Things Change [Naruto AU]

17

Naruto stood by the gates waiting for the teams to arrive. The guards, Izumo and Kotesu, were knocked out cold and restrained. Hinata along with Shino, Kiba and Akamaru were the first to arrive. He smiled at her which caused her to blush and hide her face. That was something the Naruto found extremely cute. Some things had changed but her adorable behavior stayed the same. They waited quietly for the rest and sure enough Neji with TenTen and Lee came within a matter of minutes.

"Follow me." Naruto stated before running at a pace that the others could follow. They arrived at the base hours later and entered the living room. It had plenty of comfy chairs and couches for everyone inside the base currently and more.

TenTen collapsed on a long couch and relaxed. Kiba did the same to another long couch in the room with Akamaru laying on the ground in front of it. Shino preferred to lean again a wall instead of sitting. Neji and Lee shared a couch and Hinata found a seat by Naruto after he stood and shouted to the entire base. "Guys! I'm back!"

Sakura came into the room walking along side Kankuro, both of them discussing the poison that the Sasori puppet had. They finished and found a seat separate from each other.

"You did it Naruto." Sakura said as she smiled to the new Akatsuki members. Most of which she hadn't seen since her days at the Academy.

"Never doubted you!" Kankuro said proudly.

"You did too. You said that Rock Lee would be to scared to join." Temari commented as she came in and set beside Sakura. Lee looked between the two and sighed sadly. Do they really think I'm that weak?

"I'm sure that dobe isn't all to thank. I bet he only talked to two or three of them." Sasuke mused as he came in and sat down on the other side of Sakura. Naruto shrugged and Hinata quietly giggled.

"Well who ever did what doesn't matter. We have more members and now we can become stronger." Gaara said as he sat down beside Kankuro. TenTen had sat up to see everyone and offered Shino a spot beside her which he took.

"You're right." Naruto nodded his head. "On that note we should probably get our new members suited." Sakura stood up and smiled.

"Hinata, TenTen. Come with me so we can get you your cloaks."

"Woh! We get those cool cloaks too." Sakura nodded as TenTen now looked at Sakura's cloak and everyone else's.

"What's wrong Lee?" Kiba asked once the girls left. He saw that he had his head down. Everyone now saw that he seemed down about something.

"What will I do about my suit?" Lee mumbled and the others laughed.

"I'm sure you can think of something clever." Naruto said reassuring him.

"Don't you want a different suit so people can tell the difference between you and your old sensei." Kankuro said. Lee looked at his heavily painted face.

"I guess so. I wonder what color it should be and what it should look like!" Lee shouted as he jumped up and smiled now coming up with an idea for his new clothing choice. The two girls came out in their cloaks and smiled at everyone.

"It looks good on you Hinata." Naruto said as he watched her. She hid her face in the collar of her cloak as her face heated up again.

"T-thank you Naruto." She squeaked out.

"TenTen that fits you well!" Lee said while he was still standing.

"Thank you Lee. I wonder what you like in yours." TenTen replied and Lee smiled again.

Kankuro got up and showed Shino, Kiba, Lee, and Neji their cloaks. When they came out TenTen let out a low whistle. Soon Temari and Sakura joined in and made cat calls to the boys. Lee's smile somehow got bigger as he stood proudly. Kiba shrugged and went back to laying down near Akamaru. It was hard to tell what face Shino made but when he went to his seat TenTen thought she saw him blush but didn't say anything. Neji smirked and sat down as he listened to the girls.

"Now that's all done I should probably start with some important news." Naruto said.

"Is this now our glorified meeting center?" Temari asked. Naruto shrugged.

"I don't see why it can't." He said in response "Anyway I think Danzo is up to something. Something big and dangerous." Sasuke stared at him and listened carefully. Some of the scrolls he had told a lot about Danzo and one of his arms.

"How big?" Sasuke asked.

"Full scale war." Naruto said. Everyone widened their eyes.

"How do you know this?" TenTen asked.

"I have a spy inside of Konoha too. His name is Sai and he works close by Danzo." Naruto replied. TenTen nodded, the fact that there were spies creeped her out but it's not like she should care anymore.

"Sai says that Danzo is working with other villages and the Hokage to take us out by creating a team of sorts. I'm pulling Sai out of there as soon as he gets his hands on a copy of whoever is on the team." Everyone nodded and understood.

"It's now a must to get Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji. I want Sakura and Sasuke to help me with that. The rest of you will stay and train." They all nodded after Naruto spoke. "That's all. Someone should show you new guys to you're rooms. Temari, Kankuro."

Everyone left and retired to bed and slept the entire night and enjoyed the somewhat peace they had.

««« End of Chapter 17 »»»