A/N: Hey guys, sorry I took a bit longer to update chapter 7. I've been so busy with school of late since there are still lots of exams still remaining and I'm starting my final exams in two weeks so I probably won't get as much time to update. I hope you all understand. Thanks for all the follows, reviews and favorites. Here goes Chapter 7.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. If I did NaruSaku would have become canon, they would have a beautiful son called Shinachiku, and that poor excuse of a movie called The Last wouldn't even be on my mind.

Surprise Encounters

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?" A huge scream was heard at the front of the Konoha gate at 6 in the morning. Izumo and Kotetsu, the two gate-keepers who were posted there by the Hokage, were startled out of their states of half-slumber, and stirred up. "Who is it at this time of the day? Kotetsu asked no one in particular. "I don't know who it is, but they are gonna pay for ruining my sleep," Izumo growled. Getting up from his resting place, he shouted, "COULD YOU PLEASE SHUT UP DON'T YOU SEE WE ARE TRYING TO GET SOME REST HERE BUT IF YOU COULD BOTHER TAKING SHIFTS FOR US WE'D BE HELLA GRATEFUL- He stopped halfway after noticing all the glares that were on him now. Standing right in front of him were all the Konoha 11(he remembered that Sasuke was still rogue)- all dressed in their official wear fully equipped with their standard equipment.

After ignoring what seemed to be a nuisance to them, the chuunin stared at each other again with expressions of shock on their face. Izumo sank back into his seat, causing Kotetsu to chuckle a little.

"Forehead!" What are you doing here?" Ino started.

"That's my line, Ino-Pig!" Sakura countered.

"Neji nii-san! But why?" Hinata gasped.

"And you, Hinata- Sama! What are you doing here?" Neji demanded, his voice somewhat rose higher than normal. Anyone could tell that he was concerned for his cousin, even if he had a really unique way of showing it.

"Man, I didn't expect things to turn out like this. How troublesome," Shikamaru remarked.

"Well well, this is quite the surprise. I read in a book once people react this way when they are met by completely unexpected circumstances. I guess the book was right," Sai nodded.

Before anyone else could say anything, Sakura immediately shouted, "Everyone, shut up! (This literally scared everyone, even Neji sweat-dropped a little and Lee almost jumped out of his skin) I guess no one in their wildest dreams would have even imagined this, but it all looks like we were told to keep this secret for a reason- "Before she could continue, she saw Hinata timidly raise her hand in the air. Sakura expected this, since she learnt recently that Hinata was in love with Naruto, having witnessed her injuries after trying to save Naruto from Pain. Sakura felt a little dejected, but shook it off almost immediately afterwards, which caused her to wonder why she even felt that way in the first place. Recollecting herself, she continued, "What is it, Hinata?" Hinata lowered her hand and said, "Uuum, is it true, Sakura-San? That, Naruto-kun got captured by the Akatsuki?" At this point, even Izumo and Kotetsu, who were almost drifting into sleep again, got startled into waking up again. They bore shocked expressions on their faces, but decided not to say anything, but instead listen on till the end of the conversation. Sakura replied immediately," At the moment that's the most acceptable answer. Tsunade-sama had the ANBU Search the whole area around the fire nation for any sign of Naruto, but there was nothing found. Not even a clue. There is also the idea of him having been kidnapped by rogue ninja, but it seems highly unlikely, since Naruto doesn't exactly have a bounty on his head, so I don't see any reason for the kidnap. Therefore, Tsunade-sama thinks that the only group that looks likely to kidnap Naruto is most likely the Akatsuki," Sakura concluded.

Hinata looked as if she was ready to burst into tears, and Neji looked at her solemnly. "What are you crying for; I'm the one who wants to cry here." Sakura told herself inwardly. However, Kiba tapped Hinata on the shoulder and reassured her, "Don't worry, Hinata. That idiot won't go down that easily. He's so stupid that he's probably forget to die if he was killed," he finished in a hearty tone. The rest of the group laughed a little at this, and Sakura could swear she saw Hinata managing a laugh despite her teary eyes. The mood lightened a little and at this point Shikamaru spoke up, surprising everyone, "Kiba is probably right. Even if the Akatsuki have indeed captured Naruto, they still don't have the 8 tails, considering the information we have. So they won't probably extract the 9 tails immediately, meaning we have some time before they perform the sealing ritual. So we best hurry up in saving that hyperactive idiot." Everyone nodded at this statement and Sakura proceeded, "Well you've all heard it from Shikamaru, so I probably don't have to add any other remarks. Our mission this time is to go rescue Naruto from the Akatsuki, so it will probably be a similar mission as the one to rescue Gaara that we had a while back ( Neji nodded to himself), but the danger level will probably be the same. We definitely MUST succeed, since I really don't want to know how stuff will be around here without him!" She smiled to herself a little at this, and before she could continue with her speech, Kakashi appeared, Guy-Sensei closely following behind him, although he was doing this with his hands on the ground and his feet upward. Accompanying Guy were Tenten and Lee, who to no one's surprise, wore sulky expressions.

"Nice speech, Sakura," Kakashi remarked, causing Sakura to beam. "Now, as Sakura said, our mission is to rescue Naruto. However, we will not be doing this all together," Ino and Hinata looked at each other surprised, and Kakashi continued, "as far as we've confirmed, there are two Akatsuki hideouts. One is in the border between Sunagakure and Takigakure, and the other one is between Amegakure and Otogakure. The team which has me, Sakura, Sai, Shikamaru, Neji, Kiba will go check out the first hideout, while-"at this point Guy intervened, having stood up from his previous exercise, "the second team, which has me, Hinata, Shino and Ino, will go and check out the second hideout. Whichever team manages to encounter the Akatsuki will have to engage them in combat until backup from the other team arrives." There were horror-stricken looks around all the rookies faces, they having experienced the strength of that group when their leader destroyed their village effortlessly a few weeks past. However, at this point Shino spoke up, startling everyone, who almost forgot that he was even there, "There's no need to worry. That's because, the Akatsuki has lost most of its members at this point in time. Therefore, things won't exactly be as hard as they were in the past. I'm sure we will succeed. And this time, I'm with you guys, therefore your chances of success are increased, since I wasn't left out like last time," he concluded. Kiba and Hinata sweat dropped a little, and Kiba silently asked Shino, "You're still sulking about that, man?" Causing Shino to throw a death glare at him, subsequently causing all the people there to burst out in laughter.

Neji, however, spoke up, "Kakashi-sensei, wouldn't it be better if we had more people on board. I didn't hear Tenten and Lee being mentioned in your battle plan just now. Wouldn't it be better to include them?" Tenten and Lee nodded vigorously at this point, and Lee muttered under his breath, "That's right! Good job, Neji!" giving him a thumbs-up sign, which Neji shrugged to. Kakashi then answered,

Flashback

Kakashi knocked at Tsunade's office early that morning, and entered after hearing her allow him to come in. Tsunade looked up from her desk and asked him, "What is it, Kakashi?" Shizune, who was standing next to Tsunade with bags of sleep under her eyes, looked up at Kakashi. Kakashi registered that she had probably woken up earlier than usual that day, and was surprised to find that Tsunade was not feeling sleepy herself. Looking at her desk he saw several cups of coffee, and he assumed that she couldn't find any sleep due to the situation at hand. He then spoke up, "Tsunade-sama, I informed the Team 2 members about the mission. However, there's something bothering me about all this. If this mission is of grave importance like this, why weren't the ANBU sent? I mean, it would only be logical to send them in such a task, plus why not have all our chuunin go on this mission. It certainly increases our chances of success." After he finished his statement, Tsunade looked at him a little, then replied, "The village is in a state of reconstruction right now, Kakashi. I can't afford to send all our troops. What if the village is attacked in that time when you guys are away? So I decided to have the ANBU remain behind so as to protect the civilians who have no idea what is going on yet. Plus, imagine a scenario like this; I do decide to send the ANBU on this mission. Then let's say, they are defeated by the Akatsuki and their identities are revealed in the fight. Then the village will be at risk of losing all its secrets to the Akatsuki, meaning if they do decide to attack us next time, they'll be more prepared than the time with Pain, putting us at risk of destruction on a wider scale. Also," she paused a little, before continuing, "As to the reason I didn't send the remaining chuunin on this mission, namely Tenten, Lee and Akimichi Chouji on this mission, is because I believe it is better to send the more skilled shinobi from each team to a mission of this caliber. Now, I'm not saying that the three in question are weak; however, I feel their services won't be of help in this mission, so they are staying behind in the village, for the time being. However, if something does come up, I may decide to send them as back-up later on. So hold your breath and see what happens," she finished her sentence with a smirk on her face. Kakashi opened his mouth in protest as if to say something, but after a few seconds, decided against it, closing his eye and smiling at the Hokage. Even Shizune, who looked as though she would be anywhere but there at that moment, managed to smile, but the look on her face made it more horrific than it was supposed to be.

End of flashback

Kakashi finished narrating the events of all that happened in the Fifth's office,and at the end of his explanation, he looked around at the faces of the Konoha 11, as though expecting some form of reaction from them. Seeing none, he was about to continue speaking, but Tenten spoke instead, "Well, seems like there's nothing we can do about that decision guys. As much as I'd like to go on this mission with you guys, looks like we are stuck on guard duty here in the village. Just do me one favour, will you?" Neji perked up his ear to listen to what Tenten was going to suggest. "Make sure you save that knucklehead for my sake too. If you don't manage to I won't forgive any of you. I'll all give you hell if you come back without him. Yes even you, Neji." Neji was a bit startled but smiled back at Tenten a little, "Yeah, don't worry we'll definitely bring him back. That's the promise between all of us. Neji outstretched his hand to the middle of the group, and at first they wondered what he was doing, before Kiba placed his hand on top of his, followed by Sai, then Shino, Hinata, Shikamaru(grumbling how troublesome it was to do such a thing) and lastly was Sakura, who placed her hand with such force that it almost caused the whole formation to break. Kakashi and Guy stared at the whole process while telling themselves how much their students had grown up.

When the circle was broken, Chouji appeared walking towards the group, carrying a bag of chips which he was eating from. Once he reached them, he said, "Then, you're all leaving?" They all stared at him and nodded, and Shikamaru spoke, "Sorry about this, man." Before he could proceed however, Chouji held up a hand to silence him, "Don't feel sorry for me, Shikamaru. I wished I could have come, but I know that the people all chosen here have better abilities than me for this mission, so it can't be helped. I wish you all success in your mission." Ino beamed up at him and looked almost ready to give him a hug, "Thanks Chouji!" Sai even appreciated Chouji's remarks, "Thanks, fatso." Chouji almost leaped at Sai's neck, and it took the efforts of Ino and Shikamaru to save Sai, who had broken into a nervous sweat, hiding behind Sakura and asking what he did wrong.

"Yosh! Now that everything has been resolved, I think it's about time we all left. Everyone, check that all your equipment is okay and you have all prepared yourselves fully. We'll leave immediately you're all ready." Kakasi called out. Sakura took out her medical pouch and after confirming everything she needed was okay, she immediately said to herself, "Just hold on Naruto. I'm definitely coming to rescue you. All those times you saved me and I never even managed to thank you properly. This time I promise I'll rescue you. I'll bring you back and once you're back, we'll be together again like we've been all this time. I never realized I'd miss you this terribly when you were gone. Heh, I guess it feels natural being with you, huh Naruto?" (Unknown to her, Hinata, who was just a few steps away from her, was having almost similar thoughts) .After steadying herself and preparing to leave together with the others, Chouji called out to them again, "Wait guys." They all looked round at him and he pulled out a small bag from his clothes, "Each of you has one of this before you leave. I'm sure they'll help to replenish your energy and fighting spirit. Here, Shikamaru, pass them around to everyone." Shikamaru took the bag from Chouji and after having what Sakura recognized as a soldier pill, he passed the bag around to the rest of the group, who each after having one, thanked Chouji. When the bag went back to Chouji, now empty, he nodded at the group as if to send them off, and they all left, waving goodbye to Chouji, Tenten and Lee, who stood at the entrance cheerfully waving them goodbye.

Izumo and Kotetsu, who by now were wide awake, stared at the retreating forms of the shinobi who were now in the distant, and silently muttered, "Good luck to all of you. May the Will of Fire protect you all."

Hokage's office

Tsunade stood at the window to her office, staring out at the village. She then thought to herself that they had probably left by now, and smiled a little, before saying to herself, "They've all grown into splendid people, huh Jiraiya?"

End

A/N: Well, there's chapter 7 guys. It's a bit shorter than the previous chapter and I honestly apologize for that since I had promised that I would be making each chapter longer than its preceding one, but in this chapter I wanted to capture each of the Konoha 11 in person, since from now on it will be amazing battles, so there won't be any time for any sentimental moments. I hope I did a good job with this one. Thanks for all the people who have bothered reading my story. It means a lot. Good night to you all;)