Rotted Rowan Chapter 39: I Killed You, a naruto fanfic

Beta: Cyndaquil123

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

Another plan that followed through without a hitch.

The mind control seals were destroyed upon their user's death. The ones Konoha had managed to capture alive chose suicide, so in the end Konoha only had their corpses. Minato had to be suspicious about their movements, but what could he do?

They'd send a team to Suna. By the time they arrived, Guren and Deidara would have flattened the entire village. There'd be enough bijū chakra left over to paint a pretty picture: they lost control of their jinchūriki and attacked Konoha because they had nothing left to lose.

The smarter members of Konoha wouldn't accept such a lie at face value, but they'd have nothing else to go on.

Two of the five major villages were wiped out.

A smile curled my lips as I watched Obito prep dinner for the night. Our students had done impeccably well. No one died or faced serious injury. They were wounded, exhausted, but content with what they had accomplished.

Sakura looked especially happy. She had returned home with a tiny wooden doll. When I asked about it, she blushed and hid it from my sight.

I knew it was Sasori's.

I was happy he was going to take her.

Sakura would be wasted in Konoha. I could manipulate her well enough, but I had to keep up appearances as Naasica. It would be so much easier if someone in the Akatsuki helped coerce her to our side. She had the right heart for it.

Although her susceptibility to pretty faces was a mild concern. I would leave it up to Sasori to correct that, either through grooming her mindset differently or slipping her a poison to render her libido nonexistent.

I had to admit when Sasori told me about such a poison I was tempted to take it for myself. But Obito and Kakashi would throw a hissy fit if I lost that, so I didn't. Sex could be used as a way to comfort and console, on top of being an easy stress reliever.

Naruto set up plates at the dinner table while Kakashi worked on the second stove to prepare Itachi's leek stew. During the invasion, Itachi's fever had returned. Shisui, still at the hospital, promised he'd bring home some medicine when he got off work. For now, Itachi needed rest and nutrients.

Sasuke was trying to one-handedly suture a gash on his leg while Sakura monitored it. Everyone had taken basic trauma care, but Sasuke was determined to be able to suture with one hand. He let out a hiss of pain when he tore his skin and Sakura scolded him, "You're too shaky. Let me finish it."

"No, I can do this," he snapped, pain making him irritable.

"Idiot."

"Not everyone can afford to waste their time daydreaming about their crushes," he snarked. "Who's the doll from? Another pretty boy?"

"Shut up," Sakura growled, her face reddening. "At least I know how to have fun. All you do is train."

"Training is fun, you stupid girl."

"This stupid girl is about to kick your fu—"

"Okay," said Naruto with a loud clap from the dinner table. "Look, the sexual tension is funny to watch and all but now you two are being disruptive."

Sasuke's face heated up. He blurted out, "WHAT?!"

Judging from how flushed he grew afterward, I could assume he hadn't meant to be so loud.

"Ah, to be young," sighed Obito from the kitchen as he placed the salmon in the skillet, skin side down. "Remember having crushes, Kakashi?"

Kakashi gave him a tired look. "No."

"Rin-chan was such a nice girl," chortled Obito. "Good times, good times."

"Stop talking about her," muttered Kakashi.

"Don't be jealous. You know you're my favorite."

I coughed.

"Uhh… I mean…" Obito looked between me and Kakashi. The two of us were raising an eyebrow at him. "S-So-So when's our wedding?"

Kakashi snorted. "Oh, we're getting married now?"

"I'm not having kids for another ten years," I immediately retorted. "And Obito has to swear not to try and feed them pop rocks."

"Aww, come on! Naruto was hilarious."

"He choked!"

"It was hilarious."

"I nearly died," protested Naruto. "That was my first memory."

"It was hilarious," insisted Obito.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

(Kisame)

Kisame whistled to himself as he and his Genin enjoyed their return to Ame. Owari had personally teleported all of them back once they were released from Konoha. His kiddos had done exceptionally well against the invasion. They more than deserved the promotion. He was darn proud of them.

He met up with Sasori in one of the halls on his way to debrief Pein. Sasori, despite having an emotionless face, struck Kisame as happy.

"Something good happen?" Kisame asked the short puppet master.

"What makes you ask that?" he retorted, his tone a touch scathing.

Kisame shrugged. "Not sure. You seem happier."

"I have found someone interesting. One of Owari's students."

"Ah… does Owari know?"

"It was their suggestion."

"Nice. Wish you all the best," said Kisame in good nature. He knew it couldn't be the jinchūriki which meant it was either the Hyūga girl or the civilian. "She coming to Ame?"

Sasori chuckled. "Not yet."

Yet?

"She requires… further care," he said carefully. "She must be raised up a bit more."

"Well, then, happy gardening."

"Thank you."

"Hey, got any more of those mind-control seals?"

"A dozen. Why?"

"I want to use one on Hidan," he said. "I feel like he'd make great target practice for my kiddos."

"I could spare you a couple for such a noble cause."

"Thanks, buddy. You ever need my services, you know where to find me."

Sasori didn't smile, but Kisame knew he was smiling in his heart.

"Will you be heading back to Konoha?" he asked.

"I will be staying there for a while," he admitted. "Kakuzu is more than capable of setting up a new spy network in the Land of Water while I focus on Konoha."

"Does Kakuzu know yet?"

"He'll receive the orders later today. Owari is tending to my identity in Konoha."

"Ooo. What alias are you going to use?'

"My real name. Guren and Deidara would have finished destroying Suna and their records of me by now. There has never been a picture of me in the bingo book, so there is no need for me to set up yet another alias."

"That's boring. You could go by Red."

"My real name is boring, but Red isn't?"

"Yep."

Sasori deadpanned, "Would you like a chance to discuss this with my parents? I can send you to them in a few minutes."

"Ah. I'll have to rain check." Kisame narrowed his eyes, the two men had reached the office doors to Konan's office. They would debrief her and she would pass the information along to Pein.

Instead of going inside, Kisame assessed the puppet boy seriously for several seconds.

"You're the type that would need a safe word, too," he decided.

"Correct," agreed Sasori. "You wouldn't?"

"I'm a happy vanilla."

"Thank you for sharing."

"Sharing is caring, my friend. Sharing is caring."

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

(Hotoro)

Lord Hotoro was slumped over in his office, a pale imitation of his past self. Stress had eaten away at the Land of Water daimyo, devouring what little fat he had to spare. The palace was in shambles—the servants and guards and left—and Hotoro knew it would only be a matter of time before death greeted him.

At least it would bring an end to his shame.

If only he had not ignored Kirigakure.

If only he had not made a deal with Orochimaru.

If only…

Hotoro had passed the point of being able to save his country. One way or another the Land of Water would fall. Earlier that morning he had been given two warnings from the daimyos of the Land of Fire and Land of Lightning.

Mo, the daimyo of the Land of Fire, had demanded restitution in the form of his country.

Tsuzu, the daimyo of the Land of Lightning, demanded that Hotoro not give anything to the Land of Fire.

If he refused either of them, war would break out between Konohagakure and Kumogakure in his country. The citizens that had remained in the country—either due to loyalty or having nowhere else to go—would be caught in the crossfire. What little economy and infrastructure his people had left would be torn asunder.

If he gave in to Mo, Tsuzu would attack. If he agreed with Tsuzu, Mo would attack.

Either way, he was condemning his people to death.

Hotoro did not know what to do. He was at loss for how to fix the situation.

What do I do? Someone…. Please…

Hotoro fell forward into his desk, the stress and anxiety mercilessly tearing into him like a rabid tiger. He trembled, unabashedly sobbing into his arms.

He could not save his people. Hotoro would be the daimyo that brought complete ruin to them.

I'm so sorry… I had not known… I had not known…

Then the door to his office creaked open. Hotoro raised his head, burning eyes staring in disbelief at a beautiful young woman with fiery red hair. She was accompanied by a large man who wore a hood and mask to cover everything but his red-and-green eyes.

The woman approached Hotoro with a look of disgust and pity.

Then she smiled.

"What do you desire?" Hotoro warily asked. Would someone kill him before he had to make a decision? What a mercy.

"We're here to help," she said warmly. "I am Mei of the Akatsuki."

Akatsuki? From the Ame?

Hotoro had only heard whispers of the elite group in Amegakure. Very few people were allowed into the country, and the Akatsuki completely controlled who left. Those that did leave the country were stubbornly loyal. Hotoro had read a report years ago that Sunagakure tried to interrogate a merchant group that had been to Amegakure but all merchants had chosen suicide.

"What does Amegakure want?" the daimyo tiredly asked.

It was then that the man approached the desk. He had been carrying a large scroll that he then rolled out.

"We're here to solve your problems," said Mei.

The man pressed down on the center of the rolled out scroll and an absurdly large pile of money appeared on Hotoro's desk. The money stacked so high that it fell off the desk, creating a small mountain of paper. Hotoro swallowed roughly when he started to calculate exactly how much money was in front of him.

Enough to start rebuilding his country's economy.

"We're here to buy the Land of Water," said Mei. "And make it part of Amegakure. As Ame is not part of Konoha, the Land of Lightning will agree to this and the Akatsuki… have an understanding with Mo."

"Now then," said the man, "let's discuss price."

For the first time in weeks, Hotoro smiled.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

(Naasica)

Clean up after the invasion took precedence over most missions. No teams were allowed outside of Konoha until the defenses had been rebuilt. Most of my time was spent overseeing the reconstruction of the fūinjutsu arrays around Konoha.

Minato had personally redesigned the fūinjutsu bubble around Konoha. It was an impressive design, something even I couldn't have come up with. He had been looking for an opportunity to swap out the old system for the new, and the invasion gave him the perfect chance.

He sent me over to the fūinjutsu defense team and I watched over them as they worked. It was a mind-numbingly boring task that required a sharp mind to meticulously review it. Such a complex design demanded perfection. Not even a smudge of ink could be out of place or it could risk ruining the entire thing.

And if that was ruined upon set up it could cause a massive explosion that would devastate Konoha.

It wouldn't be so dangerous after activated—the arrays would become intangible—but the set up was damn risky. It was a big reason why it hadn't been swapped out previously. The array that was set up over Konoha was the same array Grandmother designed and erected decades ago. But that array would only serve as a detection for intruders. Certainly helpful, but not enough anymore.

Two of the five major villages had been wiped out.

At a glance it was coincidence and bad luck.

But shinobi were not the type to accept facts at face value.

It did not need to be said out loud.

Someone was manipulating events and had successfully taken out two huge villages of powerful and trained shinobi. They had done it without revealing their hand, or possibly even directly interacting with the villages.

They were a threat.

It was flattering, really, to see the crease of concern in Minato's brow when he read the report about Suna's village.

He told me he could not trust anyone else to handle the new set up.

It made me beam. I couldn't hold back my delightfully proud smile when he told me that. Minato smiled back at me, pretty blue eyes sparkling as he reached forward and patted the top of my head.

We both smiled for different reasons.

And so I gladly accepted the task. The new array would not only serve as a detection, but would monitor threats inside the village, and even attack said threats. It would be more than enough to handle lone spies, or anything below Chūnin-level, and it would prove highly annoying to deal with for anyone Jōnin and above.

I crossed my legs, examining my nails as I waited for the fūinjutsu team to finish their work. The fūinjutsu defense team worked in the heart of Konoha in a rather pampered room. There were windows all around to let in a breeze, and each member had a very comfortable place to sit. They would sometimes burn incense which left behind a pleasant lavender-scent.

The room was designed for comfort above all else. They did not need to worry much about defense since they were surrounded by three ANBU stations—the barracks, headquarters, and resting station. They would spend long hours sitting down and constantly supplying the barrier with chakra. It was as boring of a job as one could have.

If they were not on barrier duty, they were researching fūinjutsu arrays, or personally handcrafting fūinjutsu tags for ANBU. Equally boring.

Yet essential.

I fought back my desire to yawn, and in the distance I thought I heard the faintest murmur of a flute playing.

Mn…

It was terribly tempting to take a nap while I waited, but I refrained. It wouldn't look good on me to do so, and I had worked hard to build up my image. I was not going to let a little boredom risk that.

An ANBU membered appeared before me, kneeling respectfully. He was Peacock.

"Senju-sama," Peacock politely greeted. "There is someone here to see you."

"Who?" I asked, surprised. My students were assigned construction duty. Obito was sent out on reconnaissance in Suna—his teleportation was invaluable for quick information—and Kakashi was overseeing the students. Raion was stationed to guard the hospital, and I knew Shisui was on overtime.

"Itachi-san," answered Peacock.

"Ah. Let him in," I said.

Technically not allowed since Itachi was a civilian, but it wasn't a rule that was often enforced since the other workers there would allow their families in for meal times.

Peacock nodded once then disappeared. Itachi entered the room a few minutes later, carrying a wicker basket that smelled delightful. I smiled at the young man, sitting up straight in the purple lounge chair and patting the spot beside me. Itachi smiled briefly in return then took a seat next to me.

He placed the basket on the table before us and said, "I thought we could have lunch together."

"I would be delighted," I said warmly. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yes. No fever this morning."

Itachi had come down sick during the invasion. He had a fever come and go for the past week. It wasn't anything too serious, but we were watchful. Itachi had a compromised immune system that made him more vulnerable to illness than others. Even a simple cold could turn deadly overnight if left untreated for him.

I knew in the canonical story Itachi had a terminal illness, but as yet we had not found anything to hint at such. I suspected he had a perfectly treatable disease that he ignored until it transformed into something fatal.

Itachi pulled out a daintily wrapped bento box, along with a tupperware of cookies that smelled like peanutbutter and chocolate. He handed me the bento box, and I opened it up to find a very cute lunch.

It made me smile. I leaned over and kissed Itachi's cheek affectionately. "Thank you."

"Of course," he said demurely, pulling out his own bento. "When you're done here, would you like to join me for a walk?"

I glanced at the clock. "When we're done eating we can take a walk. It'll be another few hours before they're ready for me to review the arrays again."

"Again?"

"There were some errors in the first few batches. Fifth time's the charm."

Itachi let out a small chuckle. "You have more patience than I."

"I don't know about that," I said. "You're a very patient and kind person, Itachi."

Itachi shook his head, eyes darkening. "If it weren't for you…"

I reached over and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He did not need to finish that statement.

"If it weren't for you, I would have been the one to kill my family."

Itachi did not need to think about that anymore. I had massacred the Uchiha Clan for him, and I had framed Danzō for it.

Although the details of that night are even fuzzy for me. I distinctly remembered the massacre, Itachi finding me, and me comforting Itachi, but I had gaps in my head the hours preceding it and the hours after.

But that could be chalked up to time. It had been years since then, and my memory was not perfect.

The end result was the same and that was all that mattered.

Itachi placed his hand over mine, smiling sadly. "Thank you."

"It goes without saying," I told him. "It is a teacher's job to care for their students."

"I'm grateful," he said quietly.

I squeezed his shoulder. Sensing that Itachi's mood was bordering on grief, I decided to change the subject and asked, "Have you come up with any ideas for what to do for New Years?"

Relieved at the subject change, Itachi straightened up and said, "Actually, yes. I know we normally do a family-only BBQ, but since the boys have bonded so well with their peers, maybe we could invite them?"

"That sounds wonderful. Have you thought about a theme?"

"Raion wants something tropical," said Itachi. "He's seen a lot of brochures about Crescent Moon Island."

"I've heard a lot about it myself," I admitted, frowning briefly. "Hmm. I suppose we could send Obito over there with some of Minato's tags and then we could all visit?"

Itachi's face lit up. "A family vacation?"

"Sure. Put our teleporters to good use," I said with a chuckle.

"That would be nice."

"Great. Let's make it happen. On our walk, let's stop by the office," I said.

Itachi nodded. "Okay."

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

Minato was tentatively excited for a vacation. It would have be a one day thing and he and Obito would have to frequently pop back over to Konoha to make sure no one attacked while so many of the heavy hitters were out of town.

It helped that by then the new barrier would be set up and a lot more defenses would be added in.

Unfortunately for me the fūinjutsu team had not finished writing out the arrays that day. Fifth time was not the charm.

Oh well.

It was late into the evening when I left, and I decided to hit up the grocery store before going back home. Itachi mentioned we were running low on fruits.

I took one step out of the building and then I heard the flute play and—

Everything went dark.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

I opened my eyes as the flute ceased to play.

At once I could see that I was no longer in Konoha. I could not sense any other shinobi or kunoichi within half a kilometer of me. I had struggled with black-outs before, but I had rarely gone outside Konoha from them.

Then I saw an impossibility in front of me.

A gasp slipped out of me, my heart faltering from shock as before me stood Madara. Not the old, dying man I used to visit, but fully revived as a vibrant, young man in a dark cloak. I knew immediately it was him. Even if the Sharingan eyes he used did not belong to him, I could not mistake the intensity of his gaze.

Madara Uchiha had somehow been resurrected.

"Master?" I whispered and—

Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red.

Pain shot through my head and I clutched tightly at it, my eyes screwing up. I fell to my knees, the agony of having my mind being torn in two too much to bear. I could only whimper from the torment inflicted upon me. I—

It—

No—

I—

What—

It—

I—

Could

Not

No. No. No.

Killed you?

Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red.

His hand touched me, cupping my face. He pulled me and forced me to look at him as the pain disappeared at once. He was warm, hot, to the touch, and he smelled of blood and death. I leaned into him, drawing strength from his presence as his strong arms supported me.

"I killed you," I whispered, fragments of memories seeping through the haze of red.

"I got better," he said with a dry smile. "You're not trying to kill me now which means the order has worn off."

"I—"

"Hush," he soothed me. "You're already crying blood."

My right hand rose shakily up to my cheek, surprised to find that it came back with blood.

"What happened?" I whispered.

"This and that. The details are not important—"

"I killed you. They are extremely important."

Madara chuckled quietly, tenderly caressing my cheek. "My pupil, it is of little importance because the end result is the same. If you are desperate to relive those memories I will not stop you. Close your eyes, and tell me what you see."

Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red.

"Red."

"That would make sense."

"No. I mean I literally only see the color red. I have no sense of smell, or touch, or even sound."

"Yes. That would make sense."

"How?" My brow furrowed as I carefully thought. There was another sharp pain as I focused past the haze of the vivid color. What could possibly rewrite my memories in such a way, and what did Madara mean by order?

My body trembled from the pain, but I did not dare stop. No matter how uncomfortable it would get, I would regain that knowledge stolen from me. I had to understand what compelled me to murder the man I held above all others.

And if it was done by someone then I needed to hunt them down like the dirty mutt they were.

Concentrating for another minute I felt a small crack through the window of the color.

"The Uchihas are getting ready to coup," I told Madara. "Minato isn't sure how to handle the situation. Itachi is spying for him, but there's not much he can do. Minato doesn't want genocide, yet there aren't many options left."

Madara was seated at his work bench, his eyes narrowed as he had been studying Sasori's mind-control seal, as well as Minato's hiraishin. "Then it is time to move. I should complete this mind-control seal in an hour. The event will happen tomorrow night."

"Yes, Master."

The Yamanaka chosen was from the ANBU, code name Rabbit. She was an excellent kunoichi. Tiger had introduced us years ago and I had kept tabs on her progress. She was more than willing to meet up with me in private.

We chatted, I flirted, she flirted back. I moved in close, and she dropped her guard as my hands caressed her back.

The mind-control seal was implanted.

She fell limply in my arms like a puppet whose strings were cut.

Well done, I praised Sasori. The seal had been his invention. Madara simply tweaked it to issue out three orders.

One: Possess Danzō.

Two: Take credit for the Uchiha massacre.

Three: Kill yourself in such a way you will never be found.

Possessing Danzō wouldn't be easy. I would need to help her. Catching him by surprise was impossible so a straight-up raid would be preferable. I called forth my ghostly summon to feast upon the ROOT agents that protected Danzō's home while I and Rabbit invaded. Danzō was quick, but we were quicker. I had him pinned under my tree branches before he could even raise a single hand.

But then—

"Who do you work for?"

Red.

"I order you. Kill your master."

Red.

"Naasica? What are you—"

Red.

What have I done?

Red.

The rest to see was impossible. Sweat coated my body from exertion to power through the pain. No amount of training could have prepared me for the debilitating pain that pierced my head. I fell forward into Madara's arms, trembling violently. There were no more memories beyond that, everything too fractured and tinged by Red for me to make any sense of them.

Madara's firm arms were tight around me as he supported my entire weight. In a smooth tone he nonchalantly explained, "You used the Rinnegan to bring me back to life, but the order implanted by Danzō was too powerful. At best, I could rewrite some of your memories, but only time would lessen its effects."

"You've been causing my blackouts," I whispered, the pieces slowly falling into place.

"Yes. I set up a trigger," he confirmed. "I'm pleased that the order has subsided enough that we don't need to continue the pretense."

I could only nod in response.

Madara smiled thinly at me. "Things are progressing well, hime. You should be proud."

I offered him a weak smile in response. "Thank you, Master."

He inclined his head. "Return home. Now that the order is weak enough for you to resist, we can continue to meet up in private."

Sighing softly, I carefully pulled away and bowed. "As you say."

Madara reached forward and placed a hand atop my head. "You've done well, hime."

Intoxicating sweet warmth overtook the pain and aches. The buried grief and longing for Madara was carefully scrubbed away with plain adoration. I had missed the man terribly in the past years, and suddenly seeing him before me I was overwhelmed by intense, raw, emotions. There were so many things I wanted to do, wanted to say, but my discipline held me back. No matter how much I wanted to touch him, or tell him how dearly I missed him, it was not the time or place.

Ever still, I could not resist letting out a small, "I—"

He brushed his thumb over my lips. "Another time, hime. Return before I keep you all night."

A shudder ran through me at his touch.

"Yes, master."

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

This is the end of Part 2. Next chapter will start off where Shippuden originally began. It is the final part of the story.

Question: If you were reborn into the Narutoverse and could have any instructor, who would you want to teach you / make you their apprentice?

Reviews are love!