Naruto Missing Arc: The Village Hidden in Chaos

"This mission is very uneventful." Said Raido Namiashi, squatting down on a bare tree branch.

"It's supposed to be, but there were reports of strange figures around this area. We have to investigate either way." reminded Asuma Sarutobi.

The three ninja sat in the forest, one taking a deep puff of the cigarette he had, another adjusting the sunglasses he had on, and the third with a scar down the left side of his face. They were Aoba Yamashiro, Asuma Sarutobi, and Raido Namiashi, all ninja of Konohakagure- the Hidden Leaf Village. They had been send by the Hokage TsunadeSama to investigate a disturbance in Konoha's forests. They had no idea that they would soon find it...

Naruto Episode -101: Kaosugakure: The Village Hidden in Chaos

Then, within a split second, the forest erupted into battle. A huge... something... broke out from right under Raido, and swung two tentacles at Asuma and Aoba respectively. The two high-class ninja blocked, but it took all of their might to keep this enemy at bay. They took a look at their attacker for the first time. He was a man in a simmering grey cloak, wearing a lighter shade of grey shirt and pants beneath it. He had several scrolls latched to a device on his back. Its purpose seemed to be to carry the scrolls. He rode on the back of a large, brown squid. He pulled one scroll from his robe.

"Summoning Water Style: Great Tunnel Squid." He simply said, he slid a bleeding finger across a scroll and there was a puff of smoke. Then a second squid appeared, knocking Aoba away and forcing Asuma to face the enemy alone.

"Now," said the stranger, "Secret Art: Warp Point!" And he unfurled another scroll. He placed his hand to it and a masked ninja appeared in a puff of smoke. He wore a white mask with two red tiger stripes on each cheek. It also had the Kumogakure plate attached to the forehead, which had been crossed out, signifying that he was a rouge ninja. From what could be seen, he had hair that extended to either side and fell in spikes. He too wore the grey outfit.

"About time." He whined.

"You know the mission then?" Asked the other sternly, watching Asuma struggle with the squid.

"Of course. I've been preparing for this day, you know." He reminded the other.

"Then go." With those words, he focused his full attention on Asuma while the other jumped away. "Okay, then, I'd love to stick around, but I have places to be." His second squid struck Asuma against a tree, knocking him unconscious.

"Well, I'll see you later then." He said, smirking beneath his hood. He then vanished in a puff of smoke.

Below, the citizens of Konoha seemed to be but ants, inferior in ways to him. It was one of the things that made him feel like he deserved more, deserved greater power. And so he had left his village, joining the Lost Soul Society, what those in the organization acknowledged as the sixth major village- Kaosugakure, the Village Hidden in Chaos.

And chaos he would bring, descending upon these unworthy twats with the full force of his self-proclaimed power.

"Hey."

The masked man's daydreaming abruptly ceased, as he turned to find a ninja watching him. It was probably a chuunin, by the looks of it, as he had on a vest similar to the ones those jounin had been wearing. His hair was done up on a ponytail, and he had a bored expression on his face.

"What do you want, boy?" He asked, sliding the mask down so one of his gleaming yellow eyes was revealed.

"Looks to me like you're not supposed to be here." He motioned to the crossed out Kumo symbol on hid mask. "Are you lost?"

"And who are you to decide that?"

He pointed to the headband tied around his right arm. "Nara Shikamaru, chuunin of the Hidden Leaf village." His gaze never once faltered from the enemy's, "and you are?"

Beneath his mask, the ninja's eyes lit up. "Nara, the clan of Shadows…" What a treat to be up against one of them. He replied to the question in a tone of indifference.

"If I must have a name, call me Rai." He too watched his opponent, gauging his reaction and stance. "I assume you can't just let me be on my way, can you?"

The Nara shook his head sadly, "sorry. It's gotta be either you answering my questions, or me making you answer them." He reached into his weapons pouch, expecting a battle, "which would you prefer."

Rai was silent but for a moment, as if mulling it over, "Either way, we both know what it will come down to." And suddenly he formed a hand seal, jerking his head up to reveal his smirk.

"Lightning Style: Electric Breath Jutsu!"

A stream of bright blue energy rampaged from the missing ninja's mouth, subsequently knocking Shikamaru off the building and plummeting towards the streets below.

Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief. He had been lucky. The pure energy produced from that blast could have killed him if he had not reacted.

He hung upside down from the edge of the roof, looking down upon the city streets below. It was apparent that he had been incredibly auspicious in that aspect. Now… now he had to capture and arrest this enemy he knew next to nothing about, preferably without losing his life.

How troublesome….

Without skipping a beat, he designed a plan and put it into action. Twisting himself back into an upright position, he threw a handful of ninja stars at the stunned enemy. He, of course, retaliated with his own technique.

"Ninja Art: Electromagnetic Field!"

The kunai Shikamaru had thrown off course bounced off the edges of the magnetic force field. However, one was caught in limbo between the Nara and his opponent. That had worked out better than he had planned.

Rai, of course, taunted him, "That was it? You spent your time coming up with that!? Ridiculous… "

Meanwhile, the clever chuunin grinned. "Look at that kunai a second. Its tied to a string. And that string… will lead me right to you."

At that point of course, it was already too late. Rai was caught in his Shadow, and could only mimic his captors every move. He was starting to worry; that was clear, even with his mask on. But then, what self respecting shinobi wouldn't?

Then suddenly, he scoffed. Shikamaru couldn't quite figure out why at first, but then he realized something. He had known Shikamaru's last name! He was at least mildly familiar with the Nara clan techniques. He had expected this from the start.

It was too late to react. The clone exploded into a shower of sparks that shot everywhere. Shikamaru dove for cover and found it in the form of a small cubicle jutting from the roof that led to the stairs. He managed to avoid any serious injuries, luckily, but he now had no idea where his opponent was.

"Looking for me?"

He looked upwards, from where the voice had originated. There, standing horizontally on the wall above the chuunin, was the masked ninja. Shikamaru reacted as quickly as possible.

"Ninja Art: Shadow Blade Jutsu!"

His shadow twisted itself into the form of several blades, intent on cutting at his opponent's shadow. It was one of the secret Nara clan techniques his father had taught him when he achieved chuunin. It was mechanically simple. Any wound his shadow inflicted on his enemy's shadow became very real and very painful. It seemed Rai recognized this, as he fell against the wall to shorten his shadow, putting it out of reach from Shika's shadow. That was easily remedied. All he needed to do was move closer to the-

He was frozen in place. Some otherworldly force was holding him in place. He could see his enemy above, holding the tiger seal in position, grinning down upon his foe.

"Ninja Art: Electromagnetic Field."

He was forcing energy onto the chuunin! As long as it resisted the force he put into moving forwards, he was being pressured back by a magnetic barrier! Quite unfortunately, the Nara had been caught in limbo, much like his kunai knife had. Now, unless he applied pressure greater than the field, he was utterly stuck while the enemy inched his way up high enough that he could stand and reach his weapon pouch.

"Aw man, how troublesome!!" he cried, desperately struggling to break free in either direction. His enemy crept up, slowly but surely. Being on his back in midair caused difficulty when it came to moving. He had to keep the charka flowing, not through the soles of his feet, but through the entire back half of his body. However, Shikamaru was having equal amounts of difficulty with his escape attempt. How could he have been so foolish as to fall for this ploy!? His opponent had fallen just one step ahead of him. But it was one hell of an important step…

Finally, Rai could stand up without fear of being cut by the Shadow Blades. He stood, looking down on his prey. A single bead of sweat formed on his brow. Only one. At last it would be time to end this game. He drew a kunai from his pouch, and hurled it at the enemy below.

It was at this time that a few things happened. First, the blades retracted and reformed the Nara's natural shadow. Second, the kunai bounced off the concrete below. Third and last, the pressure produced by the field was disturbed and Shikamaru fell backwards just in time.

"Ugh…" he stood up, dusting himself off quickly, "Too close…"

However, he had very littler options at this point. His enemy knew all of his clan's jutsu, and worse, he was exhausted. This was most definitely troublesome. What was he to do?

Rai grinned beneath his mask. His opponent was running out of options. There was not much of a choice. Rai had to preserve as much charka as possible to complete this mission. He would have to use… a forbidden jutsu.

He formed hand seals, watching his foe wrack their brains desperately below. There would not be enough time to play cat and mouse again. He would finish this with as little chakra as possible.

"Forbidden Art: Dead Soul Revival!"

He placed his hand on the ground, as if to summon something, but instead a body emerged, in the likeness of Rai himself. It had all of his skills and abilities, but it was no clone. It was a living breathing copy that existed for as long as it had the will to fight.

"Destroy him."

That was all he needed to say. The body lunged at Shikamaru. Meanwhile, Rai dashed away to complete his true mission. He had no time to dawdle. Leaping away, he left his enemy to deal with the dead soul.

He smiled yet again. It was turning out to be quite the eventful mission, wasn't it? His next opponent would surely be the last he had to deal with. Yes, it would be quite an eventful mission indeed…

He was training alone, thoughts of his past fueling him on. The rock before him had one gaping hole in it, and he aimed to make a second, even a third if he could.

Why!? Why was he so useless!? He had been like a toy in the man's hand, a toy that needed to be discarded… that man… his terrifying gaze, and his unforgivable acts still haunted him… his brother, Itachi…

"Uchiha Sasuke!"

An unfamiliar voice called to him. He turned to see who it was that dared to address him. A man in a mask stood before him in a monotonous grey outfit. He could feel their gazes meet. His Sharingan eyes active, he had no fears that this man would intimidate him, whoever he was. He was a missing ninja, by the look of his headband, one from Kumogakure.

"I am here to apprehend and capture you, as is the mission given by my leader, the Kage of the Hidden Chaos Village."

b Next Time/b

Sasuke vs. the masked stranger! Who will emerge victorious! Find out in the next installment! Plus, the plot thickens, I promise!

Naruto and its characters aren't mine, every idiot here knows that. If you don't I'm Kishimoto. Fetch me some coffee.The exception is any original characters or jutsu, of course. Those are MINE.