A/N Welcome readers to the new and improved "Winds of Change" story. After months of not updating my original story, I really felt that the presentation of the characters and my overall writing was not the best. So I am overhauling that story and remaking a new and improved adventure that I hope you all like!

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Anything Related To Naruto Or Its Franchise.


Chapter 1

Mission "Im"possible

Anko let out a deep sigh as she jumped from branch to branch, heading towards the border of Fire country. With each jump she made she felt her body dip as her weight bent the slim appendages of each tree. The branches made a soft thwack noise of snapping back into place once she leaped off them. The sound was almost like a reminder for her to cut down on the sweets she loved so much. She grumbled to herself as yet another branch went thwack, her hand slipping into the deep pocket of her trenchcoat. Her thumb and forefinger rubbed against the cool fabric of the handle of her kunai, and she felt slightly relieved knowing that it had not left the protection of her coat pocket in the last five minutes.

Anko Mitarashi was not nervous, she just wanted to make sure everything was still where it should be. The forest thought otherwise, as a sparrow in a nearby tree chirped rather loudly causing Anko to nearly lose her footing on the branch she had just jumped to. The branch was, thankfully, thicker and sturdier than its kin. Anko regained her balance and shot a glare in the direction of the noise that could have made her fall ungracefully towards the forest floor. Unfazed by the glare of the female ninja the brown, white bellied bird gave another loud chirp. A subtle eye twitch from Anko and a few moments passed, and her ears were graced with another shrill cry.

"Shut the hell up you friggen alarm clock with wings!" she shouted, and she turned fully to regard the bird with a full-on death glare.

The sparrow took a hint and flew off its perch and into the green foliage of the forest. If it was scared or insulted she would never know. With a satisfied smirk on her lips, obviously relishing in her verbal victory with a sparrow, Anko took in the view of the lush and large forestry. Sunlight shown through the spaces between the leaves, and all around her, trees of all sizes rose from the earth. As always it was a breath-taking sight to behold, but Anko was a mission.

Though it was a strange one, Anko couldn't deny the amount of money that was offered.

"I'd be able to purchase half a years worth of dango with all that money!" she silently rejoiced. Her mouth already watering at the prospect of eating her favorite snack. After a few moments of her dango fantasy she shook her head trying to get back on track. Her hand slipped back into the pocket of her coat easily finding the cool piece of steel, and her eyes narrowed.

Anko spread her feet and crouched, ready to jump to another branch. Propelling herself forward with her defined leg muscles, she landed onto a nearby branch and continued towards her destination.

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Noticing that the sun had begun setting, Anko stopped on a tree branch that overlooked a large gnarled uprooted tree. The base of the tree was still half-way into the earth, creating a small makeshift hut with the roots hanging over the entrance. She smiled softly as she descended from her perch and strode up to her home for the night. Sliding her backpack off, and setting up camp for the night, Anko went over her mission objective.

To eliminate a specter of unknown origin that has been harassing the local trade routes and has halted construction in the ruined town of Hiko.

When she read the B-rank mission scroll, she brushed aside the "specter" detail and was practically drooling over the amount of money. But when she did some research on the town of Hiko itself she found a very haunting past. Hiko was on the border between the lands of Wind and Fire , and during the Third Shinobi War, the town was raided and burned to the ground by a large group of Sand-nin. If this was in fact true, then Anko could be dealing with something totally unknown to her. The thought of ghosts actually being real sent a shiver up her spine.

"Dummy, ghosts aren't real! Even if they are, none are a match for the Great Anko!" she thought smugly.

Anko ate dinner in silent bliss as she watched the sky, through the canopy, turn shades of pink, red, and purple. She wondered how everything was back at Kohona. No doubt that Nine-Tails brat was painting the Hokage faces again. She wondered if Kurenai was getting anywhere with Asuma. Probably not. She thought about the lazy-ass of a ninja Kakashi Hatake. They would go back and forth teasing and goading each other, thought it was mostly him annoying her. She wanted to get back there and start working on the Chunin Exams. Kakashi told her he was thinking of having his students take it this year.

She smiled to herself, and reached back to untie her ponytail. Her violet hair tumbled down, lightly brushing past the tips of her shoulders. Anko put out her makeshift campfire, and double-checked that everything was in order for the next day of traveling. She ran a hand absent-mindlessly through her hair, and rested her back on soft bark of the tree. The last thought she had, was that the wall of roots were calming as they seemed to create a barrier from the outside world.

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Anko woke up to the sound of chirping. Her right eye twitching in annoyance as she fumbled with her trenchcoat pulling out her kunai, and threw it towards her "alarm clock". The sound of flapping wings was heard, and Anko sighed in relief. She guessed she really did insult that damn bird. Grabbing a few dried rations and stretching she made her way over to where she had thrown her kunai. Anko noticed that it was early morning as she popped a dried peach slice into her mouth. Chewing on the rather tasteless fruit, she looked up finding the kunai embedded into the bark of a rather large tree.

Taking a bite of dried meat, Anko retrieved her kunai and started to cover her tracks. She threw dirt over the campfire, and checked the surrounding area for anything left behind. She tied her hair up in its usual ponytail, and smirked to herself. Taking a deep breath of fresh morning air, she looked around one last time to make sure she didn't forget anything. Nodding her head in approval, Anko mused that it was only a couple more hours of traveling before she reached the outskirts of Hiko.

Not wasting anymore time Anko set off towards the rumored ghost town.

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By midday Anko had arrived out of the dense forest and onto the main road that separated Wind from Fire. She also saw a caravan full of an assortment of goods trudging along the road.

'"Must be one of the traders that come through here." she mused. A middle-aged man was ushering an oxen along with his reins, and the man looked downright miserable. He was rather scrawny with a mangled beard, and a white bandanna to keep his hair back. Anko approached the caravan slowly making sure the driver saw her.

"Oi! Hello there miss! It not everyday I get to see a lovely lady walking down the road. Especially around these parts." he said, though the last part made him shift uncomfortably.

"These parts?" Anko asked, totally ignoring the first part of the man's introduction. The man pulled on his reins slowing the caravan to a halt, and he regarded the purple-haired ninja with a look of fear.

"That's right miss. The word around these parts is that a ghost is haunting that damned village of Hiko. I even saw the thing! It looked like Death itself." The man shivered, and Anko's stomach churned uncomfortably. The man's eyes...they seemed hollowed, and were sunk back in his skull.

"Well, I'm here to resolve the issue. Could you go into anymore detail in about what you saw?"

The man's face brightened considerably. "Oi! You're really here to get rid of it? That is great!"

Anko raised a single eyebrow, and tapped the ground impatiently waiting for her answer. The man lowered his head and fiddled with his reins. "Ah, sorry. It was late at night and I didn't get a good look. But I remember it had long black hair, and it carried a jagged blade."

Anko mulled over the new information for a few moments. If this phantom was armed she needed to take extra precautions. But there was a nagging question she needed to ask. "How do you know it is a ghost?" she asked suddenly.

"Huh?" the man asked dumbly. He started at her as if she had three heads. Anko sighed, and glared at the man. She was getting fed up with his stupidity. "How do you know it is a ghost? From your description it could have been a rouge-nin." she said skeptically.

The caravan driver leaned back as to distance himself from her harsh gaze. He rubbed his beard in thought making it seem more messy if it was possible.

"Oh!" he snapped his fingers together after a few moments and smiled, relieving missing teeth. Anko scrunched her nose in disgust, but kept her eyes trained on the man.

"I remember that the thing just vanished out of thin air! That's how I knew." he said.

"Vanished?" she thought. "Strange, it would make sense if this thing was actually a ghost but..." Something just didn't sit right with her. There were to many assumptions and not enough facts. She thought that gathering Intel would be the most effective way, but even the eye-witness accounts seemed unreliable.

"Can't be helped" she thought bitterly. "Well thank you for the information, sir. I'd best be going now." she looked back up towards the caravan, but it was gone. Puzzled, she looked behind her to see if it had taken off but it was nowhere to be found. The hairs on the back of her neck rose, and Anko reached for her kunai. Bringing the deadly weapon across her body, she bent her knees into a fighting stance. She swept the area with her narrowed eyes and saw nothing, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching her.

Turning towards Hiko, Anko's hand never wavered from her kunai as she made her way down the dusty road.

P.S. Reviews are much appreciated! Also if you find anything you don't like or think needs improvement feel free to message me! Constructive criticism is the best kind of criticism!

~WoG~