Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the franchise of Naruto.

Authors Note: This story continues from after the Sand/Sound villages' attack on the Leaf village, after Orochimaru killed the third Hokage, and after Naruto defeated Gaara. Itachi has not arrived in the leaf village, and the fifth Hokage has been named: Jiraya.
This is an action/adventure fiction, but it will involve a slow romance between Naruto and Sasuke. It will involve Yaoi and Slash, so if that offends you, then don't read. It's as simple as that.

Chapter One:
"Kakashi sensei," I began, "what will happen to us now? Will we become chunin?"

"Yeah, Kakashi!" Sakura exclaimed. "The sand and sound ninja are gone, so what will happen to the chunin exam?" Even Sasuke looked up in anticipation of the answer.

"Lord Hokage said that all the ninja who help out during the invasion will become chunin. That means all three of you, Shikamaru, and Shino are now chunin."

"Wait, a minute Kakashi," Sasuke said. "What happens now that we're chunin?"

"Normally, this is where we'd go our seperate ways," Kakashi said. "But given the circumstances, Jiraya wants us to stay a team."

"Why?" I pouted.

"Because he is Lord Hokage, Naruto," Kakashi said. "Anyway, we have an A++ ranked mission ahead of us, which is why I called you all to the bridge today."

We didn't know what Kakashi wanted from us when he told us to meet him herer. And of course, he was an hour late. The rebuilding of the Leaf village had begun, and it was starting to look like it did before. But there was still a long way.

Sakura, Sasuke and I all ended up in the hospital after our fight with Gaara. She was the worst injured. If I had not defeated Gaara when I did, she would have died. Sasuke's curse mark was acting up again, and Kakashi needed to put a second seal on it. As for me, my chakra was all used up, so I just spent a month resting.

Kiba was also hurt. Apparently, he and Hinata went to the hospital after my match, and the Sand and Sound ninja attacked there too. They were both hurt, but they fought until other Leaf shinobi arrived. Kiba and I were in the same room, as so many were injured that people had to double up. We became closer there. I saw a lot of Shino and Hinata, too. Shino was hurt during his fight with Konkuro, and Hinata was still recovering from her fight with Neji.

"What's our mission?" I asked.

"Our mission is to capture and kill Kisame Hoshigake," Kakashi said plainly.

"Who is he?" Sakura asked.

"He is a former Hidden Mist Shinobi, but is now a rogue ninja. He was in a group of nine rogue shinobi called the Akatsuki. Other notable former members in the Akatsuki are Orochimaru," he said, as Sakura gasped, "and Itachi Uchiha."

Uchiha. That means he's from the same clan as Sasuke. I looked over at him, and he tensed. I thought Sasuke was the only remaining Uchiha.

"Wait," I asked. "Who's Itachi Uchiha?"

"He's a rogue ninja from the leaf village," Kakashi explained. "He single-handedly killed his entire clan. Except for one person." He looked over at Sasuke.

Now it made sense. All of Sasuke's comments about killing his brother, and a guy named Itachi, and being an avenger, and someone killing his clan. It all fit together. Itachi, who must have been Sasuke's older brother, had killed all the Uchihas except for Sasuke.

"Why did the Akatsuki break up?" Sakura asked.

"People were concerned that others in the group had too much power. Orochimaru left and started the Sound village. Other members broke off in pairs, or groups."

"Who's Kisame Hoshigake's partner?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know," Kakashi told us. "For all we know, he may not have any. Or he may have a few."

"I get that he's bad, Kakashi," I said, "but why do we have to kill him all of a sudden?"

"Do you remember Zabuza?" Kakashi asked.

"Of course I do," I said.

"Do you remember his sword?" he asked me.

"Yeah," I said. "How could I forget it? It was huge!"

"There are nine swordsman with legendary swords. Zabuza was one, and Kisame is another. Kisame is currently hiding in the Land of Fire, so it is our job to find him. And while he's here, he is a present danger to our village."

"What rank is he?" Sasuke asked.

"S-ranked." Sasuke and Sakura both gasped.

"Kakashi sensei," Sakura said, "why don't they send the ANBU Black Ops to find him? Or a group of Jonin? Why us?"

"Because the ANBU and the Jonin have to stay to protect the village," he paused. "Any more questions?"

"Yeah," Sasuke said with a smirk. "When do we leave?"

A/N: So what do you think? Is it good. Read and Review for me. I know everyone says to do that, but I want your guys' honest opinions so I can grow as a writer. This is my first fan fic that I've written, so tell me the truth. I'll take it like a true ninja. Because that's my nindo. But anyway…hope you enjoyed. If I like a suggestion, it might take a while to appear because I have a lot of chapters written already. I'm going to try and post once a day, and stay on top of it all. I plan on this being a 40+ chapter story, but so far, all the chapters are just a few pages long, not too much.