A New Hope
Disclaimer; I don't own Naruto.
Minato ran his hand through his damp hair, as he soaked in the hot spring. He just had so much on his mind, that he couldn't even relax. He's been in the future for a little over a year now and it feels as though he has accomplished nothing. He's left with more problems than solutions, at this point.
First, Orochimaru has turned out to be a bigger threat than he imagined. Not only is he after Sasuke, but he has created a whole village full of mutants and ninja with special blood lines. The snake sannin will surely still try to obtain the sharingan, via Sasuke, which will only lead to the down fall of Konoha and other villages.
Next, there's the Akatsuki. They're slowly making themselves known to the ninja world. After Minato's chat with Itachi, he decided to go to the Hokage's office and see what he could dig up on the organization and found that they have been doing high paying jobs, for anyone willing to hire them. The only known members, are the ones Minato met in the village, Hoshigaki Kisame, one of Kiri's ex-seven swordsman and Uchiha Itachi, Konoha's supposed traitor.
Itachi was another mess all together. To society, he went crazy and killed his entire clan. To the elders, he was a sacrificial lamb, used to take care their problem. What Minato didn't know was, how could he change things? He could not just announce to the world, that Itachi preformed a service to Konoha, because then, people would no longer trust their government to not pull the same stunt. Also, Itachi is in a powerful criminal organization, he would not be able to up and leave, when he wanted to. Minato needed to figure out a plan, to not only save Itachi, but keep the nations in balance.
Balance. Another issue the nations seem to have. Right now the five great shinobi villages are at a stand still. There is no major dispute, however they are not on friendly terms either. When the Akatsuki begin to make their move, it might be a good opportunity to get in contact with other villages, but for now politics would need to wait.
Then, Minato still has the trouble knowing that the masked man is still out there free and unknown to the world. Upon his encounter with the masked man, Minato's initial thought was that it was Madara, seeing as he had the means and motivation, but the problem with that theory, is that Madara is long dead. Not to mention, the person seemed to understand Minato's battle strategy better, than those who first encountered him. Also, why did he only show one eye? Could his other have been damaged somehow? Who was the mystery Uchiha exactly?
" Sensei."
Minato, blinked and looked up at Kakashi.
" We need to talk." his formal pupil said in a grim tone.
Minato's eyes hardened.
This couldn't be good.
OooO
" Where are Naruto and Sasuke?" questioned Minato, as he sat at the small square table.
" They're cleaning up the dinning area, after getting food all over the walls." answered Jiraiya. Kakashi took the initiative to begin.
" I was out trying to gather information on why everyone was so wary and I found out that the Land of This is at odds with the Land of That. I'm not sure on the specifics, but do know that there have been small altercations here and there, that it's not safe for either side to wonder too close to the other side's territory, and that the rulers of both lands refuse to meet."
Both Jiraiya and Minato nodded, waiting for him to continue.
" As I was sitting in the last bar, I was gonna check, some new customers entered under a genjutsu. When, I focused in, I saw their true appearance. The Akatsuki are here."
Both Minato and Jiraiya stiffened.
" Do you think they know Naruto is here and are after him?" asked the toad sage.
" No. They seemed to be gathering intel about the dispute between the two lands and paid me no mind."
" Maybe they were hired." offered Minato. Both men looked towards him." After my encounter with them, I dug up everything I could find on the Akatsuki. They seemed to be taking high paying jobs from anyone, who's in need of their services. You said it yourself Kakashi, they were interested in the conflict between the lands, so maybe they were hired to come here and solve it."
Kakashi and Jiraiya knew that 'solve it' meant kill the enemy. Neither were please by this information.
" So, what can we do?" asked Kakashi.
" Well, we can't just let them destroy an entire nation, but getting involved with the Akatsuki, with Naruto around isn't the best plan." Jiraiya said.
" Why not try a different approach?" spoke Minato.
Both men raised their eyebrows.
" What do you have in mind?" wondered Jiraiya.
OooO
Sakura sighed. They had been able to defeat the rogue ninja and had made sure to travel as far as possible, before it got completely dark, but now Sakura was exhausted. Sai's pace was, to her, really fast, coupled with the battle, she could barely set up camp without collapsing. They would be traveling at first sunlight and would be able to make it to Hacho village, by the afternoon, if they ran fast enough.
" My, it seems your skills complement your horrible looks perfectly." commented Sai, after he got the fire going.
Sakura's face turned red with anger, however instead of lashing out with her fist, she decided to use words.
" What the hell is your problem?! Ever since we've met, you've been nothing but rude and disrespectful. I know I'm not the prettiest girl out there, but I'm certainly not ugly! I don't know who trained you over the years, but they certainly didn't teach you manners, so if you have another rude ass comment, just shut the hell up! Because I don't want to hear another word from you and can't wait for this mission to be over, so I don't have to see you again!" she raged, before gasping to catch her breath. Her face was beginning to cool down and an eerie silence descended upon them.
Sai's bangs covered his eyes." Oh, well if that's the case, I shall no longer speak to you." he looked up with a closed eye smile, that seem even more fake than his other ones. He then turned and entered his tent, without another word.
Inner huffed ' Good riddance, he was so annoying.'
Sakura however, didn't share her alter egos satisfaction. ' He seemed kinda...sad.'
' Maybe he was upset that his insults backfired on him. Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be back to insulting us in the morning. Now go to sleep, your legs are starting to become numb and we've got a long travel ahead of us in the morning.'
Though reluctant, Sakura nodded and crawled into her tent. Maybe his sadness was just her imagination, seeing as he's not the most emotional person she's ever met.
OooO
" Dana~, I'm bored, when are we gonna get started on our mission?"
Sasori clicked his tongue. " Deidara, if you do not be quiet, I will turn you into one of my puppets."
The redhead threatened, as he checked over his traveling puppet. He would not have any cracks or malfunctions appear in a dire situation, his puppets must be in perfect condition, he would accept nothing less.
Deidara groaned in frustration. Sometimes he forgot that his partner was twice his age, therefore, in Deidara's opinion, a cranky old man.
" Our mission is to recon for several days, to learn the layout of the village, then to kill everyone as quickly and efficiently as possible. However, " Sasori continued, before his partner could complain." it seems we will need to move faster than scheduled." At Deidara's confused face, Sasori let out a sigh or frustration." When we entered the bar this afternoon, there was a shinobi, dressed in casual wear sitting there. I was not able to get a look at his face, though he seemed to recognize us. There's no telling, if he's alone or with a squad, but we will need to complete our mission and be prepared to fight more than just civilians."
Deidara nodded in excitement. Not only would this assignment go by faster, but he would get to use his art on worthy opponents, instead of mere civilians.
' Art is a bang, Un!'
OooO
The next day, Sasori and Deidara, were learning the lay of the land and it's people's daily routine. They could not risk having their criminal organization known for it's crimes against villages just yet. So, they would need to make sure to kill every last citizen, so this massacre could not be traced to them.
Deidara was going to ask, if they could take a break, until something caught his eye. His head turned in that direction and he tries to focus in on it and when he did, he instantly alerted his partner.
" Dana." he whispered. " Was this mission suppose to come with back up?"
Sasori, via his puppet Hiroko, glanced at his partner from the corner of his eye.
" No Deidara, this mission was mainly for me, however he thought it would be a good idea to bring you along, to make sure everyone was dead." There was a hint of annoyance in the redhead's voice. He didn't like his skills to be questioned, but there was nothing he could do about it.
" Then, why are Kisame and Itachi here?" Hiroko's eyes snapped towards his partner. Deidara gestured toward the two figures, walking father away from them.
" Deidara, follow me and stay alert." instructed Sasori, as he began to trail after the two Akatsuki cloaks. Deidara said nothing, as he followed his partner. They followed the two, trailing behind them all through the village, before stopping as the other two, went into the forest.
" Dana, why did they show up here, just to leave? Were they ordered to check up on us or something? Un."
" No. Something isn't right. Leader-sama never sends people to check up on us and even if he did, he would send a lower level agent to do so, not two people of our status."
Deidara was beginning to pick up what his partner was saying and gave a curt nod, before shoving his hands into his clay pouch.
Looks like their fun would begin sooner than expected.
OooO
" Nii-san, explain to me again what were doing so early in the morning." whined Naruto, as he followed his brother through the forest near the entrance of the village.
" I already told you Naruto, were out here for training."
" What kind of training?" questioned Sasuke.
Minato stopped walking once they came into a clearing. On the other side was a large rock wall. It seemed like they were at the bottom of a cliff, it was difficult to see the top, thanks to the sun blinding their vision.
" You boys are gonna climb this cliff."
" Ha! That'll be easy, we already know how to climb a tree and walk on water." grinned Naruto.
" Yes, you're able to summon chakra into your feet just fine, however the rules will be different this time around." both boys looked confused, which caused Minato to smirk.
" You boys are only allowed to summon chakra into your hands so that you stick to the wall, however you must use your upper body strength to pull you up and you can't use your feet to aid you."
Instantly Naruto and Sasuke began to protest, however Minato would not budge and told them to get climbing.
" If your not able to complete this exercise before the day is out, you have to run laps, until you collapse. We will do this everyday, until you boys get it right."
" How come you don't have to do it." glared Sasuke.
" Because, I've done it before and am in charge." before Naruto and Sasuke could complain, Minato said something that shut them both up." Besides, if I'm not down here, who will catch you if you fall?"
Both boys grumbled, as they made their way towards the base of the cliff.
Minato grinned, this would definitely keep them busy all day and hone their chakra control, upper body strength, and endurance. It was a win win.
OooO
Sai and Sakura had made it to the village and met with the client. The were currently on their way back, with the package safe and to Sai's word, he did not speak to her again, unless it involved the mission, which though Inner did not mind, Sakura felt bad for the way she acted.
' Why should we feel bad, the prick was obviously insulting us, so we put an end to it.'
' I know, but for some reason, I don't think he was insulting us just to be mean.'
' What?! How can you say that? People insult others, to be mean, that's it never is it for any other purpose.'
' No, people can insult each other, without meaning it to be harsh. Look at me and Ino, we still call each other pig and forehead, even though we're friends again. Then there's also Naruto and Sasuke, who are clearly friends, but still call the other dobe and teme. Maybe he was trying to establish that familiarity with us, but because we don't know him, we took it the wrong way.'
' Since when the hell were you so understanding?'
' Hehe. It's a side effect from hanging around Shikamaru.' Given the fact that Sakura passed her exams the second time around, along with Shino and Neji, they were the only ones qualified for many of the C-rank missions that came pouring in. She's only been on missions with Shikamaru, seeing as Neji and Shino served as a tracking duo, while she was still not that well trained in sensing, but from the time spent with the Nara, she has begun to understand things and indirectly people because of him.
Shikamaru always seemed to be such a slacker, yet when he did talk or apply himself, it was amazing how different he became. The way he was able to make plans, calculate, and think on the fly, really gave Sakura a new found respect for him. It was through spending time with Shikamaru, that Sakura knew she didn't need fancy jutsu or life changing speeches that her teammates possessed. She just needed to learn her own method and work on that, which is why her lessons with the Sandaime were limited. She may not have a lot of ninjutsu, but finding different ways to combat against an opponant who did, really became exciting to her.
' I should pay Shikamaru a visit sometime and see if he has any advice for me. But for now,' she glanced up at Sai, who was a few meters in front of her. ' I should focus on someone else.'
" Sai, can we stop for a moment?" she asked, making sure her voice could be heard over the rushing wind. The Root member said nothing, but did slow down his pace, before stopping on a thick tree branch. Sakura landed on the same branch and took a breath before speaking.
" I'm...sorry." she began nervously, while rubbing her arm, eyes locked on her feet. Sai faced her for the first time all day.
" Yesterday, when we were talking, I thought you were just making fun of me and wanted to hurt me with your words. But, I think that might have been a misunderstanding." she looked at him, to clarify her suspicions.
" I had read in a book that to become closer to someone, it is best to try and give them nicknames. I thought that we would become friends faster."
Sakura blinked. So, she had been right.
" You thought insulting me would make us friends." she stated.
Sai pulled out the book, he must have read the information from. " Yes, though it would appear, I did something wrong."
' No kidding.' she thought, with a bland look. " Sai, you can't just try to get too comfortable with new people. They won't understand you right away and will get the wrong impression, like I did. Don't you know this?"
Sai tilted his head." Well, in Root it was not a requirement to interact with people, other than mission related purposes. I have never had the things called 'casual conversations' and 'friends', because I do not understand human emotions well."
' This guy, doesn't understand human emotions?'
' No wonder his people skills were so lousy.'
' Inner, it's not his fault. He just grew up, being deprived of what most understand by the time their five. It's like when Naruto was less intelligent than the other kids, even for someone like him. The teachers would purposefully hinder his academic work and kept him at an idiotic level, for some reason. Both Naruto and Sai could not control what the adults taught them.' explained Sakura. I took a while before Naruto had become compliant about talking about his past and even then, he still glossed over many details, from what Sakura observed. However, she at least hoped he was opening up more to Minato, when no one was around, seeing as it's not good to keep hurtful things bottled up.
Coming to this conclusion, made Sakura feel bad for Sai and the way she had snapped at him.
She was about to speak again, however, Sai had quickly grabbed her and jumped away from the tree and into the bushes. His hand was covering her mouth and they were lying on the ground, hidden by the thick bushes. She wanted to ask what was going on, however she soon got her answer, when a few moments later, some rogue nin, who were dressed similar to the ones hey encountered yesterday appeared.
There were four of them this time and they all looked intimidating from their size alone.
' Not good.'
OooO
Deep in the dark city of Otogakure, a man with silver hair made his way towards his masters chamber. HIs footsteps echoed eerily off the walls, with his shadow swiftly moving behind him, in the torch light. He knocked twice, before entering.
" Lord Orochimaru, I've just finished corresponding with one of my agents." began Kabuto, as he fixed his glasses.
" And? Spit it out!" yelled Orochimaru. Ever since he has lost the ability to use his arms, he has been very irritable. He could not swap bodies, because the jutsu took time and was very taxing, not to mention the poison was one he had never encountered before, so Kabuto needed to be careful in order to make sure he didn't end up killing him instead of healing. However, even with the poison flushed out of his system, he would need to regenerate a new left arm, if he wanted to be able to perform jutsu again.
Orochimaru cursed the Leaf village and it's people once more. The invasion had done more harm than good, he lost his arms, and lost the chance to get Sasuke. However, he was not giving up. The whole fiasco, made Orochimaru realize that he had gone about his goals the wrong way. He was too careless with being in Konoha, during the second half and too flashy with his invasion, causing him to be defeated. No, this time he was gonna achieve his goals, by taking it one step at a time.
" My agent has found out, that Sasuke will be in the next chunin exam, which is in Suna this time."
Orochimaru smirked, he knew just where to begin.
I know it's been a century, but I have not forgotten about this story. I will try to update it more frequently, but am busy with my other stories as well.
For those of you craving MinaSaku, don't worry, I've thought up a few ideas to give it to you. The in between time skip, will continue for a few more chapters, cause I want to establish more things, before part two starts. My deviation from canon, will happen gradually, so my timeline with events will no longer begin to match up with canon. With that being said, I still need to work out more details on how this story will turn out, but I will give it my best.
Thanks for reading and please review.
