Three Tails and Three Hearts ~{Prologue}~
Spiraling down from the angry night sky in magnificent arcs, dips, and loops, embers took flight on a foul wind and scattered themselves across the sky like bloody stars. Borne of the chaos that now tore apart a once proud village, a roaring fire raged across rooftops, inside of houses, and over bridges. Thousands of embers leaped from the red tips of the flames to spread its contagious inferno. One such ember dipped and spiraled lazily down onto the hand of a mother who was fussing over her little girl in front of the few remaining houses that were not burning.
"Ouch!" Ichira bit back a curse as she shook her hand. "Darn sparks. Got me." Ichira rubbed the spot the ember had landed absentmindedly as she turned her head back around to address her three-year old daughter. "I have to go protect the village with the other jonin. Stay here and hide. I'll be back as soon as I can." Ichira smiled warmly at her daughter and hugged her tightly. She stood and gazed upward, then disappeared in a puff of smoke. The girl sniffled and looked skyward searching the skies for her mother. With tears at the corners of her eyes, she stumbled forward and ran into the streets.
Ichira leaped down from the rooftop to land beside a fallen ninja. "Ichira..." The lost soul whispered gently. He reached out and took ahold of Ichira's hand as if needing the warmth of something full of life to sustain him. "Shush, don't waste your strength...I'll find a medical ninja." Ichira gently pulled her hand to her, but the fallen ninja gripped it with astonishing strength. "No..! I'm done for, but you...you must help the others...protect the village...please..." Ichira nodded solemnly to the dying ninja. This seemed to set him at peace. The lost soul relinquished his hold on Ichira's hand and his tenuous hold on life as he did so.
Ichira breathed deeply. She crossed the man's hands on his chest and shut his eyes. He could have been asleep. Ichira knew better. Screams and shouts for helped sounded from farther down the street. Ichira's head jerked up at the sounds. She had a duty to fufill. Ichira dashed down the street following the crimson glow that danced malevolently along the doors, windows, walls, and fences. Embers, sparks and cinders spiraled down in their wicked waltz landing upon the ninja already gone from this world.
Diving into the battlefield without any hesitation whatsoever, Ichira arrived to witness a titanic duel unfold before her. The Kurokage fought off the demon that had come to ravage their village on top of Ryoshi, the great hunter wolf. The demon and the Kurokage battled hundreds of feet above Ichira's head. The village was under attack. One attack was purely chance while the other... "Ichira-san!" Ichira sighted her childhood friend up ahead. Ichira came to a stop in front of her. "Suzu-chan!" Ichira clapped her exhaughsted friend on the back. Suzu pushed Ichira's arm aside and spoke in gasping breaths.
"So glad...you're here! Things are awful! We've lost...so many ninja...already! Where's...your daughter?"
"She's safe, but I had to help protect the village. It's my duty as a kunoichi of the Village Hidden in the Black."
"I see...we need you over...in the war zone...those Leaf ninja keep coming!"
Ichira nodded to Suzu. "Stay here and rest." With that, she took off into the blazing night. Ninja clashed on her left and her right. Ichira supported where she could and moved on where she could not. She was taking a break from the battle to catch her breath when her comrades began dying next to her. Ichira sprang to her feet and glanced around for the latest threat. A Leaf ANBU agent stood among the corpses of her comrades. Ichira snarled and charged the ANBU. "Ninja Art: Black Shroud!" Ichira's jutsu activated engulfing the ANBU in absolute darkness.
Ichira made another series of hand signs. "Ninja Art: Hunter's Sight." The darkness of the shroud lifted and Ichira perceived the enemy clearly within the darkness, seeing the heat that emanated from all living things. She drew out a kunai and silently made her way toward her target. The ANBU merely stood still. When Ichira drew near, she circled the ANBU a few times, growing comfortable with her invisibility. She stopped in front of the ANBU and lifted her Kunai into the air. She brought it down toward the ANBU's neck seeking a quick decapitation.
Suddenly, the ANBU sprang to life and caught Ichira's arm with his own and rammed his katana through her. Ichira gasped at the pain. The ANBU slowly withdrew his katana and set Ichira down on the ground carefully as her jutsu dissipated. More ANBU appeared beside the one. They nodded to each other and moved on through the burning village.
Above the battlefield, the Kurokage's duel with the demon was coming to an end. Using the Reaper Death Seal, a jutsu the Village Hidden in the Black had stolen from the Leaf, he sealed away the demon. The demon spirit searched for a host momentarily in the form of a wisp until diving down into an anonymous part of the village. Leaf ninja quickly overran the village and began to hunt down any survivors to ensure the extinction of this village.
Meanwhile, in the forest surrounding the village, a little girl wandered. She sniffled and called out for her mother. Finally, despair overtook the child and she curled up in the gnarled roots of a tree. Hours passed and the destruction of the girl's village was complete. The Leaf ninja were returning to their home. One such ninja was doing exactly that, when he stumbled upon the girl nestled in the roots of a tree. He was an ANBU. His mask was in the likeness of a dog. He wore the standard ANBU uniform. The only thing standing out was his jet black hair that spiked out. The ANBU had heard strange sounds and had decided to investigate. Much to his surprise, he had found a little girl, crying in her sleep.
The ANBU knew his duty though. This girl was no doubt a survivor of the destroyed village. They'd been told to kill everyone. He hesitated for only a moment. The ANBU moved over to the girl and scooped her up into his arms. She did not stir. She was lost deeply in troubled sleep. The ANBU stared down at the little girl in his arms. He held her close to him, feeling her latch on to him unconsciously, drawn to his body heat. The ANBU moved into the treetops, quickly catching up to his squad, who had waited for him. They immediately cast empty-eyed glares at the girl in his arms. Their glares moved to the ANBU, who ignored them and continued onward. One of the squad hurried and caught up to him.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Taking this girl back to the Leaf."
"We were supposed to kill all residents, including the children."
"I am aware."
"Why are you disobeying orders?!"
"Because killing this child would be a grave mistake."
"Explain."
"My report is for the Hokage alone."
"...Very well."
The ANBU raced through the black forest on this black night. Black was the color of the blood-stained ground in the village. Black were the shadows that taunted ninja. Black were the scars carved into the ground by tooth and claw. And Black was the name of the sole survivor. Kurohyou.