The Stars Shown Bright on the Rainy Night

"Hang in there guys! We are almost there!" A voice encouraged his fellow stronghold members. "Just a little more to go! We can finish this!"

After those words came the mighty roars of troops standing together to fight the threat that plagued their country. The voices were even louder than the thunder crackling in the sky. The land had been seemingly overrun by a countless number of Black Zetsu soldiers. Even with the odds stacked against them, the people had chosen to never give in, they refused to let the numbers choose the outcome. For years they've been fighting the threat and for years, they've survived at the cost of many brave lives. Leading the people, were two of the youngest yet most capable par the land has ever known. These were, without a doubt, no ordinary twins. But they were descendants of a legendary Uchiha and Senju Clans. Having both great skill and experience at their respective young ages. Their names are Shiga Uchiha and Garyū Uchiha; twins of extraordinary ocular powers, that aided the stronghold to hold back as long as it has.

"Forward! We can and will make it!" Shiga shouted mowing through several zetsu clones with his twin short swords. Using his immense speed, he was able to swiftly move to parts of the battlefield to aid in the transport of the injured. "Remember! Our goal is to safely get the innocent and injured into village limits. We will have other days to end the Zetsu's grip on our land but for now we play it safe."

As the battle waged on, Zetsu was slowly starting to fall back against the might of the people. Calling forth his other brother, Shiga instructed him to eliminate the Zetsu's remaining forces.

"I'll do my best." The blind boy nervous stated as the was his first battling with Zetsu's army. After being insured that things would go as planned Jin struck the ground with a powerful stomp. Sending his chakra out in all directions to feel the enemy's locations. In doing so, Jin generated strong wind enhanced fire into the palms of his hands. Aiming his attacks precisely based of the location of said targets, the boy blasted several waves to incinerating flames at the few Zetsu that remained. Even after such an attack he was not yet done, simply because the could easily evade the previous one. Concentrating his chakra into the ground, he gestured his arm in a slow cutting motion aimed at the ground, used it to split the earth in front of him to create a wall. Bringing both hands, facing down to the front of his body. From his focus the ground started to quake and rumble, locking the Zetsu in place.

"Now Garyū." Jin shout rather calmly.

Suddenly, the dark sky lit up with blinding light as lightning funneled through the clouds. Garyū was seen descending from the clouds surrounded in a coat of lightning.

"Goodbyes!" He exclaimed, coming in contract with the ground creating a massive explosion and jolts of electric energy into the atmosphere that someone could see miles from their location. The sheer power of the attack, completely decimating any Zetsu soldiers with its field and nearly destroying the wall that was set up for protection against the final attack.

"That's how you get things done." Garyū boasted at the results of his attack.

"Enough of that, Garyū. Take these people back to the village. Jin and I will continue the search." Shiga commanded breaking them up into smaller squadrons to hunt for anymore survivors.

The rain continued to descend upon the scared land as the ninja Amegakure organized their rescue parties and evacuated the wounded. Everyone was exhausted, aching and hungry. The rain had provided no aid, chilling the struggling ninja to the bone and turning the soil to thick mud that sucked at their feet with each step. The recent string of attack from the Black Zetsu forces had been a calculated campaign to break them down and shatter their spirits. Had it not been for the leadership of Shiga and Garyū, the village would have surrendered to the relentless attacks weeks ago. But the two young shinobi had inspired the remaining Amegakure forces to take a stand. Though recent days seemed bleak, no one was prepared to surrender.

As the medics began making their way towards the village limits and the search parties prepared to disperse, a chain of explosions rocked the earth beneath them. The defining blasts threatened to drown out even the lightning as the debris became visible over the top of the dying tress dotting a nearby hill. Several pieces of scorched debris clattered down a mere 50 meters from the search parties. Thanks the the ocular power of their respective Sharingans, both Shiga and Garyū were able to make out some of the fast moving debris as charred limbs.

"What the hell was that?" Shiga thought out loud turn his attention to the debris. "Garyū! Get going now. Jin and I will check that out." Breaking from Garyū's group, a total of five people; including Shiga and Jin, were steadily moving toward where the loud sound came from. "I feel the presence of others. Two individuals surrounded by a total of eleven Black Zetsu. They look exhausted almost. It's hard to tell with just their chakra frequencies alone." Jin informed Shiga of the impending situation ahead. Thanking Jin for the intel, Shiga and his group made it over the hill to help out the people in distress.

Another quick series of explosions occurred in rapid succession, shaking the earth beneath the team of Amegakure shinobi. None knew what to expect as the approached the top of the berm separating them from what they all knew to be heavy combat, but all hoped this was not the start of another ambush. Most had gone at least 24 hours without any substantial rest. None could afford it as the Black Zetsu forces continued to assault the Amegakure stronghold and the surrounding areas. All only wished to live long enough to return home and see their love ones one more time, a reminder of what they were fighting for, before once again being sent to the front lines.

As Shiga's head peeked over the berm, he could see that Jin's information was accurate. Though smoke and dust lingered in the air from the explosions, he was able to make out the dark silhouettes of nearly a dozen Zetsu and Zetsu controlled shinobi. In the center of the battlefield, having been stripped of all vegetation, a young woman, probably close to the age of Shiga and his brother, stud beside a small boy, probably a few years younger than Jin. Charred limbs and torsos scattered the scared land, many of which were surrounding small craters that dotted the terrain. Observing the mutilated corpses, one could see dozens of enemies had been slain here, there remains scattered about with the young woman and boy, the woman appearing far more fatigued than the boy, at the epicenter.

"There they are." Jin spoke as his colorless eyes scanned the area. Oddly enough, the boy was indeed blind, seeing with his excellent sensory perception. "They are heavily out matched. Shall we intervene?" Jin asked looking in the direction of his elder brother. "Not yet. I want to see if they actually need our help." Shiga whispered watching on from the peak of the hill with his crimson eyes. "B-But they-!" Jin as interrupted by Shiga placing his hand on the boy's shoulder. "We will help them. We'll wait for the right moment and then we'll strike."

The rest of the Amegakure shinobi stud at the top of the hill with Shiga, all with their heads just high enough to allow them to peak over the hilltop and observe the situation below. The young woman took several steps ahead of the boy, whom began reaching into his backpack. Within a few moments, the young boy produced a folded Fūma Shuriken which shined brightly in the fading sunlight. Dropping his bag on the ground, the young boy jumped over the young woman, throwing the shuriken as he reached hi zenith. As the Fūma shuriken arched in a circle, forcing the Zetsu forces to jump back form the sharp blades, the young woman threw a series of senbon in rapid succession, one needle striking each of the 11 enemies as they avoided the fūma shuriken. Each of the enemies looked at the needles that had struck them. None seemed seriously wounded from the attack, but all noticed the strange purple aura that surrounded the needles. Thanks to his Sharingan, Shiga could see the aura's despite his distance. Though he couldn't identify its purpose, he knew the attack wasn't over.

As the young boy landed, the shuriken had come full circle, allowing him to catch the weapon by the handle. The flight trajectory of the shuriken seemed completely illogical, but Jin was aware of the reason. Though near invisible to the naked eye, he had felt the vibrations from the wire attached to the shuriken as it made slight vibrations while it passed through the air. A simple but clever trick. Moments after the boy caught the shuriken, the young woman, clasp her hands together in the familiar Mi hand seal. Without warning, the 11 enemy combatants that had been surrounding her and the young boy exploded. One by one, the mutilated remains if the Zetsu dropped to the ground. A few pieces of matter fell down onto Shiga and Jin, still smoking form the blasts.

It took a few moment for the dust to settle, but once it did Shiga surprised at what he saw. The young woman was lying face down on the charred earth, the young boy quickly rushing to her side. Kneeling down besides the young woman, the boy rolled her over to her back, cradling her head to avoid smacking it off the ground.

"She make explosions through her senbon needles. That's without a doubt the Explosion Release, Kekkei Genkai." The Uchiha through in awe of the young girl formidable abilities. "She's down. And there's no telling how far many more zetsu are on their way." Looking out into the distance, saw the outline of what appeared to be even more Black Zetsu. "Alright guys. We need to get them out of here before the zetsu reinforcements reach us. Let's move!" Commanding his small group, Shiga and Jin leaped from the hill speeding to help the fallen girl and the boy she was with.

Hearing their approach, the young boy sprung to his feet and produced a kunai knife from his tool pouch, aiming it towards Shiga and Jin as they approached.

"Stay back." the boy commanded.

Ceasing their movement, Shiga slowly raised his hands into the air. "Calm down. We are not here to harm you. You guys need help." Jin stepped forward, walking toward the boy. "We don't have a lot of time. There are dozens more zetsu approaching us. We mustn't waste time."

They boy lowered his kunai, but not his guard. He looked between Shiga and Jin, his blank expression making it difficult to tell what he was thinking. The boy was filthy, looking exhausted despite trying to hide his fatigue. The young woman appeared to be in even worse shape. After a few moment that seemed to span an eternity, the boy finally spoke.

"Are you from Amegakure?" he asked.

"Yes. We are. There are more people with in the village limits." Jin answered the boy's question, hoping to gain the latter's trust. "Your friend needs medical attention. She seems to be in bad shape. Please come with us."

With that, they boy grabbed the young woman by the arm and draped her over his shoulder. He was notably shorter than the woman, as her feet dragged on the ground even when he stud up. Despite his obvious fatigue showed in his slow and clumsy movements, he did not request help from any of the Amegakure ninja, though it was apparent he was in dire need of hit.

Shiga could clearly see the young boy fatigue was taking a big toll on him. With his clumsy footwork, the boy nearly fell over due to his weakened state. Luckily he was able to catch the boy before he too collapse to the ground. "Come on guys! Let's help these two and get back to the village. Stat!" Shiga requested as he helped the boy out. Another member of Shiga's squadron grabbed the young woman, lifting the burden from the boy's shoulders.