"How is he back? Didn't the Fire Zone confirm his death?" Kankuro began to shout.

"Kankuro, calm down! Sasuke is here to explain all that." Temari motioned her head to Sasuke.

"The Wind Zone did confirm it. I was there; I was the one who killed him. We have no idea if this is just a prank some idiot thought would be funny or if he actually is alive." Sasuke was looking uncomfortable.

"So, what are we going to do?" Asked Gaara.

"According to the letter, we have three weeks to get as much info on him and his plan as we can but we do have a lead on his supposed hideout. Shino, Ino, Kiba and Sai are going out tomorrow night to that hideout and see if this is the real deal. If it is really him, Ino and Kiba will come back with a report while Sai and Shino stay back for a few days to try and get as much information as they can, while sending back reports at regular intervals. I came here to ask if you'll help in three weeks time, if it's necessary." Sasuke explained.

"Of course! The Wind Zone will definitely help! But shouldn't this be discussed between our Kages rather than us?" Questioned Temari.

"It should, yes, but our Hokage is busy trying to figure out this whole situation and she heard that your Kazekage was out on a mission right now so she send me here to ask you since you are his children."

"I see…" Temari started reading the letter again.

"Here's what we have so far. You'll be informed on any updates. I should get going now." Sasuke gave Temari a big envelope, got up and said goodbye.

Kankuro took out his keys and said that he's going for a drive. Temari sat on the couch, analysing the information Sasuke gave them. Gaara could see that Temari did not want to be disturbed so he went up to his room and lay on his bed.

"Is Orochimaru really back? He should be dead. He was blasted to bits in front me." Gaara recollected his memories of that battle and how it came to be.

Four years ago, Sasuke had been lured by a criminal in the top 10 Most Wanted list from the Fire Zone. He was still naïve back then and wanted more power and strength to defeat his older brother, Itachi, who was his bête noir at the time.
When he betrayed the Fire Zone and followed the former Fire member, everyone, especially Naruto, was devastated. They tried to bring him back but Sasuke was convinced that training with Orochimaru would make him much stronger than training in the Fire Zone. Naruto had tried numerous times to get him to come back but each time was a failure.

Two and a half years later, Sasuke finished training early and was walking back to his room when he overheard a conversation between Orochimaru and his underling, Kabuto.
Apparently, Orochimaru just wanted Sasuke, who had a rare, strong power, so that he could steal his power once they were strong enough using some new surgical technique he had come up with which ends up killing the victims, to his convenience.

Sasuke got angry and acted impulsively. He burst through the door and slashed Kabuto and Orochimaru with his sword. He continued to fight them with his sword and finally used his ocular power, the Sharingan, and held them in a murderous illusion. Sasuke left the hideout, thinking that he had killed them. He wandered randomly for days on end with no food or water, thinking of how stupid and gullible he'd been.

Akumaru was sniffing around a bush on the way back from a mission with Kiba and Hinata and he suddenly started barking. Kiba looked at what Akumaru was barking at and found Sasuke collapsed under the bush.
When Sasuke came to, he was in a hospital. Tsunade was informed as soon as he woke up and started question him immediately. Of course, she was rough on him since he did betray the Fire Zone and had even caused damage to them under the order of Orochimaru. Sasuke didn't care anymore and so spilled out everything to Tsunade.
When the news was out that Sasuke was back and recovering in the hospital, everyone had come to visit him. Most of them just came so that they could punch him but they brought him "Get Well Soon [You Bastard]" cards, [withered] flowers and some [out of date] chocolates.

A few days later, when everything seemed to have settled down, there was an attack on the East wing of the Fire Zone's SF department building.
Orochimaru was very well alive; it just took a while for him to recover.

He came back to get Sasuke, to get his Sharingan.

He was very well prepared and had immobilised and captured Sasuke using his snake minions and fled to the Konoha Forest. Naruto, Sakura, Sai and Kakashi chased after him immediately. Tsunade send the only ones who were available at the time to help them; Gai, Hayate, Ino, Shikamaru, Shino, Choji, Lee, Neji, and Hinata and then contacted the Wind Zone for help. The only help they could send over at that moment was Gaara and five others who were lower in rank, as the others were on missions and such.

The battle that followed would never be forgotten. Orochimaru was controlling deadly snakes and Kabuto had summoned up corpses, humans and animals alike, and was controlling them from afar.
It was a fierce struggle, everyone was trying to fight of the walking corpses and poisonous snakes but they just kept coming. Sakura and Sai backed up Naruto while he was fighting Orochimaru. In the mean time, Kakashi and Gai found Kabuto and were trying to take him down. There were many injuries; Ino was on the verge of death for days after the battle, Choji, Lee and Shino were in a coma for two weeks and most of the others were hospitalised with broken limbs and blood poisoning from the snakes. The only death was Hayate's, who gave his life to save Neji's. He protected Neji from an attack from a few corpses and by the time Neji could get the corpses off, Hayate's neck had been practically chewed off.

In the end, Naruto managed to free Sasuke from the snake's clutches and soon, they were fighting side by side. Sasuke made the finishing blow; he caught Orochimaru off guard and trapped him in an illusion. He then continued to stuff a grenade in his mouth and let it off. He was finished.
Gone.
Everyone saw him blow to bits.

"So how the hell is he alive?"

Gaara was replaying that scene over and over in his head, trying to figure out a way that Orochimaru could have escaped. He found none.
Gaara just shook his head and decided that it's better to worry about this once the Hokage has confirmed that it really is Orochimaru. For now, he'll just inform his Father when he comes back and see what he thinks.
He got up and started doing his homework.

*Narrator's voice-ON*

That's right! Orochimaru is back! [Or is he…?] Just who send that letter?
Is it just a joke, as Sasuke said? What will our heroes do now?
Find out next time, on DRAGON BALL Z!

*Narrator's voice-OFF*

Ha, jk. It's still "Who Would Have Thought".
[I had to put the DBZ bit in.]

This is just a little history chapter so nothing much happens but it was necessary to understand future chapters.

Note:
1) Bête noir is French for "black beast". It's a metaphor to describe something that one hates the most; it can be a person or a thing. Hence, Itachi is Sasuke's bête noir.
2) Orochimaru's power is the power to control snakes.
3) Kabuto's power is the power to control any dead body, like a puppet, but the corpses have no memories or feelings whatsoever.
4) Yes, Gaara's father is still alive and is still the Kazekage.
5) Each zone in the SF has their own hospital because normal Doctors can't heal people with powers. Special Doctors are needed to deal with them.

If you have any other questions, I'll gladly clear it up in my next chapter.

Feedback and suggestions will help me get better! They also motivate me to write quicker. So please do review!

Thank you for reading!
I hope you enjoyed this! =)