Disclaimer: Fan of Fanfics21 owns nothing but his imagination. Enough said.

Lightning sighed as she looked at the assignment she was given, filling in for Naruto who was currently resting in the hospital. She and Neji Hyūga, a once big time fatalist, now mellowed out but serious ninja as usual are to clear out a cave and work as stunt men for a TV action drama show. It kinda amazed Lightning that even ninja of all people have TVs in their era. Technological differences aside though, this mission felt a little…off. One, the director hasn't come back from the filming location-Dragon's Pool, and secondly, that aura of dark promotion Lightning was getting was a very familiar one, and it was sending warning signs into her brain like a gatling gun going off. If she was what Naruto would call Genre Savvy, which she wondered why he called her that but now she knew, then Orochimaru was involved in some way again with his recent actions.

The location was located underneath a massive tree with an underground cavern where popular worship of a Dragon God was held there. Lightning knew better than that, for she was beginning to think that certain entities on the top of her list were being worshipped. Bahamut, Tiamat, Shinryū, or some other lesser dragon she didn't know about and was dwelling there. It could be an interesting event in her opinion. As they entered, Lightning stopped, the same thing Neji did as his Byakūgan was instantly activated. "Were not alone, are we?" she asked as Neji nodded. That was then, they appeared, and the ninja that reeked of death as Lightning narrowed her eyes. "Careful Neji, these are undead ninja that were created by Orochimaru. He must've set up shop somewhere down here." She warned as she drew her Blazefire Saber.

The two charged at the group of undead, Lightning's sword shining as she twisted and turned, cleaving these undead ninjas with no restraint as they fell to her blade. Neji jabbed at certain areas of the others as they fell to the gentle taps of the fingers. They both shared the same thought; the director must have been captured by the enemy and must be rescued immediately. As they disposed of the last of them, they charged deeper into the cave, not noticing a single enemy as they found a man-made reservoir, and Lightning felt something as she heard something in her head.

"Hey Light, look inside the water, there's a door there." Naruto spoke to her via telepathy. Lightning knew he would be bored and would be watching. He's nothing more than a viewer right now, only giving her pieces of advice when he needs to. And down in the artificial lake, there really was a door there, but with the water pressure, it will be impossible to be opened. "Lady Farron, over there…" Neji spoke up gaining Lightning's attention as she turned to where he was looking, a mechanism that could be used to release the water. Finding it useful, she went over and activated the machine as the water flowed out. "Now let's see what Orochimaru's been up to." She said as they leapt down and opened the door and ventured in.

In the final chamber, where there should have been an altar, was something else. The director was found, but was babbling utter nonsense as he was terrified with what he had seen. "Well, looks like this guy is going to be stuck in therapy for a while," Lightning thought as Neji walked towards the end, noticing the strange table with restraints and a strange helmet like object on the top. Lightning noticed it too and walked up to it as she narrowed her eyes. There was a busted computer nearby and she had a feeling Orochimaru definitely had a hand in this contraption as the dark foreboding grew. Her sixth sense kicked in as she turned to see a giant praying mantis land, hissing at them as its mandibles moved. To them, it had just found prey. "And here I thought giant bugs were a thing of the past." Lightning mused as she had her gunblade in gun mode and fired a bullet right at the head, causing it to fall down in a heaping mess as its body twitched.

"Let's take the director and get back; we need to tell the Hokage about this." Lightning said as Neji nodded his head in agreement.

As they made their report, Tsunade was disturbed by this and sighed. Looking at a C-Rank scroll, she looked at Lightning. "While I would love to give Naruto this mission, he's currently unfit to do missions until further tests are done on him. I want you to do this until we do more investigations on the recent abandoned villages." Tsunade told her as she tossed the scroll to Lightning who opened it. With the connection, Naruto saw the contents and Lightning felt his concern for Karin. "Light, please make sure she's safe. She's just like me before mom came back…and just like you and Serah." He told her. She knew that tone; he sympathized with the girl and had that caring heart. Plus, Lightning had taken a liking to that girl as of late. She usually delivers her a good supply of good quality metals for her bullets at discount prices due to him. "I will Naruto, you can rest now." She mentally replied back as she felt the connection with her student loosen. She had eased him for now, and the most basic thing to do is to find any clues of Karin's disappearance before her shop is closed for good.

*Emporium Karin*

As the door opened and the bell rang, Lightning looked around for the sole owner of the store, only to see Konohamaru there. "Oh, you're Lightning!" the boy exclaimed, pointing at her as she knew her reputation with being Naruto's teacher was a hot topic in Konoha. "Hello Konohamaru, I'm here on a mission to investigate why Emporium Karin hasn't been on business. While this was technically Naruto's mission, I had to do it for him since he's in the hospital." She told him as the boy looked surprised at that. "Oh, he is? Did he get hurt fighting a powerful ninja and taking him down in a blaze of glory?" the excited boy asked as Lightning looked at him. "The battle was a mutual defeat, but Naruto learned well from that battle. You should pay him a visit, he's been rather lonely." She replied.

"I see; I'll go visit him after I finish this errand. But from the looks of it, it'll be a while." Konohamaru told her as Lightning thought for a moment, maybe this kid knows of Karin's whereabouts. "Konohamaru, do you have any possible ideas of where she went?" Lightning asked as the boy looked at her before getting into a thinking pose. "Ah, the Blue Dragon Cave! I hear that's where she gets her raw materials for her tools she makes. It's just northeast of Konoha, past the Hokage Monument." He told her as she nodded. "Thanks for the help kid." Lightning told him as she turned and walked out, knowing that somehow, Orochimaru was involved. After all, his experiments as of late seem to be taking place in caves.

*Blue Dragon Cave-Entrance-*

The minute Lightning entered the cave, revealing to be a mine, her senses were screaming as she drew her Blazefire Saber immediately. "Kill…the…intruder…" a raspy voice spoke as the shadows of the cavern walls took form as the undead ninja looked at her with the intent to kill. "Come and die!" Lightning taunted with a gesture as she counted the numbers. 10 against one, nothing for her to worry about; with that, she sprang forward as three charged at her from the front, and two from behind. With her reflexes, she immediately bisected one of the undead ninja and twisted her body to avoid a dozen shuriken and kunai as her weapon shifted into gun mode and fired off three consecutive rounds. The marks hit true as three more fell. It was six against one, no, five as she grabbed the nearest one and slammed it to the ground and stomped on the head, crushing the skull as the body turned to piles of ashes.

"I guess these undead ninja are mere bandit variety if they're not going through jutsu. My advantage here." She thought as she drew upon her magic and smirked. "Thundaga," she ordered as a massive barrage of thunder singed the last five as they dispelled into ashes. "Not even worth cutting with my blade." Lightning muttered to herself as she turned and walked further into the mines. As she ventured in, once in a while killing a patrolling undead ninja, Lightning marked forked pathways to help her find her way back to the entrance once this was over, so far, no sign of Karin. But due to Naruto's insistence at the time, she ventured deeper in. Once she made it to what probably is the deepest parts of the mines, she decided to try something Naruto would have done if he was still an idiot (which she has a fifty-fifty bet on that he still is). "Karin, are you here?" she called out.

"Lightning, is that you?" a voice spoke from behind a boulder. Peeking from behind it, Karin Kagura walked out with a relieved expression. "You okay?" Lightning asked the girl who nodded her head as she looked at a certain tunnel. "While I was gathering minerals to craft my tools, I heard a loud scream from other there. Then these strange ninja started appearing out of nowhere. I hid at the time until you showed up." Karin explained as Lightning narrowed her eyes at the direction. "Go back to the shop; I've cleared a way out for you already. I'll be back soon." She told the girl who nodded her head and ran towards the direction Lightning came from. With Karin safe, Lighting ventured to the heart of the mine and felt the heat of magma nearby.

When she walked in, she noticed a few corpses and a platform with a variety of seals inscribed on the floor. She immediately scrunched her face in disgust as the smell of decay hit her nose. Noticing a body in the center of the seal array, she walked up and examined the body. "Dead, the body went through some sort of internal strain as necrosis was beginning to eat away at him while he was still alive. Tortured by this method till he died." She realized as she looked to see one of the corpses rise. "Green mist…become like us…the dead…" it spoke as Lightning narrowed her eyes. That was an important clue to the situation. A green mist made these zombie ninjas? This will be very helpful in knowing where Orochimaru will strike.

"You…will not leave…alive." Another corpse spoke as it too rose from the dead. Then the entryway Lightning came from had closed itself and sealed shut as the entire cavern shook. "They're trying to bury me and erase their little secrets." Lightning mused as she looked at them disappointedly, "Sorry boys, but you'll have to do better than that." She said as she vanished in a flutter of petals as the place collapsed on the secret laboratory.

*Konoha Hospital*

Lightning reappeared in a flutter of petals next to Naruto's bedside as said boy was sitting upright reading a book. "How is she?" he asked as Lightning smiled. "She's safe now. I'm going to the shop to see how she is." She replied as Naruto smiled at her. "Thanks Light," he told her as Lightning felt the warming kindness from him as she walked towards the door. "Oh, and can you bring me the fragments of Leo and Elo afterwards please? I want to show you a trick of mine." He told her. "I'll think about it." She replied as she left the room.

*Emporium Karin*

Lightning opened the door and move aside as a few ninja left the shop, happy with their new tools as Karin ran up to her. "Lightning, you're alright!" she said as Lightning, having a big sister feeling at that moment, rubbed Karin's head. "Why wouldn't I be? It'd take more than a few zombie ninjas to take me down." She replied as Karin laughed at that. "Of course, but for now, I'll have to go somewhere else to get my raw materials. Feel free to comeback anytime! Oh, and give Naruto my regards." Karin told her as Lightning nodded and left the shop, with another mission complete; now to report to Tsunade of her findings in the cave.

*Hokage Office*

"A green mist you say?" Tsunade asked as she cupped her chin in thought. "Yes, and it seems these zombies are created from this mist as it reanimates the corpse while damaging the cells on a molecular level by giving them necrosis." Lightning told her as Tsunade furrowed her brow. "I see, well, tomorrow I'm having someone examine Naruto's mind, and I want you to help escort him through any defenses Naruto would have set up in there. We need to know if he's stable or not after the Tamasaburo incident and the incident at Suna." She told her.

Lightning had a feeling Naruto wasn't going to like this at all. And the results would be…fatal.