Chapter 5

Meanwhile, miles away from the Hidden Leaf Village, a camp of rogue ninja sat and awaited orders from their leader. Nobody knew why, but he seemed bent on destroying the Hidden Leaf Village…no matter how many men it cost him. Survivors from the last attack had described a group of shinobi that had stopped them, not once, but twice. And always, the same name, Naruto Uzumaki, was heard.

"Do you think maybe he's the Leaf's Jinchuriki?" asked one ninja.

"I heard he even defeated Pain!" replied another.

Everyone was caught in their own side conversations till a man stepped out of the center tent. He was obviously feared and respected by every shinobi there, which must have meant he was the leader of this band of mercenaries.

"Twice, I have sent a team of our ninja to the hidden leaf…and twice, they have been defeated." claimed the man.

Curses and boos were shouted out from the surrounding audience until the leader spoke again.

"So…I want to know…why? Why have we failed in our mission to crush the leaf when it's at it's weakest!" he shouted. "I'll tell you why…the reason why…is a Jinchuriki named Naruto Uzumaki!"

The crowd was silent…most were unsure how to react.

"But I, the mighty Shinji Kagemaru, have devised a plan to make sure this does not happen again!" Shinji exclaimed.

Cheers from the audience could be heard…but also, a small puzzling sound.

"So I introduce to you…the Akatsuki!" Shinji bellowed out.

Madara, Kisame, and Zetsu all appeared before the crowd, whom stared in confusion. Weren't there more than just three members? Where did Itachi Uchiha go? What happened to Sasori of the red sand? Or the Immortal duo?

"Greetings….I am Madara Uchiha…I come before you today for a purpose. A common goal, to crush the Hidden Leaf Village. As most of you have already noticed…the Akatsuki is short on manpower. Which is why I have come to offer a solution. Join us….and we will destroy the leaf village together…or stay behind…and rot like the trash you are…"

"All in favor of this arrangement!" shouted Shinji.

"I!" shouted an almost unanimous crowd.

"And the opposed?" asked Shinji.

"Nay my lordship! Who's to say the Akatsuki won't use us as pawns for their plot…while we gain nothing but death!" pleaded one ninja.

Suddenly, the ninja was dead. The crowd around him was looking for an answer, until all of them looked to see another shinobi in the trees. He looked similar to Itachi, but was younger.

"Sasuke Uchiha…I was wondering when you'd show up…" Madara laughed.

Sasuke glared at the crowd, whom didn't try to question the authority of the Akatsuki from that point on.

"Now that we're all in agreement, let me explain my plan." Madara started.

Little did anyone know…there was a spy amongst them. The spy carefully took in Madara's plan and memorized each word and strategy. And that night, he tried to make a break for it to report to the village.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sasuke demanded.

The spy halted at the sound and Sasuke jumped down from above.

"So…you must have figured me out then…" the spy grinned.

"Hmm…I know that voice. Show yourself." Sasuke demanded.

The spy shed his cloak, revealing Kankuro, one of the Sand Siblings. They had never fought before…but they came close during the Chunin exams a few years back.

"Long time no see Sasuke!" Kankuro grunted.

"I asked you once…don't make me ask you again." Sasuke threatened.

"Geesh, are you always this dull when talking to people? I'm on my way back to the Hidden Sand! Where else would I go?" Kankuro answered.

"…I see…too bad I can't let you do that." Sasuke grinned.

He started charging up an attack as Kankuro threw out his new puppet. Sweat started to break from Kankuro's forehead…if Sasuke was as strong as he had heard…then he didn't stand a chance in this fight.

"Well? Let's go!" cried Kankuro.

"Chidori!" Sasuke called.

3 days later…

Naruto had been lying in his tent for three whole days…he could still feel the pain in his chest a bit, but he wanted to get up and start doing something. Any little thing would do…just as long as he didn't have to sit around this tent.

"Naruto! You have a visitor!" Shizune announced.

Sakura came in shortly after holding a basket of fruits. She was smiling, though it was obviously fake, and looked as though she had been doing all right for the past few days.

"Hey! I just thought I'd stop by to check up on you!" Sakura greeted.

"Yeah…thanks." Naruto muttered.

He couldn't tell why, but he sensed some sort of awkward conversation coming on soon.

"Naruto, about that day-" Sakura tried.

"Don't…I'd rather not talk about it. I mean, what's done is done right!" Naruto laughed.

"But…I just wanted to say-" Sakura attempted.

"Enough! I'm alive aren't I? That's all that really matters." Naruto explained.

Sakura was starting to get a little frustrated.

"God dammit Naruto! Listen when I'm trying to tell you something!" Inner Sakura complained.

"Besides…if you hadn't shown up when you did…Kakashi-sensei might've been in a worse fix than me." Naruto added.

"Oh…well, yeah you're right there!" Sakura agreed. "But, there's also something else I wanted to talk to you about…"

"Hm? What's that?" Naruto asked.

"It's about my memory…when I saw you fight…I started to see bits and pieces of my past. What I remembered was something about Gaara…" Sakura began.

"Oh yeah! You mean you got a glimpse of your memory? For real!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Yeah…but I was hoping you could tell me some things…" Sakura continued.

"Yeah sure! Anything you wanna know! Like how you lost it in the first place! Funny story, we were fighting some shinobi in the woods, and one of them caught you off guard…I tried to stop the crash, but I was slightly late…" Naruto blabbed.

"Wait…this is YOUR fault!" Sakura growled.

"Uh! Well no not my fault but-" Naruto defended.

Sakura hit him over the top of the head and stared at him.

"I guess I deserved that…" Naruto said in a dizzy state.

"Hey Naruto…a VIP requests to speak with you right away! It's urgent!" called Shizune.

"VIP? Send em in!" Naruto replied.

Gaara of the Sand came through the tent door. He didn't look too happy either.

"Hey…you're Gaara! You tried to kill me!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Don't mind her, she's suffering from memory loss due to a recent fight…" Naruto explained.

"Thanks to you!" she defended. Naruto laughed a bit.

"So, uhh, what can I help you with?" Naruto offered.

"A spy of mine was recently captured by a group who's planning on destroying the Hidden Leaf." Gaara explained.

"So that must be who those ninja who keep attacking us are…" Naruto figured.

"Yes…but the spy of mine captured…was my brother Kankuro." Gaara continued.

"That's terrible! We should do something!" Sakura stated.

"But there's one more thing." Gaara added.

"And that would be…" Naruto demanded.

"…Kankuro was defeated and taken in…by Sasuke Uchiha."