I pulled my twin katanas from their sheath. My ears swiveled around to take in my surroundings. I could hear my opponent jumping through the trees. He wasn't very quiet...

My golden eyes glittered as I caught sight of his pale form. He threw two kunai at me, which I easily dodged.

I slashed at a nearby tree. Three trees vanished and he appeared next to me, panting and bloody.

"Not bad, Katsumi."

I inclined my head, "You know I no longer go by that name."

"Right, you changed it when you turned 16, I forgot."

"Yurei!" Came another voice.

Tamashi stepped out of the woods. The boys were twins, both with snow white hair and sharp blue eyes. They were only two years older than me.

"What is it now, Tamashi?" Yurei groaned.

"Father wants to see us."

We followed Tamashi back to the tiny mountain shack we used when training, which was most of our lives. We rarely went down to the harsh desert below.

The twins and I knelt when we got to Father. He isn't my real father, but he is the twins'.

"Arise, my children," Father sounded even more tired than usual.

"What is it you want from us, Father?" Tamashi was always the obedient one, eager to please.

Yurei rolled his eyes and I hid a smile behind my hand.

Father sighed, "I have a mission for the three of you. There is an illegal sex trafficking operation currently based in Suna."

I groaned. That meant I would have to go undercover again.

"I know it is not appealing to you, Kage," Father addressed me, "but it is necessary for the mission."

"Yes, Father, I understand," I replied.

"The twins will escort you everywhere, never leave their sides. Once you are in, find out as much as you can, as quickly as you can."

The three of us nodded in unison, something we had gotten good at over the years.

"If you leave now, you should reach Suna by sundown."

We left immediately. We sprinted down the mountain side.

Father told us to dress lavishly, so I wore a flowing white and black dress with a red belt. Yurei called it my rose petal dress. The twins wore matching white suits with black trim and red ties. The only way to tell them apart was their hair, Yurei always brushed hi to the left while Tamashi was the right.

We hopped across the blistering hot sand, none of us wearing shoes. The sun was just beginning to set when we reached Suna. We slipped in unnoticed.

Father had given us the exact location of the entrance to the sex traffickers' hideout.

Tamashi used his illusion jutsu to make me look more like the other girls. My cat features vanished and an insignia showed up on my arm.

"What's this?" I asked.

It appeared to be an hour glass with a bar over it.

"It's the same as what the ninjas wear on their headbands," Tamashi explained.

A sudden hush fell over the girls. A shadowy man came down the stairs behind me. Tamashi's justsu made me him look the other way and ignore me.

"Alright, girls," his voice was deep and raspy, "Line up."

Everyone did as they were told. The twins and I stood closest to the stairs, one on each of my shoulders. The wall in front of us slowly descended. A room of rich business people stood before us.

They all wore masks and hoods except for one group, but even they weren't real. The blonde girl his behind a giant fan. The first boy was hiding in a wrap on his back, a life-like puppet in his place. My eyes were drawn to the second boy. His red hair was short and spikey, his teal eyes surrounded by black panda eyes. His skin was concealed by an almost invisible layer of sand.

I recognized him, but the memory was foggy. He somehow reminded me of the old teddy bear I always kept on my bed.

He noticed me to. As the auctioning of girls began, we held eye contact. I could feel his emotions, confusion, anger at that confusion, and a hint of fear.

Sand started shifting around him. It temporarily concealed the girl, then she was gone.

I moved my left hand back to brush Yurei's leg. I subtly motioned to where the girl used to be. Yurei returned my touch, letting me know he understood. I could feel Tamashi's eyes on me.

The sand was swirling faster now, people nearby were getting agitated. The rustling noise reached my ears. I found it oddly calming.

I narrowed my eyes at the boy and he mimicked me. I crossed my arms with the same result. He lowered his head and glared while the I raised my chin and smirked at him.

Yurei could feel me getting angry. He placed a hand on my upper arm to calm. I snapped back to the current reality. The girl was still missing, but so was the other boy...

A flash of light drew my attention to the ceiling. Strings criss crossed just above the red head. Sand was also crawling up the wall behind him.

Tamashi shifted uncomfortably. I glanced down the row of girls. About a quarter of them were already sold. They stood next to the shrouded people that had purchased them.

I turned my face slightly towards Tamashi, "Has anyone left yet?"

"No, something seems to be keeping them here. If you look closely, some of them are actually frozen."

Sure enough, the same strings that held up a section of the ceiling were also tangled around some of the people.

My sensitive ears started ringing. I went to flatten them before I remembered I had normal looking ears. I grimaced.

"Do you hear that?" I asked the twins.

They didn't respond. They were both snared by the strings. Everyone was...

The red head gave me one last long look as his sand completely enveloped him.

My eyes widened. I heard the start of an explosion. My body was thrown against the back wall and I crumpled to the floor.