Eight years from when Naruto left off, Naruto is now hokage and the world is at peace. The fifth created a contract with all other nations to eliminate fightinng and wars. Many ninjas retired after this, including Sasuke, Sakura, Sai, Kiba, Hinata, etc. But suddenly Naruto needs those ninjas, now, after he learns of an uprising...
"Naruto-sama!"
Naruto looked up from his Important Scrolls and bowl of ramen to see the young man rushing into his office. "What is it, Ran?"
"Naruto-sama, something terrible has happened! A group of rebels have made themselves known, and they are a threat to the peace!"
The ramen bowl shattered on the bowl. "Oh no!"
"There seems to be about five, one from each of the villages, Ran continued. "They pose a threat because they have some of the most exclusive nin jutsu blood traits. There numbers may be small, but they could start a revolt..."
"I know exactly who to call. I will only trust 15 ex-ninja on this mission. Oh, any myself." Naruto grinned.
"Um, s-sir. Which 15? I'll pull-"
"Don't worry about it, Ran. I'll take care of it."
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Sakura looked around the restaurant. It wasn't a big restaurant, just a bar and a few tables. She leaned against the bar, bored with wiping down tables and such, so she didn't notice when a young woman dressed in an elaborately beautiful kimono walked in.
The woman seated herself at the bar and tapped lightly on the counter to get Sakura's attention.
"Oh, sorry, I was spacing out." Sakura turned around to face the pupiless woman. "Oh my God, Hinata? Is that you?"
"Hello, Sakura. yes, it's really me," she said in a quiet voice, same as ever. Hinata smiled. She certainly had grown into her looks, from the way Sakura saw it. She her lustrous black hair that framed a high-cheeked face, as well as... other assets.
"Well, what can I get you?" she turned to face the various nozels.
"Just some water." Sakura grabbed a glass and held it under the tap.
"So..." Sakura said. There wasn't as much catching up as she had hoped there would be. So with a small sigh, she closed the tap and gave the glass to Hinata. Hinata only stared at the ice floating in the water. "Why did you come all the way out here?" The restaurant was off the beaten track by a long ways, a few miles from Konaha.
"Well," Hinata said sheepishly. Though she was a talented ninja, she was bad at lying, adn a slow blush crept over her face. "I was actuallt sent here because of Naruto."
"Naruto-kun?" Sakura was surprised. She hadn't spoken to Naruto since last year, when he became hokage after Tsunade resigned. "What does he want?"
"He didn't say. he said he wanted to speak with you in person. You... and quite a few others."
"Who else?" Sakura's heart beat. She only wanted to hear one name.
"Um... I believe he mentioned Sai-kun, Sasuke-kun, Choji-kun, Neji-kun, Ino-san..." Hinata trailed off, but Sakura's heart was still working overtime. It had been years since she saw Sasuke. She didn't even see him at Naruto's ceremony when he became hokage - not that he was looking for him. Sakura turned away to hide her reddened face.
"OK, so, when should I go?"
"Well, he said as soon as possible." Hinata set her empty glass down and Sakura hurried to clean it.
As soon as she was finished, she took off her apron and turned around. "Let's go."
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Temari looked around her room, smiling, her hands on her hips. "Perfect. All clean."
She turend to go downstairs to make herself a snack, and saw someone walking up the path to their home. That's unusual, she thought, but didn't say anything. The intrueder rang the doorbell and Temari rushed to answer it.
"Temari-sama?" the person at the door bowed. Temari was startled. It had been... too long since someone had addressed her this formally.
"Yes?" she asked.
"This scroll is for you, from Naruto-sama, the Hokage of the Leaf Village." He held out a scroll tnederly, and she took it.
"Thank you," she dismissed, and shut the door. The outside said To the Sand Siblings: Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro! She opened the scroll and read it.
Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro -
I've got to speak to you in person - urgent matter! Please come immediately!
-Naruto, the Hokage!
"Gaara! Kankuro!" Temari rushed into the living room, where Kankuro was eating on the couch and Gaara was sitting in a chair.
"Hm? What do you want, Temari?" muttered Kankuro, spewing potato chip crumbs everywhere.
"Naruto has asked us to come to the Leaf Village! He says it's urgent!" Temari was sure the matter was very bad, because the Leaf Village didn't call over help from the Sand for nothing.
"OK, we'll go immediately!" Kankuro jumped up, and dumped out the potato chip bag. He looked between Temari and the bag. "Right after I clean that up."
Kankuro went to fetch a broom and Gaara hadn't moved an inch. "Did you hear that brother? We're going to the Leaf!" Temari said to Gaara, excitedly.
"Do you smell... ramen?" he suddenly asked.
Temari sniffed the scroll. It did smell faintly of ramen.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
The last person to receive the message that Naruto needed him was, in fact, Sai. He was hanging out somewhere in an old Root hideout, painting a picture. It had been difficult locating him, because underground organizations like Root were hard to find, so a messenger of Naruto's looked for a week before finding him.
A knock at the door inturpted the artist. He out down his brush and opened the door, surprised that anyone found this location.
"Sai-sama," the man bowed, offering a scroll. "A message from Naruto-sama, the Hokage of the Leaf."
Sai took the scroll without a word and read it.
Sai -
I've got to speak to you in person - urgent matter! Please come immediately!
-Naruto, the Hokage!
Sai turned and bowed back. "Thank you." He turned after shutting the door to pack a bag. Whatever this was, it was going to be and adventure.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Sakura had stayed in an overnight room, courtesy of Naruto. When she woke up, she saw a load of bread and a note. "Please meet in the Tea Room," she read aloud, scratching her head. "Ugh."
She got dressed quickly and wandered down the hall until she saw a sign that said "Tea Room." She followed the arrow and found herself pointing to two rice paper doors. Sakura could see dim figures casting shadows on the rice paper. She reached out to slid open the door, when Naruto burst out, dressed in his orange jumpsuit and a kage hat.
"Sakura-chan!" he hugged her. He was actually taller then her, for once. She patted his back unsurely until he let go.
"Naruto-sama." She began to bow, but Naruto stopped her.
"Sakura, it's only me!" he grinned a wicked grin and Sakura found herself smiling back. Had it really been that long?
"Let's go inside," he said. "No need to spend time dawdling outside this lovely room!"
Sakura took a step inside and gasped. The room was gorgeous. Dark wood lined the walls, floors, and ceiling. A low platform was on the left side, and low tables filled the right. Around the room there were scattered candles and cherry blossom branches with buds the color of black in jars. Another sliding door was cracked to let in some air from a beautiful zen garden. Everyone was milling around, talking.
Her eyes scanned the room, slowly taking in each person. They seemed to dress similar to their ninja dress. Ino was wearing her same outfit and Hinata was wearing a coat again, nothing like the kimono she saw a few days ago. Kiba and Akamaru were on the stage, talking to Shino, hidden inside his coat. Lee was in a green jumpsuit, again. Ten Ten was in a pink shirt and Neji dressed like he did when Sakura saw him last. Even the Sand Siblings were here: Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro.
"OK!" Naruto shouted, jumping onto the raised platform, knocking everyone else off in the process.
"Careful, dobe." Sakura's heart thumped loudly, recognizing the voice. She turned to see Sasuke coming in from the garden, smirking.
"Shut up, Sasuke!" Naruto crossed his arms, letting his old, childish talents resurface.
"Make me." Naruto growled and prepared to jump onto Sasuke. But Hinata tapped him on the shoulder.
"Um, Naruto-kun..." she said softly. "Why did you call us all here?"
"Oh! Hey Hinata-chan!" Naruto smiled widely.
Hinata waved tentatively.
"Oh, yeah! The mission!" Naruto remembered, and regained his posture. "There seems to be a problem. A rebel group have sprung up and are a serious threat to the Leaf and all the other villages. it is beileved their are five people, one from each nation, but they could possibly recruit more." Naruto pulled out a scroll from his jacket and opened it, holding it for everyone to see. "The leader is someone from the Earth Country. We do not know their names, but have depictions of each.
The first drawing showed a red-haired boy of average build and size. He had a huge scar above his right eye, and another smaller one on his chin. He was wearing simple clothes, a brown shirt and pants black belt. He had summoning scrolls tucked into his belt.
The second one was a girl with blue pigtails and a smile on her face. She was short and skinny, with a tattoo on her wrist. She had a whoite fishnet top with a blue shirt underneath and a white skirt. She also had a string of white beads around her neck. Under her pictures said "Water Country."
The next person was a large black male with no hair, only a beige cloth tied like a du-rag. He looked very strong, and revealed so by wearing nothing but a pair of beige pants. His du-rag had a tiny symbol on it, which was a seal. Below him said "Earth Country."
The next was the last girl. She had long white hair and white eyes, but not those of a Hyuuga. She was dressed in white dress with a black sash in the middle. She had no shoes on and a fan was tucked into her sash. She also had summoning scrolls tucked into her sash. A rope holding a small pouch dangled from her sash. Under her picture said "Wind Country."
The last picture was of a tall man with a pipe in between hit lips. He had brown hair. tied back with a bit of cord. One eye was covered with a patch, and he had two swords tied to his back. He was wearing an expensive-looking man's kimono. A headband was attached to his obi, showing he belonged to the Leaf Village. Under him it said "Fire Country."
"Naruto-kun. How come we don't know his name if he was registered at the ninja academy?" Sakura asked after carefully scanning the information on the scroll.
"The Council says he was never registered. He stole it from a Leaf ninja who he probably killed," Naruto informed.
"So we are supposed to capture these ninjas?" inserted Temari.
"Yes. Alive, please. We want to question them."
"What are our teams?" Shino wondered.
"Well, we were going to use your old teams," Naruto said, smiling. "I'll be joining Sasuke, Sakura, and Sai. Everyone else will team up as normal."
"So when do we start?" asked Ino.
"Tomorrow, so you have time to prepare. I'll also give you each a ninja you should find."
"Till tomorrow, then," said Kiba.
"Till tomorrow," Naruto finished, dismissing everyone.