| abstract | - Kazuhide spent his earliest years as a civilian in the recently founded Kyōto, a port city that would later become the capital of the Land of Harmony. Like many settlements within the Oniga-shotō, the population of Kyōto was primarily composed of refugees from the mainland who sought an escape from the constant wars that plagued the land. Kazuhide's mother, a young woman by the name Serena, was amongst the many people who abandoned the mainland. Rather than escaping the warring nations, Serena instead desired more than anything to escape her past for the sake of her child. Unbeknownst to the young Kazuhide, both he and his mother carried the cursed lineage of the Uchiha Clan. While such a noble bloodline would be considered a boon to many, for Serena it had been burden that she didn't wish to pass onto her son. As a descendant of an Uchiha who had abandoned the Leaf during its early stages, she had been chased for years by those in pursuit of either the power of eyes, or for the sake of settling a grudge against her predecessors. After giving birth to Kazuhide, she set a resolute goal to free him from her bloodline's curse. She discarded any attachment to her clan for the sake of her child, and attempted to lead a simple civilian's life. Thus, while Kazuhide had some knowledge of his mother's shinobi heritage, he was unaware of the blood he carried. While the life of Serena provided Kazuhide was far from perfect, it was indeed peaceful for many years. While she had to work long hours to make ends meet, Serena used any of her available free time to teach Kazuhide anything and everything. Unfortunately, the happiness they shared was not destined to last forever. Kyōto, the city which had quickly become a safe haven for refugees to restart their broken lives, was targeted by a criminals around world who sought to turn the city into their headquarters. At first, the influx of these individuals into Kyōto had little effect on the resident's daily life. The former refugees of the city continued their business as usual, quietly carving their presence out in the world. Over time though, and without a true government, Kyōto was left to the mercy of the criminals, who turned the safe haven into a playground for the fallen. Despite the worsening scenario, Serena and Kazuhide still were able to hold onto a relative calm life. The emergence widespread gang rivalries, who held one another at bay, ensured isolated pockets of peace. The most powerful of these gangs controlled the entire eastern half of the city, armed by their association to the faction that dominated the adjacent pseudo-nation. This faction sought to take control of Kyōto in order to profit from the potential wealth the emerging city could make. Tired of wasting their time slowly assuming control of the city the militant faction swept across Kyōto in a single night, wiping out all opposition and establishing the location as their capital. On that fateful night, a young Kazuhide, only seven years of age, would be thrust into a world of unknown perils and steep consequences. Violence erupted across Kyōto as the soldiers destroyed anyone and everything in their path at whim. While merely crushing the small pockets of resilient forces still left within the city's confines would have been satisfactory, the militant nation crushed innocents and combatants alike as a demonstration of their absolute authority. Even the criminal organization that had swore allegiance to the nation were not spared from the wrath of their lords, mercilessly massacred alongside countless other residents of the city. With adamant fury the armed plague swiftly found its way to Serena and Kazuhide's small apartment. Kazuhide himself was awoken from his sleep by the sound of the door of their abode being kicked in and the windows shattering. In an instant a resonance of steel rings throughout the rooms, luring the child from the safety of his room towards the conflict. Peering cautiously around the corner, he's surprised at the silhouette of his mother standing before a pair of broken bodies. "Mom...is that you?" he calls out quietly, somehow fearful of the response. As Serena slowly turns around Kazuhide shudders at the sight of his mother's eyes illuminated with a crimson glow. Staggering away, he trips over his own feet and falls onto his back. Gazing back to his mother, who was now kneeling beside him, Kazuhide is relieved that her eyes were back to normal, though still quite shocked by the events occurring. Serena, on the other hand, sadly smiled for her child as she lifted him back to his feet. Nearby, the sound of the spreading violence echoed ever louder from outside. Ensuring her son that everything was going to be fine, Serena informs him that she's going to check outside for anyone else, because they were going to make a run for it. "Hurry and get your shoes on and pack up some snacks," she explains softly, despite the grim look are her face. Nodding in response, Kazuhide scurries to complete his task as his mother carefully peers around the front of the broken door at the burning buildings not far in the distance and various bodies sporadically lining the pathways. After a few minutes Kazuhide comes wandering out of the apartment equipped with backpack suited for a much larger individual. Looking around at the scene surrounding them Kazuhide freezes up, but is quickly snapped out of it by his mother's voice. "Hey! Try not to look around around too much, okay?" Serena calmly instructs her child, ruffling his hair as she begins to lead him off into the night, "We're going to head somewhere safe right this instant, so let's get moving before more of those guys show up." Silently the pair weaves the way through a labyrinth of side streets towards the western side of the city, avoiding the main paths to minimize collisions with anyone whatsoever. As they make it to edge of the city, mere meters from freedom, Serena, from behind a corner of a small house, spies a group of militants guarding the city's exit. Considering the speed at which the aggressors were assuming control of Kyōto, Serena knows that they didn't have the time to safely backtrack to another way out. Turning back to her son anxiously standing behind her, she explains her plan to her son. "Kazu...listen carefully," she begins sternly, her voice barely above a whisper, "I'm going to take care of those men by the gate. Stay out of sight and wait here until I return." At first Kazuhide looks as if he going to object, but instead silently nods in acceptance. "Excellent, I'll be back momentarily." From his hiding spot Kazuhide watches as his mother carefully sneaks up behind the group of men, crouching behind various objects to conceal her position. With finesse she reaches from behind the first combatant, draws the enemy's own blade from his waist, and violently stabs him in the chest in a single motion. In doing so the other three individuals are alerted to her presence as Serena advances towards them, blade in hand. The first man, apparently weakest of the group, is unable to even draw his weapon before Serena slashes the blade across his throat. The second, despite lasting longer than his ally, is quickly dispatched as well when the dark-haired warrior manages to cut off his sword arm. Stepping over his comrade, writing in pain, the final man of the group unleashes a powerful barrage of slashes with a naginata towards Serena. From a distance Kazuhide restrains his voice as he watches his mother carefully deflecting and avoiding the enemy's attacks, during which he could swear his mother's eyes seemed to shine with a deep red. Despite her weapon's inferior attack range, she lunges forward towards her opponent, slashing through his chest, in the brief instant between his blows. Sighing in relief Kazuhide begins to run up to his mother, ignoring her previous order, overjoyed that she was okay. As he runs out towards her, his mother's expression turns to utter fear as she yells out to him. While her exact words were incomprehensible, the source of her response was apparent. Spinning around, Kazuhide sees they man who previously lost his arm holding what appeared to be a strange paper ball in his remaining hand. Screaming with ensured insanity the man hurls the object towards the child, who is quickly embraced by mother. Spinning him around away from the projectile, Serena holds her child tight as the item explodes just behind her. The last thing Kazuhide remembers before his world goes dark is a thunderous noise, the brightest light he's ever witnessed, and a sharp pain in his eyes. Serena, gritting through the pain, lays her unconscious son onto the ground and drags herself into a standing position as she turns back towards the enemy. Though, before she can respond appropriately, she jabbed through the stomach with a sword. Gripping the blade in the her abdomen, to prevent herself from collapsing, Serena's pupils take on a peculiar design as she glares at her enemy. In an instant the battered combatant seizes and collapses onto the ground, clawing at his throat as foam spews from his mouth. Serena, in unimaginable pain, falls to her knees and fades from consciousness as well. Some time later, Kazuhide consciousness returns once again, though the world around him is dark. While he can clearly hear the faded sound of conversation around him, it was as if a shroud had been pulled over his reach. Reaching up towards his face, his hand is grasped before he could ascertain what was covering his eyes. It was a familiar sensation, the warmth of his mother's hands. In all the confusion they faced, he was glad that she was okay. With great fervor he begins to pose a barrage of questions, but is cut short when he hears his mom's voice. While there was no question who the voice belonged to, his mother's voice sounded strained for some reason. Concerned, Kazuhide asks if she was okay, but she simply responds that it's nothing for him to worry about. Despite not being convinced by her answer, he moves on to another subject. Serena explains to her son that his eyes were injured in the explosion, and they needed to be bandaged for a while. Soon the pair began to talk as they always have, laughing and smiling over various silly topics. Abruptly though, their conversation is cut short as Serena begins to cough badly. Explaining to Kazuhide that she simply had an itch at the back of her throat, Serena decides to end their conversation for the evening. Informing Kazuhide that he needs to get some rest, since he's sure to face many challenges in the future, she tightens her grip on Kazuhide's hand. As he drifts off the last thing he hears is his mother telling him that she loves him and not to lose himself along the way. Too tired to question what she meant by "along the way" he succumbs to his exhaustion.
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