A.N.: This is my first attempt at a Naruto fanfic. Don't flame me please, because they will not be heeded, maybe; depending on my mood, anyway. I don't own Naruto. Isn't it obvious?
Prologue: Leaving without a trace
The night was young and the moon was hovering over Konohagakure with all its glory, watching everything, yet nothing at the same time. The wind blew, strong enough to make one off-balance and cold enough to make one shiver. The streets were devoid of people, they either went back to their homes or were at the local pub, drinking and being drunk.
Hyoujin looked at the moon once, sighed, and dashed as fast as he could to the Hokage's tower. He was a tall man, slightly taller than six feet with a pair of strong arms and legs. His white hair was long and tied to a loose ponytail behind his neck. The man wore a white changbao (think of Jet Li's clothes from the movie 'Fearless'), a pair of white cotton pants and a pair of black cloth shoes. On his back was a scimitar he would use to cut someone down if necessary.
The tall man arrived not long after his arrival. His mission there was simple, get in, grab a child, leave, and go to the meeting place. And besides, the child had blonde hair, blue eyes, and whisker marks on his cheek. How hard could that be?
The room that contained the child was near the window, it was a walk in the park for him to get in and grab the child. He knew that there were traps, trip wires, and whatnot placed on the room, but he didn't have much of a choice; better to be chased down by ANBU and Hunter-nins than to be late and miss the meeting, he thought.
Without hesitation, Hyoujin snatched the boy who was named Uzumaki Naruto and ran like hell to the window before jumping out, greeting the night with a mad dash to the borders of Konohagakure.
When the Sandaime was woken up by the news of the kidnapping, he immediately issued order to three ANBU squads to chase the perpetrator down and question him.
The ANBU team members were slightly disgruntled by the fact that their mission was to help a child whom they knew was the Kyuubi vessel. They didn't like it, but knew the consequences if they fail; the Kyuubi would most likely, be able to roam the land again, ravaging everything in his path, including their village.
They ran to where the guards last saw him as quick as possible and wished that the perpetrator didn't have any backup.
"Seems like I made it just in time," Hyoujin said to the three people standing near a large tree.
"But you forgot about your surroundings," a woman wearing a crimson robe said. Her long crimson streaked brown hair was shoulder-long and she didn't bother tying it like her brother and sister.
"Don't worry about it, Asuka, these lowlifes will prove to be a minor threat," the other man in the group said. His moss green eyes flashed with malice as he re-tied his dark green bandanna whose long ties swished in the air and dusting his deep green gi top and gray hakama.
"The only thing that needed worry was on how we should dispose of them. Old man Sarutobi was rather a friend of ours, we shouldn't chop off his subordinates' heads. It wouldn't be fair," Asuka replied.
"That won't be a problem. A shock wouldn't be too bad for the mind, right, Dokuhebi?" Hyoujin said to the other woman in the group.
She wore black ninja clothing and her black hair was tied to a high ponytail. She uncrossed her arms from her well-proportioned chest and turned to her brother. "They're coming. Man, I'm getting excited. How strong do you think they are, Shunrai?"
"Damn weak," Shunrai said as he adjusted his straw sandals and tabi socks. "They'll be nothing but a group of stuttering idiots in a matter of moments," he finished as he let out a maniacal laughter.
True to the word, six ANBU members emerged from the tree they were leaning on. They all had their standard robe and mask on, but they all lacked one thing: awareness.
Within less than a second, the four had already beat the ANBU into unconsciousness, gave them a false memory of being beaten up by a bear, and had broken masks whose shards pierced the high level ninjas' faces.
"That bear thing was a damn lame one, Hyoujin," Dokuhebi said, irritated, "You really can't be the humorous one of us, can you, Mr. Lame?"
Hyoujin stayed silent and let his brother answer. "Better than making them see us. Besides, I don't think that mind controlling jutsu works on them. Oh, and by the way, three of them are already coming to," Shunrai replied, followed by a sigh from his sisters.
The newly conscious ANBU members ran towards the escaping four and almost caught up to them if it weren't for a tree that jutted out of the ground. A cat mask wearing ANBU crashed into it and once again lost his consciousness, definitely the weakest of the six.
His companions leapt out of the way and increased their speed, hoping to get to them. They really didn't expect the narrow alley of trees that led to the clearing where the quartet stopped at; was that it was closing with sharp wood spikes which moved fast and quickly sealed the entrance. The sharp branches impaled one of the pursuers while the remaining ones jumped up, escaping the flurry of branches.
'Mokuton jutsu? How did this bastard know about it?' an ANBU thought.
"Simple, because he can," Asuka answered as if she read his mind, "Now, be gone. Bōrei-en!"
Then, two orbs of black fire shot from around her to the pursuers. They used Kawarimi to escape it, but found that they couldn't. The ghostly flame burned through the wooden log they used to escape and they turned their attention towards the escaping duo. The fireball turned into burning orbs souls whose scream pierced their ears.
The ANBU members tried using Kawarimi again, yet before they even had the chance, the blazing orb split into hundreds of smaller orbs and it consumed them, leaving nothing at all, no corpse, and no ash. With a click of the fingers, Asuka willed them to disappear, and so they did.
"That was rather unnecessary. I could handle them," Shunrai stated.
"But it would take more time. Now, let's go. I'm not sure my shoulder could hold for long. This kid's no feather," Hyoujin whined.
"Hey, for a supposed tiger, you sound like a cat," Dokuhebi joked.
"Whatever. Better to get him out of here anyway," Shunrai replied for his brother lazily, keeping his MPD suffering brother, or so he claimed calm.
"I agree, but wait for a while, okay?" Asuka asked. "I want to leave a message for Sarutobi-jii-san."
Her siblings just shrugged it off and told her to do it quick, which she did. The message was simple, 'Naruto is safe with us. We will return him in six years or more. Signed, Shitenoo.' She inserted the paper to a tube she strapped to the leg of a pigeon and let it fly.
The brunette went back to her siblings and waited as a large pillar of light hit them and teleported them away, leaving a messenger pigeon, an ANBU corpse, and three unconscious ANBU the four accidentally hit a little too hard.
Sandaime really didn't know the Shitenoo would be that radical. They were unpredictable, he knew; always doing what they want and following their own will, but kidnapping a child? That was really unnecessary. If they asked, he would surely give away Naruto's guardianship to the four. Would you really do that? Your heart finds it too hard to loose him; much less loosing someone who is like him, His sub-conscious whispered.
True, but he could live a normal live in here, rather than countless years of training with them. He could die! The old man thought.
What made you think that the citizens of your precious village won't go and try to kill the boy as he sleeps? It asked
He is a hero who saved everyone from the Kyu…
And you think everyone views him as a hero? You're too naïve, it sneered. The Uchiha clan could care less about a demon containing child and would brag about their prodigy, the stuck-up Hyuuga would ignore everything regarding the matter. There is little if not none who supports you in this. Heed my words; the council is going to turn a blind eye towards Naruto's assassination attempt, if not support it. Let him go. He will not disappoint them. He will be stronger that way. Through a loss, one can gain countless benefits.
The Hokage sighed at his inability to protect the blond haired boy and would probably start his internal debate again and ended up in the same result until a loud knock turned him to the door.
"Hokage-sama!" a jounin yelled. "The ANBU from last night's search have returned!"
The old man knew that they lost. He turned to the search party and looked at them worriedly. "Where are the rest?" he asked.
"Gone," an ape mask wearing ANBU stated. "One was killed with a mokuton jutsu. Two are missing with no trace at all."
"Very well, you may take your leave," Sarutobi said. 'These six years are going to be the longest one I'm going to have,' he thought.
A.N.: What do you think? Good? Bad? Needs edit? Whatever you think about the story, please give me a review. For the pairings, I'll make it a Naruto-female Haku pairing. For yaoi lovers, there won't be any! If you want to add other pairings, let me know. I'll try to do it, if I can or want to.