Hey it's me, musicalgenius. It has been a while since my last story, but here I am, with another one. It will be my first multi-chapter.

Shadows of the Past

Prologue

She was running. Running so fast she couldn't even see the flashes of the trees past by. She could sense her traveling companions behind her, but she didn't stop to see if they were all right. She had a certain goal, a certain mission that blocked out any other thoughts.

They had been traveling for days and days on end. They only stopped when it was extremely necessary. Any time the young one got tired, one of them carried him. They couldn't stop for useless things. The consequences of even a few minutes lost could be great. All of them were brought up with the mind-set that they had to help the world, stop wars as quickly as possible, and do other things were time was crucial and could mean the difference between life and death.

When their journey was almost to an end, they encountered other human life form for the first time since they left. They had purposely avoided it, because it would take away from their mission. The chakras coming towards them, did not make them change their route because the travelers recognized them. At the next clearing, it was agreed between them, they would stop and speak to the approaching people.

In the clearing, a sense of fear, excitement and a feeling that something new is coming is all around our travelers. This is what they traveled for, this is one of the steps in order to reach their goal.

Finally, all of them were assembled in the clearing. 4 against 4, at least the numbers were even, if it ever came to a battle. The Konoha ninjas were all wearing their ANBU masks, so that the travelers could not tell who they were. In any case, these ninjas were probably quite a bit younger than our foreigners.

Not one word was said, until:

"Who the hell are you?"

This phrase came from the one with a fox mask. His stance was quite protected, but you could tell that it was open as well, but not in the defenseless way.

When no answer came from the travellers, the question was asked again, this time from a different ninja:

"Before the faiths decide that your time on Earth has ended, tell us who you are."

This one came from a ninja with the most stoic position of them all, the one who had a bit of a haughty air around of him.

Again, no answer was given.

And again, the question was asked.

"It would be quite helpful for you to tell us who you are, before it is too late".

This third question was said quite politely, but the tone of voice and her stance made it clear that if you weren't a fool, you should answer.

But no matter the implicated threat, no answer was given.

There was one ninja left. One would assume his question would be the same as his compatriot's, but no. It seemed to take him a bit of time to muster the strength and courage to ask the question he seemed so dearly to want to ask, which is strange because he seemed to be the strongest ninja there. However, his stance was rigid. He was clenching his fists, in what could be anger.

When the question was finally asked, there was quite a bit of emotion in his voice as the words were spoken, more than one would have thought.

"What are you doing here, Ella?"

His companions immediately looked at him. It was impossible to see their facial impressions through their masks, but one could imagine that they were a bit in shock. Who would have thought that their teammate knew one of the unknown travelers?

One of them steps forward, and removes her hood, which hid her face from the Konoha ninjas. Her long, dark hair is liberated, curling softly down her back. Her large, intense dark eyes stare straight ahead. There is a slight smirk on her lips, but so small that it was barely noticeable.

All of the Konoha ninjas had reactions towards this woman, whom one can only suppose is named Ella. At this point, all 4 of them had taken off their masks. The one with blonde hair, named Naruto, had a sharp intake of breath, as did his pink-haired teammate, Sakura, because this woman looked exactly like their old friend, Sasuke how had become a missing-nin many years previously. The one who had included faith in his question, Neji, simply stared, because he knew this woman. He had first seen her at the marriage of his cousin, she being the bride. The final team member's name was Sai. He was the one in most complete shock. He had never thought that he would see this woman again. It had been years, and they hadn't parted on the best of terms. She had left on an extremely long mission, with her husband. So many thoughts were rushing in and out of his head, in was hard to really concentrate on keeping his unemotional façade.

Even with this façade, Ella knew what was going on in Sai's head. She used to know him quite well, even though he probably had changed quite a bit since their last meeting. He had grown into quite a fine young man, but it was the façade that made her a tad cranky. All of her brothers had been brought up thinking that not showing emotions, and breaking all ties with people was the best way to go. Even she had lived that way for a while, before seeing the truth. It was quite hard on her to come back after so many years away, but she had no choice. The end of world could possibly be quite close, and she had to find a way to halt it. But this would be hard to do without the support of her old village, Konoha. The Akatsuki's leader was getting stronger and stronger, and could force his members to do even more terrible things than they already do, against their free will. She couldn't let that happen. Orochimaru was building a strong army, using his young missing-nin apprentice to gather soldiers and to do terrible, and awful things. So many people are being forced to go against their simple rights, and it hurt her, considering she was one of the many ninjas who had helped fight for that right. But what made it even worse, was that she knew the people fighting and killing against their will. They say that a mother's bond to her children is very strong and can never be broken, but many people often ignore an older sister's bond, especially one who is head of a clan. Uchiha Gabriella might have been away for quite a long time, and had been absent from her family's life, but that is about to change. Everything is about to change.

So that's it. The prologue of my new story. I'm sure that many of you can guess where this is going, no? ;). Anyways, expect an update sometime in the next week or so. Until then!