Hanabi paced the darkened corridors of the Hyuga compound. Any slight sound she made was drowned out by the pounding rain. Today she had participated in her first real battle and she had not even seen the enemy. Her team had been assigned to the festival grounds and no one had penetrated that far. That fact didn't bother her though, they had just graduated from the Academy and no one could've been expecting much from them.

No, what was bothering her was more personal. After it became clear that she was going to get away with the unsupervised fight she began to wonder about it. Her neck throbbed with a phantom pain reminding her that somebody had been able to get close enough to hit her without being seen. There was a certain level of embarrassment for a Hyuga to be knocked out like that.

Had she really been so inattentive that she'd miss somebody approaching her or was there something wrong with her Byakugan? It wasn't unheard of for Hyuga's to develop eye problems in their old age but, she was still young.

Normally she would ask her father about it but, then she would have to confess to the fight and her father's disapproval would be crushing. There really wasn't anyone else she could turn to unless she tried to talk to Neji. The pride of the branch family routinely trained with her father and was already a Jounin. Maybe he might know something and she did want answers. Assuming he would still be in the dojo because of the rain she headed in that direction trying not to think why she had memorized his schedule so well.

Moments later she was at the dojo and watching as her cousin moved through a kata. His back was turned to her. She wondered if she could ever be that perfect. There was a perfect economy to his movements and it was clear his muscles had memorized everything, it was beautiful to watch.

Feeling her face warm she told herself that she did not have a crush on her cousin. Hanabi frequently overheard snippets of conversations that compared herself to her older cousin. The comparison didn't really bother her as much as it probably should.

"Can I help you?"

Neji's words startled her. "I have a question. I was hoping you could answer it," she paused but, he just waited for her to continue. "Do you know of any Jutsu or anything that can interfere with the Byakugan?" She winced mentally, her question had sounded better in her head.

He cocked his head slightly appraising her, his expression unreadable. After a few seconds of silence he spoke slowly. "I have come across a few seals that can interfere with the Byakugan."

"What is that like?" She asked hoping it was something that simple.

"The image becomes blurred like a thick fog but, those take a very long time to set up and only a master in the art can do it," he paused hesitating on what he was going to say next. "Why are you curious all of a sudden?"

"I just don't want to be surprised by anything." She turned to hide her disappointment. She doubted Ranmaru was a master at seals and besides the image had not been blurry. She had never seen what hit her.

"Hanabi the Byakugan is only meant to be used during training or when a mission requires it."

She paused at the door. Her cousin's words were familiar. They were what Hyuga parents told their children so they wouldn't abuse their Kekkei Genkai. She rounded on him her anger flaring. "I am"

"There you are Hanabi I've been looking all over for you." The feeble voice of an elderly servant cut in breaking up the argument before it could start. "Your father would like to see you in his office."

For a moment she wavered. Half of her was still indignant that she had been treated like a child and the other half worried why her father was summoning her. Obedience to her father won out over her indignation and she left the room without another word. It was a short walk that required a flight of stairs to her father's office. Taking a moment to calm herself she knocked on the door.

"Enter Hanabi." Quietly slipping into the room she approached her father at his desk a file in his hand. "What I'm about to tell you does not leave this room. Understand?"

She nodded this wasn't the first time her father had told her this. The day after she had become a Genin her father had taught her how to activate the Caged Bird Seal. Another time she had been asked to sit in on a financial meeting. That one had almost bored her to tears but, it was just to prepare her to assume the leadership of the clan later. Her father activated his Byakugan as a caution against potential eavesdroppers. She thought this was odd considering they were safe within their home.

"I have recently received an unwanted gift and would like your opinion on it." He held up the file. "This file was left on my desk sometime in the last hour by somebody. The file is about an emerging Dojutsu in our village. Why do you think somebody would give us this?"

Hanabi considered the question for a minute. Clearly her father already had the answers and just wanted her to walk through the problem herself. "They either want our attention or want a favor from us."

"Most likely it's the latter. If you go far enough back in our history you will find that the Byakugan is the end result of combining several Kekkei Genkai and there is no reason to believe we've reached her peak ability." Her father paused to let that sink in before continuing, "What do you think they were telling me by the way they delivered the file to us?"

"That they don't want us to know who they are yet." She scoured her father's expression for any reaction as she spoke but, he was as inscrutable as the faces on the mountain.

"Possible but, more likely they wanted to show that there is already somebody in the household that is sympathetic to their cause. What do you know about a Genin named Ranmaru?"

Hanabi blinked at the non sequitur. Part of her wondered if this was a roundabout way of asking about the fight but, her father's expression remained blank. "Nothing really."

"He was in your class."

She flinched. Her parents were unaware of her lack of friends. "We moved in different circles." That wasn't technically a lie.

"Well I hope that can change. You see he is the one with the emerging Dojutsu. This file didn't tell us much about it but, I think we need to learn more. Consider this your first long-term mission. You are to befriend this boy and learn what you can about him. Do you understand?"

She nodded feeling numb. What her father was asking her to do seemed impossible to her.

"There is another small task I need you to carry out. Tomorrow is a mission day for you right?" He waited for her nod of acknowledgment. "Deliver this letter to the Hokage as slowly as you can."

After receiving the letter she was dismissed and for the rest of the night she was lost in her thoughts. At first she wondered if this Dojutsu of Ranmaru's might have been the reason she lost that little spar. Then she wondered how it would be possible for her to befriend anyone when her own teammates didn't seem to like her very much.

It wasn't until late at night that she remembered something her father had said. He said that someone was sympathetic to their cause but, what cause. It had seemed like an odd thing to say and he had immediately changed the subject afterwards. After a few minutes she pulled out the letter and examined it. It was sealed but, not with her families crest. It would be easy to open and reseal it again. However, she consoled herself with the simple belief that if she needed to know her father would have told her and with that she found peace.

Kado Uchiha sometimes wondered about his luck. He had been born with a gift but, had never known either of his parents. Then in a one in a million chance a blood relative had found him in his little hidden village. This was something he desperately wanted. Unfortunately, Sasuke wasn't exactly what he had been hoping for. Now he lived in a house that was larger than any building in his old village but, his room was also the former residence of a psychopath. Then there was today. His team had delivered a devastating blow to the enemy and all Sasuke could say was good job. Groaning he rolled over in his bed, that last one had been unfair. Maybe Sasuke would ask more about it tomorrow.

A single loud rap on his window caused his heart to skip a beat. Hesitantly sitting up and flipping on the lights he peeked out of the window frowning. Hoshiko his female teammate stood outside staring up at him. She was drenched from the rain but, it didn't seem to bother her. Opening the window he offered her a hand up so she could avoid using her wounded shoulder. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in the hospital?"

Ignoring him she moved over to his hamper and using one of the shirts as a towel she muttered, "Didn't need to be there."

"So, they released you?"

She started ringing out her hair his abuse shirt collecting the drops as they hit the floor. "No, I just left."

"You can't do that! What if they send someone out to look for you?"

"That's why I'm here. They were going to release me in the morning anyway."

"But-"

"Kado. Drop it. I'm not going to spend one minute in that damn hospital if I can help it." She turned away and added, "I'm borrowing one of your shirts."

Hoshiko had spent her first year in Konoha in and out of the hospital receiving treatment for severe burns. Since he had been the only person left alive that knew her he had visited often. Now that he thought about it she had always seemed in a worse mood than normal when she was there. "Why do you-" he averted his eyes as she started undressing. "Do you have any modesty?"

"No. I am dumping these in the bathroom so they can dry."

When she came back he noticed with some relief that she had borrowed one of Sasuke's old shirts that was still too big for him. For a change though he could see some skin on her legs that wasn't scarred. "You can keep that."

"Can't it's got your family thing on the back," she said walking past him and climbing into his bed.

"Hey, that's mine." In a few years he would probably kill to have a half naked girl in his bed but, not now and never Hoshiko.

She rolled over to the side "it's big enough for two. Pretend we're on a mission."

Kado thought about throwing her out but that would be hazardous to his health. Then he considered going to one of the guest rooms but being chased out of his own room was really pathetic. "Move over more," switching the light off he wondered how he got into this mess.

Climbing into the bed he positioned himself so that their backs were to each other. It was strange at first, having another presence so close to him but once he synchronized his breathing with hers he felt sleep almost embracing him.

"If I show them nobody asks about them"

Hoshiko voice startled him awake "what."

"The scars, it's weird, if you tried to hide them and people see them they ask about them. So if you let everyone see them they don't ask. "

"Really?"

"That's what a nurse told me and she was right. Scars tell stories and it's not like I'm proud of these."

Kado briefly wondered if he could fake being asleep. This was not like Hoshiko and he was beginning to feel like he was in a field filled with traps. "Our village was attacked. There wasn't anything you could do-"

"I lied" she interrupted.

"Hum, what do you mean?"

"I said" she paused for a minute, "I said I was doing some survival training but really I just ran away. Everyone knew something was happening and they were nervous but no one knew what. They suspended our classes and my mom was ignoring me so I figured if I ran away she would have to come after me but, she didn't and then the village was attacked."

"There wasn't anything you could do," he had no idea what was going on here but it seemed like the right thing to say.

She didn't say anything for a long time and he was beginning to think she had fallen asleep when she suddenly sat up. "Did you hear that? There's somebody in your house."

Kado sighed and gave up on sleep for the moment. "It's probably just Sasuke he likes to walk around at night."

"No listen there's two of them."

That worried him for a minute but then he started to laugh. "Maybe he is trying to sneak Ino in."

"Why would he do that? No, I bet they're burglars you're rich and you got a lot of nice crap around here." Slipping out of the bed she moved over to his dresser where he kept his kunai holster. "Come on let's catch them."

The Uchiha compound had stood vacant for years and during that time it had neither been vandalized nor looted. Kado was ninety percent sure that it was Sasuke with somebody but, there was that ten percent that made him grab a loose kunai.

Taking the lead he paused at his door listening for any sound. Hearing nothing he drew up a mental map of the house. Sasuke's room was a few doors down from his so that would be his first stop. Slipping into the hallway he had scrapped the plan immediately.

Two men were coming up the hallway walking on the ceiling. Kado could hear his sensei voice in the back of his head saying, 'of course an intruder would do that, it was the easiest way to avoid nightingale floors'.

"Who are you?"

The lights flicked on and Sasuke stepped for around the corner at the end of Hall. "I would like to know that too." The light showed their Hitai-ate and a familiar symbol. Dropping into a defensive stance Kado activated his sharingan.

"Wait," the larger of the two said dropping from the ceiling "we didn't come here to fight." Glancing over at Kado for a second he turned to address Sasuke who was unarmed. "Orochimaru would like to extend an invitation to both of you-"

"Stuff it," Sasuke interrupted "I told Kabuto earlier that I'm not interested. Apparently the little one over there killed him before he could spread the word."

Both of the ninjas glanced at Kado causing him to blush slightly. Sasuke used the momentary distraction to charge. The distinctive sound of a Chidori filled the hallway tearing through the shoji screens and letting in the rain.

The men were faster. Throwing themselves through the same screens they disappeared into the darkness. Sasuke paused for a second making eye contact with him before disappearing through the same hole.

He followed a second later surprised at their speed.

Pausing on the veranda Kado took in the scene. Sasuke was fighting the smaller of the two. A moment later they disappeared over the roof in a blur of movement. The other man watched them with his eyes apparently forgetting about the younger of the two.

Pausing for a second he took a deep breath before releasing a Great Fireball. The fire evaporated the rain as it came in contact and even singed the soaked grass.

Kado sharingan picked up the movement for his peripheral vision just in time for him to cringe away from the blow. A hand struck the back of his head sending him flying into the mud several feet away.

Sliding to a stop he rolled to his knees wiping away from his eye. Vision blurry he tried to focus through the pain in his head. Suddenly he remembered Hoshiko she had still been in the room when he confronted the intruders so they wouldn't know about her and the enemies back was turned to the house.

At the moment he couldn't remember any of his Jutsu and his head was spinning and he couldn't stand. "Who are you?" He had to raise his voice to be heard over the storm although he didn't really care about the answer.

"I was supposed to make an offer to Sasuke and try to bring him back to Orochimaru. If you came it didn't matter but, if he didn't come willingly we were supposed to grab one of you." He started to advance "I think you'll be easier to carry."

Suddenly the man dodged to his right a kunai flying over his shoulder. Hoshiko was a second behind but she seemed to slip and almost slid to the man's feet. His sharingan caught the hand signs a second before the ground liquefied and the man sunk up to his knees.

"What the-" in his words were cut off as something smashed into his head and he fell backwards dead or unconscious.

"You two okay? Sasuke jumped down from the roof taking in the scene.

Hoshiko spun demanding "What did you do?"

"Roof Tile Shuriken, useful but were going to have a leak now."

"Hey, stop how do we know you're, you?" That questioned didn't sound right to Kado's ears but Hoshiko seemed to suddenly recognize the danger of a Transformation and drew a kunai.

Sasuke paused and glanced over at Hoshiko taking in her appearance. "I see you got over your objections to my proposal but" he smirked in a way only he could "you might be moving a little fast."

"It's Sasuke" Kado leaned forward suddenly feeling woozy. He barely heard Hoshiko's question.

"What's he talking about?"

Masakazu had once been a proud samurai. He had served his Lord well and when his Lord had declared war on the hidden villages his heart had leapt with joy. War would be his best chance to distinguish himself and bring honor to his family. He had been prepared to do anything but, that was only expected.

After he had missed out on the destruction of Moyagakure and the raid on Kirigakure he had thought his opportunity would never arrive. Then he had been assigned a mission. It had been disappointingly simple. All he had to do was guard the fishing fleet while his Lord's castle was besieged. The massive ships would have been used to transport the army later.

Unfortunately, his Lord had never managed to break the siege and every single one of his comrades had been slaughtered. When they had learned about the defeat they had been devastated. He was prepared to commit Seppuku and had even begun to write his death poem when the old commander had roused them with the familiar story of the Forty-Seven Ronin. Like them they had to avenge their Lord before they could die.

Inspired they had dispersed to wait and let their enemies lower their guard. Like their predecessors they hid among the civilians pretending not to be samurai and waiting for the sign to assemble. Masakazu wasn't sure what fifty-one samurai could do against the system of hidden villages but, that would not be his problem. He had found work at a small inn. It wasn't bad but, he didn't feel alive. His life had lost meaning and focus, he craved revenge.

The inn was on the outskirts of a city and its customers stayed out of necessity. He was barely able to contain his anger every time a ninja stayed the night. It was only mildly surprising to him when one of them gave him an ultimatum. He was to go to the shrine up the road at midnight or else. The fact that he had been found out didn't disturb him, it had always been a possibility. Although it was interesting that they were giving him time to prepare himself. They probably didn't want to cause a commotion when they killed him and that was fine.

Leaving the inn for what was probably the last time he touched the Tanto that he had concealed in his loose sleeves for reassurance. He had no intention of being taken alive and if he could he would take down an attacker or two. With a silent goodbye to the old man who had taken pity on him and gave him a job, he departed alone on the dirt road.

The air was heavy and the shadows seemed malevolent. Part of him expected an attack at any minute while the other part of his mind said that they wouldn't go through all this trouble just to kill him in the street. The small Shinto shrine was nothing special and it could have been any of a hundred that dotted the roads. There wasn't another building to be seen in the area and the grounds looked abandoned. Out of habit more than anything else he threw a coin in the offering box before going through the familiar ritual.

As if the bells ring had summoned him a voice spoke. "I have never found my prayers answered. Have you?"

The man's approach had been silent but, Masakazu turned slowly as if he had known he was there the entire time. His voice was quiet and definitely not that of the man's who had approached him earlier. When he got his first glimpse at him he was shocked. An old bandage covered most of his face and he only had one arm which held a cane.

The shock was short-lived. This was a ninja and they were simply demons in the disguise of men so there was no reason to believe this was his true form. "Sometimes," he answered.

"You are luckier than I." The man turned his gaze to something in the distance and for a moment he seemed to forget about Masakazu for a minute before speaking again. "You're already dead in spirit, if not in body."

The statement was true but, it elicited no reaction from Masakazu. Instead, he pondered if he could cover the three steps it would take to cut this man down before being killed himself. They appeared to be alone but shadows had eyes. "Is that all you've come to say?"

"I've come to offer you an opportunity."

"And why would I lower myself to accept anything that you have to offer," he took a single step forward closing the distance.

"Because, I can offer you a way to avenge your fallen Lord and give your life meaning again."

That brought him up short and for the first time he noticed that this man didn't wear a Hitai-ate. "Alright I'm listening."

"There are two individuals above everyone else that are responsible for the coalition that defeated your Lord. The first is the Raikage of Kumogakure and the second is the Hokage of Konohagakure. If these two had not worked together your Lord might very well be alive today." The old man paused and Masakazu found himself leaning closer as if he was being confided in. "I can arrange things so that you will be alone and within sword range of the Hokage."

"So you are a ninja." He couldn't help it, he laughed. "Why would I bother with the internal machinations of your village? Go back to whatever hole you crawled out of and leave me in peace." Masakazu turned his back on the man but, made sure not to change the distance between the two of them.

"You misunderstand. You don't have a choice in the matter. If you don't agree you will die here and if you agree you will die after you kill the Hokage. Your fate is sealed. If you don't go along with our plans we will simply approach another one of your comrades. The only thing you can do now is take one of your enemies with you."

Turning as if he was going to shout a response he instead drew his weapon and within two steps he was upon the man. Swinging his weapon upwards his head exploded in pain. The next thing he knew he was on the ground his head ringing. When his vision cleared he saw two figures standing over him. One was the old man and the other wore a mask that vaguely looked like an animal.

"That was very dumb. Did you really think I would come alone?" The old man reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper that he let flutter to the ground. "Be at that location in two days or we will kill you and any acquaintances you have made." The old man seemed to turn to leave but stopped and added. "And don't forget to bring that accursed weapon you keep under your floorboards. It's not in a particularly well hidden spot at least to us ninjas."

It took several minutes for Masakazu to regain enough sense to sit up and then he grinned to himself. They hadn't killed him and that meant something. They either didn't know of any of his comrades locations or didn't have the time to hunt them down. He put faith in the former. The only thing that connected him to his past was the thing under his floorboards. They must've found that somehow but, he was only one of three men who had those objects in his possession and none of the three knew anything about the rest of the group.

He would die soon no doubt but, in truth he had been dead for years. By all rights he should have died with his Lord on that day. It didn't matter now. Soon, he would be dead but he would not die as someone's fateful puppet.

Authors note: Wow this chapter got away from me. For the two of you who care I'm updating Assassins in the Snow next.