Hey everyone! Thank you SOOO much for reviewing like you all did. Well, not all of you, but those of you who did. I'm terribly sorry if in the last chapter I seemed a little bit mean and somewhat threatening about the review thing… I didn't mean to at all. Anyway, enjoy and keep reviewing:D

Disclaimer: By now I think we have already established that I do not own Naruto… though, if I did, I think I would be worshiping myself for creating such an amazing plotline and characters and everything else there is to say about it. But since I'm not… I will just stick with worshiping Masashi Kishimoto for the said things. Wow… long disclaimer. I think I'll give you the chapter now…

Chapter 8: Chosen

As yet another tear streamed down the blonde's cheek, he couldn't help the tiny hint of a smile when he heard Sasuke's words. Sasuke slowly removed his hand from the boy's shoulder and stood up watching Kakashi and Sakura walk back over to the two.

Kakashi held up three envelopes and handed them to Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. The envelopes each had a stamped mark that read "enclosed" with big, red letters. Sakura looked up. "What's this?" she asked him, curiously as she cautiously opened the envelope.

"These are your new assignments." Kakashi replied watching them interestedly open the envelopes. All three unfolded the pieces of paper that were inside and read them carefully. None of them were ordinary missions. In fact, they were not really missions at all. Each piece of paper ordered the three teammates to report directly to the Hokage. Looking up, the three Genin blinked questioningly at their teacher.

"It says to report to the Hokage." Sasuke stated, looking back down at his paper. He folded it back up and put it back into the envelope while Kakashi nodded.

"Indeed. That is what it says." He stated bluntly.

"What for?" Sakura asked him.

"That, I cannot tell you. But it also says to go immediately so I recommend you do so." Naruto and Sakura both folded theirs as well and put them into their envelopes. All three Genin nodded and were about to take off when they noticed Kakashi hadn't taken a single step.

"Aren't you coming?" Naruto asked him.

"I have been given orders to stay and guard this area. I know you know the way. You'll be fine without me." Kakashi acknowledged them.

Naruto turned back around and the three started off for the Hokage's office.

oO.Later.Oo

The entire time, none of them had said a word to each other. Sakura had wanted to say something about what was wrong between the other two all of a sudden but she had kept her mouth shut for fear she would become an annoyance to them.

As they approached the door to the Fifth's office, they paused for a moment. They looked at one another, hoping that something urgent had not happened and that their worst nightmare would be on the other side of that door. Sasuke gulped and put his hand on the doorknob.

When he opened the door, the three were welcomed by someone who spoke, "Good, now everybody is here." They looked up and saw that the room was packed with all of the Genin (except for Shikamaru who by then was already a Chunin) of Konoha. All of their academy friends and foes were standing in that room awaiting the arrival of team seven. As they looked around, none of the Jounin teachers were in the room. The only other people that were in the room were Tsunade, the Fifth, and her companion, Shizune.

Tsunade leaned on her desk with her fingers clasped and held up to her face. She glanced around the room at everybody and sighed. "Alright, everyone. Step up and listen closely. I'm only going to say this once." She stated and removed her hands from in front of her mouth. She paused and stared out at the Genin that surrounded her desk. "Good. Now that I have your attention I'm going to give you the basics of your new assignment." Everybody stared anxiously at her. "Each team in this room will be assigned a room to occupy. These rooms are all well hidden underneath Konoha where no body from another village could find you. You will stay there until our current problem is fixed." She paused again, earning a confused glare from more than half of the people in the room.

"I know what you're all thinking. 'We're ninja, so why can't we help?' right?" half of the glares returned to anxious stares as they waited for her to continue. "Well, if I tell you of the problem that has recently occurred, I am sure all of you will recognize some part of it. The problem is there are ninja from who-knows-where who have come to Konoha and have been invisibly attacking the ninja of our village. No body can see them. Well, no body except for one person. That person, I will have a talk with after I assign you all to your rooms." Everybody except for Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto looked curiously around the room, wondering who it was that could see the mysterious ninja. Naruto clenched one of his fists and patiently waited for her to go on.

"Please do not leave until I authorize you to." She began again. "First team! Aburame Shino. Izunuka Kiba. Hyuuga Hinata. You three will be assigned to room number 201." The three nodded their heads. "Second team. Yamanaka Ino. Nara Shikamaru. Akimichi Chouji. You three will be assigned to room number 202, directly across from room 201." Those three nodded as well. "Third team. Haruno Sakura. Uzumaki Naruto. Uchiha Sasuke. You three will be assigned to room number 203, directly next to room 201." Sasuke and Sakura nodded while Naruto stood there and listened. Hinata secretly blushed slightly when she heard that Naruto's room would be the one next to hers.

Then Tsunade spoke again. "Fourth team. Tenten. Rock Lee. Hyuuga Neji. You three will be assigned to room number 204, directly next to room 202." Those three nodded in reply and everybody was finally covered.

"My right hand, Shizune, will guide you down into your rooms. Please try your best to stay hidden. You may leave now." Shizune moved away from Tsunade's side and walked to the door. She opened it and allowed them all to walk out before her. She and Tsunade traded eye contact and Shizune nodded. Naruto was the last to walk out the door. Just as he passed Shizune, she lay a hand on his shoulder and he stopped walking. He only stared into space.

"Tsunade-sama would like to speak with you." She whispered into his ear. He shivered as the sound trailed down his back.

"Tch," he shorted, turning around to head back into her office. Shizune closed the door behind him and walked to the front of the students.

"We cannot leave until he comes back out. Please try to stay patient while we wait." She announced to the crowd of people waiting.

"Uzumaki Naruto. Please, come closer." Tsunade said to Naruto, gesturing for him to stand closer to her desk. Naruto stepped closer and stopped just as he approached the desk.

"I'm sorry we have to do this to you, Naruto-kun. You most likely already know what I am going to say next, though, don't you?" Naruto looked down at her desk, eyes completely unreadable. "Once again, I apologize. I hate to have to do this to somebody who didn't do anything wrong, but we have to. Otherwise, everyone in Konoha will be destroyed. You are our only hope of saving the village."

"It's because of Kyuubi isn't it?" he asked her.

Tsunade sighed. "Yes. If you didn't have the Kyuubi, you would be like everybody else. You wouldn't be able to see them, but you can… can't you?" she asked rhetorically. "That's why we need you to help us."

"Of course I'm going to help. This is my home." Naruto looked up, grinning. "Everybody I care for lives in this village and I have to protect them even if it kills me." Tsunade grinned.

"That's a good thing to hear. I will have to discuss some things with you about it later. But for now, you should go with your teammates to your room and get some rest." Naruto's grin faded and he nodded. He turned to walk to the door, and exited the room.

Just as he left the room, his faded grin turned into a solemn expression. Everybody in the hallway outside Tsunade's office turned to face Naruto when they heard the door close. They all expected him to say something but when he only stared at the wall in front of him, they turned back around and Shizune lead them out of the building to the rooms.

After what seemed like half an hour of walking, Shizune's pace slowed down and suddenly stopped in the middle of an open desert area. Looking up, the Genin saw that they were directly underneath the Hokage monument. Shizune knelt down and waved her hand toward the ground. Suddenly a small door appeared and she opened it. Some of the people who watched her were amazed, however being that it wasn't so surprising to have something like that happen, the rest never-minded it and followed her silently through the open door.

Naruto was the last person through the door and just as he got his whole body in, the door slammed shut with a loud, echoing bang. He looked up at the door and dust filled each and every crack between the wooden edges. He quickly looked back down and blinked rapidly to get the dust out of his eyes. He hopped off the ladder and landed roughly on the ground. Looking out, he saw everybody in front of him, watching him. It almost looked as if they were waiting for him to do something amazing or anticipating hearing him say something. But when he kept his mouth shut and walked past them all, they turned back around and followed. Naruto walked up to Shizune. He didn't say anything but she knew that they were all there and ready to get to their rooms.

They finally began walking down a long corridor with dark green walls and a few lights trailing down the ceiling. The walls that surrounded them were filled with doors that each had a number carved above them. The first door had the number 190 carved above it. The walls, doors, and the poor quality of the lights down the corridor made the environment seem old and mysterious. Not to mention the fact that no body had said a word while they walked through the hall. Naruto's eyes, along with everybody else's, wandered to the tops of each door, marking where they were and how long it would be until they reached the first room. 197… 198… 199… 200… and then they stopped in front of room #201.

"You all remember which room is yours?" Shizune asked the group. When everybody nodded a "yes" in reply, she stepped aside and let them into their rooms. Naruto walked to his team's room and opened the door. There was a light switch to the side of the door and flipping it towards the ceiling, a rather dim light flickered on. It was too unfortunate that there were no windows, but then again, why would somebody need a window if they were underground? On the other hand, there were three uncomfortable-looking cots in the room and the walls looked old, cracked and dirty. Just by the appearance of the so-called room Naruto knew he was not looking forward to however long he would have to stay there. He walked inside and lay on the cot that was practically stuffed in the far corner of the room.

Sakura and Sasuke caught up with him and walked in the room. They paused and glanced at each other when they noticed that Naruto was curled up in a tiny ball on the cot, facing the wall. Sakura and Sasuke slowly made their ways to their own cots. Sasuke got the one that lay sideways against the middle of the back wall. Sakura got the one symmetrical to Naruto's. Sasuke noticed that his pillow was only feet away from Naruto's. He sighed and wanted more than anything to be able to make Naruto feel better. But he thought about it and realized that any kindness he would try to show Naruto would turn out to be frightening to him because it was unusual. Sasuke didn't want that anymore though. He didn't know why he was always so cold to the adorable bastard. He sighed, laid his head against the cold pillow, and closed his eyes.

There's chapter eight for ya! I hope you enjoyed it! Don't forget to review!