DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. I do not own Naruto or the materials associated with the manga/anime franchise. What I do own is this story in part or whole, the plot and set-up of the plot, and original characters that came with it.

The River Between Two Oceans

1-7

I do have a really bad feeling about this. Like that pilot dude in that space saga.

Wazzitisname?

Solo somethin'.

I don't know why but for whatever peculiar reasons, these bunch of caravaners look misplaced almost. I know they're foreigners, but what's with this look?

Standing not far from them now, I see their wooden wagons are as big as a house with chimneys and cupboards and beds inside—large enough to be called dens! Each wagon is carved with a golden wreath symbol and the same motifs dress along every edge; the roof is coloured red, its sides are coloured blue and the front and back are plastered in bright emerald green. Talk about tact—you could see them coming from a mile away!

Well, one of them was folding a huge tarp in his hands—something to probably cover up the wagons' colours whilst they're on the road.

The people themselves are either pale or olive skinned and had hair of the darker shade—not just brunette or jet black, but deeper hues of blonde and ginger too. All their women wear the same crimson lipstick and their men lined their eyelids with kohl. Most of the women are belly dancers with exposed midriffs, where coins and bells dangle from the hem of their strapless top and the edges of their skirts—barely even covering their big bosoms. Their men are just as varied; some manned the wagons and kept their horses clean or fed whilst the rest of them wore shimmering tall hats with bells at the tip—jesters.

Their clothes may be ragged in some places, mainly at the ends of their trousers or dress, but they're silk woven with the softest cotton I've seen. Golden and silver threads make up strange patterns of stars, moons and whatnot on their fabric. Some of them were even wearing headscarves—not covering their full head, just enough to tie it below their chins.

But still I feel like I've seen them before…

What word best describes them?

Gypsies.

Romanian gypsies. That's what they looked like.

What the heck is that, though?

"There she is!" Kota calls out to me and tilts his head in a single direction.

I follow his gaze.

The colourful wooden wagon finally opens up at the back and Madam Taiyoo, with a glittering scarf over her head (also with quivering coins), shows herself. She is a beauty, barely in her thirties with clear and plump skin of porcelain ivory—lively pink in the right places. Long wavy raven hair dress the back of her spine, covered slightly over her head and neck with a loose scarf; again, they were decorated with golden threads and bells and coins. The rest of her clothes are different from the dancers in that a sheath of pink organza with scattered glitter covers any of her exposed area: mainly her arms and abdomen. She extends her two arms and the other caravaners reach out, carrying her down as if she wouldn't – no, mustn't ever – touch the ground at all. So they'd picked her up like they were her palanquin and this naturally makes the onlookers gasp.

Come to think of it, her name…

Taiyoo.

Isn't that—

The same tarp folding caravanner heaves in a big breath and yells out, "Behold! Madam Taiyoo has returned to you for she senses your future is ever-affected by the War!"

Everyone begins to murmur, even Kota himself is jaw-dropped.

That wasn't so spectacular at all—I mean, isn't that a well known fact all things considered?

"Madam Taiyoo knows your concern as it is hers as well! She wants your safety and continued existence—come, have her read back your fortunes and bear witness its change! Maneuver yourself in the future well read and be spared of sadness and suffering!"

At this, Madam Taiyoo bows at everyone.

Now they've set up a stool with velvet cushions that looked more like a pedestal once they placed her on top of it and then pulled out a strange wheeled contraption—it looks like a mobile fitting room with purple curtains draping it all around. The curtains are left open as they place it around Madam Taiyoo while she remains silent there, looking at each one of us as if she was reading our faces like a book.

"All this showy and fancy ceremony," I mumble to Kota, "Don't tell me you actually believe she could read our fortunes from all of that?"

Kota shushes me. "Don't speak while she's like that!"

"Geez, I was just—"

"I believe we have a skeptic among us," a tenor voice cracks the still, paralysed air; it hits the falsetto at certain syllables as it reverberates in waves. Madam Taiyoo's hazel brown eyes glance over to me, "You there!"

I start.

"You don't believe I could read your fortune?"

"Well, actually I—"

I can't say that I do, but I am fascinated about her methods.

So how should I approach this?

"I didn't say that I don't," I grin at her, figured I should make myself look childish by scratching my cheeks and sticking out my tongue. "I missed you the last time you were here."

She nods.

"Look, I don't mean to insult or offend you, but it's just that I don't believe you should make such a big fuss of yourselves if you could."

The caravanners hiss at me.

But Madam Taiyoo raises a hand to silence them.

"You make a good point indeed," the smirk on her face mirrors the venom in her voice, "and I do like a good challenge from a skeptic myself!"

Her eyes sting me, too!

"Oh, no!" I raise both hands in surrender, "Please don't consider me as one! I'm only a child!"

"A child believes more easily, dear. Look at your friend beside you! He's believing a hundred percent at first glance—I'd say even more than most of the adults who'd pay me."

"I think the right way to put this is… I'm not yet converted, but I'm sure without a doubt, your skills and talents will have me believed soon enough!"

"You're pulling at my feet, I see."

"A true skeptic would argue that you're pulling ours, but see? I'm no such a thing!"

She looks amused at my answer as she crouches on her pedestal to get a good look at me. "So you think all these… ceremonies as you put it are useless to show my abilities?"

"I feel as if they're a distraction."

"That's a mentalist's forte."

"And how do I – no, we – know that you're not one? After all, being able to read fortunes is not something that's proven by showing people how you are revered as one, but rather proving what you say will come to pass."

The caravanners start to panic for some reason.

"Watch your tongue!" one of them shouts at me. "Madam Taiyoo is not someone you should play around with!"

Another butt in too. "Yes, she is capable of more than you know! You wouldn't want her to predict the fortunes of a moment in passing!"

Before they could reprimand me more, Madam Taiyoo steps up again by laughing aloud.

"It's alright, my fellow kinsmen. Do not worry," she turns to them and gestures something with her head, "A skeptic exists everywhere we go because… well, as the child has put it, they're waiting to be… converted. In fact, I do agree about that!"

She turns back to me, resolve clearly in her eyes.

"However, you should know something about me, child. Skeptics exist to prove me right," she finishes with a smile.

Then, she raises her arms once more and the caravanners pick me up from the ground. I don't struggle—judging by the looks on Taniyama's own townsfolk faces, this was how it should go. Even Kota just nods at me without much explaining.

I guess I'll roll with it!

They've placed a chair for me to sit on, then a table with tall legs between me and Madam Taiyoo's pedestal. As she lowers herself to sit, the caravanners shut the curtains and darkness overwhelms us.

I panic at first, but then I hear a match being struck and a fire appears.

It glows – in the smallest and most minute glimpse possible – blue before a burning bright orange.

Madam Taiyoo laughs. "Did you see that?"

Is this part of her trick?

I mean, I did see a blue flame. If that's going to have to do with me somehow and this woman does have an ability to actually read me, then my only assumption would be that it had something to do with my encounter with Aosagi.

But I wonder what would happen if I had lied…

"No!" I look around, pretending I missed something. "See what? What did I miss?"

"Interesting. You're a hard one to crack!"

I could say the same for you, too!

She takes something out from under the table, from a hidden compartment or maybe from a drawer I didn't see. I only realised it was sage when she started burning it.

The smell melts into the dense air and the smoke, however small, rises above us and up the canopy of the curtains. Someone outside mumbling something like 'it's started' and the crowd shushes one another. Then I hear weird hubbubs just outside our makeshift tent before I hear random shouting of gibberish and drums beating, which to me appears to ensure that no one else could listen in.

"Are you ready to be converted?" her voice purrs.

I flinch at that. Squirming in my seat, I lean forward and give a thumbs-up, "Have at it!"

She makes a face—I can't tell in this dim light and festering shadows whether it's a cunning grin or a genuine smile.

"Allow me," she reaches under the table again and takes out a large crystal ball.

That was…

Anticlimactic.

A little too stereotypical, if you ask me.

"You're not very impressed," she remarks as she rolls the ball onto a hollow slope in the middle of the table. "You think this is… stereotypical, yes?"

She only hit the nail on that one because—

"I'm sorry, what gave me away?" I blurt out a retort as my hands wave down the smoke away from my face.

—that was probably the best and most cliché answer to seeing a crystal ball at a fortune teller's.

Does this sage have anything to do with her abilities to read me?

"Shall we begin, then?" She asks again.

Perhaps permission was important. Like magic.

I tilt my head up and down.

She takes in a deep breath and a good whiff of the sage before leaning over the crystal ball, humming while she's at it too. She pushes it forward to me and gestures for me to inspect it, so I touch it.

It's no good to ask me to inspect anyway—not like I was a ninja or someone who knows ninjutsu enough to detect any trickery to it. Perhaps the main reason why I missed this caravan the last time they were here was because Grandpa was against it.

I'm not surprised if that was truly the case.

She takes the crystal ball back into its original position, keeping it in place in the middle of the table with her two hands. Her fake nails are over two inches long and they're as red as her lips; they make a light tapping noise as she holds it close to her. At this distance, I could see her eyes had a glint of amber like mine.

"You are," she swirls her hands all over the ball, "Ueno… Ueno Momoko."

Hah.

What gave me away, indeed?

I sulk. She sees me.

"No, you're right. This is not very impressive indeed! Your friend Kota-kun could've been the one who gave you away, after all you have many distinctive traits."

I agree.

"Like that dusty coral hair of yours. Or your hazelnut amber eyes."

I nod. Internally, at least.

"But more importantly," she stops touching the ball and reaches out to caress my lower jaw, "Those moles are far more specific, if you ask me."

Kota didn't—

"No, he didn't indeed," she answers me as if she could read my thoughts. "You are the only friend he has with these traits, yes?"

I couldn't answer.

I didn't think it was wise at this point. She hasn't quite surprised me yet.

(Plus, I can't say for sure—I just got here!)

"That's alright. Don't answer that one," her voice hisses only slightly in annoyance, but the confidence slithering within it shows her enjoyment over the challenge I imposed. "I assume you're being skeptical because naturally anyone could extract such information from behind your back because you weren't here before. That's understandable!"

I wait for the drumroll.

"Then how about I tell you about the blue flame you just saw earlier?"

I raise an eyebrow. "What blue flame?"

"Oh, please. Drop your pretenses, young lady! I know you saw that blue flame the moment I lit the match!"

I shrug and cross my arms to my chest. "No, really! What blue flame are you talking about?"

"You think I wouldn't find out?"

Admittedly, that sounds mysterious.

She leans closer to me; "I know what that means for you," and her eyes are boring into my own, "With those moles on your face, I've no doubt I know exactly what's going on!"

Enlighten me then, I thought.

"Ueno Momoko. You recently lost your memories through an incident in the river… and you're here trying to pick up the pieces—but that's still something I could find out. Because your best friend, Kota-kun, would have told every Haru, Sato and Kenji* so I should be able to extract it from your friends and the townsfolk, right?"

I say nothing.

"What about Aosagi then?"

I widen my eyes.

That gave away what she said as right.

"What game are you playing at?" I ask, trying my best not to sound offended as that would perhaps set her to thinking that I was affected somehow. "Aosagi? What's that yokai myth got—"

"You've actually seen it, haven't you?"

I feel my lower eyelid twitches.

"You know, I really want to be cooperative in this," I sigh this time in almost the same note and manner as Kota did previously, "But you're not making this easy for me to believe that you could read my fortunes at all…"

"Oh?" she leans back, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean, come on. Where do I start?"

"Indeed!"

"How about your name?"

She falls silent.

"Madam Taiyoo. With that kind of first impression, just upon hearing your name, there's already this be-all-and-amazed prejudiced suggestion deep within everybody's consciousness. I mean, there're a few ways to read the kanji of your name: Sun, the all-seeing bright eye in the sky or ocean, which reflects the vastness of probabilities that exist out there. Then there's: important point or summary, which aligns others' thoughts about your so-called abilities… Though this is a mentalist's forte, it does help create an image about you!"'

"You've got an eye for these things, don't you?"

"Yeah, I reckon I inherited it from my—"

"—your grandfather, Ueno Jun."

I'm the one that's quieted.

"Your grandmother is Ranko. Your family lives on the outskirts of the city. You arrived in Taniyama today with a wheat peddler—no, he smelt of wheat. But he supplied hay."

"You could've seen us enter the town—that's cheating!"

"That may be right. How about Aosagi, then? How could I have known about that? And why are you avoiding that subject?"

I pout. "Well, it's a famous tale in town, no?"

"You seem to think I have every excuse for every information I could gather from your presence alone!"

"Ah, that too! You could've been a ninja for all I care—that could explain a lot of things! Maybe you have… whaddya called it? Kekkei genkai or sumthin'."

"Maybe indeed."

"Everyone in town knows who I am, too. So you could've known about my incident a long time ago."

"You presume correctly," she laughs at me, but I don't like the sound of it. She sounds a little manic, still laced with the same tinge of annoyance from before. "Let's start over, shall we?"

I squirm. "Do I have a choice?"

"Moko-chan, you need to take a leap of faith."

That name.

I bite my lip.

"It's funny that you grandfather likes to call you that considering that it means dimness and vagueness. Tell me, do you feel that way now about yourself?"

Ah, crap.

"It's one thing to know about you from people. You're right on that—they can say a lot of things! They say how they've made memories with you and of you, but it's an entirely different thing to know you by merely seeing you. No one can replicate how you feel inside and you most certainly won't tell everyone how you feel all the time, especially since you feel opposite of what people expect you to feel!"

Damn. She's onto me!

"You're constantly in contrast with that body of yours. You feel as if you've woken up to a dream and the dream continues into life because you're stuck here in confusion whilst the world swirls into violence and war—you have no time to react! You're detached from the memories of what everyone remembers of you and the experience they have with you. You don't want to say anything because… after all, how did Kota-kun put it again? You're terribly nice, Moko-chan."

"You don't get to call me that."

"Oh, have I finally got it right then?"

I don't know how.

But she's got me good.

Through whatever methods, she'd managed to know something about me that's not known to everyone else—not even to Grandpa!

I figured if she'd been lying, I'd be able to leave.

But now that she's right though…

"That's still something an amnesiac would feel, no?" I mumble this as I slowly look up to her.

Her eyes are filled with wrathful intent.

"You're right again," she whispers; then she snatches my hands and places it on the crystal ball as if she hoped it would reveal something. Nothing happened to it and she growls, "You're lying to me! You have seen the creature!"

I yank my hands away from her and the ball.

My hand is burnt a little while the ball fizzles with a light fume dissipating into the air.

What was that?

"Let me tell you something, girl," Madam Taiyoo's face contorted with anger, altering her once pristine countenance into that of hideous contortions. Her skin now looks like fabric in the wind, ridden with wrinkles and creases that bends at the edges of her eyes, nose and mouth. All her hair stands up from the ends like that of a scrunched up cat. "I can tell you why you're confused. I can even tell you how to get your memories back. But for this to work, you and I have to work together. For your fortunes to be read, you and I need to believe in each other. Now, I believe in you. But you need to have faith in me!"

"What can you tell me that I don't already know? I know why I'm confused. Only time will tell when that confusion is cleared!"

"True, but don't you want to know what time has been keeping from you?"

"I have a feeling you'll tell me anyway!" I cross my arms again now. "After all, I know my memories will get back to me somehow!"

She grabs onto my hand and pulls me closer.

"You're right on that again! If you'd let things flow naturally, as they should and would, the universe will indeed show you away!" she screams in my face, but her mouth isn't moving and her eyes are dark and gaze paralysing. "But you are an anomaly! Your existence in this world at this time has changed a few things – some for good, others for bad – and even after you recollect your past memories, you'll always be haunted by your divergence in this universe!"

"An anomaly?"

"There were nine Bijūs in this universe, but thanks to you and that boy, there are now eleven creatures of magnificent magnitude of power roaming the lands! One corresponds to Suzaku, the Guardian of the South! Those moles of yours is that of the constellation Hydra where its head, beak and body is made up! When Suzaku descended upon this world, the Sage of Six Paths himself confronted it and he wouldn't do anything about it! Suzaku chose to perish into the Land of Fire and split its body into two—you've met with only one of it. The other half has long fled this land, so you'll have to track it down in order to complete the stage or you'll endanger the whole world!"

Complete the stage?

What the hell is she talking about?

It's as if she's possessed by the multitude and gravity of whatever information on me she seems to be digging out of thin air!

Though, I have to say, these things she spoke of…

As ludicrous as they may sound, they sound real and true.

"Do you know why you're the one who has to do it?"

Those words caught me off guard.

"That's because you were born to withstand the beast's powers! Unlike jinchūrikis, you have to do this because only you can do it!"

Jinchūriki?

Power of human sacrifice?

"What're you talking about now?" my question is sincerely smothered in confusion, but she takes it in with a grain of salt.

"Don't play coy with me, girl!" She takes my hand again and shows me the blister from the burn earlier, which has now completely disappeared. "This hand here has witnessed it! You've touched the creature at its hottest flame and yet escape unharmed! Do you know why?"

I don't know if I should—

"That's because you were its chosen vessel right from the start! You're born on the first day of the last month and that boy was born on the last day of the first month—fitting, for the creatures that were never supposed to exist in the first place! There shouldn't be any other being that could withhold so much chakra other than the Bijūs! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is if anyone would've ever found out its worth, knowing that you both are the only ones who could control it?"

What is she talking about?

Aosagi and I—

Wait.

Was this what Aosagi meant?

"That's right," Madam Taiyoo retreats back to her pedestal; her body still trembling—with fear or thrill, I can't say. "Your existence simply corresponds to its own—it wouldn't exist without you and you without it. You are its manifestation in human form, an avatar. You are its… jinkenshiki."

Power of human incarnate?

This way too much to process all at once!

I tug my hands away from her, again. "Look, lady! I've indulged you too much! Now can I please get back to my friends?"

Madam Taiyoo is silent.

She sucks in a quick breath but exhales a lengthy, dragging one.

"Of course," she nods and takes up the crystal ball, staring into it for the briefest of moments before putting it away. "Yes, you're right. It's concerning to think that the War will consume us… and it turns out if you hadn't been here, my kinsmen and I would've been able to return home and indeed, we wouldn't have ever met. The War that should've happened months ago has been delayed by your existence. You really have transformed the way things are supposed to happen: the how, the what and the whys. Still, I shouldn't blame you."

Goodness, she just doesn't know when to quit!

"Momoko, you can find your way in this universe… but only with the help of Aosagi and Benisuzume. You need to find them and unite them—that way you'll resurrect Suzaku and it will save you from your worst fears. Do not let anyone else acquire their powers, not even the one who seeks the chakra fruit—especially them! So do not stop finding them or it will be the doom of you and your loved ones."

"I really havta—"

"If you're concerned about your memories, no need to fear—you've been piecing it together thus far and you're getting real close. You won't even be as much concerned about this… You may not even remember seeing me."

Huh?

"Just remember, Momoko."

A commotion starts right outside our little tent, though the words remain unclear for now.

I stare into Madam Taiyoo's eyes that are slowly turning back to brown.

"To see the future, one only needs to study the past," she raises her eyes to my level and suddenly—

"Moko!" I hear Grandpa crying out, "Where is Moko? Where is my granddaughter?"

"Calm down, Jun!"

"Jun-oji-sama, it's okay!"

"It's been a while, eh, Jun?" someone speaks up—I recognise it being the caravanner with the tarp earlier.

Wait.

What?

I look up to Madam Taiyoo.

Her index finger reaches out for her lips and she hushes.

"You knew my grandfather?" I managed to let out a whimper.

But she couldn't answer.

The curtains are pulled aside so harshly it nearly toppled the whole thing down with us inside it.

Grandpa looks so angry to find Madam Taiyoo and I together that he glares at her before grabbing onto me. He hauled me away from the table and stashed me behind him in one swift motion.

With a pointed finger, he then continues with a snarl, "I thought I've warned you, Taiyoo!"

"You can't hinder the truth from being spoken. Take the child to the Capital and get her into the Academy before it's too late, Jun or believe me, you'll regret it!" she growls back at him.

Kota grabs onto me and whispers, "Your grandpa's real mad now! I can see why he didn't bring you here in the first place!"

I thought so!

"How did he even find me?" I ask him back.

"Well," Kota looks away for a moment, "He must've heard about the caravan returning… and he went rushing here to find out! He just came stormin' by!"

Because he wants me to stay away from it.

Why, Grandpa?

What are you so afraid of?

Why are you scared that I would find out?

"I see," Madam Taiyoo speaks up, "She doesn't even know who you are, Jun. Do you think that's wise? How long will it be before she finds out?"

"Shut up!"

Kota and I both flinch at the sound of Grandpa's yelling.

"That's just like you, Jun—always thinking you'll save everyone by letting ignorance get the best of them."

"Kota!" Grandpa calls out and looks over his shoulder to address us, "Take Moko to your home. I'll follow suit."

Knowing the fragile tension, the boy beside me nods.

I nod too.

I can tell there was a hidden instruction for me and that I should follow him. Before leaving, though, I glance at Madam Taiyoo and she makes a face of determination that looks stone cold; I could tell what it meant, though. I just pretend not to hold the gaze any longer.

I guess… even if I don't really know myself, at the very least I should trust my instinct and its judgement.

I just knew something terrible was brewing around these caravanners.

I hate to think it had it anything to do with Grandpa, though.

Author's Notes:

Hello all! I apologise for the late update, but better late than never. It turns out I still enjoy very much writing in First Person that anything serious (professional attempts at fiction writing) that I do for myself really flops before it goes further (because it's in Third Person!). Anyways, hope you enjoy this one!

every Haru, Sato and Kenji—my version of "every Tom, Dick and Harry" in Japanese. lol

Also, I'll be uploading via the mobile app, so excuse any errors. Thank you for your continuous readership!