Ankoku: Akatsuki, the new generation

*Teaser*

Shikamaru kept his face a stony mask. "There is no war." He said. "We've won, the fighting is over."

Ena laughed incredulously. "You're joking, right?" Her voice had lost all hint of its lazy, causal drawl; it was cold and clear. "The fighting is never over. It never was, it never will be."

Ena sat forward in her chair, her cuffs clinking on the cold metal table. "You see, that's your problem right there. You guys up here at the top of the totem pole go on about your lives, oblivious, believing that you have everything under control.

"But I will tell you right now, the world is just as dangerous as it was back then, if not even more so. Because now you all rely upon your, technology!

Ena spat the word as if were something nasty.

"You rely too much on your creations and your people suffer from it. They grow weak, by living comfortable pampered lives while your enemies grow strong in the shadows you cast."

Ena laughed again but instead of sounding angry it was empty and hollow. "This war will never end. For as long as the world exists...there will be evil. But that's where we come in."

Ena tossed her long mane of silver hair, her blazing violet eyes not leaving Shikamaru's for a split second. And it was in that moment Shikamaru realized just how dangerous this woman was.

She might talk tough and arrogant, leading her enemies into thinking she was brash. But her eyes held a cold, calculating look in them. An intelligence he never had.

Oh yes, they might be share the same eyes and religion, but she was not him.

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked her.

Ena spread her hands as far as the handcuffs would allow. "You're obviously not the man you used to be, Lord Nara, and neither is the Hokage. You're old." She tilted her head slightly. "Why, it wasn't too long ago, that your Hokage was kidnapped, right in front of the other four Kage!"

Ena let out a dramatic sigh as if to emphasis her point."You simply cannot protect the world anymore. But the Ankoku can. We are the strongest shinobi in the world!"

She leaned towards Shikumaru, as if telling him some dire secret. "Do you know why?" She asked. "Do you know what makes us so different than your sprouting generations?"

"Its because we know pain." She whispered. "Your kids grew up listening to your War Stories. I grew up fighting my own war. The ultimate War of life and death. Almost all of us of the Ankoku did. But I suppose the most important thing is that we are no fools and we see the world for what it truly is.

"Ankoku means dark, did you know that? While Akatsuki meant dawn. It's quite an appropriate name actually. The Akatsuki was the dawn of this era, and we... are the dark."

Ena looked up at the security camera in the corner. "Well, you can take me back to my cell now boys, I've told Lord Nara all I have to say."

There were slamming noises as the security guards came to take Ena away.

"We don't have to be enemies, Lord Nara." Ena said, flashing a dazzling smile as they came in. "Personally, I think we would make great friends!"

Shikamaru watched as they took her away. Oh, she was very different from him.

But still... they had the exact same fire burning within. That lunatic frenzy, the violent beast just waiting to be set free. Being with her that long had brought back bad memories of blood and terror... And the empty threats of a man who desperately tried to stall for time as he felt the warmth of sun on his face for the last time.

Hidan had warned Shikamaru that Jashin would curse him. Maybe this girl was that curse.

Or maybe she was the cure.

Shikamaru shook his head. No, there was no way the Hidden Leaf  could ally themselves with such people.

Shikamaru picked up his file and went to find Sakura. Maybe the DNA tests had come through and they could finally get some answers.