IMPORTANT NOTICE: AS OF APRIL 8, 2020 I AM REWRITING THIS STORY. It will be published separately, under the name "Arrival". I'm not deleting this version and will continue to update it. Exegesis is the original, crack version of my story: the 'rough draft, get it out of my system, go crazy' outlet. Kind of like an advanced diary(/s, kind of). Read Arrival if you want a more serious story that doesn't have parody porn and more plot-holes than an interstate highway. Humor will stay(toned down) because I love it, but the writing is more polished, mature, uniform, etc. This story will receive new chapters before Arrival does, since I have to rewrite them, and I tend to take my time doing so. Aka there's a LOT to fix. ':)
There is art for this story. If you would like to see it, my deviantart account is tabooemu :) [My tumblr account is itachis-sick-ass-mf-sword if you want more art and also original* Naruto shitposts.]
Sometimes I will leave author notes, and other times author comments - the former are my ramblings, and essentially written how I would 'talk'. I.e. internet speech. The latter (author comments) are formal commentary on the story, usually either literary, plot, or character analysis. Because I'm a nerd and I love to talk about ~ tHe DEePer MeANinG ~
Full Summary: Long ago, two Otsutsuki arrived on Earth- one a progenitor, one forgotten- both lurking in the shadows of history. A millennium later, Madara Uchiha revealed his plan in a declaration of war. No one believed him until a third Otsutsuki appeared; a defector who offered to fight alongside the villages against the insane clan. Humanity saw the face of their true enemy, and was given a choice. One revelation leads to a revolution of values, and the unraveling of a long and invisible thread woven through time. The truth changes everything.
This might be a 'rough draft' but that does not mean I am tuned out from feedback. In fact, I would love to hear your thoughts on this story - especially regarding the general plot(s). Like, seriously. As a bonus, if your comment is particularly insightful you might get to say that you influenced/altered the plot of the finished product! Eh? ehhh? ;) Ok, sorry, I'll leave you guys alone. But I really would love to hear the opinions of all, like, 2 of you that read this(lmao).
Chapter 1: Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind
Present - Land of Fire
Rain pelted against the wooden roof of the small cabin, the loud thrum blocking out all other sounds as he sat and stared out of a squared window. Droplets of water collected on the glass, clinging together and rushing downwards in such a manic expression that it seemed as if they were trying to escape from something. What great terror awaited them that caused even the clouds to shudder and the rain to show fear? The corners of his mouth twitched upwards at such an absurd thought. Many powerful men and beasts had trod the bloodied soil of this planet, yet here he still sat. Bored, and waiting.
An incredible clap of thunder shook the walls and rumbled along the storm front, eliciting a frightened whimper from a figure huddled in the back corner of the room. His nerves tingled with anticipatory rapture as the atmospheric pressure dropped impossibly low, indicating the arrival of his muse. Licking his lips, he stood up and cracked each of his knuckles one by one, groaning from the relieved tension. Turning away from the picturesque chaos, he crossed the room and stood over the bound individual now cowering at his feet. He afforded them a brief moment of pity while he twirled a small mallet between two fingers, not wanting to disrespect the woman who provided him this vessel some years ago. Something inside him dared her to say his name. She did not.
Tap.
Narrow black eyes watched with cold indifference as the body slumped over, a solitary tear dripping down off of her slacked jaw and joining the rain in its pursuit of safety.
"Tell me, what good are mere Kings when contested by the Gods?"
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Tearing through the forest, she left a trail of broken limbs and deep mud-tracks in the wake of the fury that was blurring the edges of her vision and acidifying her blood.
Once those pent up emotions were allowed to run rampant, there was nothing left to keep her inner rage from boiling over and incinerating everything within reach. The mind's eye opened to bring forth the truth from where it hid, a blue sphere of sight emerging from blackened sclera. Two small horns elongated until they were spiraling, deadly appendages capable of extracting agonized screams from whoever dared to venture too close. A red marking on her lower lip blackened and stretched down the center of her chin, continuing across her neck before branching off to cover the rest of her body in geometric patterns. Like a living tattoo, an ominous warning displayed upon her flesh.
Sharp talons of metal and bone displaced her fingers and toes, the combination of platinum and organic tissue glinting in the darkness. New bone formations split from the back of her rib cage and curled behind her like skeletal wings making sense of her floating form. The Rinnegan blinked in her palm, producing a glowing blue Shinkin. Gripping the base, she thrust it into the air and released a feral, otherworldly roar.
A column of lightning struck the sword, called forth by the siren song of salvation.
Obsidian and cyan chakra billowed around her like a cloak, crackling with electricity as the thunder sang out its welcome. An orb of black truth materialized within her palm and she batted it into the earth with the blunt end of the sword. Shock waves of electrified gravity exploded outwards from the point of impact, magnified by the turbulent downpour. The night skies lit up like daytime and nothing could escape being illuminated by her truth. Scorched trees shook violently in its wake, succumbing to their damage and crumbling along with the earth beneath them. Birds flocked to the skies as they fled in terror, narrowly escaping the fate of the flora they nested in.
The ferocity of the storm was a comfort compared to death's incarnate, levitating beneath its front.
As if the rain was quenching the fires within, lucidity quelled her mind once again. The demonic transformation rescinded during the next minute, leaving an unassuming young woman to float calmly in its place. The sole survivor of a divine cataclysm. Scolding herself internally, she glanced around to assess the destroyed woodland and large crater of which she was the epicenter.
"Shit," she cursed. Between her unbecoming language and inappropriate outburst, she could practically feel her father's relentless, unwavering resentment and hear the vitriol pouring from his mouth and suffocating her small form, filling her lungs until she was drowning in an ocean of hate. Such supreme cruelty and ass-holery seemed to transcend dimensions and space-time itself. "I'll kill that evil, demented fucker too. Someday!"
The Otsutsuki King was ruthless, villainous, and corrupted. Pure evil, every cell comprising the disgusting waste of flesh that was his body radiated with malintent and oppression. For her entire life his insatiable need for power and control smothered her, entrapping her in a literal prison built from his antagonism. The closest thing to happiness she had ever experienced was a brief childhood friendship with her elder cousin, Kaguya.
Now that she'd managed to escape, saying she was anything less than lusting for the blood of everyone who swore fealty to her father would be the understatement of an eternity. She was a victim, a survivor on a path towards redemption. Kaguya and her asshole partner Isshiki were the lucky firsts on her intergalactic shit-list.
Poetic, Isshiki leaving her here. Karma can be a real bitch.
"Fuck his damned Credo. After I deal with Kaguya and Isshiki I will come for you, Outosan. My sole purpose is to prevent you from ruining this damned universe, so don't think I am above ending your life. And if- no- when I do," she paused, turning her face to the obscured stars and raising a fist in solidarity. "I will piss on your grave, dattebayo!" she screamed, her words fading into an unholy battle cry that ended up sounding more like a screech.
Torrential rain poured into her open mouth and assaulted the back of her exposed throat, causing her to sputter and flail her arms about, accidentally smacking her hand on one of the now small horns protruding from her forehead. Hissing in pain, she began to angrily tug on her soaked hair, muttering a stream of curses and stomping around in the puddle that had formed under her feet.
"This is the true power of youth!" A voice yelled from the distant treeline.
Head snapping up, she immediately found the source. If not for being so pissed off, she would've been embarrassed by the failure to detect any other chakra signatures. For a natural sensor and possessor of a powerful kekkei mora, it should have been literally impossible to miss a glaring detail such as the three living beings standing fifty meters ahead. Or perhaps she had noticed them, but she was too busy groveling in angst to acknowledge it. That had to be it.
Her ethereal gaze traveled over the three humans- Shinobi, she guessed, judging by the hitai-ates Toneri had told her about- who stood at the edge of her crater. The one who'd spoken was mirroring her raised fist, with his strange bushy eyebrows contorted into an expression of chronic and possibly terminal over-enthusiasm. To his right was a muscular woman with chocolate colored buns on either side of her head, mouth agape with abject horror. She wondered how much they had seen, hoping they'd missed her unsightly transformation. The truth stood to the left of the green dude, where a tall man with long black hair and bright violet eyes was staring at her in a mixture of disgust and confusion.
Damn, they probably saw.
They all looked to be around her age. Or at least, whatever the human equivalent of her maturity stage was. Panicking, she impulsively probed their minds for information, starting with the man who had yelled at her. Intruding like this without consent was an idea that normally repulsed her, but she was too disoriented and emotional to resist the temptation.
Finding nothing particularly useful or intelligible from the green man, she moved on to the woman, who assessed the urgent situation and decided that their leader needed to be informed. Toneri had shared something about these 'Kage' that led the villages or something. Useful, but perhaps the other man could tell her more.
"I don't think I've ever seen such a revolting woman in my life, assuming it even is one. Female anatomy should not be contorted like that, it has to be a crime against nature. This is it. This is the woman who cursed my dick. My libido will never recover from this."
Focusing her gaze on the tall man, his thoughts were injected into her like venom; she would need thicker skin going forwards.
"YOU!" she yelled, floating towards him and pointing a finger in accusation. The femininity of her voice compared to what they had seen and heard five minutes ago only added to their confusion and dread. For all they knew she was some kind of succubus who had recently broken through the gates of the underworld, and likely not a talented one.
No panties had ever been twisted like hers were in that moment. His eyes flickered from her face down to the space between her feet and the ground, and back up again. He took a step away from her and thrust a kunai between their bodies, like that would somehow shield him from the scorned woman's wrath. Seemingly breaking from their trance, the other two ninja joined in, jumping to either side of him to set a defensive stance. Paying no mind to their movements, she kept her gaze locked onto his violet eyes.
"How dare you objectify me right now, you pervert! I'll have you know that I have a barren field of fucks to give about whether or not you think I'm worthy of your expired dick milk. Believe it or not, I have a conscience, and I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing how devastated your left hand would be were I to steal away its soulmate. In fact, I'm starting to feel bad about all those trees I killed because now there are even less of them to replace the oxygen you waste. It must have been a sad day when you slithered out of the abortion bucket." She flew off the handle, squeezing every last drop of her anger out and spitting it at him. The man's stoic expression shattered and his eyes widened in shock, mouth falling open slightly as she finished.
Neji was not expecting her, or anyone, or anything other than an out-of-line Yamanaka to read his thoughts. And she definitely was not related to Ino. Upon closer inspection it was possible that she was pretty, but behind the dirt, rain, and unflinching scowl on her face it was hard to tell. Besides, the complexion and skin markings didn't line up either. In fact they almost looked like...no, not possible. Furthermore, he had never been so thoroughly roasted by a woman. The pure anger behind her words was mildly arousing, which in turn was absolutely disgusting. Was he a masochist or something? A light blush crept up his cheeks, prompting him to quickly regain his composure and narrow his eyes at her in equal accusation.
"Who are you, and why are you destroying the forest outside of the leaf? Do you intend to physically attack us?"
The rain was slowing, and the blade of his kunai glinted in the light of the setting sun that managed to peek through a gap in the clouds, casting a reddish glow onto their faces. Despite his impressive dismissal of her tirade, she could feel the fear radiating from all of them. It was almost laughable, trying to hide strong emotions from a virtual empath. She wondered if they even knew what she was. Surely Kaguya would have made an impression here? Her trail had gone cold, so she must have stayed on this planet.
They faced off in awkward silence as Aratashiki got a closer look at the three shinobi. Her gaze traveled up and down the apparent leader of the trio who was threatening her with a knife. She was fully prepared to whoop his ass into last week, but decided to size him up first as she didn't want to kill anyone. His features were sharp and regal, in contrast to her own feminine complexion, and long hair that she now realized was dark brown- not black- framed the pale skin of his face. He was actually attractive. What luck, she'd just hopped off the space train and already met a hottie. Once she was done being a hypocrite, she met his eyes again, gasping in shock when she realized what was in front of her.
This man possesses the Byakugan, he must be one of Kaguya's descendants. Surely he or his family will know where she is, or at the very least where she was last seen.
Unbeknownst to her, her shameless scrutiny had only added to the group's discomfort. They each felt exposed and violated by her unintentionally salacious gaze.
"Miss," the man wearing a questionable green jumpsuit, piped up. "I appreciated your honest review of Neji, but I cannot offer any compensation at this time. We must apprehend you and return to the leaf village!"
Aratashiki scoffed at the insult, jerking her head back and placing her hands on her hips. "You can't arrest me! Do you know who I am-"
"No, we don't, and you are wreaking havoc inside our territory. During a war, no less. Which is precisely why we must apprehend you." Neji growled at her, cutting her off and activating his Byakugan in preparation for a fight.
"Oh, that little mess?" Aratashiki glanced over her shoulder at the patch of forest she had decimated. "I can patch that up. One sec."
"Hey," Tenten yelled, "what is she doing?"
Facing away from the leaf shinobi, she stretched her arms forward and captured the landscape within the gaze of the Rinne Sharingan on each palm. Intertwining her chakra with the surrounding nature's energy, she rotated her hands- as if turning knobs in opposite directions- to strengthen her connection. The combined chakra traced the subatomic trajectories of the displaced material back to its static position, and she reconstructed it by using the quantum after-image like an intricate puzzle. Slowly, she reverted the broken landscape back to its previous state.
The rain had completely stopped by that point, and when she finished, she ran her fingers through her long silvery hair to try and dry it out. With a contented sigh, she pulled it over her shoulder and began braiding the strands, admiring her artistry for a moment. Turning back to the awestruck trio, she offered them an innocent smile and continued to braid her hair while addressing the group.
"You were saying something about a war, but rest assured: I come in peace."
Neji and his compatriots gawked at the area behind her. Not a branch was out of place. "How did...who are you?"
"Dai saishi Otsutsuki Aratashiki," she gave a sarcastic bow. "Keep an eye out for any secret doors that might've opened up now."
They didn't appear to understand her self-deprecating joke. Waving a hand in dismissal, Aratashiki's features hardened in determination as her blue eyes met his. She was sick of being rained on and had a growing curiosity to satiate.
"Anyways. I don't have time to explain what I don't have time to explain. Take me to your leader!" she demanded.
In a flash Neji was behind her, binding her arms with a thread of chakra while Tenten pressed a kunai to her throat. Neji forced her down by the shoulders until her feet sank into the thick mud. Great, now she was even filthier than before.
"Wait, she said she came in peace! Let's not escalate the current situation!" the strange green man exclaimed.
Nice to see at least one of them has manners! Though it could also be stupidity.
"Not now, you imbecile!" Neji snapped at the man who had spoken.
Aratashiki could have escaped effortlessly, but decided it was in her favor to play along. Besides, she had already wasted enough of her chakra, and was rather excited by the prospect of seeing a human settlement. So far they were engaging creatures. Endearing, even. Man, first contact and she was already catching feels for humanity. This was...a good sign? Maybe.
Neji shoved her forwards as Tenten clutched onto her side, and began marching Aratashiki in the direction of what she assumed was 'the leaf'. She frowned when her warden leaned down to whisper in her ear.
"I can see how much chakra you have. It's inhuman. Why haven't you killed us?"
"Like I said, I come in peace. And I already am starting to like you guys, which is really generous considering the shit inside of your head." She turned her head to glare at her captor. "Pretty rude of you to assume I'm some killer, you know!"
"Pretty rude of you to invade my privacy and then throw a hissy fit when you don't like what you find. After all, you were the one screaming about murder after transforming into a flying, demonic version of yourself. Additionally, you called forth lightning and used it to instantaneously destroy kilometers of forest. Lastly, you erased all of the damage like it was no big deal. Or have you already forgotten about all of that?"
"Point taken, and I apologize for projecting my fury onto you. But, you're still a sexist pervert." Aratashiki yanked her wrists from his grasp, careful not to break the bindings, and stomped forwards, spraying mud in her wake.
"Hey, watch it! Grab her, Lee!" Tenten said. Lee picked up his pace to follow her, but made no attempt at physical contact.
"I'm not running away, so no need to act all gangster. You're just slow." Aratashiki rolled her eyes and continued moving.
"You don't even know where the village is," Neji reminded her, jogging to catch up and seizing her arms once again. She felt the sharp tip of a kunai poking the base of her spine.
"And? I'm a sensor, it can't be too hard to find." In her mind, Aratashiki was imagining a giant leaf with humans hiding underneath it. Admittedly not the most realistic conjecture, but a girl could dream.
Shooting her a look of disdain, Neji replied. "Then by all means, lead the way. We are heading for Konohagakure; you're in the Land of Fire."
"Wow, what a creative name." Aratashiki's voice was thick with sarcasm. "For a supposed land of fire, it sure is pretty wet"
"Stop talking and move. Please."
She was dying to bite back, but swallowed her pride to comply with his demand. After all, he did say please.
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Land of Fire - Warring States Era
The symphony of battle pervaded the area around him. Swords clashed, armor clattered, flesh tore, men grunted and screamed as they ripped the lives out of one another, all composing a magnificent orchestration. Suffocating; the stench of death and blood and earth clung to everything like a noxious fog. His lungs burned, ragged breaths forcing their way out of his dry mouth, desperate to gather more oxygen for his tired lungs and aching muscles.
Izuna Uchiha had never felt more alive.
Dipping and dodging around the blows of his enemies, Izuna displayed his impressive skill and expertise in taijutsu even without the use of the sharingan. He cut down the Senju's men left and right using his katana, the blade a vessel for his hatred of the rival clan. Blood sprayed across his face and wet his black hair as he slit the throat of the shinobi in front of him. Licking his lips, he grinned victoriously and watched as the body collapsed, the partially decapitated head of some poor fool bouncing against the rocks. Lifeless eyes stared into the sky, and for a brief moment Izuna wondered what it was the dead were seeing, why they were always looking up.
A flash of white hair caught his attention, coaxing him back into the fray of combat. Metallic ringing filled his ears when his blade crashed against Tobirama Senju's shinkin. The rest of the world fell away, a deafening silence taking over his mind while he fought ferociously against his sworn nemesis. Sharingan crimson challenged albino red, their gazes locked as they danced around death, guided by the melodic cries of their fallen clansmen.
The man in the moon came down too soon.
Eyes snapped to the horizon at the behest of the stranger's voice inside of his head. It was night. The stars winked down at him, the unknown beckoned. Only a moment ago, it was mid-morning. How long had he been fighting? The battlefield was now soundless, the air stagnant. Warmth pooled around him, thick with the scent of iron. Blood. His blood, spilling from the mutilated tissue that was formerly his abdomen, cradling his body as it grew cold.
He blinked up at the sky. The moon swallowed his vision, consumed his soul, his everything. Madara and the moon. His brother. The only two things that mattered.
The night was dark, too dark. When did the sky become so dark?
He was unable to look away from its omnipotent gaze. Blood red, rings swirling with tomoe. The moon will take care of him. It is everything. It is infinite.
Izuna understood now, why the dead were always looking up.
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Present - Konohagakure
They arrived at the so-called village less than an hour later. Aratashiki was unimpressed, to say the least. The village sat in the center of what seemed to be a massive crater. A wide road cut through the middle, surrounded by newly constructed buildings. The buildings were mostly small and wooden, with some larger constructs in progress. Practically everything was wood, now that she looked closer. Did they not have other materials? What a massive fire hazard, perhaps that's why it's called the Land of Fire . Aratashiki's eyes were drawn to a mountain just beyond the far edge of the crater, where the faces of four men and one woman were sculpted into the rock. Judging all of the people below with their stony eyes and upturned noses.
"What the hell happened here? And what's with those creepy faces?" she asked, stopping to take in the sorry state of their home.
"You're not in a position to be asking questions," Neji replied, jabbing the kunai into her back to get her moving again. He knew that what he said was bullshit- given what he had just seen- but he honestly didn't know what else to tell her in this fucked situation they'd gotten into.
Aratashiki huffed in annoyance but stopped her questioning for the moment, subtly turning her palms towards the ground. "Fine, I'll just see for myself."
In true ignoramus fashion, she wasted an ass load of chakra searching memories until she found the thing that had caused such destruction. Some emaciated red-haired dude with a bunch of emo ginger puppets, who was stopped by another dude with the complexion of a tennis ball. And no, not with chakra or a jutsu, but with an emotional monologue. The man had a good message, but the success of it was a bit absurd. Angry-skeleton's eyes, though, were a point of interest.
'Pain', huh? A human with the rinnegan...and he even learned the Inochi no uta! But it seems he lacked the chakra to survive it. How intriguing...perhaps there is more to this species than meets the eye, if they can evolve that dojutsu. I knew there was a reason I felt drawn to them, other than being visited by Kaguya.
She nearly collapsed from exhaustion and the brief but explosive migraine that always accompanied use of that ability. With Tenten now supporting her arms to keep her upright, the group guided Aratashiki off of the main road towards a small wooden home set apart from the rest. As in, located away from them. It was just as drab as the rest. Who puts their leader in such a crappy place? Sheesh. The exterior was surrounded by serious looking shinobi who tensed and withdrew their weapons upon the group's approach.
"We must speak with the Lady Hokage urgently!" Lee said, raising his hands up as if to calm the guards. At that moment, Lee couldn't have calmed a rock even if his life depended on it.
As expected, they didn't stand down. Just as Aratashiki opened her mouth to speak, a young woman with short black hair and a small pink animal in her arms stepped out from behind a curtain covering the entry. The creature in her arms squealed in terror while the woman startled in reaction to Aratashiki's foreign appearance. She began frantically swatting the curtain covering the doorway, not taking her eyes off of the visitor.
"Lady Tsunade! Lady Tsunade, I think you should see this person!"
An annoyed voice grumbled from within the hut. "Shizune, just bring them to me, dammit!"
"Uh, y-yes Lady Tsunade!" The woman, Shizune, approached their group cautiously, staying at a safe distance. A very safe distance, such that it was almost offensive. Really, Aratashiki was not scary looking, especially when compared to the vast majority of her clansmen. Shizune finally tore her eyes away to address her captors. "Neji, bring her inside. Tenten, Lee- go find Kakashi. Now!"
The latter two scurried off to find this mysterious 'Kakashi' person while Neji forced Aratashiki to walk forwards again. Shizune held the curtain open, leaning as far away from her as possible when she entered. A blonde woman with a large bosom and a small rhombus marking her forehead sat behind a low wooden table, empty ramen bowls piled high on either side of her. It seemed like she had just rolled out of bed. Two guards were positioned at both ends of the room, each with their hand over their weapon pouches. Aratashiki used her sensory abilities to examine the figure in front of her.
Impressive chakra for a human; she is definitely their leader. That mark on her forehead almost looks like karma, and it seems to be connected to her chakra pathways. Lady Tsunade, the other woman had called her. I wonder…
Aratashiki let out a small giggle, breaking the chakra threads binding her wrists so that she could cover her mouth with her hand to stifle the rest of her laugh. Tsunade opened her eyes and scowled, slamming her fist on the table. "Something funny?" Large brown eyes finally looked in her direction, widening as they tried to comprehend what she was looking at.
"Well, you have so much chakra, I just wondered if...if your breast size allowed you to store more..." Aratashiki slapped her other hand over her mouth, immediately regretting the statement. She had a strange curse that would flare up every once in a while, often in important situations. It rendered her incapable of appropriate verbal responses, causing her to say embarrassing and sometimes completely nonsensical things.
Shizune, Neji, and Tsunade all gaped at her while she started to blush. Neji coughed and fumbled his kunai, dropping it onto the floor where it landed with a soft thud. The sound seemed to dispel Tsunade's shock, and she threw her head back to let out a loud cackle, clutching her sides and knocking over several bows in the process. Shizune began to giggle nervously, while Neji remained completely silent and as stiff as a board.
The distress emanating from the man nearly drowned out the playful aura surrounding Tsunade. After a few moments, Tsunade regained control of her breathing and settled down, fanning her face while looking up at Aratashiki.
"Who- no, what- the hell are you?" she asked.
"I am High Priestess Aratashiki Otsutsuki, daughter of Emperor Junichiro Otsutsuki of the Otsutsuki clan. I am here to inquire about the whereabouts of Kaguya Otsutsuki." Aratashiki finished her painfully flowery introduction with a deep bow of respect. Best to stick to formalities on the off-chance they'd already endured the misfortune of being made cognizant of her father's existence.
Tsunade gave her a look of bewilderment. "Otsutsuki clan, you mean the clan that was wiped out? What emperor?"
Aratashiki could see the thoughts racing through her mind as Tsunade tried to piece together the information. Although tempted again, she resisted the urge to probe the woman's thoughts out of respect. That was a habit she could not allow to form.
"What are your intentions?"
Clearing her throat, Aratashiki repeated her earlier statement. "As I said, Hokage-sama, I simply wish to locate Kaguya Otsutsuki. I neither intend to nor am I interested in harming you and your people. Forgive me for saying this, but if that were my intention you would be long dead."
Misinterpreting her words as a threat, the two guards drew their weapons and advanced towards Aratashiki. Oops. At times she had a way with words, and other times not so much. When it came to the shit she came up with, the odds were good but the goods were odd.
Tsunade stood, holding out her arms to halt their advance. "Stand down."
Both shinobi stopped, but did not retreat or stow their weapons. The tense silence that followed was only broken when a grey-haired man with a mask covering half of his face stepped into the room. Immediately, she got mega-douche vibes. The arrogant kind. Aratashiki's gaze latched onto him, taking notice of the Sharingan in his left eye. When their eyes met she opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Tsunade. A blessing, as she was probably about to say something divisive.
"Kakashi, thank you for coming on such short notice. Everyone else, out!" Shizune and the guards began to leave, and Neji's presence behind her retreated as he tried to escape. "Not you, Neji. Stay here."
Squashing his discontent with a short bow, Neji resumed his position slightly behind and to the side of Aratashiki. She cursed to herself, suddenly remembering the state of her appearance and feeling self-conscious.
I can't negotiate looking like this! What a disaster. I should just...no, I shouldn't. No. At this rate I'm going to be out of chakra if that attack. But...ugh, fuck it. Yes, I really, really should.
Tsunade began speaking. "This is-"
Twitching her fingers discreetly, Aratashiki used her rinnegan and slowed time to an infinitesimal crawl. Letting loose a dramatic sigh she quickly rolled out her tense shoulders, needing to hurry before her chakra was completely depleted. She created a specular reflection of herself by gathering moisture from the air and pooling it into a smooth surface.
"Fuck, I can't believe I've been looking so ratché this entire time…"
Heat rose to her cheeks as fresh embarrassment set in. Her hair was dry- tinted yellow-brown from dirt and kami knew what else- and her braid was lopsided. There was blood smeared on her horn from when her hand whacked it. She brought the hand in question to her face, but the wound was already healed. Looking down, she saw that mud caked her bare feet and legs, and the pale blue kimono she adorned was now tattered and stained.
Fucking A. What a great first impression she was making.
Raising her arm to her face, she gave it a good sniff and recoiled from the pungent odor of ozone and dirt.
Kaguya would never let herself look this bad, and I refuse to be one-upped by a thot like her.
Aratashiki did a little jumpy dance to motivate herself and then got to work, using more water from the air to scrub the grime and dirt away. Clean and wet, she gathered chakra around her hands and used it to dry everything out. Consulting her reflection for support, she wove her hair into a much more elegant braid than the first. The kimono was a disaster, but so was her life. Besides, maybe it would make her look tough or something.
Feeling much cleaner and satisfied enough with her appearance, Aratashiki blinked and returned time to its usual pace while trying not to let her renewed exhaustion show.
"-Aratashiki Otsutsuki." Tsunade stopped as they all stared at Aratashiki, who was smiling innocently.
Seizing the conversation before any comments were made regarding how and when she took an invisible shower, Aratashiki turned to the man named Kakashi. "I see you possess the sharingan. Are you a descendant of Kaguya as well?"
Kakashi raised an eyebrow, but did not answer. Instead, he turned to Tsunade, the two exchanging a knowing look. "Absolutely no one can know about this, especially not outside of the village. Not until we know more."
"I know. This has to remain completely confidential," Tsunade replied, with a pointed glance towards the Hyuga. "And, there is only one other village official with any knowledge on the 'Otsutsuki' clan." Their gazes turned simultaneously and landed on Neji, who was confused and becoming more agitated with each passing minute.
"I'm afraid I don't understand what I have to do with any of this," Neji stated.
Aratashiki was relieved by the prospect of at least one of these clans having knowledge of their ancestry.
"Not you," Tsunade said, folding her hands together and resting her chin on top of them. "Your clan head."
ooooooo
AN: This might be a 'rough draft' but that does not mean I am tuned out from feedback. In fact, I would love to hear your thoughts on this story - especially regarding the general plot(s). Like, seriously. As a bonus, if your comment is particularly insightful you might get to say that you influenced/altered the plot of the finished product! Eh? ehhh? ;) Ok, sorry, I'll leave you guys alone. But I really would love to hear the opinions of all, like, 2 of you that read this(lmao).