I have reclaimed the light gifted to me long ago. And in this moment, I am a child of the stars.
The spirit of my mother, the first woman I loved, has guided me to heights that humans could never consider. The blood of my father, the first man who meant something to me, runs through my veins even now – the ruthless edge that I now use to stand against this vicious world and its machinations. I have awakened to the truth, and acknowledge the things that made me into the person I am today. I have taken the pain of the past into me, and used it to further fuel my justice.
A life of seclusion and banality became a life of fighting and struggle. The strength in my hands and the wealth at my back is now dedicated to changing the fates themselves, and waking the world from its endless, formless dream of fleeting peace.
My precious family. My valued friends. My brave comrades, and earnest humans of this world...I fight for them, all of them. And I will succeed. I will be victorious.
Out of the depths of darkness and despair, I have risen. And with more and more power embedded into my spirit, flowing through my body, I will rise higher and higher still, as the envoy of heaven who is ready to break the chains of this merciless age.
I will show the world my strength. I will force all who oppose me to their knees. I will eliminate those who use their power for evil. I will become an existence beyond the man worshipped as the great sage, as the one who supposedly formed this world. I will deliver justice, and I will become the true harbinger of peace.
I stand with my sisters, my family, and the faith of the world's finest.
I am the woman who will become the world's most beloved tyrant, shaking heaven and earth with her mighty roar.
I am now sixteen years old.
"My name is Lilith Caroline Kobayashi."
an alternative Naruto: Shippuden story.
This long, lonely corridor is filled with light, streaming in from the windows nearby. Red carpet lines the floor at our feet, and the walls are adorned with glittering gems and elaborate patterns etched into stone.
Luna is wearing her new favourite dress today, something that Midori and I bought for her as a wedding gift. It's violet, low on her shoulders and with sleeves that carry patterns of gold on them all the way down. The hem stops around her ankles and the dress floats with her movements on the bottom, while the top hugs her always stunning curves lovingly. And Midori of course is wearing her new favourite kimono, one that Luna and I bought as a wedding gift for her. Beautiful floral patterns are on the violet fabric, in different intensities of gold and silver, green leaves scattered around and matching the colour of her gorgeous hair. An emerald sash is around her waist, made of pure silk. And of course, the fit of everything is just right so she can show off her outrageous body like she always wants to.
"It'll only be a short time away from you, as far as I'm concerned. Of course, I miss you terribly already."
"Midori, she hasn't even left yet."
"But she's going to, Luna! Tell me someone who would want their precious little sister to go away, even for a few weeks?"
I smile and zip up my jacket properly as we walk.
Today is the day I head back to the world of humans.
After nearly three years of training, we've decided to call it quits and let everything play out. I've learned quite a bit from Midori and our Honourable Grandmother, not to mention the help from Luna, Crim, Aoko, and the countless others that I have worked with on this journey. The power of the White Snake Sage is firmly in my grasp, and the heavenly strength that I have discovered for myself has grown in potency and scope. There are many, many things to do, and these new powers will help me to do them efficiently.
"I'll be sure to come and visit as often as I can, Midori-nee. You remember you gave me plenty of instruction in the summoning arts, yes?"
"I know, I know. I'm just being greedy is all. It was so much fun playing with you, Lili. No offence meant to anyone else, but I'm just a bit stronger than Luna, and the old lady isn't exactly active these days."
"I'm glad I could make your dreams come true. It was fun playing with you, too."
"What wasn't fun was cleaning your wounds," Luna says with a frown. "Your play-dates were occupational hazards, and you both went into that twisted mental space each and every time..."
"Resonance, wasn't it?" I ask Midori.
"That was it, yes. When two hungry and determined people meet on the battlefield like that, it results in a most decadent chaos. Mm..." She closes her golden eyes and smiles at the memory. "I could go for one more round right now..."
"Midori, behave."
"Yes, darling."
"Seriously, you two were stirring up rumours the entire time...I wouldn't be surprised if the other kingdoms heard about it and are petrified with fear by now," Luna says.
"You've become so motherly in the past while, Luna-nee," I say as I turn to her. "It's comforting...I suppose that's why we could act so recklessly, knowing that you would be here to pick us up in the end. You know that we don't mean to cause you trouble, right?"
"Of course I do..." She sighs and gives me a warm smile. "I'm just doting on you two as always, since I love you so much. Just be careful, okay?"
I smile back at her. "I promise, Luna-nee. Thank you so much."
"Ufufu~. You can't resist our imouto's charms either, can you?" Midori teases.
"I guess not. I don't expect to win going against either of you," Luna says.
"Later on, I'll make it up to you properly. That's okay, isn't it?"
"It always is. We have a meeting tomorrow though, so...try not to wear me out too much. I don't hate it at all, but when you go overboard...well, it's hard to find my marbles for a while afterwards," she says, blushing.
"I'll remember, Luna. A wife's duty is to look after her beloved, after all."
The marriage was indeed a once in a lifetime event. A ceremony that took the usual amount of time, followed by a celebration that took up the rest of the month. Lots of opportunity for people to cut loose, whether it was with food or drink. All sorts of dancing, games, and performances for everyone to take part in. And of course, seeing what happened to the adults that got enough of Midori's specially reserved sake in them was unbelievable fun. Old Man Hiruzen, though...well, he could have earned that God of Shinobi title solely on how well he could hold his drink.
We reach the appointed room. It's a wide space, meant for one specific thing: summoning people and objects to and from different places. The chakra flowing through the floor and walls, the embedded seals, and the reinforced structure of this place make it much easier to do than normal. There are many of these stations throughout this elegant castle, and indeed the kingdom of serpents in general – Midori has made it so. Just another example of her benevolence and hard work, all for the sake of her people.
"Oh, I'm going to miss you so much..." Midori hugs me tightly. "Lili, you've grown so beautifully. All of your hard work has definitely paid off, in body and spirit. We all look the part of sisters now, don't we?"
"Hmhm. I still have a ways to go before I get as sexy as you two," I say while hugging back.
"You're too much."
"I know I'll get there, one day soon."
"I have to wonder if that will be good for anyone's health," Luna says while hugging me next. "You're already dangerous as you are, you know."
"Yes, but we can do better than that."
"You're just like Midori after all. Awful." She smiles and pats my cheek. "But even so, I don't want you to change. So I'll get ready to see you set the world on fire."
"Ooh, what an endorsement!" Midori says, clapping.
"Looks like I'm already regretting my words," Luna says, laughing.
"Be sure to have fun while you're here. I know that you'll have the next thousand years or so to yourselves, but...it never does a body good to be stressed in these times." I step into the middle of the painted sealing circle and focus chakra to my feet. The lines start to glow a pale blue, and energy starts to pool up in the circle of small pillars around the room.
"I'll be sure to keep her from getting tense like she used to," Luna assures me. "The kingdom is hers at last, and she has a loving, devoted wife now."
"Definitely," Midori says with a nod. "Those days are long over."
"It warms my heart to hear," I say.
I can feel the energy building further, and my hair starts to float around me. Seems that everything is ready.
Time to go home.
"Midori-nee, Luna-nee...I love you, forever and always. Let's talk again soon."
Holding hands, they smile and give me a wave together. I smile back, and close my eyes.
And at last, I am properly sent on my way.
"I...can feel it from here...yes. It's really her..."
"Ah, Lady Rose!"
Like a breath of fresh wind, the little blonde girl in her pink sleeping gown raced through the halls of the mansion. Her heart was pounding like never before.
She felt it, and it had jerked her awake in the middle of the morning.
Without thinking, she continued to run, letting her feet take her to the gazebo that sat in front of the garden. She walked onto the grass, then went to her knees and sat, waiting.
"Seems she's on her way."
A woman wearing a red dress of fine silk casually walked to where her youngest daughter was, blowing fragrant smoke from between her lips with a long cigarette holder in her free hand.
"Is everything alright?" a voice called from behind her.
"Everything's fine, Touka. Get us a pot of tea ready, and something nice to munch on. Our special guest is coming home."
"Of course, Mistress."
"That bond between you gets stronger by the day, eh? Imagine that," Emi Kobayashi chuckled to herself. "But that only makes sense. After all..."
"..." The girl's blue eyes stared out into the day, focused on a point that nobody else could perceive.
"This is Lili Kobayashi."
The patterned circle burst into being on the ground, and a red bolt of lightning slammed down into it from the sky above. A rush of wind went through the garden, rustling the petals and leaves of the gardenias nearby. And as the scarlet glow took shape, a gentle shower of sparks rose into the air, dazzling everyone nearby.
This was the only way for her to arrive, back in this most familiar place.
Long, brilliant scarlet hair, thrown back dramatically with one hand. A new jacket of red and black in a familiar design, custom built to show off her body. Glimmering charms from precious family, and strong legs forged from intense training.
And finally, her amber eyes, filled with years of strength and experience, opened to look upon the person she valued most in the entire universe. A bright, beautiful smile came to her lips.
"Rose, my love...thank you so much for waiting."
Her younger sister nodded. "I knew you would keep your promise, Lili-nee."
"That makes me happy to hear."
Rose smiled and jumped to her feet, running towards her older sister. In the garden filled with colourful flowers, they held to each other, spinning together before coming to a gentle stop.
"Yes...I'm home at last."
"And it is just the beginning...for this flower of heaven has truly blossomed."
Scarlet Justice: Full Blossom
Opening Notes:
Welcome to the story. If you're new here, I'm glad to have you. If you've been following this for a while, welcome back, and thanks for believing in me to this point. The project continues with this, the second part of our story. This is how we begin: you are following Lilith Kobayashi, a young woman in the Naruto world who was born into money, and has gone from a talented Academy student to one of the world's most elite shinobi. The supporting cast you know and love is back, along with some new faces and twists to go along with them. Not the most novel premise here, but at this point I think I've set up enough changes to make things interesting, or at least make you think a bit about the story. The impact of choices made by our protagonist in part 1 will come into play, and new challenges will arrive to shake the world up. I hope that you as readers will enjoy what happens and how it happens. I'm not aiming for high art: this is entertainment, it's something I love, and it's free. Everyone has the potential to win for that reason. Now, there's some content that people may not like or agree with when it comes to this story (stuff that is within the rules). So let's do this part again, and provide an upfront guide to what could happen.
here, queer, get used to it: this work deals with many themes, and people who are part of the LGBT+ community whether openly or otherwise. Some existing characters may have different orientations than expressed in the original material published, and some of this may not please you as a result. I literally do not care what you think about it unless your concern is that it is harmful. If it's just that you don't like it, then shut up, cope. I may use subtext in some places and supertext in others. And I will handle things appropriately in each chapter they appear in when it comes to people and potential issues. Good natured jokes are cool, weird bigoted fetish stuff isn't. Be cool about it.
sex. now that I have your attention: sex: talks about sexual things, flirting, and other related things. Some of it will be coy, some of it will be blatant. It's going to happen. The lead characters in this whole thing are still a bit below legal age, and so this won't turn into a free for all with underage sex or other such wild things – there is going to be a responsible tone set so that we can have a mature and fun atmosphere when it comes to all of that. But I don't expect to dive too deep into that lake – this is just a heads up.
ate his liver with some fava beans (and a nice Chianti): aka ow the edge. In the first part of this work we have had certain character related sections where there was much in the way of violence and blood-spilling and just all around not wholesome stuff. I have put content warnings on these types of content and other related sections that might come across as problematic. Things like mental breakdowns, genocide, sadism, and just stuff that evokes heavy images. The goal is not to bog down the story in edge and misery, but rather to get the full spectrum of what it means to be a person in the world of shinobi and such. Adds layers when used right, and I'll be trying hard to use it right.
canon? you mean like that pachelbel guy?: the many ripple effects from previous actions and inactions in part 1 of Naruto have resulted in some changes. These changes are still ongoing, and more, different changes will come as the world is further explored. Because we are in a new section of the story with new characters, new personalities, and new capabilities, things will not go down the way you immediately suspect. Though if you've been following along, you can probably guess at one time or another what I am about to do, maybe. As always, I will try to keep characters true to themselves, no matter what external changes come upon them. And hopefully what you see is satisfying.
and this...is to go...even further...beyond!: fights? Yeah. Will they be anime? Yeah. More fights? Yeah. More anime? Hell yeah. We're gonna have plenty of bangers and cool action pieces like the original Shippuden did. Without the anime filler. It'll be more like the manga, just...not. You'll see what I mean. The characters you've been waiting for will get some time to shine, and I don't want to alarm you bu u. Yeah.
didn't know you could say that on TV...wait, you can't? uh oh: the fanfic will continue to have coarse language, suggestive themes, and just people being rude to each other and junk. Yes people will say the bad words, yes some of them will be teenagers, no actually they do have extremely rude phrases and words in Japanese, I just won't be recreating them precisely because English cursing works well enough here. That's all.
So, hope you enjoy the rest of the story as it comes. Thank you for reading, and an even bigger thank you for your support. Peace and blessings.