Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's.

Final analysis regarding the war with An no Kuni aka The Uprising

For: Hokage Village Council Members

Classification: Eyes Only

Summary: The country An no Kuni attempted to outfit an army with weapons that were banned by mutual consent from all nations. This program was funded by the treasury of the country along with numerous sympathetic merchants and government officials throughout the continent. They were also aided by a sect of warrior monks that had been at war with Kirigakure since its founding. The monks provided both personnel and access to an extensive intelligence network that included ninjas from various villages.

The secrecy surrounding this program was so complete that it was not until a joint team of Konohagakure led by Kakashi Hatake and a team of Kumogakure ninjas discovered a small manufacturing facility by accident. Although the facility was destroyed there was no evidence pointing to any government or organization at the time. On the Hokage orders what little information we had was disseminated to all Allied villages.

At this point we learned of another security breach and intelligence failure. The village of Moyagakure had successfully managed to steal the Kekkei Genkai of the Uchiha Clan. Fortunately, the eight-year-old child named Kado was moved to Konohagakure with no significant problems.

The discovery of one of their manufacturing facility seemed to have accelerated their plans. The simultaneous attacks on Moyagakure and Kirigakure were a complete surprise. Moyagakure was completely destroyed and Kirigakure was heavily damaged. Fortunately these attacks left enough evidence to point directly to An no Kuni. An unprecedented alliance of all hidden villages minus Otogakure descended on the country and destroyed everything of military value.

Conclusions: Our intelligence gathering ability must be reevaluated. Konohagakure cannot afford such security breaches again. Furthermore we must assume that other hidden villages now have at least a rough idea of our diminished strength. Fortunately with Kirigakure concentrating on rebuilding and Kumogakure loss of their Jinchuriki (Yugito Nii) neither are prepared for all out war.

Partial list of casualties

Inoichi Yamanaka: killed on a recon mission. He was one of two familiar with the Yamanaka family Jutsu.

Yamato: killed on a failed assassination mission. He was the last Mokuton user in the village.

Hinata Hyuga: killed in the final assault. She was the presumed heiress to the Hyuga clan posthumously promoted to Chunin.

Dusk slowly descended over the forest of the Fire country. As the shadows stretched across the land many animals retreated to their dens while others emerge to take part in their nocturnal activities. It was quiet and peaceful. That was until Naruto Uzumaki came barreling through the woods causing a nearby flock of birds to take flight squawking in protest. Although he had spent the last eighteen months studying under Jiraiya his stealth skills hadn't improved much.

His orders which had been delivered by a falcon from Konoha had only given him a time and location with no other details. Considering he had been out of the country he was making good time. Bounding off the next branch he spared a moment to wonder about the last line of his orders. Return to Konoha training canceled. Under different circumstances that order would have annoyed him but, Konoha was in trouble. He knew that. They were still recovering their strength from all the recent losses.

The trouble had started with the Sand and Sound invasion. Not long after that there had been that trouble with the Land of Red Beans which had caused problems for just about every one of the hidden villages. During the brief conflict Konoha had lost a lot of ninjas but, not as many as other villages. After the final battle he had watched as dozens of names had been added to the Memorial Monument, including the name of one of his former classmates. Lost in his thoughts he didn't notice that he had run out of trees until he almost hit the ground. Turning his fall into more of a tumble he ended up in an ungraceful heap staring up at the sky.

"You're late Naruto," a voice called out from his right.

Climbing to his feet he glanced over to see Ino, she was leaning against a tree, her arms crossed. The hilt of a wakizashi peeked over her shoulder. Rumor had it that she picked it off a dead samurai but, Sakura had once told him that she used it as an excuse to spend time with a certain raven haired teenager. "I'm not late the sun hasn't set," he shouted back.

"You were supposed to be here before it started to set."

"No."

"Quiet, this mission is already troublesome enough without you to arguing. Now come over here," Shikamaru said without looking up from a diagram in his lap.

Naruto shut up as he walked over to join the other two. He had kind of hoped that at least one member of Team Seven would be on this mission with him. "So, what's this mission anyway?"

"We are breaking into a house and interrogating someone." Shikamaru said finally looking up from his diagram. "The target name is Kanaye; he is a merchant originally from the Water country." Shikamaru waited for a reaction but, Naruto just stared back at him.

Shikamaru sighed, "He was part of the intelligence network that those monks set up. We believe this because he just tried to sell Konoha's evacuation plan to another hidden village. They in turn informed us because they don't want to see a repeat of the Land of Red Beans incident. So, we're going to pay this merchant a visit, ask him some questions and then leave."

"Alive?" Naruto asked. He had never actually been on an assassination mission before but, like everybody else he wouldn't mind taking out those responsible for all those deaths.

"That was actually emphasized," Ino answered disappointed. "We haven't had much luck finding these guys. So, if this guy ends up dead after our visit will know somebody is still pulling the strings. If he isn't killed he'll still be neutralized and we might scare somebody else who is under observation into moving."

"Right but, our intelligence was bad. You see Kanaye has a small summer villa out here in these woods. We were told he could have up to fifty samurai guards protecting him which is why you're here instead of Chouji but, we scoped the place out before you arrived. I doubt he has more than ten and the ones we saw looked like thugs with swords."

"So, were just going to smash and grab then." Naruto asked eager to start the mission.

"No, this is a stealth mission and there can be absolutely no killing," Shikamaru answered sharply. "There is a small chance that one of his guards is there to silence him if he's about to fall into our hands. It doesn't matter what happens after we talked to him but, he cannot die before then."

"What do you want me to do then?"

"You're our backup, if anything goes wrong create as many clones as you can and we will escape in the confusion." Naruto nodded as Shikamaru handed him an earpiece. "We'll move in after midnight but, I want to gather information about their night patrol before we move in. Be careful we can't be seen."

They headed out as the sun disappeared over the horizon. Passing among the trees as wraiths insubstantial and silent there pace was slow and steady. By the time Naruto could barely make out a wall Shikamaru gestured for him to go to the right while Ino headed to the left. There was a crackle of static in his ear. "Try climbing a tree to see over the wall but, make sure you are not silhouette against the moonlight. Report back here in an hour."

"Okay," Naruto answered. He tried to remember if Shikamaru had been this tense on their last mission together but, the two didn't really compare. Scanning the woods he found a particularly large maple tree that looked pretty good for spying. Scrambling most of the way up the tree with the use of chakra he peered through the branches at the house.

The house wasn't what he had expected from a rich merchant. It wasn't small but, it wasn't large either. The house was completely dark and he concentrated on the guards positions. They weren't using lights so he could only make out shadowy figures moving about. After about ten 

minutes he was bored and was more than happy when he had to go back and report. "I saw two guards on patrol around the house on opposite sides of each other. It takes them about two minutes to make a full round," Naruto blurted out as soon as the three were together again.

"There's also another guard by the inside of the gate and," Ino hesitated before adding. "And I keep hearing this sound but, it's intermittent. It sounds like wood hitting against wood."

Shikamaru frowned when he heard Ino's report. "I think they're called clappers. They're simply two wooden blocks that a guard bangs together while he's on a patrol. If he stops then they will know something's wrong. These guys are a lot better than the day shift."

"At least they don't have guard dogs," Naruto added quietly. A few months ago he had a run-in with a guard dog and if it wasn't for Kyuubi's healing ability he would have an embarrassing scar.

Shikamaru grunted in acknowledgment as he drew on his diagram. "All right here's what we're going to do," shifting the paper so that all three of them could see it in the moonlight. He placed three X's on the diagram. One was at the front gate while the other two were on opposite sides of the house. "There's a small gap in their security here. As soon as this one guard turns the corner there'll be a few seconds until his counterpart will be able to see the backyard. The problem is there's a small rock garden back there so we'll have to hop from stone to stone so we don't disturb the sand.

"Ino you will go first. You have to hide under this veranda before picking the lock and going inside. Naruto will go next followed by me. I'm sure there will be at least one guard inside so proceed cautiously. Once were inside Ino and I will do the actual interrogation while you stand guard. Got it," he looked up as they both nodded.

"Naruto go," Shikamaru's voice crackled over the radio. With a burst of speed he cleared the small gap between the wall and the woods. With a chakra assisted jump he was on top of the wall and looking down at a sea of sand. Rocks stuck out in a seemingly random pattern, the waves of sand seemingly emanating from them. He didn't understand why so many people liked these things. Jiraiya had tried to have him meditate in front of them a few times but, that had never been his strength and he generally nodded off instead.

This time he carefully hopped from stone to stone before landing on the grass and rushing towards the open door. Ino shut the door behind him as the clapping sound of one of the guards rounded the corner. They crouched in what Naruto recognized as a kitchen. The sound of the guard approach grew progressively louder and he held his breath until it started to fade again.

"Alright I'm coming," Shikamaru said over the radio.

A minute later all three were crammed into the kitchen and it took a minute to straighten themselves out. They proceeded crouched through the house. Shikamaru took the lead while Ino followed him and he took up the rear. Their progress was excruciatingly slow in Naruto's opinion. Shikamaru spent a long time listening at each closed doors they pass by and before he would let them go around a corner he would pull out a small dentist mirror to peer around the corner.

As irritating as this slow pace was it paid off in the end. Shikamaru gestured for a halt followed by another hand signal that he didn't recognize but, Ino seem to. She turned to him and mouthed "catch me".

Before Naruto understood what was going on Shikamaru peeped around the corner as his shadow seemingly extended to catch the guard, freezing him in place. Ino was a second behind him performing her Mind Body Switch Technique. She went limp and he barely had time to catch her before she hit the ground. The guard's body which was no longer under his control walked towards them in an oddly feminine manner. His placid face turned murderous as Naruto realized where one of his hands had caught Ino's body.

Before she could do anything though, Shikamaru stepped between the two of them in an uncommon show of bravery. That diffused the situation for now and the Ino controlled guard was quickly bound and gagged. With only one door being guarded in the entire house it was a no-brainer to conclude that Kanaye had to be behind it. There problem was now that they had dispatched the guard someone had to take his place. Since Naruto was the only one not needed for the interrogation the task fell to him.

Performing a Henge he was able to make a passable impersonation of the guard. As it turned out Kanaye was a heavy sleeper. They were able to drag the bound guard into his bedroom without any trouble. Waking him up quietly proved to be the hardest part of the mission. Naruto retreated to his post and from then on all he could hear through the door was an occasional muffled word. After several minutes he heard rummaging around from within the room. "Naruto," Shikamaru said over the radio. "We're going to need your help carrying some of this stuff out of here."

As Naruto turned to open the door to the bedroom the shoji door from across the hall slid open to reveal a bleary-eyed guard. The guard was apparently awake enough to recognize that something was wrong, "Intruders!"

Naruto brought his fist in the guard's throat cutting him off. Unfortunately, the room he had just emerged from seemed to be the barracks for the rest of the guards.

Summoning a half dozen clones Naruto sent them into the room to cause havoc. Retreating into the bedroom he closed the door behind him and summoned another two clones to hold it tightly shut. Getting his first clear glimpse into the room he saw Ino still holding a kenai to Kanaye's 

throat while Shikamaru had pulled up several floor boards and was busily shoving scrolls into every pocket of his vast.

"Naruto, grab some of these and then make a hole for us," Shikamaru nodded to the wooden wall opposite of him.

As the guards broke down the door the wall exploded outwards and three figures sprinted for the safety of the woods. They stopped after about a mile to secure the scrolls and Naruto couldn't contain his curiosity, "What did you find out?"

Shikamaru was silent for a long moment before he muttered, "Nothing. He hasn't been in contact with anyone since the siege at the castle. He was just trying to make a little money by selling some of our secrets. These scrolls are everything he has."

Despite the successful mission their moods became somber. Like just about every other ninja they had lost people they had known because of this network of spies that reached across the whole continent. Each of them in their own way had hoped for something more out of this mission.