Tainted Blood. Demonic Blood

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Eight years ago before present time . . .
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On the cold morning of the 15th of May, (insert present year minus eight) , Izanami Hikari gave birth to her one and only beautiful daughter inside a merchant's caravan wagon in the middle of a great bandit ambush.

Izanami Hikari's husband, Izanami Kazuhiro, a very rich and skilled merchant of good mien, was leading the whole procession of merchant caravans while passing between the great mountains of Wandering Canyons of the Fire Country.

The "bandits" were secretly hired and sent by the Village Council of Kazuhiro's hometown village. It was all because of the terrible accident that happened barely a year ago before the bandit raid.

Hikari was very fond of children and so she often teach them lessons on how to write letters and to make good calligraphies. She also like to take them on little excursions in the forest near the village outskirts. The children liked her and so were the parents, seeing how their children very happy and eager to learn whenever they were with her.

It was all nice and well until one fateful day came. Rabid wolves that were not indigenous to the local forest attacked Hikari's class during one of their little excursions. A strange wonder that she alone survived and none of the children in her class survived.

It was later learned that a great forest fire had ravaged the side of the faraway mountains thus forcing the wolves to migrate and move to the village's local forest. But that still doesn't explain as to why she lived while their children died.

The parents have most certainly implied that she should have died along with her, accusing her of running away instead of defending the children with her life.

But she did tell the truth. That she did try her best to protect the children.
And that the wolves seem to have been afraid and wary to attack her.

Suspicious rumors have begun to take root along with their deep grudge against her. How did she survived? Maybe she ran away! No, maybe she was a witch! Maybe that's why she has very long straight hair that seems to be as dark as the night? Why does she have those fiery red eyes the color of crimson blood anyway? Why?

Kazuhiro tried to beg forgiveness for her young wife and the dead children. Hikari admitted that it was all her fault and that she should take full responsibility and accept any punishment that they would impose upon her. Yet anger clouded the villager's judgment and they never said a word to her ever since. They just ignored her with raised chins and chests full of grudges. Everybody avoided her and turned their own ways if they see her on the street.

Yes, it was punishment. But that was only the beginning. They would not send her away. No. Never that. They would have their revenge. And in full. The village plotted in secret along with most of the village elders who should have know better than to conspire against an innocent person.

She have to die. Yes. They knew she was pregnant of her first child.
And her child must die along with her too. So that she would feel how it is like to lose her very own child.

So that was the reason behind the bandits. Everyone literally chipped in their coin. Those evil, evil persons!

Trapped and with nowhere else to go, Kazuhiro and his remaining loyal men and oath-brothers laid down their lives in order to stall the bandit horde enough for their families and loved ones to escape. The bandits seem to be coming from all directions, pouring on the great mountainside like a swarm of ants. Kazuhiro gave one last glance at Hikari as if trying to look at her one last time before heading back to the heat of battle.

Seeing the desperate last stand of her husband, Izanami Hikari was said and believed to be driving the whole wagon carried by two horses all by herself despite her fragile condition, carrying her newborn child in one arm and holding the reins with the other. A great many fell on that fateful day, good merchants, loyal soldiers, children and women and along with them, Izanami Hikari's dreams of a happy family.

Yet before Kazuhiro died, he howled out a name in the very winds as if a summoning as the jutsu drained his very own life.

According to witnesses, Hikari's wagons was seen to be chased by most of the bulk of the bandit horde which was very unlikely for common bandits, seeing the rag-tag wagon carried no treasure and just small enough for two people. The chase continued on to the very mountains and the few surviving witnesses have seen no more of Hikari.

A day after the whole incident, a rescue party from the nearest village, along with those who survived and families who were unaware of the secret plot went back to the place to search for any living survivors. Izanami Katzumi, the elder sister of Izanami Kazuhiro and a skilled merchant as well, went and asked the whereabouts of her brother and her pregnant wife.

Of Izanami Kazuhiro, his body was found along the middle of the narrow pass, slumped sitting in an upright position with his eyes open wide with hate and grim determination, holding his favored two Japanese swords tightly, denying passage even until to his very death. Katzumi and Kazuhiro's men wept bitterly and admired his great courage despite the odds, facing his death and accepting his fate. Katzumi herself kneeled before him and gave her young brother one last hug before taking him to the cart heading for the city.

Desperate to hear about the whereabouts and hoping that the pregnant Hikari was still alive, Katzumi and her own men tried their very best to search for her. Just when it seemed that they would not find her on that day, one of Katzumi's men went stumbling before her to report seeing Hikari's wagon farther up in the mountains not far away from them. Katzumi and her men wasted no time finding the place of Hikari's wagon.

What they saw before their very eyes was the most unlikeliest thing they have ever expected to see that day. Bodies of bandit along with their weapons lay everywhere, scattering all over the place, dead and mangled horribly as if they were killed by some great beasts. Katzumi's heart thumped hard as she stumbled quickly to go to the upturned wagon followed by her nervous men.

And there she was, Izanami Hikari, sitting beside the wagon, embracing her child protectively in eternal embrace while muttering to herself incoherently. It soon became clear that Hikari's sanity has reached it's limit, having suffered a very traumatic experience just to protect her newly born child. As to how she managed to stay alive, no one really knows.

Katzumi cannot help but weep again for the loss of the sanity of her bestfriend and the irony of it all. Just when everything was all right and set for the couple's wedding and expecting the coming of their very first child, bandits come rushing to kill them all. It's just not right... It's just not right...

Taking the child in her arms, Kazumi gently removed the thick cloth that covered most of the face of Hikari's child. Bluish white orbs looked at her and regarded her curiously with innocence. Seemingly not afraid but almost as if Hikari's child was looking at her as an equal. It seemed as if the child was wondering silently as to who she was and why she was there holding her.

Not expecting such a hard stare especially from a newly born child, Hikari felt a bit shaken and troubled as she pondered the situation before her. Katzumi looked again at her bestfriend Hikari and promised before her that she would take good care of the child as if it was her own. She can't help but cry again as she gave Hikari a kiss on her forehead and began to hug her as she cried along, holding the child on her other arm.

But Hikari trembled visibly in fear and screamed in terror as she caught the glimpse of a lone figure up in the mountains watching them from above. Katzumi's men immediately tried to trek up the mountains taking him as one of the bandits but the indistinguishable figure just vanished without a trace as if disappearing right before their eyes.

It was the figure who was the responsible for the slaughter of the bandits. The one who tore them apart like rag dolls, limb to limb. As the black figure turned away, the sun's rays reflected upon it's face, marred with little demonic horns protruding from it's forehead and cheeks.

"Till we meet again. Sister." The missing-nin whispered to the wind.

Katzumi tried to calm to her down but Hikari just fainted out from fear and slumped towards her. A torn white piece of silken cloth suddenly fell on her lap from the child's own clothes to her surprise. Katzumi can't help but admire Hikari's brilliance and carefully read the letter while hugging Hikari and her child. It seemed to have been written with Hikari's own blood.

Please take care of my child for I fear I will no longer be in this world anymore.
Love her with all of your heart for she is my greatest joy and my only child.
Teach her the way of peace and not the path of vengeance to those who tried to kill us.
Tell her to always use her heart and to have mercy and compassion to those who didn't find any.

Let her name be Hirosue,
For she is Heaven's joy and the people's glimpse of the smiling heavens.

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28 years ago before present time. . .
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The sound of arrows broke the silent glass of the night as a black masculine figure darted across the moon.
Showers of spears followed him with great speed, aching to sting him into a bleeding mess.
Shouts bellowed out to curse and ridicule him with their shaking fists and obscene profanities.

Great chunks of ground and stone collapsed under the pressure of his weight as he landed from the big leap across the chasm.
His body was live fire with all the wounds, lungs heaving back and forth, breathing like a horse. It was all a devious trap!
Slender as a blade, clawed hands gripped the chunk of boulder about to crack. And I fell for it!

They had been following him all through the night. Bloody humans!
Dark red slits gazed back towards the human parties across the chasm.
All set-out to kill him and destroy him. For good.

Never! The figure roared out in defiance. Never!
Pride filled his fury. Outrage became his strength. To the very hells with them!
For within a span of heartbeats the hunter becomes the hunted. May they know torment forever in my hands!

Spears, arrows and shouts boomed out from both sides as the dark figure watched clutching his wounds. Wretched humans!
Wasting no time and with little energy to spare, he bounded to escape, pummeling his feet across the ground with unnatural speed.
Dodging like a cornered cat, he avoided them all with anxious grace and wary eyes. One wrong move away from death.

Yet blood marked his tracks. Doom and damnation smelled strong in the air of midnight.
Bleeding and alone in the streets, with closed shops and shut windows. Circling again and again.
Hope seems to be all lost as unholy life by birthright began to ebb out of him. I am trapped!

Yet something caught his eye flickering with the ray of moonlight. A sign from the great powers below? Or was Heaven mocking him now?
The lone figure entered the gates of a lone ancestral house. He saw the seals. It was a gamble he had to make.
A contemptuous smile on his face. Chuckling low with amusement of all things. They will never find me here. Will I ever get out?

Moments later, large masses of humanity crowded the very streets and alleys.
Searching. Searching. Searching for the plague that haunted them for months.
A gathering called out to the one who lived inside the ancestral house.

Takahashi Hitomi, the doctor who cured one and all, came forth.
Descriptions came back and forth. Murmurs filled their hearts.
Back and forth with hurried expectations. The hubbub came to a stop.

"My house is a sanctuary to all who seek refuge." Hitomi replied.
"But he is a demon! A blight to our lives! He killed many!" The gathering exclaimed.
"This house is protected by powerful seals. Such a demon would be denied of passage."
"Lest the demon you are seeking for wants to be turned into ash, I'm afraid he isn't here."
Hitomi explained matter-of-fact in a no-nonsense look with her cold blue eyes.

"Let us in! We will make sure! Let us in!" The crowd began to grow agitated.

"Have you all but forgotten?" Hitomi intoned as if she was lecturing a bunch of children with muddy feet caught playing in her carpets.
"There are others here who had sought peace and refuge away from unjust punishment and prejudice. A great many, I tell you, under the promise of the sanctuary. There are people among you who know them by name and by face and would rather kill them on sight than to hunt this . . . demon you were looking for."
Hitomi's eyes bored on them like ironed ice, a motherly look of anger despite her youthful face.

"Is the bandit Tamoko hiding there? Let us in! Are you sure the demon isn't there? Let us in!" The crowd insisted.

"The seals remain intact. I assure you, all is well." Her voice carried resonance and undeniable strength of will that was her.
"Evil will not triumph in here. Off with you now. The sanctuary holds." The great wooden gates closed with a roar.

The men looked at each other like scolded children caught stealing sweets. Yet they believe her words for she helped many of them.
They grumbled like kids and went to searching again with anger in their eyes. Cured whoever came no matter what the station and asked nothing in return.
If not with renewed vigor to hurl their thoughts away from the embarrassment. They will find the demon tonight.
So, the bandit Tamoko is hiding there, huh? We shall see when he gets out!

Hitomi looked at the closed great wooden gate. And felt revulsion boiling in her blood.
Self-justification for their cruel actions. They are as blind to the truth of themselves.
Searching for the demons yet they are the very epitome of evil itself.

As she looked at the seals, a familiar name bloomed in her mind.
Hideko the merchant. No. Hideko, the scammer. The nerve of that woman.
Yet ancient Hideko was no more. She has long been dead for the past 100 years.

"Come out wherever you are hiding." Hitomi said to the garden.
The figure almost jumped out in surprise as to how she could know. A sudden stir from his arm in the bushes revealed his location. Gah!
"They are gone now. I saw you enter." She beckoned out to him with her melodious voice.

Little by little, the figure emerged out from the bushes. The moonlight reflected on his face. Managing to look handsome despite the scars.
A dozen major wounds decorated his tattered shirt and body. Red slits taking in a unnatural red glow.
His right clawed hand clutching the decapitated head of a man. The other dragging the half of the man's body.

"Is that...Tamoko?" She asked with a soft gasp.

The man looked towards the head in his clawed hand as if surprised.
"Tamoko? You mean this..Oh.." The small "pieces" of Tamoko dropped on the ground with a soft squishy sound.
"I...ah..you see...uhh.." The man tried to put him back together. It was no use. Tamoko's body was mangled beyond recognition. Poor bandit.

"Did Tamoko hurt you?" She asked with worried eyes.

"H-huh? Oh, him? Uhh...N-" He stammered while he was holding Tamoko's head, crouched beside the body.

"Oh poor, poor you. He attacked you didn't he? Oh my, you're bleeding! Look at you!" She exclaimed as she gathered her skirts and went towards him.

"Wha-? I...I guess so. Uh..Yeah. He did! He did attacked me..." Was this woman blind? Or just too dumb?
I just killed someone inside her house. Hello?! Attacked me? I killed him even before he noticed me.

The woman's hands felt his head, his pulse and checked the side of his neck.
Pressing here and there. Applying pressure to wherever was needed.

The man just looked at Hitomi. Curious as to why she isn't scared or shaken a bit.
A hard and strong willed woman. He gave her a little smile.
Women had always been his weakness. He was very respectful to them.
Always acting the "gentleman". What is she doing anyway?

"There. That will keep you from bleeding." She announced to him.

"Don't you know that I can kill you right now. Make you suffer and plead for me to end it all." The man chuckled with an evil smile. A true gentleman indeed.

"A foolish choice for someone with only three minutes left to live." The woman smiled back just as quick.

The man's chuckle ended as he frowned. "Huh?"

Suddenly, a painful pressure slowly began building up inside him. Threatening to blow him apart.
He blinked in surprise. His legs felt watery. His arms felt like vegetables.
She sealed all his chakra points and did something else besides! He is as weak as...a human.

"Your name?" She said to him. It was not a question. A demand.

"Masaru Satoshi." He was surprised with the tremble of fear in his voice. His innards felt like being juggled along with sharp knives.

"Very well, Satoshi. You killed Tamoko. Now you fetch my pail of water in his stead." She casually instructed him in a gentle voice.

"Look, woman! I have no time to-" Satoshi began with anger.

"Fetch. If you want to live." The woman spoke with an outstretched hand. Patience thinning in her voice. Blood throbbed painfully in his head. How long? Two minutes?

. . . . . .

A moment later, Masaru Satoshi, the half-demon grabbed the wooden pail, full of cold water up from the well.

The effrontery of the woman! The nerve!
He looked back towards the ancestral house with a great scowl on his face.
I will make her pay! He shouted in his mind.

I'm Masaru Satoshi! People tremble in my name!
I'm a half-demon! Not a full time fetching boy at her beck and call!

Satoshi kept grumbling to himself furiously as he walked back towards the house with his tow. The headache is getting worse by the second.
Since when did he fetched a pail of water? Never! Not even for his parents!
And here he was doing it for the first time in his life! Blackmailing woman!

Satoshi found himself back to where he met the woman.
Now where is that treacherous witch? He gritted his teeth in anger.
He stood in front of the house. Still holding the wooden pail of water in his clawed hands.
He felt silly.

"Over here, Satoshi~. Yuhoo~!" The woman's voice echoed like cool chimes inside the halls of the ancestral house.
His head felt like it would split any moment and the woman had the wits to play hide and seek! Of all things!

He began sniffing the air. And found her scent.
It smelled like roses. Why does it have to be roses!
I hate roses! He shouted to himself as he went inside with the wooden pail.

Hurrying inside and around the hallways, the place was very big inside.
Satoshi began searching around. "Where are you, you wretched little ..-"

"I heard that! What did you said? " Her voice echoed with anger down the hall.

"This is just wonderful. Really wonderful." Satoshi grumbled to himself as he angrily bit his lip in frustration.
"What I said was, "Where are you little young lady?" He softly answered back to her.

No answer. Only the silence. And the murderous headache.

"Happy now?! What's your name anyway?! Geez!" Satoshi shouted down the hall like a drunken fool.

"Hitomi~. My name is Hitomi~." The woman giggled.

Oh how he hated women. And their stupid mind games.
"Why don't you just let me die in here!" He shouted.

"Huh~?" The woman's echoing voice was all innocence.

"I said why don't you tell me where you are so I can deliver the pail of water to you, your Highne-err...milady" His head was about to explode from both anger and headache.

"Over here, Satoshi~!" A hand beckoned out in one of the rooms.

Satoshi hurried down the hallways like a mad wolf.
The headache and the pressure in his body was just getting worse.
How many more seconds? 40? 30? Or was it 10?

As he entered the well-lit room, the floor almost reached up towards him as he felt a wave of dizziness.
Quickly, Hitomi's fingers poked at the necessary pressure points and saved him from death.
Satoshi briefly considered smacking her with the pail of water for a second.
Even if it would cost him his own life. He would. In his anger, he would.
But again, he did not. And how he hated himself for not doing it.

"How do you feel now?" She asked with worried blue eyes.

"Better." Satoshi felt like he was being roasted alive in hell as the mounting pressure slowly dissipated.

"Drink." Hitomi practically shoved the cup towards Satoshi's mouth, slipping some drops in his face.

"What's this?" Satoshi eyed the teacup with suspicion with a sniff.

"Poison." Hitomi replied sarcastically as she began cleaning his wounds.

Satoshi shot her a very wide eyed incredulous look. Then scrutinized her with a furrowed eyebrows upon seeing behind the sarcasm.

"It will make you better." Hitomo rolled her eyes as she started wrapping bandage around his chest.

Satoshi considered the word "better" very carefully. It will make him "better" for his own good or for her?

"You do realize I have a very distorted view of the word "better." Satoshi said.
"If I chop your head, it will make me better. Much better."
He made himself smile despite being angry. Trying to be civil.
He looked like a rabid dog trying to smile.

"I already told you what you need to know in full." She replied.

"It's either you told me what I had to know in full" Satoshi sneered.
"Or you told me what I only needed to know. In full."

"Very well. Since you are very eager to know and your wounds are all bandaged up. I think it's time for our honeymoon." She said with a beautiful smile.

"Huh? Pardon me?" Satoshi absentmindedly drank the teacup in his absolute surprise.
"Ugh, what's this? It surely tastes like poison!" He grimaced from the bitter taste.

"Aphrodisiac." Hitomi smiled.

Satoshi choked on the teacup and spurted out the contents as if it was poison. He looked at the teacup then at Hitomi and silently cursed himself.

"Don't come near me! Hold it right there, woman! Satoshi backed away from her and found himself cornered against something soft.
It was a bed. They are inside a bedroom. Oh my goodness!

Hitomi moved closer. Blue eyes swirling like blue flames.

"Oh no, No, no. You stay right where you are! Or I'll.."

"Or you'll what? Tell me?" Hitomi's appearance wavered in his vision as she unleashed her true demonic form, discarding the human shell she had been using for so long.
Long horns sprouted from her forehead as huge claws caressing her lips as if in a pout, admiring his handsome face.

"You're a..." Satoshi's jaw literally dropped down to his chest as he fell to the bed trying to back away.

"Do you know how long I have been waiting for someone like you?" Hitomi, the demon began moving closer and closer again.

"Wah? Me? Why me? Why not Tamoko? I think he is just sleeping, you know. Let me get him."

He began to rise from the bed, hoping his pathetic excuse would save him.
Huge claws larger than his own casually put him back in the bed like a child, pinning him down against his will.

What have I gotten myself into? He tried not to think of the aphrodisiac.
No. Think of happy thoughts. Happy thoughts would be nice.

"Daughter twins would be nice, Satoshi. Hikari and Hikaru. Sweet names, don't you think" Hitomi smiled as her lips moved in for a kiss.

"Uwah? Mommy! H-help! Somebody..Giyaaaah~!"

Poor Satoshi wriggled like a worm as Hitomi, the demon laughed at how cute he is.


NOTE: The seals inside was made by Hideko, a very mysterious "merchant", both a friend and an enemy to Hitomi, 100 years ago. The seals were meant to hold the devil Hitomi inside for all eternity.

Yet the seals only work from the inside and does not prevent a demon/half-demon from going in. A one-way trap it seemed.

Only the strong and raw negative energy from the birth of the offspring of such a unholy union (demon/half-demon) will be able to break the powerful seals from the inside.

And Hideko knew how much Hitomi hated all men. Both demon and human.
It was meant to mock Hitomi. A rather cruel joke from Hideko.
And poor Satoshi, the half-demon was the unwilling father of Hikari (Izanami Hirosue's mother) and Hikaru (the missing-nin who slaughtered the bandits and saved both Hikari and Hirosue)

As to how Hideko the human merchant was able to trap Hitomi inside the ancestral house is another story though. I hoped you liked reading as much as I enjoyed writing it. ^_^'


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Present Time . . .
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A little girl slolwy adjusted her green bandana wrapped snugly around her head as she watched the great building with curiosity.

The little girl wondered if she would find the cure in there for "her".

With a nod at herself, Izanami Hirouse walked with confidence as she moved towards the Academy of the Leaf Village . . .