The gentle pitter-patter of water filled the darkened room. Off in the distance, tiny beacons of light had been making its attempt to blaze through and brighten the area, but fizzled out before it even remotely made an impact. "Shishi, the candle." The voice that spoke was calm yet stern. Within that second, the sound of shuffling was heard, followed by a light clank, as the one known as Shishi retrieved the candle the voice sought after. "Fire release: Great fireball jutsu." The area was immediately lit ablaze, as a fireball shot out of the abyss, and into the candle, lighting its flame. Once the fireball passed harmlessly out of the beacons of light, revealed to be the exit to the cave, the room was lit by a dull orange light. The voice which had been so calmly speaking belonged to a young male. His hair was the color of the night sky, and multiple bangs hung across his tan face, most particularly across the bridge of his nose and in his right eye, as well as covering his ears and majority of his cheeks. His hair seemed to spike downward, until it reached his neck where it became long and straight, finally ending at his lower back. His eyes were closed, and upon further examination it could be seen that he had been plopped upon a tall chair, which cast over the other chairs as well as the table the candle had been resting upon. He wore a crimson cloak with yellow trim, which appeared more like a cape. It draped over his shoulders and slightly over his arms, but revealed his exposed and well toned torso. The cloak ended near his knees, which had been covered by black pants.
"So what's the plan, Tora?" The one, who spoke, Shishi, had the majority of his face hidden by his crimson hood. His eyes, completely pupil-less, had a lavender tint to them. Compared to his comrade, he was bulkier, but his muscles still weren't bulging with unnecessary strength. Underneath his cloak, he wore a sleeveless, white fighter's gi with matching white pants. For a belt, he simply bore a black obi. The most peculiar thing about this ninja though, was that he had twin swords on his back.
"Hey did you hear? The Fourth Hokage died a few days ago, sealing the nine tailed fox in some brat." The voice that spoke was rather large and rather bulky, unlike Tora or Shishi. He was dark skinned, and seemed to be a few year older than the two, although the lack of sophistication in his voice caused people to think otherwise. He was shirtless, further showing off his well defined physique. His pants however, were black with gold trim in order to match Tora and Shishi's cloaks. From his knuckles to his elbow, the man's arm was covered by bandages. His eyes burned with the color of his pant's trim, and his snow colored hair was cut close to his skin. His face was contorted in a grin as he talked, which made him look especially wicked under the low light setting.
"Yes, I heard Kuma." Tora answered the man; eyes still closed. "But, knowing that man it wasn't just a random brat. I suspect it was a close friend's child, a family member's child, or his own child." Tora was originally from Konoha, so he personally knew the Fourth Hokage.
"Would he really have gone that far?" Completely offsetting the seemingly all male cast, a slightly seductive sounding female spoke. Her hair was a light brown color and slightly wavy, besides her curled bangs and curled ends of her hair, which rested upon her lower back. Her eye color matched her hair color, but she had bright red make up over each eye. Her skin was the color of caramel, and looked about as smooth. It almost seemed like the only thing she wore was her cloak, and even that was zipped low to reveal her cleavage and was a bit shorter than the male's to reveal her silky-smooth legs. She put a lot of care and attention into her looks, which visibly annoyed Tora.
"Yes, Usagi. That's just the kind of guy he is." Tora had great admiration for the Fourth Hokage, which was the only thing that allowed him to hide the annoyance in his voice with how low Usagi's top was cut. Her large breasts were practically spilling out of her top, something that Kuma tended to eye when he was tired of listening to Tora speak.
"Too bad, he would have made a good addition to our group." A second female's voice spoke, although this one sounded more sarcastic and bored than Usagi. She had bangs with purple tips hanging across her tanned face, and almost invading the space of her emerald eyes. Her hair was tied neatly in a high ponytail, which extended down to the middle of her back. Unlike Usagi, this female dressed more modestly. Her cloak was zipped up completely and was actually larger than needed to be for her short body. The very bottom of her tanned pants were displayed, but other than that her clothing was an enigma.
"I agree, Ookami." Tora's eyes remained closed, as if he was uninterested in the chatter that had started up.
"Bullshit. A weakling like that couldn't beat Tora, let alone me." Kuma proudly exclaimed. His statement caused Tora's eyes to snap open, revealing his eyes to be a fiery red color. He also had three, tomoe-like marks in his eyes which seemed to move in closer when he narrowed his eyes. Tora almost never turned off his clan's bloodline dojutsu, the Sharingan, and with his chakra reserves he never needed to.
"Are you implying that you are stronger than I?"
"Are you implying that you can prove me wrong?" Kuma was a courageous one, being the only one who ever dared to challenge Tora. He was also an arrogant one however, which Tora tended to remind himself of from time to time to prevent him from killing his comrade.
"Alright, let's lower the testosterone." The final female in the room finally broke her silence. She was pale skinned and slightly short, although that seemed to be a common theme among the females. Her brown hair was rather long and wavy, yet managed to stay clear of her face and forehead. Her eyes were brown to match her hair, and she was slightly bustier than Ookami, but leagues away from Usagi. Her cloak lacked the hood like the other's did, and it was shorter so that it only served as a shirt. She had short, tan shorts for pants, which left much of her legs revealed.
"I agree with Neko." Ookami threw a quick thumbs up to Neko, before making a sudden realization. "Where is Kitsune?"
"She should be here any moment. She was making a map of our area." Tora explained, which earned a loud, teeth sucking from another male in the group. The male was dark skinned, like Kuma, and with a similar hair style. However, his hair was black rather than white, and he possessed a small, thin ponytail which ended before his shoulders. He wore the same cloak as his comrades, but his was worn with similar length as Ookami's, and it had the sleeves torn off. His body type was average; not too bulky or fat yet not too toned or skinny. "Problem, Saru?"
"Yeah, how come she gets to do as she pleases yet we get in trouble if we're late?" Saru folded his arms in disgust when he spoke, considering that he was in the group longer than Kitsune was.
"Because, you can't make a map." Kitsune had arrived just in time to hear Saru's complaining. Kitsune had shoulder-length brown hair, with bangs which curled over her right eye. Her forehead was left exposed, as was her light brown eyes for the most part. Her frame was similar to Usagi's, right down to the large breast and wide hips. The difference between the two however, was Kitsune didn't flaunt it as much. Her cloak was short and although it didn't reveal her cleavage, it was skin tight. The sleeves were short, which revealed her arm, and the cloak itself ended at her waist. She wore blue pants on top of her legs and a ring on both her ring finger and on a small necklace. She dropped the map she just made upon the table, but was suddenly jolted into a shock.
"What is it?" Tora questioned.
"I sense several shinobi coming this way." Kitsune was a sensor type kunoichi, and was able to detect chakra fairly well.
"You were followed?!" Saru exclaimed, nearly jumping up from his seat. Kitsune held her head down a bit. She had been so preoccupied with returning to the meeting in time, that she didn't sense them behind her. Tora simply stared into Kitsune's eyes, before sighing.
"I suppose it can't be helped. I guess the plans will have to be altered." Tora hopped down from his chair so that he was even length with the other seven in the room. "Neko and Usagi. You two will gather supplies from the town nearby. Shishi and Ookami, now you two will be in charge of liberating the child, Kame and make him join us."
"And if he doesn't?" Shishi questioned.
"Then kill him." Tora sounded especially sinister when he said this.
"Cool." Ookami grinned, patting Shishi on the back.
"Saru and Kuma. You two are going to deal with the Anbu squad we talked about yesterday. As for you Kitsune, we're going to have to clean up the mess you've managed to muck up. Then we'll find a new hideout and contact the others. You all have your assignments. Let's go." Tora blew out the candle and cranked open the entrance to the cave. Twenty fully armed shinobi stood waiting for them, all prepared for a fight to the death. It was to be expected, after all, each one of their group, known as Noble Hunters, were S ranked missing shinobi in the bingo book. Kuma and Saru left first, vanishing towards the north. Next were Neko and Usagi, who vanished with a swirl of rocks and sapphire crystals, respectively. Finally, Shishi grabbed Ookami and the two vanished in a swirl of lighting. "Ready yourself, Kitsune."
Kitsune pulled out a trench knife, which instantly became infused with her wind element chakra. "I'm ready." Kitsune's normally bubbly appearance faded away, and she instead became focused on the battle.
"Tora Uchiha and Kitsune, the two of you will be killed!" One of their opponents boasted. Tora said nothing, but simply closed his eyes.
"Yeah right, by you people? If those are your last words, you're pissing on god's generosity that granted you a few more seconds. Well, fine. Today, I will play the role of grim reaper." Tora's eyes snapped open. Although they maintained their red tone, the pupil completely changed shape. His eyes now appeared to have a black cross formation within his eyes. On top of that, a black 'x' seemed to appear within his eyes as well, with the x's points extended out in between the points of the cross, albeit shorter.
"Mangekyo Sharingan!" Tora cried out, as he prepared for battle.