Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto
Chapter 40: Awakenings
It was the darkest part of the night just before dawn when the curse awoke. At least in a manner of speaking, the curse wasn't sentient or even a being in the strict sense of the word albeit it could look that way to an outside observer.
A true curse was a terrible and, at least according to some, beautiful thing. The particulars varied greatly, but at its most basic level a curse twisted the world to achieve its goal. Bad luck to varying degrees was perhaps the most common one, but they could get very complicated and oddly specific. Whatever the goal, a successfully placed curse would bend everything it could to fulfill its purpose. In general they were difficult to cast, even harder to break and surrounded by all sorts of auxiliary conditions and constraints.
This particular curse had been cast by the dark god Jashin with a single goal: Wipe out all descendants of a long-gone rival god. Unfortunately for them the Hyuuga were those descendants, the origin of their bloodline almost forgotten in the mists of time aside from a few vague legends. The heart's blood of a living Hyuuga had been spilled on the land they claimed as their own by a follower of Jashin with a weapon made out of a piece of the dark god itself to bring the curse into being. It had no longer any connection to the deity that had created it, making it completely independent and nearly undetectable even by those knowledgeable in these matters. Despite all this the curse was very weak at the current time. The supernatural upheaval during the invasion had interfered with its proper evolvement and temporarily weakened it. While it was growing more powerful over time it had hardly any means of directly influencing the world. Now though it was ready to claim its first victim.
Aeko was an unremarkable Hyuuga Branch House member in her late middle age. She had never been talented enough to become a kunoichi and spent most of her life as a servant. She had never married. She was neither especially loved nor hated by her peers and the rest of her clan; mostly she was just there, doing her mundane duties as she had done for all her life.
The woman was carrying a laundry basket down a stairway in the Hyuuga compound when out of nowhere icy fear gripped her heart. Stumbling back in confusion, her foot slipped on the narrow stairs. The following fall down the stairway woke several people in nearby rooms. By the time the first arrived to investigate the commotion it was far too late for Aeko: the poor woman had broken her neck in the fall. After a short investigation it was chalked up to a tragic accident.
The first pebble that in time would turn into an avalanche had begun its journey down the mountain.
Shikamaru yawned sleepily when he left his bed. He hated getting up early, but there was no choice. At sunrise he would have to report to his new superior.
'I sure didn't expect being back to active service after only two months at the academy. I thought I would have more time.'
The time since he had left Kakashi's team to go back to the academy had been filled with training, more training, some bullying from his new classmates and even more training. Shikamaru had improved considerably. Unfortunately he was still far below what he considered acceptable for a genin with his background. A lifetime of laziness and doing just enough to scrape by couldn't be undone by a measly two months.
That wasn't even speaking of some of his erstwhile classmates from the elite class. They were so far ahead of him it was ridiculous. Choji had managed to successfully go hand-to-hand with a jinchuuriki using the form of his tailed beast, for Kami's sake. Shikamaru had witnessed the opening stages of the invasion and seen the fight from afar. At least when he could spare the attention from fighting for his own life; he had killed for the first time then. He still felt uncomfortable about that, but at the time there had been no choice. Fortunately the nightmares about that and the other horrors of the invasion had become less frequent in the last couple of nights.
Later on he had been trapped in a collapsed section of Konoha's underground alongside a few other people. He was still there when the time stop hit. When everything but him stopped he had at first thought someone had trapped him in a genjutsu (or he had suffered a blow to the head), especially when all the shadows started behaving oddly shortly thereafter. Well, when the earthquakes started a brick had indeed fallen on his head without doing any damage, but apparently that wasn't the cause for the strange occurrence. Fortunately their tunnel had survived mostly intact and they had been dug out a few hours later. Apparently he wasn't the only one who had been unaffected by some large-scale space-time technique, but nobody could make any sense of what happened. The current prevailing theory was that several unknown S-rank shinobi had used the invasion to defeat and capture the Ichibi and/or its jinchuuriki. It fit with an S-rank water user attacking the Ichibi and Suna's forces beforehand. The assault by Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki a few days later certainly lent credence to that theory; the intervening time was just right to recover from minor wounds and such an exhausting fight. Kisame was one of the most powerful water-users in the Elemental Nations, so that was accounted for. Perhaps whoever had used the space-time technique had been more seriously wounded so that he couldn't participate in the second attack. Shikamaru wasn't supposed to know, but last night he had overheard a conversation between his parents that they belonged to an organization that meant to target their own jinchuuriki, Naruto.
'And wasn't that a surprise? It explains so much.'
Shikamaru wasn't sure what to make of that. All the adults had obviously known, meaning that half-way competent spies wouldn't miss the fact. It just didn't make sense to keep it secret. Well, at least the power of the Kyuubi was in responsible hands. During the academy time he had been on vaguely friendly terms with Naruto and he still owed him, Choji and Ino due to them slipping him the information about Kakashi's crackpot plan to enroll their team in the chunin exams. Unfortunately he just had not found the opportunity for more than a few short conversations in the months before the chunin exam finals.
Finishing his mourning routine, Shikamaru headed to the kitchen. His mother was already there, preparing breakfast. "Morning, mom."
"Good morning, Shikamaru. Please be quiet, your father is still sleeping."
Shikamaru nodded when he sat down at the table. It was the first time since the invasion that his father had actually spent the night in his own bed in the Nara clan compound. He had been back several times to take care of urgent clan business in the last days, but he always headed back to the Hokage's office immediately, leaving Shikamaru's mother to deal with things. Him being back for the night was a sign that things were slowly brought under control.
Yoshino placed a bowl of porridge before him. "Hurry up and eat. You don't want to be late."
He rolled his eyes as soon as his mother had turned her back. "Yes, mom."
A moment later the large wooden spoon his mother had been carrying hit him none too gently on the head. "Don't roll your eyes at me."
'Troublesome woman. How did she know that?'
"Just assume I know everything you think and do, son."
Shikamaru gulped nervously and began eating without further comment. Women were terrifying creatures, his mother especially. He wouldn't put it past her to be able to read his thoughts.
Finishing quickly, he returned the bowl. After getting his equipment (since the invasion he never went anywhere unarmed) he was about to leave the house when something caused him to stop at the doorstep. A small, sleeping red-haired child was curled up on the front porch.
"Troublesome." Carefully picking the boy up, Shikamaru turned around.
"Did you forget something, Shikamaru?" his mother asked from the kitchen when he re-entered the house.
"Shirou was outside again."
"Oh dear." His mother entered the hallway, a worried expression on her face. "The poor boy. Give him to me."
Handing over the sleeping boy, Shikamaru watched his mother's expression soften. He guessed that was how his father saw her instead of her normal, rather tyrannical self. Shirou was one of Shikamaru's cousins who had been orphaned in the invasion. He was now staying with them along with two other children and one of Shikamaru's old great-uncles. The house was rather full these days. Overall the Nara clan had made it through the invasion relatively intact. The clan compound had suffered only minor damage, but of course there had been many painful losses among the clan's members. Shirou was still too young to really understand that his parents wouldn't come back. He often snuck outside to wait for something that would never happen.
Seeing that his mother had the situation under control, Shikamaru gave her a nod and headed out again. This time no surprises awaited him when he made his way into the village. The sky was already growing noticeably brighter; sunrise wasn't far off anymore. Quite a lot of people were already underway, but Konoha never truly slept in the first place.
Shikamaru wondered what his new job would be. Since the invasion he had helped out wherever he could, but he had not been assigned anything. Well, he supposed there wasn't much need for someone with his track record; certainly no chunin or jonin who assembled a team would want him for anything other than just another body to make up numbers. During the invasion he didn't do anything special either. The best he could hope for was some boring and possibly shitty job with few if any opportunities for advancement. Even the increased importance of his father might not help with that.
Finally he arrived at the place he had been ordered to report to. It had originally been one of the bigger craters in a completely destroyed section of Konoha, but it had been converted into a place for briefings of a large number of people in the last days. Shikamaru had actually been present when the crater walls had been changed into rows upon rows of seats by prodigious use of earth jutsu. The wooden roof that kept the weather away was new to him, though.
Shikamaru entered and stopped for a moment to look around. The seats were already well-filled. At first glance all of the people already present were considerably older than him, in some cases extremely so. The number of disabled people was simply staggering, too. Missing limbs and other injuries seemed to be everywhere. He spotted quite a few of the teachers from the academy, too.
'Was there a mistake? I don't belong in here.'
Shrugging, he took a seat in one of the back rows and waited. As minutes passed by the room filled more and more. Some people gave him glances that indicated they wondered what he was doing here. To pass the time Shikamaru ran several mental exercises in his head.
Suddenly a voice startled him. "Sorry, is this seat taken?"
Startled, Shikamaru looked up. A girl about his age was standing there, her eyes hidden behind swirl-tinted glasses. Occasional strands were sticking out from her chin-length light blonde hair.
He gestured towards the seat. "Feel free to sit down."
"Thanks. I'm Shiho."
"My name is Shikamaru."
The girl looked around the now almost-full room. "We seem to be the only people our age here. I wonder why we were summoned."
Shikamaru shrugged. "I wondered the same thing."
Before they could exchange more words the sound of a small gong silenced the room. Several people had appeared on the stage at the center of the room. One man in particular was familiar to Shikamaru. It was Mizuki, the assistant instructor of Shikamaru's old academy class. Additionally, the man had given him help and some pointers during his second stint at the academy, but he had not seen him since before the invasion.
"Welcome, everyone. I am the new director of the academy and head of the education department, special jonin Mizuki. I was tasked by the village council to oversee the reorganization and rebuilding of our educational system. All of you have been selected to support that effort, either in a teaching role or as support staff. As of now you report to me and my assigned deputies."
Mizuki proceeded to introduce the other people composing the new top of the education department. Shikamaru recognized only a couple of the names. None of the former leadership of the academy was present. It was possible they had died during the invasion; there had been so many deaths that it was difficult to keep track.
"Our first priority is the re-establishment of an orderly education and training regime. For the time being we will use the existing syllabus because we have all the related written teaching materials in sufficient amounts, but we will switch to a wartime curriculum in the near future. Since most of the academy buildings have been destroyed we lack a centralized location with sufficient suitable rooms. You will have to hold lessons mostly in the open air if the weather permits and spread out to smaller buildings if not."
Upon hearing these news there was some whispering. Mizuki patiently waited until the whispers died down before he continued speaking.
"In light of our losses it has been decided that the sixth and seventh years will be integrated into the genin force as soon as practical. Unfortunately most of the reports of the students' abilities and grades were lost in the invasion. Due to heavy casualties and reassignments among the old faculty there is no quick and easy way to restore that knowledge. This means our second priority is organizing mass exams in the next few days. Depending on the results we might have to set up a crash course for the worst cases, but the majority of students will be promoted to genin to counteract the manpower shortage."
This time the whispers were louder and lasted longer, but finally the room quieted down again.
"It is very likely we will have to graduate the fifth years early as well, maybe even the fourth years, but fortunately not immediately. As soon as we have a system set up and running expect many new students. We will get several age groups at the same time to bolster the numbers. I know many of you have never taught children before. That means you will make mistakes. Do not be so proud to eschew asking for help. A known mistake is fixable, one brushed under the carpet is not… and those who try to do the latter will find themselves reassigned to the most miserable and dangerous job I can come up with. Do not disappoint me." Mizuki let a hard gaze wander over the audience before his expression returned to normal. "Now, with that out of the way let's get to work. Your names will be called for a more detailed briefing by your immediate supervisors. I'm looking forward to a good cooperation in the future."
Shikamaru watched as the room emptied more and more. Finally he, Shiho and few others were called by Mizuki himself. When the group left the hall the young Nara realized with a start that he, Shiho and Mizuki were the only able-bodied among them. The others displayed an assortment of crippling injuries ranging from multiple missing fingers to one woman who had lost both legs. She skillfully moved around on crutches, though.
After a short walk Mizuki led them to a large townhouse near the center of Konoha. It was conveniently located near one of the main traffic lanes, but far enough to reduce the noise to pleasant levels. The Hokage's office wasn't far away, either. Upon entering Shikamaru saw that it had been refurbished as an office building.
Mizuki turned around to face them. "Once again, welcome. All of you have been selected to work as my personal staff. This is our new office. I'll give you a short tour before you get started. There is much work to be done."
It wasn't anything spectacular. The cellar held the sadly very disorganized remains of the archives salvaged from the academy and even more empty space. Many of the existing files looked to be damaged and incomplete. The rest of the house was occupied by offices. There were even three meeting rooms squeezed into the building. One by one the group dispersed until only Shikamaru and Shiho were left facing their new superior.
"Shikamaru, Shiho, you two will act as my personal assistants. I expect you to give your best and stay out of trouble. You can prepare yourselves for long hours of hard work each day. Additionally, I will personally oversee your training. Don't think you can slack off."
Mizuki continued to explain their duties in detail. They would run all sorts of errands for their new superior, but they would also help in reorganizing the archives, do research on topics Mizuki required, participate in the development of the new academy curriculum and generally see to any task the special jonin ordered them to do.
One fact in particular caught Shikamaru's attention. They were only assigned to the academy by extension; their formal status was that of personal apprentices to Mizuki. In that moment Shikamaru understood. By claiming Shikamaru as his apprentice Mizuki was effectively salvaging his career after he had thrown it into the crapper to get away from Team 7. The special jonin had made a name for himself and garnered no small amount of prestige in the wake of the invasion. He didn't know what the deal with Shiho was, but it would jumpstart her career, too.
'Political move. It puts my father in Mizuki's debt, especially because there was no former association between them. Possibly back payment for getting the position of department head. Mizuki has already cultivated me in the last month.'
Well, it wasn't as if Shikamaru minded considering how Ino, Choji and the others had turned out under his tutelage. It certainly beat being assigned to some no-name chunin and it avoided the impression of blatant nepotism. A side-long glance showed Shikamaru that Shiho had realized what Mizuki had done for her, too. The girl seemed to be quite intelligent. It looked like an interesting time awaited them.
Far to the west the inhabitants of a small castle were filled with fearful anticipation, many awake despite the nightly hour. The birth was going all wrong, Kaede knew. She was the most experienced midwife in all of the Six Sunset Kingdoms and she had helped to bring literally hundreds of children into the world. Even the doctor from faraway Kitami who had been sent for when the noble lady's pregnancy proved to be problematic looked desperate. If nothing changed they would lose mother and child both… and possibly their heads. The daimyo of the Land of Windmills was a good and just man, but there was no telling what grief over the loss of his beloved wife might do to him. She had heard tales of what happened to those who disappointed nobles.
One of the fabled healers of the shinobi might be able to do something, but that was wishful thinking. It had been more than two decades years since the last shinobi had visited their small country and that had only been because their ship had been driven far off course by a storm. Shinobi healers were even rarer than normal shinobi. None of them had been encountered by anyone in the Sunset Kingdoms in living memory. Well, it wasn't as if they saw much traffic what with the endless ocean to the west, the treacherous Sea of Silence and uninhabited Ash Coast to the north and the volcanic wastelands to the east that isolated the Sunset Kingdoms from most other countries. To the south a series of small countries stretched between the Weeping Mountains and the sea as far as the great city of Kitami, the door to the rest of the Elemental Nations.
As time went by the woman grew weaker and weaker. Seeing no way to help, Kaede began to pray. The usual rituals like making offerings to the ancestors, warding off evil spirits and inviting benevolent ones had already been done, but she figured it wouldn't do any harm at this point. She was calling on someone, anyone to help.
Suddenly the atmosphere in the room changed, filled by a peaceful, otherworldly presence. Three new, unknown women had appeared from thin air.
One was clad in an orange gown, her long hair pure silver. Faint lines in her face denoted high age without taking away from the woman's unearthly beauty.
One was all in green, a motherly air surrounding her. Braided brown, sun-bleached hair was done in a style not unusual for working women.
One wore a dress in all colors of the rainbow, gleaming ribbons and flowers woven through her blond hair. She literally radiated youthful exuberance.
No one in the room could move a muscle when the three approached the woman giving birth. Gently touching the swollen belly, the three quietly talked in a language nobody could understand. Then they went to work while the spectators felt their bodies moving of their own accord, giving assistance when it seemed required.
Everything went very quickly then. Before long the cries of a newborn boy filled the chamber, but the three didn't pause in their work. Then a second child was drawn forth from the womb. Kaede felt a deep sadness when she saw the newborn boy's blue face and unmoving chest. Then the youngest pressed her lips to the child's and breathed life into him. A moment later the unhealthy color disappeared and a new voice joined the one of his older brother. A few minutes later the women handed the two cleaned and swaddled bundles to their mother with matching smiles.
"Who… Who are you?" someone finally managed to ask.
The three answered. They spoke of the sanctity of home, the value of family, of the art of healing and many other things. Finally they disappeared as abruptly as they had come, but they left a deep impression behind.
Kaede participated in the celebration following a successful birth as she always did, but her mind was on other matters. As soon as she got home she would erect a shrine to the three Peaceful Sisters. She had the feeling she wouldn't be the only one.
Temari sighed. It was shaping up to be another boring day. Since Idate had left on a mission two days before yesterday she was missing a friendly face to talk to. The others behaved courteously but coolly towards her.
'At least they let me use the yard to train a bit. It could have ended far worse for me.'
The two people watching her left no doubt that she was a prisoner, if a well-treated one. Idate had given her his word that she would be treated honorably and his clan had followed suit. Consequently she was under house arrest in the Morino clan compound and not in a cell somewhere.
Granted, she had been interrogated several times, but it was a far cry from torture. She had always answered truthfully and comprehensively; she thought it prudent not to antagonize her captors. It was made easier by the fact that she didn't actually have much knowledge dangerous to Suna. The Yondaime Kazekage had been her father, yes, but their relationship had always been cold and distant. He had kept her and her brothers as far away from true power as he could manage. They had been recipients of orders, nothing more. It was the primary reason why she had still been a genin in the first place. She had more insight into the workings of her village and politics than a typical kunoichi of her age and picked up things on her own, but nothing that would rate as an important village secret.
Sometimes Temari wondered if she would ever return to Suna and what would await her there. By now she had the time to consider things carefully. With her father dead (she hoped the bastard was burning in some hell) and her youngest brother presumably gone her political value and standing was questionable at best. With the failed invasion the erstwhile supporters of her father would take the fall. Suna was looking forward to a time of considerable political upheaval. Her father had made many enemies and some of them might well take out their anger on her. Their family would make a good scapegoat for the failed invasion, too. While she considered herself a good kunoichi her skills were not strong or unique enough to make her really valuable to anyone in Suna under the circumstances. Well, she was the current holder of the weasel contract she had inherited from her mother, but due to the weasels' peculiarities it wasn't that useful to Suna overall.
'I wonder how Kankuro is doing.'
She had no idea if he had even survived the invasion or the retreat. He was the only member of her family left to her. Maybe Baki would keep him around and alive. Their jonin-sensei was an intelligent, calculating man and had considerable foresight. Gaara was most likely dead considering the destruction in the village's vicinity Idate had told her about. It seemed the Ichibi had ultimately broken free of the seal and devoured her brother.
'I can't bet on being ransomed back by Suna even if the hostilities are settled. That might take years anyway. I don't want to go against my village, but I don't think I have a future there anymore.'
Temari would have to take her future into her own hands. Sticking with Idate seemed a good idea. It had worked out wonderfully so far and she didn't plan on staying a prisoner for the rest of her life. Besides, it was always nice when the logical course of action coincided with what she emotionally wanted.
Deep in the heart of the Desert of Wind something woke. It gave its surroundings a glance before it settled back down. Disturbances were unlikely. Nobody ever entered this driest, most hostile to life part of the desert, not even the shinobi from Suna. Besides, even if a human strayed here he would only see empty desolation. While the entity touched the real world in this place nothing physical was present unless it specifically manifested a part of its being. The changes wrought upon it were still not finished, but it felt already better, more complete than it ever had. The being was no longer broken on a fundamental level. Well, perhaps it should begin thinking of itself as a she. For most beings of her kind gender was something optional and arbitrary, more part of the self-image than anything biological.
At the same place and yet far, far away a woman with golden hair held a sleeping, red-headed boy in her arms and watched her changing surroundings with interest. Demonic and divine energies were flowing freely, reshaping her (and hence her inner world) into something different. Perhaps the biggest change was the new sun blazing brightly in the sky. Another was the existence of shadows. There weren't very many of them, but they existed. Most of the layers of her inner world were still extremely hostile to life, but not all.
Suddenly Gaara stirred. The former Ichibi began humming quietly until the boy settled back down. He was still mostly human, but he too was being changed, his mind and body mended. "Sleep well, my child. It is too early for you to awaken. Our time will come."
Without any transition Shizune woke from deep, dreamless sleep. Her first, ingrained impulse was to check on her master. She was already halfway out of bed before she remembered the current state of affairs.
'Oh, right. We did have a falling out.'
Letting herself fall back onto the bed, Shizune stared at the ceiling. Yesterday's confrontation played out in her head again. There was no taking back the things they had said to each other. She had been stressed and tired while Tsunade had been drunk as usual, but that was no excuse.
'I shouldn't have lashed out at her. I should have apologized immediately.'
It was what she had always done when they had argued, but this time something felt different; Shizune just couldn't tell exactly what it was. After several minutes of fruitless contemplation she shoved these thoughts to the side and got up. Judging by the position of the sun it was late morning. Since she wasn't expected back at the hospital until afternoon she could take it easy for now.
On the last day she had been too tired to pay much attention to the house. Her current location seemed to be some sort of guest room. The supplies she always carried with her had been laid out on a small table. After taking them back she left the guestroom.
'Where was the bathroom again?'
Shizune's first attempt yielded only another, larger bedroom. The next room had been set up as an artist's workshop. Several canvases and easels were neatly stored along with other painting supplies. A skylight combined with a normal window gave the room good lighting. Multiple charcoal drawings and half-finished paintings of landscapes and people occupied the rest of the space. In the center of the room sat an almost finished painting of a white-haired man and a purple-haired woman. It was obvious the two were a couple. They looked very happy together, but Shizune couldn't help but to suppress a sigh. She had always wanted to marry and to have children of her own, but caring for her master and practically living on the road had prevented that. Considering she was slowly getting past the marriageable age she feared that she would never get the opportunity.
'Whoever painted these is very good.'
Finally she found the bathroom. A few minutes and a short trip to the backyard containing a water barrel later she was ready to face the day. Still not knowing her way around the house, she entered a door at random. As luck would have it she had found the living room.
In the next moment Shizune stopped and blinked. There was a swallow with a head scarf and a blanket on her back sitting on the table and drinking tea. It was clear to her that this was a summon, but it still looked surreal. "Um, hello?"
The swallow looked up, not surprised in the slightest. "Hello dear, you must be Shizune Kato. Naruto said you are staying here and thought you would like some company. He is currently out training and won't be back until evening. I am Grandmother Tsubame. Take a seat. What would you like as breakfast?"
Sitting down, Shizune had barely expressed her wishes when several swallows she hadn't noticed before left their places atop shelves and cupboards to flutter out of the room.
'I wonder how they work the doors.'
A cup of tea being placed in front of Shizune interrupted her musings. At first it felt a bit strange to make conversation with a smallish, elderly bird, but Shizune found her to be a kind and skilled conversationalist. They kept the topics mostly lighthearted. Shizune told of her travels while the summon reciprocated with tales of the swallow tribe and ancient history. The kunoichi hardly noticed when other swallows carried a plate of food into the room, but her empty stomach made itself known soon. After finishing the meal there was a bit of silence. It was hard to tell for Shizune if the swallow had nodded off or simply didn't see the need to talk.
The lull in the conversation gave Shizune the opportunity to examine the room more closely. It was nicely furnished with quite a lot of paintings decorating the walls. Shizune took special note of a particularly large one depicting the white-haired man she had already seen in the workshop standing behind a group of three boys and three girls. The man was wearing the standard chunin uniform. One of the boys was a younger Naruto; one was obviously an Aburame while the last one looked to be an Akimichi. The white eyes of a black-haired girl identified her as a Hyuuga, but the blond and the brunette girls had no such identifying marks. Naruto and the brunette girl featured in several other pictures.
'I think he told me yesterday that this house belonged to his girlfriend. That's probably her.'
Another picture showed Naruto with the Akimichi and the Hyuuga with the purple-haired woman Shizune had seen in the picture with the white-haired man. She concluded that this was Naruto's genin team. One of identical size depicted the blond and brunette girls with a meek looking boy and a black-haired woman.
It was then that Shizune was forcefully reminded how little she knew about the current Konoha. It had been around fifteen years since she left the village with Tsunade almost immediately after the third shinobi war. None of the children in the pictures had even been conceived then. The famous and important people from her youth had aged and retired or died in the intervening years. Shizune knew the current crop only from the rumors she had managed to pick up on her travels and the rare occasions when she had made contact with Konoha shinobi. What friends and acquaintances she originally had had moved on with their lives, leaving her behind. She suddenly felt very alone and depressed.
The voice of the old swallow intruded into her thoughts. "Is something troubling you, child?"
Somehow that caused Shizune to bristle. "I'm not a child; I'm twenty-eight."
The swallow chuckled. "Dear, I hatched more than six centuries ago. To me you humans are all children." Then she grew serious. "I can tell there is something on your mind. If you want to tell me, I'm a very good listener. I might even be able to give you some advice and promise to keep your secrets."
Shizune considered for a moment. She really wanted, no needed to talk with someone about things, but there was no one in Konoha she was close enough to. Even better, it was extremely unlikely the swallow would use anything she learned against her in the future like fellow humans might do.
Coming to a decision, Shizune began to speak, at first haltingly, then ever more fluently. She told the swallow of her childhood, of the loss of her parents, of Tsunade taking her in due to her relationship with a dead uncle Shizune barely remembered. For a long time she had seen caring for Tsunade as her purpose in life, but as the years passed by it had left her feeling increasingly unfulfilled. Tsunade was slowly destroying herself and all she could do was watch in despair. The constant traveling had made her feel frayed and tired; her entire time was spent worrying about her master. She wished to settle somewhere and put down roots, but it had been impossible. The frequent arguments, the disregarding of her opinion; Shizune held nothing back. Even her frustration about Tsunade stopping teaching her and the refusal to let her sign the slug contract slipped out, although the swallow didn't seem to mind the mention of a rival summon tribe.
Finally there was nothing more to say and silence settled in. It felt so incredibly good to have gotten that off her chest.
The swallow seemed very contemplative. "Thank you for your trust, dear. I will have to think about this. Why don't you come back after you finish your work for the day? I'm sure Naruto won't mind if you stay here a while longer."
"I don't want to intrude."
"Nonsense. I'm sure he will appreciate the company now that most of his friends are away on missions."
Shizune nodded slowly. "Well, if you're sure…"
It wasn't as if she had anywhere to go other than renting an apartment. Sure, she had still friends from times past, but reconnecting with them would take time and she didn't want to impose on them either. Naruto seemed to be a nice boy and she didn't mind his company. For a few days at least she could use his hospitality. When Shizune left the house to head back to the hospital she already felt considerably better.
The sharks were drawing closer. They couldn't get to him on his makeshift raft, but that was apparently no reason for them to leave him alone. A shudder running through the raft and the screaming of breaking wood made him reconsider. If they managed to damage his raft enough they might get their meal after all.
'I knew I should never have signed up on that floating coffin.'
Well, it wasn't as if he had much choice after he had killed these people in a tavern brawl. He had had to get out of the town immediately and it had been the only ship leaving. It wasn't the first time something like that happened, either. His uncontrollable, violent temper had made him a restless wanderer, traveling across the entire world, never staying long anywhere. His enormous strength and fearlessness always made finding work easy, but sooner or later someone or something always triggered another bout of berserk rage against the wrong target. By now he had changed his name so often he didn't even remember his real one anymore. On his last, ill-fated ride they had simply called him the Brute. Well, until the storm smashed the ship asunder, leaving him as the only survivor.
He had spent all his life on or near the sea. He could read the stars and currents better than most. The storm had driven them far off course into the open ocean. There was no land anywhere in reach. If he didn't end as shark food he would die of thirst.
Suddenly a madness seized him. No, he wouldn't die a wretched, thirsty death or wait until the blasted sharks had reduced his raft to splinters. If he had to die he would go down fighting. Pulling himself to his feet, he stepped to the edge, splintered shaft of a paddle in hand.
"Come here and get me, you oversized mackerels! I'll make shark-fin soup out of you!"
For a moment nothing happened. Then a large shark shot out of the water directly at him, maw opened wide, rows of teeth glistening wetly. He managed to get partly out of the way and ram the makeshift spear into the beast, but he was dragged along into the sea. Pain lanced through his body. Then the red rage once again descended on him and he knew no more.
When he regained his senses he was underwater, the mangled corpses of several sharks and wreckage from the raft drifting around him weightlessly. He tried to swim upwards, but he was tangled in ropes and lacked the strength to resist the pull of the depths. Only then did he notice that he was bleeding and his left leg was missing from underneath the knee. A stream of bubbles escaped his mouth as he laughed madly. He had won the fight, but he would drown nonetheless. His eyesight was already failing when he spotted an immense shadow approaching. Then darkness claimed him.
The awakening came entirely unexpected. One moment he was blissfully unconscious, in the next he was coughing water from his lungs. When he finally could breathe again he was completely exhausted. He was in complete darkness, but one fact stood out.
"What is this stench?"
As if the answer his questions a dull glow appeared. A blue-green glowing stone was drifting on a piece of plank, enabling him to see his surroundings somewhat. He was lying on a bed of driftwood and sea grass surrounded by water. His wounds had been wrapped with some sort of plants. Where his stump had been there seemed to be a new appendage, but he couldn't make out details in the gloom.
Struggling to his feet, he found out that the water was strangely warm and rather shallow. "Where the hell am I?"
You are inside me, human.
The deep not-voice reverberated throughout his entire being, forcing him to his knees. Then the light grew brighter and he could see more. The wrecks of countless ships were surrounding him to all sides interspersed with the remains of all sorts of sea monsters. The faraway roof looked strangely organic. Suddenly the man laughed. Some enormous beast had swallowed him whole. This was growing more absurd by the minute. It was as if he had entered one of the old sagas of his people.
Falling back on his swimming bed, he tried to make sense of the situation. He wasn't having much success. His head hurt and he needed a drink. Well, it couldn't hurt to ask. "Can a man get something to drink here?"
In the next moment a flask surfaced in the water directly by his right hand. For a moment he stared at it. Then he shrugged, picked it up, uncorked it and drank deeply. It was first-class rum.
When the flask was empty he belched loudly. "Damn, that… that hit the spot. You are a good man… monster… fish… whatever." Before he could say any more the alcohol and exhaustion of the last days took its toll and he sank into an uneasy sleep. Strange visions of strength and valor, of seafaring and adventure, of battles against the dangers of the sea and the forces of nature filled his dreams.
The White Whale smiled as his primary avatar swam through the depths of the sea. He liked the human already. It seemed as if he had found his first chosen prophet.
'Wind Release: Shield of the Four Winds'
The air around Naruto whirled wildly, the wind currents forming a protective cocoon. For a few moments it seemed as if the technique would stay stable. Then the jutsu collapsed, sending waves of wind chakra and small pressure blasts in random directions and kicking up a lot of dust.
Coughing slightly, Naruto waited until the dust settled back down. He was now standing in a shallow depression in the ground dug by the technique. Outward from that the fluctuating wind chakra had dug lines into the ground. He bent down to examine them more closely. The shallow spiraling patterns that had been carved into the earth looked interesting. It was certainly better than the rather harmless wave of air pressure that had been the standard result before the latest round of improvements thanks to Asuma Sarutobi's tutoring in the use of wind chakra.
'At least there is some progress.'
He was getting slowly closer to a useful jutsu, but there was still much work to be done. The problem was that Asuma mostly used his wind nature to enhance his weapons. He knew a number of relatively high-rank wind jutsu, yes, but he had no deep insight into them. His knowledge was concentrated on the use and properties of wind elemental chakra flow. Considering the rarity of wind users in Konoha there was nobody else in Naruto's acquaintance he could ask for help.
'Well, I shouldn't complain. Asuma helped me enormously in that field. Solving everything immediately would be too much to ask for.'
Channeling wind chakra certainly lent far more lethality to his knives. Perhaps he should look into learning to do the same with lightning. He already knew the theory behind that, but he had just not found the time to properly train that skill. Channeling chakra of a different elemental nature was different enough that he had to treat is as a completely separate skill. Unfortunately there were always far too many things he wanted to train in. Even with the quite unfair advantage the different flow of time in the world of his parents offered there just wasn't time for everything.
A light growl of his stomach and a look to the sun reminded him that it was time for a break. He had left the house early to train, leaving a still sleeping Shizune behind. Noon was fast approaching and he was feeling hungry. Besides, he had to get to a meeting with one of his friends.
'I guess I should tidy up after me. Earth Release: Slippery Mud Field.'
The earth under Naruto's hands turned immediately into mud. It didn't take long to fill up the hole and the lines, just the application of a bit more chakra than usual. The jutsu was one of the D-rank techniques Mizuki had taught him during the academy. This wasn't really the purpose of the jutsu, but it could be used that way if you knew how. Naruto found it interesting how much easier wind and lightning techniques came to him in contrast. Elemental affinity and training really made a big difference.
"Hey guys, I'm heading back into the village." Naruto shouted towards the swallows who had stayed at a safe distance while he trained. They gave him a few acknowledging shouts before taking to the air. Since his return to Konoha he kept some of them around him at all times. While he didn't expect an attack it was better to be prepared.
Leaving the field behind, Naruto quickly crossed the belt of training grounds surrounding Konoha. Many had been damaged during the invasion, but enough had been restored for the people using them not to disturb each other.
Once Naruto reached the nearest village gate he stopped for a moment. Several groups of shinobi were forming up while apparently waiting for missing members and he spotted several familiar faces. He approached them for a short chat.
"Hey, Kiba, Karin, Akamaru. Are you heading out?"
"Hello Naruto." the young Inuzuka answered immediately. Akamaru woofed in greeting while Karin gave him a shy nod. The girl was always acting shy and slightly intimidated around him. Naruto supposed it had something to do with his chakra. He knew Karin was incapable of shutting off her sensor ability completely. Or maybe it was his status as a jinchuuriki and what he had done during the invasion; that intimidated many people. "Yeah, we're going on a scouting mission. We shouldn't be gone longer than two weeks at most."
"Oh, where to? Do you have to travel far?"
Kiba shook his head. "Actually no, we will be staying relatively close to Konoha the entire time. From what the briefing said we won't be farther away than one or two days' journey at any time. They want us to search for any hostile or unusual trails. It's still a lot of territory to cover."
Naruto nodded. "That makes sense. I guess the leadership wants to make sure there aren't any enemy troops or secret hideouts left."
In that moment one of the older shinobi called for assembly. "Sorry, it seems we have to leave now. See you soon."
"Well, good luck. Don't get in any trouble you aren't able to get out of."
Naruto waited until the group was out of sight until he entered the village. It did take him a while, but finally he reached his destination: one of Konoha's better restaurants. Since it was located in a small park the atmosphere was much calmer than in more busy parts of the village. Shino was already waiting for him there. He had not seen much of the Aburame in the last days due to his absence. Yesterday Naruto had visited him at the Aburame compound, but at the time he had been too busy for more than a short chat and setting this meeting up.
After a short greeting they both ordered their meals. Naruto soon noticed that Shino was more subdued than usual. It was subtle, but they knew each other for years by now. "Is everything alright?"
Shino seemed to immediately recognize what Naruto was talking about. "I am dealing with the loss of my father. It is nothing to worry about. Thank you for your concern."
Naruto supposed that was as good an answer as he was going to get. Shino had never been one for displaying much emotion or openly speaking about such things. Deliberately changing the subject, Naruto speculated about their future. Their normal teams had been suspended for the time being and there was no telling when and if they would be reinstated. Shino had recently been promoted to chunin as well for leading a group during the invasion, but he had yet to be assigned any task. With Yakumo, Choji and Naruto himself four members of the circle had now reached the rank of chunin.
"Do you have time to train later? I could use a sparring partner." Naruto asked when their meals arrived.
Shino nodded. "Certainly. We cannot allow our skills to become rusty."
They spent the rest of the meal in pleasant conversation. Even after they finished they kept their seats just to relax for a while. There were enough free tables that this didn't interfere with the running of the restaurant.
It was a few minutes later that a white-haired woman approached them. "Excuse me, Uzumaki-san, Aburame-san. I'm sorry to disturb you. May name is Yuri Haruno. I'm Sakura's mother. Would you be willing to answer some questions regarding my daughter for me?"
Fourteen year old Chihiro had only a moment to regret her attempt to retrieve her lost shoe from the river. Then the current pulled her underwater.
'I guess that was pretty stupid of me.' was her main thought when the last bubbles of air escaped her mouth and blackness claimed her.
Suddenly the water was forcefully driven from her lungs and replaced with air. When her eyes flew open she looked directly into the unearthly deep green eyes of a boy about her age. Another fact she noticed immediately was that their lips were locked. A blush spread across her face. Even when the kiss ended she continued staring silently into those fascinating eyes.
"Chihiro!"
The shout broke the spell. Turning her head, Chihiro saw the other villagers running towards her. She had been swept away quite a distance. When she turned back towards her savior she gasped. The boy had been replaced by a wingless dragon with a long, slender serpentine body covered by silvery scales. Sea green fur formed a flowing mane along his body, stopping in a tuft on his tail. He had a long snout and pointed horns atop his head. Four wiry legs resembling those of a rooster kept the body aloft while long white whiskers swayed weightlessly in the breeze.
'The eyes… they are the same.'
When the villagers drew closer the dragon backed off further while maintaining eye contact the entire time. Then he soared high into the air before plunging back into the river. Strangely there was no splash; the dragon simply seemed to become one with the water.
Chihiro still stared after him when her friends and relatives surrounded her, hustling her back to the village. She didn't pay much attention to the people talking to her. Worried inquiries if she was alright, scolding for being so reckless, everything simply flowed by. Before long she was back in the village, her companions spreading the tale.
Then the voice of Daisuke, the oldest person living in their village penetrated the haze. "That was the spirit of the swift amber river, no doubt about it. According to the legend he gave our ancestors leave to settle on his banks. No one has seen him since my great-great-grandfather's time. This has to be some sort of sign."
'A spirit, huh?' Chihiro had always thought that they existed only in old stories. She really hoped she would see the dragon boy again, though.
Safely hidden behind a spyhole, Yuri Haruno watched her daughter peeling an apple and cutting it into mouth-sized pieces for her hospitalized teammate. Ever since his escapade during the attack of Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki Sasuke had been kept under constant observation. He had been unresponsive to the world around him thanks to whatever his traitor brother did to him, but Shikaku didn't want to take any risks. Tsunade had healed the boy this morning and he could now move again. Unfortunately the other man affected by Itachi's genjutsu had died before Tsunade could treat him.
"Sasuke-kun, do you want some apples?"
For a moment the boy just looked at her daughter with an expression that made Yuri decidedly uncomfortable. Then he slapped the plate away, scattering the apple pieces across the floor.
"Sasuke-kun?"
The boy simply continued staring at Sakura with a frightening expression. Finally he turned away, looking out of the window instead. Yuri sighed. She had seen enough. "Thank you for allowing me in here, Saito-san."
The man nodded. "It was no bother at all. You should get your daughter away from that boy as soon as possible. He's bad news. My own daughter is only a year younger and I wouldn't want her anywhere near him."
Giving the man a nod in return, Yuri left the room and then the building. Since it was noon anyway she headed to a quiet restaurant. She needed time to think. It was all over the village how Sasuke had disregarded orders in his headlong attack on his traitorous brother Itachi, messing up the defending forces' plan and causing several deaths in the process. Most people understood his reasons for seeking Itachi out, but that didn't excuse his actions. A shinobi should have more self-control… and the brains to recognize when he was hopelessly outclassed. The behavior towards her daughter she had just observed was another strike against the boy. It might be aftereffects from what Itachi did to him, but that didn't make it acceptable.
'The boy seems to be obsessed with revenge. Understandable perhaps, but it says bad things about his mental health. The way he acted towards Sakura has all the hallmarks of an abusive relationship. Orochimaru targeted him during the Chunin Exams. That isn't even talking about Itachi. Judging from what he did he doesn't want Sasuke dead; he wants him to suffer. Even if Sasuke restores the clan Itachi might try to kill the children and whoever he marries just to hurt his brother. This isn't worth the Uchiha money and prestige of becoming the wife of the Uchiha clan head, especially considering that Sasuke doesn't even seem to like Sakura.'
The Uchiha were a strange case anyway. Not that many people had liked them as a clan before the massacre; they had been respected and feared, yes, but not liked. There were even rumors that they had somehow been involved in the Kyuubi attack. After the massacre there had been a surge of sympathy for the lone survivor, offsetting the formerly negative sentiment completely. Others saw the boy more as a means to an end. While Yuri wasn't completely heartless she counted herself in the latter group. Sasuke's powerful bloodline along with all the combined money, possessions and ancestral rights of the Uchiha concentrated in his person made him the most desirable bachelor of his generation. It had led Yuri to encourage Sakura's crush for him. Unfortunately it seemed as if she had miscalculated the drawbacks, even assuming her daughter somehow managed to marry the boy which was uncertain in itself.
Until very recently Sasuke had been seen as one of the rising stars of the young generation. There was still some of that, but his ill-thought out attack on Itachi had influenced public opinion massively. Yuri had even heard the occasional whisper of mental instability. What she had seen in the hospital certainly lend credence to that. The boy was obviously no longer trusted by the majority of people. With time and depending on his future actions he could still turn that around again, but Yuri didn't think it likely. Further insubordinations seemed more probable. Maybe he would even try to defect to hunt down his brother. Worse, infatuated as Sakura was it was likely she would help him with that.
Her daughter's relationship to the last Uchiha was now officially a liability. It was toxic and bad for Sakura both in a personal and a general sense. Yuri wasn't an emotional woman, but she wanted to see her daughter happy if possible. The question was what she could do about it. Logical arguments would obviously not work. Yuri understood enough of young girls to see that Sakura was a hopeless romantic fixated on the Uchiha. Additionally she was very stubborn. Any direct attempts on her part to pry her daughter away were doomed to failure.
'It would probably best if I find someone who will apprentice her. Getting her away from Sasuke is the most important step. Hopefully her infatuation will decrease with time and distance.'
Yuri could easily call in enough favors from several people to make that happen. The question was who would be best suited to her daughter. She didn't really understand the particulars of shinobi life and had no idea what her daughter would be good at or what her current capabilities were. Kakashi had dodged her questions when she managed to track him down, but considering the rumors about his conduct everything he said about his work as a sensei was unreliable at best. Idate Morino would probably be able to give her detailed information, but he was away on a mission. She had asked Asuma Sarutobi, the sensei of Team 10. Unfortunately he knew almost nothing about Sakura, but he had admitted that her display in the preliminaries of the chunin exams had been pathetic. Shikaku would know more thanks to his son, but Yuri didn't want to disturb him with such a matter at the current time. She had been too busy with getting the village back on its feet to find Shikamaru. One thing was clear: Kakashi had been an absolute failure in properly training her daughter. Maybe Sakura shared some of the blame, but she was young and naïve.
Letting her eyes idly wander, Yuri suddenly spotted the jinchuuriki sitting at a table together with the Aburame clan heir.
'Why couldn't Sakura fall for him instead?' Yuri thought. Then she shook her head. No, thinking that was unfair. Jichuuriki were extremely dangerous and she would probably have forbidden all closer contact. Horror stories of berserk demon containers had been ever-present before the Sandaime's law. The events of the last weeks had shown that Naruto Uzumaki was sane, in control of his beast and one of the up and coming elite. He still made her uncomfortable, but she could deal with that.
Besides, now it was far too late even if she did manage to redirect Sakura's interest. It was public knowledge that the jinchuuriki was in a relationship with the last Kurama. Many had doubted Unkai Kurama's sanity to allow them to get close when they were small children, but it seemed as if the gamble had paid off. Unfortunately Yuri knew that Yakumo Kurama and her daughter intensely disliked each other since their time at the academy. Even if Naruto and Yakumo broke up it was unlikely the boy would consider her daughter as a potential girlfriend. He was close to Inoichi's daughter, too, and she would be the most likely candidate to set his eyes upon. Yuri didn't think she had any hope that any clan heads would agree to a marriage of their heirs to her daughter; she simply didn't have anything valuable enough to offer.
Upon further consideration, maybe she could ask the two about her daughter. It was an opportunity and she might be able to learn something valuable. Coming to a decision, Yuri stood up from her table and approached the two boys.
"Excuse me, Uzumaki-san, Aburame-san. I'm sorry to disturb you. My name is Yuri Haruno. I'm Sakura's mother. Would you be willing to answer some questions regarding my daughter for me?"
"Haruno-san." Both greeted her. It seemed they recognized her from when she had occasionally fetched Sakura from the academy. "What exactly do you want to know? We haven't seen much of Sakura since our graduation."
"I want an honest assessment of my daughter's skills. What is she capable of, what is she good at, that sort of thing. Please do not worry about insulting her or me. I realize you are not the right people to ask, but I need this information and you have known her for years."
The two boys shared a long look before Naruto answered. "Sakura has certainly the potential to be a good kunoichi."
Yuri narrowed her eyes. "The potential? Does that mean she isn't a good kunoichi at the current time?"
Again the boys looked at each other. This time it was the Aburame who answered. "Frankly, no. Please excuse the bluntness, Haruno-san. Sakura does have a lot of theoretical knowledge, but she lacks the ability to use it properly in practice. The largest problem is her mindset. At the current time I would be hesitant to take her into a potentially dangerous situation."
Naruto gave her a searching look. "I don't think Kakashi gave her the instruction she needed. When I encountered your daughter's team in Wave Country it became obvious that there were problems in that team. Another teacher might be more suitable. I don't think the proximity to Sasuke helped, either."
Yuri sighed. She had expected something like this. "Does she have any talents?"
The Aburame adjusted his glasses. "Haruno-san, please accept that we can't give you much detailed information. We know nothing about Sakura's skills as a taijutsu fighter, techniques or chakra reserves. The one fight we saw her participating in ended very quickly. She does have talent with traps, but she needs a skilled and dedicated teacher. I had the opportunity to examine her work during the chunin exams. Her traps were almost perfect replicas of textbook examples. I feel she could make great strides in that field with proper instruction."
"I see. Thank you for your time."
'Traps, huh?' Yuri thought when she left the park. That sounded at least somewhat promising. Well, she knew the right person for the job and he even owed her a big favor. He could probably be persuaded to take her as an apprentice. A few other favors would see her transferred out of Team 7 immediately. Kakashi's team was out of action anyway. That would prevent her daughter from spending any more time with the Uchiha, too.
"AGAIN!"
Once more the improvised battering ram smashed against the gate. By now deep cracks were spreading through the stone, almost obscuring the symbol on it. Not that it mattered, the same symbol was everywhere in this enormous underground complex, albeit with slight variations: A series of concentric rings combined with several magatama. The number of rings varied from three to six while the magatama were more varied, both in their number and placement. This gate sported nine of them distributed across the three innermost of six circles, making it the highest number they had seen yet. They were close now.
"Again, you lazy sods!" the warlord shouted. They needed to get that door open. He could almost smell the power behind it. For years he had searched for ancient artifacts as did some of the other warlords in this war-torn world. Like that zealot Haido and his quest for Gelel. For all the man's public professions of wanting to create a utopia his knights were certainly nasty enough.
The warlord himself had another goal. He followed traces of the so-called Demon King. Accounts were sketchy due to the time passed, but some things were certain. Over the course of history he had appeared several times all across the continent, making demands of various natures. If these demands were fulfilled everything was fine, but if not… well, not many humans remained to give witness of what happened. Storms, earthquakes, uncontrollable fires and hordes of monsters simply obliterated everything.
It was this power that the warlord wanted. The last sighting had been more than a thousand years ago, but the he wasn't discouraged. He had found some trinkets of times long past, but the great prize had eluded him for years. This had now changed. Little more than a week ago he had suddenly dreamt of the location where the Demon King had been defeated and sealed.
He had immediately stopped his campaign and force marched his army to the new destination. Some had objected, but a few crushed skulls later no one dared to cross him. He didn't care if his men thought him mad as long as they obeyed. Well, and he had ordered to raze every village on the way to keep morale up.
His dream had proven true when the prisoners they had kept had unearthed the entrance to a great underground complex. It was… strange. The corridors and halls somehow twisted on itself. A man might only go up and arrive at his starting point from below. They had lost a lot of people exploring it in the last two days, but now they had finally reached the heart of the complex.
"Again!"
With a sudden crack the seal broke and the wings of the stone door swung open. The warlord immediately strode into the now accessible hall, his minions following closely behind.
The first thing that caught his gaze was a massive sarcophagus. It stood on a dais in the center of another seal covering the large room. Circling it at a distance, the warlord noted that this seal had seven circles and ten magatama. Ten smaller seals of identical design were attached directly to the sarcophagus amidst other indecipherable inscriptions.
"Smash those seals!"
"But my lord, we don't know -urk"
Crushing the man's windpipe, the warlord waited until the light had left the man's eyes before he threw him to the side. "No more delays! Absolute power lies before me! Now get to work!"
Suitably cowed, the prisoner and soldiers obeyed immediately. Some began hammering at the big seal on the ground while others attacked the seals at the sarcophagus. Iridescent light began to fill the inscriptions as more and more seals were smashed to pieces. Finally the last seal was destroyed and the men carefully backed away. Light was now blazing through countless cracks forming all over the object.
Suddenly the lid of the sarcophagus was thrown violently away only to shatter against the roof far above them. A shaft of light spilled out of the breached container while debris rained down around them, injuring some of the workers. A multitude of forms appeared and disappeared too quickly for the warlord to make them out against the unearthly glare. Then the light coalesced into human-looking, muscular man with wild, long blond hair. His clothing wouldn't have been out of a place for a prince at court. Tight black trousers and shirt under a crimson tunic were rounded off by a blood-red cloak with traces of black and gold. Adornments of gold, bronze and iron embellished his arms and legs. He seemed to be looking into the distance without acknowledging their presence.
The warlord recognized the form. The Demon King had worn it when he deigned to speak with humans. "HAHAHA! With this… with this the world shall be mine! Now, Demon King, grant me your power!"
That caught the beings attention. For a seemingly endless moment it simply looked at him expressionlessly. The warlord had the uncomfortable feeling his counterpart considered him worth less than a bug squashed under his feet.
"Foolish human…"
A bright flash of light blinded the warlord. The last he ever felt was a wave of intensive heat before he was reduced to flocks of ash dancing in the sudden firestorm. Stone melted and began to flow like water under the hellish blaze, turning the room into an inferno. The earth began to shake violently as more and more seals broke, causing the entire complex to collapse on itself as a higher being broke the shackles holding it, shackles that were now insufficient with the linchpin destroyed.
The army camping on the surface had only a few seconds warning as the ground began to tremble, not that it would have mattered if the time had been longer. Raging flames broke through abruptly yawning chasms in the quaking earth, the wind turned from a slight breeze to hurricane strength, formerly placid rivers and streams burst their banks as they swelled to enormous size under a rapidly darkening sky while lightning scoured the land.
Only a few dozen humans of the thousands present lived through these first few moments. These few were the only witnesses as a massive column of iridescent light emerged from the collapsing underground complex. Even fewer lived through that experience with their sanity intact, namely those who avoided looking into the heart of the emerging entity. Those few lucky ones all felt an unfathomably great presence observing them for a moment before dismissing them as unimportant.
The devastation intensified as the world buckled under the being's might while it shook off the last of the bindings holding it. Then the maelstrom of destruction ended as quickly as it had begun, but the calm lasted only for an instant before plants began to grow rapidly. Trees sprang up from bare ground, grass and weeds sprouted everywhere, bushes and moss overgrew the last remnants. Before the handful of survivors knew what was happening they were standing in a wild forest that looked as if no human had ever set foot in it; even if it had been cultivated land from time immemorial.
Finally the presence of the entity faded as it took its customary place in realms separate from the usual reality humans dealt with during their mortal life, but its passing would forever mark the land. Despite the name of Demon King it was a god that had awakened, albeit one uncaring of human affairs. Many questions were on the deity's inhuman mind.
Why had he gone to sleep so unexpectedly more than a millennium ago? Who had bound him to prevent his reawakening and why? Who had the power to do that to him in the first place and didn't see the need to finish him off as soon as he was vulnerable? Who had so foully defiled his world in his absence? What had finally broken the spell of sleep?
The reawakened Lord of the Wild Forces of Nature had many questions indeed, but first he would have to see to another matter of utmost urgency.
Kosuke, messenger and young member of the Toad Tribe, watched in confusion when the Great Toad Sage stopped mid-sentence. The normally squinting eyes opened wide and the giant toad's mouth fell open. Then Kosuke noticed something spreading through the pool of water the Great Toad Sage used as his seat.
'Great, as if it wasn't enough that the old geezer is senile. Now he is getting incontinent as well.'
The Great Toad Sage remained in that state for several seconds. Then he snapped out of it, looking far more alert and worried than Kosuke had ever seen him. The ever-present smile was gone from his face. "The calamity from the sky has returned. Time grows short. I have to see Jiraiya." The Great Toad was almost out of the door when he seemed to remember something. "Somebody clean up my basin while I'm gone."
Not wanting to be the one conscripted for that task, Kosuke immediately followed the Great Toad Sage. Being one of the largest toads of Mount Myoboku and moving uncharacteristically fast, the old sage outpaced them easily. By the time Kosuke caught up he was already at Jiraiya's sickbed. Physically everything was fine with Jiraiya, but he was still in a coma. Kosuke knew that there had been an invasion of Konoha (Jiraiya had summoned multiple toads to help), but what happened at the end was very mysterious. Shima and Fukasaku had been very weak when they returned, but fortunately they had completely recovered over the last days. Whispers of the Ichibi being far more dangerous than normal had made their rounds. Kosuke still didn't know what exactly had happened.
"… isn't that very risky? His soul is still not properly re-aligned; it will take about two weeks for him to wake naturally."
"We have no choice. I had a vision. The child of prophecy must be properly guided or all will be lost. We need Jiraiya back on his feet immediately."
Kosuke and the other toads present watched with interest as the old sage and his two heirs took position around Jiraiya. He wasn't a sage by any means, but even he noticed the change of flow in the surrounding nature chakra. It built up to an incredible level before relaxing again, all without any visible effect.
Suddenly Jiraiya twitched as if someone had shocked him with a lightning technique. Then he coughed and sat up groggily. "Ma? Pa? Great Honorable Geezer? What happened?"
"Sarutobi-san, Nara-sama requires your presence immediately."
Asuma Sarutobi bit back a curse at the interruption. He had just been about to breach the security seals of his father's personal study in hopes of finding some information. The old man had left a mess behind. Their clan had more or less disintegrated into individual families decades ago. They still shared a common heritage, but they could be barely considered a clan anymore. His role as new clan head was purely ceremonial. One the one hand he was alright with that. He could do without the effort of managing a clan. On the other hand he felt as if they were losing something important.
'I never understood you, father. Even after I came back to Konoha and we tried to get along there was always such a large distance between us. You never told me the reasons for your actions. Mother supported you, but even she never really understood.'
He was just standing up when he noticed his mistake. If he had continued as planned he would have set off the security measures and reduced the contents of the study to ash. Well, at least the interruption had brought some good.
Hurrying to the Hokage's office, Asuma noticed that the moon was rising from behind the mountains. It was well past midnight. He had been longer at his task than he thought. When he arrived at his destination he saw hectic activity. Whatever had happened must be important.
'Are there news of another village attacking us?'
Asuma was immediately led to a briefing room. Shikaku wasn't present, but several jonin had already arrived. Naruto was there as well. Before he could ask anyone what was happening Shikaku and Homura entered the room.
"You have been called here because of an emergency. We just received information from a spy that Kumo is planning an attack on the Fire Daimyo. They are using surviving shinobi from the destroyed Village hidden in the Woods as cat's paws. Their forces are large enough that it is very likely for the attempt to be successful. In fact, the assassination might be already underway. The message was sent last evening with one of the fastest birds Konoha has available, but the assassination order was given at least a day earlier, possibly more. I don't have to tell you that the consequences of the daimyo's death would be catastrophic. Get to the capital as quickly as possible and protect the daimyo at all costs. Asuma Sarutobi will have command over the operation. Any questions?"
For a moment Asuma wondered how they would get to the capital in time. Even at top speed they would need several days. Then he remembered Naruto's swallow summons.
'Dang, those are really useful.'
"Are we sure this isn't a feint to draw troops away from Konoha?" one jonin asked.
Shikaku shrugged. "It might be a false alarm, but the code is legitimate. We simply can't take the chance. No enemy should be able to approach us quickly enough to take advantage, but it is a risk, yes. Any more questions? No? Good. Due to the urgency of this operation we will do things a little differently. I want everyone to name people they want to take along. We will then check if they are available and summon them immediately. You will leave no later than in half an hour."
At the end the number of shinobi under Asuma's command exceeded one hundred, most of them at least chunin-level combat specialists with a significant fraction of jonin. It was probably overkill, but they couldn't take any risks with the daimyo's safety. On the other hand they couldn't strip Konoha of troops either.
Everyone was scrambling to get ready and not even a quarter hour later they were in the air on swallowback. Asuma ended up sitting next to Naruto and Shino on the leading swallow. He would keep them close when it came to fighting. The Aburame boy was the only available member of his team, but he knew Naruto well enough to be comfortable with his fighting style and strength.
Asuma watched the dark land fly by underneath them. The swallows were giving them their best speed. He could only hope they would make it in time.
In the Land of Demons a disembodied entity grew ever more worried. Its ability to perceive the outside world was rather limited considering that it was unable to leave the cavern it had been sealed into and had been separated from its body, but it saw and felt enough to realize it was in deep, deep trouble. It had originally entered this world because there seemed to be a relative lack of rival entities, making it an ideal place for it to recover and grow. Unfortunately its choice of mortal allies had proven unwise and a priestess with divine blood flowing in her veins had sealed its mind and body in different locations after their defeat. Even now, centuries after that event, the priestess' lineage kept watch. The entity had been content to simply wait things out; sooner or later either the priestesses would grow lax in their watch or the descendants of its allies would free it. It was an inhuman being of law and darkness, but above all it was patient.
Now though the situation was changing. Gods, demons and spirits were awakening everywhere after something had echoed throughout the entire world. Most were too insignificant or too far away for it to notice. If any of the more powerful ones were willing to expend the necessary effort they would easily be able to track the entity down and absorb it. It was only a question of time since it was nearly helpless in this prison. As if that wasn't bad enough it had felt the awakening of a greater deity just a few hours ago. This called for desperate measures. The entity had considered doing this before, but until now the price had always seemed too high when it could just wait a few more decades or even centuries.
The Demon Lord Moryo reached out with what pitiful power remained to it towards the only being in reach that might be able to change its situation.
'Shion. Shion. Hear my call, child.'
'I need to get home. Someone is waiting for me.'
The thoughts repeated over and over in her head while she followed the path that was surrounded by everything and nothing. She couldn't tell how long she had been traveling or how distant her destination was. Each step brought her closer to her goal… and suddenly there was no path to follow anymore.
A dark, empty void was surrounding her. Turning around, she saw a featureless gate ponderously closing behind her. It was still open, but she was unable to tell what she beheld there. It was if she simply couldn't perceive anything beyond the threshold. Only when it was almost closed did she glimpse a single giant eye surrounded by a shadowy void overlaid with the silhouette of a man behind a shimmering veil. Then the moment passed and it was gone, the gate shutting completely. When she blinked there wasn't even the gate there anymore.
For an eternal moment nothing seemed to happen. Then she noticed it. The void was full of stars. Countless constellations of multi-colored light and nebulae were arrayed before velvety blackness. It was breathtakingly, magnificently beautiful. For a while she just drifted amidst the sea of celestial splendor, listening to the whispers from beyond the stars.
She didn't know what caused it, but suddenly her perspective changed. Each star was an eye, staring into the depths of her being. The blackness was flowing amorphous, protoplasmic flesh, sending ethereal hands ghosting across her. Strangely she felt no fear or unease; she calmly returned the gaze. Somehow she knew that this was one abyss she didn't need to fear.
As the abyss looked into her she looked into the abyss. The gate was always there, flittering at the edge of her perception, but it wasn't the only thing that was there. It was the All-in-one and One-in-all of limitless being and self, the ultimate animating essence of existence's whole unbounded sweep – the last, utter sweep which had no confines and which outreached life and imagination alike.
Great globes of light massed around her, a congeries of iridescent orbs masking the blackness. Then there was the sensation of movement. It felt like she was rising from a great depth. An unimaginable weight was slowly being removed from her soul. Layers of she-knew-not-what passed by her, their contents and nature concealed by the spheres surrounding her. Only by its absence did she notice the immense, unfathomable pressure that had kept her reduced to a basic state of being. Compressed memories and thoughts expanded slowly, still far too muddled to make sense of.
Suddenly she broke through the surface of a dark lake from underneath, leaving the iridescent spheres behind. Still floating, she saw a land of eternal night stretching around her. A big yellowish-white moon surrounded by thirteen bright stars dominated the star-speckled firmament. Crystal trees and other plants in white, blue, silver, purple and black swayed in a gentle breeze, glittering in the soothing moonlight. Higher and higher she soared while a deep peace filled her.
Then her surroundings changed several times in quick succession, too fast for her to register them. Finally she felt as if some immense creature was spitting her out. In the next moment she found herself flying over a familiar landscape of grey mountains, green woods and lush meadows. Two unfathomably great but familiar presences were surrounding her. It was like being caressed by the sun and the moon. A stone archway with a mirror inside was the last thing she consciously perceived.
A moment of existential uncertainty followed. Then everything snapped back into place and Hinata Hyuuga opened her eyes. It was very dark, but moonlight was falling through a window.
'This is my room.' she concluded after a while. It was difficult to form thoughts and correctly place memories. So many of them just felt like a surreal dream. She felt drowsy and disoriented like after waking too quickly from a deep sleep.
'Shouldn't I have ceased to exist?'
Hinata slowly raised her hands before her eyes and worked her fingers. Everything seemed to be in order, but she felt too wobbly to risk using chakra to look around with her byakugan. It took her a few more moments to notice the small body cuddled up to her.
'Hanabi.'
Hinata gently put her arms around the sleeping body of her little sister. She didn't really understand what had happened to her, but she was sure she would in time. For now she needed rest. Before she slipped back into sleep she voiced the most important thought on her mind.
"I'm back."
Hidekatsu Shibata, daimyo of the Land of Fire, watched in dismay as his guards fell one by one. It was a well-planned assassination; he had to give that to the enemy. Two hours ago several fires had broken out in the city and spread quickly. The sabotage had been obvious, but they still had to react if they didn't want to risk the fires getting out of control and destroying large parts of the capital. It had completely occupied the troops stationed in the city, preventing them from sending reinforcements to the palace. He had considered leaving the city since the palace was situated at the edge of it, but the danger of an ambush was just too high.
The situation was still not under control when the palace came under attack. The first assault had been a feint, but they had to honor the threat. Hidekatsu and his family had retreated into their personal area under heavy guard. In the confusion a second attack had started. It had looked strong enough that he thought it wise to retreat while doubles of his family tried to escape into a different direction. It was when they crossed the park on the palace grounds towards a secret exit that the last prong of the attack hit. Most of their forces had been drawn away by the feint, the second attack or were guarding the doubles when suddenly a barrier sprang up around them. Then the carnage had begun. There had to be dozens of attacking shinobi and his remaining guards had melted away like snow under the midsummer sun.
He looked at his family. His son was obviously frightened, not letting go of his mother's and the governess' hand. He was far too young to face something like this. His wives were returning his gaze calmly but seriously while the young woman acting as the child's attendant was shaking with terror.
'Not again, I will not let it happen again to my family.'
Hidekatsu still regretted that he had been absent on that dark day. Only bones and ashes had remained of his family by the time he had returned to his destroyed stronghold. Then the trap had been sprung, forcing him to flee. He had been well into pathless wilderness by the time when they confronted him. They killed him bit by bit, making a game out of it, but his desire for life and revenge had been unbroken. The pain of losing his eye had been insignificant against the desperation he felt. Slowly dying, he had stumbled upon a secret from the ancient past. What followed… well, that was something he would never regret. He only had to look at his son and wives to be sure of that.
"Get the prince inside that storage building and stay quiet. I don't want him to see this. We will sell our lives dearly."
"Yes, Daimyo-sama." the servant woman answered before obeying. Thankfully his son didn't make a fuss.
The guards were now down to the last few members. "It is almost time. Do you think we can win?"
Yoshino and Kikoku had already begun to remove the outermost layers of their clothes to gain more mobility. Kikoku, his intelligent, beautiful, inhuman wife bared her perfect teeth. A move of her suddenly changing hand sheared clean through a decorative stone statue. "We will certainly make them bleed."
Hidekatsu acknowledged the implied message with a nod. Even his wives were not certain of victory against these odds. Discarding his formal robe, the daimyo readied his swords. Over the years his body had changed from what he had been born with. He was no longer sure if he was human. His wives were certainly not.
Finally he removed the eye patch, revealing the eye that was not his. Immediately his vision changed. He could see in the dark garden as if it was day, the darting shadowy silhouettes resolving into discernible humans, their blurry movements becoming clear and predictable. As if sensing his need, more power flowed from the eye through his body, strengthening it further. He and his family might fall today, but first those who dared attack them would face his wrath.
Author's notes: It has been a really long time since the last update. Unfortunately it doesn't look like as if the things keeping me from writing will get better in the foreseeable future. Updates will remain sporadic.
Regarding the gods, spirits, demons: Some of them will only add to the background, others will be encountered by Naruto or his friends at some point. Mostly I will take elements from different characters, change their context and mash them together. The majority will not be especially powerful (spirits from folklore and the like, works of Studio Ghibli and Inuyasha are very useful in that regard), but they will appear a little later. I am open to suggestions, so if you want to see someone/something specific don't hesitate to name it in a review or PM.
So long.