I do not own any Naruto characters or settings.  I only own my OC, Akuma Izoku.

This chapter does not contain any descriptions of blood or intense violence.  

I hope you enjoy the story of Izoku, the Avenger of the Akuma Clan of the Village Hidden in the Shadows!

~~~*~~~

Niramu and a short haired kunoichi were already at the gate, the two talking to each other as Izoku and Kakashi arrived.

“So, you're the daring newbies.” The copper-haired kunoichi crossed her arms and leaned lazily against the concrete of the gate. “Taking on probably the most dangerous mission this year, only a day after you've been made an ANBU. Are you sure you're up to it?”

“I've defeated countless Jonin and downed three enemy ANBU nin on my own once, not to mention all the other ANBU I've faced and conquered on S-rank missions.”

“Exactly how many S-ranks missions have you completed, rookie?” the kunoichi scoffed.

“Exactly twelve.” The corner of Izoku's mouth twitched. The kunoichi must have had a priceless look behind that mask, judging by the way she staggered backward.

“T-twelve...?” she gasped, amazed. “And you're only seventeen?”

“Only a worthy elite ninja can be able to complete twelve S-rank missions by the age of seventeen. My clan had taught me about power before I stumbled upon Konoha.”

“And what clan may that be?” the kunoichi asked, suddenly interested. “I've never heard of a Muzai clan, so it must be some other clan on another side of the family, right?”

Izoku stopped dead in her tracks.

“That's...classified information,” she let out a low growl.

“You can't even trust your own teammates with information like that?” the ninja scoffed. “How disrespectful.”

Izoku whipped around to face her, her hand hovering over her pouch that contained her kunai.

“What's disrespectful,” Izoku snarled, “is that someone as indecent as you will go around judging people who you don't even know. You may be older than me, but I can assure you I can beat you in a battle if it came down to that.”

The kunoichi just brushed her off.

“Such cockiness,” she huffed. “I'm just saying that not trusting teammates with such elementary information such as which clan you belong to may rub off as something like disrespect. Oh, and by the way, you may call me Bimu (BEEM-u).”

“Since we're introducing ourselves,” a voice rang from the trees above the four ninja. From the giant oak hopped down two more shinobi. The ninja with the orange-streaked dog mask stepped up. “I'm Reza (rhe-ZA).”

“And I'm Toge (TOH-ghe).” The green-striped fox-masked shinobi bowed.

“I'm Niramu (NEERA-mu), and this is Bimu.”

“Shikon and Shedo (SHEE-do).” Kakashi patted Izoku's shoulder.

“Looks like we've already picked our teams to disperse in,” Niramu grunted.

“Teams?” Reza cocked his head to the side.

“I'll explain on the way. In'ei is close, but it's still a five hour run.” Niramu nodded. He leaped into the trees only to be quickly followed by Bimu and the others. The five ninja gracefully jumped from one branch to the other, their focus on Niramu in front of them. “When we reach the village, Bimu and I will enter In'ei dressed as travelers; we've brought packs filled with ordinary citizen clothes. Meanwhile, you four will split into teams of two and scout the perimeter of the village to see if any suspicious activity is happening outside of In'ei, which is more likely. Once every three days, we will meet at a predetermined area to report our scouting. Then, one team will come back to Konoha to report back to Sandaime-sama. The team will immediately come back to In'ei, and the process will repeat itself for a minimum of three weeks.”

“Why such a long time?” Reza asked. “It's unusually long for a mission.”

“As you can tell, this is an S-rank mission,” Niramu grunted. “Even more so, it's been ranked the most dangerous of all the S-rank missions for the past ten years, considering this mission's end is to be announced.”

“Are you sure the rookies can handle it?” Bimu scoffed.

“It's not like this is our first S-rank,” Kakashi snapped. “We've done plenty before, like Shedo just said.”

Bimu just snorted in disgust and looked forward.

“They know their limits,” Niramu said simply, dashing through the forest with his team at his heels.

Izoku gazed around as she ran through the woods, the green trees familiar to her and comforting. In a few hours, they will approach the Land of Shadows, where In'ei stood strong and tall, glowering over the other smaller, insignificant villages. The Land of Shadows was a dark place, encircled with tall mountains. The village of In'ei was at the center of the volcanic crater, where everything was practically dead and layered over with a thick layer of ash. The gray cinders were a usual sight as they also fell from the sky like grim snowflakes.

Never once did Izoku miss In'ei.

Konoha was lush, green, and full of life and kindness. Why in her right mind would she even think about In'ei?

The landscape slowly died and converted to a gray-lavender, the trees drying up into skeletal figures as they neared the volcano that slumbered over the Land of Shadows. Though leaf-less, there was an abundance of dried trees, thick at the trunk and slim at the branches, that provided nice cover for the Leaf ANBU. The six leaped once more and then perched on a clump of trees, overlooking the giant village of In'ei.

Otousan...Okaasan... Izoku sighed in her head solemnly. Tadaima (I'm home).

“Bimu,” Niramu motioned towards the copper-headed kunoichi. “Let's change. Reza, Toge, you take the northern hemisphere of In'ei. Kiba, Shedo, you take the south. Any questions?”

The silence swallowed them up, the wind whistling past them, blowing their hair backwards. They all took in the scene; the dark village of In'ei of the Village Hidden in the Shadows.

“Good. In exactly three days, meet back at this spot; in the middle of the north and south gates, east side.” Niramu blinked simply. Just as the wind died down, the six dispersed. Kiba bounded to the south, Shedo closely behind him. She gritted her teeth as they sprung through the dead forest.

Just my luck, Shedo sighed. The Akuma Clan resided on the south side of In'ei. I wonder what they've done with it all these years...?

“Shedo,” Shikon murmured as they stopped.

“What is it?” she whispered. “Did you detect something?”

All of a sudden, the shinobi launched himself at her. With a silent shriek, Shedo dodged to the side, catching Shikon's gray vest in her hand. She crouched to the side of the branch, hanging Kiba's body high over the ground.

“Shikon, what are you doing?!” she demanded.

“Our bet.” Shikon looked up at her. “Looks like you won Batoru Ichi (Battle One),”

Shedo snorted.

“This is no time for games, Shikon! We're on a mission!”

“You agreed that the challenge ends this week.” Shikon slapped her hand, making her let go of him. He fell to the ground, only to grab onto a branch and circle himself around the limb. He landed on top of the branch with light feet. “Best two battles out of three.”

“I agreed to it because I thought this mission would last only a couple of days!” Shedo snapped. “I wouldn't think Sandaime-sama would assign us to such a high ranked mission for our first as ANBU!”

“A promise is still a promise.” Shikon shrugged; he narrowed his eyes, his voice rough and gritty. “And I'll get you next time; I want to know your secrets, Izo-chan.”

A burning sensation boiled in her cheeks. She clenched her jaw and turned her nose away, fuming and embarrassed. Her eyes suddenly lit up, orbs of glowing amethysts shimmering under the fiery morning sun.  She shifted her gaze mischievously towards the young shinobi.

“Do you know what I'll be finding out, Kakashi-kun?” Izoku teased, hopping down from the branch and onto the ash-covered ground. Kakashi followed after her, standing next to her in confusion. Izoku grasped Kakashi's face gently in her hands; the sudden movement made him flinch, and her touch made his body stiffen.

“I-Izo-chan...?” he choked out.

Izoku grazed her lips next to his ear, her fingers crawling up his left cheek. Her index finger hooked onto his headband, tugging at it.  Her voice was low and dark as she breathed onto his skin.

“I'm going to find out what's under this mass of fabric.” She smirked, breaking herself away from him. She leaped up into the trees again, masking herself in the tangle of branches.

“Izo– I mean, uh...Shedo!” he stammered. “Oi! W-wait up!” He sprang after the kunoichi.

Izoku bounded through the forest, circling the village over head. She perched on top of a giant pine, crouching as she gazed over In'ei with a look of sorrow and mourning. The sun rose over the mountains that encased the village, casting long shadows that swallowed up the buildings.

“Shedo!” Shikon called after the kunoichi, leaping on the branch she was on, crouching next to her.

“We'll keep watch here,” Shedo said gravely. Her sudden change of tone took Shikon by surprise.

“Why here?” he asked, uncertain.

“It overlooks the entire village,” she murmured. Shedo extended her arm out, swiping it slowly over the landscape. “This pine tree is the tallest in the forest. It once thrived before the volcano erupted, at least that's what the stories say. This pine is a symbol of hope for the people of In'ei, for it was the only tree that had survived the Great Eruption. All the trees that surround it now are newer, but this tree we're standing on is over two hundred years old.”

“Where did you hear all of this?” Shikon turned to her, confused. “It's like you once studied here or something.”

“Kakashi-kun.” Shedo dipped her head as she swiped a finger across the burnt branch. Soot rubbed off on her fingers. She gazed up at the pale sky next, seeing the familiar ash clouds that always loomed over the village. Soon, the ashes would fall down like powdery snow. “Were you born in Konoha?”

The question was random and it blew Kakashi back. What was this for?

“Hai,” he responded in a firm but hushed tone, still dazed on what was going on.

“So you feel a special tie to the Leaf.” Shedo hid her face in her hair, which cascaded down like demonic shadows that haunted In'ei every night. “You will always feel loyal to the Hokage and Konoha.”

“Hai.”

Shedo smirked under her hair.

“Kakashi-kun.” Shedo lifted her head slowly and stared at Kakashi's dark eye with her dull violet orbs. “We've been friends for twelve years, and never once have you asked me where I came from. Is there a reason why?”

Kakashi stood there, completely taken back at the current situation. What was going on?

“It doesn't matter where a person is from,” Kakashi said slowly. “What matters is their personality. As long as a person has a respectable personality, it doesn't matter where they're from.”

“Ahh...” Shedo sighed as she looked away. She tucked some hair behind her ear. “So you think I'm a good person.”

“Of course.” Kakashi gave her a sincere, close-eyed smile. “You've done nothing but good for our village. No one objects you; in fact, I don't even think you have enemies!”

“That's not true,” Shedo snarled.

Kakashi blinked in confusion, a bit startled by her sudden outburst.

“What do you mean?”

Shedo bit her tongue. She couldn't tell him. Not even him. This information was like Kakashi's face; never once had Izoku even mentioned her past to him, just as he never showed her his face to her. She had her secret, and he had his.

“Never mind.” Shade stood up and placed a hand on the trunk of the pine. She leaned against it and clenched her fist, looming over the village like an ash cloud, menacing and grim. “Shinu, tatakau, sunde imasu. Kami wa tsuneni katsudarou (Live, fight, die. The Divine will always win). That was the way of my clan.”

“Izo-chan.” Kakashi rose from his place, Izoku turning her head to pierce him with her sharp gaze. He was unfazed by it though. “I don't care what your past held. I don't care what enemies you have. But what I do care about is you.”

Izoku's eyes flashed.

“Izoku.” Kakashi scowled. “You have lived a pained life your first few years, and I cannot promise you will be able to live in solitude for the rest of your life. But, I can promise you this.” Kakashi started towards her, taking her hand and placing it over his heart. Izoku's gaze stared at her hand, feeling the rhythmic beating of his heart, and then looked up into his determined midnight eyes, seeing the entire night sky reflecting from them. “Izoku, I promise to protect you from any danger. I will be your shield from any harm the world will inflict on you, and I will be happy to take the blow that was meant for only you. Muzai Izoku, I will protect you for the rest of eternity, even if it costs me my soul.”

~~~*~~~

Remember to comment, vote, and to follow me!  And as always, thanks for reading!