This is my first story in such a long time! I'm really rusty, so please bear with me!

The Sound's Beautiful Song

Chapter 1 - A Stranger is an Ally

The mission was a success. Gaara was safely returned to Suna and there was only one casualty (who gave her life for a very noble cause).The village hidden in the leafs was disturbed by the loudmouth ninja Naruto once again after he and the several other nin involved in the Gaara mission returned home. They had only had a few days of rest when Tsunade called for a group meeting. It seemed like Naruto had only just returned from his three years of training with Jiraiya only to be thrown into a new mission like he had never left. "Oh well." He thought to himself. "I'm just glad Garra is save now."

He was currently walking down the streets of Konoha with Sakura at his side. It hadn't really dawned on him until now that she had grown up quite a bit, just like he had. She was so much stronger, and smarter too. Way smarter then he was. When he first saw her, he was a little taken back by how pretty she had gotten, not that she wasn't pretty before, but not she seemed to carry herself with more confidence and Naruto like confidence.

The two team mates were on there way to receive some information from Tsunade. Sakura had said it sounded pretty important and that they should head over there as soon as she found Naruto. Nothing too serious had happened to the village in the past couple of years, so for something like this to be so important has Sakura worried. They had just returned from a mission and already something else was happening, but just what was so important that they needed to all meet now? Before she realized it they had already reached the Hokage's building and went inside. They climbed the stairs and reached her office, but Sakura paused at the door.

"What's wrong Sakura?"

"…oh, it's nothing." She smiled lightly before opening the door. "Lady Tsunade, I'm here with Naruto."

Tsunade had the usual mound of paperwork on her desk. She didn't bother looking up from them before saying "Just in time, come in."

Lee's team, Shikamaru's team and Kiba's team were already there, standing in front of her desk. Naruto gave everyone a big grin as they all smiled back.

"Good to see you Naruto!""How ya doin'?"

"Are you any stronger?"

Tsunade interrupted the reunion by clearing her throat and finally looking up from the paperwork. She leaned back in her chair and looked around the room. "I normally wouldn't call you all at once like this, but I feel you all should know about this now. I want you all to pay close attention to what I am going to say, especially you, Naruto."

Naruto had a serious look on his face and nodded. Tsunade began to speak. "We have reason to believe that the Akatsuki will be making their move on Konoha much sooner then we thought. Garra was just their warning." The news was met with chatter about what might happen next. If the incident with Gaara was only a warning, just what were the Akatsuki capable of?

Tsunade continued once it was quiet again. "One of our allies has been collecting information on the Akatsuki as well as Orochimaru for the past three years. What she has learned will be of great importance to us and it is because of this that I have called you all here. You see.." There was a slight pause as she leaned forward onto her desk, resting her head on her folder hands. "She is a target of both of these enemies and before she ends up being killed, I have called her to come to Konoha at once."

"What?! But won't that lead them right to us?" Ino busted out.

Shikamaru added to this rebuttal. "They would have even more of a motive to attack us then if both of them are here. It would be killing two birds with one stone…"

Tsunade lifted her head up and smiled. "That's true, but they have no idea where she is."

"How are you so sure?" Neji inquired.

"She has been in hundreds of disguises the entire time she has been collecting information. No one has seen what she really looks like in years."

The room was silent for several minutes. No one knew what to say. Just who was this strange ninja and could they really trust her? There were so many questions to ask.

"But just incase they do decide to attack, I want at least one of you guard her 24/7. This will be the mission for all of you until he leaves. Do you understand?"

Everyone nodded.

Tsunade stood up and smacked her hands on the desk. "She should be here early tomorrow morning. Naruto, Sakura and Neji, the three of you will accompany me at the main gate to greet her." She reached for a folder at the top of her pile of paper and handed it to Sakura. It was a ninja log; a very thin one at that. There was no picture, no physical description or what kind of jutsu she used. It said she was from the sound village and was the only ninja to escape Orochimaru's influence alive. "That is all the information we have on her. Obviously it isn't much but at least it will give you some knowledge of who she is."

Naruto snatched the folder away from Sakura, receiving a "Hey!" which he ignored as he waved it in the air. "It says she used to work for Orochimaru! How do you know he doesn't still have some control over her?"

"Because she has no curse mark."

"…oh." Naruto lowered the paper down and looked it over again. "Did she get rid of it or something?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. He was still the idiot she had always known. "Idiot! How would you get rid of something like that?"

"I dunno..How else would she escape from Orochimaru?"

"It says here she never had one." Neji said calmly, pointing to a specific area on the paper.

"Huh? How?" Ino asked.

Neji read on. "She acted as one of his most important underlings and slowly came to earn the trust of Orochimaru." He handed the folder back to Sakura. "I guess he trusted her enough that he didn't think she needed one."

"Wow…"

"But how are we so sure that she won't do the same thing to us? What if she betrays us too?" Shikamaru's question was quickly answered by the Hokage.

"She will be killed." The blunt answer left the room quiet until she started to speak again. "I have already gone over this with her. She knows her life is on the line if she so much as mentions Konoha's name anywhere near Akatsuki or Orochimaru." Tsunade's eyes were strong and showed just how serious she was. It was then that Naruto realize they weren't dealing with any normal ninja.

"That's all I have to say. You are all dismissed."

The ninjas shuffled out of the room and went off in their separate directions. Neji met with Naruto and Sakura outside Tsunade's office to remind them about tomorrow morning before he left as well. The two team mates looked at each other for a moment before heading out as well.

The sky was dark as night had quickly taken over Konoha. Had the meeting really been that long? Sakura looked at the paperwork for the mysterious ninja as they walked home. "Just from reading her history, she seems pretty strong."

"Hey what's her name anyway?"

"You mean you didn't look at that yet?" Sakura sighed and pointed to the top of the page. "Her name is Liyuki. There's no last name given."

Naruto repeated the name and let in slid off his tongue. It was a unique name; a nice name. He liked it. The rest of the way was silent until they reached Sakura's house. The two of them smiled at each other once she reached the door. She waved with one hand while the other held on tightly to Liyuki's folder. "Don't forget Naruto, be at the main gate early tomorrow, ok?"

"Yea yea.."

"I mean it! Don't be late as usual!" She smiled and waved again. "See ya tomorrow." The only sound on the street was the door closing and the howl of a sudden gust of wind. Naruto stood there looking at the house for another minute or so before slowly walking to his own house. His hands in his pockets and his head down, Naruto wasn't looking forward to having to get up early the next morning, but that feeling was pushed aside once he remembered he was meeting the mysterious ninja from the sound village.

"Hopefully she'll know something about Sasuke..something…anything." The moonlight around him flickered as the passing clouds seemed to turn the only light on and off. He looked up and smiled softly, seeing his house in the distance.

"Liyuki…hmm…"

Pronounced Lee-you-key Weird name, I know XP

First chapters are never that exciting, bit it will get better! I promise!