Leaves fluttered with the breeze. They soar up in the night sky, weightless and trapped to drifted wherever the winds took them. A dark shadow was cast upon the Leaf Village, clouds blocking the village from the moon's light. It made a perfect setting for one who didn't want to be detected. The darkness created cover and with that cover, a figure moved out of the shadows of their hiding spot. He wore no disguise to keep his identity hidden, there was no reason for such thing. After all he was no other than the Third Hokage. The embers in his pipe gave the smallest of glow as he inhales and then slowly exhaled the smoke, the vapors going up in the air before disappearing closed his eyes as if basking in the cool breeze of the night.

" I suspect that everything has went to plan," he spoke into the emptiness. As he open his eyes the dark clouds broke and there was light again. In front of the Hokage, was a figure dressed in dark close with a mask over their face. An Anbu Black Op.

" Lord Hokage" said the Anbu. The deep voice indicating it was a male." I'm obliged to report that all preparations are complete. My team is ready to head out on your command."

" You may rise, Rabbit," the Hokage said calling the man by the name of the animal mask he was wearing." I'm please that nothing went a muck. And I thank you and your team for embarking on this journey."

Rabbit bowed his head," It's nothing, my Lord. We Anbu are yours to command as you see fit, for we will carry out any order that you wish."

' Nice that there is still some loyalty.' The Third Hokage puffed out a few smoke rings before stepping forward. He pulled a scroll out of his sleeve and handed it to the Anbu.

" Make sure to take this with you. Once you found the village I want you to give that to whoever is in charge. From there we can only hope for the best."

The scroll was red with green edges on the sides. Rabbit could tell just by a glance that this was a scroll containing a serious matter. He put the scroll in his back pouch, making sure it was secured where it was before looking at the leader of the village.

" Also I need you to take this. If my words fail persuade them, maybe this will be evident enough." The Hokage held out a photo and Rabbit took it from his wrinkling fingers. He looked at the picture than at the Hokage.

" So this is the true reason for this mission?"

The Third nodded his head." It is. I hope you are successful on this mission."

Sensing that was his cue to leave, Rabbit gave a bow and vanished in a small vertex of leaves. Once again the Third Hokage was alone, puffing on his pipe as he looked at the full moon.

" It is time."

U.Z.U.

Three months later…

" I swear I'm gonna murder you two! You know I can make it look like a bloody accident!"

Kenai was not having a good day, despite the nice sunny weather that day. Winter had finally ended and Spring was arriving, warming up the air and defrosting the snow. The Sakura Blossoms had bloomed a little earlier that year but it didn't matter.

Kenai loved spring. A perfect time to sit under a shaded tree and read a good book, or go out and train.

However, his Spring wasn't going as planned thanks to his two younger brothers. Ike and Senji. The two red headed, troublemakers were ruining Kenai's day off and it wasn't even lunch time.

Kenai was minding his own business, getting some morning training in by the lake, when he was suddenly soaked by a huge wave. Drenched completely, Kenai was able to locate where the two where and chased all over the village.

" Calm down, Ken," said Ike.

" Yeah, I swear you need to relax. Stop being such a drama queen all the time, you're a Jounin for crying out loud," added in Senji.

Kenai growled under his breath, hands clenched as he was ready to hit something; mainly his two idiotic brothers. If those two weren't his brothers and he wasn't terrified of his own mother, Kenai would had beaten them both ten feet under.

" Well you two are Chuunin now, so you should be growing up and stop acting like children," he snapped back at them.

One of the made a 'tsk'ing sound and waved their finger at him." Ah ah ahh, temper temper, bro."

They both giggled at each other and once again Kenai was tempted to beat them to a pulp. Though he was proud that his little brothers advance to Chuunin, he couldn't help but think how that even happened. They hardly took anything seriously for one thing and they just saw being a Shinobi as a game.

They were heading to their estate so Kenai could change into dry clothes but also check in with their mother and brother, Taizen.

As they walked in, they announced their presence to the whole house.

" WE'RE HOME!" The three said together before taking off their open-toed shoes. Their feet padded softly on the clean wooden floors as they made their way to the kitchen.

" Mom, you in here?!" Senji called out.

" Ma! Tai!" Ike shouted.

" Ever heard of indoor voices?" Kenai rubbed the side of his head.

" Ever heard of stop being such a wussy and grow a pair?" Both snickered at Ike's comment which made Kenai fum.

" Okay, that it!" Kenai walked over to the two with fist held up, ready to strike them down when a noise caught their attention.

The brothers turn their heads seeing a figure walking towards them. They all relaxed seeing it was their brother, Taizen."

" Oh, it's only you," Senji said leaning against the doorway that led into the kitchen.

Tai didn't react to the comment and looked at them he glanced at Kenai he raised a brow at his damp clothes." I'm not even going to ask."

" Good because I didn't want you two anyways," Kenai responded.

" Say, where's mom?" Ike asked looking from side to side and around Tai." She didn't say anything about leaving today."

" Something came up, so she had to leave suddenly to the Tower," Tai explained.

The boys blinked in confusion and looked at the second oldest of the four. Kenai could see that Taizen didn't really want to bother explaining things to them as he rolled his eyes.

" To make a long story short, Anbu were captured crossing our borders. Strange thing is they surrender the second they were surrounded."

Kenai raised a brow as the thought of Anbu just going and giving up without a fight was a little odd. But he didn't voice his thoughts and looked at Taizen to continue.

" They claim they came in peace and were requested to speak to the Uzukage about something important."

" So? What was so important that mom would just up and leave?" Ike asked voicing what everyone else was thinking.

Tai shrugged his shoulders," Don't know. But I'm heading over to see what's going on. If you want to come along then hurry up, I'm leaving soon."

" Wait, before we do anything..." Senji started off saying.

"... What village are the captured Anbus from?" Ike finished.

Taizen didn't even turn to look back at them. He simply put on his gray-blue flak jacket and once he adjusted it he answered.

" The Leaf Village."

U.Z.U

Kushina stood by the Uzukage's desk, arms crossed with a glare on her face. In the middle stood the three Leaf Anbu Black Ops and behind them were some more Uzu nins and hidden, some Uzu Anbu just in case things went south. The Anbu were willing to give up their weapons once in the village though they held on to their masks so to prevent anyone from seeing their real faces. They stood shoulder to shoulder in front of Kushina and the Uzukage.

The Uzukage was a man who seem to be middle age. He had long golden hair that was tied in a ponytail. His skin was pale which made his sky blue eyes stand out. He was cleaned shaved with an pointy chin. In a way the man was beautiful looking, almost graceful.

" Now that everyone is accounted for," the Uzukage spoke, his voice light and calm." I suppose you can share the information that you claim to have."

Kushina looked at the three anbu members, resentment forming in her chest. And the fact that they were able to sniff out their village only made her resentment grow. Though she couldn't see their face, the anbu made Kushina remember her old home.

The Leaf Village, where she had spent most of her life at and for the longest time had called home. It was where she had became a ninja, met the love of her life. It was there that she had a family of her own. It would had been just her, Minato, her boys, and… No, she couldn't think about it. Pushing her thoughts aside she shifted on her feet.

Honestly she didn't understand why she was there. She was home, preparing for lunch when there was a knock on the door. A fellow ninja told her that the Uzukage requested for her.

Now she was going to be wasting her time here. So much for a day off.

Rabbit nodded and took a step forward." I will repeat; we did not come here to cause any trouble. We have word from the Third Hokage on certain matters."

Kushina raised an eyebrow. So Sarutobi had came out of retirement. She was unaware of this as she had left the village just a few days after that day.

" That so? But I'm curious, why must Lady Kushina be present for this?"

The red head beauty eyed the Uzukage. Like always the man never failed to pick up on things.

Rabbit cleared his throat," There are some things that would concern Lady Kushina. Personal matters."

Kushina lowered her arms, eyes looking at the man. She was curious but at the same time skeptical.." Personal matters? Like what?"

Rabbit looked at Kushina, she found it hard to figure out what he was thinking with the mask on his face. For a moment there was silence but Uzukage spoke up.

Kushina sighed as the man with the rabbit mask looked back at the Uzukage." First of all this year's Chuunin Exams are being held in the Leaf Village. The third would like to invite the Village Hidden in the Whirling Tides to the exams."

The Uzukage leaned back in his chair, fingers laced together." Chuunin Exams, huh?"

There was silence again as they all waited for the village leader to say something.

The village had been isolated every since they managed to reestablish their land. Those who were able to escape when the village was destroyed in the Great Ninja War went into hiding. It was over the years have those who survive came together and build the grand village that was now their new home, along with the land of Whirlpools. Joining in the exams will lead to coming about, letting the other villages know that they were alive. Though they were a stable country, their military wasn't as large as the others and they were still working on increasing their country economically.

Looking at the Uzukage, Kushina could tell that he was thinking this over. Being cautious with his actions as he always was.

" My land have went through many hardships," he finally spoke." Though we are mighty we are still weak compare to the Fire country and the other lands. Entering in these exams will not only completely expose us but risk having us attacked by neighboring nations as well."

" We understand your reasoning." This time it wasn't Rabbit who spoke but a woman who wore a owl mask." I'm not speaking for Lord Hokage but I am certain he would promise to provide assistance if such thing were to occur."

" The Leaf only wants to rekindle the friendship that it had with the Whirling Tides," said a man with the dog mask.

" As we said, it is only an invitation to participate in the exams or so that's what Lord Third had said," explain Rabbit." Truthfully the Chuunin Exams isn't the real reason why we came."

The tension in the air shifted to an atmosphere of confusion. Kushina watched at fellow ninjas mumbled to each other before settling down and observing once more. The Uzukage raised a brow and leaned forward in his chair, elbows on his desk.

" Is that so. Why come here at all then?"

" We hold a message from the Third, but for Lady Kushina," Rabbit explained.

Kushina's eyes widen, though it was only momentarily as Rabbit had mentioned that he had news for her. Slowly, as so not to startle anyone by his movements, Rabbit reached behind him and into his pouch. Kushina watched as he pulled out some kind of scroll and taking two steps forwards towards Kushina herself and extended his hand. The woman looked at the man before taking the scroll out of her hands. Everyone was watching her and she hated the feeling of eyes on her. She was about to open the rolled up message before Rabbit spoke up once more.

" And one more thing."

Kushina looked up and saw Rabbit pull out a single piece of paper from his breast pocket. It was when he gave the paper to Kushina did she realize that it was a photo.

" Lord Third said that if you don't believe in what he had written, that maybe that picture can change your mind."

Kushina was confused, thinking why the old man would need to give her some kind of photo to prove whatever he was trying to tell her.

It was when she glanced at the picture did she understand why he did it. Her blue-violet eyes widen, her heart started pounding in her chest. She didn't know what to do, all of her emotions coursing through her all at once.

The picture was that of a girl. Golden blond hair that rested down to the top of her shoulders. Cerulean blue eyes were looking up at her that seem to be bright and full of life as the girl smiled. On both sides of her cheeks were three, thin, dark lines. Kushina knew this girl, without a single doubt she knew her. A mother never forgot the face of their own child. Her eyes stung but quickly she realized it was her own tears, slowly rolling down her cheeks.

" Namaki," Kushina gasped out as if she forgot to breath for a moment.

" Yes," Rabbit nodded." Namaki Uzumaki is alive."

Just then the door open and four boys popped their heads in.