Ninja Fates Chapter 4: Eternal Feud

The light of a full blood moon washed down painting all of the landscape into shades of crimson. In the center of a small clearing in the forest a girl stood before a pile of stones that at first appeared to be a grave, but upon closer inspection was actually a shrine. Urd stood before this shrine, the red light of the moon making her seem like some blood-soaked maiden of war.

"Who is calling me?" Urd spoke while feeling strangely detached from everything around her. Staring at the pile of stones she couldn't help but feel that someone was trying to speak to her from beneath them.

Suddenly the shrine started glowing a deep red that was brighter than the moon and Urd felt a powerful presence. Just as she was sure the great power would overwhelm her...

Urd jerked awake suddenly realizing as she did that her sheets were soaked in sweat. That dream... she felt like it was trying to tell her something. Like she had forgotten someone important.

"Urd onee-san breakfast is ready." Belldandy called up from downstairs.

"Coming Bell-chan"

Descending down the steps Urd passed by a groggy Skuld Urd couldn't resist the chance and she stuck out her foot a little causing the smaller girl to trip and fall down the last few feet of the stairs.

"What did you do that for Urd-baka?" Teasing Skuld is just the thing to help me forget about the dream, thought Urd.

"Do what?" Said Urd innocently.

"Why you!"

"Urd onee-chan, Skuld imoto-chan. How can you be fighting already?"

"We aren't fighting are we Skuld?"

"No of course not."

"Anyway, what is our mission for today?" Urd asked.

"Forgot already Urd? Kakashi-sensei just told us last night." Skuld asked snidely.

"We are going training outside the village today so I've got our lunches packed." Belldandy said with a smile.

"More training. All we get is lousy missions and training." Urd complained.

"The training is to make us stronger so we don't get hurt on missions in the future Urd nee-chan."

"Yeah, yeah."

Scene Change:

In a forest a mile north of the village three young genin stood below a very large tree while two out of the three were staring at their silver haired jounin instructor with their jaws hanging open.

"You can't be serious!" Skuld yelled.

"Don't make me repeat myself so many times. I want the three of you to do this training exercise while tied together with this rope so that all three of you have to succeed. Climbing the tree without using your hands is about chakra control. If the three of you can't control your chakra and work together then you'll never be able to do more than D rank missions like weeding a garden or baby sitting." Kakashi leaned forward to look directly down on the much shorter girl as he spoke.

"Fine then I won't lose to you in today's training Urd!" Skuld stated bolding while pointing a finger directly in Urd's face. At this Kakashi sighed to himself. What did I just say about working together?

"Whatever squirt."

"Let's do our best." Belldandy said with her usual smile.

Soon all three sisters were tied together with a length of rope. Belldandy on the left, Skuld in the middle, and Urd on the right. They stood at the foot of a giant tree for a moment concentrating before they suddenly leapt and starting running up the side of the massive trunk. For the first second they ran on the perfectly vertical surface but before long Urd lost control and was launched from the trunk due to putting a bit too much chakra into her efforts. The end result with them all being tied together went as expected, namely a heap of three genin at the foot of the tree.

Kakashi stood nearby half watching and half reading his favorite manga. Hmm... I wonder if having them all be tied together was a bit much? Oh well.

Almost an hour later the three of them were still at it with very little in the way of progress. Belldandy had caught on to the trick within the first ten minutes and was no longer causing the three of them to fall. Urd had taken twice as long to get the trick, but now she was doing well also. The one that was causing most of the falls at this point was Skuld who was looking more than a little tired.

"You might as well stop for now." Kakashi said with a yawn.

"But we didn't finish the training yet." Belldandy said.

"And we won't as long as we are tied down by the squirt here." Urd stated derisively.

"What was that Urd!" Skuld yelled, reaching for one of her exploding skuriken. Before she could start the inevitable fight Kakashi appeared right in front of her.

"That was a blunt way of putting it, but she does have a point."

"Wha..?"

"Taking a look at the three of you..." Kakashi pointed to Belldandy. "You have a higher than average amount of chakra and excellent control over it." Next he pointed to Urd. "You have an absurdly high amount of chakra, but your control stinks." Urd scowled at this statement as he then pointed at Skuld. "Your chakra control is average, but your chakra level is well below average and you have no stamina. Basically you are weak."

"I am not weak!" Skuld yelled with the beginings of tears in her eyes.

"He's got you pegged kid." Urd said with a smirk.

"We can help you train and get stronger Skuld." Belldandy said with a kind expression.

"What! Even you think I'm weak Belldandy!" Skuld said with a shocked expression. After waiting a moment while Belldandy just stood there silently Skuld suddenly jumped up and ran off into the forest.

"Is it ok to let her go off by herself like that?" Belldandy asked.

"There isn't anything in the forest she can't handle. Probably." Kakashi said in his usual lazy tone.

"But the kid is exhausted from training. Will she really be alright?"

"Lets go after her." Belldandy said, taking off after her sister a moment later. Urd shrugged and followed.

Kakashi stood silently watching as they left. They can handle anything that lives in the forest, but... what is this strange energy I've been feeling all day?

Scene Change:

Just a few miles away a certain black haired demon lord summoned a bright circle of energy and unleashed his minions into the mortal plane. He was doing this in response to a feeling he had gotten. The feeling that his complete victory from years ago was about to be undone.

Looking at the monsters that had answered his call Sasuke abruptly stated his orders. "Go and kill anyone you meet in the forest to the east." A true lord of demons didn't dirty his hands against weaklings after all.

Scene Change:

Skuld was running though the forest with her eyes tearing up. How could her own sisters put her down like that? She expected that from Urd, but even Belldandy thought she was weak!

The rustling of the bushes up ahead was the only warning she had before a large shape jumped up from below and slammed into her. The genin was saved by her training as she reflexively whipped out a kunai and stabbed it into the trunk of a tree as she fell past it.

The spot she had previously occupied was now taken up by a large black wolf that was sitting on the narrow branch with unnatural grace. A shocked Skuld realized that she didn't even come up to this things shoulders. It opened it's maw to reveal a fearsome set of teeth dripping with saliva. The beast stayed in that spot for a moment gazing down on her, as if enjoying every moment of her fear.

Suddenly the monster dived off the branch straight at her with it's jaws gaping. Shrieking in surprise she used the leverage of her hand hold to propel her body up and out of the path of that horrible maw. Even though she dodged the fatal blow the wolf raked her shoulder with one of its front paws as it passed. Causing her to involuntarily let go and begin the long drop to the ground.

The three bloody lines drawn on her shoulder felt like they were on fire, and the awkward position she had fallen from caused her to helplessly tumble without even being sure which way was up and which was down. Before she hit the ground in a most likely fatal scenario she was picked out the air by someone who landed gracefully. Skuld opened her eyes to see the face of her sister Belldandy looking at her with concern.

"Onee-sama look out!" Skuld yelled suddenly pushing the older girl to the ground just in time to avoid both of them being caught in the jaws of the beast. Unfortunately for them it took this opportunity to pin them beneath one of its paws, the creature's claws digging into Skuld's back causing her to cry out. Trapped under the combined weight of the wolf and her sister Belldandy could only watch helplessly as it stared down at them with killing intent.

Just before it's jaws finally closed on them Belldandy heard a strange chirping sound and saw a bright flash of blue come from behind the creature. And then bright blood sprayed out as Kakashi's hand went all the way though the creature to emerge on the other side covered in blood and blue/white lightning. The wolf dissolved into mist leaving only bloodstains and injuries to show it had ever existed.

Scene Change:

Urd was chasing her younger sisters though the forest, but at some point she'd lost track of them. She could feel that something was not right, but that feeling was overshadowed by another even stronger one. For some reason she felt she just had to keep going farther on towards... she wasn't sure what towards but knew it was somehow important.

Soon she broke out of the trees into a clearing that felt familiar even though she was certain she'd never before been there. In the center of the area was a simple stone shrine that must mark someone's final resting place.

Urd felt herself strangely drawn to the shrine and before she realized it she was standing right in front of it. Reaching out with her right hand she placed it on the grave expecting to feel cold stone. However the monument was strangely warm to the touch and pulsed with what seemed eerily similar to a heartbeat.

Urd almost felt as though she were swimming though fog, or that her mind was trying to be in two places at once. This place... and the same place but a different time, a time when something happened. She saw herself floating in the sky and her sisters were with her. Below them was the huge form of Kyubi the nine-tailed fox demon on a rampage of killing and destruction. Suddenly there was a great light and the demon and the sisters vanished, leaving only the newly created shrine behind.

Without fully understanding why Urd felt that she now had to do something and found herself reciting words in a strange language. With every syllable the stone before her pulsed and began to glow red, brighter and brighter. Finally the shrine dissolved into red light and vanished in a puff of smoke.

Sitting in the place the monument had previously occupied was a boy who appeared about her age. He had messy blond hair and yawned widely before opening his eyes to reveal crystal blue orbs. Even though he was young Urd couldn't help but notice that he had excellent muscle tone. This was due mostly to the fact that he was totally naked.

"Yo Urd-chan! What are you doing out here? Ahhh! Where are my clothes!" The boy seemed to panic for a moment before suddenly stopping and hitting himself on the back of the head. He closed his eyes and was briefly surrounded by a red light as an orange jumper spun itself out of nothing to cover his nakedness.

"You... you're the demon lord Kyubi." Urd said as her mind woke up from the fog only to enter a state of shock.

"No need to be so formal Urd-chan, call me Naruto."

Scene Change:

Belldandy looked down at her little sister's bloody from and wasn't surprised when she felt tears come to her eyes. She realized then that this was her fault. If only she hadn't always tried to protect Skuld all the time she might have been stronger, or if she had used that energy to train herself harder instead maybe...

She thought she heard her sensei offer some words of comfort, but she couldn't bring herself to listen. Somehow she knew that her sister's wounds would prove to be fatal long before she could be taken back to the village for treatment. At this realization a strange feeling came over her. She should have been sobbing and feeling desolate at the loss of her sister, but a sudden warmth came over her instead. With this warmth came hope that maybe she could do something about this after all.

Kakashi watched as Belldandy held one hand in the air above her sister and began to glow with a white light. He could see that she was speaking, but couldn't make out the words. The light brightened before it seemed to gently seep down to the wounded girl and hang over her for a second. Skuld's rasping breaths became more regular and her face seemed to relax. When the light vanished not a trace of her previous injuries remained. Belldandy opened her eyes to look down at her sister with a dazed expression before she suddenly fainted, falling from her sitting position to lie flat on the grass.

So Hokage-sama was right, Kakashi thought to himself. They really do still have their previous powers even though they don't remember who they really are. That the three girls were not ordinary was common knowledge in the village, exactly what was different about them was not. Kakashi was one of the few that the Hokage had trusted with this secret. It was the reason he had been chosen to be their instructor.

When he heard the growl behind him and turned to see another one of the huge wolves Kakashi thought he could handle the situation. When a pair of glowing red eyes revealed a second creature off to his right he realized that he and his unconscious students were in trouble. When a third one howled from less than a hundred yards away is when he realized that they were screwed.

Bracing himself for the attacks he knew were coming Kakashi summoned his one original technique by quickly forming the hand seals and stretching out his right hand to call forth the lighting edge chidori. Even as he did that he knew he'd never be able to fire them off rapidly enough to take out the creatures while also protecting the two girls.

He was so absorbed in trying to watch both nearby wolves at once that he almost didn't notice when a boy carrying someone in his arms quietly jumped down from above. Kakashi was surprised to see that it was a blond kid holding Urd's unconscious form. He was even more surprised when the dangerous creatures he'd been watching each took one look at the kid and started to whimper softly. When the boy opened his eyes and looked at them the beasts' whimpering increased and they abruptly fled.

"Who are you?" Kakashi asked carefully.

"Never mind that, what is wrong with Urd-chan? When she saw me she fainted. We've been friends for centuries!" Paying more attention to the boy Kakashi felt the huge dark aura around him and realized he was anything but human. Now it suddenly made sense that those other creatures ran away, the power coming off this blond was unreal.

"They lost their memories in an incident involving the Kyubi fourteen years ago." He answered finally.

"Oh..." The kid took some time to absorb that, seeming to be shocked by the revelation.

"I should have known you being sealed was too good to last forever." Said a voice that seemed to come from everywhere. The blond suddenly stood up straight and gently set Urd down next to her sisters.

"SASUKE YOU BASTARD! I know this is all your fault!"

"And what of it? I may have failed to keep you sealed, but you have been gone for fourteen years. What do you think I've accomplished in that time?"

Kakashi quickly realized that this boy must be none other than the nine-tailed fox demon, and this voice must belong to an enemy or rival of some kind. Doing the only sensible thing he could think of when caught between two such powerful beings, he scooped up his students and ran for dear life.

Scene Change:

In the office of the strongest ninja in the hidden leaf village a silver haired jonin stood before the desk of the village's leader.

"The demon has been released! This is terrible news you bring Kakashi."

"Something seems odd though. He said that he and Urd were friends."

"Hmm..."

The two men silently contemplated the turn of events that lead to Kakashi rushing his students to the hospital and then making his abrupt entrance into the office for his report. Their silent musings were cut short when they heard a loud popping sound that signaled the supernatural entrance of the very subject of their discussion.

To say that both men were stunned would be a severe understatement. They were totally paralyzed with shock. They only came back to themselves when two masked anbu members suddenly appeared with katana pointing at the newcomer.

"What is the meaning of this?" Hokage asked, courageous in the face of their uninvited guest. Surprisingly the blond demon looked a little embarrassed and stood there with one hand behind his head.

"It seems that I can't go back to the underworld for awhile because that Sasuke bastard has a huge army of followers waiting there to ambush and kill me. So I thought I'd stay here and learn about how to be a ninja!"

End Chapter 4

Next Time: Chapter 5: Monstrous Training