"Damn...why do we have to go to the Land of Iron? It's cold there and a godforsaken place!" - Hidan was complaining loudly, while he and Kakuzu were on their way to the Land of Iron.

"Boss told us to get rid of Itachi's brother so that he doesn't become a hindrance later on. Also, there will be Orochimaru who we have to deal with..." - Kakuzu

"But isn't it better for Itachi to deal with his brother on his own? Why the hell do we have to do it?" - Hidan

"I wanted to get the bounty on the "Lost Hokage", so he sent us." - Kakuzu

"You with your bounties again...if it weren't for that we already could have captured the two-tails...also are you sure that the meeting will be in the Land of Iron?" - Hidan

"The information probably came from Zetsu, so it has to be true...also we get to take out Orochimaru, so don't complain." - Kakuzu

"Orochimaru, eh...that snake-bastard made fun of Jashin-sama...alright I take on Orochimaru." - Hidan

"Keep his corpse intact, he has a huge bounty on him." - Kakuzu

"Oh, not again. If I hear you speak one time more the word bounty, I will offer you as a sacrifice to Jashin-sama!" - Hidan

"Hmph, try it!" - with that Kakuzu blocked Hidan's approach scythe and one of their usual "arguments" started.

Meanwhile, a small frog was looking at those two travelers before jumping into a pond.

At another location, the same frog jumped out of a vase of water.

"You're back?" - Jiraiya, who was sitting in a forest on a picnic blanket, stopped writing in his book and used a seal for Genjutsu.

Then he saw what the frog heard and saw in form of a Genjutsu.

'It's problematic that Akatsuki gets involved too...but thanks to that it was easy getting the location and date...I should inform Tsunade!' - Jiraiya got serious.

"Lady Tsunade, it's a letter from Lord Jiraiya!" - one of the shinobi's stationed at Konoha's letter-receiving station, rushed in.

"Thank you. You may leave now..." - Tsunade instantly opened the letter.

"With Akatuski getting involved, this changes our position of staying by the sidelines..."

"Should I go and call the Anbu Commander?" - Shizune realized the severity of the situation.

"No need. Jiraiya said that he will go to the meeting as well. I don't know if it's because he is concerned about Naruto, or because of Orochimaru or to get more intel of Akatsuki, or all together, but with him being there I can rest assured that this will end up going well. Anyway, we now know the location and date...but it looks like Kakashi is still recuperating so we will have to do without him, unfortunately...call Naruto and Sakura here."

"WHY HAVE YOU SUMMONED ME, GRANNY TSUNADE?? I WANTED TO SEARCH FOR PERVY SAGE SO THAT HE CAN TRAIN ME!" - Naruto obnoxiously shouted with a finger pointed at Tsunade, while Sakura who stood next to him, tried her best to not hit him.

"Granny?! Sigh...I don't have time right now for this...listen: We have information that Shiki Ryuu and Orochimaru are gonna meet up in 4 days." - Tsunade

"Shiki Ryuu...this guy again!" - memories from the last mission instantly surfaced in Naruto's mind and he started to curse and hit the air around him.

Sakura ignored Naruto: "Orochimaru? This is our chance to get Sasuke back!"

When he heard that, Naruto stopped his antics and got serious: "Sasuke..."

"That's right. On this mission, you'll most likely run into Sasuke." - Tsunade

Both Naruto and Sakura showed determination in their eyes.

"But that's not all. Akatsuki is getting involved as well - so your mission is: First, to get to know why the Shiki Ryuu and Orochimaru are meeting up, secondly, capture Akatsuki alive or eliminate them, and lastly, capture or eliminate Orochimaru!" - Tsunade

"Not retrieving Sasuke? You said that we will most lik-" - Sakura was interrupted by Tsunade: "That will depend on Sasuke's stance."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!" - Naruto

"That's...a bit complicated...well, you'll see for yourself."

"?"

CrusadeAgainstFurries

This chapter took longer than I anticipated. Probably since I started to deviate from canon. But this brings me to the topic: I know that it sucks that I often say I upload and then I don't. I can only say sorry to that, but some people mentioned how it would be better if I did only 3 days a week, but make it consistently and use the other days to stockpile. I feel like this is best for me and you as well, since consistency is better for a novel than sporadic like it is now. So I'm adding a poll what you guy prefer. If you vote for the 3 days a week, the days would be Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.

P.S. it looks like some of you missed the last chapter.