Hello! I hope you'll like this chapter!

Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes or any OCCness.

Character age:

Akane, Itachi: 24

Naruto, Sasuke: 19

Shisui: 28

Kakashi: 33

I rubbed my shoulder, a drink in my hand. The days were…long. Naru was leaving tomorrow, which made me sad, but he had to at some point. I'd spend the night in the Mizukage's quarters tonight.

I went to the living-room and stopped dead in my steps. The moon was providing some light in the room, enough for me to see the man casually sitting in the armchair, a drink in his hand.

"How did you get in here?"

"Now, don't be like that," Samuru replied, twirling his drink. He raised his eyes to me and swallowed it in one go. "We got off from the wrong foot you and I."

"Are you going to tell me what you're really looking for then?" He grinned.

"You, of course." I frowned and he stood up, putting his empty glass on the coffee table. "You've felt it, didn't you? The spark." I pursed my lips. "So, I came to take you home."

"Are you now?" I replied coldly. Without a word, he rolled up his right sleeve and raised his arm for me to see it.

I widened my eyes in shock. He had a mark, strangely like the Shinigami Claw, but instead of purple, the symbols shone golden.

"Now, does this give you an idea as to who I am?"

"You're like me," I said, gazing at him seriously.

"Do you know the story of how the world came to be? Before this whole…Otsutsuki clan being gods when really, they are aliens."

"Izanami and Izanagi created it." He pointed his finger at me with a grin.

"Bingo."

"And your marks are similar to mine, so I'm gonna take a wild guess and say you're…Izanagi's represent." He chuckled.

"You are smart!" Shivers ran up and down my spine. "You're correct, I am Izanagi's hitogami, like you are Izanami's."

"Hitogami?"

"People who are worshiped like deities because of their connections to them. You did not think you were the only one, did you?"

Hidan was similar to me, I knew that. However, it never dawned on me that, like I had Izanami's power, Izanagi could have done the same as her.

"The only difference is that Izanami accepted to be bound to…a shinobi clan, disgusting." He grinned at me. "I can't blame you for your ignorance, you've lost all knowledge of your roots after the Juubi fractured the earth and sent you away from us. You forgot about the World Tree and what it did, using chakra, ninshu and then ninjutsu in your lives. Then, you started to kill each other with it."

"You are from the Eastern Continent then."

"Eastern, Old, call it was you want, but yes. Three countries which remembered the real creators." He turned around, his hands behind his back and looked through the window. "Imagine my surprise when I heard from the Uzumakis about what Yuureis were, and how there was one here."

"What's your deal then?"

"Real peace, once and for all like it was before chakra ever happened. I know that people would fight too, but nothing I can't fix. I need your help for this, my dear, so put this weapon away." I clenched my fist around my kunai. "I've had the Old Continent's power at my disposal and they're surrounding this island. At my signal, they're attacking with weapons you do not have here." He turned around as I glared at him. "So, if you come with me, I won't do anything to this place. You try to resist, they all die."

It was not even a choice; I couldn't risk the village.

"If I follow you, you swear you won't…"

"I don't care about them," he interrupted. "I can assure you."

"Fine, then I'm going with you." We left the village quickly and quietly.

Sen'i had changed since the last time I was there. It was tensed and guarded.

I followed Samuru aboard a ship, people bowing to him.

"I can't wait for you to help me get the children!" he said excitedly.

"Susanoo, Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi?" He nodded, grinning.

I was quiet on the ride. I sent Sasuke a message, he replied saying he'd do it. If he followed my instinct, then he went to Sen'i too, or would shortly and noticed something was off. Then, he'd go to Kiri, where Haku and Naruto would tell him I was missing.

Hopefully, they would put two and two together and come after me. There was no way I could deal with this on my own, but I could play pretend, get data and direct them once they'd be here. Infiltration was my specialty after all.

I pursed my lips. There were Uchihas involved, Sasuke might ask his brother to come too. I didn't know if he would be able to, but I wanted him to come too. No matter how many years went by since I became a Yuurei, there was still fear in the pit of my stomach when I'd think about it.

Plus, Izanami's influence had a serious impact on my psyche. Sure, she was the Shinigami, but most of all, it was a deity's influence on a human's mind.

There was no way Samuru was sane, Izanagi had to work differently, but it had to have impacted the human's psyche too.

The East…no, the Land of Gods now apparently, drastically changed. Sure, we arrived at night, but the atmosphere was colder, gloomier. I followed Samuru through town, and I couldn't help but wonder if Ame was the same under Hanzo's rule. It did remind me bitterly of the Bloody Mist though, the lack of hope was obvious in the air.

We stopped in front of a shrine. Samuru opened it. He removed a mat from the floor, which led to stairs going down. We walked for a dozen of minutes underground until there were stairs going up.

I widened my eyes. We were behind the mountains, in a valley within it. It was full of life. There was another shrine, a bigger one.

"Welcome home sweetheart," he whispered in my ear, his hands on my shoulders. I froze.

That was Itachi's nickname for me, not..

"Don't call me that!" I removed his hands and put some distance between us.

"Why not? We're going to get married and have children, then bring peace."

"The…"

"That's how it's going to happen. We need to make new deities to make sure we won't be forgotten anymore and for that, we need to create life. However, we are in human bodies, so we need to use their ways of…" I wanted to throw up.

No.

"Oh right, you are taken." He shook his head. "Nothing I can't fix." I frowned. "Don't give me that look, I am the god of Creation, you're the one who deals with death." The doors of the shrine were opened.

From there appeared a man, ruffling his long black hair. Even in the darkness of the night, I could see his eyes were red.

"Ha, Kenichi!" He looked at us and frowned at me. "Akane, this is Kenichi, he is Susanoo's hitogami!" He looked at me up and down before bowing his head a little. "Much better than his sisters in the end."

"What?"

"They don't have hitogamis yet, but I'm working on it." I looked at Kenichi. "He grew up in a cult celebrating Susanoo." He clasped his hands together. "Time to plan our wedding now! Go get some rest my love."

A few days went by. I had to be dressed like a kannushi, like Samuru and Kenichi. The joe was purple, to represent Izanami. Samuru's was golden, as purple and yellow were on the opposite sides of the color spectrum. Kenichi's was blue for Susanoo, god of the sea, storms and land.

I was allowed to walk around. I was tempted to go at the Uzumaki and Uchiha Compound, but I doubted it would do them any good. Instead, I could see how…atrocious the living conditions became. Only Samuru's followers had a life of opulence while the rest would fight for a piece of bread.

I went to the crops of the city. I was shocked upon what I discovered. Nature would do its job on its own, humans giving some help but ultimately, nature worked on its own. Here, the plants were overgrown and not usable, diseases killing them.

Izanagi was Creation, life. When he trapped Izanami in Yomi, when she said she'd kill a thousand people a day, he replied by saying he'd create fifteen hundred lives every day in return.

The balance was off. Too much creation without destruction behind would only result in everything falling to pieces at some point. Just look at human beings. Cells would die everyday to give space for new ones. It was the cycle of life and death, creation and destruction.

That guy, Samuru, had power come over his head and now he was drunk on it, using it to rule as a "miracle-maker". There was no such thing. Ultimately, his use of Izanagi's power would destroy this land.

"Akane." I blinked at Oji-chan's voice.

"Took you long enough to show up,"

"Once the war over, we decided to stay out of the business of the living."

"Oh, so you're leaving me alone, not respond my calls without even telling me. Thanks, really."

"I know, we are sorry. Your situation decided us to intervene though." I sighed. "Naruto and Sasuke-kun are both here, we can feel their chakra."

"I thought I felt something." I focused a little and went there. They were going to the Compound.

I froze at the number of soldiers there. I took a deep breath.

"Enough," I stated firmly, knowing the others were watching the scene unfold.

"Izanami-sama!" They split in two, making a path for me.

"And what gave you the right to attack people who worship me?" I asked the soldiers coldly.

"The Uzumakis worship you Izanami-sama, not…"

"Did I stutter?" I interrupted him coldly, turning around. "Now, are you going to answer my question, or should I obtain it myself?" The soldier stepped back, scared.

"Now now baby, don't scare my men like that!" I fought the urge to grit my teeth at Samuru coming our way. Had he been following me? Since when?

"Then tell your men to not touch what's mine." Samuru pouted his lips and looked at the man down disdainfully.

"You shouldn't mind insects my love. But, if it makes you happy, then so be it sweetheart." It felt so wrong to hear him call me that, and knowing Itachi was there, watching and listening…

I couldn't focus on that for now. I looked at Samuru for a few seconds and then smiled sweetly and lovingly at him. I had to give the right impression.

"Thank you." Samuru raised his hand, the soldiers saluting before leaving. "All of you, go home and take him with you!" They did and soon, there were only Samuru and I here.

The air changed suddenly, and he grabbed my face with one hand, a deadly look on his face.

"Now dear, I graciously accepted to let you back after what you did centuries ago for the sake of having my family together, but do not oppose my authority ever again, understood?"

"Or what?" He smiled. This piece of shit, willing or not, he'd make me marry him and have sex with him.

He slapped me hard, hard enough for me to fall on my knees, a hand cradling my bruised cheek.

"Now, we have things to do, so don't run off again, alright darling?" I nodded quietly. He pulled me to my feet and left, my hand in his. I wanted to throw up when he kissed my lips as we were walking, as if we were a regular couple. "We have so much work to do for this land and…" I stopped listening.

"I want to go to the harbor." He looked at me, surprised. "I love boats." He stared at me for a few seconds and started laughing, his hands on his stomach.

"You're so carefree!" He shook his head. "Of course, my love, I have things to discuss there anyway."

Once there, I looked around as he left to talk to the one in charge. When I knew he wasn't looking at me, I knelt next to the water and used my Hyouton to freeze some, making a bloc of ice. Then, I went in the same back-alley Sasuke and I used to change years ago and quickly carved a message in old fuin in it, hiding it.

Old fuin came from the Otsutsukis, not the old gods. I could use it to communicate with them and…we'd work in parallel.

I needed to get information on what his powers were, the source, how to stop them before attacking. Let's hope Sasuke would think about looking for the places we went to together.

"And how exactly are you planning to help us if she's already there?" Wataru asked them curtly once Sakura finished healing him. They were in the basement, seals around it to conceal their presence.

"We're shinobi, working in the shadows is in our job," Itachi replied, on his knees in front of the older Uchiha. Wataru returned his gaze for a few seconds, but seeing the unwavering determination in it, he sighed.

"Hyo is fine?"

"He was kept at the hospital for good measure, but his life is no longer threatened," Min replied.

"What can you tell us this Samuru man?" Sasuke asked him.

"He makes miracles." They all frowned.

"Miracles?" Naruto repeated.

"Miracles. He can grow a seed in his hand if he wants to and creates eatable food out of raw plants. It's how he has obtained these many followers. I also suspect him to be able to mind control people. Some of the soldiers were forced to join the army and now act like robots."

"Has Akane come before today?" Haku asked the old man, who shook his head.

"I was surprised to see her too; I only heard a rumor about Samuru having found his bride." Itachi did not react to that.

He reacted too much earlier. He was taken back, hurt, and he had started to lose his calm. He could not, right now he needed to think. Too much was at risks.

"Maybe she sensed our presence here and decided to come knowing we'd see her?" Sakura suggested with a frown.

"It's a possibility," Itachi agreed, Naruto staring at the floor. Sasuke stood up. "Sasuke?"

"Maybe she left messages in places we've been to before; I'm going to check." Naruto started to get up. "Alone, I know the place."

"Sasuke." He looked at his brother, who was glancing at him from the corner of his eyes. "When you find something, come back here. Don't act on your own."

"I know."

To be honest, Sasuke needed some time alone. He had been alone for months now, and having everyone back together at once was suffocating, especially with the tension there was between his brother and him.

He went at different places and reached the harbor last. The cloak was not helping making him blend in the crowd, so he stayed in the shadows as much as possible. His eyes went to a back alley, and he went there.

He activated his sharingan, like in each place he went to, and looked for something. He stopped on an old wooden box. He approached it and moved it a little, finding a piece of ice the size of his palm. He took it, noticing it was not cold.

A seal was on it, preventing it from melting. Old fuin was carved in it.

It was Akane's work, there was no doubt about it.

Everybody stared at the ice when he went back.

"It's old fuin," Naruto noticed.

"One of the main rules of infiltration is to find a way to communicate safely," Sasuke stated. "I can tr…" Naruto already had it in his hands, a frown on his face.

"She followed him because he threatened the Land of Water, it was surrounded by his army," he said, the focus on his face not breaking. "He wants to bring peace by making new deities, so marriage and intercourse." No one dared look at Itachi's face, his face and gaze unreadable.

"Anything else?"

"There's another one, Susanoo. Then she wrote 'data', so I think she's still on that stage right now."

"Since when are you fluent in old fuin?" Sasuke asked him with a raised brow.

"Huh…it's not just old fuin. If you look closely at it, you'll see there are symbols that are not fuin at all."

"How do you understand it then?" Sakura asked him. Naruto rubbed the back of his head.

"Nee-chan carved the symbols the same way I used to mess up writing fuin." He looked at Sasuke. "I mean, you would have figured that out too at some point but…"

"She's not taking any risk," Itachi interrupted him. "Sasuke can find the messages, but only Naruto can read them immediately."

"What do we do now?" Naruto asked him.

"For now, we lay low. Sasuke, tomorrow you're going to go back to those places, and the day after that until you find another one." Itachi looked at Wataru. "I am sorry, but would we be able to stay here?" He nodded. "Thank you."

"If you get rid of Samuru, then you're more than welcomed."

It was three days later they found another message.

"Okay, being so close to me won't make me understand it faster!" Naruto almost yelled, the four other shinobi in his personal space.

"Sorry," Sakura said as they moved back.

"So…stones." He blinked. "Huh…shrines? There are shrines and stones and…we have to break them?" He scratched his head. "I'm sure I haven't missed anything but…"

"There are a lot of stones we can break."

"Maybe that breaking these stones will break the bond between the hitogamis and the deities," Haku suggested. "If the Shinigami is linked to the Uzumaki clan, it's because the founder made a pact with it. Maybe the other deities didn't make pacts with clans here because they don't use chakra as much."

"So, the connection would lay in their respective shrines with a stone with special properties," Itachi finished for him. Haku nodded. "They would be the same thing the Shinigami seal is on Akane's stomach then."

"Okay, we have to destroy them, but how do we find them?"

"They're not here." They all looked at Min. "I mean, worshipping them is nothing new here, and Susanoo is famous here because we're on the coast, so his shrine must be here. Amaterasu and Tsukoyomi though, they're in the two other countries."

"So we split up?"

"It's risky," Sasuke answered to Sakura.

"I'm aware, but we can't waste time on looking for all of them if there is a big distance," she retorted.

"I…want to help too." Itachi looked at Min. "It's my country, if I can do something to help, then…"

"Alright. Naruto, Haku, together. Sakura, you take Min with you." He put the map of the continent he obtained from Watara between all of them. "Behind the Peaks of Demise, there is the Land of Onis. It's the biggest out of the three. Boys, you'll take it. Girls." Itachi pointed at a smaller country, north-east to the Land of Gods and east to the Land of Onis. "You're going to the Land of Wisdom. Sasuke and I are staying here to look for Susanoo shrine."

"Why are you staying here?" Naruto asked him with a frown.

"Because with the Sharingan, we can spy and get information more easily. I know it's frustrating Naruto, but those are my orders." Naruto knew where Itachi was coming from, he knew that he didn't want to go too far from Akane, but neither did he and… "And, with the size of the country, Kurama might be useful."

"Tch, fine," Naruto agreed against his will.

"You'll leave tomorrow morning."

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