This is the first fic I have written in a good 4 years... so go easy on me... Given my writing style... I'll be nitpicking and changing little things all the time... and I'm not set on the title yet... any suggestions are more than welcome...

The rookie nine are 19-20 years old when this fic takes place. This fic is built on the assumption that nobody important on the "good" side dies after Jiraiya's fight with Pain.

"These" are dialogue...
*These* are thoughts

'The Code'

Chapter 1.
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"I smell blood" murmured Kiba, beginning to wake up. It seemed that no matter how well rested he was, gate duty knocked him out.

A giant of a man in a tattered black coat slowly approached the Hidden Village of Konoha. Draped in his arms was one of Konoha's kunoichi. Over his shoulder was the oversized scroll she carried. His pace was slowing as he staggered toward the gates. Walking hurt. Moving hurt. Breathing hurt. Everything hurt. When he cleared the treeline, the guard cloudgazing at the gate caught sight of him. Shikamaru rushed to his side, Kiba hot on his heels. Kiba took the unconscious girl from him, and Shikamaru got a good look at the tall man.

"You're that man from last week," He was pale, and he looked completely worn out, but there was no mistaking it. "Drake?"

The man nodded breathlessly.

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**FLASHBACK**

Drake looked at the gates of 'Konoha' with curious eyes.

*If all the military force around here are ninja, and a ninja can jump a hundred feet... or run up a damn wall... or teleport... do these gigantic 50 foot gates actually do anything?* he pondered, *I guess It's probably just for the shock effect... they are pretty impressive.*

He let out a sigh and adjusted his backpack as he walked up.

"Stop."

He did so.

"State your business in Konoha." ordered a very bored looking guard. His partner was face-down on the table, snoring lightly. The speaker looked to be about Drake's age, with his dark hair in a spiky ponytail and a green tactical vest. His face wore an expression of boredom that seemed stuck. The sleeping guard wore a similar vest, but had unruly, short hair and strange red tattoos on his cheeks.

"My name is Drake," he said as politely as he could. "I'm just looking for somewhere to sleep and get something to eat."

"How long will you be here?"

"I'll be gone by tomorrow evening."

The guard gestured at the sword strapped to Drake's back. "No weapons are allowed past the gate." he said simply. Drake eyed the weapon pouch at the man's hip and raised an eyebrow. "For visitors."

"Fair enough." Drake conceded, lifting the sword off of his back and the knives out of his boots. He placed them on the table, hilt first. The guard kicked the sleeping man at the table.

"Oi! wake up Kiba!" he said irritably. "This guy needs a weapon check."

*Ah! the glories of wearing a black trenchcoat...* Drake grumbled inwardly. He handed his coat to the recently awoken guard and started laying out the contents of his backpack on the table. *Everybody thinks you're an assassin!*

"Damn!" grumbled the guard with the tattoos. "This thing is heavy!"

"Sorry..." Drake stated absentmindedly as he continued emptying the backpack. "It's lined with chainmail."

"Chainwhat?" The guard looked confused, and Drake noticed his eyeteeth were elongated, as were his pupils.

*O...K... kinda weird...* "Chainmail."

"What?"

"Unzip the liner." stated Drake as he began spreading out the items from his bag to let the ponytailed guard look them over.

"What's this supposed to do?" asked the guard, staring at the pattern of rings between the two layers of the trenchcoat.

"Try to cut it." The guard did so, the rings stood firm.

"Oh, it's armor." he realized aloud. "Too damn heavy."

"I guess wearing it all the time, you just stop noticing." Drake mused. The guard didn't say anything else as he finished checking the coat for hidden weapons.

"Okay, spread your arms and put your feet apart." Drake did as he was told as they searched him for hidden weapons.

"You can pass. You can retrieve your weapons when you leave tomorrow."

"Thanks" said Drake as he re-packed his backpack, donned his coat, and set off to find himself an inn.

**END FLASHBACK**

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"What happened to her?" asked the guard with the ponytail. "What did you do?"

"She was ambushed." stated Drake, wincing and pulling what looked like a bundle of cloth from his coat and dropping it on the ground. Shikamaru's eyes widened. Three forehead protectors, each with the same emblem, a music note with a rough slash through it.

*Sound nin...* Shikamaru realized. Since Orochimaru's demise they had been scattered, and the hidden villages had been slowly exterminating them. Apparently they'd missed a few. *How troublesome.* Shikamaru was shaken from his contemplations when the man in the coat groaned and fell to the ground. It was then that he and Kiba saw the four kunai embedded in his back, and the blood soaked through the back of his coat.

"Kiba! Get these two to the hospital!" Kiba nodded once and was gone in a swirl of leaves, TenTen vanishing with him. Shikamaru heard the man on the ground mutter something as he tried to lift himself back up.

"What?" he said as he crouched to listen.

"Don't let... Don't let them..." the man coughed, spraying blood on the ground. "Don't take off... headband."

Drake slumped to the ground, unconscious.

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