So, here is officially the final chapter, and named after the song by Trobar de Morte.
Chapter Twelve
End of the Darkness
"...your honor, eh?" Orochimaru rumbled in his throat, opening his eyes now and turning to look at him from the side. He didn't move from his current position.
"Because what is the use fighting the likes of you and killing you when you're disabled?" Itachi pointed out, folding his arms across his chest. "Death is still too easy for you." The very same words slipped out of his mouth from the day he had his katana over this pitiful creature before sheathing it behind his back. "I had dreamed of finally carrying it out, but seeing you like this has made me change my mind."
Now Orochimaru turned to lay on his back, looking at him from the front. The lean, pallid form with musculature similar to his own did nothing to faze Itachi, though he wished the snake man had been fully clothed before he came here. Shisui made a noise of disgust, unabashed at showing it.
"Do I look so pitiful to you...unlike last time? Does it satisfy you to see that I am in no position to fight you? And after having YOUR children?" That vile tongue slithered out to lick his lips - that tongue which tasted and repulsed almost every inch of my body - and the sharp, dripping fangs.
Well, no use lying, was there? "Beyond, compared to where I am standing now," Itachi answered proudly. "There is no use talking about what you almost did to my wife, or all the others long before her...but this time, it's simply me." Now he flinched at the last part the snake had to say, which also made his cousin grit his teeth and growl.
"As to what you said about 'children'...they are not one hundred percent mine. I didn't even have a willing involvement in their creation."
There seemed to be a falter in expression before it retained sly character. Golden yellow eyes glittered as the Uchiha went on.
"You could never fathom the pain you caused others - including me and my family," Itachi went on, hands clenching into fists. "Thousands of us in total. What adds to it now is the fact you clearly have absolutely no emotional attachment for any of your victims, your former friends and comrades...or even those children in the eggs. You see them as merely vessels to carry on what you wanted but couldn't have, only to toss them aside if they've been useful enough, just like your lackeys before now. You see human life as wasteful, and look at you now. Everything you did is more of a waste than our own lifespans." His own lips pulled back in a snarl. "All of which means you are unfit to be a true parent, even if that was never your intentions."
This spawned a look of utter shock on the Snake Sannin's face, and the words matched. "Parent? What exactly do you mean by that?"
"Exactly as he said," Shisui said, deciding he kept quiet for too long. "You had eight offspring, four dying and you not even shedding a tear. Point is, a parent has emotional attachments to their breed besides your purpose. Not only do they pass on what matters, but there is one thing above all else: love is what they give freely without a price. Which means you, Orochimaru, are just what you've always been even now." His four-pointed Mangekyo swirled to attention, not intending to act out, but as means to intimidate, and Itachi followed suit with his three-pointed pinwheel.
Perhaps they both expected that kind of response from Orochimaru when he burst out into harsh, rasping laughter. "Parents and love...those two rarely go hand in hand, and do you know how many women claim to be in love only to find themselves backstabbed and betrayed? Love is a lie that one makes to assume is real when, all in reality, it is that we as a species are meant to procreate and continue the existences of our next generation, and pass along what it is before we, too, become extinct. This excuse called love is just as fallible as believing there's a true god in existence, Itachi."
"You sack of snakeskin, there is nothing but lies to what you say. This thing called love DOES exist; it's not the easiest thing in the world, because it is something to work long and hard for. If it is worth it, we don't know the final results until they actually happen."
The person who spoke turned up behind them, and it was none other than his wife - his precious aoibara - who bared her teeth like an angry cat, flanked by both Naruto and Sasuke, and Kabuto right behind them to not be seen yet by the master he sold out.
Orochimaru looked upon all of them - except his assistant - while sitting upright now, hair falling over one shoulder. "Well, well, this is a full family house. Who would have imagined this day would be interesting?" He gave them something that was a mockery of aghast at knowing why they were here, and at what Hanaru said.
Her eyes blazed blue fire. "You're a liar. Parents' love matters and triumphs above all else -" She was speaking of her own who gave their lives for the Leaf and their children. "- and so does romantic love. It's the most wonderful thing that exists even today in this world." But Orochimaru didn't seem as convinced, or he chose to just continue toying with her.
"Then enlighten me since you yourself have a child along with dear Itachi."
"He's a perfect combination of us both, he's gonna be a strong Uchiha one day, and we all know it - but that's not all there is. Love is the greatest strength to get you through life, though there is a difference between love and being IN love," she added with a firm glance at Itachi, no trace of anger at him being there, but that didn't mean they wouldn't have a talk after all of this. "And my husband is right; what would you know when you don't even remember what it was really like?" This offended the snake rogue greatly, for his teeth were bared in a hiss.
"Like I said, it's a great pain and an excuse to hide the hideous reality."
"That doesn't mean jack to us," Sasuke cut in harshly. "Itachi, Shisui, would you both get out of the way so I can get this over with?!"
Already, the purple halo began to form around him, telling everyone his Susano'o was coming forth and that he couldn't wait any longer. But his best friend halted him.
"Yeah, before you do that, Sasuke, he oughtta know something. Orochimaru," Naruto growled, "your kids are not gonna grow up as weapons, nor are they gonna be mistreated if we have anything to say about it. They'll have real friends, maybe a real home and love, but nothing detailed is in stone yet. But know they'll end up far better than you ever have - and ever will."
And it was then and there that Susano'o roared to life, engulfing its user in the warrior's armor after going through the giant skeletal set and then the sinews, finished with what you saw now. The sight made Orochimaru's eyes dilate as if entranced. "It's funny that I can't enjoy this in a fair fight especially after eight hatchlings, which must be something you know too well, Hana-chan," he said to her, but she sniffed and refused to say one more word to him. "Oh, not one last word to say - not even about your own child?"
Itachi glared at him. "You won't survive to hear of it, snake."
"That's right," Hanaru agreed, "but one person had that luxury since he's earned some ounce of our trust."
Said person turned out to be Kabuto, and it was then that Itachi realized without too much effort that the spectacled medic had accepted his words while the Uchiha had been in captivity. He could assess no traces of lie and deceit in those eyes, and something within him swelled. But what are you going to do now, Kabuto? You surely will face punishment for aiding this snake.
When Orochimaru locked eyes with his treacherous rat, he snarled and bellowed out at the same time as Susano'o's hidden weapon burst out and made contact with him.
~o~
Sasuke did it, and that snake was locked away until he would eventually waste away and die without nourishment. Seemed befitting, right?
But she was never going to forget Orochimaru's last words before the deed was done.
"Pray that you are doing the right thing with the children, Itachi - YOUR children, and technically Hana-chan's, as well. But perhaps you should consider forgiving me, at least, for keeping you from your own child's birth while we had been busy."
He pissed her off - the lot of them - for the last time, but what use was there to say anything else to him in his final moments? She had to turn her eye to the side and give Sasuke the signal to do exactly as they discussed...and for once, things went according to plan which was uncommon in the Shinobi world. Wasn't it nice when life went that way?
And as all of them left that domain within the mountain, the rain had stopped pouring, and it appeared the sun was going to come out.
Ironic: Orochimaru, the snake and genius of the legendary Sannin, had been defeated and sealed rather than killed, not in honorable combat - since in the past, many as well as themselves tried and failed - but while he was weak from "childbirth" and in no position to fight anyone. It was no less than he deserved; they all agreed on that.
That left one more thing to do as soon as they were all back in the village, and beneath the Hokage Tower to conduct one of the strangest examinations perhaps in Leaf history.
Hanaru was there, along with her husband - and after this, she was gonna have WORDS with him, or more, when they were alone at their house but before they would pick Ren up from Mikoto and Fugaku's - and their brothers, while Kabuto was elsewhere and being interrogated by Morino's team.
"My God, I'm shocked - no, I don't know what now," Sakura hissed when she ran her green chakra-infused hands over each pup-sized egg. "Just about every single powerful jutsu Orochimaru took...and now the Uchiha's. They're not all in a single person, but spread out, and we have no way of knowing who has what until they are maybe older."
Kakashi was behind her, supervising the private inspection at the pinkette's hand, deeply troubled. "Never did I think it would come to this...and if only they'd be easily accepted into the village the way they are. The orphanage we have could take them in, but some villagers might not be ready to accept them -" He was interrupted by Naruto.
"Yeah, but the villagers accepted ME when I showed them. These kids have no fault of theirs, no matter who they come from."
"Yes, but the problem is when they look at these four and see who their father is; they will always uphold the idea that the sin lies with them than the one who really is at fault. No child should ever be in such a situation." Kakashi was speaking of his own personal experiences when his father took his own life to atone; no matter what, it still felt like a hollow blow and did not make the pain any less. He was angry and betrayed before realizing that it was all a part of human nature to find something to throw at.
The Hokage didn't like this any more than they did, but the decision was final, so that meant placing them where Kabuto suggested: the orphanage outside the Leaf Village.
Kabuto had it in himself to tell them why this place. He had no recollection of his former life, until a kind woman named Nono Yakushi - which was where he got his identity from, since he didn't remember his real name, either - took him in. This woman happened to be a former member of the ANBU Root, now dissolved, and a captain of the Medical Corps. The orphanage she ran took in children who were made orphans in different parts of the Fire Nation - and also served as a treatment center for injured Shinobi.
Kabuto added that he remembered Danzo Shimura coming to blackmail the one he called "mother" into taking an undercover mission, then eventually did the same to the young boy...and led to Orochimaru taking him under his wing.
So, he does have a soft spot, after all. Who would have thought?
Now at the present, it was then that the six of them were shocked by the trembling of the four eggs before them. Sakura swallowed a gasp of her own as she announced the obvious: they were all hatching now.
"Let's see what the offspring of Orochimaru and...me..." It was beyond difficult for her husband to get out those words, and she took his hand into hers. "...look like."
~o~
Two boys and two girls.
To see them for the first time, kicking and screaming as soon as they broke free from their shells...it caused something in his heart to also crack and spill the blood.
All four appeared to be as white as their "mother", and two of them scaly as a reptile - specifically both girls. All of them had hair black as night. But their eyes didn't yet open, which was a surprise especially when infant girls were known to have their irises taking in their first surroundings. Anatomy wise, they were normal as each gender could be expected, but upon further examination, each of their chakra were taken in samples to be put under microscopes.
Even the greatest kekkei genkai besides the Sharingan could be seen within two of them, whereas one girl possessed the Uchiha's bloodline. Was there irony in that?
He and Hanaru stood before the four that he and Orochimaru...he was going to have to keep it at bay as long as they lived, unless it didn't go according to plan, which was the norm.
There was a great worry about holding them - any of them - because of fear of attachment, so to see his wife pick one up after being granted permission by Shizune who came down to help Sakura examine them...he watched her cradle the girl like she did their own son, holding the child upright and smiling kindly no matter how this looked much like the one who brought her and her siblings into this world.
"I'm sorry we won't be able to raise you, your sister and brothers," Hanaru whispered, rocking her side to side. "But know that none of you are a crime for being born, and if it's possible, you'll all come back here someday - somehow."
Itachi found himself looking at the others who were all fast asleep now, then back up at Sakura and Shizune who both had somber looks on their faces. But in their eyes was a touch of care the woman showed for these almost-inhuman beings, one in her arms. It made him decide he could take the risk and endure it, settling on one of the boys, mimicking Hanaru's embrace, and looked upon this face which reminded him of the moment he held Ren for the first time.
It was also insisted that each of the children be named so that no one else would do it for them - and Hanaru had one that came to mind: "Ai...to let her know that she and her siblings will have it even if it's not in person."
She's saying the children will be loved no matter what, even if we are not there.
The others were eventually named: her sister was called Haruka, to symbolize the distance that was going to be placed between all of them, and their brothers Kenji and Masashi - but no surname for any of them. Because there were also people out there without a surname.
Eventually, Kabuto was released from interrogation but kept under strict surveillance and was granted the order: he would be watched at all times as he was set free, under conditions that he be the one to raise the four along with the other orphans. Someone from his past - the one who currently ran the orphanage - would be glad to welcome him there, and if he did good service, he would be taken out of the Bingo Book for good.
Kabuto gladly accepted the terms and was out of their hair for good, but who knew if their paths would cross again somehow.
Itachi had never been so relieved to see one of their enemies leave...though he wished he could say the same for the mildly hollow feeling in himself as the four newborns were gone from his and Hanaru's lives. Looking at her, he saw the same feeling reflected in her eyes.
He reached and took her hand into his, just like she did when Sasuke sealed away their greatest shared enemy - and when the four hatched.
The promise was kept: they came back alive to delighted friends and family - especially with his parents and Ren who cooed and reached for them both. His mother was all too happy to take him into her arms first, leaving the father to smile and embrace his wife from behind while reaching around and pinching their son's cheek with his fingers.
He expected Fugaku to say something to rub it in their faces that they came back as he made them both promise, but his wife swatted him and laughed that their son and daughter-in-law had the intention all along, and that Shisui and Sasuke also deserved the credit - but mostly Sasuke for finishing off the Leaf's greatest rogue in history.
You heard it right: his brother was given the greatest honor of being recognized all the more, not only throughout the village, but in the Uchiha clan. He'd never seen Sasuke so pleased with himself, but he didn't boast, either.
That did nothing to make Naruto complain that the spotlight was on his best friend and rival this time.
And speaking of him, he and Hinata's wedding day finally arrived before the snow would fall, when less than three months would pass since the incidents. And it wasn't raining, even though the sky was overcast, threatening so...until the great, golden star emerged and shone. The sight made Itachi Uchiha think about everything in the past several months, which would someday be gone if not forgotten completely.
It had been raining so much, with the sun coming out periodically. But when times were hard, the flood increased and made everything gloomy and hopeless. But now that the sun had come out, everything had been cleansed and renewed.
Hanging overhead along with the flora arrangements were cheerful paper pinwheels that had been made by Konohamaru Sarutobi and his friends: sunny yellow, sky blue and even orange. The vibrant flowers of the season which draped the location - none other than in the public park overlooking Hokage Tower and a charming portion of the village - and acted as the backdrop for the bridal couple and their parties were a reflection of inner change, from darkness to light again until something would cause the wicked side of life to return.
Looking around, Itachi was pleased everyone was overjoyed as much as he was. Part of him felt like shedding tears of joy, more for the happy couple they were all here for.
His brother-in-law was in a haori, like he had been on his wedding day, and he would never forget how beautiful and happy Hanaru had been. And then came the bride herself, dolled up in white trimmed with red and her lavender-tinted raven hair placed with a fresh white flower, holding an umbrella of soft gray and blushing roses. Even her stern father was smiling as he and her cousin Neji walked her towards her groom...and Jiraiya was making a scene by bawling his eyes out while leaning into a scolding but otherwise overjoyed Tsunade for support.
In terms of every single other person who gathered to watch the wedding of the Hyuuga heiress and the man she loved, the future Seventh Hokage, there was not one dry eye.
Hanaru, baby in arm, was wiping the corners of her eyes with her knuckles. She was unable to hold it in, hiccupping as she did so. She was with Sakura, Ino Yamanaka, Kurenai Sarutobi - the bride's former sensei - as well as Hanabi and Misaki along with many other women in the bridal party, and how could Sasuke not be present with the other young men?
Even the Uchiha agreed to put aside any differences with the Hyuuga for this one day.
Traditional but meaningful gifts were bestowed to the newly married couple, which they thanked everyone for - and the food and festivities could begin as the evening colors began to pale.
Itachi was tempted more or less to get his drink on by Shisui as well as Naruto who was overenthusiastic about being married now, but too much meant a disaster. Not only when it came to his brother-in-law who would eventually head off with his new wife to do what all newlyweds did on this night, but imagine the hilarious but dire consequences that would ensue!
Add that Itachi's own wife would be forced to have him dragged back home even if she couldn't do it herself, not when she had the baby on hand. Whom she had to have on this day even if he is too young to understand adult marriages.
When the fun was over, everyone was exhausted to their bones and heading to their homes while the bridal couple was off to her family compound for their wedding night - though he doubted they would have the energy for that, after today's events - and then leave the next day for their honeymoon at any popular suite of their choosing. He wouldn't be surprised if they ended up conceiving their first child in this time, either.
"Oh, God, I am so tired I could sleep the entire day tomorrow!" Hanaru said as soon as they were safely inside their home by the lake. The moon was a sparkling silvery-white disc and rippled the color in the gentle waves. She was yawning nonstop, and at this rate, he suspected she would end up dropping their son unintentionally, so he acted fast and took the baby from her arms, whisking Ren safely to his own room. The boy was out like a log that it seemed he would end up waking both parents later in the night, his father thought with amusement.
Seeing his son sleep peacefully brought content in Itachi that he stayed for awhile just because he wanted to - but I pray the four at the orphanage are faring well, from what Kabuto reported in his last progress - until the silent call reminded him to go join his wife who had been waiting for him since he put the baby to sleep. And when he did go to her, he was greeted with a special surprise that struck him since the very first time he saw her.
"Itachi-kun..."
She was in the very same slip she loved out of anything else for the night. Taking his breath away, constricting his lungs, once again. Her hair was spilled over both shoulders and framing even her breasts. The sight was enough to make him begin to stir in a certain part of his body. Whether she must have planned this or not didn't matter, because he'd ALWAYS seen her this way, and the effect was still the same.
My beautiful koishii.
What was in the past would stay there, so that was what they were going to do. They were moving on with their lives instead of letting what happened a long time ago take control again.
With that, Itachi Uchiha wasted no time removing every inch of his clothing before getting into bed with the woman he loved. He forgot all about Orochimaru from then on.
I just now realized the Totsuka Sword belonged solely to Itachi's Susano'o, after having believed Sasuke could use it somehow, but then I couldn't find him having that ability (though his Susano'o has a gourd depicted in its secondary right hand, in the final form). I decided "what the hell?" since I've already laid it out that he'd do the job of sealing away the Snake Sannin once and for all. Hope anyone can forgive me if this was a mistake from canon.
There are reasons I named the four offspring: Ai for obvious reasons since it means "love", whilst Haruka is "distance", though one of the boys is named after a well-known Japanese director from back in the day that I greatly admire (Kenji Mizoguchi who directed the 1953 picture "Ugetsu") and the latter Masashi which is a tribute to the creator of THIS anime/manga. :'3
Itachi and his wife - I have no idea whether or not they got to being intimate again, but I chose to leave this ending opened to everyone's imagination. Just decide for yourself, which is the best course to go.
I also realize rape victims can be affected for YEARS at most, and the choice to be intimate again is entirely up to them, which means this was also Itachi-kun's choice. Plus, several months have gone by since THAT happened to him, and he's a strong Shinobi who overcomes anything that heads his way; the same goes for his wife, their loved ones and comrades.
In case someone asks if there will be more, the answer is no. Especially in case of the four offspring between Itachi and Orochimaru; just imagine life will be as our characters talked amongst each other. Because I have more projects planned and shit in life becoming harder than it needs to be, I don't need people asking for MORE even if they loved it so much. You just need to accept what is in front of you.
This is the end of the Night Flowers Saga! But not the end of future projects. Review please! :'3
