Memento Mori
Summary: Life is filled with misconceptions. What most might think a blessing, might easily be a terrible curse. Life is never simple. Greater machinations than you know are at work. And in an endless struggle against deities, time and fate, there is only one thing to remember. Memento Mori. Above all else, remember your limits. Remember you are mortal. And to be mortal, means to die.
I
"Will you provide a name?"
"No."
What significance does a name hold?
"Very well. You stand here-"
History will always be written by the victors.
"-Accused of jeopardizing the security-"
But the men and women in front of him were not victors.
"-of my family and all we call our allies,-"
They were cowards, ancient relics clinging to a past that had long become obsolete for him.
"-I, Senju Hashirama,-"
He had overestimated the benevolence of humans.
"-find you guilty of treason and conspiracy-"
He really should have seen it coming.
"-and sentence you to die."
Two jumps prior, Kurama would have vindictively murmured an "I told you so."
"As the Patriarch of the Senju Clan,-"
Quickly, he was growing weary of being the hero.
"-I have said it, so it shall be."
Once upon a time, he would have believed he had the power to save everyone. Once, he would have believed that deep down everyone wanted to be saved. But with nearly two centuries of experience, he had come to an important realization: While humans were mortal, Fate -I suppose I owe Neji an apology - was very much a machination of the gods.
So as the first Hokage and one of his first role models withdrew the nodaichi from his side and shattered it on his neck for what seemed to be the second time now, he knew his perspective would have to change.
Uzumaki Naruto knew if Fate was truly his enemy,
He knew that if he was to finally be victorious,
He must ascend to being a God amongst mortals.
II
Once, he grudgingly admitted, genjutsu was the one ninja skill he was woefully inferior in. Now, however, he could easily admit that only a Kekkai Genkai or specifically one of four genius Uchiha would be an equal to him now. What the average ninja overlooks frequently, is that not all genjutsu is chakra-based. Genjutsu is simply the art of illusion, which can be accomplished through many different ways, including the rampant imagination of the victim.
Catching the great Shodaime off guard is no small claim and Naruto could not deny that he took pleasure in knocking the hand meant to end his life away before planting a solid kick to Hashirama's chest.
His execution was to take place on top of the Hokage Tower in full view of the Village and it was a testament to this era's shinobi that it only took a second of seeing their leader be propelled off the Tower and through three buildings from a single kick before the moved to subdue him.
However, there was one problem: the rouge had decades of experience and it showed.
Ducking under two Anbu blades, he sunk a fist into an armored stomach while forming single-handed seals in his free hand. Fire burst from his mouth to create a torrent of flames around him, pushing everyone away and giving him space to re-maneuver.
The first time he had used the Jigyaku no Jutsu, he had been the apprentice of The Professor and while he could never claim to have as extensive a knowledge of jutsu as Sarutobi, he had enough to make him no less than the Right Hand of God he was known as.
He blazed through two-dozen seals in a second before releasing his chakra and jumping into the air to hover above the now burning Hokage Tower. A moment of wind element manipulation later and he seemed to float in the air above the denizens of Konoha with a shroud of billowing power emanating around him like an angered deity.
Inwardly, this jutsu was one of the favorites Sarutobi had taught him. To ninja, one of the most sought after positions was that of the high ground. The act of flying was one that instantly put most ninja on edge and instinctively caused those of his era to fear him. He could only imagine what these primitive fools felt.
He had just enough time to ponder where Hashirama was before the Kage rose towards him from the ground, riding a dragon of wood. Naruto mused that in another time the look of cold fury on Hashirama's face would have made him cower like any other man.
But that Naruto would not have seen the world - the people - he knew and loved be destroyed over, and over, and over again. That Naruto would not have come face to face with a monster that terraformed the entire land of Suna to glass with a single katon technique. A monster that was so terrifying it killed battle-hardened shinobi with the suffocating weight of its presence alone.
No, this very much mortal bag of flesh that attempted to stare him down was barely worth his time. Legend or not.
Hashirama leapt off the dragon and collided with him in a flurry of taijutsu. As they free fell, the tedious pattern of legendary shinobi began:
Dodge, strike, block, strike, handsigns, disrupt handsigns, break apart, toss shuriken and/or kunai, re-engage, dodge, trap, strike, block…
Breaking the cycle, Hashirama twisted his body in a way eerily reminiscent to a familiar snake Sanin. The move granted him an opening that he used to bend backwards and twist under a haymaker and use Naruto's stomach as a springboard, flipping back to get away.
Naruto had just enough time to wonder of his purpose before a monstrous roar deafened him and a wood dragon slammed him into the unyielding ground.
III
Hashirama grimaced as he brought an arm up to shield himself from the shockwave of impact and waved off his subordinates.
He couldn't help but think that Tobirama picked a hell of a day to meet with the Hyuuga clan to negotiate their merge with what was quickly becoming a powerful shinobi community. It was apparent immediately that this shinobi was someone, no… something, which he was wholly unprepared to deal with.
The moment one of the Senju's prized, legendary, and supposedly unbreakable blades shattered like fine China on the his opponent's neck with absolutely no explanation why, he knew this person was not the average human.
This notion was compounded even more when a displacement of wind pushed all the billowing dust away, leaving the blonde haired man looking completely untouched by their previous engagement in an easily twenty foot crater. He didn't even have the decency to look fatigued and continued to stare up at him.
Hashirama inwardly swore at himself for failing to see his eyes for what they were. They, like the person who held them, seemed to be a contradiction. They were glacial and yet they burned with an unholy righteous fury. They were indifferent and always seemed to be disconnected from what was happening around him, yet also unnervingly attentive.
A small twitch of his lips convinced him that he was right in his assumption and that the man had allowed himself to be hit by his jutsu, perhaps in a way to show how knee deep in shit he was. Even more frightening was his use of only a few techniques. For all appearances, he seemed to be warming up to his warm up. Outside of two or three ninjusu, the man had stuck mostly to hand to hand combat. To be honest, if he didn't know better he'd say the man in front of him was a bijuu wearing human flesh.
The man made no move to show he noticed when Hashirama flashed through subtle Anbu hand signs and remained still even yet when four Anbu, elite members of the Senju, appeared in a square formation around him.
Hashirama watched with narrowed eyes as pillars of sage chakra soaked wood erected around the man and locked him inside the strongest barrier not based on seal theory that existed within the village.
Some part of him hoped that it would contain him, but the Shinobi part, the realistic part, was not surprised when the barrier exploded in a towering pillar of razor sharp wind chakra visible to the naked eye.
"Do not despair Shodaime." The manthingmonster took a step forward and four Senju dropped to the ground in showers of blood, wind chakra dispersing from their bodies. "Had we fought several years from now, there would be no contest in our skill."
The tone with which the backhanded compliment was said lilted in a way that implied an amusement that was lost on those within hearing distance.
He opened his mouth to speak just when he was lit aflame in a blistering inferno. The flames only grew, turning the rouge's technique against him and more than likely frying him alive.
Hashirama slowly relaxed despite the nearly unbearable heat and took notice of the mass of chakra entities that had arrived. "Had time in between torturing little animals, Madara?"
Said Uchiha dropped down beside him and ignored his jibe to look ahead as the flames began to finally die down. "Who was he?"
Hashirama closed his eyes embarrassed and rubbed the back of his head. "Um… we don't know… We found him inside the perimeter seals but he is not one of ours…" Madara's eyes narrowed and his grip tightened on that blasted Gunbai he always had.
"Did you interrogate him, find where he came from?"
"Of course. Do you think I'- Nevermind don't answer that." Hashirama refrained from pouting as Madara raised a brow and glanced at him. "We even had one of the Inoichi see him… but he refuses to awaken from his trance."
"Seeing as he just survived my Katon: Goka Mekkyaku, I'm not surprised."
"He- what?" His surprise was cut short, however, when the air became dense and suffocating.
The air became so saturated with chakra that you could see it: wisps of purple that coated the air, expanding from the center of the crater.
"MADARA!" The man was a silhouette at first in the smoke before he appeared above them with bottomless black eyes glaring down at them and for the first time in his life. Hashirama knew true fear and as he saw Madara's nostrils flare and form seize up, he knew that he had not even gotten the worst of it.
The man held two wicked purple wind blades and slashed them down, colliding with the ground they had previously stood on as they skid back to dodge out of the way.
Murderous intent rolled off the previously unshakable man in waves.
"I wasn't aware that the two of you had a history."
"We don't. I probably killed his brother or some such. Now, shut up and fight." Madara took his Gunbai and placed it infront of him just in time to block a monstrous kick that propelled him away.
Hashirama ducked under a slash from a wind blade and slammed his hands onto the ground causing a slab of earth to rise and separate him from his attacker. That was the plan at least before the slab was cut cleanly in two by the other blade mere centimeters from his face.
His vision decreased as Madara's blessed Gunbai met the blade with a terrible screeching noise.
Immediately, Hashirama was forgotten and all of the rougue's ire was focused on Madara.
The man sneered, "So eager to die are you?" And impossibly, the man's chakra rose to even higher levels. "It would be rude then to keep you waiting."
And then the world exploded into bright lights and pain. Hashirama groaned as he struggled to brace himself against the trunk of a tree he had collided with and watched with heavy eyes the rouge unleash hell on earth.
Fire, earth, water and air were manipulated with an ease that made him question why he ever thought he could restrain this man.
"Hashirama-sama!" The faces of the ninja that he had waved off previously were filled with concern and rage.
"Do not worry, I'm fine." Of course had he not had three broken ribs, a broken arm and blood trailing from his mouth the claim might have held up. One brave, foolish soul leapt at the intruder to capitalize on what they thought was an opening only to be instantly roasted to a crisp before being scattered into the winds in an instant.
"Do not engage!" As much as it pained him to admit, "… your lives would not be a worthy sacrifice against him. Only a waste."
Thankfully, yet still a bruise to his pride, the trespasser easily disregarded him as a threat and now unleashed his full fury on Madara. He would have liked to say that Madara was at least holding his own but even a child could see the giant bruise he now was.
"COME Madara!" The previously dull eyes were now wide with insanity. He exhaled a torrent of fire, forcing Madara to take coverage behind his Gunbai before using a quick kawarimi to get a better vantage point. "Why do you flee? Is this all of the greatest Uchiha to have roamed the Nations? Is it?!"
Hashirama had just managed to force his protesting body to get up when the men around him gasped. With trepidation, he followed his men's gazes to the still forms of Madara and his opponent.
Madara's Kama was poised at the intruder's neck, blocked by a glowing blade of wind chakra while another ran straight through his stomach, exiting through his back.
A Shinobi doesn't reveal his emotions to the enemy. Nevertheless, Hashirama struggled with the sudden feeling of being momentarily unable to breathe. The sight of his one, dare he say, "friend" impaled was one that would haunt him for a very long time.
Then, he noticed it. There was no blood.
At first, he assumed it was a bunshin or that awkward moment before you realize the person you stabbed was in reality a piece of the flora. But no, as moments went by and everyone was still with a sort of morbid fascination they were forced to realize that both Madara and the blade were real, even though the wound apparently wasn't.
Soft mutterings floated behind him. "What type of technique is that?" "Do you see that?" "I see it… but Kami knows I don't believe it."
The rouge seemed just as confounded as the rest as he withdrew the blade and in another fluid motion slashed it through the Uchiha's midriff.
Once again, no wound, no blood… no resistance.
The rouge stared for a moment before his eyes dawned with comprehension and he grit his teeth. "It seems Fate has deemed it fit to obstruct me further." In a flash of yellow, the man disappeared but not before leaving them with his final words. "Sleep well, fools. For there will come a day when I will return and raze the world you know to the ground."
Hashirama couldn't help the chill that went down his spine. Those words rang of experienced confidence. Those words rang with truth.
He hesitated for only a moment before shouting orders. "Lock down the village, sweep the perimeter and notify me when you have found him. I am ordering a Flee On Sight Order. Do not engage him."
"Hai!"
Madara walked towards him with a tenseness that belied the indifferent look on his face and did not speak immediately, choosing instead to gaze into the distance.
"I do not understand why I still draw breath." He turned his gaze on Hashirama, who remained solemn. "That man is a monster. One whose dance is superior to mine." A glimmer of concern drifted in those eyes before disappearing behind grey, unexpressive eyes. "They will not find him."
Hashirama spoke light-heartedly and with a wry smile. "Of course not. He's a smart one. I suspect he confronted us in the village to prevent us from using our more destructive techniques."
Madara gave a low hum of acknowledgement. "Not all that occurred here was negative."
Hashirama cut a highly skeptical look at him. It was okay for him to make light of this disaster, but another notion entirely when it was the most down-to-earth person he'd ever had the displeasure of meeting. "Our honor and superiority has been tarnished. The clans will think us weak. The two of the strongest shinobi we have to offer… beaten by one man."
"This time, yes. However, he had the advantage of surprise. And in our work, we are unimaginably lucky that we are still alive, although I suspect something more is at work there." Madara expression shifted into a rare one of determination and purpose. It had been too long since he had seen anything on that face besides indifference or contempt or condescension. "Now, we know he is out there and he is coming for us."
"Next time…" He trailed off as his mind undoubtedly created and discarded multiple plans for a future encounter. "Next time, I will be ready."
Hashirama was silent before he gave a nod and stood up and beside Madara as they both looked forward at a future only they could even begin to glimpse. "We. Madara." He placed a firm hand on Madara's shoulder and gave a firm squeeze. "We will be ready."
They held each other's eyes for a moment as they came to an unspoken agreement.
Madara broke the stare first with a sneer that brought a smile to Hashirama's face as the Uchiha began walking towards the Uchiha district to no doubt brief the council.
"Very well. We."
Events are set in motion now. A butterfly beats its wings and a world is changed forever. A gale has blown and leaves are scattered in the wind but the tree stands firm. Time passes and leaves wither and die, and the gale returns once more. Stronger than ever, the wind buffets the tree. But the tree remembers. And though at times it wavers and bends, it refuses to yield. However, the wind is nothing if not patient and persistent. The roots grow weaker and the tree's height becomes its weakness. Its strength turns against itself and all the while….
The wind blows evermore.
9/16/13: This was just something I had fiddled with for a week while considering going back to writing on FF. Tell me what you think and errors you've found. Even though nothing is concrete yet, I have a fairly good idea of how the story will go and how it will end.
The inspiration for this story came from a lot of other popular hits in the Naruto fandom, which I'm sure you'll be able to spot their influence within. My goal is to use my writing style to keep readers down-to-earth and maintain a realistic perspective on ninja life specifically and life in general. That said, for those who are familiar with the title, you should know to expect a controversial road ahead if I do indeed continue writing.
If you are of moderate intelligence, can use proper English grammar and diction, and are interested in reviewing, please send me a message. Based on reception and whether or not I will continue the story I will need a Beta. This is simply because I'll need someone to make sure I stay off my ass and keep updates in a decent timetable as well as hopefully preventing my muse from running off and deserting me.