Author's Note's:

First of all, I'd like to thank Pheonixblade. He's sort of my unofficial beta. Thanks man, It really helps.

This chapter was finished (roughly 3,000 words) all last night, before that there was only 2,000 words written. If there are mistakes that neither I nor the incredibly awesome Pheonixblade have caught, well... we tried.

This was a very fun chapter to write, and I hope it's just as fun to read. It's not really hard to figure it out, but the pairing in this story is sort of hinted at during the little history lesson. Let's see how many people can guess it, and how many people can guess the actual reasoning I chose this particular pairing.

Bringer of Peace

Chapter Four – Humanity

The world had only seen these eyes twice before, and each time, the world feared their wielder.

With these eyes, the mountains would move when told to move. With these eyes, the waters would part when told to part. With these eyes, the gods themselves shook in fear. All these things were true when these eyes gazed upon the mortal world.

Naruto opened his eyes.

The occupants of the room stood, their shock written all over their faces, their minds a jumbled mess.

Silence.

The Rinnegan, the Samsara Eyes, were said to be the greatest of all dojutsu, the most powerful eyes to ever exist. This, however, was not the case.

"W-what trickery is this?!" Michi, a man Naruto began to believe was good for nothing but annoying him, shouted.

Staring back at the self-proclaimed "kings of the country", a Rinnegan with nine tomoe sitting on its rings, three per ripple, held amusement. "Uchiha Itachi is my friend, and I need to be taught how to use the Sharingan." His voice held his amusement, but just barely.

They Rinne Sharingan had returned and they obeyed Uzumaki Naruto now. The eyes of god stared back at mere men, mere mortals. A true king was amongst the peasants, not that he saw it as that. He was just a man – a boy. A virtually indestructible, immortal, omnipotent man, but a man nonetheless.

"The devils hands have been busy…" The daimyo whispered, his entire body feeling numb at seeing… what was it he was seeing?

"That is my condition, Hokage-sama." Naruto continued. "Uchiha Itachi – no one else."

Having to learn how to "use the Sharingan" was a little white lie that was necessary, but it still was something that he very much disliked. He was a man of his word, lying and secrecy was an annoying fact of life in this era, a fact that even he could not avoid. He was doing it for the betterment of the world, of his children and family, but it still made him uncomfortable. That he was apparently good enough to lie straight to the faces of trained shinobi was as disconcerting as it was comical.

In his past life, his third eye held the Rinne Sharingan, and he was very capable of using its abilities, having created his son's greatest technique, but chose not to rely on them. They were not a power to be used without caution. He was a firm believer that abuse of power led to arrogance and the downfall of more humans than he was willing to admit.

Hiruzen gulped, shaking his head to clear his mind. The eyes he was looking at… they were… not of this world. "H-Hai, Naruto-kun," the Sandaime began, "I agree to your terms…" He signaled someone unknown with his left hand, his fingers forming strange signs. In less than two seconds and a blink of an eye, someone from the zoo was at the aged man's side. As he began to speak with the operative silently, the blond let the tomoe that sat on the rings of his Rinnegan fade, not needing those eyes. Those eyes… they were…

They were meant for domination, absolute, inescapable world domination.

A chill ran down his back, and his heart suddenly felt heavy.

He might have to use those eyes for this incorrigible shinobi world, and that was almost too much weight for his already heavy shoulders.

The way things were looking, absolute subjugation through massive amounts of subterfuge and, for lack of a better word, bullying, was the only way to save the world from its worst enemy.

Humanity.

Naruto panted. His small, child body was not use to such physical workouts. Itachi was currently pushing his body to the absolute limits. If he wasn't a "Jinchuuriki" and an Uzumaki to boot – which apparently made him an endurance monster – he probably would have collapsed by now from fatigue. Taijutsu was what this era dubbed martial arts or "the optimization of natural human abilities". By accessing ones physical and mental energies, which relied heavily on stamina and strength gained through vigorous training, one could execute "Body Techniques".

Naruto had never really trained his previous body in martial arts, not having to rely on his own body too much when it came to his battles. His eyes were always more than enough to get the job done. Itachi, however, convinced him that in a world where people could move faster than sound and demolish mountains with a single punch – he was sure that Senju Tsunade was Tsuki's descendent – that having knowledge and experience with taijutsu would come in handy. He was no longer in a world where the very whisper of his name sent the Shinigami himself running in fear. He was someone else, in a very different world. He would have to show the world who he was, gain that incredible status once again.

That thought caused him to chuckle softly. He had sent kings fleeing, tyrants and pirates alike scurrying, and the gods themselves kept their distance. He was not an overly proud man, or arrogant in any meaning of the word, but even he had to admit that he was a man both respected and feared by the entire world. It was somewhat annoying that he was seen as nothing but a child now. Ah well. He'd just have to remind the kings, the tyrants, the pirates and gods who he was, and why he was not a man to be trifled with. He would save the world. He would save his children. He would do all these things, he swore. He was Uzumaki Naruto, the Rikudo Sennin, and he never broke his promises.

So here he was practicing the god-awful kata Itachi said was perfect for him. Apparently, Itachi had a sense of humor, because naming the tailor-made taijutsu the "Sennin no Mai" was just too much for it not to be a crack at him.

"Sennin-sama," Itachi suddenly said, stopping the light spar, "Let's take a break."

Naruto sighed, thankful for the much needed break. He was a stamina tank, but he was still seven. He took a seat on the ground, his eyes gazing at the moon, which was slowly rising as the sun was setting. It was a beautiful sight, and Naruto decided to share it. "Itachi," he began, "Sit with me, little dragon." That was something he started calling Itachi, little dragon. He was an Uchiha, a fire breather. They were a clan of powerful, mighty dragons, their hearts ablaze with the "Will of Fire" he's heard so much about. Itachi had spoken about "the Curse of Hatred", something that seemed to plague the clan. Naruto had immediately dismissed that theory. There was no such thing as a curse of hatred. It wasn't possible, since, even as individuals, the Uchiha were the most loving people the world had ever seen. They were his descendants, and he refused to believe that his children – the Senju and Uchiha – were born with hatred. Hatred was akin to a parasite. It needed a living host, and would continue to derive nutrients at the host's expense. No, the Uchiha were not born hateful, they just had the unfortunate capability of loving with all of their hearts, not just a part of it. Once that love was lost or taken from them, love would become hate, and hate would cometh the fall of the hateful.

Itachi didn't move for a moment, until he gave a small smile and did as he was told. He knew what was coming. This was what the young Uchiha waited for, craved for. He loved history, of any kind, and what better history was there than the history of the Rikudo Sennin? After long training sessions, Naruto would thank him with a tale that would blow the Uchiha's mind. The life of the Sage of Six Paths was by far the most amazing fable. Every memory held such importance. His every step molded the world, changed it, and with every word the blond held his attention, every wave of his hand surprising him, being so captured by the stories being told. The words that left the tongue of the younger boy held more value than gold, than village secrets, than everything.

They were in a smaller training ground, an Uchiha-owned one that only Itachi every used. They had been there for hours already, and it had been like that since the meeting with the Fire Daimyo a week ago. He was "becoming a shinobi", and Itachi was his personal sensei. It was uncommon for shinobi to be given this type of attention before they even became a genin, but not unheard of. Most of the times this happened, though, was through a family member who was already in the shinobi ranks. But when you possess a Rinnegan, and a new form of Sharingan to boot, you got certain advantages. Yes, he was training in certain shinobi fields, but he was not going to actually become a shinobi. He would not sink into the corruption that followed said lifestyle.

Itachi moved with purpose, lying down next to the person he called friend, eager to listen. And listen he did.

"Tsukuyomi," Naruto began, "Was the most beautiful goddess I have ever laid eyes on."

That one sentence caused the stoic, calm Uchiha to shoot up-right, eyes wide. "Y-you met the moon goddess?" He asked in shock.

Naruto chuckled. His eyes closed, a look of pleasant reminisces on his face. "I didn't just meet her, my little dragon," Naruto began, smirking. This would be amusing, he decided. "I married her, and she mothered my children."

Itachi froze.

Two figures walked side-by-side, their long, white kimonos flirting with the earth they walked on. To the right, a tall man with shoulder-length, pale-red hair stood – a black, dual-headed shakujo in his right hand, one end with the typical ringed hoop, the other a crescent shaped curve. His back was decorated with a large red Rinnegan-like marking with a pattern of nine red magatama arranged in three rows of three beneath it. He walked with near hypnotizing purpose, and the very air around him seemed cleaner, purer.

To the left, a similarly tall man with long, white hair stood – a sheathed sword on his hip and a shakujo in his left hand. His every step was that of a noble, the very ground under his feet almost thankful to be stepped on.

The two young men walked towards the fiery sun, their minds made. They were needed in the northeast, so that's where they were headed.

The two walked in the most comfortable silence, the very surrounding nature seeming to silence in their presence, not out of fear, but out of respect. They wore stoic expressions, walking calmly to their destination. They had been walking before the sun began to rise, and they would most likely be walking long after it sets. There was work to be done, and it was of great importance.

Suddenly, they both stopped, feeling it before it actually appeared. A bright, incredibly powerful light shot down from the sky. It hit the earth, and didn't disappear for a good five seconds. The earth was torn apart from the blast, and shook from its force. The impact was hard enough to disturb the almost religious silence nature was showing the two figures.

As the light faded, and the silence began to return, the long-haired man spoke, his very voice carrying more elegance and nobility than ten kings. "Ah, nii-san, it looks like they've sent another." Neither moved, nor even bothered to pay attention to the form that had come from the extremely powerful light, seemingly from the heavens.

"It would seem so." The second man sighed. He was a man of peace, and his brother was no different, why couldn't they see that? He actually looked sad, like it hurt him.

The man with long, white hair was the first to meet the eyes of the newcomer. Her lavender eyes met his featureless white orbs. He glanced at his brother, noticing the saddened look on his face and narrowed his eyes, turning back to the intruder. His brother was a great man, someone who healed and asked for nothing, someone who gave and never took, he was a bringer of peace, and the fact that these arrogant, asinine, egotistical pests couldn't see that somewhat angered him.

A form came from the light, a woman, with light blonde hair and lavender eyes, garbed in a white kimono, similar to theirs. She was nowhere as tall as either of them, but the aura she radiated was no less palpable. An aura of superiority the likes of which almost seemed to surpass the furious look on her otherwise breathtakingly beautiful features had the short-haired man most curious.

She looked at him – the short-haired man – and snarled. Her lavender eyes met his purple, ringed eyes that gave him powers he wasn't supposed to poses. He was mortal, a no-function but to destroy human, and her and her people were not happy that such prowess was given to one so unworthy. Their horns could not fool her, or her people. They were human, no matter how divine they may look. She opened her mouth to speak, and speak she did.

"Otsutsuki Hagoromo, the Rinnegan is not a power mere mortals should be in possession of." She said bluntly and to the point. "Forfeit what does not belong to you, or I shall make you give up what is not yours."

What had transpired next happened in the blink of an eye, faster for even someone like her to not react fast enough. The white-haired man – planting his black shakujo in the ground – vanished, a loud booming noise coming from the action. He had broken the sound barrier with frightening ease.

Suddenly, and without warning, the horned, pale-eyed man was face-to-face with the woman who dared to speak to his brother like a peasant, his blade poised and already swinging at her in a mighty arc.

Then, the most powerful man spoke, his whisper of a voice carrying more strength than ten nations. "Hamura." The simple call of his brother's name was enough to stop the powerful man mid-swing. Otsutsuki Hamura, still wearing his ever-stoic expression, turned his blade and instead swiped at the air to the left of the woman, and again, he vanished.

The moment he appeared next to his brother, Hamura was already sheathing his blade. Before he could completely sheath it, though, the woman smirked. "Ah, the mighty Hamura still does as he's told by his brother who's not five minutes older than he." Hamura did not respond to this, instead just sheathing his sword with an audible click.

And with the click, the mass of trees that was to the woman's left – where the man she had just mocked swung his famed sword – split like paper. Miles of forest was cut clean with a single swing.

To her credit, the woman didn't show her nervousness, nothing but a bead of sweat falling from her brow. But that was enough for Hamura, his eyes able to see everything, from her fast heartbeat to her lungs inhaling and exhaling oxygen at a quickened pace. Good. She now knew her place.

"What is your name, goddess-san?" Otsutsuki Hagoromo, a man of power and peace, asked. His politeness and willingness to speak was appreciated by the woman. She had obviously underestimated Hamura, and that was her very first mistake. His brother, even without the Rinnegan, was a man that could even face him on equal ground. And his skill with a sword was rivaled by none.

"I am Tsukuyomi." She replied. Hagoromo was actually surprised. He never thought he'd meet the goddess his mother named her ultimate techniques after.

"Ah, the reality bender." He replied, smiling. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Tsukuyomi-san." He said as he lowered his head a little out of respect for the beautiful woman. "Even without a domain, you are highly respected, both in humanity's eyes and the divine hierarchy." His powerful, feared eyes met her lavender ones, a small smile on her face. No matter what her dislikes were with him, a compliment from the legendary priest was something very appreciated by anyone who was given one.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Hagoromo-san." She decided to add the honorific since he was being so polite, not wanting to be shown up by a human. "You will hand over those eyes."

Hagoromo closed his eyes, a small smile on his face. "Polite manners, not flattery, Tsukuyomi-san," he replied. "And I'm most curious as to why you and your people believe my eyes do not belong to me?" He said. His voice was still calm, and neither man showed too much emotion, their faces ever stoic.

"Those eyes are divine, and they do not belong to mortals. Life and death are powers that cause catastrophe when in your kind's hands." She said truthfully. "Your mother is proof enough of that."

Thus, her second mistake.

"My mother does not represent all of humanity, just as you do not represent all deities. It is a narrow-minded, and to be honest, moronic way of thought." Hamura answered. His family meant everything to him, more than anything else, and he would not have others judge or claim to know what they clearly did not. "And I will only say this once," he continued, the veins around his eye sockets bulging, "Never speak of my mother again, or I'll cut your tongue out, vermin."

Hamura was a little overprotective.

"Calm, brother," Hagoromo whispered, seemingly relaxing the angered man with his voice alone. "But he is right, Tsukuyomi-san," his eyes met hers, "Leave our mothers name out of your mouth," he paused, letting the words sit before he gave her a small smile, "Please."

"The two of you speak as if you can command me." The supposed goddess proclaimed with narrowed eyes. "You are but hairless apes," she snarled, "Know your place." With that said, the "reality bender" shot off, an almost purple-pink after image following her.

She raised her arm and beams, the same color as her after image, shot from her body, rushing at the man who stole god's eyes. When the beams of pure chakra and life energy came within inches of the holy man's flesh, they suddenly stopped, only to begin shrinking, being absorbed into Hagoromo's body by the preta path.

Even the gods couldn't scar him.

Tsukuyomi sighed. "I was hoping to do this the easy way." She shook her head. "But like all humans you can't see the bigger picture of things." She sighed again, this time dramatically. "And here I thought the great priest of the six paths was a reasonable and intelligent man."

Hagoromo just smiled softly at the woman. "Intelligent? Fairly. Reasonable? On occasion." He chuckled softly to himself. "As for this "bigger picture", it's not about who can and can't see it," Hamura allowed himself a small smile, already hearing this from his wise brother. "It's about who can comprehend it." He smiled again.

The "straw that broke the camel's back", if you will…

The air became heavy, the peaceful aura vanishing. Tsukuyomi's lavender eyes darkened to a deep purple, her very skin seemingly falling upwards towards the heavens, only leaving purple skin bright enough to blind some. A halo hovered over her head, almost pink hair standing, resembling wings. And then, the angelic form before them smiled. It was something that befitted a demon, not a divine entity.

"Such a foolish human, to act as if he is smarter than a goddess," she started. "I will have those eyes," she snarled, "The eyes you used to kill my brother!"

The goddess in her true god form blasted off at the brothers who would later slay god, rage-filled eyes narrowed in total righteous fury.

Hamura looked to his brother, a sorrowful expression on his face. The deity had just brought up one of the few things that his brother actually regretted. It broke his heart to have to do what he did, but he did, he had to do it. It was not done lightly, but out of necessity. He had to kill the great storm of summer.

He had to kill Susanoo.

Instead of an angry look of denial, Tsukuyomi came face-to-face with a mournful one, tears falling silently to the ground.

She didn't stop.

The second her energy-covered fist was about to make contact with his face, Hagoromo's eyes snapped onto her, the rings of his eyes almost bulging.

Hamura took a step back.

The gods were about to duel.

It was an impossible absurdity.

He… he was not human. He couldn't be. She was sure…

She panted, her sore body exhausted beyond anything she had ever felt before. She could hardly breathe. Her bones ached and her muscles screamed. She had near infinite chakra, much more than her siblings, yet, she could hardly feel what was left… was there anything left? She was alive – for now – so she must have some chakra. She tried to raise her head…

She just laid there, not even able to raise her own head. This was pathetic, mortifying on a level she never knew existed. A human – no, that's wrong. He… he was not human. He was… he was something else, transcended. He beat her down; he crushed her with such power she had actually been frightened by.

He scared her.

If she could, she would chuckle. She was proud of her self. Even without looking, she knew what was there.

The surrounding, as far as the eye could see – and considering who was around at the time, that was extremely far – was scarred, flattened, razed. They probably split the country in two… Maybe not that bad, but… she had never seen so much destruction, so much carnage.

She had lasted three days. She was able to stand against the great priest for three days. Even if she didn't even scratch his skin, she had lasted for three days, and that in itself, to her, was the only kind of victory anyone who fought the holy man could attain.

His shadow announced him, his passive and untired face soon staring at her from above. She looked at him with something akin to acceptance. She did not fear him anymore. Why would she? There was nothing she could do. Fear was an annoyingly human emotion, so she discarded it after realizing that Otsutsuki Hagoromo was even more powerful than she.

"Are you going to kill me now, too? Like you murdered by brother?" She asked in a tired voice, more of a whisper than anything.

The pain that entered the god man's eyes confused her. "Tsukuyomi," the dropping of –san from her name was noticed, "I did not wish to kill Susanoo."

"Then why did you?!" She screamed, not caring enough to hold the tears in anymore. "You took him away from us!"

Hagoromo wouldn't allow his eyes to leave hers. It seemed it was time to tell her. "Susanoo lost his mind when his wife was killed." He suddenly said. Tsukuyomi's eyes narrowed. "He became insane, going into a killing frenzy for five days." He sighed at the goddess's disbelieving look. "He killed thousands of people, Tsukuyomi. Thousands of innocent men, women and children lost their lives to his broken self."

"Liar!" the goddess shouted, refusing to meet his truthful gaze.

"It's the truth." Hamura began. "Nii-san and I tried to convince him to stop, even offered him our help." The younger of the twins huffed. "The fool waited for my back to be turned to strike me like a coward." He continued, not really caring about the woman's feelings. "He was killed trying to take my life. He was rabid, a mindless husk of his former self."

Hagoromo finally allowed himself to close his eyes, the gravity of his actions weighing on his shoulders. Susanoo loved his wife more than life itself, and when a nasty demon took her away from him, he had lost himself. He took to bloodlust, craving nothing but death. He became what he and his brother fought – what they protected mortals from.

Susanoo had become a demon.

Seeing the genuine expression of regret and truthfulness caused her to clench her fists. She was such a fool. She had judged too soon, jumping to conclusions before she truly knew the situation.

"Brother," Hamura began, "We need to go." Hagoromo turned to his twin, his fellow protector of the powerless. "We have wasted enough time as it is." The pale-eyed Otsutsuki didn't mean to sound insensitive, or arrogant, he just naturally sounded so. He carried more grace, more nobility than even Hagoromo, and if he was anything, he was blunt, to a fault, even.

Hagoromo sighed. His brother was right. "We must be taking our leave, Tsukuyomi-san." He nodded his head. "We are needed elsewhere." With that said, the brothers turned, walking away without another word.

The goddess had long since taken her human form again.

She just sat in the destruction caused by her foolishness, tears running down her tired face.

Her brother was turned into a monster, tainted by his own hatred and sorrow.

And he was cleansed from the human realm by the holy sage.

Tsukuyomi cried.

Very little could cause the two most powerful men in world such absolute anger, such absolute rage that they were currently feeling. They were peaceful, caring men, their life mission to guard the sacred beauty that is life, rage and hatred were two things that were somewhat foreign to them. But right now, at this very moment, they were so very livid.

The wildlife ran in the opposite direction, the plants whimpering in their presence. The ground trembled and the air was heavy, and thick. There was no reverence shown to them by all things natural, only fear. They cried tears of anger.

Everyone was dead.

They had heard rumors of a demon rampaging across the country, leaving a trail of bodies and despair in its wake. But they didn't think that anything like this would happen. The demonic entity had only taken a handful of lives since the start of its carnage, but this… this was a massacre. The entirety of the small village was butchered, even the children.

A small arm, that of a child, reached for the sky, buried in a pile of other bodies, broken and bloody corpses just laid out for anyone to see.

It was a message.

The foul creature knew they were tracking it.

A sharp intake of breath sounded out behind them. Neither man was surprised. They had felt her trailing behind them, her obvious curiosity in them pushing her to follow, to witness with her own eyes what the men who stole form kami did with their theft.

She now wished she hadn't followed.

"W-what happened?" Tsukuyomi asked. She was no stranger to death, having witnessed, and caused bloodshed on and off the battlefield. But never before had she seen such malice, such horrid massacre in all her life. No matter what the reason, there was never a proper cause to murder children. They were innocent; the sins of their ancestors were just that, their ancestors. This was an ugly thing, something that made her sick.

"This is the work of the real enemy, Tsukuyomi-san." Hagoromo spoke, the anger in his voice cutting the very silence like a hot knife through warm butter. "A brutal, disgusting act meant to anger us…" Hagoromo began to walk through the blood-stained village, a look in his eyes that Tsukuyomi could not make out.

"There is only one thing wrong with his little plan…" Hamura began, his pale eyes filled with wrath and fury. Tsukuyomi turned her head to the tall man, her face questioning. Hamura looked to his brother, the two of them sharing a look.

"It worked…"

The sound of Hagoromo clapping his hands together, his fingers then interlacing, was heard. And then, suddenly and without warning, the entire village lit up in a dark purple light.

Tsukuyomi's eyes widened, her heart nearly stopping.

The sheer size and density of the chakra the man before her was unleashing on the village was, to be blunt, omnipotent. He hadn't even used a sliver of a fraction of this kind of power against her. If he had, she would have surely died, immediately.

She was once again afraid of the holy soldier.

The purple flames licked at the blood-soaked soil, a presence she was vaguely familiar with. Her breathing was labored, her throat suddenly dry. With her own eyes, she was witness to the most frightening feat she had ever seen in her lifetime. Yama, the King of Hell, rose, his eyes matching that of the man she was now terrified of.

The priest was commanding the bloody King of Hell.

With another huge surge of chakra and the great mouth of Yama stretched open to impossible proportions, obeying the commands of the sage. Again, with another incredibly ridiculous amount of chakra, the king began to spit green lights. Within seconds Tsukuyomi knew what the lights were.

They were souls, the souls of the dead.

The holy man was resurrecting the dead.

It was terrifying. It was absurd. It was impossible. It was beautiful.

Hagoromo wasn't just reviving the dead; he was like a beacon of rejuvenation, the scarred and broken bodies of the unfortunate murdered healing at rates not possible. Hagoromo was washing the death from the land, breathing life back into the village, in both the villagers and nature. He was fixing the world, it seemed. Tsukuyomi managed to tear her hypnotizing stare from the man and fixed it at his brother. She was met with something rather… strange.

Hamura was smiling.

The last soul left the King of Hell's mouth, the last of the deceased raised. With a silent command, Yama slowly faded back into the ground, the purple flames and overwhelmingly dark presence retreating.

Moving with purpose, the brothers began to make their way out of the village, a confused goddess hot on their heels. Why hadn't they waited for the mortals to gain consciousness? Why hadn't the accepted the inevitable thanks and reverence they would have definitely received? It was a little suspicious. Her curiosity eventually won out, and she asked the question that practically burned the tip of her tongue, demanding to be voiced.

"Why did you leave before the mortals woke?" She raised an eyebrow. "Have you something to hide?"

Hagoromo stopped, Hamura doing the same. The priest looked… tired?

The next words he spoke would change the way the goddess looked at him forever. "I wish to keep my humanity."

Author's Note's:

Sorry for not wishing everyone a happy thanksgiving in my Hero or Monster update. It, unfortunately, slipped my mind. So HAPPY BELATED THANKSGIVING!

... Yeah... it's way too late...

Anyway, just in case you don't hear from me, Happy Holidays!

Please, please review. Tell me what you thought about the chapter. Tell me what you want to see happen in this story. Tell me about your thanksgiving, or anything, really. I want to know you all better, so don't be shy and lets mingle!