Author's Notes: A co-authored story with Lady1Venus. Will be using elements from the final chapters of the manga, but not all. In this, Kakashi never became Hokage and didn't lose his sharingan. Also, the battle between Sasuke and Naruto wasn't as brutal, as they never lost their arms or use of them. This is based from a roleplay we've done and are currently turning into a fanfic. Edits will be made to make it more sensible to the Naruto universe.

Prologue

After the Fourth Great Ninja War there was a lot of rebuilding to be done. The Allied Shinobi Forces had been disbanded, and each village returned to wearing their own respective headbands again. Returning to their old ways, the allied forces even helped to rebuild the Leaf village. Their alliance remained strong with one another, but the same couldn't be said for other ninja villages.

With the new peace, Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, felt perhaps it was time for her to step down and have Kakashi take her place. However, that never came to pass, thanks to support from the Leaf, they were able to convince her to remain Hokage for a little while longer. In that time it was decided they would work together to train Naruto to be the next Hokage, when he knew the proper ins and outs of that privilege. Meanwhile, Kakashi, who had first thought he lost the ability to use his sharingan, later learnt that wasn't true. He now had the ability to deactivate it and no longer needed to cover that eye.

During the course of the rebuilding, Sasuke asked for immunity, having to undergo an investigation. He committed acts against the Leaf, but he played a key role in ending the war. At first he stated he would be Hokage, but after his battle with Naruto, he came to realize the blonde's intentions and thought he was best suited for the job. Once Sasuke was evaluated, he was given permission to return to the Leaf and become a Leaf shinobi again. Both he and Naruto worked hard into achieving part of their goal by becoming Jonin.

As life was slowly returned back to normal in the Hidden Leaf, Orochimaru and Kabuto began to work on rebuilding his empire, this time as a real ninja village. The Hidden Sound Village was originally a cover up to Orochimaru's true objective, but with everything that had happened, there wasn't much to the hidden village anymore. The two worked together on recruiting new members to make the village flourish once again. They already had a start on it with two female followers, who had remained in one of the hidden lairs from back before the war when Orochimaru was killed, until after when the snake nin returned, much to their surprise.

The search for good fighting shinobi was harder than originally anticipated, but Orochimaru didn't stop. His empire would return to its former glory. It wasn't until sometime later when he received a major shock. While away from their newly formed Hidden Sound Village, Lord Orochimaru and Kabuto soon found five figures approaching them. They were immediately on their guard until one of them called out.

"My lord!" It was the familiar voice of a fallen comrade, one that held a rare kekkei genkai of his dead clan. A bone wielder that had long since passed. It couldn't be… Surely enough the two parties met, revealing the Sound Ninja Five alive.

"What is this?" the snake nin was in disbelief.

The five knelt down, bowing upon seeing their master.

Kabuto blinked. "I don't understand what is going on. How are you alive? You were all killed by Genin of the Leaf and Sand."

Tayuya, the only female of the group looked up. "It's a long story, but one we have to tell and fast."

Kimimaro spoke. "My lord, there's something called the 'Fountain of Youth', with it somehow we were revived as well as all the members of the Akatsuki."

Still not believing it, Orochimaru had the man approach him. "If you're really Kimimaro...than prove it." Those commanding words would tell if they were impostors.

Doing as he was told, Kimimaro drew a sword from a bone he pulled from his body, handing it to the snake nin to prove it wasn't fake. Surely enough it was him.

"Why would the Akatsuki be brought back?" asked Kabuto, confused.

Tayuya shook her head. "It's unclear but we managed to escape, not wanting to be a part of this quest the leader has planned out. He wants to destroy the Leaf and was hoping we'd lead him to you." It was obvious their loyalties were intact. Death hadn't changed that.

Kidomaru looked up. "We made sure we weren't followed. But we weren't the only ones resurrected."

"So it would seem. So you found you way back to me after all these years." A chill came over the group, still remembering their 'failures'. "Very well," Orochimaru said finally with a smirk. "We'll talk more about this later. But for now, the Fourth Ninja War is over. It would be nice to have the old team back together. Wouldn't you say Kabuto?"

"I agree, and in the lair you can perhaps explain in more detail in what you know," Kabuto answered.

"I'm sure the girls will be happy to see you again." The Sannin spoke loud enough so only the bone wielder could hear. He then handed back his sword, which the pale ninja absorbed back into his body.

"So the fourth war actually ended?" asked Sakon. "When did that happen?"

"It ended a little over a year ago." Kabuto turned and began walking back towards the lair.

It took the group almost an hour to return and once just inside the lair, they were greeted with the only other members the village had, the two women.

"Kimi!" a dark haired woman gasped from the shadows. Everyone could hear the gasp escape from the woman and the sounds of steps backward. "I...I... but you're dead..."

Kimimaro surprised to see the girl. He's expression eased. "Tessa..." the tone of his voice was calm, letting her know it belonged to him.

A slight shade of red hair could be seen, also from the darkness, which belonged to the other girl. She was silent seeing the five that were known to be dead. "Kimi...?" The sound of shock yet desperation; wanting to believe it was true.

"Girls..." the snake nin spoke. "It would seem the old team has been resurrected."

"Resurrected?! How!?" asked the girl who was called out as Tessa, still standing in the darkness.

"We're on our way inside to discuss the matter further. I'm sure our Lord wouldn't mind if you two tagged along," Kabuto responded, pushing his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose. "There's apparently much to discuss."

Both girls nodded and the group continued deeper into the lair where they learnt many things, including the resurrection of more ninja.

Nearly at the same time another meeting was about to be deployed. In the heart of the Hidden Leaf Village, Tsunade received a coded message from an undercover source of the resurrections. The news troubled her greatly, but at the same time she was in utter shock. The message stated about resurrection of some of her own men, as well as the Sound Ninja Five.

Tsunade's heart filled will dread as an idea suddenly formed. If the Akatsuki were back, the allied shinobi forces were not strong enough to handle such a feat. A new ally was going to need to be added to the mix, and that ally was not something she was going to take lightly. This new ally was going to have to be someone who could match the Akatsuki at their own game. There was only one who could fit that description…Orochimaru. Who had helped turn the tide of the war, though for a good portion of it he was incapacitated until the very end.

Immediately Tsunade sent for a messenger bird. It didn't take her long to attach an encrypted message written out to her old teammate, of the matter and to form an alliance. She knew it would be hard to contact him and take days for her to get a reply back. When she did, she had frowned on the message given back to her. She had expected for the pale Sannin to give her grief on the matter, and when she read his answer she could imagine his mocking voice in her head speaking the words on the paper.

For a few weeks messages travelled back and forth before finally Tsunade was given the answer she was hoping for. He had agreed to an alliance and even suggested to an escort led by Kakashi Hatake. In no time, Tsunade had a team assemble before her, in her office.

As usual, Kakashi was the last to arrive. "You wanted to see me?" he asked.

"Late as usual, I see!" called out Kakashi's rival friend.

The sharingan user gave a silent groan.

"I have asked you four here for a reason," Tsunade interrupted.

Kakashi looked around to see Gai, Genma, and Yamato surrounded him. He then turned to the Hokage.

"You four are to travel to the Land of Rice Patties and escort Orochimaru and his entourage here."

"Milady?" Yamato questioned. "Is that wise? I know he helped in the war and all…" Tsunade raised a hand to him, immediately silenced the wood release user.

"You are to bring them here where they will sign an alliance treaty and live here for awhile. This treaty is between the Leaf and Sound. The contents of your mission are in this scroll. Kakashi, you are leader of the mission as Orochimaru specifically asked for you." She held out a scroll.

Kakashi reached forward, taking it.

"You are not to open the scroll until after you have left the village. The fewer who knows about this, the better. Once you four have read the mission, you are to burn it, leaving no evidence of the mission." The woman paused. "There is another scroll within that contains the treaty. You are to gather your things and leave immediately."

The four men nodded.

"Yes, milady," Kakashi answered.

The men then left the room to gather what they needed and start their mission.