"If you'll excuse us, we'll be on our way now," Kakashi, Ino and Lee waved goodbye to the Kazekage, having completed their mission. As they walked towards the entrance/exit of Sunagakure, the leader of the mission looked up at the sky and narrowed his eye. "Something doesn't feel quite right," he stopped in the middle of the bustling streets.
"Kakashi-sensei, what's the big deal," Ino looked around her suspiciously, worried her senses were off and she would be scolded for not noticing enemy ninja or something.
The copy-nin stared at the clouds for a few moments before shaking his head to snap out of it. "I guess I might be getting paranoid or something. It's nothing," he said. "Come on, after three days of travelling to get here for a two-hour mission, the exhaustion is probably just catching up to us, so we should move on now and try to get home as soon as possible."
"Right!" Lee clenched his fist and threw it in the air. "Onward!"
"I must be surrounded by bakas," Ino mumbled. "But then again, they are boys…"
Kakashi grinned at the two as they walked, one marching like a soldier and the other slouching like an annoyed teenager.
As they left the village, he peered up at the sky again, getting the same feeling of worry. The wind whipped around them ominously. 'Something is definitely wrong.'
"Ok so you know the pig right? The one called Tonton?" A blond Konoha guard nudged his friend.
"Yes, I know of Tonton. Everyone does, Toroku. The ones that don't are idiots since it's like our mascot or something now," the other guard sighed.
"No need to be mean, Koyu," the first guard pouted playfully. "But anyways, I heard that the pearls it wears are fake and the real ones are in some secret vault."
"You two have run out of good gossip, haven't you," another guard joined them in the small lookout cabin they were in, closing the door behind him.
"Oh, hey Suzu-kun," they greeted.
The man walked up to the two and crouched next to them. "If you want some real gossip, I have some good stuff."
"Awesome! Spill it," Toroku beamed, his eyes sparkling.
"I heard the reason that Amejisuto and Itachi Uchiha were gone for so long were because they were captured by the Akatsuki," Suzuno whispered.
Light flooded into the small cabin. "Those rumours are the truth," the guards turned quickly with kunai in their hands and stared into the purple-ringed eyes of a man with several piercings. "And now we're back to kill them."
"Koyu! Suzu-kun! Go alert the village that the Akatsuki have come!" Toroku ran at the intruder, launching weapons at him and getting ready to distract the enemy long enough for his best friend and comrade to get help.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as he planned and the last thing he saw before things went dark was his companions lying on the floor, bleeding and not breathing.
"Don't worry, shinobi of Konoha, they'll get the message loud and clear," the bluenette entered the cabin, looking at the dead bodies. She then turned to her companion. "Which body will you use to infiltrate the village?"
They walked out of the cabin and toward the village walls while five other bodies appeared behind them. "I think this one will work just fine," the main body floated upwards to the top of the wall, where he could sense the protective barrier. "Almighty push!" He yelled. A force field bubble surrounded him and pushed outwards, making the barrier break.
Instantly, guards started running to the infiltrated area but they were no match for the seven beings that jumped into Konoha. Soon, they were useless as the Akatsuki members ran past them. The streets were soon filled with screaming civilians, injured shinobi, a few dead shinobi and a lot of blood.
"Tsunade-sama! There's an emergency!" Shizune burst into the Hokage's office to see the blonde already up and ready to run out.
"I know, Shizune! Let's go! I have to organise a small medic team for those who are injured and send out the strongest forces we have. Also, send out a letter to the other Kage, they might be able to bring help," she ordered as she ran through the halls of the mansion to get to the roof.
"But Tsunade-sama, they are different villages that might take advantage of our weakness! We can't call on them," the assistant argued.
"The Akatsuki are a common enemy that everyone is against. We agreed at the last Kage meeting that we would rather start a war with them than hand anyone over, even," the woman's eyes grew wide and she stopped in her tracks. "Amejisuto-chan and Itachi-kun," she gasped.
"What about them?"
The Hokage turned to Shizune. "They must be after them primarily! And Ameji-chan is pretty much bedridden since she has gained so many different chakras. Itachi-kun is no doubt taking care of her." They resumed running and soon reached the roof.
"Shouldn't we worry about the village and just let those two go? The Akatsuki might also be after Naruto-kun and could destroy everyone here!"
"No shinobi gets left behind in Konohagakure. This is the hidden village known for its sense of loyalty to comrades. Shizune, go to the message tower and get help!"
The assistant scurried away and Tsunade looked over the edge of the mansion into the streets of her village. Already, she saw so much destruction. There were a few fires, many stray bodies, destroyed buildings and six enemies.
"Strange, I thought I sensed seven," she mumbled.
"You were right, Hokage of Konohagakure," she whipped around and came face to face with the primary Pain.
"Get out of my village," she growled, getting into a fighting stance.
The man grinned wickedly. "Not until we get your pair of Uchiha's and the Jinchuriki."
"Give up. I will not allow you to get to them," her eyes narrowed, trying to find his weakest spot. 'Wait, his entire being seems… Cold… I can't sense any blood movement or a heartbeat,' she gasped. "You aren't even a living being."
"Oh, this body might not be, but I'm quite real," he looked over at the destruction the others were causing. "By the way, I don't sense the Jinchuriki. Where might he be?"
"I will never tell you where Naruto-kun is," she hissed.
"Hm. Too bad. Out of respect for you and Jiraiya-sensei, I will not kill you. Yet."
"Jiraiya-sensei?" Tsunade stared at the man for a while before it clicked in her mind. "But… You can't be…"
A loud crash sounded throughout the home of Itachi and Amejisuto, making them look over at the closed window in their kitchen. "I wonder what's going on," Itachi moved toward the door.
"Maybe someone's throwing a loud party. I blame Naruto-kun," Ameji smiled, shaking her head. "I swear, he's too energetic. Maybe he was playing a prank on Sasuke-kun."
The raven moved back to his cutting board with a knife and half-chopped vegetables laying on it. "I wouldn't be surprised. By the way, are you feeling any better?"
The ex-Ishi glared playfully. "You treat me as if I'm an injured puppy. I'm fine! I feel like I could even take on the Akatsuki!"
"Well thankfully they're all dead so you can't fight them."
"Yah," Ameji stared sadly at the counter, thinking about Deidara. She was glad that he took everyone out, but it was tragic that in order to do that he had to sacrifice himself. She also kind of missed Kisame and Hidan's weird jokes. She quickly shook her head, forcing away the thoughts. 'I shouldn't be wishing that they were still alive, should I…'
She watched Itachi put the vegetables and olive oil in a pan and take out two bowls, scooping rice into them and eventually putting the fried veggies on top. "This is an old technique my parents taught me," he started, pouring tea and placing the food and tea on the table. "I've mainly been cooking meals for you that would boost your strength. It's mainly the spices that are the magical ingredient and the tea helps heal pretty much any ailment. We give it to newlywed Uchiha's all the time since it helps with the chakra absorption side effects."
"Well its working miracles," his wife joked, taking a bite. "And it tastes like a miracle too."
Another loud bang startled them. Amejisuto shrugged and went back to her meal. Itachi stared sadly at his spouse. 'You aren't fully healed yet, I see. You can't sense the familiar overpowering chakra that held us under control for months.'
"Hey kid, I think it's time to go back to the village," Jiraiya glanced over at Naruto.
"But I'm so comfy," the blond groaned, squirming in protest.
"Stop moving, brat. You're making me itchy," a loud voice bellowed across the field.
"You should take it as a compliment that he finds you comfortable, Gamabunta," Jiraiya laughed.
"That boy can sleep anywhere. Soon my back won't be one of the options; I'll kick him every time he dozes off."
"Shut your trap, old toad. I'll sleep on you whenever I want," the jinchuriki mumbled sleepily. The gigantic toad hopped up on its back legs, making the two shinobi fall off a long way.
"I believe it would be a good time to go back to Konoha, don't you?" asked the sage.
"Yah, do it quickly before we hit the ground and break into a billion pieces," Naruto nodded.
They quickly disappeared, leaving Gamabunta to chuckle. "Those idiots."
"Gamabunta-kun," Fukasaku appeared on top of him. "Ojiji-sama is calling for all the higher up toads to go to him right away," he informed before vanishing to tell the other high-ups.
"What does that old toad want now," the large toad hopped off.
"You all must… Prepare…." The old toad wheezed, staring somewhat creepily at the ceiling.
"Prepare for what?" One of the gathered creatures asked.
"Prepare? What are you preparing for?" The elder looked at him.
"You told us to prepare for something, Ojiji-sama, but we need to know what for," Fukasaku spoke up, knowing that was the only way to get it out of the old toad quickly.
"Right… You must all prepare… To be summoned…. Into an intense battle…"
"Intense battle?" Gamabunta repeated confused. "There's been nothing big recently that I know of."
"I… See… I see many deaths yet none die," he continued.
"He's gone nuts," another toad mumbled.
"Now hold on. His predictions are crazy a lot, but they always turn out true," Fukasaku defended.
"He's right," the gigantic toad agreed.
"You will be summoned soon…. Go get your weapons and…. Prepare your best jutsus."
The toads nodded and hopped away to prepare for some battle they knew nothing about. They couldn't help but wonder; what kind of battle would cause the elder to call them urgently?
"Sakura! Go round up some medics and volunteers to bring the injured to the hospital," Shizune ordered as she ran past the skilled girl.
"Hai!" The pinkette ran off.
"Tsunade-sama must be crazy to ask for all the other villages' help, but I'll follow her every order," she made her way to the message tower. Once she got there, she gasped in horror at the sight of the dead messengers and injured or dead birds. "There has to be a few birds that would make it," she scanned the cages and moved them around, finally finding one small bird that seemed alright. She then found a tiny piece of paper and wrote down a message:
The Akatsuki are here! Please send strong forces to help. We're losing badly.
Soon, the bird was flying off unnoticed towards Sunagakure with the message attached to its leg.
A shadow fell over the Hokage's assistant and she turned around to see one of the intruders perched on a window. "Do you happen to know where the Jinchuriki is?"
"No, I don't," she lied, taking a kunai out. Before she could realise what happened, the man got behind her and placed its hand on her head.
"Liar."
Soon, Shizune's soul was ripped out of her body and the man went through her memory. "Oh, Mount Myōboku. Alright, we'll go after the Uchiha's first."