Ch.4 Bonds of Pain

Sadow’s time in the Hyuuga clan’s compound was peaceful despite the constant pain.  Hinara did her best to make sure he was comfortable, unfortunately though she also never left his alone the whole time he was there, she was even sleeping the same room as him incase something happened.  Today was suppose to be his last day in the Hyuuga compound, but Hinara and the other nurses wanted him to stay another day to make sure that the infection was gone.  Sadow didn’t mind staying the home of Konoha’s richest family, but he was getting restless.  But despite being cooped up in the Hyuuga compound Sadow tried to keep something of his usual schedule.

Sadow woke up at dawn, he never slept past dawn ever since the Battle of Red Fields, besides he only needed a few hours of sleep to function.  He opened his eyes and looked around the room; it was still to dark to see anything rather than turn on a light and wake up Hinara Sadow closed his eyes again and activated his sharingan.  He looked around the room, Hinara had managed to fall asleep with her head hanging back on the chair, rather than let her sleep like that and then have to listen to her complaining about her neck hurting Sadow gently picked her up and laid her in the bed he was using, he was amazed that even after being picked up and moved Hinara didn’t wake up at all.  After covering Hinara Sadow quietly left the room to sneak out for some exercise.  The compound was dimly lit so Sadow still needed to keep his sharingan activated so he could see outside, he also figured that the compound didn’t need to have much light at night since everyone who lived there had the byakugan to help them see.  In all his life Sadow had never seen a place as big as the Hyuuga compound; it was even larger than the entire Uchiha district of the village. The design was also very interesting; it was made to look like a small castle mimicking the homes of the feudal lords.  It also was completely furnished; there were training facilities, a very large kitchen with a dining hall, several kinds of gardens, a cemetery for Hyuuga clan members, and an armory as well as other things. They even had their own private hot springs.  But what interested Sadow the most was the walls of the Hyuuga compound.  The Hyuuga clan’s byakugan allows them to see not only a person’s chakra network and their chakra points, but they can also see through most objects including walls.  Since everyone who lived in the compound could use the byakugan the Hyuuga clan designed a special material for the walls to ensure privacy.  Sadow didn’t know the specifics but somehow the material in the walls absorbed and trapped the excess chakra that radiated off of people obscuring the byakugan’s see-thru vision.  Sadow managed to get some samples of the walls one morning to see if he can find out how it works.

The wound on Sadaow’s back was healing well, but strenuous activity could still cause it to open up and start bleeding again which would not only keep him out of action longer but he would also have to listen to Hinara fuss at him for over an hour.  But Sadow had been cooped up for several days now and he really need to do something,  so he decided to head off to the Hyuuga’s personal armory and work on his form with a sword. Hinara wakes up at 8 every morning so he had about 3 hours to exercise and bathe before she got up.  It was late fall and the wind was blowing heavily, even though his body shivered slightly Sadow wasn’t uncomfortable; after all he had lived in worse conditions when he was growing up.  When Sadow finally got to the training grounds there was enough light outside so that he didn’t need to use his sharingan in order to see.  “I might as well get started while I still have time,” Sadow said to himself.  In the unlikely event that he might start to bleed again, Sadow decided to take off the kimono Hinara had given him so that it wouldn’t get ruined.  Sadow never understood why people wore kimono robes, they were very difficult to put on and they got in the way during a battle.  Most people only wore them during special occasions, but it was very common for Hyuuga clan members to wear them when they are inside the compound.  After he took of his kimono Sadow laid it on a nearby rock and began to train.

Sadow had just finished practicing his swordsmanship for 2 hours non stop; his body was drenched with sweat causing his back to sting slightly.  Sadow frowned as he looked at the training post he has been using was split in 2 and said, “I’m pretty sure Hiashi isn’t going to be pleased about that.”   He then grabbed his clothes and started to hurry towards the compound’s hot springs.  Even though he had only been in the compound for a short time Sadow had already memorized where everything was.  The compound was almost entirely self-sufficient; it even had its own hot springs even though it was supposed to be for the use of the main branch the side branch were allowed to use it at certain times during the day.  Since he wasn’t a member of the clan Sadow figured that he could use it when ever he wanted to.  Unfortunately Sadow didn’t realize there were different times when only men or women could use it until he had accidentally walked in on a group of branch family women including Hinara.  After a savage beating Hinara declared that Sadow was banned from using the hot springs forever.  Of course Hinara didn’t know how early Sadow wakes up every morning nor did she realized he can easily flip over the gate to the hot springs. ‘I’ve got about an hour till Hinara wakes up so I better get started,” Sadow said to himself as he jumped over the gate and headed to the hot springs.

After Sadow had finished drying off he got dressed and leaped over the entrance to the spring again.  Sadow took far too long to bathe and was now hurrying to the Hyuuga’s armory to put the sword he had used for training back before anybody noticed that it was missing.  The sun was up and the compound was alive with activity as members of the Hyuuga family went about their business.  As he ran to the armory Sadow noticed that there was a difference between the main and branch families even inside the compound.  The most obvious difference was that almost all the branch family members kept their foreheads covered at all times in order to hide the curse mark that the main family placed on them.  The male branch members used their Konoha headbands or bandages to cover their curse marks the women on the other hand used colorful strips of cloth that normally had intricate patterns on them.  Hinara was the only branch member Sadow knew that didn’t wear a headband to cover her curse mark, instead she used a combination of her special kind of makeup and her bangs to cover the jade green curse on her forehead.  He also noticed that the main and branch families dressed very differently inside the compound.  Members of the main family seemed to be dressed in very expensive kimonos in very light colors in a vain attempt to look lordly; they also had long hair that was always pulled back to expose their foreheads.  The branch family usually wore either metal mesh body gloves or kimonos that were not as expensive as the main family’s and usually wore them in very dark colors.  Once Sadow finally got to armory he placed the sword back exactly the way it was.  As he left the armory Sadow noticed a branch member walk past him, “What time is it?” he asked.  Rather surprised that there was someone who wasn’t a Hyuuga in the compound the man answered, “It is ten minutes to 8 but why are you here?” Sadow didn’t answer the man; instead he jumped on the roof of the building and sprinted toward Hinara’s room.

Sadow had just barely managed to get to Hinara’s room before 8.  He quietly entered the room planning on reading a book till she woke up, but as he slowly slid the door close he heard a voice behind him say, “And where have you been?”  Sadow spun around to see Hinara with her arms folded and looking very annoyed.  After a few minutes of Sadow not answering her Hinara yelled at him again, “I said where have you been?!”  Sadow merely replied, “I was out for a walk around the compound.” At his answer Hinara glared at him and yell, “You snuck off go training again didn’t you; I swear if you weren’t already injured I would pummel you into oblivion myself!!”  Sadow’s eye twitched slightly as Hinara yelled at him.  Of all the women Sadow met in his life Hinara was by far the scariest when mad, even Tsunade couldn’t hold a candle when compared to Hinara.  While Hinara berated him Sadow merely stood there and listened to her after several minutes of yelling Hinara let out a huge sigh and said, “Alright lets just clean your wounds and get something to eat.”  Sadow took off his kimono and sat down on the chair as Hinara got some fresh bandages and medicine.  After she finished gathering what she needed Hinara pulled up another chair and started to clean Sadow’s back.  Sadow could feel Hinara hands as she gently cleaned every inch of the infection and then applied ointment on it in silence. “Why do you do that?” Hinara asked breaking the silence, “Do what?”  Hinara smiled and said, “Whenever I touch your back the muscles around that spot tremble involuntarily, do you know why that happens?”  Sadow replied without a change in his tone, “When you spend your entire childhood fighting in a war your body reacts involuntarily from being hyper sensitive to even the slightest touch.”  Sadow suddenly felt her fingers run down a scar on his back as Hinara said, “Wow you sure have a lot of scars on you.” Sadow not even bothering to look at her said, “That is what happens when you grow up in a war.”  Hinara looking confused asked, “Hizashi-sama said that you fought in the Battle of Red Fields, have you fought in many other battles?”   Sadow sighed and replied, “I have been in many battles and have killed countless soldiers, I have also lost many teammates.”  Hinara frowned at his reaction as she finished cleaning his back and started to put ointment on the burn, “It must be hard loosing so many friends, do you ever miss them?”  Sadow turned to face her and said with an almost judging look on his face, “For a shinobi especially one who is in ANBU you seem to know nothing about combat or war.”  Hinara suddenly had a pained look on her face as she answered, “I am one of the weakest members of the Hyuuga clan, even though I was born during the war Hizashi-sama wouldn’t let me fight, he said all I was asking for was a quick and bloody death if I fought.”  She suddenly slapped him on the back saying, “Alright we’re done, get dressed so we can go get something to eat I’m starving.”  Sadow was also hungry, he hadn’t had anything but broth for days and was starving for real food.  Sadow quickly got dressed and followed Hinara out of her room.  As the left he turned to her and said, “Hinara,” she looked at him and said, “Yes?” “I wanted to- uh- you are very kind to take care of a person like me, and for that in thank you.”  After hearing him Hinara’s face turned a new shade of red.  Sadow had decided not to stay at the Hyuuga compound another night since he need to be prepared to meet the Hokage tomorrow for his team’s first mission.  So he thanked Hiashi and Hizashi for letting him stay so long, gathered his gear and left.

The next day...

Release me from this prison ….
You cannot hide what you truly are …..
Your hands shall never be clean ….
You cannot stop me ….  
I will be free from this prison …..
All that will be left of your world is ash and blood ….
You belong to me!!!!!!!
REALESE ME!!!!!!

Sadow shouted as he woke up from his nightmare covered in sweat.  Suddenly he felt a tremendous pain in his head, Sadow held is head in his hands it felt like he was going to explode from the pain.  But just as suddenly as the pain arrived it was gone.  He looked at his clock; it was a few minutes past four.  He knew he couldn’t go back to sleep after what had just happened so Sadow decided to just start the day.   After showering Sadow decided to put on his usual armor instead of wearing the ANBU armor he was issued, his armor gave far better protection.  Once he was dressed he took his dragon mask and tucked in into a pouch, he then strapped his sword to his back and headed out the door.  

Sadow had about 2 hours to kill before he had to meet Kakashi and Guy to discuss the teams they were assigned to lead.  As Sadow stood on the mountain where the monument to the Hokages was carved he could see the entire village.  It was still dark so Sadow had activated his sharingan in order to see, even at this hour he saw activity in the village as the villagers prepared to start the day.  As peaceful as the view was Sadow was still greatly troubled by the nightmare he had.  The voice was far too real and he knew he wasn’t imagining the pain he was in when he woke up.  He decided he try to calm himself and meditate; he had to lead a mission today and if he was too preoccupied with his dream he couldn’t lead them effectively.  Sadow meditated for over an hour in a desperate attempt to clear his head, unfortunately it didn’t work as well as he would have wanted it to.  As he looked over the village again Sadow saw the courtyard where the memorial to all the ninja of Konoha who died in battle, he had only been there once shortly after the Battle of Red Fields; since there was still an hour till the meeting Sadow decided to visit the memorial.  As he walked to the memorial site Sadow noticed how the people cleared the streets wherever he walked.  Before Red Fields Sadow was regarded as a hero of the village but the stories of what happened when Sadow changed into a demon had reached the ears of the village.  Now the villagers looked at him with fear and hatred as they whispered behind his back as though he was a monster.  As Sadow neared the memorial he noticed a silver haired shinobi was standing in front of the stone.  Kakashi faces Sadow smiling and says, “Ah morning Sadow, what are you doing here?”  Sadow walked up to Kakashi saying, “I’m here to pay my respects to them.”  Both of them stood there in silence for several minutes Sadow turned to Kakashi saying, “Why do you insist on coming to this place every day Kakashi?  If you didn’t come here so often you wouldn’t always be late for everything.”  Kakashi returned his question saying, “They are our friends Sadow and they died for this village, someone should honor them.”  Sadow gave him a hard look and said, “We are shinobi, our hands are stained with the blood of countless lives to have such attachments only slows you down Kakashi.”  Kakashi nonchalantly replied, “Not everyone tries to deny their humanity Sadow.”  “Deny my humanity, no I lost it that day, it is my burden and I will carry it alone,” Sadow said coldly.  Sadow looked up at the sky, the sun was completely up he then turned to his friend and said, “Kakashi its time to go we should be meeting the others captains and we you are going to be on time for once in your life even if I have to drag you there.”  Sadow turned to leave Kakashi knowing that Sadow doesn’t joke quickly followed him.

Although it wasn’t required all of the ANBU captains have a meeting before they Hokage assigns each team their first missions.  But since Sadow was in the Hyuuga compound with an unholy mother of all infections Kakashi scheduled it to happen when he got out.  The purpose of the meeting was to compare the teams they were assigned to lead.  They would then exchange any information on their team members that would help each squad be its best.  The restaurant where the captains were meeting was on the far end of the village far away from center of the village where most of the businesses are located making it a perfect place for a quiet meal.  Another reason the meeting was always at this restaurant was that the owner specially catered to off duty ANBU members.  Since the missions that the ANBU black ops took were very stressful most of its members preferred a quiet place to relax and have a drink after a long day.  It was also popular with ANBU members because the owner made accommodations that protected the customers’ identities so that they could wear their armor in the restaurant.  While Sadow was walking in complete silence Kakashi had his nose in a book and every few minutes he would start to giggle creepily.  After about 10 minutes of listening him Sadow had enough and asked, “What are you reading Kakashi?”  Without even looking up from the book he replied, “It’s the new Icha Icha series I can’t put it down.”  Sadow quickly snatched the book from Kakashi’s hands saying, “Let me see that.”  After about a minute of reading it Sadow handed the book back to him muttering to himself, “Pervert.”  As Sadow walked away Kakashi yelled out to him, “Hey you lost my place,” he started to say with a giggle, “looks like I’ll have to start over again.”  

After a good 15 minutes of walking they had finally reached the place.  As Sadow slid the door open the waitress working there accidentally bumped her back into him.  She let out a scream when she turned around and saw a towering man with blood red sharingan eyes staring down at her.  She also threw the tray she was holding in the air; Sadow darted into the building and managed to not only catch the tray but also everything on it without spilling.  After realizing what had happened the waitress started to blush from embarrassment saying, “Thanks and sorry about that.”  Sadow merely grunted as he handed her the tray and walked to the table where the other leaders were sitting.  Kakashi walked in and winked at the waitress before joined Sadow at the booth.  Kakashi made sure they had booth away from the main area since they were going to be passing around files.  As Kakashi and Sadow got to the booth Guy suddenly assumed his nice guy pose and in an unusually loud tone said, “Ah if it isn’t and Sadow, ANBU’s top fighter, hey Kakashi I got here before you; that puts me in the lead with 15 wins and 14 defeats,” Kakashi nonchalantly greeted him as he pulled his book out of his pouch while Sadow merely gave the others a nod and sat down.  After about 5 minutes all of the ANBU officers had arrived; to most people it looked like a group of ninja were having a party rather than a meeting. Sitting at the table were the 2 field captains Sadow and Kakashi Hatake. There were the squad leaders Might Guy, Aoba Yamashiro, and Hayate Gekko.  Then there was the captain for the Torture and Interrogation Force Ibiki Morino.  After placing their orders the captains all began to talk about various things such as what they did during the war or how hot the female ANBU members were.  Kakashi had managed to not only hold a conversation with the others but he was also reading his book at the same time.  Sadow on the other hand contributed almost thing to the conversation except the occasionally grunt or answer to a question.  After about 5 minutes the waitress brought out their orders which shock all of the captains; Sadow figured the owners were nervous about 6 ANBU officers in the same area and wanted them out as soon as possible.   After the waitress had served all of the captains their food Sadow spoke up, “Ibiki, the files.”  Ibiki downed the last of his tea and reached into a bag and pulled out a group of files.  He threw them on the table saying, “Alright here are the files on all your teams and before you even ask you will not be seeing my files since my teams won’t be in combat.”  Sadow picked his files saying, “I am meeting with the Hokage in an hour and I need to be the first one there, I’ll start.  First there is Hinara Hyuuga she is from the branch family before you say it she does have a curse mark but she hides it with some type of makeup.  She seems to have next to no combat experience and apparently her byakugan was so week Hizashi wouldn’t let her fight.”    Hayate downed another plate of dango and said, “I remember her from my class, flexible little thing she managed to bend backwards all the way to the floor in order to avoid my shurikens.  She is a mediocre fighter at best, but she was hard to hit, took me a good 2 minutes before I could even get the first hit.”  After Sadow finished writing he looked at the others saying, “OK so her strengths are her flexibility and a weak kekkei genkai, she has no real combat skills and I’m positive she hasn’t any emotional training on killing.” Kakashi who had managed to not only eat while holding his book but he was also flipping through one of Ibiki’s files spoke up, “Wow a Hyuuga who can probably put her legs behind her head and a genjutsu user who failed the test 4 times and is know for having a questionable reputation, I think Yondaime sensei has it in for you Sadow, your team will be dead before you guys pass the village gate.”  Much to Sadow irritation the entire table began to agree with Kakashi.  “Do any of you have any advice I can use or not,” Sadow said irritably.  Ibiki, who had been relatively quiet spoke up, “I do Sadow; you should make a formal request to the Hokage to remove both Hinara and Masi from ANBU.  That or you should make preparations for their funerals since there is almost no way they will survive the first mission.” Sadow stared at Ibiki blankly for a few minutes, he had a point neither of his teammates where very good but Yondaime wouldn’t have even assigned them to a team if he didn’t have complete confidence in their abilities.  Of course he also could have just been trying to replenish the ANBU ranks since the war had decimated their numbers.  Sadow looked at the table and scooped up all of the dango sticks he started to throw them into the wall while saying, “The Hokage specially selected each of our team members for a reason, he wouldn’t needlessly send shinobi to their deaths; I have faith in my squad members abilities no matter what the files say, as for your advice Ibiki-” Sadow was cut off by a familiar voice, “SADOW, SADOW, come on Sadow we have a meeting,” it was Hinara looking for him.  Sadow wasn’t the only one who heard her; everyone at the table stopped what they were doing and looked at him, even Kakashi turned his head towards him although he still had his entire face covered with the file he was reading.  Sadow looked at how everyone was staring at him and replied, “What?”  The only one who answered him was Kakashi with a very mature, “Sadows got a girlfriend,” which cause the entire table to roar with laughter. Sadow finished throwing the danko sticks into the wall and got up to leave Kakashi who put his file down called out, “Hey where are you- oh hey that is a pretty good leaf you made there Sadow, uh Sadow?”  Sadow was already out the door looking for where Hinara ran off to.  Sadow looked around, she was nowhere to be found, and even he couldn’t disappear like that, “Gotcha!” Hinara shouted as she grabbed him by the back of his collar and started to drag him toward the Hokage’s office. It took Sadow every ounce of restraint he had to prevent himself from attacking Hinara out of pure instinct.  After being dragged by her for a few minutes Sadow managed to shake free from her grip saying, “What are you doing Hinara?”  Hinara merely gave him a weird look and replied, “Well duh we have a meeting with the Hokage today so I went to go find you.”  Before Sadow could even answer she grabbed his arm and ran toward the Hokage’s office.

After Hinara had dragged him across the entire village toward the Hokage building Sadow stopped at the door into the building.  “Hinara wait,” Hinara gave him a questioning look.  Sadow reached into his pouch saying, “Put you mask on before we meet him.”  As Sadow and Hinara slipped on the masks they were issued Hinara turned to Sadow, “Oooh so scary.” Sadow cocked his head to the side in a questioning gesture, Hinara merely laughed and said, “It was a joke, lighten up.” Sadow looked up at the sky saying, “It’s almost time to meet Yondaime, Masi should be here by now,” the two of them started to head toward the Hokage’s office and hope that their teammate would meet them in time.  After several minutes Sadow and Hinara reached the door to the Hokage’s office, just as Sadow was about to open the door Masi appeared in a cloud of smoke and leaves, “Sorry I’m late I was with some pleasurable company and lost track of the time,” Hinara shuffled her feet nervously as turned a deep crimson under her mask when she realized what Masi was talking about; Sadow didn’t even bother to answer him, instead he merely opened the door into the Hokage’s office.  Yondaime who was buried in paper work looked up with a huge grin, “Ah you guys are here early, and Masi your on time wonders never cease to amaze me.  Alright well let’s get this over with, we have received a request from the feudal lord of The Land of Grass our ally, he has a very delicate mission.  As you know our numbers are decimated from the war, but our problems are nothing compared to Kusagakure’s.  Their land was destroyed by the war and they have barely enough shinobi to keep their economy stable.” Sadow folded his arms across his chest asking, “True but what does that have to do with our mission, and why can’t Kusagakure take this mission if their feudal lord requested this mission personally?”  “Because we can’t,” Sadow immediately drew his blade to attack the source of the unfamiliar voice; must to his surprise it was none other than the Kusagakage himself.  Sadow slowly retracted his sword and placed it back into his sheath, “Forgive me sir I didn’t realize you were here.”  He merely laughed saying, “That’s fine although I have to admit there is something very familiar about you…..Sadow.” Immediately Sadow whirled around facing the Hokage who merely shrugged, he also had no idea how the Kasukage knew about Sadow’s identity.  His first impulse was to use a memory removal justsu but it was obviously a bad idea to do that to the Kasukage.  The old man merely laughed, “I didn’t become Hokage on good looks alone, I easily recognize your movements, and your attack speed,” his voice suddenly became serious, “I also remember what you did at Red Fields.” Sadow voice became full of venom as he replied, “The mission, sir, why can’t your village deal with the troubles in your own land?” The old man let a scowl fall on his face, “Yes it is true, this happened in our land, unfortunately our village is so week that we are unable to complete this mission.  Also we have been having a problem with our shinobi defecting to other villages.  Even one of our elite shinobi has suddenly disappeared, but not before eating 2 people.  The sad truth is that we don’t have the means to stop this threat and if the other villages found out we would be finished.”  Hinara spoke up this time, “So what is the mission?”  “Ah I can help you three for that problem,” Yondaime said as he got up and handed a folder to Sadow who motioned for Masi and Hinara to come take a look.  Unfortunately Sadow is much larger than Hinara making it very difficult for her to see the file. After several minutes of moving around trying to see it Hinara let her frustration get the better of her and moved under Sadow’s arms and in front of his chest to get a better look.  Sadow looked down at her saying, “You could have asked me to lower the file.”  Before she could answer Yondaime started the briefing, “As you all know the Land of Grass of was decimated in the war, Kusagakure barely has enough shinobi to keep their economy going.  But worst of all is their defection rate has gone up dramatically since the war.  One of them was Senshu Hitogoroshi their top ANBU captain; he was also a candidate for replacing the Kasukage if something ever happened to him.  Unfortunately he became impatient and left the village, now he has formed an army of bandits and small time missing-nin.  Using this small army he now pillages small villages taking everything food, valuables, using children for slaves, and raping the women as well as the girls.  He is planning something behind the walls of his fortress, the destruction of Kusagakure no doubt ”  Hinara couldn’t hide her shock and disgust behind her mask, Sadow on the other hand wasn’t surprised in the least; he had seen far worse atrocities during the war some were even committed by Konoha shinobi.   “What you haven’t told us though is why Kusagakure hasn’t attempted to address this problem rather than let another nation complete the mission which could let the other villages know that your weak enough to be attacked” Sadow said as he tried to read the file around Hinara’s head.  The Kasukage glared at Sadow saying, “We sent several teams to deal with the problem, they kept the women for themselves and sent me the males’ heads to my office.  The leader is an S class shinobi, they only one who can beat an S class shinobi is another S class.  He is also has the strongest kekkei genkai in the history of his clan.  The Hitogoroshi clan is the oldest and most powerful clan in our village the first Kasukage was the head of the clan.  Senshu is extremely dangerous his family’s kekkei genkai allows him to grow any kind of vegetation in any environment with nutrients including human bodies and solid concrete; he can also grow vegetation from his body and use it as a weapon without harming himself making him deadly in both close quarters combat and fighting at a distance.  The feudal lord knows what you did at Red Fields and we both agree that you are the only one who can bring Senshu to justice.”  Yondaime who was sitting at his desk stood up, “Your mission is simple, you will all head to the Land of Grass and infiltrate his fortress.  Once you reach his fortress the first objective is to neutralize his men, their will be some shinobi in there so I want you all to stick together.  Your best chance of success is hit them hard, fast, and quietly because if you don’t Senshu will be alerted and then you will have your hands full.  Once you have neutralized the guards you need to free the prisoners.  Then see if you can arm the any of the kunoichi he might have kept alive; but if they are unable to fight then have them escort the other prisoners out of there.  It is imperative that you three take out the guards so that the prisoners escape. Once the prisoners have been released and the guards defeated you all are to engage Sensu and eliminate him; once he is dead you are to destroy the fortress using some special exploding tags.  Don’t forget your not wearing flak vests anymore so you need to reply more on your jusus and your sword rather than your other weapons.  You leave tomorrow morning so I suggest you rest up and prepare for the mission, there is a chance none of you will come back.  You have your orders dismissed!”  As Yondaime finished talking Sadow and his team disappeared in a cloud of smoke leaving the two Kages alone to talk.  The Kasukage looked at Yondaime, “Do you really think it is a good idea sending him on this mission knowing what he is?” Yondaime replied with a smile, “There is no other person I would trust with this mission.  He has walked a path that few others would survive, I have trained him since he was a young man and I have faith that he will come back.”

Sadow had spent the rest of the day in his apartment getting ready for tomorrow’s mission.  He spent most of his time flipping through his enormous collection of scrolls, books, and tomes trying to formulate a strategy that would make this mission easier.  Like most shinobi in the village Sadow lived in a small apartment, the life of a ninja was short and unpredictable so actually owning a home while still on active duty was considered to be a bad investment.  Of course not every shinobi had as much money as Sadow. After the Battle of Red Fields Yondaime was made the 4th Hokage and team 7 was disbanded.  Since Sadow was no longer in squad he received a lot more money than he used to.  Sadow’s actions during the battle had caused the villagers to both hate and fear him.  The villagers had begun to refer to him as a Jinchuuriki, a demonic vessel.  In truth Sadow had enough money to buy a small mansion, but he had no use for such as house and buying one would bring him even more negative attention.  Sadow’s apartment was small; it only had 4 rooms, a bedroom, a bathroom, a study, and a main area.  The rooms were barely furnished, all except for one room; his study.  Sadow’s study was a treasure within itself.  Inside that room there was a collection of ancient and rare weapons, some that were used by famous shinobi including the famous Raijin sword that was wielded by the 2nd Hokage. But his real treasure however was not his weapons or his money, but his library.  Sadow had gathered an enormous collection of war literature.  He had gathered forgotten scrolls that contained ancient jutsus, ancient tomes that had the tales of legendary shinobi. Sadow also collected the writings of the great Kages including the taijutsu diagrams writing by the 1st Hokage himself and the 2nd Hokage’s books on swordsmanship.  He had a collection of shinobi law books and studies on political maneuvering.  He even managed to find the 3rd Hokage’s book on the philosophy of war and the moral effect it has on mankind.  His collection also included books on useful herbs and plants, an ongoing copy of the Nara clan’s medicine formulas, a bestiary of animal used by the Aburame and Inuzuka clans, and the secret recipe for the Akimichi clan’s chakra pills.  But more importantly were his books that listed the different jutsus and kekkei genkais used in the shinobi villages and how to create new justsus as well as augment older ones to fit a person’s fighting style.  Sadow’s recent studies have been on shinobi curses and kinjutsus.  Sadow had become so engrossed in his preparations and studies that he fell asleep on his desk.

Sadow woke up at dawn like he always did, the air pressure had changed dramatically since last night; it was going to rain giving them some cover.  After he got ready Sadow went to visit the Hokage monument again.  He was meeting his team at 6 to leave for the Land of Grass.  Since he was up most of the night getting ready for the mission he had enough time this morning to relax for a bit.  Sadow closed his eyes and let his mind drift for a few minutes until he heard the dirt shifting. He let out a sigh, “How do you always manage to find me?”  Hinara walked up next to Sadow yawning loud enough to wake to village and said, “With those blood red eyes staring down on the village I could see you from the Hyuuga compound,” Sadow merely stared at he for a few minutes till she finally answered, “When I use my byakugan your chakra is different from other people so you stick out like a sore thumb that and the fact that your large amounts of chakra make you glow to the byakugan.”  Sadow turned to her saying, “It’s early why are you here Hinara?”  Hinara sat down next to him and sighed, “I couldn’t sleep last night, too nervous about the mission.”  Sadow grimaced, “Hinara you are a Hyuuga and a jounin, even though you didn’t participate in the war I know you went on missions for the village,” Hinara cut him off, “Yeah but this is different, the mission I took had some combat but never like this, we could easily die on these mission.” Sadow closed his eyes for a minute to think, he was never very good at reassuring others the last person he gave a pep talk to died trying to save his humanity and even though she gave her life for him he lost it anyway.  Sadow sighed again, “Hinara you are a member of ANBU, you passed not only the tests but you also managed to reach the rank of jounin on your own skill.  The 4th Hokage would never have chosen you unless he had full confidence in your abilities and I wouldn’t let you come on this mission unless I was sure that you would not only survive, but if I wasn’t sure that you were crucial to its success.”  Hinara’s cheeks flushed as she said with a smile, “Thanks Sadow, I really needed to hear that from you.”  Sadow looked up at the sky, it was cloudy and it would start raining by the time they reach the borders of the Land of Fire.  He took a deep breath and stretched his hand toward Hinara, “Come Hinara, it’s time to head to the gate.”

Sadow and Hinara waited on Masi for several minutes at the gate until he finally showed up.  Masi was barely walking as he sleepily said, “Argh, why do we need to be up so early?”  Hinara smiled and replied, “What’s wrong Masi, did you have a late night?”  Masi started stretching and said, “Sort of, I had company over and she kept me up all night. I think I might have pulled something.”  “That’s a shame, you really should have gotten some rest for this mission,” much to everyone’s surprise Yondaime had decided to wish the team good luck personally.  Yondaime turned to Sadow and Hinara saying, “Well I hope that you two were smart enough to rest up right?”  Sadow and Hinara both averted their gazed from Yondaime.  Seeing their reaction Yondaime put his hand to his forehead, sighed and said, “Well I know that lack of sleep won’t slow Sadow down but I’m worried about you two, Sadow is known to travel long distances at extremely fast paces, if you cant keep up with him or get tired be sure to say something or you’ll be useless when the mission starts.”  He then turned to Sadow saying, “You, loose the cloak, you don’t need the extra weight for this fight,” “What are talking about a piece of cloth can’t weigh him down its impossible,” Sadow didn’t bother answering he merely undid the two clasps and tossed it off his soldiers.  His cloak hit the ground with a tremendous crash breaking the ground underneath it into a small crater.  Masi and Hinara were speechless as they stared at the crater he made, their minds were unable to grasp or cope with the fact that Sadow can move so fast with that much weight on him.  Yondaime walked over to the cloak and threw it over his shoulder with ease saying, “Ooh I see you added some more weight to it huh?” Hinara’s eye started to twitch, not only could Sadow move with that weight, but even the 4th Hokage could lift it as though it was light as a feather.  Sadow turned to start walking when he was stopped by the sound Yondaime clearing his throat, “Sadow, all of them.”  Sadow stopped dead in his tracks and sighed, he then began to reach under the plates of his armor one by one he began to take out small bars of metal from their pouches.  After Sadow dropped his 10th bar on the ground he looked at Yondaime saying, “That’s all of them sir.”  Yondaime let out a whistle as he began to pick up the bars and put them in a bag he was carrying, “So how much to these things actually weigh?”  Sadow started tapping the tip of his sandal on the ground, “Each bar was 60lbs.” Yondaime finished gathering the bars and threw the bag over his shoulder saying, “Well that’s all of them; ok well the sun is coming up so you guys better get a move on good luck, I have to get back to the office before anyone finds out.”  He then turned toward the village and sprinted for his office.  Hinara fell face first on the ground, seeing Yondaime and Sadow handling that much weight as if it was nothing at all was too much for her brain to handle.  Sadow slipped his mask on and turned to Hinara and Masi, “Alright put your masks on, its time to go.”  Hinara couldn’t help but say to herself “Wow, Sadow is really excited to start this mission.”

“Hinara, Masi take a break and set up camp, it’s about to rain and we aren’t going to stop after this till we get there; I’m going to take a look around.” Sadow said before he leapt of the tree branch he and Hinara were standing on.   Hinara collapsed on the branch, her lungs fighting to get enough air.  The 4th was right Sadow’s pace was almost inhuman, they had been traveling for over a day stopping for only 10 minutes to rest.   Hinara and Masi had burned most of their chakra just trying to keep up with Sadow’s speed; if anything it seemed as though he was holding back for them.  After several minutes Hinara was finally able to catch her breath, when she finally stopped panting Hinara took of her mask and began digging in her bag.  “Aha I found it!” Hinara yelled as she pulled out a wooden lunch box and a small canteen.  Masi looked at her questioningly as she opened the box and pulled out a riceball and started to eat Hinara noticed him staring at her, “What I brought my own diner, want some?”  Masi just shrugged, “Sure why not.”  As Masi started to eat the riceballs as though he hadn’t eaten in years Hinara looked around her, Sadow had been gone for a really long and she was starting to get worried.  Hinara finished eating and grabbed the box, “Masi, I’m going to see if Sadow wants some ok?”  Masi didn’t bother answering; instead he just kept on eating the food Hinara had made for the team.  Hinara had been looking for Sadow for almost 20 minutes without finding him; it was getting dark which would make it almost impossible to find Sadow.  Hinara sat on the ground cross-legged, “Come on think Hinara think, where can he be?” she sat there deep in thought for several minutes, “I got it!” Hinara made a series of handsigns, “Byakugan!”  She then started to focus as much chakra as she could into her eyes to expand her range of vision.  Hinara started to feel lightheaded as she struggled to keep her enhanced field of vision up, “Come on he’s got to be around here somewhere,” as she strained even harder to see where Sadow was Hinara managed to see a small light of chakra, she also saw smoke.  Hinara smiled there was only one person whose chakra glowed like that and that was Sadow, he was a long way off but Hinara didn’t mind.  After almost a half hour of running Hinara finally made her way to the edge of the forest, what she saw both amazed and chilled her to the very bone.  As far as the eye could see the landscape was blood red, even the tree line at the edge of the forest was red.  Everything was red, the grass, the trees, the flowers, even the ground was blood red.  But that wasn’t what bothered her the most; it was the wind, for some reason the wind sounded strange; as though the wind was the echoes from the moans of the dead.  She snapped out of her thoughts when she saw a campfire and a skulking figure sitting in front of it.  Hinara smiled as she jumped off the tree and started walking towards him.  “What is it Hinara?” Sadow said as he stared into the fire, “How do you always know it’s me,” she huffed while approaching him.   Sadow looked up at the sky, it was dark from all the clouds blocking the sun, he could see them flash from lightning and hear the roar of thunder, but it didn’t rain, it hasn’t rained here since that day.  He took a deep breath, “I can tell by your smell,” surprised by his answer Hinara’s cheeks flushed, “What you mean my smell?” he looked back at the campfire, “You always smell of lavenders,” Hinara blushed furiously, “Thanks for the compliment.”  Sadow cocked his head to side, compliment; he was merely answering her question.  He finally turned toward her and said, “Come sit by the fire before freeze to death Hinara.”  Hinara started to shiver; he was right it was unusually cold for early spring; she sat down next to Sadow and tried to warm herself by the fire.   They both sat in silence for several minutes, listening to the fire crackle, “Sadow?” Hinara said breaking the silence, “I made something to eat for the mission if you’re hungry.”  She then opened the box and handed him one of the riceballs she had made, “Well what do you think, are they any good?” Hinara asked after he took a bite, “They are fine,” Sadow replied. Hinara smiled, she really hoped that he would like them, but then her stomach growled so loud that even Sadow heard it.  Sadow didn’t say anything though, he just handed her one of the riceballs she made; Hinara chuckled nervously as she took it.  “So where are we?” she asked between bites, “We are at Red Fields,” Sadow said with an almost mournful expression.  Hinara choked on her food, “Nani?!?! You mean we are at the Red Fields, where the final battle of the 3rd Great War was fought?” Hinara felt a chill crawl up her spine as he nodded; she started shivering as though that knowledge made it seem colder.  “Hinara you ok?” Sadow asked when he noticed her shivering, “I-I’m ffine, really I-I am,” she answered.  He looked at her, “Dammit you lips are blue your starting to catch hypothermia.”  He immediately stood up and pulled a small scroll from his pouch and made a handsign, “Kai!!” A heavy blanket appeared once the smoke had cleared.  Sadow quickly picked her up and moved her closer to the fire and wrapped her up in the blanket.  He pressed his hand to her face, her lips were still blue and her shivering was getting more violent, “Come on Hinara stay with me,” Sadow said trying to keep her awake, he began to focus his chakra into his hands and started to rub her arms and legs hoping that the friction would generate enough heat to pull her out of danger.  Although he managed to the blood flowing better her lips were still blue so he started rubbing the veins in her neck and the muscles around them.  He then focused more chakra into his hands and he gently rubbed her cheeks with his thumbs as color began to come back to her face.  Hinara’s eyes slowly began to flutter open, she let out a groan, “What happened?” she thought to herself.  She gasped when she saw Sadow’s face inches from hers and gently holding her face.  Neither of them said anything instead they ended up looking at each other.  Hinara’s entire face blushed such a deep red that it almost looked like her face was turning purple, “U-Uh Sadow,” Sadow blinked, once he realized he was still holding her face he quickly moved them.  Sadow cleared his throat and said, “Don’t move, you had hypothermia.” Sadow put out the campfire and turned to Hinara, “It’s time to head back to camp; we have to get up early, it will be faster if I run there.”  He then picked up Hinara and started running back to the campsite.  “Wow he was really worried about me,” Hinara though to herself as Sadow ran back to the forest carrying her in his arms and before she knew it, Hinara had fallen fast asleep.     

“Hinara we’re here,” Hinara eyes opened, “Huh? What happened?”  Sadow set her down, “You fell asleep.”  He then sealed the blanket back into the scroll.  Hinara’s face started to turn red at his answer, “I suggest you get some rest Hinara, we’ll have to get up early,” he then looked up at the night sky, “Its going to rain tomorrow as well.” When Sadow and Hinara finally got back to the camp they found Masi drinking from a strange gourd while reading an all too familiar book with an orange cover.  When he noticed that Hinara and Sadow were back he closed his book and said with a slight grin, “Well you guys were gone a long time, did you have fun?”  Hinara shifted uncomfortably at Masi’s remark, Sadow on the other hand didn’t say anything, instead he pulled out 3 small scrolls and summoned some tents.  Once they finished setting the tents up Sadow turned to them, “It’s getting late I suggest that you all get some sleep soon because we aren’t going to stop tomorrow; Masi you have the first watch tonight,” he then went into his tent for the night.  Even though it was late and she had been running all day Hinara couldn’t sleep; she was still nervous about the mission and the fact that she had a 2 hour nap on the way back to the campsite didn’t help either.  Masi, who was supposed to keep watch, was busy drinking from his gourd and reading his book.  “What are you drinking Masi?” Hinara asked; Masi after finishing another swig let out a belch loud enough to scare the neighboring birds grinned and tossed the gourd to her saying, “Try some I think you’ll like it.”  After catching the gourd Hinara popped open the lid and smelt the contents, “Hmm I don’t smell anything, is it water,” Masi smiled, “Yeah something like that.”  Hinara tried to look down the gourd for a few minutes wondering what it was; finally she shrugged and took a sip.  As soon as she swallowed it she started coughing violently, but then something else happened Hinara suddenly started to feel very warm, especially in her ears, a red line of blush developed across her face and cheeks.  She also began to feel very relaxed, so relaxed in fact that she dropped the gourd, “Hey be careful with that,” Masi said while running to pick up his precious gourd, “Uh Hinara are you ok?” Masi said when he noticed her expression.  Hinara didn’t answer though instead she stood up and staggered towards Sadow’s tent.  Sadow looked up from the file he was reading when he heard footsteps.  He took a deep breath; lavenders, closing the file he said, “What is it Hinara?”  After several tries she managed to get into the tent and staggered toward Sadow.  “You know Sthadow I –Hic- never goth a chance to properly thank you for helping me earlier,” Sadow gave her a confused looks as she started walking towards him again; something was different about her. Hinara walked up to him until her face was only an inch away from his. His body began to tense unsure what she was going to do next.  Something was wrong, Hinara was acting very strange; Sadow realized what it was when he smelt the alcohol in her breath.  “How did this happen?  Hinara doesn’t seem like the type to drink much less do it when we are on a mission,”  Sadow thoughts were cut short when Hinara started moving again, only this time she had closed her eyes and started to lean in to kiss him.  Sadow was about to take a step back when Hinara seemed to have lost her footing and fell forward.  “Hinara are you alright?” Sadow asked as he caught her; the only reply he received was the sound of Hinara snoring slightly.  He then gently laid her down in his sleeping bag and covered her up.  Sadow let out a sigh as he turned to leave his tent; somehow he got the feeling she was going to need him to get her out of trouble constantly.  Masi was still reading when Sadow zipped his tent closed.  “Do you have any idea how Hinara managed to get drunk?” Sadow asked as he walked up to Masi who just shrugged his shoulders at the question.  Sadow then noticed the gourd next to his teammate and picked it up, “Hey what are you doing?” Masi protested as Sadow took of the gourd’s lid.  Sadow then smelt the contents and took a sip; he turned to Masi and said, “You brought sake on a mission?”  Before Masi could even answer Sadow started to drink all of the sake left in the gourd after he finished it Sadow smashed the gourd in his hands; Masi stood up, his fist were shaking in anger.  He then turned to Masi, “You will not bring liquor on a mission again, and you will never trick Hinara like that again.”  As Sadow turned to leave Masi yelled, “Hey you owe me for the gourd!”  Sadow sighed; he was starting to think that Yondaime really did have it in for him, “Masi it’s late, get some sleep.” Sadow then sat down on a tree branch that oversaw the campsite with a yawn; he was tired from the days activities and before Sadow knew what happened he fell asleep.

Sadow woke up from the sound of thunder in the distance; it was going to rain in an hour, with luck it would last the entire mission, he then hopped of the tree branch and began his day.  “Get up,” Sadow said as he lightly smacked Masi on his shoulder who was using his book and a rock from the campfire to make a pillow.  “Just a few more minutes,” Masi muttered as he rolled over; “I am adept in the use of water jutsu Masi,” Sadow replied, “I’m up, I’m up,” he grumbled.   “Break up camp. I’m gonna wake Hinara, Sadow said while walking to the tent Hinara was sleeping in.  Masi let out a groan, “Why am I the one who has to do this?”  “You brought sake on a mission,” he replied.  As Sadow opened the tent he could hear Hinara breathing, she seemed to be sleeping well and if they were lucky she wouldn’t have too badly of a hangover since the last thing he needed was to have to stop every few minutes for her to throw up.  Sadow bent down and placed his hand on her shoulder.  “Hinara wake up, its time to get going,” Sadow said as he gently shook her.  Hinara opened her eyes and let out a groan, “My head is killing me, what happened last night?”  Sadow hesitated, he wasn’t sure that telling her that Masi tricked her into getting drunk and that she tried to kiss him was a good idea, “You had a rough night its not surprise that u have a headache Hinara,” he then reached into his pouch and handed her an aspirin before leaving, “Here take this it will help, we will be moving out soon so get ready.”  After they had finish breaking camp and eating Sadow stood up, “Alright its time to go, we wont be stopping much, it’s going to rain soon which will give us some much needed cover and with luck it will last the rest of the mission but we still need to hurry, it will be a lot harder to sneak in there when the rain stops.”  Sadow and his team gathered their gear and started running while the rumbling of thunder started to sound.