Chapter 1: The Nightmare

It was completely dark. I couldn't see what was ahead of me, or what was behind me. All I could hear was the muffling footsteps, the chains scraping the wooden floors that bonded our hands, and my wavering heart beat. I couldn't understand what was going on; it happened in an instant.

I remembered being awakened by a harsh tone, then I was thrown from my futon and blindfolded. Panicking, I trying to get up but someone had lashed at my legs. "Calm yourselves!" the voice thundered. With quick obedience, I was silent sitting up on my knees. Then, one by one, we were shackled to another, before they had led us outside of our rooms.

Thump... Thump... Thump... My heart echoed through the silence. I was afraid. We were all afraid. I had once heard someone say that the only thing to fear is fear itself. But honestly, the only true thing humans are afraid of is the unknown. We all have minds for a reason; we don't like knowing what's to become.

"Nikki…" a voice whispered behind me, "Do you know where we're going?"

"Moki?" I questioned. "I'm not sure."

"Moki! Nikki! Quiet!" a man yelled. I shut mouth and kept my head straight ignoring Moki's attempts of trying to get my attention. Someone must have notice what he was trying to do and told all of us to halt. Footsteps pounded the ground with force stopping just short of Moki and me. I heard a hand swung up, and then rain down on Moki's cheek slicing the silence like lighting. The force was strong ringing off the walls of the hallway. Moki yelped in pain. My heart almost flew out of my chest afraid of what will happen to me. Moki didn't bother me again. He just sobbed silently behind me.

"You okay, Moki?" I finally had asked. He only sniffed for a reply. When we stopped again, I knew I was in for it now. However, when the footsteps came closer to me, they passed by. A door slid open revealing a dim light. The line began again turning into this mysterious room. The light grew and the smell of burning scented the air. The cold, wooden panels turned into the rough, tanto mats between our feet. The footsteps came again stopping and going releasing our shackles. The metal chains dropped one by one bringing feeling back to my wrists. Next, a wooden stick poked behind our legs telling us to sit. I went down sitting straight up on my knees.

Another door was sliding followed by soft footsteps patting on the ground. The person behind me seemed tensed as he straightened up his posture and shifted his feet. I looked around even though still blindfolded to guess where we were. The tanto mat seemed familiar due to its state of being worn out and abused.

"Students, remove your blindfolds," a voice commanded. I grabbed the blindfold and pulled it off over my head. A first, the light was intense and bright, but my eyes began to assimilate from the change to darkness to light. The first thing I saw was a flame burning on a torch in the corner. I turned to the other side to find deadly looking weapons hanging on the walls. We gasped, oohed, and awed all puzzled of why we were in the indoor training room.

Sitting directly in front of me in the dark shadows on a large pillow was our master, Lord Hiroshi. He was dressed in a black kimono and his hair hung completely straight. His face was shrouded by shadow but, his eyes gleamed with a yellow death. He rose from his seat and walked toward us leaving his place from the shadows. As customary, we bowed waiting for his command to get up.

"Lord Hiroshi!" we all shouted in unison. He commanded us to attention as he began to tell us why we were brought here tonight.

"My dear students," he began as he paced from side to side, "you all have gone through vigorous training for your beloved master. And now it is time for you to prove to me all the skills you have acquired in the 5 to 7 years you have spent here. Today is your graduation to finally become a honorary member of the White Lotus." Everyone's eyes began to light up as they began to cheer for the moment we have been preparing for since we could walk. For most of our life, we have been taught to obey and protect Lord Hiroshi and serve him. We trained hard to get the chance to one day be accepted as an assassin and now the time has arrived.

"You lucky twelve were highly chosen to have what it takes to become one of my legendary assassins. You proved to be at the top of your peers with unbelievable amounts of skill and potential in becoming killers of the night. "Lord Hiroshi had paused in front of me. A small grin had appeared on his face, before he continued on.

"But before you official graduate, there is one last test you must pass to prove you are worthy in serving me." We began to turn to each asking if the other knew what type of test it would be. "The test is quite simple. You must fight your opponent in a free-style match to the best of your abilities."

"This test will be easy for you!" Moki exclaimed. "Everyone knows you're the best fighter in the class! Even the instructors say you're the best they have ever seen!" I looked at him embarrassed shaking my head.

"Moki, you're way better at weaving hand signs than me. It's hard for anyone to get near you!" I exclaimed.

"Aw. You're just being modest, Nikki!" he teased.

"Let's both pass and graduate!" I said with a thumbs up.

"Exactly!" I turned to my side to see Mizuki with her thumbs up as well. She had an addicting smile that causes anyone around her to just adore her. Her hair was short touching her shoulders shining like the moonlight as well as her eyes. They were like two small moons that can brighten even the darkest of hearts. More importantly, she was my best friend.

"Mizuki! When did you get here?" I asked.

"I switched with Ren when no one was looking!" she replied with her finger to her lips. "Let's all do our best! Nikki! Moki!" I nodded eagerly pumped to have my friends supporting me.

The stage for the final examination was shifted to the outdoors in the courtyard where we did most of our training. Lord Hiroshi said that we needed to be prepared as much as possible for the test. The test seemed very serious since we were allowed use any weapons of our choice. It kind of made things a little frightening especially late at night.

Before the test began, we were allowed to grab any equipment we wanted and gear up. They even put us in the beginner uniform for assassins. It was the only type of uniform we wore when we were taking our field training exams. This graduation exam was the most important step of our lives. If we failed, we would bring great shame to our instructors and ourselves.

There was a room full of weapons at our disposal. It contained an abundance of knives, shurikens, swords, and tantos. There were also a lot of weapons I've never seen before. There was this weird looking scythe with a long chain connected at the bottom. On the other end of the chain was a small, iron ball. A kid named Aoi walked over to this long stick that was similar to one of our training tools, a waxed bamboo stick. However, when he touched it, the stick broke into pieces. He picked it up and the stick was able to bend to different pieces.

Besides weapons, there were a lot of scrolls and tags. We trained a lot with exploding tags and a few scrolls. But, some of these scrolls were even bigger than us. There were also tags that read "seal" on them. We had trained and practiced hard every day, but it seemed we still had so much to learn. I picked the ones I was most comfortable with. I knew the object of the test was to see if we qualified as assassins. Using the best looking weapons didn't mean you will past. Unfortunately, not everyone thought the same way as me.

Most of us picked the tools we had never seen before. They picked the bigger looking weapons and the different colored scrolls. They didn't even bother equipping themselves with food pills and plasma pills. Unlike them, I chose the ones most suited for me. I grabbed a few exploding tags, smoke bombs, and even poison ones. I also had food pills, plasma pills, and poison antidotes to keep up my strength and stamina. On the weapon side, I had the common kunais and shurikens along with wire. More importantly, I had a katana. In my perspective, the katana was an amazing weapon that connects the blade with the handler. There were a lot of fluent circular motions you perform along with strict, precision that cuts through the air. I will be known as the Assassin with her Deadly Katana!

We were ordered to stand in line shoulder to shoulder when finished. I ran and stood right in between Moki and Mizuki. I was glad to see they were one of the few sensible ones. They both decided to go with the tools they were most familiar with as well. It was shocking though to see Mizuki with a katana. I never once saw her hold one nor even seemed interested in them. It was obvious to see Moki with scrolls rather than weapons. He knew a lot about them, and he was heavily based in ninjutsu and genjutsu. I was nervous if having to go up against him. The same goes for Mizuki. She was very strong and well-rounded in every field. I knew if I had to face them, I was prepared. Moki lacked in taijutsu while Mizuki can get over confident becoming her biggest downfall. I know they were my friends, but I can't go easy on them because of that. Despite the smiling and support we showed, deep down, I knew we felt uneasy with the chance that we could possibly face each other.

Before the time had come, Lord Hiroshi wanted to evaluate us one last time inspecting each and every one who was a candidate to become a full-fledged assassin of the White Lotus. Walking down the line, he would make the occasional grunts and raise his eyebrows. When he reached me he looked deep into my eyes with a gleam and smiled before continuing his way down the row. Why was he smiling at me? Does it mean something important?

"The time you have prepared for your lives have finally arrived. This will be your graduation exam to see if you have what it takes to become one of the best assassins in the world. Before we begin, there are a few guidelines I must address for this exam." He paused revealing a sly grin. "As I said before this will be a freestyle fighting match. You are allowed to use any method you want to defeat your opponent. Now what I am about to tell you is very important, so LISTEN UP!" Our bodies at command went straight to attention. "Rule number one! There are no rules!" Across the line murmurs had erupted. There were no rules? This did not sit too well with me. A looming danger was creeping into the courtyard; we were not ready for what was to become.

"Graduating to the level of an assassin is not all about praise for your hard work. The actual hardships starts when you put those uniforms on. The real world is not kind. It is a place of fear. It is a place of greed. It is a place of bloodshed. Only the strong survive. Those who are weak don't to deserve to live in this world." Lord Hiroshi's words hit hard. I have to admit I felt like becoming an assassin was all fun and dandy. However, what our master was saying have really put our thoughts into perspective. We thought this world was the world of living. Little did I know it was the world of surviving. Everyday we trained hard in order to become strong. Yet, all the good marks that a person gets means nothing if they die. It only means they were weak. His words stung hard.

"Now I want you to remember all these faces you see in this line. Remember every single detail of each person: what they look like, what they sound like, what your relationship is with them. Remember all the times you have trained together and supported one another to become strong. I want you remember everything about them... and throw all those memories about them away!" Throw them all away! For the first time, I actually broke barrier and stumbled. My eyes quivered and my body began to crumble from the pressure. Moki looked at me, and I looked at Moki. "Everyone who is standing in line is your opponent!" Gasps and whispered buzzed through the crowd. We had to fight each other? This was not making any sense. How would this determine who passes and who fails? Unfortunately the answer was not what we wanted to hear.

"To simply put it, you will all have a fight to the death! The last one alive will pass and graduate to becoming an assassin." My body finally had succumbed to the pressure and fell down to my knees. "An assassin must be able to kill any target they are assigned to and must always carry out the mission even if it means letting your comrades die. Assassins are heatless and have no need for emotions and friendship. Assassins who choose friendship over the mission are better left dead!"

"A fight…to the death?!" Were my ears deceiving me? He wanted us to slaughter one another to see who would pass. I shook my head trying to deny it. Mizuki hung her head in defeat. Moki cried. He couldn't possible believe we would actually dare kill one another just to become an assassin. I knew I couldn't dare to think about doing something criminal as that. Killing my friends…it's just so absurd! After all we've been through together, after all the training, after all the hard work, after all the friendships we've made was all for nothing. In the end, we had to kill one another and move on with our lives?!

"BEGIN!"

No one moved. No one made a sound. We kept silent and still. A breeze flew by. Chimes rang in the background. The moon was at its fullest. Wolves bade at the moon. A kunai whizzed through the air sticking in a wooden post nearby. A little boy no more than six had another kunai at the ready. I couldn't believe someone was actually going through this suicidal fight!

Aoi and another kid named Genji ran out of the line and faced each other on. Genji reached behind him and revealed two kunai launching them straight at Aoi. Aoi jumped to the left evading them. He threw shurikens only to have them be whipped away by Genji's kunai. Suki and Ren began to join in the fight both throwing exploding tags around the courtyard. Next thing I knew it, friends had turned into enemies.

Everywhere you look, little kids were running around with weapons purposely wanting to kill one another. Little ones were wrestling one another and biting each other's ears and arms. The older ones had more of a strategy throwing in some kicks and punches. Ren weaved a few hand signs creating a spear of water thrashing Aoi across the courtyard into some trees. Suki rolled out a scroll releasing a wave of weapons. The wave was able to slice through a six year old and a seven year old clean. For the first time in my entire life, I saw bloodshed splattered the ground right in front of me. A scythe clambered down on Suki cutting her head off clean. I held my mouth wanting to vomit from such a horrendous sight.

Moki, Mizuki, and I were the only ones still standing in line. We watched different battles ending all the same with at least one dead. The number of us began to dwindle down to only five of us left: Aoi, Ren, Moki, Mizuki, and I. That's when Aoi finally attacked us. He threw out exploding tags releasing fireworks of exploding tags. The three of us jumped out of the way finally being separated. I landed on the ground watching Ren charging straight at me through the explosion. I crouched down low letting my instincts of a fighter take over. Reaching behind my back for my katana, I gripped it ready to slice Ren when he came near. That's when I let go. The thought of slicing him wanted me to hurl. I just couldn't bring myself to ever kill someone. Maybe this whole assassin thing wasn't made for me. If it meant killing the innocents, I wanted no part of that lifestyle. And that turned into my biggest downfall. Ren smiled as he threw shurikens at me. A few of them missed and flew passed me. The others I was able to evade with no problem. However, he was anticipating my reaction. Ren seemed to tug at something in thin air. The shurikens turned around whizzing past me. Ren pulled his hands part like a puppeteer controlling his puppet. And that puppet was me. Wire restricted my movement pulling me to my knees. I grunted, angry, that I had fell for a trick like that. Ren made a combination with his hand signs.

My eyes went wide watching the combination. "That's a tiger seal!" I gasped. My heart pumped faster and faster. Sweat rolled down my face. I knew I was a goner as Ren began to suck air into his mouth.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Ren speared a large flame ball from his mouth. It rolled toward me with a fiery death. I shut my eyes shaking with fear knowing there was no way to escape.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" Instead of burning heat, I was drenched in water. Moki leaped threw the air slicing down onto the wire cutting it apart. The wire fell down my body giving me back my movement. Quickly, I released smoke bombs at Ren to make an escape with Moki.

Moki and I leaped through the roofs of the building jumping down in a brush near the chow hall. Mizuki was there waving for us to follow. "Mizuki! I'm glad you're okay!" I exclaimed.

"Nikki! Shush!" she seethed through her teeth. "We have to keep quiet or else they'll know we're gone."

"What are we going to do?" Moki asked already starting to cry. "I don't wanna die!"

"Then, we'll just have to escape and runaway from this place forever!" Mizuki answered.

"But how, Mizuki?" Moki sobbed. "The only way out is through the gate and it's always guarded."

"We'll have to take the guards out," she explained.

"You mean kill…" I shook my head fiercely.

"Nikki it's the only way we can escape! Do you really want to stay here and die?" Mizuki was right.

"But what we'll we do once we escape?" Moki asked finally drying his tears.

"We'll find a family and grow up to be whatever we want to be!" Mizuki shouted with optimism.

"Anything we want to be?" Moki began to daydream imagining his perfect life. "I want to be a samurai who can protect the ones he loves!" He pretended to pull out his katana and twirl it around and jab with it.

"Well I want to be a princess," Mizuki began, "I want to wear all the beautiful kimono and eat all the delicious sweet! And to have my handsome prince that will come and sweep me off my feet!" Mizuki sighed contently.

"What about you, Nikki? What do you want to be?" Moki asked.

I began to think about it, but I really didn't know what to be other than an assassin. "I don't know Moki. I've been so used training to become an assassin, I never thought of doing anything else," I replied.

"It's okay, Nikki. Once we leave, I know you'll be able to think of something that suits you!" Moki smiled.

"And I have an idea on how we'll get out!" Mizuki exclaimed.

"How?" Moki and I asked in unison.

Mizuki pointed to a large building. "There!" she pointed. "Lord Hiorshi's tower is the only thing taller than the walls. We'll have to scale up the side of the tower and take out the guards on top. Once that part is finished, we'll shoot out a graveling hook over the wall and slide our way out shooting the guards blocking the entrance. But we have to be quick! They probably know we're missing by now." We all nodded and went with the plan.

Moki, Mizuki, and I ran in the shadows towards Lord Hiroshi's tower evading the light altogether. We had to avoid being spotted at all costs. The tower appeared in the distance growing and growing into the sky as we got closer to it. It was so tall that it seemed to go on forever. The tower was similar to a pagoda but wider in width with red, tiled roofs. We pounced running up the side of the building. My legs were burning with every story we passed by. It seemed like there was no way of reaching top. Story after story, we ran nonstop until we reached the final story of the tower. We stopped just short of the very top of the building right below the guards. Peering over the side of the wall, we had confirmed there to be only four guards. The matter at hand was how to get rid of them.

"I'll take them out using my poison senbon needles," I announced in a low whisper. "The poison is extremely lethal, so they won't have enough time to scream for help." They nodded and waited for my single. There were many ways we learned to take down unwanted people silently. I chose to do the less painful one by hitting their vital area in the neck and killing them with a powerful toxin. I leaped over the wall and into the air hovering above them. With the poison senbon needles in my hand, I released them in the four corners hitting the guards in the neck. As I landed on the rooftop, the four guards dropped dead. Next, I ran to the side of the wall and peered down signaling Moki and Mizuki that I had succeeded. The both of them jumped up over the wall ready to perform the next part of our plan.

"Mizuki, how are we going to shoot the graveling hook the far over the gate? It looks pretty far!" Moki said pointing to the gate. Mizuki tried to think of a way to do so when I noticed a cross-bow lying near one of the guards' corpses.

"We can use that!" I said. Moki's eyes went into awe. I grabbed the cross-bow and handed it to Mizuki who took out a long rope with a hook attatched to it.

"Nikki, you're so smart!" Moki complemented. I shook my head blushing.

"Mizuki, where did you get that?" I asked pointing to hook with a rope attached to it.

"I made it just in case for a quick drop-in or escape," she replied loading her home-made graveling hook into the cross-bow. She pulled the launcher back making a click to signal it was secure. Then putting the cross-bow up to her eye, she aimed right above the gate past the roof and pulled the trigger sending the grappling hook whizzing through the air flying over the side of the wall that surrounded the whole complex. She reached down and tug at the rope to check if the hook was firm in place. Finally, Mizuki tied the rope on a golden sculptor of a dragon sticking out of the side of the top.

"Let's go!" she commanded leaping on top of the rope. I followed after leaping on top of the rope and running down it like a high-wire. With Moki behind, we dashed on the long rope getting closer and closer to the iron gates. I saw two guards standing on each side of the gate. I reached back into my pouch and took out two poisoned senbon needles. One of them began to look up and his eyes went wide, but before he was able to scream, I hit him in the neck killing him and his pal dead. I sighed in relief able to avert unwanted attention. That's when the rope cut.

The rope began to go loose underneath our feet. "They cut the rope!" Moki exclaimed. "They found out we're trying to escape!"

"Hurry and grab the rope!" Mizuki shouted as she reached for the rope falling from her feet.

Quickly, I grabbed the rope to prepare for a harsh, long swing we faced. Unfortunately, the harsh force was leading us to death right into the iron gate. If we didn't act soon, we'll becomes smashed pancakes!

"Earth Style: Earth Hammer Jutsu!" Stone began to lift up from the ground compacting itself onto Moki's arm. More and more stone connected to his arm creating a large, rock hammer. He pulled his arm hammer back and as we closed in on the door, and then swung the hammer breaking down the great, iron doors. We dropped launching ourselves through the hole followed by a barrage of a thousand arrows raining down upon us.

Once we landed, I turned around weaving a tiger seal. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" I sucked in a vast amount of air releasing small amounts of flames spewing from my mouth. They made contact with most of the arrows burning them to crisps. Assassins were spewing out the gate Moki had knocked down with their bows and other weapons ready at the mark. Immediately, I switched the jutsu to Fire Style: Dragon Breath Jutsu setting the front of the facility to a blaze.

"Poison Smoke Jutsu!" Mizuki jumped right next me releasing a deadly toxin from her mouth. I stopped my Dragon Breath and ran up to catch up with Moki with Mizuki at my heels. To our dismay, our efforts didn't prevent the assassins from stopping. As a result, some powerful jutsus almost took us out along with more poison arrows.

"How did they found out we were escaping!?" Moki cried out as we ran for our lives. "The plan seemed flawless!"

" Who cares about that now!? They're catching up to us!" I screamed picking up speed.

"They're too fast for us! Sooner or later we'll be goners!" Mizuki exclaimed.

"I'm not sure how long I can keep this up!" Moki shouted. "I've used up too much of my chakra!" I nodded understanding how he felt. I was overly exhausted and light headed. My heart pounded against my chest like an iron hammer. My lungs and muscles burned with a fiery pain. Chakra was depleating from my body at a scary rate. I don't know how long I can keep this up!

Suddenly, Moki reached into his back pouch and revealed two blue scrolls."Nikki!" he called throwing me one of the scrolls. I nodded my head understanding what to do. We jumped around and ran in opposite directions. In sync, we both placed the scroll long ways up on the ground and formed a series of hand signs before slamming them on the ground.

"Twin Barrier Jutsu!" A green ring formed around our scrolls shooting out lines connecting the opposite scroll. Next a blue force field began to rise forming a massively tall barrier. It was perfect timing because the assassins had just reached us, and they were angry. However, due to our lack of chakra the barrier wasn't even close to being effective. It was already showing signs of breaking. I sighed knowing it can't be help and turned around to prepare to flee again. Moki stayed put.

"Moki, are you alright?" I asked huffing and puffing. "We have to get out of here! The barrier isn't gonna hold!"

Moki shook his head. "I'm staying here."

I couldn't believe what he had said. "What?!"

"I used up too much of my chakra. And besides, I'm already dead weight to you and Mizuki! All I do is cry and complain like a baby… You'll die if you stick with me," he explained.

"But Moki, you'll die if you stay here!" I shouted trying to get him to his senses.

"I knew I'll die sooner or later," he said in a mocking-like tone. "It's just like Lord Hiroshi had said. This world is only for the Strong. Weak people like me don't deserve to live. "

"No! Don't say stuff like that! You are strong Moki" I shouted. "You're much stronger than you think! This whole entire time that we've been cutting it close, it was all thanks to you for getting us out of those binds!"

"Then, I'll do it again one last time..." he said.

"One last time...?" My heart was chocking me in my throat. "What do you mean...?"

Moki watched the barrier begin to deteriorate. Small cracks began to form on different areas of the barrier growing bigger and bigger with every hit. It was only a matter of seconds before it would be demolished. "The barrier isn't going to hold much longer" he said matter-of-factly. "If the assassins break through we're good as dead. That's why I'm going to use my most strongest technique."

My eyes went wide with tears rolling down my neck. I shook my head repeating 'No' denying his seriousness. "Moki! If you use that technique, you'll die!"

Moki smiled faintly. "The only reason I learned that technique was to show my loyalty to Lord Hiroshi. I was willing to do anything to become an assassin" Then he began laugh, "I have to admit; I was never cut out to be an assassin..."

"Moki..." I reached out to him, but he knocked my hand out of the way.

"In truth, I've always had a crush on you," he suddenly said. "That's why I've always wanted to become someone who can protect his love ones. I believed by becoming a samurai, I could have done that. I may not be able to achieve that second part, but at least I can protect someone dear to me."

The barrier was cracking with every assassins' efforts. Now it was only thick glass to them. Time was running out. It only took one big hit to shatter the barrier that separated us from death. Mizuki came charging up to us panting uncontrollably. "What are you guys doing?! The barrier is going to break! We have to go!" Mizuki squealed dropping her hands to her knees.

Moki took a deep breath swinging his arms wildly. He walked over to the crackling barrier and began the last series of hand signs he would weave. Each time he made one, I would mutter out the seal name counting down how much he had left till zero. That's when I finally cracked. I raced over to him flinging my arms around him from behind drowning in my own tears. "Moki! Don't do it!" I begged him squeezing him tightly. He turned his head only to have a bright smile that lit up like the sun. His body surged with warmth lighting his skin to a sunny gold. He was the light breaking away all the darkness illuminating the night. His whole body became a burst of warm energy, but his eyes still retain their fuzzy blue as bright as the sky.

"Nikki," he began, "can you promise me something?"

I nodded wiping my tears away. "Promise me to always protect the ones you love."

"I promise…" I sniffled. Moki laughed with a smile. After all he's been through, he was still able to laugh and smile. He accepted his fate because he knew he was achieving his dream.

"Moki, I know what I wanna be when I grow up!" I exclaimed. "I wanna be someone like you!"

He shook his head disapprovingly. "No…" he said. "BECOME SOMEONE STRONG!"

"NIKKI! WE HAVE TO GO NOW!" Mizuki yelled with frustration as she dragged me away from Moki. She ran with full speed dragging me along as I tripped over my feet.

"MOKI!" I cried out trying to reach for him. His body ignited into a bright light that surged into the sky. Mizuki yanked me in front of her forcing myself to run in the opposite direction away from him. We ran clumsy as the path began to dip down the hill. My eyes were still on Moki in his pure, glowing energy light. His light grew brighter in size till it rival that of the sun.

"Golden Lion Technique… RELEASE!" Moki burst with a mighty roar of a lion that thundered the earth. The light agitated my eyes, so I turned away. I gritted my teeth and darted down the hill with the tears flooding my eyes. I pumped my legs harder and harder while swinging my arms with brutal force overworking my heart to death. I wanted to run away and never look back in a furious rage at Lord Hiroshi, that accursed place, and myself for not stopping Moki. I couldn't accept Moki sacrificing his life for mine. The pain hurt more than any physical I've had ever acquired. All those bumps, bruises, being poisoned and stabbed didn't accumulate how much my heart was aching. My body finally began to break down. My arms froze and my legs turned to lead. My feet finally gave and I tripped into a wild roll down the rest of the hill flopping up in the air like a rag doll and falling flat on my stomach with a THUD! I didn't bother to get up. I just cried my heart out screaming and whimpering in sobs calling his name out.

Mizuki finally caught up to my broken down body crouching down next to me panting. She reached and patted my head. I sniffled like a child whimpering beneath her hand. "C'mon Nikki. Let's go...," she said gently giving me a hand. I sighed and took it picking myself up the ground. We walked slowly through an open field father and father from Lord Hiroshi and his assassins. Moki succeeded in protecting me destroying all of our pursuers. I looked back and only saw the dim flames slowly starting to fade from the horizon. Mizuki and I walked in silence when tall woods started to sprang up in sight. As we came closer to them, Mizuki attacked me.

She sent me flying hurdling myself through the dirt digging it up. I got up dazed covered in soil. She charged at me throwing out a punch. It made contact to my face knocking me back down. I rolled on my back to find her flying above me with a heel drop. Quickly, I avoided her by rolling to my left and popping back on my feet. She landed forward swinging her body for a rear kick. I crouched down and blow kicked her away from me.

"MIZUKI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I screamed back flipping out of the way of another kick. She didn't reply verbally but with another charge with a parry of punches. I easily evaded them catching her hands. "MIZUKI!" She grunted pushing away. She came again striking like an angry bull. I twirled to the side again avoiding her crazy attack. I didn't attack. I didn't want to. After watching all my friends die in front of me, I couldn't dare lift a finger at her. However, this time she countered with two kunais thrown at me. I stood there numbed by shock letting them slice both sides of my arms.

"Isn't it obvious!" she finally spoke clenching her fists till her knuckles were bare white. She darted for me again, but this time I was prepared. I kept up with her speed of punches wiping them away. We were both very adapted to taijutsu. It would only look like a blur if you saw us fighting. Taijutsu is hand-to-hand combat that required practically no chakra or hand seals to perform. One's physical strength and stamina is used excessively in this type of jutsu. Mizuki began to slow tired from the forceful offense. She was sloppy, and I saw an opening. I took it slamming her hard in the gut. She fell backwards grabbing her stomach.

"Damn…" she cursed through her teeth.

"Mizuki, why are you doing this?! I thought we were friends!" I cried.

"Friends!" She got up laughing hysterically. "I've always hated you!" The blow of her angered emotion forced my body to go numb. My arms dropped to their sides. I fell down on my knees. I cocked my head to the side not understanding what she had said.

"What…" I mouthed out.

"Have you ever heard the saying keep your friends close; your enemies closer?" she asked mocking our friendship. I didn't reply. "I've always hated you! Ever since you came here everyone always praised you for how good you were. You were always number one, and I was number two! I should be number one! I was born there! You-you were just a GAIJIN! AN OUTSIDER!"

"Mizuki…" I whimpered.

"I'm going to defeat you here and now, so I will be number one!" she went on with her crazy speech.

"And how is killing me satisfying for you?!" I asked finding my voice with anger. "You can't go back to Lord Hiroshi! You already attacked his assassins! You're good as dead if you go back!"

"I got my revenge for them not seeing how great I am!" she smiled slyly.

"What about Moki? He sacrificed his life for ours!"

"NO! HE SACRIFICED HIS LIFE FOR YOU!" she bellowed. "It's good he's dead. He was always weak! He could never survive in this harsh world filled with death and sadness!" I dug my nails deep within the dirt. I was beyond mad. I was furious! Mizuki charged again, but when I dodged her attack I punched her in her face.

"Don't you ever mock him again!" I growled. Mizuki was pissed. She reached for her katana and sheathing it from its sleeve. Again she came swinging her sword down on me telling me to die over and over again. She leaped up in the air slicing her blade down towards my head. I reached for my katana and used it as a shield blocking her attack. This time we charged at one another with our blades clashing sending sparks flying. Mizuki was good, but I was better wielding a katana. It was like an extension of an arm to me. I know I can beat anyone with a katana in my hand. We, my katana and I, were one powerful being with no bounds to losing. Mizuki uses way too many harsh, strict movements. She can strike like a viper, but that leaves herself wide open. Miyuki focuses so much on offense and using power to defeat her opponents that she doesn't pay attention to her own blind spots. On the other hand, I use more fluid, circular motions using my enemies' energy against them. But, that doesn't mean I can't pounce like a panther.

We pushed off with Mizuki once again charging at me. She leaped in the air wanting to hammer her blade into my skull. I slide underneath her dodging the attack. I twirled to the left meeting her sword with mine. She was breathing heavily from her constant attacking. This time I went onto the attack. I pushed her off causing her to stumble on her feet. I swung and twirled my katana knocking her from side to side. I didn't let up on her; instead, I increased the power in each blow. I swung my katana hard knocking her katana out of her hands and sending her down to the ground wide open for another attack.

"WAIT!" she screamed. She became very teary eyed and started to sniffle. "Are you going to kill me? You're just as bad as Lord Hiroshi!" I wanted to puke hearing Lord Hiroshi's name. I wanted to hurt myself for acting so vicious with no soul like an assassin. Her statement caught me off guard making me dizzy. I staggered backwards holding my katana weakly. Mizuki smirked grabbing hers and smashing mine out of my hand leaving a cut diagonal from my stomach to chest. I jumped back getting away from her.

"This time you're mine!" she spat with venom. She weaved different hand signs concentrating her chakra to her blade.

"Moonlight Blade Dance!" she jumped into the air with her katana glowing like the moonlight. She created momentum by twirling her blade around and around into a full moon before slicing through it and striking down on me. I shielded my face with my arms shutting my eyes tightly ready for impact. I was scared but moreover sad that this whole day even existed. I watched six, seven, and eight year olds kill one another for something unworthy as a cold-blooded killer for the Devil. I watched my friend, Moki, sacrifice his life for mine. No seven year old should ever have to decide something like that. That took much bravery from him to do what he did all for me, who hadn't showed him the best of what a friend could offer. I felt guilty and choked with emotion. Then I thought to myself. Sitting here in fear wasn't going to help Moki. If I sat here and died, him sacrificing his life was all for nothing. I made a promise to him and dying would mean I would have broken it. Even though he was dead…it's something I'm going to live by. I will live for Moki and myself I will become strong!

My blood started heating up to a fiery, burning sensation. It ran through my body igniting an unbelievable power within me. It felt powerful and strong like I was invincible! I opened my eyes letting that energy burst like a ferocious lion!

There was fire…

Black fire that caged Mizuki and I like two wild animals. She was swallowed up in the flames that kept growing and growing. She screamed hysterically rolling around trying to put the flames out, but it kept burning her. As she got up, I saw the most horrific sight of a once innocent, beautiful girl become into the most terrifying demo. Her face was melting like a candle stick with the skin dripping in a puddle. She reached out a hand that I could see the bone starting to show through. Her hand came forward and forward revealing only being bone as it grazed my forehead before she was engulfed entirely by the black fire as screamed a blood curling scream like the cry of a devil waking up the dead.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH!"