Vengeance Will Be Mine

Chapter 1- The Betrayal

I was born on an eclipse, my parents always said to me. The time when it is both night and day. When there's both darkness and light.

My mother and father were both kind, merciful people. But that didn't mean that they didn't know when to fight. They were always helping people, always choosing peace over a fight.

But they were far from saints.

Especially when it came to ninjutsu. I saw them fight with such fury and skill that I couldn't help but wish to be one, a ninja. No matter how dangerous it would be.

"Please. Please. Please. Pleeeease can I do it?" I asked when I was four.

"Selena, you know that there are many risks when learning ninjutsu, and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if anything were to happen to you." My father said to me, but he knew how stubborn I was.

"But nothing will happen as long as I know how to defend myself." I had begged. "Please let me train with you guys. I beg you!" I went on my knees and look up at him with teary eyes.

"Let me discuss this with your mother first, ok?" He says finally. I jump up and down happily. "It's a maybe, not a yes." My dad explains, but there is still a broad smile on his face.

He goes into the kitchen with my mother, and there remain there for a while. Then, they emerge and I know that mom had won the argument.

"We have made a decision." My father says. "You will learn ninjutsu but your training will start when you turn five."

"Five?! But that's in a year?!" I whine.

"Actually, your birthday is in seven months, it's not that far away."

I whined again. "That's not fair." I crossed my arms, earning a laugh from both my parents. "Fine."

And so, I waited.

----------------------------------------------------
Nine Years Later
(I know, a very long time skip)

Mom and Dad kept their promise. They proved it to me the day I turned five. I got my first lesson in ninjutsu. I remember falling on my face when trying to kick my dad.

But I'm glad that I have improved.

Today was the day that I would finally get my weapon. I had waited years for this, and father promised that I would get it a month after my thirteenth birthday. He wouldn't back out this time, I'd make sure of that.

"Dad, when am I getting my weapon?" I say as kindly as possible.

"What weapon?" He asked feigning ignorance. I give him a blank face and roll my eyes.

"The one you've been promising me for the last month."

"I remember no such thing."

"Yes he does remember, he just doesn't want to see you grow up so fast." My mom says from the doorway. She has her dark hair in a ponytail and a spear-tipped staff in hand. "Sooner or later, you'll have a boyfriend and he thinks he'll loose you."

"Mom." I whine. "I'm only thirteen." She laughs.

"Do you want your weapon, yet?" Dad asks.

"Of course I do."

My father strolls to one of his many weapons cabinets, and opens it. He lifts up a beautiful ninjato and holds it out to me. Its sleek black blade glistens in the sunlight and ornate carvings are on the metal. I know what they say, instantly.

"Meiyo." I mutter. "Honor. Your giving me Honor?" It was unbelievable. Father was giving me one of his most prized possessions. I looked up at him, my eyes wide. He smiles, and father's smile has always been contagious. Mom smiles, and so do I.

"You've made us very proud, Selena. More than you could ever know." Father says.

"We love you, baby girl. We always will." Mom hugs me, and dad joins in. Our moment is short lived, because at that very moment, a shuriken breaks through our window and burrows itself in our wall, inches away from my father's head.

All our heads turn to its owner, who kicks out the remaining glass in the window and goes in. It was a man covered in heavy armor. I could not see his face, but his eyes were showing. One was black and cold and empty, but the other was dead. I could see the brutal scars that covered it.

It spoke. "Zayn, Astrid, so we meet again."

"Who are you?" My father demands.

"And what are you doing in our home." My mother finishes. I stay quiet and just trust my parents. Although my grip on Meiyo tightens.

"I see you do not recognize me, that is reasonable. My appearance has changed, old friends." The man in armor says. Then, he removes his mask. I'm shocked by what I see.

He has little to no hair, with more burn scars on his scalp, presumably from a fire. Half of his face is scarred the other half cold and unmerciful. He was hideous, and so was his soul. I could see his rage, his disgust. All I wondered was how my parents knew him.

I guess the cold look in his eye was familiar, because my father remember him. "Saki? Is that you?"

"What happened to your face?" My mother asks, with sympathy dripping from her voice.

"Yoshi happened." He smiles wickedly. "And now he is dead."

"What do you mean, dead?" Father bellows. "How would you know? You left the moments after Shen's death. And the death of Yoshi's daughter."

"He died in that fire with his wife and child."

"No, he came to America. While you ruined a mans life. All because you were jealous. Do not think I do not know, Saki!" Mom yells.

"So my old rival is alive. That will change soon." Saki, the Oruku Saki. The Saki from my mother and father's stories.

"You will not harm Yoshi, not while we're alive." Zayn says. I could see it in his eyes how angry my father is.

"Then I suppose I must get you out of the way." He says and with unnatural speed, he burrows his claw like gauntlet into my father's gut.

I hear a scream, and I don't realize that it is mine. I hear my mother scream, "No!!!" And tackle the intruder to the ground.

Her spear is pointed to his one good eye and the only thing keeping her from killing Saki was the man's strength. He kept the spearhead away from his eye and breaks it off the wooden staff. He slashed it at her neck, an attack my mother narrowly missed.

I snap out of my shocked state and go to my father, who is bleeding out on the floor. With teary eyes, I apply pressure to his deep wound, but he knows that it is too late, he has lost too much blood.

I see his eyes, who were glancing at my mother, widen to the size of plates. My head whips around, and I see that god forsaken claw inside my mom there chest, where her heart is, she falls to the ground.

Something inside me snaps. I grab Meiyo and rush at our attacker, slashing at Saki. He dodges my reckless attacks with ease. Then, he slashes once, but I move back. His blades, aimed for my face, only one of the three met its mark. It went down the right side of my face in a single,jagged line but no damage had been done to my eye.

The blood that pours down my face blinds me, and I can taste the metallic liquid in my mouth. As I am stunned, Saki punches me and I go flying to the wall. I hit my head and for a moment, the world goes black.

When the darkness fades, I glare at Oruku Saki, who places the claws of his gauntlet on my neck, piercing the skin. A small amount, minuscule, of pity flashes in his eyes.

"I will allow you to live with your sorrow. I know of what is to come, girl. But, should I ever see you again...your death will be worse than your parents'." He says and jerks the claw away, leaving a stream of blood in its wake.

Then, using a smoke bomb, he disappears.