It was nighttime, the cold desert winds blowing smoothly over the rolling dunes and deep canyons of the Land of Wind, and the full moon overhead cast its pale light over the night landscape. In the distance, jackals feasted on a fresh kill as buzzards circled overhead, waiting for their opportunity to pick the carcass of the animal. Needless to say, the place was not very inviting, save for one detail.

In the distance a towering, brown sandstone castle stood amidst a small collection of trees and a large pool of water, an oasis in the middle of the deathly landscape. Inside, people could care less about the conditions outside, all they cared about was the party, and all the pleasures it contained. Everything from platefuls of roasted duck, to dancing girls and men, to the crowd of rich noblemen and their guests who partook of it all with gusto aplenty, the party was the very meaning of decadent.

Isato Mizu lay outside behind a sand dune, watching the party inside unfold with a hint of jealousy, part of him wished that he could be in there, taking in the sights and sounds of the party himself, but he had to remind himself that the party was bought with huge amounts of stolen money, or at least that's how Isato saw it. For months now, the nobleman who inhabited this castle, Lord Matsumoto, had been receiving huge shipments of money and valuables from an unknown source, and trading in laborers from across the Land of Wind, laborers that rarely seemed to return. Soon after, rumors began to spread across the villages and outposts of where they went and what happened to them, and few of those rumors were good. Everything from human experiments to slave traders were thrown around, but nothing seemed to stick, and the few people that returned reported nothing wrong, although they strangely never mentioned where they were sent, calling it a "company secret".

As for where Isato thought they could be going, he couldn't guess, but right now it didn't matter, all Isato knew for sure was that there was a huge stash of money and valuables locked away somewhere in the castle, and he intended to take as much as he could carry. Isato reached into his brown carrying case and pulled out a black tunic, wrapping it around his head to hide his face and bright red hair. He then zipped up his black vest and tightened his fighting gloves, before running over his options in his head. He couldn't approach either of the sides, lest he be viewed by the horde of noble stooges entering the party from the front. At the back, from where he viewed, was a pure sandstone wall fifty feet high, with a single window at the top, a window too high for him to reach with the equipment he had with him.

"Damn-it!" Isato cursed through his teeth "That's it, next time I'm getting a grappling hook, I keep running into this problem…and then talking to myself about it." He finished, chastising himself.

Isato scanned the wall once more, looking for anything that might be a way inside, when suddenly out of the corner of his eye came movement. Isato ducked his head immediately behind the sand dune, his heart rising instantly to a fast beat of panic as he hoped desperately that he had not been seen. After a few agonizing seconds, Isato finally worked up enough courage to peak out over the dune. There, standing against the castle wall, stood a single guardsman facing his head towards the castle. He stumbled hand first into the wall and began singing/mumbling something indecipherable as he leaned against the castle, obviously drunk. And just then, Isato felt a sneaky idea creep into his head, causing him to smile deviously as he slowly and quickly hopped over the sand dune and began making his way over to the guard, who unceremoniously dropped his pants and began urinating against the castle wall.

'

As Isato reached the guard, he tapped him lightly on the shoulder, causing him to turn his head drunkenly.

"Sorry." Isato quipped coyly

Isato then delivered a lightning fast jab to the man's face, knocking him unconscious and sending him against the castle wall, where he slowly slid down before landing face first in a pile of wet sand.

"Ew!" Isato said as he watched the man fall into his own urine. "Oooh man, umm, ugh, hehe…I actually am a little sorry about that one." He finished, feeling slightly ashamed of himself as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

Isato then slapped himself to bring himself out of his pity for the unlucky guard, he could feel pity later, right now, he needed a disguise, and sought about quickly removing the man's uniform.

Lord Matsumoto was supremely happy with himself as he sat on his plush, red chair, with two gorgeous women leaning in on him, their cups full of sake which was dripping over the sides as they laughed and swayed. He reached over and grabbed his own goblet, which was just as full, and tore a piece of duck from the silver platter in front of him. Normally, he would not be indulging in such excesses, or indulging the other noble families of the Land of Wind, with their spoiled brats and empty heads that lusted only for favor and small territories. But tonight was special, a night worth celebrating, besides, he needed their workers, for he had exhausted the resources of nearly half the towns and outposts around his own lands.

"I guess even the most noble of families need to kiss a little ass now and then" He muttered silently to himself.

He looked over at his manservant, who was approaching him from the side, awkwardly squeezing behind the chairs of the fat nobles who gorged at his table. As he reached him, he pulled out a note and quickly handed it to his master before bowing quickly at his side. Lord Matsumoto eagerly unfolded the note and beheld its contents.

"My Lord Matsumoto, our coming guests have sent word that they will be here within the hour, they say to be ready with what you have for them when they arrive. The chief himself will be showing up personally to congratulate you and collect the item itself."

Matsumoto's smile disappeared quickly after reading the note, he gulped slightly at the mention of "The Chief" arriving at his castle soon. Matsumoto knew who this Chief was, though he dared not speak his name here, lest the nobles hear him and declare Matsumoto what he really was, a traitor. But Matsumoto knew that being labeled a traitor was probably the least of his worries right now, for he had met this chief before, and he knew what would happen should he disrespect him, or fail him.

(Calm yourself, Akira, even if he does arrive, I've upheld my end of the bargain, and I have plenty of guards on hand in case he decides to start something) He thought to himself.

Matsumoto took in a deep breath to help calm his nerves as he slowly eased himself back into his relaxed position on the chair. He was right, he didn't have anything to fear, his guardsmen for tonight were well trained and battle hardened, some were even shinobi from Sunegakure, hired to stand in amongst the people and strike should trouble arise that the guards couldn't handle. Still, despite all of that, Matsumoto could feel his nerves rattling at the prospect of meeting the chief here on his own territory.

Despite his own rambling thoughts, it all came back to the same conclusion, that the outcome of tonight was looking very uncertain. If he failed in any way to meet the demands of the chief, he would be skinned alive, and if he was caught meeting with the chief, he would be ripped of his title and branded a traitor.

Suddenly, tonight didn't feel like a good night to celebrate.

"Shigeru!" He barked suddenly towards his servant, causing the older man to jump slightly.

"Yes, master?!" The older man responded.

"Go upstairs and make sure that everything is in order for our soon to be arriving guests, and be quick about it!" He said firmly

"Yes, master!" he responded.

Shigeru walked back behind the tables, before making his way across to an open door on the left side of the main hall.

First chapter finished, chapters from here on out will be much longer.