here is the next chapter and I'm glad to say that I finally have something that belongs to me. This chapter will introduce three OCs that i made so they are 100 mine. hope you like these new characters.

gomenasai - I'm sorry, gomen- sorry, So desu - I see

Chapter 12: Familiar Faces

It appeared to be a peaceful day for the most part. Birds were chirping beautiful melodies. Deer lept over a single dirt road and across the grassy plains. Even the wind carried a serene overtone with it. The wildlife was met with three individuals traveling along the dirt road through the calm setting.

The young man on the right was a ripe age of nineteen. He had dark black hair which could flow down a little past his nose but was tied back into a knot. The man had bright green eyes like that of a healthy blade of grass. His large build was covered by a black long sleeve undershirt that was missing the right sleeve,a dark brown unzipped vest, and loose long dark brown shorts. The eighteen year old man,on the left looked to be a brute of a man with a similar build as the other, as well as the same eyes. He too had a black undershirt with a missing sleeve, on the left side, and also an open sleeveless brown tunic with brown pants that had small tears in a few spots as if it were made that way. His short brown hair was a little messy but it made it all the more appealing. Finally the man in the center stood out compared to his fellow travelers. He too was also a youthful looking eighteen year old with yellow eyes that could pierce into the deep recesses of someone's soul. His short dark brown hair was spiked up in a neat fashion. The clothes he fashioned were a black and white sleeveless jacket with a hood, a black shirt with a white spiral design on the front and loose black pants. He had a lean build and looked to have the most peaceful demeanor out of the three.

The three had been wandering around for some time now in silence. Most of their time was spent gazing at the wildlife or making a quick stop to have a snack. There was a mysterious aura about the three of them. It looked as if they had been to many places despite being such young people.

"Yo are we going anywhere specific or just going with the flow?" asked the one on the right.

"Hey don't ask me bro. How would I know?" the one on the left responded.

"I just figured you would know Kenta. You are always the one keeping track of our next destination. Hell I bet you don't even know where we are now?"

"Of course I do. We are…um…uh…we are…hm…SO!...You don't know where we're at either Koki," Kenta yapped back.

"Um Yasu where are we?" Koki softly asked.

"Oto no Kuni," he flatly responded.

"Oh ok…wait what did you just say!?" Koki blurted.

"You heard the man. He said Oto no Kuni," Kenta interjected, "You don't have a problem with that do you bro?"

"Um no of course not. I was just surprised that's all," he partly lied.

"It's alright if you're a little worried to be in a war zone. I would say I'm a little uneasy now that I too know where we are," commented Kenta, "Hey Yasu why would you let us wander into this land?"

"I don't know," he quickly responded.

"I don't know! What do you mean 'I don't know'!? You're the one that has been leading the way," said a slightly worried Kenta, "What if we get caught in a fight?"

"We won't," Yasu replied, "You two worry too much."

"I would be fine coming through here if there wasn't a war going on," Kenta continued on, "Let's just hurry and pass through Oto no Kuni."

"I agree with you bro," Koki added in.

"It'll be fine you two. What are you worried about anyways. You two are the Yuri brothers. Two of the most fearsome missing-nins of Iwagakure," exclaimed Yasu, "Besides it has only been two months since the start of their war and most of the action has seesawed on the border of Hi no Kuni."

"Still I don't like it here," stated Kenta.

"But bro a few miles back you said how beautiful and peaceful the place looked," Koki remarked.

"Yeah but that was before…," Kenta argued before being cut off.

"Will the both of you just stop with the complaining," Yasu calmly ordered, "We're here anyways so just let it go."

The two finally became silent. Yasu let out a gentle sigh of relief. This was the second time today that they had this same exact conversation. He could not believe they had already forgotten where they were yet again. At the same time Yasu knew that their uneasiness would lead them to be so forgetful. Even though he was able to hide it very well there was a little bit of a tense feeling in him.

"You know when I think about it you're from Konoha right Yasu," Koki asked.

"Yeah what of it," Yasu answered not wanting to talk about it.

"I was just wondering since you have a hint of loyalty with them that you would be fightning in the war against Oto no Kuni," Koki explained.

"I remember telling you before that any discussions of Konoha in relations to me or the subject of my past are off limits," Yasu flatly retorted, "Now let's just enjoy this wonderful walk and…"

Yasu had suddenly became quiet as he came to a halt. Slowly he kneeled down onto one knee and placed his hand onto the dirt path. The two brothers stared wondering what Yasu was doing as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A gentle breeze was sweeping across the grassy plains and through the several trees that lied ahead.

"Yo Yasu watcha doing?" spoke Koki

"Yeah you're acting all weird and stuff," Kenta further added in.

"Shhh I need to concentrate on the wind," he softly spoke, "Hmmm…six…no wait…seven. There are seven people moving in the woods up ahead."

"How do you know that?" Koki pondered out loud.

"Remember bro Yasu has the ability to use the wind to sense the presence of people," Kenta declared.

"Oh right I remember now," Koki said to himself, "So wait your saying there are people moving about in the woods? That doesn't sound bad."

"By the way they move I would have to say all of them are shinobi. Three of them feel like anbu," commented Yasu, "But they aren't heading in our…wait three of them just broke off towards our direction. We have to hide."

Quickly the three of them jumped off of the dirt trail and into the tall grass of the plains. In total silence they watched as three shinobi who appeared to be leaf-nin come dropping out of the woods. Slowly the leaf-nin made their way up the dirt trail in the opposite direction Yasu, Kenta, and Koki had just come from.

"Yo check out the mhmhmhm…," Kenta whispered before getting his mouth covered by Yasu's hand.

Yasu raised his index finger to tell Kenta to keep quiet. The three of them did not move a muscle as the three leaf-nin strolled on by them. After the leaf shinobi had walked off a very good and comfortable distance away, Yasu signaled to the other two to get up and hurry towards the woods. Reaching the edge of the woods everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

"Did you see that girl with the pink hair? She sure was a cutey," said Kenta.

"Of course we saw her. We're not blind Kenta…Hm but I wonder who she was," Koki trailed off into his own thoughts.

"Her name is Haruno Sakura. She is one of the sannin of Konoha," Yasu told them.

"Wow really! She is a sannin!?" Kenta excitingly said.

Yasu nodded his head, "She was trained by Tsunade-hime.Her beauty is not only matched by her incredible strength but also her top-notch skills as a medical ninja," Yasu praised her.

"You talk like you might know her Yasu?" Koki teasingly nudged him.

"No not personally. I only knew her from a distance during my time in Konoha," Yasu flatly replied, "Oh and just in case either of you asked the other two were Yuhi Kurenai and Hatake Kakashi."

"I didn't even pay attention to the other two," both of them commented in unison.

"Hmm then I guess you two recognized them if you didn't," Yasu softly said.

Not hearing them respond to his comment, Yasu slowly looked behind him towards the direction the three leaf-nin had gone. It was true he was only in Konoha for a brief time but he never forgot that face. During his time there he had always wanted to meet her the most out of everyone he saw, but could not do so. In fact he could not have any interaction with anybody. It was the number one rule of his master. Yasu came to a sudden stop the more he thought on it.

"You know what guys let's live a little. What would you two think about heading back the way we came?" he asked with a big smile.

Earlier that day…

"Thanks for coming so quickly," Naruto told his three guests.

"So what did you need us for Naruto-kun?" asked Sakura.

"Well I want you, Kakashi-sensei and Kurenai-sensei to accompany a 4-man anbu squad into Oto no Kuni," he answered.

"What will we be doing?" Kurenai spoke.

"You three, along with the anbu squad, will get a lay of the land. The anbu squad has already been briefed and are waiting at the front gates. Also at some point you will split off into two teams to expand the surveillance," Naruto informed them, "This is strictly an observation mission so avoid any encounters as best as you can. If you do run into trouble then deal with it swiftly. We cannot have anyone know that we are in Oto no Kuni if we wanna strategize an attack."

"Then let's get going you two," Kakashi quickly said.

"I gotta be honest that parts of Oto no Kuni seem so peaceful. Especially this area," Sakura observed, "It makes you feel like there isn't even a war going on."

"This place is peaceful Sakura-san," agreed Kurenai, "It's unfortunate that it doesn't reflect in the people."

Kakashi, Kurenai, and Sakura had been walking along a lone dirt place for quite some time. It was obvious to see that them being out in the open may have not been the best of things. There were very few trees in the area that they were in unlike when they were in the woods but the grass was relatively tall enough if they had to hide. It was mid-afternoon and the three of them had covered a good amount of ground. Even though they had sent a few attacks into Oto no Kuni over the past month or so it was finally confirmed that most of its borders were pretty much uninhabited. By the looks of things it left an opening to plan out a large scale attack. At the moment however, the anbu squad had to go deeper into the land to be extra precautious.

"Hey you two we should probably stop for a bit," Kakashi suggested out of the blue.

"Um do we really need to Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura questioned.

"Hmm I would agree with Kakashi," Kurenai said stepping a few paces back.

"Is something wrong?" Sakura worriedly spoke seeing a serious look in Kakashi's eye, "I don't...,"

"You sense it now Sakura. We've been followed," Kakashi slowly turned around, "So you three can show yourselves!"

Out of the grass crept out three youthful shinobi. The two muscular brutes stood side-by-side with a reserved looking guy in a black and white jacket square in the middle of the two. The one in the middle had a relaxed smirk on his face while he stood so casually with his hands resting in the pockets of his pants.

"What took you so long? I'm sure you noticed us following you three for quite some time now," Yasu told them, "For a second there I thought I expected too much but thanks for changing that idea."

"I assumed that you would take first action," Kakashi responded, "Why are you following us. Are you associated with Otogakure?"

"We would never be associated with such disgraceful people," Yasu said suddenly from the opposite side he was standing.

The three leaf-nin quickly jerked their heads the other way to see that Yasu had instantly appeared on the other side of them. All of them had a very surprised look in their eyes to see someone move so quickly. They all could feel that this guy was extremely fast for them to have missed his movements. Taking a quick glance back towards the two brute-like men the three of them could see that they were sitting on the ground like they were enjoying an extravagant play.

"Don't look so surprised you guys," Yasu said as he instantaneous appeared right next to Kakashi, "I'm sure you've had run-ins with fast people before."

Again surprised, Kakashi swifly reached into his equipment pouch and pulled out a kunai. Before he could raise it up to Yasu's throat, he had speedily appeared behind Kakashi gripping onto the kunai wielded hand.

"Whoa there I'm not looking to pick I fight. I'm not your enemy," Yasu softly said.

"How can we even believe you?" Kakashi said before suddenly melting into the ground.

Standing very casually Yasu stared at Sakura and Kurenai while Kakashi appeared behind him attempting to strike. With a simple flip Yasu dodged the attack with ease. Yasu took a tiny step back while still staring at the three shinobi all the while smiling.

"That was some pretty decent genjutsu. You really aren't called a genjutsu specialist for nothing Kurenai-san," Yasu commended, "Look I could give you some proof if you don't believe me."

"Show us then," Kurenai firmly said.

Very slowly, to not cause distress to the others, Yasu reached under his jacket into a pack that was located on his back waist. A clear zipper sound came from under the jacket as he reached in to pull something out. Closing the pack he cautiously pulled his arm out revealing a black Konoha headband in his hand.

"Look see here I'm from Konoha," Yasu raised the headband up towards them.

"Do you think he's being truthful?" Kurenai quietly asked Kakashi.

"There is no way of being sure. He could have stolen the headband or killed a comrade for it," Kakashi whispered back.

"You know even though you're whispering the wind can still tell me what you're saying," Yasu flatly stated, "Trust me this is my headband. The only way I got this was from graduating from the academy."

Sakura slowly stepped forward before Kakashi or Kurenai could speak again, "I think I believe him. For some reason he looks vaguely familiar to me."

"Hmm if you feel like he is then I guess we can trust you for now," Kakashi said putting away his kunai, "But who are those other two guys with you? From the looks of it they are from Iwagakure."

"I'm Kenta," he jumped up.

"And I'm Koki," doing likewise.

"Also know as the destruction Yuri brothers!" they proudly shouted.

"Oh is that so," Kakashi mused.

"You've heard of them Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Together for no apparent reason these two missing-nin leveled out nearly half of Iwagakure in a single day. Shortly afterwards they were captured but were not imprisoned for too long as they made a very destructive escape," Kakashi enlightened them.

"Yo for your information Mr. Cool Man we had a very personal reason for doing what we did," Koki defiantly said.

Both the brothers took a step forward in anger. It looked like they would attack Kakashi for his plain comment but Yasu quickly stepped in front of the two to calm their nerves.

"He didn't mean anything by it you two. It's just the knowledge most others have been given so you can't blame him for not knowing what really happened," Yasu said with care.

"Gomen," they both softly sighed.

"I did not mean to offend you two," Kakashi added in.

"Don't sweat it," Yasu turned back towards Kakashi, "The information about Kenta and Koki is incomplete by the basis of a biased Iwagakure. What they neglect to tell people is that the reason behind their rampage was that their mother was executed for crimes that she did not commit. All to cover up a conspiracy Iwagakure commited."

"We were betrayed by our own village," Kenta sniffled.

"So desu, it seems Iwagakure is even corrupt with their own comrades at times," Kakashi said to himself, "But back to the things at hand. You still didn't tell us why you were following us."

"Oh please forgive me," Yasu said as he walked straight towards Sakura. Taking her hand he planted a soft kiss on it, "I just wanted to meet this beautiful lady."

Slightly shocked by Yasu's sudden proper affection, Sakura hurled a forceful punch towards his face. In a split second a gentle burst of chakra went off into the air showing that Yasu had stopped her punch with one simple finger. Sakura looked with surprise at how easily he stopped her strike. It was even more that it felt as if something had came to assist by dispelling the chakra into the wind. Yasu took a few steps back so she wouldn't be inclined to try and hit him again.

"Forgive me for being forward," Yasu bowed towards her in apology, "I promise I won't ever do that again."

"Humph," Sakura puffed not believing his promise.

"Well I guess we will be leaving now. I'm sure you three have a lot to do so we'll get out of your hair," Yasu said as he slowly strolled over to his two companions, " Oh but wait could you give us some help and point us in the direction of Hi no Kuni?"

"Actually we were going back into Hi no Kuni so you could come with us," Kurenai answered him, "Are you wanting to go to Konoha?"

"No," Yasu quickly snapped.

"Hey what's your problem? She was just asking you a simple question." Sakura yelled back at him.

"Gomenasai, it's just I have no intention of going back to Konoha. I haven't been there for ten years and I plan on keeping it that way…" he softly responded, "But we would be fine with having you three escort us towards Hi no Kuni."

"It's good that you could see me on such short notice," Sasuke said in a monotone voice.

"Well we are allies now so it is of no problem," a man in white and brown kage robes responded.

Sasuke and the Tsuchikage sat in front of each other around a small square table. There was a pot of tea that a servant lifted off the table to pour some for the both of them. Nodding his head thank you the Tsuchikage motioned for the servant to leave. By the looks of it the Tsuchikage appeared to be in his mid 30s. His straight brooding brown hair was short and there was a shadow of a beard on his face. He slowly sipped some of his tea while Sasuke made no movement for his cup.

"So I'm assuming your not here just to visit," the Tsuchikage asked.

"This is strictly a business call Tsuchikage," Sasuke flatly stated.

"Please call me Hedenori. There is no need for formalities anymore," he said taking another sip of tea, "Hm so please tell me what you have come here to discuss."

"I want to being preparations for a large scale attack on Sunagakure. So I'm going to want you and the Raikage to gather up an attack force to strike the village," Sasuke slowly presented his plans.

"Have you already discussed this with the Raikage?"

"I have and he has agreed to assemble a qualified enough group of his shinobi…All we would need is for you to supply some men as well to go along with his forces and the ones I will send," Sasuke explained to him.

"Then I guess I'm on board too," Hedenori replied finishing his cup of tea, "I will make the preparations right away…How long will we wait to attack them?"

"We shall give it about one month."

"It's getting kind of dark," Kakashi commented looking up at the darkening sky, "Looks like we won't make it to Konoha until tomorrow."

All six of the shinobi came to stopping point at a clearing in the forest to set up camp. Sakura and Kurenai gathered wood for a fire while Yasu, Kenta and Koki sat on the cold ground. Kakashi quickly lit the fire with some ninjutsu and laid out a tent for them to sleep in. After finishing up he slowly walked over to the three wandering ninja.

"I was just going to tell you guys that we have already crossed into Hi no Kuni," he told them, "So you three can leave if you want to. But your more than welcome to stay the night here with us. We have an extra tent."

"Thanks are your kindness and I think we will take the offer," Yasu slightly bowed his head, "We will be out of your hair in the morning."

Kakashi hand them the rolled up tent and went back to the fire to help Sakura and Kurenai prepare dinner. Yasu, Kenta and Koki swiftly set up the tent and sat back down on the ground in front of it. They stared at the three leaf shinobi chat away and laughing. It was a pleasant thing to see such happiness. As they watched on, Sakura turned towards them and waved at them to come over.

"You guys don't have to isolate yourselves," she smiled, "Come and eat with us. We prepared enough for all of us."

"Arigato," all three of them responded.

"I hope you don't mind if we finish up some business while you three are eating," commented Kakashi while going through his pack for something.

"It doesn't bother us," Kenta blurted out with a mouthful of cooked meat.

With that Kakashi pulled out a three tipped kunai from the pack. Noticing it in the corner of his eye, Yasu quickly dropped the almost finished meal he was having. He could not quite place his finger on it yet but the kunai looked very familiar to him. He looked on while Kakashi flipped it towards a tree stump that was right in front of the campfire. Then suddenly in a flash of yellow there stood a spikey blond-haired kid with azul eyes. In his hand was a cup of ramen and his mouth was stuffed with the warm noodles.

"Whacht's up?" Naruto asked with his mouthful of noodles.

"Since we got into Hi no Kuni a lot later than we expected, I decided to just call you now and report in," Kakashi responded.

Finishing the rest of his noodles Naruto placed the empty cup on the tree stump, "How'd it go?"

"By the looks it will be pretty simple to bring a large force across the border. The large portions of the population are farther into Oto no Kuni," Kakashi reported.

"Sounds good but…," Naruto paused noticing three unfamiliar people, "Um…who are these guys?"

"Oh these three are Yasu, Kenta, and Koki. Yasu is actually from Konoha and the other two are missing-nin from Iwagakure," Kakashi kindly introduced them.

Kenta and Koki happily stood up and bowed to Naruto in respective grettings while Yasu stood motionless. Naruto stepped over to introduce himself to Yasu who had not responded since Naruto's arrival.

"Hello my name is…"

"Naruto…" Yasu cut in.

"Um yeah…so you know who I am?" Naruto asked with a small smile on his face.

Yasu stared straight at him with a cold and saddened look in his eyes, "Why did it have to be you that he summoned?"

hope you liked the chapter and plz R&R. As you can tell there is something between Yasu and Naruto so you will have to wait and see what it is.