~Chapter One: An Origin Story~

This universe is dualistic at its heart, the twin Trees of Life and Death forever intertwined. Within each tree there are countless worlds: for every shining world of the angels, a shadowed realm of the demons; for a life filled world of the Makers, a graveyard world in the Abyss. It is the most natural occurrence imaginable for Light and Darkness to fight one another, but neither must triumph if there is to be balance.

For balance to be, it must have a champion. Two Kingdoms cannot suffice, a Third must rise. So the Third Kingdom rose from the ashes of hellfire and now the last war approaches one final time, heralded by violence and blood. It is night now, the light of the stars and moon blotted out by the pillaging fires and smoke consuming the living and the dead. Cries of terror mingle with wild war cries and gleeful howls over the roar of the flames. This is where we set our stage, the destruction of demon hunting clans that have stood for millennia...

-We find ourselves entangled in cruel fate-

Yomi did not feel the heat of the fires on her skin, nor the layer of sweat and grime making her clothes stick to her eight year old body uncomfortably. She hardly noticed the flashes of steel as the swordsmen of the clans ran in the opposite direction, nor the pools of red forming around forms both far too still and those still writhing.

"Nē-chan," Yomi was all too aware of the painful death grip she had on the younger girl's arm, and her whimper drove a painful spike into her heart. "Yomi-nēchan! You're hurting me!" That pain was the least of their worries.

"Run, Kagura-chan!" She shouted, but it took all the strength she could muster to keep her voice from breaking. They had to get to the shrine, that was all she could think about, the place her father had told her to take refuge when danger threatened their village. Even as her feet pounded up the stone steps, the sounds of battle seemed to draw closer. Kagura hardly ran up the stairs so much as was dragged. When Yomi reached the doors of the shrine she threw them open and pulled her friend inside. As she turned to shut them inside, Yomi caught a glimpse of the very thing she had been trying so hard not to see.

All of it was burning. Her home, Kagura's home, every building she could see was up in flames. Bodies littered the streets; others were cut down as she watched. In an instant her eyes caught on her father, his armor glistening with the fire's glow. His sword flowed through one mercenary to another with sprays of blood and the ring of steel. A man attired in the armor of a samurai stepped forward and met his blade. Yomi could see her father's mouth moving but the din of battle drowned all sound. Then her father became stiff, and it took a moment for her to see the red steel protruding from his back.

She screamed. The samurai's gaze turned to her and she saw his face, dark hair tied back and a bearded jaw. He wore no smile, but a perverse thrill danced in his eyes. Yomi slammed the door shut with all the strength she could muster. Then it seemed she had no strength at all and she sunk to the floor, weakly crawling to Kagura's silently weeping form.

The writhing shock subsided and a detached cold numb sense of terror crept through her, the terror of one's world falling apart. Her father was one of the greatest swordsmen in the village, she had only seen him beaten once and that was against Tsuchimiya-sama. She had been horrified that day, but that night he had comforted her and explained that nobody was invincible, that him and Tsuchimiya-sama would work together to keep each other safe as they fulfilled their sacred duty.

Her father would not comfort her tonight, and where was Kagura's father? Why had he not been there to protect her father? 'Because he's dead too.' It took her a moment to realize that she was crying.

For a moment she was sorely tempted to let go, to let shaking sobs and hoarse wails drown out the sounds of fire and battle. Then she saw Kagura, her surrogate sister's head cradled in her own arms, eyes screwed shut and mouth set firm, desperate to contain the horror she couldn't possibly understand. Yomi stared for a moment, and then picked up her eyes with a new resolve. They had to get away. She had to get Kagura away. It was all that mattered now. The girl picked up Kagura in her arms as best she could, half dragging her as it were, and moved to the back of the shrine.

"Father," she breathed aloud, "You said there was some secret of our clan here, a last resort. What did you mean?" Yomi closed her eyes and tried to remember her lessons, plans for things she had never thought would happen at the time. "...Below," Her eyes shot open and examined the floor for what her father had said would be there, a small rectangular outline in the floor boards. The girl gently lowered her charge to the floor and ran her fingers along the gap in the wood until she found a latch. She pulled it, but at first it wouldn't budge.

"Hey, I think I saw someone go in there! A couple girls!"

"Drag them out with the rest then! Let the men have some sport!"

A white hot ember of terror bloomed in Yomi's chest. She fumbled the latch for a moment until she got both hands on it, slick with sweat. With a grunt, she pulled. There was groan this time as the trapdoor rubbed against the floor that camouflaged it, but it stopped before it cleared an inch. The eight year old was huffing now, but two small hands shot under her own and found grips on the door lip. Kagura wasn't looking at her, but Yomi felt a wave of affection roll for the six year old.

"Ready?" Kagura spoke so softly Yomi hardly heard her.

"Now!" The older girl finished and both pulled up as hard as they could manage. With a creaking groan, the door flew on its hinge so fast the latch was ripped from Yomi's grip and gravity slammed it down on the wood behind with a loud crash. Both girls stared dumbly down the steps, carved into the stone beneath the shrine, as they descended into shadow. Then Yomi heard heavy foot falls just outside the shrine door.

"Run!" She hissed, and fairly shoved Kagura down the steps in front of her. Yomi stood and scurried toward the trap door, taking a breath before lifting the heavy slab of wood. She had to close the door behind them and pray their pursuers wouldn't notice it. The eight year old had taken the first few steps and had the door half closed when the shrine door exploded inward in a cloud of splinters.

"Ahhh!" Yomi's yelp was lost in the cacophony; her violent start had made her lose her balance. The trap door slammed shut and she felt her shoulder impact the stone first. She tried to twist to regain her footing, but it was all she could do keep her head from hitting the stairs as she tumbled down into the blackness. Then, a slight error brought her head down on the lip of one stone step and she knew no more.

When Yomi regained awareness, she found Kagura leaning over her. Her face was the picture of care, worry, and stark terror, but broke into relief when she caught her surrogate sister's eyes.

"Yomi-nēchan, you're awake! But you're hurt..." Kagura trailed off as her eyes were transfixed by something just above Yomi's brow. The older girl felt something warm and wet trickling down the side of her head, she touched the spot and her hand came away crimson. She felt woozy, but forced herself to a knee. The younger girl affixed herself to Yomi's arm and allowed herself to be used for support. The cavern they found themselves in was tiny, hardly six paces across and two dozen deep from where they stood at the foot of the stair, though the other end was too dark to see clearly. Yomi did not despair because the cavern was small. She despaired because it was a cavern, not the escape tunnel she had hoped for.

"Come on, Kagura-chan, we have to keep moving..." The mere act of talking was painful, her head was far from her only injury from that fall. Arm over Kagura's shoulder, Yomi limped forward. Her eye caught on something odd no sooner than her second step. The blood had bled from her head injury, it was flowing along the cavern floor in rivulets as if it were heading steeply downhill, though the surface was fairly flat. She followed the rivulets with her eyes until the dim of the far side of the cavern made it impossible.

"We shouldn't go this way." Kagura spoke so suddenly and crisply, Yomi had to do a double take. The girl had her eyes fastened at the end of the room. She had not seen the blood, but something was bothering her. Yomi scrutinized the shadows, the way they seemed to bend as you looked at them. For a moment she felt a peculiar touch of foreboding intimately coupled with a dark fascination.

Then the light from the stairs grew brighter and she heard men's voices shouting. Her fascination was dispelled immediately.

"Move," The word was free of her throat before she had time to think. The two girls began their shaky approach. By their third step, Yomi could hear heavy footfalls on the stairs. Her heart leapt into her throat and beat faster with every footstep as they grew closer. Suddenly she was violently shoved forward. Stone rushed up to meet her and the breath was forced from her chest as a crushing weight pressed down on the small of her back.

"Did you really think you could hide, little girl?" The voice, low and mocking, sneered at her from above. Yomi tried to scream, but found herself unable to breathe at all, a sharp pain in her chest.

"These are the ones." Her blood ran cold at the sound of that voice, impossibly deep and echoing more than it should in such a small space. The weight on her back was suddenly gone. Almost against her will, she twisted just enough to see behind her. The being that had spoken was certainly no human. It stood a head taller than the unkempt mercenary that had stepped on her back and even taller compared to the rest. Its gray-blue skin and red carapace of armor caught what little light there was, revealing bulging muscles and curved dark horns emerging from its scalp to sweep behind its head. Beady red eyes filled with a malicious mirth peered at her from under a heavy ridged brow. Fangs pulled into a smile.

"W-why?" Yomi's mouth moved without thought. She wasn't even sure what she was asking. The monster, she knew it was a demon now, the sort of creature her clan was sworn to hunt, crossed its thick arms. The smile seemed to widen.

"In time, you will know." Yomi heard Kagura whimper at the sound of the unnatural voice. "Take them, you will have your reward when we are far from here." A callous hand seized Yomi's arm painfully and yanked her to her feet. "Wait." The girl shut her eyes. Despair welled up, the strength left her limbs, she felt darkness would swallow her whole. Kagura's small hand clutched her arm.

"What's that?" For a moment she was confused, but then realized that everyone had stopped moving. A moment later, she heard what had drawn the attention of Kagura and the demon. It was a wet, slurping noise, as if some starving beast was trying to draw the last drops of nourishment from a corpse. 'Father,' She thought, 'what is that?'

"What the hell is that?" One of the mercenaries muttered. Her eyes opened. At the edge of the shadows encompassing the far end of the cavern there was movement, little more than a vague silhouette pressed low to the ground.

"Get a torch." One of the men grunted. There were a few moments of fumbling as someone passed on the torch from the upper stairs. In another moment the cavern was awash with red-orange light. What little breath she had regained caught in Yomi's chest. A shudder ran down her spine. Something was very wrong here, beyond the tragedy of this night.

The figure was all in shadows, a mop of ash blond hair atop her head, for by the contours of its body it was indeed female. Her face was nearly pressed to ground, where a far too long tongue lapped at something on the ground.

"What the!? What were those snobs keeping down here?" The man holding Yomi's arm said nervously and stepped back. She hardly noticed. The girl had just realized that the creature was lapping up blood, she unconsciously touched her head wound with her free hand and winced at the sting, her blood. The creature raised her head and transfixed Yomi with twin crimson eyes, luminescent even in the torchlight.

"Kindred? They were all thought dead." That unnatural deep voice seemed more amused than concerned. There was a coarse scraping of metal; Yomi realized he must have drawn a sword. "I will remedy that. Kill it, take its head!" There was a moment's pause while the men hesitated. The girl saw the creature's mouth widen into a smile full of porcelain razors.

For a moment, she nearly fainted.

Then the hand on her arm disappeared and something warm and wet splattered her face. The creature had her arm stuck in the middle of the man's chest. Blood gushed from the wound and dripped the floor in a cascade. His mouth was open in a silent scream. Out of the corner of her eye, Yomi saw Kagura go limp, her small body dangling from her captor's grip like a rag doll. It was finally all too much for her.

"Fools!" The deep voice hissed. "I'll do this myself." The creature met gazes with Yomi.

Don't worry, everything will be alright. She gasped, she had heard those words inside her own head, but her ears heard nothing. They had a peculiar accent attached to them. Then the creature's mouth parted and the fangs bit down. This time, the man did scream. Yomi's stomach lurched and she bent double to vomit on the floor. She fell on her side and blackness enveloped her thoughts.

-Out of darkness, a hope-

When Yomi awoke, the first thing she saw was a pair of scarlet orbs peering down at her from a beautiful pale face set in an expression of concern. Instantly, the expression brightened.

"Good, you're awake!" The chipper Kindred exclaimed with such energy and glee that Yomi was momentarily stunned. Then she screamed and she kept screaming as she flailed and attempted to distance herself from the creature. She didn't get far. The creature was holding her in its arms and its expression was once more concerned. "Master? Don't move, you're hurt!"

"Let me go!" The eight year old screamed desperately. To her own shock, the creature instantly relaxed her grip and allowed her to scramble free. Yomi kept scrambling until she felt the cold stone at her back. Her eyes darted about. The mercenaries and the demon were still there, or rather what was left of them. They were torn to pieces, everything was red. She spied the demon's head near the far wall. The rest of him was by the foot of the stairs. Her eyes swiveled back to the creature, the kindred as the demon had called it. She had stood and was walking towards Yomi now, her face the picture of worry.

"Stay away!" Yomi wrapped her arms around herself. For the first time she got a good look at the kindred. What she had originally taken for a black outfit was actually series of wrappings, many layers of the faded white cloth covered with the black ink of countless binding seals. Much of the cloth was torn and hung about her in rags. The kindred stopped, perplexed. Then a look of understanding came over her.

"Master, do you know what I am?"

"K-kindred," Yomi stammered out, "But-"

"...But you don't know what that is." The kindred nodded solemnly. She glanced at the demon corpse. "And apparently all the rest are extinct. You are an Isayama, right?"

"Y-yes," The kindred smiled, a genuine smile untainted by malice or bloodlust. Yomi felt some small comfort despite herself.

"And your parents never told you about me?" Yomi only nodded an affirmation. "I see..." The kindred looked thoughtful for a moment. Abruptly she knelt on one knee and bowed her head. "My name is Seras Victoria, master. I am your family's legacy."

"Y-Yomi," The girl felt no less bewildered than before, but the way the kindred kept calling her master was disturbing. "My name is Yomi." Seras lifted her head and offered a warm smile.

"Yomi-sama... Your family is descended from an old line known as Hellsing, hunters like you. By virtue of that blood I am compelled to obey you and serve you, so please don't cry. I'm here to help." She held out a hand. The eight year old stared at it apprehensively. Perhaps she was simply too exhausted and in pain to be suspicious. Perhaps she just wanted something to go right after the night's events. Whatever the reason, Yomi reached out and took the offered hand. Seras stood and gently pulled Yomi up to stand beside her. "What about your friend, Yomi-sama?"

"Kagura-chan!" The girl shouted abruptly. She had been so consumed by her own terror that the younger girl had slipped her mind entirely. She searched the ground quickly and saw Kagura's tiny form, curled on the ground. "Kagura-chan!" She shouted again as she rush to her friend's side. All at once, Seras was there, one hand on Yomi's shoulder, the other supporting Kagura's head.

"Don't worry, she's just had a bad fright." She patted Yomi's shoulder comfortingly. "Let's get out of this cellar, shall we?" The kindred's arm dropped from the girl's shoulder and curled around Kagura. She stood with the small girl cradled in her arms.

"There'll be more of them." Yomi said numbly. The frantic energy of stark terror had left her, leaving only emotional and physical exhaustion. Seras offered her another small smile. This time, Yomi could see fangs, far too white in the twilight.

"Don't worry, master. I won't let anyone harm you." The girl felt her stomach lurch and nearly vomited again. Instead, she turned her back stiffly and led the way up the stairs in silence. When they emerged from the shrine, it became apparent that the attack had run its course. The sounds of battle were gone; the fires were fewer and burned lower. 'How long was I fainted?'

"Is anyone left?" She breathed and for a moment she felt that dizziness might overcome her and send her headlong down the steps, but she clung to her lucidity with every ounce of will she could summon.

"I think so." The kindred spoke behind her. "I don't hear any heartbeats." The words, softly spoken, drove a knife into Yomi's heart. She swallowed hard. "Father said..." She stopped for a moment as her voice nearly broke, fearful that if she continued she would begin to weep and be unable to stop. "F-Father always said that Konohagakure was an ally. We... We should go there."

"I know the way," The kindred's voice was gentle and she began down the steps before the girl. After a moment, Yomi followed. The wooden frame of her childhood home was yet smoldering. Far too many bodies with familiar faces stared at her with unseeing eyes. She resolutely refused to look towards the spot where her father had fallen. If she saw his eyes set in that glassy stare, she would be undone.

-Out of light, a foreboding-

"Wait," Yomi stopped and looked at the kindred questioningly. They had passed outside the compound half a mile ago, though the red glow of the remaining fires could still be seen behind them. Kagura had awoken, but was in no state to walk on her own. Seras was staring into the darkness intently, the small girl in her arms stirring slightly at her words.

"What is it?" Yomi's voice was strained.

"Someone is alive." The girl nearly jumped a mile upon hearing those words.

"What!?" A disproportionate sense of relief flooded her, mingling with shock and wariness. The kindred pointed into the shadows.

"A few hundred yards that way," Yomi did not wait, she immediately began a stumbling run in the direction indicated. Seras called out to her in concern, but she paid no heed. She made it several yards before the bodies started appearing, mercenaries, each dead by horrible wounds. They were scattered about the forest floor like so many leaves. Yomi did not pause. After a brief time, she finally arrived in a clearing. The moonlight gave the space a pale surreal quality. She heard his labored breathing before she laid eyes on him, and when she did she gasped.

"Tsuchimiya-sama!" The gray haired man was propped against a tree. He bore a horrible wound upon his chest. Even Yomi knew he was not long for the world. She rushed to him and fell on her knees, unsure what to do.

"Yomi-san," He spoke faintly, as if struggling to remain conscious was a trial and in and of itself. "You are alive... Good. The village..." His question died at the sight of her face and what he saw written there. "...I see... Tell me, is Kagura-"

"Otō-sama!" Yomi's head whipped around. Kagura stood at the edge of the clearing with Seras' silhouette just barely visible in the forest behind her. She used forward but stopped short just behind Yomi, staring at her father's wound with eyes full of fear.

"Kagura-chan..." Relief flooded his voice, then it turned stony and stern. "Kagura-chan, I am dying. Though you are young, you must take on the legacy of our clan, do you understand." The small girl did not answer, indeed she hardly seemed to breathe. She had only grown paler. "Be strong, Kagura-chan. You must be strong... If you are to control Byakuei." He lifted his shaking hands to form a seal in front of him. Yomi turned to her friend in worry, but Kagura seemed to have sunk into the same numb trance that Yomi herself had been in as they left the village. She lowered herself to her knees and formed the same seal.

What happened next, Yomi was not entirely sure and later her memories of it would be unclear and disjointed. She recalled Tsuchimiya-sama's intense look of concentration, a peculiar glow, and most of all, the wolf. It appeared as if made of fog, only for an instant, a great canine with fierce eyes and fur ghostly white. Then it was gone. She heard Kagura cry out in pain, then the small girl was pressed to her chest, sobbing. She wrapped her arms around her friend absently, but her attention was on Tsuchimiya-sama. His weary eyes had come to rest on Seras' half hidden form.

"She is free? I see then..." His eyes met Yomi's. "Then you both shall see the end of this world. I am sorry." Then the head of the Tsuchimiya clan of demon hunters breathed his last and a shiver of foreboding went through Yomi. She clutched Kagura tightly to her and finally allowed herself to cry. 'After tonight, there will be no more tears, for Kagura's sake.'

-After the storm, one foresees the worst yet to come-

There are beings in the cosmos for whom the advent of man is still recent history. To their great age, humans are but stumbling children that have yet to realize their place in Creation.

One such being is Death.

Death, one of the Firstborn Nephilim created in the mold of Absalom; Death, creator of the Grand Abominations that razed worlds into lifeless husks; Death, kinslayer that executed the genocide of his own people...

...and most of all, Death, the savior of all mankind.

It had been a very long time since mankind's restoration, since he and his three remaining siblings had cast down the Dark Prince and his legions, since the Charred Council had turned against them. Those old foes were gone now, but the Balance would be maintained. The treaties between the First and Second Kingdoms were rewritten and a new End-War loomed. The Horsemen had gathered Old Ones from many worlds and formed a new body to enforce the truce and ensure the restoration of Earth, the Celestial Bureaucracy. With them he had put mechanisms in place to ensure mankind's growth. With them he had devised the new seals that would determine the time of the next End War.

Now, standing in the ruins of the hunter's clans with the bright glare of late morning sun beating down on the burnt husks and rotting corpses, he could only feel the futility of his efforts.

"No one else was to know that the priestesses' spirits had been reborn yet." He muttered to the air, for only his habitual companion was there to hear him. Dust was perched atop a corpse, enjoying a meal of dead flesh. He knew that they yet lived, he even knew that they had reached Konohagakure only an hour or so ago, but what troubled him more was the demon whose deceased spirit he had just consulted. In a fit of cosmic irony, the Phantom General that had employed and empowered the human mercenaries had been a mercenary himself. His price had been souls and his employer had been anonymous, so there was no proof the Second Kingdom was to blame.

"You called us, brother." War's voice, low and dour, cut through the grave silence. Death turned to face his siblings and examined them for a moment. War stood proud, Chaoseater slung over his armored shoulder. His hard features were set in a scowl. His pale blue eyes and the red crescent mark on his forehead burned bright in the darkness of his red cowl. Fury had her arms crossed, her alabaster skin granting a frigid impression in the light. She was impassive, though Death knew she could be terribly fierce when she needed to be. What Strife felt, the eldest Horseman could not see beyond his mask and perpetually narrow yellow eyes, but through countless years of experience, Death knew that he would be the most opposed to his plan.

"Someone has attempted to sway the balance." He stated simply.

"Yes, about that." Strife waved his arm to indicate the general vicinity. "How exactly does the destruction of one tiny little village add up to a danger to the balance?" His annoyance at being there was clear.

"These humans were demon hunters, a task I assigned their clan centuries ago."

"Why and why do we care?" Strife snapped impatiently.

"I assigned a clan to hunt demons on Earth to prevent interference in mankind's growth as the Third Kingdom." Death looked at Strife pointedly. "We cannot be there to prevent every transgression." He surveyed his siblings one more time and braced himself. "I told you six years ago that the souls of the priestesses had been reborn amongst mankind..." Immediately all three younger Nephilim became more attentive.

"The keepers of the seals..." Fury said quietly. "What is their involvement?"

"One was born into the clan slain here, the other to a subservient clan that also now lies dead." There was silence for a long moment. Fury and War's expressions grew grave.

"Then why bother to call us? If they died, then we'll just have to wait a few more centuries for them to be reborn from the Well." Strife stepped forward and glowered at Death.

"Because they are not dead, brother." The eldest Nephilim's voice had all the warmth of a glacier. "They escaped, but we must ensure their safety and that they stay out of the hands of angels and demons." Seeing this as his cue, Death moved from his position to reveal four small forms covered with white cloth behind him. "And for that, we must take on human guises."

"What!?" Strife blurted. "You want us to- Those are corpses! As much fondness as we know you have for dead things, I don't share your fetish."

"Enough!" War growled. Strife glanced at him and shook his head with a disgusted noise. The silver haired horseman turned his attention back to Death, though even he wore an expression of distaste. "What do you have in mind, brother?"

"These children were members of the Hayabusa clan," Death explained dispassionately. "As I assigned the Tsuchimiya to hunt demons, I assigned the Hayabusa to hunt angels... They too were attacked and killed. I saved their bodies and prevented them from decaying." Now even Fury's lips were curled in thinly veiled disgust. "I have devised a ritual that will allow each of us to take on one of their forms, to rejuvenate their bodies and continue their lives... While our own power remains sealed within."

"You mentioned our powers being sealed?" Fury interjected. Death nodded.

"I will hold the seals on the majority of your power. In time you will hold all your power yourselves."

"Oh," Strife's voice was heavy with sarcasm. "Do you not trust us, brother?"

"With many things. With being subtle and showing restraint? No, I do not." The eldest dead panned.

"Then... we are to be children..." War said unhappily.

"Consider it a chance to relive the childhood you never had." Now it was Death's turn for sarcasm. He quickly sobered. "We need to hurry, the priestesses have already reached Konohagakure and soon they will send their shinobi to investigate."

"I can't believe I'm going along with this..." Strife muttered.

-The games of power, everlasting-

It was sunset now, but the Sandaime was in no mood to appreciate the sight of the village at twilight. He had far too much on his mind.

"How are they settling in to their temporary quarters?" He was speaking of the two small girls that had arrived early that day and their... peculiar guardian. The strange girl wrapped in seals was the talk of the village elders and clan heads, at least until they saw the creature the smaller of the two girls was capable of summoning.

"Under the circumstances, they are settling in well, Hokage-sama." The masked ANBU kneeling before his desk responded. The Hokage removed his pipe.

"You can take off that mask, Kakashi, we can speak as friends now." Obliging, Kakashi removed the white painted mask typical of ANBU operatives to reveal... another mask beneath covering the lower half of his face. "What is your impression of the girls and their... creatures?"

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi bowed his head in thought for several moments. "The girls are traumatized, but they still show surprising competence given their age. The older girl, Isayama Yomi, noticed us before many genin would have." He hesitated. "The creatures they control... I believe the woman claiming to be the older girl's servant sensed us before we sensed them. She seemed entirely unconcerned by us. The creature the younger of the two summoned, Byakuei she called it, seemed to be summoned from within her..."

"...Like a jinchurikii." Sarutobi sighed. "Though given that it is passed down amongst the leaders of her clan, the elders and clan heads have seen to classify both of their servants as kekkai genkai." He shook his head. "When I brought up the matter of what was to be done to uphold our friendship with their clans, most of the clan heads volunteered to take them in as wards."

"They want the kekkai genkai added to their clan," Kakashi noted. "If one of the girls marries a future clan head..."

"The kekkai genkai will be passed down amongst the heads of that clan for all generations to come." The Sandaime finished. "I have no desire to see those children blatantly used as tools."

"Hokage-sama, you have the final say. You can deny them."

"Would that I could," Sarutobi smiled wryly. "But absolute power is a myth. The elders and clan heads wield considerable influence amongst the shinobi and the civilians. I don't have to give them everything they want, but I must appease them somehow or risk a schism." Kakashi tilted his head.

"You have something is mind?"

"I do," The Hokage replaced his pipe in his mouth. "I'm going to see if I can convince Sasuke Uchiha to take them in. He lives all by himself now, it would be good for the boy after what happened. Alternatively, the Hyuuga clan was interested despite having no male heir as clan head."

"It sounds like they're mostly interested in making sure the other clans don't gain an edge over them." Kakashi finally gave up kneeling and stood. "They'd want her loyal to them, but they wouldn't likely try to manipulate her into something more committed."

"I wouldn't entirely rule out them trying to marry her to another within the clan," The Sandaime made a vague offhand gesture. "But I doubt they'd be willing to trust anyone but the head of the main house with that kind of power. It could destabilize their clan. Unfortunately, the elders are probably going to want to split the children up to avoid granting any one clan too much power... And I am grudgingly inclined to agree."

"It sounds as if you have it all figured out, Hokage-sama." Kakashi smiled in that odd way of his, somehow communicating it with his one visible eye.

"Easy for you to say, you don't have to convince the clan heads to accept it." The Sandaime laughed. Just then the door opened and the Hokage's secretary stuck her head in the room.

"Hokage-sama! There's a message from the ANBU team you sent out earlier." Sarutobi gestured for her to come forward and she placed a scroll in his hand. The secretary bowed and left the room.

"New from the team investigating the clan compound?" Kakashi asked curiously. The Hokage's face grew grave as he read the scroll's content.

"Yes, it seems what the children told us was correct. The hunter clan compound is gone and there are no other survivors. Furthermore, it seems a friendly clan of shinobi was also massacred. Four surviving children made their way to the hunter clans only to find them already gone."

"That can't be coincidence." The ANBU captain noted. The Sandaime nodded in agreement.

"By the description, it was the same attacker."

"What could anyone hope to gain by the destruction of demon hunting clans?"

"I'm not sure," he turned to the window and gazed over the village. The sun had set now and light was fading fast. "But we'll have to consider the idea that the sponsors of these mercenaries may not be human." They stood in silence a moment, letting the possibility sink in. "At any rate, the children are being brought in. I'll have to see where to put them as well..." The old man shook his head. "I've taken enough of your time, Kakashi, you are dismissed." The ANBU captain broke from his reverie and offered a bow in the Hokage's direction.

"Hokage-sama," He turned and departed. When the door shut behind him, the Sandaime heaved a heavy sigh and wondered just what enemy he might be making for Konoha by taking in these children.

-Ourselves, but not ourselves-

It was a curious feeling at first, feeling one's very being... compressed for lack of a better term, molded to fit another's flesh. Then came the other sensations. The children were dead, their souls departed, but echoes remained. Not that Death could complain. Those fragment made pretending to be traumatized children mush easier, but it was unnerving to feel such a raw terror and sorrow, even if only an echo. They'd had scant hours to become accustomed to these feelings and forms before the ANBU had arrived, but it was enough.

"Konoha..." He muttered quietly. His familiar tones in his new high child's voice sounded bizarre to his ears. They stood at the gate beside the shinobi that had brought them here. The one that had carried him, a tall woman in a bird mask, nodded.

"We will take you to the Hokage now. He will find a place for you." There was a gentle comforting tone to her voice. The fragments of the boy that was were soothed by it. The Horseman, however, had to look down to hide the twitch of an ironic smile on his face. In millennia he could count on one hand the number of beings that has seen him without his mask. It was something to get used to. When he had mastered himself and fallen into step with the ANBU, Death cast his gaze back at his siblings with a grimaced. The physical transition had not been quite as smooth as he had hoped.

The child he now was had been the clan head's nephew and the oldest of the four children he had scavenged when he died, an eight year old, so now he stood taller than his siblings. The boy's eyes, however, had turned a deep hazel and his skin had attained an unhealthy pallor which only seemed to be enhanced by the contrast of his coarse black hair.

His siblings had not gone unchanged. Fury and Strife had taken the bodies of a pair of fraternal twins a year younger than the boy he now was, members of a branch family. Death was certain the dead girl had possessed brown hair and a fair complexion, but now her hair was a deep wine red and her skin was pale as alabaster. Strife's body was least changed, having a darker skin tone than fury, but his hair was stuck in the same spiked formation he was accustomed. Death wasn't sure if that was the effect of the process or styling he had done after the fact. Both returned his gaze with amber eyes. His third sibling returned his look with blue eyes and thinly veiled anger.

The Red Rider did not appreciate being placed in the youngest of the bodies, the young only son of the clan's best smith, but Death had assured him it was necessary for one of them to be of an age with the younger priestess. Still, things would have been simpler had the young child not possessed War's silver hair or the striking blue eyes. As now the four looked more like a menagerie of the strange and unusual as blood family members. Mildly annoyed, Death turned his gaze forward and promptly stopped walking.

"Is something wrong?" The female ANBU asked him. If he had any intention of answering that question truthfully, he would have said yes. She was standing in the street, not far from the door to a large apartment block. A curtain of smooth black hair covering half her face, the violet eyes, it was Isayama Yomi.

The girl that would become the Black Priestess, emissary of damnation.

"Nothing," He muttered quietly. Without another word, he began walking. The ANBU took the lead again, and spoke no more, apparently dismissing the incident. It was not the young priestess that occupied his thoughts now, however. That distinction belonged to the feminine shade standing in her shadow...

The rest of their walk through the village was without incident. It was late and only a handful of establishments remained open. The ANBU preferred to skirt such areas, so the nephlilim saw not another living soul until the Hokage's office was before them. The secretary offered them a few curious looks and a disingenuous smile before ushering them inside. Death's eyes narrowed on the old man behind the desk. His gentle grandfatherly smile actually seemed genuine. That was a good sign.

"Welcome, young ones." The old man greeted quietly. "I cannot say how sorry I am for your loss. No child should have to lose so much in such a short time." Death felt the child's emotions stirring at the reminder, a wave of grief and panic. He clamped down on the feelings, but something must have shown in his face. The Hokage's features shifted into concern. The Horseman decided it was best to speak and drew on the child's memory.

"Hokage-sama," He allowed a slight tremor to enter his voice and bowed his head. "My uncle...and my father always spoke of Konohagakure as an ally and friend." He took a shaky breath. "My name is Hayabusa Takeshi. These are my cousins." He turned his head to the side so as to look at his sibling out of the corner of his eye. "Hayabusa Maiko," Fury, "Hayabusa Seiji," Strife, "and Hayabusa Shiro." War.

"It is my pleasure to meet each of you." The Sandaime inclined his head respectfully. "And you should know that your clan's friendship with the Leaf remains as strong as it ever was."

"Hokage-sama," Death took another breath and ordered his thought to what needed to be done. "On behalf of my clan, I would like to-" The old man cut him off with a gesture of his hand.

"You have had a trying day, we can speak again in the morning. Please, I have arranged a place for you to stay the night." Death hesitated a moment, he hadn't anticipated being overruled.

"I-Thank you, Hokage-sama." As they were led from the room, the other three sent him looks of varying degrees of annoyance and impatience. He paid them no heed, Death's thoughts were on his own plans for the night.

-Walking softly, the night full of deathly shadow-

It was a simple task for Death to slip out of rooms the Hokage had arranged. It was harder to get around all the surveillance ANBU had set up, but he had managed it easily enough. With his small form, the night streets were extremely easy to navigate unseen. When he arrived in an alley with no windows, he stopped at the end and settled down cross legged to wait.

His thoughts turned to the seals that held the End War at bay. It had seemed an issue at first, to create new seals out of reach of those that might repeat the disaster of the first "End" War. Then came...a revelation. Two priestesses, one for the Light and one for the Dark. In their hands lay the fate of the Third Kingdom... With those stakes in mind, he needed to be sure of no outside interference.

"Bloody bird!" He heard an annoyed voice scream out. A smile tugged at his lips as he rose to his feet. An unusually large crow swooped around the corner and landed on his outstretched arm. Death grimaced as the bird's talons dug into the young human flesh of his arm, another thing to get used to. Just as swiftly a familiar silhouette appeared at the alley's entrance. Voluptuous, slender, and nearly as pale Fury, her crimson eyes settled on him and she frowned.

"You're one of the Hayabusa kids. What are you doing here?" She drew closer. He made out her short blonde hair and attire, consisting of what appeared to be a local taste, a black and red floral print kimono, save that it was cut at mid-thigh, and a pair of black open toed sandals not unlike those he had seen some shinobi wear.

"I sent Dust to bring you here." The crow tilted its head in her direction. Death fixed her with an icy stare. "I want to know why you have attached yourself to Isayama Yomi, Cainite." The woman stiffened.

"I'm not in the mood for answering questions from just anyone." She spread her feet and balled her fists. "Especially kids that know a lot more than they should." Death frowned. Dust flew to the rooftops with a shake of his arm. He began to walk with slow precise steps toward the kindred.

"I am not a mere child." Inhuman deep tones slipped into his voice, a shimmer appeared behind him, then a massive violet hooded specter appeared behind him, wings of bone jutting from its back and skeletal hands grasped the haft of a massive scythe. It was there for an instant, then only night darkness. "And I will not hesitate to end you if you mean her harm." Death expected fear, horror, surprise, but the kindred's expression showed only the latter mingled with a perplexed look.

"I could tell you weren't human." Her right arm seemed to shift unnaturally, her hand disappeared into writhing shadows. "But I'm no average kindred, I'm a Draculina!" An amorphous pitch darkness grew around her from her arms, and then the eyes started appearing, bright, too large and red as blood. From the mass emerged a dark dog's head with gaping maw filled with fangs. Then, just like Death's specter, it was gone. The woman placed her hands on her hips. "But I would never hurt Yomi! She's my master and even then, she's just a little girl!" Now it was Death's turn to be surprised.

"Master? Draculina?" He muttered. "Can fate truly be so ironic?"

"What's ironic?" Now she looked properly nonplussed. Death found that this pleased him.

"Is Yomi of the Hellsing lineage?" He asked directly. He folded his arms over his chest.

"Wha-How do you know that name!?" The kindred sputtered. "Nobody has spoken that name in centuries, how do you know it!?"

"I've learned many things about humanity over the past thousand years." A satisfied smirk pulled at his lips. "I'll take that as a 'yes' then. So tell me, Cainite, how did you survive when no other of your kind did?"

"I'm not saying a thing until you tell me who you are?!" Her fangs were bared. "And I have a name, Seras Victoria!" The Horseman scowled impatiently.

"Who I am doesn't matter; my goal is to ensure the safety of Isayama Yomi and Tsuchimiya Kagura." He walked closer to her until only a handful of paces separated them. "I won't hurt your mistress, but you will tell me how you came to be here."

"...That was a very long time ago." Seras said grudgingly. A faraway look came into her eye. "My master...and his master, we survived when the demons and angels came. Sir Integra waged her war." There was a faint pain in her voice, the faint pain of loss whose scars had healed but never gone away. "She waged it with everyone she could find for nearly a decade. My master reveled in it, but it couldn't last. Sir Integra grew older until the day came that she wasn't fast enough. She gave my master one final order, to kill the Destroyer."

"Well, that obviously didn't end well." Seras looked at Death with a mix of anger and distaste. "But if your master's master died, then how can Yomi be a descendant of Hellsing?"

"I'm getting to that," She nearly snarled. "My master... He attacked the Black Throne, and you seem to know enough to guess what happened next." The look in her eye became distant again. "I wandered, protected what humans I could find, then there were none left, so I hunted demons."

"Then mankind returned."

"Yes," A faint smile touched the woman's face. "Then mankind returned, and Sir Integra among them. It took me nearly a decade to find her, and when I did I found that she had married. I agreed to be bound to her bloodline as my master had been." She fixed Death with determined gaze. "Generations later, when most of the demons had been killed, my master sealed me beneath their shrine." Death nodded in understanding though his expression was distasteful.

"You were an anachronism, with fewer demons you became unnecessary."

"Enough of that!" Seras muttered angrily. "Who are you?"

"Think of me as a guardian." Without warning, Death sprung to the nearest wall and pushed himself up with much more strength than an eight year old should be able to manage. He grabbed hold of a windowsill and pulled himself up. Then again he leapt and pulled himself up to the roof. When he stood and looked down, Seras was standing on the wall, parallel to the ground and unabashedly defying gravity. "The Blood Beast..." He muttered to himself and shook his head. "And the Tsuchimiya pet, the Spirit Beast. It seems there is truth in the foretellings." He met her eyes, "Say nothing to your master of what has occurred here, Cainite, I mean her no harm and I will not hesitate to end you...nor reveal the sordid history of your kind."

He held out his hand and a purple glow pulsed. In an instant Seras' was blinded by a whirlwind of black feather, her ears deafened by a cacophony of greedy crows as the tore, slashed and pecked at her flesh with an icy chill. She cried out, and then lashed out. Her arm became indistinct pulsing shadow and ripped through the mass of birds in a bloody arc. It was over in a moment, but when she made it up to the roof, Death was long gone.

-What the future brings-

The rest of the night passed unremarkably. Nephilim require very little in the way of sleep, but Death was discovering rapidly that his new form was not quite as resilient. It was a feat of will to keep himself from yawning and rubbing his eyes. He had to keep that in mind when next he planned a midnight outing. Fury and Strife had allowed themselves to succumb to their bodies' desire for sleep. Only War had been waiting awake, though being the youngest in body, he was barely conscious. He had little opportunity to do anything but glare at Death for his exclusion before his little form fell back onto his pillow and he fell asleep. His brother would try to kill him for saying so and he would never allow anyone to hear him describe anything that way, but Death thought he looked surprisingly cute. Now the four were once again being chaperoned to the office of the Hokage.

"So, did anyone have any interesting dreams last night?" Strife chimed in with an arm around Death's shoulders. He was several inches shorter than his older sibling, which made the maneuver slightly awkward. Death knew what his sibling was really asking and met his smile with a disapproving frown

"Now is not the time, Seiji-kun." He carefully removed Strife's arm from his shoulder. The younger horseman scowled and his fists balled. "Tell me," He was speaking under his breath so that even Death struggled to hear him.

"In due time." He muttered. Death had not told his siblings why he was leaving in the dead of night and since they had awoken, Strife had been trying to get him to tell them what happened. He would have done so if the shinobi hadn't been so intent on being their shadows. War muttered something scathing about both his siblings, but Death had detached his interest. They were approaching the Hokage tower now, and he had more plans to execute. He watched Isayama Yomi and Tsuchimiya Kagura walk out of an adjoining street towards the tower with their blood drinking protector in tow and abruptly changed his course to intercept them. The chunin shepherding them stopped but did not impede him. The girls saw him coming and stopped walking. Their own shinobi chaperones glanced at each other but did not stop the boy. Seras narrowed her eyes and frowned at him, her whole body tensing just the slightest degree.

"Tsuchimiya-sama," He said formally with a bow at the waist. "And Isayama-sama. It is good to see you both safe." Kagura gave him a mostly surprised look and seemed at a loss but Yomi took her hand and bowed to him in return.

"Th-thank you, you must be the Hayabusa clan members we heard about." She gave him a warm smile or what was supposed to be one. Death could see just how forced it was. "I'm glad you're safe." The horseman nodded to her and turned towards the Hokage tower. As the girls began to walk again, Death muttered so quietly only Yomi could hear as she passed him.

"Keep up your false cheer and smiles, Yomi. They may save you." Yomi turned sharply, eyes wide, but Death was already halfway back to his siblings.

"I hope you all got what rest you could after the ordeal you've suffered," The Sandaime greeted them all as they filed into his office. "Today we must discuss your future in this village." The old man inclined his head to Yomi and Kagura. "Yomi-san, yesterday you told me you and Kagura-san would be interested in joining Konohagakure. Is this still true?" The girl set her features in determination.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." The old man nodded appreciatively and his gaze shifted to Death.

"And you, Takeshi-san? What do you and your clansmen wish to do?" Death cleared his throat.

"We mean to join the village as well, I meant to tell you last night." The Hokage tilted his head and cast Death with a searching look. He then seemed to shrug and opened his arms wide.

"Then it is my pleasure to welcome you all as citizens of the Village Hidden in the Leaves." He dropped him arms and his expression sobered.

"I have found clans willing to take you in as wards, but I'm afraid I will not be able to keep you together." Yomi and Kagura visibly stiffened. Death and the horseman were unconcerned. "Half of you will become wards of the Hyuuga clan and half of you will become wards of the Uchiha clan. In their compounds you will live and I hope you will come to think of them as family.

Author's Note: First off, I'll have you know that this is a very large crossover. This story includes elements of Naruto, Darksiders, Ga-rei, Soul Calibur, and Hellsing, with Jade Empire and Avatar (The one with benders not giant blue cat people) taking part a little later on. I know there haven't been many Naruto characters yet, but there will be.

On the subject of Darksiders, I'm going with the assumption that the Horseman went to war with Lucifer and the Charred Council. They won, but created the Celestial Bureaucracy (Jade Empire) to take the Council's place and reestablish the balance. I actually have a whole history about what happened after humanity got resurrected.

On the subject of Ga-rei, I'm going to be honest and say it was not a very good manga. The anime, Ga-rei Zero? Was fantastic, one of the few anime's that actually nearly brought me to tears. But I'm borrowing the concepts of the White Priestess and Black Priestess from the manga.

Finally, most of you are probably wondering where in all hell the terms Kindred and Cainite are coming from. A select few will recognize them as terminology from Vampire: the Masquerade. A brief crash course in Masquerade: Vampires are called Kindred, sometimes Cainite or the Kindred of Cain, since they trace their ancestry back to Cain as the first vampire and the biblical first murderer. I've actually tied and modified that origin story to Darksiders as well (Hint: One of Samael's titles is the Blood Prince). Alucard of Hellsing (AKA Dracula) also has ties to Samael.

On the story itself, I don't feel like I did the conversation with Death and Seras very well. It feels too much like an exposition dump. I also really hope I used all the honorifics correctly. I'm not really used to writing with them. I tried to leave a lot of hints of things to come and now worry that I overdid it and merely left people bewildered.

One last note, you may have noticed that I named the clan the Four Horsemen impersonated members of as Hayabusa. This is named after the main character's clan in the Ninja Gaiden series, but at this time I have no plans of including anything from Ninja Gaiden. I just wanted to make that clear.

With all that out the way, I hope you've enjoyed this beginning. If you liked it, or at least have some constructive criticism, please leave a review.