Hope from the Shadows

Chapter 1: Konoha's Shadows

Warnings! (I'll only do this once so please read it)

-There won't be any AN in the beginning or the middle of the chapters except for the disclaimer. I'll put clarifications and answer questions at the end so those of you who want to skip it, can.

-This is another of those time travel fics. Done a million times I know, but I believe this specific twist in this timeframe has not been done before.

-There is NO romance in this fic! I suck at writing it and I didn't want to ruin my story trying. There MIGHT be small hints of pairings but nothing more.

-This is not yaoi, as much as I love boyxboy this is not it. However, there is close FRIENDSHIP between male characters so feel free to interpret it as you want.

-English is not my first language, I think I'm quite good at it and I have proofread the chapters more than once. However, it is highly possible that there are small mistakes here and there. What's more, I usually write the chapters on paper first and then I copy them on my computer. I try to be careful, but I'm told that I missed a few words in the process. You can either ignore them or tell me so I can correct them for the readers after you.

-The disclaimers are kind of prologues to their particular chapters.

-This is my first fanfic ever so if you could be so kind as to review (good or bad) it will be greatly appreciated. (^_^)

Disclaimer

The morning light had barely begun to illuminate the village, that at Konoha's gates an ANBU squad was getting ready to leave for their mission. The captain just had to finish giving his last instructions and they would be on their way towards the Land of Lightning.

"... and that's our plan to complete this assignment. Any questions?" asked the silver haired captain of squad 3.

Seeing that none of his subordinates had any, he continued in a deadly serious tone,"Now I want all you to listen very carefully, this might be the most important thing."

Already standing at attention, his four teammates suddenly stood straighter. While being a laid back man in his life, once he donned his inu mask, their captain was always serious. But rarely THIS serious...

Once they were all ears, ANBU captain Inu said, again in greatly serious tone, "Aliendel doesn't own us, Konoha or any elements of the Naruto universe. This fanfic is purely for fun and all rights belong to their respective owners. Understood?"

Saying that his squad was stunned would be an understatement. Of all things they had expected their leader to say that was certainly not it. Only their ingrained habits thanks to many years of service in Konoha's shinobi corps allowed them to reply with the expected answer. "Yes sir!" They all chorused.

"Good, now the mission begins, depart!" and with these words the squad 3 captain was on his way to Kaminari no Kuni.

Following him, his subordinates looked at each other confused, had their commander finally lost it? A few seconds later, they all shrugged, forgetting the incident. Inu was already insane, a bit more or a bit less...

Konoha's Shadows

Everything was peaceful at the border between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Frost. The sky devoid of any cloud allowed the full moon to cast an eerie light on the otherwise dark forest. The silence of the night was broken by the noise of the nocturnal predators hunting their prey and the sound crickets. It was a perfect example of a summer night in that piece of land, nothing out of place.

Rare were the shinobi who had enough skills to spot the only oddity among that scenery: A five men ANBU squad heading silently towards the Land of Fire and Konoha...