In the dark night of the Land of Rains, water poured from the heavens as the rain was never-ending, the guards patrolling a compound on high alert for any assassins that might try to sneak in.

"You think an assassin might try to sneak in?" A guard asked and his fellow older guard snorted as he held the hilt of his sword in a tight grip while looking around warily.

"If they don't, it's considered a quiet night."

"Wait, seriously?" The first guard asked in surprise and the second looked at him before snorting as he saw the pristine state of his armour.

"You're the new guy, aren't you?" The older guard said with a knowing smirk and the second gave a sheepish smile as he nodded.

"Yeah, my dad scored me this job and I thought I was doing a good job of hiding it, but I guess not."

"Eh, don't worry about it. Most of the younger ones would have missed the signs as well. As for your question, an attempted assassination is a weekly occurrence and the last one was nearly two weeks ago so we're actually due one."

"Oh, then I guess we should have waited." As soon as he noticed the shift in the younger guard's voice, the older guard was already unsheathing his blade.

However, it was too late as the younger guard stopped his blade from being unsheathed while sneaking a kunai through the gap of his armour and into his throat.

The next moment, the ground under them opened and a flash of steel was seen right before the hole closed back up, Nagato taking a deep breath from where he knelt while Yahiko frowned as he compared his sword compared to the guard's.

"This guy's blade is a lot more unique compared to mine, right?" Yahiko asked and Nagato looked up before nodding slightly as he saw the katana that was Yahiko's and the broadsword that was the guard's.

"Yeah, it's called a broadsword. It's supposed to be used in any style you want since it can slash from any side."

"…Huh, neat." Nagato rolled his eyes as the young boy took the sword and attached it to his waist, shaking his head while taking off the armour before turning to Konan as she spoke up.

"So, what's the situation above?" She asked and he sighed as he took out a scroll from the black kimono top he had on and unfurled a scroll with the information he had marked down on the ground.

"The target is Yuri Hanma, a former member of Hanzo's close confidants that now has defected to Konohagakure in exchange for information on where Ame's forces would attack. Therefore, we need to take him out before he leaks information that might lead to them attacking Amegakure."

"What's the mission rank?"

"B-Rank. He's a former Chunin so it shouldn't be much, but it's less about him and more about making sure that any information he has does not get out."

"Hah, then I guess we're gonna have to take him alive." Yahiko said with a frown and Nagato nodded as he rolled up the scroll, taking a deep breath as he felt his mind sinking into its mission state.

"Everyone ready?" He asked as he flipped on his hook and put on the filtration mask, watching as Yahiko and Konan did the same before smirking as Sesshomaru used his chakra to act as a filtration device for his mouth and nose.

'No idea where he learned that, but I'm glad he does.'

"Okay then. Let's do this."

As the ground above us opened up once more, Sesshomaru and I leapt out of the crater and towards the first pair of guards who were both still frozen in shock before they tried to move as fast as they could.

It was not fast enough and I slid past one while stabbing a kunai through his neck while Sessho pounced the other to the ground and ripped out his throat.

As done in training, he didn't waste any time on biting as he spat out the flesh in his mouth while running after me, both of us leaping up onto the walls before I smirked as I heard the alarm bells ringing.

Fire Style: Toad Flame Bombs!

The moment I heard them, I weaved through hand signs before spitting out a barrage of flaming oil bombs up into the air to let them fall onto the ground and leapt down from the wall.

As we landed, we were immediately charged at by a little over twenty samurai and shinobi, Sessho was already blitzing towards the few directly in the middle as I decided to rush after him as help.

One of the samurai swung a blade at Sessho only for the dog to leap into the air and over the attack, with me taking a deep breath before I spat out another three oil bombs at their feet when they tried to attack him.

Screams of agony quickly echoed in the air as some of the samurai had oil splash onto their feet with a bubbling hiss, the other samurai weary to approach while Sessho leapt back right as the other shinobi tried to attack him.

"An Inuzuka hound…a Konoha shinobi, huh?" One of the shinobi spoke with a smug smirk as he unsheathed his wakizashi while I snorted as I pulled out a pair of kunai from my pouch.

"No need to worry about who I am." I spoke before I blitzed forward, the shinobi already aiming for my throat only to be surprised as I leaned out of the way of his strike while slicing open his wrist.

Kicking his arm upwards to make the blood spray into the eyes of the shinobi trying to attack me from behind, I slipped under his open arm and stabbed into the heart of the surprised shinobi besides him while stabbing the first one I attacked in the back of his head.

Sesshomaru was not standing idle either as he leapt at the shinobi with blood in his eyes and knocked the man to the floor before stabbing his claws into his eyes.

Ripping them out, the wolf-hound quickly jumped back as a samurai tried to attack him from behind, with me quickly ripping my kunai and letting him use my back as a platform to get away as one of the other samurai tried to attack him again.

Wind Style: Vacuum Blast Barrage!

As I stabbed at the samurai's feet, I quickly weaved through hand signs while spinning around, in a circle, blowing out a storm of air blades that swiftly sliced through everything in their path.

Blood sprayed in the air as the bodies of most of our attackers fell to the floor in pieces, the few that were left behind looking shocked as I stood up from the mass of flesh and blood around me while Sessho landed besides me with blood dripping from his mouth and claws.

"So…" I began as I slowly spun the kunai in my grasp, knowing that the dim moonlight made my eyes shone an ominous violet as I readied myself while Sessho let out a soft growl.

"Who wishes to join their friends next?"

"Hah, it's weird how easy it's becoming to kill someone with no remorse." I muttered as I sat on the wall, looking at the numerous corpses lying on the floor while Sessho lied besides me.

I can still remember the vivid feeling of tearing out a man's throat when Yahiko and Konan were first attacked, the warmth of his blood on my face and hands still haunting me to this day.

However, I found that if I simply kill people in a large group, my mind simply shifts to associate them as nothing more than a number which wasn't a bad thing since I didn't have to live with that trauma.

That was not a good thing either as I didn't want it to get to the point that I see everyone as just a number to where that I can't form a good friendship or relationship with anyone new that I meet.

"Hey, Nagato!" I blinked as I heard Yahiko's voice, looking to the side to see Yahiko and Konan walking towards us.

However, I smirked and stood up as I saw the scroll in Konan's grasp as well as the bruised man thrown over Yahiko's shoulder, Sessho waking up from his nap while shaking his body to get himself awake.

"I see you two finished on your end?"

"Yeah, he was a lot harder to fight than I thought." Yahiko grumbled as he shook his arm before giving me a thankful smile as I placed a hand on his arm and healed the damage.

"I thought we didn't have to kill everyone?" Konan asked with a frown as she looked at the bodies and I sighed as I shook my head.

"We didn't have to as I wanted to spare half of them, but even when I offered a chance for surrender, none of them wanted to take it. I'm guessing our target here most likely had their families and forced them to keep on fighting."

"Well, it's a good thing Konan did what she did then." Yahiko said as he dropped down to the outside and I was confused as I turned to the girl in question, to which she gave a slight blush.

"What did you do?"

"Cut his genitals off with a paper shuriken before Yahiko burned the wound closed." She said with a sheepish smile and my eyes widened slightly before I shook my head.

"Well, you're efficient at least." I muttered as I dropped down after Yahiko, Sessho dropping down besides me along with a giggling Konan.

Yep, I'm never getting on her bad side.

"So, you got our guy?" An auburn-haired man asked with a frown as he sat under a tree, to which I nodded as I threw the body of an awake Yuri on the muddy floor.

"A teammate of mine had to take off some parts of his to make sure he didn't get to run away." I said and he frowned slightly before his eyes widened and he winced as I circled my crotch.

"Ah, well…he won't be needing those anyway."

"Yeah. So, you got the payment?"

"Depends. Did he have anything else?" The man asked before smirking as I took out a scroll and threw it at him while catching the scroll he took back.

"That's everything we could find that he has written down in his castle like documents, maps on patrol routes, etc."

"Nice, this might get me a quick promotion. Thanks for the mission."

"Anytime." I waved with a grin as I watched him pick up Yuri and began jogging away, waiting for a few moments before I sunk into the muddy ground with a smirk.

Time to head back.

"So, how much did we make this time?" Yahiko asked as I walked into the shack and I tossed it at him while taking off the black cloak with red lining that made up our organization's colours.

"About 120,000 ryo. Like I said, it was just a B-Rank job."

"Well, that's another mission accomplished for the Akatsuki!" Yahiko exclaimed with a grin and Konan and I shook our heads as Sessho barked happily.

That's right, we have finally decided to form the mercenary group for hire known as the Akatsuki and we have had just one objective since our organization was formed.

Get as much cash as we possibly can.

"Yeah, that's 50 C-Rank, 23 B-Rank and 3 A-Rank missions done in the span of a year. I have to admit that has to be some record." I said as I sat down, rubbing Sessho's head as Yahiko nodded.

"So, what's next?" He asked and I shrugged as I turned to Konan who was sitting with five different scrolls laid out in front of her.

"Three of these are simple C-Rank missions, one to escort a village leader to another village and the other two to protect villages from attacks for a few months."

"We'll have to put those three on hold until we have heard of the other two."

"Well, the next is an A-Rank assassination of a civil rights leader that Ame wants dead because he's talking about equal rights."

"Well…he sounds stupid." Yahiko muttered with a shake of his head and I had to agree as there was one thing I learned during my time here in this war-torn world.

Not a single shinobi liked anyone spreading the thought of democracy.

"Yeah, I'll take care of that one myself. What's the last?"

"…An S-Rank."

"Nope. /Nuh-uh." Both Yahiko and I shook our heads in unison and she giggled as she nodded.

"Yep, I expected as such. That is a trap if I've ever seen one."

"Yeah. Besides, even if it was, I don't think we're ready for a mission on that level."

"Agreed. So, you guys want to do the C-Rank ones and I'll do the A-Rank?" I asked and the other two looked at each other before nodding.

"Yeah, that would be best."

"Good. You want to help them on this one, bud?" I asked and Sessho barked with a nod, to which I chuckled as I looked at the other two who snickered at our interaction.

"Well, I guess I'm leaving him with you two."

"Sure thing. Let's get ready."

'Where the hell is this guy?' I thought with a frown as I was invisible while standing on the side of one of the many towers of Amegakure, my eyes focused on every chakra signature that walked past the meeting spot.

This was the spot where I was supposed to meet the middle-man that was going to give me the request, but other than a few shinobi and civilians, I didn't see anyone that seemed to stop for more than a few seconds.

'Does he seem to want me to wait? Or is this a tr-Nope, I take my words back.' I thought with a sigh as I saw a woman looking around slightly nervously while dressed in a rain cloak that hid her body from view.

"Good morning." I spoke as I dropped besides the woman while deactivating my invisibility, the woman squeaking softly as she spun around only to be surprised by my amused gaze.

"Are you the liaison for Mr. Nakami?" I asked and she took a few breaths to calm her nerves before nodding hesitantly.

"Y-Yes. A-Are you the liaison for Mr. Nagato?"

"No, ma'am. I am Nagato." I said and her eyes widened slightly while I waited until her shock for my age faded away before I held my hand out.

"Now that we've got that out of the way, do you have the information I need on my target?"

"S-Sure, here you go." She said as she handed the scroll over before quickly walking away, to which I raised an eyebrow as I scanned it with my Rinnegan.

'Okay, no hidden traps.' I thought with a nod as I leapt back up onto the rooftops, vanishing from sight midway before rushing away from the village as fast as I could.

The moment I cleared the walls and fell to the ground, the dirt rippled as I sunk feet first into it like it was a pool, steadying myself before going on to swim towards my destination as fast as I could.

I didn't stop swimming until I got near to the shack, but I didn't go to it as I instead went for the small cave we had made near the shack, crawling out of the muddy ground with a groan before shaking it all off and taking out the mission scroll from my jacket.

Unrolling the scroll fully, I read through its contents before shaking my head as I rolled it up, counting up to ten before unrolling it once more to see if I misread.

A-Rank Mission: Assassinate Suna shinobi Tojuro

We have found evidence that a member of Amegakure is actually a Suna shinobi in hiding known as 'Fleet-Footed' Tojuro.

He has been sighted by our shinobi running around at night and meeting up with other shinobi and civilians who want to join his cause.

Therefore, he must be eliminated.

Mr. Tojuro will be meeting with another target, Anari, to discuss important information and thus, your mission is to eliminate both targets.

If not possible, simply the elimination of the target Tojuro will do.

'…Hah, I should have just gone for bodyguarding.'

A/N: So, this is a filler arc because there isn't much information on what happened during the Second Shinobi War and while I would love to jump back into that, I've decided to do a filler chapter or two to get my mind moving.

Also, don't worry, Yahiko and Konan will get their chance to shine in the later arcs, but I just want the start to focus on Nagato.

Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.

Anyway, as always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one...

Ba-Bye~!