Based of both the Anime and Manga. Will lead into Shippuden.
I do not own Naruto. Any OC's that may make an appearance in this Fanfiction, however, are mine.
Rights to my OCs are mine.
The mention of facts from Tokyo Ghoul that will be incorporated, are not.
.Mentioning of quotes.
Zet-su-mei Se-kai : Pronounced Zet - Sue - May Say - Ki
[Thank you to all that reviewed]
The OOCness of a character is dependent on the view of the reader itself, this can or may not apply to the writer. Please note that all writers of fanfiction view characters differently and see another side to them that can be developed over time. Fanfiction is not meant to be exact. Fanfiction is purely for entertainment purposes.
Inspiration? I practically both hate, and love this chapter.
Again, I appreciate any advice, reviews, anything to keep me knowing how you'd like this story to go, if you like where it's going so far or if I get any information on Ghouls wrong. Sometimes I might not notice it till it's pointed out.
If you can make it through this chapter than I applaude you, this one one of my toughest chapters to date.
Nietzsche once said, "When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks into you."
Stage 5
/
Placophobia
The fear of tombstones.
"I can promise you one thing, death will take us all."
"Sekai." She heard from behind her. "You shouldn't have taught him."
Not bothering to turn her head to look at him, Sekai kept walking forward, her mind cleared because the hunger she once felt was no longer there. It was relieving that she could walk calmly from place to place without feeling weak or ripping out someone's throat.
"Why do you care?" Although she was bitter, she kept her voice controlled and the same soft tone flowing through.
Even if her voice was soft she couldn't help but feel like it was smoother than normal, like that other side of her was strangely too calm.
"He had exceptional chakra control when he came back." He eluded her question. "It was alarming when the chakra that I sealed away, began to leak through."
Kakashi kept a steady distance from her. He watched her calmly walk, her face expertly shielded behind her hair.
"Does it scare you?" She questioned even though she didn't really want to know the answer, she only asked it go find a reason for him to leave.
She did like him, Sekai didn't hate him at all. But it was because he didn't seem to like her or take care of her that she wanted him to leave. He reminded her too much of her father, and if he treated her like he always does, she feared that she might rethink if her father ever loved her at all.
It was a stupid fear, but it was a fear after all.
"Of course not," Kakashi shook his head and stopped following her, knowing that it was useless.
Taking one last glance at her retreating form he couldn't help but sigh. "Goodbye, Sekai."
Sekai froze in her steps to look behind her. "You too, Hatake-san." She replied, face consorted into a frown before she turned around to walk away.
Kakashi numbly watched her go and wondered where the worry he felt came from. Breathing into his mask he shivered quietly when hot air blew back. "Is it close enough?"
"Where is that teme?!" Naruto huffed leaning against the railing that blocked people from getting into the area where the battles took place.
Another call came over the speakers reminding those who were watching that Uchiha Sasuke only had a few more minutes before he would have to forcefully forfeit the match to Gaara.
Across from him Shikamaru lazily leaned against the railing at yawned deeply before shutting his eyes. "Troublesome."
Sakura bit her lip nervously and glanced between the battle arena and the entrance worrying over where Sasuke might be. "Naruto-Baka! Stop saying that!" She yelled hitting the boy behind the head before retracting her hands to fiddle with her fingers. "He'll come."
"Excuse me, Naruto-san?" Sekai called out entering from the steps.
Even if he wasn't really close to the girl, Naruto spun around with a bubbly smile on his face and waved energetically at Sekai. "Sekai Hey! Why are you here?"
Just before she was going to take the last step to the platform they were on, her feet froze. For a minute she stared at him then tilted her head. "I was invited."
"Who invited you?" Sakura spoke analytically, unfriendly speaking to her but Sekai didn't expect much anyways. "It must have been someone who's participating? Shouldn't it?"
The frantically spat questioned pushed Sekai back a little in shock, her mouth curving into the frown she thought she could have taken off for this moment. "Yes, of course. Hokage-sama refused to invite me on his own."
Sekai continued to move down and walked towards the edge of the railing to sense a shift in the wind and a new scent travel through the breeze.
"Sasuke."
Post-Sasuke vs. Gaara
He'd have more experiences like this the more he got older, he wouldn't realize that till the future began to become the present. It was a hear trenching, blood pumping experience. He was sure he didn't know who else to fight for, what to strive from and who to feed the feeling of comfort from.
Would someone truly find their purpose through the death of others? He really did wonder if that would happen when Itachi let his final breath go. If he let Gaara go through with it, killing him, he'd never be able to fully comprehend how he'd feel, if he was weak, he would die and let his family's pride die with him.
"Only by destroying you and all you represent can I even prove that I exist. Only by killing you can I know what life is."
Sasuke's eyes widened and his feet moved back on their own, the sheer impact of his words enough to cause fear to coarse through Sasuke's spine. The idea of death was something Sasuke hadn't even come to terms with, hadn't wanted to accept.
"What life is." Sasuke didn't know what life truly was. Was it hate? Denial? Fear? He couldn't decide.
"I sense a trace of bloodlust in the air, alright come on out."
The soft padding of feet hitting the ground could be heard before a face appeared behind a stone large enough to hide it.
"So it's you." Kakashi had said looking at Gaara with disinterest, as if he had known it was him all along.
Gaara had stayed quiet for a period of time, the eyebrows he didn't have were not creased by his anger could be seen through the crinkles of the skin above his eyes. Then it came, like a steadily rising current, his mouth opened and through a lengthy amount of time he formed words.
"Tell me, what is your life's purpose? Why is it that you seek power?"
There was another stretch of silence, Sasuke with his hands gripped tightly to his sides, Kakashi watching both and Gaara who had stood across from Sasuke.
"Like it's any business of yours." Sasuke spat. "Beat it." He continued never taking his eyes of Gaara's. "You're interrupting my training."
"I see it." Gaara spoke surely. "You have the eyes." He stepped back and turned on his heel, having nothing more to ask. "Eyes. Eyes, that'll do anything to seek power." His voice grew thicker in anger. "Even kill. Full of hate, like mine."
"We're the same..."
Deep sand like skin stretched along the right side of his face with his demon configured eye shut closed and his human eye glaring hatefully pain screaming through his eyes, the eyes of a monster who lost control.
Was he really a monster?
It could have been ironic on all counts, Sasuke being called a monster by a monster, seeing Sasuke no different from himself. The funny thing was, Sasuke didn't try to deny it this time, instead in remembering that the two were similar did he remember that Naruto might be a monster too, maybe even Sakura, Sekai was no exception either.
What is a monster? Maybe everyone had their own little monster in them, some may be larger than others.
"You're my pr-"
Suddenly, with a snap the demons eye sprung open, black sclera and gold iris. Sasuke's eyes widened but this time they stayed wide never leaving their state.
Those eyes...His body began to shake, the feeling of helplessness finding its way to haunt Sasuke, hands clenched as they shook. So familiar. He couldn't figure out where he had seen those eyes until the very last minute when a fearful face flashed into his mind just before he ended up in this mess.
The clasp of the eyepatch around her eye fell loose, tumbling to the ground and just for a millisecond, he could see tears building up around a small red pupil.
Fear.
Monsters, they were both beasts and maybe that's why Sasuke could see him and her as the same person. Maybe one day she'd be out for blood, his blood. Sasuke clenched his fists deciding on what he needed to do.
He needed to get rid of her, she was just another insignificant person who got in his way and had to go. Naruto, even if pained him to think about it, he'd have to let go of sooner or later.
I don't need friends.
The one tailed struck the tree he had been on and destroyed it ruthlessly, taunting and convincing Sasuke to fight him, because he was-
"Prey."
A figure appeared behind her, taking her in their arms roughly and tugging at her to move back it was an unfamiliar scent that grasped onto her and refused to let go. It was a scent that was coated in dark thoughts and musky with evil.
Her fear spiked, the surprise attack and explosions making her mind go blank and face pure white. When the panic of being taken finally set in her hands clawed viciously at the hands around her waist and a blood curdling scream ripped out of her mouth.
"Quiet beast." A voice slithered in her ear, slamming his hand over her mouth and grinning deviously.
His other had trailed to the strings of the eyepatch around her eye, pulling against the string to let it fall to the ground. Another explosion was let out to the far left, smoke clouding the arena and catching into her exposed eye.
Sekai struggled even more when her body was forcefully turned to look into snake-like eyes. "That's a good little beast."
In a puff of smoke she was transported to a large clearing and to another one of the man with the snake eyes. Her teeth clenched together and her feet moved on their own accord, trying to get away from the man and what she assumed was his clone.
The man grinned grimly at her and let his clone block her way from escaping. "That's not very nice, show a little hospitality won't you? I was just about to introduce myself." He hissed out the 's' in each word.
Sekai clenched her teeth and furrowed her eyebrows. Blood red veins began to leak around her left eye, she wanted him to fear her but all he did was narrow his eyes in interest, the lust for power clearly in his eyes.
"My name is Orochimaru." Sekai froze up remembering the constant warnings that the third had given her, telling her to never cross paths with this man. All he wanted was power and for those to fear his power.
"You shouldn't be here! The third will-"
"He's dead." He hissed with a smirk, his pale face curling up in amusement at the emotions that fitted across the girls face.
This was the first time she had experienced more than one emotion, had shown it on her face and felt as if her world was going to crumble if she kept them on her face. Her body sagged in his clone's hold, hands limp and lips moving to murmur words that she couldn't speak.
"How boring..." He muttered watching her become unresponsive, he wanted to see a little more flare in the last survivor of the Zetsumei clan, the last ghoul.
"What if I told you that there was no reason for you to act this way?" Orochimaru smirked when her head snapped upwards and her ghoul eye flashed in anger. "What if there was another beast like you? What if I said I," He licked his lips dangerously, tongue flicking like a snake. "Managed to produce one of you, a small child?"
"Then kill it." She hissed body stiff in anger, her mouth moving faster than her mind could, the words not seeming like they were her own. "Kill it and get rid of that, that-" Her body shook in anger. "Thing."
Orochimaru threw a mocking look to Sekai and tisked at her, moving forward and placing his hands behind his back, flicking on hand in the direction of the trees behind him to single to the person behind him. "That's not very kind of you, here I am, offering you a chance to not be alone anymore and you throw it away."
A small body ran out of the trees feet tumbling against rocks and the occasional branch, hands thrown forwards when it came closer to Sekai. Jumping back in alarm Sekai bristled when the child threw their arms around her.
The roots of her deep green hair turned a pale white and a growl left her lips, incisors sharpening when her eyes narrowed. "Kill it, I'd rather be dead then to see that thing grow and take my families name, something that it will never be part of!"
The small three year old artificial Ghoul fell to the floor in panic when Sekai growled at him, hands holding himself on the ground and small tears building up in the corners of his eyes.
Orochimaru glowered at the small boy for being this weak and hissed at Sekai. "You will take him. He's weak and useless to me, your kind have always been a pain, either too weak or too strong."
He grinned tauntingly before his body vanished out of sight and his eyes haunting her dreams. "Such a sad child. Living around liars who killed the last of the family you've ever known, you should be thanking me."
Sekai's body slumped to the floor, eyes wide and body shaking against the ground, hands holding her body from falling completely. Her mouth quivered and eyes watered with tears that didn't fall.
"Mama!" A child screeched loudly running towards her mother, legs skipping and mouth curving into an easy smile.
When she was about to turn towards her mother, Nao span around making the child fall onto the floor with watering eyes. "Mama..."
"You're a monster..."
Sekai's face scrunched up in pain, unable to look her mother in the eyes. "No-Mama, I'm..."
"-Why did you kill me?" Nao spoke emotionlessly, her eyebrows furrowed and face glowering down at her daughters. "Once again, all you've caused is pain. So I have to-"
Why is this happening? Her mothers body slumped to the floor before she could finish, another Sekai standing behind her now hovering over the dead body of her mother with blood across her face.
"No-" Sekai choked out in fear, scrambling away from herself. Her eyes watched her mothers dead body twitch.
She screamed.
"This is your reality." A soft taunting voice cooed in her ear, patting her head to stop her screams. The scenery around her turned white and her hands were tied behind her.
"There's no reason for you to cry. Why do you sob?" She could feel a body press themselves against her back, cradling her like a child. "You choose to be hurt, you choose to not want to hurt others. Isn't that right?"
Sekai whimpered, her head down and eyes tightly shut. "You're too innocent." The voice praised sounding like her own voice. "It looks like you're choosing both, forsaking both of them..."
The figures white hair, long and silky like her voice brushed against Sekai's cheek. "Just like your mother." The voice taunted. "If only she had turned down her sisters requests she wouldn't have died."
Sekai whimpered even more, the feeling of dread eating away at her. "Stop it."
"What a foolish mother, hum? If only she loved you, if she did she would have abandoned her idiotic sister." A chin set onto her shoulder and arm curled around her waist.
"Please." Sekai pleaded, tired of the taunting. "Stop it."
"She wouldn't have abandoned you, she wouldn't have abandoned us." The white haired Sekai hissed into her ear, her voice more mature meaning she had to be older.
"Why?" Sekai pleaded finally having enough. "Why did you leave me alone, okaasan?" Quiet tears fell down her face.
"Why did Otousan have to die?" She begged for the answer. "Why was I lied too?" She hiccupped chocking on her own tears. "I miss you...I don't like being alone..." Her lips quivered as she sniffled. "I wanted you to choose me."
"What if it meant forsaking your aunt?"
Sekai whimpered and winced. "Even if it meant that...even if..."
"Even if you have to hurt someone?" The white haired Sekai edged on, hair draping over her face.
"Yes!" Sekai cried out.
"Even if it meant taking her life?" She sneered moving forward.
"Even if it meant that!" Sekai screamed pushing against her chair and glowering up at the older version of herself, eyes narrowed and innocence burned away.
"Good girl." The older her smiled sadly and gripped onto her face to stare at Sekai with her single Kakugan, her eyes more sharper with age. "Sometimes you just have to give up on something to preserve another. That's something our mother couldn't do."
"She couldn't..." Her voice trailed off as the scenery around the two filled with pale white flowers beginning to bleed red. "She didn't want to..."
"Do you have the kind of strength to protect everyone you care about?" Her older self questioned tucking a strand of white hair behind her ear.
"No." Sekai answered back motionless.
"Do you want it?" She pressed.
"Yes." The flowers sprung up in unison, blood red leaking into the background and on the bottom of their feet.
"Do you accept me? We'll protect the ones you care about, we'll never be hurt ever again. We'll get the revenge you've always wanted."
Sekai glowered at the floor, lips tucked into a sneer and eyes gleaming with anger, forgetting about everyone else except her own goals. "I accept."
There was a quick gust of wind and hair that was once deep green vanished replacing itself with an empty shade of white that brushed against her cheeks, silky and soft.
"Do only one thing for me." The older her spoke moving away from where she stood to show a small child only six years old, an older version of the child Orochimaru created. "Never abandon this child." The white haired teen placed her hand atop the young boys head and watched him grip the hands on top of his head. "Koji, my little one."
Sekai's head nodded once and her older self beamed skipping towards her, hands outstretched just like that child had done. The white haired teens arms gripped Sekai's neck tightly.
"Yokatta."
A small shadow reached over and cuddled closer to her, hands grasping hers like a lifeline, little feet, little body, holding onto her for comfort. Sekai's body shook again, roots turning white even faster till it spread throughout all her hair. Looking up slowly, Sekai's body stopped shaking and the hand that was grabbed curled tighter around the child, Koji's. Her face was blank and calm, lips curled to speak words through a voice that was controlled and silky.
"Murderers."
"Terror has made me cruel."
"Orochimaru is a snake, he does everything for a reason, just waiting for the right moment to strike."
Yokatta - "Thank God." -Kind of thing
Hate me now.
Has anyone been able to pick up on the fact that Sasuke refers to Sekai as a monster just like he and Gaara are but Orochimaru and others (even documents) refer to her as a beast?
Here's the general gist of things.
Monster
.Noun.
Any animal or human grotesquely deviating from the normal shape, behavior, or character.
...
This means that Sasuke, Gaara, and Sekai view each other as something/someone that is ugly on character and behaviour alone.
Beast
.Noun.
A cruel, coarse, filthy, or otherwise beast like person.
...
Ghouls in this fanfiction are seen as below animals, they are cruel even to their own kind and will do anything to satisfy their primal needs.
While one description is based on character the other is based on something that is only skin deep.
There is a difference.
It's symbolic.
It will reappear like houdini himself called upon it.