a/n Sorry for the long wait; I've been busy as all get-out. Special thanks to Uchiha.s, the best beta a girl could ask for, and thanks to all my magical readers and reviewers:) You guys make my life better, no kidding.
Chapter Thirty-Three: Clouds Gathering
Song of the aether,
Where my heart feels small and old;
And every night we clutch at each other
For comfort that has grown cold.
~Book of Akash, Verse XX
A new world materialized around Yuki. She and Aya stood on one of the volcanic mountains surrounding Konoha. Though the peaks were nowhere near the height and majesty of the Akash range, Yuki's breath caught in her throat all the same—she was home.
But as she gazed on Konoha, she noticed that it was not the same. "Aya, why are Tsunade and Naruto's faces are gone from the Hokage monument?"
Aya smiled kindly. "It's time for you to explore something from your past life." Aya paused, and Yuki gazed once more at the monument, the likenesses of the three hokages no larger than the three small coins from their far-off vantage point. "Again, I won't be there with you, but you can call me at any time if you need help..."
Yuki nodded. "I'm not afraid. I'm ready."
Aya simply nodded in return
The world around Yuki shimmered like a heat mirage, and suddenly, she found herself in a different body—instead of her long, toned limbs, her legs and arms were short, and pale. What...?
"Oi, Mukudori-chan, hurry up! Your horrible cousin is going to kill us if we're late to practice again!"
Yuki felt her legs moving of their own volition. Her lips moved, unbidden, in a snappy retort, "Tch, Kaito. I'm only running late because you insisted on helping that old lady with her packages."
Yuki gazed out at Kaito through strange eyes: he had bright red hair, and blue green eyes that sparkled in the morning light. She noted from his appearance that he must have been the child of Whirlpool refuges. The boy, probably no older than nine from the looks of him, rolled his eyes at her as he kept up his brisk jog.
"I'm sorry," Kaito called, "I forgot that the Uchiha are heartless bastards who don't care about anything but punctuality and advancing in the ranks."
"Kaito," she replied in a warning tone, "watch it. I may not have my sharingan yet, but I'll still kick your ass."
The boy merely stuck his tongue out at her and continued running. Soon, they reached a training field, where a tall dark-haired boy was meditating quietly on a rock.
"Itachi-sama," Yuki's mouth offered of its own volition, "please excuse our tardiness."
His eyes opened slowly, revealing three comas spinning lazily on a field of red. "No need to apologize. Let us begin training. The chunin exam is only a few months away—and I will pass."
Kaito snorted and threw a kunai at Itachi's head; the two started sparring, but Yuki's consciousness was reeling inside this strange body. If she was an Uchiha in this life, and her teammate was Itachi—then she had a sinking suspicion that this would not end well...
Sakura stared out of Naruto's office, up towards the beaming facades on the Hokage monument. A murder of crows flew past, and Sakura had a passing thought that it would be a wonderful thing to be a bird: to fly up, over the village, and view the buildings and people as no more than ants and ant hills...
"Sakura...?" Naruto began, but he trailed off in uncertainty. Sakura sighed and slowly walked back to Naruto's desk, keeping her gaze fixed on the floor.
"I'm sorry," Naruto whispered at last, staring down at his hands. "I still have a dozen squads of ANBU out there—but—"
"But they still haven't found anything." Sakura slammed her fist down on Naruto's desk, and for a moment, Naruto was reminded of Tsunade's fits of anger. Naruto placed a hand on his trembling teammate's back.
"Sakura," Naruto began hesitatingly, "has Sasuke...?"
"He hasn't told me shit anything," Sakura cried. "I—I don't know what to think! What the fuck is he holding back? Why won't he tell us anything? I swear, I'm so angry at him, I could just kill him."
She slammed another fist down on Naruto's desk, causing the wood to splinter slightly under the impact; Naruto put his hands on Saukra's shoulders.
"Sakura," he commanded, "get ahold of yourself."
"I'm sorry…" Sakura squeezed her eyes shut and drew a shaky breath.
"I'm sure Sasuke is just as upset as you are over losing Yuki," the Hokage murmured gravely, "And whatever happened, I'm sure Sasuke did the best he could..."
Sakura pushed his hands away and sat down heavily in a padded chair.
"I know," she muttered. "You're right. I'm just..."
Sakura sighed and covered her face with her hands. Damn it all, she was so angry. Beyond angry, really. Her eldest daughter had become a rogue ninja, and even though Sakura knew it was unfair to think it, she felt like it was Sasuke's fault.
Maybe it was irrational—but maybe not. A string of images in her mind's eye wouldn't stop haunting her: how Saki had been found on the bench by the village gates in an eerie echo of how Sasuke himself had left Sakura, so long ago; how Sakura imagined Yuki's whirling mangekyo sharingan, a jutsu that had been so irresponsibly given to her by Sasuke; and lastly, as a final insult, Yuki had run away from the village, just like her father had before her.
When Temari had come back from her failure of a mission to retrieve Yuki, she had told Sakura what Yuki had said to her:
Temari had sighed vehemently and muttered, "I'm so sorry, Sakura. I told Yuki to stop—that ten was too young to become a rogue ninja. I told her to turn back or end up on Konoha's most wanted list..."
"What did she say to that, Temari-san?" Sakura asked softly, stifling her tears.
Temari sighed again. "Yuki told me, 'That's true; my father was about thirteen when he became rogue—looks like I'll beat his record.'" Temari looked up and met Sakura's gaze unflinchingly. "I'm sorry, Sakura-san. It looks like Yuki was dead-set on running away..."
Sakura winced from the memory. She was thankful that Temari had been so candid with her, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel resentful towards her husband.
What kind of shit example was Sasuke for a father? What had he done to their eldest daughter? Some part of Sakura— the rational, adult part of her— told her that she was being unreasonable. But the little girl inside Sakura, the little girl who had been left on a cold stone bench while the love of her life ran out of the village and into the arms of darkness—that part of Sakura was not in a reasonable or forgiving mood.
"Sakura?"
Sakura finally looked up from her hands and into Naruto's sad blue eyes.
"I'm sorry," she muttered, "I'm just upset."
"Instead of fighting against each other," he murmured, walking over to Sakura and placing a soothing hand on her arm, "you and Sasuke should be supporting each other. Sasuke isn't doing very well, either—"
"I can't—I'm needing space from Sasuke right now," she muttered, turning away from Naruto.
Naruto exhaled sharply. This had always been the downfall to Sakura and Sasuke's relationship, in his opinion. When things got tough, Sakura withdrew from Sasuke in fear, while Sasuke sunk into himself in depression. Naruto didn't consider himself an expert on life, but when times got hard, that was the minute when Naruto opened up to his friends. It was this openness that was his saving grace.
Naruto thought sadly that when Ryuu had passed... It was then that his relationship with Hinata had become even stronger. Through their unshakable bond, they worked through the grief together. And even when they were apart, they were both alone but secure in the knowledge that the other had unshakable faith and love for the other.
But here, in front of him, he could see Sakura and Sasuke falling apart at the seams, and he felt helpless to stop it.
"Please let me know if there is anything I can do..." Naruto whispered. In the face of Naruto's quiet kindness, Sakura broke down in tears.
"Naruto, I'm so sorry—I'm acting like a spoiled brat. Here my child is simply missing, and I'm completely broken, whereas you—"
Whereas you lost your child completely, and yet you still manage to shine like the sun and smile like the new moon... Sakura thought bitterly, turning away from Naruto to hide her tears.
"Sakura, please. Don't do that..." Naruto felt tears welling up in his own eyes, sorrow over his own son compounded by the daughter he could not find.
It was at that moment when their respective reveries were broken by the opening door, which creaked in the heavy silence, sounding more like a mournful groan.
"Sasuke?" Naruto muttered hoarsely. He regarded the Uchiha with surprise. He knew that Sasuke hadn't been doing very well, but the man who stood before him looked absolutely unhinged. Sasuke's hair was awry, as if lightening had electrified errant strands until they stood at odd angles from his head. Worst of all, Sasuke's eyes were rimmed with red: there was fear, sadness, but most of all madness roiling in the depths of his purpled irises. In his arms, Takeo murmured unhappily, curled up into a fetal position and seeming fearful of the world around him.
"Naruto," Sasuke replied smoothly, ignoring his sniffling wife beside him, "let's spar."
"What...?" Naruto replied in shock.
Sakura seemed to recover herself first. Silently, she strode over to Sasuke, and without asking, took Takeo from his arms and into her own. Naruto noted that the two didn't even look at each other, and that Sakura took pains to not even brush Sasuke with her fingers when she took the child—as if she were utterly repulsed by him.
Without addressing her husband, Sakura turned to Naruto and whispered, "Why don't you go ahead, Naruto? I was going to take the rest of the day off, anyway..."
Naruto looked between his two compatriots in shock, but in the end, decided against addressing the overwhelming awkwardness that was Sasuke and Sakura's relationship.
"Sure. I could use a good spar," Naruto muttered with forced nonchalance.
Sasuke merely nodded. Sakura practically ran from the room, her hurried steps echoing in the hallway as she made her exit.
Kami, what the hell is going on with those two? Naruto thought with a sigh.
Yuki's vision through Uchiha Mukudori's eyes blurred; time seemed to melt and reform in a dream-like lurch. When space and time reconstituted itself, Yuki found herself swinging through the Forest of Death, flanked on either side by Kaito and Itachi. The latter was in the lead, his eyes whirling red and black as he leapt.
Yuki, trapped in Mukudori's body, murmured, "That was almost too easy."
"We've collected all ten tokens necessary to complete the exam," Itachi replied with a shrug. "In my estimation, we'll be the first team in Konoha history to have completed the exam in under three hours." His voice neither held pride nor excitement; it was just an objective, emotionless statement.
"It would have been nice, though, if Itachi-sama had let us do some of the fighting," Kaito said, his sea green eyes narrowed in consternation.
"Why?" Itachi replied, arching an eyebrow. "That would have been unnecessary on your part, Kaito-san. I merely took care of our opponents in the most efficient way possible."
"We are certainly lucky to have Itachi-sama leading our team," Mukudori murmured, her voice free of any inflection,
Kaito rolled his eyes at Mukudori's sycophantic words, but remained silent. After all, it was common knowledge that Mukudori and Itachi had been officially betrothed that month. Mukudori would eventually be the model Uchiha wife, mostly silent, obedient, a baby on each hip, et cetera. He only hoped that, for Mukudori's sake, Itachi wouldn't be such a wet blanket in bed like the killjoy he was on missions. Kaito snickered at that thought, but his two Uchiha teammates ignored him.
Yuki blinked, startled inside of Mukudori's consciousness. For a moment, it had seemed like she had been thinking inside of Kaito's head—she had picked up on his thoughts. But why? How? It was so strange. Though she felt all the movements of Mukudori's limbs as she leapt through the branches of the trees, and 'heard' everything Mukudori thought, for a moment Yuki's consciousness had shifted to Kaito.
Yuki did not have time to unravel the experience, for Itachi gave the signal to stop. The team slowed. He gave another hand signal for danger, and both Mukudori and Kaito tensed. Before them, three teams surrounded them, their Mist headbands shining in the sunlight. Mukudori thought to herself that they must be targeting Itachi, as the genin had killed many a Mist soldier in the last war; he had only been four or five at the time, but had earned himself a place in the bingo book all the same.
"Clearly, the Mist teams are aiming for me," Itachi murmured in a composed fashion. "You two, leave. I'll handle this."
Mukudori was about to acquiesce to Itachi's command, but next to her, Kaito growled.
"I'm not going to leave a teammate to defend himself against nine enemy ninja, Itachi," Kaito muttered. "I'm fighting alongside you."
Mukudori looked helplessly between her teammates, but before she could make up her mind whether to stay or to flee, the Mist nin started attacking with walls of water, bullets made of ice, and veils of mist and poison. The bulk of the Mist ninja surrounded Itachi, but one team zeroed in on the other two teammates. Mukudori and Kaito were quickly separated from Itachi.
Mukudori's thoughts ran wild with fear, but Kaito sensed her distress and placed a hand on her shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see he was grinning.
"Come on Mukudori-chan—let's watch each other's backs and show these ninja how to fight!"
If they hadn't been under attack, she would have rolled her eyes. But at this moment, she was afraid, and Kaito's grin was the sunshine that melted all her anxiety away. She nodded curtly and the fighting began.
It was a bloody, bitter battle. Mukudori and Kaito managed to take out one opponent apiece, and they were quickly closing in on the third enemy. But suddenly, the masked Mist nin pulled a feint attack at Mukudori, and while Kaito leapt in to help her, one of the Mist ninja's clones stabbed him in the back.
"Kaito!" she yelled in horror as his body slumped to the ground. Abject terror stole over her limbs. She hadn't never been close to Kaito, but he was her teammate, and he had been trying to protect her. If he was wounded on her account—or worse, if he died—Mukudori would not be able to live with herself.
Kaito was bleeding heavily, and his blood mixed in with the mud and pools of dirty water. The Mist nin smirked and turned towards Mukudori, but when she saw the ninja's expression, juxtaposed with the suffering grimace on Kaito's face, she trembled—not with fear this time, but with rage. Time slowed. The fog took on new definitions and subtle gradations. As the Mist nin attacked her, she clearly saw through his attack and sliced him down neatly. She made sure he was dead before she turned towards her companion, whose labored breathing frightened her.
"Kaito! Are you all right?" She bent down towards her teammate and started administering first aid, but she could tell he was going to need serious medical attention if he was going to live. Worry marred Mukudori's delicate features.
"You shouldn't have jumped in front of me," she muttered.
"You're right," Kaito said with a grin, "I was being an idiot. But look at you!"
"Look at me? Moron, I don't have a scratch on me!"
Kaito shook his head, his features contorted in pain, though there was mirth in his eyes. "No, no—your eyes. You've got the sharingan."
Mukudori started at that. "What?"
Kaito smiled idiotically. "I'm flattered. You were so worried about me, your magic little Uchiha eyes activated. You really do care, Mukudori-chan!"
She rolled her 'magic little Uchiha eyes' at him and helped him up, looping his arm around her shoulders.
"Let's find Itachi-sama," she muttered.
"Gah. That bastard has probably killed all nine ninja and has barely a scratch to show for it," Kaito replied with his usual bluster. Happy that her teammate was stable for the moment, and pleased that she had awakened her doujutsu, Mukudori gave an uncharacteristic grin.
"Come on, idiot," she chided, "let's get to the tower already."
"Hey, Mukudori-chan..." Kaito replied, unusually serious, "Do you think...after the exams...I could take you on a date?"
"Idiot. I'm officially engaged, remember? To Itachi-sama?"
Kaito made a face. "That damn bastard gets everything: talent, girls—"
"However," Mukudori relented, "since you did save my life, I suppose I do owe you. Let's catch a movie or something after the exams—in a friendly, platonic fashion."
Kaito grinned. "Sure..."
Suddenly the scene shifted. Yuki became conscious of her own self; she became suspended outside of Mukudori's mind. Kaito's smile morphed into a picture of the full moon hanging limply in the sky. Below the moon, two dark figures stood on a bridge: Itachi in ANBU garb, and Mukudori in a dark Uchiha uniform. Yuki was propelled once more into Mukadori's body, but this time she melded more completely, and there was less room for her own thoughts.
"Itachi..." Mukadori began, her voice soft, "do you have anything to report? I know you're heading out on a mission soon. I can bring any information you might have to my father. The council meeting is tonight..."
Itachi merely shook his head. "Nothing to report," he replied evenly, his white ANBU mask perched on the top of his head, as if the weasel face was gazing at the stars independently of its master.
"Okay," Mukadori replied softly. Itachi made to leave without saying another word, but Mukudori caught the hem of his garment.
"Itachi-sama..." When he didn't respond, but didn't move away either, Mukudori continued, "I know ours is an arranged marriage—but you don't always have to be so distant."
Itachi bowed and kissed her dispassionately on the cheek. "Forgive me. I am apprehensive about my upcoming mission."
"It was nothing, Itachi-sama," Mukudori replied deferentially.
Though they had been teammates as genin, and were now betrothed, they had never been more than polite to one another. Not that Mukudori minded. She would marry Itachi, uphold the honor of the Uchiha, and hopefully bear many strong children. Such was her fate in life.
She only wished that Itachi could have been more friendly with her. With the coup d'etat fast approaching, she had hoped that Itachi would have confided in her more. After all, when the rebellion was said and done, she and Itachi would be the new heads of the clan and village.
Itachi smiled a polite smile that did not reach his eyes before bounding off towards the Hokage's tower. Feeling oddly cold, Mukudori decided to stroll through town in an attempt to warm her blood and to distract herself from upcoming events. She had not been walking long when a familiar figure came towards her from the shadow of a building.
"Kaito-san," she murmured, bowing politely in greeting. Though his face was obscured, she would know his chakra signature anywhere.
"Mukudori-chan!" Kaito replied, shoving his reptilian ANBU mask up on his head and returning his old teammate's greeting with a hearty hug. You don't have to be so polite—we're old friends, aren't we?"
She smiled painfully. In a manner of a few days, her old teammate would be killed by her clansmen. She felt a pang of remorse at this thought, but schooled her features to remain smooth.
"Of course," she replied, her voice demure and free of any inflection.
"Is Itachi treating you well?" Kaito asked, seeming to sense the sadness in her eyes.
"Of course," she lied, softly.
"He's become even more uptight than when we were as genin, you know—and that's really saying something!" Kaito said with an exaggerated sigh. "I had a mission with him last week and the man didn't say more than five words to me in as many days." He winced when he noticed this line of conversation was unpleasant for Mukudori and quickly changed the topic. "But anyway—you've been all right?"
She nodded wordlessly, hoping that Kaito would stop asking her questions she could not answer.
"Well, anyway…" Kaito began, at a loss for words, "it was good to see you again, Mukudori-chan."
She spared him a smile and bade him goodnight, hurrying away as quickly as she could.
Yuki felt herself freed suddenly from Mukudori's body—she seemed to hover over Mukudori and Kaito like a cloud. Before Yuki could even contemplate her own displacement, her consciousness seemed to settle over Kaito like a fine mist, and then her thoughts and feelings were his.
Kaito watched Mukudori's thin figure retreat in the distance and decided that he would follow her home. She hadn't looked well: the lines of her face had been drawn, and there had been a sickly pallor to her skin. Perhaps Itachi wasn't treating her well? Perhaps the burden of the Uchiha aristocracy was too much for her slight frame to bear? In any event, his feelings of endearment towards his old teammate made him feel protective of her.
He followed her from a distance. He masked his chakra with expertise, thinking how lovely her movements were, like liquid shadow; the moonlight never touched her at all. Eventually, she wound her way through the Uchiha compound, which was eerily quiet. Kaito crept closer to Mukudori, but not close enough to be discovered. Finally, she made it to her house, and Kaito sighed in relief. For some reason, he had been worried about her safe passage home—such a silly thing to worry about, really. He knew that Mukudori, for all her reticence, was a fierce kunoichi on the field.
Just as he was about to turn away, a bit melancholic as his thoughts turned to Mukudori—her pale beauty, her black hair falling down to her waist, and her rare smile that could rival the brilliance of a silver moon—a horrific shriek pierced the air. With newfound panic, Kaito knew with certainty that it was Mukudori who had screamed. He broke into a run.
Sasuke was panting for breath. His chakra had been drained significantly, but he didn't motion to stop sparring. Naruto, sensing Sasuke's sombre mood, kept pace with the Uchiha, though he, too, was short of breath.
Sasuke executed the magnetic pull of his rinnegan, and Naruto hurtled towards him. He struck out with his fist, but Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke—it had been a clone.
Thank goodness. Naruto is getting better at defending against the rinnegan...
Sasuke felt the cold metal of a kunai brush his neck. "It's not like you to be so distracted, Sasuke," Naruto offered as he removed the steel from his friends neck, opting to twirl the knife idly on his finger.
"Hn." No longer able to deny his weariness, Sasuke collapsed under a tree. Naruto offered him some water from his canteen, and the two friends sat in silence for some time, each lost in their own thoughts.
"Sasuke?" Naruto finally ventured, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Sasuke clenched his teeth. Does he know? Could he possibly know about Madara, and myself...?
Sensing his compatriot's anxiety, Naruto continued, "Sasuke. I know things have been rough between you and Sakura..."
"Oh. Hn." Startled, Sasuke blinked slowly, the way a man exiting a dark room and walking out into the bright sunshine might. "It's nothing."
"Do you want me to help—"
"No." Naruto sighed at Sasuke's answer. Before Naruto could resume, Sasuke changed the topic: "Let's get back to sparring."
"I'm exhausted, Sasuke, and so are you," Naruto replied. Sasuke shook his head obstinately.
"I want you to be more acquainted with my jutsu."
"Sasuke. I defeated all six paths of Pein—twice. I don't think I need to become better acquainted with the rinnegan."
"But the sharingan aspect—"
"—Is not a problem," Naruto answered for him. "I've been sparring with you for years Sasuke, with and without your doujutsu. What is your problem today?" Naruto asked in a mixture of exasperation and anger. "You wouldn't even look Sakura in the eye this morning. What the fuck is going on with you?"
Naruto looked into Sasuke's eyes, but it was like looking into the eyes of a dead man. Instantly, Naruto regretted his harsh words. Sasuke rose, slowly.
"I wouldn't be able to tell you with words anyway, Naruto—only with my fists."
"Fine," Naruto spat, rising to his feet. "Let's do taijutsu only."
Sasuke nodded, then all at once, the two disciples of the sannin became blurs on the training field as they fought, their movements fluid, flickering like fire and shadow.
It seemed, as they fought, that a great melancholy descended on them both. Perhaps it was the scent of falling leaves, reminding them of summer's sudden flight; or perhaps, through the exchange of fists, one heart grew to understand the other, and the sorrow of each merged and grew larger, like two bottles of wine pouring into a single cup, until the glass overflowed with wine as dark and purpled as blood.
Suddenly, there was a moment where Naruto understood the horror lurking in Sasuke's heart, a new impossible burden; though he knew not whence it came, or why. The shadow of Uchiha Madara stretched out over them both, a canopy of despair which blotted out the sun and which smelled of decay; a dance of bones and wind-blown leaves.
The two paused, regarding each other with fixed eyes and ragged breath. Then, in a final, agonized bout, they lunged at each other in despair. One fist hit the other's face, and they both stumbled backwards, each clutching a bruised eye and a swollen cheek.
"I think I know a little of what you are feeling now, Sasuke," Naruto murmured through barely parted lips. "But…I don't know why." Sasuke nodded; it was enough for him.
"Naruto. Tomorrow morning, I will meet you in your office and I swear—I will tell you everything."
Naruto nodded, appeased. Sasuke had decided in that moment: the right thing to do would be to tell Naruto of Madara's presence and plan—to trade his son for the good of Konoha. This was the ultimate sacrifice, much more difficult than if Sasuke, himself, had to die. It was the price that Itachi had once had to pay as well: to sacrifice that which was closest to him for the good of the village.
Sasuke's heart hardened with resolve and despair. After a wordless nod, Sasuke and Naruto walked back to the village in silence, having accomplished what they had set out to do.
Above them, Madara glimmered like a mirage, like an imagined face one might see in a dark mirror at night. Madara himself nodded his head thoughtfully before dematerializing in a black swirl. But his brief appearance, though it was not seen by a single soul, was felt throughout Konoha as if a vast and menacing storm cloud had covered the village, even though the late summer sky was clear. When Naruto and Sasuke finally made their way back, the village streets seemed sombre. The children were quiet, and the people sat despondently in the entryways to their homes.
If the sky was clear, why did it feel like lightening was about to ripple through the air? Why was the humid air choking; why had the afternoon breeze suddenly stilled? The people in the village shook their heads at these questions and hid in their beds as the sun died in gory light in the west. Something evil and unsettling had entered into the village and was not understood, but felt. The dread was unbearable and haunted the halls of the villagers, though they could not attribute their feelings to anything tangible or imaginable.
Author's Note: According to the Naruto Database, Itachi killed a ton of ninja in the war when he was four-fucking-years-old. I did not make that up! Blame Kishi for his Mary-sue-age (haha). No wonder things ended so fucked up for the Uchiha T-T.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Please review;)