V - Focault's Pendulum
Summary: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The choices we make, the paths we take are not decided by us, but the many different choices made long before ours.
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Notes: Second part of all the politicking. Hopefully my decision to expand the whole political world and the events makes sense. I tried to not over complicate it. Please do tell me if it still makes sense.
As always, this is unbetaed so all mistakes are mine and if you can point out errors or points of confusion, it will be very much appreciated.
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She was nervous. Tsunade can admit freely to herself as she with the Konoha contingent stepped into the great hall of the Daimyo's palace. Most people would surmise it was due to the fact she had long delayed her official investiture as Hokage. Normally after their oath taking in Konoha, the new Hokage with his delegation would travel to the Daimyo's court. It was part ceremony and part practical measure for it allowed the two rulers of the Land of Fire to meet. It gave assurance to the populace that they were protected while assuring the nobility that the military junta of Konoha still deferred to the Daimyo and their rule.
Tsunade has never gotten her official investiture. Her excuse had always been the rebuilding efforts left by the attempted invasion and the death of the Sandaima. The longer she wore the hat, the easier it was for her to bury herself in work against the increasingly troubled times. It was a good excuse to make. Don't get her wrong, it was true, but it wasn't the true reason for her reluctance. The honest truth was that she hadn't been ready to face her guilt. She still wasn't, but she had ran out of time. She can no longer afford to avoid this. Not the way the world was going.
Rising her chin up, she strode through the hall. An abashed servant tried to stop her as protocol dictated visitors must be announced first, but Tsunade ignored it. She knew who she was and was afforded to. The crowd of nobles watched in amusement at the spectacle. They were certain that this strange interloper would be shamed when the guards would bar her way. Much to their and to the Konoha contingent's surprise, the head of the Daimyo's guard strode to meet her. To the shock of all, he bowed in her presence and let her thru. More startling was even the chief Lady in Waiting, the de facto First Lady of the court, would show such grave respect to her as well.
Tsunade gave a brief token of acknowledgement. They were familiar faces after all. Friends even, but all her attention was at the two men on the daises. She missed them so much. She was so sorry. She had been a self-absorbed fool that had wallowed in her misery, she pushed everyone away. Now here she stood in front of her beloved father and her cousin, her companion in arms, and was slapped with the reality that they have grown old. Gone was the strong and nonchalant strides of her father, Kira Senju. Instead what was left was a frail man leaning on a cane. Even her companion in arms in all childhood mischief, her mirror image Minoru Arakawa, had become a faded image. His hair was bleached white. His face lined with age. They had lost so much time together.
"Tsunade!"
Two voices rang at the sight of her. Tsunade's eyes teared up. It was like old times. She was such a brat, always the one being acknowledged and deferred to first.
"I'm sorry," she muttered as she found herself wrapped in their arms.
There was a stunned silence at the sight. The all powerful Daimyo of the Land of Fire and his Most Beloved Uncle embracing a supposed newcomer in court. To others, they realised that she was the new Hokage of Konoha, but it was a curious sight as they never remembered such a young woman gracing the court. But to a select few, they would remember the young playmate of the Daimyo, his cousin, who has been the golden haired princess of the realm. They would remember that the Arakawa line had married into the Senju line in order to secure a more direct claim into the imperial throne.
To Tsunade, she cared not a whit for those. There were many things more important than the the opinion of the courtiers and nobles of the Fire court. What she cared about was her only remaining family left. There were many things she wanted to say to them. She had been stupid and selfish when she shunned them upon Dan and Nawaki's death. She only thought about what she lost, forgetting they also lost family as well. And yet even throughout her selfishness, they had her back. She very well knew she had been able to roam, drink, gamble and accrue debts, derelict of her duty, because of them.
"Never mind," her father whispered. "You're back."
"Friends," her cousin cried out. "Rejoice! The Princess Tsunade has returned."
Stunned silence echoed through the hall at the unexpected announcement. Tsunade had long been absent from court. Many she was sure had forgotten her or had lost any hope she would return. After all, she had been a headstrong child blinded by glory and legend when she first left to become a Shinobi. All against the wishes of the clan who had left the violence of their past and built new lives within the peaceful noble class as one of the new political class. A decision she came heartily regret when her little brother, Nawaki followed her, head spinning with her tales and a dream to become the Hokage. He died. That was the last time she ever graced the court.
"The Princess. Princess Tsunade," the nobles and courtiers began to murmur. First, softly. Then louder, again and again until it was a wall of sound. Then as if by design, one by one they fell on their knees, kowtowing like a crashing wave.
Tsunade felt a chill creeped up in her bones as the wave of people revealed the rest of the Konoha delegation. It wasn't Danzo's and his ANBU lackey's nonchalance. The elder was one of the few who were aware of the Senju's familial alliance with the Daimyo. Most of Konoha had been fed the idea that the Senju clan had simply died out as many of the great clans had. Inoichi's subtle bugged eyed look was amusing. It was Kakashi who gave her the pause. Cool Kakashi who gave neither hide nor hair of a reaction. He simply met her stare, utterly opaque, utterly blank. He was a mirror that gave away nothing and simply reflected her back.
And that, frightened her.
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Yatagarasu cawed in annoyance. The three legged crow was bristling as it flew around in agitation before settling in Sasuke's shoulder. The bird had been adamant Sasuke remained in the palace wing he had been recovering in, but Sasuke had began to feel a tad restless. It had led to him insisting he was well enough to walk through the grounds.
Sasuke could understand the crow's frustration. He hasn't fully recovered and even if he was, he had not regained his strength. The Land of the Summons is not a place where humans can easily live in. It was in the Land of the spirits where past, present and future was set in such absolutes it was nearly tangible. The land hummed with them. The air as well was nearly inhospitable. Saturated with chakra, it was raw and unfiltered. So strong, it could easily burn the unprepared. Men had little defence with such power. Only those who were trained to create and wield chakra would be able to stand being in the spirit world. But even staying would be a struggle for most, for such power was set in such a fine fulcrum that one little gust would be enough to tip it to destruction.
Sasuke realised this with his first unexpected jaunt on balcony. He collapsed and had found himself being carried back to his rooms. The pain that first began with the stinging sensation from his wound morphed into and electric agony of unfiltered chakra coursing thru his veins. And his mind became locked in a maelstrom voices and images he could not fathom. He remembered being set gently back to his futon while Garuda raised the barrier once again and Sorata began cleansing him of the foreign chakra that had latched onto him.
Sasuke would remember the explanation. He would remember best was Fugaku who appeared to him as he laid nearly insensate at his futon. The man's image had been fuzzy and unclear, but he was almost real. The pressure his feet left as he walked on the tatami floors. The indent on the mats as he sat in seiza.
"That is why we never took His Holiness's offer of sanctuary at the Izumo Taisha Shrine," Fugaku murmured as he stared out into the horizon. "We would have simply brought war to his doorstep and would have given him nothing in return. For we would have easily been lured to cross the veils and invite destruction."
As his father's image turned to face him, it would morph into a young man. An Uchiha based on his features. Dressed in ornate clothes so old, it was only seen in the illustrations of myth and legend. Sasuke could feel his eyes widen in wonder.
"When the gods blessed me with the Sharingan," the man spoke in a haunting voice. "It was an admonishment that my life was not my own. It was a test of will. It was a reminder of the promise Jimmu Tennou made when he gave up his divinity."
A sigh and he changed into another Uchiha, dressed in a splendid armour so ancient, it defied any living memory.
"The spirits are a step lower than the gods," the man would intone. "We are drawn to it for our blood, bone and sinew remembers how we lived in such a world. Our eyes see the strands the spirits have woven their land into, and know it to be so. But take care for we have pledged our lives to men. What has been given up, cannot be gathered back. You cannot return to the world which beckons you, lest you turn mad and destroy everything you have worked for and more."
Sasuke wasn't really sure if they were delusions brought about by a unconscious mind or they were truly the dead brought to speak by the threads of fate and chakra that permeated the air. Who knew for sure? It may be true or may be false. Sasuke had been protected from the debilitating atmosphere, but he had been exposed at his weakest. But this was also the land wherein the past can be just as real as the present.
What Sasuke knew for sure that he had to recover and build his strength. He needed it, to survive. To survive in both his world and this world he was given sanctuary. Sasuke found it ironic that even if he was being burdened to live, he still had to fight for it.
It was his collapse and his ever so slow attempts to acclimate that was forefront in Yatagarasu's mind when Sasuke insisted he was strong enough to walk around the vast palace grounds. Of course the crow protested. Exposure to unprotected atmosphere had mostly left Sasuke overwhelmed from the visions, bereft of strength and gnashing his teeth in pain. There had been progress as he slowly learned to shield himself and filter the foreign chakra that clung to every cell in his body, but he had never attempted this much.
Sasuke normally had much patience. Honed by expectation in his youthful days with his family and by fear for his life when he became all alone. He probably would have listened to Yatagarasu who called this a foolish rush that most probably would set his recovery back. But recently, there was something niggling in his mind. He could not help but observed how His Holiness Sorata had slowly began to feel more weighed down. Sasuke was not naive enough or irresponsible enough to not realise that the changes he carved on the political landscape would not come to bite him and those who helped him back. He would wager that the Head Priest must be feeling the censure of the Land of Fire and it's allies. Even in his pain, Sasuke would remember observing the furtive way they left the Izumo Taisha Shrine.
So Sasuke had insisted on the walk. Purportedly to test him strength, but also to chase down this sense of unease. He shouldn't be protected. He should know the full measure of the consequences of his actions, so he said to Yatagarasu.
"And there is a time and place for everything," the crow replied tartly.
Sasuke couldn't help but smile as he hobbled around like a bloody idiot. He knew he was making a fool of himself and probably disillusioning all on the legend of the Uchiha. He could feel the furtive looks and hear the hushed whispers. It didn't bother him. He had been a failure anyhow. His clan and all that were worthy of its name was dead.
"When I heard that Indra's descendant entered the lands, I could scarcely believe it," an elderly voice broke through his conversation with Yatagarasu.
It felt liked he was slapped when Sasuke heard it. For one thing, it was a blow to know he was truly not ready. This was proof he could sense no one nearing him and that all his strength was simply wrapped in surviving and moving thru the dangerous atmosphere. The other thing was that the voice seemed too familiar. He did not know that voice as Sasuke, but at the back of his mind, his acquired memories stirred. An echo of such distant past that contained such a well of hurt.
Sasuke turned to the source of the voice. He could feel Yatagarasu leave his perch at his shoulder as the bird hissed angrily at the newcomer. Sasuke saw a massive frog. An elderly specimen in a shade of terracotta wearing a tasseled hat and a bead necklace.
"Gamamaru," he whispered as Indra surged to the forefront. Sasuke let him, but instead of tuning out as he normally was wont to do, he dared observed. It was a strange. Feeling the subtle shift in his stance, the confidence and arrogance to it. The deft nudges in which the foreign chakra was masterfully manipulated which sheer ease. The clearheadedness and the lack of pain and heaviness that this subtle yet profound shift brought about. Here, Sasuke realised the reason why Indra had been named the storm god.
"Indra. Yatagarasu," Gamamaru wheezed out, his gaze intent on the human.
"What do you think you're doing?" Yatagarasu cawed. His voice was hostile. "His Majesty forbade you from ever stepping into court when you broke our laws."
Gamamaru raised a haughty brow as he riposted, "And what does a simple mouthpiece know?"
Much to Yatagarasu's consternation, the Toad Sage easily dismissed him and turned all his attention to Indra. The old summon's heavy lidded gaze was contemplative and weighing. Any normal creature would have withered at such a look. Indra recalled many a member in court who had reacted that way. Even now with Sasuke at his position as the unacknowledged observer behind Indra's mind felt the sting of the Toad's gaze. It reminded him of all the judging gazes he used to endure, but magnified. Sasuke didn't even think he would have to fortitude to face it unwavering.
In their mind, Indra chuckled at Sasuke's observation. 'He was father's trusted adviser,' Indra explained. 'I am too used to his critical gaze. He had always judged me lacking and prophesied I would damn everyone with my hard-heartedness.'
'Did you?' Sasuke asked curiously.
Indra shrugged in reply, before turning his attention back to the elder.
"You're now an abomination," Gamamaru observed. "Have you no shame, destroying all the lives of your descendants just so you can cling to life?"
Indra felt his lips twitch. Good-old Gamamaru was Emperor Keiko's most loyal subordinate. An advisor who had supported his father for good and for ill. He had forgotten what it felt like to feel his father's stinging displeasure. Whatever he did was never good enough for the man and there was Gamamaru, always echoing his father's opinions. He had always wondered what he had ever done to engender such scorn. Emperor Keiko always saw the worst in him. Maybe it was because he had sentenced Lady Miho Arakawa to the gallows. Penance for his sin of condemning a lady to death when her only fault was she was a pawn to a faction in the court who had meant to seize power. An effective one, but a pawn nonetheless, when she became the Emperor's mistress through their machinations and bore him a child.
Indra could feel Sasuke's confusion. He could not help but smile at the strange innocence his young host had. It was a pity that such a young boy would be further and further mired with the folly of reality.
'Legends at times obfuscate and at times simplify the truth,' Indra explained gently. 'The court of Emperor Keiko, especially in the later years, was mired in infighting and a power struggle. The faction led by Lord Arakawa, Lady Miho's father had taken advantage of the infighting to rise to power. He was able to instate his daughter as Lady in Waiting to the Empress to catch the Emperor's attention. He used his position to hurl accusations against my mother in an attempt to discredit her clan and forced her suicide. His allies managed to bring charges of misdemeanour and abuse of power on my uncle and his wife's clan, the Hyuuga. Investigation provided credence to the accusation, so I exiled my Uncle and the Hyuuga clan. When they overplayed their hand, I tried them for treason and sentenced them to death.'
Indra grew silent at those last few words. He remembered being brash, bold and confident in his righteousness. The difference in his sentencing of the members of the Imperial family and the Arakawa clan by his own hand led members of the court to question his judgment. Some had found him too harsh, others had found him to lenient, but everyone scorned the miscarriage of justice. Others called him soft for allowing his aunt and uncle to live in exile and for simply banishing his mother's family from court when she committed suicide. Many called him corrupt for letting his relatives go with their lives. A number decried him for sentencing Lady Arakawa to death when all evidence pointed that she knew nothing of her father's machinations. She was after all the beloved figure in court. Some had called him foolish for letting the mob dictate his sentencing and cutting off his allies and turning them to enemies. To this day, he never knew if he did the right thing. For sure it bought the Emperor out of his self-imposed seclusion. Father had gotten weary of ruling and he retreated out of public life, filling his days with art, philosophy, and prophecy. He was exiled for his folly and the Emperor Keiko declared a radical remake of the government and the land. There started the reign of the Sage Hagoromo.
Indra was tired. Truly, he was. This constant reawakening to find himself living once again. Most of the time memories passed on to the different Uchiha clan heads were simply memories, but Ashura's curse assured that he would be reincarnated into his descendants from time to time. The summons, their leaders like Garuda and Gamamaru would easily sense this. And Gamamaru, just like father, would see the worse in him.
"I assure you," Indra replied simply. "I didn't ask to be an abomination. What are you here for really?"
"I come to see with my very own eyes if you've ever learned. And if not, to give you a warning..."
"Of a sort of nonsense," Garuda's voice suddenly cut through the air as he strode towards their group. His appearance brought out a look of relief from Yatagarasu and a sneer from Gamamaru. Indra turned to face Garuda, noting the thunderous expression in his face. It pained Indra to see the open enmity between the two, a brutal reminder how increasingly fractured the court had been before he was sent to exile. It also seemed the Emperor's gamble in uniting the court with the investiture of Ashura and Indra's exile failed. Worse was that even after innumerable lifetimes have passed, the animosity festered and flourished.
"Say your piece and go," Indra spoke wearily.
"You will bring war if you do not learn compassion. The justice you mete out will only bring suffering."
Indra said nothing. It was the same old song he heard countless of times. Besides him Garuda and Yatagarasu bristled in irritation.
"You may scoff at me now," Gamamaru continued. "But ask Garuda how the human world is moving in response to your host's justice to the Land of Lighting."
Garuda stiffened.
"You will only bring a cycle of hatred," Gamamaru intoned. "This I have seen if you do not change."
Indra closed his eyes. He realised this was the selfsame words Gamamaru used to him in order to dissuade him from sentencing Lady Arakawa to death. He had pushed forth with it and paid the price. Merry Osu, his brother, was lost to become Ashura, mired in hatred and paranoia. His father and the man's closest allies waged vengeance on him. He was exiled. The kingdom spiralled into chaos. But even in all his doubts, he knew his duty. He would not rescind it for a possible fool of a dream.
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Kira Senju had always been called the modern day sage Hagoromo. Tsunade would recall how much pride it brought her as she heard her father spoken that way. One of her earlier memories was how the Fire court would giggle when they spoke her father's name. The women would swoon, rhapsodising on the man's poetry and prose. The men would nod gravely and attend his masterful tea ceremonies and philosophical treaties. The common man, on the other hand, would nod respectfully at the bits of wisdom he was said to have spoken of and go about their merry way. In Konoha, the ancient Shinobi clans would view the man known as the modern day sage as either similar to the Fire court or much like the rest of the populace. This is except for few of the most ancient clans who had a peculiar mix of reactions on the Great Sage and his modern incarnation. The Hyuuga's normally would refuse to hear of it, the Nara's would always devolve to questions and long pointed silences, and the Uchiha, well they would direct the speaker to the clan head and ended all conversation hereafter.
Such reactions had initially surprised Tsunade when she first started residing in Konoha. Later, she would remember being reassured. The other clans, the newer Shinobi and even the civilians would shake their heads and whisper to her to simply chalk it up as the peculiarities of clans populated by inbreds.
Unfortunately, no matter how much pride she took about her father, she did have to admit that he had frustrated her as she grew older. He still frustrated her to this day, more so now when she is the Hokage. She realised that her father, no matter how wise he would seem, always refused to look into reality. He spent his days mussing at ethereal concepts, never about issues that needed to be addressed. He spent his days trapped in his perfect little bubble, and when you try to break into it, he resisted. A perfect example was with Dan and Nawaki's death. Yes, he did grieve. He did feel loss. But the strong stance she wanted from him was never there. Uncle at the time had been old and ill. Minoru was still powerless and inexperienced. Her father could have done something instead of just speaking platitudes.
"The gods will find them worthy," Kira Senju murmured as he heard the terrible news. "For they were pure of heart. For us, this is a test of our resolve."
Tsunade wanted her father to act, somehow. Not let her ailing uncle, who had lost all his resolve, end the second war by giving in and allying to the warmongers like Hanzo. In her youth, she thought it was cowardice. When she grew older, she judged it as the decision of the war weary. And now in her position, she realised it was a bit of both and it was an easy way out in order to maintain Konoha's rule in the north Izumi Taisho lands and with it Amegakure. A disaster in itself, trusting an outsider to maintain their rule. Hanzo lost his grip to power and Konoha none the wiser lost their grip to the Akatsuki.
Kira Senju never did, and Tsunade swallowed the bitter pill that he was all too human. He was not like grandfather Hashirama or grand uncle Tobirama. He was all too selfish. She loved him, but he could never be what she wanted him to be.
"Tsunade," Kira Senju chided as she sat impatiently, drumming her fingers. Her father had called her to join him in a ceremony, which she had dutifully agreed to. She had given a exasperated glance at Minoru who had shrugged back and beat a hasty retreat. Tsunade then found herself fidgeting as she waited for the ordeal to end.
"There's a season for everything. This is the time to contemplate," he spoke as he waved his hand to showcase the gardens. "Calm yourself."
"Forgive me," Tsunade sighed out. It wasn't that she did not want to be with her father, but there was just too many to do. The world was teetering at the edge. They were at the cusp of it. She could not in good conscience simply sit by and watch.
She got an knowing look in return.
"You can go," Kira Senju spoke with a sigh. When she opened her mouth in protest, he shooed her away. "Take care child," he admonished. "Even with the blood of the gods, we cannot overpower the turning of the seasons."
Tsunade did not respond. Her father lived with his sentiments, speaking and doing nothing else. But she and Minoru, oh they know the cost. There is work to be done.
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"What did he mean by that?" Sasuke found himself asking Indra. Gamamaru's words struck a chord in him. It mocked him on his ignorance and his arrogance. He knew he created ripples in his rabid search for the truth and justice, or was it vengeance. He had no illusions that many of the things he did was for his sake and to hurt those who hurt him. But he had deliberately never thought about it, until now.
"Why so curious?" Indra replied back together with a curious tilt of a brow.
The two men were back in the mindscape. Seated in a seiza, they faced each other like mirror images of one another.
"Why ask," Indra continued. "You never bothered before. You weren't even outraged when Gamamura first spoke of it."
Sasuke could not reply at first. To be honest, he initially did not want to think about it. But it would not leave him be. He found himself searching, constantly observing the comings and goings of the palace and its people.
What he saw shamed him. It frightened him. Messengers coming to and fro from the palace. A flurry of holy men and women, last seen in the waning days of the empire, so the summon servants would whisper, unaware of his eavesdropping. They would been soon followed by different members of the summon court, the generals, the ministers and the oracles. He saw the increasingly grim expression from both His Holiness Sorata and Garuda. When Sasuke tried to bring it up, the old priest would subtly change the subject.
He could not deny it, change was afoot, and he may have been the catalyst for it.
"Because I cannot stay wilfully blind," Sasuke sighed out. He stared at the exiled prince, willing him to understand what it felt like to be so weary, he wanted to disappear from the world.
"Silly child," Indra burst into laughter. "You and I are the same person." He opened up his arms as if to encompass their whole surroundings. "Why else are we at your mind? My memories are yours. What you know is what I know. We even share the same soul."
"What? I..." Sasuke sputtered, confused. He didn't understand what Indra meant by the same soul. He had to admit though, he simply tried to focus on it because the truth of the matter is that he was still trying to find his courage. If he acknowledged it, there was no turning back. He would no longer simply be Sasuke. He would be Uchiha. But the worse thing was, he would be alone. No matter how much he railed at Fugaku, challenged Indra and the other Uchiha heads, he relied on them. They allowed him to hide when he felt overwhelmed. They were there to talk too. He felt less alone with them.
"No matter," Indra dismissed his act with a knowing look. "You can no longer avoid this. You bought it up, there is no turning back. You have to make a choice."
"I..."
"If you accept what you've become, our memories would become integrated with yours," Indra looked at him pityingly. "But then, it's the only way. You cannot just wander the world in a daze of a half-life, abdicating responsibility."
Sasuke closed his eyes. He breathed deeply. No matter how much he wanted to cling to his family, they were dead. How long had everyone been patiently giving him time to grieve and live in an illusion?
So long. Too long. He really had to wake up.
"Goodbye," Sasuke whispered as he willed Fugaku to hear his thoughts. Sasuke felt familiar rough hewn hands touch his cheeks. His eyes flew open and saw his father's beloved face in front of him. Behind him were his grandfather, great-grandfather, and all the past Uchiha heads waving encouragingly. His eyes meet Indra who gave a resolute nod.
Tears welled up in his eyes. Sasuke nodded.
Fugaku's arms enveloped him. "Don't worry," he spoke comfortingly. "We will still be here with you no matter what. You have your family's love, but it is time to start living."
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"This is ridiculous," Tsunade burst out as she finished reading the letter from the Daimyo of the Land of Water. It was such an unprecedented proposal that she could not believe it when she first heard of it. Even now, reading the actual letter, it still felt too unreal that it brought her nothing but suspicion. She turned incredulous eyes Minoru. "You are seriously considering this?"
Minoru easily returned her stare, unbothered by her reaction. "It's our best bet in preventing a war," he easily pointed out. "The additional alliance with the Land of Water will allow us to present a united front. It maybe enough to calm the unrest and the remaining allies of Izumo Taisha would be reluctant to declare war."
"Surely they are not so foolish as to try it again."
"Tsunade," Minoru sighed tiredly. "Don't play a fool. You knew perfectly well when we called for His Holiness's abdication we were playing with fire. And no matter how we will play his required death as an Uchiha's judgement, you know the Wind faction would never accept it, while the independents can go either way. Many still consider Itachi as a traitor."
It was a perfectly reasonable analysis. It was one of Tsunade's major concerns, but she found Water's proposal deeply stacked in Fire's favour that she deemed it suspicious. So much so that when Minoru sent the outline of the proposal with questions as to what Konoha's intelligence division had gathered, she immediately sent Ibiki and Inoichi to work. Even with their intelligence confirmation, she still travelled all the way to the capital to see it with her very eyes.
It was an unbelievable proposal. Even in front of her, it was too fantastical to be believed. The Land of Water was willing to completely back Fire's abdication proposal and assist in the elimination of the Akatsuki. The only thing they ask for in return was Fire's support in their proposed replacement for His Holiness. It was extremely generous. For one thing, unbeknownst to many, the Akatsuki was the cornerstone of Water's influence in the northern Izumo Taisha, a territory supposedly under the rule of Fire when the land was divided into North and South. North, by treaty, was under the sphere of Fire, while South was under the sphere of Water.
Fire's control over the northern section was through the use of a collaborator, Hanzo. There was little trust between Hanzo and Konoha, so the Sandaima tasked Jiraiya in creating a group of locals loyal to Konoha. Jiraiya started his task by identifying a group of talented young Shinobi-to-be in Amekagure. He trained these children to become brilliant Shinobi indoctrinated to Konoha's philosophical hegemony. Throughout this period, Jiraiya was known to officially been derelict of his duty, while unofficially he was fulfilling his top secret mission. This is the reason why Jiraiya's dereliction was only given a slap in the wrist and was played on as the Sandaima's favouritism with regards to his students.
Unfortunately, Jiraiya's mission ended in failure. Oh he did train the best Amagakure had to offer. Yahiko, Pain and Konan, diamonds in the rough of Amegakure. These young upstarts became so good that they were able to dethrone Hanzo and install themselves as leaders of the Shinobi village. But instead of becoming firm allies of Konoha, Pain began to play the two powers against each other, and Konoha found themselves furiously competing against Kiri in maintaining a foothold in the Northern Izumo Taisha. Then as Kiri's focus turned inward due to civil unrest, Pain allowed them to gain a bit more influence. He then let Konoha and the other great Shinobi nations scrabble for influence. In effect, all the Great Nation's become locked in a stalemate.
"They are essentially willing to give up Izumo Taisha lands," Tsunade spoke disbelievingly. "Their request for our support in pushing for their favoured candidate with the elections of the next head of the Izumo Taisha shrine is really just for show. Everybody knows that it will really amount to nothing."
"Haven't our intelligence division confirmed that Kiri's situation has deteriorated to the worst it can possibly go?" Minoru replied. And to Tsunade's chagrin, she had no choice but to agree. She knew were Minoru was going. "We know perfectly well their best have either declared themselves as rebels, even their agents outside, like those in the Akatsuki have defected. This is their ploy to crush the rebels once and for all. Better to secure your country first than meddle outside and suddenly find out you no longer have one. It's a chance in a lifetime."
"I know that," Tsunade sighed. "But it feels like we are pushing our luck. We do not have enough information with Kiri."
"What would you suggest? Ignore this all and hope it will go away?"
Those words brought a scowl to Tsunade's lips. She knew their policies have essentially boxed themselves in a corner. Perhaps they had been too rash when they conceived their retaliation against Wind and their allies. It seemed such a brilliant coup at that time to gain control of Wind's religious institutions, extend Fire's influence to the rebelling minor nations such as Rice Fields, Hot Water and Rivers, and announce that Fire would not be trifled with to other so-called neutral nations such as Iron, Lightning and Earth. Unfortunately, such a move opened Fire to resistance and countermeasures. And now everyone was waiting for the dice to fall.
"Obviously not," she sighed. "I know this is our chance to secure peace in that side of the border."
Minoru smiled at her words. It was a fond one. The same expression he used when he found her particularly one sided and naive. "It's not just peace Tsunade," he clarified gently. "If Water falls to chaos, it will spread to us, and the rest of the Great Nations will pounce."
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Sasuke strode into the council room. No one stopped him. How could they? There was an undefinable change that everyone saw radiating from him. There was something in the way he walked and held himself, a incomparable self-assurance. To the summons, it was almost as if the Imperial Prince was once again walking the halls. So much so that even Yatagarasu who had been his unofficial minder had unprotestingly fluttered in line. The guards took one look at his expression and had simply let him in.
Sasuke found Garuda with Sorata and the important members of their court in session. For a minute, Sasuke was overwhelmed by afterimages of the Summon court. It was as if no time passed from the Imperial times. The council room remained the same with its painted and gilded shoji screens. Garuda imperiously standing as his main ministers, the fox Abe-no-Seimei and the crane Karoku. The only difference is that Gamamaru was no longer present and in its place was His Holiness Sorata and unknown priest dressed in the robes of the Izumo Taisha shrine.
His entrance brought a uncomfortable expression between the ministers and the young priest. Sorata, on the other hand, looked serenely content, while Garuda stared back at him with a studied curiosity.
"Tell me," Sasuke's voice broke through the still air. "What demands have been served by one of the great nations?"
Silence greeted him, for sure his question had hit the mark, and none of the ministers wanted to speak for their Lord. They were also unnerved by the knowing glance he brought to bear. To the summons, it was too eerie familiar like the same glance they would see so many lifetimes ago. To the humans, it felt too ancient for such a youth.
"So you have decided then?" Garuda asked instead with a voice tinged with melancholy.
A flash of irritation coursed through Sasuke at the non-answer. Unfortunately, it also brought a wave of fondness and nostalgia. Garuda had always been the most circumspect of advisers. Not because he cared about retaining Imperial favour, the power plays of men never interested him, but it was because he had seen much in his nearly immortal life. Garuda knew how one tiny thing can change much on such an immutable world.
"Need I say it?" Sasuke replied back in form.
"Of course," Garuda clarified, his gaze was intent. "I am giving you a chance to step back." Gasps of protest greeted his statement. The ministers and the priest, all but Sorata, looked distressed. It caused him to order. "Leave us," so he said imperiously.
Sasuke silently watched as room cleared out, but it was His Holiness that broke the silence. The old priest, as he rose to leave, took Sasuke's hand and spoke, "whatever your decision is, we welcome your Imperial Highness back." Sasuke's eyes widened as he felt the old man's lips brush his forehead in a blessing. Sorata was then gone and the two royal men were left alone.
"You know," Garuda was the first to break the silence. "I could never decide what to hope. I had hoped you would take the mantle of your duty, but I had hoped for you to have a quiet life. I lived with so much regret for millennia." The hawk's eyes were conflicted. It was the same expression Sasuke remembered seeing when he, as Indra the Imperial Justice, had decided to exile the Hyuuga clan. The Hawk had been conflicted back then, but then they knew whatever decision Indra made, the consequences would be far reaching.
Sasuke's features softened. "Part of me wishes I could just leave it all behind, but I cannot. Jimmu Tennou pledged our line to the world of men and to stay would court madness. I could simply allow myself to be locked away, but it is not my nature or training to be useless," he spoke before his lips quirked. "I was taught well, and one of them was you."
"Well then your Imperial Highness, to answer your first question, the Land of Fire has declared that His Holiness Sorata has broken faith and is asking that he abdicate. The Land of Water has thrown their support at the call and has called for his replacement to come from the Tsukiyomi shrine in..."
"In their lands," Sasuke finished for Garuda. "They are trying to consolidate their control of the Izumo Taisha lands. Surely, the Akatsuki would not allow that and they have a strong alliance with Earth. Lightning would also not allow such expansion to flourish uncontested..."
Sasuke's voice trailed off as solemn golden eyes bored at him.
"Lightning has supported the call. Though they will not act, they have agreed that His Eminence's decision was traitorous by harbouring the criminal, Sasuke Uchiha, who has caused the loss of many Kumo Shinobi lives. They are calling for his death as repayment."
Sasuke closed his eyes. He knew he was to blame, just as Gamamaru declared. His impulsive decision to punish both Fire and Lightning had brought the these natural enemies together. And such a alliance of great powers would bring many to heel.
"Earth and Wind has condemned the blatant expansionism," Garuda continued. "But they cannot move openly. Earth afterall lost in the last Great War, that is why they had to rely on the Akatsuki. The treaty forged with their defeat prevents them from moving openly. While Wind by virtue of Fire taking the Atsuta shrine hostage cannot legally muster forces in defence of His Holiness, not unless the Imperial line calls them to arms."
"And what has been Fire and Water's first salvo?"
"They have started with the Akatsuki and have called for a war of liberation. They have been called criminals who have disposed the rightful ruler of Northern Izumo Taisha, Hanzo."
"And His Holiness?"
"He says the gods will decide."
A bark of laughter burst out of Sasuke. "You will have to forgive me for the mess I've caused Garuda. Call your ministers and generals, we have much to decide."
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End Notes:
As you can see, I tried to expand some of the canon events and to explain some of the inconsistencies I found in canon. This is mainly my expansion on why Jiraiya was allowed to go awol on wartime and train enemy kids to become shinobi. This is also my take why Tsunade was allowed to also go awol. Hopefully, it was successful and not wishful thinking on my part.
Just a note that you noticed there's a difference between the legend of Indra and Ashura vs how Indra tells it. I do hope I was clear that the former was a legend and as with all legends, events get simplified and distorted thru time.