In a time where Japan was ruled by clans; four stood out from all the rest. The Uchiha, the Uzumaki, the Hyuga, and the Sabaku.
The Sabaku clan was known for producing the best warriors, they had the smallest army but the best fighters. They focused on the quality of the soldier If a man couldn't pull his weight he couldn't be a warrior. They are led now by Yodamie Sabakus son Kankuro.
The Uchiha clan was the largest, they were the most respected, most of them could talk better than they could fight and managed to stay out of many wars, they were led by Itachi Uchiha.
The Uzumaki clan rivaled the Sabakus military might, and their army was bigger, but the only clan ever stupid enough to attack the Sabakus outright was the Hyugas. The Uzumaki clan was led by Minato Uzumaki.
The Hyuga clan is the newest clan to come to power, they were led by Hiashi Hyuga and had many great warriors, and many great speakers. After rising to power they began absorbing smaller clans and making land grabs. They went all the way to the Sabaku border, and then went over it. They attacked the Sabaku clan and then they were led by a man whose name is not spoken by high ranking Sabakus.
The man crushed the Hyuga army every time they attacked, he was the greatest warrior the Sabaku clan ever brought into the war, and he was exiled when Hiashi came to power.
The Hyuga clan had surrendered and made a pact with the Sabaku clan. They became one clan, the people still differentiated between themselves being Sabaku or Hyuga, but the people got along. The Hyuga clan took care of politics, where the Sabakus led the military.
The Uchiha and Uzumaki had also come to the same agreement.
Four clans became two, and now they are fighting the largest war ever known to humanity.
Itachis log boat stormed the beach and his men were immediately beaten back by Sabaku troops. Sasukes long boat hit land and the two were fighting for every inch of sand.
Neji Hyuga, the best warrior the Hyugas clan had was in the middle of the fray and struck down man after man with his broad sword. He found himself face to face with Sasuke Uchiha and the two fought until both were barely standing by their own power.
Kankuro was fighting with Itachi and he was being overpowered. This fight was lost, with the Uchihas leading Uzumaki men, they were doomed from the very beginning.
Neji slashed out and Sasuke couldn't move fast enough. His cry filled the battlefield and everyone had stopped moving and looked at the arm now laying severed from its owner on the ground.
Sasuke grabbed his arm off the ground and ran back to the ship his men running with him. This caused Itachi to have to pull back as well or risk being over run on the sides.
Each side had lost many more men than they had hoped they would lose, and Itachi had been able to fit all the men left under their command on one ship.
Kankuro and Neji watched as the men sailed back to the other side of the bay.
"They will come back." Kankuro said.
"Hyuga-sama has asked both of you to report to his chambers." Temari said coming up behind the two men, Temari was Kankuros older sister, but neither of them remember their older brother. The man was exiled when they were very young. He had led the Sabaku forces when he was younger than Kankuro was now, but he had done something to anger the Sabaku council and was exiled.
The two men nodded and went to Hiashis tent.
"You two have been like sons to me." Hiashi coughed. "But I am not long for this world. When I leave this place you will need a good leader, a strong leader. One who can led us through this war." Hiashi said. Stopping every few words to cough.
"You shouldn't say such words uncle, there is still hope for recovery." Neji said.
"No my child. There is no hope. No hope unless you find him." Hiashi said.
Kankuro immediately knew who he was talking about. He was the best there had ever been. There had never been a better swordsman, a better tactician, or a better speaker in all of the Subaku clan.
"He would never help us after what we did to him." Kankuro said. Neji was still somewhat lost.
"You must find Gaara Sabaku." Hiashi said. "He is the only one who can lead you through this war and make it out alive." he fell asleep a few seconds after he finished talking and the two men walked outside.
"He wants us to find my older brother." Kankuro said.
"I don't know much about him." Neji responded.
"He was exiled for loving another man." Kankuro spat. Back in the days when the Sabaku council had seen gay men as weak and unfit for military duty they had exiled him. What had really been the kicker was it was Gaaras lover who told the counsel about them.
"Deidara!" Neji yelled. Deidara was a man of twenty three years old, and weighed only one hundred and ten pounds. He had back length blonde hair and bright blue eyes. His clan had been absorbed by the Hyugas before he was born, he was the same age as Kankuros older brother.
"Find these people, and have them meet me at the front gate, but before you do that go to our living quarters and pack our bags we are going on an adventure." Neji said.
Kankuro looked at him as if he had grown a second head. Deidara scampered away to do what was asked of him.
"You can't be serious! My brother will never fight for this clan!" Kankuro yelled.
"Well I must try, it is my uncles last wish, I can not let him down." Neji said.
Neji, Deidara, Shikamaru, Kankuro, and a few other high-ranking soldiers in the Sabaku army who had served with Gaara. They set out that morning and it didn't take very long to find any rumors about Gaara Sabaku.
It was said he was the most ruthless sellsword to ever walk the earth, he found to wound and killed men, women and children alike. The only piece of legitimate information Neji had gotten all day was that he had and another man had created a mercenary company called Bijuu.
It took weeks to get to the Bijuu encampment. Neji, Deidara, and Kankuro walked in first and Deidara couldn't help but feel this was all going to go to hell very quickly.
"We need to speak to Gaara." Neji said.
The two guards looked at each other and nodded. They led the group through winding hallways and up and down stairs until they got to a large banquet hall. There were ten long tables capable of seating hundreds of people at once.
That is where they found him, his red hair was the same color as blood and his eyes were a sea green color but they found them almost dull and lifeless.
On his left was a man wearing the same kind of armor as Gaara but orange, and on the other side green.
"What do you need." Gaara said without looking at the group.
"We need to speak to you." Neji said.
"About what?" Gaara said. To say he seemed uninterested would be an understatement. The man in the green armor stood up.
"I shall speak to them my lord. I will tell you want they would require from us and then I will relay the information." the green armored man said. Gaara nodded and waved his hand to dismiss them.
They followed the green armored man out of the hall and into a few smaller rooms.
"My name is Lee," he said. "I have fought at Gaara and Naruto's side since they found me." Lee started. "Gaara has, well he has been lost in thought lately, it gets worse everyday. His eyes once shone bright and they seemed full of life, but now he sits there, he drinks mead and fights with the men. He will not talk to me or Naruto." Lee finished trying to explain Gaaras behavior.
"It is fine my new friend." Neji said. "I am Neji, this is Deidara, and Kankuro." he said motioning to the two other men.
Lees eyes went wide at Deidara's name. "You mean he is thee Deidara?" Lee asked.
Neji looked at Deidara who was looking at the ground. "What do you mean "thee Deidara?" Lee." Neji asked.
Lee shook his head. "Gaara calls his sword Dei." Lee said. "As in Deidara."
Neji looked at Deidara. "What is the meaning of all this?" Neji asked the blonde haired man.
"Gaara and I loved each other, but your uncle found out about us, and he wanted Gaara gone. He was afraid that if the people ever thought he was to hard on them they would turn to Gaara. He was so full of life when he led the Sabaku forces." Deidara said, his eyes were starting to look wet as if he was about to cry. "I was forced to tell the Sabaku counsel about the two of us, and they exiled him, they allowed me to stay as long as I had no contact with Gaara. It broke my heart every day, but my home is with the Hyuga clan, as much as I wanted to leave I couldn't." a tear ran down Deidara's cheek.
"Do you regret not leaving with him?" Neji asked.
"Every day of my life." Deidara responded.