My gratitude goes out to everyone who reviewed last chapter: Piro, Fireotaku18, ovicati, kiki2222, Misaki, negai, KitsuneTay, Rolly, gummybear1620 (so many questions, so many answers...in time ;)), operagirl76 (dark, apocalyptic plot FTW!), GoTrinba.
Warnings: For this chapter...I don't think there's much. Blood? Kakashi? Yep. Kakashi. Grin.
Beyond War
By Om0cha
Chapter 4: The Venerated Fall
One side of the world had become frustratingly obscured, black in a way that was different to the darkness that Sasuke had sought refuge in long ago. Bleak clouds hid any guiding sunlight from him as he relied on memory to navigate his way back to the edge of the woods. Unlike before, he remained in Kakashi's form to travel and he moved with no particular hurry, walking at a leisurely pace that made it seem like he had no destination at all.
The leaves crunched audibly beneath his navy blue sandals that Kakashi had worn the last time Sasuke saw the man and he constantly forced down a desire to lift his hand up and pull away the rough, skin-tight mask that now covered his face and left eye. Try as he might, he could not fathom Kakashi's reasons for wearing it, sans some serious facial disfigurement which even then, he shrewdly doubted would warrant the mask. The man was way too eccentric for that possibility. If Ibiki could reveal his scarred features with sadistic pleasure then surely Kakashi, a man with very little shame, would not be that much different.
At present, the mask was proving uncomfortable and annoyingly irrational more than anything and Sasuke scowled darkly at nothing, his lip movements hindered by the cloth. His sharingan was currently deactivated –Kakashi, after all, did not have a sharingan in his right eye – and he casually cast a grey eye to the delicate movements that he glimpsed in the leaves every now and again as he walked between the trees. He had a compulsion to reach into and pull the explosives from the pockets of the green jounin vest that he currently wore, but he stiffled that train of thought with promises of a delayed and larger scale of destruction.
He sighed much like Kakashi used to do as he pushed aside some low hanging vines in his way, wiping his hand on his pants in disgust when some sort of sticky sap from the vines transferred onto his fingers. The very faint rustles from behind followed him but he made no change to his ambling pace, continuing to calmly lead his followers onwards and to their unwitting deaths. Ahead of him, the trees became more sparsely spread apart. He bared his teeth in an unseen grin.
His short patience only lasted him until he was far enough from Tsunade's grave to make sure that no damage would be inflicted upon it.
Naruto had once jeeringly called him fire-boy when they were genin on a D-rank mission, then dodged with impressively unmanly shrieks when Sasuke only reaffirmed it with his own smirk and a trail of spluttering fireballs in the blond's direction. Followed by lit wire, some more fireballs. Possibly, there had been a few exploding tags involved. The less than impressed canine that Naruto had been walking at the time eventually just sat where it stood so as to stop him from dragging it around. That day, Naruto learnt a valuable lesson about the Uchiha clan in a wondrous display of fireworks spraying up into the Konoha skyline.
The fireballs had only gotten exponentially larger since then and through a mouthful of flames, Sasuke watched as the entire section of forest around him now went up in a fiery explosion that would be visible for miles, the fire so hot that it turned blindingly white where the heat was the most extreme. The annoying mask on his face was completely burnt away by the streams of fire that he had breathed out suddenly without bothering to pull it down. He transformed back into his own form and watched as the woods collapsed all around him. Everywhere there was the sound of crackling and crashes as half burnt trees fell. Lines of golden fire stretched like webs through the smoke where the vines had caught alight.
The forest would be a mess when the flames exhausted themselves in a couple of days. With any luck, no one would even consider his involvement until a reasonable time after that, by which time they would be long gone. Small disaster scenes like this were not uncommon and he wasn't too worried about pushing the blame onto the bounty hunters in this region.
As the flames licking at his body slowly began to lose their rage and die sulkily into small embers that pursued a path further away from him, the shrivelled and diminished bodies of a few dozen small snakes were revealed to him, some hanging lifelessly from branches, others coiled at the roots of black trees where they had attempted to burrow in order to escape the heat. Many more unlucky serpents had been burnt to ash along with the leaves that they had been hiding amongst. Sasuke kicked a tiny, smouldering snake away from him and looked around the clearing with narrowed eyes. They were all weak summons.
The pitch black smoke billowing from the scene was so thick that he could not glimpse the sky beyond it and he growled lowly in his throat. Crouching down, he bit his thumb to draw blood and quickly made the hand signs for a summoning jutsu before putting both palms on the hot earth, wrists pressed together and fingers pointing outwards as smoke rose beneath his hands. He stood back up and stepped backwards after he felt his chakra channel into the archaic, black lines that appeared on the ground. A loud poof interrupted the crackling in the background and when the smoke from the jutsu cleared, a horse-sized hawk with beautiful snowy feathers tipped with black and dark brown stood in the centre of the summoning seal. It inclined its elegant neck at a slight angle and hopped on its talons to face him fully.
"Greetings Sasuke-sama," it said in a deep voice that reverberated richly around the clearing, "It has been a long time since you last summoned one of my clan."
Sharp eyes looked beyond him for a moment and it paused as it studied where it was before commenting, "I would ask if all is well but I can see that things are far from it."
"Intelligent and direct as ever, Takaba," Sasuke said curtly. "I need you and others of your clan to kill all of the snakes around this vicinity. I have disposed of the majority, but I don't have the convenience to track down the few that have escaped."
The hawk did not question his reasons, and only looked at him with a set of naturally fierce features that made it seem as though he were the one beseeching Sasuke instead.
"Is that your only command?" he asked, voice rumbling.
"It is."
"Then it will be done." The hawk unfurled its wings with a soft whoosh. Carefully, it stretched them out so that its large wingspan would not touch any trees.
"Your clan has my appreciation."
Sasuke watched as Takaba prepared to take off. The single eye that he could see fixed on him and belied what would be a wise smile.
"It is our honour to serve the Uchiha clan," Takaba said levelly. "Only they can command the skies."
With a single beat of his wings, Takaba was off the ground. He wheeled around Sasuke once in a dangerously tight spiral and let out a single, screeching cry before he ascended swiftly to disappear vertically into the smoke above. On the ground, Sasuke could feel the great gusts of wind from Takaba's wings churning the air furiously. The scorched leaves danced around him as if alive, and the flames in the clearing flared with renewed strength.
Every now and again as he moved further away from the woods, he would hear an unnatural, piercing screech in the distance as a hawk wheeled and dived. He knew that each time, another snake had been discovered and killed. He could place his complete confidence in Takaba's clan. He had entered the contract with them and destroyed the contract with Orochimaru's snakes shortly after Itachi's truth had been revealed. Madara had allowed him to aimlessly wander the countryside for some weeks after Itachi's death and Takaba had been the one to come to him during that time. The hawk had found him one day at dusk as he sought solitariness, sitting on a ledge jutting out from a cliff overlooking a golden forest as the light slowly waned. He had been largely ignorant of the rather talkative bird until Takaba revealed that his clan had a history with the Uchiha's, but that it had been lost generations before.
Your clan was so keen on ruling the earth below that they forgot about the skies. Our services were no longer needed or wanted.
Sasuke remembered, Itachi had been able to summon crows. The hawk had then offered him a similar gift, and roosted patiently on the rock beside him until the sun had disappeared and Sasuke finally accepted with a simple lowering of his chin. The contract was signed and he unknowingly moved on to a new stage of his life, unfortunately still riddled with revenge. He knew that Takaba had been pleased the first time that Sasuke summoned him for Naruto's benefit. Although Takaba was his summon, they did not have a relationship of near servitude as had been the case with Orochimaru's snakes. Sasuke came to understand that many summons, like Naruto's toads and Tsunade's slug, were almost equal to their summoners, demanding respect and equality and often sharing values. Takaba was an old hawk, much older than Sasuke. The approval radiating off the bird when he saw Sasuke supporting Naruto shortly after their escape had left him with a sharp reminder of how his father had praised him once as a child. In that moment, with a faithful summon and Naruto's warmth by his side, he knew that he had not yet lost everything.
Yes, everything was still there, just barely out of reach. And he could have it all again, as soon as Naruto was unsealed.
Would there be another seven years? Or would they be found before then? And in a dark section of his soul –
Will I have another seven years?
Seven years was no small number. So much had changed around him, yet just as much was monotonous. It was like being trapped in a void where everything was warped. He knew that time was passing and yearned to live, yet without a relative perception of time and of the end itself, he just floated there without being anchored to reality. Things that had once seemed to be the centre of everything now ghosted softly by him and into that fading past. The heavy chains of revenge slowly slipped away and into nothingness…
It was now a distant, contemptuous thought that he had ever allied with Madara. There had been absolutely no mutual benefit in that relationship. Madara had offered him a tailed beast in return for his loyalty. He had never imagined that the Kyuubi vessel would turn the tables by practically offering himself, willingly letting himself be subject to Sasuke's control. Sasuke also had his doubts about whether Madara had ever meant to keep to their bargain in the first place. He'd caught wind of a similar arrangement struck with Kabuto, and would not have been surprised if the two deals had been mutually exclusive. Kabuto was a man with simple, petty needs. A grandiose prize on the scale of a tailed beast would be wasted on him.
Sasuke grit his teeth unknowingly. He should have killed Kabuto when he had the chance. Instead, he'd given the snake's other apprentice an opportunity to seek revenge and quite possibly, he may have unknowingly contributed to Tsunade's demise. He still didn't consider Kabuto a major threat, more of an annoyance. He sneered at the idea that the silver haired man could one day bring death to him like he himself had done to Itachi. Although Kabuto had trained underneath Orochimaru for longer, the brand of teaching that each had endured was different, and Sasuke did not believe that Kabuto had benefited enough in the area of combat to challenge him.
Only Naruto could challenge him, time and time again. Whenever Sasuke thought that he had figured the other all out, Naruto would unveil yet another new jutsu, yet another thought that Sasuke would not have believed him capable of. And then seven years ago, Naruto had revealed his greatest trump card. With it, he had shown that he was just as unexpectedly manipulative as the rest of them. He would most likely be affronted if anyone tried to accuse him of such, coveted as his values were (it seemed that he much preferred being a fool). But Sasuke knew, and he was sure that Naruto had known too –at least towards the end— that what the blonde had planned, executed, was nothing short of a thinly veiled manipulation of the last Uchiha heir.
He accepted Naruto's win with a kind of biting, masochistic respect that was mixed in with a dull anger, the blade of which had never really been sharpened for use. Somehow, he was not repulsed by Naruto's actions. On the contrary, Naruto had only struck home that they were truly equals, and not just in ability. Sasuke accepted it now. He was not the only twisted one. He had gambled with his eyes.
Who would have thought that Naruto would gamble with their lives?
But it had paid off handsomely for the blonde. He had secured himself a powerful companion, the only one that stood a chance against Madara. Sasuke had been won over, and that was the greatest prize that the blonde could have ever hoped for.
Back in the abandoned district, Sasuke gently slid shut the door to the room that he shared with Naruto and settled himself cross-legged on the tatami next to him. He studied Naruto, safe under his care, warm in a room that hinted at a splendour that he most probably had never experienced while awake amongst the living. Sasuke's debt must surely have been paid off by now? Surely, when Naruto awoke, everything could go back to how it had been, years and years before?
Gingerly, he extended his hand and took Naruto's wrist, the seal distinct beneath his fingers as they rubbed along the twisting marks. He imagined the black ink melting away, disappearing from Naruto's body until only the seal on his stomach was left. He could see how slowly, Naruto's pale skin would regain its tan colouring and for the first time, he would view Naruto's brilliant blue eyes on a face that had matured very slightly over the years.
He could already feel the power beneath his hands.
He hurriedly lay Naruto's hand back down as though burnt and scooted away from him, stopping when his back connected with the painted door. Unnoticed, a drop of blood trickled down the edge of his mouth from where had had suddenly bit down on his lip with too much force. His body gradually relaxed against the light wood. As the flickering light cast deep shadows on the walls, no familiar voices haunted him and he was thankful for that small mercy. He didn't sleep, only watched and thought like a starved man, and yet somehow, he still dreamt of that day when he could awake to claim his own prize.
Kakashi finished engraving the last letter in the stone with a steady finger, detailing the end of the 'e' up into a curling flick. The hissing blue glow faded from around his right forefinger and he stood up, taking a step back to admire his handiwork while wiping away a little sweat that had gathered under his forehead protector with his other hand. Sharpening his lightning chakra to a stage similar to that of wind chakra had taken an unsurprisingly large amount of effort, but he smiled beneath his mask at the name that now decorated the bottom of the third row on the monument stone. It was slightly different to the lettering of the other names on it but he doubted that she would mind very much.
Tsunade-sama, he thought, you of all people deserve a place here.
When the Council realised the heavy opposition to Tsunade's exhumation, they had been bitter at yet another indicator of their loss of authority. As they saw it, past leaders had always been kept in the crypt, and anything less than that was blatantly going against tradition. Although they stopped short of putting down a decree preventing Tsunade's name on the monument, they ignored her death altogether after that and made no arrangements for her memory, or even to honour her past services to the village. Kakashi and Sakura had organised everything themselves. This morning when he woke up, Kakashi had come to the epiphany that he could go down to the monument and do the job himself. He was sure that Sakura would be pleased once she learnt about the addition upon her return.
He raised his arms above his head and stretched, feeling the little pops in his back with satisfaction. He had been crouching for over an hour but even then it shouldn't have caused his muscles to cry out as they were doing now. Perhaps he was starting to get old. Arms still raised, he heard a faint pop behind him as one of the two ANBU departed from the trees and he knew that the little weasel was off to report what he had done to the Council. Although, it was somewhat curious that he had waited until Kakashi finished the job. Perhaps the Council's servants weren't as brainwashed as they had hoped.
The other remaining ANBU jerked to attention and followed Kakashi when he turned from the monument and began making his way back to the Hokage Tower. He kept at least ten metres behind his Hokage, showing at least that small respect. As he jumped across rooftops, Kakashi tilted his neck up at the clear sky and saw the sun marking the day as being at around 11 in the morning. Gaara was supposed to arrive at the village gates at midday and their meeting was scheduled for 2pm after the Kazekage had had time to go through the identity checks and settle down in his living quarters. He would be staying for Tsunade's memorial service two days later, by which time Sai and Sakura would have returned. Normally, Kakashi would have refused the meeting unless at least one of his assistant or Captain were there, but Gaara had been extremely urgent and secretive about it being as soon as possible. Without Sai and Sakura present, Kakashi would just have to figure out some other way to stop the ANBU from listening in.
He slammed shut the door of his office, leaving the panda masked ANBU to stand sulkily outside. He swept around the cushiony chairs and his table and collapsed down into his armchair, letting his arms hang lazily over the armrests. Bleary eyed, he took one look at the paperwork that remained in front of him and span his chair around to gaze out of the glass window behind him instead. He leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers over his stomach, smiling up at the blue sky that he could see. It was tragic that in Konoha and most of the shinobi nations, the sky was very rarely pure blue anymore. So often it was marred by disturbingly red-tinged clouds, or even the telltale smoke from some unfortunate village that had been attacked. At other times, it had taken up the namesake of the Rain village and would be covered by a sheet of clouds so thick that the sky was completely grey-white. Seven years ago, azure blue had all but disappeared. Seeing it now, Kakashi wondered if it was somehow Tsunade's final gift to them.
With the faint ticking of the clock on the wall and the gentle puffs of wind that came in under the windowsill every now and again, he must have dozed off for a moment because the next thing he knew, he was snapping awake at the distinctly powerful chakra signature of someone entering Konoha. He turned his chair back the other way and as expected, the clock showed him that he had lazed off for about an hour. Coming to the realisation that he could hardly hold a meeting with Gaara when a mountain of loose paper was between them, Kakashi created three Kage bunshins and hastily, they set about signing all of the documents and stacking them neatly on the floor. He thought he heard a resigned sigh come from outside his door and purposely ignored it.
A little past an hour later, the door to his office flew open just as he was finishing off one last small stack, having dismissed his clones when their hands began getting tangled up trying to reach for the same pile all the time. His eyes warmed at the redhead that walked in and behind him in the open doorway, he could see Temari standing with her huge fan next to her, a calculating expression on her face as she regarded the panda-mask ANBU across from her. Gleefully, Kakashi realised that he wouldn't have to worry about the ANBU after all.
"Somehow, I doubt that you actually read all of those documents," Gaara said, giving a small smile by way of greeting. Kakashi tutted at him with a waggling finger as the younger Kage sat down across from him.
He dropped the last sheet onto the pile on the floor and sank back into his chair after throwing the brush down onto its holder with precision. Pulling the top of his mask down by an inch, he showed Gaara his activated sharingan as it faded back into grey.
"Of course I read them," he said cheerily.
"Honestly. That is just unfair." Gaara scowled and Kakashi chuckled. Paperwork, troublesome councils, lunatic missing nin, man eating, shape-shifting Zetsus. Kages had so many problems in common. It was a surprise that they hadn't banded together earlier.
"I trust your living quarters are to your satisfaction?" he asked airily.
Gaara nodded. "However, if we are not intruding, Temari and myself wish to remain in Konoha for at least a few more days after the service."
"Oh?"
"We have much to plan, Kakashi."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at him. "What exactly is this meeting about?" he asked. It was pleasingly silent outside his door and he wondered absently what Temari might have done. He was actually feeling a bit sorry for the ANBU. He had to deal with not only a Council of stubborn elders, but with his own antics and the entertainment of his guests. Not all ANBU belonged to the council though – Yamato was one of his – and so Kakashi could consider it that particular ANBU's own fault for pledging his loyalty to the wrong group of people.
"One moment."
Gaara flexed the fingers of his left hand in a claw like motion and sand gushed quickly from beneath him and spread around the room. Kakashi blinked. He was suddenly sitting in what seemed to be an interrogation chamber straight out of Suna, the walls, floor and ceiling completely covered with shimmering, golden sand. Gaara had left the hanging lights uncovered but Kakashi silently bemoaned the loss of the window.
"Now we can speak," Gaara informed him.
"This is a bit much," he commented warily. "Should I begin worrying?"
Gaara snorted. "My news isn't exactly of the bad kind."
"Excellent." He gestured for him to start. "Let's hear it then."
Gaara settled himself more comfortably to the side of his seat. "I'll begin with when I sent the letter requesting for this meeting," he said. "Two days ago, I woke up with a clearer mind than I had had for days. I realised that the remains of a genjutsu were wearing off."
Kakashi's eyes widened comically at the other. "How can this not be bad news?" he demanded. "If anyone finds out, your position will be challenged instantly!" Especially in Suna, he thought darkly, where the village had already experienced the terror of the Fourth Kazekage being placed under a genjutsu in the past.
"Which is why no one will find out," Gaara said firmly. "Only Temari, Kankurou and now you know. I can trust all of you with my life."
"Okay…"
"Why I wanted this meeting as soon as possible isn't just to tell you about that though. It is because I didn't only remember what I did while under the genjutsu, but I remembered who cast it on me."
Gaara fixed him with a serious look. "I came across Sasuke Uchiha while I was in Tokoyo."
Kakashi sat up straight like he had been pricked with pins. All of the hope that he had felt that had deflated with Gaara's letter weeks ago, suddenly came rushing back in a tidal wave that left his voice a tad weaker sounding than he would have liked. "Then that letter that you sent after we asked you about the code…?"
Gaara nodded. "I sent it under the influence of the genjutsu," he confirmed with some shame. "It seems that Sasuke wanted all of the attention diverted elsewhere."
"Then they really were in Tokoyo."
Gaara's lips thinned with a bit of concern as he watched Kakashi slowly sink back into his seat again. The copy-ninja's single visible eye appeared glazed with the bitter realisation that they had been so close to finding his two missing pupils. On the other side of his table, Gaara could see the original team 7 group photo framed and in a revered position between two other group photos, one taken before, one taken after. Suddenly, in apparent alarm, Kakashi raised his head sharply.
"Where were they when Tokoyo was destroyed?"
"I'm afraid I don't know that," Gaara replied regrettably. At Kakashi's frustration he reassured him, "Sasuke has only grown more cunning and dangerous since we last met, and my spies have not reported any suspicious activity from Madara. It is highly unlikely that Naruto has been captured."
"We are back to square one, then," Kakashi muttered. "It has been weeks. They could have gone anywhere."
"It is not completely hopeless."
At Kakashi's questioning look, Gaara said, "I can still feel the remnants of Sasuke's chakra affecting my system. Before it completely disappears, I want to try tracking him down using the alliance's sensors."
"We have tried tracking down his chakra signature countless times," Kakashi said in response. "Why would this time be any different?"
"Because none of us realised that his chakra had changed." Gaara sighed and motioned his hand. "I noticed it as we were fighting. It is a very subtle change, but enough to throw off any trackers who only have an exact sample to compare with." Kakashi looked dubious.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Positive."
Kakashi unconsciously began poking at the cotton under the armrest as he mused, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "How is it possible for his chakra signature to change? Actually. Never mind. Yours changed, didn't it? But Sasuke does not have a bijuu that could cause that…"
"His eyes," Gaara interrupted Kakashi's spoken thoughts, "were different. I don't only mean that his sharingan has progressed. That was to be expected after so many years. There was something else in them. I am not sure, but it was almost as though his own chakra had mixed with someone else's…"
Kakashi suddenly felt very cold in the room, strange because even a breeze couldn't sneak in through the sand barrier. Mixed with someone else's? Whose chakra would Sasuke steal? Whose chakra could he steal? One obvious answer came to him, and it was a very unwanted one. Could Sasuke really use Naruto in such a way…?
"Kyuubi's?" he whispered.
"I hope that that isn't the case," Gaara murmured. "It didn't feel like the Kyuubi's, but I may be wrong since I don't know what such a combination would become. But whatever caused the change, I want to try and track Sasuke down by using the chakra in my body as a new sample."
Kakashi closed his eyes and rubbed at his furrowed brows. "We can't do anything about that yet," he said tiredly.
"Are none of your sensors –"
"We have a few sensors in the village at the moment, that isn't the problem," Kakashi interrupted. "The problem is that Sasuke's chakra will have to be distilled from your own before it can be used as a sample. That will require a lot of skill, and must be done by someone we trust completely. Not only that, we will need a sample of your original, untainted chakra for the process."
"A sample of my original chakra…"
"Well, maybe that part won't be as troublesome as imagined." Kakashi tapped his chin sheepishly. "I believe that Sakura still has a sample of your chakra somewhere, so we could try using that. She took it a few years ago when you came for that meeting about resources. She has created quite the large catalogue of chakra signatures for identification purposes."
Gaara looked impressed. He had not even noticed her take his chakra. "She is a rather sneaky woman," he commented offhandedly. "Why can't she do the distillation? She is skilled enough, is she not?"
"Ah, and therein lies the problem," Kakashi said with another waggle of his finger. "She is out of the village at the moment and shouldn't be back for at least another day." He looked over Gaara and the younger man knew that the sharingan was activated beneath the mask.
"I can still see the foreign chakra," Kakashi stated, "but it is rather weak."
Gaara nodded. "It has been dissipating at a rapid pace ever since my mind began to clear," he said. "I don't know if it is even enough to be useable as it is. It might be completely gone in a day."
"Well, all we can do now is send a message to her and hope that she gets back quicker than expected." Kakashi sighed. "I'll get to that straightaway."
"That will be appreciated."
Neither of them moved for a moment, and then Kakashi turned his eye pointedly from one side of the room to the other. With a barely contained smirk, Gaara let the sheets of sand fall to the floor and slink lazily back to his gourd.
"Kakashi, if you cannot even escape from my sand, what would you have done if Sasuke's genjutsu had had me attack you?" he asked mockingly.
Kakashi jumped swiftly to his feet, slapping both hands once on the table before walking around it and towards the door. "Now that, my dear Kazekage, will be a tale for another day!" he called over his shoulder. "Do you care to accompany me to the lovely tower that is our aviary?"
"I'll pass," Gaara declined. He knew that aviaries were far from lovely. He got up as well and Kakashi stood aside politely, letting the other walk out the door first. "Temari and myself will be in our rooms if you need us."
In the corridor, Gaara nodded to Temari and the two of them began walking towards the staircase that led to the residences for important foreign visitors. All diplomats stayed in the Hokage tower. It was supposed to be the safest place in the village after all. The ANBU was curiously nowhere to be seen and in amusement, Kakashi noted that the hanging scrolls on the wall appeared slightly ruffled, and that there was a slight spring to Temari's step.
"Hokage-sama!"
Spoken too soon. He smothered a groan when another, different ANBU suddenly came barrelling down the other end of the corridor. This ANBU wore a mask with a monkey design and from what Kakashi recalled, he was not one of the Council's men. The ANBU seemed to recognise the redhead walking away behind Kakashi and he shouted out to the Kazekage as well, surprising them both with the lack of proper mannerisms. The sand siblings paused and Gaara turned on his feet.
"Urgent news!" the ANBU said breathlessly to the both of them. "Word has come in from several of our shinobi outside of the village. Madara's army has turned upon itself!"
Gaara was at their side instantly and the ANBU flinched at the two men who suddenly seemed a lot more closer than they had been a few seconds ago. Behind them, Temari slowly approached as well.
"What did you just say?" Gaara said dangerously, to which the ANBU held his hands up meekly.
"From early reports, it seems like Madara has lost control of some of the Zetsu and edo-tensei," he informed them. "They are attacking everything. Villages, travellers, and even each other. Particularly each other."
The two Kages exchanged a look.
"What is going on?" Kakashi muttered. This was too sudden. He frowned heavily and looked at the ANBU. "Have any of our shinobi been injured?" The ANBU shook his head.
"No, our shinobi are accounted for," he replied earnestly. "Haruno-san and Captain were attacked on their way back but they have sent word that they are safe, and that they are returning to the village as quickly as they can."
"Go and issue my orders to put the village under lockdown," Kakashi commanded him. "If the Zetsu really are on the move, then we can be sure that there will be many imposters trying to get in, especially under the pretence of Tsunade-sama's funeral. Anyone trying to enter must prove without doubt who they are first. Go now!"
"Understood."
The ANBU quickly bowed low to each of them in turn and disappeared from sight. Gaara turned to look at Kakashi, his green eyes calculating.
"The edo-tensei are Kabuto's doing," he said slowly. "Perhaps this is a mutiny?"
Kakashi gave a few small nods as he considered the possibility, running the fingers of one hand through his grey hair in frustration. "Yes, that might be the case." He suddenly looked at Gaara sharply. "Could this have been timed for when you weren't in Suna?"
Gaara growled at that. "Very few people should have known about my departure. This is becoming a mess." He turned to look at his sister. "Temari, I need you to go back to Suna and give the same instructions. Send them a message first. Intelligence should already have received news at the same time as Konoha but make sure that everyone is operating on the highest security. You will stand in as Kazekage until my return."
"You're not going to return now?" she asked in shock.
"My village needs me," Gaara acknowledged grimly, "but I must stay in Konoha for at least one more day until Sakura can return and distil my chakra. It is essential for the alliance. I can travel fast, Temari, so do not worry about that. I may be able to get back even before you, depending on when she returns."
When Temari looked hesitant, Kakashi decided to step in.
"Ne, Temari, I will take good care of your little brother, so you can go back and handle things without worrying." He jovially clapped a hand on Gaara's shoulder. The other stiffened very slightly but Kakashi kept it there. "I will send him back with some of our best ANBU as soon as Sakura's done with him!"
Temari gave him a small smile. "Alright then. I will go back and handle affairs in the village."
"One more thing," Gaara said before she could leave, edging out from beneath Kakashi's grasp. "If the Raikage contacts Suna, whatever you do, do not agree to his demands without letting us know first."
"Ah." Kakashi nodded grimly. "Yes, I imagine that the Raikage would love to use this opportunity to deploy our combined forces and attack Madara's supposedly weakened army."
Temari assured them that she would not make any major decisions without confirmation first. Gaara sighed after she left.
"What is happening? Are we returning to war again?" he muttered.
"I don't know, Gaara." Kakashi glanced out the window. Who would have thought that something so terrible might happen on such a day? "This might be a trap. We still need more information before we can make decisions on anything."
"It is pretty safe to say that Kabuto is behind whatever is going on out there," Gaara said ruefully. "As for whether it is a trap, it seems that all we can do is wait and see for whom it is he set it."
The sweet singing of a child, pure and carefree such that Sasuke had not heard for many years, cut through the roaring of the waterfall more potently than a sharpened blade. His eyes snapped open when he first heard it and for some minutes he did nothing, only sitting there on the cold, wet stone as the girly, childish voice echoed in the small cavern, hidden behind the sheet of glowing, blue water.
"She sounds so…free."
Beside him, the 8 year old Naruto gazed yearningly at the water even though nothing could be seen through its churning depths. He was smiling sadly and Sasuke knew what he was thinking. In any other life, they might have been just as carefree, taking just as much happiness from simple pleasures. But instead, fate had dealt them a rogue hand. The last Uchiha and the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. This would be their life, and nothing else. This was theirs, and no one else's.
"I wonder what a little girl is doing out there?" the young Naruto pondered out loud. Sasuke shuffled beside him and he watched as the Uchiha got to his feet and walked towards the waterfall. He gawked when the other dunked his own head beneath the heavy stream of water, just deep enough so that his shirt would not get wet.
"Sasuke! What are you –"
"Shut up."
Naruto's jaw clanked shut and he looked at the other with wide, hurt eyes as he pulled back from the water, shaking his head to get rid of the excess moisture. Brushing his fingers through his wet locks, Sasuke walked back past him and to the end of the small cavern where the real Naruto lay nestled amongst several duvets. Sasuke's back was to the entrance as he stared down at his unconscious companion, clear rivulets of water running down his neck and across his stony features.
"You are not as strong as him," he murmured, his echoing words directed to the 8 year old, softer yet louder than the singing all at once. "He knows that we cannot change anything. That there is no point in thinking about 'what if's.'" He exhaled deeply. "You are only a shadow of him."
And I cannot wait much longer.
He turned around and locked gazes with the younger Naruto. The blonde's lips were parted slightly as he stared up at the eerily still Uchiha, his expression pained, unsure and tainted with the barest glimmer of fear. Normally the 12 year old would have appeared by now to defend the younger, but Sasuke had a feeling that that would not be the case today. They could only endure his hatred and anger for so long and the 12 year old had been the one to deal with him the last time. They were only illusions that were unable to face the full brunt of his emotional upheavals. They could keep him at bay temporarily but in the long run, nothing could compare to the real thing.
Both of their eyes widened when the soft singing in the air suddenly dropped off into a drawn out, high pitched scream. The child Naruto swung around wildly to look at the waterfall and then disappeared as Sasuke swept by him to see what was going on outside. Activating his sharingan, Sasuke stopped next to the water and looked down just in time to see a small, brown haired girl collapse on the banks of the river below. The sudden silence was unnerving and standing over her, a boy that appeared to be no more than 2 years her elder was grinning, his expression unlike anything that Sasuke had seen on a child that age. The two children looked to be siblings and he felt a lurch in his stomach.
He stood frozen as the boy kicked out at his dead sister and her body rolled once with a splash into the shallows, her oddly twisted throat showing that her neck had been cleanly broken. The boy crouched down next to her and twined his fingers around her neck, continuing to throttle her lifeless body more as her long, red dress floated in the water beside her. The sweet song was gone, replaced by the sounds of his raspy cackling as he shook her violently.
Sasuke clenched his fist at the display, at the brutal cruelty to one's own flesh and blood. Unbelievable, degenerate… a part of his own cursed past.
The boy –monster— looked up as he burst from behind the wall of water. He didn't even have time to register the features of the dark blur moving towards him before a sharp katana had cut him through, stopping his wicked laughter mid-breath and forcing a gasp from his lips instead. Pitilessly, Sasuke's eyes flashed beneath his wet bangs and he dragged the katana sideways and out of the white flesh, creating a long slice from the creature's lower left abdomen to just below a quickly softening white rib on his right. No blood spilt from the Zetsu as it toppled forwards onto the little girl that it had murdered. No doubt her real brother was already dead in the woods somewhere.
Disgusted, Sasuke hacked at the white mound a few more times before kicking it violently off the girl and into the water, where it floated like some gruesome, bloated corpse that had been there for days. He sheathed his katana in the clasp attached to his belt and bent over, intending to take the child and move her to somewhere closer to the nearest village. That way he could avoid people investigating as far as this area and perhaps, her parents would identify and bury her. At the very least they would be able to mourn one of their children.
He had just placed one hand beneath the back of her neck when he noticed it. He paused and then his other hand, instead of supporting her knees as intended, went up to lift one of her eyelids instead, thumb and forefinger holding the skin apart. Frowning, he looked down to check her eyes and his own widened at the unmistakeable pearly hue of the byakugan that stared glassily back at him.
He swore as the limp hand next to his came to life and clutched like a powerful vice on his wrist, strong enough that he could feel the joint threatening to dislocate under the pressure. He tried to stand up but with surprising strength the new breed of Zetsu laughed menacingly and pulled him back down, surging forward and attempting to smother him with white. Gritting his teeth, he channelled his chidori current throughout his entire body and with an ear-splitting screech the Zetsu was killed almost instantly, dropping limply away from his limbs. The stolen features of the girl finally melted away, leaving only a faint, smoking humanoid similar to the one floating in the water behind him.
Sasuke panted with the sudden shock that he had received as he tore himself from the clinging flesh and stumbled to his feet in the shallow water of the banks. He looked down at the dead creature, focusing in particular on the eyes. The girl had been no normal zetsu. It was one of the ones rumoured to be more powerful, able to escape detection more skilfully than their original counterparts. And it seemed that the byakugan was the source of their extra power. The transformation had been near flawless, unlike the one that had transformed into the little boy. The two were obviously created at different times, possibly even by different people. And they had gone against each other.
His fist trembled by his side. The words spreading through the shinobi world like wildfire were true and now the evidence was presented before his own eyes. Madara's army had mutiny within their ranks and he felt a thrill of morose excitement course through his body, together with Naruto's words to not do anything until the time was right. Perhaps it was the shock, but he felt more impulsive than normal.
When was the time right? When would it ever be more right than now?
He sank both bodies to the bottom of the river and then returned to the cavern behind the waterfall, knowing that somewhere, another two children were dead and abandoned. Life really was much too short. Sopping wet, he slowly advanced upon Naruto, unclasping the katana at his waist and dropping it to the ground with a dull clink as he stalked towards the other. He fell to his knees next to him and with his face close to the blonde's, ran his hand across a tan forehead and through golden hair, leaving a few tracks of water across his skin as he almost reverently drank in Naruto's features, as though he didn't see him almost everyday, as though this might be the last time that he could do so.
Rationality called to him, told him to stop before everything was changed forever. Like a turning point, like his brother's death, a sister's death, like the uncertainty that meant that everyday might be his last in this world. Naruto's voice reverberated in his mind, the younger voices pleading for his patience.
What did Naruto want him to wait for?
For how much longer did Naruto expect him to suffer, alone?
It was enough. Everything was enough and he didn't want to wait anymore, knowing that what could be his best or even only chance at happiness had come. Something inside him screamed and ignoring it, his right hand went down to the holster on his thigh and flicked open the top. He hooked a finger through the loop of one kunai and pulled it from the holster.
One hand continued to caress Naruto's face almost lovingly.
The other lifted the kunai above Naruto's chest.
Kill me, if you really don't think that darkness will follow.
End of Chapter 4.
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