Chapter 1

A Bad Day For Wolf and Raven

Kakashi lay sprawled on the icy ground, his breath forming small white puffs through the dark cloth mask which covered the lower half of his face...his ANBU mask long since shattered by a well-placed kick to his head. He glared up at the circle of men whose pale gray pupil-less eyes stared back at him with obvious contempt. Each of them wore clothing in shades of light tan and white in what he would have mistaken for civilian in style but that allowed them full movement of their bodies during the fight. While his mind filed that bit of information away, he noticed that none of them wore any sign of which village they swore allegiance to.

Kakashi's chakra pathways had been blocked rather effectively over the course of what had to be one of the most intense battles of his life, and he could feel his blood seeping out of more than a few wounds...most notably the deep slash across his lower back A sharp pain in his left upper back every time he tried to breathe made it clear he was sporting at least a few cracked ribs on top of the numerous cuts scattered across his body. He took a small amount of satisfaction, however, in the fact that the red-stained snow around him was not entirely caused by his blood.

Kakashi hadn't been this thoroughly over-matched in quite some time, and he was definitely not enjoying the way the group was eying him at the moment. It made him feel like a fox that had been cornered by a pack of wild dogs at the end of a hunt. He tensed when the circle of men closed in on him and did his best to knock away the groping hands that tried to subdue him. He managed to swing his legs out and clip one of them mid-calf, bringing the man down hard, before Kakashi had to roll out of reach of a second man's heel that came careening toward his head. Without the majority of his chakra to tap into, Kakashi had to rely solely on his taijutsu skills. Thankfully he'd honed those over the years by sparring with Gai, and it was obvious this group of rogue ninja hadn't expected him to have such skills.

To Kakashi's obvious dismay, the group rather quickly adjusted their attacks to take into account this new challenge, and he found himself being beaten back down until his cheek was laying against the icy ground once more. This time, he felt more than one firm knee pinning him down and eliminating any chance he might have had to launch into another attempt at freedom.

Throughout all of this, none of his attackers spoke a single word...to him, or to each other...and yet they were able to change their methods seamlessly to take into account every new angle he threw at them. With the constant falling of the snow, it added to the surreal nature of the battle and made Kakashi wonder if he'd been caught in some strange genjutsu.

A low hiss escaped through his teeth when a firm hand gripped his hair and yanked his head back until he had a clear view of his ring of captors. Every one of them had the same pale, almost lifeless gray eyes, but that was where their similarities ended. Some were short and squat with dark curly hair, while others were tall and thin with thick brown hair that stuck out at strange angles. Their skin varied in shade as well, with a mix of deep brown all the way to skin so pale it made Kakashi look tan in comparison.

Finally, after far too long in Kakashi's opinion, one of the men kneeling on his back spoke into his ear. The voice sounded slightly breathless making Kakashi think that perhaps he'd managed to give as good as he got after all.

"Why are you here, shinobi?"

When Kakashi didn't respond quick enough, the hand fisted tighter into his hair pulling out a pained gasp along with his reply. "I was just enjoying a stroll through the countryside."

The knee in the small of his back ground down into his wound, while the hand in his hair pulled tighter still. "Perhaps I wasn't clear enough......why are you here?"

Kakashi let a small growl. "Because you're kneeling on my back, genius."

The knee pressed harder still, and the hand in his hair pushed Kakashi's face back down into the snow with such force that his vision momentarily blurred. He felt one knee lift off of him, but the other three remained. Just as Kakashi's vision cleared he saw who must have been the man who spoke to him move to the group in front of him.

This man was far taller than the others, and was similarly dressed to them except that there was a thick red sash wrapped around his waist with a tanto securely fastened through it. The hilt of that blade was wrapped in a matching red cord, and the way the man's hand casually rested on it made it clear to Kakashi that he was likely quite skilled with it. His dark hair fell in a curly wave across his shoulders and he peered down at Kakashi from those damnable gray eyes set within nearly snow white skin. Kakashi noticed with a small kernel of satisfaction that the man's angular face was sporting the signs of a large bruise along his jaw, and it was obvious this had been one of those who had miscalculated his taijutsu skills.

Two others walked into Kakashi's line of sight...one with dark brown skin and charcoal black hair, wearing a blue sash with matching tanto, and the other with hair nearly as light as his own. This man's body was built closer to the compact muscular build of someone like his friend Asuma, and as he cleaned his blade before settling it back into his green sash, Kakashi had a feeling he now knew which of his attackers managed to land the blow across his lower back.

This last arrival frowned as his gaze fell on Kakashi. "I should kill him."

The red-sashed man chuckled lightly. "Calm yourself, Jaken. She wants to meet him."

Kakashi watched Jaken's hand tighten on the hilt of his blade. "Why waste the time, Chuushin? You know this will end just like it always does. Let me kill him now and be done with it. Why waste any more time?"

While these two bickered back and forth, the third sashed man stepped closer to Kakashi and knelt in front of him. He slid his tanto out of its sheath and used the tip of the blade to tip Kakashi's head up off the cold ground. When the man spoke, it was with a deep voice that seemed to come from the bottom of the man's chest.

"Why this one, Chuushin? He's imperfect."

The taller man sighed dramatically. "You know she can't send more than the basics at this distance, so why ask such a thing, Kobushi?"

Kakashi felt the tip of the blade dig through his mask and into his skin as it was pulled free, adding a bit more of his blood to stain the compacted snow beneath him. The dark-skinned man stood and returned his blade to its sheath.

"Fine. But when she tires of him you can be the one to clean up the mess."

Kakashi's mind was spinning with all the information these three men were providing, but there was so much more that he had no hint of. For starters...who the hell were they? This strange group betrayed nothing about where they loyalties lay beyond this mysterious woman who had somehow let Chuushin know she wanted to meet him.

He had known when the Hokage called him in to her office two weeks ago that this was likely going to be a difficult mission. After all, it was rare for Tsunade to require him to take on his ANBU Wolf persona, and rarer still for her to look nervous while giving his ANBU cell a briefing. Now...as he was pulled roughly to his feet and his arms were tied in such a way that he could barely twitch a muscle...he was starting to understand her anxiety. To have such an organized group of rogues was bad enough, but to have one that could best an ANBU recon cell was another matter all together...especially when they were laying claim to the borders of one of Konoha's allies.

"What about these three?" Jaken motioned to where the remaining members of Wolf's cell were being dragged over.

Kakashi forced himself not to react when the bloodied and broken bodies of Jackal, Raven and Tiger were thrown to the ground in between himself and his enemy. Two of them – Jackal and Tiger – made no movement after the rough treatment, while Raven at least attempted to twist his body to minimize any additional damage. All three were sporting severe wounds and it was with a heavy heart that Kakashi understood why two of the three failed to move, even before Chuushin's voice filled the air.

"Take the one on top. She says the others are already gone. Jaken, eliminate all trace of those two...but bring their masks with us."

Raven was quickly trussed in a similar fashion to Kakashi...hands tied back to back, with additional bindings laced around his arms up past his elbows. The mask on his face was pulled off, revealing the scarred visage and unruly dark brown hair of Raido Namiashi. The man was just a handful of years older than Kakashi, and had to be one of the most stubborn men he'd ever met...a trait which was likely part of the reason he was still alive at the moment. The older jonin's eyes narrowed at the enemy as they pulled his mask away, but he held his tongue.

Kobushi grabbed Raido's chin in his hand and tipped the jonin's head until the patch of scarred skin that covered a good portion of his left cheek could be more closely examined. "This one's imperfect as well. Wherever they are from they obviously don't value their people as much as we do."

Chuushin stepped forward to peer at Raido as well. "Hmm...burns such as these would have killed most men. Perhaps we can test this ones limits later."

Kakashi couldn't help but tense at those words and he felt the hands gripping his arms tighten in response. The action did not go unnoticed. Jaken stepped to Kakashi's side and ran his fingers through Kakashi's hair in an almost sensual way.

"Don't worry...your comrade won't be the only who's tested before all is said and done."

"Jaken! Leave that one alone...you'll anger her!"

Kakashi felt the hand quickly drop from his hair and a low curse leave Jaken's lips as he moved to join the others. A knot formed in his stomach over just what this mysterious woman was capable of if mere mention of her anger set someone like Jaken on edge. Something told him he wasn't going to enjoy finding out the answer.

No further words were spoken from that point on, and Kakashi felt increasingly uneasy the farther into the icy terrain of these outlying lands they went. He was able to continue to analyze the enemy's uncanny ability to work without words, as several of the unnamed members of their group followed behind them and erased all trace of their passing.

Jaken and Kobushi took Raido in hand for this journey...not being gentle by any means, but at least making certain his fellow jonin didn't misstep during their travel. Meanwhile, Kakashi was being guided by Chuushin and a fourth sashed man...this one wearing orange...that he had not noticed until now. This man was nearly the twin of Chuushin in height and skin tone, but where the man wearing the red sash had dark curly hair, this wearer of orange was bald. Their grips near his elbows were firm, and they kept him moving at a pace that proved to be rather wearing without having access to his chakra.

Kakashi could feel his chakra coils surging...trying to find a way to flow through his body...and the buildup of pressure within his system was increasing with each step they took. In the past, Kakashi had made sure to work with the Hyuga clan to find out what having his pathways blocked for extended periods of time would do to him. He knew from that experience that the longer the flow was blocked, the harder it would be to control his chakra once that blockage was removed. The maximum length of time he'd been subjected to in his training had been six hours, so he was fairly certain that he'd be okay so long as it didn't take too much longer to get to their destination. Of course, that also made the assumption that these strange ninja actually would release the blockages.

Kakashi pushed that negative thought far from his mind. Thinking that way would do nothing but ensure his defeat. His footing slipped on an exceptionally icy patch of rock and the grips on his arms tightened to the point of bruising in their task of keeping him on his feet. Still, they continued forward for nearly three more hours before, at last, coming to a sudden stop. Kakashi's muscles we screaming at the grueling pace they'd used, but he pushed the discomfort away and concentrated on where they were.

All around them towered the icy cliffs of one of the most remote areas of Snow Country, and Kakashi understood why no one had heard of this band of rogues before now. These lands were seldom traveled...even by natives to this area...which meant that this group would have been left alone to grow in strength and numbers without the prying eyes of the locals.

Kakashi was dragged forward until he was facing the smooth surface of the nearest cliff face. Once there, he was forced to his knees and the hands that had been clutching his arms were moved to hold his shoulders with their vice-like grips. His breath was coming in deep gasps at this point and he watched helplessly as Raido was placed in a similar position just next to him.

The two Konoha jonin shared a quick glance. It was all they needed to understand that, no matter what happened, they would never allow their enemy the satisfaction of using them against each other...even if it meant allowing the other man's death.

Before they could communicate more than that basic fact, they were both pushed forward into low bows before the cliff face. Kakashi felt an intense wave of chakra pass over him, and unexpectedly found his own blocked energy try to rush out to counter it of its own accord...only to be stopped within his body by the blocked pathways. The resulting surge of pressure was enough to cause Kakashi to groan in reaction. He twisted his head toward where Raido was kneeling but found his comrade was not openly experiencing this same level of discomfort. He did see unhidden concern for him within Raido's eyes though, and Kakashi did his best to assure the man that he was okay with a slight nod of his head.

"You have done well, boys. Your skill with my gifts exceeded my expectations."

The sound of an older female's voice echoed off the cliff face making it impossible to tell where she was standing. So when Kakashi was pulled back up to kneeling from his forced bow, it came as a bit of a shock that the owner of the voice was standing less than two feet in front of him.

The woman stood before him with her hands hidden within the voluminous sleeves of her winter cloak. The light blue shade of the thick material was accented along the collar with a band of contrasting black fur, and there was an intricate pattern in thick silver cording that started at her narrow waist and spread down the lower portion of the cloak until it faded into the edges near her unseen feet. The hood on the cloak was trimmed in the black fur as well, and kept the woman's face too far in shadow for Kakashi to tell anything more about her.

She turned toward Raido and tipped her head slightly, as though trying to measure the man against some unknown standard. "Bring me his mask."

One of the others brought the white porcelain to the woman and held it before the shadowed hood, allowing her to have a clear view of the red painted design that was in the image of a raven. The woman chuckled and turned back toward where Raido glared at her.

"So I must wonder if this is meant to show you as a harbinger of death, or that you are one of the fabled Three Ravens meant to work together to eliminate those who challenge you?"

Kakashi watched as Raido kept silent under the intense scrutiny. And after a few more moments she sighed and focused on the mask once more. "It matters not to me which one you are, child."

A simple wave of one delicate gloved hand and the porcelain mask shattered into a thousand pieces without her ever touching it. "That life is over for you now."

A frown settled on Raido's face but he made no other reaction to the woman's action. Now Kakashi felt that hooded gaze slide back over to him. "And what of you, young one? What fierce creature did you hide behind when my family found you, hmm?"

Another of the nameless followers stepped forward with the shattered pieces of Kakashi's mask. Again that delicate hand slid out from the voluminous sleeve of the cloak, and this time...instead of shattering the porcelain...the pieces melded seamlessly back together until the face of the Wolf was staring up at Kakashi's captor.

The gloved fingertips slowly traced the red markings in silence for nearly two dozen heartbeats before the hooded face turned toward Kakashi. "So the face of the Wolf returns to these mountains. It has been quite some time since you've last visited here, child. Some said you were nothing more than a rumor while others claimed you were sent by Kami to ensure the continuation of the royal family."

Kakashi schooled his face into a blank slate and stared into the depths of the hooded shadows without comment. He watched the hand shift to take a firm grip on the mask and then pull it into her sleeve and out of sight. He found himself confused by the action and struggled not to let it show in his eyes. The woman turned away from him and faced the cliff. Another wave of chakra, similar to the one from before she had arrived, and then Kakashi watched a section of the cliff face slide open wide. The woman turned her head back toward them.

"Bring the Raven to the East Wing."

The two holding Raido pulled him to his feet and pulled him toward the cliff wall. The unnamed man at Kakashi's right shoulder spoke. "Your pardon, Lady Akuen...what of this one?"

She turned back to face Kakashi and he couldn't help but tense at her soft words. "Bring him to my inner chambers, Kontan. And gather your Brothers as well. Tonight we will discover just what makes this Wolf so intriguing...and see if he truly has been sent by Kami."

Kontan tightened his grip on Kakashi's arm. "And if he was not, my Lady?"

She chuckled lightly. "Then you and your Brothers may have him to do as you please to discover just where he and his companion come from."

Not for the first time today, Kakashi regretted ever accepting this mission.