"What's that, Tsunade? You need the Scroll of Seals?"

The blonde Sannin nodded her head respectively, as she was in front of the three highest rank members of Konoha. The Third Hokage, himself, was seated at his desk and his two advisors, and longtime teammates, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane were standing behind him. She requested a meet with them to ask if she could use the Scroll of Seals. They were in the middle of a war, she needed something more if she wanted to save lives.

"Yes…Please, I need to see that scroll."

"Hmm." The Hokage mumbled.

"There's a war going on, sensei…Many ninjas are fighting and dying. Many of them victims of Forbidden Jutsus. Lord Hokage, I need to study the Scroll of Seals so I can protect our shinobi from those jutsus."

"I sympathize with your dilemma, Tsunade." Homura began. "But you must understand, the Scroll of Seals isn't something we can let anyone study from. In that scroll are some of the most powerful Forbidden Jutsu ever created, most of which were put in there by the First Hokage, your grandfather. Only the Hokage is allowed access."

"Your healing talents are sufficient, Tsunade." Koharu added in conjunction with Homura. "Your abilities are more than enough without the scroll."

"But-"

"A Hokage's duty is to guard secret information. My dear, you should know that better than anyone."

Tsunade wanted to keep her argument going, but it seemed their minds were made up. She thought it was ironic that it was the Hokage's duty to safeguard the Scroll of Seals but it was up to the Hokage's advisors that allowed anyone access. Keeping her mouth shut from any smart aleck comments, Tsunade conceded. "Ngh…I understand. Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice."

"Tsunade…that which you seek…is protected by heroes."

"Sarutobi!" Homura yelled.

"Should Konoha ever be in peril, and for some reason I am not around to protect her…you should go…"

Tsunade jolted up from her position on her desk. Had she really fallen asleep doing paperwork again? She wiped her cheek free of the dried drool and tried to regain her bearings. By the look of the sun, it was just past sunrise but that was not was occupying Tsunade's mind. That dream, or memory, was about her request to study from the Scroll of Seals during the Third Shinobi War. That comment from the Third Hokage didn't mean much to her then, but now?

'Protected by heroes…what could it mean? Is that the key to finding the Gedō Mark?'

There was a soft knock that drew Tsunade out of her thoughts, she straightened her desk up and made herself presentable. Just as she was about to say that the person could enter, her window opened and a familiar face slid his way into the office. She then realized the knock came from the window and not the door.

"Jiraiya? What are you doing? Don't you ever use the door like a normal person?"

The white-haired Sannin shrugged with a smirk. "Doors aren't as fun; besides I like making an interesting entrance."

Tsunade rolled her eyes, memories of countless loud and annoying 'entrances'. "Don't remind me. Moving on, the report you sent…how accurate are the sources?"

Jiraiya looked at his longtime comrade with a straight-face, believing it to be a stupid question, but held back any sort of back talk. "Unfortunately, very accurate. Iwagakure and Kirigakure are mobilizing their units…they're coming soon."

Tsunade let out a heavy sigh. "This isn't good…we haven't even started getting our own shinobi ready for a war like this…hell, the council doesn't even know yet."

"You're right, they don't…but I already took measures to help with getting our forces ready."

The Hokage raised her eyebrow with intrigue. "You did? How so?"

"After the meeting with the Fire Daimyō to decide who'd be the next Hokage, I had a little talk with Shikaku Nara…Konoha's Jōnin Commander and top strategist."

Well, that would've been good to know coming into her position, but that matter could be dealt with later. "How much does he know?"

Jiraiya crossed his arms. "He's up to speed on everything. Hopefully, he already implemented a plan of some kind and has strategies ready to go."

Tsunade nodded. "That's a bit of a relief…but the overall problem is that we'll be fighting two great villages. It was bad enough back in the day when it was all-out war, everyone against everyone, we're going to be outnumbered by a large margin."

Jiraiya nodded his head in understanding. "I thought about that and I think I might have a solution."

Tsunade was starting to become surprised, Jiraiya was thinking more like a Hokage than she was. Maybe she was the wrong person for the job. "What's that?"

"On my way back, I decided to make a quick stop in Sunagakure to see if they elected a new Kazekage yet, seeing how the Fourth Kazekage was killed by Orochimaru just before the Chūnin Exams."

"Have they?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "No, the impression I got was they are waiting for someone to come of age. The Kazekage has been more of a family tradition in their eyes than choosing the best leader. Regardless, the Suna high council is looking to discuss a peace treaty with our village, try and get back to how things were before Orochimaru got in the middle of things. The word on the street was they are sending a liaison to discuss everything."

"When would the liaison be coming here? And who?" A part of Tsunade's mind felt like this was too good to be true, it was rare for a great village to seek out a treaty with another village that they attacked.

"Suna's jinchūriki, Gaara of the Sand. He and his siblings should be here soon. I believe I passed them on my way here."

"The jinchūriki? Didn't those three just compete in the Chūnin Exams? Why on earth would the Suna council send a team of genin to discuss a peace treaty?"

"Remember how I said the Kazekage is more of a family tradition?"

The words clicked in Tsunade's mind. "They're the Kazekage's children…Suna is testing out which of the three will the better candidate. That's why they haven't elected a new Kage. But how does that help our situation?"

"We can use them to our advantage, make them an ally again for this upcoming war. From what I could gather, the Suna Council seemed pretty willing to do just about anything to back on our good side. It's apparent they haven't forgotten the last time they stood against us."

How could they? How could anyone? It was a straight massacre. During the Second Shinobi World War, Sunagakure had requested a joint mission with Konohagakure to seize control over a critical supply route, or commonly referred to as an MSR (Main Supply Route), that would benefit both parties. Konoha was concerned that it could be a trap but ultimately decided that the opportunity could not be wasted. To ensure that everything would go smoothly, Konoha assigned Sakumo Hatake and his team the mission.

During the mission, the Suna shinobi betrayed Sakumo and his team. But their betrayal was expected and Sakumo was well prepared. In the end, over fifty Sunagakure jōnin, which included two of Suna's best puppet masters, had been killed and Sakumo's team held down the MSR from other enemy attacks for days. Sakumo's leadership and heroism was recognized throughout the shinobi world, earning him the nickname 'White Fang'. After the incident, Sunagakure hardly interfered with Konoha affairs until a peace treaty had been signed years later.

Tsunade mulled over the idea and nodded her head. "It could work. I'll let the council know about the treaty and see what they say. I have no doubt they'll be suspicious of the idea, though."

The toad Sannin nodded his head in understanding. "That's pretty much all I got. Anything interesting happen while I was away?"

"…Do I have a story for you…"

-With Team Ten, BBQ Palace-

"Chōji slow down!" Ino yelled in annoyance. It was the same scene every time they came here to this restaurant, Chōji would just shovel meat down his throat and end up getting sick because sometimes the meat wasn't completely cooked. "You're gonna get sick if you keep eating like that. Why not slow down and appreciate the taste?"

Chōji plucked another piece of meat off the grill. "I know how to eat a lot and appreciate the taste, Ino. I've had years of practice."

"Well it explains why you are so fa-"

"Ino!" Shikamaru spoke up. "That word is taboo, remember? But Chōji, eating isn't a battle. Lighten up a bit." The chubby boy just smiled as he chewed the food in his mouth.

Asuma took the un-lit cigarette out of his mouth to speak. "You have been eating a lot more lately, Chōji. Why don't you spend more time training? Look at Shikamaru, he's already a chūnin."

Chōji's happy demeanor instantly changed and his head drooped down in disappointment. Shikamaru noticed this. And then to make matters worse, Ino just had to chime in and give her two cents on the subject.

"Yeah Chōji! You'll never get a girlfriend the way you are now. Train, diet, and get skinny like me and you'll shed those pounds away like nothing. You'll get way more girls that way!"

Chōji's head sagged even lower. He suddenly lost his appetite and didn't feel like eating anymore. He silently excused himself from the table and made his way to the bathroom. Shikamaru remained back for a moment before following his friend. He approached Chōji and placed a hand on Chōji's shoulder.

"Don't let Ino get to you man, she doesn't know what she's talking about. Guys don't necessarily like skinny girls as much as they tend to claim. I hear guys like more stacked girls, if you catch my drift. And if Ino actually stopped starving herself and put on a pound or two…she'd probably be more popular with the guys." Shikamaru puffed out his cheeks in a silly way that made Chōji smile and laugh slightly.

"Ha-ha…You know, Shikamaru, you're just as funny as you are smart."

"Huh?"

"Compared to Neji and Sasuke…even Naruto…you're far more incredible."

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck. "I never thought about that. I'm just me, after all. But if you and I were to fight, you'd probably beat me. I'd end up quitting if I had to fight you."

"But sensei just told me I eat way too much and need to focus more on training. And you were promoted to chūnin with the others and I wasn't."

"And didn't I just say I am me…and you are you. There's no point in comparing ourselves to each other. It's just stupid and a troublesome waste of time. Don't take Asuma's words too personally. Just relax and do what you think is right. Everything will work out."

Shikamaru's words seemed to have uplifted Chōji, evident by the smile on the boy's face. The Nara boy gave a reassuring pat on Chōji's shoulder before turning to leave the restroom.

"Anyways, I'll see you later. I gotta get going."

"…Shikamaru."

The boy in question stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

"Good luck…with everything."

Shikamaru smirked. "Yeah." 'You're a good guy, Chōji…don't change. You'll become really strong one day.'

-With Team Eight-

Kurenai inwardly sighed, she wasn't one to get disappointed or upset over things but this was definitely trying her patience. Out of all the genin teams to make it through to the second stage of the Chūnin Exams and on to the preliminary round, her team was the only one to get eliminated entirely and miss out on the third stage. She felt bad for them, honestly, the three of them had so much potential. Shino and Hinata both here slated to take control over their respective clans someday. Kiba would be in the same boat if he would stop complaining about not becoming a chūnin. Even now, in the middle of a team meeting.

"Man, it's so stupid they made those four chūnin…I should've been promoted too!" The Inuzuka boy griped loudly. "Me and Akamaru could mop the floor with them any day of the week!"

"Kiba…you lost your preliminary match against Naruto." Kurenai pointed out as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"That was a total fluke!" Kiba barked, Akamaru whined silently atop his hooded head.

"A total fluke on your behalf." Shino chimed in. "Why you ask? Because Naruto-"

"Nobody asked Shino! You lost to that damn brooding Sasuke so you can't say anything!"

Hinata tried to speak. "K-Kiba, it's alright."

"No, it's not alright! We are the only team from our graduating class that didn't have someone make it to the finals. And during the invasion, we got stuck looking for villagers to safety! How the hell can I prove my strength if I can't do anything?"

"Consider yourself lucky you didn't get ordered to stay with the villagers!" Kurenai seemed to have finally had enough of Kiba's complaining. "Normally genin aren't allowed to go anywhere near the fighting during an attack like that. Instead of whining, you should be thankful that you survived and that your friends survived as well."

Kiba crossed his arms and grumbled noncoherent words that, if heard, would probably only make matters worse. He didn't want to admit he was acting childish, which he knew he was, but his sensei had a very valid point. Everyone he cared about survived, that should be cause for celebration.

Kurenai sighed again, she understood Kiba's frustration but all this complaining was reaching near stupidity levels. She also knew Kiba wasn't the only one who was frustrated, both Hinata and Shino were disappointed because they didn't advance as far as they wanted to in the exams. They were just better at hiding it. "You three will get your chance again, it's not like the Chūnin Exams are a one-time event. Next time around you'll be more experience and better prepared, I can promise that."

As much Kiba wanted to continue ranting on about how he should a chūnin with his comrades, he couldn't hide the fact he was ready to get back to training like there was no tomorrow. Shino was in a similar boat, he may not show what he's thinking or feeling majority of the time but he was certainly ready to back to work. Hinata was the most reserved about this. She wanted to get stronger so that she wouldn't hold her team back more than she felt she did, but not knowing when the next opportunity to be promoted would come did discourage the girl.

'Naruto…I don't want to fall behind.'

It was a light switch for the young Hyūga heiress. Hinata suddenly felt the motivation of her two teammates and was ready to give it her all. She wouldn't fall behind, she'd walk next to Naruto one day.

"Let's get started then!"

-With Team Gai-

Gai huffed and huffed, it was rare that his students could wear him out like this. To be more specific, it was his most youthful student Lee that was running him down. As much as he loved to see such fire and motivation in someone so young, it was down right exhausting to be moving so fast for so long. Tenten had given up trying to keep up with Lee and decided to sit on a downed tree to watch the show. Neji was watching…or at least Gai hoped he was. Neji was training his Byakugan on the other side of the field.

"Lee…how about a bit of a break?" It felt so unyouthful to say such a thing.

"Let's go Gai sensei! I'm nowhere near ready to be done! Youth never waits!"

Tenten couldn't help the shit eating grin on her face, all her sensei's preaching about youth was finally coming back around. Karama was a nasty thing. She looked over to her other teammate that was on the other side of the field. With Neji's back to them, it was hard to tell if he was really aware of his surroundings. Tenten walked over to him while Gai continued to try and convince Lee to take a break.

"Tenten." Neji greeted, his back to her. 'Seven birds…two o'clock, all within a fifty-meter radius.'

"I was checking up on you, making your training was going well." Tenten smiled as she leaned against a tree. She no longer heard bickering from behind her, maybe Gai got through to Lee.

"Everything is fine. Training my eyes is something none of you can help me with."

"I know."

"Then why come over here? It seems like as waste of energy to me."

Tenten sighed, while Neji had cut back on being a rude and close-minded person he wasn't always the most friendly. She hoped that would change with time. Whatever Naruto did to snap Neji out of his rut must've been something fierce. "I guess I'm still getting used to the fact you were promoted to chūnin…maybe even a little jealous." She couldn't deny that the green vest looked good on her teammate, she'd never admit that though.

Neji smirked. "It seems you aren't the only one."

Back across the field was Lee, who had decided to listen to his teacher and took a small breather, his eyes trained on the Hyūga chūnin. It had been like this since their team formed, Lee using Neji as motivation, but this was different. Neji was a chūnin now, Lee was not. This fact only threw gasoline on Lee's fiery spirit, causing him to go into extreme overdrive with his training.

"Did you expect anything else?" Tenten asked. "He's always boasting about how he'll beat you one day and that you're his rival."

"Lee can think what he wants. I recognize Lee's strength but he's not my main concern. My eyes are set on someone else."

Tenten raised an eyebrow in question. That was the first time Neji had said something like that about Lee, he really had changed. "Who?"

An unexpected bird flew out of a tree that Neji did not see. "There were eight birds…" But then Neji saw something else he didn't expect, there was someone walking towards him through the trees who stirred up the bird. A fellow chūnin.

"I thought I'd find you out here."

Deactivating his dōjutsu, Neji approached the young genius. "Shikamaru Nara…what are you doing out here?"

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck as if he was annoyed. "I came out here to talk to you, try and hash some things out."

"Like what? You and I have no quarrel with each other, in fact, this is the first time we've spoken like this."

"Not in the manner you're thinking of. You, me, Sasuke, and Naruto were all promoted together, it's more than likely we'll be sent on some missions together. Seeing how the four of us have never been around each other collectively, I figured it'd be a good idea to learn some things about one another."

Neji narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Learn what kind of things?"

Shikamaru smirked. "You ever play shogi?"

-Somewhere in the Land of Fire, not far from Konoha-

"You're late…I should kill you four for that."

Orochimaru was no mood to forgive anything, the pain in his arms were increasing and his impatience was at an all time high. Kabuto was relieved that he hadn't gone on a massive killing spree during their wait for them.

Before Orochimaru and Kabuto knelt four individuals, all with the same clothing. The matching clothing was a beige-colored, sleeveless tunic with the symbol of their group on the hem and a pair of black pants with a purple, rope like belt around their waists. The first individual was easily the largest of the group, he had fair skin and three tuffs of orange hair on his head: a mohawk style of sorts that ran down the middle and two similar tuffs on each side. He also had a necklace comprised of red circular separating long, metallic pieces. The second individual was possibly the most unique out of the group with his six arms and dark skin. His shaggy hair was tied into a ponytail so it wouldn't get into his black eyes, he was one of two that wore the Otogakure forehead protector. The third individual had a second head that hung loosely attached to his upper back, both with the same dark blue hair. In fact, the features on both heads were near identical. His long dark blue bangs covered his right eye, while it was opposite on his attached head. Both wore a green shaded lipstick and had dark markings around their eyes. The fourth and final individual was, no doubt, the most normal looking out of the group. She had long, dark pink hair with parted bangs that framed her face and one portion that hung between her eyes, which was kept out of her vision by a black hat with pipe-like stripes and bandaged sides. She also kept a flute tucked into her belt on her side.

"Forgive our tardiness, Lord Orochimaru," the man with two heads began, "we came as quick as we could."

"Be quiet Sakon, I am not in the mood for excuses." The four winced at their master's tone, it was icy and full of malice. "We will be assaulting the Leaf and we will not stop until Tsunade heals my arms. I do not care if you four live or die, all that matters is Tsunade healing my arms. That is our only goal."

The four individuals nodded in understanding. "We live to serve you, Lord Orochimaru." The largest member said. "I will force those weaklings to heal you."

"Be quiet fatso. No one cares happens to you." The lone female said, as if it were the truth.

"Tayuya…why must you say such things? We are on the same team."

"Because I don't like you, fatso." Tayuya said once again, causing the large man to grumble to himself.

"Enough! Tayuya, Jirōbō…do us all a favor and shut the hell up." The man with six arms said.

Kabuto approached the four, causing all of them to be silent. "Jirōbō of the South Gate…" The large man towered over his teammates. "Tayuya of the North Gate…" The red-head rose to her feet. "Kidōmaru of the East Gate…" The man with six arms stood on his feet. "And Sakon of the West Gate…" The man with two heads smirked as he rose. Kabuto turned back to face his master. "The Sound Four have assembled, Lord Orochimaru."

Orochimaru smiled sinisterly as he looked on at his subordinates, these were four of the strongest under him. Each of them were on-par with average jōnin. Orochimaru considered Jirōbō to be the weakest overall, but he had the most physical strength. Next was Kidōmaru. Kidōmaru was easily the smartest of the group and created most of their battle strategies. Then was Tayuya who was the self-proclaimed second strongest, which Orochimaru agreed with. The leader, and strongest of the four, was Sakon. His speed and power were only surpassed by himself, Kabuto, and one other.

'If all else fails…Kimimaro will be the one to bring Sasuke to me. My body won't be handle to hold out much longer.'

Orochimaru turned and began towards Konoha, his subordinates following. "Today…Konoha will fall!"

-Nara Compound-

As expected, this game of shogi was one of the most challenging Shikamaru has ever had. There was only one other person who could give him such a back and forth game like this, but to finally face someone near his intellectual level was greatly refreshing. Every move Neji made was calculated and made with the sole intent on capturing the opposing king, he even made a few sacrifices that Shikamaru didn't see coming.

Both were down to their final pieces; a single mistake would spell defeat for one and victory for the other.

"A simple board game that projects battle strategies? An interesting way gauge my abilities as a strategist, Shikamaru." Neji said as he moved his bishop into position.

Shikamaru examined the remaining pieces before he answered. "The purpose of shogi is to use strategy to outsmart and defeat your opponent. Is that any different than battle between two shinobi?" Shikamaru placed his rook in front of his king, using the piece as a shield.

"No. A battle between shinobi is certainly a strategy heavy event, one must be able to deduce and react without doubt." The Hyūga took Shikamaru's rook and placed the bishop in front of the king. No checkmate, a bishop can only move diagonally. "I would have preferred that you told me the purpose of the game before we started so I could've done the same."

Shikamaru smirked. "Then I would've revealed my plan. That's basically a suicide note in battle. And if I did? If I was a betting man, you probably would have changed up your strategy and how you approached the game so I couldn't get an accurate read on you. The Hyūga clan is known for doing everything they possibly can to keep their secrets."

Neji took his pale eyes off the game board and looked at Shikamaru. "You've done your research…but so have I. The Nara clan are intellectual powerhouses and known for their shadow binding techniques. Your clan also has a highly detailed scroll of medical practices and preparations that's been kept for generations. Your special relationships with the Yamanaka and Akimichi allow three members to form the infamous Ino-Shika-Cho formation."

"You have done your research…but that's pretty common knowledge."

"Before the Hyūga enter the Ninja Academy, we have already gone years of school by our own teachers. We study and learn about the many different clans in Konoha. We are taught the different styles of taijutsu that create our Gentle Fist. But that's where the Main Branch stops. The Branch Family of the Hyūga clan are brought up from birth as the guardians for the Main Branch. At an early age, we study the history of war and what it takes to win one."

Shikamaru looked at his opponent intrigued. "And what does it take?"

"Without sacrifice there is no victory."

Shikamaru looked down at the board and the words correlated with Neji's current situation. Neji's bishop was directly in front of his king, a simple move to give Shikamaru the edge in this close game. But he examined further. Neji's rook was on the opposite side of the board, waiting for the king to foolishly move to it's defeat. In Shikamaru's opinion, the bishop was a better piece than the rook. The bishop had the ability to move diagonally, allowing for better angles to attack. The rook in orthogonal direction, it's movement is straight forward and to the point.

"You'd sacrifice a bishop, the better piece, so that a rook could take the kill?"

Neji nodded. "No matter what…the Branch protects the Main."

Shikamaru wanted to dive deeper into this. "If the Branch protects the Main…then why'd you almost kill your cousin?"

Shikamaru knew he was going to strike a nerve with that question, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. This was a real chance to learn what made Neji's brain tick. He waited patiently as Neji seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

"…Have you ever believed in something greater than yourself, Shikamaru? You see, I used to believe that everything was predetermined by fate and nothing could be done to change that….then I met Naruto Uzumaki. He walks the fine line between light and dark, swaying with the wind. I saw in his eyes what keeps him whole…and it wasn't fate." Neji suddenly stood up from his seat and turned to leave. He stopped momentarily at the door. "I hope you learned what you desired." The Hyūga left.

Shikamaru sat there, lost in his thoughts.

-Hokage's Office-

Jiraiya stood there with an impassive expression on his face. He had just finished examining Kakashi's Sharingan eye. After Tsunade informed him of the situation, he immediately wanted to see the damage for himself.

Tsunade, as well as Kakashi, was growing impatient. She hated when Jiraiya remained impassive like this, normally that spelt bad news. "Well? Can you do anything to release the jutsu?"

The Toad Sannin remained stoic for another moment before finally faltering. "…I've got nothing. It'd take me months to figure out the correct seals to release something like this. We'd be better off trying to find the Scroll of Seals."

"That's the problem, we don't know where it is." Tsunade sighed. "The only lead I've come up with is that dream I had…I'm not sure how much I trust it though."

"It's better than nothing, Tsunade. But what could sensei have been referring too? 'Protected by heroes'…not much comes to mind."

"Possibly the Hokage Stone Faces." Kakashi chimed in as he tied his forehead protector back on over his left eye. "The hiding possibilities are endless in the cravens behind them."

"That's true…but it'd take way too long to comb through it all. My gut feeling is Orochimaru will be back soon. If he's as desperate as you say, then he'll be back with more firepower."

"I couldn't agree more." Tsunade said. She turned to Kakashi. "Do you have any idea what's he after, Kakashi? Anything that might be a motive for his attacks…besides revenge?"

Kakashi recalled his brief encounter with the Sannin from the other day. "Nothing that stood out to me, Lady Tsunade. We already know that his target is Sasuke, but he passed up an opportunity to capture him before I arrived. Sasuke and Naruto were alone, and I have no doubt Orochimaru was watching their fight."

"Perhaps the Uchiha isn't his goal right now. He could be after something else." Jiraiya hypothesized.

"Orochimaru always has something up his sleeve. We'll have to be careful whenever he shows up again." Tsunade stated.

Both Kakashi and Jiraiya nodded in complete agreement, both knowing the gravity of the situation before them. Tsunade dismissed Kakashi and said she would call for him when something new developed but instructed him to be vigilante. The silvered haired jōnin left the office to go about his day.

The Copy Cat Ninja wandered the village as he read his favorite book, seemingly never getting tired of the story no matter how many times he had read it. But Kakashi wasn't reading it for pleasure this time, he was keeping up appearances for those around him. As of now, only Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Gai were aware of his injury, and he would like to keep it that way. The less people knew he wasn't himself the better.

Suddenly, something felt off in the air. An ominous feeling ran down Kakashi's spine that caused him to stop walking. He looked up from his book and scanned his surroundings, he noted nothing looked out of place. Then he looked up to the rooftops. And that's where he saw them, standing in the setting sun.

Four individuals; two of which Kakashi knew very well. The other two he did not. One was a man with two heads upon his body and the other had six arms attached to his body.

Kakashi glared with anger. "Orochimaru…!"

-With Naruto-

The young blonde shinobi had just finished up his second daily training session and he was starving, a hunger that could only be satisfied by his love for ramen. Luckily, he had just enough change on him to get a bowl or two.

"Big Bro Naruto!"

The young teen in question stopped walking, knowing there was only one person who yelled that, and turned around to greet the young boy with a long blue scarf, who was followed by two other children of his age.

"What's up Konohamaru?" Naruto greeted as he knelt to the boy's level, extending his hand for a high-five, which the boy excitedly finished. "You doing good, buddy?"

Konohamaru nodded happily. "Yeah! Me, Udon, and Moegi were playing ninja! Of course, I was you and totally beat them!"

"You cheated, Konohamaru!" Moegi berated.

"I did not!"

"You totally cheated, Konohamaru. You never play fair when we play ninja, especially when you pretend to be Naruto." Udon said as he wiped the snot from his nose, which was replaced with more snot.

"Well, Big Bro is the best! He's the strongest! We all saw him kick ass in the Chūnin Exams, and he got promoted too! He's a total badass."

Naruto chuckled and smirked at the boy's flattery of him. Honestly, Naruto was just glad Konohamaru was in high spirits. The kid had a rough time when the Third Hokage died, seeing how that was his grandfather and all. It was a refreshing sight to Konohamaru so happy…it reminded Naruto of how he used to be before everything happened.

"But I'll stand with you one day, Big Bro!"

Moegi scoffed. "As if. Big Bro Naruto is league's ahead of you Konohamaru. You'll never reach him!"

"Yes, I will. Just you wait!"

Naruto looked on as the two children bickered. His mind wandered about the prospect of Konohamaru one day surpassing him. The idea seemed…nice. He felt like it would turn out to be a passing of the torch, a student surpassing their teacher. He briefly wondered if this was what Jiraiya felt like with him. But he dismissed that. He would never do anything to damage Konohamaru in any way. Naruto reached out and placed his hand on top of Konohamaru's brown hair, causing the boy to stop bickering and look at Naruto.

"I'll be waiting at the top for you, Konohamaru."

Konohamaru looked on in awe at Naruto's words, then a large smile burst onto his face. The fact his idol believed in him made him want to stand along Naruto just that much more.

"What a crock of shit…I'll bet the kid dies before his balls drop."

The new voice threw Naruto's protection instincts into overdrive. He hastily turned around and out himself between the three children and whoever was here. There were two people, one male one female. The man was tall and very large, he instantly thought this was Chōji's future appearance, the female had long, dark pink hair and carried what seemed to be a flute.

"Tayuya, why do have to say such things? He's just a kid." Jirōbō said.

"Shut up fatso. Stuff your face and be quiet, blondie's mine. Lord Orochimaru said he's no joke. I wanna see this kid's strength for myself."

"Orochimaru?!" Naruto gasped in shock.

"Isn't he the guy who killed my grandpa?" Konohamaru asked.

Naruto grit his teeth. "Yeah…where is he? Why are you here? And who are you?"

Tayuya smirked. "I'm Tayuya of the North Gate…the second strongest member of the Sound Four. Now, let's get started!"