"Nngh, wha… where am I? Maria, are you out there?" Shadow's voice could be heard throughout the ruins of this strange building. He was only met with silence.

Shadow began to survey his surroundings. All around him seemed to be the shattered remains of a building. One exceptionally large fragment seemed to display the Japanese katakana for "leaf," written in red. The red of the building seemed to have been constructed of some sturdy material of white and red, though ash covered most of it so he could not be sure.

There were several buildings beyond the shattered remains of wherever he was, but there were no civilians around. Looking up, it was plain to see why. The moon was directly overhead in the sky, and the cloudless night seemed to calm him somewhat. He stood, and suddenly felt as though he were being watched. Turning around, he was surprised to see a large conglomeration of people staring at him and surveying the mess, with mixed looks of shock, fury and despair. The one who most seemed to stand out in this crowded mass was a young boy who seemed to be about thirteen. What was interesting about him was the sheer contrast to the mass around him, and to himself. The reason for this was that the boy was the brightest thing he had ever seen.

Not in his emotions mind you, for he was currently screaming something that Shadow couldn't make out due to a ringing in his ears that he just now noticed, but seemed rude and impulsive. No he was bright simply by his appearance. His hair was an unnatural and surely unhealthy shade of blond, and his attire was constructed entirely of orange. Not only that, but his eyes were a deep blue that seemed so sad and fierce, yet… wait… did he just see a flash of red in his eyes. No, it couldn't be, eyes don't just change color like that, do they? No they were still the same shade of sky blue that they were before.

Shadow continued to survey the crowd. A silver haired man stood next to the orange enigma, seemingly trying to decide whether to try to calm him down or to join him in his screaming. Flanking the screaming boy was another child who seemed marginally older than the blond. He was staring at Shadow with cold onyx eyes that would've made shadow want to curl up to escape them had he not realized that doing so would be a show of weakness.

Behind the black eyed boy stood another girl about the same age, desperately clinging on to the raven-haired boy's arm. She was looking at Shadow with something between shock and fear, as though unknowing which to feel.

Soon enough, the ringing began to fade from his ears. He was able to hear the screams of the orange boy, the only sound other than the now faint ring piercing the silence.

"Kakashi-sensei! Do something stop him!" At that, he pointed to Shadow. "You're not just going to stand there! He can't just…" Shadow noticed that he seemed about to cry, but was struggling desperately not to. He turned back towards shadow with watery eyes.

"You! Why did you do this, why?" There it was again that flash of red. "I won't let you get away from this!" And again, that surreal red flash. Shadow had a bad feeling about this. A tear finally fell from the boys eye and rolled down his cheek, and as though that had been the trigger, suddenly his eyes glowed a fierce crimson and a powerful energy began to swirl around him. He stood there for a moment, seeming to adapt to this, while many of the villagers looked on in even greater shock than were just depicted in there eyes, while a few others, including the silver haired man, seemed completely unfazed by this turn of events. Suddenly, without warning, the boy with the dark energy rushed forward.

Shadow was taken off-guard, and barely managed to block his unexpected opponents first blow, he quickly counterattacked with a fierce kick that sent the orange boy flying. However, he seemed to stop in midair and rush at him again.

Shadow, expecting a fight now, easily dodged his swoop. His opponent landed on all fours and growled something deep, primal and intimidating. He looked around and saw a few of the others, including the two males that the boy was standing with, come forward. Deciding that he didn't want to be the target for an all out assault, he jumped over the heads of his probable assailants and sprinted away using his jet skates, expecting to easily outrun them. He was surprised, however at the speed of them. The silver haired man and the cold-eyed boy, along with a man in a bright green jumpsuit with a bowl shaped haircut and what seemed to be a smaller clone of him were indeed keeping his pace, though it seemed that the younger of the group were struggling to do so.

Shadow grimaced and picked up the pace a little, but was soon cut off by a man wearing what seemed to be a cat mask. He skidded to a halt only to find the silver haired man quickly advancing on him. He jumped up and over him, only to find the green-suited man yelling something that sounded like "dynamic entry" with a definite intent to kick him. He grabbed the man's leg and used it to push himself up and over him, and landed successfully. He quickly pushed himself up to find the cold-eyed boy with a blue energy crackling around his hand like lightning. He ducked out of the way and suddenly heard a guttural roar.

Pushing himself to his feet, he again began to sprint away, this time in a different direction. He soon heard footsteps behind him but they were too far away to catch up to him. After an hour he stopped hearing them, and two hours later he stopped running. He needed to find shelter, which, after walking through the area for a while, he eventually came across in the form of a cave. He ducked in and fell asleep, the days events wearing on his body.