Maruku was currently fading in and out of consciousness. Everything hurt like hell and he could barely feel his own chakra. Closing his eyes to fall asleep once more his plans were interrupted.

"Can you move?" The boy turned to see Kakashi who was giving him a rather serious stare.

"No."

"I see." Carefully picking up his student and placing him in a fireman carry the jonin leapt out the window at high speeds.

"Sensei. Where are we going?"

"Back to the village. Something urgent has come up and I don't know if its safe for us to be here any longer. Rest now, you're still injured. I'll fill you in on more details once our location is secure." Taking his teacher at his words Maruku allowed himself to fall asleep.

When he woke up again he found himself somewhere in the Land of Lightning with the remaining Konoha entourage. The boy tried to get up but found that his body would not respond to him. "

"Don't move. You're still injured." "Really? How did you know" The boy's sarcastic thoughts were interrupted when he was picked up and propped up against a stone.

"Secure the perimeter." Several jonin disappeared in a burst of speed and reappeared several seconds later. Kakashi took a look around and turned to face all the genin.

"The village has been attacked by the Hidden Stone and the Hidden Sound. As it stands we are looking at the outbreak of the fourth great war. We might be heading into extremely dangerous combat situations. I need to know if all of you are prepared."

Maruku was in a state of shock. The Fourth Great War? It was way too early for this to be happening. Cold shock washed over him. Maruku was the only person on team 7 to not kill anyone. He wasn't ready to go to war. How could he ever be ready? What the hell happened to cause this? The boy needed answers.

Getting picked up again they all rushed towards the Land of Fire.

FIREFIREFIRE

They had been traveling for four days. His body still hurt but he was able to move now. They were closing in on the village. As the moonlight shone through the gaps in the tall trees Maruku had a feeling of unease. The group had split up into their original teams so they wouldn't all be caught by surprise at the same time.

He and the rest of his team were forced to dodge as a barrage of stones flew at them. An enemy! Bringing his senses to full force he let his team know the enemy location.

"Ten o'clock!" The only response he got was Kakashi slicing the man's neck open. They grouped together again back to back.

"Any more of them?" Maruku shook his head.

"Alright. Maruku take point let us know if you sense anything." Nodding his head the boy took the lead keeping his senses up. Luckily though there were no other incidents. When they got to the gates of the village the damage of the attack became apparent.

The village was in a state of disrepair. Buildings were broken and burned, the streets looked more like trenches. Despite the destruction however there were still citizens out and about going on with their daily night lives some of which were helping with the repairs.

Team 7 made their way to the kage tower the only building that looked like it didn't have any damage. They made their way to the office and saw that the chair was facing away from them looking out the window.

Slowly the chair turned to reveal the hokage.

Team seven came face to face with Danzo Shimura the current kage.

Naruto stepped forward a confused look in his eye and protest on his lips. He was stopped by Kakashi placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Lord Hokage." Kakashi's voice was flat with no indication on how he was feeling.

Danzo eyed all of them. "As you are aware, we have been attacked by enemy villages. There is no time to waste so I'll be assigning you missions tomorrow. Right now rest. Report here at 4 in the morning."

Maruku was forced to bow before they were dismissed. The team split up all of them lost in their own thoughts. As he made his way home Maruku was deeply worried. How did this happen? The Tsuchikage wouldn't risk starting a war. Was this the Akatsuki's doing?

He shook his head to clear away the questions. He would find out soon.

FIREFIREFIRE

As he stood in the kage's office doing his best to not show his sleepiness Maruku felt miserable. He was still kind of sore from the Inverse Limit Seal but it was manageable.

"Kakashi, you've done well to train four students however only one of them seems to be at chunin level. Maruku step forward." The boy did so staring at the older man's chin. He would be damned if he got put under kotoamatsukami.

" The sheer potential you exude bodes well for both your future and the village's. I grant you the honor of being a chunin. For your first mission will be a A rank. You are to blow up Kishihoka mine, that should help slow the Stone's iron supply. Any questions?"

"Who are my teammates for this mission?"

"Unfortunately we can't spare anyone else. You'll be flying solo." Maruku had to resist the urge to put his face in his hands. He just got a suicide mission.

"Lord Hokage I must object." Kakashi tried to interfere.

"Do not question your leader Kakashi! The boy either succeeds and helps win a major step in the war or he fails and dies. Have faith in your student and his potential. Maruku you are dismissed."

Doing as slight of a bow as he could get away with, Maruku turned on his heel and left. As he packed his things and prepared to head to the Land of Stone a wild thought filled his head. Orochimaru,Danzo, and the Tsuchikage needed to die. If all three leaders died then surely the war would come to an end right?

He would destroy Kishihoka mine and do his best to infiltrate Iwagakure.