Beloved

by ismellitblue

Summary:

The members of Sasuke's team make their way to his little hideout(It turns out a lot of shinobi need funeral services).

Chapter 1

Notes:

I do not own Naruto.

The first one to find him was Suigetsu, and he announced his presence in the silent way that all ninja do (that is, he tried to cleave Sasuke’s in half, grinning madly when Sasuke dodged nimbly and ended up balancing on the hilt of the other nin’s huge blade).
"Heya Sasuke! Fancy seeing you here." Suigetsu’s grin grew sharper as Sasuke leaped off the sword.
"For a dead guy, you don’t look half bad." By that point, the blade had been sheathed, and Suigetsu had a glass of water in his hands, sipping the liquid noisily through a straw. Unnoticed behind him, Kai was in wait, his head off the ground, his pitch-black mouth wide open. Sasuke shared a look with the snake, and Kai backed off, closing his mouth as he settled back into the shadows—no doubt the others would be joining him soon.
Sasuke could be angry; he could attack Suigetsu, kill him on the spot, and bury him (not only was he in very good shape—regular sleep and limitless safe training did that to you—he also knew no one would question a mortician carting around a dead body—he knew from experience that he’d done a surprising amount of killing since coming to the little civilian town, and he’d just walked through town with most of the corpses).
But instead of ending Suigetsu and making sure his whereabouts remained secret, he only glared. Squashing down the light-hearted feeling that had settled in his chest and fighting to keep his lips in the shape of a slight frown But some of his happiness at seeing the other ninja must have leaked through because Suigetsu relaxed imperceptibly, the water he was drinking no longer swirling around.
"What do you want?" His voice had at least managed to remain as curt as ever.
Oh, you know, the usual, passing through-killed people I wasn’t supposed to, have to lay low for a bit-same old-same old." Sasuke let out a sigh at that, fighting back the urge to roll his eyes. Of course Suigetsu had found a way to murder (probably by mutilation) people he had no business killing.
With another sigh, the Uchiha turned and fished for his key, slipping it into the door and feeling all the seals he had around his house pulse through him before fading and letting the key turn so that he could get in.
"Nice place," Suigetsu whistled, taking in the two walls stacked from floor to roof with books and scrolls. Apart from the reading materials, which weren’t just confined to the walls, everything was pretty minimalistic—but Suigetsu, if the pained expression on his face was anything to go by, genuinely meant what he said.
His declaration, of course, was followed by him dropping his travel bag and throwing himself on Sasuke’s sofa, taking up all the room.
"I could get used to this…"No sooner had he said that he was out cold, leaving Sasuke to glare at an unresponsive body, before giving up and going to prepare supper, making enough for two.
***
In the morning, Sasuke made sure to be gone before Suigetsu woke up.
Letting himself into the funeral home, he headed straight for the morgue. He gave a slight bow at the door, encompassing all the occupants hidden by the steel doors, and a shudder when he was hit by a blast of too cold air. The unnatural chill lasted only a few seconds before it receded and Sasuke let out a breath. The itch of the sharingan trying to come up went away.
With the creepiness of the morning behind him, Sasuke headed to the door at the end and opened it. He didn’t even have to pull out the tray. The person inside was right at the door. Sasuke found that even after a year, he never quite knew how to react to stillborns. On the one hand, they died before they could ever truly experience life, but on the other, what was so great about living?
Turning his attention to the baby, he got the little body into a tiny onesie, pulled out a blanket he’d bought from the market before his encounter with Suigetsu, and wrapped the baby tightly with it, making sure that it pushed the little jaw up and cut off the silent scream. Adding some eye caps to his sightless milky eyes, he stood back and admired his handy work, nodding to himself when he found it satisfactory—the baby looked like he was just taking a little nap.
"So this is what you do." Suigetsu hadn’t snuck up on him; the snakes had told Sasuke when he’d been miles away, but Sasuke had expected him to just lurk in the shadows,so he was a bit startled, but with years of practice,there’d been no outward signs, and he hadn’t even been close to dropping the baby.
"Hn. He made his way past the other ninja,still carrying the baby.
Are you going to throw that in a ditch somewhere?" From anyone else,it would have been crass and mean (which were Suigetsu’s primary settings—that and being bloodthirsty), but there was a resigned note in his voice,like that was what he expected—what he’d seen done many times. So instead of just shrugging at him, Sake actually answered.
"You know that merchant, Karo?" Suigetsu nodded.
"This is his grandson."
"But I thought his daughter wasn’t married, and that old man is a stickler for tradition."
Sasuke nodded
"That’s why they dumped the baby here. I was told to cut him to pieces and scatter him across the village. For a lot of money too, which Sasuke had gladly accepted, but he wasn’t going to do something even the old man hadn’t had the guts to do himself.
"Why’s he all dressed up then?"
"I’m taking him to his parents, Sake said,making his way out the door. He wasn’t all that shocked when Suigetsu joined him, both their footsteps making no sound.
***
The baby’s father was another merchant’s son, and his name was Hibari. After only a few days of being in Matsugo, he opened and closed the bars there,often being very loud and rude,getting on a lot of people’s nerves as he threw his money and power around.
"I’ll get him, Suigetsu said when Sasuke pointed him out.
A few minutes later, a torn-up and much more sober Hibari was deposited at Sasuke’s feet. The civilian got up,trying to posture.
"Do you know who I am,I am-"The man caught sight of the bundle in Sasuke’s arms and paled,his upper body leaning in even as his legs took a step back.
"Is that-?" The boastfulness of earlier was gone, and his hand shook as he pointed to the bundle.
"It is; go get cleaned up."
Half an hour later,they were headed to a guesthouse on the edge of town where the mother was recovering,with Hibari holding his son close, talking to the boy, and pausing every now and then to wipe the tears that had fallen on the tiny cheeks.
The young woman,pale and sickly-looking, threw herself at Hibari when she saw him, and Sasuke had to throw up a privacy seal when she began crying at the sight of the baby in her lover’s arms. Replacing the woman with an identical dark-haired clone,they made their way out of the house,dodging the practically nonexistent security with ease.
The baby’s coffin was a hollowed-out tree branch that Sasuke had lacquered himself. He let the couple hold the baby one last time, with the mother singing him a lullaby before allowing Sasuke to place him in the coffin. Suigetsu, for his part, held back at the proceedings, his gaze shifting from Sasuke, who was filling up the tiny grave, to the crying couple, his brow crunching up as though he were fighting with himself.
"Would you like a gravestone or a plant?" Sasuke asked, and they settled for the stone,looking at him with gratitude. Sasuke only ever got from clients, who always made him uncomfortable.
They named him Mitsuki,and Sasuke burned the name into the stone,digging it into the earth and taking his leave,letting the couple have some privacy. Suigetsu followed close behind him; he was silent for once,not making any remarks, but he kept giving Sasuke looks he couldn’t decipher, so the Uchiha opted to just ignore them.
***
A month passed with Suigetsu shadowing Sasuke,going with him when he went to collect bodies from homes. When Sasuke went to get vengeance for those who’d been forced into early graves,Suigetsu gladly took the role of executioner; sometimes, for the truly horrible ones,he was also the torturer.
One night, Sake awoke to Suigetsu staring down at him, which, even for a shinobi, was all kinds of freaky. Sasuke let his displeasure be known by sending him flying with a kick to the jaw that had the other teen’s head turning liquid for a second.
"What? he growled,ignoring the pained yelps (he'd channeled some lighting into his foot out of spite).
"You know, my brother and I used to love playing in the rain." The topic of choice threw Sasuke; they never talked about their older siblings,ever; that was one of the very few rules they stuck to, and here was Suigetsu,breaking it without care.
"Now the rain is just for sustenance. He held out a hand, and it turned a clear, watery blue before it regained solid form again.
"I miss it,but I miss my brother even more." The one-sided conversation had gone past the realm of awkward, and Sasuke hastily looked around for something to swart Suigetsu with—maybe he was sleepwalking—nevermind the fact that the other nin looked perfectly awake and aware.
"He died, you know." Were they talking about anything else,Sasuke would have raised a brow and scoffed, but the subject of brothers always made his eyes sting and burn red at the edges,so instead he just continued looking at Suigetsu.
"He died,and Orochimaru used him as bait to capture me." At this, Sasuke’s brow went up in question.
Suigetsu moved then,stepping aside to show a block of ice. right behind him.
He turned slightly,running a hand over the block, and Sasuke gripped his bed sheets when he realized he could feel sedentary chakra—the same he felt in the corpses he worked with daily—emanating from the block.
…Oh.
Pushing his covers aside, he stood next to Suigetsu,gazing down at what was essentially his former kiri-nin’s brother.
"When you broke me out, I got a hold of his body, but I’ve never been able to reverse whatever this is—the Hozuki are water,free flowing,untamed—I can’t just let him be this way for eternity." Somewhere along the line, Suigetsu had started crying,and with a gentle bite from Ren (why the viper was always so concerned about emotions was beyond Sasuke), the Uchiha moved closer,placing a comforting hand on the crying man’s shoulder.
"Did Orochimaru do this? he asked,his voice a bit scratchy from sleep. Suigetssu shook his head at that.
"Kabuto, which made sense, was sadistic, but for the most part,he did things that he thought were worthwhile. He wouldn’t take time out of his busy day just to torture someone for the sake of it. Kabuto, on the other hand,
"May I?" Sasuke asked,his hand hovering above the ice. He received a nod and gently lowered his hand,sending a pulse of chakra through the block and feeling it curve around what appeared to be spirit cores.
"I tried to reverse it,but nothing works—he just keeps being solid."By now Ren was out of Sasuke’s sleeve. Scenting the air with her tongue, she made her way to Sasuke’s neck, curling around him like a scarf,her gentle hissing helping him think.
"If you give me some time, I might be able to reverse this." Suigetsu’s affirmation was him bolting and leaping out the window and disappearing into the night,pointedly leaving Sasuke with his brother’s corpse. Personally, Sasuke wished he could run too; the whole encounter had been really draining.

Chapter 2

As it turned out, reversing ice into a human being was not a simple matter of reheating (that plan was scrapped because it was simply horrible on so many levels). He tried running a current of electricity through the ice,but all that got him was burnt finger tips, and the power reverted back to him.

Sometimes,Suigetsu came to watch,but he never stayed long,always leaving with his eyes shining and gripping his blade tightly (Sasuke never asked when he came home smelling of cheap sake and blood—the criminal population, especially the human traffickers in the neighboring Kakou, were going missing daily).

At one point, Sake tried running a consistent supply of chakra through the block and permanently mapping out where the body was so he could carve it out. That plan had been scrapped the moment he realized that Mangetsu’s chakra coils had been unused for so long that Sasuke  might accidentally cut off a limb due to not being able to properly sense the coils (for once, it would have been helpful to have a Hyugga around).

Three more months passed with him hitting brick wall after brick wall, and through it all,Suigetsu stayed, patiently waiting (a quality Sasuke had thought he didn’t possess, but then again,when it came to the subject of siblings,both of them acted out of character).

One day, while taking a break from the Mangetsu problem, a package arrived from him. He put down the drill he’d been using (seriously, when people wanted a completely sealed coffin for their loved ones, did they want to see horrors,or did they really think exploding caskets were myths? Mako’d sent him two towns over to help clean up after such an incident; the vaguely human-shaped blot amongst the foul-smelling dark brown goo had haunted Sasuke for days).

Setting aside the drill, Sasuke found a letter from Mako. The old shrew was busy touring the continent’s burial sites and enjoying every moment of it. She sent Sasuke frequent gifts,the last of which was a large bottle of hundred-year-old wine.

Suigetsu had walked in on Sasuke and the snakes drinking it.

"This is the scariest tea party I’ve ever seen." He’d slammed the door just in time to avoid the venom. Raya had spit at him—the  cobra complained about having wasted his fluids before stating the need to replenish them with more wine. When the others had been satiated, Sasuke had made his way to the funeral home.

In the catacombs,Aoda had slithered into sight, and Sasuke had climbed onto the snake’s coils,offering up the last of the wine to the snake. With all the toxins in both Sasuke and the snakes, they couldn’t get drunk, but a good drink still soothed the soul in ways nothing else could. He’d fallen asleep in Aoda’s coils,the snake hissing softly as he enjoyed the smooth wine.

Now with a new gift from Mako,Sasuke could practically feel the excitement coming from the snakes. They coiled around the box, heads raised, as they watched Sasuke open it. He pulled out a second wooden box from within the cardboard; by now the snakes were letting out low, excited hisses, and Sasuke himself was kind of looking forward to the gift.

He popped the lid, his eyes widening in anticipation, only to find himself looking at...ice?

Ice cubes, to be exact.

Of all the things to send from halfway across the continent,Mako had picked ice, something Sasuke could make in his own fridge without having to go anywhere. He noticed a note and put the ice aside to read it.

Sasuke,

This ice is from the top of a sacred mountain. Those who drink it are said to be blessed with both immortality and eternal beauty. I was going to drink it, but then I thought better of it (my few remaining teeth might not survive the cold),so you use it. Hopefully, it will whip that ugly mug of yours into shape.

...you better be eating properly, boy; don’t be taking care of the dead only; you need rest too,and tell that friend of yours to lay off the fish.

Mako.

Attached was a picture of Mako at the base of the mountain.

Smiling softly, Sake placed the picture in the album he’d started. He knew the legend was probably a lie, but even so, he took the ice cubes with him after work.

***

Two days later, after some extracurricular grave digging digging(Sasuke was very disappointed in the number of upstanding old men that turned out to be pedophiles), Sasuke made it home and found the house empty. He made to get himself a drink, and his eyes fell on the container with Mako’s ice. Shrugging,  he picked it up,pouring himself a glass of warm water as he went.

He opened the container and tried to add two cubes to the glass,only to  let out a loud curse when the whole thing came out, nearly shattering the glass.

The cubes had fused together. With a heavy sigh, he gulped the warm water and went to put away the ice,but he paused half way through,an idea coming to life as he stared at the solid water.

With a flash of inspiration, he put the ice away and headed out, his earlier exhaustion forgotten.

Chapter 3

Sasuke didn’t so much wake up as be dragged into wakefulness with his entire body screaming in absolute agony.
For a long moment, he lay wherever he was,keeping his breathing even despite his lungs wanting nothing more than to take in as much air as possible. Had he been attacked? captured? Why hadn’t the snakes warned him? Why hadn’t he sensed anything?
The faint sound of scales rubbing against each other had him opening a single eye a small fraction,and when he was met with the familiar shade of purple, he opened his eyes all the way.
"You’re awake, good; don't move just yet." Warm chakra coiled around him,taking away his pain to the point that Sasuke was able to sit up and lean against a giant coil.
More chakra flowed into him, and Sasuke felt his own chakra join it,trying to heal whatever was wrong with him, but his energy felt wrong.
It was cold and sluggish. Two things it had never been before: calling it took effort, and it was only with the careful guidance of Aoda’s chakra that Sasuke was able to whip his life force into something that almost resembled normal—but he was still cold,something Uchiha chakra should never be.
"Aoda,what happened?" He rasped,and in answer, the snake lifted his head and gestured to the underground river that ran through the caverns.
With great effort, Sasuke turned his head in that direction. At first, he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary,but then he saw it. The block of ice was floating on the water,but that wasn’t what caught his attention; there was a hand sticking out of it,and the area where the wrist should be blended seamlessly with the ice.
***
Pushing all his discomfort aside, Sasuke got to his feet.
It worked!
Touching the fingertips of the hand, Sasuke let some of his chakra out, felt around, and was pleased to note that the hand was still connected to the rest of the body. He wanted to head back to the surface and tell Suigetsu,but he quickly reigned himself in.
Mangetsu might have been Sasuke’s client,but he was Suigetsu’s brother, and he deserved more respect than just a puzzle Sasuke had solved. Taking a deep breath,the Uchiha centered himself and stepped onto the water,letting himself sink in up to his waist. He tuned out Aoda’s hot breath on his back,turning all his attention to Mangetsu.
The principle he was using was really simple. Just like the ice cubes Mako had gifted him had fused together,he was doing the same thing with the frozen corpse. It wasn’t easy. Uchiha were on fire; even when they were calm,they were burning. It went against everything in him to call the water in the river up and, instead of boiling it,draw the heat from it and mix it with air to get ice,but that was exactly what he did.
With his own ice formed (it wasn’t perfect; it was soft in some places and too hard in others, but it was ice), Sake spread it around the cube,separated by a hair’s breadth, and just let it sit. It should have been easy,but the strain on him was so great that sweat rolled down his back, and he felt as though his arms were about to fall off, but he held firm, waiting.
What felt like years later,his patience paid off. Thin tendrils of ice from the block moved upwards,drawing his own ice in. But even then, Sasuke did not dare relax; just as he’d done before passing out,he urged his chakra forward gently. Unlike if he’d been molding the chakra into flames,he didn’t try to take charge. Instead, he moved into the air bubbles in the ice. Seeping in slowly so that the ice wouldn’t crack, he slowly but surely, with fluid movements, etched lines around the body,making its separation from the ice seem like it was the ice’s own idea.
Head,feet, torso, and hair strand after strand, Sake worked,not really aware of the passage of time. With all his focus on making sure Mangetsu came out whole,it was only once the last toe was completely out and Sasuke found himself staring at the curled-up form of Suigetsu’s older brother that his exhaustion finally hit.
***
He fell backward into the water,the corpse floating beside him. There was a worried hiss,and water rippled around him before Sasuke felt coils going around him.
He only realized he was shivering uncontrollably when the same warm chakra from before began seeping into him again, lessening the ache in his bones and taking away the fog covering his eyes.
"Shh,rest now; I’ll make sure nothing happens to him. He fell asleep to the sound of gentle hissing.
***
Sasuke was already waiting when Suigetsu got home. He didn’t say anything as the other went to the fridge and pulled out some of his beloved yogurt. And when the other gave a huge yawn and a lazy wave before heading to his room,Sasuke still didn’t say anything. He heard the door slam, and a few moments later there was a dull thump before the door was wrenched open again.
"Y-You?" Suigetsu stood in front of him,sword drawn, fighting back tears. He dropped the blade and drew Sasuke into a tight hug. Turning purely into water for a second and enclosing him.
When he let go,he spent a few more moments mumbling incoherently and pointing at Sasuke as tears ran down his face before he finally just rushed back to his room.
At first, Sasuke had wanted to take the body to the morgue,but that somehow felt too impersonal somehow.So he carried Mangetsu home and got him prepared with the spare equipment he kept in the house. Instead of a coffin,he’d used the giant seal skin Suigetsu had brought back from a fishing trip (he treasured it above all else, even his beloved swords, but somehow Sasuke didn’t think he minded sharing it with his older brother).
Still feeling the strain of freeing Mangetsu, Sake retired to bed early,and if at some point during the night he awoke to the sound of ancient chants in between hiccupping sobs, he'd never tell anyone.
***
Suigetsu was not a morning person,so Sasuke was more than a little surprised when the other teen woke him up so early in the morning when there were still stars out.
"We’re leaving in an hour; do you want to join us?" The shake in Suigetsu’s voice as he spoke made Sasuke drag himself from his warm, inviting covers and drag himself to the bathroom. He kicked the snakes sleeping in the tub out as he got ready.
Different clans had different ways of burying their dead (though in Konoha,the standard quick burial had become more popular—shinobi died daily; fancy funerals just weren’t feasible). The Uchiha had believed in a good Katon to erase all ties to the mortal plane; the Hyuga buried their dead on the highest mountains so that their eagle eyes watched over the earth; and once upon a time the Inuzuka did forest burials,leaving their dead to feed the wild—but the laws of Konoha forbade that now.
The point was that Sake was familiar with most of the burial rites in the land of fire. But this would be his first time seeing a Kiri burial. They carried Mangetsu onto Suigetsu’s fishing boat,and one insisted on paddling out into the sea instead of using chakra.
"The waters feel the ripples of this boat; they know there are three of us now and that one of us must be left behind. My labor is a small price to pay for my older brother to be welcomed by the ocean and allowed to drift freely in the currents." All Sasuke could do was nod at that,and even as the sun rose and burned his delicate skin,the salty spray stinging his eyes, he kept quiet,focusing on making sure Mangetsu stayed secure.
***
It was around midday when Suigetsu stopped. As far as Sasuke was concerned, they were in a stretch of ocean that was no different from the others,but from the way Suigetsu was suddenly attentive, there had to be something there.
Getting up, the other began stripping,and once he was done, he raised a questioning brow at Sasuke. In answer, Sasuke got out of his own clothes. He’d fully expected them to go out and just throw Mangetsu overboard,and he’d been prepared not to show how odd that was to him,but it seemed they wouldn’t be doing that.
Suigetsu gently grabbed Mangetsu,and with Sasuke’s help, they lowered him into the water before jumping in after him.
Even for a ninja, the dive was treacherous. Sasuke struggled to keep his air bubble intact and also keep a good grip on Mangetsu. Suigetsu, for the most part, seemed right at home,and it almost looked as though the water was parting to let him pass. The deeper they went,the darker it got,until Sasuke had to activate the Sharingan to be able to see.
Sasuke had no idea what it was,but the moment the time came to let go, he just knew.
Mangetsu’s body didn’t linger; it just sank down in what had to be the most graceful movement Sasuke had ever seen from a corpse (and thanks to rigor mortis, he'd seen some of the most awkward poses). Instead of sinking all the way to the bottom like Sasuke had expected,Mangetsu began disappearing halfway there. turning liquid clear from the center and radiating outwards until his entire body was gone.
After all the effort they’d put in, Sasuke had expected something more dramatic,but he supposed the whole thing looked rather peaceful,so leaving it at that, he began swimming to the surface. Only to be swept up in Suigetsu’s liquid form and propelled to the surface at a breakneck speed.
When he landed back on the boat, Sake tried his best to look disapproving while trying to gulp down air,but Suigetsu didn't seem to care; he was too focused on the water,not caring that he was still naked.
"You didn’t have to do that, Sake snarled as he got dressed.
"I would have made it just fine—and what ever happened to doing things without chakra to pay for your brother’s safety?" In answer, Suigetsu gave him a toothy grin as he pulled up the anchor.
"That was for making sure he got accepted."
"Now that the ocean’s welcomed him, I wanted to be able to see his first wave,so we had to hurry."
Still, I don’t appreciate being the first wave?"Giving another one of his irritating grins,Suigetsu pointed at the waters, and for the first time, Sasuke noticed they were churning. It was slow at first,but they got stronger and began tossing the boat around,forcing Sasuke to anchor himself with chakra while Suigetsu laughed like he was having the time of his life.
Above, the sky was clear blue, a startling contrast to the stormy seas below. Whatever was going on was definitely abnormal.
Suigetsu shouted something that was lost in the wind,and Sasuke could only stand and watch as a monstrous wave rose from the ocean.
It grew and grew and grew until it blocked out the sun, and for an instant, Sasuke could have sworn he saw the shape of a man flitting amongst the dark blue waters. It was gone as quickly as it came,and a second later, he had other things to worry about as the wave dragged the little boat to it and began descending towards it.
***
Sasuke dropped to the floor,plastering himself to the boat with his chakra and shielding his eyes from the spray, and spotted Suigetsu. The other was still unanchored, lashing freely as the waters pelted him. He tilted his head to the side as though listening to something,and after turning to send a devil-may-care grin at Sasuke, he jumped.
The foamy tips of the wave swallowed Suigetsu,and all traces of his chakra vanished,leaving Sasuke in a blind panic,but he didn’t have time to nurse it because a moment after Suigetsu disappeared, the wave hit.
***
The water was ice cold,it burned in a way fire never could, and it was the type of burn that killed cells and left the limb intact only for it to fall off. Feeling out his cores,Sasuke tried to send out some heat, but none came; instead,the icy chill he’d gotten from freeing Mangetsu was back. It spread through him painfully at first,but by the time it finished, he was blissfully numb.
Once all feelings had left him, the water was no longer so scary. The gentle push and pull lulled Sasuke into a sense of safety,and if he listened hard enough, he could almost hear the sounds of children laughing.
Two of them, in fact. One of the laughs sounded like a softer version of Suigetsu’s laugh—how strange! Untethered from the worries of the world, Sake let the laughter wash over him,simply enjoying the moment.
He didn’t even care when he saw Suigetsu materialize in the water beside him,but he did care when he noticed yet another wave coming towards them. When it struck,all the numbness Sasuke had been cocooned in faded,and he felt every inch of the force bearing down on him.
Bloody Hozuki,and their death courting funerals (you were supposed to bury people and be done with it—not fight for your own life—to give loved ones a good burial). When the wave let up,he noticed it hadn’t separated him and Suigetsu much, and the other was smiling, smiling like he was out enjoying a good walk instead of being pelted by masses of water.
Sasuke had just enough time to bend the resisting fingers of one hand and make a rude gesture to the other ninja before the next wave hit. After that,he wasn’t really aware of anything else.
***
The first thing Sasuke did when he woke up was turn over and spit out foul-tasting water and sand.
In the distance, he could just make out seagulls fighting over scraps. Rolling onto his back, he finally noticed the other person beside him. Suigetsu,still as naked as the day he was born, was snoring soundly. Sasuke tried to dredge up the energy to kick him awake,but everything hurt too much to move,so instead he settled for wishing a crab would come out of nowhere and bite his balls.
A few minutes passed,with no sign of any crab passing by. Giving up on divine justice, Sake forced his aching body to move as he rolled towards Suigetsu and shook him awake. A few minutes later, Sake had gotten as much sand out of his hair as possible,and a simple henge made it look like Suigetsu was dressed.
The walk home was quiet; the mirth Suigetsu’d had in the waters was gone, and he seemed lost in his memories. Sasuke, for his part, was just focusing on staying upright. When they got home, it was almost sunset,and Sasuke was beyond tired. All he wanted to do was shower and sleep,but halfway to the bathroom, he paused.
"Suigetsu, he called softly.
"When you die,I’m chucking you in the nearest sewer." A raucous laugh followed him down the hall.
***
Sasuke had expected to pass out immediately,but sleep did not come easily. He stared at his wall,watching the shadows lengthen, until he rolled over and stared out the window just to get a change of scenery.
Sasuke stared at the shadows for the longest time. He wasn’t sure exactly when he fell asleep,but he realized he was dreaming when one of the shadows flowed from the walls and took the shape of a crow.
It was the same one that had led him back to Matsugo,but this time it did not fly out of reach. It stared at him for the longest time,and when it ruffled its feathers, starlight fell from the inky sky. Instead of falling to the ground, the little stars floated up,clinging to the walls and taking the form of a big tree.
One of the brighter sparks fell off,but once again it did not touch the ground. It moved unsteadily across the air,seemingly without direction at first,but it gathered itself and haltingly made its way towards Sasuke.
Gripped by an emotion he could not name, Sake held out his hand,allowing the light to settle there.
The instant it touched the tip of his fingers,the blue spark glowed brighter, growing little tendrils as it clutched his hand tightly.
A foreign emotion from long ago gripped Sasuke, and with it came a memory of the smell of smoke, spices, and ozone. Of warm laughter and firm but gentle hands.
"Mother?"
A single tear rolled down Sasuke’s cheek and fell on his hand,and it was only when looking at the single tear drop that Sasuke realized two things.
One being that he’d accidentally activated his sharingan,and the second being that he wasn’t dreaming—just as his eyes could separate illusion from reality,they could also tell the difference between a dream and something real.
In the dream world,everything was shades of red and black; in reality,all things were crystal clear—there wasn’t a hint of red on a droplet,so that meant only one thing.
He turned his attention to the spark in his hand, but it had already let go and was floating up. Sasuke tried to grab it,but a beak snapping close to his thumb had him retracting his hand.
The crow stood between him and the spark. It perched at Sasuke’s feet and pinned him with its beady eyes. It shifted on its legs,and for the first time, Sasuke realized something.
It had three legs.
The two on the sides were a normal color; the one in the middle was pitch black and easy to miss,but it was unmistakably a leg.
What in the name of the blazing infra
Sasuke didn’t get a chance to finish the thought because,  in the next moment, the crow took flight,aiming for his face. He brought his hand up on instinct, and when he lowered it, the crow was gone. Not only that, but the star tree was gone as well, and it was daylight.
He looked around his room in confusion. He hadn’t fallen asleep; he was sure of that,and he most certainly hadn’t been in a genjutsu—so how had time passed without him feeling it? Falling back and staring up at the ceiling, Sake tried to puzzle it out,but his body had had enough,and his eyes closed on their own as he tried to recall everything about the light that had settled on his hand.
He was asleep before his tears started falling onto his pillow.

Chapter 4

A month after Mangetsu was laid to rest,Sasuke was awakened by Suigetsu’s pained screams. He was out of bed, kunai in hand, and rushing to the door before he even realized that the snakes didn’t seem too bothered by the intruders. He got his answer when he reached the living room.
Suigetsu had reverted to water form and was currently trying to flow across the carpet to escape his fate. Above him, Karin, her wild red hair matching her fiery temper,was swinging a club (a barbed one at that) rather wildly.
"We snuck in to surprise you, but we ran into him first " Juugo, ever calm (for the most part), said as he came to stand beside Sasuke that he was carrying two heavy bags like it was nothing.
"This is quite the surprise, Sasuke said, his voice flat as he gestured at the beat down on the mat.
"The first thing he said to Karin was that her make-up made her look like she’d been dead and buried for two weeks."
Nodding in understanding, Sake took the bags from Juugo and placed them by the door.
They made their way around the fighting duo (Suigetsu, even though obviously defeated, was still hurling insults).
Juugo,unlike Suigetsu,did not bring out the urge to murder in Sasuke; he brought a sense of peace. And Sasuke latched onto it as he moved around the kitchen,the two of them enjoying the quiet (almost quiet) as Sasuke got started on breakfast—it was one of the few mornings where he hadn’t been awakened by the sound of phantom wings, and he was going to enjoy it.
***
The moment Sasuke put down the last plate,Karin burst through the door and threw herself at him. Her hug bordered on being too tight and lasted too long for comfort,but Sasuke found himself hugging her right back.
Before the Chuunin exams,before Itachi returned, and before going rogue Sasuke had thought Naruto was his best friend (though he was loathe to admit it at the time). But being in Matsugo, Sake had come to doubt that. The dobe had said that over and over again,going from them being friends to being rivals in the same breath,but since then Sasuke had grown and he saw the cracks in their relationship.
What he and Naruto had was toxic.
Naruto saw Sasuke as a prize,something to be conquered and dragged back into his glass case, where it fit with all the other prizes. And Sasuke, for his part,had at first seen Naruto as useless,and then as someone who had power that Sasuke had been slaving to reach for years, handed to him on a silver platter.
Looking at it from a distance, Sake could see the manipulations needed to get them to such a point.
The village had let Sasuke rot away in a living graveyard, and they’d had Naruto ignored and tortured on a daily basis. Both of them were put on the same team, not because of their compatibility. It was to make sure they kept each other in check. If Naruto stepped out of line,Sasuke was to kill him,and vice-versa.If both of them died during the confrontation,the village would have two problems on its hands. If Naruto won,the village would still benefit. If Sasuke won, they’d make sure he was hunted down like a dog.
For Konoha, there was no bad outcome.
Taking all that into account,he realized that the very first true friend he’d ever had was actually Karin. They did not seek to tame each other or make each other see the world the same way. They respected each other’s differences and did not push on each other’s sore spots. They had the sort of acceptance for each other—flaws and all—that Sasuke had only seen glimpses of in the broken bonds that Konoha fostered under the guise of teamwork.
"I missed you, he whispered, making sure only she could hear. In response, he felt two teardrops land on his shoulder.
Karin pulled back, breaking the moment just as Suigetsu wobbled in,pointedly taking a seat that put Juugo’s bulk between him and Karin. Breakfast was a quiet affair,and it was only once the plates were cleared that they started talking.
***
"So... Sake, Karin began,a too-big grin on her face—he’d come to really dislike that particular grin.
"What have you been up to since you faked your death?" Giving her a flat look, Sake tilted his head to the side, and she let out a genuine laugh.
"Alright,you’ve got me,so how’s working with the dead? I hear they can be stiff customers." The distasteful quip only got a laugh from Suigetsu, and Karin threw a spoon at him in retaliation.
"What? You mean you couldn’t tell how it’s going in the week you two’ve been camped outside the village,spying on us?" Karin let out a groan at that and glared at Juugo,pointing an accusatory finger at him.
"See! I told you we should have just waltzed in."
"Karin,I’m the one who suggested that, Juugo said,calmly petting the little sparrow that had flown in through the window.
"Never mind then,Sasuke,you let us sleep on the ground knowing full well we were out there failing to spy on you. Sasuke gave her another flat look, and she sighed.
"Fine,we came out here because we need a place to lay low." It was Sasuke’s turn to sigh.
"Does my home have a sign over it saying I hide criminals for free? I’m a law-abiding civilian now." Three pairs of disbelieving eyes stared at him,and Sasuke very deliberately did not think of the black widow he’d killed a week prior (the woman had already been worth a fortune; she was just plain greedy).
When the silent moment passed,all three of them burst into uncontrollable laughter,not stopping until Suigetsu fell off the table and knocked over the large bowl Ren was sleeping in. The large viper hissed menacingly before slithering towards Sasuke and going around his neck to glare at them properly.
Juugo and Karin seemed a bit taken aback by the move,but they kept their questions to themselves.
"Anyway, Mr. law-abiding civilian,we didn’t do anything illegal recently, Karin added the last part at his disbelieving look.
"The Shinobi world has declared a fourth war."
"It’s not safe out there—especially for the likes of us."
Sasuke fought back a shudder at her words. A lot of villages used wars as a cover to gain bloodline limits,either through theft,murder, grave-robbing, or experimentation. It was never a fun time for those from gifted clans (given how difficult normal peaceful days were,the travesties of war were something to be wary of).
"This isn’t a hotel; you guys better clean up after yourselves." By that point,no one was listening; Karin’s feet were on the table; Suigetsu somehow had a tub of yoghurt; and Juugo’s little bird friend had taken up residence in his hair. With a glare at an uninterested audience,Sasuke headed for the bathroom,pausing only to let Ren slide off as he got ready for the day.
***
A war.
Looking around him, Sake realized that he should have noticed sooner (having been busy with birds that may or may not have been real wasn’t an excuse). More and more shinobi bodies were turning up,and it was often Sasuke’s job to send them off. In that month alone, he sent out close to a hundred warriors; a year before, a month had often yielded less than half that number.
It had gotten so bad that Sake'd had to expand the room. Storing the civilians in the regular room and having the ninja go into a large open room that he’d made seals for (the ice jutsu had come more easily than Sasuke could ever recall) After dealing with the civilians,he often went to the back room and picked out a row of corpses to work on. Using the things they had on them to identify them as well as reconstructing the faces of those whose features had been destroyed, Sake tried to give all of them decent burials,no matter their affiliation.
His first client for that day was a hundred-year-old man who’d gone peacefully to sleep (something Sasuke had found to be surprisingly rare). It was a bit difficult getting the man’s mouth closed given the state of his gums,but Sasuke managed in the end,smiling softly at the finished product. Next was a young woman who committed suicide; most of the work went into putting her intestines back into her body and making sure her stomach didn’t look distended (her parents didn’t want anyone to know).
"She shamed us enough when she was alive; we won’t let her stupidity ruin our reputation." Sasuke had learned that she’d been in a forced arranged marriage,and she’d voiced her objections—the ultimate sin—according to her mother. Her cause of death was self-inflicted; there was nothing for Sasuke to worry about,but he’d still made eye contact with her and seen the reason for her choice.
After everyone was gone, Sake would be sure to let her lover pay her respects. The unfortunate young woman had been in love with her maid,and they’d been found out (the maid had been fired on the spot). The other girl’s picture was the last thing she ever saw. With his two civilians of the day done, Sake went about preparing the ninja.
He went through a trio so badly burned (encased in larva, by the looks of it), they'd melded together. There was nothing much he could do for them,so he simply buried all three in the same grave (unwilling to cause more damage to the corpses by trying to separate them). Next came a kunoichi. Her head had been sliced right off (a clean cut—at least she hadn’t had to suffer being hacked at repeatedly), and Sasuke used a steel rod to bring the pieces of her body together before taking her to her grave. She’d worn an Iwa headband, so Sasuke made sure to unfurl her stiff fingers and place a smooth pebble in her hand—something to ground her as her spirit moved on.
Having finished with the Iwa-nin,Sasuke took a break,idly petting the python that had come to settle around his shoulders as he worked, simultaneously keeping himself warm and making sure Sasuke’s shoulders and back weren’t too stiff later on.
"Any pressing cases?" The python bumped his head lightly against Sasuke’s torso,where the majority of the snake’s body was squeezed briefly,before Aiko began speaking.
"Aoda came across a man in the river last night,"Sasuke turned a questioning eye on the snake. He always did inventory in the mornings, checking new arrivals,either the ones he’d brought in himself (some of whom he’d actively volunteered on account of them being vile creatures), those who’d been delivered by the hospitals (ill equipped as they were) or loved ones,or the ones who’d been found by the snakes. He was certain that there hadn’t been a new client when he arrived.
"Why isn’t he here?" Instead of answering, Aiko lifted his head,scenting the air, before settling down again.
"Aoda tried to move him,but he was too leaky; we were worried that the body would be destroyed if we moved it too much." Aiko looked so proud at being able to remember that Sasuke didn’t even bring up how he should have said something when Sasuke had arrived—Aoda was probably still out there. But being able to recall most of the details was a huge step for Aiko (an encounter with a boulder had nearly robbed the python of everything; at least this showed he was healing. It was slow, but at least he was getting there).
Heading for the mini fridge, Sake pulled out a few frozen mice, letting the python enjoy them. He gently thumbed the scar running across the snake’s head. With a few more sheds, it would be completely gone,and by the looks of it, the head injury would be healed as well.
"Is he still in the river, or did he make it to the Carvens?"
"Carvens" The answer was muffled,but it was all Sasuke needed, so he left Aiko to enjoy his meal.
***
"I see Aiko finally got around to telling you." Like Sasuke,Aoda didn’t seem upset at the delay,though he obviously wasn’t enjoying the stench anymore than Sasuke.
"You could have sent someone else to tell me, the Uchiha reprimanded softly.
"Aiko wanted to do it; who was I to stop him? A snake has its pride; it would have broken him if I’d sent a babysitter after him." The level of patience Sasuke’s snakes had for each other and for him never ceased to amaze him.
"Where’s the client?" Aoda flicked his tongue to the left,and Sasuke finally caught sight of the vaguely humanoid form concealed by the shadows.
Just as Aiko had said,he was very leaky, but surprisingly, he was still mostly intact (if you didn’t count the missing arm, probably eaten by something). The corpse even still had hair (dirty and discolored, but still hair)—usually after a few days,water currents could easily strip away hair (or just take off the scalp), but this particular corpse hadn’t suffered that fate.
Moving the man took effort,but Sasuke finally managed—the many uses he’d come to find for ice manipulation once again coming in handy.
***
After cutting off the clothes (his surgical mask was reinforced with a containment jutsu, making sure his nose wasn’t assaulted), Sasuke moved to take off his scrolls—there were a lot of them—probably a messenger nin then. The last material to go was the man’s headband. Wiping grime off the metal revealed a familiar symbol, and Sasuke actually had to stop for a bit.
A leaf-nin.
Konoha shinobi weren’t exactly rare in those parts,but it was strange to get one instead of a team. Since when did Konoha send out lone shinobi—or perhaps this one had been undercover? Sasuke cast out the theory as quickly as he’d come up with it—the man wouldn’t have been wearing his headband then.
Putting aside the man’s belongings,Sasuke went back to work,stiffening the hair with some lightning and letting water roll off it,taking the insects,rotting chunks, and dirt with it. Pretty soon the deceased's snow-white hair was visible.
Cleaning the rest of the body took time, and as he worked, Sasuke caught sight of the darker patches of skin—bruises—whoever this guy was,he’d taken a beating before succumbing. There probably would have been more if the ninja had lived. Finally reaching the face, Sake worked methodically,being careful with the extra sensitive skin and watching as somewhat humanoid features came into view. The man wasn’t really recognizable anymore; maybe to someone who’d known him in life, he would have been. But all Sasuke saw were deep-colored lines on both of the man’s cheeks (clearly clan tattoos) and whi--
...Clan markings—a shock of white hair—a Konoha headband
Jiraiya!
Sasuke had a Saanin on his table.

Chapter 5

For a few crazy moments Sasuke had considered returning Jiraiya’s body to Konoha.But common sense(Juugo) and self preservation(Karin), had made him see the problems that would cause.
One did not simply return a Saanin’s body.
No matter how hard he tried to hide,or even hire someone to do the job, there was a possibility the deed could always be traced back to him.
That was how Jiraiya’s funeral ended up being attended by Team Taka and the snakes.Just like with Itachi, Sasuke could not help but linger on the sadness ,the loneliness of it.Itachi at least,had had a proper funeral,all Jiraiya had was the standard quick burial-his clan,as well as his origins had been sealed away long ago-Sasuke wasn’t even sure the man himself had known where he’d come from.
***
He might have given the man a hassle-free funeral, but Sasuke did not have a have a selfless soul, and neither did the rest of Taka.Immediately after the funeral,they’d gotten to work opening the scrolls the man’d had on him, making a game out of cracking the seals.
All of them lay on the living room mat, scrolls scattered randomly.Karin let out a low whistle, and Sasuke lifted his head from where it was pillowed on Aiko’s coils.
With all their attention on her she adjusted her glasses and held her scroll up“Turns out,the current fire Daimyo’s wife is a decoy.The original was assassinated by kiri, and to hide the fact that their security had been breached, a replacement was put in place.The guy doesn’t even know.What kind of idiot doesn’t recognize his own wife?”
“That’s nothing-according to this Konoha has an entire squad dedicated to training child prostitutes-they use them to lure and manipulate old dirt bags- and all this time they’ve been turning their noses up at the other hidden villages for that,as thought they’re any better,”The water next to Suigetsu splashed against its jug, only stilling when Karin gave him a gentle kick.
Most of the information they read wasn’t exactly child friendly.But knowledge was a valuable commodity in the Shinobi world,so even though they didn’t like it-they kept on reading.To someone out there, the knowledge was worth a lot,not just in terms of money,but in favors-something one could never have enough of.
***
A few days after Jiraiya’s funeral,they were half way through their loot, having divided the read scrolls into stacks depending on how much their data was worth.
Sasuke bit into a tomato,considering the scroll he’d picked-it looked older than the others,and it had more protective seals than any in the pile so far-whatever was in it was bound to be good.He took another bite of his tomato,his tongue picking out the sweetness of venom as he did.
He swallowed and glared at the black mambas playing at his feet.
“Kai, Lee,what did I say about biting the food?”The two at least had the decency to look sheepish.
“Dry bites only!”They sang in unison,slinking away.When it had just been them and Sasuke, that wouldn’t have been a problem, but the rest of his team didn’t have venom immunity.
“Relax Sasuke,if we didn’t have near death experiences every once in a while,we might just feel safe.Where’s the fun in that?”Karin’s legendary self preservation often picked the strangest times to disappear.
“Remember that next time you feel ‘faint’ during a fight,”She threw an unsealed scroll at him, and he dodged it easily enough,going back to working on the scroll he was holding.Two hours later he hit the right combination, and the parchment glowed before it unfurled.
He immediately began reading, a bit shocked to see Orochimaru’s handwriting in a letter dated at a time when he was supposed to have long left Konoha.
‘ …transplants taking well to the artificial sockets created in the arm…’Something about the words made lead pool in Sasuke’s stomach, but he kept on reading.
‘…Uchiha Fugaku’s eyes were hard to control at first, but a solution made of the man’s blood made sure they settled in without rejection, Danzo-sama has reported no further difficulties in using that particular sharingan…’
Below Orochimaru’s description was the drawing of a mottled arm, sharingan eyes sticking out of it as though they were trying to escape.Even through the drawing, old as it was, Sasuke recognized his father’s sharingan,staring out from a village elder’s arm.
Oh.
***
“Sasuke are you okay?”Was that Juugo?Sasuke couldn’t quite tell with how loud his breathing had gotten.
He looked up meeting the worried gazes of the trio, then he looked back at the paper in his hands and…Oh.
His family hadn’t just been killed, they were being worn like the pelt of expensive game.Dangling off the arm of an old man.
Oh.
He wasn’t even aware of when he’d gotten to his feet, but somehow,his kusanagi,which had been gathering dust in his closet for ages,was in his hands and he was headed straight for the door.A hand gripped his shoulder, and without even checking who it was, he reached up, snapping their wrist and throwing them off.
He thought he heard Suigetsu scream and curse, but that barely registered- he had to get to the door.
Beyond the door,and out of the village, Konoha waited.Konoha needed to burn, every single one of them was going to die and he was going to be their executioner.
His hand brushed the doorknob and glowing chain slid around his waist yanking him back.He hit the floor,hard, and his rise was stopped by Juugo’s iron grip settling around his shoulders.
He clawed at the other with lightning coated fingers, when that didn’t work he tried to scream his frustration, but all that came was a ball of fire,that did absolutely nothing to Juugo’s transformed face.
“It’s alright Sasuke,calm down,we’ve got you,we’ve got you…”
No!
No,they did not, how could they?They didn’t know…
He fought harder,struggling against Suigestu’s forming water prison, and trying to edge away from the light in Karin’s hands.
“Let me go,”He hissed, but they remained firm.
Suigetsu’s cage grew,reaching up to his shoulders,and Sasuke moved his neck,trying to get away.A barely there movement broke through all the chaos around him,and he focused on it.Perched on an armrest was the crow, looking at all of them with calculating eyes.
When it took flight,the shadow of its wings encompassed the whole room, turning everything in Sasuke’s sight pitch-black,despite his sharingan being active.Why weren’t the others reacting, didn’t they realize how dark it had gotten?
He took a breath,trying to warn them, but when he tried to exhale,he realized the oxygen was trapped within him.It drowned him…slowly…stealing away all his senses,until in the end even the feel of his friends around him vanished, and he lost his hold on consciousness.
***
Karin didn’t know what happened.One moment they were trying to calm Sasuke,holding him down,and in the next,all the fight went out of him,and he just lay there-eyes unfocused, and worst of all…she couldn’t sense him.
Suigetsu let go immediately, and Juugo got himself under control.
“Sasuke?Sasuke wake up!”Despite the sudden lack of chakra,his pulse was still there, and he was breathing evenly.
Was this an attack?Someone with a kekkeigenkai?
“Suigetsu,search the area,Juugo help me get him to bed,I might be able to help,”They moved like a well oiled machine,shinobi instincts kicking in and keeping their fear of the unknown threat at bay.
***
There was no way to fully explain the feeling of being in one place and yet feeling yourself in another.At first Sasuke had tried to move away,to leave the ruins he’d found himself in, but his current form did not obey him, instead he floated all over the place flowing with the wind, but never making it past the fallen buildings.
By the looks of them, the ruins were new-nature had yet to reclaim the land, yet Sasuke had no idea why he’d wound up stuck in them-was it permanent?
A gentle breeze picked up then, steering him without his consent, and he spotted something amongst the fallen stones.All of a sudden,the wind no longer had any control over him, and he fell down,sinking through the rocks until his legs disappeared,but that barely registered-his sight focused on only one thing.
The remains of the Uchiha crest were half hidden beneath rubble, but Sasuke would recognize it anywhere.
He’d heard about Pein’s attack on Konoha(who hadn’t), but not a single person had mentioned anything about the compound being destroyed.Why would they though?The Uchiha were in the history pages now, what did it matter if their home no longer existed(it mattered to him…it mattered a whole lot).
But what mattered even more was that,somehow he was in Konoha,Konoha were his family’s remains were being used as power boosters.Something in him darkened and snapped,his gaze falling on the path that led to the main village.
A storm broke out of nowhere, huge raindrops falling through him but somehow chilling his very soul.A sharp breeze cut through the cold and Sasuke felt something sharp settle on his back,he turned his head to find the crow staring down at him.
It was the size of a small house now, but it’s presence was still the same.
It looked towards the path that led to the village,then back at him several times until Sasuke finally got the message,he nodded, and the bird took flight-taking him with it.
He looked down at the ruins, seeing more half destroyed crests and his rage gained form. Lightning flashing across the sky,rumbling kirin’s war cry as it moved through the clouds.There was heat in the swirling dark clouds that felt like a solid katon, contrasting with the fist sized hail stones falling from them and destroying everything in sight.The wings at his back beat furiously against the wind and he felt himself tilt as the bird began flying away from the compound.
They’d almost made it out when a flash of lightning blocked their path, and instead of being swallowd by the earth,it solidified right in front of them.
Aoda, head raised and scales shimmering with a phantom light blocked their path.
“Yatagarasu,”The booming hiss startled Sasuke-he’d never had Aoda sound like that before.
“Dragon-kin,”The wind answered, and Sasuke realized the all consuming sound that made the storm howl was actually the crow-Yatagarasu’s voice.
“Let him go,”
“I hold nothing that does not wish to be with me,”He tried to shrug out of the hold-but he was suddenly so,so tired.
“You can’t do this, if you take him there he’ll die,”
“The child wants vengeance-and I offer him vengeance,nothing more,nothing less,”He was having trouble keeping his eyes open now.
“But does he know the cost of the path you offer?”A giant beak grazed his ear, and Sasuke barely reacted to the painful touch.The sound of Aoda’s voice was the only thing keeping him aware, but the fog around him was getting harder and harder to resist. 
“Blood in, blood out,that is the way of the shinobi,the child knows this”
“But does he know of the spirit oath,of the cage his soul will live in for eternity if he does this?”
“It will be a cage,yes, but a cage made of love and loyalty-I take care of my own,”
“But do you wish to place such a burden on one so young?Caged fire, no matter how bright it burns,turns on itself eventually-look at him,he’s already fading”Now that Aoda mentioned it,Sasuke was pretty sure he used to have a left-arm,where did it go?
“What would you have me do?I tire of carrying his kin,they should have moved on long ago-yet their souls linger-imprisoned in living cages,shedding tears that weigh down not only my wings,but my heart as well,”
“But you are the path-finder, is there no other way?”Sasuke tried to add his two cents,but all that came out was a groan-he was ignored.Wings covered him, and the same darkness that had covered him in Matsugo returned.
“I can’t just let him go,”Said the wind.
“I know,”A voice like whispering ice answered.
The claws on his back loosened their hold, and he fell.Aoda chose that moment to lunge,coils wrapping around Yatagarasu,continuing his assault even as the crow’s feathers rained down on him.Trapping him in a whirlwind that sent sparks flying off his scales each time the feathers touched them.
A hole opened in the sky, and Ren came forth, the viper wrapping herself around his remaining wrist and pulling.He could feel the others through her,their spirits keeping him anchored.They pulled him through,and he only had a moment to feel Aoda come in behind him before his world fell away once more.
“Juugo!Suigetsu!He’s back, I can sense him again,get more blankets”
“Wha-Where’d all these snakes come from?!Th-”Sleep claimed him before he could hear the rest of the sentence.
***
In Konoha,the people were glad the sudden storm had passed.They emerged from their houses,intent on seeing the damage done, and one by one all of them stopped.Their eyes focused on the same thing.
Off in the distance, in the area that used to be the Uchiha compound, a bamboo forest could be seen.It hadn’t been there before the storm, yet there it was,swaying gently in the breeze,the bamboo knocking into each other,their gentle song blanketing the village.
There was no end to it, it simply kept going up until not even the byakugan could track it.
“Someone tell the Godaime,”An old man said.
“No need,she already knows,”The woman herself said,dropping the henge that she’d been donning.She looked up at the unnatural forest-the large sum of money she’d won gambling the previous night weighing heavily in her pocket.
…This,could not be anything good

Chapter 6

Notes:

Happy reading!I do not own Naruto.

Konoha was under total lockdown,which given that they were in the middle of a war put them at risk.But if the other villages found out what was going on within their walls, Konoha would be destroyed immediately to stop whatever it is that was plaguing them from spreading.

It had started with a fire-which given the Uchiha’s ties to the element,shouldn’t have been surprising.But the clan had been gone for so long, little things like that had slipped the village’s attention.

Tsunade took a sip of her sake and grimaced.For once Shizune wasn’t giving her disapproving looks-everyone needed a drink or two.Standing and leaving the squabbling elders at the table,Tsunade looked out the window and at the endless bamboo far off in the distance.

Destroying the unnatural forest should have been easy.

The Nara science division had declared the bamboo to be the remains of a landmine jutsu that had somehow been activated-it was most likely meant to skewer trespassers back in the warring clans era-probably put down by Hashirama(and it was definitely something her grandfather would do).The Yamanaka had reported feeling no spiritual pressure behind it and the Hyugga hadn’t seen any traces of chakra.

Using fire had been the fastest,safest way since there was a chance the infinite length of the trees would destroy property if severed.So that’s what they’d done.

At the crack of dawn, Tsunade had stood at the edges of the forest,watching as a group of jounin went through the seals for katon.

The jutsu had been performed perfectly, and the fire had latched on quickly.

Only in the end it hadn’t been the plants that were reduced to ash.

It was the jounin.

They’d simply vapourised, red hot ashes floating in the wind and turning pitch black as they cooled-leaving only the echoes of screams behind.

The cloying scent of smoke had stuck around,and it was yet to leave.It stuck to the roof of her mouth with each breath she took-coating her spit charcoal black, a constant heaviness she couldn’t shake no matter how much incense she burned or what cleansing tea she drank.Everyone was complaining about it-some of the civilians had even come in with soot in their lungs despite having not been anywhere near the live cremations.But as troublesome as the smoke was, it was child’s play compared to what else the village was dealing with.

***

The first cot death had been sad-the baby had been long awaited and healthy.Then her father had gone to kiss her goodbye in the morning and he’d found her cold.With her in the village such occurrences were rare-but not impossible.Tsunade’d ruled it as sudden infant death syndrome, and had moved on.

Then second baby-healthy as can be-had passed in his mother’s arms-Tsunade had paused at that, but again, she’d found no evidence of foulplay.The third one had gone quietly,tiny hands clutching her teddy.More and more cases had followed, and by the end of the week,there were no children under the age of three in Konoha, and no matter what she did,or what tests she ran she could find no evidence that they’d been murdered.

They’d all just simply switched off, vibrant and happy one moment…and still and cold in the next.

Focusing on that alone would’ve been taxing,but it wasn’t just the living babies-even the unborn ones were dead,.The hospital corridors were lined with women whose bellies had become graves over night.Their eyes red rimmed, gazes blank and staring off into the distance, the would be fathers sobbing as they watched their families crumble. Tsunade’d held Kurenai as she screamed and cried,the normally quiet woman overtaken by raw grief as her last link to Asuma died.

It wasn’t something Tsunade would be forgetting any time soon.

And with each child that died the smog got heavier and heavier, and the more it weighed down on the people the more subdued they became,like their will to live was being burned out of them from the inside.In their fear,the people had become unnaturally silent, the hush made louder after sunset when the only sound to be heard was the bamboo song.

***

Something was wrong with Konoha.

When Naruto’d told Sakura,she’d scoffed, looking over at a crying mother who’d just lost her baby.Then she’d turned to him, giving him a ‘no duh’ look,too tired to even yell.

He’d wanted to protest,yes the deaths were wrong,but that wasn’t the kind of wrong he was talking about.He was talking about the feel of worms moving beneath his skin,burrowing deeper into him when he slept and trying to swallow him whole.He was talking about how if he focused,he could pick out something that smelled sickly sweet, clouded by the all the smoke.Like bodies that had been left out to rot rather than being buried.But he’d struggled to relay the words to her, and she’d been called away to do another womb cleaning.

He’d taken a walk, which was how he wound up at the edge of the unnatural forest.He stared at it for a long time,Kurama’s chakra bleeding into his eyes as he tried to see something,anything.

But the trees were just that-trees, and Naruto threw his head up huffing in frustration-and that was when he saw it.He blinked,his human eyes coming back and all he saw was never ending bamboo, another blink activated his jinchuuriki sight, and right where the bamboo met the clouds it cut off.

There was a vortex, a swirling circle of darkness moving slowly,lazily,like an eye opening after a long sleep,and the longer Naruto looked at it the more terrified he became, like he wasn’t just looking-he was being looked at in return,and whatever was on the other side found him wanting.A beam of sunlight, emerged from the darkness, and when its rays touched Naruto’s skin goose bumps broke out.

“Wh-What is that?” Naruto breathed, unable to stop his involuntary tremors.

“…Home,”Kurama rumbled, his tone full of disbelief and Naruto took off running, headed for the Hokage tower.

***

Sasuke finished opening up his latest client and paused, there was a towel in the man’s lungs.Old and darkened by blood, but most definitely a towel,the type used during surgery-who forgot a towel in a patient’s body?

Was it forgotten,or was this some sick and twisted form of torture.Leaving someone to suffer for years,every breath they took reminding them of their agony.Pain eating away at them, eroding every part of the person they once were until all that was left was vengea-

He cut himself off, and stepped back,clearly he was no longer talking about his client.After covering the man up,he gave a small bow and made his way outside.

A viper slithered around his neck as soon as he sat beneath a tree and Sasuke leaned into Ren’s touch,enjoying the coolness of the coils.He brought a hand up to pet her, stopping midair when he caught sight of the appendage.

The snakes called it a soul burn, a leftover from the burning chill of the otherside.

Sun rays wound their way around the exposed bone.He folded it into a fist and the digits,despite having no tendons,muscles,or even flesh agreed.When he’d first woken up,Karin’d had the hand covered in bandages,but the way she kept glancing at it’d had him tearing them off only to pass out at the sight of it.

On the plus side, it had made it easier for them to believe his outlandish story when he’d finally told them what had been happening.Which of course,had set Karin on the mother of all rants…

“First rule even civilians know-DO NOT MAKE DEALS WITH SPIRITS!”

“…any idea how much danger you were in,you could have lost more than your arm.Your soul for starters…”Her lecture had gone on for hours,made worse by the fact that, next to him Suigetsu had been doing the best impression of sleeping with his eyes open that Sasuke had ever seen, while Juugo had been minding his own business.Petting a stray cat.The traitors had left Sasuke to release bullets of cold sweat on his own-pinned by Karin’s four eyed glare.

“You will never put yourself at risk like that again,do you hear me?”She’d asked,her voice deceptively calm, and he’d given a shaky nod.

“Good, now Suigetsu!Wake up,”The other’d startled badly, landing falling right into Karin’s kick.

“We have a village to destroy,”Had it been up to Sasuke, they’d have gone then and there, but the team had reminded him of the importance of preparation.Which was why they(Karin) had instructed him to stay put, and get himself under control while they went information hunting.

As though reading his mind, the communication seal Karin’d made for the four of them flared, indicating the other three’s return and with a swirl of leaves Sasuke was gone.

He materialized in the living room and was met by a grim faced trio.

With a nod he took a seat, Ren uncurling from his neck and the rest of the snakes coming out of their sleeping spots to hear the news.

“You might not need to take vengeance on Konoha,”Sasuke sat up, red bleeding into his vision as he glared at Suigetsu.

“Suigetsu’s right,someone’s already beat you to it, and whoever they are, they are using some of the darkest arts I’ve ever seen,”Karin said,bringing her arms up to hug herself.

“Chakra has a pulse-that zing that lets you know it’s coming from something, no matter how twisted and wicked it is-whatever’s blanketing Konoha is …cold, it doesn’t belong amongst the living but somehow it’s dug its roots into the leaf,”

“It came from the bamboo,”Juugo said, his skin turning an alarming shade of grayish brown.

“Konoha doesn’t have bamboo,”Sasuke stated,giving them a confused frown.

“It does now, and when I shifted into a cloud, I could still see it above me,however high it goes,the human eye can track it,and guess what?”Sasuke glared again,not feeling like playing games, and Suigetsu gave him a sharp toothed grin, before pointing over at the map of Konoha Sasuke had drawn for them.

“The forest is right over here,”Suigetsu’s kunai landed right on the part that used to be the Uchiha compound and a memory stirred in Sasuke.

“But you are the path-finder, is there no other way?”Was this the other route that Yatagarasu had chosen?Sasuke caught a movement in the corner of his eye and turned in time to see a single pitch black feather make a gentle arc through the air.

He lifted his damaged left hand and it landed on his ring finger, curling around it sinking into the bone,looking for all the world like an intricate drawing.Somewhere in the background Sasuke heard a curse, but his attention was focused on the cries in the distance.

Whose baby was that?

Takahiro…his mind supplied, and he did not disagree.But Sasuke’d never met Takahiro, all the baby was,was a kick pressing against Sasuke’s little hand from his Aunty Mei’s tummy.Sasuke should not have recognized his cry,but he knew it as well as he knew the tomoe in his sharingan.

“Sasuke!What’s wrong?”Hands settled around him, and as easy as breathing,Sasuke felt himself fade,this time carrying three passengers with himThey materialized in Konoha’s war room, and rather than being overcome by rage at the sight of Konoha’s elite,Sasuke felt himself settle,watching them with a zen calmness.

…Their day had finally come.

***

“Baa-chan!Baa-chan!”Naruto whose normal volume setting was loud,had somehow managed to amplify it.Coincidentally, the boy’s entrance had saved Tsunade from acting in an undiplomatic manner and punching Danzo right through the wall(the man’s insinuations that he could’ve been doing better had he been Kage were grating).

“The forest!I know what it is!Old foxy face recognized it!”The kid jumped on the table, nearly stomping the Hyugga clan head’s fingers as he did and completely ignoring the nuclear glare directed at him.

“Naruto,perhaps you’d like to share exactly what it is you saw,”It was Kakashi-attending in his official capacity as the Hatake clan head who finally reigned the hyperactive ninja in.

“It’s a portal,”He breathed and everyone in the room was suddenly very still.

“Kyuubi says it’s the door to his home,”Where the room’s occupants had been still before-they might as well have been stones now.

“Boy-what do you mean the home of the nin-”The rest of Danzo’s question was cut off by a sudden silence.And after endless hours of the bamboo song being in the background,its absence was felt instantly.

It didn’t last long however, between one breath and the next, there was a whimper.It dissolved into a hiccupping cry-a baby’s cry, and the hairs on the back of Tsunade’s neck stood up.A foreign presence enveloped the room, and everyone was instantly on their feet, kunai ready.

When the intruder finally made themselves known, Tsunade felt it,rather than saw.

A woman,with long dark hair and pale skin walked right through a wall like she wasn’t doing anything extraordinary,like the wall had forgotten it had a door and she’d reminded it.Her curtain of hair obscured her face, flowing down one side of her naked body and ending just above her knees.On her other side there was nothing pleasant to be seen.She’d been cut open from the base of her throat to her hip, skin hanging uselessly,exposing ribs and entrails.

From her stomach,a tiny bloody hand poked out,holding onto her rib bones the way babies held onto their mother’s breasts.A cry came from the woman’s belly and she hummed,the lullaby echoing,one bloody hand enclosed her baby’s small one and she twirled.Her hair fanning as it shrouded her, naked skin being covered by a dark blue kimono.

When she faced them again,the baby was no longer crying, and her bloodless hands were cradling her swollen belly.She smiled then,her teeth gleaming white against the shadows obscuring her face.

The woman began to fade without ever acknowledging their presence,and just when she was nearly gone-she shifted, bringing part of her sleeve into the light, and the whole room gasped.

Hidden in the lining of her sleeve was a clan crest.One that had not been seen within the walls of Konoha in years.

Uchiha.

Notes:

Yep,that happened folks,Konoha is starting to see the ugly side of vengeance.Your response to this fic has been amazing,thank you.

Chapter 7

Notes:

I do not own Naruto.Thank you guys for sticking with the story and welcome new readers!

The Uchiha refused to die.

Danzo had killed them himself,watched Orochimaru tear them apart, and their eyes had long ago fused with his own flesh,but still they’d found a way to come back.What was it about that clan that made them think they were so special?In the end even they’d fallen to his power, but like rotten fish hidden in an air vent,they were impossible to ignore. Utatane nudged his shoulder and Danzo glared at her for a few seconds before turning his scowl on the masses.

At first the occupants of the war room had been ordered not to breathe a word to anyone about the ghost.That plan had fallen apart when the reports had started coming in.The woman hadn’t only been seen by them, somehow she’d appeared to everyone in the village at the same time.Dead bodies had followed in her wake, those too weak to stand the sight of her, and those unable to bear the unnatural chill she brought with her had died within seconds of her disappearance.

In the days of Hiruzen, Danzo would have had free reign on what to do with the corpses.But Tsunade had refused to see reason,she’d overseen the mass burial and called a meeting to explain the strange occurrences soon after.At least in that part she’d been reasonable, it wouldn’t do for the village to know their leader was just as clueless as them.And since it was Danzo’s job to do damage control, he’d offered to address the people.He’d made sure to remind her of the countless dead brats, that she’d been unable to save,to make sure she sat back and let the adult handle things.

***

Gripping his cane he stood,and the amphitheater instantly fell silent. Feeling a burning gaze on him,Danzo searched the audience until he made eye contact with a civilian woman in a wheelchair-probably one of the idiots who’d thrown themselves off the hokage monument after the death of their brats-he returned her glare, surprised when the purple haired woman didn’t back down.

The staring contest was broken by Tsunade clearing her throat, and when he turned to the glaring woman, her three minders were attending to her, massaging her bandaged hand.Dismissing her as unimportant, he began speaking.

“Citizens of Konoha!We as the civilian council,together with the Hokage, send out our condolences,”

“What you saw three days ago,was not a ninja art-it was indeed a phantom,”A shocked inhale went through the crowd, before they started chattering amongst themselves.

“She was Uchiha.Why would the Uchiha want to hurt us?”The question was voiced by one of Danzo’s root members,planted amongst the audience to steer the conversation in a certain direction.

Taking a deliberate pause to appear as though he were collecting himself Danzo answered.

“What I’m about to say, is something that was never meant to see the light of day, because the Uchiha were shinobi royalty.But given recent circumstances…”He looked pointedly at the now unnervingly silent bamboo forest“This is something that cannot be kept under wraps,”

“The Uchiha were enemies of Konoha,”There was no way to describe the satisfaction that overcame him at finally being able to say those words to the masses, and as he took in the pale faces and the wide eyed shock Shimura Danzo fought to keep the smirk off his face.

***

Politics was a game of strategy,chance and opportunity.

It involved playing at your strengths and giving people enough information to think they had something concrete,when all you were doing was giving them a noose to hang themselves with-with you as the executioner.

Danzo was very good at that.

With the clan heads,and future clan heads, as his focus,he told the tale of what led to the Uchiha massacre…

“…In the end their love for power corrupted them.Uchiha Itachi saw that they were beyond redemption and helped us do the honorable thing.But noble as he was, he was still a child and begged us to spare his brother…but the boy turned out to be no better than his family.And just like them,he died like vermin,”The mention of the Uchiha traitor was the final nail in the coffin, the hints of doubt he’d seen in the people giving away to firm resolve.

The village had seen a threat and they’d disposed of it- civilians might not like killing, but they loved living even more.

For the ninja clans it was a subtle reminder for them to stay in their lanes.The village hadn’t thought twice about killing a founding clan,they wouldn’t spare a thought to ending them if their heads got too big.

“As for the current predicament, it appears the Uchiha had one last trick up their sleeve to bring Konoha to its knees.But we do not bow to tyranny, and rest assured,we’ll solve this matter.Had they still been alive, all of you would have been allowed to cast a stone at them, but for now,our ultimate victory will lie in foiling their last attempt to end this beautiful village!”A roar of applause met him, bloodlust and killing intent mingling, and Shisui’s hidden eye began shedding tears even as Danzo himself fought a smile.

***

This, was true power.

He’d outwitted,outlived, butchered and buried anyone who could tell a different story to his.Tsunade was giving him a critical stare, the same as the majority of the clan heads, but there was nothing they could to him.An exposed root could trip a person, but no matter how much they cursed it,they’d never know how deep it went.

They knew a small fraction of what he was capable of, and should any of them not take his words at face value and do some digging on their own well…beneath his bandages his sharingans whirled.He could more than handle whatever they threw at him, and if it came down to it-he’d turn the Kyubbi on them.His eyes roamed over the container,for once the boy was keeping his big mouth shut.With a shallow bow Danzo made to leave the stage,only to stop when the whole arena suddenly became incredibly cold,the sun vanishing behind a dark cloud.

***

Tsunade did not like surprises, and the fact that Danzo had undermined her by exposing such a huge secret,without telling her about it in advance,made her livid.

She’d had her suspicions-the Uchiha massacre’d had a lot of inconsistencies.Now that Danzo had admitted the village’s part in their deaths things made sense.But something still didn’t sit right with her,it was the way Danzo had broken the news-it seemed…before she could put a word to it,the sky darkened and the same unearthly cold that had followed the Uchiha ghost was back.

Tsunade blinked, and when she opened her eyes again…they were no longer alone.

***

With a face that felt too soft, and too tight in places, Sasuke had sat through Danzo’s speech,the sting of tears borne of rage and sorrow burning away at his eyes.the woman’s purple hair,failing to hide the fact that he was crying.Had it not been for Juugo, who was wearing the face of an older gentleman, and Suigetsu and Karin discreetly holding him down on the wheelchair of the suicide victim whose face he’d borrowed.Sasuke would have long ago shed his disguise and just started slaughtering everyone .

Instead he’d sat,swallowing bile as Konoha celebrated the death of his family.Like Uchiha blood hadn’t bought them the cushy lives they led.Beneath the blanket covering his legs,the snakes had wrapped around him, and Sasuke had felt his saliva go from tasteless to sweet, venom filling every drop.

Like him,they too were angry and when the time came, all of them would bare their fangs.

***

Coming to Konoha,Sasuke had known there was a possibility he’d see the shades of his family,just as he’d seen his aunt Mei when he’d been spirited into the war room.But even in his wildest dreams he hadn’t thought he’d see so many of them at once.

It was like going back in time, to the one and only chuunin exam a younger Sasuke had attended while his family was alive.

Father sat amongst the clan heads,looking like he’d swallowed a lemon(as a child Sasuke had spent hours trying and failing to mimic his scowl).In one of the empty seats up front,his mother was smiling at something only she could see.Behind her children with the Uchiha fan on their backs, were being shushed by granny Ai,the single tomoe in her sharingan, spinning in annoyance.In her arms she held little Hayate,the baby gumming at her shoulder.

Next to them toothless old man Taro,the Uchiha tattoo on his chest was eating ice cream, looking like he was having the time of his life-he used to buy ice cream for Itachi and leave it at the house,with Sasuke standing guard like it was a daimyo’s treasure.By the civilian section,members of the Uchiha police force stood,silent sentries guarding the villagers.

When Danzo’d been speaking, it had been easy to forget, to look at one group of people and label all of them monsters, but seeing them again,the village was forced to look-to see.

These were not faceless beasts, baying for the blood of Konoha-they were human,some of them ninja and some of them civilians, simply living their lives as best they could.These were people Sasuke had loved, and who’d loved him back just as fiercely.

Difficult as it was to see them again, the presence of the ghosts made putting Sasuke’s plan into motion easier.casting away the doubts he’d started having after catching sight of familiar blonde,pink and silver hair after so long.

***

Konoha was ruled by wolves that hid behind sheep.You couldn’t spear the first without running a kunai through the latter.

The clearest example of that Sasuke had ever seen was in Naruto.Sure the villagers had been awful to him when he was younger, but Iruka sensei had been kind,and since the man stood for Konoha, loving the man had evolved into loving Konoha.And if he had to,Sasuke was certain Naruto would rasengan him through the heart before he let Sasuke hurt the village.

Konoha’s political cunning was unparalleled- the moment Sasuke’d found himself ghosted into the war room, he’d known they’d be coming up with something to bury the incident.He’d been prepared to coax a confession out of them.But Danzo coming out and admitting the village had been responsible made things easier for him.Had the elder not admitted it, there’d have been a way for the others to claim innocence and get away unpunished, but Danzo’d implicated everyone as a collective-sure of himself since he thought he’d cut off all loose ends.

Making eye contact with Suigetsu,Sasuke nodded,disguising the move as a grimace, and a fog filled the arena, adding to the spookiness.

***

With people already on edge,it was easy to sneak into their minds, their focus was on the sudden fog, none of them were even aware that they’d made eye contact with Sasuke’s sharingan through the tiny water droplets, and when he let his genjutsu take form, all of them were enthralled.

In the center of the arena,right in front of Danzo a mini whirlwind formed, leaves going round and round until they dissolved into the shape of a man.

Shunsin no Shisui’s smile was warm and bright, but the edges were crooked, like he was trying and failing to push back something sad.Exactly the way he’d smiled the last time Sasuke had seen him.

So focused on the phantom, Danzo didn’t feel Sasuke probe deeper into his consciousness, numbing him to the point where he didn’t feel or see Karin’s chakra chains winding around him,rooting him to the spot.The crowd remained equally oblivious, their eyes on the smiling spectre.Sasuke’s threads danced through the air, attaching to Danzo’s bandages,when the last one was secured, he set Shisui in motion and the apparition rounded on Danzo,coming to stand right next to him.

Finally sensing that something wasn’t right,the scarred man tried to move away, but Karin’s chains held him in place.To everyone else it looked as though he were having a mild seizure.It was child’s play to have Shisui’s ‘ghost’ lean in just so,Danzo’s shadow casting one half of the long dead warrior in darkness, his sharingan flaring brightly on his visible side.

With a single tug,Sasuke tore Danzo’s bandages to shreds, and just like when he’d first seen the images on a piece of paper, his world fell away, and it was only Juugo’s calmness that held him together.

Shisui’s eye was no longer alone.Its twin spun with it from Danzo’s eye socket.Throwing one more not-quite sad smile at the crowd,Shisui disappeared, taking the fog with him, but the sharingan in Danzo remained, crying as it spun.

And just like that,the crowd went from being scared of his family’s ghosts to being horrified by what they saw.

So focused on the scene in front of them,no one felt the potent killing intent that flared briefly from a woman who shouldn’t have even had enough chakra for an academy henge.

One by one Sasuke’s family members nodded as they disappeared, and Sasuke bit back a sob when his father’s ghost looked right at his disguised form, it was the first time Sasuke had ever seen the man look proud of him.

***

There was vile, and there was despicable, what Shimura Danzo had going on was a deformed abomination of the two that should never have existed.

Her earlier sake threatened to come up and Tsunade breathed through it,counting as she did so.

One-her kage hat hit the ground.

Two-She hit Danzo.

Three-Danzo hit the ground.

She was moving,Tsunade was aware of this, but it was as though she was merely thinking and things were coming into being.One moment Danzo was on the ground, his stolen sharingan spinning as he tried to regroup and in the next she’d fused him to a stone pillar,his fellow council members joining him, her breathing ragged and tasting of bile and sake despite her effort to hold it down.

“Bloodline-thief,”She hissed,any other day she’d have been shocked by the darkness in her voice, but she looked at Danzo and all the reasons she hadn’t wanted to be kage came back full force.

Around her the crowd finally came back to life,outraged cries,civilians fainting, curses, and from the ninja clans…absolute silence.

To gain their allegiance, all of them had been promised protection from kekkeigenkai thieves, and yet a member of the ruling class had broken this sacred promise.If such a thing could happen to the Uchiha,were they too nothing more than stock, being kept docile until the village decided they were ready for culling?

Hyuga,Aburame,Akimichi,Hatake,Yamanaka,Inuzuka,Nara…Tsunade tried to catch all their gazes to see where they stood,but blank stares met her.

And just like that,she knew her grandfather’s dream had gone up in flames.

Notes:

Yep...that really happened, what do you guys think?

Chapter 8

Notes:

I do not own Naruto.

Naruto picked up a severed hand, sealing it away with ease.Then he grabbed his bucket and began cleaning blood off a nearby seat.Working until his cloth no longer came away drenched in red.Then he moved on to the next seat,scraping brain matter from it.At the foot of the chair, the headless body of a ninja lay,bits of his skull sticking to his uniform-he’d most likely been killed by a punch from Sakura.

Looking up,he caught sight of her on the opposite end of the stadium,steadfastly moping up blood.Everyone else was in a similar state, busy trying to make the stadium presentable again.

Presentable…he fought back an uncharacteristic sneer at the word.

There was no putting a bow on the situation and making it pretty.There was no changing the fact that they weren’t cleaning out enemy-nin.These were Konoha-nin,brothers and sisters they’d fought alongside for years, and all it had taken was a word from Danzo and they’d gone rabid.

At first Naruto hadn’t understood what was going on.There’d been Sai,eyes blank,ink darker that shadow wrapping around Naruto’s legs,and then the other had slumped over,Kakashi’s chidori lighting up his chest.Then everything had just exploded,senseis killing their genin,genin killing their senseis,teammates slaughtering one another,friends exchanging poisoned kunai like they were hugs.

Coming across the body of a little girl(probably around five) he stopped,gathering her up and sealing her.

She’d had some sort of sound wave ability, and the moment she’d opened her mouth in his direction,he’d caved her windpipe and snapped her neck in the same swift movement.

Was this really Konoha?His Konoha?

He wanted so badly to deny it,to chalk it all down to an illusion-break it- defeat whoever was trying to drag Konoha and go home.But he’d seen the sharingan eyes same as everyone else.Had sat through Danzo’s unrepentant lie of a speech, and for a single shameful moment he’d let himself be taken by it.

The lie had been easier to believe.That Konoha had disposed of a threat was easier to stomach than having the village kill people and reap them-such things were only supposed to happen in other villages.

The Uchiha revelation had shifted something in the air, and not only because they’d had to fight off fellow Konoha-nin that were loyal to Danzo instead of the Hokage.They were all working together in the cleanup, but they felt…scattered.

Hinata hadn’t so much as looked at him,sticking to her clan as they picked off hidden explosive tags.Kiba stuck to the Inuzuka, their dogs wrangling the surviving Root members.Kakashi’s ninken were surrounding him like an armed guard.Ino-Shika-Cho were only talking to each other, and Shino was nothing more than a mound crawling with insects, keeping everyone but the Aburame away.

No gentle ribbings amongst them, no understanding pats on the back,and no jokes shared to lighten the mood.

They were all so distant, like they didn’t know their place in the village anymore-like they planned to cut and run as soon as possible.

But that couldn’t be-Konoha was home.

Konoha had been Sasuke and the rest of the Uchiha’s home too.

He scrubbed harder, trying to ignore his thoughts,but another one, ever unpleasant,and completely true snuck past his defences…

Had you found out what happened to Sasuke’s family in a more private setting,would you still have forced him to come back?Knowing just how much the village had taken from him?

…Yes, and it burned in the honesty of it.

The village actually liked him now, and had the truth not come out in such a public way, Naruto would have found a way to bring Sasuke back, to make him get over what the elders had done to his clan,to fit him in.

They could have been together again.

Naruto.Sasuke.And Konoha.

But now all that was gone.

The teme was dead,and Naruto couldn’t look away from the rot that lay beneath Konoha’s bark.

***

With how difficult his life had been,Suigetsu had always thought he had one thing going for him.He’d survived the bloody Mist, and if he could survive there,he could survive anywhere.But looking over at Sasuke,asleep in the only bed of the room they were renting,he realized he’d been wrong.

Kiri-nin didn’t hide behind ceremony, bloodline purges happened on a daily basis,babies struck down in the arms of their mothers.Old men killed in their rocking chairs,but somewhere somehow,someone always knew what had happened.Things like that were never buried beneath kind words and false sorrow.

If you did something you owned up to it-either through remorse or crass jokes in dingy bars.

He did not know how Sasuke had survived in the leaf so long given how blunt he was, and how almost everyone in the village seemed happy to smile and talk about something else, completely ignoring the decaying corpses surrounding them-there was no way someone hadn’t seen how suspicious the deaths of the Uchiha had been.If all it took was prolonged exposure-he was glad to only be there in passing.Just the thought of a longer stay had him wanting to boil himself alive.

***

Karin sat on the edge of the only bed in the room,clutching a tiny perfume bottle tightly as she thought.

The few times Sasuke had mentioned his family,he’d talked about the compound.And they’d always assumed it was the Uchiha headquarters, where the family met for get togethers and things, a place where only the clan head and his immediate family lived.Not a fancy prison where all of them had been held until their murders.

But after they’d been escorted to the inn they were in while the ‘shinobi’ fought,she’d thrown up a privacy seal that would make every conversation they heard sound like the inane chatter of terrified civilians.And it was only then that Sasuke had broken things down.

“…in a way I think everyone knew it was coming,first they’d been forced to only work in the police force,then they were quarreled into the compound, when the axe finally came down-they didn’t fight too hard,”Sasuke’d said,and a few moments later, he’d asked her to knock him out, and something in the way his eyes had dimmed had her complying without complaint.

His chakra hadn’t even fought her, and Juugo had lain him on the bed, with the snakes crawling beneath the sheets.

Looking at him as he slept,she saw more of her own story written in his past,because she knew what it was live somewhere and not to belong.

To keep a roof over Karin’s head,her mother had sold herself to an unforgiving village.Grass-nin had literally drained the life out of her,and each day her mother had gotten up, made sure Karin was fed and clothed,and gone back to the people who were killing her,the two of them never belonging,always at the fringes, but she’d assured Karin over and over that what they had was better than what was outside the village.

When death had finally come,she hadn’t fought…she’d gone quietly.Leaving Karin alone in the world.For as long as she lived,Karin would never forget the soft smile on her mother’s face when she realized she didn’t have to fight anymore.

Had it been the same for the Uchiha?Going back out day in and day out for their children,using so much energy to hold their heads high,that when the time came they couldn’t even hold up a kunai to protect their necks.

***

There’d been a moment,right after his family’s eyes had been revealed when Sasuke had been ready.He’d spiked his chakra, intent on burning his false face off and getting to the business of slaughtering-they’d seen what they’d done-they knew deserved what was coming.

Had it not been for the sudden iron grip of talons pinning him down,he’d have done so.But Yatagarasu, all encompassing, had held him down, suppressing his chakra with ease,keeping him contained even as all hell broke loose and Danzo’s Root revealed itself.

There’d been blood,but it hadn’t been spilled by him…and he felt like a failure.Like he was back to being the little boy who hadn’t been strong enough to fight Itachi.Who’d been too weak to fight when his brother had forced himself onto his mind,tearing at him and leaving behind words like coward and foolish little brother.Making light of the fight Sasuke had put up at the sight of their mother,eyes unseeing and lying cold on the floor.

When he’d asked Karin to knock him out, he’d been too tired to deal with it all,hoping to have a few hours of respite.But since when had he ever been that lucky.

***

The moment his eyes slipped shut,he’d found himself looking into the all knowing beady eyes of Yatagarasu,between them a river,the water so clear he could see all the way to the bottom,the two koi in it going in circles on the same spot,unbothered by the current.

“Why?”Unable to continue looking at the crow without losing his temper he focused on the fish.

The black-and-white fish chasing the white-and-black fish, or perhaps it was the other way round.They moved faster and faster,until all he could see was a single black dot and a single white dot,going round and round,their endless loop calming him enough for him to voice his thoughts without insulting an all powerful spirit.

“Why did you stop me,you had no right-I had them,all it would’ve taken was a single strike and it would’ve all been over,”The bones that used to be his left hand clacked,rage mixing with sorrow and draining his soul even more.

Phantom wind ruffled his hair and he finally looked up again, meeting Yatagarasu’s eyes.With a gentle caw the bird took flight, crossing the river,it’s feathers falling like leaves in the wind,disturbing the calm waters below.

On instinct Sasuke held up his mangled hand,Yatagarasu’s talons settling on his digits,the dead limb thrumming with foreign energy.When the bird finally spoke,as close as it was, it felt like being in the eye of a tornado.

“What does fire do?”The question,strangely enough ,felt like something he’d been asked before,and he looked down,struggling to place why it was so familiar-only to stop at the sight of the water.

Gone were the calm waters from before.Yatagarasu’s feathers had stirred the waters so thoroughly they were now pitch black and churning ominously-like the depths ocean right before a big storm.

All that was left of the koi was a single white dot in the darkness-the white-and-black fish nowhere to be seen.

Blue light washed over him and Sasuke looked up at the sky.Moments before it had been peppered with stars,casting a soft light, but that was no longer so.

The moon in all her glory was up-shining down on him,the light of the white-and-black koi compressed into a single beacon, and in just admiring it’s beauty Sasuke found himself looking into a part of himself he’d long since sealed away.

***

A memory,long forgotten and buried beneath years of blind rage tugged at Sasuke taking him back to his grandmother.He’d sit on her lap for hours as she told him story after story.Shaping flames with her bare hands, giving them the forms of humans and trees, not stopping until Sasuke,clinging to her hair, head nestled on her shoulder,was dozing off.

And every time she’d always ask the same thing as she carried him home“When lightning strikes it aims for the heart,felling the tree with a single blow, but fire is different,what does fire do,little one?”The moon smiled down on him as the memory faded and Sasuke looked back at Yatagarasu.

For a moment, his younger self and his older more world wary self superimposed.His voice answering Yatagarasu even as his chest puffed up the way it always had when he’d answered his grandmother.

“Fire dances-and when it’s done,the whole forest is ash,”

…Oh.

There was a flutter of wings and he awoke just in time to hear the sirens signaling that people should reconvene.

***

A gentle breeze made it through the golden halls, the bells lining the walls letting off gentle trills.The smell of incense filling the air, wisps of smoke being swallowed by the air.

Lighting the final stick Tsunade set it down,completing a perfect circle before settling into a meditative pose at the center of it.

With the clean up done, she knew she couldn’t afford to be gone long,and not only that,she could not afford to be seen as weak.

Breathing in the calming smoke, she considered her options.

She’d never felt too strongly about the Uchiha(neither love nor hate), and when news of their demise had reached her,she hadn’t really cared.But the truth of what had really happened to them had revealed something else, something that she could not allow to stand.

A shadow government that had been right under her nose the whole time.

As kage she could halt the proceedings, declare the Danzo issue too sensitive and make his trial private.Kakashi’s sharingan would be sure to get answer from the man, and she could pick and choose what to share with the public.

Even thinking it,she knew the choice wouldn’t lead to anything good-the village needed to know that they could trust her-and keeping them in the dark, would not accomplish that.But questioning Danzo in public would be sure to reveal secrets she was certain there’d be no containing.Something she couldn’t allow to happen(who knew what other nasty surprises the man had).

That left only one other option-the snake was already in the house,she had to strike its head.

***

In killing Danzo-for both treason and the Uchiha massacre-she’d be sending a clear message that the village did not condone what he’d done.She could then investigate the depth of his crimes in secret, taking out hidden rogue elements and forever burying the atrocities committed by the man.And there was also the possibility that killing him would be enough to lift the curse the Uchiha spirits had set upon Konoha-maybe all they’d wanted was for the truth to come out, and for their stolen eyes to be discovered.

But she could not just kill him in an ordinary way.It had to be something symbolic, something that would resonate with everyone, quelling the dissent she’d seen in the eyes of the ninja clans and appeasing the civilians.

And there was only one thing that she knew would do that.Opening her eyes she took in the circle of ash where her sticks had been,and stood in a single fluid motion,her body moving gracefully as she executed a series of katas that had been in the Senju clan for generations,disturbing the ash at her feet, and gently shifting it whenever she moved.By the time she finished,the ashes were not spread out haphazardly, they’d taken form.Thin tendrils joining together bit by bit,the shape unclear at first,but when she stepped back to where she’d been originally, she could see it clearly.

A giant leaf, the pointy end showing where the village’s last hope was hidden.

***

Seals from long ago activated as she entered the secret room. Her grandmother’s chakra, still recognizable decades later, letting off a warm green light.

The blade she was seeking lay at the center of the room,suspended in a column of light…deceptively unguarded, but Tsunade knew better.

Had she not executed the kata correctly, had the blood she’d drained from her hands not drawn the correct kanji on the walls, and had she not stated her position as kage using ancient tongue-she’d have been cut down before she even knew what was happening-her grandmother’s viciousness was legendary, and Tsunade doubted she’d have held back,especially since she’d been protecting her beloved husband’s final treasure.

Kami no namida-God’s tears.

With a deep breath,Tsunade reached into the light, her hand grasping the hilt of the shadowed katana within.It’s features being revealed as she slowly removed it from the blinding light.And afterwards she just stood there slack jawed, staring at the beauty of it.

***

After Madara’s defection, her grandfather had been devastated.But he could not act as a friend,he’d had to be Hokage.After declaring the Uchiha a missing nin(the very first),he’d gone to the depths of the Valley of the end,and though he’d hadn’t reached the bottom of it,he’d come back with an ore never seen before.

Hashirama had forged a blade from it himself,molding it with chakra rather than heat-the ore refusing to bend even under the hottest temperature.The old man had cried as he’d worked-who wouldn’t have,knowing they were crafting something with the sole purpose of slaying their best friend.And surprisingly,the metal that had refused to be moved by the heat of a kiln, had given way under the warmth of his tears.Taking the tear drops for itself.He’d died before he could use the blade, let alone name it,but the smooth grooves where his tears had fallen had remained,and that was where the name had come from.

***

Holding it up,Tsunade admired the katana some more.

This was the legend,the thing babes in Konoha were fed as easy as breast milk.

Kami no namida,god’s tears,divine will, cut down traitors and purify the land.

But recited scrolls and droning speeches did absolutely nothing to fully describe the katana.The blade was pitch black,the comet shaped grooves that her grandfather’s tears had left being a startling bone-white,sparkling in the light.Like he’d somehow captured a piece of the night and forged it into a weapon.

There was no tsuba to distract from it, all there was,was flawless blade, giving way to a ***red hilt.The red so deep it looked as though all the blood from the handful of times it had been used had seeped into the silk and never dried.

Just by looking at it,even without knowing the story.You just knew.This wasn’t a sword for fighting, for defense or even for training…this was a blade for killing, plain and simple.

***

Her arrival at the newly cleaned ampitheater,drew attention.

Tsunade’d always drawn attention, but for the first time since she was a little girl,hiding behind the shadows of two great men…the attention didn’t stay on her.

She walked slow,her steps measured, Kami no namida held like a ceremonial gift in her hands.Reverent whispers followed in her wake,the people recognizing it without her having to say a word.The closer she got to Danzo,the heavier the sword became, and it thrummed like the string of a shamisen.A sorrow that was not her own overwhelming her, her eyes stinging with unshed tears.

She was no longer just Senju Tsunade about to dispose of an enemy.The echoes of the others walked with her, Hashirama crying for blood he’d never spill.Tobirama, cutting through his traitor of a lover,hands shaking but his aim true.Minato, running the blade through his teammates,the secrets they’d nearly shared with Iwa dying with them.

Fighting against the emotional onslaught, Tsunade kept going, too scared to even try to figure out how the blade was sharing such memories with her.Giving her details to private executions that were never supposed to have seen the light of day.

***

When she was almost upon Danzo,now tied up in studier bindings-a sealed gag over his mouth,the other elders behind him,she looked up at the ninja clans, and kept walking,careful not to show relief at what she saw there.

Hope,they still had a bit of faith in the village, she could work with that.

Coming to a stop,she nodded and ANBU materialized on either side of the man, dragging the disgraced elder towards her.

***

“Shimura Danzo,for your role in the death if the Uchiha clan, and for treason against the village.I,Tsunade Senju Godaime Hokage, sentence you to death by Kami no namida,”She shifted then, dropping her formal pose, the katana coming to rest in the palm of her right hand,the thrum of it threatening to tear it from her grip, it’s sorrow magnifying,but she held firm.

“Once this blade meets your flesh, your soul will be severed, and denied entry to the Pure Lands.For a hundred years you will wander, a penance for your crimes,”In answer the man looked at her like she was the scum of the earth.His own brown eye glaring, while the sharingan spun on, unbothered by the declaration.

Straightening,Tsunade grasped the katana in both hands, and all of a sudden there was stillness.She was no longer fighting against the emotion of past Kages nor was she struggling to keep a hold on the blade.

Kami no namida had gone quiet, and only one thing rang true for her as she held it…determination.

This had to be done, and the katana would see it come to pass.

Rather than holding her back, it urged her on as she moved, becoming an extention of her body.

Her chakra uncurled like a big cat yawning,spreading though her,reinforcing bone and muscle as she swung.The sword making a gentle arc,she spared only a moment to take in the disbelieving terror in Danzo’s eyes before she bore down on him,bracing for the feel of tendons snapping and bones giving way like butter,blood spattering everywhere.

Only,that never came.

A hair’s breadth from Danzo’s neck Kami no namida rebounded like a rubber band pulling back.The shock of it sending her bones vibrating and throwing her back so forcefully, when she landed on the opposite stadium wall,the unmistakable snap of her leg bones breaking followed, her chakra quickly flowing in to fix the damage.

What?

Like the rest of the stunned audience,she could only watch as the air where Kami no namida had cut re-knit itself.Shimura Danzo, who was supposed to have been cut down,still very much alive,his shoulders thrown back, smirking at her with his eye.

Vaulting off the wall she propelled herself to the stage once more.The villagers looking down on her like she was a traitor.

Heart in her throat,Tsunade stared at Kami no namida.

The blade had gone quiet, no sorrow no determination, as far as it was concerned its job was done.And with a sinking feeling Tsunade realized that the situation was beyond her.

Kami no namida was the divine will, they all knew that.And in order for the sword to refuse to cut an enemy that meant only one thing…

Shimura Danzo had been acting on the orders of a Kage.

“Kami help us,”She breathed, and as though mocking her, the bamboo forest, after days of silence, resumed its gentle song.

***

The sway of the bamboo brought with it a cool breeze, chilling the dumbstruck villagers.But rather than shivering like the rest, a purple haired woman smirked, for her it wasn’t just the wind.In it,Uchiha Sasuke heard Yatagarasu’s war cry, and his mind’s eye tracked the inferno devouring Konoha.

A forest fire had just ignited...

Notes:

Tsunade put up one heck of a fight, but this is just too much to handle.What do you guys think?

Chapter 9

Notes:

I do not own Naruto.

At first when Tsunade had been going through the familiar hand seals,Sasuke’s mind had faltered.

Edo Tensei was Orochimaru’s technique.

But that wasn’t entirely true.The saanin might have made it popular, but the reanimation jutsu was a Senju clan secret.Sasuke remembered reading about it in one of the history books.A mere sentence in a book that spent one hundred chapters regaling the reader with the heroic deeds of the Senju.

Not an outright lie, but the lack of focus on it made it easier to forget about.And when Orochimaru had used it to kill Sarutobi, it had become Orochimaru’s forbidden jutsu.Its origins being carefully omitted-the same way most of the shinobi ranking chuunin upwards saw it as a point of Konoha pride to know the fireball jutsu,while cursing Madara-the deserter-in the same breath, forgetting that he’d been the one to teach it to Konoha-nin.

Simple misdirection, but it made a world of difference.

Funnily enough, it was just like when Naruto and the others had come for him at Orochimaru’s hideout.

They’d said“You nearly killed Naruto,”Like the blond had just stood there and let it happen, like his rasengan hadn’t nearly taken Sasuke’s head off,if he’d been just a little bit slower,or Naruto a little bit faster,his brains would have been all over the Valley of the End.

In Konoha’s history, it wouldn’t be written as two boys fighting.It would be the day the Uchiha traitor tried to kill Uzumaki Naruto.

Wow.

But looking over at them now,Sasuke could practically see the gears turning.All the little things, the bad things, things that didn’t sit well against the Senju’s light becoming diffiult to ignore .

Focusing back on the stage,he was met with the sight of four caskets, and when they opened, it was like a history book come to life…Shodaime, Nidaime, Sandaime, Yondaime, kages past walking the earth once more.

***

Having only experienced the effects of the Edo Tensei one other time, Hashirama could safely say he did not like it.

Why had Tobirama decided it was a good idea to create the jutsu?

They were spirits now, long past the phase of being confined to the small finite spaces that were the human body.Plus he hadn’t particularly liked being bossed around the last time, but it seemed he’d have to endure it again.

With a resigned sigh he steeled his expression into something neutral as the casket lid slid off,bracing himself for the bloodshed that was surely on the other side.But the person on the other side was someone entirely unexpected and sorely missed.

“Nade-chan,”He gasped, and her eyes landed on him.Going soft and warm in the way he was used to, then her face shuttered,ice settling over her features,taking away all traces of his grandaughter and leaving behind a battle hardened kunoichi.

The first time he’d seen that expression(so much like his wife), it had broken his heart-still did.

“Shodaime-sama”Her bow was formal,and it was only when she turned to the others, addressing them by their titles that he finally took everything in.Tobirama, Hiruzen, and the Namikaze boy were with him and Tsunade, and all around them the citizens of Konoha sat, not a single sign of life outside the stadium.

How…strange,he’d sensed more people the last time he’d been there.And speaking of strange, despite the discomfort of being in a vessel that could no longer properly hold him, every thing else was strangely…pleasant.

The light didn’t burn, chakra pulses were dimmed, almost at the slow moving flow of the soul filled rivers on the other side.Even the air was nice, it felt lighter, and even had a sweetness to it, like leaves that were almost done composting, like corpses that had almost completely rejoined the earth,the body finally accepting…oh…death.

The air smelt like death.

And no sooner had he made the connection,the wails registered, and he turned to the sound.Only to pause at the sight of a landmine jutsu he’d set years ago.Last he’d checked it was no longer there.What was it doing back?
“Do you hear that?”He asked“The cries?”While the people he’d been ressurected with nodded, the living shared confused looks.

“What you hear as wailing, we hear as a song,”Tsunade answered, and a vice-like grip settled around Hashirama’s heart-a siren’s song,calling the entire village to the other side.

What could be awful enough to cause such a reaction from the realm of the dead?

“What happened here?”He asked,taking in the haggard faces of the villagerds, and the dried blood in some areas.

“The Uchiha-”Before she could finish,Tobirama interrupted.

“They’ve gone back on their word haven’t they,should have known,”

“Was it the boy?Sasuke?”Hiruzen asked, a resigned note in his voice,like it was an outcome he’d predicted but had hoped wouldn’t come to pass.Whatever Minato was about to say was cut off when his eyes landed on a blond child in the first row-the resemlance between them unmistakable.

Tsunade’s face-as well as the majority of the villagers-went through a complex mix of emotions, finally settling on the most unexpected one, shame.And when she spoke up, she couldn’t look them in the eye.

“The Uchiha,are no more…they’re dead,”

***

By the time they’d all been given seats,their caskets taken away, the news had finally begun to sink in,but Hashirama still had trouble believing it.

The Uchiha were some of the most tenacious,cunning, and survival oriented people he knew.It didn’t make sense for them to just be gone.

“Was it a war?”Minato asked, and Hashirama couldn’t help but note the way Sarutobi was looking anywhere but at the people.

“Who did it?Did it happen under your rule?”Tobirama asked and again,Hiruzen found an interesting speck of dust to look at.

Suspicion, wet,sticky and difficult to ignore,like blood from an open wound,settled in his gut and Hashirama struggled to contain it.Taking a deep breath, he cast his gaze over the crowd.For a moment,when he looked at a purple haired woman, he thought he saw traces of the Uchiha in the girl.

But the frail looking woman’s features didn’t match,from the purple hair to the light brown eyes.It was just something in the way she sat, she hadn’t said a word,nor did her face show any emotion, but it felt like she was broadcasting sorrow louder than everyone.Even the dark haired young man beside her was overly expressive, it reminded the old kage of the Uzumaki.But mannerisms aside the looks and the chakra didn’t fit,too faint for either of them to have a drop of blood from the two powerful clans.

Wishful thinking old man, he chastisised himself,going back to looking at the Third.Not liking the slow bead of sweat slowly making its way down his forehead, as Tsunade got them up to speed.

***

Tsunade had just gotten to the part about,the massacre cover up, and how a single child had taken the blame for the murder of his family,when the Yondaime,visibly shaken,interrupted “Sarutobi,is this true?”There was disbelief in Minato’s tone, his eyes silently begging his predecessor to say it wasn’t.

For a moment it looked like Hiruzen would deny it,then he squared his shoulders and fixed his gaze on Tsunade“It’s true-I covered up the Uchiha massacre,placing the blame solely on Itachi Uchiha”He took a huge drag from his pipe,the smoke seeping out from the cracks in his clay body.

Around them, villagers turned disbeliving eyes on him,a lot of them had been hoping Danzo had somehow manipulated him.With a weighted shrug the man continued.

“But you must understand,there was nothing I could do,” He inhaled deeply from his pipe again, the smoke obscuring his lips as he spoke.

“We were in the midst of tense conversations,with the Uchiha secretly planning a coup,” There was so much regret in his voice, had it not been for the increasingly angry looking faces of the villagers,Hashirama would’ve believed him, but there was clearly more to the story.

“The elders acted before they could strike, and by the time I found out, it was already too late-a cover up was the best bet to avoid a civil war,”To be fair,Hashirama had always known it was a possibility, but even after Madara’s defection,the majority of the Uchiha had remained loyal.He’d hoped that loyalty would endure-clearly he was wrong.

“Stop lying Sensei!”Tsunade yelling startled the old man, and he nearly dropped his pipe.

“We know-not all of it was about protecting the village,was it?”She nodded to the ANBU and they brought out a bound man-one of Tobirama’s students.

A largely forgettable boy, if not for his fiercely patriotic nature and his ambition.

Danzo, of the Shimura clan.

But at some point Danzo had clearly stopped being forgettable.How could he be,when half his upper body was lined with sharingan.The realization of what the stolen eyes meant, left Hashirama slack jawed, his shock quickly turning to anger,the longer the bound man continued to look smug,like he’d done something praiseworthy.

***

Hidden in the crowd, listening to Hiruzen Sarutobi lie without saying a single false thing.Sasuke couldn’t help but remember being so small the hospital bed swallowed him, and the Hokage’s comforting presence.

The smell of tobacco ash, almost like home, but not quite,as the old man had given him a gentle hug-the last none violent contact he’d have with another human being for years to come,though he hadn’t known it at the time.

Several rows down,Uzumaki Naruto was remembering something similar,the safety and happiness seeing the old man had brought.Gentle reassurances…

“It’s not that bad Naruto-kun,hang in there,”Fingers running through his hair as the old man told him how brave he was.Making light of the bruises going from shades of yellow and green to normal skin in the space of a few minutes.

“There now, it can’t have been that bad if it healed so quickly could it now,”And he’d always nodded, agreeing readily, until in the end he’d started to actually believe it.

Believe it,believe it,believe it…and somehow,Naruto had started not only using it on himself.But on others too,belittling their suffering.If he could endure,forgive and forget-then they had no choice but to do the same.

For Kakashi, it was the man who’d stood beside him at the memorial stone a day after his sensei-the last of his team-had been buried.

“Difficult,isn’t it?All the pitying looks,”The old man had drawn him into a half hug, a fleeting thing that had threatened to break the walls holding back Kakashi’s tears.

“I know a place where you can go where their looks won’t follow you,”That night there’d been a mask on his bed,and the hound-the ANBU with the highest kill count in history-had been born.

All around memories were resurfacing,from the likes of Anko to Ibiki.All of them remembering who’d come for them when their worlds had fallen apart, hearts sinking at the realization that he’d known just what to say,because he’d been the one to tear them down in the first place.

***

Exhaling in a long slow breath,Hiruzen looked from the people to the restrained Danzo.His chest feeling unexpectedly light.Keeping the secret had weighed him down for years, now the burden had been removed from his shoulders.

“Aah,”He finally managed,slowly getting to his feet.

“It seems this secret wasn’t buried deep enough,”Stunned silence met his statement,and with a shrug he shed his affable persona, the shinobi who’d survived two wars coming to the surface.

“The decision to kill the Uchiha was made without my knowledge,”It wasn’t a lie,Danzo had alerted him to the possibility , but when the final decision had been made he’d only been informed after the fact.

“But in the end I had to concede that it was the more peaceful option.Had their coup been allowed to proceed,Konoha would’ve become a bloodbath,”

“What of their eyes?Did you know their bodies had been desecrated?”Without acknowledging the speaker, Hiruzen thought carefully of the best way to phrase the answer.

“In a better world,being Kage would’ve been easier.The Uchiha had been a potential threat, and were dealt with accordingly.Were this world more peaceful, they’d have gone to their graves untouched,but in my position as leader,allowing that would have been foolish,”

“Konoha was built on the sharingan, and we relied on its abilities for protection.In keeping the eyes,I ensured that not only were we protected from the enemy outside.But we could continue to use the sharingan within the village without the threat of the Uchiha,”

“It was not an easy decision to make, and I will never forgive myself for it-but I don’t regret it-it was necessary,”He’d kept up the façade of a kindly grandfather for most of his life-he was sad to see it crumble.But the people had been coddled too much,they needed to see the price of the freedom they so easily enjoyed.

“Are you out of your mind!”All the dumbstruck villagers jumped in shock at the yell of the unfamiliar voice.Paling at the sight of the Shodaime shaking with rage as he stared at the Third.

***

Hashirama had tried really hard to stay calm and be understanding.

But after sitting through the absolute madness that was Hiruzen Sarutobi’s speech he couldn’t hold it in anymore.

He took a breath, and wood sprung from the earth,coiling around the other kage.Another breath and the ends of it took the shape of a clawed hand, grabbing for Hiruzen’s neck.The wooden hand met resistance,an air shield protecting Sarutobi.But Hashirama’s wood release had downed tailed beasts-he would not be denied.

He increased the strength behind his hold slowly, watching the other squirm as he fought to keep his shield up.

“Hiruzen,”He called,voice soft.

“Do you know why I fought so hard for the creation of Konoha?”Without waiting for the other to answer he continued.“For the children to have better than those of us born during the clan wars ever did.And in having a child carry a burden that would’ve killed a grown man,you,spit on my ideals,”

His feet carried him closer to the other man, and he gave him a long look,rage bubbling beneath his calm exterior.

“And do you know who helped me create this village? Pouring in just as much effort as the Senju did?”The other opened his mouth, but Hashirama was having none of it.

“The Uchiha did, when your clan was still swatting flies out in the forests at the edges of the land of iron.The Uchiha were here, pouring blood and sweat into this village,”By now the wood around Sarutobi was following the rhythm of Hashirama’s breaths, squeezing tighter with each inhale.

“Without their help-Konoha never would have come into being.But you-”He squeezed harder, the shield around Sarutobi’s neck beginning to give.

“-you close-minded fool,decided they weren’t worthy of something they built! ”The last part came out as a bellow, taking Hiruzen’s little shield with it.He didn’t bleed like he had the last time they’d killed him,but his struggles were the same, and Hashirama toyed with him.Letting the wood splinter, digging into Sarutobi’s artificial flesh, and upon finding no chakra,the splinters grazed his soul,causing unbearable agony.

Sarutobi, eyes wild with pain, clawed at the wood, his soul oozing out from the cracks in his body.

With a hiss he stopped struggling, his gaze falling on Hashirama, cold malice seeping into his eyes as he gave a smile that was equal parts pitying and mocking.

“How nice it must be, breathing the air from the top of a tree so tall it touches the clouds,”He removed a splinter with shaky hands,his teeth clenched in pain,then he continued.

“Those of us who plow the muddy earth, know no such thing,”Why was he talking nonsense?Had the pain made the man lose his mind?But Hashirama had barely started,how could a former kage have such low pain tolerance?

At his confused looked,Hiruzen tutted, his friendly old man façade coming back.

“You really didn’t know did you?”He removed the rest of the splinters, and Hashirama let him go,waiting for him to continue.

Picking up his pipe and taking a few puffs from it,Hiruzen nodded like someone about to give some sage wisdom“I only picked the fruit,the honor of planting the seed-belongs to someone else,”The smoke that billowed from his lips hid his smirk, but in his eyes it shone bright as day.

…No…it-it couldn’t be.There were only two kages above Sarutobi in rank, and Hashirama had never given such an order,so that left only one other person.But that meant…no.

But Hiruzen did not heed Hashirama’s mental plea.Straightening, the Sandaime made a slow turn,coming to a stop face to face with Tobirama.Hand fisted over his heart, he gave a bow.

“Sensei-your orders have been carried out-the Uchiha,man, woman and child, have been eradicated,”

And just like that,without ever landing a blow,Hiruzen Sarutobi defeated Hashirama Senju.Leaving everyone in a state of shock.

***

From his seat next to Minato, Tobirama had been silently shaking with rage since Danzo,sharingan straining against his ruined skin had been dragged in.

Now,with his soft-hearted brother staring at him in disbelief, and Hiruzen revealing the roleTobirama had played in the demise of the Uchiha.He couldn’t contain it anymore.

His water whip lashed out quickly and viciously,throwing back Sarutobi and catching Danzo across his unruined side,peeling away the flesh there.

“You fool,”As always when Tobirama was truly mad,his tone turned conversational.

His measured steps towards his former student, were blocked by his older brother standing in his path.

“Brother,”He rasped,looking like a feather could knock him over.

“It’s not true,say it’s not true.We gave our word,you were there when the accords were signed…we promised.Senju don’t go back on their word,”Hashirama’s blind trust in him had always been sad.

“You, gave your word…I, did no such thing.Would you rather I have signed away the future,killed everyone by getting into bed with the bloody Uchiha, all because you were friends with their clan head,”Hashirama opened his mouth, but Tobirama talked over him.

“They were dangerous brother-but you had too much belief in them to see their inate evil,”Waving an arm in a wide arc, he gestured to the still wailing bamboo and back to Danzo.

“Look at all this,it reeks of darkness,how can you see it, and still defend the demons,”Wood rattled as Hashirama drew nearer, and Tobirama readied himself-very few of their disagreements had ever ended in a physical fight,but it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared.

“What are you on about?That bamboo is only here because the Uchiha spirits are restless, and the clan didn’t put those eyes on Shimura-he stole them-why don’t you get that?”The laugh that bubbled from his mouth was mocking, but Tobirama couldn’t help himself.

***

“What don’t I get-what don’t you get?”

“The Uchiha are so bitter they’re haunting Konoha from beyond the grave.Shimura Danzo didn’t actively choose to steal those eyes-their Curse of Hatred-their evil no longer able to inhabits its original form,chose a different host.I warned them-never look too hard into those evil eyes-but the fool’s gotten himself hooked on their power,”Hashirama reeled back as though struck,staring in shock.

“Curse of Hatred?Evil eyes-Tobirama,brother,where did you get that information,”His voice was deceptively calm.

“I didn’t need to get it anywhere,I came up with my own conclusion-based on facts,”Arms crossed over his chest, he levelled a disbelieving look at his brother.

“For as long as the Senju have existed, the Uchiha have represented the antithesis of us,”Seeing that he had his brother’s attention,he continued.

“We prefer water,they have fire, we get wood release,their skill with the blade is unmatched,…”And the list went on and on until he reached the most important part.“We have the Will of Fire, I’d always found it strange that the Uchiha didn’t have a counter for that,so I did some digging,”

“Their sharingan comes from pain,when they lose someone close to them,the eyes activate.And the more sorrow they feel as time goes on,the stronger their eyes become,”

“The mankegyo-the final evolution in their eyes,is achieved by killing the one they love the most-destroying all their love and embracing the Curse of Hatred,”He’d studied the Uchiha extensively for years, and it was the discovery of how their mankegyoo was earned that made him realize they were beyond redemption.

“You remember all the hate,Madara used to channel after he got his don’t you?”He repressed a shudder at the memory of the hate filled eyes, that used to follow him whenever he and Madara were in the same room.

“How could I, knowing how that power was achieved-allow such a bloodline to continue-my kill order was the right thing to do.Even if you say this was a new generation-the children of wolves, become wolves too-had they not been cut down,their hatred would have only multiplied,” All around people stared-wide eyed.Things falling into place for them when it came to the Uchiha clan.Those who were old enough to remember the sharingan seeing the truth in his words.

Looking over at his brother,he was surprised to find that rather than looking at him with reluctant understanding,he looked…horrified.

***

Hashirama took two unsteady steps towards him,then he just let himself fall.Uncaring that the dirt was ruining his clothes as he sat on the ground.When he spoke up he wasn’t using his leader voice,it was the tone Hashirama had only ever used when they were alone-quiet and broken.

“H-How did you come to that conclusion?”Moving forward and placing a comforting hand on his brother’s slumped shoulders,Tobirama answered.

“I reached that result because there was no other,”Hashirama was shaking like a leaf now,crying softly, so Tobirama kept his voice gentle, not wanting to upset him any further-his brother’d always had a soft spot for the Uchiha-much like he’d had a soft spot for dangerous animals they came across in the forest as children.

“What other conclusions are there to be made, about the clan of a man who’d willingly kill his own brother for a power boost,”He left it at that,resisting the urge to go down on his knees and hug his brother-some truths you needed to let a person feel.

When his brother finally looked up, all the light had gone out of Hashirama’s eyes,and he shrugged off Tobirama’s hand as he stood,only to fall to his knees facing the wailing bamboo.

“Kami spare us,”He breathed, looking like he’d somehow managed to age dramatically despite his undying state.

“Brother,what are yo-” A shaky hand gripped his fingers,silencing him as Hashirama looked over at the wailing bamboo, his eyes tearing up again.

“I lied,”He whispered, only the amplifying jutsu around the stage allowing him to be heard.

“The Uchiha-I lied,”He repeated, letting go of Tobirama’s hand to cover his eyes.

“I lied, lied, lied, lied, lied…”By that point Hashirama was rocking back and forth, pulling on his hair,stopping only when Tobirama gently pulled his hands away.

“Hey there, none of that now,calm down,”To the rest of the village it came as a shock to see their former leader behave in such a way, but Tobirama had seen such a state more than once and most of it had been because of one dark haired shinobi.

“I lied…about Madara,”Hashirama finally managed,sounding as wrecked as he looked.

“He didn’t kill Izuna…you did,”Keeping his gaze on the ground, Hashirama continued.

“The final agreement for the creation of Konoha was within reach.But you wouldn’t agree to the village treaty because you were worried they were using it as a cover to avenge Izuna,”

“So I lied,told you Madara had finished Izuna off himself in order to reap his eyes,”

“And the moment I was chosen as Kage, my first order was that Madara never speak a word to anyone about how his brother’d died,”

“It was only one little lie-nothing big- a small price to pay in order for the village to be formed,”His voice was small,childlike.

“I never meant any harm-one little lie, that was all,”He went back to rocking and pulling his hair, but Tobirama was no longer in any state to comfort him.The magnitude of what his brother had just revealed,sending him to his knees.

Notes:

The blame game, brought to you by Konoha’s elite:Masters of the Trade.
*****Special thanks to Hiruzen ‘The Shade’ Sarutobi, none of this would be possible without him and his pal Danzo ‘Stink-Eye’ Shimura.*****Not forgetting our sponsors, Hashirama and Tobirama Senju, these brothers are literal world builders!*****
On a serious note, I never understood the curse of hatred thing, it just doesn't make sense.Feels more like a dog spreading rumours that cats always land on their feet so people will throw them off buildings.Hope you guys enjoyed it.

Chapter 10

Notes:

I do not own Naruto.

Looking down at the kneeling siblings,Sasuke fought back a snarl.And it wasn’t because of what had just been revealed-the scrolls they’d gotten from Jiraiya hadn’t named names, but it had been pretty clear that Sarutobi hadn’t been the instigator of the massacre.

What irked him, was the way the Senju brothers,even after such devastating news,were still so clearly together.

Because of them-Sasuke would never have that, and hadn’t for a long time.

The brother who used to carry Sasuke on his back when he was little, had died the night he’d forced himself onto Sasuke’s fragile mind,with the bodies of their parents cooling mere feet from them.And Itachi’d killed himself a second time when he’d dug his slimy claws into Sasuke’s consciousness after the chuunin exams.

There were precious few good memories Sasuke had of Itachi.Even then he couldn’t think of him without the memories of their murdered clan members hanging around like smoke clinging to clothes.

There was love for Itachi-and there always would be-but if he were to somehow come back.Sasuke did not ever want to see his brother again.

Itachi’s willingness to commit atrocious acts-all for the sake of an ideal that labelled his very blood an abomination,was not something Sasuke wanted near him.

Yet the Senju brothers were as close as can be,despite the fact that their precious Will of fire,had actively been used to tear down familial bonds in order to bring people closer to the village…‘their true family’.

Another thing that he found bothered him about them,all of them.Was how they’d all gathered to discuss an issue concerning the Uchiha, but not a single one of them had even thought of ressurecting an actual Uchiha.Not even Hashirama,with all his talk of peace and getting along,thought the Uchiha worthy of being present in a matter that clearly had them at the center of it.

No more.

***

A few hours earlier, he’d have been ready to charge right into battle, chokuto drawn and sharingan blazing, but that would have been his lightning, he was fire now.

A water droplet, small and easy to dismiss landed on the top of his hand, gaining a life of its own,it pushed against his skin in an easily recognisable code.

“Now feels like a good time to christen this place the Bloody Leaf!”Suigetsu said, somehow channeling bloodlust into a water droplet.

Karin,through the brown eyes of the stranger she was wearing,gave him a long look-give the word and I’ll slit their throats it said.

Juugo for his part seemed unaware of everything,his focus on the tiny catepillar balanced on the tip of his finger.His calmness fooling only the outsiders, to the rest of Taka, his barely suppressed rage was clear as day(from the slight tremble in his hand,to the way his skin was subtly taking on the colour of clay),one word and he’d unleash hell on Konoha.

It was tempting,so-so tempting to nod, but in a move disguised as a neck stretch,Sasuke replied in the negative.

Holding and releasing his breath in a shallow controlled manner, he sent out his own message to them“Cover me,”And for the first time since his life had taken a turn for the supernatural…Sasuke called out to Yatagarasu.

***

The moment he found himself facing the crow, the rest of the world unaware of his departure, he cut to the chase“I need your help,”The bird gave him a long look, head tilted to the side.

“I do not offer help-I only do trades-are you willing to sacrifice your other arm?”Yatagarasu sounded amused, but Sasuke could tell the spirit was as serious as a poisoned kunai.

“It’s still to do with the path you’ve chosen,”He said,keeping all hints of doubt and fear out of his voice.

“Go on then…”One wing fanned out in a delicate motion, and Sasuke looked the spirit dead in the eye.

“I wish for an audience with the chieftain,but I want to bring the realm of the spirits with me,”There was a loaded pause,the spirit considering, then there was a rustle of feathers, and Yatagarasu took flight, leaving a gale that not only tore at Sasuke, but also forced its way into the land of the living.

***

The sudden windstorm took everyone by surprise, and they all covered their eyes,shielding them from the assault.Rather than howling-the wind whispered-like pages turning in an old book.And if you listened hard enough, you could hear countless voices in the whispering wind.

“Konoha…Konoha…Konoha…”And people went from covering their eyes for convenience, to screwing them shut in fear, too scared to even move.When the wind finally died down,they lowered their hands,terrified eyes instictively drawn to the area just off the main stage, where the last of the dust clouds were still billowing.

The grit settled with the hush of a veil being lifted, bringing with it a long hidden darkness.

Skeletons-lots of them-enough to build a small hill.Casting the darkest of shadows, over a lone figure sitting at the base of it.

***

Fire,warm and bright, bloomed in front of the shadowed being, outlining their shape.

Sparks flew from the fire, and like the grains of sand, they too sang the same song“Konoha…Konoha…Konoha…”The near silent whispers were enough to shake the bone hill.And the child’s skull at the very top dislodged, tumbling into the flames, and the fire brightened,revealing something that used to be human.

A delicate face, pale skin contrasting with pitch black hair, and even darker eyes.

“Sasuke,”Uzumaki Naruto breathed,voice cracking.

The spirit, didn’t seem to have heard the blond.Focused solely on the flaming skull.

There was a cry from the flames-a familiar baby wailing-and everyone cast their eyes around, looking for the disemboweled Uchiha mother.

Clearly hearing the same thing as them,the ghost boy frowned.Leaning forward he reached into the fire, the light stealing into the shadow of his sleeve, revealing flesh-less bones with the subtlety of a lightning strike.The exposed digits settled over the burning skull, and the cries stopped.With one final soft pat, the Uchiha boy stood, going over to the side of the hill.

He stared up at it for a long time, and the bones closer to the top shifted, crackling and popping as they came alive.The skeleton that made its way to him crawled over the others.Teeth chattering, and bones snapping as they rubbed together.The moment the skeleon touched the ground,it stopped moving-but just the sight of it, and the majority of the villagers knew who it was.

The ghost woman who’d been the habinger of the Konoha’s plagues-the headless form of her unborn baby stuck within her ribs.Uchiha Sasuke picked her up without complaint and placed her in the fire with her baby’s skull-a happy gurgle followed.But the villagers’ eyes were too focused on the hill of death, to register the softt sound.

The ghost woman had been Uchiha, and the presence of Uchiha Sasuke cemented the fact…these were the remains of the Uchiha clan… but the hill was huge.The numbers of the dead much larger than the number of people who’d lived in the compound.

Just how long had the village been killing the Uchiha with everyone else content to look the other way?

***

Sasuke was stalling, and he knew it, but he still couldn’t help it.He had so much to say to Konoha, but somehow, looking over all of them, he just…froze.

Settling down at the edges of the fire, he stared at his aunt and baby cousin,looking for a place to start, and failing.Through the flames he caught sight of the warm brown eyes of Karin’s borrowed face, and suddenly it wasn’t so hard anymore.

He’d come to tell his story,and wherever he began,that, would be the right place.

His voice,when it finally came, did not pass through his lips.It flowed from somewhere deep within, joining with the air and reaching the people, without the use of his mouth“Mother had promised me extra onigiri if I got just one kunai to hit the bull’s eye-it took hours, and when I finally managed,it was dark out, so I hurried home…”He paused, a bit thrown by the cadence of his own voice, his cold monotone replaced by something regal-commanding-with an eeriness to it.

“… but I didn’t have a home anymore, not when cousin Raina was pinned to the gate with the katana her father had bought her the week before.Not when uncle Masemoto was in pieces in his front yard, baby Rangiku scattered alongside him. And definitely not when Aunt Shizu wasn’t moving, her favourite kimono stained red…”He carried on listing the dead, and the way they’d been discarded-the way he’d found them,forced to have that as a final memory.

Were he in his body, he was certain he’d be crying, but he was a spirit now, and spirits didn’t cry about the living-they merely reflected.He was aware of Hashirama’s muffled sobs and his old team’s horrified looks, but he was no longer in any state to care.

They’d all known his family had been massacred, what were they expecting?That they’d gone to their graves smiling?

“…then I came to the my house.Mother and father’s blood was staining the floor, and brother was crying.Next to him Shimura Danzo stood…smiling…”He took a moment, stoking the fire with a femur, the hill slowly diminishing as bones made their way down, helping him fuel the fire.

“…I wanted so badly to run-hide- and wait for mother to come get me, but she wasn’t moving and Danzo was laughing-laughing,like she wasn’t sunshine and roses-the only person who listened when I cried, so I threw a kunai at him, and that’s when the other man appeared,…”He was holding his grandmother now, her toothless skull still managing to smile at him as he placed her in the fire.

“He swallowed my kunai with a spinning void, his sharingan glowing in the darkness of his orange mask. His chakra felt like death and decay, and he was so big, but mother was gone, and father was cold…so I charged…”He might as well have thrown a lightning bolt at the Yondaime given the way the man jumped at the description.

“…brother blocked me, and he held my face between his hands, I thought he was going to help, but then his sharingan spun, the tomoe melding together, and my world went away,”

“I was no longer the boy who’d fought his family’s killers,I was the coward who’d run away.I hadn’t just come in the aftermath, I’d lived the massacre, tsukuyomi’s iron grip searing all the deaths into my memory,and the faces of the murderers faded into the shadows,leaving only Itachi in the light,”

“When I woke up in the hospital, I wasn’t Sasuke anymore, I was the Last Uchiha, and the whole village made sure to remind me-constantly-like I was some sort of legend, when all I was, was the coward who hadn’t even been able to avenge his own family,”Finishing his tale, he didn’t bother looking up, choosing to stare into the fire where the remains of his parents(who’d been at the bottom of the pile) were side by side once again.And unlike before when his family’s bones cast him in darkness,they now bathed him in the brightest light.

Reaching into the flames with the hand that bore Yatagarasu’s mark, he held his mother’s hand,and a sense of calm settled over him…his family’s story had finally been told by their own blood.

***

The days following the appearance of the bamboo forest had brought a lot silences to Konoha.

Stunned silence, angry silence, vengeful silence, and even pitiful silence. But this one was the worst…shameful silence.

In this, they couldn’t sit back and say they hadn’t known.Most of them’d met Uchiha Sasuke, and at one point or the other they’d all made references to the fact that the boy was alone.And they’d all done it flippantly, from the girls who’d flocked to him, looking to be the one and only Mrs Uchiha( one blond and pinkette sunk lower in their seats,eyes stinging and faces burning), to the senseis,who’d used the mention of his clan to both praise and reprimand him, even the villagers had gone out of their way to point out the sole survivor of the Uchiha massacre wherever he went,staring as though he was a zoo animal.

All of them had known of the horror that had preceeded him becoming an orphan, but they hadn’t thought twice about constantly stabbing him with that painful truth.

What did that say about them as a people?

***

The damning quiet was broken by the gentle tread of footsteps, and the people raised their heads, shocked to find the Yondaime making his way towards the ghost boy.

Namikaze Minato came to a stop facing the Uchiha ghost, a roaring inferno between them.He looked at the child for a long time-so young-almost as young as his Rin, and little Obito.But this boy did not have the softness of Rin, nor the carefree nature of Obito.

This child was hardened steel.Fugaku’s eyes staring out from Mikoto’s face.

He looked at the boy for a moment longer before settling into a seiza, his eyes falling on the dancing flames.

“Uchiha fire has always burned hotter than most, and I find myself feeling cold, mind if I share the heat?”Beyond the wall of fire,unblinking eyes met his, and for a moment(despite already being dead himself,Minato feared for his life), then the child’s gaze went back to the fire, and Minato took in a breath he didn’t really need anymore.

“Your tale is sad, and much too heavy for shoulders so young to have carried for so long.But you said something in your story that made me pause,”His hands flew through a familiar set of seals, and when he was done, a third figure was by the fire.

Orange mask swirling like a whirlpool full of sludge, and a pitch black cloak that made it look like the mask was attached to the shadows.

“Is this the third man you spoke of?”Eyes not straying from the flames,the child answered,his mouth still firmly shut.

“He suffocated baby Kiyoko with her mother’s interstines,”And that was answer enough.Minato cast his gaze over to where Sarutobi and Danzo were,struggling to reign in his temper.

***

“He’s the man from the night of the Kyubbi attack,the very one I warned you about.How did he live long enough to kill his own clan?And how come no one else knows about him,someone like that should have been added to the bingo book,surely you-” He made a sweeping gesture with his hand,stopping when instead moving through the air, his fingers brushed against something unexpected.

Two skeletons, the larger form curled around the smaller one,fitting together in a way that Minato was achingly familiar with.

“Kushina,”The name fell from his lips like a prayer, but even then saying it felt wrong.Trembling hands-all clay and stone where flesh and bone used to be, settled on the sharp curve of his wife’s cheekbones, and he bit back a sob.

Against his will, his gaze travelled to the towering flames fed by the remains of the Uchiha, the realisation of what the appearance of his and Kushina’s bones meant, making him dizzy.There was no point in asking who’d done it-Danzo’s smirk said it all, so Minato went for the next question.

“H-How did we die?”He’d gone to his grave thinking Kushina had died from the extraction and that he’d succumbed to chakra exhaustion…clearly he’d been wrong.

“A pillow to the face was enough to make sure Kushina never woke up.We stuck chakra draining tags to you to make sure you couldn’t replenish your energy-even then you lasted till the first rays of light ushered in th new dawn,”It would’ve been better if Danzo- with his obvious smugness had been the one to say it.Hiruzen’s voice, all sadness and gravel-like he actually cared, made the words hurt more.

“And the masked Uchiha?”

“Uchiha Madara,”Hashirama’s sobs cut off and he was suddenly ramrod straight, eyes fixed on the illusion.“They betrayed him , so he offered to help us kill them, for vengeance and some extra sharingan,”

“You teamed up with the most dangerous Uchiha in history, the first missing-nin, to not only kill me and my wife.But also to murder an entire clan!”Namikaze was gesturing wildy and for a moment,Sasuke was reminded of Naruto when he was defending something he was passionate about.

“Dangerous he may be, but he is only one man.And with Danzo’s sharingan, and my knowledge of the elements, subduing him will not be a problem…we’ve taken everything into account”Tobirama looked torn between attacking his former students and wanting the earth to swallow him.

Did these two really think stolen eyes and some earth,wind and fire would be enough to take down Madara?(Granted, Sasuke knew it wasn’t him beneath the mask, but no way would it be enough to tame the raw power Sasuke had felt in his brief scuffle with the man).

And these were the people everyone in the village had obeyed without question…Konoha’s redeeming qualities dwindled with every word uttered.

***

For Kakashi,realisation hit him with the force of a fully loaded chidori.

The day he’d come home to find his father dead,there’d been a scent in the house, mixing with the smell of his father’s blood-two base scents actually,intwined so deeply they were almost one.

Pine leaves and mission soap.And looking over at Sarutobi and Danzo,side by side(something they’d never done in public before), those two base scents,were impossible to ignore.

When he tried to get up,to make his way to the fire, his legs wouldn’t obey, so with Pakkun a warm presence on his lap he went through the hand seals for shunsin, leaves falling around him as he found himself staring at the Uchiha pyre.

But now that he was finally there, his throat locked up.He opened and closed his mouth several times, but nothing would come.The words were there,he knew what he wanted to say, but after years of squashing his opinions-killing his treason before it ould gain form-his throat refused to say anything against the Sandaime.

Pakkun’s claws dug into his leg“Heel, pup,”He growled,and the tension drained out of Kakashi-Pakkun was there, he’d fix it. Pakkun always knew what to do.With a gentle nip to Kakashi’s fingers, the summon faced the fire, his voice nothing more than a growl.

“Sarutobi, were you and your tail responsible for the death of Hatake Sakumo?”Pakkun had always been a straight to the bone kind of pug.

“We all know White Fang killed himself and-”A warning growl cut old man off before he could continue.

“I asked if you were responsible, and before you open your mouth again, let me remind you of something, you are dead, and I, have been a spirit longer than you.I can make you hurt,”In the end Hiruzen didn’t have to answer, all it took was one blink, and in that time, a neat stack of human bones appeared next to the copy-nin.

Kakashi hadn’t seen his father in years, but he still recognised his smile on sight,too long canines on full display,the permanent grin missing the slight quirk of lips that often followed the expression…but it was still his dad’s smile, and that made Kakashi ache in a way he’d forgotten the heart could hurt.

He looked through the fire, and over at the spectre of his former student,the boy somberly watching the flames where his family’s bones were glowing bright red, and crumbling in places.To his right Minato-sensei was crying, holding aunt Kushina’s bones close, his own remains barely registering as he clutched what was left of his fallen lover.

These were Kakashi’s people-his pack.

Yet he’d failed them, buried his feelings for them as deep as possible, dedicated himself to the village…for what?

The headband that covered his sharingan came off easily enough, and when it hit the ground he didn’t even look at it.

Deserting was a crime-death its only punishment.Casting his eyes about, Kakashi waited for the first fool to come at him…no one stood,and no one dared to say anything…good.

Multiple soft pops followed, the remaining Hatake ninken summoning themselves.Instantly congregating around his father’s bones, whimpering sadly as they sniffed them.

Tears, hot and heavy, made their way down his face, threatening to take down his mask, and through it all Kakashi kept quiet, his shoulders shook and his heart thundered, but still he didn’t make a sound-he couldn’t-and once again,the ninken came through for him, giving his sorrow a voice.

The dogs howled in unison, long and mournful, the type of sound that didn’t belong in the light of day.Something only the moon should ever bear witness to.

***

Throughout the proceedings,Hiashi had remained quiet…watchful.The same approach that had made sure he lived to adulthood, and that his clan remained prosperous.

Years before, soon after his brother’s death, there’d been fingers pointed at the Land of Lightning, calling for war…Hiruzen had remained silent, not interferring, just as he’d done when Kumo had come forth with their outrageous claims.Letting the Hyuga bear the brunt of the other village’s wrath-pleading ignorance-he was very good at that.

“Who do you blame,Hiashi?”He’d asked with only he elders present and here’s what Hiashi had wanted to say.

‘I blame you ,Hiruzen,I blame Kumo and I blame the elders,’Afterall, the Hokage and elders were the only other people who knew the blueprints of Hiashi’s house, and who also knew the guard shifts the Hyuga took-things the Kumo-nin,a foreigner, had easily bypassed.But just one look and he’d known that would be the wrong answer, so he’d taken a breath and picked a side.

“Uchiha are in charge of internal security,”Hiruzen had smiled then,small and brief, meant for only the byakugan to see-a deal sealed without words.Hiashi had nodded and left-he’d never been able to meet Fugaku’s eyes after that.

But from that one lie his clan had grown stronger, more influential…they were trusted.Something that had saved them from the chopping block that was the village police force, after the Uchiha had been massacred.

Sure he’d sarificed a few, but those sacrifices ensured the continued survival of his clan.He knew a lot of people who’d done the same, and like them…he regretted nothing.

A shadow fell over him-cold and biting-and he looked up to find a pile of bones.Not as large as the Uchiha, but still sizable.And amongst the bones, his twin’s skull stared right at him, and next to it lay young Neji’s remains.

Say something, they implored.But Hiashi had a clan to lead.The younger brother protects the older brother-that was the way of the Hyuga-the caged bird seal ensured it.All these deaths were for the good of the clan…no regrets.With a decisive nod, he looked straight ahead, quietly noting how all the others who’d chosen silence and material wealth over standing up to the village did the same.

But unlike the bodies they’d buried, the bones would not stay silent.From the common civilan to the most decorated shinobi, the bones kept coming.And while others lost themselves in renewed sorrow,Hiashi was part of the group that remained dry eyed, staring anywhere but at the bones.

They’d ignored them in life…ignoring them in death was even easier.

***

From his spot by the fire, Sasuke listened to the confessions, both the spoken and thought.Struggling with all his might to keep up the façade of calmness.In reality,his soul was barely holding on.

Calling his family forth had been easy…blood called to blood.But with the others, it felt like holding back the full might of the ocean.All the souls beyond the fabric of the living pushing against the weakened shield,trying to get through.Using the tales of those who remebered them made it easier to drag their ethereal bones to the land of the living, but it was still taxing.

By the time the stories trickled down, he was half tempted to just give up the charade,return to his body and start chopping heads, but he held firm.

***

Sharing his story-though it had been a way to make sure people heard it from someone who’d lived the horror-served another purpose.

The thing he’d come to realize since becoming a mortician, and attending countless funerals was the resonance people shared with one another.

One person talking about the exploits of the deceased often led to a long line of people sharing their own stories.By baring his heart he’d left room for others to share the suspicions they’d been too scared to even dare to think about.The bones were a necessary extra touch, and the idea to use them had also come his handling of the dead.

More often than not, the death of a loved one only became reality once people saw the body.

By showing them the remains of their precious people, he was driving home the fact that not only were they dead…it was Konoha that had killed them.

***

“Burn the leaf!”The chant came from an unlikely source, a civilian woman-old and frail-and the reaction was instant.The rest of the civilians froze, eyes wide in fear, and the shinobi were instantly on high alert, fingers twitching towards their kunai,ready to quell the dissent…then they all paused, looked at the bones of their loved ones, looked at the darkness spreading from the endless bamboo and looked down at their leaders, who’d brought all this pain and suffering upon them.

A chuunin behind the old woman stood, one huge hand coming to rest on her shoulder, the perfect place to snap both collarbone and neck.The silence was an almost physical thing…then the man raised his free arm,hand fisted“Burn the leaf!”He bellowed and it was like a switch had been flipped.

“Burn it! Down with Konoha!”The people screamed as they got to their feet.A gust of wind blew the stadium doors off their hinges and the villagers rushed out,destroying everything in sight…no one noticed the crow flying above the destruction, sharing what it saw with the unmoving ghost boy.

***

This, Hashirama thought as he stood on the top of the stadium wall(the only building still standing), was sorrow.

They were burning the village-his village-his dream,and they weren’t some enemy he could slaughter,these were the people he’d sworn to protect.And it wasn’t even about the buildings.

Konoha wasn’t the Gates of fire,it wasn’t the kage tower and it wasn’t the shops and schools…it was the people.

And they’d had enough of him, his beliefs and all that he’d tried to achieve.Next to him Tobirama was breathing deeply, barely holding himself together, but Hashirama did not have the strength to comfort him.

***

Below them people ran wild.Aburame locusts swarmed the forbidden forest,leaving the giant trees there destitute.And when the Akimichi canon balls rammed the walls, the whole village shook.Explosive tags flew and rocks joined them,leaving no windows untouched.Katon erupted from the lips of everyone strong enough to use the technique and the old kage watched the flames devour everything in sight.The fire wild and angry, billowing smoke so dark even his undead throat felt clogged.

Up above, light cracked the blue sky and the Senju watched as Hatake lightning felled the Hokage monument,their destroyed faces falling off the mountain.Down below people cheered,civilians chipping away at the features that were still recognisable with pickaxes.

The rest of the village was nothing more than burning rubble.The destruction followed no rhyme or reason.Years of fear and anger making his people rabid.

Not his people, not anymore.

Nothing in this world belonged to him anymore.

Not the borrowed time he was on.Not the Kage title he’d been so proud to have.

And definitely not the village he’d sacrificed everything for.Konoha didn’t even exist anymore, the fires burning through its husk were proof of that.

How could he have gotten it all so wrong?He let himself fall off the wall, the impact as he hit the ground barely registering.Laying in the crater his landing had created, he stared up at the polluted sky.Listening to the screams of the people, and the chitter of the Aburame locusts as they turned the forest where he’d met his best friend into a desert.

Hashirama’s dream had been his first true friend’s worst nightmare.So it was only fitting that Madara’s dream of destroying Konoha coming to fruition,(at the hands of its own people-something Hashirama had never imagined possible), was his worst nightmare.

“Are you laughing at me old friend?”He asked the wind-only silence answered, and Hashirama shut his eyes.If he didn’t see the end of Konoha, perhaps it would hurt less…it didn’t.

Notes:

Sasuke:The village killed my people.
Konoha:That's so sad, we're so sorry.
Sasuke:They killed your people too...I have the bones to prove it.
Konoha:WHAT!-Everyone just goes into berserker mode,destroying everything in sight.
Sasuke...chills out by the fire and sips tea.

Chapter 11

In the confines of the stadium, there was a sense of peace. The morning sun with its array of purples and gold dancing over the people.A breeze, cool and soft,ruffling the soot stained clothes of the villagers, carrying with it the scent of flowers and smoke.

Had he not been there the night before, Sasuke would not have believed that the people gently laying garlands over the bones of their loved ones were capable of such…violence. But they were, and watching had been glorious- he’d even caught sight of one half of Taka(Suigetsu and Karin) going wild.

The Senju were there, grouped together with Tsunade’s head on her grandfather’s shoulder, her uncle holding her hand. The people took turns glaring at the wrecked trio, but despite their open hostility, no one had even dared to throw an insult their way.

Disgraced.Yes.Unwanted.Yes.Corrupt.Yes. But even with all their sins laid bare, the Senju were still undeniably powerful.Going against them was akin to courting death, and no one wanted to risk that.

***

The village, the pride and joy of the Senju, was nothing more than a barren wasteland beyond the stadium walls. Something Sasuke himself had pushed for, but it wasn’t enough.Every blow he’d flung at them,they’d taken …as a family…the very thing they’d ripped from Sasuke without a second thought.

After all they’d done, what right did they have to such unity-none- and Sasuke’s final card was going to shatter them the same way they’d shattered him.

In working with the dead, Sasuke often found himself alone with his thoughts. Be it an autopsy or an embalming, he almost always got lost in thought, wondering over the state of his clients.

Humans, even at their weakest, were fighters. It was there in the way the bodies of the deceased had clearly taken so much damage, so much pain. From people who’d met gruesome bloody ends, to those who’d hung on for years, disease ravaging their bodies.

Yes, they’d died, but before that,almost all of them had taken more punishment than should have been humanly possible. And often times Sasuke wondered why?

They knew they were going to die, those who were murdered saw it in the eyes of their killers and those with illness spent countless hours in hospital, so why, why did they continue to fight?

And why did the killers not stop? Murderers often struck several potentially fatal blows, and most diseases weren’t just content to stay in one organ.They spread, taking over everything and leaving behind a gaunt husk for Sasuke to deal with.

***

Thousands of burials under his belt and Sasuke still didn’t have the answer to his question. But somehow, because his world could never be simple he’d wound up as both victim and killer.

When they’d told their lies, and set the plans for the end of the Uchiha in motion.The Senju had killed Sasuke.Burnt and scattered before he was even born, the odds stacked against him simply because of the crest on his clothes.

And yet, here he was, killing them in turn. Konoha, their Konoha was gone.Hashirama’s dream was the barren wasteland beyond the stadium walls.

Truth revealed, village destroyed. He’d loosed his arrows and all of them had met their mark. He should stop-could stop- but he knew he wouldn’t. One more look at the Senju trio, and Sasuke’s rage turned katana sharp. They were beaten down, tired and spent, but they could still stand to hurt more.

It was child’s play to tug at the spiritual veil again, blank eyes fixed on Tsunade.He watched her shiver, her head snapping up, her gaze meeting his dead-eyed stare.

***

All around, people stopped what they were doing, feeling the shift in the air.Eyes on him, Sasuke stood, arms outstretched. He moved in a fluid motion, twisting where he stood, until he came back full circle.

It was like stealing light from the earth. All the bones that had woken from their deaths going back to sleep, leaving behind heaps of rock as nameless tombstones.Behind him, his family’s pyre still burned bright, but now its light only fell on him and the Senju, their own personal spotlight.

Once again he locked eyes with Tsunade, but this time, he channeled the hollowness of the spirit world,directing it all at her. Her soul recoiled, burrowing deeper into her flesh, and she took a terrified step back. On her next step, Sasuke was ready, a simple thought and the part of the veil he’d been toying with came loose, a neat stack of bones popping up right where Tsunade’s foot was headed.

***

It would have been comical to watch a shinobi of her standing trip and fall, but Tsunade did a graceful hand flip at the last minute, landing on her feet and turning to glare at whatever had tripped her.

Her annoyance gave way to shock, which bled into disbelief until finally the most heartbroken expression Sasuke had ever seen settled over her features.All the effort she’d taken to avoid hitting the ground, going to waste as she fell on her knees, crawling towards the bones, her hands hesitating a hair’s breadth from touching them.

“Nawaki?”Her tone was questioning, but from the way she shuddered when she finally touched the tiny skull, her heart already knew the truth.

“Nawaki,”This time her voice was soft, an affirmation, and in that moment Tsunade looked all of her years and then some.Sorrow bleeding lines into her face,eyes red rimmed as she shed silent tears.

Grief, no matter how many years passed, never lost its burning sting. Sasuke,who’d constantly been reminded of his loss, knew this more than most, and now, so did Tsunade.

Cradling her brother’s bones, she looked up, her teary eyes fixing on her Grandfather and his brother.

“Nade-chan…”She inhaled sharply at the nickname, her eyes going flinty, consumed by rage. But instead of spewing vitriol, she gave her relatives a long scathing look. And then with a single shake of her head,she turned her back to them, putting herself between them and her brother’s remains. Disowning them without saying a single word…it might as well have been a kunai through Hashirama’s undead heart, and Sasuke didn’t even try to quell his sickening glee at seeing the man hurt.

***

“Brother…”Tobirama’s hand on his shoulder felt like barbed wire, and Hashirama shrugged it off, moving a few paces to get away from him. Blaming him was wrong, but if he didn’t blame him, then Hashirama would have to admit he’d had a hand in his grandson’s death. And just the thought of it seared his soul, transferring the blame to Tobirama was the only way he could keep standing.The only way he could face Mito when he crossed over again.It was small and petty of him, but he did it anyway, unmoved by his brother’s cresfallen face.

***

Tobirama’d never been good with emotions-he was actually really awful at them. Hashirama had been his guide when it came to that area. But his brother wouldn’t even look at him, and Tsunade was glaring at both of them like they’d killed her world-and they had, uninentional or not, they’d robbed her of someone special-robbed themselves too.

Heart in his throat, voice reduced to a rasp he turned to his former student.“Saru…why?”When he’d chosen Hiruzen as his successor Tobirama had truly believed he was making the right choice, but clearly he’d been very wrong.

“I tried to find another way, I really did sensei. But using young Nawaki was too valuable a card for me to pass up,”

“He was the keystone holding everything together.He tethered Tsunade to the village, kept Orochimaru sane, and strengthened the bond between the saanin, ” Tobirama had seen this, Nawaki had been a ray of light. And apparently Hiruzen had too, and rather than seeing it as a blessing…he’d seen an opportunity.

***

“With him gone we were able to accomplish much in our quest to destroy the Uchiha,”

“Tsunade left, which allowed us to continue our work in earnest,”

“She wasn’t here when Minato became too liberal in his view of the Uchiha, forcing the council’s hand with his stubborness,”There was a strangled cry from the Yondaime, but Hiruzen ignored him.

“Being unmarred by the dirty work that secured her post, has allowed for exemplary leader you see today,”There was pride in his voice, and he actually spared a soft look for Tsunade before continuing.

***

“After failing Nawaki,Orochimaru became more amenable to performing dubious experiments, disappearing people so thouroghly it highlighted the Uchiha incompetence,”The people looked over at the tombstones, realizing how most of their loved ones had died shortly after Nawaki Senju. And with no small amount of shame, they remembered the protests they’d staged, standing in front of the police station with ***placcards demanding answers.Feeling righteous in their fury, because theirs was the first demonstration to ever be held without the full might of the Anbu raining down on them.

They’d sang songs, hurled slurs, and some of the most daring had even thrown stuff at passing Uchiha officers. Emboldened further when there were no repurcussions, none of them had realized they were merely free labor for the very thing that had killed their beloved.

***

Eyes roaming over the people, and watching them figure out the truth.Hiruzen took a drag from his pipe, looking both thoughtful and sad“The only mistake with Orochimaru was killing his lover too soon,”

Orochimaru’d had a lover?!

“The death of Sakumo broke him in a way that not even I could control, unleashing a killing spree I hadn’t foreseen. But Hatake had to go, had he lived, Tsunade’s claim to be Kage would’ve been challenged, ”He dropped the news like it was the weather, unbothered by the snarling Hatake boy being held down by his ninken.

“I never wanted to be kage,”Tsunade spat, still cradling her brother’s remains.

“And yet, here you are,congratulations…Godaime,”Hearing it said, confirmed what people had always suspected but been too scared to voice. For every generation, the Kage was predetermined, it didn’t matter how strong, skilled or smart you were. If you didn’t have the bloodline or the connections to back you up-you were going nowhere fast.

***

To the majority in attendance, everything was news to them. But Hiruzen had known this stuff for decades.Pushing aside their stunned looks, he decided to wrap up his argument as to why the youngest Senju had been a viable sacrifice.

“Without the other two, it was easy to convince Jiraiya to leave. His spy network has proven invaluable. His absence also left me in charge of the fox-child, ensuring he was molded to reach his true potential,”

“Jiji,”Naruto’s heartbroken whisper was louder than his noisiest shrieks. The sandaime heaved a tired breath, casting a sad look over at him, and shrugging in a resigned manner.

“Say what you will, but without these sacrifices, Konoha would’ve fallen long ago-I dare any of you to disagree,”

***

“What are you?”But even as he breathed the question, Hashirama already knew the answer.

Hiruzen was a Sarutobi through and through.

Monkey see, monkey do.Only, unlike the others of his clan, who were adapt at learning jutsu to beyond perfection, Hiruzen had mastered the art of faking emotion…and his skill in that was devastating.

A sociopath.

One so accomplished, none of them had been able to spot him.

“My grandson, the Uchiha, all these people, don’t you feel even a little bit of shame, remorse?!”Hiruzen’s arms came up around himself in a fleeting hug, his shoulders drooping,the corners of his mouth turning down, his brow furrowing as his eyes widened.

When he spoke up, his voice was sandpaper rough, like he’d been crying for hours“There isn’t a word strong enough word to express my regrets over this whole debacle, especially now that I know it was all over a lie,”His tone and his actions spoke of sorrow and guilt, but the final part of his words was a barb aimed right at Hashirama.Meant to subtly shift attention from Hiruzen’s atrocities, and over to Hashirama’s mistake.Artfully done too, had he not been looking for it, the Shodaime would’ve let the words just fly over him, not recognizing the self-serving political maneuver.Unluckily for Hiruzen, he had, and he’d had enough of the man’s manipulations.

***

From the moment they’d been summoned, Hashirama had been hearing a silent song in the breeze, one that had nothing to do with the cursed bamboo.

Stretching out a hand he wiggled his fingers-Come here,sweetheart.There was a whistle,loud and long as she cut through the air, and when she settled in the palm of his hand,it was like they’d never parted.

Hello, darling.

The blade in his hand crooned a tune only he could hear, a sad and bloodthirsty thing. She showed him the souls she’d taken and the people who’d wielded her, and at the end she told him the name she’d been given after his death. Her blade song light as a feather’s touch…Kami-no-namida,she sang, low and quiet,sharing something precious.

Running a hand over her sharp edge, he looked over at Hiruzen.The smile that spread over Hashirama’s face had nothing to do with joy, and everything to do with bloodlust.

***

With Kami no namida in hand, death was his to give. He held seniority over all the kage, whatever orders his brother had given, he could over rule with a thought.

All of them knew this, and he watched Hiruzen and Danzo’s eyes widen in fear.

“ I should kill you, right here and now for daring to bring my grandson into your twisted game. But first I want you to answer something. The Uchiha with the orange mask-who is he?”The pair shared a confused look, and the Shodaime felt his undead body grow cold.

“We’ve already told you-it’s Madara,” Hashirama desperately searched their faces, hoping for signs of deception, and finding none. The one time he wanted them to be lying, they were telling the truth.

They really did think they’d been working with the real Madara.

Taking a deep breath, Hashirama dug the tip of Kami no namida into the ground.Using the blade as a focus point, he went around it several times, trying his best to reign in his temper, coming to a stop when he no longer felt too murderous.

“That man, is not Uchiha Madara,”He said, keeping his voice even, if he yelled like he wanted to, the roots churning below the surface might just spear innocent bystanders.

***

“He is Madara, I checked him out personally. He knew things that only the original traitor would know and his chakra was Uchiha,”Danzo spat the words,clearly insulted that his information gathering was being questioned.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Hashirama wrestled his raging chakra, his clay cracking at the seams.

“Insolent fool, ”His burning rage gave way to something colder, the swaying trees around them going deathly still.

“I’ve known Uchiha Madara for most of my life,”In the blink of an eye,he was in front of the bound duo,his hands itching to do some damage.

“Death has not dulled my eyesight, whoever helped you kill off the Uchiha-was not him!”A root shot through Danzo’s untainted arm,growing spikes and burrowing into the flesh.Hashirama watched it move, the flesh tearing slowly,the wet ripping sound drowned out by the man’s screams.

The Senju had always found that plants grew better with bodies as fertilizers. Something that apparently held true even for beasts like Danzo. Hashirama would make something beautiful out of him.

***

He filled Danzo’s lungs with spores,covering all the air sacs.He burst the first one and Danzo writhed, hand pinned by the barbed root.The first of Hashirama’s creations made its way out, crawling out of his mouth like a snake uncoiling.Bright green leaves shivering in the morning air, roots cracking ribs as they dug into the man’s marrow,the stem thin enough to allow just a bit of air in.

Tears were leaking from Danzo’s real eye while the stolen sharingan spun cheerfully.Pain chipping away at his defenses so thouroughly that he couldn’t hide his fear.

Pitiful, one who enjoyed inflicting pain should also be able to take it.

The wounded half-choked screams almost made Hashirama stop, but Danzo still had so much space left, such…potential.

The Shodaime had created many living gardens during his time, Shimura Danzo would be his most beautiful one to date.

A tiny bonsai dug its way out of his victim’s ribs, leaves bathed in red, with drops of blood hanging from the little branches like dew drops. How cute, he’d never made a bonsai rib cage before, now was an excellent time to try it out.

The leaves of his second bonsai had just made their way out of the now wheezing man’s left side when a cry broke Hashirama’s concentration.

Oh, the villagers, he’d been so immersed in his rage he’d momentarily forgotten them.

***

The plants growing in Danzo disappeared with simple wave, and Hashirama watched the man bleed for a bit.His wet gurgles loud in the silent stadium.

“Medic,”He called softly, and a pink haired kunoichi materialised, looking shaken but still meeting his gaze(good, she’d go far).

“Make sure he lives,”With a nod she got to work, and Hashirama turned his attention to the audience.

Prior events had left them all emotionally wrung out, but he could still see the fear written clearly on their faces. The books tended to romanticize his technique, focusing on its creative qualities rather than its destructive ones. Giving them a sad smile, he went back to his katana and dropped to the ground,his legs rearranging into lotus position,his back against the flat side of Kami no Namida,the blade taking his weight easily.

The kunoichi worked for a long time, no one daring to move or make a sound.

Hashirama for his part used the time to collect himself.Everything from the villagers,to his family.Tsunade in her grief, and Tobirama in his guilt was too loud.The only quiet point was the Uchiha boy, so the kage chose him as a focus point.

Hashirama stared at him and the boy stared back, unblinking, unmoving, unbothered.

The child had seen, and lived through worse, the burning bones behind him were testament to that.

“Hokage-sama, I’m done, he’s resting now,” The kunoichi said, her voice steady.

Breaking his staring contest with the Uchiha, Hashirama nodded at the girl.

“Wake him,”He ordered, she was against it, he could tell, but she knew better than to question him. Moments later, Danzo was propped up against a chair, glaring at the world with half open eyes.

***

“Apologies for my earlier loss of temper,”Hashirama closed his eyes,tilting his head up and soaking in the morning sun.

“Disquieting wasn’t it?” No one answered…they weren’t meant to.

Opening a single eye, he looked at Hiruzen. The third was staring at him blandly, admirably hiding all his rage at the sight of his beaten up best friend. It was the first true emotion Hashirama had seen from the man.

Hiruzen didn’t like anyone touching his things… truly unfortunate. Closing his eye he leaned his head against his blade.

“Not very Hokage-like of me, was it Sarutobi?”He kept his tone conversational, but he could still feel rage coursing through him, rippling outwards.The third elected not to answer, fixing Hashirama with a disappointed look.

“Remove the Sandaime’s bindings,”The Anbu only hesitated for a split second before carrying out his command. When the deed was done, Hiruzen was standing at his full height looking down at a seated Hashirama.

***

“You know what the saddest thing about thinking you know best is?”Without waiting for an answer, Hashirama continued.

“You stop questioning, and start making assumptions,”

“Something that even I am guilty of. I wanted a village, so I lied, assuming that everything would fall into place. My brother believed my lie and decided to put hits on a generation of people he’d never even met, assuming he’d be ridding the world of evil,”

“What about you Hiruzen? What was your grave assumption?” The third’s brow furrowed, and he opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before settling for taking a puff from his pipe,clearly stumped.

Hashirama gave him a sad look,then he spoke up.

“You carried out my brother’s orders admirably. But I can’t help but wonder, did you ever question why he handed over such an important task instead of doing it himself? Did you even bother to ask?”

“I didn’t need to, the reason was clear. If something happened to the Uchiha during Tobirama sensei’s rule, he’d have immediately been suspected, and the village would’ve crumbled” It was a sound, logical answer, but upon hearing it Hashirama’s shoulders slumped, and he looked over at Tobirama who was giving his student a pitying look.

The villagerss for their part, exchanged confused glances.What was this? What had everyone else missed?

***

Closing his eyes again, Hashirama tilted his head up, a tiny meadow springing to life in a circle around him. He breathed deeply, a few loose strands of hair swaying in the breeze. When he re-opened his eyes his face was wiped of all expression.

“Sarutobi-sama,”The sudden switch to formality had everyone on edge.

“My brother in his wisdom, decided to appoint you as his successor, elevating you to the position of kage. A title that I, Hashirama Senju was the first to hold, but it’s been such a long time since I’ve formally held it, that I’ve forgotten some key parts of it,”Something in the way Hashirama spoke was off, he shifted his gaze to his brother, and the two had a long staring contest.

“Brother, no,”There was no denying the pleading note in Tobirama’s voice.He clearly knew where this was headed and wanted no part of it, but Hashirama just gave him a considering look and shrugged, turning his attention back to Hiruzen.

“Sandaime-sama, please recite the kage oath for me,” And Tobirama let out a strangled gasp, eyes downcast.

***

There was a moment of silence, those who still needed to breathe too shocked to do so. The kage oath was sacred, the words appearing to the chosen kage the first time they dorned the hat. It had been created by the efforts of both Hashirama and Madara( the only none kage to know the words of the oath).

A kage only said the words once in their lives, and never shared them with another, yet Hashirama had just ordered Sarutobi to speak them freely.

It made sense in a way, afterall, Konohagure was just a name now. But Sasuke couldn’t shake the feeling of unease.He watched as Hiruzen, wary and just as confused as everyone else straightened, placing a fisted hand over his heart.

“I am Hokage, created from the shadow of a roaring flame, bathed in its light, nestled in the tree of wisdom.From this day forth, I will defend this village,my heartbeat is the village’s heartbeat, and if needed,my body will be its shield. All within it are mine to protect, should I fail…”Hiruzen faltered, eyes going wide, then he promptly dropped to his knees and bowed so low his forehead touched the ground.

“Senju, you with the skill of a thousand jutsu, surely you have a thousand mercies as well, please, don’t do this” He wasn’t even trying to hide his desperation, and Sasuke became even more intrigued, what sort of threat could have Sarutobi, who wasn’t bothered by the mayhem he’d commited terrified enough to beg.

The shodaime gestured for him to stand, and Hiruzen did so, his accusing gaze fixed on Tobirama.

“Go on, finish it,” Hashirama encouraged, sounding like an academy teacher egging on an insecure student.

Voice brittle, overcome by a rasp that had nothing to do with his chain smoking, the third continued.

“…Should I fail. may the branch carrying my bloodline be cut off to stem the rot, the leaves scattered in the wind and burned to ashes,destroyed by the very fire that has given me this blessed shadow,”

And there it was.

Notes:

Always read the fine print.

Chapter 12

Notes:

The update from earlier this week was actually the first half of a monster chapter. Enjoy!

A massacre, Hashirama had just ordered a massacre.

No,that wasn’t right. Hiruzen had willingly offered his family up for one, the moment he’d taken the kage oath. He’d treated the words as just a formality rather than a binding contract. An easy mistake to make in a world where seals, and chakra reserves held more weight than words.

Had it been someone from the newer generations, negotiation would’ve been possible. But Hashirama Senju was part of the old guard, deserving or not, if an oath had been sworn, you got what was coming to you.

Before everyone could get over their shock, there was a loud cry, and a huge shadow fell over the people, vanishing before anyone could get a look at it.

In the next moment, Hashirama was no longer seated.The wind itself moved to cut him, and Kami no namida sliced it in half. But the split second it took to accompish the action cost him, a web sprung from out of nowhere and wrapped around his middle, rendering him immobile.

“Do, not, touch my family,” The voice was a low growl, and it preceeded the arrival of a huge spider, its summoner perched on top of its head, her katana gleaming menacingly.

Biwako Sarutobi.

The shodaime tore through her bindings with swirling vines that headed straight for his attacker. The plants pinning the spider,but missing the rider. The summon disappeared in a puff of smoke, the vines immediately moving to try and capture the old woman, but she was gone in the split second it took them to reach her location.

***

Sarutobi’s wife was old, and Hashirama was dead, but watching them fight, you wouldn’t know that.

Lady Biwako moved like the wind, matching the shodaime blow for blow, and he was so fast his feet barely touched the ground. Sparks flew off their blades each time they met, and they were so quick, the orange light actually remained for a few seconds after they’d moved on.

They parried and blocked,kenjutsu flowing into taijutsu and back again, until at long last a mistake was made. Biwako crouched low and tried to take off Hashirama’s knees, but he took to the air. He bore down on her with all his might and she hastily put up her blade, but it was already too late, Kami no namida shattered her katana with a single strike.

It should have been over then and there, but Hashirama stopped short of cutting her head off.

He gestured to the memorial stones right behind her and stepped back, and for the first time, everyone else realized that not a single one of the gravestones, had been desecrated during their fight.

***

Sasuke’s sharingan saw it before it happened, every twitch of Biwako Sarutobi’s muscles foretelling her death.

She left her sanctuary in a shower of leaves, Hashirama on her heels. But though she’d probably known she’d lost the moment she’d attacked. It seemed it was only in that moment that the Sarutobi matriach accepted that she was going to die. She didn’t turn back and try to engage, she just kept moving. But in this case it wasn’t what she was running from, but who she was running to.

She barreled into her husband, wrinkled hands holding either side of his face as she took him in with glistening eyes. Then she pulled him closer, burying her face in his neck, her back to Hashirama.

Seeing his wife’s death coming, Hiruzen tried to move them back, but the Anbu were an impenetrable wall.

The blow that killed Biwako Sarutobi severed her spinal cord-she never even felt it-but her husband did. He watched the life bleed out of her, and it tore him apart. Her blood seeping into his clay hands turning them crimson.

***

Hashirama killed Biwako in the least painful way he knew, all the while remembering the little girl who used to walk behind her father during council meetings, imitating everything he did and insisting on being called Biwie-chan.

Seeing her slump forward, her blood going all over Hiruzen, he wanted nothing more than to walk away. But Kami no namida had finally tasted blood, and she wanted it all.

Biwako jerked in her husband’s arms, bones breaking as the corpse released itself from the man’s iron grip.It dragged on the ground,pulled towards Hashirama by a supernatural force.

Flesh ripped itself from bone, only to be swallowed up by dark red kanji that erupted from the earth, entrails foaming and fizzing into nothingness, leaving bones that joined the earth without protest, disintegrating into nothing. With the mortal casing stripped away and discarded, the soul lingered when it should have crossed over at the moment of death.

To the living it was merely a ball of light, but the dead saw a totally different story.

Biwako looked, not as she had a few minutes prior, but as she would’ve had her body been buried and allowed to rot. Clumps of hair missing, some of it hanging from the peeled flesh of her scalp. A lipless mouth, with gums rolling onto the teeth, caking them with pus and pitch black blood. Lidlesss eyes staring right at her horrified husband. Stomach disintended, the intestines pushing out of what used to be her navel, stopped from dragging by her destroyed hands, the flesh of her fingers rotted away. Not quite to the point of exposing pure bones, but showing her discolored nails all the way to the first knuckle.

As one, all of the resurrected kage gagged, breaking into cold sweat the longer the apparation just stood there, looking at all of them in turn. Then it lunged, disappering and materialising right in front Hashirama, claws extended. He raised Kami no namida on reflex, and the moment the blade touched her, it was over.

The soul taking to the metal the way lightning did a metal rod, lighting up all the comet shaped grooves as it settled into its new prison, joining the others who shared its fate. For those whose hearts still beat it was a thing of beauty, the ball of light scattering like dozens of fireflies before all of them settled on Kami no namida, seeping into the blade. They did not understand why the kages were so shaken.

***

Hashirama stood, Kami no namida warm and thrumming in his hand. He knew what needed to be done, but for the first time in his life…he hesitated.From the day he’d forged her he knew the blade had a touch of the spirit world in her, and he’d taken that to be a blessing from the heavens. He’d never once considered exactly what happened to souls trapped within her. Had foolishly equated it to sending someone to prison. Clearly he’d been very wrong, but he’d already invoked the kage oath-it had to be carried out.

Making his way over to the tiny meadow he’d created earlier, he sat down again, Kami no namida at his side.The man in him wanted to let this thing go, say Biwako’s death was punishment enough and leave it there. But the leader in him could not go back on his word.

“Hiruzen, earlier you asked for mercy,” The blood soaked kage nodded, giving Hashirama a wary look.

“Consider it granted, I won’t kill your family,” Another person would have been on their knees now, thanking him profusely. But Hiruzen had been in the game too long. Rather than celebrate he tensed, picking up on what Hashirama hadn’t said.

“But they’re still going to die,”It wasn’t a question and the Shodaime didn’t bother with useless words, he simply nodded. At the edges of his vision, he watched the Anbu move, blocking all exits and making sure none of the Sarutobi could escape.

“I’ll stay my blade, but on one condition…” He straightened his back, pinning the sandaime with a look.

“Hiruzen, I grant you the same mercy your friend Danzo afforded the Uchiha heir all those years ago,” There was a beat, the Uchiha pyre flaring as though the bones knew what was coming next.

“ Your clan is yours to kill,” To those who hadn’t seen what had become of Biwako, Hashirama’s decree seemed too malicious. But one look at Hiruzen and he knew the man recognized the order for the mercy it was.

A cruel mercy,but a mercy nonetheless.

A moment passed, the terrified chatter of the villagers going silent as the Sandaime bowed.

Face going through a complicated array of emotions, he finally spoke up, voice hollow “Thank you, Shodaime-sama,”

“What?!No! Old-man, you can’t-”Minato silenced his son with a tap to his throat,stealing the boy’s voice, and holding him down as he tried to charge.

“Forgive him Shodaime-sama, he means no disrespect,”Minato’s tone was respectful, but he had a look to him that said he’d be the one attacking, if Hashirama decided to punish the boy. As things stood, the little rebellion was nothing compared to issue at hand, the Senju brushed it aside with a wave.

Deliberately keeping his gaze away from a red eyed, dark haired kunoichi who was being held down by several shinobi. If he acted like he didn’t see her, no one could question his decision to spare her.

“Hiruzen, you may begin…”Hashirama had never considered himself vindictive, but even he knew the next words out of his mouth were an unnecessary blow, but they still came anyway. His bitterness at the countless lives Sarutobi and his friends had destroyed shining through.

“May their blood never wash off,” The sandaime recoiled as though struck, looking down at his shaking hands, and Hashirama stopped himself from verbally flaying him some more.

***

Hiruzen stood for a long moment, the ghost of Biwako’s touch still on him. She’d forgiven him, she’d known what he was about to do, and she’d still chosen to spend her final moments holding him.

He could not let the rest of the family meet the same fate as her. Taking one final long drag from his pipe, Hiruzen looked over at his disbelieving family…and attacked.

Hibana had been toddling around the last time he’d seen her, now she was a proper little lady, still clutching her teddy, worn with time now and missing an eye. She never felt him approach, and only had a moment to register his touch before he snapped her neck.

Kenzo was reaching for his dao when Hiruzen buried a kunai in his heart. Satoru, swift as the wind,had tried to run, he had no way to dodge the air sword that decapitated him. Ai, fierce till the end had encased herself in metal armor, ready for a fist fight, the lightning he’d sent her way had killed her instantly.

The civilians, knowing they didn’t stand a chance in a physical fight, resorted to a different form of self defense.

“Grandfather,father,uncle, brother, cousin…”Each of them addressed him in terms of relation, looking at him with pleading eyes, he still struck them down. But their words brought something home for him.There’d be no one to call him by those terms anymore.

No one to love him like that.Was this how Itachi had felt?This was horrible.

***

A pink haired kunoichi sat with a shell-shocked look on her face. Her attention not on the killings going on around her, but on the person who’d ordered them. What sort of man could order another to kill his family, and have the other male’s reply- be a bow and a thank you, before he proceeded to do that just.

Monster, she wanted to scream. But years of reverence wouldn’t allow the word past her lips. Instead another title came to mind.

God of Shinobi- Sakura’d read once, and she’d been proud. Only now she was realising how misplaced her pride had been. She’d been wrong, all of them’d been wrong. So caught up in their hero worship they’d forgotten the most important thing…

…Theirs , was a war god.

***

With everyone else gone, Hiruzen finally had to face the one family member he’d been avoiding, despite the number of shuriken the boy had thrown at him in a bid to save the others.

Konohamaru.

The little pipsqueak he’d left behind had grown into a striking young man, and it wasn’t just grandfatherly bias talking. Hiruzen wanted so badly to hug him, but the boy was looking at him in disbelief, anger and sadness marring his features. The sandaime hadn’t just killed their family, he’d also destroyed the boy’s image of him, killing Konohamaru’s childhood hero.

“I’m sorry,little one,”And with that he moved, arm extended, a simple tap to the head and the boy’s brain would shutdown.

But the moment he touched the boy, a log took his place-substitution!

Hiruzen only had a fraction of a second to dodge the volley of kunai that came at him. And then Konohamaru was there, engaging him in a vicious form of taijutsu, the moment Hiruzen landed a solid blow the boy dispersed. A clone able to take on a kage, pride swirled within him, and he quickly squashed it.

The boy was fighting for his life, it was only right that he brought his A-game.

***

They danced around each other for a long time.Konohamaru staying away from the clan jutsu, knowing that no matter how well he’d mastered them, he would still be outmatched. Hiruzen held back despite himself, testing Konohamaru’s limits and failing to suppress his joy at seeing how far he’d come. He toyed with him for as long as he could, peppering the mere seconds between blows with soft touches, gently wiping the boy’s tears whenever he could.

Then came a moment, the air shifted, pooling in Konohamaru’s hand like a mini tornado as it formed a ball of light…rasengan. And Hiruzen knew this wasn’t a mistake he could overlook without the Senju noticing. The technique, though powerful, required an amount of chakra Konohamaru didn’t have, after it, he’d probably not even be able to move. Deciding to let him go out on a high note, Hiruzen met him half way, and as expected, the boy wasn’t fast enough to dodge the assault.

Stealing one final moment, Hiruzen kissed Konohamaru’s brow, and wiped away one last tear. Then with a chakra coated hand that showed none of his inner turmoil, he shattered the boy’s sternum.

***

It was supposed to be a killing blow, instant,like with all the others, but his grandson was stubborn.

“It’s alright Konohamaru, let go, grandpa’s got you,” His ribs had torn right through his skin and Hiruzen could see the damaged heart beating sluggishly.

He held one small bloody hand in his, curling up next to him and kissing his torn up knuckles.

“Let go, please just go, it’s like going to sleep, just close your eyes,” Konohamaru’s half closed eyes, slowly opened all the way, and he gurgled, blood and bone running down his cheek.

“No, you have to let go,” The unmistakable sound of metal dragging over hard earth came seconds before the Shodaime spoke up.

“Hiruzen, if this is too difficult for you, I’ll send the boy off,”

‘No, stay back, I can do this,’ He wanted to say, but all that would come was“Please,please, please…”He begged as the Shodaime got closer. A pair of feet came into view and Hiruzen looked up at Hashirama, expecting to find smug satisfaction in the other man’s eyes.

Instead he was met with eyes as haunted as his own. Hashirama did not want to do this-but he would. Both of them’d had a role to play in creating this monster, and now they had no choice but to dance to its tune.

“Very well then, allow me,”Kami no namida split the air, and Hiruzen moved without thinking, switching places with Konohamaru .

The moment the blade pierced him, his soul caught fire, the chains of the reanimation jutsu struggling to keep him bound even as the katana sought to swallow him whole. Seeing what had happened, Hashirama started to withdraw the blade and Hiruzen’s fingers curled around it, keeping it in. The fire turned to hot larva, but the sandaime held on tighter, letting go meant damning Konohamaru, and he couldn’t allow that.

***

Their tug of war was broken by an echoing voice“He’s right you know, it’s not so bad” Still holding Kami no namida, Hiruzen turned his head, shocked to see the spirit of Uchiha Sasuke standing over Konohamau. He extended the hand that’d had all the flesh eaten away, and moments later, Konohamaru’s hand slipped into it. His grandson leaving his physical body without a backward glance.

Hiruzen watched him go, the sorrow radiating from his core loosening his hold on the physical plane. When Konohamaru finally faded, crossing over into the pure lands, Hiruzen felt the fight go out of him, Kami no namida severing his strings. The clay casing cracking and falling away as his spirit freed itself.

He had only seconds before Kami no namida collected him, and biting back his shame at having to face the Uchiha, he turned, giving the boy a formal bow as a thank you. It wasn’t enough, it never would be for what Sasuke had done for him, and for Hiruzen’s crimes against the boy and his family, but it was all he had.

Straightening, he finally met the boy’s eyes, and had he still been alive the sight that met him would’ve knocked all the breath out of him. Stripped of the foggy sight of being forcefully tethered to the living world, Hiruzen could now fully tell the difference between the living and the dead.

And Uchiha Sasuke, with his sharingan blood red and spinning lazily, rather than the faded blue of the spirit world-was very much still alive.

It couldn’t be…but it was…and that meant this entire time…“You’re still al-”Kami no namida sucked him in before he could finish, and the last thing Sarutobi Hiruzen ever saw was a nasty eye smirk that only the Uchiha could pull off. The smug expression followed by the last of the copy-wheel clan flipping him the bird in a gesture disguised as a wave.

***

Watching Hiruzen’s rotting spirit get swallowed up by the Shodaime’s abomination of a blade, Sasuke couldn’t help a moment of unrestrained glee. Thankful that the sharingan had captured every minute detail, he’d be sure to watch it over, and over again. What he wouldn’t enjoy remembering was the way the Sarutobi clan’d died. And he didn’t think he’d quite be able to forgive himself for the joy he’d briefly felt when their deaths had been called for.

He’d looked at their imminent demise as a way of hurting the Sandaime, momentarily forgetting that this was a permanent punishment. Then their cries and screams had blurred, the faces of the Sarutobi melting away to reveal the faces of Sasuke’s family. The way they fell, begged, fought and died, overlapping with the memories of how his own family had met their end.

No one deserved to die like that.

He hadn’t even consciously made the decision to allow Konohamaru a good death. All he’d seen was Hiruzen refusing to finish him, prolonging the boy’s suffering the way Itachi had drawn out Sasuke’s pain, and he’d stepped in. The way he’d always secretly wished someone would’ve done for him all those years ago.

Now with the Sandaime gone, Sasuke no longer felt the need to be present in a spiritual sense. He’d done as much damage as possible in that form, now it was time to fully return to the living world and carry out the rest of his plan.

He turned intending to ghost his way to his family’s remains, but a voice stopped him in his tracks.

“Why?” It was Tobirama, looking right at Sasuke, and for a moment the Uchiha worried that he’d been caught out. Then the nidaime looked away, hands clasped behind his back as he paced.Unknowingly making sure that Sasuke, wanting to know where he was going with his question ,stayed a bit longer.

***

“Why what,Tobirama?” The Shodaime asked.

The Nidaime straightened, shaking his head, his brow furrowing in thought.

“What you said earlier about assumptions, it got me thinking,”

“Everybody’s reasons are accounted for, we know why everyone did the things they did except for one person-Uchiha Madara,”

“While we were operating under the assumption that he was the real Madara, we could assume he was seeking vengeance,”

“But he’s a fake, so why? Why would someone help kill their entire family?” The question hung in the air like cloying smoke and Sasuke felt his grip on his emotions slip. His very life-like feelings fighting to show on his face.

Tobirama was absolutely right, why hadn’t Sasuke thought of that. Oh, that’s right, he’d been too busy being angry to sit down and wonder about the man’s motive. And judging by the looks on everyone but Tobirama( the man had just proven why he was called a genius), they hadn’t thought of it either.

This, was bad.

***

Sometimes, the only thing worse than a question, was the answer.

And this was proven when seconds later,the response to Tobirama’s query came with one of the oldest human emotions…fear.

It crept up on them, as subtle as the tide coming in. And by the time they realized what was happening, they were already caught in its web, suffocating.

For Sasuke the terror cut everything off.

No sight, no sound, and he could feel himself fading, the threads tying him to his body fraying. The agony seeping into him in slow drops, a corrosive acid.

Death… he was dying, he was dying, he was- only he’d felt death before. It came with a permanent calmness, not this need to claw, and scratch, all the while feeling like passing out.

This wasn’t death, this was the herald that preceeded it… killing intent.

And that could only mean one thing-chakra. Strong enough to be felt across worlds.What sort of beast’s chakra was strong enough to breach the barriers in between places?

***

The answer came from the Yondaime.

The man making a low rumble of a sound not meant for human vocal cords. The chuckle echoed, being matched perfectly by Naruto,who stepped up to stand shoulder to shoulder with his father.

They stood perfectly still, eyes glowing with Kurama’s fire, the tailed beast’s shadow stretching out behind them. When they moved, they were no longer two people, they were a single entity. Heads tilting in sync, elongated canines giving the villagers equally sharp smirks. Clawed hands clasped together, shadow tails swaying languidly as they turned their attention to the Senju brothers.

“At long last,” The gravel made Sasuke want to clear his throat in sympathy.

“ And to think, I didn’t even have to lift a single paw for you to give me what I’ve wanted for centuries…the end of humanity served up on a silver platter,” The last part was said in tones too low and deep for human voices.

“What have you done?”The Shodaime’s voice was icy-accusing, a giant wooden hand forming behind him. Rather than recoiling in fear, Minato and Naruto threw their heads back, their laugh shaking the stadium walls.

“What have I done, what have you done? With all your efforts not to, you’ve gone and done the one thing shinobi from times past had tried and failed to do,” The possesed duo let go of each other’s hands and gave a slow clap,matching not only the movement, but the synchronizing the sound pitch as well.

“Congratulations mortals,you’ve broken the original seal,”

“Mother, is coming,” Their knees hit the ground with enough force to leave small craters, but the two blonds didn’t notice. Too busy with their laughter, an awful sound that barely qualified as mirthful, claws on their bellies,ripping clothing and drawing blood from the living jinchuuriki.

***

Mother…the original tailed beast-oh.

Kurama carried on chortling, unintentionally ensuring that no one saw Sasuke break character. Not that it really mattered, the ten tails was coming. They were going to die-all of them. Was this why the fake Madara had helped kill the clan? To free the demon. Had Sasuke just hastened the process by crossing between worlds so often? Had Yatagarasu known? Was the spirit using him all along, just like everybody else?

Something in him, that fragile part that still wanted to trust,shattered.The shards digging into his soul, and given how draining the day had been, Sasuke had absolutely nothing to shield him from the pain.

He’d given so much to the process,certain that he was doing right by his family, and where had that gotten him? The wind howled as Kurama was finally subdued and Sasuke swore he could hear Yatagarasu’s laughter in it.Laughter directed at him.

Uchiha Sasuke, the fool, so gullible even the spirits knew about it…pathetic.

He’d been used…again.How had he not seen it coming? Kurama’s presence faded completely, but Sasuke’s lifeline was a mere wisp now, and he was tired, so tired. He reached for it with a bony hand, one tug and it would unravel, giving him early access to what everyone would be experiencing in a short while.

His hand tightened around it, but the moment he tried to pull, the flames from the pyre came alive,enveloping him in a wall of fire. Sasuke only had a moment to see it take the form of a giant flaming snake,Aoda! Before he was swallowed by its coils, carried away from the place between worlds by a raging serpent.

The last of the spiritual bones turning to stone with his exit. The people still in shock from the Kyubbi’s revelation, merely staring at the new memorial stones, unaware of the gravity of what had nearly happened.

Notes:

In the shinobi world, you must always look a gift horse in the mouth and count all its teeth for good measure.

Chapter 13

Notes:

Interlude

The shinobi world was a place of secrets.

And here was one of their open secrets. Refugees were the scum of earth.

Nothing more than bottom feeding, village deserting fiends. How could you trust someone who turned their back on their home because things got a little tough? Shinobi who did this were called rogue, and were free hunting game for all. For the civilians it varied, some got new names like whore, slave, or even dead.This was a system Konoha had thrived on, they’d also helped create it( being the first hidden village with borders and all).

It had served them well.Their most notable acquisitiom being that of the nine tails after the fall of Uzushio. The woman desperate to avoid the punishment of being village-less, had come straight to the gates of fire. They’d made sure that everyone knew that the jinchuuriki wasn’t a refugee. She was an asylum-seeker, a title she’d paid for by abandoning her family. Never mind that it was the same thing made to sound fancier.

Deserters were scum, but those who proved their worth, through money, knowledge or raw power, often avoided such a branding when they found themselves without a village.

Some of the higher-ups even liked to joke how the likes of Orochimaru, would’ve been given a kage’s pardon anywhere he chose, had he simply shared his vast knowledge. Such words were often followed by uncontrollable laughter-funny not because of their humor-but because of the truth in the statement.

***

For the shinobi, practicality trumped kindness, and unless you had something of value to offer, your chances outside your own village…were bleak.

Konoha’s people had known all this, had known they were not likely to be met with open arms the moment they left Konoha’s borders. But they knew they couldn’t stay, nothing good could be salvaged from staying. All of them too hurt,too untrusting and too self-serving to even attempt to build something that wouldn’t collapse in on itself. It wasn’t a pretty truth, but after all that had been revealed about the village they’d defended so passionately, it wasn’t a part of themselves they could ignore. So they left, a cold hard truth gnawing at all of them as they left the ruins of their former village.

Refugee weren’t scum and they weren’t useless.

They were people, and some of the bravest beings on the continent.

No one chose to leave home unless their home was an endless gaping mouth with rows and rows of jagged teeth, poison gleaming from each tip. And even then it took guts, endless determination and hope. Qualities the new migrants hadn’t known they possesed until their backs were against the wall.

***

The other villages knew…of course they did.

All of them made a living as professional spies and killers, to not know something as big as-the world is ending- would’ve been embarassing.

For most people, that would’ve be panic inducing news, but they were shinobi…their world ended everyday. This was probably another prank call, like that time Konoha lost control of the nine tails, or when the mist did bloodline purges on the regular, or it could’ve been like that time when Killer Bee became an emergency jinchuuriki.

Hoax or not one thing remained true-Konoha had fallen. For real this time. Unlike the last time Konoha had fallen and risen in quick succession, the spoils were theirs to not only take, but keep as well.There’d be no diplomatic begging, no hasty returning of trade routes, and clients. No sending of aid in the form of money and medicine they couldn’t spare.

Konohagure was gone for good, and that meant one thing…refugees.

***

The Hyuga, ever proud, tried to bargain for a passage through the land of lightning, an attempt that failed dismally with the Raikage barely glancing at their gifts. It was no secret that Kumo had long wanted the byakugan, there was no way they would just let the clan pass.

“Yo! Hyuga, eagle-eye so fly, why be passing by, stay and watch the lightning fly by,” The jinchuuriki’s rhyme held no threat, it didn’t need to. His eight blades all balanced on his body, each weak spot covered, were more than enough.

“We only wish for passage, not residence”Hiashi finally said, Hanabi and Hinata coming up on either side of him. No one moved, but the air shifted, growing heavier, and one by one the Hyuga eye veins popped out, byakugans activating, shields appearing over the children and civilian members of the clan.

The raikage let the words sink in, the kiri-nin around him tensing,“A truly unfortunate choice,” When all was said and done, the Hyuga made it past Kumo, having more than paid the price for their passage. Hiashi’d lost over half his clan, the right side of his face burned beyond recognition, and as things stood, Hanabi would most likely lose her left eye. But just as the Hyuga had paid, the Kumo-nin had also suffered, most of the lower ranking shinobi were dead. Killer Bee would never have full access to his tailed beast, and A was no longer capable of lightning armor.

***

Tsume, alpha of the Inuzuka tried to get her pack through the bloody mist. Rather than go looking for a fight on the way to their ancestral land, she bundled the pack into a ship and they sat sail-hiding under cloaking jutsus to avoid trouble. The pack had almost made it out when Mei Terumi’s lava flowed into the waters, blocking their path. The fight that followed was long and fierce, with many kiri-nin’s throats ending up between the teeth of the transformed Inuzuka. In the end what was left of the Inuzuka made it out, their freedom paid for by Tsume’s sacrifice, her pelt now adorning Mei Terumi’s shoulders. Both a warning and a trophy.

***

Sakura, upon seeing the clans branch off, had gathered up the civilians.

“I can’t promise you’ll all make it. But if you follow me, I’ll do my best to makes sure many of you survive,” They’d followed without complaint, bringing their ninja children with them.A fact that later helped them ward of countless bandits. Many still died, murders, starvation and disease(even her abilities as a healer could only do so much without equipment). But through it all the people still followed her.

She led them all the way to Suna, settling in the outskirts of the village. Gaara, despite his bloodthirsty past, was the most peaceful of the kage. In exchange for her being the impoverished village’s chief medic, he gave her people sanctuary.

“Where’s Naruto?” He’d asked the first day, and she’d given him a sad look.

“Not here,”She’d whispered,voice cracking, her breath reeking of plum wine- a scent everyone would come to associate with her, the drink always on her person.

***

The Aburame made it through Grass unbothered, no one wanted anything to do with an endless swarm of insects. Ino-Shika-Cho, also had the same good fortune,though theirs had nothing to do with silent intimidation and everything to do with Nara intelligence. The clans moved in the shadows, Akimichi boulders pummeling the earth, Iwa-nin taking cover thinking it was an earthquake. Anyone who saw the strangely moving shadows, or caught a glimpse of the Akimichi shaking the earth was instantly subdued by the Yamanaka.

Simple, but incredibly effective.

***

With everyone scattering, there was no time for proper goodbyes. After sealing the memorial stadium against people wishing to do harm, everyone had gone. Leaving behind a few nuns and priests who’d volunteered to care for the place, and one other stoaway.

A clanless girl, who once upon a time had been known as Konoha’s mistress of seals.

Tenten.

***

Most people had only known the world was ending for a few weeks.

But Tenten’s world had ended the day Neji’d died.

The official story was that he’d died saving Naruto from Pein. In reality, his sacrifice hadn’t been for Naruto…it’d been for Hinata.

She’d thrown herself in front of the boy to save him from what would’ve been a fatal attack. Then Neji, Tenten’s Neji, had taken the final blow to save Hinata from a situation she had no business being part of.

From those precious few seconds, all Tenten remebered was the soft brush of lips against her own, and the brief warmth of a fleeting hug, and just like that-he’d been gone.

Dead, his blood pooling a few paces from where Hinata was sobbing in Naruto’s arms, the blond swearing vengeance.

***

When Naruto’d defeated and convinced Pein to ressurect everyone, Tenten’d dared to hope. She’d held Neji’s hand, forcefully wiping away stray tears as she’d waited for him to come back. But he’d remained as he was, cold, dead, and a lump had lodged in Tenten’s throat, stealing her voice. Her hopeful tears hot and burning, grief extingushing the last of her hope, in that moment, she’d thought she’d never feel pain greater than that.

Then had come Neji’s funeral, and the ceremony had proven her wrong.

***

Neji’s team(plus Naruto) had only been allowed to attend due to a direct order from Lady Tsunade(after Naruto’d asked on their behalf). It was normally a clan only type of situation, and the moment they’d arrived, Tenten’d understood why.

The branch members’d been kneeling on the bare ground, heads bowed, headbands removed. Seals glowing a sickly green.Up ahead, the main branch had been seated in cushioned chairs, Neji’s casket shunted off to the side, partially hidden by a paper screen, like he wasn’t the guest of honor. Standing behind an ornate podium, one of the Hyuga elders had been speaking.

“All parts of a tree are important, but the significance of the side branches is to protect the main bough,” Your lives are worth less than ours.

“Young Neji understood this, he was proud of his mark, same as his father, and they both died fulfilling their duty.To perish doing anything else is a disgrace,” The already unmoving branch members had stilled further, their seals flaring in warning. The silent threat easy to read…sacrifice yourself for us, or suffer the consequences.

“He is at peace now, and today we take him to his place on the mountain. He will never go as high as the mighty, but his noble deed has granted him a place in their shadows,” To the likes of you,death is a luxury, and even then, we will dictate your place in the pure lands.

Fighting back a sudden bout of nausea, Tenten’d looked around. Surely everyone’d heard what the elders were really saying. Why was no one doing anything? Saying anything? Her fingers’d twitched, her weapon scrolls materializing. Then Gai-sensei’s arm had come around her in a fake hug, preventing her from acting out without drawing attention. He’d held firm even as she’d dug her smallest senbon into his side, trying to get him to let go.

Then Hinata’s turn to speak had come, and some of Tenten’s anger had vanished. Hinata was the only Hyuga Tenten(and a lot of people) actually liked, she’d do right by her cousin. But upon taking the stage, she’d heaved one shuddering sigh, looked over at the coffin and said one sentence “Thank you, Neji” Tenten’s rage had gone from simmering, to scorching hot so fast, she’d blacked out.

***

Later when she’d finally managed to calm down, she’d talked herself out of being angry at Hinata. The other girl wasn’t the bravest of the lot, and though her words for Neji had been lackluster. They were the only half way decent thing that had been said at the funeral. There was also another thing to consider.

No matter how little Tenten cared about the main branch, they were still Hinata’s family, and they were powerful(even more so, since they’d started using Neji’s sacrifice to grow their influence).

Hinata did her best, but the girl was too much of a good girl to ever make a ruckus.

***

A few weeks later, the Hyuga heiress had proven Tenten wrong. The clan might have been alright with sucking up to a now influential Naruto, but that didn’t mean they liked him. But Hinata did, and she’d taken a stand.

“Seeing him fight Pein, gave me the strength to stand up to my family,”Blushing prettily, she’d stood on her tiptoes and kissed her equally red face boyfriend. The remaining rookie 9 cheering loudly, no one had noticed Tenten slip away.

Thing was, Tenten’d just come back from an assasination. And when she’d burned the target’s body she’d destroyed something else along with it.

A pregnancy test.

Confirmation of the reason behind her continued nausea, and sudden weight loss, and fainting fits whenever she got too emotional, the little positive sign going up in flames but remaining etched in her memory.

She was pregnant with Neji’s child.

For a crazy moment, she’d considered going rogue, but she’d been stopped by the thought of Gai-sensei and Lee, not only losing her too, but also having to hunt her down. Hinata was supposed to have been her salvation, someone to help her figure out a way to prevent her child, Neji’s child, from getting branded. Up until Hinata’d announced her relationship with Naruto, going against her clan, Tenten’d thought that the other kunoichi would help-clearly she’d been wrong.

***

Strength.

She’d said Naruto’d given her strength.

All the times Neji’d swallowed his pride, and gone to the main house to train-she hadn’t seen the strength in that. Hadn’t seen it when mere hours after the clan elders had seen it fit to fry his brain, he’d been out and about, helping her with her moves. So when he’d sacrificed himself to save her from her own stupidity, all she’d seen, was Naruto!

For a boy, Hinata had stood up to her family, but for Neji-her flesh and blood-who’d sacrificed himself for her, Hinata wasn’t even trying. Sad looks and fat tears weren’t enough anymore.

Her silence when it came to her family’s caged bird seal, was a clear indication of which side Hinata was on.

For the first time, Tenten’d found herself wishing Neji’d killed Hinata during the chuunin exams.

***

Acccording to village gossip, Hyuga women were the most frequent visitors of backstreet abortion clinics. There was never any proof, and the Hyuga main branch denied it. But the rumors weren’t just about the women.

“Did you hear about that Hyuga jounin-yeah, the one who got married last spring-word is he got a vasectomy in kiri, and the main branch found out, he’s a vegetable now,” Peppered in with the hearsay, were the jokes.

“What do Hyuga women use as baby carriers?... buckets full of water…it puts the little ones right to sleep, the babies love it so much they never wake up,” Not funny, but not based on fiction either. Something that had become a very real possibility for Tenten as the days’d passed, and each morning she’d chickened out of taking the abortion pill she’d stolen from an unsuspecting civilian nurse.

***

The day she’d finally swallowed the tablet, was the day she’d felt the baby’s chakra signature for the first time. With that pregnancy milestone had come a new discovery, she hadn’t felt just one fledgling chakra signature…there’d been two.

Tiny orbs of chakra, nestling in her own, content, trusting her, and she was going to kill them.

The last bits of Neji, and she was going to kill them without ever seeing their little faces. But her time was up, all it would take was a single look, and those with the byakugan would know.

She’d gagged, her body rebelling, but she’d held firm, tears streaming down her face, her mind wandering even as she tried to blank out everything.

She ‘d already known they’d have pale eyes, the Hyuga eyes were a dominant gene. But she’d found herself wondering about other things? Would they have had Neji’s perfect hair, or that rare sunshine through a dark cloud smile of his? Would they have laughed like him, be as ridiculously noble as he’d been? Would her temper have gotten them in trouble, or would Neji’s level head have prevailed in them?

She’d sat alone on her cold bathroom floor, waiting for the worst assasination of her life to end. Her naked body curled up, her traitorous hands cradling her belly,shame clawing at her, she’d had no right to want to hold the little lives within her. Of all the kills under her belt, Tenten’d known that that one, would be the one that never faded.

…Then the spirits had intervened.

A woman, pregnant and dead, had appeared out of nowhere. Startling Tenten so much, she’d lost the battle with her body and had heaved, throwing up the still intact capsule.

***

The very thing that had heralded the end of Konoha had been responsible for piecing together the remnants of Tenten’s shattered world. Crouched behind a collapsed wall, the kunoichi counted her scrolls, double checking that everything was sealed properly before she stood.

A genjutsu made her path into the memorial stadium eventless, and she walked through countless stones, headed for one particular pile, bowing deeply when she finally reached it.

“Hey, Neji…” Her voice cracked, and she took a moment to compose herself.

“Been a while, huh?” She hiccuped, her eyes stinging.

“I was going to send them to you for safe keeping,” She cupped her barely there baby bump.

“But things are different now,”

“ I’m going to keep them here…just… watch over us okay,” There was so much more she wanted to say, but words failed her, so she kept quiet, pouring a cup of sake onto the stones. After one more bow she stood, walking past the unaware guardians with purpose in her steps.

***

Once outside the village, she shed her genjutsu, making herself visible again. Given the difficulty of the journey ahead and her precious cargo, she couldn’t afford to waste chakra. She took to the trees at maximum speed, keeping the pace for hours,stopping only to drink water and eat. When night fell, she’d made good time so she decided to rest.

Just before dawn she blinked awake, rising smoothly and falling into a fighting stance, a giant shuriken in hand.

“Come out, you won’t like it if I have to chase you,” No one answered, but Tenten saw a shadow in the corner of her eye, and her arm twitched. She’d known it would be difficult, but she hadn’t thought she’d be caught so early, but that was a small matter. Whoever had come after her was going to regret it, she’d cleave them in half before she let them harm her babies.

The shadow moved, and so did Tenten, her shuriken hit the intruder dead on, and where Tenten expected the dull thump of a body falling…there was no such thing. Upon contact her shuriken exploded in a rain of blinding yellow sparks, some of them heart shaped, others stars.

…Wait a minute.

“Lee, Gai-sensei?”

“Tenten!” The intruder-Lee-burst out of the shadows, lifting her off her feet with the force of his hug, which was uncharacteristically gentle.

She didn’t feel Gai-sensei land, but when the hug ended he was right next to them, crying freely, and drawing both of them into another hug.

***

“We should head further north, the Hyuga have no ties there,” Gai-sensei said as they ate,Tenten gasped, nearly dropping her plate.

“You knew!”

“ You were throwing up all the time, and your chakra changed, only a little bit, but enough for those who know you best to notice,” Lee said softly, whenever he and Gai-sensei used their indoor voices,they meant business, and Tenten found it unsettling.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” She asked, genuinely curious. It was Gai-sensei who answered.

“ All Hyuga pregnancies outside the clan, are to be reported to the Hyuga clan head so that the pregnant women can be taken ‘under their wing’,”

“ But you two knew and kept quiet, that’s treason,” She breathed, goosebumps breaking over her skin. Lee and Gai-sensei had been the most pro-Konoha people she knew, but they’d still gone against the village…for her.

“ Suspicion is not proof, you never said, and we never asked, simple,” She looked at the two men in front of her and her heart swelled. This, was loyalty, true family, they’d knowingly taken such a huge risk just so she could have the freedom of choice.

“How’s my grandbaby?” Gai-sensei asked, easing the tension, and Tenten smiled for the first time in a long time.

“Just one? Picking favourites already? What about the other baby?” She asked, bursting out laughing at the identical looks of shock on their faces. More hugs and crying followed. Accompanied by promises made directly to her belly, pledges of protection, unconditional love, and to be the best uncle and grandfather in history.

Shortly before sunrise, the trio took off, headed for the world beyond the lives they’d known since birth, a fresh start. They moved fast and silently, but even with their vigilance, none of them noticed their fourth companion.

A pale eyed eagle, flew above them, keeping watch.

They’d never know it, but the eagle would stay with them until the birth of Tenten’s babies, a boy and a girl, the first generation of free Hyuga.

Chapter 14

Soul death, shell-shock, depression.

Sasuke’d first heard of such terms when he’d defected to Oto, from a medic nin who’d enjoyed bringing such mental states to his victims.

The circumstances of him learning that there was a word, for the constant sadness that clung to him like smoke, hadn’t been ideal. But he’d been too overcome with relief at finally having a name for the monster that he hadn’t cared.

Such words didn’t exist in Konoha.

 Either your will of fire was strong enough to overcome all emotional turmoil, or you were weak willed, simple as that.

Knowing what the soul ache that tinted the world around him in shades of grey was, should’ve made it easier. But even after years of grappling with depression, Sasuke still had no idea how to handle it. He’d had highs and lows over time, more highs than lows since leaving the hidden villages.Which was why he as so pitifully unprepared for the low that came after Konoha. A low he’d almost avoided by taking himself out of the equation...permanently.

He’d almost made it, had almost reached that place where there’d be no more Sasuke, no more pain. Aoda’s fangs dragging him back into his physical self, had felt more like death, than the real thing had.

Grounded in a body he didn’t want, his spirit shattered, and his mind untethered. Sasuke had nearly fallen apart, madness circling the edges of his conciousness. Snarling like hungry hyena, salivating. But then his spiralling mind, in one last attempt to save itself, had pulled out an old Konoha forged coping mechanism.

The no feelings box.

***

He got up every morning, ate, worked out, and nodded along in all the right places during conversations.

The same puppet on strings routine, that’d had the medics in Konoha, declaring him fit to return to the academy within days of his family’s deaths. Anything that came close to touching the hornet’s nest of emotions, that had led to his suicide attempt, being firmly pushed into his no feelings box.

No rage, no happiness, no sadness, no anger, no hurt...no nothing.

He faded into himself, his emotions couldn’t harm him if he didn’t acknowledge them. It was a tried and tested practice in the Leaf.

***

 Naruto’s ‘no feelings’ box was made of big smiles and never ending laughter. Kakashi’s box hoarded faux laziness like it was going out of fashion. Even Sakura as she’d grown, had built her own box…the snakes had been able to smell the alcohol on her from miles away.

Long story short, the no feelings box, eventhough it was never spoken of, was one of the best things to come out of Konoha.

 A true marvel.

 Every single trauma one could possibly imagine, compressed into an airtight compartment and hidden away. The toxicity only allowed out on two very special occasions...murder and mayhem. Case and point, Itachi slaughtering his own family, Orochimaru and his experiments, Ibiki’s iron hold on T and I, the bloodthirsty elders, Konoha’s absolute domination of the other villages(only the idiots had actually believed it had anything to do with diplomacy).

The list went on and on, and had the village still existed, Sasuke was certain it would be growing by the minute. But Konoha was in the past now, and no longer having the village to justify his emotional constipation with ‘everyone else is doing it’. Sasuke was realizing something that he probably would’ve died not knowing if the village and its band of loyal zealots had still existed.

The no feelings box...was not good.

***

 Murder and mayhem, those were the conditions needed to unleash the hurt in the no feelings box. But he lived in a civilian village that was sorely lacking in overpowered maniacs that needed to be cut down.

He, was the resident overpowered maniac that needed to be cut down. But with Taka keeping an eye on him, that hadn’t worked out so far. They’d sealed away every weapon he owned, and made sure he was never alone for long. In that time his no feelings box grown and grown, cracking at the seams. He was oozing emotions all over the place at the most inopportune times, and he had no idea how to fix the leak.

He slept too much, he slept too little, either way he was always so tired. Food became that weird thing he only remembered when it was shoved down his throat. He had silent, unplanned cries when the others weren’t looking, his stoic mask sliding into place when he felt eyes on him. He went from extreme, murderous rage, to just wanting to curl up and let the biggest predator out there eat him.

It was draining, both mentally and physically, and Sasuke had no idea how long he could endure it.

The others, with their carefully controlled chakra, their even more careful words, and worried looks were not helping.

Even the snakes were driving him up the wall. He hadn’t summoned them since Aoda’d dragged him away from the spirit plane, and they’d been pushing against the bond ever since. Their worry and sadness travelling across the planes, starbright and relentless. He did not need their help.

He was fine, his no feelings box was just a little wonky, but once he figured it out, he’d be back on track in no time.

So intent on fixing the box, he didn’t even consider the possibility of destroying it, until his friends came at it with a sledge hammer.

***

One evening, Sasuke sat across from Karin in the kitchen, staring at his endless plate of food while Karin stared at him.

A run of the mill evening since returning from Konoha, at least until she loudly pushed back her chair and stood.

“Wanna wreck some stuff?”

His mouth, almost...almost smiled, and that was all the answer she needed. She vanished and just as quickly reappeared, carrying a huge box of her perfume rejects. They wound up in the back yard, screaming at the top of their lungs each time a mishapen bottle shattered. Good old reliable Karin, not a single emotional moment in sight, just two friends breaking stuff.

When the last bottle was thrown, Sasuke stared down at the not at all safe moutain of glass and aimed a katon at it.

Together they watched the clear glass turn into molten lava, taking interesting shapes as it flowed and cooled. Feeling more settled than he had in a while, Sasuke stared up at the sky with Karin beside him.

She let the quiet persist for a few minutes, making sure his guard was all the way down...then she struck.

***

 “Sasuke...you... are a boy,” There was no getting around how weird that statement was. Blinking owlishly at her, Sasuke decided to play along and state the obvious.

“Karin...you...are a girl,” Dodging a swift kick to the head, he sat on the grass, and watched the mismatched statue they’d created, seconds later, Karin joined him. She let herself fall all the way back, her eyes fixed on the stars above.

“I mean...you are human... but in all the years I’ve known you, I’ve watched you try to kill that part of yourself,” Their little destruction session was taking a turn Sasuke could do without. Resigning himself to whatever lecture she was about to give, he let himself fall back too, bracing himself for what was to come.

Karin’s hand skimmed the grass, her fingers tangling with his, giving a light squeeze before she let go.

“I get it, when my mom died, I became Karin of the Grass. Orochimaru’s chief jailer and Oto’s head of T and I, and I was good,” Sasuke’d seen her work, good, was an understatement.

“For years, that was all I was, all I did. Then one day on a mission, I caught a whiff of the perfume my mom used to wear...,” She broke off, and the muffled sobs that followed her silence, had Sasuke staring up at the stars with more focus than they deserved. Very slowly, in a move that shocked even him, he inched closer, gently brushing his shoulder against hers in silent comfort.

When she finally got herself under control, she angrily wiped her tears before continuing on like nothing had happened.

“Imagine...Oto’s chief executioner bawling in a civilian village in the middle of nowhere...if there’d been a single shinobi there, I would’ve been dead,”Her laugh was wet, ending in a hiccuping cough, and Sasuke touched her shoulder again. She bumped him right back, and this time they stayed like that, sharing heat.

“When I pulled myself back together, I bought the perfume, but the scent brought back too many memories. So I poured out the liquid and kept the bottle,”

“It became a habit-collecting perfume bottles- I don’t need them but I enjoy it,”

***

A star shot out from the sky, leaving a glowing trail in its wake. Reaching out, Karin traced the line of starlight before it disappeared, her hand hovering in the air for a few brief seconds after it had vanished.

“You do know that the wish thing is made up right?” She elbowed his side for that, but Sasuke barely felt it.

“I like it, so why not do it,” With one last shoulder bump, she stood and looked down at him, blocking his view of the sky.

“For years you trained to avenge your family. You put in work to get rid of Orochimaru. You worked for months to ensure the fall of Konoha. You put your all into making sure the dead receive the best care possible,” She paused, running a hand through her hair before continuing, her voice softer and more careful than Sasuke’s ever heard it.

“But what about you? What have you ever done just for you...just for Sasuke, not for your family, not for the team-both old and new, not to meet some goal? When was the last time you did something because you wanted to,” Her gentle demeanor vanished, and she balled her fists.

“Be selfish for once in your life!” She threw herself back next to him with an angry huff, and proceeded to glare at the stars(Karin never did like showing worry for others).

Normally, Sasuke would say something to lighten the moment, but he was stunned into silence...absolutely stunned.

Her questions had torn something in his scabbed over heart. A few statements and he was rattled. On the outside his face was stoic, but inside he was screaming. As unintentional as it was, Karin had broken the unspoken rule. She’d addressed Sasuke’s coping method. And his no feelings box, unused to attention, was now unbalanced. This was-it was- no, he couldn’t let it fall, he could hold everything in. Karin, bless her, was the last person to be talking about emotions and humanity.

Sasuke was fine.

No rage, no happiness, no sadness, no anger, no hurt...no nothing.

No rage, no happiness, no sadness, no anger, no hurt...no nothing.

No rage, no happiness, no sadness, no anger, no hurt...no nothing.

No rage, no happiness, no- You are human,

Karin’s words, simple and straight to the point, broke his mantra, and Sasuke lost his hold on the box and it fell over. Everything he’d ever sealed in there oozed out.The box no longer able to hold the contents of his mind because of one simple fact.

He was human.

Shinobi were tools, weapons of destruction, they had no use for real emotion. But before the ninja, came the boy, and the boy...was human.

What did human beings do?

What did Sasuke do? What did Sasuke like?Who was Sasuke?...

***

Karin had her perfume bottles. Suigetsu fished, and Juugo cuddled small animals. What about Sasuke, what did he have? How long had it been since he’d done something just for himself?

He wrecked his brain, and a sense of relief flooded him when he remembered that he used to enjoy chasing cats and taking their paw prints. But the relief was short lived. How old had he been then...four...five?

Had it really been that long?!

He swallowed, but the breath got caught in his throat, and when he tried to let it out, all that came was a sob, and with that, the floodgates opened.

Sasuke... was not a crier. But once the waterworks started, he couldn’t stop.

Who cried over lacking a hobby?

But feeling hot tears flow down his face, Sasuke knew it wasn’t about the lack of a pastime. These were the tears he’d never let fall. All the sadness seven year old Sasuke had locked away like a dirty secret and sworn never to feel. His heartache, after years of being repressed, had renamed itself anger, and Sasuke had let it fester, poisoning everything in him. But now, Karin had knocked over his no feelings box, and his emotions were everywhere. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, his grief was taking back its true form.

For her part, Karin didn’t try to talk him through it, to control the shape his sorrow took. She just held him close and let it be, she let him be. For other people, it might not have meant much, but Sasuke’d spent much of his life having his emotions forged into weapons by others. For him to be vulnerable in front of someone, and have that person just let him feel, it was a lot. And in that moment, Sasuke felt not only sadness, but an emotion he hadn’t allowed himself to even think about since he’d locked his feelings away...hope.

Maybe, just maybe, there was still enough fight left in him, to pull himself together.

***

He took up abstract art, using his bedroom as a canvas. Paint hit the walls, seeped into the floors and blanketed the door. With each explosion of colour, the paints layered on top of one another, every single feeling Sasuke had ever repressed, channeled into the art.

Anger, sorrow, resentment, hate, spite, survivor’s guilt...it turned out Sasuke’s no feelings box had a lot of negative emotions. His neat and orderly room turned into a kaleidoscope of colour overnight, with even the bedding tie-and-dyed the colours of his nightmares. Surprisingly, giving his pain a physial form, that had nothing to do with blood and guts...was freeing.

It brought a sense of stability he hadn’t known he was capable of. With that stability, he moved his art onto actual canvas and shared it with the others.

Taka, true to form, took one look and started cracking jokes, none of them hurtful. And if Karin gave him the biggest smile he’d ever seen from her, her eyes shining with pride, there was no need to mention it. Having had enough of being soft, she gestured at a spot on one of the paintings.

 “Over there, with the bits of purple and gold, doesn’t that look like Orochimaru’s eyes?”

“Thanks Karin, now we all have to worry he’s still watching us,” A collective shudder went through the group.

“Suigetsu is right, now that you’ve mentioned it, I can’t unsee it, it’s unsettling...” The Orochimaru painting was placed in the living room, facing the front door, a silent reminder for them to always be on their toes.

***

With his no feelings box toppled by hurricane Karin, Sasuke was out of sorts. But the crutch of the box, even if it was a bit topsy turvy, was comforting. He still leaned on it from time to time, and would’ve continued to do so, had it not been shredded...by kittens.

Juugo just walked in while Sasuke was glaring at the Orochimaru painting and plopped two tiny balls of fluff on his lap. The tiny creatures then made their way up to Sasuke’s chest, forcing him to lie back, to keep them from falling. Turning his glare from the painting to his friend, Sasuke did not hide his displeasure, but Juugo, now lying on the living room carpet was unbothered. His attention not on Sasuke, but on the two other kittens he had.

Readjusting his position on the couch, Sasuke freed a hand and none too gently poked Juugo.

The staring contest that ensued was clearly one sided. While Sasuke was trying to burn a hole into Juugo’s skull, the other nin stared back placidly. His eyes flicked from Sasuke to the kittens on his chest, and whatever he found there must have pleased him. With a satisfied nod, Juugo closed his eyes, unbothered by the tiny claws now digging into his hair.

For the first time, Sasuke cursed the fact that he and Juugo, were the silent types. Karin and Suigetsu, would’ve already caved and told him what was going on.

He spent several long minutes glaring at Juugo some more, debating on whether or not to use Amaterasu to permanently burn off the other’s hair.

***

Light pinpricks had him shifting his attention to the felines on his chest. Two pairs of wide green eyes stared back.The staring contest carried on so long, that Sasuke ended up doing something he’d been avoiding like the plague.

He let his mind switch off.

No plotting, no fixating...when he realized what he was doing he panicked, nearly toppling the kittens as he tried to get up. An empty mind meant free space to think about things he didn’t want to remember...his family, Itachi, Konoha, team seven, Oto... A low rumble emanated from his chest, spread across his sternum and sank into his bones. Another followed, then another, the pleasant sensation quieted Sasuke’s racing thoughts. Mind once again pleasantly blank, Sasuke looked at the kittens with wide eyes.

How were they doing that?

He looked down at Juugo, but his friend was lost in dream land, his face relaxed. Looking back at the kittens Sasuke stared at them in awe. Had they always been able to do that? A memory, blurred by time resurfaced.

The compound, before it became a burial ground, had been full of kittens. And on any given day, if Sasuke was missing, he could often be found amongst a litter. Napping and cuddling to his little heart’s content...simple times.

In the present, one of the kittens on his chest fussed and Sasuke moved a shaking hand, gently patting it until it settled. Cats had been part of everyday life when he was small. How had he forgotten that? How had he forgotten this thing that he was doing now.

Rest...he was resting.

Not meditating, not recuperating, he was simply taking time out of the day to just be. He’d stopped moving, and his world hadn’t crumbled around him. Not only that, he was actually holding, tiny living things, and they hadn’t died on him.

Wow.

***

It was one thing to hold another life in your hands and cherish it. Valuing your own life, especially amongst shinobi, was on a whole other level. But it seemed no one had shared this bit of information with Suigetsu. Having walked in on Sasuke holding baby animals, without them spontaneuosly combusting. The other ninja had completely misread the situation.

He took Sasuke not wanting to kill fragile kittens to mean Sasuke was over trying to kill himself.

And Suigetsu, being Suigetsu, didn’t even try to ease Sasuke into it. He just tracked Sasuke down while he was on his daily walk, and threw his own chokuto at him. The blade whistled as it flew by, slicing a single strand of hair before digging itself into the stem of an old tree.

Sasuke looked from the chokuto, to Suigetsu, who was leaning on his own blade, his jagged teeth on full display. Taking a deep calming breath, he made to walk around the weapon, some fights just weren’t worth it. He only took a single step before a tiny raincloud appeared above him, and instead of water...it started raining scrolls.

A small mountain of them. All of them holding a portion of Sasuke’s arsenal, from shuriken to senbons. The very weapons that Karin had sealed away while Juugo and Suigetsu literally sat on him.

Eye twitching, he dug himself out, and when he finally made it out, the sight of a still grinning Suigetsu, burnt away the last of his calmness.

For weeks, Sasuke and weapons had been a no-no, but the moment his hand closed around the hilt of his blade, it was like they’d never parted. He charged Suigetsu without a second thought, the other ninja raising his blade just in time to avoid a slit throat.

Swords still crossed, he and Suigetsu looked each other in eye, a feral grin splitting the other nin’s face.

Sasuke was going to enjoy wiping he smug smirk off his face...

***

Hours later, both of them collapsed against the tree Sasuke had been walking under, blades propped against the scroll mountain.

“How did you know...that I was ready...how did you know?” Suigetsu gave him a long look, then he shrugged.

“I’ve seen the look in your eyes before, the one you had when we came back from Konoha,”

“It’s not there anymore, so I knew you could trust yourself with a weapon again,” The other nin tore off his tattered sleeves, abandoning the material on the grass.

This was edging on things Sasuke didn’t want to know, but he had to ask.

“How did you know, to take my weapons in the first place?” Suigetsu had been the one to insist Sasuke’s weapons be taken.

“...And how could you tell I was ready to have them back. Is it something they teach in the Mist?” The smile Suigetsu gave had no teeth, and there was so inherently wrong, and so very sad, about seeing the other nin smile without baring his teeth.

“I’m kiri, do you really think anyone there has time to coddle a boy who’s brother just died,”

“I’m the one who decided to stop using weapons for a bit after I awakened my kekkeigenkai,”

What?! That didn’t make any sense. That was the most crucial time to improve self defense capabilities. Every clan kid knew that, shinobi hunted them for sport. They had to be armed to the teeth especially if they were on their own.

Why would... To answer his unvoiced question, Suigetsu summoned a kunai. He dug it into his wrists without hesitation, slitting each one methodically. Thin streams of water flowed into the ground, the wound knitting together like it had never been there.

Oh.

“Ten years old, no home, no brother anymore, no one to care about. Nobody would miss me, so I decided to make things hurt a little less,” Scoffing lightly, Suigetsu put the kunai away.

“I was bleeding out when I passed out, but when I woke up,the cave floor was flooded, and there wasn’t a drop of blood in sight,”

Where Karin had knocked over the no feelings box, and Juugo had shredded it. Suigetsu, water that he was, dissolved the remnants of the box with the quiet fury of a raging sea.

This was someone who’d actually walked up the same cliff Sasuke had. He’d stared at the endless nothing, and had turned his back on it. The two of them spent the rest of the afternoon like that, cleaning their blades. Sniping at each other, exchanging elbow punches, just being...alive.

***

Since his suicide attempt, Sasuke hadn’t summoned the snakes, shame fuelling his actions, but the snakes deserved better.

He went through the summoning seals with his heart in his throat, unsure of the reaction he’d get.

He’d expected anger, reproach, and more than one cold shoulder, but all the snakes did was pile on top of him, pinning him to the floor, everyone wanting a cuddle under the guise of seeking warmth. When they’d finally had their fill, they slithered all over his bedroom walls and ceiling, marveling at the new art there.

They oohed and aahed and the next thing Sasuke knew, they were in the backyard, white sheets strung out.

“Ready?” He asked, Raya, coiled at his feet, hissed. He dipped the king cobra into a can of blue paint and after a quick spin, Sasuke launched him at the sheets. The snake, upon making contact, clung to the cloth using his chakra, but the vertigo from Sasuke’s spin soon had him on the ground. He landed belly-up...and didn’t move.

Maybe painting with the snakes wasn’t such a good idea.

Rushing over, Sasuke gathered the cobra into his arms, the others all around them, heads in the air, hissing worriedly.

“Raya?” The snake twitched, then he slowly righted himself, his coils going around Sasuke’s arms.

He sneezed, and Sasuke wiped venom and blue snot from his face.

“Are you alright?” The snake gave him a blurry eyed look, then he lifted his head up, swaying slightly.

“Awesssssome!” He hissed, the paint on his scales drying and flaking off with a burst of chakra.

Excited hisses followed the proclamation, everyone wanting their turn. In the end, Sasuke had to lay the sheets down on the ground, and the afternoon passed with everyone(himself included) covered in paint and rolling around.

By sunset, he had multiple sheets covered in paint that would probably never come off. As a thank you, for the endless hours of laundry ahead. He gave the snakes treats, mice for Aiko(the python not so sneakily going for seconds). Mango for Kai and Lee, the mambas sliding over each other to get to the fruit. Raya and Ren shared bowl of milk, the cobra and the viper twining together as they lapped at the liquid. After looking around to make sure everyone was happy, Sasuke quietly made his way to the carvens that ran beneath the village.

As expected he found Aoda there, his lower body submerged beneath the water, sending out gentle ripples.

“ Sasuke-sama,” The voice was hopeful, but laced with so much worry Sasuke had to duck his head in shame. Out of all the snakes, he’d been avoiding Aoda the most.

First in anger-You should have let me die.

Then in guilt- I shouldn’t have put you through that.

“I-I’m sorry,” There was a long drawn out hiss from above him, and where Sasuke expected a reprimand, none came. Instead Aoda lunged, moving too fast for Sasuke to react. Coils went around him and pulled him into the water. The lightning fast move, normally used to kill, now used to hug. The snake’s coils gentle and warm.

More drawn out hisses came, and it took a few moments for Sasuke to realize it wasn’t actually hissing...Aoda was crying.

***

Of all the reactions, Sasuke’d never expected to make Aoda cry. If he’d felt like dirt before, now he was worse than scum beneath a pauper’s shoe.

“I’m sorry....sorry...sorry...” Not knowing what else to do, he kept repeating the phrase, his eyes wet and his fingers moving continously over rock-hard scales as he tried to offer comfort. It was a long while before Aoda quieted, and even longer still before the silence that settled around them was broken.

A long smooth tongue touched the side of Sasuke’s face, and he looked up at the summon. The snake gave him a watery look.

“Sasuke-sama, I want you to always remember what I’m about to tell you,” He perked up, wiping away his tears and giving Aoda his full attention.

“Never stop shedding,” Huh? Oblivious to his confusion, the snake continued.

“A snake is still a snake no matter how many times it sheds,”

“But we do not shed to change ourselves-we already know who we are,”

“ We shed in order to grow,”

“Old skin, old scars...old hurts, we let all of that go to make room for the future,” Aoda’s tongue flicked out, briefly touching the area over Sasuke’s heart.

Oh.

Resting his head against Aoda’s snout, Sasuke let his own tears fall. Collecting himself he leaned back into Aoda’s coils, looking into the one eye he could see“Will you shed with me?” Sasuke regretted the words the moment they left his mouth. Such desperation, weakness-  he was a skilled shinobi, a small dip into the whole ‘feelings pool’ and he was-Aoda cut off his inner rant with a gentle hiss, the coils around him tightening a bit more. The massive snake drew itself up, allowing Sasuke to see both its eyes. Then with the voice of someone who’d just been given a great blessing instead of burden, Aoda spoke up.

“Always,”

One word, and the weight of the world fell off Sasuke’s shoulders.

***

The promise to Aoda, wasn’t a blood contract, and it wasn’t set in stone. But having it, made Sasuke feel like he finally had an anchor. Something to hold him down, now that he no longer had the no feelings box. He no longer had to hide or compartmentalize, he could face all of life’s storms and come out on the other end, stronger than ever.

He looked at the problems he was currently having.

The Uchiha with the scarred face was out there. The dead kages were out there, and pretty soon, the mother of chakra would be out there. All that meant Sasuke had to be out there...fighting. But he really,really, didn’t want to.

He wasn’t ready. Something he’d never have acknowledged if his no feelings box, had still been there. If he box had been in place, Sasuke would’ve charged into battle hoping for a painful death.

He was being held together by rage, spite, and life advice from a trio of proffessional killers. A trio who’d be wearing straight-jackets alongside him, if the shinobi world cared for things like sanity.

He might have been working on himself, which was long overdue. But he was still too raw, too unstable, to face the can of worms that the outside world held…so he didn’t. For once, Sasuke chose himself over everyone else. End of the world or not, he was through with setting himself on fire to keep others warm.

***

He went back to work, taking over from the clones he’d left in his place, and as always, business was booming.

He buried two sisters on the same day, one killed by a nasty fall, and the other by a broken heart, the grief of losing her sister overwhelming her. Getting the pair ready had been bittersweet. They’d died young, and that was always sad. But the seven and eight year old had unknowingly shown Sasuke a glimpse of something he’d long forgotten.

Sibling love in its purest form...his relationship with his brother had been toxic for so long, he’d truly believed such love didn’t exist anymore. For once, it was nice to be proven wrong.

Next came a sweet old woman slowly poisoned to death for her money. He used genjutsu to have both her greedy children kill each other for that.

For the man who died trying to save his little girl, he built a coffin big enough for the both of them. Her tiny body going over her father’s chest, his hands arranged so that he was holding her tight, a ribbon joining their wrists. When he closed the casket lid, he found himself wishing that it actually worked, that the pair would get another chance as father and child in a better world. He sent them away in a fiery blaze, far away from the cold depths of the water that’d drowned them.

The cycle of life and death continued, and Sasuke sent those who’d completed their run on their way. In the evenings he spent time with the others, and he made time to paint several times a week, ussually with the snakes spread out on their own canvases, going wild.

To anyone else it was a boring existence, but it was Sasuke’s little slice of boring and he loved every minute of it.

***                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

It would’ve been nice, to take his long awaited check-in with himself , and run with it. But reality wasn’t like that. It was as though all the sorrow and weariness he’d managed to shed, had been swallowed up by the earth and multiplied. All of them had been feeling it for weeks, but the day it finally came to head, no one was ready.

***

The early morning rays of the sun woke him, and Sasuke went about his day, fully expecting to be home before dark.

But nightfall never came.

The hours on the clock ticked away, but the sun stayed where it was, burning brightly. Naturally, people lost their minds. The scientist came up with some theory about a looming earthquake. Doom prophets sprung up overnight, the parasitic ones charging people an arm and a leg to ‘save’ them from everlasting punishment. Had that been the only omen, Sasuke was sure they’d have made a killing, but more came after that, and the fear set in. From then on, even the most economically minded souls were too busy being terrified to think of money.

After two days of eternal sunshine, the world woke up without bird song. The animals in question however, were easy to find. They swarmed high up in the sky, a vortex of darkness that bathed the world in false night.The only flashes of light coming when the weaker birds, too tired to keep going, and unwilling to perch, fell to their deaths.

No squack, no gentle trill, not even a shriek, they just...gave up.

It was hard to witness, even for seasoned killers.

***

But just as it was hard to look up at the sky, the ground was no better. The living clouds above, were mirrored by a churning ocean down below. A blanket of insects covered every available surface on the ground. Things that crawled, bit, and stung, leaving the dark corners they preffered for the harshness of the false day.

By the time the water took on the smell of blood and left a taste of ash on the tongue...everyone, knew something was coming. They locked themselves inside, entrances sealed shut, wide eyed faces plastered to windows as they watched the world fall apart. Just like the animals, the people knew deep down that something awful was coming. And though they hadn’t realized it yet, they, like the animals, knew there was nowhere to run.

The final nail in the coffin, came in the form of something Sasuke had never wanted to hear again.

A siren’s song, Hashirama had called it, and Sasuke finally understood why. Gone was the gentle melody they’d heard in Konoha. The veil between the living and the dead was now so thin, the wails came through loud and clear...and even worse, it wasn’t just jumbled cries. The weeping mimicked the cries of loved ones long gone.

Suicides sky rocketed.

Bodies swung gently in the trees, necks stretched out. Grotesque grins on the faces of those hoping to meet their lovers on the other side. Grown men impaled themselves to atone for sins long forgotten. Mothers swallowed poison to be with children they’d never gotten to hold.The elderly jumping from buildings for a chance to see old friends again.

Had the cries of his family not been the soundtrack of his childhood, Sasuke was certain he’d have joined them too. Instead he worked day and night, laying the departed to rest. The cries of his parents, his aunts, uncles, cousin, following him wherever he went. His friends didn’t say anything, their pallid faces, and the dark circles under their eyes spoke for them. Everybody had lost someone, but they’d all made promises to keep going until their time came and this...was not their time.

***

But even though it wasn’t their time yet, the gates to the other side had been thrown open and people were dying. The world, just like the people it held, was dying too. Killing itself before the mother of chakra could get to it. Something had to be done. He was going to do something. Mind made up, he took a moment to breathe, letting it all sink in. A decision, he’d just made a choice without outside influence.

If he was going to die, then he wouldn’t just lie down and take it, he was going to fight.

It was time to face the world.

First on the list...Yatagarasu.

Notes:

Been a long time huh? Sorry guys but real life got in the way. I have no idea when I'll be able to post again, but I figured I'd share the little that I have so far. Happy reading everyone and stay safe :):)

Chapter 15

 

Two long dead Senju and a zombie Namikaze walk into a bar.

A few hand seals later and a masked figure stands among them“Have you seen this man?” They ask, perfectly polite. The seedy bar’s patrons, half convinced their drinks have been spiked, shake their heads in numb shock.

The three Kages nod in understanding and leave.

Guess what the old bar’s regulars say after they’ve gone?

Nothing...Konoha doesn’t leave survivors.

How else could they have painted themselves as ‘nice’ in a world built on the blood of others. It was a ruthless practice that had endured for generations, and eventhough Konoha didn’t exist anymore, its Kages easily fell back into old habits.

On the other side of the continent, a young man who’d fought to break his old habits, was on a truth seeking mission of his own.

***

The rules for confronting an ancient spirit were very clear...don’t do it.

But Sasuke needed answers, and if he had to face a god to get them, then so be it.

“Sasuke, you can’t demand answers from the gods...but you can pray for them,” Had been Karin’s very sound advice. And since it was much better than Sasuke’s plan of holding a flaming kunai to the crow’s throat and beating the truth out of the spirit, he went with it.

Food offerings-check. Burning insence-check. A few drops of Sasuke’s blood and hair on ceremonial dagger-check. His temper held firmly in place to avoid getting them all killed-check, and double check.

Checklist complete, Sasuke breathed deep.

He looked over his shoulder at his friends, a flash of too sharp teeth from Suigetsu, a thumbs up from Karin, a determined nod from Juugo, and Sasuke pulled himself together. The snakes spread across the room( minus Kai and Lee, who hadn’t answered his summons-strange but not unusual), hissed reassurance at him, and that was all Sasuke needed.

Sharingan spinning, he bowed to the offerings. His nose almost touching the floor. Moments later he straightened his back, but didn’t move from where he was kneeling, the trio behind him mirroring his actions. Another deep breath and he focused inwards, slowly detaching his spirit from his body until his chakra was more spiritual than physical. Once he was almost completely free, he sent a call out into the heavens.

The space in the in-between rippled, something felt rather than seen. And in the next breath, Yatagarasu stood among them. A trio of shocked gasps followed-the others seeing the spirit for the first time.Sasuke’s not so subtle throat clearing helped them get over their shock, and as a unit they bowed to the noble spirit.

***

Straightening and looking at the spirit, Sasuke took a few moments to gather himself, trying to seal away the wisps of rage that had peeked out at the sight of Yatagarasu. But those few moments were apparently one moment too many.

“Boy, if there’s a reason for this call, speak now. Do not waste my time,” It wasn’t a rude, or hurtful statement, but the annoyance was clear. Any other day, Sasuke would’ve brushed it off. But he was already on edge, and the words were the spark needed to unleash the inferno.

“Shut up, you conniving, two faced, chicken-reject of a spirit,”

“Sasuke!” Karin’s terrified yet admonishing tone cut through his rage, and Sasuke stared at the occupants of the room in shock,

He’d actually said that out loud...oh,no.

“Noble spirit, I...” Whatever he would’ve said was muted by an angry screech.

 

Beak stretched impossibly wide, Yatagarasu swallowed the whole house around them. Sasuke’s friends disappearing into the infinite nothingness, lost in paths he could not follow. He barely had time to feel the ground beneath his feet give out before the spirit was on him. He fit into a single talon, so small, insignificant.

Around him a world crawling with things unseen came alive.

His sharingan spun and spun, searching, but all that met him was darkness, and in the darkness, something moved. Whether it was a hiss, a growl, or a roar, Sasuke, newly deaf, blind , and scared out of his mind, didn’t know.

The vibrations of the sound moved through him with the ferocity of multiple explosive tags.

Dead things, beasts that had never drawn breath reached for him.

Between him and them, stood only Yatagarasu, and the crow made its intent not to protect him clear, by loosening its grip.

***

A hand? Tongue? Claws? Or maybe a tail? Something, from the all-dark touched him, soft, feather light, and absolutely unwelcome. Bile rose up his throat, his skin crawling as he ran blunt fingernails over the soft flesh, trying and failing to escape the feel of the unwanted contact.

The touch, still nothing more than a caress, came again, and this time it went past the flesh, reaching into a part Sasuke had thought was immune to touch. His soul recoiled, barely dodging the foreign energy.

After everything he’d experienced in his short life, Sasuke’d thought he knew fear.

But feeling his soul break apart at the seams as it tried to make itself as small and unnoticable as possible, he realized that all he knew, was childsplay.

The thing that was in his soul chamber with him, spread out, rancid, foul, and so very wrong. It had almost made it to his hiding spot, when all of a sudden it retreated, the crow intervening at the last possible moment.

But rather than end the punishment, the spirit spoke up. Their voice, sharp, clipped, and absoutely terrifying in world that had been nothing but silent moments earlier. His ears, which had just gotten used to the all consuming lack of sound, were unprepared for the sudden angry screech that tore through the darkness.

“I.Am.Yatagarasu! Not some bloody Yuki-onna begging for affection,” The crow’s grip loosened once more and rather than shake in fear like he’d done earlier, something in Sasuke unravelled.

***

Before Karin’s talk, before Juugo, before Suigetsu, and before Aoda and the other snakes, falling apart would’ve meant death. But now his inner self had an anchor, he wasn’t just a flame in the wind. For the first time in his life, he could admit to himself that he was terrrified, and it his mind didn’t immediately shut down. He wasn’t the little boy in the hospital,all alone, scared to face the world without his family. He wasn’t the twelve year old in the forbidden forest, so terrified of Orochimaru he’d stabbed himself in the leg. He was Uchiha Sasuke, a disaster of a human being, but a disaster who knew his worth.

Above him, the crow ranted and raved, sending the heavens shaking, and were they somewhere with earth, Sasuke was certain it would be shaking too. But none of that mattered anymore. The earth could shake, and the heavens could tremble, but Sasuke, torn apart and rebuilt from ash...was steady.  And he was so done with everyone thinking he was theirs to control.

***

To the Gods, humans were specks of dust...and given that the spirits were immortal, that might as well have been true.

But mere dust or not, the belief and praise that people gave freely granted the Gods their power. Keeping them from fading into nothing. And Sasuke knew for a fact, that his clan had been among the last to still worship the old gods.

He highly doubted that the scarred Uchiha, the man who smelt of damp trees, the kind that gave off a foul smell and refused to light up no matter how much heat was used, instead of smoke and ozone, still kept his faith. Smoke and ozone, were the primary smell for those who lit insence for Amaterasu, and his dead eyed stare, had been lacking the warm gleam of someone who still remembered to ask Yatagarasu for guidance when the new year came. The scarred Uchiha, had given off the aura of somebody who’d long ago forsaken the divine.

 So that meant that meant one thing, Yatagarasu needed Sasuke.

The gods got power in the same way emperors got power...the people gave it to them. And those who gave, could just as easily take. Moving slowly, he freed his arms, letting his hands travel over a rough talon, going up-up, until he finally felt soft feathers beneath his fingers. If he could still see, he knew he’d look exactly as he used to when he was younger. Hands spread out as he greeted the morning sun, a big smile on his face as he watched other clan members do the same.

 Only now, his hands though raised, were touching a god, and there was no cheerful, childish smile in sight. Only a frigid half smirk that held nothing but malice.

“I’m losing faith in you,” He said, and meant every word.

 He might as well have kirined Yatagarasu through the heart.

The crow’s smooth flight faltered, its grip on Sasuke loosening entirely. He fell for an endless eternity. Above him there was a pained screech, and the roar of thunder. The all dark lit up, the god’s lifeblood illuminating the heavens as it spilled. All around Yatagarasu’s feathers fell like leaves in the beginning of winter.

Stuck in his endless descent, all Sasuke could do was watch.

 

***

 In the end, it seemed gods and humans died the same, scared, confused...and just ready for it to be over. When all that was left was a plume of smoke, roiling and twisting as fought and failed to regain its shape, Sasuke made his move. Bringing an arm to his chest, hand over his heart, he sent out a prayer to the heavens, asking for direction.

“...Guide me in my travels, Yatagarasu, path-finder,”  He finished, and there was a sound akin to that of a diver taking a breath after a deep swim.

 Like the pages of a book read backwards, everything started flowing back, time turning on itself to erase what had nearly occurred. Blood and feathers flowed back to their owner, beak and claws settling like they’d never been gone, and Sasuke, after and eternity of falling, was startled to find himself in Yatagarasu’s grasp again. Darkness and eternal silence surrouding him once more, even his voice had once again been ripped from his throat.

 A single flap, and the all dark fell apart. Sasuke’s house rebuilding itself from the void they’d ended up in, his friends reforming before him, looking for all the world like they’d all just fallen asleep on the living room floor. The snakes clearly agitated, were glowing faintly, heads in the air. They looked to where Sasuke’s body lay on the floor, and then to the window where his spirit was. Rin, body tense, tried to swipe at the frazzled bird, but the crow vanished without a sound, leaving Sasuke behind.

A tug from Raya and the Uchiha rejoined his body, sleep claiming him soon after.

***

Under the cold light of the never setting sun, Sasuke dreamt, and in the dream he was back in the void, dangling from Yatagarasu’s grasp. But in his dream, Yatagarasu’s voice was thunder, and their wings lightning. One powerful flap, and the darkness was cast into light, and for a split second, Sasuke saw. Creatures gnawing each other’s bones, entrails dragging over rotten corpses, bones piled so high they formed mountains, oceans made of rotting ichor. Death and decay, the spectacle so vast and so gruesome, it was hard to look away, but he did.

 And in doing so, he saw the true monster.

 A beautiful woman with a willowy figure, wearing human skin the way one would an expensive kimono, long white hair framing a delicate face. Easy to overlook, but in that moment of light, Sasuke saw her true form.

Her shadow gave her away.

Ten tails flicking lazily, each one curled around a bone mountain, claiming the kills without a word. His dream self didn’t make a sound, but she still turned to him. Her shadow yawning, jaws opening impossibly wide, tails swaying with interest. Three eyes, large soulless, and darker than shadow, looked right at him. She smirked, and her shadow roared, and recognition finally dawned on Sasuke. This, was what had been in his soul chamber with him and now it was back. And Sasuke knew he was going to die, dream or not, she was going to kill him. The ten-tailed shadow lunged just as Yatagarasu’s lightning faded from the blood red sky, and Sasuke awoke gasping for breath, the feel of phantom claws across his chest.

Around him the snakes, skin glowing with chakra were hissing loudly, their attention on the window. The rest of Taka slept on, their first trip to the spirit world having taken the ninja habit of being light sleepers right out of them.

Perched on the window sill, feathers still ruffled from their earlier encounter, Yatagarasu watched him intently.

“The mother of chakra, you saw her, didn’t you,” It wasn’t really a question.

“I’d wondered if the sharingan could decipher memories from so deep in the ether” Head tilted to the side, Yatagarusu stretched a wing towards him.

“Apparently it can…I pity you,” The wing retracted, the crow’s chest sticking out imperiously.

“Now, how about you tell me why you thought I was using you, and I beat you over the head with logic and common sense,”

Notes:

Uchiha Sasuke, restraint in action, no temper to speak of, the guy you want in your corner during negotiations.
Taka:...sweat drops, and shakes in fear while slowly backing away.

Chapter 16

“...then I realised the tailed beasts were spirits, the mother of chakra’s a spirit, and you’re a spirit too. It only made sense to assume you were all working together, and I was once again a pawn in somebody’s twisted game,” The silence that followed after what was likely the most words Sasuke had ever said at a go...was heavy. The type of quiet that ussually came right before everything went belly up as it sailed through a dumpster fire.
“I should peck your eyes out, ” Yatagarasu finally said, but there was no heat in the words.
“Manipulation is for the spirits that feed on soul’s and flesh, I have no desire for such,” The crow extended both wings, and Sasuke got a brief look at the souls nestled beneath its wings.
“You know enough to know that my existence is tied to your belief,” The mention of what had happened in the void had an awkward silence falling over them.
“I’m sorry,” Sasuke finally said, and Yatagarasu shrugged.
“We’ve travelled that path now, it’s over, but I too am sorry, for letting my anger get the best of me,” When Yatagarasu looked over at him, there was warmth in the spirit’s eyes, and surprisingly enough...respect.
***
A quiet moment passed before Yatagarasu spoke up again. 
“Your kin, when they were alive, kept their faith,”
“I could not prevent the fate that befell them, but I can make sure they don’t wander in the bowels of the Yomi,” The crow nipped at the arm that was all bone, and Sasuke snatched it away, glaring at Yatagarasu as bolt of pain shot up the normally numb arm.
“They are the reason I’m doing all this, I want them to get proper rest,”Oh, now that Yatagarasu had said it, things were falling into place. The conversation between the spirit and Aoda, back when Konoha was still standing, finally making more sense.
The wave of relief at confirming that he wasn’t being used, settled something in Sasuke, and for the first time in a while he could think clearly. And now that he’d had one question answered, he asked another one.
“The nine tails, said the original seal was broken...how?...that’s supposed to be impossible, the sage of six paths made it so,”
Yatagarasu stilled, the rage Sasuke had seen earlier coming back out of nowhere.
“Hagoromo was nothing more than a child with too much power, meddling with things that should never have been touched,” The room shook, and for a moment Sasuke was scared they were in for a repeat of earlier, then the shaking stopped abruptly.
Next to him, Yatagarasu was frighteningly still, feathers sparking, their eyes glowing.
***
The reaction threw Sasuke for a loop, wasn’t the sage,well- sagely?- in his relationship with the spirits, before he could ask, Yatagarasu spoke up.
“In your history books, Otsutsuki Hagoromo, is said to have been perfect is he not?” The crow asked, and Sasuke nodded, still trying to figure out the reason behind Yatagarasu’s anger.
Countless hours of study kicked in and he began reciting the many virtues of the sage of six paths from memory“Yes, he’s the one who introduced ninshu to the world, he sealed away the mother of chakra, he...”
Yatagarasu interrupted before he could go on“Yes, he did all that, now...tell me one bad thing that Hagoromo did, it doesn’t have to be from a book, just anything you can think of,” Where Sasuke’s head had been buzzing with ideas earlier on, it was suddenly very quiet.
Hagoromo never did anything bad, he was perfect, Sasuke wanted to say, but the words got stuck in his throat. Now that he was really thinking and not just parroting information, that made absolutely no sense, nobody was perfect. How could they be, when they were living, breathing beings.
And yet, Hagoromo had been written as such, without a single contrary article....impossible. But even as Sasuke was questioning the facts, his mind was screaming at him, history said the sage was good, he was perfect, something to strive  to be...history said...history said his family was born of evil and cursed with hatred, dangerous...oh.
History was written by human beings, and people lied at the drop of a hat.
Before his mind could go off, Yatagarasu nipped his arm again, the pain helping to ground him.
“What you asked me earlier, about the original seal, it’s not broken. The fox got ahead of itself, for now the seal is merely cracked,” Sasuke clung to the sudden change in topic. The Hagoromo issue was something for later, he had more pressing matters to attend to.
“How?” The original seal had been designed to be unbreakable, the fact that it had been comprimised to the point of cracking was highly unsettling.
“I cannot tell you that,”
“However, I can take you somewhere with the answer, but you’ll have to find the key yourself,” Yatagarasu, plucked a feather, and Sasuke watched it do a slow arc through the air. It settled on the inner side of his bone arm, and Sasuke had a moment to watch it sink in before he was spirited away.
*** 
When awareness returned to Sasuke, he was gently rocking from side to side in small canoe. Dim blue light illuminating the walls of a cave, a river running through it. A flicker of bright light had Sasuke turning quickly to the side. The boat unbalancing so sharply he was nearly toppled into the dark waters.
The canoe righted itself at the last moment, and balanced perfectly on the other end, was Yatagarasu.
“Falling into these particular waters would be...ill adviced,” The crow said, beak clicking sharply with each word.
“What is this place,” Sasuke asked, ignoring the burst of light still dancing at the edges of his vision.
“This place is the echo of times past,”Yatagarasu stretched out a wing, and tiny ball of light shot out from the waters, briefly touching the crows’s feathers before sinking back into the water. Other balls of light rose up then, a kaleidoscope of colours surrounding the canoe like fireflies on a dark night.
“This is where memories with the most powerful emotions are stored when their owners pass on,” One of the lights broke formation, and floated towards Sasuke.
The moment it touched him, he was overcome by sorrow so great, it took his breath away. Tears streaming down his face, he watched the world around him shift. The cave giving way to a village on fire, walls crumbling and falling into an unforgiving sea, the churning waters dragging entire families into their depths. Kunai and shuriken silencing the people’s cries as enemy nin invaded. At the center of it all stood a kunoichi, red hair billowing in the wind, seals alight at her feet, a cloak that marked her as kage, hanging off of her in tatters. Up ahead, a blade made of wind, and wrapped in lightning approached. 
 She could’ve dodged, could’ve moved, but behind her, there were children, hair as red as her own.
The wind came, and lightning cut a path right for her, but she stood her ground. And even after the elemental blade met its mark, her torso shattered, she still took a while to fall. Dying eyes taking in her home for the last time. She did not cry, her body too spent to show any outward reaction. But hers was a sorrow too painful to forget, and the heavens, upon hearing her soul cry, showed her mercy, taking the pain onto themselves and allowing her spirit to go on unburdened.
The memory flowed back into the waters, and Sasuke found himself back in the cave, struggling to breathe. 
“Lady Sugihara, Uzushio’s last kage,” Yatagarasu said from the shadows. The next memory took Sasuke by surprise, the orb tapping lightly against his hand.
A field, gold as far as the eye could see, barley. In it, an old man, standing beneath a lone tree, tying his own noose. Sorrow and resignation corroding even the air around him. His death was slow and painful, eyes wide, foaming at the mouth, urine running down his legs.
“Mako-san, a farmer from the land of grass,” Came Yatagarasu’s somber voice, dragging Sasuke from the horror of watching the old man’s body swing like fruit.
“Why?” Sasuke asked, struggling to shake off the remnants of Mako’s sorrow.
“His spirit had carried on for as long as it could, everyone has their breaking point,” Another spark tried to come at Sasuke and he dodged. 
“How am I supposed to find the key, if all I keep getting is sad memories?” He snapped, and Yatagarasu’s head tilted, the crow looking at him from an angle.
“The orbs come to you based on the emotion you project. You give off a sense of grief, so that’s what coming to you. Try to project how you think someone with the key to the original seal might feel,”
***
The second emotion Sasuke went for, was fear. It had to have been terrifying to know you were holding the key to the fate of the world. After the life he’d had, he didn’t have to look far to pull out memories of pure terror. A single memory of walking into the massacre and he was instantly gripped by an all too familiar dread. Next thing he knew, the boat was gone and he was watching rows and rows of soldiers head into battle. The youngest, looking to be barely out of diapers, holding  a kunai instead of a toy. The thump, thump of his little heart louder than the entire battalion.
So young, so small, and standing absolutely no chance against the landmine he walked into.
“Taro-chan,” Yatagarasu offered, and Sasuke quickly grabbed an orb, feeling too raw to hear the toddler’s story.
In the next memory, there was no war. Only a thunderstorm,and a lone woman in a blood soaked dress, struggling to give birth on her own.She was long past the stage of pushing, lips blue, face ashen. But the blood kept on coming, with no baby in sight. In that strange way that parents had, the woman seemed unbothered by her own sorry state. Instead craddling her stomach,begging the little one to come. She died fearing for a child she’d never met, a child she never got to hold, but her terror was so arresting, it took Sasuke a moment to compose himself when the memory ended.
“That was Kawana-hime, mother of the only child of the White Fang,” 
...Wow.
  ***
Moving on to another old standby, Sasuke went for rage, and instantly regretted it.
There was a civillian mother, a rolling pin, and two noisy children. The kitchen was a bloody mess, by the time she was done. The bodies of her children nothing more than mishapen lumps. but she still kept going, hitting them over and over, until a man came at her from behind, snapping her neck before she could react.
“Ai, a mean drunk,” Mean drunk was an understatement.
The memory that came after, was that of a man sitting at a desk, writing. His brush flowed smoothly through each character, strokes perfect. At first glance, he didn’t look angry, but there was a tightness around his eyes, and his lips kept twitching down.
“Yamamoto, he had fit when he learned that his children intended to take away everything he’d worked hard for,”
“As a lesson, he emptied the family vaults and vanished into the night,”
“Instead of wealth, he gave them a debt that would take at least a hundred years to pay off,”
“Pitiful,”
***
With the usual emotions not bearing any fruit. Sasuke went for something he wasn’t really used to.
Happiness.
He was a little proud of himself when he didn’t have to dig into pre-massaccre days. It wasn’t even flashy memory. Just Sasuke, the snakes and the rest of Taka playing charades. The ninja kind where they mimed assasinations until someone guessed the assasination technique. Shocking everyone, the snakes had won, something that had sent Suigetsu into a sulk. The memory made Sasuke smile, and he was still doing so when an orb settled over his heart.
Leaves, that was the first thing Sasuke saw, brown and gold swept up in mini whirlwind. When the wind died down, Sasuke found himself staring at a face that looked exactly like his when he was about four or five.
What? It couldn’t be.
“Nii-san! Nii-san!” The boy in the memory shrieked, and Sasuke turned to the sight of another familiar figure,
The memory unfolded before him, the sheer joy of the moment pushing away any other emotion Sasuke could have had.
 “I take it those two need no introduction,” Sasuke nodded mutely, practically snatching up the next memory that floated towards him.
A playground, children laughing, singing loudly and still no key in sight. He was just about to give up, when the words the children were singing caught his attention.
Oh... not a key in the physical sense of the word, but a riddle in song form. Hands clasped together, the group of kids spun round and round as they chanted in their cherubic sing-song voices.
Mother come home,
Mother will you come home?
Senju form a circle,
Uchiha form a circle, 
Chakra in a circle,
Round and round,
Bones break the heavens…let mother come home,
Let her come home, to take us home, 
We all fall down,
Dead,dead down,
The end of the song was punctuated by all the children falling down and playing dead. Fire danced over the corpses, and it made off with the children’s bodies, leaving behind the abandoned corpses of the warriors they’d died as. 
As easy to forget as the songs they’d once sang. 

Chapter 17

Notes:

Sorry it's been a while everyone, life is hectic. Happy reading if you're still here, as always I do not own Naruto.

When the news of the mother of chakra had come, Danzo’s status had been reduced to that of a common criminal. His punishment set for an undefined ‘later’ time date. His sensei had walked away without a looking back, and Danzo, throat still hurting despite the healing from the Haruno girl, had screamed himself raw.
Never again.
He’d given his whole lifetime to realizing his sensei’s dream, but Tobirama had looked at him like he was a stranger. A failure. The very man who’d shown him the light, had disowned him.
“Watch, Danzo,” He’d say. Eyes on Kagami Uchiha, making sure Danzo kept his eye on the tiger. Now Danzo had slain the tiger and the man acted like he regretted ever knowing him.
“Danzo, are you alright?” It was Homura who spoke, the other man stretching as far as his chains would let him. On her end, Koharu was silent, watchful, the rage in her eyes barely sheethed. 
Clinging to the hatred he saw there, Danzo calmed himself.
“No need to worry yourself Homura, I am well,” And he meant it. 
***
The old kages, before deciding to go on their hunt, had thrown them in a cell they’d built themselves during the first war. Reinforced by Uzumaki seals, and Danzo had let them. 
You never interrupted an enemy when they were making a mistake. 
During their time the cell had been unescapable, but they’d been dead for decades. And this cell in particular was one Hiruzen had liked throwing high profile criminals in. No guards needed, windowless,with only one exit keyed to the Hokage. Sarutobi always made sure to be at public events on execution nights. Then in the mornings, the inmate would be found dead, hung by their own bed sheets...suicide...what a shame.
No one ever thought to check the air vents( a new addition, made by Hiruzen under the guise of making incarceration more humane), hidden right under the cell’s lone bed, and very easy to miss.
It was a system that had greatly benefitted the two of them, now it seemed Danzo would be using it himself.
He spread out his chakra, the seals in the chain instantly swallowing it up. Eyes closed he sent out his chakra again, this time making sure to make it more potent. The sudden power surge fried the first seal, and without it holding everything together, the whole thing fell apart.
Childsplay.
The others, mouths open in shock stared as Danzo shed the chains. He did their bonds next, and the moment they were lose, he headed for the air vents. Revealing the network of man-sized tunnels carefully concealed by cement and steel. He and Hiruzen had added built them together, secretly digging into the walls and hiding the routes with seals.
***
Once outside, they kept to the shadows. The other two quietly following Danzo’s lead. He led them all the way to the forest of death, and only once they were within the shadows of ancient trees did he stop.
“Why are we stopping?” Utatane asked, 
“I have contacts up north, we can lay low there for a bit, recover our strength,” Hands drumming against rough bark, Danzo answered without looking at her.
“I have no intention of hiding, I’m going after them,” By now he’d settled on one specific patch of bark.
“Surely, you can’t be serious, Danzo, reconsider, you are barely at half strength, chakra needs time to replenish, the sharingan are surely draining your...” Dismissing Homura’s rant, Danzo focused on the bark. Almost there, if he could just...one more push and his index finger touched something that had a jolt of electricity running up his arm,
Aha. Bringing his thumb to his mouth he bit hard enough to draw blood.
“There’s more than one way to replenish chakra,” He said, finally turning back to the other two.
“What are you...” What ever Koharu had been about to say, Danzo would never know. A press of his bloody thumb to the bark, and the tree lost all its leaves. All of them falling in a circle around them, forming an elaborate seal.
His old teammates didn’t even have time to scream. The seal rapidly sapping their chakra, and when the precious life force was gone, its roots pierced the earth, wrapping around the corpses and dragging them underground.
On the tree, a single glowing fruit hung from a low branch, and Danzo plucked it. One bite and the strength of his former team flooded into him, fully healing him all the way and restoring him to full power. The moment he was done eating the fruit, the tree wilted and died. Stepping back, Danzo took a moment to admire it.
Pushing back his sleeves, the scarred man watched his sharingan eyes spin. Yet another mistake the Senju had made, not taking the eyes off immediately. It was his fortune though. Neither a Senju nor an Uchiha, just the unwanted runt of the Shimura clan, but he possessed the secrets of both noble clans.
And he’d already killed one clan, the Senju would not stand a chance. For himself and for Hiruzen, he’d make sure they paid.
Silent pledge made, the old man took off, once again sticking to the shadows, bloodlust and vengeance fuelling his every step. 
So used to being ten steps ahead of human beings, he looked back every once in a while. And when he saw no pursuers he kept going. Not even entertaining the fact that for once, it wasn’t other people he had to be wary of. 
Unnoticed behind him, tree branches swayed, leaves parting as shadows slithered past. Creatures built for stealth tracking his every move. They’d been on his tail since the jail break, but neither him, nor his recently deceased teammates had ever noticed. The pursuers were that good. Bodies light, scales dark, the two mambas followed silently, never losing sight of their prey.

Notes:

Danzo and Hiruzen might be awful. But you have to admit, those two ran a tight ship.

Chapter 18

Mother,mother come home,
Mother, will you come home?
Senju form a circle,
Uchiha form a circle, 
Chakra in a circle,
Round and round,
Bones break the heavens…let mother come home,
Let her come home, to take us home, 
We all fall down,
Dead,dead down,
As always, since hearing the song for the first time, its melody followed Sasuke into wakefulness. He thought of it day and night, trying and failing to decipher the whole thing. Given Yatagarasu’s reaction, the whole ‘sage of six paths perfection’ thing was a lie. Why couldn’t historians saying the man was a genius also have been a lie.
The truth proving otherwise would’ve really helped Sasuke. 
Who on Earth thought to hide the lock and key to unspeakable evil in a song?
Ancient geniuses, that’s who. And now Hagoromo being smart was Sasuke’s problem.
The part about the Senju and Uchiha, Sasuke was pretty sure he got.
The seal, wasn’t the normal blood and chakra based type. Intent was a big part of it. And the Sage, so sure of the Uchiha, Senju rivalry, had included it in the original seal.
Senju form a circle, Uchiha form a circle.
The two clans either had to get along (for real, not the backstabbing stuff that had formed Konoha). Or they had to have a common goal. The first part was obviously out, so that left the second. Apparently there was something out there that the Senju( the few left) and the Uchiha (Sasuke and the fake Madara) both wanted. Whatever it was, was a mystery to Sasuke, but at least he had something to go on.
The piece about death was easy enough, but the part about the chakra and the bones was a complete mystery to Sasuke. Normally he’d have exhausted every resource looking for answers. But the end of the world was a strong possibility, he didn’t have time to waste.
He had to get out there. His mission scroll was fully stocked, and he’d made sure to seal away as many weapons as possible. He was almost out the door when a shuriken imbedded itself in the door, blocking his exit.
Sasuke turned to find three very angry faces glaring at him.
***
One of the things that still managed to shock Sasuke in the years since defecting from Konoha, was the fact that he was no longer alone. Back when he’d been a part of team 7, the goal of killing Itachi, had been his and his alone. And the village, though subtly pushing him towards it, had also been doing their best to sabotage him (Kakashi’s teaching methods left a lot to be desired). They’d wanted him just strong enough to kill his brother, but also weak enough for them to contain should it be needed.
They’d never wanted him to reach his full potential.
But Sasuke had broken down their walls. They’d limited him, and when Orochimaru had dangled the promise of power, of growth, Sasuke had taken his hand and never looked back.
***
Somehow, along the way, Sasuke had met people who actually cared about him. People willing to take a kunai for him, and not turn that into a life debt. And he’d nearly gotten them killed, a careless misstep and he’d nearly lost the closest thing he had to family. He couldn’t risk them again.
Plucking the shuriken from the door, Sasuke explained his plan to them, making sure to make it sound as awful as it was. He brought up the Yatagarasu debacle, which they’d never addressed. Then he added on his intent to take on not only, Danzo, the Senjus,the scarred Uchiha, but to also take a crack at the mother of chakra, if she showed up.
His plan had bad idea written all over it. And if there was one thing Taka had going for them, it was self preservation. All of them( Sasuke included), were very loyal to staying alive if they could help it. 
And just as he’d predicted, they were giving him looks like he was dumber than rocks by the end of his explanation. Then Suigetsu, obviously speaking for all of them had piped up“Sasuke, that is the stupidest plan you’ve ever had,” The Uchiha had almost breathed a sigh of relief, but then the other ninja continued.
“When do we leave?” What?
In another world, another Sasuke, one driven by grief and bitterness, would’ve gladly taken up their offer, and they would’ve already been out on a killing spree. But being away from the ninja world had given Sasuke time to reflect, to think. And he was no longer so wrapped up in his own hurt that he didn’t see that other people were also suffering.
This was not their fight, he would not put them in danger. Giving up on being subtle he went for the direct approach.
***
 “We, are not leaving, I, am leaving,” Sharingan flaring, he sent them the meanest glare he could muster.
“I don’t need your weaknesses slowing me down. Don’t try to follow me, and don’t be here when I get back,” The words were flat, monotone, and Sasuke didn’t dare try to meet anyone’s eyes. Instead he turned on the spot and reached for the doorknob.
“Your left eye twitches when you lie,” The words were soft, Juugo’s calmness carrying through, but Sasuke still froze as though slapped.
Taking a deep breath, he once again turned to face them.
“Fine then, I was lying about the last part,” Suigetsu snorted loudly, but Sasuke ignored him.
“But that means you know I was telling the truth on the first part,”
“ I’m going out there alone,” Brow furrowed, Karin stepped forward.
“But Sasuke-”
“No! What part of I’m going alone don’t you guys get,”
“I’m not going on vacation, I am going to die, and I am not having people I care about die on my behalf,”
“I can’t-” Karin’s hug, arms squeezing tight, cut off his words, her tears creating a wet spot on his shoulder.
“You don’t want us dying on you. But have you ever thought of what your death would do to us?” Juugo asked as he joined the hug.
“Yeah, so why not put all our kunais in one pouch, and risk dying as a unit, save everyone the agony of grief,” Suigetsu said, bony fingers clutching Sasuke’s back with all their strength.
***
Outside, there was eternal sunshine, creatures terrified out of their minds, and zombies. So naturally. Taka was indoors, sitting around the kitchen table, drinking hot chocolate, and talking about spirits.
“For what happened when I insulted Yatagarasu,...I’m sorry,” As a rule Sasuke didn’t really do apologies, but for his friends he found he didn’t mind. Having said the words, he took all of them in, waiting for them to vent their anger at him, he deserved it. Instead, he was met with calm looks from all of them, and then one by one they began talking. Each of them sharing tales Sasuke would’ve found to be unbelievable had he not had similar experiences.

 

Chapter 19

Cup held gently between her hands, Karin stared at her cooling drink. The words she wanted to say were right there. But in saying them she’d be sharing a piece of her history she’d never shared with anyone. But looking up at the boys, she realized there was no one else she’d rather share with. 
Mind made up, she was the first to speak. 
***
As a child, Karin had known only Kusa.Where her mother was always busy, always tired. Chakra leeched out of her by uncaring shinobi. People who hadn’t waited for her mother’s body to go cold before biting into Karin, desperate to keep themselves alive no matter the cost.
But in all that dark, and all that fear, Karin had clung to something. A puzzle,one she was unlikely to ever solve, but it still gave her hope.
For the first few years of her life, Karin had known only the language of Kusa, and her mother had only ever spoken that.
Then in her final moments, she’d clung to Karin, eyes wild.
“Son-aa, jin wam, son-aa, son-aa, thod wam,”She’d said, over and over again, her voice melodic and strong, the words rolling off her tongue with an ease Karin’d never heard from her.
“Son-aa,”She’d said, then she’d gone quiet, she’d died with her eyes open. Her sole focus on Karin, taking in every feature like she was trying to memorise her.
Karin had stored that final moment away. Looking into it every now and then, clinging to the desperate hope that the words hadn’t just been the ravings of a mad woman.
It wasn’t until Orochimaru’d gotten his hands on her, that Karin had finally realized how important those final moments had been. The language of Uzushio, the saanin did not speak it, but he’d heard enough of it to be able to recognize the origin.
It was a sad, hopeless thing, to hang on to a language as dead as its people, but Karin had still clung to the words. Then one day, an ancient spirit had blown her away, and she’d fallen right into the arms of a man with eyes like hers, smiling at her.
They’d never met during his lifetime, but Karin had known him on sight. A father’s love was too raw, too powerful, to not be recognized at first glance.
But despite knowing who he was, she’d been unable to call out to him, her throat clogged. Soft hands had reached for her then, and she’d been crushed into a hug that made her feel like she was made of sunlight.
“Thod wam,” The man had said, and Karin had felt him begin to fade no matter how hard she tried to hang on. The moment he dissappeared, she’d forgotten his face, forgotten the exact shade his hair... the sound of his voice.
All alone, crying in a place she did not know, Karin had called out“I’lxha!”It was only when she’d felt the phantom brush of lips against her temple that she’d realized what she’d just said.
Now seated among the boys, Karin recounted her tale. The final moments were blur, but though she could not remember her father’s face, she remembered calling to him in his language, their language, her language. And though she’d learned it in the spirit world, the language had stuck, coming more naturally than any sound that ever come from Karin’s lips.
“I love you, little one,I love you, I love you, precious one”
“Those were my mother’s final words to me,”
“And my dad, when he saw me called precious,” She paused, wiping a tear with a shaky hand.
“I got to call someone I’lxha-father,for the first time in my life,”
“Yes, you losing your temper was bad, and it could have gotten us killed,”
“But because of that, I got to meet my dad, and I now speak the language of my people,” 
“Say what you will Uchiha Sasuke, but for that, there will never be hate in my heart for you,”
“Garim, esta, uim ga Uzumaki,”
“Loyalty, always, on my blood as an Uzumaki,”

Notes:

One of the saddest things about all the genocides and colonizations is the loss of cultures. Entire languages spoken for thousands of years just...gone. With only hints of them here and there and people don't even know the origins of ths words.

Chapter 20

The ninja world was deeply rooted in tradition, with many family roles still defined by customs from ancient times. What others might call barbaric, shinobi considered a rite of passage. Juugo’s clan was no different. Children were taught to control their transformation by their family. If no immediate family was there, the extended bloodline had to volunteer.
In Juugo’s case no one had stepped up after his parents had died. At first he’d been angry, clawing at everything in sight. But in between the bouts of rage, he’d understood. There’d been no rain that year, and food was scarce. No one’d had the heart to kill him, so they’d abandoned him to the forest, hoping the madness would take him.
But it hadn’t, Juugo’d gone from episodes of rage and fear, going back and forth between shifts, but by some miracle he’d survived. From the age of five, until Orochimaru’d found him, Juugo’d lived alone. Madness clawing at him, constantly threatening to steal away the last bits of his sanity.
Even while with Taka, it was something he’d resigned himself to, doing his best to go about life, knowing that someday the madness would overwhelm him...and then came the crow.
***
Out of everything, Juugo had not expected to find himself walking with his parents. Each one holding one of his hands as they walked through a quiet forest. It should’ve been awkward, Juugo was taller than both of them now. But somehow it still felt like the family walks they used to take when he barely made it up to their knees. 
The moment stretched on, endless as they walked the never ending path, their joined hands swinging together.
The storm clouds had come out of nowhere, dark and foreboding, and the moment the first drop had hit him, Juugo knew the little slice of paradise he'd found was over. Letting go of his parents’ hands he’d run to the largest tree. Hiding under its branches as the sudden shower’d hit with a vengeance.
Skin already hardening and splitting, Juugo’d dropped down, head against his knees, hands over his ears.
Breathe, breathe, breathe...only there’d been no air, and the realization had taken the last of Juugo’s control. But right at the edge of it all, there’d been a weight on his shoulder, he’d looked up into eyes the same shade as his own. Although he’d never seen her transformed, Juugo still recognized his mother. Unlike him, she did not fight the storm.
She stood her ground. Swaying in whatever direction the wind moved, without ever losing her footing. Her brow furrowing each time a raindrop fell on her, but then smoothing out just as quickly.
More raindrops hit, but the madness never came. Instead she looked at Juugo, looked at the sky and swayed in place, hands outstretched.
And there it was, the story without words. A clan secret that had eluded Juugo most of his life, coming to him as clear as day.
Standing side by side with his mother, Juugo stopped resisting. He let the rain fall on him, and he let the wind sway him. Moving him whatever way it wanted, so long as his feet stayed put.
No longer the giant sturdy tree that tried to hold off an ocean of rage, but a gentle reed, bending to the ever changing current. 
When all was said and done, the fit passed, and Juugo, like the reed, bounced back up. 
With the storm over, his father rejoined them, taking his mother’s hand. The two of them walking on ahead, disappearing amongst the giant trees.
They did not look back and they did not say goodbye. But Juugo knew without a doubt that when he finally made it to the other side they’d be there...waiting.

Chapter 21

When it came to an afterlife, for his clan. Suigetsu had always thought it was something filled with endless battles, and teeming with bloodlust. So coming to, amongst a chorus of songs and laughter had been jarring. In his hands there’d been no blade, instead, he’d been tying knot after knot as he made a fishing net. His hands moving through the motions with ease. Next to him was Mangetsu, working on his own section of the net, humming softly.
From time to time, children ran past, laughing freely, baskets full of wild berries. The women sang as they butchered a dead whale, portioning it out for everyone. Off in the shade, the elders chatted good naturely, stopping only to take puffs from their long pipes.
“We were never meant for war,” Mangetsu’s voice had Suigetsu turning to face him, and he couldn’t help the tear that slipped past at the sight of his older brother. He gestured at the people around them, and all at once Suigetsu understood.
The piece of paradise he was in, was a moment in time. Before Konoha poisoned their waters and began whaling for fun. Piling the carcasses of the whales up, and leaving them to rot, starving countless people in the process. This was life before Kiri turned the land into its personal playground, stealing clan kids. Back when there was no Mizukage to order bloodline purges and no daimyo to look the other way in the name of peace, and lining his pockets.
A few yards from them, two kunoichi were sparring, their movements swift and graceful. Blades not even disturbing the air as they slashed. It was nothing like the brutal sweeps now practiced by the Hozuki clan, meant to either decapitate or dismember. 
The women, were clearly not killers, but playful as they were, Suigetsu could tell they were eons better than all the seven swordsmen combined. Yet there was no hint of the madness that followed those born of kiri blood in either of them.
“Just as we were, the fabled blades were also not created for bloodshed,” But that was their use now. Weapons of destruction, tainted by centuries of ill treatement. To fight the enemy they’d become the very thing they were accused of being in the first place.
Monsters.
Suigetsu let the words sink in, settling at the back of his mind, a truth that had always been there. And with that nugget of wisdom came another. The realization must have shown on his face, because Mangetsu beamed at him, smiling in a way he hadn’t done since they were kids.
“You get it now, don’t you,” And Suigetsu did, being there amongst people, his people, seeing who they used to be. Who he could’ve been, he finally understood.
It was never about mastering the swords. It wasn’t about having an astronimical kill count. It was about mastering himself, and the swords were merely and extension of the self. Just as each member of the clan was an extension of the other, and all of them, though working different roles, were ultimately working towards a common goal.
His eyes found the sparring kunoichi once more, and this time he held a deeper level of appreciation for them. They were still going at each other furiously, but not a single drop of blood had been spilled.
Control.
Suigetsu’d never thought much of it, seeing it as a weakness. Why hold back when you could go all out? But now he finally understood the power, finally understood the reason behind the swords of legend. Control meant .... trusting himself to cut when necessary. It meant samehada would only eat if Suigetsu allowed it. Kubikiribocho would only cut what was needed. That Nuibari would pierce the wind itself and hold it together if willed to do so. Kabutowari would take apart a shield with a single tap, no longer being just a boulder for crushing. That Shibuki could be a droplet in a calm lake, and also an explosive blast all  at once. Suigetsu could just imagine how much sharper Kiba’s fangs would be if wielded by someone who had the patience to feel out the lightining in them, The endless store of power Hiramekarei could be if used by someone who took the time meditate with the blade, sharing their life force regularly instead of dosing it on the eve of battle.  
Just the thought of the sheer magnitude of power, was humbling. And even after sharing it with the others. Suigetsu found himself still in awe. He ran a hand over Kubikiribocho’s hilt, and the iron in his blood sang.
A sensation Suigetsu had recently realized was Kubikiribocho’s laugh. He smiled back at the blade, and sitting around the table with his friends, he made another promise. If he ever got the chance to wield all seven swords, he’d take a crack at bringing back the Kiri of old. 
A place where blood meant family, not slaughtered bodies staining the rivers red.

 

Notes:

Personally, I think Kiri had the most sensitive people. In a violent world, they were easily overcome and twisted into something dark. Think of Haku, so gentle, but as cold blooded as they came because his circumstances didn't allow for anything else.
Hope you enjoyed this update.

Chapter 22

It was often said often by people, shielded by their thin bubbles of ignorance, that clan born shinobi, were a superstitious lot. But how do you explain to people who hadn’t lived it, how important rituals were. That squad leader who’d lost everyone in their team the day they’d broken routine and not chewed on a senbon. The woman who lost both her lover and her younger brother because she won big at a gambling den for the first time in her life. They knew nothing of the white skinned child who hadn’t smiled at his parents because they were going on a mission. They’d never come back, and Orochimaru had never stopped smiling after that.
Those who did not understand mocked it, but those who understood, were grateful for the existence of such rituals. 
Even Sasuke, who hadn’t prayed since the night his family died, found himself asking for help on what would most likely be his final mission.
***
Before a mission, the Uchiha had used fire to meditate. Growing up, Sasuke had often watched in awe as the adults moved as one with the flame. The last time Sasuke had seen a meditation by fire, it was done by Itachi. When Sasuke, who wasn’t meant to have seen had asked if he was going on a mission, he’d been brushed aside...
“Foolish, little brother,”He’d said. The next day the whole family’d been dead by his hand. And Sasuke had finally realized exactly what his brother had been praying for.
He’d sworn never to do such a tainted ritual. Something that had weighed heavily on him during the mission in the land of the waves, especially after he’d nearly died.
There was plenty of time and growth between both incidents, and Sasuke, older than he was back then, mentally and spiritually. Felt he was finally ready. The battle ritual was for the Uchiha, and Sasuke had as much right to it as his brother. 
Where Itachi had used it to kill, Sasuke wanted it for protection...
***
When the clock struck midnight in Matsugo, Uchiha Sasuke was awake. Curtains drawn to keep out the never ending sun, the only source of light in his room, was a circle of equally spaced candles. Barefooted, and naked from the waist up, Sasuke stood, simply breathing for a moment. The candles matching each inhale and exhale. When he raised his hands, palms up, stopping mid chest, pillars of fire rose . A shift in his stance, and the flames separated from the wicks, floating mid-air. When he called them, they came, forming a single ball of fire right over his head. That done, Sasuke sat, easily assuming a meditative pose, the ball of fire above him spinning round and round. 
He’d never done this before, it should’ve felt overwhelming, but it just felt right, and Sasuke flowed with it. Releasing all his worries into the ball of fire above.
To stop the end of the world.
To make it out alive with his friends.
...Taking a deep shuddering breath, Sasuke sent up one last request.
If we cannot all make it, let my friends live.
Whether Amaterasu heard his prayers, or Susanoo would accept his tears, Sasuke did not know. But as he released the fire, letting it fall back on the candles, he found himself feeling...at peace.
He curled up and slept right there, and when he woke up a few hours later, he was well rested. Around him the candles were still going, not a single one had gone out. All of them casting their light on him.
It might not have meant anything, but Sasuke still found himself bowing deeply, a soft smile on his face.
***
When they all met up again in the kitchen, weapons ready, they nodded at each other. No one commented on the smell of smoke and wax that clung to Sasuke. And he in turn did not ask why Karin smelled like the sea on a windy day, her voice raspy and carrying a slight accent. Suigetsu, whose hair normaly refused to be braided, was sporting an intricate woven mohawk, both sides looking like rivers flowing together, a ribbon of blood holding the plaited hair in a warrior’s tail. Juugo’s arms were lined with detailed golden drawings of blooming vines, and when he moved, the vines moved too, leaves fluttering. 
Looking at each other, they could’ve asked, but no one did. Each clan had rituals of their own, and rituals were sacred. They all respected each other not to ask, and had enough tolerance, not to ridicule things they did not understand.
Whether it was the combined might of their prayers, or simply a lucky break, none of them were able to pinpoint which it was. But the moment they all decided it was time to leave. There was a near silent pop, and where there’d been nothing before. One of the mambas Sasuke had been trying for days to summon, was coiled. 
“Sasuke-sama,” Kai breathed, the tone soft yet jubilant. The kind of joy that meant either one of two things.
Mangoes or prey.
“We’ve found a rat,”Kai hissed, coiling and uncoiling in excitement.
“Shimura Danzo,” The mamba crooned, and something in Sasuke loosened. Bloodlust washing over him like snow at the top of a mountain. The boiling inferno of rage just below the surface.
“Show me,” He said, and this time when he set off, his friends were with him.

Notes:

Rituals are important. It doesn't even have to be a prayer. It can be that cup of coffee in the morning, the knock on wood. Simple things that might seem ridiculous to others, but for them it makes a world of difference.

Chapter 23

They moved through the sea of roiling creature. Stepped lightly over the ones that had long died with nothing to eat them, and by the time Matsugo was long behind them, they were running through places where nothing moved. Even the air was still, like it too was scared of what was coming.
Danzo, cunning as he was, had something blocking Karin from sensing him. But dumb as he was, he still had yet to figure out he’d already been made.
They found him on the second day, hiding out in a cave.
Looking at him made Sasuke ache, and it wasn’t just a psychological thing. Shimura Danzo...wasn’t right.
When Sasuke looked at him with his sharingan, he had to supress the urge to hurl. Crammed into the man, were two other chakra signatures, engulfed by his, but both of them distinctly foreign. Back in Konoha, Sasuke had seen remnants of otherness in the man, but he’d chalked it down to the stolen sharingan. But what he was seeing reminded him a lot of the chakra sucking ninja he’d fought in the chuunin exams, only amplified to a horrifying degree.
“He killed the others,” Kai’d said, but looking at the man, a more accurate description would’ve been...he ate the others.
Without the mask of political power, Sasuke realized he was finally seeing the real Danzo. With the chakra of his teammates sitting in his core like a partly digested meal, and the stolen eyes on full display, the Uchiha took a moment to fully appreciate what they were up against.
When Orochimaru had begun altering himself, he hadn’t hidden it. For each bit of humanity that he lost, the outward appearance matched. But Shimura Danzo had gone for a subtler approach. Each of his modifications were predominantly human, nothing meant to catch the eye. Like a ghoul building itself from the bodies of others using transparent thread. Everything looked like it belonged until you looked closer. But by then the man’s maw was already unhinged and it was too late.
No sooner had Sasuke finished the thought. Shimura Danzo, standing at the mouth of the cave, turned slowly, pausing in increments. And each time he paused, he was looking right at the locations where they were hiding, the team having decided earlier to split up and surround him.
“Now, make things easier for yourselves and come out. You will not like it if I come looking for you,” There was a flare of chakra, dark and suffocating, the remnants of foreign chakra being swallowed by it. The presence infinitely stronger than anything Danzo should’ve been capable of. For the fist time, Sasuke understood how a shinobi as skilled as Shisui could’ve fallen to the elder.
It was one thing to go up against an old man with eons of experience. But on top of that, Shimura Danzo, beneath the surface, was no longer human, and after three years with Orochimaru. Sasuke was an expert on things that needed to be purified with fire.
He stepped out of the shadows and into the light, a brief sense of freedom engulfing him, at being able to show himself openly to his enemy.
Danzo’s jaw didn’t drop, but it was a near thing. But as quickly as it was there, the surprise was gone. Replaced by a blank expression that reminded Sasuke eerily of Kakashi in killing mode. Nodding like he had solved a complicated puzzle, Danzo regarded Sasuke with a cold gaze.
“Hiruzen?” The man asked, tone light, almost conversational, and Sasuke nodded. He was never one to deny his kills, even the indirect ones.
“Konoha?” This time, Sasuke’s answer was a smug smirk.
Across from him, Danzo went completely still. He let out a single shaky breath, a lone tear trailing down his wrinkled cheek.
“You’ll pay for that,” In the next instant he was right in front of Sasuke, their blades crossed. The Uchiha could practically taste his rage...his hurt. A better man would’ve said it gave him no satisfaction. But Sasuke would’ve been lying if he said that. Shimura Danzo would never understand the pain he’d caused Sasuke, caused others. But he could feel his own, and Sasuke intended to draw out the old man’s suffering for as long as he could.
Habit had both of them falling into the hidden Leaf’s taijutsu. Dancing through the air like falling leaves, kicks and fists flying. Sasuke whistled as he moved, the others dropping down and joining the fight. Everyone going for their pound of flesh(literally) whenever an opportunity presented itself. 
A pack of wolves devouring a stallion.

Chapter 24

Shimura Danzo fought mean, and he fought dirty. No opportunities wasted, even the smallest vulnerability exploited. From the moment the fight had begun. There’d been no reprieve. 

One moment he moved like water, dancing around Suigetsu’s blade. The next he was the earth, burying his fist so hard in Sasuke’s abdomen the Uchiha actually spit blood. When Karin wrapped her chains around him to stop the man from cracking open Sasuke’s skull, his enraged scream was barely human. It cut off almost immediately, Danzo’s face going calm and cold, the no feelings box shutting down everything.
From then on, it was like fighting a machine. Nothing fazed him, he shrugged off attacks meant to kill twenty men like they were nothing. Treated his legs catching fire like it was a gentle massage, and didn’t slow when kunai came too close to vital points. All the while he was punishing all of them for daring to come close enough to touch him. Bones cracking and dislocating, blood staining clothes as they barely managed to get out of reach of his ever seeking blades.
All the while his expression remained flat, his eyes not really seeing them, just the ways in which they could be killed.
The no feelings box of a hardened veteran.
Any other mission, and Sasuke would’ve already called for a retreat, the four of them looking for the nearest hole to hide in. But this wasn’t just a mission, this was for his family. For them he stayed and fought, and for him, Taka stayed and fought.
In the end the blow that killed Shimura Danzo came not from Sasuke but from Karin... and that was the only thing that saved Taka.
***
It was over quickly, but it was in no way painless. A seal blooming beneath the man’s feet, peeling flesh and breaking bones as it moved up his body. Shimura Danzo died horribly, face frozen in pain, eyes wide up until the moment his skeletal structure caved in. The body nothing more than a pool of blood and goo.
For a moment all of them just looked at each other, wide eyed. She’d done it. Danzo was really- the slightest shift in the air, light and shadow blurring in a way that should’ve been impossible with his sharingan activated, and Sasuke’s heart sank. It couldn’t be...
 He moved without conscious thought. Leaping in front of his team, a wall of ice coming up to separate them from the body.
“Sasuke, what-” Right on cue, a torrent of flames came at them, the wall sizzling as it gave way under the heat. With the last of the wall was eaten away, Shimura Danzo, as healthy as can be, stood smirking at them.
“Idiots, did you really think it would be that easy,” The world rippled once more, darkness and light settling into place, and Sasuke could not deny the truth. Danzo had accessed an Uchiha technique not meant for the masses.
Izanagi.
***
“No,” Sasuke whispered, throat tight as he watched old man Taro’s eye spin once, twice, then go still. The light fading from it.
“Fascinating jutsu, isn’t it,” The tone was that of a sensei lecturing a particlarly slow student.
“To think the Uchiha hoarded such valuable abilities,” The man scoffed, idly flicking the unmoving eye.
He looked at Sasuke like he’d just shown him up, had shown his whole clan up. And in sick twisted way, Sasuke understood. The Uchiha, with all their might had fallen to him, and he was now using their skills with ease that should’ve been impossible.
But even with all of that, the man didn’t get it, he didn’t understand...
The ground beneath Sasuke’s feet shook, and he had a moment to watch the tip of a root poke out before Juugo was there, ripping it from the ground and tearing it apart. The change settled over him with the ease of a new shoot pushing off the earth. 
Where Karin’s battle had been a fight of will and seals, Juugo’s made the very earth tremble. Tree swaying, branches groaning, fire licking at Juugo’s hardened skin and going out without making a dent.
This time, Danzo died with his head cracked open like a coconut, blood and brains oozing out. Juugo’s fist grinding his open skull into a fine dust. The world shattered, once, twice. Danzo came back to life with a lightining strike aimed at Juugo’s heart.
There was a shrill laugh, Suigetsu throwing himself between Juugo and the attack. Kubikiribochi easily catching the energy, the Hozuki burying the tip in the ground and letting the earth swallow the charge.
***
The Suigetsu fighting Danzo was someone none of them had ever seen before.
There was joy and there was bloodlust, the usual staples when it came to Suigetsu fighting. But there was something else there. When he moved in to cut Danzo, he actually cut Danzo, just Danzo. There were no boulders sliced in half, and no trees felled by a stray strike. Zero collateral damage. Every single strike was for Danzo only, and the result was terrifying.
Attacks that normally would’ve been nothing more than paper cuts amplifying. Small nicks severing muscle and denting bones.
Arterial blood splashing  everywhere. In the end, Suigetsu cleaved Danzo in two, From crown to groin, the individual parts falling in sync.
As expected, no less than a second later, Danzo was back.
 Staring at the once again pristine man, Suigetsu smile was nothing but teeth from ear to ear. But before he could go in for round two, Sasuke stepped forward, his back to his friends as he faced Danzo. 
By stepping in, his friends had brought Sasuke some time to get over the shock of Danzo using Izanagi. And in doing so had given him time to assess, to analyse. Shimura, like Sarutobi, was a skilled warrior, who had survived the second and third wars. And yet Taka were making quick work of him. Was it a side effect of Izanagi? One Sasuke’d never heard of. But most likely it was a ploy, ever the tactician, Danzo was playing a slow game. Trying to demoralize them. Showing them with every resurrection how powerful he was. They got weaker and weaker, he grew from strength to strength.
I can keep going all day...can you?
He was saying each time he came back to life. Were it anyone else, the tactic would’ve worked.
But Sasuke was Uchiha, blood and fire. He knew the cost of such power.

Chapter 25

For many years, Danzo had sat in the sidelines watching the Uchiha. He’d studied them, extensively, after the Nidaime, he was the foremost expert on the Uchiha. Therefore, when the stone faced boy across from him raised a flaming hand(fire, as was to be expected), the old man prepared for an attack. But all the boy did was turn the flame into a ball of fire, throw it into the air and let it rain sparks over them as he called the names of the previous owners of the eyes now in Danzo’s possesion.
Ahh... superstition... how very Uchiha of him.
Kagami had sworn up and down the practice warded off some sort of spirit, and brought good luck. The memory of his old teammate had Danzo smiling lightly, despite the rage currently thrumming through his veins. Kagami had been so shocked when Danzo’d managed to pin him and pluck the eyes from his skull.
He had died praying, and it had done him as much good as it would Uchiha Sasuke. Done with his little fireworks, the boy stared Danzo down, his sharingan, a mankegyo( it would be a nice addition to his collection) spinning wildly, no doubt searching for weak spots.
Done waiting, Danzo decided to bait the boy, if memory served, he had a temper to him( too much like Fugaku).
 “As superstitious as the rest of your weak-willed dead clan...pitiful,” The way the boy flinched was very satisfying. Then, as expected, his gaze sharpened even more, blood vessels popping from his eyes as rage consumed him.
Poking the Uchiha was just too easy, he’d miss it, once this one was nothing more than an eye. But the boy had brought it upon himself the day he’d destroyed Konoha...destroyed all that Danzo and Hiruzen had worked for.
***
The Uchiha  ran forward, dancing on air, and Danzo let him come. 
Ducking down at the final moment, he jammed a thumb into the boy’s side, two ribs cracking simultaneously, the Uchiha hissing in pain, clutching his side as he twisted out of the way. A technique the old man had gotten from a member of the Kaguya clan.
In payment, the brat buried a kunai in Danzo’s mouth, and it came out at the back of his head. When Danzo returned, it was with an ice senbon to the boy’s Achilles heel, something he’d picked up in kiri. That one earned him a death by fire.
Resurrection found him lightly tapping the boy’s arm, and watching it spasm involuntarily, pain written all over the Uchiha’s face. Not quite the gentle fist, but close, very close. Off to the side, he could hear the little clan brats shouting worriedly, but since they didn’t interfere, Danzo ignored them. Satisfied at the sight of the quivering mess that was Uchiha Sasuke, Danzo didn’t even mind the lightning coated chokuto that pierced his heart.
Uchiha, Aburame, Hyugga,Kumo, Kiri, Suna… The list went on and on, but no matter the people or the place, Danzo knew a technique from there, and he made sure Uchiha Sasuke felt it.
The Senju were the known as the magpies of the shinobi world, something Danzo had always aspired to.
His hatred for them matched his disdain for the Uchiha now. But just like the Uchiha, their techniques were very useful.
And in combining the two, he had become invincible.
He let the boy kill him, again and again, slowly breaking his spirit. Then when he had one eye left, he decided to put the boy out of his misery.
“The time has come for you to join your clan,” He said, removing the blade buried in his sternum and tossing it away.
He called on his chakra, waiting for it to ripple through the eye and bend time. 
Nothing happened, the wound in his chest continued to bleed, the blood coming hard and fast. He looked down at his arm, and all the eyes were still, unseeing.
Impossible!
He should still have one left. He'd counted…he had…oh…Uchiha, illusion specialists…the oldest trick in the book. He looked from his bleeding chest to the boy. Expecting to see that infuriating Uchiha smugness written all over his face. But instead of looking pleased, Uchiha Sasuke looked…wary. His eyes moving from the wound that had cracked Danzo's sternum open and exposed his heart to the blood pooling at his feet.
The longer Danzo remained standing the more unsettled the boy seemed to become. And Danzo now that he was paying attention to the wound realized something.
It was a killing blow. The pain was intense. The blood loss alone should have knocked him out ages ago, and yet he was still standing, still aware, still able to focus despite everything.
Could it be? Had he somehow stumbled upon a way to cheat death?
Had his use of the Izanagi technique together with the Senju absorption jutsu made him some kind of immortal.
Well, well…he moved to attack. This time he would not be playing games. He would tear the boy apart limb by limb and then bury him in the depths of the sea where his corpse would drown for eternity. The Uchiha believed they could not ascend if they were not burned. It would be Danzo's final punishment for the pest. 
Smirking at the wide eyed boy Danzo jumped into the air, his shattered ribs groaning in protest, scratching at his heart, but he ignored the pain. Enjoying the perks of his new found immortality. He would handle the boy first and then tend to what would have been a life ending injury. 
Still mid-air he drew out the water from around them. Encasing himself and Sasuke in frozen dome. The boy startled, eyes going wide and glassy for a brief moment. His mask not  sliding in place fast enough to hide his moment of pure fear.
Ahh…so the boy still remembered the mission in Wave. Danzo had taken great pleasure in reading the report. 
Sasuke's face might have hidden his fear, but his body was not as fast on the uptake. 
With a flick of his wrist, Danzo had the wall coming down. Billions of shards headed right for Sasuke, each one encased in a shield of Danzo's chakra. Fireproof, shatterproof, and custom made to not stop until whomever was unlucky enough to be within the dome with Danzo was nothing more than a pile of shredded meat. 
The scarred man watched with great delight as the boy moved. Trying to fight, his lightning coated blade out but virtually useless. 
The boy was fast but he was not fast enough. The shards tore at him, his blood going everywhere. The ones he managed to bat away instantly coming back at him with the accuracy of sharks smelling blood in the water. 
The sharp ice cut and cut until Sasuke was on his knees, shaking as the shards dug into him, burrowing deeper. He looked like a pin cushion at the end of its use, but the boy was still fighting, not believing that it was over.
His eyes spun, a wall of dark fire coming up before it went back down. Reduced to a tiny sputtering flame at the boy’s side.
A less vindictive person would have either let the boy die like that or finish him quick. But Danzo was not that person.
Heart still exposed, blood leaking out of him with every breath he took, Danzo made his way to the kneeling boy at a leisurely pace.
The boy had taken things from him that could never be replaced.
His best friend, his village…and for what, a family that did not know the meaning of loyalty. Who put their bonds with each other over those of their village?
Just thinking about it made Danzo angry all over again.
Through the thick ice he could shadows moving, the Uchiha's minions no doubt trying to get through. He would deal with them after he got rid of their leader.
Coming to a stop in front of the panting boy, Danzo looked down at him.
“Die,” He said simply, and stopped holding the ice. The dome fell from the top. Going from solid to liquid, the water rushing, coiling around the boy boy like a furious snake and forming a sphere around him. 
With water holding him, Sasuke stood, banging at his death prison, his blood staining the water. The lone black flame by his side flickering wildly, matching his erratic movements as he fought not to take a breath but eventually he did. There were no words that could properly describe Danzo's satisfaction as he watched the boy finally breathe in the water. He kicked at the water one last time, resignation setting in. Then with the last of his strength, he moved to the little black flame he had created earlier. The fire came when he called it to his hands. Still burning strong despite being submerged in water and its caster's fading life force. 
It was a useful jutsu, Danzo would be sure to rip it from the boy's eyes later.
Realizing it was over, Uchiha Sasuke no longer had time for Danzo. Hands in front of him, flame cupped in his palms, the boy looked straight ahead, no longer bothered by his body shutting down.
Praying, just like Kagami had all those years ago.
Death by drowning, was deceptively peaceful. The body too tired to fight going limp, clothes swaying gently. None of it showing the agony of having cells fill with water until they burst, lungs screaming for air. Fire still burning in hands.
Uchiha Sasuke’s sightless eyes stared at Danzo through the water and the elder could not help the genuine smile that flitted across face.
Hiruzen was avenged, Konoha was avenged.
It was over…almost.
Turning his back on the body Danzo looked over at what remained of the ice and let it fall with a wave of his hand. With the last of the wall down his friends rushed in. They took one look at the body behind Danzo and their immediate sorrow had his mood lightening further.
It would be a mercy to kill them all together. One he would greatly enjoy giving. Whatever else Danzo would have enjoyed, he never got a chance to think it.
One moment he was looking at the approaching trio and the next there were arms on him.
Pale, cold, dripping wet, fingers digging into his still bleeding wound.
Then there was a cold breath against his ear, the sickly sweet smell of those long dead flooding Danzo's nose “Shhh, we are not done with you yet,” A voice that sounded like Uchiha Sasuke whispered. And just like that, he was yanked back, pulled into freezing waters. They went down, down down sinking into endless depths that had not been there in the tiny sphere of water Danzo had created.
On the surface Karin, Suigetsu and Juugo stared down at the puddle of water that had formed from the water sphere losing its shape. In the center of it was a black flame, floating in the water like a water lily…serene.
“What just happened?” Suigetsu asked, no one answered, no one knew.
Up above a three legged crow flew past. Yatagarasu, the path finder. The crow looked down below at the path that had just erupted in the water sphere, the dark flame showing the way. The entrance to the land of the dead wide open in the land of the living.
The souls hidden beneath Yatagarasu's wings wailed, trembling as they tried and failed to break free of the crow's hold. The Uchiha sensing a way home and wanting to go there even if meant they would never know a moment's rest if they crossed over in their current state.
With a sharp caw, the Yatagarasu flew away once more, vanishing in the space of a few wing beats. The agitated souls settling once more when the pull of the other side lessened. Down below the stumped trio continued to stare.

 

Chapter 26

Back when Tobirama had been kage, he’d introduced a registry...for better cooperation, he’d said. Every single clan had to submit records of their most dangerous jutsus, why they were deadly and their drawbacks.
Available to the hokage only, he’d assured, a total lie. The Uchiha, defanged as they were, could only comply, not complaining even when they realized that that particular law seemed to be very focused on collecting Uchiha clan information in particular.
“It will make people fear you less,” Tobirama’d said. Like he wasn’t a necromancer trifling with the dead on a whim. So Sasuke's clan had given out a list of their most fearsome techniques.
Under Izanagi they’d stated the danger as extreme chakra loss resulting in instant death. True, but not the whole truth. They were being tied up in political strings, but they were still fighting in whatever way they could. The secret of Izanagi and Izanami passed down not through scrolls, but by word of mouth.
Secrets whispered around the campfire, the crackle of fire masking the voices of the elders as they told the story. The smoke hiding the wide eyed looks of the children as they finally learned a clan truth.
***
When Sasuke had first seen Danzo using the technique he had been looking into Shisui's terrified eye, and he had thought…stop! Don't do that. Not just because it was a forbidden technique. But because feeling time bend around him, Sasuke had remembered the words of the elders. Their voices so clear he could've sworn he could still smell smoke in the air.
“Izanagi and Izanami are not just the names of jutsus. It is the gods lending us a fraction of their power. Every Uchiha with the sharingan can use them, ”
“Something bad happens, you kneel before Izanagi and everything is turned back. Every mistake you have ever made fixed in the blink of an eye.” Sasuke all of seven, and thinking of the vase he had broken at home had been ecstatic at the prospect, but sharp eyes had fixed on him, briefly glowing red before turning back to black.
“No so fast little one. The cost of a powerful jutsu is chakra loss. Izanagi is the power of the gods at your fingertips. What do you think the cost would be?”
Even before the question was asked, little Sasuke had already known. Where humans revered chakra, gods valued one thing even above prayers and sacrifice…souls. 
“Izanagi was given not as a gift to the Uchiha, but as a test. In life we go through many things we wish we could change, but we just have to keep moving forward. In our eyes we have the power to change our fates, but we choose not to. Instead we live with what we have done and die with our decisions weighing on us the way they do all other people,” A few short months later his family had been cut down. All of them accepting their fate, no one calling upon the power of Izanagi change it. Knowing that even with the injustice of it all, that death was rite of passage for all. His family had died with their faith still strong, and their eyes wide open.
Eyes that had been ripped from them before their bodies had even begun to cool.
Eyes that Danzo had no problem using to do something none of the Uchiha had dared try.
Izanagi, the eyes called out every time Danzo cheated death. And with each death Sasuke had been calling a different name, she who welcomes…Izanami no mikoto.
The Punisher.
He could have killed Danzo whenever he chose, setting him alight and burning the remains of his family before the man had a chance use them again. But at some point during the encounter, Sasuke had come to the realization that whatever he thought of would be too good for Danzo, so he had handed his punishment over to one who was better at it than him. He had prayed for possession, for her to use him avenge the wrong done to his people. And then, stuck in Danzo's water prison Izanami had answered his prayers…
***
For Danzo, the tides changed too quickly for him to track. He had felt it when Uchiha Sasuke had dragged him backwards and into the water. Which was why he was confused when he blinked and found himself still in the same clearing. Only this time the cold yellow sun suddenly blood red and burning.
Nothing moved, not the dust in the air. Not the nuisances he had fought earlier and not Uchiha Sasuke, who stood in a puddle surrounded by a low wall of black flame. Danzo was instantly on guard, chakra flaring.
A familiar sweet, rotting smell filled the clearing…death and decay. From the corner of his eye, Danzo caught sight of a shadowed figure at the edge of the clearing. He turned his head quickly but whoever it was, was already gone. Behind him the sound of old bones snapping sounded, and again he was too slow to catch sight of the new player in the game. 
There was a whisper of sand against a casket, followed by the smell of fresh blood, then of old blood. The feel of cold fingers against the back of his neck, all sensations that had Danzo on edge until he figured out what they were.
A sensory genjutsu.
The new person was there to play games, but Danzo did not have time for such. Not while he had an Uchiha to kill, and a case of newly discovered immortality to figure out.
“Show yourself!” He commanded and the flickering movements he could never quite catch stopped altogether.
There was a sound of fabric shifting and Danzo found himself looking back at Uchiha Sasuke. The boy, still within the wall of fire was popping dislocated bones into place, his wounds sealing up and fading like they had never been. Even the threads of his torn clothes were coming back together. All traces of their fight gone from him. The final change was on his face. Uchiha Sasuke smirked at him like he knew something Danzo did not.
“May it hurt and never stop,” He said, but before Danzo could question him, his head snapped to the side, a loud crack following the unnatural movement…what?! The boy wad clearly dead, but the body did not fall over. Sightless eyes locked on Danzo, the flames around him flowing to the hand that was all bones and coiling there like an expensive bracelet.
What was this? Another ploy to rattle Danzo? He sent his chakra out to the boy, feeling for his chakra. Uchiha Sasuke's rainstorm and fire energy was almost completely gone. But in its place was something Danzo recognized.
Almost Izanagi but not quite. A variation? Impossible, he was the foremost expert on Uchiha, they were too rigid to experiment. So what was this?
The sound of broken bones grinding against each other had Danzo raising a kunai. Before him Uchiha Sasuke’s head slowly righted itself again. Once all the way up, it did not stop. It spun a slow crunching circle, tendons, cartilage and muscle straining until they snapped, and then realigned until Sasuke’s head was facing forward once more.
A sliver of fear tried to break through and Danzo pushed it back. He had seen worse from Orochimaru, this was a mere party trick.
Then why are you shaking? His traitorous mind asked and Danzo glared.
He was not shaking, the boy, had just somehow stolen all the heat from the air. And not in a cooling way either. It felt like the unnatural chill of a morgue, it even had the smell of slow decomposition in the air. And as Danzo watched Uchiha Sasuke raised a hand and waved, the move slow and jerky, like he was unused to his own body.
“Hello there, dear one,” And every single alarm bell in Danzo went off, his heart hammering. That, was not Uchiha Sasuke. Whatever it was had the voice of a woman, calm and soothing. It had the voice of an old hag, shrill and grating. It sounded like a child, young and carefree. All the voices layered together to create something that echoed in all directions.
It took a single step forward, and Danzo, who had never run from anything in his life, took two back. His instincts overpowering his training. 
“Come now dear, you called and I have come, there is no need to be afraid,” She laughed, and Danzo froze where he stood, hand over his still bleeding chest, the kunai he held clutched uselessly in his other hand. The pool of blood at his feet so vast he should not have been standing anymore. But still he stood, and the monster wearing Uchiha Sasuke, the beast that had frozen time itself, laughed and laughed, dragging itself closer still, stopping when it was so close Sasuke could feel the heat emanating from its fire bracelet.
Danzo had been wrong, he realized, cold sweat running down his back, mixing with urine darkening the fabric of his pants. The creature did not have just the voices of three people merged together. Its laugh was the voices of countless souls rolled into one, screaming and crying, tortured and dying. It was the cries of men and women felled in battle. The wails of babies who died before they were even named. It was the last gasps of those giving in after along illness. 
The sound at the end of all things. 
The siren's song that had covered Konoha like a warm blanket, telling everyone to give up the fight, to rest.
The being possessing the Uchiha boy was too big, too vast for human skin. It wore him, but it was leaking through his pores, the trees all around wilting and dying.
Try as he might to deny it, to say he did not believe in such things. To try and rationalize, say it was probably one of the Yamanakas. Shimura Danzo knew the name of the being before him with a certainty that terrified him.
“Izanami”

Chapter 27

Notes:

If you are looking for good times and cheer...this is not the chapter for it.

“Izanami,” He whispered again, and she laughed once more, the wails of the dead and dying echoing in the sound.
“See, you do know my name,” She smiled at him, and suddenly, Danzo was not seeing just one person.
The creature before him wore the face of Uchiha. It wore the faces of everyone he had ever killed. It was a stunningly beautiful woman. It was a rotting skull, maggots falling from sightless eyes.
Every person all at once, rolled into a single being.
The living and the dead coming together in an unholy union.
His stomach rebelled, and the part of him that knew fear was shrieking. Run, he thought, but Danzo looked at the being before him and fell in love.
How could he not? Something about her was so…so…welcoming. She felt like safety, like home, and the longer Danzo looked at her, devastatingly beautiful and grotesque all at once. The more he wanted to do everything in his power to make sure that her smiles…all of them…never left her many faces, even the one that held the snout of a jackal with bloody snout. It was with that face that she nuzzled at his chest, lapping up the blood there with her tongue.
“May I have your heart?” She asked, and Danzo reached into his wound and tore it from his chest, ribs breaking, bone fragments buried in his skin. The still pumping organ alive in his grip. The pain was like none he had ever felt before. He should have died then, but Danzo was immortal now, he could survive anything. He gave it to her on bended knees, arms outstretched, not daring to look her in the eye. 
The ground beneath his feet changed as she accepted the offering, the clearing fading away, human sawdust digging into his knees. Behind him a river sprang to life, and before him Izanami's throne rose from the darkness. Too bright for him to even begin to comprehend. He was still looking at her throne, awestruck by the power he could feel rippling from it when she spoke.
This time she was a young lady, smiling warmly at him “Such pretty eyes you have, so alive, yet so very dead, may I have those too?”
She wanted the orbs he had so jealously guarded for years. He plucked them out like they were grapes, and placed each one on her palms like they were gold coins.
She laughed, her voice tinkling, as sweet as honey. 
How merciful she was. She only took that which was not his in the first place, allowing him to stay with his original eye and continue to look upon her beauty. The new face whether male or female Danzo could not tell, all he knew was that they were very, very pretty, with their peeling flesh, and rosy lips…and they were flirting with him. In the next instant, Izanagi settled on the face of a young woman. She winked, blowing him a kiss, bony fingers reaching into the mess where his heart used to be.
“If I asked you for that which makes you a man, would you give it?” She traced her hands over the jagged rim of the wound, giving him an encouraging look.
How could he disappoint someone who looked at him with such trust?
No, no, no! Something deep within him chanted and Danzo viciously shut it down. How dare his inner voice think of denying her.
There was no hesitation when he moved. He knew where to hold, where to cut. He had done it countless times to the boys who would not be broken. Too stubborn to be moulded, resistant even after he had forced himself on them to break their spirits.
A single slice and his manhood joined her alter of gifts. His testicles cleaved in two by his own trembling hands, arranged on either side of his severed member.
His groin was burning, the pain so deep he felt it in his navel. He wanted to scream, to cry, to end it all, but he could not die.
He was immortal now, a blessing, a curse.
He bled and bled, the red liquid flowing into the toiling river behind him.
Izanami knelt beside him. Holding him like a mother would her child, while caressing his empty groin like a lover.
“Stay with me,” She begged, cold breath against his ear. When she touched his face, it was with skeletal fingers, but the bones felt more alive somehow. He looked up at her only to find her gone. In her place stood a boy, his blazing eyes filled with rage.
“Do I know you?” He asked and the boy backhanded him with his skeletal hand. Blood flew from Danzo’s cheek, and wound itself around each of the boy's bony digits, the fire there eating away at it.
It felt like a claim, it felt like prison, it felt like torture...it felt so right.
How could it not be right? The boy even with all the hate he was directing at Danzo had the warmth of Izanami in his eyes.
“My name is Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke,” The name made the empty places where Danzo's stolen eyes used to be ache.
“Stay here, forever and ever,” He commanded, Danzo had never taken orders well, he knew that. But at the boy's words it was the easiest thing in the world to bow and kiss the young man's feet, the skin beneath his lips going skeletal. When he looked up again, Uchiha Sasuke was gone, and Izanami was smiling down at him, her skull cracked, blood and brains flowing from the ridges.
She crouched down, her hands going to his shoulders. She rose up with him, and Danzo was only able to stand thanks to her strength.
Izanami helped him walk the path his blood had created, never once letting him stray from it. It burned like fire, each step feeling like an accusation, like condemnation. Where she led, he did not know, but with each step, all of his past sins came out to greet him, it was his eternal punishment, but also his salvation.

Eventually, they came to a stop at the river. Stepping into the waters did not seem very safe but, Danzo went willingly, her touch making it all worth it.

He did not resist when she drowned him. Her face now that of Uchiha Sasuke again, eyes no longer maggot riddled, but alive. Two identical marbles that spun in slow circles…watching…gleeful.
Danzo returned the joy filled look with a smile, glad that Uchiha Sasuke was happy. 
Yes, it was good to bring others joy. 
The bloody waters ripped away Danzo's clothes, leaving him naked, exposed.
He was not ashamed, his eyes only on Uchiha Sasuke, happy to see the boy smiling down at him, even if the smile was all teeth.
Danzo bared himself as he sank, arms going to his sides.There was nothing to see, nothing to be ashamed of. The yomi was no place for shame. Only for worship, who could look upon the goddess and not want to rejoice in her presence.

No one…certainly not Danzo.

Hands clawed at his back, pulling him further down, the countless others that had come before him dragging him to the depths of the river.
Welcomed to a world of eternal salvation, he let his eye close. Settling in amongst the others. The gentle currents washing away all of his sins. All he had done and all that he was. His name vanished in the waters, swallowed by darkness and he saw no need to search for it. Pretty soon, he was not even a he anymore.
He was of the Yomi, ruled by a benevolent God and that was enough.

Notes:

I thought of killing Danzo. But then I thought, the man dies everywhere, give him eternal life. Just imagine, an whole Shimura Danzo bowing. Not only bowing, but enjoying it. Reduced to eternal servitude, with just enough of his old self left to know that it was wrong, that he was not that person, but so far gone he could do nothing but obey... oh well... at least that's how I saw it.
Hope you all enjoyed. Tell me what you think.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of DEADEST DEAD