Even in the first light of dawn, Konoha was already bursting with life. Walking down the center of one of the bustling trade streets was the new Team Seven, still exuberant about that morning's victory.
"Man, did you see the look on Kakashi's face when Ieyasu grabbed the bells right out from under his nose?!" Naruto was leading the group, walking backwards through the morning crowd as he carried on with his teammates.
Following right behind, Sakura rolled her eyes as she stepped out of the way of a particularly busy deliveryman. "Yes Naruto, we were there. Still, we did work well together!."
"Agreed. I'm most fortunate to have been placed on this team!" Ieyasu said from his place at the back of the group.
"Heh, you can say that again! With this group, Sasuke won't know what hit h-" Naruto was cut off as he ran into someone behind him.
The pair staggered for a second, but both caught themselves before they fully fell over each other. Naruto spun around, already starting to apologize, before seeing who he had run into. "Shikamaru!"
"Troublesome as ever, I see." With a small smirk, Shikamaru shook his head. "Welcome back."
"Thanks! Oh, this is Ieyasu, by the way," Naruto paused, pointing back to the newest member of the team.
"I know. Actually, I'd love to catch up but Tsunade sent us to come and find you for a reason," Shikamaru said, back to looking as serious as ever. "She wants you all at the tower as soon as possible."
"Did she say why?" Sakura asked.
Shikamaru shook his head. "She didn't tell me anything other than that. Whatever it is must be important though. I should be meeting with Temari right now…"
"Oh? Does somebody have a date?" Naruto prodded, leaning towards Shikamaru with a mischievous grin.
"N-no! We're meeting to work on the next Chunin exams. She's Suna's representative," Shikamaru deflected, looking away quickly. "Actually-" Looking back up at Naruto, he continued "- What are you planning to do about that?"
"About what?" Naruto answered, confused.
"The exam. After all, you're the only one of us that hasn't made chunin yet." Shikamaru answered.
Naruto was silent for a long moment as the information sunk in. As soon as it had done so, however, he let out a loud cry of dismay that attracted more than a few hostile stares from the traffic on the street. "You mean Sakura's…" He looked back at his pink haired teammate, who just gave a wink and victory sign in response.
Shikamaru nodded as well. "As much as I'd like to catch up, we need to get moving. We can talk more later."
Exchanging goodbyes, Team 7 headed towards the Hokage's tower. The building buzzed with activity, even more than the shinobi were used to. Forcing their way through a crowd of clerical staff, all of whose were trying to move large stacks of paperwork in various directions through the lobby, they eventually made their way to the main secretary. From there they were directed to go downstairs to a room that none of the three had ever seen before. A large set of stone doors were set into the walls, a small plaque reading "Council Chambers."
The three entered, and were faced with a surprisingly unimpressive room. It looked more like an Academy Classroom than anything else, with long rows of grey desks set in tiers ascending up the back of the room. At the front were a number of hastily set up chairs sitting in front of the lowest row of desks. These faced, along with the desks, a large podium at the front of the room.
Where the room itself was unimpressive, the people in it were anything but. High ranking shinobi and men that Naruto and Sakura recognized as important merchants all sat at the desks, alternately glaring down at the front of the room or animatedly arguing with their neighbors. The heads of each clan in Konoha- shinobi and civilian alike- filled the first two rows, with Danzo, Homura, and Koharu taking the center seats. In front of each person was a small nameplate, which clearly had been provided by the person it identified. Most of the shinobi's were simple block lettering on wood, but many of the civilians had ornate gold worked into theirs.
Finally, at the front of the room, Tsunade sat in the Hokage's formal robes, looking directly at the other new arrivals to Konoha. Shingen, Yukimura, and Sasuke were sitting there, along with Keiji, Hanbei, and Hideyoshi. Hanbei and Hideyoshi still bore the dust and dirt that had stuck to their clothes during the testing process, while the entirety of Shingen's right arm and chest was tightly bound in white bandages. In fact, the only one of the newcomers in the room that looked undamaged was Keiji, who just looked slightly hung over.
Upon catching sight of the others, Ieyasu faltered in his pace for a brief second, almost tripping over himself. He reigned in his reaction before most could notice, but he saw the eyes of many of the shinobi glance towards him for a brief moment before returning to their previous conversations. Naruto also caught the reaction out of the corner of his eye, but he was interrupted before he could turn back to his new comrade.
"All right, now that the last of us are here, let's get started- Quiet down!" Tsunade's voice bellowed through the room, stunning the civilians that had continued to chatter into silence. The Hokage let the silence hang for a moment before continuing. "Thank you. Now then, I have called for this assembly to bestow rank as Konohagakure ninja upon these men."
"This is a mistake! We can't trust these people!" One of the merchants in the upper tiers shouted.
"Your concerns are noted, but as this is not a debate, please refrain from speaking." Tsunade continued calmly. "This matter has already been thoroughly discussed by myself and our military experts, and it has been decided that this is what is best for the good of the Village. Upon conclusion of this ceremony, these four will be Konoha shinobi, with all of the rights, privileges, as duties that accompany that. Do you understand this?"
All four gave a short nod, at which Tsunade continued. "With that being said, you all have one last chance to decline this offer. Will you do so?"
Again moving almost in unison, the four all gave a short shake of their heads. Seeing that, Tsunade gestured to one of the ANBU standing guard at the edge of the room. As he stepped forwards with a quartet of armbands, Tsunade continued. "These represent your commitment to the forces and ideals of this village. The headband itself is merely a symbol, but you will be required to wear the symbol of the village somewhere on your person when on active duty and when outside of the village. Understood?"
Again, there were four nods, and Tsunade continued while the ANBU began to hand out the headbands. "Well then, with this I institute Maeda Keiji, Sarutobi Sasuke,Takeda Shingen, Takenaka Hanbei, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi as Tokubetsu Jonin, and Sanada Yukimura as Chunin in the service of Konoha. The rank of Tokubetsu Jonin is also granted to Tadekatsu Honda, though he is not present in this chamber. This is done before all of the witnesses gathered here today. You all are dismissed for today, but be ready for assignment and team distribution first thing tomorrow."
With that, Tsunade quickly made her exit from the chambers, even as the protests began to rise in volume again. At the same time, several ANBU appeared next to the newly instituted shinobi and directed them to the nearest exit. Each of the group's members was somewhat overwhelmed by the rush of bodies and conversation that passed by them as they were directed out of the building. Finally, they reached a secluded courtyard located behind the tower, and were able to catch some fresh air.
As soon as they reached the clear area, the displaced travelers began to cluster back together, with Ieyasu quickly moving over to Shingen. "Master Shingen! Yukimura-San! You're here as well?"
Grabbing Ieyasu's hand with his own unbandaged one, Shingen pulled the younger man in for a crushing one armed hug. "Indeed we are! And where is your attendant?"
"Tadakatsu's resting in a place that they've provided. One of the shinobi in there told me that they're going to have the meeting with him there." Ieyasu responded.
"Good, good. I can rest easy knowing that you had a familiar face through this- and there's not a man I'd rather have as a guard!" Shingen exclaimed, releasing Ieyasu with a pat on the back.
"Friendly faces are always good! In fact, seeing you all here makes me a bit more comfortable with this whole situation." Keiji said, coming up for a handshake of his own.
"It seems that you've grown less carefree since we met last, Maeda-San! What's there to worry about?! They seem well meaning here!" Shingen asked.
"The people that want to stab you in the back generally do." Sasuke interjected from his place behind Shingen.
"Well, if it comes to that, we'll test ourselves against them. But there's no reason to invite a fight when it could be avoided." Shingen said before turning back to the rest of the group. "Well then, I assume that you all came here in the same manner as us?"
"If you mean that flash of light, we did. As to what it was, we have no idea." Keiji answered.
"Well then, we'll have to see what we can learn about that. Until then, why don't we celebrate this meeting! After all, when did we last meet as friends?" Shingen asked, a more serious tone entering his voice.
"I'd rather focus on the actual problem here, but… What the hell?" Sasuke chimed in.
Keiji was immediately behind Sasuke, throwing an arm over his shoulder. "That's the spirit! You know, I already know some good bars around town…"
Yukimura gave a whoop, and moved around to join the pair. "We can share our tales of what we have experienced in this place!"
Ieyasu's grin widened, as he moved over to join the group. "And I could introduce you to some of our new comrades!" He gestured back at Naruto and Sakura, both of whom were standing slightly awkwardly to the side.
"Well then, what are we waiting for? Lead the way, Madea-san!" The group all turned to leave the tower grounds and suddenly faced another ANBU.
The masked man bowed, nothing giving away any sort of emotion. "My apologies, but I must interrupt. Takeda-san, Madea-san, please feel free to proceed out to the town, but the rest of you have been requested by the Hokage, Team Seven included."
Like a switch had been flipped, the entire group's demeanor shifted. Each nodded, and farewells were exchanged with Keiji and Shingen. Then, as quickly as they had arrived, they followed the ANBU back into the tower.
Several minutes later, the group was assembled in the Hokage's office. They had been joined by Kakashi and another kunoichi, who had no mask, but bore a prominent ANBU tattoo on her arm. Most of the group was standing at attention at various points of the room, just waiting for the Hokage to speak.
Tsunade took her time, finally closing the folder that she had been reading through and looking up to the assembled team. "As if this day wasn't bad enough already, we just got a message from Suna. Gaara of the Sand, the Kazekage was kidnapped a day and a half ago."
Naruto was, predictably, the first to respond. "Wait, Gaara's the Kazekage?!"
Tsunade just nodded before continuing on. "Not only can we not let the leader of one of our foremost allies be taken, there's something more. This isn't the first abduction of a jinchuriki we've heard of, however. What's more, The kidnappers in each case were seen wearing black robes with red clouds."
"Akatsuki…" Kakashi interjected, almost unconsciously.
"They're making their move. But, they got greedy this time, and so we finally have a chance to track them. As such, it is vital that we intercept the kidnappers and recover Gaara before the tailed beast can be extracted." Tsunade paused, staring at the assembled group. "That's where your teams come in. I would have rather let you have a day or two to settle in before this happened, but I'll be giving you your team assignments now."
Pointing at Yukimura and Sasuke, the Hokage continued. "The two of you will be assisting Team Guy. Since Guy and Shingen are still injured from your meeting, Neji will lead your group. Team Seven, you already know your arrangement. You will accompany Team Guy on this mission. Honda is receiving the same briefing in your temporary residence, and will meet you at the gate."
Tsunade paused again, turning her attention to Hideyoshi and Hanbei. "As for the two of you, meet Uzuki Yūgao." She gestured to the unmasked ANBU, who a short nod. "The three of you will form a team from here on out. Your first mission will be the safe retrieval of the Kazekage. Understood?"
Hanbei raised his hand, and at a nod from the Hokage, spoke up. "As much as I appreciate the trust, I can't help but wonder why you're sending us out on this."
Tsunade grabbed the black folder that she had been reading from and slid it across the desk to Kakashi, who began to look over the contents. "That's because there's another factor in this. Like I said, this isn't the first attack on a jinchuriki. What I didn't mention was that at every single one of these incidents, an unknown shinobi also appeared in the surrounding area, and was inevitably involved in the resulting fight. Given that we haven't heard a thing from the other jinchuriki since then, we can only assume that these unknowns are working with the Akatsuki. Because of this, it's been decided that you all should be mobilized to counter any unknown threats."
"And if we turn out to be traitors, you can put us down before we get embedded in the village." Sasuke finished.
Tsunade nodded at that. "Yes. That being said, I am placing a significant amount of trust in you all, with reason to believe that it will be rewarded. Are there any more questions?"
A long moment of silence passed, every face in the room etched with the same stony determination. After a sufficient amount of time passed, Tsunade spoke. "Good. Time is of the essence, so prepare what you need and meet at the gate in twenty minutes. For those of you who aren't settled in, talk to Shizune to receive your stipend so that you can buy supplies- your new teammates can help you with that."
After a round of murmured assent from the room, Tsunade dismissed the new group, who left swiftly and silently, mentally preparing for their first mission.