Authors Notes
Man it feels so good to get back into the groove of writing again, I really missed doing this and I can't wait to give you guys more chapters. I'll be uploading 1 chapter per week from now on. Once again, I hope you all enjoy.
Naruto sat in the meeting hall by himself, with his arms behind his head and his feet up on the long meeting hall table; he sat on the upper end, surrounded by chairs on each side of him he was lightly humming to himself as he continued to watch the door in anticipation.
"I want you to send carrier pigeons out to each of these locations; I need each person here on the exact same date at the exact same time. Can you do this for me?"
There was a rhythmic knock on the shack door followed by a drumroll, prompting the large figure inside the shack to move towards the door.
"Who is it?" The figure asked in a dark, evil voice.
"Carrier Pigeon service sir, a bird flew in this morning with a letter for you. It's from Naruto Uzumaki." The messenger replied, with fear evident in his voice.
"Naruto Uzumaki!" The voice shouted, slamming open the door and knocking over the messenger.
The messenger looked up towards the open door to see the rapping 'legend' of Kumogakure, Killer Bee.
"My man Nar-u-to! It's been a while since we talked y'know? Killer Bee said, reaching down and picking up the letter
"Dear Killer Bee,
These are truly troubling times for my village. Recently I and Sakura encountered a mercenary gang called The Wolves; Normally I wouldn't make a fuss about the occasional gang here and there but this is different, each member of The Wolves presents a danger to the village. They are after exactly what the Akatsuki were after, except this time, they might end up getting it. They seem to each be above every member of the Akatsuki in terms of power levels and have made quite the name for themselves in the Northern Lands, it's imperative that you make headway to the Leaf Village at once, I know this may seem like a suicide mission but I should have a plan by the time you get there, thank you Bee. I'll see you soon.
Naruto Uzumaki,
Seventh Hokage, Village Hidden in the Leaves"
"On my way homie." Bee said before leaping off, leaving the messenger stunned and confused.
The forest grew quiet, Sasuke Uchiha sat by himself thinking of all his past misdeeds and wrong-doings. He regretted everything he had done up until this point in his life and now that he had tied up all the loose ends in his life, was left to ponder on what could have been if he didn't make those wrong choices. Sasuke lifted up his head and opened his eyes, the pupil and iris in his left eye had begun to grey; this was the price all Uchiha paid for extended use of the mangekyou sharingan. His brother and Madara had suffered the same fate before him and now it seemed like he was next in line. Sasuke's eyes shifted to the left as he heard a bird fly through the forest, he noticed in was bearing a leaf village flag, tied to its tail.
Sasuke whistled at the bird to get its attention and so he did, the bird swooped down from the skies and skimmed past the branches in the forest before landing swiftly on Sasuke's shoulder; Sasuke reached up onto his shoulder and took the letter it was carrying before sending the bird on its way.
He saw that it was addressed to him and opened the seal, unfolding the letter and reading its contents.
"Dear Teme,
It's been a while since you and I last spoke, I hope you've been able to tie up all of those loose ends you were talking about because you're going to be needed here sooner than expected. Recently, Konoha has come under threat of attack from a mercenary group called The Wolves, not doubt you would've heard of them in your travels. You're probably also aware that Kabuto is part of them. They intend to capture jinchuriki's much like the Akatsuki did but this time it's different, I'm not sure if they're after me or my daughter this time.. Teme, I don't normally call in favours but I need your help right now, you're one of the only people I can turn to in this situation. I'm assembling a team and I need you to be part of it. I know you and by now you're probably what the hell my plan is and the truth is, I don't really have one. I know this is crazy and that we're probably going to die but trust me, I promise that I won't ever let that happen! I'll be waiting for you Teme.
Your friend,
Naruto Uzumaki
Seventh Hokage"
Sasuke pressed his fingers towards his mouth before blowing a small fireball to incinerate the letter, preventing anyone from knowing of his location before jumping off to aid his friend in what was sure to be a suicide mission.
"Lord Kazekage, a message arrived for you this morning." A young chunin said as he ran into the office, "It's urgent!" He said as he handed the paper to Gaara, Kazekage of the Village Hidden in the Sand.
"Thank you, you may go." Gaara said as he gave a faint smile, he had been getting better at smiling over the years. He had recently had his first child with Matsuri his long-time wife since they married at the young age of 18; the child's name was Izumi and he was the light of Gaara's world, he promised to keep Izumi safe from all of the dangers of the world, he was just beginning to grow a fuzzy patch of red hair on the top of his head.
Gaara peeled off the Konoha Village Seal, and unfurled the letter; he instinctively knew it from Naruto Uzumaki but he knew that Naruto never sent letter unless it was absolutely urgent.
"Dear Gaara,
Thank goodness you're the last person I'm writing to, I've had to repeat this to everyone else I have sent a letter out to. I guess I should start off by saying hello. It's been too long man, I hear that you and Matsuri have had a child! Congrats man, welcome to the Dad club. Anyways, I suppose it's time to get down to business. As I'm sure you're well aware of The Wolves are becoming more prominent in our regions. Sakura and I have had recent run-ins with Yakushi, he seems hell bent on taking my daughter away from me and that's something I won't stand for! He and the entirety of The Wolves are going to attack Konoha within the next month and I need all the back-up you can spare, I can't promise that there won't be any casualties and as much as it pains me to say this.. I'm not sure I'll survive this time. I want you to meet here on this date with me if possible, there will be others. I'm counting on your support this time Gaara. This'll be the toughest battle yet.
Naruto Uzumaki
Seventh Hokage"
"Kankuro, get the horses ready." Gaara demanded, standing up from the desk
"Gaara? What's wrong?" Kankuro asked as he began to follow his brother, walking down the hallway.
"I'll explain on the way" Gaara said, signalling Kankuro to go down the hall and get the horses ready, Gaara took his first left and entered the Kazekage's Private Room.
"Gaara?" Matsuri said as she turned around, cradling Izumi in her arms.
"Matsuri..." Gaara said gently as he stepped towards his wife and child.
"What's wrong?" Matsuri asked
"I have to go away for a while. I'm sorry." Gaara said, caressing her cheek
"Why?" She said her voice faltering with worry
"A friend needs me, Naruto Uzumaki." Gaara said.
"Why does the Seventh Hokage of Konoha need your help?" Matsuri asked
"He's going to war." Gaara answered, his voice becoming much more serious.
Matsuri's eyes widened at her husband's words. "But Gaara, what if... what if you die?" Matsuri asked, tears welling up in her eyes
"It's a risk I have to take Matsuri. Naruto would do the same for me." Gaara said, wiping away Matsuri's tears and giving her a sad smile.
Matsuri put Izumi down in his play chair and stood up to face Gaara a much more serious expression on her face. "You'd better not die, or I PROMISE I'll revive you just so I can kill you again." She said in a joking voice, a smile evident on her face.
Gaara smiled at her and pressed his lips to hers, after a minute of heavy kissing they parted and smiled at each other, hand in hand.
"I promise, I'll come back to you. It'll save you the trouble of reviving me." He said, letting out a small chuckle before giving her another small kiss on the cheek then walking out the door.
"You'd better.." She said, looking at Izumi grabbing at his father.
"Man, what's taking them..." Naruto said, growing impatient
And it was just like that, Naruto heard loud shouting outside the door.
"I can't believe this, who invited you?" Sasuke growled.
"The same person who invited you." Gaara growled back.
"Yeah right, like Naruto would bother to work with a murderous monster like you." Sasuke grunted.
Before Sasuke could respond, the cap was of Gaara gourd and sand was circling around Sasuke's neck.
"If you dare insult me like that again, I've got a half mind to show just how much of 'murderous monster' I am!" Gaara yelled.
"Whoa! easy there my man, no need to use the sand!" Killer Bee said gently trying to calm the Kazekage down
Suddenly the door swung open and the three men, and Sakura looked up. Sakura was sitting there reading a magazine trying to ignore the entire situation since Sasuke and Gaara hadn't stopped growling at each other since their eyes crossed
"Well, let's get this council underway." Naruto said with a smile.