Title; Fading
Disclaimer; Nope I don't own any of the Naruto characters.
A/N; I thought I should point out that this story isn't about heroes and is very much a grey and grey morality affair. Sasuke in particular is a Byronic hero and will at times border on being a villain protagonist in his actions. Bare that in mind with every chapter.
Chapter - 27;
The Phalanxes' clans of the northern content believed in no God or Gods as such but still held account of Deity's active in their cultures. The Divine Kings and Beasts.
The Equivalent of the Ancient Gods were depicted as men, old long forgotten leaders of the clans that had transcended death rather than succumbed to it and now lived on in service of their new title. The benevolent were those whom retained their humanity and loyalty to the clan after their empowerment, the malevolent were those corrupted by the new power their egos now beyond human limitations.
Though when counted the Phalanxes Elder Deity's numbered greater than Naru's interpretation. This was due to the Phalanxes' including an additional God to represent Chance or Chaos and the dual Nature of the God of Death whom is presented as two different Divine Kings. The Azure Lance and the Axe Keeper, rival kings whom represented life and death respectively.
The Beasts were the bodies of the Younger Gods, not children as in Naru mythology but High Demons born from a combination of two Kings powers during an alliance. They were the Shadow Hound, the Dragon, the Undead, the Corrupted Snake, the Wandering Wolf, the Phoenix, the Tiger and the Ghost. Though the Shadow Hound was known to possess more than one form claiming souls as a monstrous black spider and facing it's hated cousin the dragon as a shadowy counterpart to it.
"I can't do it." I remarked after my latest failed attempt to string the bow. I had expected a lesson in angles, how to lead a target or the best way to grip a bow, flailing about trying to bend the bow enough to actually make it a weapon was what I got though.
"Then all you've got it a walking stick." Returned the Uchiha idly wiping down and oiling his blade with the utmost disinterest. I considered throwing the bow at him before he raised himself up and crossed the room to me. He still didn't assist me though.
"Use your body weight, it should be enough." He offered drawing a blush as I took up the words with a different meaning. I muttered an excuse of 'water weight' before I tried again shifting awkwardly on my wound, it was much recovered but still throbbed on occasion. With a triumphant cry I drew the string tight and sent Sasuke a beaming smile.
"That took far too long." He whispered to himself but I managed to hear, the benefit of growing into adulthood in the silent Naru keep. I could have dealt with teasing, insulting or a drill Sargent nasty routine. Instead this was all he gave me, quiet disappointment. I pulled the bow string free and ignored my own disappointment as it straightened back out with a thump. He wanted it done quick and quick it would be.
Two hours later my hands were rubbed raw but I had my technique down, it was still sloppy and unrefined as all hell but I had it right. The Uchiha rewarded me with an approving smirk that was much better than any verbal praise could have been.
"I think that's enough for today." He commented. I considered pushing for more training, to garner some further praise from the swordsman but thought better of it as my arms muscles twitched painfully and my chest stung from both the bindings that had proved unnecessary for today's lesson and where I'd been jamming the end of the bow staff against my torso.
"Did you work Hanabi like this too?" I asked plopping down next to the Wraith and accepting a cup of mildly warm water. I'd been surprised when the girl had actually set about practising writing when the Uchiha took me to train, I hadn't expected her to be so interested in refining her penmanship.
"I trained her in melee, regular sparring matches were a part of that." He answered indirectly. It had me rethinking any whining I might have done, Hanabi had probably done a fair amount of that training disguised too.
"Can I ask, why Hanabi? What about her attracts you?" I pressed boldly my stomach feeling two feet lower than it should have been. He laughed lightly but it didn't ease the tension I felt.
"The scars don't bother me if that's what you're asking." It wasn't, I was a little afraid of what I might consider doing if you were drawn to such things.
"The most beautiful woman I've ever met spent her life as a whore, I guess I never really placed any value on physical beauty given what a curse it was in Naru, traditional beauty anyway. Hanabi, she had something else, something that couldn't be seen." I think it might have been the most I've heard from the Uchiha in casual conversation. I considered my next question carefully and how to word it without the word 'penis' popping in.
"And it didn't bother you that you thought she had um… that she was a man" I mumbled out feeling my cheeks heating, I wondered if he'd even answer. Again the Wraith barked a laugh.
"I guess I wasn't really sure of myself before the reveal, and afterward it didn't change the way I saw her, rather it just let me see her completely." He answered and I covered a yawn politely, the weariness of the practice was catching up with me quickly. I mumbled a question of how he saw her then and resisted the urge to lay my head on the warriors increasingly inviting shoulder.
"I'd seen what Naru does to men and I'd seen what it does to women. She lived both and yet wasn't swallowed by either. She amazed me, light a light in the dark." He answered as I gave up and allowed my head to dip onto his shoulder, I'd think up a worthwhile excuse later for it.
"Funny, sometimes I look at you like that." I breathed before I closed my eyes pleased by the bewildered expression the swordsman wore. Despite his snarls and claims to darkness I couldn't help seeing him in another less cruel life, where I got to be the princess and him my knight.
"How are your ribs?" asked the Uchiha settling down next to me by the bonfire, I barely heard his question over the clamber of the celebrations around us. I couldn't help but giggle at his state of dress, for some reason he'd attempted to repair his own non-existent clothing.
"Alright. That's a nice shirt, who taught you to sow?" I asked prompting the Wraith to glance downward at the shirt himself.
"Kakashi, though he'd intended it for patching up injuries I think." He answered smiling for a moment before the humour dropped from his features completely. Right, guess the mentor he betrayed wasn't the fondest topic for discussion.
"He'd be proud you know, of what happened here." I offered but it did nothing to shift the frown he wore. I guess I hadn't considered it too much before but leaving Naru probably effected Sasuke more than it had I. I didn't really have anyone bar Hinata and him in the citadel, nobody to leave behind. He definitely had Kakashi and I wasn't sure how far his relationship went with Tenten, I'd thought it better not to ask. He'd abandoned those bonds for me.
"Come on, let's go for a walk." I suggested, it was a kind of novelty I wanted to take in before we left, going on a peaceful walk through a forest. It took a gentle shove before he agreed to go with a lazy smirk.
"I'm surprised they still celebrate with song and dance like this." I commented as we moved further away from the festivities. Hinata hadn't joined us claiming her leg was acting up but I suspected it was more than that, she'd grown too used to being locked away from the world I think the large crowd upset her.
"I think it's the tempo they enjoy." He was probably right, the performers made a habit of stopping every few moments or as they pleased I supposed enjoying the freedom to do so. It was strange to hear a singer cut out at vital points routinely and simply wander off but the villagers seemed to get a kick out of it.
"Our next move…" I began considering how to best phrase my thoughts to the stoic Uchiha. I'd been facing the temptation to stay in this safe haven, after all from what Hinata could see the Daemons still very much surrounded us. Even with these new weapons of ours and if Hinata became a crack shot I saw no reasonable way we could continue south. At the same time though we were still too close to Naru for my liking, too near Orochimaru who'd been so interested in Sasuke and the vengeance the entire Citadel may want on us for simply leaving it. They wouldn't send Raiders or Soldiers either, instead those wondrous Summoners could just command their thralls to hunt us down.
"Quiet." He hissed half offending me for a second before my mind kicked in and I followed his line of vision. Celebration wine clearly had been a bad idea. It took me a moment before I picked up the gentle movements in the bush, the dark grey didn't stand out among the pitch darkness but the white fur that tipped the animal's tails did.
I reached for my sword instinctively but paused as the creature stepped into the moonlight it's warm yellow eyes regarding us with an underlying intelligence. It was not a Daemon but something that I'd thought long extinct. Hinata had shown me the carvings of it and so many other animals that had roamed the continent before the Daemons arrival.
The grey wolf padded carefully towards us eyes darting between us almost nervously, its eyes focused on me for a second and I felt a tingle make itself known in the back of my mind before old words came to mind unbidden.
"The Wandering God beckons you to join it, offering protection and company." I repeated the fragment of what the market prophet had told us so long ago, something flashed in the animals eyes that I thought might have been confirmation. I stretched out my sixth sense as the wolf pushed closer and gave my thigh a gentle nudge passing a sliver of the magic surrounding it onto me.
"Hanabi, what is it?" I heard Sasuke's voice in my ear as I tracked the magic entering my own aura, it finally settled itself around my left hand emblazing a magical signature where it lay.
"An avatar of Guidas Proest, I think it's just given me a blessing or branded me, something." I answered petting the wolf tentatively in thanks for its offering- which I hoped wasn't a disrespectful gesture. It turned its eyes to Sasuke next and I wondered what it planned, the Uchiha Wraith would not be effected by a magical offering.
As the avatar came in contact with the swordsman it's body shimmered and it collapsed in on itself with a low whimper. Around the Raiders wrist now next to his precious bangle was a silver chain, a small wolf head hanging from it.
"Alchemy." Muttered the Uchiha sounding confused, though I thought I understand what had happened or could at least hazard a guess.
"Divine Alchemy. It can't give you a magical alteration to sense the campsites so the wolf is your substitute." I explained hoping I wasn't assuming too much, though I was taking for granite that the wolf had made me recall that prophesy and it hadn't simply sprung too mind. We tested the theory as much as we could though removing the chain from Sasuke's proximity and watching as the avatar returned to a living state.
"I guess someone wants us to keep moving." I offered somewhat sheepishly as the Wraith petted our new companion returning him to an inanimate form. He didn't look as pleased about our latest boon, suspicious and cynical as the man was he probably believed it some ploy in an obscure trap.
"I guess so." He offered absentmindedly. No doubt he was also trying to remember what else the woman had said, all I could recall was Death's apparent favour of the Uchiha and that the woman had seemed to see through my disguise.
"Do you remember anything else she said, that old woman. Anything that might have been important?" I asked as we drifted back towards the celebrations. He shrugged unsurprisingly, Sasuke wasn't even the type to listen to people about the present let alone take someone's word for the future.
"What did you want to ask, earlier about our next move?" Sasuke questioned as we settled back down near the fire gratefully accepting an offered wine skin, it tasted like absolute swill but so hah the booze back in Naru so I kind of liked it.
"I guess it's not too important now, with this development." Internally I thought it was about time for our luck to change, we'd been having a run of misfortune we'd only just survived. Was it too much to ask for something to be easy once.
"Hanabi." I turned to face the calling voice and felt rough chapped lips cover my own, I blinked and surrendered to the embrace feeling the other warrior wrap an arm around my waist carefully. This, I thought as a tongue flickered over my lips demanding entrance, this was easy.
"Did Hinata ever teach you about the stars?" asked the Wraith voice lofty, the party had died down now and the formerly raging bonfire was now little more than embers. I glanced up at him lifting my cheek from his chest slightly.
"No, she never mentioned them." I confessed giving the arm wrapped around me a light squeeze and shifting to better see the stars above. I'd never really seen them in Naru with its gloomy oppressive rain clouds.
"Naruto believed in them, learned it from his mother I think. I only really remember a few of them though he'd pointed out during Raids." There was a pang of regret in his tone, that he hadn't paid more attention in the past maybe, or that things had conspired to put so much distance between them now.
"Tell me." I requested gently. I couldn't remember how I'd managed without this before, enjoying showing open affection with my lover, lying here below the stars, the gentle feel of Sasuke's heartbeat strong and steady beneath me.
"That one's the Tower, guardian sign of protectors. According to Naruto its a Divine spell written in the sky by the old Gods." He told me. It didn't really look like a tower I thought, or much of anything really but I found it interesting none the less.
"Old Gods?" I asked confused, I knew there were other pantheons of divinity but I'd always thought they were alternate views of the same Gods we knew. The way Sasuke talked it sounded like these Gods were no longer around.
"God's of centuries gone by, dead or gone at least. The stars are all that remain." I could feel my eye lids growing heavy as the gentle rocking of the Uchiha's breathing and his soft spoken words soothed me into a tranquil place I'd never been before.
"The Warrior and the Maiden, marriage I think, Sakura liked that one. The Wilder, for free spirits. The Arrow an obvious enough one…" I drifted away no longer looking at the shapes in the sky, instead simply enjoying the rhythm of the Wraiths voice.
It wasn't a pretty sight I thought looking in the mirror. The stitched wound was still an ugly red despite the benefit of the healing salves. The rest of my body wasn't much better, an oversized dark bruise covered my stomach in patches and a half dozen more littered my arms and legs.
On the plus side I had lost weight or at the very least my stomachs baby fat had been converted into something more positive.
My self-conscious examination finished, and the maximum length of time I could look at myself nude before my body complex went critical spent, I turned to redress. And blinked slowly at the slitted yellow eyes staring at me.
Then I screamed.
I hobbled to the door faster than was healthy in my condition and all but wrenched the door open heedless of the soft knocking that echoed from the other side. The handsome Uchiha's face contorted itself from dull boredom into shock as I barrelled into him and toppled both of us.
"This is becoming a very strange habit." Intoned the Uchiha drily, this was after all the second time I'd answered the door to him naked. No doubt he'd get the wrong impression if I kept this up but there were more pressing concerns at the moment.
"S-s-snake!" I released the half muffled wail holding close to the Uchiha as he dragged us both to our feet. An incredulous expression lit up his features in a way I would have found both comical and cute at any other time except now. He was prying my hands away from his shirt to enter my chamber.
He disappeared for a moment before something came flying towards my head. With a shriek and a flailing of my arms that was particularly manic I knocked what turned out to be a baggy shirt to the floor.
"Oh." It took me a moment snake free to realise I was still very much naked and I scrambled to don the shirt before I could be embarrassed any further. I was just in time to secure my dignity before Hanabi rounded the corner a blade in her hand and a look of concern dressing her features.
"What's going on?" questioned my sister about the same time a blushing Sasuke returned from his snake ridding mission. I was beat red as I admitted the screaming had been over a small snake, but still those things are poisonous, and evil, and gross. The youngest of our band couldn't help herself and began to splutter, then chuckle and finally laugh openly at our expense. We joined her soon enough though our laughs were half parts awkward.
Just once I'd like to feel like some sinister force wasn't conspiring to make me look like a fool in front of Sasuke, just once.
Sorry for the delay, afraid I just needed some down time to let the muse recover itself.
Anyway the next arc will be the final of Fading so there's not a huge about of chapters left. Of course I should point out I've got a second story in the same universe planned, after all I've got so many plot points to work with.
Anyway let me know what you think of the chapter, no real action but I thought the characters needed some kind of respite at this point to recover physically and emotionally (well a little anyway).
R&R