This is a re-write of my previous story 'Where Loyalties Lie', after thinking it over and where I wanted to take it and also not really liking what I had previously wrote. I am in no way an expert writer and any reviews would help me. Except for flamers, as this is my first (technically 2nd) story there will undoubtedly be mistakes, typos, and the general things that may put people off. I'm not perfect, so get over it.

Also things will be slightly AU (obviously) so that the time line fits, but trust me, they aren't major changes or anything overly drastic.

As far as OC's go, there will be a number of them, but I'd like to know when they're approaching Mary Sue/ Gary Stu status, so that we can avoid it.

Finally, later in the story the bloodline will be blatantly obvious as to where I got it from (if you hadn't figured it out already), and I do not own the concept. I'm using it as a base for the kekkei genkai of my OC's clan, and WILL be explained. . . when the time is right.

I don't own Naruto, only the OC's, original plot, and things of that nature. But then again, what's really original anymore. . .you get the point.

I hope you all enjoy the story and once again, please review.

Prologue: Chapter 1: The First of Many

(Two Years Before Kyuubi, 20 miles East of the Land of Hot Springs)

The forest truly was a thing of beauty, especially at this time of night. The moonlight just seemed to bounce and dance amongst the leaves as a soft breath of wind gave them life. A civilian would think it dark, but the moon provided a certain eerie vividness to the dark wood, more than enough for a shinobi to operate in.

'A little chakra to one's eyes doesn't hurt neither,' one man thought, sitting atop a thick branch with his legs dangling off the edge. There was nothing discernible about him, his figure and face blocked by a black cloak and a white mask. Upon closer examination however, under the left eye slit there sat a red '0' etched into the surface.

The man never moved from his perch, even as he sensed another presence land behind him, dressed similarly, yet without any detail to his mask. Keeping his gaze out on the dark abyss that made up the forest of Fire Country, the man asked with authority, "Perimeter?"

The individual straightened and answered accordingly, "The perimeter is secure Captain, and camp has been set," his voice was lighter, obviously younger than his captain, but there was something else there as well...

The Captain chuckled quietly, still audible to his subordinate, "You're too rigid boy," he played it off for the boy's sake, but inside it gave him a new reason to be alert, "How's the package?"

The boy shifted his weight, upset with the term. A moment passed and when no response was given the captain turned slightly, catching the junior ANBU at the edge of his vision. Snapping out of his funk, the boy spoke albeit reluctantly. "The others are watching over the package, Sir."

Sighing to himself, the captain stretched out his arms then slowly stood to face the boy, "Good, head back. I'll be there shortly." Nodding, the boy vanished in a cloud of mist. Reaching into his cloak the captain pulled out a folded map an opened it up before holding it to the base of the tree. If he was right then his squad would reach the capital by midday tomorrow, then look for a small harbor along the coast to charter a boat. They made great time, over a hundred miles today, hauling ass the entire trip.

He would've kept going, but his squad needed rest. Just in case.

Folding the map back up, he let his arms hang to his sides looking out into the darkness again.

Staring.

He wouldn't admit it, but he had felt off the whole time after attaining their objective. The informant had been spot on, the retrieval clean, no mishaps. Nothing went this well.

The Captain shook his head, then disappeared in the same manner to find himself in a small camp. There were no tents and no fire, as per his orders fueled by his paranoia.

The squad consisted of five, a regular cell plus one more to watch over the 'package'. Said package was a bundle of cloth, held with the care that one might see a mother with her child. Funny, that it was indeed a woman whom held it, 'Green', identified by the green patterns on her mask.

He didn't look long at the package, as it brought some thoughts to the surface that were better left out of the mission. "Best get some sleep," he said aloud, "We're moving hard tomorrow, first light." He looked to the rest of his squad, the only difference other than size was the varying detail of their masks. 'Red' was the second woman, an experienced member of the team. That left only one more, 'Blue', the next ranking superior.

A man, taller than the captain himself stepped forward from the bushes, gaining everyone's attention. His mask had three blue lines running down the center, his voice deep and gruff as he spoke, "I'll take first watch Captain." he said, launching himself into the canopy without another word. The leader was fine with that, and was ready to turn in, but stopped himself short.

That feeling again. It sent shivers down his spine, and if it wasn't for his training, everyone would've seen it.

Gritting his teeth the captain followed after his subordinate. The man turned to see his C.O. and tilted his head slightly to the side, "Something up, Cap'n?"

"Stay alert, Huyu," he said with a severity to it, walking up to the man that stood a few inches taller than himself.

The two stared at each other, and Huyu understood the underlining order. He wouldn't have used his name if it wasn't absolutely serious. He'd known the captain a long time and he'd trust the man's gut on this. To be honest, he wasn't expecting to come out of this spotless, the fact that the peace had lasted this long was a miracle, not to mention what he'd found himself. "Understood, Kiroo."

Kiroo's nerves were put to ease, if only a little. But it was best to assume the worst in their current state of affairs, "How'd your check go?"

"I'm glad you asked," Huyu spoke, leaning himself against the tree, "I scouted our first line of traps..." Pulling the map again, Kiroo laid it out for both to see and Huyu pointed to a section of forest a hundred-fifty yards from camp. "I think we're being followed Cap'n. The traps weren't tripped, but from what I could tell, it looked as if they were being tested." His finger then moved towards the east, "I had to check it out, and good that I had," he looked right at the Captain, "same evidence."

Kiroo remained silent, looking at the map. Enemy scouts, had to be. He figured the only reason they hadn't been attacked yet was because the enemy was trying to determine who they were and condition of the package. "Good thing we left our headbands home, this would have bad repercussions if we fail." With the route he picked, anyone following would assume Kumogakure first, maybe Iwa which was highly plausible with their history with the Leaf.

Huyu chuckled, "What's worse than the war we're fighting now?" The humor was lost on the Captain and Huyu understood why, if the Leaf ever found out about this mission, about their village of origin...

Konoha wouldn't stop until their home was a smoldering pile of rubble.

Kiroo's eyes scanned the map again, looking for something to call out too him, shifting his gaze from the map to the camp he glanced over everyone.

Until his eyes rested on the boy, checking over his equipment. Despite the youngest member's field experience, mistakes happen in these kinds of ops, especially when they're not used to them, "Where did White set his traps?"

"West," Huyu answered quickly, "The enemy went south, so it'll take time to evaluate the whole perimeter, maybe three hours tops. Then they'll have to plan some kind of assault around capturing the package."

Kiroo peered over at his squad again and whistled lowly, when they looked to him he gestured for Red and she immediately leapt into the tree landing gracefully. Taking note of the situation she spoke in a slow and uncaring manner, belaying her actual professionalism, "...Complications?"

Meanwhile, back down in the camp White was starting to grow impatient. Or maybe it was nervousness, as he stood and paced around the clearing. He didn't like being left out, he felt like a glorified baby sitter, his eyes casting a fleeting glance towards the woman.

"Sit down," came a voice from behind him. He turned to Green, 'I hate these code-names, they're not even good ones,' he thought briefly before she continued, "Quiet your nerves, and you'll do fine. If you weren't capable, then you wouldn't be here." Normally he wouldn't have done so, her not in command and all. But something in her voice sounded familiar, like a distant memory.

He'd think about it later. Though he did notice she often spoke to him more than the others, other than that she was kind of reserved.

Letting out a groan, the boy took his seat opposite of Green but would still occasionally glower at his superiors. Sure, he wasn't as experienced as them, but come on! ANBU work wasn't that much harder than the missions he'd been on before, was it? So far things had gone off without a hitch, they were flying through the mission.

He could've been out there fighting some leaf nin on the front lines, instead here he is on some bogus black ops assignment! And for what?! A Kami-foresaken baby!? His eyes lingered on the bundle in Green's arms as she handled it with the utmost care. 'My skills are so being wasted,' he let his head fall limp and his shoulders slump.

Green witnessed the action and giggled lightly to herself, guessing what must have been going through his head, before returning her attention back on the bundle held in her grasp.

Back up in the tree, Red nodded to the two across from her, "Understood . . . I'll set up," she held her hand out, waiting until both men handed her a small bundle of papers, though her's lingered on Huyu's a moment longer, "I hope this isn't your entire stash . . . Most likely things will get messy, even after the first wave." Without waiting for a response she vanished to complete her task.

With Red gone Kiroo gave one last statement, "This could be it, no doubt it'll be a hell of a fight. But we still have two advantages," with that said he hopped down back into the clearing. "White. Green, get some sleep, that's an order."

(Six Hours Later, Sun Rise)

Kiroo was on watch, though he had woken everyone an hour earlier to prepare. "Listen, we have a slight change of plans." The five of them were grouped together, forming a loose circle with himself in the center.

So far only Green and White were unaware of the possible attack. Possible being an understatement, Kiroo was sure they'd be hit soon, "Captain, what are you talking about?" asked the boy, he was aware something had been up with the three talking last night, but not what it was exactly. At first he figured it was a change in their route, but now...

"We were followed, weren't we Sir?" Green was quick on the uptake, that was a good thing as far as Kiroo was concerned. White whipped his head to face her, and she could just imagine the look of shock on his face. It was almost enough to draw another giggle from her.

"Exactly," it was at this moment that soft explosions could be heard in the distance to their west, only White turning in the same direction. "This is the plan," he continued, more explosions continuing as the sounds slowly got louder and louder, closer and closer, "Red, Blue and I will hold the position just long enough to give you a decent head start." In the low light of the sun, one could see dim flashes of light in the distance to accompany the noise.

White nodded slowly, then hardened his eyes behind his mask, he wouldn't fail here. He was a little irked that he couldn't stay and fight, but he knew that someone had to help Green protect the child.

More explosions, followed with some incoherent yelling and shouts in the distance, "You two won't stop until you hit the capital and base up, we'll find you."

Traps continued to be triggered, and White grew nervous again . . . He hadn't set that many traps, which meant that one of them did. If they chose to attack from the west, it was because it was the weakest. White's fists tightened until his knuckles were a ghostly pale color. He snapped out of it however, when a hand came to rest on his shoulder.

It was Kiroo, "Everything is going according to plan, and you have your part to play. Go," he said, gently nudging him away with Green, "Now."

swallowing his anger, Green pulled him along with her free hand and soon the two disappeared into the canopy. No more explosions could be heard by the trio, but they knew well enough that there was more to come. Their fight would soon begin.

A sudden volley of shuriken flew at them from deep in the woods and the trio responded in kind, drawing weapons and deflecting any in danger of hitting them.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu)!" following the call, an inferno blasted towards their position like a wave and the three jumped in separate directions to dodge, Red attached herself to a tree and threw a kunai into the trees fifty feet away in the origin of the jutsu, a heart beat later, a man fell to the ground. A kunai buried to the hilt in his neck.

The sounds of breaking branches echoed from above her, and she propelled herself horizontally away to another tree just in time to see two bodies hit the ground. The bottom body flat on her back, and the second Blue, feet planted firmly on her chest having crushed her ribcage.

Red glanced around, and even though she couldn't see their enemy hidden amoungst the dozens of trees, she could feel their presence, "So. . . The fun begins." She took of to begin her battle, Huyu doing the same moments later.

(Kiroo '0')

Twenty yards away Kiroo locked himself in a taijutsu bout against a man dressed in black shinobi fatigues, a light green flak jacket sans scroll pouches and collar-guard, a leaf bandana covering his hair from view, and Sharingan blazing with hatred. The man threw a jab aimed for Kiroo's 'chin', but the Captain leaned back an inch out of the limb's range. The cloaked ANBU fired a round house kick, but it sailed over his opponent who duck underneath drawing a kunai in the same instant. Before the Leaf shinobi could lunge in for the kill, Kiroo used his momentum to keep the spin, and the kick, moving as he dropped his support leg down.

The man's eyes widened, his Sharingan seeing the attack clearly, but not fast enough to dodge. Instead he attempted to block and was sent bouncing off the ground a few yards when Kiroo's shin connected with his head.

Almost immediately more Leaf shinobi started to come out of the wood work, all of them Uchiha. And so a deadly game ensued, the three ANBU doing their damnedest to stay alive in the swarm. They kept themselves moving covering each others faults if necessary as they steadily fell back, countering only, playing defensive. 'These aren't their best, they should be better than this,' Kiroo analyzed in his mind, burying a kunai into the liver of an unfortunate shinobi. He looked over to see that both Red and Blue were handling themselves well, not in any immediate danger.

Two more Uchiha came after him, one throwing kunai forcing him to block while the other drew in close. Once she was, she took to the air and dropped an ax kick that Kiroo blocked with his forearms, the Captain was then sent into a sprawling mess across the ground coughing hard. The first one had landed a kick while the other provided the diversion.

And they weren't finished.

Quickly rising to his feet Kiroo parried a punch from the kunoichi, using her speed to throw her off balance as he spun around her in the same move then ran for her partner. The man stood his ground, an angry and determined scowl adorning his face. The squad leader threw a series of shots.

All were parried and the last which the Uchiha male then retaliated viciously by smashing his fist against Kiroo's mask, staggering him back a few steps. The man attempted to press the advantage, getting a running start he tried an ax kick similar to the kunoichi's.

The captain was ready for it this time, despite getting his bell rung he had the focus to block the kick, then in a motion of his hands he grabbed the man's leg, twisted his body and slammed his opponent into the ground.

Still holding the limb, Kiroo was prepared to finish him off, but the downed man's partner was already coming back, so instead Kiroo broke the limb at the joint to keep him somewhat out of the fight.

Quickly reaching into his pouch he tossed a kunai into the air and dropped a smoke pellet simultaneously, covering a ten foot radius in black smoke upon exploding. The kunoichi stopped running for him and steered clear of the smoke, looking in every direction. 'Left. . . Right. . . Behind? Where is the bastard!?'

A popping sound above her drew her gaze in time for her to see the sole of Kiroo's sandal stomp her face to the ground knocking her out. When the smoke cleared, her partner laid still with a broken neck and a kunai lying on his back.

('Red')

Red backpedaled to avoid an impractically large shuriken as it embedded into the ground. Then side stepped right to escape the path of a flurry of smaller shuriken. Reaching for her kunai holster, she abruptly had to duck a kunai being thrust at her from a shinobi aiming to take her life. No longer in range the shinobi threw his kunai.

Preparing to block the projectile, her back collided into a tree, jolting her senses. She had the quickness of mind to tilt her head to the side as the kunai lodged itself in her previous position. The shinobi followed through with his attack and tried for a hay-maker to knock her head off her shoulders.

Red jumped into the air a hairs breadth before the attack landed leaving a shattering of wood and bark in her absence.

Looking up, the shinobi witnessed his target standing on his kunai, leg cocked back.

The kick was instantaneous, snapping his head to the side with a sickening crunch.

Taking to the canopy for higher ground, Red crouched in order to catch her breath. How many had she fought? Six? Seven maybe? And she had only killed two, their pursuers were using hit and run tactics. Trying to wear them down, never giving them too long to recover and trying their hardest to keep them from killing their comrades.

Speaking of which, another shinobi landed on the branch adjacent to her's, a tanto slung across his back, right hand on the handle ready to draw and the other, open palm facing her.

Standing from her squat she regarded the man with some scrutiny, especially his tanto, "So. . .That's how you wanna play it. . . 'Little Ninja'?" she taunted.

The man gritted his teeth, but didn't take the bait. He knew better than that.

The stand-off felt like an eternity to the hardened warriors, but in reality it lasted no longer than a few blinks.

Coiling their legs, they sprung from the branches. Just moments from impact, Red unclasped her cloak and threw it into the shinobi's line of sight as it draped over his face. He tried to free himself of the offending material, but before he could, he felt the sting of cold steel slice down his back as he fell twenty feet to the forest floor. Motionless.

On the branch that had just been occupied by her enemy, stood a woman with a generic gray flak jacket with gray shinobi fatigues and sandals, and a red diamond patch on the right sleeve. Long brown braided hair now revealed without the hooded cloak. In her hand she held the man's tanto dripping with fresh blood.

(Huyu 'Blue')

Receiving a gut shot courtesy of a scrawny shinobi, Huyu doubled over holding his stomach, 'For a little shit, he sure can punch,' thought the man, that stood a full head and shoulders taller than his opponent. The tiny adversary went through a series of quick hand motions coming into a Taijutsu stance then moved in to continue the fight. Huyu swung left, only for the man to duck and strike again with two more rounds to his midsection.

Parrying another shot from Huyu the mini shinobi snapped his leg up catching the gargantuan man under the chin. Deciding he had enough of the abuse, he caught the next kick aimed for his solar plexus, but the agile Leaf shinobi jumped and used the hold as support to send his free foot on a course for Blue's masked head.

With no way to dodge, Huyu was punted across the face, tearing the mask from his face and his hold on the Uchiha going with it.

Huyu's face was of hard lines, and looked to be in his mid-thirties, it looked like his face was chiseled from stone, rough and rigid with a light complexion and dark eyes.

"Big mistake, boy," Huyu responded in the same deep gruff voice as always. Before his foe could retort, without warning Huyu flashed in front of him with speed that contradicted his large size. Grappling the man in a bear hug, Huyu began to squeeze, "Try and squirm your way out of this one, bitch!"

Accepting the challenge, the runty ninja reared his head back and smashed it against Huyu's. Without his mask, both felt the dazing effect of the blow, but didn't grant the teeny man release. A second headbutt did little, but inflate his ego as he had now broke the giant's nose, his blood soaking into his leaf headband, but now too dazed to proceed.

"I like you kid, spunky for a leaf ninja," Huyu admitted, his tone altered by the contorted cartilage of his nose, blood flowing freely, before returning his own headbutt. This time the small man hung there limply in Blue's arms until he let him go to crumple on the ground. Walking over to his mask, he reached down an replaced it.

Hearing battle off in the distance, Huyu darted after it to find Red barely holding her own against three combatants with a tanto he was sure wasn't hers. Lurching into the air above the confrontation, Huyu launched into a quick succession of hand seal and called out, "Suiton: Baku Suishouha(Water Release: Bursting Water Collision Waves)!"

A torrent of water shot from his mouth crashing into the foreign ninja and sending them tumbling violently into whatever crossed their path, granting time for Red to recover as her comrade landed beside her. Panting, the woman asked dryly, "What. . . took you so long? I was. . . Getting lonely."

"Spunky kid," was all he said and she 'humphed' in return. "What happened to your cloak?"

". . . Spunky ninja." Huyu shook his head, 'Smart ass,' their reprieve didn't last long as they were surrounded by five more shinobi.

They'd been at this for nearly an hour, more than enough time for the others. It was time for their get away.

Cutting through a kunoichi that impeded his progress, Kiroo began surveying the forest, to finally spot Red and Blue back to back defending against five shinobi, "'Red' NOW!"

Red visibly flinched, which gave way to the group flying into combat, Blue grabbed the woman's arm and tossed her into the air as she formed the Snake seal, "Katsu!"

(Deeper in the Woods)

A contingent of Leaf shinobi were watching as the battle unfolded, trying to access weaknesses and wear the enemy down. "Alright," one spoke, turning to look at the group behind him, "they're making mistakes, I want Squads Two and Sev-" his statement was cut-off in a violent series of explosions which rocked the forest, casting fire, debris and bloody gore across the battlefield. The effect was so devastating that it could be heard all around for miles.

A man stood slowly, shakily, coughing to clear his lungs of smoke. Looking around him he saw others in a similar state. . . the ones who survived anyways. There was tons of smoke, toppled trees, and worst of all, fallen comrades. It was hard trying to make out the extent of the damage, but he could distinguish silohettes running about, the frantic shouts and calls for assistance.

Taking a step forward, he waved his hand in front of his face. Black smoke obscuring his vision every now and again. Another step yielded a squelching sound, and when he looked, he would give anything to have chosen not too. Below him laid the body of a kunoichi.

The squelch was the innards he'd unawarely stepped in. The woman was missing her right leg up to the knee, and a chunk of her stomach and ribcage had been blown open, revealing the contents to the world in a mess of red. Her eyes were open and dull, her final expression not that of horror, but of vigilance.

She was dead before she knew it, sudden and painless, yet bloody.

"Ikuma!" the man slowly addressed the sound of his name, and now that the smoke had cleared you could make out his appearance. Straight neck-length hair, stubble of a goatee, and narrow eyes, all black. His complexion was fair and his face stern with a light scar trailing around his neck. He wore a Konoha flak jacket, without the collar-guard, a mesh armor shirt underneath, shinobi pants and sandals dark in color, and a large rectangular pouch that sat at the small of his back. He wore no headband, instead the metal plating with his village insignia sat attached on his vest over where is heart would be.

The one whom called him was a fellow clansmen, though truthfully he couldn't recall his name. "Ikuma, how ya feeling?"

Ikuma swiped his forearm across his face to clear it of sweat, "I'm fine. . . I'm fine," looking around at the carnage again he sighed. The Uchiha that could walk were searching and assisting the wounded, confirming the dead. They were going to have to set up camp to treat them, or better yet send them home. "Though I can't say the same for everyone."

The Uchiha lucky enough not to be caught in the blast, or survive it, began to fall back sounding the retreat. They would have to regroup and focus their efforts again, but at the moment, such numbers were doing more harm than good. They'd trail them, and find out where they were going, they still had no idea which village they were from, not enough clue's to make an accurate assessment.

Whoever they were, they'd pay for this whole farce with their lives.

After a head count, they found thirteen had been killed. Fifteen wounded ranging from minor injuries to severe or career ending.

One Uchiha had yet to turn his back on the battle ground. Ikuma's eye's flashed to his sharingan as he looked over the scene, forever imprinting it into his mind; The wounded, the dead, the destruction, the rattled spirits and the survivors. 'This is the length I'm willing to go. . . I will get her back, or die trying.'

Besides, He'd planned for something like this. Good thing they had set some counter measures.

This concludes the first of the Prologue chapters to start this story. After posting that monster of a chapter, I realized that it HAD to be broken down. It was just too much of an effort to have readers try to tackle a 19k chapter. So, I broke 'em up. Also, there will be a showdown between the two that I neglected to add before in addition to some other bits.