Prologue

Cold rain fell from the black sky hard and fast. The wind blew fiercely making the trees thrash around violently. Lightning flashed and lighted the skies and the ground beneath us. Thunder boomed and echoed making the forest shake. It seemed like a nightmare, a never ending horror.

"Hitoshi!" I shouted above the howling winds. "We need to split up!"

"Are you crazy?" He shouted back, his hazel eyes darting from the path ahead to me.

"I'm serious. Let me handle them!" I insisted as we leaped to the next tree.

"No, I will not allow it!" He objected. "I won't let you get killed!"

"Are you stupid?" I demanded, my anger mixing with my adrenaline. "The mission means more than my life!"

"I said no!" He repeated and the scars on his cheek seemed to pop. "I out rank you and I say no!"

Lightning flashed and struck a tree behind us, as the flames began to spread the tree crashed to the ground. Thunder soon followed and its boom left a loud ringing in my ears. By now our clothes were soaked and goose bumps formed on our skin. But the rain never stopped, instead it increased and it bombarded us as we jumped from tree to tree.

"I don't give a damn about your rank!" I yelled. "The mission cannot fail!"

"Then let me take care of them," Hitoshi offered.

"It'd be better if I did," I started to explain. "Because you know where we're going, and they know who you are. You're faster than I am so you can get there quicker!"

"But Hana-" He tried to say but I cut him off.

"GO! Defend the scroll!" I said as I tossed him the scroll. His eyes were sad and his face held uncertainty. I could feel our enemies approaching us and their blood thirst grew with each passing moment. I gave him a small reassuring smile I said, "I'll be fine,"

"Fine, but you better not die on me, ok?" He said.

"I won't! Now run!" I yelled and with a nod he was gone. For a few moments I stood there on my branch with my eyes closed, waiting. Their evil presence was coming closer as I listened to the noises around me. Slowly I took out an explosive kunai.

NOW! I snapped opened my eyes and I threw it at the tree in front of me. When the sharp metal weapon hit the tree lightning struck it, and the tree exploded. Covering my face from the flying pieces of bark and ash I landed on the slick ground.

"Not bad," a sinister female voice complimented me. "What do you think, Tetsuya?"

"We'll have to see how good she is," a male voice, I assume Tetsuya, said. I got into a defensive position as the two walk out from the flames, unburned, untouched. They wore simply clothing, yet nothing about them was simple. The man was pale, as if he was dead and wore a black cloth around his eyes, while the woman looked and felt like she was the bringer of death. "Now you'll be coming with us,"

"Or we kill you!" the girl said in a cheery yet bone chilling voice. She grinned as she looked at me with her depthless black eyes. "I think we shouldn't waste our time and just kill you instead!"

"No the master would like her alive, Chiyoko," Tetsuya deadpanned, his arms hanging lifelessly.

Chiyoko frowned and pouted, "Aw fine! But you ruin all my fun Tetsuya!"

"Now you're coming with us!" they said in unison.

"No way in hell!" I yelled before I pulled out my fans and charged them.

Almost a year ago I would have never thought that I would be in this position. I would have never guessed that I would change this much in less than a year. When I first became a ninja I never knew how much my actions could affect the things around me. I never knew how much he would affect me.

The day of graduation I had a nightmare. I don't remember much of the nightmare but I remember that it had something to do with Ino and Uchiha, and it scared me senseless…

I jolted up in my bed with cold sweat running down my face. My lungs ached and my breathing was shallow and ragged. With wide eyes I placed my hand on my chest and felt my heart thump wildly against my ribs. For a few moments I sat there in the darkness and waited for my body to calm down.

What the hell was that? I thought as scenes from the dream flashed in my mind. I saw lightning, fire, my sister's tears, and nothing. Then I looked at my clock and heaved a great sigh.

Great! Time to get up and go to the academy! I thought as I wiped the sweat off my forehead. What a great way to start off the day! Let's just get this over with!

With another sigh I got up from my warm bed and stretched my muscles. After I stretched I headed to the curtains and opened them, letting the beautiful morning light wash over my room and erase my worries. With a smile I walked to my dresser and got out a pair of clothes. As I peered out of my door I saw that Ino was not yet awake and I took the chance to shower first.

For a while I stood there with my eyes closed, and let the nice hot water rinse over my cold skin. Noticing that my fingers were starting wrinkle I let out a lazy sigh and got out of the shower. Quickly I dried myself off and got dressed. Then I walked across the hall to Ino's room.

When I opened the door I found her sleeping peacefully in her bed with a little drool on the corner of her lip. Some part of me wanted to let her sleep, but I had to do what I had to do. So I walked quietly to her bed and shook her shoulder lightly.

"Hey Ino, rise and shine!" I said but she just groaned and rolled over making me grumble in annoyance. Then I whispered in her ear, "Ino if you don't hurry Sakura will get there before you and then she'll get to have Sasuke all to herself,"

"AH! Sasuke-kun!" Ino screamed as she shot out of bed. Her hair was messy from her night's sleep, and her pajamas were a little ruffled. I laughed as I watched my sister scurry around her room like a mad man (or woman in her case) and headed toward the door.

"Hey Ino, I'll go see what's for breakfast!" I told her as I left her room. When I walked into the kitchen I was greeted by complete silence. I looked around the small room and found a note that mom had left us.

Great, so mom had to leave early to open the shop and dad is off doing his ninja stuff. I thought after I read the note. So I guess we're having cereal this morning!

I grabbed two bowls from the cabinet, poured the cereal into my bowl and then the milk. Then I grabbed a spoon and sat at the table, enjoying what little peace and quiet that I would get today. After a little while Ino came into the kitchen and fixed herself a bowl while I put mine in the sink. I walked back to my room and looked at my reflection in the mirror.

Ino and I looked so much alike; the same blue eyes, the same blond hair except mine was cut short, and even the same smile! We're confident, outgoing, stubborn, and we'll say what we want when we need to. But while Ino is loud and a little cocky I'm ill tempered and mostly quiet. And another thing that is different between us is that she is madly in love with Sasuke Uchiha (along with almost every other girl our age) while I think he's a jerk and hate his guts! So while she is trying to get close to Uchiha I'm out sharpening my ninja skills.

But the one thing that I hate about being twins is that everyone tries to put us together. It use to be that people would get us mixed up a lot, well until Ino found out that Uchiha liked girls with long hair and she grew her hair out while I kept mine the same. And yet after that for a while people still got us confused! We're two totally different people, but some people still don't understand that. I mean I love my sister to death, but there are times when want to kill her because of our differences (mom says it's a sibling thing, sometimes I seriously doubt that).

Ugh! Why should I worry about this? I sighed and shook my head. Then I took my brush and ran it through my hair. I really shouldn't worry since we'll be graduating soon and they'll probably put us on separate teams!

"Hana-chan hurry up or we'll be late!" Ino yelled making me laugh at the irony of what she said. I quickly put on my black ninja sandals and raced out the door. I met Ino outside of the house and we head to the academy together with grins on faces and a bounce in our steps.

"We will now start the final exam." Iruka-sensei explained "When your name is called proceed to the testing room. The final test will be on the clone jutsu,"

YES! This is going to be so easy! I smiled and giggled to myself. My fears washed away as my excitement rose along with my confidence. As we waited for our names to be called we chatted with our classmates to pass the time. Finally after a few hours of watching my classmates come out of the testing room with grins on their faces and new ninja headbands in the hands, my name was called.

"Hanako Yamanaka," Iruka-sensei called. I smirked and got up from my seat, I could just feel my excitement coming out of me in waves. This is it!

"Go luck Hana-chan!" Ino whispered next to me.

"Thanks," I whispered back. I walked into the testing room and awaited instructions from my senseis.

"Okay Hanako, you must make at least three stable clones," Iruka told me and I grinned. I took a deep breath, did the correct hand sign, and concentrated hard.

"Clone jutsu!" I yelled. When the smoke cleared I found five perfect copies of myself.

"Congratulations Hanako! You are now a Genin!" Iruka-sensei said as he hand me a leaf headband and Mizuki-sensei smiled. "Good job Hanako,"

Damn straight- oh it's shiny! I tied the headband around my waist and headed out the door. As I went out the door Iruka called out "Ino Yamanaka,"

"Good luck little sis!" I gave her a thumps up as Ino passed me. Ino smiled and went into the room. Then I waited patiently for her to finish and when she came out she wore her headband around her waist like me. When Ino and I came out of the academy we were greeted by our smiling father. He hugged us both and told us of proud he was.

"Come on girls let's go home for a celebration dinner!" our father said. As we began to leave I noticed Naruto sitting on the swing, all by himself, without a headband and a sad look on his face.

Poor Naruto, I thought, my face saddening as I watched him. His usually bright blue eyes were now somber. His goofy grin was gone and was replaced with a frown. Even his spunky atmosphere had evaporated.

"Hanako, come on!" Ino called out as her and dad stood outside the academy's gate, waiting for me.

"Uh-" I looked back at the swing only to find it empty. "I'm coming!"

When I got home, my family and I started eating. We laughed and chatted for hours, and then Ino and I put our dishes away and said goodnight as we went to our rooms. I quickly changed into a black tank top and gray shorts. For a while I just laid in my bed looking up at the ceiling and thought of what happened today. Then I slowly slipped into a dark horror filled sleep.