Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Naruto: The Final Struggle ❯ The Meeting ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, I do not make money from this fic

A/N: This is my first fic on Naruto. I know it isn't long so far, but bear with me for now. If you want to see anything happen in later chapters, tell me and I may or may not do so.

 

Chapter 1: The meeting

 

 

The birds chirped happily as the day began, the sun shining steadily through the blinds of the window, its rays gleaming over the eyes of a young boy, causing his eyes to slowly flicker open. He looked towards the window and pulled the covers over his head, desperate to obtain at least a few more minutes of rest. That hope dissipated when he heard a girl's voice calling from outside, “Naruto! Come on, you're going to be late!”

 

The boy sat up, pulling back his bed sheet as he looked out the window sleepily. He was fairly tall, well-built, with spiky blonde hair and deep blue eyes. His skin was tanned lightly, his face donning three whiskers on each side, compliments of the demon that resided within him. Noticing the girl who had called him, he shouted in reply, “oh, hey Sakura-chan! I'll be down in a minute.”

 

Suppressing a yawn, he tossed off his pajamas, going quickly into the bathroom. He surveyed himself through a mirror, before shaking his head roughly and stepping into the shower. The knob turned slowly, creaking with effort before a cool downpour of water enveloped his bare body, seeping slowly down his chest. He shivered, ignoring the chill of the water as he quickly tried soaping his body and lathering a sufficient amount of shampoo into his hair at the same time. In the end, it probably took up more time than doing both separately, but he convinced himself he had made things go faster. He hopped out of the shower, grabbing onto the towel from the screen as he moved about the bathroom, drying himself off as best he could while performing various tasks such as brushing his teeth and shaking the water from his hair. He threw the towel into a laundry chute as he left the bathroom, wearing absolutely nothing. It didn't really matter though; no one was ever in his house except for him.

 

He couldn't find his clothes, cursing as he realized that he had left them in his room, which required him to walk past a large window. He suddenly wished he hadn't put his towel in the chute, as he crawled past the window, knowing that if Sakura looked up towards it, she might see the top of his head bobbing past. After passing the window, he ran into his room, pulling on his normal attire, a white shirt with black pants and a similar black jacket with hints of orange among its top. Grabbing his ninja headband, he left his apartment and began to run down the steps of the complex, tying the band across his forehead.

 

Checking his watch, he saw that he only had a little over one minute to get to the Hokage's office for the meeting she had called the night before; no wonder Sakura had sounded so agitated when she had called him earlier. He bounded down the last of the steps to see her waiting for him, an annoyed look plastered on her face. “Sorry, Sakura… my alarm didn't go off-" he lied, scratching the back of his head with a hopeful grin.

 

Sakura was a little shorter than Naruto, with rosy, shoulder-length hair, green eyes and fair skin. She wore a sleeveless red dress that extended almost to her knees. Her face normally had a bright smile, but at the moment, it was no where to be seen. “Baka!” she exclaimed, “let's go, Tsunade-sama told me to make sure you were on time.”

 

Naruto nodded in agreement as they ran towards the large building that was the Hokage's office. Tsunade had called a meeting concerning the retrieval of Uchiha Sasuke, and even more important, the stopping of Orochimaru's destruction of the village of Konoha.

 

Sasuke had been Naruto's teammate, rival, and best friend. However, his intent on getting revenge on his brother, Uchiha Itachi, who was too great. Itachi had massacred his own clan, leaving Sasuke as the only living descendant. Ever since then, Sasuke has taken it as his responsibility to defeat his brother, and avenge his clan's demise. He believed that staying in Konoha wouldn't gain him enough power, and then left to find Orochimaru, who had promised to give him unbelievable strength.

 

The problem with Orochimaru was that he wanted to destroy Konoha, making Sasuke's leaving even more difficult to cope with. Hopefully, today, after all this time, they would be able to bring him back home.

 

Another problem that they had to confront was Akatsuki, an organization of ten ninjas that Orochimaru was formerly part of, his leaving bringing the number to nine. They were some of the most powerful ninja in the world, making them a truly dangerous opponent. However, things get worse than just that; Akatsuki was extracting the Bijuu, or rather, “tailed demons,” from Jinchurikuu, the vessels for these creatures. By doing so, they gained an enormous amount of power from the Bijuu, the Jinchurikuu dying in the process.

 

It just so happened that Naruto was one of these Jinchurikuu that Akatsuki was searching for. And to top it off, he held the Kyuubi, the nine-tailed demon fox, the strongest of all of the tailed demons. None of the other shinobi knew, other than the adults who were alive and could remember the day when the Kyuubi attacked the village and was sealed within Naruto, and Sakura, who Naruto told himself.

 

Opening the door, Naruto walked quietly into the room, Sakura right at his heels as they took the last two seats at the large table. Looking around, Naruto noticed that all of the ninjas he had grown most familiar with were here. There was Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino, Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Neji, Tenten, Lee, and even Sai, all looking towards the Hokage; no one had even seemed to hear them come in. Naruto momentarily wondered why Tsunade had called all of them here; however, his thoughts were interrupted by the Hokage's voice.

 

“You all know that we are in a serious situation,” she said from the front of the table, “from the situation with Akatsuki, to the retrieval of Uchiha Sasuke. The people in this room are all that I can spare to put into these missions without sacrificing the position of the village itself. I want to warn you all, however. This mission is S ranked, and extremely dangerous. I will split you into three groups for the time being, and further instruction will be given after the missions are completed. Understand?”

 

Her question was answered with various murmurs and nods. “Naruto, Shikamaru, Kiba, you are to go to the Hidden Village of Sand and ask for aid in this mission. Since you know the Kazekage best, Naruto, you will have a great responsibility in this.” He nodded in understanding as she moved to state the next group and their mission.

 

“Shino, Neji, Tenten, Sakura, Sai, you are to find the whereabouts of the Akatsuki main headquarters. However, do not make yourself known to the enemy, after finding the location, return to the rally point immediately.

 

“Chouji, Ino, Hinata, Lee, the four of you will find the whereabouts of Orochimaru and Sasuke. They aren't in the same place as they were before,” she continued, as if to answer the questioning looks on their faces.

 

“After you have completed these assignments, meet here,” she said, pointing to a location on a map she had laid out, allowing everyone to see it clearly. “Be sure to be there within three days of the start of the mission, I'm counting on all of you,” she said, now looking back towards all of them. “You are all to meet in the entrance gate at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning, until then, pack some things… you may be gone for a while.”

 

Everyone stood from their chairs, a moment of silence pertained between them before they all began walking towards the exit at once. “Naruto,” said Tsunade, making the boy turn just before walking through the open door, “can I speak with you for a moment.”

 

He sighed; she was probably going to talk to him about being late. She always nagged him about stuff like that. But wait, he wasn't even late! He had made it on time… even if it was just barely. She'd probably tell him that shinobi should always be early. It didn't matter; he'd have to put up with the speech one way or another. Turning around, he walked back to stand before her desk, and just as the last person walked out the door and closed it shut; she began to speak, “Naruto, this mission is extremely important. You know that, I'm sure. It has more importance to you, I believe, than most of the other shinobi in the village, and maybe all of them. It will not only stop Akatsuki from coming after you if performed correctly, but also stop Orochimaru from destroying Konoha, and bring your friend, Sasuke, back.”

 

Naruto felt himself getting warmer, as his face reddened, not from embarrassment, or at least he didn't think it was… but from shock. It just made itself clear to him how important this mission was. This was what he had been striving to accomplish these last three years, what he went to train for, and what he did since he had returned. This mission was his chance to get everything back to the way it should have been, and change it from the way that it currently was.

 

“You're strong,” she continued, “stronger than any of them know. And you're actually quite bright... You are,” she stated, seeing his unsure face, “the only reason you think you're stupid is because of what other people say. The only reason that they think you're stupid is because of the way that you acted when you were still in the Ninja Academy; lowest scores in your class, and a troublemaker. If you just believe in yourself, you'll realize how brilliant you can truly be... But that's not why I told you to stay here… The reason is, that I'm going to make you the captain of this mission, Shikamaru and Neji will be your co-captains,” she rolled the map she was using earlier and handed it to him, “this is marked with the current rendezvous point, you will keep track of these areas, and mark where the Akatsuki hideout is, and Orochimaru's current position. This will be relayed to me after all the missions are completed and you all meet together, I will then send the next set of missions.”

 

Taking hold of the scroll, Naruto put it into his pocket, his expression immediately becoming more focused as he bowed his head, “thank you Tsunade-sama” he said, a name he rarely called her, “I won't let you down.”

 

Tsunade smiled, watching as he turned to leave, `I know you won't' she thought, the door closing as he ran to prepare for the missions, 'I know you won't'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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