VII - 空 (Kun - Void / Sora - Sky)
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Summary:
We long for the sky. We fear the void. But aren't they one and the same?
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It was burning. Tsunade could feel the pain in her skin, like acid eating away the flesh of her bones. She breathed, slowly, ever so slowly as she pushed away the corrosive atmosphere of the Shikkotsu forest. The pain ebbed, steadily, until all that remain was a annoying buzz.
"Milady," a warm happy voice greeted her.
Tsunade opened her eyes to Katsuyu's smiling face. It was a moon shaped human face set in stark white skin and painted blue lids. Tsunade rarely saw her summon as such, for she rarely visited Katsuyu on her world. In the world of the summons, the slug was clearly a noble lady. Dressed in a hitoe-gasane, the everyday wear of a with her long blue hair unbound, trailing behind her like a banner.
"It's been so long," the slug chirped in joy. "What brings you here?'
"I need to visit Mount Myoboku."
Much to her surprise, Katsuyu's face fell at those words. Tsunade couldn't understand why it was so difficult traversing the Land of the Summons. As the slug summoner, she can only enter thru the Lands via the province her summons called their home. And now it seemed she was not even allowed to travel in the different provinces. She would not be any trouble. So why the reluctance? She wasn't a green girl that knew not how to survive the deadly energy of the land.
"Milady," the slug cajoled. "Surely you do not need to go there. I can simply send a messenger for any of the toads you want to see to meet you here."
"I need to speak to Gamamaru. Can he meet me here then?"
Katsuyu sighed. "Anyone else but him. The Great Toad Sage cannot travel freely."
"Then we will go to him," Tsunade replied in exasperation. "Why is it so difficult?"
"Because we will have no choice but to travel thru Sora!" Katsuyu burst out as she grasped Tsunade's hands tightly. "The capital. The guardians, Zuijin and Zuishin, will see you and know you are human no matter what I do. You will be bought in front of O-Inari Abe-no-Seimei and he will demand from you a boon so weighted you do even know it as such."
"I must," Tsunade whispered as she grasped back. Her mind echoed with the words Danzo threw at her, just before he left for his mission.
'You were coddled all your life, thats why you were able to abdicate all your responsibilities. Even now, your father coddles you still, so does you cousin; and that is why they demand nothing from you. But in this moment you cannot continue as you are. There is no more teacher to hide you. He has been killed. There is no more fiancee who will carry your burdens. He is dead. There is no more brother who you know will take the responsibility from you. He is long buried. There is no more young niece and her serf who will stand in your stead. They are in the belly of the Shinigami. You have no choice but to take up the mantel of duty of your family, the Arakawa-Senju.'
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'This is Sora,' Tsunade thought as the pillars loomed in a huge and towering splendor against the inky darkness of the black stone floors, glittering like the night sky.
'So these are Zuijin and Zuishin,' Tsunade mused as two towering warriors in splendid Oyoroi armor and armed with bows, dragged them away from the eerily silent menagerie of summons.
'What will be your price Your Excellency O-inari,' Tsunade stared dazedly. She could not look away from the features of Abe-no-seimei, as they constantly shift from fox to man. The only thing that remained unchanging was his nearly still seated form wrapped in the ceremonial Jo-e robe, and the rhythmic wave-like tapping of his clawed fingers. The sound echoed in her mind, until that was all she remembered.
O-Inari's eyes glittered on top of lips that twitched into a slight smirk.
Ta-da-dum-dum.
Ta-da-dum-dum.
Ta-da-dum-dum.
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"What is so urgent that Ashura's line risks the Summon King's gaze?"
A booming voice cut through the fog in Tsunade's mind. As her vision cleared, she realized she was no longer at the palace. Instead, she was now inside a temple facing the huge seated form of the Great Toad Sage. Besides her, she could see Katsuyu wringing her hands in worry.
"I," she whispered, confused. She didn't understand how she got here. Nor she did not understand the question, for her family never had dealings with the fox deity. "You mean O-inari?"
A guffaw shook Gamamaru's form. "No," he replied. "Garuda. The faithful Chancellor of the line of Jimmu Tennou, until he turned his back on Emperor Keiko and his son, Emperor Ashura."
Tsunade's lips thinned at the name. It reminded her of her mission. The different nations had been a-buzzed with the rumors that Sasuke had the allegiance of the great eagle. Whether true or false, it was a major blow to Konoha and their alliance. For Garuda was closely associated with Imperial rule, and his presence at Sasuke's side puts credence to the Uhciha's boy's right to rule and pass judgement. The accusation of Fire, Lightning, and Water would not pass muster in the courts of Iron, the last renaming bastion of the Imperial Court of Law, if they could not produce a similar weight to their side.
The Samurais of Iron were not Uchiha loyalists like Wind and Izumo Taisha. They were more of a neutral party that had guarded the Imperial law long before the tides of history, and are imperial traditionalists thru and thru. Iron would surely follow who they perceived as the rightful heir to the Imperial throne, the one man who can at least claim the allegiance of two of the legendary summons held by each and every Imperial ruler. The summons know as Yatagarasu who represented the divine will, the Toad Sage, Gamamaru, with divine knowledge, and the Summon King, Garuda, with the divine right. Only Jimmu Tennou was known to have all three summons at his call, but all his 10 descendants had the allegiance of Garuda and Gamamura. They had all ruled successfully, until the 12th and 13th rulers. The later two in the twilight of their reign were known to have lost the allegiance of one of the legendary summons and have dearly paid for it. Who could forget the sorry end of Empress Kaguya and Emperor Keiko?
Sasuke seemed to have Garuda. Yatagarasu has been missing. It is only right that Konoha must show they have the allegiance of Gamamaru.
"I have come to ask for you to swear allegiance with any of the Senju," Tsunade spoke, her voice clearly ringing with demand.
"Milady," Katsuyu admonished. "Have care."
"You do not ask for you?" Gamamaru rumbled, ignoring the slug maiden's worried fluttering.
"You rejected me before," Tsunade snapped back.
"Just I have rejected your father and your cousin. You no longer have any candidates."
Anger washed thru Tsunade at the toad's flippant reply. She knew they were at the knife's edge. Here was this damnable summon, who had promised them the weight of his voice but have given not even a whisper."
"What is the point of us allying with you, of following your will, when you do not even acknowledge us?! You know what's happening in the world. Why cannot you unbend?!"
"I've bent my neck to your line," he rumbled warningly.
"To WHO?," Tsunade nearly shrieked. "Ashura, then no one else!"
Her voice echoed at the rafters. Tsunade panted in rage as she slowly bought her temper to heel. She could feel herself being enveloped in Katsuyu's arms. Calm, her summon said wordlessly.
"My toads chose Minato Namikaze," Gamamaru spoke in an act of contrition. "He would been a fine master, but he was a serf. And now he is also dead."
"His son lives," Tsunade breathed out with so much hope. Naruto was here, learning senjutsu. Surely he can be one.
"A son of a serf is still a serf."
"His mother," Tsunade riposted. She felt faint. She could taste victory in the air. "Was from the main Senju line. Kushina Uzumaki's grandfather was an Uzumaki prince. That is why he was able to take the hand of my aunt in marriage."
Silence. The heavy lids of the ancient toad fell in contemplation.
Gamamaru opened his eyes.
He steepled his fingers.
"I said that we will finish teaching the boy Senjutsu in a month's time."
Tsunade held her breath.
"But if he is able to master the art of the sage in less than the time we predicted, then I will call him master."
Her eyes slid shut.
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Happy laughter rang past the open fields. Tsunade stared fondly at the golden haired boy horsing around with his teachers. She did not move or made her presence known. Loathe she was at disturbing this idyllic image.
But it was all for naught, Naruto's wheeling bought her at his line of sight.
"Granny!" Naruto called out happily as he jogged towards her. "Did you come to visit?"
She smiled. "Of course, " she assured him as she continued to study his features. Sometimes she wondered how grief-stricken she was that she didn't recognize the facets of her aunt peering back at her. She could see it now. It was at the shape of the nose, the fold of the lids, and the quirk of the mouth.
"Whats wrong?!" Naruto demanded, flailing. He was unused to the penetrating stare she bestowed upon him.
"Nothing really," she spoke, shaking her head. "I wanted to say this, even though I should have known it earlier. I should have known it earlier."
A pause.
"Your mother was my niece," Tsunade let it out. Shocked blue eyes stared back at her.
She continued against the silence. "You see, my aunt is your grandmother."
Tsunade raised her hands to cup the dear dear face. Tears flowed out, before she was enveloped with the lanky frame of a growing boy.
"Granny," Naruto sobbed. "Can I still call you granny?"
"Always. You're my family."
"I'm so happy," Naruto continued to cry.
"I am too," Tsunade choked back. "And you will always make me proud, right?"
He nodded.
"So make me proud, brat," she whispered against the thrumming of guilt. "Make me proud."
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Notes:
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I was inspired. This shouldn't exist but it begged to be written. Written wholly from Tsunade's perspective and a smattering of Naruto. I do wonder if I'll ever write something from Naruto's POV in Hymn. Right now, I feel like there's nothing to add if I write it at his POV, but there's more I can add when its a POV of another person about him. Let's see as Hymn is really more about the Uchiha and Senju.
Secondly, I just wanted to place some of the new mythological and historical figures that I've used in 空 (Kun - Void / Sora - Sky). They're:
- Zuijin and Zuishin - Kami / god warrior guardians
- O-inari - Fox god
- Abe-no-Seimei (I unveiled him in 5 - Focault's pendulum) - historical / legendary omyouji in the heian court said to be half fox as his mother was a kitsune
- 空 (Kun - Void / Sora - Sky) - is the central point of the 4 cardinal directions. For the Chinese, its normally added as it represents earth, the diety is the yellow dragon / qilin (or Kirin for japanese). For Japanese thought, its not added with the 4 cardinal directions as it is said to represent the void. But if you use another pronounciation, it's meaning is heaven / sky
The outfits, I mentioned, are Heian clothing. You can see them here: (sorry can't help it)
- Katsuyu: www. iz2 . /english /fukusyoku /wayou/ 9. htm
- Zuijin & Zuishin: www .iz2 .or .jp /english /fukusyoku / wayou/ 36 .htm
- Abe-no-Seimei: www. iz2 .or .jp /english/ fukusyoku/ wayou/ 10. htm
I hope you like this. 空 (Kun - Void / Sora - Sky) is more of a study of Tsunade's character and a continuation of the theme of Written Word. I wanted the events stated her a bit more vague. I do wonder if its effective. I would love to hear what people think.
Lastly, take care everyone and stay strong.