The New Generation

(this is the beginnings of another story of mine! :D this is the first in a few articles designed to give a little insight to the events prior to the demon thief. they will admittedly NOT be linear due to the story line for that being a bit.....muddled to say the least.)

Prologue: The Five Kage Summit
It was day time in the land of iron, the samurai guards moving this way and that within the mountain fortress; they were preparing for the five kage summit, the first in ten years since the end of the shinobi world war.

One of the samurai guards paused, his friend stopping beside him to see what was going on.

"Doesn't this seem summit seem a bit unnecessary? After all it's only addressing a few things, and none of them really have that much importance." The young man said.

His friend sighed and face palmed as he turned to answer him.

"It was agreed after the war that the five nations would start to meet on a more regular basis in order to discuss issues as well as agreements between the nations." His friend sighed. "This could be more important than you think! I mean, imagine if the five nations were willing to talk with one another while the akatsuki were hunting the jinchuriki. Maybe they could have stopped them before we were forced to go to war."

"Ah, I see." The man said, shrugging as the two of them continued with their work.

High above their heads the meeting room had just finished being prepared, the banners of the five nations hung upon the walls. It was time for the summit to begin.

The five kage entered the meeting room, each taking their respective seats, with their retainers standing behind them. Mifune rose to his feet and stepped into the center of the chamber.

"It has been 10 years since the defeat Kaguya Ōtsutsuki and then of the shinobi world war. In accordance to the agreement we made all those years ago we now convene the next five kage summit!" Mifune said, his tone commanding the attention of all around him. "Now, let us introduce the five kage."

"First, we have the fourth Tsuchikage, Kitsuchi, and his retainers, Akatsuchi along with his daughter Kurotsuchi."

"Hello." Kitsuchi grunted, though he had a smile on his face.

"Next, we have the fourth raikage, A, and his his retainers, Darui and the jinchuriki, Killer B."

"Yo." B chuckled, thrusting his fist towards the hokage seat.

"Be quiet, B!" A barked at his brother, causing him to jump slightly before slumping in place.

"Brother..." B mumbled miserably.

"Next, we have the fifth mizukage, Mei Terumi, and her retainers, Ao and Chōjūrō." Mifune said, gesturing to the young woman.

"It's good to see everyone again." Mei said, giving them all a smile.

"Then we have the fifth kazekage, Gaara, and his siblings, Kankuro and Temari."

"Can we hurry up? We do have things to take care of." Kankuro said with a slight shrug.

"Now finally, due to a recent change of hands a few years I now introduce the sixth hokage....Sakura Haruno, and her retainers, Ino Yamanaka and Naruto Uzumaki."

"Thank you all for coming." Sakura said, smiling at the other kage as she removed the headress and set it down beside her. "Now I believe we can get started..."

"...and so we are still in pursuit of the missing nin, Zokun of the chinku clan." Mei said, frowning slightly when she said Zokun's name.

"We too are in pursuit of a missing nin, Crow Buraku; the ward of the late Raja Sabaku." Temari said with a sigh.

"Sabaku the spirit?" A asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hai. Crow was raised by him from when he was a boy. He went berserk after Sabaku was killed during the war..."

"I see..." A sighed, frowning and bowing his head.

Sakura suddenly stood, raising her voice for all to hear.

"Let us move on to a subject, shall we?" She asked, glancing to everyone.

The other four glanced to one another before all nodding in agreement, wishing to move on a to better subject.

"As you know the land of fire is about to hold the chunin exams once again." Sakura began, all of the kage nodding in acknowledgement. "However, I wish to run the exams a little bit differently this time around."

Gaara leaned in at this, gazing at Sakura in curiosity as he continued to listen.

"I intend to have the other hidden villages of the lands of water, earth and lightning participate in the chunin exams in addition to the other villages." She said, earning more curious looks from the others. "You are all free to come and attend or to send ambassadors to observe the exams."

"Who shall be proctoring the exams this year?" Gaara asked, resting his chin on his hands.

"One of the two proctors is currently standing beside me." She said, smiling and glancing to Naruto. At this he pretty much leaped over the desk to stand in the center of the room.

"I promise to do a good job, believe it!" Naruto chuckled, giving them all thumbs up.

"Naruto you baka! Wait for me to finish!" She barked at him, causing him to jump slightly. "Anyway, the other proctor should arrive here any second now."

The five kage went silent as they heard someone walking outside of the chamber. The doors slowly opened to reveal Sasuke Uchiha as he walked into the room.

"What?! Sasuke?!" A cried, slamming his fist on the table as he rose to his feet.

"Haruno, are you sure he's the right choice?" Kitsuchi growled, crossing his arms over his chest.

Sakura frowned and slammed her fist into the table, causing it to shatter beneath her fist and making Ino jump back in surprise.

"Oi! Despite the actions that Sasuke took before the war he helped us when we needed it during that war! He and Naruto defeated Kaguya together; after the war he worked to rebuild a village Orochimaru had built as his own laboratory and he made it into a true ninja village! He has worked long and hard towards peace in the memory of his brother!" Sakura shouted at them. "Don't you think he has earned our trust?!"

The raikage frowned and sat back down with a soft grunt.

"U-Uh...S-Sakura-san..." Ino said, giving her friend a sheepish smile. "The table..."

"Eh?" She murmured, glancing down at the rather shattered table in front of her. "Ah!"

She turned to Mifune and quickly gave him a low bow.

"G-Gomenesai!"

"Not to worry, the table can be replaced." Mifune chuckled, giving her a small smile.

B suddenly coughed, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"Brother..." He began before suddenly breaking into one of his infamous raps. "That Haruno has made the proper selection, you know you can make an objection!"

The raikage suddenly reached out and grabbed B's head with his hand.

"Iron Claw!!!!!" A cried as he started to squeeze.

"Ah! Not again!!!!"

Everyone else around the room remained silent, all of them displaying the classic anime sweat drop.

' They haven't changed at all... ' was the thought that crossed everyone's minds.

The Raikage sighed and sat down again, resting his right arm on the table.

"The cloud approves of your choice...Haruno." He sighed as he leaned back in his chair.

"The Stone approves as well." Kitsuchi said, nodding to the pink haired hokage.

"Hmmm....Oh alright, The Mist approves too." Mei chuckled, giving Sakura a smile and a nod.

"The Sand also agrees. We are all in agreement, Haruno, you may begin preparations for the exams." Gaara said, giving her a smile as well.

During this time Sasuke had walked over and joined Naruto, the two standing side in the middle of the room. Sakura gave a nod to the other kage before turning to the two men.

"Now then, Sasuke...Naruto, are you two willing to take on the task of proctoring these exams?"

Naruto and Sasuke glanced at one another for a moment before both nodded and answered at the same time.

"Hai!"