Chapter 2: Enveloped in Darkness

Yuuki let out a yawn as he walked through the roads. He raised a small cloud of dust with every step he took, as the road was an old road, one of the oldest in The shadow village. He ran a hand through his blonde hair and walked on. He turned around a corner and hopped over a small crack in the road. He turned around another corner and found a hazel eyed girl waiting for him.

"Yuuki! Yuuuuuuuuuuukiiiiiiiiiiiii!" she shouted.

"Eh?" Yuuki looked at her in a daze. She was beautiful, and Yuuki suddenly felt attracted to the girl.

"Hi, I'm Karei! I just wanted to say hi to you, because I've seen you around a lot and never talked to you!" Karei said.

"Oh, uh, Hi." Yuuki replied. She was really enthusiastic about this…

"So, how are you?"

"I'm fine. What about you?"

"Well, my friends and I went shopping, and I found this GORGEOUS pair of earrings, and I just HAD to have them, but they were out of stock…" Karei continued like this for a while. Yuuki grew bored after a while and decided to change subject.

"So, Karei, are you walking with me then?" he asked.

"Oh…Uh…Sure!" she said. The two walked together and talked about random things, like the history of the village and how one day they would bring light back and things like that.

Yuuki stopped suddenly. Karei bumped into him.

"OW! Why did you do tha-" Karei started, but was silenced by Yuuki's hand. She stopped and suddenly grew wary.

"Stay here." Yuuki ordered. "I'll be back in a second."

"Oh…Ok." Karei nodded.

Yuuki gave her a nod, then broke off into a run down the road.

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"Lady, give me your money now. I don't want to have to use this…" the figure said. He pulled out a sword that glinted.

"Please…Don't hurt me…" the lady begged. The man smiled. He was wearing a full black ninja outfit, with fishnet mail on his shirt and around his knees. He wore 3 kunai holsters, and a large sword sheath was strapped to his back.

"Good. Now give me the money."

The lady held out her purse, handing it to the man.

"I'd give that back if I were you." said a voice from behind the man.

"Oh? And why should I do that?" replied the man, spinning around. He came face to face with Yuuki's sword at his chest.

"Bad things happen when you rob, you know." Yuuki said, glaring at the man.

"Come on then kid, lets dance!" shouted the man, pulling out a kunai. He parried Yuuki's blade, then jumped back. Yuuki jumped back, and clasped his sword firmly.

Yuuki's sword was made of black steel, with a hand guard and hilt of gold. The edge of his blade was trimmed with gold to. The sheath hang on his belt loosely, with a strap around his shoulder for support. The sheath was a simple, but tough, cloth, sewn at the sides to make a carry case.

The man rushed towards Yuuki, aiming for a jab. Yuuki sidestepped and hit the man in the pelvis area with a hard punch. The thief stumbled, and Yuuki kicked him to the floor. He placed his sword to the man's neck.

"Give the lady her purse." Yuuki demanded, pressing his sword slightly into the mans' neck. Quickly, the man rolled over and kicked Yuuki in the chin with a high kick, then got to his feet quickly.

"Kid, you have no idea how annoying this is." he grunted, before pulling out a long sword. He charged at Yuuki, who had just recovered.

"No way!" Yuuki yelled, as the mans' blade collided with his. Yuuki pushed him away, and went for a slice at the chest. The man quickly parried of the attack, and went to jab Yuuki in the heart. The blonde quickly sidestepped, and did a 360 spin, ending with a slice. The man jumped back quickly, landing gracefully.

"Who are you?" Yuuki asked, breathing hard.

"Someone you shouldn't have messed with." he replied, charging again at the blonde. Yuuki leaped over the man with a high jump, and landed behind him. He tripped the man up with a leg sweep, and then went to stab the man in the back. However, he was left stabbing a log.

"Substitution…" Yuuki whispered to himself, looking around. Suddenly Yuuki was sent flying into a wall, by a massive punch from behind. He hit the wall hard, and dropped his blade.

"Kid, if you surrender now, I won't kill you. I'll walk away, you'll walk away, this will have never happened. Okay?" the man asked, walking slowly towards the fallen blonde.

"Hell no! I was just getting started!" Yuuki yelled.

Quickly, Yuuki grabbed his blade and jumped to his feet. He made some hand-signs in rapid succession.

"Ninja art: Destructive Blade!" He yelled. His blade suddenly turned inverse of it's colours. Yuuki smirked slightly.

"Suit yourself." the man said, and charged at Yuuki again. The young ninja quickly jumped up into the air and slammed back down into the ground, making his sword hit the floor. Yuuki again smirked.

"Explosion." Yuuki whispered. Suddenly, the entire area around his sword blew up, sending the man reeling into another wall. Yuuki smiled and sheathed his sword. The man was bleeding from his lip and was unconscious. Yuuki picked up the purse and walked over to the lady.

"You…You…Thank you." she stuttered, taking the purse from Yuuki.

"No problem. Though, I'm kind of sorry its charred all over…" Yuuki scratched the back of his head in nervousness.

"Oh, it's fine, really! I'm grateful for this, really. You're the hope we need in these dark shadows." the lady replied, and walked off. Yuuki smiled.

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Karei saw the entire battle. She really thought Yuuki was done for, and was about to run in, but then he did his signature move. That man didn't see it coming, and he was a goner. Karei smirked a little, running a hand through her hair.

"I've got to learn how he did that."

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The Seventh Hokage looked into the reflection pool. He saw the entire battle, and was impressed. Even he didn't see that final move coming. He could swear he designed it at some point…

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Sakura awoke from a deep sleep. She opened her emerald eyes and looked around. So this was hell…