~*~ PROLOGUE ~*~
"Masaru, are you awake?" Kenji whispered from his bed, parallel to Masaru's in their small shared bedroom. The moon shone through the window, lighting up the floor between their beds.
Masaru groaned and flipped over onto his stomach. "What d-do you want, Kenji?" He yawned.
"I can't sleep." Kenji murmured and groaned as he rolled over onto his side, facing the wall.
Masaru sighed and opened his scarlet shaded eyes to look at his younger brother's back. "What do you expect me to do?"
Kenji shook his head and grunted, pulling his knee's to his chest. "M-Masaru…It…It hurts."
Masaru sighed and sat up, stretching his arms above his head. "What hurts, Kenji?"
"Haraguroi Himitsu…" Kenji whispered and winced in pain. He could feel the kekkei genkai slowly taking over his body as it burned his skin. Masaru had already passed through this stage, and his parents told Kenji that it wouldn't last a very long time, but that it would indeed hurt for a while.
Masaru frowned and quickly made his way to Kenji's bed and sat on the edge of it. He placed his hand on Kenji's shoulder. "Just breathe…"
Kenji sucked in a sharp breath and turned to sit up. His eyes had changed from the violet shade to black as he stared at his brother. "B-brother…" He murmured, half in pain, and half with an eerie tone.
Masaru's eyes widened as he slowly moved to his feet. "K-Kenji… f-fight it…"
Kenji's eyes narrowed as he tilted his head to look up at his brother. "It's…too late, Masaru." Kenji pushed himself from the bed, tackling Masaru down on his bed as he shoved his hands down on Masaru's chest. "You've fought me for too long." Kenji hissed.
"Y-You're supposed to!" Masaru gasped, shocked by the strength his younger brother had.
Kenji shook his head and leaned down towards his brother's face, letting out a long breath of air. A thick black gas emitted from Kenji's mouth and travelled down into Masaru's, climbing down his throat.
"No fighting anymore."
Masaru gasped as his back arched in pain. His eyes squeezed shut as he tried to fight against the Kekkei Genkai slowly taking over his body. Masaru's eyes snapped back open, his eyes no longer red, but black, emotionless orbs.
Kenji smirked and slowly climbed off his brother. "I…win."
The door opened to Kenji and Masaru's bedroom as their parents ran into the room.
"Kenji, Masaru, are you alright?" Their mother gasped, checking around the room for an intruder. It wasn't uncommon for strangers to break into house in the Land of Demons. This land was high with crimes. They had heard a thunk coming from their sons' room, and went to check what had happened.
Kenji and Masaru stood in the middle of the room, staring at their parents.
"Kenji…Masaru…" Their father spoke cautiously as he eyed their sons carefully; he recognized the black eyes and knew immediately what happened - after all, it had happened to his very own brother.
"Evening.. Father…" Masaru smirked. "We didn't wake you… did we?"
Their parents looked at each other for a moment, and their mother began to crying silently, taking a step back. "Masaru…why? You've already tamed the Haraguroi Himitsu." He spoke.
Masaru laughed, his voice eerie and cold. "It's better this way…"
He shook his head. "No, Masaru, you know it's not the right thing."
Masaru glanced over at his younger brother. "Is it just me… or are they getting annoying?"
Kenji smirked and turned to his brother. "You see it just as I do."
Their father narrowed his eyes at his two young sons and turned to frown at his wife. "I'm sorry, Aki." He whispered and turned to look at the sons. Their mother began to sob and ran from the room, collapsing to her knee's in the hallway.
Their father made a few hand seals and closed his eyes. "I love you, Kenji and Masaru." He whispered. A dark aura surrounded their father, stretching outwards, surrounding the two sons.
Masaru looked around at the aura and laughed. "How dumb do you think we are, old man!"
Their father tightened his eyes shut, the darkness moving quickly and wrapping itself around the two. Kenji glanced at Masaru and back at his father. "No, father." He murmured and narrowed his eyes. The darkness began to retreat and a thick black spike shot through their father's chest.
He gasped in pain and collapsed to his knee's. "W-what?"
Kenji sighed and shook his head. "Pathetic." He murmured, turning to his brother.
Masaru looked at their father before walking towards the door. "Kenji… finish him. I'll take care of her…"
Kenji nodded and walked over to his father, kneeling down and pushing his hand into his fathers back. "See yah." He murmured as his body was wrapped in a black thickness that slowly disappeared with his body.
Masaru slowly approached his mother with a smirk. His eyes locked on her as he slowly lifted his hands. "You've always been a pathetic excuse for a shinobi, mother…"
Aki turned around with her eyes widened. "W-what?" She gasped, turning on her knee's to look at her son. "I-Itsuki…What happened to him?"
Masaru smirked. "He's been taken care of… Shinobi are not meant to show emotion. It makes them vulnerable. You shouldn't even wear that headband… so, I'm doing you a favour…" He stated before flicking his wrist towards his mother, darkness suddenly forming around her. "Goodbye…" He lifted his other wrist and flicked it out. Spikes came from every direction and penetrated his mothers vital points.
She gasped in pain as her eyes closed, her body limping lifelessly and falling to the ground once the darkness disappeared. Kenji walked casually out of their bedroom and leaned against the door frame. "It's about time."
Masaru turned to face Kenji with a smirk. "I figured I should give her a piece of advice first."
Kenji smirked and nodded. "She was a pathetic excuse any-" He gasped as his eyes flickered back to normal and he looked around with terror, back and forth between his father and mother. His eyes turned back to black again and he shook the sudden emotion. "M…Masaru?"
Masaru shrugged and turned around to head outside to the patio, looking out to the lake. "Do you want me to kill you as well? Do not go back to your emotional self…"
Kenji shook his head again. "I…I don't know what happened."
Masaru shrugged. He opened his mouth to speak when he suddenly collapsed to his knees in pain. Blood spilt from his mouth as he fell onto his side. Kenji's brow lifted and he made his way over to stand beside Masaru. "You're showing your weakness."
Masaru's breath came out in sharp gasps as he gritted his teeth in pain. "K-Ken… j-ji…"
Kenji rolled his eyes and knelt down in front of Masaru. He looked at his eyes and saw that Masaru's eyes had returned to their scarlet shade. Kenji shook his head and reached out to grab his neck when his hand began to shake. His eyes flickered back to their violet colour, and he gasped in pain, collapsing down onto Masaru. "I'm…sorry." He winced and gritted his teeth.
"W-We… n-need t-to r-run…" He gasped. "A-As soon a-as the priestess f-finds out… w-we will be hunted…"
Kenji nodded and weakly pushed himself off his brother. "I don't think we could get far enough like this."
Masaru shook his head as he weakly pulled himself into a sitting position. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked at Kenji before pulling him into an embrace. "I-I'm so sorry… this is all my fault…"
Kenji shook his head and drew his knee's into his chest. "No, it wasn't. I-I'm still weak." He murmured.
Masaru pulled back and held Kenji's face in his hands. "I-I will help you get stronger… so this never happens again… okay? You believe me… right, Kenji?"
Tears fell from Kenji's eyes and he nodded slowly. "But…it t-took over you because of me."
Masaru shook his head. "I-I can fight it… I-I didn't try hard enough." He closed his eyes as tears slipped from his lids. "W-We will learn to control th-this thing together…"
Kenji let out a sob and wrapped his arms around his older brother. "A-alright."