Setup

Hyuuga Neji knocked twice on the door of the Hokage's office in Hidden Leaf. He hadn't changed too much appearance wise in the past decade. His black hair was still the long style common in the Hyuuga Clan and he wore the clan's white outfit. It allowed the freedom of movement necessary to use his fighting style at it's best. Over his face however he wore a painted mask slightly resembling the face of a dragon.

After the Akatsuki issue had been resolved he had joined the ANBU, Hidden Leaf's special forces, and within two years had been promoted to Captain and given command of his own squad. One of his subordinates had been playing the part of a civilian in Hidden Stone and feeding information back to the rest of the team. Even in times of peace it could never hurt to be cautious. As such, he was the first to know of the assassination attempt. Therefore making Neji the second. A moment after knocking he heard a tired sounding voice from inside the room. "Enter."

He pushed the door open and gave a slight bow to the man behind the desk as he entered, shutting the door behind him. Sitting before him was the Sixth Hokage, Hatake Kakashi. Even though he was only in his late thirties the copy ninja had visibly aged. His outfit however hadn't changed even the slightest bit. "Hyuuga Neji...your team isn't expected back for another week." Kakashi said in a questioning tone.

"I have vital information, Hokage-sama. Three days ago there was an assassination attempt on the Tsuchikage." He stated in his usual, professional tone.

At this news Kakashi's one visible eye narrowed and he suddenly looked less tired. "Do we know who was behind it?" He asked quickly.

Now it was Neji's turn to narrow his eyes, but not suspiciously. In fact a large part of him had been expecting a response like this. He led one of the top ANBU squads. If Leaf was planning to kill a Kage he was pretty sure that his team would have been informed. Especially considering that he had a man there. "Apparently, we are. According to the report he was attacked by an Aburame."

Kakashi stood up and glanced out the window, looking out over the entire village. "Neji, I want your team to gather as much information as you can. I want to know who's going to these lengths to set us up and why."

"Understood, Hokage-sama." Neji said as he bowed and took his leave from the office.


"Thank you! I don't know what we would have done without you!" The mayor of a small village on the western border of the Fire Country exclaimed to the blond shinobi before him.

The Leaf shinobi scratched the back of his head and laughed, speaking in a voice that was entirely too loud for his profession. "It was nothing! You know, one time I-"

"Naruto, quit bragging and let's go. We were supposed to be back in Konoha three days ago. Kakashi-sensei has probably already declared us both dead!" His pink haired teammate called to him from the gate leading out of town.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming, Sakura." Naruto called to her, giving one last farewell to the mayor before chasing after the woman.

Uzumaki Naruto had grown up to look almost exactly like his father, the Fourth Hokage. He'd finally traded in his orange outfit for more standard shinobi colors about five years ago. Now he dressed in a lightweight tan outfit over which he wore his old Jounin Vest. After defeating the seemingly undefeatable leader of Akatsuki on his own he had been jumped straight from Genin to Jounin without having to go through any exams. Making him only the third shinobi in the history of Konoha to reach Jounin rank without ever seeing Chuunin.

As far as personality went though he was still the hyperactive joker he'd always been. Though he had definitely become smarter over the years and was perfectly capable of being serious when it was necessary, most of the time he acted as immature as he could manage.

Haruno Sakura hadn't changed nearly as much. She had grown her hair out again so that it now reached her waist and she had gotten a bit taller. But other than that she was still the same Sakura. Though she hadn't gotten the huge jump in rank Naruto had received, she too had reached Jounin level and was one of the most well respected medics in the village.

The two of them had been sent to deal with an issue of a few rogue shinobi harassing a border town for supplies, a problem which had been cleared up on schedule as none of the enemies turned out to be any better than lower Chuunin level. The delay had been caused by taking the extra time to help heal the residents who had been wounded in the confrontation.

"Hey, wait up Sakura-chan!" Naruto called after her.

"Hurry up! We can't afford to waste any more time here." She called back, not slowing down at all.

"Come on, if they already think we're dead what's another day gonna hurt?" He responded with a laugh, increasing his own pace to close the distance.

"I didn't want to come on this mission in the first place. The only reason I did was because you practically started begging in the middle of the hospital." She said with a slight smirk that showed she really wasn't that angry about it.

A moment later he caught up and ran alongside her. One of his serious expressions crossed his face as he spoke. "It's a good thing you came. Some of those people might've died if you hadn't." He said in a calm tone that was very much unlike him.

Before she could say anything in response though his stupid grin returned in full. "So what do you say we go out for ramen when we get back? My treat."

"Not a chance." She responded, her smirk growing as she sped up to leave him behind again.


Sasaki Seigen punched the wall of his hospital room in Hidden Mist. He didn't need to be here, but after the incident with the Sand shinobi the other six had insisted that he get checked out. It didn't matter how much the doctors insisted he needed to rest, it had only been a genjutsu. He was perfectly fine to get out there and help hunt for the assassin.

The door of the room opened and he turned to see another of The Seven Swordsman and his former sensei enter. He was a large and muscular old man with almost no hair left who normally wielded a massive double bladed sword. "Are you doing alright, Sei?"

"I'm perfectly fine, Gyou-sensei. I shouldn't be here at all! I should be out there helping the rest of you!" He demanded.

"As impatient as ever I see. You'd work yourself to death if the rest of us would let you." Gyou said with a heavy sigh. "But it doesn't matter anymore. It's already been three days since the assassination, the search has been called off for the time being."

"Called off!? Who has the authority to do that?" His temper was growing gradually worse as this conversation went on.

"The Council has taken temporary command until a new Mizukage can be selected. I guess the previous one had expected to live another ten years at least...he hadn't even chosen a few potential candidates to take his place after he was gone." The older man paused for a moment then. "Once things regain some sanity around here we're probably going to war you know."

"Good. The traitors deserve to die for this. The Seven Swordsmen haven't had a real battle to fight since I became a member."

"Well I suppose it was only a matter of time before the peace collapsed. But I have to admit that I was hoping I wouldn't live to see it. Get some rest Seigen, we're going to be receiving a mission soon." And with that final note, Gyou turned and let himself out of the room.


"We've received the reports from our contacts in the other villages, Tsuchikage-sama. It seems the Raikage and Mizukage are both dead. You're the only one who survived the attacks. It was a joint effort between Leaf and Sand. Both villages have turned against us." The Stone Jounin bowing before the Kage said quickly.

"I see. Then the alliances really have been broken. Has our first strike team been assembled?"

"Yes, Tsuchikage-sama. They are prepared to move on your order." The man answered.

"Good. Who's in charge?"

"An Elite Jounin named Itoshi Arata, sir. He's one of the best ninjutsu specialists in the village and well known for his strategic approach to missions. I don't believe we could've chosen a better candidate." Still speaking quickly, he was clearly nervous in the presence of the Tsuchikage.

"I only needed a name, I can read his file myself. But thank you for the life story." The Kage said with a small laugh. "On your way out have word sent to Mist and Cloud. Tell them that Hidden Stone is still their ally and will support them if they're willing to do the same for us. You're dismissed."

The man stood, bowed again, then started towards the door to carry out his small mission when Yamada spoke again. "Oh, and one more thing. Have this Itoshi Arata character sent to me as soon as possible. I'd like to speak with him myself."

As the Jounin left Kyoshin Yamada turned and walked over to the large oval window looking out over his village, totally unaware that his new enemy the Hokage was doing the exact same thing at the very same time. It was official now. It was almost time for the first shinobi war in eleven years to begin.