"Guardian of the Fox"
Chapter 1
"Killing two birds with one stone."
The Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, watched as a newly deceased soul materialized in the purgatory, with worry-wrinkles caressing his wise face.
Though he rarely indulges himself with visits to other dimensions, there was something…peculiar about this particular soul, that drove him into this world to watch it enter the place of spirits that are yet to be given a place in either Heaven or Hell.
As the shapeless orange glowing figure sloppily took its proper form, one that resembles the body it occupied while it roamed on earth, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki was joined by his counterpart only known to all as simply God.
Despite having no definitive gender, said entity took the form of wise old man with gentle blue eyes, long white hair and a generous beard of the same color. His glowing body clad in simple cream colored robes that weren't dissimilar to the Sage's own and humble brown sandals protecting the balls of his feet, even though there was really nothing to stand on in this realm.
The bright entity next to him sighed and shook its head.
"What am I going to do with you?"
The Sage smiled sadly.
"Troublesome soul?"
A short laugh escaped God's throat before the somber mood returned.
"More than you imagine, dear friend." He then added with quiet affection in his voice. "He's a stubborn fool, that one."
"How so?" Hagoromo asked, generously curious as to what made his counterpart so conflicted about this particular mortal.
God sighed again.
"Imagine a small ginger haired boy, approximately four years old." His soothing voice instructed. "With big blue eyes filled with unfathomable intelligence that would put any educated adult to shame, as well as childlike wonder regarding everything around him." The Sage closed his eyes and the small youthful face of Shikaku Nara filled his vision. "The boy knows he's different. He sees the distrust in other children's eyes whenever he talks to them. He notices the way adults around stare at him as if he was a freak, whenever he revealed a vaster knowledge concerning a certain topic than they had."
The deity paused for a while, watching the newly formed soul stumble as he took his first steps in the new environment. "All of that made him isolate himself from everyone else, not wanting to intrude where he's so obviously unwelcome. Spending days locked in his room with his nose permanently buried in books, when he should be running around with his age-mates without a care in the world…"
Hagoromo sighed sadly.
Though what has been said might have been everyday life for children in one particular clan in his
Ignoring the isolation and scorn, this was everyday life for children in one particular clan in his world - the Nara clan. Their offspring were born with genius level intelligence, but their talent and abilities were regarded with respect and awe. Just thinking that similarly talented children could be treated so differently, made his heart sore with sympathy.
"His parents noticed that, of course." God continued his tale. "But could see no way of helping their son connect with other children, if the boy himself didn't see the point in even trying." He shook his mighty head. "So they did the next best thing and, three years later, he was presented with his first charge - a little brother." The present world's deity looked into Hagoromo's purple eyes. "As you can possibly imagine the boy took his position as older brother very seriously, covering up for his younger sibling whenever that one messed up. When it became apparent that said little brother had similar intelligence levels, he taught him a technique called 'deduction', which allows the user to figure out information about others based on their overall appearance. The youngster quickly took a liking to it, though he could never quite best his older brother in it."
The Sage of Six Paths smiled softly.
"They seemed to be very close." He whispered.
"They were…" God stated quietly. "But then…tragedy struck in the form of the third child, the youngest daughter."
Hagoromo's smile vanished, replaced by confusion.
"This girl…" The other deity shook his head. "was beyond average level intelligence just like her two older brothers but, unlike them, she was mentally unstable. From the moment she met him, she was obsessed with her second oldest brother. Following him around like a shadow, wanting to be his only companion and friend, going so far as to drown his best friend in a well in order to achieve her goal." He then looked at the glowing orange soul as it shakily walked up to a nearby wall and sat beneath it, head hidden in long legs. "The eldest brother knew she was the one who made the poor boy drown, and felt personally responsible for being unable to somehow stop her." His voice quieted. "He tried to tell the adults but…"
"They didn't believe him." Hagoromo finished, catching on to what was about to be said.
"No." The other deity sighed. "No, they did not."
"Fools." The Sage sneered.
"A parent's love for their child can be blinding." God countered. "To them their innocent little girl would never commit such an act, and the older brother was simply jealous of the attention they've been giving her."
Hagoromo snorted.
"Only shows how well they knew their eldest child." His usually even voice was filled with disgust. "If he spent all his free hours trying to keep his younger siblings safe and sound, they should have known he would never say nor do anything that would hurt them in any way shape or form."
The other deity, having no retort to that, stayed silent. They watched the spirit's still form begin to shake with sobs that refused to be suppressed for much longer, as his bright orange glow of a newborn spirit began to dim.
"Not long after the girl tried to burn down the house in order to get rid of her oldest brother, a relative of the children, an uncle, kidnapped and hid her. When the rest of her family couldn't find her, he told them she was dead." God continued softly. "In actuality he took her to a secured island, far away from human civilization, so that she wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else."
"Finally." The Sage nodded in approval. "A reasonable adult who finally decided to do something about the child's murderous tendencies."
"It should have ended there." God continued, his voice sad. "But the eldest wasn't fooled."
"Ah…" Hagoromo sighed in understanding. "The curse of having a genius mind."
His counterpart nodded.
"Next chance he got, the boy confronted his uncle and demanded the truth." He shook his head. "Once he got his answers he requested to see her."
The Sage frowned.
"The boy did not trust him."
"No…No, not one bit." God agreed with a sigh. "But he was also aware that the man was the only one who knew where his sister had been taken, and if he wanted to see her again, he had to stomach the man's presence until the destination has been reached."
The Almighty paused and focused his eyes back on the newest soul.
With the orange glow gone they could both see the topic of their conversation.
Despite being curled in a tight ball, they knew the man was tall, middle aged and dressed in a charcoal colored suit. His sharp blue eyes were hidden under a short red fringe.
"Once he found her and made sure she was safe, he demanded to be informed regularly of her condition."
This took the Sage by surprise.
"He didn't try to take her home?"
"No. He realized that, in order to prevent more horrors from occurring, Eurus needed to stay locked up. Even if that meant keeping her continued existence from their parents."
"But didn't he realize that, if they ever found out what he did they would-"
"He was prepared to take that risk." God interrupted Hagoromo before the fellow god had a chance to finish. "As long as what he did assured him that those he loved were safe, no sacrifice was deemed too great."
The wise Sage of Six Paths chuckled sadly and shook his head.
"What is it?" God asked, eyebrow raised.
"Nothing it's just…I didn't think such selfless people still existed in your domain."
"Ah…" God nodded and turned back to the poor unfortunate soul. "Yes, most would think they died out with Mother Teresa or St. John Paul II but...there he was, proving everyone wrong."
"So...may I ask what seems to be the problem with him?" Hagoromo asked, clearly confused. "His placement should be pretty obvious, I would say."
God sighed.
"It is true that, while all his actions were driven by the desire to protect his loved ones…" He started slowly. "Not everything he did obeyed my ten commandments."
God took a deep breath.
"Sometimes his job forced him to send hundreds to their deaths, so that thousands could survive."
"And with a mind like his…" Hagoromo thought out loud. "He probably remembered every single person he had to sacrifice."
God nodded and then sighed.
"As you can see, he's a man on the side of angels...that has committed crimes worthy of the devil's highest praise."
"Neither fully good…" The Sage whispered. "Nor fully evil."
Another sad sigh escaped the other god's mouth as he repeated the words he said at the beginning of their conversation.
"What am I going to do with you?"
Hagoromo looked back at the topic of their conversation before asking:
"How did he die? He does not look old enough for it to be his time yet."
"Suicide." God answered curtly. "Turns out the price he had to pay for keeping them safe was just too much for him to bear."
The Sage dipped his head.
"They turned their backs on him, didn't they?"
"Yes." God shook his head. "Every. Single. One. Of. Them."
Hagoromo then thought about a small blond boy, living alone in desperate need of an older brother. A brother like Mycroft Holmes.
"I might have an idea…"
AN: I realized that I like placing BBC Mycroft in other universes, much to his obvious disdain:
Mycroft: Though I admire your faith in me, you should really stop throwing me in places i don't belong in.
Me: But you can solve so much prooooooblems!
Mycroft: Well yes, but-
Me: And you're so aweeeeesome.
Mycroft: I'm glad you think so, but-
Me: And you are so smart even the smartest characters in this world could learn a thing or two from you!
Mycroft: I fail to see how my intelligence compared to that of other character has anything to do with what we're discussing, and you are not letting me finish!
Me: *looks at him with big puppy blue eyes* It would save a lot of people, Mycroft.
Mycroft: *looks like he wants to argue*
Mycroft: *decides against it*
Mycroft: *changes his mind*
Mycroft: *gets sidetracked by puppy eyes no jutsu*
Mycroft: *reminds himself of who he is and just why England is practically wrapped around his finger*
Mycroft: *tries to ignore the genjutsu but is unsuccessful*
Mycroft: *wash-rinse-repeat of said actions about ten times*
Mycroft: *throws hands in the air* Bah! *walks away all huffy*
Me: Yay!
