The rain thundered against the roof of a large mansion, belonging to a very wealthy man who lived on the edge of the land of fire.

While the night was unpleasant and cold, the rain made an excellent cover for the shinobi that walked on his roof, whispering to one another as droplets of water rolled off their clothing. The three figures were clad in all black, wearing individualized masks, a short sword strapped to each of their backs.

The tallest of the three spoke, his mask resembling that of a bug. More specifically, a centipede. Sharp mandables were carved into his mask where his mouth should be.

"We can move in now," He said. "I have two squads stationed outside, they will only move in after I give the signal."

"Does everyone remember the plan?" The female asked, her mask resembling that of a wolf with red stripes on the cheeks.

"Yeah," The male with the mask of a toad in red Kabuki war paint replied. "I remember the plan."

"Any idea how many victims there are?" The girl asked.

"No," The tallest of the three sighed. "Nobody has been able to slip in unnoticed, we'll just have to hope for the best."

The other boy punched his fist into his other hand. "Then let's go already!"

"He's right," The girl nodded. "We're only wasting time sitting here."

And so, the three smashed through a window, deciding to make their presences known instead of slipping in silently. No one else seemed to have any luck sliping inside discretely, so the best way in was through the window, which also happened to be a very loud way of getting in.

They landed on the floor gracefully, unbothered by the shards of glass scattered around them, knowing they wouldn't harm them. Brushing off their clothes, they stood back to back, weapons drawn as they covered each others blindspots. Despite how loudly they entered the house, no one came to fight them. The hallways remained eerily silent.

"Maybe they heard us coming and ran away." The blonde shrugged, earning a smack from the girl.

"Honestly, have you learned nothing over these past months?" She scoffed.

"Well why else would no one come and find us!?" He huffed.

"Be quiet," The oldest of the trio hissed. "They haven't ran, I'm guessing that they know we're here and are focusing all their manpower on keeping the one in charge safe."

"Or they're guarding all of the stuff they plan on selling." The girl added.

"Could be," He nodded, then continuing. "But we have to advance carefully, they have to know we're here."

"Right." The other two nodded.

Footsteps echoed from down the hall, slowly getting closer and closer. This person was clearly in no rush to approach them. He rounded the corner, revealing a man with short choppy brown hair and green eyes. His arms were covered in scars, however, he approached with no weapons in his hand, a sword obviously strapped to his belt.

"Drop your weapons," He demanded, his arms crossed over his chest. "Otherwise I'll have to subdue you using force."

"Sorry, but I'm afraid we're here on a mission." The leader of the trio replied. "Your employer has been dabbling in some shady business for years."

"Yeah, I know," He shrugged, his face going slack. "But he pays good money and it's better than being homeless."

"Then come back with us," The girl urged him. "Help us take him down and you can come back with us."

"So you'll just take me in?" He asked skeptically. "No questions asked?"

"Pretty much," The blonde chirped. "You just have to help us take your boss out."

"Okay," He shrugged. "This job's pretty shit anyway, the pay's low too, I only stick around because it's better than living on the streets,"

"Great, then you can lead us to the goods." The girl said.

"Yeah, follow me." He agreed.

The leader of their group walked close behind him, his hands resting inside of his kunai pouch. The other two followed his lead.

"So what's your name?" The female asked.

"You can call me Rei," He replied. "And what should I call you?"

"Oh! I'm Naru-!" He was cut off when the girl punched his shoulder.

"Code names you idiot," She groaned. "I'm Wolf by the way."

"Toad..." The boy who was hit grumbled.

"And I'm centipede." The oldest introduced.

"Right," Rei said. "The masks, got ya'."

"I think we're getting close..." Wolf whispered.

"Yeah, it's a little further ahead," Rei said. "Then we take a staircase down into the basement."

"While we walk," Centipede spoke up. "Mind telling me where everyone is?"

"Some of the guys are in the basement, some fled, and I have no idea where the boss went." He shrugged.

"Should we split up then?" Toad inquired.

"I think we should," Wolf said. "Toad and I can go with Rei and you can go find the man in charge."

"Fine," Centipede sighed. "But if you don't meet up with me in an hour then I'm going to assume you guys died."

"So glad you have faith in us," Wolf giggled. "See you in an hour!"

Centipede huffed, turning around and walking away.

~~~~~~~~~~

"So, you guys are from Ame?" Rei asked, opening a secret hatch in the floor.

"That's right," Wolf chirped. "I've lived there for a while, after my family saved me."

"Saved you?" Rei asked.

"That's a long story, and you won't ever hear about if you don't come back to Ame with us." Wolf replied.

"I'm pretty new to Ame, but I like it there," Toad said in a happy tone. "No one knows about where I came from or what I'm like. No one hates me, in fact, many civillians like me because I'm a part of the Akai Me!"

"Now that I think about it, I think I've heard of you guys," Rei said. "Three shinobi with mysterious powers that go around catching criminals and rescuing victims."

"I guess we're more well-known than I thought," Wolf said. "Even though we only formed a little under six months ago."

"So then," Rei said, stopping his descent into the basement. "Are all the stories about you true?"

"What stories?" Toad asked.

"You know, inhuman strength, strange abilities, an insane hunger." Rei said.

"Yes, that's all true," Wolf sighed. "Though the rumors never mention all the people we save."

Rei shrugged. "We're here..."

The scent of blood hit their noses, making Toad immediatly cover his nose.

"God, the smell of blood is so thick down here..." Wolf mumbled.

Whimpering caught their attention next, leading them around a corner. Both of the masked shinobi cringed, eyes landing on the group of children huddled together on the floor, shivering, many of them covered in wounds. Their ages seemed to range from around four to twelve, but it was hard to tell, some of them so malnourished that they were much smaller than they should be.

"We're shinobi from Ame, we're here to help," Toad whispered, crouching down before them. "I'm sure you guys want to get out of here. Come with u, we can get you food, and clean clothes, and even a warm place to stay."

They backed away, not saying a word.

"They're probably traumatized," Wolf sighed pitifully. "Give them a little time."

A small girl tiptoed over to Wolf, gripping her pants with both of her pale, bony hands.

"H-he's a bad man..." She whispered, glancing at Rei in absolute terror.

Rei scowled at her, making the girl tremble.

"Oh come on," He chuckleed. "I never did anything to her."

Wolf scooped the small girl into her arms, whispering words to her. "This is Toad, he's a very close friend of mine, I want you to go with him, okay?"

She nodded. "O-okay nice lady..."

"Wolf, these children don't trust me much..." Toad sighed. "I don't think I can get them to follow me willingly."

"Then take them by force," Wolf replied. "I'll meet you outside in a few, I must take care of something first."

Nine fiery orange tails surrounded the boy and grabbed onto the children, each tail holding one or two of the kids who didn't want to follow him. Only the little girl that Wolf spoke to followed him willingly.

They disappeared up the stairs, leaving Wolf alone with Rei.

"Just what were you fuckers doing with those kids?" Wolf growled.

Rei grinned, shrugging without a care. "You know, a bit of this, a bit of that."

She snapped, grabbing his throat and squeezing for a few seconds. He gasped for air when she released him, sprawled out on the floor.

"I'm going to kill you," She said, leaning down on one knee before him. "But before I do, tell me, do you know where Tsunade Senju is?"

"Fuck you... Bitch..." He gasped.

She removed her mask, revealing the face of a young girl, her white hair tied back in a neat bun. Her right eye flashed red, empty and emotionless. She frowned at the man.

"Shame."

Splat.

A/N

Sorry that this took so long guys, but Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoyed my little gift from me to you!