Kakashi Hatake had been summoned by Lady Tsunande about an hour ago –and as usual, he was late. He lazily walked to the office building with his nose in a copy of "Make–Out Paradise". He entered the office room after walking up the stairs two at a time, and dog-eared the book, putting it back in his pocket for later.

"You summoned me, Lady Hokage?" he asked, putting his hands in a different set of pockets. Tsunande turned around, slightly annoyed that he was so late. But it was to be expected. After all, it WAS Kakashi.

"Yes, I did. I have a mission for you."

"A mission?" he echoed. "With Naruto and the others?"

"No. This is an 'A' ranked mission." Kakashi got into a more serious stance. His lazy lean straightened out and his face hardened. Good, he's getting serious. She thought to herself. "I need you to investigate the disappearance of these young girls." She placed down several photos of girls ranging from their teens to their thirties. The only thing in common with all of them was they were young, pretty women. Kakashi looked at them one by one, without much facial expression.

"So do we have an idea of who it is?" he asked, not looking up from the photographs.

"One of the girls was recovered alive, and she gave us a rough description of the perpetrators."

Kakashi stiffened at the word "alive" It implied the others were dead now. So that's why it's an A ranked mission… people were probably dead.

"Can I see a sketch of the perps?" he asked. Tsunande handed him the sketches after a little digging around in the files. She looked at him, trying to read his expression, to see if he recognized them. But his narrowing eyes only told her he was trying to memorize what they looked like.

The first sketch showed a man with piercing blue eyes, and a slightly wrinkled face. He had crow's feet in his eyes and a deep scowl. There was no ninja headband, so he probably was just some nutcase murderer. His clothes were very plain, which might just mean the girl didn't remember what he was wearing when she escaped.

The second picture was of a younger man, possibly in his early twenties. This one had a ninja headband. He was from the Hidden Leaf. At least it wasn't an outsider. He had a slightly crooked nose and light blue hair with a dark pink streak in the bangs. Wow .Kakashi thought sarcastically. Like that's not easy to spot…

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"Yes, two things. One, the girl said they were trying to seal a bijuu into her, so they're probably very skilled ninja. And two, Tobi is going with you."

"Tobi?" Kakashi said, quickly looking up from the sketches. "Really?"

Tsunande laughed at his slight shock. Tobi and Kakashi were very tight with each other ever since they were genin, and most of the missions she gave one, she would usually give to the other as well. They were almost like brothers. Almost.

"Yes." She said, pulling herself back together again. "In fact, he was here earlier. He told me to let you know he'll be waiting by the all you can eat buffet."

"Knowing him, He's going to be in there eating as many dumplings as he can…" he said a sweat-mark rolling down his forehead. He sighed, smiling, and raised his hand up. "Consider this mission completed, Lady Tsunande." He poofed out of the room, moving as quickly as he could to meet up with his best friend.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

A walk in the forest was something Inoue Uzumaki did a lot nowadays. Her parent's graves were close to the forest, and there were always beautiful flowers around to pick for them there. She had found a big patch of daffodils the other day, and wanted to pick a few today for Mom and Dad. Tomorrow was the anniversary of their death, which always made Ryuji a bit depressed. But she kept her head held high, not letting it get to her at all.

She pushed her long red hair out of her face as she looked for the two most beautiful flowers in the patch. There was a rustle in the trees above her and she looked up, hoping to find a blue bird or a cardinal. It was around the time of year that they popped out of their hiding spots and started to find mates. The males for both were so beautiful.

When she didn't see either species of bird, she gave a soft sigh and went back to picking flowers. About a minute later, there was another rustle, and she whipped her head to look.

"Hello?" She called out. "Is someone there?" There was a pause and no one answered her. She frowned slightly and turned back to the flowers. When she did, there was a shadow cast over her, growing larger every second. She looked up and gasped, seeing a man with light blue hair jumping down on her. She screamed, but was silenced with a sharp blow to the head.

"I got her, Bokkun!" the blue haired man called up to the treetops. "And look! I think she's an Uzumaki, too! What luck!"

An older man jumped down from the trees. He growled at the younger and slapped him across the face.

"Will you be quiet?" he hissed. "What if we get caught, you moron?!"

"Sorry Bokkun….." The man whispered back. "But hey, now we can do the transfer of the four-tails now, right?"

"Nyami, you idiot! We're too close to the grave yard! Someone's bound to notice a bijuu transfer here!"

"Oooh. Sorry, again." Nyami said shrinking away from the older man. Bokkun sighed, and flung Inoue over his shoulder.

"Let's go, before someone finds us." He jumped back into the trees, taking the young girl further into the forest.

"Right, Bokkun!" He said following his partner in crime. Unluckily for them, Kakashi and Tobi had watched the whole thing, and were preparing to follow.