Insaneiac the Maniac: Though it might not look like it, this is actually a bit of a long story. Not the story in general, but the fact that I'm writing it. See, about two to three years ago, I started a Naruto collaboration with another author. Look hard enough and you'll find it. Well…about the same time, I ditched the series in its entirety and turned to other, more fruitful genres. Well, lately I've found myself reading Naruto fiction and actually getting back to enjoy the manga, which is a good sign for me. That's when I remembered about this collaboration and, more importantly, who it was about. Slowly, I picked the idea back up, brushed it off, kissed it a few times, gave it a new and snazzy suit and smiled. So, without further ado, I present the resurrected, refreshed and revised story.

Pre-notes: This story follows a slightly alternate future. It starts at the beginning of the time-skip in a way…though the time skip is elongated to roughly five years instead of two and a half, meaning most of the main characters are, at youngest, seventeen to eighteen years of age. There are some other changes but…well…I do not want to spoil anything. Also, seeing as how very little has been addressed in regards to it…I have designed and populated Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud) myself, as well as the Raikage. Further more, if anyone notices something is wrong with any of the title of attacks, or other such things, during the course of the story…call me on it please. Let's keep my blunders to as few as possible.

Summary: He is the very last of his people, a clan of shinobi extinguished by all the other countries. After awaking to his ruined village, this survivor wants justice brought to his dead people. He is the last of the Shurajo clan. He is the Crimson Ninja.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto at all. Masashi Kishimoto does. Original characters are mine, but the village the live in is also intellectual property of Kishimoto.

Translations: Tenshi Angel, Shinigami God of Death, Akuma Devil

Our Blood is the sacred way
With it in our selves, we live!
With it in our hands, we fight!
With it in our enemies, we kill!
Our Blood is our heart, weapon, and killing intent

When our faith is opposed, We become the Tenshi
When our spirit is challenged, We become the Akuma
When our kin is threatened, We become the Shinigami
Yet in any state, we are family above all else

This Clan, its name is Shurajo
We will live and fight and kill as kin
The blood of one is the blood of all

-Shurajo Clan Oath-

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"Hoshi-san?" A voice whispered lightly, cutting through the darkness of the room, as a hand rested on the shoulder of the person addressed. When the person, Hoshi, made no response, the hand lightly shook her shoulder. "Hoshi-san?" The androgynous voice repeated a little more firmly. He had seen it a hundred times at the least now, yet it never changed the fact that it worried him.

She was standing in blood that flowed up to her ankles as it cascaded down the hundred stairs before her. At the top of the stair flight was a massive building, comparable to a castle or even a city, lit aflame. Screams as real as the blood against her ankles surrounded and suffocated her. Slowly, she turned her head to her rear and watched figures made of shadows continue to hurl fire and death upon the building. She tried to speak but no voice was there to meet her. She focused her eyes on the crowd of assailants and saw exactly what she expected. Hatred had made itself prevalent in the form of fire, burning like suns within the eyes of the shadows about her. This wasn't an attack from demons, because only humanity is capable of such a hate.

The person removed his hand from Hoshi's shoulder and sat down at the end of her bed. He was garbed in form fitting cloths, with black hued wraps running down along his arms. The gloves on his hands had no fingers to them and had rather loose openings at the second knuckle, as if they were there to allow objects to slip into place. Over the skin tight cloth he wore a loose fitting gi of navy blue with a grey trim to it, the emblem of the Cloudnin stitched into the shoulders of the robe. On his face was a mask, like most of the ANBU wear…yet this one was of a completely different village and was not ever an animal mask. On each side of the mask was a long bang of jet black hair that hung on down and rested along his shoulders, two white braids worn near the end of the bangs. Normally, he would have taken the mask off, but this particular day was one he preferred to wear the mask on.

"Hoshi-san…it's another dream isn't it? Is this one to come or is it one that has past." He spoke somberly as he watched a tear slide from the dreaming kunoichi's eye.

Looking down, she saw the blood bubbling around her, each bubble that popped making a different sound that reflected emotions. Rage, horror, depression, madness, fear, sadness, fury, so many different emotions coming from each pop of the bubbles. Her attention turned to the flowing of the crimson ocean itself, where she noticed the flow of blood was sliding up along the stairs and into the giant building before her. Shaking her head, she took off up the steps, and had made it to the top of the one hundred stairs in only three steps. A massive gate lay wide open as the entire structure burned in front of her. Just beyond the gate was a massive clearing with several impressive buildings surrounding the clearing in a semi-circular fashion. Each of the buildings were lit aflame, the crackling of the immense inferno as prevalent as the emotion enriched bubbles that popper around her. As she blinked away tears at the sight of the carnage, she noticed the bodies scattered about, either lying crumpled in the pools of blood that filled the clearing or stapled to the buildings through either spear or kunai or sword or any other number of weapons.

The ANBU figure watched silently as the sleeping woman tossed about, her mouth opening and closing as if speaking, yet not even a whimper escaping her lips. Obviously, whatever she was dreaming about was not one of the more pleasant ones. At least when she had nightmares, her screams would come as she wanted them to. 'It takes a lot to cause Hoshi Kawahito this much pain and agony. Whatever she is viewing, it must make her normal nightmares seem like the sweetest of dreams.'

"She's knee deep in another one, isn't she?" A voice spoke quietly, causing the ANBU elite to, thankfully hidden, open his eyes wide in surprise. Turning his masked head to the left in a controlled speed, he saw one of Kumogakure's jounins standing against the wall of her bedroom, a toothpick hanging out of his mouth. It was dark enough to hide most of him, but he had made his face visible enough.

"Saishuu…" The masked ninja replied with a level of disappointment in his voice. "…it is not appropriate for you to be in Hoshi-san's room. Please leave." He kept his voice steady yet made sure the authority was prevalent. The addressed ninja, Saishuu, shook he head in annoyance before running a hand through his short red and black hair. "I will take care of Hoshi-san."

"Right, forgot bout that bit lover boy. Whatever, just don't let her start screaming please? The last dream nearly killed her, remember?" Saishuu spoke in a final warning. He could feel the aura around the ANBU commander grow frigid as he spoke. "Right, course you do. Feh…" Saishuu finished before disappearing. The aura around the ANBU warmed immediately as he watched the unwanted jounin leave.

Once again, she stepped carefully as she followed the flows of blood, walking into the larger of the buildings, the central one, and proceeding through the blazing inferno carefully. The heat whipped about her, making the air feel like lava to breathe in, yet she did not falter. Every so often she would cough hoarsely as he throat was scorched by the blazing air, and other times she'd nearly vomit from the metallic stench of the blood that was everywhere, but she persevered through the nightmare. The blood was leading her to something important. At last, she stepped into a very large room, likely belonging to the leader of the massive structure, and watched the scene in front of her with wide eyes. Five massive tendrils of the crimson fluid were wrapping around the mighty pillars in the room, the tips hovering over a central impression that marked the ground. This time, she ran towards the impression, one hand slipping to a kunai. Even though she was sleeping in her nightgown, she knew enough to carry weapons with her. Not many have dreams that can kill the person having them. As she reached the center, she looked down to see, about four feet into the impression, a four year old child lying inside wrapped in cloth and staring in horror at the entire scene that was unraveling. To his side, she saw a crying person beside him, pressing his fingers into the child before looking up, directly up, at Hoshi.

"This child…is innocent. We all are, but he deserves none of your hate!" He spoke furiously, glaring into Hoshi. Before she could react, the man melted into a mass of bubbling blood and covered the child completely. Her mouth managed to open before a bloody tendril whipped into her front and launched her across the room and into a wall. She managed to land in a graceful stance on the wall, using her chakra to staple herself to the side of the room. Flipping to the ground, she watched in silence as the tendrils reached high into the tall room, pressing against the ceiling of the very room before crashing down into the impression, crushing the child within. As soon as she could, she ran to the impression and saw that the blood had sunk through the ground completely and a very flat crimson floor plan, almost as if it was always part of the room, had replaced the crimson sea that had engulfed the room. Glancing around her, she could see the blood drying and melting into the edges of the blood floor, creating a faultless surface that soon covered the floor of the room. Kneeling down at the floor, words began to form in the dried blood.

"Here lies the lost legacy of the Shurajo Clan." Hoshi whispered out. She looked up for a moment, glancing at the scene around her. "Shurajo…that roughly means bloodshed." She paused for a moment and took in a breath before her eye shot open to their fullest extent. From somewhere around her was an emotion that was so powerful, even the hatred of the assailants paled in comparison. She tried to turn and face it but found that she couldn't even move her eyes. She began to struggle to breath against the feeling before she felt a needle like protrusion pierce the back of her right shoulder. A yelp of pain escaped her lips as the needle was quickly withdrawn. She found breathing became easy again, and that her body was no longer frozen in place from the sheer strength of the emotion.

Turning around, Hoshi came face to face with someone that was not there before, staring straight into a pair of eyes that looked like a full moon covered by dark clouds. "Time for you to wake up, dream weaver." He spoke gently, as though he were talking to a close friend, and took her hand in one of his and held his other hand above her hand. "Wake up and warn them, that the last of the Shurajo is coming, that the feared blood ninjas are not dead." With that, blood began to seep from his palm and down onto her's, forming a seal nicely in her hand. The last thing she saw was the smile that he wore on his face and the blood the trickled out of his eyes.

"Hoshi…HOSHI! Calm down!" The ANBU stated with strength as the awakened kunoichi continued to shake and spasm. Hoshi had awakened, and the first thing she had seen was the seal that was on her hand, made from the dried blood of the ninja she had come face to face with. She had stared at it for only a second before reaching her other hand to the place she was pierced in the dream, and coming in contact with a bleeding wound. She brought both hands, now adorned with blood, one dried and the other fresh and in a liquid state, to her face and stared at the before a choked scream escaped her. The following had been a series of fervent mutterings and tossing about. She had instantly begun to kick away the covers of her bed and push up against the headboard of her bed as she went through her nervous breakdown.

"Blood…Blood was everywhere…everywhere…it spoke and curled and came from his eyes…blood everywhere." Hoshi rambled on weakly and with rapid tempo as tried to stop herself from shaking. All this did was cause her to shake even more. "So much blood…so much death…a baby, a mere child…death…he is innocent…BLOOD… it was everywhere…it spoke…it breathed…blood." She suddenly found it was much harder to shake as a pair of arms wrapped around her and held her tightly. She felt her trembling frame pressed firmly against a still one, and a pair of arms wrapped around her entirely to hold her and still her shakes. With the ANBU helping her with her shaking, she started putting her mind back into an organized arrangement. Gradually, she lifted her hand up and stared at the seal on it, eying it fearfully.

"Hoshi-san, breathe." The shinobi could feel her head shaking in response and could hear her begin to calm slowly. Her rapid and coursed breathing turned into a haggard yet subtle one, full breaths slowly filling her lungs as the hysteria began to subside. And as the breathing came back to her, and the panic washed over her, the emotions caught up. Soon she had pressed her face into the shoulder of the person holding her and screamed as loudly as she could, crying hysterically into the shoulder. For an undeterminable amount of time, the ANBU ninja held Hoshi as she let herself go through the waves that her dreams usually carried. No one knew her strength better than he did, and when Hoshi Kawahito broke down and cried, it was a sign that she had been through something no other person would be able to and emerge with their sanity intact.

"Shurajo…Shuurajou…bloodshed." Hoshi muttered as she brought the hand with a seal painted on it to the masked face. She had calmed down considerably, no longer crying as profusely as she had earlier. "Something is waking up…something powerful. Something ancient and…" Hoshi paused as she turned the palm back to herself, glaring at the hand warily. "…something angry."

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Naruto: The Crimson Ninja
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Chapter 1: Imminent Awakening
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------ Raikage's Office ------

Sitting behind his rather ornate desk was a man that the Kumogakure had come to love and cherish. This man was the Rokudaime Raikage, leader of the ninja village of Kumogakure. He was well considered to be the best they've had, or at least much better than the Yodaime and Godaime had been. It was those two combined that turned the once unrivalled Kumo into one of the biggest jokes in the way of the ninja. Kumo ninjas used to be considered some of the strongest, comparable even to Konohagakure and Kirigakure. The primary reason for this failure to sustain greatness laid in the fact that the ruling government for Lightning Country was a very greedy and influential group of people. They would pull funds from whatever he wanted and made sure that their reputation (and their very "taskforce") kept those people silent.

When the Rokudaime came into power, he left an impression with the leader of Lightning Country. It was a simple message that carried a very heavy strength to it. No one specifically knew what it was that he had done to change the mind of the leader, but it was well enough to change the way income was spent for the country. It also earned him a bit of a famous disposition with villagers and ninjas alike. Kumogakure was once again producing Genin and Chounin that pushed the bill extensively, and even though they were still growing in strength from their time of weakness, few chose to bother them.

Kumogakure's leader, the mighty Rokudaime, is considered to be a hero to many of his village. The aspiration to even serve under him is one of the village's strongest motivators into the field of becoming a shinobi. And as of now, he was sitting in his office after just waking up, listening to one of the village's best assets explain to him that a dream was the first sign of the coming Apocalypse. Considering the Kage had only just stepped into his office and sat down, and had yet to even properly greet his personal assistant, he was very unsure of how to address the information and even less sure of how to address the pertaining situation.

"Let me get this straight…you have a bad dream and suddenly we're all going to die?" The Raikage stated bluntly, gazing at Hoshi with a very flat based gaze.

"It really isn't as simple as that, but in a nutshell that explains it." Hoshi replied flatly. "Kondetsu-sama…I know this dream is one that pertains to the past but I'm sure that this is a sign of what is approaching. He…"

A long sigh escaped Kondetsu's mouth as he pushed his Raikage headwear up so he could see a little more clearly. His face was a rough one, looking well aged and defined. His eyes were a strong hue of amber, and at this point bore the image of someone who had not gotten enough sleep. Even though it was clear that he was an older man, his face looked well kept. He stretched his arms out and pressed them down onto the desk in front of him as he considered what information was given to him, wondering how he should act upon it. Anything hasty would end badly, possibly even in full scale ninja war. 'Considering Konoha is at war with those fakes from Sound…Any stupid action would look like an invasion. I'm not going to risk a war. Not yet at least.'

"Listen Kawahito…as much as I believe your dreams are important…this one sounds like it was just a bad nightmare. Like monsters hiding in the closet and the boogieman." The Kage stated rather dismissively.

"I know what a nightmare is. I have them every time I sleep. I also know enough to tell a simple nightmare from a premonition-"

"You said it yourself." Kondetsu interrupted quickly. "You saw a past event. A past event that you can't even tell me anything about other than a name and a depiction of a massacre." He added with a tinge of impatience, brining one of his large hands to rub his eyes. "Regardless Kawahito…we cannot look in on this. If what you said is true, then this place should in all likelihood be on an island just off the east coast of Fire Country. The last thing I need is to give Konoha and the Hokage a reason to believe we are invading them…especially with the current war their already have going. And yes, Kawahito…our ninjas on any soil near Fire Country would look suspicious." He didn't leave a lot of leeway in his voice, making sure each point he made was a firm one.

"Then send a delegate to Konoha and discuss the options with them!"

"That may very well instigate bad emotions with the Sound ninjas. Again, a war would be a bad thing. And this would take time and negotiations which would further illustrate a potential alliance between us and Konoha. What if Kirigakure believes we are aligning ourselves with the Leaf? Right now, the best thing to do is to stay unconcerned."

Hoshi let out an agitated breathe as she brushed away some of her dark blue hair from her eyes, rubbing her forehead tenderly with her hand. Twin bangs of her long hair descended along each side of her face, resting against he shoulders snugly. She was currently wearing a traditional kimono at the time, with extended sleeves that hid her hands within the fine fabric. The bow that adorned the rear of her was small and simplistic in nature, further giving off an image of an elevated level of importance. Around her neck laid the protector that all ninja's are given, the fine steel bearing the mark of Cloud on it. Closing her eyes for only a moment, Hoshi reopened them and fixated her strong blue eyes on the Raikage, a newfound determination lingering within them.

"Kondetsu-sama…this is important. What I saw is something angry. Not just in image, but to its very core. This thing…or person…was angry."

"From what it sounds like the dream is about, that's understandable. I still, however, fail to see how a hunch is worth risking open war." Kondetsu countered once more, firmly shutting down her arguments. "Now, if there is not anything else Kawahito…I would like some time to actually wake up. You have the day off regardless, so go enjoy yourself and try and put this behind you." With that, the stilled fatigued Raikage raised a hand and pointed it towards the door. A miserable sigh came out of Hoshi as she found herself walking towards the door in defeat. "Oh…let Matsu know that I'll be in for ramen today. I feel like getting out." Hoshi paused for a moment, her left eye twitching once before she nodded softly.

"Of course, I'll let him know for you." She replied. 'And to make sure he puts enough wasabii in it to kill a small army.' She mentally added before stepping out of the Raikage's room. With the room empty, Kondetsu paled quite heavily as he reached for a secret compartment in his desk and pulled out a rather ancient notebook.

'Shurajo…can it be the same as…no…They were exterminated over one hundred and fifty years ago. That bloodline and its demons are long dead now.'

------ Kumogakure, Outside the Raikage's Building ------

"A nightmare…I know a nightmare from a reading dream. I know that when I can feel the killing intent of a person in a dream that it's real enough." Hoshi muttered quietly as she stormed away.It was not an often event that she got angry like this, but the situations like these tend to get to her. And when the one person that trusted her dreams to keep the village safe considered her as only having a crazy nightmare, it tended to leave a bad mark on her mood.

"Trouble in paradise?" A voice called from behind her. Hoshi whipped her head around to look into the eyes of the self-titled "Numbah 1 Ninja!" in Kumo. This was the jounin known as Saishuu Aburin, also called "The Lightning Aburin." The latter was actually a name earned by his antics. He was a very difficult person to ignore and he reveled in the fact. He was an individual of fair size, standing taller than Hoshi by a good bit, and had a rather athletic build to him. He wore the Kumo Jounin gi proudly, a sleeveless cloth gi that is fastened around the waist by a traditional tie. The gi itself is dark grey in hue with a dark golden trim adorning it, and a dark golden tie used to fasten it. The gi is very light and, while not clinging to the body, it does stay closer to a ninja's frame. Within the gi are hidden pockets were various tools can be stored. He had a pair of white training pants worn, indicating that he was either supposed to be training his team or had already gotten through with the training. Under his jounin gi he wore a skintight black under layer that was normally worn by all jounins in the village. His protector was fastened around his left shoulder nicely, proudly showing off the Kumogakure symbol. His most glaring feature, however, was a black bandana firmly tied on his forehead, with obnoxiously long tails to it. The bandana read "the number 1" on it, once again showing just how full of himself Saishuu could be.

"Sai-chan…what brings you out this early?" Hoshi replied subtly, watching as Saishuu frowned at the name.

"Sai-chan…erk…couldn't at least be something that pertains to my gender? Anything?" Shaking his head, Saishuu walked up beside Hoshi and put a rather big smile on his face. "After all, the number one can't be getting called chan all the time. Even if it is by you."

"Prove you're number one in something other than drinking contests, and I'll stop calling you chan." Hoshi said with a sly grin, causing Saishuu to run a hand through his short and completely unkempt red and black hair and wear a face of mock pain.

"Ouch…Hoshi-chaaan…do you have to be so wounding?" When he noticed that she had not responded, Saishuu turned his brown eyes to his friend in a speculative fashion. "That dream last night…it wasn't a dream was it?" She turned to face Saishuu, wearing a warning glare within her eyes. "You think King ANBU was the only one who checked in on you?" Saishuu spoke with a bit more solid of a tone.

"I…" Hoshi began before giving her head a sharp shake. "I need something to drink." At that, Saishuu's face cracked into a huge smile.

"Hoshi-chan, you've come to the right person than. Away we go!" Saishuu proclaimed loudly as he marched off towards the nearest bar. Hoshi let her left eyebrow raise in question before giving her head a single shake.

"You found me, baka." She spoke exasperatedly before catching up. The fact that it was just cracking into morning usually didn't stop Saishuu from finding an open bar. Some tend to think bars opened in the morning simply because of Saishuu and his odd habit of drinking to any event. Any.

------ Raikage's Office ------

"That is why you will be going on this mission, Mekura. You'll take these two ANBU members with you, and you are by no means to say anything to your captain." Kondetsu spoke, handing him a scroll. Mekura, the ANBU being addressed, turned his head to one of his subordinates, a man wearing a bear mask, who took the scroll in his place.

Mekura was in full ANBU garb, with his black and grey combat armor securely tightened to his body to fit his slim form and the form hugging combat pants. His arm guards, to illustrate his position, were dark grey with a black trim and bore the spiral symbol of ANBU on them. Unlike his subordinates behind him, his body was entirely covered in skintight under layer, a hue of dark grey akin to tempestuous clouds, leaving none of his skin visible. Along with his mask he wore a hood that wrapped nicely around his head, leaving no hair apparent on his body. The mask he wore bore the image of a wolf, indicating further his second in command status. He had has hands tightly shut and his arms crossed over his chest as he stood before the Raikage.

"You would have me deceive my commander. I must ask why he is not part of this."

Ignoring the question, Kondetsu walked back to his desk and sat down. "This is important and requires delicate handling. You can receive the mission details from your underlings. You report to me and ONLY me on this. If your captain asks where you are going, inform him it is a special training exercise." Deciding that questions where going no where, Mekura gave a single nod to Kondetsu before turning towards his followers and proceeding to exit. "I will have you know, Mekura. Any failure in this could bring the war to us quite quickly. That would endanger Kawahito as well as this entire village. Knowing that, I leave this to your capable shoulders."

"You shall know only success, Rokudaime." Mekura replied firmly before walking out of the room. The ANBU threesome began to descend down the larger spiraling staircase that lead to the top of the Raikage's Tower and to his office, prompting Mekura to twitch his head at the member of the team that took the scroll.

"Yes Mekura-sama." He replied, opening the scroll. "We are to proceed to an island off the east coast of Fire. There we are to investigate a series of ruins and verify that there is no activity commencing within the ruins. Further more, if there is any to specify, we are to remain as observers and relay the information to the Raikage, not initiate in combat against any peoples that may be there."

"I believe that island does not belong to Fire…" the ANBU member to Mekura's left added gruffly. This member wore a mask that represented a fox.

"Further more, if we come into contact with any kind of odd chakra, we are to vacate immediately and report to the Raikage with any details into the nature of this chakra." The bear mask finished as he rolled the scroll up. "This sounds like simple recon. Why are they sending out a team of three when one can handle this with ease?" He questioned while he passed the scroll to his fox masked partner.

"That location is close to Fire and Mist, meaning that there is worry of provoking suspicion. Perhaps they want a group of three to adequately make sure that all of the area is covered. Three can notice what one might not." Mekura dictated with a commanding tone. "Further more, where is it our place to question our orders and our mission? We depart in twenty minutes, make sure you have everything prepared and meet outside village gate. Dismissed." There was no leeway in his voice, and as the last word exited his mouth, the other ANBU had disappeared from site.

"Odd chakra?" Mekura spoke once as he let his head hang a little. "And no reporting to the commander. This is definitely not a simple recon mission." With that, he slipped out of the tower and went about preparation.

------ Island East of Fire ------

In the center of the island was very extravagant mountain that reached into the air with an open peak that looked as though the earth was trying to kiss the sky. While the mountain was not a tall one by comparison, it was a very large one, taking up a grand portion of the island. All along this mountain grew beautiful trees that had several path-like lines that ran straight from the base to the peak. From the base of the mountain, the forest seemed so thick that it almost appeared to be a wall of nature. The peak itself curved inwards, leading down into a deep impression that was adorned with a second sea of trees, all of which filled the clearing save for the same several paths that led up the side of the mountain, which now lead to the central portion of the concave summit. Inside the center was a decent sized hill that had a single staircase that led into what was undoubtedly at one time a very beautiful and illustrious village or castle.

Now, all it housed were ruins and ashes, the ground stained a dry crimson from the event that claimed it. The entire landscape bore the marks that depicted bloodshed. Not the kind of bloodshed that was spilt during a battle or a war. This was the kind of bloodshed that was drawn from a massacre. This was a bloodshed spilt when a slaughter took place.

In the center of the largest building in this village was a cracked open dome that lay directly in the center of the summit, peering straight into the endless sky. Inside the broken dome was a floor of crimson hue that was engulfed in the metallic stench of dried blood, the walls singed and burned away to leave a broken remnant of what was most certainly once a beautiful and thriving community. Were one to focus, they would hear no birds chirping or no animals frolicking in the surrounding forest. In fact, even the slight breeze that ruffled the mountain side refused to enter the summit and rustle the leaves of even the outer most trees. The surrounded forest was as devoid of animal life as the ruins that graced the center of it.

Within this blood colored central chamber, there was nothing short of faultlessness with it, a perfect slate of blood red stone that hadn't a single line or chip within it. It was almost as though the floor was blood red glass. At the exact center of the room, in the center of the blood red, glass like floor, a single crack appeared. It wasn't a huge one, or even a large one to be precise, but there was a crack there where there had not been mere moments ago.

And from the crack came a small, outward trickle of blood.

A/N: And there we go. The opening to the revived Blood Ninja project. With the start of this, I hope to build a bit of suspense to begin with, trying to create a scene of mystery for the beginning. The lack of actual Naruto characters may detour some people, but worry not. They'll show up within the next chapter and on. I wanted to establish the existence of Kumogakure to begin with, and hopefully this chapter succeeded in that. So far, you have witnessed a small sample of some of the characters that are original in this. Saishuu Aburin, Hoshi Kawahito, Kondetsu and Mekura all rank as original characters and as I continue, you'll be introduced to more. And as for the namesake of this story, you'll get to know him soon enough. Peace!