AN: Chapter two of this Challenge story... Hello Headache, I thought I'd get some relief from you for a bit. Too much to hope for I guess.
Now then.. the status of the pairing... I have been advised to leave it as Naru/Kushi, and I think I agree. This Kushina really doesn't seem the type to share. But! I may be heading to a double-pairing! ... Let's see how it pans out, yeah? There would be little point in using Bleach characters if I didn't use one in a pairing, right?
Updated as of: April 1, 2016
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, High School DxD, or Bleach!
Chapter 02: Well, That's Harsh
Kushina would admit she was enjoying herself. Naruto was a far more interesting person than she had original expected, and had some stories that were wild even by Uzumaki standards. Yes, she was warming up to the idea of becoming this young man's Life Partner. She had even admitted to herself that she thought he was kinda cute, and maybe a bit handsome too.
Naruto had ditched the bow tie early on in the tour he was giving her, and had simply left his shirt done up. Kushina liked the look. She thought it made him seem more of the polite rogue, the dashing wild man. Naruto, on the other hand, was just glad to get rid of the stupid thing. He had no idea why that had ever been created in the first place and, in his humble opinion, they should have drawn and quartered the idiot who though of it!
Currently, the two of them were resting on a bench in a rather lush outdoor garden that he hadn't been to since his mother died. It had been her place, the one area where you could almost always find her. Now it was the source of painful, but dear memories. Memories of happy times spent with his mother.
"So you don't come here at all anymore? Then who takes care of it?" Kushina asked. After all, without a certain amount of care the plants would have gone wild or died, so obviously someone was tending to the garden.
"Toushiro's wife, Rangiku, formerly of the Matsumoto Extra Devil Family, has a surprisingly green thumb. Shocked the hell out of all of us, him not the least," Naruto chuckled. That memory was rather funny, as apparently Toushiro hadn't known of his wife's talent with plants. Considering how much that woman drank, it was even more surprising that her liver still functioned!
"Wait, that short, white-haired guy is married?" She was surprised. The man looked young, even by devil standards, and yet he was married?
Naruto pulled a picture from inside his jacket, depicting Toushiro and a tall, blonde woman with incredibly obvious assets. Those things were on Tsunade's level! How the hell had he managed to snag that from the market?!
And why did Naruto have that picture on him?
As if sensing her question Naruto smirked, "before you ask, I carry pictures of all my Peerage and their families for reference, and because sometimes I like to embarrass them."
She giggled, "so, what other surprising or embarrassing stories do you have?"
Naruto grinned widely, but waved a finger in Kushina's face, "Uh-uh! That's not how it works, Ksuhina-chan. I told you one, now it's your turn."
She pouted at him cutely, "but I don't carry pictures! I thought this would be a boring deal with nothing but officious and dull people!"
"Well, then tell me more about yourself," he smiled softly, and she decided she liked the look, "I'm afraid I don't really know much about you. Other than what's published, of course, but that's hardly a good way to try and know someone."
Kushina's expression melted from her pout into a genuine smile of her own, "okay. But! Only if you do the same."
Naruto chuckled, "I suppose it's only fair."
XXXXXXXX- Break -XXXXXXXX
"What do you suppose our King's are talking about, Madara-san?"
"I have the feeling that we either do not wish to know, or are the subject ourselves, Unohana-san." The man replied, his serious nature showing through.
"Hm, I do hope my King is not spreading those stories of his. While entertaining, some are not for others to hear," Retsu said, her smile never wavering. In the distance, however, she saw Naruto shiver slightly and her gaze softened a tiny bit. The two of them had followed just to make certain that nothing untoward occurred, but the two teens seemed to be hitting it off famously.
She would admit to having been infatuated with the young man some years before, said emotion having been part of the reason she accepted her position as his Queen. But over the past two years, she found herself feeling more like his now-deceased mother, than a possible romantic interest. It had been something of a blow to the woman, but she reasoned it was probably for the best. If she could be diverted so easily, it was simple infatuation, not love, even if she wasn't certain just where she stood on that subject just yet.
Madara saw the slight change in her expression, but decided against making a mention of it. It was hardly a new concept for some people to allow themselves to be reincarnated through the system simply because of a spur-of-the-moment attraction. There had been rumors that Grayfia Lucifuge, who held the title of Strongest Queen, was one such. The rumors were proven false, but theyhad started the idea in young romantics that a King should have his Queen as his wife. Or her husband, as the gender of the King may be.
What an unmitigated disaster that was! The number of bad pairings was astronomical, and though the birth rate was rather high for those few years, the number of divorces was nearly as high. It affirmed a rule Madara had made for himself: never date your co-workers! Some of those pairs worked out, but not nearly enough for him to abandon that little nugget of wisdom.
He had said as much to Kushina when he agreed to take up the position of Queen in her Peerage. The girl had been relieved as she apparently agreed with the concept. That had earned her no few points in Madara's good graces, and his cooperation on numerous pranks.
An Uchiha man with a sense of humor... scary.
"I agree. There are some stories that should not be shared. At least, not without consent," he said, "but it seems I may have been incorrect."
"Hm? How so?" Retsu looked at him.
Madara jerked his chin in the direction of the two teens, "I haven't seen that expression on Kushina-sama's face in many years. Not since her parents passed, and she was left in the care of Mito-sama."
Looking back, Retsu noticed the soft smile on the young girl's lips, "I see what you mean. But she isn't the only one. Outside of his pranks, Naruto-sama hasn't been this animated since Kana-sama's death either."
Madara could only nod. He knew the pain of losing a loved one, every member of Kushina's Peerage had felt it at one time or another, so he could sympathize with the young man. His most recent tragedy being his own wife, not ten years ago. The marriage may have been arranged, but that woman had been the light in his life from the moment they met on their wedding day.
Madara found himself wishing that these two could find the same kind of love in their marriage that he had found in his.
A soft hand placed itself on his shoulder, and he looked down to see it belonged to Retsu, who held an understanding look in her eyes. She, too, knew that pain.
Retsu would be the first to acknowledge that not all forms of pain were the same, even in principle. The wounds of the heart were by far the worst, and could easily cause wounds within the mind. If left alone, those wounds could fester and lead a person to complete madness. To see the depths of Madara's pain within his eyes, she could only wonder at his inner strength to refuse to fall into the madness that no doubt assailed him.
The "Uchiha Massacre" was practically a legend for devil kind. Ten years previously, several devil clans and Extra Devil families came together to do their level best to be rid of the Uchiha. They were afraid of the Uchiha's special Mystic Eye, the Sharingan, a power said to see through everything, capable of copying even the most intensely trained techniques with ease, with hidden power even further within.
The assault almost succeeded, primarily because Madara hadn't been home at the time. However, he had chosen that night to make a surprise visit to him clan home, only to discover the attempt on his family. Flying into a rage, the powerful Uchiha Matriarch had utterly crushed every last opponent, and when he was done, he had been left with only three Uchiha aside from himself.
Mikoto and her two sons, along with Madara were the last of the Uchiha line. Madara, Mikoto, and Sasuke had found their way into Kushina's Peerage through the offer of Mito. Whereas Itachi, Mikoto's elder son, decided to return the favor dealt his family, and ravaged the homes of those who had dared to raise their hands against the Uchiha. Following that he disappeared, no one had seemingly heard from hims since, and his revenge had become just as legendary as the Uchiha Massacre itself.
"You can't let the madness overtake you, Madara-san," Retsu started, only to be interrupted by a raised hand.
"I'm not going to, Unohana-san, my King and fellow Peerage need me too much. But that night will never leave me." He said solemnly.
A nod of understanding was her response. What more could she really say? He knew, she knew, and that was all that was needed.
Though Retsu decided to be a little more daring, and captured Madara's arm in hers, and rested her head on his shoulder. Considering he didn't move to make her let go, she counted that as a good sign. Retsu would readily admit to another fact: she found this man interesting.
"You know, if your grandson, or whatever he is to you, goes through with what he's thinking, death would be far more pleasant." She said nonchalantly.
Madara chuckled, "oh yes. He'll have two pranksters and the rest of us on him."
XXXXXXXX- Break -XXXXXXXX
"I think we've hit the proverbial nail on the head, don't you, Mito?" Namikaze Haruo asked, his blonde hair showing minor signs of his age in the few gray hairs at his temples.
"A Match of the Underworld, Haruo," Mito replied, her tone dry as sandpaper. Watching the two teens from across the room, she couldn't quite keep the smile from her face.
The man winced, "oh come now, surely it can't be that strong." Not seeing any support of his statement from the venerable woman, he turned to her husband who just smirked and shook his head.
"No way, Haruo. You're a good friend, but I live with this woman. I'm not getting on her bad side for your sake," Hashirama said. He knew better than almost any other man just what his wife could or would do to someone who annoyed her, and he just knew that disagreeing in this instance would definitely so more than "irritate" her.
"Traitor," Haruo mumbled, his glare doing nothing more than increase the other man's grin.
"Such a good boy," Mito cooed in a sweet purr, running one hand along her husband's jaw, "I'll be certain to reward you later, Hashi-kun."
Hashirama's grin grew even bigger, if that was possible.
Haruo shook his head, a small grin of his own showing through, "I suppose if my dear Kana were still around to offer such things, I'd be agreeing with her as well."
Mito just gave her own grin, "and now you understand that it is truly the women who run the world."
Both men burst into laughter, "yes, yes I suppose in that regard you certainly do." Haruo said as he gasped for breath.
"Though I don't like the look in young Sasuke's eyes, it makes me wonder if he inherited his father's madness," Hashirama mused out loud.
Mito and Haruo sobered instantly. "Yes," she said, "it seems that may be the case. If so, I pity the child for it was Madara himself who executed the punishment upon Fugaku. I have no doubt he would not hesitate to do the same to Sasuke."
"And that's not even taking into account what Naruto would do," Haruo said seriously. Seeing slightly questioning looks on his long-time friends he explained, "Naruto holds only one thing in contempt above betrayal: rape. Should young Sasuke attempt such a thing, Naruto will, without doubt or hesitation, respond in ways too horrible to really mention." Witnessing somewhat disbelieving expressions take hold, he made one last point, "Touji Mizuki."
Both Mito and Hashirama winced. Touji Mizuki was once a rising Extra Devil some years back, said to be exceptional at infiltration and stealth, he was even being considered to become a teacher at a prestigious school for underworld children. However, it had been discovered the man had not only filched secrets from his own employers to sell to their counterparts, he was caught in the attempted defiling of a young devil girl.
Once arrested, he was sentenced to spend the remainder of his life in a Triple-Max prison, a place where you were sent to be forgotten. However, when the convoy arrived at the prison they opened the doors of the holding vehicle only to find that Mizuki had been brutally, and thoroughly, destroyed in body and mind. He was still alive, but only by the barest of margins. Rushed to the prison's infirmary, he was discovered dead later, supposedly having managed to take his own life.
No one had any idea how he came to be so badly damaged. According to the statements taken, none of the guards had heard anything, smelled anything, or even felt like something might be off. Official records deemed Mizuki's death a suicide, but many doubted it. They simply had no proof though, and so what exactly occurred remained a mystery.
Now though, Namikaze Haruo was as good as saying it was Naruto who had done that. The "how" was currently irrelevant, and Mito had a feeling knowing would possibly impress the original Maou, but to know it had been done by that smiling and seemingly polite boy was a shock to Mito and Hashirama. The very idea seemingly forced a question from the woman.
"Why did your son do that?" She asked, stunned.
Haruo took a sip from a wine glass in his hand, "it was a formal client request. The girl's own parents, as a matter of fact. The girl herself was a reincarnated devil, and her parents were magicians who had moved to the underworld to escape some trumped up charges in the human world. Seeing as they were still human, they made the request on the first flier they found, and it just so happened to be one of Naruto's."
Mito's gaze turned to the doors Kushina and Naruto had left by, her expression unreadable. Hashirama became worried a moment later when a beatific smile appeared on his wife's face. That smile never meant anything good.
"Well then, in that case I believe I'll entrust Kushina's safety to Naruto earlier than expected," she said, the smile never leaving her face.
Hashirama and Haruo shivered in tandem. Damn, that was a scary woman!
XXXXXXXX- Break -XXXXXXXX
It was nearly midnight when a shadowed figure crept through the hallways, their destination set in mind. Approaching a set of double doors, they quietly opened one, and slipped inside, quickly closing it again. Taking a moment, the figure oriented itself to the room layout and approached a bed containing a single, sleeping figure.
Moonlight from a large window illuminated the figure, revealing Uchiha Sasuke. Dark eyes gleamed in the night as he raised his left hand, enclosed around the handle of a large dagger. Swiftly, he plunged it down into the sleeping figure, once, twice, three times, a maniacal smile on his face.
A gruff voice sounded behind him, "what are you doing, Sasuke?"
Standing there in the reopened doorway, was Uchiha Madara still in the suit from earlier... and he was smirking? Okay, not the reaction Sasuke was expecting from his ancestor.
"I'm killing the buffoon who has attempted to take Kushina away from me, what does it look like?" The boy sneered. Killing Namikaze Naruto would invalidate the arranged marriage and allow Kushina to freely choose him to be her husband, and true owner!
"Is that so? Because it looks like you're stabbing an over-sized pillow," Madara commented, which forced Sasuke to quickly look at the figure in the bed again, only to note there was no blood. Throwing back the covers he saw only a stabbed body-pillow with Naruto's features on it.
"What is this?! Is he so obsessed with himself he even keeps a double of himself for his own bed?" Sasuke yelled. This was not the plan! He was supposed to have killed the Namikaze bastard and regained his rightful place as Kushina's only possible suitor!
"I haven't slept in that bed for years, Sasuke-san," Naruto said, coming into view from behind Madara, dressed in casual jeans and white tank-top. "This room is an exact duplicate of mine, and is used as a dummy for any potential assassins. You'd be surprised how many of those there really are. Considering I'm the current heir of my House, we actually catch about four to seven assassins every three months or so."
"YOU! WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE?! DIE, AND RETURN KUSHINA TO ME!" The dark haired boy screamed, his eyes bleeding from black to red with a single comma mark each.
"Oh? Is that the fabled Sharingan of your clan, Madara-san? I thought there were supposed to be three marks though, not one?" Naruto mused, one hand on his chin in thought.
"Each of us develops at our own pace, Naruto-sama." The elder Uchiha said, a small amount of mirth in his voice, "it's just that Sasuke is a very slow learner, so his Sharingan mirrors that with it's own growth."
Naruto slammed his fist into an open palm, "I see! But wait, isn't that kinda pathetic? I mean, he's the current heir to your clan, right? Shouldn't he be trying to get stronger to defend your name and restore you to Pillar status?"
"Yes, but he's an arrogant child. You see, his father, Fugaku, corrupted his mind with the idea that simply possessing an active Sharingan was enough to make him one of the clan's most elite, when all it really meant was that he had finally achieved notice." Madara explained, the small amount of mirth never leaving his voice, though his contempt for Fugaku was heard clearly.
By this point Sasuke was seething, "SHUT UP! NEITHER OF YOU UNDERSTAND! KUSHINA IS MINE! SHE WAS ALWAYS MINE! AND ONCE I KILL THAT BLONDE BASTARD, SHE'LL FINALLY REALIZE IT!"
"Uh, no. I don't think I will, Sasuke," Kushina said, coming out from behind Madara like Naruto had, but on the opposite side, her form covered by a white nightgown.
Sasuke took a step back in surprise, "Kushina? What are you doing here?"
The red haired girl glared at him fiercely, "I was here to prove you wouldn't do something stupid, but guess what? You DID! You tried to kill my new fiance due to misplaced affection and false images! I am not yours, Uchiha Sasuke! I am my own person, and no one controls my destiny!"
"B-but, the arranged marriage to this bastard-" he sputtered, looking for some way to justify his actions.
"Was completely voluntary on my part, Sasuke. If I want out, I can terminate it at any time before the wedding! The only restriction was that I had to at least meet Naruto first!" Kushina stated, her glare practically melting the boy on the spot.
"What? Really?" Naruto said surprised, "you can back out at any time? I can't do that."
She smiled at him, "yeah, Great-Aunt Mito slipped that in at the last moment when no one was looking. Called it a 'political prank'."
Sasuke was now doing a credible imitation of a fish. She could back out at any time? She... was never really his?
NO!
NO!
NO!
NO!
She was his! His property! His way to the top! The most efficient method of regaining the Uchiha place within the Pillars! And she was the best possible female candidate to restore his clan with! She was perfect for him! He was Elite! He was Perfection! He DESERVED HER! He was the only one who deserved someone as powerful, as prestigious, and as perfect as Uzumaki Kushina!
It was all that blonde bastard's fault! If he wasn't alive, Kushina would never have had to meet him! She never would have been lead away from his -Sasuke's- grasp! Thus, if Naruto died Sasuke would be free to make her understand!
"NAMIKAZE!" Sasuke shouted as he suddenly charged straight for Naruto, his left hand alight with silver lighting and held out in a stabbing motion, while his intended target felt an odd sense of deja vu.
Sasuke was unceremoniously introduced to the far wall, however, by the back of Madara's fist to his cheek. "Don't forget about me, Sasuke. I'm certain you remember what I did to Fugaku all those years ago, and I'm positive I promised to do it to you if you did something stupid. Something like... attacking Naruto-sama."
Sasuke paled, his eyes shedding the red of the Sharingan for his normal black in his shock. "B-but, you can't do that!"
"Oh, but I can, Sasuke. If I did it to my own granddaughter's husband, Fugaku, what makes you think I won't do it to you?" Madara asked, cracking his knuckles as he started walking across the room slowly.
"I'M YOUR HEIR!" The boy shouted in denial.
"Well, I suppose Mikoto will simply have to be reinstated," the man said with such false regret that Naruto could almost taste it on the air.
"WHAT?! You'd choose that cock-whore over me?!"
Madara's advance found itself halted by a delicate hand on his shoulder. Looking back he came face to face with Mikoto, and she was smiling serenely. One glance at that smile was all he needed, and Madara stepped aside.
"Sasuke-chan, I'm not certain I heard you correctly. What did you call me?" Her voice never let go of it's usual sweet tone, and Naruto could swear he'd heard Retsu use that same voice on more than one occasion.
Sasuke just sneered at the woman, "I called you a cock-whore!"
Still smiling, Mikoto stood over the downed boy and said, "I thought that's what you said. Now, it's a mother's duty to punish her naughty children."
Naruto couldn't turn his eyes away from the utterly vicious beat down of the black haired teen. Mikoto was sparing very little in the way of punishment, one moment hitting him in the ribs with a two-by-four, Naruto didn't want to know where she kept that thing, the next she removed his right eye with a rusty spoon!
Naruto was fairly certain that the Evil Piece system couldn't heal wounds like that. And was it just him, or was she studiously ignoring his crotch? Did she still have hopes of grandchildren from this asshole? Or did she not want to have to touch that part of her son? Naruto wouldn't blame her on that last one.
Hey, where did that rake come from? Naruto winced as Mikoto used the rake on her son's face and then proceeded to spank him with it. That had to hurt.
Then Sasuke landed a hit of his own, a backhanded strike to Mikoto's cheek that sent her to floor. Almost instantly Sasuke was above her, hand once again charged with electricity. His intentions were obvious, and Madara was just about to rush in to stop him.
A sudden chill enveloped the area, everyone stopped to see the source was none other than Naruto. His eyes hidden by his hair, he shuffled forward a few steps, before a frigid voice sounded from his lips.
"Madara-san, Kushina-chan. I'm sorry, but could you leave the rest of his punishment to me?"
Kushina shivered with fear. She had spent most of the day with Naruto, and there hadn't been so much as the slightest sign that this kind of personality lay within him. She only realized she'd nodded in answer when he wasn't standing beside her anymore.
Turning she saw Naruto with his fist buried deep in Sasuke's stomach, pinning the dark haired boy to the wall. When Naruto finally raised his eyes, she could see that they had changed from their usual cerulean blue, to a solid black with a red slit.
The Devil Eyes, as many called them. Every devil had the ability to attain them, but few ever managed it due to the amounts of pure emotion required. It didn't really matter which emotion was used, so long as it was the only thing you were feeling at that moment, and it had to be extremely strong. Most devils who actually obtained this state used pure Jealousy, or Lust, or even Greed.
But she could feel it. Naruto wasn't using one of these three most common emotions. No, it was absolute, blinding fury. Pure Rage, the entirety of his Wrath in it's strongest state.
It was odd though, Kushina would have thought that Wrath would have been fairly common for devils to use as a way to obtain those eyes. But then she remembered that most devils who claimed to embody Wrath actually had another emotion underlying it, and the eyes required the emotion to be pure, untainted by anything else.
It was even rumored that the Uchiha Sharingan was simply another form of the Devil Eye, though that had yet to be proven right or wrong.
"She is your mother, Sasuke. You don't hurt her, and you definitely don't try to kill her. Because she's the only one you'll ever HAVE!" Naruto roared, his tone sending shivers down his current audience's spines. He shoved his fellow teen harder into the wall with his right hand, his left dipping into his pants pocket.
Sasuke hacked and coughed, trying to regain his breath. What was this? He'd never heard of the Namikaze having this kind of power! The strength he could feel pouring off Naruto was immense!
"Tell me something, Sasuke," Naruto said softly, "do you know what family my own mother was from?"
Continued coughing was his answer, as Sasuke was still trying to get his wind back, but he did know. Sasuke knew well which family Naruto's mother was from, the Ginjo were another of the Seventy-Two Pillars who were now pretty much extinct. Only three carried the blood of that family anymore; Ginjo Kugo, who was Kana's elder brother, Namikaze Minato, and Namikaze Naruto.
"Ah, I see recognition in your eyes," Naruto said, "then I'm certain you know that her family had a unique magic based around drawing power from a uniquely personal item. I don't suppose you've heard of the item my mother used?"
Sasuke was still trying to regain his breath, but of course he knew that answer too. Ginjo-Namikaze Kana was said to have used her father's own Crest Ring as her item, it was basically the emblem of the head of the family as it was a magical device bearing the Family Crest upon it. In Kana's hands it was said that it was capable of becoming twin hook-bladed swords, called shotels,* that caused wounds that could not regenerate.
Such an injury was both career and life-threatening to any devil. Even the Evil Piece system, which was partially designed to heal any injury, couldn't heal something those swords did. It was further discovered that the Phenex Family's legendary Phoenix Tears were only able close the wounds dealt by those swords, but not heal them. It was said that Kana could even skin a person completely, and leave them alive.
"Once again I see the recognition in your eyes, Sasuke," Naruto's voice still hadn't changed from it's frigid tones. "Then, I suppose I'll let you in on a secret," he leaned over to whisper into the downed boy's ear, "I inherited my mother's ring and Fullbringer ability."
Sasuke's eyes widened and he attempted to throw himself away from Naruto, but he was too late. A searing pain ran the length of his right leg, and through it near the hip, a single curved sword piercing his upper thigh.
Behind Naruto, Madara and Mikoto's eyes widened in surprised recognition. They knew that sword, but wasn't there supposed to be a second one? And as if on cue, a second shotel was lodged deep into Sasuke's left shoulder.
"I don't use these lightly, Sasuke-san. They are one of the only things I still have of that wonderful woman who birthed me, raised me, and loved me. The last time I used them, I was punishing a degenerate asswipe who later died in a prison infirmary. However, I feel that this is an appropriate situation," Naruto stated, his cold voice a stark contrast with the burning sensation in Sasuke's body.
Slowly, Naruto dragged the right-hand blade down Sasuke's left arm, opening a gaping wound. He would never be able to use that arm again, for anything shy of being dead weight.
Sasuke screamed. He had never imagined that this level of physical pain could exist, and now he was on the receiving end of it. The pain of having his right eye removed was nothing in comparison, as it felt like every nerve in his body was on fire. At least his right eye socket was bleeding! These new wounds were simply parting his flesh, and where there should have been copious amounts of blood, there was only pain!
Sasuke could see his own muscles! Muscles that should be under his skin, were now easily displayed to the world at large. The sight and pain were almost enough to render him unconscious, and would have if Naruto hadn't slapped him to keep it from happening.
"Oh, Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke," Naruto said in mock sympathy, "you didn't think you'd get out of this that easily did you? I mean, not only did you try to kill me twice, you were about to kill your own mother!"
The last three words exited Naruto's mouth in a snarl, his red eyes glowing with even more power. It was at this point that Namikaze Haruo and pretty much the rest in the house arrived, only for Haruo and Minato to wince at that last statement. The two Namikaze men shook their heads, before Haruo turned to Mikoto.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but if that is true I wouldn't expect much to be left of your son after this," he said solemnly. A questioning look from Mito had the man expounding on the subject, "I said it earlier, didn't I? That Naruto holds only rape above betrayal with contempt? I never got around to mentioning that he also holds only one thing as absolutely unforgivable: the harming or slandering of a mother."
An understanding light appeared in Mito's eyes. She had heard that Naruto had gone into a steep decline for a time after Kana's death, only to seemingly bounce back over night nearly two months later. Apparently the loss of his own mother had affected the lad more than many would have thought, and it created a psychological issue powered by his anger.
'Go figure,' Kushina thought, 'my future husband has a mother complex'
Several non-bleeding lacerations later, Naruto finally decided to end his torture session by using one of the swords to pry Sasuke's remaining left eye from the socket. Turning around, the swords in Naruto's hands glowed for a brief moment, before combining into a single large gold ring on his left middle finger. The ring was fairly simple, a thick gold band carrying an embossed emblem of a silver castle.*
Carefully, Naruto passed the second eye to Mikoto, then turned to Kushina. "He's your Pawn, Kushina-chan, any further punishment is for you to decide."
The girl nodded resolutely, and turned to face what was left of her Pawn; a whimpering mass of peeled flesh and pain. "Uchiha Sasuke, in furtherance of the Uzumaki alliance with the Namikaze House, I have decided that you will be traded to another King as soon as I can find someone to take you. That is my final word, as you have disgraced my name this night in your attempt upon the life of my fiance, Namikaze Naruto."
More pained whimpers were the only response she received as she turned away from the mangled body of her Pawn and strode from the room. A large hand on her shoulder paused her in the act, however, as Madara cleared his throat.
"Pardon me, Kushina-sama, but as his King, I'll need you as witness to my own punishment for his crimes this night," the elder Uchiha said quietly.
Kushina nodded, and fell in behind the older man, uncertain of just what he was intending. It was liable to be rather extreme, as Madara was known for his strong reactions.
"Uchiha Sasuke," Madara began, "you have sullied not only the name of your King, but that of you Clan with your actions this night. In response, to cleanse this taint upon our name, you must be struck from it. From this moment forward, you no long have the right to carry the name of Uchiha. You are Sasuke, of no House!"
Even in his pained delirium, Sasuke heard his ancestor's words, and wept tears of blood. Madara's word was law for the Uchiha, there could be no overturning it. Sasuke was now nothing, a devil of no House, no Name, and no worth.
He was now, alone.
"Hm, if he is no longer of your Clan, Madara, then he no longer has any value as a Piece to be traded," Kushina said thoughtfully, tapping one finger to her chin. That could be a problem, as then she'd literally be getting nothing out of her investment...
"My apologies, Kushina-sama," Madara said with a bow, "but my decision is final. I cannot allow this piece of scum to continue to tarnish the clan name."
"Oh, it's not that, Madara," she waved one hand, "but it does present me with a problem. If he has nothing, he has no value. Thus trading him would be nearly impossible. My best choice in that case is to repudiate him, and reclaim the Evil Pieces I used."
"Ah, of course," the man said, ignoring the whimpering mass on the floor. "That is a problem. Though I suppose he is not completely without worth. He can still breed, even if his children cannot carry the Uchiha name."
"Hm..." the girl thought about that for a minute, "would you be adverse to allowing his trade with that aspect in mind? I know of at least one other King that would probably be more than happy to have a potential Sharingan breed into their family."
"If that is his only remaining worth, then let it be so." Madara replied with another bow. He didn't care anymore, the piece of offal was no longer his concern. If the brat could still be used to breed, let the kid's new King worry about it.
"Very well, then that will be the angle I go with in trading negotiations." Kushina said firmly. If she could at least get some kind of return, she would count it as a victory.
Sasuke could only lay there in pain, listening as his future was decided. He would never get to kill his traitorous brother. He would never get to avenge his father. He would be nothing more than breeding stock.
He was to become nothing more than cattle. The once-prized stud that was allowed to sire young simply because his line was too good to waste. And then he was to be forgotten, ignored, and lost to history without carving his name into it with glory.
There was nothing worse they could do to him.
XXXXXXXX- Ending Notes -XXXXXXXX
Wow... ain't that just a kick to the balls with a cinder block? So Sasuke is now worthless outside of breeding, and even then he can't pass down the Uchiha name anymore. Now then, an important question, I'll need a replacement character. Preferably of the Narutoverse. Who would you like to see replace Sasuke in Kushina's Peerage? PM me with your choice, and your reasons for that character.
And seriously, who wants to bet I can do even worse to Sasuke? That last line in the chapter felt like a challenge...
*Shotel: an Arabian curved blade, wielded upside-down. In other words, outside curve up. Typically used in pairs, but also in conjunction with a shield. If you need a mental image... well you can either look them up, or think of Sandrock Gundam, it has them.
* Ginjō (銀城): has the characters for "Silver" and "Castle". Thus the image upon the ring, since I'm using the name of the character for the family.