After Sarutobi got himself together, which took a bit longer than what Naruto would have liked, the Hokage straightened.

"Alright, so you need a cover," He asked and got a nod from Naruto.

" Yeah preferably something that gives us some time to train, we need to get some control back, and we won't be acting like our old selves, while it would raise fewer questions, I am not going to force them to be people they're not," Naruto said and Sarutobi smiled.

" How about a mission?" He said and Shikamaru spoke for the first time.

" A mission...?" He asked.

" Back in the second and third war, we would send genin on missions that there was no way they would be able to complete. Several times they would come back as new people since in order to survive they had to do things they weren't proud of, and even then the mission was written down as a failure." Sarutobi explained and Naruto and Shikamaru nodded, while Lee and Hinata looked a bit disturbed.

" It was on one of those missions that your father got his scars Shikamaru, and I am pretty sure that Hiashi has a scar from his mission that crosses his chest" Sarutobi continued and Shikamaru and Hinata blinked up in surprise. Both of their parents never talked about their scars even when asked.

" That would work, we can use the upcoming invasion as an excuse for this, if questioned you can say that you got information that the sound could be planning something" Shikamaru muttered.

" So when do we leave?" Hinata asked.

" It would be best to leave now so there are smaller chances for us to slip up with the henge or acting," Lee said and all eyes turned to Sarutobi.

" Lee has a point" Naruto prompted and Sarutobi nodded.

" How much time would be best?" He asked and Naruto fiddled with his Jacket.

" Maybe a month would be best, we need to see where we are and get used to seeing people who died in our arms," Shikamaru said tensely and Sarutobi nodded.

" I will come up with something, it would be best if you four leave now. I trust that you will not take any drastic actions before alerting me" Sarutobi spoke with a slight edge. He received nods in return and Shakamaru placed back the genjutsu covering them all.

" We're heading south, there are no ninja villages there so we should be isolated," Naruto said and the rest instantly followed.

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" I want the genin teams and their leaders here, along with the heads of the Nara and Hyuga clan" Sarutobi yelled once the team had left.

It felt like ages before they had all arrived.

" Now that everyone is here" Sarutobi started and Kakashi raised his hand.

" One of my genins isn't here," he said and Asuma, Guy, and Kurenai all made a sound of agreement.

" All will be explained," Sarutobi said.

" I have gotten information that leads to the belief that a village will attempt to invade Konohagakure in due time," Sarutobi said. The join stiffened, with most of them placing their hands on the shoulders of their genin. Kakashi in particular had his hand tightly on the shoulders of Sakura and Sasuke and was narrowing his eyes at the place where his missing student should be.

" While I do not believe that war will break out this is a cause for concern" Sarutobi continued noticing the slight relaxation that the jonin had and the sighs from the genin.

" So with the release of this new information, I have started the Starting missions again" Again Sarutobi watches the jonin carefully. How Shikaku and Hiashi went Rigid. How Kakashi and Guy looked close to both murder and having a heart attack. How slight tears filled Kurenai's eyes and how Asuma's lips pressed in a thin line.

" what are 'Starting missions'". Sakura asked, blushing, and bowing her head a bit.

" Starting missions are missions that are well above the ninja's skill level and are used to get genin or chunin used to the lives and skillsets of Shinobi" Sarutobi explained.

" So they are built for failure," Neji asked.

" No, they are built for worse than that" Asuma said and turned to his father.

" Where is my student?" He asked his father to send dangerous flares of chakra.

" I believe Shikamaru has an extermination mission in Kumo. Hinata has an assassination mission in the Sound. Naruto has a diplomatic mission in Kiri. Lee has an infiltration mission in Iwa '' Sarutobi lied.

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