A Dangerous Plot

Prologue: The Mission

Disclaimers: I do not own Naruto or anything associated with it. The series, characters, etc. belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

Another note: I am also Drachen Yami, so don't worry. I'm posting on both accounts for the sake of some friends who I told about this account, and not the other one I had forgotten about... ;;

"Alright! We finally get a mission!"

"Naruto, could you yell any louder? I don't think the whole village heard that yet!" Sakura yelled, adding to an already noisy atmosphere as they walked through the busy and prosperous village to the Hokage's office.

"Yeah, but I'm tired of sitting around doing kids' stuff!" Naruto complained. "We finally get a real mission and you want me to be quiet? Sheesh! You're no fun at all!"

Truth be told, most of the past few weeks or so had been filled mostly with boring 'D' and 'C' rank missions, and although Sakura was inclined to agree with Naruto's enthusiasm, there was no way she was going to let him know that. As for this new mission, they didn't even know what it was about, only that it involved helping another Shinobi village.

"Besides, for all we know, this could just be another job planting crops or something, Naruto."

"Grr…. It better not be! If Granny Tsunade gives us just one more mission like that, I'm gonna... mph!" Sakura cut him off mid-sentence with a hand over his mouth.

"Shh! Naruto, we're here! If she hears you say stuff like that, she won't let you go!" It was true; they'd arrived in front of the ornate doors leading to Fifth Hokage, Tsunade's office. Tsunade was famous for her quick temper, and so it would be a bad idea to get on her bad side right before a promising mission.

"She's right, Naruto. You're already in trouble with her for forcing your way into the last mission; do you really want to make her angry with you now that we are getting a real mission?" Neji's calm voice came from behind them.

Sakura let Naruto go, now that he wasn't struggling any more and turned to face their fellow Genin.

"Neji, you're going too?"

"Yes. It would seem that all of the Jonin are busy with other missions, and right now, and Tsunade-sama felt that we were best cut out for this mission."

"Alright! It's about time someone recognized my skills, believe it!"

"Naruto, what are you talking about? You're about as 'skilled' as a potato, if you ask me…" Sakura teased.

"What did you say?!" Naruto rolled up his sleeves in preparation for a pummeling, but was interrupted when the door opened, revealing Konoha's most frightening sight: a very irritated Lady Tsunade.

"Hey! Just what do you think you're doing?! Our client is waiting, you idiot!" She yelled, making the three Genin cringe.

"S-sorry, Tsunade-sama," Sakura quaked. "We were just coming in, weren't we guys?"

"Yeah, sure! No waiting here!" Naruto agreed shakily.

Tsunade glared at the trio to make her point, then impatiently motioned them inside. "Good, now be quiet and get in here!"

The three Genin gloomily followed Tsunade into the room, wondering just what kind of mission they were getting into for her to be so on edge. They were so preoccupied with their thoughts that they didn't immediately notice the other people in the room. Tsunade's attendant Shizune and Ton-Ton were there, of course, but so was another, unfamiliar ninja standing off to one side unobtrusively, observing them as they came into the room. Tsunade sat behind her desk and sat looking at them, collecting her thoughts.

"Everyone, this is our client, Tsukiko Nanami. She's a Chunin from the Village Hidden in the Shadows."

"Hello, it's nice to meet you!" The newcomer said with a polite bow. She straightened up and smiled at them. "You have no idea how glad I am to get some help!"

"Nanami, if you would explain the situation?"

"Of course," She said with a bow. "The truth is, I was originally hired by the town of Tawamure to investigate a rash of bizarre incidents that have been occurring there. It would seem that a lot of people have gone missing, and worse, there have been a lot of strange attacks by patrons of the town on others. No one knows why, but for some reason, normally peaceful people are suddenly going crazy, attacking others and in one case, even trying to eat other people. I went there to investigate, but it's just too big a place for one person to really be able to do a thorough investigation, and my village is too small to spare more than one or two Shinobi for something they see as being trivial." She ran her hand through her dark hair and shook her head.

"My client, the mayor of Tawamure said that he wanted me to do whatever was necessary to solve the mystery, at whatever expense. These disappearances and attacks are really starting to hurt their business, you see."

"Business?" Neji asked.

"Yes. Tawamure isn't your normal town. The area it was built in isn't all that prosperous, and the land isn't very fertile for growing. So they built a sort of amusement/novelty park to draw in tourists and help the local economy. So far, it's worked really well, and the whole region is benefiting from it, but now… not so much."

"Therefore," Tsunade said. "Your mission will be to accompany Nanami back to Tawamure and help her to conduct her investigation and help to solve whatever problems might be going on. Understand?"

"Just where is Tawamure anyway?" Sakura asked, looking at Nanami's outfit. It looked like it was made for climates much colder than Konoha's, and she seemed to be very uncomfortable in the heat.

Shizune pulled down a map and pointed to a region much farther north than any of them had ever been in their lives. "Tawamure is a town located in the Land of Shadows, and it's even farther north than the Snow Country; which means that you'd better pack some warm clothes for the trip."

"Since this was originally Nanami's mission, and she knows more of the details about it, she is team leader. If something happens, Neji is next in line." Tsunade said. "Now hurry up and get ready, I don't want you to keep our guest waiting!"

"Understood!" The three chorused, and turned to Nanami.

"As Tsunade-sama said, it's really cold in Shadow Country, so please make sure you bring your warmest clothes. When we actually get to Tawamure, we won't need them as much, because they're more or less able to control the climate inside the park. We'll be taking a ship for part of the journey… I hope that's ok."

"Don't worry about us, we're pros when it comes to traveling on ships, believe it!" Naruto boasted.

Nanami blinked in surprise, then smiled. "Glad to hear it! I'll meet you at the northern gate in an hour then."

"Okay. We'll be there for sure!" Sakura said, and they all hurried off to their various homes to prepare.

"I just hope this turns out better than I think it will…" Nanami said quietly.

"Why would you say that?" Shizune asked.

Nanami turned back to face them. "I just have a really bad feeling about this. Nothing like this has ever happened anywhere near my village or in the surrounding areas. Sure, we had some shady ninja's move into the mountains not all that far from Tawamure, but they never caused any real trouble before."

"'Shady ninjas'?" Tsunade echoed. "Do you know who they're affiliated with?"

"I'm afraid not, Tsunade-sama, I wasn't the one assigned to spy on them. But if you want, I can request that my village send you whatever information they know."

"That's probably a good idea. If it turns out that they're going to be troublesome for this mission, we'll be able to send backup as soon as it's available, rather than later when it's too late."

"I'll send word right away then. Thank you very much Tsunade-sama, I really appreciate your help." Nanami bowed respectfully, then quickly left the room.

"Will they really be ok, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked worriedly.

"I don't know. Those 'shady ninja' she mentioned really worry me. Make sure I know as soon as we have the information she's promised."

"Understood!"