DISCLAIMER! I don't own Naruto...although I wish I did...*sigh* oh well.

Chapter 1

Tsunade slammed her fifth swig of sake down on the table. Her fatigued honey eyes shot up glaring at the team she ordered to her office before glancing back down at the scroll splayed before her on her desk. "As I'm sure you are all aware, there are rumors of S class shinobi hiding something at the country's borders. This 'something' is what I want you all to retrieve. From the evidence found it does not seem to be a scroll, but a person. Why these shinobi are so desperate to keep this person hidden is unknown."

Tsunade shifted her gaze back up to meet the eyes of team 7 before continuing. Each member seemed more interested after that bit of information. "There is, what we assume to be, a base along the border which has recently been heavily guarded. Last week I sent a team of anbu to investigate." She bowed her head slightly towards her desk. "This scroll was all that came back." The air in the room suddenly became heavier.

Tsunade surveyed each member's face.

The team consisted of three boys around the age of seventeen. On the left was Uzumaki Naruto, a boy of immense strength and jinchuriki to the nine tailed fox. He stared straight into the Hokage's eyes, his own hardening practically screaming he was up for a challenge. In the middle was Uchiha Sasuke, a well known prodigy and heir to the Uchiha clan. He remained stoic as ever but underneath his onyx orbs she could see interest swirling beneath the surface. On the far right was Sai, a former member of ROOT serving as a temporary member due to there not being enough graduates to equally provide each team with a three man cell. Tsunade's eyes drifted toward the door last to address the presence of their seemingly uninterested former teacher, Hatake Kakashi.

"Unfortunately there is hardly any information about the person you must find. All that is clear is that said person is believed to be female and locked in the chamber on the far left side of the base."

"How do you know that?"

Tsuande focused her attention on the blonde haired boy who just spoke. "Because that is the room that is the most guarded." From the looks she was receiving from the team she could tell that they were a bit skeptical on the matter. Tsunade sighed as she took another swig of sake before she continued, this time her eyes clouded in dark curiosity. "It was also mentioned that an ominous chakra was shrouding that area and the tortured screams of a female were heard from that chamber."

The blonde stepped forward with a determined look on his face. "This sounds like a heroic rescue mission." He broke out into a grin, "I'm ready!"

"Wait," Sai spoke for the first time "Why exactly do we need to retrieve this girl?" Tsunade smirked, "because she has something these S class criminals want. This means she most likely has something I want. She could benefit us should she be on our side. Otherwise she may become a great threat if she remains with them."

"Understood."

"Good. You have now been assigned to this S Class mission and are to begin tomorrow at dawn. You are all dismissed!" Her voiced boomed before swiveling around in her chair, leaving them to exit.

"Now, what ability do you possess little girl?" Tsunade mumbled to herself staring out her office window.

"Finally an S class mission! I've grown tired of these measly escort missions," Naruto grunted in distaste as he leaned against the entrance of the village gate.

"Make sure you don't slow us down dobe. This is a mission that won't allow screw ups." Sasuke retorted in a stuck up manner as he moved to stand across from the blonde. Naruto shot him a fierce glare that Sasuke shot right back at him. Sai merely gazed at them with his infamous fake smile plastered on his face.

"Now, now you guys save the fighting for the battlefield," Kakashi spoke as he strode up to the boys with his head buried behind the orange book in his hand. Naruto and Sasuke broke eye contact with a huff before following Kakashi's lead out of the village with Sai close behind.

They traveled in a basic diamond formation with Kakashi in the front, Naruto and Sasuke flanked behind him, and Sai following up at the rear. Silence loomed over the team as the weight of this mission began to sink in. Even Kakashi had discarded his book back into his holster leaving no cause for distractions. Each member wondered what they were going to face once they reached the border. It was always a bit unnerving when an anbu group does not return after a mission. The limited information of the S class shinobi involved and the female in question posed as another cause for anxiety.

After about two hours of traveling through the trees they began to slow down their pace as they steadily approached the supposed location of the hidden base. Kakashi held his hand up signaling for the others to stop as the base came into view. He glanced back at them briefly before ushering them forward. They each sensed about fifteen shinobi present in the base. A larger amount was felt at the far left chamber right where Tsunade has specified. Approximately eight shinobi were down that hall. However Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he realized something was missing. He glanced at his teammates to see if they were thinking the same thing. By the hardened expressions on their faces they were. Where is the dark chakra?

There was nothing special about any of the chakra signatures within the base. Naruto turned his attention to Kakashi as he asked, "Is it possible that they moved the girl to another location?" Kakashi continued to stare at the base as he responded, "I was thinking the same thing. After all it's not unusual for something like that to happen." It was at that moment a large surge of charka spiked in the base and each member of team 7 became quickly alert again.

"So much for that theory," Sasuke grunted as they all sprinted into the base. Right after entering they were soon met with five men. Naruto quickly made kage bunshins and stormed into action as a flurry of kunai assaulted them. He easily evaded them as team 7 moved forward fluidly. Sasuke quickly activated his sharingan and wasted no time cutting down the shinobi. Within seconds team 7 came out as victorious.

"That was surprisingly simple…" Naruto mussed in a puzzled manner.

"I was thinking the same thing," said Sasuke his onyx orbs flashing underneath his sharingan. Kakashi glanced over the fallen shinobi. "That must mean that they needed the more powerful shinobi where it is needed most right now," Kakashi said as he shared a meaningful look with his team. They all then glanced down the hall toward the left corridor. All of a sudden the base shook as another large surge of chakra erupted from down the hall. A cold chill ran down their spines as the air suddenly became cold and began to feel like it was choking them.

"Sai, draw up a rat and have it survey the area down that hall," Kakashi commanded trying to suppress the alarm seeping into his tone.

"Hai!" Sai quickly complied as his paint brush glided over the paper in fine but quick delicate strokes. A small rat immerged from the paper and then proceeded to scamper down the hall turning left. Sai let out a gasp after a few moments his eyes widening as a startled look crossed his usually unexpressive face.

"What?!" Naruto quickly prompted.

"…" Sai continued to stare blankly ahead where the rat disappeared from sight.

"Sai! What happened damn it?!" Naruto was quickly growing impatient, Sasuke and Kakashi as well however they weren't the type to act out.

"They are all dead."

"What do you mean they are all dead? Isn't there suppose to be like ten other guys?" Naruto yelled.

Sai shot Naruto a glare as he spoke his next words sharply, "they are all dead and there is an extremely thick black chakra coming from that chamber."

Naruto gulped, taking in that information before quickly setting his face in a stern frown as he dashed down the hall to inspect what the hell happened.

"Naruto!" Kakashi yelled.

Sasuke clenched his jaw as he sprinted after the blonde idiot, the other two hot on his heels. Once they rounded the corner they saw Naruto staring into the room a look of shock on his face. The dark chakra long gone. They sprinted to join his side and gazed into the room their guard on high alert only to be shocked by what they saw.

"No way," Naruto breathed out.

A/N:Sooooo this is my first story yay! I've read so much naruto fanfiction and thought it was time to give it a shot so I picked up an old story after doing some Composition homework and went for it :D I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!