Minato was sitting at his desk, just about to leave his office for the night. He didn't know why but he had a bad feeling in his gut about something. He tried to ignore the feeling as stood up to leave, but as soon as he made it to the door he saw a red flash behind him and heard 4 thuds on the floor. He quickly turned around, knowing that only one person could be responsible for this.

The sight in front of him made his stomach twist into a knot. Laying on the floor in front of him were the unconscious forms of Sasuke, Itachi, and Kakashi; Naruto looked as if he was struggling to stay conscious himself. Minato quickly made 2 shadow clones; 1 disappeared in a yellow flash while the other one bolted out the door, knowing their task was to find the 2 best medics in Konoha.

"Attacked… Called themselves… akatsuki… me and Sasuke… poison…" mumbled Naruto as he too slipped into unconsciousness.

"Shit!" Said Minato as 3 more clones appeared beside him. They then picked up the 4 unconscious shinobi and were gone in a bright flash of yellow light.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato's home

Tsunade and Jiraiya were sitting on the back patio having a drink and conversing with each other when 'Minato' burst through the back door.

"Naruto's team just returned, and they are all badly injured. I need you at the hospital with me now. Another clone is gone to find Shizune now." Said the Minato clone.

"Okay let's go!" Said Tsunade as she and Jiraiya jumped up. The clone put a hand on each of their shoulders and flashed away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shizune's home

Shizune was just settling on the couch to read a book when she heard a frantic knock on her front door.

"Who could that be at this time of night?" Shizune wondered as she headed to the door. She got to the door and opened it, surprised to see the Hokage standing there.

"Shizune, Naruto's team was attacked and is now in bad shape. You are needed at the hospital." Said Minato.

"Oh God lets go then!" Shizune nearly screamed, she thought of Naruto as a little brother and was worried about him. Minato reached a hand to her shoulder before they both disappeared.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Konoha hospital

A bright yellow flash appeared out of nowhere in the lobby of the hospital before the Hokage's voice was heard in a commanding tone "I need 4 rooms now!"

The nurse behind the desk was instantly up and leading the group down the hallway and into their respective rooms as the medical ninja on poured towards the room and started diagnostics.

Soon after, Tsunade and Jiraiya ran into Naruto's room with Minato, as Tsunade went into medic mode.

"Report." She said as she walked to Naruto's bedside.

The doctor looked at her and said "Minor case of chakra exhaustion, and some small scrapes and cuts. He also has some kind of poison that we have never seen before, but it seems as if it is being suppressed right now."

"Poison we've never seen?" Tsunade asked, surprised.

"Yes Lady Tsunade, I have no idea what it may be."

"Tsunade, I believe Sasuke was also poisoned, and he doesn't have the same immune system as Naruto, you should worry about him for now." Said Minato, slightly pained that he had to send help away from his son.

"Right. I'll see about the poison, just treat the minor injuries and try to draw out the poison if possible." Said Tsunade as she walked out the door and into Sasuke's room.

"Report." Said Tsunade to the medic who was working on Sasuke.

"He has a stab wound through the abdomen, it didn't hit any vital spots, but he has been poisoned, and its spreading, albeit slowly."

"I see. I'll take over it from here, see if the other rooms need assistance."

"Yes Lady Tsunade." Said the medic as he left the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once again there was a yellow flash in the lobby before Shizune sprinted down the hall to Naruto's room. Once she arrived she said "How is he?" with a look of worry on her face.

"He is stable Shizune-sama, we are treating for chakra exhaustion and trying to draw out poison." Said the medic.

"Shizune I know you're worried, but there are 2 more who may need your help more than Naruto." Said Minato once again.

"Oh… right." She said as she left and went by to check on Itachi and Kakashi. Neither were too bad, Itachi had a mild case of chakra exhaustion and Kakashi had a pretty nasty concussion. She helped treat Kakashi before walking next door to Sasuke's room.

"Do you need assistance M'Lady?" Asked Shizune as she walked in.

"Actually, yes. I need you to analyze this" Tsunade said as she handed a small vial full of nasty looking liquid to her "it's the poison that was used on Naruto and Sasuke, I've never seen anything like it before."

"Yes M'Lady." Said Shizune as she hurried to the lab.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

About an hour later

Finally, after the last hour of actively healing Naruto, with Kurama's help, Naruto woke up. "Where am I?" He said as he sat up and looked around, seeing his dad and Jiraiya.

"You're in Konoha, in the hospital. How do you feel?"

"Like death. The last think I remember was fighting a guy with 100 puppets… and then an intense pain in my eyes… and now I'm here.

It was then that both Minato and Jiraiya noticed Naruto's eyes. They were both shocked to the core at what they were seeing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Flashback, Mt. Myoboku, Around 33 years ago.

"Jiraiya-boy, the Elder Toad wants to speak with ya." Said Fukasaku to the teenage sage in front of him.

"But I'm tired from training, cant it" Thwack! "Oww dammit what was that" Thwack! "Would you stop I'm going now!" Said Jiraiya amongst getting smacked in the head by the small toad.

After their 'exchange', Fukasaku led Jiraiya into a temple where an ancient toad sat on a throne at the end of a long room.

"Jiraiya-boy is here to see ya."

"Ahh yes… Jiraiya... Who is that again?"

Jiraiya sweat-dropped at this, while Fukasaku tried to explain "Jiraiya-boy. The prophecy?"

"Ahh yes I remember now. Jiraiya, I have seen a prophecy. It tells me that you are to train a child of great power. When the time comes that child will either become the savior of the world, or the destroyer."

"Are you kidding me? I'll never" Thwack! "Dammit! Well, does the prophecy say anything else?"

"What prophecy?" Said the Elder Toad as both Jiraiya and Fukasaku sweat-dropped.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back at the hospital

"It couldn't be… At first I thought it may be Nagato, but he died. Then there was Minato, But I actually think the Elder Toad saw Naruto in his prophecy. After all, they say that the Rinnegan is only born to the world in times of great disaster, to either destroy or save the world. However that wasn't the case with Nagato's. Hmm…" Thought Jiraiya.

"Is that the Rinnegan? I thought that was only a myth?" Said Minato with surprise obvious in his voice.

"Not quite. I believe Naruto is the 3rd person to have it."

"3rd person?"

"The original, of course, was the Rikudo Sennin. The second, was an orphan child from Ame that I taught before your team. And now Naruto. You know it is said that the eyes are only born to the world in times of need, to either be the savior or the destroyer of this world."

"You think Naruto is the Child of Prophecy?"

"Yes."

"What are you guys talking about?" Naruto chimed in.

"Your eyes… they are different now."

"Different?! I just started learning the others though!" whined Naruto.

"Its good Son, only 2 other people have ever had those eyes before. But we'll talk about this later. What happened to you and your team?"

"Well…" Naruto explained what happened while they were camping, and said that his clones should have left a scroll on Minato's desk with the bodies.

"A man with 100 puppets… that sounds like Sasori of the Red Sand to me." Said Jiraiya.

"Hey I think someone did say something about Sasori." Said Naruto.

"I see, I should let Tsunade know that." Said Jiraiya as he walked out.

"I'm glad you're okay son. Those were 4 S-Rank missing nin that you faced."

"Yea I'm glad too, it was the hardest fight I've ever been in, and I actually should have died. I can barely remember the end now, I guess it was the eyes that saved me. Anyways, how are the others?"

"Well, Sasuke was badly poisoned, they are still treating him; Kakashi has a concussion, but he is already awake, and Itachi had mild chakra exhaustion so he'll probably be out until tomorrow at least."

"So how long do I have to stay?"

"You're free to go, but on rest for now."

"Okay then… I guess I'm gonna go home and rest for the night, I'm still kind of tired." Said Naruto before he stood up, stretched, and the disappeared in a red flash of light.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke's room

"Lady Tsunade, I have the analysis you asked for here." Said Shizune as she walked in the door.

Tsunade took the report from Shizune and looked over it, pondering about what could cure such an elaborate poison, as Jiraiya walked in the door.

"Hey Slug-hime, Naruto just said that he believes Sasori of the Red Sand was the one who poisoned them."

Tsunade's eyes widened when she heard that, knowing that he is the grandson of her greatest rival, who just happens to be one of the best poison users in the world.

"I see… Shizune, have Minato get me a team together, I need some ingredients from outside of the village to make an antidote."

"Yes M'Lady." Said Shizune before leaving again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

30 minutes later

"Hokage-sama told us to report to you?" Said Shikamaru, who now sported a chunin vest over his regular outfit.

"Yes, I need you and your team to go find these plants for me." Tsunade said as she handed Shikamaru a list.

"And where might we find these plants?" Said Ino, the second member of the team, who was also sporting a chunin vest.

"I believe that they grow in the area around the northwestern border of Fire Country; I need these things as soon as possible, so leave first thing in the morning please."

"Yes ma'am." Chorused the 2 present members of the team as they walked off to get some rest for the mission.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, east gate of the village.

Shikamaru and Ino stood at the gate awaiting the arrival of the other members of their team. After about 10 minutes of waiting, 2 figures came into view. Once they got closer, it was revealed to be Neji and Hinata Hyuga.

"Okay, is everyone ready?" Asked Shikamaru to the small crowd of shinobi.

"Yes." Everyone chorused.

"Okay lets get this troublesome mission over with." Said Shikamaru with a sigh as they ran out the gate.

Once they were out of the village the group took to the tree tops to move faster and avoid as much traffic as possible. After about 4 hours of running Shikamaru hopped down into a small clearing, signaling a break, as the rest of the group followed. "Okay we'll take a break here for about an hour before we move out again; we should make it within 4 more hours after we leave." Shikamaru said as he leaned against a tree.

Once the hour had passed the group once again set off towards the border. They arrived with no difficulty and with the 2 Hyuga's byakugan, and Ino's expertise with flowers, located the plants that Tsunade requested. Once they were all identified the group decided to set up camp and leave out in the morning.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Location unknown

"Pein-sama, it appears as though the teams you sent after the Kyuubi were killed… He and his team are quite powerful." Said the Venus flytrap looking man.

"Yes Zetsu, it seems as if we may have trouble from him. It is of no matter, we can collect the other jinchuriki for now; the plan will not commence for 3 more years anyways."

"Yes I suppose you are right."

"Yes. For now, try to find some replacement recruits for the ones we lost."

"As you wish." Said Zetsu as he sunk into the ground.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, with team Nara

"Okay is everyone ready to move out?" Said the lazy voice of one Shikamaru as his team finished cleaning up their campsite.

"Yes." Chorused all of the others before they started to jump off into the trees.

"Hold it right there!" Said an unknown voice from behind the group.

"Well well, what do we have here? Konoha shinobi this far away from home?" Said a second voice beside the first.

All four members of Team Nara quickly spun around to find 2 shinobi dressed in Iwa Jounin garb standing there.

"Troublesome." Muttered Shikamaru as he started forming a plan in his mind. "And to what do we owe the honor?"

"We were just passing through when we noticed a young group of shinobi from Konoha, and decided 'what a wonderful way to get back at that bastard of a Hokage then to kill some of his up and coming shinobi'." Said the first Iwa shinobi.

"You do realize that this could start another war correct?" Stated Neji

"Not if you don't make it back to tell anyone." Said the Iwa shinobi again as he pulled out a kunai and leapt straight at Hinata, not noticing the hand seals that Shikamaru was doing. Just as he was about to reach Hinata he was knocked away with a palm strike from Neji.

"Thank you Nii-san." Said Hinata as she now dropped into the Hyuuga fighting stance alongside him.

"Dammit Kiro are you gonna get killed by 4 children?" Laughed the second Iwa shinobi as the now identified Kiro landed on the ground beside him.

"Shut the fuck up Araza! I didn't expect them to fight back is all. Just kill them!" Kiro raged as the pair leapt towards the group once more.

"Damn. Almost had them." Thought Shikamaru as his shadow retracted to go after them again.

As Kiro got close, Hinata activated her Byakugan and leapt forward to meet him. The pair engaged in a taijutsu bout for around a minute before Neji jumped in.

"You are within my field of divination." He said with a smirk. "Eight trigrams: 64 palms!"

Hinata jumped back as Neji struck the man twice "2 palms!" and then 4 more times "4 palms! 8 palms! 16 palms! 32 palms! 64 palms!" by the time he finished his hands were moving in a blur before he finally stopped and Kiro fell to the ground.

"Kiro!" Said Araza as he slashed at Neji with a kunai.

Neji simply stepped to the side and struck the man's shoulder, making him drop the kunai as he screamed in pain.

"What the fuck did you do to me brat?!"

"I simply closed down the tenketsu in that shoulder. The feeling will return in about 15 minutes, if you live that long."

"Like I could be killed by a bunch of damn kids!" Said Araza as he attempted to jump towards the group again, only to notice that he had no control of his body.

"Thanks for stalling him Neji, Kagemane success." Said Shikamaru as he stood up straight, making Araza do the same. "Now Ino if you would?"

"Right." She said as she sat down before her body slumped over.

"Okay it's me." Said Araza after his body jerked from Ino entering his mind.

Shikamaru released his shadow's hold before he walked over to Kiro and pulled out a sealing scroll and sealed the man into it.

After the sealing was complete he noticed the Azara's body once more jerk, before Ino stood up and he fell to the ground with blood coming from his eyes, ears, and mouth. "Good job Ino. It would be troublesome if I ever got on your bad side." He said with a slight smirk.

The group of 4 then disposed of the body before heading back towards home; the rest of the trip being uneventful.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato's office, later that night

"Enter." Said Minato as he heard a knock on the door.

The door opened to reveal Shikamaru Nara and his team as they walked in before Shikamaru said "Mission success Hokage-sama. All was well except that we ran into 2 shinobi from Iwa."

"Iwa shinobi? What happened?"

"They underestimated us so we dispatched them pretty easily. Here is one of them." Said Shikamaru as he handed Minato a scroll.

"I see. Well you are dismissed, but please swing by the hospital to give your findings to Tsunade please."

"Yes sir." Said all four as they turned and left the office.