Ch.1
Four shinobi sat around the dying embers of a campfire, their shadows dancing along with the flickering flames. Each of them was visibly tense. It was a cold, damp, autumn evening, they were in foreign and unfamiliar lands, and were unsure if the enemy was aware of their presence. All of a sudden, one of the ninja got up and punched one of his comrades square in the face.
"What the hell!? What are you doing Saito?" yelled the injured ninja with a mix of anger and shock in his voice.
The one who had thrown the punch, however, looked equally as surprised. "I… I don't know. I can't control my body! What's happening?"
"Man you guys are thick. You should really pay attention to your surroundings better," came a drawling voice.
All of the ninja, except Saito, quickly turned towards the source of the voice. A young man with dark hair tied in a topknot could be seen amongst the trees behind them. He had a lazy smirk on his face that just screamed that he was perfectly comfortable with the situation, despite being outnumbered.
"What are you talking about? What's going on? Why can't I move?" yelled Saito.
The young man sighed. "See, this is what I mean. I have you caught in my Shadow Possession Jutsu. It's a pain to have to explain, so I'll just let you look down to see for yourself." With that the young man seemed to bow, and, to the horror of him and his companions, so did Saito.
So distracted by their paranoia, it had escaped their attention that Saito's shadow had stopped moving with the rest and had instead extended towards the forest to connect with the young man's.
"Who the hell are you?" One of the ninja yelled angrily.
"What a pain," the young man sighed again. "If you must know, I'm Nara Shikaji of the Hidden Leaf. I was sent to search for and apprehend four unknown shinobi who had been seen hiding away nearby."
The four ninja blanched. They knew a bit of Konhagakure's Nara clan. One of their members, Nara Shikamaru, was reported to be a brilliant tactician and the Hokage's Chief Advisor.
"They sent one ninja against the four of us?" challenged Saito, hopefully with more confidence than he actually felt.
Shikaji shook his head. "Of course not. I doubt I have the chakra to actually bring all four of you back the the village. Luckily I don't have to."
With that, another two more ninja appeared next to the Nara boy. On his left was a skinny blonde girl with striking cerulean eyes. On his right was a tall, rather rotund boy with spiky red hair.
"Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu!" said the girl, her hands held out in front of her to form a circle, almost as if she were taking aim. Suddenly, she slumped to ground. Confusion saturated the intruders as one of them reached over and hit another one hard on the back of the head. Ironically, it was the one who had been hit by Saito just moments before.
"Why me?" the ninja whined right before he collapsed, unconscious.
The other ninja sprang away from his team. "You may think the shadows are on your side, but your powers are nothing compared to mine!" he said as he performed a quick series of hand seals. "Shadow Style: Dark Swallow!"
Suddenly the ninja became covered in darkness. Shikaji directed his shadow towards the dark silhouette, but cursed when he found he couldn't bind the ninja. Harsh laughter echoed from nowhere.
"See? Your precious Shadow Possession means nothing to me!"
"Damn, I had hoped this would just be a simple mission. What a pain," Shikaji complained as he brought out a few shuriken and threw them at the shadowy ninja. The man laughed again and easily dodged, only to grunt in surprised pain as a shuriken grazed his arm.
Shikaji smirked. "Forget that I'm also controlling your friend here? You really are dense. But at least I know that you aren't invulnerable in that state." He turned to his large friend, who was standing over the blonde girl defensively. "Alright Chōdai, your turn. Don't worry, she's safe with me."
Chōdai nodded and formed a few hand signs. "Partial Expansion: Arm," he said as he shot his arm forward. Before the shadowy ninja realized what was happening, Chōdai's arm suddenly grew and his huge hand closed around the ninja. Before the shadowy ninja had a chance to act, Chōdai easily lifted him off and the ground and slammed him back down, creating a small crater and knocking him unconscious in the process.
"Got him," proclaimed the fat ninja proudly.
"Good job Chō-kun!" replied one of the remaining two ninja. "We're almost done here, just two more to go."
"What the hell, Igumi?" yelled Saito. "Just whose side are you on anyways!?"
The ninja looked at him innocently. "Who me? Oh, I'm sorry, Igumi isn't here at the moment. But I'll be sure to leave him a message for you."
With that, he struck his opponent in the back of his head just as he had before with the same result. Satisfied with his work, he put his hands together and said "Release!" before crumpling to the ground. The blonde girl looked up groggily.
"That's all of them right, boys?" she asked as she stood up.
"Yea, that's it," replied Shikaji lazily. "Now we just have to bring them back."
"Not a problem. I've got this! Expansion Jutsu!" said Chōdai as the rest of his body grew to match his arm. Suddenly towering a few feet taller than his friends, he easily picked up all four enemy ninja. "Let's go! Last one back pays for dinner!"
With that the giant ninja headed back towards the village. The other two looked at each other.
"There is no way I'm paying for him," exclaimed the blonde girl, her cerulean eyes filled with terror. "Last time I did, I nearly went broke!"
Shikaji looked equally as worried. "At least you have another job, Inomi. I don't even think I can afford paying."
"Hurry up you two," yelled Chōdai, already significantly ahead of the others. "You know how much chakra I have to use to keep up this jutsu? I'm already starving!"
His teammates felt a terrifying chill run down their spines. Sharing another quick worried look they raced ahead, hoping beyond hope they could at least not get back last and have to pay. They both loved their large friend like a brother, but his appetite was legendary, and anyone who ended up stuck with the bill for his meal would be feeling the financial pain for quite a long time.
Uzumaki Naruto, the Seventh Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, stared intently at the captured ninja before him. He had gone over Shikaji's mission report, glad to see that it was a success. So far, three of the four ninja had been interrogated already, but unfortunately, very little had been learned from it. Naruto hoped this man, the squad's leader, might know more than his subordinates.
"I'll tell you nothing, filthy Konoha scum!" spat the prisoner. "I'm not afraid of you, or the demon inside of you!"
Naruto frowned. He was a bit surprised at the man's outburst. Even though he had been judged his entire life for being a jinchuriki, he felt most people now saw past it and just saw him for the name he had created for himself, especially since he had decided at the end of the Fourth Shinobi War to release the Tailed Beasts. 'How could he not know that?" Naruto mused.
Before he could get too lost in thought, a familiar face caught his eye. "You don't have to tell him anything. It's me you should worry about."
Naruto could see the prisoner strain against his bonds, trying to escape from the source of that last chilling remark, and frankly he couldn't blame the man. Uchiha Sasuke had been one of Naruto's closest friends for many years and he trusted him with his life, but even he was willing to admit that Sasuke could be horribly intimidating.
"You'll get nothing from me!" the prisoner continued to struggle. "I will remain loyal and pure!"
Sasuke smirked. "Funny, that's exactly what your friends said before they met me. Let's see if I can keep my streak going."
Before the prisoner could respond, the Uchiha prodigy's eyes turned dark red as he activated his infamous Sharingan. Naruto almost felt bad for the man. No one could defend themselves against the awesome might of the Uchiha dōjutsu. In mere seconds, Sasuke had gotten the information he needed and released the man from his stare. The prisoner slumped forward, his mind all but completely shattered by the intrusion.
"Well, I'd like to say this wasn't a complete waste of time," said Sasuke disdainfully. "But sadly, this one didn't know much more than the others."
"Dammit!" cried Naruto, slamming his fists into his desk. "You mean you weren't able to find out anything about these guys?"
Sasuke shook his head. "I was able to find out their given names, approximate strength, and the little information any of them seemed to have about their mission. Of the four of them, this one was by far the strongest, but that doesn't mean much. He was barely above the skill of our genin. Explains why Nara's team was able to so easily apprehend them."
"Hey, give them a little bit of credit," came a lazy retort from Nara Shikamaru. Throughout all the interrogations that had gone on in the last couple of hours, he had mainly sat back and observed, feeling that if the Hokage needed his opinion, he'd ask the shadow wielder.
Sasuke smirked. "No offense meant, Shikamaru, but even you should admit that this mission must have a been a breeze for your son's team."
Shikamaru shrugged. "Anyways, you said you weren't able to get much out of them, right? I don't understand, shouldn't your Sharingan been able to pick apart their minds with ease? I mean, Kakashi could back in the day, and he didn't have anywhere near your proficiency."
A dark scowl fell upon Sasuke's face. "I honestly don't know how, but they were somehow able to shield themselves from me. It's like an impenetrable fog was covering up their memories. I don't doubt that they themselves wouldn't be able to call forth any real memories."
"How troublesome," remarked Shikamaru, putting his hands together as he thought. "So even though they are much weaker than us, our jutsu seem to have little effect on them, is that what you're saying? Shikaji said in his report that this man was unaffected by Shadow Possession. I know people can break out possession if they're strong enough, but this is something different. Not to mention, the Sharingan can't even see through their mental blocks. Whoever these ninja work for must know quite a bit about the Leaf Village." Shikamaru paused. "By the way, did either of you notice the symbol on his headband? A black circle. Didn't one of the Inuzuka mention something like this after the attack on their compound eight years ago?"
Sasuke nodded. "I was able to put a name to the headband. These guys were ninja from Yamigakure, the Village Hidden in Darkness."
"'The village Hidden in Darkness'?" Naruto raised an eyebrow questioningly. "I've never heard of that one."
"That's because we have no record of such a village existing," replied Shikamaru. "Which means they're a new village, or one that takes the word 'hidden' a bit too seriously."
"I also haven't heard of this village at all. I don't believe even Orochimaru had any information about them," said Sasuke darkly.
"Well, we're going to find this village and show them that messing with the Leaf Village is a huge mistake dattebayo!" exclaimed Naruto.
"Calm down, you idiot," said Sasuke. He was one of very few ninja who dared talk to the Hokage like that. "We have no leads. We know next to nothing about this village, or its ninja. We can't just go running off chasing shadows. We need a plan."
"I can only think of a handful of shinobi who might have an idea of where to start looking, but most of them are dead," said Shikamaru. "If this village has been around for a while, then I don't doubt the Akatsuki would have known about them. However, the only Akatuski member still alive is dumb as a doornail and even if he weren't, there's no way I'd dig him up. Otherwise, Lady Tsunade has been around for a long time, and has traveled all over the place, so she might have heard something. Also, Kakashi was in ANBU for many years. Maybe he can tell us something."
"Alright!" said Naruto. He put two fingers in his mouth and blew sharply. Immediately, two masked ANBU ninja appeared in response to the whistle. "You two, go find Hatake Kakashi and Grandma Tsunade and bring them here immediately!"
"As you command, Lord Hokage," the two ANBU replied in unison before once more disappearing.
"Now there's not much we can do but wait and see if those two know anything," Shikamaru said lazily while leaning back in his chair and lighting a cigarette.
"Shikamaru, what are you doing?" Naruto asked. "I thought you gave up smoking."
Shikamaru exhaled, letting a ring of smoke escape his lips. "I tried quitting when the kids were born, but it's too troublesome."
"I seem to recall a certain blonde kunoichi threatening to, and I quote, 'Beat your ass so hard you won't be able to sit for a year if you don't quit that disgusting habit,'" said Sasuke. "Aren't you afraid she smell the smoke on you?"
"Afraid? Why would I be afraid of my wife? Just because she's short-tempered, prone to violence, and is rather fond of hitting me with her iron fan that probably weighs as much as she does, doesn't mean I'm afraid of her," replied the head of the Nara clan, impressively managing to keep the fear out of his voice.
However, despite his words, he still quickly extinguished the cigarette and threw it out, much to the amusement of Naruto and Sasuke.
