Chapter One: A Vivid Past

"Well, well, well…you've finally made it. I have to say that I didn't think you'd make it this far. Congratulations." stated the browned haired boy.

He started to clap mockingly. Haru burst out.

"Enough small talk!"

Tai stepped forward.

"This is it for you, the end of the line. It all ends here!" he exclaimed.

He pointed at the older teen and glared. The boy smiled.

"Don't get cocky Tai…after all, things aren't always what they seem." He flashed a smirk at Katsuye.

"What do you mean?" said Tai

Just then Katsuye began walking toward the older boy.

"Huh" said both Haru and Mailing in confusion.

Tai's facial expression dropped.

"Wha…wha…what are you doing Katsuye?" asked Tai, concerned.

Katsuye stood side by side the brown haired boy, a look of dignity and accomplishment on his face. Everyone seemed stunned by his sudden change in allegiance. Why on earth was he standing next to someone who had put them through so much. The person they each despised the most. The enemy. It didn't make any sense. Mailing's eyes went wide as a flashback ran through her mind. It was the day Katsuye had fought Shehum. He had been injured badly. Shehum had told him he was pathetic and offered him the chance to join Shadow as a way of getting stronger. Strong enough to kill the one he hated the most, Koichi. His own brother. After Shehum left Katsuye had said, " What on earth have I been doing these past eight years. Afterall that training I wasn't even able to lay a scratch on my opponent. However, by beating me here he's shown be what I am. I'm an avenger. To follow my path I must have power… at any price, even if it means being consumed by evil." Mailing came back to reality. That's what he had said, and now it seemed as though he was going through with it. But why?

Hadn't his friends showed him enough support, that they would help him take down Koichi. Hadn't Tai bet his life on it? What was going on. Katsuye smiled and thrust his arm toward the sky.

" What am I doing you ask….something I should have done a long time ago Tai!" spat Katsuye boldly a wide smile across his face.

Tai could see what was about to happen judging by the tone of Katsuye's voice, the look in his eyes, and that grin. He looked so… so… so full of hate.

" No Katsuye don't!" he pleaded.

But it was too late. A dark stream of lightning echoed its way down from the starry abyss above. The brown haired boy smiled in success.

" At long last, he's mine," he said to himself.

The bolt of electricity struck Katsuye, unleashing a sudden surge of energy. A shockwave rotated outward from his position, picking up dust and rocks from the surrounding area, swirling them into a vortex that seemed to engulf the entire plateau. Tai and the others braced themselves and were forced to shield their eyes. A dark aura now seemed to overtake Katsuye's body and black markings began to appear all over his arms and face. His chakra turned to a purplish black color and was now visible to the human eye. He had finally done what Tai and Professor Shiokawa had warned him not to do. He had submitted to his anger and want for revenge, and openly accepted the powers of darkness.

The wind began to settle down and the debris came back into place. The group looked on with mixed emotions. Haru, Akira, Ryo, and Alec all seemed to be glaring at him with malice. Mailing and Kisune both looked fearful and concerned about their friends turn to the dark side. Tai was the only boy not glaring. His eyes reflected a certain degree of compassion. He looked so sad…so hurt…so…confused. Mailing caught a glimpse of him and her head dropped in sorrow. All of then had been through so much together, they had overcome so many obstacles, yet now… Now, Katsuye, one of their closest friends and fellow comrades stood on the side of the enemy. It was as if the entire planet had flipped upside down and each of their existences seemed questioned. She broke out into tears.

" Why Katsuye…why?!"

This caught everyone's attention and they all turned to face her. The tears were rolling down her face.

"What's wrong with you Katsuye…why are you doing this? Don't you care about us anymore?" She looked at him with anger and sorrow.

He looked down, a feeling of guilt overcoming him.

Mailing continued, " We saw you as a friend, someone to rely on, someone we could trust. We shared a bond Katsuye, all of us. Don't you even care about that?"

The atmosphere began to feel gloomy and the urge to cry was overwhelming. Tears started forming in everyones eyes.

"All of us have been through so much together," she went on.

A series of flashbacks ran through Katsuye's mind, everyone's for that matter.

"We cared about you, doesn't that matter. We put our lives on the line for you and this is how you repay us? I even…I…I," she fought to say it.

"I loved you!" she managed to spit out.

That was it. The one word that could touch everyone, no matter how evil. Something about love, something about what she said sliced it's way deep into the hearts of everyone present, even their greatest foe. A tear trickled down Katsuye's face and his shoulders began to shake. Everyone was crying. Mailing's words had cut deeper than any blade ever could. A feeling of confidence and determination rose up inside of her.

"Did you hear me Katsuye? I loved you!"

At that point she broke completely down. Katsuye's eyes went wide in shock. Had he just herd right? Did Mailing just pronounce her love for him?

" I..." he couldn't speak. As the tears pured from his eyes a look of longing swept across his face.

The boy with the brown hair started getting a litte agitated. He could see the change in Katsuye. He could sense the emotions rising. Emotions he had worked so hard to get rid of. Stupid little feelings with no meaning. Now this girl, after uttering just a few centimental words, was bringing them back. If he wasn't careful even he might himself would be swamped in tears. What was it about this girl. Why did her words have so much affect. He turned to face Katsuye.

"Don't listen to her Katsuye. She's just trying to hold you back, they all are. They don't want to see you succeed. They want your power, and they'll do anything to get it. Love is nothing but a word. It has no meaning to you whatsoever, and neither do they. They're not your friends anymore. Now do what must be done and eliminate them!"

Katsuye faught back the tears and extended his blade. Just then Haru burst out, breaking the emotional silence that had covered the group, " Katsuye...you bastard. Afterall we've done for you. After Tai risked his life for you. Even after Mailing declared her love for you, all you can manage to do is stand there and draw your weapon. Would you really stoop so low as to hurst one of us...one of your friends?"

Katsuye just looked at him blankly," If it comes to that...than yes." His words were long and cold.

"Why I oughta..." started Haru. His chakra began to swell, turning into flames around his fist.

Tai interupted, " Haru don't. We can't blame him for..." Haru cut back in.

"No Tai. I won't hold back this time. Ever sense day one I knew there was something about him I didn't like. But I kept my cool, for you. But he's gone to far this time. I think it's about time for him to pay for all the crap he's put us through."

The flames surrounding his clenched fist intensified.

Katsuye spoke softly," If you decide to attack me...I won't hold back. Anything that happens to you will be your own fault." He stated warningly.

Haru smirked and closed his eyes, " awww...for a minute there I though you were concerned."

"I can assure you...I'm NOT!" shot back Katsuye cruely.

Haru re-opened his eyes.

"Have it your way then. I just hope your ready to die." Katsuye spoke matter of factly.

"Stop trashtalking and fight me. And the only person who'll be dieing is you...you calm-collected, over confident son of a bitch!!!" Haru was on the brink of tears, as he made a break for Katsuye.

Tai yelled out, " Haru no!!!"

"No Tai. This is for you, for everyone. It's high time I silence this arrogant bastard once and for all."

He continued charging. Anger, fear, passion, even sorrow burned in his eyes.

"This is it," he thought. "Katsuye!!!!!!!" His fist was only inches away from Katsuye's face.

At that exact moment Katsuye's special ability, the Kaitomi, activated. Time and space seemed to slow down for him. His pupil dialated. He could suddenly see Haru's movement so clearly. He could predict and anticipate his attack to the smallest detail. He could...

"I can see!!!!" he yelled.

This caught Haru off guard, "Huh"

He sent his fist for Katsuye's face but he had been ready for it. Katsuye slipped to the side slightly and grabbed Haru's wrist in the proccess, stopping his punch. Haru had figured that Katsuye would use his Kaitomi to anticipate his moves. That's why his first move was a diversion. he brought his left hand around for a second swing.

"So that's how you want to do things. I see..." Katsuye thought to himself. "To slow"

He moved out of the way. Haru smiled, " Oh really?" He turned and brought his knee for Katsuye's gut, but he had blocked it by raising his own knee. The two were neck in neck, with neither side faltering in the least.

Katsuye sent his fist for haru's face, but he dodged it by side stepping to the right. Haru brought his fist forward, aiming for Katsuye's left eye. " If I can injure one of his eyes, then the Kaitomi will be useless." he pondered.

Of course Katsuye had already read his movement and moved out of the way, all the while grabbing Haru's wrist and thrusting it behind him. The force threw Haru off balance and before he could counter he found his entire arm stuck in a tree. Katsuye suddently appeared right behind him. Haru turned slightly to face him and caught a glimpse of one of his eyes. They had turned red and three distinct markings, similar to those of the one's on his body had appeared on each of them. One of the pupils dialated and a look of terror found it's way onto Haru's face. He could see himself dieing and his friends with him. "What is this, where am I ?" It was as if he had entered an alternate world. Instead of dieing instantly as one normally would, each of their deaths were drawn out and seemed repetitive. In that world what seemed like days ammounted to only a few seconds in real life. Haru snapped back to reality, exhausted.

Katsuye gripped Haru by his shoulders and pulled him out of the tree. He moved his hands so that he was holding Haru's wrists and spun him toward the group, who were looking on bedazzled.

"The next time you decide to attack, try actually hitting me." and with that Katsuye tossed him through the air.

Haru eventually touched ground and slid the rest of the way, landing at Tai's feet. A large dustcloud had been uprooted in his wake. Everyone gasped. Tai stood frozen to the spot, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Had Katsuye just openly attacked Haru, with no hesitation at all. He tossed him aside like it was nothing. Akira was now glaring at him.

"So you think you can just abandon your friends and join the enemy. You think you're gonna get away with this. Well ya thought wrong, because there's no way were letting you go that easily. Not after all we've been through."

He made a series of handsigns and jumped into the air.

"Ice Coffin!!!" The air surrounding Katsuye's body started to cool and Ice began forming around him. For some strange reason though, he didn't seemed phased, even in the slightest. Tai couldn't manage to say anything to stop Akira from completing the jutsu. The sight of Katsuye actually attempting to kill Haru had shaken him to his core.

Akira smirked, " Later Katsuye." he clenched his fist and the Ice seemed to close in on Katsuye's body crushing him. "Artic Burial!!"

Just as the ice was about to completely collapse inward Katsuye's chakra rotated outward, shattering it into hundreds of pieces. This was just the edge Akira needed. He used his chakra to take contorl of the shattered pieces and transformed them into objects that resembled kunai.

"Block this!! Not even your chakra is strong enough to repel this jutsu."

Akira made several more handsigns with mind blowing speed, " Crystal Ice Dagger Justsu!!!"

Tai finally managed to speak, " Akira don't!!" he screamed. For he knew the devastating and deadly consequences of that jutsu.

Each ice shard sped toward Katsuye, encirling him. When they hit, he would die. Apparently even he knew the repercusions of not acting quickly. Within seconds he appeared just inches behind were the ice collided. The force of the attack caused the ice to break into even smaller pieces. Akira was in awe. "How in the hell did he move out of the way so quickly?"

Before he could make any more handsigns, Katsuye had used his chakra to take control of the ice. He spun the shattered, glasslike, fragments around his body. He used his powers to manipulate the Hydrogen and Oxygen molecules in the air and bonded them together to form water, which he used to coat each of the shards. The added water caused each one to grow larger, until all of them were the size of stalagmites. He glared at Akira with a look of eerie calm. The ice stopped spinning around him and flew at Akira.

Akira's eyes went wide. "He managed to repel my strongest jutsu, but how..."

The ice was moving way to fast for him to even hope of dodging normally. If he used his chakra to create a wall of ice to defend, it would only be broken, due to the velocity at which the shards were coming at him. He had to think fast. One certaintly can;t dodge in midair, especially not a jutsu of this calliber. So what to do. Then it hit him, if he timed it just right he might be able to get out of the way in time.

"Here goes. ROTATION!!" Akira's body began to spin rapidly and although he knew it wouldn't repel the ice as it did most attacks, it would manipulate the air currents around him in a way that would allow him to roll out of the way.

He was spinning so fast that he was able to glide out of the way. Just in time to. The first shard came just centimeters to hitting him and the rest were on their way. "If any of these things touch me, im a gonner."

He sped up his rotation and managed to move only inches ahead of each fragment of ice moments before it struck him. He finally landed on the ground and leaned on a nerby piece of ice. They looked like gigantic isicles embedded in the ground.

"You'll have to do better than that Katsuye." Akira spoke with confidence as if he were taunting him.

Katsuye smirked, " but i'm not done yet," he said cooly.

Suddenly the ice Akira was leaning on shattered into thousands of pieces. Akira was to close to do anything, not even rotation would help him. He was sent flying through the air, blood trickling down each of the wounds the artificial glass made in him. Katsuye appeared behind him and kicked him across the plain.

Akira slammed into the same tree Haru had punched a hole in earlier. Blood spat out his mouth and his eyes seemed to role into the back of his head. The others appeared frightened and each of them looked on in horror. Akira slid down the tree and hit the ground, face first. The hole Haru had made was huge now, enlargened by his impact.

Katsuye stood there grinning at his old friends. This was to much to handle. Katsuye wasn't even using a fraction of his power, yet he was picking them off like flies. Even Akira, the second strongest on their squad had fallen easily. katsuye hadn't even broken a sweat yet. He made it seem so easy. It was as if he was playing with them. How could this be the same person who had just minutes ago swore to gelp take down Shadow. It was unbelievable. Tai tried to fight back the tears but they worked their way through anyway, independet of his will.

"Katsuye!!!"

Katsuye stopped smiling and looked at him.

"What?" he asked mockingly. "Don't you like what I've become. Afterall Tai, you were always encouraging me to get stronger so that when the day finally arrived that you and I would have our showdown it would be a good fight. Didn't you?"

Hey readers. This is my first original fan fic ever, and I hope you all enjoyed chapter one. It ends in a bit of a cliff hanger but it makes you want to keep going. at least i hope it does. I've been writing for awhile now but this is the first time i've tried my hand at an actual fic.the idea has been in my head for so many months now, since last summer in fact. I just never got arround to writing it. Chapter 1 has been in my notebook for like a month now. A friend told me i have major skills at writing and should post this on here. I said wat da heck, midas well. I hope u all loved it. the fight scenes were hard to careograph , let alone write. i hope they didnt seem to cheesy. I've borrowed some words from naruto, which is not owned by me, but shonen jump and viz media. Chakra just seemed so good, and several of the jutsu's have been used on the show, just different names. As u can probably tell, several characters are based on naruto characters. Katsuye for example looks and sounds exactly like sasuke, accept he has long hair. I renamed sharingan Kaitomi, youll foind out why latter in the story. so again i hope u liked, and please review. i beg you!!!!