TW: This chapter includes mention of murder, trauma and violence. Read at your own discretion.

Also a note for those of you who will read the story further, most of the people in this story speak Japanese as that is the main setting for this fanfic. But I will not be adding dialogues in Japanese because it will be cumbersome to find the right translations (sorry I'm not fluent in the language myself) so wherever the characters are speaking in Japanese, the dialogues will be written in English but they will be italicized.

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They found her passed out in the closet, a ball of clothes stuck into her mouth to muffle her screams. Her hands were clenched so tightly into fists that when they pried them open, her nails had dug into her little palms, traces of blood dried in the dents created in her skin.

But she wasn't bound or physically hurt which meant she had probably not been found by the intruders who had broken into her mother's house.

Her mother Nuriko, on the other hand, had not been so lucky.

Her disfigured corpse had been carried out and while the people from the warrior clan she led were searching the house for any clues as to who could have done that, they found her daughter unconscious.

It seemed as if the girl had locked herself up in the closet, probably upon her mother's instruction soon s they had been under attack. Though whether she knew what had been done to her mother or not was yet unknown.

"Take her to the base," the man in charge called out, speaking their native language, "and see to it that she is healed."

The warrior who was carrying the little girl nodded and followed the order, bringing her to the base of the Sasuke clan. Nuriko Sasuke, the mother of that little girl, was the head of their warrior clan and their enemies had gotten to her and eliminated her. 

It was a strike to the entire clan, a powerful blow that they could not recover from. Because after Nuriko, only her daughter could become their leader and the poor girl was just five years old and no doubt quite traumatized by what had happened.

Nuriko hadn't been the only person to die that night. The warriors who were staying with her to guard her and her daughter had been found beheaded as well.

"Ishikawa!" The man who was carrying the almost lifeless form of their leader's daughter called out soon as he stepped into the base, "we need the Healer. She is hurt."

Sota Ishikawa was an esteemed member of the clan and his wife was a Healer. Seeing the little girl being brought in, he quickly took her to his wife. The woman was with her son Ryuu at the moment but sensing the commotion, she had come out to see what was wrong.

None of them had been expecting such a calamity to befall them.

"Ryuu, wait outside with your father," she told the boy and sent him out while she tended to the little girl.

Confused brown eyes stared up at Sota as Ryuu nodded and stepped out. He wasn't supposed to ask questions but seeing another child like him be brought in such a state had worried him.

"Otosan," he called out to his father when quite some time passed but his mother hadn't come out of the room, "what happened to Sayuri?"

"I have to leave," the man absently replied, the concern and anguish deepening on his features, "stay here until your mother comes out."

Ryuu nodded, standing in wait by the door. He did not know what had happened but he could sense that it was something terrible. The tense air hanging all around was proof of it.

Sota left the base but as he came to the courtyard, he froze in his tracks to be met with their leader's corpse being brought in. The man, who had taken a squad of warriors to the place Nuriko had been staying after seeing a flare lit up from there in a sign of help, approached him.

"Who did this?" Sota asked, "why did you not catch them?"

"We were too late," he replied, "all we found was Nuriko San and... And her daughter."

"And the warriors who were supposed to stay with them and protect them?"

"Decapitated," he told him with a defeated sigh, "their bodies are being brought in as well."

However, Sota couldn't give up. They had to find out who had killed their leader because for the Sasuke clan, such a blow couldn't be delivered that easily. It must be someone who Nuriko knew personally and could have let in or else there was no way they could get past the defenses.

"They must have left a message," Sota spoke up, "did you check the house?"

"We found nothing," the man replied, "and what bigger message can they leave than killing Nuriko San? It's over now, Ishikawa. We, the Sasuke, have to accept defeat."

It wasn't over yet, he knew that; Sayuri was still alive. They still had a chance to come back stronger and strike at their enemies but haste could make things even worse. They would have to wait.

And if the people who had dared to kill Nuriko found out about her daughter, they would come for her too. She had to be protected from them at all costs because she was their last hope.

So instead of striking back for revenge foolishly, Sota knew what they could do instead. There was no other option left.

"She deemed you second in command in case anything happened to her," another warrior addressed him, "what should we do now?"

He thought it over carefully, knowing he was entrusted with a huge responsibility. But his family had long since been members of the Sasuke clan and they had never given up.

"We won't give up," he replied, looking at the members who were there, "but our priority is to protect Nuriko San's daughter. Striking now will only put us in further danger, we have to find out who did this first and then strike but for now, we must make sure that nothing hurts our future leader."

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