Rated: R

disclaimer: don't own, not mine...

( 2 year, 1 months and 2 days before ch. 1)

Notes: Yo, a few things, first it is nice to know that some people r reading this... I really appreciate comments and would ask people to keep um coming... I will try to explain the whole reason why the clan hasn't had any contact with the outside for a long time, cause ur right, it doesn't make much sense as it stands... That will come either in this or the next... other than that, sit back and enjoy the ride...

The cave was dark. So dark in fact that it seemed as though no light had ever penetrated it's walls of stone. It seemed cold and empty, to dark and lifeless for any creature to call it home. Any creature but one that is.

His name had long been forgotten, lost in the ebb and flow of time, leaving only his legacy to stand. Yet even this would be wiped out by the flow of time, eventually nothing would remain of this man, not even a memory, and he knew this well. He had lived in this cave for longer then anyone could seem to remember. He had the 'gift' but it was more apt to call it a curse. He could see things, horrible and dreadful things before they ever happened and try as he might he could not change those things. Some said that he was forced out of the village, for scaring it's people with what they called 'evil talk' only to find he was right. Others claimed he had left because knowing the future and knowing one can't change it is maddening, and he left in the hope that his visions might cease. In any case the 'sight' never left him and so he sat in his home, alone said for a small girl who also seemed to have the 'gift.'

Few people ever visited him or saw him, for it was said that his prophecy was absolute. There was a story of a man who saw him and was told he would die drowning, so the man stayed away from water. He took ever precaution imaginable and , in the end, didn't even leave his hut for anything. The man, so say the people, lived like this for years and then, one night, in a storm, his roof fell and he was washed away in the flood and drowned. In the end, the future was often better left unknown, for the point to life was living it, not the outcome of it. For the outcome was always the same, death. Yet there were still souls who were brave or foolish enough to seek this sacred gnosis and they almost always paid dearly for it. The man who drowned was dead anyways, but if he hadn't known his fate, he may have enjoyed his years, instead of hiding from truth in his hut.. Regardless one such soul had just ventured into this forsaken cave of absolutes, in an otherwise realm of shadows.

The girl meet him in at the mouth of the cave, with a cold glance. He felt more like he was being dissected then welcomed. After a long pause the girl said to him " Raidou, son of Raidu, master of the fists and warrior of the clan, you have come to seek my master. I warn you now, don't not ask unless you intend to find and do not seek unless you wish to receive. The words that my master will speak to you is unchanging as the flow of the universe. It was ordained by the hand that crafted all you see before you. The words you cannot be changed by a mere man. To know your future is to ruin your present and make meaningless your past. Do you understand?"

" Yes..." was his single answer, though he really had no idea what he was about to do.

" You have fasted and cleansed yourself in the sacred water?" Asked the child, with the same callas indifference.

" Yes" answered Raidou, stoicly.

" Once you enter this cave, there will be no turning back. It is your own destiny that you hold in your hand now, if you proceed, you will no longer have this illusion. Do you understand?"

"Yes" He answered for a third time.

" Then come" The girl said, leading Raidou into the cave.

The two made there way back through the cave, Raidou completely blind because of the lack of the light. The girl seemed to either be guided by some unseen force or else had walked this path so many times her very heart knew it now. As they walked, Raidou found the passage getting smaller and smaller and found himself have to push his way into the cave more and more. Then, as if appearing out of know where, there was a brilliant light. This light, at first encompassed everything and only it's screening beauty was left. It was like being lost in a sea of light. Then his eyes slowly adjusted to this light and he was born into a new room.

The room was small and seemed to Raidou to be cramped. In the center of the room a large fire was burning. It's smoke formed strange patterns, only to be swept away by the wind of fate into crakes in the cave wall. The man, or so thought Raidou, though it was really impossible to tell, sat crossed legged and stared into the fire. His sight would not falter from this fire and, even during the most horrible prophecies, he was said to maintain this aloofness. The room was empty, said for these two items. The girl, who had served as his guide, bowed low and then left them to themselfs.

After several seconds, Raidou could no longer stand the silence. It seemed that this cave, tat this emptiness was as much a part of him as he was a part of it. It seemed that the cave was within him, not outside him. He felt the need to fill this void with something, so he would fill it with words. " I am Raidou, I have come to know what fates has ordained for me." He said, in the most powerful voice he could manage. The old man didn't seem phased and, if he had even noticed Raidou speaking, he didn't pay it any mind.

" Why have you come?" Came the answer from an old and seemingly crusty voice. It didn't belong to man, it was far to real for that. It seemed to Raidou's ears that he was hearing the vice of a god.

" The woman I love has married my brother. My father has died recently, and I feel cold and alone. I wish to know my fate. Will I ever hold the one who I love in my arms or else will destiny give me a new love? Will I find love? I wish to know my fate, so that I may prepare for it" He said, though he felt a tear roll down his check, this didn't effect the old man.

" To plan for the future is as foolish is working to earn more then that which you need. Your folly of coming here will be rewarded with what you seek. That which you love you will possess, but it will be a loveless and cold embrace. You will have her by your force, not her choice. You will betray all you are for power and will even betray that. Your name will become hated by men and feared by women, and the ground you walk on will be forever cursed..."

" No, surly your wrong... I have never, I would never do such horrible things as this... How can you say this to me, I have done nothing...Nothing !!!!" The first portion of this was spoken in a low and unsure tone. He didn't know what to say or do, but the last word was spoken out of defiance. It was said with spite and hate and dripped with both these poisons.

The old man continued, seemingly unaffected. " You will kill tonight, and will find satisfaction in doing so. You will leave and find the that which is not of our world, and strike a deal with it. You will think yourself noble, but you will be sealing your doom."

" Enough old man!!! Shut up!!! I no longer wish to hear your words!!!" Raidou screamed. He was now nearing hysterics.

" Your child will be spurned by all who see her, and will be as hated and loathed as you are. Yet from this child, who was created from the most horrible of all sin, shall there be light and your hope. She will either finish the work you have started, and destroy your people's way of live, or she will save it and make straight their path and in doing so redeem you. This is your fate, and you will never be able to change it." The man said, stoicly.

Raidou couldn't take it any more. He was no longer a rational being, for his mind had left him. He thought, in desperation, ' I am the only one who heard this dreadful thing, surly if I kill this so called seer, I will be free from such a horrible fate. I will simply silence him, and never think of this again. He can't control me!! I am free!!' At that he flung himself onto the old man and straggled him. The old man did not so much as look up at him, his sight still perpetually glued to his fire. As he felt this old man's life slipping away, as he felt him die, he felt empowered, and great. He came to, after the deed was done, and, looking upon this horrified, ran towards the exit.

As he left the cave, the girl just stared at him, with the same stoic indifference that she had since they met. He couldn't look at her, he had to look away. The next day she went into the village and informed the elders that Raidou had been sent upon a quest by her master and that, threw him, the shinobi way of life was to be born anew. This brought the elders great joy, for they didn't see that death was necessary before resurrection. They asked her where the quest had taken Raidou and she said, simply, another world...