“Wha-what happened?”

Shaking violently, blood washed down the main street of the Riyaku manor
like a small river. Bodies littered the cobblestone, windows and doors
shattered and broken on every house. But what caught my attention was the
sign carved into the door of my clan’s meeting room: the Anti-Amegakure
symbol. Instantly I knew who had committed the genocide. Suddenly, a
scream pierced the silence my breath catching in my throat sharply.

“T-that’s mom…”

Terror drove me to shift into the agile cheetah and race down the street.
Paws cascaded into pools of blood, creating tracks across the cement. Even
though I was sprinting at the fastest speed possible, everything felt
slowed down. Seconds felt like minutes and minutes felt like hours. Home
was arising on the horizon quickly, the moon illuminated behind it.
Another scream echoed across the, manor as I realized that was my father’s
voice.

“Dad, Mom, I’m coming,” I yowled, storming in through the door to my house
that was now hanging on its hinges. Racing up the marble steps in the
foyer, his voice boomed again.

“Lynx get out of here! He’ll kill you too ARRGH!”

Then all was silent. I froze at my parent’s door, a sleek sheen of sweat
sticking to my fur. Compose yourself, I thought, pushing open the door
with my muzzle. It was dark and gloomy, the stench of blood and death
rising in the air. I recoiled in shock when the moonlight filtered in
through the curtains. My parents lay face down on top of each other, a
small lake of blood pooled around them that had oozed from cuts even when
their hearts had already stopped beating. Both of their throats and chests
were splayed open. I shifted unintendedly.
Unable to think or breathe, I fell to my knees in total dismay. Tears
flowed effortlessly down my cheeks as a sob racked my chest. One tear hit
the floor, and then two, until a flurry of drops were stained in my shirt
and on the hardwood floor. Then suddenly, over the stench of the room a
new scent arose. I turned my head to spot a figure overlooking my parent’s
bodies in front of me, a gasp escaping my lips.

“You’re the new-“

A smirked crossed his face, shifting the ebony piercings in his lips and
nose. His complexion pale against his spiky orange hair, Rinnegan stared
at me murderously. A cloak shrouded his body in a collage of black and
crimson clouds. “Yes I am,” he growled in an undertone. “Since your clan
is waiting for you, allow me to introduce myself. I am Pain, the new
Amegakure leader.”

“I figured that out from the start when I spotted the symbol carved into
my clan’s meeting room door,” I snarled sharply, standing up with
protesting crack from my knees. Sprinting at high speeds always caused
something to be in pain afterwards. “And what did my clan ever do to you?”

Pain’s smirk fell immediately into a scowl, eyes cold and emotionless.

“They simply supported the wrong side of the civil war. Since the Riyakus
were the trading empire of this village, they withheld our supplies and
forwarded them to Hanzo’s side,” he stated. “And for that they were a
threat to my seize of Amegakure as Leader.”

“So you killed them because you thought they were a simple threat? You
killed my clan FOR NOTHING?!"

A guttural growl wrenched from my throat, knuckles turning white by my
side as they were harshly clenched into fists. Pain’s sly smile returned
to his stone face as the tip of a coal black katana peered out of the
sleeve of his cloak.

“Hmm, I haven’t felt so much and tense chakra in the air since Master was
last here. Tell me, is it true that the Riyakus were hiding a jinchuriki
among their ranks,” he questioned.

“I am that jinchuriki and no I was not kept prisoner,” I thundered at him,
venom coating every word. “AND I’LL SHOW YOU WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU MESS
WITH ONE!” Shifting swiftly, I lunged for him with teeth bared in a snarl
and thorn sharp claws unsheathed. He lashed out with a kick, raising the
hair on my spine as I ducked under it, throwing my full weight into his
legs. Not right after had pain erupted in my back leg. An ear splitting
yowl resonated around the manor as I surged for his throat, one eye
changing into an eerie shade of scarlet. The once thought katana only a
raven stake jutted out of my back knee, piercing right through the
kneecap.  Pain threw his hands up to block the fierce attack, grabbing my
paws to force me back. Yet that was a fatal mistake. Powerful back claws
kicked out into his stomach, tearing into his abdomen. He stumbled back
with eyes wide as he clutched his bleeding stomach.

“You’ve harnessed the biju’s chakra as your own haven’t you? If you allow
it to fuse with yours then there will be some consequences in the future,”
he chuckled, straightening himself up. “Although there may be one of you,
you never checked in the shadows for more of me.”

Turning around was a genin mistake that of course happened to me. A blow
to the chest knocked the wind out of me as I skidded back with a footprint
embedded in my chest. Pain weaved a series of hand signs, the stake in my
back leg starting to grow hot as slowly the chakra was drained out of me.
Eyes’ closing as the last was sucked dry; I barely managed to hear his
last words.

“You’ll be seeing me again Ms. Riyaku…”

---------------------------------------------------------

Tsukiko sat at her desk, rolling a pencil in between her fingers as she
crossed off a name: Lynx Riyaku. Itachi had called in a second ago to
inform her that they captured her. She couldn’t help but feel a pang of
sorrow as she realized that she had betrayed her only friend. She sighed,
staring out the window of the small apartment. She looked at the moon, but
a small motion caused her to advert her eyes to a figure.

“No way… she finally got learned that doppelganger jutsu!”

-----------------------------------------------------

I shook my head with a low growl as they carted off a doppelganger posing
as me. Hidden atop a tower that bordered the wall that protected my
village, I was wise not to trust Akatsuki. “You’ve done well Lynx, you’ve
done well,” I mumbled to myself, turning around and leaping across the gap
onto another roof. “Now it’s only a matter of time before they figure out
that’s pure demon chakra. Now I know they’ve been searching my memories
and who turned on me. Just gotta make a grand escape.” Sprinting across
the rooftops was easy, coming to the opposite end of the village and
clearing the village wall in one leap, disappearing into the forest and
onto the trail that lead to Konohagakure.

“Guess it’s finally time to visit an old friend,” I chuckled, weaving to
avoid a tree. “Hope to see you soon Master Kakashi!”