UPDATE- 3-28-15: Fixed Spelling & Grammar issues/ other upload problems, removed unnecessary shit.

Original Publication Date:11-13-14

Author's Note: When I first found out that a game called Senran Kagura Burst was coming out for Nintendo 3ds in November 2013 last year, I was indifferent towards it. To me, it looked like it was just eye candy and would have no substance in it, but decided to keep an eye on it. When a review for it came out on Nintendo Life, I clicked on it thinking the game was going to be mediocre and given a terrible score: how wrong I was. The review gave the game a fair and positive score of 8/10, saying that despite it's risqué visuals, occasionally repetitive gameplay, and obvious fanservice, the game excelled in it's compelling story and well thought-out/intriguing characters, with each girl's backstory and personality unique and on occasion even downright sad. After I finished reading the article, I bought it off of the eshop once I had enough credit for it, and upon playing it for the first time, I knew that I was going to be one of my favorite game series I've had the joy of playing. Nearly a year has passed since I bought it and I already acquired two of the manga volumes, watched the first couple episodes of the anime (which unfortunately had a mediocre English dub from funimation), and after being on the fence since it first released, decided it was time to buy a vita console when marvelous aql announced they were bringing Shinovi Versus to "The States", as well as so I could play other games like Gravity Rush, Tearaway, Escape Plan, and others that I have been keeping track of since the console's initial release. After learning about fanfictions (the good & bad parts), I decided to start brainstorming ideas about possible fanfics that I could potentially write, and after nearly 8 months as an idea with various developmental stages, I decided to write a fanfic related to this series I hold dear alongside Pokemon, Smash Bros., and the 3D marios (excluding 3D Land & 3D World because they suck, IN MY OPINION).

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the first chapter of my first fanfic, and I hope to hear good reviews, but won't be expecting them.

Chapter One

The New Student

Long ago, during Japan's Feudal Era, a class of mercenaries was created with the task of performing espionage, spying, assassinations, and other deeds requested by potential customers, most of them being warlords and politicians. These mercenaries were known as "Shinobi", better known as "Ninja" to westerners. Some shinobi fought to preserve the peace and uphold stability of the land as well as protect the people. They were known as "Zennin" or "Good Shinobi". But others became shinobi for personal gain and reputation and were often known to cause chaos and unrest to anyone who stood in the way of their ambitions. These Ninja were known as "Akunin" or "Bad Shinobi". These Factions have been constant enemies and were always warring with each other, as they had different beliefs and stood for different ideals.

There were also two legendary shinobi during the beginning of shinobi history. They were brothers who were also the two first shinobi to exist. One was named Yami, the older brother who started the Dark Shinobi faction who represented anger & hatred, and controlled the natural element of Shadow. The younger brother was named Hikaru, who created the Light Shinobi faction and represented peace, radiance, and love, and controlled the natural element of Light. One day they fought each other in an ultimate battle to prove whether good or evil was the most powerful force on Earth. After a harsh and epic fight, Hikaru emerged the victor, but before Yami died, the older brother told Hikaru that he would eventually reincarnate sometime long after the younger brother had passed of old age, and that his next incarnation would ensure his revenge in the future. Despite being saddened by his brother's demise, Hikaru spent the remainder of his life travelling across medieval Japan spreading the teachings of ninjutsu to those who wished to to become strong to protect their loved ones and seek enlightenment. A temple was built on a patch of land to ensure that Hikaru's eventual reincarnation would learn of his destiny and help break down the barriers of good and evil rather than temporarily dispose of it as he had done. He then passed away, hoping his reincarnation would arrive at the proper point in time to rectify his mistake and bring true peace to the world. The good and evil shinobi would spend several more centuries publicly battling each other until the 1860's.

Several centuries after Hikaru's passing, during the Meiji Restoration of Japan, with the influx of Western influence and the advancement of technology, shinobi culture was no longer of any use and was promptly disbanded, eventually fading into the obscurity of time. Fast forward to the present day, despite shinobi history eventually becoming public knowledge to both modern Japanese and foreigners alike, it was widely assumed that covert activities have long since been discontinued.

However, in reality, shinobi were still training and honing their skills like always and performed essentially the same tasks their ancestors did. However, they were much more discreet about their presence and are completely unknown to everyone sans a select few individuals. Schools were set up to teach the new generations of shinobi the techniques and essentials of their profession.

One of these schools is called Hanzo. National Academy. On the surface, it appears to be a normal Japanese boarding school, but it's true purpose is to secretly train shinobi students the essentials of their chosen career, honing their skills to ensure they will succeed in their missions. There are currently five kunoichi students in the small class who have great potential, but a lot to learn. Little do they know that Hikaru's reincarnation is about to be discovered and join the five girls as "Hanzo's Sixth Shinobi". The only questions are "Who is this person?" and "What is he like?".

Hanzo Academy

Principals Office

11:49 PM

It was close to midnight and a man named Kiriya had been summoned by the School Principal, H. Hanzo, to inform the teacher of urgent matters.

"You called me here, Sir?", asked the man known as Kiriya.

"Indeed.", replied the older man known as Hanzo.

Before Kiriya could speak again, Hanzo said something that had Kiriya utterly shocked.

"Hikaru's successor will make himself known in the near future."

Kiriya was speechless at his superior's statement. The Legendary Light Shinobi died centuries ago and countless people tried to claim they were Hikaru's reincarnation, but were unable to perform any techniques or powers used by the Legendary Shinobi of Light. They were all dismissed due to their inability to verify their claims, and life continued as if nothing significant happened. What would cause Hanzo to believe that the true successor undoubtedly has returned?

"What should I be on the lookout for? Any distinguishing features to him?", Kiriya inquired.

"That, I'm afraid I do not know.", replied the old man.

"Then, may I ask- What should we do?"

The old man closed his eyes and breathed a deep breath, then turned towards Kiriya.

"Don't be on the lookout for him. Do what you would normally do if you weren't told this news. He will make himself known to us on his own. One more thing, Kiriya-Boy..."

Kiriya's ears sharpened to take in the last favor.

"It would be best if you kept this to yourself for now and didn't tell your students until after we've found him."

"I understand, Sir."

Hanzo's lips curled into a warm smile.

"Good. You may be dismissed."

And with that, Kiriya vanished in a puff of smoke. The lone person looked out his office window into the night sky.

"I have a feeling our world is going to change tremendously..."

The Next Day

2:37 PM

It was a bright and sunny day. Despite the cheerful weather, life in Japan for one certain exchange student was more dull than he could have imagined. This exchange student was named Jake. He was currently sixteen years old, originally from California, had fair, light skin, chocolate-brown eyes, and brown, curly hair formed into a small afro. But his most distinguishing feature was his extreme height. Standing at six-foot, two inches tall, he easily stood higher in the clouds than most of the the other students, shocking people when he tells them that he is still not fully grown and is considered tall even by American height standards. He was studying abroad at Hanzo National Academy in order to learn more about Japanese culture, mannerisms, and history for application in his dream career. But rather than being a temporary exchange student, Jake was a full time student who lived in an apartment building in the school's surrounding neighborhood and worked a part-time job to pay his rent.

Jake had been in Japan for nearly two months with almost nothing good going for him. He didn't have any friends who went to school with him, and didn't bother talking with girls due to his quiet, if not, timid nature, who viewed as an otaku with bad fashion sense. It's not like he could relate to these girls anyways, due to different interests and personalities, their rudeness causing him to label them Valley Girls, but he still wished he had some friends in Japan outside of the friends at his job.

When school got out for the day, something in him made him decide to take a different route home. He made his way down a dirt path surrounded by lush green forest and was taken in by his surroundings, marveling at how beautiful it was, when he saw something in the corner of his eye.

Standing before him was a young man with wavy sky-blue hair dressed in what appeared to feudal era clothing and appeared to be emitting light off of his body. When the man noticed Jake, he didn't speak and made a motion as if he wanted Jake to follow him. Jake started to follow him but the man kept going faster, eventually getting to the point where Jake had to chase after him so he wouldn't lose sight. Jake went after him through some thick foliage and when his path became clear again, Jake realized the man was gone. He then looked to his side and saw what appeared to be a small outdoor temple that looked positively ancient. Jake didn't know why, but he started to make his way towards the inside of said temple and came across an altar with a mysterious mask being worn by a statue. Jake looked at the mask in awe when suddenly it lifted itself off of the statue's face, levitated in the air and shot straight towards him.

Jake was too close to avoid getting hit by it and wasn't able to move as hit hit him right in the face. But rather than feel pain from the impact of a seemingly hard and heavy metal mask collide into his face as he expected, it instead slowly disintegrated and was absorbed into Jake's body. All of a sudden, a dark, shadowy figure appeared from nowhere and impaled Jake with a long, snake-like appendage seemingly made from darkness. Jake was utterly terrified. He was bleeding profusely and was yelling in pure agony from the nerve-wracking sensations painfully coursing throughout his body. The shadowy figure was about to finish him off when light began to pour out of Jake's body, eventually focusing in between Jake & the shadow creature and was shown to be the man that led Jake to the temple earlier. Releasing a huge burst of light that bathed the surrounding area in it, the shadowy creature became repulsed and fled from the strong light, leaving Jake lying on the ground bleeding to death. Once the light and blue-haired man had faded away, Jake began succumb to unconsciousness, but not before hearing distorted yelling and a small figure leaning over him tears falling from it's face. Then everything went black...

Kagurazaka Medical Clinic

6:23 PM

Jake suddenly opened his eyes and realized he was in a hospital bed. He noticed there was a tall man with grey hair talking with a nurse and that his torso was covered in bandages. After the nurse had left, the man turned and noticed Jake was awake.

"I see you're finally awake now, young man.", he spoke.

"Yeah, I'm kinda awake and my head kinda hurts. But who are you and where am I?", Jake questioned.

"My name is Kiriya and I'm a teacher at Hanzo National Academy. One of my students found you heavily injured and got my help and you are in the hospital now. You've been out cold for a while now, but the nurse said you will be fine."

"Really?", Jake replied. "I thought I was going to die and that no one would find me in time." Jake began to remember how he nearly got killed. "Now that I remember, my chest was completely torn open, but it doesn't hurt at all right now.", he thought to himself. "Did the doctor use a really effective medicine and stitch me real good?", Jake asked Kiriya.

"Actually, when you passed out, your body began to heal on it's own at an extremely accelerated rate much faster than any other injury of that much damage I've ever seen. Usually an injury like that is a guaranteed death and a doctor wouldn't be able to fix it.", Kiriya stated.

"I guess I'm just lucky that you were there before it ended badly." Jake then noticed that his left arm was being pinned down by something soft. When he looked he saw what appeared to be a girl laying her head on top of his arm, snoring softly as she slept.

"Uh, Mister Kiriya... who is she?", Jake asked while slightly blushing. At this, the girl yawned, opened her eyes, and saw that Jake was awake, and was overjoyed that he was okay.

"I'm so glad you're alright!", the girl teared up while stating how happy she was that he was safe. "When I found you, you were bleeding a lot and I was worried that you were going to die. Master Kiriya found me next to your body and took you here and I decided to wait until you woke up but I must have dozed off and fallen asleep on your arm."

Jake immediately remembered seeing someone kneeling over him crying right before he passed out. Could this girl be that person?

"Thank you for finding me.", Jake said, calming her down. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have gotten medical attention and I would be dead right now."

The girl wiped her tears and smiled widely at him, while also blushing slightly at his gratitude.

"Do you have a name?", she asked.

"My name is Jake. What can I call you other than Nice?"

The girl giggled at his sincerity.

"My name is Asuka. It's nice to meet you and I thought that remark was funny and sweet."

Jake and Asuka both grinned when they both remembered what the former had said a moment ago.

Kiriya cleared his throat to get both of the teenager's attention.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but I have to ask you, Jake, how did you end up at that temple in the first place?"

"Well, you're probably not gonna believe me, but alright...", Jake then proceeded to explain how he followed a mysterious glowy boy around his age to the temple, where a mysterious mask was absorbed into his body and a monster attempted to kill him but was driven away by the boy he saw earlier and how he saw Asuka right before he passed out. Kiriya thought to himself, knowing what this all meant. "The shadowy figure he saw must have been Yami attempting to finish him off before his journey could even begin. This is very unsettling. I don't think he knows of his new role yet, though. It would probably be best to explain everything to him, and hopefully he'll comply." Finally, after a long pause, Kiriya spoke again.

"Jake, are you familiar with the concept of Shinobi?"

Jake was surprised at Kiriya's question, but answered anyway.

"Yes, I am aware of what they are. But what relevance does that have with what happened to me?"

Kiriya knew he was going to ask this and decided it was time for him to know.

"Jake, what if I told you that ninja training never stopped during the Meiji Restoration, and that to this day, there are still ninja training to become the best in their occupation, and that three of them are standing in this room right now? How would you react?"

Jake immediately looked around the room to see if there were three other people standing in the room with them, but only saw Kiriya and Asuka standing in front of and next to him. Then it hit Jake like Chris Brown's fist to Rihanna's face.

"What? You're shinobi?! The people who run on rooftops, do assassinations and espionage, summon toads, and other stuff like that?!", Jake was reacting with skepticism as any other sane person would react upon hearing what Kiriya said.

"Prove it.", Jake demanded.

"Very well, I suppose seeing is believing...", Kiriya stated. "Pay attention, Jake. I'm going to show you a ninja technique called the clone ninjutsu."

Jake watched closely as Kiriya closed his eyes and inhaled slowly. POOF! There was suddenly a puff of smoke and standing next to Kiriya was another Kiriya, an exact replica that also appeared to be alive and looking at him.

Jake's mind was racing at record speeds from all of the new thoughts constantly appearing in his head. He sported a huge grin on his face. Kiriya and Asuka could tell that it worked. But Jake's face lost it's smile and he spoke again.

"Wait, if you two are ninja, where's the third one?", Jake asked politely.

"It's you.", Kiriya replied. "You are the third ninja in this room."

Jake had a confused look on his face.

"I'll explain to you.", Kiriya spoke. "Asuka. You should pay very close attention as well."

Asuka sat up straight and focused on her teacher. "Yes, Sensei!"

While Asuka listened to Kiriya intently, he told Jake the tale of Hikaru and Yami and how their reincarnations will be destined to fight each other and how Jake is Hikaru's next iteration, and how Yami was the monster that tried to kill him. Asuka became worried upon hearing about who Yami was and silently vowed to protect Jake from him. Kiriya also explained that Hanzo's true purpose was to train shinobi and that he was the teacher for ninja training and had five students in his class, Asuka being one of them, and that Jake would be allowed to join as a sixth student if he so chooses.

"So Jake, what do you want to do?", Kiriya asked, unsure of whether Jake would say yes or no. Jake said absolutely nothing. It was like this for a few minutes, and Asuka was beginning to worry he might say no.

"Hell yes! I accept! I'll train to become strong to protect the people who are close to me, defeat Yami, and bring light to the shinobi world! When do I begin?", Jake asked.

"He's more enthusiastic than I thought he would be.", Kiriya thought to himself while smiling. "Well first, what's your current living situation?", he asked.

"Well, I live in an apartment in the neighborhood surrounding the school and I've only got enough money to pay this month's rent, which is due in three days. After that, I won't be able to pay the next month's rent and I'll have to move out. I also have a couple of jobs, one is a part-time job as a janitor at a nearby sushi bar. It pays well, but it's not enough to live on when I'm constantly paying rent, water & electricity bills, and making sure I have enough food."

"I see.", Kiriya nodded. "In that case, you can move into the boys dormitory near our classroom. All of the basic living essentials will be covered for you and we can move in all of your stuff in a few days. May I ask what your second job you said you had earlier is?"

Jake smiled upon being asked this.

"I'm also a part-time freelance artist and some of my art is displayed in galleries. People ask me to paint a certain thing and I paint it and sell it. The money I make from each piece I sell goes to more art supplies, living expenses, and occasional luxuries."

Asuka was enraptured by Jake's revelation about him being an artist and looked at him with admiration that he makes a career off of a hobby/talent of his. She really wanted to see some of his work.

"Jake, that's so cool that you draw and paint for people! I also draw, and maybe you can give me some tips later on and we could draw each other!"

Asuka was so enthusiastic that it caused Jake to immediately get out his sketchbook from his backpack to show her his works. Asuka began to look through it, admiring Jake's artworks.

"Wow, there's a unique way in which you draw. They look simple but detailed at the same time. These are really great!"

Jake thanked her and blushed slightly that a girl was complimenting his work. Now that he thought about it, he never really took a good look at what she looked like. He noticed she had chocolate brown eyes like him and had medium length brunette hair tied into a spiky ponytail in the back. She light skin, but wasn't as light as his own and took note of the fact that she looked extremely cute despite her wearing little to no make-up, which caused Jake to admire the fact that she had natural beauty. It was then that Jake noticed something he can't believe he missed upon first seeing her (I think you all know what it is, so I'm not going to mention it). He immediately became red in the cheeks and looked away before she noticed and became offended, and he felt ashamed that he looked there. There was then a loud growling noise that came from Jake's direction. Jake sheepishly laughed when Asuka and Kiriya looked at him.

"I haven't eaten since lunchtime and it's near close to dinner, so that noise was my stomach reminding me that I'll eventually die if I don't eat something."

Asuka immediately got excited and told Jake she had some extra food and was willing to share. She then pulled out her bento box, opened it, and handed Jake a sushi roll.

Despite having no idea what it was, Jake thanked her and bit into it and chewed as Asuka eagerly watched him eat. Jake's eyes began to tear up after swallowing and Asuka was worried that he didn't like it's taste. Asuka was about to get angry when Jake turned to her with tears and sparkles in his eyes and a huge grin on his face.

"I have no idea what this is, but it's the most delicious thing I ever tasted! What is it and where did you buy it?"

"They're called Futomaki rolls...", Asuka relaxed and beamed at the teenage boy. "...and I didn't buy them from anywhere, I made them myself!"

Jake was surprised by this but extremely impressed that she cooked the food he just ate herself.

"Please tell me you have more!", Jake pleaded. He was just about ready to willingly become Asuka's Futomaki bitch.

"Of course! I can make you some fresh ones later when we get back to my house!"

"Yes, Jake.", Kiriya finally spoke up after a long silence. "Asuka's parents have just agreed to let you use their guest room while we move your possessions to the boy's dormitory. You will be switched out of your current classes into my class under the guise of Advanced Placement in two days time. Tomorrow we will see your landlord to pay this month's rent and inform him of the news of you moving out."

"That sounds great, but my landlord's a girl, so I think she will most definitely be offended if you called her a him.", Jake and Asuka both laughed at what the former said, while Kiriya was slightly embarrassed at his assumption. After the nurse came by and told Jake he was now free to leave, Kiriya took Jake and Asuka to her parent's house to spend the night.

Before he left, Kiriya told Jake that after tomorrow, Jake would start his first day in Kiriya's class with Asuka and the other students and told him it would be an easy day so that he could acclimate to his new environment and peers. Jake also told Kiriya not to tell his family that he almost got killed and is now the reincarnation of a legendary shinobi. Kiriya said he wouldn't, then bid him, Asuka, and her family goodnight. Meanwhile somewhere in the outskirts of the city, a tall man in a business suit was looking out to the moon from his office inside a huge feudal era castle.

"So, Hikaru's spirit has driven me off before I could finish off the boy.", the suited man bemused. "But it won't matter in the long run. All lights die out eventually, and when it does, darkness will forever be here to stay!"

So yeah, this is the first chapter of my Senran Kagura fanfic. It was a little short, but I needed to set the scenario before the actual story happened. This story is actually a partial spiritual successor to someone else's SK fanfic that I really liked but was saddened that it never got past two chapters. This story will definitely be a lot more than two chapters long and before you ask, I have no intention of this being a pairing between Asuka and the Original Character. The love interest will be a different Hanzo girl, but you'll have to follow the story to find out who it is. Also worth noting is that the Naruto manga finally ended after a fifteen-year run. I won't spoil the ending to those who haven't read it, but I will spoil that my favorite pairing is officially canon (sorry to those of you who wanted Jiraiya Junior to marry Tsunade the Second, but true love conquers all!). If you liked this chapter, you can leave a review but you don't have to and if you didn't like it, send me a PM telling me why you didn't like it and I'll do my best to improve if it's within my creative reasoning. Don't leave a flame review if you don't like this chapter or story. I'll see you next time and have a nice day!