Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Orginal Naruto characters.
Chapter Summary: The ninjas get informed about the prophecy. They meet three unknown, dangerous looking ninjas.
Neji's team walked the halls, silently making their way to the Hokage's office. He and his team had been training when an ANBU member called them off. They immediately stopped, thinking it was very important if an ANBU member had been sent to get them.
Now here are the three teenagers, standing respectably in front of the Hokage's office. Tenten knocked politely, awaiting an answer. Instead, Gai opened the door, motioning them inside. Lee's face instantly lit up at the sight of his sensei. There had been more and more missions, the two ninjas spending less and less time together.
Lee hadn't seen his trainer a little over a week, and now the sight of him only made his heart more cheerful than it already was. But his mood dropped at Gai's face. It was etched with worry, black rings starting to appear from lack of sleep.
Tenten's eyes widened in surprise; Neji's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Lee's brow furrowed in worry and care.
"Gai-sensei! Is there something wrong that you would not mind to discuss?" Gai's expression lit up a little at his former student's care.
He shook his head, his face lighting up at each second. "It is OKAY Lee! Do not let my oldness worry you from your youthness!" Neji only shook his head at the irony. He should've known Gai would be okay once he was around Lee. They were like father-and-son. Neither can be separated from each other for a long time.
He glanced at Tenten who was smiling at the two idiots. She caught his glance and shrugged. Even though Gai seemed happy, something was up. He hadn't seen his former sensei's face that worried since they had been on the mission with Team 7 to retrieve Gaara.
The three ninjas quietly made their way inside the room. Gai must have seen his face because when he walked passed him, he whispered, "Don't worry." Neji just nodded in response.
They were surprised to see all the sensei's of rookie 9 and three other ninjas. Sitting was Tsunade, with Shizune standing next to her carrying Tonton. There was so much tension in the air. Something was certainly up.
Asuma was standing in the corner left of the door, Kakashi the opposite. Kurenai had her head tilted a little down, standing a few feet away from Asuma but leaning on the same wall he was. Kakashi was crouching in the position he always took but something was missing.
Neji's mind clicked. The Icha Icha Paradaisu book (Make-out Paradise) he always carries.
Leaning to the wall opposite of Kurenai was a male ninja. He was the closest to the Hokage's desk, but his eyes showed deep hatred with a cold mask covering his face. Neji only saw that look on one other person, Uchiha Sasuke. Lee must have recognized it too because he heard a small gasp.
His hands were crossed in front of him, cold, dark scarlet eyes glaring at the three newcomers. His dark-scarlet hair was flat and spiky, similar to Gaara and Kankuro's, only a little shorter. He was wearing a black sleeveless shirt that showed off his muscles with black below-the-knee shorts, white stripes at the sides. Bandages covered his knees and elbows.(1) On his left shoulder was the kanji Wrath tattooed.
Next to him was another male ninja. His greenish-grey eyes stared at the three fondly. His hair was pure black, wavy all the way up to his shoulders. He wore a loose, grey-green jacket over a white tee. He wore the same type of pants as the other ninja, just dark grey, making his eyes stand out hard. He had an earring on his right ear bearing the kanji Pain.
He whispered something to his teammate. Once he was done, the dark-scarlet eyed shinobi looked at Neji, his glare deepening.
The greenish-grey eyes shinobi smirked at his accomplishment and assumed his position. Leaning against the wall, hands placed neatly behind his head, right foot propped against the wall, he smirked in their direction.
The other ninja was a female. She was sitting down, her hands hugging her knees together. Her head was buried on her knees, disallowing them from seeing her profile. She wore jogging pants with a white tank top. She looked like the plain and simple type.
She had black, layered hair that reached a little below her shoulders. Her hair was highlighted though, with the same color as Hinata's. As Neji looked more closely, he figured out it was all natural. She had bangs swept to the left side of her face that, if she looked up, would almost cover her eyes. She had unique, fingerless gloves. Instead of reaching up to her wrist, the ends of her gloves only reached just below the base of her thumbs, a little above the wrist. It looked like she hadn't moved since they arrived.
All of them looked the same age as Neji, the kunoichi probably a little younger. Gai passed them and stood against the wall opposite of the dark-scarlet eyed ninja. He finally stopped glaring at Neji's team but scowled at their sensei. Gai only through him a big smile and thumbs up sign. If anything his scowl deepened.
Lee stood next to his sensei, right in front of the grey-green eyed. Next to Lee was Neji standing in front of the kunoichi and Tenten standing on the other side of Gai. It was quiet before the door opened again. In came Kiba's team, his huge dog trailing.
"Oi! What do you want! Me and Akamaru were just training!" The big dog barked angrily.
"Just shut-up and stand somewhere." Kiba glared at his ex-sensei but did what he was told. Hinata, chose to stand next to her cousin, Kiba and Shino stand on either side of Kurenai. Akamaru sat in the big gap between Hinata and Kiba.
The dog took a look at the three strangers standing in front of Gai's team. Akamaru hadn't stared at them for one second when he rested his head on his front paws. He didn't look scared but nervous. Kiba glanced at Akamaru before glaring at the three ninjas.
The scarlet-eyed one took a sideways glance at Kiba before closing his eyes, dismissing him completely. Kiba balled his fists in anger. The shinobi with an earring gave Kiba an equal glare. The kunoichi still hadn't moved. It looked like Kiba was about to say something when the door slammed open.
Naruto stormed in, making as much noise as possible. "TSUNADE! What the hell do you want? Can't you see I'm trying to train?" The blonde was covered in mud from head to toe, a few scratches on his face.
"Oh…I could see that," she muttered.
"What did you say?"
She smirked at Naruto's direction. "Nothing." If anything, Naruto's face turned redder. He was about to scream one hundred thoughts when Sakura appeared next to him.
"BAKA! DON'T BE SO DISRESPECTFUL!" He received a devastating blow to the head.
Rubbing his head vigorously and muttering incoherent thoughts, he made his way to Kakashi. Sakura followed him, standing next to her former-sensei.
Everyone waited patiently for Asuma's team, wondering what was taking them so long. Almost instantly, Ino's voice rang along the corridor.
"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN? DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG WE'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU?" A few seconds later, a frustrated scream was heard.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN TROUBLESOME! AND CHOJI! WHY ARE YOU EATING CHIPS AT A TIME LIKE THIS—AHHH FORGET IT!" The door snapped open, revealing a distressed looking kunoichi, one bored looking shinobi, and a fat dude eating chips.
"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?" the blonde yelled to no one in particular. One eye-brow twitching, she made her way to Asuma followed by her two other team mates.
Shikamaru yawned, showing no respect for the Hokage. Tsunade closed her eyes in exhaustion. How the hell did he pass the chuunin exam?
"Well, aren't you going to start now?" Neji asked, not wanting to waste anymore time.
Tsunade nodded sharply. "Right." Resting her elbows on her desk, she made a triangle with her long, slender fingers. She looked at the young shinobis tensely, deliberately ignoring their former senseis. For some reason, her intense gaze lasted long on Hinata and longer on Neji.
"You're probably wondering why you're here." Closing her eyes briefly, she took in a long, fresh, gulp of air.
"You're probably wondering why you're here." She repeated. She paused again, sounds of her feet shuffling behind her desk.
"You're probably wondering why you're here." She repeated yet again. Various eyebrows rose questioningly. The green-grey eyed shinobi coughed, covering up a snicker.
"You're probably wond—" She slammed her fists down in frustration. Damn it! I can't do this. The Hokage ignored the strange stares and got up. Lacing her fingers together behind her back, she looked out the window.
The streets of Konoha we're packed, people coming and going. Markets we're everywhere, merchants trying to bid people to buy their things. Kids laughed and joked, enjoying their freedom before they too, would someday become ninjas. How she longed to be out there, living her life freely without worrying about missions and other countries.
Why, of all people, did she have to become Hokage? Why did Jiraiya have to come looking for her? Why did Orochimaru kill his sensei? Why can't she be gambling right now?
She was the Fifth Hokage. All she had to do was warn the shinobis about the prophecy and she'd be done, right? Wrong. This wasn't an ordinary prophecy. This decided everyone's fate. Everyone. Even people from other galaxies, universes, if there was any. If there was an alternate universe with weird machines and high-tech technology, it would affect them too.
This prophecy affected anything and everything. It threatened the very existence of beings and mankind alike. It affected the existence of stars, planets, moons, water, anything that ever existed.
Tsunade sighed wistfully. She had to get this done. It was quickly becoming dusk. She turned back around, her eyes scanning the room once again.
She sat quickly on the chair, assuming her old position. "All right. You're probably wondering why you're here."
"We've been wondering, you old hag!" Naruto yelled, one eyebrow twitching in annoyance for having to wait for so long.
"It's because of a damn prophecy so stop yelling and let me finish you annoying brat!" Naruto's whiskers swayed a little before calming down. He rubbed his head and looked at Tsunade confusedly.
"Heh…what is a prophecy?" The hokage slapped her head in weariness. Baka…
"A prophecy is a prediction of an event that will occur in the future." Sakura said matter-of-factly. "But what does that got to do with us."
"You are the prophecy." The ninjas could only stare.
"What's that's suppose to mean?" asked Ino.
Kakashi could only sigh at Tsunade's way of telling them. He coughed getting everyone's attention. "It means the prophecy is about you guys." There was an uncomfortable silence followed by various coughs and feet shuffling.
"And you expect us to believe this?" Kiba said expectantly, stroking Akamaru lightly on the head.
Bastard. "Why else would I be telling you?" Tsunade retorted angrily. Kiba shrugged, focusing his attention on the huge dog.
"Is that it? Can we go now?" Naruto asked, itching to get ramen before the noodle shop closed. Next thing he knew, Tsunade's gold colored name tag and other materials were flying out the window. There were cries of pain from below but the Hokage didn't seem to notice.
"THE DAMN PROPHECY DECIDES THE WHOLE FATE OF THE WORLD AND YOU'RE FUCKING TELLING ME YOU DON'T GIVE A SHIT? YOU'RE ALL BASTARDS! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY THE FUCK I'M THE HOKAGE. MY HOBBY IS GAMBLING! GAMBLING! TELL ME ONE KAGE THAT LIKES TO GAMBLE FOR FUN AND NO NARUTO, SOMEONE BESIDES ME!"
There was a long, eerie silence. Even the markets seemed to be quiet. Tsunade, red faced and huffing madly, sat back down on her over turned chair. Shaping her fingers to a triangle again, she looked calmly at them.
"Now, about the prophecy. It decides the whole fate of the world. I can't quite tell you anything yet. The ninja who found it 'died'. All I know is that it involves twenty-one talented and very skilled shinobi."
"But how can you be so sure it's us?" Tenten asked curiously.
Tsunade smirked. "Well, the prophecy described the ninjas very well."
"So what's all this stuff about 'decide the whole fate of the world' thing?" Choji asked nonchantly, half of his attention focused on a bag of potato chips.
When did I say that? "That's not important right now. Just…be careful. There's going to be things attacking you."
"Tsk…how troublesome. Another reason to die." Shikamaru's eyes were half-closed, his hands placed inside his pockets.
"Everything to you is troublesome!" He only snorted at Ino.
"Hey! But there are only twelve of us! Who are the other nine?" Gazes fluttered over the three unknown shinobi before looking back at the Hokage.
"Well, three of them are the sand siblings…"
"Who are the sand siblings!" Naruto's loud, confused voice destroyed all train of thoughts.
"Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari you idiot!" Ino's creepy face was more than enough to shut the kitsune.
"And the other three are them." The fifth gestured toward the three, lone-looking ninjas.
All eyes turned toward them. "Well?" Tsunade asked expectantly.
"My name is Gekido." The shinobi's was taken aback by the tone of his voice. The dark scarlet-eyed ninja had the same tone as Sasuke, only with more hate. And it was all directed to them.
Naruto could only gape. Although his last encounter with Sasuke was four months ago, it still felt like a lifetime since he last saw his ex-best friend.
Sakura was shaken, her eyes starting to sting. No! I cried all my tears already.
Gekido met their awkward gazes and glared at them the same way Sasuke used too.
Kakashi, on the other hand, didn't look the least bit surprised. It seems all the senseis already knew him. Tsunade, feeling the uncomfortable air, nodded at the grey-green eye shinobi to start.
"Whaddup yo! I'm Tsuu!" The young shinobi's were startled by his loud comment. He was grinning from ear to ear, two dimples appearing on either side of his cheek. His tone was sharp but at the same time playful.
Neji could tell by the dangerous glint in his eyes that he wasn't a person to mess around with. Same thing for Gekido. He noticed they had the same names as their kanji. (2)
All eyes turned to the lone figure sitting on the ground. Tsuu's grin disappeared as he scowled down at his teammate. His eyes looked worried and even Gekido's cold, hard mask seemed to soften at the sight of her.
"Her name is Koukai. Sorry, she's a little uneasy after our last mission." One of her hands waved up lazily, acknowledging them. The first sign of life from her.
Gekido snorted and turned his gaze out the window. Tsuu half-glared at him but didn't say anything.
Tsunade went around the room, starting from Tenten, introducing all of them. She skipped the senseis, explaining they already knew each other. For some reason, she skipped both Hinata and Neji and went straight to introducing Akamaru and Kiba. Hinata looked at her confusedly but didn't say anything. Neji didn't seem to care.
She finally finished, the sun setting over the horizon.
Everyone turned to the door, hearing light, quick steps. A chuunin burst in, looking frantically at Tsunade.
"Hokage-sama!"
"What? Can't you see I'm busy?"
"Yes Hokage-sama! But Hokage-sama, there has been reports of spying in the outskirts of Konoha."
"Then send some shinobi to investigate."
"We have Hokage-sama, over an hour ago. Hokage-sama we lost track of them a few minutes ago. I'm afraid, Hokage-sama, they are K.I.A.(3)" Tsunade stared long and hard at him.
"How many did you send? And can you stop saying Hokage-sama too much?"
"Yes Hokage-sama. We sent 20 of them Hokage-sama." A vein started to pop at the side of her face, probably from annoyance at all the stress she handled today.
"They're hiding underground." The chuunin turned to look at Gekido, who was still staring out the window. It was now dark, the only light coming from the stars and moon.
"What?"
"Two sound ninjas every two miles, hiding around the perimeter under Konoha." The chuunin gaped at Gekido's sure tone.
"Don't forget the one that's hiding five miles from Konoha in a big willow tree." Tsuu said, smirking at the shocked faces all around him. "That's why your ninjas died so fast. He was telling their coordinates while the ones underground ambushed them. My guess is you attack the one in the willow tree before searching for the ones underground."
"He has an outline of where the shinobi underground should be. It's hiding behind his head band." Gekido said, looking unimpressively at the chuunin.
The chuunin stared at the two ninjas before running back out, shouting orders in a walkie-talkie.
"How did you—?" Naruto asked confusedly.
"Koukai saw the ninja in the willow tree while we were walking towards Konoha and then sensed the ones underground." Tsuu said proudly, patting her head softly. Koukai didn't move.
"And you didn't tell us this because…"
"We thought you would find out. Guess we were wrong," Gekido explained rudely. It was obvious he was dissing Konoha shinobi. Tsuu smirked agreeingly.
Kiba clenched his fist in anger. He got ready to say something when Hinata's small voice penetrated everyone's thoughts.
"Y-You f-f-forgot us T-Tsunade-sama." Normally, she wouldn't care but that was the only thing she could think of to keep Kiba's mouth shut.
Tsunade stared before nodding. Damn it! I was afraid this was going to happen. "Right. This is Neji and Hinata…Hyuuga."
Instantly, Kaikou's head shot up. Hinata's breath hitched in her throat and Neji's body tense, his fists clenched. The younger shinobis stared, bewildered.
Author's Note: Ha! Cliff hanger! I'm finally done with this chapter!
1: The bandages they always use. Example: The bandages on Neji's right arm.
2: Gekido's name means wrath and Tsuu's name means pain. Kaikou means regret.
3: Killed in Action.
Gaaraswifey: Woah…isn't it weird we have almos the same pen name? lol….
All Reviewers: Thx for the review! Keep reading. Try reading my other story: Babysitting is hell. You could read Camouflage but the character acts kind of like a Mary-Sue. That was my bad. I was a novice.
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