have to go baa - chan. I hope you take care of yourself."

The elderly lady laughed, "Of course, of course. You should go now young man. You have a lovely sister though, is she single?"

Sakura spluttered, "I.. I am not interested in marriage yet."

Naruto, "Gomen baa - chan, but my sister is still too young for marriage."

Itachi was hiding a snort behind his hand, "Looks like you made interesting friends Naruto - kun."

Naruto, "Koko - tan always says, grannies are the best source of any type of information. You just need to talk them up a bit."

Sakura, "So? Was there anything new?"

Naruto, "According to some of the ladies, there was a strange weather phenomenon."

Itachi, "Weather? What does that mean?"

Naruto, "Ame just like the name suggests is a village hidden in rain so it rains everyday except for winter when it snows."

Sakura, "Fascinating! So, no sun at all?"

Naruto, "Eh? Not like that, more like it rains everyday, but not the whole day, they have sunny hours too."

Itachi nodded, "I would not enjoy rain twenty four seven. That would be really uncomfortable considering my element."

Sakura, "Me too."

Naruto perked up, "You finally checked for your elemental nature?"

Sakura, "Yeah, it is rock with fire secondary. Ino was really ecstatic I have an elemental nature similar to hers."

Naruto grinned, "So, I hear she has doubled down on her efforts to adopt you into her clan legally."

Itachi snickered, "She is not even hiding it at this point."

Sakura flushed, "She has always been extra no matter what."

Naruto, "What about you?"

Sakura, "Huh?"

Naruto, "What is your choice? Nee - chan always tells us, a relationship is a two way street. The only way for any type of relationship to work is if the people involved agree."

Sakura mumbled, "Well I am not against it, to be honest. She had always taken care of me ever since we were children."

Itachi, "As long as you are happy, Sakura - chan."

Sakura smiled, "Thank you."

After breakfast was done they boarded the bus again and started to journey to Ame. On the way, Sakura took over gossiping with the ladies while Naruto helped out a family who had a child that was feeling motion sickness. The five year old boy was close to tears because of how terrible he felt and Naruto used one of his seals to help relax him. The little one stared at him with wide eyes as he felt his stomach feel better and he did not feel like throwing up anymore. His parents were grateful and offered to pay Naruto but the blond declined saying he was happy to help.

Itachi hummed, 'The Ame border and it's raining of course.'

Naruto, "Look Miyano - kun, we are at the Ame border."

Miyano looked up, "Rain!"

Naruto, "Yes, rain."

Itachi watched the blond as he handed the young child back to his parents who thanked him again. Naruto just smiled and stopped them from giving him money, they already brought lunch for him earlier at one of the stops after all. Sakura just smiled at the really cute interaction as Naruto waved at the young boy who pouted since they had to head in a different direction from them. Naruto was grinning from ear to ear as he joined Itachi and Sakura and entered Ame after they dropped their disguise as civilians. They went to the hotel booked for them and one of the Shinobi reported their arrival to Nagato.

Naruto, "Look the rain stopped."

Sakura, "Woah! Look at that rainbow."

Itachi, "Very spectacular."

Nagato, "I am pleased to know you appreciate it."

Itachi, "Shodaime - sama, thank you for the invite."

Nagato, "I believe the travel was of no trouble."

Naruto, "None at all. It was very peaceful."

Nagato looked very pleased, "I see, Ame looks forward to the future."

Sakura, "Yes, Konoha looks forward to a bright future and relations with Ame as well."

Naruto, "He he he he he! I missed you, cousin."

Nagato chuckled, "Indeed."

Konan, "I have scheduled the meeting for tomorrow. You travelled the whole day after all."

Itachi, "Thank you, Konan - san, it is most appreciated."