TiE
"A Song of Brothers, a Tale of Fire
Oh, What weaves betwixt the tunes,
Of bloodied valleys, and withered doom,
What so raises the heart, yet fills it with terror...
Tears it apart?
Love of any kind,
Precious gold, or sordid rot,
Warmed hearts, or withered lots...
Love is a great thing,
Yielding for protection,
Frothing for hate,
This feeling brought my Brother's fates,
For love him so, so to did I hate
His sorrowful, lonesome, sordid state,
And when the light, was to leave his eyes,
He gave me the sun as my miserable prize...
It burned inside, that spark of love
a flame of hate it drew above
At the End
I looked down at the man I once thought a brother, no matter all that we went through, and all that we'd destroyed, we'd still managed to set our differences aside and create something... something he now wanted to destroy.
"Madara," I groaned, more exhausted than I'd like to let on. "Are you satisfied?"
The rain was heavy... cold. It was the only thing keeping us up... the throbbing shock of its chill, if it weren't for that Madara would be long dead. I was glad he hung in for that little while longer. I wanted him to explain himself; I wanted him to help me to understand his motive.
He coughed, phlegm thick with blood and mucus. His proud eyes that always burned with that intense fire, were muted and so dull. I'd never seen him in such a state, and I daresay I never would like to see such again.
"You're too soft, too idealistic, and your brother hates the Uchiha with a passion, if you're passing the title of Hokage onto him..."
I grit my teeth at that look on his face; the betrayal that sprang out so vividly. It smothered me and it took everything I had to stay calm. "I thought we were partners."
I felt a tear slide down my face. I was loosing him, and I couldn't even give him peace in those moments.
"The Daimyo refused to take you into consideration, and we need the Daimyo's funding to run the village, the only other shinobi strong enough to take the position was Tobirama."
Those black eyes stared directly into my own. "How much longer do you have?"
My illness was progressing, not rapidly, though it was advancing nonetheless "In five years I will be dead."
He laughed. "Good you won't live to see the village burn! That brother of yours is a monster, he will destroy everything you and I strove to create!"
How he managed to have the energy to rail as he was with a sword through the gut eluded me, the argument was not able to do that same "Just as you have?"
My voice was cool, as though I were talking about the weather with a neighbor.
His glare would have surely left me dead had he the energy to activate his Mangekyo. "You say that when you deny our legacy, how dare you!"
Those hissed words were his last to me as his strength finally gave out. I stared down at his body wishing I could have avoided that, that something could change so that he would be alive. I had no such luck, in fact I'd go so far as to say I had terrible luck.
Mito had been standing next to me the entire time that Madara and I talked, and she very clearly heard every bit of the conversation.
"What is this legacy that you all left?" I groaned knowing that that would likely be the on thing she latched onto.
I grabbed her arm and started running. She yanked away with a sharp tug, settling into a decent pace beside me. I led her to a small house just inside the new civillian district. Taking out a key I opened the door and led her inside.
Mito sniffed at the small house, I shook my head in exasperation; she was so used to finery that she simply would do with nothing less. The house was far too modest with only two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a small kitchen, and living/dining area.
In the dining area was the elderly woman that took care of the house and its occupant when Madara, Orohime and I weren't there, which was a lot of the time.
I led Mito to the second bedroom on the right, and opened the door. Inside the room was a young blond girl with dark streaks, and eyes of solid black. The girl was Kusagi.
"So Father is dead, does mother know Papa?" She was far too perceptive for a five year old.
Mito cut me a sharp look. "Who is this girl!?"
I sighed, the woman was always so distrustful, a foil to his own seemingly infinite trust. The distrust now would be understandable. "She is Kusagi, she is the legacy of Madara, Kaguya Orohime, and I."
Mito was -as expected- taken aback by that proclamation. I was always one for the blunt attack. "We the three of you lovers?" bitterness did not suite her beauty.
I shook my head. "No, nothing like that," I stalled for a moment trying to find the right words. "Madara and I... we shared a bond, and Orohime found the jutsu many years ago during her escape from Kiri. It needs a woman to bare the child. It's created by melding the unique chakra of another shinobi to the kunoichi's egg. Up to four unique chakra can fuse to the egg. The more fathers the shorter the pregnancy, minus one trimester for each father, though this increases the danger to the mother greatly."
"You know this will not go over well with your brother." crisp, and a little cold. It rattled me a bit.
"You will not tell him!" I grabbed her by the shoulders, "You will not! I love my brother, and I know him. He will wage war over this."
She adopted a thinking pose with her fan resting on her chin. "Teach me the jutsu and I will not let anyone know of this... transgression."
I sighed. It seemed no matter what she always got what she wanted.
An is only a Beginning
Hanzo the Salamander was a man easily able to rival the third Hokage or any of the other men that held the title of shadow. The Sandiame's own three students whom were said to be legends in the making lay defeated at the feet of the creature of myth that was Hanzo.
The ruler of Ame laughed at the trio. Out of nearly two hundred shinobi only these three managed to survive, It was hilarious, when he met their eyes there was that emptiness, that showed their acceptance of death; they would not go quietly, but they would go.
"Get up you miserable dogs!" Hanzo barked.
The pale skinned tried to force his body upward. Life, that was good."Why haven't you killed us?"
Hanzo grinned beneath his re-breather. "You young brats are a tenacious bunch, and that's why you get to live."
To him it was obvious, to the young Orochimaru it couldn't have been less so. "There was a battalion of us, and you slaughtered them all but for us, and you could kill us right now if you wanted."
Observations, trying to regain his balance, to understand this moment. His life just for the time was not his own, playing games was not something he could afford.
"Yes, those others were weak, and we continue to be so, you all are different. You will become stronger, and make a difference in this wretched world."
"Are we not your enemy?" Orochimaru made it to his feet and look Hanzo in the eyes.
"Of course you are, and that is a very important thing. If I were so powerful that I defeated all my enemies then how would I grow? Only by defeating and surpassing those stronger than you do you gain true strength."
Hero's Downfall
Beware too much pride, for a moment of blindness could mean the end of a lifetime.