um...i dont own Naruto, its owned by Masashi Kishimoto, however, the idea and all the O.C.s are of my own creation.

hi, um...this is my first fanfiction ever, so i would appreciate any constructive critisism anyone would have, but nothing harsh, cuz thats just cold.

The Shadow Lands

Ch. 1 - The Meeting

The Land of Shadow.

Few know of the realm.

Lying off the coast of the main continent, it is a virtually unknown environment. The miniscule percent of the populace of all the Elemental Nations that have even heard of the isle are experts that have devoted their entire lives to learning about the island. But nothing but the most general facts are known. It is an isle that lies northwest of the Nations, split in half by the Circle of Ice. Not much is known about the southern half. The climate is a barren wasteland with almost no plants. Water is scarce, save for the vast reserves that lie under the surface, which have saved up over the years. Only the strongest animals survive in this harsh climate. Even less is known about the northern half. What is known is that the shift between night and day is somehow disrupted, as daylight shines for only 4 hours a day. Also, the climate is cold, and storms can come in and swamp the landscape, yet be gone as quickly as it came. It is thought that no one but a nomadic tribe lives on the island, and even then they only keep to the western coastline of the southern half. None but the most brave, or most suicidal, people come. And any that venture into the chilling north never come back. Nothing from any of the explorers has ever been found, save for a lone, yet strange kunai.

Unfortunately, Orochimaru didn't know any of this.

September 19th, 4:15 P.M., Pulling into Renkiv, The Land of Shadow

"Damn this infernal snow! If these contacts weren't so important, I would annihilate the fools for making me come to this shadowed land!", were the aggrivated words of Orochimaru, leader of Otogakure, and former member of Konohagakure's Densetsu no Sannin. Because snakes are cold-blooded, and the landscape so cold, he could not summon any of his snakes to transport him. So the Sannin did the only thing he could. He walked.

"Orochimaru-sama, maybe we should stop. Since you lost use of your arms, you don't have the stamina you once had." said his ever-faithful minion, Yakushi Kabuto," We have to go a long way, and you won't make it in your condition if you don't rest enough."

"I've told you before, Kabuto, nothing will keep me from getting my arms back.", Orochimaru replied, just before a surge of pain shot through his arms. "AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!".

"Orochimaru-sama!", the medic ninja ran to his master and performed a medical jutsu.

"That should repress the pain for now, but you really need rest", said Kabuto, who helped Orochimaru to his feet.

"Ha...ha...I will...ha...rest when...ha...my arms are healed...ha", Orochimaru said, breathing heavily.

"...Sigh, you're just too stubborn for your own good, my lord. That's what's going to kill you.", Kabuto replied.

"...Ha...ku ku ku...if my arms are restored, I'll be able to gain immortality...as soon as Sasuke comes to me.", the Sannin chuckled.

Just then, the boat's horn went off to signify that they were making their way to port. Orochimaru put on a black cloak with the hood up, and Kabuto put on a dark violet jacket and took his Oto headband off, putting it in one of the jacket pockets. They walked to the front off the boat and jumped off, reinforcing their feet with chakra. They landed on the water, running onwards towards the town.

September 19th, 5:32 P.M., The outskirts of Renkiv, The Land of Shadow

"So the sun sets around 6 P.M., and it rises at 10 A.M.?", Kabuto asked.

"Yes, and there will only be less and less sunlight the further we go inland.", the Snake Lord said.

"That's amazing. I wonder what causes that to happen?", Kabuto replied. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out. This meeting should reveal all the information we need", was the Sannin's response

The duo was told the meeting place was to be held at The Last Resort, an inn 10 miles to the northwest of Renkiv, and they were to wait there until the contacts arrived.

But, unknown to the Sannin or his medic ninja servant, they were being followed.

"Oh come on, let us kill him and be done with it!" "No, we must follow them and see what their up to. That's what Leader-sama assigned us to do" "But he knows we would want to kill him, why would Leader tell US to follow him?!" "Because he knows we are the best tracker of all the Akatsuki, and even Orochimaru has trouble sensing us. Now, Leader-sama said we need to learn what he's up to and then-" "And then we kill him?" "Yes, then we kill him." "I'm going to have fun ripping that snake apart!"

And with that, the enigma known as Zetsu followed the Sannin, who was unaware of the danger to come.

Sept. 20, 1:03 A.M., The Last Resort, The Land of Shadow

"Well, Orochimaru-sama, when do these people come?", Kabuto asked.

"For the last time Kabuto, I don't know. They said just to wait for them.", was the reply.

At that moment, two figures leapt out of the trees, landing a few feet away from the Oto ninja. One was male, tall, with a light grey cloak with light blue lining, hood up covering his face. The other, a female, was a few inches shorter, with a white jacket, hood up, with arctic camo pants. Both had the standard ninja sandals, but with a mesh covering.

Orochimaru and Kabuto both slipped into a fighting stance, but stood up when the male spoke, "Well, so this is the great Orochimaru. Hehe, not so great, since we can just avoid all detec-", but was cut off when he felt a kunai at his throat. "Don't think so highly of your skills, little chunnin", the Sannin said, his tongue sliding the kunai back in it's holster, "Your not as great at stealth as you think you are."

The male growled, and reach for his shuriken holster, when his partner grabbed his hand. "No, you wouldn't win anyways.", she said. Reluctantly, he brought his hand back to his side.

8 hours later...

"So, you have a medic that can repair my arms, but I must provide my services anytime you require it? ...hmm...this is acceptable, BUT ONLY if my arms are healed first.", Orochimaru stated.

The young male chunnin, known as Hoteri, only nodded. The eight hours of debate and arguing with the hebi-teme really took it out of him.

"We accept, but you must find the medic on your own. She is a nomad, and moves from place to place. What we will do is command our ninja to allow you two passage.", the female ninja, Kousetsu, said.

"Alright, but you must tell me about the terrain, the inhabitants, anything that may pop up as a problem.", the snake lord stated. "Also, any diseases or medical problems that may be encountered, I need to know about.", Kabuto added.

"And in exchange, we need to know all your information on a subject.", Kousetsu said.

"And that subject would be?", Orochimaru asked.

"Do you know anything about a Konoha ninja, one Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Well this is a surprise, the other ninja meeting with Orochimaru are after-" "The Kyuubi brat. This is news that Pein-sama needs to be notified about. We must return to deliver the information." "Dammit, I guess we can't kill him then. Where are those ninja from anyways?" " They are from Sawagakure, the Hidden Swamp Village."

well thats the first chapter, tell me anything i need to improve on.

here's a vote for ya. who should be on the mission with naruto and neji? ill try and decide, but i suck at this stuff.

the Circle of Ice is the equivalent of the Arctic Circle.

And Kabuto's jacket, just think a jonin vest with fewer front pockets and sleeves.