[This is a newer attempt for me. First chapter is basically just an un-needed kind of intoduction to the main-ish characters in the story.]
"Lord Kazekage, we have a problem."
The Kazekage opened his eyes slowly, looking at the jonin before him and calmly acknowledging his presence, "Yes? What is it?"
"Well.." the Jonin seemed nervous. He was new to his rank and this had been the first time he had been up close to the Kazekage. "The desert seems to have been overrun with strange creatures. They all seem to be able to use sand and rock jutsu well."
A random wind swept through the area and ruffled the Kazekage's red hair as it blew through a window. He stood up, walking to the window and gazing outside, "Are they a threat to us?"
The Jonin shrugged his shoulders, "They only seem to attack when provoked, but they could easily become a threat to us if we make a wrong move."
"Gaara! Gaara! Have you heard? Weird creatures seem to be populating the deserts!" A woman had slammed open the door. Her blonde hair was up in buns. Behind her was a man with war paint on his face and brown hair.
Gaara nodded, "We'll be heading out then, Kankuro? Temari? We have strong ties with the other nations, and I am not worried about an attack from them. Regardless, I want all the Jonin in the village on high alert. Understand?"
The three ninja nodded, and the new Jonin went off to spread the word to his companions.
The kazekage pulled his gourd, which had sand inside it, onto his back and secured it. He gazed up at his siblings and said, "Lead me to these..creatures."
~Meanwhile!~
The word of strange creatures in the woods had just reached Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, and she knew exactly who to send on this mission to discover what these things were, classified currently as a C-Rank.
"Why a C-Rank of all missions? I could easily handle a mission so much higher than this!" Naruto pouted, arms crossed. Him, Sakura, and Sasuke stood at the gates to the village, waiting for Kakashi to show up so they could head out on the newest mission given to them by Tsunade. He had argued at first, but Tsunade could be scary and he quickly decided he may want to just deal with it.
"Be thankful it's not a D-Rank, moron," came Sasuke's calm response. I completely agree with him on this one.
"Exactly! Listen to Sasuke. Cha!" Sakura said. This mission seems so boring. But maybe Sasuke will notice how I've changed! Chaa~
Naruto frowned. Leave it to Sakura to take sides with Sasuke on everything. He sighed and quickly looked around, "Where is Kakashi-Sensei anyway? Why can't he hurry up?"
Sakura smiled weakly, "Just like the good old times, right Sasuke-Kun?"
"Hn.. I guess."
They could have easily waited an hour or more before Kakashi finally showed up in a cloud of smoke, the latest copy of Make-Out-Paradise in one hand. He gave an apologitic smile, though they couldn't see it beneath his mask, and waved to the group. "Hey, Sorry I kept you all waiting. I met this elderly lady on the way here who needed some help, so I-"
All three of them cut him off with a, "We know that's not what you were doing!"
Kakashi sweat-dropped, holding his hands up in defeat, "You're right. Sorry, sorry." Its almost like nothing happened. the team is back to their normal antics now that Sasuke's back. Good.. "Anyway, its time to head out on the mission. We're all prepared, right?"
He immediately got a "Right!" from the three, and started out for the forest, knowing that all three of his team members would be right behind him.