Warning: Contains OCs (this is, in fact, an OC fic) but no self-inserts. ((Though I have nothing against them! That's just not what this is))

MANGA SPOILERS EVENTUALLY! READ AT CAUTION!

Disclaimer: Clearly, I don't own Naruto. I only own my OCs.

. . .

"It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets."
― Voltaire

...

Prologue: The Land of Bloody Tears

My father had once called our village "the Land of Bloody Tears" and it is only now that I understand why. It is not the land that is crying, but the people within it.

I was born in the Era of Yagura, when bloodshed was as common as breathing air. The Mizukage was vicious, strong and unstoppable. His demon was known as Isobu, a piece of hell sealed within a tiny, child-like man. But appearances can be deceiving.

Yagura was absolute. He made rules and we followed them. If you didn't, he killed you. He didn't hesitate. Yagura was powerful, and he knew it. No one questioned him, not even when he asked us to kill our own comrades because of something as unimportant as a bloodline.
It was eat or be eaten.

"Die now or die later, your choice." Yagura had whispered, raspy baritone flooding the room faster than the strongest water jutsu.

We obeyed.

That night, the Kaguya attacked. They slid out of the shadows like the war loving demon they were, bone swords drawn, eyes hungry. My clan had attacked, water jutsu against solid bone. They were relentless, but so were we.

I was seven.

I watched my cousins die from within my bedroom. And I laughed at their weakness like the filth I was. In my perfect little world, I was the strongest of them all, and they would one day bow to me. I felt no fear, no pain, no uncertainty. The world belonged to me. Those who were killed in battle had obviously not tried hard enough.

Or so I thought.

I watched my cousin, the honorable Hozuki Mangetsu, rip a man's throat out with his teeth. They were jagged like mine, but sharper. He could kill you so easily, so effortlessly, without even moving from his original position. His victim's agonized shrieks were cut short as he tore out their jugulars and left them to bleed out on the ground like the demon he was. Mangetsu loved to kill. He loved bloody, drawn-out deaths the most.

Mangetsu was nothing short of a monster.

Being three years his junior, I was constantly compared to him. Him, Mangetsu, the Second Coming of the Demon. Even then, the idea of me being his equal in any way was ludicrous.

I was strong, but I was only human.

A shriek tore through my thoughts like a well-aimed kunai.

I laughed and laughed.

I never once saw the Kaguya behind me.

..

White. I remember white.

The Kaguya woman with pretty, white hair and two blood-red dots on the center of her forehead had stood over me like the Grim Reaper. She was a bizarre representation of angelic beauty with her large, crystalline-blue eyes and soft cheekbones, decked out in a white dress spattered with blood.

She raised her sword, a declaration of war. She waited for me to meet her eyes before lowering her arm.

"Stupid child." She spat.

The sword met bone.

. . .

Yes, the beginning has finally been written! I am so horrible with beginnings, but I need them to start the story. Hopefully you can bear with this one and this slight cliff hanger while I proofread Chapter One. Main character shall be revealed in the next chap~

-MSM-