A/N: I decided to name the Naruto world Konoyo no Rikudo, which, if I'm right, should roughly translate to the World of Six Paths. If I'm wrong, please inform me so I can edit it

This one is pretty angsty. Riku's on the verge of a mental breakdown, after all.

Published: 11/30/2017

Warnings: Character death, semi-suicidal themes

Twilight's Lament

He had always expected that, out of the two of them, Riku would have been the one to die first. He'd always expected that he would leave first, because a world, a universe like this just didn't make any sense at all. The idea of Sora dying just didn't compute at all. Sora, always cheerful and smiling and so full of life. Sora, kind and good and a light to all. Sora, friendly and brave, always sticking his nose where it didn't belong, faithful and reliable.

Sora, broken and dead and very very gone. He hadn't fallen easy. The shattered remains of a broken world was proof of that. Sora, for all his grins and easy going nature, was a complete and utter power house.

How Sora had managed to duel Sephiroth and live to tell the tale at 14 was beyond Riku. That had been after they had just left their little island, not counting Sora's second encounter with Jenova's Angel a year later. Sure, Riku could match that feat, but it had taken him a full year to reach that level, nevermind Sora who just blasted past expectations with that stupid grin plastered all over his stupid face.

Not that it mattered. Not anymore. Sora was gone. He was gone, he was gone, he was gone.

Sora was gone and Riku was a failure of a friend because he couldn't stop it. He couldn't stop it at all and now his best friend was gone.

He found the world by chance. Locked between the light and the dark, Riku was couldn't help but find himself empathizing with the residents of Konoyo no Rikudo to a degree. They, like Riku, walked the twilight.

They, unlike Riku, typically didn't know how to walk it. It was such a precarious road, one on which it was oh so easy to slip and fall. To die and break, being cast into the eternal abyss. Well, not exactly die. Not always. Instead, they became twisted.

Hatred consumed their hearts until there was nothing left but that hate.

A prime example of that stood before Riku, katana in his hands, red eyes spinning lazily. Around them, the rest of Sasuke Uchiha's followers lay broken.

Riku hadn't held back, especially when the orange haired one had gone one a wild rampage. The girl, though, he had made sure to take out first. In combat, you always take out the healer first, which was the excuse Donald Duck would loudly proclaim when he was glared at for not healing them until the last possible second.

"Who are you!" the Uchiha screamed, rage in his voice at being surpassed, at standing before someone stronger than him, someone stronger than Sasuke's entire team. Beside him, Suigetsu heaved. They were the last two standing. Karin was in some sort of stasis that left her unable to speak or even mold the smallest bit of chakra while Jugo was snoring away despite their best efforts to wake him.

Riku brandished his Keyblade before holding it in a familiar stance above his head.

"Who I am doesn't matter. It's who you are. You stink of the dark, just like I did."

Then, Riku met the spinning red gaze. The triumphant smirk on the other's face alerted him that something, just something, might be off. He was right when the world around him faded to blacks and red.

"Genjutsu: Sharingan. You shouldn't have stared into my eyes," Sasuke declared victoriously, smug and vindictive. "I will-"

"Illusions of this level don't work on me. Try again in a few years."

With ease, Riku shattered the illusion with such force that Sasuke screamed, shutting his eyes as a flare of magic surrounded Riku. Then, before Suigetsu's shocked gaze, Riku appeared before the pair of them, Keyblade in hand as the tip smashed into Sasuke's forehead.

Sasuke went flying, rolling on the ground before coming up in a crouch, snarl on his lips.

Riku watched him impassively.

"Strangely, the darkness was focused onto those strange eyes of yours, so I've done you the favor of sealing them away."

Sealing…

Away his…

His eyes?

Sasuke's already pale demeanour paled even further, sweat falling from his brow as he realized in desperation that, try as he might, no matter how much chakra he channeled into his eyes it was of no avail. The Sharingan wouldn't activate. The Sharingan wouldn't come back. The Sharingan was lost to him.

Suigetsu swung Kubikiribocho, but it was already too late. Riku was already gone, vanishing into the shadows.

Weeks earlier, Riku looked impassively at the barrier before him.

On the other side, he could feel it. Darkness, twisted and screaming and suffering. It was an odd feeling, really. Honestly, it felt like someone was torturing a Heartless. It smelled horrible too. Only Ansem's stench had been worse than this. How utterly disgusting.

Riku tilted his head at the lines running up and down the stone barrier. Some sort of seal. It reminded him of the Underworld. Hades used similar runes, only in Greek. These were in a language he didn't particularly recognize, but that tidbit of language barrier hardly mattered when it came to spoken speech.

One of the lesser known abilities of the Keyblade was that it gave the wielder and their companions the instinctive ability to understand any language spoken to them, before responding instinctively in turn. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the written word so Riku was at a loss to their meaning.

Then, he didn't have to be at a loss anymore as a group of Shinobi landed behind him. Taking note of silver hair just a shade whiter than Riku's own, he tensed. Last time he had come across someone with hair like his, the other had ranted about brothers this and brothers that and tried to skewer him while babbling about his mother.

"Are you another one of those Akatsuki?" Riku's eyes were drawn to the loud orange wearing blond. Riku's heart gave a lurch as familiar blue eyes, shining like the skies, bore into his own. The blond even felt somewhat like Sora, except there was something else in him, something Sora lacked.

A darkness that reminded Riku of Saix, for some reason. Primal and animalistic, with a cruel intelligence that made it all the worse.

"Akatsuki? Are they the ones torturing the Heartless?" Riku jutted a thumb towards the barrier.

The Shinobi looked dumb folded by the declaration. Hm. Maybe not a Heartless then. Surprisingly, Riku hadn't seen a single one in this world, which didn't really make much sense when he thought about it.

Then, the smaller one in the green jumpsuit that kinda hurt Riku's eyes snarled at him. "How un-youthful! Gaara-kun is no Heartless! He is a splendid Shinobi!"

It took Riku several seconds to register the words. Then, with shock, he turned back to the barrier. That was a person? Sure enough, as he focused more on his external sense, Riku realized that yes, there was a human underneath all that darkness.

A human fighting to survive while his life force was slowly and agonizingly forcibly drawn out.

With a hiss, Riku summoned Way to Dawn. Before any of the Shinobi could stop him, Riku pointed it towards the barrier and watched in satisfaction as the seal shattered apart.

"Un, what was that? How'd they get past the barrier so soon, un?" a voice called out.

There was a snarl from the inside and Riku watched as what could only be described as Jack Skellington's idea of a Christmas Statue vanished into thin air, causing a small redhead to fall to the unforgiving earth. Within the chamber, two figures strode forth, a blond with one his eyes covered by the hair and a wooden hunchback that didn't look anywhere near as friendly as Quasimodo.

Screw this shit. Riku looked back.

"Do you people have it from hear?"

The Shinobi were staring at him in rapture, stunned into silence at Riku's actions. He had, after all, shattered a barrier that would have taken them at least an hour within seconds. The whiskered blond was the first to break the silence.

"Thanks, chibi Kakashi-sensei! You're the greatest!"

Riku blinked at the description. The silver haired man, Kakashi evidently, looked like he wanted to bury his face in his hands. The pink haired one twitched while the others didn't so much as bat an eyelash.

With a nod, Riku vanished in shadows.

There was a time when Riku had lost the power to walk using only shadows. There was a time when they refused to answer his call, because his heart was too full of light. He was free from his shackles, and the darkness no longer obeyed him.

Then, Sora fell and the darkness embraced him again with the soft caress of a lost lover.

Perhaps Riku was a little bit too fond of the ability. It did tend to drain a person. At the same time, it affected the mind. There was a reason he had worn that dark trenchcoat. The Organization was not made of fools. A material that shielded one from the darkness was useful since it kept it from messing with one's head too much.

Riku didn't care if anything messed with his head. It's not like it mattered anymore.

"Riku, you need to stop."

Kairi. Always Kairi. Riku remembered, all those years ago, how Sora had found her on that beach. The idiot had poked her with a stick a few times until the redhead had woken. She had taken one look at Sora leaning over her before letting loose a loud shriek, all while Sora asked her who she was.

They'd been through so much together. He had done so much for her. Riku would have moved the mountains if it meant Kairi was safe. Riku had betrayed his best friend if it meant Kairi could be saved. She meant to much to him. She should mean so much more now that Sora was gone.

Except, a twisted part of him couldn't help but wonder if they would have been just better off without her. Riku didn't know it then, but he now knew that Xehanort had cast Kairi into the darkness to see where she would go. It was what led him to Destiny Island, what led to this whole mess starting in the first place.

She had been drawn to Sora, who's heart glowed so brightly even a Princess of Heart was drawn in by its warmth.

That's when it began. The downward spiral that had eventually led to Sora's demise. It was illogical, blaming her. It really was, no matter the fact that she had painted a screaming target on the back of his best friend. It wasn't her fault. Not really. Not at all.

Riku shot the girl a glance.

"I don't know what you mean, Kairi."

A hand, small and delicate and soft, so soft, gripped his own. Kairi twisted his palm in her own, Riku's normally pale skin slowly becoming a dusty brown. Riku frowned at her.

"Is getting a tan so bad, Kairi?"

Kairi downright hissed at him, drawing her hand away from him with a glare.

"That's no tan, Riku! You're not even bothering to shield yourself while traveling the worlds like- like- like that!" the redhead snapped.

Riku titled his head.

"So what if I don't? It hardly matters in the long run, Kairi. It's just skin."

"It's not what it does to your body! It's what it will do to your mind! Sora wouldn't wan-"

"SORA WOULD STILL BE ALIVE IF YOU HADN'T DRAGGED US INTO YOUR FUCKING MESS, YOUR HIGHNESS!"

As Kairi flinched back in shock, tears streaming down her delicate face, Riku knew he had crossed a line. He knew, and he honestly didn't care. Screw this. Screw everything. With one last withering stare, Riku stood and turned, letting familiar tendrils of the dark embrace him.

This world was an odd one. It presented many challenges Riku wasn't accustomed to. The Shinobi had strange powers that he was only starting to become familiar with. Some were weak and he could wave off, like Sasuke Uchiha's Sharingan.

Unfortunately, Riku could not say the same about Itachi Uchiha.

"Tsukuyomi."

The world twisted around him as Riku found himself pinned to a cross, spikes shoved into either of his hands. Flexing his fingers, Riku felt a pang of very real pain shoot through him.

This wasn't like the other Uchiha's illusion. This was stronger. Sturdier. With apprehension, the Keyblade Master realized he couldn't just shatter it like he had Sasuke's. No matter. Riku didn't gain this rank by sitting idly. He had gained it because of his ability to dive into the very souls of others.

Controlling his own mind, in comparison to that, was child's play. Or, at the very least, it normally was.

Riku struggled against the bonds, a gasp falling from his lips. Shit. This was bad. He'd gotten cocky. He'd gotten cocky, and now he was going to die and he-

Would that be so bad, actually? Would it really be that bad? Yes, Xehanort was still out there but it's not like they stood a chance anyways. They'd lost Sora. They'd lost their hope. Yes, they could struggle on, but what was the point when all it would result was in more loss, more suffering?

"Now, tell me. Who are you, and how have you sealed my brother's Sharingan?"

Riku looked up. Glowing red eyes met his and Riku didn't bother looking away. He was already caught in the illusion. What would looking away gain him at this point?

Riku, instead, glared.

"Those eyes of his were cursed, affecting his actions and his thoughts. I did that brat a favor by sealing those vile eyes!" Riku snapped. He supposed he should struggle a little more but he found himself not caring.

Itachi Uchiha blinked, having not expected such an answer.

"Cursed? Explain, please."

Riku snorted.

"As if you don't know. You have an aura just as twisted. No… That's not it. His was full of hatred and anger. You… All I get from you is pain."

Then, to Itachi's shock, Riku tossed his head back and laughed, even as tears began to stream down the teen's face. Slowly, as the laugh became more and more hysterical it ended with soft hiccups as red rimmed eyes gazed impassively at Itachi.

"You… You're like me, while that boy, your brother? I used to be him. Just you watch. He'll end up destroying what he loves to, and, when he does? He'll suffer just as much as we have."

Itachi narrowed his eyes.

"Is that a threat?"

"Nah. Warning. Anyways, this was a fun game but…"

Itachi Uchiha had not wiped out a majority of the Uchiha Clan single handedly while being weak. He also didn't overestimate his own power, which was the usual fatal flaw of his clan, who believed their Sharingan eyes made them immortal on the battlefield only to fall because they underestimated their opponents. As such, when Riku swung, a ball of burning dark fire blasting from the tip of his Keyblade, Itachi was ready.

Days later, Riku gasped as the Tsukuyomi shattered and he fell to his knees, Itachi Uchiha staring at him with a bewildered expression on his face.

Then, with a twist and turn, red and black cloak following behind him, the Uchiha spoke. "This isn't what that friend of yours would want. You dishonor the memory of Sora with your actions."

For several seconds, Riku could only stare dumbfounded ahead. Then, as Itachi's form flickered, bursting into a dozen crows and away from Riku's sight, only then did Riku toss his head back and scream.

Amegakure matches Riku's mood perfectly. The rain swept city is such a pleasure to walk in if only for the fact that it matches his currently mental state. Drawing the black cloak closer and ignoring the voice the back of his head telling him he should have listened to Kairi earlier, Riku wanders about the streets of the city.

Then, he senses her.

The darkness clings to so many on this world. It's a wonder it hasn't been overrun. It really is.

Riku doesn't bother looking at her. Instead, he makes his way forth, finding a suitable area, abandoned of human life even as the rain falls shimmers down into nothingness, the soaked metallic walls around him glistening in the sun as the clouds begin to part.

Without a word, Riku lifts his hand, a barrier forming as a thousand sharp blades made of what looked suspiciously like paper shot towards him. As the assault ended, Riku was greeted by the sight of a blue haired woman with wings made of, you guessed it, paper, descending from the sky.

Riku arched an eyebrow.

"The hell are you suppose to be? The goddess of the sewers?"

The blue haired woman ignores his jab. Instead, she stares at him with a narrowed gaze. "You are the child who interfered in the extraction of the Ichi."

Ichi? What the hell was that?

"So what if I did? What's it to you?"

The wings extended.

"I am an Angel. An Angel of God, and your interference with God's work will no longer be allowed."

A second eyebrow rose.

"You worship your leader as a god? I gotta say, as far as arrogance goes that one is really pushing it, lady."

She doesn't bother responding. Instead, the woman attacks and Riku responds in kind, flashing towards her as he slashes at her with Way to Dawn.

Minutes later, she retreats away and there's an orange haired bastard attacking him with a wide assortment of animals that must belong to a professional piercer.

It's only Donald and Goofy randomly summoning him with that bloody space ship that saves Riku from death by body modification art that his mother would no doubt never approve of.

"Really? More of you? You people are like ants."

Kakazu freezes. He hadn't heard a damn thing, hadn't sensed anything at all. Hidan, from within his rune circle, twists. The Shinobi he had cursed, Asuma Sarutobi, turns with them.

The silver haired brat is there yet again.

Kakazu grits his teeth.

"You've become quite a pain, boy. Who are you and why do you interfere with the plans of the Akatsuki?"

The teen tilted his silver head.

"I don't like the way you people smell, you Organization XIII reject."

Before Kakazu can even began to counteract the bizarre statement, the teen strikes first at Hidan, a blade of slight shooting forth from the tip of his sword.

"No, don't!" The Nara screams. The silver haired teen ignores him, however, as the light pierces Hidan, ripping through his chest and flinging him backwards.

"Asuma-sensei!"

"I'm alright!"

Now, that has Kakuzu swerving in surprise. The cursed Jonin stands there literally unphased by the attack the silver haired teen had used.

"Curaga."

A glowing green bell, of all things, appears above the Jonin as his wounds are healed. Then, a swinging scythe comes flying, the wicked blades aimed directly for the teen's face.

Deflecting the blow easily enough, Kakazu watches as an aura of white and black begins to surround the teenager.

"Now that your weird heart binding seal is out of the way, time to get down to business."

Kakazu snarls.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Hidan shouts out as he lands next to Kakazu, scythe in his hands.

Green eyes glow.

"Riku. Come. Make me feel alive."

Then, with a wild roar that belays the teen's apparently calm appearance, he charged at them, blade raised high without a care in the world.

The first time Utakata had met the Grey Shinobi, he had been fighting for his life all alone against the Six Paths of Pein. Then, all of a sudden a glimmering shield of dark energy appeared before him as the so called god's attacks struck against it. The hectagonal pattern held firm as both Utakata and Pein turned to the newcomer.

Tall, silver hair falling to his shoulders, muscular frame, yellows and whites and blacks and so many zippers. Startling light green eyes locked on his own for a second before turning away towards Utakata's orange haired assailant. For a moment, he briefly wondered if the teen before him had some sort of Dojutsu. Those eyes certainly didn't look normal. He carried a strange sword, but Utakata wasn't one to judge.

He'd grown up in Mizu no Kuni, after all. That was hardly the strangest blade he'd ever seen.

"You, again." Pein sounded rather annoyed. Utakata instantly decided he liked the silver haired teen. "You won't escape this time."

Then, the teen only grins mockingly before a hand grips Utakata's shoulder and the world is naught but shadows.

There's no running this time.

Riku wouldn't bother even if he could. It had been fun so far, but perhaps this here was the end. Normally, he'd just fade into shadows but it seemed he'd done that trick a few too many times before a narcissistic megalomaniac like Pein.

Anytime he attempted, Pein would howl out Bansho Ten'in and Riku would be pulled right out, forced to dodge as the other Paths of Pein bared down around him.

The Asura Path was the most infuriating thing in the universe, right behind the Deva Path. Riku blasted a Fira at yet another rocket before he let himself fall into Ghost Drive. The enhanced speed and phasing ability helped, but against an opponent like Pein it made little difference.

Without hesitation, Riku loped off the Human Path's head before leaping back, twisting in midair. A single hand touched upon the earth before he pushed again, twisting in midair once more before landing several feet away, a glare on his face.

"Tell me, Pein. Where is your real body?"

The Deva Path narrowed its eyes.

"That knowledge is not for your privy, annoyance."

Then, Riku froze as arms wrapped around his back. Shit! With a wince, he felt as his magic began to be drained away. Preta, then.

"It's over."

Not yet. Not if Riku had anything to say about it. It was in that moment that Riku was actually thankful to Ansem. Even if it was only for a second, Riku realized several things. The first of was that, despite everything, he didn't want to die here. He didn't want to die without seeing his parents or his friends or apologizing to Kairi. He didn't want to die and see Sora's face in the afterlife and watch the disappointment blossom on his best friends face when Riku informed him he had just given up after Sora died.

He wanted to live.

And there was only one way to do that.

Riku's eyes flashed a sick twisted gold as the Preta Path screamed. Breaking free from the grip, dark tendrils escaping his flesh, Riku turned and gripped the Path's face before slamming it bodily into the ground. Then, with one last glare at Pein, Riku was gone before the pull could capture him again.

Funnily enough, the last person Riku would expect to knock him out of his funk was Tifa Lockheart. The second he had appeared back in Radiant Garden covered in cuts and burns and so many wounds, her fist came barreling towards his face.

"Idiot! What the hell do you think you're doing, worrying your friends like that!"

Riku, idly noticing that his nose has been broken, glares. Tifa's knocked him to the floor with a single swing. Around them, Ansem's office is a familiar sight.

He couldn't even remember how many times he'd searched this place for some sort of clue to find out where hearts went after their death. Sure, the common theory was Kingdom Hearts, but Riku himself held onto the hope that Sora's wouldn't. That it would instead, somehow, impossibly, come back to them.

Sora had come back from death before, hadn't he? Couldn't he do it again?

Riku stood, dusting himself off. Then, he glared.

"None of your business, Lockhart. Now, if you'll excuse me." Riku attempted to stride past her. Attempt being the key word. A hand grips his shoulder and he finds himself slammed against the wall. Normally, Riku would fight back and tear the martial artist before him to pieces, but at the moment the only thing keeping him moving were the dozen potions he'd chugged while fighting Pein.

"Let go of me!"

Her eyes, Riku realized, were the color of wine. Hm. He could really use a drink now that he thought about it.

Tifa barred her teeth. Then, mysteriously, inexplicably, her expression softened. Riku froze before it hit him and he fought against the hold even harder. He cursed his weakened state as the woman stared at him in pity. No! No one pitied Riku, he didn't need it, he-

"It's okay to hurt. It's okay to mourn. It's okay to miss him. It's okay to cry. It's okay to feel, Riku." Tifa declares, voice ringing with an empathy Riku hates. "I get it. I do. My world's gone, and it's not coming back. I lost… I lost so many." Tifa revealed, and Riku scoffs because isn't this her world? But the look in her eyes says that, no, it isn't, and it never will be. Not really.

"And now, it's just me and Cloud, and him? He's like you… Running, running, running. Because his best friend is dead and he doesn't know how to move on because it hurts." Tifa continues, and Riku can't help the shock. The stoic blond never struck him as someone mourning, but then again Cloud was a lot like Riku, wasn't he? Never showing his real emotions, always calm. Too calm, hiding the storm.

"It hurts, and it's okay. It's okay to hurt, but it's not okay to destroy everything around you."

Then, she pulled him close.

For several seconds, Riku just stood there as the woman hugged him, holding him in her embrace. The hold is warm, full of something he hasn't felt in a very long time Then, against his will, a dam breaks and a sharp cry escaping his lips, Riku grips her right back and finally allows himself to cry.