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The year is 2010, the place, Japan. For years now, Japan has still employed ninjas, but something strange has been happening since the 1960s.

Nobody knows how. Be it radiation from the bombings of World War II, sunspots, whatever, but somehow, certain individuals are not only becoming strangely strong and quick, but they are also gaining powers that either border or cross into the supernatural. It isn't from conditioning or mere exposure, either. It's from birth...

Which also brought us to the next of conclusions; demons, angels, all of those sorts of things... they exist. Not in this realm, of course, at least not physically. Not without the aid of something here. They have to have a sort of anchor to this realm, or else they just fade back into their own.

But they can still influence things...they always have.

That's another story, though, but it will be important information...

Ninjas have always been present in Japan, like I said before. Their identities are concealed, either by choice or by coercion, and those who make their presence known are usually hunted down and killed faster than they can blink, since for every fish that causes trouble, there's always a bigger fish.

And the biggest fish are always loyal to the ones that feed them.

Nobody knows who is actually running the 'ninja show' here. Some person, some individual, possibly even a floating head in a jar, who knows? It's possible.

But who's running it doesn't matter. At least, not right now. It's simply those within. They're like a secret service, and are sent through rigorous training programs in the organization to prepare them before they're really 'ninjas.'

However, a trend has been set. In the year 2007, a ninja by the name of Nobukara Seijo broke away from the organization and started his own. Despite the fact that he was soon killed afterwards, his memory lives on, and as of late, the organization has been suffering a lack of... well, numbers.

The organization has really lost all of its power by 2009. In a matter of two short years, most ninjas have evacuated the concrete jungles of cities and moved to the still underdeveloped countryside, where it has a more rustic feel. There, various clans have emerged, so many that it's really difficult to count.

So, it's 2010. With ninjas having a decentralized base and no one unified goal, they're usually just fighting each other, which is probably the best thing at the moment.

Recent reports from outer villages tell of activities that end up in the deaths of one, a few, or sometimes even ten or more innocent citizens. This has been chalked up to things other than ninjas, since the vast public does not know of ninjas, and the government still wants to hide them (in hopes they come back to work for them).

What's more, it seems that certain 'items of value' (as the government calls them) are disappearing, and are linked with these slayings. Nobody knows what these items of power do; but it's rumoured they cross into the supernatural.

They are quite true.

In Japan, in ancient times, seven great demons roamed the land. Armies of ninja, however, rose up against them, and forced the demons into a deep slumber. They were far too powerful, too strong, to actually kill, so the ninjas all decided they would bind the souls of these demons into jewels and cast their physical forms into another dimension, the dimension of demons.

It worked, of course, and these seven gems survived the ages, unbreakable... It seemed like the spell would last forever.

But there was a flaw.

Nobody had attempted to shatter the gems when they were in a close proximity to each other. All seven must be present to destroy them, and they must all be destroyed at once. Such is the way of the Seven Demonic Jewels, but destroying the gems does not destroy the souls of the demons. That's impossible, because souls are immortal.

If one were to destroy these gems, they would not only awaken the demons, but it has been surmised that these seven demons were only the first demons and only capable, at their time, of breaking the barrier for themselves.

If they were to be awakened now, they would rip a hole between the dimensions, a hole that probably could not be repaired and would have pretty much Hell itself poised to spill over onto the realm of mortals.

And this time, the ninjas are far less organized.

What's more, there are ninjas who are attempting to collect the Seven Demonic Jewels, not knowing their real purpose, and it has been feared that a clandestine cult of ninjas who worship these Seven Demons are attempting to bring them back.

((Yay! Second post! 4laugh ))

Not too far away, another watched this silent ninja, her grey-streaked black hair pulled back into an elegant knot that was hidden by the full suit of black she wore now.

Keeping to the shadows, Shonai pulled up the cloth that covered the bottom half of her face and follow him. Just like he had been following the cultists, she had been keeping an eye on him. She had no love for those fools that worshiped the demons, and neither did she care that this one was following their movements. She was curious as to what he would do, her master bade her follow.

'Yes dear one, not too close though, he's a strong adversary.' said a haunting, melodious voice into her mind. Shonai smiled at it, her hand going to the small jewel embedded into her arm that enhanced her skills and powers.

'I know master, but we can't have him snooping about where he does not belong..' she said right back.

Shonai Nikashi was on no side.. but was hunted by both, for she was possesed by a demon jewel.

Raven's long, black hair is down to her thighs. Her eyes are blue and narrow. She has a well-built body. She's wearing a lavender shirt, a purple scarf around her neck, black low-cut jeans, black arm guards, a silver ring with an amythest around her left middle finger, and a purple hair ornament. On her forehead is an amythest that was permanently attached to her body at age 13. There's a black ninja pouch around her left thigh. Fake claw-like nails are glued to her real nails. Iziku Raven was intelligent, slightly strange, but clever, and kind. Her intentions were not known to anyone but herself. Those intentions mean no harm toward anyone but evil. The 24-year old had many strange things about her. A lot of things was hidden about her. Raven was sort of a loner. Her parents taught her everything she knows and she's vowed to make them proud.

She was located on a rooftop. The wind was blowing her hair and her clothes. She looked over the city, her arms crossed. This wasn't a time to let her guard down. In the ninja pouch was small kunai, of which she'd use as weapons. To add to her description, a shiny black choker gave her inhuman abilities. The choker gave her the ability to have telepathy and her singing to harm those with an evil heart. The sound waves brought about other effects too. It can make them lose strength or cloud their mind with lies. "I will use my abilities to help others, like myself, destroy the evil that is trying to set free the demons of the past." she promised to herself. "Mother, Father. I won't let you down. I became a ninja so I could avenge the death of grandmother." She sat down.

Her eyes looked around her looking for any form of evil. Her choker could've given her better sight too, but that she wasn't sure of. All she knew was she had to defeat this evil. "Enough repeating your thoughts to yourself, Iziku Raven." she muttered softly to herself. Even though she felt like crying, no tears would come out. She rarely cried and it bothered her during sad events. Her expressions would be enough to tell others how bad she felt, but she wanted tears to express that saddness too. Raven wouldn't get up from the rooftop. She could only feel herself go deeper and deeper into her thoughts. Talking to herself often helped fight the boredom and it also helped her talk out problems. She didn't have anyone to tell all her problems to. Iziku sighed. Then she stood up. It was time to go anyway. There was things she needed to accomplish.

She felt a little uneasy. "Is someone watching me?" she thought. "No," she decided. "It's just my imagination." She found a staircase leading to the top floor of the building. She walked down it. The building was a library. Today, she would check out a book. After all, why should she hang around a library without checking out a book? It wouldn't be the usual fiction-type books she usually checked out to read. But it should be interesting to her nonetheless.

She looked around for a bookcase or section that was labeled "Non-fiction". With luck, she found it in almost five minutes. "That was quick." The ninja snickered and found herself looking at the spines of books. What was she looking for? She was looking for a book about the demons from long ago. She wanted to know more about them and the jewels. It wasn't easy to hide her identity from society. Iziku usually spent her time reading books so she looked normal to them. She hid within a style of her own. A style that others would say is unique.

After about fifteen minutes, she found it. The book she wanted to read. The exact thing she was looking for. It was called "Demons and Jewels". She estimated it was about, say... 3,000 pages. What a long book! But she knew that she could find the desired information using the Table of Contents. She pulled the book from the shelf. Raven gently rubbed the spine and she smirked. "I found it, grandmother. This could be the key to avenging you. But it takes a true skilled, sneaky, secretive ninja to do the works of something like this."

Raven pulled out a card from her right pocket. It was her library card. She had it since age ten. But she's come a long way since then. She no longer read short books with pictures. Oh, no. She grew out of that by age eleven. She took the elevator down and went to the desk. A lady about age 51 looked at her and smiled. "I'd like to check out this book," said Raven. She put her library card on top of the book and handed it to her. The lady took it and scanned the book. "It's due in 3 weeks." she said. She left the building with the book and put her library card back in her pocket.

Takai continued to walk down the street, going about his business, which was really nothing at all. He was not, however, looking for something to do. For now, he was one with everything. The sparse trees along the sidewalk, the subtle evening breeze, even the concrete, steel, glass and wire that made up the city, he was one with its spirits, one with everything.

While this did not entail knowledge, the black-haired ninja did not need it. He knew what the cultists were up to, and they were all that mattered. The Seven could not be awakened...

----------------

Kumori stalked the alleyway and gazed daggers with the one visible eye to the tiny lizard, thinking to squash it, but it ran away too fast for him to really get a good aim at it.

He looked up again at the skies... Perhaps he had not judged things carefully enough... perhaps he had made a mistake... maybe that had been the right time...

He leapt effortlessly up onto the neighboring building, landing hunched over, his spiked gauntlet planted into the concrete, forming a small crater, and he looked up at the retreating form of the ninja woman.

His solitary, midnight eye gazed, and he memorized what he could...

He would find her later.

Takai continued down the street. There wasn't much for him to do, and since the cultists didn't seem to be bothering him (not that they had much before), he was quite bored.

So, once again, he was left with a question that had followed him for quite some time. Takai did not seem to have a weapon upon his person; no sword, no nunchaku, nothing that a ninja seemed he might have. This could leave someone to believe he was unarmed, but this was not true.

Days he had meditated upon his weapon, due to the fact that he had not made it, nor was it made for him, and it was not known to him who made it or for what purpose.

He withdrew the tiny blade, sitting upon a closed dumpster in an alley. The shiv that he had come across, made of some unknown material. He had, at first, thought that it was possessed by a demon jewel, one of the seven, that perhaps it had learnt to take its own shape, but he was certain it was not. The jewel would exude an obvious evil presence.

The shiv itself was tiny, only about a ten to eleven inches in total length. It was thin, easily concealed up his sleeve, and drawn quickly and replaced just as fast, making it seem like his hand itself could slice through flesh.

It was not made with steel, and its appearance was obvious. It was a craggy, rough-looking material, though it was surprisingly smooth. It had veins, it looked like, though nothing coursed through it, only bearing a dull red colour with red darker still in the blade's veinlike lines upon the metal. He had no idea what it was made of.

He meditated on it often, but the spirits gave him no answer.

He tucked the blade away again, and turned his head towards the street, then looked back further into the alley.

He could've sworn a shadow moved... His umber eyes narrowed, and he hopped off the dumpster, resuming his walk on the streets.