This is my first fic ever. I actually made this account because of this fic, so I'll be spending most of my time on it. I kind of feel like a nerd for writing this, but you're reading it, so you would be a hypocrite to antagonize me. I'm not sure how long this will be, so don't ask.
Edit: I have noticed an amazing decline in hits between the first and second chapters of this fic. I admit that this first chapter isn't very smooth or good, but please read the second chapter. This chapter is not a good insight to how the entire thing will be written. It changes drastically in the second chapter, so please give it a shot and read the second chapter as well as the first one to see if you like it.
Premise: Naruto and the other Nin are twenty one years old and are at jounin rank, with the exception of Neji, Tenten, and Lee, who are all twenty two. It has been four years since Sasuke had killed his brother and returned to Konoha with Karin and Suigetsu in tow. There is an increasing amount of Missing Nin throughout the ninja world, all of whom seem to be avoiding detection far too well. The crew is being given the mission to track them down. However, this is like no other mission they've ever been assigned.
CHAPTER 1
Suna Council Chambers…
Tsunade leaned on her elbows and peered over her intertwined fingers at the long, dimly lit council table. Next to her, impassive as ever, sat Gaara; his eyes angled downward at the report he held in his hands. As he read his brow furrowed as he mulled over the contents of the document. When he finished he looked up at the council members and village leaders seated adjacently around the table.
"I'm not fully sure of what this is saying," he said, gesturing to the file. "If this means what I've interpreted to, there are over seventy Nin that are unaccounted for in Konoha and Suna alone."
"That is correct Gaara," Tsunade said without breaking face, adding to the already thick tension of the situation.
"How is this possible? Our villages' Hunter Nin are considered to be the greatest of all the nations, with the exception of Mist, and yet there are so many missing Nin that are unaccounted for."
Before Tsunade could reply there was a knock on the council chambers door. Tsunade walked briskly to the door and thrust it open. "Are you not aware that these meetings are under no circumstances to be interrupted!" she asserted sternly to the culprit. She was about to say more, but the four snaking lines on the messenger's headband caught her eye.
"I apologize for the interruption and for the absence of the Mizukage, but I have been instructed to deliver this," the mist Nin stated, bowing and presenting Tsunade with a scroll.
"Very well then, now be gone," she said firmly, taking the scroll and closing the door on the man.
She shook out the scroll as she made her way back to her seat. As she was reading she came to a point that made her eyes narrow and her jaw tighten.
"According to these statistics sent to us by the Mizukage," she paused, glancing over to Gaara, "There are over forty missing Nin that have been pronounced untraceable."
There was a silence around the council chamber; not from the impact of this news, but because none dared to risk the wrath of the Hokage without having anything helpful to add.
"How?" Gaara questioned, "There is no place within the great nation's domain that could harbor so many criminals without a shred of evidence! It's impossible!"
"My thoughts precisely, kid," Tsunade said, a look of dread playing across her features.
One of the councilmen, an older gentleman who was frail of body but rich in wisdom, shot up out of his chair. "Hokage-sama, you aren't suggesting that those Nin were foolish enough to…"
"That is exactly what I am saying," Tsunade said blatantly, cutting him off.
"What do you mean?" Gaara inquired of the woman, a hint of curiosity flickering through his eternally glassy eyes.
She sighed. "Tell me Gaara, what do you know of what lies beyond the sea?"
"Virtually Nothing. Why?"
She took a moment to respond, as though she was choosing her words carefully. "It is one of the most highly guarded secrets in the entirety of the ninja world." She paused looking around the council chamber, staring into the eyes of each person present to make sure they understood, finally resting her stare in Gaara's mirrored eyes. "Across the vast ocean, there is a society parallel in greatness to ours."
Some of the council members narrowed their eyes in skepticism, others made small gestures of surprise. A solemn, informed handful lowered their gazes, knowingly grave. Gaara didn't even blink.
"Could you explain?" Gaara inquired, holding her gaze.
"To be blunt, across the eastern sea is a huge civilization as old as the world that we know, the ninja world," she paused, allowing this to sink in, "They and we are very close fundamentally. The key difference is that instead of studying and developing the mystical arts as we did, they have gone the way of advanced machinery and technology. In some ways, we are superior, and in others they dwarf us so vastly that we are like children standing beside titans. All attempts to make contact with them have been met with hostility, brought upon by their lack of understanding of our ways. Our reason for dreading defection to that place is because if they display any form of jutsu or reveal that we exist, it could cause massive war."
At the mention of war the entire room seemed to darken.
"Then, if I may ask, what is the most advisable course of action?" one of the younger councilmen, from cloud, asked.
"Nothing," Gaara said, resignedly. "Tsunade's theory is as of yet unproven. Sending a standard hunter or scouting team could be more hazardous than doing nothing, so the best thing we can do now is to verify that the suspects are not within our borders and are simply evading us efficiently."
"I agree," Tsunade stated, "The best thing we can do for the time being is investigate further. If the need should arise, then a discrete, cooperative operation will be in order."
The council members all acknowledged her decision, some less readily than others, and the meeting was adjourned.
Don't Get the wrong idea, the entire story won't be this intense, it just came out this way. This is going to be a somewhat comedic/drama/action story.