Chapter 1: Alliance

Two chuunin shinobi stood at the west gate of Konoha conversing through their shift until one said "Man, I'm so bored. Something could at least happen once in a while you know?" Leaning against the wall with his hands behind his head, his face clearly showing his boredom, he gave a sigh.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. But even if something does happen the jounin always get sent. It's not exactly fair." The other agreed with a yawn.

"Hey, I think we just got our wish." The first shinobi spoke with a smile, pointing towards the pathway. Sure enough there were figures in cloaks and hats, faces hidden, walking towards the gate. The closer they got the more the smile of the shinobi disappeared off his face. "They're the akatsuki. Look at the clouds on their cloaks."

"Are they going to attack? This is bad, we should call for backup."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I'll go."

Just as his back was turned a male voice was heard "Stop, we are not here to fight." The shinobi looked at his partner "What are you waiting for? Go!" Suddenly something came out the ground that held their feet. The two looked down and saw it was tentacles of some sort and it was getting tighter the more they struggled.

"I told you to stop. Now if you want to live then listen to what I'm about to say." The same voice said, coming from the one in front of the group. Seeing the unsure look on their faces a female voice said "If I were you I'd listen to him as he really will kill you." The two shinobi exchanged glances but nodded.

"Now, we are not here to attack this village. Just bring your hokage here. You, the one who wanted to run, go fetch her." The shinobi weighed his chances and decided it was best to listen to what they were saying. The tentacles around the shinobi's feet loosened and he immediately ran to the hokage tower.

…

Tsunade walked down the empty halls of the hokage tower, the clacking sound of her heels echoing through the halls, to start off with her daily checkups. She didn't know why she was doing it as she usually skipped them but she just felt like it today. It was a lovely day so far, for her that is, but Tsunade knew it wouldn't last for long. Sooner or later someone would come up with a huge stack of papers needing her stamp of approval or come ask for a mission and during those times she would wonder why she chose to be hokage. She already had enough work and she didn't need more. Her intuition was usually right and sure enough a shinobi appeared in front of her.

She gave him a glance and continued walking on; she was in no mood for nonsense. The shinobi followed her faithfully while trying to get her attention "Tsunade-sama, I have urgent news." This caught her attention but she still walked on. "What is it?" She replied hiding her curiosity. "You are needed immediately at the west gate. The Akatsuki are asking for you personally." "WHAT? Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Tsunade immediately changed her direction to a nearby window and jumped out. The shinobi shook his head with his arms crossed and didn't bother replying.

Tsunade headed to the west gate at full speed, she couldn't waste more time than she already had. She couldn't go alone though and stopped at Kakashi's house. She banged on the door a few times before shouting "KAKASHI GET YOUR LAZY ASS OUT HERE!" She knew it was his day off and he usually slept in on his days off but surprisingly he was dressed in his uniform and trademark book in hand when he opened the door. "Yes, Tsunade-s-." "Come!" Tsunade interrupted and grabbed his arm and she continued to her destination still dragging a protesting Kakashi.

He pulled his arm out her grasp and kept up with her pace, knowing she wouldn't come to him for nothing. Tsunade then explained briefly what had occurred and his eyes widened slightly. They travelled in silence till they got to the gate. The Akatsuki were all sitting against trees waiting for them and one of them said "It's about time, yeah."

…

Tsunade reread the scroll in her hands; eyebrows furrowed, and looked up. The hokage room had a few other people in who Tsunade had sent for. Tsunade sat in her desk. To Tsunade's right stood Shizune with Tonton. To her left was Kakashi leaning against the wall. On the right side of the room were Naruto, Sakura, Neji, Shikamaru and Ino. On the left side of the room were Shikaku and Inoichi. In the middle of the room stood all the members of the Akatsuki except Zetsu, who apparently had been working with Madara all the time, Sasori, him being dead, and Tobi.

Tsunade looked back at the scroll deep in thought. Was it a good idea to agree? Could she trust them? The scroll in her hands was a request from the Akatsuki to form an alliance with Konoha because to fight Madara they needed more help. Tsunade couldn't deny the fact that Madara was a very powerful shinobi, maybe even the most powerful at the moment, but to agree to form an alliance with the Akatsuki was a dangerous idea. Scratch that, it was damn strange that they were asking for an alliance after all the times they went after Naruto.

Chewing her lip she looked to Shikaku for assistance. She handed him the scroll and he read with a raised eyebrow. He looked up from the scroll and inquired "Now what happens if Madara is possibly defeated? Will this alliance be terminated?" Pein shook his head and said "Madara was the main reason we collected the biju and we see no reason to do so anymore. That and some of the members will be returning to their countries if given the permission from their kage." Shikaku gave her a nod and she sighed in defeat. "Okay fine, we will form this alliance but if anyone of you even dares to harm my people I will not hesitate to break off the alliance and kill you."

"I assure you no one will harm your people; I will make sure of that." Pein said while glaring at his men. Tsunade signed the scroll and said "I see everyone also signed this scroll."

Pein shrugged and, looking straight at Hidan, said "It was rather a … hassle to get them to agree to this alliance. They were mostly against it." They had made sure to stitch Hidan's mouth closed before they came here since no one was in the mood for his blabbering, that and the fact that he could ruin things for them with his insults.

"Tsunade-baachan, are you sure about this? It doesn't seem safe to trust these guys." Naruto said while glaring at Pein. "I actually agree with Naruto on this. Is this the right decision to make, Tsunade-sama?" Neji said. Pein looked to Naruto then back at Tsunade and before she could reply said "This alliance could benefit us all and if we wanted to destroy this village we would have done it a long time ago." Naruto wanted to say something more but Sakura elbowed him in the ribs to get him to keep quiet.

The silence went on for a moment and Naruto was giving evil looks at the akatsuki who all just ignored him except Hidan who glared right back. "It's all so strange, yeah." said Deidara, breaking the silence, while looking at his feet. "It's hard to believe the annoying brat that followed me around is one of the most powerful shinobi in existence."

"Yeah, we should have known that annoying voice and hyperactivity was just a façade. That annoying brat cost us a fortune for the all damage he did." Kakuzu complained with a grumble. There were murmurs of agreement from the members, clearly remembering terrible times with Tobi.

Suddenly there was an explosion from outside and Tsunade immediately looked outside her window. There was smoke coming from the middle of the village and there more explosions making buildings collapse. The akatsuki looked at Deidara and he shook his head violently and said "It wasn't me, yeah." An ANBU shinobi appeared in front of Tsunade's desk and explained the situation. "Lady Tsunade, Root is attacking the village!" Naruto and Sakura looked at each other with one person in their mind: Sai.

"What? It's Danzou's doing, the old goat!" Tsunade said and stood up heading to the door. "Send all shinobi to defend the village. Sakura, Shizune, Ino, come with me. The hospital will need us. Naruto, Kakashi, Neji, go find Danzou and capture him. And you Akatsuki, you wanted an alliance so you help us now." And with that she left the room with the three women following her.

The Konoha shinobi gave one final look at the Akatsuki before leaving through the window. Hidan elbowed Kakuzu and when he had Kakuzu's attention pointed to his lips. Kakuzu sighed and removed the stitches and Hidan said "Fucking finally. It's time for some fucking action." while walking towards the window with his trademark grin. Pein pulled him back and said "Search for injured civilians and shinobi and bring them to the hospital. That goes for everyone and no killing. Also, remove your cloaks before everyone panics."

"But if they're going to die I can sacrifice them right?" Hidan asked. Pein gave him one glare and Hidan said "Fine! Sheesh, you don't have to fucking look at me like that." Kakuzu sighed at his partner's stupidity and gave him a warning look. Hidan shrugged and removed his cloak before jumping out the window. The rest all followed and removed their cloaks, dumping it in the room, before jumping out the window.

…

Naruto, Neji and Kakashi jumped from building to building looking for Danzou. Naruto was still bemused with the events that happened during the day and Root attacking the village just made everything worse. What was Danzou thinking, attacking his home village? Was he crazy or something? Maybe the old age finally got to him, the old bat. Naruto sighed and wondered whether Sai was helping Danzou with whatever he was planning. He looked up to see dark gray clouds taking over the once clear blue sky, threatening to burst at any moment and sighed again. Things couldn't get any worse could it?

Kakashi had his sharingan activated and Neji had his byakugan activated, both searching for the chakra of Danzou. They had already checked the council's building and homes along with Koharu's and Homura's and it was getting bothersome. It was as if Danzou had planned it all out. Neji then said "I've spotted him. He is 12 km away east in a clearing. He is not moving and is appearing to be waiting for something." "Right, let's go." Kakashi said and the three sped towards Danzou.

…

Sakura darted from patient to patient doing her best to heal them as best she could just to stabilize them enough for them to move. She had to reserve her chakra for more patients as there were more arriving every few minutes brought in by akatsuki members. There was no more room for patients in beds and they now had to be placed on the floor. She could still hear explosions now and then but her mind was busy already. She was sweating heavily and, looking up; Ino was in no better condition, as was Shizune. Tsunade and Shizune dealt with the more heavy wounds while Ino and Sakura tended to the minor injuries.

After what seemed like forever the flow of patients seemed to decrease and Sakura sighed in relief. She was exhausted along with everyone else and wiped her forehead. She was sad that they had lost a few ninja and folk but the explosions seemed to have stopped for the time being. "Right, I'm going to help Kakashi and Naruto. Sakura, Ino stay here in case anything else happens." Tsunade said. "But Shishou, your chakra…" Sakura protested. Tsunade just waved her away and walked towards the exit. It was now or never to find out what was happening.

…

Hinata wiped her forehead and looked at the mess that was earlier the bustling village of Konoha. The buildings were reduced to piles of rubble and while some were lucky to be standing, were still damaged in some way. There were bodies of the enemy scattered around and she herself was exhausted and had a few wounds but was not anything serious. The strange thing was, the enemy had suddenly just retreated and had left their wounded to die. Yamato, Lee, Tenten, Kiba and Shino were all fighting alongside her and were catching their breath. The only one who was hurt badly was Lee who had a broken leg. Kiba looked around and said "They were Konoha shinobi right? So why were they attacking the village?"

Tenten shrugged while Shino and Hinata said nothing. It was a long day for all of them. "Let's get Lee to the hospital before it gets worse." Tenten said and slung one of Lee's arms over her shoulder while Kiba took the other arm. The three headed towards the hospital with Yamato following. Hinata looked up, the sky was now completely gray, and she knew things couldn't be good. Using her byakugan she searched for the one person always on her mind and, picking up his chakra, ran towards it with a confused Shino calling after her but following anyway.

…

Naruto, Kakashi and Neji arrived at Danzou's location only to find the elder had a small smile on his face. He stated "It's about time you came. I was getting tired of waiting." "Danzou, what have you done?!" Naruto shouted. "I was just doing someone a favour. Now where is our main guest? Ah, here she comes now." Just as he spoke Tsunade arrived and she did not look happy to see Danzou. Soon after Hinata arrived with Shino and was relieved to see Naruto was fine. A light drizzle had started.

"Anyway… Konoha is going to be destroyed, along with the villagers and shinobi by next week. Thereafter we will be killing any shinobi we see skulking around. Konoha will be no more and will be erased from all existence. Why? Because it and along with everyone else is in the way of a certain someone's plan." Danzou answered whatever questions everyone had in those few sentences. "Then we will just kill you right now!" Tsunade shouted and everyone took battle stances. "That would just null the use of everything I did so I don't think that will be happening anytime soon." Rain started falling.

With that he made a signal and Root shinobi came from all directions, surrounding Naruto and everyone else. "So that's why they just suddenly retreated." Hinata thought. Tsunade, Hinata and Shino stood back to back watching their enemy closely and so did Naruto, Kakashi and Neji. "Kill them." Danzou ordered and left into the shadows. Just as his men were about to attack Hinata felt someone pulling her up and heard:

"Katsu!" The Root shinobi were blown up, bodies flying everywhere, along with screams and curses. Hinata opened her eyes to find herself in a nearby tree as was everyone else but in different trees. "Just in time, yeah." Hinata heard behind her and found her savior was none other than Deidara. "T-Thank you." She said and Deidara replied "No problem, yeah. Where'd that old geezer go?"

Byakugan

Hinata searched around only to find that Danzou had completely disappeared. She shook her head and Deidara sighed and shouted to the other members "He's gone. No trace left, yeah!" Hinata heard grumbles and jumped down from the tree as did everyone else. "What are we going to do…?" Naruto asked. "We have to evacuate. As much as I don't want to, Danzou wasn't joking. Let's go back to the village and get everyone together. I want all shinobi at this spot tomorrow." Tsunade replied with a solemn expression. Rain fell down heavily and everyone rushed to get back to their village.

A/N: Just something that has been on my mind for a while. I don't think it's good but it won't leave me alone so I just had to post it.