A/N: I wasn't planning on updating so soon, but happy Thanksgiving! Oh, and I think I found a new beta! Thank you, M-python-girl for suggesting getting a beta for me. Though I still have a slight head-ache from browsing through all of those names. Oh well.

"Ok, we won the war and all… but…" Naruto looked at everyone in the room.

"Our leaders have disappeared! We can't function without our Kage!"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "I thought you wanted to be Hokage?"

Naruto glared at him. "Not under these circumstances!"

Kakashi raised his hands in surrender. "Calm down, I was joking."

"Hmph," mumbled Naruto. "Whatever. I think we should have a team go out and try to find the Kage!"

"Who?" asked Shikamaru. "We can't spare any ninja, not right now."

"What about this?" asked Kakashi diplomatically. "We dispatch a few ninja to find them; face it, they're all extremely skilled ninja. The Hokage would be a HUGE help with her healing jutsu, the Kazekage's sand would save a large amount of time in rebuilding and such, the Tsuchikage is… wise, I guess, and the Raikage can help restore order and the reconstruction as well."

They all nodded.

"But, we also need someone to lead, so we should appoint temporary Kage in their absence. If the actual Kage are dead, then the temporary Kage will become actual Kage. Satisfied?" asked Kakashi.

They all nodded.

Hinata raised her hand. "But who will be the temporary Kage?"

"The Hokage should be Naruto," said Shikamaru. "He's practically saved the world, and if he was a leader, then morale would be boosted. It would be boosted even more if our missing Kage were recovered."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"The Tsuchikage should be Kurotsuchi," continued Shikamaru.

Everyone nodded again.

"The Raikage should be Darui."

"Yeah."

"Yup."

"The Mizukage… Chojuro."

Chojuro widened his eyes slightly.

"And the Kazekage… Temari," finished Shikamaru.

Everyone nodded.

"What about the search team?" pressed Naruto.

"Well, since you're Hokage, you can't leave the village," said Shikamaru, making Naruto pout slightly.

"The team will be… Hinata, Neji, Sasuke, and Kankuro."

Hinata, Neji, and Kankuro nodded. Sasuke 'hn-ed'.

"Done?" sighed Shikamaru. "How troublesome…"

Temari's eye twitched, and she whipped out her fan. "What did you say?"

"Oh… uh, nothing!"

"Guys..."

Hermione looked at Harry. "Yes?"

"Is Gaara… stalking me?" hissed Harry.

Ron coughed. "Say what?"

"He's been following me all day! It's getting creepy," said Harry, stealing a glance at Gaara.

Gaara didn't say anything. He could've tailed Harry without being noticed, but honestly, it was too troublesome and took up too much chakra for a mission like this one.

"I'm, uh, sure he doesn't swing that way, Harry," said Hermione, trying to comfort Harry.

Ron snickered.

"Thanks a lot, Hermione, I feel so much better now!" said Harry sarcastically.

Hermione huffed. "Oh, be quiet, Ron."

"So, how was the day?" asked Mei, reading yet another book.

"Potter and his friends think that I am stalking them," snapped Gaara, irritated.

Tsunade coughed, while A struggled to keep a straight face. "I see," said Tsunade, her mouth twitching.

Gaara growled.

"Well, now that Gaara's shift is over, who is going to take the next one?" said Onoki, flipping to a new page.

"Me!"

The Kage, excluding the fuming Kazekage, all glared at each other.

"I've been researching all day!" snapped Mei. "Unlike the rest of you!"

"I need a break from these dusty books!" retorted Onoki.

"What if Potter gets injured? I am the only medic!" reasoned Tsunade, glaring.

"It'd be nice to actually stretch my legs and go for a walk," said A honestly.

"All of us know a healing jutsu or two… I think," said Mei, glaring back at Tsunade.

"Gaara only knows sand-related jutsu!"

"Well, Gaara's shift is over!"

"Well-"

"Shut up," snapped Gaara. Everyone glared at him.

Tsunade cracked her knuckles, while Onoki, Mei, and A starting forming hand-seals.

"I've found Lady Mizukage's chakra signature!"

Naruto was at the ninja's side in an instant. "Where?"

The ninja bit his lip. "…Outside the Elemental Countries."

Naruto cursed. "Well, great. Try to pinpoint the location of her chakra!"

The ninja nodded. "Yes, sir!"

After the rumors that Gaara was in love with Harry Potter started, Gaara cracked and decided to use his Third Eye to keep a... well, eye on Potter.

That didn't stop Harry from giving Gaara freaked out looks and make him avoid his 'stalker', however.

Gaara didn't really mind, since that meant that Potter's friend, Hermione, would stop questioning him at random about Shukaku and how it was related to his partial-insomnia (he did sleep sometimes, it was just hard for him to fall asleep in the first place. He told everyone he didn't sleep because the looks on their faces were hilarious.).

He was happy, the other Kage were happy (that they got to get out of the library), Dumbledore was happy, and Potter was happy (that Gaara had stopped tailing him).

"Today, we will be showing you how we manipulate chakra!" said Mei cheerfully.

Everyone started muttering excitedly.

"Finally!"

"I can't wait to do those cool moves they used in our first class!"

"Awesome!"

"SHUT UP!" shouted Tsunade.

Everyone was silent.

"We will NOT be showing you how to manipulate chakra!" snapped Tsunade. "That's a village secret!"

"What?" snapped Malfoy. "Why not? You're our teachers!"

Mei smiled indulgingly. "I'm afraid Tsunade did not explain why we can't teach you how to manipulate chakra properly. After extensive research-" (Gaara coughed at this. They had actually accidently found out that wizards and witched couldn't use chakra by accident) "-we found out that wizards cannot use chakra because they had so little that they would die if they tried to do a jutsu!"

Everyone started muttering furiously at this.

"What?!"

"Unfair!"

"You mean we can't do those jutsie thingies?"

"Aw, man, I was so looking forward to using them on my brother!"

"SHUT UP!" screeched Tsunade.

Everyone was silent.

"The other reason why we won't teach you is because you're a bunch of whiny brats!" snapped Onoki, finally at his wit's end.

"Ninja learn jutsu in order to protect their village!" agreed A. "Not for petty things such as chores or pranks!"

"AW, MAN, SAKURA'S COMING TO VISIT!"

Naruto started to hyperventilate. "I STILL haven't finished my paperwork!"

He stared at the huge pile (it looked more like a mountain in Naruto's opinion) of paperwork he hadn't bothered to do. "SAKURA'S GOING TO KILL ME!"

After a moment, he face-palmed.

"Of course! Why didn't I think of that before? KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

A sneezed.

Gaara decided that this was not the time to inform A that he had used his sand to wash the dishes and clean the house before. Though it was only because Temari had threatened to kill him if he didn't.

Kankuro had begged Gaara to teach him how to manipulate sand after Gaara had finished all of the chores in less than five minutes.

Who knew that Sand Coffin was so useful? Actually, who knew that plates were so durable?

The class scowled, but didn't say anything.

"Very well, since we have gotten that out of the way… Lord Kazekage, walk on the lake for me," ordered Onoki.

Gaara narrowed his eyes. Everyone in the Elemental Countries knew full and well that he HATED water more than anything. Even Madara.

Onoki smirked, while Hermione looked slightly flabbergasted. "What?! You can walk on water?!"

"All genin can do it," said Gaara, still glaring at Onoki.

He stepped over to the shore (the classes were held at the edge of the lake, so he didn't have to walk that far) and placed his foot on the surface of the water.

Everyone (excluding the ninja, of course) held their breaths.

Gaara nonchalantly water-walked towards the center of the Black Lake.

Hermione's eyes were bugging out of her head. Harry looked like a fish with his mouth opening and shutting.

"Why don't we play a game, Kazekage-san?" asked Mei sweetly. Gaara narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"You dodge while we throw jutsu at you! And you have to stay on the water!" said Mei brightly. Tsunade, A, and Onoki smiled evilly.

Gaara widened his eyes. "Wait! –"

"Three, two, one, begin!"

"Lord Hokage!"

Naruto had finally finished his paperwork, continuously thanking whoever invented the Kage Bunshin.

Up in heaven (or the Death God's stomach), the First, Third, and Fourth Hokage cried as they realized that they could've just used Kage Bunshin to finish their paperwork.

The Second Hokage just shook his head at their idiocy. He had been lucky enough to realize that Kage Bunshin was a godsend when it came to paperwork.

"We have pinpointed the location of Lady Mizukage's chakra! Furthermore, we have found Lord Raikage, Kazekage, and Tsuchikage's signatures as well!" said the ninja excitedly.

Naruto leaned slightly forward eagerly. "But what about Granny Tsunade?"

Sakura had arrived just in time to hear the conversation.

"Naruto, Tsunade uses mostly physical attacks unless she's using a healing jutsu," explained Sakura. "If she hasn't healed anyone yet, then there's a good chance that she's used little to no chakra at all."

Naruto slumped in relief. "Thank Kami! Alright, Sakura, could you fetch the retrieval team for me?"

Sakura nodded, and left. She was kind of peeved that she hadn't gotten the chance to speak to Naruto, though.

Oh well, this was more important.

Hinata, Neji, Sasuke, and Kankuro stood calmly before the temporary Hokage.

Actually, Hinata was blushing, Neji was scowling at Naruto for being oblivious to Hinata's crush on him, Sasuke acted like he had the personality of a rock (as always), and Kankuro was tapping his foot impatiently.

The other temporary Kage had arrived as well. When they heard that the real Kage were found, they had rushed to Konoha immediately.

"Kankuro, be careful! Got it?" hissed Temari. "Or else I'll kill you!"

Kankuro sweat-dropped, but nodded. "Don't worry, I will."

"Alright, people, all of our best minds have come together and figured out how the Kage were transported somewhere else, and have recreated the… portal-thingy," finished Naruto awkwardly.

"And I was thinking that Naruto had finally matured," muttered Sakura.

Naruto glared at her playfully. "I have matured! I only play one prank a week now!"

Sakura's eye twitched. "You call that mature?"

Temari punched Naruto in the head. "Get on with it!"

Naruto clutched his head painfully. "Ow… Sasuke has to activate his Mangekyou, and at the same time, the others have to use their chakra. All at the same time," added Naruto.

"And how do we get back?" asked Neji.

"Reverse summoning! I know that Tsunade can summon slugs, and slugs are friendly, unlike Sasuke's hawks and snakes, so she can have a slug reverse-summon everyone back!" answered Naruto.

Everyone stared at him.

Naruto stared back. "What?"

"That was… smart," admitted Sasuke.

Naruto scowled. "What, you thought I was incapable of thinking?"

"Yes."

Naruto's eye twitched. "Whatever, just go."

Omake: The Two Counselors

Neji Hyuuga entered the room.

And promptly stared.

Gaara stared back.

Lee smiled. "My youthful teammate! How nice to see you! Now, let us do our youthful breathing exercises!"

"One, two, one, two…"

Gaara's eye twitched.

"You're my counselors?" said Neji in disbelief.

Lee paused. "Yes!"

"No wonder Uchiha was running like a mouse from a cat," muttered Neji.

He walked out the door and said to the unfortunate ANBU, "You did not inform me of this. Therefore, your destiny is to die."

Neji walked out of the building. The ANBU's eye twitched noticeably beneath the mask.

A hawk arrived with a scroll. The ANBU opened it and sighed after reading the contents.

"You have another patient," he said.

Two minutes later, the door slid open again, revealing…

A/N: This is another idea I had! For some odd, odd reason, no one has done a fic about a school of genin yet!

"So, whatcha need, Granny Tsunade?" asked Naruto, who had just came into the Hokage's office along with all the other Genin. "And what are these Genin doing here?"

"Hey, hey, Naruto!" shouted Konohamaru, waving and jumping over to him. "It must be a super-cool A-rank mission if you're here!"

Naruto grinned at him while Tsunade cleared her throat.

"Alright, Genin, the reason you were all gathered up her is because…" She handed a sheet of paper over to Naruto. "Read it out loud, Naruto."

Tsunade looked like a happy shark, which really didn't reassure the Genin.

Naruto grumbled at the injustice of still being a Genin, and read the piece of paper, his face slowly paling.

"'In order to strengthen bonds between Konohagakure and Sunagakure, all Genin from each village are required to go to a boarding school- GRANNY TSUNADE, WE ALL WENT TO THE ACADEMY! ISN'T THAT ENOUGH?!" shouted Naruto.

Tsunade glared at him. "Shut up and read, you dolt."

Naruto scowled. "'All Genin from each village that are under the age of 17 are required to go to boarding school. Jonin and the occasional Chunin will teach classes. They will rotate, so you will probably be seeing a different Jonin or Chunin every day for each class.'"

"WHAT?!" shouted Konohamaru. "That's unfair!"

"Granny Tsunade, I'm totally at JONIN level! Why in the world do I have to go to school?!" yelled Naruto furiously.

"We went to the Academy! Isn't that enough?"

"What?!"

"Why?"

"Do we have to do missions there?"

"A school with Suna genin?"

"What?!"

"SHUT UP!" screamed Tsunade, glaring at the Genin. Everyone was instantly quiet.

"You are going to school, and that's it. And yes, occasionally you will be doing missions," snapped Tsunade.

Moegi raised her hand. "What will we be learning?"

Tsunade grinned. "That's for the Kazekage and me to know, and you Genin to find out."

Naruto groaned.

"Stop groaning, there will be weekly tournaments to gauge your progress," snapped Tsunade.

Naruto brightened at the prospect of weekly tournaments. Though it still sucked that he was still a genin.

"Welcome to the Suna-Konoha Genin Academy!" yelled Temari. Tsunade and the three hundred genin on the ground below the stage looked at her curiously.

Temari smiled. "In case you're wondering why I'm up here instead of the Kazekage… well… heh heh… Let's just say that he never entered another Chunin exam after the one when he was eleven, and didn't promote himself after he became Kazekage. And he's under the age of seventeen."

There was silence as the genin's jaws hit the floor. The Kazekage was still a genin?!

"WHAT?! KANKURO, TEMARI, I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU!"

A grin appeared on Naruto's face while the other genin were still trying to comprehend that the Kazekage was a genin.

Said Kazekage appeared on the stage in a swirl of sand, glaring at Temari, who giggled and waved.

Gaara scowled, then smiled, making all those who were acquainted with him shiver. Gaara almost never smiled.

Scratch that, he NEVER smiled unless he was killing someone, which didn't happen as much nowadays.

"Temari, since I apparently have to go to school…" He paused, an evil look on his face. "I'm afraid I can't do my paperwork as I have to sit in a classroom for six hours a day. You're going to have to be the temporary Kazekage in my absence."

Temari paled comically. "B-but, Gaara… Y-you h-have t-thousands o-of p-pages t-to f-fill o-out a-and r-read…"

"I would never be able to finish my paperwork along with my homework," said Gaara calmly.

"Ah ha ha ha ha… KANKURO, REVOKE HIS SCHOLARSHIP OR SOMETHING!" shouted Temari.

"I CAN'T!" yelled a voice in reply.

"THEN YOU'LL BE DOING PAPERWORK WITH ME!" screeched Temari.

There was a pause.

"WHAT?! WHAT PAPERWORK?!"

"GAARA'S, STUPID!"

"OH NO!"

Gaara smiled cleverly.

Naruto choked back his laughter.

The rest of the Rookie Twelve (excluding Sasuke and Sai) thanked their lucky stars that they had been promoted in time to escape going to school AGAIN.

"Sasuke…" hissed Orochimaru, eyes glinting more evilly than usual.

Feeling slightly worried, Sasuke stepped forward silently.

To the immense shock of everyone in the room (Kabuto and Sasuke), Orochimaru banged his fist on his Desk of Doom (as he so fondly called it).

"Pathetic, Uchiha!" hissed Orochimaru furiously.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "What?"

Orochimaru twitched. "You are going to be my vessel, but… YOU'RE STILL A GENIN!"

Sasuke twitched as well. He really didn't like being reminded of the fact that he was still a genin.

Kabuto snickered quietly.

"Fortunately, I have remedied this. Hopefully," muttered Orochimaru, whipping out a scroll and shoving it towards Sasuke. "Read it."

Sasuke unfurled the scroll. "'I, Orochimaru the Great, the greatest of the three great Sannin, Ultimate Snake Lord, blah blah blah-" "Hey!" "-has agreed to, in exchange for Sasuke Uchiha's entrance to the Suna-Konoha Genin Academy and his promotion to Chunin, not to do anything harmful to Konoha or anything related to Konoha (including ninja and civilians) in any way for two years.'" He stared at Orochimaru along with Kabuto. "How in the world did you get Tsunade to agree with this?!"

Orochimaru grinned. "I have my ways." He started cackling evilly.

Sasuke was even more worried now.

Orochimaru stopped cackling and became serious. "There are a few ground rules, however. One, no killing, even if the person is annoying," he said sternly.

Sasuke snorted. "This is coming from you, who experimented on human beings and killed them."

Orochimaru whistled innocently. "Second, no permanent damage inflicted on other people. Third, no evil stuff, period."

Sasuke mumbled, "Hypocrite…"

Orochimaru smiled brightly. "That's it for now!"

Kabuto started laughing. Orochimaru turned to him, making him freeze.

"Oh, my dear Kabuto, surely you haven't forgotten!" He chuckled. "I can't have my assistant be a genin!"

Kabuto looked horrified while Sasuke laughed evilly.

"Why have we been summoned here, Lord Pein?" drawled Itachi.

Pein smiled, making the Akatsuki shiver. "Itachi Uchiha… one of the youngest ANBU captains in history. Accomplished Jonin and S-rank missing nin."

Itachi 'hn-ed'. "So you finally realized my brilliance and decided to praise me in front of everyone. How touching."

Deidara scowled.

Pein smiled once more. "All of you… Accomplished Jonin and also S-ranked missing nin."

The Akatsuki looked confused.

Pein's smile looked slightly sinister now. "Did you know that… Once a ninja becomes a missing-nin… they are automatically demoted to Genin by default."

Everyone gasped in horror.

Pein's eye twitched. "This is unacceptable. In order to remedy this partially, I have signed a contract with Konoha and Suna, who are apparently hosting a school for genin. Apparently, genin who do well on the exams at the end of the school year will be promoted to Chunin."

Kisame raised his hand. "But most of us aren't from Konoha or Suna."

Pein sighed. "Ah, yes. Unfortunately, because of this little snag, only Itachi and Sasori are allowed to go. Also, I have agreed to not harm Konoha or Suna in any way until three months after the school year is over. We will have to wait to snatch the Ichibi."

Deidara cackled evilly at the sight of Itachi's horrified face.

"Also, the remaining Akatsuki members are required to teach, as part of the contract," added Pein.

"WHAAAT?!"

Orochimaru sighed and wrote ANOTHER scroll to Tsunade. It seemed as though that missing-nin were declared genin once they became missing-nin.

He would NOT become the strongest ninja as a genin. Unacceptable.

Somewhere in Konoha…

Tsunade laughed as she thought of the two contracts she had signed with Orochimaru (the traitor!) and the one with the Akatsuki.

This was going to be an interesting year.

A/N: Can anyone guess why the ninja were able to pinpoint the Kage's chakra?