The deep red liquid fell slowly, drip by drip, from the fallen bottle's mouth. Dropping, they splashed on someone's waiting tongue. As they ceased, the bottle slammed down on the table and a smile curled around the man's face. More like a grin, actually.

"I'm still thirsty... Red wine's not my drink o' choice, but there's no accounting for the... former, bartender's taste in drinks." The man frowned, grabbing hold of the bottle's neck and spinning it slowly between his hands, slowly spinning it faster and faster, until he let it loose and it flew from the table, smashing on the floor. He smiled, pulling his leg up onto the table and slowly dragging off his shoe. Then, repeating this curious maneuver with the other leg, he stepped onto the glass-ridden floor.

Pain, that filled his veins (seemingly trying to make up for the blood that pushed itself out of his various cuts) rushing onto the empty bar's floor. The decrepit old building hadn't seen a soul but him for years (at least, no-one but aforementioned bartender, whose body he'd mutilated only six months before), and it wasn't going to now. Pulling bandages from his leg, he quickly sat and wrapped his bare feet tight.

"The pain's a great high, but there's no point dying over it."

His grin widened as he looked at the pools of his own blood on the floor. "So I'm a masochist, sue me," he muttered, leaving the liquid to soak into the uncleaned floor and slipping his feet back into the shoes. Then, stepping onto them as if nothing had happened, he swaggered from the room. Looking up at the starless night sky, he smiled.

He had a village to butcher. And with the high he was on now, he could do it before dawn.

Missing-nin
Prologue: Enter Death
By Alden

"Oh no..."

A team of ninja stood on the hilltop, staring in fearful wonder at the sight below them. Burned bodies, houses smashed, the smell of death evident from even where they stood. The one rookie chuunin almost gagged, and even the Jounin looked sick. Not many saw this sort of destruction, even in their job.

"Everyone, get down there. Now. We have a job to do," The leader said, pointing down.

"But.. Sir, wouldn't Yuki-san and Enkou-san be..." the chuunin said quietly, but the leader silenced him with a flicker of his hand.

"If they are alive, we still have to finish our job. And it is our duty to help any survivors, this little village was one of our village's specific allies."

The rest of the group nodded, taking deep breaths and making their way through the late morning's light. The thin brush was easy to move in, but rustled warningly as they passed through it. The four ninja traveled without worry of being discovered by any surviving enemy, having made their presence obvious already. The four reached the gates of the village, and they could still smell the smoke.

One's hands flew through a flurry of seals, and a mist wafted through the village, pushing away any smoke and disintegrating remaining fires without disturbing anything. Now that the sounds of the flames were gone, however, they could all hear the sound of a woman screaming clearly.

They all nodded to eachother, and made their way to the source, quickly but silently. All three made their way to a field, where a woman was kneeled, tied up, with a man beside her.

The man smiled, and all four recognised the smile of a heartless murderer.

"You know, I told her she'd die unmolested if she screamed. Seeing as you four arrived just on time, you saved this girl's innocence. You are an innocent maiden, aren't you?" The man looked down at the kneeled woman, and she nodded, shaking.

He smiled and swung his sword, neatly beheading her. "Good. Killing normal people doesn't feel quite as good, ne?"

"Bastard..." The rookie chuunin muttered, stepping forwards. The leader reached out, keeping him from moving.

"I see... So you're the first volunteer. How nice." The chuunin couldn't answer, however, because a kunai had ripped through his neck. The leader watched, horrified, as the boy fell to the ground. "Hey, here's a lesson: Don't bring rookies along with you on dangerous mission, they're just cannon fodder."

The blood was raging in the leader's ears. Who was this mysterious man, who'd destroyed this village (he assumed), killed their informants (also assumed), and murdered two people faster than the eye could see?

"Who are you?" he asked, not moving. The man smiled, drawing a kunai almost insultingly slow and smiling insolently. The man's eyes narrowed. He almost didn't block the kunai that would have ripped through his face.

"Ahh, someone who might be a bit of fun to play with, ne? Well, can't pass up this opportunity... I'm Hakano Sachiko. No, wait, that's the one I just killed. How about Yuuhi Izumi- No, that's the one who's going next. Alright, you win this one... Hikari."

"Why Hikari?" The leader of the ninja team asked, eying the man warily.

"Because-" Another one of the team fell to a flashing blade before they could avoid it. "-I'm faster than the speed of light."

Now the ninja numbered two. The leader only flinched as another teammate died brutally, wiping the blood from one eye. "You've killed two of my men. I'm forced to kill you."

"This will be fun," the man with the laughing smile said, and the leader's last teammate fell, though the cause was much less brutal: The chest, when they had attempted to block an attack to their head. It ripped through their Jounin vest, one of the best protections available to a ninja, as if it were tissue paper.

"Damn you..." The sole survivor of his team muttered.

His opponent smiled grimly. "We will see who is damned after this fight... Ne? Now come on, hurt me... Before I get off this pleasure high and get serious. Trust me, guy... You don't want that..."

"We should head north, into the more peaceful countries."

Two strange people sat at a table with sheets of paper covering the table, drawings and diagrams and plans. One was pointing and talking, while the other nodded and listened. People bustled about the small bar/restaurant, eating and drinking, and generally having a good time. These two, though... They gave Jimbo, the owner of the place, the creeps.

He wouldn't throw them out, they were customers, and probably ninja. But he wasn't going to let ninja walk all over him because they felt superior.

"So, you think it will be there after all?" One asked in an undertone as he passed them, but he didn't look at them, instead heading to the storage room on the other side. He rummaged through the storage, finally finding his case of fine sake one customer had asked about, and started making his way back to the bar.

"We should head out tomorrow, see how far that gets us... We should get a good square meal, at least, before we go..." He heard from their table as he passed their table again, and just as he got to the bar...

Click! The man in the black, outlandish outfit, the one talking in slow, casual whispers, pulled out a lighter and lit up a cigarette. The sign on the wall, however, stated specifically, 'No Cigarettes'. Taking a glance at the two waiters (who were on other customers), Jimbo made his way over to their table.

"Can you read the sign?" He asked. The man nodded, smiling and took another big breath of his smoke, then blew it in the man's face.

"I know the rule. But you, old man, aren't going to stop me. You, old man, are just finger food to us," The man said, standing up. He was very tall, the owner noticed, as he looked up at the mans face. What he didn't expect, though, was when the tall man dropped the cigarette, swiped a butter knife from someone's table and ripped his neck open, crushing the cigarette with his toe as it hit the ground.

The old man was dead in a matter of seconds, as the partner stood and pulled out two knives, jumping onto another table and slicing down two other diners.

That was when people began to panic.

"We can't let anyone escape and tell where we are, ne?" The tall man asked his partner. The partner nodded, and leapt to the door, slicing down all who stood near it. The tall man pulled out a crossbow and shot bolts, all slicing fatally into flesh, into the ones escaping from the windows, before turning on the rest of the room.

They were all dead in a matter of minutes.

The tall one moved over to the owner, eying the dead corpse. "Too old, went down too easily... Ahhh..." He said as he made his way towards another body, that of a well-built man. He smiled. "This will do perfectly."

And leant down and, taking the still warm body by the hands, he dragged the man towards the kitchen.

"You know how this all started?"

The tall man looked over to his partner, his fork scratching against his plate as he shoved more pie into his mouth. He grinned. "It started when a woman baked a pie."

His partner looked at him, questioningly, as he chewed.

"The woman, she baked a pie for her husband. She was his second wife, and mother of none of his three children; One of whom was old enough to move out, and had. The others were twin young girls. The three were a loving family. Then, one day, she baked him a pie. "

The man paused, then continued. "He ate it, savouring it and thanking her afterwards. 'Did you like it?', she asked him, and he nodded his head and thanked her again.. Then, she said, 'Ha! You've just eaten your own children, and admitted you liked it! What do you say to that?'. "

The man smiled, looking up through the roof he'd torn off, up at the stars. "The man just stood, walked over to her, kissed her, and asked... 'Is there any more?'. The woman shook her head, confused. Her husband said, 'Well, let's make some.' And that... Well, I won't get into the bloody details. But I do tell you, he did have another pie the next day."

The partner nodded, eyes wide, looking down at the silver plate and smiled. Looking up, hands aflurry, handmade symbols flew and the man nodded. "Why did she kill his children? Well, she was going to kill him too, and say to the village it was in self-defense. You see, she'd found out about his secret. His job, which was to slowly kill off her complete family line but her, had almost been completed. Then, she killed his children, and he killed her. And that... is my story."

Then he gestured to the pies, steaming hot and sitting all on the counter, enough to feed a good few people. Enough to be a good few people, too.

"That's why, my favourite type of people are... pie-shaped."

Then he stood, reaching over for his partner's plate. The partner made quick symbols, and the man shook his head.

"No seconds, there will be hungry ninja here tomorrow. You wouldn't want me to be angry with you... Would you? Come on, we're going now..." He said, throwing the plates onto one of the tables, muttering, "Dirty customers, dirty habits... Pity I lied. He wasn't finger food after all..."

Then he tossed his fork onto his dropped plate, and walked out the door.

"You're dropping us? Great sensei you are!"

Kurenai flinched from Kiba's verbal lashings, as Hinata's eyes watered and Shino stood there, though she recognised the stiffness as him being uncomfortable and confused. She sighed rubbing her eye with one hand.

"I requested for you three to be sent out of my care for a reason, Kiba! You can't become a Jounin if you've got an old lady sensei trailing behind you!" She said, turning around and slamming the door of her apartment.

"B-b-but... Kurenai-sensei..." Hinata muttered, too afraid to call her angry sensei back out. Kiba seethed, looking about ready to break the door down.

Shino left, hopping the stairs and walking off. Kiba turned around.

"Hey, Shino, you bastard, get back here! There's gotta be something wrong with Kurenai-sensei!" Kiba yelled at the retreating figure, who just brushed him off with a hand and disappeared. Kiba swore, and turned to the door, pounding on it with his fist.

"Kurenai-sensei, open up!" Kiba said, pounding on the door. "Kurenai-sensei!"

"Byakugan!"Hinata yelled, and turned towards the door, giving it a crushing attack with the palm of her hand as Kiba kicked.

The door imploded violently as Kiba burst through it, quickly picking up Kurenai's scent and rushing to her bedroom, where the door was open. He stopped, and stared. She was packing a suitcase.

"Kurenai-sensei?" He asked, confused, as Hinata followed to the room and pushed past Kiba, moving forwards and looking to her sensei. Kurenai looked back at her students and brushed away her tears, folding another shirt. Walking closer to her and looking her in the eye, biting her lip in worry, she asked, "What's wrong? Kurenai-sensei, why... Why are you dropping Team 8? Where are you going?"

Kurenai looked down at the ground, then sighed and smiled ruefully. "I, Kurenai, Jounin of the Leaf, am being taken into Konoha custody. For my own good, they say... And I'm not sure if they're wrong..."

"What do you mean, sensei? You're an awesome fighter, and you can protect yourself from anyone!" Kiba said, leaping from the doorway, and turning to land in front of her, in between her and her dresser. "Who's after you? I'll kill'em myself!"

"You know Yuuhi Kenmaru, my father?" She asked him, turning away and adding the folded shift to her suitcase.

"Yeah... Your dad, one of the Leaf's greatest ninja. You've talked about him eighty bazillion times over the years! What's he got to do with this? He after you?" Kiba asked, leaning down.

"No, Kiba... He's dead. So are my mother, sisters, and four of my brothers... And pretty much everyone else in my clan." Kurenai was shaking, and Kiba couldn't believe she'd been so strong and strict only moments ago. "I have to leave, tonight, or they will find me..."

"Kurenai-sensei..." Kiba's voice was quieter, more concerned. He paused, looking around the room. He hadn't noticed, but there was nothing really there. Just a dresser, a bed, a chair. The only real scents were theirs. This house was completely wiped.

"Yuuhi Kurenai? We have an order for your immediate entrance into the Hokage's custody."

Kurenai looked up at the ANBU at the door, tearless now. She placed the last piece of clothing in the suitcase, zipped it up, and nodded to her students.

"As of now, you are freelance ninja, whose only commander is the Hokage herself. Goodbye..."

And, before they could even open their mouths to say goodbye, their sensei and the ANBU were gone.

"What... What would those ninja want with Kurenai-sensei? I mean..." Kiba threw some empty punches in the air, stopping to look up at the sky. They stood in the field near Kurenai's apartment, their regular training spot, almost three hours later. Both hadn't been able to understand, so they'd sparred, to clear their minds... It hadn't worked...

"Do you think..." Hinata's voice was hesitant, wavering, as if she wasn't sure what would happen if she finished the sentence.

"What, that something's happened? Obviously, but... Her family? Psychos tracking them down and murdering them? Her father dying? This... is too weird," Kiba said, sweeping his hand through his hair and pushing off his signature hood that, though not the same as years before, looked almost exactly the same. "I know one thing, though. I'm not letting go of Team 8, no matter what. You, me, Kurenai-sensei... And yeah, Shino, him too. We're a team, and we look out for eachother."

"But... Does Kurenai-sensei want us meddling?" Hinata asked, and flinched when Kiba yelled.

"This isn't meddling!" Kiba yelled, then stopped and took a deep breath at Hinata's flinch. He continued at a quieter tone, "It isn't meddling when we worry about her, and it won't be when we kill the bastard who's... Who's making her afraid like this..."

"Kiba-kun, we're chuunins! What can three-"

"Two."

"-Three chuunins do against someone who has killed... Who has killed one of the village's most powerful Jounin?" Hinata asked, her voice a mix between pleading and annoyance. "Even with Shino, who is closer to Jounin that either of us are-"

"We don't need him."

Hinata looked up at Kiba's face at this pronouncement. He looked dead serious, and he seemed to glare at her. "We don't need that cold, selfish bastard with us. He can go off to the Jounin Exam, and die there for all I care!" Kiba snarled, angrily.

"Kiba-kun!" Hinata's voice rose to a volume he'd never heard before. "Don't you see that you're the one breaking Team 8, now? Just because you two never got along doesn't mean you two aren't teammates! You just said you weren't letting go of Team 8, but it seems like the one doing the most damage to the team spirit is you!"

Kiba stepped back as Hinata's tears broke free. "Kiba-kun... If you want to die alone, then be my guest, but don't ruin everything before you do it!" Hinata yelled, turning and running away. He ran after her, grabbing her shoulder and spinning her around. She threw him to the ground, and he pulled her with him, restraining her.

"Hinata... I'm sorry, alright? I'm just... so worried..." He said, letting her go and pulling himself into a sitting position. "I don't know why I was being so... jerky. Forgive me?"

Hinata sat up, looking down at the ground, then looking back up and smiled, holding out her hand. She was back. "Of course, Kiba-kun... But we shouldn't mess with this, we should wait until Kurenai-sensei is back... Alright?"

Kiba sighed, and grabbed her hand. "Got it," he said, smiling a little. "I guess we should go tell Shino we're going to wait for sensei, right?"

Hinata nodded and stood, pulling Kiba up. "Let's go, Kiba-kun... I'm sorry for what I said. I was just so.."

Kiba threw an arm around her shoulders and smiled. "Doesn't matter, Hinata. Let's go."

She nodded, and they headed towards the Aburame clan's house.

He paused, standing still as the wind continues its path downwards. His hair, dark, blew into his face and irritated his eyes, the ends tickling the dark green orbs, strangely filled with colour. Not white with a core of colour, but of green throughout, its core a deep black. His mouth forms a solemn thought, mouthing words of no consequence, anything to keep his mind at bay.

"Foreign taxes... yellow... landslide killed ... fourty-seven people... plague... " He muttered, fists clenched, blood dripping from the hands where nails pierced the skin. It hurts, this strange, powerful madness. This feeling is so hard to contain, to control. His life, though, is at stake. He had to do this, there was no way to stop now. His mission couldn't end now.

His eyes, once open to their furthest degree, closed suddenly. The grip receded, his tense muscles relax. This will be easy. Weeks ago, that was nothing to this. He was dead serious, and that was when he was most dangerous. This was a state Takeshi would have killed for, the bastard. He would have killed himself, even, just to get his hands on it for five minutes.

Well, he couldn't do that now. You can't die twice.

He needed to focus. He gripped his forehead, trying to banish the headache. It was wearing off. His hand burrowed itself into his pocket, shaking, and pulling something out. A needle. He doesn't pause, jabbing it into his leg without even looking, biting his lip and letting the liquid push into his bloodstream. His grip becomes stronger, his eyes open, normal now, though the same unearthly green. He drops the needle carelessly, crushing it underfoot.

Then, he stepped forwards, looking around the area. A small cottage in a small town. Most of the inhabitants were probably ninja, strong ones. It was a trap. But... He was always up for a good fight. He'd survive. He rubbed his thigh, slowly, for a moment, wishing he could live his own life. Well, there was nothing else he could do.

Maybe, once this was done, he'd be free. That was his only consolation.

He nodded, looking over to another hill, where another person stood, a woman. It was her, his current partner. Now, it was time. He raced down, his eyes piercing the genjutsu that covered the wagon where his target was hiding.

They were completely clueless that he knew where they were.

He made a small genjutsu of his own, hands swinging into jutsu quickly and jumping almost vertically through a small window. One ninja glanced his way, then muttered something about the wind. Idiot. He laid on the ground, curled up under the table, preparing his weapons. Sword, kunai, shuriken, all sorts of weapons.

He waited for a minute... BANG! He smiled. It was definitely time. Pushing the table up with his legs, he threw it, crashing it against the roof and standing, bursting through the door tot he next room. The house was almost empty. He broke the neck of one remaining ninja silently, and the other only realised he was there when a kunai had ripped through his throat.

He swung sideways, calculating the jump. The drug pumping through his veins... He'd have the strength to make it there. He stood on the stairs, and pushed himself forwards, loving the feeling flowing through him, of unbeatable strength. His weapons ripped through the wall, making room for him as he shot towards the wagon.

His feet landed on the wagon, through it, breaking it. Great construction, he thought sarcastically, smiling. After a month at least, the prize was here. Because she had run FROM him, he had found her. Simple and ironic. His hand found the door, smashed through it, letting him leap through. She wasn't there. He swore under his breath- Where had she gone?

He looked around, jumping from the rubble. Great, they looked over at him. They started to move towards him- No, his partner had hostages. Good, she wasn't stupid. Where was the target? In the middle of the crowd... He shot forwards, dispelling the genjustu and letting forward shuriken, aiming not at them but where their reflexes would immediately send them. Ten were killed at once, blood obscuring the view for the rest..

He leapt into the crowd as all chaos broke out. He lashed out, his eyes watching the target, coming closer to her- He'd been hit, his arm was bleeding. Damn, if he got hurt too much then he wouldn't survive. He jumped, ripping through the ninja with a sword. Why weren't they stronger? Shouldn't they have expected more than some genin?

They had underestimated him. He hated that. He grabbed her by her neck, the one thing body part she couldn't sacrifice. His arm stung as he threw her, watching her body shift into a log, hitting the real her in the chest. With an 'oof', she landed on the ground, hard.

"Yuuhi Kurenai? By the order of Great Lord Oniharu, you are under arrest for unlawful existence," He grinned as he said this, watching her attempts to stand.

"I crushed your ankle, by the way. You might not walk for another, well, eight months.. or years." He said, leaning down and quickly pressing two fingers to her neck. She passed out. He picked her up and looked back. His partner was still fighting. It was barely a sacrifice, she was new. He pressed a button in his pocket and started running.

"Hikari!" She screamed after him, as flames covered her whole body.

Three tons of dynamite had exploded from under the ground.

"As of writing this letter, there are only seven known Yuuhi's that are possibly alive. This fact is confirmed by bodies, death certificates and funerals. Five of these (Yahiko, Kurenai, Kin, Chie, Tsubaki) are actually unknown status, possibly dead. The only Yuuhi clanmembers that are alive beyond a doubt are here in the village, under specific protection. These are beyond any reach of the invisible enemy, and I will not reveal their whereabouts here. They are Yuuhi Josuke, brother of Kurenai; Yuuhi Tohru, father of Chie; and Yuuhi Kazuo, daughter of Yahiko. This letter, as of today, will stay in the records for those after me... Godaime Hokage-sama, Tsunade."

Tsunade sighed, looking down at the page in her hands. What could be happening here? Between everything that was happening, there was this. How could she deal with this? There had to be a reason so many Yuuhi had died, because they were a large clan... And many had died in particularly brutal ways. Then, there were a series of deaths set up as executions, sometimes in their own homes. What Tsunade hated was the fact that this had gone unchecked, that the Yuuhi had continued to go on missions, and that there had only been twenty members left when they'd gone into protective custody two months ago.

Thirteen gone, thirteen failures. And five others who were gone, reducing the members known to be living to two - The same as the now infamous Uchiha clan. There were surely some other branches of the Yuuhi somewhere in the countries, non-ninja branches... Though they were probably being eliminated easier, being in lower-strength areas with no ninja skills of their own.

She shook her head, folding the paper and slipping it into a folder for the files without thinking. She wasn't herself today, the weight of this failure to protect her people feeling heavier than ever. Was she losing her grip as a Hokage, was she getting too old? She'd been in the position for only six or seven years, which was nothing to a Hokage, and she'd already let this slip past her notice.

She hated the fact that Shizune wasn't here. She hated to admit it, but Shizune was as vital to her success as her own hands. Shizune had always been there for her, but now... She trained new medics one day a week, and even though Tsunade didn't want to deny her that, those days were always impossible. Paperwork, decisions, meetings... Shizune was invaluable. Shizune would offer some suggestions as to what to do for the Yuuhi...

Though, they had some leads. Something had been found at the site of Kurenai's abduction, glass shards from a syringe. And on the needle, their clue: An illegal drug called Tail of the Kyuubi, a powerful ninja upgrade. This drug temporarily multiplied the user's muscle capacity, chakra supply, and speed, as well as causing the eyes to have an ability similar, though nowhere as strong as, the Hyuuga Byakugan. This drug was not addictive, but that was a good thing: Using it twice in one's lifetime would mean death, that was how bad the effects of it were. Just once could cause permanent damage, if the dosage was large enough. Even with small doses, two would invariably be fatal, because of the small permanent damages made by the first, expanding these like a major allergic reaction. Something to do with blood cells and bacteria, but Tsunade didn't read that far.

Why had Kurenai required such a powerful drug to acquire? The same ninja, it was confirmed, had destroyed a small village barely a month ago: Why, now, did he need this drug? Her mind provided the answer almost immediately: The village before had been almost empty of ninja. Only two ninja, Jounin, and this ninja had shown he could take Jounin out easily. A ninja team sent there, three jounin and a chuunin, yielded only one survivor: The leader, who would never fight again, and would have to live the rest of his life in a wheelchair because his two legs had been completely crushed. Nothing but his legs, that was the strange part. The enemy had made sure this would be his fate.

And now, she needed to use this lead to her advantage. There was only one known dealer of Tail that Tsunade kept tabs on. Because of his help with certain cases, his business of illegal drugs was never shut down, just highly monitored. Anyone who bought from him was known, watched, and most likely apprehended before they could do much damage. Not all, because they needed him to be reliable enough to be useful. If he were known as someone whose customers were always caught, he'd be avoided.

Tsunade hated this way of working, but it had worked before. Because the daimyo paid much of their funds to watch over various aspects of the country's security, sometimes they needed to do things like this. If they eliminated this guy, they would find new sellers. At least this way they could watch the market. Unfortunately, he'd given up drug sales recently, or at least that's how it seemed. His deal with the Hokage had dried up and he'd asked for drug amnesty - No prosecutions for selling drugs, and she had to agree- It was in the contract. Five years of help, since he was eighteen, and a year later. Tsunade knew that to get his cooperation now, she'd need skilled ninja who could either blackmail, bribe, threaten or maneuver him into giving them the information they needed.

Kuroino Ryuuko, full-time singer and secret drug dealer. She'd need Haruno Sakura on this one, the person who'd caught and periodically checked in on him in the first place; Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuuga Hinata, Kurenai's students who had demanded earlier that they be included in any rescue work; Yamanaka Ino, their best disguise and undercover worker; and Rock Lee, possibly the only one with enough brute force to take on these strange ninja. Naruto, unfortunately, couldn't work on this - He had more important things to worry about. And Shino had been on a mission ever since the day Kurenai had been captured - She doubted he even knew about it.

Tsunade pulled out five mission sheets, quickly filling out the names and the brief description of the mission on each one.

"You two!" she yelled at her two assistants, who had just entered the room. "Izumo, Kotetsu, get these to the right people. We have an S-class mission on our hands, and it needs to be started on pronto."

"Pronto?" One raised an eyebrow. Was that one Kotetsu? Eugh, she didn't have time for this.

"JUST GO!" She yelled, and they disappeared. Suddenly, she felt better. She decided that she should yell more. She stood and turned to her window, looking out on the village, her village, and hoped that these five could do this.

Because, if they couldn't...

End-