It had been six years since the Fourth Hokage and his wife sacrificed their lives to save the village from a rampaging Nine-Tails by sealing the fox into the barely hour old Naruto. Six years since the last loyal student of the Fourth Hokage left the village, vowing never to return. Six years since half of Team Choza had barged into the hokage office and begged to be allowed to go after him since they failed to stop him from leaving. The Third Hokage forbid it at that time, but swore not to label the teen a missing-nin, and gave the two teens the unranked mission of raising Naruto Namikaze, but with the village believing the daughter of the Fourth and the Nine Tailed Fox to be dead her name was to be Naruto Shiranui. It was a major distraction technique, but it worked. He would later regret this action when Choza barged into his office, holding two of his students by the collars of their shirts away from each other and off the floor and told the hokage to explain to his students that green spandex jumpsuits don't belong on babies and that senbon were not good teething toys.

Tonight however, tonight had been horrible. Shisui and Itachi Uchiha had chosen to follow precedence and left the village without becoming missing-nin over a year ago. Tonight the Uchiha clan had tried to stage an uprising. All were killed by ANBU and Root, except for Sasuke Uchiha, who had been with Naruto at Genma and Guy's apartment for a sleepover. The Third Hokage sent an ANBU to get Genma. He would rather deal with the level headed adult than the loud one that was Guy. The man soon arrived at the window and gracefully entered the office.

"You called?" asked Genma, giving the man a mocking salute.

"Are you aware of what happened tonight?" asked the Hokage.

"Are you aware I just left two six year olds alone with Guy?" fired back the laid back ninja. Lord Third rubbed his temples.

"The Uchiha clan tried to stage an uprising. They were all eliminated except for Sasuke, Itachi, and Shisui by ANBU," stated the hokage calmly. He could see the wheels in Genma's head turning.

"And you want me to what exactly?" asked Genma, rolling the senbon in his mouth to the other side.

"I want you to raise Sasuke alongside Naruto," said the hokage. He began mentally counting.

"You want me to what?" bellowed the usually calm man.

"You heard me Genma," said Lord Third.

"What about Itachi? Or Shisui even?" said Genma. He liked Sasuke, he really did. Yet Naruto was a handful on her own. Plus the elders would constantly be on Genma's case about the loyal, in the village Uchiha. There was also Guy to consider.

"Consider it part of your unranked assignment," said Lord Third, which caught Genma's attention almost immediately.

"What unranked assignment?" asked Genma, considering shooting his senbon at the annoying man in front of him.

"I want you to bring all Konoha shinobi home. I was even nice and made a list. You will be taking Guy, a shinobi of your choice, Naruto, and Sasuke. I will of course explain everything to Sasuke before you leave," stated Lord Third, a scroll appearing in his hands.

"What do you mean by 'all Konoha shinobi'?" asked Genma, not liking the smirk the hokage had on his face. The hokage tossed the scroll to Genma, who opened it to find a list of names, all of whom were Hidden Leaf shinobi who left the village voluntarily, for different reasons.

Jirayia of the Sannin

Orochimaru of the Sannin

Tsunade Senju of the Sannin

Kinoe Senju

Shizune Kato

Anko Mitarashi

Sakumo Hatake

Kakashi Hatake

Rin Nohara

Roukan Inuzuka

Asuma Sarutobi

Itachi Uchiha

Shisui Uchiha

"What ever I did to piss you off, I'm so extremely sorry," said Genma.

"I need you to do this Genma. I need Naruto and Sasuke out of the village and at the same time I need all the shinobi I can. I know they all had their reasons for leaving but I need them all back. I don't care how long or what it takes. I have had ANBU bring Sasuke, Naruto, and Guy to the tower. I will explain what has happened and what will happen to them. I need you to bring your third teammate here so I can brief them and then your mission is to start immediately. Understood?" stated the homage.

"Understood," said Genma. With his third teammate's name in his mind, Genma body flickered to the roof and took off running across the rooftops. Reaching his friend and occasional partner's apartment building he walked down and across the wall to the apartment door. He knocked then waited. After a few minutes and cursing from inside the apartment, the door opened and Raido Namiashi stood before him dressed in just sleep pants.

"Gen I have been back barely twenty-four hours..." warned Raido.

"Then you are still mostly packed, Rai," said Genma. He ducked the punch at his head and laughed as his best friend went back into the apartment mumbling under his breath. Raido threw on clothes and started repacking his gear.

"How long is this mission supposed to last?" Raidou called over his shoulder.

"Unranked. The hokage will explain. Can you meet me at the tower when you're done? I gotta go pack myself," said Genma.

"I don't have much of a choice," mumbled Raido. Genma body flickered to the apartment he shared with Guy. Guy was just entering the apartment himself.

"I'll pack mine and Naruto's stuff," offered Genma as both men moved to their respective bedrooms, Guy nodded in agreement. Genma packed weapons, ration bars, his tent and camping equipment, all his medical supplies, all of his clothes, even his books and pictures went into a storage scroll. He stuffed the scrolls into his backpack and threw it on his back after clipping his sleeping bag to the bottom. He then moved into Naruto's room. He packed all of her clothes, her books, and her most used toys into scrolls. He stuffed her favorite toy, a stuffed orange frog, into an outside pocket of the backpack. He clipped her sleeping bag to the bottom of pack. Luckily the first time they had taken Naruto camping, Guy had, in a stroke of brilliance, attached clips to the straps of Naruto's backpack, allowing Genma to clip it to his own backpack. Genma walked back into the living room as Guy finished putting food and medicine from the kitchen into a scroll before putting it into his own bag. Genma knew that the apartment was now bare except for furniture. After all an unranked mission could take years.

"The Hokage had an ANBU pack Sasuke's stuff for him," said Guy. Genma nodded. He could see the kids holding each other in the Hokage's office. The men packed quickly and flickered to outside the Hokage's office. They were immediately ushered in by an ANBU. Raido shot a glare over his shoulder at Genma. The kids were hugging each other in front of him and ignoring the adults. Sasuke was sobbing into Naruto's shoulder and she was whispering in his ear. The hokage looked sad.

"All of you have had the mission explained to you. I have composed scrolls on each of the individuals, such as who they are sometimes with and their last known locations," said the Third Hokage. He handed Genma a storage scroll.

"That contains the scrolls and the first month expenses, quite a few supplies, and stipends. I will take care of everything for you in the village," said Lord Third.

"So to summarize...You want us three assassins to carry two little kids all over the Shinobi Nations looking for shinobi who willingly left the village, all of whom could and probably will try to kill us, without a tracker?" asked Raido.

"Yes," answered the hokage.

"Terrific," mumbled Raido.

"Who is the lead on this mission?" asked Guy.

"Genma," answered Lord Third.

"You just want all the strays from all the Shinobi Nations, don't you?" grumbled Raido. Genma glared at him while Lord Third smirked, but didn't deny Raido's accusation. Genma's mother hen nature was well known after all.

"You can travel as shinobi in the Land of Fire, but once you cross our border, you will essentially be civilians. I expect weekly reports. I know this will take time, but the Land of Fire needs this to happen. You have your packs and your mission. I know this is not normal, but I need you five to leave now," said the Third Hokage, looking sadly at Naruto and Sasuke. Both had fallen asleep in each other's arms. Genma gently pried them apart and picked Naruto up bridal style while Guy did the same with Sasuke. After nodding to the hokage, the five vanished from the office with body flickers. They appeared outside the main gates of the village and took to the trees.

"Any ideas who to go after first?" asked Raido.

"The least likely to kill us," answered Genma.

"And who would that be?" asked Guy.

"I would say Itachi or Shisui but considering what happened with the Uchiha Clan tonight that would be a bad idea," said Raido, thinking.

"What about Kakashi?" asked Guy. Genma shook his head no.

"I don't want to approach him without either his teammate or his father," answered Raido.

"So do you want to go for Rin or Sakumo first? I would prefer Sakumo. He's not a tailed-beast host. Plus he's always been calm," said Genma. Raido and Guy both agreed.

"Guess we are going to get the White Fang first," announced Genma. When they came to a clearing, he jumped down, the others following. Raido took Naruto while Genma pulled out the scroll of supplies and information the hokage supplied and pulled out the scroll on Sakumo Hatake. He immediately frowned.

"This says he has been spotted in the Land of Frost off and on for the past two years with two weeks ago being the most recent," said Genma.

"That's a long way. Guess we get him then work our way through the other islands before coming back to the mainland?" suggested Raido. Guy turned a light shade of green at the prospect of riding in a boat, but said nothing against the plan.

"Sounds good. With any luck Roukan or Jirayia will be with him. If not, then at least Sakumo can help with almost everybody else. Rin was pissed at him for choosing to exile himself and leaving Kakashi behind. How Kakashi reacts upon seeing his father will be anyone's guess," said Genma.

"What if Sakumo does not want to help the village that basically threw him out?" asked Guy. Genma frowned. He missed how exuberant his teammate used to be before Kakashi left. He was a little exuberant around the kids but not like he used to be.

"Then we will just have to convince him. I will not fail this mission," said Genma.

"So we are headed to Frost?" asked Raido, just to double check.

"Yeah. I suggest we move it will the kids are asleep. The hokage seemed to want us out of the Land of Fire. So let's move," said Genma. He stored the scrolls back into his backpack and took Naruto back from Raido. Then they once again became blurs in the trees.

Back in his office in the village Hidden in the Leaves, Third Hokage Hizuzen Sarutobi watched the sun start to rise. He said nothing when Jonin Commander Shikaku Nara entered the office. For a few minutes neither spoke.

"Are you sure about this plan, Lord Third?" asked the Nara, worry creasing his brow.

"Shikaku those two kids are our last major treasures. Those three men are the best we have. You know it and I know it. With the Uchiha gone, we are vulnerable. Only a select few know Naruto's true identity. Even fewer know Sasuke Uchiha survived the night. We are to keep it that way. In a few years I will be able to perform the ritual. Then our treasures can come home. Until then its best if they are with our best shinobi and away from here," explained the Third Hokage.

"They will have an army at that disposal by then," commented the Nara. The hokage smiled.

"That was part of the plan Shikaku," said the Sarutobi. "Kami willing, everything will go according to plan."