Shinobi.
Every nation in this world is dependant on them and the villages they represent. From baby-sitting pet-rocks to assassinating figures as powerful as emperors.
Konohagakure, Hidden Leaf Village of the Land of Fire; Sunagakure, Hidden Sand Village of the Land of Wind; Iwagakure, Hidden Stone Village of Earth; Kumogakure, Hidden Cloud Village of the Land of Lightning; and Kirigakure, Hidden Mist Village of the Land of Water. These are the Five Great Shinobi nations – the largest shinobi villages.
Amongst them are smaller villages as well: Hidden Grass Village, Hidden Falls Village, Hidden Rain Village, Hidden Snow Village, and Hidden Sound Village… to name a few.
Long ago – though not too long – many more of these shinobi villages existed. But, during the last Shinobi World War – the largest full scale war in history – many of these villages were destroyed. Some villages recovered, but others took advantage of their weakened state, and were wiped out. Others however…
Simply disappeared.
There is a rumor that no one cares to listen to, that not far from the border of Cloud and just a few miles inland, there's a small town, and in the valley a few miles away, one of these villages existed. If you were to ask anyone from this small town about the 'village that used to be there,' they'll just shake their heads at you and sigh, "What do you mean? Stupid, brainless foreigners – know nothing."
In a valley, surrounded by high mountains and canyons, there exist the ruins of an old temple named "Raito temple." With on glance, you might simply brush it off. However, if you were to venture into these ruins, you would find something much more interesting, because these ruins are in fact the entrance to the Village of the Hidden Light – Hikarigakure.
According to National Historical Archives, Hikarigakure was destroyed during the Third World War. This is clearly not the case.
We exist in secret. No one knows of us – save for a select few from the small town just a few miles away. When our enemies and the world thought we were wiped off the face of the earth, we chose to keep it that way until we had the chance to strike back. But then…
The war ended.
We no longer had a reason to hide, but we chose to anyway, because the world had forgotten our existence. We chose to hide, to remain in secret. My father, and our honored Yondaime Keikage, told my brother and me, that we hid because we were cowards. We were the world's greatest fools, simply because in choosing to remain 'dead,' we granted Keimaru – my older brother – the means to make his ambitions come true.
You see, my brother loved war. When he was named Godaime Keikage, he was given power over our village.
The silence of the night was broken as two figures broke from the mountainous ruins of Raito Temple.
One was young woman of nineteen years of age. She was dressed in an elegant and regal kimono made of pale pink flowing silk. Her hair was held back in a gold and intricate headdress. Her eyes were nearly white and the pupil was nearly the same shade of pale blue. Her opponent was a man not much older than herself. His kimono was not quite as noble. It was a simple men's kimono with black hakama and a red haori with black trim. His hair was dark and its length reached the base of his neck. His eyes were nearly the same colour as hers, but still slightly darker.
They jumped into the air, rapidly falling towards the lake that surrounded the ruins. Pushing chakra into their feet, they stood gracefully on the water, each hastily forming seals. Their hands were a blur until they each came to a stop.
"Ninpou Fujin! Kaze Rasenjo no jutsu!"
"Ninpou Kage-Fujin! Kuro-oarashi no jutsu!"
A wild wind began to whirl around the young woman as a black aura and wind surrounded the young man.
The attacks collided and a massive wave of wind shook the trees in the clearing, waves formed in a rapid commotion of the mini-storm created in the attacks wake. The two combatants didn't wait for the area to settle before they rushed at each other.
As the man rushed towards the young woman, forming more seals as he did.
Horse, tiger, dog, bird, tiger, dog.
A broad sword in the shape of a machete suddenly appeared. The young man grabbed its hilt and thrust it out in front of him – posed to strike the woman. He swung it over his head, the blade singing as it came down upon the young woman. She grit her teeth angrily and pulled a kunai out at the last second, holding it above her head just as the blade came down. Sparks flew around them as the two weapons collided.
The man hissed angrily, "Give it up."
The woman's mouth set into a firm line, "You!" In one swift movement she swung her leg vertical to her body and high into the air – just barely tapping the man's chin as he did a back-flip, sliding along the surface of the water until he came to a stop. Water that had flown up in the wake of the young woman's kick fell back down again with a splash. With a cry, she ran forward, kunai in hand and swung it at the man, just clipping the edge of his bangs. She clipped the hem of his kimono next when she thrust her kunai to jab his in the neck, but he ducked to the side before she could reach his jugular.
"You bring disgrace to this village, Keimaru; to the name Keikage!" She yelled out, advancing every time the man dodged, "Our father weeps!"
"How could I possibly bring anymore shame to this village, Hikariko?" Keimaru sneered, swinging his sword again, getting nothing but air as Hikariko dodged and flew back, "We are the Hidden Light! Why do we hide in shadows? I can bring us back!"
"Be Quiet! You fool! You dishonor me! You dishonor our Father! Our village!" Hikariko shouted at him, flinging the kunai at him with a simple swish of air. Keimaru raised his sword and knocked the kunai out of the air. He rushed forward, sword ready to strike once again, his feet padding on the water's surface.
Hikariko broke her stance and flipped up into the air just as Keimaru came down upon her. Sliding the surface of the water, she pulled out numerous kunai and flung them at him. Easily dodging them, Keimaru smirked, "Truly sister, you wound me."
Suddenly his was in front of Hikariko, and with a swift kick to the chest she was flying in the opposite direction. She managed to catch herself before she sunk completely into the water. She knelt there and began to cough, unable to stand up for the moment. Keimaru took this as his chance.
He smirked, "Forgive me O-nee-chan."
Tiger, dog, bird, dog, tiger.
"Ninpou Fujin! Midori Ho no Ya!"
Clenching his hand at his side and a spark of flame surrounded it, quickly becoming a larger ball of green fire. Bringing it up from his side, he threw a stream of green fire in a rapid burst at Hikariko.
Hikariko's pale blue eyes widened as she felt the heat of the fire drawing closer. She wouldn't be able to move soon enough.
"Hikariko-sama!!" cried a young female voice.
A young figure suddenly appeared in front of Hikariko, clutching a Naginata tightly within her grasp. With a cry she raised it above her head and brought it down just as the projectile of fire reached them. With swift speed, she brought down the blade of the spear and swiped the ball of fire out of the air.
Keimaru glared at the new arrival as she stood up, holding her naginata in front of Hikariko protectively. He cursed under his breath, "Damn."
This person had long dark green hair pulled up into two rings on top of her head while the rest was braided halfway down her back. Her bangs were wild and pushed off the sides, revealing her hitai-ate. She wore a black kimono – the right sleeve slipped off and hanging down at her side – covering her magenta obi. Her chest was bound with wrappings and her entire right and left arms were covered as well.
"Yuukan-san!" Hikariko gasped, "What are you-"
"Saving your scrawny ass, as usual," The young woman – Yuukan - gave the surprised girl a wink.
"So… you're alright?"
"Of course," Yuukan turned back to Keimaru, "I'm not going to let you have all the fun."
Keimaru smirked, "Isn't that cute. Why don't you run along, princess? This doesn't concern you."
"Like hell it doesn't!" Yuukan snapped.
Suddenly, Keimaru advanced. Yuukan strengthened her stance and held her ground while Keimaru rushed forward towards them. Yuukan smirked, licking her lips, "That's cute."
Sending a burst of chakra into her feet, Yuukan broke into a run, her Naginata trailing in the water - creating a kind of fissure in the water as she ran.
"Yuukan-san!"
The two shinobi met and their blades sung as they clashed against the other. Yuukan jumped back, widening her stance then jabbing at Keimaru with a swift pace – whom in turn dodged every blow with perfect timing. He scowled however when the Naginata just shaved his cheek and cut several stray strands of his hair, which fell languidly to the surface of the water before sinking beneath. Keimaru could feel how the thin trail of blood slid down his face and under his chin. With a low growl deep in the back of her throat, Yuukan pulled back the skirt of her kimono, reaching for the leather pouch on her leg and pulled out several shuriken, flinging them at Keimaru.
Keimaru's eyebrows furrowed together as the shuriken flew closer. But before they could impale him, he jumped backwards, retreating severalmeters.
Yuukan smirked, 'Just a little further!'
Hikariko's eyes widened, "So, that's what-!"
A whirring sound off to his right caught Keimaru's attention. Whipping his head towards the sound, he barely saw let alone had the chance to dodge the giant four-star shuriken flying towards him. With a yell of surprise, he tried to jump back, but it was too late as the blades ripped across his chest as it flew past him.
"Kouryou!" Hikariko exclaimed.
"Damnit!" Keimaru cursed as he felt blood spill from the wound and seep through his haori. He clutched at the wound all the while glaring angrily at the two kunoichi in front of him, but had to turn his attention back to the shuriken careening towards him once again. This time, he jumped back in time.
He followed the path of shuriken until it was caught in an outstretched hand of one of two figures standing on the edge of the ruin's entrance.
"Is it…" Hikariko started.
"Shiori-sensei, Naoru-san!" Yuukan yelled out.
The older woman clearly deserved the title of Sensei. She held a majestic grace about her and everything about her seemed to demand authority. She had long white blonde hair that gradually faded a brilliant blonde and then to a bright red and then finally blood crimson at the tips. Her eyes were a vivid emerald green. She wore a cropped long sleeved shirt and hip-hugging jeans that flared out slightly under the knee before bunching up near the ankles. A gray vest hung limply on her shoulders.
The younger woman, Naoru, was the one who had thrown the shuriken. She had bluish hair, tied back in a white ribbon while her bangs framed her face and touched her shoulders. Her eyes were a soft yet stern icy blue – almost white. Her shirt was cropped and tied just beneath her chest. The sleeves were cut in the middle to expose her elbows. Beneath she wore a plain mesh shirt. A pair of Capri hung limply on her waist, held up by a thick belt. Her hitai-ate lay neatly across her forehead.
Keimaru glowered at the new arrivals, "So, O-nee-chan, you bring your team into this? Do you honestly believe that they can help you!?"
Hikariko turned towards her infuriated brother's voice, her eyebrows knitted together in sadness.
Yuukan turned her gaze to Hikariko and then Keimaru as Naoru and Shiori joined them on the water. Naoru off to Keimaru's right and Shiori off to his left. Now Keimaru's back was to the rocky wall with no escape. Naoru quickly exchanged a look with Yuukan and then turned to Keimaru, while their sensei remained silent.
"Don't you know who I am? I am the Keikage!"
"Chi," Naoru scoffed, "You? You would become a dictator to your people? Make them suffer? You're no Keikage."
"What was that?"
"A true Keikage wouldn't practically enslave his own people!" Naoru replied, "You are not a true Keikage, Keimaru."
"This is treason!"
"Technically, it's a mutiny," Yuukan replied sarcastically.
Keimaru laughed as though he had just been subject to a hilarious joke, "If my little sister needs the help of her team to defeat me, then you have no chance. Not even Sukka Shiori can defeat me. I'm stronger than everyone in this village! Do you honestly believe that just the four of you by yourselves could defeat me?"
Shiori stepped forward, "You've forgotten something, Keimaru-sama."
"Oh? And what have I forgotten Sukka-san?"
"That there is no one in this village loyal to you," Shiori blatantly explained, "So no one in this village has a problem with lending a hand to help overthrow you."
"What?" Keimaru hissed.
Shiori turned her gaze to the woods around them and smirked ever so slightly, "See for yourself."
Keimaru's glare turned all out deadly as he finally took notice of hidden chakra signatures all around him, slowly coming out of hiding.
"You…" He whispered in his rage, anger about to boil over.
Yuukan smiled triumphantly, "Bye-bye."
"It's over for you, Keimaru-nii-san," Hikariko said.
TBC