Chapter 1: Song of the Siren

The sun was beaming down with an insidious glare reflecting off the sharp katana blades. A group of men slowly surrounded a small woman with a child, blocking their way on the trail. On both sides of the road that led to one of the larger villages, the trees rustled in the irregular gusts of wind. The heavy clouds of an afternoon autumn storm parted slowly, leaving behind them the crisp smell of rain and wet grass. The feet of people gathered on the trail sank into the fresh mud.

'Didn't they warn you that these areas are too dangerous for single women with children?' One of the portly men laughed ominously. Others muttered and joined him in nasty comments 'Where's your husband?'

'Forgive me, my husband died in the war and my daughter and I are going back to my home village to visit my sick mother…' the woman moved forward to protect her child, who shyly hid behind her.

She was young, very much so. Nevertheless, her sharp features and calm, emotionless gaze, hinted a rich baggage of experience. Thick jet-black hair tied with a red ribbon into a loose ponytail cascaded down her back, strands sticking to the long dark coat, still wet from the rain. The girl clinging to her sleeve looked nothing like her mother, except for her deep and penetrating gaze. Her face was freckled. Wisps of warm blonde hair framed her slender cheeks in a storm of shoulder-length curls. On their feet, they both wore distinctive open-toed shoes that were now covered in mud and dust from the long journey they had made on foot.

'We'll gladly provide care, but it will cost you.' The gang leader stepped closer until she smelt his foul breath. Under the coat she had hidden two wakizashi on which she slowly put her hands, carefully following every step of the men with her gaze. The mugger placed his hand on her lower back, squeezing with a disgusting grin. He made a deadly mistake.

'Hold on a second… isn't that Midori Nanusake…?' spoke up one of the younger men, recognizing in her a famous warrior from the port village clan.

With a flick of her hand, Midori undid the button on her coat and swung both arms, throwing it far back, revealing her ninja outfit. She instantly grabbed her wakizashi in both hands.

Flash and cut. The little girl did not have time to blink, suddenly feeling a splash of blood from the attacker's deeply cut throat on her face. The leader of the gang did not even manage to grab his throat, falling on his knees like a log, hitting his face in the place where Midori was standing a moment ago. She wiped the blood from her dark green eyes with the back of her hand.

'Who's next?' she asked in a deep and cold voice, challenging the others to a duel. The shinobi stood completely bewildered. A tasty prey turned into a hungry predator before their eyes. 'Akira. Now listen to me' she said to her daughter without taking her eyes off the opponents 'hide at a safe distance, but keep your eyes on the fight. I want you to study. Remember everything.'

'Yes, mom.' The little girl shook herself quickly and ran to the nearest tree, scanning her surroundings at the same time to make sure she was safe. She crouched down behind one of the trees.

'Take shelter!' Midori shouted to her. Akira made a jutsu sign with her hands so that in seconds a swarm of moths flew around her, which were to serve as a cover and a threat detector. For Akira, it was just another practical lesson, one of many that her mother would give during her missions.

Midori leapt forward, leaving the men no time to think. They too were fast. The first hit was parried, followed by another, pirouette, transition to the third opponent, dodge, thigh strike. She jumped sideways, rolling to the left as the shinobi rushed back at her, one tripping and landing in the mud. She took advantage of the opportunity and cut smoothly through the unprotected spot under the opponent's ribs. With the second wakizashi, she parried the sword blow of another man.

Blood shot from the side of the one laying on the ground, Midori retreated with a jump and decided to finish him off to make sure he couldn't get up again by cutting the tendons under his knees and a quick stab to the throat.

The scream of pain made the birds fly up from the treetops, showering Akira with dried autumn leaves.

An arrow suddenly hissed through the air as it rushed towards the unsuspecting girl. With the months swirling around her like a living, pulsating shield, she managed to save her life as the sharp tip sank into the tiny, densely clustered bodies of the insects, missing hers. Akira gasped and jumped back.

Midori's alert eyes didn't miss what had just happened. Avoiding another blow, she turned her head towards the danger lurking in the brush where the arrow had flown from a second ago. She furrowed her brows furiously.

'Not my daughter…' she growled through her teeth.

'Aaagh!' One of the shinobi behind her swung again, but she was faster. She crouched down and did a pirouette, dragging her swords over the opponent's thighs. Another managed to grab her arm, causing her to temporarily lose her balance as she was pulled sideways by the man. Trying to wriggle out, she deftly turned one of the swords to have it in the opposite direction and thrust her elbow back forcefully, feeling the blade sink into the belly of the man who was trying to pin her down from behind.

The kunoichi drew the sword with a quick movement with a hiss, the blood dripping thick drops mixing with the mud. There were seven of them. She was alone, her daughter, tucked away at a safe distance, but was she? Midori rushed towards the opponent hidden in the bushes, while another arrow flew towards her, revealing his location. Kunoichi was faster. She ducked and rolled, waking into the bushes like a cat. Her black eyes saw everything in the dark, gaining a decisive advantage over the opponent. The bow shooter didn't realize how unlucky he actually was, hidden in the branches of one of the old trees. Midori slipped her swords back into their holsters and reached into her back pocket with her right hand, from which she pulled out several kunai tucked between her fingers. She kept running, this time climbing effortlessly up a tree on the opposite side of the shooter. He aimed another arrow at her, which whizzed past her face, cutting one strand of hair and making her gasp. This moment gave her another shot of adrenaline sharpening her senses. She knew where to aim, every second was precious. She must get rid of him and return to the road to cover Akira. She deliberately exposed herself so that the opponent would take another shot leaning out of hiding. A split second was enough. She located him. Took aim and threw the kunai. Two of the three pierced the man's eye and cheek with impetus. He couldn't even scream. Midori shot back onto the main road where the thieves were already closing in on her daughter.

'Hey!' She shouted back, drawing her swords, 'I'm here.' Midori took a challenging stance, extending her right hand with the wakizashi towards the men. Without thinking, they rushed towards her. Their frustration grew.

'You bitch, you'll regret it…' roared one of them, clasping his hands together in jutsu signs: 'fish spit jutsu!' A rapid stream of water flew out of his mouth towards the kunoichi, missing, as she bent down and leapt forward.

She sprinted to circle them, glancing quickly at Akira, checking if she was okay.

'I'm safe, mom! Watch out!'

'Ah!' Midori jumped back as another water bomb shot towards her. Seven out of ten. One of them made a mistake, feeling more confident, and protected by a friend who had resorted to using jutsu. He jumped forward trying to block the running Midori. He was wrong. Pirouette and wakizashi blades flashed in the air again. Blood mixed with water gushed out. Kunoichi jumped again between the men, cutting without restraint, with measured and calculated movements. Her gleaming teeth in a mad smile added an ominous expression to her face. Her eyes turned full black activating the Shinengan.

'It's a demon...!' one of them screamed in horror, seeing her jet-black eyes. Midori assessed the distance from each opponent, and spun around, dodging again as they rushed inside, raining down blows of their bars and swords on her. She threw one of her blades, hitting the throat of a man too far away to reach. Rotation. Her free hand grabbed another, staggering and leaping onto his shoulders like an acrobat. Slitting his throat, she jumped down and slashed hard, parrying the next blow of another. Five. She suddenly stood in a pool of blood mixed with water, hearing another command from behind her back.

'Raiton!'

Midori failed to avoid this blow, and struck by the lightning flew away a few meters, rolling on the ground. At every possible moment, she turned her head to check on Akira. She rose from the ground feeling the loss of chakra and a sharp pain in her back, which slowly disappeared flooded with adrenaline and the quick regeneration of her body. The enemies confidently rushed towards her eventually slowing down uncertainly, seeing Midori getting up from the blow, all of them astonished by her stamina.

'I would gladly spare at least one of you so that he could go back to his people and tell about the massacre at the hands of Moth…' she began, brushing herself off and cleaning the dirty blade off her leg 'but I'm afraid that none of you will get out of here alive today.'

'Are you sure about that?' One of them huffed. Either really brave, or fantastic at hiding emotions. He whistled in his fingers, and from behind their backs, more figures with weapons in their hands emerged from hiding. Midori took a deep breath as the enemies started to surround her slowly.

'Demons have no right to exist, you will die here in a moment with your brat!' Roared one man, the others chimed in, feeling more confident now that the women were outnumbered.

'Akira' the command issued in a deep, firm voice of her mother made the blond-haired girl jump out of hiding and run to her without hesitation. 'Stay close. I'm going to show you the Song of the Siren now' Midori sheathed the wakizashi, simultaneously activating her chakra, which flooded the kunoichi's body with a turquoise glow like a mesmerizing coating.

'We'll kill you and then…' the man didn't finish as he saw Midori raise her arms above her head, twisting her fingers into claws. She lifted one knee and her black eyes glowed demonically.

'I'm Midori Nanusake, and this is the great Moth's farewell song' she took a deep breath and lowered her whole body to her raised leg, stamping on the ground with all her might throwing her hands forward. From her throat came a high-pitched scream on almost inhuman frequencies.

All the gathered moaned suddenly in terror, clutching their heads and trying to cover their ears. They broke out like in a trance and started throwing on the ground trying to drown out this demonic song. Paralyzed at the same time, they were unable to take a step towards the woman. Akira stood frozen, completely fascinated by the power of her mother's powerful jutsu. She didn't have to cover her ears. As a member of the Moth clan, she was immune to the death songs while being endowed with the gift herself. 'Someday I'll be a great shinobi like my mother...' thought the little girl with hope.

Midori howled, twisted her tongue and demonically contorted her face, turning in all directions to knock down each of the opponents. The sound was a pure nightmare. Blood ran from their noses, eyes bulging in terror. The shinobi, one by one, grabbed for swords, kunai and claws, trying to scratch out their ears. The crunching of bursting drums and skulls, blood gushing from the holes in the heads. One by one they fell like insects knocked down by the ultrasound. Midori watched carefully until she counted the last surviving opponent, a guy who recognised her first. She stopped singing, then leapt at him with wild satisfaction.

'How did you recognise me...? Weren't you one of our guests last season?' She whispered in his ear, "is this how you repay us for our hospitality, my love?" She moved her tongue over his cheek, licking the blood of his companions and then with one movement she broke his neck in front of Akira's eyes.

With wild laughter and a long howl, she culminated the battle, like a hungry wolf triumphing over its prey. Akira couldn't see her beloved and warm mother at the moment, but an insane killing machine. Fear seized her insides, but she tried to stifle it, still in shock from what she just witnessed.

Midori fell limply to her knees with her head down. Akira felt that this was the right moment to approach her.

'Mom...?' The last moans of dying opponents stopped as Akira called her mother shyly.

'It's over now. Midori said gasping for breath. The last jutsu took a huge toll on her body, stripping her of massive amounts of chakra. Kunoichi fell to her knees and, supporting herself with her hands, vomited blood. The void-like darkness of her eyes disappeared giving way to her normal, deep green irises. Seeing her daughter's horrified look, she forced a smile to reassure her a bit 'nothing to worry about, dear. It's over now. I'm just a little tired. I'm sorry you had to witness that' she added as she got up from her knees and looked around the carnage.

Akira hugged her mother, concerned about her condition but she knew there was nothing to worry about. There was no way that Song of the Siren jutsu would fail, and out of all members of the clan, Midori knew perfectly well how to control it. She was one of the best in her profession.

'What do we do in case when we already know that one of the opponents is using the lightning style?' Even in a moment of extreme physical exhaustion, Midori did not pass up the opportunity to question her daughter.

'We avoid contact with water at all costs' replied young Akira without hesitation. Her heart was beating fast with the excitement and adrenaline that were still flowing through her veins.

'Good girl. I'm proud of you.' Midori smiled summing up her mistake during the fight.

'Proud of you too, mom.'

'Hand me that pouch, will you, dear' Midori asked, pointing at the head of the gang's dead body. She took out some papers and looked through them with trembling hands. Sweat ran down her forehead, and she wiped it away with the back of her hand, leaving a dirty trail of blood mixed with dust. 'Good,' she muttered to herself, satisfied with the mission accomplished. 'We're gonna have a feast tonight. You better start listing all the lovely things you'd like to eat, my love.' Seeing her daughter's still reserved gaze, Midori decided to relax the situation by redirecting the conversation to more pleasant tracks. It worked, the girl's face lit up with excitement. Midori reciprocated the smile and slumped down onto the ground unconscious.