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. Keep that in mind with every chapter.

Chapter - 36;

On the Northern Continent the Gods are Fading. All life is fading away, corrupted and deformed by the Daemons and their unnatural magicks.

Some seek war on the force distorting their creations, others seek peace and safety. The Gods cannot step into the physical world so easily though so they gather their Champions, as they've always done in times of crisis they prepare their twisted boards.

Wraiths, the Greater Gifted, Lords and Emperors, Guard Captains, Black market merchants, brave knights, Raiders and even prisoners struggling to survive. In the North every soul is a piece to some God or another.

"Where is he Hanabi?" I blinked slowly at my sister and shook my head. She looked almost deranged, her breathing coming too hard and fast as she stalked over to me. The sun was just peaking back out over the horizon.

"He's gone." I sounded calm, I felt calm. It was as if some switch had been flicked stopping all the emotions I knew I should have been feeling. Hinata was not calm though, she echoed my words once and grabbed my shoulders forcing me to face her.

"Gone where, Hanabi?" she seethed, angrier than I had ever really seen her. It didn't really quite process it though, I still wasn't feeling anything yet. I glanced away from my sister for a moment as a shout erupted from one of the crewmembers.

"That Leviathan wanted to meet him so he went." There was more to it. He'd went to save us, to broker safe passage. And he'd went to discover more about his Heritage and this game of God's we seemed to have some kind of stake in. But that was the bottom line, he was gone.

I was so caught up in my own thoughts I never saw my sister move. There was just a sharp flash of pain as her open palm struck my cheek and her hands went to my shoulders shaking me. Her eyes had narrowed to slits and her incisors flashed in the early light as she bared them and for just a moment I was afraid. Hinata had hit me...she'd never hit me before, never even raised her voice.

"You let him go? You let that monster take him? You Goddamn let it take him you stupid fucking-" her teeth were gashing and spittle came with it, her nails were starting to dig into my shoulders and I could feel myself shrinking under her fury. Gone was the sister that had told me tales to sooth my fears, cared for me when I was sick, forced the larger share of our scraps of food on me. This was an entirely different creature looming over me now.

"H-he wanted to go, he wanted a-ans-" She hit me again but it didn't hurt nearly as much this time, not without the shock of it.

"He went to save you, to save your selfish fu-" This time I cut her off. As she drew closer and closer, angrier and angrier I felt something swell and snap inside me. I hit her back, close fisted and with all my natural strength I hit her as hard as I could.

I regretted it in a second. The force took Hinata off her feet as her eyes spun, she crashed onto the floor her back hitting the railing. For a moment we just stood there both of our breathing ragged and shaken. Hinata had lost her anger though, she just touched her broken lip gingerly staring at the blood that came back on her fingertips. I reached out to her but she flinched away curling in on herself.

"Just…just leave me alone Hanabi…leave me alone." Her voice cracked and a little distantly I realised she had started sobbing as I walked away. I was still twisting and turning lost in my own confusion when the ship's Captain approached me with advice on the city.

"If you've got your numbers and letters head to the southern district. The temples are always looking for folk like that. The city guards are to the east if you really want, though we'll be docking pretty far away for them sort. And one more thing lass." It was the first real time I'd spoken with him, Sasuke had been handling it before and I suppose that explained his impromptu run down to me now. I appreciated the thought even if I was having a hard time thinking ahead right now.

"Oh yeah, what's that's?" I didn't really have the numbers or the letters, Hinata probably could do whatever the temples needed though. I'd have to go to the guards, or whatever paid highest for an experienced swordswoman, there was still Garaa to consider. What exactly was I supposed to do with the preteen now.

A day ago I had thought about it, Sasuke Hinata and I could make enough coin easily to support a small house by the ocean. No more Daemons, Devils or Gods to make our nightmares a reality. Except there was no more Sasuke now, and I'd just punched my sister and left her crying. Suddenly that home on the beach seemed darker and colder.

"Leave that one to grieve on her own, the soft Ladies don't take losing their lovers well." He was all serious and honest. He had wholeheartedly believed Sasuke had been Hinata's lover, I almost laughed.

"No, he wasn't…" except I could see Hinata, still clutching her knees and bawling her eyes out. Was that how you mourned a friend? She had fallen to pieces, completely and entirely. And how many times had I seen her, looking at him, no staring at him like he was…and touching him whenever she could, asking about him.

"She loved him." I muttered as it all came together. Had there been more to it, had they…been together? The ruse in Naru castle, he'd spent nights with her so Akame would think he had a romantic interest…how much pretending had it really taken. When I'd been in the Fair Folks keep, they'd had inside jokes after that. I'd found them on the beach together, wrapped in each other's goddamn arms. Last night before he'd left with the Leviathan, what had I interrupted?

'Go inside for now, we'll finish our conversation later, I promise.' His voice echoed back to me. I wanted to hit my sister again, I wanted to hit her a lot. I wanted to pound her until she told me the truth, every dirty little secret.

But I felt heavy, exhausted beyond belief. I'd given up Naru for her, my home no matter what problems it had. Lost my Gift, hacked away my hair and gained ugly scars, muscles and sword callouses. Risked my life too many times to count, bled and cried and taken lives from men who had never hurt me. Sacrificed all that for the miserable wretch that may have stolen the one thing of worth I had left.

"When did things fall apart?" I breathed to the sky, a moment later a tug came at my shirt and I glanced down at the young redhead staring up at me.

"Sis?" His big green eyes stared at me in confusion and I blinked back for a few moments as my mind comprehended the fact that the mute boy had regained his voice.

"Sis?" I parroted hunching down still mystified. Did this mean he remembered anything? Maybe not if he was confusing me for his sister.

"Are you okay?" I laughed a little tussling the boys hair. I must've looked bad if he'd overcome his block just to ask me that. Maybe I wasn't that lonely yet.

"Are you ready?" he called over the winds. I wasn't, but I didn't think I'd ever be. I couldn't have been ready to see the Daemon's for the first time, to fight the Wyvern or step into the Divine realms. It was like the old days again, I had to just rush in and hope I came back in one piece.

"Do it." I wondered if it could sense us here. The sea had grown rougher, the winds whipping harsher as the flames, frost and lightning grew thicker in the distance. In a second the Uchiha had slid his blade over his palm spilling a few drops of thick scarlet blood into the cool blue waves.

There was a rumble, a massive shake as we felt the boat moving beneath our feet. I found Sasuke's arm as we steadied one another falling back away from the front of the ship. There was something raising out of the water a dozen times greater than the galleon we stood on. I think I might have been shaking and more worrying I think Sasuke was too.

It's horns appeared first, breaking the ocean surface all three of them could have dwarfed the tallest tower in Naru. The centre one was pale and crooked looking like some massive jagged bone but it was only half so long as the other two twisting dark horns that flanked it. It's eyes appeared soon as I lower my gaze, massive and the menacing bloody red it shared with all Daemons and Wraiths. A giant could have been swallowed up inside them, a man completely lost.

It didn't raise itself any further but my heart was still thumping harder than it had ever in my live. All I could see were its eyes, cold and hungry and dead. I could hear Sasuke calling me, shouting and shaking my shoulders. If it raised any higher, bared its fangs. My heart might explode.

"What…what the hell does it want?" I managed to shout turning to the pale Uchiha. I wished I hadn't. He was holding his composer better than I was, but only by a hairs breath. I saw things I'd never seen before in his gaze, there was naked fear in his red eyes, and defeat. There was no determination, no barely controlled anger, no rebellion or defiance.

Sasuke wasn't supposed to look like that, he was supposed to smirk, self-assured even if it was only empty pride and arrogance. I found myself clutching at his loose shirt.

"It wants me." My eyes shot away from him and my heart stopped for another moment as something else climbed above the waves. Another ship, ancient and spilling sea water had been raised no doubt by the Divine serpent. The message was clear enough and I tightened my grip.

"No…no…you can't. It can't take you, it can't end like this." My heart had calmed for a second, my resolve returning for a moment. And then I heard the massive bones moving and glanced over just in time to see the rows of thick monstrous fangs as the creature opened its massive jaws and bellowed a roar. It could have swallowed the citadel whole and the force of the roar sent us careening across the deck, slamming us against the rough wood of the cabin. As Sasuke shakily climbed back to his feet I simply stared at the closing jaws, my thighs felt warm and damp and I could smell the sharp tinge of urine in the air. It never really was how they said in the stories.

"He can't hurt me Hanabi, the Gods are forbidden from attacking anything with divine blood." He was still shaky, and he looked- broken. But there was a resolve in his eyes again, one that frightened me. I knew what it meant and I held him tighter.

"He'll sink this ship and take me anyway. He just wants to talk, afterwards I can…" follow us, did he really believe it was going to be that easy. This was a God, we'd both seen how their subjects turned out.

"I don't want you to go." I knew why he had to, this could be his chance to have questions answered. Why he'd been made a Wraith, what his brother was doing? And he'd be doing it to save the rest of us. But I couldn't help feeling that if I let him go now I wouldn't see him again.

"If things were reversed Hanabi?" he asked gently. If I had to leave with some monster, to save Hinata and Sasuke. There wasn't really a question to it.

"Kiss me…before you go." He leaned down gently and despite the terror and the horror for a moment everything seemed to still as I pushed as much emotion as I could into the act. Everything, all my love just in case it was the last chance.

"And bring these back to me." I pushed my first flame charm into his stomach aware now that small tears had gathered in the corners of my eyes. He was coming back, he had to.

"What do I tell Hinata?" He'd crossed to the railing and the beast's head had lowered beneath the waves. The winds were already dying down. It was more intelligent than it seemed.

"I'll be back soon." And then he was gone, lost to the ocean.

Blaac Callussen, half the familiar God of Darkness's first name and the other I was told was an old word for beach. The Dark Gods beach…sounded homely. Apparently the city had originally been two separate entities until one had conquered the other, nobody remembered which though it was still argued about it the back rooms of bars.

It was more similar to Naru than the town across the ocean in terms of size but was more of a sprawl. Around two central points the city seemed to pour out covering the coastline. The architecture was different though, softer than in Naru. Different toned stones had been used in the construction, soft orange to the west in lower lying buildings while rounder odd buildings in the east were made of bright white stones specked with greys and blacks. The tallest buildings though were made of bricks of pure black that seemed to glow against the night sky.

Garaa and I stepped onto the dock absent anything but the clothes on our backs. The Captain followed us but the rest of his crew remained on the ship eying the torches and lights of the city warily. They'd insisted on waiting till the sun had dropped and chosen the furthest port, but they were still clearly uncomfortable.

"Here lady fighter, a gift from the men." The captain spoke in his strange accent pushing a pouch of coins into my hand. I couldn't help notice he'd taken to wearing Sasuke's old light sword on his hip and wondered if this had been part of the trade. I glanced inside the leather holder to guess at its contents worth, mostly copper stars but with a few silver as well. I was probably being rude but with pirates I wasn't so sure they'd mind.

"This seems like a lot, why?" I asked, if Sasuke had promised something to them for the coin I'd have to follow through.

"Till the end of our days my men and I will be bought drinks in taverns along the coast to tell about the Serpent monster that attacked us and the swordsman that chased it away." He had a wide grin on his face and allowed a quiet laugh. There'd been some of them on deck with we'd made contact I suppose an impression had been made. But…

"That's not really how it happened." If only it had happened that way.

"That's the way we'll be telling it though lass." I had to smile. People were still exaggerating about Sasuke Uchiha, what a weird trait.

"Thank you, um is my sister on deck yet." I hadn't seen much of Hinata, once Garaa had begun talking again I'd been to wrapped up in answering his questions…or leaving as many unanswered as I could. He couldn't remember anything from his past but had seemed to have made imagined connections. He thought I was his sister for a start and Sasuke and Hinata were his parents….that might have rubbed me the wrong way.

"The other one's already gone on ahead, as soon as we hit port she jumped ship some of the men claim." The Captain frowned stretching out a hand in farewell, I shook it firmly but my mind drifted to my vanished sister.

'Just…just leave me alone Hanabi…leave me alone.' Is that really how she meant to play it. She had no money, and she hadn't heard out the Captain's advice. Stupid stupid woman.

"Sis, where are we going?" I offered the young boy a smile. I was the big sister now, and I was the mentor now. I wouldn't abandon Garaa.

"We get something to eat of course." Food first, there wasn't a more solid plan in existence.

I hated the music they had here, the long thin horns and wooden drums almost made enough of a din to sour my drink. Well almost. The fashion wasn't much better, thin loose robes that swept everywhere and got tangled in the wind. Besides the fact that every other soul seemed to wear a different toxically bright shade, to match the bizarre buildings I supposed.

I missed the rain, the soft sad strings that played in the keep when Akame was in a mood and even the iron bars of my cell. Mostly though I missed the man that went with them all, hair damp and sticking to his forehead as he found me locked away in the gloom, like a story to go with the songs.

The wine here was growing on me though. It was bitter, mostly and it burned a little if you drank too quickly. Most importantly it took off the edge. Made it a little easier to go back to copying sacred scrolls out painstakingly day after day after bloody day. And it helped me to sleep, or pass out whichever.

I'd been coming to this place for the last two weeks, which was new. Usually after a week I'd have grown bored of a tavern, or done something after a cup too many that made returning unsavoury. This place though, despite it's terrible music, had charmed me. I could have credited that it was easy to get a drink and not too expensive, or that the patrons minded their own business but I'd been to places like that before.

It was the swords.

Above the bar on one side hung a short straight sword and the other side was a crescent blade. When I got drunk enough the details blurred and they started to look familiar.

"What are you doing here?" A raspy voice butted in on my thoughts as the musicians paused for a moment, I glanced at the familiar figure that wasn't so familiar anymore. Of course this was the disadvantage of coming to the same place too often, she'd find me.

"What do you want?" She'd filled out a little bit though I couldn't say she'd gotten fat, she'd just always been half starved and underweight last I'd seen her. Her hair had grown a little longer too, reminded me that she actually was somewhat pretty, somewhat.

"How long are you going to do this…I'm worried." She had to force herself to say it, as if she were vomiting up the words. I didn't really know when she'd figured it out, she hadn't said it after all, but she knew about how I felt for the lost Uchiha.

"You're not, lying's bad my sweet little sister." Honey dripped from my words, all of it too sickly sweet to ever seem real. Hanabi's snare confirmed that much.

"Play the brat then Hinata, but when you're ready I'm waiting." Her eyes softened and I snorted rolling my eyes.

"Yeah yeah, I know where to find you. The amazing Shadow wielding lady warrior, as good as any man with a sword or better. Show's how bad the standards around here are really." There was a sort of gruff swell in the room as I suppose I upset most of the room. I didn't really care though.

"There're good men here, there are just no Daemons to force them beyond natural progression." Her words quieted the rooms grumbles a little bit but that was probably mostly due to her reputation. I swallowed my cup's contents and raised myself up on unsteady legs.

"Just leave me alone Hanabi." I didn't hear any more from my sister as I pushed out into the street. I'd came in when it was still bright but it was dark now and stars were the only thing alight in the pitch black sky. There were the torches in the street though, and they served well enough to get me where I needed to be.

It was probably the only part on the city I liked, the beach hidden beneath the docks.

I took my shoes off as I stumbled bare foot over the cool sand feeling it gather between my toes. There was a cool ocean breeze caressing the air and I let it run over me. I was getting closer to the water now and I could hear it gently climbing the beach.

I'd tried to charter a ship three months after we'd arrived and I'd built up enough money. Hanabi had put an end to that though, she'd become a legend with that enchanted sword of hers in no time. She'd put the word out to all the other Captains too and in short order I'd found myself land locked.

I'd confronted her, demanded why she wouldn't let me even try to find Sasuke. She'd said my life was hers, hers and Sasuke's, and I wasn't allowed to throw it away. My life wasn't my own but it wasn't that woman's either, that was for damn sure.

There was drift wood, more than usual and I approached it whimsically. I could make a raft maybe, push it out and leave it to fate. It sounded nice.

"All alone. You tricked me, after you showed up you know, I really thought I'd never be like this again. Alone and trapped." I began to hum taking a seat on some of the driftwood, one of the tunes I'd heard back in the castle.

At first I thought I'd fallen, it wasn't that unusual after this much wine. But then I felt the arms pinning me and I watched the figure pull out of the darkness. I panicked until I recognised the glowing red eyes and sharp pale features.

"Sasuke." I breathed the name feeling my lips stretching tight. He didn't react though, his red eyes just continued to bore into my own.

"What are you?" he growled out tightening his grip on me. He was feral, like a beast more than a man and he still couldn't seem to recognise me.

"I'm yours Sasuke." I whispered back feeling his grip lessen as his brow furrowed.

"I'm Sasuke and you're…?" He'd let go completely now and for a second I thought he was remembering but he still only stared at me in confusion. Rain had started to pound down on the ocean behind us but we remained dry beneath the dock.

"I'm Hinata, Sasuke. I'm yours and you're my everything." And very carefully and slowly I arched up until my lips found his. For a moment there was only the feel of his lips and then he was gripping me, half shaking as he clung desperately to me repeating our names over and over again.

Eight months it had taken him to get back to me, eight months and I wasn't disappointed.

"Are you the one, the one I've been looking for. My Goddess." I nodded into the shoulder willing to accept whatever attachment he was giving me.

"It's okay, I've got you now. I'm never gonna let you go again." I shushed him. He was mine now, my knight had returned to me and me alone.

And would you believe it that's the end of Fading. Only not really. I just think thirty six is enough chapters for one story so the next part of the story will be under a new title. Fading was Hanabi meeting Sasuke, rescuing Hinata and escaping the fading northern continent. The next one will deal with the more thriving southern continent, some of its problems, Itachi and his brotherhood of Wraiths and of course their destinies as pieces in the Gods little game.

I was a little afraid of this coming across as Seraphimy I hope I avoided that after all its less of a downer ending (if anything I suspect at least a few of my readers will be happy that it has sort of ended with Sasuke and Hinata together) plus no main character death, who expected that!

Ah and Hinata gets what she wants…though she may have entered Villain protagonist territory with Sasuke.

Anyway let me know what you guys think of the chapter and I suppose the story thus far and any issues or questions you got.

And of course, thank you for reading.

R&R