Disclaimer: The following characters involved in this fanfic are not owned by me. They are the property of Capcom and/or their other respected owners. If I did then coming up with an ending wouldn't be so hard…maybe

The Darkness Comes -- Chapter 8

"You know… despite the history of Akuma's former training grounds, the village here is really quite nice…" Sakura said to nobody in particular while she made her way back to the village she and her teacher had passed earlier. There were children playing in the fields alongside their mothers and fathers, while the elderly remained at their homes with stories that Sakura could only imagine were of the "Good ol' days". 'The "good ol' days", huh? I kinda miss being a regular girl before all this happened…' she thought to herself. It seemed that in such a short time, Sakura had changed so much. Her body was more muscular, and her hair, due to it being not taken care of, was medium-length and dirty. "I wonder how long it's been since I took a decent bath… Maybe one of the villagers here knows where I can bathe a bit?"

Sakura made her way towards the village's Trading Post, and decided to try her hand at conversational Chinese, when a flash of red, white, and yellow suddenly caught her eye. 'Well, don't those colors seem familiar…' she thought. A vision of her three comrades during her days of street fighting flashed in her mind, reminding her of where she came from as a person and as a martial artist. It was almost nostalgic to see those same colors after all this time, especially the red and white. The three colors shone brightly across the village grounds, and the figures they belonged to were too far for Sakura to make out.

Having her curiosity get the better of her, Sakura approached the three colors a bit more until one of the three figures' image began to clear up. In the back of her mind, she knew it was him, but her rational mind shouted at her that it was impossible for him to track her this far. But why was he here? Was it to exact revenge for the dojo she destroyed, for the lives she nearly took? … Was he here to silence her for delving into things he forbade himself to tell her? Whatever the case, his appearance here meant one thing indefinitely; he was here to see her. "Ryu…sama…" were the only words that escaped her mouth; but realizing they did, she quickly covered her mouth and retreated as fast as possible.

Across the way, the trio of Ryu, Sean, and Ken were asking the locals for information involving a dark man, and a young woman in her late teens. Their search brought them to the village eyes and ears, an old crone of a woman who was apparently the source of knowledge and information that passed in or out of the village. Ryu was acting as the translator as Sean and Ken asked their questions, which oddly enough, ended up being a Chinese-to-English version of 20 Questions. But when they got to question number 4, Ryu's ears suddenly perked up in mid-translation, and his head immediately turned towards a dirt path that led to stairs set inside of a hill. To his dismay, nobody stood where he looked. "Ryu-san? What's up?" Sean asked, when they noticed Ryu stopped translating for them.

"Yeah, Ryu. You look like something's got you spooked." Ken added. Ryu didn't answer quickly, but without turning back towards the group, he said, "I… I think I heard Sakura's voice…"

"S-sakura-chan!? You mean she's here!?"

"… I can't say for certain… but I know I heard Sakura's voice… She's close by." He said with determination in his voice. Turning quickly back to the old woman, he asked in Chinese "-- Miss, does that road lead to the training grounds known as "The Graveyard"?--" Looking sternly at the Japanese man that stood before her, the old woman replied, "--That road… leads to a place many have considered cursed ground… It draws people of all creeds for all sorts of reasons… If it is your destination, then yes… "The Graveyard" lies just up that path…--" That was more than enough for him. Without so much of a word, Ryu turned on his heels, and dashed towards the path that led to Fen Yuan, and hopefully, Sakura. Sean and Ken weren't too slow to follow, but Ken ran back to the old woman, and bowed before he caught up with his comrades. Their hearts pounded in unison as they raced up the ancient road that led to their fated destinies. They were close. Sakura was close. And no matter what was to happen in the events to follow, they knew in their hearts that they will not leave until they break Akuma's hold on their ally and companion, Sakura.

'Sakura… we're almost there…'Ryu thought as they got closer and closer to their destination. Feeling that he could see her at any moment, Ryu's pace suddenly quickened, and Sean and Ken found themselves in Ryu's dust as he hurried up the hill. "Ryu! Slow down! It's not like she's going anywhere…!" Ken yelled after Ryu, but Ryu paid no attention to his hails and only ran even faster. Sean and Ken weren't admittedly surprised at his sudden boost in his actions, but even they were starting to lose sight of him. "Fine!" Ken yelled one last time. "We'll catch up with you!"

"Understood!" Ryu finally yelled back, much to Ken's surprise.

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Meanwhile, at the top of the hill, near the center of Fen Yuan, Akuma stood, poised and ready to receive his meal he sent his student to retrieve him, when his ears twitched suddenly. Akuma could feel a slight change in the number of ki within the area. One wasn't as strong as the other two, but they all felt familiar. "… So, they've finally found us…" he said to himself aloud. Looking in the direction of the entrance, he could see Sakura appear just over the edge of the hilltop. "Akuma-san! Akuma-san!" she yelled, but Akuma stopped her by raising her palm. "You need not say anything, my pupil. I know of their arrival."

"B-b-but what should I do…!? I'm not ready to see Ryu-sama--" Her use of honorifics in Ryu's name brought a slight rise in Akuma's ki which Sakura could sense due to her training. So she changed it before continuing. "… Ryu… san… I don't think I can face him yet!" Akuma stared at his student with disappointment in his eyes. "A warrior never truly knows what to expect when walking onto a new battlefield. You will know what to do when it comes to you; but above all else, you must never hesitate." "…Yes… sensei…" Sakura said after taking a deep breath to calm herself, after which she and her teacher then stood next to each other, facing the entrance to Fen Yuan. They wouldn't have to wait long for Ryu's arrival.

'Almost there… almost there…!' Ryu shouted in his mind as he got closer to the top of the hill, and his encounter with Sakura. Finally, after what seemed like months of traveling, Ryu came face to face with the very person he'd been searching for. "Sakura…" There she was, standing there, waiting for Ryu to approach her. Taking the inaudible hint for him to come nearer, Ryu slowly walked to where Sakura stood, completely in a daze at her mere appearance and the fact that she stood before him once again. She'd changed so much, but to him, she was still Sakura. "Sakura…" he said again, oblivious to the fact that she stood next to the one man he never wanted to encounter again. Akuma, sensing that Ryu's guard was nowhere to be found, decided to take the reunion in a different direction. Suddenly dematerializing from where Sakura stood, Akuma appeared 2 feet infront of Ryu, spun quickly on his heels, and elbowed Ryu on his left cheek, sending him to the ground. Sakura, seeing Ryu hurt, almost called out to him, but found herself stopping herself unconsciously. 'Why'd I have to promise him that when I first came to him!?' she yelled at herself, remembering what Akuma made her promise before they started training.

"There will be a time when he will come looking for you. What he does when that happens will be determined by fate, but you are forbidden to call his name even once during the entire ordeal. Is that understood?" Akuma stated infront of a confused and shocked Sakura.

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"W-what!? What do you mean, 'I'm forbidden to call his name even once'!?"

"I also forbid you from showing any emotion while he and his comrades are there…"

"What are these weird demands, all of a sudden!? I can't call out to him, and I can't even show any emotion while he's there!? The only reason I came here was so that I could show Ryu-sama that I can be a capable fighter too!" Akuma wasn't going to take this 'disrespect' any longer from someone he was willing to teach. His ki suddenly began to manifest itself all over his body, covering it in a crimson aura.

"… above all else, you will NEVER use -sama for his name while you are under my tutelage! You giving another man a title greater than your teacher is the utmost intolerable sin you can commit against me! You will never speak to him in high regards for as long as I am your instructor!"

"Y…yes… sensei… But why am I not even to show the slightest feelings for when he sees me…!?"

"Simple… Your reason for coming to me was to increase your strength and skill. How will you be able to bring forth your full potential when your emotions are clouding your mind?"

"I… I'm sure I would be able to--"

"To what? Focus? How can you focus on the battle, when you're thoughts are filled with reuniting with him? Either you agree to these terms in order for you to receive my training, or I kill you where you stand and send your corpse to your 'precious Ryu'. Your choice should be obvious." And he was right… death would certainly hamper her chances of reuniting with Ryu if that was ever going to be possible again… but in exchange she'd have to close out any and all emotions for him. "… Alright."

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'I'm such an idiot to agree to those conditions…' she thought to herself, but remained stone-faced just as her teacher instructed her to do so. Meanwhile, Akuma stood over the knocked over body of Ryu, who had just now noticed Akuma's presence standing above him.

"Pathetic… your former student has more fight than you do now, boy." Akuma said allowing Ryu time to get up and face him.

"Unlike you, I don't live to fight."

"Liar!" Akuma phased out of sight once again, and reappeared behind Ryu. Ryu, finally ready to defend himself, turned and raised his leg to counter Akuma's roundhouse kick to Ryu's lowe back. After blocking the attack, Ryu unleashed a small flurry of punches aimed at Akuma's head. Akuma, without so much as moving his legs an inch from where they were, bobbed and weaved past each fist that flew his way. Ending his futile, attack, Ryu then attempted to surprise Akuma with a hard right hook, which Akuma ducked under. This gave Ryu his chance to counter. "Shoryuken!" he shouted, balancing out his power and speed to deliver a dragon punch that would connect with Akuma's chin… but he only ended up hitting air. Akuma had sensed Ryu's intent on countering and had teleported back to where Sakura stood silently, watching her teacher and former teacher fight. Akuma continued with his accusation. "You claim you do not live to fight, yet you train your body day in and day out, but for what!?"

"I train every day so that I could be prepared!"

"Prepared to do what, boy!?"

"Prepared to resist those who would bring about useless deaths to further their own schemes. Men who think of nothing beyond their fists besides the vision of their broken opponent. Men like you."

"Hmph… a fool's aspiration." Akuma said in protest. Crossing his arms, he could only find disgust in Ryu, who would still not tap into the potential that laid within him.

"Ryu!!!" came a yell from behind. Ryu, turned his head slightly to see that Sean and Ken had finally caught up with him. Ken, with a disappointed look on his face said, "Ryu, you jerk. I thought we were going to do this together!" Ryu smirked, and replied, "Sorry, but Akuma got impatient..."

"Seems to me like that guy doesn't have much patience at all…" Sean said, noticing the soulless eyes that belonged to Akuma. "Well, we're not that patient either. Release Sakura-chan at once!"

"Release?" Akuma chuckled at the word. "Boy you have no idea of how we got here today, do you? She came her of her own free will. There was hardly any coercion on my part. From the day when the satsui no hadou had first began to take hold of her, she'd been calling out to me all along. I'm surprised that you haven't been called to me, yellow-one."

"Y-yellow!? I'll show you who's yellow, you eyebrow-less freak show!" Sean was a bit tired from playing the second-banana to the other guys in the group, but instead of rushing forward, he stood his ground. Though he was angry, Sean was smart enough to know that if he had taken on Akuma by himself, he'd be slaughtered.

"You all seem eager for action… and admirable trait… then let us not delay the inevitable any longer. Sakura! Show them the fruits of our labor…!"

"Yes… sensei." Sakura said in a monotone voice.

"Guys, remember that our goal here is to bring Sakura back… or die trying." Ryu said to the trio as they all lined up. "But whatever happens on this day… know that it's been an honor knowing each of you."

"Yeah… you too, buddy." Ken agreed.

"My thoughts exactly, Ryu-san." Sean added. "Let's all just hope for the best."

"Hmph... 'hope' is it? Let's see how long you all survive on hope alone…!" Akuma said, getting into his stance, at which point, the rest of the descendants of Shotokhan-ryuu assumed their stances as well. The day had finally come. The battle that would decide Sakura's future.

-End-

A/N: Finally had a chance to work on this chapter after a while… speaking of which, I need to work on my other story, (Love Eternal…?) but every time I do finish the chapter for that one, something… happens… I don't know… maybe the story is cursed or something… This was originally going to be the last chapter of this story, but I decided to extend it into another chapter or two. More fighting in the next chapter (or two) I promise!