A.N.
Bless all of those who have reviewed, faved, and followed my story. I really, truly appreciate it!
If you have not kept up with the manga from here on out there may be spoilers.
Disclaimer: Naruto does NOT belong to me.
Sayuri and any characters that have not and will not appear in the manga and/or anime are completely original.
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"If you want the jutsu to work I need chakra. Don't worry, Sasuke. It won't kill her."
Sayuri gritted her teeth. "Like hell I'm letting you take my chakra!" She attempted to move but found it impossible. Her entire chakra system was blocked; there was only enough flowing to keep her alive and conscious.
"It won't kill her…" Sasuke echoed.
Sayuri looked at the Uchiha. He wasn't seriously considering letting the snake take her chakra!
"I give you my word." The tall snake sanin smiled.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, Sharingan flaring and quickly turning into the Mangekyo. "If I think you're hurting her I'll—"
"Of course" The snake smirked. "I know how protective you are of little Lady Sayuri."
"Sasuke…" she called, panic taking over. The Uchiha glanced down at her for a few seconds, an emotion that she could not quite read in them. He gripped her closer to him just as they entered the village.
"Don't worry." Whispered Sasuke, his warm breath ghosting her ear. "I won't let anyone hurt you."
Questions
Moriyo, Gai, and Kakashi stood next to each other watching the scene unfold. The two had been fighting tooth and nail to keep Madara, the ten tails, and who they just found out to be Obito, back. They had never expected to see so much bloodshed. They were also not fully prepared to see one of their students die.
Beside them Sakura gasped when her jade eyes saw through the dust at the fallen man. Around them the allied shinobi turned to see why Naruto had stopped fighting all together.
"Ne…" Lee whispered in disbelief as he stood next to Hajime who only looked on in worry. A few feet away Diachi stood by Tenten, a hand on her arm to keep her from doing anything rash.
"Gai…" Moriyo turned to the man who held his tears back.
Neji was dead. There was nothing she or anyone could do to bring him back and it broke her heart. Not only because he had died so young, but because she could already imagine the pain Sayuri would go through once she found out.
Naruto stood up with newfound determination, the Kyubi's chakra flaring up around him. He was not giving up not now, or ever. They would protect the shinobi world with new found determination, now more than ever because they all knew how hard it was to lose a loved one and they were not about to let their deaths be in vain.
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Sayuri gritted her teeth in concentration while she attempted to at least move her fingers, but no such luck. She huffed and turned her brown eyes to the sky. The wind felt nice against her skin as they leapt roof top to roof top, the group trying to avoid the most crowded areas of the village in fear of Sayuri calling out for help. Not like she would and even is she did, it wouldn't do her much good. The only thing that would get her is the involvement innocent civilians and that would only make matters worse.
They came to a stop and Sayuri looked around her. The place was completely destroyed, there was only rubble maybe five structures still remained but as far as she could see the place was a dump. She caught sight of a lone piece of what used to be a flag, the Uchiha emblem still visible.
"Juugo." She heard Sasuke call and felt as he handed her over to the taller orange haired man, her eyes still on the mess that was around her.
Sasuke stepped forward making a few hand seals. Just as he finished the last one a large slab of rock with the Sharingan drawn on the center moved aside. The Uchiha stepped back and turned to the tall man who dutifully handed the teenage girl over.
"There's nothing left of the Uchiha's Nakano shrine anymore." Orochimaru pointed out as he looked around him.
"Appearance isn't everything. What is important is downstairs." Said Sasuke as he began his descend. "Let's go."
The way slowly became illuminated as they moved forward. The torches on the wall lit their way coming to an end at a large room. The wall in the far back had two Uchiha fans, in between them the name 'UCHIHA' was written in hiragana, on the floor was a large slab of rock with writing on it, indecipherable to Sayuri and the rest but not to Sasuke.
"Alright," Orochimaru stepped up next to Sasuke, peering down at the Marihasha girl. "Just take off her cloak and lay her down and I'll do the rest."
Sayuri's eyes widened in fear while Sasuke's Sharingan flared in warning towards his former teacher. Sasuke set her down and removed the white cloak putting it aside before carefully laying her down. Orochimaru grinned and kneeled down next to the girl.
"Sasuke!" Sayuri called out a slight tone of panic in her voice. She tilted her head to look at the teen who knelt down on her other side, he placed a hand on her shoulder but kept his eyes on Orochimaru. The brunette felt a cold breeze on her abdomen as the Sannin lifted up her black shirt.
"Ah, there it is." He murmured, golden colored eyes on the reddening scar. "You've been using too much chakra lately haven't you, Lady Sayuri?"
"We're at war, what do you think?" she snapped and glared daggers at the man.
He grinned. "Does it hurt?"
"It burns." She looked down at the red scar then back up at him. "You should know, you put it on me."
Orochimaru chuckled and placed a cold hand on the lower left side of her stomach, directly above the scar. "Try to relax."
Sayuri's eyes widened at the stinging sensation. She gritted her teeth and turned away from both Orochimaru and Sasuke as she squeezed her eyes shut. Her chakra was slowly leaving her body and entering his and the process was anything but pleasant. A small cry coming from the girl on the ground made Sasuke turn to the snake Sannin.
"Orochimaru…!" he warned.
The man glanced up at him with a smirk on his face. "I said I wouldn't kill her and I won't, but I need to extract every last bit of chakra that's been absorbed by the wound." He looked down at the struggling girl. "My chakra has mixed in with hers at this point preventing her body from healing and stealing the chakra that is used by her to keep the wound closed. If I can't get every last bit, it will never heal and she'll only continue gathering more chakra for me to take."
Sasuke's Sharingan spun as he looked down at the two ninja. There was a large mass of chakra that had gathered in the area where Orochimaru had his hand over, the size of it was slowly decreasing as it entered the man's system and left Sayuri's.
A few more seconds and the painful pull and burning sensation disappeared, replaced by a cool and soothing one. Sayuri's body relaxed and she panted, small beads of sweat rolling down her forehead and dripping onto the ground.
"There." Orochimaru pulled away and watched how the red scar slowly disappeared into nothing more than a small, thin, tan line. "You're free from my chakra, Lady Sayuri." He stood and flexed his fingers. "And I've got the chakra you've been so kindly collecting for me."
"Bastard…" Sayuri hissed as she looked at the man, still unable to move. "Get your hands off me!" she snapped at Sasuke as he picked her up.
"She's got a mouth on her." Suigetsu whistled watching in amusement as Sasuke sat Sayuri against the wall near the exit. "I like her!" Sasuke turned to Suigetsu giving him a stern look that could only be interpreted as a warning to stay away from her, while Sayuri huffed in exasperation.
"Now, I'll get started." Orochimaru pulled out a mask, that Sayuri could not recognize and suddenly his body flared up with chakra. The image of a white man bearing the same face as the one depicted on the mask appeared behind him. The white being pulled a katana and sliced his stomach, five orbs of light flew out of it as soon as the sword had been pulled out.
Orochimaru's own abdomen burst open, the wound inflicted on the white being having been inflicted on him as well. One of the five orbs flew into Orochimaru who looked down at his hands.
"They're back!" He laughed and took off the mask, blood dripping down his mouth. "Now I can perform the Edo Tensei and summon them. Juugo, Sasuke, Suigetsu get ready!"
"Edo Tensei?!" Sayuri looked over at the other three ninja. "Are you insane?!" Suigetsu stood behind Sasuke while Juugo placed a hand on the Uchiha's back. Suddenly six Zetsu came out of Sasuke all falling limply on the ground. The brunette gaped at them and then at Sasuke. Tobi, the fake Madara or whoever the masked man was obviously didn't trust Sasuke.
"Six of you…" Orochimaru kneeled down holding his bleeding stomach. "This is perfect. Juugo take five of them and lay them out under the floating orbs." The orange haired teen quickly got to work setting the white Zetsu in a row. Orochimaru took the hand that was covered in blood and placed it on the ground. Seals suddenly spread though out the floor, dark circles appeared underneath four of the five Zetsus. "Suigetsu get the sixth one ready."
"Yes, Lord Orochimaru!" the silver haired swordsman pulled the remaining Zetsu's mouth wide open.
Sasuke moved to stand next to Sayuri who could only look on at what was occurring in shock.
"Who are you trying to bring back?" She received no answer, instead she heard Orochimaru call out the name of the jutsu. Four of Zetsu on the ground cried out in pain as the four orbs that floated above them entered their bodies.
"And one more!" Orochimaru exclaimed as he took out a scroll and a small vial he had tucked away in his belt. Quickly he unraveled the scroll and smeared what was on the vial onto the white page. The liquid soon spread across the wooden floor forming the same markings and dark circle around the remaining Zetsu who looked on in horror at his four counter parts. If she had any control of her body, Sayuri would have shrunken back in fear and shock as she watched their bodies morph into someone else's.
"They're coming!" Orochimaru announced as he turned into a snake and slid right into the remaining Zetsu's mouth, the man slowly taking Orochimaru's form. "And there you have them. The ones who know everything."
"This is the first Hokage…the man who was said to be the God of Shinobi, the real Hashirama…?" Suigetsu asked looking at the tall long haired man with red armor.
"So it's you again, the Orochimaru brat." The white haired man donning blue armor spoke.
"He probably removed the seal of the Shikifuujin that was trapping us and then used the Edo Tensei." The third Hokage spoke.
"You managed to remove the seal?" The blonde one on the left exclaimed. "But how…"
"You underestimate me, Minato." Orochimaru dusted himself off. "I had a lot of time on my hands when I lost my jutsu, so I did a lot of research."
Minato looked around and frowned turning to the dark haired man to his left. "So it looks like we've been resurrected."
"Really now?" The man replied crossing his arms over his chest.
Sayuri gaped at the last man in surprise. This was not happening! She was not seeing this! There was no way that he could be here.
"Uh?" The second Hokage turned the blonde.
"Who are you two?" asked Hashirama.
"The Fourth Hokage!" he replied as he turned and pointed at his long coat.
"No way! A fourth?!" Hashirama exclaimed and looked around him to the other man. "Are you the fifth then?!"
"Uh, no…" The man smiled. "I am Yūkan Marihasha." The other replied.
Hashirama was ecstatic upon the revelation. Never in his wildest dreams did he think the village would have survived that long. Tobirama on the other hand looked at the Marihasha male as if analyzing the man trying to put a puzzle together.
"F-father…?" the dark haired man turned to her then, shock taking over his face.
"Sayuri…?" his eyes slid to the brooding teen standing beside his daughter. Sasuke…? He wondered with narrowed eyes.
"Father?" Tobirama echoed looking at the girl that was sitting against the wall.
"Wow! That's your daughter?!" Hashirama asked as he too looked at the teen that became increasingly nervous under their stares. "She looks kind of like you…the hair maybe…" He frowned noticing that Yūkan's hair was black while the girl's was as reddish brown.
Yūkan smiled down at the girl. "Actually she takes after her mother."
Tobirama cast one last look at the brunette and turned to Orochimaru. "Are you trying to attack the village again?"
"I deprive you of your jutsu at the cost of my life and now you're planning on using me to attack the Leaf!?" The third exclaimed angered at his former pupil.
The first Hokage sighed in resignation. "This world is always fighting! I knew this wasn't a proper jutsu." he smacked his forehead and turned to his brother. "Tobirama, that was why I told you—"
"Be quiet brother. I'm talking to this youngster."
"But—"
"Silence."
The room became quiet as all looked at the so called 'God of Shinobi' as he looked away and sulked. Well that was an interesting turn of events, who knew that the First Hokage was prone to small bouts of depression.
"Don't misunderstand." Orochimaru stepped forward to explain. "I am not here to take over the Leaf. This time, due to certain circumstances I simply wanted to create an opportunity for this young man to talk." He gestured to Sasuke who took a step forward and looked them all in the eye.
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, and there is something I want to ask you."
"An Uchiha…" Tobirama looked at Sasuke with indifference. "No wonder you're with the enemy."
"Tobirama! I told you to stop talking like that!" Hashirama scolded his younger brother who merely brushed it aside.
"I don't care what you say about me. Third, why did you order Itachi to do that?"
That…? Sayuri thought. He's referring to the Uchiha massacre. She peered up at the third waiting for his response curious to know his answer as well.
"So you already know…" The old man glanced at Sayuri, unsure if he should outright say it. Sayuri after all had nothing do with it and could possibly still be in the dark.
"I looked through Danzou's documents and found out a few weeks before he did." Sayuri replied. The third and fourth Hokages looked at the girl in shock, while Yūkan looked at her in mild surprise mixed in with pride. "Sasuke killed Itachi not too long after."
"When I heard the truth from Tobi and Danzou I decided to take revenge against the leaf. But now I want to hear it from you. I want the truth, everything you know about Itachi."
The third frowned and nodded none the less. "After forcing him to kill his comrades we labeled him a traitor and had him watch over the Akatsuki. He took it upon himself to do this mission under the condition that I protect you. From a young age he had begun to understand our world and had begun to think like a Hokage." The third smiled fondly at the memory of the young Itachi. "He understood that he needed to protect it and that was possibly why he never really had a strong sense of what a clan was. When he found out about the coup he informed me immediately and did what had to be done."
"So it's true…" Sasuke clenched his fists at his sides, looking away from the men. Sayuri from her spot noticed his body tremble but said nothing feeling a small pang of pain herself.
"It's the curse of the Uchiha. I didn't even know they were all annihilated…" Tobirama spoke catching everyone's attention. "I was expecting them to plan a coup sooner or later…there were some rebellious elements that secretly followed Madara's will, after all."
"It wasn't like you didn't have a part in it either." Said Sayuri as she used the wall to pull herself up, the effects of the snake's paralyzing element already starting to wear off. Her legs wobbled under her but she refused to remain seated.
"She has a point." Orochimaru nodded. "You started it all when you created the Uchiha Military Police. Those who control crime also tend to be disliked, and of course with power comes arrogance. Then, under the pretext that they would supervise the criminals you created their head quarters in the same place as the prison."
"You then segregated them into a compound in the outskirts of the village. So of course there'd be people who'd promote Madara's ideas. They felt prosecuted."
"What?! Tobirama I told you so many times to not prosecute the Uchiha!"
Tobirama narrowed his eyes at Sayuri. "Little girls should know when to be quiet, especially when they don't know the whole truth."
"All I know is that, because of your actions, my clan had to suffer as well." Sayuri clenched her fists at her sides. "My father saw where this was going and decided to side with the Uchiha. Danzou then murdered my clan to make sure they were out of the way, knowing that their political influence would stop any attempts on the Uchiha clan's future existence."
"You're trying my patience, little girl." Tobirama glared at Sayuri who glared right back.
"I suggest you treat my daughter with respect." Yūkan intervened as he glared at the white haired man. "She has done nothing wrong other than voice her opinions on the matter. If it weren't for…certain actions, then maybe she wouldn't have been left an orphan."
"I simply gave them a role they would be good at. I did so to be able to deal promptly with the issue in case a new Madara showed up! Hashirama, you know too well that the Uchiha are a clan possessed by evil!"
"And where exactly did that lead you?!" Yūkan asked turning his full body to the second Hokage. "The total annihilation of two clans."
Tobirama turned to the Marihasha male and crossed his arms over his chest. "It was not my fault you decided to side with them knowing full well what was going on! I had expected better from the Marihasha clan."
"My clan was first and foremost a neutral one. We held connections with each of the clans in this village, don't forget how you got this land in the first place. When my council heard of what was going on we had all agreed that it had all been building up for years, we did not necessarily side with them but we did understand where they were coming from. Aside from the fact that no one in the Third's council presented any real solid proof at the time about the Uchiha planning a takeover."
"Second Hokage…what exactly do you mean by my clan being 'possessed by evil'?"
"While the Senju clan considered their power to be love not jutsu the Uchiha thought jutsu to be above all else." Hashirama closed his eyes and shook his head while Tobirama continued. "But in reality that was not true." The five living shinobi looked at the Second with confusion. "No other clan treasured love as much as the Uchiha. That's why they sealed that off themselves."
"What do you mean?" asked Sasuke. To be honest none of them really understood what the white haired male was talking about. All this time the Uchiha had been considered to be emotionless when it came to power and now they were told that in reality the clan was the opposite?
"When a member of the Uchiha knows love, it is as if the feelings they were blocking out arise…they awaken something even stronger than the Senju's power of love."
"Isn't that ok?" Suigetsu asked. "They can get along with the Senju with that strong love or whatever…right?"
Tobirama sighed and shook his head. "The problem is that their power is too strong and they can end up running wild."
"Running wild…?" Sayuri echoed.
"Yes." Tobirama nodded. "When an Uchiha that has known love loses it, it turns into an even stronger hate and changes that person. I have seen it happen many times…and every time there is a certain symptom."
Sayuri looked down at the ground in thought until it dawned on her. "Sharingan…"
"Exactly." The man turned to the brunette glad that she could keep up. Sasuke turned to Sayuri with a questioning look.
"Think about it Sasuke…when you first activated your Sharingan, how exactly did you feel?"
The teen's face went unusually blank. He recalled the first time he activated his dojutsu, the night of the massacre when he had though his brother had betrayed them all. The second time was years later when he felt that Naruto and Sayuri were in danger of dying.
"The Sharingan activates when the user is experiencing something particularly strong, it in turn makes the person stronger. Almost all of the ones who experienced strong emotions are captured by darkness…and the greater that darkness in them becomes the more powerful their eyes get. After that it is near impossible to handle them, like in Madara's case."
"Madara really loved his little brother…probably even more than your brother loved you." Hashirama added to his brother's lecture.
"In any case I channeled their power into something that could be of use to the village. However, if they ended up destroying themselves for the sake of the village, that cannot be helped. By doing so they were still useful to the village in a way."
"Tobirama, would you stop talking like that?! The one you're talking to is a pure Uchiha child!" Hashirama scolded his brother who merely glanced away.
"What is important is the village. The village is the point. You should know this brother."
"I could care less." Sasuke interrupted their little argument. "I am neither pure nor a child. First Hokage…my question to you…" Hashirama tuned his full attention to the boy. "What is the village? What are shinobi in the first place?"
The man raised a hand to his chin closing his eyes in thought. "What is the village and shinobi…?"
"Itachi, my brother, was used by the village and still he risked his life to protect it, he died proud of being a shinobi of the leaf." He then gestured to Sayuri. "And her, despite finding out that the village's council had agreed to illuminated her clan even though they had nothing to do with what my clan was planning, she's still willing to put her life on the line out in the battle field to protect the village." He deactivated his Mangekyo. "And the shinobi who started it all, what are they. I want to hear the truth from you before making my decision."
They all turned to Hashirama waiting patiently for an answer.
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