Chapter 1:
"Whaaaaaat?!" Naruto yelled, palms slamming on the desk in front of him. Important files and papers bounced upwards. A bottle of sake (in a bottle labeled with "water") toppled over in the process, its startled owner diving to catch it before it smashes on the ground and letting the rug enjoy the beverage instead. "This mission is boring! Give me something my level!"
Naruto's facial expression suddenly changed from anger and outrage to surprise and pain as the pink-haired kunoichi shoved his face into the desk, toppling over more files and papers and causing the other bottle of "water" to tip over the edge, saved once again by its owner millimeters away from the ground.
"We agreed that you'd accept whatever mission is assigned to us, mister!" she bellowed, then smiled awkwardly at the person across the desk.
"S-sakura-chan…" was the weak reply from the victim of the bone-crushing grip, before his complaint was cut short by an increase in pressure on his neck.
Normally, the sensei behind the pair would have said something about the fighting. It's not unusual that Sakura often assaulted the rash and impatient kid. But today, he decided against it.
They're matured enough now, he thought. They can handle themselves.
But not even he believed his justifications. In truth, Kakashi tried to keep quiet because he suffered a humiliating loss against the pair in attempt two of their bell test. He had foolishly covered his ears and even closed his sharingan in the presence of a weapon of mass destruction; the spoilers of Make-Out Tactics. He had hoped that no one was watching the fight at that moment, but he suspected that a certain person could be spectating in some place or another. A person by the title of Toad Sage.
"You haven't matured mentally at all, Naruto," Iruka sighed, shaking his head as he spoke. "Team Kakashi is still new. New teams are assigned simple missions before they can be assigned more difficult ones."
"The Third would have b-" Naruto managed to wheeze out before his head was pressed in so hard into the desk that an indent was forming.
"S-sorry, shishou!" Sakura quickly said, her smile still on her face. "He didn't mean it!"
Suddenly, everyone stopped what they're doing and stared at the person across the desk. Strangely, not a word was heard from her, the kunoichi with a large pair of…assets. Sakura even relaxed her grip, just enough for the struggling teenager in her hands to crank his head up. A suspense of silence quickly invaded the noise of the bicker.
"You two…" she whispered in a dangerously low volume. Sakura's eyes widened in panic, and opened her mouth to stop what she knew, from experience, would follow. But it was too late.
"…almost KNOCKED OVER MY SAKE!"
XXX
"…commerce in our village has increased dramatically, which is a first since the death of the Fourth," droned the Sunagakure council speaker. Various advisors and council members sat around the wooden table, each with a small pile of papers in hand. Some yawned in their seats, fantasizing about their holiday in a tropical resort or wishing they were at their favorite pub instead of at a boring old meeting. Others stared intently at their pages or scribbling down notes fast enough to keep up with whatever the speaker was sprouting.
At the end of the rectangular table sat the youngest member of the group, a boy with bright red hair and dark rims around his eyes, the result of sleep deprivation in his battles against a raging possum sealed inside him. "Love" was written on his forehead, a souvenir from the time he lived and loved only himself. That was a long time ago, before he met another boy that changed his life.
Now, despite his young age, he sat as the most powerful person in the room. He held the title of "Fifth Kazekage"; the Wind Shadow. The leader and representative of Sunagakure. It was a record-breaking feat, becoming recognized as the most powerful shinobi in the village at such a tender age, made more impressive only by his background. A mere two and a half years ago, he was a very different person, and the last person to be picked for the role of Kazekage.
"Our diplomatic relationship with the other major nations and villages of the world has also risen to an all-time high for Sunagakure," continued the speaker. "This is a great timing for us, since the Chunin exams are approaching. An appearance of a diplomat to Konohagakure for the exam negotiations with the other four villages would solidify our diplomatic standing."
"Any other reports?" the Kazekage asked in a monotone, hardly moving anything else other than his mouth. It would be intimidating to most people, his apparently icy composure and eyes that "glared into your souls", as described by one of his advisors. But people that frequently worked with him had learnt to take the Kazekage's state as his default expression. A joke even managed to circulate the workplace about Kazekage-sama's skills at poker if he were to ever participate. His reaction to the joke was the slightest raise of his eyebrows and a 'hn'. His way of laughing.
"No, that'll be all for now, Gaara-sama."
Gaara craned his neck back slightly, popping his joint at the base of his head. A fairly significant expression of exhaustion for him.
"Good. Dismissed."
XXX
Sandstorm anywhere else would have been an unusual occurrence, and possibly even considered a natural disaster. But in the sandy deserts of Sunagakure, it was more than frequent. This particular sandstorm was larger than most. Sand and rock particles flew around in the buffering winds, lowering visibility to virtually zero. One could hardly see their shoes if they looked down, let alone anything of importance in front of them.
Two figures trudged through the choking weather, their red-cloud jackets flapping around in the harsh crosswinds. At first glance, it would appear as though one of the two figures were a fat dwarf, being half as tall as his companion and twice as wide. But if one were to examine further, one would see that the dwarf was actually some form of contraption that can be compared to a rat, with a long metal tail and arcing back.
"Orochimaru's works are up ahead, aren't they?" asked the taller, long-haired male. His words were almost completely snatched away by the storm.
"We don't have any say about it," replied the mouse contraption in a deep and intimidating voice.
The long-haired individual sighed, stuffing his hand into a side poach. "That's a yes, then."
"That small bag doesn't look like enough," the contraption murmured.
"Not enough? I'm sure they are enough. I brought my favorite ones. The most artistic."
"Your art is a fake. I doubt you can take down our target without losing any limbs with that."
"We'll see about that. Your eternal beauty will be your downfall someday. After all, art is beauty in a moment. Anything else is not worthy of my attention."
XXX
Gaara gently shut the door to his office, allowing himself to fall into the hard sandstone chair behind his organized desk. He was completely exhausted. The possum inside him was especially blood-thirsty for the past two nights, leaving him with no sleep to deal with all the Kazekage administration work. In truth, Gaara craved a day off from his job. Maybe get a short nap before the beast acts up again. Or maybe have a hot meal for the first time in the month. He's been eating instant food for most of the time. His personal guards knew that the Fifth Kazekage was a worshipper of overtime, and seldom left his office for non-work related issues.
Gaara banished the wishful thinking. He had far too much to do to dream about a holiday. Thankfully, his siblings helped him with whatever they could, but there are just some things the Kazekage must do himself. And plus, Gaara has learnt to trust the thrashing beast inside him. In the past, whenever its bloodthirst was enough to keep Gaara's experienced body up, something bad would happen in the future. He would not expect anything less this time.
He remembered a time when his job consisted of sitting in solitary confinement and making sure he doesn't destroy half the village. It was an odd job, sure, but was definitely necessary considering the circumstances. Once in a while, he would get something exciting. Like laying siege to a military base, for example. Or overthrowing another government. Or hijacking a Chunin exam. Or all three, in the incident two and a half years ago. He was treated less like a human and more like a holocaust weapon, which was how he liked it.
Gaara was thrown back into his world by a big explosion. Judging by the sound and the shockwave it produced, it must have been somewhere inside the village's boundary. Seconds later, a border patrol guard burst into the office, gasping for breath.
"Kazekage-sama!' he panted. "The village is under attack!"
Remarkably, Gaara managed to strap on his war gear in the few seconds it took the guard to get to the door, a large gourd attached to his grey flack jacket.
"I know."
The first chapter of the "Naruto: Overhauled" project! Not much has changed compared to the actual plot, that is true. But awesome stuff is coming (I hope...)!
Chapter uploads may be irregular. Writing and beta'ing takes a fair bit of time. But do not fear! You can expect about two chapters per month. Just a little heads-up for those of you that think the project is dead and buried under a pile of dirt with a tombstone labeled "Another Abandoned Fanfiction".
Finally, project members Invader-chan and Kira31 helped beta this chapter, and will likely beta (and even help) write future chapters. At least, I hope they will, since they did a pretty damn good job of it. Check out their personal profiles below.
For those of you that are new, there is a forum for this project that is also linked below. There is a "Read Me" topic that will tell you all about the project and how you can get involved if you so desire. One great way to support more chapters is to leave reviews and favourite this story. It'll keep us motivated to do more if we see that people enjoy our work.
And with that note, we'll see you again next chapter.
TheNarutoOverhauler
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