Mirror Moons of Blood
Disclaimer: I have no connection to the ownership of Naruto or any of its characters, I do however, own the rights to the following premise( not including the basic original progression) and the original characters used here.
Summary
Deep within Hyūga legend, a prophecy, long ago destine to bring about a great upheaval, and bring calamity and woe to all who dwell on the earth. When the children of the Mirror Moons rise, they are to bring about an age of suffering and strife through their quest for vengeance. On the tenth moon in the year of the fox, they are to be born, and the clan of the Moon's Eye will bare them. But there is a way to stop the disaster, one that the clan heads have all passed down, so that the Hyūga might be ready to withhold the calamity from the world. There is only one question that begs an answer however, will they succeed in doing so, or will they fail utterly in their task… or perhaps, something in between?
October 10th, Year of the Fox. Near the border of Mizu and Hi no Kuni.
Blood mixed with mud and rain under the darkening skies. The sound of thunder could be heard rumbling in the distance, as if great beast of stone had begun to smash into each other in mortal combat. But a much more real battle was taking place right under the thin canopy of trees that seemed utterly useless at blocking out the unrelenting downpour of rain.
A woman of stunningly slender form stood in a crouched position, holding a half sheathed katana at breast height in front of her. Crimson hair of impresive length flowed straight down to her lower back, with her bangs stuck to the sides of her face. Her light grey MIST operative body armor was covered with frayed cuts and blood of it wearer and assailant. Water droplets and streams of crimson ran down her sharp facial features, marring her pale skin. Her angular eyes of deep midnight purple shone with a cold ferocity as she leveled a glare across the clearing, just currently introduced to the forest.
Behind her crouched a beige and olive green clad form of a man. From what parts of skin that could be seen from the small gaps where thick clothing did not cover, pale skin shone in the light of a distant lightning strike. Little could be seen of the man, except for his shaggy mess of black hair upon his head, held out of his eyes by a black headband that bore a protective metal plate embroidered with a swirl pattern known by all as the insignia of Konohagakure no Sato. He held himself up with a lengthy arm while holding his side with his other. His side was drenched in his own blood from a deep slash of a deadly blade. His face was mostly covered by a high collar and a set of goggles, but pain was an evident expression on his face.
Across the clearing stood a hulking figure of a man, if you could call him a man. The blue skinned swordsman bore a bloodthirsty grin as he starred down on his two opponents with two, small, crazed bloodshot eyes as he brought his massive sword of shark fins over his cloaked shoulder. Said cloak was as black as night marred with the blood of a certain wounded man. The razor toothed man let out a gleeful chuckle as he saw the fierceness in the woman's face and brought his massive sword known by many as 'Samehada' or 'Shark Skin', one of seven legendary swords of Kirigakure, Up to point at his fellow sword wielder before speaking in his gleeful blood crazed drawl.
"Well well well, look at what we have here." He said with an erratic voice. "The valiant lover, jumping in at the last second to save the father of her firstborn eh?" The navy haired man drew back his head, which held a headband of Kiri with a jagged line etched across it, and let loose a crazed cackle as lightning flashed behind him.
The dark eyed beauty felt as if she was dunked in the coldest depths of darkness as she heard the S-rank criminal indicate his knowledge of her child. The man looked back at her with his bloodthirsty grin and exclaimed. "Hehehe, Oh yes Hyusa-'chan' I know of your little tirade with the Aburame. I must say, I am surprised such a stoic man even had such interest." He chuckled at his own jab at the wounded man. "Don't worry though, after I kill you two pitiful excuses for shinobi, Ill end the little brat's misery." At this the man's grin widened. Seeing how he was done with words, the shark man lunged forward and closed the ten meter distance in but a mere second.
Uzumaki Hyusa, the half a day long mother, swiftly dodged to her left and unsheathed her katana in one motion, intent on bisecting the blue haired man. Readjusting right at the last moment, Hoshigaki Kisame brought Samihada into a vertical block and became gridlocked with his 'prey'. The two shared an intense glare until the legendary sword begun to writhe and growl as its mass of fins begun to lengthen and sharpen while siphoning off the Uzumaki's chakra to feed its gluttonous appetite. Being an Uzumaki had its benefits however, for every Uzumaki held massive amounts of the life force known as chakra, so the woman barely felt the effects of her enemy's sword.
The woman then jumped back with a swift chakra enhanced kick to the shark man's gut and reached into a utility pouch on her waist and drew three kunai and charged them with her wind chakra before throwing them straight at Kisame, who clearly saw the light haze surrounding the knifes, indicating the extremely deadly piercing effect they had. The hulking man smirked as he used Samihada to block them while also draining the wind chakra out of them, making them utterly useless against Samihada's scales. They clattered against its surface harmlessly but suddenly they emanated a violent hissing noise. Kisame's beady eyes widened at the implication. 'Paper Bombs!' He thought before trying to jump away, but he found that he couldn't move. The shark man looked down at his legs and saw a writhing mass of small fly sized beetles encasing his lower legs. He snarled and looked at the man nursing his bleeding side who had his right arm outstretched with small specs of black buzzing out of his sleeve and forming a black cloud of parasitic insects and cursed. 'That damned Aburame!' he thought just before the paper bombs went off with a magnificent blast of fire.
Kisame was launched backwards at breakneck speeds as he smashed through a cluster of thin trees which were destroyed by the impact. The man crawled up and felt a sharp pain run through his left shoulder, sparing a glance, his eyes where met with one of the thin trunks of the now destroyed trees sticking out of his flesh. He growled and bore the pain as he gathered a large amount of chakra and using both of his hands to shape a set of complex hand signs. Landing on the last seal, Kisame gathered his chakra into his stomach and bellowed his jutsu's name. "Shredding Shark Rain Jutsu!" He yelled and belched out a glob of water that dispersed in the air, only to rain down on the entire clearing with each droplet forming a small water shark that bore its razor sharp teeth.
Both ninja jumped to opposite sides of the clearing to avoid the deadly rain. The rouge kiri nin had proved himself to be an intelligent opponent when both shinobi where both encased in a meter tall sphere of water, each maintained by a mizu clone . Kisame walked into the middle of the clearing at a leisurely pace and hefting his sword on his uninjured shoulder.
"Mmm, I congratulate you two. Not many people are able to wound me, especially to this extent." He mused while lamely looking at the gaping hole in his left shoulder. He looked back up at the red headed woman and let out a smirk at her fear laden face. he chuckled at the display for a moment, savoring every last bit his enemies fear. His chuckle then evolved into a full blown laughter.
'He... he's not even fazed by it!' Hyusa thought with wide eyes. Never in her life of wandering the five elemental countries had she ever seen such a monster. Even her clansmen and women hadn't been this resilient to pain. She began to struggle a little in her prison of water, her lungs where beginning to burn from the lack of oxygen. She spared a look at her soon to be husband across the small stretch of clearance in the forest. Her feeling of dread only grew as she saw her lovers watery prison took on a crimson hue as he began to bleed out more and more by the minute. 'Sheme.' She was only able to spare the one thought before steeling herself and began molding her chakra and weaving it into coils of chains, with each link of the pure chakra construct baring spikes and barbs all around them.
"Hmmm, Now which of you should I detach you from your limbs first eh?" He mused alound while looking at the bleeding Aburame. "You, We wouldn't want you to have to watch me defile you beloved now would we?" Kisame said while advancing upon the leaf nin. Sheme, at hearing of the mans intentions, felt a rage he thought he could never achieve.
'Enough delaying.' The Aburame thought as he commanded his kikai to completely drain the clone detaining him of chakra. The swarm of tiny insects did as commanded and begun to swim through the spherical prison towards the mizu clone and aptly fed on the thin layer of chakra keeping its form. The clone soon fell to the ground and turned to a small puddle as did the technique holding the goggled man. He watched for a slight moment as his beloved shot her secret trump card out of her back, abruptly ending the other bunshin's existence.
"Pesky bunch aren't you two eh?" The cloaked man said before hefting Samehada once more on his shoulder. "Well allow me to fix that!" The blue man exclaimed as he lunged for the downed Sheme and went to have his sword shred him to ribbons. But he was cut short when said sword was sent flying courtesy of a golden chakra chain. Kisame had only a split second to dodge out of the way of another barbed link of golden chains, but not without one of the numerous hooks to snag part of his left ear, earning a growl from the blue haired man.
Now separated from his sword, The two shinobi then separated again, this time the insect user lead the assault on the rouge ninja with a swift bout of taijutsu, using slow but strong hits to help balance out the two's strengths. While Kisame was evidently bigger than the brown haired Aburame, it seemed that the wounded konoha nin was quite muscled under all of his layers of clothing. Kisame knew that his chakra was being drained quite heavily as time went on, but it mattered little to him with the fact that he had far more chakra then both of his opponents combined and then some. Coupled with Samehada, he was an unexsaustable resource of chakra. Unknown to him however, was that his chakra was being transmuted to his own opponents reserves thanks to a particularly mutated version of kikaichu beetles.
With his reserves filled, Sheme jumped back for a moment before announcing his jutsu. "Hijutsu: Chakra field!" Landing on the last seal, Sheme's remaining kikai, normal and mutated, began to swirl around him in a continuous torrent of insects before forming a humanesque cloud around Sheme. The kikai suddenly began to form webs of visible blue chakra between themselves, effectively forming a complex grid around the Aburame. Quirking his brow at this, the shark man wondered just what his 'prey' was up to. Forming a quick one handed seal, Kisame formed two mizu bunshins form the rain and sent them to charge at the man. Sheme for his part stayed in his spot until both clones where within a meter of him. He then lashed out at lightning speed at one of the Kisame copies, but his jab missed him entirely before he jumped back and punched at the other clones head, also falling a full foot short of its mark entirely. Suddenly, the two clones both destabilized from a lack of chakra and promptly fell to the ground in a watery mess.
Widening his eyes slightly, Kisame watched as his clones where dispatched at such long range while in 'close' range combat. Growling, Kisame turned towards where his sword lay, or where it should've been. Kisame sensed a shift in the air and ducked low as his very own sword passed over his head, narrowly tearing it off. The blue man leaped away to get some breathing room and looked on in utter disbelief as HIS sword was being wielded by none other then his long time foe, Uzumaki Hyusa.
Said Uzumaki was currently holding the legendary 'Shark Skin' in her pale hands. Normally no man would ever have been able to wield the chakra eating blade besides its owner. But said sword was wrapped tightly with chakra chains, chains that had the special quality of suppressing chakra, as well as keeping the blade from feeding its ravenous maw full of chakra. Seeing the surprise on Kisame's face, Hyusa couldn't help but smirk at the man who had caused her so much grief over her life. First her father, he had callously killed when he had encountered him on the road. Then her mother while trying trying to stall the madman's rampage through their small estate. then later on her beloved older brother , Mimana, as he sent his two sisters towards the land of fire while he made a diversion to lead their predator astray.
"I'll see you dead for all that you have done scum, you took so much away from me." She uttered through ragged breaths with a firm but soft voice. "And I wont let you take away any more!" With a fire building inside of her, she leaped forward swinging the bound sword at the murderer with the intent of shredding him to pieces. The blue man had to use a substitution jutsu to escape his own weapon, but he had managed to get behind the still wounded Aburame, who was open to attack.
All Sheme could do was put up a half done defense by turning to face that enormous chakra signature behind him and drawing a blade to meet the madman's own kunai. Taking advantage of his surprised state, Kisame shifted his hold on his ninja knife ever so slightly so that it would slide down his opponents own blade and eviscerate the pale mans hand. Feeling the grinding vibrations through his kunai, Sheme let go of the blade and dropped into a crouched hand stand and kicked out at the pseudo sharks legs.
Normally, the S-ranked missing nin wouldn't have been hit by such a rudimentary attack, However, the large grid of chakra around the Aburame's body proved to be extremely useful as it caused the chakra in Kisame's legs to drain a considerable amount for a few seconds, opening up a perfect opportunity for the Blood Dancer of Mist, Hyusa Uzumaki, to bring the shredding sword down unto the tumbling shark-man.
An hour later. Two miles away, abandoned ANBU outpost.
The tapping of sandals echoed in the poorly illuminated halls of outpost 23 Hebi, conveniently evacuated of personnel shortly after the defection of the legendary Snake Sannin, Oroichmaru. The subterranean halls were of simple stone, crudely but efficiently constructed from numerous and cumulative Doton jutsu, and lit by sparse and far in between torches that barely seemed able to hold back any darkness at all. But to the current occupant of the old ANBU outpost, it was of little concern, he had much experience with working in the dark and had no troubles seeing clearly in it.
As the figure approached one of the few sources of light in the seemingly unending hallway, his tan and white tunic was revealed, reflecting the flickering light of the torch. Tied around the tunic was a thick belt of deep lavender cordage, wound around the wearer twice in a double belt and was fastened into two large loops in the back. Under the rough tunic, a long sleeved black shirt hugged the arms and neck of the wearer. The man wore simple grey pants tied down by bandages at the ankles, and wore standard shinobi sandals that proceeded to resonate sound throughout the corridors.
One would barely note his odd dress due to the even more outlandish facial features of the lengthy man. His ashen black hair flowed down to his mid back and his bangs were almost as long. His jawline was sharp and squared, exceedingly pale skin was set tightly on his prominent cheekbones. His eyes were by far the most interesting feature of the man, gold and slitted, sharp and narrow, they seethed with cunning and darkness, which was only magnified with the curiously purple shaded skin just below the eyebrows and above the eye. To many in the elemental nations, such abnormal and distinctive features would lead to one conclusion, this man was the legendary summoner of Manda, the emperor of the snake summons, Orochimaru.
Stranger still was the what the legendary traitor of Konoha was cradling in his arms, which could be heard making soft whimpers beneath a thick wrapping of cloth. Orochimaru gave a glimpse at the bundle of life in his arms, observing it with a kind of curiosity found in a scientist about to begin his research. What lay in his arms was the wan figure of a newborn baby. The infant had strangely long hair for a newborn, sticking to his slightly chubby cheeks and deep crimson in color, the child was a sight to see. Although such a trait was mentally documented for further research by man, Orochimaru could not tare his eyes away from the distinct and obvious holes that riddled the small boy's entire body. They weren't gaping or bleeding, but they were a clear sign of kikaichu infestation the rouge scientist. Orochimaru gave a sympathetic look to the sleeping child, reflecting on the recent events which brought the small child into his arms, and gave a sigh.
Flashback
Orochimaru had resurfaced from using a doton transportation jutsu to practically 'swim' through the earth. Wasting no time, the traitor rushed off towards the flaring chakra signatures of fighting shinobi. Being one of the most renowned ninjutsu specialist, Orochimaru could sense chakra with almost pinpoint accuracy, and he could sense two extremely large chakras, and one impressive(but not nearly as large) chakra. If it was a battle of any other normal ninja, the Sannin would've ignored it without a thought, but the sheer amount of power resonating from the three was too intriguing to avoid.
Orochimaru gave an anticipatory grin as he approached the battleground, he couldn't be a mile away. His thoughts were cut short however, when the purer of the two massive chakras spiked considerably, and shortly after the darker chakra followed suit. 'They must be preparing to finish it, kuso!' Orochimaru pumped more chakra into his jumps as he flew towards the fight of, seemingly, monsters. The torrential downpour seemed to lessen considerably and the air seemed to become parched and dry. Giving a short raise of an eyebrow, Orochimaru set his sight upon a impressively tall tree and bounded towards it, running up it with chakra channeled through the soles of his feet.
Towering over the top of the thin canopy of trees, the snake Sannin could clearly see the massive rents in the soil and the huge clearing made by the confrontation. Just then, the change in the rain made sense, as a black robed man shot forth a grand water shark, followed quickly by a MIST operative, who shot fourth a singular massive chain baring an equally massive spearhead, radiating soft golden light. 'Those are chakra chains!' Orochimaru thought, amazed, 'I thought the nature had died out... I must see more!' The Sannin gave a hungry look as he watched in absolute fascination as the two colossal justsu fly towards each other.
"JAWS OF SHINNAGAMI!"
"SPEAR OF KAMI!"
The roar of the mizu jutsu and the shambling echoes of the chakra metal completely blotted out any other noise as they collided, sending out a shockwave when both techniques were veiled in a massive explosion of water and mist. Then the jingle of interlacing pieces of metal could be heard before the ominous sound of flesh rending and blood flowing, just before a grunt of pain resounded as the mist cleared.
Orochimaru held a grin that could've split his face in two, such amazing power was rare to come by, and witnessing two masters of jutsu battle was even more enthralling. He witnessed the giant of a man opposing the chain wielder struggle to hold the massive spearhead in front of himself with his shredded hands. Then with a strained, high pitched chuckle, drop the golden chakra construct to the ground, making the earth tremor slightly. Giving a look towards Orochimaru's position, the blue man spoke. "Looks like another signature is close by, in this shape" he gestured to his torn up visage, "I don't think I'll be sticking around for much longer, Hyusa'-chan'." He said with a slightly resentful tone. Making a one handed seal, Hoshigaki Kisame disappeared in a swirl of water and mist.
Seeing his que, Orochimaru leaped down towards the clearing, keeping a respectful distance from the haggard and heavily bleeding form of the female MIST operative. She was barely standing when she laid her amethyst eyes on the newcomer. She had still held a defensive gleam in her eyes, but she was clearly relieved to have the shark man gone. She was about to question who had chased off her enemy, but found no energy to do so, and felt herself slowly slipping from consciousness.
In mid fall, the dark haired stranger was next to her in a flash, slinging her arm around his shoulder to prevent her from slamming into the ground. she turned her tired eyes towards the ominous looking man, but found some form of sympathy in the mans expression. she was about to thank him when she gave into a fit of coughing as she spewed blood from her mouth in thick globs. Giving a ragged breath after a few minutes of coughing, the slender beauty looked pleadingly to the man holding her, and then towards the prone figure lying a good ten feet away. Seeing the message, the ex Konoha nin nodded, walking them both to the still form of what seemed to be an Aburame clansman. The woman gave a slight gasp, followed by a sob, seeing what was before her.
Aburame Sheme had propped himself up on one of the many tree stumps, his long, baggy coat had been opened up to reveal a vast system of holes riddled across his body. His head had lulled back and his jaw hung loosely below, painful stretchmarks evident across his wan face. It looked almost as if something had tried to get out of him by the way his coat had been open, and the pain laden expression across his all too still face. In a bloody, torn mess of sleeves and arms, the konoha nin held a small bundle of green and grey cloth in his arms, holding him close to his propped up chest.
The Aburame was too still to be considered alive, and the massive rent in his flesh only supported the fact. His gaunt hand was held above the bundle of cloth, covering what was inside it, but from the loud cries of pain emanating from it, there could only be one possibility. 'A baby?' Orochimaru thought to himself, not daring to speak. The red haired woman let go of the supporting structure of her savior and stumbled towards her remaining family, with as much blood flowing from her wounds as tears flowing down her face. she slumped next to the still form of her lover and slowly reached out for her child, tenderly removing him from Sheme's protective embrace.
She gave a short sob before gently brushing her hand down the pale face of her only son, all her life she wanted a family, something to take care of and help grow, and now it was being torn away from her. She began to softly hum a lullaby that she was sung to by her mother when she was little. It was a simple tune, but it carried all the love and sorrow a dying mother could bare. She continued for a while, heedless of the stranger standing a few feet away, all that mattered to her was to comfort her child, one last time.
The cries slowly died down to a soft whimper as Hyusa ended her song. The Uzumaki gave a small smile at the sight of her only child, giving a moment to just... look at him, knowing it would very well be the last time she could. With such a dark turn of thought, she then looked up at the man who stood solemnly before her and her family. Feeling more desperate than ever before, "P-please... W-w-would you" She paused for a moment to catch her breath, but the Sannin had already nodded in acceptance. With this, Hyusa gave a small smile and closed her eyes, unable to hold back the constant stream of tears. "Thank you." he paused before pulling out a scroll from her dead partners coat and offered it to the man along with her child. "Here."
The snake summoner gently took aholf of the bundle and scroll, but didn't pull away when he saw the look of forlorn in the woman's eyes. with on final mental push, Hyusa opened her eyes one more time. "His... Name is... Shina." she said with the utmost care an all her heart's worth of love, nothing could have been more heartbreaking than it. The Sannin nodded slowly before stepping away, with his new cargo carefully held to his chest.
Hyusa gave one more sparring look at the man before turning over to the man she held so much love for. She leaned against the tree he was propped up against and rested her head on his broad shoulder, tenderly wrapping her bleeding arms into his, before giving one last look. "I... Love... you...She-m-me." and with one last shutter, Uzumaki Hyusa, Blood Dancer of the Mist, gave her last breath.
End Flashback
Orochimaru shook his head in a vain attempt to rid him of the shred of sadness from himself. He was surprised how much the scene had played on his emotions, and it had been a very long time since he had seen something so... disheartening. He wanted to scoff at such a notion, that he, ruthless master of ninjutsu, would be affected by this. But for the life of him, he couldn't. Sighing to himself, he turned to a wooden door and opened it, revealing a sparse room of one bed, a chair, and a table with some candles lit. The furniture was in no accounts bad, but it was nothing short of rudimentary. The figure of a boy, seemingly around eight years of age, stood from his bed and bowed immediately to Orochimaru. "Orochimaru-Sama, your back!" He stated in slightly restrained excitement. He grabbed a pair of large rimmed glasses off the table and moved his silver bangs out of the way of his eyes so he could see. He gave a slight quirk of the brow when he saw his master holding a blood soaked scroll and a wrapped up baby in his arms.
"Kabuto," Orochimaru started, "Starting from this day, you will take care of this boy at any means, he is not to be pampered, but to be kept safe, am I understood." He said more as a statement than a question. Kabuto was shaken out of his skeptical thought when he heard the finality in his master's voice. He gave a quick bow before stuttering out a quick agreement. before reaching out to the bundle of cloth and gently taking a hold of the newborn. "He is our new experement, your first long term subject." Orochimaru stated with a hint of warning.
The Sannin turned to leave the room when he heard the one question he was expecting. "Orochimaru-sama... What is his name?" the young boy asked, looking down at the small infant in his arms. His eyes then went to the slightly ridged form of his master. They stood there in complete silence for a few moments, before Orochimaru began to walk out of the room, as he was about to close the door behind him, without looking towards the boy, he said. "Shina, that is his name."