Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Way Of The Shinobi: Destruction ❯ Prologue: Beginning Of The End ( Prologue )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Way Of The Shinobi: Destruction

By Crimson Drop

Rated M for the angst and harsh content and possible lemon content, not for the younger audiences

Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto World at all

Prologue
The Beginning Of The End

Clouds covered the sky, darkening the world as snow escaped from the vast expanse, a cloaked figure walking upon a frozen path of the forest. Dark jade eyes scanning the white wilderness about her as she moved forward slowly, as if she dreaded leaving , dreaded the direction she was headed in. There was nothing a head of her, and nothing behind, it was a waste land of nothingness, the same nothingness that devoured her sweet heart. Darkness was her world now, death was what she caused from her velvet hands that had once been for healing. Innocence has been truly lost on her young soul, barely the age of twenty five. Ten long years, it had been ten long years since the war, since everything was lost and her friends had vanished or died. There had been nothing she could do.

Ten years Ago: Konoha Village

The sound of battle carried up to the hospital as she finished shipping the patients out. Weary and tired she made her way quickly down the stairs, escaping from the upper floor of the building, trying to reach the lobby level. Evacuation of the village has been complete and now she could finally help out her fellow Shinobi, now she wouldn’t feel useless, she’d be able to help out her friends.

Breathing quickly she ran past the double doors and down the broken street to where the main fighting was, healing others as she went on her way. Many lives that day had already been spared, thanks to her hands alone, but it wasn’t enough, she had to help, had to fight off the invaders. Throwing her pale pink hair up in a pony as she moved to keep it out of her face, she found herself nearly upon the main battlement, but a figure was suddenly blocking her way. Amber orbs peered into her brilliant jade ones, and her breath caught, her own shishou was keeping her from the battle, but why? Was she too weak to help, was she really not good enough to help? Or was there another reason altogether that she wasn’t being told?

“Sakura, leave, go towards the refugee camp, we’ll meet you there as soon as we’re done here.” Spoke the tall blonde in a commanding way, her eyes piercing through her.

“But Tsunade-shishou, I can help.” the pink haired shinobi begged.

“No, I need you at the camp, helping the wounded who come, you have no place here in the battle field, you are a medic ninja.”

“Iie! I can help!”

“Go Sakura!”

An explosion forced the two to the ground as they narrowly avoided being crushed by stone from a near by building. Turning pleading eyes on her teacher, her mother figure, she found nothing but a quiet resolve to send her as far from the battle as possible. She wasn’t needed, she wasn’t strong enough to hold out against the enemy, it was best for her to leave before she became a burden again. So turning around she made her way away from the village and towards the refugee camp, but barely escaping the village she heard another explosion that rocked the ground causing her to stumble.

Eyes widening in fear she stumbled to her feet and turned around, her heart pounding in her chest as she did so, unsure if she wanted to see, wanted to know what had happened. Swallowing, she felt as if her heart was in her throat as the sight of the ruined village came to her mind, a huge crater at the center, bodies and blood strewn around carelessly upon the shattered pavement. Her friends, all of them were down there, but she couldn’t go back to see if they were alright, she’d be useless against the enemy. Turning away, she felt as if she was making the biggest mistake in history but she couldn’t go back, Tsunade’s orders sticking in her head as she raced off towards the encampment.

What greeted her though, wasn’t the sight of medics rushing around to help the wounded, instead it had been like a massacre had taken place. Dead bodies were left in place, not a young soul to be seen alive, and all the escapees and refugees were no where in sight. Cold fear rushed through her body as she whirled around, only to have a fist come at her face. Dodging mechanically, she crouched down to the ground, her right hand fumbling for her belt pouch, she was only fifteen, and the man before her could clearly crush her. But that didn’t matter, she had to fight, had to find out what had happened to the others, to make sure they were safe from enemy hands.

Going through the movements, she took a small short step back, still in a crouched position, readying herself for a head on attack. Movement from behind stopped her from doing anything as she waited for her opponent to make his move instead. They circled around her, trying to frighten her into submission, telling her she was outnumbered, out weaponed, but she wouldn’t give up, not without a bloody fight.

“Oi, Seiya, d’you think t’is girl will fetch a nice price?” the one before her asked, his brown eyes flashing appraisingly.

“Ain’t she a bit small?” the male behind her asked, his hoarse voice containing a hard lilt that told her he had an accent.

“None sense my friend,” another spoke, this time from her left, his voice higher then the other two, “I think t’is little one is perfect. Don’t ge’ many with natural pink hair. Actually come te think it, I ain’t seen non with ‘em pink locks.”

“Eh, Dai is right,” once more this was another’s voice, similar to the previous one, once again with the same lilt in his voice, “t’ain’t ne’er seen a girl wit’ pale pink locks like ‘em. We’ll catch a nice price wit t’is one.”

Snarling at the men she jumped into the air and flipped over the male in front of her before taking off into the forest, her eyes darting about her as she raced on trying to escape the males behind her. Her shoulder whipped into a tree as she went by dislocating it and causing her to grunt in pain as she stumbled a bit before carrying on. Holding a kunai in one hand she raced past another tree narrowly avoiding it, instead stumbling on the root of the next tree and falling on her already injured shoulder. Letting out a cry of pain she shakily tried to stand up, ignoring the searing pain as best she could before collapsing to the ground, her vision going black.

Present Day: 12th Moon, Emperor’s Rein

Clenching her fist she paused and kneeled down her eyes scanning the white frozen pale, her quick gaze spotting paw prints within the sparkling abyss. Tracing the print with a glove covered hand she lifted her head and looked around her dark jade narrowing on more prints to her left. Smirking she shifted her wait lightly the crunching under her feet barely noticeable. Her left hand snaked into a pouch beneath her black cloak as she thumbed her items for a spare kunai. Letting a small chuckle escape her pale lips she kept low to the ground, tracking the poor creature that had happened upon her path.

Ten Years Ago: Unknown

Groaning in pain she opened her eyes slowly, her whole body shaking as if she was moving in some cart. When a sob reached her ears, she sat up quickly a shooting pain causing her to cry out before she adjusted her sight to the darkness, her right hand holding her shoulder. Looking down at herself once most of the pain passed, she found herself having been stripped of her weapons and clothes, instead a dirty white shirt was all that she was wearing. A trading vessel then, or a cart, was what she was riding in, that had to have been the reason for the clothes, she had seen such a sight in other villages outside the fire country.

Shuddering she held back tears as she looked away from her bruised and barely covered body and around the cart that she had found herself in. A dozen so small faces greeted hers, children all of them, fated to become slaves, traded and sold off as if they were nothing more then common trash. Was that to be her fate as well? To share this dismal future with these poor young souls who had once had such a bright future? The child closest to her started to cry harder, begging for her mother and father, and all she could do was take the young girl into her arms. From there the rest huddled around her as if she was their savior, as if she could protect them all from the men leading them away from their home.

Not long after the small swarm of children huddled around her she felt the cart pull to a stop, the whinny of a horse sounding out as it did so. Rushing water met her ears, and the footsteps of a man coming closer and closer to the flap at the back of the car. Looking around, she tried to find something, anything to use as a weapon but there was nothing and she could not move from her spot, least she make the children vulnerable. Closing her eyes tight in pain she felt the pang of sadness and anger fill her up, choking her with the despair that endlessly rolled off her body. Pain wracked her but she would not move, and when the flap pulled open to show the face of a hard man she felt her spine tingle with dread.

Scars littered his face that appeared to have once been the most beautiful face to be seen and his eyes, those haunting pale green eyes stare into her soul. Nothing kind was in those eyes, they were pits of nothingness that threatened to swallow her whole if kept her gaze upon him. Even the dark grey cloak around his body looked foreboding, coupled with the sinister leer upon his pale frozen lips.

“Oi, pinkie! Yer awake.” Scowling at him she said nothing but he only laughed, “Ain’t need ter scowl pinkie, t’ain’t ere’ for you.”

His eyes scanned the lot of children surrounding her until his gaze fell upon a bronze haired one, his pale skin nearly illuminated by the lantern he held in his hand. Rain drifted to the ground just behind him, but beyond that she could see nothing but blackness, nothing but the emptiness of the dark night. Tears threatened to spill over once more but she held them back as she turned her hardened gaze upon the man before her. The man climbed into the back and grabbed the boys arm, unceremoniously dragging the boy’s body towards him awaking the child as he did so. Frightened gold eyes stared up at the monstrous face and he cried out in pain and fright as he tried to twist away from the slave trader.

Fire burned through her and she gently placed the girl in her arms down, shrugging off some of the children as softly as she could without waking them. That went without cause as the boy’s cries began to awaken the sleeping children, Sakura having stood up to confront the male. Their eyes met and she pumped some chakra into her fist, enough to damage him, but not enough for him to notice what she was doing. Suddenly a knife was held against the crying boy’s neck and the man grinned his eyes flashing dangerously.

“I wouldn’t do anythin’ rash unless ye wan’ something ter happen te the boy.”

Glowering at the man, she watched as he backed out of the cart and brought the boy with him, his cries reaching her ears. Closing her eyes tight she let out a small whimper as pain surged through her causing her to collapse to her knees. Sobs worked to break out of her throat but held them off as she thought about the children around her, all circled about vying for her attention, crying out for their parents as they stayed within safety’s reach. She was their silent protector and she would do all she could to keep them safe, even if it meant sacrificing herself for them. The most she could hope for was to help them escape when they got into town, even that was risky, but she couldn’t leave the out in the wilderness alone.

Shivering she pulled the children closer, keeping them warm the best she could as her eyes focused on the flap of the tent, making sure that no one would come again. A snap of a whip told her that they wanted to get on the move again, and so the cart began to roll, speeding away to kami knew where. A slave trading town, that would be her best guess, one at the ocean’s edge, ready to take off the slaves to a distant continent. Shuddering she let out a shaky breath and tried to stay calm focusing all her attention on the children and the flap of canvas.

Two questions rolled around her mind as they made their way away from her home. Would this be the very last night of her freedom and how was everyone else? Were they even alive or would they all be dead? One thing was for sure, it would be a long, long time before she would ever be able to see the others again.

Present Day: 12th Moon

She stalked her prey like a wild beast would, crouched low to the ground, her sharp eyes watching for any movement as she quietly made her way through the snow following the tracks. Her nose was raised to the air, as if sniffing out her quarry, the scent sure to catch on the soft breeze that drifted towards her. Thick grey clouds boomed over head, snow drifting heavily towards the ground covering her movement. Not far from her position a dear paused, his head raising up to look straight into her eyes. They stared at one another, as if a connection was made, one more then a stare between predator and prey.

Ten Years Ago: Slave Pens

All the children clung to her, frightened, as they stood before a loading dock, but that wasn’t what had them frightened. There was a plat form not far from them where they would be sold, some would be staying, while others were going to be shipped off. More then likely to never set foot on their homeland ever again, that was what frightened her the most. Never being able to see her homeland again would kill her, this was everything she knew, everything she had lived for. But now, what did she have left, what was there left to lose?

“Next!” came the hoarse cry from the plat form. Suddenly she found her upper arm being grasped tightly, the children crying out, trying to stop them from taking her away. Tears filled her eyes as she watched them cry and reach out towards her, but she went willingly, walking along side her captor. She wouldn’t let them see her weak, she wanted to show them to be strong, that everything would be okay, and as she looked forward at the platform she couldn’t help the clenching of her heart as she held back her feelings. Her captor, the one she recognized as Seiya, pulled her roughly up next to the announcer who was already sizing her up. Beady eyes ran over her body appraisingly and she gave an unnoticeable shiver as she glared up at him, ready to use all her strength to escape.

Smirking down at her, he took out a whip and her eyes narrowed, watching as he turned to the crowd, “Trained as a ninja this beauty is deadly,” he called out raising his hands, but the smirk never vanished, “but once the barcode is slipped onto her skin,” his eyes shifted towards her and his lips pulled farther up, stretching his already ugly mug. “Behold.”

Narrowing her eyes in anger, she felt the man behind her push her towards the front of the stage, but she turned towards the speaker, falling into a familiar crouch, readying herself for an attack. What happened next took her by surprise as first her neck, then her back seared with pain and she screamed out. Falling to her knees, she glanced around the people before her, but their jeers and cheering only made her breath harder, feel more pain then she would have liked. Would her home become just like this? Would all five countries succumb to this misery and betrayal that seared her heart like acid would her skin. Eating away at her soul, numbing it, causing her world and everything she knew to blacken but she wouldn’t give them the pleasure of fainting. She would endure, she would overcome everything and become stronger, what doesn’t break one, makes them stronger.

“Ah!” Another round had come and this time the fire under her skin became hotter, fiercer as it spread to the rest of her body. Clenching her fist she made to stand, her limbs trembling under the pain as she forced herself to raise, never noticing the looks she received in doing so. The announcer’s angry words poured out at her, but she missed all that he said as she nearly sank to her knees in another bought of raging pain. Her will was running out, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to take much more, and was soon sinking to her knees, barely able to keep herself conscious.

“Enough!” someone from the audience yelled out, his voice like velvet steal, she could feel it reverberating through out her body, “I bid one million on her.”

A hushed silence rang out and many turned in the man’s direction, but she only kept her eyes sealed shut, her doom awaiting her. No one said anything for a few minutes, stunned silence, not a word, it made her worry, was it uncommon for someone to interrupt the torture or was it the amount he bid. A high price to pay indeed for a lowly slave, the lowly slave that she was sure to become to this man. Fear rippled through her as the silence continued, and her barely conscious mind reminded her of that fact as her body trembled, remnants of the pain she had just gone through.

“Are you sure?” The announcer asked.

Unknown to her, the man sneered up at them, his eyes flashing dangerously, “You dare to contradict me? I who gave you the land that you are walking on? I own this town directly under Emperor Uchiha himself and you dare to contradict me?”

Everything inside her body froze at that name, Uchiha. Uchiha Sasuke, her old teammate turned traitor, Uchiha Itachi, her old teammate’s brother and their ultimate enemy. That last name left a sour taste in her mouth, as her whole body lay still under that name, but she wasn’t the only one to recognize it for what it was. A menace, a danger, something dark that could and would destroy them all if given the chance or the will to do so. Itachi, the leader that destroyed her home, and Sasuke, the one who betrayed them all. Both who gave her much to hate, both who filled her with disdain and an ugly need for revenge.

“N-no my good sir, I implore you, take her, by all means.”

Snarling in her mind she opened on eye as she watched a man in a heavy cloak make his way towards the stage, his navy eyes flashing darkly as he did so. Every part of her body screamed out to get up and run, to escape from this man making his way towards her, but she knew she had no chance. None. Once he got closer the future was set, the firm line of his jaw told her so, the battle scar upon the left of his face told her he was a battle warn soldier, if not, then a ninja. Kami forbid if she disobeyed the man that had stopped before her, with those piercing eyes that told her to try, to show him what she was made of.

Taking out a sack filled with what she knew was money, her fate was sealed. Hyuuga Neji once would have told her that fate was always sealed, that none had a choice, now she was inclined to believe him, for she was staring fate in the eye and it didn’t not favor her. She was like an animal, caged against the darkness, never to be free against this tyrannical foe before her. Never again would the sun feel the same, never again would the rain fall in the same misty skies that had once beckoned to her. Trapped, forever trapped with him.

“Come slave,” he hissed, a velvet like voice calling out to her, soothing her yet filling her with undeniable fright, “We have much ground to cover.”

Present Day: 12th Moon

A cry of pain escaped the dear before her as he fell to the ground, blood escaping from a wound in his neck. The animal had been too slow, caged in at all sides as she had plunged her own kunai into his throat, taking his life from him just like hers had been taken. Neither had stood a chance, predator and prey, neither had survived, both lost to the darkened world around them. Destiny was a funny thing, all creatures destined to the dismal lands around them, humans, daemons, and natural animals alike, doomed to the same cycle for an eternity. Predator verses prey, each time the prey gets more advance, and each time, the predator strikes them down without remorse. Such was the vicious cycle that had started.

Maybe though, despite fate, one could rise up, and become the hunter, taking down their predator with one move, turning their back upon their masters. No longer was she weak, but she was still a caged bird, waiting for the moment when the right key was in front of her, begging her to find her own release. To free the caged being and to take off on broken wings. Fly, fly away little song bird. Be free, they would sing, and she would fly away, one day. One day soon.