Yo! This chapter marks the start of the long road. The chapters after this only build up speed until it climaxes in chapters seventeen and eighteen. That's right, I already have the climax done. I'm writing the downward spiral, not without a few surprises though, so don't give up hope. Don't hate me because this is taking a while. Sorry for draging this out. And I know my comparisons are obvious and unimaginative.
XIV. Warm Honeyed Gold and Forest Green
"Their last message was received yesterday and they were still a few days away. But there's nothing we can do but wait and hope the situation isn't really that far outside our control."
"If we had the punk here, we'd have a better idea of what to look for. I've read a few techniques in the past that acted as safeguards but I never heard of a forced possession or erosion like this. But then again, none said what would happen if you mixed them with a Heaven's Seal. Or the Sharingan." Jiraiya popped his back and pointed to a few scrolls. The information was faded on the yellowed paper but as clear as crystal.
Side effects they had listed in their report were, 1, total Possession by Heaven's Seal, 2, poisonous chakra, 3, limit on bloodline traits, and finally, whatever fell into the realm of unexplainable. And that was pretty much everything. No possible way to make a diagnosis. But they had set up the Chuunin Exam Building with the Seal they'd requested. Jiraiya hadn't stumbled upon it in that type of detail before but he'd finessed it as much as he was able. The drawback was that no chakra except the one needed to be contained could touch the barrier. It responded to chakra touch.
"Hyuuga mentioned something about native chakra but we've desecrated the Uchiha manor enough looking for anything to help. For once, I wish the Clans wouldn't leave everything solely to their heirs." She had long ago stripped away the Hokage robes and was relaxing in one of her white tank tops.
"We'll just have to wait and see, Tsunade. And damn if I don't hate that very thought."
"He said five months in that letter. I've got to pull something out of the air by then. We're not going to give up, not for anything." She promised to herself that she wouldn't let another person close to her down.
"What makes you think I was ever going to suggest something like that? But leave it to ol' slippery tongue to make us clean up his messes. It's like being a Chuunin all over again."
"You've got it backwards Jiraiya. Normally Orochimaru and I were cleaning up after you." The teasing light that had warmed the pale amber had dulled to cold honey. "It's a change for once." She muttered bitterly.
Shadows jumped between the dark green forests hidden in the white-haired man's eyes. Nowhere near as frightening as the shadows of the night, but devoid of any other description. They danced in the spaces among the trees and ate away the mirth and brightness. They were stray shadows. Shatteringly haunting.
She let her breath escape from holding it. The exhaled breath was warm to her hand massaging her temple. Her other palm pressed into cool wood and the lightheadedness accompanying her stand felt welcoming to the headache she was acquiring. Groves of green watched her trek to the sky blue that was beyond the glass. She unlocked the catch and let the panes swing open, a light zephyr sweeping inside.
She sighed again, looking over the buildings, the citizens she was protecting. The nin she commanded. The loved ones she let mourn. The children she let grow as orphans. The lovers she let suffer. The families she tore apart. The lives she sacrificed for the greater good. What would happen to this dream when she woke? Would it go away or remain as it is, under the command of another's dream?
A mane of white came up beside her but the vision presented to these eyes was drastically different. He saw vitality. Life. Children proudly growing up, determined to do their best. Families growing closer through all the loss and loving all the more. The ones left behind striving to protect the dream that their love gave their self for. Emerald groves took a slow survey of the honey and cream woman beside him. He saw the same dream in her, whether she recognized it or not. She probably didn't; the image before her lacked the metaphorical sun, leaving her in a land of cloudy skies.
She met his eyes and met the smoldering determination and strength that her stance conveyed unknowingly. She looked weary. He surmised that he looked no better.
"How long, Tsunade, do you think the world would keep spinning if we took the sun's moon away?" He murmured quietly over the laughter, the noise, the evidence of living down below.
She looked unsteady for a moment, losing the strength when presented the worst case scenario. He gave a light grin to her when she recovered.
"I have no intention of finding out. I'm not going to even humor the option." She picked up the case of sake they had left untouched for days, the bottles still as sealed as three days ago. Since the report came in. Since the news that shook the fragile dream that was still clinging to reality.
Nightmares were coming on the wings of the sun's glow.
"Welcome back." Midnight gave the blue depth and clarity. The guilt and hatred had seeped into his skin and he'd come accustomed to it. Enough to let the group pass through the huge gate and inside the village finally.
The raven hung back on the other side, the other participant in this rite. The wings hung limp behind him, brushing the ground as he longer had the strength to fill them with chakra. The marks were a faded black save the trio on his neck, the original. The red pulsed as it came into contact with the hand of its creator. He pulled the thin bindings away from his writs, the symbolic handcuffs. He stepped back into the village grounds and waited.
The raven tested the air for a moment, the black inky pools fogged but understanding. He took a step forward and a brush of cinnamon fur passed him, rubbing his tail briefly in passing. Another step forward and he was only a step away from his cage. His prison. His gateway to freedom. His home and his coffin.
He was finally home.
The radiance that filled her blue sky was eclipsed in that moment. The sun blazed behind the disk of black and a gateway to another place was opened. A creature with black robes, a skeletal figure, a gleaming crescent attached to black iron, a pale horse, and empty eyes emerged from the path opened by the event. He took residence in her world of light, patiently waiting. Ever waiting should she fail and he makes the return journey with the fate of her entire world.
Because if the moon was destroyed, the sun would burn itself out and die too. Taking all other life with it.