Chapter 2

Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno were sitting in Ichiraku Ramen Shop enjoying a bowel of ramen with their sensei, Kakashi Hatake. Suddenly, a fellow ninja came running in.

"Kakashi! The Fifth Hokage needs to see you and your squad right away!" he said.

"Ok. Naruto. Sakura. Let's go." said Kakashi.

"Right." nodded Naruto and Sakura.

They raced off towards the Hokage's mansion, wondering what was so urgent. When they arrived, they saw that Asuma, Kurenai, and Guy sensei's squads were there also.

"Hey! What are they doing here?!" said Naruto.

"We were summoned here just like you." said Shikamaru Nara.

"There must be an emergency for Lady Tsunade to summon us all here." said Sakura.

"There is." said a voice.

Everyone turned to see Shizune and the Fifth Hokage, Tsuande, coming out of the mansion.

"We've received reports of some strange looking people 20 miles north of here. We are going to dispatch one squad today and then one squad everyday after. Kakashi's squad, you'll be leaving today." said Tsuande.

"Also. When you encounter these strangers, approach with caution. They were not wearing hitai-ate's, the headband that identifies them as ninjas." advised Shizune.

Kakashi nodded and then turned to Naruto and Sakura.

"Be ready to leave in one hour. Meet me at the Leaf Village gate at that time."

Naruto and Sakura both nodded, then hurried off to get ready. When he got home, Naruto got out his travel pack and began throwing stuff, such as kunai, shuriken, and various scrolls, into it. After an hour had passed, he left home to meet up with Sakura and Kakashi sensei.

"All right. Now that we're all here, let's be off."

The three of them set out from the Leaf Village, heading towards where the strange people were last spotted. As night began to fall, they began to set up camp for the night.

"If we keep going towards the location at the pace we've been going, we should be there by midday tomorrow."

"Okay. Then we shouldn't let anything stop us." said Naruto.

As the three of them finished setting up camp and settled in for the night, Guy's squad was preparing for their departure the next day.