Chapter One: Dust and Echoes

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The Jounin looked up, wheezing from the large gash across his chest plate. It was cracked, and one of his lungs had collapsed. He grasped it weakly, looking at the masses of Samurai in front of him. His three man cell had been instantly over powered- Not out witted, by any means, but when it's five samurai to one Shinobi... Well, it's not difficult to get the big picture.


"You..." He sputtered weakly, attempting to stand up, only to have one of the Samurai kicked him back down with a leering grin. "You can't do this…" He choked on a chunk of bone from his chest. He clutched it more tightly, closing his eyes in angry determination as he tried to stand up again. "You can't delete our way of life!" The Jounin barely managed to block the next kick with his free arm. He had to get back to Godaime, to tell her. Even he if he died doing it… He had too. The needs of many would once again overrule the needs of one.

"We can, and we have. The Way of the Shinobi is no more." One of the Samurai stated, her voice annoyed. She was obviously the leader, judging from her commanding tone, and the blood red Oyoroi she wore. "You, for claiming the title, are to be killed on the spot for such treachery." The Jounin looked at the woman, no, the monster. The monster that had a key role in condemning them all… He made a rush at her, using the last of his strength to head butt her, to no avail.

With insane ease, the Samurai roughly pushed him to his knees, drawing her katana…. He was too weak to continue. The loss of blood and the pain from his chest plate and lung were over whelming. Too much for him… This meant… He had failed. He had failed in wife, his son… Konohagakure no sato… All of the hidden villages. All of them. He had failed the way of the Shinobi. His very way of life…

"No… Damn…" He wheezed, pulling out his kunai in enough time to stop her perfectly swung blade from slicing his head open. He would not fail the way of the Shinobi. The Jounin thrust his knife upward, using his chakra to, at least temporarily, inflate his lung and solidify his shattered bones. There were still massive amounts of pain, but… At least now he could move.

He pushed the sword out of his way, quickly spinning on his heel to block other swords that were attempting to cut him. He was acting about like a caged tiger, but if that kept him alive long enough to pass his vital information on… then so be it. One katana managed to nick his shoulder, making him grimace in the slight pain. He hated that he had depleted his chakra to the point the couldn't even manage a simple Shadow Possession Jutsu…

"Stop! This one's mine!" The woman Samurai yelled angrily, slashing at one of her own men, cutting off his sword-arm, mercilessly. Apparently, he was the one who had managed to land a hit on the Shinobi. The disobedient Samurai screamed, falling back onto his rear, staring at his squirting stub… His arm laid on the ground in front of him, still clasping tightly to the katana's hilt.

Ignoring this, the Jounin slashed at a one of the male Samurai, who had begun to back away from him, as if he had the plague. He had just cut one's Kimono front, when he felt something cold pierce his back. At first, he didn't feel pain, he could ignore it, save for the minor discomfort.. Then, the cold piecing feeling began to burn, and grow larger, as it was shifted around in circles, then ripped down to exit by way of kidney. Due to blood loss, it took him a bit to realize he had just been stabbed in his shoulder, then ripped through, leaving him nearly torsoless.

"No." Was his croaky whisper as he fell to his knees, the warm gush of blood running down his side, back, and legs. It was too much for his body, and his chakra was exhausted, there was nothing more he could do. He couldn't even hold his in his organs; his intestines fell to the ground, dragging other pleasantries out with them. For the first time, he glanced over to the side, looking at the slashed, and decapitated bodies of his comrades. Their heads where in bags, that some of the Samurai were holding, blood seeping out the bottom.

"Naara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, Akimichi Choza… Your sentences of death for claiming to be Shinobi had been carried out." The woman Samurai pulled her blade out of his back, using her foot to push him the rest of the way down. The Katana's blade gleamed red in the moonlight, trails of the Shinobi's blood running down it.

"Sumimasen…" He whispered weakly, apologizing to his village, to his wife, but most of all, apologizing to his son. He looked again at the contorted bodies of Choza and Inoichi… And now he couldn't carry on what they had died for… They had died in vain, because he wasn't strong enough. He would have given anything, in order to give them a second chance…. He could at least, try, couldn't he?

Shikaku, the Jounin, made an attempt to stand back up, but the Samurai kept her foot lodged in place on his back, not allowing that. He snarled angrily, finally letting his body fall to the ground, for the last time. "Damn you Shiko."

"Forgive me, Shikaku, forgive me Konoha." Was her comment, thought it didn't sound very remorseful. Only he seemed to hear it, as the katana gracefully cut through the air, and his neck. Calm as ever, she picked up the Naara's head by his ponytail, dropping it into the bag tied to her hip. Blood immediately pooled at the bottom, just like it had on Inoichi's and Choza's. Squatting at Shikakus bodies side, she slid her hand into his Ninja pouch, pulling out a scroll. Standing back up, she looked at her men, whom were pale, terrified at her ruthless behavior. "What the hell are you all staring at? Move the bodies off the road, and bury them!"

This woman, was Kashi Shiko, current captain of the team of Samurai Shinobi-hunters. Known for her ruthless and merciless behavior, few people tried to contradict her actions... One would be lucky only to lose an arm...

With grace only a woman could have, she pulled the head bag off her belt, tossing it to one of the men. "Put their head's on spikes, outside the Lord's home, with the others. They are Konoha Shinobi… So, make sure they can be seen especially well, you know, as this is Ho no Kuni."

No longer caring what the fellow Samurai did, she turned to the scroll in her bloody hands, breaking the seal, and opening it. Hmm, perfect, she had managed to intercept it before the team had managed to hand if off to another Shinobi… This gave them time.
It was pathetic, how Team Ino, Shika, and Cho, had failed their mission. It fueled her disgust for Shinobi even more, as she had been expecting, no, hoping, to have an excuse to kill more of them.

The fools had failed to deliver possibly the most important message of their generation:
'On this day, it has been declared, as an order to keep peace, that all Shinobi, in all Countries, have been disbanded. Any who claim this title, are to be killed on the spot for treason against their Lord.'

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A/N: If you have to listen to music while you read this, a goods song would be, 'Odno I To Zheng' by T.a.t.u and Ramenstein... It's the main theme song of this story, so any time there's a major fight scene that is a part of the war, that would be the song to listen to. That's what I listened to to write it.

Shikaku, Inoichi, and Choza are Shikamaru, Ino's, and Chouji's Father's.

Pairings are NaruIno, ShikaTema, TenNeji, HinaShino... If you have a pairing you'd like to see played out, then post it in your review. I don't want to see any one put NaruSaku, NaruHina or TenLee, ShikaIno, or etc. They have already been placed. Only still free characters can be paired.

Translations:

Oyoroi: The suite of Armor Samurai wear, that has the huge ass helm.

Sumimasen: I am sorry.

Ho no Kuni: Fire country

A/N End.