AN: Sorry for the delay! Very long chapter and is, hopefully, written well! I am debating on the what the next chapter, after completing this mission, will be about: A training/lesson, memory, or another mission (or a mix of all of them). What do you readers want? Please reply in the comments or in a PM!

If I mess anything up (characters, names, spelling or otherwise) please let me know, but if I'm doing it on purpose I'll let you know in the intro author's note.

-Warning: There will be some change in how the characters react and behave in this story compared to the anime/manga.

Thank you! Please R&R!

I do not own Naruto.

Mission 1 (part 1)

~A few months later~

It was a boiling hot and windy night. I sat on the thick wall that surrounded this hidden village, watching the people move about and the guards going about their rounds. The heat was normal because the sun had set not too long ago, and the sand was charged with its heat.

So, this is the Hidden Sand Village. It is bigger than I thought and more secure. Why did Orochimaru send me along with Kabuto on this mission?

I sighed as I continued to watch the people through the night. I was told to go ahead of Kabuto to gather information until Kabuto arrives with different orders. I had arrived just before sunset, so I have been practically sitting here for hours watching people.

I was sitting with a barrier around me that kept the ninjas of this village from noticing me and the people from seeing me. I was wearing a black long sleeve shirt with black pants and my hair free to fly in the wind. My hair currently was the color of sand and my skin was pale as paper. My eyes were dull blue, and I was a few inches shorter than usual.

Orochimaru had put a henge over me before I left to hide me and "keep me safe." I had not rushed to get here even if was I was happy to finally be outside again and have a mission to do. I was actually seven days late because I went exploring the area on the way and around this village. Kabuto wouldn't know nor Orochimaru because Kabuto would be sent ten days after me to the village. I had a clone here the entire time I was supposed to be here, so I don't think it mattered.

I had the clone watch and write down all that it saw from the exact same place I was currently sitting. The daily reports that Kabuto would want once he gets here. The village was predictable and nothing important happened while I was away.

Kabuto should arrive in about two more days. I wonder how long we are going to stay here.

I was thinking about what the mission would possibly become…

A retrieval of one of his experiments that escaped? Information? Or An assassination?

...but was interrupted by a horrified scream. I looked down and saw a tan and black monster growing in size and it radiated anger as well as hatred. I sat still as it shrieked loud and many ninjas ran forward as many citizens ran away towards the wall's gate. The sand swirled around it and there was much noise.

I did want something exciting to happen, so I can report… This must be the one tails that I heard so much about. I didn't realize this is the village that kept it.

I continue to watch as the ninjas desperately try to stop the beast from murdering everyone. It was almost funny how the ninjas kept shouting at each other, but their attacks weren't doing anything. There had to be at least five dead people now and continued to watch the beast fight the ninjas.

I sighed because it seemed as if it will actually destroy the village before Kabuto will even arrive. I got up and pulled out a kunai and carefully got closer to the beast. I ran closer keeping my barrier around me as I ran. I ran along the wall that I was sitting on with small bits of sand shifting as I passed. I jumped quietly down onto roof tops to get closer or my kunai won't hit its mark, but I still stayed on the higher roof tops so that gravity would be on my kunai's side than against it and to not be mistakenly hit by the attacks from both sides.

I was able to get behind the beast, but not before it broke several more houses and almost the village wall that was opposite to where I was before. I threw my kunai with as much force as I could without using chakra, but the beast must of thought that its sand would knock it off course, because it didn't move. It continued to fight the ninjas and killed as many villagers it could get.

Please hit your mark! I don't want to watch another massacre! ...Poor One-tails!

The sand did not knock it off course because a moment later the beast screamed in startled pain as my kunai stuck into its back. Then the beast shrieked long and loudly until it collapsed and shrank. I stared intently to find who contained the one tails. It turned out to be a small boy with hair as red as blood and skin the color of sand.

My kunai has one of the Sand Village's usual sleeping poisons mixed with the metal as the blade was made and later soaked in. No one moved as if surprised that the beast was now a child once more who slept on.

Then the ninjas started fixing the damage and more cleaned the dead away. The villagers went back into houses full of fear. It seemed un-usual for them to be so calm after such an event, but considering the ninjas were not surprised by the outburst, it must have happened before and often enough for people to run out of the village instead of into their houses.

I carefully went to the boy and collected my kunai before the ninjas noticed it. The boy was still faced down where he laid and wound slowly shrinking as the ninjas angrily yelled at each other as they cleaned. I couldn't help but become curious of this boy and why no one was happy that he was asleep and not dead.

I gently pulled him toward the nearest house and put him in a sitting position. I didn't know if he would wake and if he would feel my presence as he woke. I was startled to see how young he was and that he already had something like a tattoo. It said 'love' but it seemed to be a painful one, especially how it seemed to be put there.

I sensed a few ninjas coming so I left and went back to my spot on the wall overlooking this village as it fixed itself and went to sleep. The ninjas came with a man that seemed to be the leader based on their stiffness and the authoritative air that surrounded him. He looked down at the boy with a deep frown and order the ninjas to take the child back to his room.

I watched as the ninjas cautiously did so and the leader staring at the spot as if trying to find how the beast was stopped and who stopped it. He looked up and around but seemed to get even more frustrated that no one knew how this night had ended. Once the leader looked intently in my direction, but beyond me for he did not see me, or it would have registered in his eyes.

I still continued to watch as the night turned to morning. I then went to where I was supposed to meet Kabuto to sleep. After watch the next two days I rested and wait there for his arrival.

~Two days and several hours later~

I was sitting on the ground eating when several kunai hit the spot. I had quickly hid behind a tree and pulled out a kunai. The bushes stubbornly rustled as Kabuto came through. He retrieved his kunai and said "You can come out now. You did well dodging the kunai and while you were eating as well. When someone is eating is when they are usually weak."

I didn't move from my place behind the tree to him. I instead made several clones quietly as well slowly suppressed my presents as I strengthened one of my clones presents. I moved into a tree a little far away as the others got into position. One in the tree branches of the tree I was hiding behind before with a barely suppressed presence and one in the ground waiting to pull Kabuto under once in range. The last one waited nearby to create more clones for the fight ahead. He could probably sense me making clones but only a little because of the smoke and the flare of chakra that is necessary to use a jutsu.

Kabuto shook his head as if disappointed and in disbelief. He calmly walked to the place I was once standing and looked around for me. He turned his back on my clone and it launched itself at him with a kunai but he blocked the blow. My clone continued to attack him with the kunai though to anyone else the pattern in which my clone was pushing Kabuto back would be complete nonsense.

Then he killed my clone and after it dispersed was in high alert. The silence that held the air as he tried to find me was thick with tension, but as he stepped toward the direction of my third clone she made more clones which ran right at him in attack. This made Kabuto open his eyes as he dodged and blocked kunai and physical attacks.

He tsked as he continued to fight weak clones who were driving him into range even though they were coming from all sides. My third clone was in the mix fighting and making more clones as they dispersed into smoke. Little did Kabuto know that the clones dispersing was their purpose.

Well that will keep him busy. I should head over to the real one. Good job clones.

I made a barrier with little chakra which was not noticeable with my clone constantly making more clones. I made several more clones that were not noticeable to the real Kabuto until they were closer to him. I then went to where the real Kabuto was sitting in a tree and sat several limbs above him in a relaxed position.

He was watching our clones fight with his cold mask expression as usual. It wasn't until there was a thick enough cloud from the dissipating clones that Kabuto had a suspicion of what the plan was. But his clone was too late to realize it for he let out a startled noise when the clone hidden in the ground grabbed him and pulled him down into the ground. My clone used the Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu (Double Suicide Decapitation Technique) on Kabuto's. The real Kabuto's face held confusion when he heard the cry and the fighting stopped without his clone disappearing as well.

Once the clouds cleared he was able to see that his clone had only his head sticking out of the ground and only one of my clones standing about three feet away with a smug smirk on her face.

The real Kabuto's face held surprise right when he saw it which was very funny for it was a bit of an obvious plan if you really think about it. It made me quietly chuckle as his expression of shock and then I smirk when he smiled smugly.

This is still a lot of fun. Messing with Kabuto is still one of my favorite things to do. Let's see if he will notices the real me before my other clones get into range and the other disappears.

Kabuto's clone stared at my clone and was trying to move to release himself from his position. My clone smirked and said "You can struggle all you want. My jutsu was done so that you could not move anything aside from your neck up." Kabuto's clone smirked and said "So you think you won? I -" My clone smiled and interrupted him by saying "I have you trapped without being able to get out of the ground. I think I did well." Kabuto's clone smirked again and tried to move enough to release himself. My clone smiled smugly at his confused face and said "Now, I can't have you escaping or doing any jutsu, so I made the hole extra tight."

Kabuto clone frowned and said "Now, what? Are you going to just stare at me until I admit defeat?" My clone smirked evilly and said, "No. I am going to get you to tell me why you don't like me and why you follow Orochimaru." Kabuto's clone snorted and said, "I won't answer you." My clone pulled out a Kunai and cut his cheek just deep enough for it to bleed on the blade. Kabuto's clone watched in surprised horror as my clone licked his blood off the blade much like how Orochimaru would.

My clone smirked and said, "I am Orochimaru's student, so it is not surprising I start having the same habits as him." This made his clone pale… then smirk. His clone said "If you think you will get me to talk because you act like Orochimaru-sama then you are mistaken and will lose, especially if you kill me. I won't tell you anything. I -" My clone interrupted him by saying "I know you are a clone and have other clones searching as we speak. But while you are here, the original will have to have some awareness over here."

Kabuto is an idiot if he thought that I wouldn't notice that was a clone.

Surprise was seen on both Kabuto's faces and I couldn't help but quietly laugh. My clone taunted Kabuto's with jabs to his intelligence, his skills, and rude remarks about Orochimaru. This served not to just piss off his clone but the real Kabuto as well. The real Kabuto didn't move from his spot but was very distracted by my clone to notice my other ones coming closer.

He noticed once they came within about a twenty-foot range of him and he saw they were all armed with kunai. He smirked and asked, "Does it give you a disadvantage if your clones just come straight at me?" My clones didn't verbally respond but went ahead to attack him. Kabuto blocked most of their attacks then jumped onto my branch only to be hit by one of the clones that had suppressed its presents. He fell to a few branches lower due to the force behind the blow. He then killed that clone and went on the kill the others while they were trying to attack him. Two of them tried to use ninjutsu but Kabuto killed them before they could finish the hand seals in time.

Good, that would have wasted my chakra and it would have shown him they weren't real.

Once he killed all the clones the one by his clone frowned in the real Kabuto's direction as if it received the memories from the clones. Then Kabuto's clone spat a needle at my clone that was poisoned and as the struggled with the pain the real Kabuto sat back on his branch to watch after making another clone to release his first clone.

Saw that coming. Kabuto, you are a medical ninja who I am learning from.

Once both clones were free they stood over my clone and smirked. They said together with an arrogant smile and in a satisfied tone "You did not learn anything from your training. Orochimaru specially trained you these last few months and yet there is nothing to show for it than you struggling with the poison. You lost."

This is only to piss me off. His clone is out of control. His clone, finally, must have snapped and these are his true feelings, or he is acting. I wonder: Kabuto is this how you really feel?

My clone glared at his clones and said in a pained voice "I may have lost, but I did trap you at least twice now. Isn't that suppose to be impossible?" I moved onto the same branch as the real Kabuto to finish this as the clone that my clone had been taunting for a while lost his composure.

Wow… This clone is funny. I never thought I would see a very un-compose Kabuto. His facial expressions are different than I thought they would be. I almost wish this was the real Kabuto.

He had started yelling and cursing at my clone as the other and the real Kabuto shook their heads. My clone still had a Kunai in her hand from earlier and carefully through it to hit the clone who was shaking his head. It was close range and neither expected it, so the clone got hit and dispersed which made both me and my clone smile.

Didn't expect that? He should have saw that one coming… I wonder why Kabuto has not noticed me yet. He can usually tell where I am even with a barrier.

The un-composed clone just stared for a bit as the real Kabuto frowned in disappointment and a little confusion. Then the clone attacked and killed my clone before Kabuto could stop him. Kabuto sat in shock that his clone was able to not only get out of control but also take action on its own. Kabuto through a kunai and killed his clone, but as Kabuto got the memories transferred to the real Kabuto shock appeared on his face as he received the image of my clone dispersing just before his got hit by the kunai.

Pain! I have to ignore it… This is almost over. At least his shocked face when captured earlier will be forever in my memory. Got you, Kabuto.

Before he could move I put a kunai to his throat and released my barrier and smiled. His shocked face made me laugh on the inside and I said "Surprise." He froze completely still then he smiled. He carefully shook his head and said, "I lost this one."

I smiled and moved back but kept my guard up. "That was fun..." I said in a monotone voice and put up the usual cold mask I wear now once more. Kabuto nodded and said "Now that we finished attacking each other per Orochimaru's orders, you can finish eating and while you are eating I will read over your daily reports.

I sighed internally as I handed over my reports and moved back to my previous spot. I was nibbling on the last bits of meal as I watched Kabuto read the reports. He had his mask up, so I didn't know anything about what he might be thinking. Then he got to the report about the one-tails rampage and his face showed surprise. He looked up at me with narrowed eyes. I stared back with a questioning look. He shook his head and continued reading the report and the ones after.

Then he looked up at me and said with suspicion "The one-tails was not a secret of this village and is not the reason why we are here. How did the one-tails rampage stopped and who made it happen?" I flinched inside and outside I said in a calm voice with the same cautious by relaxed posture "I think some of the Sand ninjas was able to knock him out with several advanced jutsu that I was unable to detect the origin from with the chaos of what was going on from my spot on the wall."

There is no way I am going to tell him I stopped the one-tails! I will not only be in serious trouble for doing something that could get me noticed by the Sand, but also alert Orochimaru and Kabuto of the fact that I am still hiding my real limits and skills. I still don't completely trust them and will not let my guard down around them or they will kill me or worse...

Kabuto stared at me for a while and his irritation grew visible and he said angrily "You just sat there and watched. You were unable to collect the necessary information that Orochimaru-sama would need most." I tilted my head a bit in a way that Kabuto and Orochimaru learned to understand as me studying them, not just their body language but deeper as they have taught me and often used in the habit of being confused. Kabuto calmed down after seeing this and asked, "Do you think Orochimaru-sama will not punish you for not gathering this information?" I replied calmly "No, for the information would not have made sense and would be useless to Orochimaru-sensei."

It still feels disgusting to say sensei. I wish I could just call him Orochimaru-san instead. Kabuto completely worships Orochimaru, but I don't see why...

Kabuto asked curiously "How could the information be useless and how did it not make sense?" I replied calmly "The information did not make sense because if it was true then the rampage would not have lasted so long, unless the Sand Village doesn't care about its people. It also did not make sense because if it were that easy and true then Orochimaru-sensei would have already obtained the information a long time ago. There is also the fact that I emphasized that the head of the village was confused about how the one-tails was stopped which would not be true if his ninjas stopped it. There is also the fact that the ninjas who stopped it would have bragged if not much pride and satisfaction at stopping the one-tails. Therefore, the information would not have been correct in how to stop a tailed beast and so is useless to Orochimaru-sensei."

There, it is not a bunch of lies, but still keeps me from revealing that I did something. I did not say I was sitting in my spot on the wall, so I did not lie. I need to be careful or Kabuto will figure out I did something and keep my cold mask up at all times now.

Kabuto sat a moment to check my reasoning and logic then nodded his acceptance of my reasons and decision. He said "Orochimaru has told me new orders that would not be changed by this. He has ordered us to stay in the village as civilians for a while. I am then to approach the Kazekage as you continue to gather information from the citizens. I will reveal I am a ninja, but you are to be only a child that was brought to help my cover. I am to be your older brother as to why I have a child with me under the pretense that we are both looking for a new home after ours was destroyed by some rogue ninja. I will often be with the Kazekage and his counsel most of the time. We will start in two days the next part of our mission moving slowly like non-ninjas to the village gate and introducing ourselves to the ninjas there. You are free to do as you wish for the time being."

I nodded my understanding and said "I am going to explore the area around the village then. I have to know more about the nature and area to better understand a way of escape and to connect with the people who live here. I was unable to do so for I was strictly ordered to keep watch all of the time aside from the time used for sleep and eating." Kabuto nodded and went to sleep on the ground. I went to one of the trees and sat there staring up at the night sky, looking at all the stars through the tree branches and leaves before falling asleep there.

The next day left before Kabuto woke which was very early about two in the morning to check on the boy who carries the one-tails and has blood red hair. I kept a strong barrier around me to make me invisible. I found him still asleep in his room that was pretty empty, and dropped my henge though not my barrier. I gently put a hand on his head and using the medical knowledge and jutsu Kabuto taught me checked to make sure all the poison was out of his system. I smiled in relief that it was all out of his system and said in a whisper "Sorry." I put my henge back and then I left to do more exploring of the area like I told Kabuto I would yesterday with ease.

AN: Long chapter and 1 of two parts of Mission 1.

Thank you for reading and please review!

What do you think of this chapter?

Orochimaru: I should have been in this chapter.

Moonlight46: You are doing something else while this is happening though…

Kabuto: At least I'm not a cat in this chapter.

Moonlight46: Don't worry that will happen later! Next chapter coming soon!