"Captain! Hokage-sama secretly tasked me to protect the Fire Daimyo. What about you, I thought you were out on another mission?"

Kakashi question Izuna. ​​

"I had another mission, but the seal I placed on Itachi activated, so I had to teleport to him to protect him," Izuna reply to Itachi.

Waah… Awah…

Their attention is drawn by the wailing of Shinko. Shinko hugged Tenma's body and wail loudly.

Izuna immediately uses Medical Ninjutsu on Tenma to heal him. Tenma's wounds close, but his heartbeat has stopped.

Izuna coats his hand in lightning Chakra and defibrillate Tenma. The lightning chakra jerks Tenma's body, but he stays still.

Izuna defibrillate him again, Tenma's body jerks again. After defibrillating for a while, a faint heartbeat starts in Tenma's body.

Tenma slowly opens his eyes and coughs up blood. He looks around and spots others. Shinko supports him. He slowly stands up and feels the absence of his right hand.

"It is too late to heal your arm. The nerves near your arm stump have died already. I have already healed your injuries. Visit Konoha's hospital for further checkup." Izuna remind Tenma.

"Also, your career as a shinobi is over with that arm."

"No! My clan! My father! How will I secure them if I can't continue as a Ninja?" Tenma sobs.

"Face the reality of the situation. It is thanks to the expertise of Captain, you could preserve your life, or else you would have died here. I am sure you will find a solution to your problem. For now, cherish your new life and find a new meaning to it." Kakashi advises Tenma.

'Life! Some people live for others. Some people live for their clan. What am I living for?' Itachi contemplates.

The figure of Sasuke's smile flashes in Itachi's mind.

'I am not sure, but I want to protect that smile of Sasuke.' Itachi clenches his fist in a new resolve.

"All right, everyone! Grab hold of me. I will teleport all of you to Konoha." Izuna claps his hand to get their attention.

Swoosh… Swoosh…

All of them teleport to the gates of Konoha. Shinko and Itachi carry Tenma to the hospital. Kakashi and Izuna walk towards Hokage's Office.

Kakashi reports to Hiruzen and walks out of the Office. Izuna stay behind to report to Hiruzen.

"Hum… you can report now."

"Hokage-sama! I successfully infiltrated Amegakure to gather the intel. There is a civil war ongoing in Ame. Hanzo of the Salamander and the Leader of Akatsuki Pain are engaged in a power struggle.

Pain the leader of Akatsuki possess the fabled Rinnegan Dojutsu. He is very powerful and we should avoid such a foe. He holds enough power to destroy the leaf Village in seconds. I fought with him, but I have to teleport out from Amegakure amid our fight.

I could not meet or contact Hanzo. So, Hanzo's status is unknown. Hanzo is known for his cautious nature, so I am not sure of his status. But if I have to guess then, Pain will be able to deal with Hanzo." Izuna reports to Hiruzen.

"What? The leader of Akatsuki possesses the Rinnegan. That is grave news for Five Great Nation. If he possesses those eyes, then he holds enough power to rule over the world. That's a serious matter. We must not provoke Ame unnecessarily for a while." Hiruzen contemplates.

"….Hokage-sama, Akatsuki is recruiting many S-Rank criminals or missing-nins. I didn't spot Orochimaru with them, but I am sure he will join them in the future." Izuna takes out a scroll from his pocket and presents it to Hiruzen.

"This is the intel on abilities of the Leader of Akatsuki, Pain. I have noted down all of his powers and capabilities. Hokage-sama, I suggest not to send any more spies in Amegakure. Pain considers himself a God, and he possesses such power. His motto is world peace, but I doubt it to be true.

I am unsure of their aim. But I would suggest monitoring Akatsuki." Izuna warns Hiruzen.

"Very well! I will keep that in mind. I approve your request for retirement. Before you retire from Anbu, I would like to know the name of a suitable candidate for the Captain's position of Team Ro. You know about your team much better than me, so I leave this choice to you."

"Then I will recommend Vice-Captain Kakashi Hatake for this position. He has enough experience and strength to lead the Team Ro.

Hokage-sama! I will leave the village for a while. I want to wander around the world and satiate my curiosity." Izuna presents his opinion.

"It will truly be unfortunate for Anbu to lose a member like you. Very well, I will accept your request. I will send you on a long-term mission outside Konoha." Hiruzen takes out a scroll from his drawer and writes something on it.

He gives the scroll to Izuna and continues,

"From onwards, Izuna Uchiha, I relieve you from your duties as Anbu Captain. I will assign you a long-term S-rank mission to gather information about Akatsuki. You can use any means available to you.

You should contact Jiraiya, His information network is widespread across many Nations. Dismiss."

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Izuna stands up and disappears from the spot. His figure shatters in countless fragments of light.

'That's a wonderful trick.'

Hiruzen stares at the fragments with wide-eyes.

'It's time for some peeking….Uhun! I mean some research.'

Hiruzen takes out his crystal ball from the drawer and starts his research.

-------------

'There is something which I need to take care of before I leave the village. I will take care of them in these few days.'

Izuna walks up to Senju compounds while lost in his thoughts. He enters inside the compound.

Shizune walks out of the house and greets him.

"It has been a while, Izuna-kun. Tsunade-sama is in leaf Hospital. If you want to meet with her, then you have to visit her office."

"Yes, it has been a while. I am here to meet with Naruto. I want to spend some time together with him. Where is he?"

"Nii-san! Nii-san! I am here, Nii-san. Dattebyo!" Naruto runs out of the house.

Naruto wore a white T-shirt with an Uzumaki symbol on his back. His yellow hairs are as messy as ever. Izuna ruffles his hair,

"Naruto, come big brother will take you on an outing. Where do you want to go?"

"Ramen! I want to eat Ramen, big brother Izuna. Take me to Ichiraku Ramen. I want to eat their ramen." Naruto jumps in excitement.

"Ok! Ok! Calm down. We will go together with Sasuke. Let us fetch him."

"No, I don't want to go with him. Dattebyo!" Naruto puffs his cheeks.

"Come on! Naruto. He is like your big brother. Why you don't want to go with him?"

"But! But Nii-san. He gets all the attention, and others ignore me and even avoid me. That's not cool at all. Also, Sasuke is very strong. I also want to grow strong. Big brother, teach me some cool jutsu. I also want to become a very cool Ninja and throw some powerful jutsu at my enemies." Naruto complains.

"Ok! Ok! I will teach you some jutsu later. For now, let us eat some ramen."

"Yay! Ramen. Let us eat ramen. I will eat lots of ramens. I love ramen. Dattebyo!" Naruto cheers upon the mention of Ramen.

Both of us walk towards Uchiha compounds. We pick up Sasuke from his house and continue to roam around the market.

I buy lots of things for Naruto and Sasuke.

"Naruto, let us buy new clothes for you. After buying clothes we will eat some ramen."

Izuna drags a drooling Naruto towards a cloth shop.

"Sasuke! You also pick something you like. I will buy it for you."

Sasuke cheers up and looks towards the weapon shop with sparkling eyes.

I select various clothes for Naruto. He tries them all but picks up Orange colored clothes.

'He still likes Orange color. Some things will never change.'

"Nii-san… Nii-san… " Sasuke tugs my clothes and points towards the weapon shop.

"I want to buy a blade, nii-san. Both you and Shisui nii-san looks way too cool with the tanto. I also want to swing around a tanto and fight my enemies. Nii-san! Can you buy me one, please!" Sasuke makes puppy eyes at Izuna.

"Ok! Ok! I will buy the tanto. You can ask Shisui to train you in Kenjutsu. Once you master all of his moves, I will train you further."

"Yay! You are the best nii-san." Sasuke jumps happily.

-----------

Inside the leaf hospital,

Achoo...

Itachi sneezes and looks around.

'Somehow, I feel like someone is stealing Sasuke away from me. I won't allow such a thing. I will buy a gift for Sasuke later.'

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A/N:- I will bring back Side stories for more character development. They will be released alongside regular chapters as extra chapters. Comment your thoughts on it.