A/N: Hello there and welcome to my new story. Hopefully it will be something you will grow to like as the time goes by. Let me know what you think about it. I will be waiting for your input. Happy reading everyone.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything of any importance other then my beloved computer, so… you know the drill…


Chapter 01: Prologue - Treaty

Treaty: An agreement or a contract between two or more nations or sovereigns, formally signed; a treaty of alliance.

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Town of Konoha, heart of Fire Country

"That is unheard of!" a male voice roared. "Who do they think they are? Out of all people, asking for him!"

"The contract allows them to ask for anyone they wish. It has been so for decades. We have to obey and fulfill their request. Assemble a team that will escort the boy to the meeting point."

"Hokage-sama, we surely cannot allow them to take the Uchiha prodigy. He must stay here, he is a valuable asset and a strong shinobi."

"Homura-san, I believe you are familiar with the conditions of the contract. According to these conditions they are able to choose whom ever they want, we have no say in that matter. I personally do not wish to break the contract and risk a war with the demons. We have no chance of standing up to them even if we had all our shinobi available and ready for a fight."

"But Hokage-sama –"

"I made my decision and I decided to act according to the rules of contract! They asked for Uchiha Itachi, they shall get him. Prepare a team to escort him. And send someone to tell the boy. Dismissed!" shouted the angry Hokage. She was tall with blond hair and honey colored eyes. She looked around 30 but in reality she was over 50. Using a genjutsu was no problem for her, as well as hiding her true appearance from others. She was one of the sannin and the best medic nin in the country. She took the position of Hokage after the previous one, who has been her sensei at one point, died in a battle with another one of his students. She was the fifth in sequence to take the name and the responsibility for the village. Even though she was a bit reluctant at first, not wanting to spend the rest of her life in village she lost everyone dear to her to, in the end she accepted the position and grew used to being the head of a powerful village.

"Shizune! Make preparations for the escort." Shizune, her assistant was young, younger than the hokage herself. A medic just as her sensei, she had short brown hair and dark brown eyes. Her kind personality made her possible to earn trust of others as well as make friends easier than her violent sensei.

"Hai Tsunade-sama! But do you think it will be okay with the Uchiha house?"

"No it won't. But as I said, we don't have much say in that. Still, I wonder... Are the demons planning something? As long as I remember they have never asked for a sacrifice specifically." she mused out loud. "Why did I take the job again?" she asked and with a sigh started another round of fight with the dreaded paperwork.

With all the work around the preparations no one has noticed one dark haired teen listening to the conversation that took place in the office.

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Knocking was heard through the Uchiha manor.

"Sasuke, your father wishes to speak with you. He is in his study. You should hurry, he seemed rather irritated after he returned from the meeting with the hokage." Mikoto, Sasukes' mother said after entering the room.

"Yes, mother. I will be right there." answered Sasuke, not even looking at her.

"Okay. Take care Sasuke and please, do not try to anger him."

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Sasuke knocked on the door of the study. Anxiously he waited until his father called him to enter. Slowly he opened the door and entered father's study.

"You called, father?"

"Yes Sasuke. Prepare yourself, you are leaving for a mission. The team will be waiting by the North Gate at noon. Take only necessities." Fugaku took out a scroll and gave it to Sasuke. "Here, give this the team leader at the gate."

"Yes father."

"Good. You may leave now."

Not once did Sasuke notice the cold tone his father used while talking to him. After so many years he was used to it. Fugaku never talked to him in the same tone as to his older brother, Itachi. Never praised him, never spoke one kind word to him. Sasuke didn't feel kinship or any other feeling one might feel for his on family to this particular man. Not even hatred. What he felt was the cold indifference. The boy returned to his room and packed a few things he knew he would need for the mission. After a few minutes of packing he left the house and headed for the gates that would take him out of Konoha.

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When he arrived at the gate the team of four others was already waiting for him. Well, maybe not for him if he had to judge after the shocked expression on their faces. Without a word he gave the scroll he received from his father to the leader, who took it and read what was written inside. Raising an eyebrow at the message written inside he slowly rolled the scroll up, gave a nod to his team and without another word the started their way towards their destination.

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The travel was long and uneventful. Wherever he looked, everything seemed the same. He thought that after two days of constant traveling at least the species of flowers would change. But it was just his wishful thinking. They didn't make much stops, stopping only long enough to make short breaks or set a camp for the night. Even though he didn't pay much attention to his supposed teammates, he did notice how they acted around him. They would glance on him when they thought he didn't see them, or talk in hushed voices when they thought he wasn't listening. He knew they were planning something. He just didn't know what it was and it was slowly driving him crazy. They stopped for the night and set up a camp. He was told this was their last night on road. Their destination was only a few more hours away.

- timeskip: morning -

When Sasuke woke up, he found the other already awake and moving around the camp. They acted suspiciously normal, he noticed. The breakfast was simple and fast, as it should be when on the mission. But after a few minutes he noticed something was off. Noticing his sight blurring around the edges and feeling slightly faint he looked to his companions silently asking for help. He slumped to the ground but the others were just watching from the side. The last thing he saw before the darkness took him was the face of the leader looking down on him.

Notes:

Phew… :) After a looong time I was finally able to put together the first chapter, which is actually kind of a prologue . I hope you like it even though there is not much going on yet. The next update is more or less planned out :P I confess, I don't have a word written yet, BUT I have it planned already. Learning and teaching takes a lot of time and energy, so I hope you will understand this and wait patiently for something new.

Any comments will be appreciated, just please, be nice. I am trying my best here, really, I do. :) And you do not have something nice to say (or write in that matter) don't, or write something like "Subject: Flame" or something, I don't really know how it looks like, so just so that I know that I should feel offended and angry by that exact comment.

That would be all for now. I am going to sleep as it is nearly midnight.

Wishing you a nice and successful -- insert part of the day here --

Cali, the tired one…