(We are going to jump ahead a little bit. After their investigation of Orochimaru's hideout in the Land of Rice Paddies, Naruto, Sakura, and Jiraiya learn about Orochimaru's death at the hands of the mysterious shinobi known as Ragnarok and Sasuke's joining the Shadow Village. Naruto and Team 8 have managed to retrieve a bikochu beetle which they intend to use to track Sasuke's scent. The Aburame clan has been training the bikochu to obey orders and locate Sasuke.)
It was almost noon in the Hidden Leaf Village. The Fifth Hokage Tsunade was sitting at her desk performing her daily duty of filling out the paperwork that was dropped upon her. As she sat there scanning the reports from various scouting parties, Tsunade was starting to become consumed by boredom, as is part of her daily ritual.
"Oh man, I have been at this job for a while now and I still can't find the motivation to complete all these stupid forms," Tsunade said to herself. "I keep finding myself praying for something to walk through door and take me away from all of this." Just as she said this, there was a knock on the door. "Come in." The door opened to reveal Tsunade's assistant Shizune, who was carrying a small scroll in her hand.
'Lady Tsunade," began Shizune. "Is this a good time to interrupt?"
"At this point, I'll welcome any interruption as long as it gets me out of doing this paperwork," chuckled Tsunade. Shizune was not so amused by her master's remark.
"I have an urgent message for you from Shibi Aburame," Shizune said as she handed the scroll to Tsunade. The sound of the word "urgent" caught Tsunade's interest.
Tsunade unrolled the scroll and started reading the message.
"What does it say, my Lady?" asked Shizune.
Tsunade placed the scroll down on the table. "Shizune, get me a list of all the ninja that are currently available for deployment from Genin to Jonin."
"Why? What is it?" asked a curious Shizune.
"Just do it now!" commanded Tsunade.
"Yes, Ma'am!" obeyed Shizune whose nerves were shaken by Tsunade's change in tone. Shizune left the office to get her master the desired list without a moment of hesitation.
'So it's finally ready,' thought Tsunade as she looked down at the scroll again.
A half hour later, Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai, all stood before Tsunade in her office while Shizune stood at the side holding Ton Ton.
"I am sure you are all wondering why I summoned you here so I will get right to it," Tsunade began. "This morning I received a message from Shibi Aburame stating that he and the Aburame Clan have successfully tamed the bikochu Naruto and Team 8 brought back."
"So, it's finally ready to track Sasuke scent, is it?" questioned Kakashi.
"That is correct," Tsunade answered. "And I am sending the three of you to take the lead on this one. You're primary mission objective is to locate Sasuke Uchiha and bring him back to the Leaf Village. In addition to that, I would like you to obtain as much intel as you can about this Ragnarok. Your respective squads will be accompanying you on this mission."
"Are you sure that is a good idea, My Lady?" asked Kurenai. "You are sending us after the man who killed Orochimaru and you want to send genin along."
"Given the situation that the village is in I don't have a choice," replied Tsunade. "Most of our jonin and chunin are currently unavailable. It must have been some stroke of luck that the three of you were free. Normally I would send Jiraiya for this dangerous a mission, but since he is out investigating the Akatsuki I have to make do with what I have. Besides, I have seen those ninja of yours do things that I never would have expected from genin of their age."
"You should try having a little more faith in your students, Kurenai," noted Asuma.
"I do have faith in them," refuted Kurenai. "Don't forget that it was all because of my squad that we were given this chance to find Sasuke. Hinata was the one who called for the search of the bikochu and then ended up finding it. I am not about to let everything she's done go to waste."
"I think we all feel the same way," said Kakashi. "Although I do understand your concern, Kurenai. Whoever Ragnarok is, he possessed the skill to kill one of the Legendary Sannin. Even if Orochimaru was weakened by the Third Hokage's jutsu, killing him is a great feat no matter the circumstances."
"You're right," said Tsunade. "And that is why I strongly urge against any confrontation with Ragnarok. We are completely in the dark as to who he is and what he can do. Any piece of information you obtain from your search would be very beneficial. But again, locating Sasuke is your highest priority. Understood?"
"Right," answered all three jonin.
"Good," the Hokage said. "Inform your teams about this mission and have them meet at the village's main entrance in one hour. Kurenai, tell Shino that he is responsible for looking after the bikochu. If the mission doesn't go as planned, it is crucial that the bikochu is kept alive; as long as we have it, we will be able to find Sasuke. Dismissed."
Meanwhile in the village, Naruto was at Ichiraku's Ramen having lunch; he had already finished his second bowl of ramen.
"How about it, Naruto? You up for a third helping?" asked Teuchi. But Naruto did not answer him; it looked as if he was spacing out as he looked down at his empty bowl. "Hey Naruto, what's up?"
"What?" said Naruto as he snapped back into reality. "Sorry, old man. I just got a lot on my mind right now. It's been two weeks since we brought back the bikochu and Shino still says we can't use it to track Sasuke. I know it takes time to train insects and stuff, but I seriously don't know how long I can wait. If it wasn't for the missions Grandma Tsunade's been throwing at me, I would probably go crazy."
"I see," Teuchi replied. "Well all you can do now is be patient, Naruto. And I wouldn't worry about that bikochu if I were you. The Aburame Clan are the best at training bugs; they'll have that beetle ready before you know it."
"I know, I know," sighed Naruto. He then simply smiled and said "Well as long as I am waiting, I might as well have another serving! With more barbeque pork this time!" Teuchi chuckled at this change in Naruto's mood.
"Coming right up!"
"Naruto! There you are!"
Naruto turned around to see it was Sakura who was calling and running towards him. She was wearing her sleeved red qipao dress.
"Hey Sakura, how ya doing?" replied Naruto back. "You want some ramen? I'm buying."
"There's no time now, Naruto," replied Sakura after having reached Naruto. "Kakashi Sensei summoned us and we have to meet with her right away. It's urgent."
"Are you kidding me?" groaned Naruto. "Can't it wait? I just ordered another bowl of ramen."
"I think you've had enough already," stated Sakura as she looked at the two large empty bowls that sat in front of Naruto. "We don't have time to waste so let's go!" Sakura started pulling on Naruto's ear and dragging him away.
"Ow ow ow!" cried Naruto. "Alright I'm coming. You don't have to pull me all the way, ya know!"
"I guess I'll just put today's meal on your tab!" called back Teuchi.
Naruto and Sakura were walking down the path to the bridge to meet Kakashi when Naruto asked, "So what does Kakashi Sensei want with us anyway?"
"He wouldn't tell me," answered Sakura. "All he would tell me is that Lady Tsunade has given us a very important mission. Kakashi Sensei said he would go over the details when he meets with us."
As they continued on, the two of them saw Kakashi waiting for them at the bridge.
'Wow, this has got to be important if Kakashi Sensei is meeting us on time,' thought Naruto.
"All right Sensei, we're here," said Sakura as they met with Kakashi. "What is this new mission about?"
Kakashi took a deep breath because he knew how important this meant to the two of them. "This morning the Hokage just received confirmation from the Aburame Clan that the bikochu that was brought back to the village is ready to track Sasuke's scent."
Both Naruto and Sakura were left speechless.
"Wait. Then does that mean…?" questioned Naruto.
"Yes," answered Kakashi, "Our mission is to follow the bikochu, locate Sasuke, and bring him home." His two students were once again silent. "We will be working with Teams 8 and 10 on this one, so we will not be alone."
"Finally!" exclaimed Naruto. "I have been waiting forever for that bug to be ready. Now we can finally get to Sasuke and bring him back."
Compared to Naruto's enthusiasm, Sakura uneasiness was shown in her continued silence.
"I hope you both know what this means," stated their sensei. "There is a very good chance that we will come across Ragnarok, who was strong enough to kill Orochimaru. This man obviously possesses a considerable level of power which we know nothing about. To make things harder for us, Sasuke is not likely to come with us willingly. This is going to be as far from a walk in the park as you can get. I need to know that you guys are ready for this."
The difficulties that were stated made Sakura more anxious. 'Ever since the Chunin Exams, I've been working so hard to keep up with Sasuke and Naruto. I learned my clan's secret jutsu from Dad, genjutsu from Kurenai Sensei, and some medical jutsu from Lady Tsunade. And yet even with all of that under my belt, I still feel like I amount to nothing next those two. What could I do against the man who killed Orochimaru?'
"None of this makes a damn difference to me!" stated Naruto boldly. "It doesn't matter if he's being held by Orochimaru, Ragnarok, or the Devil himself. I'll bring Sasuke back home no matter who I have to fight. I told Sasuke I would stop him and I plan to keep my word. That's my ninja way!"
Naruto's determination helped to refuel Sakura's confidence. "That's right. And this time you won't be doing it alone. We'll bring Sasuke back together."
Kakashi was relieved to see how eager these two were willing to throw themselves into the jaws of death for Sasuke. "Very well. We going to head out in one hour. Get your things together and meet at the front entrance before then."
"Right!" exclaimed Naruto.
"Ok," stated Sakura.
With that, the two genin rushed off to make the necessary preparations.
By the time their hour was almost up, Naruto and Sakura were walking together on their way towards the main gate to meet the others. Neither of them had said much since they met up.
"How are you holding up, Naruto?" asked Sakura who was attempting to break the silence.
"I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, ya know," Naruto replied. "I mean we're going up against the man who beat Orochimaru, something Grandma Tsunade and Pervy Sage couldn't do together."
"I know," said Sakura. "But you didn't hesitate when we went to the Land of Rice Paddies with Master Jiraiya."
"Yeah well that was only because Pervy Sage was tagging along," stated Naruto
"Sure we had one of the Sannin with us," said Sakura. "But originally we were going out on our own. When I made the decision to going after Sasuke, I knew that I might not be coming back to the village. But that didn't matter to me and it doesn't matter now. All that matters is finding Sasuke no matter what it takes."
Naruto smiled at Sakura's boldness. "You're right, Sakura. Nothing has changed and it never will. I don't care who Ragnarok is; I'll beat the living daylights out of this guy if it means getting to Sasuke!"
'And there's the Number One Hyperactive Knuckleheaded Ninja we all know so well,' thought Sakura.
By this time, the two of them had reached the gate. There they saw Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino already there. Shino was holding a plastic insect case which contained the bikochu and was also holding Sasuke's headband, prepared to give it to the bikochu when the time came.
"Hey you guys finally made it!" called out Kiba.
"Where's our sensei?" asked Sakura.
"They're supposed to be here by now," stated Shikamaru. "It would be a real drag if they made us wait longer than we had to."
Naruto approached Shino and the bikochu. Hinata turned away slightly when Naruto was coming closer to her.
"So Shino, is the beetle really ready for this?" asked Naruto anxiously.
"We've already ran numerous trials with the bikochu," replied Shino. "We had it sniff out various scents pertaining to certain members and the bikochu managed to locate them all. It has been trained so that every time it is introduced to a new scent by an Aburame, it will follow that scent until it reaches it."
"Awesome! That means finding Sasuke should be a piece of cake!" boasted Naruto.
"It's also nice that I'll actually get to be a part of the mission this time," noted Shino.
'For crying out loud, he's still complaining about not going after Sasuke last time?' noted an irritated Kiba.
"I hope you'll be able to keep up with the rest of us, Sakura," said Ino. "Or else I might rescue Sasuke before you even have a chance to get to him."
"As if I let that happen, Ino Pig!" refuted Sakura. The two kunoichi started exchanging evil glares at each other while Chouji and Shikamaru backed away from them.
"It's good to see you all made."
All the young ninja turned around to see Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai standing before them.
"Since you all know the details, let's not waste any more time and get on with this," stated Kakashi. "Shino, whenever you're ready let the bikochu sniff Sasuke's headband and then release."
"Right," Shino said. He then opened the case and placed Sasuke's headband in it. The bikochu sniffed the headband for a few moments and then it flew out of the case following the trail.
"Let's go!" called out Kakashi.
With that, everyone was in pursuit of the bikochu, allowing it to lead them down whatever path it followed.
'Hang on Sasuke,' thought Naruto to himself. 'We're all coming for you. And this time we'll bring you home for sure!"