Warning: the opening scene of this chapter features child death.

Chapter 40


"One big bad down, a million more to go. But first, let's have a brief interlude and have some lighthearted angst."


"NO! STOP IT!"

Akari's panicked sobs rang as she ran down the hall, nearly slipping and sliding on the polished floorboards due to the socks. Darting through an open door, she rammed it shut and ran for the window, but before she could take more than a step a dark figure appeared behind her. A silver streak swiped through the air and her head flew from her shoulders, hitting the floor with a meaty thunk before rolling away.

A furious shriek echoed from the doorway as Ryoko witnessed her daughter's body fall to the ground in a pool of blood, despair mixing with grief and fury. Pure, unadulterated rage emerged in the form of a vicious roar as she threw herself at Akari's attacker, swinging her sharp tanto as tears flowed from bright red eyes. However, just before it could make contact the figure disappeared, only for the tip of a katana to explode through her chest from behind.

"NO!"

Blood spewed from her mouth as she came to a jarring halt, her eyes widening fractionally as she stared at the blade which still glistened with her child's blood. The katana twisted and swiped to the left to slice through her heart, and the light faded from her eyes before the tanto slid from her hand.

He screeched in pure agony as he watched her form crumple and slide off the blade, tearing at his hair as sobs mixed with horrified screams. "STOP IT!" he shrieked, tears pouring down his face. "STOP IT! STOP HURTING THEM!"

Sasuke's eyes snapped open with a startled gasp, jolting in the chair to sit upright. For a second his heart stopped as he failed to recognize the dark room (so dark so very dark just like that night that horrible awful night), but then his eyes fell upon a familiar mane of unruly brown hair beneath a white sheet and he felt all the breath leave him at once as his entire body slowly drooped.

Right... the hospital. He was in the hospital.

Groaning softly, he sank in the chair a bit more and grimaced at the sharp pain in his neck, his hand reflexively rising to attempt to massage the cricks in it. The gesture only brought back another memory though, of a glimpse of the kanji for "hope" against pale, pale skin, and his hand stilled before slowly falling to his lap. He hunched forward and pressed his other hand against his mouth, squeezing his eyes shut.

It's a lie, he whispered to himself. He was lying. That man did it, he killed her. Not Aunt Ryoko. Not—

His thoughts came to a jarring halt as he realized he was wishing that horrible, hellish genjutsu he'd seen to be real rather than a nightmare, and he felt his face crumple as he buried it in his arms.

(Because if that was a lie, then what else was?)


"Well, Uchiha-san, you're still suffering from minor chakra exhaustion, but overall your health is fine. Just take it easy the next few days, and you should be fully recovered by the end of the week. You can leave now."

The nurse offered Masaru a polite smile, and he tentatively returned it as he slid off the exam table. "Thank you," he murmured politely with a small bow, and quickly headed to the door. Once he stepped outside he glanced to the side to find Sasuke leaning against the wall, his eyes shut and his head lolling slightly forward. His eyes soon opened though and he quickly straightened, turning to face him.

"Masaru, are you—"

"I'm fine," Masaru interrupted tiredly. "I just need some more rest. Can we go now?" Sasuke nodded shortly, and the two began walking in silence. Or at least, "silent" on their parts. Three days had passed since the failed invasion, and he suspected the staff hadn't gone home during that time. People bustled around the halls of the hospital, the air buzzing with machines beeping and shouts from staff, and tinged with blood and disinfectant. The overwhelming activity provided a stark contrast to his last stay, five years ago—

No. Don't think about that.

Shaking his head, Masaru tugged the collar of his jacket a little higher in an attempt to resist the urge to scratch the back of his neck. He'd heard about the seal from Sasuke and the doctors, but he'd yet to see it for himself. Some sealing expert had examined it while he'd still been unconscious, and deemed it safe enough to leave alone. Still, he'd need to meet another expert once the chaos had died down a bit for a more thorough examination.

The knowledge the seal had been there all these years left him with... mixed feelings. Originally he'd expected to feel sad about his impromptu haircut, but after learning about this, suddenly losing "Indra's hair" didn't feel quite so bad. His lips curled back sourly at the thought, his tongue tingling with a thick, honey-like taste. No, he really wouldn't miss that particular mess.

Sasuke suddenly stopped next to him, making Masaru pause and turn to look at him curiously to find him looking down the hall with a perplexed expression. Following his gaze, Masaru glimpsed a familiar flash of pink disappear around a corner. Sakura? Conflict briefly displayed on Sasuke's face, and when he glanced at Masaru the brunet offered his cousin a small smile.

"Go ahead," he said. "I'll see you at the apartment."

"Are you sure?" Sasuke asked worriedly. "I mean, you just got released—"

"Sasuke," Masaru interrupted. "I'll be fine. Besides, I think I kinda need the alone time." He offered a feeble smile as he spoke, trying to reassure him.

Sasuke just regarded him with a heartbroken, pained look and the smile vanished.

After a moment Sasuke glanced down the hall, his hands curling into fists at his sides. "...I'll burn it," he muttered, and Masaru had strain to hear him over the bustling noise around them.

"What?"

"The omamori," he said, scowling. "I'll take out the photo, and burn the rest. The teacups too," he continued, his fists clenching even tighter. "And all those damn paintings and that coin purse and that stupid wristband—I'll burn it all. We don't need them anymore, the village knows how to make more now—"

"Sasuke." Masaru calmly cut into his tirade, and Sasuke turned in surprise. Masaru regarded his cousin coolly, his features schooled and his eyes showing his disapproval. "Stop it. Don't burn any of that stuff just because mom made it."

"What?" he sputtered, stunned. "But—but she—"

"Don't," Masaru interrupted. "Mom made that stuff because she cared for us—for all of us. Don't destroy it just because you're worried about how I might feel. That'll just make me feel worse." Sasuke didn't respond right away, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.

"Are you seriously defending her?" he sputtered, and Masaru offered him with a thin, humorless smile.

"Mom had issues. Looking back, normal moms probably don't have summons babysit their toddlers constantly, or cry at how nice their kids are. I don't know what happened, but I think something broke her even before we were born. But that doesn't change that she loved us. She's still our mother, and I don't want to lose everything she left us."

Shaking his head, he pointed to the hall. "Anyways, you wanted to see if that was Sakura, right? You should hurry up, this place is pretty big. I'll see you back at home." He spun on his heel and walked away, and as he retreated he heard Sasuke's footsteps head in the opposite direction. He smirked slightly, pleased to know that Sasuke decided to follow Sakura instead of him.

They might be family, but that didn't automatically mean they must prioritize each other over everyone else.

Masaru certainly didn't.


"So, does it feel different at all?"

Gaara didn't respond right away to Jiraiya's query, just eying him in silent contemplation, but the white-haired sage barely paid his stare any mind. Currently they sat in a secured room located just outside Konoha, ANBU guards stationed outside the door while Baki stood near the entrance with a pensive expression. Seals sprawled the walls and covered nearly every inch of space, including the table where Gaara sat with his shirt removed to expose the seal on his stomach. Jiraiya studied it with a keen eye, mentally dissecting the intersecting lines and runes.

"It is... quiet," Gaara finally said. "Not as loud."

"Would you say quiet is good?" Jiraiya asked, and Gaara paused.

"...Yes," he decided quietly, and the Sannin couldn't help but smile. He knew from the Suna delegation that the Ichibi had communicated with the boy freely, but the alterations should cut down on that. Hopefully without its influence, Gaara would be able to become somewhat normal; at the very least, he didn't seem as bloodthirsty and crazed anymore. Just quiet, maybe a bit somber.

Personally, he just felt grateful it hadn't gone wrong yet.

When he saw that bright burst of light coming from the forest during the invasion, Jiraiya knew that Mito's array had been activated. The second he defeated his opponents Jiraiya took off to investigate it, expecting to find a nearly-rampaging Naruto with multiple tails sprouting from his body, but instead he found a rapidly shrinking tanuki screeching in agony as wood bindings restrained him to the ground.

Given the urgency of the situation, Jiraiya did not disagree with Kakashi's decision to lure Gaara there, but it had been a risky gamble. The array had been designed with the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki in mind, and while it had been modified over the years to account for the variations in the seals of Mito's successors, all of their seals had been quite different from any used by Gaara.

Lucky for them, Mito made the original array quite fluid. Even in a pain-fueled haze she had a mind to make it potentially useful for future jinchuuriki, so somehow the array adapted to Gaara's seal. The result was a shoddy-looking mess combining his original seal with traits from Mito's own, full of confusing lines and nonsensical-looking rune combinations.

In all honesty it looked like a nightmare, but thanks to his years of studying fuinjutsu Jiraiya could recognize it to be stable. He couldn't fully understand how it worked, and doubted anyone could ever recreate it successfully due to how messy it was, but right now, he really didn't want to mess with it unless absolutely necessary. After three days it had yet to fluctuate or show any sort of instability, and if Gaara said it was fine, he'd just have to hope that remained true.

"Alright then! Well, I'd say we're done for today then, so toss on your shirt and head out. I need to talk to your teacher alone." The red-haired boy nodded mutely as he pulled the black garment back over his head, slipping off the table to head to the door. When he opened it Jiraiya glimpsed his older sister waiting for him, her expression pensive and guarded but hopeful as she quietly greeted him.

He released a small huff as the door closed, his lips quirking into a small smile. The girl still obviously had some reservations about her younger sibling's state of mind, but the look in her eyes gave him hope the boy might find acceptance yet. Thinking of the lonely childhood described in Gaara's file, the Sannin couldn't help but feel a pang of regret at the thought of Naruto potentially suffering that same loneliness.

That kid's cheery attitude is a miracle, he mused ruefully. Compared to Gaara his suffering hadn't been nearly as painful, but that still didn't mean he had a good childhood. The thoughts of the loneliness his godson endured in his absence sobered Jiraiya, his smile fading as he turned to face a stone-faced Baki.

"So, how is it?" the Sand jounin questioned lowly.

"Overall, the seal looks stable," Jiraiya reported. "Compared to the design you showed me of the original, I'd say it's actually better. That said, it's still a pretty major change, and it hasn't been that long. I think we should move Gaara to a more secure location for a couple weeks so we can monitor him safely, just in case."

Baki's visible eye narrowed at the suggestion, his lips pulling back slightly in a displeased scowl. Leaving their jinchuuriki in the hands of another village obviously left a bad taste in his mouth, but both men knew that he really had no choice in the matter. Barely three days had passed since the invasion, and Suna had lost far too much during the invasion to try to negotiate anything.

Thus far Konoha had shown leniency solely due to the fact that Orochimaru had a clear hand in manipulating Suna, but right now most of the meager forces had been detained. As it stood the Hidden Leaf had the upper hand, both in terms of power and politics; it could demand they hand over Gaara entirely, and Suna would be unable to protest the decision. Negotiations would only be complicated by the fact the Kazekage still had yet to be found.

"Fine," Baki bit out. "But if you dare tamper with it—"

"Baki, I'm not gonna lie," Jiraiya interrupted. "That seal right now is a mess. It works, but its construction is much more delicate than before. Any kind of tampering could be catastrophic. I recommend none of you touch it, either," he added with serious look. "The slightest alteration could cause the whole thing to come apart, there's no telling what could happen."

"So if the seal becomes trouble, what then?" Baki asked warily, and Jiraiya smirked ruefully.

"You want the truth? I have no idea. Worst case scenario it breaks free and goes on a rampage, but anything could happen. We just need to hope like hell nothing goes wrong with it."


Hiruzen watched through his crystal ball as Naruto and Konohamaru stood at the gate of the Sarutobi clan residence, unable to help the fond smile that took shape on his tired features as he watched them talk with animated gestures. The two had only known each other a few months, but Naruto had proven to be a great influence on his grandson (aside from the pranking tendencies). The sight of that boy's bright enthusiasm never failed to lighten his mood, however briefly it might be.

The crystal dimmed and the image faded, and he reclined in his seat with a sigh, massaging the bridge of his nose. Since the invasion Naruto had been asking about when he'd be able to meet Gaara again, and he knew he only wanted to meet the other boy because of their shared jinchuuriki status and sympathy over experiencing Mito's array first-hand. Hiruzen still felt a bitter taste in his mouth whenever he thought about that horrid day nearly five years ago, on the disaster that had been Naruto's eighth birthday.

The thought made his mood worsen even more. During the invasion Uchiha Sasuke had learned about Naruto's jinchuuriki status, and given how bright she was Hiruzen had no doubt Sakura would also piece together his secret soon enough. Beyond that, he had good reason to believe Masaru might already suspect it as well. Sometime in the next few days he'd need to assemble Team Seven to formally discuss Naruto's circumstances.

However, that conversation would have to wait. His eyes trailed to the mounds of paperwork stacked atop his desk, never a welcome sight but this time in particular it filled him with distaste. Funeral arrangements, budgets for reconstruction efforts, financial reports on the lost products—from the moment he set foot in his office, he'd been inundated with the bureaucratic side of recovering from the invasion.

Konoha had suffered heavy damage, but nothing too catastrophic. The village had seen far worse in its history; the current level of loss hardly compared to the devastation wrought by the Nine-Tailed Fox thirteen years ago. With everyone working together to repair the damage, Konoha would surely rebuild and stand even taller and prouder than before.

Hiruzen just wished he didn't have to lead it.

Selfish as it sounded, he did not want to be at the helm of Konoha through yet another disaster. As the Hokage he had a responsibility to his village and he would always be willing to die for its sake, but the years were starting to catch up to him. He felt he had grown far too old for the office—he had been too old the first time he relinquished his hat to Minato, and that had been nearly thirteen years ago.

His battle with Orochimaru had only further cemented this belief. Even with Masuyo there to provide aid, they could hardly keep up with his reanimated predecessors. Had Tobirama-sensei not freed himself from Orochimaru's control, Hiruzen would have been forced to summon the Shinigami to seal their souls at the cost of his own life. As it stood, he just felt tired and ever conscious of the failings of his aging body.

At least Orochimaru most likely would not be a threat anymore. The Amaterasu ensured that much.

Hiruzen withheld the urge to sigh tiredly, and paused as he heard a knock on the door. Stretching his senses, he could hear the familiar tap of a wooden cane against the floor, causing his features to crinkle in mild distaste. Visits from Danzou had become increasingly tiresome in recent years, but right now he needed all the help he could get. While his methods could be too unsavory for his tastes, Danzou had nothing but Konoha's best interests in mind, so he chose to focus on that.

"Come in," he called, and his old friend opened the door and slipped inside.

"Hiruzen," he greeted with a nod. "Have you thought about my advice?"

"Yes, and I think temporarily recruiting civilians to take on some of the D-ranks should be doable and help towards speeding up reconstruction. However, I disagree on sending the genin teams that aid would free on more C-ranks."

"Konoha cannot let itself be seen as weak," Danzou warned. "Right now, we seem especially vulnerable due to the invasion. If we slow down our output, other villages will pounce."

"You are correct," Hiruzen agreed easily, "And that is why I want to have them focus on helping rebuild the village instead. Our intelligence is too spotty right now for my comfort, and we don't have the resources to double-check all of the missions. I don't want to risk a repeat of Wave." Kami knows how much of a disaster that had been. No one had died, but one of their top jounin had been captured by an unknown element for over a week and had his implanted doujutsu modified without his consent. That didn't even go into the fact that Team Seven had to face Momochi Zabuza on their own.

Danzou's mouth tightened and he made a rumbling sound that hinted at displeasure, but he still nodded. "Very well. I do not fully agree, but we can discuss it later. We have more immediate concerns to address."

"We do. I assume you're here because your team's made progress in your investigations."

"We have determined how Yakushi Kabuto managed to bypass security to enter the record room. As you know, one of my investigators found residue from an unknown chemical in one of the vents in the initial investigation, but we only received the test results today due to its complexity. It's been identified as a complex chemical compound which affects the senses, though the exact effects can vary from person to person."

"And I assume the guards match some of the symptom profiles?" Hiruzen guessed, and Danzou nodded.

"They did. We assume Kabuto used the compound in conjunction with a genjutsu so he could slip into the room unnoticed. The specifics of the theoretical scenario will be in the final report, so I will let you read it yourself later. I have composed a proposal for potential revisions to the security measures in light of this, and as we speak I am having Homura and Koharu review it so they can add further revisions of their own. They'll bring the final list to you once they finish."

"I'll expect it in the next few hours, then. Thank you for your hard work, Danzou." He spoke with sincere gratitude, feeling the burden on his shoulders already lightening with this news. He'd been deeply concerned since he'd learned that someone had managed to break into in the room housing Konoha's death records, as even censored reports could contain priceless information if it landed in the right hands.

Sometimes Konoha would move certain files to a more secure location if officials deemed the content too sensitive, but that still left a large number of records inside the more "public" room. They kept that room under constant guard, but they would not delude themselves into believing the security to be totally impregnable. Unfortunately, on the night of July 21st their worst fears had been realized.

One of the two guards assigned to the room that night, Yamamoto Fumio, felt unexpectedly ill during his shift and had to leave his post to visit the toilet. The other guard, Hagane Atsuenkou, reported later he'd experienced a period of dulled senses and a mild headache during his partner's absence. At some point during that time, someone had managed to penetrate the room.

Danzou had been the one to report the break-in the following day. He had an assistant make daily visits to the room to ensure certain files had not been touched, and he'd discovered that someone had disturbed the file on Uchiha Akari. Akari's death had not been strictly confidential and no formal autopsy had been performed on her body, but Konoha would prefer to keep the exact circumstances secret from the public.

Now an unknown number of ninja from Suna knew about it, including their jinchuuriki—and worse, so did Masaru and Sasuke. Naturally, no one wanted those two to find out, but thanks to the chaos following the invasion they had yet to address the two boys about it. Danzou apparently seemed to be thinking about this as well, as he questioned, "Have you decided on how to handle the Uchiha boy yet?"

Hiruzen did not need to ask which one he meant. "Masaru has not shown any negative reaction to the news since regaining consciousness," he responded tiredly. "The ANBU operatives assigned to his hospital room report he's quieter than usual, but overall his behavior has not deviated significantly when speaking to Sasuke and hospital staff. I have yet to speak to him about it, but I sincerely doubt this will affect his loyalties."

"You cannot be certain of that," Danzou argued calmly. "You know that the Uchiha clan is unpredictable when dealing with this sort of matter. Moreover, he's already shown several similar behaviors to Uchiha Ryoko. He may very well already be—"

"Uchiha Ryoko was an exception, not a rule," Hiruzen interrupted, his voice taking on a steely edge as he glared at his old friend. "Ryoko's history is hardly typical, even among her clan. Masaru may have inherited certain traits from her, but most of her more undesirable behaviors stemmed from her upbringing. Compared to Sasuke, Masaru is far less prone to a malicious reaction."

"Or he could be hiding it," Danzou retorted quietly. Hiruzen didn't bother responding, instead turning to the mounds of papers littering his desk.

"I'm glad you came, though," he said. "I have something for you to look at." He brushed away a small stack of paperwork to reveal an old, leather-bound journal. "Hawk delivered this today." Danzou's lone eye narrowed at the moniker, his hand tightening its grip on his cane ever so slightly. To Hiruzen's relief he didn't comment on it, and stepped closer to survey the journal's cover.

"This is the Second's handwriting," he observed, and Hiruzen nodded.

"Tobirama-sensei apparently asked Hawk to retrieve it from a hidden location. It contains some extra research notes on the Edo Tensei which he had kept private. He apparently hoped we might be able to use it to help determine Orochimaru's modifications to it, and then devise a potential counter for it in the event it's used again."

"I'll gather a team to research it immediately," Danzou offered, leaning his cane against Hiruzen's desk so he could carefully lift the weathered tome with both hands.

"I was hoping you would say that. I'll leave the team members to your discretion, just make sure you tell me who you assign to it so I can know how to arrange the rest of our forces."

"Of course," Danzou promised, slipping it into the folds of his robe with a curt nod.

"Thank you. If that's all, you may leave. There's much to do right now, and we have little time to spare." He smirked ruefully as he gestured to the mountains of paperwork still awaiting his signature, for once too vital to delay more than a few minutes. Eying it with no small amount of disdain, Danzou frowned and nodded tightly.

"Very well. I'll get to work right away. However, we'll continue this conversation later." He grabbed his cane once more and turned, the tip tapping the floor loudly as he swept out the door. Once the door closed Hiruzen sighed and sank into his seat, massaging his forehead.

Really, if only Minato could still be there...


With this, the aftermath begins!

Before I go any further, I would like to point out that I received some INCREDIBLE fan art from lumutness on AO3! It is so incredible, it's actually reshaped my mental image of Masaru's current outfit. It really shows off Masaru and Akari's personalities, and it even includes Ryoko, though I want to point out her hair is actually black. I think I only mentioned it once or twice though, but other than that tiny detail it's actually a perfect rendition of her. There's even a little look at her sketchbook with her drawing of Kushina in front of the Kyuubi's eye! Seriously, words cannot do justice to how much I love this, and you can find this wonderful fan art here (fix the dotcom and .., you know the drill): lumutness(..)tumblr(dotcom)/post/166970481985/echoes-of-light-a-fanfiction-by

Now back to the story, things are a bit of a mess. No one emerged from the invasion unscathed. Sasuke's currently experiencing some sort of revenge-based identity crisis, Masaru won't entertain the notion that he should despise Ryoko, and Hiruzen has paperwork. And that's just the people in this chapter. At least Gaara's doing better, and we now know how Kabuto got discovered. Next chapter should help expand on further effects of the aftermath.

So.

Next chapter? The cliffhanger?

I am REALLY looking forward to everyone's reactions to it.

I am even more excited than I was for the Land of Waves twist. The next two chapters will have one of those crazy twists that totally turns the story on its head, and is one of two twists that will thoroughly shatter whatever might have been left of canon. Which is definitely saying something since I may or may not have just killed off Orochimaru, and definitely screwed with Gaara's seal.

Also, it's still not even the biggest twist coming up. You have been warned.