I'm sorry that my chapters are taking so long to come out, it is just the end of the year and all my teachers are playing cram-schooling style of teaching and it is very hard. And they have given me countless homework assignments that give me hardly no time to write. I have to warn everyone that this chapter sucks in spelling and grammer, far worse then my normal stuff, but I wanted to get it out, so yea... Enjoy.
He was floating. That was the only way he could describe it. His whole body was numb and frozen; it felt like he had no body to speak of at all. Everything around him was black and nothing could be differentiated. He could have been laying face down and thought he was looking upwards and he would never have known it. Everything surrounding him was the same, for there was nothing around him, just blackness. There was no light. There were no sides. There was no ground nor was there a sky. Everything was just blackness.
His mind was even blank, filled with blackness that surrounded him. He was having a hard time recalling what he had been doing before he woke up here. Hell, he even had a hard time recalling who he was. But for some odd reason, he did not seem to care at all. All his mind wanted to do since he woke up here was go back to sleep. He felt so tired and he could not figure out why. However, there was a reason why he did not just let himself fall asleep and succumb to the darkness of his mind that the sleep offered. A feeling inside of him was growing, warming up his cold body, making him want to remember, but he could not quite remember what the feeling was. It felt nice and warm, a feeling that he had not experienced in a long time.
Hope.
That was what the feeling was. Yet, what was he hoping for? He tried to recall what had caused him to feel this way, but it was hard. He was tired and just wanted to sleep, but every time he tried to, the hope would make him want to wake up. Finally, with a lot of determination and willpower, he started to try to remember what had happened. What was going on to cause the hope inside of him to become desperate. At first, it was hard, he could not make out anything, but then, very slowly, blurry images started to take shape.
The images were cloudy and hazy, at best. They were of a battle… no, not a battle… a tournament for the exams. The Chunnin Exams. He watched from higher up as a bug-boy took out his opponent with little to no difficulty. Then the images started to blur badly again, causing him to lose the image of what was happening. What looked to be like an explosion went off making him to try and concentrated harder than before, for at that moment his heart dropped and he felt like he was about to die, trying to make the image come back clearer.
With a lot of work, the image finally came back, but by then the explosion was already over and a war begun. He himself was fighting off what looked to be a sickly man that was saying something and he felt anger rise up inside of him. However, he did not understand why he was so angry to begin with. The person was saying something that he could just barely make out and with a little bit of strain on the ears on his part, he was able to catch some of what the sickly man was saying. Something about the Yondaime title that should have been his and not given to someone like himself.
Yondaime. That was him, wasn't it? Yes, it was. He was the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure, Kazama Arashi. That was who he was, but it still did not explain why he was here.
Trying to remember why he was here, Arashi had to really think about it. He remembered that he was fighting the sickly guy, Orochimaru his mind supplied, and he remembered that the man had raised the previous two dead Hokages back to life using a technique that was forbidden. He did not have to take care of the supposed to be dead Hokages, two others that he really trusted took care of them for him, he just could not remember who they were. He saw a picture in his head of a blonde haired woman with the biggest bust he had ever seen and a male with silver hair and face paint that was holding up an orange book while smiling gleefully.
Then Orochimaru, seeing that he was losing made a desperate attempt to either flee or kill him, but Arashi could not tell which. For at that moment in time, a blaze of fire lit up the area. The blazing fire grew and grew until it took a shape that made his heart drop into his stomach. It took the shape of the Kyuubi no Kitsune when it first attacked the village all those years ago. However, leaping from within the flames, a completely different fox came out. A kitsune that he was very familiar with, only in a smaller form and with eight less tails. It was Kyuubi. And on the fox's head crouched down while hanging on to the fox was Naruto.
It was then that the feeling of hope began to rise with in him and he did not understand why. Nonetheless, what he did not know, his subconscious did. His subconscious knew that the little red fox kittling Kyuubi and the Kyuubi no Kitsune were one in the same. It meant that the fox was able to survive the fire that everyone had thought destroyed the demon and if the fox was able to survive then there was a likely chance that his son had well. It gave him hope that his son was still alive and out there somewhere waiting for him. Yet, his conscious mind knew none of this and all he knew was that there was a longing and a hoping for something inside of him.
That still did not explain many things. Like where was here? How did he get here? What happened?
Drawing on his hard to reach memories once again, the Yondaime searched for what had happened right before he had succumbed to the darkness and had awoken here. It was then it hit him, harder than anything in his life since his son and wife were taken away from him. He had stopped Orochimaru from trying to take over his body with his mind transfer jutsu. However, the only way for him to do that was with a seal and for some reason, the only seal he could recall at that time was the Shiki Fūjin. Without thinking about it, he used the jutsu, only to be able to seal Orochimaru's arms away before one of the snake's followers got in the way and let the Snake Sannin escaped while the followers died saving his life. He did not even care that his subordinates were dead, the heartless bastard.
It now explained to him what was happening to him now and where he was.
For he, the Yondaime Hokage Kazama Arashi, was dead. He had used himself for the sacrifice in order to summon the God of Death. The reason he felt so numb and felt like he did not have a body was that he did not have one. All he was in this place was a lost soul waiting for Shinigami to find him and take him away. And it did not bother him in the least bit, for in his mind, he would be reunited with his wife and son at long last. They would finally be a family as they always should have been. But then again, why was there this feeling of dread surrounding him? Should he not be feeling happy that he was going to be reunited with his family finally?
"Kazama Arashi," a dark and forbidding voice called out. Turning towards the voice, which took a lot more energy than is should, the blond turned to 'see' the silhouette of what he only presumed to be the God of Death, but he was walking towards him upside down. Or was it him that was upside down? Either way, it did not matter to him, he was dead and there was nothing he could do about it. He did notice that as the death deity came closer to him, he seemed to gradually turn right side up. Finally, the cloaked figure was in front of him and stopped without a sound.
"Are you going to take me to see my wife and son?" the Yellow Flash asked, a hint of hope in his voice, but otherwise emotionless voice as to not angry the death deity in anyway. He knew not to angry any gods or goddesses in anyways, for they could -and would- damn the rest of your life. Something he was not willing to risk for if he angered this particular god, than he might very well not get a chance to ever see his wife or son again in his after life.
A sinking feeling in his gut started to form when Shinigami started to shake his head back and forth slowly in a negative manor. "That I cannot do, Kazama Arashi, for you must choose first."
The feeling within his gut became stronger at the deity's words and if he had a body, he was sure that it would have paled. He did not know what the God of Death meant by choose, but he had a feeling he was not going to like it. Arashi also wondered if this was some type of punishment for displeasing the god in any particular way. He did not remember doing anything to disrespect the dead; on the contrary, he had the Memorial Stone put in place to respect the dead. So why did he have to choose? And more importantly, what was he choosing from?
"Gomen nasai, Shinigami-sama, but I don't understand," Arashi explained, being as polite as he possible could. If he had a body, he would have bowed to show his respect, but he did not, so he could not. "What must I chose?"
"You must chose to be with either your wife-," Shinigami stated, waving his left hand towards the side, where a portal opened up letting a steam of bright white light in.
Arashi was overcome by the brightness of the light, even though he had not body, and could not 'see' anything for a few seconds, but when he could, he also could not believe what he 'saw'. There, standing in the portal with the white light surrounding her, stood his wife. Her beautiful dark blue eyes shown with happiness and warmth that he had not seen in years while dancing with mischief. Long flowing auburn hair cascaded down her back and a crossed tanned skin that seemed perfect in the lighting. The beautiful gold kimono with the red obi that he had chosen to bury her in looked brand new and perfect on her. But what got him the most was the lovely smile adoring her face and the way she held her arms out as if inviting him to her.
"-or your son," the God of Death finished, holding out his right hand towards his other side.
This time, instead of a pure and innocent portal that opened out, a vortex that was darker than the rest of the world that he was currently in came to life. In side of the vortex, a silhouette could be seen. Arashi could not make out any detail about what the person looked like, just that it looked to be a child at the verge of puberty. Nonetheless, the Yondaime knew that this silhouette was of his son. But the silhouette did not make any movement to welcome him. Instead, it seemed to actually shrike away from him, growing smaller and smaller.
"Nani? Why?" the blond all but shouted at the deity, pride be damned. For he was making him make the hardest decision of his life, afterlife. To choose between the two most important people in his life that he had not seen in almost twelve years. "Why are you doing this to me?"
"Because," Shinigami said, ignoring the outburst, "the living and the dead cannot be together. Not matter what the circumstances are."
"What? What do you mean? My wife and son are both dead!"
"Your mind does not see what your heart has already discovered," the death deity said cryptically. "Your son lives and has been alive for the past twelve years. Now, it is your choice, do you want to go and spend the rest of you afterlife with your wife or would you like to go back to the living world and be with your son?"
"My son, is alive?" Arashi asked himself more than the God of Death in disbelief.
Frenzy. That was the only way to describe Sasuke's mind at the moment. He did not know what was going on, but knew something big had happened. It was just, no one would tell him what was happening and his mind would not quit working. Neither would his mind stay on one subject for long and was jumping back and forth between what he knew had happened and what was happening now. He could not, for the life of him, figure out all that was going on with his mind working the way it was. Everything that had happened had gone by so fast that it was only now that his brain had the chance to comprehend everything, yet with everything that was digested questions came with it. It was just that those questions were piling up and were not being answered, which was really bugging him.
Nonetheless, he did understand some of what was going on. The last thing he remembered before waking up in the hospital was that he was trying to fight his way towards the gates of Konoha towards Itachi and Naruto. It was then that a that the young Uchiha knew that something bad had just occurred and turned just in time to see the building that the Hokage had been fighting on crumple. The feeling of death -for that was the only way to describe it- flowed strongly through his body and a feeling of dread washed over him. That was the last thing he remembered before being knocked unconscious by a very -very- violent wave of power.
The next thing he knew, he woke up in the hospital and even though his room was empty save him -something that he figured was because he was an Uchiha- there was a lot of hustle and bustle outside his door. He did not know what was going on, but he soon found out by just listening to the commotion outside his door. The village was no longer under attack and it was nearing night -day of the attack- by the time he woke up. The hospital was so overflowing with work, treating the many wounded shinobi and citizens alike who had been injured during the invasion. It was also because the Yondaime Hokage seemed to be hanging on to a thread of life. Being on the doorstep of death and the doctors were working frantically to save him.
What he did not know was what had happened to the attacking ninjas. He figured that they had retreated, but he did not know why and it was bugging him. Nonetheless, that was something that was at the back on his mind, for what really was worrying him was what happened with the tailed beasts and Itachi and Naruto. No one seemed to be talking about that, for they were all to worried about the Hokage. But personally, Sasuke thought they were too afraid to talk about it, for they did not know what to make of it and humans feared what they could not understand. One being how the Kyuubi no Kitsune was still alive.
As far as he knew, the only reason that the whole town was still in one piece and functioning properly was because of the Sandaime Hokage. He had pulled himself out of retirement to temporarily take charge while Arashi was recovering, because he believed that the man would get better. He just had to. Or at least that was what he heard when he had been pretending to be asleep when the last nurses came to cheek on him. They did not stay long, having a lot of other injured to take care of, but since they thought he was asleep, they did let a lot of things slip. Sasuke just wished that they had said what had happened to any of his teammates.
Hearing more rustling outside of his room, the young Uchiha closed his eye and feigned sleep. Listening the footsteps draw closer to his room, the raven also heard voices talking in a hurry. Yet what he heard, he wished he had not.
"-ow! He was in the room last time I checked!" a frantic female voice -probably a nurse- screeched in despair.
"Well he couldn't have just got up and left on his own, he was too badly wounded to do so," an angry male voice hiss. One of which Sasuke instantly recognized as Zabuza.
"Now, now, Hatake-san, please calm down and let Yumi-san go. There is nothing to worry about," another male voice tried to calm the angry sounding Demon down. Someone that Sasuke figured was a doctor. The doctor continued to talk, but the pretend slumbering Uchiha could not hear what he said for a loud footstep, almost as if someone was running, echoed off the walls drowning out what the doctor had to say.
"Doctor! Doctor! The two boys from room 304 are gone!" a new female voice shouted at the echoes of the footsteps subsided.
"What do you mean they are gone, too?" an unnervingly calm Demon asked as a wave of killer intent washed throughout the hospital. The amount of killer intent caused even Sasuke to stiffen immensely even though he was using all his will power to not reacted, his body was not listening.
"Ha-at-at-ke-san," the doctor said in a shaky voice, the amount of killer intent Zabuza was giving off was greatly affecting him and Sasuke knew that it was directed at the doctor and the other two females. "Pl-leas-se, calm do-down."
"I will not calm down, until you can tell me what the fuck happened to my nephews!"
Sasuke's eyes snapped open and without thinking at all, he let his body react on its own accordance. He did not realize that he had leapt out through the window and on to a near by roof before bouncing off again. He did not realize where he was going, but he knew he had to get there fast. He knew that his body would take him to the place he sought out. He knew it was the place where he would get the answers he wanted. Vaguely, as he was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, Sasuke noticed that he was still wearing his regular clothing and he had not been changed into a hospital gown when he was in the hospital. Something he was very thankful for.
Also, as he let his body move on its own, the young Uchiha saw the damage done to Konohagakure because of the invasion. The buildings in the center of the village were left unharmed, but as he moved outwards, closer to the edge of the village, small things began to alert the Uchiha that fights had broke out in these places. At first, it was just things that were turned over in the roadways and some of the plant life had been uprooted and torn out. But moving outwards there were scorch marks of what could only be from explosive tags and smoke bombs on the ground and the walls of buildings. Then there were little crater in the road and holes in the buildings but the worse was nearest to the gate where whole sides of buildings had been demolished and one could see all signs of elemental jutsu that had been used. There was even a carcass of a giant snake, very much like the one that had attach him while in the Forest of Death, lying on top of a destroyed building, eyes glazed over unseeing.
Yet, none of this really registered in his mind, Sasuke had only one thing in mind and that was to find out what had happen to Naruto. He knew that he had been in the hospital and badly wounded since Zabuza seemed to be on the verge of killing the doctors and nurses, but the boy had also disappeared along with his older brothers. And judging by the way the nurse was talking, it had not been that long ago that they had vanished from the hospital. Something that did not help him had all. He needed to know what had happened to the blond hair boy. He needed to find him and make sure he was all right. He needed to know why his brother was after the boy. And he needed to get these answers and many more.
And the only place he could think of to find said answers, was at the one place he would have never had thought to even look for them. The one place that he was at everyday and did not even give a second thought about and the secrets, which were held up inside of it. If it had not been for his body reacting on its own and taking him there, he would have never of thought to come here himself. With one finally burst of speed, Sasuke came to a halt at his destination.
The Uchiha Manor.
With his mind now in control of his body, Sasuke ran into the dark and empty mansion and through the front door. He briefly took note that there was not a single thing had disturbed since he last been there meaning that the battle had not come the Uchiha compound and that his cousin had not set foot within the house since then either. Other than that, the young Uchiha did not notice anything else around him as it all blurred together, his mind only on one thing. He did not even have to think as his feet took him through the mazelike hallways of the mansion.
He only stopped for a second when he came to the doors that would lead him to the answers that he sought, but a second was all it took for him to make his decision. No matter how hard a decision it was, for Sasuke knew that if he went beyond the doors in front of him, life as he knew it would never be the same. The doors, unlike any other door in the Uchiha Manor -any other door to his knowledge- were different for the sole reason that they were alive. So to speak that is. Only one that was truly worth were allowed to pass through the door and inside to the chamber that was hidden from all others. If one was not worthy, the doors would not give way under any amount of strength or attacks. The doors would even go as far as electrocuting or burning a person if they keep on trying to open the doors.
Before the massacre, his mother, Mikoto, used to tell him stories from a book that had came from within the chamber. The book, Mikoto had told him, was only meant for the eyes of the Uchiha clan and only if they were able to get within the chamber that held the book. She had told him that the book held secrets that the world had long forgot and it was up to them, the Uchiha clan to help remind them. At the time, Sasuke did not understand the importance of what his mother was telling him, but nodded his head every time because he was eager to hear the stories within the book. Stories that he had forgotten after the massacre of the Uchiha clan.
Stories that he no longer thought of as just stories anymore. Because, for the last few months, he was living the stories he was told. The stories of the ancient gods and goddesses and the protectors of the land the deities' themselves chose to do their bidding on Earth. The stories of Tenshi that roamed the lands unseen and bringing miracles to the ones that had lost all hope and deserved a second chance. The stories of forgotten evils that wanted nothing more than to destroy the world.
Taking one more glancing look at the plan, but ancient looking wooden doors, Sasuke took a deep breath before placing his palms on either door, for their were no door-handles to open the doors. It was now up to the doors to decide whether or not he was truly worth in entering the room. With a light push, hoping upon hope that he would not be electrocuted or burned by the doors, the young Uchiha was more than surprised when the doors gave way to his light, but gentle, push. The two doors opened with ease and the raven was let into the chamber.
Inside the chamber, the young teen looked around slowly. The room was simple yet sophisticated. There was darkness all around, yet there was light filtering into the room. The room was mundane, yet there was a godlike quality to it. The chamber was a contradiction to itself in everyway. It was absurd, but it was beautiful. Nevertheless, even with everything seemingly so wrong and unnatural about the room, Sasuke did not care about any of it. Instead, his eyes landed on the one thing he was looking for, the one thing that he was sure to give him the answers he needed. For there, lying innocently on a pedestal was the leather-bonded book that his mother used to read him stories from. The Uchiha crest embossed into the leather.
Opening the book -when he had walked over there and picked the book up, even Sasuke did not know- up gentle as possible so he would not destroy the Uchiha heirloom, the teen was meet with old faded pages of the book with no words written upon the discolored paper. His eyes widened as he flipped through the book, looking for anything other than the blank pages, but there was nothing. No words, no kanji, no ancient runes, nothing. He was about to do something that he would latter regret when something caught his eye. Flipping back a few pages, Sasuke found some ancient looking writings that he could not understand, but, before his very eyes, the writing seemed to come alive and rearrange itself to something that he could actually read.
It was a mixture kanji, katakana, and hiragana, which were faded with time yet, just like the room that he stood in, they contradicted themselves by looking like they were freshly inked in, the ink seeming to appear still wet. The characters themselves told of a story that he vaguely remembered his mother telling him, one of his favorite when he was still a childhood at that. The story was about nine forest creatures that banned together to protect their homelands from the invading humans. However, it was only because of the youngest creature, a small kitsune that was the runt of its litter, that the nine creatures were able to save their forest and not the scheming snake that was said to be the most powerful creature. At the end of the story, all of the nine creatures were gifted by the gods for their heroic deeds and became something more.
As a child, Sasuke had always liked the story, and as his eyes skimmed over the story once more, he remembered why. The kitsune, although being the runt of its litter and its weak appearance, was quite determined. The kitsune had all the traits of any other kitsune, skittish, sly, cunning, and a trickster, but it had one more as well. It was happy and loved making the other animals happy. Whereas, the snake -Itachi's favorite animal in the story- was of the gloomy, shady sort. It did not care about others and only wanted to save the forest for selfish reasons, which was the reason why the kitsune was able to save the forest and the snake could not.
It was also at this time that Sasuke started to notice something. The little furry animals in the story started to sound more and more like something else. Something that he himself was not quite well educated in, but he knew enough about them to make the connection. The facts just seemed to fall into place for him. The gloomy, shady snake with its poisonous bite and selfish ways. The happy, innocent kitsune that was determined to never give up and had a will of fire. The tanuki, the neko, the turtle, and the rest of the nine forest creatures.
They were the nine bijū.
That or they were the descendants of the original nine-tailed beast, because in the story the kitsune was described as a little brown runt of a furball. It was obvious to him now more than ever that, this was what he was looking for. The book held the answers he needed and with the turn of the page, it even further showed him that the book was an answer to all his questions. For there, on the top of the next page as the title, in elegant calligraphy, were two kanji. One being for 'Pure' and the other being that of 'One'.
"So you have finally found the book of the Uchiha clan."
In one swift fluid moment, Sasuke had turned around to face the soft feminine voice of the intruder. Slightly ashamed of himself for letting someone sneak up on him like that, but at the same time he was taken back that someone had came into his home and made it pass the 'living doors'. However, his astonishment was put to rest when he saw exactly who it was that stood before him. For there, before him stood three people, all three of them he recognized even though he had only met two of them in person. Even though he knew that their names were Tenpi and Tsuki, and their brother's name was Tomoe, those were not the names that came out of his mouth.
"Tsukiyomi-sama, Amaterasu-sama, Susanoo-sama," Sasuke said before he clamped his mouth shut and his eyes widened while wondering what had compelled him to say such things. It was only when he saw the two females smile faintly and nod their heads did the Uchiha understood that he had called them by their true names. He just did not know how he knew. "Why are you here?" the boy asked weakly after a moment of silence.
"To tell you the truth and give you the answers you seek," Susanoo answered. However, his voice was very solemn and had a hint of sadness to it, making Sasuke wonder.
Looking over towards the two goddesses, the raven saw them give him a sad small smile and he felt his stomach drop. He knew he was finally going to get the answers that he sought and much -much- more than that. He just did not know how much more that he was going to get. He did not know that in the next few hours that the world he as he knew it would change forever more. He was going to learn that there was a lot more going on than what there seemed to be.
"We are here to tell you about the true history of the Uchiha clan," Amaterasu said softly, her words wrapped in a warmth that seemed to make the teenage Uchiha a little less nervous. Tsukiyomi than took over for her sister from there and began the explanation that he very well deserved. After all, it was his heritage and he had a right to know.
"You want to know what has all happened in the last few days, but you must first know what has happened in the past. Moreover, you needed to know how the Destroyer -your own brother- came to be and why he is after the Pure One, Naruto…"
A yelp of pain rang out throughout the cave like room as Orochimaru fell brutally to the ground. The snake's body was covered in cuts and slashes, obvious signs of a fight. However, one could also tell that some of them were also signs of torture, which he had been recently faced with, as well. His hair was in a tangled mass and was covered in grim and blood, while his skin was even worse for wear than that. Being an unusual sickly looking pale color and covered in so much blood that it was impossible to determine where the blood came from, the snake's skin looked like it was long overdue to be shed, but he was not going to be able to shed his skin anytime soon. However, his arms looked to be even worse off, even with his body being a sickly yellow color; his arms were a grayish color and were deprived of all muscle.
"You insolent, conniving menace!" hissed Orochimaru's torturer as he was violently knocked around again by a giant snake. "You ruined the one chance I've had to capture the Pure One! If it wasn't for you and your scheming plans than I would have finally had the boy in my clutches as we speak!"
Another blow was landed on Orochimaru with enough force that he was sent flying into the rocky room's wall. The jagged rocks biting into his back, but also allowing him to look up at his tormentor. The fine pale complexion along with his dark eyes and raven locks gave him away as being of higher status than many. A noble even. Nevertheless, the shape of his eyes and coldness behind them told of malice and wickedness. The scars, running from the inner part of his eyes out towards his cheeks in a downwards motion, showed that he was not one unfamiliar with the ways of war and pain.
With the way the man looked, he could have been a fallen angel or a god in disguise. Orochimaru knew otherwise. The man was anything but an angel, the total opposite really. He was more like the devil; the snakes that he summoned to do his bidding even further confirmed the fact. However, he should not be one to speak, for he too used snakes to do his evil as well, but even then, his sins did not even come close to matching the teen's sins. Itachi was on a completely different level of evil than anyone could have imagined possible. One would think that the teen before him was not even mortal anymore with all he had done, but he was. At least, he was still mortal for the moment.
"You should be grateful that I have even left you alive," Itachi hissed out, making eye contacted with the beaten snake before him. He took great pleasure in watching the old Sannin divert his eyes away and bow down to him, showing him a sign of submission. It also made the weasel feel superior for the man was now at his mercy. He could do anything he wanted to the snake and he would not even have the power to stop him, his arms rendered useless by the Forth Hokage. He could even kill the worthless Sannin and be through with him at the moment. It would not take more than a snap of his fingers and his snake would devour Orochimaru whole.
Only one thing was stopping him though. He knew that Orochimaru had spoiled his plans by trying to carry out his own intentions, something that the snake had thought he keep a secret from him. Oh, he knew all about his plans, his intent to capture his pathetic younger brother and take over his body in hopes of using it to take over Konohagakure. Itachi was aware that the snake was trying to kill him and take his powers, but he did not care. He understood Orochimaru's every intention, but he knew no matter what the snake did, he could never hope to win against him, not even with his brother's body at his disposal.
The only reason that he had not killed the Snake Sannin yet was because he was able to give him something that no other being -mortal or immortal- had been able to give him. Orochimaru gave him the identity of the Pure One. He now knew who the Pure One was and what he looked like. Uzumaki Naruto.
The snake had also been able to show him that he was not as prepared as he thought he was. Even though Itachi knew for a fact with the short time fighting, the Pure One that the young boy was nowhere near matched in power with him. Nonetheless, the fight had revealed to him that he had not gotten rid of the Kyuubi no Kitsune like he thought he had all those years ago. It looked like the one bijū that was able to bet the Hachibi no Orochi was still alive. He should have known by poisoning the kitsune with one of Quetzalcoatl's special shurikens and having the beast go on a raving rampage -hoping that some mortal was able to kill it off- would never have worked. But he was still a child in body at that time and a big part of childhood was learning form mistakes, this was just one of his mistakes he needed to fix in order to achieve world domination.
Itachi just wished that the Yondaime had not summoned the Shinigami though, or else he might have been able to deal with it and been able to capture the Pure One. Nonetheless, he was no fool and when the God of Death was summoned -because of Orochimaru's mistake- he made his retreat, knowing that he could not challenge the power of Shinigami. Yet. Once he had the Pure One in his grasps then he would challenge Death, but not until then. Till that time came, he would have to wait and in time, he would be rid of another pain in his side. The Yondaime, for he had to have died in order to summon the God of Death.
Signing, Itachi snapped his figures and watched as Orochimaru flinched, expecting an excruciating amount of pain given to him by the giant snake. He was not disappointed. However, the pain did not come from the snake's blows, but something tearing at his arms and what felt like poison being poured into his veins. Once the pain was over, the Snake Sannin looked down at his arms, and the rest of his body for that matter, to see that they were completely healed. His arms, once rendered lifeless by the Shinigami himself, were now back to normal and his body did not look like it had been through hell and back.
"You have one more chance to find the Pure One for me, Orochimaru!" Itachi hissed. "This time don't mess up!"
"Hai, Master," Orochimaru said, bowing on his knees while his nose touched the ground. All the while mentally wanting to kill the teen who sat before him. The young man who was able to strike such fear into his core he would willingly lower himself in such a degrading manner. He would kill him and when he did, he would make sure that the teen felt just as much humiliation as he felt every time he had to bow to the raven.
It was a long time before Arashi was finally able to decide on what he wanted to do, because it was one of the hardest decisions he had to ever face. Go to the paradise that all longed to arrive at when they died, where he did not have to worry about anything and could live his much deserved afterlife in peace. Where he would finally see his wife after twelve years and he could hear soft laughter and bask in her warmth once again. He could finally hold her and be with her always, living the rest of their afterlife in peace. However, on the other hand, he could go back to the living world and hold onto his son. He could finally get to know his son and be the father he always wanted to be.
Looking once last time back and forth between the two different portals, the Yondaime turned towards the lightly lit portal that held his wife and slowly started towards it. Once he was right in front of the portal, Arashi stopped and looked sadly at his wife. It was now or never and with one reassuring smile, the blond haired man went through with his decision.
"I'm sorry, koi," the man apologized, feeling slightly guilty for what he was doing, "but I just can't leave our son on his own, not when I came do something about it. I just can't do it."
However, instead of anything, he had expected the woman to do; Arashi was caught off guard when he saw his wife give him her brightest smile and nodding her head. The slight messaged incased inside of her eyes did not go unread, something that he had to laugh at once the messaged had fully comprehended. After all, it was just like his wife to promise bodily harm on him for abandoning their son and if he went with her, she would make sure he slept on the couch for an eon. Not a pleasant thought.
Seeing the white portal and the image of his wife start to fade, Arashi automatically tried to reach out his hand to touch her, yet since he had no body, therefore he had no hand, and he did not catch anything. He was able to catch the whispers of the words of the departing female.
"I love you, forever and always."
"I love you, forever and always as well," Arashi answered back just before the portal faded away completely. It took him a couple of seconds before he could finally regain his bearings and turned back towards the God of Death. Seeing that he was still standing, waiting for him, the blond haired man took a deep breath before going on, wishing that he could bow to show the god his respect but knowing he could not. "I want to go back to my son, if that is okay with you Shinigami-sama."
Seeing that the Hokage was finally done saying goodbye to his wife, Shinigami had to smile -even though it went unseen- at his decision. He had already knew the man's answer to his question long before he even asked it, but he still had to ask. If, by some abnormal and unexplainable turn of events, that Arashi had wanted to go with his wife instead of going back, he would have to respect his decision and sent him to paradise because with all he had done, the Yondaime deserved it. However, if that were to happen, the God of Death would have lost all respect he had for the man. Abandoning his son -who was being put through more trials would have sent any normal person to an early grave- that his only personal goal was to make his father proud, even though he had never meet him before, that was beyond sinful.
"Very well," the God of Death said in a very professional manor, waving his hand as the second portal than closed as well. He did not miss the other man's confused expression on his face as he closed the second portal, seeing as how he might have thought that was the way he would have to travel though in order to get to his body. "I summon thee, Goddess of Rice, Fertility, and Foxes, Inari. I summon thee, God of Rice and Foxes, Inari. Come hither, bring forth your power and all that you may be. For I -the God of Death, Shinigami- beckon thee."
There was silence for the first few seconds, Arashi not wanting to asked why the God of Death had summoned the fox deities- before the a soft sound started to echo throughout the blackness. Slowly, the noises became louder and louder until the blond haired man was able to make out the sounds of a pack of canines of some kind and two sets of footsteps coming their way. The man was proven right when he saw four familiar pure white foxes with brown eyes coming his way. It only took a few seconds for Arashi to recognize the foxes as the four that Naruto and Kyuubi had brought with them to the party, yet his mind was taken by who their owners' were. The God and Goddess Inari.
"Shinigami," the goddess said, bowing slightly as her brother followed suit. "I take it agreed?"
"He has," Shinigami answered, also giving the two a bow before straightening up and looking the two both, in turn, directly in the eyes. "But I want to make sure both of you know what your doing-"
"Hai," the male fox god said, cutting of the other god. "We know exactly what we are doing and what has to be scarified. Even though we know this, we are still willing to go through with it. Not for anyone else but Chibi One. That is who we are doing this for and no one else, even though the rest of the world is on the line. We are only doing this for Chibi One's sake."
"I understand and respect what you are doing," the death deity responded. "However, wouldn't you be making your Chosen One just as sad as he would be if you two go through with this?"
"Hai," the fox goddess softly answered this time. The twin deities did not bother to look at the other deity this time, both of them knowing how Naruto would feel when all of this was over. However, they knew what they were doing and Naruto would understand, he always did, besides this was what they wanted to do. "We know, but he also understands a lot more than any normal person would about why we have to do this. He will respect our decision."
"I apologize for interrupting, but what's going on?" Arashi asked, finally not being able to take being left out of their conversations. Especially knowing that it was most likely about him -even if his name was not mentioned he knew it had something to do with him too- and not knowing what was going to be happening to him. At first the three deities looked at him -the two fox deities startled that he did not know what was going on- before the Goddess Inari gave him a small comforting smile.
"Iie, we should be the ones apologizing to you for not telling you what's going on. It is involving you after all," the goddess said sweetly. "You see, since you used the seal that you did to try and defeat Orochimaru, you already signed your own death. You should have gone straight to heaven, no chance at all to go back to the living world-
"-however, we formed a sort of bound that all but tied your soul to your body," the twin brother took up for his sister. "There was only one way to tie your soul fully to your body, to give you another chance at life, and that is why we are here. To complete what we have started, to fully bind your soul to your body by using one's life force and wrap it around the soul and body. You don't have to worry, nothing bad will come of it, you will retain some of our memories and some of our minor abilities -like talking to foxes and your senses might increase- but that's it. Most of our power will be used up in binding your soul back to your body, but what is left will be pass on to our Heir."
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't understand completely," Arashi whispered out, even though he had a vague idea on what was going to be happening. He just hoped he was wrong.
"In other words, we are here to exchange our lives for yours," the twins answered as one.
Sasuke just stood there, slowly thinking everything over as the three deities around him watched him with concern. He had been quiet for over a half an hour now and he did not look like he would be saying anything anytime soon. However, the triplets were all patient and could wait for their descendant. They knew that he was going to be asking questions, since he had not interrupted them at any point through the story and instead listened to it all the way through first. It was just a little unnerving to have the boy stay so quiet, so still, for a long period of time. Most would have been asking questions immediately and pacing about, trying to comprehend it all. It just went to show them that he was very much their descendant after all.
Finally, after another ten minutes more, the young Uchiha looked up at the three and finally spook. "Can't you do anything to stop him? Anything at all?"
Shaking his head negatively, Susanoo answered the boy. "We cannot, it is against the rules we must follow. Even though he is of our blood, we cannot do anything against him for his sinful acts. That power was taken out of our hands when he became the Chosen One of Quetzalcoatl. Only he could stop the Destroyer, but since he is dead, he cannot. The only way for any of the gods and goddesses to intervene now would be through our Chosen Ones. But even then, most of them have not the power to stand up to the Destroyer anymore. He has become too powerful for them, absorbing the gods and goddesses' powers that he has managed to capture and kill off. But if he gets the Pure One-"
"-Naruto!" Sasuke exclaimed, suddenly remembering why he had come to the Uchiha Manor in the first place. "Where's Naruto?!"
Looking back and forth between themselves worriedly, the deities looked back at their descendant with a serious expression on their faces. "We don't know…" Amaterasu admitted truthfully.
"Can't you find him then?" the raven asked distressed.
"We cannot, his chakra is hidden to all, even us deities. It is impossible for us to find him," Tsukiyomi answered guiltily, knowing that the boy's heart was racing since his Soul Mate was missing. However, there was truly nothing they could do about it.
Sasuke tried to think of a way, any way, for him to be able to find Naruto, but he could not come up with anything. Slowly, he sank down to his knees, his body suddenly giving out on him after everything. He hurt all over from the invasion, but no physical pain hurt nearly as badly as his heart did at that moment. His heart felt like it was breaking into two pieces and there was nothing he could do to stop it. His Soul Mate was gone and all his ancestors could do was just watching his heartbreak, knowing that with all the powers that had, they still were not able to help him.
"…I've lost him…"
What Sasuke did not know at the time was that at the same time he spoke those words, someone had just returned from a place not many returned from. One that had just opened his uniquely colored blue eyes and starred out into the world, seeing it in a completely new light and it was not because of the bright lighting hanging over his head. It was because he now had a new knowledge about the world, knowledge that not many -only a hand full- had. He totally ignored the doctors and nurses around him that were looking at him with amazement and joy that he was alive. Their Yondaime was alive.
However, his mind was on something else. Actually, it was on someone else. One little blond haired blue-eyed genin. A blond haired blue-eyed genin that looked too much like him to be a mere coincidence. A blond haired blue-eyed genin that just so happened to also be related to him. The memories of the god and goddess that scarified there immortal lives to save his -an ordinary human's live- flowing through his head. He remembered things that he had never done and knew more things than an average person would know, but none of the competed with the knowledge of a blond haired blue-eyed genin.
His son.
Slowly, with all the strength he still held within in his body, which was not a lot seeing as he had been on the verge of death, if not even further than that, the Yondaime tried to speak. At first he could not for his throat was too dry to allow his vocal cords to work properly, but seeing this, a nurse hurried and got him a glass of water. With the help of the doctors, the nurse propped the man up and slowly tilted the cup back and allowed him to drink the water, something he did so greedily. Once Arashi had his fill, choking on the water somewhat when it went down his windpipe, the cup was pulled away and he tried to speak yet again.
This time his voice came out, but in a raspy sort of way, but he did not care. He only had one thing on his mind and he was determined to get it out. "Where's Naruto?"
The doctors and nurses around him looked around at each other, not sure what to tell their leader, especially about the boy that were able to summon the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Or at least that was what they heard. Instead, the doctors and nurses looked for away out of answering the question by looking at each other hoping that one of them would know what to say. Finally, after much silence, a brave soul decided to try to divert the Yondaime's attention to something else other than the boy.
"Yondaime-sama, with all due respect, shouldn't you be-" the brave soul was cute off when another voice, one more sure of itself yet also one that was more depressed, rose above the weak and soft voice.
"He's gone," Tsunade stated, standing in the doorway with Zabuza and Shizune on either side. Everyone's attention turned towards the woman; however, none were more focused and intense than the Yondaime Hokage himself. They all looked at her, wonder when the woman arrived and what she thought she was doing by telling their leader about the child. They themselves did not know what kind of relationship she had with the demon child. Yet none dared to go against her in anyway, knowing that her tempers were just as legendary as her gambling and drinking habits. No one was going to mess with her.
"What do you mean, gone?" Arashi asked, fear seeping into his voice. He hoped that she did not mean in the gone for good sort of way since he only chose to come back to the living world for his son. The boy just could not die when he was just brought back to life, that would be too cruel.
"He's gone. He left the village as to not put it in the Destroyer's path and cause even more harm to come to this village," Zabuza said flatly, looking the Yondaime in the eyes knowing that he would understand what he was talking about. He could sense that the man not only had been in contact with the god that had chosen him as his Chosen One of sorts, but also he could sense that he, by all natural human rights, should have been dead. It was the gift he got being the God of Death's Chosen One, to be able to sense these types of things.
"But more importantly, him and Kyuubi left alone," Shizune said weakly, alarm still evident in her voice. "We won't be able to find him now. His chakra has become hidden once more and this time, I'm betting, he'll make sure it will stay that way."
"…We've lost him…" Tsunade weakly stated, trying to hold back the sobs that were threatening to burst out and the tears that wanted to fall. It just was not fair. She was losing another one of her precious people. Her brother, her lover, the humble goddess that helped heal her and gave her something to live for -to help others like herself and heal them as like the goddess had her- and now, it looked like she was losing her pseudo family as well. It just was not fair. Had not she already been put through enough? Had not Naruto been put through enough?
"…We've lost him…"
It was hard walking. His whole entire body hurt and aced with pain. He felt like he was going to collapse at any second and it was only a matter of time before he actually did. All it took was a simple, slightly raised, root that his foot happened to catch before he went toppling over. A scream of pain was wrenched from within his battered body when he hit the ground and his body gave a violet reaction. Coughing up blood, he tried to catch his breathe but it was hard. However, when he got his body under control, Naruto slowly picked himself back up.
Even though his body protested against his moment and just wanted him to lie down and rest, the Heir of Foxes continued onwards. His body was slow to move and his movements gawky and awkward. His vision was blurry and fading every few steps and everything around him appeared as a blur. His heartbeat was erratic, causing his ears to ring and pulse to quicken. Sweat poured down his body to cool his feverous skin down and his breathing was anything but regular. In spite of this all, Naruto keep going. Not for himself, but for the others.
He did not want anything to happen to them, knowing he could prevent it. They were finally happy and he was not going to let their long awaited happiness be destroyed. His uncle was finally happy; he seemed to be acting more and more like a kid now, more than ever before. He was not guarded as he had been before and it was all thanks to a certain Uchiha with goggles. His aunt had finally found herself someone she could relate with and talk to endlessly and still have more things to say. She had found herself a best friend in his only female sensei and the positive effect showed in her livelier attitude. Then there was his Obaa-chan, she seemed more alive than ever, even though she was over fifty years old. Despite the fact that she had lost a lot in Konohagakure, being back within its walls brought out the best in her and he did not want to ruin that for her and the rest of his family. He did not want to ruin any of it.
Then there were his brothers. They had been taking care of him since they were children as well and did not give themselves any type of social life. However, when they were situated in Konoha, they finally had their own social life, having had been put on different teams then him when they graduated and he stayed behind in the Academy. They had been forced to socially interact with others and not just with themselves and their family. It was because of that they were where they were now. His Ani had found his happiness and Soul Mate within the Hyuuga Heiress and tearing them apart from one another would be like breaking both their hearts. His Nii-chan was not any better. The ice-boy had formed his own life within Konoha's walls as well and it would shatter him if he was taken away.
That is why, Naruto had left on his own. He did not want to bring the family that raised him anymore suffering by making them leave the one place that they had finally had found a home in, it was not right. However, if he stayed there with them, then the Destroyer would no doubtable come back for him and demolish not only their happiness, but the village as well. That was something that he would not allow to rest upon his conscience, even though most of the villagers there did not like him, there was a small handful that had become very close to him. People that he would do anything for just to make them happy, just like his family.
Leaning up against a nearby tree, Naruto stopped for a few seconds to catch his rapidly leaving breath. While resting, the blond boy turned his head and looked behind him. He could just faintly see the outline of Konohagakure now, the treetops and foliage covering the rest of his vision of the city. The place looked so peaceful and perfected from where he stood and he wanted nothing more than to turn around and return to the village. Nevertheless, he could not and this would probably be the last time he saw the village for a very, very long time.
Feeling something pulling at the bottom of his war-torn pant leg, Naruto looked down to see Kyuubi giving him a worried look, yet the little fox did not say anything. He knew why the blond had settled on making the decision and he agreed with him. It was the right thing to do, but he still could see the hurt and pain it caused to his very soul for doing such a thing. He really did not want the Pure One to feel that way, yet there was nothing he could really do for the boy. He would stay by his side and do the best he could to help his master.
Giving a soft purr, Kyuubi rubbed himself up against Naruto's leg, calming him down somewhat while pushing some of his own chakra into the boy. Unlike him, the Heir of Foxes did not have any extraordinary healing powers that could heal him quickly. He did have a higher healing rate than most humans did though, but nothing like a full demon as the small kitsune was. Hearing the slight change in the boy's heartbeat as it became a bit more stable; stabling his breathing as well, Kyuubi stopped the flow of chakra into the blond.
"You know you didn't have to do that?" Naruto asked softly once he was finished, but did not chastise the fox for doing so; after all, he would have done the same thing if he was in Kyuubi's place. "I was fine without it."
"But you're even better off now," the fox replied, purring some more since it seemed to soothe the boy.
Not responding to his familiar verbally, Naruto pushed off the tree and started to walk onwards again. His pace a little steadier than before, but it was still obvious that he was hurt badly. The duo continued to walk in silence after that, not wanting to say anything for they had nothing else to say. They both were too tired to talk anyways, yet that was not going to stop them from keep on going. They needed to leave and if they stopped, the two of them both knew that they might not have the heart to continue on at a later time. They would have turned around and gone back to the first place they had ever called home.
Stumbling once again, Naruto braced himself for the impact on the hard ground, having the air knocked out of him yet again. It did not come. Instead, he felt soft warm hands wrap around him and stop his body from hitting the ground. A surprised gasp from the blond caused him to breathe in the scent of everything around him and he immediately realized what was going on. He did not say anything right away, but instead let himself be carefully set on the ground and turned around to face the one who had caught him. However, he would not allow himself to look up and instead looked down at his hands in his lap that would not stop fidgeting.
"What are you doing here?" the Pure One asked quietly, not looking up even though he knew that he was being glared at.
"What are we doing here?" a growled voice repeated. "What are we doing here?! What do you think we're?!"
Naruto did not say anything, but a whimper escaped his lips and tears started to collect at the corner of his eyes. Instead, he just allowed the other to continue to yell at him and did nothing to defend himself. He lowered his head even more and tried to hold back the tears.
"Gaara, calm down," Haku's soft, but firm voice commanded. Hearing a slight shuffling at his side before feeling a presence at his side and a cold hand being laid on his shoulder -one of which he could feel even through his tattered material- Naruto stiffened greatly. Nonetheless, the hand did not remove himself and another found its way under his chin before lifting his head up to for teary blue eyes to meet worried brown ones. Seeing the tears in his brother's eyes that started to fall, Haku pulled his little brother into a warm hug and tried to soothe him.
"Why are you here? Why did you follow me? You guys are happy in Konoha, you have a life -a future- there. Both of you have people there that care about you greatly. You're throwing it all away by following me! So why then?" Naruto cried out, his brothers' hearts wrenching at the sheer amount of despair and anguish in his voice while Haku continued to hugging him while rocking back and forth. "Why?!"
"Because, you are the reason why we are happy in Konoha. You are the reason why we have a future in Konoha. And you are the reason why we found people in Konoha that care about us greatly," the ice-boy quietly cooed, petting Naruto's blond hair in a comforting way. "If it wasn't for you we would have never come to Konoha, we wouldn't have found happiness, because you were the one that gave us our happiness. You are our brother and we would never abandon you."
"Bu-ut, wha-t a-bout Hina-ata-chan and th-e oth-ers?" the Pure One asked in between hiccups, looking up at Gaara.
"I've already talked to her about it and she understands. She was the one that helped us get out of the hospital without anyone noticing us after all," Gaara replied, all earlier evidence of his anger gone at seeing his little brother in this state. He could tell leaving them was not something he was doing because he wanted to, but it was because he was being his usual selfless self and doing it for them and the sake of the others. "Though she did threaten me to make sure to bring you back alive or else I'd be dead because her 'sweet little Naru-chan' did not deserve to die."
Naruto chuckled somewhat at Gaara's explanation of what Hinata had done, knowing that was probably exactly what she had done before giving him a kiss and telling him to come back safe as well. Sitting in comfortably in Haku's embrace for a little longer, Naruto let himself calm down some. Once he was sure all his tears were dried up, the Heir of Foxes looked around him. First at Kyuubi who had sat quietly at his side throughout the whole ordeal and then at his two brothers that were looking at him concernedly.
"Are you sure you want to come with?" Naruto asked after finally finding the courage to speak. "We probably won't be coming back for a long time."
Smiling at the blond boy in his arms, Haku nodded his head. "Yes, we're sure, because-"
"-that is what family is for," Gaara finished for Haku.
"Being together and helping them through thick and thin," Kyuubi barked out, wagging his one tail.
Nodding his head, Naruto, with the help of his brothers and Kyuubi, stood up and began making there way out of Konoha. The sun setting as the just began their journey of a lifetime. Together and on there own, just the three brothers and a kitsune, making their way into the unknown and not knowing what lay ahead of them. All they knew was that needed to grow stronger in order to protect their precious people from the Destroy. Never once did they look back and never once did they think twice about their decision, for they knew, if they turned back now, the world was as good as dead.
As they disappeared from Konoha as the sun disappeared from sight on that very night, a soft breeze blew, carrying the last message of the now deceased fox deities.
"Happy Birthday Kazama Uzumaki Naruto. A wingless Tenshi. Our Chosen One. A Pure One and the Heir of Foxes."
Thanks for all the reviews, they were the only thing keeping me writing this story at the moment. School just takes up so much time I have no wanting to write anymore after everything I do, but I don't want to let everyone down either. So thanks to those of you that do review.
Shi no Tenshi 902