Summary: After the end of the war against Madara, a new demon by the name of Kaguya is rising. The Konoha 12 and the sand siblings find themselves as young guardians and parents to the reincarnated Akatsuki. Follow the gang as they lead the Akatsuki through a spiritual and moral journey as they raise them to be the harbingers of peace they were originally suppose to be.
BIT BY BIT
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Blood was shed, lives were taken, families were ripped apart, legends; destroyed, lovers; lost, platoons of soldiers obliterated. Ninjas of all rank, ages, gender, clans and villages lay besides each other on the bloodied battle field –slaughtered.
"All of this for what?" One messenger sighed as she gazed upon the Earth from amidst the heavens. Down below the fourth great shinobi war waged on.
"Typical humans! Having no respect for the dead!" She scoffed as her eyes darted from Asuma to Hanazhi, who were both unwillingly engaged in a heated battle between students and sibling respectively. She sighed again, "Kami-sama, Jashin-san and Shinghami-sama better know that they're doing."
With a final glance to the battle field she spread her wings and soared high into the sky, disappearing into the clouds.
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In an area to the Far East away from the five battle grounds, lying in seclusion in the middle of rocky mountain terrain and dense forests, there was a cave. Yet despite the isolation and harsh landscape, even this place was not spared from battle.
Now in the cave itself there were four entities. The first was an unconscious purple haired woman lying on the ground upon an elaborate seal. The second was a snake like man who sat forgotten in the corner (much like the woman) under the influence of a powerful genjutsu. But the spot light fell upon the third and fourth entity in the cave. The genjutsu master himself and his little brother.
But unlike the strong wavering spirit of the younger brother, the soul of the master himself was fading away. For you see the older brother was already dead so it was unnatural for his soul to be trapped in such an earthly form. However the younger sibling's conscience could not grasp on to such a concept. In his mind, he did not want to lose his nii-san again.
The younger raven struggled to keep his composure; façades were valuable. Itachi would be disappointed if he didn't show his strength. Yet the neglected child within him wailed and screamed to be held and comforted by his big brother. Elder siblings are sent into the world to be guardians to the younger, weaker children. And as such, despite the emotionless mask set stubbornly on his little brother's face -Itachi knew.
"Foolish little brother he muttered affectionately, whilst placing a finger on his brother's forehead, "I am always there for you. I will always love you."
Upon hearing that Sasuke closed his eyes, and for the first time in a long while he let a lone tear slide down his cheek. Than taking a deep breath he opened his eyes once again. There were only three entities left in the cave now.
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As Itachi's soul receded he wanted nothing more than to embrace his little brother, to shower him with love and happiness. But he knew that resistance was futile. It was time for his soul to leave its earthly prison.
He felt a soft pull, like a gentle tug as blackness began to embrace him. It was warm, soft, with a lulling effect to it. He glances at Sasuke who was nothing but a small dissolving blurred form, which kept fading little by little until he disappeared completely into the blackness.
Time stilled as Itachi found himself drifting in space. Hours passed –or was it years? He didn't know. He stayed there stagnant; yet moving, free falling; yet lying still, alive; yet dead. At first the blackness became his refuge, his comfort. He had allowed it to absorb him, caress him and engulf him. Now however there was nothing but black….. And Itachi himself within it. Soon he began to experience a sense of loathing and anxiety.
How much time has passed? Was this it? The end? Is this all there is to death? A multitude of questions began filtering into the twenty-one year old's mind. Now that the numbness began to recede his anxieties began to grow.
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After what felt like ages Itachi just drifted. He stared into the empty abyss not thinking as he was afraid of where a thought might take him. What were just a few seconds stretched out into an eternity. Or was it an eternity passing him by in a few seconds?
Thus so great was the emptiness in that moment of time, that the slightest flicker of light; he registered. In a dazed and foggy state of mind he angled his body to face the light directly. His eyes never left the dot of light as it expanded and enlarged in size. Was the spot moving towards him? Or was he moving towards it?
Did it matter?
At first it grew slowly, a small blurred and smuggled light. Much like the city lights that one could see through a camera lens when it loses its focus. But it picked up speed as Itachi's whole being (or was it the dot) accelerated. It stretched more in length than it did in width. As every second the rate of acceleration doubled. He began to fell a pull of gravity acting towards the object. The closer he went the stronger it got.
Maybe he had been In a free fall all this while. Falling a never ending fall –or was it ending now? With less than a hundred yard left in between him and the door of light (yes a door as the light had adopted a rectangular shape) Itachi braced himself for impact. Whit less than fifty yards remaining he closed his eyes and waited for the end.
But, the end of what?
After what seemed like a long pause Itachi opened his eyes to find the illuminated shape no less than twenty yards away from him. 'Wasn't I falling?' he thought to himself as he remained frozen in space. Keeping the current situation in mind he debated on weather or not to move forward. Finally he hesitantly pushed one leg in front. Only to find that he was standing upon a hard cold surface all this while.
'How did I not notice standing on something?' He inwardly questioned. However not bothering to ponder upon it any longer; he looked down. Only to discover himself standing on a gigantic….. Mirror?
However what actually caught the Uchiha off guard was the fact that instead of seeing his face he saw the face of a six year old child staring back at him. To be more precise, it was the six year old version of himself.
'What!? How!?' Itachi marveled at the spectrum. He stared blankly at the child who in return stared curiously back. He saw a twinkle of innocence and mischief in the child's eyes. For some reason the look on the child's face scared him; he was smiling sweetly at his twenty-one year old self. Was there even such a time when he was innocent? With no blood on his hands? So engrossed was he at this, that he failed to notice the eight other souls that had joined him.
He stared on; studying and observing his 'reflection'. That was until his eyes caught sight of a blue haired boy through the mirror as he made his way over to him. The boy had blue skin, shark like teeth and beady eyes.
"Itachi-san!" The boy exclaimed through the mirror.
"Kisame-san." Itachi acknowledged as he turned his gaze to the thirty-two year old man standing beside him.
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The little girl in the mirror smiled brightly as she proceeded to fix a paper rose upon her hair. Than turning to the shy, ring-eyed boy she placed a gentle kiss on his cheeks. As a response the boy's face turned as maroon as his hair. This caused the girl and a third companion, and orange haired boy, to burst out laughing.
Konan couldn't help but smile at the three children in the mirror. They seemed so innocent, so carefree that it was almost mesmerizing to watch. They portrayed so much happiness that Konan could hardly believe that the girl in the mirror was her.
'Had we not been victims of war and hatred, is this how we could have turned out?' She ideally wondered. Turning to her right she observed a docile Nagato, who sat silently deep In contemplation. His head was down, shoulders; hunched, bones sticking out of his skinny frame from all angles. She then observed the maroon haired boy in the mirror once again. He smiled sweetly back at her. The image seemed so alien-like to her yet so perfect at the same time.
Diverting her gaze she turned to look a Yahiko, upon whose side she had taken to leaning against. Oh! How she missed him! If death meant spending an eternity with him, maybe dying wasn't so bad after all. The smile returned to her face at the thought.
"Kakuza you fucking bastard." She heard Hidan's annoying voice from a few yards away. Her smile faded as she watched Yahiko turn to observe the zombie duo. But then again; an eternity with the rest of the Akatsuki gang, didn't sound as appealing.
All of them were here, except for Obito and Zetsu. Ofcourse when they had first met up introductions had to be made. The whole gang knew Konan, when they were alive, on rare occasions she would join them on missions. But none of them knew Nagato as he had never quite revealed himself to them and ofcourse Yahiko had died a decade before the organization had formed.
Ofcourse explanations had been give, stories were told, the truth finally bare in front of everyone. They had ended up making revelations of their own. But what else was there to do? They were all dead now thus there was nothing left.
Deidara sighed sadly as he sat besides the former puppeteer. His reflection; a small four year old blond child proceeded to hug a six year old version of the puppet master. He was not happy at all. He was supposed to go out with a bang. He wasn't one to believe in a life after death; yet here he was. Everything in this universe was suppose to be fleeting. He was suppose to die. That was suppose to be the end of it. But now there was nothing left. He sighed again –ultimately art was eternal.
A loud banging echoed through the area. Deidara snapped his head up the same time as the other members and focused his attention at the illuminated shape ahead of them. Suddenly it began to split in two. 'Its opening up!' His mind concluded.
Indeed it did open up. The gigantic rectangle split right down the center, leaving a narrow opening. Everyone held their breath as an ominous shadow exited the opening and stretched long before them. Some one was coming. Someone powerful.
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A woman stepped through the narrow entrance. She was an ordinary looking woman with short brown hair and standard ninja clothes. The Akatsuki collectively gave a sigh of relief but they weren't about to let their guard down.
"Akatsuki." The woman stated as she stepped forward and on to the mirror. What shocked all of them was the fact that upon gazing into the mirror they could not see her reflection. It was like she had none. Of course she was no ordinary women. There was something about her that exclaimed authority and demanded respect. Even their reflections couldn't help but gaze in awe.
"Akatsuki." She repeated again effectively gaining their attention. "You might not know who I am. But I know each and every one of you. Your secrets, your past, your future –everything. It lays bare before me. I am Kami-sama's messenger and it would be an under statement to say that she is very disappointed in all of you."
"The fuck you talking about!" After a long dreaded pause ofcourse the first one to speak was the dumbest member of the group; Hidan. Everyone turned to him in alarm. The messenger raised her eyes sharply to look at the albino. Her glare was so over-powering that it shot chills through the rest of them. At least the obnoxious man had the decency to remain silent from then on.
"As I was saying. I am a messenger to the gods and have thus come to you with proposal." She paused to ensure that she had their undivided attention. "Of each generation a group of guardians are born into the world with the soul purpose of maintaining peace and prosperity. In each generation these guardians are hand picked by Kami-sama, Jashin-sama and Shinghami-sama themselves, from different parts of the globe to watch over the world and defeat the evils that arise in their generation."
Turning around to gaze at each member individually and said, "You each were chosen to bring about peace in a war torn earth. Yet here in front of me, all I see are ten fallen angels. Whom not only failed to complete their mission but also strayed away completely from their paths."
When she had stopped speaking a deafening silence befell around all of them. Even the children in the mirror stopped smiling as they stood still –some even had tears in their eyes. By the end of the speech the woman's voice was extremely harsh. A sense of dread and regret fell upon most of them. They were sent into the world for one sole mission. And that was the one they failed to complete.
"However," the messenger's voice rang out once more, effectively breaking the silence, "it is understandable, all of you were born and raised surrounded by hatred and war. We thought that by placing you in the middle of suffering, you would learn to be humble and compassionate to everyone around you. Yet you have failed us."
For the first time in a long while Nagato raised his head, he stared directly at the woman. He opened his mouth as is to argue, but the messenger met his stare head on and raised her hand, signaling him to remain quite. She than went on to say, "Some of you were compassionate," than looking at all three of Jariya's students, "but you were only compassionate to the land you knew and loved. Some of you choose one form of life over the other," she now turned to Itachi, "choosing to betray in the name of loyalty. Some of you became artist and chose to find beauty," her gaze turned to Deidara and Sasori, "yet you forgot that the true meaning of art is life and change not death and preservation. Some of you sought out war in the name of being a shinobi," she looked at Kisame, "however it is a shinobi's duty to value peace over war. Some of you lusted after blood and money," finally her gaze settled on Kakuza and Hidan, "yet you choose to use the name of the gods to justify pain and destruction –disgusting."
Nobody could dare meet the woman's gaze, they were all guilty. There was a pregnant pause. The silence weighed down on all their shoulders. Their sins lay bare before them; what more was there to say? It was like a like a judgment –long over-due had finally befallen upon them.
"However," the messenger's voice cut through the silence once again. Everyone perked up to listen, "the gods wish to give you a second chance. No one in the previous generations had failed their mission before. This is the first time. Thus the gods have collectively decided to move in this direction."
"But why?" shockingly it was Yahiko who summed up the courage to ask.
The woman looked at him with a solemn face, "An evil is rising. An evil greater than even Madara himself. Her name is Kaguya and she had broken free from hell."
"But why us?" Yahiko repeated.
"Madara was supposed to be your enemy. He was your opponent to fight." She clarified, "Yet the young ones who call themselves the Kanoha12 and the sand siblings, have rose up where you all fell. They fight your war. Kaguya was supposed to be their enemy to fight. However the gods have decided, in order to compensate for that you will fight their enemy. This is your second and last chance. So Akatsuki; will you rise up to the challenge?"
When she had finished speaking the silence than had momentarily forgotten returned. Minutes passed but no sound was made, each one was lost in their own world of thought. The messenger sighed. Looks like this course of action failed.
"Ill do it!" The messenger perked up to the direction of the voice, only to find the lone female of the group staring back at her in defiance.
"K-konan are you sure about this?" Nagato asked. Apparently everyone was shocked at how the quite blue haired woman was the first to speak.
"I am sure." Konan stated with confidence. "Just think about it Nagato! This is our second and only chance to make the world right again, to finally end war and hatred just like we dreamed!"
"Konan's right Nagato!" Yahiko exclaimed, "I'm with Konan on this!"
"I guess there isn't any other option but to join in as well." Nagato sighed.
"I accept this duty as well." Itachi stated. Glancing side ways to the raven, Kisame too stated, "My honor as a swordsman relies on this, I will join as well."
"Commodities such as money don't exist in death," Kakuza said, "I wish to find a new passion in life. I too will join."
"Hmmm, in order to discover the true meaning of art….." Sasori trailed. Deidara took hold of Sasori's hand, their eyes met in a silent dialogue, Deidara turned to the rest, "I go where ever Danna goes. Count us in."
At this everyone turned to Hidan, the man in question still had his head down. Noticing this, the albino slowly raised his head to meet the gaze of his comrades. "Jashin-sama considers me a disappointment. I've tried so hard all my life to please him."
The albino's voice cracked at the end. The messenger felt a slight sense of pity for the usually obnoxious man. She looked at him and said, "why don't you agree to this than? Change yourself, make him proud of you."
Hidan took a deep breath to calm himself, "Fine for Jashin-sama sake I'll do this."
The messenger nodded, "Very well Akatsuki. You have chosen correctly. But there are some conditions." The Akatsuki turned to give the woman their full attention once again, "Firstly once you are reborn into your new lives, you will not remember any of this conversation. Secondly, depending on compatibility you will be reincarnated and raised to couples of different clans, so your DNAs might be slightly different. But the final and most important point is, than in you new lives, when you reach a certain age you will receive the memories of your old life. It is at that point where you will make the ultimate decision. That is; to either follow the path of your previous life, or to carve a new path for yourselves. I warn you, when the time comes you must choose wisely. That is all."
Having said that the woman turned around. The illuminated rectangle began to glow brightly. She stepped into the shape. The last thing they saw before she disappeared where a pair of elegant, mercury colored wings attached to her back.
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