We Stand, Unknown
Intro

A/N: I'm baaack! It took me a year or two, but I finally decided on an intro.

Keep me on track with a helpful cattle-prod review?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do, however, own pretty much everything mentioned in this chapter. So, yeah, no stealing, please.

...

The world streaks swiftly past me, bright golds and blinding whites smearing themselves against a backdrop of black as I am thrown against the hard flank of my mother's summon. Tiny pin-pricks of light pop behind my lids and my breath escapes me in a soft whoosh, the taste of copper filling my mouth and burning at the back of my throat. My hands tighten into fists around the gore-matted fur of the wolf gently nudging me with her head as a soft moan of pain slips past my cracked lips, expelling the last of my air.

Uzume's breath, a mix of salt and the metallic burn of blood, fans hotly across my face as a soft noise of concern rumbles from low in her throat, making my scalp prickle. Spluttering against the blood steadily filling up my mouth, I finally manage to whisper, "Take me to her..."

I peel my eyelids open as Uzume tenderly nudges me forward and instantly the light floods my senses like the sun is sitting on the grass before me. I raise my hands to shield my eyes but still the light shines on, slipping between the cracks in my fingers and continuing its assault on my senses. I blink rapidly and slowly my mother's form comes dancing into view.

The light is coming off of her in waves, radiating outwards and glancing off of the armor of her fighting warriors, making them all glimmer like beacons dancing in the sun. If I hadn't known they were fighting, I'd have thought they were merely doing the ritual dance for a festival; they're graceful even in the face of death.

My mother's dark hair is alight with gold and whipping about her face despite the usual icy wind being strangely absent. Fire burns through her veins, pulsing beneath her skin, growing ever brighter with each passing moment. I know that if I could see her eyes now that they, too, would be a molten gold.

"Naiya," Her voice is strained, like a wire wrapped too tightly, and I can see a sheen of sweat glittering on her brow. "Now."

I stand shakily, using Uzume as leverage, keeping my eyes pointedly away from the gash that cuts my arm neatly in two. I can't help but feel the warm ooze of blood running from it, though, and the thought makes my stomach churn uncomfortably.

"But-"

"Naiya, please." Her eyes meet mine, for just a second, and I see plainly the pain, the fear, the conviction in their sunlit depths.

I open my mouth to scream and make a jerking movement forward, thrashing within the embrace of the strong arms wrapped around my waist, my hands reaching for her. Just like the sunlight, she slips through my fingers.

A wall of water shoots up between us, distorting the image of her as the warrior pushes me back. I cry out again but she has already turned away from me, wisps of white bending and rippling against the barrier around her.

"Go, Naiya." The warrior, Michiko, tells me. Her deep blue eyes flicker to my grey ones for a moment before looking quickly away, her face steeling into a look which I've come to realize as poorly-concealed pity. "Please, Kogane-sama has opened a portal for you. It won't last if she..."

I flinch despite myself, finishing the sentence in my mind. If she dies.

Tears claw at the back of my eyes but I force them away, digging my nails into the skin of my already bloody arm to keep myself from sobbing. I have to be strong.

"Balance is key in this universe. For every life given there must be a death. For every tainted entity, there must be a purity to counteract it."

"Go."

A hand is thrust between my shoulder blades and I am propelled forward, stumbling slightly on the uneven footing of what was once the sprawling gardens my mother tended to, what is now little more than a bloody battle field. A dark red ichor, shed by either my mother or me, stains many of the flowers here, most beheaded from the fight and a few smoldering from the fire of one of my own warriors. I stop for just a moment and scoop up the only full chrysanthemum, tucking the blue blossom into the fold of my kimono before rushing on, my hand still pressed to my rapidly pounding heart.

The sounds of the fight reach my ears but I push them away. If I listen, I know I'll try to return and that is no longer an option. This attack has been long in the works, looming over us all like the storm clouds that take up residence in my eyes, threatening to rain red down at any moment, and so, too, has this plan.

"Our power is passed through blood, Aijou."

"But what if I don't want it? What if I don't want your blood?"

"It doesn't matter what we want. It never has."

The blood continues its path down my arm, a reminder of what I'm fleeing, and I bight down tightly on my lip, forcing myself to continuously pick my legs up and move forward. Forcing myself to pretend I can't hear the scream of pain or feel the steady thrum of energy in the air, pulsating around me like an aura of gold meshing and bleeding into silver before wrapping around me in a mockery of an embrace.

I won't think about why, about the words being carried on the wind, about the sudden lack of warmth, the absence of the sun. I can't.

After a final spurt of energy, the trees standing sentinel around the house fading to a yellow-green blur, I finally push past the remains of the ornately carved doorway. My fast, heavy footfalls echo eerily off the walls, bouncing around the large wooden foyer and growing louder until goosebumps raise along my skin. Its icy cool in here, like the walls are blowing air down the nape of my neck, pushing at my dark hair until it starts rising and blowing about.

Blue light trickles out from the hallway leading to my mother's room, falling down the grand staircase and wrapping around my arm, urging me forward. I take a tentative step, up onto the first step of the stairs, and the light beckons me further. It glimmers in the air, like moonlight woven through with stars, and it swaths me in its glow, making my pale skin sparkle a soft blue. It reminds me of the glitter I used to pour over my mother's head when I was little, pretending it was the chakra that ran through our veins but hardly ever was unbound.

Now, though...

I shake my head roughly, swatting at my thoughts like insects, and pick up my pace. I trail my hand over the blood-slicked railing as I go, the warm gore making my heart work double time. So many lost their lives protecting me tonight. So many leapt before the all-consuming flames. I cannot let their sacrifices be in vain.

Still, I can't help but pause before the sliding door to my mothers room, my fingers trailing over the painted on design of our village; a moon within a star, wrapped within three circles of varying sizes. The blue light is brighter now, shifting slowly with power, pulsating just beyond the paper door and making it glow. The symbol stands out a harsh, bloody red against the pure light. It takes me a long moment to realize that the bloody coloring is from my red stained fingers and that the design is just as soft and comforting as it always was.

I slowly slide the door open, edging it back in measured centimeters, letting the light grow stronger and spill out unhindered into the hall. I give myself over, allowing it to wrap around me in a warm caress - a pleasant change from the suddenly cool night - and it pulls me further in.

The portal glimmers like a pond, dead center on the floor, surrounded by vestiges of the life I'm leaving behind. I let my eyes trail around the room, tainted a deep blue by the shimmering light, and stop dead when I see the soft white obi laying over the edge of the bed.

I rush forward, nearly tripping on my own feet in haste, and grip the fabric tight. I press it to my face and inhale deeply; it smells sweet and somewhat wild, like the perfect summer's day.

I let my own blue obi drop to the floor and tie my mother's around my small waist, fastening it in a messy bow before finally stepping up to the edge of the portal. The last sounds of the battle break through the window as the hands of dawn push at the glass, the suns rays poking through like peering eyes, intruding upon my last moments home.

"Goodbye," I whisper, finally stepping over the edge, letting it fully absorb me into the unknown, plunge me into the dark, rip me from my life.

As I fall through the world composed of shifting light, I feel it; the last of my mother's power pushes itself into me, filling me to near bursting. Chakra bubbles beneath my skin, rushing hotly through my veins, and a silvery substance trails from my mouth, rising like bubbles through water, trying to break the surface.

My eyes are suddenly heavy and as they drift closed thoughts run lazily through my head. They leave my mind through my mouth, my ears, my eyes, and weave around me. The words bleed together and slip through my outstretched fingers like sunlight. This thought seems somehow significant, but I can fathom why.

"Naiya..."

I feel something pull at my back, fingers in a feather-like glance. I lean back into the abyss and feel a warmth wrap tightly around me, like the kiss of the sun on a warm summers day. I can almost smell the blooming flowers.

"Naiya..."

My body is made of lead and I can no longer keep my eyes open for too long. The blood loss, the expelling of power, the gaining of power; it's too much.

"Naiya, I'll always be here for you."

I crack my eyes and a soft light wedges its way in. It's a strange gold color rather than the smothering blue I've come to expect. The gold is punctuated by tendrils of black and I push my hands slowly through the thick air to touch the darkness floating around my head. As soon as my fingers graze a soft strand, it's ripped suddenly away, leaving me strangely bare. I feel alone.

My head tilts back with the current, watching as the last traces of retreating thoughts float away from me. Between the muddled words and phrases, I think I can just make out bright, shinning strips of white. A sense of familiarity I can't place fills me and a smile crosses my face as everything fades to a flame-charred black...