OK, my first fanfic is still alive, I'm working on a new chapter – honest. Anyway, onto the story.

Summary: Another 'what if?' scenario yadda, yadda, blah, blah. Well what if Sasuke never made it to Orochimaru? What if a certain original character decided to cause some problems for everyone. Will run it across the main story-line from the manga in later chapters so spoilers will ensue. Writing began on 19/02/2010.

In case any of you are wondering – no romance (As of yet). I'm going to try and make this a serious story of sorts.

Be warned, my spelling and grammar are not great.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters from that series, however, I do own the original character in this fanfiction and any other made up stuff.

Chapter 1: Prolougue

The rain was heavy and the sky was dark – covered by the gloom of the clouds that blocked the sun. On a splintered, brittle branch of a tree that stood on the edge of a cliff that led down to the valley, sat a young man. His battered hair was pulled down by the tears of the sky, his skin was as pale as the moonlight at night. He wore a simple tan, woollen t-shirt and plain dark blue trousers that were held up by a simple leather belt and hung close and loose down to his sandles. On his belt hung a small pack for tools and a simple katana. He looked down through the light wind and rain at the state of the characters before him - one with dark hair, and simple clothes bearing the Uchiha crest staring down at another who wore an outlandish suit and had blonde hair.

"So that's him." The man whispered to himself. His gaze stayed on Sasuke as the young ninja forced their battered body to move as they turned to leave the valley and the fight behind. The ninja on the branch focused chakra into their feet and leaped over the cliff. They nimbly passed over the land and glided over the water. He seamed to appear in front of Sasuke in a flash, his sword held out to bridge the gap between the two ninja. Sasuke looked up wearily, limply holding his shoulder.

"Target 2-16: Sasuke Uchiha; one of the few remaining." The attacker said as if reading from a text book. "Sorry but I have orders to fulfil and they require your immediate apprehension." The stranger's sliver eyes rivalled the dark eyes of Sasuke. Sasuke decided to make a run to the side with whatever whittling energy he had left.

The ninja sighed. "Why do they never make my job easy." He sheathed his sword, turned and chased after Sasuke with light steps. He soon came upon him, his prey slowed from the fight, and kicked Sasuke's leg – forcing him to the floor. He reached down to grab Sasuke by the collar but the adrenalin had kicked in and Sasuke lashed out desperately – forcing the ninja away with punches and kicks. The ninja took a few steps back before sighing again as he watched the scene before him. He leapt forwards. There was a faint flash of lightning and the strange ninja held Sasuke in his grasp. He turned to the line of trees. "Time I depart." He dropped a small scroll behind before vanishing into the tears of the sky.

The jonin Kakashi came out from behind the trees and spotted Naruto lying unconscious on the floor, Sasuke's headband on the floor near him, battered and scratched. He looked about in search of Sasuke but found only the traces of struggle from the fight between the Uzumaki and the Uchiha.

"Hey Kakashi" Pakkun said as he found the small scroll lying on the rocky ground "ever seen anything like this?" Kakashi picked up the scroll. He looked at the symbol on it – a simple scratch – and opened it. The small scroll held a simple sentence that read: "Uchiha is in my care – He won't see the light of day." The sentence was followed by a simple set of numbers: 12-19:2-16.

"Pakkun, find Sasuke's scent – I have a very bad feeling about this." Kakashi said as the rain continued to fall.

Sasuke awoke on a futon. He tried to sit up but felt pain sting every time he moved. He found that he had been bandaged and that his bleeding had stopped. He managed to look around and saw that he was in fact in a small cabin of sorts. He saw a simple table littered with scrolls and chair standing on the far side of the room he was in. There was not a picture to be found and the walls were bare. The ceiling had beams stretching across with scratch marks scattered across it. There was a window on either side of the cabin, letting in the light of the morning. He could hear some birds chirping and the loud gush of water. He pushed the cover off and stood. He noticed he was standing directly opposite the front door. He slowly walked over and pushed the door open. He squinted as the morning sun sent light into his eyes. He looked about and noticed that half of the cabin was ina hole in the stone-filled ground. He saw some steps leading up and out of the hole only a couple of feet away. He trod over to them and took a few steps up before he could see over the edge properly.

"Finally awake?" Sasuke silently looked to his right to see the strange ninja who had apprehended him. "Still subdued. We're already behind schedule."

"What?" Sasuke asked as he looked up at the approaching ninja. When the ninja was standing only a meter away he tossed Sasuke's clothes down at him.

"Get dressed, training starts in five." The ninja said as he hopped into the hole behind Sasuke and walked inside the cabin. Sasuke donned his clothes with ease and made a start to escape. He jumped up the steps and took a few steps before falling to his knees and clutching his mouth. His head was spinning and he felt like throwing up. A few a few moments, the feeling subsided and he made a run for the river in front of him. As he was about to reach the water he felt himself constrained. He couldn't move. He looked down to see that he was standing on a small summoning technique.

"Shit!" He said as a plum of smoke appeared behind him and he felt sharp teeth bite into his thigh. "Argh!" He wailed as droplets of blood started to flow.

"Off him! Get!" The ninja shouted. Sasuke looked down to see a reptilian creature just before it vanished in smoke. He fell to the floor. "Now look what you've done. Training will have to start a few minutes later now." The ninja walked over to him and tossed a plant and some bandages at him. "Fix yourself up." The ninja commanded.

After Sasuke had stopped the blood flow the ninja introduced himself. "You will know me by the name Hisoka from now on. I am to train you for the next year."

"Train me?" Sasuke asked suspiciously. He didn't like the ninja one bit but he had no idea where he was or how to reach Orochimaru.

"Yes, I will tell you why I'm training you and someone else isn't another time since I'm so generous."

"And if I refuse?" Sasuke asked. The ninja smiled broadly and there was an evil glint in his eye.

"That's not an option if you value your sanity."

He clapped his hands and spoke calmly once again. "Well let's start now." He jumped backwards and stood next to a waterfall. "Climb this waterfall before the end of day only using your hands and feet." The ninja stated. Sasuke glared at him for a minute before dashing for the waterfall over the steady-flowing river. He jumped and sent a steady chakra flow through to his feet. His feet went through the falling water and grasped onto the slippery wet rocks behind it.

"Ha!" The ninja shouted as he threw a kunai with an explosive tag on it towards Sasuke. Sasuke jumped off of the rocks and the explosion pushed him back down into the water. Sasuke got out of the water and looked over at the ninja. "I said climb the waterfall." The ninja pulled out another kunai. "Again."

"Tsunade-sama." Kakashi knocked on the door to the Hokage's office.

"Enter." She replied. He opened the door and walked in. To his surprise, the room had other attendees besides him, Tsunade and Shizune. To his left was Shikamaru and a jonin. To his right were a couple of foreign ninja Kakashi had never seen.

"I have failed in locating Sasuke Uchiha." Kakashi said. He walked over to Hokage and put the scroll Pakkun had found on the desk. "Someone got there before me."

"Was it Orochimaru?" Shikamaru asked.

"I don't think so. He wouldn't leave a message saying he had taken him." After Kakashi stopped one of the foreign ninja stepped forwards.

"We believe we know who has taken the young Uchiha." He said. Everybody turned there eyes towards the ninja.

"Who than?" Tsunade asked.

"We believe it is a ninja who goes by the false name: 'Hisoka'. He was one of the more... unique ninja from our village."

"What would he do with Uchiha?" Shikamaru queried. The ninja turned to look at him.

"Unfortunately we don't know. He seeks revenge against our village and would probably train the young Uchiha as a weapon. Or he could simply have taken the Uchiha for the sake of doing so. He is known for having a whimsical side which has caused many problems in the past."

"And we should trust you?" Shikamaru asked.

"Perceptive" The ninja commented. "but we are here to request a mission for his search and capture."

"Your own village won't pursue him?" Shizune asked.

"We are afraid not. We believe his is in this region but have neither the resources nor the political power to search." Shikamaru looked at the Hokage. She was in thought for a minute, mulling over the information.

"Very well, give us all your information on the suspect and tell us how much your willing to pay." Tsunade finally confirmed.

So, first chappie off the top of my head, short and sweet, will working on bits here and there and correct parts as they go along. See you next time.