Pairings: Madara/Sayo. Slight Rihan/Hinata.
Warnings: Slight Konoha bashing. Dark fic. Violence. Blood. Gory scenes. Lemon scenes
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me
Chapter Thirty Five: As Daylight Dies
Uchiha Madara groaned as he listened to what both his wife and somewhat student have to tell him. He resisted the urge to just slam his head down on his desk. Back during the days of his youth, his father had repeatedly drilled lessons of etiquette, code and conduct into his and his brother's heads.
He so wanted to retire and not face this!
Sayo looked a tad bit apologetic as she faced her husband. In a corner, Seina looked to be barely restraining her giggles. Even when they're young, they've never seen Madara like this before. He had always remained composed and solemn; unless one counts the time with Senju Hashirama when said Senju is after his girl. And then again, Uchiha Madara is solemn and composed until you drag in one Senju Hashirama in the picture.
"Sorry. I should probably make sure that the Leaf-nins didn't witness it in the first place." Sayo looked both apologetic and sheepish all at once. "But then again, I didn't really notice them."
Seina sighed. "Well, with that brat acting up, who could blame you?"
The retrieval mission involving Uchiha Sasuke had been two days ago, and the aftermath of the mission is beyond horrible. The possession involving the 'Last Uchiha' had spread like wildfire in Konoha, and from what Sayo had heard from her spies, apparently, the imaginations of the Konoha inhabitants were particularly imaginative.
Madara had already received a letter from the Hokage, requesting (more like beg) for someone to head down and clear the mess up. Apparently, there is a huge uproar in Konoha, particularly from the civilians and the civilian side of the council. And if what Madara had heard from Rihan, Kyo and Haku is true, and that the brat had a fan club comparable in size to the one that Itachi had in Tsuki, then even the civilians in the streets were kicking up a huge fuss.
Personally, Madara would rather ignore them, since Konoha is not exactly on his favourites' list, but the honourable part of him refuses to let him just turn a blind eye. Granted, the whole reason why he is so pissed at Konoha for the better part of nearly fifty years is in part tied to the reason why he had even taken his wife away from the village in the first place.
The rumours in Konoha circulating around one Uchiha Sasuke is getting out of control, and the rational part of him knew that he can't just ignore it. Madara looked at both Sayo and Seina, and the two women sighed, immediately knowing what Madara had in mind. "Back to Konoha we go." Sayo muttered irritably. "But if the council that they had tries to do anything funny, I won't be held responsible for my actions." She warned.
"I highly doubt that they will try anything. Last that I'd heard, the Hokage is beyond pissed with them. Particularly because of all their pampering with Uchiha Sasuke, it leads to the situation in which a genin actually had enough power to defect the village, and almost succeeded in killing his teammate, and is indirectly the cause of the near deaths of five other prominent clan heirs if we and Suna hadn't sent reinforcements." Madara told them. "Uchiha Sasuke's jounin instructor is in hot soup too, from what I'd heard."
All the ninjas in the room could understand that. In a ninja village, a genin is never meant to be powerful enough to be able to defect from the village that he had sworn fealty to. And neither is a genin meant to be powerful enough to almost kill his teammate and his comrades. Granted, in Uchiha Sasuke's case, it's because his teammate and his comrades were sent after him to bring him back that leads to the case of him almost killing them, but still…
Even Itachi and Orochimaru have never held enough power to defect or commit any crimes punishable by death when they were still genin. Itachi had been an ANBU captain, and Orochimaru a high ranked jounin—holding the title of 'Sannin', when they have both defected.
In most cases concerning the ninja villages, if a genin holds enough power to commit a crime punishable by death—which rarely, if never happens at all—the one held at fault is usually the jounin instructor. As a genin's growth and progress and even actions is held liable by the jounin instructor in question, if a genin ever grows powerful enough to defect, the jounin instructor will be held responsible for his actions.
"Well, we might as well just get all the questions concerning Tsuki done and over with in one go." Seina sighed. "I swear… After the fiasco at the chuunin exams, we have more spies entering our lands for the past month than we ever had in a year!"
"Tell me about it." Sayo rubbed her temples to ease her headache. "Shin had been swamped with work at the T&I ever since the end of the chuunin exams because of all the potential spies that kept trying to enter Tsuki, and Kano is getting run ragged with his spies and informants as well. Those infiltrators never did leave with any information, but you get what I mean."
Madara groaned. "Anything else?" he asked wearily, eyeing the number of files and folders on his desk, waiting for him to go through.
"Yeah." Sayo said, immediately remembering what she needs to tell her best friend and her husband. "When Sasuke first defected, he took a sword with him." She said slowly, looking from face to face. "Izuna's sword." Seina's face paled and Madara frowned. "Harusame."
"And now with Hiore taking possession of Sasuke's body, that means that Raven's Gate have their dirty paws on Izuna's sword." Madara groaned, wondering if things could get any worse. "Harusame is an Uchiha blade after all, and Sasuke is directly descended from Izuna's line. That means that his body can wield the sword to its full potential. This isn't good news for us. Harusame isn't any ordinary sword. It had abilities that most swordsmen in the world can only dream of."
Sayo sighed. "I'll send word out to all my informants. But meanwhile, Seina and I have to head to Konoha," she said briskly.
"Oh right. Hold on, Sayo." Madara said, and started writing something in a scroll before he rolled it up and sealed it with his Tsukikage seal. He then handed it to Sayo. "It's about Itachi's missing-nin status in the land of Fire. I want you to explain the situation to the Hokage and get him to remove Itachi's missing-nin status from their register. I've already cleared the situation with the daimyo of Fire, and he had already okayed it."
His wife doesn't look pleased. "If I have to spend an entire day arguing with those idiots that have the audacity to call themselves a council in Konoha because of this, then you're sleeping on the couch for a month once we get back." Sayo threatened, and Madara paled at the threat. "Come on, Seina!"
Seina giggled. "Coming!"
XXXXXX
Uchiha Seina is normally a very patient person.
She has to be, after putting up with the antics of both Madara and Izuna when they're young, even before Sayo had shown up. But now as she watched the room of shinobis yelling over each other in order to get themselves heard, she wondered if her brother-in-law would mind terribly if she committed genocide here and there.
It had taken two days for Sayo and Seina to arrive at Konoha. And the moment that they did, they were ushered straight to the Hokage's office, with the Hokage in mention waiting for them. Apparently, Madara had sent word ahead to Konoha, informing the Hokage of their arrivals.
And thankfully, at the very least, the blonde Hokage had enough sense to not summon the council to address this whole issue regarding Uchiha Sasuke. Instead, the only ones currently in the Hokage's office are just the Hokage himself, his wife, the Sannins Jiraiya and Tsunade, councilman Shimura Danzo, Katou Dan and Hatake Sakumo.
Sayo who was currently leaning against the door, keeping it shut with her weight, rolled her eyes in annoyance. Normally, she is the one dealing with politics, but when it comes to Konoha, she has completely no desire or any patience to deal with them. Hence why Seina is the one handling Konoha in place of Sayo.
Seina cleared her throat loudly, her right eye twitching dangerously, and the entire room went quiet immediately. "Thank you." Seina said politely, though with a hint of sarcasm in her tone. "Now, is there anything else that you wish to know, or can we leave now?"
Minato exchanged looks with his wife. Everyone in Konoha knew of the feelings or lack of that Tsuki has towards Konoha. That is essentially proven during the latest chuunin exams. Tsuki doesn't hold Konoha in the greatest light, and to this day, even after the whole knowledge of Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Sayo being alive and well out in the open, no one knew just why Tsuki is so pissed off with Konoha.
"So… Uchiha Sasuke is really dead?" Dan asked warily, glancing at Sakumo. But apart from the muscles tightening in his neck, the White Fang showed no emotion on his face at all.
Seina sighed. "Yes. Dead from possession," she said curtly. "It has nothing to do with Tsuki whatsoever, so I'll deeply appreciate it if you could let your council know, and to stop bombarding Madara with threatening letters and messenger birds. The bird carers are all up to their necks in work just caring for Tsuki's own hawk messengers. We have neither the time nor room to care for your worn out birds too."
Seina might say that, but the truth is that no one in Tsuki—ninja or civilian, will ignore a tired bird messenger. And because of all the tired birds bombarding Tsuki of late, the Academy students have taken turns to care for the tired birds until they could regain enough of their strength to make their way back home.
"And just so you know, I won't be held responsible if Madara finally snaps." Seina said sternly. "He has been pretty patient with Konoha already. If you push him over his limit, then Madara will be declaring war on Konoha the next morning."
Minato blinked, the news that the council has been going behind his back to 'threaten' the Tsukikage new to him. He scowled inwardly. Seems like certain members of the council is simply 'asking' for a beating.
Meanwhile, Danzo was studying Seina and Sayo carefully.
Only a select few in Konoha—those still amongst the living at least—actually knew that he was actually trained by Uchiha Sayo in his youth, and everything that he knew about war and war tactics, he learned directly from the best tactician in the world. Even the deceased Nidaime Hokage actually learned a fair bit about war tactics and such from his old friend. Hence why the Nidaime Hokage was said to be a master manipulator. If he wanted to know some information, you can bet that he'll find some way to get said information. And if he wants something hidden, you can dig up the entire world, but you'll never find it.
Danzo knew his teacher well. He knew that everything that Uchiha Sayo does, there is a reason behind it—sometimes several reasons. And the fact that she is here, in Konoha itself, could mean one of several things.
"My apologies for that." Minato said sincerely. "Rest assured that I'd put a stop to it."
"See that you do." Seina said tiredly. "I swear, if I have to hear one more complaint from Madara about some bird bombarding him again, I'll throw him out of the window. Head first."
The Konoha ninjas have no idea if Seina is joking or not. Kushina then cleared her throat politely, and Seina glanced at the redhead. "Seina-san, right?" Kushina asked politely, and Seina nodded. "So this…Toshigaki Hiore? And Raven's Gate? Could you tell us more about it? After all, they might be a fearsome threat in the future."
Sayo let out a short bark of laughter from behind Seina, and everyone in the room turned their attention towards her. After all, ever since their arrivals, Sayo had not said a single word to any Konoha ninja, and even barely acknowledged their presences save for a slight nod of the head.
"Future? They already are a fearsome threat." Sayo said curtly. She looked at Minato and Kushina in the eye, and the two were almost entranced by the redhead's dark blue eyes that seemed almost like the waters of the deep oceans. "You should have already met a member of that accursed organisation twelve years ago."
Minato's eyes widened. "They Kyuubi attack…" he muttered, and Sayo nodded. "Then that masked man, he is…"
"A member of Raven's Gate. Though whether he is one of the Inner Circle or not, I cannot say." Sayo stated. "All I can tell you at present is that Raven's Gate had been around for a long time. Longer even before any of us are even born." Only Jiraiya and Danzo caught the true meaning of Sayo's words, and their eyes widened a slight fraction. "And they have this connection with the nine bijuus and demons that even we don't understand."
"Bijuu?" Kushina's face paled. "Then the Kyuubi attack… Jinchuurikis…"
Seina nodded. "We don't fully understand their motives yet. We've been working for years to prevent that organisation from raising their lord. Now because of you, we have failed." She told them sharply, and several of them recoiled.
"What do you know about them?" Sakumo asked at last. "Anything that you know, can you please tell us? If so that we could be prepared for them once the time comes."
Sayo muttered something irritable beneath her breath. "I probably shouldn't even tell you because of the relations or lack thereof, between both our villages," she stated bluntly, and Minato flinched. "But Raven's Gate isn't an opponent that we could handle on our own. And I'm not inhumane enough to ignore it as innocent children dies because of an insane man who had twisted ideals for the world, and the ways that he would go about to achieve it."
"Who is he? This Toshigaki Hiore." Tsunade asked quietly.
"He had appeared several times in history, along with Raven's Gate. Once directly under the control of the Fire daimyo's court, they now answer to no one but their lord." Seina told them.
"Who is he?" Minato asked worriedly. The way that the two were speaking, it is almost like Raven's Gate and Toshigaki Hiore are some sort of demons. Then again, if they have some sort of involvement with the bijuus…
Seina and Sayo exchanged looks. "He goes by many names. Prominent ones, in fact, throughout history." Sayo said at last. "He is onmyouji. Exorcist. Ninja. Warrior. Samurai. He is known as Takeda Shingen, Mitsuhide Akechi, Masamune Date, Hattori Hanzo, Sanada Masayuki, Kirigakure Saizo and even Abe no Seimei. He walks through the dawn of time, and have seen the changes throughout the centuries."
The eyes of every single ninja in the room widened in shock, even Seina. Any ninja worth their weight in salt will have heard of those names. Those names are prominent samurai and ninja names in history, and are the names of the men who are responsible for shaping the world that they are now. And the name of Abe no Seimei is relatively well known. He is a famous onmyouji that is alive around the time of the shinobi clan wars when demons and spirits wander around freely. But like with the prominent samurais and ninjas that Sayo had mentioned, Abe no Seimei vanished without a trace one day, and no one knew why.
"Just how old is this guy? And who is he?" Jiraiya demanded, feeling true fear for the first time in his life.
Sayo was silent for a long time before she spoke again. "Those of you who have been around during the age of the founding of the ninja villages should have heard whispers of his tale," she said, looking at Jiraiya, Tsunade, Danzo and even Dan. "He is never mentioned by name, but tales of his legend is known in every corner of the world, even the civilians and the samurai. 'In the flickering light when it is not yet nightfall, the boss of monsters visits with a Nurarihyon. A monster who at the end of the year suddenly appears out of nowhere.'" She recited.
"Oh god…" Kushina's breath caught in her throat. She had heard of this phrase once from her mother as a girl. The demon of all demons. The most fearsome demon that had ever walked the world. "The boss of the demons – the youkai and the ayakashi." The redhead woman whispered in fear. The demon that the Tsuki-nin across her is talking about is spoken only in legends and in scrolls pertaining towards demons and spirits. To the civilians and most ninjas, he is only a legend. But to people practicing the seal arts, and even exorcists and onmyoujis, he is very much real. "The Lord All High, the boss of the spiritual and demon world. When he calls, they come. He has them under his command. The…" She looked at Uchiha Sayo who nodded grimly before the same word passed from their lips.
"…Hyakki Yagyo." Both Kushina and Sayo stated at the same time. "The Demon Parade."
"Is that wise? Telling them about that?" Seina asked Sayo quietly two hours later as they sat in a teahouse, having a meal of dango and green tea to replenish their strength to make the route home.
Namikaze Minato had immediately called for an emergency council meeting after hearing the story from Sayo. And both women knew that at this time tomorrow, probably, the entire world will know of it, or maybe just the ninja villages themselves.
"We can't keep it under wraps forever." Sayo shrugged as they finished their dango, and both stood up as one, leaving the teahouse. "Besides, I didn't tell them everything, did I? Furthermore, it is better for us if they are warned in advance, then be caught unprepared. I doubt that anyone even realises that Raven's Gate has something to do with the demon world. Though knowing Hiore, should we really be surprised?" She snorted.
Seina sighed, and was about to say something when she paused, staring at the bandaged man standing outside the teahouse.
Sayo muttered something beneath her breath. "…Danzo."
"Sensei." Shimura Danzo inclined his head towards Sayo.
"Let's change locations." Seina told Sayo and Danzo both, knowing from both their tones that the following conversation shouldn't be something that anyone should hear. "This way."
The trio then walked through the marketplace of Konoha until they came across an empty training ground with three training posts in the middle of it. There was even the memorial stone of Konoha near the training ground. Danzo watched silently as Sayo took Seina by the arm gently, walking up to the memorial stone. The redhead then knelt down before it, tracing one of the names on the stone.
"Haru, I'm back." Sayo said softly, tracing the name 'Uchiha Haruki' with her fingertips. She glanced at Seina who seemed to be doing her own prayers. "This is the first time that you've came here, right?"
Seina nodded. "During the chuunin exams, foreigners were watched closely by the ANBU, thus, I could not just wander around." She knelt down before the memorial stone, eyes tracing the name of her son. "Hey baby." Seina said softly, tracing the name of her son with her fingertips. "I wonder what you were like as a child, then a teenager, and then an adult? I've missed all those amazing years of your life. Your first steps. Your first words. The first time you held a kunai. The first time you mastered a jutsu. Your first crush. Your wedding. The birth of your first child. When you married off your own child. I missed all of that." Seina felt tears pooling around her eyes, and she quickly blinked them away. "I've never gotten to know you personally, but Sayo and Madara have told me enough stories and have also shown me enough pictures of you when you were growing up until it makes me feel almost like I could know you. You sound like a wonderful person. I'm proud of you. I only regret…that I couldn't get to truly know you." She looked at her son's name on the memorial stone sadly.
"He's a great person. Haru-sempai, that is." Danzo spoke up, approaching the two women. "After sensei and Madara-sama left the village, Haru-sempai took over the role as guardian, teacher and protector for myself, Jiraiya and Orochimaru. And when he had passed away during the war, I took over that role myself for Orochimaru, as at that time, Jiraiya had found a confidante and friend in Katou Dan."
"You seem to be doing well." Sayo got to her feet, turning around and facing Danzo. Seina followed suit.
"Hai sensei." Danzo inclined his head respectfully towards his teacher – the way that he always did as a child.
"Sayo, we can't stay long." Seina reminded Sayo.
"I know." Sayo nodded. She then turned towards Danzo. "What I'm going to tell you here, you mustn't repeat it to anyone, especially the Hokage. What you have to do, do it at your own discretion." Danzo nodded. He had suspected as much that his sensei had been withholding some information back in the Hokage's office, hence why he had gone looking for her. "The tale about Raven's Gate and that they're seeking the bijuus is true. The reason why however, we're not sure. We think that it might have something to do with the original tailed beast, the Juubi."
"The Juubi…" Danzo murmured. As Sayo's student, even he had some knowledge over seals. And at some point, he had heard of the story of the original tailed beast from his sensei in his youth. These days however, the Juubi is all but a myth to the vast population of the elemental nations.
"And this Toshigaki Hiore, the boss of Raven's Gate…" Sayo looked at her student in the eye. Danzo suddenly had a feeling that he wouldn't like what Sayo is going to tell him. "It is true that he is the boss of Raven's Gate, and it is also true that he took over Uchiha Sasuke's body in order to exist in the mortal plane once more. Hence, I hadn't lied to your Hokage or any of the other Leaf-nins. I only chose to withheld one piece of information about him." Sayo paused for a moment. "Danzo, this information does not make its way to the Hokage, Jiraiya, the general public or anyone else. Is that clear?" Sayo said sternly, and Danzo nodded. "The Kyuubi attack twelve years ago in this village is half of the plan that Raven's Gate had to revive Toshigaki Hiore. The ritual used is 'strength of the mother, blood of the innocent'. In other words, Revive and Resurrect."
Danzo's face paled immediately. "Oh my god…" he murmured. He understood immediately what his sensei is trying to tell him. Kyuubi is the mother of the boss of the Raven's Gate organisation. In other words, he has the blood of a bijuu – one of the most powerful demons in the world flowing through his veins. "What have we gotten ourselves into?"
"Whether we like it or not, we're going to be in for the battle of our lives once the time comes." Sayo told Danzo. "What I want you to do is to send your spies out to every corner of the world that you could reach. No matter whether it is, be it in a remote village out in the middle of nowhere or even in the middle of some marshlands, or even the desert itself. Wherever they can reach, they go. Tsuki and Ame are doing the same as well. Because I know Raven's Gate, and I know Hiore. They won't resort to conventional methods. They will use methods and ways of planning that no one will expect in the least."
"And that's where Sayo will come in." Seina added. "I hadn't seen anyone manage to get the better of her yet. And from what I'd heard, Raven's Gate is bound to be enough of a match for her."
Sayo sighed, but chose to say nothing to Seina's comment. "Because Hiore had just taken possession of Sasuke's body, we still have time. He needs time to get adjusted to his new body, and truly make it his in every meaning of the word."
"Then that Uchiha is really…" Danzo trailed off, and Sayo nodded. "I'm sorry, sensei. I couldn't protect your clan."
"Don't worry about it. Even if the daimyo hadn't sent Itachi to eliminate his entire clan, I would probably do the same thing myself sooner or later, if what I'd heard about the clan is true." Sayo sighed. "Hideki-sama would be turning in his grave if he knew just how low that the clan had fallen. And so would Haru and Izuna." She muttered.
Danzo nodded slowly, and even Seina looks as if she is hanging onto every single one of Sayo's words. "So we wait?" Danzo asked, not really liking the idea. He is more of the type to strike first, rather than wait.
"Yes. We wait." Sayo nodded. "We still have time. Like I've said, Hiore needs time to get adjusted to his new body, and to also regain his strength. Our brief stint with him at the Valley of the End had shown me enough. He has been severely weakened. And if I know him, he will hide himself and his Inner Circle in a place that even I can't find. Thus, we have to wait. He will bide his time. And that also gives us enough time to be ready for him."
"How long?" Danzo asked, going over several scenarios and possible plans that he had in mind, and wondering if any of them would even work. After all, he had been there at the 'Bloody Crusade' – the civil war that had broken out between Raven's Gate and the land of Fire at the time of Konoha's founding. He knew how terrible that civil war had been, and what Raven's Gate is capable of.
"Three years." Sayo said grimly. "Three years from now, everything will begin. Three years from now, a war will break out. And this war…will also be the last."
"The last?" Danzo managed to ask, not having heard his sensei sound like that before.
Sayo nodded. "Because this war will be so long, so dangerous and so bloody that each and every nation out there will quite possibly lose an entire generation of men and women, and will also be so weakened to the point that not a single one of them would be able to wage another war for decades, if not generations," she said. "And mark my words, Danzo. Whether for the better or for the worse, this war will be the one that will change the world."