After all that, he had come to a decision.
He knew that he couldn't please the demons and stop the war.
He knew he couldn't keep the war going and save Sasuke.
He knew that his choice had been made for him- he had chosen what was more important to him and had chosen the only path possible.
He looked up, sniffing the air. The demons were all arriving for the meeting, figuring it would be business as usual.
'Won't they be surprised.' Kyuubi thought, thinking of his new orders for the demons. To his surprise, Shukaku was among the first to arrive.
Shukaku made a beeline for him as soon as he spotted him.
"Have you chosen?" he asked. Kyuubi nodded.
"They'll be getting a surprise tonight." he said. Shukaku nodded, stepping back behind Kyuubi as the rest of the demons filed in. Once they were all present, Kyuubi stomped on the ground to get their attention.
"I have new orders for you- for all of you. Many of you will probably not like this, but remember that you accepted me as your leader when this war began." Kyuubi said loudly, then took a deep breath.
"We will be having peace talks and peace agreements with Konoha and Sand, and we will follow the arrangement agreed upon in those talks. This war ends with our forfeit." Kyuubi said. Shocked silence followed his announcement, but slowly he heard murmurs ripples through the crowd- the demons were talking, trying to decide if they accepted this or not. Uncertain, Kyuubi looked behind himself to see Shukaku, trying to figure out if he had made the right choice. Shukaku nodded, reassuring him.
"We'll do as you say, Kyuubi-sama." a demon said from a crowd. Shouts of agreement followed. Kyuubi would have grinned if his facial muscles allowed, but he just nodded.
"Thank you." he said, then turned and left the cave, eager to rest. Shukaku followed behind, but something was bothering him.
'Why did they all agree so quickly?' he wondered, then filed the thought away for later consideration and went back to the Sand.
Inside the cave, the demons began talking again.
"Kyuubi is ending the war?" one demon began. Another nodded.
"Impossible! The war can't be over! Who will we fight? Animals aren't any fun to kill..."
"We must start this war up again, at the peace talks. We can wipe out the humans completely in one fell swoop."
"That's a good idea. Kyuubi will probably tell us when he plans on talking with the humans- then is when we strike."
Kyuubi- still in his demon form- walked slowly up to the gates of Konoha. He knew that the ninja on duty would most likely kill him and then ask questions later, but this was the quickest way to put his plan of action into action.
'This had better work.' Kyuubi thought to himself, sniffing the air lightly. There was one nin close by- they must have already spotted him, because he could smell the other one running for reinforcements. Slowly, Kyuubi looked around until he spotted the nin on watch, sniffing the air again.
'Damn he's terrified.' Kyuubi realized, smelling the light tang of sweat- and fear. The boy was so petrified he couldn't move. Even more so when Kyuubi made eye contact. The boy attempted to back away from Kyuubi, falling on his rear end and still backing away fearfully.
"Don't worry, kid- I'm not here for a fight." Kyuubi said. "Where's your leader- the Hokage?" he asked, growling slightly.
"I'm not going to tell you!" the boy said, sticking out his tongue childishly, but his hands were shaking. "The Hokage is supposed to be protected by all the vilage nin, and since I'm a genin now it's my duty to protect him." Kyuubi almost laughed.
'A genin is the lowest rank- and he was left out here? And he thinks that he can protect Sasuke from me?'
"Kid, if I wanted to I could rip your Hokage to shreds in battle, but I am not here to fight." Of course, he wasn't completely sure that he could kill Sasuke before Sasuke killed him if it came down to it- and not only because of emotional attachments. Sasuke was strong, no doubt about that.
"Back away from the kid." A proud voice that Naruto knew very well said loudly. Kyuubi turned to face Sasuke, not at all surprised to see Kakashi and a few other Jonin he knew behind Sasuke to back him up.
"And if I don't?" Kyuubi said, not being able to resist. He had no intention to harm the kid in any way, but they didn't need to know that. Sasuke's face hardened, glaring coldly at the nine-tailed fox in front of him.
"Then be prepared for one hell of a battle." Kyuubi laughed out loud at this.
"I don't want to hurt him. I came to request a formal audience with you, Hokage-sama." Kyuubi said, emphasizing the -sama honorific so it came out mockingly.
"Why? What would a demon want with a formal audience with me?" Sasuke asked.
"Peace." Kyuubi answered simply. "The demon leader has decided to end the war with you. I assume you'll be accepting?" Kyuubi asked, omitting the fact that he was the demons leader and the most powerful of the demons. He could practically taste the shock as what he said hit the humans in front of him.
"Peace? Since when do demons ask for peace talks? How do we know you're not tricking us?" Kakashi asked.
"Only the demon leader will be there, with maybe a few other demons. We'll meet here in Konoha, and you can invite the whole village, nins and weapons and all. That good enough?" Kyuubi asked, knowing that they would accept.
Sasuke nodded. "Good enough. We'll see this demon leader of yours here at sunset tomorrow. Agreed?" Kyuubi nodded.
"Agreed." Kyuubi turned suddenly towards the small boy attempting to get around him. The boy squeaked, trying to scramble away, but Kyuubi picked him gently up in his jaws and set him down by Sasuke.
"You might want to take him home before he wets himself." Kyuubi said dryly, laughing and he leapt away. Sasuke watched him go.
'Peace talks? Since when do demons want peace?' he asked himself again.
"This is strange. We were losing- a few more weeks like this and they would have had us. Why do they want to talk peace with us now?" Kakashi said aloud, deciding that he may as well voice the questions on everyone's mind.
"I don't know." Sasuke said, then picked up the boy that had been on watch. He had passed out, supposedly from fright, but there was no lasting damage. "I just don't know."
Sasuke wearily dragged himself home that night, in desperate need of a shower and some food before he went to sleep. And he had to do one other thing, not because it was necessary, but because he was slightly concerned.
He went to his bathroom to take his shower and removed his shirt. He turned his back to the large mirror and glanced over his shoulder.
A mark had been growing- he didn't know how else to describe it- on his back for almost a week. He had noticed it days ago and had been to see Tsuande, but as far as she could tell it wasn't a disease and it wasn't harmful in the slightest. It didn't seem to be a curse or a jutsu placed on him of any sort- it was just there, like a freckle but much, much bigger. The mark had been very very light at first, but had darkened slightly and spread, forming a picture on his back. Sasuke checked it every night before he went to sleep, on those nights he allowed himself the luxury of proper rest.
It was still there, though he could make out the picture more clearly than he had been able to two days ago. It seemed like some sort of animal- Sasuke would have to guess a fox- but it had nine-tails. He had no clue what it meant and couldn't find anyone else that knew anything about it.
He shrugged and dismissed it as nothing important. Tsuande had said it wasn't harming him in any way, shape, or form, and she was the most knowledgeable about that kind of thing.
Sasuke shrugged it off as nothing important, getting undressed the rest of the way and taking a quick shower before eating some leftovers he had in the fridge and collapsing into his bed.
The next day, Sasuke called his team as well as the most able and strong nins in Konoha to his office.
"The demon leader has requested an audience with me to discuss a possible peace agreement." A few of the nins raised a disapproving cry at this.
"They've killed our families!"
"-we're dying because of them-"
"-he'll kill us all. To invite a demon here-!" Sasuke cut them off by raising his hand. One by one, they all fell silent.
"We have little choice. We're dying right now, and if we don't end the war now, we'll all be dead. I have already agreed to peace talks- they begin at sunset in Konoha. I'll need you all ready for possible combat then. The leader will come unaccompanied into the gates, even if he does bring an escort with him- I'll see to that. Make sure you're in top shape for tonight, just in case." Sasuke carefully looked over each and every man there, eyes lingering on Naruto for perhaps a second longer than need be.
"I require you all to be there." he said. "Dismissed."
The nins slowly filed out, strangely subdued and quiet. Many were unhappy with it, but all realized that this could be their last chance to save themselves.
Naruto cursed silently. He hadn't expected Sasuke to require that he- as a human, as Naruto- was at the meeting. He hadn't planned on this. He quickly filed out with the other nins, darting off to the Sand as soon as he was able to without giving too much away.
Gaara stood at the gates, bored already. He knew that no demons would be coming- Naruto had ordered for peace talks, and he had been sent a message via one of the lower demons in the army from Naruto that the peace talks were to take place that night at sunset. He had been assigned gate duty with his partner all day, and had to carry out his mission even though he knew it was useless.
'Not that I really mind the fact that she's here with me.' Gaara thought, glancing sideways at Yami. There was no doubt in his mind now- she was the most important person to him.
His mind had accepted it, and his body had been informing him of his attraction to her ever since day one in small ways- an urge to smile when she did, a slight tingle when they accidently touched, little things like that. He didn't need to see the mark on her back he knew existed.
For demons, there existed no marriage- the closest thing they had to that was mating, a ritual in which two beings joined their souls. Many demons chose not to mate because they didn't want to be tied to just one other person. When a demon was serious about someone, a mark would appear on their chosen one's back- the mark of the demon. It varied, but the mark appeared on the demon's chosen as soon as the demon accepted their attraction. The mark was very faint at first- it was called a preliminary mark. Gaara knew that Yami's mark would be very faint at this point- just taking the shape of his demon form, a picture on her back in a very light shade so that it was just noticeable.
The mark only darkened when the mate had been 'claimed', and then only if both parties were willing. The ritual itself left both very weak and was dangerous to perform if done improperly, but if completed sucessfully the two would be bound together so tightly that nothing could break them apart. The death of one often caused the insanity of the other and then the mourning mate was often pulled to the grave early.
Of course, nothing happened to someone if they just bore a preliminary mark, like Yami did. She could simply be with someone of her own choosing to be rid of the mark. Humans weren't even aware of the mark's meaning to demons- they had no clue how serious an offense it was to sleep with another demons mate. At the preliminary stage it was still a free-for-all, but as soon as a mate was claimed they were off limits.
'Unlike human marriage.' Gaara reflected, disgusted with the way humans had intimate relations with those that weren't their spouse. It was looked down upon in human culture of found out, but such an offense was punishable by death or exile for demons if one mate was with a person other than their mate.
Suddenly, Yami was over by the front of the gate, staring at something in the distence. Gaara walked over and followed her gaze.
"What is it?" he asked, concentrating. He felt slightly shocked, then puzzled when he realized who it was.
'What is he doing here?' he wondered, watching as Naruto came to a stop in front of him, breathing heavy.
"Who are you?" Yami asked, but Gaara stopped her before she could ask any more questions.
"He's a friend." he told her, glancing over his shoulder, then looking back at Naruto. "Why are you here?"
"Can I speak to you privately?" Naruto asked, getting his breath back. Gaara nodded.
"Stay here." he told Yami, walking away and motioning for Naruto to follow him. "I'll be right back." Yami nodded.
Once they had gotten far enough away that they couldn't be overheard, Gaara turned to face Naruto.
"What did you come here for?" he asked.
A/N: GAH! Sorry to be rushing, but I didn't figure anyone wanted to read about all the boring missions, demon fights, etc. that everyone went through- they don't exactly matter and aren't important to the storyline. Unless someone asks me to write a short bit on a few of the battles...? I can summarize them for you:
Humans ambush or demons ambush.
Fight.
Humans and demons die.
Humans retreat and demons withdraw.
Dead humans are buried in mass grave once it's safe for humans to come back out.
Unless you felt like reading 10 chapters of that...
Anyways, it gets more descriptive later. Sorry I couldn't do much with Yami, but she'll come in more later. I thought it would be kind of unnatural to have the chapters bring up her POV as she's just an OC and I only brought in Sasuke's POV once or twice.
Any requests on what I should include? I have a basic plan, but that could change...
See ya next week!