Author's Note: Heeeeeeeey minna-san! This is my first story EVER! . YAAAAAAAAAY! Just wanna let ya know that I'm not very confident of my writing skills. So if you think it's bad, well, that's your opinion, I guess. Yeah, I don't mind flames, but if I receive any hate mail through PMs...well, I'll just ignore then report. Yes, okay, it isn't the best story out there. Really, just please no haters. BY THE WAY: I appreciate reviews! Makes me happy that people actually read AND wrote back their opinions! :)


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Prologue

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The waning crescent looked down upon Death City. A steady flow of blood seeped through its clenched teeth, a definite sign that blood shall be spilled by night's end. A lone woman directed her gaze straight ahead as she made her way down the street. The sound of her sleek black stilettos hitting the concrete pierced the eerie silence surrounding her. A breeze blew, scattering fallen leaves at her feet. She shivered and pulled her suede overcoat closer. A chill trailed down her spine, and she broke out in a cold sweat.

"Something is going to happen, and I'm guessing I won't enjoy it," she muttered to herself. As she turned a corner, a lanky man with gleaming, honey-colored eyes dressed in a pinstripe suit and identical fedora hat blocked her way. He was a fairly tall man standing at 6'4", towering over her petite frame. She backed away as subtly as she could, but the man didn't miss the movement.

He relished this moment of superiority, feeding on the fear he felt radiating from the woman. 'This is going to be a fun game of chase,' he thought giddily to himself while grinning wickedly.

"Hullo, Missy. Let's play a game; you run and I find you, 'kay? I'll give you a five-second headstart. 5..."

Gasping, she spun around and ran as fast as her legs would take her. She had no specific destination in mind. Her instincts told her to get the hell out of there as fast as possible. She felt a bit confident she had outrun him, but she was wrong. On her fifth block, she heard the man's yell.

"HERE I COME!" The woman rounded a corner and was faced with a dead end. She frantically looked around for any sort of means of escape. Unfortunately for her, the walls surrounding her were bare; no ladders, no doors, just rotting brick walls.

"Oh crap," she murmured. She turned around and almost got to the sidewalk when the man appeared and cornered her. She walked backward until she felt the wall hit her back.

"Hey, looks like I found you. Oh well," he sighed while reaching into his breast pocket. He slowly pulled out a silver Revolver and polished it with his crimson red handkerchief embroidered with gold thread. Daniel, in gold cursive lettering, was sewn at the bottom.

The woman sank down to her knees, sobs racking her entire body. She begged relentlessly for her life to be spared. The man in the suit inserted a single bullet into the barrel, cocked the gun, and aimed it at the woman's forehead.

"By the way, the name's Daniel; Daniel of the Damned, head of the Underground Hellhole." Just as he pulled the trigger, an onyx kunai pierced the gun and knocked it to the floor. "Dammit!" He looked up and saw two figures standing upon an apartment building, their faces silhouetted in the moonlight. The feminine one with long side bangs held another kunai in her right hand.

"Daniel of the Damned, you are to be executed for 57 accounts of murder, 14 accounts for assault and battery, and 185 accounts for disorderly conduct," spoke a voice laced with bitter venom.

Daniel merely snorted. "Like a couple of kids can kill me. Why doesn't Death come and get me himself, huh?! Sending kids to do his dirty work, feh! A coward in my eyes if he doesn't come kill me himself."

"Do not insult Shinigami-sama."

The female figure leaped off the edge and landed silently in a crouch. Her midnight blue hair was pinned up in an elegant bun held up by two lacquered chopsticks. Through the fishnet covering, her bandaged torso could be seen. Her white denim jacket with lavender lace embroidery was left opened, swaying in the breezy autumn night. The black and purple dropped waist skirt rested loosely against her thighs. Her weapon pouch was visible, secured above her right knee. The Konohagakure hitai-ate shielded her eyes, evidently fooling passerby into thinking her to be blind.

"Hah! You're blind! How're you gonna fight now, brat?" A cocky smirk was plastered on his face. "There is NO WAY in hell you can beat me!"

The male figure appeared in a flurry of wind and leaves beside the female. He stood at 6'0" with an uncaring expression, an airy confidence surrounding him. He wore a wife beater, with beige cargo shorts and black Converse sneakers. His arms were wrapped in white cloth bandages, interwoven through his fingers. An identical hitai-ate was fastened around his forehead. He glared at the man menacingly, his arms crossed.

"Don't worry; we'll make light work out of you," he said coldly. Turning to the girl beside him, he asked, "Shall we, Hinata? We've already wasted time by getting rid of bastards like him all night."

She giggled once, replying, "Shinigami-sama might be angered if we allow this trash to live. Ne, Sasuke-kun?" Her twisted grin induced a fear within Daniel that he had never felt until that moment. He knew the crazed look on her face was not normal.

'Damn, brats. Thinking they could beat me! Still, I should keep my guard up,' he thought while gritting his teeth.

Palm facing out, Hinata extended her arm upwards. "Weapon form!"

The dark-haired teen nodded and transformed into a scythe found only in ancient mythology; one of the few revered as "The True Weapon of Death", a title only recognized by those who know the story of the original helpers of Lord Death.

The slate grey staff was nearly five feet in length, a single image of black flame encircling an emerald serpent embossed on its surface. Both ends of the staff had a dazzling garnet placed in the center. The semi-crescent blade had three layers of stained metal; the silver encased by onyx. Engraved in the silver was the kanji for "Eternal Mangeykou Sharingan; The Curse of the Uchiha Clan". The engraving casted a ghostly white glow in the moonlight.

The girl caught it and spun it in her hands. One end of a metal cuff attached itself to her right wrist, extending when she pulled the chain; the other end connected to the bottom of the staff. Aiming her weapon, she faced the criminal. Waves of killer intent radiated from the kunoichi, causing the woman to faint. Daniel stood his ground and resisted the urge to flee.

"Che, fancy-lookin' weapon you have there. It's just for show though, isn't it? Well, it doesn't scare me!"

He retrieved a .45 caliber pistol from the inside of his jacket and began his assault. He fired three shots at her unmoving figure.

'Hah! Looks like someone's already given up. Hm? Where-?'

"...the hell did she go?" he said aloud. Suddenly she reappeared in the exact spot in a defensive position.

"Hm, tricky one, eh?" He fired the rest of the barrel at her. Using her scythe, she sliced through the barrage of bullets without much effort. She muttered a few words, and the scythe began glowing a shimmering white. A blinding white wave emitted from the weapon which rushed toward him. Daniel remembered the discarded revolver from earlier and rolled toward it before he got hit. The wave collided with the building and left an enormous smoking hole in its place.

Frowning, she said, "Hmph! It missed. Oh well..." Hinata leaped into the air and swung her arm back. A pastel-colored energy encased the blade, which grew to twice its original size.

Focusing her resonance with her partner she shouted, "Witch Hunter!" and brought her arm downwards toward the intended target. With eyes wide, Daniel futilely covered himself with his arms. The attack hit dead-on and created a small explosion.

Dirt and pieces of rubble showered the area. When the clouds of dust cleared, Hinata immediately rushed to the woman's unconscious form to check her pulse. Sasuke had transformed out of his weapon self and walked over to the scaly red soul hovering above the ground where Daniel had died.

"Soul number 88," he announced in a bored tone. He examined the red orb, turning it in his hands and running his fingers through it. The soul hovered idly in his hand before suddenly detaching to become wisps of red light. He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and allowed the light to enter his body. As he exhaled, the remaining wisps which had encircled his body dispersed. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he walked over to Hinata. He set his stony gaze upon the woman passed out on the ground.

"She's alive; she's probably just experiencing shock from my sudden release of killer intent."

"Hn."

"Sasuke-kun, carry her. She needs to be brought to a medical center in case she was harmed," Hinata said in a commanding tone.

Sasuke smirked. He picked up the woman and slung her over his shoulder.

'I guess little Hime has learned to toughen up a bit for battle.'

"As you wish, Hina-hime. So, where to?"

Hinata's face went aflame, though she was able to control her habit of fainting. Activating her Byakugan, she searched for a medical center, hospital, or clinic. Her eyes landed on a clinic eighteen blocks from their current location.

"1.7 kilometers, southwest from here. It's the closest clinic I could find that is still opened." She stood up to brush the dirt from her jacket and skirt. Glancing over her shoulder to see his nod for confirmation, they flickered out of the area.


Author's Note: Erm, soooooo yeah. First story ever! Yay! [cue: streamers and confetti] Well, I had some minor changes done, but it wasn't saved the last time I edited the chapter. Again, newbie to writing, so it may not be the best of my work. Oh, and if you want me to continue, leave a review! Favs and rating is optional; I really appreciate ANY sort of helpful critique (i.e. "You should do this next time", "Make this a little more...", etc.). So, yeah. Thanks for reading this! [If you are one of those people who read author's notes.]

- 0-WickedMelody-0