A/n: Hey, guys! Um...well its my first fic...so...any reviews are nice...except flames. If I made a mistake, just calmly point it out...please...in a review. Ok, I'm done babbling here...Actually, I'm not...

"thoughts"

"speech"

Ok, now I'm done...Hope you enjoy!

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Secrets in the Mist

Chapter 1: Prologue

"God, it's been a long mission...I hope everyone's okay back home," the young Jounin, Arachi, thought. He and four other Jounins were coming home from a terribly arduous mission near the coast of the Fire Country. It wasn't the journey, obviously, that was the hard part; it was the actual mission, which had seemed rare for Jounins in Konohagakure recently. Most missions were lower B or C rank missions just to keep them occupied, and usually, Tsunade would let them leave early to take a longer route to their destination to train on the way there. Not this one though.

"Arachi," said one of the Jounin from the head of the group, "there is something I think you should see..."

Arachi sighed. This guy was always on the enthusiastic side, but Arachi didn't ignore his statement. "What is it?"

But the Jounin did not reply, only turned and ran back into the trees, motioning for Arachi to follow. The scene that greeted Arachi was a disturbing one. Well, maybe not the scene; he had seen plenty of skilled ninja battle before. No, this time, what scared him were the combatants. He couldn't sense them. At all.

There were two people, both male, in the small clearing that he had been led to. One, he recognized vaguely as a high-ranking criminal; the unknown other was much younger than the first, but was knocking the other around as if he were a rag doll. What was the most disconcerting for Arachi was that even though he had honed his senses to that of even a Sannin, he could sense neither of the two ninjas fighting there right before his very eyes. The criminal, he could tell, was dead, and that was the reason for his aura being lost to the Jounin team. The other, however, was very much alive, and somehow, none of the Jounins could sense him. Who was this guy?

Suddenly, the unknown man, maybe not even man yet, turned around with a slight smile on his face. "Well hello," his mouth barely moved as he uttered the words in a rather teen-ish sounding voice, "I would like one of you to take this man back to Konohagakure along with the notice that I am coming in a few days' time." In the time it had taken to say that sentence, the young man had become a light blue flash of speed cutting down all the Jounins save for Arachi. Before he could react, Arachi was pinned against a tree with a hand to his throat. The sinister looking adolescent had become even more sinister in the last few seconds, and now, Arachi, even with all the talk of not showing your emotions ringing through his head, was shaking in fear, his countenance showing the same.

The teen spoke. "After all, I only said one of you. Now go. Go and tell the strongest of my blood that I am coming." And with that he let go and left, and Arachi was left alone with four dead companions and a long since deceased criminal in a small clearing only a day's journey from the Village Hidden in the Leaves. After confirming that his companions were dead and giving them a somewhat decent burial, even though it was inappropriate for the situation, Arachi grabbed the Jounin team's leader's body and the still criminal and fled to Konoha. This would not make for a good report to the Hokage.