"You know you will catch a cold," A calm, smooth said behind Naruto.
Naruto didn't react to the voice. He knew perfectly well who it was. There was only one ninja in the entire village who could sneak up of the Rokadaime and not be found out. Perhaps the second most sought after ninja in the village, after Naruto of course.
"Oh Kakashi-sensei," Naruto muttered. Usually he would be pretty damn happy seeing his former sensei. Kakashi, most of the time, was assigned to S-Classed missions and was often gone for several months. But today wasn't an ordinary day by Naruto or anyone else's standards. Naruto didn't make eye contact with Kakashi Hatake. His eyes were glued to the black memorial stone ahead of him. As simply as can be, he poured another glass of sake for himself and handed the other cup to the Jounin. "What brings you down here on a day like this?" Kakashi stared at the young boy. It was still too much for him to handle. First, he lost his father due to the Kyuubi. Then for a majority of his life, he is hated beyond comprehension by the entire village. If that wasn't enough, his other fatherly figure, Jiraiya dies, leaving Naruto all alone. Kakashi's hair drooped in the heavy rain. He felt utterly sorry for his ex-student. No one understood the pain inside the blonde's heart. Kakashi was arguably the only one who had a chance at understanding. Losing his father, Obito, ...Rin..., and then his sensei, Yondaime. Not counting other numorous friends, Him and Naruto were oddly similar. But now wasn't a time for Kakashi, it was a time for Naruto Uzumaki.
"Well, if you must know," Kakashi sighed," I just came back from that mission you sent me on a few weeks back." At the sound of this, Naruto turned and faced the Copy ninja. Kakashi noted how his eyes changed from sorrow and grief into anger and hate.
"So, did you find them?" Naruto growled.
"Yes, I have. Their hideout is located outside of Rain country. On a mountain pass. I would've have gotten more information, but the entrance is protected by a powerful barrier jutsu." Kakashi told his leader/comrade. "Besides that, there isn't any signs of other defenses." With this, the hate grew much brighter in Naruto's eyes. Now his entire face showed his emotions. Knowing Naruto, Kakashi already knew the next question.
"And Sasuke?"
"Uchiha Sasuke...is currently in Wave Country. That is all we know at the moment." Kakashi said. Naruto eyed the silver jounin. A certain twinkle in his eyes that Kakashi knew all too well. The Rokudaime was about to do something reckless.
"Find me Shikamaru, Kakashi-sensei. Then afterwards gather everyone. You should already know who they are. Once that is done, meet me at my office ASAP. Everything was quiet, except for the pounding of the heavy raindrops agains the ground.
"Naruto," Kakashi asked. Instead of his usual calm voice, he used a serious, rough one. "Are you willing to do something like this? I mean I know Akatsuki is dangerous and all, but to do something like this is basically suicide." Naruto didn't reply. With a flick of his wrist, he waved Kakashi off. Kakashi shook his head, and disappeared in a poof of smoke. There stood only Naruto. Before he left, he turned one last time back to the memorial stone. "I'm willing to risk it all." Then he walked away. There was no turning back.
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Naruto walked into the Hokage Admin Building several minutes later. His mind already determined on his decision. Hanabi and Kyra saw the seriousness on his face and decided to leave him alone. Naruto didn't say a word and proceeded to his office. He took a seat and awaited for the rest to show up. Knowing Kakashi, it would take about an hour to round everyone up. But to the surprise of Naruto, it was only several minutes before the Kakashi, the Sharingan Warrior, appeared with 'friends'. After Kakashi, walked up a tall light complected jounin. His long black hair reached to his back. His eyes gave him away immediately. Neji Hyuuga. Next came in two twins, well they weren't exactly twins, but close enough. Both wore those horrendous green-clad jumpsuits with a pair of Jounin vests. It was Maito Gai and Rock Lee. There was also a bunch of jounin and chuunin, but none were as important as the first 4. Lastly came Shikamaru Nara, the new War Advisor. Extremely intelligent and lazy, he wasn't only formidable in combat, but also in strategic matters such as this situation. Once everyone settled down, Naruto then proceeded.
"You all must be wondering why you are here?" Naruto told them carefully. This would be the difficult part of the entire process. "Before I say anything else, I will warn you that if you want that you can back down from this mission at any time. You will not be punished for any reason. I have brought you here today for one and one reason only." He sighed. This is it. The moment of truth." We have a new mission that I will personally lead. Our mission is to destroy Akatsuki once and for all." As soon as the words came out of Naruto's mouth, several of the younger Chuunin left the room. They were the smart ones. The blond waited a little while before continueing
"I will answer questions at the end. But we have information that the Akatsuki hideout is currently located on the outside of Rain Country. If we have any chance to have a successful future, we must take the inititive and destroy Akatsuki now. Now like I said you can back out of the mission at any time. Those Chuunin were smart. Because this mission...this mission has a high fatality rate." Naruto paused for several seconds, letting it sink into the minds. "Now is there any questions?"
Instantly the hand of Shikamaru's flew into the air. "Let me get his straight. You want us to form an army and fight Akatsuki?" Naruto nodded. Unexpectedly Shikamaru smiled," How troublesome. It's a good thing I'm here to save your butts then."
Naruto smiled. He could count on Shikamaru. More like he could depend on his friends. Kakashi, Gai, Jounin...hell everyone he grew up with.," I have changed my mind. No more questions. Since you know the mission, if you want to leave now, then please do." Several more shinobi filed out of the room, leaving about 20 ninja. "Are you sure you guys want to go through this?" Naruto asked the remaining ninja.
"Hokage-sama," Kakashi spoke up," We are willing to sacifrice ourselves in order to protect our village. Right guys?" Everyone nodded in unison. This was Konoha's new army. "Whatever you want us to do then we will do."
"Good then," Naruto grinned," Because we leave tomorrow morning. Get everything done TONIGHT. Say bye to girlfriends, families just in case. If you need to then go make has sex, do it tonight. I won't guarrentee everyone won't make it back here afterwards, but I will tell you this. I will protect you with my life." And with that, Naruto walked out of the room. Before he left, he had to see one more person.
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Such bright pink hair made Sakura Haruno stand out in a large crown. She was even more noticable when she was in her usual pink-surgery outfit. She had just came out of a paticularly hard surgery. But that was taken care of and now it was her time to relax. Strutting her beautiful self into the hospital break room, Sakura grabbed a cup of coffee and took a seat with a certain female blonde. The break room was unusually crowded that day.
"Hey Sakura," Ino Yamakana said to her best friend," How did that surgery go?"
"Better than I expected. The patient has a puntured right lung and several other injuries. I managed to stablilize him. They should be able to take care of him." The kunoichi sighed.
"Good then." A sly smile appeared on Ino's face," And how's Naruto-kun?"
Sakura blushed at the comment. Everyone and their mothers knew Naruto had a thing for the woman with pink hair. But Sakara staunchly refused everything. Ever since Uchiha Sasuke defected from Konohagakure, she didn't feel like getting into a relationship. That included Naruto "I haven't seen him in a long tim-" Perfectly synchronized, Naruto burst into the room. All eyes aimed towards the Rokudaime. Ignoring everyone, he briskly approached Sakara, grabbing her hand in the process. He pulled her into the middle of the room and rapidly formed the necassary seals. "Gamaguchi Shibari." Pink flesh-like material appeared through the cracks of the hospital floor. Soon it surrounded both of them inside. No one did anything. What were they supposed to do? It was the Hokage that did it. On the inside, Sakara already knew what happened...or so she thought.
"Eww Naruto. I've told you never to bring me here." She whined. Inside of a stomach of fire breathing toad wasn't exactly glamorous, but it would have to do. What he was about to tell her...he wouldn't know how she would react. Hopefully, the walls were thick enough to muffle the crying. "The last time I was here, I had frog saliva in my ha-"
"Please Sakura," He interrupted her. "I have something to say." Naruto stopped talking for a moment then continued. "Tomorrow morning, I'm going on a mission to destroy Akatsuki."
The shock hit Sakara like a ton of bricks. At first, she didn't know what to say. "Naruto, you can't. You can't do this," She said, worry in her voice," It's suicide. You get killed!" She yelled. That was the reason they were in the toad. The walls were soundproof.
"I have to Sakura-chan. They must pay for what they did to us. To Sasuke. And to Ero-sennin." Naruto replied. Sakara could see in his eyes. This time he meant everything he said. He was really going to do it. Naruto really wanted revenge.
"Listen to me, Naruto." Sakura pleaded, hugging Naruto," Please don't do this. I can't lose you. You're all I have left. I...I..can't go on if something happens to you!" She began to cry. Naruto understood completely. She had lost everything. Since Team 7 disbanded, she was never the same. He was her best friend. Maybe even more. And he was going into the lion's den tomorrow. He might never come back.
"Sakara-chan," Naruto whispered, letting the frog flesh disappear. There stood Naruto holding the crying Sakura. Everyone continued to stare. What the hell happened in there? Many thought. It was unusual for the Rokudaime to come unexpectedly, but to make the best doctor in the hospital cry. Something was afoot. But they didn't dare to ask. Quite frankly, they were scared.
"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan, but I have to go." He whispered in her ear. If that was bad, then this was even going to be worse. Mere seconds after telling her that statement, Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke. That left Sakura alone, by herself, in front of everyone. Tears continued to roll down.
"NARUTO!"
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R&R Guys. I want to know how I'm doing.