A lone woman was lying on bed in small hotel room in some port town. She had brown eyes and dark blue hair made into single short skipy ponytail. Woman wear a mesh body suit that covers her from her neck down to her thighs, a tan overcoat on it, a dark orange mini-skirt, a dark blue belt, and pale grey shin guards. Her name was Mitarashi Anko and she was a bounty hunter, currently on a mission to get an elusive kidnapper and slaver.

She tracked her target here over week ago and used the time to analyze the town and locate the hideout. She did locate it, but getting inside was different story. Anko saw shady people, likely henchmen, getting in and out, but when she infiltrated the building, there was nothing special inside. She suspected real hideout was underground, but she failed to locate the entrance. Feeling like her prey may decide to move to different place soon, she came up with a plan that should get her inside. Very risky plan. Currently was around six pm., which means she had at least two more hours till she begins her operation. She used it to check her equipment and try to relax a little.

Five hours later she was in local bar, slowly drinking her last beer and looking as much innocent, defenseless and drunk as possible. She knew henchmen were here, she saw at least three of them already and she knew they noticed her, too. She made sure they will. Anko emptied her bottle, left the bar and slowly staggered towards hotel she was staying in. She wasn't surprised when she heard three people following her. Mitarashi took a turn into dark alley that she really didn't need to cross. When she was halfway through, she was grabbed from behind, hand gagged and hard pressed against a wall.

„Mmhnph!?"

„It is dangerous to go alone at night here, pretty. We will show you why"

Anko offered a very little resistance, struggling clumsly as „weak and drunk" woman would. Her arms were painfully twisted behind her back and wrists bound with piece of rope. Something, she didn't want to know what, was stuffed into her mouth and piece of cloth was forced between her lips and tied behind her head. Then her thighs and ankles were tied us well and she was thrown over man shoulder like bag of potatoes.

„Shouldn't we search her?" one of three men that assaulted Anko asked.

„She is just drunk woman, not even from here. No need to waste time. Standard procedure now, I will carry her while you two scout ahead and make sure coast is clear"

Anko smiled inside her head. First phase of her plan was complete.

Around thirty minutes later she was thrown on the floor of some empty room in underground complex.

„You make sure she doesn't try anything funny and I will ask boss if we can have some fun with her in training room" said the one carrying her here and left the room

Two other men faced the door and waited for his return. Anko silently released a knife she always keep hidden in her sleeve and quietly cut wrists' bindings. With her hands free, she had no trouble untying her legs and removing gag. Woman stood up, took out hand gun she kept holstered behind her back, installed silencer on it and shot her guards in the back of the head.

„Thanks for showing me in, boys. I will be fine on my own now" she said while leaving the room and closing door behind her

She silently explored the underground facility. She was quied surprised she didn't encounter any more henchmen and that most of the room she checked were completely empty. Only three of them had a simple bed and she guessed they belonged to three men she killed. One door she encountered was closed and she could hear a muffled voice from other side, probably a prisoner. She couldn't find any key and deduced owner of this place must have it. Well, that person was her target to begin with anyway. Finally she reached the last door, slowly opened it and looked inside. Room was barely lit, but she could see a bed and desk with chair in front of it. A person hidden under cloak was sitting on the chair with back facing the door. She aimed her gun at person's head and shot three times. The hood fell down as the person laid down on the desk, dead.

Anko was half the way between door and desk when she felt a presence behind her.

„Sorry, but it was not me you shot" whispered a male voice.

She turned around to face whoever sneaked up on her, but before she could aim her weapon, gun was knocked out of her hand followed by nasty cut to her arm. She looked at her assailant and saw a man, around four years younger than her. She had onyx eyes, pair of glasses and silver hair made into single ponytail. He wears a dark purple shirt with a high collar, a white under-shirt, and dark purple pants with a white cloth waistband. He also must be quiet fast considering he just cut her and already was several meters away from her, near the door. He was holding a knife.

„Yakushi Kabuto, just the man I was looking for. Are you that afraid of me you needed to set up ambush?"

Kabuto smiled at her.

„I never miss the opportunity to have an advantage. Especially against someone like you, Mitarashi Anko."

She took her hand away from the wound and pulled her own knife out of her sleeve.

„I am more than capable to take you down without my gun" she said and attacked him.

They excahnged several blows, dodging or parrying each other strikes before Anko jumped back. Something was wrong, she felt getting weaker..

„I am sure you are capable of defeating me, even with injured arm and without your gun. This little exchange. Luckily for me, I do not need to fight you, Mitarashi-san" Kabuto said. „You probably already feel the effect of poison I put in your system. It is nothing lethal, but will dull your senses and slow down your movement in few minutes."

Anko smirked.

„Assuming you are not bluffing, it just mean I must kill you before it fully kicks in. The man I shot here was one from the group that captured me, right? I killed his friends already, so there is no one left besides us. I kill you and can wait till poison wears off"

Silver haired man chuckled.

„That is certainly true. Which is precisely why I have no intention of fighting you" he said and quickly run out of the room, shut and locked the door.

Anko run after him, but was a little too slow. She banged on the door several times.

„DAMNED COWARD!"

„That I may be" came the answer „But I can live with that. Thank you for killing my henchmen, by the way. Saved me the trouble of doing it myself, they compromised this place twice in two days, I clearly must look for more competent men next time"

Anko didn't think much about what Kabuto said, instead focused on looking for way out. First she checked the desk and noticed there is a laptop on it. A feed from dozen cameras on the screen. Now she understood how Kabuto knew she was coming and could prepare. She searched entire room, but couldn't find a mean to escape. Bounty hunter realised she must have underestimated her oppontn. She was in bad situations before, but their targets always slipped up at some point, giving her a chance she seized. Kabuto didn't.

After several minutes, door opened and Kabuto walked inside. Anko was still standing and ready to fight, though in her state she couldn't do much. Man easily knocked knife out of her hand, get behind her and covered her face and nose with handkerchief soaked in chloroform. He withstood several desperate, but weak, hits to his torso. Soon Anko lost consciousness.

Mitarashi slowly opened her eyes and found herself in barely lit room. She wanted to touch her aching head, but couldn't move her arms. That instanly made conscious and she could feel something inside her mouth and around her neck.

„MMhnph phhm fnch!"

Mitarashi was sitting on a cold floor, her overcoat gone and she couldn't fell a single one of her concealed waepons. Her legs were bound at ankles and thighs, her arms trapped inside armbinder. She was ballgagged and there was a collar around her neck, attached to wall with short metal chain. She struggled and moaned through her gag to no avail. Then she heard a soft moan on her right and looked there only to find out aanother woman in similar predicament as her. She recognized her – Yuhi Kurenai, a fellow bounty hunter. She wouldn't call her „friend", but they met few times in the past. Kurenai had long black hair and distinctive red eyes. She wore a short sleeved red shirt tied over her breasts, leaving belly fully exposed, and long creame colored jeans. Anko deduced she must have found Kabuto the other day and got captured, recalling man said something about this place being compromised twice. Women looked at each other sadly.

Nexrt morning, a single boat reached the shore not far from Kabuto's hideout. Yakushi dragged both captured women on it and underdeck. She tied them to two chairs in a small cabin and locked the door.

„Our role reversed, ladies. You were hunters and wanted to turn me into a profit. Now you are preys and I am taking you to our main facility where I make sure you are well aquianted to every torture device there. I wonder how long till you break. It will be up to my master to decide if we sell you as slaves afterward and turn into a profit or keep as pets"

Anko an Kurenai found knew strength to struggle, but to no avail and Kabuto returned from time to time to tighten their bindings.