...
A/N:Figured I'd toss this one up here too. I know it's not an update for the Mass Effect story One of a Kind but due to make computer issues for the past several months I've been unable to type anything for you all. However, I did resort to pen and paper so now I am just copying it. Expect to see it soon.

In the meantime, I present to you an older fic of mine that is still in the works, FAR or Fox and Raven. I do not own Naruto nor it's characters, I am writing this for no profit only for my own enjoyment and your reading pleasure. Enjoy.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Pets. Everywhere there were pets. It was like someone had let the Nekogen equivalence of a sex deprived bunny loose after feeding it Viagra and submitting it to days of porn. It was downright frightening. How people could even afford them these days was another question. Sure, the cost had dropped a great deal since the early days, but still, the breeding, the training, the shots, the food, not to mention the hours upon hours of programming went beyond what most should be able to afford. But, then again, most of the pets walking about were poorly bred mutts for the most part. Apparently a few breeders had slipped through the cracks. And so now, thanks to the overflow of dysfunctional hybrids, a one, Uchiha Sasuke was stuck cleaning up the mess. It was often a dirty job. It was also a very dangerous job. And in turn this made it a very high paying job with an even higher turn-over rate.

Sasuke himself had been a part of the "clean-up crew" for nearly seven years now, making him one of the few veterans and one of the longest employees of the N.P.S. in existence. But, there was a very good reason for this. He was very very good at his job. In fact, he was so good at his job that he was now practically the head of the entire operation. Another reason that he had taken part in this wonderful job was due to his family issues, or rather, lack there of. One tended to have less concern about their own welfare when they didn't have anyone.

This of course brings us back to the pet thing. He felt that they were dangerous and that they belonged in zoos or not at all. They were not meant to be pets. Honestly, the Nekogen were a testamate to human kind's perverse and warped sense of playing god. The Uchiha sighed softly and ran a pale, callosed hand through his thick hair and checked the various weapons that were secured neatly upon his person. He looked about ready to head into battle or something. Twin high caliber handguns were at each hip, various pouches containing beam shurikan, various diamond infused throwing knives, gas grenades, tranqs, and extra ammo lined the front of his heavy duty black vest and nestled neatly in place across his back was a 52 inch diamond and titainium enhanced blade forged with elemental chakra properties. It was his pride and joy. Needless to say, he was a frightening sight to behold. Absently, he glanced toward the rest of his team that were still seated in the holding cabin behind him. There were four of them, and he only trusted two of them. Those were not good numbers.

The first, and probably one of the few people worthy of the Uchiha's attention was a one Hyuuga Neji. The tall brunette had come from a pretty upitty family, or rather, the branch of a pretty upitty family which was honestly worse then the latter. He was calm, intelligent, and almost as cold as Sasuke himself. Very few could boast such a statement. Neji had a very interesting gift. Not only had he been given the unique fighting style of his family, but he had also been given a pair of eyes that any would kill for. Next the Uchiha's eyes trailed to the sole female member of his group. Ugh. She made him cringe. No she was not ugly or anything, quite the contrary, but honestly, she annoyed him to death and made him consider retirement on more opportunities than he would have liked. Her name was Sakura Haru-something or other. He didn't really care enough to know. The girl was going to quit or get herself killed eventually anyway so there was no point in caring. She was pretty useless in his opinion, but then again, he hadn't seen her on an actual mission before. The third member of his team who was currently dozing off was a young man that went by the name of Shikamaru. This was the other guy that Sasuke trusted a bit. Shikamaru had been around for three years and despite being a lazy ass, he was a genius and capable of manipulating shadows. The Uchiha didn't particularly like the guy. But, he didn't like people generally on principle. He wasn't a people person. And then there was yet another rookie, and possibly the most obnoxious person that Sasuke had ever met. Lee, or as he called himself: The Green Beast. Whatever. Sasuke just hoped that the loud idiot didn't get in the way and put his supposed Taijutsu mastery to good use.

"We are nearing our objective point, Uchiha-sama. Prepare for drop." Came the electronic voice of the airship's computer system. It was a smaller craft, sleek, and built for speed more than anything else. In his line of work speed was crucial.

"Hn." Was the only sound that showed his acknowledgement. Neji instantly rose to his feet and regarded the others.

"Drop commencing, get in line." He stated in a calm voice that held a slightly sharp bite to it, leaving no room for argument. Quickly, the other three lined up behind him at the hatch where the Uchiha waited. The craft lurched slightly and the hatch flew open. Without a word, Sasuke threw himself out of the craft. The city below was vast and they were several hundred feet up with the blackened neon lit buildings and streets far below. Of course, a typical human or pet jumping from this height would be suicide. However, they were not typical by any stretch of the imagination.

The five of them dropped for several long seconds, letting the Earth rush upward at a very frightening rate before holding their hands and feet downward. A blue glow encased the appendages and slowed their fall each landing safely above the drop point. Lee seemed to have the greatest amount of trouble with this and had to be assisted by Neji, much to the long haired male's amusement. There was nothing more satisfying than thoroughly embarrassing a rookie on his first time out. Sasuke landed gracefully and without the slightly awkward positions that the others had used. He was just that experienced in jumping. He slipped on the red screened eye communicator that allowed him to see information about the situation and buckled up the face mask that concealed the lower part of his face. Whether this mask had a specific purpose or was just for appearances didn't matter. No one was brave enough to question it.

"Reports are of a rare prototype pet being held in the target building. We are to find and capture this new type. Use extreme caution, it is not tamed and will be very unpredictable. I am not responsible for any of you idiots who gets out of line." He stated bluntly, his gruff voice slightly muffled by the mask. Without another word he took off at a quick sprint, the others close behind. This supposed new type had been stolen. Great. That was just what he needed to deal with. Some crazy money grubbers had decided to make off with someone's unique Nekogen meaning that it was most likely one of those wild types.

A wild animal that he had never seen before and angry thieves who didn't want to give it back. Wonderful. This was not a mission for rookies. Sasuke pulled up the layout of the building on his screen as they neared the roof entry. He nodded to Shikamaru and the genius moved forward confidently, scoffing slightly at the lock. He very easily hacked into the code pad and undid the security locks. Honestly, the fact that the guy was able to do such a thing so easily had Sasuke pondering what his previous occupation entailed. Nothing redeeming if his assumptions were correct. Once again the Uchiha took the lead, using the transparent layout to guide them to a small store room. The building was a warehouse of some sort, probably for old computers or something. Once in the room, Neji went to work forming hand seals, his chakra flairing only slightly to erect a genjutsu around the area. This genjutsu was to conceal and eliminate their conversation and appearances. The cold onyx eyes of the Uchiha focused upon his team coldly as they waited for instructions.

"Intelligence says that the pet is being kept in the basement level storage facility in a special holding area. We do not want to alert the thieves until after we have secured the pet. There is a good chance that there are chakra users among them as well, so keep your chakra levels low. Eliminate any threats and be careful. Purple and White, proceed to the main control room in the eleventh floor. Purple I need you to cut the power on basement two when I give you the go ahead. Also, reroute the doors so that we can lock the place down and keep the bastards from getting away. White, you know the drill. " Sasuke commanded, speaking more then he had in days. "Green and Pink, I'll be babysitting you so stick close and don't do anything stupid. We will need to analyze the new type quickly after locating it and containing It. Understood?"

" Yatta! I get to be with Sasuke-kun!" Sakura beamed happily, much to the black haired male's ire.

"Why the hell do I have to be Purple? I mean, why can't we get cool names like you do?" Shikamaru asked in mild annoyance.

"Would you rather me call you Fired because I like that code name too?" The Uchiha asked with a cocky grin. This of course only earned a rude hand gesture from the other and a muttered "troublesome." The five then moved out, Neji activating those unusual eyes of his. With a slight nod toward Sasuke, Shikamaru and the white eyed man vanished down a separate corridor. The Uchiha was highly unimpressed with the decor of this building. There was nothing to hide behind, which could prove problematic if someone were to round a corner. With a soft curse, he activated his own little ability. It was similar to Neji's in that it was also an eye technique, however this one was for an entirely different purpose. His dark eyes turned a bloodied red hue, black spherical shapes manifesting within the irises. His vision became far more accurate then normal to the point that he was practically predicting the future.

The trio had managed to descend several floors without encountering difficulty aside from the occasional guard or worker. Being so late at night, Sasuke expected as much. The sharigan user paused at the main lobby, the other two stilling and falling into the shadows behind him. Now things were going to get a bit more interesting. They would need to get into the elevator shaft without being picked up by cameras and without being seen by the receptionist that appeared to be checking in with others every five minutes or so. With a soft sigh, Sasuke formed several hand seals before himself, activating a low level genjutsu that would conceal them from the woman. He then motioned to Lee and the Taijutsu user moved against the wall until he was right below the camera, using his low level chakra to scale the wall and attach a small bug like device to the camera. He then motioned to the others and they silently moved to the elevator, forcing open the doors and dropping into the blackness of the shaft.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru and Neji had already reached their own destination. Shikamaru had very easily froze the operators in place with the use of his shadows while Neji simply knocked them unconscious and secured them in the corner of the room. There wasn't much of anything for them to do now aside for monitoring the screens for trouble.

" Raven, this is White. We have reached our destination without any difficulties, awaiting further orders." Neji stated into the com-peice attatched to his head gear.

"Understood. We have reached B-2. Stand by." Sasuke responded softly. The moment that they had entered the area, he had felt a huge chakra signature, one that had managed to take him off guard. In fact, it easily rivaled his own if not surpassed anything he could hope to achieve. It felt hot, angry, and violent. It also didn't feel human. "Green, Pink, Neutralize any nearby threats but avoid that big Chakra at all costs. I have a bad feeling that this is going to get messy..."

The other two nodded slightly, glancing at each other nervously. Sure, they were prepared for wild Nekogen and owners who didn't want to give them up, but covert operations, retrieving rare and dangerous Nekos, dealing with massive chakra that wanted to rip them apart at the seams? Not quite.

"Move." Sasuke commanded bluntly, before using his own chakra to launch himself through the room quickly and silently, assessing the situations as he sped through the halls and rooms. His sharigan was focused on that chakra signature. He had a sinking suspicion that he had found their target. Those suspicions were usually right. He landed in a crouch before a large steel door that looked to be enforced. The chakra was right on the other side.

"Purple. Open door 005 in B-2." Sasuke ordered, drawing his sword and readying himself. The door hissed and slid open slowly before him displaying a large open room of white with tables, lab equipment, and cages. Cautiously, the Uchiha entered and instantly, the chakra flared. So much for surprise. Moving slowly, the dark haired male made his way further inside. "Shut the door, Nara." He commanded in a whisper. The now attentive man obeyed. There were no cameras in that particular room, but he had a really bad feeling. If the Uchiha was that worked up, something really nasty must be in there.

Sasuke scanned the room thoroughly, pausing on a pile of fluffy blankets in the corner of the room. A small orange toy ball bounced across the floor between two tables and the Uchiha tensed, ready for anything. Or at least...he thought he was. A soft growl like giggle reached his ears and a small blonde haired child bounded after the ball. The child was absolutely adorable. It scampered about on its hands and legs like an animal, a thick blond fox tail tipped in black swishing behind it playfully. Sasuke blinked in confusion, stunned. The chakra was coming from...a kitten? He watched in a sort of stupefied fascination as the small humanoid pounced on the ball, biting it with small and yet sharp fangs. And then as if finally noticing Sasuke, the child that looked to be only around five years old locked its large, stunning blue eyes upon him. Two ears, easily twice the kitten's head in size rotated toward the Uchiha. Sasuke could tell right away that this was not a normal Nekogen. This one seemed to be an entirely different species. Silently, he sheathed his sword and acting on instinct, he crouched down, holding his arms out to the child. Blue eyes widened dramatically before a foxish grin lit the pet's features, chubby whiskered cheeks scrunching up cutely. The animalistic child all but sprinted over to Sasuke, leaping happily into the human's arms with a delighted yip, managing to tackle him to the ground. Sasuke let out a soft oompf as the little bundle of blond and black hit him hard, its tiny arms trying to encircle his torso.

"Uh...Raven? Was that a...giggle?" Came Shikamaru's uncertain voice.

The Uchiha sighed softly, and stroked the fox-child's soft yellow hair, earning a grateful squeal from it. " It's alright, Purple. I have the new type. Pink, Green, what is your status?" He asked while trying to keep his new appendage from playing with the explosives in his front pocket. That was the last thing he needed.

"There were only six guards and we have managed to take them all." Came Sakura's voice. The fox in his arms tilted its head cutely at the strange sounds coming from its new teddy bear, ears twitching. Curiously, the fox leaned up to sniff at Sasuke's face, those large iridescent eyes practically robbing the young man of his breath. Such beautiful eyes. And on a pet of all things! Those eyes lit up joyfully as if the fox had decided that Sasuke smelled good and was acceptable. The child licked Sasuke's cheek and let out a playful yip. The Uchiha couldn't help the small smile that lit his features and scooped up the little fox. Wait. He did NOT just think that this pet was cute...Shit.