Prayer of the Refugee

Chapter 1

The dark

A/N- Hello my wonderful and adoring fans! It's here at last! The sequel to Eyes of the Devil! I missed writing it. I tried to write for my other works, but I got so damn bored with them. I named this fic for a Rise Against song, by the way, and I don't own said song.

Anyway, this picks up seven months after Takashi left Konoha to train for his destined battle with Kaitsu, and the world has changed.

In a shocking move, Hitsuya separated from the village and regained its status as a republic. As a result, tensions between the Hidden leaf and Hidden mist villages have almost doubled.

Also, rumors are spreading in Hitsuya of a possible coup against the new government. In light of said rumors, the Hitsuya government has almost doubled its military's activity, stationing the majority of its small forces within the city walls to maintain peace.

The world is on a hair trigger, and the slightest wrong move could trigger a war that could ravage all three villages.

The only one who can stop it… has disappeared…

NOW ON WITH THE SEQUEL TO EYES OF THE DEVIL! PRAYER OF THE REFUGEE!

Disclaimer- All standard disclaimers apply; I own none of the characters other than those I obviously created.

Warning: There is some explicit gore in this chap, not bad, but still gory. Don't read if you have a weak stomach.

It was dark. And it was warm. Well, the cave they were in was warm. Outside was a tempest of cold, wet, rain.

Sakura sat by the fire, her legs pulled close to her chest, her arms wrapped around them as her head rested on her knees.

Her former sensei turned teammate, Kakashi Hatake was lounging against the cave wall, content to read his book by the firelight as the world outside was ripped apart by nature's fury.

"Inubo should be back soon…" He said in an airy, happy-go-lucky voice. He frowned at Sakura's continued silence. "Come now Sakura, you must eat." He said, pushing the small box of rice towards her. Sakura looked at it through blank eyes.

She weakly picked up the chopsticks and ate slowly.

Kakashi sighed.

It had been seven months since Takashi disappeared. She handled it well, for the first few months, but something, he had no idea what, had snapped within her wounded heart, and she fell into a deep depression. Everyone close to her had done their best to try and lift the darkness from her, but nothing worked. If anything, it made her worse.

She'd gotten a little better a month ago, when Tsunade had ordered them to locate the renegade Uchiha and bring him back. A little of the light had return to her eyes then, but now… now they were as empty and lifeless as before. All because of that rumor…

A few weeks back word had reached them on the road that there were rumors that Takashi Uchiha had been caught and executed for reentering Hitsuya.

Inubo had gone ahead to asses the situation in the village. Kakashi sighed. All three nations, Hitsuya, Mist, and Konoha were on the verge of war. It looked like another great war would erupt. If any of the three went to war, one or the others allies would join in, and it would be a world war worse than anything ever seen in the world.

"Sakura, we'll find him. I promise." He said, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She turned and weakly pushed his hand away.

He sighed. She hadn't spoken in months. Well, she'd spoken long enough to demand to come on this mission, but aside from that, the only emotion the young Haruno showed was when she cried herself to sleep. It happened so rarely that Kakashi still tried to console her when she did, but to no avail. Her heart was broken, and nothing could heal it. Well… almost nothing…

Inubo came around the corner of the deep cavern, soaking wet and grumbling about the storm.

"What's the situation?" Kakashi asked seriously as Sakura rolled over in her sleeping bag, instantly falling asleep thanks to his genjutsu. He used it on her a lot, knowing that if he didn't she wouldn't sleep until her body forced her to.

"Well…" Inubo began heavily. He sat down beside Kakashi, his arms folded behind his head. "Matatsuma's been assassinated."

"What?" Kakashi said, or gasped, more like. He turned his hardened gaze away from Inubo. "That's great… Who's in power now?"

"No one is in charge. The senate is currently running things, but they're swamped. I'm telling you, if there was a coup in the works, now would be the perfect time." Inubo said grimly.

"Anything on Takashi?"

"Eei. The only thing I could gather was that wherever he is, he's still alive."

"Really?"

"Hai; apparently a few key ex-members of the Matatsuma factions have been in contact with him, just barely, they don't know where he is, but they know he's alive and in training, somewhere within the city or just outside."

"Good." Kakashi mumbled. "She's needed some good news…" He whispered grimly, looking over at Sakura's sleeping form.

"She's still not talking?"

"No, not a word."

The two sat in silence for a while.

"Well, we may have to scrap this mission." Inubo said darkly.

"Why?"

"There's a man in Hitsuya attempting to convince the Senate to give him emergency powers over the state."

"I knew Kaitsu was gutsy, but this is a little too gutsy, even for him."

"It's not Kaitsu… At least I don't think it is. But I'm pretty sure if it isn't him himself then whoever it is, they're probably in his pocket."

"Sakura said Kaitsu had given him one year to train before their battle. It's only been a little over seven months. Why is he making such a drastic move now?"

"I don't know… but whatever it is… it's not gonna be good. Kaitsu loves war. He thinks it's the only reason he exists. Dear god!" Inubo said, sitting up in startling realization. "What if this coup… Matatsuma's choice to make Hitsuya a republic again… the rumors that Takashi was dead…"

"What are you getting at?"

"Maybe Kaitsu is purposely trying to raise the tension between the three villages? Maybe he wants to start another great war…"

"Well… it does seem to fit. He thinks like Orochimaru. All he wants is to cause war."

"Except Orochimaru only wanted to watch… Kaitsu wants to be right in the middle of the bloodshed. His twisted existence is only possible through blood." Inubo finished darkly.

"Let's get some sleep… We can decide what to do tomorrow." Kakashi mumbled after a long pause. The copy ninja stood and busied him self with setting out his things, trying to will the dark thoughts from his mind.

Inubo had first watch, so he doused the fire and took his place at the mouth of the cave, his Byakugan activating.

He sighed. Tomorrow would be a long day…

If he only knew…

Her muscles were tensed; ready to propel her body in an attack. The patrol was close. Almost too close. If any of them spotted her slinking in the shadows of the cave mouth, there would almost certainly be a battle.

She brushed a stray strand of hair from her eyes, cursing herself for letting it grow over the past few months. She needed to be completely alert.

She made no move, didn't even breath as they drew closer. Battle was all she had left, and she'd grown very proficient at it.

She felt Kakashi and Inubo behind her; just as ready as she. Just as poised to kill.

They passed silently at first. Only at first.

One, an average man at the back, looked in her direction. At first a fleeting glance, his vision snapped back, studying the dark cave with suspecting eyes.

"Capitan!" He called. The group halted and Sakura could feel, as far away as they were; the collective tension that arose within the group.

"What is it Watari?" A pompous looking man called.

"I don't know. I think there might be something…" He began, but never finished. She'd barely heard Kakashi's almost silent order to attack. Now she was mere inches from the man. Poor bastard never had a chance.

Sakura grimaced as she felt his skull crack under the force of her blow. She was an expert at inflicting pain: contusions, shattered limbs, internal injury. She could inflict them all.

Blood sprayed from the throat of a man struck down by Kakashi. His preferred weapon wasn't his fists, but merely a trusty kunai knife.

Inubo stuck to the gentle fist, quickly dispatching his enemies.

Sakura spun, swinging her arm and catching a man in the jaw. She growled as she felt his jaw crumble. He spun away, but she wasn't going to let him off that easy. To maintain secrecy, every one of them had to die. She pulled out a kunai knife, easily kicking another member of the patrol away. She sidestepped, narrowly dodging a barrage of shuriken. So there was a shinobi with them.

Jumping back, she spun on the blood slick grass, slashing the man whose jaw she'd broken stomach open. He cried out as his intestine spilled out with a sickening squelching noise.

With a flick of her wrist she sent the kunai flying into another warriors head, sending the poor woman to the ground, blood gushing from the eye the kunai had buried itself in.

She dove forward at the shinobi before her. Sakura charged her chakra into her fist and swung.

The shinobi before her barely dodged, her eyes widening in shock of her opponents power.

Sakura spun, delivering a roundhouse to her opponent's ribs, satisfied at the sickening crunch.

Sakura could tell from the blood spilling from the poor woman's lips that she'd pierced a lung with her kick. She would drown in her blood.

Sakura turned and her blood ran cold.

Another shinobi was mere inches from her, kunai poised to cut her throat.

"SAKURA! MOVE!"

She spun out of the way. Kakashi was mere seconds behind her, leaping forward with his signature juutsu alight in his hand.

"LIGHTNING BLADE!"

The attack pierced the man's chest straight through the heart.

Kakashi slammed him to the ground. Blood sprayed him as he removed his hand from the man's chest.

Sakura turned to see Inubo coming towards them. The shinobi he'd slain was lying slumped against a tree, a massive hole in his torso. She had to fight the urge to vomit as blood and other fluid flowed from the wound, along with pieces of organs and tissues. The revolting scent of death was in the air.

She leaned against a tree as she vomited. It was mostly bile, burning at her throat. She pulled a piece of a bandage from her pouch and wiped her mouth.

Turning slowly, she looked over to Kakashi. He was kneeling above the man who'd died by his chidori. He ran his hand down the man's face, closing his eyes.

"We need to leave." He said darkly.

"Yeah. We should find somewhere to law low until nightfall."

Sakura blindly followed her teammates, not really caring where they were going. Her mind was still in shock from the carnage she'd just caused. Well, not shock, more like revulsion at what she'd done. She hated fighting, but she knew coming here and fighting was the only way she'd ever get a chance to see him again…

It was dark again. They were moving quickly though the thinning forest.

Sakura smiled slightly as she thanked god that Hitsuya had no real boundary walls.

Still, it would be extremely hard to infiltrate the main city.

As if on cue, the main city came into view.

"Move quickly and stay alert. Once we get past the wall, we'll probably have enemy all over us, so we'll have to get to the warehouse quickly." Inubo whispered as they took cover in the trees. He'd managed to find an abandoned warehouse where they could take cover for the night.

"Alright… let's move."

They leaped from the trees, moving with perfect harmony as they ran.

Kakashi threw kunai with paper bombs attached to their left. They would provide a sufficient distraction while they penetrated the boundary.

The wall wasn't that high, and Sakura leapt over it with ease. Unfortunately, not all the guards were gone.

They yelled for back up just as the trio descended on them, like an ominous warning of the death to come.

They cried out, screamed, begged as the three tore through their ranks. There was no other option. To ensure their survival, all must die.

As per their luck, their enemy's screams and cries had reached the ears of the forces drawn to the explosion. Yells and orders called to subordinates filled the air as they looked on upon their fallen comrades and the three covered in their blood.

"Kill them!" came the order and the men roared, drawing their blades. They all wore the same uniform: white gi and black hakama. Sakura recognized the clothing.

Sanjiro wore the same thing. So these were his comrades.

Sakura grimaced. If they shared his power; well… It was going to be one hell of a night.

They charged and Inubo stepped in front of her, pushing her back. Sakura's eyes grew wide with anger but she shrank back as she felt his chakra massing around him.

"So…" He growled. "You want a battle? Then I'll show you true power!"

He formed an array of hand-seals and held his left arm before him.

"Now. Face my juutsu. Ninja art, chakra manifestation, Angel's Right Hand!"

Like lighting chakra bolted in his hand. It twisted and converged, slowly taking shape.

The form solidified, forming a black longbow rimmed with crimson in his hand. It was long, almost as large as he was tall. In fact, if it were set down, it would probably be only a foot shorter.

The strange thing was that even though it was obviously a bow, it had no string, and had no arc in it. The oddest thing about it was the small ring, as if attached to a drawstring, where an arrow would normally rest, waiting to be drawn.

"Now. Behold the power of my Angel Strike!" He said as he hooked his finger through the ring and pulled. A bolt of chakra formed as he pulled, shining in the dark evening.

Sakura gasped as Inubo released the arrow.

A bright flash of blue chakra blinded her. The sound of rushing air filled her ears as the arrow blasted forth, its sheer power ripping the ground beneath it apart.

It blasted through the enemy's ranks, easily slaughtering a good third of them.

But more were coming, and even for Inubo's great power, that arrow drained a third of his chakra. Continued use of his Angel's Right Hand technique would drain his chakra too fast.

Growling, Inubo activated his Sharingan and smirked.

"Now, how do you like this? Rapid fire shot!" He growled. In less than thirty seconds he fired off three arrows, less powerful than before, but even more destructive as they ripped into the enemy's ranks.

Kakashi knew Inubo couldn't keep this up for long. He was busy aiding Sakura in beating down the men foolish enough to try and attack them from behind. Blood covered the ground.

Sakura cried out a she was struck from behind.

"Sakura!" Kakashi yelled and he dove forward, catching the pink haired teenager just before she hit the ground. Inubo spun and released more chakra arrows, striking down the men about to decapitate Kakashi.

Sakura's eyes were closed tight, her teeth gritted in pain. The wound wasn't that deep: a simple slash wound, it could've been much worse, but it still hurt like hell.

This wasn't good. Kakashi knew it. Inubo fell to his knees, his bow disappearing into the air.

"My chakra's too low. I might have to use… that…" he thought weakly.

"No… Not yet…" Sakura whispered aloud.

As shocked as he was to hear her speak, Kakashi focused his energy into fighting off the now overwhelming horde of enemies.

It was useless. Sakura was fighting again, and even though they were holding their own, there were too many, even for them. Other shinobi had now joined in the battle, and it was all they could do to stay alive.

Kakashi was sent to the ground first, followed by Inubo. Sakura was sent slamming into a wall.

"No…" She whispered weakly. Her tone suddenly deepened to a growl as she rose, chakra pooling in her fist. "You guys are really starting to piss me off!" She yelled, slamming her fist into the ground and blasting the stone apart. A massive crater appeared before her, and any man unfortunate enough to be caught in the blast was sent flying.

Her energy was gone. Her legs felt like lead, and just as they gave way, she whispered something. She didn't know why his name rolled from her lips. She'd called to him, late at night, tears staining her beautiful face, but he never came. Why did she expect him to now?

"Takashi… please… help me…"

Soft rain fell on her as she fell, her head tilted backwards, looking up at the sky. She vaguely recognized Kakashi calling to her.

Her knees hit the ground.

"Takashi…" she whispered. It was over. She'd never see him again….

A scream pierced the night air, and all was still as that same terrible cold overcame them all.

Her eyes grew wide.

"IT'S HIM!"

Men staggered to look. On the roof, near yards away, a body fell to the ground. Blood fell like rain from above. A flash of steel shone in the night as he swung the blade, the small remnants of blood and bone falling from the cold steel.

The mist seemed to lighten as the cold grew. He appeared from the dark, his blade flashing, golden eyes shining in the moonlight.

"Sakura."

A/N- Yay! He's back bitches! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Prayer of the Refugee! God I've wanted to write it for so long! Oh, and before I forget, I know I had Inubo use both the Sharingan and the Byakugan, but that will be explained later. And for any of you that didn't get Inubo's attack, think of Uryu from Bleach, because that's where I got the idea. And thank you to my readers! I love you people!

Please review!