Reborn!

12: Chiyo-obaa-san

Naruto was sitting in the ANBU lounge in the secret headquarters, reading idly and casually ignoring the fact that his ANBU guard had been assembled there.

Technically, he was there as Takamatsu Sōjirō, the genius ANBU operative Kitsune, since he had become an active ANBU agent under that alias some time back. As for what he was doing there...

...the answer was very simple. Naruto was bored.

Continuously working on the dumb immortality seal for months on end without ever reaching a breakthrough had to get boring at some point.

Naruto was more surprised that he managed to keep at it for an entire year before his patience worn thin.

Well, it was not exactly a year, but eleven months plus a week.

Naruto refused to return to his work. It only got increasingly frustrating the longer the process dragged and he needed a break from all of that. Other children were still playing, for goodness sake.

And since he did not want to continue working on his seals, which were so close yet so far from his goal, he decided to spend his time doing other more productive things. Such as going on S-rank missions with his ANBU team. He knew what it was like to go on ANBU missions, but it had been a while since he had last gone on a suicide mission. Missing the adrenaline rush, he decided to try his luck.

Unfortunately, all he got was a simple diplomatic mission to Suna.

Naruto did not mind the idea of seeing Gaara and Sasori again (separately, of course), but he would rather have gone for a mission to assassinate some big shot.

Before he could make up his mind to escape, leaving the job to his clone once more, Hiruzen walked in.

"You know the mission details. Kitsune, you're the only one who knows what is written in the scroll. If the Kazekage refuses, it is your job to convince him otherwise. The fate of our villages lies in your hands. The scroll is to remain unopened until it reaches the Kazekage's hands. Do you understand?" Hiruzen barked.

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" the ANBU members in the room shouted, balling their right hands into fists and slamming them into their chests.

"You may proceed. You are to ensure that the negotiations are successful. Your time limit is seven days. Use it wisely," Hiruzen announced.

And all six ANBU operatives vanished from the room in a simultaneous Shunshin.

ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ

Somehow, their journey to Suna turned into a race to see who was fastest. However, Neko, Hebi and Inu were far outmatched by the other three. It ended up becoming a tough battle between Itachi, Karasu and Kitsune, which Kitsune managed to win by speeding up suddenly as soon as the gates had come into view and dashing in before anyone could react. He was too fast for the guards to spot, in fact, despite the lack of a sandstorm to conceal his entrance this time.

Itachi and Shisui tied and all three waited patiently at an inn for their slower teammates to arrive, during which Naruto managed to sneak off to visit Sasori, who informed Naruto that he had been approached by the one who called himself Pein. Considering that the three had made it to Suna in half a day when it was supposed to be a three-day journey, they had leeway. Naruto was about to sneak off to find Gaara when Kakashi, Yugao and Anko finally arrived, panting for breath.

The three ran nonstop for an entire day and night, unable to use Shunshin to transport themselves over such long distances as Itachi and Shisui did. Naruto, on the other hand, just dropped all his resistance seals and gravity seals before proceeding to sprint at breakneck speed. He only used Shunshin at the end for the little boost past the gates that neither Shisui nor Itachi was able to catch even with their Sharingan activated. All he looked like was a dark blur, here for an instant and there the next.