The night seemed to drag on without any real incident. Neji and Hisako spent most of the night patrolling the borders of the small town. It was late in the night, and they had yet to see any sort of disturbance or mischief in the town.

"This is becoming rather tedious," Hisako grumbled to Neji.

After another round of patrolling the borders, they got together to come up with a new plan to try and liven up the night. Hisako's Sharingan scanned the nearby town in boredom as Neji and she sat in a tree overlooking the town.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Hisako saw something shift in the dark night. She perked up, her red eyes snapping to attention as Neji did the same. He saw it too. Her Sharingan saw the chakra of a small animal scurrying through the town, knocking over stands, banging on windows, and running into barrels. Then, another creature a few meters from that one caused the same sort of mischief.

"Looks like we found the culprit," Neji whispered beside Hisako.

"Let's go check it out," Hisako replied jumping down from the tree to run into the town.

Over her headset that was linked to Guy Sensei, she spoke, "We've spotted movement in the village, Guy Sensei! There's another creature that's ten meters from your's and Lee's location. Neji and I are in pursuit of a creature now. Confirm?"

"Confirmed, Hisako. Lee and I will converge on the second target. Over," Guy Sensei's voice came over the headset.

Once Neji and Hisako got to the location where they saw the creature, the creature was gone.

"Dangit, where did it go?" Hisako asked, turning in the street to try and locate the creature.

"There!" Neji exclaimed, pointing to where Hisako saw the creature disappearing into an alleyway.

"Got it!"

They both jumped onto the rooftops, a shingle falling from the roof of one house and Hisako couldn't help but feel a little guilty given how poorly made the houses were in the first place.

They followed the creature into the forest, and it didn't take long to meet up with Guy Sensei and Lee. Guy Sensei and Lee were a few dozen meters in front of them when the creatures disappeared through a row of bushes and undergrowth. Just beyond that, lay a steep hill with jagged rocks and moist, loose dirt. Lee, without thinking of the consequences, went to follow the creatures through the bushes.

"Lee! Don't!" Hisako shouted out in warning, but it was too late.

Lee had already burst through the bushes, and the moment his foot didn't meet the ground she saw him falling. Hisako concentrated some extra chakra into her feet to propel herself forward so she could grab Lee's wrist. She got to him just in time and grabbed his wrist to keep him from falling further, grabbing onto a nearby tree so she didn't fall herself.

"Thanks for the save, Hisako!" Lee said, turning to give Hisako a large smile as Hisako pulled Lee up from the hill.

"Just, be more careful next time, Lee," Hisako scolded as she pushed Lee through the bushes and away from the hill.

"The creatures went down that hill?" Guy Sensei asked, peeking through the bushes to see the steep hill.

"Yes, they disappeared that way," Neji confirmed.

"We could follow them," Hisako offered, "at the very least, Neji and I can go down there and check it out,"

"Hm," Guy Sensei muttered, putting a hand on his chin in thought, "What did you two see of the creatures so far?"

"It looks like they're raccoons of sorts," Neji replied, "isn't that how the Headman described their appearance to us?"

Hisako nodded, "Yes. That's right. Maybe there's something down that hill?"

"Let me take a look," Neji said, jumping into a tree over the hill, and with his Byakugan he was able to see a lot more than Hisako was, "it looks like there's a destroyed building down there. Debre and rocks, maybe a landslide caused the damage? I also see chakra signatures from multiple creatures that we saw in the village,"

"It looks like that's the place we need to go then," Guy Sensei agreed, "Neji, Hisako, why don't you two go down there, and take a look around?"

Hisako nodded, and jumped up into the tree with Neji, "we'll be back shortly," Hisako told Guy Sensei and Lee as Neji and she jumped from tree to tree getting deeper into the forest.

Once they got to the bottom of the hill, there looked to be the remains of an old shrine scattered about in the rocks and rubble that littered the ground. Small raccoon-looking creatures milled about the remains, picking at wood pillars and grass. Hisako frowned at the sad state their area was in and without thinking, jumped down from the tree Neji and she was hiding in.

The raccoons immediately stopped what they were doing and turned their beady, mischievous little eyes onto her. Hisako gently raised her hands to show that she meant them no harm.

"Hello there, I'm Hisako Uchiha, it's nice to meet you," Hisako said gently and quietly.

The raccoons were silent for a few heartbeats until one of them stepped up. There was a bright light, and through the light, it looked like the raccoon was morphing into something, no, someone else. Hisako wasn't sure if she could believe her eyes. Neji jumped down from the tree and landed right behind Hisako, his muscles tensed and ready to lunge if the raccoons proved to be a threat.

"I see the town's Headman has sent for a team of Shinobi to look into the town's disturbances," a feminine voice replied, as the light faded and the raccoon, no the Bake-Danuki, replied.

The Bake-Danuki had taken on the form of a beautiful woman. She had long flowing brown hair, pale skin, and bright blue eyes. This figure she saw before her, reminded Hisako so much of her mother that it made her heart ache. She swallowed the surfacing emotions to look at the woman as her beautiful white kimono flapped in the late night breeze.

"We are the Bake-Danuki," the woman replied, her voice calm and ancient, "we have lived in these woods for thousands of years and have aided the people who have inhabited this land. They repaid us by worshipping us like Gods and deities. However, recently, a landslide destroyed our shrine. The place we called home. My people have become restless since and have been taking their frustrations out on the small town. If the townspeople would please rebuild our shrine in an area not likely to be destroyed again, and if they would go back to worshipping us, we would be glad to offer them our assistance again,"

"I understand. The Headman had a feeling this was the case. I'll relay the message to the Headman immediately and we'll assist them in building a new shrine for you and your people," Hisako replied keeping her voice calm and even.

Neji and Hisako were about to turn around when the female Bake-Danuki spoke up again, this time, her voice grew serious and her tone held a deadly warning.

"One last thing before you return to the village, young shinobi," she started, causing Neji and Hisako to turn back to her, "at night, we hear the shadows whisper. They say they want the claim to the Heir of the Crystal. They seek a power they cannot poses. A power that I believe is something you poses,"

"Heir of the Crystal?" Hisako whispered, her hands going up to grasp the crystal necklace hanging around her neck.

"There's a dangerous people after you and that crystal, child. Tread with caution, should you find yourself in the hands of your worst enemy,"

The female figure began to fade away, and the form of a raccoon took over once again. Hisako and Neji stood silently as the ominous warning hung between them like a dark cloud.

"Shadows?" Hisako whispered.

For some reason, she kept hearing that word. Like shadows were suddenly living, breathing entities. And she didn't like the thoughts that swirled in her mind.

"Come on, we have to go report what we've discovered here," Neji told Hisako, motioning her up the hill.

Hisako quietly followed Neji up the hill and once they returned, they relayed the story of how they met with the Bake-Danuki. Lee looked on in awe at their story and once they were done, he leaned in closer to the two of them, disbelief on his face.

"The Bake-Danuki are real? That's so cool! I would love to meet one!" Lee shouted enthusiastically.

Neji and Hisako sighed, "maybe you will," Hisako told Lee shaking her head as she made her way back towards the town, "let's go and tell the Headman of what we found,"

The next day, the town celebrated with the news that the team from the Leaf Village had solved the mystery of the mischievous Bake-Danuki. Team Guy helped the townspeople build a new shrine on the outskirts of the town and they even agreed to start worshipping the raccoon creatures again.

"Why did you stop in the first place?" Hisako asked one of the shop owners as he polished one of his apples.

"Ah well! You know what they say. Legends are just legends, right? Our people began to forget about the old stories of the Bake-Danuki and as the legends disappeared, so did the worship. The Bake-Danuki was never very social creatures so long as we gave them the offerings they requested. I suppose along with not offering anything to them anymore, we forgot to tend to their shrine."

"I see," Hisako replied as the shop owner held out an apple for Hisako to take.

"Here! It's on me. As a thank you for helping out our small town," the old shop owner said.

Hisako bowed and gratefully took the apple. All that day, the townspeople have been giving the team of shinobi food and other gifts as a thank you for helping them with their troubles. They all felt free to leave their homes and live life normally again. After talking to some more people, she found out that this has been going on for over a month before they finally decided to ask for assistance from the Leaf Village.

However, even though this town was now in celebration, Hisako couldn't help but feel a sense of trepidation and fear in her heart. The warning the Bake-Danuki gave Hisako terrified her, and even the appearance she took startled her. Not only did she look like her mother, but there was something so eerily familiar about the way she presented herself. Ancient and all knowing. It was like she knew her from somewhere else. Somewhere so close to her heart, it might as well have been herself. She couldn't figure out what scared her the most. The Bake-Danuki's appearance, or the warning she had received.

"Here! Some hot Sakura Tea for you miss!" one of the ladies exclaimed, rushing over to Hisako to hand her a steaming hot cup of light pink tea.

"Oh! Thank you so much," Hisako replied, taking the tea from the lady.

The young lady giggled, and leaned forward toward Hisako as she took a sip of the tea, "That handsome gentleman over there asked me to give it to you! Isn't that sweet? He might have a thing for you!"

She whispered to Hisako as she pointed to a man years older than Hisako. He was sitting on a crate, straw in his mouth and a nasty scar slashed across his cheek. He wore the usual village attire, his black hair was chopped short, and even though he looked normal, he had a horribly evil glint in his dark eyes and a nasty smirk on his face that pulled at his scar distorting it further.

There was something horribly wrong with that man.

"H-Have you ever seen him before?" Hisako whispered to the girl as she lowered the glass from her lips.

"No. He just arrived in town today," the girl said with a giggle before dancing through the throngs of townspeople again.

Hisako stood staring at the man and he stared back. A moment later, one of the townspeople passed in front of the man, and in an instant, he was gone. A shiver ran through Hisako's body and her eyes widened in panic. Her heart raced.

She was right. He wasn't normal, he was someone bad. Someone with evil intent! And if he had those types of skills-The world suddenly spun. There wasn't enough oxygen to breathe, and she felt herself sway dangerously on her feet. The teacup fell from her hands and shattered on the ground beneath her.

Only one thought came to her mind.

I was poisoned

Her head spun left, then right as sheer panic began to seep into her bone. She had to find someone from her team! Neji, Lee, Guy Sensei! Someone! She stumbled through the crowd of people. Some of them reached for her and offered her food and goods, but she ignored them all.

Where are they? I need help! Where are they? She thought, tears blurring her vision as she stumbled.

Eventually, her knees gave way and she lurched forward. Before she could fall, however, someone caught her around her waist and she felt herself go airborne. She let out a gasp as the man who held her under his arm jumped from rooftop to rooftop. She wasn't able to get a good look at him, but she could have sworn she recognized the brown shirt from the man who had given her the tea earlier.

As he jumped from the rooftops into the nearby forest, she let out a loud, shrill scream hoping someone heard her before the world went black.

Neji leaned against a wall trying to conceal himself from the grateful townspeople who kept offering him free things. It was becoming ridiculous. Ever since the team figured out why this town was suffering the mischievous misfortunes, it seemed like the people of this town became so jubilant and thrilled that they turned into some kind of festive dancing mob. They celebrated and laughed and danced, and he was becoming frustrated that Guy Sensei wouldn't just tell the Headman goodbye so they could all leave.

He got separated from Hisako a while ago, and while he was confident in her skills to defend herself and knew none of the townspeople had any ill will, he was hopeful that the two of them could convince Guy Sensei that it was time to go.

He stood up from the wall, scanning the nearby crowd with a frown on his face. Everyone was dancing and having a good time except for one man. He was dressed like any other towns person. A normal brown shirt, and pants. Nothing too stand-out-ish, but, his demeanor, the way that man held himself, and the cold calculating look in his eyes set Neji on edge. That man wasn't from around here. He was here for something, or maybe someone.

"Blasted. Where is everyone?" Neji grumbled, feeling a sense of urgency as he pushed his way through the crowded streets.

He didn't pay that man that he saw a moment ago any attention. He just needed to find Hisako and the others and they needed to leave. If they could just get out of here, he would feel a lot better.

"Here! Take this, it's my grandmother's famous dumplings!" one old lady yelled, pushing a dumpling in Neji's direction.

He let out a sigh and shook his head, fighting to be polite despite his desire to just leave this place, "no, thank you," he replied to the old lady sidestepping her to continue into the crowd.

It didn't take him long to locate Lee. He was showing off some of his Taijutsu with some of the townspeople in a clear area.

"Lee!" Neji shouted, grabbing his attention.

Lee stopped mid-kick and turned to look at Neji with a curious look, "Oh! Neji!" he said, his expression turning into joy a moment later as he leaped over to his teammate, "Isn't this town awesome! How do you say the name again? Nama, uh, Namamana, Nama-"

"Namanamashi. This is the town of Namanamashi," Neji finished for Lee letting out a sigh.

Lee snapped his fingers, "Right! Namanamashi!"

"Anyways, Lee, have you seen Hisako or Guy Sensei around?"

"Hisako and Guy Sensei? Uh, no? Why?" Lee asked, his dark eyes scanning the crowds nearest to them.

"Nothing, let's just find them. I think it's time we leave and return to the Leaf," Neji replied, turning on his heel to head back into the crowd.

"Hey! Wait," Lee shouted, running after Neji and pushing his way through the crowds of people.

A moment later, Neji stopped with the sound of a scream breaking through the crowd. It was so feint only a trained shinobi could have caught the sound of that scream. The wind almost carried it away completely, but Neji recognized that scream. Immediately he activated his Byakugan, and Lee stopped right behind him.

"Was that?" Lee asked in a whisper as he scanned the crowds.

"That was Hisako," Neji confirmed, annoyance surged inside him when at first he couldn't see where Hisako's scream had come from.

The crowd of people was so dense, it was taking time for him to sort through all the chakra networks he was seeing. And the longer he had to take, the further away Hisako was going to get.

"Lee, find Guy Sensei now! Hisako is in danger," Neji ordered Lee, jumping up out of the crowd and onto a nearby rooftop to get a better view of the area.

Neji was able to see Hisako's chakra network being carried by the same man he had seen earlier. The one attempting to blend in with the rest of the crowd in the town. He knew it! He knew that guy was bad news. He silently cursed himself for not addressing the threat sooner and turned his attention back down toward the town.

He knew he had to act quickly if he waited much longer than Hisako was going to get out of the range of his Byakugan but he didn't think it would be wise to confront this enemy without backup. Thankfully, with his Byakugan he saw Lee and Guy Sensei running through the crowd before jumping onto the rooftops in Neji's direction. Good. He was going to get back up.

He knew what he had to do. He turned his attention back to where Hisako was being taken and jumped into the trees.

It didn't take long for him to meet resistance. With his Byakugan, he saw multiple kunai knives fly at him from below. He frowned and jumped out of the way as they harmlessly embedded themselves into the tree trunk behind him. He flipped in the air and landed on the ground silently as he faced two grinning shinobi.

Neji's frown deepened as he sank into a fighting stance, bringing up his hands to take on the Gentle Fist stance. He didn't have time for this! The longer he had to deal with these two, the further away Hisako got!

"Sorry bud, but that little girl is ours. Not only is she worth a lot of money, but man, that crystal she's got is worth a fortune! That crystal is legendary and the boss wants that power," one of the men yelled, laughing.

"Neji! Sorry, it took us a minute," Guy Sensei yelled, jumping down from the trees as he and Lee landed beside Neji, "what do we got here? Two rogues? How annoying,"

"They have Hisako, if they get any further away, I won't be able to track them," Neji informed Guy, his muscles coiling under his skin, preparing to attack their enemies.

"Then let's deal with them quickly, Lee, let's go!" Guy Sensei yelled as Lee and Guy charged the two shinobi shouting, "Neji, go after Hisako! We'll be right behind you," Guy yelled as he made contact with the first shinobi.

Neji nodded his head and jumped into the trees, bypassing the fighting as he concentrated extra chakra into his feet to help speed himself up so he could make up for the lost time.

When Hisako came to, her vision was blurry, her stomach turned in revolt to whatever was slipped into her tea, and her head spun like she was stuck on some horrible spinning ride with no end. She tried to push herself into a sitting position but found her wrists bound behind her with ropes. She pulled at the ropes, but the ropes didn't budge. She tried to use chakra to cut them, but, she couldn't even feel the sense of chakra anymore. Something was blocking her from using her chakra.

"It's useless. Those ropes will stop you from using any chakra," a masculine voice said from overhead.

Hisako's gaze lifted, and the man she saw in the town, the one who poisoned her, stood over her. He had a giant, triumphant smile on his face as he stared down at Hisako. What was worse, was around his neck, her crystal necklace glimmered in the dim light. Hisako let out a gasp, and pulled against the restraints again, trying to lunge for the man.

"That necklace! It's mine! Give it back!" Hisako shouted, straining against rolling nausea and her bound wrists.

The man took a step back, laughing as he sidestepped Hisako's pathetic attempt to headbutt the man.

"I think I'll keep this crystal. It's said to hold legendary powers right? I can't wait to use it myself," the man replied, wrapping his hand around the crystal possessively.

Hisako bared her teeth in rage as she watched him run the crystal along the chain like she's done a thousand times, mocking her. But, her green eyes were drawn to the shadows behind him as one of them started to take solid form. She gasped, her eyes widening in fear as the shadowy figure became more human as it slinked up from the shadow it came from.

"I see you have the girl," the shadowy figure said, his voice gruff and hard as he stood as still as a statue behind the man who had her crystal.

"Yeah, just give me the money and she's all yours," the man replied, not turning to face the shadow figure.

A suitcase was pushed out of the shadows and skittered across the concrete with a squeal as it hit the ankles of the man. He leaned down and cautiously opened the lid of the suitcase, his smile spreading as he inventoried the money in the suitcase.

"Perfect," he cooed, closing and sealing the suitcase again as he stood up.

"Now, leave me with the girl," the shadowy figure ordered.

"Of course,"

Without a second look at Hisako, the man took his suitcase full of money and walked out of the dark room. The shadows seemed to creep further into the room, the light seemed to dull as the shadowy man took silent steps towards her, almost like he was floating over the ground itself.

Hisako wasn't sure she was breathing as she stared at the foreboding figure in front of her. Panic rose to her throat as two bright green eyes finally appeared out of the darkness of the man's face. Tears threatened to spill over and her breathing became ragged as she struggled to stay calm.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice trembling only slightly.

Neji and the rest of Team Guy will come for me. They will come for me. They will come.

She kept repeating that in her head over and over again like some sort of mantra to try and keep herself calm as she stared at the shadowy figure as he silently stared back.

Eventually, he raised a dark hand, and she felt a surge in the air as the ropes binding her wrists loosened. She quickly brought her hands to her chest, rubbing her sore wrists as she struggled to her feet. The shadowy man took a step closer to her, and she gave him that step, taking a step back closer to the wall at her back.

"I have arranged for a transport to take you to the Yami Clan hideout in the Hyoga Mountain Range tomorrow morning," the shadowy figure informed Hisako, humor lacing his words and his green eyes bright in amusement, and excitement, "until then, I plan on having fun with your soul,"

"M-My soul?" Hisako asked, breathless and trembling as her back hit the wall.

She couldn't believe it! That name, Yami. She recognized it. She was so hopeful that it was a nightmare. She remembered the shadowy people that burst through the doors of the Fuyu Clan Estate that day oh so long ago. She remembered one of them controlling Takun's body, forcing him to try and kill Hisako. She had thought that was all a dream. Prayed it was a dream. She didn't want the Yami Clan to be real. A clan full of nightmares and terrors. A clan that she never wanted to encounter again.

A clan made up of shadows.

Her knees grew weak and she sank to the cold unforgiving floor beneath her as the shadow man continued his steady approach. Tears streamed down her face as she shook her head. Suddenly, the member of the Yami Clan lunged for Hisako. He came at her in a blur of darkness and death.

Hisako threw up her arms in a useless attempt to protect herself, screaming as she felt him collide with, no into, her body. She continued to scream as she felt cold, dead, lifeless fingers clench her body, no, her soul. Felt the cold merciless grasp of his consciousness prying into hers. Forcing his way into her mind, body, and soul. He was exploring her, looking into every inch of her, he wanted to find every weakness. Every strength, everything. He wanted to know everything about Hisako and he wouldn't stop till he got what he wanted.

Her soul.