The following fanfic is just that. A fanfic. The following characters used in this fanfic are the property of CAPCOM, and do not belong to me. If they did, then CAPCOM owes me a few royalties, if you know what I'm sayin'…

--The Darkness Comes: Chapter 1--

Blackness. There was nothing else around her, but the blackness of the void. Not a spec of light could be found no matter where she looked. Not only that, but there was absolute silence. Not even the sound of her breathing could be heard. 'Where am I...?' Sakura didn't know where she was, or how she got there. But she did know she wanted to leave as soon as possible.

Thud. A sound! Not a very pleasant sound, but one the same. At least she wasn't going deaf. It wasn't the only sound she heard, though. From the void, came a brooding voice that called out to the lost school girl.

"Did you hear that, child? That was the same deafening sound when a body hits the floor. For any fighter, it is merely the sound of defeat; but for one who practices the Shotokan-ryuu, it is the sound of an assured death."

Sakura didn't like this voice, but try as she might, she couldn't speak. However, whoever she was talking to could apparently read what she was thinking.

"What I am will be revealed to you at a later time. Your words are not necessary in this place."

Thud.

"… Another life has ended prematurely... Such is the way of a martial artist… Such is the way of the Shotokan-ryuu…" What was the source of these supposed deaths? Why were they happening? Is there no escape from this nightmare? Of course! This was only a dream. A really bad dream. All Sakura had to do was wake up… but she couldn't bring herself to wake up from this dream. This dream was much more different from the others. A bright purple flame burned in front of her. Despite its brightness, there was no heat.

"The Satsui no hadou… this is the curse of those who choose to master the Shotokan-ryu… this is the fate of those who want to win… This fate… this curse… is now yours, Sakura Kasugano…! Kasugano…! Kasugano…!"

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"… Kasugano…! Sakura Kasugano! Will you please not sleep in my classroom!? This is a place of study! If you wish to sleep, do it in your dorm room!" came a loud and equally annoying voice. Sakura, opening her eyes, found herself drooling on her desk in the middle of her classroom. Wiping her face, and apologizing to her college professor, Sakura tried her best to hide in her chair, and drown out the laughs from her fellow college students. After a long, boring lecture, the school bell sounded, and the students were once again let loose on the college campus. Sakura rushed outside, and stretched herself out from underneath a large cherry blossom tree. It was spring, and the cherry blossom trees were in full bloom. Usually, the schools would allow their students time to view the beauty that is nature, but due to the recent happenings in the world, the board of education decided to cut that time down so students may focus on their studies. In other words, it was out of the question.

These days, news about terrorists and war were all that was the main discussions in the streets. Nobody seems to care for a good old-fashioned street fight. Sakura missed those days, when she'd travel the world looking for her idol, and now sensei, Ryu. If anyone got in her way when she searched for him, they'd have a go at it, bust each other up, and call it a day. Not so much anymore. She was a college student, and as such, she had to act like one, and focus more on her school work, than her foot work. Still, the occasional slime would crawl out of the wood-work to try and "cop-a-feel", but Sakura took them down easily. Not much of a challenge there. Even her long-time rival, Karin Kanzuki was more interested in other things in life than fighting with Sakura. Karin, of course, still tried to be the best at all she did, but fighting with Sakura never crossed her mind lately. Some rival she was…

"Well, I don't have classes for the rest of the day… I'll see what Ryu-sensei is doing now!" she beamed at the idea of seeing her teacher again. Over the past few years, Sakura had tried her best to get Ryu to train her. After some intense begging, she was finally able to convince him to teach her. Despite him occasionally mentioning that he still has some training of his own to do, Ryu taught Sakura all that there was to know about the Shotokan-ryu fighting style, it's history, and it's purpose. However, Sakura felt he was often leaving something out when they trained… like he was hiding something from her. Maybe it had to do with that weird dream she had in class today. Shrugging the thought, she ran at top speed towards Ryu's dojo, to meet with him.

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"Not enough! You aren't putting enough weight into your kicks!"

"Yes, sensei!"

"And watch how you extend your arms when you punch!"

"Yes, sensei!"

This was normally how training sessions went at Ryu's dojo. After traveling the world since the last tournament, Ryu was able to purchase his master Gouken's old dojo, and take it for his own. Since then, he's been practicing in seclusion; that was until since he took Sakura under his wing.

"No, it's not like that! Watch me as I do it! You have to clear your mind of all thoughts when performing this technique… Take a deep breath, and focus your energy… Visualize your objective, and… Hadouken!" Ryu's signature fireball technique flew across the training ground at a training dummy, and blew it to pieces. Ryu's student opened her eyes to her amazement at the devastation such a technique caused.

"Sugoi…! That was truly amazing, Ryu-sensei! I can now see why she wanted to learn this fighting style so badly! Why, in the hands of a master such as yourself, you could easily be the strongest person in the world…!" his student said. Ryu's reaction, though, was the opposite of what she expected. A bit disappointed, Ryu looked away and said, "Strongest in the world… I haven't met anyone who could live up to such a title… not even me…"

"Oh… um… I'm sorry… I didn't mean for that to upset you so much, Ryu-sensei…"

"No… no, it's alright. I'm just rambling on now… I guess my old age is catching up to me…" he said, trying to play off his disappointment in himself with a smile. His student didn't believe him one bit, but she nodded and said nothing. Stretching his arms, he added, "Ok. That's enough for now. I'll be seeing you tomorrow then--"

"—Karin-san!?!?!" came a loud shriek from the doorway of the dojo. Sakura was standing in the doorway, completely out of breath. To her shock, her rival, Karin Kanzuki was standing in her teacher's sacred training grounds, wearing a bright red karate gi. "Why are you here!? And why is Ryu-sama teaching you!?"

"Oh my, well if it isn't, Kasugano-kun. I didn't know you were training here with Ryu-sensei as well. This is such a surprise…!" Karin said, acting as innocent as a well-paid actress.

"Whatever! You're just doing this to prove to yourself that this is one more thing you're better at than me, aren't you!?" Sakura stormed inside the dojo, being mindful to take her shoes off before entering. Karin tried her best to look shocked, and replied with, "Why of course not! I merely came here out of curiosity, and decided to join of my own free will. Is it illegal to be interested in the martial arts?"

"But you already know martial arts! And Ryu-sama said he'd only accept me! It took me forever to convince him to train me, and now he accepts you because you were curious!? What gives!?" Sakura looked towards Ryu for answers, but taking the smarter route, Ryu kept quiet. "Look! There just can't be two students here! And besides, I convinced him to take in students in the first place! I have the right to be his one and only student!"

"Now, now, Sakura-san. You shouldn't try to obstruct the path of those who wish to learn--"

"Who says that you have to be his only student!? This is his dojo, and he can choose to accept any student he pleases. I have a right to be here as well!"

"She does have a point, Sakura-san. Perhaps you can--"

"Alright, then! Let's do this! We'll both have a quick match to determine who will stay here and remain as his pupil. So as to not have a hindrance on your abilities, I'll even let you use your own fighting style. How's that sound?"

"Done! The winner shall continue their studies under Ryu-sensei, and the looser shall sever all ties with the Shotokan-ryu fighting style and go on with their lives."

"Sigh…! I'll be the referee…" Somewhat regretting he decided to accept students, Ryu shrugged and moved to the edge of the dojo. In all of his travels, he remembered it was best to not cross paths with an angry female. Besides, they wouldn't have listened to him even if he tried. Besides, how brutal could this fight be? If anything, this was similar to a sibling rivalry: just a few slaps thrown, a little name-calling, and the deed is done, right? … Right? … Wrong.

Not even announcing the start of the match, Sakura and Karin were already engaging in a fight Ryu recalled him having with Ken during their days of training. These girls were going all out.

"Take this! Shunpuu Kyaku!" Sakura shouted as she leapt into the air, spinning like a top with her leg extended. Karin only smiled, ducked and back-flipped out of the way of the technique.

"Taken… now it's your turn! Guren ken… Mujin Kyaku!" As Sakura landed from finishing her technique, Karin took a large step forward, and caught Sakura with a knee to the stomach and a high snap kick that connected with Sakura's chin, launching her skyward. She wasn't done yet. "And to follow up… Ressen Ha!" Pushing off the ground hard, Karin leapt and twirled like a ballerina in order to slam the now-airborne Sakura down with both of her hands, only to find that Sakura recovered with the attack, and aimed an open palm at Karin's face.

With a grin, Sakura shouted, "Hadouken!" and expelled a fireball similar to Ryu's towards Karin, who's only reaction was a quick block to the surprise attack. The two then met each other on the ground, assumed their fighting stances and assaulted each other once again. Ryu, watching rather than refereeing, was rather impressed with the girls' fighting skills. Sakura's moves, though off in power and sometimes range, were still very similar to those of Shotokan-ryuu, which she copied just by watching him. Karin's moves were very stiff, but they didn't lack any power or wasted energy. Karin had apparently been training as much as Sakura had, she just never revealed it. The fight lasted for an hour, with each girl exchanging blows with the other.

Eventually, the two were standing on their last legs, each one looking for a weak point in the other's defenses. Karin's stance was weakening, yet she stood firmly in place. Sakura, on the other hand, could barely stand up, but was still able to keep her defenses up. Both were impressed with how long the other has lasted, but they each knew only one would be allowed to stay here and train with Ryu.

"… and that one person… will be… me!" Sakura shouted in between breaths. However, Karin thought otherwise.

"We'll see… just who will be… standing… after this…!" Closing her eyes, Karin gathered whatever energies she had left, and initiated her last attack. "Kanzuki-ryuu… Hou Ou Ken." With a flash of speed, Karin suddenly rushed forward, and aimed a short flurry of palm strikes aimed at Sakura's chest. Not having the strength to block the full attack, Sakura took the strikes, and was smashed against the wall upon receiving the last strike. Sensing that the fight was over, Karin, feeling satisfied with herself, stood up straight, and gave her signature victory laugh. That laugh… Sakura hated that laugh… and no matter what happened, Karin would not use that laugh again… ever…

"…!" Ryu suddenly sensed something near him that he felt before. Something malevolent… something evil. This was the same feeling that came about whenever someone was tapping into the forbidden power of the Satsui no hadou. But from where? Quickly getting to his feet, Ryu scanned the room to find where the power was coming from, and finally, he laid his eyes on the fallen Sakura. 'Sakura… -san…? But she hasn't officially mastered the Shotokan-ryuu yet! This is bad…!' he thought, and tried to formulate a plan. Usually when a Shotokan-ryuu user falls prey to the Satsui no hadou in a fight, they usually end up trying to kill the person who set them over the edge.

Ryu looked at Karin, who had stopped laughing as she saw what was happening to Sakura. Sakura had gotten to her feet, but her appearance had changed. She was surrounded with a dark aura, her skin color had darkened, and her eyes glowed with an evil power. The burning desire to kill her enemy rising within her, Sakura then changed her stance into a crouching position with her hands brought together in the same position Ryu uses when he's about to release one of his most powerful attacks.

"Karin-san! Get away!" Ryu yelled to Karin, but Karin was frozen in place with fear. She couldn't even speak. Fear had taken over her once confident form, and had turned her into a cowering statue. Meanwhile, Sakura was preparing to launch her attack. Announcing it, her voice had undergone a rather demonic tone, "Shinkuu…!" She began to gather energy into the palms of her hands. It crackled all over the place as she collected it. Once enough was obtained, Sakura thrusted her palms in Karin's direction, and screamed "… Hadouken!!!" Instead of a fireball flying towards her enemy, a beam of an evil light erupted from her palms, and had disintegrated everything in front of her. Dust and debris flew everywhere as she orchestrated the scene of utter chaos from within the confines of the dojo.

When the dust had finally cleared, Ryu was found just barely outside of the beam's radius with Karin in his arms. The shock of the entire event was too much, and she had passed out. Standing up, Ryu looked around to find his dojo in shambles, the next few mountains in the distance now had a hole in them, and Sakura was missing. Fearing the worst, Ryu set Karin down on the ground and looked in the direction of the now hollowed mountains. "Sakura… I never wanted you to bear this burden as well…"

-End-

A/N: Hiya! I kinda got tired from my other fanfic, so I've decided to change things up a bit. There were a few words above that I thought needed some explanation, so here they are:

Shotokan-ryuu – The martial art style practice by Ryu, Ken, and their many other clones in the Street Fighter games. It is an ansatsuken, meaning it's a martial art designed for assassinations and such.

Satsui no hadou – Translated this means "Surge of Murderous Intent". If you've played the game, this is the power that turns all the "shoto-clones" into their evil versions (Evil Ryu, Evil Ken, etc.). This forbidden power is what drove Akuma (as he's always in this mode) to kill his master, and what Ryu used to give Sagat that scar.

OK. That's that, and I'm getting pretty tired… if there are any errors in this, it's because I'm submitting this at 2:35 in the morning… So tired… Leave a comment!

P.S. Asterisks aren't visible on this site. It's as iff they never existed... o.o