The young girl shivered as the gibberish sprouting from the mad man's lips rose in pitch and the candles flames nurtured by his baleful words shot upward and expanded in weight becoming pregnant with fiery light conjuring monstrous shadows flanking every crevice and corner in the cave.

The girl tugged hard on the straps, hoping to escape this hellish, abject nightmare, but her body still refused to move. She tried her voice, her legs to no avail.

Suddenly, all her struggling abated at the words that rose in volume, circling around the cave with wicked zealousness and insidious intentions.

"...accept my humble sacrifice o'blessed thee,

This healthy vessel to you almighty,

the bearer of death and life,

And all the things in between.

Grant your servant the power to unleash,

Destroy, detriment, devour and undress the ghastly image of purity,

To paint on the blackness and spread darkness-"

"Eiko! Eiko!"

Her name penetrated her occupied hearing, taking her mind off of the man's evil words until it rang strong and clear.

She willed her mind to focuse beyond the haze that the pain painted to distinguish the reality from hallucinations.

Is that daddy?! Has he come for me? Or is this another cold-hearted torture?

Her father's voice rang loud over the silence that shrouded the cave suddenly.

The mad man's chanting was cut abruptly sending dreadful chills to dance in the air.

Focusing her attention,  she notice her father and she knew it was a reality.

Her father has come for her!

Another thought thwarted her momentarily relief when she sensed the malicious silence of the wicked man.

She wanted to be saved, taken back home and wrapped up in her parents embrace, however, she felt it in her marrow that she was beyond saving, the darkness has already slithered inside her bones and she refuse the same fate to befall her beloved father.

So, she tried to open her mouth to warn him away, tell him that the man slumping, is but a beast waiting to pounce.

The watching shadows, the burning candles, they attest to that.

But alas, her limbs lay still as that of the dead, useless, failing...betraying her mind, her soul and her will.

" Eiko," her father's figure burst through the mouth's cave and came to a halt, stopping dead in his tracks at the sight of his pitiful child strapped to a metalic table like an animal, bathed in blood and tears.

"My girl!" A broken gasp left his parted lips and pushed his legs forward stumbling toward his daughter, unheading the threat lingering in the room.

"Oh, blessed mother, what sort of evil is this?"

"Mercy,"

She heard them come. Several men acompanied her father but stopped -  gasping, praying. Only few dared address their goddess, the rest became silent as if the devil himself has robbed them of their tongues.

With pain filled eyes, Eiko urged her father to leave and take his men with him she couldnt see them or how many they are, her head lolled to the side facing her father's gaze - the only one she wanted her eyes to feast upon and commit to memory before she was no more. She know that an evil presence now lurks among them...hidden in shape yet his aura shown.

"You'll pay for this you devil! Charge my men and bring me his head!" Her father - Akio - hollered with roaring rage.

The men snapped into focus, their bodies charged as one under the command of their chief.

Ekio whimpered trying to tell him to take his men and leave, that it was too late, but her whimpering only fueled her father's anger for revenge for what has been done to his only child.

The evil man stayed hunched until a violent jerk pushed him forward, he emptied the contents in his stomach on the floor.

However, he didnt vomit his breakfast or lunch, no, he spat blood and gore.

Dark red and black swam in a small puddle before him - some liquid others chunks of clotted blood.

The sight rendered them frozen. Fear restraining their limbs to the ground but this wasnt what made them - every single one of them - tremble.

It was the man slowly getting to his feet and turning to face them with a bloodied grin and demon eyes. He welcomed them. "Long time no see, my friends! Glad you could join me."

Those whose tongue loosened voiced up their thoughts calling him a monster, others were still tongue tied, but her father had the most shocking response.

"Noboru!"  Shocked, her father stumbled beside her, his feet no longer holding his weight, cracking under the pressure of the word itself and what it implies.

Noboru turned his eyes to Akio and greeted him with the same ugly enthusiasm. "So we meet again, brother,"

Brother?! What is that lunatic ranting about? And why is he smiling when he just spilled his guts out and is facing enemies? Eiko thought taken aback by the man's words.

"K-kill him," Akio stuttered, then with a hardened voice he screamed. "Kill him! Chop off his head! Butcher his limbs. Pluck his eyes out. Kill. him!"

A moment heavy in silence commenced. Shocking all people present except the mad man -Noboru - who cocked his head innocently to the side, the bloodied lips still wide in a monstrous grin.

Eiko's eyes widened at her father's words. He never uttrred such venomous and vile words before and to his brother no less!

Granted the man is villainous beyond comprehension, but Akio's eyes glazed with burdened past. With buried hatred,  and vengeance.

Noboru chuckled mirthly, planting more fear into the bones of the men. One of them fell to his knees, but was ignored by the rest as they readied themselves to charge at the devil man.

Noboru lifted two fingers in the air, commanding Eiko's small body into a painful arch.

A crack and bones popping reached the ears of all present causing tears to leak from Akio's eyes while Noboru smiled serenely. Blood dribbled from every opening in her body creating ribbons of red.

Her father snapped out of his dazed state and addressed his men while working the bindings around his daughter's limbs. "kill him I said!"

The men didnt need to be told twice for despite their fear their body charged to eleminate the evil presemt among them.

"Hold on baby girl, I've got you. Daddy got you!" His voice cracked and his fingers trembeled but he continued fumbling with the metalic straps while his daughter thrashed, lost in a realm of pain.

"You've lost your touch brother. You call these men ninjas, they are nothing but a bunch of weakling sissies playing warriors. I'm disappointed, truly!" Noboru mocked, advancing toward his brother, six men lay dead at his feet.

The straps snapped under his hands, he went to lift his daughter up but Noboru caught him by the throat, his fingers piercing the flesh lightly as the nails grew into claws.

Akio gazed fearfully at the being in front of him, into the dark abyss of blackness that is his brother's eyes. Void of pupil or whitness, only blackness filled them. "W-what are you?"

"Dont you recognize me brother?  I havent changed that much surely? "

"You are no brother of mine. My mother couldn't spawn such evil and birth him from her womb." Akio choked.

"Yes, our dear precious mother." He rolled his eyes, "Why you love that witch is beyond me," Noboru sighed, his tone mocking like talking to a lesser being unwarthy of his attention instead of a chieftain of one of the most powerful clans in the lands.

" I did us all a favor by slicing her pitiful throat and instead of getting a little gratitude for being rid of that tyrant I was humiliated, stripped of my title and banished! All because of you. You did this!" He sneered.

"You know why I did what I did, stop playing the victim." He wheezed clawing at his fingers.

" I've sweared vengence on the clan, especially you. I'll take back what is rightfully mine and show you that what I said all those years ago was the truth. I'll let you see the power I spoke about as I devour the clan whole and feast on their unfaithful flesh!" His fingers tightened, he watched lazily in trance as his brother's eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets and his face turn blue.

"Above all else, you'll die knowing Eiko is bound to my side, no longer ypur daughter but mine! She'll be the one cleansing that pathatic clan until dust and ashes is what remains."

Akio drove his fist, channeled by anger, to his brother's gut sending him flying to the wall, into the embrace of the awaiting shadows.

Akio clutched his thraot, gulping air like a deprived, starving urchin and went to his daughter's side noticing her still form. She must've passed out from the pain.

Every pore, opening in her was leaking blood as if her body determined to keep emptiying her of blood.

"No, you wont take her!" Noboru sent a gust of fire toward Akio setting him aflame.

Akio left his daughter side and commanded the flames licking his flesh to form  a fire ball in his palm that he hurled back at his brother...who was no where in sight.

It happened in mere seconds. A blink of the eye.

Eiko's scream burst from her tiny chest. Roaring with a voice void of humanity. Dark. Black as the eyes of his brother.

"No, Eiko!" 

He charged at his brother and wrenched his filthy hands from her back, his maddening cackle chilled his core.

"Its done and there is nothing you can do about it!"

Akio fell to his knees, his fingers still wrapped around his brother as he watched with sickining dread the symbols on her body pulse, wiggle and merge together beckoning the shadows who combined into one being and dived into the place his brother touched.

"What have you done?"

♥¤♥¤♥¤♥

Sorry for the long wait guys. I hope you liked this chapter. I know its dark and the chapters from here will be as this if not darker.

I think I'm going to label it as mature because there are many young readers who like naruto!

I  appreciate your thoughts, so tell me how the story is going so far.

See you in the next chapter.

Ps: unedited.

Pps: I forgot to mention that some comments might not match the content of the chapters thats because they are rewritten.  Ive changed the course of the story completely. So dont be confused ;)

Love,

Eva.