I'm the mother-flippin... I'm the mother flippin... I'm the mother flippin... Disclaimer! I do not own Naruto, which is owned by that guy "Kishimoto" or whatever, and I don't own Thief which belongs to Eido's or whatevah. This story is simply inspired by Thief and is a NARUTO fanfiction. So. Yeah. 'Kay bye.

A thief is in the Land of Fire, robbing clans and villages of their riches and evading the investigative forces of everyone. Konoha has been flooded with requests to find this thief and the stolen valuables, even from Iwa and Suna! "Justice!" is all the people can scream for. Although it's much easier said than done, this entity has been ruthlessly quiet, rumors spreading that they can even dodge the detecting skills of ninja. Tsunade is hard pressed to find this person or people after seeing a pattern in their thefts... She knows Konoha will be struck soon. And so she does the only thing she can... Send her teams to investigate and track them down!

This is a mystery-centric story. The "Thief" game series meets Naruto. Not a crossover as Thief is just the inspiration. This story takes place somewhere along the filler arcs a year after the Chuunin exams and before naruto's training trip. If that conflicts with the main story's plot, then oh well. This is a Third Person PoV, the focus being the thief. Also, the story will take place mostly "Off the Map" in un-named territories, and will have many Medieval-centric places, much like the Thief games themselves. But since this is still the Naruto world and though huge similarities between this story and the Thief world are there, they are just that, similarities, thus, it is non-crossover.

Rated M for perverseness, Improbable yet possible future sexy times, and language. There will be very few bouts of "Action" and "Fighting", so if that's what you're hoping for, this is not for you.

AU

This first chapter will be a shorty.

- Journal entry 515, November 5th.

I knew exactly what I was looking for. My fence in wave told me about a pretty jewel in a heavily guarded vault in some nameless land sandwiched between the Earth and Wind countries west of Bird Country. A weeks travel found me beyond the stone walls of a massive city. No doubt word of my exploits have traveled even to the ears of these people. Even the small businesses had some form of guard and security, the money lenders and banks seemed to be fortresses with their samurai guards, and every caravan I passed on the way here had ninja escorts from the various shinobi villages. Of course, that didn't stop me from looting their charges, and to add insult to injury, lifting the purses off the ninja themselves. They never knew I was there until it was too late.

But that was then. Now I have something substantial, maybe with this I can pay off a good portion of my debts. That shark wont stop hounding me.

- 11:48:35 P.M. - Cherub Country, Main City, Gurari Castle Grounds, Front Gate

It was a simple matter getting past the samurai out front. A tasty tidbit from a drunkard in a tavern near the city walls let loose that the cook in the Gurari castle would open the door on the walkway on the stone curtain wall. The bailey beyond the gate was empty spare two samurai who felt they were secure enough they could hold a quiet conversation and drink whiskey and sake. A third was posted atop the battlement of the gate itself, but was asleep so there was no need to keep to the shadows along the walkway. But it didn't stop the crouched and cloaked figure from taking it's time and slowly moving against the outer parapet, as there was no inner. It's gloved hands darted out of the blacker than black cloak and pulled a wooden longbow from it's back and a blue stone tipped arrow from a quiver strapped around it's back. One hand made a single hand seal and the blue stone tip of the arrow started to glow faintly. Positioning the arrow on the bow and pulling the string taut, the figure took aim.

The bailey itself was small, a wooden open-walled shed made to house horses off to one corner of the rectangular courtyard held a ladder on it's side so that one might climb up to the wall's walkway. The gate leading into the courtyard split two halves of a grass lawn and led to the large doors of the castle at the far end of a raised stone platform with a few stone steps to reach and a wooden railing around it. The front of the castle was steep, made of stone blocks and a smooth surface, no doubt mildly infused with chakra to keep from wall-walkers from invading. Off to either side of the bailey were large fountains with heads of tigers five feet above. But instead of water, the bowls were filled with flames that cast an eery glow on the grounds.

-Splash!-

One of the large tiger torches sputtered out. Naturally this would get the attention of the drunken guards conversing on the stone platform's attention, much to the shrouded person's amusement. The samurai guards stumbled and mumbled inaudibly to eachother as they went to check the disturbance, providing the distraction needed for the figure to slither along the parapet at a quickened pace through the light of the asymmetrically placed torches without being noticed. With a final glance back, the cloaked figure slipped through a metal door that had opened within moments of the torch being put out, and disappeared into darkness.

"Well... That was easy." Came a feminine whisper in the blinding black of a long passage, the only indication of it leading to anywhere being the light of a torch at the far end. "You would think that with all the money these morons have, they'd be able to afford electric lights."

The figure stopped short at a corner and tilted it's shrouded head just beyond the corner. Seeing it was clear, and another door mere meters away, it slid around, feet making not a sound on the stone cobbled floor. The torch wasn't a torch, but a simple candle perched on a wooden shelf mounted to the wall, beside the candle a small journal and a chair off in the corner beside the door. The figure stood to it's full height, which wasn't saying much, a measly 4'9", and shed it's cloak revealing a lithe feminine figure. Even without the cloak there wasn't much to see. Shoulder-blade length black hair cascaded around a thin face covered with a black hunter-nin styled mask, though it had no markings and was used nothing more than to keep features hidden. A black form fitting long-sleeve shirt was bound at the chest with black bandages to bind whatever womanly assets were under it. Loose black cargo's capable of fitting a small arsenal hung down to the ankles covering the high tops of black combat boots, despite of which the woman was able to move without making even the slightest noise. The thing that stood out, though, was the odd thick black fur... Cape? With a single white stripe down the outer end that seemed to be tied around her waist and expanded from a single point right above her rump with a similarly furred belt and hung down just enough that it was mere millimeters above the floor behind her feet. It could remind one of a bushy tail, if you will.

The woman took the journal beside the candle in the small stone hallway and sat down in the chair, wincing and freezing when the seat creaked. After waiting motionlessly without a single breath for a few minutes she decided that no one had heard and opened the small journal. The only pages with writing on them were the first two, and she noted to herself that whoever the person who wrote it was expecting someone who was not her... Unfortunate for them they would never make it to the Gurari Castle themselves.

Just beyond this doore are the gards sleeping qorters, I soorely hope you know what yoor getting into. The only reason Im hellping you betrey "Master Gura" is becuse hes a bloody bastord! He has a chook holld on the city and is greedy with his muney. That and yoo better keep yoor promise to share the profits with me.

Roomors say the vault is in the front qorter of the castle in the basement. But to get inside the vault yoo need to unlock the door with the blood medaleon, wich I hope yoo found beforehand or your joorney would have been pointless.

Beside the fact the note was poorly written by an idiot, and the fact it was only slightly informative, it did help. She pulled out a roll of paper from one of her many pockets and unrolled it like a scroll. On the inside was a poorly detailed map that she had to put together from old reference books in the city's library, books that she stole of course. She didn't know exactly where the vault was, so she would have to fish around for more information.

The girl got up, replacing the journal on the shelf exactly the way she had found it, and pinching out the candle, crept to the door, the fuzzy shawl/cape behind her giving a light flicker in time with her movements. It was useful for creeping up on sleeping caravans, brushing away the light footsteps she made unless they were imprinted in mud.

As she reached for the steal handle of the heavy wooden door she froze, voices filtering in from the room beyond.

"Gai-sensei... Why do we have to help this guy? They obviously have enough guards to keep it safe from anybody who decided to walk in an-" The voice of a slightly loud and obnoxious boy called out, only to be interrupted.

"Because my youthful temporary student... Gura-san received information that one of his old friends was paying a visit tonight to steal the Blood-Jade. I'm sure you've heard of it. It's an ancient chakra infused jewel. It's appearance is very youthful and it's properties even more youthful!" An older man's voice responded.

"Hm. And with the recent string of thefts, we might run into whoever this mystery thief is trying to make off with the jewel as well." An almost emotionless voice, if it weren't laced with a mild irritated undertone, said in deduction.

"A MOST YOUTHFUL OBSERVATION!" The older voice shouted, making the would-be-thief wince. "Now my youthful students! We will need to set up patrols in the hallways! NEJI!" Another wince. "You will take Naruto and Lee and spread yourselves in the south quarter, make sure you cover both floors as well!"

"YES GAI-SENSEI!/Haaaai, Bushybrow-Sensei./Hai, Gai-sensei." A trio of male voices responded before footsteps could be heard leading away.

"TENTEN! Take Kiba and Hinata and patrol the north quarter. Don't worry about the courtyard unless the alarm sounds. NOW GO MY MOST YOUTHFUL STUDENTS!" Wince.

"H-hai, Gai-sensei.../Whatevs./ Hai Gai-sensei!" A pair of females voices responded, the lone bored sounding male voice among them making the would-be-thief's hair stand on end.

Half an hour later, all sounds in the room beyond ceased. And the woman felt her body relax as she took a quiet step from the wall. Sub-consciously flattening herself against a nearby shadowy wall was habit for her now, so she hadn't even noticed she did it. After a few moments of stretching her limbs she rest her fingers lightly on the handle of the heavy door. "Great... Ninja... Just what I needed."

- 12:20:42 A.M. - Cherub Country, Main City, Gurari Castle Grounds, Guard's Quarters

Wonderful. From the sound of it I have to deal with ninja. The "Informant" didn't say anything about hired ninja. And those names, Neji and Hinata, I recognize them from a minor "job" I did in the land of fire last year. Both belong to the Hyuuga clan, which means Byakugan. I don't know about the others, but those two are going to be a real pain in the ass if the books that mention the byakugan are even remotely accurate... Tonight is going to be a long night. I have six hours to pull this off, until sun-rise, which should be plenty of time.

Well... Wish me luck.