The Infiltration

The portal dumps them into a field; presumably on the outside of the village. Hiyori's gasps, the scenery was breathtaking; everything was so green, and she'd never seen so many trees before. They were much taller than the one's in the Soul Society.

"So this is the world of the living? Everything here; the plants, the trees, even the air, seems so much more lively."

"That's no surprise; plants that rely on oxygen, are more beautiful than the ones that rely on spirit particles; at least that's my opinion" said Soifon.

"Lieutenant, there is something that you need to be aware of. The concentration of spirit particles in the atmosphere, here in the world of the living, is much lower than in the Soul Society. You'll feel a difference when you use your powers."

"Can you elaborate?"

Soifon sighs, "Your spiritual energy won't decrease in any way; however, it will take more effort to perform certain techniques that would otherwise be easy to utilize; expect your stamina, and spirit energy reserves to deplete much faster here."

Hiyori frowns, 'Not a major setback I suppose; we won't be using our zanpakuto's, so I guess it doesn't matter.'

"Understood, Captain."

"Good, now I'll fill you in on the next part of the plan."

It was far too risky to try and infiltrate the village posing as resident ninja; Soifon had no idea how a village like this would operate, so she opted for an undercover approach. The last thing she wanted was for their covers as soul reapers to be blown.

The mission could still be completed, but exposing their true identities could cause a panic amongst the superstitious ninja. Soifon had heard the folklore, and the legends surrounding soul reapers throughout the centuries; that they were the personification of Death, and the harvesters of souls. If word spread of a pair of grim reapers appearing in the village; she cringed at the thought of the havoc that might ensue.

The pair would be posing as merchants; they would enter the village, and track down this Hyuuga clan. If they couldn't get any useful information on the war from them, they'd merely ask them to direct them to someone that could.

Their disguises were already preset with their gigai, and Soifon had their forged identification papers ready; the plan was relatively foolproof, and she did not expect too many irregularities.

Checking, and double checking their supplies, the duo begins to trek towards the village.

-------------

After twenty minutes of walking, the gates of the Hidden Leaf Village came into view. The two soul reapers stood in awe of the sheer size of the village; they were honestly expecting to find a small, remote village with a couple hundred people. What they were looking at was something of a small metropolis.

"Good God, this place is enormous!"

Soifon was impressed; this village had to be as large as some of the more populated areas of the Rukon district. Many of the structures weren't unlike those found in the Seireitei; completely different from the run down, and shoddy looking buildings of the poor areas of Rukon.

The pair approaches the entrance, and is immediately stopped by two ninja's guarding the gate. The pair had on matching green vests, and both sported the same headbands with a leaf symbol imprinted on them.

Izumo Kamizuki stares at the two travelers, "I'll need to see some identification before I can let you in."

The other ninja, Kotetsu Hagane, added, "Security's gotten tighter lately, because of the war; you understand."

Soifon shoots Hiyori a look, before handing over their paperwork. Izumo stares at the identifications.

"Let's see, Shaolin Fon, from the Land of Grass, and"… He gasps lightly, gazing at Hiyori's face for the first time.

Kotetsu notices the same thing; the girl looks like an exact duplicate of Hinata Hyuuga, the heir to the prestigious Hyuuga clan; she had the same hair, the same body, even had the same trademark Hyuuga eyes. Neither of them said a word, but all took was a second of eye contact to tell they were both thinking the same thing.

"Hiyori Zaraki, also from the Land of Grass; tell me, what is your business here in Konoha?"

Hiyori smiles, "Were actually here to do a little business, and trade with the Hyuuga clan."

"Yes", said Soifon. "We don't know our way around the village, I don't suppose either of you know where we can find them?"

Kotetsu gave them the information without hesitation. He too had his suspicions, but he chose to keep his thoughts unreadable, lest these be expert enemy ninja.

Izumo remains stoic, appearing uninterested, "I see; well your identification papers seem to be in order, enjoy your stay in Konoha."

The women express their gratitude, and make their way into the village. The two guards waited until the pair had walked out of hearing range before sitting back down.

"You saw that didn't you Izumo? Tell me I'm not going crazy; that girl looked just like Hinata Hyuuga."

He nods, and scratches his chin, "They could be spies; but, the Five Great Lands are allies now, so they have no need to spy on one another."

"Many of the smaller lands are still neutral, so it could be the work of the Akatsuki."

Kotetsu was stumped, "The Hidden Rain is the only small village that's directly allied with us as I know it."

"How's that? We survived a direct attack from them once; I doubt they'd send another guy like Pain to attack us."

"Think about it, that girl looks exactly like Hinata, right? Perhaps there's a plan to sabotage Naruto somewhere; if it weren't for the war, the two of them would probably be dating each other."

Izumo frowns, even though Naruto and Hinata were pretty close, he doubted that the Akatsuki would use her to try and get to him.

"Their paperwork, and identification checks out; so if they were fake, they were damn good ones."

"Maybe we should let the ANBU handle this, if they really are here for trading and commerce, the Hyuuga clan should be able to validate their word. Maybe that girl's similar appearance to the heiress is just a coincidence."

Izumo nods, and summons an ANBU squad to their position at the main gate. He informs the captain of the details of the situation. The ANBU disappear, quickly heading towards the center of the village. The captain makes her way to the compound alone, and sends the others to track the two suspicious visitors.

Near the outskirts of the city lies the newly constructed Hyuuga manor. When Pain destroyed the village, the previous manor had been destroyed as well. The clan had opted to rebuild the manor; bigger, and even more splendid than it was before. It was one of the first buildings to be completed during the reconstruction of the village.

Hiashi Hyuuga sits at his desk, finishing up some paperwork. It has been a stressful last few months for the head of the clan. The destruction of the village could not have come at a worse time for him; the Hyuuga's are a clan of fierce loyalty, forever united with Konoha.

The widespread alliance that has united the five great nations against Madara has also been a blessing in disguise; now he was busy writing old comrades, and trying to renew bonds that had been broken. The letter he was writing was addressed to the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure.

Another blessing had been the vast improvements that he noticed within his eldest daughter Hinata; while the girl had been steadily improving ever since she had been promoted to chunin, it was her change in attitude that mostly caught his eye.

Since her battle with Pain, the girl had developed a newfound sense of self confidence, her formally shy, and withdrawn, demeanors have been reduced; and it was all thanks to one man, Naruto Uzumaki.

Hiashi knew how his daughter felt about the blond headed ninja, his own opinion of the boy had improved tremendously over the years; that was why he had no problem letting the boy personally train his daughter when she had asked.

However, Hinata's love for the boy would one day force him into a corner, and he knew it. When Naruto had not only defeated Pain, but managed to forge an alliance between Konoha and the Hidden Rain in the process through peace, Hiashi had been one of the first to regard the boy as a true hero. He now had no doubt in his mind that the boy was destined to become Hokage.

Naruto was the only possible suitor that was, perhaps, too deserving of Hinata. He would never downgrade the position of Leader of the Hyuuga clan, but the position of Hokage was undoubtedly more important. If Naruto and Hinata were to wed; the boy would be able to change any aspect of the Hyuuga clan if he wanted to; and there wouldn't be anything she could do about it.

Hiashi sighs as he puts down his pen, his letter finished. He was about to summon a carrier hawk, when he notices a sudden change in energy; someone else had entered his office.

He turns to find an ANBU captain crouched down in front of the desk. Though most of the ANBU he did not know, he did recognize the woman as Yugao Uzuki.

'She must have received a promotion.'

She stands, "Lord Hyuuga, a pair of merchants from the Land of Grass have entered the village, they claim to have some business with the Hyuuga clan. Can you confirm this?"

Hiashi shakes his head; he wasn't expecting to do any kind of trade with any merchants at this time, and certainly not any from the Land of Grass. Yugao continues…

"One of girls bears a resemblance to Lady Hinata; she appears to have the byukugan as well, it was assumed that she was a member of your clan, perhaps removed. The name on the passport she presented is Hiyori Zaraki."

Hiashi's eyes widen, and he gasps slightly. However, he claims to have no knowledge of the girl, and sends the ANBU on her way.

"Thank you, Lord Hyuuga", Yugao disappears silently.

It was true, he had never heard of a Hiyori Zaraki before. And though she might bear a resemblance to Hinata, he doubted that she possessed the byukugan. The Hyuuga clan keeps close tabs on all exiled members and their families; he had never heard of a branch family called Zaraki before. Still, the information gave him a sense of déjà vu nonetheless.

It was one of the secrets of the Hyuuga clan; though it wouldn't endanger the clan if exposed, it had been in place for confidentiality. The main household and many of the branch families knew the secret; although few of the other clans in Konoha had known, and no one in the newer generation had any clue.

Hinata had another sister; a twin sister, named Hiyori. The girls weren't even a year old before Hiyori had caught a virus, which would lead to her unfortunate death. Hiashi and his wife mourned in private; Hiyori's name wasn't even added to the village census that year; her name can only be found within the private records of the Hyuuga family vault.

It frustrated him when Hinata seemingly refused the destiny that had been suddenly thrust upon her as future leader of the clan; she had been told growing up, that she had been born first, but that was a lie. In truth, Hiyori had been the first one born, and was, by birthright, the true leader of the clan. Her death prevented this, and thrust that destiny onto Hinata; but it was as if, by some force, she knew that the destiny wasn't rightfully hers, so she resisted.

It enraged Hiashi when he finally had to give up on Hinata, and focus his attention on Hanabi instead. He had lost not one, but two potential heirs at that point. He was grateful for Hinata's eventual turnaround, and acceptance of her destiny. It might have initially been her destiny to be a branch member, given her submissive nature; but fate had another plan for her. He himself had learned a similar lesson, when his twin brother had chosen death in order to protect the clan.

This was the past though, and he was quickly becoming an old man. The day that he did die; that would be the day that he looks forward to seeing all the loved ones he had lost in his lifetime, his wife, his brother, and his daughter.

----------------

Although Hiyori was busy taking in all the sights and scenery of the village, Soifon couldn't afford to.

"Quit looking at all the buildings and plants, and focus Hiyori."

She frowns, this was her first trip to the world of the living; she couldn't help but feel like a kid in a candy store.

"Relax Captain; has this place got you that uptight? Our identifications were flawless; we'll be done with the mission by the time they even suspect anything's wrong."

Soifon growls, 'Typical, just what I'd expect from a former 11th Division member; all brawn and no brain.'

"Shut up; don't be a moron. You're vastly underestimating the danger of the situation we're in."

Soifon knew something was wrong, even though their identifications were flawless, their disguises weren't. There were several scenarios that she hadn't covered; mostly because she couldn't. The most looming was the Hyuuga family; she had no idea what kind of influence and power they possessed, for all she knew they could be anything from commoners, to powerful nobles like the Kuchiki's.

She seriously hoped that it wasn't the latter; if they held allot of political power, and wealth in this village, they were fucked. The two guards at the gates would have easily seen through their getups.

'I feel like we're being followed, but I'm having trouble sensing anything. These gigai have been modified to sense life energy; however, everything's too hazy for me to get a clear picture. I don't sense much spirit energy either. Damn, these ninja's aren't amateurs; that's for sure. These are experts; I doubt the Stealth Force could do a better job.'

The two had been walking for about ten minutes; Soifon figured that they were halfway to their destination, as the Hyuuga clan was located near the outskirts of the large village. Ever since they had entered she had felt something wrong; that was where her instincts and training kicked in.

She too, had been well trained in the ninja arts; and stealth missions were her specialty. If anyone in the Seireitei could infiltrate a ninja village, it would be her.

'Damn it; I should have requested Lady Yoruichi to accompany me instead.'

Even though, at this time, she was Yoruichi's superior, she refused to treat her former sensei like a subordinate; even going as far as acting as if nothing had changed from 150 years prior, when the roles had been reversed.

"I think we're being followed, we have to be careful."

Hiyori's face dropped, "Being followed? Since when?"

"Since we entered the village; I'm not sure who they are, but whoever they are, they're experts, probably a stealth force of some kind."

Hiyori began to sweat, she hadn't noticed anything at all; she wasn't about to question the Captain either, if Soifon felt something was wrong, she wasn't about to doubt her.

"We need to split up" said Soifon, "There's a crowd of people coming up ahead; we need to disappear. Keep walking towards our destination, and I'll meet you there."

Hiyori kept walking forward into the sea of pedestrians, as Soifon backtracks, and begins walking in the opposite direction.

'Let's see, this ought to draw them out.'

Soifon executes a basic flash step, and disappears behind a building. She immediately senses the life energy in the area flare ever so slightly.

'I sense two of them; so, they can track my flash step, impressive. However, I'm only keeping to the basics.'

Soifon expends some of her spirit energy, and executes an even faster flash step; purposely getting herself cornered inside an ally.

A team of ANBU has been trailing the two women ever since they entered the village; they had reason to suspect them of being a possible threat and they weren't going to take any chances during wartime.

The team splits up after seeing the pair walk off into two directions. One of the women suddenly vanishes, but reappears a second later. The ANBU use some of their chakra to increase their speed, obtaining similar results.

It was odd; the woman could move at high speeds, yet she didn't appear to be expending any chakra at all. She seems to have noticed them; she definitely wasn't a civilian, as it was obvious that she had some training as a ninja.

Soifon smiles, she had their attention, "I don't know who you guys are, but I have no intention of being caught."

She disappears; utilizing an expert level flash step, she reappears on the roof of a building, and proceeds to jump from roof to roof. Much to her surprise, the two ANBU remain hot on her trail.

"I'm moving as fast as most seated officers, and they're still able to follow me? Impossible, humans can't move this fast!"

She notices the spikes in their life force have gone way off the charts; her gigai has been designed to sense the natural life energy of humans. As ninja, she expected them to be able to conceal their life energy; however, she was not prepared to have them raise that energy. What she was sensing was way beyond the normal limit of life energy she knew humans to have.

"Are these guys superhuman? Damn! What a horrible idea this was; we should have been better prepared before we came here!"

Soifon leads her pursuers into an open field and into a clearing on the outskirts of the village. She stops next to the tree line, and turns to face her opponents for the first time. There were two men, both wearing silver armor, with swords attached to their backs; both where wearing white masks, which reminded her of the vizards.

"Who are you guys?"

She didn't receive an answer, "I'm not a threat; I just need some answers."

"We'll let the Hokage decide that", one of them spoke.

"Is the Hokage the leader of this village? If so, let me speak to..."

A third voice cuts her off, "The Hokage is too busy to deal with the likes of you; you're dealing with me now."

------------------

A woman with purple hair rises from the ground; she too was wearing a white mask, but her getup was a tad bit different; she was wearing white armor instead of silver.

Soifon's eyes widen, 'I barely sensed her approach; she must be the squad captain; this ought to be interesting.'

The two men back away, to give their leader room to fight, "I give you one chance; surrender peacefully, or I'll be forced to bring you down by force."

Soifon smiles, and draws her sword from her back. She would rather have her gigai destroyed, rather to risk being captured; she had her pride after all. That would destroy her reputation; and what would Lady Yoruichi think of her, if she got herself captured by a bunch of humans?

Though she wasn't able to use Suzumebachi, she doubted she was going to need her for this fight.

Yugao has seen all she wanted too; Izumo and Kotestu were right in their assumptions, these women weren't merchants. It was obvious that they were both highly skilled, and professionally trained, ninja. She'd let Ibiki work on her, then let Lady Tsunade decide what she wanted to do. She draws her own sword; readying herself for combat.

Soifon leads with a flash step, but her opponent intercepts. The two trade blows; fighting for dominance.

'Her fighting style is very similar to the teachings of the Stealth Force Academy; but how is that possible?'

Soifon finds that she cannot overpower her opponent; even worse her opponent possesses the ability to read her moves. She did not like this predicament at all. She didn't want to waste her spirit energy; due to the lack of spirit particles in the air, her stamina was greatly diminished.

'It appears that I have no choice', she thought solemnly. She breaks away from her opponent and flash steps away. She uses the second of relief to raise her spirit energy to fifty percent. The sudden change in energy causes the dust to swirl around her violently, like a rising tornado.

Yugao stops as she feels the wind whip around her body, as some invisible force tears at her. The woman has apparently used some sort of jutsu; however, she didn't see her use any hand signs, and she couldn't sense the displacement of chakra in the air. Though her mask hid her facial expressions, she was quite surprised, and was feeling rather nervous.

'What kind of jutsu is this? This energy; this isn't chakra at all, what kind of ninja is she!'

'I'm not sure how much spirit energy I can pour into this body. I'm not sure how durable Kisuke made this gigai to be, I might destroy it if I exert all of my power at once, or if I use shunko; and that's the last thing I want to do .I must defeat her quickly, and move on.'

Soifon rushes in to attack once more; but to her shock, the girl was still able to keep up, despite the rapid attacks.

'This is pathetic! A mere human cannot keep up with my speed; it's impossible! I am Soifon, the Captain of the 2nd Division, and the Commander of the Special Forces, dammit!'

She was going to use kido, and put an end to the fight; she wasn't going to kill her opponent, just incapacitate her.

"Bakudo, Number 9 Geki!"

Soifon skips the incantation, and holds out her finger; Yugao suddenly finds herself paralyzed, as a red light surrounds her. She watches in horror, as the powerful invader suddenly disappears.

'What the hell? I can't move; what is this? A genjutsu? I have to counter, or else I'm dead!'

Soifon moves swiftly, and connects with a devastating blow that would surely end the fight; she watches the body of her opponent fall to the ground, only to see it burst into a severed log a second later.

"What!" Soifon yells in pure shock. Her opponent has disappeared.

"Leaf Style: Crescent Moon Dance!"

Soifon looks up to find not one, but four clones rushing at her. She smirks; sensing the life energy inside the clone in front of her. She slashes her opponent across the chest, drawing blood; she expects the rest of the clones to disappear, having wounded the real one. A fraction of a second later, she realizes that her own body has been cut.

She flash steps away, only to watch in horror as the bleeding clone disperses into a cloud of smoke; the girl rematerializes without a scratch on her.

'What the hell? I could have sworn that I cut her! Clones can't bleed like that, it's impossible. Damn, I've seriously underestimated her. She's even stronger than the top seats in my division; I doubt even Omaeda could defeat her.'

She smiles, "What kind of technique was that? I had no idea clones could bleed."

Yugao hesitates, the woman must be some kind of sensor if she could sense chakra; however, she must not be very skilled, if she couldn't tell the difference between a clone and a shadow clone.

"It's called shadow clone; I pour my life energy into an ordinary clone, and they appear to be actual humans to the senses."

Soifon frowns as she processes this information; then she remembers something that Yamamoto had said during the last Captains meeting, "These humans posses massive amounts of energy; even enough to negate the powers of soul reapers and hollows."

'I see; these human's, these ninja…are able to manipulate their life energy in the same manner as we soul reapers manipulate our spirit energy. I realize now why my subordinates were killed. This is astonishing.'

She smiles; she was intrigued, very intrigued. She wanted to learn more about these strange abilities, so unique, yet so similar to her own; but the mission had to come first.

Soifon drops down, ready for another round. This time she was ready; she was confident she could win now. It was a shame she would never know the name of such a worthy opponent.

With her sword held high, she rushes in to engage the girl once more; suddenly she feels a presence of another person, a hand reaches out and grabs her arm. Soifon's gasps, her body has gone numb with fear. She looks up to see a man with silver hair; he was wearing the same headband as the two guards at the gate, only his was angled to cover one of his eyes.

She breaks his grip, and rapidly moves away; her body was shaking with adrenaline, 'I-I didn't even sense him approach, has he been here the entire time? No! I would have sensed him in this gigai. What kind of a human being is he?'

The man had a book in his hand, which he quickly discards as he turns to the girl in the mask, "That will be all Captain, I'll take over from here."

Soifon watches the girl bow, and heard her reply "I understand." She disappears within the blink of eye, followed by the rest of her squad.

Soifon frowns, 'Judging by the way that girl took orders, he must be her superior, but she's a captain; does that mean he's even stronger? Damn, I don't need this; I'm just wasting time. I need to find Hiyori, and we have to complete this mission without any human causalities.'