"Where is your 'true' realm? You spoke so highly of it,"
It was a strange thought that popped to mind; that this was the first time a woman was in his room. The other being that she had never visited so soon after she left. Another, that he was happy about it.
She walked about, staring at different pieces of furniture. Her long hair and dress dragged along the floor. How did it get so long? He angled his chair toward her, the paper being forgotten.
"I thought you would have preferred it," she added.
"Even if I do, I can't manage it all the time. It's weird isn't it? It's not real, it's just my imagination and that takes a lot of effort. I just use this place to map it out. Also, I've been really distracted by my thoughts,"
All that time he talked, she listened. Kaguya had stared out a window at passing pedestrians.
"Because these places I created isn't yours, do they feel as real as the real world?"
"There's little difference,"
He had an idea that it wasn't. "For now, I think yours and the real one would be just as great right now,"
"Then you relent?"
"whoa, I mean, I don't blame you for that one," he said. She narrowed her eyes, and it not in the kind of way that said she was annoyed that her fatal strike didn't kill him. She titled her head, it was almost unnoticeable. "The big word is 'right now' that doesn't mean include the regret I'd feel right after,"
She turned back to staring out the window. He had been preoccupied, so he hadn't returned to the previous world.
"You know, it's crazy how a hundred years have gone away. I had time to think about many things. I can say that I'm prepared to fail. It took me a long time to come to terms with it,"
She said nothing.
"I guess what I'm getting at, Kaguya, are you prepared to fail?"
Naruto couldn't help but smile when her features contorted into rage. Anger was an easy emotion, not even a goddess was immune. He couldn't help but keep pushing, away from this dispassion.
"It's like a whisper in the back of your head, you don't even realize it's not even your voice, but it didn't matter. Kurama did that to me, encouraging my rage and pain. It felt good, I could do so many things," Naruto closed his eyes and recalled all those times he took power. "Did the ten-tails do that to you too?"
He stared into her white eyes, noticing every detail, if any emotion would surface. Her brow creased, a flare alit within them that sent his heart racing.
She left.
His limbs couldn't stop shaking as he climbed down the rocky cliffs. He shivered, and it trailed down his back. His palms felt clammy, he couldn't grip anything on the wet rocks. He could hear the sounds and drums of war, even if he couldn't see them anymore.
He couldn't wait for her next visit.
Then he remembered he didn't need to grip anything. He leapt off the small cliff and nearing the mouth of the forest.
"There you are," Altisi muttered. He was taken out of his thoughts. "I thought you might've been a coward,"
She stood beside her companion, it's wolf eyes curious.
"No," he replied. He felt breathless, "In fact, I'm kinda looking forward to this,"
She smiled, "Good, because I was wondering what I should do if I came across a ninja. If it's anything like back home, ninja are trump cards."
Altisi nodded at Oogran, and it bounded off. She followed the wolf with him in tow.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked. A pace was set, not quite running, not quite walking. They crept forward through a wild game trail, kept close to steep rocky hill.
"There's not many of you around anymore, and you're highly sought after because you change the battlefield. You can imagine the tactics,"
"Right, I haven't really thought of a war that don't have shinobi," The fighting didn't seem to get any louder despite that they've gotten closer, perhaps it was hill. "How do you know about this?"
She frowned, "I was a captain, once,"
It was all she shared, but she wanted something to do with Obsidian Order. He wondered what it might be, if she was willing to go through a warzone to reach them.
He almost tripped, and the others looked behind in worry.
His limbs felt shackled, weighted. He resisted, trying to free them. Every second they grew heavier and he fell to his knees.
The world froze, and he looked around, trying to find her. He found himself staying into her eyes, her hand under his chin and her long, sharp nails digging into his cheeks.
"My will was my own,"
He smiled, but it was not in mockery, "Are you sure? You did leave, for a moment, you doubted yourself,"
"So defiant, will it be to the bitter end?" she snarled.
He had to laugh. Everything he felt, how heavy his heart beat, his finder tips might as well be flayed. Her breathes that trailed down his throat sent goose bumps throughout his body. How those white eyes were afire with rage.
"So, you do feel some emotion after all?" Her hand tightened, making him uncomfortable. "I'm not sure if I even imagined this or not, but someone said I could piss off anyone. Go on, make me right,"
"You think you're clever," Kaguya said. "All the answers and solutions have come to you,"
She squeezed one last time, lifted him, and threw him away. The world went dark, he couldn't even see his nose, or anything in front of him.
"You could have killed me long ago, but this is the last chance for my chakra. How would you even accomplish that? You expect me to do your bidding? To lay still and let you have me?"
Her voice was everywhere, but he couldn't see her, "Subjugate, Waboonttha Repeat, and you follow my commands,"
His felt it, something instinctive in the corner of his mind. It sounded ridiculous, however, dare as he might try to say it, he shouldn't. "You never brought this up, never said it for a chance for me to say it,"
Kaguya appeared then, like an angel in the darkness. "One with knowledge of it?"
That instinctive feeling was fear, or perhaps a sense of a danger. He kinda forgot about what he could do back in the real world. He understood all chakra. "I'll never say it,"
"We shall see. You will either die, or give in."
"You forgot a third choice, I get out," he replied. "Yeah, it's a tiny chance, but I'm kind of liking those odds,"
She narrowed her eyes in this darkness, where it was only her in view. She scoffed, "Another millennium,"
He gritted his teeth, it's been two hundred years; she added more. Somehow, he didn't quite mind it. This woman, who made his heart flutter and filled it with dread at the same time. The fire in his heart cooled down.
"You know, I noticed something. After all this time, you never once tortured me, why's that?"
"Why should I?"
He wondered if he was dreaming, but was that disgust? Did she detest violence? He recalled the time he had been stabbed with her all-killing ash bone. He had remembered the pure panic, but it was relatively painless. If she felt rage and disgust, could there be others?
"You're willing to wait that long?" that was crazy.
"I will," she replied. "Yet, I have learned as well,"
The world began to brighten, and he fell to his knees again. His limbs were locked, like earlier. He looked directly into her eyes, but he didn't know what she was possibly planning. His surroundings to started to change, flashing one place to the next.
"No one is without fear," she said.
All he could ask himself is what did she fear? Around him, it turned from one memory to the next. People and locations that he knew, those real, and things he created inside.
"What are you doing?" He was shaking so badly, it hurt. His heart trembled, but he felt the excitement in his bones. This was something out of his control, that he didn't have to manually pivot and manipulate.
The world appeared to be like home, a familiar moon hung in the sky. Around him, he recognized everyone he knew in the real world. They almost felt tangible, if he spoke to them would they reply? It would be almost as good as the real thing. Those trapped in a dream, of everything they all wished to come true.
"No longer,"
Bathed in silver moonlight, she swept her hand and they turned to dust. Everything, the world, the moon, even her. It came to him then.
She was his terrible love.