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

WARNING: CONTAINS CONTENT OF DETAILED BLOODY SCENES AND VIOLENCE.  

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

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Izoku's violet eyes were glued onto Kakashi's, unable to think. She felt the hand that was on his chest quiver. She felt her own heart ache as she gazed at him in amazement. Izoku searched for any trace of tricks; it seemed like Kakashi to joke around like this. But seeing nothing but sincerity and truth, Izoku looked away, a small smile curving the corners of her rosy lips.

“Baka,” she whispered, blinking. Her eyes now wandered over the village once again, seeing the ashy lavender sky and the thriving village that lay out in the barren landscape. “Protecting me? No. That's something only a fool would do.”

“Then call me a fool.” Kakashi gripped her hand in both of his, his eyes solid and tense. “Izoku, I– ”

“Urusai!” Izoku shushed, crouching down on the branch.

“What is it?” Kakashi followed her moves immediately, but his voice burdened a little heaviness.

“I hear Shadow nin coming from the east,” Shedo murmured as she placed her hand down on the branch. “I feel them; only slightly, but I still feel them. They're coming from the direction of Konoha.”

“What?” Shikon growled. “What business do they have there?”

“They were probably spying like we are,” Shedo said grimly. “Under the executive orders of the Lady Kuraikage; if so, they're guaranteed to be ANBU.”

Ignoring her well-informed mind about the Hidden Shadow Village, Shikon grunted in response.

“That means...” he dipped his head in a grave manner, his dark eye through the socket of his mask gleamed in hesitation.

“Hai.” Shedo slowly got up to her feet, her crimson eyes turned away from her teammate and glaring down at the three ANBU who were dashing through the dead forest at an incredible speed. “We eliminate them.”

Seeing no other way, Shedo leaped down from the branch, zigzagging down across the branches that jabbed out like knives. Though the ANBU nin were fast, she caught up to them easily. Shedo and Shikon were above them, still undetected.

They must have something urgent for them not to be observant like usual, Shedo thought to herself. This is our chance. If we blow this, the entire operation will be annihilated. The kunoichi drew out four kunai, wrapping them in paper bombs. She nodded to Shikon, who already had them out. He took a giant leap that had him landing on the other side of the group of ninja, who were still oblivious to their presence. At the same time, the two Leaf ninja thrust their kunai forward, two of Shedo's hitting one ANBU while one of Shikon's hit another. The rest stuck firmly to the ash and dirt, hesitation for a moment, only to explode as their owners simultaneously weaved hand signs. Shedo's hit ninja fell, dead, while Shikon's screamed out in pain, clutching to a tree for help.

The third ANBU wildly searched around, cursing under his breath. Quickly, before he could identify their location, Shedo clashed her hands together again.

"Shinigami's Grasp Jutsu!” she murmured, a dark essence extending out of her palm like a hand of Death. Her crimson eyes glowed as it snatched at the ANBU, who dodged the attack just barely. “Damn it...”

“There!” the ANBU slashed out a hand, his arm shadow snaking out like a whip. It slammed against the branch that Shedo was just standing on; the kunoichi searched out another hiding spot quickly.

A sudden jet of water blasted at the ANBU, soaking him to the core. Seeing her chance, Shedo quickly weaved another sign.

“Water Style: Mist of the Arctic Jutsu!”

She exhaled an icy vapor that immediately froze the water on and surrounding the ANBU, trapping him with the Chakra stored inside the freezing mist. The injured ANBU widened his eyes in surprise, attempting to escape before Shikon came down to confront him. The Shadow nin lashed out at him with his only arm, Shikon dodging it easily. He jumped up and grabbed the ninja's shoulder firmly, twisting around and lifting the shinobi into the air. Shikon front-flipped and brought a heel down on to the Shadow ANBU's gut. He sputtered and coughed up blood as he landed on the ground hard, dust and ash flying into the air.

“You contain confidential information about the Hidden Leaf Village,” Shedo boomed, still lurking in her hiding spot. The two enemy nin glanced around, trying to find the source of the menacing voice.

“Show yourself!” the frozen shinobi demanded, struggling against the ice that locked him in place.

“You can't tell me what to do!” Shedo's crimson eyes flashed, throwing a kunai at the ninja. The blade dug deep into his shoulder as he cried out in pain. “Now tell me! What were you doing in Konoha?”

“Y-Yondaime-sama told us to gather information...” The nin struggled against the pain, his voice slightly muffled through his ANBU mask. “About the lone survivor of the Akuma Clan!”

Shedo froze in her spot, her eyes flashing back to their normal piercing violet. She stared at the shinobi in horror.

“Lone survivor of the Akuma Clan?” Shikon spat, his grip tightening around the neck of the one-armed ninja on the ground. “Does that mean your threat was just a bluff?”

“Yondaime-sama will carry out the threat once we obtain the target,” the grounded ANBU grunted. “The survivor's power is natural and sacred to the Akuma Clan.”

“Who is this target?” Shikon demanded, his onyx eye flashing in anger. “Tell us!”

“Shikon-san!” Shedo growled from the trees, making his head snap up. “That's enough. Eliminate them.”

“S-Shedo-san,” Shikon stammered. “The ANBU's target...we must know who it is!”

“They don't know who the survivor is.” Shedo stood up and gripped the trunk of the tree. “They haven't seen her for years. Isn't that right?”

“H-hai.” The frozen shinobi nodded once, his voice seeming to be layered in a sense of shock and disbelief.

Shedo leaped down from the trees, walking towards the three shinobi in front of her.

“But you can recognize her just by looking at her,” Shedo snarled. “The Lady Kuraikage has informed all of the ANBU of the Akuma Clan's physical characteristics.”

“H-how do you know this?” the shinobi under the silver-haired ANBU gasped. The ninja on top of him stared at Shade with a shocked expression. "Who are you?"

“Shedo-san,” Shikon stood there, frozen like the Shadow ninja beside him. “How do you know this?”

“Shadow nin are renowned as the most skilled ninja of all the land.” Shade stopped in front of the shinobi. “Their Genin are trained exceedingly harsh from the time they graduate from the Academy. Chunin are drilled hard to their core, and Jonin are expected to take down an entire squad of enemy Jonin on their own. Their ANBU are the elite ninja, specifically selected by the Kuraikage herself, as the other villages do also. But the Yondaime Kuraikage is very picky about her ANBU force; she drills her entire squad once a month on an almost impossible course. New courses are made monthly, created by the great Yondaime herself. Those who do not get perfect scores are relieved from the squad immediately.”

“Who are you?” the iced shinobi demanded, his shout ringing through the empty forest. Shedo flicked a kunai from her back pouch and sliced the ninja's mask in half, the wooden shell falling uselessly to the ground as his face was exposed; he had stone-hard brown eyes and his shoulder-length dark hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail.

“Who am I?” Shedo whispered slyly next to the man's ear. She pulled away and unmasked herself, the wooden panther face lifted up above her forehead as a malicious smile crept across her pale face.

Alarmed, the man roared out in fright.

“You're –!!”

Her blade cut him off, his soft throat sliced deeply as the warm, thick blood flowed down his neck in a dark crimson cascade. His head hung down as his life was stolen from him, his one-armed teammate yowling furiously as he struggled under Shikon's weight.

“You witch!” the ANBU exclaimed. “You'll pay for that! He had a family; a wife and two children! You'll pay for that! I swear it on my life!”

“Baka.” Shedo snapped icily.  She stood still, her eyes narrowed as her head tilted slightly downward. Her dark hair hung down like a black silky curtain, the satanic smirk still spread across her exposed face. Her head slowly turned towards the ANBU, her eyes merging from dark violet to the bright bloody red. Her white smile was pinned solid to her face, her red eyes wide and insane. Both shinobi recoiled at the sight of her.

“You Shadow ninja took away my entire family. Maybe I should extract that information out of you, nezumi (rat):  Your family. I should murder them all and have you splattered in their cold blood, the way your elders had left me when I was a child. You have do a child don't you, san? Yes you do, I can see your trembling. I should tether you to a pole, slit her throat slowly as she cries your name out in fear. Tell me, Misuta-san (Mister), how would you feel after experiencing that sort of pain?”

“You really are a witch!” the ANBU shrieked. Shikon stood above him, his eye wide with his own fear. “A bloody, filthy witch!”

“A witch you say?” Shedo smirked, leaning down to slice away his wooden mask. His bright blue eyes penetrated hers in such a high degree of hate it almost pleased her. “Well, you have it all wrong. I do not practice witchcraft. But,” Shedo grabbed his short brown hair, pulling his chin up and exposing the soft skin of his throat, “I am, as a matter of fact, a demon.”

Blood splattered on the ground. The thump of the shinobi's lifeless head muffled Izoku's ears. She stood up, towering over the body laying in a shallow pool of burgundy blood.

Kakashi let go of the back of the shinobi's neck, stepping back a few steps from Izoku. Her glowing red eyes glared at him, wide and untamed.

“I-Izo-chan...” Kakashi stammered.

“Enough of this.” Izoku's smile flashed instantly to a slight frown. Her eyes narrowed, darkening back to its original violet. “Burn the bodies to nothing but ashes. Then mix them in with the dust on the ground.” Izoku leaped into the trees, leaving Kakashi to clean up; he was the one that was more adept with fire techniques. Kakashi stared after her, his dark eye wide with intimidation.

He weaved his shaky hands into multiple signs, looking down at the bloody bodies as he breathed deeply through his nose.

“Fire Style: Fire Blast Jutsu!”

He blew a jet of flames on the bodies, the extreme heat radiating from the raging fire. He jumped into the trees as his jutsu ceased, watching the fire consume the ANBU bodies. The fire smothered into a ruby hue, dying further down into nothingness; the bodies of the shinobi had been destroyed. The wind rippled through the woods as Kakashi followed Izoku, his face firm and stern, deep in the cursed memory of Izoku's demonic crimson eyes.

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