A/N: I've been wanting to post this since forever! This is an idea I had a LONG time ago, but I never gotten around to writing it. I was reluctant in posting it, because I'm not sure if the plot I have in mind for this story will work. Keeping my fingers crossed though!

I'll warn ya ahead of time, this story may get a bit confusing, because there are many name changes. So here are the list of characters and the fake names they go by:

Kakashi - Kuwa (The name he goes by in the ANBU. He's 18 in this fic.)

Nyoko - Akari (This is the fake name that Kakashi knows her by. She's 18 years old.)

Tenzo (He's really Yamato-taichou! Tenzo is the name he goes by in this fic. He's about 15 years old.)

That's all for that. Please leave me a review to let me know what you think. I hope you like the first chapter of Three Farewells.

Prologue

It was a happy town, a festive town. The people were happy and well protected by a specially gifted family. Everything was wonderful, everything was perfect. For one little girl this was her home. This was where she belonged and she had hoped to one day follow in her family's footsteps to help protect her small town. Until that fateful day when all the joy and prosperity disappeared in a flash, transforming the town into a dead wasteland. All was quiet and the air was heavy with the scent of blood. However, no soul could smell the metallic odor, except for one.

In the town square, usually a cheerful place, laid a young girl, her breathes shallow and her body weak. The young girl of five years had short dark purple, almost black, hair, which was unevenly cut. Her grey eyes were open half way; her hand reached out in front of her, as though searching for something to pull her out of the mess she was in. Upon her face was a look of desperation. Despite her young age, she knew she'd die here if she didn't move; she had to find someone to save her. Her tiny little body used as much energy as it could to move forward. Only moving an inch, she felt like she had no energy left to go on. The wound to her stomach really did a number on her and wasn't making things any easier. A red liquid began to slowly dribble from the corner of her mouth. Tired she closed her eyes and only one thought ran through her head. "Help me."

As if on cue, the small girl heard footsteps. Slowly, but surely, they grew louder and louder. She struggled to stay conscious. The stranger was a man of perhaps 20 or so years of age. He had shoulder length black hair and side swept bangs over the top of his cold coal eyes. He stopped in front of the girl and used their foot to see the child's face more clearly. Blood dribbled from her mouth; her face was pale beneath all the dirt and grime and had a bruise on her right eye. "Now, now, now…what do we have here?" Hearing the sound of the stranger's smooth voice, the girl guessed that this person was in fact a young man. The man examined silently a little longer, before removing his foot from her face. "Worthless." He muttered and the girl heard his footsteps again, but this time they were moving away from her.

Something grew inside the little girl, a strange feeling, a strong emotion… a strong will. It was a desire so strong; it was a desire to live. With this new found strength, she lifted her head and opened her eyes. "Wait!" She says, her voice hoarse, but the man continued to walk away from her. "Wait!" Her small voice shouted out, stronger this time. The man stopped and turned where he stood. A grin spread across his face. What a persistent little girl. He took his time walking back to the girl and crouched down, tilting her chin up with a slender finger to get a better look at her face. She stared back up at him, with her grey eyes full of desperation. The grin on his face only grew wider; she had the blood line limit. In each of her eyes was a black spider web-like pattern, Kumorigan.

He lifted the girl in his arms and began to walk away from the death filled town. The girl looks up at him, her rescuer, and whispers. "Who are you?"

"My name is Enmaru Yoru."

"Are you an angel?"

"No, I am your master now. I saved your life and so your life now belongs to me. If you listen to what I say, I'll take good care of you."

"Really?"

"Yes, I promise."

"Master…" The girl finally lost consciousness.

"Yes," Yoru said, looking down at the small child in his arms. "I am your master now."

CHAPTER ONE

The First Farewell

A rather old man with graying hair stood behind his bar, cleaning a mug with a rag. Although it was still daylight out, the inside of the bar was rather dim, probably because the blinds of the front windows were closed, allowing very little light to enter the musky place. The dimly lit room was accompanied by dingy pieces of furniture; a few old tables were set here and there along with just as old chairs. Two pool tables were in a corner of the bar and nothing could be heard except for the cleaning of the mug and the two ceiling fans above. The 40 year old man had become used to this silence and was a bit surprised when he heard bells, signaling that someone has entered his bar.

"Akari, you're rather earlier than usual. Did your date with Nakamura not go well?" He asked, expecting his only employee to be walking through the door, but when he looked instead he saw two members of ANBU. One had a fox mask, while the other had a cat mask. His brown eyes grew narrow. "Can I help you two gentlemen?"

"We're looking for some information," answered the one wearing the fox mask.

"That's a surprise," The old man said, sarcasm hinting in his voice.

"I suggest that you tell us what you know. As a citizen of fire country…" the one with the cat mask spoke, his voice slightly more cold.

The old man laughed. "You're new to this aren't you?" He referred to the one wearing the cat mask. "You didn't even ask me the information that you two seek."

Though his face was unseen, the man with the cat mask slightly blushed, realizing that he got caught up in the moment. The man in the fox mask put a hand on the other's shoulder. "Let me handle this Tenzo." Tenzo nodded and the ANBU with the fox mask took over the interrogation.

"Listen, we've gotten some leads that this town is a recruitment center," the fox masked man informed the bartender, his voice was slightly more cheerful than his companion's.

"A recruitment center?" The old man returned to cleaning his mug, smiling to himself. "I can't say I know much about that."

"Nonsense, you own a bar. I know for a fact you've picked up some information, by listening to customers' conversations," Tenzo butted in accusingly.

"Tenzo…" The ANBU with the fox masked looked over at him, a warning sort of tone in his voice.

"Sorry, Kuwa-senpai."

The old bartender smirked. "I may know something. Tell me, who is it that's running a recruitment center? That might jog my memory."

Tenzo looked at Kuwa, wondering if it was to divulge such information and was slightly surprised when Kuwa told the old man. "Sosei."

"Sosei? I'm not surprised it's them you're looking for. They haven't been lying low lately that's for sure."

"So you've heard of them?" Kuwa asked for confirmation.

"Of course, as your friend said before, I'm a bartender. I hear of all sorts of things. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm better informed than you two, members of Konoha's ANBU."

"What do you know about them?" Kuwa pushed for more information.

"Depends…what do you want to know about them? I don't want to waste your time telling you information you already know."

"What we know is classified information…"

"Then I guess I can't help you then. Don't take it personally, but by giving you information about Sosei I can lose some valuable customers…"

"So there are members of Sosei in this town!" shouted Tenzo and Kuwa motioned at him to quite down.

"Listen sir," Kuwa started. "If you don't give us the information we're looking for, we're liable to have you under…"

Kuwa was cut off when the front door slammed open. "AKIYO-SAN! I'M HERE!" All three men looked to see the new person who entered the bar. She was a fairly young, perhaps in her late teens. Most of her long dark purple hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her bangs brushed the tops of her gray eyes. She wore a very simple, and rather short, maid uniform. No doubt she was an employee of the bartender, whose name was apparently Akiyo. She saw the two ANBU members and her eyes grew wide. "I'm not late am I?"

"Akari! Good to see you early for work for once. How was your date with Nakamura?"

"Hmmm…it wasn't positively spectacular, but wasn't positively boring either. Nakamura is a really nice person…"

"Are you going to go out with him again anytime soon?" Akiyo asked bending down behind the bar to take out a bottle of sake. So far both Akari and Akiyo were completely ignoring the two ANBU in the bar.

"I'm not sure, possibly. Lately there have been many other men coming into town so…" Tenzo coughed, drawing Akari's attention away from her conversation with her boss. "May I help you?" She asked him through half-lidded eyes, her voice mocking politeness.

Though she couldn't see it, Tenzo's right eye twitched. "You're interrupting our conversation."

Her eyes brightened up when she realized who these men were. "You guys are Konoha ANBU aren't you!" She asked, her voice now brimming with excitement.

"Oh lord…" Akiyo groaned. "If I were you two gentlemen, I'd run."

"Why…" Tenzo started, but soon understood why when Akari latched herself onto his arm.

"You guys don't happen to know who…the Copy Ninja is do you? I heard he's a member of the Konoha ANBU too."

"We wouldn't know. No one really knows the true identity of anyone." Kuwa laughed, not wanting to reveal too much information to average citizens.

Akari frowned, but soon grinned again. She unlatched herself from Tenzo and moved closer to Kuwa. "Or maybe you're the famous copy ninja?" Before Kuwa could deny her statement, Akiyo came around the bar and pulled Akari away.

"Akari you need to stop hitting on every man you see."

"I do not hit on every man that I see! Only the really strong ones," she winked at Kuwa, who was unaffected by her flirtatious manner. "So Akiyo-san, what do these strong, handsome men want with you?" Kuwa scoffed at the word "handsome"; she couldn't even see their faces.

"Oh, well they just want some information on Sosei," Akiyo answered her nonchalantly.

Kuwa sighed. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't reveal our conversation to outsiders Akiyo-san."

"Well, you should have told me so in the first place or I wouldn't have told Akari here," was all the bartender said.

"Since you know now anyway, what do you know about it?" Kuwa asked Akari.

"About Sosei?" Akari folded her arms and closed her eyes, as though in deep thought. "I think I know quite a lot about it actually."

"Is that so?" Kuwa raised an unseen eyebrow, highly doubting the girl.

"Yeah, I'll tell you everything I know, if you give me a kiss!"

Tenzo was gaping beneath his mask, but Kuwa didn't seem alarmed at all by her request. "Sure, but you'll have to close your eyes."

She shook her head and grinned. "I don't want a kiss from you; I want a kiss from him." Akari pointed at Tenzo. "I can tell he's younger than you are and that'll make it all the more enjoyable. You're blushing under your mask now aren't you?" She asked Tenzo, who looked away. Her grin only grew wider. "I knew it. How adorable."

"Tch, I didn't know you're a pedophile now Akari. The kid is obviously younger than you."

Akari pouted. "Probably not that much younger…"

"You didn't even deny the fact that I called you a pedophile," Akiyo sighed and then spoke to Kuwa. "I'll tell you what you need to know, before she scars your friend for life. Take a seat why don't you?" So Kuwa and Tenzo sat down in front of the bar as Akiyo and Akari stood behind it, sipping sake. "To be honest I don't know much about the organization itself, but I do know that they've been recruiting people to join, you know? Thugs, the homeless, runaways, criminals, as long as you meet their requirements you can join. Apparently you have to take a test…"

"And where…"

Akiyo shook his head rather furiously. "Don't ask me, I wouldn't know."

"I see…" Kuwa stated, not very happy with the information given. He already knew just about everything Akiyo had to tell him. At least they knew where that this town was a spot of recruitment for Sosei.

"You know, if you come by later at night, around 10 or so, you could probably ask some customers about it." Akari chimed in. "You may want to change out of your ANBU uniforms though!"

"Yes, well…we'll be taking our leave now. Let's go Tenzo."

"Yes, sir."

Kuwa, whose true name was Hatake Kakashi, exited the bar with Tenzo in deep thought. Odds were that the two of them would have to go back to the bar at night because chances were that Akiyo and Akari weren't telling them the whole truth. For all he knew, Akiyo, or even Akari, could be in charge of recruitment for Sosei. Akari was a rather strange girl; she's very straightforward and yet he could tell that she wasn't being completely honest with them. What really bothered Kakashi was when she asked about the Copy Ninja, which no doubt meant him. He was surprised that people know him by that name, especially since he's an ANBU. Of course that begs the question, how did she, a seemingly normal citizen, know about him?

"Kuwa-senpai," Tenzo spoke, breaking Kakashi away from his thoughts. "Are we going back tonight?"

"Of course, we'll have to report to Captain though and make sure he watches the perimeter. If the recruiter finds out we're in there, they'll no doubt make a run for it."

Meanwhile, Akari watched the two ANBU walk out of the bar. She sighed. "This is no good Akiyo. Now we have the Konoha ANBU after us. You know, Konoha has always struck me as the biggest threat out of the Five Nations."

"I suppose so, Nyoko-sama." Akiyo agreed with her, calling her by her true name.

"Come with me Akiyo." She motioned him to follow her into the door behind the bar. They first entered a small kitchen, but this was not their destination. Nyoko opened another door that lead to a staircase, leading down into the basement. The basement looked like any other basement and served as a storage room. The walls were that of cement and boxes were stacked here and there containing some food items sold in the bar above. Just your ordinary basement, but little known to outsiders a secret room was behind the shelf against the back wall and it was there that Nyoko and Akiyo went to discuss a pressing matter. The secret room was rather nicely furnished and the furniture was that of a red theme. Velvet sofas and love seats surrounded a black rectangular wooden table. Dark red and black draperies adorned the walls along with still-life paintings. Nyoko made no hesitation in sitting at the head of the table with her feet kicked up on the table. She didn't even take a bit of notice that Akiyo could now look up his skirt if he liked.

"Nyoko-sama," Akiyo started, ignoring the sight of her black panties. "…to invite the ANBU back isn't very…"

She kicked the table to silence him. "Who put me in charge here Akiyo?" She asked, her kind innocent mask disappeared in a flash, replaced with a narrow glare.

Akiyo's eye twitched. "Enmaru-sama."

"That is correct." Nyoko removed her feet from the table and now rested her chin upon her hands. "And if you don't approve of my actions, then you don't approve of Enmaru-sama."

"I didn't mean tha…"

"Quiet!" She began shuffling a bunch of papers and stuffing them in a suitcase. "Just go send a messenger bird to Enmaru-sama immediately. Inform him of the Konoha ANBU and that this base of operation must close down."

"But that would…"

"Do not argue with me."

"Don't be so damned cocky! You're just a fucking kid!" Akiyo shouted, finally losing his temper with this girl who was about thirty years younger than he. "Just because Enmaru-sama put you in a high position doesn't mean you can just treat me like dirt! You're just an eighteen year old!"

Nyoko laughed darkly in the man's face. "Don't make me laugh. I've been with Enmaru-sama since the beginning, even before he created the organization, Sosei. If anyone here doesn't have enough experience it's you, who apparently can't follow orders." Her sardonic smile only grew when Akiyo bowed his head in defeat. "Lovely, but you know what? I think I'll make you deliver the message to Enmaru-sama himself and take this suitcase. It contains important documents of all the people we've recruited here. Please don't lose them. I'll be taking care of the ANBU."

"Yes, Nyoko-sama." Akiyo bowed.

"That's what I like to hear. Now get going." He left as Nyoko stood up and began rustling around to look for a cigarette. After finding it, she lit it and set in the ash tray on the table, allowing it to burn out on its own. She inhaled a deep breath and then relaxed back in her chair again. She couldn't believe that the Konoha ANBU had found a base of operations already. Luckily she was here to check how Akiyo was handling things, now she could deal with them herself. Nyoko then began to wonder if it was really the best choice to stay here and deal with the ANBU, but then again if she could take out these two, then that'd mean two less enemies to deal with in the future. She took in a deep breath again. The smell of this brand of cigarette calmed her; it reminded her of her master Enmaru Yoru. "Yoru-sama," she found herself sighing. The chimes of bells alerted her that the first customer of the night had entered the bar and she stood up stretching. "Let's get this over with…"

Kakashi walked into the bar with Tenzo; the same bar the two had visited earlier that late afternoon. From what he could tell, by glancing around the room, there seemed to be quite a large amount of people in the bar, especially for a small town like this one. The majority of the customers were male, although there were a few women here and there. No matter the sex, they all seemed to be chatting with each other rather excitingly. Almost all of their conversations were similar to one another's.

"Do you think they'll let me join?"

"You have to be super strong. I hear they give you some sort of test."

"Man, once I get in things will take a turn for the better…"

"Sosei will change the world as we know it," said a man with a scar over his right eye. He took a swing from straight from a sake bottle, before continuing his conversation with the younger man in front of him. "Unless you're ready to put your life on the line, then you shouldn't join just yet. I heard that Sosei is striving for world peace."

"Doesn't that seem a bit unrealistic?" asked the younger counterpart.

"I guess, but if we join and if Sosei is able to achieve its goal, then we'll be rewarded beyond our wildest dreams."

"Isn't it risky though? I heard that the Five Great Shinobi Nations are starting to get involved…"

"Excuse me sirs," a familiar voice drew Kakashi's attention away from the conversation. The young waitress with the purple hair stood before him and Tenzo; she didn't seem to recognize them as the two ANBU who were at the bar a few hours before. "What can I get you two?" Her voice and demeanor were different from before; her voice sounded slightly more…seductive. Kakashi's expression remained unchanging. "Just get us some sake."

"Of course," she flashed them a grin, before taking off behind the kitchen.

"All these people," his partner Tenzo said after the girl left. "They're all here to join that organization and we have no idea who it is that is recruiting them. What's our course of action?"

"I'll ask the girl some questions." Kakashi paused as he thought. "I want you to go investigate the back area. You might find something there. The captain guarding the outside, the recruiter shouldn't be able to escape in case we find them in here and they make a run for it. "

"Tch, I see I'm the one who gets to do all the work." He mumbled, but followed his senpai's orders. Just as he got up to leave, the purple haired waitress returned with a flask of sake.

"Where's your friend going?" She asked Kakashi.

"He's looking for someone." He answered. "Listen…"

She cut him off before he could start his interrogation. "His girlfriend? That's too bad. He was somewhat good looking compared to some of the other men you find here. He looks rather young…" She glanced at two bald muscle heads out of the corner of her eye. "But then again," she started, reverting her attention to Kakashi. "You're rather good looking too, despite that eye patch of yours…" A coy smile appeared across her face as she leaned in and played with the edge of his mask. "…but I can't see much of your face with this mask in the way."

Although Kakashi calmly swatted her hand away from him, he had to admit he was not used to having a person of the opposite gender so close to him. "As I was saying," he continued, ignoring her comments. "You wouldn't know the person in charge would you?"

"My boss isn't here tonight. He left after…after two Konoha ninja came here earlier today…"

Kakashi's eyebrow rose. "Oh really? Why is that?"

"I'm not sure, but he's such a jerk, leaving me alone to work the bar all by my lonesome!" She complained and Kakashi cursed silently. There was a slight possibility that the person who was recruiting for Sosei had left already and could be long gone from here.

"When I asked about the person in charge, I meant the person in charge of…Sosei," Kakashi quickly amended his question in hopes she would give him some useful information.

"Why?" She asked, somewhat suspicious. "Are you looking to join it too?"

"There are others who want to join too?" Kakashi faked ignorance.

"Of course, look around you; look at these people in this bar. They all pretty much have nothing. They all want to join Sosei, and although their reasons for joining may be different, one thing is always the same: Sosei gives them hope that their present states will be transformed into something better; they'll be reborn."

"You sound like you really like this Sosei organization."

"Yes, well…to be honest I hope one day I could join."

"Do you even know their purpose?"

She shook her purple head. "No, but I don't need to. I just know that things will only get better after I join."

"But where do you join? I mean it's not like they could have a sign-up sheet out in the open…"

She grinned at him and leaned in close to whisper in his ear. "The recruiter has to invite you to join; everyone knows that. You know I've seen some people slip into the kitchen. I can only guess that's where people can become official members, either that or the basement."

"Why are you telling me this?" Kakashi asked consciously, "And why are you so close to me?"

"Not used to close contact I see," she smirked. "And as for your first question, I'm simply telling you what I know, after all you do want to join don't you? I thought maybe if I helped you out…you'd give me something in return… I'm Akari. What's your name?"

"I'd rather you not ask me questions."

"That's not very fair, Stranger. You've asked me some questions, why can't you answer some of mine?"

"I'm not very…" Kakashi stalled to think of the right word.

"…talkative?" Akari filled in the blank. "That's alright. I like the strong mysterious type." Her fingers trailed up and down his arm.

"Akari!" Someone shouted, both Kakashi and Akari looked up to see a man, just about as tall as Kakashi himself, enter the bar. He had dark blue hair and coal black eyes.

"Nakamura!" The waitress smiled, before turning back to Kakashi. "Well, I must be off. I hope you're able to join Sosei, but if I were you, I'd leave and come back another night. It looks pretty crowded and no one has been called to the back yet." She said, looking directly into his one uncovered eye. Kakashi momentarily felt locked with her gaze and he could tell that she truly meant her words, but something was off. For a moment, he could have sworn he saw a brief look of regret flash across her face, before she smiled one last time and left to converse with the blue haired man. Kakashi did not dwell on this any further and decided to take this chance to go check out the kitchen.

Upon entering the kitchen, he saw no one there, but took notice of the door in the back. He opened this door and found that it lead to a staircase. He descended down it to go meet up with Tenzo.

While Kakashi disappeared to the back of the bar, Nyoko waltzed out of the bar into the cool night air, her arm linked to Nakamura's, and noticed a man who stood a little ways away from the bar, smoking a cigarette. Nyoko walked past him calmly, being sure to keep her chakra levels in check. The two continued walking until Nyoko deemed themselves a good distance away. "Nyoko-sama, Akiyo came to me before he left. I really advise against…"

"Please believe me when I say I have things under control, Nakamura-kun. Go to the recruitment center we have in the southern part of fire country. We'll need to temporarily stop recruiting, while Enmaru-sama decides the best course of action. Chances are some Konoha ANBU may have found that one too."

"Yes Nyoko-sama," He gave a curt nod before vanishing into the dark of the night to follow her orders.

Nyoko waited until Nakamura was out of sight. "Kumorigan," she whispered and her within her gray eyes a black spider web pattern emerged in each. "Chakura Nagare." Streams of a dark blue light shot out from each of her fingertips. With an incredible amount of focus, she directed these streams of chakra back towards the bar, within a few seconds, the bar blew up. With a grin on her face, she ran off without looking back to admire her work. However as she ran a feeling of…regret rose up from within her. This regret did not come from the fact that she had probably killed many innocent lives just to kill off two members of ANBU, but because she killed the man with the mask. There was something different about him, but she didn't know what. She silently hoped that he somehow survived the explosion.

Nyoko climbed up a nearby tree to look back on the damage she had caused. She could see the tall tower of smoke rising into the starry sky. "Goodbye Masked Stranger, hopefully we'll meet again someday."

This was her first farewell.