It feels like forever since I started a story. And in the animé section nonetheless... Anyway. This time it's in the most popular section. Just two things:

I) I don't own Naruto.

II) Thank Dark Hope Assassin and Xenocide that I somehow gathered the courage and stabbed my laziness enough to start typing this...

Enjoy!

"Argh!" She growled in frustration. This was the thirtieth time she had turned on the same corner in the last hour. And it was really getting on her nerves. Begrudgingly, her feet carried her, forcing the continuity of the mission and the proportionate increase in the levels of her boredom, and by proxy, her anger. The things one had to do for Konoha…

"No wonder this is an A-rank. It's actually a miracle that the last team didn't go insane after all this..." She grumbled. All of a sudden, after half an hour of encountering only doors, thresholds and long passageways, she found a distraction. Two guard ninjas with their back towards her. She grinned. At last some action to kill the straining extreme boredom. She hoped that her other two teammates had at least the same pain and torture that she was encountering. That perhaps was the only thing that kept her from leaving the place and abandoning the mission altogether. Screw her ninja duty.

Forming the seal she could make flawlessly even sleeping, the flow of chakra occurred. "Shintenshin no Jutsu!" She whispered, slowly and silently crumpling to the floor. A second later, she had invaded the mind of one of the unsuspecting ninja and slit the throat of the other before plunging the kunai on the neck of the surviving one. Her mind drifted back to her own body a moment before the ninja's body final shut-down, therefore avoiding that fateful moment where her mind would die as well. The only thing that made her keep going oblivious of ending their life was that she had already undergone the painful process of the first kill four years ago. She still suffered nightmares from it, though. She still needed something to divert her mind from those memories.

All that aside, A dead guard gave less trouble than an unconscious one, that was a shinobi unspoken rule.

Sighing in relief after confirming that her state of mind was close to normal, she continued for another ten minutes, making a different turn, just to try luck. And it seemed that Kami was on her side this once, since at the end of that very same eroded rock corridor, the nukenin in question was standing. Sword-drawn and a look of pure terror directed to another place other than her direction, but there nonetheless.

Resisting the urge to whoop in joy at finding her excuse for getting out of there faster, she sprinted towards him, kunai held in a reversed grip tightly near her hip and calculating the most effective way to bring him down quickly. Her expectations and hopes fell to the floor just as quickly, when her supposed opponent was brought down swiftly and hard and she hadn't made four steps forward. Perhaps it was one of... A spear-stab to the heart made assurance of that. Impossible, none of them use that kind of weapon... Then who...?

Her sprint was halted the very instant she saw the culprit. A dark grey cloaked figure was standing, holding the spear in a light offensive stance behind him. His head bowed, clearly inspecting any sign of life from her now-terminated objective. She gasped when the newcomer, using the tip of the spear, violently and very bloodily removed a necklace the dead man was wearing. Lifting the spear only a little, the cloaked figure took notice of her and turned the head in her direction ever so slightly, allowing only one eye to be seen.

A glowing crimson eye. A vertically slitted glowing crimson eye.

For the second time in less than three seconds, she gasped out of shock. She had seen Sasuke use the Sharingan and the change of colours favoured him greatly, but it was no where near as intimidating as this pair of eyes. Or at least she supposed the other was the same. Not even when the tomoes from Sasuke's Sharingan began spinning was as impressive.

How could this...person make her root to place with only a look? She had heard that one of the Sennin, Orochimaru, could do something alike but worse and with fear. This one was using a mixture of shock and fear to cloud the enemy's mind. And what surprised and made that cold fear crawl up her spine, was the fact that it was produced only by the presence of that being.

After what seemed like hours, which in fact was only hand-counted seconds of a staring match, the cloaked figure turned and walked away from her line of sight.

She regained control of her motor abilities and let go the breath she didn't know was holding. It was at that moment her mind caught up with reality and she had to chase that scary fellow. He had escaped with the stolen heirloom! Mentally slapping herself for being so easily frozen, she turned the corner, only to find herself face to face with her pink-haired teammate.

"Did you see a cloaked man around here?" She asked looking frantically around, only finding the corpse of their target.

"Yeah." She replied and Ino instantly locked eyes with her. "But I was following him and then he disappeared."

Figures. "He was here ten seconds ago, and took the necklace with him. We failed this part of the mission. We'll have to get the other two quickly now... Damn that guy! Just wait until I get my hands on him..." She made a strangling motion with her hands and a vicious look on her face. Sakura couldn't decide between rolling her eyes and sighing at her friend's attitude.

"Where is Kakashi-sensei? He should've been-"

"Hey."

"Right on time. We're out of here. Mission failed...for now." Sakura informed in a tone of severity that left no place for questions or inquiries about why they failed. He simply nodded confusedly and led the way out in the safest route he could remember. That was the one he had picked to get in. At least that would leave them closer to their next target.

How he hated this retrieval missions, oh, he hated them with a passion. And these chained ones were the worst. Actually, who would care that a necklace was stolen from the same person that stole it from another that had bought it from a traveller? And that said traveller was the one that ordered either the retrieval or the death of its possessors? Nobody. That's who. Add to that, the fact that they had to search for a bracelet and a ring. Their luck was running short, proportionally to their tempers.

Unbeknownst to him, both girls sulking at each side of him had among similar lines in their heads. None of the three showed it, since they were still in hostile environment and any show of emotion could be taken as a sign of breaking down, which would unleash into a confidence boost into their opponents; thing they had no actual interest of facing right after the botched first phase of their assignment.

"I'm going to kill that...that thing!" Ino screamed once they were out of the underground "fortress". The humid smell of mildew was still puncturing her nostrils and throbbing at her brain continuously. Not for the first time in the last hour she wished they reached the god damn village once and for all. A shower was calling her; she could hear it in the distance.

Her teammates resolved to sigh and ignore her rambling. They had heard the whole story of her encounter the minute they were out of there. Sakura didn't react, except for a raised brow in confusion as to why that person would be in that base, while Kakashi looked at her in disbelief. He was so confident in his skills, that he had failed the incoming of a third agent? Not a chance. Elite ex-ANBU Jounin don't miss details like that. It must have been a bluff of some inside smart shinobi to fool them. Yeah, it must have been that.

"Village! Straight ahead!" Ino exclaimed gleefully, much alike Kakashi and Sakura's lost teammate, Naruto. On both of their faces crossed a dark look for half a second before sprinting behind the only other fair-haired of the Rookie Nine.

Kakashi frowned amidst the fog of the hot bath he was enjoying. This mission was supposed to be B ranked. A piece of cake for him. Well... Except that B rank with Zabuza, but that was almost A, so it didn't count. And his genin team was greenhorn, almost. They only had vague glimpses of Chakra control and their techniques were only just above that of normal genin.

Actually, a Jinchuuriki of the most powerful Bijuu, a Prodigy and a Perfect Chakra Control Girl shouldn't be taken as everyday genin, but he did so, not noting the difference between those concepts until it was too late. That is, after the Chuunin exam, where everything went to hell. Lots had died that day, and he still cringed internally at the lack of Intel they had on the attack. Even in the world in Ninja, especially in the world of Ninja, information was crucial to both sides all the time. And they had zero data of the attack. Not a wisp, Nada.

It took them quite unprepared for it. And the blow they had on Konoha was a major one. But that was history. The village had managed to sprout to around 80 percent of its former military power and was still slowly steadying itself. The civilians had contributed as a major part in the equation, calling ninja relatives from all over to come to the village with their families, since they couldn't allow the people who protected them from danger to be annihilated.

He dipped further into the water until he had his chin covered. This matter was to be taken seriously, there was no time for history backtracks. So, they had lost the necklace. They only had to recover it from that mysterious shinobi and then get hold of the ring and the bracelet. Then they would be finally free to go back to Konoha and forget this embarrassing thing. But, more than embarrassing, frustrating. Following the tracks after a necklace was almost like trying to follow a grain of sand in a sandstorm.

Their next step of progress was to go after the ring, since it was the closest to their actual position. After all, how long could it take them to get a ring from a mansion?

He ate his words the second he saw the mansion holding their second target.

"ARGH! Second time! And now it's burned to a crisp! Not even a clue of what or who did this!" Sakura was the one to shout in utter frustration this time. They had walked for half a day to reach the place and now only smoky remains sat there, almost mocking them of their trekking session. And to make matters worse, both girls were screaming bloody murder right now. Not for the first time Kakashi regretted not leaving his Leader position to even Gai or another one. Anyone.

Konoha's loudest and deadliest (When rightly motivated) simply had to be put in the same team, right? The only thing that made Kakashi sigh in relief was that they didn't argue all the time about Sasuke. It seemed that it was taboo to them, an unspoken agreement. Hell, he didn't have any reasons to speak in well-manners of his so-called "prodigy". Ever since he had left to the side of the Snake-Sennin, Orochimaru, most of the Rookie Nine and Gai's team had taken a sudden decision to develop a pure dislike against the Uchiha.

The main reason was that they held him responsible for Naruto's departure five years and a half ago. It seemed to the older Jounin that the blond wanted to leave earlier, but he couldn't when he was asked for help to bring Tsunade and convince her to take the post as Godaime Hokage. And hell, if he had left earlier, he might have completely lost the opportunity to learn Yondaime's best and most precious technique, Rasengan. Officially, that was. Extra-officially, it was the barely known Hiraishin, the technique with who he earned the title as "Konoha's Yellow Flash".

Kakashi held himself responsible to a great degree for his leaving, but the blond boy never actually gave any reasons why or even left a note explaining his actions. He simply had taken what was precious to him (Which wasn't much) and disappeared. That led to a huge amount of possibilities. But he was sure of one thing. Sasuke had nothing to do with it, since he was still in bed. He'd rather go to the Kyuubi and acknowledge as his servant than admitting it, though.

He was sure that if Naruto didn't come back soon, Tsunade would quit the job of Hokage, further crippling Konoha's squashed reputation. Kakashi sighed. It was obvious that the order she gave that should any team get in contact with him, to order him to go back, was something personal to her. Several people thought that they had developed a sort of older sis-younger bro relationship, or an aunt-nephew one in that short time, but after so much time passed, no one could remember accurately what it was like. It had been a long time since he had to keep from strangling the over-active blond. Well, he had a vague substitution, Ino, but it was nowhere as obnoxious as the orange-clad boy. Even if she was working over-time to reach that point.

"Hey, what is that?" Sakura suddenly commented. Everyone's attention was on her now. Near a totally pierced body all over a shining object was resting, almost calling for it to be noticed under the scorching sun. She stretched and got a hold of it, it turned out to be a ring. "Is this...?"

Ino extracted the briefing for the mission from her pouch. "Silver... Emerald?" Sakura nodded. "That's it! One down, two to go!" The back-flip she did brought a smile to both Jounin's faces. It was strange to see her with this attitude, but enjoyable. It had started some time ago, and back then, people started to think that she had silently taken the vacant job of annoying loud and hyper fair-haired ninja.

Sakura wondered if Naruto would be ok with that. Probably would. And that would be a knockout duet.

She shuddered at the thought.

"Alright! Where to now, Kakashi?"

"Let's see... According to the briefing-" He snatched it from the still whooping-in-joy blonde. "It is supposed to be in a shop inside a town not far from here. About two days away." Kakashi vaguely informed still eyeing the bodies littered around. There weren't many, he had seen much worse in the war back then when the Yondaime was still alive, it was the way they were dead. Pierced to death. The holes were no wider than his thumb and some corpses could have been mistaken for a fatal and horribly produced acupuncturist's job.

The faint feeling of chakra usage was what confused him the most. There wasn't any weapon left. No sign of removing them from the bodies. Jutsus were out of the question, since even the simplest of jutsu left some obvious mark. None was here. He wasn't going to active his Sharingan over something as little as this, but he was almost sure that the same cloaked man that Sakura and Ino described was the one behind this mini-massacre and arson.

He had the itch that they would encounter him shortly.

"Ok. We can't find anything else here except useless weapons. Let's continue." Both girls nodded, quickly leaving the scene in search for the third jewel. The three knew it was a race against time since that man had the advantage now in distance, but they had the ring. It looked like it was going to be decided in this round.

The pace was increased immediately after.

The water was almost glass-made, considering its translucent glow. The shore of the river had a simple rocky floor, which didn't bother if you wanted to have a seat and lose yourself in the nature. Immediately away from the shore trees erupted from the ground leaving some good space between them, clearly letting anyone know if they were being followed or if someone was coming in their direction.

The woman was sitting calmly with her eyes closed and directing towards the river when he arrived.

He sat down next to the big boulder she was meditating on and remained silent. Not a second after, his (To much displeasure of it) "pet" landed besides him. It growled lightly at him.

"Yeah." "No, I couldn't find it." "Hm? Yeah, I know." "Yes, yes. I'll go in a while. It's in this town, so I won't bother for now. Even if those are after it too. Wonder if they got the last one..." To this he raised a hand to his chin. His "pet" growled again.

"Reckless? Dream on. They might have moved it to a different place or hidden it too well." Another growl.

"Alright, alright! I'm going, I'm going... Geez...sometimes I wonder why I even created that variation..." He said standing up. The woman was totally oblivious or completely ignoring him, both very two plausible options.

"So, what was the name of the shop?" Ino asked for the third time since they arrived to the town. Kakashi was about to strangle her. The only thing that kept him from doing so was the astoundingly effortless imitation of Naruto. Seriously, for tributes to someone, just call Ino...

"For the last time, "Old and New"!" Sakura exclaimed exasperated. The Elite Jounin sighed. At least he wasn't the only one the old attitude was getting on his nerves.

"Like that one?" She asked pointing in a random direction. They looked that way, and found that effectively, their target was just up ahead. After some quick steps they were in front it.

It was a rather ratty rundown shop. Its grayish colour and uncared outside look only added to the atmosphere. The shop seemed to be disguised between the flashy and relatively new buildings besides it. There was a window on a side, showing on an almost faded cushion, old pieces of jewellery and some other objects like clocks and little statues. The dust on the glass made it difficult to distinguish what was going on inside the shop.

"Let's go."

They were about to enter the shop when a brown-haired man got out of it, admiring something on his hand. A red glint caught their eye and they almost gasped out loud. On his hand was a beautiful hand-made piece of ornament. A silver based bracelet glistened against the Fire Country's sun; the single ruby on a side of it only added grace and value to it.

"Hm... And it was so cheap..." He commented in a mocking voice. Kakashi wondered if it was directed to them or to the shopkeeper that sold it to him. He frowned. They had another part of the mission not even thirty feet away and yet no one would move a muscle.

It wasn't until he felt the air begin to get heavier and heavier that he noticed what was wrong. A jutsu was being used and not far. The prime suspect and most possibly culprit would be the man in front of them. So he took matters in his hands. Concentrating a little, he managed to unveil the nature of that type of charka flow, a Henge. This man was under a concealment of some sort. Using the old deceiving tactic, he smiled.

"Say, how much did it cost?" Kakashi approached a couple of steps with his visible eye in a happy upside-down U, making small talk.

"Go in and find out. This is mine." He said defiantly and in such a tone that left the older man frowning. The brown-haired man started to walk away.

"How much for it?" He was not letting one of the three reasons to be away from these two girls any more than the absolutely necessary if he could.

"Are you deaf? I told you this is mine, not for sale!" He didn't even bother to turn around. But Sakura and Ino would have none of it.

"Hey, we ask you politely, we offered money politely for it. And you refused, so... hand it over and you won't get injured...much." Sakura "advised" darkly while cracking her knuckles. It was to their luck that this part of town was almost deserted.

His reply was a cross between a chuckle and a snort, his back still towards them. "Is that a threat?"

Hm. He leaves his back towards opponents? He must have a trump card or he wouldn't take this risk. Kakashi thought while Sakura grumbled at the sheer cheek of this guy.

"Think of it as you want. Now cough it up!" Ino pumped in. She was another no-pushover, and if somebody pressed the right buttons, they would know why they shouldn't mess with Konoha's number one scouting ninja. It was almost astounding the way she had almost trampled Kiba and Shino in their own field of expertise when she had made that variation to her Shintenshin. It was an impeccable demonstration of intelligence. She knew she wasn't too suited for hand-to-hand combat, so modifying her best technique she was able to overcome that weakness and transforming it into her main strength. Obviously, she was still not suited for melee, but the callings she received as a scout unit almost tripled back then when she hadn't created the variation.

"You know what? I'll pocket it and you'll try to take it." He said letting the bracelet fall inside on his pants' pockets. "If you can." That final phrase was laced with warning and mocking. The girls saw red after that taunt, before Kakashi could stop them and tell them the "teamwork" speech like he had tried to and raise their chances of taking out this guy together, they had launched at him. He sighed. They wouldn't let him even lecture them about not fighting with their emotions being influenced...

Even without the advice, the girls launched a vicious dual-kick at the back of the man. Getting a hold of each other's hands and joining their feet for the attack. It was almost an all-or-nothing attack, but they would risk everything to take that tone off the guy's mouth. At the last instant, he bowed almost honouring deeply someone that was in front of him. The girls sailed over him and crashed in a mess of legs and arms.

"You had your chance. I'm out of here." In a puff of smoke, the man had disappeared, leaving a pair of fuming kunoichi and a wary Jounin of actually staying in their line of sight. It wouldn't be the first time they exploded at him when he was the only thing near them they could blow up to. Instead, he sagely kept his distance while the two kunoichi disentangled themselves and Sakura demonstrated her use of medical jutsu.

After the two discussed in whispers what had gone wrong, the two got up in unison and approached Kakashi. A part of him began preparing his defence when they simply grabbed one of their hands each and dragged him across the streets. A surprise was an understatement. He was shocked that this two could actually keep silent enough for fifteen minutes, during which he felt he was in the Nirvana.

After an hour of silent tugging, they got to an Inn. The sun had started to set and a chill began to spread all over the whole town. It wasn't freezing, just uncomfortable to be in. The amount of people the trio saw (The ones who ignored them, of course) began to decline as well. But that event happened as well in Konoha, so it wasn't too surprising to see it in other places of Fire Country.

The Elite Jounin sighed in relief. He was sure he would have to peel himself off the floor when the two females of his group finished with him, when instead they dragged him around town looking for a place to stay for the night. Camping was out of the question, it seemed. Not that he appreciated the change for once. Even after camping during mission for most of his life, staying in an inn was always welcome. A hot bath and a comfy bed, nothing could beat that to replenish his energies. Not even those accursed Soldier Pills. They tasted like solidified sewer water.

He shuddered at the image of a vicious looking med-nin pouring more sewer water in the gurgling soldier pill cauldron while stirring with a maniac gleam.

"Here good enough?" This was the last one in the whole town, possibly the cheapest, since that was their main factor to look for one. Others were absurdly expensive. For what they charged one room for one here, they could get five back in Konoha. That was the rate of theft...I mean, price difference they had here.

Looking at a billboard near the door (Ino had to suppress the joke here), the trio found out that this one charged twice as much as Konoha, therefore, almost pulling them inside. Kakashi just couldn't miss the name of it at the top of the billboard. Kazama Inn. Somehow that name triggered something in his mind. He couldn't pinpoint what, but it was something familiar and caused a lot amount of grief. Like something was gripping his heart and throat at the same time, choking him and feeling an intense pain from the past. There was only one way to find it out.

The trio entered the place.

All right. As some last notes.

Don't expect me to update sooner than a week. I've got exams in a month and I've got to study. (Even if all my focus will be in thinking up things for this story, which I beg to whatever deity is up there will let me finish before the major block-out.) Second of all, there will be some interesting things to spice up the story.

And finally, I'm looking for a beta. Anyone can apply for the job. The more, the merrier, as the saying goes. Enough yapping,

Later,

Soulcry.

Edit: 27/06/08 - Corrected some mistakes and changed a few expressions to make them more pleasurable.