Chapter 1; Desperate Stranger
The rain was the only sound to be heard. The soft tapping on the rooftops surrounding and the sound of it bouncing off of the ground or forming large puddles. The town was deadly silent, no sign of trouble, no sign of anything. Yet guards still patrolled the town, looking after what seemed to be the one area. Around they went, one after another, each carrying a flaming torch. They were darkly dressed, face masked and silent. You would not have been know they were there if they weren't carrying the dark torches. No one in the town seemed to acknowledge their existence, going on with their everyday life, ignoring that one area, as if it wasn't there.
The moon was full, shining down onto a field containing a lone tree. There was a cloaked figure standing under the tree, looking downwards, as the rain landed on his and then dripped off. The field was not far from the town, perhaps maybe half a mile, but that field was a forbidden place to be, allowed to enter only by permission, although this figure had no permission. The figure looked up, peering from under his hood at the full moon. There was a glint of its reflection in his black eyes. The figure looked down again, removing his hand from his side and outstretching it. The rain began to drop onto it, several times, before sliding off. "Its time." The figure said quietly.
The figure softly pushed off of the tree, breaking into an undetectable sprint, as he headed in the direction of the Village. Quick and swift, weaving his way in and out of the trees nearby. The figure came to a sudden halt at the edge of the forest, standing in the forest's shadow, looking out at the various torches in different locations. The torches showed where the guards were located, and revealed where the blind spot was. The figure left the forest's shadow and rushed to the city wall, pressing hard against it, making the shadow produced as small as possible. The figure looked out, watching for when a guards shadow was directly above. The figure waited for several moments until one guard had finally reached the desired location. The figure reached behind himself, looking for something, the hand returned shortly afterwards, clutching a kunai tied to a thin wire. The wire was barely visible to the eye and would be hard to detect, but still, this was a risky maneuver.
The figure crept out from the shadow, as much as possible without being spotted by the guard, and began to swing the kunai around with the wire. The kunai was now a blur to the human eye, seeing it fit, the figure cocked back his arm and then threw it forward, hurtling the kunai towards the guard. The night fell silent once more, the torch the guard was carrying had been dropped and it rolled off the edge of the wall and fell to the ground below. The guard fell to his knees before softly dropping face first onto the top of the wall. Blood began to stream down the wire and onto the figure's hands. The figure stepped forward, getting closer and closer to the wall, putting out the torch in his wake. The figure was pressed against the wall once more, placing one foot onto the wall as he began to pull himself up, the guard's lifeless was now pressing against the edge of the wall, able to give way at any time. The figure hurried, reaching the top of the wall in minimal time, releasing the wire and rolling the guard's body off of the wall.
The figure had gained entry undetected, briskly walking along the top of the wall before leaping down into the grass courtyard below. Again, there was dots of firelight surrounding the figure. Hiding behind a nearby bush, the figure was able to estimate where each guard was positioned. The figure was on the move again, pushing through the bush and walking in the shadow of the wall, hiding his presence and keeping a weathered eye on his surroundings. A yawn was heard nearby, the guard across from him was tired, yawning continuously and complaining to his comrade. "Why do we have to guard it?" He complained, looking to the side at the comrade.
"Its a very important item, someone might try to steal it." His comrade replied, showing signs of fatigue in his voice.
"I've been here 10 years and not once has someone attempted to steal it. I'm just saying, we should slack up on guard duty around here. The old man is paranoid, ain't no one coming to steal it nowadays. Barely anyone knows of its existence." He said again, making sure his point got across.
"But still, the reason there hasn't been an attempt in 10 years is because of the security. The fortress and this door is impregnable. Ain't no one getting past us or near the old man." His comrade said proudly, tapping on the heavy wooden door at his right. The first guard chuckled slightly, before leaning on the heavy door.
"True, maybe there is need in this. The pay ain't that bad either, the old man has too much money, with no heir." The first guard's face lit up under the torch light. "We could 'liberate' some of it for ourselves." The first guard continued.
"Just what are you suggesting?" His comrade replied, sounding intrigued.
"Well he has more money than he knows what to do with and when he dies, which will probably be soon, it will all be scattered. So I say, why not grab some for ourselves? Its not like he will notice." The first guard replied, a sly look upon his face as his comrade pondered his proposal.
The figure had become tired of listening to this conversation, not willing to wait until 6am for the next shift change. The shadows would be gone by then and he would lose his only defense against what seemed to be an army. The figure once again reached behind the cloak, pulling out a windmill shuriken this time. A glimmer of red was seen from under the hood, only a glint. The figure made himself higher, lowering the shuriken to his waist, before throwing it. The shuriken sliced through the air and made a slight whistling sound, as the two guards broke mid-conversation, with no answer. The first guard spotted the shuriken but could do nothing about it, as it had already cut his neck. The first guard staggered around for a second, alerting his comrade's attention. His comrade rose to his feet, to check on him, but was viciously cut down by the same shuriken. The figure stepped out from the shadows and retrieved his shuriken, turning and pushing open the large gate slightly, just enough for him to slip through. The figure closed the gate after himself.
What lay beyond the gate was a lone cottage, watched vigilantly by the surrounding guards on the wall. This cottage was the home to the precious artifact that the figure was seeking. The figure removed two smoke pellets from his belt and quickly lobbed them over the wall. They were set off instantly, as soon as they made contact with the ground. The smoke rose and rose, demanding the guard's attention, the guards all looked, wondering if it was the first break in attempt in 10 years. The figure dashed from the shadows in the midst of the confusion, darting to the cottage and sneaking in through an open window.
A sound of loud heaving was heard, it was of a man sleeping, taking heavy breaths at that. The figure ignored him, making for the furthest room in the small cottage, being as quiet as a mouse. The figure slid open the door quietly and entered, leaving the door open for his departure. The figure saw an ebony box, laying on a purple velvet pillow, that was situated at the other side of the room. The ebony box and pillow were positioned in an indent in the wall, the indent consisted of the finest polished wood. The figure stepped forward, being careful to look for any traps, although a sneaking suspicion in his mind told him not too. After all, there hadn't been a break in attempt in 10 years, why place pointless traps? The figure stretched out, about to lay a finger on the box. "Ninjas aren't as impressive as they used to be." Said a hoarse voice from behind.
The figure turned around, surprised by the hood hid it well. The figure stared at the old man, standing there in a white suit, with white hair and a beard that was tucked into his belt. The man had lines in his face, wisdom lines, he was a wise man. The figure stared at him from behind the hood, eyes fixated on the man, half afraid and half surprised. Surprised at the fact that the old man had detected him and tracked him down. "Have you been following me?" The figure grunted.
"Me? No. I was sleeping until you woke me up. Not a very good thief or ninja." He replied, insulting the figures skills. "Might I ask who you may be?" He continued, staring intently, as if he was trying to decipher what the shadows hid.
"Why?" The figure replied, curious as to why the old man was so interested.
"I like to know the name of the person I kill. If I don't, I won't be able to etch it on my chest." The man said, undoing his belt and pulling back the upper half of his white suit. His chest was scarred with many, many names. The figure scoffed, to the old man's dismay.
"I shall tell you my identity." The figure said, raising his hands and lowering his cloak. "I am Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke continued, staring at the man.
"Ah, an Uchiha? Ain't killed one of them in a while." The old man scoffed before rushing at Sasuke.
Sasuke readied himself, deflecting the first punch by the old man and going for the kick. The old man quickly pressed both hands on the ground, connecting his heel with Sasuke's jaw. Sasuke staggered back, spitting out a mixture of blood and saliva, before regaining composure. The old man launched another vicious assault, coming at Sasuke with a kunai. One after another, each more vicious than the last and each would have ended Sasuke's life. Sasuke had luckily dodged each of them and managed to disarm the old man, pressing the old man's kunai up to the old man's throat. "Yield." Sasuke said, pressing the kunai a bit harder, watching as blood began to trickle onto his hand. "Never!" The Old Man declared, spitting in Sasuke's eye. Sasuke released the old man, wiping the saliva out of his eyes and pushing his hair back.
Sasuke hadn't intended to get serious but he could not have this old man ruining his shot at getting what he came for. Sasuke stepped back, spacing out his legs a little, smiling. Sasuke reached in the back of his cloak and pulled out his Chokuto. He then raised his hand, tilting his wrist a little, as the sword was horizontal across his body. "Its over!" Sasuke declared, rushing forward and cutting the man's arm off. The arm fell with a thud, as blood began to squirt out. The old man was in shock, not sure whether to scream out or run away. Sasuke turned rushing forward again, this time, cutting off the old man's leg. The Old man flopped to the ground, crying out in pain. Sasuke spun the handle of the Chokuto in his hand, until the blade was pointing downwards, above the Old Man's head. Sasuke grinned, driving the blade down through the Old Man's head, as blood splattered up, covering Sasuke in specs of blood here and there. Sasuke didn't care. He wiped the blade of the Chokuto on the Old Man's white robes, before he sheathed it again. He, once again, turned his attention to the ebony box.
Sasuke walked to it once more, stretching out and lifting it up, prying the box open. There was a piece of paper in it. Sasuke picked up the piece of paper and dropped the box, the lid came apart from the rest of it. Sasuke glanced at the paper, it read;
Hey Sasuke,
You didn't make your interest in the Dragon's Claw private. As well you may know, you have a lot of enemies. Enemies willing to go great length to stop your ambitions and beat you at any chance. You haven't given many chance to be beaten lately but you gave many to stop your ambition. This but one mere gesture. If you want it back, however, you may come to the Hidden Village of Cloud. I will be waiting there, along with all of the other people you have scorned. The decision rests on your shoulders alone, do what you will, but know this. You will never be forgiven and always be hunted. Take that into consideration and come, don't ruin the fun.
Anger spread across Sasuke's face, he crumpled up the note in his hand and threw it aside. He was going to the Hidden Village of Cloud and he was getting his exact revenge. Itachi will have to wait. This, for the moment, is more important.