After their adventure in the Land of Waves, Team 7 has returned to doing miscellaneous missions, with Naruto's rivalry with Sasuke making matters worse to the point that Kakashi decides to call it a day and sends his students home. After Sasuke takes his leave, Naruto and Sakura meet up with Konohamaru and his friends Udon and Moegi. As antics ensue with him making Sakura mad, Konohamaru accidentally bumps into two foreign ninja. Despite advice from his older sister Temari (one of the two mystery ninja), Kankuro (the other) threatens to kill Konohamaru. After somehow tripping Naruto, Kankuro was about to hit Konohamaru when Sasuke hits the ninja with a stone. Just as Kankuro is about to attack Sasuke, he is stopped by his younger brother Gaara as Temari explains that they are ninja from the Hidden Sand Village in the Land of Wind who have arrived for the Chunin Exams.