Naruto 1. Half Moon Imprint

**Disclaimer**: Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto; OCs, non-canon plot © xLilim

**Warning(s)**: Violence and suggestive themes. Other warnings, non-rating related, include a large cast of OCs (to fill in the gaps), a future love triangle, among other things.

**xl note**: This story is a slow starter as is the romance. Also, _**Redesign**_ takes place in the same universe as _**Winter**_, in a way, you could consider this the prequel and you will recognize the usage of similar clan names and abilities between the two. I doubt anyone will make a sturdy connection with both stories besides the fact that the Kuronuma, Ito and Motou clan play pivotal roles here as they do in Winter (as it is still in its initial chapters, I probably haven't introduce the last two clans), but I assure you, there's another connection. I suppose it should be fun seeing it through to the end.

Anyhow, I will do my best to stay as true to the manga as possible, but expect some liberties. I failed to add the angst and suspense genre, but expect plenty of it in the future chapters, and lastly, expect some tragedy. Enjoy. :)

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><p><strong>Redesign <strong>| Chapter **01** | Half Moon Imprint

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><p>"Someone cursed me."<p>

Uchiha Mio stared up at her father, yawning. She didn't need to ask why, but he was fishing for it. She could tell by the antsy look on his face that he was looking for any excuse to embark on some nonsensical fantasy story made up of his own experiences and horror stories meant to scare her.

"Why?" she asked, earning a disapproving grunt from her mother Kikyo by the hearth. "Why are you cursed?"

She listened to her mother, Uchiha Kikyo, sifting through pages in front of a shelf of educational books. She was in the middle of preparing for their memory game, where Mio recited whole pages of information she'd learned the day before as a way to hone her gift of memory. It came naturally if she paid attention, so on a personal level she never considered it a gift (although it was unusual for her to concentrate long enough to recall a thing unless she felt it important). It fell under the chore category since it required taking hours of her free time to _hone _it. In her opinion, the word _honing _was a stupid explanation to what her mother made her do, but she never argued. Even though she felt her insides corrode at the idea of being unable to correct what she viewed as her mother's mistake, she learned at an early age that she would never be the current pushing forward, rather the stone, unmoving against the current's efforts.

"Why?" asked Uchiha Genji, incredulous. He placed a hand to her back and guided her towards the entrance of their cottage. Once at the threshold, he pointed to the bulbous clouds crowding in the darkening sky. "That's why!"

"Mio, come inside," said Kikyo, brushing back the curtain of black hair that spilled down her shoulder. "If you give him too much attention, he'll become clingy."

"Do not think to turn our daughter against me because I invited her outside and you are stuck there, fishing through books on plant life."

"To talk about superstitions?" Kikyo scoffed. "I am green with envy, Gen, green."

"Sarcasm looks terrible on you."

"As stupidity does on you."

Genji laughed, clapping a hand over Mio's shoulder. "That's why I married your mother," he told her proudly. "She's all bite."

"Have some shame. That is your only daughter learning your vile preferences."

"Only?" he challenged.

Mio wondered if a sibling was an option and turned to her mother fully. "I want a sister."

Kikyo zeroed in on her. "That wasn't an invitation, Mio."

She grabbed the bottom of her father's dark shirt and gave it a hard tug. "Father, I want a sister. Please get me a sister," she said immediately. "I will take a brother if a sister is unattainable. I promise I'll take care of her while you're gone. I'm almost ten."

Her mother pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "This is not up for discussion; there will be no more children in this house. Please finish feeding her your superstitious drawl and send her in, we need to start practice for tonight."

"I still want a sister, mother. I want her to be called Ume," she decided in her excitement. "If by some off chance your wife brings forth a male, he will be named Ringo and you are not allowed to disagree."

Genji stared at her, astonished. "You are definitely mine."

"What part of this wasn't up for discussion did neither of you understand?" snapped Kikyo from inside.

Her sharp interruption went on ignored as the quickly darkening clouds drew their attentions skyward. The ever-darkening cloud came rushing forward, heralding a storm and violent winds that shuddered against tree limbs and cast a cape of moss green leaves into the air until the pull scattered them.

"I saw bandits ravish a village, tortured the men and raped the women," Genji began, the humor drained from his face. She sensed he felt horribly about what he bore witness to, but in war, evil reigned and nothing could be done about such tragedies. "An old man begged me to save him and for duty, I watched three bandits beat him purple and kill him. I saw the village burn to ashes and thought nothing of it, but I can't stop thinking of it now. I should have taken a second to help him."

"The innocent people that die during our missions and our wars are necessary a sacrifice," Mio recited as her mother taught her. "Avoid the nonsensical, obey power, and erase the unnecessary."

Genji mussed her hair with a bitter smile. "The mission objective is always priority, I know, you don't have to make that face." He gestured her indoors where it was warm and wandered to the axe cleaved in the wide stump. "I'll cut firewood. Go read to your mother. We will talk later."

She stayed at the doorframe taking notice of his somewhat frantic shuffling through the logs stacked up the side of the house. He announced at the top of his lungs that he wanted to stock up on firewood before it was too late and seemed to have no shame in coming across like an idiot.

Kikyo shouted at her to hurry inside and she began her last lessons for the day. Her mother flipped through a stack of seven books at random dishing out numbers. She would start with page number and line number from top to bottom.

Once Mio recited everything her mother threw at her, she realized she wanted to watch her father panicking outside. As the only human alive able to combat her mantra, she felt he needed the observation. Whenever Genji ended up in some emotional tizzy, he adopted a deep wrinkle on his forehead and frown lines that made him look much older than he was. He filled his home with laughter, saying it was therapeutic for his "overworking" gene so it was odd to see him serious or worried.

Outside their home, in the field, Genji was fierce—a force of nature in his work as a spy. He needed his physical strength, agility, and iron will to get him through half the assignments provided by the Uchiha clan without having to criticize their way of life. He was as much an Uchiha as his wife—swift and cold at heart on duty, and off it, they were the epitome of normal. They were the sort of individuals that never brought their work home and in the instances they did, it went towards her training.

She would become like them, an Uchiha shadow.

Genji stepped inside, lugging firewood under his arm, when _he _came. Kikyo sat up, immediately alert, having been prepared to ridicule him, but the stranger was already holding a kunai at the base of her father's throat and Mio stood frozen in the middle.

Before the events registered in her mind, it was over in a cloud of red mist and shadow with only the scar marred against her tormentor's back, a slash crescent, blinking back at her behind closed eyes. The darkened veil fell across her eyes and distorted her sight, leaving her fumbling through smog with her other four senses there to memorize what she could bear to see.

By the time help arrived from the Uchiha compound, their bodies had grown cold and the murderer had taken two more lives before escaping.

An older woman leveled with Mio's blank stare, hindering her view of the blood oozing from the walls, probably expectants of tears, sobs, and wailing—crying's horrific affair. A gentle reassuring smile appeared on her lightly wrinkled face, dark eyes crinkling, as if sympathy was enough to encourage the emotion Mio knew played no role in the deaths of her parents.

Mourning and understanding were two opposites of the same argument—of a war she could never win. Shedding tears and acknowledging the bubbling repulsion clawing at the pit of her stomach was expected of any nine-year-old girl forced to witness the grisly deaths of her family, but she only felt the pain of digging into her palm until she drew blood and the smooth surface of the paper crushed inside her fist.

It seemed pity was expected to shock Mio into submission, a right dose of empathy to explore the reasons as to why this event spelled out tragedy even though people died every day, and in overabundance sometimes. The feelings were complicated, but it meant plenty of things to Mio. However, she stuck to the mantra she remembered her father reciting. _Avoid the nonsensical. Obey power. Erase the unnecessary._

It was useless to burden another with reasons they wouldn't understand, as was the importance to express the emptiness eating away at her from the inside out because even though everything happened quickly, the sequence of events stayed fresh on her mind. Everything that had happened thirty minutes ago replayed in her head as she stared absently into the older woman's face. The weight of her mother's body across her lap lingered, though it had been removed several minutes ago, the feeling of her warmth turning cold seeped into her flesh, informing her of her death.

Mio's mind thought no thoughts, her body felt no touch, and her ears heard only the muffled distorted voices ringing outside in protest.

Maybe the emptiness was her form of expression. So the smothering adults probably felt cheated.

Genji and Kikyo had been great shinobi and acquiring information had been their forte. Nobody quite managed to excel as they had, but nobody did challenge them. They tested one another, enjoyed plenty of evenings overindulging in the factual and consulting ways to improve their skills.

Both had raised her right, they had taught her morals and had surrounded her in love, but most importantly, they had taught her how to kill—to become an Uchiha shadow like them. The Uchiha were proud about natural ability, skill, and a one-of-a-kind Kekkei Genkai—_bloodline limit_—so she had large shoes to fill. Every child did, especially with ongoing rivalries with clans like the Senju, which only meant the amount of capable shinobi had diminished alongside never ending skirmishes and brewing shinobi wars. Call it stress born from pressure. It butchered hopes and dreams, relinquished the ability to view beyond the bloodshed to the potential of a flourishing world. One became narrow-minded and self-reliant and soon a burden.

It scared Mio to see beyond the bloody walls knowing that and more.

"Mio," the old crone spoke, gentle but insistent. Even crouched in front of her, Mio could see she was a tall gangly woman weathered with age who dressed as elegant as she looked, but nevertheless, displayed a youthful spry and a particular shrewdness besides her comrades in the heat of battle. Her dark hair grayed a long time ago, but her eyes remained cutting black stones. "You will come with me."

Mio stared at her listlessly—hoping, wishing—wanting to see the final trickles of crimson drizzle to the wooden floor. The blood fresh on her clothes seeped into the absorbent fabrics, dripped between her thighs, and sat slapped across her face like black to a stark white canvas. Her mother's dainty perfume sunk into her skin, the scent of peach and sweet grass clung to the air almost overpowering the metallic smell of blood. Almost.

The stranger's lips were moving but there was no sound.

Mio's heart thumped lightly in her chest, as if returning to life, and her savior's features begun looking familiar.

"I am going to take care of you," continued the woman, taking her silence and eye contact as an invitation. "We will go to the Uchiha compound for now."

The humming in her ears grew louder, drowning out her noisy heartbeat.

Mio's body was picked off the red river of her family's blood, held up in strong arms offering the succor she might associate to a mother's love. How it happened was unknown to her, she was lost in the red world. She was dead weight, stones in human skin, but this woman was full of strength. She wanted to be like this woman carrying her out of her family cottage.

The change in scenery brought her back to strong winds that pushed hard against her and a flood of moonlight as the forests' greenery invaded her periphery. Her numb fingers twitched to life as she blinked, using her gift to memorize the final details of her wrecked childhood home, a tiny cottage surrounded by wildlife.

Her mother's voice still whispered in her ear, but the body holding her up was warm unlike hers.

_"Breathe, Mio."_

She breathed.

_"Come on, Mio, in and out."_

She breathed again.

_"Slow and steadily, Mio."_

She saw her in the distant, the ghost that smiled back at her, the last drop of sweetness in its expression. _"That's a good girl. That's my girl," _it said in a voice that tightened around her neck like a noose, like the rough hand that wrapped itself around her neck as green eyes bore down on her. _"We love you so much, Mio."_

Each time she repeated the endless cycle of death in her mind, the cottage shrunk—smaller and smaller in her squinted, blurred vision. Pink peonies waved in the violent winds as if saying their final goodbye and the axe hewed into the ancient trunk winked at her in the stream of moonlight falling across it assuring her the world had not yet ended. The door clanked noisily, echoing like muffled laughter. It was the warning bell in the opening chapter, speaking of the grim reaper that swept in to claim the lives of her loved ones to pave the fate that awaited her.

None of that mattered. Mio wanted to disappear unable to will her mind to remember the tiny structure fading over a canopy of trees. She wanted to go into nonexistence with her parents because she didn't want to feel anything towards their untimely demise. Fear swarmed her bloodstream.

Without her parents there to shield her from the critical eyes of the Uchiha, she was useless—a girl taught to kill without the skin and emotional stability to see it through. She wondered what use came out of preserving her life. The answer she wished for was, _"nothing," _but as her eyes fell to the paper clutched in her hand, it comforted her to know otherwise.

There was something she could do.


	2. Snake in the Water

Chapter **02 **| Snake in the Water

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><p>Mio firmly believed sadness was a blessing given to those who deserved it. Nine days had passed since the death of Mio's parents and she had yet to feel anything remotely like grief. She imagined the emotion was there overshadowed by fear—the terror of sitting in front of the higher echelons of the Uchiha clan, scrutinized and interrogated for sentiments and details she was unable to provide. She lived in dread since her arrival to the Uchiha compound, shut away in a four and a half mat room without windows or a closet and a shoji leading into a narrow hallway that stunk of burning incense and mold with only her memories to keep her company.<p>

The compound was an ancient set of buildings thirty miles north of her childhood home, hidden underneath a canopy of trees where nature was thickest. There were three connecting buildings, large enough to house the clan's leaders, otherwise known as the elders, their families, members of the intelligence squad and highly trained lookouts. The clan was spread throughout the continent in accessible villages where the common folk, merchants, or lords could easily hire them for jobs. Once jobs were accepted, the shinobi assigned to them picked up a member from intelligence in the compound. Everything done within the clan's various stations was reported back to the brain, so it was common to see shinobi shuffling in and out at all hours of the day. Whenever a new group appeared, a scout whistled from the platforms built across sturdy branches and proceeded to guide them through the booby traps.

Beyond the compound, approximately ten yards away sat a river that twisted along the forest until it plummeted into a waterfall over a stack of black stones and pooled at their feet. She remembered the direction from her first and only visit to the compound three years ago; her mother took the lead.

.

Kikyo glanced over her shoulder every ten seconds to make sure Mio crossed the uneven pathway without a hitch. She tripped over tiny rocks and bulging tree roots, the looming branches and prickly bushes left scratches all along her arms and legs.

"_Should I carry you?_" called Kikyo, suppressing a laugh.

Mio shook her head, biting down on her lip as her struggle through the foliage persisted until she reached the sound of the river. Kikyo was waiting on the other side, a strong, lean woman with hair as black as night, eyes dark as coal and sun-kissed skin. Mio pushed past the thick bushes with a stumble, stepping into soft, grassy earth covered in daffodils and daisies. It smelled of vegetation and of surrounding mango trees.

"_Is this where all the water is from?_" asked Mio, blinking up to her mother curiously. "_The one for the baths?_"

"_No,_" answered Kikyo, starting along the river. She waved her arm forward in gesture. "_Come on, we've got quite a ways to go._"

"_Then where is the water coming from?_"

"_From an aquifer, you extract the water from a well,_" elucidated Kikyo. "_I think there's a book in the compound that explains aquifers, do you want to borrow it?_"

Mio smiled shyly, rushing to walk at her stride.

Kikyo patted her daughter's head, pushing back tangled waves of black hair. "_You can tell me all about it after you finish._"

"_Ow!_" complained Mio after her mother's fingers tangled in her hair.

"_I asked your father to brush it_," she remarked in exasperation. She made an attempt to brush out the knots with her fingers, but failed every time Mio batted her hands away. "_I swear he never listens._"

"_He was busy_," grumbled Mio, ducking under her arm. "_Where are we going?_"

Kikyo's face brightened in remembrance and followed the river. Mio followed close behind.

The river grew steep the further they traveled and put a strain on her already tired limbs. They walked nonstop from the compound to where the smell of fruit was the strongest and were on an even longer journey.

Mio's legs started cramping when the rush of water grew louder, as if it were screaming in her ears. A tight cluster of stones replaced the soft, watery earth under her feet, making her clumsy.

Kikyo took her hand, hoisting her up a large boulder and into a thicket of berries. She smiled down at her. "_It's just right here._"

Moving past the shrubberies, together they climbed a pair of boulders just before the river crashed into a wide pool beneath. Mio stood at the edge staring at the sparkling water in horror. The high elevation carried the scents of flowers and trees budding with acorns and the same smell of sweet grass her mother gave off, but the ten-foot drop into the water terrified her.

"_Ready?_"

Mio looked at her mother, shocked at the sight of her tossing her tank top over her head. "_For?_"

Kikyo kicked off her shorts, throwing back her head in laughter, and in that split second, she jumped off the rocky edge. She hit the surface with a tall splash, casting a veil of sprinkling water to fall over Mio. There were only ripples down below, but no sign of her mother.

Mio's heart jumped into her throat as she searched the waters for signs of Kikyo when she resurfaced with a gasp, smoothing her hair over her scalp. "_The water's great!_"

"_Someone died and you want to swim?_" demanded Mio, knowing she was making excuses to avoid the drop.

"_Coward!_" Kikyo shot back playfully.

"_This is insensitive!_"

"_They weren't my family!_"

"_They were your clansmen!_"

"_Forget the nonsense and have a dip!_"

Mio grimaced, backing away from the edge.

Truth be told, as respectful as she was to the dead, although she only knew about the woman who died through reputation, staring into the steep drop and crash of water made her woozy. Her heartbeat accelerated, thumped in her head, and her hands began to sweat. Looking down made her want to throw up and the world spin.

"_Mio! Come down!_" shouted Kikyo, swimming on her back in circles along the edges of the pool. "_The water is fresh! Jump! It's an easy fall._"

That was far from encouraging. Mio searched the surroundings and found a wall bulging with rocks. It looked climbable if she kept her eyes off the ground. She inched closer to it, turning when her mother called out to her noisily, startling her.

"_Don't climb down, it ruins the thrill!_"

She shook her head, sliding into a seat over the ledge. She rubbed her clammy hands together and then over the bottom of her shorts.

"_Fear is your greatest weakness!_" she continued. "_Overcome them and turn them into strengths now than later!_"

Mio felt a pair of hands lift her from the ledge and arms hoist her onto a sturdy shoulder. She turned to see the back of her father's head with his short waves of black hair and she tasted the change in mood. Her mother stopped swimming, only the droplets of water dripping from her reached them.

"_We're in the middle of a funeral, Kikyo,_" he called sternly. "_You haven't paid your respects, get out of the water._"

Kikyo shouted her rebuttal as she emerged from the water and skirted up the sleek stone flanking the cascade, but it barely reached her ears. Genji had already traveled past the stony path and onto the soft earth that caked around his ankles.

"_I asked you to wait!_" snapped Kikyo, pulling her shirt over her head.

Genji turned, voice littered with bursts of anger. "_And I asked you to stop heckling Mio!_" he chided. "_She is a child, strengths and weaknesses don't matter if she isn't in battle._"

Mio watched through wide eyes, the skin under her flesh quivered as her heart hammered in her chest anxiously. Instead of thinking the thoughts she might unconsciously, she wound her arms around her father's neck, seated on his forearm.

"_She is at an appropriate age,_" her mother remarked, clutching her shorts in her hands. "_There are wars being fought in the shinobi community, wars that could eventually require the lot of our clansmen including the children. Mio should be ready for the worst of situations._"

"_Mio will be ready for them when they come, she doesn't need the extra burden if she can avoid it,_" he said with finality.

"_I have as much say—_"

Genji twisted around. "_Enough,_" he barked. "_This isn't up for discussion._" He lowered his voice. "_I'll return Mio to the compound; I'll wait for you there, we should pay our respects to Sachiyo and her grandchildren._"

Kikyo's shoulders slumped in defeat, normally a proud woman with every comeback imaginable in her arsenal she set aside her pride and lagged behind.

Mio looked from her mother to her father, her stomach swallowing itself. The emotion paled in her expression. A bitter smiled appeared on her mother's face before she mouthed an apology to her. She wrapped her arms tighter around her father and rested her chin on her forearm.

They rarely argued, and when they did, the reasons were as idiotic as mismatched socks, faded black clothes, a crooked dining table, or a salty meal. Mio found them amusing and often struggled to keep her giggling to herself when they clashed.

What she witnessed that day was serious. It stemmed from a discussion held when she was only four and it concerned her future. Genji wanted to leave her the option of turning civilian if she wished it, but Kikyo argued against it until she emerged victorious. The condition was that he would take care of both Mio's mental and physical training, while Kikyo took care of her education. Genji thought to protect Mio from Kikyo's Spartan training and save her the trauma.

She used to hear them debating afterhours when they thought she was asleep. Their voices muffled through the walls, the conversation incoherent.

Genji took notice of her face and offered her a reassuring smile. His hand found her left hand rested over his shoulder, fingers tracing her palms. There was a curious glint in his eyes. "_Are you trembling because you're afraid of heights or the pool of water?_"

Mio's face burned with embarrassment and she buried it into her forearm. Admitting to either meant her father's mental training failed to teach her bravery. She coward at the face of high places and deep waters, the cascade was a double nightmare condensed into one. She feared these were the sort of anxieties she could never overcome and his aloofness to the subject multiplied them.

It seemed her mother was trying to remedy the fault by drawing her out to the cascade, albeit horribly, so she felt shaken up.

"_That's fine, Mio,_" he said encouragingly. "_Bravery is good. It is a great trait to possess, but not everyone is lucky to possess it._" He caught her gaze and held it as he trekked up the embankment and into the thicket, hoisting her up securely as the ground under him turned slippery. He patted her back. "_You don't need to worry about overcoming your fears, you only need to be brave when it's necessary._"

.

Mio heard the shoji open and watched the woman who brought her to the compound step inside. She remembered why the woman looked familiar when the memory of the cascade arose from a pool of others. She was Sachiyo—the funeral was held for her daughter-in-law—reputed to be a skilled kunoichi who pursued power until it granted her a place among the elders and was the grandmother of children with high chakra reserves and all the natural ability the Uchiha clan took pride on.

Seeing Uchiha Sachiyo for the first time since they arrived unnerved her. The last she saw of her was after she guided her into the tiny room she inhabited, explaining to her that someone was missing.

"Come, child," she said urgently. "Your aunt's returned."

Mio cringed.

"She makes me feel the same way," Sachiyo murmured, reaching for her arm to heave her off the ground.

Mio's eyes brightened in response to the comment, though she was sure Sachiyo wished it to go unheard. The statement held some truth. Mio had an aunt, her father's older sister, Konoe, and according to natural process, it made her Mio's last living relative, as terrible as the assessment made her feel. If one looked up nightmare in the dictionary there would be a picture of Konoe. It had nothing to do with her acerbic tongue and violent mood swings, but the fact that she seemed to have been blessed with the ability to become anyone's worst nightmare. If your biggest fear was waking up in the middle of the night to Konoe at the foot of her bed with a knife, chances are she would be there.

Mio didn't hate her. She never liked how harshly she treated her father or the many fights she picked with her mother, but what she felt wasn't as much hate as it was a twinge of dislike. Konoe had persisting issues with her parents' union and as the proof was mountainous, she definitely had a problem with their offspring. This left Mio in a bad position.

She suspected the elders were minutes away from making Konoe her legal guardian.

Mio felt herself fall behind as the realization set up camp beside her hammering heart. Sachiyo paused in the middle of the hall during intervals to walk astride her in order to take her by the arm and lead her forward. Even the sweet smelling incense couldn't calm her nerves.

The corridor split into three directions, the left passage led the way down interlocking open-sided corridors that connected the housing building with an axillary building that doubled as a three-floored dojo. Taking the straight passage headed out the back entrance to a well and a vegetable garden.

Sachiyo steered her down the hallway to the right and into a barren corridor covered in dusty cobwebs and the thick stench of decay. The musk clung to the fabric of her clothes, so even after they walked through some twists and turns and into the main building, it was all she smelled.

As expected, Konoe stood in the center of the room with an eternal frown and her arms folded over her chest. She was an average sized woman with hawkish, demeaning eyes, a lean curveless but toned physique. She wore a thick mantle, slung over her shoulder to reveal a thin shirt and pants combination and a belt holstering all sorts of sharp weapons. Some of them had flecks of blood staining the blade having not been cleaned properly.

Konoe looked nothing like her father, it seemed relation was impossible, but she trusted in his word.

Her aunt seized Mio's shoulders upon sight, fingers digging into the flesh. "What did you see?" she demanded, disregarding the frightened look in her eyes. "Tell me now!"

Sachiyo cut between them, forcing Konoe's hands from her shoulders. "Enough," she barked. "You won't get any answers from demanding them."

"This has nothing to do with you," Konoe said bitterly. "Stay out of this."

"You won't get a word out of her," started Sachiyo, earning a questionable glance. "Mio hasn't spoken to anyone since I brought her to the compound."

Konoe glared at Mio furiously and scoffed. "So my brother and his stupid wife are dead, this useless brat of theirs is left in my custody and yet she says nothing in accordance to their butcher?" Derision dripped from her tone, darkness clouded her eyes. "Who went out there?"

Sachiyo sighed, remaining calm, but Mio saw the twitch in her eyebrow. "I was taking a team to deliver a request," she said simply.

"Who was it? On the team?"

"Katsura, Hiryuu—"

"Two elders to deliver a request to the assassins?" remarked Konoe in mock astonishment. "Whatever did they do to deserve such honor? You even brought Katsura along…however did you convince his father?"

"That is completely irrelevant," Sachiyo said. "I summoned you here so you could pay your respects to your brother and for us to discuss Mio's future."

"What about their murderer?" Konoe pressed. "Why were there two elders at the site and no report of his death? Why didn't you kill him?"

"He killed two others, but if they hadn't died, Mio would have taken their place," the elder answered.

The look her aunt regarded her with left much to be desired, a glare of abhorrence. "Who were the dead?" she asked lowly, returning her eyes to the older kunoichi. "Who else did he kill?"

"Masao and Sumie."

Mio followed the conversation, eyeing one speaker to the next. In memory, she recalled the quickness of her parents' deaths and Sachiyo's face materializing through darkness, a pale wrinkled face expressing more emotion than she thought to offer. Nothing else appeared in her mind.

Konoe pinched the bridge of her nose in disdain, pacing back, and filled the room with bad vibes. "You are a fool," she spat. "Masao and Sumie were great, important shinobi and you lost them to an unknown murderer?" She spun around to face the cool and collected elder with a scathing look. "Now tell me, why were Masao, Sumie and Katsura with you? What use were they to you?"

Mio's memory was fragmented with a few pieces smashed to dust. It was as if her brain stopped functioning in the minutes it took her mother's body to grow cold.

"I told you, I took a team to deliver a request."

"So answer me this, why were there two elders delivering a request?"

Sachiyo took a deep breath, closing and opening her eyes in the process. "Hiryuu and I were heading south, to my home," she told her. "I've left my grandchildren to Ichizo far too long, Hiryuu is taking over their training and I their education, but this information holds too little value in your assumptions. Genji and Kikyo's deaths are not my burden to bear, but I mourn their deaths as I would had they been my children. They were the finest members of our intelligence squad, stronger and faster than most."

The explanation flew over Konoe's head. She thought it was useless, but Mio saw that Sachiyo's regret was true. "Let me get this straight, you sacrificed Masao and Sumie for the sake of this little girl?" she reiterated, seething. "What good is she if she cannot hold a kunai properly or climb trees in fear of heights? What good is she as a shinobi if she inherited nothing from my brother?"

"She is intelligent," replied Sachiyo in her defense.

"Intelligence won't get her anything," said Konoe, disgusted by the mere idea.

"It won't get her killed." Sachiyo reached for Mio's shoulder, curling a hand on it. "I am not the only one that wishes to speak in concern for the girl, so please save your complaints for our audience. Come Mio."

Mio followed Sachiyo through a doorway into a larger room where three shinobi sat in wait. All eyes fell on her upon entering and the nervousness coiled her insides. She hid partially in Sachiyo's elongated shadow, hoping to disappear behind her imposing aura, but they remained attentive of her actions.

The eldest of the three was a stout, powerful looking man with a shock of white hair twisted over his shoulder and a full beard, while the youngest was a nameless boy of seventeen that went by as many aliases as necessary to get through a mission. He was mousy-haired with darkness in his eyes and a deadly aura that clung to him like a second skin. The last of the three elders was sturdily built, dark haired, black eyed as any true Uchiha with a formidable reputation and scars to show for it. Among the elders, he stood tallest with arrogance and a deep frown that could rival her aunt's.

Sachiyo guided her into the stacked cushions and took her place besides the youngest elder as the only female. Konoe loomed behind Mio, casting a long shadow across the sunbaked floor. Three squared windows sat open to her left, filling the room with light that cast heavy shadows over a calligraphy scroll hung on the wall behind the elders and stems of cherry blossoms in squared vases, tightly packed in colorful pebbles. A round incense burner sat between the vases, a sweet smell emitted from it.

"Look at me girl," the old elder called gruffly.

Mio lifted her eyes to him, startled. She set her clammy hands over her knees, rubbing the sweat on her shorts. His glare bore into her like a pointed knife, even her insides quivered. It took a full minute to tear her gaze away and stare at the lines between the tatami with her heart pounding wildly in her ribcage.

He snorted. The derisive laughter turned into a violent cough he covered with his palm.

"Be mindful of your health, gramps," called the boy mirthfully.

"Be quiet!" he barked in the middle of a coughing fit.

"We are in the middle of something important, leave the useless prattle for later," admonished the scarred elder.

"I agree with Hiryuu," Sachiyo said. "We are here for a reason, Eijiro." Her eyes met with Mio's fleetingly. "Mio is alive, she is perfectly healthy save a few bruises and I believe she has information on our murderer."

"What use is believing she has anything? She isn't speaking," said the boy, incredulous. "I tried too, right Mio-chin?"

And try he did. The easygoing elder spent the last two days poking at her for information. He invaded her privacy, appearing in her room in the middle of morning, sat with her at the dining table (whenever she was present) and followed her outdoor excursions to the gardens. He pursued her with the determination of a lovesick teenager. She heard about lovesick teenagers from her father, he warned her about them.

Mio remained impassive without giving any of the elders any confirmation.

"We have no use for a mute," Konoe said snidely. "She is better use to us dead. Masao and Sumie, Genji and Kikyo, hard to admit, but they were great shinobi with limitless potential. Being the progeny of skilled shinobi doesn't automatically classify the brat as a genius."

_I agree_, thought Mio deprecatingly, clutching the fabric of her shorts.

"Intelligence is a powerful trait," Sachiyo said. "With the right training and patience, she could become a spy as her parents were." Her face turned to Konoe's dissatisfaction. "As her legal guardian it will be your responsibility."

"I have no use for broken things," remarked Konoe lowly, heading for the door. "Do with her as you please."

Silence set in as the nameless elder fanned his face with a hand while mouthing the word, "_Wow_."

Sachiyo sucked in a breath, moving forward to stand when Hiryuu interrupted. "Let's continue our discussion. Something must be done about the girl."

"Can I keep her?" asked the boy.

"She isn't a dog," remarked Eijiro.

"Physically no, but if she takes over Genji and Kikyo's work—"

"I wouldn't go so far as deeming her worthy of becoming their second," Hiryuu interjected. "According to reports, her battle prowess is lacking. She isn't up to par with anyone in her age group, in fact, I believe it might be best to remove her."

"Kill her?" shrilled Sachiyo. "What good will that do us?"

Mio felt her clamminess disappear as the heated conversation persisted. Nobody was staring at her, she felt at ease that way. She was good at pretending to be invisible.

"It's best to discard the useless ones," replied Hiryuu, determined. He probably had a date in mind for her execution, perhaps during sunny weather because killing a child in stormy weather would have been bad luck.

"Do not persist on this, she will not be killed," Sachiyo decided.

"What do you propose we do with her? Konoe doesn't want her," he argued.

"I want her," the nameless boy chirped, smiling from ear to ear. "She'll be like a little sister to me; I'll take good care of her, promise."

"A brat like you can't take care of another," grumbled Eijiro. "You'd be in charge of her training and expenses, not to mention she's a girl. Girls take a lot more grooming." The old man looked her up and down. "She'll need it."

Sachiyo bristled, abandoning her seat. "I'll take her," she said. "I trained her mother, I can raise her alongside my grandsons."

Hiryuu protested, but the decision was set in stone and something told Mio that this was the plan all along.

Eijiro nodded. "If you refined a girl like Kikyo, this little one shouldn't be too hard."

The nameless boy pouted with disappointment, but ultimately agreed to her decision. Hiryuu stood by his disapproval, stubborn as a mule.

.

.

Mio ate slices of mango from a rectangular platter seated in the corner of her tiny room. She flipped through a book settled on the floor between her legs. It was a book on aquifers. Sachiyo brought it along with a stack of ten others hoping she could enjoy them while she settled a few loose ends before starting preparations on their trip back to her home.

She read all the books in the stack the first time she visited the compound. She picked up the aquifer book because it reminded her of her mother and the memory at the cascade, how frightened she was staring into the pool of water. To make up for terrifying her, Kikyo had brought her the book and sat with her explaining the things she didn't understand. Reading it made her feel better, even though she felt Sachiyo's decision might have been useless after Hiryuu went on to stress how lacking she was in comparison to the rest of her age group.

Mio lifted her eyes, alert. She shut her book and scrambled onto her feet. She scoured the corner where she kept her belongings packed in a leather bag. She dug through it frantically until she came upon a slip of crumpled paper, the one her mother tucked into her hand just before coming face to face with her final opponent.

She fell into a seat, holding it between trembling hands. The memory of a flustered Kikyo flashed through her mind, hearing the sound of her voice shouting over the sound of metal clashing, "_Get out of the way, Mio!_" and the tear of paper as she scurried closer, thrusting the paper between numb fingers. "_Take this, Mio. Take this and run into the forest, run as deep into the forest as possible, someone will find you. Someone from the clan will find you._" Bringing her hand up to her face, gesturing to the note, she said, "_This is yours. Only yours._"

The kiss she placed on her forehead filled her present self with warmth.

Mio opened it, smoothed it over the tatami and sucked in a breath as she read the following words, '_Drown the snake._'

It took a minute for the message to sink in and only a second for the thin paper to burn over a burning candle. She returned to her corner and reopened her book.

Sachiyo entered the room seconds after, startling her. "Have your bags ready for tomorrow," she said. "We leave at daybreak. Meet me at the entrance a half hour before."

She left as quickly as she came.

With an unsettled heart, Mio pushed the nightmares from her head.

* * *

><p>Mio waited at the entrance an hour earlier with her leather bag slung across her shoulder, snaking on crackers she rummaged out of the kitchen. She read a book on folklore and flipped through one that documented the lives of six of the most famous shinobi of the past before a pair of familiar voices surfaced walking to the front of the house. They fell silent when Sachiyo and Hiryuu appeared in her periphery as she looked up in wonder.<p>

"Have you been waiting long?" Sachiyo asked, surprised by her punctuality. She had a knack for it, being on time. It made her feel better—correctness was always better.

Kikyo enforced perfection in her home and threw a fit at the face of flaw. While one parent taught her perfection, the other instructed her in patience.

Mio responded with a shake of her head, not minding the wait. She rose from her seat and cast a wary look at Hiryuu.

"He is returning with us," she explained. "If we leave now, we can make it in two full days."

Hiryuu's eyes narrowed. "I'll take the lead."

He stepped out, doing as he said and started towards the narrow trees, disappearing between them as he scaled the tallest and jumped from branch to branch.

"Let's go."

Sachiyo led her through the thickest greenery, pacing the trip to suit Mio. It was the start of a long, tiring journey in which she observed both elders exchanging niceties during the short breaks and suffered through nightmares that repeated the events of that day.

The only time she spoke was through her screams and not a single soothing word helped silence her. Every time she woke up, she thought about disappearing too, like them, and as horrible as the thought made her feel, she couldn't shake it out of her head.

She realized every time she gauged Hiryuu's reaction to her nightmares that she needed to suppress the tremors. He hated her. She felt it from the first time he laid eyes on her, like a shadow that clamped onto her skin, covering it inch by inch.

Mio wasn't stupid. If she dropped her guard, he would eat her alive.

* * *

><p><strong>xl note<strong>: Mio's perceptions of tragedy are a tad warped, don't let it confuse you. There will be instances in which she remembers the death of her parents and you'll notice all the different versions in the following chapter. The way I see it is simple, she closed off before anything actually registered and she's struggling. Of course, you get a semi-accurate account in this chapter and in the future, you will hopefully receive a detailed one.


	3. And Nightmares

Chapter **03** | & Nightmares

* * *

><p>Violent images flickered in and out of Mio's mind, perforating her numbed defenses and feeding into her helplessness. She endured the nights when the shadows governing her memory functions showed her the blurred, perplexing actions that left her orphaned. Nobody cared what happened to her; in fact, most of the Uchiha were too concerned with themselves to worry about the deaths of their best spies, knowing there were many more waiting to replace them.<p>

Mio liked them best. They were members of the category that did not tiptoe around her as if she were fragile to the touch and treated her as they saw fit. They were honest about their feelings and reminded her that she did not need to sit around listening to everyone's sorrowful recollections of her parents while the memory of their deaths still plagued her dreams.

Even now, twenty days later it was still expected of her to blubber on about the loss. Sachiyo seated her plenty of times across a short table, offering her freshly baked sweets and warm milk, to reiterate the same speech she did every three days since they arrived.

"Crying is natural," reminded Uchiha Sachiyo soothingly. "Nobody is going to judge you if you do it. You are still a child."

_A child_? She internally questioned as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Since as long as she remembered, her father instilled the methods necessary to take somebody's life. Normal, civilian children went through their childhood without having been born into a shinobi clan or having their parents put a freshly sharpened kunai in their hands. None of them were taught that a clean slit across the through could rupture a vein called the jugular and cause a person to bleed towards their death faster than a dozen puncture wounds.

She had a child's age but an adult's knowledge. The fact her new caretaker thought it appropriate to point out almost made her laugh, but with her mother's training, she remained inexpressive.

"You lost your mother and father."

Mio blinked up at her, drawing her gaze from the colorful bread squares sitting across the rectangular plate. The wrinkled face staring back at her expressed concern and a shade in her coal eyes that looked a lot like pity.

"It's almost abnormal you haven't cried."

_Abnormal._ Mio repeated the word in her head, liking the sound of it as it echoed in her head. Abnormal sounded like something she quite enjoyed being if not a depressed puppy crying tragedy. She didn't need the attention Sachiyo invested in her. Sometimes she wanted peace and quiet to be in the company of her memories. At that point, they were the only ones that soothed her rampant heartbeat and reminded her the nightmares were just her mind playing cruel tricks on her.

However, the elder's voice droned on endlessly. She strove to make a connection—to become that one person in the world willing to listen to her woes in her time of need and pull her out of her depressive bubble. Sachiyo wanted to be the woman Mio would one day be indebted to because she had selfish, untold reasons.

Sachiyo thought acquiring her boosted the Uchiha clan's future. In the sincerity of that observation, Mio chose to stay. Selfishness was honesty and not a lie disguised with a smile.

* * *

><p>Mio woke up startled and drenched in cold sweat when the vivid nightmares gnawed at her memory. She relived the moment—the deathly silence of a darkened house and the sudden flash of silver caught in the moonlight. She saw the man stealthily sweep under her father and slash right down his shoulder as he attempted to counter a feint. Blood slapped across the walls, coating every surface a sinister shade of red.<p>

The thud of her father's body hitting the ground resounded, echoing until the noise faded into screams of torture. Torn limb from limb until the remaining life disappeared from his onyx eyes—it lasted a lifetime. She absorbed the scenery, the trickle of blood falling like indoor rain. The splash of each droplet was amplified by her inner panic, the awkward beating of her heart, and the weight of her mother's body smothering her. The faint scent of peach and grass, the smell of her mother, spoiled in the putrid metallic stench. She found comfort in her mother's perfumed skin. It eased the rapid beating of her heart. But her mother was bruised and bleeding, breathing haggardly as she whispered broken words into her ears.

Moments before, her mother had protected her from the thrust of the man's sword. Pushed her hard into the wall, the tough surface left a cluster of purplish bruises on her back that after twenty days had not yet faded. Half the house had been torn apart by a slur of complicated jutsu, but the final touches were done by hand while she played possum.

"_Breathe,_" her mother had whispered, struggling to her feet.

She fought until she fell right alongside her husband's dismembered remains. Cold fingers bruised her ivory neck and jaw as the monster checked her pulse with a twisted smile. His eyes, green as emeralds, cut through the darkness to make contact with Mio.

The paralyzing fear that washed through her that night returned to her every morning she woke from her nightly terrors. Mio thought of screaming as he closed the short distance between them and fantasized with the idea of picking up one of the kunai from the ground to use for her defense. The latter worked better in her head. She was quick and powerful, able to deflect the barrage of attacks until she found an escape. But Mio wasn't any of those things and with the bulky shinobi standing in front of her, she expected death to come swiftly.

Instead, as Sachiyo reiterated the story, the group arrived to the wreckage and two Uchihas sacrificed themselves so she could continue living. The assassin escaped.

The murderer was a part of a shinobi clan; she knew that much from his fighting technique. If she met him once more, whether it was within the next couple of days, weeks, months, or even ten years from then, she would recognize him. He towered over her parents like a giant with tough, bronzed muscled skin and a symbol carved over his upper back—a filled-in crescent vertically slashed by a thin, jagged line.

Every night she woke up from the nightmare, she played with the idea of meeting him again as she clutched onto her knees for a sense of security. If they crossed paths in five years, what would happen? Would she attempt at revenge, or face him with a forgiving heart?

She thought about many things in silence, but questioned her existence the most.

If Uchiha Sachiyo had not stormed in with her team that evening, Mio would be in pieces besides her parents, but the bitterness gave her no time to enjoy her elongated life.

_Better off dead,_ she thought every morning the sun blinded her, illuminating her current stay. Mio left her accommodations quietly after folding her futon and changing into her mourning clothes.

Sachiyo's home was situated in a desolate countryside far from the shinobi wars where peace and wilderness surrounded them. According to Sachiyo, the manor was once used by her ancestors to train young Uchihas into spies and assassins that in time helped boost the clan name, but since she inherited the property, it doubled as her family home and safe house.

When Mio arrived two weeks ago, she expected to see shinobi walking in and out of the buildings like they did in the Uchiha compound. She met with silence instead. There were two boys living there, her grandchildren, but she met neither throughout her twenty-day stay. She limited her movement from her cluttered bedroom to the kitchen where she took her meals with the cooks and the outdoor bathhouse.

Today was different. She felt an inkling of curiosity to venture down the long passageways and enter the nicely furnished rooms as her thumping heart calmed into a rhythmic beat. So, she did.

Mio wandered corridor to corridor and room to room until she established a slight understanding of the shortcuts in the manor. As she grew tired enough to fall back asleep without fear of another nightmare, she decided on a different route back to her room when she came across a thin line of orange light over the floorboards.

Hushed voices reached her ears—Sachiyo and Hiryuu. She stopped in the adjacent hall, eyes brimming with curiosity, and flattened her back against the wall. She held in a breath, somehow able to hide without drawing their attention.

"…useful if we want Madara or Izuna to lead," said Sachiyo.

"A girl that can neither talk nor hold a kunai properly?" Hiryuu spat. "We lost two shinobi at her expense, it costs us nothing to dispose of her now before she becomes troublesome."

"She could very well surpass both parents if trained properly," snapped Sachiyo. "If she can learn to be a proper spy, she will become more than useful to my grandchildren. They will need someone in the shadows to keep them grounded and informed at all times. Mio can do it."

"She's already given up. We have no need for a mute."

"Mio has an eidetic memory, she can move with the stealth of a cat—whether she speaks now or never is irrelevant if she can do what is required of her," she defended. "Genji trained her well. We should make use of her, not waste her talent."

Mio wasn't quite as surprised as she should have been when she turned back down the hall without a sound. She expected Sachiyo to have ulterior motives for putting a roof over her head, and having heard it from her mouth made it easier for Mio to get comfortable with the idea of staying longer. Knowing that the reason for her stay was not pity or excessive kindness brought a slight smile to her face because the words exchanged in that room by Sachiyo and Hiryuu rang with honesty.

She was needed despite the trouble she caused by severing all links of communication with the world outside her mind. Even if it meant being used to further the nefarious ploys of an Uchiha elder, Mio had not experienced that sort of happiness in weeks and she swore to hold on firmly.

If nobody lied, she would gladly take on any burden.

* * *

><p>Mio liked pushing apart the clutter of boxes obstructing her view of the tall window to peer through the cracks on the wooden panels. Beyond the field of tall grass lay a stretch of greenery and trees that lined the entrance of the dangerous forest. Her position gave her the advantage of following any strange movement outdoors. If the mansion provided an escape route, she suspected it lay deep inside the canopy of trees. Few people crossed her path with the exception of Hiryuu, who paid Sachiyo an infinite amount of visits she assumed had to do with her muteness. Hiryuu had a one-track mind.<p>

The room Sachiyo urged her to call her own doubled as a storage closet where she kept ancestral antiques stockpiled in the corners alongside tightly wrapped valuables in crates that supported the weight of a tower of cardboard boxes that hid corporeal secrets. Out of boredom-induced curiosity, Mio dug through the box she used to reach the peephole in the window to find a satchel containing rows of weapons, from throwing knives to poison-tip needles and beneath the black fabric bearing the Uchiha insignia lay a collection of scrolls that varied in size. She searched each for writing, but only found a few containing an eclectic selection of jutsus, none of which she recognized to be a part of Uchiha techniques.

Sadly, the curiosity increased her boredom, though she had not expected something spectacular to happen from opening a couple boxes. Mio returned everything inside the box as she found it and pushed it back into place before reseating herself atop her folded futon. She stared absently at the boxes amassed in her surroundings, thinking morbid thoughts.

Things such as percentage of survival in the case of an unexpected tremor or a shockwave of war breaking out crossed her mind. She entertained the ideas to keep the monotony at bay. She took her mediocre size and laughable body strength into consideration and guessed her ribcage would give out under the weight, no matter the angle of impact, and that if she was lucky a broken rib might pierce straight through her heart, thus ending her misery quickly. If not, she suspected the pain would be enough to kill her in time.

Without realizing it, Mio's mind welcomed streams of morose ideas because a lesser part of her being figured they were easier to structure, easy to stomach, than happy notions. She enjoyed the impenetrable darkness clouding her emotional receptors and liked the weight of grief resting on her shoulders not because it acted as a reminder of broken recollections, but because she wanted to hold onto it like a blanket that warmed her through the winter, a garb of security. It laid the foundation of numerous possibilities and a smidgen of hope that within them she might do something worthwhile that would one day remind people like Hiryuu, who would always look upon her like worthless scum, that Genji and Kikyo bore a daughter, and that girl's name was Mio.

Fame meant nothing to a shadow. She had no need for her name to be known throughout the continent. She only wanted the recognition her mother held in such high regard, the one of the family whose insignia she wore sewn onto her clothes. That was all.

The recent flood of shadows alerted her of the time. Mio left the room quietly and followed the same corridor to the kitchen where dinner awaited her. A woman called Kana took care of her meals at Sachiyo's demand and worked swiftly as a professional. She accompanied Mio at the table and watched her eating habits intently, taking note of the food she left behind on her plate and how quick or slow she ate her meals. Since she acknowledged Mio would neither tell her nor write about her preferences in cuisine she decided to make it a guessing game.

Kana was sitting with her back to the door when Mio entered without disturbing the rest of the kitchen staff as they prepared dinner for their masters. She was a short woman with long brown hair, observant gray eyes and a round face. Her endearing personality often came off as annoying, so her presence often bothered her seniors within the kitchen's four walls, but she rarely let anyone speak horribly about her. She thought simple-minded things, worried over simple-minded problems, and lived a simple-minded life where her world revolved around orders and food. Mio enjoyed the solidarity of her honesty because it came as naturally as breathing to her.

The plates of food awaiting her on the tabletop were elaborate: thinly sliced pieces of meat dipped in sweet sauce lain over a patch of green vegetables, a bowl of soup of daikon, carrots and mushrooms, minced chicken patties, a lidded bowl containing chicken and egg boiled over rice, and finally a bowl of white rice.

Mio stared at Kana's unabashed face, amazed, as she took her seat and chopsticks.

"You seem to enjoy my extravagant use of sweet sauce, so that can be your main course," Kana said effervescently, watching her eye the food. "The soup is to even out the taste, and if you prefer eating small, try the chicken patties or eggs."

Mio placed her hands together, bowed her head, thankful for her meal, and dug into the sweetened splay of chicken slices. She combined them with the vegetables and rice to indulge in the loveliest taste she has ever come across. Her taste buds raged in excitement as she continued eating until most of the plates were emptied except the chicken and eggs over rice, though she enjoyed it, she was too stuffed to dare eat more.

She almost felt too bloated to stand, but managed as Kana cleared the table.

"Bye Mio-chan." Kana waved from across the room, the loud ring of her voice disturbed one cook to the point he nearly chopped his finger off.

"Keep it down!" he hissed as the knife clattered over the cutting board and a curse escaped him.

"Sorry," squeaked Kana.

Mio disappeared down the hall, taking a slower walk through the familiar route to allow her overstuffed stomach to settle. She wired thoughts into her mind to keep her distracted as she took in the sight of the hallway in the setting sun's glow and calculated the percentage of survival if the boxes ever dropped on her. In the second it took to envision the cluttered room, she heard something heavy crash. It came from the direction of her storage closet bedroom.

"Madara!"

"Izuna!"

The foreign voices rang simultaneously, both tainted with the same alarm of a misbehaved child committing the same mistake twice.

Mio looked into the next hallway and found, who she assumed, where the old hag's grandchildren. Both attempted to abandon the scene of the crime—the storage closet—when the oldest of the two caught her staring and grabbed the youngest by the shoulder. She suspected to be in close age to the tallest boy, older or younger by one or two years, while the shortest seemed to have just celebrated his fifth or sixth birthday. She didn't care for details.

As she had been caught, Mio approached her room and took in the damage. They accomplished fulfilling her repetitive train of thought and had given her an accurate percentage. She survived 100%. She never considered not being in the room from the start.

She entered and without addressing the issue, she closed the doors.

"You should have said sorry."

"You dropped them!"

"Forget it. Let's leave before she tells grandma."

The thump of footsteps vanished down the hall.

"Madara! Wait for me!"

More steps.

"Run faster!"

"I can't!"

Their voices disappeared as she started packing everything back into the cardboard boxes. The only problem was hoisting them back to top of the stacks.

She stared at the mess, overwhelmed. _I'll figure it out._

* * *

><p>The boys faced the consequences for the discord they caused in Mio's bedroom. Not because the orphan girl tattled to their grandmother, but because Izuna let it slip over dinner even though there was no mess to confirm it. Together they were ordered to clean the outdoor hallways the following morning and weren't allowed to leave until every inch of wood doubled as a mirror. This was followed by a warning to avoid bothering their new resident, explaining her decision by saying, "she isn't ready for human contact."<p>

Madara, on a curious whim, heard a bit more about Mio from the kitchen staff.

"Do you think she'll be my friend?" asked Izuna, lolling over the floor with a rag on his face.

"No. She's introverted," replied Madara, scrubbing off the grime Hiryuu left on his way into the house.

Izuna bolted onto a seat, worried. "How long does she have to live?"

Madara glowered at him. "It's not a disease."

Curiously, the youngest Uchiha gave a tilt of his head. "What's it mean then?"

Madara stayed silent before huffing. "You wouldn't get it!"

Izuna snorted. "You don't know either! You probably just heard someone say it!"

"Shut up!"

Izuna only laughed harder.

A dirty rag slapped him in the face and silenced him instantly. Izuna stared at him shocked until his lower lip started to quiver and he scrambled out of his seat with a sharp, childish cry.

"Madara hit me!"

The sound of Izuna's voice disappeared inside the house, leaving him alone with his annoyance and a sneaking suspicion that no matter the circumstances his young brother could probably get away with murder. That, and as the youngest, Sachiyo favored him for being _cute_. But the punishment couldn't get worse than cleaning the outdoor halls, so he decided it was best to finish the task at hand before facing his grandmother.

Halfway through completion, Madara caught Hiryuu in his periphery, but he wasn't alone. He was talking to Mio on the other end of the hall, unaware of his presence. Hiryuu's lips were the only ones moving and from the short distance, he could make out the words without having to use his Sharingan. The elder was growing impatient by the girl's lack of response. Mio, in turn, stayed perfectly still, eyes focused and lips sealed.

Hiryuu's impatience turned into something lethal as his voice rose. He could have a kunai at her throat and he wouldn't be surprised if the mute dropped dead. "You want to be killed that badly?"

Madara stood, dropping the rag at his feet.

Mio didn't even blink, didn't flinch.

Hiryuu grabbed her roughly by the collar of her baggy shirt when the door behind her opened noisily.

"Let her go."

Madara recognized his grandmother's voice and the deadly poison threaded in her words.

Hiryuu did as he was told and skulked out of sight, into the thick forest, grumbling beneath his breath. Sachiyo caught Madara staring and gave him a critical look that promised a harsher punishment as she beckoned Mio indoors.

Watching her, he had to wonder if she was even alive when her eyes flickered to meet his. A small knowing smile brightened her face and then, she was gone. The door sealed shut behind her.

.

.

Mio accompanied Hiryuu because she wanted to hear his complains about her silence and the rest of her inadequacies as a prospective spy. In short, she humored him for the sake of her own amusement. He whined nicely for a man accomplished in the shinobi arts with widespread fame to assert it. He had the right voice. She thought it sounded funny.

As expected, he tried forcing her to speak by explaining how useless a mute kunoichi would be when it came to trafficking information among clansmen and gathering it. Nobody would take her handicap serious.

"Even if you learn well or excel in anything, nobody is going to take you seriously," he continued. "You're only going to get killed in this line of work."

She never doubted it. Death wasn't as terrible as he claimed, though, but it was a chameleon. Sometimes death took you quickly, blink and you miss it, other times it was slow and painful, and it took a lifetime of endurance to understand it was coming. She knew that if she ever had a choice, she wanted to die quickly, have her heart let out before she hit the ground. It sounded easy, might feel the same. She hated the idea of pain and when the thought occurred, she imagined her parents fighting for their lives. They defended their home bravely with all the strength available to them and lost to pain and blood loss.

The nightmares slowly started expanding her imagination. Mio was never sure about the reality of her family's death and wondered if the recollections buzzing in and out of her mind were accurate accounts. Sometimes, she preferred not to question it. She wanted to continue living in that feeling in between not knowing whether the facts were real or not.

Sachiyo escorted her back to the storage closet turned bedroom and looked at her reproachfully. "You should never, never leave this room unless it is for food or on my permission," she said with finality. Somewhere deep in her mind, she played with the idea of arriving at the scene five minutes slower to find her last potential spy dead. She would only have a short-tempered elder to blame. "You need to stay alive, you hear me? I need you alive."

The hag cared little for disclosure. She patted her shoulder with an awkward smile and shut the door.

It seemed Sachiyo did not understand the concept of twisting a truth into a different shape to make a better lie than the excuses she sold cheap. Lying was not the priority; it was urging her to speak with a voice she barely remembered.

Mio deliberated her resistance to speaking. If she bothered to engage Sachiyo in conversation, would she be told what awaits her in the future?

In the end, it was likelier she paid closer attention and react accordingly than talk.

What if her voice came out weird? She wanted to save herself the embarrassment.

* * *

><p>Mio liked to keep a persistent eye on Uchiha Hiryuu. She made it her priority to know where he was and what he did, knowing that he adopted the same schedule as he tailed her to and from the kitchens back to her bedroom. He crept in the shadows like a spider on the wall, observing her with bright red eyes, because he assumed her parents gave onto her a knowledge he desired.<p>

Kikyo parted with a note that asked her to drown a snake, but the timing was off. Sachiyo loved and trusted the snake. Mio hated to be cruel, so she remained neutral. She deliberated her movements with utmost precision. If she had to accomplish the order the paper asked, she wanted to do it perfectly. The last thing she desired was upsetting her mother in death.

She dreamt of her skeletal corpse emerging from the ground, rotten flesh dropping from the smooth bone of her face in chunks. Kikyo pointed her bony finger to her face; eye dangling from one socket, the blood flowing from the wounds she remembered left a trail in her wake. The finger touched her nose and spread a cold so frightening it immobilized her. The frantic eyes she recalled in her flashbacks were burning intensely.

"You failed me," she accused in a guttural, inhuman voice. The hand dropped and met with her throat. "You failed me!"

Mio woke after her mother's hands wrapped tightly around her neck, squeezing her windpipes shut.

The horrid dreams made it difficult to sleep, but if they hadn't, she might not have caught onto Hiryuu's surveillance. He crossed the hallway on a nightly basis to peer into the closet through the aperture in the door.

He entered the room last night, believing she slept, and rummaged through her luggage without making a sound. She listened, wishing she could say that whatever he searched for was no longer there. She could instill that fear in him and exert control, but gave into selfishness.

Hiryuu left hours before dawn. The brothers trained at the wee hours of the morning and he oversaw their progression while teaching them what they needed to learn.

Sachiyo forced her out of the kitchen that morning to watch from the verandah. "Pay close attention," she said, leaning into the railing observantly. "Your skills need to match theirs if you plan to survive in this world."

Consciously, Mio admitted she didn't, but the idea intrigued her. Surviving in this world—_in warring war—_with the Uchiha brothers and that was all she was asked to do.

"Do you understand, Mio?"

Mio nodded. As far as understanding went, she had the gist of it. She could do the math; put one and one together to create a reason thanks to the conversation she eavesdropped on days ago.

One of the two brothers would own her. She had no say. Not today, not in the future.

Sachiyo's hand found the top of her head, ruffling strands of wild hair. "I will make you into our greatest spy."

And she had no reason to doubt her.

Mio turned her attention to the brothers, watching them bound after one another with weapons that gleamed in the rising sun and fire jutsus that scorched the earth. As they exchanged powerful blows, she felt her heart accelerate.

To reach that skill level, Mio required perfection.


	4. Mistrust is the Enemy

Chapter **04** | Mistrust is the Enemy

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><p>Skill, loyalty and deception were a sleuth's best accents. The more you excelled in each category, the longer you had to live. Each victory likened to a day's worth of living. Failing presented you with horrible consequences if it didn't bring you death and if it was death that awaited you, it was slow and painful.<p>

But spies died every day. No matter how many perished, there was always a younger spy ready to take his or her place with a larger scope of potential.

Mio learned to liken accomplishment with the word "fleeting" rather than "living" because one misled step would take you down a different path, to where the lies showed in your expression and the damage made was irreparable. No one should ever cross that line, as invisible and nonexistent as it may be doing so meant imminent death.

All the information barreling in and out of her mind contributed to Mio's understanding of being orphaned and Sachiyo functioning without a shred of compassion. Little by little, she came to terms with all future expectations as an Uchiha spy. What was expected of her? How she was expected to carry it out? What would happen if she ever put one foot out of line? And she wasn't the only one learning.

Madara and Izuna were coming to the same understanding. Although, the latter was more concerned with befriending Mio than realizing her life may one day belong to him.

It mattered less to Madara. He figured he would have no use for a mute and in that short period of time had started looking at her differently, with a grimace or disappointment, and sometimes talked as though she wasn't there. She preferred her relationship with the oldest, mostly for its absence. The same couldn't be said about the youngest.

Izuna intercepted her path on a daily basis. On her way to lunch or dinner (breakfast being too early or being a training day), he jumped out of different hallways so she never knew where to expect him, sometimes scaring her badly enough she shrieked. She amused him and she could tell by the glimmer in his eyes.

The closest he ever came to make her scream was the time she expected him to appear from the final hallway that turned into the kitchen, but he appeared from behind and grabbed her shoulder. The gasp leaving her lips was cut short by the loud slap of her hand. He almost fell on his back laughing and she left him, soothing her erratic heartbeat with consoling words.

_He'll get tired of it eventually._

_He'll leave me alone eventually._

_He'll stop trying eventually._

Everything was essentially the same and all "eventually." Mio hoped Izuna found the time to be compassionate enough and not give her a heart attack before the start of her training. He skulked through the corridors better than anyone did, enviously silent, and nobody stopped him from following her around, even after Sachiyo forbade him from coming into contact with her. But Mio wasn't stupid. She sensed the favoritism a mile away.

"Mio!"

Mio clamped her teeth shut as Izuna dropped down from the ceiling. She jumped backward, eyes searching every nook and cranny above her in search for a plausible reason as to how the young Uchiha managed to appear overhead, but found nothing but sleek wooden ceiling. She searched for the answer in Izuna's face, but he greeted her with a harmonious smile.

"…" Lips parted, but she quickly gulped down the urge to question him. "…"

Izuna stared expectantly. "You were about to say something, weren't you?"

Whatever fueled Izuna's persistence was nothing short of admiral. And she grew progressively curious about the easiness of his movement. If he could sneak up on her, Madara, and even prickly old Hiryuu, then he had that special something she needed to learn. Addressing him was a way of acknowledging what he could do.

Slowly, she nodded.

"So you can talk?"

_Obviously_, she wanted to say, but not many have the privilege. She gave a slight nod instead.

"Why don't you?" he asked with a curious tilt.

Mio considered her list of probable excuses, but merely shrugged her shoulders unable to decide on any.

Izuna stared at her a bit troubled. "Can you write?"

She nodded once more.

He brightened. "Wanna be friends?"

Mio immediately shook her head and continued down the hall.

"Why not?"

She could always learn the secret to his movements later. Today, she had a meeting with Sachiyo and Hiryuu and she couldn't be late because today would decide the course of the rest of her life.

Once Mio was safely inside the colossal hall at the other end of the mansion, she took a seat in the lone cushion placed before Sachiyo. Hiryuu stood a few feet away, glowering, with both arms behind his back, standing as stiff as a board but ready to pounce on anyone who might attack the old hag, as unlikely as it would be for her (or anyone for that matter) to accomplish. Mio was treated no different than a stranger by him. If Sachiyo had no hope in using her as a spy—the reminder stayed fresh in her mind as it haunted her dreams—then she would be nothing more than a stranger to her, Hiryuu enjoyed telling her so. Strangers didn't live long, not unless they had something to offer. But to say she relinquished vital information through traumatic process would be a complete lie. She probably held onto a valuable bit of information entrusted to her by her parents to deliver to safe hands. If spoken aloud it might lead to an internal war.

It took a complete month to determine whether or not Uchiha Sachiyo and Hiryuu were indeed as trustworthy as they presented themselves to be (Sachiyo in particular). Hiryuu made it easy to seem deceitful, not bothering to disguise his aversion to her presence, though she imagined it had a lot to do with his face and unfriendly disposition. Mio never looked at him properly since she arrived, but his eyes were deep-set, his hair cropped short and messy, and the lines furrowing his brow gave his angular face a daunting quality. His grimaces were absolute murder and judging from his status as an elder in the Uchiha, he managed plenty in his youth and far more at his current state. Revered alongside Sachiyo, they were some of the strongest shinobi the Uchiha clan had seen in years, with the exception of the boy-genius elder in their ranks.

In the foreseeable future, Madara and Izuna would assume the positions they hoped to retire from.

Mio heard about it from her parents. Both made use of her memory skills, trained her to reiterate everything told to her once without skipping a detail. That's how she remembered her daily routines, memorize and repeat. Just memorize and repeat.

"Have you considered speaking?" started Sachiyo, holding a mug of tea close to her lips for a sip.

"She's had more than a month," added Hiryuu grimly. "If she didn't talk then, she's not talking now."

Sachiyo ignored him and continued straight to the point, "I requested the presence of a medic. He is here to make sure you are perfectly healthy before I make any final decisions."

The determined look set in her expression showed that whether or not the doctor issued the paperwork proving she was as mute as they assumed, Sachiyo had various stages of a plan mapped out in her mind. There were back-up ideas to support all mistakes and other such inconveniences.

"Are you ready to see him?"

Mio felt her insides twist in discomfort, but inclined her head.

Sachiyo stood and gestured her to follow. Mio did, casting a curious glance in Hiryuu's direction. She received a disconcerting glare.

The medic-nin called up to Sachiyo's mansion was an old man in spectacles with a gruff tone to his voice and an unnerving atmosphere she suspected came with his occupation. He got along well with Sachiyo; they had a short exchange about patching up a couple Uchiha involved in a scuffle with rogues from the Wakui clan. The conversation lasted as long as it took before her anxiety turned her visible. He eventually presented himself to her when Sachiyo offered to stay with her throughout the examination, which she agreed to.

By the time the short talk concluded, she realized she had not listened to a word spoken. So, Mio sat by listening to his instructions intently and endured being probed until the medic came to the conclusion of "selective mutism."

"Her vocal cords are perfectly fine, she has the ability to speak but she simply chooses not to," he explained in detail, putting his tools away back into his medical pouch. "Whether it is extreme shyness or social anxiety, it is simply her choice to remain unsocial. Continue speaking to her normally, urge her into conversation but never force her."

"This won't intervene with her duties as a shinobi, will it?"

"Not at all. She has the same capabilities as any child her age, so no, it shouldn't interfere," he replied. "_But_ if it is simply a choice, Mio will talk when she's ready."

Sachiyo accompanied the medic out of her home as Hiryuu reentered the room with a sneer. "I could make the transition permanent," he threatened, pacing away nonchalantly. He only cast a slight look in her direction as if she was not worthy of his full attention. "Damage to the vocal cords is simply, I could have it done in an instant."

Mio followed his movements around the room, watching how he handled the decorative objects and discarded them in the opposite end of the room with a defining smirk. Hiryuu could snap his fingers and order her to be tortured with or without Sachiyo's permission. She realized that damage he spoke of was an order away. The idea of it replayed in her mind, but as bloody as the outcome would be, she observed him boldly.

"Why don't you?"

The glass item in his hand slid from his hand, nearly smashing into the ground as the soft tenor of her voice reached his ears, but he caught it in time. He whipped around, eyebrows knitted in disbelief.

She smiled, adopting a tone of amusement. "Are we or are we not having this conversation?" she continued. "Whether this is reality or fantasy, you shouldn't assume too quickly." She started walking toward the center of the room, closer to his stunned form. "As far as you're concerned, you're imagining this because I don't talk."

Hiryuu froze, speechless. He repeated her taunt in his mind, reminding himself that she had not spoken in over two months and the idea that she had was preposterous.

"You're talking now?" he said slowly, but it came out more as a question than a statement.

"Sachiyo-sama won't believe you." Mio stalled at the doorway with her hand on the handle. "Maybe you've gone crazy. That's why you want me tortured and why you won't accept my presence in this home." She slid the door open as quietly as her steps. "That's why my mother and father warned me about you."

She slipped out of the room just as he questioned his sanity.

Hiryuu felt panicked, the words ringing in his ears, and he stormed after her, furious as he jerked her around by the shoulder. He slapped a hand over her pale neck, prepared to wring it.

"What are you trying to do?" he snapped, tightening his grip. "What did they tell you to do?"

The strangled noise she made as her knees buckled underneath her snapped him out of his rage. He felt her fingers start to claw at his. He blinked down at her, uncertain.

The small girl staring up at him with wide, vacant eyes wasn't the same person who talked, but the one that wallowed from the kitchen to the storage closet without speaking a word. Observant, always watching but never involved.

This girl stared at him frightened, the ghost of the manor and nothing more.

"Hiryuu."

The sound of Sachiyo's voice rattled through him. He dropped his hold on the girl, staring at her accusingly and snapped his attention to the elder.

"She just talked," he started, listening to her deep breaths. "She's mentioned them, her parents."

Sachiyo swept Mio off the ground and gave her a gentle push toward the end of the hallway where the colossal hall connected to a wide, unused dojo.

Mio stumbled, holding her hands over her neck as she steadied her breath. She remained mindful of her surroundings as she took the smallest of steps to leave the memory of Hiryuu's tyranny behind.

The elder strode closer to him until they were only centimeters apart, face expressionless. "You will not touch this girl again," she threatened, a low poisonous voice. "Do so and there won't be a warning; it will be your death. Now get out of my sight and sleep that alcohol out."

Hiryuu bristled. "You think I'm drunk?"

"Now," she pressed, raising her voice. She turned away to guide the girl down the end of the hall and into the neighboring corridor. "Come, child, I need to speak to you elsewhere."

Hiryuu's face turned red with fury. He nearly pushed forward to support his argument—Mio spoke to him directly, addressed him the second she looked him straight in the face and asked him why he wouldn't torture her—but a distrusting glare from Sachiyo forced it right down his throat. With an audible grunt, he swept down the opposite direction.

Mio shot a look over her shoulder and wondered if he would be okay.

Sachiyo inclined her head, the thud of Hiryuu's footsteps faded as soon as he took a sharp turn out of sight. "I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. No one would stupidly address Hiryuu in such a matter without a death wish. Your parents told you that much, did they not?"

Mio gave a curt nod.

"Good. They knew better." She dropped her hold on Mio. "I have long decided you are worth the investment. I will start your training as soon as tomorrow and we will work together until you are your best, until then you will stay under the radar for as long as I deem it necessary."

Sachiyo stopped in the middle of the hall and twisted Mio around to face her. She bent forward, eyebrows knitted. "You are an Uchiha by blood and that entitles you to certain obligations, but you best recognize where your loyalties lie," she said sternly. "Now, tilt your head back, let me see if it's left a mark."

Mio inclined her head to the feel of cold fingers on her neck.

Sachiyo rose to her feet, noting there were only traces of irritation, and stared her in the eyes. "Don't forget who put the clothes on your back and food on your plate," continued Sachiyo. "So long as you stay faithful to me, you will have a warm bed and a family to return to, and I trust you won't disappoint me…I don't want you to disappoint me, Mio."

The hidden message read as clear as day, Sachiyo owned Mio's life and she shouldn't dare take it for granted.

"I took care of your parents…"

The rest of Sachiyo's speech turned into an abysmal blur. Mio accomplished the tiniest of feats in her newfound life. Her life became valuable enough to salvage from its disastrous state and she was quite confident that in the past two months she had learned the mechanisms to the games Uchiha Sachiyo played. She only needed to wait for her worth to skyrocket to the point that she became invaluable, but it would take years of accomplishments and perfection, years that would begin tomorrow alongside her training.

"…do you understand?" finished Sachiyo.

Mio blinked, then nodded.

"Off to eat," said Sachiyo, leaving her side as they reached a fork in the corridors.

Mio shot another curious glance to the end of the hall, imagining Hiryuu's escalated fury, and started towards the kitchen.

The sound of metal reached her ears. She assumed Madara and Izuna were in the middle of training before their voices cut through the air, confirming her suspicions. She spotted them as she passed an open window, sparing with glinting weapons across the field of tall grass away from the farmlands on the opposite side of the manor.

Izuna moved stealthily, a boy made for the shadows. Madara attacked recklessly, a man made for the frontlines. They fought on par with one another, but all the same stood on equal footing with one another, exploiting each other's weaknesses to turn them to strengths. If Izuna lacked aerial skill, Madara forced him to fight among the sea of trees raining down on him with sharpened weapons and powerful jutsu that shook the ground in a fifty-mile radius. And if Madara lacked stealth, Izuna taught him with every bruise and cut he left on his body as they flitted through the fields blindfolded. Every day was a different lesson learned for the brothers.

Mio liked to watch them. She couldn't fathom how much strength they had between them. She lived her entire life learning jutsu from the man she thought was the strongest in the world, but that was only a childish assumption. Her father was a valuable asset in a community of Uchiha spies, but he was by no means the strongest the clan had to offer in war. People like Madara and Izuna were natural born leaders. Strength and ability were everything.

Mio wondered if that was the reason why Sachiyo kept them in the countryside, as far from the compound as possible. Were they hidden there to prevent the clan from taking over their training and sending them to the battlefield too early? It was in her understanding that they had fulfilled requests alongside men of Sachiyo's utmost confidence, but apart from those instances, their priority was honing their skills and learning to control the monstrous amount of chakra they possessed. If the compound had them, they would be sent on missions to test their limits, but their chances of survival dwindled in comparison to those their grandmother had to offer.

The compound was a hellhole in disguise for young Uchiha. In her short stay she learned the path she would have been forced to take had her aunt received custody of her. She would have lived in a cluttered room with ten other children, nursing infected wounds and waking from constant nightmares. Those that survived the initial training were split between intelligence where the sleuths and trackers were raised, the common shinobi where the rest were left and if they were lucky, they caught the eye of a famous name and trained under them personally to become a squadron leader if war dragged them into action. And then there were the vacancies of servitude.

Mio would have been taken as a servant, not even considered because of her inability to speak. At least, they would have taken it as an automatic failure. As Hiryuu pointed out, there was no use for a mute in their ranks. The only good mutes brought up were service and pleasure, though she only met one girl whose tongue had been cut out. She didn't want to be known for that sort of thing, so she accepted her place with Sachiyo with the utmost gratitude. There were many other places she could be now, even dead and as much as she wished the reaper had taken her the day it took her parents, she didn't want to die anymore.

She wanted to live.

"I spot Mio!"

Mio blinked, noticing herself leaning over the window facing the field as Izuna sprinted toward her. Madara stood in the middle of the grass field, surrounded by fallen shuriken and kunai, completely bothered by his brother's interruption.

Izuna skidded to a halt in front of her, covered in fresh bruises and bloody scratches. He smiled brightly. "I heard granny brought you a doctor to see if you can talk," he whispered, leaning too close to her face. "But you can talk, so I don't see what's the point?"

"Izuna!" shouted Madara impatiently. "We're not done yet!"

_He must have heard it from the staff. _Mio shrugged her shoulders.

Izuna whirled around. "We should include Mio! She's starting training with grandma anyways!"

"Last time she threw a kunai it fell behind her!" he complained.

Mio frowned. _That was because your sweaty hand touched it before I did._

"You have sweaty hands!" Izuna rebuked. "It's probably your fault! You touched it first!"

She nearly snorted, but swallowed the urge. Her body shook with laughter.

"I don't have sweaty hands!"

Izuna leaned into the window frame, shooting her an easy glance. "He has sweaty hands," he said lowly. "You know he does, you've seen him. He cleans them on his clothes all the time. Granny always shouts at him for doing it, but he does it anyway."

"I can read your lips from here!"

"Well that's cheating!" complained Izuna, spotting the bright red hue of his brother's eyes from the distance. "Grandma said not to use your Sharingan out of training!"

"The old hag isn't here!" Madara retorted, eyes returned to black. "I bet you're going to tell her!"

"No, I'm not!" he defended. "Not unless you agree to include Mio!"

Madara huffed. "Fine! Mio can come!"

When Izuna beamed at her, she removed herself from the window and shook her head. He looked crestfallen, like someone had taken his favorite toy or deprived him of food.

"Why not?" he demanded. "We want to be friends with you."

"I didn't say I'd be her friend!"

"Nobody asked you, sweaty hands!"

Mio thanked every god imaginable for Izuna's last words because the fight that ensued between them allowed her enough time to slither away to the kitchen where her dinner awaited her. She smiled all the way there, unable to pinpoint the reason for her sudden swell of happiness, but she didn't care where it came from, all that mattered was that she felt it.

Despite it all, she was happy.

Somewhere in the lightness of her heart, a darkness had taken root and she felt without having to think it through that Hiryuu was the poison.

* * *

><p><strong>xl note<strong>: I always imagined Izuna would be one of those brothers that spill your deepest darkest secrets and get away with it because they're a thing of beauty. I have no idea how this came about.


	5. Web

Chapter **05** | Web

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><p>Sachiyo started off Mio's conditioning with target practice and hand-to-hand combat. Training begun the morning after she received the last of Hiryuu's threats and while she was perfectly capable of learning alongside Madara and Izuna, but they were years—practically worlds—apart and the last thing Sachiyo desired was to disrupt their training accommodations. That and spy training required a bit more attention to detail, something Hiryuu couldn't and wouldn't provide given the circumstances.<p>

While Sachiyo never assumed a role in the shadows, she was well versed in the unknown methods used in conditioning all potential spies. Mio assumed she picked it up from years of using sleuths, no matter how quickly one died or how long one lived there was always something that set them apart from the rest of the pack. You didn't just need to be a perfect liar or particularly stealthy to be considered a perfect spy, you needed that trait or that goal, that unique aspect—that special something that aided you in your endeavors.

The most important lesson Mio received from her parents was simple: "_Being a clever girl won't be enough. You have to be more._" Photographic memory or not, the fact she had that tool meant little, at most, she could serve as someone's messenger and be the best one could be.

"_Relying on the fact that you remember everything you've read or heard word for word will get you killed_," her mother had explained over a topographic display of unconquered land. "_It is common knowledge to lie as a shinobi, doubt is second nature. Now, the information you've given me is false. What do you do?_"

Mio stared wondrously at the strength in Kikyo's eyes and gulped down the lump in her throat, croaking, "_I don't know."_

"_Your memory will be useless. You need something better._"

"_And what's that?_" she had asked curiously.

Kikyo touched the tip of her nose, smiling gently. "_Your father and I can teach you many things, but this is something you figure out on your own_."

Mio grew discouraged by the thought, figuring out something she couldn't name sounded impossible to her six-year-old self. Was it possible to find something she didn't know anything about? Truthfully, she doubted she understood what it meant at that time. Watching them the last remaining years taught her everything she needed to know about what it meant.

Sachiyo didn't understand it, probably ignorant of its existence. She reiterated the basics and taught her some of the clan's innermost workings, not knowing she knew everything and more. Mio remained as silent as ever, picking up techniques and information as if they were completely new to her. She pretended those years of grueling training under her parents' strict circumstances didn't exist. Some of the methods were so severe they plagued her nightmares alongside their grisly deaths. She suffered at the expense of becoming a shadow that would grow into the elusive Uchiha clan. She would gather information when necessary, kill when asked, and destroy evidence. And she needed to be the best if she expected to survive.

Better than the best if Madara came into power.

Mio understood from the moment she saw him that as he grew older his desire for perfection would leave no room for mistakes.

If Izuna was the next leader, she predicted he would be fair. If she chose a leader between the two at that stage in their lives, after sitting by and watching them train relentlessly to improve their already heightened skills, she picked Madara. Izuna needed to be older, less emotional and less inclined to run to Sachiyo when he deemed appropriate. His fighting style may well be near flawless when compared to Madara's recklessness, but the latter had a knack for trying idiotic things when all odds were against him, simply because he _felt _he could manage them.

Mio hoped Madara would eventually discover there was some sort of thinking mechanism in his head. When that happened, he would undoubtedly be fearsome.

But they were young, years away from taking on life-threatening missions out in the warring shinobi world. There remained plenty of ongoing training months and obstacles left to conquer. During which her focus wavered from target practice with Sachiyo to find Hiryuu observing the Uchiha brothers spar. He shouted corrections to them when there was something in need of fixing, but mostly yelled at Madara to take things seriously and stop being so cocky.

"There'll probably be a fight you won't be able to win one day," Hiryuu said firmly, one day, earning himself a glare.

Mio sat on the verandah holding a kunai in her hands, occasionally putting the tip to her finger to gauge its sharpness. She listened to everything. Hiryuu implied an Uchiha might one day lose a battle, a proud man said, "You're not always going to win." Those were the words of a traitor.

Real Uchiha never lost battles.

Madara sneered. "Impossible."

And those were the words of an asshole.

Madara caught her staring. "What are you looking at?"

_A complete asshole_.

Mio smiled and rose to her feet, returning indoors where she met with Izuna by accident, and proceeded to power walk the entire grounds until she shook him off. He persisted with his friendship offers, though she never bothered giving him a straight answer. A part of her enjoyed watching him return each day with that tortured look on his face, mostly because it bothered Madara.

Madara shouted at him plenty of times, words that went in one ear and out the other. Things like: "You don't want to make friends with _that_," "Don't bother," and "Stop being pathetic!" He yelled all sorts of things that got him into more trouble than recklessness had his entire life.

The difference between the others and Madara—she noticed in the way he looked at her, not sympathetically, not in acknowledgement, but in a way that spoke a million words yet spoke none—was that he wasn't stupid. Maybe he had always been intuitive when it came down to recognizing manipulators and liars because he didn't seem to think too highly of her.

The longer she stayed a mute, the better an understanding he grasped. It wouldn't be long before he took Hiryuu's route and tried to choke her into admitting the words scrawled on the paper left by her mother.

* * *

><p>Sachiyo's teachings were easy to grasp and Mio found much improvement after three months of continuous training. She had started hitting the marked targets the elder prepared within the web of trees, improved her chakra control and taught her reflexes to react faster than normal. She used the inner forest and the swampland twenty miles south as training grounds. She normally stayed with Kana, her cook and temporary guardian, in an inn near the swamps for a week. Sachiyo only accompanied her to the marsh to test her.<p>

Mio returned from her travels to an empty house for weeks after Hiryuu had taken the brothers northwest to the mountains were the winds were strong and the dangers at their peak. Sachiyo spent most of her time at the compound dealing with an uprising involving savage bandits in the desert of the Wind Country that dragged a number of shinobi clans into a dispute, which included the Senju clan making the Uchiha clan's involvement an inevitably.

Sachiyo's continuous absence made it difficult to progress in training. In the worst cases, the clan's nameless elder of her clan often dropped by the manor with the intention of visiting her.

That morning, he appeared at daybreak with a bag slung over his back and a mouth full of sweet bread three days before Sachiyo's slated arrival. He walked into one of her target practices and ducked under a stringed line of kunai that stabbed into seven different trees lined together perfectly. She stood in the center of the woods, caked in mud and covered in scratches she gained when she set off a shuriken trap to test her reaction time.

He glanced over her shoulder to her accomplishment and chuckled, amused. "Working hard, I see?"

Mio strode past him to uncork the kunai from the trees, taking chunks of bark along with them. She returned them to her weapon's pouch as he followed her like a shadow.

"Sachiyo's told me all about your progress," he remarked. "She says you have your father's skill and your mother's stealth. I see what she meant. I used to see your dad do the same trick when I was young, 'course he did a full circle. And that one over there was out of line, this one is crooked, oh and that one is—"

Mio's frown deepened with every mistake he pointed out and he noticed it, silencing himself. She finished packing away her used weapons and took the dirt path out of the forest, gesturing him to follow.

"Are we going in?"

She ignored him, leading him into Sachiyo's property. She wanted to ask if he planned to stay long, but didn't have anything to write with or on because she assumed she would be training well into the morning.

Mio discarded her sullied shoes before stepping onto the verandah and waited at the top step for him to do the same.

"How do you get on with Tajima's brats?" asked the boy, earning a curious glance. He blinked in disbelief. "You don't know Tajima?"

She shook her head, venturing into the hallway that led to the kitchens to fetch Kana.

"Well, he's never around, so it figures you wouldn't and he wouldn't be caught dead leaving his post to pay his lot a visit," he remarked. "You've never wondered why Sachiyo's taking care of them?"

He needed a lesson in keeping his mouth shut, but she couldn't say she wasn't curious. Sachiyo never mentioned a father and she only knew about their mother dying.

"You don't want to meet Tajima, he's a terrible one, only thing he's ever been proud of was his sons, but that only lasted until their mother died."

Mio knocked on the kitchen door. A clamor of voices rose from behind the closed entrance as the remaining staff spread out to continue their duties before Kana appeared at the doorway. She pushed back strands of her disheveled hair behind her ears. She frowned at Mio's sullied state and looked to their guest with a horrid disposition.

"You again?"

"Been long, has it?"

Mio didn't want to know the relation behind their tone of voices.

The nameless boy shook his head of whatever travesties floated by and placed a hand on Mio's shoulder. "I was just asking how she got along with Sachiyo's boys."

"Better with Izuna than Madara, I'd say if she gave the poor boy the time of day," said Kana curtly, turning her around toward the bath. She kept a look on the Uchiha elder, suspicious and strange. "You go do what you do best and not disturb anything. I'm taking this one to get cleaned and if you're hungry, you best be at the kitchen in three hours."

"I haven't eaten all day," he complained.

"You have bread crumbs rolling down your front," she said pointedly, steering her charge away from him.

Kana bent over to whisper warnings into Mio's ear when they were out of earshot. "You shouldn't be friendly with that one, even if he is an elder. He isn't likely to help you if you ever encounter any trouble and if you're in need of a trustworthy friend, he will cast you into the fire to see if you can amuse him."

Mio inclined her head to meet the woman's eyes.

"I've seen it happen before…it didn't end there."

The young woman steered her into the bathroom where she seated her on a stool as she stepped out to prepare warm water. Mio tugged off her muddied clothes and gathered a bucketful of cold water from the tub.

She seated herself with her back to the doorway and splashed the freezing water over her head. She gasped as it washed over her skin, itching over the tiniest of scratches.

Mio scrubbed the mud out of her hair with scented oil and soap. She cleaned the blood crusted over her flesh as Kana filled the round wooden tub with hot water.

"Have you washed your hair?" asked the cook.

She nodded.

"Good. I'll leave your clothes on the shelf," she said, patting the lowest shelf on the wall. "Get into the tub now before it cools. I'll rub ointment on your scratches once you're out."

Once Kana exited, Mio slipped into the tub to soak in the hot temperatures and soothe her aching muscles. Although her training had been cut short by the elder's arrival, she managed some strenuous exercise and practice, and she would study scrolls in the afternoon followed by a number of drills she used to learn them properly.

_"She says you have your father's skill and your mother's stealth…"_

The purpose of the spy rang negatively in her ears like a silent whistle that only reached her. She had everything necessary to reach the goal Sachiyo placed before her and trusted she could reach it, but she had not always thought that way. Mio used to take cover under the table to avoid anything she deemed unfair, meaning training and complicated explanations. She knew the benefits of normalcy and wished to live in it, never anything beyond it.

She never cared that she was an Uchiha. Her parents had to pound the idea in her head just like they did many other teachings. Once she acknowledged escape from one's predestined plan was impossible, she settled down. If learning meant earning even an ounce of freedom, she would do it without complaint.

The problem was that nobody bothered to tell her that she would never truly be free. She would be a caged bird handed down from one lord to the next. Nobody told her she wouldn't ever be whom her name indicated. She would be the bird without a name, an incarcerated nobody.

Mio could relate to being invisible. She understood the emotions behind every sentiment and knew how tightly her insides wound with each reminder.

So, forcing people into corners came easily to her. Manipulation and insanity were the best poisons, she could attest to them. It only took a moment to plant the seed of doubt and a few hints for it to propagate and turn into venom.

The hot water brought reality back to her and she hated it.

* * *

><p>Sachiyo returned to her manor a week after the nameless elder's arrival, though he seemed to have disappeared over the last two days. Mio didn't question it, she preferred the quiet to his rancorous stay. Sachiyo swept past the training grounds on the opposite end of her property and strode through the corridors practically breathing fire.<p>

Mio heard the hag stomping from hallway to hallway, barking out orders to a group of flustered maidservants and a guard of Uchiha from the compound. Meanwhile, she listened to the howl of the wind and enjoyed scent of olives and grass it carried with it. The wooden floorboards were cool. She liked the feel of the cold on her skin, especially after staying in the hot bath for too long.

Sachiyo caught her in small shorts and a tank top watching the clouds spread along the sky. Behind her were three unfamiliar Uchiha still dressed in their travel worn clothes and saddled with their luggage. Each one eyed her uncomfortably.

She pushed her shirt over her stomach and got onto her feet.

Kana appeared at the nearest doorway looking as disheveled as always.

"The girl is coming with us to the meeting, pack her a bag and dress her in something appropriate," Sachiyo ordered, leaving the verandah with her guard in tow. She glanced over her shoulder to see Mio standing in the same place and grew frustrated. "Go on now!"

Mio scuttled in after her cook. Kana rushed her in and out of her room with a leather satchel full of light clothes. She snuck in a bundle of dumplings for the road and kissed Mio's forehead, startling her.

"Hiryuu-sama might be there, but so will Sachiyo-sama," said Kana softly. "Remember that." She looked a bit concerned, biting her lower lip. "I wish I could go too. I could smack him upside the head with a pan if he tried to hurt you again."

"Mio!" came Sachiyo's vehement call.

Mio's heart leapt. Not knowing any other way to thank the cook for the long-term concern, she wrapped her arms around her before running off to meet the elder outside. She slung her bag across her chest and followed the elder into the sea of trees, wanting to ask if there would be a possibility that she might run into Hiryuu, but given the tense environment, she remained curious.

.

.

They arrived to the compound faster than normal in the middle of a cold night. The three-man Uchiha guard dispersed the moment they reached their stronghold and Sachiyo led the way through the web of corridors to a room containing the elders of the clan, including the nameless boy that had been staying at the manor and Hiryuu, who upon recognizing her behind Sachiyo, sneered so loud everyone shot him a quizzical look. Everyone of importance sat by a long squared table toppled with scrolls and maps. There were mugs of steaming tea and plates toppled with freshly served manjū. By the disgruntled look of the head of intelligence, they had interrupted something important when they walked in.

Eijiro, the sturdy, white-haired elder welcomed her with his unfamiliar gruff voice and placed a cushion to his right. Sachiyo pushed her forward, not bothering to apologize for her tardiness and looked at everyone's faces.

"Where is Tajima?" she demanded. "He was supposed to attend today."

The nameless elder dropped a hand over the shoulder of a younger boy with brown waves and hard, coal eyes. "He's sent Katsura in his place."

Katsura looked no younger than fifteen, but he had a sturdier build in comparison to others his age. He must have swelled with the pride of having been given something important to do from a man that should have been in attendance of the meeting. He certainly looked smug.

Mio couldn't shake the feeling that he was staring at the side of her face as Sachiyo grumbled incessantly over Tajima's absence, going as far as calling him an idiot, but Katsura wasn't the only one glaring at her. The head of intelligence kept stealing glances, but she felt the burn of each one. He was a frail looking man with a thin face and a long, pointed nose. He wore glasses that were too big for his face and an ego too big for the world. She knew why she received the attention, but she also didn't ask to be present while they discussed important matters.

"Do you have something to say? All of you?" snapped Sachiyo, having noticed the unwanted attention her student was receiving.

"We don't normally allow brats to sit in on classified meetings," said Hiryuu viciously. "This isn't a world she can understand."

Sachiyo turned to their information courier pointedly. "Anything else, Jouji?"

"I agree," he remarked.

"I disagree," chirped the nameless elder, forever on her side. He winked at Mio as if in affection.

"Mio is our brightest sleuth," started Eijiro. "It's about time she has a taste of the world she'll one day be a part of."

Sachiyo didn't ask for Katsura's opinion, so he wasn't allowed to give his input on the matter. She considered him irrelevant and ordered for the meeting to continue. Jouji smoothed out a scroll and started the conversation where he had been interrupted.

Mio found it difficult to follow along, but Sachiyo caught on quickly and she was throwing out opinions before the others could start up their own discussions. She caught the gist of it. There was some territorial breach that endangered the daimyo's family in the Wind Country and somehow the blame fell on them because the bandits that caused the uproar were masquerading as Uchiha's in order to challenge the Senju. Furious, a suffering, neighboring country made contact with Tajima and hired the Uchiha to act as their primary defense. The fake Uchiha clan had gone around stirring up trouble with as many shinobi clans as they could manage in an attempt to stain their reputation. They also caused trouble with the Uchiha's current employer by making threats as one of the officials to an enemy country, who went on to hire the Senju clan to smooth over the possibility of war.

Everything was a mess—a complete misunderstanding caused by a band of idiots hoping to soil the reputation of their clan. But that didn't matter to the elders. They were interested in knocking the Senju off their high horses and taking another victory for themselves. The easiest way to have resolved this was probably going after the bandits that caused it in the first place, but throughout the meeting, they were ignored.

"Tajima-sama has been scouting the outskirts of the country," offered Katsura. "There are dozens of Senju at the gates and hidden within the walls. He took half the Uchiha he commands and planned to attack them, but the Senju found them first."

"It's that Hashirama brat again," grumbled Hiryuu, arms crossed over his chest.

"Tajima reported that much, he said it was a different brat, the brother," added Jouji.

"Send more shinobi to accompany Tajima, take more spies and sensors," ordered Sachiyo. "The faster this ends the better. It won't do us any good to be affiliated with the country, no matter the amount of money they are giving us."

"The only reason Tajima agreed to their offer is because we need the money," admitted Eijiro with traces of annoyance.

"The fool," cursed Sachiyo. "This is no longer a simple skirmish. It's war against enemy countries and it does us no good that our temporary enemies are allies of Kurata. We don't have nearly enough shinobi to send to the mountain ranges."

The argument heated between Sachiyo and Jouji until Eijiro put an end to it, using Mio as an excuse. That didn't stop Sachiyo from storming out of the meeting just as things were being resolved, but not before shouting at Katsura to deliver a message to her son.

"I want him in this compound within the next four days!" snapped Sachiyo, stomping off into the heavily shadowed corridor.

"We should leave this for tomorrow," Eijiro decided, finishing his tea. He glanced in Katsura's direction. "Do as she said. Now."

Katsura rose from his seat and exited the room. Meanwhile Jouji gathered his scrolls and maps. He left with Hiryuu at his side, leaving her with Eijiro and his grandson.

The young elder left his seat and headed for the door. "I'll start gathering men."

Mio took it as a cue to leave, but she felt Eijiro's hand push her back into her seat. She searched his ancient face with curious eyes. She should have scuttled behind Sachiyo the moment she stormed out, but she was too scared of what the outcome would be. She figured the woman wanted time to cool off and so, she overstayed her welcome. She could taste the bitterness in the air and the irritation radiating from Jouji and Hiryuu, along with the discomfort she received from Katsura's pointed glance.

"Do you understand our stance?" he asked in a tone unsuited for his crotchety voice. He pushed a piece of paper and something to write with in front of her. "Nobody's bothered to give you a notebook have they?"

She shook her head, taking the thin brush from the coarse paper and dipped the tip into an inkwell. She looked at him briefly.

"You can write, you've been reading the maps," he said lightly. "You have good eyes, perfect for a spy."

Mio wondered if her improvement changed his opinion of her. If she remembered correctly, he had been adamant about her survival and would have accepted her aunt's suggestion of death if Sachiyo had not shown interest in her well-being. She appreciated the change of heart, but not the reason for it. Nevertheless, it was a battle she would fight with herself. Nobody understood what it meant to be in her position; anybody else would have already been dead because they didn't have parents like Genji and Kikyo to fall back on.

As she scrawled across the page, she found herself resenting them.

'_I understand that involving the enemy's allies from the mountain ranges can start a large-scale war and that the clan's defense aren't strong enough to withhold against something like that._'

It took a second for the elder to read over her small shoulders. He nodded. "You're quite perceptive, yes, that is our biggest problem," he admitted. "Our youngest generations are dying faster than they are thriving in skirmishes and so we have lesser adults on our squadrons."

'_The Uchiha clan has allies in the Earth Country and the Water Country and many more debts owed to them that could award them a war._'

"Our connection to the Yagi clan has fallen through in the past year and we are working to repair our ties, but I doubt if a war broke out they would be willing to offer their shinobi to our cause," he answered. "The Water Country is a different story, best saved for a different evening. You make valid points, girl, but you've forgotten something important—"

Mio quickly scrawled '_No_' on the corner of her paper, drawing his attention before he reminded her of what she's forgotten. He let her talk.

'_The Uchiha will always win their wars without need of allies._'

He laughed boisterously, patting her shoulder. "Sachiyo has taught you well."

'_My mother and father taught me. Sachiyo-sama improved me._' She paused, glanced at him. '_Can I go now?_'

"Yes, of course," he said, letting her get on his feet before beckoning for her. "Take this, I've no need for it."

Mio had gotten as far as the door before returning to receive a wide leather notebook full of empty pages. She felt her heart hammer in her chest, knowing she earned his approval through the improvement she slaved for, but told herself not to feel it. She didn't want to feel good about her mediocre accomplishments because there was so much room for mistakes. She could fall from his good graces and this instance wouldn't have mattered.

"I want to see you at the next meeting as well, Mio."

She bowed deeply in appreciation and scampered out of the room, hugging the notebook to her chest.

Mio left the main building and started toward the housing building to leave her gift with the rest of her things when a black blur intercepted her path, knocking her on her backside and the notebook into the nearest wall. There was a loud crash when her body hit the ground. She heard a familiar groan and lifted her head to see Madara lying on his stomach with Izuna on his back rubbing his head.

"Mio!" announced the youngest, scrambling off his brother's back to offer her a hand. "Look Madara, it's Mio! What're you doing here?"

She accepted his help and in one tug, he had her back on her feet. She went to pick up her notebook when Madara grumbled unhappily. She made a walking gesture and pointed behind them to the entrance into the wide hall.

"Were you just in the main building?" asked Madara, bothered.

She nodded, confused.

"Didn't they tell everyone to wait in the housing building because there was a meeting?" Izuna remembered, looking from his brother to Mio before smiling wide. "Did they let you sit in on a meeting?'

Madara's fury was almost tangible without him having to glare at her. She felt her skin peeling away with the burn and pushed past Izuna instead of answering, not the least bit happy to see the oldest of the brothers. She could do a lifetime without encountering him.

"You stupid!" snapped Izuna. "You scared her away! I'm telling grandma you're not getting along!"

* * *

><p>Izuna complained to his grandmother that Madara wasn't getting along with her and went as far as to say that she avoided him. Sachiyo took her complaints to Mio and requested that she do herself the favor of strengthening communication links with her grandchildren. The worst of the whole situation was that she found Mio flipping through the crisp, new notebook Eijiro gave her and forced her to use it as a medium. She couldn't refuse Sachiyo's orders, although it was safer to admit that she was scared of doing so.<p>

Sachiyo's son refused her summons back to the compound and she had been furious since, going as far as sending shinobi with the specific task of dragging him back home before she went and did it herself. Everyone in the compound had been tiptoeing around her and the only person taking advantage of his cuteness was Izuna, who spent his time keeping her company in return of sweets he split between his brother and Mio. She couldn't taste food after going through one of the old hag's grueling training sessions, so she had been giving her share of candy to Izuna, who gladly took them.

Two weeks had passed since their arrival to the compound and unlike the first time she was there, Mio had been accommodated into a larger room that she had to share with Madara and Izuna. A doorway in the back of the room lead into Sachiyo's, making it that much easier for Izuna to get his brother into trouble. She spent most of her times indoors if it didn't involve training, while the boys continued theirs deep in the forest with Hiryuu.

That morning as she was scribbling commonly used phrases and words in her notebook, Madara appeared to glare at her for not waking him earlier. Izuna had sprained his ankle and was asked to rest and he was doing just that as his brother laid out his complaints about how she should take responsibility for her actions even though he never asked her to wake him and she didn't communicate in barbarities as well as he did. He stormed out as Sachiyo entered the room to the sight of Mio sticking out her tongue at his back.

"Are you still avoiding him?" she asked critically.

Conversation with Madara was tricky and she liked to avoid it if she could.

Mio flipped her notebook open for Sachiyo to read the messy scribble on its surface. '_I don't like either of them_.'

"I never asked you to find them agreeable, you do as I say," she remarked, reaching over Mio's head to open the door. She gave her a push out into the empty hallway. "Start now."

The door clasped behind her. Mio suppressed a grumble and fished out something to write with from her pocket. She flipped the page over and wrote a condensed version of her complaints in conversation form to propose to Madara.

Madara had barely made it outside when she appeared, dragging her feet to cross the distance between them. She held up her version of a peace treaty and greeting to eye level when he glanced in her direction, but he chose to ignore her.

Mio dropped her eyes to the big, '_Greetings_' in her notebook and turned to an empty page. She crouched on the ground and used her lap to hold it up to write something different. That something different took three pages.

Madara moved out of sight. She jumped after him, drawing his attention with her noisy footsteps. She held up the notebook once more.

'_Your stupid grandmother made me do it!_'

He arched an eyebrow. "Why don't you tell her?"

She showed him the next page. '_She doesn't like being called stupid._'

He snorted. "Obviously."

Talking could make this easier. '_Sachiyo wants us all to get along and I want her to stop bothering me. So do something about it._'

And he did. He snatched the notebook out of her hands, tore a handful of pages, and tossed it over his shoulder. He looked oddly proud about what he did. "Done."

Mio breathed deeply and approached the remains of her notebook. She bent down, reaching under her arm in the process to pinch herself hard enough to draw tears. However, real tears mixed with the fakes because she actually felt the accomplishment that earned her that notebook end the minute he destroyed it. She gathered the tatters and shot him a final glance, counting the seconds, before speeding off into the house to present the fruits of her approach to the wicked witch that shoved her out the threshold. She took her tears to the person who sent her to Madara in the first place.

Sachiyo stared at the torn up notebook for three long minutes and then lifted her eyes to Mio's sniveling form. She was in the upstairs sitting room speaking with Hiryuu over a fresh brew of green tea. He was standing by the open window, observing her suspiciously.

Mio avoided meeting his eyes, unable to contain the real tears.

"That ungrateful—" She left her seat, pausing at the doorway to address her once more. "Go back to your room, Mio."

Once the door clasped shut, Hiryuu snatched her hand and forced it over her head. The sudden jerk sent a bolt of pain down her side. She suppressed a yelp, biting down on her lower lip.

"I saw you," he accused lowly. His eyes found the purplish red bruise forming on the inside of her arm once her sleeve fell over her shoulder. "Did you tear up the notebook too?"

Mio fisted her hand and tried jerking it out of his grasp, tired of dealing with his grabby hands. "If I did, who would believe you?"

Hiryuu tossed her back, seething. "I don't know what the fuck you're doing, but you better stop now!"

She hit the ground, elbow first. A tingling sensation spread through the rest of her arm, substituting pain. The remains of her torn notebook fluttered in all directions, raining down on them as if they were trapped in a windstorm.

Mio felt a swell of panic in her stomach, snatching the pieces from the floor and tucked them into her pockets. She kept her eyes glued to the ground, away from his face, but he followed through with his aggression. Just as she had gotten tired of him, he had felt the same of her taunting. She hardly blamed him. He must have considered the idea of insanity; he probably felt the bite of her words and wanted, in desperation, to put an end to them.

"You know, you're the only one that hears me talk," she said lightly, clearing the tears that clouded her eyes. She resolved to be strong. "Don't you think that's strange?"

He made a move towards her, reaching out to grab her by the collar, but she slipped out of the way. "You're doing this on purpose," he snapped. "I don't know why, but—"

"You don't know why?" she repeated with a hint of humor. Sachiyo's shrill cry resonated outdoors as she beckoned Madara over for a reprimanding. "Mother always said you were a special case."

Hiryuu's hands grasped at her arms at the mention of her mother. His eyes looked like those of a wounded animal. "What about your mother? Did she say something? What did she say?"

The desperation in his voice brought a crooked smile to her face. Hiryuu's fingers dug into her skin as Sachiyo demanded Madara apologize to her and prepare for his punishment. Madara snapped at her repeatedly, but she silenced him when she threatened him with scrubbing the bathroom floors for an entire week.

"She told me _everything_," answered Mio confidently.

Putting emphasis on the supposed secret served as the final push. His grip loosened, one arm disappearing behind his back, and his face darkened, eyes flashing maliciously beneath the heavy shadows streaked across the room. He drew a kunai into her periphery, holding the pointed end near her eye. She could taste its sharpness.

"…She shouldn't have told you."

Mio stared at the weapon placidly, letting the moment pass. Sachiyo needed enough time to return from her shouting session, which she assumed ended as silence set in and the clouds outside shifted one final time, tinting the sky a thousand shades.

An image flashed through her mind of another man threatening her life. He disposed of her parents. It pumped adrenaline through her heart and contorted in her expression as her eyes widened and watered.

Mio's back hit the wall, though she never realized she had been walking backwards. She stepped away, warily, forcing her eyes to meet his.

Hiryuu moved closer to her, at a snail's pace, every step he took registered a different level of fear in her usually calm expression. He remembered that twisted smile of hers and thrust the kunai forward. There was no need for hesitation. He shoved her onto the wall by the shoulder.

Mio made contact with the wall with back of her head. The insurmountable pain that spread along her skull forced a high-pitched scream from her throat, not in anticipation of the kunai carving into her skin, not for the possibility of death. She flashed back to the final moments in her tiny cottage, to the heavily shadowed man destroying what little hope her parents had for recovery. The picture shook as she felt the blood dripping onto her body, sliding down her skin as her mother whispered her last words into her ear.

"_Remember everything we taught you_." Kikyo's hand gripped the back of her head painfully, nails digging into her skull. Her voice was so broken and foreign, the words barely registered. She repeated them. "_Remember everything._" She repeated them until they were the only thing she heard before a guttural noise grumbled in her mother's throat and her head fell limply on Mio's small shoulder.

The moment reminded her of how quickly bodies turned cold. Kikyo's freezing temperature sunk into her flesh like a thousand pins and needles. It felt exactly like that moment, like being showered in frozen water before a whipping. She felt that same pain lashing at her.

A throbbing ache pounded in her head as she forced open her eyes to see the complacent smile on Hiryuu's face. It blurred and broke into a dozen pieces, breaking apart until the corners of her eyes blackened. She hit her head too hard. She realized that belatedly and a second later, she lost consciousness. Thrust into the hands of her tormentors, Mio returned to the lovely cottage by the woods and every moment after she entered that morning flourished with vivid colors.

* * *

><p>Mio opened her eyes to blinding sunlight. She shut her eyes quickly, twisting under the sheets, bearing the waves of unwelcomed pain throbbing in the back of her head.<p>

"Ah, you're awake!" chirped Izuna, leaning over her.

His body cast a shadow across her face, enabling her to open her eyes without the sting of sunlight. She blinked away the blurriness in her vision and focused on the boy's glowing face. She wanted to ask him many questions, but desisted. Somehow, she felt it was useless to question what had happened if she was still breathing.

"You don't have to worry about Hiryuu," he said suddenly, as if he read the curiosity in her expression. "The elders had a meeting and sent him away. Grandma told him to rot in hell." He smiled in amusement, straightening out in his seat, allowing the sunlight by. Her eyes had already adjusted to the brightness in the room, but she still flinched as if it hurt. "They had a huge argument before. I think Grandma really likes you because Hiryuu just kept shouting '_useless, useless, useless_," and grandma said, '_That's for me to decide. She can be a maid if she can't be a spy!_' but I don't think she actually meant it. I heard you're doing pretty good with your training and that you can actually hit a target now. That's great!"

Mio stared at him blankly. She bet he could hit a bullseye at two, but she didn't hold it against him. He was a natural.

He pouted, disappointed. "You could at least say something."

She reached to smack his cheek softly and smiled. "You're cute."

Izuna's face exploded with color. His smile grew twice as large as he continued filling her in on unattended details. "Taiga-kun is gonna take care of me and my brother's training from now on," he said excitedly. "So, everything's going to be okay! You can still be my friend, Mio-chan."

He watched her long and hard, waiting for her to shake her head in response to his pestering proposition, but she let it slide. Izuna jumped to his feet, announcing to her his departure by the doorway.

"I'm going to tell grandma and Madara-nii that you're awake, so just stay there!"

Mio doubted Madara cared as the younger boy disappeared into the hallway. The shuffle of the Uchiha compound reached her ears and it felt relieving.

The morning's events nearly spoiled her plans to reveal Hiryuu as a rat. Perhaps, it was best to say the sudden turn of events might work in her favor later. The aggressive bump to her head could have been fate's way of asking her to slow down, not to rush on trying to become a useful asset to Sachiyo and her grandsons.

She agreed to the thought as she waited for her headache to disappear. Maybe her information wasn't enough to condemn him and she burned the note her mother left her.

For now, all was well in the world. The trash was finally swept out of the house. She could do as she wished without Hiryuu hounding her or pleading Sachiyo for her death. The only remaining opposition was Madara, but there were numerous ways to deal with him. She already had that past afternoon. The problem lay in the moments when Sachiyo could no longer be of use.

Mio turned toward the window to the clear blue skies and remembered that she had forgotten to ask what day it was.

"…I'll figure it out."

She gave in to sleep.

.

.

Mio woke from dreamless slumber on the third day with a familiar face at her side. She glanced in the elder's direction, the teenage boy with mousy hair smiled wickedly at her, casting a shadow over her whorl of emotions.

"I heard you spoke with Izuna," he remarked. "Found your voice, did you?"

She remained silent.

"Izuna probably didn't tell you, though, did he?"

The menacing glint in his eyes frightened her and without knowing, she knew what to expect.

"I stopped Hiryuu from killing you," he said, grinning from ear to ear. "He was just about to carve his name into your neck and spill the blood your parents and Sachiyo-san fought hard to spare. To think you kept your silence for the sake of your mother—"

"What do you want?" she asked directly. "What do you want to stay quiet?"

"I want a lot of things for starters," he admitted, "but not all at once."

She hated this.

He leaned forward, touching the bandage wrapped around her neck. She winced, wiggling over uncomfortably. He left a tingling on her skin and brought tears to the rims of her eyes. He smiled down at her reaction.

"I quite liked Kikyo-san; she was fun, but not quite as amusing as Genji-san," he said. "You have your father's humor, manipulation was Genji-san's trade and he taught it better than anyone in this clan. Hiryuu hated him because of it."

Mio breathed deeply, his hand cupping her cheek.

"You should indulge me one day," he continued. "Don't look so suspicious. I gain more keeping your secret than spreading it around, besides, I like you…I'm amazed you don't believe me when I say it."

She frowned. "I was taught to be suspicious."

"I'm on your side," he said quickly. "I've never gotten along with Hiryuu and if my grandfather wasn't Eijiro, he might have treated me as he has you. I don't hate that you've sent him away, nor do I want to demand your reasons no matter how curious I may be. You should want to tell me when you feel like it."

She hated the feeling of control he imposed on her that clutched and wrung her insides like a wet cloth. She had to do something, but no ideas sprung into her head. She felt as weak and frail as she looked for the second time in her life.

He finally rose from his seat after giving her a final pat on the shoulder and stopped at the doorway. "We'll be seeing more of each other from here onward," he said calmly. "I'll be taking charge of Madara and Izuna's training; you can start calling me Taiga."

Mio cried in frustration once she was certain he was gone because everything that had been in her grasp spiraled out of control. It might get worse, she knew it would, but only the years could tell.

* * *

><p><strong>xl note<strong>: This chapter marks the conclusion of the "Snake in the Water" arc and while not many questions were answered, it will tie in somewhere in the near or distant future (I suggest you expect both). Funnily enough, I think this chapter had the most changes in comparison to the last four (prologue included). There are so many things to look forward to from now on, but I'll be taking it easy in the next three to four chapters before introducing the problem that sets off a domino effect.

Chapter five picks up the "Bandits of Kurata" arc that takes place 5 years after Hiryuu was sent out of the Uchiha compound and Taiga took his place and it is the first of three arcs meant to introduce the Kuronuma, Ito and Motou clan. I figured it would be best to split the work and there will be many more names to memorize, so I'll be posting a journal entry full of OCs and their importance to the plot (while trying not to be spoilerific) to make your reading experience that much easier.

To anyone curious about Madara and Izuna's ages, they are 10 and 9 respectively at the end of this chapter. Mio is older than Izuna by two months. Since, the next arc takes place in August/September, five years later, both Izuna and Mio are 14, while Madara is 15. I'll keep you updated on age changes if I have another time skip.

Thank you for reading!

**P.S.** I'll be posting the entire Bandits of Kurata arc all at once. There will be rewrites to the first part, but not too many. I'll see you then. You can re-review if you can, I'd like to know if the changes were for the better or for the worse, but if you want privacy, you can send me a PM. :)


	6. The Bandits of Kurata 1

Chapter **06** | The Bandits of Kurata I

* * *

><p>Morning was filled with silence as Izuna stepped into the verandah stretching both arms over his head. The sun barely peeked over the horizon, dying the gray sky a pale yellow. His eyes strained to adjust to the sudden brightness as he yawned, but he enjoyed the sunlight on his skin.<p>

Today marked the beginning of a new job, the first in which he, Mio and Madara would participate in as a team, mostly to ensure the safe transfer of a feudal lord's daughter back to her country. A rise in bandits and rogue shinobi targeting the young daughters and sons of important figureheads brought together several shinobi clans into another power struggle. Shortly, rumors of the Senju clan's involvement fueled the Uchihas desire to participate in another war, although most of the shinobi deployed on the missions were grunts from the Uchiha compound that had yet to return from their venture into the Wave Country.

Madara ordered Mio to the Wave Country to dismiss the rumors, but she refused, as she did with most of the requests that came out of his elder brother's mouth. Sachiyo cut them off as the tension levels rose and agreed that confirming whether or not the Senju were involved was important. Mio retracted her refusal and left that same evening, kicking Madara on the way out of the room.

Mio returned last night after nearly a week of absence and reported her finds in everyone's presence. Although, the Senju had been sighted, she could neither agree nor disagree with the wealth of rumors. The bit of useful information she manage was delivered to the Uchiha compound through a hawk in the wee hours of that morning by Sachiyo.

Izuna leaned over the railing, looking across the swaying tall grass to the wooden dummies by the target range. He took another deep breath and decided to drop by the barn out back to visit the animals and wake Madara and Mio, who were bearing with their most recent punishment.

Last night, Sachiyo saw Madara pay Mio back for the kick she gave him five days ago and kicked them out of the manor, forcing them to sleep in the barn for an entire week. She exasperatedly admitted that she thought after five years they would be on friendlier terms, but even Izuna found that puzzling. Madara and Mio getting along would be as if the sky decided it wanted to be half-day and half-night—impossible. They weren't made for that sort of thing. They were like oil and water in and out of missions, so he was usually Mio's partner for grueling requests. The only time he has seen them play nicely was while they ate because they could do no wrong, besides that, they're always waging war on each other and there wasn't a punishment in the entire world that could stop them. Sachiyo tried them all and as she ran out of ideas, her new penances threaded terribly close to humiliation.

Izuna abandoned the verandah and rounded the manor. He took a thin dirt-packed road to the backyard where the grunts of the pigs and neighs of horses reached his ears. He glanced around and found pair of horses tied to the wooden fence as they were being brushed by the groomer who greeted him. He waved back and sprinted along the remainder of the path.

The barn that housed most of the animals stood a couple feet from where the tiny road branched off into a grassy slope. A couple of sheep escaped their confines as the door sat wide open. Birds fluttered in and out, picking through stacks of hay for seeds. The noise emitting from inside made him feel the slightest bit guilty about sleeping in his comfortable futon in complete utter peace while his older brother and Mio spent their nights surrounded by noise and barn animals.

The stench of hay, gruel, and animal stung in his nostrils long before he made it past the threshold and into the square of sunlight. He looked from one end to the next, looking from the clucking chickens speeding out of the barn and the row of cows munching on their food. He spotted the llama pen on the far right and headed in its direction, remembering how Mio announced that she was taking the llama's pen to Madara's (unexpected) chagrin. He didn't hear the conclusion of the argument, but he imagined the rest was stupider than the beginning.

Instead of finding Mio cozied up to a llama as he imagined, he found her in an empty pen using her arms as a pillow. Across her in the other pen was Madara covered in hay. He suppressed the urge to laugh as he started retracing his footsteps. They were sleeping comfortably, through the smell and the noise. Disturbing them now felt wrong, so he walked right out of the barn and returned to the manor for a bath.

The next time Izuna saw Madara or Mio was through his bedroom window as he dried his hair with a towel. His grandmother sent someone to get them up and they left the barn one after the other, sleep deprived and as angry as yesterday night.

"You reek!" complained Sachiyo, her voice reaching him. "Get to a bath this instance! The both of you! Stop making those pitiful expressions and go!"

Their barely conscious figures followed orders and wobbled into bathrooms on opposite sides of the house.

He didn't see them again until breakfast. Mio took the seat beside him and across Madara with Sachiyo to his left as Kana laid out the breakfast platters.

"Morning," he greeted, amused.

Madara picked up his rice bowl and chopsticks, ignoring all human life.

Mio inclined her head in response, starting with her miso soup. She left her hair down so it fell like a curtain across her periphery, hiding the dark circles from his line of vision. He imagined her face looked as terrible as his brother's. He disguised a rogue snicker as a sudden cough. He shouldn't laugh at others misfortunes, but after a while, Madara and Mio's fights stop being misfortunes.

Sachiyo observed their sluggish movements throughout breakfast. "So, how did you sleep?"

"He snores," replied Mio softly, setting her bowl of soup on the table.

"You grind your teeth," retorted Madara.

Izuna watched the grip on her chopsticks tighten. Never a good sign.

"You snored the entire night," she said, a bit forcefully.

"I'm surprised you still have teeth with all the grinding you did!"

Sachiyo harrumphed. "You best have learned your lesson before I decide to kick you both out of my house permanently," she threatened. "I will not deal with any more of your nonsense."

"Obviously not, if you expect us to stay in the barn another six days," remarked Madara.

"You shouldn't have picked a fight with Mio," said Izuna easily.

"Stay out of it, Izuna. She doesn't need you defending her."

Mio finished what remained of her food and stood, smiling kindly at his older brother. "Then you should just learn your place, Madara-_sama_."

Not an ounce of respect lingered in those words; they dripped of all her ill will and sarcasm.

Mio shut the door as Madara hurled a plate at her head. It smashed into the wall, the pieces scattering across the tatami. People were normally taken aback by his disagreeable behavior. He reduced them to sniveling messes when he started smashing plates into the walls from across the room, but that was the thing about Mio. No matter what form his wrath took she was never afraid of it. She faced it head on, no matter the consequences.

Izuna assumed Sachiyo kept her around for that reason, simply because there was another person in the world that wasn't afraid of his outbursts or capabilities.

.

.

The thing about Mio that everyone failed to acknowledge was that she had a conscious. Izuna realized it early on and tried convincing anyone who would listen, which sadly, wasn't many. So far, the only humans capable of understanding were Kana and Taiga, his usually absent instructor, who seemed to enjoy the humor in their woes.

Izuna expected Mio to approach Madara sooner or later and it so happened to be as they were on standby awaiting further instructions before their departure time. She thrust a platter of snacks into Madara's hands when she usually addressed Izuna before anyone else. Madara didn't consider it an honest gesture unless it was shouted at the top of one's lungs where there was an echo to scream it right back. He took the platter wordlessly and handed it to his brother's expectant hands.

"We leave in an hour," she announced, checking the skies for warning signs. "You need your energy."

Madara took something off the plate and tossed it into his mouth, staring at her back.

Her conscious was probably saying sorry for kicking him on her way out that door, for subjecting them to sleep in a barn together knowing they would grate on each other's nerves, for her sheer lack of disrespect during breakfast—

Madara spat out whatever he was chewing, coughing violently besides him.

"This has roe in it!" he shouted, leaving his seat in pursuit of Mio's walking form. "You did this on purpose!"

_Forget I said anything_. Izuna ate quietly, not having the energy to stop them. The howling wind carried their voices to him as the grassy field swayed back and forth. He kept an eye on them to make sure neither one of them pulled a kunai.

Mio whirled around, walking backwards through the tall grass. She reached out to touch the corner of Madara's mouth, a swift wiping motion. "You had a bit of roe left."

He smacked her hand away, irritated. "Don't you have something better to do?"

"Always."

"Then go do it and stop wasting my time!"

"If anything, I'm wasting mine," she admitted with a sad shake of her head.

Izuna glanced down at the platter after finishing his fifth snack. There was roe in everything. She did it on purpose, but he kept his discovery under wraps.

At least, Mio had some sense of conscious. She remembered Madara hated roe.

Madara returned from the field empty handed, wiping his cheek furiously. He stopped mid-walk turning to Mio as she ran into the forest. "Your kisses mean nothing to me!" he yelled, the wind whispering loudly. He turned away, grumbling. "She got away."

"At least she likes you enough to kiss you," Izuna said easily, wiping the corner of his mouth. He saw her kiss Madara's cheek before sprinting away to scout as their grandmother asked her. "She's just apologizing for kicking you."

"Well she should have apologized five days ago!"

Izuna shrugged, eating away at his snacks.

"I had a thought," he said suddenly. "If you did manage to catch her, what would you do with her?"

There was a long silence between his question and his brother's answer as Madara returned to the verandah.

"Strangle her."

Izuna finished everything on the platter, disposing of the evidence, and stood. "Liar."

.

.

Sachiyo walked out with them an hour later to bid them luck.

"Remember, the contract is annulled if the girl is in any way harmed," she repeated for the umpteenth time. "Use Mio to guide you through Kurata and the Wave Country."

Before they left, she gave Madara a stern look. "No fighting amongst yourselves."

"I'll keep a look out," said Izuna, to ease her worries.

Once they disappeared inside the surrounding forest, Izuna looked from Madara's back to Mio's in anxious worry. Would he survive another assignment together with them? The first and last time they were deployed as a trio, Madara and Mio nearly killed each other in the middle of a disagreement with the Yūki clan.

It happened three years ago as Mio adjusted to talking on a daily basis. Her training had come along nicely and Sachiyo felt she could do with a bit more exposure. Since they were the youngest Uchiha present at the scene, their elders belittled them, so Mio asked them to remove the rods from their asses and concentrate. Madara reprimanded her and she offered him the same suggestion, going as far as asking him if he needed help.

And before anyone could stop them, Madara was trying to strangle her and Mio stabbed him in the back the instant he wrapped his hands around her neck. She called it a reflex, same as he did with the bruises he left on her face.

It took three adult shinobi to pull them off each other and another two to break the news to both of them. Sachiyo wasn't pleased when they were sent back to her for disrupting the mission and locked them both in dark closets for two weeks straight, followed with scrubbing all the floors and pulling weeds from the gardens, baking under the summer sun.

Izuna shook his head, tossing the dreadful thoughts into a far corner of his mind. This mission would be different. He would make that difference.

Although, it did amaze him how easily they exchanged directions.

Mio pointed northwest. "If we cut through here it's a shorter walk, but it's popular and draws a lot of unnecessary attention."

"What's faster and emptier?" asked Madara, taking the lead.

"They're not faster than this path, but they are emptier." She pointed a couple kilometers off course. "If we go through here we'll have to travel through an extra village, but it takes eight hours to arrive. We won't make it before nightfall."

"We have time to kill. We can rest there." Madara turned to face his brother. "What do you think?"

Izuna blinked, completely enthralled by the lack of obscenities and taunts. "Whatever's better."

"Let's go that way then," Madara decided, leading the way.

Izuna and Mio followed suit and waited for his command.

They traveled in complete silence for miles until Madara decided on a twenty-minute break to look over their map once more. They settled their luggage on the soft earth. Izuna took in the sight of cluttered trees and the sounds of scampering animals.

Mio looked around the area and scaled the tallest tree to discern their exact location. Izuna watched in amazement. She moved swiftly, quietly matching her movements to those of the surrounding animals. If necessary, he assumed she could slip up a tree without making a sound.

Izuna fished out his water pouch and took a couple sips. "So, what's the deal with you and Mio?"

Madara spared him a scathing glance. "Nothing."

"Well, I assumed something," admitted Izuna, "you are never this nice to each other."

"It's only a matter of time before she does or says something stupid," he grumbled in response.

He took another sip of water, eyes focused on his brother's inscrutable expression. "…So, why do you hate her?"

"I don't like stupid people."

"Hmm, but Mio isn't stupid. She's clever."

"Then that's the problem."

"Ahh, I get it," Izuna announced, earning a skeptical look from his brother.

Madara stepped away from him as Mio landed on the ground nearby. He stretched out the map so she could see and she made a line across the forest area. "There is a river near here, one mile north."

Izuna actually didn't "get" it at all. He assumed if he did, Madara might admit something incredible, something with the ability of dispelling all rumors as to why he disliked Mio as much as he did. No one just woke up one morning and decided to hate another. As easy a feat it sounded for his brother, it required too much energy, which Madara would be unwilling to give up. So why was it that they spent the last five years trying to murder each other?

Why would anyone do that to themselves?

He tried asking Mio, but she's been a perfect liar since she was five. The whole "I just enjoy watching him revert to his primitive ancestry" story only revealed that she was amused by it, not why she did it.

_Oh_! It just hit him. What if they just enjoy being punished by Sachiyo? He shook his head, disappointed in the thought. He reprimanded himself, the idea itself was too farfetched. _That's just crazy! Who would do that?_

"…and also, you're holding the map upside down, Madara."

Izuna heard the map crumble between them and watched as his brother tossed it over his shoulder, self-assured.

"We're leaving, Izuna," he ordered crisply.

Madara walked on ahead. Izuna approached her knowingly, snatching up the crumpled map from the floor as he went. "I'm keeping an eye on you two."

"He wasn't holding it upside down," she admitted, bright eyed and trembling with laughter. "Look how angry he is."

"This is our only map, Mio, and he just crumbled it up."

"I already know the way. I've gone to Kurata before." Mio looked at the patches of sky from the thick frondescence. "I'm just worried about the weather. Storm clouds are forming."

.

.

The remainder of the route was traveled in complete silence. The air between Madara and Mio was as tense and awkward as always. They were back to square one and Izuna could do nothing about it, no matter how many times he swore he would figure something out.

They arrived in a small town, a merchant area, home to a couple inns. Izuna set his sights on an onsen, considering the sudden chill in the air. He figured a dip in the hot springs might do them well.

Madara refused immediately, not listening to his protests. "We are not on a vacation," he said sternly. "We can only afford one overnight stop from the manor to Kurata." He looked at him straight in the eyes and said, "Don't complain."

"Hot springs are quite beneficial," started Mio simply.

Madara walked past her. "Don't start."

Izuna glanced in her direction as she shrugged her shoulders in automatic defeat. "I tried."

"I wouldn't call that trying," he replied. "You gave up too easily."

Mio frowned, fixing her eyes on Madara's retreating form through the crowd of people and to Izuna's pleading expression. "Do you want me to convince him?"

"We won't get another chance, you know how grandmother is about hot springs," he admitted lowly. "If it starts raining we'll just get stuck in some run down shack outside the village because he's such a cheapskate. So it all comes down to whether you want to sleep in a single futon with both of us, freezing your ass off because we all know Madara will hog the blanket or have your own, warm, fluffy futon in a single room? Decide."

Mio sprinted through the crowd faster than he had anticipated. He stalked off in her direction, cutting through a crowd of traveling merchants depositing boxes of fresh produce from some other part in the country. He reached his traveling companions in front of a shoddy inn having a serious conversation. He caught on a few snippets of Mio's argument of hot springs' benefits in their bustling backdrop.

"…flow of oxygen-rich blood…" He heard distantly. Mio's voice was soft and easily lost in the quick prattling of two reminiscent old women seated in a wooden bench outside an udon shop. "Thus, improves the nourishment to vital organs and tissues."

Lanterns were lit one by one as the sky grew darker and within seconds the wide street was flooded with light, casting shadows along their faces.

Madara shook his head. "Forget it."

"If we're attacked by rogue shinobi in the morning and Izuna dies, it's your fault because thermal waters could do wonders on sleep deprivation."

Izuna grimaced at the sudden mention of his death. He was always the dead one in these negotiations.

Madara did not budge. He said no and meant it.

A portion of her counterargument was lost in the shrill laughter of children frolicking across the street. "…include simulation of the immune system and provides physical _and _mental relaxation," she finished. "And even if you feel fine now, you'll feel a dozen times better after a soak in the hot springs."

"No, so stop aggravating me!" he snapped.

Mio sighed; regaining a smidgen of lost composure, and straightened her back to stand at her full height. At the moment, she was only an inch shorter than his brother was, but due to her slouching she always looked shorter. "Okay," she conceded. "Then, we can find some shack out in the woods with a ceiling full of holes sandwiched together under the same blanket as the storm passes."

She spotted Izuna in the crowd and started towards him. "We should start looking for abandoned property. I think there's a cabin somewhere, but it's missing half a ceiling."

Madara met up with them, angry. "Fine. We can stay in the onsen, but if you do anything stupid, we're leaving."

"Why am I the only one with a warning?" asked Mio, eyebrows creased.

"You're the only one that needs it."

Izuna quickly led the way, too excited to heed his brother's warnings himself as he rented a single room for three at the counter. Once the waitress led the trio to their accommodations, Mio checked the menu and ordered a healthy dinner as Madara slid open the shoji screens to the adjacent room. The stuttering girl, who had taken one look at the brothers and turned to jelly, excused herself after informing them about the onsen hours, completely forgetting Mio's existence.

Mio organized their things into a closet with the exception of their concealed weapons. She handed similarly pattern robes to Izuna and Madara as soon as he reappeared in the main area.

"This is a single," he said, looking to his brother for an explanation to this mess.

Mio was the first to look at the ceiling as the pitter-patter of rain reached her ears, then reverted her attention to the wide room. "We should fit nicely."

Izuna wasn't listening. He pulled on the robe as quickly as possible and headed out the room, excited about the onsen. He didn't bother inviting either of them. They looked too busy to care if he snuck out.

"Damnit Izuna!"

"The onsen stays open for another two hours," said Mio, picking up his brother's discarded clothes and folding them neatly. "Perhaps, you should join Izuna and relax."

Madara snatched his brother's robes from her arms and scattered them. "Don't pick up his clothes, you're not his maid."

.

.

Izuna washed up quickly before slipping into the hot spring. The hot water did wonders on sore muscles and the longer he sat submerged in the onsen, the smarter it seemed to suggest they start frequenting them. Madara joined him half an hour later, announcing that Mio stayed behind.

"She picked up your mess as well," he mentioned, seating himself near his brother, "even after I told her not to."

Izuna laughed. "She is too nice."

"She's not your maid."

"Never!"

"She's not your mother either, so stop letting her coddle you."

"Don't be jealous, brother, you already spend too much time with her. I barely get a few hours before you pick fights with her. All the emotional warfare going on is going to kill you."

Madara grimaced. He only stayed ten minutes before returning to the room.

Izuna remained in the water a bit longer, thinking about their strange amicability. He was almost positive they were forcing themselves into some sort of unspoken treaty, or was it to impress the feudal lord with the safe delivery of his daughter. Surely, if the job went well, they would find better jobs in the Wave Country. There were many politics involved and plenty of skirmishes building up into war that currently constructed the shinobi world. Most wars were started from rival clans, always at battle with one another until they crossed someone else's territory and dragged them into the skirmish. There were lords in need of protection that hired famous clans to do their dirty work and it became the cause of rivalry with clans from other countries. Regardless, the endless fighting brought them money. To get more, they needed better jobs.

This mission was riding on that possibility. So whatever Madara and Mio had going on put him on edge.

He decided not to overthink it as he left the hot water.

Izuna returned to the room to find Madara on his own, staring at the mounds of food scattered across the table. "So, did she poison them with roe again?"

"No, the waitress just brought it," answered Madara, unhappy with the remembrance. "Mio left to the onsen."

He slid the door shut and took his seat across his brother, picking up chopsticks to dig into his share of food. He shattered the silence as he started asking questions about the feudal lord's daughter, most of which Madara couldn't answer.

Mio slipping into the room in the middle of dinner and took the empty seat next to Izuna. She had three bites before excusing herself to sleep, looking a bit green. He wanted to ask if something happened while she was at the hot springs, but thought it might be inappropriate.

Madara stayed out the longest after Izuna slipped into bed, taking the futon by the closet. Mio was sleeping comfortably under the window where she could listen to the rainfall.

Somewhere between dreams, Izuna opened his eyes to the hushed voices of Madara and Mio. He strained to listen, unable to believe his ears.

"…found a target here," whispered Mio.

"And?" responded Madara.

"…"

"Mio?"

"What do you think?" she remarked, voice dripping with sarcasm. "We had tea by an open fire and discussed vegetables?"

"Don't be cheeky."

Izuna breathed deeply, exhaustion easing him into slumber.

"Stop shouting, you'll wake Izuna," she hissed.

"Nobody is shouting, idiot," he retorted.

He was practically shouting.

Izuna shifted in his futon, twisting under the blankets as Mio shushed his brother. "Did grandmother threaten you both? Like separately?"

Through the sheen of moonlight, Madara and Mio exchange a questioning look before facing him once more. Mio buried under her blankets, facing away.

"Go back to sleep," urged Madara as he dropped onto bed, facing away from him too.

Now, he really wanted to know what was going on between them. The way they reacted to his sudden outburst was too suspicious.

"Hey," he called into the darkness. "What are you two hiding from me?"

Silence greeted him on both ends.

"I'd know if you were sleeping, you're lousy sleepers."

Mio started grinding her teeth, dismissing herself as an option, but Izuna knew better.

"Will you stop grinding your goddamned teeth?" shouted Madara, tossing a pillow at the back of her head.

Izuna prepared himself to prevent any violent outbursts, looking up to Mio. He saw her reach over her shoulder for the pillow his brother tossed at her.

"Thanks for the extra pillow," she said, stuffing it under her blanket.

Madara cursed under his breath as he reached her futon, swiping the pillow from under her head. She hit the floor hard, grumbling in displeasure. She glared at him as he returned to his bed with her pillow, a look of complete hatred in her eyes.

"I could choke you in your sleep," she growled.

"I could kill you in my sleep," he retorted.

Izuna watched them helplessly. They were fighting over each other's pillows. There were more in the closet. There was an entire stack of comfortable pillows waiting for a guest to lay claim on them in there. It was then that he realized he wouldn't be able to sleep in the same room with them together and thought back to the two sleeping in the barn. How did they fall asleep? They were probably arguing over hay or claiming llamas until they chased them out of their pens.

"We're supposed to be getting along," started Izuna, the voice of reason. "You were doing great, so why are you fighting all over again?"

"Because your stupid—"

"Take that back, you—"

"—brother is stupid, stupid."

"—_bitch_."

He caught the insults, nothing more, and sighed. Izuna left his comfort. He took his futon, his pillow and himself out of the room. As unlikely as it sounded, they were starting to annoy him. He wanted to shout at them to make up their minds. He didn't want to wake up the next morning wondering if they were going to hate each other throughout the day or work without insulting each other. Whatever it was, he didn't care. He just wanted to sleep comfortably and stay out of their business.

He didn't care to know what they were hiding anymore.

"You're so stupid."

"Don't make me cut your tongue out."

"Oh, are we making threats?"

There was an alarming nonchalance in her voice, the sort people immediately regretted, but not exactly the type to put Mio on Madara's last nerve. Izuna has seen it happen before and it has never a pretty sight. His most prominent memories of these situations involved Madara proudly declaring himself the winner and Mio bawling into Sachiyo's skirts. Sachiyo berated her for picking fights she couldn't win, saying, "_If only you weren't such a crybaby._"

It was true. Mio was a crybaby. She cried about everything—making mistakes, being shouted at for not grasping a technique anyone considered easy, being hit too hard by Madara, and the little things. In fact, remembering this amazed him that she hadn't cried somewhere along the trip.

_Self-control_, he acknowledged mentally. She probably realized how troublesome it was to cry about everything in a battlefield. That or Sachiyo found a way to solve the problem. _Someone taught her self-control._

"As if you could threaten me," replied Madara snidely.

"I'm telling Sachiyo-sama that you were m—_unf!_"

There was a loud clatter in the adjacent room.

"Go. To. Sleep. Mio."

Izuna opened his eyes to mere slits, looking over his shoulder to the shut door. There was a worrying quality about his brother's voice, the sort that came accompanied by a sharp knife.

…Suddenly, there was silence.

_I hope he didn't kill her._

The sound of her sniffling reassured him.

"I didn't even hit you!"

"You hurt my feelings," she said in a little voice.

Izuna could _feel_ the roll of his brother's eyes when the silence between them set and sighed. _One of them needs to go._

* * *

><p>The following morning was plagued with last night's tension. Madara and Mio chose to be silent partners and nothing he said willed either of them to say a word. At least, it relieved him to see they were back to normal, as normal as that was to them. Regardless, they travelled swiftly, taking minor intervals of rest along the way before arriving to the snow-toppled mountains that housed Kurata. Kurata was a union between three common villages and a lord's territory that functioned under the protection of a dangerous shinobi clan.<p>

"We need to be careful, this is Kuronuma territory," Mio announced, taking the lead up the mountain road.

"The Demon clan?" questioned Madara with a bit of humor. "I do wonder how they would par with three Uchihas."

"Easily if you rely on your Sharingan," she remarked.

"What's that mean?" asked Izuna, clenching his teeth to avoid succumbing to the powerful waves of wintry air.

_Why is it even cold here? We're in the middle of the rainy season!_

The terrain beneath his feet was brittle and the road sat between wide pools of sizzling black substance. Residents from the last village warned them about touching the black water, they said many people had died upon making contact because it burned the flesh right off their bones.

Mio wrapped her arms around her body, cursing her mistake early on when she told them not to worry about the possibility of a snowstorm. "You should pay better attention to the reports. Sachiyo-sama always shows them to you, doesn't she?"

"Just get to the point," Madara grumbled.

"They're physically strong and are in possession of a Kekkei Genkai that can annul all genjutsu," she explained. "And they don't use hand gestures, or so they say."

"That sounds like we should proceed carefully," replied Izuna in acknowledgment, noticing the road twisting around the mountain as the dark waters sank out of sight. He shot a glance over the ledge to the dangerous fall. Everything beneath was shrouded in darkness. "How far down do you think it is?"

Mio shuddered as she glanced down. "Far enough to kill you before you hit the ground."

"That's a pretty fast death. You won't feel it."

"How much of it is true?" asked Madara in complete disbelief, reverting to the initial conversation. "Most word of the Kuronuma is made up of rumors."

"Perhaps, the idea is that you shouldn't take them lightly," she replied warningly. "If we make one wrong move on our way to the girl, we can find ourselves face to face with them."

"Well aren't you superstitious."

"I'll make sure to toss your ashes at your stupid birds," she said tonelessly. "I'm sure they would appreciate the gesture."

"Ah, you finally killed him off," said Izuna, amused. He was so used to being the dead one. This was a good change, but just as good as it was, it was suspicious.

Mio adopted consideration for the ancient Kuronuma clan, taking the lead whenever Madara did something that could be labeled a complete disrespect to the unknown shinobi. They avoided detours and breaks. Instead, they headed straight for the castle situated deep within the mountainous area, surrounded by high walls and protected by dozens of soldiers.

The trio paused a meter outside the gargantuan gate under the direct scrutiny of guardsmen outside.

"Shinobi."

The word was passed around the armor-clad quartet, each taking particular precaution in case they were the diversion before an invasion. Their whispers were drowned out by the whistling wind, but they had the advantage of possessing the Sharingan. A portion of the conversation involved the fact that there were enough soldiers behind the tall walls with remarkable capabilities that could easily dispose of three shinobi and the other half was the matter of the feudal lord's daughter.

"We're here for the latter," announced Mio, shortly after Izuna finished reading the conversation with his dōjutsu. "We're from the Uchiha clan, hired by the Wave Country's feudal lord to deliver his daughter, Chika-sama, into the safety of his stronghold."

A note of skepticism clouded their expressions.

Madara produced a scroll from his bag and tossed it in their direction. "Those are our direct orders."

The taller soldier caught the small scroll midair, moving back to his place as he opened it, keeping his eyes on them.

"Mind you, if we suspect your holding the daimyō's daughter hostage we are allowed to attack you," added Izuna lightly, though he received a bothered look from his companions.

"You may enter," called one of the soldiers as two pushed opened the heavy gates and the third shouted orders to the rest inside. "I will escort you to meet the lord and retrieve the princess. Once you have entered our territory, it is in our right to attack you if any one of you puts one foot out of line. Understood?"

"Yes," answered Madara seriously, leading the way ahead.

Izuna walked together with Mio.

"So frightening," commented Mio beneath her breath.

"If you say anything to provoke them, I'll have you flayed," threatened Madara lowly.

Mio only got as far as the gate, stopping inches from stepping into the castle's dominion and earned suspicious glances from the surrounding soldiers.

Their self-appointed escort looked to Madara and Izuna. "Is she coming along?"

"Did you read the agreement?" asked Madara, shooting a glance to the scroll in the man's hand. "We would enter the Northern Castle without the company of spies for the safety of your lord's secrets."

"I see…"

Izuna faced her. "Make sure we have a clear path for when we get the princess."

Mio gave a small nod and vanished from their sight to scout the surrounding area for signs of trouble.

If the neighboring countries were peaceful, chances were that no shinobi would be allowed to set foot into the castle. Since the job required finding a path to avoid conflict when it came down to escorting high status individuals from place to place was the sort of duty only a skilled shinobi could manage. Normally, jobs like these went straight to the compound as Sachiyo refused to waste their talents on anything considered useless, but she insisted the trio traveled together and escort the princess home safely.

The male soldier quickly introduced himself as Sen. He explained the circumstances in which they acquired temporary custody of the young woman as he led them over a stone path aligned with soldiers in their army, each greeting Sen as their superior.

"…regrettably our young lord passed away before her arrival and it caused uproar with the Kuronuma clan, so they refused to offer Chika-sama the protection she needed through the valleys," explained Sen, as the towering castle came into view.

Izuna tried hard not to grow bored. There were too many politics involved. He wanted nothing more than to be back at their manor in the middle of the rainy season training with Madara and spending his free time with Mio in her closet room. He figured he at least got something good out of the mission. They needed to visit that onsen once they were on better terms so he wouldn't have to deal with all the tense silence and late night disagreements.

Sending them together as a trio made Izuna wonder what his grandmother was thinking. Was this just another method to make Madara and Mio get along? They had their moments. He learned from observing them and saw that they were professional. Apart from earlier interferences, they seemed to know when it was appropriate to annoy each other.

"You have ties with the Kuronuma clan?" questioned Madara.

Izuna's attention snapped back to their objective.

"Once," replied Sen darkly. "The Kuronuma clan's methods were questioned by the new lord and so they cut ties with the castle. Our army is banned from crossing into their territory. If the agreement hadn't fallen through, we could have just asked to return the princess as a favor from them."

"If your lord passed, you should have taken up their first offer and sent her home immediately," said Madara crisply. "There isn't room for royalty in this world. I'm surprised there are still castles remaining."

Sen ignored the disagreeable comment and continued, "Our alliance to the Kuronuma clan kept the rouges from destroying the castle when the raids happened. They built nearly impenetrable walls and turned the land into a frosty wasteland to weed out the weaklings up the mountain path."

"Oh, so it's always this cold up here?" Izuna asked curiously.

Sen nodded. "The entire year."

"Can they do that?"

Izuna looked to Madara for answers, but he merely shrugged in response.

Sen led them beyond the grand entrance to a dimly lit hall covered in ancient decorations. He took them to the depths of the castle, down crisscrossing hallways and walls covered in oil paintings and wall scrolls. There were secrets hidden within them and the boxes situated beneath them on thin tables. Izuna imagined if Mio had entered along with them, she would have already learned the contents of every so-called treasure.

Sachiyo instructed them to leave Mio outside the castle walls. She was particularly strict about it, saying that it was of the utmost importance.

They paused in front of a door. Sen announced their arrival as he approached, giving the door a light rasp with his knuckles.

"You may enter," called a deep voice from beyond the door.

The shoji screens slid open to reveal a gargantuan room decorated in lavish golden vases and exotic flowers. Sitting in the center of the room was an older, wrinkled male with slicked back graying hair and a powerful gaze. Beside him was the girl he assumed to be Chika. She was dressed elegantly with sleek blond hair and wide, gray eyes.

"Would you care for tea?" asked the older man, the lord of the castle.

"It's an appreciated gesture, but unnecessary, we're here to pick up the girl and deliver her to safety," said Madara. "The best way to do that is by getting things done quickly. So, if you will."

The lord chuckled in amusement. "Then there is no reason to keep you. Chika-san, your escorts have arrived."

The blond nodded, looking up to both with frightened eyes. "Thank you for accepting my father's offer."

"Let's go," announced Madara. "Mio should already be outside."

Sen blinked. "But you just left her…?"

"Mio works fast."

As expected, Madara gave Chika and her attendants no time to thank the lord properly for his hospitality and a reiteration of condolences for the loss of his nephew. The young girl and her entourage rushed behind them awkwardly, not used to the presence of shinobi, but not entirely ungrateful. They knew their place.

Madara did nothing to accommodate them and set the atmosphere for what it would be the rest of the trip.

Izuna pitied the frightened girl and approached her with a benign smile. "I'm Izuna," he greeted lowly, calling the attention of her three attendants. He pointed to his brother. "Madara is my older brother and Mio—" Chika immediately looked over her shoulder, expecting to see someone there. Izuna snorted, snapping her attention back at him. "Mio didn't come in, she's outside."

Chika blinked curiously. "Why did she not enter?"

"Not allowed."

"Did she do something?"

"No, she's just a—"

"_Izuna_." Madara's voice was dangerously low and his gaze intense.

"She's awkward," he finished with a frown.

Sen bid them farewell at the gates and they exited the lord's territory to the wide stretch of snow-covered land expecting to find Mio.

"That's interesting, she's usually here by now," said Izuna aloud.

"She can catch up," stated Madara, starting down the same path that brought them up the mountain area at a pace to accommodate their new companions.

"What if something happened to her?" questioned Izuna, concerned.

"Mio's good at avoiding trouble. She'll be fine."

Izuna nodded in agreement and fell behind the group, hoping Mio returned quickly. There was no sense in worrying about her. What Madara said was true. Mio was adept in avoiding conflict and if challenged, he was certain she could hold her own. His grandmother trained her personally; it'd be shameful if she couldn't stand her ground. Mio wouldn't allow that.

Even so, the uneasiness steadily filled him.

_Maybe she got lost…?_

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><p><strong>xl note<strong>: Izuna never fails to amuse me and Madara and Mio have the strangest relationship. I love 'em all.


	7. The Bandits of Kurata 2

Chapter **07** | The Bandits of Kurata II

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><p>Mio saw Madara and Izuna off at the high walls of the northern castle as promised. There were ways to circumvent the issue because she was still considered a spy-in-training as much as she was a kunoichi-in-training by Uchiha standards and though she completed hundreds of jobs over the last four years, she made her accomplishments under the strict surveillance of full-fledged shinobi. She could have entered if Madara or Izuna requested it, but as they hadn't, she went off to ensure the pathways were safe for the daimyō's daughter and her attendants. They needed to drop their speed to accommodate them, resulting in the inevitable pass through one of the wintry villages of Kurata's trifecta and it had to be done without stepping anywhere near Kuronuma territory.<p>

Snow swirled at her feet. A gale cut through the mountain ranges of Kurata, echoing back at her like a beast in the wild, where the stories paved the Kuronuma clan as fanatical cannibals. Tales as ancient as time itself, before the Sage of the Six Paths came and went, presented them as mystical, non-existing creatures in a world of humanity and war. But the truth spoke volumes of the skill of their shinobi and the dangers of their black water techniques, of their lives of quiet icy settings and a world of peace unless provoked. In the shinobi world, they were either ridiculed by the stronger clans who called them the "Rabbits of Kurata" or proven into non-existence by a staggering amount of facts.

Mio neither ignored nor mocked their presence in the snowy hills behind her as she found the precarious venture into the mountains through a snaking ice road, brittle to the slightest of weights, surrounded by treacherous cliffs. She took in the beauty and ugliness of the land, determining that Kurata was a dangerous world, in and of itself, by mere instinct.

Upon entering, the cold wind eased into her pours, freezing her bloodstream, and she felt her confidence in her safety diminish like wisps of white dust. She took on the perfidious road with a quickening sense of urgency, simply casting a glance over the edge sent her heart into an uncontrollable rhythm. It took every ounce of training Sachiyo pounded in her not to admit she feared the cliffs and the strangely soothing smell of everlasting winter.

She used whatever remained of her courage to inspect the treacherous roads but felt her resolve weaken with every step she took. The frozen path shook under her slight weight, cracked along the outline of her boots. The panic swelled in her stomach, twisting her innards and dispelled the remaining air from her lungs.

Mio lifted her eyes to the winding path to the bottom of the mountain, to the thick forest on her right crawling with the savage animals a guardsmen at the gate warned her about and the barren wasteland to her left that looked as though the dead trees were killed by a powerful fire before a storm withered them. She returned her gaze to the objective. She needed to finish quickly and relay her information to Madara, so she pushed aside the overpowering urge to turn her back and run.

She pushed forward, taking a quick approach. She jumped on the sturdier areas and continued onward smoothly until her judgment betrayed her. She landed swiftly at the edge of the path when the ice gave up under her. The weight of her body sunk her straight through the brittle road, but with flailing arms and desperation, she caught hold of the edge.

She yelped, louder than she realized. Her voice shouted back at her, forcing her heart and stomach into a flutter. Hung by the strength of a trembling arm, Mio avoided looking down to the deep darkness. Her heart skipped a single beat with the initial surprised, but she hadn't fallen. The sigh of relief that escaped her lips sounded a lot like a petrified shudder.

The ice felt fragile in her grasp and the cold seeped in through her fingertips, numbing her sense of feeling instantly. It burned like prickling needles stabbing a single place all at once, only multiplied to cover the rest of her palm.

She attempted to reach with her other hand, but the hard motion cracked the ice. She felt it splitting between her fingers as if there was a running current snaking between it. She feared the idea of falling from a cliff to her death. She took another shuddering breath and tried to swing her body slightly to reach the icy pathway once more.

The slightest shake provoked the whole chunk to split apart. Mio opened her mouth, watching as everything slowed down around her. The clouds idled overhead, the sounds deepened, and shards of ice split in her vision, falling across her cheeks, tangling in her hair like a shower of rain. She felt her weight becoming the object of her demise as the world gradually sped up and the wind pushed against her in ice-cold vengeance.

A shadow shot out to her, gripping her arm and hoisting her small form to a body radiating warmth that carried her into the safety of the barren plains faster than the scream erupting from her throat. It died there, but her trepidation remained.

She stared wide-eyed as a large chunk of the road split and tumbled across the dangerous cliffs, breaking apart until they melted in the dark waters beneath. She couldn't have done anything different in her situation. She would have plunged into the bottom and never see sunlight again.

The second Mio felt the sturdy ground under her feet she realized her entire body was shaking. Fear overpowered her, melting away her guard as the chunks of ice had in the water. The unwanted experience brought her back to the first time she traveled to Kurata. She went on an assignment that doubled as mental training where she faced too many fears while memorizing the terrain and names of neighboring shinobi clans. Many thoughts rushed through her head, painting pictures of all the horrible fates she could have experienced while crossing the roads. The steeper the slope, the heavier her breathing became, the thinner the ice, the harder her heart thumped.

Mio followed the familiar route that led them to the castle back to the foot of the mountain where she saw Kurata for what it was, brittle landscapes and abysmal pitfalls that made her hope that if she were to die then, it should be quick.

Something heavy and warm fell on her head as she glimpsed strings of white leaving her periphery. Mio tugged a heavy white coat from her head. It was lined with soft, white fur that carried the heat of an animal and in a hidden pocket inside she found the crest of a shinobi clan sown in fine black thread depicting a curving tendril of smoke twisting through the white fabric with a pair of dots near the swirling head.

She looked up at the sound of crunching feet to the broad back of a white giant. A mane of snow-white hair fell across his back, the straight strands twisting into tangles with every harsh whisper of the wind and his eyes were cut like amethysts. The man was built like an ox with sinewy pale flesh, a squared jaw and straight, pointed nose. He wore clothes that camouflaged with the snowy settings, simple trousers held together by a wide belt that carried the sheath of a misshapen dagger and a loose, sleeveless shirt that billowed in the restless wind.

"You came unprepared again," he said, a voice as deep as a wolf's growl. "I took you to be a cautious girl."

Mio still held the coat in her hands, feeling the sting of insult. He watched her enter Kurata during her first visit, only then would he have knowledge of her mistakes. After leaving the winter lands, she had assumed rumors of an eternal winter had been senseless gossip to build up and knock down the villages of Kurata.

She clutched the cloth tightly. "Thank you."

"It is not time to thank me," he said lowly.

He cut the distance between them, reaching for the dagger on his back.

'_You blink, you die_.'

Mio remembered the teachings of her father, but the fright possessed her. She was not strong enough to cast aside her childhood fears, just as she was not strong enough to face an opponent of this man's caliber. But she tried, throwing the coat between them as she jumped backward.

She only had two options, win or die.

The white giant ducked under his jacket and pushed forward, speeding up.

Mio launched two sets of five shuriken that sliced through the wind, the steel whistling as they spun closer and closer to his face. She could hear her heart beating in her ears as the rest of her body went numb with sudden frost.

He deflected them with a single swipe of his dagger. His eyes were slits of poison that proved taking her life was as easy as knocking ten shuriken out of their trajectory. He wanted to instill the fear in her and he accomplished it.

She lost her footing, slipped over the ice and fell hard on her back. She didn't struggle once he was on her, tightening a black, leathery rope around her wrists. She was his prisoner the moment he rescued her from that fall. She only noticed once he made it clear to her because she chose to ignore her fears than facing them. If she pretended she was someone else, she could get through the day without a hitch, but weakness and failure clung to her like a brand seared into her back.

The man pulled her off the ground and brushed the snow from her shoulders to find the Uchiha crest on the sleeve of her thin coat. "Ahh," he said in amazement. "A young Uchiha. How old might you be?"

"Is this relevant to my survival?" she asked firmly, wishing she could cover the Uchiha's fan.

He blinked, utterly confused. "Well no, not exactly."

"Then it's none of your business," she blurted.

He shrugged his shoulders, giving the leather rope a harsh tug. "I suppose it isn't."

Mio stumbled forward, forced to keep up with his long strides. She fell behind a number of times after he picked up his fallen jacket and started toward the stretch of white fields and steep hills in the opposite direction of the castle where the road would meet with the pine forest across them. She soothed her worries by mapping out the vast snowfield in her mind because if she managed to escape, she only had an instant to cut across valleys, naked fields and brittle ice roads without making another mistake.

But she knew escape was impossible. She had seen the crest he wore proudly once before and she swore never to forget it were she to travel through the mountains of Kurata. It belonged to the ancient clan of winter, the Kuronuma clan.

A long silence unfurled between them as they traveled far into the wasteland and further in where a marvelous waterfall once stood flanked by two mountain edges connected by a bridge. It was rickety old thing that swayed and creaked in agony with every step they took to cross it.

Mio glimpsed at the forty feet drop below, shrouded as one would expect of an abyss, and felt her heart leap into her throat. She couldn't pretend to be the Mio that wasn't afraid of that elevation and she was starting to feel her palms sweat.

"So are the rumors true?" she asked suddenly, asking the panic to die through conversation. She faced forward to the stretch of pines amassed in the distance.

"What rumors?"

"That the black water burns the flesh off bones."

"That's an interesting rumor," he said, astonished. "Too farfetched, don't you agree?"

"My opinion is irrelevant."

There were many steps left before they reached the other side.

"Is that your understanding or your owner's?" he questioned with a coy glance off his shoulder.

Their eyes met for an instant. Her insides grew colder. She hated his insinuation, she owed her life to Sachiyo and accepted that it belonged to her but she could form her own opinions.

"That is also irrelevant."

He paused, the bridge swaying as another gale flushed against it, and turned to her. She wanted to die as the echo of splintering wood reached her ears.

"Well, let's make a deal," he said lightly, moving closer. His towering form shadowed her entire body.

"I don't make deals with my captors," she said, observing his softening expression.

"I wouldn't go as far as calling myself your captor," he defended.

Mio looked to the rope cutting into her wrists and back at him, a blank canvas.

"Don't look at me like that."

"…"

"Anyway, we can make a deal." He reached to touch her face, pressing his thumb to the corner of her left eye. "I reveal the secret of the black water and you show me that dōjutsu of yours."

"No," she deadpanned.

He feigned concern. "No?"

"No."

"This is a good proposition."

"No," she repeated with finality.

"You're pretty boring, you know." He heaved a disappointed sigh.

She stared at him, blank faced.

"Stop looking at me like that!" he cried dramatically.

Her expression failed to change by the time he prepared his next question.

"Can you even use the Sharingan?"

"Irrelevant," she said inconsequently.

"Is that the only word you know?"

He was toying with her. "That question is also irrelevant."

"I guess it is," he intoned.

Mio felt the chill burn in her cheeks as he shifted his weight. The wood between them felt as brittle as the road that crumbled under her feet, yet it stood strong with the weight of this man that stood well over six feet.

"You're quite the spy," he said in a tone denoting humor.

"You talk too much."

She regretted starting the conversation in the first place. Her fear had already dissipated. She could be the Mio that wasn't afraid of anything now. She had the strength to face whatever the Kuronuma put her through during captivity.

"I get that a lot," he admitted.

"Though of shutting up?" she suggested.

He laughed, a laugh that boomed in the empty valleys, and reached to pat the top of her head with his giant hand. "I like you."

"I don't like you."

He laughed harder, shaking his head. "Let's cross now."

She meant what she said. He gave her a gentle tug, unlike the previous ones, and together with the sound of his laughing they crossed the remainder of the wooden bridge.

Once on the other side, he reached for her hands, digging his fingers under her binds and ripped them with ease. She stared at him gaping. She tried hard to cut through them seeing as they were only ropes, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't. He did it in an instant.

"I am called Enya," he said courteously. "I am a Kuronuma, ranked Elder by our shinobi laws, and will be twenty next month. I have introduced myself; I hope you honor me by doing the same."

"Mio of the Uchiha clan from the Fire Country in the south," she said amicably. "I am a spy-in-training and will be fifteen in four months."

"Should we wait?" he suggested, waving his arm over a mound of snow.

"For what?"

"The one you call Madara."

_Madara…?_ She wanted to snort, but reserved the urge for when Enya was proven wrong.

"Be prepared to be disappointed, he will not come for me," she said, confident.

"You sell yourself short, Mio of the Uchiha clan," he said, seating himself on the mound of snow. "You are far more valuable than you are led to believe."

She found him peculiar, suspiciously so. She didn't believe his words. Madara would complete the mission even if it meant abandoning a comrade in the process because they were sacrificial pieces. He would leave Izuna behind if he decided to search the winter lands for traces of her. That was the type of person he was, with a heart meant for the cold of Kurata.

"I am a trainee," she continued. "There are a dozen others that can take my place."

"Your place isn't vacant," he said ominously, glimpsing at her with a happy glint in his eye. He faced the swaying bridge. "He will come."

"If he doesn't want his grandmother to kill him," she grumbled. "Are you sure it isn't Izuna?"

A humored smile curved his lips. "No. It is the eldest."

"If I show you my dōjutsu will you answer a question?" she proposed, bothered by his certainty.

"No."

"No?"

He shook his head. "No," he repeated. "I won't answer that question."

Mio frowned as a loud eruption shook the entire valley and flames licked across ice ridges. She sprinted toward the bridge. The fire died out, but the clash of weapons and shouts of wounded quickly echoed to her. Bursts of snow shot up into the sky, spinning under the control of a shinobi that weaved a thickening black thread of what resembled water. She attempted to rush forward to shout a warning, but Enya grabbed her by the collar.

She inclined her head to face him, ready to shout.

"We will meet again."

She felt no pain when darkness took her, but his words troubled her. She hated the knowing tone of them and dreamt wondering if any of them were true. She chastised herself as feeling abandoned her body because Madara would never come.

* * *

><p><strong>xl note<strong>: Because I am a disgusting pervert I totally read that last line wrong. Izuna POV next chapter.


	8. The Bandits of Kurata 3

Chapter **08** | The Bandits of Kurata III

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><p>Izuna waited anxious and impatient. It had taken the thirty-minute commute into the snowy rest town for Madara to admit Mio's absence wasn't deliberate and leave with the intention of bringing her to the inn. He asked Izuna to keep the princess and her attendants ignorant, even though he wanted to find Mio himself. He thought of nothing else as he sat before a stone fire pit, the flames danced in his eyes as he stared deep within them in concentration—forgetting his surroundings and remembered the warnings he received about Kurata.<p>

Chika rounded the bench and seated herself beside him, tugging her billowing sleeves onto her lap where she folded her hands. She peered at him with curious eyes, thinking of a way to disturb his meditation but not upset him. She shifted noisily, hoping the rustle of her clothes could have him turn in her direction, but it failed. She sensed something was wrong the minute the longhaired boy mentioned scouting the area because they already had someone for that purpose, a girl called Mio that was nowhere to be found.

Izuna saw something glittering in his periphery and followed it to Chika's slender wrist, an expensive gold bracelet crusted in tiny diamonds befitting of a girl her status. She wore lavish silk robes with the finest embroidery and gold jewelry complimented with rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamond. She was already in danger of abduction, the excess of her lifestyle read in her clothing making her an easier target.

"Is there a reason we came here?" she asked politely.

Izuna stared at her long and hard. _She has manners, _he thought, incredulous. _Of course she would, she's a daimyō's daughter. She's had people schooling her for that sort of thing, but still…_ He had never been around anyone with a proper (royal) upbringing. Even the way she sat was completely different, back as straight as a board. He felt uneasy. If Mio were sitting next to him, she'd probably be sprawled over the bench with her legs on his lap making faces at Madara's back. There would be hostility in the air as prominent as the warmth in the sitting room.

"Sen recommended this village," he answered. "Apparently, it's the only one still in the lord's jurisdiction after the Kuronuma clan retreated into the valleys. You should consider changing your clothes and putting away your jewels unless you want to be an easy target."

Her fingers trailed across the bountiful necklaces strung from her neck and looked down her front. "I thought it did not matter what I wore, but I did try to dress lightly," she admitted, nonplussed. "I do think I have something else I can wear."

She gestured to her handmaid and asked for her jewelry box and a change of clothes. She traveled light with a heavy trunk carried between her male attendants from where her shy handmaid provided a rectangular box made of black marble speckled in diamond dust. Chika took it onto her lap and started removing her rings, bracelets and necklaces, plucking them off one by one.

Izuna returned his attention to the flames, unsure of the outcome of Mio's absence. She was strong. He believed she was strong and obviously, Madara did to some extent. He himself had said she could avoid trouble. Mio had been working as a spy because Sachiyo knew this to be true, but something about the icy mountains and frozen valleys of Kurata felt dangerous. It carried the faint scent of death, masked in the winter and pine carried over by the forest, and felt as eerie as a room full of skeletons.

The snowstorm rattled the shuttered windows, wind slamming into the walls with a force that whistled so loudly it went on endlessly. Townspeople flocked to burrow themselves in their homes until the storm blew past. The innkeeper told him that many of the people amassed enough supplies to last them weeks, bought fruits and vegetables from merchant caravans with rose-colored permits and received fresh game from the Kuronuma Hunters that travelled as far as necessary to provide proper sustenance for the trifecta of Kurata. That's why the Kuronuma clan was feared outside its bounds and not in. The people lived peacefully among the rumored cannibals.

Izuna grew as restless as the winds outside, leaving his seat and pacing around the room. Chika left the bench to change into a simpler ensemble that wouldn't attract attention, though she owned no humbling clothes she made due with the plainest set of robes she owned that would keep her warm for the rest of their journey. He felt like shouting at her to buy traveling clothes with all her father's money, but he kept it to himself.

A clatter at the establishment's entrance brought him to the doors of the sitting room. He slid them apart. One of the guardsmen from the castle scrambled into the hall, red faced and covered in snow, looking from one end to the next before he spotted him. The armor-clad male rushed to him, breathing heavily.

Izuna saw the strange look the innkeeper shot in their direction. He gave him a slight smile and awarded the guardsman with his attention. "Did something happen?"

"Did you reunite with your spy?" asked the guardsman, looking over the shinobi's shoulder to the male attendants and the fire pit. Confusion filled his eyes. "Where is the older boy?"

"Mio went missing so he went to find her."

The guardsman looked distraught.

Izuna blinked. "What?"

"Our watchtower caught wind of a fight," he explained, brushing the snow off his shoulders. "The valleys are quaking and the black waters have risen from their depths. The Kuronuma are fighting someone and we think it might be the other Uchiha."

"Was there fire?"

He paused, nodding slowly.

Izuna returned into the sitting room to pick up his weapon pouches. "In what direction?" he asked quickly. "Can you stay behind with the princess?"

"Yes," said the guardsman, searching for her. "Where is the princess?"

A high pitch scream ripped through the hall. Izuna and the guardsman ran towards the sound. Many doors opened and curious onlookers peered into the wide hallway as a trio of large men burst through the window at the end. They wore boiled leather over thin armor and jackets lined with black fur, all of them were larger than he was, grown men with beards and beady eyes carrying sharpened axes.

The shy handmaid was thrown to the ground by the ruffian carrying the princess kicking and screaming. The young servant bled from a gaping wound on her neck, the blood pooling under her head as she made a choking sound and her eyes searched her surroundings blindly.

Chika's wide gray eyes found Izuna and tears burst in them. Izuna dug into his weapons, tugging free three kunai he flicked off his fingers with ease and ran after the men. His throwing knives scratched against the steel of one of men's axes when he drew it to shield his face. The guardsman fell behind to check on the handmaid and Izuna preferred it. He worked better alone in these type of situations.

He drew more kunai just as the bandits begun their retreat. The largest of the men smashed his massive axe into the wall and with a heavy kick, smashed a hole into it. Snow fluttered into the wooden floors as he tore larger chunks of wood before running straight into the middle of the snowstorm followed by the ruffian carrying Chika. She called out to him desperately, pounding on the man's giant arm, but the remaining two bandits intercepted his path.

Izuna rushed them fearlessly, dark eyes glinting. He knew from the moment he saw them that he was stronger than they were. These were simple bandits without any of the powerful jutsu he slaved to learn through all his years or proper training for that matter. He was the demon and they were his prey. He swept through both with ease and without mercy.

Tossing one kunai into his other hand, he ducked under the vertical swing of one's axe and threw the other knife at his largest foe. He watched it stab straight into his neck and felt the ground shake as he slammed into the ground, hands clumsily reaching for the handle as blood drenched his clothes. The remaining bandit grew furious and swung his axe fast enough to slice through the front of his coat as he threw himself back. He caught his weight with his hands, flipped and used his landing to push his speed.

The bandit barely felt when the kunai dug deep across his chest, least of all the finishing blow that left him a bloodied mess with a deep gash across his neck and his throat hanging out.

Izuna sprang through the gaping hole in the wall into the biting cold that snapped at his lightly clothed body.

The remaining bandits had not gotten far enough to cause worry and if they had, the echo of Chika's screams would have acted as a guide. He pursued them, feet crunching against the white floor and snow flurried all around his face. His kunai clinked as her drew a set of four, keeping his arms to his sides until he was precisely five meters from the kidnapper. He threw them and a burst of violent wind carried them deep into his flesh, ripping through his light armor and boiled leather vest.

He gave a guttural cry as he stumbled over his weakened feet and fell face first, pinning the princess under his arm. His companion turned back in time to see the shuriken a second before it embedded itself between his eyes. His weapon fell to the ground and then his body sank into his knees.

Chika kicked her feet, pushing against the heavy arm with puny arms. She blinked up at him with frozen tears on her cheeks and fresh ones peeking out the corners. She was breathing heavily, trying hard not to lose herself to the fear. She couldn't assemble words as he kicked the dead man off her body and she scrambled away, looking from one corpse to the next. She whimpered and held her wrinkled, torn clothes to her chest, shielding the thin white robe clothing her body.

The ground shook beneath his bare feet and the wintry winds carried the sound of destruction from further north. He wanted to run towards it, but leaving Chika wasn't an option anymore. Those bandits waited until they caught her alone without him and would have gotten away if they had at least been faster.

Izuna faced the trembling girl and offered his hand with the easiest of smiles. "Let's go back together."

.

.

Night unraveled beyond Kurata, spreading darkness that quieted the restless winds and brought forth the crackle of wood burning in the pit. It took hours for Chika to accept the death of her handmaid and many more for an entire guard to be assembled around the inn to prevent another attack. The lord of the castle paid for the damages and ordered his men to repair it, and while the innkeeper was thankful, his remaining customers were frightened, not of a potential attack but of the boy that killed them all.

Izuna didn't mind the backlash so long as Chika was safe and she was, traumatized but safe. A mug of tea and medicine put her to sleep and she lay in a futon behind the bench in the sitting room where he could keep an eye on her. He kept his eyes on the flames in the pit, dancing away without need of wind. Bright orange, yellow and red licking up the wood sitting in the center until it was reduced to ashes. He added new logs every hour and it kept him from falling asleep. Even if he tried, he wouldn't be able to thinking about what happened to his brother and Mio.

The door rattled open and a youthful guardsman burst inside, wind burnt and breathless. "We see them."

Izuna jumped to his feet. "Both of them?"

"There's two," he said simply, but that was enough.

Izuna ran past him and out the entrance of the inn where six guardsmen stood vigilant, there were others all around the village. The lanterns hung from the wall provided little light in the heavily shaded street, but he could hear the crunch of snow under Madara's boots and in a matter of seconds watched him stumbling into sight with Mio on his back.

Madara was battle worn with fresh cuts and bruises on his skin. His clothes were completely tattered.

Izuna sprinted to him, searching for answer in his dark eyes. "What happened?"

"Get back inside, we can talk there," he ordered, voice low and fading.

Madara set Mio on a futon once inside, pressing his fingers to her neck to feel her pulse. He wore bloodied bandages over both arms covering a wound that peeked between the slits, oozing with a thick green substance. He used his throbbing hands to search for wounds on their spy's body, but she only suffered the ones on her wrists where a rope pinched the skin until it bloodied.

"An elder called Enya captured Mio," Madara started lowly, reaching into his bag for new bandages and a suspicious jar of green goo. "She was searching for a quick route when the road went out under her and she nearly fell. She would have had Enya not saved her, but it was an excuse to take her prisoner. He left an easy trail to follow, but it was one of his ploys. I was ambushed by fifteen of his clansmen…"

Izuna stared at him intensely, lowering his eyes only to see him lather the green substance on her wrists before wrapping them in gauze.

"They're strong, all of them, even the youngest ones," he said in a voice tinged with anger. "I couldn't stand my ground without using up nearly all chakra. Enya delivered Mio to me after calling off the others."

He didn't defeat them. They defeated him. The frustration burned in his eyes. Madara clenched his hands, wincing in pain.

"Why would they return her like that?" asked Izuna, confused.

Madara shook his head. "We need to leave Kurata immediately."

"I agree," he said. "I ran into some bandits that nearly stole Chika-sama."

"What?" snapped his brother. "Were they rose-eyed?"

"No, they were ordinary, big men with big axes and big falls. I wiped them out, but the guardsmen came to keep the townspeople safe from me." He gave a slight laugh. "We should leave."

As curious as he was to ask about his hands, Izuna didn't. He let his brother rest by the doorway while he took his seat at the bench once more. Mio slept soundly under heavy blankets.

"How long has she been unconscious?" asked Izuna quietly.

"Long," Madara replied. "I tried waking her, but she doesn't respond."

_He checked her pulse to make sure she's still alive._ Izuna bowed his head, no longer thinking it strange that Madara worried. It seemed natural. He, himself, was writhing with concern as he watched her restlessly, hoping to see her open her eyes before sleep took him. Maybe Madara felt the same. Maybe he hoped he did.

.

.

They left the inn as soon as daybreak and maneuvered through the twisting, perilous roads with the promise of peace. Whatever had happened deep within Kurata where the mountains split into icy valleys—crumbled under the force of the Uchiha and Kuronuma—had stayed a mystery. Madara didn't talk about it. Izuna took the leadership role once his brother offered it and watched everyone carefully, burdened with the safety of everyone and all the duties once distributed evenly between them. He prepared for that type of situation, training twice as hard, and knew nothing could be done to avoid it. Mio had yet to wake up and Madara couldn't hold a kunai properly. He needed to heal.

Three days into their journey to the Wave Country, they ran into the second assault. Madara signaled to Izuna that they were being followed and with that, the rogue shinobi suffered great loses. Izuna made sure he cleared the entire road. Madara was his eyes.

Chika, though jumpy, had grown used to the rising danger level by the fifth day as they entered the watery forests bordering the Waterfall Country. She struggled adjusting to outdoor camping even though she slept in a great tent with layers of tarp that kept the rainstorms from inconveniencing her. She had woolen blankets and a brazier to contain the coals that kept her warm throughout the nights whereas her attendants trembled in a humble papery tent with thin blankets to accommodate them. She didn't know any better and she never complained about any of it. She was grateful to them for undertaking such a mission and going on even though Madara and Mio were incapacitated. She thanked Izuna when she could and smiled at him sweetly.

Izuna liked her smile and how the shadows danced across her eyes when they sat by the fire. She expressed her worry for Mio, who had been unconscious and unresponsive since they left Kurata. Madara had taken it upon himself to carry her on his back for as long as he needed and wouldn't switch with him if he begged because he wanted him strong when danger came. It was hard to argue with Madara, so he stopped asking.

"Is she okay?" she asked on the seventh day. She took a seat beside him on a log before a roaring flame. The rain had subsided but her hair was tangled and glued to her face.

She wanted to know the same thing yesterday and every time she watched his brother change the bandages from Mio's wrists. Izuna held his hands before the fire, warming his hands. "Her heart is steady with life and she drinks water when she needs it," he answered, as low as possible to avoid a glare from Madara. "She ended and started a mission with only a few hours of sleep. I think she's tired."

"Seven days is long."

Izuna sighed, shifting in his seat. "Madara wants to detour to the compound and make sure a medic sees her, but we don't want to elongate our journey time."

"I don't mind," she piped.

"I hope she wakes up soon."

Madara reached for a roll of gauze and started bandaging his arms, the struggle evident. Izuna left his seat, excusing himself with the young princess and stepped over to the edge of the camp Madara claimed.

"Need help?"

Madara glimpsed at him, sighed in frustration, and tossed the roll of bandages at him. Izuna caught it and kneeled beside him, casting a look in Mio's direction. She was lying on her side with her bag under her head.

"Has she healed?" asked Izuna, taking his brother's arm.

"The wounds closed, but the markings are there."

Izuna took the jar of green ointment and eyed it. "What is this?"

"A salve of sorts."

"Obviously, but I've never seen it before."

"It's meant for black water burns," Madara admitted.

Izuna peeled away the bandages to the damaged pink flesh underneath. He saw bumps and disfigurement across his finger and forearms, but he had seen them before. It was worse then and after applying the salve from the jar for seven days straight it had become what it was now. Burns left permanent scars, but this healed sixty percent of his arms. It seemed once the healing process completed, Madara would have no scars.

"Black water burns?"

Izuna dabbed the ointment over his arms, spreading it evenly across his burns. It smelled strong, but sweet.

"Mio was right," Madara continued, eyes darkening. "The Kuronuma are strong and they use black water techniques that can burn the flesh from your bones." He saw the questioning look on his brother's face. "They don't use hand seals and fight without weapons. I could feel the difference between our strengths from the first attack."

"Don't let her hear you say that," Izuna joked. "She'll make it a weapon."

Madara frowned. "If she wakes up."

Izuna finished bandaging his brother up and rose to his feet. "Take care of her until she does."

.

.

Mio opened her eyes miles before reaching the Uchiha compound and was silent as she observed the sunlight streaming through the leaves. Izuna smiled at her, but she looked right through him with clouded eyes. She dropped her head back on Madara's shoulder and continued sleeping, but Izuna felt one worry lift from his shoulders. He went on merrily, the territory surrounding them was theirs and no dangers would befall them.

"Izuna, water," called Madara.

Izuna tossed him their water pouch and turned to engage Chika in conversation. He watched his brother uncork the water and bring it to his lips before Mio snatched it from his hand, taking the sip herself.

Madara dropped her instantly.

Chika gasped.

"Madara!" complained Izuna, running to lift the girl back onto her feet by the arms.

"How long have you been awake?" Madara yelled.

"Two days," she answered simply.

She took advantage of him; Izuna saw the honesty in her eyes.

Madara grabbed her by the shirt, pulling her to eye level. "Find a way to the Wave Country, now."

"Storm clouds are gathering, we won't be able to get a boat until it blows over."

"Do something about it."

Madara pushed her away and stomped away to cool his head, past the bulk of trees.

Izuna gave Mio a disappointed look.

"What?"

"Get along in front of Chika-sama at least," he pleaded.

Mio jumped into the nearest tree and disappeared beyond them to do as ordered, but not before waving to the young princess.

"That was quite abrupt," said Chika, fanning her face. "Will they be coming back?"

Izuna returned to her side. "Yes," he replied. "They aren't on the best terms."

"Why not?"

"I wish I knew."

.

.

Chika grew curious of Madara and Mio's relationship. She asked questions he couldn't answer and persisted in her quest for answers, observing their behaviors when they were near one another and alone. He tried to explain it was just how they got along, but she came to the same conclusion every time.

"…So, they hate each other?" concluded Chika, dropping a closed fist over an open palm. The note of skepticism remained on her tongue. Perhaps, she didn't completely understand the matter in the first place.

"No," Izuna started, wondering how many times he needed to explain it before she understood. "They don't hate each other. They just can't get along with each other. It's been like this since we were younger."

Chika quirked an eyebrow, lips twisting alongside what remained of her patience. "Izuna-san," she began, considering her words carefully as if not to offend him, "you do understand the meaning of hate, don't you?"

He frowned, affronted. "Just because I'm a shinobi doesn't mean I don't have an education."

She mirrored his distaste, and then pouted. "That's not what I meant," she said defensively. "It's just if they're not getting along and it's been going on since you were children it means it's always going to be that way. Some people just don't ever come to like each other, no matter how many people try to mend the situation."

"But it happened overnight, there has to be something I could do to fix it."

Chika rested her hands over her knees as Izuna pondered aloud.

"Well," she said suddenly, startling him mid-thought, "you could do _that_."

Izuna brightened in interest. "That? What's _that?_"

Chika's eyes traveled across the stretch of land between them and the two Uchihas in question.

Mio stood under the shade of a canopy of interlocked branches, taking cover from the sudden downpour. Her features were clouded with inscrutable emotion as her eyes stared listlessly at the crying heavens. Madara remained kneeled in front of a flat stump a couple feet away from the younger girl, marking different routes and reconsidering their entrance strategy into the Wave Country after she returned from scouting.

Izuna mimicked her actions curiously, thinking that whatever idea sparked in her head might appear in his mind. Their gazes met simultaneously, the action brought some color in the girl's cheeks.

"Put them into situations in which they _have _to work together or fail together," said Chika insightfully. "If they are as proud as you say, the word '_fail_' shouldn't exist to them."

The suggestion hit him like a ton of bricks. _Why didn't I think of this before?_ Izuna reached over to rest his hands on Chika's small shoulders and gave them a healthy squeeze. He looked at her straightly. "You're a genius."

As her face turned a dozen darker shades of red, he jumped onto his feet and sprang across the field, using his arms as an umbrella. The heavy rain beat down on his back, soaking into his clothes as quickly as he arrived to the shade that hooded Mio's expression.

She took a step toward him, quick to proffer a towel from their bags. He took it and used it to rub his hair dry.

Madara spared him a disapproving glance. If he ended up sick, he would be become a burden. Izuna read those exact words on his face and responded with a swift, but playful, "Everyone needs a bath. You should try it too, brother." His immediate reaction involved gauging at Mio's, who quickly averted her eyes in response, resisting the nagging urge to agree with Izuna's playful statement.

Mio tried keeping conflict out of missions for the same reason Izuna arrived to trick them into becoming a partnership rather than the bitter enemies they have been so far.

Izuna leaned over the map, dripping from head to toe. "So, I was thinking—"

Madara snatched the wrinkled map out of the way as droplets of rainwater splashed over the surface. "You're getting everything wet, go stand somewhere else," he snapped.

"I'm amazed you haven't noticed it's raining," remarked Mio, sighing full of disappointment.

"Nobody asked you," he retorted. "So be a good dog and stay quiet."

"_Woof_, _woof_, asshole."

Everyone in a ten-mile radius felt the temperature plummet.

Izuna found his place between them, grabbing hold of Madara before he took hold of Mio. She stared at him with an oddly pleased expression that only served to aggravate him further.

"We promised not to do this in front of Chika-sama," interjected Izuna strongly. "If anything, we should present a good image of the Uchiha like grandmother asked us to, so why don't we settle down and listen to my change of strategy."

"We can settle this later," spat Madara, heeding to his brother's words.

Mio folded her arms over her chest. "We can do it in the llama pen, your majesty."

"Mio!" snapped Izuna. "Stop giving him incentive!"

She frowned and apologized to Madara, as insincere as always, but he took it. Anything to shut everyone up.

Izuna let go of his brother once it was safe to assume neither of them would start another war and draped the towel over his shoulders. He cleared his throat to speak.

"Okay," he started lowly. "I think we need to change our strategy. There are only three of us and three travelers including Chika-sama. The weather is already a bad sign and if things get worst, we need to think of a better defense strategy. We won't be getting paid if Chika-sama gets offed, so as reliable as Mio is at defensive strategies, I think we should switch places."

"No."

Madara and Mio's voices overlapped. A quick, disgusted glance was exchanged between them before one of the two spoke.

"I can switch with Mio," stated Madara. "You work better together."

"It's easier to travel with you at the front," Izuna disagreed immediately. "You're better at quick offense and we can use Mio to scout the area before moving forward, it's her specialty. She can pick up trails and predict better routes than I can. She's trained for this, not at being a bodyguard."

The questionable looks on their faces meant Izuna successfully planted the seed of friendship. Madara couldn't question Mio's capabilities as an experienced sleuth, scouring the darkness for light was her greatest gift. Mio couldn't deny Madara's place at the front of the pack or the importance of Chika's protection.

"We have to work together," added Izuna.

Madara sighed. "Fine."

Mio nodded in response.

Izuna caught Chika's gaze across the veil of rainfall and nodded. She looked as giddy as he felt.

Madara and Mio remained crouched around the stump with the map between them, discussing new plans.

.

.

Madara and Mio failed to do what he and Chika thought may permanently change their opinions of one another forever. It wasn't long before they reached the crowded port city they would use to catch a trade ferry to the Wave Country that they encountered a mixture of rogues and thieves threatening to take their belongings. They struck in the middle of one of their disputes, which paved the way for Izuna to pick up their slack and rid them of the dangers, but he was fed up.

"I don't like being like grandmother in any situation, but you don't get it!" shouted Izuna, standing like an authoritative figure in front of his brother and Mio. They were covered in scratches and bruises from the scrap he broke up when he pulled Mio off Madara while demanding he stop pulling her hair. He turned to the young spy, dropping his voice. "Mio, I want you to return to the compound."

Madara sneered, looking proud until Izuna rounded on him with a glare. "Madara, you go back to the manor and tell grandmother why I had to separate you both."

"What?" demanded Madara. "You don't plan to take the girl to the Wave Country without us!"

"I did just fine the past fourteen days," he retorted. "I can manage a trip from here to the Wave Country and back to the compound! I'll bring Mio to the manor once I'm done."

Izuna's mood was darkening with every protest his brother made and it was suddenly Mio's turn to intervene.

"I agree, we're useless to Izuna if we can't get along," she admitted softly, earning a furious glare. "Don't look at me like that."

"If you hadn't been captured by that Kuronuma bastard, I'd be able to help!" hissed Madara, holding his damaged hands in front of him.

"I didn't ask you to save me," she remarked. "Enya-san would have let me go if he wasn't so sure you'd be coming."

"Is that what this is about?" Izuna interjected skeptically. "That you returned with a wounded pride and burns on your arms for doing the right thing?"

"Forget that! Has she told you she's killed three Uchiha on this one trip alone?" added Madara, growing angrier.

"They were targets; Sachiyo-sama gave them to me—"

"You were talking about this at the onsen," Izuna remembered, feeling his stomach twist. He searched both their faces for answers. "Weren't you? And what do you mean they're targets? They're Uchiha, Madara said so, why would you kill your own clansmen?"

"I don't choose my jobs, Izuna," she replied with a cutting edge in her tone. "I only accept them."

"You can deny them?"

"She can't," said Madara snappishly. "Don't forget what she is."

Mio took her bags from the pile and pulled them onto her back. She glanced from Izuna to Madara, holding his gaze longer, before approaching Chika with a solemn apology. She left obediently, no arguments or complaints because that was what was expected of her.

Izuna felt regret as he watched her walk away in silence, but merely gazed at Madara, who had started gathering his things. There was no room for guilt. He did what he thought was best when he sent them off.

Madara patted his shoulder, looking him in the eyes as if he knew the doubts crowding his head. "You're a better leader than I am." He gave his shoulder a squeeze. "Go make the old hag proud."

He took the same road as Mio and soon disappeared beyond the bustling crowds. Chika found her way to him, peering at him curiously.

"Maybe they like each other?" she suggested.

"What do you mean?" he asked, trying not to consider the option seriously.

The dynamic was impossible. The way he saw it, they were two people with contradicting personalities. His grandmother described it as something cumbersome but childish and that they needed years of maturity to leave their differences behind. He believed that after watching them argue back and forth over nonsense for the last four years. Madara would be sixteen in five months, but he was still acting like a nine-year-old. He liked to believe his grandmother's sagacity, but it wasn't something childish. Something changed between them. Madara had always been curious of her, but he changed his opinion of her overnight.

"Boys always bully the ones they love."

"Madara promised to choke her to death."

Chika looked unfazed, as if those last two weeks had been enough to readjust her mentality to the harsh reality of the shinobi. "Has he tried it?"

"Well, yeah, but he failed because Mio hit him between the legs."

Remembering Madara on the ground writhing in such pain made him shudder, but Mio's eyes were wide and wild as she breathed heavily. It reminded her of when Hiryuu threatened to kill her and shook her. She didn't talk for an entire month and suffered nightmares where hands sprung from the darkness, tightening around her neck. She told Izuna because he pestered her enough, sure that if she talked to anyone, it would be him and it was. He was right to assume.

She sat with her back to the wall and her head on his shoulder, staring into the stretch of night sky from one of the open-side walkways. He let her hold his hand and felt as the tremors slowly abandoned her body. It was the first time he was ever fully aware that she was a girl and that her hair smelled of oranges and mint. He promised she would always be safe with them because they were family. Mio hugged him so tightly he could have suffocated and kissed his face in affection before running off to her room.

Mio's kisses were nothing like Sachiyo's were back when she pecked his cheek or his mother's, which he remembered less. Her mouth was soft as a feathers and silk and left a behind a tingling wherever she planted them. They were sweet and he enjoyed the feel of them.

Izuna noticed the princess' odd expression. "We were training," he tried to explain, but knew it wouldn't matter. "Mio needed an opponent to test out a new style she learned from one of the clan's elders and I was too hurt, so Madara took my place."

"But outside of training, he doesn't?" she persisted.

He was staring at her mouth a bit too keenly; he noticed and averted his eyes. "No, but he swears he will. I don't believe him."

"You know, I used to pick on my childhood friend," she started, watching the crowd near the port dissipate. "I had the biggest crush on him and I guess I did it so he would pay attention to me, but I did horrible things. Maybe they like each other but have no other way of expressing it."

"I could understand Madara, but Mio wouldn't."

"She's got a fiery spirit, why not?"

Izuna laughed. "You noticed?"

She nodded smugly. "Oh yeah. It's not hard to miss."

"Yeah, but that doesn't matter. It isn't against the rules for Mio to like someone, but it is if that someone is her master," Izuna told her. Deciding enough time had passed without nuisances, Izuna gestured to her attendants and grabbed his things, leading the group towards the boatman Mio convinced to take them to the Wave Country. Chika followed him quickly. "Mio is a special spy. She's not a part of the community in the compound, which automatically diminishes this. She works under my family and will serve us until her death."

"That sounds dreadful."

"You should try telling her."

The boatman jumped out of his ferry to aid the princess' attendants with her luggage as they lagged behind to finish their conversation.

Chika smiled. "Perhaps, you three can come to visit," she offered. "The castle gets horribly boring once the festivities end." She clapped her hands. "Oh, you should come for them! They start in two months and last until the seventh week! Bring Madara-san and Mio-san, I'm sure they'll find something to enjoy and we can probably dump them together so they can start getting along!"

"Or kill each other?" he proposed.

She chortled into her hands. "Or kill each other."

"Ready?" called the boatman.

Izuna led Chika to the end of the wooden walkway, and helped her up the boat ramp and onto the ferry as it swayed in the calm waters. She thanked him over her shoulder.

Once the anchor went up, no more talk of his companions rose. He simply thought about the Wave Country, what it would look like and how the people were, and if his grandmother would let him come for the festivities. He forgot about the bandits and rogues that intercepted their path the entire journey as well as all the fights Madara and Mio had with each other and Kurata's icy domain that he swore would freeze his very core.

For the first time, he felt himself relax.

**The Bandits of Kurata **| **End**

* * *

><p><strong>xl note<strong>: I quickened the pace to things to try my hand at it and will be slowly things down in the next chapters. I am debating between jumping straight into the action (which comes with the introduction of the next story-relevant clan) and the Wave Country festivities. POV will change between Izuna and Mio for now. Madara will be added in later.

I'll go into better detail about my thoughts on these chapters on my LJ, feel free to read if you're interest. It should be up in a couple hours (if I don't forget). Thank you for reading!


	9. The Last of Peace

Chapter **09** | The Last of Peace

* * *

><p>The Uchiha compound was a graveyard of silence. Mio craved the unnerving bustle for which it was known for after her experience in Kurata. She thought removing it from her head would help her forget the conversation she shared with Enya and the painless sleep that ensnared her for twelve days, but the memory stayed fresh as she sauntered through the front entrance to the solemnity of its usual occupants.<p>

Eijiro's great-granddaughter greeted her, shouting from across the room while waving her chubby arms over her head before hurling herself into her arms. Mio caught her with a grunt. At three years old, the small girl weighed more than the average child did, but nobody stopped Eijiro from sneaking candy into her hand or her father from setting a bad example. Mio berated them both at one point or another, being the only witness brave enough to do so. However, neither Eijiro nor Taiga saw reason.

"You promised to visit!" protested Minako, hands balled into tiny fists. She was barely coherent, but she could talk to you about anything. "You promised to come last week to explore the forest together!"

Mio doted on Minako because she spent as much time at the compound as she did at home, going back and forth between the two places between and after missions.

She set the mousy-haired girl on the ground, crouching down to eye level. She gestured at her left cheek with her index finger. "Give me a kiss and we'll go now."

Minako brightened. Wrapping her arms around her neck, she pressed a big wet kiss on her cheek. Mio ruffled the girl's hair and took her by the hand, leading her away.

There were fewer people inside, save Minako's mother, who was once a maid until Taiga impregnated and married her. She was a pretty young woman with glossy blond hair and a slender physique. She was kind, courteous, and deserving of a man that loved her, but she was simpleminded. So long as Minako remained in her life, she was happy with whatever world she inhabited. It seemed admirable for a civilian, but she couldn't imagine a life like that for herself. She would never consent to something she found disagreeable, even if there was a child involved. She expected a childless, husbandless life awaited her and with that she was content, so long as she continued being useful.

"Daddy went to the desert again," piped Minako, stumbling over words. "He said he'll bring me a souvenir. Have you been to the desert?"

"Once," Mio replied, swinging their hands back and forth between them. "But I don't think it counted. I only saw it from afar. I went to one of the bordering villages and it was like enduring two summers."

Minako blinked curiously. "Do you think it's hotter in the desert?"

Mio nodded, turning away from a sudden tug of grogginess. Something had come over her, a wave of vertigo or a similar affliction. She felt it creeping up on her, weighing in her legs and hammering in her chest. They didn't make it past the entrance before it rendered her to her knees and the dizziness forced her to dispense the contents of her stomach with a violent, aching cough. The acid burned in her throat and she teetered to her side, falling heavily on the ground but feeling nothing.

She only felt numb.

Minako screamed, pushing against her arm for a response but Mio found the clouds outside and closed her eyes to the sight of them.

* * *

><p>The sound of wind chimes welcomed her alongside clashing metal and dripping water. Mio resurfaced from the dark waters of sleep to a light rain and a familiar verandah. She seated herself, strands of hair feathering past her neck, and looked at the tall grass waving in the breeze, seated before a stretch of forestry that went on for days. She was home where the smell of coconut was strong in the air and the floors were always polished.<p>

"Mio?"

Mio looked off her shoulder. She heard Izuna's voice but it was Madara's face she saw. She dropped her gaze back to her hands. She didn't make a mistake. The crunch of grass prepared her for his approach. He leaned over the verandah's frame, peering down at her.

"Did something else happen?"

Mio met his gaze minutely, taken aback. "I promised Minako we'd go exploring," she said, groggy, listening to the rain beating on his back. "I think I threw up on her and died and went to hell."

Madara scowled. "You're not dead, stupid."

She zeroed in on him, voice low and toneless. "Have you seen the kinder version of yourself?"

"Izuna went to the Wind Country," he responded, ignoring the insult.

"Message?"

"Warning," he corrected. "The old hag went as well."

"Why are you here?" she asked, subduing a grin.

"Don't piss me off, Mio." Madara walked to the steps, picking up a towel from the ground to dry his hair. She assumed he stayed behind watching her as his punishment. "If you can get up, find Kana."

Kana reminded her of food and the thought upset her stomach.

"Why am I outside?" she asked wondrously.

Madara slid open the door, glimpsing at her. "Because you like the rain."

Mio found it disturbing that he knew that. She dropped back on the cushioned futon and drew the blankets to her chin. She stared past the ceiling above her head to the gray sky that unfurled across the heavens, shedding sparse tears throughout the Fire Country. She liked how it seemed the rain could cleanse the earth of anything; wash the filth away to nothingness with a sound so soothing it eased her back into a dreamless sleep.

A light smack to her cheek stirred her from darkness. Mio's eyes fluttered open to the _shaa_ of a heavy downpour and a flickering candle above her head.

Madara crouched beside her, holding a crumpled paper in his fist. "Can you travel?"

She yawned, heavy limbed and exhausted. "I think so," she grumbled. "Did something happen?"

"I can't say," he answered, shifting in discomfort. "We received a hawk. The Elders summoned us to the compound. It's urgent."

It was a worrisome thought. The last time the Elders sent out a summons was thirty-seven years ago. Two dozen birds took wing and called the entire clan back to the compound when war ravaged Uchiha territory, leaving unspeakable casualties that led to ongoing incongruities between them and the Motou clan of the, then, Sun Temples. After a decade-long war, the congregation relocated to a small island nation, privately governed by an emperor, east of the Lightning Country where their treaties were strongest and the Uchiha's wrath could not reach them.

Mio feared the current situation might be similar even if it didn't involve the Motou or the deaths of so many of their shinobi, but it was grave. Madara sensed it too, she read the shadows that lined his face and saw that she was not alone in her qualms.

She carried the weight of her enervation on her shoulders, pushing her body onto a seat. She wondered how many days had passed since she last left Chika and Izuna at the port city, obeying him with knowledge that she had done wrong in provoking Madara. He hated mind games. She was good at them. They both knew that better than anyone else did.

"Be ready to leave in half an hour," he said stiffly, rising to his feet. "The faster we leave the better. We can arrive in the morning if we take fewer rest stops."

Mio waited for his leave to stand on wobbly legs. She used the railing for support, her feet prickled and felt heavier than usual as she edged her way towards the door. It was a long strenuous walk that took her ten minutes to reach her bedroom and another five to search her closet for a change of clothes and dress into them. She gathered her traveling bags, carrying weapons and extra clothes, on her way out. The walk served as a warm-up to the venture back outside.

Kana was picking the futon off the ground and folding it, making use of the candlelight. She caught her watching and smiled sweetly. Kana crossed the distance between them, reaching to touch her face.

"You had me worried," Kana whispered, eyes glittering. "You're still so pale. Are you at least feeling any better? Maybe you should stay here."

"Just woozy," she admitted, enjoying the warmth of the cook's hand. "My legs are heavy, my whole body is heavy, but I'll be fine."

Kana removed her hand and hoisted the futon in her arms. "Wait here. I'll bring you food to take with you."

"Thank you."

She couldn't think of saying that the mere idea of food made her queasy, but even if it did, she needed to eat. She would force it down her throat if it meant regaining some of her strength.

Kana returned as quickly as she had scampered away with a box, looking apologetic because there were only rice cakes available. Mio didn't mind, she thanked her. Any sustenance was good.

Madara stepped out shortly, ready to leave. Kana left after bidding them farewell and luck, though he didn't look as appreciative for it as she felt. The moment dictated amicability and she wouldn't be the one to shatter it. They would be peaceful, even if they were the only two summoned and things were bound to get tense.

Mio and Madara traveled far in the span three hours, scaling the tallest trees as the rain drenched them to the bone and the moon lighted their way. Her legs were throbbing and her heart beating in her head when he finally signaled for them to stop.

"You need to rest," he announced.

"Rest?" she challenged, breathing haggardly with her hands on her knees. "I don't need to rest. Let's keep going."

He stared at her evenly. "Okay, let's keep going."

When he turned away, she grabbed his arm desperately. "I need to rest."

"There is an old cottage around here. We can stay until the storm lifts." He started down a clear path through the trees. "And next time I suggest a break and you need it, take it."

"Yes."

Mio dreaded the remainder of the walk because she knew the road from a memory that could have been a dream. She wanted to keep going despite her throbbing legs and wooziness because the cottage wouldn't have been an option if they were miles away, but she needed to rest as much as she had to see the remnants of her broken childhood home.

The trip proved shorter than she would have liked.

Madara stepped in cautiously. She stalled, pain forgotten, memorizing every damaged detail. It was as small as she remembered, smaller when she stepped closer, but she hadn't grown too tall since she last walked through the doorway. The cottage was run down, weathered and uninhabited for the last six years with its front door missing and its walls damaged by rotting wood, streaked with cracks.

Madara peered outside. "How long do you plan to stand there?"

Mio walked in prepared to see the indoor ruins. She stalked around in mild amazement, running her fingers across the brittle walls and touching countertops and fallen tables. The destruction reigned upon it the night she dreamt of so vividly remained intact, forever preserved. Thieves had not dared raided it, everything was still as she recalled only now it looked every bit a part of the forest.

She breathed in and it smelled of dust and wood. The tiny cluttered kitchen came into view and the ghost of her mother appeared, scrawling across a paper she sped across the room to deliver. She stood, dripping and cold, hair glued to her face and felt a tightness in her chest.

She felt suffocated.

"I heard this has been abandoned for a while now," said Madara, emerging from the hall. He explored the house in its entirety, ensuring how safe it was for them to dwell in before leaving his bags in the corner by the fireplace.

"Six years," she clarified softly. "It's been six years."

There was still blood on the walls and floors, old and browned, and even darker memories in her heart.

"Do you know what happened?"

Mio turned utterly confused. "You don't?"

"Should I?"

_Yes_, she wanted to demanded, but she really wished she wasn't sharing this moment with Madara. "An Uchiha couple lived here," she said, picking up the square table from the ground and set it upright. It wobbled and creaked, but it stood strong. She heaved her bags onto it, ridding herself of their weight. "They were killed here, too. The blood is still on the ground, dry and brown. Everything is either broken or toppled and even some of the wall suffered, probably from a fight."

He arched an eyebrow, curious. "It's surprising it's still around after so long."

"Yes, it is."

She walked to him and crouched near the fireplace, still hearing the sound of her father chopping wood outside, and reached to the sodden pile in the corner. She searched for anything that would catch fire to keep them warm from the wind whistling through the cracks.

"Who killed them?"

His pursuit of the subject annoyed her as she started a small fire, but she answered as expected of her. "Another shinobi from an unknown clan."

The rustle of clothes sounded behind her as he started to undress. He sneered. "How weak do you think they were? Killed by _one _shinobi?"

She bit her lip, swallowing the bile. "I don't think they were weak," she said, too sharply.

"Then why are they dead?" he mocked.

"Because they had someone they had to protect," she answered evenly, facing the replay of events in her head. She closed her eyes, holding her face as the flame spread along the logs, burning brightly.

"_Had_? Nobody _has _to do anything if their life is at stake."

"If someone put a knife to Izuna's neck and asked you to choose between your life and his, what would you do?" she asked, biting back tears as they filled her eyes. "You can't kill them. That option doesn't exist."

"Kill them," he stated. "If it doesn't exist, I'll make it exist."

"You would try to make the difference," she corrected lightly, but all she heard was her mother whispering her name as she died on her lap. "What makes you think they didn't try?"

"But they failed. I won't."

"Just because they're dead doesn't mean they failed."

"What did they accomplish in death anyways? Do you know?"

"I'm alive because of them," she said, getting to her feet. She glimpsed at him. "I'm going to look through the rooms."

Mio left him to his thoughts, not bothering to read the expression on his face, and ventured in the short hallway. She entered the first room on her left, the door opened and closed behind her noiselessly. The wide bed her parents once shared sat lopsided with a broken headboard, to the left a squat table sat where her mother used to sleep and the dressers on the opposite wall were covered in thin, black tendrils of forestry. Vines and leaves crept from the window, claiming everything in their reach, making it seem as though it had been longer than the six years.

She didn't touch anything as she climbed onto the bedding. It sank under her weight, creaking with every move she made. She dropped down on it. The mattress sagged and the springs irritated her side but she remembered all the times she slept between her parents with Kikyo's fingers running through her hair and Genji's warmth embracing her during the biting cold. She closed her eyes.

She didn't want to see their ghosts anymore. They wouldn't leave her yet. There were so many things left for her to do before that happened.

Mio woke to Madara's voice for the second time that day and she begun to see it as a bad omen. She looked up at him, curled on the broken bed. Her sodden clothes sagged against her and her skin was colder than a corpse's.

"Come back in five minutes," she said groggily.

"Kikyo and Genji," he said suddenly. "They were your parents."

He almost sounded accusing.

"Yes, they were my parents."

"Is that why you're a spy? Because they were too?"

Mio pushed herself onto a seat, eying him suspiciously. "What do you want?"

"Did you tell Izuna?"

"Tell Izuna what?"

"That your parents were killed here?"

"Sachiyo-sama told him."

"She didn't tell me," he complained.

"You never asked," she pointed out.

"Why didn't you say something?"

Mio shrugged, feeling badgered. "Because it's irrelevant."

"Just like what happened in Kurata with Enya?" he snapped.

It sounded like the real reason why he woke her. He only needed something to be outraged about and it came in the form of her parents. She hated this about him. He never got straight to the point unless he was boiling over in fury.

"You never asked about that either," she declared.

"You never told me."

"I don't have to tell you everything."

"I carried you on my back for fourteen days!" he reminded her. "You should have been obligated to tell me what happened."

"It's not important—"

"It is," he proclaimed. "It is because he knew I was coming. He was sure I'd be the one to come for you."

Mio unconsciously tapped into her anger. "You shouldn't have come!"

"You should be thanking me," he growled, too close for comfort and she felt her stomach knot. "If I hadn't gone, who would have saved you?"

"I'm not so useless that I need saving," she said strongly. "I have trained just as hard as you both and I can hold my own, you are just so determined to find something wrong with me. I'm fine."

"Twisted is what you are," he retorted just as strongly. "I've seen what you do to people—"

"There is nothing wrong with me," she repeated, sliding away from him.

"You manipulated Hiryuu into attacking you and Sachiyo into hating him and that stupid cook—"

"Leave her out of this! Why do you have to be so stupid?" she interrupted. "Kana has nothing to do with anything. She takes care of me."

"How many more people do you plan to manipulate?" he continued, unfazed with her outburst. "Eijiro and Taiga are forever in your favor and suddenly Jouji can see you do no wrong. Do you think that is any way to make a name for yourself? Or is it that you plan on using this praise to take rein of the clan and probably avenge your parents?"

"You are so stupid." She wanted to slap him. The swell of anger turned into a wave of tears that burned in her eyes. "Why can't you just tell me what you want without starting a fight?"

Madara left his seat. "Stop being an idiot!"

"I'm not the idiot!" she shouted as he stormed out.

Mio fell on the bed with an exasperated sigh, springs squeaking, and felt something near her hand. She glanced down to the pile of clothes sitting where Madara was once seated. He brought her dry clothes. She changed into them, feeling comfortable and warmer instantly.

She wanted to apologize even though she did nothing wrong, but the last thing she wanted was to upset him further. In the moments they spent without Izuna and Sachiyo, she acted as the peacekeeper. She didn't always agree with the right decision, but Sachiyo wouldn't be receiving the greatest of news when they killed each other. She owed her everything now, it would be cruel to repay her that way, but she didn't see the importance of getting along with someone that wasn't going to be genuine about the same thing either. They were good liars.

However, this was something she needed to do, for Sachiyo and Izuna's sake.

It was that thought that powered her walk out the room and to the fireplace where he was seated facing the fires dancing in silence. She took a seat to his left drawing her legs to her chest and rested her head on his shoulder, blinded by the brightness of the flames.

"Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" he grumbled.

"Because you won't."

He harrumphed.

"I did consider wanting Izuna to help me," she admitted, "but Enya told me it would be you. He said it confidently as if he just knew that it could only be done if you were the one to help me and before I could confirm it—well, I remember sleeping."

"How did he know?"

"How did you know?"

"Izuna was better with the girl. If he went, I would have left her and gone after him."

"You're too rash and impatient," she said with a nod.

"You're not the first one to tell me."

"I won't be the last."

Madara glanced at her and back to the flames. "The hag wouldn't have liked it if you died, so I went," he said, sounding like it took every bit of effort to admit it. "She pulled me aside before we left and decided that if anything happened to you, it'd be my fault."

"Obligation sounds better than charity."

"You shouldn't be an easy target."

Mio sat upright, looking at him. She ignored the upsetting factor of that statement. Even on guard, Enya would have overpowered her and she had known she had no fighting chance the moment he saved her from that fall. "My father taught me to acknowledge defeat, not as a wound but as room for improvement," she told him. "I never agreed with him. Defeat was dying or humiliation and the best option is always dying knowing you fought at the peak of your ability. There are rarely any Uchiha that recover from dishonor."

"But you agree with him now."

"No. Surrender is weakness." Kikyo always said those words and she stood alongside her husband on equal grounds. "I thought the Elder would take me to where the others were and once there, I could learn more about them. I would stay a prisoner until I found a way out because I believed you would continue the mission, but we only made it across the bridge when you came for me. I wasn't admitting defeat; I was preparing to keep fighting."

"And you're angry that I showed up," he decided.

"I'm not angry. You just make me angry."

"You're no different," he said defensively.

"I know when to make peace."

"Only if it's convenient to you."

Mio left her seat, abandoning the conversation. She didn't have to answer that even if it was the truth. She busied herself by her bags, sifting through her things and tugged out the rice cakes Kana provided for her. She ate as much as she was able before the heavy rain lifted and they gathered their things to make the remainder of the journey.

* * *

><p>The compound was bustling with Uchiha from the nearest branches, but the first familiar face she saw in the crowd was her estranged aunt's in all its scowling glory. Konoe was surrounded by people in the same division as hers to whom she was barking orders to, making the strongest of men wince at the sound of her voice.<p>

Mio lingered behind the largest shinobi walking past her feeling Konoe scan the crowd for someone in need of shouting and she learned from years of experience that she was the perfect victim. Since they worked on opposite sides of the spectrum, they rarely met and when they did, even a single day felt like a hundred years.

"Looks like bad news," mumbled Madara, pushing past drooping tree branches. He walked straight into the bustle expecting her to follow, but Konoe's hawkish gaze was already pursuing him through the crowd and Mio ducked under a pair of scented bushes.

The leaves and berries were covered in fresh moisture from the last shower. The hanging branches dripped fresh water across her back. Twigs snapped and the earth squelched signaling the arrival of more shinobi, accompanying the rustle of trees and a collective curiosity ringing through the crowds in forms of questions and suppositions.

Mio snuck glances over the bushes until Konoe disappeared inside the building and scampered onto her feet. She slipped between people, sneaking inside behind a pair of kunoichi. Mio dawdled along, following the stream of people, in search of Madara.

"Where did you disappear to?"

She whirled around, feeling a hand on her arm. "To the bushes."

Madara dragged her to the junction between the main hall and the empty council room. She threw furtive looks over her shoulder to the door shutting behind them. He dropped his hold on her and waited for her to match his stride as they walked.

"Why were you in the bushes?"

"Has anyone talked to you?" she asked quickly. "Do you know what happen?"

"No, but Taiga's wife said they wanted us in this building."

'_They_' gave her a horribly cold feeling and as if she were psychic, Konoe stood by the council room's entrance with Hikaku, the strongest Uchiha in the clan. He was a tall man with fine features and brown hair tied in a high ponytail, dressed ordinarily as though he had been there long before the rest arrived. Jouji sat at the long table with Katsura to his left discussing the contents of a scroll in hush voices. Minako's mother entered the room from a short hallway looking exhausted as she gestured her over. There were a few faces in the handful of people standing or sitting around the room that she didn't recognize. A pair of kunoichi clothed from head to toe with only their vigilant eyes peeking between the clothes, a middle-aged man standing imposingly with his arms crossed over his chest and his back to the wall and a withering old man with few wisps of white hair and pale blind eyes that followed the soft padding of their feet.

Madara left her side to join Jouji and Katsura at the table where he easily picked up the conversation.

Mio cast a look to her aunt, feeling the burn of her eyes on her back, and smiled in greeting knowing she would hate that. She stepped into the hallway with the golden-haired girl and followed her into a room at the end, hearing the clasp of the shoji behind her. Minako was lying stretched across a futon sleeping soundly.

"Do you want tea?"

"Yes, please."

Sako was only eighteen, sweet and polite with eyes the shade of glaring water. She minded her manners, treating everyone equally respectful.

Mio received the mug handed to her and took a sip of warm, red tea. The strong flavor was sweetened with honey and it warmed her as quickly as it went down.

"I have a change of clothes for you." Sako had just taken a seat and scrambled back onto her feet. She slid open a closet and started tugging clothes from inside. She turned to her. "Do you want a bath? I can prepare a bath for you."

Mio pushed the hair out of her face. "Did Taiga tell you what happened?"

Sako returned to her seat in front of Mio, glancing nervously at the door. "He wrote to me," she whispered, leaning over to place the clean clothes on in Mio's hands. "I fear something terrible has happened to Eijiro-san and his group."

Mio took a gulp from her tea. "Is everyone coming here?"

"Yes, he's told me not to lose sight of Minako, not even for a minute," she answered frantically. "Do you think something terrible will happen?"

"I'm sure it can be handled," Mio lied. She felt an odd chill in her bones. "The clan has been through far worse and it's recovered, but I doubt whatever happened now is near as terrible."

Sako smiled, a great portion of her worries had been dispelled with the confidence in her voice.

Mio finished her tea and excused herself to change behind a shoji screen. She tugged on a pair of trousers and a loose shirt under a long-sleeved kimono top belted at the waist.

"Come here. Let me brush your hair." Sako dragged a cushion in front of her and patted it.

"That's fine. I don't—"

The expectant look on her face won her over. She plopped onto the cushion and let Sayo run a comb through the tangles in her matted hair until it fell in smooth shallow waves. She almost felt horrible about tying it up since it never looked so nice, but she hated leaving it down.

Without new information and the murmurs in the main room dispersing when everyone took the staircase up to their temporary lodgings, Mio realized night had fallen. The entire second floor had been prepared to house a certain number of their clansmen until the Elders congregated and revealed the reason for the summons.

Madara called her out into the council room. She thanked Sako properly and followed him up a flight of stairs to a room on their right.

"Did she tell you anything?" he asked, setting his bags on the ground.

Mio did the same, claiming the area beneath the squared window. "Taiga sent a separate letter to her," she answered, tugging out her clothes. Everything had gotten drenched in the downpour. "He asked her to keep an eye on Minako."

"Hikaku thinks Eijiro is dead."

"Sako said it involved him, but Taiga didn't elaborate."

"What do you think?"

"We have to hope Sachiyo and Izuna get here before Hiryuu or Taiga."

* * *

><p><strong>xl note<strong>: I feel like I am doing the impossible, but I'll do my best to make it work. Things will be taking a harsh turn in the following chapters. Many thanks to **Bubbles227**, **Aries01xD**, and **WiltingInsanity** for reviewing! Extra props to the people who took the time to reread it and for the feedback! :)

I'll be gone for the next week, so the chances of a faster update is unlikely. If anything I promise one for the 31st.

Preview for the next chapter is up at my LJ, link in my profile.


	10. A Separation of Power

Chapter **10** | A Separation of Power

* * *

><p><em>Uchiha Mio entered the compound hauling her luggage off her shoulders and leaving it at the entrance. After years of commuting between Sachiyo's home and the compound, Eijiro encouraged her to look upon it as a second home as her duties would doubtless increase her visits to the point that she would make the guest room into something permanent. She had since fallen into a strange normal.<em>

_She zipped past the entrance hall, determined to find Jouji and deliver the mission report Sachiyo entrusted her to keep safe. She stopped short of the council room, spotting a new face and freezing. A pretty, humbling girl in a cotton dress and apron with hair bright and golden like the sun and a frightful look was seated at the table. She glanced over her shoulder at the sound of Mio's abrupt halt, blinking doe eyes at her looking as if she had just seen a ghost. She held her hands folded over her pregnant belly almost protectively._

_"Hello," the stranger intoned, a wavering voice._

_Mio straightened her back and inclined her head in greeting. "Good morning."_

_"You don't need to bow. I'm low birth."_

_"Me too."_

_Eijiro's booming voice startled the girl, who redirected her attention to the screen of the adjacent room where it was likely to find the elder schooling his insubordinate grandson on a subject likely to go in one ear and out the other. Asking Taiga to reason was like telling a king to relinquish his crown for the good of the people when he'd rather be a bastard about it._

_Mio maneuvered her way across the room and seated herself in front of the table. She had to speak to Eijiro before she sought out Jouji and the girl looked like she could use the company. It wasn't hard to piece things together from the indecipherable words of Eijiro's tirade. Taiga had committed the biggest form of idiocy and this girl had to pay for it._

_"You don't have to keep me company."_

_Mio didn't understand how she could have figured out her intention. "Why?"_

_The golden-haired girl stared at her lap. "It seems I'm not welcomed here."_

_"Did you do something bad?" Mio asked curiously._

_"I don't think I did," she answered after a pause. "Not to them, I didn't, I—" She looked up, alarmed, tearing with every panicked word. "I don't think I should say anything, but they've been in there for hours and I don't know if I'll be killed."_

_It wasn't hard to determine she was talking about Eijiro and Taiga. They were a force of nature, an earthquake and hurricane respectively, but even they had reasons for civility. Seeing as the girl was pregnant with a child she assumed was Taiga's, Mio knew that could be used to soften Eijiro. He loved children._

_"Eijiro-sama controls Taiga. If you are in danger because of him, you won't be long if you are in his grandfather's good graces." Mio pointed to the woman's large belly. "Whether girl or boy, he will love that baby as it is his blood. Eijiro is already on your side. The clan needs offspring to prosper, whether the women are deemed suitable or not, and he knows it better than anyone else."_

_The girl looked distraught. Mio determined she said something terrible and lowered her gaze in response, thinking of ways to repair the hurt. "I don't know any comforting words," Mio blurted, shifting uncomfortably. "Sorry."_

_The confession proved to be the lifesaver in the terse atmosphere because the smallest hint of a smile broke across the girl's face. Eijiro's haranguing concluded with Taiga's emergence into the council room._

_"Sako, we're leaving," he announced, sparing her a glance. His eyes swept the room, finding Mio and the dark demeanor dissipated long enough for one of his famous secret smiles. He glanced from her to the pregnant girl. "Have you met?"_

_Sako glanced up at him timidly, struggling to push her weight off the ground and onto wobbly feet. Mio sensed her uncertainty, wondering if it was fine to admit it and before Taiga could demand an answer from the young girl, she gave him one, "I wanted to keep her company."_

_Mio rose from her seat, interjecting once more when she saw him open his mouth. "I have to speak to Eijiro-sama. Please excuse me."_

_Taiga grabbed Sako by the arm and turned her toward the hallway leading to the apartments upstairs shared by the Elders. It wasn't hard to see what neither had spoken. Mio knew Sako had fallen prey to something Taiga said, just as she had the day he prevented Hiryuu from killing her._

_She entered the room from which Taiga had emerged to find Eijiro seated with his back to the entrance. Even if she hadn't heard his shouts permeating from the room, she would still feel the anger clinging to the ambience as if the air was thinning. Her steps, though careful and quiet, drew his attention._

_Eijiro shifted over his seat, turning to face her with a scowl on his face. "More bad news?"_

_Mio shook her head._

_"Don't just stand there, sit," he said gruffly, gesturing to a cushion across him. _

_She stepped closer and took the seat. She sat in awkward silence with the older man, his dark eyes searching her face for a hint of news._

_"What's it you want?" he asked sharply, his patience thinned._

_"She's a nice girl," she replied._

_Eijiro grunted. "She's a useless girl," he started. "A civilian, a handmaid, a naïve fool." He puffed up like a blowfish, red faced. "And don't get me started on that grandson of mine—a genius at his work, a fool outside it. Women and alcohol and herbs—the perdition of men of his caliber and he has mastered each."_

_Mio listened, hearing his ire lessen as his insults rang. She came to inform him of her arrival and of good results, but stayed for the sake of the terrified pregnant girl fooled by Taiga's sweetened words and pledge of friendship. He used recycled methods in ways they should never be used against unsuspecting victims. She wished she had something to say about it, perhaps a good reason for sticking her nose in somebody else's business. She would have opted for ignorance, but it was the terrified look on Sako's face that gave her the incentive to do something knowing she could._

_"He won't lose his—"_

_"He wants to marry the girl," Eijiro interjected. The revelation shocked her as much as it did him. "How stupid is that? Does he expect to marry every woman he impregnates?"_

_Eijiro had more to say about the subject and went on until he exhausted himself enough to send her away. She was surprised to have managed to say what she needed to and left in search of Jouji, the leader of the intelligence squad. Although the council room strummed with silence, the upstairs apartments creaked under the weight of Taiga's heavy steps and the hushed threatening voice he used to address his current situation with Sako._

Avoid the nonsensical, _Mio recited mentally._ Obey power. Erase the unnecessary._ Taiga and Sako's situation was theirs to deal with, there was no need for her to interfere even if she thought she could fix it. She already overstepped her boundaries by bringing up the subject to Eijiro and listening to his angry spiel. She didn't mean to do it. It just came out and she regretted it instantly. As she walked further away from the main building, her mind went back to the moment she seated herself and blurted out that Sako was a nice girl. She mentally shouted at herself._

Why did I do that? _She turned a sharp corner, surroundings blurring in her periphery._ Why does it matter to me? She's a stranger. I'm not her family. _She had a stronger bond with Taiga because he knew one of her secrets and he had spent the last two years in Sachiyo's house training with Madara and Izuna. Honestly speaking, she wouldn't call that a bond, she called it 'forced amity.'_

_It hadn't been an hour since she delivered her information to Jouji and had lunch in the kitchens that she encountered Sako wobbling inside the room, a hand in her back and one on her large belly. She looked like she was about to burst. The servants stared at her in disdain, like one would a disgusting insect, and she noticed it from the moment she entered the room. Despite the horrible looks, Sako beamed and greeted each of them. She meandered around the kitchen searching for something to do, but being barred from doing so since Taiga proclaimed her his future wife and ordered she received the same treatment he did._

_Mio fell into her periphery from the start, but Sako hesitated as she seated herself nearby._

_"Taiga told you something, didn't he?"_

_"No," she said quickly. "He didn't."_

_"You answered too fast," Mio pointed out. "You're lying to me."_

_Sako looked devastated. "How—?"_

_"I would shame my family if I couldn't tell when someone was lying," Mio interjected, taking her tea in her hands. "Don't think anything by it."_

_Sako wasn't sure whether to laugh or take the advice in silence. She fidgeted, her eyes looking around in every direction._

_Mio waited for the kitchen staff to disappear before confronting Sako about the type of deal she struck with Taiga. She wanted to kick herself for thinking about it and reconsidered her decision to pry, but her conscious wouldn't let her drop the subject. With the room radiating silence and the atmosphere growing awkward between the sound of her cold tea sloshing in her hands and the crunch of the crackers Sako busied herself eating._

_"What did Taiga tell you?"_

_Sako peered at her fretfully. "What do you mean?"_

_"I mean why are you here when you'd rather be anywhere else?" she rephrased. "Taiga isn't psychic, so you could have easily lied and said it was someone else's child and had a far easier life raising it on your own without a psychopath."_

_"Psychopath?" she asked doubtfully._

_"Two years ago, my parents were murdered—" Mio glanced up in time to catch the flash of horror in her face. "Oh no, it's not what you think. He didn't kill them, someone else did." She knew from the look in Sako's face that her intention had been lost the minute she uttered the word 'murdered.' She lost herself in Sako's horrorstruck expression for a minute too long. "The point is that I was doing something on impulse and he found out about it through eavesdropping. He saved my life and I'm grateful for it, but he knows I was keeping a secret and he wants to know why so he's basically been extorting me with talks of friendship and wide suspicious grins. Since you're uncomfortable being under this roof, I assumed he said something to you."_

_Mio finished the rest of the liquid in her cup and rose to her feet, impatient. "I should get going. Please excuse me," she said, opting for a change of pace and moved towards the exit. "Taiga will likely bring you to Sachiyo-sama's manor. It's in a quiet countryside and the owner of the house, Sachiyo-sama, she has llamas. I live there. If you need anything and I'm not around ask the cook called Kana, she's nicer than the ones here."_

_Sako nodded hesitantly. _

_"He promised he'd kill me."_

_Mio halted at the kitchen entrance, unprepared for her confession._

_"Uhm, he swore he'd carve the baby from my insides," she continued shakily. "He would kill me after I watched our child die, said he would wait. I-I only had two options: let it happen or become his wife. I don't want to be here, but I don't have choice."_

_Mio closed her eyes. It was worse that she could have ever anticipated. She didn't know what to do, but maybe that was due to the fact that she was just a girl. She didn't know any sagacious words. She had no experience in anything but her work. What could she offer this other girl when she knew nothing?_

_"I should really go. I'm sorry."_

_Mio ran._

* * *

><p>"What happens if my grandmother doesn't return first?"<p>

Madara's voice drew her from her sudden reverie. She blinked, pushing the memories from her head and focusing on the subject at hand. Trouble had befallen the clan with rumors of Eijiro's death and she felt strangely uneasy with the news.

"You tell me," Mio replied strangely. "A lot of people suffer if Eijiro is dead."

They were seated across one another, only a candle between them highlighting the contours of their faces in a night far darker and sinister than they could have ever anticipated.

"Shouldn't you think of a plan?"

"I didn't know I had to think of a plan."

"You have the right skill set." Mio reached out and pinched his wrist. He flinched with a growl. "That hurts!"

She did it a second time, feeling his hand slap hers in retaliation. She scowled, though she barely felt the sting of it.

"I can keep doing it all night if you don't lower your voice," she whispered coolly.

It was harder for Madara to keep his voice down and he agreed he needed a reminder so she volunteered to pinch him. There were shinobi in almost every room around them, each devising their own plan to deal with whatever storm was brewing in their ranks. Eijiro's death would throw everyone in disarray. He kept the Uchiha clan united without having to call himself its leader. Shinobi like Hiryuu and Taiga who have always been in disagreement would appeal to those that might support their ideas to pledge their loyalties because many were waiting for news of Eijiro's death whenever he stepped outside the compound, ready to take his place even if it meant dividing the clan.

The worst of it all is not knowing what would happen if it came to that.

Madara rubbed the reddening flesh around his wrist. "So?"

"If Eijiro-san is dead as Hikaku-san claims, there are only two ways this can go," Mio started. "Taiga won't sit around quietly; he will assume his grandfather's position and protect the brittle peace within the clan. He can either succeed or fail. I wager he won't be as convincing as Eijiro-san or Hiryuu and your father will be the voices of two revolts that won't leave him enough room to try. With that, the power will be split in three, but Hikaku-san won't stay quiet either. He will take the fourth power. And because Sachiyo-sama isn't likely to follow any one of them, she will take from them the fifth power and the clan will be irreparably split."

"That's a given," Madara said, unimpressed. "But how sure are you that none of the other shinobi on this floor want that power. Our clan could end today—disperse completely."

"Because everyone has alliances, either in those they respect or admire," she said, brushing aside his assumption. "Konoe would immediately side with Hiryuu and Jouji will take Taiga's side. Taisuke and Shouji from the subdivision will collaborate with Hikaku if necessary. Katsura is extremely loyal to Tajima. We are loyal to Sachiyo-sama. Sides will be taken if the clan is divided by these five people and nobody would challenge them because they are this clan's strongest."

Madara wore a troubled expression, partly shrouded by the long shadows in the room. "Then we need Taiga to succeed."

"Either way, the internal war is inevitable. Since Eijiro-san put an end to the conflicts many have waited for the moment in which they could follow the old principles. There could be alliances with even bigger shinobi clans that can lead to a large-scale war." Mio grew weary of talking about the unavoidable. It would happen whether they concocted a plan or not. She shifted uncomfortably, stomach aching. "At this point, we can only hope Eijiro-san is still alive."

"Damnit," he cursed beneath his breath. His hands fisted over his knees. "Why isn't Izuna here when you need him?"

"His absence is irrelevant," she said. "He won't know what to do any more than we do."

"We could outsmart them."

"We're just brats. They're older and have more experience than we do." Mio frowned, leaning into the window. "I don't want to be killed for doing something stupid."

Madara didn't back down. "This is because you're worried about Taiga's wife and daughter, aren't you?"

"I work for your family. It doesn't matter if I am," she answered evenly.

"But what if it did?" he urged. "What if you're so worried you can't stand it?"

"I can't stand it," she said edgily. "You don't think they're the first people they'd go after if things turned violent. Minako would be killed and who will stop Taiga from placing the blame on his wife as an excuse to kill her as well?"

Four years ago when Taiga acknowledged he impregnated Sako, he gave her two options: marry him or have the unborn child cut from her womb by him. He took responsibility for the mistakes he made, but he wasn't the least bit happy about taking a wife. He disrespected her more often than he noticed she was there. The only person that mattered at the end of the day was Minako. And it was a depressing sight to see Sako bow her head to his cruel manipulations, but Mio had seen it and she had been kind to her in return. Perhaps it had been pity at the time, but it was also because Sako deserved better and she didn't want to let Taiga get away with it all the time. In the end, there was only so much she could do.

"Do something about it," he ordered.

Mio sucked in a breath and held it in as she considered her options. She could throw the civil conversation in the trash and start an argument that may lead to her sleeping in the hallway or say what she knew he wanted to hear.

She looked at him as she exhaled. "Fine," she said hesitantly, "but from now on, I work for you."

The words tasted like bile on her tongue. Never in a million years did she imagine she would pledge her allegiance to Madara, but he left her no choice. She cared enough to be the sacrifice.

"Then you better not fail."

* * *

><p>In her insomnia, Mio sauntered downstairs to raid the kitchens. Her stomach was growling and cramping, making it hard to lie on the futon long enough to sleep, especially with Madara snoring at+ arm's length. She ate a disastrous combination of rice balls and oranges and the leftover rice cakes she had from the trip that led to a walk around the compound. She needed to walk it off. With the housing room packed to the brim, remaining clansmen were camped outside and once the drinking had ended a chorus of snores reached her whenever she stepped into the outdoor hallways that connected the buildings. Even late that night there were shinobi arriving and guards to fill them in on what they missed.<p>

Mio had never seen so many Uchiha in one place before. There were children, teenagers, older men and women, even crones landing safely on the ground beneath them. But her amazement made things worse. Too many had gathered and there wasn't any news on Eijiro or any of the other elders. She grew weary and worried about Sachiyo and Izuna. She was exhausted, but too restless to stay in one place without every minute feeling like an eternity. There was no place for her downstairs so she returned to the room, picking up a number of books to keep her entertained through the night.

She breezed through the pages of three short books using the glare of moonlight to see the words before Madara rolled onto his stomach, lifting somnolent eyes to her.

"I can't sleep," she announced, picking up a book on topography.

"Count sheep." He buried his face in his pillow.

Mio perused her book, skipping the introduction. "I counted to a thousand earlier."

"Listen to the rain."

"Only it's not raining."

"Don't be difficult," he mumbled, pushing himself into a seat. "You're making too much noise."

"Your ears are just too good. I don't make much noise."

"If I can hear you breathing, that's too much noise," he said, suppressing a yawn. "Have you even tried to sleep?"

Mio read in silence, nodding. "I told you I counted a thousand sheep."

"I thought you were being sarcastic."

"I think I slept too much." She caught his gaze. "How long had I been unconscious?"

"You ask this now?" he complained.

"I only thought of it now."

"You ask as soon as you wake up, not when it occurs to you," he went on. "You could have been asleep for a year."

"I would have noticed a year."

"Didn't you ask Kana?"

"You gave me half an hour. I'm a girl, I like taking my time."

"Taking your time doing what?" he whispered harshly. "You wear the same clothes all the time and just tie your hair. You don't even bother trying to look nice."

She bristled, but her tenor didn't change. "They're not the same. I happen to have a closet full of similar clothes. This is the first time I wore this entire outfit, you can't say that same thing about the clothes on your back, I can see the age wear from this far."

"At least you can tell the difference?"

Mio snapped her book shut. "We are about to embark on the stupidest suggestion you have ever made in life, so if you have a problem with what I wear, you be a good master and get me prettier clothes because I can't afford anything with my cut of the work." She reached for a book detailing the legends attached to a number of clans and opened it. "Do you want me to tuck you in, sing you a lullaby, and hold your hand? You speak up because I can't read minds."

"Who says I can afford anything?" he snapped.

_And that's what you respond to, you cheapskate? _She shook her head, skimming through the open page. She used that same book to learn the history of the Kuronuma clan where the later volumes depicted them as cannibals. Now that she could assume they weren't, she felt a little cheated.

Madara snatched the book from her. "Listen!"

"I'm listening!" she spat.

"Do you always do this?"

"Not sleep?" she questioned. "Yes. I travel easiest through night."

"What about at home?"

"If I can't sleep, I just wake Kana and I eat and we talk."

Madara stood, dragging her to her feet. "Let's go to the kitchen."

"I just came back from the kitchen."

"Then why aren't you sleeping?"

"You never told me how long I've been asleep."

"A month or less. You think I was counting the days?"

Mio dropped her eyes to his hand. "Are we still going downstairs? My stomach still hurts, so I still might be—" She felt a lurch in her stomach and looked at him plainly. "I need to vomit."

He jerked his hand away. "Go outside."

"I don't—"

Mio made it to the window and stayed slumped over the frame until the last of what she ate spilled out. She wiped her mouth, preferring to have been asleep than deal with her nasty stomachache and insomnia. Once she was certain she finished, she sank into a seat, taking water from Madara. It went down easy, but didn't wash away the acrid aftertaste.

"You're pale again."

She closed her eyes, leaning her head on the wall, sighing. "Excellent."

Morning peaked at a snail's pace. Madara had been lucky to have slept at least five hours. He stayed up starting petty arguments with her and she left his wrists bruised. The looks they received from the other shinobi as they walked down the staircase was enough to assume they had heard them talking the entire night.

A dozen more Uchiha had arrived since yesterday. The dining hall was teeming with various families and the servants of the compound maneuvered through the crowd with platters of food on their arms, serving everyone as quickly as they could manage. Others were outside, enjoying the company of old friends and new acquaintances over expensive bottles of sake and gambling games that at times ended disastrously.

Mio observed a pair of men growing rowdy, tempers boiling and voices rising before the table between them split in half and blows were exchanged until one of them fell a bloody heap on the ground, barely conscious, barely alive. She turned away, following Madara out the back entrance to the gardens and forest. They ate a small breakfast of onigiri as they walked, he split the servings evenly, except he gave her all the flavors he didn't like and she took them without complaint. She wasn't exactly picky with onigiri fillings so long as Madara ate the squid and tuna. He was good at eating things she hated much like she enjoyed roe.

"Mio!"

The thumping of Minako's feet reached her ears a second before the girl lunged herself onto her back, dropping her face first into the polished floors.

Madara walked on ahead, sparing her a scathing glace as she struggled to get back on her feet. She turned slowly, straining to smile as the girl stumbled off her back and rolled over with a high-pitched giggle.

"Found you!"

Mio flopped onto her back smiling. "Yes, you did."

"Mio!" snapped Madara.

She tilted her head back. He was waiting at the doorway, arms crossed.

"Where you going?" piped Minako.

"To the gardens." Mio pushed herself back on her feet, offering the girl her hand. "Want to come?"

Minako took her hand and led the way in her excitement. Madara rolled his eyes, stepping out into the verandah to a chilly morning. Mio took a scarf from a hook on the wall and wrapped it around Minako's neck.

The girl sprang off the last step and barreled across the short grass to the vegetable garden over a dirt-packed road.

"What are you doing?" asked Madara.

"I'm keeping a promise," she replied, taking a seat on the bottom steps of the verandah. "You're just bored and want to rub it in my face that you can order me around now."

"She has a mother."

"An unappreciated woman that everyone hates, who slaves to work for the likes of them to be around her daughter because Taiga barely gave her an option," she said briskly. "I like to help if I can."

"It's not your job."

Mio looked at him. "You can't stop me."

"Maybe it's time you learned not to concern yourself with outsiders," he remarked lowly. "Or is that too hard for you?"

"I just don't want to do it."

Madara walked down the stairs. He called Minako over and crouched down in front of her. The girl bounded towards him with wind burnt cheeks and stood bouncing, eager to hear whatever he had to say.

Mio heard chickens clucking nearby and scrambled onto her feet, away from them. She watched a trio of hens skitter along the grass. _They're so stupid looking…_

She turned away.

"Okay!" Minako announced, running to the verandah. "Mio! Let's find baby chickens! I want to find baby chickens!"

Mio felt her blood run cold at the thought of going near the coop with all its feathery inhabitants and the sound of their wings flapping in her ears, but she didn't know how to say no to the girl. "Uhm…I—"

The hen's clucking was suddenly near…close enough to make her squeamish. Fluttering wings appeared in her periphery, then the sound of it reached her as its feathers brushed against her skin. She jolted away, slamming into the nearest wall and falling on her backside with a loud scream. The chicken landed on the ground, dismayed, squawking louder with ruffled wings before returning them to its sides and strutting away.

Madara and Minako laughed.

Mio's face burned with embarrassment as she looked from one face to another, completely helpless. She sat there frozen unable to move an inch because the brown hen was skittering around the verandah. She continued sliding closer to the corner, taking hold of the ledge and heaved her body up.

"Kick it off," she said, making a gesture.

Madara stared at her, mocking. "I didn't think you were afraid of chickens."

She felt strongly about crying, but sucked it up. "Just kick it off."

In that same moment, the chicken left of its own volition and scampered away to join the rest of its pack, leaving her room to breathe and relax her frightened heart.

"That's just impressive," he said mockingly, leaving the verandah as well. "You should sit and guard the door. What if they try getting inside?" Oh, take this." He pulled a kunai and tossed it in her direction. She caught it by the hilt and stared at him awkwardly. "You'll need it more than I do."

* * *

><p>Minako didn't forget about the chicken. She told her mother and the entire staff the whole story. She and Madara were suddenly the best of friends, they laughed it out over breakfast, lunch, and dinner or whenever Minako tagged along for a chance to play with her. Mio knew they were secretly plotting to throw another chicken at her and give her the heart attack she almost had the first time. She had nightmares about birds swarming around her, pecking at her face with their pointy beaks until they were covered in her blood. Every time she woke up, she threw something at Madara's head or kicked him. She swore not to forgive him and by the fourth day, they were at each other's throats to the point Madara ordered her out of the room and she retorted that she made the decision to leave long before he formed that thought in his head.<p>

By then, everyone was present except the elders and their personal guards. It wouldn't be long before Sachiyo, Izuna, and Tajima made an appearance. However, the fact that they had taken so long from the start was worrisome. There wasn't a day she didn't feel it was strange. Instead of worrying about it day in and out, she spend her time helping Sako do chores.

"Should you be sleeping in the same room as Madara-sama?" Sako asked, folding all of her daughter's clothes meticulously. "I mean…I grew up with a lot of brothers, but the girls and boys slept in different rooms."

Mio looked at her, confused. She was lying over the tatami, legs folded, with a book in hand. "I have my own room back home," she said. "We only share a room when we come to the compound. Sachiyo-sama likes having us near and together."

"But you're fourteen," Sako replied, holding a pair of pants to her lap. "He's a boy and he's older."

"He's only a year older."

Sako smiled, humored. "You don't understand, do you?"

"No?" she answered dubiously.

Sako set aside the clothes and seated herself closer to her. "Have you ever liked a boy?"

"I can't say I've had too much exposure to boys my age, but I like Izuna just fine."

"And Madara-sama?"

"I tolerate him."

"You don't understand at all" Sako giggled. "I meant a different sort of like. Love. Like a legitimate marriage where a man and a woman love each other. Weren't your parents like that?"

Mio never thought about love. She didn't see Madara or Izuna that way either, so she found it a tad disturbing and it showed in her face. It made Sako laugh some more.

"I don't know," she replied, trying to remember the way her mother and father were around each other.

Genji was complacent where Kikyo was strict. One had what the other lacked and somehow they complimented each other. They had a strange way of acting around one another, but it was the way they looked at each other that resurfaced in her memory. Kikyo could stare at his back for hours and not once would the light dim in her eyes. Genji always watched her, observing the slightest of movements she made as she walked from room to room and smiled that secret smile of his.

Mio felt warm whenever she looked at them exchanging whispers and giggling in some corner of the house where she wouldn't hear them and how they surprised each other for their birthdays. There were so many little things the two shared and it was those insignificant details that she remembered. She now wondered if anyone could have that.

"You don't know or you don't remember?"

"I remember," she answered. "I think they were good together."

"Then you did understand what I meant?" Mio nodded slowly. "I think it might be improper to be in the same room at your age."

"It's fine," said Mio dismissively. "I'd faster die than look at Madara that way."

"What about him?"

She almost laughed. "If I was the last woman in this world and the future depended on us procreating, he'd consider dying twice before agreeing to do anything with me."

"But you wouldn't be averse to the idea?"

Mio placed her book between her legs, tilting her head back to see Sako's expression. "I shouldn't have an opinion on that matter," she started. "I suppose it wouldn't matter if I was averse or not if that was what he wanted. I serve his family. Only in that situation. In any other, I rather not obey."

"So if it was absolutely necessary for you to have children with him, you would agree to it if he asked it of you?"

"Not asked, ordered."

"And you would succumb to his will?"

"Yes," Mio deadpanned.

Sako sighed. "You're braver than I am."

"Why?" Mio reopened her book, holding it high above her head.

"Madara-sama can a bit scary."

"I can see why, he's short-tempered and reckless and he's quick to threaten you," Mio described. "But his threats are empty. He won't hurt me. Sachiyo-sama would kill him."

Sako was as concerned as when the conversation had started and she didn't drop the subject. "Maybe you should stay with me and Minako?"

"Okay," Mio answered instantly.

"Really?"

"Yes. Madara threatened to turn the room into a chicken coop tonight."

Sako grinned. "Would he?"

"Madara shouldn't be encouraged."

Sako rose with the folded clothes in her arms and walked across the room to put them away. "So is there a boy you like?"

"No."

Mio flipped through the pages of her book, unconcerned with the question.

"I liked a baker's boy when I was your age; we were friends since we were young," Sako reminisced, looking happier than she had ever seen her. "We were together for a few months before I left to become a maid. There were many boys after that, a guard who treated my kindly, the servant of the lord who told funny jokes, and one of the gardeners. I've fallen in love too many times so I think it was easy for Taiga."

"What did you see in him?" Mio asked, curious.

"He was charming and I was broken hearted," Sako admitted. "I thought sweet words had saved me…but I guess I was wrong."

A loveless life sounded pleasant. She didn't like the way brokenhearted and sweet words sounded in that single sentence and she wished not to experience anything remotely like that if she'd look as sad as Sako when she said it.

"But I was happy for a moment and I'm happier now with Minako."

"It's good she is nothing like her father," remarked Mio.

Sako laughed, nodding. "I couldn't agree more."

* * *

><p>"What are you doing?" Madara demanded, watching her pack her things.<p>

"I'm going downstairs to sleep with Sako and Minako," she answered, bags slung across her shoulder.

His eyebrows creased, annoyed. "Why?"

"Because I'm a fourteen-year-old girl and it's inappropriate."

"You don't look like a girl," he said with a frown.

"You can say all the nice things you want but I won't stay."

"I never asked you to stay. Leave."

"Is that an order?" she challenged.

"Everything that leaves my mouth is an order, so start listening," he retorted, pushing her out the room. "Go!"

He shut the door in her face, drawing a frown to her lips. As much as it pained her, she had to offer herself up for whatever he desired. She sucked it up, hating that she was doing the one thing she never wanted to do: work for Madara. "If you want anything, I'll be downstairs."

Mio started toward the staircase when she heard the door open.

"Stop doing that."

She turned to see Madara looking at her.

"Doing what?" she asked innocently.

"I kicked you out this morning," he said, "and you twisted it around."

"Who do you think I am?" she asked, insulted. She took the stairs two at a time before his booming voice carried over his insults and headed to Sako's room down the hall.

A scrambling shinobi intercepted her path, smacking straight into the wall and crumbling onto the ground. She stood startled by the odd entrance, listening to the sound of Madara's descent from the staircase, his tirade coming to a sudden end. The stranger left a thin trail of blood that dripped from between his fingers. His left arm looked as if it had been mauled by an animal and she immediately felt queasy.

His dim eyes quickly found her face as he reached to tear the mask from his face. She recognized him as one of the men from Eijiro's guard, but his name didn't come to mind as she stared at his disheveled, wounded state. "You're Mio, aren't you?"

Startled, Mio stepped back with a slight nod. "Yes."

"What do you want with her?" came Madara's voice behind her.

"Not me. Eijiro-sama wants a word with you," the shinobi answered, pausing to cough haggardly as he tried getting back onto his feet. "Now. It's best you leave now without the rest finding out."

Mio searched Madara's face for approval.

He steeled himself, staring at the messenger. "We go together."


	11. The Broken Pieces

Chapter **11** | The Broken Pieces

* * *

><p>The Wind Country was all humidity and howling winds that made traveling through the desert a terrible experience—the worst he had ever been forced to endure. Mornings were sparse, afternoons were scalding, and nights were freezing inside the thick-walled clutter of mud homes built on the hill overlooking a sea of pale sand. Adjusting to the unpredictable temperatures took time, time Izuna didn't want to spend within the indecisive desert, but he was left without a choice.<p>

Today marked their seventh day since Izuna and Sachiyo first joined his father's group. There were a great number of shinobi under Tajima's control and all worked with a single goal in mind: to expand Uchiha territory throughout key cities in the Wind Country to ensure a permanent and safe venue of travel for all shinobi. (Though really, who were they fooling? It made travel easier for the Uchiha and that was the real goal. Tajima was far from a peacekeeper.)

Sachiyo had every intention of dragging Tajima back to the compound since he had stopped taking orders from the elders. Madara would have been the better option (given the favoritism that went on with their father), but he had been tasked with a job of bigger importance, one Izuna felt more suited to do: taking care of Mio. Sachiyo had been furious about what happened on the trip to the Wave Country, she had shouted at the two of them until her voice gave out. She had a readied list to explain every reason why she lectured them about their safety, the mission objective, and the princess—reminding them of every harsh lesson Taiga instilled in them.

"_You've acted unprofessionally from the minute you challenged the Demon clan! They could have killed you!_" she had yelled, glaring daggers at Madara, who said nothing despite the arsenal of insults cooking up in his head. "_Just look at those burns! You are not strong enough to take on shinobi of their caliber._"

"_They took Mio—_" Izuna tried to reason, but she silenced him immediately.

"_Don't get me started on your shortcomings, Izuna, I left you in charge and you allowed them to revolt. What do you think that says about your capabilities as an authority figure?_"

She had shut them right off and separated them in an attempt to make them learn a lesson she failed to divulge. Perhaps it was one of those things you had to figure out, either way, Izuna was at a complete loss.

Honestly speaking, Izuna didn't like the idea of leaving Madara and Mio together while the latter recovered from something a medical specialist could only describe as exhaustion and the aftermath of the deep slumber she experienced in Kurata. Madara wouldn't bother doing anything considerate and he had used this as an argument to force his grandmother to let him stay instead. She shot him down instantly, saying, "_If you keep interfering this way, they won't ever get along themselves_."

His counterargument was simple. "_They're good at that! They're really good at faking how much they enjoy each other's company, but they secretly want to stab each other in the eye!_"

With a smack upside the head, his grandmother ended the argument and since then the thought of it all had disastrous results. At the same time, Madara would have at least had the courtesy of leaving Mio in Kana's hands to have a guilt-free conscious if she died.

Izuna almost kicked himself for putting 'Mio' and 'died' in the same sentence. He persevered through all ill thoughts of his brother and hoped for the best like he usually did. So long as Mio regained consciousness, she could take care of herself so long as she didn't pull a kunai on his brother, or vice versa.

The thought made him shudder. He hated having to sit in a room in the presence of Tajima and his confidants observing him as if they expected him to turn blue at any moment thinking about everything not having to do with the subject of the gathering. A fight had broken out because a group of rival shinobi from one of the Sand Dome clans tried to kill his grandmother when she tried offering an alternative to their constant skirmishes, knowing she was walking into a trap. She singlehandedly humiliated her guard of three skilled ninja when she killed a group of seven with a scorching fire technique. It led to the need of a strategic meeting, one from which his grandmother was absent and so he automatically became her stand-in.

God forbid his father trust him with anything remotely responsible. Madara was the favorite, the ideal leader in a clan like the Uchiha, and Izuna's pacifist ideals often got him into trouble, like they expected him to distribute candy in the middle of war. He didn't take it to heart. He wasn't the least bit interested in proving himself worthy in anyone's eyes. He was content where he was, training for big missions with Madara and watching him grow irritable when he lost a fight, and observing Mio during target practice because for a whole second there was nothing in the world but the kunai and shuriken in her hands and the bright-colored squares she strung in the trees. He preferred the emptiness of the manor, the sound of all the animals outside, the cold in the winter, the rain between seasons and even his grandmother's shouting. He enjoyed short-lived missions and meeting the people of the world.

Izuna predicted long ago that he wouldn't last a day stuck in the desert with his father and by a stroke of luck, his grandmother talked her son out of taking her grandchildren with him. She thought it was best to train them near the compound in an area large enough for him and Madara to run around. He had been thankful for the countryside because he would have probably already died from heat stroke.

"Izuna?" called Tajima, derailing his train of thought.

"I was listening," he announced, almost insulted. He swept the room quickly, all sixteen shinobi that were once seated in a half-circle before his father had vacated and an awkward silence set in alongside the realization that he had been found out. Now he felt irritated.

"Were you?"

"Fine, I wasn't."

Tajima was a daunting man—built stronger than the average shinobi—with a narrow gaze and a presence that could make the bravest man turn coward and hightail it out of sight. He wore his dark hair long, an untamed mass that fell below his shoulder blades, and had eyes like a black pool without surface, like the feared waters in Kurata.

"We'll be scouting in the east…" He trailed off at the sight of Sachiyo stepping into the room, his authoritative tone changing into something rude. "What do you want?"

"Izuna and I will be returning to the compound under a week. Leave Katsura in charge of your shinobi here and see Eijiro. We have urgent matters to discuss."

"Our matters here are far more important than whatever Eijiro wants to talk about. If we properly expand our territory here—"

"I know the prospects, I've been conquering territories long before I married your father," Sachiyo cut in strongly. "Your ambition can wait a week or two, you were given the best shinobi our clan has to offer and they are capable of functioning without you. There are important matters within the Uchiha compound in need of discussion, as one of the leaders it is expected of you to be present when the elders have summoned you. You've ignored all the messengers I've sent, I've run out of patience. I have started your war and now I need you to end it with your absence."

"Do you think me a fool?" Tajima snarled. "You expect me to leave now? I should be here to the end. I will be here until these desert lands are under Uchiha control, do you understand? Send as many messengers as you want, come as many times as you see fit. I won't go to the compound until all of this is mine."

Izuna sighed, watching them argue in calm, even tones from across the room. It was the only thing they did whenever they met. The one thing missing from the scene, which would otherwise complete it, was Madara. He would find some way to weed his way into the argument and shout up a storm. All three of them were the same.

Family reunions were the worst, especially when he was forced to sit through it all in silence.

Izuna prepared himself to stay put for another hour before they exhausted themselves when a lookout stormed into the room, windswept and covered in sand. He looked to have run quite a distance to reach their headquarters.

"Tajima-sama, Sachiyo-sama, there's been news from Eijiro's party!" he announced.

"What is it?" the two snapped, as ferocious as wild beasts.

The messenger looked startled. "It's Eijiro-sama," he stammered. "Eijiro-sama was wounded by shinobi of the Mikazuki clan."

"What?" Sachiyo turned to the poor man fully, staring him down. "The Mikazuki clan."

"Which is the Mikazuki clan?" asked Izuna, at a loss.

"A mercenary clan in the Frost Country," Tajima answered, eying him as if he expected him to know. "They work for shinobi clans with territories."

"What state is he in?" asked Sachiyo, addressing the lookout as she folded her arms over her chest, inching forward.

"It's a terrible wound, they say it might have festered and a fever that could leave him dead in a matter of days," he informed. "He has issued for the entire clan to be in the compound before he arrives with his team. He has sent a dozen messengers to spread the summons."

Sachiyo turned to Tajima. "Don't you dare think of ignoring this one," she threatened with a scathing look.

Tajima returned the look. "Find Katsura, send him on ahead with three men."

The messenger left them quickly.

"Even I know when a shift of power occurs," he said snidely, striding out of the room.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Izuna asked eagerly, dread coiling in the pit of his stomach.

"Eijiro split the rule of the clan into four to appease the clashing powers and so he named us Elders, but we all knew it wouldn't be long before the old bastard died so instead of fighting against his decision, we bent to his will," Sachiyo explained, toneless and cold. "He survived three Elders since then and now he's gotten himself wounded by a group of amateur shinobi. I'm almost sad to see the irony in this."

"But you've known Eijiro-san long," Izuna started, befuddled, "I thought you were friends."

"Friends to the world. Who would respect a group of leaders if they spent the whole time fighting?" she stated, turning to the entrance. "The summons must have reached Madara and Mio; they will probably be at the compound by the time we arrive."

"What's going to happen?"

"Easy, so long as Mio remains loyal to me, nothing will happen," Sachiyo remarked, "but if Eijiro does die, I believe her aunt will attempt to take her from my jurisdiction and we cannot have that. Let's hope that brother of yours has some sense and keeps her away from that witch."

"But what if Konoe takes her away?" he pressed. "Will we see her?"

"Expect you won't see her again," said Sachiyo, voice changing into something dark but strong, "and if you do, it'll be dead. Konoe will go wherever Hiryuu goes and Hiryuu will find proper reason to dispose of the useless. Mio, despite her accomplishments, is considered useless."

Izuna swallowed hard. The clan's state of affairs was as brittle as glass; the tiniest push would have it smashed on the ground with its sharp edges flying in every direction.

He jumped to his feet and pursued his grandmother to further the conversation, but there was only so much more he could learn. Sachiyo admitted that information was scarce when it came to the Mikazuki clan, but they did share a common trait, one she said was the only thing known about them apart from their name.

"They etch their clan's crest on their skin as soon as they are recognized as shinobi," Sachiyo explained. "A crescent slashed right down the middle, carved right into their skin."

Izuna wrinkled his brow. It sounded familiar. "A crescent?"

"A crescent cut down the middle," she repeated. "A permanent mark on their skin. I hear their practices are savage, completely unheard of."

"I think I have heard of them," Izuna hummed, trying to remember why they sounded so familiar.

"Have you? Where?"

"I don't know, but I swear I heard someone talk about the crest." He hated his inability to remember, but the more he tried to do so, the farther away the answer seemed. "Did you tell me about it?"

"No."

Izuna gave up halfway down a slope where his father had gathered his men to explain the situation. He watched Katsura and three men jump into the long road out of sight. The remaining shinobi were split into four large groups, each assigned a specific task. The first led by the second most trusted man under his father command would remain in the Wind Country with the few strong shinobi Tajima could spare to ensure their territory remained untouched. The second group, led by Sachiyo would make contact with members of the Ito clan, which left Izuna baffled.

Halfway through Tajima preparing the third group, Izuna leaned closer to his grandmother in search of answers. "Why the Ito clan?"

"Your father is preparing for the worst outcome," Sachiyo explained. "The Ito clan have never been our allies, but if we can convince them to work with us we could be a strong opposing force. Pay close attention to your father, despite his faults, he is a capable leader."

Izuna nodded, a tad insulted by the double meaning. He could see it in all their eyes—his men—the amount of respect they had for him. Any one of them would easily revolt if his father failed where it was expected of him to succeed. _Or maybe, they're just scared he'll kill them all if they don't listen,_ Izuna thought, feeling his face betray his thoughts as he stared at his father's wide back. _That could be it._

Sachiyo huffed. "You should also be prepared for the worst."

Perhaps, he was far too young to understand what his grandmother meant at that moment because it all sounded like the adults were overreacting to a light rain. Uchiha Eijiro was known for being practically immortal; no potentially dangerous wounds have ever been a threat to his life.

Izuna wasn't exactly prepared for the worst, nor did he feel inclined to do so. He was more worried about Madara and Mio's wellbeing. _I hope they don't use the clan's imbalance to wage war on each other._ He wouldn't put it past them.

And then he heard his father call his name, assigning him as the leader to a team of fifteen shinobi twice his age. "You will meet with Eijiro's men at the border," he finished, looking at him straight in the eyes. The amount of responsibility placed on his shoulders was nerve-racking and something he could have easily done without in his entire lifetime. "As soon as you arrive, send a man to report to me and your grandmother. Send as many reports as you deem relevant to Eijiro's health."

"Yes, sir."

The fourth group, with himself at the helm, was to meet Katsura at the compound to retrieve Madara. He glanced at Sachiyo, disgruntled. "Kikyo's girl as well," he added. "We need more spies with that sort of potential."

He dismissed the group remaining and approached them before ordering them to their destinations.

"Is that fine with you?" Tajima asked, the question directed at his mother.

Sachiyo looked at him full, disdainful. "What are you assuming?"

"I know keeping that girl wasn't simply for show," he replied easily. "It's appropriate. For Madara."

Izuna watched his grandmother's expression darken. "Are you insinuating I raised that girl to marry Madara?" She sounded completely insulted. "I did not make her my student so I could marry her off to Madara? What nonsense are you spouting? She has her rights as much as he does."

"I wouldn't be against it. She's a special girl, better than a common woman."

Sachiyo looked as though she were about to slap Tajima, but the anger dissipated as soon as it appeared. "No, they've been together for six long years, to have bonds as strong as siblings with her, though they fight and argue all day long, it's normal. They're young adults. I won't sacrifice what they've built on for an arranged marriage, not in their line of work."

Tajima looked unconvinced. "Think about it, Kikyo's brat or the first whore Madara sleeps with? It's not difficult to choose the better option. Two Uchiha breed stronger children."

Izuna felt his grandmother turn him away by the arm. "Hurry, Izuna, you're traveling the farthest," she advised, keeping her eyes on Tajima. "There's no need for you to continue listening to your father's nonsense."

Without idling, he gathered the men assigned to him and for the first time felt the power in authority as they obeyed his orders. It might have been secondary authority that some may have issue to with him being young, but there was no way of describing the feeling of being able to lead a group of talented shinobi on a mission. This was nothing like his mission with Chika and the Wave Country. It was something fragile and took more responsibility than he had ever been able to exercise.

* * *

><p>The reality of the situation was that it was a complete nightmare. Eijiro's mortal wound was a deep carve across his torso that would have killed a normal man instantly, but he remained, feverish and enduring excruciating pain with a few final requests. He prepared himself for death he had not expected until his hands were gnarled and the skin on his face was sagging, until age dictated his end and not his career as a shinobi. He expected Taiga to be someone worthy of power because he knew times were changing and the clan needed someone strong leading them if they planned to be the everlasting warrior clan, not a chapter in history depicting their reign and fall.<p>

Izuna sent as many reports as needed with Eijiro's trusted men and spent most of the time staying out of the way while remaining observant. His grandmother asked him to prepare for the worst, but he didn't know what that was yet. He wasn't sure what to do. How could he prepare for something he knew nothing about? He could only take on the challenge blindly and hope it wasn't as perilous a road as described.

As Eijiro's health started deteriorating fast, he called one of his attendants. "Has he returned yet?" he asked gruffly, voice fading into weakness. "Has he returned with the girl?"

Izuna imagined he wanted to see the people he loved before he died, so it didn't surprise him that he was asking for Minako. Ever since the girl had been born, he had been incredibly fond of her. So he waited alongside the rest of his guards, for the little girl with the plump cheeks and cheery disposition to brighten up his final hours.

But in the end, his assumption had been incorrect. Minako wasn't the person he asked for, it was someone else, someone he didn't expect to see trekking through the muddied campground with disheveled hair and panting for breath.

Izuna jumped to his feet as soon as he recognized Mio from the distance and started toward her with quick, sure steps that squished noisily under the soft earth. The shinobi that guided her into the camp was swarmed by medical-nin as soon as he was spotted and instead of showing her the rest of the way, he pointed out the largest tent in their campsite. Following close behind, he noticed belatedly, was Madara reaching out to grab her by the arm to force her into longer strides when he took the lead.

"Mio!" Izuna called, not yet close. "Madara!"

They searched their surroundings and found him quickly. Mio jerked out of Madara's hold and rushed to him. She threw her arms around him in a bone-crushing hug and in it he felt her warmth and her heart pounding wildly in her chest. He wound his arms around her, hoping to soothe her rampant heartbeat as he shot his brother a suspicious look. Did he do something to her?

Mio pulled away, holding onto his arms and looked over her shoulder to Madara.

"How long have you been here?" Madara asked, as if on cue.

"Around three days," he answered, feeling Mio's hands leave their place on him and she moved further away, closer to Madara. Without knowing, he knew and without realizing, he remembered Mio was the person that described the Mikazuki clan's crest to him once with vivid memory.

He reached out for her as soon as the memory formed in his mind. They were seated side by side on the coldest night they had ever endured in their home and they had shared enough experiences since her arrival to merit that split moment of sadness. For as long as he had known her, Mio had neither talked about her parents nor mourned their deaths as was expected. But she did then as she detailed the experience with her heart beating a mile a minute and eyes as glassy as a moon reflected in a pond. He thought she might cry, but she didn't. For someone with a reputation for crying over nonsense, she didn't shed a single tear when it mattered.

"_…I dreamt of the mark on his back carved in my skin and of blood raining from the ceiling—I don't remember how it happened anymore. I just know that it did and even if I couldn't assert it, I could feel it. I never saw my parents' murder, I felt it._"

Izuna's hand clasped her wrist. "They say the split crescent belongs to the Mikazuki clan," he said quickly, watching the confusion give way to clarity. "The Mikazuki clan wounded Eijiro—"

Mio tugged her hand away and without looking at either brother, she ran straight to the largest tent in their camp.

"What was that about?" Madara demanded.

"One of the Mikazuki killed her mom and dad," he said, starting after her. He picked up the pace, forcing his brother to a slight jog. "She has a right to know."

Madara followed him through the flap in the tent. Eijiro was as he had been the last he saw him, surrounded by those trying their best to keep him alive, but as Mio approached and he opened his dark, weary eyes, they brightened. Mio found a seat beside him, watching as he lifted a hand to her. She gently took it in hers and rested it over her lap. He tried to speak, but there was blood and his voice was a strangled noise.

Mio leaned forward, pressing her ear close to his face, willing to listen.

"I thought he might want to see Minako," Izuna admitted.

"Mio did too."

"Why did he ask for her?"

Madara shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows?"

Izuna settled, keeping his eyes locked on Mio's face in search for a change in her expression. There was none. She hid her emotions well.

Mio drew back slowly, looking down at Eijiro one last time as he spoke once more, louder now. "Find him. He has no one else."

"But Taiga—" she started in protest.

"No!" Eijiro coughed violently, his attendant rushed to keep him calm, but he pushed aside all help. He latched onto Mio's arm. He faced her and with the last speck of light remaining in his eyes, he gave her finality. "You should not live without freedom."

Mio drew back, befuddled, but Eijiro held on as his words turned into incoherent babble and the fever gave him a final push towards death.

Everything happened far too quickly. Izuna felt as though he had been the only one standing still as the medic-nin tried their best to challenge death and Madara was dragging Mio back onto her feet, exerting his right do demand from her.

Izuna followed his brother's actions as soon as he brushed past him, giving Mio a push out of the tent. Time hadn't slowed down. It was all in his head. But maybe if it had, Eijiro could have made his peace.

Izuna stepped out of the tent to the tense atmosphere outside and Madara and Mio's sudden burst of anger. The sight of it irritated him.

"It's none of your business," Mio blurted.

It was the first time he ever saw her look so angry.

Madara's grip on her arm looked painful, but it only seemed to tighten in his exasperation. "We have an agreement!"

"I don't have to tell you anything." She jerked her arm back, trying to break his hold. She failed and the pain registered in her face. "Let go."

Izuna intervened, finding impatience in his voice.. "Madara, let her go."

"Why would Eijiro call for her of all people?" he asked, facing him. "She was a nobody to him up until six years ago."

"She spent six years going to and from the compound. He cared about her," Izuna explained, annoyed. He learned to deal with this side of his brother, but today, he didn't have the patience to ignore it. "Don't throw a fit because you have to know everything. Grow up."

Saying it aloud was liberating. For as long as they had been together, Izuna tiptoed around his brother's faults—and he had many—to stay in his good graces, but something inside him snapped for that split second. He needed to say it. Madara needed to learn that the world didn't revolve around him and thus, nobody had to answer to him. Mio was entitled to her silence. Whatever Eijiro told her had been personal, which meant she had a right to keep it to herself.

And for it being the first insult he ever uttered towards his brother, Izuna remained guiltless.

Madara took the insult and exploded with anger. He let Mio go and grabbed him by the shirt.

Izuna jerked toward him a second before Madara's fist connected with his face. His jaw throbbed from the first impact and as the second came, everything went numb.

Mio grabbed Madara's arm, shouting at him to stop, but he didn't see reason. He shoved her aside and snapped back to his brother.

Izuna had done the one thing Madara never expected him to do and that was look down on him. There was no regret in his eyes or in his body, he stood by his comment and beating him bloody wouldn't make the difference. Madara would be proving him right. He was just throwing a fit like a giant baby.

Involuntarily, he laughed. It angered Madara more, but he was numb and at sudden peace that his brother's shouts were a mere ringing in his ears.

How long the one-sided fight had gone on, he didn't know. It took two shinobi to pull Madara off him when a medic-nin emerged from the tent with bloodied hands and confirmation of Eijiro's death.

Izuna wiped the blood from his mouth, feeling Mio's presence at his side. He looked at her. "Come with me," he said, eyes locked.

Mio turned away from him to face Madara, who had broken free from the shinobi restraining him. The secret agreement between them built a tension between himself and Mio. He hated it because he felt that she needed to travel with him to whatever location his father sent him to after he reported, but the look on her face betrayed her hesitation.

"I—"

Her eyes weren't clouded in doubt; they were deep dark coals full of resolution. There was something she had to do and she planned to pretend she considered the offer.

Izuna moved away from her, strangely furious. "Don't lie to me," he said sharply, getting back onto his feet. "Just get away from me."

He didn't look at either Madara or Mio as he made preparations to send another messenger to his father and grandmother. He tried not to think about the feeling of rejection crawling out from the pit of his stomach and lodging in his throat. Mio had always been his friend. She would choose him over Madara without a second thought. And the one moment that he needed—seriously needed—her to travel with him, she chose Madara.

They were returning to the compound. Madara said it loud enough for the message to reach him.

"Let's go, Mio," Madara ordered.

Izuna never thought of punching his brother outside of training, but that evening as Eijiro's death marked the start of a new chapter for the Uchiha clan, he wanted nothing more than to drown him.

Mio said nothing in response; she followed Madara in silence as if she were his shadow. She made no noise of her own and had no presence to speak of—she was the ghost again, shrunken away to nothingness by all the people whose blind faith turned her to espionage. And the guilt of seeing this and having spoken to her that way gnawed at his insides, but he couldn't let the emotion read in his expression.

It shouldn't have mattered as much as it did. Izuna tried pretending it didn't.

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: Sorry for the wait. It's been a while, hasn't it? I hope this somehow makes up for the time, though it's shorter than I expected and didn't follow my original outline, but these things happen. I hope you enjoyed it.

I did what I came here to do, naming the Mikazuki clan, Eijiro's inevitable death, Tajima's introduction and the start of Izuna's maturing process.

My thanks to **YamiKitsuneKami**, **Warrior of Sangre**, **nightchildx**, **Aries01xD**, **Wilting Insanity** and **Aista** for reviewing! :)

Having said that this was supposed to be longer, I wrote quite literally the stupidest Madara and Izuna scene in life in which they properly acknowledge Mio's gender as female, having never seen her as such. I really wanted to add it in for the sake of lightening things up before carrying on with my plans, but sadly, the changes in this chapter left me with few choices.

Izuna continues narrating in the next chapter where we get a glimpse into his friendship with Mio during the timeskip years and how well they fared as a trio as well as more general plot. And hopefully some more clan drama. :)

See you soon!

Thank you for reading. :)


	12. Neutral

Chapter **12** | Neutral

* * *

><p>Mio sat in the shade of a woven net of soft branches and leaves, blending into the overgrown bushes all around her, and listened to the swaying trees, the skittering of nocturnal animals, and the beating of her heart. It sounded incredibly loud, almost as if she were holding it in her hands listening to it thump like someone was knocking constantly from inside it. She wanted to think she was overreacting, but this had never happened before. She didn't overreact. She imagined if she did it would be in private where it would be something of an internal affair, an implosion of emotions, and she would look catatonic for several days. Maybe that's how she looked now, she just didn't know it.<p>

A branch snapped to her right. She turned to meet Madara's eyes as he crouched down in front of her, pulling the bag from his shoulder and setting it on the ground between them. His lips moved, but she heard nothing. Her lack of immediate response seemed to irritate him to the point of reaching out to pinch her face.

Yes, she was overreacting.

"What?" she asked softly. He said nothing, merely glared. "What did you say?"

"You haven't said anything."

Mio scratched the back of her neck, feeling a rash setting in from hours under the net. "About?"

"Eijiro said something to you. It sounded important."

"I don't want to talk about it," she confessed, dipping a hand into the satchel between them and digging through it for something that looked remotely edible. She brought a cluster of berries to her nose, inhaling their scent and recognizing its deceiving sweetness. She lifted her eyes to him, holding them out to him. "These are poisonous."

He shrugged. "It's hard to see in the dark."

"That's why you smell them."

"I was too busy looking for that river we stumbled into yesterday to care about smelling berries. They didn't look poisonous."

Mio continued digging until she found something eatable and popped the new berries into her mouth one at a time. He crawled into the space beside her, shoving against her shoulder and complaining about the lack of space. She elbowed him in response and shimmied closer to the bushes beside her, holding her legs to her chest.

"I noticed you changed the subject," started Madara, finally settling into his seat. "You're good at manipulating situations, but I'm not stupid. I've seen you do it from the minute the old hag brought you to the house. You've had Hiryuu wrapped around your little finger. It figures you'd have Izuna in the same—"

"Don't say it if you'll regret it," Mio interrupted, trying to sound cool. She was tired of listening to the same thing over and over again. The way Madara told the story was as if she were a master puppeteer pulling the strings in every aspect of her short life with his family when that was further from the truth. She was content knowing she wasn't doing anything wrong and what she did to Hiryuu had been incredibly dangerous. It could have cost her life. It was a rash, childish decision on her part. She was coping with the death of her parents in a way that she knew was wrong but felt so right at the time and she spent several years mortified that she had gone to such extremes, feeling she shamed Genji and Kikyo in some unexplainable form. She got nothing out of it, nothing good, only more fear—of hands closing in on her neck and cutting off her air supply—and the terrible nightmares that still haunted her nights today.

"—_position_," he finished accusingly, ignoring her attempts at mollifying him.

"Izuna is my friend."

"For how long?" he snapped. "How long before you decide to get him sent away like you did Hiryuu?"

Mio rested her chin on her knee. Take the bait or admit defeat. Those were her options. She wasn't going to say something for Madara to twist into something it wasn't and she didn't like to stay on the subject of Hiryuu long enough to feel her insides shrivel up. It was enough for herself to know that Izuna was her friend…unless, tonight changed everything? He had raised his voice at her, pulled away from her—he had acted completely unlike himself after she stumbled on her words, prepared to feed him her first lie. He had asked her to accompany him and on any other occasion, she would have gone with him, but with confirmation of Eijiro's death, she had needed to return to the compound for Sako and Minako. She couldn't leave them with Taiga, not alone.

"I'll ask you one more time," Madara started impatiently. "What did Eijiro say to you?"

_What do I have to lose? _She wanted an answer to that question as she processed his, remembering the pained words Eijiro muttered into her ear. She wished she could have more time digesting what it meant and imagined she would be sitting down with Izuna to tell him about it, not Madara. But she didn't have an answer to her doubts and nothing else that Eijiro could have said on his deathbed would steer her away from her current objective.

"I have a grandfather," she said, regretting it immediately after he made a face. "He's a blacksmith, he lives in neutral country."

"What's that have to do with anything? So you happen to have a grandfather in neutral country, so what? You've never met him and he's never looked for you, what difference does it make that you know about him?"

"I haven't thought about it that far," she admitted softly, trying to become one with the bushes when he moved closer to her.

"What's the point of sending one of his shinobi to the compound to get you just to give you news of a living relative?"

"At the old cottage," she said suddenly, mind deviating from the subject as if she needed to explain it more than she was capable. "I didn't tell you everything Enya said. I didn't want to because it sounded like gibberish to me and I thought I was dreaming at some point…but he said I would return to Kurata." She stared into the still darkness before her, gathering her wayward thoughts. "He told me how to find Mt. Hyōga, said I would find the rest of the Kuronuma clan there…that they would be waiting for me. He said many things when he sounded so confident you would save me. I didn't want to believe anything he said—didn't want to listen—because I didn't want you to save me."

Madara pushed against her shoulder, forcing her to turn. "How is that relevant?"

"Eijiro-san gave me an order," she answered.

"What order?" he pressed.

"'_Find him,_' he said," she replied, her mind echoed the grave rasp of his voice as it uttered into her ear. "'_He will take you to Mt. Hyōga with the rest of them._'"

"With the Kuronuma clan? Eijiro wanted you to find your blacksmith grandfather so he could guide you to the mountain where they all live?" he asked. "Do they want to start something with the Uchiha? Do they want to toss you into the black water as a sacrifice? Or are the cannibalism rumors true?"

He sounded skeptical now, less demanding. He looked how she assumed she should have if she weren't thinking about ways to stop her heart from beating so loudly, ashamed that he might hear it in his close proximity. Overreacting again, but she needed to talk to him about personal bubbles and how easy it was to invade them.

"It makes no sense," Madara said, defeated. "Why would he give you a stupid order like that?"

Eijiro thought her grandfather could give her the freedom he had seen denied to her. She couldn't be sure. She only remembered hearing his voice in the back of her head, echoing loudly until the words were muddled into incoherency. She deserved freedom. She wanted to ask for what? Why was it important that she had any form of freedom? She was perfectly fine living in service of Sachiyo and her grandchildren because she found a home with them without ever realizing what it might eventually mean for her emotions to be so involved.

She didn't understand, but again, she wasn't trying.

"I think he's a Kuronuma," she answered in certainty, seeing his expression change in the dark. _Confusion?_ He was hard to see in the shade of night. "My grandfather. I think he's a Kuronuma."

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: I know I promised an Izuna chapter, you'll be getting it on **Feb 13** on the count of Redesign winning this week's poll. (You can read all about this on my profile.) This scene was supposed to be featured in the chapter after Izuna's POV ended, but because Izuna's chapter might be split in two and Eijiro's death is still fresh on everyone's mind (hopefully), I decided to post this as an individual chapter.

Thank you for reading and many more thank yous to **YamiKitsuneKami**, **nightchildx**, **Aries01xD**, **that0nelittl3girl**, and **Dusk Nisshoku Valentine** for reviewing the previous chapter!

I'll see you on Wednesday!

Apologies for how short and uneventful this was!


	13. Warning Signs

Chapter **13** | Warning Signs

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><p>Burdened with guilt, Izuna left the campsite to meet his grandmother at the border of the Waterfall Country.<p>

Eijiro's men stalled where the elder rested, so loyal they swore to mourn his death for as long as seven days and seven nights. No one would leave until the mourning period ended and until then, the clan would remain ignorant to the shift of power. However, Madara and Mio were in the midst of their journey back to the Uchiha compound and he had already sent a hawk to his father, informing him of their loss. He suspected the two might be prudent enough to avoid spreading the word, but Taiga had learned of his grandfather's deadly injury and by the time they reached the compound, he would have already been there three days.

Danger surrounded the compound. How many of the clan's deadliest assassins had gathered? How many of them wanted a clan stricken in chaos? Had Hikaku arrived? Was Hiryuu present? What about Mio's aunt, Konoe? Was she there as well? Did they plan to gather? Were they plotting? Oh, he bet everyone, to some extent, was plotting, but Hiryuu and Konoe scheming brought on a new sense of dread.

And he just let Mio go.

In a fit of foreign rage, he snapped at her for choosing Madara.

But she didn't understand.

His brother didn't understand.

Izuna _needed _Mio on this journey. He _had _to have convinced her otherwise. He felt a chilling emotion in his bones that demanded he return to the border, sprint towards them to intercept their paths and drag Mio to the Waterfall Country with or without Madara.

Except, he had done none of the things he _needed _to do. He forsook them in a spur of anger and now he felt the burn of shame and regret. They were hundreds of miles away, traveling in the opposite direction. Turning around now would cut in his time and the staggering amount of thoughts running through his head had already slowed him down.

He couldn't concentrate. Running back towards the compound proved a weakness he couldn't yet name, so he continued forward, determined.

.

.

Izuna ran headfirst into a Mikazuki trap.

Dozens of Mikazuki shinobi surrounded his squadron, hidden behind thick tangles of vines and under the blackness of shadows. They were without breath, without noise, without need. They were shielded from the power of his eyes, no chakra to be seen. These shinobi were as good as nonexistent under the cover of night.

As he sat in a bed of leaves, burrowed on all sides by tightly packed dirt, holding his bloodied side, he knew that whatever the outcome of this standoff was would be up to fate.

He hated to think that way. _Leaving it up to fate?_ It sounded ridiculous. But he couldn't think.

The situation was impossible to get around. He devised hundreds of ways to confront them, but not without losing his life in the process. Since survival was slim, Izuna started considering escape. He thought of being in someone else's shoes and imagined that it was a necessary sacrifice to retaliate against the shinobi clan that ruptured his apart. But there was not much he could do.

So he stayed silent, observing the men his father entrusted him with several days ago. He gave them silent orders to stay down. If he learned one thing from the ambush, it was that the Mikazuki excelled in the watery terrain. The ground had been slippery from precipitation and the trees surrounding the area were tall with robust branches and wide leaves that tangled overhead into a thick canopy that kept light out. There were boulders covered in moss and deep holes in the ground—forgotten traps—and vines that wrapped around tree trunks and tumbled free above their heads. Animals crept in silence. Insects skittered anxiously across the earth.

Izuna sucked in a breath. He scented water and greenery tainted with stronger smells—of blood and rotting flesh and death. Had it not been for the chill that twined up his spine, he might have never seen the sheen of metal slashing towards him. He evaded it in time to acquire a scratch over his side, deep enough to bleed profusely but not enough to kill him.

How long had he been there? Surrounded by death?

The smells made him want to vomit, but he dimmed them by wrapping a piece of torn cloth over his mouth and nose. He tried not to think of them either because that made it worse, so he relaxed his hidden body self-assured of his position and his ability to sensing oncoming attacks. He had the Sharingan; many of his men had the same advantage. The Mikazuki only had the terrain. He was certain that without it they would be no match for the Uchiha. But then—then he thought of Eijiro, who had practically been immortal until they came around, and of Mio and her parents. Kikyo and Genji, whose names he had never heard of before she spoke them in that quiet voice of hers with an emotion that strung a cord in his. She never talked of them individually; she spoke of them together on the night they were killed, the memory rooted to her brain and it seemed to be the only one she had of them. The only one she thought mattered.

.

_"Can you tell me about them?" _Izuna asked. She had been comfortable enough to speak freely at that time and seemed more willing to reveal the events that led to her arrival at his home. He never wanted to intrude before, but he was curious then. He wanted to know Mio because it seemed no one else was willing. _"I've asked grandma, but she only tells me that they were good at what they did. She said Kikyo was an incredible sensor and Genji was a skilled spy. I heard he infiltrated the warzone far east when he was young with complete ease and supplied our clan with valuable information."_

Izuna enjoyed such stories growing up, talks of clansmen doing the impossible and winning battle after battle. Of course, back then, doing that was difficult with an influx of new shinobi clans. The recent years had claimed most, leaving only the strongest clans in play. He heard his grandmother discussing that sort of thing with Taiga all the time, but most of the supremacy wars had been traded for territorial wars. Even the strongest clans were having trouble staying rooted to one spot, most felt safer moving from place to place which had been up for discussion with the Elders in his clan, but Eijiro refused to move the compound elsewhere.

Mio had turned to him then as she carefully organized the contents of her satchel. She traveled light, but always seemed prepared. Still, Izuna noted she was very particular about things. She liked odd numbers and fixed everything around that slight obsession of hers. He had always wondered about that as well, but he didn't want to be too impersonal or insulting. Then again, he was asking about her parents without talking about his own. There wasn't much to tell where his parents were concerned. His mother died early on in his life so he remembered her less than Madara did, but it affected him the same. He thought about all those days he would never get to see her again and they still depressed him. Even if he didn't remember her face or the way she smiled, he did recall the way she used to carry him on her back and talk about the places her long missions had taken her. Then there was that issue with his father where Izuna hadn't inherited enough Uchiha and Madara was the perfect son, who couldn't even stand him longer than a minute. Matching personalities and all. Madara inherited the stupid from their father as Tajima had from his mother, but Izuna would never say that to their faces.

_"Mother never sensed him coming," _she answered quietly. She idled on the question for several minutes as if she were going over each word for hidden meaning before she started to talk. She picked her words carefully. _"She should have. In the end, I think she was sorry. She sounded sorry…or I think she did. Father, he…" _She paused. _"Father didn't have time to say much of anything. He only gave me a number—seven-four."_

_"Seventy-four?" _he questioned, mildly intrigued. _"What does that mean?"_

_"It was a seven and a four, not seventy-four," _she corrected without a hint of exasperation. _"It's a code. A secret code."_

_"Do you know what it means?" _he asked excitedly, scrambling to seat himself beside her in case it was a secret she would be parting with.

_"No," _she replied. _"Not yet."_

.

Izuna heard a loud rustling overhead and the sound of something cutting through the air sharply followed by a pained cry from his right. He turned in time to see one of his own fall with a jagged piece of metal stabbed in his neck. He gurgled noisily as blood guzzled from the wound and then it was silent once more. As he thought, they were prisoners and the Mikazuki were scattered. He damned the situation, cursed himself for being too concerned with what had happened to realize they were walking into a death trap.

"What should we do?" asked a man to his left. His voice was low and his body was hunched behind the overgrown roots of a drooping tree.

Izuna looked up to him. "We wait until morning, we can't do anything until then," he said quickly, sure to measure the loudness of his tone. "They have an advantage over us, the terrain, weather, night. Stay vigilant."

The man repeated the orders to the rest of their group and silently his squadron crept in the same shadows the Mikazuki hid waiting for the right opportunity when one of them would fall under the stream of moonlight peeking through the branches tangled above their heads.

Izuna shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. The exhaustion beating on his back was starting to weigh heavily. He avoided sleep on various missions, but none as strenuous as this one. This one demanded his full attention whereas others he could simply have a guard posted and find time to rest for at least an hour. He hadn't slept well enough the day before with Eijiro's worsening condition. He was asked to keep his father posted and that was what he did, barely sleeping two hours before the medic struggled to keep him stable. Their current standoff could get boring quickly and that sort of emotion would send him straight to sleep, so he needed to busy himself.

Instantly, his mind went back to the memory of the code Mio's father left with her and remembered the conversations that followed. Somewhere in her observations of that night, in the grisly recollection of her own tragedy he thought he could find a way to counterattack the Mikazuki and escape.

.

_"Aren't you ever curious?"_ asked Izuna, drying his hands clean of the lake water.

Mio glimpsed at him, holding a fishing pole between her hands. _"Curious about what?"_

She had the patience necessary for fishing, especially in that lake. Anyone else would have given up ages ago, but she was working out a system and it looked important to her. She had been at it for days and Sachiyo thought it was about time she started losing hope. Though it was evident fish inhabited the water, they were of the tricky sort. Madara couldn't catch any by hand and he was notoriously good at catching fish. So was Mio.

_"About where he went?"_ he continued, wondering if she would understand the question since they hadn't brought the subject up since she told him the nightmares had lessened.

_"Somewhere dark, I think." _

_"Why somewhere dark?"_

Mio shrugged her shoulders. _"It's just something that I know."_

_"That's not an answer." _Izuna frowned.

_"I don't have an answer—oh?" _The fishing line gave a sudden jerk and she started reeling in her prize. _"I think got a bite."_

.

The evenings had grown colder with autumn fast approaching and Izuna spent more time committed to a mission than he did at home. He had experienced many adventures since the last time he returned to the countryside home where he was raised and he wanted to get there quickly to tell Mio all about them, though Madara didn't see the point in any of that. Madara had been lucky enough to run an errand for Jouji three months ago that took him straight to Mio, who was recovering from an injury she sustained on a scouting mission. It was more of a burden to him than a stroke of luck for obvious issues. When he had returned to the village where they were staying, Izuna had asked about her and Madara merely shrugged saying that she was alive.

Izuna broke through the clearing first and met with the swaying tall grass behind the house. He heard a hammering sound above when a door slid open to reveal Kana carrying a load of dirty laundry. The cook seemed upset and as if on cue, Taiga emerged from within with the largest grin he had ever seen on the man. Taiga spotted him just as Madara emerged from the woods and pushed past him.

_"I didn't think you'd both come home so soon? How long's it been?" _asked Taiga waving them over.

Madara looked up to the rooftop. _"Not long enough," _he grumbled, entering the house before Taiga could address him again.

Izuna glanced up to see Mio hammering away at the rooftop with a stack of wooden planks at her side. Now that he had a second look, he realized there was a gaping hole above as well as below. He approached Taiga as soon as Kana was out of sight. _"What's with the holes?"_

_"Oh that? Mio had trouble landing during our sparring session," _he answered teasingly, loud enough for Mio to hear.

The hammering got louder, a sign that she didn't want to listen to him. Although she seemed to be on better terms with Taiga than she ever was with Hiryuu, she definitely didn't like him as a human being.

Taiga clapped his hands together and sauntered down the stairs, turning to face Izuna. _"Well, I'll be off, I've got a wife to please and a daughter to raise," _he announced, lifting his eyes to Mio. _"I'll be seeing you for the meeting next week, Mio."_

Izuna bade him farewell and entered the house, peering through the hole in the roof to see Mio's frown. Even in that angle he noticed her hair had been badly cut, falling messily all around her head with a few strands stuck out in odd places. The corner of her forehead was bleeding form a terrible scrape and her hands were messily bandaged. _"Wanna talk about it?"_

Mio glanced down at him and shook her head.

He left his luggage on the floor, rummaging through it for the emergency medical kit he carried and exited the house to join her on the rooftop. She intended on getting the damage repaired temporarily, but she was bleeding through her bandages and was doing an awful job from the start.

_"Stop that for a second," _said Izuna, placing a hand on her hand.

She stopped her hammering upon contact, saying nothing and relaxed into a seat as though she were unwilling to fight him on it. She was incredibly tense when he decided to clean the blood off her face and bandage the scrape on her temple.

_"I never thought you'd take Taiga up on one of his offers," _he said suddenly, taking the hammer from her hand. _"I mean, you've seen what he's put me and Madara through these past four and a half years. Sometimes I feel he's really trying to kill us." _He shuddered with the reminder, glad he no longer needed to endure the harsh training sessions. He expected Mio to say something by then, but she hadn't and that worried him. He started removing the bandages in her right hand slowly. _"Did something happen, Mio?"_

_"No."_ Her quiet voice was softer than ever. She sounded like she rather not be speaking at all, as if she had made the effort for him. _"Nothing._"

_"I can tell he said something to you. You always make that face," _he stated, poking her cheek.

_"What do you expect? It's my face," _she countered lowly.

Izuna grinned. _"What'd he say?"_

_"He was just bothering me. I had another nightmare."_

_"About that night?" _he asked knowledgeably.

Mio nodded curtly. _"I don't know if it's real or not…I can't tell the difference between all the other things that happened before and this doesn't make sense. It doesn't fit with the other pieces." _She touched a palm to her forehead, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. _"I thought I remembered everything, but I can't stop seeing that mark everywhere."_

_"What was the dream?"_ he asked, touching his fingers to the top of her hand. She grabbed his hand instantly, squeezing hard.

_"They went outside. The fight happened outside. It wasn't in the house. He brought him back dead—he was dead when I heard that thud on the ground,"_ she whispered. She didn't cry, but she did tremble. _"And the mark was everywhere and it was dark. I couldn't see anything—nothing, like there had been an eclipse—"_

.

Izuna jolted out of his reverie, reawakened to the death surrounding him and the deep shadows that obscured their enemy. He peered out of the hole where he had burrowed and saw through the tangled, drooping trees the moonlight rolling into a dirt path. There were so many shadows in the wooded area and the man they just killed had stepped into the heavy shade behind moss-covered boulders when the weapon struck him. Reality hit him hard. He himself had called it from the start; they were nonexistent under the cover of night. He cursed himself for not having realized it beforehand.

Hiding where they were wouldn't provide them much protection. In fact, he was certain the Mikazuki could have already killed them if they wanted. Why hadn't was a mystery, one he didn't want to find out at all.

He devised a quick escape, calling on the spy that accompanied him from Eijiro's camp. She was several years older than he was, but she looked just as young as he was with her dark hair pulled from her pale, angular face. He hadn't been against her joining his group, but some of the other men opposed because that would make her the only woman and some were so used to working in male-only groups they had no care for females joining their ranks. She reminded Izuna of Mio and he could use another spy. This one had experience scouting in wooded areas and because of it he decided to cut through the area, not expecting it to be an ambush until he heard the first weapon hit one of his shinobi square in the chest.

"Rainclouds are forming," one shinobi observed, eyes to the dark clouds rolling into the sky.

"How long do you think we have?" asked the female spy.

"An hour or less."

"We need to get out before that happens," Izuna announced lowly. "They already have the upper hand in this terrain; even the lightest of showers could make things worse for us."

"Well do you at least have a plan?" asked the spy.

Izuna glanced down the road flanked by drooping, crooked trees and the light filtering through the closest exist there was in a two-mile radius. "Yeah, but it won't be easy."

The nearest shinobi huddled closer for a short briefing and the few who had listened spread it out to the others. If they had any hope of getting out of there, they were about to undertake a serious risk. Regardless, Izuna predicted it could only get worse if they decided to sit around doing nothing and he wasn't going to let it.

As soon as Izuna gave the signal, his group split and sprang in odd directions. Izuna barreled away from the lighted exit, but he had sent several of his men in that direction sure that it would be the easiest way out. His guard was up and his Sharingan was activated, shuriken clutched between his fingers to counter any surprise attack. He listened as the winds rushed through the vine-covered trees, searching for a trace any discrepancies that may draw him to the various shinobi in the shadows.

A skirmish broke out behind him. Soon the clash of metal, of shadows searching the wide perimeter, of blood hitting the ground and the distinct echo of terrible pain, but he pushed forward following the slim outline of his spy. She expertly avoided the looming branches, dominating the terrain as he would expect of one of the Mikazuki and he had trouble keeping up when his feet were constantly losing traction over the watery ground. The others were the same, but few quickly got the hang of it, following the spy's maneuvering, preferring it to running around blindly.

Izuna ducked under a looming branch and swung from it onto the next tree, landing to the highest branch when he heard a sharp scream fill the area. He recognized the sound of her voice but her name died in his throat as he watched the spy's body fall from a taller tree several feet away.

She hit the ground hard with a strangled cry, a bloodied dying heap under a stream of moonlight. The three shinobi ahead of him rushed the man responsible for the attack, though he had not given them permission to fight he stood rooted to the tree at the sight of the Mikazuki shinobi, a tanned giant marked by the crescent with the jagged line on his upper back.

_"What did he look like?"_ Mio's voice echoed in his head. _"Like a giant, tanned with the crescent on his upper back. His eyes were green, very green…I think."_

He watched stunned as the Mikazuki shinobi took on the three Uchiha with complete ease, knocking each of them down when another man's voice rang from the darkness. "Was that the girl?"

Izuna saw the tanned man grasp the female spy by the back of the neck raising her face into the moonlight. He dropped her immediately, body thudding on the ground, growling in discontent. "No," he announced. "She's not the one." He jumped back into the tree and caught Izuna staring, green eyes smoldering. "We move. These aren't the targets."

As soon as that was said, the Mikazuki disappeared deep into the watery terrain and Izuna jumped down to aid the three shinobi on the ground. He shot one glance at the girl. She resembled Mio. He thought that from the moment he first saw her because she was small and had wavy brown hair that looked darker at night and she was a spy. She was the only female spy in the group and the Mikazuki were hunting one. The man had his mark over his shoulder blade, upper back as Mio often described, with green eyes, very green.

"Izuna-sama, we need to meet Sachiyo-sama."

Izuna shook his head. "Tell my grandmother I changed my mind, I'm going to the compound to meet with my father," he said quickly, starting in the opposite direction. He turned for a moment, remembering the rest of the group would be waiting at the rendezvous point at the edge of the jungle-like forest. "Take everyone to my grandmother."

"But Izuna-sama—"

"I'll be fine!" he shouted back, sprinting across the path with his hand fisted over his wounded side. He could make it back to the compound quickly if he traveled nonstop, if the open wound let him.

At that point, he couldn't stop himself. Madara and Mio were traveling alone together and while he didn't doubt they were capable of fighting off any enemy, Izuna didn't want them to encounter the Mikazuki who seemed to be looking for a female spy that wasn't the girl that just died but could be Mio. The feeling blooming in his chest was a sinister one because that man could have been the reason Kikyo and Genji died six years ago.

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: Redesign won the poll again this week, so you'll get another steady update next week. :) This could be awesome since were just building up on the chaos of Eijiro's death and all Mikazuki clan related.

Please continue voting for Redesign before I even the playing field by updating the other stories and telling readers there about the poll!

I think we'll have two POVs next chapter. Sachiyo with the Ito clan and Izuna as he rushes to the compound. That will be the second to last chapter before you get to see what becomes of the Uchiha clan.

Many thanks to the reviewers: **Aries01xD**, **Warrior of Sangre**, and **WiltingInsanity** for the support last chapter.

Thank you for reading!

And, I'm sorry for posting this so late. I was supposed to edit it yesterday night, but instead of doing that I was watching Rihanna videos on YouTube. I was initially ashamed, but it didn't last long. Promise it won't happen again!


	14. A Link of Revelations

Chapter **14** | A Link of Revelations

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><p>Sachiyo took a hidden bridge to enter Ito territory, dangerous lands decorated by forty-foot waterfalls and steep rocky trails. The surface beneath her feet was slick from the spray of water, making it difficult to descend but not impossible. Once the trails disappeared, Sachiyo traversed the waterfalls by memory. Among the Uchiha, she was the only shinobi to make the crossing safely and return alive. The Ito were notoriously discreet with a preference of offering their services to unknown but difficult jobs where they were guaranteed anonymity. They were the world's best assassins and because of it, they were at the center of all shinobi clan's most desirable allies list.<p>

As she neared the arched entrance of their isolated village behind a sheet of water rolling from above, she sensed the kunai driving through the air. It stabbed into nearby stone, forcing her to stop. She saw the nearly invisible thread wrapped around its handle and followed it to the man standing across the ravine dressed in deep greens that camouflaged him to the mossy rock faces. He eyed her suspiciously upon recognition.

"Sachiyo of the Uchiha clan," he said tentatively, savoring her name on his tongue. He spoke up, his voice booming over the loud crash of the waterfall below. "Why have you trespassed into our territory?"

"I bring a proposition for your leader," she announced loudly, disliking the acoustics in the area. "Take me to him."

A short walk through the tunnel behind the water led them to a wide clearing dotted in sturdy wooden structures over a plane of greenery. Children played noisily in a large field shaded by apricot trees holding spindly tree branches in their hands as they kicked around a patched ball. Groups of women stood gathered around a well with buckets to fill watching as five young shinobi trained in a target range miles away behind the longest structure in all of the Ito clan's enclosed village. Inside that solitary building she would reacquaint herself with the Ito clan's leader, Ito Tomoji, to make an appealing proposition without giving him the chance to refuse.

Sachiyo was escorted into that building and for the rest of the Ito clan it seemed time stopped because they were following her every move until she disappeared behind the building's doors. A warm hallway greeted her and several more cautious shinobi making their way around the hallways watched her, prepared to attack if necessary.

It took longer than she would have liked to reach the staircase that brought her face to face with a matured male with stark white hair and eyes that glowed amber in the flicker of candlelight. He regarded her with a pleasant smile and sent out most of the shinobi gathered around the long table in the center of the landing. The girls seated one on each side of Ito Tomoji started to rise as they exchanged quizzical looks, but he gestured them to stay.

"You've met my daughters, Hibari"—Tomoji gestured to the auburn-haired girl to his right and then to the brown-haired girl on his left with a pleasantness Sachiyo found unnecessary—"and Saori, yes?"

Sachiyo waved a hand dismissively. "I've no need of pleasantries," she stated, seating herself across the table. "We have important matters to discuss, send your children out of the room."

"Go on girls."

Hibari huffed. "You're rude."

Saori rolled her eyes and left the room with her sister trailing behind her with her nose in the air.

As soon as their footsteps disappeared down the staircase, Sachiyo spoke, "Charming girls."

"Yes, they are," he said smoothly, running a hand over his head. "Of course, you're here on different business. I heard the great Uchiha clan is in chaos."

"News travels quickly," she acknowledged, keeping her tone professional. "Then you know exactly why I have come."

"I assumed you might," Tomoji replied, leaving his seat to pace about the area. "But alas, you have nothing I want. Your trip was futile." He paused at the window, pushing apart the dark curtains that shielded the room from sunlight and peered outside. "You came alone again. Quite arrogant of you."

"I am but an old woman who has already finished her duty in this world, I do not fear death," she said simply, folding her hands over her lap. "But the same cannot be said about yourself. Should you be speaking to me alone? All your precious guards have wandered off and even those in hiding would perish at a flick of my finger."

The curtains swished back into place as he turned to her with an eerie smile. "Well said."

He leaned against the wall beside the window and finally met her gaze. "Indulge me then," he challenged, folding his arms over his chest. "Make this worth the suicide mission."

"It is true," she began, swallowing her pride as she faced the situation head-on. She was practically begging for the Ito clan to make an alliance with one part of her broken clan. "The Uchiha clan is at the brink of dissolution without Eijiro and once it is broken, an internal war will begin. This is inevitable. I need allies; leaders that I can trust will help me subdue the uprising so that my clan can start anew under a different rule."

"Yours?"

"Not mine," she corrected. "For my grandchildren."

"Ah, yes, the infamous brothers," he drawled with interest. "I have heard quite a bit about them. Strong as they come with so much chakra and double the potential. The shinobi world has not seen a pair come together like that since the Senju brothers."

"At the dawn of the new era, you may want potential like theirs on your side," she remarked, feeding off his interest. Anyone would be stupid to turn down such a tempting offer, though the new era she spoke of was nowhere near in sight with the ever-worsening conflicts within the shinobi world. Even the castle lords and their noble friends were starting to worry their world was in danger of barbaric wars and were raising armies of their own to defend against the worst of their kind. "But I would understand it if you don't. You may be my first choice in allies, but not my last. The Kuronuma clan seems interested in—"

"You would disturb the Sacred clan with such a proposition?" he asked offensively. "Let them enjoy their neutrality and leave war to the prospering clans."

"I have no need to disturb them," she said placidly, observing the changes in his expression. "Kuronuma Musashi reached out to me, expressing his interest of an alliance."

Tomoji's golden eyes narrowed. "And what do you have that the Kuronuma want?"

"One of their own."

"Impossible," he sneered. "They never leave Mt. Hyōga—wouldn't dream of it. How would you have one of their own?"

"Because she's more Uchiha than Kuronuma," she explained. "Have you not heard of Genji's daughter?"

"Mio," he whispered the name. He approached the table, seating himself across her and leaned over on his elbows, enthusiasm brimming in his golden stare. "Yes, I have heard of Mio. There are whispers of that girl."

"Kuronuma Musashi wants her to train under a Kuronuma and is willing to make an alliance with the Uchiha clan for her," she continued. "I would not lose a thing in coming here, not if you refused, but you might."

Tomoji frowned. "If I agree to an alliance, would you still approach the Kuronuma clan with that girl?"

"There is strength in numbers, Tomoji-san. Have all these years not taught you that?" she asked. "What with the Uchiha's Sharingan, the Ito clan's assassins, and the Kuronuma's defenses we could become an unstoppable alliance."

Not another minute passed before Ito Tomoji admitted defeat with a deep sigh. Her grandchildren were only the lure; the Kuronuma clan that lived in isolation within the ever-snowing Mt. Hyōga was the seal on the proposition. If the shinobi world wanted an alliance with the Ito clan for being the birthplace of top-grade assassins, they wanted the Kuronuma clan for their impenetrable defenses.

"You can have your alliance on two conditions," he started once more.

"Name them."

"One of your grandsons for one of my daughters. He can have his pick," he said. "This is for my clan's sake. It won't be simple to orchestrate an alliance with a clan like the Uchiha without an ulterior motive, so let our clans unite through marriage."

"Easy enough," she said, willing to take the sacrifice for the benefit of the clan and the idea that the Ito were the perfect allies for upcoming warfare. "And the second?"

"Have you heard of the Motou clan?"

Sachiyo brushed a stray hair from her face. "No. I have not," she lied, but he knew it. The Motou clan caused a lot of trouble thirty-seven years ago during her youth and their war had nearly cost the life of her best friend, but the conflicts were resolved when the Sun Temple shinobi vacated Uchiha territory for an island east of the Lightning Country.

"They specialize in sealing jutsu, much like the Uzumaki clan, but they are more attuned to darker arts," he said eerily and willing to humor her. "They are a small religious people."

"You want an alliance?" she asked, cutting to the point.

"Not if they are unwilling." He shook his head, still smiling that mysterious smile of his. "I want their country."

"Then you will have it," Sachiyo agreed. "So, do we have an alliance?"

Tomoji nodded. "I'll inform the Elders and I'll have someone escort you out." He paused. "I'm sure you have to relay the news."

* * *

><p>Izuna took the same route he imagined Madara and Mio had from the campsite at the border where Eijiro's remaining men were preparing to move Eijiro's body back to the compound to confirm everyone's suspicions. Izuna talked them into waiting another day before making any decisions while the medic patched up the wound on his side. He reached the compound in half a day, coming face-to-face with the entire clan and the realization that he never noticed there were so many Uchiha until he saw them all in one place. None of them looked particularly happy about the situation and many questioned him about Eijiro's state of health, all questions he couldn't answer so he didn't.<p>

He pushed through the thickest group of shinobi, careful not to upset anyone, and reached the entrance. The inside was teeming with most shinobi he could name on sight and behind a trio of spies, he recognized a few of his father's men. He headed straight for the Elders' building where he heard the unpleasant sound of Taiga and his father in the middle of a heated debate, the secondary voices that spouted from the buzz were a mix of Hiryuu, Konoe, a choice remark from Hikaku, and Madara. Hearing Madara's voice was a necessary relief because it meant he and Mio were fine and that he had panicked for no apparent reason.

The council room was divided. He searched the crowded room without anyone spotting him. His father stood with his back to the entrance, Taiga across him and Mio behind him. Madara was beside her, holding her wrist in a vise grip. Konoe was in the middle of staking her claim to Mio after something Madara said to incense her whereas the bold men in the party were spouting threats and telling the rest of the clan that Eijiro was dead.

In the middle of the buzz, Mio lifted her gaze to him. She was the first to notice him, the first to try speaking out to him but as soon as her lips parted to do so, she shied away from it. She turned her face, unable to look at him and the guilt came rushing back inside him. The way he had spoken to her at Eijiro's campsite, he should have never done it. He regretted it now.

"I will take whoever I wish," Tajima announced, whirling around to do as he stated when he froze. His expression changed. "Izuna? Why are you here? You're supposed to be with your grandmother."

"I came alone," he said quickly. "I needed to make sure—I needed to make sure everything was fine."

"It will be." Tajima turned to his eldest son. "Madara, come. Bring the girl."

"The girl stays," snapped Konoe. "She is my niece."

Taiga cackled. "Now she's your niece?"

"This is none of your business."

He smiled, thoroughly amused. "Not my business. I beg to differ. She is my business," he started. "She's coming with me."

"The hell she will," snapped Madara, dragging Mio across the room.

Konoe reached out to grab Mio, but she jerked away before her aunt could lay a hand on her. Madara pushed her in front of him as the room grew rowdier with Konoe's protests. Hiryuu attempted to calm her, but she refused to let Mio go with anyone that wasn't herself and Izuna remembered what his grandmother had said. If Mio went with Konoe he might never see her again and if he did, it'd be dead.

Tajima dismissed them as the arguments escalated, the subject of Mio crushed under the weight of others that would irreparably split the clan.

Together, they crept towards the backroom in terse silence. Mio wouldn't look at him and Madara was too angry to talk. Izuna hated that he was the cause of it all, but he didn't think a simple apology would fix things. Even so, he wanted to try.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I was irritated and sleepy and I wasn't thinking when I insulted you."

"Well you should have considered that before you insulted me," grumbled Madara.

Mio forced Madara to stop when they reached the staircase. "Listen to him!"

Madara snapped around. "I am listening! He's the one that started it!"

"Then end it," she said strongly. "You're brothers. End it."

"Stay out of it. You don't know anything."

"You hit me," Izuna reminded.

Madara halted on the first step, turning once more with a vicious look on his face.

Mio's free hand was on his arm. "Madara…"

With a growl, he released Mio and started up the staircase. "Fine! But I'm not doing this because you asked!"

Mio ran to Izuna in a rush, throwing her arms around his neck. He flinched, feeling pain shoot up his side where he received the wound, and she pulled away to see that she hurt him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," she murmured. "Are you okay?"

Izuna smiled. He suddenly felt better. "I'll be fine. I already had it treated."

He accompanied her upstairs to the room she and Madara had been sharing since they arrived at the compound. Inside, he told them all about his grandmother's plans of making an alliance with the Ito clan to ensure the power split left them the option of reclaiming the Uchiha members that chose to follow the others. They would need strong allies for coercion. And then, he told them about how the Mikazuki clan had trapped him and his group on his way to the Waterfall County. He detailed the experience as best as he was able, watching Mio's expression darken as he explained the scenario, and when he talked about the female spy that was killed by the Mikazuki with the mark on his back before they spared the rest of them she had a strong reaction.

"Are you saying they're looking for Mio?" asked Madara in complete disbelief.

Mio wiped furious tears from her eyes. "That's stupid."

"I don't know that they're looking for Mio, I just noticed that they killed the female spy that looked a lot like Mio." Izuna didn't know how to stop her from crying, didn't know if he should try because she looked more angry than sad. "They're strange, Madara. Unreadable. My Sharingan was useless."

Madara made a face. "That's impossible."

"You said the same thing about the Kuronuma clan's black water and we know how that turned out."

Madara frowned deeply. The mere mention of the Demon clan put him out of sorts since they returned home from Kurata. He hated the subject but most importantly hated the shame that burned him since he was defeated by them. The Kuronuma he faced that day were the first opponents he couldn't beat, and like the Mikazuki clan, the Sharingan did not work well on them either. Although, Madara confessed to have tried using it against them, he never saw a change in their movements before they attacked and, as Mio warned, genjutsu didn't work on them either because of some unknown Kekkei Genkai they possessed.

"Do you know anything about the Mikazuki clan?" asked Izuna, turning to Mio. "You must have been curious at some point."

Mio shifted uncomfortably. "Jouji gave me reports on Mikazuki related incidents with several shinobi clans."

"So they're not limited to attacking the Uchiha clan?" Madara sneered, arms crossed.

"Sharingan users are their preferred targets. With Eijiro's death, they've killed at least fourteen Uchiha in the last seven years," she answered. "But yes, they aren't limited to attacking the Uchiha clan. They singlehandedly destroyed the Towa clan."

"The what clan?" asked Madara.

"Exactly."

He shot her a bothered look.

"Well, do you know anything particular about them? I couldn't even sense them," Izuna pressed.

Mio shook her head. "The reports were the same. It could be a number of things, but at this point your guess is as good as mine."

"What about the fact that they might be looking for Mio?" started Madara. "What do they want with her?"

"They killed female Uchiha spy, that doesn't automatically narrow it down to me," said Mio, rubbing her eyes over the scratchy fabric of her sleeve. "It's a coincidence."

"But that man, Mio," Izuna continued, remembering the sharp green eyes that rooted him to his place. "He was the—"

"It was a coincidence," she said, silencing him. She rose from her seat, excusing herself. "I'm going to make sure Sako and Minako are okay."

Madara left his seat and approached the window, casting his brother a quizzical look. "What was that about?"

"About her parents," Izuna answered truthfully. "About the fact that I think I saw the man that killed them and she doesn't want to talk about it."

Madara glanced out the window, taking in the sight of many restless Uchiha. "You should already be used to that," he said dismissively. "She's been like that since she first came to live with us."

Izuna nodded. His brother was right. It took a complete year before Mio started opening up to him and much longer still before she talked about her nightmares and even that was a long process. He was sure she still hadn't finished telling him the whole truth about that night. Perhaps, she didn't remember how it all happened well enough to tell the story fluidly. She had different scenes in her head at different times and it was up to her to decide what was real and what wasn't. As curious as he was about it all, he never pressed the subject. It didn't seem right.

He leaned against the wall and sighed, closing his eyes now that he was in the presence of his brother where he felt secure enough to doze off. In seconds, he felt the gentle pull of sleep.

* * *

><p>"We can't let Konoe take Mio." Izuna searched the room for any trace of Madara in a sleepy daze and found him in the corner with his face pressed to the wall sleeping with his mouth open. "Madara!"<p>

His older brother didn't budge, only continued breathing deeply—sleeping like the dead.

Izuna rubbed his eyes, wishing he could continue sleeping but there was a ruckus outside of bickering men and skirmishes among old comrades. He wondered if everyone stopped arguing in the council room about what they planned to do with the rest of the clan. It was the sort of argument that could go on for days with mild-tempered people, but the Uchiha had fire in their veins and it could take a second for a conversation to turn violent. He would have noticed if that happened, which meant Taiga walked out of the argument.

He left his seat to walk his drowsiness off and hoped to find someone that could update him on the situation, mainly Mio who hadn't returned to the room since she left it earlier. The sun had set since then and the quarters behind the council room were surprisingly silent.

He crossed paths with Taiga's wife, the blond civilian with the cheery disposition and asked her about Mio.

"I saw her talking to Jouji-sama earlier," Sako said lightly. "I haven't seen her since then."

Izuna thanked her and continued his way through the council room, which now seemed deserted save the presence of an older Uchiha that had long since gone blind. He greeted him and asked if he knew where Mio had gone.

"The kitchen I believe."

He left the room for the kitchens downstairs and reached the entrance hearing the soft clatter of plates. He reached to slide open the door when Mio's voice emerged from within, a soft deadened tone. "I haven't said a thing."

Izuna froze, drawing his arm back to his side.

Heavy footsteps paced behind the closed doors and he could almost imagine whoever they belonged to walking behind the counters.

"You know enough." _Hiryuu?_ Izuna's eyebrows drew together in confusion. "You learn more every day and soon you'll know too much." _It is Hiryuu!_ He wanted to storm in there, but the conversation continued and he remained in place. "You are a nuisance to me, Mio. Your parents were a nuisance to me."

"And we both know what happened to them," she whispered harshly. "But I'm not prying. I'm just doing my job."

"I gave you the better option," he said reproachfully. "Accept your aunt's invitation, leave Sachiyo's side and come to mine. Gouki is very interested in you, in meeting you, in _understanding _you."

Hiryuu's footsteps stopped and Mio's breath hitched. Izuna's hand balled into fists in trepidation. He shouldn't even let Hiryuu be in the same room as Mio, yet he couldn't more.

"W-Will he kill me too?" she asked tremulously. "Will you ask him to kill me like he did them?"

_Them?_

"Perhaps," drawled Hiryuu with humor in his tone. "But perhaps, it isn't his aim to kill you like he did your parents. I asked him to do whatever he wanted with you and that can mean a range of things for a young girl like you."

Izuna slid the door open quietly to a scene he wished to burn from his memory of Hiryuu boxing Mio against a wall where she stood helpless with glassy eyes. Hiryuu's hand was fisted in her hair, twisted in it, and his face was disturbingly close to hers—too intimate, too frightening. Izuna tasted bile in his mouth as he reached for the kunai in his holster and in unseen rage, threw them at the wall with an expert hand.

The four kunai stabbed into the wood, lined perfectly, each sitting a mere inch from Hiryuu's arm. He missed on purpose, but when he reached for the next one, he knew that wouldn't be the case. Mio's eyes were bigger than he had ever seen them, looking straight at him, who was reflecting a similar fury to the one he experience at the campsite, except this was worse. He could taste the difference on his tongue, feel the change in his veins as his blood boiled.

He didn't misinterpret anything by the shocked look on Mio's face. Hiryuu ordered the Mikazuki shinobi to kill Mio's parents and sent him off once more, this time to do as he pleased with her. Everything made perfect sense in light of these revelations. Hiryuu hated her from the moment he first laid eyes on her, warning Izuna and Madara about her manipulations, and constantly going to Sachiyo to claim she had made a terrible mistake in picking up Genji and Kikyo's orphan because he had been the one to send their killer. Mio lived. She lived and she knew he was guilty. He knew that she witnessed the murder with the probable knowledge that he must have sent them.

Izuna wasn't sure what made him angrier, Hiryuu hiring the Mikazuki band of murderers to kill Uchiha for who knows what reason or Mio knowing and saying nothing. It could have been both.

In the instant it took for his Sharingan to activate and the hand gestures to start for a particularly decimating fire jutsu, he didn't care about the dozen other Uchiha on standby outside or that Hiryuu looked ready to defend against his attack with something much stronger.

Mio shoved past Hiryuu. The Elder threw an arm out to grab her by the back of the shirt but missed. She rushed at Izuna and rammed into him, throwing him to the ground with her body, stopping him before he released the attack. Her hands found his face and held on, a pleading look in her eyes.

"Izuna, don't."

Izuna felt no pain when he hit the ground but he did when he heard the supplication in her voice. She sounded so revoltingly desperate for a man worth trash.

"_Please._"

"He killed your parents!" he shouted, pushing her hands from his face. "He is the reason they're dead! He's the reason you've suffered and you want to do nothing!"

Behind her, Hiryuu laughed.

"Shut up!" snapped Izuna, shoving against her to get back on his feet to stop the elder before he left the kitchen. "I'll have you killed! I'll do it myself—"

"Izuna stop," she begged, struggling to keep him down. "Leave him. Unless killing him brings them back, I don't see the point of revenge. It's useless."

Izuna lay flattened on the floor, stunned. "It's useless?" he questioned, feeling the worst of his anger roll under a wave of surprising calm. "How is it useless? How can you not want to avenge them?"

Mio swallowed down all trace of emotion in her face, but she struggled with the tremors. "I tried once," she admitted, lifting her body onto a seat. She rubbed her face. "He nearly killed me if Taiga had—"

He rose to his feet, every terrible emotion coming back to him. She scrambled onto hers, calling out to him persistently as he made his way through the same hallways and rooms that led him there from the start until he finally made it up the staircase. He burst into the room upstairs, startling Madara awake. Mio hadn't reached the landing yet.

Madara narrowed his gaze. "Izuna, you're bleeding."

Izuna touched his side and felt his shirt had absorbed most of it. He heard droplets hitting the ground and felt the warm trickle of it sliding down his hip. He felt the physical pain now.

"That doesn't matter. Look, I just found out that Hiryuu sent the Mikazuki shinobi to Mio's house six years ago. He had her parents killed and she doesn't want to do anything about it," he said furiously. "She wants to let him live. She doesn't want revenge."

Madara looked over his shoulder to where he assumed Mio was standing. He seemed oddly unimpressed. "Why would she?" he said snidely. "She's barely felt it."

Izuna turned to her as she took a shuddering breath. "Just because I didn't cry over it or never wanted to talk about it or that I never made an effort to avenge them doesn't mean I'm okay that they died," she said strongly, looking from the eldest brother to the youngest with a narrowed stare. "I'm not okay and I won't be for a very long time."

She ran out of sight, her footsteps disappearing down the staircase.

"See?" called Madara, drawing his brother's attention. "She barely felt it."

Izuna grabbed his brother by the collar and punched him across the face without warning. "You're an asshole!"

Madara flared, bolting back onto his feet. "It's just Mio!"

"It's not just Mio! She's everything!" Izuna blurted. "She's important. So stop treating her like she isn't. She's been with us for six years."

"So? The old hag brought her in so she'd be a slave to us," Madara spat. "It just so happens she turned out useful in her parents' trade, else she'd be at home cleaning our rooms and serving our dinner."

"She's my friend!"

Madara grabbed him by the shoulders. "For how long?"

The question took him aback. "What are you talking about?"

His eyes burned. "How long, Izuna?"

Izuna didn't understand and his brother saw the confusion in his eyes. He shoved him back forcefully.

"A girl like Mio isn't worth the trouble," Madara went on heatedly. "Stop investing your feelings on her and start using her for what she is. She's a spy and she works for us. She isn't our friend or family, she's our tool. She will live and die by that and she won't ever see you the way you wish she did."

"She's not a tool, she's our friend, and when you start seeing that you'll regret being such an asshole to her."

Izuna stormed out of the room, prepared to search the compound for Mio to apologize for the stupid things Madara said and because he wanted to know if there was more to Hiryuu's involvement with the Mikazuki clan. Did he hire them to kill Genji and Kikyo out of spite or was there a deeper reason? How long had he known about the Mikazuki? Was it possible he asked them to kill Eijiro as well?

Hiryuu was a conniving snake, he knew that already, but he didn't think he was so twisted as to attack his own clan members.

_But wasn't that what Mio had done. _On their way back from Kurata, Madara said Mio had killed some of their clan members during the trip, people that were her targets and he didn't understand why she had to do that sort of thing.

Izuna shook his head. He reached his limit and he wanted answers more than he wanted to comfort Mio. He needed to know.

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: Happy President's Day America. To everyone else, this is actually up on Monday instead of Wednesday because I'm going to have a busy week and it's impossible to tell whether or not I'll be able to update properly. And since it seems Redesign is winning the poll again, I'll be posting the next chapter...probably tomorrow, but no promises, the editing process is going to kick my butt.

Speaking of which, there's a scene in the following chapter that I've been dying to write since I started this story and now that I'm finally writing it, I feel very inadequate about it. It's one of those scenes I wish I had written out of order when I wanted to instead of waiting for the scene to actually come up because the image is a little blurry in my head now. It's the reason why the editing is going to own me. Everything else is awesome though.

I also didn't want to post a preview to the next chapter because I was entitled to no nonsense, so it's all pretty spoilery stuff. So go, go off and get spoiled. (I started adding links to the previews on my profile, have you noticed it yet? I don't think I pointed that out here and if I did, just ignore me).

On other news, I'd like to thank these wonderful people, **Dusk Nisshoku Valentine**,** YamiKitsuneKami**, and** Aries01xD**, for reviewing the previous chapter and pretty much the continued support. It always nice to know you're out there reading this story, strange as it is. So thank you very much. :)

Thank you to all my silent readers as well and all those nice people who have favorited/alerted this story.

I'll see you all in 24 to 36 hours with the last chapter to this mini-arc. I should have probably waited for that chapter to have a moment, but I watched Revenge and it broke my heart. I'm still healing.


	15. Silence

Chapter **15** | Silence

* * *

><p>Mio never returned to the room upstairs. She traded it for a cramped corner in the servants' quarters where the cooks were kind enough to let her spend the night fully aware she had a bedroom upstairs and a houseful of lunatics they thought were her friends. She thought it served its purpose being painfully ignorant of the inner dynamics of a clan like the Uchiha or perhaps they were smart enough to block it all out. If that was the case, she was insanely jealous that they could do that because she wanted to be anywhere other than the compound.<p>

She wished she could go home, her home, not the roof Sachiyo put over her head because she was starting to feel inadequate about the whole situation and it only took a few choice words out of Madara's mouth to accomplish that level of discomfort in her. She wanted to go back to that broken down cottage in the forest where she lived for nine whole years before Mikazuki Gouki ruined her happiness.

And Izuna, he had heard things he shouldn't have and he had been hounding her all day for answers. He must have asked hundreds of people for her location, but she had made sure nobody saw her sneaking out to the back garden and into the forest after Madara made it clear that he thought she hadn't felt the pain of her parents' death. She didn't seem to deserve the slightest bit of consideration, but he didn't understand her reasons. That death haunted her for the last six years, nonstop and in repeat always more vivid in the next dream that it was in the last and she woke each morning reminding herself that she had lived through the ordeal, but that her parents had not. She didn't accomplish anything by crying or talking or complaining about it, she'd only seem whiny. Honestly, how or why they died hadn't been anyone's business but her own, so she was angry mostly.

She never expected to tell Izuna that Hiryuu dealt with the Mikazuki clan before or that his order was the reason her parents were dead, let alone how she came across the information. She didn't think he would find out.

Still, the following morning after Hiryuu had attacked her, she had woken up with Izuna at her side and he had been smiling. He had looked at her differently than everyone else with genuine worry and not pity. She had gazed into his face and had decided that the impulse that had forced her to act against Hiryuu (in an attempt to ease the pain of her loss) had been a lesson. She had wanted to learn that lesson. She had to because it meant having a roof over her head, food on her plate, and a person like Izuna willing to befriend her. _I could be happy here,_ she had thought and had meant it. She had wished she could be happy with Sachiyo and the Uchiha brothers. And for nearly six years, she had been. She had trained hard enough to win Sachiyo's approval. She had worked hard enough to be acknowledged by Eijiro. She had tried her best until even Jouji caved and he had hated her guts those first three years, set on making her life a living hell when she had been asked to work under him. She and Izuna had become real friends, and even though she fought with Madara all the time, she knew that eventually he would see that she had been honest with them.

She had opened up to him and in a few words Madara had made her feel so stupid for doing so.

As chaos reigned in her head, Mio pinched her arm harshly and forced herself to cry. She couldn't on her own even though that was all she wanted to do. Cry until her throat was dry, until the tears dried on her cheeks, until her pillow was drenched in them and the emotion left her empty as Madara claimed she was. She wanted to be that girl and stop thinking and worrying about everything. She didn't want to feel this pain.

Mio buried her face in her blanket. It was going to be hard. It was going to be so hard.

The first sob startled her, heavy and broken and loud, and after that, she couldn't stop. Not even the tears relented and when dawn came, she left her pillow drenched in every inch of sadness in her heart.


	16. Goodbye

Chapter **16** | Goodbye

* * *

><p>Taiga failed to protect the brittle peace his grandfather established. In a matter of days, it seemed obvious how the Uchiha clan would split apart. The skirmishes outside ceased with Hikaku's leave and with him left several of the strongest genjutsu users. Tajima proposed an ideal situation to many of the remaining shinobi whose loyalties were torn between the remaining Elders and those that agreed to follow him were place under Katsura's leadership, who left with them to their Wind Country dwellings where everyone would await further instruction while Tajima left on a secret mission of his own.<p>

In the end, Taiga's twisted ideals and questionable reputation left him with the least followers and a deadly rage that had already killed three members of the compound's staff and five of Hiryuu's followers. Everyone that remained was waiting for Sachiyo to reach the compound because the rights to the building had yet to be claimed.

Truthfully, to Mio, it was another excuse to kill each other. That was what would become of the feared Uchiha clan.

* * *

><p>"You scared Sako half to death."<p>

It took Mio hours to convince Taiga's panicking wife to calm down and watch Minako properly after her husband eviscerated his sixth shinobi that week. He did it callously and in silent glee as the blood marked his face. He put the remains on display in Konoe's sleeping quarters and brought the man's head to a terse breakfast with Hiryuu that morning where his wife was carrying the dishes. Jouji attempted to reason with him, calling his actions unnecessary to their situation.

Hiryuu had shinobi loyal to him, men and women that respected him, and if in that moment, he had decided to attack him head-on, the outcome would be simple. Taiga would die.

"Who sent you?" Taiga's voice was crisp and cold, his back turned to her.

They were surrounded by high trees and clusters of mushrooms. The distant rush of the river lingered in the backdrop, filling the air with the fragrance of the herbs sprouting from the rocks beneath the surface.

"We need to talk about Hiryuu."

Taiga shook his head. "No," he said, turning with eyes full of menace. "We need to kill Hiryuu."

Mio approached him cautiously, bare feet whispering across the grass. She exhaled deeply when she reached him, dispelling the breath that caught in her throat when she spotted him overlooking a dangerous precipice that divided Uchiha territory from Senju territory.

"I don't want to kill Hiryuu," she admitted, her sentiments stirred into a cluster of unknown. She disliked talking about the Elder more than she did mulling over the things he was to blame. "It's not important."

Taiga's hands clenched into fists as he restrained himself from attacking her. "We are not the same," he stated, dripping poison. "I can't overlook his involvement with the Mikazuki clan any longer. I might have hated my grandfather's guts, but he was still my family and Hiryuu's the reason he's now dead. He's torn this clan apart Mio, how much do you want to let him get away with before you think it's okay to kill him?"

Mio lowered her eyes to the barely lit ground. "What difference will death make?" she asked lowly. "He'll be dead."

"And I'll have the satisfaction of having killed him!" shouted Taiga, grabbing her by the shoulders roughly. "See it through my eyes, Mio! You should understand after the way Gouki murdered your family."

She flinched, his grip tightening. "I already saw it through your eyes," she answered. "You had to save me from the consequences and then you blackmailed me for the last six years on the subject while promising to leave him alone."

"But he hadn't killed my grandfather yet!"

"He didn't kill your grandfather at all," she shot back.

"He ordered it. We're not discussing the dynamics of the crime but the reason," he snapped, fingers digging into her skin. "Why is my grandfather dead?"

Mio sucked in a breath, steadying her feet over the slippery grass. "You can attack him. You can make this public. Tell the whole world that the Uchiha clan broke apart because one man died at the expense of another's betrayal and you might as well launch a full-scale attack on all of us. What good is any of this if we're all dead? What chance do anyone of us have if our enemies get together to destroy our legacy? We're in more danger now than we were when Hiryuu was the only problem."

She moved her right foot back and felt herself slip. He dropped his hold on her and she fell hard on her back, scraping her elbows on the tiny rocks hidden underneath the grass. She hissed, rolling onto her stomach to push her body off the ground.

"Go back to the compound, Mio."

"I'm sorry about your grandfather," she said quietly, returning to her feet. "But you can't do anything to Hiryuu without the Mikazuki clan getting involved and we…" She trailed off hesitantly.

Taiga stepped further into the shade of the trees, leaving Mio in the center of it all with her heart hammering in her head. The emotion welled up, combining with the physical pain, and she pinched the bruise on her arm and sobbed quietly into the silence unable to leave.

* * *

><p>Taiga chased the servants out of the compound and ordered Jouji to escort his wife and daughter to a safer location earlier that morning. Hiryuu finally had enough sense to send Konoe to meet the rest of his supporters, promising to drag Mio with him to a chime of protests.<p>

Sometime in between, Sachiyo sent a message to the compound ordering Izuna to the Waterfall Country and urging Madara to remain with Mio at the compound for her arrival.

Mio didn't expect to be angry for so long that she couldn't shake the feeling of inadequacy that came with it. She wanted to say goodbye to Izuna, wish him well and say she's sorry because she would be soon enough, but at the same time, she wanted none of those things. She wished she was coldhearted enough to ignore him when he approached her, but she couldn't help facing him or crossing the distance between them to wrap her arms around his neck tightly.

Izuna stiffened, taken aback by the sudden change in her demeanor, but accepted it just as he would any hug she parted with. He held her strongly and it felt right. It was everything his brother had told him to avoid in the last hundred conversations they had concerning Mio. He couldn't help it. Not when they had six years of history of growing together, of trusting each other and confining their secrets except, of course, those he learned in the compound recently. It bothered him to realize that there were details in her life she couldn't entrust with him.

"I'm sorry, Izuna," she whispered, grip steadily tightening with the falter in her voice. "I promise not to keep anything from you again." She pulled away, staring at him with furrowed eyebrows. "I'll tell you everything you want to know when we see each other again."

Izuna smiled and pulled her back into his arms. "Take care of Madara."

She nodded against his shoulder.

"Take care of yourself."

She kissed his cheek and moved back away from his arms. He gave her another smile before turning to his brother, who had been standing behind them the whole time, observing the exchange in silence. "Take care of Mio."

"Yes," grumbled Madara. "Go before the hag sends another hawk saying you're not there yet."

Izuna laughed.

Mio blinked and he was gone.

"I had to say those things, you know that."

She turned to Madara slowly, discarding the urge to shout at him. "Say what?"

Madara looked disgruntled.

She didn't want to take his half-assed apology without him acknowledging that he said she barely felt the death of her parents. It was the worst insult he had ever uttered and she had too strong a reaction to let him get away with it just because they had a secret deal between them.

"The thing about your parents. I know you have nightmares because of it," he said quickly, and she was curious about how he knew that. "I'm building up your image. It'll be easier for Izuna."

She stared at the ground between them, willing to forgive him for the awful things he said. She nodded slowly. "Why can't we tell Izuna?"

"The less people know the better." Madara stepped closer. "Things will work out better now. You have a connection out there. You have somewhere to go and you'll be able to keep Sako and Minako safe like you wanted. You just need to wait for me and make sure Taiga doesn't die while you do it."

She never wanted this day to come. She prayed to several deities that they never had to succumb to playing out the plan they concocted during the first week of their arrival, back when Eijiro was still alive and he could still be saved. She didn't want to step out of Sachiyo's shadow, but she pledged her loyalty to Madara offering to him her skill as a spy, however limited that was, and the assurance that she would follow through with all his orders, no questions asked.

"How long do I have to wait?" she asked lowly. _And for what?_ He gave her few details on the complete plan and forbade her from questioning him about it further, saying it would make sense when the time came but that he would unite the Uchiha clan if it came to a split in power.

Footsteps were approaching. "That doesn't matter," he whispered harshly. "Just wait. I'll go get you when everything's ready. Just don't stop training; you'll be useless to me otherwise."

She surprised him with a hug. He stilled in her arms and didn't return it. She whispered goodbye to him, tightening her hold for a short second before heading out into the hallway in time to catch Taiga approaching the entrance ready to leave.

He paused, staring her down. "I already made my offer to you," he said roughly. He looked terrible, as one expected of a lunatic. His eyes were wide and emotionless, his lips chapped and bloody, his nails were bitten down, and he had dark circles. "You know where to find me. I'll only wait a week."

She stepped in front of him as he tried going around her and looked him straight in the eyes. She didn't have many options with Hiryuu and Madara being the only people left in the compound once Taiga removed himself from the equation and while she trusted in Madara's ability to hold his own against the elder, she didn't trust the Elder in challenging him outright. He could sneak into her room and steal her away and she wouldn't be strong enough to fight him. Taiga was the foundation of her fragile defense.

With him gone, she would be in constant danger, so it was now or never. "I'm going now."

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: The scene that ruined my life, ruined my life so I traded it in for a better idea. That's why these two chapters are approximately 2200 words together. I omitted the previous scene from this because it made me feel better and it needed to stand on its own.

So take these two chapters as next week's prize for winning the Week #3 poll. The new one's up, but it'll be up for 2 weeks instead of one for busy schedule reasons. This was a decision I made a while back, but it also works in my favor.

I'm going to sit on the next few chapters since Kishimoto started the Hashirama and Madara flashback in the manga and see if I can get some canon into my non-canon. Widdle Hashirama and Madara are adorable...hehe. So that's that.

That said, you can expect a time skip again, but unlike the last time skip, I won't just skip to the next big events because all the stuff in the middle is important. I am trying a different style in which each chapter details a whole year of events, all split in Madara, Izuna, and Mio's POV because they'll be in different locations at different times where some character growth should start happening.

At this moment, I have the most important events planned and spread out over the years when they take place.

If you're curious about anything, please ask. I'm here all week.

Thank you for reading!

P.S. I'm not posting a preview for the time skip chapters. You can just read the summary in my livejournal, first entry.


	17. Two Seasons

Chapter **17** | Two Seasons

* * *

><p><strong>The rainy season came to a rushing start and beneath its mantle, a short-lived autumn awaited.<strong>

* * *

><p>Sachiyo's wrath was immediate and Madara suffered the worst of the consequences.<p>

Mio's betrayal destroyed her chance of allying with the Demon clan of Kurata and chipped several pieces off her hardened heart. Although she said nothing after she damned the young spy to a horrendous death, it hurt her. She had developed a special affection for Mio, one she had learned to treasure, one she had wanted Mio to remember so she felt remorseful. To think about the day she had welcomed her into her home, had invited her to each dinner with her grandchildren, had given her the warmth of her arms when she had needed the comfort, had told her she had a right to choose her future—she had wished those thoughts haunted her like all her demons.

A light drizzle fell throughout the Fire Country, but the weather worsened the farther northwest they traveled towards the Waterfall Country where their only adversary was the raging thunderstorm and the precarious terrain leading into the Ito clan village.

Ito Tomoji met them in the tunnel between the waterfalls and his domain, the two walls lit with lanterns. He was flanked by his most trusted men and upon meeting her darkened gaze, his expression turned sullen, the wrinkles around his eyes deepening.

"Should you not be on the road to Kurata?" His voice was even, devoid of the fury burning in his amber stare. His eyes swept through the barely lit passage and back to Sachiyo's blank face. "You are short one."

"We will speak of this as soon as you show me to my quarters and I have a change of clothes." Sachiyo spared her brooding grandson a glance, unable to hide her disgust at his inability to keep one girl in sight. "You can put Madara with his brother." She paused. "Izuna arrived safely, I presume."

"I'm afraid my daughters are quite taken with your young grandson."

Sachiyo huffed. "I do believe that was the point."

Tomoji gestured to the gangly male at his right. "This is my right-hand man, Takuei. He will take you to the guesthouse with your brother." He turned to a frowning Takuei, his dark eyes hidden under a mop of chestnut hair. "Will you escort my girls to their rooms? It is late and they have an early morning."

Takuei inclined his head and waited for Madara to follow.

Madara shot his grandmother a last furtive glance and trailed after the taller man, guarded and suspicious. He took in his surroundings through the thick sheet of rainfall, almost unconvinced by the alliance his grandmother formed with the Ito clan.

Once the two figures disappeared in the rain, Tomoji took a plum-colored umbrella leaned against the rocky wall and pulled it over his head. "Come."

Sachiyo found the gesture redundant after she traveled through the worse of the storm. She was drenched to the bone and a chill was starting to set in. She needed a warm bath and the quiet to reorganize her thoughts, to calm the tempest in her chest.

Despite her opinions on the gesture, Tomoji waited until she was under his umbrella and she accepted it.

The guest quarters were located in the farthest corner of the Ito's secret village behind Tomoji's home. Both of the structures were linked together by a roofed passage and surrounded by tall grass.

Sachiyo was given the largest room on the first landing where the bath sat within walking distance. She heard heavy footfalls upstairs followed by the almost immediate crash of something heavy and her grandsons' bickering voices. Madara had obviously told Izuna about Mio and he was taking it badly.

Tomoji regarded her with a curious grin. "Will this be an everyday thing?"

Sachiyo set her luggage on top a table, her back to the Ito clan leader. "It will be a persistent thing," she admitted, listening to the pitter-patter of the water dripping onto the tatami mats from her clothes. Izuna's personality was tame in comparison to Madara's, but with the right incentive, his mood could steadily overshadow his brother's. "Izuna was quite taken with Mio. She was essential to him—normal. He needs to readjust to her absence is all."

Above, Izuna's shouts grew louder. _"Go get her back! Go get her back!"_

_"She betrayed us! She's loyal to Taiga! She's been loyal to him this whole time!" _Madara spat.

"Betrayal?" Tomoji mused. He cocked an eyebrow. "That explains the girl's absence." He paced around the table, stopping at the window to peer out into the misty rain. Upstairs the skirmish persisted. "Quite taken with Mio? Am I right to suspect he invested his personal feelings into the relationship?"

"Izuna opens up to people easily. Mio was interesting to him. They became easy friends." Sachiyo paused, drawing fresh clothes from her luggage. "That should have been the extent of their relationship." She lifted dark eyes to him. "Although, I wouldn't have opposed to a union once she was returned to the Kuronuma clan."

"You want an alliance with the Sacred clan that desperately?" Tomoji probed. "What obsession have you developed for such a group as theirs?"

Sachiyo decided that she would not indulge his ignorance. "I am collecting my pieces," she spoke vaguely, stepping in front of the doorway.

_"What part of she didn't give a shit don't you get? Should I spell it out for you?" _yelled Madara.

_"This is your fault!"_ Izuna accused. _"You were so cruel to her! She didn't deserve any of it! Now she's gone with that crazy bastard and it's all your damn fault!"_

She sighed. She needed to separate them, but they also needed to get the emotion out of their system. "It's best they sleep in different rooms. I'd like to save myself the trouble of attending a funeral."

"It can be arranged," he said, closing the window. "Should I have tea brought in? You can tell me all about this Mio."

She frowned, opening the door. "Only tea, I am too exhausted to speak. Excuse me."

"You should consider separating them for a time, not simply putting them in rooms on opposite sides of the house," he suggested, smiling from ear to ear. "Time might help mend their relationship."

"I assume you have a proposal to make?"

"We will discuss it soon enough."

She left him to his scheming and shut herself away inside the bathroom where a bath had already been drawn for her enjoyment. There were many things she needed to take care of, various nuisances she swore to abolish from her mind, but she did none of those as she sank into the bench on the wall, hands cupping her face asking herself why Mio would betray her. It was unthinkable. She once considered it impossible. That girl was loyal to a fault, believing that to be the only way she had to show her appreciation for the things Sachiyo had done for her. She had tried that much harder to prove she wasn't a waste of time, though her skills as a shinobi were subpar when she came into her custody, her thinking ability had always been incredible. She had great deduction skills that needed little to no refinement and a way of observing situations Jouji had considered genius.

She had inherited her father's greatest assets and her mother's morals and for several years, Sachiyo had been unable to fathom the potential she possessed to become on of the best in her field. But she had been a tool then, had existed to ensure the succession of power for one of her grandsons. Sachiyo had great plans for her, but in the short time they had spent living under the same house, she had developed an almost maternal affection for her that had been so easy it had taken her by surprise.

Sachiyo exhaled deeply, face marred by sadness, and rubbed her weathered hands together. The words fell from her mouth a muted plea. "Why?"

She never cared about the alliance with the Kuronuma clan. It sounded like a convenient excuse because she wanted it to be, but truly, in her heart, she wanted to give Mio what had been taken from her: a family. She went from belonging nowhere, from being the orphan nobody thought worthy of living to having a place where she belonged. There was a whole clan of people that wanted her, to cherish and love her as her parents had tried by shutting her away in that cottage. She thought it was the right thing to do because she had grown attached and wished she could spare Mio the life she had planned for her, life as somebody else's puppet.

It all sounded worthless now.

She felt nothing but pain at what could have been so she tucked the emotion away in some corner where it would stay. There was no use in mulling over it because it changed nothing. Despite the good that came out of the six years for Mio, the young spy traded her for a maniac prone to tantrums that resulted in unnecessary casualties, and Sachiyo hoped she would not regret her decision.

Even if she did, Sachiyo could not forgive her.

* * *

><p>Tomoji waited in her sitting room, seated before the squared table that held a tray of ceramic cups and a steaming kettle of red tea. A young girl stood behind him, uniformed in a copper colored kimono and a white apron tied around her waist, awaiting the signal Tomoji gave her with a wave of his hand to pour their tea. She excused herself with a silent inclination of her head, wide green eyes passing from the Ito clan leader to his respected guest, the Uchiha Elder, before leaving the room as quietly as her clumsy feet could carry her.<p>

Sachiyo scented the lemon in the liquid as she brought it to her lips and took a small sip. Despite its sour taste, she appreciated the immediate effect it had. It was a soothing concoction that stole away the chill that lingered in her body. The last days in the Waterfall Country came complimented by frosty winds and torrential rainstorms.

She had avoided the conversation for as long as possible, but when she met his amber eyes that evening, she understood there were no other excuses available to circumvent the exchange. His interest in Mio progressively increased the more observations he made of her grandchildren. Izuna's mood had darkened to a point in which he seemed willing to accept Tomoji's invitation to join his shinobi during training sessions, desperate to find an outlet for his frustrations. He had completely ignored his daughters with whom he had been getting along with up until news of Mio's betrayal reached him. He had sworn to her that he'd rather see the alliance break apart than marry either of them. In a fit of anger, Sachiyo had struck him for many reasons, reasons she spelled out to him because exaggerating over the absence of one girl—a girl that would never reciprocate his feelings because she had a sense of duty and lines she swore never to cross—was foolish. His response had taken her by surprise. He had promised to marry Mio and forgive her betrayal. He had shouted, "She will be my wife," and stormed off, pushing past Madara to disappear down the hall.

Since then, Izuna's only focus had been learning the Ito clan's jutsu, becoming stronger, and growing angrier about the silence on Mio's end, reluctant to consider she no longer cared enough to offer an explanation or even feel a shred of guilt for doing it.

Madara had refused to speak any more about her than he already had and spent a great deal of his time with Tomoji's right-hand man, Takuei, hunting and overindulging in falconry. He had steered clear of his brother, the relationship between them had grown worse, and in instances, she saw the two had started to suffer because it. Without his notice, Sachiyo had watched Tomoji's oldest, Hibari, staring helplessly at him from whatever distance lay between them. Neither had exchange more than a few words since their first meeting and it had looked as though that would never change because there was no bite in her bark and he wouldn't truly acknowledge her existence.

It had only been a week, but her grandsons had adjusted and she cared little for anything outside the fact that they remained on track with their expected duties.

Sachiyo took another deep gulp of tea and returned it to the table's sleek surface.

"There is no avoiding it Sachiyo, you know this," Tomoji said, resting his chin in his hand. "I won't drop the subject."

"Mio is not worth the interest she amasses from outsiders," Sachiyo replied easily.

"Such an enigma, this Mio—to ruin a relationship between brothers with just her absence," he said curiously with an eager smile. "But they are focused and I can't say I mind their conviction to our teachings, particularly Izuna-kun. He is picking up jutsu as naturally as if he had lived here his entire life. He's a natural, not as much need for his Sharingan like Madara-kun."

"Then turn your attentions to Izuna. Mio is no longer important."

"And the Sacred clan of Kurata?" he asked skeptically.

"The Demon clan is closer to an agreement with the Senju clan than they will ever be with the Uchiha clan," she responded, having heard the news as soon as it became known that she had chosen Taiga. The Demon clan had a way of knowing these things. "It is useless to alliance with a clan with clashing ideals and the Demon clan will not fight wars for their partners. The Senju might at least respect that. I would not."

"Well, something about the girl must be interesting enough to have you take her in. You have no love for outsiders and she was just that after she was orphaned. What did you see in this girl?" he queried. "Did she awaken sympathy in you? Or had it always been about the Demon clan?"

Sachiyo thought the question through. She didn't have an obligation to say a thing, but she did. "I found her about to have her neck wrung, surrounded by the bloodied mess that man left behind—her mother's cold body on her lap, almost as if she was still shielding her in death, and her father's limbs in every place imaginable," she started, the dark memory replaying in her head. "I never heard of the girl before, this Mio, never cared for her, she simply was the daughter of two exceptionally skilled shinobi. She had nothing but a future that might just have ended earlier than most. She was raised outside the compound in a cottage where she only knew her parents. Apparently, they promised Eijiro his greatest spy and gained permission to keep her away from the wars so long as they remained present. To me she was insignificant until that moment—I saw her then, clearly. She was neither crying nor cowering; she was staring into his face. Perhaps I saw strength there that day."

Tomoji hummed with interest.

"I gathered reasons to keep her. Found them in the reports sent to Eijiro. I wanted to finish the job her parents started, playing it off as a tribute to my dead student. I had no real expectations of her, not after Kikyo excelled in her field." Tomoji's eyes brightened at the mere mention of Kikyo's name. "I swore there would be no other like her in many generations to come—I might have been wrong. I might be wrong now in saying this, but I wanted to believe the sacrifice had been worth it."

She paused to gather the wayward thoughts threatening to spill, keeping the emotions behind a barrier. "She has a brilliant mind," she started. "She's perceptive, she's careful, she's brilliant, but she has the misfortune of being born in a world where she doesn't belong. She is a strong combatant, but she is dominated by emotions. She feels too freely when it is unnecessary and clamps up when she needs to feel. I swear to you she cried killing a man because she thought it was unfair and yet she never shed a tear for her parents' death. I tried reasoning with her, saying it was all right to have emotions when she's not working, and when she and Madara started fighting every day, she would come cry to me. I thought she finally made a change until I caught her pinching the inside of her arm to accomplish it."

Tomoji chuckled. "I can never imagine you dealing with a girl like her."

"Most times I didn't. She had her confidant, a scullery maid. She had Izuna with whom she spent most her time with and then there was Madara, always bickering those two, but I can't say I minded it. Mio never clamped up around Madara, so I let them fight. She seemed almost normal…as far as that goes for children like them." Sachiyo breathed deeply. "But he made her angry. She did terrible things to him when she had a mood." She felt her mouth curve. "She once fished in the lake for hours until she caught a bucketful of fish and stuffed one in every drawer he owned not caring about the consequences. I imagined forcing them together might help settle their differences because there were moments when they were peaceful, when they could speak to one another without a snide comment, and times when they played outside as one expected of children their age. I think they shared secrets." Sachiyo's dark eyes flickered to meet Tomoji's enthrallment. "Madara and Mio. I always felt they shared secrets. It was natural…undoubtedly so."

"What made you keep her?" asked Tomoji after a lengthy silence. "In the end? If her brilliance clashed with her sensibilities. Why bother?"

_Attachment._ The word blared in her mind, but she said everything but that. "Potential. She had it. Usefulness. Name it. I made a good decision the day I took her from death."

"And yet she is no longer here," Tomoji reminded her, face molding into an unreadable mask. "She has ruined the relationship between two brothers and you speak of her as if she's died."

Sachiyo steeled herself, jaw clenched. "She's dead to me."

The Ito clan leader looked satisfied with her response. "It is almost time for Madara to leave for the Sun Country," he commented. She was thankful for the change of subject. "Will you see him off?"

"I plan to." She quenched her thirst with a last drink of lemony tea and left her seat. "I need to remind him the importance of this mission. I don't yet think he understands what it means for him to meet the Motou clan, especially since they were enemies to the Uchiha clan for so long."

"Leave it be," Tomoji said, rising from his cushion to join her across the room. "Sometimes ignorance can help mold one's resolve."

She shot him a disapproving look.

He shrugged. "I'm saying that he should understand there is no peace to be given for the Motou clan, they have no right to it and they won't bend to my will—sometimes force is needed to make the stubborn see that there are stronger men outside their religious bubble." He grinned malevolently. "Let him destroy the country if necessary, I have spared him enough men to accomplish just that. The Motou are weak now. It is the time to strike."

Sachiyo's eyes narrowed. Suspicion took root in her heart. How sure was she that he did not say the same about her broken clan to any secret alliance he had?

* * *

><p>Minako rushed her as soon as she crossed the threshold, completely oblivious to her father's presence behind her. Her small arms wrapped around Mio's neck firmly as she jumped up and down with tangible glee.<p>

"Minako," called Taiga, drawing the girl's attention to him.

"Hi daddy!" she greeted, taking Mio's hand and tugging her into the room. "Mio! Come! Mama made snacks." She gave her father a look. "You're not invited."

Taiga frowned, looking at Mio with the same expression. "I don't see what she sees in you."

"She's in here, come!"

"Sako!" called Taiga as he slammed the door shut behind him.

The group awaiting them in the quiet rest town split on Jouji's orders and he went on ahead to scout a safe road for traveling. Mio stayed because she stood in the center of it all and Taiga wanted her at arm's reach. She would sleep in the room next door while they remained there.

Sako practically stumbled out of the adjacent room. She might have thrown her arms around him if they shared a common, normal love and not the obligation of being cordial for the sake of their three-year-old daughter. There could have even existed the slightest form of possibility in which she approached him in an intimate way if she wasn't terrified of him, especially the death count he left in the wake of his grandfather's confirmed death.

Minako pulled her along past her mother chattering on about the snacks and Mio made eye contact with Sako, who gave her a small smile.

Mio closed the door behind her and joined the girl at the table where she stacked a plate full of rice cakes. She eyed her curiously. "I'm not that hungry."

"Mom says to eat enough."

"This is more than enough. Here." Mio returned five rice cakes from her plate, leaving two. "This is good, but I haven't had lunch yet."

"I think we're gonna have to have lunch soon."

"Let's wait for your parents to talk."

Minako seated herself beside Mio, leaning into her arm. She smiled up at her sweetly. "Will you stay with me today?"

Warm emotion welled in her, strong enough to calm the maelstrom of uncertainty she brought along with her. She hated separating from the brothers, felt the full brunt of it on the trip to the rest stop with Taiga and Jouji because she had years of understanding how things worked with them and she was clueless with the older shinobi. She did things that normally went on ignored by the brothers, but reprimanded by Jouji and Taiga. She wasn't up to par with their standards and they let her know. It made her uncomfortable—small, insignificant—and she didn't like it.

She felt homesick from the minute she set foot in the town, glimpsed at her foreign surroundings. It was like breathing strange oxygen into her lungs. Her eyes traveled everywhere, a novice mistake that did not go unnoticed by Jouji who reminded her to act normal. She walked behind Taiga stiffly, staring at his much larger figure and wishing it was Madara's back she was looking at and that Izuna strode besides her telling her something interesting. She wanted to run to the house in the countryside for a familiar setting, to sneak into her room and curl on top of her futon while listening to all the noises outside.

The confidence she had done in preparation of betraying Sachiyo and Izuna's trust cracked, and she was wrestling with the worst of it, but as she stared into Minako's round face, the rosy quality of her cheeks, the delighted glint in her dark eyes—the hesitation left her like evaporated water. She looked upon the girl as the sole reason she sat in that room instead of being in the Waterfall Country with Sachiyo and her grandsons. Sako and Minako wouldn't survive the separation of power, not if Taiga spent every waking moment in a mood, and with a heavy heart she agreed to Madara's scheme, swearing herself to his leadership and to a silence only a spy could share with her master.

They were playing a dangerous game. One that didn't make much sense to her. One that Madara probably hadn't finished formulating when the idea struck. The worst of it was that it relied on her as the centerpiece and anything could go wrong.

Hiryuu and Konoe might succeed in getting their hands on her and she would be tossed into Mikazuki Gouki's clutches for who knows what. Taiga or Jouji might start to suspect—or worse, see that she was loyal to Madara—and the mere thought alarmed her.

Today was not the time for thoughts like those.

Mio smiled at Minako, for a moment regretting nothing. "Yeah, I'm staying."

And she was terrified.

* * *

><p>Mio shared her bed with Minako that first night, unable to close her eyes for even a minute of peace. She heard the sounds theymade in the adjacent room—the quiet whispers, the squeak of the mattress under the weight of two bodies, the moans of a woman that rang in the dead of night weaved of pain and passion. She focused on the light drum of her heart, counting each beat the appendage gave, and the chilling darkness that lingered in the ceiling forming shapes of monsters she promised to forget.<p>

Sako gasped. _"Oh please," _she begged, her voice a muffled noise through the walls. A breathy plea for something unknown to Mio. _"Please."_

She squeezed her eyes tight, clamping both hands over her ears. The drumming of her heart grew louder, as if it beat within her head instead of in her chest. She tried to ignore it. She wanted to pretend those noises belonged to some animals outside her window, but their voices grew louder, needier. They rang louder in her head.

Mio felt Minako stir and startled, opening her eyes. She flopped onto her side and placed a hand to the side of the girl's head, covering her ear in the hopes she muffled the sounds next door.

She wished she never heard it.

Sako's voice dripped ecstasy as she called her husband's name, but the name that left his mouth and lingered in the lusty atmosphere was not his wife's…it was hers.

Uttered like a forbidden passion. _"Mio."_ His voice was a low grumble, marked by vulnerability. He sucked in a shuddering breath and spoke it once more—as if in confirmation of a detail she wanted to erase from her memory—soft and yearning. _"Mio."_

Her blood ran cold.

Mio blinked, the pain sharp in her wrist. A single tear rolled off the bridge of her nose.

* * *

><p>Mio attempted to diffuse the situation and thrust it into a darkened corner in her brain where she put everything she lacked the maturity to solve. She acted refreshed when she entered their room the following morning to deliver a still slumbering Minako. She waited for the right moment to knock, timed it out perfectly, to ensure she found no trace of last night's intimacy that could potentially remind her of the thing she refused to think of, but had already from the moment she saw Taiga fastening his kimono shirt over a dark long-sleeve underneath.<p>

She heard the name resonate in her head as she had last night and the chill returned to her bloodstream.

Sako appeared to take Minako from her arms with a kind smile and her behavior unnerved her, but she swallowed down the slur of confusion setting in alongside the cold.

She listened to the rain pelting noisily over the roof as she waited to hear the itinerary for that day.

"Jouji should return tomorrow evening," Taiga announced, standing in her periphery.

She berated herself for almost jolting. "Do we just sit here until then?"

"I'm getting breakfast. You guard Sako and Minako." Taiga used the Transformation Jutsu to disguise himself before leaving the room.

Mio was about to do the same when Sako reappeared and invited her to sit.

She liked to think there was another woman in Taiga's life that shared her name. It wouldn't be uncommon. Perhaps, she imagined, he fell madly in love with this other Mio during one of his missions, but had already been married to Sako, making the mere thought of a relationship impossibly forbidden. Not that it stopped him. Marriage was rarely synonymous with love in their world and it was common knowledge that many men relished in taking mistresses to keep them company in whatever country they were stationed.

This might have been a severe misunderstanding and she felt guilty for someone else's crime. Why else would Sako want to speak to her?

"Taiga told me you'll be staying," she said excitedly.

Mio nodded awkwardly. "Yes. I'm loyal to your husband. I believe in him as Jouji-san does," she said, removing the emotion from her voice with great difficulty. "Taiga-sama has important information that can help the clan prosper when the time is right, for now he needs to understand why his grandfather left him with it in the first place."

Sako looked her in the eyes, a vast icy blue that reminded her of snow topped mountains…and Kurata. "Thank you for staying," she said quietly. "I know it's because of us, Minako and me, that you left Sachiyo-sama and her grandchildren. You must feel terrible. I know how close you were to Izuna-sama—"

"I don't want to think about it."

"Sorry," she said lowly. "It's just…I'm happy you're staying. Taiga…he listens to you. Jouji-sama is great too, but he can't talk sense into Taiga…but you can. He listens to you. I don't know why…but I think you can help him, you know, understand why Eijiro-sama left him the information and all."

That sounded painful.

Mio prayed for a distraction because she didn't need Taiga's wife telling her that her husband listened to her, a fourteen-year-old girl he had been extorting the last six years. The last thing she wanted was to sound modest and if she denied she had the ability to talk sense into Taiga, which most days was like talking to a wall, Sako would automatically classify it as the modest thing to say. Mio wasn't about modesty and Eijiro's death did not mean she became Taiga's next guardian.

She noticed she stayed quiet far too long because Sako's expectant look turned to one of concern.

"Is something wrong?"

She shook her head. "I need to use the toilet."

She stood.

"Oh, is that a bruise on your wrist?" Sako pointed at the purplish contusion. "Did you hit yourself?"

"Yeah," I lied. "On the way over I hit the corner of a desk. I bruise like a peach. It barely hurt."

Mio left the room as casually as she could and hurried into her own, sinking back into bed to continue believing there had been no trace of pain in Sako's tone when she put her and Taiga in the same sentence. She stared at the ceiling, the light dispelled the frightening shapes she observed last night, and now more than ever she wondered if she truly did the right thing.

* * *

><p><strong>Winter crept in with dusk.<strong>

* * *

><p>Two months had passed since the Uchiha clan divided its forces under five of its most influential members: Hiryuu, Tajima, Sachiyo, Hikaku, and Taiga. Although word of the split had been nonexistent, news of each leader's accomplishments traveled fast and enemy clans had begun to suspect the Uchiha was gathering strength in new alliances and they were growing restless for more details.<p>

Mio had heard that the Uchiha-Mikazuki alliance under the joint collaboration of Hiryuu and Mikazuki Gouki, the two men responsible for the deaths of her parents, had garnered praise from two of the most powerful lords in the Fire Country. They had been awarded free reign within domains and the price had been a pledge of loyalty and protection to the aristocrats, their families, their denizens, and their lands. For a mercenary clan like the Mikazuki, this had been too easy a deal to accept because that kind of support would become useful in the future.

Tajima's group had remained in the Wind Country, continuing their territory wars against the three Sand Dome clans, and had since wiped one from existence. His group had remained in alliance with Sachiyo's, both having taken the largest amount of followers they had become the biggest threat to the Uchiha-Mikazuki. However, neither had shown signs of aggression towards one another.

News did reach Mio on Sachiyo's side and she had learned that the older woman had taken her grandsons to the Waterfall Country to approach the infamous Ito clan, a band of assassins, for an alliance that had many waiting on bated breath. One that had been confirmed a week after the assumption had first spread to the rest of the world.

Hikaku had taken his Uchiha into the Earth Country and the last she had heard of him was that he'd accepted a mission from a lord that had recently risen to power and had since been conquering one clan after the next on his behalf.

Meanwhile, Taiga's mediocre group of Uchiha had remained obscured and without accomplishments living a semi-normal existence on the run that had been steadily wearing on his patience.

Today, morning was bleak and sullen with overstuffed clouds hiding the sun from her inn room window. A new storm came and went every day they had spent in town, each harsher than the last, and had made it impossible to travel long distances with a civilian and her three-year-old daughter in tow. However, that had only been the cusp of their problems since they began traveling. It had become common knowledge within the shinobi community that Hiryuu was searching for two deserters, the Nameless One and a fourteen-year-old girl with her description, and he had apparently been offering rewards for information of their capture.

It had been worrying her that they were only three shinobi and Jouji's twelve followers with two civilians in a world that wanted her capture and Taiga's demise.

Jouji reentered her inn room, eyes ablaze. "Get away from the window."

Mio stepped away, returning to her seat at the edge of her bed. "Sorry."

He gave her two simple tasks when he left that morning: to not peer through the windows or leave the room without first using a Transformation Jutsu to disguise herself as a redheaded merchant's daughter and she had already grown bored enough to defy him.

The older man pulled up a chair and seated himself. "We need to relocate. There are several Mikazuki shinobi prowling the area."

"Where are we supposed to go?" she asked curiously.

"There are strong clans in the Lightning Country, Hiryuu won't chase us there. We can stay there longer, at least until we can find a place to leave Sako and Minako."

"I think we should go somewhere they couldn't even consider," she suggested after a pregnant pause. This seemed like a good time to make use of the familial connections Eijiro brought to her attention. "The Lightning Country is the perfect choice, but I can think of something better."

"Unless you can get us into Kurata on invitation, the Lightning Country is our only choice." He seemed to have attempted at a joke, but failed. Jouji left his seat. "I'm getting Taiga. He needs to listen to this."

"I can do it," she spoke up.

Jouji had opened the door, but as soon as he heard the words leave her mouth, he shut it and turned slowly. "What?"

"I can do it," she repeated assuredly. She gradually lost confidence in the words she attempted to say. "I think I can…I hope I can."

He approached her bedside. "Can you or can't you?"

She nodded. "I can."

He sank back into the chair he left behind. "Tell me."

"Eijiro summoned me before his death," she recounted quietly. "He told me to find my grandfather, to forget the clan and find him because he would take me to Mt. Hyōga."

Jouji turned pensive, speaking only once the concentration left his expression. "Which of your parents is the halfling?"

"My mother," she said, ignoring the insult in that word. Although, Eijiro never truly clarified which of her parents had the connection to the Kuronuma, it was easy to figure out because she met her father's parents before they passed away, both Uchiha.

"Yes, I heard of this before," he said, interested. "Your mother's parentage had always been sketchy. It makes perfect sense now. The Kuronuma would have never allowed her to stay an Uchiha. If Eijiro told you about the Kuronuma, it could be they found out about you and want for you to join them." He nodded. "But this only secures your safety. The Kuronuma rarely cohort with outsiders and the chances of anyone other than you making it to Mt. Hyōga are uncertain."

"My grandfather isn't in Mt. Hyōga. He's in neutral country."

"How that man made it to the Iron Country is almost as surprising as the fact that he's a Kuronuma shinobi. The disputes between shinobi and samurai have gotten worse as of late, so if they are even suspicious that we are shinobi, we will be captured."

"He's a blacksmith. That's all I know about him."

"And that he will look as the rest of his clan."

"Gigantic and rose-eyed," she said with a nod. "Can we take the risk? Should we?"

The door opened, startling them out of their trance, and Taiga stepped in with a lazy grin. He strode past Jouji and let a hand fall on her shoulder. "We take the risk. No questions."

Mio awkwardly ducked away from his touch, unable to pass even an accidental brush of arms as appropriate. That first night had only been the first of several nights that he had forgotten his wife's name in the throes of passion and she couldn't stand his hands anywhere near her with Sako in the other room.

He noticed. "Something wrong?"

"I have a bruise there," she lied, leaving her bed. "You hurt me."

"I don't see a bruise," he toyed.

"We should prepare for the trip," Jouji cut in. "It will be hard on Sako. She's not used to walking long distances in short periods of time."

"If she wants to keep breathing, she'll need to adjust."

Mio frowned deeply, moving to the window once more.

"Problem, Mio?"

"No."

* * *

><p>Disguise bought them several days of peaceful travel, but now they were crossing into a bandit-heavy area and their masquerading as merchants was like walking around with a sign that practically begged poachers to beat and rob them.<p>

The bandits attacked in large groups, relying on brute strength and were unfazed about letting their victims hear them coming because in the long trajectory of their thieving lives, they learned to feed off fear.

Heavy footfalls alerted Mio of their proximity. She lifted her eyes to Taiga's back and saw him take Sako's hand firmly. He whispered something in her ear and she tensed before snatching Minako off the ground.

Jouji looked particularly disinterested in the situation.

Mio heard the first booted foot crunch over the ground. She untied the straps to her pack with ease, feeling the weight of it fall from her shoulders and drop heavy on the dirt-packed floor.

The others continued onward, fully aware of her intentions, as she stilled. She turned in time to count seven men stalking closer with wide grins on their faces.

Before the first bandit opened his mouth to demand attention, Mio's kunai was already embedded in his throat. He hit the ground hard, drowning in his own blood. The twitching body startled the men into thinking there were shinobi hiding in the trees when Mio lurched forward, jumping high to ram her knee into another bandit's face. She caught them by surprise long enough to target another's jugular with a set of shuriken, but as soon as the second one had fallen, the others swung heavy, rusted axes at her barely minding their trajectory.

The heaviest swings missed her by a hair, but the third slit the fabric of her sleeve and broke into the skin. It was a shallow scratch, but receiving it from a blunt weapon caused her nerve ends to burst in pain.

"End it!" snapped Taiga behind her. "We don't have time to toy with mice!"

She drew enough weapons to hit the vitals of the remaining five giants and it was over as soon as Taiga ordered it. She wanted to elongate the one-sided battle because she was in desperate need of refinement after weeks of chakra control disputes and Transformation Jutsus. There was no room for training during their travels because it would call attention to them and they wanted to stay invisible.

* * *

><p>Sako woke with a jolt and slapped her leg reflexively.<p>

Mio sat startled, hearing a rustling behind her. "Are you okay?"

She sleepily rubbed the back of her neck, dispelling a yawn. "Yeah," she said groggily. "I think I had a nightmare."

Mio glimpsed at the sleeping men and Minako snoring with her head on her father's arm. None of them stirred as Sako returned her head to the makeshift pillow and closed her eyes. Once the silence crept in, Mio thought she heard a distant rattling and she glanced back in the blond woman's direction.

* * *

><p>Bandits chased them to the borders of neutral country where the shinobi wars could no longer reach them and poachers feared death with its teeming population of samurai. It took five hours and five rest stops before they finally reached the first town within reach. It stood strong as a merchant dwelling for travelers that made trades with them from a short list of countries.<p>

Sometime during their travels, Jouji's men had learned that the shipments Kurata received to nourish its small population came from here, from the only established connection the Kuronuma clan approved. It seemed as though they trusted the samurai more than they did their own brethren, but talks of alliances had surface in the last couple of days, most linking them to the Uzumaki clan and others the Senju clan.

Crossing the gates felt like breathing for the first time for Mio. They had undone their Transformation Jutsu and discarded their weapons long before entering the main road. Jouji had temporarily cut his connections with his unit of spies, leaving leadership to his most trusted man, and had helped devise a plan to ensure their safety within the area, one that included fake traveling papers for an artisan family that wanted to start anew away from the harsh world beyond its neutral borders.

If Mt. Hyōga was an impenetrable stronghold, the Iron Country was a shelter for the civilians that functioned under special protection, preventing the war from breaching its borders. It was a safe house, but not for shinobi. Not for the reason war and bloodshed continued—not for the unworthy.

It was the busiest town Mio had ever encountered. There were shops everywhere with merchants drawing customers off the street, gloating about their finely grown produce—"It's the best in the world!"—or their neatly arranged decorations—"You will see no other crafts like these!" there were eateries—decent looking ones—full of people engaged in conversation. There were voices everywhere, a static of sound in her ears like a hive of bees.

Mio probably looked as excited as Minako, who had sprinted forward in her amazement forcing everyone to walk a little fast to keep her in sight. She wanted to do the same, but stood her ground instead, following close behind Jouji. First, they would need to find an inn and blend with the crowds until they grew familiar enough with the area to begin asking questions.

She took care to familiarize with the streets and the different parts of town that might prove useful in the meantime.

Second would be the actual search for her mysterious grandfather. They never talked past meeting the Kuronuma. Taiga wanted to make a decision after making contact and for once, Jouji agreed. Neither of them wanted to jeopardize her safety to the unknown, and she wasn't entirely sure she was ready to meet a direct family member after years of only knowing she had none left. But her grandfather wanted her in his custody, that was what Eijiro said before he died. He said the man could provide her freedom from her duties and a safe haven for a home. She wondered if she overstepped any boundaries by bringing company.

Sako coughed noisily, drawing Mio's attention to the flush crawling up the back of her neck and the limp in her step.

"Sako…?"

She turned with a smile. "I think all this walking's made me sick. I've got a headache and everything."

Mio suspected the blond woman was running a fever as well as experiencing other forms of discomfort. Taiga paid her no mind, too concerned with finding a place to stay in a street lined with too many people for his liking.

Jouji eventually stopped the group upon seeing Sako's deteriorating health and they found a bench for her to sit on in front of a restaurant. Mio bought water and a platter of meat skewers to encourage Sako to eat, but she refused all food. Taiga and Minako got a table and ordered for themselves when everyone else refused to eat. He told Minako everyone else wasn't hungry so she wouldn't ask questions about her mother.

"What if we find a doctor?" asked Mio, removing her palm from Sako's forehead. She was burning up. "There should be someone in this town."

Customers continued pouring into the establishment behind them.

"Oh, Shin-san, what brings you out here?" called the owner from inside, who was a giant man with a bald head, dark beard, and hazel eyes. "I haven't seen you around these parts for quite some time."

Jouji nodded in agreement and rose to his full height. "I'll ask around."

"I'm here to pick up the order my assistant made. Is it ready?" answered a customer. Mio glance over her shoulder as Jouji disappeared in a crowd of people. The tall store sign shielded the back of the man standing beside it and she turned back to Sako, who started breathing noisily, the fever worsening.

"This is quite a bit of food for just you and that niece of yours."

"I have guests."

The storeowner laughed. "Guests? That's odder than seeing you on the street."

Mio soaked a folded piece of cloth and placed it on Sako's forehead. She sat back unable to do anything but hold her hand as she slipped in and out of consciousness when a shadow fell across them. She didn't notice it until the man to whom it belonged spoke to her.

"It's a snake bite," he said, the voice belonged to the man who had just been speaking to the restaurant owner.

She looked back at the olive-skinned man as he stared at her with pale eyes, a closer shade to pink than red, and a crop of snowy hair that fell just above his shoulders. He stood at a near six feet three with a giant's build clothed in a patterned kimono shirt and ordinary trousers.

Mio believed in coincidences as much as she believed in three-eyed ravens. She lost her voice. This man was a Kuronuma.

The man thrust the box toppled in containers full of steaming food into her hands. "You carry that and follow me. I have a niece that knows a thing or two about poisons. Go call your traveling companions."

She sputtered. "No."

"Mio, now," he ordered.

She jumped to her feet when he grabbed Sako. "How do you know my name?"

He arched an eyebrow at her. "What kind of person would I be if I didn't know my own granddaughter's name? Come on, I've been expecting you and your people."

She should have been more suspicions, deep down inside, she knew it was the best thing she could do in her situation, but Kuronuma were hard to come by and this one had a niece that knew about poisons. She felt desperate enough to concede and not near as distrustful as she wished she would be.

Mio poked her head into the restaurant and waved her arm until it caught Taiga's attention. She relayed Sako's condition and forced him and his daughter out of the establishment to meet the giant Kuronuma waiting outside the entrance. They found Jouji on his way to them and one look at the smiling man silenced him.

He shot Mio a secret look. She shrugged.

"Do you have a name?" asked Taiga, breaking the silence.

"Shin," he answered simply. "That would do fine. What would you like me to call you, Oh Nameless One?"

"Taiga is fine."

Shin made a strange humming sound, as if he expected a different answer.

Mio walked in his shadow, completely overwhelmed with the anticlimactic slur of events. She expected it to take months before she found her grandfather and thought he would be a grumpy old thing with deep wrinkles (though this man barely had a hint of crow's feet and laugh lines) that would force her through several tests to confirm she was, indeed, his granddaughter. She felt cheated, but then again, she had never wanted to be assuming that the entire Kuronuma clan comprised of enigmas (or creeps).

Shin took them to the outskirts of the town and up a winding road leading into a steep mountain hill until they finally reached a moderately sized home, which came equipped with a neighboring workshop for his blacksmithing needs. Everything was set outside, the furnace visible as soon as it loomed before them.

"Okimi," he called, feet away from the entrance.

Another Kuronuma emerged from within the house and Mio half expected an Amazoness to step out, one that matched the criteria every male in the clan met, but the woman that appeared was surprisingly normal. She stood an inch taller than Mio with a cascade of white hair tied into a high ponytail and her eyes were a deeper shade of rose. She looked to be around Sako's age with a pretty round face and a shapely figure beneath unflattering clothes.

She read the situation at once, exhilaration lighting up her face. "Snake bite, like Hag said?"

Shin nodded in confirmation. "Snake bite."

"In the room, I already had an anti-venom prepared." Okimi let Shin duck under the door to cross the threshold with Sako in his arms. She offered her a kind smile before disappearing behind him. "Nice to meet you, Mio."

"How did you find that man?" whispered Jouji, taking her by the arm.

"He walked into the restaurant," she explained. "He found me."

"I don't trust him," Taiga announced, Minako in his arms.

Jouji shot him a disparaging look. "It's better that you start. That snake bite could have been fatal."

Taiga rolled his eyes. He didn't need to say what was on his mind when his indifference made it as clear as day.

Minako blinked from one person to the other. "Is momma gonna be okay?"

"Yeah," answered Mio, searching for a reason to remain as suspicious as Taiga. "She will be."

* * *

><p>Shin approached her as she scanned the tools of his craft with a curious eye, passing the anvil in the center toppled with several melding devices. A subtle wave of heat still radiated off the furnace that looked as though it had not been on for days. "I could teach you if you prefer the life of the common folk."<p>

Mio nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of his voice. He walked without noise it seemed.

"Do you prefer it?" she asked quietly.

He smiled. "I think it's convenient. War and death are rarely rewarding, I enjoy time from it."

"How did you know where to look?" she asked, perturbed by the mere coincidence of it all. Even so, without his sudden appearance, Sako might not have gotten the right anti-venom for a bite nobody realized had occurred. "How did you know I was here?"

"How? That's a tedious question better saved for a rainy day and it looks like a snowstorm is coming." He stared at the gathering clouds with a strangely amused smile. "It's best you learn things in a certain order, you were not raised with the other Kuronuma children so there are things you may not understand. Plus, you're a skeptic like your mother. You just might be the death of me."

Mio's heart leapt. "You met my mother?"

"Kikyo. Yes. Beautiful girl and I'm not just saying this 'cause I'm her father—okay, I am." He grinned sheepishly. "I spoiled her rotten. I'm sure she was a troublesome child to raise. Her poor mother never stood a chance. Eijiro-san said you were a quiet one, her complete opposite."

"You've met Eijiro as well?"

"Yes. He's let me see your reports before his death."

She stared at her feet, fighting back embarrassment and curiosity.

"I never expected you to arrive with this group. Hag said two brothers, but pathways are ever changing. Nothing can be done about that."

_Madara and Izuna. _She didn't ask him to elaborate on what he meant. She knew he would shoot her down, but there was another question in her head. "Why was it so important to find me?"

"Because I'm your family," he said firmly, eyes on her. "Connections are important in the Kuronuma clan and it is unheard of for anyone with our blood living outside Mt. Hyōga until your grandmother left with your mother in arms."

She didn't want to press the subject of her grandmother. It sounded touchy. "Unheard of?"

"Kuronuma Musashi, the patriarch of the clan, is my father and our bloodline is a tad…_particular. _We enforce unity more because of it."

She said nothing.

"I suppose that says nothing, but Hag believes your line of descendants are the ones to watch."

Nothing that left his mouth made any sense.

"I'm confusing you. I'm going now."

Shin waved by the door, blinked, and then walked back muttering an apology when he wrapped his arms around her, lifting her in the air and squeezing her tight. She froze mid-squeak unable to process the action and stared wide-eyed at him once he set her feet back on the ground and the warmth of the embrace left her.

He grinned at her. "Happy birthday, Mio."

He reentered him home, waving, and she stood in place, stupefied.

* * *

><p>Mio had expertly changed the subject whenever anyone had asked for her birthday. She had hated the idea of celebrating the day, and in six years, she had avoided giving a date. That had never stopped Kana from celebrating her birthday in the spring, a season too late, when the weather warmed. She always had prepared her favorite dishes and had baked a cake with an extra candle every year. She had appreciated the effort and the gifts, remembering most of those things brought a smile to her face, but she had learned to ignore the real day altogether.<p>

It came at the start of winter, usually during the coldest week when the trees lost their leaves and looked too brittle to touch. If she said she had spent those days on her own fully aware of her parents' absence would be a lie. She had expected every new year to be the one they missed because the battlefields had been harsh and every shinobi had a place, but when her birthday came around, she had watched both Genji and Kikyo step through the entrance. Most years, they had arrived battle worn, and others bleeding through their clothes from fresh new wounds—once her father had passed out on the way in to Kikyo's unsuspected delight over winning the bet. She had spent the day helping them swathe blood off their injuries and had listened to them exchange information they had acquired, prepping to return, and had asked her to memorize as much as she could. They had quizzed her several times before leaving the following morning after lying beside her until she had fallen asleep.

_She sat sandwiched between her parents' warm bodies once staring into the fireplace, the logs cracking noisily as the fire waved restlessly. Beside her, Genji had trouble keeping his eyes open. She felt the difference in her parents' temperature, her father was running a terrible fever and she couldn't fathom what that meant for his health. She turned to her mother, seeing the fire reflected in her careful gaze. "Mom, I think dad's dying. We should take him to see a medic. He might have an infection."_

_"I'll take his as soon as you go to sleep. You know he can be stubborn," Kikyo said with a small smile. She looked over Mio's head to her husband's scrunched up face. "We want to be here with you. We know how lonely it gets when we're not around and you've been working so hard lately."_

_"When I feel like dying, you'll be the first to know," added Genji, straightening in his seat with a low hiss. He draped his arm around both their shoulders, pulling them closer so Mio was squished against his side. "Now, we need to decide what to eat before I starve to death."_

_"Maybe something sweet?" suggested Kikyo._

_Genji frowned. "I told you we should have stopped at that confectionary store for something."_

_"The town was swarming with enemies," argued her mother._

_"I can make something," Mio piped in._

_"Leave it to me," Kikyo said immediately, leaving the warmth of the blanket draped across their legs. "I'll see what we can do with what's in the kitchen."_

_Genji enveloped Mio in a warm hug and rested his cheek atop her head. "Let's hope she doesn't kill us all."_

_Mio giggled. "She's not that terrible."_

_He snorted. "Oh yeah, goddess in the kitchen that one."_

_"If you weren't already dying, I swear I'd end you," grumbled Kikyo from behind the cupboards. Despite her tone, it sounded as empty as every other threat she made at her husband. _

_Genji smiled that secret smile of his that turned his wife's cheeks red without uttering a word._

They had brought her gifts whenever they returned home again, tiny treasures she had kept in a box buried in the floorboards underneath her bed at the old cottage. She had never gone back to get them and she regretted it now. She felt an urge to look through it and remember the memories each called into her head.

Mio sat up, the room silent and dark, and moved out of bed noiselessly.

Shin live in a strange house. The exterior looked too modest and small to house all four bedrooms in a single hallway, a kitchen, and a sitting room. She had been given her own room at the end of the hall. Taiga and his family had been staying in the largest room and Jouji had the bedroom next door. Okimi had taken the remaining guest room in the hall. Shin had pointed out the hallway through the kitchen that led to his sleeping quarters and had told her to find him if she needed anything.

She dug through her luggage and tugged free the wide leather notebook she received from Eijiro years ago. Madara had ripped so many pages out of it the same day it was gifted to her, ruining it for the purpose it was meant to serve. The center of the notebook was in tatters, most of the pages only ripped in half, some dangling off. She tore another page and wrote a short coded message. Even if someone intersected it and read it, they might think it was code for something completely different. She rolled it as one might a scroll and repacked her things.

Mio left her room, appreciating that the bathroom sat in the back of the house. She managed the trip outside without a sound where she was assaulted by snow-dusted winds. Once there she put her hands together to create a clone, to whom she handed the rolled piece of paper.

"You know where to take this," she whispered.

The clone nodded and rushed down the road, out of sight. She hoped the message made it to its destination.

Mio whirled around quickly and walked straight into Shin. She lifted her eyes, heart hammering in her chest.

He yawned. "Goodnight, Mio," he said, stepping past her.

_He didn't see._

"Next time use one of my people," he suggested, pulling the door open for the bathroom. "Your clone might not make the trip."

_He saw._ Mio gulped down the lump in her throat and returned to her room in a rush. She didn't hear him approaching and it unnerved her.

* * *

><p>Shin pulled a chair in front of her and took a seat, his skin covered in soot from hours spent in front of the furnace. His expression was grave. "Mio, we need to talk."<p>

"I don't like your tone," she told him.

"Well, I want to sound authoritative. So, you'll just have to deal with it."

Mio spared him a glance, fully committed to sharpening a jagged dagger unique to the Kuronuma. She thought it looked familiar, much like the one the Kuronuma Elder Enya had with him the day he took her prisoner in Kurata. "Okay."

Outside Minako frolicked with Okimi and Sako, both women fast friends. Taiga and Jouji were out gathering information from their various connections and she was asked to stay behind because the cold weather had given her a cold.

"I want you to start calling me grandpa. Minako-chan started two days ago—even Sako-chan started calling me papa."

"Pervert." Mio left her seat. He looked aghast. She turned on her way into the hallway. "All you are is an old pervert."

"But Mio-_chan—_!"

She shot him a firm look. "No."

Shin clamped his mouth shut and stared at his booted feet in defeat.

When she entered her room, she found Shin inside. "No, but really we need to talk," he said immediately.

"Which one is the clone?"

Shin grinned teasingly. "Won't use your lovely Sharingan to help you?"

"The Kuronuma repel the Sharingan's ability."

"Around ninety-five percent of your information on the Kuronuma may be incorrect."

"That statement is a part of the five percent."

"But _repel _isn't the right word, it implies that it does have an effect and we just resist it."

"What word would you use?" she challenged.

"Null," he answered simply and gestured for her to sit. "We null the Sharingan. There's a difference."

Mio sat on the edge of her bed. The secret conversation was an odd surprise because she felt it overdue.

An entire week had passed since he had caught her sending a clone to a location she had discussed with Madara the day of the agreement and he had acted normal, as if nothing had occurred.

She was naturally suspicious. About everything really. Like the rest of his creepy clan, he seemed to know things one normally wouldn't and she liked to think the whole lot of rose-eyed recluses were perverts that spent their free time stalking people of interest.

She set her hands on her waist. "Okay."

"Sachiyo of the Uchiha never completed your training. I have spoken to Jouji and he wishes to wait before helping you. He believes Sako and Minako need to be removed from your custody temporarily and I offered a nice alternative to sending them into one of the safe houses here. I'm aware Taiga wishes to have Minako trained and I can have that arranged without him turning her into another him."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "What alternative?"

"Mt. Hyōga. Okimi is scheduled to leave next week and she agreed to escort them. She also offered to take Minako under her wing once she is old enough," he explained. "Although, it's troubling, the weather in Mt. Hyōga is harsh. For children that know the warmth of the Fire Country; it might be difficult to adjust." He did a light shrug. "Frostbite."

"No," she said snappishly. "They won't go."

"There are three villages in Kurata, one is still under the protection of the clan—it's the heart of the mountain that is the harshest, not those villages," he said soothingly. "It is much like the winter here, a few degrees lower, but the conditions are not as extreme as they are on the actual mountain. It is easier for a person to transition once they've spent enough time in Kurata. Okimi will stay with them after the ceremony."

"Ceremony?"

"Marriage ceremony, Okimi is returning to marry."

"Oh. Shouldn't you be going?"

"Nobody invites me to important functions. There is always wine and I get intolerable."

_Shameless_. She told herself to congratulate the woman when she had the chance because it might seem rude if she didn't, knowing and all.

"That reminds me, you've met her fiancé, Enya, he's an Elder."

"The one that doesn't shut up?"

"Don't let her hear you say that, she'll destroy you and everything you love." Shin leaned forward. "He never shuts up. It's like he's vomiting words and sentences and questions and stuff that makes no sense—annoying little beast that one, but he treats her right. They're surprisingly perfect for each other. He's an idiot, she's an idiot—idiots in love are the best sort of idiot."

"I hope she hears you say that."

"She won't, but I don't keep my opinions to myself. Chances are I told her this already."

"Will Sako and Minako be okay in the village?" Mio asked seriously. "If it's an inconvenience I will make sure they're fine in a safe house if they cannot stay there."

"Don't misunderstand, Mio, I offered the alternative to ensure they're safe. Nobody in their right mind would dream of hiking through Kurata. For one, it's cold. Second, nobody wants to mess with a shinobi clan they know nothing about. Three, said shinobi clan is pretty feral about the wellbeing of their villagers. Four, it's not like it hasn't been attempted and failed. The temperature is too low for anyone to survive without proper equipment and even with proper equipment they don't stay alive longer than a day or two."

"I was there before…I went into the mountain ranges and it wasn't so terrible."

"Because you were nowhere near the third village, let alone the mountain itself. What you experienced that day was a breeze for us? It's a cool morning after a hot summer."

Mio wanted to think it was a lie because it was cold enough with Enya's borrowed pelt and the Elder had walked around in a scant shirt. _That was cool to them? _It sounded crazy.

"I'd take you to prove a point, but…frostbite." Shin sighed. "Kurata is the safest area. It will be for as long as Minako needs it to be. I have already spoken to Taiga about it. He agreed to most of it. I don't think he trusts me, but at this point, he has no chance of anything. He needs to learn a few harsh lessons, just as you need to learn to be a Kuronuma."

She blinked, perplexed by the whole statement. "Will Sako and Minako be okay?"

"Yes. I give you my word."

"Can I trust your word?"

"Yes."

Mio relented with a nod.

"I must tell you now," he said, stepping in front of her. "Black Water Jutsu is a precarious thing. It is easiest for Kuronuma to learn it because we undergo the training you will undertake from the moment we're infants. The heat and the effect it has on the human body is different for us and it is difficult to master if you have not had the early training."

"Why teach me?"

"Because you have something you've got to accomplish, but why sit around and do nothing. You have the boy you're loyal to conquering a country with an army of shinobi, a psychopath that would lock you in a basement if it prevented his enemies from reaching you, and an old spy that only knows craft and not how to teach it. These men will ship you off and marry you the first chance it becomes convenient for them," he said strongly. "I want to give you a gift for all the years I could never spend with you or your mother, but I want you to earn it. Be strong. Be loyal to you. Life isn't about living obediently, no, not even if you're a spy. You can pay back your debts to that Uchiha family some other way."

She lowered her eyes to her lap, his words sinking in quickly. "Can I learn it? The Black Water Jutsu?"

"Not immediately. We won't start that training until you've grown accustomed to the heat. But we're not at the level where this'll be easy. We'll start somewhere else. The basics." Shin pulled a folded letter from his pocket and placed it in front of her face. "I had one of my men follow your clone. Don't look so shocked. He's loyal. He retrieved what she couldn't. Your master has left a note."

Mio took it from his hand, bothered by the _master_ comment. "Will you tell them?"

"Taiga? Jouji? Who will I tell?"

"They're not supposed to know," she whispered, unable to stop herself from talking. "We made a promise nobody would know…except us."

"I can help you. You only need to let me." Shin stepped to the door. "I'll leave you to read the letter."

"You're the clone."

He smiled. "Nope."

She frowned.

The door creaked shut behind him.

Mio opened the letter carefully and read the coded message:

_The hag is angry. Izuna is going through a phase, but the Ito clan like him. I was shipped off to the world's most annoying country._

_Tajima took control of the Wind Country. Hiryuu won't stop hounding the house._

_Don't be annoying. Avoid the borders._

_Don't get caught._

She tore another page from her notebook and wrote a simple correspondence to the shallow update he provided:

_I know, stupid._

_The Iron Country is safe._

_Remember the Kuronuma Elder? The one that caught me? He's marrying my cousin in a week. _

_Sako and Minako are going to Kurata, to live in the third village. It's the only one still under Kuronuma protection._

She folded it and left the room to find Shin meandering in the kitchen. She held it towards him. "Please help me."

He took it. "Same place?"

She nodded.

"You need to switch areas constantly. It's never safe to leave something in the same place for a prolonged time. Someone usually finds out and you're in the most danger. Understand?"

"I understand."

"Good." He slipped it in his pocket. "I'll have it left in place."

* * *

><p>Okimi and Sako shared secrets while Mio chased Minako around the back of the house listening to her grandfather hammering a new weapon. Jouji and Taiga were gathering information as always, only showing their faces when in need of supplies.<p>

Every day was like this. Whenever Jouji and Taiga were missing, nobody talked of the battlefields giving them a semblance of peace. Shin worked hard to lessen his workload and spoke no more of training her than he had the day he suggested it. Okimi's title as a blacksmith's assistance proved to be only for show since she spent most of her time avoiding her uncle. Sako and Minako finally looked at ease with their surroundings, having found a place to live without the fear of being killed at another person's whim.

The amount of normalcy was stifling. She wanted to do something. She wanted to run, long and fast, until her lungs ached and her muscles throbbed. She didn't have weapons to practice throwing. Practicing any sort of jutsu in the Iron Country required special permission she didn't have and an amount of exposure she didn't need. Permission was only given to Kuronuma shinobi.

She never realized how hard she had worked under Sachiyo's care, every day she had something to do and when she didn't, she had done something to keep her mind off the boredom. Here and there, she had spent time with Izuna and they would walk to the lake when the weather was good so she could fish, she had stayed in the verandah and had watched the brothers sparing, always amazed with the high-level jutsu they had mastered and wondered if she could ever become a spy to match their stride. Sometimes she had argued with Madara (or most times) and all they had were Sachiyo's punishments to bridge the peace. She wondered if they had returned back home to the countryside, the betrayal having not taken place, would Sachiyo force them to sleep in the barn as she had promised.

Mio was suffocating. It all seemed too normal. The Kuronuma clan was anything but, so the picturesque days she spent with two seemingly prominent members seemed more like a lie every day…until finally change arrived.

Okimi and Sako would be leaving.

"Mio."

She snapped out of her trance and found Sako. "Can we talk before I go?"

"Talk?" Mio asked, dumbfounded.

Sako took her by the wrist and gave her a gentle tug toward the entrance of the house. "Yeah, let's talk. We haven't had much time to talk since we got here. Okimi-san—she's so distracting, I can barely keep up with her."

Okimi and Minako played in the snow. Mio looked at them one last time before Sako shut the door behind them.

She could still hear her grandfather's hammering as she took a seat in one of the kitchen chairs, across Sako's place. Sako's cold hands still held hers and a smile lit her face.

"If Shin-san wasn't your grandfather, there's no telling where we would have ended up," Sako started, as she did most conversations with an appreciative tone. "And he's helping us so much. I mean, sending us to Kurata with Okimi—it's incredible. She says we'll be safe there…from everything, did you know about it, I mean, before today?"

"He told me a while ago," she admitted. "He wanted to make sure I was okay with it. I talked to Okimi-san too, she promised to take care of you like she would a sister. I don't doubt it."

Okimi's attachment to Sako had been immediate. It worked both ways. They were closer in age and liked discussing subjects Mio found uninteresting. One night they had stayed up all night talking about their ex-boyfriends and once Okimi realized Mio had remained silent too long, she had started directing the questions at her.

_"Do you like a boy?"_ she'd asked, much like Sako had in the compound.

She didn't understand their persistence with the subject. She'd merely shook her head and replied with a curt, _"No."_

Sako giggled. _"I think you have a thing for the brothers. You've been so restless since you've been apart from them."_

Mio had opened her mouth to correct her when Okimi cut in, _"Brothers? Wow, so which one's your favorite? Older or younger."_

They had left no room for her to defend herself as they took off with the subject, creating an elaborate fantasy with her as the protagonist of a story where the two brothers fought for her affection. She'd much faster die than cross that line. She never looked at Izuna any different than she would a brother and Madara, well, she had no opinion of him.

She admired their capabilities and accomplishments, but her emotions didn't function that way. She grew fond of them in a different sense, in a way that a group of children raised together might bond. Izuna was her confidant; she went to him to find peace. Madara kept her secrets, all the time they spent mopping floors and cleaning animal pens did something—albeit accidental, but it had happened.

She wasn't in a position where she could feel freely. There was no need for unnecessary emotions where she was headed.

_Avoid the nonsensical. Obey power. Erase the unnecessary. _She followed her mantra to the last detail. Romance fell under two of the three categories. She didn't have it in her to want to be with another person and she wasn't sure she wanted that from the start.

Sako drew her attention back with a response.

"What?"

The young woman smiled. "There's obviously something on your mind—tell me," she urged gently. "What is it?"

"I'll miss Minako," Mio offered quietly.

"Only Minako?"

"You too."

Sako giggled, giving her hands a gentle squeeze. "Me too."

She hated how awkward she felt in Sako's presence. Clammy and insecure next to her. She never let it show. _What would she think if she saw?_

"I'm happy you'll be staying with Taiga."

She didn't want to talk about Taiga. She avoided him every day since _that_ day. The only reason she hadn't lost her sense of professionalism was because she'd stop functioning without it and there was always a possibility that there were other girls named Mio in the world. "Jouji-san will keep you informed if anything happens," Mio said, changing the subject. "Okimi will be your messenger. If you need me for anything, please have her contact me. I promise to visit as many times a year as I can, so don't think I'm going to help your psychopath abandon you in Kurata."

That made Sako laugh before she reached over and wrapped her arms around Mio's neck. "Take care of him," she whispered, voice overturn with strange emotion. "You're the only person he cares enough about to allow it. I don't think he's a terrible person, so please make sure he doesn't get worse."

Maybe Sako was too stupid to understand or care how wrong it was to be some other woman's substitute. To be in a relationship where it's expected for you to bow your head to his will because you're terrified of being killed. If Sako had asked for help to run away in the short time she spent in Sachiyo's manor with her husband, Mio would have recruited Izuna to help escort her somewhere safe where Taiga might never find her and keep her protected. But she never asked for help. _Why deal with it?_

"He cares about Minako." She didn't want to be a name on that list.

"And that's the only reason I'm still alive," Sako whispered, holding her tightly. "Minako and you. He might have killed me from the start if you weren't around to interfere, but…I won't have to worry if I'm in Kurata and he's here. I can have some peace of mind." Sako pulled back, pale eyes flooded with tears. "I'm sorry you had to hear what you did."

Mio's heart clamped up. "What?"

"I noticed," she said quietly. "You don't let him put his hands on you anymore, so I figured you heard us and I'm sorry."

The lump started forming in her throat and she avoided making eye contact. "It could be someone else…"

"He only cares about you, Mio," she restated, holding her shoulders gently. "He's always watching you, he laughs at things you do, he likes having you near—he acts reasonable with you around. He _listens _to you."

Stunned, Mio could only shake her head in denial.

"You're a pretty girl, Mio, and already fifteen—how hard is it for you to acknowledge that someone might be interested in you?"

_Interested in me?_

Sako was insane. Did she expect her to snuggle up to her husband while she was gone?

Mio lurched out of her seat and pushed Sako's hands off her shoulders. "Because he's your _husband_."

The word must have hit her like a ton of bricks because Sako stood before her, dumbfounded. She recovered quickly. "I know that, but you said it from the start—that I deserve better."

That infuriated her. "And I don't?"

The sound of Shin's hammering grew louder, pounding like the rhythm in her chest.

"Don't misunderstand, Mio," she sputtered.

"Stop. Now." Mio's voice was firm. "I will bid you a safe journey and we will never speak of this again."

"Mio, please, don't be angry—"

"I am _not_ angry," she said strongly, heading out the door.

No, she was furious, but she didn't let it show on her face. Her tone must have given her away.

"Mio!" called Shin.

One look silenced him and she made her trip down the steep road. She heard Sako shouting her name, practically begging her to return, but she needed to clear her thoughts of the young woman's stupidity.

_How could anyone be so stupid?_

This information held no place in her head.

* * *

><p>"The girls asked for you before leaving."<p>

Shin waited for a response, but received none and sighed. He seated himself under the snow-dusted tree beside her. He stank of smoke, sweat, and metal.

"No problem," he said simply. "You will visit as often as you can. I will escort you there myself."

Mio suppressed the urge to shiver when the blistering wind hit her back. She remained quiet. The last thing she needed was to seem whiny over something she'd rather ignore—should ignore.

"You know, shutting yourself out to the rest of the world solves nothing. If you have feelings, you speak them. Sometimes it's best to overreach than not react at all," he went on. "You may take pride in your ability to say nothing for months, but that, dear girl, is something a brat does to cause trouble."

"Am I not allowed to be angry?" she challenged. "To express it however I see fit?"

"By all means express it," he replied strongly. "Shout, cry, throw things—do something impossibly stupid, but _learn _from it. What can you learn from saying nothing?"

She exhaled deeply, saying it before she thought it through. "Can a woman be so stupid as to allow herself to be a substitute for another?"

Shin narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. "Should I be worried?"

"I am not interested in romance."

"You're a boring teenage girl," he deadpanned.

"You're an old pervert," she retorted.

"Touché."

"Answer the question."

"I cannot speak for women, but that man, whoever he is, has done a terrible thing to his woman."

"I want to understand."

"Then you should ask that woman for a reason." Shin rose and held a hand out to her. "Let's return home. It is time I teach you of Mt. Hyōga."

Mio took it and with a gentle tug, he pulled her onto her feet. They slowly began to make their way to his home up the hill. "What is there to learn? It is a series of mountains where the Kuronuma have their hideout."

"And yet it is always winter and our seasons are vastly different from what you are accustomed."

"Is that possible?"

"I'll teach you all about possibilities once we cover the basics," he replied. "We divide our years, not by seasons, but by storms. We have months of peaceful snow days, of devastating blizzards, and months of darkness."

"Darkness?"

"The worst of months we endure. Night is eternal. Pitch-black and starless. We live off stores and once they are gone, we live starved. It is the harshest of winters and one that has taken several of our warriors and many more of our children." Shin stared on ahead. "The shinobi world thinks we sit and meander in Kurata hiding from war, but we do nothing but endure the consequences of their actions. We experience hardship as well, but is it right to misjudge us for wishing to keep our war in Kurata and drag our name through the mud? Demon clan, they call us, and for what? Petty rumors they themselves created. Are we demons?" She was taken aback by the passion in his voice. "No. We are not. We are shinobi, just like them, and because we do not justify this war, we will await for it settle before they are worthy to have us in their ranks."

The strength in his words left her flabbergasted.

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong> **note**: I apologize for the massive delay, between schoolwork, housework, baby sitting, and the fact that I turn into an owl four days out of the week since Daylight Saving Time...it's been hard. Besides, I hope the length and creepiness of this chapter make up for my delay.

_The set-up for the following 3-4 chapters is as follows:_

- Divided by seasons, starting with spring.

- Told in Sachiyo and Mio's POVs.

- Will be 10,000+ words per chapter depending on how much of the outline I don't toss out my window.

_Things to expect:_

- The start of Mio's "Kuronuma" training.

- Mio and Izuna run-in.

- Shin, Sachiyo, and Tomoji having a conversation.

- Mio going through her teenage angry phase. I think this chapter is enough to give you a gist as to why.

- More Kuronuma stuff explained.

- More creepiness.

To **WiltingInsanity**, **Dusk Nisshoku Valentine**, **Aries01xD**, and **crazyuser** your reviews have been a treat to my overworked heart. Thank you very much for making my hobby worth overindulging in.

I am partially sorry for the anticlimactic introduction to Mio's grandfather, but trust me on this one. I'm handing you something before I explain it. (This applies to the Sako and Taiga thing.)

At this point, Madara 16, Mio 15, Izuna 14. Izuna will be 15 at the start of the next chapter.

If you have questions leave them, especially if you're confused.

On a different note, I have a question for you lot. I initially planned to divide these chapters in Mio, Madara, and Izuna's POVs, but scratched them out to shine some light on Sachiyo, who has a lot of secrets and will always be in a position to keep you posted on what her grandchildren are doing, not to mention Izuna will always be near her so you'll see him often enough.

So I want to know if anyone would be interested in seeing Izuna and Madara's POVs in the following chapters. That's the question. Or just Izuna? Just Madara?

_Thank you for reading! Please continue voting in the poll. For the winner of this current poll I'll have something special prepared. :)_


	18. Serpent Waters 1

Chapter **18** | Serpent Waters I

* * *

><p><strong>Spring arrived in a dark cloud.<strong>

* * *

><p>The ground beneath her feet rumbled as though it were the cry of a slumbering beast disturbed. Those outside tried to keep themselves upright until the tremors seized alongside the fall of the mountain erected beyond the trees that surrounded the Waterfall Country. Battlefields began appearing throughout the continent, reaching as far as the neutral Iron Country and involving its army of samurai.<p>

Sachiyo recalibrated herself, straightening her clothes and smoothing her hair back. She took in a shuddering breath and continued up the stairway to meet Tomoji to discuss matters in the Sun Country with the unyielding Motou clan and the expected involvement of the Senju clan. Madara seemed to be failing on his end, whereas Izuna was in the midst of battle beyond the trees after months of harsh, continuous training fighting alongside the Ito clan.

She entered the room to find Tomoji facing the window, dressed for battle in moss green armor over a dark outfit underneath. He made constant trips to and from the Ito village to ensure the safety of the children he could not yet ship to war and the incapacitated. He left her a sizable group to command if the war reached the waterfall masking the entrance into his territory.

"Good, you've come," he said curtly, acknowledging her presence. "How is your health?"

She inclined her head in greeting. "Better," she replied. "How is the battle?"

"We are taking a risk in our next play, but I trust Izuna won't fail. He has already wounded their commanding officer. I can guarantee a win for today, but I have lost many shinobi and I will need support from the Motou clan."

He sounded annoyed, not bothering to disguise his displeasure with Madara's progress.

"Have you news of Madara?" she asked cordially.

"Yes. He recently clashed with Senju Hashirama. He proposed a deal, I heard, to have a single fight decide whether or not he decapitated the king." Tomoji's eyebrows creased wondrously. "The fight ended in a draw and for the moment, the Sun Country is expected to be quiet. Despite the Elders wishing to return to the Senju clan's side, the king is quite fond of your grandson."

"After he put a price on his head?"

"My men claim it was the king's own idea. He wanted to gamble. He enjoys games, much like you." Tomoji unfolded his arms and let them drop to his sides. "Madara is recovering well, and I hear he has befriended a young priestess to distract him for the while."

"A priestess?"

"Yes, a girl called Yayoi. She amuses him."

"I am not fond of distractions."

"Of course," Tomoji said with an appreciative nod and a sly smile. "I've asked Takuei to eliminate her if she becomes troublesome to our common goal…"

He trailed off, jaw slacken at whatever sight lay outdoors.

"What is it?" she demanded, stepping before the window. She spotted the strange man immediately, dressed in pale clothes and furs. "A Kuronuma."

"The Kuronuma. I recognize this one. Shinya." Tomoji's frown deepened. "He is Musashi's last remaining son."

Sachiyo's eyes narrowed in distaste and the man in question waved up at them with a goofy smile. "What a despicable man."

"Have you had the honor?" Tomoji asked.

"Most definitely," called a voice behind them.

Sachiyo whirled around with a short dagger drawn at the same time Tomoji turned with a killer's intent.

Kuronuma Shin sat behind the table. "No need to get thorny with me. I'm not here to pick a fight."

The man seated before her was Mio's grandfather. Many years ago, he incited a rebellion against his father and left Kurata, which led to his meeting with Chiho, who would become his Uchiha wife. Chiho had been her best friend until she was practically spirited away by the man to Kurata after his father assured him there would be no punishment for his stupidity. He was stealthier than a cat, noiseless even to the best ears, and she had always hated that about him.

"You trespassed into my territory, Shinya. You have already committed an offence against me," Tomoji stated.

"Would it help if I apologized?"

"No."

"Then I guess you can do whatever you want after we have this conversation and by we, I mean myself and Sachiko—"

"Sachiyo," she corrected. It was her youth all over again.

"Yeah, whatever." He gestured to the seat across him as if he were in the comfort of his own home, an annoying old habit of his. "Come, sit, let's have a chat. You can stay if you want Motoki. I'm sure she'll tell you anyways."

"Tomoji," the man corrected.

"Yeah, Tomoki." Shin leaned forward on his elbows. "Well, you really don't have to sit. You can just listen." He paused for effect. "Mio's found her way to me. She is now under Kuronuma custody as you wanted."

Sachiyo straightened at the mere name. It took several months, but Izuna finally stopped asking about her and she, herself, placed her memory in a distant corner of her head. "What makes you think I care what the girl has done? She's betrayed me."

"Ugh, you're so annoying," he blurted. "You'd think old age would help, but you're just as stubbornly unforgiving as always. Here's some advice, lady, live a little. Give people the benefit of the doubt once in a while. Sheesh."

She bristled. "_You_—"

"No, _you_ listen—so she picked the wrong person for something she considered a good deed," he said with emphasis. "The only thing it says about her character isn't the stigma you're putting on her name. She wanted to protect two girls from an inevitable death and accomplished it. She has a lot more heart than you give her credit for."

"She should have come to me if it was so important."

"She has her reasons for doing what she did. Besides, you know better than anyone that Taiga is an important asset to the Uchiha clan. He dies and all his secrets die with him. Eijiro trusted him with bigger secrets than he gave you." He continued before she could formulate a response. "And what about you? You never told her I existed or that I wanted to take her with me—you let her believe she was an orphan, that she had no one. What were you going to tell her when you decided to ship her off to a stranger because you thought it was the right thing to do? Don't you think she would have felt betrayed? Just like you do now. She probably feels worse than you ever had. You and those grandchildren of yours were the only thing she came close to calling a family and she misses every one of you, especially the little one, and before you make a face, even the grumpy one."

Sachiyo felt something twist inside her, her heart ached again. She never considered any of that. It simply was betrayal and it ended there. She didn't give any thought to the rest. She did plan to ship her off to her grandfather to give her the family she deserved and now she wondered if it might have turned out as Shin said. Would she consider it a betrayal?

"…How is she?"

"Working hard. I've only had her a few months and she's a great kid, a boring teenager, but a great kid." Shin left his seat. "She's brilliant. Oh, and before I forget, don't worry, that girl will branch an alliance between the Kuronuma and Uchiha like you wanted."

"Are the Kuronuma planning—?"

"No, not yet, but the conversation is there. Your side doesn't have the right leader yet and mine doesn't have the right envoy. But the alliance will happen, not now, perhaps when we're dead and then some years, but the two will inevitably come together."

"Right leader?"

"Yes. All you need is the right person to clean up the stupid mess you Elders left behind and bring the clan together and _voila_, all will be well in the world."

It relieved her to hear that the Uchiha clan would come to be one again, but she also knew not to trust his prognostications because pathways changed. Chiho often stressed the importance of that. "How certain is Hag about this?"

"This only has one pathway." Shin turned away. "I apologize for the intrusion. I will leave you to your war. Oh, before I go." He looked over his shoulder. "Mio is neutral. She takes no part in the misery while she is with me. Relay that information to whoever cares to possess it."

Sachiyo spoke before she could stop herself. "Where is she now? Mio. Where is she?"

"Outside the building. You can see from the window."

She approached the window for confirmation and caught her staring in the direction of the war, dressed in the same fashion as her grandfather. It had only been six months, but each felt like a year, since the last time she saw her. It seemed like she grew a few inches during that time and her short hair had grown past her shoulders.

Sachiyo's attention was drawn by a cacophony of voices and she followed the source to find Izuna walking straight for Mio without realizing it. She waited for both of their reactions, unsure of whether to stop it from happening or allowing it because Mio owed Izuna some form of explanation. Mio owed everyone an explanation.

"He's gone," Tomoji grumbled.

Shin appeared outside, beckoning her as her grandson's group approached, beaten and bloody, from the harsh battlefield. "Mio, we're going."

Mio shot forward clumsily.

Izuna stopped dead in his tracks, having heard. "Mio?" The first time he said her name did not go unnoticed as he searched his surroundings for her. Sachiyo watched in horror when he spotted her trailing her grandfather. "Mio!"

Mio and Izuna made eye contact and everyone around them stopped to stare. Sachiyo watched the scene unfold as one she might have imagined in her childhood dreams, back when she'd been allowed to have any.

Both moved toward one another and when they crashed together in the center of everyone's attention, the only noise was the whistling wind. As quickly as their arms wrapped around one another, the two sunk to the ground together.

"Mio…you're heavy," Izuna complained, patting her shoulder.

Shin grabbed Mio by the back of her collar. "Let go of the boy," he commanded lightly. She did and he pulled her off Izuna, returning her to her feet. "Good."

"There are weights on the girl," Tomoji commented beside her.

Sachiyo noticed the tiny black bar sticking out from under her sleeve. "Why weights?"

Shin offered her grandson a hand and helped him up. "Sorry about waiting so long to get her off. I could see you turning blue, but I was amazed at how quickly she made it to you." He grinned at his granddaughter. "She's never had that sort of incentive before."

Izuna looked confused, but faced her completely. "Madara said you went with Taiga. This man is a…"

"Kuronuma. My mother's father. Shinya," she responded awkwardly. She fiddled with her sleeves. The conversation was not one she desired to engage in.

Sachiyo's heart sank. Izuna's lips split into a smile. "Are you back? I told grandma you'd come back."

The tone in his voice broke her heart. He understood nothing and wouldn't because explaining any circumstances fueled his ideal of a reality that could not be.

Mio shook her head unable to look him in the eyes and spoke in a voice so soft she nearly missed the words she uttered. "No. I'm not back."

Slowly the curve of his lips fell away into a disappointment that matched his tenor. "Why are you here then?"

The girl reacted to his voice, slightly but noticeably.

"We're traveling to the Iron Country. She's training with me," Shin cut in. The relief in her was evident. "She is no longer in the custody of this Taiga you speak of, but that does not put her on your side either. The Kuronuma clan doesn't associate with other shinobi clans under any circumstances. We must go now. Come, Mio."

Izuna grabbed her by the wrist preventing her from turning. "You didn't betray us like Madara said right?" he asked in hopeful desperation. "You just went to find your grandfather and to take care of Sako and Minako, right? It doesn't make sense otherwise. Mio…"

Sachiyo opened her mouth to speak, but Tomoji stopped her. "Leave him. This is important for him."

"Mio," Izuna repeated. "You didn't betray us…did you? You're better than that. I know you…I—"

"Goodbye, Izuna," she said coldly, tugging free her wrist.

Sachiyo might have believed the girl felt nothing as she bid her grandson the last goodbye if not for the furrowed eyebrows and the way she looked as though she'd willingly let the earth open up to eat her. That girl hurt more than one couldn't possibly explain.

Shin and Mio were gone.

"Lovely match they'd make," Tomoji observed with a wry smile.

"It's unlikely," Sachiyo answered, watching her grandson take off in the opposite direction without a word. "Izuna would love her too much and she wouldn't love him enough."

"I don't see how you are so blind to it; you've seen it with your eyes."

She didn't need to see what she viewed as impossible. Mio could never love him, bound by servitude and loyalty; it wouldn't work beyond what it was now. Why could no one else see it?

"How are you acquainted with that man?" she asked for a change of pace.

"Your story for mine?" She shot him a deprecating look. "It's a fair trade."

She hated his easy smiles.

"He saved my friend's life once and once was all it took for him to fall in love with her." She pictured it so vividly in her mind, of waiting out in the rain for Chiho, a sensor, to return to the camp after she had accompanied her father to a harsh battlefield and expecting the worst to occur when Shinya appeared with the unconscious woman in his arms. That should have been the first and last time he appeared anywhere near the Uchiha clan, but it wasn't. He kept coming back for Chiho—an annoying, spoiled man wanted nothing more than to be with her. Sachiyo couldn't stand him because he was an outsider, a betrayer, and above all unrealistic. "We've never agreed on anything and because I was an impediment to their already doomed relationship, he took Chiho from the clan. She returned a few years later with a child and told me everything she knew about the Kuronuma clan that lived hidden in Mt. Hyōga where the seasons were strange and the people stranger."

"That all?" he queried.

"That's all."

"I expected a more exciting tale."

"I'm sure yours will be enough to satisfy your need."

"I've had the honor to meet him fresh out of Mt. Hyōga. I nearly killed him believing him to be another stupid bandit crossing my father's camp. He was a bloody coward. Nothing worth the fame he has as a guardian—"

"A what?"

Tomoji regarded her befuddled. "Don't you know the rumors spoken of the Kuronuma?"

"Ritualistic cannibals with a proclivity towards young children. What more is there to know other than the fact that they are a shinobi clan that wishes to stay neutral in a world committed to chaos?"

"Because anyone that's been around long enough is starting to think they're up in Mt. Hyōga protecting something," he divulged. "Do you know how long Shinya's been alive, or for that matter his father. If Shinya has a fifteen-year-old granddaughter, he should at least be over sixty, but he doesn't look a day over thirty. Today I saw him look just as I remembered him. Can you deny it?"

"No, I cannot, it's true that he hasn't aged a day since I last saw him, but perhaps he doesn't age as quickly as others. It's not uncommon."

"How do you explain his hundred-year-old father?"

"There must be another Musashi."

Tomoji shook his head. "They're rumored to be guardians of secret artifacts and as it is engrained in the Senju and Uchiha to war, it is in their minds to protect these treasures from the rest of the shinobi world. They are a Sacred clan, Sachiyo, not a clan of demons. Have you not encountered any of their oddities?"

Sachiyo exhaled deeply, moving away from the window as his words stirred a memory from deep in her mind. "There is a nameless woman, an old woman. They call her Hag. She reads pathways, sees things in dirt. Her word is law where the Kuronuma are concerned and it's said that's why they're so knowledgeable of things they shouldn't be."

"Pathways? Didn't you mention that during our earlier conversation?"

"Yes. If there are multiple pathways to her predictions, it's difficult to see an outcome and it comes down to the decision everyone involved makes. I don't believe in it, but sometimes you need something to hold onto…" She trailed off, reminded of something she forced back into darkness.

Tomoji's interest was tangible. She felt it once. "This Hag, where can one find her?"

"Capture a Kuronuma with a loose tongue," she said. "If one exists."

"That is most unfortunate." The man frowned. "How did you ever come across information on the Hag?"

Sachiyo ventured toward the staircase. "I need to send a message to Madara," she informed him, "and I do believe you have an army to command."

* * *

><p>When the training started, Shin explained the weights were to increase her agility. "Kuronuma rely more on their physical strengths and speeds than they do on jutsu, but you also need strength and speed to use black water jutsu, so it balances out," he said between hammering a jagged blade into shape. "Agility training is first. Mental training is second. Heat training is third. Strength training is fourth. It's absolutely necessary that you do not learn out of order because each preceding art compliments the following and you can't do one without the other. Of course, some can be combined, but that depends on the trainee's progression, else the results could be disastrous."<p>

"What's heat training?" she asked quizzically.

"Where you'll be increasing your body temperature."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Done incorrectly it can be fatal, but we'll be in the right conditions. By then you'll be with the clan in Kurata more often than not and it won't hurt to be a few degrees warmer than you're used to," he explained. "For now, you'll just have to deal with the ever-increasing mass of your weights. One pound a day until you can function carrying twice your weight. We will double if your progress is good."

Mio stared at him as if she had been doused with cold water. "Twice my weight?"

"At your age, Kuronuma children are already carrying three times their own weight and you should see kids your age on the mountain, they're huge."

"What?"

He shrugged. "You could move a mountain if you wanted later in life. I can do it."

"_What?_" she sputtered. _Impossible._

Shin grinned. "It was a joke." He gestured for her wrist and once offered to him, he secured the last string of the new weights in. "Up the mountain and back down. Once around the village as well. Stay within the border. I'll be watching you."

Mio nodded uncomfortably. She adjusted to the new weight and stared up the curving, treacherous road. She ran up the mountain once, up and down it, and then covered the perimeter of the nearby village before going up the dirt-packed route back home. The training itself started easy enough. He only expected her to pursue this as a daily routine. He never suggested other exercises, except a thorough warm-up preceding the actual running.

The thing about the mountain was that when she reached a certain height, Mio endured wave upon wave of panic, feeling the change in altitude and the thinning air. The road beneath her feet turned brittle the closer she was to the top where one misstep could cause a fall and the drop over the ledge was further than her eyes could see, packed with jagged stones. Reaching its peak required scaling the wall, which turned into a complete nightmare since the weights on her wrists and ankles started increasing in random multiple of twos.

Despite the constant death scares, Mio was thankful for something to keep her mind off her unexpected run-in with Izuna…and every other detail in her life she wished didn't exist.

"Did you catch that?" asked Shin, peering down at her curiously.

"Up the mountain and back down, around the village once, stay inside the border, and you'll be stalking me."

"Watching," he corrected.

"I'm going now."

Mio walked the first few steps, slipped into a jog, and once she adjusted to the new weights, into a full sprint. She avoided stray stones and holes on the ground. She stuck close to the wall where she couldn't see the edge or gauge at the ever-growing elevation.

Exhaustion crept on her two miles from reaching the peak. She slowed her pace to conserve energy since she had more ground to cover that morning.

"Don't slow down!" called Shin, peering at her from the road above her.

Mio returned to her original speed with an exasperated breath.

"That's better!"

"If I slow my pace—"

"Don't make excuses!"

She assumed he lied about watching her to the extreme he just proved to her, but she should have known better. She decided to push her body until every muscle screamed in pain and her constant aches began to numb.

Once she reached the end of the mountain road, unable to breathe without her lungs throbbing, she stared up the tall wall her grandfather expected her to scale in her condition. She had done it before, several weeks in a row and each time she did it, she dreaded it. She made it every time, despite the doubt, but that never stopped it from rearing its ugly head.

Mio sucked in a breath and dispelled of it slowly. She stepped closer to the wall, straining to reach the first of many protruding stones that marred the mountain's face. Her fingers dug in, tiny flecks of dust fell across her face. She shook the dirt off and kicked her foot into the wall, hoisting her body up far enough to reach another stone. The weight pushed her down making each step upward harder than the last until a misstep sent her to the ground.

She hit hard, waking every pain receptor in her body and flooding them with senses. She stayed on the ground unable to move, trying to return the breath back into her lungs.

"Up, Mio."

Her eyes fluttered open to see her grandfather standing behind her, his body casting a shadow over her.

"Come now. It was just a fall."

_Just a fall?_ She wanted to shout it at him, but couldn't.

"I can help you, but what's the point? You are not the sort to give up so easily. Are you tired already?" he asked, almost tauntingly. "It has only been a few weeks and you have done well enough."

Mio fisted her hand and clenched her teeth, forcing her body up. She did not have the time to lay there; she still needed to cover the village. Every limb throbbed in pain, her wrists feeling as though they were about to fall off.

Shin stepped away, the sun fell right across her face. "Good."

She took three deep breaths once seated and proceeded to push her whole body back onto her feet. She turned around. Shin was no longer present. It relieved her, giving her the incentive to try scaling up the remainder of the mountain.

She approached it differently, paying closer attention to where she grabbed and what she stepped on to ensure the fall didn't happen again. The thought made her bones quiver.

.

.

Mio returned to her grandfather's remembering all the times she complained about her mother's training regiments when she was a child and Sachiyo's idea of it as well, especially all the time she spent in the swamps learning a bunch of complicated jutsu that she never really mastered. The training her grandfather put her through was on a different level, with her parents and Sachiyo she only trained three days out of the week and studied reports in what remained. What she was doing with her grandfather was an everyday thing. The only rest she had was the sleep she managed through the night. She normally collapsed as soon as she made it into a chair. Shin had to force her awake to eat, else she might not have the energy to function the following day. She never knew how good she had it until now. All the complaints she made seemed redundant now, and she couldn't even protest this time around because she longed for activity.

Training kept her mind off everything. There was never enough time to think when she needed to make sure she didn't step on unsafe ground and plunge into the ground below.

Shin and Jouji came into immediate view. The sight of him made her rush up the rest of the way though her body was on the verge of collapsing.

"Jouji-san," she breathed.

The conversation between him and Shin seized abruptly.

Mio's legs shook violently. A step forward brought her to her knees. She bit back a curse.

"Mio—"

Shin stepped forward before Jouji and pulled her back onto her feet. The few seconds she spent completely in his arms felt alleviating, not having to bear the weights herself, but it was fleeting and soon as he dropped his hold on her, the burden came rushing back.

"You look terrible, Mio," Jouji commented.

"How did it go?" she asked, dismissing the observation.

"The Mikazuki are challenging clans in the Lightning Country," he replied. "Konoe has gone off the radar and that is never good. You'll have to be extra careful, Mio."

"That woman's a demon," Shin murmured, arms folded over his leather workshop apron. "She'll have me to deal with if she's planning what I think she's planning and she better not be planning it."

Mio blinked wearily at her grandfather. "You mean come here? The samurai increased their defenses since the neighboring countries have become drawn into the battlefields, you don't think she's that stupid."

"I think she has something up her sleeve," Jouji answered.

"Like a death wish," said Shin.

"Shinya-san, please, Konoe is still Mio's aunt."

"_Please_, it's not unknown that Konoe is a horrible person."

"Old men shouldn't gossip," she told them, stepping past them as they huddled together. The two were fast friends like Okimi and Sako.

"She used to be such a nice, quiet girl," Jouji mentioned, sounding like a reminiscent old man.

"I think she's rebelling. She's going through so many changes."

"Really?"

"She's a young woman now."

Mio's face burned with embarrassment.

"I think she heard you," Jouji whispered.

"Look how red her ears are. She's so cute."

Mio slammed the front door shut behind her and sank into the cushioned armchair. It creaked noisily under the weight of her body. She rolled her eyes, sighing deeply, when the smell of food reached her. Her stomach gurgled hungrily, but she felt too comfortable to move.

She closed her eyes, leaning her head back into the pillow. Sleep gave a light pull and she succumbed.

A warm hand touched her forehead.

She exhaled, eyes fluttering open. Her limbs felt heavier than they had on the run back.

Shin set a tray of food on the floor as he knelt before her. "I'll prepare a warm bath for you while you eat," he told her, untying the weights around her ankles. "Here, your wrists now."

She offered her hands to him and listened to the ties loosening and the thin weights falling into her grandfather's open palm, clinking noisily. He pocketed them and placed the tray on her lap.

"Do you have it?"

Mio hunched forward, hands fumbling to pull the wooden tray further over her thighs. She yawned. "Thank you."

Shin left out the door in the side of the house.

She stared down at the chicken broth and decided to have it first.

Taiga appeared in the room. She forgot about him completely, but obviously, if Jouji had returned, their favorite Uchiha must have accompanied him. His hair was messily pushed off his forehead, longer than she recalled, and he seemed to have forgotten to get rid of his stubble in the time he spent outside the country.

"Hello," she greeted, only because he looked in her direction.

"Why is Gouki interested in you?" he asked suddenly, leaning into a counter at the kitchen. "Hiryuu is only looking for you because it was one of Gouki's requirements to solidify an agreement."

"Why do you expect me to know everything?" She brought the bowl of broth and took a sip, the warm liquid oozed down her sore throat like a piece of heaven. "And how do you know the details of the agreement?"

He shrugged, dismissing her counter. "I wouldn't find it too shocking that you already came across an answer."

Mio recalled the time when Hiryuu cornered her in the kitchen of the old Uchiha compound. The day Izuna overheard her biggest kept secret. His reaction shocked her. Perhaps, it had opened her eyes to how strongly he cared for her and in a moment, she misunderstood them for being what she thought appropriate, not what they truly represented.

"Hiryuu told me Gouki wants to _understand _me," she answered truthfully, picking up her chopsticks to start on the pickled vegetables in a small dish.

She didn't look away from his expression. It read nothing out of the ordinary, but his grip on the edge of the counter tightened. She pushed the idea out of her head before it annoyed her.

"See, you did know."

"Wanting to understand a person says nothing to me," she answered, chewing slowly.

"Do you even understand what that means?" he asked, sounding irritated.

"I'm not that naïve, I understand it can mean a lot of things, I'm just not quick to jump to conclusions," she remarked, feeling the mood rub off on her. "Hiryuu spelled it out real nice for me anyway."

"Did he touch you?" The irritation made a swift transition to pure anger. "Did Hiryuu put his hands on you?"

She hated his tone. It completely snuffed what little appetite she had acquired. "And if he did what? What business is it of yours?" she demanded in a low, menacing voice. "You're nothing to me, you have no say."

"He doesn't," came Shin's reply. The glee that usually clung to his tone was gone. "I do. And if that man did anything to you, I will treat him to an unimaginable death."

She didn't hear the door open or his footsteps. Judging by Taiga's expression, he failed to sense him as well. This should have stopped shocking her as much as it did, but she found it particularly amazing. She also didn't remember telling him that Hiryuu had a hand in her parents' murder, how it applied to the Mikazuki Gouki conversation or Taiga's peculiar attitude, and without voicing it, he seemed to notice all three.

Mio set the tray on one of the countertops in the kitchen and pushed past her grandfather. "I don't want to talk about this."

She slipped out of the terse atmosphere through the first door in the short hall that led to Shin's bedroom. She marched down the three steps to the gravel and her sandaled feet crunched all the way to the separate bath. Every sore muscle in her body wailed in agony as she entered the steaming wooden room. It doubled as a small bathhouse and a steam room. The baths her grandfather took were scalding because he didn't feel heat as normal as others, explaining that the waters in Kurata were constantly boiling to ensure lasting warm baths in a realm that only carried cold.

She peeled off her sweaty clothes and tossed them in a pile. She washed her body quickly, noting the red marks the weights left on her skin. She imagined there was a large bruise forming across her back because the skin felt incredibly tender. She had scrapes all over from all the falling she did and it took several scrubs to remove the dried blood. Once she rinsed the excess soap from her tangled hair, she headed into the wooden tub to submerge her body and soak for a while.

The temperature was a little warmer than she liked, but the heat made all her sore muscles tingle in delight so she hardly minded it. She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly. It felt devastatingly perfect. She fought off sleep to avoid drowning and all the bad memories the mere thought of it brought on.

Mio went straight to bed after getting dressed into something comfortable. She slept like the dead.

* * *

><p>In a fit of anger, she had left a strange note for Madara to read, one that depicted her universal feelings in the last couple weeks of Taiga and Shin probing her for answers she didn't have about how inappropriately Hiryuu touched her. She had no response because the worst he managed was act in a way that made her stomach knot in disgust, but he did not touch her in the way both males assumed.<p>

_I hate it here._

She sent four words expecting nothing in response, a complete disregard about her feelings and when her grandfather placed the response in her hand, she read it twice.

_Deal with it._

Well, she certainly held no high expectations for Madara's compassion, but it hurt. He remained the only link she had left of the life she lived before the "betrayal," so she expected more. Some kindness would have been nice, but then again, she forgot who she was dealing with.

Mio held the paper in her hands when it suddenly hit her. He didn't have to reply to her note in the first place, it wasn't an update on the things she learned off Jouji's network of spies. He also failed to mention anything remotely like news on his end and he kept her posted on politics she didn't need or want to understand. He made a special mention of the Motou clan's strange jutsus and also how they were all especially religious, believing their ability to perform jutsu had been a gift from their gods. Nothing of that sort appeared on the paper, not even a slight mention of Izuna's progression in the Waterfall Country, which she heard had been incredible. The battles crossed the borders and many shinobi were combing through the treacherous waterfalls in search of Ito territory for a planned ambush.

She decided to play with the idea. She wrote a short note, though some of her feelings snuck their way in there.

_Did you hear about the Wave Country? The rebellion isn't looking good for the daimyo and Chika-sama._

_My grandfather doesn't think they'll continue reigning long._

_I want to see the house again and talk to Sachiyo. I want to be with Izuna._

_I want to go home._

She didn't hand this note to her grandfather; she had one of her clones deliver it to the new place. It hardly mattered that he would notice since he had eyes all over the Iron Country and there was certainly a possibility that he would question her about it. She prepared herself to lie as soon as she headed out the door to take on the new weights, run up the mountain and down, twice around the village today. She dreaded it. Every bit of it.

_"Dread it when it's the middle of summer and you're sweating in places you didn't realize could sweat," _Shin had said. She couldn't get the image of disgust from her head, thinking of his words brought it back.

She regretted it all over again.

Mio gathered her hair into a high ponytail before stepping out to greet her disgruntled grandfather. She leveled her eyes with him, expressing no emotion that could potentially work in his favor.

"I felt very tempted to destroy that clone of yours," he said without preamble. "I didn't. I want to respect your privacy. I don't want us to go backwards. I offered my help to you and I wish you'd not let your _sensibilities _get in the way of my doing my part."

"Please give me the weights," she said quietly. If she paid him any mind, the anger would rush back when she'd finally found some solace. "I don't want to come home too late."

Shin helped her strap the new weights on her ankles and wrists. She felt the new strain immediately; he'd doubled the combined weight from yesterday.

"Can you do me a favor?" she asked, readying herself for the run.

"What do you need?"

"I'd like scissors if we have any."

"Should I be worried?"

"No," she answered evenly. "I just want scissors. Can you take some time off having unreasonable conversations with a man seven decades your junior for the time necessary to procure some scissors?"

"Please, Mio, that hurts my feelings. I'm not that much older than Taiga."

"Just get the scissors."

Mio started up the path before Shin could protest it any further.

.

.

When she reached the summit the ground shook, chips off the mountain wall rained down on her. She grabbed onto the wall to prevent herself from tipping over and covered her left ear when a howling wind screeched beyond the skyline followed by a cloud of dust that engulfed the whole mountain. The air was electric with different levels of chakra; each powerful jutsu cast wrought the Iron Country in persistent tremors, each lasting longer than the last.

Another strong wind swept past Mio's form and cleared the dust away from her. Mio opened her eyes to the looming battlefield, out beyond a partly decimated forest where there once stood several interlacing trees now lay a huge vacant plot littered in corpses and shinobi of opposing clans fighting with what remained of their armies. Every passing day, the disputes pushed closer into neutral country and forced the citizens of the first town to travel deeper into their country to find respite within the hidden towns where an army of samurai lay in wait, hoping for the war not to reach.

The worry between the country's leaders grew by morning when the battlefields nestled closer to the mountains protecting their home. Every day Mio wondered how long it'd be before the country was overrun with corpses. She wondered what that meant for her grandfather's agreement with the samurai and whether or not a breach in their borders could do what a hundred other offers didn't accomplish, the Kuronuma's involvement.

Mio took a quivering breath, feeling a sting in her wrist and something warm trickle down it. She reached for the cord tying the weights to her left wrist. She struggled with the knot, every tug she gave it made the sleek weights grate her reddened skin until they gave in, sliding apart.

The rocky floor beneath her feet dented all around the four weighted bars, kicking up a cloud of residue. Mio stared at the slanted cut on her wrist and the blood dripping from it.

Immediately, she tore the bottom of her shirt and tightly wrapped it around her wrist before lifting the weights off the ground to retie them as her grandfather did. As soon as the pressure nestled over the cut, she hissed. It hurt more than the initial sting that alerted her of its presence, but she pushed the ache out of her head. If she didn't think about it, it wouldn't affect her. She needed to run down the mountain and around the village twice, a small cut wouldn't stop her, neither would a little blood. The pressure could as well staunch the bleeding, though she couldn't be sure as her medical knowledge was mediocre at best.

She followed the road back down the mountain and started on the trail around the first town. By the time she reached the front gate, her lungs were burning and her exhaustion was far worse than any other she experience she had, even with all the falls she endured in previous routines. She wanted any excuse to sit down and catch her breath because everything hurt.

_Ignore it._ She didn't want to fail at today's objective, so she bore through the pain because it wasn't the end of the world. She'd live.

With that particular resolution, Mio worked her muscles until she couldn't be sure how she managed to reach her grandfather's home, though when she did, she collapsed in front of his workplace.

She came in and out of consciousness, the crunch of boots reached her ears and she only wondered why it'd taken Shin so long to appear.

"Mio!"

Except that wasn't her grandfather's voice.

Mio complained as Taiga helped her on her feet. "Where's Shin?"

"I don't know," he said quickly. "Can you walk?"

"I _can _walk," she stated, putting some distance between them, though she could use the help, she didn't want to ask him for it. "How long has he been gone?"

"This morning."

She entered the house and found a seat, every limb in her body trembled in exhaustion. She imagined her grandfather's engagement kept him from showing up when she removed the weights at the top of the mountain.

"I saw the battlefield from the top of the mountain," she started. "It's getting closer."

She pushed her palms down over her knees in an attempt to stop the shaking, but it didn't work. She slumped into the cushions at her back, breathing heavily. Enervation filled her body with a chilling cold that clouded her mind. A small voice told her she wasn't okay, but she refused to listen to it, not until she learned why her grandfather was out. Shin never left without a purpose or telling her beforehand.

"It's Gouki's work."

_Gouki again._ "I already heard about Konoe. Jouji told me on the day you both got back."

"One of his men was taken captive two days ago. We received the corpse this morning."

"One less man," she said snappishly. "Does that make much of a difference to your seven people army?"

"Spies are invaluable," he remarked, displeased by her comment but it wasn't enough to provoke his anger. "This wasn't the first time our spies were targeted and it won't be the last."

"Jouji should stay in the country," she said, forcing her body forward to stand. "I'm going to find Shin."

The front door slammed open, startling her. "No need."

Shin entered the house covered in soot and grime. Black droplets fell away from his body with every step he took, sizzling on the floor, each burning a tiny hole through the wood.

Mio struggled to get on her feet, but he held his hand up. "I suggest you don't come near me, I'll have to clean up first."

Taiga stepped forward, a curious smile on his lips. "Is this the rumored black water? It's rotting the wood."

Mio frowned. "Where were you?"

"One of my clones was destroyed. I went to meet the man that managed to accomplish that and met with a certain Mikazuki Gouki."

Mio's attention was rapt. They'd been fooled into believing he was in the Lightning Country ruining other people's lives, but he'd been stirring trouble near here, which unnerved her less that it should have.

"He's asked for the both of you," he continued. "Forgive me; I didn't have the patience to ask what he's wanted."

"There's not a scratch on you," Taiga observed.

"No, there isn't." Shin stepped towards the short hallway. "Excuse me." He paused at the doorway. "Oh, and Taiga, make yourself useful and cook something for Mio, then prepare her a bath. I'm afraid I won't have time for either."

Shin slipped out through the back door.

Taiga and Mio exchanged looks.

"Is it me or he seems furious?" asked Taiga, jabbing a thumb in Shin's direction.

"It would seem."

Taiga moved to the countertops in the kitchen. "Do you want anything in particular?"

Mio stared at him awkwardly, unsure whether she heard him right. "Whatever's easiest."

.

.

Shin hammered away for a great portion of the night making it impossible to sleep. She stepped out into the bitter cold and dragged her robe over her shoulder to tighten it in place. She stood off to the side watching him shape the burning metal with every harsh hit. Observing his movements, the consternation furrowing his eyes, the unspoken emotion deepening his frown, and the attention he paid to the weapon he forged above his anvil before returning it to the furnace until it burned bright red.

"What has he told you?" she asked gently.

Shun dropped the unfinished sword into the fire and jerked around to face her, wiping his hands on a cloth hung from his pocket.

"Tomorrow will be a difficult day. You should be resting." He stepped out to take the seat outside his workspace. "I never expected you'd be so undertrained."

She glowered. "I will rest when you stop pounding on that thing, so tell me what's upset you," she ordered. "What's Mikazuki Gouki told you?"

At once, his temperament darkened and without speaking the words, she understood the reason for his sudden mood change. The cruel bastard must have told him in explicit detail how he had killed his daughter or perhaps, offered him details of what he'd plan to do to her once he captured her.

Mio didn't want to think of that torture, nor did she want her grandfather to feel the way he did, both of which were impossible. The idea was already ingrained in her head, she unconsciously put it there to worry her every morning she woke to start her routine and wait for the moment in which Gouki would cross the borders without anyone's notice to take her away from the peaceful mountain setting.

"If you wanted…" she started lowly, a tenor of uncertainty hid beneath a thick layer of monotone. She wanted to swallow her tongue and never speak again because this man understood the loss she endured that night. "If you could, I mean, why didn't you kill him? He killed mom—he killed dad—"

She choked back a sob, shoved the unnecessary emotion back from where it emerged, but Shin saw it. He sat on the edge of his seat, ready to jump out of it if need be, and his eyes were nearly bulging from their sockets.

He rose from his seat, patting it. "I think you need the chair more than I do."

Mio swallowed hard. "Please answer the question."

"I neither could nor couldn't," Shin replied. "I could because I am decades stronger than him and he is a sloppy shinobi. While unpredictability has worked for him time and again in the past, it would end with me. I couldn't because I am bound to my clan's principals and remaining neutral is my only duty."

Her throat constricted. He didn't understand.

"I couldn't because I won't accomplish anything with killing him. It won't bring Kikyo back. It won't bring your father back. It won't return all the lives he's taken. So tell me, why should I have to bear the burden of his death? I do not see justice in ending his life. I do not believe revenge will make me feel better, no, and I'd rather it not become another weight on my shoulders."

Mio and Taiga had the same conversation out in the forest when he asked her to exact her revenge on Hiryuu for being the cause of the split in power and she told him it was unimportant. It angered him that she had no interest in revenge, but in that sense, she shared her grandfather's sentiments. Revenge wouldn't bring back her dead. But Taiga judged her harshly for it and it never sat well with her. She thought about it too much, wondering if there was something wrong with her.

"Then…is it wrong to not want him dead…?" she asked in a quivering voice.

"No," he said shaking his head. "Never wrong."

He extended his arms to her and she stepped into them, allowing him to embrace her. She wrapped her arms around him and breathed in the heat, soot, and oil off his leather apron. She usually hated the combined smell, it made her nose itchy, but she saw past it all, appreciating how he held her the way she remembered her parents did.

He considered revenge a burden. She'd never seen it that way. She only thought it unnecessary because it wouldn't fix anything. The person would be dead and if one gained any satisfaction…it would be fleeting. It changed nothing. It only caused more strife; she'd seen it a thousand times. That's why most battles started in the first place. Someone died and someone else tried their hand at revenge, the cycle was endless.

She didn't want to start a war with the Mikazuki clan because they could easily tell the rest of the world the Uchiha clan weren't all working together. That's the reason she advised Taiga against killing Hiryuu as well.

"I did warn him," he admitted once they'd pulled away. He took the cloth from his pocket and used it to clean the dirt off her face. "He's set on taking you as payment and he's told me. I asked him to relish the thoughts he's depicted because you are alive. You are not someone lost to me, you're under my care and I vow to protect you for as long as you need my protection. So, Mio, get some rest. Tomorrow will be difficult with only a few hours of sleep. Go on. I'll just clean this mess up and wash up, so no more hammering to keep you up."

Mio nodded. "Goodnight."

* * *

><p><strong>Summer was the harshest season.<strong>

* * *

><p>The Senju clan's involvement made it difficult for Madara to abandon his post, but Ito Tomoji had suffered a terrible injury and his grandmother insisted he be present even though that meant having a Sun Country's priestess accompany him. The heat detracted from an enjoyable travel and the weather had only gotten worse after slipping past the giant waterfall and into Ito clan territory with Motou Yayoi and Ito Kaname in tow. The trek had taken its toll on the priestess who was unaccustomed to traveling anywhere outside her secluded woodland village and she'd be a better companion if she had some sense in keeping at least half of her complaints to herself, but even thinking that seemed like asking too much.<p>

"Kaname will escort you somewhere else," Madara announced, watching Yayoi's face mold in distaste. "Wait until the envoy comes to have you relocated." He moved towards the main building after a number of Ito shinobi redirected him to his grandmother's present location, but returned to his place to give her one last warning look. "Don't do anything stupid. It's not anyone else's job to keep you alive, you put one foot out of line and you'll be killed."

Kaname took the black haired girl by the arm. "Come, Yayoi-sama."

Yayoi jerked her arm away, frown deepening. "Unhand me."

"Just shut up and go."

Madara stepped into the building as Kaname tried coaxing the priestess into accompanying him. He met many Ito shinobi walking down the hallway, most of them were wounded and others looked like they hadn't slept in days. He started on the staircase though one man warning him about disturbing an important meeting and the closer he got to the top he recognized Tomoji's weak baritone and his grandmother readily expressed her opinion.

He almost saw the round table in the center surrounded by battle worn shinobi in their broken armors when a hand grabbed his foot, dragging him down three steps. Madara jerk around, kunai in his hand, but instead of finding a stranger he found Izuna with his finger pressed to his lips.

"What're—?"

Izuna slapped a hand over his brother's mouth. "Shut up, stupid, or they'll catch us," he hissed. "And put that kunai away."

Madara blinked at him confused. He expected a different sort of greeting from Izuna, something along the lines of silence after months of a one-sided correspondence. Not that he was complaining. This worked.

He returned his weapon to the holster on his thigh and tugged Izuna's hand from his mouth. "Are you eavesdropping?" he asked dumbly. Obviously he was. "Why are you eavesdropping? Don't they include you in the—"

"_Shhh!_"

Izuna shot him a look and Madara grumbled, waiting out the rest of his questions to listen with his brother. Voices soon reached his ears, harsh, commanding whispers about the Ito's next plan of action.

_"The Sanuki clan's been completely obliterated by the Mikazuki shinobi," _a gruff toned man commented. _"Also, another group of Mikazuki shinobi has been spotted near the Iron Country border with Uchiha Konoe."_

Madara tapped his brother's shoulder, forcing him to turn around. "This about Mio again?" he snapped lowly. "Are you seriously worrying about her?"

"Shut up," Izuna retorted.

"Izuna—"

"Shut up, Madara."

_"It won't be long before the Iron Country falls to the shinobi clans threatening it," _Sachiyo explained, muffling a cough. _"As the only country protected by the Demon clan, it's a possibility that if it is crushed, their shinobi will challenge the samurai's enemies. I don't think we can afford the involvement of a clan like the Kuronuma."_

_"A clan of fables?" _one man snorted. _"The worst that could happen is their own eradication and thus the world loses another of its original inhabitants."_

_"They won't involve themselves," _Tomoji argued. _"Kuronuma Shinya won't involve his brethren."_

_"Not unless Mio is endangered,"_ Sachiyo replied coolly. _"The only reason Konoe would be around the Iron Country is to take the girl."_

_"You can't mean to say this Konoe can face off against Shinya?" _Tomoji sounded insulted. _"That she would even dare for the sake of one girl? It's preposterous."_

_"Face off, no, but she can outsmart him, she has two dozen Mikazuki shinobi at her disposal and we know exactly what they are capable of doing. The Sanuki are only the third shinobi clan that's fallen to them and that's been in the last year. And what does Kuronuma Shinya have? A non-violence agreement and a fifteen-year-old spy that isn't even allowed to defend herself? That is pathetic. If the warring clans break through the samurai's defenses, he and his granddaughter will be sitting ducks and they will inevitably die."_

Izuna noticed the confusion in Madara's face. "Mio's been completely adopted by the Kuronuma clan so she's not allowed to take part in any shinobi business."

Madara tried to stop the shock from reaching his face before Izuna noticed, but his little brother didn't miss a beat.

"Why're you making that face?"

Mio never told him she'd been adopted by the Kuronuma or that being a part of their clan now meant she had no say in shinobi affairs. Did that mean their secret agreement was suddenly forbidden? Is that why she never thought of telling him?

"What face?" he argued.

"You look surprised," Izuna pointed out.

"Nobody ever told me Mio's with a Kuronuma," he lied.

"No, nobody's told you Mio's neutral."

Madara glared at his brother.

Izuna grabbed a hold of his shirt. "What do you know?"

"I don't know anything!" he retorted, trying hard to keep his voice down. He pried his brother's hand off him and started down the staircase, still feeling a suspicious gaze on his back. "Stop staring at me like that already. Come down."

Above them, the congregation of leaders met with some dissent as the conversation shifted to the ongoing battlefield near them and Izuna begrudgingly followed him down the last steps seeing as they were done with the subject of his interest.

Once they were far from the stairs, Izuna turned to him. "Did you just get back?"

Madara nodded.

"Did anyone see you?"

He shrugged. "The usual people."

"Did you come alone?"

He didn't like how many questions Izuna was asking. "Just Yayoi and Kaname, but he's already taken her to get settled."

"Okay, we should go now before you unpack," Izuna decided, taking him by the arm and leading him down the remainder of the hallway. "You look like you have enough supply to last us the trip and if we get started now, we can make it before tomorrow night."

Madara tugged away. "What're you talking about?"

"Mio, you idiot, weren't you listening? She's going to be in trouble when Konoe gets her Mikazuki into the Iron Country. She and her grandfather can't fight back because of their Kuronuma rules and I don't want to stand around doing nothing. You shouldn't either. You were such a jerk the last time you saw her that you practically owe her."

"Is this the same Mio that Senju mentioned?" a girl asked behind them.

Madara growled at the sight of Yayoi pursuing them as though she'd be part of the conversation since it was initiated.

Izuna looked to him accusingly. "What Senju?"

"Hashirama."

"Why does he know about Mio? Did you tell him about Mio?" demanded Izuna. "Why would you tell him about Mio?"

"It's not like nobody knows about her," Madara answered, ignoring his tone.

"Who is Mio?" chirped Yayoi.

Izuna finally noticed Yayoi and stared at her awkwardly. "Who are you anyway?"

"Motou Yayoi."

"Didn't you say she was with Kaname?" he asked, pointing an accusing finger at her.

"Kaname's a sourpuss. I wanted to tag along." She beamed at his brother.

"Can you do anything?" Izuna interrogated, giving her a petulant look.

"She's a medical-nin," Madara answered.

"She can also speak for herself," Yayoi retorted.

"Okay, you can come along. We don't know anything to do with medical jutsu." He looked to him for some form of approval. "She could come in handy if something happens to any of us."

"Granted, she doesn't either, but she tries."

Yayoi grimaced, arms crossed over her chest. "I knew enough when that Senju defeated you."

Madara rolled his eyes. She had to bring that up. He wasn't even that hurt.

"So, who's Mio? Is that your girlfriend?" she snooped.

"Don't encourage him, stupid."

Izuna didn't deny the girlfriend comment, in fact merely smiled through it. "Mio was our spy."

"Yeah, _was_."

"Then what happened?"

"She traded us in for a psychopath."

"But she did it for Sako and Minako," Izuna argued. "She's not with Taiga anymore, she's with her grandfather. She's a Kuronuma now and she's signed some neutrality agreement that prevents her from taking part in the shinobi world." He regarded Yayoi before continuing. "There's some bad people out there trying to get their hands on her and if they attack her, she can't do anything to fight back."

"She should just fight back," she said, seeing no wrong in doing so.

"I don't think it's that easy."

"Well if she was a spy, she must have had some training, so she's not useless."

"Nobody said she was useless," Madara defended.

"Why are you suddenly defensive? She just said she wasn't useless," Izuna stated.

"I'm not defensive."

"You practically bit my head off," Yayoi stressed.

"The fact that you're being so defensive means you actually feel guilty about being such a jerk to her, isn't it?"

Izuna elbowed him with a knowing smile that earned him no more than a glare, a grunt, and a larger walking distance between them.

"I think he's not telling us something," Yayoi commented.

"I think he actually has feelings."

Madara sensed his anger reaching new heights as he turned to them. "The faster we get out of the camp without anyone noticing, the better, so start moving. And I don't want to hear any of your complaints, Yayoi."

Yayoi shot him a childish frown. "I can handle myself."

Izuna looked too happy to see the results of his unreasonable request.

* * *

><p>Yayoi couldn't handle herself. She dragged the trip down an extra day that by the time they reached the outskirts of the Iron Country and managed to find a safe distance from the battlefield, it had already been nightfall and the exhaustion was evident in their appearances. The trio found shelter in one of the outer caves of the mountains outside the borders.<p>

Madara and Izuna stood at the edge of a cavernous mountainside opening that fell away into a downward slope and into a sea of trees rigged with traps and explosive notes where the various enemies were hidden by the heavy shade. Beyond the trees loomed the tall gate of a ghost town and patrolling it was a group of samurai.

"How long do you suppose it's been empty?" Izuna asked curiously. "This town."

"Seems like a—"

The rest of the words fell straight from his mouth because in the distance, as the samurai cleared a path, he saw Mio. He elbowed Izuna and pointed at her, rushing down the dirt-packed road nearly stumbling with every step.

She seemed to be in speaking terms with the guards because they greeted her as she passed. She awkwardly evaded the gesture, though offered something of a half nod in regard.

Just looking at her made Madara uncomfortable—

"Is that her?" Yayoi queried, peering over his shoulder. "Eek, she's running with weights _in this heat?_"

"What weights?" he asked instantly, trying to keep Mio in his line of vision before she disappeared behind the mountainside that obstructed the rest of the route.

"Wrists and ankles," she pointed out, forefinger following her up the rest of the path. "You can see the outline through the others, but the gauze over her left wrist is coming undone."

Madara and Izuna marveled in silence after Mio disappeared behind the obstructing rock waiting for her to reappear one last time before she entered the shade of a dozen perfectly lined oak trees. The moment she appeared, she fell flat on her face and both brothers tensed.

"I don't remember Mio being that clumsy a runner," commented Izuna.

Below, Mio dragged her body onto a seat and brought a hand to her face. She kept it there, which could only mean the fall made her bleed.

"How much do you think a single black bar weighs?" asked Yayoi.

"A pound or two?" Madara offered. "She's never been that strong…or active for that matter."

"Maybe we should help her or something." Izuna looked to him for approval. "She's not standing up."

"We can't cross the border without setting off all the samurai guarding—"

"Who is _that_?" Yayoi interjected just as a tall, white-haired man appeared beside Mio.

She practically jumped to her feet at the sight of him and stalked toward the rest of the path before reaching the trees. Her right hand was completely bloody from whatever wound she inflicted on her face. When the man turned to say something, she flipped him the bird.

_That must be her grandfather._ Madara didn't recognize Mio at that point. She usually expressed her anger through unnecessary peace offerings filled with whatever the recipient hated the most and one snide comment here and there, but never so overtly expressive that she would make furious gestures at anyone.

Once she disappeared under the shade of the oaks, they caught one final glimpse in the sudden break of foliage and then, turned to face each other in sudden scrutiny.

"He seemed like a nice person when I met him," Izuna shrugged. "Well, nice enough."

"Who? Her grandfather?" he asked.

"How tall do you think that guy was?" Yayoi squealed. "How old do you think he was?"

"He's old enough to be your grandfather," Madara stated.

"Well, he doesn't look it. Do you think if she knows we're all friends, Mio-san will introduce me?"

"Don't be disgusting."

"It's true, though." At Madara's disgruntled stare, Izuna elaborated with a frown. "He really doesn't look that old. Grandma said he's older than she is."

"Maybe the Kuronuma have access to some fountain of youth or something."

Yayoi barked out a laugh. "No way!"

Madara turned to the sea of trees below them and listened to the start of war in the horizon. He watched the trees sway precariously low until a dozen opposing shinobi lurched from the treetops, disappearing in various directions.

"Looks like the battle's begun again," he observed. "But they're not that much closer to the border than the information we received."

"Maybe the end of the fight will determine that."

* * *

><p>The following day, Izuna spotted Mio taking the same route wearing fresh scrapes on her face stretching from over her lips to under her chin and another on her forehead. There were several cuts visible up her arms and legs in the tank top and shorts combination she wore that afternoon. Despite wearing the same weights strapped to her wrists and ankles, she ran at the same accelerated pace that cost her yesterday's terrible fall and soon after reaching the row of samurai guards by the small village's entrance, Mio met with another awful fall.<p>

Many samurai rushed to help her, but she dismissed them with a wave of her hand. She struggled back onto her feet having hit her face hard enough to make her nose bleed. She tore off a long piece of gauze from her right wrist as she fell into the same running pace and held it to her nose to staunch the bleeding, though it was quick to soak through it. Droplets of blood spilled down her front.

Madara had never seen her working so hard at anything before. She tried hard enough to satisfy Sachiyo's expectations, but never crossed into anything this extreme. She'd wounded herself before badly during training and she rested before continuing. Today, she didn't give herself a moment to breathe, just forced her body up and back on track. And though she tried hard to disguise the miserable pain she was enduring, he could see it clearly.

He never thought Mio capable of wanting something so badly she'd overwork herself.

Beyond the sea of trees down the slope, the war grew nearer and the samurai prepared for assault.

* * *

><p>On the third day, Mikazuki shinobi accompanied by Uchiha shinobi met with the samurai's first onslaught of attacks. That same afternoon, Mio ran closer to the gate of the first town with a bloodied bandage wrapped around her right bicep. She had a new black eye and a split lip. He could see why she hated it there. She'd never looked worse and Yayoi couldn't help pointing it out. Madara couldn't help the word vomit.<p>

"She's training, Yayoi, it's something you should try if you want to survive long enough to see next year," Madara snapped.

"And she's not ugly," Izuna added.

Yayoi looked strangely inadequate. "Fine," she said forcibly. "Sorry."

She didn't mean it.

He didn't care.

In the silence, Madara started to wonder how to convince Izuna to stop trying to bring her to their side. Nothing he could have said since they last had spoken did much justice because he met Mio several weeks ago where she admitted to being neutral and never coming back to their side, yet it didn't deter his intentions. He wished he could tell Izuna the reason he'd forced Mio to secrecy, but that wouldn't be protecting his brother, it'd be involving him. The last thing he wanted was for Izuna to know the real reason for Mio's betrayal.

* * *

><p>Madara spotted Konoe on the fourth day, flanked by two Mikazuki shinobi, shooting straight into the road Mio usually took on her routine. He wanted to think Mio was smart enough to avoid the route, but didn't want to risk it and ordered for them to move out.<p>

The forest below was no longer teeming with shinobi or their traps since the battlefield infiltrated the Iron Country. It was easier for them to traipse, though the ground beneath them rumbled with the shockwaves of nearby attacks. Above them, the outer mountain suffered the worst damage. Whole chunks of rock slammed into the forest floor, random rockslides blocked pathways into the Iron Country for several enemy shinobi that had been pulled under by the nature's savage consequences.

He and his companions kept to the trees, climbing as far up as possible to avoid the worst of the rockslides and the dangerous falls below, but where they could easily see beyond the foliage to the Mio's afternoon route. There wasn't any movement since they first settle into individual branches.

Afternoon brought on a disparaging heat that threatened to melt the skin off his bones. Madara rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a thin sheen of sweat beginning to form. He grimaced.

Izuna looked impatient, barely speaking, his focus steady. Outside his periphery, the ground drowned in the blood of both shinobi and samurai alike.

Yayoi fanned her face with one hand, biting back an onslaught of complaints nobody wanted to listen to which seemed to be the only reason she bottled them up.

He spotted Konoe a second time before the orange glow of sunset faded into nightfall, and lifting his eyes further above where, true to her everyday routine, Mio appeared covered in more gauze than yesterday. The two would inevitably clash once they reached the road running before the town entrance. Mio came alone, whereas Konoe pushed forward with a fairly large group at her back cutting down whoever dared cross their path.

Madara devised a form of cutting through the rest of the forest path into the Iron Country to attempt to intercept Konoe. He made eye contact with Izuna, who looked ready to pounce, and gestured to the scene below. His younger brother nodded in silent affirmation. He then turned to Yayoi; the petulant girl shook her head immediately. He expected no less from the ill-prepared girl.

He jumped across to meet with her as Izuna dropped down from his tree. "We'll be back. Stay in the trees."

He leapt off to join his brother and together, they sprang forward, up the slope at the foot of the mountain separating them from the border. The terrain was harsher further up—stones stuck out of odd places, there were slanted trees that looked as though they might break under the slightest weight, and many bulging roots arced over the grassy hill. From the top of the gradient, Madara figured they were only a short mile separating them from Mio and Konoe's troops.

"We should have gone closer earlier," Izuna shouted worriedly. "We won't make it in time to intercept an attack."

"I think Mio's capable of taking care of herself in the time it takes for us to get there," Madara returned, hoping that would be the case. It didn't look like she carried a weapon with her and with all the falling she did, she'd best avoid doing so to circumvent any grave self-inflicted injuries. The weights would be a burden if she were not used to them, observing her the last three days only confirmed that she was still adjusting.

The Mikazuki shinobi had cornered her into a nook carved into the mountain with swords at the ready and grins on their faces. Konoe observed from the slanted road, staring down at her exhausted form.

Madara questioned how she remained standing, but Izuna did no thinking, he went for a preemptive strike and caught one Mikazuki off guard before the others realized their presence.

Konoe attempted to push through the rest of the group to meet him, but something thin and black caught her upside the head, hurling her into the ground.

Madara looked up skeptically at Mio who shot him an exasperated look. He'd forgotten. She never liked being saved. Everything about her expression said it, but Izuna captured her attention immediately and she drew another black bar from her wrist to use on another unsuspecting enemy. His eyes didn't leave her, not after he saw a fresh cut on her side bleeding too profusely be a small rupture in the skin. He rushed forward to help his brother with one of the Mikazuki, but movement on the ground caught his notice.

Konoe jumped back onto her feet, disoriented from the blow to the head. She reached down to pick the black bar up and came up empty handed. It sat embedded to the dirt ground, sinking further in. That weighed more than a quarter of the pound he assumed.

Something black caught in his periphery. He ducked and glared at Mio, who missed her target by too big a distance to seem reasonable.

"Mio!" he snapped.

"I'm human!" she retorted, lifting her forearm up in time to avoid a swift kick aimed at her head. "I can miss! Ow—!"

The Mikazuki shattered through the bond holding the bars in one wrist off, but not without cracking the bone. He cursed loud enough to cause an echo, dropping on one knee without the hope of getting up.

"Isn't this against the neutral rules?" shouted Izuna, skillfully pushing his opponent towards the drop off the side of the road with quick swordsmanship.

"Isn't this against your grandmother's wishes?" she returned snappishly.

Madara rolled his eyes as he caught his enemy's arm and stuck a short knife between the pieces of his armor. Before Konoe could attest the situation, he threw the wounded man in her direction and watched as the two teetered backward, tumbling down the slope where they disappeared beyond the trees.

"Izuna!"

He twisted around in time to see Mio kick her opponent unconscious and barrel towards Izuna, grabbing him in time to stop the Mikazuki shinobi from dragging him down with him. As Izuna's backside hit the dirt road, the shinobi's arm shot towards Mio, taking her harshly by the wrist and giving her a hard tug, and Madara sped to her. He thought about the black bars still tied around her wrists and ankles—their weight would drag her down faster and the end result could be disastrous.

Madara reached her in time to fist his hand over the back of her shirt and gave one pull as she protested. When the words reached his ears, he felt his stomach lurch when his body met with the high elevation. The scenery blurred around his body, hers, and their enemy's until he hit the ground with a disturbing crunch. He lost track of everything in his surroundings.

"Madara! Mio!"

Izuna's voice sounded too distanced, disappearing the further his body barreled down the slope.

He banged his head on hard ground, bruised his arms and legs, most likely his back. Something might have dislocated because for a second there was an explosion of pain in him before the aches of any new damage took over. The tumble down the hill came to an abrupt and dizzying end when he crashed into level ground below, feeling as though the wind had been knocked from his lungs.

He couldn't move a muscle, not even wiggle a finger. Every limb in his body radiated pain and he wasn't sure he could even shout loud enough for Yayoi. He heard Izuna's voice somewhere in the distance calling the medical-nin's name, which relieved him, even though it'd help his brother had seen where they'd landed.

Madara stared into the moonlight peeking through the clustered tree branches over his head.

Someone to his far right coughed haggardly, spitting repeatedly into the grass that didn't help in cushioning his fall.

"M-Mio?"

He heard the crunch of grass before Mio appeared standing. She offered her hand and he took it. She gave him a tug, trying with all her might to get him up, but his whole arm hurt. She managed to seat him after an ardent struggle, even after he gave her his other arm, but she dropped to the ground next to him.

Her hair had come undone; there were sticks and leaves sticking out of the tangled mass that hung down her shoulders. Her face was completely bloodied, left arm looked dislocated, and she seemed to have broken a finger. She still bled from her side until the blood soaked into her ripped shirt and dribbled onto the grass between them. Most of the black bars still tied to her had cut into her skin.

She seemed indifferent to the new wounds.

It took him a moment to catch his breath as he observed his surroundings. He found the Mikazuki shinobi lying under a patch of moonlight with a tree branch sticking out of his neck. It probably stabbed into him early onto the fall because the Mikazuki shinobi looked cold and dead.

"Why the hell are those so heavy?" he demanded, pointing at her ankle weights.

Mio shrugged. "Ask my grandfather, he's the sadist."

"What?"

She pushed the hair out of her face, bringing to light a rough scrape on her forehead. "Don't worry about the weights," she told him. "I think your collarbone is broken."

Madara tried to look but he only saw a slight swelling and a lot of bruising.

"Let me see."

Mio leaned forward as he did, reaching to brush the fabric from his shoulder. The slightest brush of her fingertips ached. He stifled a complaint. He focused on the concentrated look on her and found fading bruises and cuts on her face.

"Can you fix it?" he grumbled uncomfortably, the pain started to resurface in shallow waves.

"No. I'll get squeamish. It looks gross."

"You don't look any better."

"Who would after that drop?" she argued.

Izuna and Yayoi's voices drew nearer.

Madara dug into his pocket in search of a, now, crumpled envelope and thrust it in her direction. He'd planned to send it to her once he settled in with the Ito again, but it helped he found a moment to give it to her now when he thought it could've been impossible with Izuna around.

"You need to explain to Izuna," he told her. "Give him a reason to stop chasing after you. This has to stop today."

"What has to stop?" she queried, eyebrows furrowed.

"Izuna likes you," he confessed, watching her countenance sour in confusion. He clarified, "I think he wants to marry you."

"It's not a bad thing," she replied earnestly. "I'll marry him if he wants."

Madara pinched her leg in frustration. She squeaked in shock. "No, you won't."

"Just because I'm neutral doesn't mean I'm not allowed to like or marry whoever I want, shinobi or not," she argued, slapping his leg in retaliation. "Don't pinch me, I bruise easily!"

He hissed. It hurt as if she knew there was a bruise there. "Don't hit me back!"

"Then don't pinch me!"

"Explain to Izuna why you'll never come back! Tell him anything that'll stop him from pursuing you!" he said persistently.

"No! I'm tired of this stupid lie! I want everything to go back to normal! I hate not being with Izuna!"

"Shut up, you don't even like him that way!"

"I could if I wanted."

_"Madara!" "Mio!"_

Yayoi and Izuna's voices overlapped, silencing them both.

Mio stuffed the envelope down her pants.

Madara grabbed her by the arm and felt her wince. He looked her in the eye. "Feed him whatever lie you want. He has other things to worry about that have nothing to do with you and he can't start worrying about them when you're on his mind."

"I want to be with Izuna," she said petulantly.

He tightened his grip. She froze up. "You can't come back until Taiga trusts you enough to tell you where he's hidden _it_. Got it?"

Mio balled her hands into fists, reluctant.

"I promise to come get you," he whispered, footsteps drawing near quickly. "I'll find you wherever you are. I'll bring you home and you can do whatever you want. You can be with Izuna all you want. And if you like him the same, marry him. I don't care. Just do this now. We have to protect him, Mio."

She opened her mouth as if to argue, but caved into his request. She gave him a hesitant nod.

As soon as Izuna and Yayoi appeared, Madara guiltily dropped his hold on her and ordered Yayoi to mend Mio first.

Izuna crouched down beside him. "I didn't see Konoe or the other Mikazuki anywhere. They must have landed somewhere else."

Yayoi popped Mio's arm back into place and fixed up her finger. Several bruises and cuts remained alongside the gash on her side due to Yayoi's inexperience, but she mended broken bones just fine. In no time, Yayoi had fixed his collarbone and done away with several bad scrapes.

His brother approached Mio in private as she gathered her scattered weights and for many silent minutes, he feared she'd defy him. There wasn't any way of telling. He couldn't hear anything but a quiet hum in the new silence.

The priestess cringed painfully. "That's harsh."

Madara stared at her wide-eyed. "Are you eavesdropping?"

"Your little brother practically admitted he loves her and she just shot him down," she gossiped in a loud enough whisper.

"Shot him down?"

"Said she's in love with this Taiga fella she followed."

Madara shot Mio a disgusted look. _She couldn't come up with a better lie._ She offered him a meager shrug after his brother came stomping back towards him.

"We should go before someone shows up," Izuna decided. "Mio says she'll be fine on her—"

"I'll escort her," announced a familiar voice.

Taiga dropped from a branch. He gestured for Mio to him and she walked over uncomfortably.

"If I were you, I'd be leaving about now, a group of samurai are scouring the forest for Konoe." Taiga grinned. "You don't want to get caught in any of that."

Madara struggled onto his feet as Izuna left through the foliage from where he emerged and saw Taiga try to put his arm around Mio's shoulders. She shied away from the gesture, uttering something that made him laugh.

She looked over her shoulder and mouthed a small, "_thanks._" He nodded, but felt horrible that even though no one else was around to notice it, she seemed like she might cry. The dismay in her aura was tangible and equally suffocating.

Taiga must have overheard the lie. There was no other way to explain the situation or that knowing smirk.

Madara caught up to Izuna and Yayoi, though he and the priestess decided to give his younger brother the space he needed to process today's events. He'd had every intention of being a hero, of saving Mio who seemed to be the most important person in his world, to find out she was in fake love with the man she betrayed them for because his older brother didn't like his emotions for the girl that'd never reciprocate them.

He liked to think he was protecting Izuna in a way. No matter how hard Mio fought for the subject of reciprocating his brother's feelings, he didn't believe any of them. She wouldn't allow herself to feel so freely, loyal to the core his grandmother had called her. She'd be loyal and appreciative towards Izuna, but nothing more.

"Why did you agree to come? You wanted nothing to do with this Mio before. She _did _betray you," Yayoi started once Izuna was out of earshot.

"It's not important," he muttered, pushing through the radiating pain in his body.

"Obviously it was if you agreed," she persisted.

Madara expelled an exasperated breath. "Mio needs to be protected. So drop it."

* * *

><p>Mio avoided Taiga for the remainder of the day until Shin and Jouji returned from a tiresome trip and called a meeting. Shin initially panicked at her disheveled, bloody state, but Taiga was quick to inform him about the young medic-nin that healed most of her wounds. She'd been angry at that as well. For the past several months she'd wore her afflictions like a badge and the strange girl healed most of them. She didn't even try stopping her because she realized that the girl was still in training and it might hurt her feelings.<p>

Shin seemed relieved enough with the explanation before dropping the bomb: he planned to return to Kurata with her in tow. Taiga and Jouji would remain in the Iron Country to offer their services in the stead of the Kuronuma clan to help chase the battles away from the once peaceful country.

"I've fortified their third village with a special jutsu and that is all I can do as per our agreement," Shin explained once they were alone together in the living room. "I wish I could protect this place, but my position has been compromised. War is too near and I cannot remain any longer. Kurata will be a welcoming change. The conditions will be harsher, but you will finish agility training around Kurata. We will remain there for as long as it takes for the battlefield to shift. Until then, you won't be able to send any correspondences to the Uchiha boy."

Mio wasn't thinking of Madara, but of Izuna instead, when she looked at her lap. She didn't want to say any of the things she did, but she said them anyway as if she hadn't had a choice. She did. For a moment, she saw it. She could have told him the truth, but she fed him a lie in its stead. She watched his face drop, darken, and blank. In that order. She lied about her feelings. She swore she ran off after Taiga because she loved him like any normal girl might have, even though the man only caused her discomfort. The worst of it all, next to Izuna's reaction and the loud sound of her heart breaking, was the fact that Taiga overheard. There was no telling how long he'd been in that tree, but judging by his behavior, it had been long enough.

"Mio?"

She faced her grandfather and nodded. "I'll start packing."

"I have to meet the samurai leaders one last time. Be ready when I get back." Shin smiled, heading for the door. "Also wear your warmest clothes."

She removed herself from the room wondering if she should have done things differently. It wouldn't stop her from being a distraction. Izuna spent more time on the battlefield than anything and somewhere deep down inside; she hated the effect she had on him. She didn't understand when in those years that they grew up together did he have the time to develop those feelings when she never considered them.

Was there something wrong with her?

Mio sank in her bed with the thought flashing in her mind and a widening gap in her chest.

After a moment, she shook the thoughts from her head and distracted herself with packing. The few things she owned were packed into a single bag. She'd grown out of most her clothes in the last eleven months and resorted to altering them herself with a pair scissors and some black thread and a needle. She cut off the sleeves in most of the shirts she owned and the legs off her pants to have shorts for the summer. The heat her grandfather warned her about wasn't as terrible as he made it seem until she continued her routine. The intense session went beyond any of her expectations and she returned to her grandfather's home drenched in sweat and blood. Each time, she found him either outside splashing ice-cold water on himself or fainted off to the side from overheating.

She tried allowing those memories to take her mind off the afternoon's events. If she there was a way to stop them from every coming into her head again, she might be tempted to do it. She didn't understand why she lied for Madara a second time or why she couldn't have said something other than professing her fake love for Taiga.

_I should have said Jouji._

Mio stuffed a flat box into her bag, it bulged with all the information Madara exchanged with her since they split ways. She should have burned them as they arrived, cut off the link, because she was smarter than this, but she didn't have the nerve. She wasn't aware she needed any nerve for burning a couple of letters.

A knock at the door took her mind off wandering back to Izuna's expression. She closed her bag and let it drop on the ground. "Come in."

Taiga stepped in. He tried closing the door shut.

"Don't."

He removed his hand from the knob, leaving it ajar. He regarded her. "Going outside?"

"No," she answered firmly. "I just don't want to be stuck in a room alone with you."

"Well, you've never had a problem before," he shot back.

"That was before you started acting territorial with me. I don't remember becoming your property."

"You're _my _spy," he emphasized, coal black eyes smoldering as he took his time to walk across the room to meet her. "I've been particularly lenient with your behavior because you betrayed your precious Izuna and Sachiyo for me, you've helped Jouji establish a network of information across the continent with it based here, where we have been under the protection of your somewhat infamous grandfather, but you haven't done enough to free yourself from the life chosen for you to lead. You're a spy. You're _my_ spy."

As soon as he stood before her, he dug his fingers into the back of her neck, catching strands of loose hair in his viselike grip, when he forced her to look him in the face. "Understand, Mio?"

It hurt like hell.

Mio stood perfectly still and without a discerning countenance. She didn't bother with defiance any more than she did with acknowledging the pain radiating up the nape of her neck.

"I completely understand," she said evenly. "You'll find me more obedient once you take your hands off."

Taiga laughed, but did not loosen his grip. "Please, Mio, you're no more obedient now than you would be with my hands off you."

Mio fought the urge to even attempt at breaking one or several of his bones. There were only so many ways to put a man like Taiga in his place without turning to violence and she didn't have the patience to talk him out of anything. She didn't care to learn any alternatives because she didn't care to be depended on it whenever he decided to flip his psychotic switch. However, she refused to stay still and conform to his every whim.

"I'll be clear, Mio, whatever you and Madara want from me, you'll need to earn." The knowing voice complimented by a crooked smile, drained the color from her face and her heart clenched like a fist. He heard more than she ever brought into consideration. "Tell me you didn't honestly believe you've had me fooled all this time?"

"I wanted to think naively."

"Stop being naïve." He thrust her backward. She caught herself before she lost her balance. "It'll get you killed."

"And will you be the one to do it? Kill me?" she challenged, despite her earlier reluctance to give into emotion. "I'm a snake. I work for Madara. I've betrayed you and Sachiyo for him."

"Don't give me the option; I'm sorely tempted in accepting."

Wherever this conversation was headed, she wanted no part in it.

"Wipe that stupid look off your face, Mio," he continued. "Your loyalties to Madara are not reason enough for me to kill you. You're useful to me and so long as you remain as such, I may be inclined to tell you what you need to know."

"I don't trust you."

"The feeling is mutual, you conniving little snake," he spat.

Mio stepped away from him, warily. "What do you want from me?"

Taiga grinned. "I want a lot of things, Mio, most of which I cannot hope to get from a naïve brat with a death wish."

Mio breathed for what felt like the first time since the exchange began. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, affronted.

He touched the bottom of her chin. "Exactly what you think. Send Minako my love."

Taiga started for the door.

"What about your wife?" she asked quickly, halting him at the doorway.

He regarded her with a playful smile and a shrug. "Hi?"

"She's your wife."

"Oh, Mio, that is the greatest revelation you've ever given me. Far greater than the lie you fed Izuna earlier today, and that…that was almost believable." She was absolutely humiliated, but it hurt her more to listen to how he mocked Sako because she didn't deserve it, stupid as she was. Embarrassed or not, she strongly felt anger and she couldn't control it. "I've never realized I had a wife."

"If you hate her, leave her. She should be allowed to live the life she wants and I wish you'd leave her."

"What? Do you plan to take her place?" he asked sarcastically.

"I will if you leave her," she blurted, regretting her blunder immediately, "and that she bears no consequence in your doing so."

She couldn't take any of that back after saying it like a demand, and for several still moments, she awaited his reaction as though her life depended on it because she knew she'd regret it.

Taiga threw back his head and fell into a fit of hysterics, slamming the door behind him. His laughter lingered in the hallway, haunting her.

Mio stared at the wall. She just gave him another thing to hold over her head. _How stupid can I be?_

* * *

><p>Madara stumbled out of the woods. He took the second shift of guard duty after convincing his brother two hours had passed. He considered talking to him about what happened once he established Yayoi couldn't eavesdrop on the sensitive subject. He imagined he shouldn't address it at all with Izuna's nearly indifferent behavior, not that he expected any different after Mio's lie. It was a terrible lie. Why would she claim she pursued Taiga out of love? Could it be true? A convincing lie always held a modicum of truth, so did she?<p>

He made a disgruntled face. If she did, why hadn't he noticed before? He tried removing the thought from his head; the mere idea of Mio having developed any feelings towards Taiga baffled him. He would've never assumed in any of the exchanges he witnessed between the two. He saw nothing past her wariness of him and his strange interest in her. Mio rarely gave him the time of day and when she did, she ended up being in a disastrously dark mood that had her doing all sorts of things with a hammer. If Madara ever thought he could sour her mild temperament, he'd never successfully ruined her day as Taiga had with a single word. Where in the world would she develop romantic feelings for him? Why not Izuna?

"You're not very good on guard duty," called a nearby voice.

Madara whirled around, fully alert, and met with the white-haired, rose-eyed Kuronuma he remembered seeing with Mio that could only be her grandfather. He never heard him arrive.

"What'd you want?" he asked, moving closer to the trees.

The man waved his hand and discovered a seat atop a log. He exhaled, eyes searching the darkness with a morose curiosity. "I wish people stopped asking me what I want, it's kinda rude," he said, returning his pale gaze to him. "Do I need to introduce myself?"

"No."

"You don't either. Mio's told me loads about you."

That statement was unfathomable. "Has she?"

"To be honest, no."

"Why'd you say it then?"

"Wanted to see your reaction. Then again, you're not the brother that likes her…so it wasn't very amusing." He smiled. "Forgive me, I'm rambling."

"Aren't you supposed to be with Mio?"

"I appreciate your concern, though there is no need, Mio is always in my sights and she will always be safe at least until you decide to relieve me of my position, not that she'll need your protection by then."

Madara frowned. "Does your entire clan always talk like they know everything?"

"It's a very obnoxious trait, only skips too few generations. But truly, boy, if you were aware of it all, possessed the same knowledge I have, would you not adopt the same obnoxious manner of speaking? To know everything, does it not give you a right to speak as you wish?" Suddenly, the man gave an apathetic shrug. "Of course, I could simply be a man that believes he is better than the rest of the world. You shouldn't put it past a clan that sits holed up in their very own wintry prison to be snobby assholes because outside Kurata the world has unnecessarily been tainted by the cruelty of barbaric men. It is ultimately your opinion to make. Insanity is an option as well."

The Kuronuma reached into a sewn pocket on his white robe and drew a folded slip of paper. He held it out for him to take. "I am taking Mio to Kurata. This is the last you'll hear from her in a long time. Take it and remember your promise."

Madara hesitated reaching for it, but took it. She betrayed her word to him by revealing the secret to her grandfather.

"I can see you jumping to conclusions there," the Kuronuma noted. "I have few occupations and stalking my granddaughter is the first. She didn't need to say a thing without me knowing it already."

"You're just a creep, aren't you?" he deadpanned.

The man made no compelling argument to remedy Madara's deteriorating opinion of him, not that it seemed to worry him much since he only grinned in response to his question. Instead, he abandoned his seat and walked around him.

"Take care of your brother," he commented. "Take care of the Motou girl. And try, if you can, not to die before your time. You'll leave my poor girl waiting forever."

Madara turned, but the man no longer stood behind him. He searched the surrounding woods, finding his attention drawn to the slightest of noise. No matter how determined he sought through the darkness, not a trace remained of the Kuronuma male that the whole conversation seemed to be nothing more than a figment of his imagination, but he looked down. There in his hand sat the folded paper given to him.

He quickly opened and read it beneath a bright beam of moonlight. Mio's barely readable writing stared back at him in one single sentence.

_Your new companion is a shitty medic. _

He laughed. Mio made him laugh. She sent her grandfather all the way to him in order to deliver a useless message that spoke no truer words of Yayoi's limited capabilities. He'd been so serious since he went to the Sun Country that he realized he hadn't laughed in so long.

Madara pocketed the note and returned to camp to sit out the rest of his guard duty. He regretted not saying something about Mio's condition to her grandfather; probably ask him to cut her some slack with the training. She'd been used to something completely different that this new regime put a greater strain in her than she cared to acknowledge.

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: I planned to post this chapter in all its 30k glory, but I reconsidered it and ultimately left the decision to my brother who suggested I split it. I have plans to post the Chapter 19 later today, but that'll be in a few hours while I do a second edit (it's hard to miss things with chapters this big and the only thing I'm worried about in this one is some awkward sentences). Since Redesign dominated the March poll, I owed you a double post, and you'll be getting it...I just want you to stomach this chapter properly.

Admittedly, Year One sets the foundation to a lot of things that'll be happening later, specifically Spring and Summer. Autumn and Winter are packed with...some crazy stuff and the introduction of Musashi, the Kuronuma clan's patriarch, though not in a way you'd expect. You'll see that in a bit.

Thank you **Charisasori**, **Aista**, **YamiKitsuneKami**, **Dusk Nisshoku Valentine**, **crazyuser**, **Aries01xD**, **Adictaphobia**, and **Beira** for reviewing the previous chapter. Thank you to everyone that got through this monster. Honestly, there's no way for me to thank you properly for reading this.

(Sometimes I want to shake Shin by the shoulders and shout at him to tell me all his secrets. Also, I introduced this new character, Motou Yayoi, because she's important in a way that you, as readers might expect, but also in a completely different way. You know, I have all these girl characters that become important later that get introduced early because I really want Mio to have some girlfriends because Sako doesn't could-you know she doesn't-and the more I try to give her any female friends, the more I see it backfire...I think she's just one of those that can't relate to girls properly. Sigh.)

See you later, 'cause I still owe you a chapter~


	19. Serpent Waters 2

Chapter **19** | Serpent Waters II

* * *

><p><strong>Autumn is the peace before the dark days.<strong>

* * *

><p>Izuna didn't possess the patience to comfort Hibari and Saori after their father breathed his final breath on the battlefield. He only offered his condolences and found an empty space nearby to sit in, still armored and bloodied from the fray. His sword had broken and it sat with him, on his lap, and because of it he felt a sense of loss, though he'd broken others, this one had lasted him longer than those others.<p>

Tomoji's death changed nothing in the agreement his grandmother made. His attempt to protect Tomoji before he received the deathblow worked surprisingly in their favor and they appreciated his resilience for all the months he spent with the clan. He didn't know how many that had been—wasn't even sure he was counting? But he was sure of something. He wanted to chase his brother to the Sun Country where the Senju were fighting for their right to reclaim the Motou as their allies.

He wanted to present the idea to Tomoji after the battle concluded, but now, he figured he might as well go. His grandmother had no reason to deny him since she wouldn't be spending much time with the Ito clan either, not since she's caught that haggard cough again. The constant weather changes seemed like experiencing a hundred seasonal transitions in the span of mere days. It either rained or didn't, but the air remained muggy and the sky overrun by gray. The winds were harsh by morning light and quiet throughout night, in between one could predict whether it rained or hailed, but most times they were surprised.

Recently, it'd been stormy, a persistent season of rain. Today, specifically, the day was dominated by torrential droplets complete with thunderclouds. Outside the rush of water washed away the footprints his men left behind on the mud, melted them into a swamp of blood, death, and other broken things.

"Izuna."

He lifted his face to Tomoji's puffy faced daughters. He rose from his seat, the weight on his shoulders too large to bear at the sight of the girls. He should have tried harder to keep Tomoji in sight, should have never strayed too far from him. War had no room for guilt. Their enemies wished to cheat Tomoji out of his claim of the Waterfall Country, driven by a clan of weapon specialists and a daimyo that no longer believed the Ito clan planned to uphold the promise made thirty years ago when the clansmen first proposed to help the country prosper. Doubtless, the land flourished, but not in the way the old lords wanted.

He rose to meet the two eye to eye and gestured for them to walk of ahead of him. Saori held Hibari on the way out to the hallway. He apologized once again after they were out of earshot from the clan members. Saori rewarded him with a brittle smile and a saddened green gaze, dismissing the pardon because she thought it unnecessary.

"Nobody is putting the blame on you," she continued, in her arms Hibari wept inconsolably. "We should thank you for bringing him home, nobody else would have. So, really, thank you for bringing him home, he'd appreciate it." She leaned to whisper soothing words into her younger sister's ear and started leading her away. "Excuse us. I'm taking Hibari to her room."

Izuna nodded. He waited until they walked out of sight to leave the building in search of his grandmother.

Sachiyo sat in front of a fire wrapped in a dark colored shawl in the sitting room of her guest quarters. She coughed into a handkerchief and gestured him over from the doorway. He had the sense of stopping by his own lodging to remove his armor and scrub the blood and mud off his face to avoid her scrutiny. He didn't change out of the simple black clothes he wore beneath it because there were some dry blood in need of cleaning and the intent of a bath once he finished relaying his thoughts to his grandmother.

"Were you wounded?" she asked, eying him critically.

"Not severely," he answered. "The medics patched me up before releasing me. I just have to clean off the blood really."

"What about Tomoji's girls?"

He thought of Hibari clinging to her sister unable to speak a word since the initial shock stabbed deep the minute she lay eyes on her father's corpse. He'd never seen that sort of expression on her, but then again, he didn't expect her to have such a reaction. He remembered Saori hurrying to take her hand and the way she held her for the half hour they remained in the presence of their deceased father.

"Better than I expected," he said finally.

"I must pay my condolences."

She made a move to stand but he reached out to place a hand on her shoulder. "Do it once you're feeling better. We've lost enough people to this war already."

Sachiyo pursed her lips. "There's no need to exaggerate. This is a mere cold. It will go away once I return to the Fire Country."

She desired to go on a diplomatic mission to stop his father from openly challenging Hikaku because it threatened their best-kept secret and other clans were starting to suspect of the changes within the Uchiha clan. Every person of interest was spread throughout the continent, pretending to be under some unknown united rule while the inner conflicts turned violent in the encounter his father managed with Hikaku.

Izuna supported his grandmother's decision because whether or not the secret spilled came down to his father's impatience. For a while, the notion seemed humorous since people like Taiga and Hiryuu existed, yet they managed to traipse around the continent without so much as rousing suspicions. He always thought Taiga would be the one to commit a mistake that would cost them blood, but he'd hoped it wasn't for Mio's sake. Now, Mio was a Kuronuma and pursuing neutral principals, so none of that mattered. And even if the ex-Elder committed the mistake, Mio probably wouldn't have cared since she proclaimed her love for him.

Recalling that made his stomach twist and his temperament a little irritable—he didn't understand. Saori told him that things like love were hard to understand and while she'd been no expert, her mother, when she lived, offered her advice on several subjects to prepare her for all the times she'd miss after death. She went onto explain the curious thing about Mio's secret affection for Taiga, unsure if hearing it would hurt him. He dismissed the mere idea, trying to tear the emotion out of his chest in hearing the tragedy that was acknowledging her feelings for another.

_"She used to say one doesn't have a choice in the matter," _explained Saori with a hint of ill-disguised hesitation. _"When it happens, it happens, and you might not want the choice you've gotten but that choice makes you happy enough to forget it. Maybe Mio never wanted to tell you before because she didn't want to admit it to herself. If this Taiga is as bad as you say, would you want to tell anyone that you developed feelings for him? I wouldn't. What would they think of me?"_

It continued to sting now with the reminder. For several weeks he wished Taiga's marriage eased the torture of rejection, but he only remembered how many different women he betrayed Sako with and in due time, his mind started to wonder if Mio could (or had already) become one of them. It sickened him to see that he was hurt enough to think so lowly of her, but he couldn't stop his mind from working. He didn't want to think of Mio in any compromising position, not in his arms, not in his bed, not anywhere near him. But he'd seen the way Taiga wrapped his arm around her with that sleazy smile plastered on his face…as if he were marking his claim. _She is mine._ He made that perfectly clear.

Deny it all he wanted, Izuna had seen them share secret conversations, most of which left Mio in a silent fury. Watching the two always made him curious as to what sort of relationship they had because they weren't friends. Neither one stayed long enough in the other's presence to be considered a confidant or someone reliable with a concern for the other's feelings. He figured the two only got along because they had to, nothing more, nothing less, but now there had been that unwanted revelation and for the first time in the last seven years, Mio had been in the back of his mind. It felt wrong and he endured a guilt he couldn't pinpoint, but it also no longer mattered.

"Are you still thinking about the girl?"

She didn't bother to call her Mio anymore, but at least she spoke of her. She'd seem reluctant since she stopped being angry around the time Mio showed up in Ito territory with her grandfather.

"No," he lied.

"Good." She glimpsed off her shoulder. "Did you come for something in particular?"

"I'm going to the Sun Country with Madara."

"Going?" she asked. "You don't plan to ask for permission?"

"Forgive me, grandmother," he said, bowing his head. He had no intention of requesting for her consent. If she denied it, he planned to leave anyway. "I want to go to the Sun Country. The Senju are there and Madara only has few Uchiha on his side. I want to support him because I know father won't."

"Then by all means go."

Izuna smiled. "Thank you." He rose from his seat. "I'll be packing my things."

"So soon?"

"The faster the better," he returned.

"Very well," she consented. "There are a few Ito shinobi heading to the Sun Country early tomorrow morning, go with them."

He stopped at the doorway, regarding his grandmother with a smile once more before leaving. The last year stole away what little youth she had remaining, the wrinkles on her face deepened and for the longest time, her hands seemed unsteady—always trembling, always brittle. He worried for her health.

"Will you be okay?"

Sachiyo grinned. "It's just a cold. I will be fine."

* * *

><p>Mio memorized every pathway, public or private, leading into the heart of Mt. Hyōga in pursuit of the completion of agility training. She worked three hard months taking on shaky bridge after shaky bridge, every moment fearing it might be her last day. The black bars her grandfather molded as weights reached a final level of absurdity before he swore they conquered an ideal combined weight for a non-Kuronuma native. By that accomplishment, Mio realized she had no recollection of how things might have been before. Without the bars tightened around her wrists and ankles, she felt strange. She needed them in place to function properly, but they also caused her immense panic during bridge crossings, though the strong winds were truly the ones to blame. She lived tormented by every sway and creak the awful contraptions made and it brought on a series of questions she didn't want to address, most of which involved the nearly hundred foot drop and the amount of weight it took for a wooden plank to snap beneath increased weight. Her grandfather claimed to know everything, but he didn't know she feared plunging from any height over her modest five foot four inches, anything above that instilled an unrelenting swell of panic that propagated with every step she took across it.<p>

Shin always pointed to the black cord holding every wooden bridge together in an attempt at explanation, but she had none of that. The only thing she wanted out of him was some form of confirmation that she would never need to cross another bridge over a fifty-foot drop again, but he couldn't provide that. Mt. Hyōga remained hidden deep within the snowy planes of Kurata for that reason. The wooden bridges became the only means of crossing to ensure no more than three individuals passed at one point, the planks whined incessantly beneath the slightest weight that it seemed natural to not attempt to overcrowd it. The Kuronuma that traveled in groups only took the bridge three people at a time, only starting once the person ahead of them hit the middle plank. She soon realized they had a system for everything, something she'd been encouraged to learn it if she planned to live in Mt. Hyōga with her grandfather.

Admittedly, she'd not yet stepped foot into the Kuronuma's snowy village. She saw it from afar, the snow dusted rooftops of several hut-like structures that dotted a plane of flat landscape, pinpointed the exact location by following the gray smoke that rose from a large bonfire, but she never approached it, only saw it through an obstructive view. The closer she stepped towards the Kuronuma population she felt the weather drop several degrees, making the area colder than humanly inhabitable and the realization that wearing all the warm clothes in her closet wouldn't save her from freezing to death.

However, Mio wanted to slip into their home world. She'd grown curious. Every Kuronuma she met outside their encampment were members from a subgroup within the systematic clan whose sole occupation was hunting the great pine forest for deer or squirrel, to search the same great expanse for edible berries or medicinal plants to bring home for storage. Once the harshest season of winter hit their home, they wanted to be ready because it was only a few months away. Some hunters were unable to use jutsu, others were only adept at the black water arts, and the rest fell somewhere in between. Shin elaborated on the subject once she questioned the system, wondering why shinobi were among the hunting class, and with a small smile, he answered her. _"The hunters that are unable to use jutsu are those that have chosen not to learn it, those that learn the black water jutsu have either shown some interest before dropping it or have overly involved parents, and the rest merely wanted to be shinobi until they decided against it."_

The choice to be or not be a shinobi lay in the person making the decision and not the war at their surroundings demanding more sacrifice.

_"Why do you train shinobi if the Kuronuma clan has no intention of fighting any war?" _she'd continued.

_"We're not near as stupid as people want us to be," _he'd responded with a twinge of humor. _"War will come to us, whether we want it to or not, and we will be ready for it when it does."_

Mio had the impression that the words her grandfather uttered were unconsciously referring to the incident that chased them out of the Iron Country. He might not have meant it in the way she took it, nor admitted that war would chase them if he knew she'd misunderstand. Except, she didn't feel she was misinterpreting them. The Uchiha-Mikazuki alliance purposely started a conflict with several shinobi clans near neutral country to disguise their intention to breach the border to take her into custody because as soon as news spread that she no longer resided in the Iron Country, the battle ended as though it never happened. It forced her to think about what could happen if they decided to invade Kurata for the same reason. Would she be acknowledged as a plague then? Would her grandfather finally see her as an omen of death? Would that mean that her parents did not die because they uncovered Hiryuu's exploits, but because she heralded the grim reaper to their doorstep?

The thoughts followed her with a distinct insistence that unnerved her.

Mio returned to her temporary home after her morning run. She'd been living in a house within the civilian village still under Kuronuma protection where she could see Sako and Minako more often than not because they lived in the same neighborhood. She enjoyed the time she spent playing with Minako and the fact that Sako no longer mentioned Taiga around her, which was a welcomed change since she practically threw herself at him in return for his wife's freedom. She'd never been so embarrassed in her life and though she fought against remembering the moment, it kept creeping back into her memory replaying endlessly until the only words she heard were her own. _"I will if you leave her…and that she bears no consequence in your doing so." _She couldn't look Sako in the eyes, not after that. She practically betrayed Sako even though the woman might not view it that way, she did. And she'd rather die than admit to any of it.

"I hope you've worked up an appetite," Shin called when she entered.

A dozen scents assaulted her upon doing so. She found Shin laying out plate after plate of steaming food, each more elaborate than the last. She approached the counter in search of something without meat to ingest for what remained of the morning and to stand in the warm radiating from the burning flames in the center of the room where he stirred a pot of beef stew.

"Do you have anything without meat in it?"

"Nope," he said cheerfully. "You'll just need to make room for it. You've never had a balanced diet before so you've lost a lot of weight during the first phase of your training."

"And you plan to fatten me up to make up for it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Care to explain?"

"No," he said, pouring her a bowl of stew and holding it out in front of her face. "We don't have enough time to explain much of anything. You fell behind on the schedule and we need to start on mental training, your body needs to start healing."

Mio reluctantly took the bowl unable to stand the smell. She wasn't in the mood for any food after the workout, the smell made her stomach groan in complaint. "I feel fine."

"Yes, but your muscles are probably feeling abused. You've grown accustomed to the pain that you can now ignore it, but your body hasn't forgotten and it's never gotten a chance to heal from the constant strain you endured these last eight months."

She stared at him absently, holding the bowl of stew in both hands. She wasn't paying much attention to what he said because she figured out why he looked strange to her. He tied his hair back into a low ponytail.

"Have you always worn those earrings?" she asked automatically, staring at onyx earrings he wore. One seemed to be a half circle, worn on his left lobe, and the other was two joint hoops with a black pearl attached to the bottom was on his right.

Shin blinked. "These?" He touched the right earring and the dangling pearl danced lightly. "I've never taken them off. Then again, I don't normally tie my hair back so you probably never saw them. Anyhow, start with the food, all this won't eat itself."

Mio looked at the feast before her. "You're joking."

"I'm not."

"I can't eat this much."

"You should start."

"This is inhumane."

"It's practically a snack!"

"This is a feast. A snack is like half of one of these plates."

"You've just never been fed correctly. Now stop arguing with me and start eating. I'm going to prepare a room for you to meditate in."

"I'm going to meditate afterward?"

"What did you think mental training was?"

"Something that'd make me hate you afterwards," she blurted, having imagined her grandfather forcing her to jump off one of the hundred foot cliffs to make her face her fears even though that's how she got that one in particular.

"It's simple, really, you meditate, Okimi sits by and heals you," he explained. "Hurry and eat all you can because you'll hopefully be in meditation for the rest of the day."

"Okimi is coming? Can she?" she asked, concerned for the wellbeing of her cousin.

Shortly after arriving to Kurata, she met with Okimi, remembering her as a svelte, beautiful young woman, who surprised her by showing off her pregnant belly. She'd been incredibly excited three months ago, but these past few days, she hated the mere sight of her husband Enya, a youthful Kuronuma Elder, and refused to move because some of the younger children had started making whale sounds at her when she passed. She'd be around seven months now and she'd gotten a bit bloated, making traveling difficult. Enya forbade her from leaving Mt. Hyōga and she responded by demanding a divorce.

"Takuto and Enya are bringing her."

"Who's Takuto?"

She hadn't heard of him before, so his mention in the same sentence as Enya piqued her curiosity.

"Stop making conversation and start eating."

"Didn't Okimi want nothing to do with Enya?"

"Well, Okimi willingly married him, so they have a lot to do with one another and he is quite understanding of her pregnancy hormones."

"That doesn't answer who Takuto is," she reminded him.

"Takuto is her protégé. Now, eat." Shin disappeared behind a door.

Mio glimpsed at her bowl and willed herself to eat at least something of every platter to avoid being wasteful.

Okimi stomped into the house announced only by a list of complaints she busily recited for both her protégé and husband to take ample notes. First and foremost, she decided upon crossing the threshold that she wouldn't be returning to Mt. Hyōga because she was apparently manhandled and that she'd deliver her own child if there were no available midwife in town.

Enya pursued her, distraught, shaking flecks of snow out of his tangled mane of white hair. He towered over his wife, attempting to reason with her about the plans they made concerning the birth of their first child as Mio watched with interest from behind the counter toppled in platters of everything she couldn't stomach.

"Forget the plan," argued Okimi, unwilling to accept reason. She waddled towards the nearest cushioned seat and sank into it, exhaling deeply. She'd grown a little larger since the last they met, but she was rosy-cheeked, glowing, and more beautiful than before. "I want the plan in the trash with the rest of your genius plans because I'm not making that trip a second time. I'm staying with my uncle and cousin here, in this cozy little house, like it or not."

"Mio, reason with her," Enya begged, the look didn't suit his strong features.

Mio shook her head, stuffing her mouth full of salty meat slices.

"Mio will be my midwife, I'll teach her how to properly deliver a baby," Okimi tried, pushing strands of pale hair from her face. "How is that? It's not hard; I've done it about a dozen times."

"If Shinya-sama lets me, I'll stay," announced a new voice. The young man to whom it belonged to strode in quietly with a gloved hand tugging the hood from his head. He brushed the snow from his shoulders and glimpsed in Mio's direction with a smile that reached his dark magenta tinted eyes.

He didn't stand as tall as expected from a Kuronuma, his skin taut and lightly muscled, and his hair wasn't the usual shade of white but a dusty brown and blond that fell past his angular jaw.

She nearly choked on her own saliva, heart fluttering.

"Takuto, don't just stand there, she's choking!" snapped Okimi, gesturing wildly in her direction.

Mio waved her hand in dismissal. "I'm fine," she croaked, dreading Takuto's approach. He made it to the other side of the counter and he pressed a distressingly warm hand on her back. She kept shaking her head even though she was still coughing as though there were something lodged in her throat. Her heart no longer fluttered, it pounded. "No, really, I'm okay."

"You sure? You're turning red," he said, voice littered in the expected level of concern from any doctor. His smile changed and his carefully placed hand left her back. He lowered his tone a tad notch before speaking a second time, up close his eyelashes were pale and long. "Your ears are red."

She set her plate on the counter and covered her ears.

"Come on guys, you tracked snow into the house," complained Shin upon reentering the room. He shot Takuto a look that shooed him and stared at her progress with the food. "Mio, you haven't eaten anything and why're your ears red…?"

"Where's your broom Shinya-sama?"

Shin turned to Takuto with a humorless smile. "Outside."

Takuto stalked outside to retrieve the broom that currently sat in the small closet to her left.

As soon as the door slammed shut behind him, everyone redirected their stares at her and in unison, the room exploded in question, "Are you serious, Mio?"

She didn't understand. "Did I do something…?"

"Well, I don't disapprove," Okimi announced, arms folded over her swollen belly. "Takuto is a perfectly handsome young man and the best part is that he's her age, not like all you lot of old perverts. I'm looking at you grandpa."

Shin's mouth dropped in insult. "I'll have you know I was very concerned that my lovely granddaughter wouldn't ever see—"

"Don't finish that sentence, Shinya-sama, she'll only incriminate you more," interrupted Enya.

"Don't let these old nobodies talk you out of getting along with Takuto, he's perfectly nice if not a little cheeky."

Mio couldn't find the will to argue against the nonsense going on in the room. She merely removed herself from her seat and retrieved the broom from the closet to end Takuto's aimless search. She considered throwing in an apology for her grandfather's rudeness.

She found him rounding the house in search for it. "Takuto-san."

Takuto whirled around and seeing the broom in her hand, he laughed. He took it from her. "Thanks."

"It was in the broom closet. I apologize for my grandfather's rudeness, he did it on purpose."

She noticed without initially realizing it that she hadn't looked him in the eye since she beckoned him over. She forced herself to do it and he might have noticed because his grin widened.

"I figured as much," he admitted. "He's very protective of you. Everyone back in Mt Hyōga wants to meet you, but he wants nobody near a twenty feet distance."

"That includes you," called Shin behind her. "Come on Mio, you've got food to finish and Takuto needs to sweep my floor."

Once inside, Mio talked her way out of eating more and she walked into the empty room Shin prepared, to get started on the meditation. She took a seat in the cushion in the middle and stared at the stack of cushions set up for Okimi's comfort.

She exhaled deeply, dispelling the flutter in her stomach with each breath she set free from her lungs. She calmed her emotions after several minutes.

Okimi slipped inside the room, one hand on her lower back as she shuffled towards her seat. Mio stood to help her sit when the woman handed her a cup of steaming black liquid. She set it aside and did as she intended, making sure Okimi sat comfortably.

"Drink what's in the cup, Mio."

"What's in the cup?" she asked, taking it in her hands. It didn't have a distinct smell.

"It's a brew to heal damaged muscle tissue," answered Okimi. "Drink it slowly, I don't want you to burn yourself, but drink it while it's still hot."

Mio took a tentative sip; it blazed straight through her esophagus and spread from the core of her stomach. Every other drink she took unfurled in every inch of her body until it completely radiated in heat.

"Okay, you can start meditating whenever you want just make sure you don't let the sweat distract you. You're going to have to sweat that brew out for it to work properly."

She nodded, already feeling beads of sweat forming at her temples. "Just meditate?"

"Yes, close your eyes and just meditate. Also, completely ignore Takuto. He'll be sitting in to learn how to do this himself. He'll be taking over for when I'm indisposed."

"Okay."

She didn't know why that devastated her, but it did. The news made her furiously nervous and it translated in her failed attempt to lose herself in meditation.

"I'm going to drug you if you can't stop thinking nonsense," Okimi threatened her for the umpteenth time.

"Please don't."

"Then get to concentrating!"

Another cushion hit her upside the head.

"And you, get my pillow back!"

"I don't think it helps that you keep tossing pillows at her," eased Takuto, leaving his seat to do as his teacher instructed. He had entered around half an hour ago so quietly she nearly missed his appearance.

"I don't have anything else to throw at her and if I pinch her I'll be a monster because uncle damaged a lot of her muscular system. She shouldn't even be allowed to move. She should be in crutches. She should be carried around everywhere! I think she—"

"I think you're the reason she can't concentrate at—"

Mio heard a pillow slap Takuto in the face, stopping him short of an insult.

"Return my cushion, minion!"

She made one final attempt at meditation and failed. The failure gnawed at her confidence in successfully completing yet another trial that sounded easier than she gave it credit. Perhaps, her bloodline made it impossible to learn the Kuronuma jutsu and she was tired of working towards something that might not work out. She reached a new level of frustration and the already burning fire of rage the last couple of months had cultivated moved dangerously close to crossing the line between patience and impatience.

"I give up."

"Don't sweat it Mio, this isn't something easy to learn," said Okimi, having called it a day after three hours straight of failed attempts. "You'll get the hang of it after a couple more days."

Okimi's party wanted to make a stop at Sako's home for a short visit. She took Takuto to introduce him after blathering on and on about how she'd been in charge of his training for a long time, but as the trio started to leave, she faced Mio one last time.

"I think she'll be disappointed he's not handsome enough, though."

"I thought you weren't weighing in handsomeness," Enya argued.

"Handsomeness is always important. If you were handsomer—"

"Wait, you don't think I'm the handsomest."

"Well, it wouldn't hurt you to look prettier."

The argument persisted well into the street until their voices disappeared. The lightheartedness of the conversation did not alleviate any sentiments she had of the three hours she spent trying and failing at meditation. Once the she and her grandfather were alone, she reiterated the words she expressed to Okimi, repeating them with the conviction they lacked the first time she uttered them.

"I give up."

Shin turned. "Give up? So soon? Agility training is the hardest and you got through it just fine."

"I'm not that patient," she admitted. "I'm not that optimistic either. I can't sit around saying I can do it knowing I can't and won't be able to. I appreciate that you gathered so many people to help, but I'd rather we stop now before we are disappointed later. I don't want to get there and realize I worked so hard for nothing."

"You know, your grandmother gave me a similar speech when she dumped me the first time, then she got lazy and started recycling it."

"I'm not dumping you."

"No, but you're dumping the efforts I'm putting on you and that hurts just as much," he said with a disapproving frown.

"That's why I said I appreciate it," she countered, trying hard to keep her voice firm. "I do, I'm not just saying it because it's a pretty word. I'm saying it because I mean it and I don't have any other way to express how sorry I feel that I can't do what you wanted me to do—that I thought I could do, but I can't…and I feel so stupid for not saying it from the start. I just—I knew it was a terrible idea, I felt it was, I wanted to follow my gut, but I hated what you said about me being shipped off to be married for convenience and I don't want that to happen—" She took an exasperated breath, lifting her eyes to him. "I can't do this. It's too hard."

Shin sucked in a breath like a father about to unleash lecture hell on his hellion daughter and dragged a chair over to sit on where he easily stared her down until she shrank into an insignificant blob.

"Honestly, fine," he started. "I listened, I understand. I see the temptation in giving up early on to avoid the crushing disappointment later. I know how it feels to reach that point, when you've worked harder than you've ever worked before, when you've pushed yourself past the limits you've set for yourself to have someone dismiss your efforts and say you aren't good enough. You're humiliated, completely humiliated and disappointed. There aren't any pretty words to say this, but the feeling is complete shit. You've worked hard so some giant asshole can tell you you're efforts were worth shit. You don't even get a pat in the back; you get a bunch of snarky, unnecessary comments and an old hag calling you lazy when you tried harder than she did walking her fat ass from one stupid seat to another."

She remained speechless. The lecture sounded oddly personal, too personal to use it to draw in her nonexistent motivation. It died with the last of her confidence.

"You know what I did? I gave up. I didn't have time for it. I gave it a shot and it turned out my parents didn't try hard enough in the sack to produce a son that rivaled the likes of all their other perfect guardian children that could do absolutely no wrong."

She thought of interrupting him before things reached some extreme confession she could live the rest of her life never knowing, but she couldn't stop him. Despite the initial cringe she experienced when he likened his failure to his conception being a byproduct of laziness from his parents, the "perfect guardian children" stuck a cord in her that startled her curiosity awake.

"Nothing ten brothers and three sisters could say convinced me to assume my responsibility, so I asked my father to respect my decision to give up and while he doubted any other could replace me, voiced it and all, he conceded. So, I pursued blacksmithing as a profession and good merciful god was I in heaven. I made it to apprentice faster than the others in the same group and was probably an official blacksmith before I turned seventeen. And let me tell you, I became the most sought after blacksmith you've ever seen—"

"Why is this relevant?" she interjected, thoroughly confused. "Do you approve of my quitting or what?"

"Hell no," he retorted. "And I won't. I humiliated myself in front of every echelon in the clan and my entire family, but at least I gave it a shot. I worked hard and it didn't work out for me. It took ten years of blacksmithing and the deaths of my oldest brothers to understand that I shouldn't have given up, that I should have probably tried as hard as they did. And you know what? Maybe my grandmother had been right in calling me lazy because I can forge metal with my bare hands, always could, still can, just feels better when you do it the fancy way—turns out better too. Blacksmithing was my way of giving up and yours is going back to being a terrible liar, a horrible manipulator, a bad marksman, and just a girl that follows orders."

Every one of his deductions stabbed like a knife. She felt every twist of the metal as if she actually experienced an actual stabbing than a line of verbal insults demeaning fifteen years of Genji, Kikyo, and Sachiyo's hard work and the effort she provided to excel their standards.

She swallowed thickly, eyes stinging.

"One day, you're going to be having Madara's fifth kid because he's realized your DNA is more useful than your skill as a kunoichi and you're going to look back on today when you gave up on mental training because you can't meditate long enough for Okimi to heal your body."

"Why does it have to be Madara?" she cried.

"Because if I said Izuna, you'd probably wouldn't mind as much," he argued. "If I said Taiga, you'd have broken the chair on the counter and stormed off. If I'd said Takuto, I would have sounded as though I encourage any budding relationship, when I shouldn't, and if I said some random person, civilian or not, it might still sound like a good time to you."

"And why five?"

"Uchiha women are very fertile and—"

"You're disgusting! What about your mother and her fourteen kids?"

"My mother wasn't human, but that's not the point!" he stated, then dropped an octave. "The point is, I don't want you to regret this decision when you're in the middle of labor pains for a fifth kid you can't think of a name for."

"This isn't a convincing argument," she said, drawing a line with his shenanigans. She left her seat. "I'm not changing my mind just because you automatically assumed an outcome of my future. If this is a mistake, I want to commit it and regret it when the time comes, even if it's during the birth of my fifth child with Madara. I want to make mistakes and I want to get out of them on my own. You offered me the type of freedom I didn't think I had any right to after years of servitude to Sachiyo-sama, but now, you're taking it away by trying to manipulate me into doing something I won't achieve for a reason as ludicrous as becoming Madara's first choice in procreation."

"Wrong," he said haltingly. "Completely wrong. I can tell you exactly where this pathway of yours leads. I can try to frighten you with the truth, but really, I just want to save you the trouble of coming to terms with any of that because I saw your potential firsthand without having to consult Hag about it and I knew from that moment that it had to be you. You were the one. You had enough Kuronuma blood running through your veins to make you the perfect candidate for this training. You want to know the truth of the black water jutsu? It's not a secret and it's not that hard."

She awaited the answer with strange curiosity by the doorway.

"You only need one drop of Kuronuma blood in your veins. A single drop. Anyone can use it. Anyone with a drop." He lifted his index finger to stress the point. "And do you know why the Sharingan doesn't work on us? Why the Kuronuma mysteriously null the Uchiha's Kekkei Genkai? It's because the Kuronuma ingest the black water in all its burning, disgusting glory and it courses through our bodies, becoming one with every chakra outlet the human body possess and creates a physical barrier in the canals by feeding from it constantly. The black water is the Kuronuma's Kekkei Genkai and it protects us from dōjutsu."

"That's…that's—" she uttered incomprehensibly. A Kekkei Genkai should have been expected from the isolated Kuronuma clan, it had been rumored for generations (though none of the sources were reliable), but a part of her simply wanted to think nothing of the sort was involved. _Blood…ingest the black water…nulls dōjutsu..._ It sounded preposterous.

Shin walked around the counter and pulled a knife from a drawer. She panicked, following his movements. She stopped when he position the knife to his wrist. "Look."

"Don't—"

He sliced open his wrist and turned it over so a thick flow of blood dribbled from the self-inflicted wound. Large drops splashed onto the ground, each smelled strongly of blood, each accompanied by a sizzling sound as slowly but surely they burned through the floorboards. She stared in complete awe.

"The Cursed clan, the Demon clan, the Hermit clan, the Sacred clan, the Blood clan—the Kuronuma came into possession of a thousand names in the past and only few survived. I am offering you this clan's best-kept secret because I believe you can endure the training and because I know you're not going to be just another nobody spy that dies in some recon mission. Mental training is about healing. Once you start healing, it'll get easier. Agility and strength training are the hardest, but they're not impossible. For the black water, you only need a drop and a quarter of the blood running through your veins is mine, you only need a smidgen of conviction because this is not impossible for you."

He sucked on the sleek wound on his wrist and the steady flow of blood stopped.

"If you want to give up, fine, we can study maps and read books and go on information gathering missions. We can improve on your genjutsu and ninjutsu and taijutsu and your overall jutsu because even I expected more out of your parents. They gave you an underwhelming upbringing into the shinobi world, and Sachiyo, with all her former fame and glory, only improved you to an adequate level. And I understand, look at you, you're small—"

"I don't need to be a freak of nature to be intimidating!" she countered.

He rolled over that insult as though it never left her lips and continued his argument. "Takuto is a prime example of this sort of training. He's a bit like you. His father is half-Kuronuma and his mother is a civilian. He lived outside Mt. Hyōga for a great portion of his life before making the transition over and he's been learning medical jutsu with Okimi. Granted, he's still learning it, but he's pushed through the hardship."

"Anyone can learn medical jutsu, anyone with sufficient chakra control," she countered.

"Kuronuma medical ninjutsu is as unorthodox as everything else this clan does and it mostly uses mediums to correct certain wrongs," he explained hesitantly. "Okimi planned to use a shrewd combination of her own blood and the unusable muscle tissue in your body as a medium to regenerate it. That mug of steaming black liquid she made you drink—blood concoction."

Mio suddenly felt sick, her stomach twisted and groaned in protest. "What?"

"She made you drink her blood," he whispered evilly.

"I'm sorry, your whole argument just became invalid," she said, power walking to bathroom. "Excuse me while I go throw up."

"At least I'm not keeping secrets anymore!"

His honesty had been convincing enough until he went into oversharing with Okimi's creepy medical ninjutsu. Even with the information, the rest roused her curiosity. His confidence shown through despite the awful stories he thought up to persuade her into continuing the training, but what really made her clung to the possibility was that he care enough to assure her she was worth the trouble. He wanted her to be at the forefront, not in the shadows, as everyone else had.

Maybe, she thought as she discarded the contents of her stomach, she could make a difference. Maybe she wasn't just good enough to be a spy, maybe she could be more than that. Shin gave her that possibility and tempting as it looked to give up this early on in the game, she'd try it a second time for her grandfather's sake.

And then, maybe she won't have to wait for Madara to fulfill his promise. Maybe she'll find him. Perhaps, she could look forward to spending more time with Izuna and if she hadn't ruined her chances with the "in love with Taiga" lie, she might pursue some modicum of happiness alongside him because Madara told her she could do it if she wanted to. Now, she had something to look forward to—a future with Izuna.

* * *

><p>For the first time in two weeks, Mio meditated for three straight hours giving Okimi and Takuto enough time to begin the healing process. With that nudge of encouragement, Shin told her she'd be dealing with every day sessions with the two healers until she could stay in a meditative state for at least twelve hours. Once she managed that, they'd cut the time back to once every week because she needed plenty of rest to complete the process itself. With the right mindset, meditating came easy, but sometimes it was hard to concentrate when she could hear Enya talking nonstop in the other room or Okimi snacking on food in the middle of a session.<p>

Mio paid Sako and Minako an overdue visit. She caught the mousy haired child running around the street playing hide-and-seek with several other children near her own age. She risked being found by barreling towards her to wrap her chubby arms around her legs, asking her to swear she'll stay into the afternoon so they can try playing some board games, and then bolted to find a new hiding place as many other young children stared at her in awe from behind boards or atop rooftops.

She smiled at the children, turning on her heel, and entered Sako's home just as a stranger was on his way out. She flattened her back against the wall giving the man room to pass. He looked surprised by her presence, but offered her a sweet, dimpled smile. He wore a pleasant countenance that suited his facial features, but not his large build. He'd look threatening enough if he tried to be, but she immediately knew he wasn't a shinobi, soldier, or hunter or that he was native to the village.

She glanced at Sako accusingly, the blond woman smiled mouthing to her that she'd introduce them another day.

The stranger kindly bid her farewell and left.

Sako stepped away from the small foyer.

Mio shut the door behind the man and followed the woman into the living area where Sako had taken a seat and now stared dreamily at the ceiling. She'd need to be blind and deaf not to see the sort of emotions that developed between Sako and that man.

"You're being foolish," she blurted.

Sako frowned, defensive on the subject. "Why is this foolish?"

"How is it not?" she tried strongly, angry that she had to bring Taiga up in a conversation after many months of radio silence on his front. "You're under the impression that Taiga won't ever see the difference because his visits are rare and short and because Minako's the only reason he even bothers to do it, but you don't understand—"

"I don't think you understand, Mio," Sako interjected. "I think you're trying to do so, but you can't. You're not in my position. You're not married to Taiga or are mother to his only child. You've never endured with his mood swings or feared for your life in his presence; you've never had to see a man you once loved sleep with another woman or lain beneath him as he calls you by another woman's name. You once told me I deserved so much better and I think I do too, so why can't you understand that I am knowingly taking a risk because I want to be happy."

She was right. None of that applied to her. She was an outsider in a life she always perceived as wrong, but one that she could do nothing about. She shouldn't go near it. Involvement went against many of the things she believed in. She should have remained the outsider and simply ignored it as it went on, but she couldn't do it from the moment she first saw Sako, lost in a dangerous world that never suited her. She needed protection and Mio thought herself strong enough to shoulder it, the burden of it all.

"He'll kill him," she said slowly, taking possession of her attention. "He won't do it because he's feeling humiliated by an infidelity, no, he'll do it because deep down inside, I think he's been waiting for you to fall in love with man so he could do it. And it won't be discreet. He'll tell you when, where, and how. He'll take you there and make you watch. He's disgusting enough to chop him into pieces and give you a new one every year on your birthday until he's grown bored of it. He will make you suffer. He will make you hate him. But do you know what? That's what he wants. He wants you to hate him because that'll make it amusing enough to keep you longer. I once told you that because you're Minako's mother you don't run the risk of dying, but I'm wrong. Minako's young enough now to lose her mother in some freak accident and grow out the loss. You're not permanent, Sako, so you shouldn't be foolish with what time he's granted you. He can take it away when he pleases. You need to choose, Minako or that new man."

Sako steeled herself, but her eyes were watery. Reality hurt.

"Because if you can leave Minako and run off with that man, live under the radar for the rest of your life, please do it. Be happy and be sure I won't let Taiga do as he wishes with your daughter. But if you can't leave Minako, abandon your hope for this new man and cherish what you have. I can ensure you will live to see your grandchildren. You can't have both, so don't be foolish."

The woman's whole body trembled. She shook her head. "It shouldn't matter," she whispered shakily, glassy blue orbs dripping angry tears. "I'm allowed to live my own life because he's not in love with me, he's never loved me, not even for a moment—our marriage is a sham and if he can defile it as he has, if he can sleep with me while thinking of _you_ why can't I pay him back with his own coin?"

Once more, the pull of nausea assaulted Mio at the mere mention of the nights she recalled so vividly in her mind. She sucked in a breath, reminded of how she'd made a fool of herself by attempting to buy Sako's freedom with herself. She didn't need to see Sako crying over anything because it affected her in a way she couldn't control. She wanted to put a stop to it, her suffering and the probability of a dark future for Minako, since there could be a way. Maybe Taiga urged her to take Sako's place as a joke, to see her reaction and toy with her in some other way, but perhaps, she might find a way to strike a deal and make it a possibility.

She contemplated in grim silence for as long as Sako stared at her furiously with tears running down her cheeks awaiting some form of response, another reason to put an end to whatever feelings she had invested in that stranger.

"You better love that man," Mio said crossly. "He better be the one or you'll regret it!"

Sako's blue eyes widened, palms wiping the droplets tumbling down her cheeks. "I do, but—what do you plan to—? Mio—"

"I'm going to do something I'll regret for the rest of my life, but I'll be doing it for you, for you and Minako, and if this new man turns out to be worth shit, I'll kill him myself," she responded, startling her. "So he better be worth it and you better be happy and you better not regret it."

Mio started for the door because she couldn't stand the sight of her, but heard Sako's scrambling behind her. She whirled around once her hand was on the doorknob, eyebrows knitted in frustration.

"Whatever you know, whatever you learn, whatever you hear—everything, you keep it to yourself," she said warningly. "You'll keep it to yourself, understand? I've been nothing but kind to you and you won't betray that kindness by telling my grandfather anything, do you hear me?"

"What do you plan to do?" Sako questioned, reaching for her. "What're you thinking of doing?"

"To some degree, I agree," Mio continued, drawing her arm away before Sako's hand could touch it. The act of rejection further upset Sako, but Mio didn't care. "You're allowed to live your life because he's not in love with you and because it's not something he hasn't done before and if he thinks he can monopolize you simply for being his wife while he goes on being an asshole behind your back, I'll show him. I'm leaving."

She stepped into the cold as a quiet storm raged inside her. It seemed every plan she made turned into an impossibility wherever Sako or Minako were concerned. She felt so annoyingly foolish rushing back home with only the foundation of an idea as to how she planned to make anything work in her favor. Whether she regretted it or not, no longer mattered. She made a decision and she'd honor it as she would an order spoken to her by a superior.

* * *

><p>Takuto was a character she didn't comprehend. He had a friendly aura of him she could easily misinterpret and she hated being unable to read a person. In turn, it seemed Takuto wasn't the type of person one understood in a single glance because he talked in a somewhat calculating way, an uneven mixture of professional and mischievous wrapped in a colorful package of surprises. It intrigued her in a way that made her cheeks go pink, heart accelerate, and her surroundings seem a little more claustrophobic than she last remembered them. But if she disliked anything about his presence, it was Okimi's inopportune departures that left the two in an awkward situation once she realized he was the only person in the room. She couldn't concentrate enough to slip back into a meditative state…until he suggested conversation.<p>

In that raspy voice of his, he simply told her, "Talk about yourself. Something you can focus on long enough to get lost in it."

"I don't think that hard," she blurted.

He observed her flabbergasted, but ultimately laughed.

She obviously couldn't form a coherent explanation or a reasonable thought in his presence and in recognition of it, she wished she never acknowledged it from the start. "I can't think of anything."

"Well, how do you normally focus?" he tried.

"I've never thought hard enough to develop a system," she continued, making a complete fool of herself. Her ears could probably be visible in a ten-mile radius about now.

"Okay. Let's try this." He took her hand and to her great mortification, her palm started to get so sweaty it was slippery. She wanted to die. "Are you okay? Your hand is shaking."

The first clear emotion she saw twinkling in his magenta eyes was a distinct playfulness that snuffed the breath from her lungs and a different realization. Takuto was fully aware of his effect on her, though she barely understood it herself.

"Yeah," she said, taking her mind off the contact. "Can we move on?"

The problem with it all was that they couldn't move on. She was unable to push all thoughts of him to the back of her mind where they could exist along with other irrelevancies in her life. Not with his temporarily staying in the guest room of her grandfather's home in the Kurata village, or a combination of Shin and Okimi hinting at the possibility of a raving teenage romance she wanted no part in, not even with Enya's long list of reasons why he'd be a great boyfriend—she simply wanted no part in it. Takuto, spectacularly sculpted as his physique was, brilliant as his eyes were and wonderful as his dirty blond hair felt on her fingertips, or how every conversation she had with him consisted of many near-breathless responses on her part.

He fed off her emotions and it confused her. So she acted wary in the times Okimi thought she should be more honest with her feelings.

"I'm sorry," she answered once. "I wasn't aware I had any."

"Look at her," countered Shin with an impudent grin. "She's got a lot of fire in her. I just wish you were always this snappy."

Mio exited the room without addressing the comment, deciding against feeding the subject any longer, and into a hallway where she found herself alone with Enya after it became some universal law for any adult in the presence of Takuto or herself to leave when they came together. It started off a bit uncomfortable, but it got annoying fast. Takuto did not share her views.

"I genuinely like you," he responded when she voiced her opinions of the adults' now annoying ploys. "Even without Okimi-shishou or Enya-sama excusing themselves to leave us alone, and I want to talk to you more if you'd let me."

She stopped herself short from saying something inherently stupid and nodded. He only wanted to talk and she made a Taiga-related decision she wouldn't change because her emotions were going haywire for a boy she just a couple weeks ago. At least, that's what her new mantra consisted of—_ignore useless feelings towards Takuto_. Of course her subconscious liked to dream of all the conversations they shared from the minute she nearly choked on her breakfast after seeing him for the first time.

* * *

><p>Okimi removed herself from town unable to stay longer due to an unforeseen complication with her pregnancy. She returned to Mt. Hyōga with a worried Enya in tow, but not before the two warned them of the upcoming dark days.<p>

Takuto stayed at her side willing to indulge her curiosity on all things to do with Kuronuma medical ninjutsu, even though every explanation partly made her squeamish. Since Okimi came down with her entourage several weeks ago, Mio came to the quiet realization that she unconsciously spent more time with Takuto than without him.

"I hope you realize Shinya-sama is staring at us through the window," he whispered, jutting his chin in the direction of the window behind her.

Mio took a spoonful of yogurt. "Please ignore him," she said absently. "Your hero image of him might live longer that way. Okimi told me the Kuronuma on Mt. Hyōga hero worship him."

"He's an important part of the clan."

"But he's not an Elder."

"No, he's a lot more important than that."

"I have reason to doubt it's because he's the clan leader's son."

"No, it's something completely different, although, now that I think about it, his behavior is no different from the Shugosha's when Shinya-sama is on Mt. Hyōga."

Mio cast her grandfather a frigid look and he went on pretending to be cleaning the window. "Are you saying its hereditary?"

"I don't think it's hereditary. I just think he's more like his father than he himself believes. Have you met the Shugosha?" he asked, drawing her attention with a curious tone.

"Not yet, but I will soon," she replied. "Are the dark days really something to worry about? I heard since trade's been reestablished with the Iron Country that Kurata received a hoard of supplies intended to survive for at least half a year."

"Firstly, they don't last that long anymore, but we order the same quantities to ensure there's enough supply to last the amount of time it does. Some years it's shorter than others, this time we're predicting a short stretch of darkness, approximately two to three months." Takuto finished his warm tea and reached for the kettle to pour himself a second serving. "This'll be your first time on the mountain, right?"

"Anything I should be worried about?" she asked, taking a bite of bread.

"Bats."

Mio slowed her chewing. _Bats._ Great. _Bats of all species of winged animals. Bats._

Takuto snorted. "It was a joke. There are no bats."

"That wasn't funny at all," she deadpanned.

"If it makes you feel any better there are absolutely no winged species on the mountain. All you'll see is bears, but they're the least of your worries, most are docile."

"I've never heard of a docile bear."

"They're the Shugosha's summon. Since the clan is secluded throughout the final storm of the year, they are used as our only means of communication to the outside."

"And the Shugosha, that's what you call the clan's leader?"

"No, Musashi-sama is the only Shugosha that has been the clan leader. It's unusual for a Shugosha to be in a position of power when they normally serve as a…well…it's difficult to explain or rather know if they are to be viewed as advisors or simply the keepers of a natural balance."

Mio scooped what remained of her dessert, deciding the subject of Shugosha was too complicated to explain in a single sitting. "Should we start meditation?"

"No, I think we should laze around a while longer. Let's see how long it takes for Shinya-sama to notice."

"Should I feel inclined to accept this challenge?" she asked curiously. "I quite enjoy failing at meditation and you're a shitty medic."

"If I wasn't a shitty medic, I would almost be insulted," he said. "But if you'd prefer to be boring, we can go into the other room and fail, and then play word games with what's left of the hour."

She rolled her eyes and left her seat, barely rewarding him with a smile.

"At least wait for me."

Takuto scrambled after her.

The two locked themselves away in the empty room where she took her seat on a cushion and he offered her a steaming mug of black liquid. She drank it with ease and felt the familiar spark of heat bloom from her stomach before it spread onto the rest of her body.

"Ready?"

"Yes, so stop talking."

Takuto laughed.

"No laughing either."

The silence did them no favors. Even the slightest sound set them into random fits of giggling that disrupted her attempts at calm.

She tossed a nearby pillow at his face. "I can't with your giggling," she admonished. "Stop it before I lose it."

"Lose what? You've never lost your precious composure," he teased. "It is forbidden, Mio, I forbid it! Nobody in this land should see your secret smile!"

She threw a second one, which he blocked with a swipe of his arm. Among the Kuronuma, it seemed, her reputation consisted of a serious character with great composure and she thought that sort of talk gave others the wrong impression, which is why delinquents like Takuto were prone to teasing her for the amusement factor. He, in turn, entertained her.

He laughed harder. "I bet the last time someone made you laugh this hard was tickling you."

"I'm not even laughing!" she retorted, trying not to burst into a fit with him.

"Should I try it?" he asked, wiggling his fingers in her general direction.

"You put your hands near me, I break your fingers."

"That's fine. I can set them right just fine. So come on." He tapped the space beside him. "I think it's best if you come to me unless you prefer I go to you."

"I'm supposed to be meditating."

"Mio, I could write you an entire scroll full of everything other than Kuronuma training that I did at fifteen," he told her, inching closer. "There are mountains to scale—"

"I don't climb."

"I've seen you climb."

"I don't climb without it being absolutely necessary," she corrected, eyeing him suspiciously. "Please stop moving."

"Are you wary of my tickling fingers?" he asked, giving her a strange look. "How can I manipulate you into climbing a mountain with me? You know, Kurata is a clutter of mountains within bigger mountains, there's no real telling when you won't be climbing a mountain. I mean, you climbed one to get in this village and you go up and down it every morning you run."

"You think you can manipulate me?" she challenged, she placed her palm flat on his chest, making him stop. "Takuto, I'm serious, don't." He gave her a childish smile. "The only reason I go up and down the mountain is because I need to be productive in the morning. My grandfather only wants me to sit around and do nothing and he has the gall to say I'm undertrained. He's a slave worker!"

"He's a perfectionist. Everyone is undertrained to him, and there are some Kuronuma up in Mt. Hyōga that'd tear you apart if they heard you calling Shinya-sama that, some people are quite feral when it comes down to his capabilities." Takuto didn't press forward or move back, he remained half-hovering over her, the rhythmic beating of his heart drumming against her hand. The next words he spoke were whispers, in a creamy tone that she imagined might feel great against the flesh. "We need to climb a mountain, swim in an ice cold lake sans clothing, and we have to do something about this tension because it's killing me."

Mio swallowed thickly. Her stupid heart skipped a beat. She considered what any of the propositions meant, dissected them until she made some sense of it all, but her face only grew warmer the deeper she dug. She blamed that strange concoction, but she didn't plan to act out of character. She pressed against his chest gently, pushing him back. "No," she started firmly, avoiding eye contact. She hated the way he stared at her. She read the emotion in his eyes far too clearly and sometimes it didn't say anything she approved of. "No. I have someone."

"Someone you like?" he asked curiously, easing away.

"It's not like that," she corrected, relieved by his understanding. "He's someone I want to be with. He was my only friend growing up and he told me he's in love with me."

He sat back on his haunches and cocked his head to the side. "So, he's in love with you, but you don't like him and just want to be with him? Are you doing this guy a favor because that's what it sounds like? No offense."

She bristled, reminded of everyone's doubt in her capability to have romantic feelings towards Izuna. "It's not a favor. I have feelings for him, _real feelings_, and I'm not doing any of this out of obligation. I think I can be happy with him and we've been friends for so long that I don't think it's impossible for me not to love him the same way."

"Are you even attracted to him?" he persisted. "Have you ever thought of kissing him?"

"I have kissed him before," she confessed. "I always did."

"On the mouth."

"That wasn't appropriate, I worked for his grandmother."

"So?"

"So it was inappropriate for myself to lose my professionalism, which is what you're doing right now and you shouldn't be. I'm your patient and we're supposed to be learning off each other, not discussing my private life."

"You talk like an old lady!"

"I'm being realistic."

"Like an old maid that's never felt any real attraction for the opposite sex because she's too concerned with keeping things professional!" he retorted passionately. "Have you ever looked a man and just wanted to kiss him?"

_Yes. _"No! I haven't met a man that made me want to do anything because I don't want that! I want to be serious about what I'm doing and I don't need any distractions from men like you!"

Takuto laughed with a shake of his head. "Well, that answered my question."

"Good!"

"I'm the only one you want to kiss, aren't I?" he said shamelessly. "No need to deny it with another of your "professionalism is key" lectures because your face is red. This boy you want to spend forever with doesn't want to just be your friend. He's going to want more than that. Are you prepared to do those things with someone you're not even attracted to?"

"I know what a marriage requires! Don't talk to me like I'm ignorant about the subject!"

"Answer the question, Mio. Are you prepared to do a wife's duty with someone you're not attracted to?" he asked. "I guess it's perfectly fine in the beginning if you're fooling yourself, but what's going to happen when you become attracted to someone else? If that someone else tries their hand at seducing you, do you think you'll be able to resist for the sake of this friend you want to appease?"

When she took the questions into consideration, processed them at least twice, it wasn't Izuna she was thinking about and that only fueled her anger. "It's none of your business," she spat, hurrying out of her seat.

Takuto caught her wrist as she passed. She didn't bother turning, but she felt his steady gaze on her. "I'm sorry, Mio," he said, exhaling deeply. "I just wanted to kiss you and it made me angry that you probably won't let me, ever."

Would she ever have another opportunity like this? No, probably not. But did she want to risk it? She should get it out of her system at least, then it might be easier to ignore. She debated both sides in the short time it took for her to extract her wrist from his hand and stare down at him.

Mio took his face in her hands and planted one on him, a mere peck on the lips that could hardly be considered a kiss. She stared him straight in the eyes, something changed inside her. "We kissed. Let this be the end of it."

It seemed whatever she sensed in that smack of the lips he did as well. "Fine."

She left the room knowing the attraction ended alongside the temptation of a kiss. She breathed in deeply, feeling as though she were finally able to concentrate.

* * *

><p><strong>The only light is the fading winter storm.<strong>

* * *

><p>The mornings no longer provided the clarity she remembered every time she did her usual exercises. The clouds clustered and deepened in color until it looked as though they were about to experience a terrible storm nobody prepared for and yet, at this time, her grandfather decided that they would migrate to Mt. Hyōga to sit out the shadow storm under a stretch of impenetrable darkness surrounded by the Kuronuma clan. She worried endlessly about Sako and Minako being alone for an undetermined span of time since the skies darkened for a mere couple of months or half a year, each new storm was different, but Shin assured her that Jouji would be sending one of his men to provide extra protection. And while it alleviated her upstart of emotions to some degree, she hated the idea that the new man could uncover Sako's affair.<p>

Shin sensed her preoccupation and the day before they absconded to Mt. Hyōga, he decided to address it. "Do you have any unfinished business here?"

"Sako and Minako," she answered without preamble. She tried distracting her clutter of thoughts by tying different knots in a long rope. "No, Sako mostly. Minako will be fine. Taiga, he isn't so—"

"Inhuman, yes, you have quite an opinion of him," finished Shin, fixing a display of perfectly curved or jagged daggers he treasured since the start of his career as a blacksmith.

"You have your opinion of him, I have mine," she countered. "I don't pretend he's a saint, but I don't think he's completely rotten."

"Even the worst of people have some shred of humanity left," he agreed. "I've seen worse than him, so he it's not like he's unredeemable. I do think Eijiro-san should have beaten his ass at least once because it could've helped, but it's not his fault his parents were assholes."

Mio regarded him with an impatient look. "How much do you know about Taiga?"

"Enough," he said, "but it's not my story to tell. You were going to say something about his wife. Is this about that man she's been seeing?"

"You knew about him?" she asked, flabbergasted. "For how long?"

"From the start, Mio, it's my business to be this knowledgeable about the things occurring in Kuronuma territory."

"Why didn't you tell me? I promised to protect Sako and I should have stopped her from even coming into contact with this man," she said fervently. "Taiga will kill him when he finds out."

"How sure are you that he doesn't already know?" Shin challenged. "If he's known about your loyalty to Madara and you're somewhat of a professional, how do you think a pair of civilians can hide from him?"

Something snapped insider her upon hearing his confession. "You knew he knew about my agreement with Madara?" she demanded, trying not to sound as betrayed as she felt because after all the people she wronged in one year, she didn't want to say it was undeserved. "Why didn't you say anything? If I knew—"

"If you knew, nothing," he refuted, prepared to end the discussion in a minute if necessary. "Didn't you argue with me a couple months ago that you wanted to make mistakes and deal with the consequences on your own? Here they are. You're making mistakes left and right. You've committed so many you probably haven't even realized most of them, but I'm not going around cleaning your mess, am I? No, and even if I did, you'd just throw it in my face like an ungrateful brat."

He successfully silenced her.

"You're nearly sixteen, Mio, and if you were anywhere else but here you'd be dead or with Mikazuki Gouki. Open your eyes, realize that in the warring shinobi world your childish ignorance is and will be your only downfall. You're nowhere near Madara or Izuna's level because they've been exposed to this world far longer than you have. They've been fighting against the Senju clan when your parents were teaching you how to read a map and they lost more in these battles. You, on the other hand, never fought a Senju, your Sharingan is weak, Sachiyo employed you as an assassin to punish rotten clan members and even your methods of killing were underhanded (granted, your victims were idiots as well), and the only loss you experienced served to justify your own selfish desire to retaliate against everyone who's hurt you. So tell me Mio, can you make any demands of me?"

Mio's heart clenched. The corners of her eyes stung with tears and she hadn't needed to pinch herself. "You're an asshole," she spat. "You're such an asshole. There's something called subtlety and tact you know! And I'm trying hard, I have been, all this time, all these years, I've been trying nonstop! I know I haven't done anything near as dangerous as they have, but I'm not comparing myself to them. I don't want to be like them, I just want to be useful to them."

"I want you to be useful to you and everything you believe in." He exhaled deeply; aware he hurt more than her feelings. "I told you that I wanted to give you a gift for all the years I couldn't, but I can't do that if you continue resisting training because it gets difficult or because you're too involved in other people's lives. You defending Sako will only make her more dependent of you and she'll eventually start using your concern against you. She'll manipulate you into situations you don't need in your life because she's never had the self-respect to get up and voice her concerns. Do you think if she would have gone to Eijiro about Taiga's treatment that he would allow his grandson to continue it? No. He would have ended it. If she had the sense of tell you that she wanted to escape instead of being submissive, you would have told Sachiyo and she would have done you that favor."

"He'll ruin her life," she persisted. "He'll make it impossible for her to ever be happy. He'll kill that poor man."

Shin shook his head, prepared to leave the room. "Be stubborn, Mio, get in or out of this mess if you want. I'm not going to stop you."

"You're supposed to help me!" she said dismally, the first tear rolled down her face. "You said you'd help me!"

"I'll help you when you want me to help you," he returned. "You don't want anyone's help, Mio, because you're under some impression that you can do everything on your own. So do it. Solve your problems or regret them. But if you truly want my help, my advice, anything at all, you ask me for it personally, I won't ever deny you that."

Mio choked back a sob and sinking into the nearest chair, she held her face and wept. He insulted every inch of her life before him. He criticized her parents and Sachiyo, even Sako. He called her subpar in the form of cutting lists that wounded more than her pride, but everything hurt more because she felt the same. He made her cry without her needing to pinch the inside of her wrist, he forced the tears she should have shed nearly seven years ago for her mother and father but didn't because it was true, she wanted to retaliate against the people culpable of the act. She wished to see them suffer because they took the only thing she knew in life, despite her mother's last words being the exact opposite.

.

Whispering softly in a voice that was no longer her own, Kikyo remained in place, shielding her from harm. Her bloody fingers were in her hair, twisting it gently as Mio experience the worst of her mother's death as her temperature started to drop with every delayed beat of her heart.

_"Breathe, Mio," _Kikyo urged, unable to do it properly herself with the weapon still lodged between her ribs. Mio obeyed her orders as they were delivered. "_Come on, Mio, in and out." _Again, she took a deep shuddering breath that elicited a small laugh from her mother as the towering man behind her ransacked the house for an object neither of her parents could name._ "Slow and steadily, Mio, just breathe. Don't stop okay."_

Kikyo forced her body off her for a short instant and tears dripped from her bruised, bloodied face_. "Don't be afraid. You're still alive. We did our job. You're safe."_

_But you're not_, she wanted to say, but she couldn't find her voice. She shook her head dumbly.

Her mother took her face in her hands and planted one last kiss on her cheek._ "Run. Go now. Into the forest. _He _will find you. Just don't stop running and don't think of avenging our deaths. Please, Mio."_

She begged and begged, each time more hysterically when the sound of the intruder's footfalls sounded near. Mio couldn't move and she couldn't pretend she processed any of the words uttered to her. Regardless, her mother continued urging her into the forest, asked her to stay silent and not go after the instigators of the crime. She named them. _Uchiha Hiryuu and Mikazuki Gouki._

_"We don't need to be avenged," _she said lastly, clinging to her like the last breath she would breathe. The man, Mikazuki Gouki, asked her one last time for what he'd been looking for, an object or something that sounded like one. She stopped listening a while ago, unable to tear her eyes from the blood on the wall. Kikyo didn't answer, no, she looked Mio directly in the face and spoke her final words._ "We love you, Mio."_

* * *

><p>"You are harsh with the girl."<p>

Shin jolted the second the words reached his ears and his own father appeared in his periphery. He faced the bearded Shugosha petulantly. All around their quiet outdoor setting, a slow sheet of snow begun to fall. "Should you be wandering the mountain, father?"

Kuronuma Musashi grunted. "I wanted to see my great-granddaughter."

"Well, you've seen her, and she's crying."

Musashi scowled disapprovingly. "Is it that difficult for you to be kind for once in your life?"

"Is it that hard for you to mind your own business?" he asked with a saccharine smile. "You approved of her being in my custody, so please, don't try to rescind the permission just so you can baby her. She's going to have to grow out of her teenage stupidity soon."

The Shugosha said nothing in turn.

"I am not being unkind," Shin explained, urged on by the silence. "She's a difficult child going through a difficult time who doesn't want anyone's help. I have made myself available to her if she wants to set aside her personal feelings and admit she needs some adult guidance, but until she can understand that I'm not being a villain, she can keep crying about it."

"She is right about one thing, there is a thing called tact and it wouldn't help for you to learn it."

"I'm not going to be lectured by you."

"It was only a suggestion. She's one of our guardians and I hate to see them hurt." Musashi leveled his pale rose eyes with his. "Will she be ready in time?"

"How long does Eito have?" he asked, curious of the fate that was his father's heir.

"Until the summer. If neither one of Okimi's twins turns out to be my successor, I will need to find a temporary retainer," Musashi confessed, his eyes fell to the clear sphere strung from his neck on black cord. Within the transparent glass, a tinted grey mist spun restlessly. "I cannot elongate my time. You and Okimi were rejected, but there is still Mio. My bloodline ends with her."

Shin shot one final look at Mio through the window. She sat curled in an armchair, still sobbing and ignorant. She knew not what was needed of her. "Purify the springs in Mt. Hyōga. Ask every medical-nin to make healing waters out of them and I will give you a successor before the next year is out."

She was the one. The sphere would chose Mio, not now, but it would. He knew from the first time he'd seen her.

Musashi clapped his hand on his shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. He smiled. "Thank you, Shinya."

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: Takuto! I feel a need to explain him. That chunk of text from where he was introduced to the starting point of the winter piece is the only time he will be romantically relevant in Mio's life. It's one of those strange mutual crushes that happen while you're young, but it's the fantasy that make it great because once you act on it (which they did to some extent), it is forever ruined. And that is all.

I'd like to thank **Charisasori**, **YamiKitsuneKami**, and **crazyuser **for being quick to review the last installment. I also apologize that the few hours turned into more, but I hope this equally long chapter was worth the short wait.

_Things to expect in Ch. 20/21/22, **The War for Kurata**:_

- The conclusion of mental training and the start of heat training.

- Some shadow storm coverage in the mountain as well as Mio's exposure to the Kuronuma lifestyle.

- Shin POV.

- A formal introduction to Senju Hashirama and Tobirama.

- Taiga and Mio deal.

- Gouki, Konoe, and Mio interaction.

- Someone actually has the gall to wage war on the Kuronuma and guess who the peacekeepers plan to hire for protection?

On a different note, I'm playing with the idea of expanding on certain important details of this story that are cut off the outline because of constraints and posting them separately as side stories. Some ideas floating about include: the tragedy of Mio's parents' death, the trigger to Taiga's interest in Mio, the time Taiga spent training Madara and Izuna in Hiryuu's stead, Sako's time in the countryside manor with Mio, why Kana (you remember the cook) hates Taiga, Madara's arrival to the Sun Country, Izuna's friendship with the Ito sisters, and a detailed trajectory of Izuna's feelings.

That should be something to look forward to. Of course, things will be written and posted out of order, but I'll provide you a proper placement for each. There's a scene in the opening of the previous chapter that I wrote completely in Mio's POV when she and Izuna ran to each other and it was beautiful, but I cut it off and rewrote completely in Sachiyo's POV, well I saved it...and I will post it if anyone's interested as a collection of oneshot chapters/excerpts that didn't make it in here...and other nonsense that didn't make it at all like that conversation Madara and Izuna have about Mio being a girl.

Also, I'm going to go back and do some subtle changes to previous chapter to match with what occurred in the latest flashback chapters provided in the manga, I started applying them in these last two chapters as you probably saw with the conversation where Yayoi reveals Hashirama knows about Mio because Madara told him and Izuna is angry about it (because they were friends before an' all). Also, Madara and Izuna's father has a name, Tajima, and he'll be referred as such, instead of my lame alternative (Jiyuu). His description will be changed and his personality a bit as well.

Everything will be altered by the time I post the next chapter.

Now I've bored you to death, I'm sorry. Thank you for taking the time to read these two chapters and I hope you've enjoyed your treat.

The April poll is currently open and Redesign seems to be in the lead once again, have at it everyone!


	20. The War For Kurata 1

Chapter **20** | The War For Kurata I

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><p><strong>As the shadow storm persisted, spring arrived.<strong>

* * *

><p>Mt. Hyōga was as described, a mountain within a mountain where the Kuronuma settled on a stretch of flat land half surrounded by walls of ice. The harsh cold was an unwelcoming change. It took several weeks to adjust when the weather merely provided snowfall, but once the skies darkened and never lightened the land was assaulted by harsh blizzards that further proved the dangers invading armies would face in challenging the Kuronuma clan. A single wooden bridge separated the rest of the mountain from the alcove of snowy landscape of a bivouac that could easily be abandoned if met with imminent danger and running beneath the crossing, down a near thousand-foot drop was a black, bubbling river.<p>

The inhabitants of Mt. Hyōga resided in yurts—homes of timber frames covered in layers of felt and canvas—that if seen from a hillside seemed like round gray dots cluttered atop a white mantle. All sat surrounding a plaza in the center where a great fire burned throughout the shadow storm, one that cast an opaque glow upon its backdrop.

Mio spent most of her time either in meditation or with Okimi and Enya assisting them with their twins. She even chanced a meeting with Musashi, the patriarch and Shugosha of the Kuronuma clan, upon her arrival and she refused to believe the man was her great-grandfather considering he displayed no signs of age since he first turned forty, though when she asked how old he was someone interrupted, and looked as robust as an ancient oak tree. He had olive skin to contrast the paleness of his hair and beard and pale rose eyes. He wore a necklace wrought of resilient black cord that held a sphere, one she could easily fit in her palm, with spinning grey smoke inside.

She found her eyes drawn to the sphere when he passed, unable to find the necessary courage to ask what it was because she thought it inappropriate despite the unsuspected welcome the entire clan had given her. Everyone wanted to meet her for being the last of Musashi's bloodline, a phrase she understood less than her curiosity about the sphere, and because most wondered if she inherited any bit of her grandmother's beauty, but it seemed to be universal knowledge that no one should approach her if not face Shin's wrath. So most eyed her from afar, whispering excitedly as she passed, and she wished none of them had listened to her grandfather and just talked to her until she came to the knowledge that Musashi enforced the rule as well and threatened extra labor for those who disobeyed. It was as if they sought to embarrass her to death and they were completely shameless about it. Shin had been more than enough without adding Musashi into the mix, and to her surprise, there were people that actually considered her position enviable.

She eventually adjusted to both the climate and the attention, and once the strain of both withered away into insignificance, she reached a sure conclusion to Mental Training without the danger of combining it with Heat Training, thus relieving Takuto of his duties.

Since then, spring brought fresh blooms and quaint weather for the world beyond Kurata and she gained a moment of respite before the start of Heat Training, which was known to be the shortest training she would do if undergone by the right person. She hoped she was the right kind of person. Of course, she was skeptical given the fact that she was more Uchiha than Kuronuma and the talk of this training only requiring the bloodline did nothing to alleviate her worries, but she tried not to worry about it.

Within Mt. Hyōga the skies had yet to lighten to their blue hues, the shadow storm ensued with no signs of relenting even though that morning the winds had silenced.

Mio returned home from a soak in the springs to share breakfast with her grandfather. She continued her morning runs on the mountain, favoring the flat landscape to the treacherous road she had in the Iron Country. She passed through the entrance expecting the usual sights, coals burning on a brazier for warmth, the fire in the pit alight with either a cauldron of broth or game cooking for the morning, but today, she found Musashi seated by the short table with a map of the continent set between himself and his son. There were cups on the table, leaving marks on the map, and the inexcusable scent of wine in the air.

"Did something happen?" she asked, venturing towards the table to get a closer look at the markings on the map.

"Something quite unfortunate," admitted Musashi, then gestured to a seat at the end of the table. "Join us. This affects you as much as it does us all."

She seated herself before the display unable to make sense of any markings on the map's surface until she followed one to where the Uchiha compound once stood. "Are these different clan territories?"

"Mostly clans we like to stalk," said Musashi.

"_Observe_, father, _stalk _is a filthy word," Shin corrected.

The Shugosha smiled at her, nodding. "Yes, yes, observe. There are various clans we like to observe."

"Why are you observing these clans?"

"Eliminating the unworthy," Musashi answered. "The Kuronuma want allies. Among the shinobi clans in existence, we wish to find five."

"Five different allies from a horde of shinobi clans that want nothing to do with each other?" she questioned, staring down at the marked options. "No one will ever agree."

"The Ito clan joined the Uchiha's side. The Motou clan traded the Senju for the Uchiha. You can't say no one will agree when it is not impossible, you have seen it yourself," he proclaimed. "Several other clans are forming friendships through hardships. I am simply searching for a specific set of allies—ones I intend to find through process of elimination. Trust, child, this isn't the reason I asked you to join us. We are faced with a different problem."

Shin sensed her curiosity. "In time, Mio, everything will be explained to you. Right now, we have the matter of Kurata to discuss."

Musashi replaced the world map for a topographic scroll of Kurata's snowy valleys that mapped every important location within it. She followed the trail between first and second village with her eyes only to find the third village at the pinnacle of the trifecta. The castle was marked red and the extent of the territory its lord possessed defined by a set of dotted lines that formed a sizeable square around it.

A drink was poured for her to sample; her great-grandfather called it honey wine and claimed it wouldn't cause the predicted repercussions. She searched Shin's countenance for approval and he merely inclined his head.

Its sweetened taste filled her mouth with a sip, far from her original expectations of wine. She set it aside on the only part of the table not covered in maps and waited patiently to listen for either of them to elucidate.

"Not long ago we provided protection for the whole of Kurata," Shin started, observant of her facial expressions. She knew the backstory of the treaty between the Kuronuma clan and Kurata Castle's lord. "We severed our treaty with Tasuku over conflicting principles. He despised our preferred method of protection, and our influence over the towns he claimed his own and we disagreed with how he disposed of his nephew on his climb to power. We gave him free reign of two villages, we have stayed far from his business, but it seems he is amassing a bit of an army to force the Kuronuma clan from Mt. Hyōga if we cannot come to terms with his demands."

"This man is incapable of reason," Musashi added. "He will declare war on us if we do not vacate Kurata."

"Ordinary men will not prove problematic to the great Demon clan, will they?" asked Mio. "He can build his army of warriors and bandits, all crazy enough to take on a whole clan of skilled shinobi, but that won't make a difference in the results."

Shin laughed. "You misunderstand, Mio, we have no intention of fighting Tasuku or his army of warriors and bandits."

"Or more accurately, these lands cannot see violence," Musashi continued, amused by her dumbfounded reaction. "Winter is our only protection here and if these sacred lands see bloodshed, it will melt away. The Kuronuma clan cannot be unprotected."

"Why?"

Musashi tapped the exterior of the sphere strung from his neck as if in answer. "Our clan is built on a sturdy foundation, one we desire to see persevere into the next generation, and it is our primary duty to protect it. The brittle wall that stands between the shinobi world and ourselves will one day crumble, but that day is not today. We will not fall to petty threats."

She watched the mist within the sphere darken.

"Do you wish to touch the sphere, Mio?" Musashi asked, rough voice snapping her out of reverie.

"Father, now is not the time—"

Mio reached to it, captivated by how the mist spun harder within its confides, but when her fingers touched the cool glass, she felt a deep surge of pain assault them and jerked her hand away. She clutched it to her chest, staring down at her blackened, smoking fingertips and the discomfort of the burn. She stared at her great-grandfather perplexed.

"It burned Eito once as well," he eased as if to reinstate hope. "The sphere rejects all but its Shugosha. However, once in a while, it makes an exception."

"Eito-san is the exception," she answered quietly. The young man was Musashi's terminally ill successor and a polite individual with an energy that set him apart from the rest of the world. He was also her cousin, son to her grandfather's youngest brother who passed away three years ago.

"You are as well."

"What does the sphere do?" she asked, completely immersed in the pursuit of knowledge.

"Binds the rest together."

"The rest?"

"Nine other spheres."

"Father," Shin interrupted firmly. "I do not think this is an appropriate time to school Mio on such matters, perhaps another day."

Musashi nodded. "You're right. Another time." He gulped down his wine and returned his attention to the map of Kurata. "We will allow Tasuku to do as he desires."

"Wouldn't it be better to nip this in the bud?" asked Mio. "It may be nothing now, but in a month or two, this could develop into something bigger, something out of our hands."

"It won't be," Shin replied. "We are in talks with a shinobi clan willing to do us a favor if the situation demands it. They require payment, but we are more than willing to offer them whatever they want so long as they do their job."

"I've never heard of a shinobi clan hiring another clan for protection."

"That's because we're not like other shinobi clan," said Musashi with a broad smile.

"What shinobi clan?" she asked with suspicion in her voice.

Musashi patted her shoulder and left his seat. "Everything in due time."

Mio watched him leave with a persistent suspicion and rounded on her grandfather. "You want to tell me what clan we're talking about?"

"I don't remember if I asked before, but do you have your ears pierced?"

"You're changing the subject."

"It's a yes or no question, well, I can check for myself."

Before Mio could bat his hand away, his fingers were already touching her ear.

"We should get them pierced."

Mio moved away. "I don't have any use for jewelry, not in my profession."

"Well, I want to pass down the family heirloom," he said, gesturing to the pair he wore. "I think you'd like to get your curious little hands on these."

She glowered. "It'll hurt."

Shin grinned, leaning over the table. "Interested?"

She said nothing.

"I can do it right now." His expression lit with morbid enthusiasm. "Let's do it right now. Let's pierce your ears!"

Shin was halfway across his home digging through one of his chests when she jumped to her feet in an attempt to stop him.

"You're acting crazy!" she snapped, pulling his arm out of the trunk.

"Do you know how hard it is to buy you a gift? There isn't anything you explicitly dislike unless it's living and everyone who knows you is smart enough not to give you a bird. But really, how do we know?"

"You could ask."

"Yeah, I could, and you'd just say, 'I'll be thankful with whatever it is.' So, I want to pierce your ears and give you this mysterious family heirloom," he said, tugging out a square box from within his belongings. "It even comes with a story. Ready?"

"No," she uttered.

"I'll tell you the story first."

"I'll pass. You're not a very good storyteller."

"I'm the best."

Shin made a beeline to the brazier, pocketing his box. He took a seat on the thick carpeting and tossed a cushion nearby for her to sit.

Mio reluctantly seated herself.

"Family heirlooms in this clan are different than most. You've seen Musashi's sphere—"

"I thought we weren't having this conversation today."

"I wanted him to leave is all," Shin admitted with a shrug. "He's very passionate about these conversations and they really wear him out, I'd rather not go there with him and his longwinded explanations."

She certainly thought "longwinded" whenever Shin explained anything. "So, we are going to talk about it?" she asked, to be sure.

"Yes," he said with a nod, then went on to elaborate, "The sphere is one of ten and they're called spheres, but only the one in question is an actual sphere, the others are really household items—okay, only one is a household item, it's a cup, but it's a very dangerous cup. Oh, and I wouldn't really recommend using it as a cup, I once tried and all my wine disappear, it was terrible. I couldn't find it anywhere."

Mio raised her hand to stop him, amazed when he silenced. She understood nothing. "Why are we talking about a cup?"

"The cup's somewhat important," he answered.

"How is it relevant to Musashi's sphere?" she asked, hoping to find some clarity.

"It's one of ten."

"Yes, the sphere."

"No, the cup."

"It's one of ten?"

"Yes, the cup."

"No, the sphere."

"Yes, the sphere."

"Not the cup."

"Yes, the cup, too. It's one of ten, the cup."

"The sphere."

"The sphere, too."

Mio grumbled in frustration. "We were talking about the sphere."

"Yes," he said edgily. "We are, but I am also telling you that the cup is like the sphere."

It finally dawned on her. He meant to say the cup, like Musashi's sphere was one of ten. Why didn't he explain it that way from the start? "Wait—it's a cup?"

"There's even a calligraphy brush."

"And these are family heirlooms?"

Unless that calligraphy brush doubled as a weapon or was made of black diamonds, she didn't see how it was an heirloom. The same thing went for the cup. Why would anyone in the right mind pass a cup down to future generations?

"Are they made of gold?" she asked, perplexed.

"No, they're made of what you'd expect," he laughed. "That's the beauty of it. It's always what you least expect it to be. It'll really throw a person off. I just really wish we could have gotten a wooden spoon in there."

"So, Musashi's sphere, the cup, and a calligraphy brush—they're the same?"

Shin touched the dangling earring on his right. "Don't forget the earrings."

"The earrings," she repeated.

"Oh, and the Dragon's Eye."

"The what eye?"

"You heard it correctly, Dragon's Eye," he reiterated. "We literally have the eye of a dragon. It's crystalized, so it's not as gross as it sounds."

She gaped. "You have a…_dragon's eye_?"

"The Dragon's Eye, Musashi's sphere, the cup, calligraphy brush, and the earrings—five of ten spheres."

Shin stared at her expression for a moment, nodded and waited for a response, one that came in the form of a very skeptical incline of her head and required more information to discern the exact subject of the situation. She expected a different sort of longwinded story to confuse her, not anything like this.

"Mio, there are people out there that can breathe fire and raise mountains—there is a whole family of bears outside that can have a conversation with you, I could introduce you to a handful of lizards that tell very inappropriate jokes—but you draw the line at a dragon's eye?" he questioned. "There are nine powerful tailed beasts scattered throughout this world, even one of them could give us a run for our money. This world is full of strange, mysterious things and you don't believe we have a crystallized dragon's eye?"

"This is all a very compelling argument, but I don't see why my skepticism is a problem."

"You don't believe in dragons and that's the problem."

"Because dragons don't exist and those tailed beasts are an old myth."

"Obviously the dragons died out, but those tailed beasts are as real as you and I. You know the story, right?" Shin attacked the subject with a furrowed brow. "The Sage of Six Paths saved the world from the Ten-Tails, sealed it within his own body until he acknowledged he'd be dying and then split the monster's chakra into nine tailed beasts. You, as an Uchiha, are a descendant of the Sage of Six Paths, of his eldest son."

"Father used to tell me the story, I know it, but it's not like anyone ever complained about a tailed beast in their backyard."

"Because they'd be dead." He shook his head as if disappointed. "There are a whole lot of people that aren't skeptics trying to capture the tailed beasts for themselves, you know, _actively._ It's not unknown, much like it isn't unknown that the Kuronuma clan have special artifacts."

"Dragon's Eye, Musashi's sphere, the cup, calligraphy brush, and the earrings—five of ten spheres," she repeated slowly.

Shin grinned. "Artifacts."

She unknowingly mirrored his smile. "They're not spheres, they're artifacts."

"And each one has a purpose to serve—Climate Sphere, Time Sphere, Universe Sphere, Nature Sphere, and Black Sphere, all in the order you named them."

"What do these artifacts do?"

"Everything they shouldn't and that is why my father wishes to find five capable shinobi from different clans worthy of becoming a guardian for one of the ten," he elaborated. "We need individuals that understand the danger they possess and how troublesome it would be for these artifacts to fall into the many unworthy hands seeking to take them."

Outside, the wind howled and the canvas shuddered against the hit.

"Why are you giving me the earrings?" she asked quietly, listening to the crackle of coals in the brazier. She avoided making eye contact with her grandfather in fear of the emotion she might find there. "The Black Sphere."

"Because you're going to protect them. It is your inheritance."

A shudder ran down her spine and her skin was covered in goose bumps. "Why me?"

"It has always been you, Mio, since before you were born. Since your mother was supposed to take on the duty herself. Since then. It's been you. It can only be you."

"What does the Black Sphere do?"

"The pearl here contains another sealed artifact, the Life Sphere." He touched his fingertip to the black pearl attached to the jointed hoop earring on his right lobe and in the light from the brazier she saw a seal carved in the center. He turned his head for her to see the flat, half-circle earring on his left lobe. "This one can teach anyone the secrets of our jutsu. Wearing it activated, one could possess the black water jutsu as if they had trained for it. If anyone, anyone at all took it and learned it, we could have a disaster on our hands. Combined, the two earrings hold this clan's secrets."

"You're giving me two artifacts to protect?" she asked fearfully.

"That's right." He nodded. "I have a lot of faith in you, Mio. So, do you want these earrings now? You've earned them."

He entrusted her with two Kuronuma secrets, each a heavier burden than the last, even after the way she acted a few months ago when she wanted to give up the training. She didn't feel worthy of them. She wasn't sure she could handle the burden or balance it out with what remained of her training.

"Are you sure?"

He laughed. "I'm sure. You didn't give up and you apologized for even considering it by working harder. There is no better reward to give you once you've reached the heat stage. It's good incentive, don't you think?"

Mio exhaled. This was a duty her mother would have taken if not for her death. That single thought fueled a little more of her resolve because she didn't have much left of her parents except the knowledge they passed onto her and the treasure trove of birthday gifts she stashed under one of the floorboards of the cottage. She could have the earrings if she couldn't find use for the information or be able to have her treasures with her. So, she smiled and washed away all the fears of it being too much. Like her grandfather said, the right incentive could make the impossible things easier to overcome. She was seeing it now.

"Yeah, it's a great incentive."

Shin never looked prouder.

She finally did something right. This was the way it was always supposed to be.

* * *

><p>Mio stared at her reflection in one of Okimi's handheld mirror, one with a black metal handle. She definitely looked strange with earrings on. Besides her, Okimi's twins lay bundled up in furs and sleeping.<p>

Okimi entered the home with a shudder. She pulled on another coat over her clothes and made her way across the living area to the fire where she held her hands out to warm them.

"How were they today?" whispered Okimi.

"Good, I just put them to sleep."

"What about you? Have your ears been bothering you?"

"No, I just feel they look weird on me."

"Earrings? They look fine," Okimi said cheerily. She left the fire to assume a seat in front of her twins. She caressed their cheeks and cooed sweet nothings at each before turning to face her. "Uncle is looking for you."

She picked herself off the cushion and exited through the entrance after a short goodbye. She tugged on her hood and pulled her scarf over her nose for protection against the harsh, wintry winds. The plaza's great fire didn't reach the eastern side of the mountain where Enya and Okimi's house stood, so the rounded streets were lit with torches placed within two meters of one another.

One howling gale swept through her and blew out several torches. She traveled in darkness for ten minutes, but during that time, she could see the constellations stretched out above her head.

The home she shared with her grandfather stood north of the plaza in an acre of land separated from the rest and closest to the main entrance to the caves of the mountain. There were several other openings aligning the walls that guarded the encampment and special passages hidden underneath layers of snow and trap doors all leading to the hot springs.

Shin awaited her arrival by the table. "Have you eaten?"

"Okimi fed me before she left to Takuto's," she answered. "Did something happen?"

"I received news from the other side that you might be interested in learning," he started, his tone even and solemn. "It's about the state of your clan."

Mio braced herself for the news, not uttering a word.

"Uchiha Tajima and Uchiha Hikaku are dead." He paused as though allowing her to process the gravity of the news. "The clansmen split between Taiga and Hiryuu, although, a sizeable group amassed under Madara and Izuna."

She wondered about the brothers and the knowledge that they no longer had a father. She worried for them, despite knowing how silly it must be to do so. They were no strangers to death and yet, she wanted to be there as if her presence could make any difference.

"What news is there of Sachiyo-sama?" she asked grievously.

"She is in the Fire Country fostering the Ito sisters, Saori and Hibari," he answered. "She is doing well enough on her own as always. You have nothing to worry about there."

"Then what do I need to worry about?"

She was at a loss.

"Yourself, your responsibilities, and your training without question."

"We are also having a bit of a situation with Tasuku-sama."

"One we have chosen not to acknowledge."

She hated leaving all those loose strings hanging, but that seemed to be the way the Kuronuma went around any hard situation.

"This won't have a pretty conclusion."

"Nope, but it'll be the right conclusion."

She sighed. "How is Taiga?"

"You shouldn't fixate on him, Mio. Let him do as he will." Shin served himself a warm drink. "You need to run around with people your age like Takuto."

"Forget I asked."

She went straight for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To run around with people my age," she remarked as she left.

.

.

"Mio!" called Takuto, hands on his knees and breathing haggardly. "I call a time-out! I'm really not cut out for this pace!"

Mio continued running on the mountain road beyond the residential structures. "I'm not waiting for you!"

"I don't think you were supposed to take it literally when Shinya-sama asked you to run around with people your age!"

Takuto caught up to her after catching his breath.

"I know what he meant," she snapped.

"You're just angry he doesn't want to tell you anything about Taiga!"

"I just wanted to run."

"The question is why doesn't your grandfather want to tell you anything about that man?"

"Because he wants me to stay as far from Taiga. He thinks I'll do something stupid."

"Will you?"

Mio glared at him before facing forward. "Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"I'll know when I see him."

She lurched forward and left Takuto in the dust.

* * *

><p>The sky cleared to its brightest blue hues after the passing of the storm and the weather calmed, but the darkest news arrived in the early hours of the day. Mio was shaken awake by her grandfather and rushed to pull something warm on to venture outside of Mt. Hyōga for the first time in months to bear witness to something she could only describe as a tragedy, one that should have never occurred.<p>

She saw plumes of black smoke rising from the homes and the pale snow darkened crimson. She witnessed the massacred remains of dozens of civilians and watched fire ravage the scene like an afterthought. She found women strung by the neck from rooftops, stripped naked and badly brutalized. She touched the cold cheeks of several children with blood pouring from a slit in their neck. She felt her stomach agonize at the sight of human pieces littered in the wide streets of the town, not knowing which arm belonged to what man.

She feared the worst for the safety of Sako and Minako who inhabited this village and whose home had been burned to the ground.

Takuto and Shin appeared beside her.

"Tasuku-sama has bared his fangs," she said absently. "Will you bare yours?"

"We must bury our dead," answered Shin, stepping away. He barked out orders to several of the hunters accompanying him, splitting up their ranks so that one group could search for survivors that might have fled into the pine forest and another to do as he commanded her.

"Come, Mio," called Takuto. He took her by the hand and gave her a gentle tug in the opposite direction. "I'll stay with you, but let's do something."

She let him take the lead, following him reluctantly to whatever bloodied scene awaited her as the fires were doused in water. She stood conflicted in what was expected of her. Was she supposed to burn the memory into her head and do nothing? She didn't understand why Shin didn't want to do something about it. What was wrong about putting an end to something this horrible? An entire town of innocents was overrun by death, its civilians dragged from their homes and treated to the greatest evil. Not even the children were spared. If she had ever seen a declaration of war before this was it.

Kurata Castle's Tasuku wanted war. He made his move and now it was the Kuronuma clan's turn. Perhaps Musashi's opinion differed.

Mio spent the rest of the morning in silence and helping Takuto investigate all the homes to survive the burning. Eito appeared to join them further into the afternoon, a feeble young man of eighteen complimented by the clan's trademark rose-hued eyes and snow-colored hair. He stood several inches taller than Takuto as most Kuronuma purebloods did, but without the usual built of others in his age group giving him the lanky physique of an underweight giant.

"Should you be outside the mountain, Eito-sama?" asked Takuto worriedly.

Eito regarded her with a small smile before answering. "I'm allowed to leave the mountain if yourself, Mio, or uncle are present."

Takuto pointed at himself in disbelief. "Me too?"

He nodded. "What can I help you do?"

She waited to see what Takuto would say because for the past couple hours, they had been carrying dead bodies out of the homes and raiding them for some form of identification. There was a small group of clansmen going around picking up the cadavers while another focused on turning a wide clearing into a cemetery to bury them.

Takuto scratched the back of his neck at a loss for words.

Mio reached for a nearby broom and handed it to Eito. "Sweep. I'll clean the floors."

Eito took it and stared at her a minute too long. He cocked his head to the side, smile wavering. "You're not feeling okay. Do you want to go back to the mountain?"

"I'm fine," she lied. "I'm waiting for news."

He looked at her in a way that assured her that he caught her lie, but had no intention of calling her out in it and for that reason she was thankful. He took the broom into the hallway.

"Thanks," said Takuto once Eito was out of earshot.

Mio nodded. She understood how intimidating it would be to put Eito anywhere in this sort of situation because he was Musashi's successor and rumored to be on the delicate side. Either the slightest scare or an unsuspecting dose of excitement could do him great harm.

A series of shouts emerged from the pine forest behind the house. She stepped outside in trepidation when the voice rang clearer.

"Do we have a medic?" called a hunter from the edge of the pine forest. "Is there a medic here? We've found survivors, but one is in need of a medic!"

"Takuto," she beckoned.

Takuto made his way to her with a quizzical brow.

"Takuto," came Shin's voice.

"Here!" Takuto shouted, scrambling outside to meet her grandfather on the street where a bloodied Hunter stood with him.

Mio called Eito and together they joined them.

"It's a small group, five adults, two children. One woman is badly injured," explained the hunter, starting down the path with Takuto in tow. "Come, it's this way."

"Mio, bring boiled water, as much as you can, and cloth—gauze, there was some in that house," Takuto shouted over his shoulder.

Mio placed a hand on Eito's arm when he made a move to follow. "Stay with your uncle," she said firmly.

She fetched the gauze and rushed outside to procure water from an untainted well. She filled two wooden buckets and built a fire to boil it in a deep pot. She carried everything out into the pine forest as snow fell atop the clustered, needle leaves, and walked a great distance while following the fresh tracks in the ground before she found Takuto, the hunter, and the group of seven survivors among the wilderness.

She found seven strangers, badly bruised and scratched—three men, two women, and two small girls—and the one woman that was being treated by Takuto. Everyone sat huddled together, shivering fearfully despite the presence of their claimed protectors, the same shinobi clan to let this horrendous ordeal befall them.

Takuto gestured her over hurriedly and she looked at the survivors a second time. She nearly dropped the boiled water when she recognized the first face—a smooth featured face that once smiled at her with dimpled cheeks on the way out of Sako's home. She opened her mouth to demand if he knew anything about Sako and Minako, but closed it immediately. It would be too selfish to make any demands after what he survived.

The hunter carried out his orders. He ushered the remaining battered survivors back to their town where they would wait for a Kuronuma shinobi to escort them to Mt. Hyōga where they would be accommodated.

"Give me a cloth, Mio," Takuto ordered, holding out a bloodied hand.

She gave her a long piece of cloth, the first she tugged out of the satchel.

He snatched it from her with a quick thanks, bundled it up and pressed it to a deep gash on the woman's side. Mio turned her face away from the blood rushing from the gaping opening on her side and focused on the woman's face. It was angular, all sharp edges and purple and green from a heavy hit, and her hair was long, a tangled mass of black hair that fanned out over her head on the bloodied snow. Her eyebrows were drawn in pain and for several waves of it, she couldn't keep her eyes open or her mouth from dropping ailing sounds.

"I need a knife," announced Takuto.

The dying woman sucked in a shuddering breath, terrified.

Mio provided a kunai from the holster tied about her thigh and heard the medic give a weary sigh as he slit diagonally across his forearm. Three droplets of sizzling black blood scorched through the snow before he let the cut hover above the gash. She watched in awe, despite her stomach raging in protest—saw a line of blood fall directly into wound and heard the woman muffle in protest.

Takuto pressed his palm to the wound from one end to the next, his chakra infused hand moved across the area slowly replacing the damage with smooth skin.

The woman exhaled and looked around wearily for a second before losing consciousness.

Mio sank into a seat beside him. "I feel sick."

"Too much blood," uttered Takuto, dunking his hands into the boiled water.

"No. Too much death," she admitted, heart thumping rapidly. "We should move her."

"Yes, I'll carry her," he said, pulling the woman into his arms as gently as possible. "We're going to need supplies and a clean house to treat others like her. We won't be able to move them to the mountain until they're healed."

"We'll be sitting ducks for another attack."

"We'd risk losing them if we moved them."

They lost enough already.

Mio pushed through the pine trees to reach the town's pathway and found it overflowing with Kuronuma taking care of different duties. She walked away from Takuto when he spotted another medical specialist and searched for Shin.

Shin was standing at the edge of a hillside overseeing the town. She trudged up to meet him unprepared for the sight he beheld. She glimpsed down despite telling herself not to since the elevation was starting to make her dizzy and panicky and followed the blood staining the snow in the center of the street. Someone took the time to write a message on the pale surface below in dark red and it took the form of the slashed crescent—the Mikazuki clan's insignia.

"He will plague us until the end greets him," muttered Shin, his tone indiscernible.

"Mikazuki Gouki." She whispered his sinful name and it disgusted her.

"Can I leave you in charge here?" he asked, finally regarding her.

"No."

"I'm doing it any way, keep an eye on Eito, and make sure everyone returns from the pine forest. You remember everyone that went in, yes?"

"Yes, but I'm not standing in for you, you're an authority figure…I'm just a—I don't know what I am."

"You're an authority figure."

He flicked her earring as if to stress the point, and when she turned to snap at him, he was gone.

"Mio-sama!" a Kuronuma called from below. She felt unworthy of the respect in his tone and the added honorific as she started her descent to meet him. "Another group of survivors appeared near the mountain caves beyond the pine forest, we believe your friends are among them. They've made it into town, some are wounded."

As soon as those words left his lips, her heart soared in the hope that they were indeed a part of that newly discovered group and she sprang down to see it with her own eyes.

Sako was the first person she saw, standing there with hunched shoulders and Minako in her arms. She called out to them, her voice a higher pitch and heart pounding in her chest. The blond woman turned and nearly cried as she made her way to meet her. Minako called out to her in a hoarse voice that sounded like she'd been crying up until that point.

She pulled the two into a big hug, unable to stop her limbs from trembling and with her hand clasped behind Sako's neck, she whispered a thousand apologies in a voice so soft and broken she couldn't recognize herself. Minako's tiny arms squeezed around her neck and her croaky voice blubbered in her ear about scary monsters.

"I was so scared," Sako whispered, sniffling. "I was so scared that this would be the end."

Mio pulled away from her with tears in her eyes. Sako gave her a brittle smile and reached up to Mio's face, wiping the first tear to drop.

"You're crying."

"I thought you were lost, both of you, and I'm happy I was wrong."

"We didn't think we'd survive the night," Sako went on. "Everything happened so quickly and Shou-san, oh, Shou-san was struck down by one of the invaders, a large man."

"Were they bandits or shinobi?" Mio asked firmly, rubbing the tears away. She unconsciously took Minako into her arms when she refused to return with her mother. "Shou couldn't have been killed by bandits; he's a highly training Uchiha spy—"

"He was killed by the shinobi," answered Sako, her eyes starting to wander. "One. I only saw one. Everyone else seemed to be invading mountain bandits."

"Sako-san!"

Sako let out a joyous cry and sprang off to meet her dimpled lover in the middle of the street. She hurled herself at him and he enveloped her in a sweet embrace that made Mio wonder what it felt like to be held so tenderly by a man you love and loves you back.

She shook the thoughts from her head and finally took notice of Minako in her arms. She hoisted her up comfortably and sighed. The relief was like a burden lifted. It felt good to see Sako in the arms of her lover, forgetting all realities, and know that apart from some scratches and bruising they were perfectly okay.

"I'm sorry, Minako," she whispered against her messy brown hair. "I should have been here."

Minako blinked up at her, the tears drying on her dirty cheeks. "It's okay. You're here now."

"You'll be coming to the mountain with me, though," she continued. "I'll be able to watch you every day."

.

.

Mio returned to the mountain late into the evening leaving the responsibilities with Enya, who would remain in town with several medical specialists, hunters, and shinobi to protect the surrounding area. She stepped into her home after ensuring Sako and Minako were accommodated in the new homes erected over a wide plane behind a block of yurts in the west for their new guests. She found both sleeping and chose not to disturb them further, turning away with a storm of thoughts. She formulated a plausible idea for the things that occurred, but she didn't want to think back to any of those terrible memories. She wanted a moment of peace.

Shin offered her a late meal, one she declined. She couldn't even think of eating after seeing that massacre. He pated the seat beside him and she took it, leaning over to rest her head on his shoulder. She needed to feel comforted. She wanted to shed so many tears without anyone questioning her about it. She kept all her feelings bottled up while staring at the dead that day because she didn't like what they reminded her of, especially after she knew, deep down inside, that Mikazuki Gouki played a part. He remained a tyrant in her nightmares.

"Something warm might help," Shin offered.

"He killed the men like he did my father," she whispered. "I walked around so many limbs wishing I could put them back where they belonged, but I couldn't stop thinking about how he killed my father. The way he did it. Tortured him with a slow death. The memory seems clearer now."

"Mio…"

"Every day, the memory unraveled differently," she continued. "It took months before I realized it. I spent years trying to remember it because I couldn't and I knew I should. Everything was a blur, a big giant blur that ended with my mother's blood soaking into my clothes. I didn't remember anything that they said, it all sounded distorted. I want to stop thinking about it, about the way mom sounded before she died. Because every morning before I wake up, I hear her voice and it just breaks my heart."

_"We love you, Mio."_

She pulled her legs into her chest and cried.

Shin wrapped an arm around her and held her tightly. "I would take your nightmares if I could," he whispered against her head in a troubled voice. "I would kill him a thousand times if it brought you peace."

What peace would his death bring? The imprint of his existence was all over her memories; he lived and thrived in her nightmares. She would never forget what he did. If his death took him from her memory, she'd ask for it, but it wouldn't.

Mio stayed enveloped in her grandfather's warm embrace. "I've never had a normal dream since then. I relive it every night," she started, every new tear gently traced across her cheeks. "Those people didn't deserve that. Nobody deserves that." She pulled away to see him in the dark and her voice turned firm for the tirade she didn't feel coming. "I don't know what he wants from me. Why doesn't he leave me alone? He's taken enough from me, why did he have to lash out on those people? To prove what point?"

Shin leaned in the opposite direction; his eyes watching the fires in the brazier steadily burn out. "People learn harsh lessons in life—seeing and experiencing horrendous things or simply observing and understanding that change is necessary for growth," he started, seemingly out of nowhere. "Some people learn with death because losing someone you love, someone close, sometimes even a stranger—death leaves an impression."

"That tells me nothing," she snapped.

"No, I just had a thought," he said calmly. "Perhaps, you shouldn't burden yourself with this tragedy despite Mikazuki Gouki's intent. He wants to get a rise out of you and he's accomplished it, you're falling apart, Mio, you've taken it to heart. You feel guilty for something that wasn't your fault and you have to understand that it wasn't your responsibility to take care of those people, thus your guilt is unfounded."

"But he's done it because he wants to chase me out."

"And he will continue doing it until he corners you. This won't be the first time something like this happens," he told her. "You can't do anything about it."

"What can I do?" she asked quietly, unable to see past it all being her fault.

Mikazuki Gouki would keep on looking for her, endangering everyone around her, plaguing her like a curse. She could choose the hermit lifestyle and spend as much time away from the rest of the population while steering clear of the man hunting her. She saw nothing wrong with choosing that direction except the amount of sacrifices she would need to make in order to go through with it. She didn't even think she could survive…not without completing the training her grandfather laid out for her.

"I can make you something to help you sleep, you'll drink it, it'll be warm and delicious—"

"Will it be a blood concoction?" she asked wearily.

"No, my blood would kill you. The black water, blood, chakra combination in every person is different, specifically in medical specialists like Okimi and Takuto, which is why they're rare. I'm from a generation when it was common for the Kuronuma's primary jutsu to be as scorching as it was poisonous."

"What generation is it now?"

"It's just scorching." He shrugged, stood, and headed off to the side to prepare his concoction.

Mio took the time to go behind the thick draping in the edge of the house and changed into something comfortable that didn't smell of blood. Once she stepped out from beyond the shielded corner, she could smell the mixture of herbs boiling in water.

She seated herself at the table and waited in silence with her thoughts. She listened to her grandfather. She felt too much guilt over what happened. Everything happened because of her. Mikazuki Gouki agreed to do something convenient for himself.

Shin set a mug in front of her and urged her to drink. "You'll be working with weights again, twice a week, starting this upcoming week. You will continue running every morning, five laps around Mt. Hyōga. You'll be on a healthier diet as well. After you go through your daily responsibilities, you'll spend two hours in the springs. I'll be your medium."

"Is this the Heat Training schedule?"

"Mikazuki will work with Tasuku to ensnare you and we can't allow him to antagonize the rest of the clan. He doesn't know what artifact he wants; he only knows you have it. Mt. Hyōga is securing nine of ten artifacts. He plunders the mountain and he finds a gold mine," he explained. "As a guardian-in-training, you automatically have permission to fight if someone threatens your life or jeopardizes the safety of the earrings. So if push comes to shove, you'll need to start learning the black water jutsu earlier than scheduled and training. Speaking of which, finding you a training partner will be difficult. Takuto would be a prudent choice since you could learn from one another, but I wonder if he'll have the time between his sessions with Okimi."

"Given the situation, Takuto will be extremely busy outside the mountain."

"I can help with the strength portion of your Strength Training, but the ninjutsu aspect will be impossible until you can defend yourself against the black water." He sighed. "I suppose we'll hit that bridge when we get to it. For now, finish that up and you'll be asleep before you realize it."

She didn't care, she just wanted the day to be over and if this herbal brew was the answer, she was all for it.

* * *

><p>"You should have warned me about Heat Training," Mio grumbled to Takuto in the middle of warm-up exercises.<p>

She left Mt. Hyōga on a whim, curious to see how the patients were doing nearly three weeks after the attack. Those with the most life-threatening injuries were almost completely healed and able to move around, but not enough to make the trip up the mountain.

With Okimi overlooking the other medical specialists, Takuto rarely stumbled across a break with redressing wounds and overseeing physical therapy for those that suffered nerve damage through broken arms and legs or dislocated wrists. It was apparently harder for him to treat non-shinobi because it was easier to worsen one's condition without the perks of a different chakra to work with. She tried to understand the dynamics of their strange healing techniques, which for the most part seemed to be the same as everyone else except when it came down to their blood concoctions and using mediums for fast fixes. However, they couldn't use their fast fixes on non-shinobi.

"Is it everything you wished for in Heat Training?" asked Takuto with a humorous smile. He held a square plate with his breakfast. "I bet it was."

"I looked like a prune when I got out of the spring," she remarked.

The two hours she spent in the hot water were tedious and she could have sworn the water started off clear and warm only to turn pitch black and boiling. She didn't bother questioning it because she wouldn't have realized the shift in temperature if she didn't run out of the spring the other night after hearing noise at the cave entrance, but it had only been a rock tumbling from the ceiling.

"I did Heat Training at eight, I don't remember much beside the heating water. It has healing properties and it's great for the skin."

"Eight?"

"We have weighted clothes from ages four to seven and pretty much skim through Mental Training. Heat Training is a breeze; it's the Strength Training that's the real problem."

She finally understood what Shin meant by undertrained. She was memorizing scrolls and maps when she was that age with the occasional training session in between. Her parents didn't teach her much ninjutsu. She arrived in Sachiyo's care with little knowledge of all the jutsu expected of her to know.

"That's impressive," she admitted. "I just don't understand how the black water enters the bloodstream."

"Kuronuma purebloods already have it in their bloodstream, but tend to have to drink a cup full of it during training to strengthen it. Kids like us have to soak it in naturally during Heat Training in the springs; you receive a steady spill of it throughout the two hours."

"Is that why the temperature rises?"

"Yes. You'll be there a while; it usually takes a bit before you absorb the right amount and once it gets into your chakra canals you'll be able to learn a jutsu to replicate it so you won't have to be jumping into the special spring for a refill. I mean if you wanted to be done quickly, you could drink the cup like the others, but I hear there are consequences, bad ones."

"So, I could use one of your techniques if I wanted?" she asked curiously.

"You could, but there's still a strain and it might be too much for you this early on in the stage."

Okimi entered the room. "Takuto, I'm going to need your help with something, and Mio, you have a visitor."

They exited the storage room at the same time, Okimi and Takuto went on ahead into the hallway while she made a turn towards the entrance to find Taiga and Jouji. She rushed up to greet them, relieved to see that both looked rested and perfectly healthy.

"Where's your grandfather?" asked Jouji.

"On the mountain, convening with the Shugosha. He's been busy; I doubt you'll see much of him." She caught Taiga staring at her mismatched earrings. "Sako and Minako are also on the mountain. They're both perfectly healthy despite Mikazuki Gouki laying waste on their town with a group of bandits."

"Shinya kept us up to speed," Taiga clarified. "We've learned the Mikazuki are in the midst of striking a deal with Tasuku of Kurata Castle. We wanted to deliver the information to him personally, but that looks to be a problem."

"I'll go get my grandfather," she decided, stepping out into the main street. "You can make yourself comfortable in the house so long as you don't disturb anyone."

Takuto peered out the window. "Going back up the mountain?"

"Getting my grandfather! Do you need anything from the mountain?"

"Better food, Okimi's a terrible cook."

"I heard that!" snapped Okimi. "And I don't deny it!"

"Why're you making a big deal out of it then?" she heard Takuto say in complaint.

Mio arrived on the mountain faster than she anticipated and discovered her grandfather in the spring caves behind their home in the middle of a bath. When she appeared from behind the dusky rock wall, she heard water splashing and something that sounded like a yelp coming out of Shin's mouth. She stared at him awkwardly submerged to the neck in the heated water, looking offended by her disruption.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked, putting one hand on her hip.

"Knock, Mio, I just wanted you to knock!" he snapped, swimming over to the edge of the wide pool.

"On what? The wall?" She gestured to the rough wall behind her and gave him an irritated look.

Once there he pulled a towel into the water to shield his torso. "You should be a little more delicate with these things."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware you were so shy."

"I'm not shy; it's just—at fifteen you should '_kyaa_' and cover your eyes in the presence of a naked man!"

She rolled her eyes. "Stop making such a big deal out of it, you're just naked."

"Just naked?"

"Taiga and Jouji-san are in Kurata, they want an audience with you and I'm sitting in on it. I'll be waiting in the house."

Mio started to turn before recalling Takuto's request. "Did you make anything to eat?"

"No, but there's leftovers from this morning. Why? Are you hungry?"

"No, Takuto is and he's been suffering through Okimi's cooking."

"A fate undeserved by no one but her husband," he commented darkly.

"I fear for the twins."

Shin laughed and it resonated throughout the high molted ceiling.

Mio returned home and packed that morning's leftovers for Takuto. She rummaged through her things for warmer clothes after the adrenaline from her run died down. She had started to feel the extreme temperature of the mountain the minute she set foot on it.

She sat on the floor tugging on a pair of boots when Shin appeared at the doorway towel drying his hair.

"I've sent word to Taiga and Jouji-san; we'll be meeting them outside Kurata in a couple days," he informed her. "You should prepare for a week-long trip, but travel light."

"Should we be leaving for a week?"

"Definitely. We'll be making a stop at Kurata Castle to engage Tasuku-sama in a very overdue conversation. He won't dare attempt an attack against the Kuronuma clan for quite some time even if Mikazuki Gouki antagonizes him." Shin went to his scavenge through his belongings to start his packing. "We're also stealing Takuto, he rarely leaves the mountain and it's a terrible shame."

Bringing Takuto along with that sort of reasoning made it obvious what his intention was. He wanted an excuse to keep her far away from Taiga and the Kuronuma medic was the only person she could consider a distraction.

She pushed the knowledge from the objective at hand and she started to gather suitable clothes to wear outside Kurata. She appreciated never worrying about clothing in Kurata since she only really required sweaters and pants. It was all about the right layering and something she could deal with. She found many clothes that didn't fit her anymore and it made her wonder if she could edit them. She packed what she needed.

"I can appreciate how precise you are in these things," Shin commented, standing over her.

"In what?"

"Packing light, knowing what to take, and how you fit everything so neatly. Look, everything it like a little square. It's almost obsessive, it's fascinating."

She closed her bag, embarrassed. "Are we supposed to wait for Takuto?"

"He should already be preparing for the trip as we speak. I sent word with him too. The bear that delivered it wasn't happy about going down the mountain though. This is why I hate those stupid bears."

Outside, a deep roar echoed in response.

"The feeling's mutual, it seems."

* * *

><p>Kurata Castle was an unwelcoming stronghold. The soldiers protecting the entrance refused to allow them any closer than five meters of the gate and even more reluctant about permitting them the audience they desired with the lord, but Tasuku knew better than to turn them away as his army planned.<p>

Mio entered the tower-like structure in wonderment, discovering it for the first time since she was unable to enter it the first time she had some sort of business with the lord. Every open door they passed in the long hallways was heavily decorated in ancient heirlooms and great treasures until they were finally escorted into a gargantuan room made of screen doors and religious paraphernalia. Seated in the center was a sleek black table over polished floors and behind it sat an older man, face deepened with wrinkles, and combed grayed hair. He avoided meeting anyone's gazes by keeping his focus on his calligraphy, but she could see form her vantage that his eyes were a tad buggy and watery with a blue hue.

"To send the great Kuronuma Shinya to my home, I don't deserve this honor," Tasuku drawled, lifting his eyes to his audience for a short minute. "How unusual it is for you to bring companions, two outsiders in Kurata."

"Oh, you've earned this honor." Shin humored him, mocked the tone in which he regarded him feigning respect and interest in whatever words he planned to say. "I do hope you're comfortable with the allies you've chosen. A mercenary group like the Mikazuki clan can be difficult to handle."

"It won't be a problem, Mikazuki Gouki is determined," he answered, finally making eye contact with a smug look. "He is particularly interested in finding a lost Uchiha." His eyes wandered to her, the smile on his lips unwavering. "Would this be her? Not what I expected."

"I can assure you that I'm not lost," said Mio with an edge.

"Hmm," he hummed, a belittling sound, but his eyes were raking her body for the exposure her layered clothes did not provide. "I do see the appeal."

"I insist you respect my granddaughter before I remove your eyeballs and force them down your throat," Shin suggested with a chilling smile. The tone used contradicted the threat, but it did not make it any less of a threat and Tasuku stiffened upon acknowledging it for what it was and tore his gaze from her. "Honestly speaking, about the situation at hand, I do not care for your raised armies or your hired mercenary clans or whether you wish to continue wagging a petty war against the Kuronuma clan, by all means do it. I will however, inform you that my people will not tolerate another massacre. You so much endanger someone's dog and I will personally come here to melt the skin off your bones and tear this beautiful castle of yours to shambles. Are we clear?"

Tasuku stood his ground.

"I feel we're not yet speaking the same language, so let me be frank." Shin reached for the dagger on his belt and slashed a thin line across his palm. He drew a line in the space above the massive desk with droplets of his blood and within seconds the wood and everything on it begun to melt away until the weight of it forced the desk to snap in half. Tasuku scrambled back, chest heaving and eyes wild. "I see we've understood one another. Good. We'll be taking our leave."

Shin rubbed his hands together and showed him to the next guard that approached him only to have the aggressive male take a full step back.

There was a frightening quality about her grandfather on display, one that could easily be misinterpreted. He could be underestimated and obviously he was during that meeting given the awful tone Tasuku used to address him in a way that wouldn't honor his surprisingly famous name and today he proved he wasn't anyone's joke. If he wanted to burn the entire castle down, he would have it done in a heartbeat.

Mio admired the easiness of his character—how fluid change was as the situation demanded it. She met a different side to her grandfather today, the one that earned him recognition.

* * *

><p>"You'd expect a monster," Takuto commented, not shy about eyeing Taiga from afar after a near two-day trip into a hidden rest town located on a border. "He looks perfectly normal."<p>

Mio grabbed his forearm, forcing his attention to her. "Don't stare at him. He knows. He knows everything."

"I hope you're lying," he responded.

"I'm not."

"You could lie to me."

"I don't need to lie to you."

Taiga glared in their direction, specifically at Takuto before shooting her a disgusted look. In turn, Mio reached out to touch Takuto's hand and turned to the sandy-haired shinobi with an interested mien that earned her a glower that stabbed like a knife before Taiga walked towards a cobblestone path leading into inn's front desk.

"I can see why Shinya-sama wants you to stay as far from him as you can," Takuto commented, giving her a firm look. "I suggest you listen to him."

"Not if I'm the only one that can barter Sako's freedom."

He frowned insufferably. "Sako-san and Minako-chan are living in Mt. Hyōga, a place where he doesn't have the permission to set foot in; I think she's perfectly free without you getting involved."

"This is only temporary…until matters with Tasuku-sama are settled. What do you suppose will happen once the town is rebuilt and the people return to their homes? He will see her happy with another man and want to end it. Outside Mt. Hyōga she has no freedom and I swore to her that I would make the impossibility a possibility, for her sake," she said, reminiscent of the moment she swore it to her. "I promised to keep her happy and safe since I met her, she makes me want to do these things for her…she's so helpless, so clueless, she understands nothing. She's become so unbelievably naïve when it comes to Taiga that sometimes I want to shake her back into reason, but I won't need to. I'll take care of him. I promised for the sake of her happiness."

"What kind of deal do you intend to make with him?" he questioned with a great suspicion.

"Most likely a stupid one," she admitted. "Although, I haven't planned that far."

"How far have you planned?"

"Just the initial confrontation and that could get uncomfortable fast."

Truthfully, not a lot of planning went into anything involving Taiga. She was unusually driven by impulse wherever he was involved and she couldn't control it.

"Don't bite off more than you can chew."

Shin exited the inn and gestured them in for the information exchange.

The private meeting was held in a cramped, dank booth where everyone was seated around a short round table and she was sandwiched between Takuto and Taiga. Ideally, the restaurant backdrop should have served as a camouflage, but her grandfather was a hard man to miss when he dwarfed everyone around him and several customers were sneaking glances in their direction as if expecting the Kuronuma male to do something dangerous. Even the waitress appeared nervous when she took everyone's order, though nobody had any real intent of eating.

Mio tried hard to find a comfortable sitting position, one that didn't involve Takuto's elbow digging into her arm or the press of Taiga's leg to hers, but the more she moved the worse the discomfort. She settled on leaning more towards Takuto, though she felt every movement the ex-elder made on her left.

The conversation went on without purpose until after the steaming food platters were served and everyone in earshot returned to their original conversations.

"I partially handled the situation with Tasuku-sama," Shin commented. "I'm certain Mikazuki Gouki expected the reaction."

"You give him too much credit," said Jouji. "He expected a war."

"He'll get his war," added Taiga. "According to the information we've gathered, he's found a way to counter Mt. Hyōga's protection and if there continues to be no movement on your behalf, he'll be marching into your wintry shithole to get what he wants. Mio needs to be moved somewhere far from his notice."

"Mio can't be expected to be on the run forever," replied Shin.

"It'll be a terrible life to live, but what choice do we have?" Jouji asked in a grave tone. "I've spoken to the few men on our side that has had the misfortune of an encounter with the Mikazuki clan and no matter the circumstances, we are at a disadvantage. The little we know about them confirms that we are blind to them."

"The Kuronuma clan has lived on Mt. Hyōga for several decades and hasn't encountered an invasion," Takuto stated. "Mio will remain safest on the mountain with or without threats of an attack."

Mio eyed her grandfather's unchanging face. He wouldn't give up the black water's secret, not even by confirming or denying Jouji's statement. And yet, in that same moment, she was waiting for a split second in which everyone else stopped talking about her as if she wasn't squeezed between two opposing sides of a terrible argument. She'd appreciate it if somebody at least asked for her opinion on the matter and somewhat expected Takuto to pave the way for one, but seeing as he didn't even bother going anywhere near acknowledging her sandwiched form to his left, she decided to wait for convenience's sake.

"Mt. Hyōga is nowhere near impenetrable," Shin said, regarding Takuto before turning to the two Uchiha informants across the booth. "We won't be defenseless if Mikazuki Gouki really wants to invest his time in invading our territory. We'd be pleased to welcome him if he makes it to the main bridge, but Mio won't be running. She's going to stay on Mt. Hyōga and finish her training and we will continue trading information as arranged."

He smiled at Taiga in a way that said he would not be discussing it further.

"The question is what Gouki wants with Mio," started Jouji, expertly changing the subject. "Does he intent to simply finish a job he couldn't, or is there something that Hiryuu wants from Mio?"

She would never have that opportunity she desperately needed.

"Let's say, Gouki wants something he shouldn't and Mio's just the unlucky target and end the discussion," answered Shin peacefully. "You said Gouki's found a way to counter Mt. Hyōga's defenses, can you uncover what this idea of his may be? Perhaps, dig a little deeper and discover where he's getting all his information."

"The orders are already underway," Jouji said. "It will be quite some time before we come across that sort of information. It's hard enough to infiltrate Mikazuki territory than have to confront our own clansmen."

"Yes, that is quite a shame, but things are looking well for the Uchiha clan now that Hikaku and Tajima are dead," Shin said, earning a surprised look from the men across him. "You and Hiryuu are the last remaining powers, well, I'd count the brothers, but you don't."

"Skilled as they are, the majority of the clan split between the more suitable leaders. Madara is too wild, too impulsive, not even Izuna can rein him in—it's a recipe for disaster," said Taiga dismissively.

"Maybe because he's not an animal," Mio interrupted, completely irked. "He's impulsive, but he's not stupid and if he's managed to keep a number of Uchiha following _him_ it's because they found a leader."

"What's this? You've never come to Madara's defense before," he countered, eyebrow raised.

"Maybe because I don't want you talking about him or Izuna."

Shin interjected before Taiga turned the situation into a death match. "Sometimes it's best to be weary of the young ones," he said simply. "Madara has convinced the new king of the Sun Country to wage war against the Senju clan and Izuna can have two dozen Ito shinobi at his disposal with the snap of his fingers. They may have just gotten the support of one-third your men, but they created alliances with two very dangerous clans, ones you couldn't afford fighting against with your numbers. What do you have, Taiga? A shoddy agreement with a man four times your age and an army of shinobi following you out of fear. You have no alliances and the only good thing you've got going is your information network. That is something your enemies lack. Choose your side carefully, Taiga, because that just might be your one good contribution to this internal war."

"Grandfather!" she snapped.

The fury marring Taiga's features was frightening and she expected the worst.

Taiga shocked the entire restaurant when he gathered himself in all his brooding, deadly silence and left the premises without issuing a complaint to her grandfather for the offense.

She stared out the doorway flabbergasted and the air seemed to have thinned. Takuto shuddered at her side and Jouji, very slowly, returned to his seat, his eyes straying over his shoulder following the path his leader took on his way out.

"Well, he took that better than I expected," murmured Shin, picking up his chopsticks to start on his all-meat platter. He shrugged at her exasperated look and merrily enjoyed his dinner.

"Jouji-san, I'm getting out," she said quietly.

Jouji edged out of his seat a second time and she made her way onto her feet.

"Mio," warned Shin.

She garnered enough anger to set off a large-scale explosion while everyone spoke about her as if she weren't in the room. She wanted to participate in the discussion, not for the subject to be her and for later not be required to offer an opinion with the speed everyone rushed through the conversation, one snippy comment after the next. She only had a chance at speaking out in Madara and Izuna's favor because that's the only opening she saw. If she learned anything about anger was that it made her do and say impulsive things, it clouded her judgment—she saw black and white.

Mio slowly turned prepared to disobey her grandfather about the one thing she was certain he didn't want to happen. "I'm not going to stay away from him," she confirmed, heightened voice and all. "I'm going to go out there and look for him and try to talk to him like a civilized person and if you try to stop or _stalk _me, I'll get angry and never speak to you again!"

"Mio, you shouldn't—"

"Stay out of this Takuto!"

She didn't bat an eyelash, she stared straight into her grandfather's strong rose stare and waited for his rebuttal, a list of reasons—anything—but he simply lowered his eyes to his plate and continued eating. He said nothing and she stormed out. If he had said anything, she would have shouted that she was in love with Taiga and that she'd follow him to hell to get a good reaction, but he didn't do any of the things she predicted. He let her go with a silent warning.

Did she want him to stop her? Probably.

Why didn't she say it aloud? She couldn't and bit her lip to keep her eyes from shedding the tears aching in them.

Mio wandered aimlessly in her search for Taiga until she exhausted herself. She slipped into a neighboring farmland decorated in sparse trees and overflowing in wheat that swayed to a warm spring breeze that brought all its surrounding scents to her. The smell of wheat and wet soil relaxed her convoluted emotions into a single knot made of nagging worry and uneasiness.

She reconsidered many of her decisions, specifically those having to do with Sako and Taiga's relationship. She remembered her grandfather suggesting she stay out of it because Sako would become dependent on her and rely that she solved all their problems. If it became that way, she wouldn't deny her. Sako held a special place in her heart. She wanted the woman to be happy, to be happy always, and she didn't understand the extent of it. Why did she care so much about her happiness?

Deep down inside, she knew it'd be prudent to stay away from Taiga, and yet, the first though to cross her mind after Shin insulted him and he left was to follow him. She thought she wanted to talk to him, but about what? Everything Shin said was true.

Did she want to comfort him? Was there some twisted person deep down inside that thought he needed to be consoled? Did she care about him in the same way she did Sako?

Taiga had been nothing short of intrusive in her life. She always wanted him to swallow a bucket of nails and die because he mocked her for many years. He belittled her and made it impossible to breathe comfortably. The only reason she followed him and acted complacent was because Madara asked her to do it. She was to make sure he stayed alive long enough to tell her all the secrets Eijiro entrusted him with. Was she still in that mentality? Was she being complacent because Madara told her?

Mio turned away from the wheat field and started back for the rest town.

"Why are you following me?"

She froze and followed Taiga's voice to a robust tree where he sat among the foliage, perched atop a branch staring down at her with curious eyes. Relief overflowed her senses and confused her more than she liked.

"My grandfather is known for his mouth, it's why he's never invited to important ceremonies," she blurted. "Everything sounded about right, but he should have at least talked about it behind your back."

Taiga snorted. "You think saying it behind my back would make a difference? He'd still be saying it."

"If he had and you never heard, it might've not hurt you," she responded hesitantly.

The smile fell away from his face and he dropped into the shaded area under the tree. "What makes you think that?"

"Because he doesn't have any tact, he just blurts it all out—he's hurt my feelings before and I know I'm doing a lot of things wrong and that I'm making a heap of mistakes, but I don't want to hear it."

"That's immature."

"I'm fifteen. I'm immature," she deadpanned. "I say and do stupid things."

The unexpected silence disconcerted her, but suddenly, Taiga's lips broke into a smile and he begun to laugh. She stared dumbfounded, unsure whether the reaction was good or bad, and that alone served as incentive to further his burst of hysteria. She said nothing remotely funny, but it wasn't the first time Taiga made her feel humiliated and not in the way she expected.

"You're surprisingly hilarious sometimes," he confessed once he quieted down.

"I was making a point," she grumbled.

He called her a brat once, laughed in her face for saying something she thought he wanted to hear. She'd never felt stupider than she did that day and swore she would stay as far that sort of situation if it presented itself a second time. And yet, here she was again after having chased him down to apologize for her grandfather's lack of tact. She had an ulterior motive, one involving the conversation she had with Sako before the town massacre and the nameless man that loved her so intensely he held her so lovingly when they were reunited.

She questioned her presence here.

"You really need to stay out of other people's lives, Mio," he stated. "I'm not as involved in Sako's life as you give me credit for."

"Well, she certainly can't keep a secret from you."

"Sako can't keep a secret to save her life."

She peered up at him and found humor in his expression, a lightness that smoothed his rough features. She always felt he was all sarcasm and that there was always a mask, one he never removed. She never tried to see past his façade, never expected to come to a point where he would show it to her.

He met her eyes and she quickly turned from him. She shouldn't have been staring in the first place.

"She can't," she agreed. "Minako is a secret hoarder, not in your life will she tell you a thing. So they have an interesting balance."

"Yes, but Minako is weak to the right influence."

"Don't look at me."

"She knows who'll keep her secrets."

"Do you worry for them?" she asked hesitantly, avoiding eye contact.

"I leave capable, trustworthy men to care for them and you were near. They were safe. They are safe now. I don't worry for them." He turned away from her, staring on ahead to the darkening horizon beyond the swaying wheat. "I do miss them."

He snuck a glance. "Both of them."

Mio couldn't believe her ears. "Why not tell them?"

"Minako knows," he told her with a secret smile. "She's just good at keeping secrets."

She smiled. She dreaded all talks with Taiga, but this one turned out pleasant. She could talk to him comfortably if he was always like this.

"Why tell me any of this?"

He stood directly in front of her. "Because you make me curious."

She steeled herself, eyeing him as if in confrontation. "Curious about what?"

"What it would be like to be a good opinion in your mind?"

Taiga touched her cheek, rough fingertips drawing a half circle until they fell under her chin. The discomfort returned—a different sort of uneasiness that made her want to hide under something rather than run from it or lash out.

"I don't understand…" she trailed off awkwardly. How could she? In this situation, the only thought running through her head was that she couldn't compare to Sako's beauty or womanliness and that Taiga's interest made absolutely no sense. She convinced herself that this was another of his games. He wanted to get a rise out of her and if her uncomfortable stance was any indication, he was accomplishing exactly that.

She remembered the way Sako was embraced by her lover and the rush of emotion it provoked from the two. She promised to make it a possibility.

"Sako is in love with a man," she whispered, her frightened heart beating a mile a minute in her chest.

"Ushio," he responded, eyes darkening. "A simpleminded man, the son of a merchant."

"I…I'll do anything for her happiness." She struggled to even out her voice and held her hands out to stop him when he slipped closer, towering over her. She was in over her head. She'd taken the plunge into dark waters. There was no leaving this situation. "I want her to be happy. Please, let her be happy."

Taiga leaned down and she imagined he would kiss her, but he didn't. "I'm not invested in Sako's romantic entanglements," he whispered roughly. "I only want a warm body to sleep beside when I drop by for a visit and you're great an' all, but I don't want that from you."

"Then why do you care what other men want with me?" she demanded. She didn't expect hearing what he said would sting. It hurt because she considered it a failure to the promise she made and for several reasons she couldn't understand. "Why do you have to glare at Takuto whenever he's with me?"

"I hate the way men look at you," he answered lowly. "The way they speak of you as they rake their eyes down your body." As he spoke the words, he did the action and she shrunk. "All of them. They surely noticed that the years have been good to you. Every time I see you, you're prettier than the last."

Recalling the way Tasuku absorbed the sight of her like a hungry beast made her shudder in disgust. He spoke of Mikazuki Gouki's interest in her and sexualized it, although, despite knowing his objective was the earrings she now wore, she couldn't shake the notion of it being as Tasuku hinted.

"Takuto is just a friend. There is nothing between us and there won't be—I've decided to be with Izuna."

Taiga bark out a laugh and left her side, shaking his head.

"Don't laugh," she mumbled. "I mean it."

"Oh, I don't doubt it," he remarked.

"Then why are you laughing?"

"Because Madara always gets what he wants."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

"If you don't understand it even after everything I just told you, you're clearly not old enough to make requests of me," he said humorously, he took her firmly by the nape of her neck. He leaned down and whispered against her ear, every hot breath stole one from her lungs. "You're beautiful, Mio, but not enough to tempt me. I want a woman in my bed, not a girl."

In frustration, she grabbed him by the hair and pulled his face away from hers. She leveled her gaze with his. "Then why call my name?"

"Because you'll be mine." He pulled away from her grip. "That's a promise." He kept her hand in his. "In fact, let that be your solution. I leave Sako to her business and on the day that I want you, you'll become mine without complaint. That can be our deal. Oh, and you forget about your future with Izuna, he wouldn't know what to do with you."

Thoughtlessly, she nodded. He could be lying. He could mean it. She didn't know, but in her head, she had done something right.

It went against the future she planned to have with Izuna, but even that was hard to determine after the way she lied to him. By the time, Madara fulfilled his promise to her; Izuna might find another person, one that could love him more than she ever would. Madara was right and she hated it. Why else would she so willingly become another man's woman if she claimed to have wanted a different life with another? It shouldn't have been this easy and it pained her.

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: Part 1 of 3.

The chapter split was inevitable with Summer being the longest season. I'm posting these chapters as I did the last two. I'm still editing the second part and it's way past my bedtime, so I'm going to replenish and come attack it once I'm done. I just want to leave you with this.

I'll also be writing in length about "**The War For Kurata**" as a whole in my LJ once the second part is posted, so you can look forward to some extra commenting I won't do here.

These three chapters in particular are picking up strings from the first couple chapters concerning Mio's parents and unraveling some of the interest in her. (On that note, I'm pretty positive I'll be able to properly express Taiga's surprising interest in Mio in this story, so it won't be featured in the side stories I have planned. All I need is for Kana to come back into the picture to get the ball rolling. Speaking of the side stories, I'm going to wrap up this mini-arc so that I can tackle the first story, which will feature Mio's mother as the POV character and its the real reason why I wanted to do them. It'll answer a lot of questions.)

You know a bit about the artifacts (spheres), more to follow later. Mio jumped the gun proving she still thinks she can fix everything and Taiga mentioned Madara right when none of you expected it. I made it pretty obvious what it means and it could either make some of you happy or other question why I would just throw that in there - don't lose faith. Madara's chapter is going to make it all up, but that doesn't come until the end of this year (I'll try to finish the first chapter of his POV this month). And you have officially seen a different side of Taiga...well, up until that deal.

**YamiKitsuneKami**, **crazyuser**, **Aista**, **Aeryan**, **Loteva**, and **Aries01xD** - thank you for reviewing the previous chapters.

I hope everyone enjoyed this one, and I'll see you in a couple hours!


	21. The War For Kurata 2

Chapter **21** | The War For Kurata II

* * *

><p><strong>The hottest summer brought forth desperation.<strong>

* * *

><p>With the setting sun dyeing setting the mountain's icy sheen ablaze with color, Mio watched Sako occupy Takuto's empty seat beside her with a suspicious, teasing smile that read she had caught them doing something improper. She'd just finished running around the entire mountain donning weighted clothes and heavier weights and sat talking to the medic-in-training, far from inappropriate behavior between friends.<p>

Despite the initial discomfort of the ridiculous combination, she had begun to see results to her grandfather's laborious training. She was quick enough to run alongside other Kuronuma shinobi her age, but not nearly stealthy enough to avoid leaving a trail of footprints on the snow and every morning she reminded herself to step lightly, to mimic the way the other shinobi moved and ingrain it into her head. She listened to their advice and questioned her grandfather about anything she may not understand. She observed training sessions fronted by Enya and Uzuki, the oldest of three female elders as well as his mother, who oversaw the conditioning of the adolescents completing their Strength Training.

Mio wanted to be ready for Strength Training before it invaded her peaceful Heat Training because she was drawing closer to the day her grandfather gave her to assess the situation. She would need to combine the two to finish faster, even though faster meant one complete year, it sure beat the initial three year stretch. Once she completed those, she'd ingest the black water via ritual and start learning the jutsu by copying it with her Sharingan, which in of itself presented a problem she didn't want to address.

Everything fell into place. She could see her own life slowly begin to unfold, wrought with hard work and questionable commitment, but there. She could do as she pleased once she mastered the Kuronuma clan's techniques and she planned to make her grandfather proud by keeping his treasured artifacts out of the wrong hands. She certainly did not understand the true importance of the ten mysterious artifacts, but she resolved to trust in his word.

So when Sako appeared with that knowing smile and glinting, teasing eyes, Mio wanted to run as far into Mt. Hyōga's caves to avoid whatever inquiries she planned to bombard her with, even though she was fully aware it had everything to do with her chummy attitude with Takuto.

"You're pretty friendly with Takuto-san," she said sneakily, as if she had never seen them interact in the same manner several months ago.

"Yeah, we're friends."

"So are you two finally dating?"

The questioned didn't faze her as Sako might have predicted it. _No_, she wanted to say, _because I'm promised to your husband_. "No. We're friends. It was never like that between us. I have someone I like."

That piqued her curiosity. "Someone you like?"

"Izuna."

"Izuna? But you're here and he's somewhere else," strained Sako. "You have so much to do here that you might never see him again, and what about the betrayal? Do you think he'll forgive you for choosing to follow Taiga?"

The betrayal no longer mattered. She lied to him about her feelings. She could have told him then that she wanted to be with him however he wanted them to be together, that she would do anything for him. She would. That is how Madara convinced her to betray Sachiyo, by telling her it was all for Izuna's sake and because he would never say anything like that and lie, she believed him. And now, she was stuck in an unwanted situation because she couldn't think of a different lie to tell. Saying she was in love with Taiga was the first thing that popped into her head and she regretted it, but…

She made a deal with Taiga as well, for Sako's sake. She would become his woman one day and that further dampened her chances of ever seeking happiness with Izuna. She was certain that Izuna would one day become the only man in the world capable of making her happy. He was her first friend and her confidant; he made her feel comfortable enough to drop her guard. She never felt that way with anyone. She could tell him anything. That's what it felt like to be with Izuna. That's the type of life she wanted with another man. Simple and uncomplicated. She wouldn't have to try because she was certain someone like Izuna was easy to love. She already loved him. Maybe not romantically, no, but she loved him in a way that could evolve into it.

"I'll see him again," she hesitated. "Madara promised he would come back for me, so I will see Izuna again."

Sako seemed confused. "Madara?"

Mio smiled, though the memory of it stirred a different emotion in her. Perhaps hope. "He told me I could be with his brother if I wanted, but that I'd need to be patient and wait for him."

"Do you plan to go back to them?" asked Sako dubiously.

"I owe Sachiyo-sama and Izuna an apology," she answered. "I won't ever be okay with betraying them. It hurt me more than I expected it to, more so when I saw the way they looked at me. Sachiyo couldn't even see me. She turned away. Izuna, I hurt him the most, and I hate that I was the reason he felt like that. I want to say sorry, I want to repay them somehow and the only way I can do it now is by finishing my training here. So, you're right, I do have a lot to do here. I have family here, too."

She felt her lips tugging up into a bigger smile as she stared into the wide street and the people leaving their homes to light the torches for the night. "I thought I lost everything when my mother and father died. I thought I could never go back to feeling that close to another person, but I have a grandfather that really watches over me and a great-grandfather I can't figure out. I have cousins and nieces now. I have friends. Everyone here knows who I am. And It's beautiful here. It's cold, but it's beautiful here and I hate that I'm going to have to leave, but my place is out there."

"It's a mountain of giants," agreed Sako, mirroring her emotion, "but it is incredibly beautiful. You have great family here and Okimi-san and Enya-san's twins are to die for. I remember when Minako was that small. She was adorable, but she never let me sleep at night. I was so happy once she turned one and she started sleeping normally."

"I remember," murmured Mio, recalling the nights she spent in the compound listening to Minako screaming throughout the night. It usually took Sako walking around outside with her baby bundled in a heap of blankets before she would quiet down. "She was a nightmare."

Sako laughed, nodding her head in agreement. "She was, she definitely was, which is why I'm glad she's five and I can just tell her to go to sleep and she listens. She really likes it here too. There are so many children here. I didn't expect there to be so many. The Kuronuma clan is so different from the Uchiha clan…sorry, I just never got used to it."

"I won't deny it. In every four Uchiha there is a snake, and you came into our lives when the entire compound was full of them. I can understand why you felt that way, but I'm happy that you can feel safe here."

"Mio!"

Mio turned to the cave entrance from where her grandfather emerged. He gestured her over. It was time for her two-hour bath in the special spring. She stood and turned to Sako, excusing herself.

"Mio."

She stopped.

"I'm sorry for being such a burden in your life," Sako whispered. "I couldn't handle being married to Taiga and I just—I said so many things to you that I wish I could take them back. I really wish for you to find Izuna and that he forgives you and that you live a happy life with him. You shouldn't worry about me anymore. I'll find a way to speak to Taiga and undo this already broken marriage. I'm tired of not speaking up before and leaving it all to you. You're only fifteen and I put such a heavy burden on you."

Her apology was littered in pauses and soft, teary tones. She meant every word.

Mio wished it came earlier, but in reality, she was glad it came at all. She regarded Sako with an easy smile. "It's fine, Sako. I appreciate the apology. Thank you for it."

Sako's beautiful face looked relieved when a new smile appeared on her lips and the tears dried in her eyes. She stared at her with glassy blue eyes, but they glimmered with happiness, and they were okay. Everything felt settled between them. It was as if Mio needed this from her to feel her decision was her own mistake and nothing to do with Sako. She appreciated that bit of the burden lifted.

Ushio, the dimpled man with the huge body, called Sako over. He carried Minako over his shoulders, both of them waved at her to hurry to see the bonfire being lit for the festivities scheduled for that evening in celebration of Musashi's birthday. There would be a feast, wine, games, and dancers. Everyone eagerly awaited the day since the end of the shadow storm and had been planning it for the last three months, prepared to go all out even if it meant having to trade with the Iron Country the following morning.

Mio was a part of the group heading into neutral country alongside Eito, Takuto, Ushio, and his father, Takeo, to restock their food supplies. It normally took two Kuronuma shinobi, one medically oriented, and two merchants to procure fresh produce and meat and every day supplies from a special building in the Iron Country to get through the rough terrain in Kurata, but yesterday, during preparations, Eito insisted on attending and Musashi requested she be his bodyguard. She didn't like the responsibility, but she did want to experience a different season.

Mio walked up to meet Shin by the cave entrance. "How old is Musashi turning?"

"Ninety-nine," he answered with a huge smile.

"Ninety-nine?" She certainly expected over sixty, but not over ninety. She didn't think ninety-nine year olds should look as youthful as her great-grandfather. "You're joking…right?"

"If he dies before he hits triple digits he owes me some serious money," he said seriously.

"Why aren't you joking?"

"Because he really is ninety-nine, Mio," he told her as if it were perfectly normal.

"He's ninety-nine and you're what? Eighty?"

"Hey, do I look eighty to you, young lady?"

"No, you look thirty, but I know you're not, mom was in her late twenties when she died and I'm turning sixteen this year—how old are you?"

He stared her down, mouth drawn into a frown. "You know, you're pretty rude, asking a gentleman his age."

Narrowing her eyes, she called him the one word that would elicit a response from him, "Stalker. Perverted old stalker. That's what you are."

Shin gasped dramatically. "You take that back!"

"I bet you are eighty, you stalker," she accused, pushing past him to enter the cave.

"We have good genes, Mio! This clan has really good genes!"

She wanted to call him out on his bullshit because Takuto's grandmother actually looked like a grandmother. She was a purebred Kuronuma and had stringy white hair, age spots, a wrinkled face, and weathered body. There were a ton of old people on the mountain that had Kuronuma blood in them and the rose-colored eyes to prove it that complained about the damn cold and looked their age. She didn't think this clan had good genes, nor did she believe they discovered some sort of fountain of youth. No, there was something else they weren't telling her and curious as she was, she didn't want to know. The idea of that secret alone rubbed her the wrong way.

.

.

Two hours later, the festivities were on a rise—the laughter was louder, the feast seemed never ending, everyone's cups were full, and the bonfire in the center of the plaza colored the surroundings with a pale orange glow. She joined Musashi to congratulate him on turning ninety-nine and give him the jar of blackberry jam she bought to gift him after overhearing him say he couldn't find that specific brand anywhere. She half expected him to deny the number, but instead, he shocked her by wrapping an arm around her shoulders in gratitude for the gift and said the last thing she expected, "If I make it to triple digits, your grandfather is going to owe me some serious money. Twelve months to go."

He made eye contact with his son in the busiest crowd and repeated himself, "Twelve months, Shinya! Get your wallet ready!"

"You'll be dead in three, old man," Shin shouted, the crowd around him exploding into laughter. "So get ready, Eito, as soon as the mummy croaks, you'll be the new Shugosha and we can have parties all year long."

"Sounds like a plan!" Eito smiled from his position behind one of the wooden tables with a platter of food in his hand.

"What the…hell?" Mio grumbled, loud enough for the irritation to reach Musashi's ears. His laughter seized and she found him staring at her with what looked like understanding as he detached himself from her. They took death lightly, they who had just started to recover after Tasuku sent Mikazuki Gouki and a hoard of mountain bandits to kill several of their civilians.

"Forgive the insensitive joke, Mio," Musashi said, patting her shoulder. "After recent events, this sort of behavior is unacceptable."

She nodded dumbly. She didn't expect an apology. "It's…okay."

He smiled, tucking the jar of blackberry jam into his robes. "How has Heat Training treated you?"

"Good," she answered. "I think."

He pressed the back of his hand to her cheek. "Well, you're certainly warmer than you were when you first arrived last year. That means it is working…not that I doubted it. You're a natural."

"Musashi-san," she started, earning a strange look for her use of honorific. "Sorry, great-grandfather is a mouthful…uhm…I wondered why you are so certain—why you and grandfather are always so certain of these things, of many things. Do you have people all over the world spying for you or…is it…"

Trailing off she found her eyes falling to the sphere that hung from his neck, the grayish smoke turning several shades darker as it spun with the ferocity of a hurricane and she felt compelled to touch it. The glass surface shone against the firelight an ominous red as if the flames set it on fire and before she could stop herself, the pads of her fingertips brushed the cold sphere and she felt a surge of chakra claw up her hand and arm.

It paralyzed her. It strummed fear into her being, a fear that came with an understanding that this sphere was a dangerous item.

A prickle of pain assaulted her earlobe and she snapped out of her paralysis, widened black eyes meet the curious pair staring back at her. She touched her ear, merely touching the pearl of the drop earring filled her with a surge of heated chakra that burned through her chakra pathway system before dissipating within her own flow.

She sucked in an exaggerated breath, feeling her lungs constrict painfully, becoming aware of the dozens of people crowded in the plaza and tried to ease the panic building at the pit of her stomach, the one that made her want to run somewhere safe—somewhere alone, somewhere where it would just be her and her thoughts. She needed a place to breathe.

Yes, she needed to breathe.

Why couldn't she breathe?

Shin appeared before her, taking her by the arms. "Mio, breathe," he urged in desperation. She would if she could, but the more air she tried sucking into her lungs, the more trouble it gave her. He gently patted her cheek, trying to hold her upright when her body would rather be on the ground writhing and she knew she ruined her great-grandfather's celebration. "Come on, Mio, breathe. In and out. Come on. You can do it."

_With bloody fingers twisting in her hair, she sensed Kikyo's body temperature drop with every weakened pound in her chest. The poison dagger sat embedded between her lungs and every drop of blood pooled under her. She could barely speak, she was struggling to breathe, the color was stolen from her face—she was too pale and Mio sat terrified of her, seeing her like this without a stitch of proudness in her beautiful face or that glimmer of hidden joy in her eyes._

_"Breathe, Mio," her mother spoke, and though paralyzed in fear, she obeyed. "Come on, Mio, in and out."_

Why would that memory resurface in her head? Why did it have to torment her now? Was it what he said?

Her throat closed up and she gasped for breath. She couldn't stop the rest of the world from spinning. A sharp cold spread across her back and then a warm hand held her face up so as to focus her hazy gaze where she stared into her grandfather's troubled eyes.

This was embarrassing, she hated herself for making such a spectacle, and then, as the thought crossed her head, she blacked out.

.

.

Mio was greeted by a splitting headache and the navy blue peeking out of the crowned structure that served as a ceiling in her home. She tried sitting up, but a firm hand shot out to push her back into the comfortable pillows stacked behind her. She turned and met Okimi seated directly to her right in the middle of concocting some witch brew in her black cauldron. Around her, images blurred in her periphery and with every sudden movement, she remembered how she got here. She heard voices emerging from beyond the paneled screen now separating the dinner table from where she lay, all three belonging to her relatives.

"I don't recommend moving," Okimi said quietly, removing her hand from her shoulder to stir the boiling pot with a ladle. "Give me a moment, this is nearly done—healing herbs mostly."

She inhaled deeply and slowly exhaled. Everything that occurred felt like a bad dream. She wanted to think it was a nightmare because she didn't like the distress it caused her, she felt drained—emotionally and physically drained as if she could do nothing anymore. It was a strange feeling, one she wouldn't be inclined to go through again. "Okimi, what happened to me?"

Okimi opened her mouth to speak when Shin stepped out from behind the screen.

"You had a bad reaction is all," he answered, crossing his arms over his chest. Behind the screen she could still hear Musashi and Eito whispering.

"Bad reaction to what?"

Okimi moved over with a steaming cup in her hand. She slid one hand under her back and helped her onto a reclined position. "Drink this." She held the strange smelling concoction in front of her lips. "It'll burn like hell and taste worse, but drink it to the end. It'll remedy the imbalance."

She didn't want to, but Shin shot her a stern look and she opened her mouth. Burn like hell was an understatement. Mio lost all sense of taste as soon as the liquid spilled into her mouth and when she swallowed the thick, dark substance, she wanted to gag. Fire trailed down her esophagus and slowly spread to the rest of her body.

She coughed violently, droplets of the substance spewing from her mouth. She cupped a hand over her lips, unable to stop the urge to vomit, but Okimi forced it away.

"Uncle, help."

Shin took her hands in one of his and kept them pinned over the duvet covering her body. Okimi pinched her nose until her lack of oxygen forced her mouth open. She couldn't taste anything, she couldn't feel her tongue, it felt like her entire body was overheating, or maybe it was the fire in her stomach.

"It hurts!" she shouted, thrashing.

"I'm so sorry," Okimi said, distressed.

She tipped the rest of the liquid into her mouth and her protests died out with the fire.

Once released, she let out a strangled groan and curled up on her side unable to contain the tremors pulsing through her. Everything was burning, she could feel her insides throb as if they were melting after the wave of fire swept through, but she didn't want to think about it. It scared her. She didn't like this feeling. Everything hurt. Even crying hurt, but she couldn't stop the tears. All the pain squeezed them out.

"I don't think she was strong enough for this," Okimi stressed worriedly. Her cold hand touched the side of her face and she winced. "This had a completely opposite effect. It doubled her fever and the imbalance is still there. This'll kill her if I don't do something."

Shin carefully tucked the blankets under her body and gathered her into his arms. "I can't afford to send her to the Iron Country without this, no matter the risk, she runs a worse one out there," he stated. "Mikazuki Gouki and Uchiha Konoe won't give up searching for her and if they capture her, Mio needs to be strong enough to get away from them on her own."

He lowered his eyes to her. She could only stare up at him blearily. He took her by the chin. "Listen to me, Mio, you had a bad reaction to the earrings I gave you," he explained in a patient tone. "The rules have always been the same, one artifact to one guardian, because one alone is exhausting. The artifacts are different from any other special item, they're parasitic and mostly feed off chakra, but sometimes, they tap into something else and it causes a reaction."

_One artifact to a guardian_, she repeated. Both earrings were two artifacts. One being sealed within it. Did that alone cause the reaction? _Is he trying to have me killed?_

"The Shugosha alone is the sole person capable of holding the guardianship of more than one artifacts, all ten even, at one time, but every so often there turns out to be one exception," he continued. "Today you touched the Time Sphere and activated it along with your own artifact."

She blinked in disbelief, forehead beaded in sweat. She didn't need to be wrapped in all these blankets; she was sweating enough to soak through her clothes. What did that mean? Activating her great-grandfather's sphere and her own for that matter, she didn't receive instructions. She didn't expect to get a proper explanation until at least a year after she became somewhat proficient in black water techniques at the pace her grandfather had been going and his distinct like of keeping an edge of mystery in her life.

"If you activated, it means you're a candidate to become my father's successor."

_What about Eito?_

"I never expected another candidate after Eito," came Musashi growly voice. He appeared from behind the screen with Eito. "I was right about one thing, though, my bloodline did end with Mio."

Shin must have caught the strange look on her face because he explained. "It dictates an end to a generation and the start of another. Since you've become a candidate for the sphere's succession, you are at the helm of your bloodline. Even if you don't inherit the sphere yourself, your children or grandchildren or great-grandchildren will be the Shugosha of your bloodline until another person emerges."

That sounded like a lot of responsibility.

"There'll be time for explanations once you return from the Iron Country. Until then, you need to sweat this fever out." He touched her face. "It seems your body's adjusting to the concoction. Okimi?"

"Uncle, grandfather, Eito, I'm going to ask the three of you to leave while I help Mio get comfortable for the night," she told them. "I don't think it's a good idea to have her travel after this."

"Mio can decide tomorrow morning," suggested Eito. "I don't mind staying behind so long as she gets better."

"I agree." Shin returned her to the futon, still wrapped in the blankets. "It'll be up to Mio."

Once the three men left, Okimi gathered cold water and raided her belongings for a change of clothes. She helped release her from the thick blankets and exposed her to the indoor chill. The only fire burning was underneath the cauldron by the empty brazier.

It took a lot of effort on Mio's part to seat herself. Her body was still shaking, but when Okimi pressed a damn towel to the side of her face she sighed in relief.

"I wish I could promise that will be the first and last time you drink that, but I can't."

"What was it?" She sounded strange and she was certain she bit her tongue at least twice while formulating words.

"Uncle and grandfather insisted you ingest the black water. I mixed it with herbs to make it go down easier, but it really makes no difference—it's god awful. When it gets into your chakra pathway system you'll be able to mold it and replicated with chakra. Of course, most young children take it once they've completed Heat and Strength Training, never before. It seems like you are adapting well, the fever will only go down a couple notches, so you'll have to get used to the altered temperature, but now you won't have to worry about freezing to death up here. Right now, it'd be like spring to you, but don't think of rushing outside now."

"That was the black water?" she asked, astounded. The thick, tasteless, scorching liquid was the rumored black water and it was unlike anything she might have expected. She lived a three-minute nightmare without respite, a moment where she thought she might melt from the inside out and that there was no peace, not anything that could save her. "Will I…will I be okay?"

Okimi answered with silence and an expression that worried her. She'd never seen the Kuronuma medic at a loss of words.

"Okimi," she called uneasily. She could barely utter the question. "Is it bad?"

The woman lifted her eyes to her, pale eyebrows drawn in disquiet and her mouth set in a tight, reluctant line. Regardless, she spoke. "I won't lie to you, I don't believe this is something that should be kept from you simply because uncle forbade it," she begun, taking the folded towel from her face to soak it in water. She squeezed the excess water out and put it to Mio's neck. "It's unnatural to ingest the concoction when you haven't completed the steps, you can combine certain steps, but you can't skip to the end without repercussions. I'm sure it won't hinder your learning capabilities or your mastering of the jutsu, but you will always be at a risk of imbalance. I've only heard of a similar case occurring to my mother's oldest brother, my mother told me, she says it's not constant and the symptoms only persist for a couple days, many times it goes away overnight."

"I thought this was a bad reaction to the two artifacts."

"It is, and normally when guardians have bad reactions to their spheres, they've already ingested the black water and having one more cup of it mixed with special healing herbs makes sure it doesn't happen a second time. Every one experiences this at one point during the inheritance period: when an artifact is passed from one guardian to the next. The artifact is parasitic so it also needs time to adjust to its next protector and we have the bad reaction when it's acknowledged you properly. Uncle was supposed to give those earrings to you once you finished training. That was the original plan at least, I don't know why he decided to pass them onto you earlier and it's better not to ask, he's got a way of avoiding these topics like a plague."

"So…will the artifact continue forgetting I'm its guardian and have to verify on occasion?" Mio questioned dubiously.

"No, if it forgot you're its guardian it'd reject you and that's never pretty. The imbalance will happen because your body wasn't ready for the black water; you'll only have ninety percent control over it alone. That ten percent can cause the imbalance by preventing you from properly restoring your chakra and if your chakra is being messed with by some foreign agent, the artifact will try to force it out, thus 'causing the imbalance. Honestly, I don't know how much sense this makes. It's hard to explain it, but you'll be fine far longer than you won't be. All you'll need is a special brew, which I'll be happy to make for you, and when tremors or fevers start, you simply take a whole cup full and everything should be back to normal in a couple days."

She nodded. She figured she got the gist of it.

"I prepared extra for you to take with you tomorrow," said Okimi, waving her hand towards the cauldron. "If your fever breaks, you'll only be a tad woozy and shaky tomorrow, but you won't have to worry about your health. Now, let's clean off the sweat and get you into some clean clothes." She reached for her sweater and backed away, giving her a confused look. "Do you mind? I mean, I can step out and you—"

"It's fine, I'm not shy," she said. "I can barely lift my arms. I'm sorry for making you do this."

"It's my job and you're family, you don't need to apologize for anything."

Mio tried to help her along the way, putting some effort in moving to make it easier for Okimi to remove her clothes and clean the sweat off her skin. She paused at the sight of the long scar on her forearm and glanced up, eyes burning in curiosity.

"This one," Okimi began. "How did you get this one?"

"Agility Training. This one, too." She pressed her forefinger on a tiny scar over her wrist. "It cut into my wrist when the war started to spill into the Iron Country."

"I once slipped in the springs' caves and nearly killed myself. I have a scar in the back of my head." Okimi lowered her head, long tendrils of white hair spilling from her shoulders, and pointed to the very back, a few inches above her nape. "Right around here. It helped to have medics for parents."

She straightened out with a smile. "I have a couple more. I should have opted to be a normal medic like my dad instead of following in my mom's footsteps. It would've been easier; I could've been an expert by now. It doesn't matter. I just wanted to be a medic like them."

Mio smiled. "I wanted to be a spy like my parents. Being a shinobi terrified me—it was the fighting, all the wars that took them away for so long and brought them back bloody and bruised," she whispered. "They told me stories about their adventures. I'm sure half of them were lies, but I remember all of them. Dad was the better storyteller, but mom, had the funniest ones like this one time she—"

She stopped herself, the smile on her face disappearing.

Okimi wiped down her whole arm and found another scar over her elbow. "Tell me about this one," she said, moving along. "Did you dislocate it at one point?"

"I was learning chakra control, scaling trees, walking on water, channeling it—everything," she started, appreciating the subject change. If she missed them, it was over. She couldn't miss them when it's been over half a decade. "My mother told me I couldn't rest for the day until I scaled the two highest trees in the forest that surrounded our cottage. I had to scale each twice, to the very top. I had to be able to stand there. I made it halfway to the first before I fell straight through three branches in the adjacent tree, dislocated my elbow and with the jagged edge of one broken branch stabbed deep in my arm."

She remembered the day all too clearly. Kikyo set the bone in place and wrapped it tightly along with the cut. She promised to get someone to treat it right away, but that she needed to try scaling the tree a second time. _"You'll need to be able to do these things even when you're severely wounded. If you can't even do the basics, you won't survive long out there."_ She scaled it a second time, too weakened and panicked to reach the middle. She barely made it a quarter way up before she slipped and slammed face first into the trunk. She lost one of her baby teeth that day and it wasn't even loose. She never wanted to climb another tree again.

"I bet you can see where your mother got the tyrant from," commented Okimi.

"I think grandpa is perfect."

"Did you hear that?" Shin squealed from behind the entrance. "She called me grandpa! She's always been so formal; I didn't think she'd ever call me grandpa! Sometimes she just calls me whatever she wants, mostly Shin—"

"Shut up!" snapped Okimi. "Eito, shut him up!"

"I think he's heard you. Oh—uncle, don't cry. Okimi is always that mean."

"It's not that, it's just such a touching moment. I just—I need to sit down. Don't just stand there, father, find me a seat."

"Get away from me, you're spewing snot everywhere—Shinya, no, I just had these robes made!"

"Do I need to separate you two?" Eito threatened and they silenced. "Come on, let's go to Miko's house and get some porridge for Mio."

"Perfect idea, Eito-kun, Miko makes the best rice porridge on the mountain," Musashi praised. "Lead the way."

Okimi huffed. The medic helped her remove the loose shirt she was wearing and begun to wipe her back off. "The curse of embarrassing relatives. Mt. Hyōga is full of them."

Mio quietly listened.

"Well, you can't hate them, they're a hell of a lot more reliable than other shinobi families out there," the medic continued thoughtfully. "Honestly, I think it'd be a dull life without uncle and grandfather. You should know, if either one of them ever gets out of control, you call Eito, he's a secret weapon."

"I figured after the response they had to his threat."

"You have a scar on your lower back, too," Okimi observed.

"Such is the life of a shinobi," she responded. "I got it during one of my first missions. Someone tried to kill me, I barely escaped the worst of the blow. It wouldn't have scarred if there was a medic around, it wasn't too deep."

"On your shoulder too."

"Kunai, stuck in deep and then Madara pulled it out wrong. He wanted to convince me to be a medic."

"Medics are incredibly handy. They're good to have around, but why didn't you want to be a medic? Is it because of your parents?"

"I wanted to spite Madara," she admitted. "I wanted to honor my parents. I get anxiety around other people's blood and I can't be bothered to help everyone I see hurt. I just wanted to be useful in a different way. A spy is great."

Okimi helped her change into lighter clothes fit for a summer day and tucked her into bed, urging rest. Mio thanked her properly and found herself falling asleep much faster than anticipated and for the first time in years, the dreams were peaceful.

* * *

><p>Mio stirred.<p>

Shin met her eyes in the darkness surrounding them. Too worried about the state of her fever, he found it difficult to sleep and stayed seated by her side to offer his help if she were to need it. She hadn't moved an inch since she fell asleep before he returned with the porridge promised to her and he ended up eating it himself afraid of being wasteful.

"What time is it?" she asked groggily.

"Too late for you to wake, go back to sleep."

He carefully smoothed out the blankets on her and changed the cloth on her forehead for another. Although, she was out of danger and the tremors were gone, her fever hadn't broken.

She yawned and he wanted to die, she was adorable. "Why aren't you asleep?"

"Not sleepy," he lied, smiling. "Wanna hear a story?"

"No."

"It'll be a good one."

"No."

He stopped himself from laughing. "Okay, let me tell you about another artifact, how is that? The faster you learn about these, the better I say."

She nodded with her eyes closed.

"It's a scroll this time," he started. "It's a big one and the inside is empty and it's somewhat cursed. It's the only artifact that's currently outside of Kurata because it can only be handled by its protector and that so happens to be an old hag in the Water Country."

"She's probably younger than you," she accused sleepily.

"Definitely not. She's been the Fate Sphere's guardian before Musashi came into power," he went on. "Rumor has it the old hag's been 'round since the Sage of the Six Paths. So, I don't know why we call her Hag, she's practically a mummy."

She said nothing, so he quietly laughed at his own joke.

"The scroll is very important," he continued. "That's the one that should never fall into the wrong hands. Every action and decision a person makes in life can alter the future, they open different pathways and all those different pathways can create others until there are hundreds—over a thousand decisions leading up to the conclusion of one's life. Hag reads them. She can see a person and tell them the exact decision that will open new pathways or what might close others. She can read them all through to the end. She can see your life in all its outcomes and tell you exactly how it can end."

His granddaughter's breathing was shallow a sure sign she succumbed to sleep. He smiled.

"I hope you never have to meet her," he whispered. "She's a crafty old fox and she'll lie to you. She'll show you the moon and the stars, all the pretty things you want to hear and will sweep the ugly under the rug. She'll steal your money and lie to you. So, Mio, if you ever do meet her, take Uchiha Madara. She won't turn you away if you're together."

He already knew the four pathways of her life. He hoped that there would never come a time where she would need to engage with Hag.

* * *

><p>Shin trudged into Musashi's home. A single oil lantern sat in the center of the round table and its powdery light scattered to its wide surroundings, caught in the gold embroidery of the slowly swaying drapes. Musashi's was the largest yurt in the encampment because it consisted of two joined together by a short wooden passage. The main one consisted of ten seats that aligned the wall and the center table as it was designed to accommodate the ten artifact guardians even though it never truly fulfilled its purpose because there had never been ten guardians at once. Inside, he found Musashi drinking a sweet-smelling tea and Eito standing by a brick fireplace built into the back of the yurt with a bulk of freshly chopped firewood in his arms.<p>

"Morning, uncle," Eito greeted, setting logs inside the hearth. "I didn't think I'd ever see you up this early."

"Today is an important day, I couldn't sleep," Shin answered. He stayed up most of the night watching over Mio.

"Worried for Mio-chan?" asked Musashi, setting out two more cups and pouring hot tea into them.

"You shouldn't. I'll take good care of her off the mountain," assured Eito, using a match to start a fire that swallowed any lingering shadows against the red and gold designs of the thick fabric strung from the lattice frame.

"You are aware of what is being asked of you, yes? Protecting Mio is practically a death trap for any shinobi, no matter how talented," Shin stressed, taking the gestured seat offered to him by his father.

Eito joined them as well. "Fully aware, but that is the job of a Shugosha candidate and I am willing to die for it."

Musashi gave the young man's shoulder a squeeze. "That is very brave of you."

_Bravery?_ Shin wanted to laugh. Perhaps, it was a noble way to go if you were going to die anyway. Eito wouldn't live past another year or two and because of it; he wanted to choose the way he died. He would do it for someone that needed to live and he only had two pathways, allow the successor to die and leave the sphere without a Shugosha to fall into the wrong hands or sacrifice his life to ensure the successor is captured and protect the Shugosha line for many generations to come.

"Yes, it's certainly brave." He took a sip of tea. It was too lemony. _Disgusting_. "I'm leaving the mountain as well."

"What do you plan to do?"

"Kill a man and threaten a woman," he deadpanned.

Musashi's eyes narrowed. "We have laws against killing and acts of violence, Shinya."

"Yeah, I don't care."

"That Chiho was a bad influence on you, you used to be such an agreeable man," his father grumbled.

"An agreeable man doesn't throw a rebellion against his own father," Eito commented. "Chiho-san was never a bad influence. Honestly, I think uncle was the bad influence."

"Blood shall not be shed in the country of Kurata," Shin interjected, uninterested in the course of the current conversation. He didn't want to talk about Chiho; he didn't want to remember how he lost her and how she took Kikyo with her. He didn't want those reminders because he already suffered through them. "That is the only law I honored, but blood was spilled and the Climate Sphere has weakened. The weather only changes with the seasons and it warmed several degrees since the shadow storm ended. The snow will undoubtedly melt in the next two to three years. It would take years for our clan to find another suitable area to play host for the artifact and we don't have that kind of time, neither one of us does."

"Will killing Tasuku solve anything?"

"It'll make me feel better," Shin offered with a shrug. "I want the clan to be prepared to welcome foreign shinobi. He'll make it impossible to accomplish that."

Eito sighed. "Mio-chan won't be happy 'bout this one bit."

"You plan to request an audience with the Senju clan? Do you not think Uchiha Madara is keeping them busy enough?"

"Most definitely, but ours is an alliance they can't afford to give up, the Senju will remove their shinobi from the Sun Country and will come here. Mikazuki Gouki will take advantage of my absence and try to invade. So as a precautionary set up traps around the mountain in the case of an attack and move all non-shinobi underground. Shinobi younger than fifteen as well, I don't want novices on the battlefield."

"You speak as though you believe the Mikazuki will reach our mountain," Musashi commented suspiciously.

"I say it because I know he won't stop until he does."

"You have some twisted logic there, uncle. You'd kill Tasuku out of boredom, but you won't kill Mikazuki out of revenge."

"Oh, I would never give him that. If I wanted to kill him for something, it'd have to be for getting boring or for attempting against Mio's life," Shin admitted. Interesting as Mikazuki Gouki was in terms of mental ability and his decision to follow a fool like Uchiha Hiryuu didn't come close to dwarfing how annoying a villain he was. Once he stopped being interesting, he'd surely have the incentive to kill him. "Never revenge. He'd like it if I fought him with that intent, he'd have something to use against me. Moving on, can I trust you'll make preparations here, father?"

"This better not be another one of your experiments," Musashi threatened.

"Mio's life is in danger; this won't ever be an experiment."

"And yet, you want her to get captured by the enemy?" grumbled Eito in a morbid tone.

"Mio doesn't yet understand the gravity of her position and I think once she fully comprehends, she'll see the world a bit differently."

"This is beautiful and all, but what're you going to do when she finds out you're staging all of this?"

Shin faced his father. "We'll hit that bridge when we get to it." He left his seat. "I'm going to wake Mio, it seems she overslept. You should return to your home, Eito. I don't need anyone spreading lies about you having secret meetings so early in the morning."

"I still need to get my stuff together."

Shin headed for the entrance.

"Shinya," called Musashi.

He turned slowly. "Yes, father."

"Don't make a mess of this."

Shin laughed all the way out the door and down the street until it died in his throat. The last thing he wanted was mistakes. That's why he was going to see that insufferable Hag all the way in the misty shithole she called home. Mio needed to survive the encounter with her aunt and Mikazuki Gouki. She would need to put to use all the years she spent learning to be a spy and he needed to be sure she wouldn't crack under pressure. Only then, he could trust that she would get through whatever hardships life planned to throw her way.

There were so many things he wanted to teach her—about Kuronuma ninjutsu, about life, about the artifacts, about everything. She was still young and prone to teenage stupidity. She had so many emotions she didn't understand and he wished he could convince her they weren't all bad (except the guilt, that was bad), but his objective changed from the moment Mikazuki Gouki allied with Tasuku. He didn't expect it to happen, which means the Hag lied to him and it would be the last time she would dare.

Shin startled Mio awake.

She stared up at him and then looked around strangely. "Did I oversleep?"

He touched her forehead. "Your fever broke," he said, smiling. He took a risk suggesting she drink the black water this early in the stage. He gave her a weakness that would last her until the day she died, but he wanted to think that there was a good reason. She would need the black water to survive any unprecedented encounter she had. He was doing this for her because he was confident it would save her and that the Kikyo incident wouldn't repeat itself. "How do you feel?"

She grabbed the damp rag that had fallen from her head and struggled onto a seat. "I still feel warm."

"That's a discomfort you'll have to grow used to since the black water is going to get into your bloodstream and chakra pathway soon if it hasn't already."

"Okimi said I would never be okay," she began hesitantly and he prepared himself for the words that followed. "Why would you make me drink the concoction if you knew this would happen?"

He humored her with a kind smile. "Nothing will stop you. Imbalance can be remedied with the right medicine and Okimi will always be around to make it for you. You can view this as a weakness now, but one day you'll understand that I did this for your own sake."

"Even giving me the earrings?"

"Definitely giving you the earrings," he assured her with a firm nod. "They look better on you. Now, do you feel well enough to travel to the Iron Country?"

She nodded.

"Okay, come on, go wash your face and brush your teeth and dress in something fit for a heat wave," he told her, moving away from her. "I'm going to inform Eito that he will be going and then I'll make you some breakfast."

He left his home for as long as it took to make it to Eito's home on the other side of the mountain and dillydallied with all the other morning people. He even met up with Ushio and his father to discuss their road plans and assured them they would have nothing to worry about with Takuto, Mio, and Eito accompanying them. They were near done preparing the wagon intended to make the descent down the perilous valleys and wondering how to get it down.

"Just make Eito carry it."

"Carry it?" asked Takeo, Ushio's father, a small man with head full of gray hair.

"Or Takuto. You can ask Takuto to do it, but he's very clumsy on the way down the mountain, so I wouldn't recommend it if you want to keep the wagon." Shin grinned. "Eito should be more than enough."

He decided to head straight home to make breakfast, but stopped himself. "Oh yeah, about Mio, she's a lovely girl, very quiet and very polite, she'll be very obedient—she respects her elders—but you see, she's also fifteen and attracts a lot of unnecessary attention from old perverts. So, can I trust you to, you know, threaten them a little if they dare even look at her wrong?"

"Threaten them, sir?" questioned Ushio.

"Yes, threaten them," he confirmed with a nod. "Mio, she's my grandchild, I mean, would you want old perverts looking at your granddaughter in any way?"

"Leave it to me, Shinya-sama," said the old man. "I will gladly gauge their eyes out if necessary."

Shin clapped him on the shoulder. "Perfect. Well, safe trip."

He prepared a light breakfast for his granddaughter and dug through her pack to make sure everything she needed was stored inside, though she grew angry that he disorganized everything. She didn't eat much because she was too concerned in putting everything back into the right place before Takuto showed up to take her away.

Everyone was already gathered in front of the bridge when he walked there with Mio and Takuto. She turned to him nervously and he reached for the strangely shaped dagger on his belt and offered it to her.

"Why?" she asked, putting her hand on the black handle.

"Extra protection," he offered. "Also, keep your guard up. There's a chance there are Mikazuki shinobi in Kurata."

"Thank you."

"Oh, and this, take this, too," he said quickly and offered her a brown ball covered in tiny scales he procured from inside his robes. "Keep it somewhere warm, okay? And if you need anything from me, knock on it twice."

Mio slid the dagger inside her kimono top over her stomach held in place by the sash tied around her waist where her clothes easily disguised it and she could draw it from its sheath if necessary. She took the round thing from her grandfather; the exterior was tough and felt more like a shell.

"Knock on it twice?" she asked, looking up.

"Twice."

She stowed it away in her bag between an extra sweater and clothes. It was heavier than expected, but she was also carrying the weight bars her grandfather created to run laps around the Iron Country during the time they would spend there. She was also carrying a tightly sealed jug full of that ever-boiling concoction Okimi prepared last night. If her fever rose, she was advised to take another cup full. "I'll take care of Eito."

He nodded. "I know you'll do your best. Take care of yourself and remember you have Kuronuma blood running through your veins. With the black water in there, you would certainly be able to melt metal if you wanted."

She smiled and waved goodbye as their small group started on the bridge pass. Even then, he saw her hesitate before stepping onto the wooden bridge. She clutched the rope tightly and glanced at Eito worriedly. He offered her his hand and she took it, not expecting him to hoist her onto his back and spring forward to use the back of the wagon to jump across the whole bridge. She screamed as soon as she hit the air and clung to him like a lifeline even after they were safely on the other side facing no danger.

Shin tried not to laugh as he brought his hands together to form a hand symbol and his body melted away into black, bubbling tar that slipped through the cracks in the earth beneath the snow.

.

.

Tasuku burst into his gargantuan screen room and yelped at the sight of Shin seated behind his desk with dirt and snow caked boots sitting on his calligraphy. A grown man yelping. How embarrassing.

Three heavily armored guards appeared, among them the commander of Tasuku's laughable army, and each surrounded their master protectively with spears pointed at him. He promised not to laugh. He also told himself he wouldn't lay waste on the castle itself. He came with the sole purpose of making due with a promise he made with Tasuku, not killing him like everyone else thought he would.

"Dismiss them," he said, waving them off. "When have I ever posed a danger to you?"

"Out," Tasuku ordered. "Behind the door, but out."

The three left obediently. Tasuku straightened his robes and stepped closer to the table. "What is it that you want? I called my army out of the towns and have refused an audience with the Mikazuki clan's envoys. I followed your orders. You have no business here."

Shin pulled his feet down and stood. He stepped around the table to meet him eye to eye. "I commend you for making it seem as though you were obeying my orders, but I killed five Mikazuki on my way into the castle and know there are others stationed all around Kurata waiting for the right moment to strike. You have not raised arms against my people, yes, you understood the warning, but tell me, what is it that Mikazuki Gouki promised you? More wealth, an island nation, power? Give me one good reason not to rip your spine out and wear it as a necklace."

Tasuku swallowed hard, bug-eyes popping out of their sockets. He trembled and stumbled over his words. "J-Just give him the girl, Shinya-sama," he hesitated. "She isn't worth what he plans to do to Kurata."

His hand shot up to the lord's throat, his blood boiled. "She is worth a thousand of your pathetic, power-hungry lives," he told him, so silently, so coldly the old man seemed to wither in his grip. "I would faster allow Kurata to be destroyed than have my granddaughter captured by that trash. You wouldn't understand. Family for you has always been an obstacle; why else would you have killed your own nephew? To the Kuronuma clan, family is everything, if even one of our own is endangered by people like you, we band together and get through it."

"By running away!" grated Tasuku, fingers attempting to dig into his captor's hand. "The great Kuronuma clan is a band of cowards! Everyone knows that! You hide away in your secret mountain deep in Kurata instead of going out there to make a name for yourself! You clan turned coward during the first wars, ran as far from the battlefield with their tails between their legs! The great Demon clan is—"

Shin applied pressure to his neck, squeezing until he felt his hand shut his air passage, and smiled at his pleading look. "Well, in every band of cowards there's always a stubborn man and with every stubborn man there's a dangerous man," he said calmly, lifting his other hand to the lord's left eye. He forcibly pressed apart his eyelids, the pads of his fingertips touching the whites of his eye. He laughed as the old man registered just what was about to happen. "And I'm the abomination."

Tasuku opened his mouth and a guttural noise came out from deep in his throat, a cry for help from the guards currently struggling to break down the door. Shin glanced in its direction and watched a thin stream of black water fill the cracks, beginning to harden into them ensuring the door felt like a metal wall.

"W-why?" Tasuku chocked out.

"Honest? I was bored."

Shin pushed in further and Tasuku let out a blood-curling scream.

* * *

><p>Mio jerked around in the direction of Kurata Castle.<p>

Takuto and Eito paused behind her, following her gaze to the snow coated structure.

"Something wrong?" asked Eito.

"I thought I heard a scream," she answered dubiously.

"Maybe the wind?" suggested Takuto with a shrug.

The wintry winds had been howling since they made it onto the wide exit road that would take them onto a crossroads outside Kurata's eternal winter. However, Mio was certain she heard a loud, almost deafening scream coming from that general direction because the sound of it worked down her spine and reminded her of a person in great pain. She wondered if she just imagined it.

Yeah, she probably did with all the wind.

"Yeah," she agreed, turning away. She ran with Takuto and Eito at her back to catch up to Ushio and his father, Takeo, who paused after realizing they lagged behind.

"Something wrong, Mio-sama?" asked Takeo, a friendly man with crinkly gray eyes and a bristly mustache.

"No," she replied, attempting at a pleasant smile.

"Your unconscious smiles are better," Eito whispered to her left.

She startled and he laughed, running to have a seat at the back of the wagon complaining about being tired of walking. "You're just lazy!"

Eito hooted with laughter and held his sides. "You're on to me, Mio-chan!"

"I'll scout ahead. Grandfather told me not to trust that there aren't Mikazuki shinobi in Kurata. You stay here," she ordered, running up astride the wagon. "Eito, keep your eyes open."

"Yes, ma'am."

Mio took the lead and the rest of the trip to the Iron Country was marked by peace. With the proper permission, their group gained entrance through the front gates of the first time. Since her removal from the country, the area returned to being neutral and completely tranquil. She enjoyed the idea of having traveled to the Iron Country without a hitch, but at the same time, something felt wrong and she couldn't quite place it. She tried to ignore the nagging feeling, but she was starting to break out into hives.

"Mio, would you stop scratching your arm, it'll make the itching worse," snapped Takuto.

They were currently standing in a building charged with organizing all Kuronuma trades run by a short old woman with a hook nose and a gray bun on her head. Takeo was currently discussing what was arranged while the woman's three grandsons begun hauling the merchandise into the wide lobby for Ushio to start packing into the wagon and nobody offered to help him.

"Yeah, Mio, stop scratching your arm because it's making me itchy," complained Eito, mirroring her scratching.

"Don't stare right at me," she told him irritably. "And stop standing around, help Ushio-san pack everything into the wagon. We're supposed to go straight back."

"Oi, the itchy girl," called the old woman, leaning over the counter. "You and your rose-eyed friends are shinobi, no?"

Eito snorted and quickly slapped a hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing.

"Yes," she said, trying not to glare at her cousin.

"I need a favor and I'm hoping I can entrust you three with it," the old woman said with a grin. "I'll pay you well if you get it done, though I don't need to."

Mio glanced at her male companions for answers.

"She's right. As part of the agreement we have with the Iron Country, Shin has allowed us to work for them if they need help since they're already doing enough by providing us with top-rate supplies," Takuto explained.

"Takuto and I will go, Eito will stay here."

"No way, I'm going too."

"What about your health?" Takuto demanded.

"What about it?" Eito returned with a joking smile. "It's still there."

"What about Takeo-san and Ushio-san?" asked Mio. "They're supposed to return to the Iron Country immediately."

"Oh, you sweet child, after some rest," announced Takeo, leaning on the counter fanning himself with his hand. "We're not shinobi and all this traveling has taken its toll on us. We planned to rest for a day or two here before taking on the journey."

Mio's ears turned red. She forgot they weren't shinobi. How could she forget that? "Sorry."

"We'll go, just tell us what you need," Takuto interjected, stepping forward.

"Just hunt for these plants, some are harder to find than others, some are poisonous, some are medicinal—don't ask questions, just find them. You might have to go far for some of them, but I'll provide the supplies." As soon as she said that, the oldest of her grandchildren carried out three packed bags and set them at Takuto's feet. "If there is anything you need, feel free to go out and buy it, I'll fund that for you. Here's the list and good luck finding them."

Mio picked up the three bags and hoisted them onto her shoulder. She peered over Takuto's shoulder at the long list of plant names she didn't recognize as well as locations. The farthest locations they were sent to were the Wind and Fire Country. She recognized all the specified towns (and their outskirts) and could easily pinpoint them on a map, but she had no idea what any of those plants looked like.

"Oh, I forgot to add them, but some rosemary and lavender as well," added the old woman, pulling a brown sack full of coins from under her desk. "The town's fresh out of those, so you should probably visit a good merchant town if you know any and buy in bulk. This should be enough for all your trouble. Once you return, I'll pay you the rest. Meanwhile, we'll be taking good care of your friends here, so don't keep 'em waiting."

"If you expect us to go to go as far as the Fire Country while making stops in these towns, it'll take weeks to get back," said Mio. "And wouldn't it be better to just buy everything here in bulk from merchant towns."

"Pick 'em, buy 'em, it don't matter as long as you bring 'em." The old woman gave an unconcerned shrug. "Some I can assure you, you won't find with any seller."

Mio looked at Takuto. "I only know one merchant town guaranteed to be in stock at this time of year for all things here and it'll take days to get there."

"One of us could go back to Kurata and request for help," Eito suggested. "Getting this back as quickly as possible is priority and if all three of us are gone, who'll help Takeo-san and Ushio-san take this."

"The question is which one of us goes?" Takuto questioned.

"Well, it can't be Mio, if there's Mikazuki shinobi on the mountain and they see her traveling alone, they won't hesitate to attack her," reasoned Eito. "And it can't be me because I have to stick to Mio at all times…so?"

"But you're not physically fit to make this trip," Mio said firmly. "What happens if you have an attack?"

"Apart from the obvious?" he toyed, earning himself a glare. "Well, it won't matter if I rest when I need to and move at a good pace. Besides, I'm stronger than two of you both put together, so it's not like I'll be dragging you down in that department. I need to be used, Mio, so use me."

Mio sighed. "I don't know any of the plant names on the list."

"I know all of them," Eito replied with a victorious smile. "I wanted to be a medic until they told me I couldn't so I read up on a bunch of plants and whatnot as a hobby. I think they should have let me be a medic anyway; it would have been so ironic. Ha!"

"I'll go, but I'll be catching up later," stated Takuto. "Tell me where you plan on going, I'll meet you there."

Mio removed one of the bags from her shoulder and handed it to him, giving him the exact location by word of mouth. She hoped he remembered as well as she did, but to be safe, she asked the old lady to cough up a map so she could mark the quickest route since he was practically a stranger to the world outside Kurata. She asked him to be quick for Eito's sake. She wasn't sure she could handle him alone, especially when she was recovering from the black water ingestion and another imbalance was prone to happen a couple days after the initial bad reaction. She didn't have any trouble the last couple of days, so maybe that's what had her breaking out into hives and not that nagging feeling that told her something was wrong.

"We're going to make a stop at my old home," Mio announced as they headed out the gate, "where my parents lived."

"Going to reminisce?" asked Eito.

"I hid a treasure box underneath my bed," she told him. "I filled it with objects that are very important to me and I want to get it back."

"Why didn't you take it with you from the start?"

"I was afraid about what it meant if I did."

Eito arched an eyebrow.

She never went back for her treasures; she hadn't made a mention of them since she told Madara that time so long ago. She didn't think there would ever be a time when she would return to the cottage after everything that ensued. She imagined the cottage might be withered away by the time she found the courage to go, but she spent nearly as many birthdays without her parents than she had with them.

It was now or never.

* * *

><p>Mio succumbed to nostalgia because the objective led them to the Fire Country and a peace that could only be likened to the Uchiha clan's absence. However, there were still battles where the Senju clan was concerned and on their way through a ghost town, one remaining citizen informed her that several clans were periodically hired to wage war against the Senju and Uchiha clan in an attempt to stop the ever-growing tension between them that stemmed from an uprising in the Sun Country. The man mentioned Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama in the same sentence and with a wise nod, claimed that they would be names known throughout the world if the war ever came to an end. And then he went on.<p>

"Oh, yes, their brothers are also quite the famous pair." She perked at the idea of hearing about Izuna and Eito noticed. "Apparently, they're in the middle of a fight. You should avoid the swamplands…that's where it's harshest. Ah, if only the Uchiha clan and Senju clan stopped trying to kill each other, there may be some peace in this world."

Nobuo entertained them with all sorts of gossip he's heard from his travel to the merchant town and convinced them to stay a couple days with him in his ghost town.

"Of course, I think what should really be the focus is the Kuronuma clan," he said one evening over beer and crackers in his tavern.

"Oh?" Eito leaned in completely engrossed. "Isn't that the weird mountain clan from Kurata?"

The man nodded in affirmation. "You've heard of Kurata, eh? Beyond the Earth Country."

Mio decided to play along. Sometimes gossip turned out to be facts in disguise. "Is that the place that's supposedly stuck in one season?"

"Yes, always winter, and there's a rumor the Kuronuma clan are all part bear."

Eito giggled, slapping the wooden table. "Part bear? That's ridiculous."

She figured he had one drink too many. "But there are a lot of rumors about them going around. They say they're really cannibals and that they devour anyone that dares venture onto their mountain and that they make their houses out of people's bones."

"What about the rumor about them being a clan of snow giants?" started Eito, pausing to take a big gulp from his beer. "They say that all the snow is their doing, almost like they have a Kekkei Genkai that gives them the ability to make snow."

"Nonsense," the old man snapped. "They're definitely part bear. Someone claims to have seen one turn into a bear."

"No way!"

Transformation Jutsu might have helped, but Eito was definitely swimming in the sea of alcohol alongside their older companion.

"Yes! Just turned into a bear, right in front of him. This same person said he watched the Kuronuma destroy a house with his bare hands."

Anyone could do that with the right chakra control. She made an attempt to seem shocked.

"The rumor goes that they alone are as strong as a bear," the old man continued with a grin. "But that aint even it. The Kuronuma clan have special objects on their side, weapons I hear that can do very strange things. Everyone's talking about 'em, but no one's brave enough to go up there to prove it. Don't you think it's weird that they're up there with special weapons instead of here using them against everyone else? Don't you think they could defeat all shinobi clans? Maybe they would create a dictatorship?"

No weapons as far as Shin told her, mostly a dragon's eye, Musashi's sphere, the earrings, a cup, a giant, cursed scroll and a calligraphy brush. She didn't know what the sealed artifact looked like, so she didn't even try.

"Maybe they're protecting them from everyone else and that's why they don't want to get off their mountain," answered Mio, sloshing the liquid in her glass. She didn't want to drink anymore, but she didn't want to be rude about leaving half of it behind. _Maybe if I just finish it in one gulp… _She braced herself for it and drank it all.

"You really think the other shinobi clans should be weary of the Kuronuma clan?" asked Eito, reaching for the pitcher to pour himself more beer.

Mio watched Eito fill her glass as well. She wouldn't get out of this without a headache. She could tell him she didn't want to drink it, but what if he called her out on being rude? Isn't that what her father used to say? _"You always finish everything in your cup. If someone poured it for you, you finish it."_

"Definitely."

The conversation veered off quickly and yet, she couldn't believe there were actual rumors that the Kuronuma clan was hoarding secret weapons with special abilities. It was a surprise why no one bothered invading, but she remembered the terrible weather conditions. She was already used to it after being there for over half a year, but anyone else would have perished. Then again, she had black water in her system now, which meant a warmer body temperature and the heat in the Fire Country did her no favors.

Mio drank three full cups before the talk ceased when someone entered the tavern. She was concentrating on her fourth glass.

"Uhm, excuse me, is this town as abandoned as it looks?" came a young woman's wondrous tone.

Mio didn't have to look in her direction to know the young woman was smiling or that she was accompanied by four others, two adults and two others around her age—all shinobi. Knowing this made her feel happy that the alcohol hadn't messed with her as much as she thought.

Nobuo dragged his seat back to stand, a bit wobbly on his feet. "Not with me 'round. I've got food and shelter for a cheap price. Yer shinobi an' I want no trouble, so if you'd be so kind as to give me yer word not to bring any trouble round these parts, I'll treat you to a good meal. This town's seen enough."

"Two Uchiha, one Ito, one Motou, and a civilian," murmured Eito at her side, pouring more beer into her cup while peering over her head.

She forced his hood over his head. "We're getting out once they find their seats. We'll apologize to Nobuo for being unable to stay and thank him for the hospitality," she informed him. "We'll camp out in the forest."

"But what about my back?" he complained.

"What about your back?"

The group of five stepped past her periphery as she brought the drink to her lips. One civilian, a girl that resembled a mouse pursued a slightly older girl wearing embroidered robes with a sunburst insignia on the back. An Ito shinobi followed close behind them, the knot that served as its clan symbol was sewn into the sleeve of his shirt. The Uchiha to appear passed by together and she felt someone touch a strand of hair, flipping it off her shoulder.

She opened her mouth to shout at the one responsible, but he didn't bother to stop. He walked on ahead, spikey black hair that fell down to his back, and strapped to his back was a gunbai, a giant wooden fan that stood as tall as he did.

She tipped her head back and drank the rest of her beer. Madara.

He took a seat in the back where he was easily staring in her direction and in an adjacent table, the other Uchiha accompanying him turned out to be Katsura, the sturdily built man that once served Tajima faithfully. Katsura caught her staring and opened his mouth, but Madara waved his hand to silence him as old man Nobuo worked his way around the table serving drinks.

She finally recognized the shitty Sun Country medic, Motou Yayoi, was among them. Nobody looked battle worn, rather they seemed to have been traveling a great deal and were in need of the rest.

"Someone you know?" asked Eito curiously, hiding a slur.

"Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Katsura, Motou Yayoi, her assistant, Mika, and Ito Kaname," she murmured, unsure how she knew those last two names. "I might be lying about those last two."

"Should we get going?"

"Can you travel?"

"I might fall off some tree branches, but I'll make it out alive."

"Should I carry you?"

"Yes, yes, Mio, carry me." Eito got out of his seat and handed his luggage to her. "Here, start right now."

Mio stood and heard a chair clatter from the other side of the tavern.

"Katsura!"

A dark blur appeared in her periphery, faster than she could react. Katsura had lunged himself at her, but shortly after making it an inch close to her, Eito grabbed him by the neck and slammed him to the ground.

The wooden flooring split under his body and he coughed blood. Eito put his foot to his throat, about to lean in threatening when Madara zipped towards her charge, Mio's body moved on her own and the resulting standoff elicited a yelp from the Sun Country natives.

Madara held his gunbai to Eito's neck and she pressed her dagger's cold steel to his jugular. The Ito shinobi remained standing in the distance, but he managed to catch her weaponless hand with nearly invisible string that sliced her skin like a skilled knife.

"Put the dagger away, Mio," Madara ordered with a menacing growl.

"Deactivate your Sharingan, it won't work on him."

"It'll work on you."

"I'm almost scared," Eito commented, jittery.

"Shut up! This is your damn fault!" she shouted.

"No, it's this assholes fault for attacking you," grumbled Eito, grinding his foot into Katsura's neck. "Mio's a lady. You shouldn't attack a lady."

"She's a fucking traitor!" Katsura spat. "Traitors are treated with death—argh!"

Nobuo exited the kitchen, shocked by the sight. "I told you no trouble! An' you've gone and messed with my guests, too!"

"They're not guests, they're shinobi as well," Yayoi blurted. "That girl's an Uchiha and the other one's a Kuronuma!"

"Shut up, you shitty medic!"

"Shut up, you shitty medic!"

Mio and Madara found themselves glaring at one another for the simultaneous outburst.

In one swift movement Madara knocked the dagger from her hand and it flew across the building until it stabbed into the wall behind the Ito shinobi, who yanked hard on his strings.

She cursed as her body was hurled in the air. She flipped, landing on the side of the wall and watched Madara swing his gunbai hard enough to send Eito crashing through the entrance.

"Damnit Madara!"

She uncorked her dagger before the Ito jerked the strings towards the ground. The fine string had cut into her wrist and the blood that poured from the tiny wound burned her constraint until it snapped. She righted her body in order to land on her feet and ducked under Katsura's sword, stabbing his thigh as she rolled over the ground.

"You little—"

Mio sprang outside with the Ito shinobi and Katsura in hot pursuit and spotted Eito midair with a huge gash running from his shoulder to his stomach as a great fireball incinerated a path towards him.

"Madara!"

Black, spiraling towers sprang from the ear, sizzling into the dark clouds. Many appeared beneath the fireball and snuffed its light. Soon as they did, Eito appeared to be standing behind them all and forming a single hand gesture the towers slipped into the dark craters that brought them to the surface.

She spotted Madara tossing his broken gunbai aside and pointing his sword at him.

"Mio, your dagger!" Eito commanded.

Nobody planned to listen to her; the least she could do was provide Eito with protection since she couldn't go up against Madara. She threw her dagger at him, but didn't see if he caught it because she ducked under one attack and sidestepped for another. She jumped onto the nearest rooftop, glancing in Eito's direction feeling like a complete failure for being unable to protect him. This shouldn't have happened in the first place. It might have been avoided if Madara would have been faster than Eito when it came to stopping Katsura from murdering her. Why the hell were they all fighting each other anyway? Well, she knew exactly why the Ito shinobi and Katsura were trying to kill her, but not Madara's determination to fight her cousin.

Was this because he was angry with the Kuronuma clan for defeating him the first time they were in Kurata? Was this his way of proving he could defeat one? That was it. It had Madara written all over it and now he was clashing swords with the clan's most important person, second only to Musashi.

She needed to think of a way to put an end to this, but first—

Katsura came at her from the left and she prepared to spring into the next rooftop when she noticed the tightly woven wire on her legs preventing her from moving. She took the full brunt of Katsura's attack, the cold metal biting into her skin and stared hazily at the splatter of blood that fell across his face and shoulder before he let out a piercing yell.

Mio clenched her jaw and slumped forward, looking up at the Uchiha trying to stop the burn of her blood mixed with the black water. She smeared the blood on the strings and broke their hold by kicking her feet, but her palms pinked and started to annoy her with a slow burn. She ignored the steady pain and reached to grab Katsura by the arm, catching him off guard.

"What the hell is this?" he demanded.

She forced his arm back and slammed him face first into the rooftop where his struggle ended, but hers began as the blood begun to soak into her clothes and irritate her skin with prickling reminders of her unfinished training. She searched the surrounding area for the Ito shinobi, but found silence apart from the sound of clashing swords.

Mio took a step forward and felt her foot stiffen. She lost her footing and fell straight into the ground. She could feel her temperature rising and the black water pouring from her wound marking her skin a bright red.

"Eito!" she screamed with her last breath. She opened her mouth to call for him a second time, but her throat closed up and rushing to her was a darkness she didn't miss.

* * *

><p>"Who the fuck are you?"<p>

"Please remove the incompetent medic from my sight."

"I'm not incompetent!"

"Nearly killing a patient is synonymous with incompetent! Now, get out before I kick you out."

"Yayoi, get out, now."

"Fine!"

A door slammed open and closed.

"Can I go? I really need to pee again."

"Just go, Eito-sama."

"Okay, awesome."

Mio opened her eyes. The sunlight flooding into the room was nearly blinding and she made out blurred shapes standing around her. Takuto was closest to her and near the window, facing out, was Madara.

"Can you swallow?" asked Takuto, holding a cup in his hands.

She nodded, though she wished she hadn't because she knew what was in the cup. She didn't have a choice and decided to drink it fast, but the burn was as unbearable as it was the first time she consumed it and the effects were that much harsher.

She almost gagged. "It tastes bad."

"That's an understatement and you know it," he said with a bright smile. "Now, get comfortable, you need to break that fever before you plan to move on."

"How are Takeo-san and Ushio-san?"

"Enya-sama is escorting them, but I've got some news about Tasuku-sama," he said wearily.

Madara turned, having recognized the name.

Mio grimaced at the sight of him as Takuto pulled the covers up to her neck. "What's happened?"

"Tasuku-sama's been attacked. They said a very dangerous man broke into the castle, killed several of his guards and gauged his eyes out."

She tried to move and flinched. "Gauged his eyes out?"

"Yeah, and tried to force him to eat them."

That reminded her of the threat her grandfather made when Tasuku leered at her. "Where's Shin?"

"Nobody knows. He tends to disappear when people need him."

"If you're talking about your creepy grandfather, he stalked me out of the Lightning Country's border," Madara interrupted and he showed them a calligraphy brush. "He dumped this on me and told me not to lose it, then left to take care of business in the Water Country."

_A dragon's eye, a cup, Musashi's sphere, the earrings, the cursed scroll, and a calligraphy brush—six of ten special artifacts entrusted to the Kuronuma to protect._ The words rang clearly in her head and an idea sprung in there to keep them company.

"How many artifacts does my grandfather have?" she asked.

"Only three, you don't think that's—"

Takuto glimpsed at the calligraphy brush in Madara's outstretched hand suspiciously when Eito walked in, saw it and then looked at Madara in disappointment.

"For shame, Uchiha Madara, you almost killed two Shugosha candidates in one night," he blurted, shaking his head. "The Nature Sphere is wasted on you."

_So it is the artifact._

"What's that supposed to mean?" Madara demanded, staring at her like she was the only person in the room.

"My grandfather just involved you in something very stupid and I would apologize for it, but you nearly killed the Shugosha candidate I'm supposed to be protecting," Mio grumbled.

"He shouldn't have attacked Katsura," Madara sneered.

"He shouldn't have attacked Mio," Eito shot back. "We Shugosha candidates are supposed to stand together."

"I told him to stand down."

"Oh, he listened pretty well."

"Well, he's dead now, get over it!"

Mio forced herself into a seat, bewildered by the news. "Katsura's dead?"

"So is Ito Kaname," Madara added in an accusatory tone.

"Who killed them?" she asked and regretted it instantly.

"Mio, Uchiha Katsura suffered terrible burns," Takuto replied. "They weren't enough to kill him, but combined with the organ damage he received from a kunai being thrust in his torso made all the difference. As for Ito Kaname, he had his jugular severed, bled out in the neighboring forest. Don't you remember any of this?"

"Wait? You think I did it?" she demanded from Madara. "Is that why you're looking at me like that?"

"You were fighting them and I don't know what you're capable of."

"He nearly cut me in half, it's his stupid fault for getting all that blood on him," she retorted. "I never stabbed him or that Ito Kaname, him especially, he was there one moment…I could sense him and then he disappeared. I knocked Katsura unconscious. I ended up falling out of a rooftop shortly after."

"Someone set you up," Takuto stated, then grabbed her reddened arm. "That's why you have hives. You've known all along and you're ignoring it and unconsciously stressing over it."

"Nobody gets hives from that."

"You do, apparently."

"She does," Madara agreed.

"Shouldn't we be worried about who really killed your friends?" she shot back.

Madara turned to Eito, set on spiting her. "She's also violently allergic to grapes."

Eito laughed. "Mio, that's adorable. I mean, who's allergic to grapes?"

"That's what I said."

Takuto pushed her back down. "Can everyone just get out? Mio needs to rest."

Madara lifted the calligraphy brush pinched between his thumb and forefinger. "What am I supposed to do with this useless thing?"

"Not lose it," Eito told him before leaving the room.

"Okay, I'm going to," Takuto said, stepping out after him.

"Madara."

He stopped.

"We need to talk."

Madara shut the door and stepped closer to her. She reached out for the calligraphy brush and he allowed her to take it. "What is it?"

"Depends on whether my grandfather asked you to protect it or not," she answered, turning it in her hand and feeling a strange resonance with her own artifact. If Eito hadn't confirmed it, this _feeling _of hers did. She was starting to hate the artifacts.

"He just asked me not to lose it."

"Don't." She returned it to him. "It's important that you don't and that nobody steals it from you."

"Who's going to want an old calligraphy brush?" he asked, putting it away.

"People."

"And I'm supposed to trust you in this?"

"Unfalteringly."

"Why aren't you in Kurata?"

"Why aren't you in the Sun Country?"

"I'm on my way back."

"Why did you leave?"

"Are you supposed to be out here? The last I heard you were chased out of the Iron Country by Mikazuki Gouki." He turned it around on her, which made her that much more suspicious about him hiding something from her.

"Don't worry about him. He's in Kurata trying to chase the Kuronuma clan out of Mt. Hyōga. I'm out here doing favors for an old lady while simultaneously protecting my cousin, Eito."

"It doesn't seem he needs any protection."

"He's a special case, you wouldn't understand." Mio flopped onto her side. "I'm going to sleep."

"You're not going to ask about Izuna?" he asked suddenly.

"Can I?"

"He's fine."

She settled for that.

Madara left the room quietly, but outside in the hallway she could hear him running into the Motou girl, who was blabbering again. She didn't catch anything being said except Madara's final words.

"We're leaving."

She closed her eyes and tried to relax.

.

.

A cold hand on her mouth shook her awake and she stared deep into the cold black eyes that could only belong to her aunt, Uchiha Konoe. Everything clicked into place, from the uneasiness that wrapped its arms around her in the guise of wintry gales in Kurata and the overbearing intuition telling her to be weary of her surroundings outside of it.

"Caught you, little mouse."

She wished it could have been a nightmare, but an unnatural glow lighting up the room and the sound of a struggle outside told her otherwise. She was too weak to fight, her body suffering from the imbalance and raked in tremors. The malicious glean in her aunt's eyes unnerved her.

Outside, she heard Eito's agonizing scream and it rattled her.

"Eito-sama!" cried Takuto shortly after something detonated.

She forced her aunt's hand from her mouth unable to stop her shaking. Eito's safety was a hundred times more important than her own. "I'll go quietly," she started pleadingly. "Call them off. Don't hurt them. I'll tell you anything. I'll do anything."

She hated to grovel, but she promised to take care of Eito. She wouldn't fail him today.

Konoe dragged her out of the bed. "Where's your luggage?"

Mio stumbled forward and caught herself on a nearby wall. She pointed to the three bags she had been carrying, each placed by the entrance.

With a kunai pointed at her and the obvious threat hanging between them, Konoe grabbed all three of her backs and hoisted them all in one shoulder before forcing her through the door, her long thin fingers wound tightly over her nape.

Her heart clenched as the night's wind swept across her cheeks. Eito was on the ground, pale hair dyed red and his eyes searching until they found her. He smiled, a knowing, bitter smile.

Mio seized Konoe's wrist and tried to flip her onto her back, but her aunt was quick on the offensive.

Konoe kicked her legs, dropping her onto her knees. She grabbed a handful of her hair and forced her head back. It felt like her scalp was on fire.

"Don't kill him," she begged.

There was a sadistic glimmer in her aunt's eyes.

Mio realized she made a mistake. With her heart drumming in her chest, she watched a malicious smile spread across Konoe's lips seconds before they ordered the death sentence.

"Kill the white haired brat. The beat the other one bloody. We'll need a messenger to go tell Shinya the news."

Eito didn't struggle when one Mikazuki shinobi exposed his neck and his smile didn't face when the kunai spilled his blood. He never broke eye contact with her, not even as his life fell away in large quantities.

She failed her clan. Musashi's successor died because she specifically pleaded for his life to a woman unworthy of being called family. She knew better than to do or say stupid things. She spent all her life knowing she should never expose her weaknesses so easily, but she did. She did and now Eito was dead.

"Eito!" she called with a broken voice. "Eito!"

Konoe yanked her onto her feet and with one swift jab of her elbow to her head, Mio lost consciousness before she could shed the first tear.

* * *

><p>Mio gasped, woken by a bucket of ice water in the middle of a dank prison made of gray walls. She lifted her eyes to person towering over her as she struggled to sit with her arms bound behind her back, cuffs and chains around her wrists, the light beyond the metal door glowed orange against the wall. She welcomed a new burst of pain when the tin bucket was smashed against her skull and her body collapsed. She bit back the scream. She swallowed her emotions. She was a prisoner and all her secrets were dead with what little hope she had of leaving Mikazuki Gouki's grip.<p>

Her vision cleared. Konoe stood over her once again, smirking delightfully.

"Breakfast time," Konoe announced and tipped the bowl she held in her hand over her head. "I hope you like it. I made it just for you."

Steaming soup fell over the side of her face. She failed to muffle the agonized scream that ripped through her throat. Freshly boiled, the liquid burned every inch of skin it fell upon them as she was battered by hot chunks of vegetables and meat.

Konoe let the bowl fall on her head; the edge nicked her right above her eyebrow with a jagged end that cut through before clattering above her head. With a cruel laugh, she kicked her tremulous body over and stepped on her torso.

She gasped, feeling her foot applying pressure on her ribcage.

"I don't know what Mikazuki Gouki wants with trash like you," Konoe spat. "I don't care what he plans to do with you so long as I don't have to keep following that asshole's orders. So be a good prisoner and tell him all he needs to know."

She kicked her for good measure.

The droplets of blood slithering from the tiny cut above her eyebrow reminded her that the black water burned several degrees past boiling point and she drank a whole cup of it. Whatever happened here wouldn't be as bad as her grandfather's idea of training. This wouldn't turn into another nightmare in her life.

She'd survive this. No matter how terrified she was. She promised herself to survive it.

Konoe slammed the door behind her, shutting her away in darkness.

The smile on Eito's face resurfaced in her mind and the scene to follow replayed endlessly, a slow torture that no physical pain could ever amount to. She curled on her side and forced the tears from her eyes.

Konoe won if she saw her cry.

However, her heart felt as though it had gone through a grinder—there were only chunks of it left and yet, she was still alive.

* * *

><p>Sleep was unattainable. She closed her eyes reminded of how easily it had been for that Mikazuki shinobi to snuff out Eito's life. She wondered if Eito had reached his limit. He fought a harder battle against Madara, but she never bothered to ask the result of it since they looked healed when she woke.<p>

She thought of Takuto on the ground already beaten bloody and unable to move. She had a thousand different scenes unfolding in her head, each worse than the last. In the long hours she spent within her cell, she thought of everything but herself.

She promised to keep a clear head to think of a plan. She couldn't think without being reminded. Being reminded meant recalling Konoe's promise that Mikazuki Gouki was already on his way to her. She didn't want to think of what would happen then, to her or the earrings, but she was starting to feel the weight of the responsibility shift on the scale, outweighing her idealistic interpretation of the duty. She believed she would spend enough time in Kurata training that once she left, if she ever did, she would be strong enough to pick up the slack.

She regretted not thinking ahead, not wondering about failures.

Mio's eyes wandered to the corner of her prison. Konoe left all her things there. She confiscated her weapons so they served as meager decoration in an otherwise dull surrounding.

_"Keep it somewhere warm, okay? And if you need anything from me, knock on it twice."_

She dragged her body onto a seat as the image of the scaly brown ball came to her with the sight of her belongings. She watched her aunt remove all her knives and anything that could be used as a weapon, but she didn't take the ball.

Slowly and very quietly, Mio pushed herself to stand, the weight of fresh bruises and ailing muscles made the struggle, but she managed to wobble to her things. She dropped down into a seat, her back facing her things and with a quick jerk of the chains binding her hands together, she grabbed hold of the inner flap of the bag. It should be right between her clothes.

She searched clumsily, feeling only the scratchy fabric against her trampled fingers when she discovered it, jostled further into the bag. She didn't have the energy to drag it out so she tried knocking it through the bottom of the bag against the hard ground.

Two solid _thunks_ greeted her ears, followed by movement in her hand, and a squeak. She scrambled away and observed, horrified, as her bag jostled from side to side before something small poked its head out from between the folded clothes. It stared at her with beady eyes, taking in the sight of her and then sniffed the air.

She swallowed thickly.

"Yer not Shinya, but ya smell like him."

It talked. Its voice low and nonthreatening with a feminine touch.

The animal squeezed out the rest of the way.

Armadillo. It was an armadillo. Her creepy grandfather gave her a talking armadillo to ask for help.

"Ya plan ta sit there an' stare all day, eh? Or are ya telling me why ya smell like Shinya."

"He's my grandfather."

"Ew."

The strange armadillo rolled into its defensive shell and traveled closer to her before unraveling again, its tiny nails clicking against the ground.

"Didn't think he had it in 'im to procreate."

"Can you help me?" she asked hesitantly, ignoring the comment.

It stared right at her with those beady, judging eyes. "Probably not," it uttered, yawned and rolled back into a ball, making its way back to the warmth between her clothes. "Good luck not dying, kiddo."

She thought of kicking the damn thing to see if it would help that way, but the door opened and Konoe reentered with a new weapon to try out on her.

Mio resigned herself to the torture.

* * *

><p>Konoe gave no reason why she harmed her on a daily basis. It didn't seem to be Mikazuki Gouki's order, but he didn't seem to care what happened to her so long as she was captured and delivered alive by the time he decided to make an appearance. Her aunt took advantage of that fact and exercised the power she held over her. She was a professional. Torture was Konoe's forte, so she was good at it.<p>

The imbalance symptoms persisted in the passing days, her fever rising to a dangerous degree and her stomach begun aching with hunger pains. She tried keeping track of the time, even went as far as asking the useless armadillo her grandfather gave her, but there was no way of telling how long she had spent trapped in her little cage. She was filthy. The bruises on her were reddish purple, some of the hits had broken the skin and the black water infused blood crusted over the shallow cuts.

She received deeper cuts on her back, the deadly puncture of the knife carving across her shoulder blade. Raking against the skin, over and over again, until every line drew a new character and every new character birthed a new insult. Once the slow carving came to an end, she had a second of respite, listening to the fire crackle and split the wooden logs as Konoe burned the metal red.

Mio watched helplessly, insides writhing in pain. The blood was slowly losing its burning defenses or maybe she lost so much she was beginning to lose touch with reality. She couldn't see beyond the haze of her vision or think beyond the ache in her body. She endured for a single reason: she was too stupid to bend. Konoe would be thrilled to hear her beg for her life, it would be music to her ears and Mio was stupidly stubborn.

She wouldn't give her that. She would let her feel like she won any battles between them when this was underhanded from the start, but maybe she should have tried harder—if she had been even a little more determined when Shin's training grew harsh, if she had gotten through it all without complaints and quitting, she might have been in a better situation. He might have never considered giving her the earrings earlier. He probably would have waited until she finished, she could have been done now. She could have been in the middle of Strength Training, sparring with another to strengthen all fighting aspects. She would've had a fighting chance when Konoe came in like a thief in the night. Eito wouldn't have died. Takuto wouldn't have gotten hurt.

Why did any of this matter? She committed the mistakes she wanted to make. She was dealing with her consequences.

Isn't this what she wanted? To solve her own problems without anyone getting in the middle?

She felt so stupid, so useless, so childish.

Hands clenched, Konoe fisted her hand in her hair and yanked her face away, viciously ripping off strands. She bit down hard, eyes shut tight. "You've gotten so pretty, Mio," she cooed, poison clinging to her words. "Everyone's always going on about how pretty you've gotten, even Gouki-san says it, says you remind him of Kikyo, the same face…not the eyes, though, you have your witch grandmother's eyes. I remember her well, the outsider, the loner—nobody wanted her near. She shamed us all. Should we fix that?"

The burning knife neared her eye's periphery. The heat radiating from it tickled the barely scabbed wound above her eyebrow bone.

"Kikyo should have stayed away from my brother," she spat. "She manipulated him until he turned his back on his family. We wanted the best for him, he had so much promise and then your cursed mother came along and took him from us. If it wasn't for her, he'd still be alive."

"Gouki killed him," Mio grated, infuriated by the mere mention of her family, her fingernails digging into her palm until they were bloody. "He ripped him limb from limb while he was still alive and you're working for him!"

"Don't talk back to me," Konoe snapped, slamming her head into the ground. "You know nothing, you stupid child, so stay quiet."

The tip of the burning knife sliced through the scab and it made its way across her temple. She struggled, trying to bend her knees to stand, but Konoe slammed her back into place. She tugged at her constraints with bloody hands and felt one chain snap.

She heard it clearly.

_Oh_.

It sounded like hope.

She pulled apart her wrists and begun to strain, unable to stop herself from screaming when Konoe began to draw another line of blood right across the first with morbid amusement. She felt another chain bounce of the wall and clutter to the ground.

_A little more._

She brought them together, arms trembling, and jerked her body to the side. The knife moved along with the motion, slicing straight across her cheek, startling her aunt.

Konoe cursed, raising her arm to bring the knife down into her face.

Mio kicked her in the side with enough force to send her barreling back into the wall of her small prison. She scrambled backward onto a seat and then her feet.

The kunoichi recovered quickly, eyes burning in ire. "You little bitch."

One last yank and three chain links fell to her feet. She let her arms drop to her side, breathing heavily. She didn't know where she found the strength to stand or how she managed to break the extra chains, only that when the cuffs were cutting into her skin, the blood and black water combination melted the links away.

Konoe lurched forward, gripping the knife.

Mio moved back. She hit the wall and gasped when she was slashed by the weapon, one straight line across her stomach. Then Konoe repositioned the sharp point to stab her straight through the chest and she shut her eyes tight, her feet glued to the ground in fear.

The impact never came.

She only heard the sound of her breathing, and then something warm splattered on her face.

Slowly, she opened her eyes.

Konoe stared at her, wide-eyed, blood spilling from her mouth. The weapon in her hand clattered to her feet and through the gaping hole in her chest, she saw Mikazuki Gouki standing at the entrance.

"Damnit," Konoe murmured, a broken sound. She came crashing to her knees and the light slowly left her eyes.

Mio stared at him and the bright green eyes she remembered from all her nightmares of the monster that started it all. She stared at him in disbelief, in fear, in disgust and couldn't think of looking away. She looked straight into the face of her parents' murderer and he looked back into hers, victorious.

When he approached, she fell to her knees unable to go on and her heart hammed like a desperate bird trapped in a cage. His shadow fell across her body, shielding her from the sunshine spilling from outside. He was huge, not as tall as her grandfather was, but he was built like a bear, all bulging muscles and menace.

He touched her chin. She flinched away, but he persisted, taking her by it and turned her face to see the damage on around her temple. "I trust her death is enough of an apology for your maiming," he spoke, confident that it would be the case.

A dagger's handle was sticking out of his belt and it bore the Mikazuki's slashed crescent insignia.

She couldn't bring herself to say anything because the only thing going through her mind was that he killed Konoe, her aunt. She hated her for the torture, for always treating her badly, for working for this man, but she didn't exactly wish her dead. She ordered Eito to be killed, tortured her until she wished her death came rushing to greet her so she didn't have to live with all the pain the last several events caused her.

Maybe she just wanted to run away. Run and run and run, in circles or to new places, she just wanted to go somewhere far where everything was safe because that is what she did. She thought of escape when things got hard. She was all bark and no bite.

She blinked, tears rolling from her eyes.

"You won't be harmed from today onward," he told her, brushing back her hair. He paused, his eyes filled with surprise and his fingers brushed against her earlobe, the rings in her earrings clinking softly. "Ahh, Hag was right, you do have them now."

Hag. Guardian of the Fate Sphere.

Why would she tell Mikazuki Gouki about the earrings?

She was suddenly thrown back into the past, remembering her mother asking her to run into the forest and wait for a man who would surely help her while Gouki destroyed the house as if he were searching for something. She recalled Shin telling her that the earrings were supposed to have passed down to her mother.

It was always about the earrings.

"The Hag says I need you alive if I want the rest of the artifacts."

"Why?" she croaked, throat dried.

Information. She needed information. _Be practical. _The door was wide open. He was the only one in the room. The only bag she needed was in arm's reach. The shinobi beyond this dank cave were too far to sense. There was a knife in his belt and if she learned anything about the Mikazuki clan in all the years she spent fearing them is that they carried poison daggers.

His eyes narrowed. "Does Kuronuma Shinya not intend to tell you that you're Kuronuma Musashi's true successor?" he inquired, mostly to himself. He frowned. "I suppose not."

"Konoe ordered his successor to be killed," she uttered painfully. She avoided breaking eye contact no matter how terrified staring into the green hue haunted her. "Eito was the one. I'm a…I'm a mistake."

"The Hag is never wrong in her knowledge of Musashi's successors," he told her. "Nishiki, Shinya, Hagane—his direct descendants. Nishiki died at the hands of Shinya and in turn, Shinya's candidacy was revoked, Hagane married a barmaid and had Eito, the last of Musashi's candidates. You are the start of a new line of Shugosha—your children, your grandchildren, your great grandchildren will inherit this from you. That's why it is important that you stay alive."

"I don't understand," she whispered, unyielding to the shock.

She didn't have time to judge her grandfather for killing his brother, not when this was the one and only chance she had of successfully escaping. She could stay, act mild and pretend to listen to him, she could sell her soul to make this another mission where she is the spy infiltrating the enemy's territory and gain his trust. However, if he got his hands on more artifacts, if he went on to exterminate the Kuronuma clan…she wouldn't be able to handle all of that.

She measured her time. His defenses weren't all the way down, but her vulnerability must have lessened them.

"The beauty of the Shugosha is that they can hold all ten artifacts at once and that they can manipulate who will possess them," he revealed. "Once we return to Kurata and kill Musashi, you will take the sphere from—"

Mio swiped his dagger from its sheath, turned it in her palm and stabbed it deep into his stomach before he realized it was gone. She ducked under a powerful punch that crushed the wall behind her, rolling towards the bag containing her grandfather's talking armadillo.

He let out an ear-splitting bellow as she stumbled outside into a long rocky pathway. She dug through the bag for the scale armadillo, her aching legs pumping towards the gaping exit. She couldn't see beyond the sunlight shining in her eyes or hear anything except Gouki's sluggish attempt to pursue her while barking out orders to people she didn't see.

She dropped her bag when she found the armadillo and hurled it into the nearest wall. It unfurled and landed on the ground with a furious squeak. On its tiny, wobbly legs it began chasing her.

"What was that for?" it exclaimed.

"I survived!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "Now, help me!"

"Shinya will hear of this!"

The damned thing jumped up, bounced off her shoulder and gained speed.

Furious, Mio ran fasted, backed up her leg when it was in range and kicked it straight into the face of a Mikazuki shinobi. The tough exterior of its defense managed to break his nose and bounce off beyond her line of vision. The unknown man fell into the cave. There was no sign of others approaching.

"Good! Now do something useful, you filthy coward!"

She stepped over the unconscious shinobi and crossed the entrance. Grass stretched out beneath her feet and past the clearing, she recognized the great forest of towering trees. She was still in the Fire Country, standing closer to Senju territory than Uchiha, but she didn't care where she landed as long as she outran the poisoned Mikazuki Gouki and whoever else dared chase after her.

The armadillo let out a shrill yell directed at her. "You're as bad as that devil child!"

"Maybe you should listen!" she snapped, rushing for the trees.

To her far left, she saw the Mikazuki-Uchiha camp and about of a hundred shinobi idling about when one finally took notice spying her cross the wide plane, followed by the roar of his superior to have her captured.

The armadillo jumped on her shoulder, stabbing its nails into her tattered clothes. "Do something!"

"That's my line!"

Half a dozen shinobi sprang forward; among them were Uchiha she recognized for being some of the best trackers in the clan, which dropped her escape rate down to four percent, though it wasn't much before at a meager twelve percent. She didn't have enough chakra to do anything other than run; the earrings had steadily drained her throughout her captivity.

"They're in sight!" shouted the armadillo in her ear.

"How far?"

The sound of kunai slicing through the air answered her question.

She jumped into the highest branch, grabbed onto the tree and scaled it before jumping into another canopy of leaves. She caught a sturdy branch and swung off it, landing haphazardly on the mossy ground. A sharp pain rushed up her right leg. A sprain. She shouldn't be running on a bad leg, but she managed to put enough distance between herself and pursuers after changing her direction.

"Do you see them?" asked Mio, the heat bearing down on her.

The armadillo turned its little head to her. "Ya know, yer pretty fast," it said wondrously. "Yer definitely one of his if ya can outrun those trackers."

"Thanks."

Mio thought of running straight for Sachiyo's home in the countryside, but that was an expected move. It would be stupid of her to run straight into a trap, so she thought harder and longer and made the worst decision she ever made in her life.

If the trackers caught onto her trail, she'd plunge straight into Senju territory. The Mikazuki-Uchiha wouldn't be dumb enough to engage them, not with so few numbers and she was confident in her ability to maneuver her way out of Senju territory before any one realized she was even there.

She stopped running to catch her breath; never in her life did she ever think she could outrun any of those people with these wounds. The sound of water was near. If she remembered correctly, there was a waterfall nearby—straight ahead and down a plunging pool of gigantic rocks embedded in the harsh river below.

Mio stilled, a bead of sweat rolled off the tip of her nose and dropped into the grass beneath her feet.

Behind her, a branch snapped and that was her cue to run. She jumped into the nearest tree and scaled to the very top as a group of shadows sped past her location. She peered through the leaves, pushing apart tangled branches without making a sound. There were four Mikazuki shinobi and two Uchiha.

Her lungs were burning, the soles of her bare feet were aching with fresh cuts, her whole body trembled, and her heart fluttered wildly. She couldn't breathe correctly, she found herself teetering dangerously close to giving into her exhaustion because all she had was one useless armadillo. Well, she rescinded that. The stupid thing did help keep her focus on running by scouting where the others went.

A sword flew straight at her, catching the sunlight on the blade. It sliced across her cheek and stabbed into the trunk behind her, stealing the breath from her lungs. The armadillo rolled into a ball once more and fell off her shoulder.

"You stupid coward," she grumbled, jumping down to catch it before it hit the ground.

She could hear the stupid fools arguing behind her as she changed direction.

"He's said to catch her, not kill her!" one shouted.

"I missed on purpose!" argued the owner of the sword.

"Gouki-san won't be too pleased about that cut on her cheek, you heard what he said! Even one drop of blood of hers is shed and we're dead men!"

"I've got it!"

Mio started to pay attention to her surroundings belatedly, once the crashing waterfall was screaming in her ears and her attempted escape led her to the rocky edge before the plunge. She stuffed the armadillo in her kimono top and tightened the knot of her sash. It didn't matter which way she ran she would be caught. She reached her limit, she bled out to the point that she progressively began losing consciousness and her limbs were becoming too heavy a burden.

Her last hope was the waterfall and it terrified. If she hit a rock, the impact would kill her. If she hit the water, she'd be swept under the current and hurled into the river like something broken. The added bonus, she didn't know how to swim. She tried to learn, but she didn't want to after she could walk on water.

She was standing at the edge of a waterfall with no option but to gamble her life away, she'd never been so scared in her life.

The Uchiha and Mikazuki appeared grinning delightedly.

"You're a useless armadillo," she complained, hitting the scaled ball through her clothes.

"Back at you, worthless kunoichi!" it retorted.

"Come quietly, Mio, we promise not to hurt you," one Mikazuki demanded.

"Don't worry, she won't go anywhere, she can't even swim," an Uchiha laughed.

"I heard she's even afraid of heights," the other Uchiha added. "Look at her she's shaking. There's no fight left in her."

Mio took a step back, every bone in her body quivering, and she fell straight down the towering waterfall.

Lightness. She felt nothing until the waters rushed up to meet her and enveloped her in its sea green depths.

She watched the air bubbles flutter past her head as a constricting panic took root in her chest. She should have remembered the basics, despite never learning to swim, but her head went blank. She didn't have a mind for anything. She felt her arms and legs flailing before the rivers current flung here against her a boulder and the oxygen left her.

The water slipped into her lungs, burning as it went down, and she sunk into unconsciousness just as a loud splash rippled across the distant surface. She feared the worst. One fool was probably stupid enough to take the same risk.

She'd lost.

She hoped that at least the stupid armadillo knew how to swim.

* * *

><p>Mio gasped, eyes snapping open, believing to be dead, but the air she sucked into her lungs was familiar and clean. She jolted onto a seat, clawing at her body for the armadillo she concealed inside her clothes but found nothing. She feared for its life until she spotted it beside her.<p>

"Are you hungry?"

She whirled around to the glow of a campfire and the hunched form of a young shinobi with white hair nibbling on a skewer of cooked fish. Her heartbeat quickened, in the faint light of the fire she could see the insignia of his clan sown onto his collar.

"I..."

He rose from the log with another skewered fish in his hand and crouched down in front of her where she could see him clearly. She forgot to breathe as he thrust it before her.

The fact he looked her straight in the eyes disconcerted her. She saw fire set deep within them that frightened her. She lowered her gaze to the charred exterior of the fish and felt her stomach twist uncomfortably.

She recognized him as Senju Hashirama's younger brother.

"Forgive me," she said softly, blinking up at him. She sounded strange. _Probably the water._ "I can't eat fish."

He gave a nod, looking unfazed, and bit into her share. "It's undercooked," he admitted, "and small. There weren't bigger fish in the river and I'm not an expert when it comes to fishing. Do you fish?"

Mio felt taken aback by the easiness of his aura, but knew to take precautions. Uchiha and Senju were natural enemies in the battlefield and it didn't matter that she did not wear the crest to give her away, but she had to lie. She needed to protect herself, but she was not entirely ungrateful. She nearly drowned, but he saved her.

"It is…peaceful," she answered.

"Are you any good?"

"I assume I am."

"How about hunting?" he went on, eating what remained of his undercooked fish. "Do you hunt?"

"I never tried."

"If you don't mind me asking, what were you doing in the middle of the forest?"

"I do mind," she answered. "You have yet to ask my name and question my intentions."

"I considered it, I thought it might bombard you and you haven't thanked me yet."

"Well you thrust a fish into my face."

"Oh, so now it's my fault?"

"It was kind of you, but would it make a difference if I thanked you now?" she asked.

"If you did, I wouldn't believe it."

"I would mean it," she said, looking him in the eyes. "I fear the waters. Drowning I fear most and I would have if you had not saved me. I can't swim."

He left his place at her side and crossed over to where he kept his luggage. He must have traveled far and for quite some time given the considerable amount piled in the edges, either that or he brought a companion. He pulled a leather pouch from between his bags and fresh clothes from within a larger back. He returned to her side, dangling the sloshing liquid in the pouch before her and handed her the clothes.

Mio stared at him oddly, but took his offer with a grateful nod.

"I imagined you must be cold," he said, looking at her with an odd curio.

She glanced down to the sight of her bruised skin and the gauze wrapped around her stomach and shoulder to staunch the bleeding of one of Konoe's many tortures but there was nothing more. She had been sitting before him, misguided by the heat of the fire, topless.

"Happy about yourself?"

He shrugged. "It wasn't half bad."

She clumsily tugged on the clothes he provided as he shuffled away with a hint of a smile.

"You should have told me," she grumbled.

"Your clothes were drenched and your wounds needed tending. They were severe enough to question my medical knowledge as well as your profession. I should have tied you up and interrogated you. Even young girls like you pose a threat."

"Why haven't you?"

"Because the rings on your wrists and the bruises on your body suggest you may have been victimized before scampering off in your delirium," he admitted. "I gave you a chance and you haven't even given me your name."

She lowered her eyes to approve his assumptions. Now she didn't have to lie.

"So, do you have a name?" he asked again.

Mio fastened the new kimono top with a green sash. She stared at him awkwardly. "Yes."

"Well...what is it?"

"..." Mio glanced from side to side, bewildered by the prospect of providing a fake name. She usually had one on the spot.

"Are you going to tell me?"

"Pio," she answered quickly.

He looked dubious. "Pio?"

"Like the noise a chick makes," she explained, determined. "Pio."

He nodded slowly. "Pio...it's a good name."

"No it isn't. My grandmother was a lunatic."

"I'm Tobirama," he offered. "A name for a name."

"Tobirama is a better name."

"So, Pio, do you live around here?"

"No."

"Where is your home?"

"Kurata, I used to reside in the village that was decimated three months ago," she answered. It wasn't a complete lie since she used to live there before making the move to Mt. Hyōga.

"Then you're staying in Mt. Hyōga with the Demon clan?"

He sounded like he was interrogating her now.

"They saved us from the massacre," she said defensively. "Whatever rumors you may have of them are wrong. They're kind people on that mountain, not dangerous at all."

"The nearest village is a couple miles south, but I'm waiting on my companion. He's a medic, I'll have him look at your wounds," he said for a change of pace, though he looked suspicious. "Coincidentally, I'm also heading to Kurata, so I'll make sure you get there safe."

"You don't need—"

"It won't be free, but I will. This place is full of members of the Uchiha and Mikazuki clan and the roads are overrun with bandits. A girl like you shouldn't be walking around alone and unprotected." He stilled. "How did you get here from there?"

"The Iron Country has an open trade with Kurata. I saddled in with an old friend to visit family there." The lie easily fell from her lips. "He sent me to find lavender when it happened…"

He seemed to understand what she was hinting at as he nodded.

"You can run your errand on the way."

She didn't know what lavender looked like. Maybe she could recognize it by smell. All she knew was that he bought the lie and the last thing she wanted was to be associated with the Uchiha-Mikazuki alliance, though she was certain he knew nothing about it. She didn't think she'd say it, but she was somewhat glad about the torture Konoe inflicted on her. They made a great scapegoat.

Deep down, Mio was agonizing. If someone saw her with a Senju, she'd be terribly misinterpreted, and worst, she was indebted to him.

"Can I ask why you're going to Kurata?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah, the Demon clan hired the Senju clan to find their missing princess and protect her from the Mikazuki clan. I've been out here looking everywhere for her, the Kuronuma accompanying her was sure she was still in the Fire Country. I'm starting to think she's over that waterfall upstream. Rumor has it they've made a camp there."

She stopped asking questions even though she had a million now (complaints to go with them as well) and picked up the armadillo, returning it to the inside of her clothes.

Mio heard approaching footsteps but noticed Tobirama remain in place. She followed the sound to some rustling bushes and behind them emerged Takuto.

"Find anything?" asked Tobirama.

"No—Mio!" Takuto exclaimed rushing to her. He hesitated at the sight of her injuries before pulling her into an embrace. "Everyone's been looking for you, Mio."

Mio was almost caught up in the moment, but her eyes were glued on Tobirama.

"Mio, the missing princess?" he questioned.

"Why didn't you say you found her?"

"Because she lied and said her name was Pio."

"Why Pio?"

She grabbed Takuto and forced him to look at her. "Tell me Eito is alive, Takuto, please," she whispered mournfully. "You saved him, right?"

Takuto's face darkened, his hand finding her elbows and shook his head. "By the time I came to, he was long gone."

She let him wrap his arms around her as she bit back the frustrated tears, reminded of everything Gouki told her as she awaited the perfect moment to lash out. When he asked about it, she didn't want to say anything. She was trying to process it all. First that she was finally safe with Takuto present, but she couldn't help feeling uneasy around the Senju.

Takuto healed the worst of her afflictions, but there were others that would scar. He suggested they travel once she's rested and prepared to make the long trip from the Fire Country to Kurata, but she refused to stay any longer.

She wanted to go home. To Kurata and to her grandfather.

* * *

><p>Mio didn't ask questions. She didn't speak one word on the way to Kurata. She closed herself off to everything to the point that even the useless armadillo started to worry about her current state. She didn't think there was anything wrong with her; she just figured she endured enough to find solace in herself. Everything she didn't want to happen had happened, but it wasn't as if she didn't get anything out of it. Perhaps it wasn't the complete truth, but it was enough of a revelation to the dangers of the artifacts.<p>

It cost her parents' lives. The earrings she wore were the reason Mikazuki Gouki targeted her family and her mother didn't even have them. They died for not having them. They died because that Hag sold them out. She told Gouki everything about the artifacts, probably more than she knew.

She wanted to question the hiring of the Senju clan to protect her, but if she was Musashi's last successor, she understood that she had no say in the matter.

When she arrived to Mt. Hyōga, her silence persisted and her mood darkened in acknowledgement of all the Senju stationed outside the Kuronuma's mountain and inside. She met with her family; Shin and Musashi were the first people that rushed over to make sure she was fine in a very embarrassing display. Sako and Minako were practically blubbering, reluctant to let her go until Okimi guided her home to ensure she was physically fit. Takuto and Shin accompanied them all the way.

Mio was seated on two cushions with her back towards the men as Okimi cut through her bandages.

"Anything in particular I should be worrying about?" Okimi asked, directing her gaze to her protégé who listed a number of things. She begun scanning her body for anything he might have missed. "You did a fine job with most of these, but I do detect some internal damage from a large wound down the torso, you still have a cut on your chin. Some nerve damage around your arm stemming from the shoulder down. You also twisted your ankle. Judging by most of the damage you suffered, you were tortured for days on end—once or twice every six hours. Does that sound about right?"

"I'll kill them," grumbled Shin.

"You don't need to worry about that," Mio spoke hoarsely. "Mikazuki Gouki already killed Konoe for doing this."

"You met with him?"

"Yes," she answered. "I stayed long enough to hear about who was feeding him information."

"Hiryuu," Shin said immediately. "That big-nosed bastard has always been snooping around the Kuronuma; I wouldn't be surprised he confirmed the artifacts existence—"

"It wasn't Hiryuu, it was Hag."

Everyone stared in shock as if they couldn't believe their ears. Who would? To hear someone that's been a part of the secret for as long as she had suddenly betrayed you, who wouldn't be?

"Are you sure?" her grandfather pressed.

"Gouki stared directly at my earrings and said, 'Ahh, Hag was right, you do have them now,'" she revealed. "He went onto further confirm this by talking about Musashi's previous successors: Nishiki, Shinya, and Hagane."

"I didn't know you were a Shugosha candidate, uncle," Okimi exclaimed, taken aback.

"That was a very long time ago," Shin answered stiffly.

"He also told me why you stopped being one. Taken out of context it sounds pretty terrible." She waited on his response. "Judging by your silence he must have spoken some truth."

"We can talk about this later. I need to concentrate on picking up where Takuto left off and Mio, you're going to be staying away from training for at least a couple of weeks, longer if the nerve damage is as bad as I think it is. I can't fix everything." Okimi repositioned herself behind her, taking a sterilized scalpel in her hand after bathing her back in alcohol that became Konoe's writing board of insults. "I can get rid of some of the scarring, but it'll hurt."

"Takuto, we should leave Mio in Okimi's hands."

Shin and Takuto exited Okimi's home and she got to work. She reopened several wounds with the scalpel with Mio lying on her stomach attempting to muffle her screams in a pillow.

The harsh procedure snuffed what little energy she had remaining that once Okimi patched her up all she wanted to do was sleep.

"I'll be checking up on you every day until you're better," Okimi assured her. "So stay away from any type of training until I give you the okay. You have to start taking better care of yourself."

"Eito…he…"

Okimi lowered her eyes, saddened by the name. "He was given a proper funeral," she said shakily. "Takuto made sure of that. He fought bravely and…I'm happy that he lived as long as he did. I just…I just wish he could have stayed a little longer."

"I should have protected him better."

"Don't blame yourself, Mio," she begun, putting her hand on her shoulder. "Shinobi die every day. Eito fought hard to stop the Mikazuki from taking you and that's what matters to us. As candidates, you were supposed to protect each other. He was doing his duty and you were hurt. Nobody blames you."

Mio cried. She rubbed the tears from her eyes helplessly. "I just feel like I didn't get to know him well enough and then he's gone just as we started having fun," she whispered. "I saw when that man took his life. It was the only thing I remember every moment that Konoe tortured me. I just couldn't get his face out of my head…the way he looked at me, the way he smiled. I don't know why he smiled. Was he trying to make me feel better? What did he think that would accomplish?"

Okimi sidled over, wrapping an arm around her with watery eyes. "You're alive, Mio," she said against her head. "I believe that's the only thing that matters to him. You are alive. Grandfather still has a successor. That is all he ever wanted. He always knew he was going to die because his condition kept worsening and in all the time everyone spent their time worrying about him, he worried about not being unable to take over for our grandfather. Do you know what he did? He promised to find someone that would and swore to protect them. When you came to Kurata the second time, he was ecstatic and nobody understood why. He just ran around the mountain and nobody could catch him."

She blinked up at her cousin. "What?"

"Why do you think Enya was there to save you when you fell? Eito kicked him out of Mt. Hyōga and told him to find you because you were the successor," Okimi revealed. "It seems he knew before our grandfather did. So, please, Mio, don't feel guilty. He wanted to find you for so long and meet you. You bonded with him in a way you could only bond with another person that carries the same burden. That's why it feels like you won't ever be able to cry enough."

Like there was a gaping hole in her chest that couldn't be filled by consoling words or time. Like a part of her laid down and died beside him. She couldn't speak or nod in agreement. She just cried with Okimi.

"That's the Shugosha's burden."

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: Part 2 of 3.

This was supposed to be up on the 16th since it was a giant and I got lazy editing halfway though (okay, a quarter way through), but then something incredible happened. Gather 'round, listen to this.

My 7-year-old nephew is always going around breaking things, mostly his toys (he wrecked his 3DS and I think I threw the biggest fit because I was in the lone party of people against getting him one...I knew he was going to ruin it and it was only a matter of when). So, on the 15th, he broke a pipe in the front of the house so there was water spewing everywhere, it was disastrous, and everyone was trying to cover his tracks before my mother came home (it's her house, he broke a pipe in his grandmother's house and everyone was freaking the fuck out). After he does things like this, you know, break big things...he goes through a sort of cool down. It can be months before he takes something out.

The cool down didn't happen this time. No. On the 16th. He broke the internet. The router. He wrecked the router and the only source of internet was my sister's smart phone so I spent some time on tumblr on her smart phone and totally forgot about the chapter, not that I know how to post from a smart phone.

Well, we got a replacement on the 18th, but I'm still a little late on the delivery.

There's a stomach virus going around the house. It's taken down my brother, my sisters, my niece and nephew. It's down to myself, my mom, and aunt to survive the epidemic. I was basically out there passing out vomit buckets for like the entire night. I won't let it get me. I just got rid of my damn cold!

Anyhow, the chapter happened, it was long, and I hope it made 4 days worth the wait.

I still plan on making that post on my livejournal. Since all the patients in this clinic are finally down for the count and it's 6AM, I'm going to sleep.

Part 3 is in the works. It'll probably be shorter than this (no, it will).

Also, Madara wasn't even supposed to be in this chapter, but what can I do? He can't stay away.

**YamiKitsuneKami**, **that0nelittl3girl**, **crazyuser**, **Aries01xD**, and **Loteva** thank you for reviewing the previous chapter and I hope this offering was good too.

Thank you for reading!


	22. The War For Kurata 3

Chapter **22** | The War For Kurata III

* * *

><p><strong>As autumn dawns, the temperature continues on the rise and Mt. Hyōga loses its defenses.<strong>

* * *

><p>Mio was reminded of the torture. She slept and woke with the memory fresh in her mind, of sharp edges scrapping against bone and the chilling song that rang in her ears as the metal drew a vertical line. She saw the blood slid down her skin, searing against the flesh until it was bright red, cracked, and covered in boils. She relived every death in all their frightening details that took the shape of this war and of the people responsible. She sat at the center of it—the unprecedented artifact war the last two months' events laid a foundation for—as the last hope for the Kuronuma, the clan of many names, with limited power and a fragile heart.<p>

She woke rushing into a seat, gasping for air and enduring waves of panic that turned her skin cold. She shrugged on a fur pelt with trembling hands and hugged herself against folded knees, taking each breath slowly as if in assurance that the plaguing nightmares were afflictions of the past. The slow torture lingered in her head, drawing out the worst of her fears, plucking them from the dark concaves where she stored each and hurling them at her, each another throbbing pain she resolved to forget.

No one stood between herself and the pain she felt that evening or any other. Since she returned as the newly ordained royalty among her brethren, she had been moved to a yurt of her own, located near one of the smaller gaping entrances into the mountain on another isolated plane as her grandfather's home. She had gained attendants and ladies-in-waiting and round-the-clock guards—Kuronuma and Senju alike—coming forward to protect her from the growing dangers beyond the frosty mountain. She was given secondary duties to shoulder alongside her ongoing training—though Okimi had not yet given her the okay to continue with them—that included extensive history lessons combined with artifact identification and a list of warnings. Musashi required that she learned how to create an artifact and how to destroy one, explaining it as one of the many things necessary for a Shugosha-in-training.

There were many things for her to learn and she relented to them, taking in the horde of responsibility without complaint or insecurities because she promised to fight harder and prevent abduction from happening again. She committed herself into becoming the successor Eito always wanted in order to honor him and as a way to prove that no matter how difficult a journey presented was, she would overcome it. She promised to become strong enough to shelter the Kuronuma clan as Musashi had for as many years as he was Shugosha and keep the ten artifacts out of the wrong hands.

She made so many silent promises she found herself regretting with every day that the responsibility fell harder upon her shoulders. A frightening road awaited her, there was no changing that, and she needed to see it through to the end. That was her resolution.

Mio quietly removed herself from bed. She fastened the white fur pelt with an equally pale sash around her waist.

The winds howled within the mountain, calling forth a blizzard far stronger than anyone anticipated and she hoped none of the Senju outside her home froze to death for being too stubborn to accept her invitation to stay inside. Although the news of the Kuronuma and Senju clans working at an alliance left a sour taste in her mouth since it was predominantly done without her knowledge. She was an Uchiha and her clan and the Senju of the Forest had declared an eternal war against one another, so even if she never participated in those wars it was ingrained in her to be uncomfortably angry and bitter about the decision.

However, she acknowledged the alliance was done to favor the Uchiha clan. Some of her clansmen were working for the Mikazuki clan and they were sure to show up in Kurata so it was better for the Senju to assume the Uchiha struck a deal with the Kuronuma clan's enemies rather than the truth. It would shame them. Inner-clan upstarts weren't uncommon, but none in any history had been as terrible as the Uchiha clan's separation of power.

She tinkered in the kitchen alcove quietly, all trace of sleep replaced with an urgency for fresh air. She made tea out of savory herbs and spices that was considered the hot drink of choice on the mountain in a kettle and after tucking her feet into sandals, she stepped out into a faint orange glow with it in her hand.

A gale swept through her, sending her hair flying all around her head and the outer canvas of her home shuddered in response. The wind nearly blew out the small fire shining nearby, but it was the poorly made tent that looked to be suffering in the pre-blizzard weather and the Senju shinobi struggling to stay warm in the unprecedentedly harsh environment.

Among them sat Senju Tobirama, seemingly able to camouflage amongst her Kuronuma with his stark white hair and dark, intelligent eyes, undisturbed by the panic his subordinates were facing as they attempted to secure their shelter. He watched in silence for a moment before standing to offer his help.

She set the kettle besides the now smothered flames of their campfire and with a pair of rocks restarted it. She blew on a small flame to allow it to grow before stocking it with more firewood. One Senju approached her to offer his thanks and she answered his appreciation by handing him the steaming kettle.

"My offer still stands," she informed him.

"That's unnecessary," answered Tobirama. "We were assigned to ensure your safety and we can manage from here."

"The blizzard will grow stronger throughout the night," she continued, coming short of a reason for her sudden spark of kindness towards any of them. _I'd rather they didn't die at my doorstep,_ she reasoned. "You'll get frostbite."

"I've survived worse," he replied evenly.

She resigned to his stubbornness with a sigh and walked on the clearing for a couple of feet before seating herself on the cold ground. She inhaled deeply, the frosty air rushing into her lungs. It sent a shudder down her back before the temperature of her body overwhelmed it with heat.

Above, the sky was starless. Regardless, she dropped down on her back to stare straight into the pitch blankness over her head and allowed a silence to settle in her head while listening to the cacophony of sound around her. The air was howling, the homes were creaking, the river was rushing, and the mountain was speaking to her, whispering her name.

She fell asleep without noticing it.

.

.

The second time she opened her eyes that night, she was buried under all the heavy blankets she used before her training begun and the evening temperature drop made it difficult to sleep. She was sweating under it all, so she tossed several off and settled with the one on her back since she was still wearing the pelt she fastened over her upper body. Someone bothered to build her a fire and with the remaining glow it spread across the silver embroidery on the walls, she saw the kettle returned to its place among her dishes.

She did it again. She allowed the cold to lull her to sleep. It was starting to become a bad habit. Shin figured that since she wasn't frozen to death every time the Senju dragged her back inside meant that she adapted well enough to the black water to survive on the mountain without winter clothes. She still took precautions even though she felt stuffy fast and earned some reprimands from her grandfather to stop dressing in her complicated layers.

She was starting to feel it now. She untied the sash that secured the fur pelt across her upper back and shoulders. She folded everything carefully and set them above her pillow. During the quiet process she considered putting out the fire, but thought it might seem rude. Someone went through the effort of starting it; she didn't want to demean that. So, she slid back into bed and watched the small fire devour its wooden offerings, listening to the logs snap and crackle in the silence of her home.

Sleep didn't come a third time.

* * *

><p>Mio removed her training weights and handed them off to her grandfather too elated to express how liberated she felt when Okimi assured her she could continue her training where she left off. She warmed up by starting up her running routine a la Agility Training.<p>

"Frostbite."

She turned to Shin. "What?"

"Two Senju turned up at the Medical Center with frostbite."

"I told them to come inside."

His jaw dropped in a way that made it seem she invited all the Senju men back into her yurt to have a naked party. She imagined that his wicked expectations of her teenage years would eventually manifest into a heart attack and kill him for being distrustful with her around the opposite sex, excluding Takuto. He seemed pretty set on organizing an arranged marriage between the two and the last time he dropped a hint, she suggested he be ashamed of himself and so he was for the rest of the day, lamenting it and swearing he would never say it again.

She tugged free the last of her weights and stacked them into his outstretched hand, glimpsing at his expression reconsidering an eye roll. "I want heavier weights."

When he didn't respond, she cast him a harsh glare. "So, you'd rather they endure the cold and freeze to death?"

"Well, no, I sympathize with them. Freezing to death is a terrible fate and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone that isn't a Mikazuki shinobi or a Hiryuu sympathizer, but you are no longer Mio, Shinya's granddaughter, you're Musashi's successor and that requires you to exercise some control in your life, which includes living a male-free existence. Even coming near the opposite sex is a deplorable thing among Shugosha, it's absolutely imperative to remain chaste and unmarried and perfectly committed to the priestesshood that will become defending the Kuronuma's artifacts."

"How do you explain your existence and that of your thirteen other siblings or your mother's place at your father's side?" she challenged.

"Magic. An artifact illusion," he stressed, waving his arms around between them as if to psych her out. "You see, this is all an illusion, I really don't exist and Musashi isn't really your great-grandfather, he's just some old fisherman charged with the protection of the spheres and this crazy snow mountain is nothing but a backwater town on a broken pier."

"I will do as expected of me," she told him with an earnest expression. "I will honor my position as successor and work hard to be worthy of it, I will defend the artifacts with my life for as long as I need to, and I will complete your training, I won't complain, I won't give up, but I'm not going to pretend this is a priestesshood. I want to leave the option of marriage open for the future, so please, don't jump to stupid conclusions. I'm aware of my position, but I am trying to be kind to them despite my being an Uchiha and the blood wars between us."

Shin patted her shoulder, overcome with emotion. "That's my girl," he strained. "Forget Musashi's rules. We can have a yurt built besides yours to fit them in and just connect them, like Musashi's home. Good?"

She smiled with a nod. "Good."

Immediately, Shin relayed the orders to one of the carpenters working on repairing last night's damages to the framework of certain houses and in a matter of minutes, a whole group appeared from underneath the mountain safe house to begin working on the expansion. She should have suggested it earlier, or rather…

"Why didn't you suggest this earlier?" she asked, deciding to pin it on her grandfather.

"Oh, I suggested it, but that Senju Tobirama decided it was excessive and I didn't want to press the issue," he answered strangely. He slipped the weights into the bag slung across his torso and tried to divert her attention with an innocent smile.

"And?"

"And nothing."

"Grandfather," she said sternly.

"And I wanted to say I told you so…"

"To a boy old enough to be your grandson?"

Shin turned away. "That reminds me, Strength Training will start tomorrow evening."

"What about Heat Training?"

"You already ingested the black water, it defeats the purpose. You'll still be using the special spring for all your bathing needs since it contains minerals with healing properties that'll be everything you'll ever need after I teach you the basic techniques, mostly harnessing the black water. We should also see what your chakra nature is, though I suspect its fire as is most in Uchiha shinobi."

"It's not."

"Really?" He sounded shocked. "What are you?"

"Earth."

"That makes two of us," he said lamely. "Kuronuma normally have an affinity for water and wind natures."

"Where did you go wrong?"

"I don't know!" he cried helplessly.

"Before you think of asking, I can't perform any of my clan's fire techniques and if you plan to shame me for it, have at it—I give you ten minutes."

"What did they teach you over there?" He recovered in time to forget his own inadequacy to focus on her revelation, awarding her a disappointed glance to go with the sudden mood change. "Why are you so undertrained?"

"Because my primary occupation was being a spy."

"Yeah, but even spies are allowed to know some jutsu. How many have you mastered in fifteen years?"

"I am well-versed in ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu," she defended, though she wouldn't stake her life on her abilities. She could outrun a person, she was good at that, but those were the results of the laborious training she endured with her grandfather. She naturally felt lighter on her feet. She relied on her physical capabilities more than she would on anything in need of chakra usage.

"More like not versed enough." He gave her a consoling pat on the head. "Don't worry, I will teach you everything you need to learn in order to survive that dark, dark world beyond Mt. Hyōga's bridge. I wouldn't want you running into a dragon somewhere without the right protection."

"Except dragons are extinct."

"Have some imagination."

"I have no need for it."

Shin frowned. "Go off then, see my father. He should be waiting to bore you with more of his artifact talk." He started in the opposite direction before turning abruptly, the same lackluster expression on his face. "I can't believe you planned to let me shame you for ten whole minutes, have a little confidence in your failures."

She stared at him unable to form proper words or do anything about her placid mien. He wanted her to have confidence in her failures. What kind of advice was that? She should at the very least acknowledge them, rectify them if possible, and move on. _What is there to be proud about?_

"Something happen, Mio-hime?"

She never noticed the affable-looking Senju standing next to her. She wondered how long he had been present. Had he listened to the conversation? Did he know she was an Uchiha now? She thought against the latter because he wasn't looking at her any differently and his form of addressing her hadn't changed, but that didn't ease the suspicion. He could be that good at lying. What if he was the perfect liar and behind that perfect mask of kindness lay a professional plotting her downfall?

He might have approached her seconds ago.

"How long have you been there…?"

She trailed off slowly; ashamed she never bothered to ask his name. Tobirama might have introduced her to everyone under his command, but she must have blocked out all the information. Deep down inside she feared what her association with the Senju clan would do with her standing in the Uchiha clan and tried to stray away from overall friendliness, though a bit of kindness often made its way out through pure convenience.

"Just got here."

He could be lying.

Tobirama appeared in her periphery. "Did something happen?"

"No…"

He scowled. "I don't sense anyone."

The ambience turned uncomfortable fast, perhaps for herself more than the two Senju beside her.

She was starting to think about her grandfather's advice; it bloomed into a thousand other conversations in her mind that were slowly beginning to stress her. She stopped her train of thought after realizing she was seriously considering following his advice.

"I'm going to the Shugosha's home."

Tobirama approved of the explanation with a brief nod and allowed her to go on her way without upholding his duties. Musashi's home and the underground area of Mt. Hyōga were absolutely forbidden for the Senju lodging on their mountain. There would be Kuronuma underground with the rest of their non-shinobi population since the pretense of war against the Mikazuki-Uchiha alliance forced Musashi to take precautions that would ensure the survival of his clan once the skirmishes near Kurata Castle spilled into his mountain domain. Normally, those same shinobi left her be when it came to her visiting her great-grandfather for a weekly affair he called "The Shugosha Hour."

Mio entered the adjacent yurt to Musashi's home, the heavily ornate dwelling that housed the meeting room of the ten artifact guardians if they had ever existed at the same time. The seats were aligned to the gold embroidered walls, positioned all around a short table toppled in maps and open scrolls. She spent the first several weeks of lessons enduring longwinded stories about the history of her clan for hours on end. She was forced to memorize the history word for word and asked to recite it for Musashi's approval, though he often called her out on jumbling some of the facts—she argued her presentation and ultimately won when he was reminded that he himself fed her the muddled information.

Today marked the beginning of a topic of interest: the artifacts. Musashi assured her the next couple of weeks would include the most important material in his lessons and that she would do well in learning it in one fell swoop because the subject of the artifacts was one he'd rather only utter once. She was confident in her memory skills and thrilled with a change of pace. Learning about the artifacts was everything she wanted since she became the guardian of two of them and one warning was not enough to give her a proper reason to defend them. She imagined that if she discovered one at all, it would be through these conversations.

Musashi greeted her from the brick fireplace and offered her something cold to drink.

She found a seat across the table from him and accepted the cup he offered to her filled to the brim with a dark red liquid she suspected was the bitter wine he was so fond of. She took a tentative sip and her taste buds were assaulted by a familiar tartness, though the taste dissolved into something smoother. It seemed the sharp taste was only present at first. Regardless, she decided to slow her ingestion of the wine to avoid drinking so much that the alcohol content impaired her capabilities for the rest of the day.

"Tell me the difference between Shugosha and the guardians," began Musashi, settling into a comfortable position. He smoothed the wrinkles on his robes as he waited for her answer. He was always so impeccably dressed in his layered robes, each made of the highest quality of fabric. The embroidered and dyed pieces would be considered an envy in any marketplace for fashions.

"A guardian is linked to a single sphere. A Shugosha can link to all ten spheres and where one can make use of each simultaneously, a guardian can only be associated with a single one in their lifetime," she recited. "Of course, it's not recommended for a Shugosha to be in possession of all ten spheres because of their parasitic nature, thus the creation of the guardians. Also, the Time Sphere is the only artifact of the ten that cannot be passed onto a person that is not a Shugosha and the only one that chooses who will shoulder its burden based on their bloodline rather than strength."

Musashi nodded with a proud smile that reached his eyes. "And who can be a guardian?"

"Anyone," she said instantly, "so long as they are chosen by the Shugosha or the current guardian of the sphere in question. There was a strange case over a hundred years ago where an artifact other than the Time Sphere chose its own guardian, though it has never been experienced a second time."

"I truly admire your devotion to learning, Mio-chan."

"I am honored to have been chosen to be your successor."

She held his gaze, but a bitter twist in her stomach changed her countenance with the reminder of how she came to achieve the elevated position.

"The sadness has return," he said knowledgably. "You needn't be a guardian for me to sense the discord and you needn't feel guilty for an outcome that was not your fault."

She tried dispelling the doubt as she nodded. "I apologize."

"Apologize for what?" he asked, taken aback. "Being human? It is not wrong to mourn the dead. Everyone experiences it differently, some are unable to surpass the loss of a loved one and some give themselves to the sadness and allow time to heal them. There's no need to apologize for being sad. You should never feel sorry about feeling, nor should you believe that it would get in the way of your duty. We Kuronuma run on emotions, no matter how terrible they may be. Sometimes impulse is a greater asset than a weakness."

"Then I apologize for apologizing," she told him.

"Good," he said smiling, "now, let's move on."

Musashi begun the lesson from the beginning of the history he reveled the last couple of weeks and talked about the first Shugosha and the nine individuals that would eventually become her guardians. He talked about the great power the first Shugosha possessed and how, with it, she forged the ten artifacts with a warless future in mind.

"It is said that her ideal of a warless future was a changed perspective after she failed accomplish what she meant to do with the artifacts," he explained. "Long ago, the land was plagued by a ten-tailed beast and one by one she created an artifact that failed to stop it from rampaging until the Sage of Six Paths appeared to defeat it. And because of her failure, she was left with ten very dangerous weapons that would no doubt be coveted by the world, so she opted to hide them."

"Which story is true?"

"Which do you think?"

"The latter, otherwise there would be no point in her creating the artifacts. If that is the truth then the artifacts serve a purpose not yet fulfilled."

"And with the Ten-Tails gone, it will never be fulfilled."

"But if that monster returned, _if_ it exists, what would happen to the artifacts?"

"Why, they would once more serve a purpose, a very important purpose."

"If the artifacts couldn't defeat the Ten-Tails then, what difference would it make if it appeared a second time, I don't know, eighty to ninety years from now? What if it appeared tomorrow morning?" she proposed. "There's no Sage of Six Paths around to stop it this time. There are strong shinobi out there, but you can't expect them to work together. So, should we just let it defeat us?"

"The difference in the two is simple. The first Shugosha created the artifacts and used them completely unaware of their true potential, so she was defeated, _but_ we have generations of uncovering that hidden potential that, perhaps, the right combination might lead to a victory." Musashi folded his arms over his chest and sighed. "But, alas, we can prove nothing other than the fact that they exist and that their power should never fall into the wrong hands."

The conversation went over smoothly before he addressed another topic.

"We currently have three guardians, if we include you that makes four," he said easily. "I am currently holding onto five artifacts excluding the dragon's eye that resides in the mountain."

"Who besides the hag is a guardian?" she asked, feeling bitter about the woman responsible for feeding Mikazuki Gouki prized information.

"Okimi."

"Okimi?"

"She inherited the Reflective Sphere. It's a deceptive thing," he laughed with a shake of his head, "that mirror."

Mio remembered staring at herself in a metal mirror in Okimi's home and suddenly felt that she shouldn't have touched it at all. "Is it made of black metal?"

"Has she shown it to you?"

"She leaves it lying around everywhere," she breathed. "Can she do that? Just leave it wherever she pleases?"

"I suppose so, Okimi is the only guardian that can't activate her artifact," he revealed. "Although, I fear that in your presence it might activate and cause some problems. I'll speak to her about it."

"Great-grandfather, I want to ask what grandfather thought when he gave one of the artifacts to Madara," she begun. "He is—"

"Of great importance in the scheme of things, yes," the elder answered, nodding his approval. "Shin has always had an eye for choosing guardians."

She wanted to pretend she didn't hear that. "What?"

"Your grandfather wanted to extend a hand to your noble clan by awarding it an artifact one that would not pose a threat in anyone's possession and with a shinobi capable of defending it."

"Why him?"

"Shin thought the responsibility too unforgiving on the younger brother. It would be a shame to burden you and him as well. You will need support later and we hope he can provide it for you."

"…What does that mean?"

"You asked me months ago how I knew things, you often questioned my and Eito's ability to read you as a mere coincidence, but it never was," he explained. "I am well aware of your confusion, the depth of it is tangible, and it is as if you are telling me yourself, but it is the artifact that is doing the talking. There's a resonance between the artifacts, one that comes back to me…the rest is a mere guessing game and several meetings with Hag."

The shallow explanation worsened her confusion. "Then it is true that the Hag reads pathways."

"Yes, and she's given us yours. There are so many possibilities in your life that it's difficult to see the outcome, but I am certain that you have already met the people with whom you'll be bonded with for the rest of your existence." Musashi's eyes crinkled in amusement. "Have you a question you wish me to answer?"

She didn't want to know the outcome to anything. She thought she might jinx herself if she did. It sounded like trouble to even know about one pathway, why would she want to know about any others? She could easily see why the Hag's betrayal upset her family as much as it did. She could only imagine the type of information she must possess. Would her clan win the war against him? Could they survive?

She blinked up worriedly, lips parted. "Will we be okay…?"

"No," he responded. "Not for a long time. There is a dark cloud and it's fast approaching. It will hit when we least wish it, when there is no longer a remedy or any hope in salvation, it could destroy us. I fear that it will destroy us. This war is only starting in Kurata, it will end somewhere else."

_Us_. The way he spoke the word sounded as if it was reserved for the two of them.

"Time will make it better, but you will be hurt." He met her eyes. "Be strong, Mio. Be stronger than you are today."

* * *

><p>It took hours for Shin to make preparations for the start of Strength Training and his uptight attention to detail had her fearing for the outcome. She stood in wait, uncomfortable in an audience of her brethren and Senju, as Shin wrapped his hands in bandages and stood a pale-skinned half-naked giant across the snowfield. She didn't expect to have spectators. No, she thought the whole training session would be a quiet affair where she would properly have her ass handed to her and not feel terrible about what people thought about while it happened.<p>

She didn't like the trepidation that ensued or the delighted shrill screams the women dispelled at the sight of her grandfather. It never occurred to her that she might have a popular grandfather, but then again, not everyone's grandfather had that physique or looked young enough to be someone's new husband. She didn't believe in good genes or Musashi's argument that there were special properties in the water. They didn't want to tell her something and it was bothering her more than it should have in the most inopportune moment.

"He is fast and potentially lethal," said Takuto at her side. "Keep your eyes open, but if you feel you should be turning in some other direction, you do the opposite."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because your grandfather kicked my ass six years ago and I'm still scarred."

"Thanks," she grumbled, looking up to see Shin finished bandaging his hands. "I'll be joining you in less than a minute."

Takuto wished her luck and disappeared to find a corner to sit in to observe. When she made eye contact with him one last time, he offered her a small assuring smile that should have probably made her feel a little better, but made it harder for her to stomach how first training session.

If she hated anything in particular it was all these people staring at her when she was certain she would make a complete fool of herself. Meanwhile, he grandfather thrived on the attention like an old pervert surrounded by scantily clad women giving him the time of day.

Shin approached her. "Strength Training refers to the strengthening of your taijutsu and the knowledge that you will cross certain boundaries in the teaching itself. The Kuronuma clan is defined, not by the black water jutsu, but by their monstrous strength. It is absolutely necessary for you to overcome the obstacles of Strength Training if you ever dream of successfully mastering black water jutsu. The substance alone is heavy, unrelenting, and difficult to mold. There are times when it will be so inflexible you'll need to use force to shape it. You must eventually recognize the black water as something like chakra that needs be molded correctly if you want to see results and for that to happen you'll need everything I'm about to teach you."

Mio nodded, turning away from her anxiety. She memorized those words. _It needs to be molded like chakra; I need to be able to force it into shape if necessary._ They were easy to remember.

"The Kuronuma clan has no use for weapons," he told her, "so you haven't been allowed any today. Come at me at full strength, do not hold back."

She felt odd without a kunai holster at her side. She felt lighter without the slight weight of them.

The session would measure her strengths and weaknesses. It was a test. Pass or fail.

Shin went for the preemptive strike as soon as he gave the signal and took her by surprise. He punched her in the stomach; the force knocked the air from her lungs and sent her off her feet and into the hard, ice ground several feet away.

He told her that he would treat her as an equal for Strength Training because she would become Musashi's successor and failing to protect the artifacts was the one thing she could never do. He painted a colorful picture of his expectations, each sounding less attainable than her own resignation to her duties, and made her vow to stand up a second, third, fourth—as many as it took—time. That would be the only way to be a Shugosha and live.

She saw him coming and rolled off to the side before he landed a second punch. She endured worse. She stabilized her breathing and calmed herself. She formulated a plan to avoid him for as long as she could until she could strike back, so she kept herself moving.

Shin caught whiff of her plan and made it impossible for her to form a single thought as he chased her down at top speed to land a barrage of attacks. She blocked the few she could, but every hit felt as though she was being smacked around by a giant. His punches and kicks were heavy, like the hammers he used to bend his metal and came at her with unprecedented force. Her bones took a harsh battering; she felt the pain in the core of them and waited in trepidation to see if they would turn to dust.

She feared for her position, but no matter how many times he knocked her down or how much blood slithered off her skin, leaving its thin burn marks as it went, she stood back up. Her stubbornness to fail was rearing its ugly head and it didn't care how much damage she sustained so long as she gave it everything.

She knew her grandfather was strong, but not this strong. Then again, he did say monstrous strength. She could see it now, a bit blurry, but she wasn't blind to the recognition.

Mio's entire body shook as she dragged herself onto her hands and knees unable to stop coughing. Beneath her, the ground of the wide field was splattered in her blood and the snow under and around it melted until the hard ground was visible. She hacked up more blood; there were definitely a couple broken ribs and a sprained ankle. Her wrist felt as though it was seconds away from falling apart since she landed a single hit on her grandfather before her grabbed her by the ankle and hurled her across the field where she landed face first.

Everything hurt. Everything hurt so much she was starting to numb to the pain and her legs were finally refusing to listen.

There was murmuring in the crowd, some of the whispers spoke of Eito's training and how it, too, was harsh as well before there was unexpected dissonance.

"Hashirama, stop!" snapped Tobirama.

A careful hand slid under her arm and gently tugged her onto her feet. She only tasted the sharp cold and the bitterness of blood as she opened her mouth to protest. The words escaped her as Shin halted before herself and a taller young man with dark hair and eyes, holding her against her better judgment with a stubborn expression and the complaints to go with it.

"I think she's fought enough," he said firmly.

Tobirama grabbed a hold of him. "We're not supposed to intervene," he told him. "It's in the agreement."

"Your brother has a point," agreed Shin, "but all the same, my granddaughter is to stubborn to admit defeat and she's survived long enough." He turned away. "Okimi, please take Mio to be healed."

Okimi ran into view and with little effort, she pulled Mio's aching body over her shoulder like one would carry a sack of flour. "You'll be as good as new in a minute. Just don't pass out on me."

"You could have insulted them," Tobirama went on, genuinely bothered by Hashirama's interference. He didn't need to raise his voice to express it. "What would you do if negotiations with the Kuronuma clan failed because you can't let them train their people as they have for the last hundred years?"

She didn't hear Hashirama's response because she was out of earshot, but she didn't care for it. She finally met the Hashirama that Madara considered his rival, the only shinobi out there strong enough to beat him. She met the strongest shinobi of their generation and like Tobirama said, his interference could have insulted her clan, but really, she was the only one that felt uncomfortably incompetent that he stopped her from rising to challenge her grandfather another time.

She covered her bloody face. She felt so stupid. It wouldn't have made a difference if he had or hadn't, she would have kept standing up until Shin knocked her unconscious. She should be thankful because this session was done within a controlled environment and she noticed when Shin started to pull his punches. He would have stopped without anyone interrupting because he gauged her limit. She wanted to say the word to end it all because she was facing her grandfather and not someone like Konoe or Gouki where it was absolutely imperative for her to stay stubborn, but in that moment, it was as if she had been transported back to that situation.

She bore the torture Konoe gave her without complaint because she was too willful. She fought back against Gouki because her fear propelled her to go. She didn't want to be stubborn. She didn't want to be angry.

.

.

"Why is it so cold here?" complained the familiar voice of Senju Hashirama.

"We're in the middle of our storm season, it's going to get colder," answered Takuto.

Mio finally opened her eyes to see the two sitting by the fire. Hashirama wore a layer of warmer clothes and held his hands out before the flames in an attempt to warm them. Takuto seemed to be preparing something terrible for her to drink it a deep pot sitting off on the heated stones surrounding the fire.

"It can get colder?" he asked, shocked. "Why would you live in this place? It's so much nicer in the Fire Country. The summer heat waves are the worst thing to ever happen, but the rest of the year is perfect weather…except when it rains, then it gets gloomy."

"We're already used to the cold."

Hashirama peered into the pot. "Is that supposed to be bubbling?"

"Unfortunately." Takuto reached for a corked bottle of wine and spilled half of its contents into the concoction as he stirred it with a ladle. "It tastes like it smells."

"That better be for pain," said Mio groggily, unable to move without a new wave of ache kicking in.

"And exhaustion and for sleep," he responded. "You'll get used to the taste eventually."

"Eventually," she repeated. She expected no different.

"Feeling better?" asked Hashirama. "I better apologize for getting in the way of your training. Tobirama said I shouldn't have. Sorry."

"No," she answered stiffly. "But I am stubborn like my grandfather said, so…I don't resent you for it."

"She's trying to apologize for secretly hating you," said Takuto.

"You secretly hate me?"

She didn't expect the dramatic reaction. "Don't put words in my mouth. I'm trying to be grateful."

Hashirama moved to her side with newfound curiosity when Takuto presented her with a cup topped with the reddish liquid.

"So, you're Uchiha Madara's Mio, right?" asked Hashirama smiling.

She stared at him in silence. She brought the cup to her lips and began to drink the burning liquid, allowing it to set a trail of fire down her throat, still looking at him. A part of her was unsure that she heard his question correctly, the other part heard it as clear as day and was in the middle of a maelstrom of strange inquiries.

"Can you repeat the question?"

Hashirama looked baffled. "Are you Madara's girl?"

"What gave you that impression?"

He grinned like a fool in response.

"I'm sorry," she begun, "but don't you hate each other?"

"Is that a trick question?"

"Perhaps."

"…No."

"You have your answer then."

Mio emptied the cup as quickly as possible and waited a moment for the drink to take quick effect before picking up clothes to bathe and soak in the springs to soothe her aching muscles. She also wanted to avoid the strange question before it could further discomfort her.

She noted Tobirama's absence among the group assigned to her that day and went on at ease through the mountain tunnels to the nearest hot spring.

Mio entered to the sound of splashing water and Tobirama standing off to the side of the pool dripping water with steam rising off his pale skin. His eyes found hers and held their gaze steady as she drew a repetitive blank on the situation, attempting to remain unaffected by the sight of a toned male body.

She broke eye contact and looked down. There wasn't a stitch of clothing on him and the room temperature continued on the rise. She averted her gaze elsewhere unable to look him in the eyes and turned away to go back out the way she came, saying and remembering nothing.

She ran into Okimi deeper into the mountain as she was stepping out from one of the springs towel drying her pale hair. "Feeling better?"

"Apart from everything hurting, yes, much better, thank you."

Okimi frowned. "Why did you come all the way down here? There's a spring right near your entrance."

"Tobirama was in it. Well, out it."

She regretted correcting herself because Okimi stepped behind her and took her gently by the shoulders with a wicked smile on her face.

"Are you telling me you saw him…in the flesh?"

"Okimi, he was just naked," she responded simply. "There's no need to say it any other way. It doesn't get fancier if you say '_in the flesh._'"

"Mio, you're adorable." Okimi kissed the side of her face. "Now, tell me, how was he?"

"Naked."

"No, that's not what I mean—"

"I know what you mean, Okimi, and you're a married woman. Please be a little more reserved."

The medical specialist huffed. "There's no crime in looking so long as I don't touch. Enya is the only man for me, but it doesn't hurt to admire all the handsome Senju on this mountain. You don't know how boring it was growing up around the same people my entire life. These Senju—it's like bringing the confectionary store to the kid, I am in heaven! Oh, Mio, I tell you, if Enya didn't exist, I would be all over Housei-san."

She sighed. "Okimi…"

"So, I will go in to wash your back because I don't want you to hurt yourself and while we're inside, you can tell me everything you saw," said Okimi, steering her into the nearest sectioned spring. "Don't miss a detail. I know how good your memory is, this should be a piece of cake for you. Hey, if I asked you to draw me a picture of Housei-san minus the clothing barriers, could you do it?"

"That requires artistic skill that I don't possess."

"That's fine; you can just describe it to me in detail. A lonely wife can dream, can't she?"

"Enya will be back before the week is out," Mio reminded her.

"I will cleanse my mind of this filth once he is here to fill the void he's left behind."

"You're being overdramatic."

"Don't mistake passion for overdramatic, Mio. This is passion! Passion."

She allowed Okimi to do as she wanted, attempting not to laugh at everything she finished saying, but avoided the subject of Tobirama.

.

.

Mio paid Shin a visit accompanied by Takuto, who remained outside at her request. The inside was something of a mess. There was a couple of bento stacked on the table besides a clutter of sealed and open scrolls filled with writing, underneath she noticed the presence of a traveling bag.

She seemed to have stepped in without alerting Shin because he remained with his back to her, busy wrapping gauze over a purplish red contusion on his bicep.

She frowned. "How did you get the bruise?"

"Ah, I wonder," said Shin in wonderment. He tucked the end of the gauze in and pulled on the sleeve of his robe before turning to face her. "I should praise you, you're taijutsu is better than I gave you credit. It needs refinement, but it's not terrible."

"Thank you, but that wasn't an answer to my question."

"You hit harder than I anticipated and I bruise like a peach."

"Bullshit."

"Do I need to wash your mouth out with soap?"

"No."

"Get rid of your petulance, there's no need for it."

"Stop lying to me."

"Mio, you don't need to know everything," he said firmly. "I have a bruise and it hurts and I probably got it by running into a tree, that's that." He picked himself off the ground and tossed a handful of clothes in the direction of the table. "I'm going to the Water Country. I'll be leaving your training to Uzuki. Obedience is key with her teachings and it is unlikely that you will get away with half the things you do with me, so be respectful."

She didn't want to burst his bubble by saying she was always respectful to her elders and that the only one getting away with things was him since he rarely took anything seriously. She nodded in agreement and remained silent.

"Aren't you going to ask what I'll be doing there?" he asked.

"It's probably none of my business," she answered, attempting to sound complacent and failing. Her annoyance spilled onto her tone and it humored her grandfather in a way that made her feel angrier.

"I'm going to take the Fate Sphere from Hag," he responded. "Your great-grandfather chose to overlook Hag's involvement with Mikazuki Gouki and the danger she poses to you, but I'm not one to overlook something of this caliber. She has broken the trust the first Shugosha placed on her by revealing our secrets to the undeserving and for putting you in this situation. She will pay the consequence."

She stood perfectly still as he approached her with a calming smile. "I'm sorry for snapping at you," he said, running a hand over her damn hair. "So wipe that frown off, it's not needed, and come hug your grandpa goodbye."

"You sound like a pervert."

Shin enveloped her in a tight hug, moving side to side with emotion and humming a strange tune. She hesitated as she reached to return the embrace and jolted at the sound of his voice.

"I won't let go until you hug me back," he decided.

"That's blackmail."

"Oh, it's not a weight on my conscious."

Completely embarrassed, she returned the hug with a twinge or reluctance. He squeezed her tight one last time before letting her go and jabbed his forefinger at her face. She leaned backward.

"Make me proud, okay?"

She nodded.

He turned her around and gave her a healthy push towards the door. "Go get some sleep, you've got running in the morning and lessons in the afternoon. Uzuki will be waiting for you by the great fire in the evening. I don't want you groggy because you didn't get enough sleep."

"Please be safe."

"There's no way I wouldn't."

She smiled and went on her way.

* * *

><p>Mio observed the battles from a high elevation on the crystalized wall of ice providing its defenses to the mountain and far beyond the valleys, in the gargantuan land where Kurata Castle resided was the epicenter of the decimation caused by the Mikazuki-Uchiha alliance and the willful Senju clan fighting for her freedom. She always climbed to that place to see and remind herself that she couldn't even think of involving herself in a fight so long as the artifacts weren't in direct danger, but the temperature considerably rose since her grandfather left two months ago and the shadow storm was fast approaching. Trade was nearly impossible with the roads blocked and most of the game had been scared off by the warzone. Every day proved more dangerous than the last, the ground was shaken by many powerful jutsu capable of splitting the mountain range in half and sending everyone in range into a pit of black water where it would be impossible for anyone to survive.<p>

A cloud of smoke shot up into the sky and in the following instant a wave of powerful chakra and wind knocked her off the edge of the wall. As soon as she was airborne, that morning's weights turned into an anchor set on dropping her twenty feet off the mountain and into the start of the spiraling road that led her there. She prepared herself for the worst and swallowed the urge to scream and beg for help as she attempted to right herself, but one of the weighted bars fell off and shifted her balance so she headed face first onto pointed ice edges.

She closed her eyes to braced herself and hoped Okimi had the manpower to fix her face after exhausting herself with healing her yesterday after her mother-in-law kicked her ass bloody, proving Shin's point that the woman was a tyrant—a perfectly respected Elder with a gift in training the younger generations, but a tyrant, nonetheless. She'd been working her harder than anticipated, even though her grandfather had already set the bar pretty high in how much pain and suffering was required for her to endure to continue onto the next level. Also, it wasn't as if the healing wasn't good—the Kuronuma's strange healing techniques worked remarkably well, too well. She learned that anyone could receive a mortal wound and survive it with the right concoction, but of course, every brew came with consequences—the worse the injury was, the bigger the penalty.

Okimi and Takuto informed her that she would be feeling the aftereffects of all the training in due time. She would be taking all the hits all over again and told her she better hope she toughened up before that happened or it would put her out like a light for days…much like she expected from the pointy rock face.

The impact never came. An arm wrapped itself around her waist and together along with her savior, she was sent to the ground where she flattened him. Nobody ever expected the black bars to be as heavy as they were.

"Mio," came Hashirama's strained voice underneath her. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but—Tobirama! Don't just stand there—I'm dying—ugh!"

Mio nicked her elbow and she was feeling the pain shoot up her arm when Tobirama offered his hand. She took it, but put most of her effort in pushing herself off the ground so he wouldn't have to bear the worst of the weight.

Hashirama was motionless on the ground. The great Hashirama. She stepped over him. "Takuto!" she shouted loud enough for the mountain to carry the echo of her voice. "Takuto!"

"I appreciate the help," she told them earnestly. It saved her the chance of reliving the situation later when the full brunt of landing face first on ice came back to show her what she missed.

Tobirama poked his brother. "I warned him about catching you mid-jump," he murmured, side eyeing her. "Do you know what he said?"

"I have a guess," she said slowly, though she knew no guess could ever come close to half the things that left Hashirama's mouth.

"'Everyone knows princesses are as light as a feather,'" repeated Tobirama grimly. "I could have stopped him."

"_Could?_"

"Sometimes he needs to listen."

_So you let him do this to himself…_

He arched an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"Nothing," she answered, turning away.

Hashirama bolted onto a seat, rubbing the back of his head. "Everything is fine," he announced with a big laugh. "If you don't believe me, climb back up there and I'll catch you all over again."

"She is carrying twice your weight," Tobirama revealed.

"That's impossible." Hashirama wrapped his arms around her waist. "She's light as a feath—" He tried to hoist her up in the air once, twice, and three times before faking a kidney injury. "It hurts. Forgive me, Mio-hime, I can't even lift you when you're so light."

Mio snorted, the laughter that spilled from her lips shocked her as much as it did the two Senju brothers standing around her. Throughout that whole argument, she just couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous notion that princesses were weightless.

"Did you call?"

She couldn't even greet Takuto properly because she was still laughing at Hashirama. She tried to mime for him to check his head, but failed and decided it might be best to remove herself from the situation and refocus her attention on completing the last three runs around Mt. Hyōga. But she needed to stop laughing first.

"Maybe you should see to her injuries first," said Tobirama, side eying his brother. "Hashirama's kidney can wait."

Takuto glanced in her direction as she stood awkwardly sucking in her lips and shaking with suppressed hysterics. He tilted his head to the side and then turned back to the white-haired brother with his deduction. "She's perfectly fine," he said with a shrug.

"She's shaking," Tobirama continued, trying to ignore his brother as he began to moan about a damaged femur. He stared at her firmly. "Are you cold? I told you to wear layers. The weather here is terrible."

"But she's already very warm," added Hashirama, suddenly healthy. "Most Kuronuma are."

"What happened to your kidney?" asked Tobirama.

Hashirama leaned forward in pain once more. "Oh yes, the pain has returned. Takuto-san, if you would please have a look at my kidney, I would really appreciate it. I have something to prove," he decided, wobbling towards the medical specialist and patted his shoulder. "Tobirama, Mio-hime, go on without me. I will meet you once I'm better."

Takuto stared at him oddly, humor lighting his face. "I wouldn't waste my energy healing you."

"Why not?"

"You can heal yourself and if you were really hurt, you would have done it already."

Takuto waved farewell to everyone and walked away, but Hashirama went with him, determined to have him heal him from something he started to call a Kuronuma Related Injury that only another Kuronuma could heal.

"I…should…keep going," she said brokenly.

She powerwalked up the treacherous trail that almost caused her a terrible consequence injury and begun taking several deep breaths to resist bursting into another fit of laughter especially since her view from the top showed her the sight of Hashirama on the ground sulking. She expected different and received the opposite. The only place Hashirama lived up to his reputation was in battle and she found herself appreciating how differently he was outside it. He almost seemed unreliable in comparison to Tobirama, who she spent more time around than she cared to admit.

Halfway done with the first lap she acknowledged she had grown comfortable around the Senju clan and they, in turn, were at ease with the peaceful Kuronuma clan who shared many of their ideals of peace. If she was a different type of person, she might have allowed her experiences with the Senju clan to forget she was a member of the Uchiha clan, their enemies, but she didn't. Rather, to some degree, she wished she did. She wasn't embarrassed about being an Uchiha, she was incredibly proud of it, but that didn't stop her from feeling uncomfortable that nobody knew (with Hashirama being the exception). She imagined some of the reactions if anyone were to find out. She was certain she didn't want to be anywhere near that situation and also, she didn't want to be the reason the alliance Musashi wanted so badly dissolved.

.

.

Mio rushed from the hot springs to Musashi's yurt to find him accompanied by a striking older woman with smooth skin and sleek, dark hair pulled into a tight, elaborate hairstyle. From the second she stepped inside, the woman found all the imperfections in her wardrobe and her presence. The stranger's stare left her uncomfortable and cold.

"This is our princess, Mio."

She greeted the woman with a polite bow, which was returned by a slight inclination of her head that summed up the type of respect she would receive from her, not that she expect much upon bearing her judging gaze.

"Hm, she is not lacking in appeal," the woman drawled, looking her from top to bottom a second time and with a grimace continued speaking in a measured tone. "I am Hisano."

She shifted side to side and crept past the entrance as soon as her great-grandfather gestured her into a seat nearby.

"Tea?" offered Musashi.

She shook her head. "No." Hisano's stare bore into the side of her head and it unnerved her. She felt as though she said something wrong and needed to correct it. "No, thank you."

"Water?"

"No, I just rehydrated, thank you."

"Sit up straight," ordered Hisano.

Mio straightened her back, tucked her legs under her, and set her hands on her lap, which earned her an appraising look from Hisano.

"So you are capable of sitting properly, Ohime-sama."

There seemed to be room for an apology on her behalf, one she wasn't going to give considering she just met Hisano and the only reason she obeyed her order was that she promised her grandfather to be good. That applied to strangers especially, he clarified on the day he set off.

"Hisano-san is here to observe you," said Musashi.

"Observe me for what reason?" she asked politely. She belatedly realized there were several ways to rephrase the question and make it sound nicer than it did.

"You'll be seventeen soon and I believe it is appropriate for you to find a husband," explained Musashi with a quaint smile.

She wanted to laugh. She might have cracked a smile if that hadn't been a pause.

"The continuation of the Shugosha line is absolutely imperative. As you form the next generation it falls on you to provide us an heir."

She nodded. "Understandable."

"Hisano-san is interested in unifying our families and has a candidate in mind for the arrangement."

"Will this interfere with my training?" she asked, concerned.

"Absolutely not," Musashi clarified. "Hisano-san will observe you throughout the following days with the exception of our afternoon lessons, nighttime, and during private affairs."

She could breathe a sigh of relief, but she held it in and said the first thing to come to mind. "I hope I am up to your standards, Hisano-san."

"We will see."

Musashi excused himself to allow them privacy because Hisano wanted to speak to her alone, but promised that the two of them would pick up where they left off on their last lesson. The only thing she worried about was arriving late for Strength Training with Uzuki, but Hisano seemed to be straightforward enough to move the conversation along and she wasn't interested in turning away any of her questions, no matter how strange she found it being interviewed to marry this relative of hers by anyone other than the male in question. Wouldn't that be more practical? She'd be more inclined to accept that without any internal monologue questioning the situation.

Hisano asked her about whether or not she bled on a monthly basis to confirm she could provide an heir and asked if she remained untouched because she would not allow her family name to be stained by such a scandal. Even though, Mio told her that she had had no interest in the opposite sex, thus it being impossible for any man to come close to taking her chastity, she insisted on having her examined by a person in her confidence. She agreed as she didn't have a choice in the matter.

"I understand Musashi has a descendant connected to the Uchiha clan," Hisano begun after piling through the personal inquiries. "One of his children married an Uchiha woman and they had a child. Are you in any way connected to this son of his? You certainly have the features, the bone structure, the proud mien—you give off an energy that is distinctly Uchiha."

She caught onto the woman's ploy and countered. "The son you speak of has already passed and so has his child," she lied, masked in a cool expression that negated the arguments that could surface. She would be an Uchiha on the inside and assume the role of a Kuronuma on the outside, which was nothing she hadn't been doing since the Senju clan came along. "My grandfather is a blacksmith and his wife was a common woman from a village in Kurata. I take after my mother."

"Hm, it is said that few genetic lines are capable of overpowering the rose eyes that run in the Kuronuma clan. I have seen several children like yourself—with only one Kuronuma parent—and all inherited the eyes."

"There is a black sheep in every family, but I assure you my blood is as red as theirs."

"If I were able to read your chakra signature, I would be able to tell—"

"But that would be impossible," Mio interrupted. "I am wearing a protection seal to prevent that for a reason and I would very much like to live to see my grandchildren. I would appreciate it if you accepted my word as truth."

"I shall…for now." Hisano rose from her seat and reached to pull her face up by the chin. Her touch was soft and nonthreatening, but firm and her eyes scanned every contour of her face. "You are not unremarkable. I believe you could make a good wife for my nephew, but first impressions change and you are far from the princess I expected."

Mio sensed a change in the air as the woman released her. Unless that nephew of hers was living royalty then her approach to the arranged marriage could be overlooked, but if she simply wanted to control that nephew's life by providing him with a perfect bride, well, she would have to break one of her agreements to Shin. If this woman planned to humiliate her, she would have to try a lot harder than using sly tactics to get a rise out of her. She wouldn't bend for this woman any more than she did to everyone else attempting to belittle her existence.

She honored Musashi's words on the importance of continuing the Shugosha line, but she had absolutely no intention of marrying now or marrying through arrangement. She could apologize later if her decision upset him.

She smiled and carefully rose from her seat to escort the woman out. "Thank you for honoring me with your presence, Hisano-san," she said politely. "I do hope you find me well suited for your nephew."

* * *

><p><strong>The shadow storm began earlier than anticipated and the war for Kurata remained unsettled.<strong>

* * *

><p>Further underground, down a hidden rocky passage within Mt. Hyōga and beyond the springs sat a chamber of crystalized rock. The center comprised of a single walkway leading to a circular island surrounded by a cascade of searing dark water that cast a heady mist that made it nearly impossible to breathe. Atop the plinth in the center of the room was a round green object hovering a few inches off the surface casting a bright light that pierced through the smog.<p>

Mio inched closer to it and let her skirts fall to the ground. She reached to touch the circular object intrigued that it looked less like a dragon's eye and more like a round emerald. It emitted a brighter light as soon as her fingertips brushed the cold surface and a gust of icy wind blew against her body furiously. She sensed a steady decline in her chakra that exhausted her and moved away. She knew from the moment she took a detour to the hidden stairwell that she was making a mistake going underground alone, but she realized she didn't like Mt. Hyōga when Shin wasn't around doing something strange.

Beyond Mt. Hyōga there were Mikazuki spilling from Kurata Castle even though she recently learned Gouki was incapacitated. She wondered if it had anything to do with the poison, thought that happened so long ago. She had hoped it killed him, but it would be incredibly stupid of the Mikazuki clan to use poison in their weapons and not have an antidote handy. And he probably wasn't as incapacitated as she would like if his shinobi were making plans to ascend the mountain in Tasuku's name as the shadow storm took root in Mt. Hyōga making it difficult for any remaining Senju to join the fray.

Footsteps.

Mio returned to the foot of the staircase and caught Takuto before he made the complete descent.

He was out of breath, but looked relieved to see her. "Oh, you're here."

"Did something happen?" she asked, walking up to reach him.

"There was an envoy from Kurata Castle and you were nowhere to be found, so…"

"So?"

"I came looking for you."

"Has my grandfather returned to Kurata?" she asked once they reached the top of the staircase.

"No."

"Has he sent news?"

"Oh." Takuto dug through his pocket and provided her with a letter. "He sent this."

She ripped it open and read only to be disappointed in the irrelevant content. '_I miss you._' She appreciated the sentiment, but she'd rather be involved in her grandfather's dealings. He explained nothing about his travels except his intention of taking the Fate Sphere from Hag and punishing her for betraying the clan's secret.

She sighed and tucked it into her robes.

"What were you doing down here? Did the Shugosha-sama lift his ban on your being near the Climate Sphere?" asked Takuto, leading her through the labyrinth-like passages underground to the surface exits.

"I wanted to see it for myself," she admitted. "I did recently learn how to stop myself from activating an artifact."

It wasn't difficult for Musashi to determine her chakra control was easily disrupted when in contact with an artifact and taught her a method of preventing the artifact's parasitic pull from drawing out her chakra without her notice by using the black water in her body as a barrier. She struggled with it for several weeks until she finally stopped activating Okimi's Reflective Sphere, but she had a better grasp now to the point that it was so natural a thing she barely noticed it was there at all.

"That's good. Well, can you do anything about the weather? It's never been this tame during the shadow storm," he said, concerned. "I feel if temperatures continue on the rise we won't have a shadow storm and you know what that means."

"Mt. Hyōga loses its final defense."

A row of torches broke through the darkness and shadows danced across their pale clothing. The air contained a chill quality that only made the discomfort of a constant winter bearable to the Senju remaining on the mountain, but without the harsh, howling winds, most of the Kuronuma felt uncomfortable in their own skin.

Takuto huffed as he removed the loose white shirt he wore and stepped out into the glowing mountain with every opaque light outlining his beautifully sculpted body, each indentation of his tight abdominal muscles enhanced by the play of shadow and light.

She noted the shameless glances a group of girls her age directed at him as they passed them engaged in conversation and how oblivious he remained to even their giggling.

She caught Hashirama and a group of Senju drinking with Enya and his friends staring in their direction completely aghast. She wanted to know what Enya said about her. Hashirama remained with the group of twenty Senju shinobi left on the mountain and was tasked with her protection since Tobirama went out to the fray to lead against a recent attack that nearly reached the valleys between Mt. Hyōga and Kurata. He left accompanied by Saiko, a Kuronuma elder, who took several capable Kuronuma shinobi to remain in the valleys on standby as the final defense before the mountain range was breached.

Musashi worried that it wouldn't be long before the Mikazuki-Uchiha alliance managed to make it past Saiko despite the Senju being able to knock them back. The Mikazuki clan remained a relatively unknown clan that only recently came into power with the help of the Uchiha clan (or at least that was the rumor going around because Taiga developed the sense of cleaning up after everyone's mess). They were mostly known for their ability to mask their chakra, their use of poison weapons, and for their nintaijutsu. As far as any report brought in from the warzone, the Mikazuki clan wasn't in possession of a Kekkei Genkai.

Mio suspected as much, but for a Sharingan to be rendered useless by that secret technique of theirs irritated her. The only clan capable of negating dōjutsu that way was the Kuronuma because they had the black water and that thought alone evolved into a thousand questions that turned her away from admiring Takuto's physique in silence.

"You mentioned an envoy from Kurata Castle…" she started, berating herself for overlooking something that important.

Takuto paused and turned to her, his eyes darkened—changed with the reddish opacity of the fire lighting their pathway to Musashi. "He made it to Saiko-san's group in the mountain range with a letter addressed to your great-grandfather. It arrived by…bat."

She shuddered to think a bloodsucker trespassed into Mt. Hyōga and jolted when something nudged the back of her hand. One of Musashi's white bears snickered on his way past her and cast her an evil look.

"You did that on purpose," shouted Takuto at the furry bear.

It continued on its merry way, cutting between the street to enter through the aperture of a house. Musashi used his summoned animals to aid them through the shadow storm and most of the younger bears were tricksters, complete troublemakers that enjoyed pulling pranks on people and scaring others. That one especially liked to torture her.

"You promised there wouldn't be any bats," she told him.

Takuto laughed. "Well, it's usually too cold that Saiko-san rarely summons them unless it's absolutely necessary," he admitted. "Oh and watch out for Hashirama—"

Mio yelped at the feel of hands on her waist hoisting her up high in the air onto Hashirama's broad shoulders and sat on the verge of tears from the second scare in a row. Her heart pounded noising in her chest as she wondered where to put her hands and whether or not she might have been digging her heels into his sides, but he didn't seem to notice it. He held her by the knees ensuring she stayed perfectly in one place and seemed to smile at Takuto, who returned the gesture with his own, looking up at her in the process as if one warning was enough to survive Hashirama.

"Are we going somewhere?" asked Hashirama casually.

"To Shugosha-sama," answered Takuto.

"Oh yes, about the message. We should see what Mikazuki Gouki's demands are; though it's obvious one is already on my shoulders." He lifted his eyes to her, a smile on his face. "Should we go, Mio-hime?"

"It's urgent," she said, attempting to relax.

The difference between this and the mountain she was knocked out of a while ago was that she saw Hashirama around Enya. Enya was in league with Musashi and Shin in the way that they were synonymous with alcoholic beverages. Being around them meant exposure to quality wine and all their bad habits. She believed Hashirama was at least tipsy because he was swaying where he stood.

She decided to be unaffected by it…or tried to be.

Musashi stood outside his home surrounded by the usual people crowding him in the last couple of weeks. Uzuki and Tenma, two of the eight wise Elders on the council that acted as the Shugosha's advisors, were pouring over the suspected letter with furrowed eyebrows while Hisano stood beside her great-grandfather with an air of superiority. With her proximity and presentation, she could easily be mistaken for his wife.

As soon as Hisano saw her seated on Hashirama's shoulders, she shot her a look that left her cold and extremely uncomfortable. She wanted to shrink into nonexistence, but kept her chin up and remained composed. This moment would come back to haunt her later that day and she could already imagine the sort of outburst cooking up in Hisano's mind. The last time she caught her babysitting Minako with Takuto's help who together they were tasked with chasing her down the entire encampment following her very twisted interpretation of hide and seek. No matter how many times they found her and that was saying something because she had a gift for being difficult to find, they were supposed to say and do nothing until she was out of sight again. The game was endless and Hisano appeared when Takuto was whispering in her ear to prevent Minako from overhearing, who was squatting behind a crate giggling quietly.

Not only did Hisano snap at her, she cancelled her free time and forbade Takuto from being too friendly with her, and once she found out Sako had the audacity to allow someone of her standing to babysit a child, she hunted the blond woman down to put her in her place while returning Minako to her. And then, Hisano rounded on her a second time, asking her to be more aware of her position. Mio was too shocked to say anything and just agreed with everything she said to get her to stop shouting at her.

Hashirama moved towards Uzuki and Tenma. "May I see the letter?"

Tenma handed it to him. Mio leaned forward to read it. The Mikazuki made the obvious demand and one that took her by surprise. Scrawled neatly on the brittle paper it said, _'Mio, the Kuronuma princess, and Shinya of the Black Sphere, two lives for those of our Senju prisoners, the civilians from Kurata's villages, and every man, woman, and child on Mt. Hyōga.'_ It was signed by both the Mikazuki clan and Uchiha clan. She recognized the handwriting. It was Hiryuu.

She pointed to it. "Uchiha Hiryuu wrote this."

"Uchiha Hiryuu? I never saw him in the battle. The Mikazuki were being led by a man called Rikuto," said Hashirama.

"Uchiha Hiryuu is a strategist. He may not be in the warzone, but he knows all about it and has probably been the one moving everyone around."

"You're certainly knowledgeable about the man," commented Hisano.

"I like to read." Mio flexed her hand towards the letter. "Can I see it?"

"We've spent enough time staring at it and there's nothing wrong with it," said Tenma.

"Have a little faith, Mio's previous profession dealt with this sort of thing," defended Takuto. "If anything, I think there may be a message in there just for her."

The letter was already in her hands and she was analyzing it. There was definitely a hidden message somewhere between the lines or in the paper itself. She knew if she wanted to decipher it properly, given that it was a message from Hiryuu, that she needed her Sharingan.

"Can I keep it?" she asked absently, absorbed in rereading and deconstructing it.

"Yes," Musashi agreed. "Come to any of us immediately if you discover something."

She folded it and tucked it inside one of her overflowing sleeves. "I assume we have a time limit."

"Without a doubt," Musashi answered. "We are not in a position to negotiate because Shinya isn't here and Mio is not an option."

"It's a bad game," said Hashirama. "Kuronuma Shinya is not an unknown name outside Kurata and he didn't leave Mt. Hyōga without making his presence known. This is a ploy to make the negotiation a failure."

Tenma removed himself from the group announcing that he would send an answer to Saiko, so she would be able to relay the information to Tobirama. Musashi offered him more information to relay before the older man took his leave and Mio waited impatiently for the conversation to continue.

There were too many lives at stake. Would Mikazuki Gouki slaughter another village of innocents to prove a point? Yes, he would do it in a heartbeat because he made it clear that he would repeat the cycle of violence to get his hands on her.

"We suffered his cruelty once as a declaration of war," started Musashi. "To assume he will only slaughter those he has named in that slip of paper would be pure ignorance on our behalf and I have lived far too many years to allow a pair of arrogant brats do with the people of Kurata what they would like."

"But Shugosha-sama, if I may," said Takuto hesitantly, earning a nod from her great-grandfather. "The shadow storm is going on strong; no light can pierce the darkness that stretches between this mountain and the mountain ranges of Kurata. Do we have to rely on our shinobi on the other side while we remain here like sitting ducks?"

"You make a good point, Takuto-kun, but I don't plan for more innocent blood to be spilled when this mountain has seen enough," he answered stringently. "I will do the only thing I am capable of doing. I will deactivate the Climate Sphere and allow the shadow storm to dissolve. I will order Saiko and the men accompanying her to defend the valleys while we prepare our own assault against them and—"

"—_Or_ we surprise them," Mio interjected. She thought of it on the spot, this horrible and rash idea of hers that might result in buying the Kuronuma clan enough of a distraction to save all the endangered lives. Everyone seemed to be listening at this point and she faltered before continuing. "I have improved much since I first started Strength Training with Uzuki-san and have even managed to perfect a new jutsu. I may not be in any position to make a request like this, but—"

"I decline," said Musashi strongly, his usual gruff tone dropped into a low menacing growl that should have marked the end of the discussion. He watched her with awareness in his rose-hued eyes and a strong disapproval that molded his expression into a harsh one. "You are my last successor and your duty as one is the only thing that should be important to you."

"It is important," she tried hesitantly. "But I don't want that massacre to repeat itself. There are people I care about here and I don't want to play into Mikazuki Gouki's game again."

"The Fate Sphere is on his side. You will always play into his game. The only way to prevent this is by going to war. We must believe that we are stronger than they are."

"The Kuronuma clan won't fight," she retorted. "The Kuronuma clan was tasked with protecting the artifacts and this mountain is host to one. If we leave, we dishonor what our ancestor wanted. We can't let them come into this mountain, so we have to distract them. Is there a greater distraction than me? I'm the one they want. They will chase me wherever I go. I'm the only one capable of holding all the artifacts and if I left without anyone's knowledge, their threats would be unnecessary."

"No," Hashirama decided. "You're not going. Running away is as good as giving up and we can't confirm that doing this would stop them from releasing the prisoners. It could become more of an incentive to use them as bait in order to draw you out. There's no need to be so drastic. Once we receive a response from the other side we can convene, there's a better plan to every stupid one."

Mio tried to stop herself from trembling in a strange combination of frustration and anxiety where both emotions fought for their right to her reaction.

"Okay," she conceded without further argument. She would burst into tears if she went on any further reminded that the whole Kuronuma clan was all but a big family of embarrassing relatives, one she didn't want to lose at her expense.

They were home when she relinquished the roof Sachiyo provided. She learned harsh lessons here, she changed because of these people, she challenged herself and sought to become better because her grandfather always had the right words to say. Everyone supported her here. Everyone loved her here. Everything was perfect on Mt. Hyōga.

She experienced her fair share of terrible things since becoming Musashi's successor and it would get worse, but she wasn't expected to sit around being protected by the Senju clan forever. Shin, Uzuki, and Musashi told her time and again that she was getting strong to protect herself because a Shugosha should never need anyone protecting them. If she left now with her training unfinished, she would probably be able to protect the mountain from being attacked, but if she didn't, it was inevitable that so many lives would be taken because of her. She didn't need more death burdening her. Death was all she knew.

She wanted to believe someone could think of a better plan like Hashirama mentioned. She wanted to believe in his words because she had nothing else.

* * *

><p>Mio returned to see Musashi later that evening upon deciphering the coded message Hiryuu left behind. Certain she would understand it, no new information was provided in between the lines, the secret message was written in Jouji's preferred method, which she learned before Eijiro's death. For many silent minutes, she stared blankly at the paper and tried to let the initial shock wash away. It persisted. It ate at her nerves and weathered down against her chest. It clogged up her lungs and cut her respiratory functions. It numbed the senses and painted a sinister picture in her head. Every word lingered, every word hit harder.<p>

Hashirama had questioned her reaction when Takuto snatched the deciphered message from under her ink-stained hand and as soon as he read the opening bit. The taunting introduction to a nightmare she couldn't forget about a useless little girl that lost her parents and it went on to depict it detail by detail, even the minor nuances she believed were hers to keep, even the words her mother spoke in that broken voice that told her she was loved.

_"What is this?" _Hashirama had asked, eyebrows drawn.

Takuto understood it without explanation and opted to return the long, drawn out letter when she snatched it from his hands. She decided to go to her great-grandfather to show him the letter. He took the deciphered message in his hand and read it with a hardened stare, occasionally pausing to sigh on certain words that she assumed were the grisly murders that Hiryuu took time to draw out in exquisite detail. She wished the message ended there, but it continued into a second story about the same nameless girl that found a home in a snowy mountain surrounded by great, white giants. He described the layout of Mt. Hyōga in a way only a person who had seen it with their own eyes would be able to do so and talked about what would happen after the initial demand was met. The last few words were what really upset her and she repeated them in her head.

_The princess will run because she will learn of something terrible the great Shugosha has avoided in all their lessons, the story of what happens to the guardians that are no longer necessary. She will try to save more than she is able, but it is the person she wants to save the most that will be the one to die and that, Ohime-sama, is the only pathway in her future._

Musashi returned his gaze to her. "You mustn't listen to the lies in this."

"I don't care about the lies," she returned, keeping an even tone. "I want to know what he meant to say by what happens to guardians that are no longer necessary."

He exhaled, troubled with the subject. "Sit."

She did and prepared to listen, heart hammering in her chest. Was it that terrible?

"The parasite and host relationship between sphere and guardian is simple. The parasitic nature of the sphere draws chakra unknowingly from the host and it does this for as long as it takes for it to be given to a stronger host to provide what it already depleted form its current host," explained Musashi. "Of course, there are benefits to carrying a sphere because even though the relationship is one-sided, the artifacts have a tendency of preventing further aging to elongate the periods they are allowed to remain with a single host. You can say we are stopped from continuing to do so after we've reached our prime and remain there for as long as it takes for a new host to be found."

She took a calming breath. "What happens to the previous host?"

Musashi faltered. "The previous host dies," he said quickly. "It is a drawn out, but inevitable process." He paused at the horrified look that dawn on her. "There's more. If during a certain host's time, the host named any successors and was near passing the sphere onto the next host before that host died, the current host suffers negative damage from the sphere when it restarts its parasitic life cycle."

She swallowed thickly. Her mind drew a blank because the idea threatening to roll off her tongue was one she didn't want to say. "What is that supposed to mean?"

She couldn't hear the sound of her voice and in the long stretch in time between Musashi's next answer she imagined he hadn't either.

"It quickens the process. It mars the skin with terrible, painful bruises that slowly cover the skin. Before the sphere passes onto its new host it releases something like a poison that slips into the bloodstream. It is a last burden for its previous host and it is mean to kill them after they have finished passing on their knowledge to the new host. Once it reaches the heart, it's over. It's incurable."

The ugly bruise on Shin's arm came to mind. That awful reaction he had when she asked him. Did he want to hide this from her? She closed her eyes and held her face in her hands unable to listen to more.

"Such is the life of the artifact guardians, once a sphere has found a new host there's no need for an old one," he finished. "If there were two, three hosts with every artifact, it would defeat the purpose of protecting them because one could easily target an ex-host and use them. It's impossible to have two when there can only be one."

She felt the black dangling earring brush against her hand as she pushed her head back to breathe. "Is my grandfather going to die?" she whispered painfully. She couldn't believe it. She had to repeat it, over and over again until it sunk in. "Is he…is he going to die…?"

Musashi closed his eyes, saying nothing and his silence spoke louder than any words he could have spoken.

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: Part 3 of 3.

I just hope everyone was completely aware that Hashirama never put Mio down during that serious conversation and I just want you to imagine being everyone else talking about this while that's going on. I had every intention of cutting that out, not the conversation, but Mio being on his shoulders because it was supposed to be a serious moment, but I couldn't. It was just so ridiculous I wouldn't have forgiven myself if I did do it..

Heavier edits are coming to this chapter once I am re-energized. I did my best. I apologize for the shameless content, the shoddy characterization, and for literally tearing my outline for this chapter to shreds in order to write this. With this chapter I am done constructing the foundation of what will be the rest of the story and I hope everyone has enjoyed the journey so far.

I want to thank everyone that recently added this story to their alert or favorite lists (or both) for giving it a chance. It's never had a presentable summary and it's very slow on the uptake and there are lingering mistakes that I promise I will go back to fix and overall it's a very weird. I always write without expecting feedback and it doesn't help that I'm a pessimist and I don't trust my writing ability, but then there are people that go out and say they enjoy it and it really makes a difference to me. I want everyone to know that I appreciate each one of you and want to thank you all for helping Redesign reach over 80 reviews and a combined number of over 100 favs/follows.

Also, extra thank yous to the people that took the time to review the previous chapter, you always make me happier than a firefly in heat: **Loteva, Xanette**, **Y****amiKitsuneKami**, **Aries****01xD**, **MaxFlyFan**, **WarFlower**, and** Pyre Mikadzuki**. Don't ask about my comparison, I know it's terrible.

If anyone is interested in a preview to the famous Madara chapter, visit my profile to read up on how to find it and other extras you might appreciate.

_Things to expect in Ch. 23 - ? "**On the Battlefield**"_

- Madara and Izuna POV. Predominately the former.

- Madara and Shin interaction.

- Some memory segments woven in between. This included Madara's time in the Sun Country and some ridiculous recollections of his llama pen wars with Mio.

- Sachiyo and the Ito sisters.

- Madara and Taiga confrontation.

- Yayoi causing drama because why else would I create her except for that and being perceptive enough to tell you all some deep, dark secrets.

- There will be Mio. There will be Mio and Madara. There will be Mio and Izuna. There will also be Mio and Sachiyo + Saori and Hibari. But where there is Mio, you can expect there to be Mikazuki Gouki and Kurata battle update.

So, while you wait in anticipation for the greatness that will be part one of the next mini-arc (because I will pull out all my guns to make these be most perfect chapter I can churn out), I will be off spoiling my All I Wanted readers because I owe them 3 chapters and I'm almost done with one. But to make your wait easier, I will post a bunch of previews for the next mini-arc...so go off to my profile to see how you can find these previews!

Thank you for reading! :)


	23. On the Battlefield 1

**Before you begin,** these chapters were supposed to pick up where Mio's chapters left off only with Madara telling the story and I planned to weave flashbacks in between the writing to show you anything of relevance to the current story, but I made the belated decision to not write it as I initially wanted. Flashbacks in bulk tend to ruin a story (especially when done incorrectly) and that is one thing I don't want to do with this one, so I've decided to turn time to start somewhere good. And I know you're skeptical, but trust me on this, it's not going to be repetitive.

The way I see it, we have reached the turning point to Mio's story and now we have to see Madara reach that point as well before I their stories become one.

Mio had been the focus because she needed to grow up and since she met Shin, she has, now it's time for some changes to come into Madara's life.

Also, I wrote up a character list, I know how troublesome it can be to remember character names and who they are or what they've done, so I hope the list helps you out. You can find a link to it in my profile. It is updated frequently so you can expect to see spoilers there from most recent chapters and a few extra revelations that didn't quite make it to the story.

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><p>Chapter <strong>23<strong> | On the Battlefield I

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><p>The Sun Country sat east of the Lightning Country and it took a three-day voyage to reach its religious grounds by ferry. Madara arrived accompanied by a lot of twenty Uchiha men, shinobi and kunoichi his father and grandmother spared him, and ten Ito assassins commanded by Ito Tomoji's right hand man Takuei, a rangy shinobi of ferocious reputation. There were other Uchiha and Ito in a temporary camp set to meet them on the island within the next nine days depending on available transportation, but their inclusion had not been a part of the initial plan.<p>

Ito Tomoji, the assassin's clan leader, reached out to the self-titled King of the Sun Country in the form of a peacekeeping treaty to draw them forth from isolation and into his hidden village. He did not care much for the Motou clan as their irrelevance was aptly known throughout the main continent since they absconded in search of treaties from sea mongers turned shinobi and other unknown, nameless clans that whittled away in the last thirty-seven years since their territory wars against the Uchiha clan. Tomoji wanted their country for himself and Madara had been entrusted with the task. Takuei accompanied him out of curiosity. He had thought the secret had remained one, but Madara had overheard a joke going around their camps, specifically among the Ito assassins. All had made a bet that told Madara at fifteen would be unable to outsmart the Motou clan and with all odds against him, he'd felt inclined to show them that he'd be capable of that and much more. He'd deliver the damned country to Tomoji if it'd wipe that asinine smirk off Takuei's face.

Madara understood he was in no position to step out of line or drop his guard. He had taken this mission with suspicions to spare. He trusted nobody, not even the Uchiha that pretended to follow his orders. His wariness turned to stress and that stress manifested into a migraine that made it near unbearable to use his Sharingan at will. He disguised it well, but he couldn't stand the weakness it provoked and surrounded by men and women capable of killing him a hundred different ways gave no excuse for flaws in his plans.

"It might do you some good to rest," Takuei suggested that evening beside a fire built over white sand. He invited himself to a seat on the log to his left and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. His tangled mass of dark brown hair lay sodden around his angular face. "You don't seem to be sleeping enough. Do you fear our ways?"

He ignored the insult. "I do not tire easily."

"Hm." Takuei grinned in a way that tempted Madara to shove his face into the flames and hold it there until the skin melted off his skull. The man stared into the starless sky, the ground rumbling beneath their feet from warfare at the heart of the island where he had sent scouts to gather information. "It shouldn't be long before the scouts return. Although, do you not think it strange that there is fighting here? On an island this remote, it reads as your Uchiha situation, do you not think?"

Madara remained passive. The death of the Uchiha Elder, Eijiro, at the hands of a Mikazuki shinobi, of the mercenary clan hired by other shinobi clans, led to an unfortunate power split amongst the remaining Elders and Hikaku, the revered strongest Uchiha of his generation. The clan broke apart into five separate armies and led by a new leader, those five separate powers sought out allies in other shinobi clans.

His father, Tajima, returned to the Wind Country to continue his war against the remaining Sand Dome clans. Tajima joined sides with Sachiyo, his grandmother, who struck an alliance with an old enemy, Ito Tomoji and his clan of assassins.

Hikaku traveled to the Earth Country to conquer shinobi armies and so his name had begun to strike fear among the innocent, but he had remained inactive for the last month. His silence bothered him, but he thought nothing of it.

Hiryuu, the man that used to help with his and Izuna's training, had wandered into the Frost Country to rejoin with his longtime allies, the Mikazuki clan under Mikazuki Gouki. He betrayed the clan long ago and nobody realized it.

And then there was Taiga, his last instructor and the shinobi with infamous status in their clan, who took Jouji, the Head of Intelligence, and his twelve loyal spies with him along with Mio, Madara's own loyal spy. Their group remained out of sight and it would be for the best. Everyone wanted Taiga's secrets and Mio's—well, he didn't quite understand why Hiryuu wanted Mio, only that he overheard the conversation he had shared with Konoe that had left him perturbed and determined to find a way to salvage his broken clan with her assistance.

.

.

.

To say the Uchiha compound was in disarray would be an understatement, whatever this was, it was nothing short of chaotic. The rumor of Eijiro's death spread from the council room to the rest of the Uchiha in the compound, which presented itself to be a reasonable excuse to summon the entire clan to three buildings that could barely accommodate half of them. If Eijiro had indeed been killed, everyone was in trouble. Eijiro kept the clan together and peaceful without having to call himself its leader and with him gone, there were others vying for his position which made an inner war inevitable.

The bit of information he'd gathered by staying behind to talk with Katsura, his father's student turned right hand man, was that the situation was especially bad for a certain pair of individuals. The first turned out to be Taiga, the Nameless One and Eijiro's eldest grandchild, who held all the Uchiha clan's secrets. The little power Taiga held in the Council of Elders he owed to his grandfather and Jouji, who would without a doubt follow him if the Uchiha clan split apart. Hiryuu and Hikaku wanted to stay in Taiga's good graces to attain his support if the rumors were true and a power shift came into play.

Taiga seemed to be a prudent choice in ally. He had secrets that included stone tablet Tajima and Sachiyo wanted to get their hands on. The clan's biggest secret was supposed to be there, but it had to be deciphered and from the information he'd gathered while eavesdropping on his father and grandmother was that one needed a Sharingan, which he hadn't had the pleasure of having then, but he did now. So, Taiga made sense in the list of most desirable Uchiha allies, but he didn't see how Mio came into play.

Mio had a talent for espionage and a good memory, but apart from potential, she'd been a mediocre kunoichi since he'd met her. Although, he had to admit, her aim was getting better and she did have a Sharingan (not that she knew how to use it), so she wasn't a lost cause, but he didn't see the appeal to any of that. That hadn't been the most shocking revelation of the day either. It turned out that Hiryuu had been the one determined to snatch her away with the help of that hawkish aunt of hers who had suddenly seemed to care that Mio was her niece.

Madara left the council room with the others, but fell behind upon realizing Hiryuu and Konoe remained inside. He watched everyone else take the flight of stairs to their lodgings above to wait on news of Eijiro's wellbeing, something to dispel the rumors or instill some truth into them.

He peered through the aperture of the two partly open shoji screens to the dim orange light within.

"You are not to think of leaving this compound without that girl," said Hiryuu, the sturdily built shinobi came into sight as he crossed the room. He reached Konoe and stared her down. "She is imperative."

"You think she wants to come with us?" Konoe remarked sarcastically. "You've tried to kill her and I never cared for her."

"If I'd known she'd be valuable to Gouki-san, I would've acted differently. You as well."

_Who is Gouki?_

The kunoichi let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't understand his obsession with that girl," she complained. "It's as reminiscent as that whore mother of hers. Everyone wanted Kikyo, even you, until she chose my brother instead."

Hiryuu's hand shot to her arm, grip tightening around it until she winced in pain. "Kikyo was one of _them_," he said with peculiar emphasis, "or she was supposed to be. Do you not see the benefits of such an alliance?"

Konoe laughed in response. "No. I do not. To be in the company of cowards would bring great shame to the Uchiha legacy. We should be happy there isn't an alliance between us and that clan of recluses."

Madara grimaced.

"Speaking to you is useless. You do not understand the value of a Shugosha." Hiryuu stepped past her, heading in the opposite direction.

_Shugosha? A protector?_

He only stuck around long enough to hear Konoe curse at the man before leaving in the same direction. He waited until her footsteps faded before calling Mio from out of Sako's room to see if she discovered anything from Taiga's wife.

Mio followed him up the staircase and into their room where they exchanged information, although he kept the conversation between Hiryuu and Konoe to himself. If she knew anything about Hiryuu's odd interest, she'd avoid the topic and they'd fight over it. His grandmother specifically told him to let Mio recover from what had happened in Kurata and he'd planned to because he didn't want any more consequences. Sachiyo had started to run out of ideas—cleaning out animal pens, helping plow the surrounding farmland for the neighbors, rebuilding broken things, and other grunt work had seemed too easy a penalty that neither he nor Mio were bothered by which obviously meant it wasn't as severe a punishment as she wished. They'd gotten so used to the labor that they'd learn to manage it with little to no fighting. There'd be no telling the sort of plans she'll have if he let something happen to Mio.

However, Madara thought of taking a risk, of using Mio for all she was worth to ensure their own safety. He understood his father and grandmother wouldn't follow the likes of Hiryuu, Hikaku, or Taiga and through them, he had learned the clan was of the utmost importance. Keeping it together and staying strong no matter how headstrong and uncontrollable the Uchiha tended to be or how difficult it seemed to stay united—Madara saw that only together would the clan persist. Internal wars had ended more clans than any other wars. So when he told Mio that they needed to do something, he meant it and he used her attachment to Taiga's wife and daughter to coerce her into secrecy.

She had been reluctant and incredibly hesitant at first, but she had offered her help by becoming his spy and swearing fealty to him. He'd seen that she had bent to easily in their favor, so quickly he nearly felt guilty about having used Sako and Minako, but not as much as when he had involved his brother. Mio had looked helpless then, so unpredictably helpless that it shamed him and he had never felt as though he had hurt her before. Today it had seemed as if hurting her was the only thing he was capable of doing and she had hurt in silence—staring firmly into his eyes without emotion in her face, her restlessness had shone through her dark gaze. And he'd hated how he could see—_and feel_—that inner struggle going on behind that awful mask she'd worn since he'd met her.

"Mio."

The wax melted away with the flame, hardening against the brass plate beneath it. She pulled her eyes away from it upon hearing her name fall from his lips and met his stare. Under different circumstances, he imagined she would be crying, or rather, pinching bruises into the inside of her arms to shed a few dramatic tears. Truly, he didn't know what to expect from her anymore. Was she the girl Hiryuu warned him about (the one he remained wary of after six years)? Or was she Izuna's quiet friend?

"I'm going to betray Sachiyo-sama," she said suddenly.

"What?"

"I was thinking about my options," she elaborated. "Konoe is telling everyone that she plans to take me under her wing, but that's because Hiryuu wants something from me—"

"Do you know what he wants?" Madara interrupted.

"No, I don't, but I thought of finding out for myself, but he's too smart. If I suddenly decide to go with Konoe on any presentable excuse, he'll be suspicious the entire time. He'll know that I'm there for information and that will get me killed." She paused as his frown deepened. "I don't want to die."

"I didn't say you had to die."

"You look awfully disappointed that I don't have a death wish."

Madara didn't deny that. "Well, you don't look like you would not have a death wish."

She reached over and twisted the skin above his wrist. He swatted her hand away in retaliation and rubbed the reddened flesh. "That hurts," he hissed. "What is wrong with you?"

"If you wanted to control the direction of the plan you should have thought of it yourself, but you made me do it, so deal with the fact that I want to live long enough to turn fifteen."

"That's not a good goal—"

She pinched him again, this time he felt her nails digging in. He cursed and shoved her. She kicked him in the shin and tried getting away while the pain distracted him. His arm shot forward, grabbing her by the ankle and pulling her down. She fell face first into the tatami mats with a loud thud that startled them into silence as the two waited for any shouting to emerge from beyond their room.

Madara felt he might hear Sachiyo asking why they were making a ruckus and she'd appear to find them as they were before smacking them both on the head while trying to drill in their heads the importance of camaraderie. It would have been a recycled speech, one Mio used to recite word for word in a deeper baritone to match his grandmother's voice that had made him laugh because she'd sounded ridiculous and because she'd even bothered to learn it.

Mio glanced over her shoulder. "I half expected Sachiyo-sama to burst in shouting for disturbing the guests."

His stomach twisted. "And recite her famous speech?" He scoffed, letting her go. "Like we haven't heard it a hundred times."

She sat up with a small smile and the good humor lit her face. "How long have we been together?" she begun, mimicking Sachiyo's deeper voice. "How long have we eaten like a family? Madara, tell me!"

He tried not to laugh as he went along. "Six years."

"Do you hear that Mio? Six years! It has been six years since you became a part of this family! Did you hear that Madara? Six years! Six years and the two of you continue to act like animals! Would it kill you, Madara, to be a little kinder to Mio? And Mio would you stop picking fights with Madara? He's stronger than you are and he doesn't care if he hurts you." He found himself sniggering. "What are you laughing about Madara? Mio might one day just break all the bones in your body!" A chill strummed through him, this was frighteningly like one of his grandmother's famous rants. She gasped in exasperation, pushing back the hair from her face as his grandmother often did. "Well, if you want to continue fighting like wild animals, why don't you march yourself out of this house and sleep with them!"

She burst into laughter, dropping back down and rolling onto her back.

"That was too eerily similar," Madara commented once their laughter subsided.

"I've been practicing my _Sachiyo_," she answered humorously. "I plan to use it on her when she gives us the updated seven years speech next year and see if she has a reaction."

"She will skin you alive," he warned.

She looked at him. "And it'll be worth it."

Madara fell into silence. Her words finally reached him and when he lifted his face to see hers, it seemed she realized it too. If Eijiro had fallen and they were forced to carry out their plan, there wouldn't be a seven-year rant next year because everything would change.

"I will go with Taiga," she said in continuation. "If something happens, I'm going to betray Sachiyo-sama to go with Taiga. I can protect Sako and Minako as well as earn his trust. Maybe after some years I can get that stone tablet from him. But this is only if Eijiro-san is dead."

"You must do whatever it takes to take it from him," Madara added, taking her by the wrist. "Whatever he wants. You will do it so long as it doesn't jeopardize Izuna, Sachiyo, or Tajima. Understood?"

"Anything," she complied with a firm nod.

"Anything," he repeated. "Uncover his secrets and bring them to me."

.

.

.

"They have returned."

Madara turned away from the flames, standing to meet his scouts halfway with Takuei half a step behind him. "What do you know?"

An Ito man was the first to speak, a stout male with a beady eyes, a flat nose, and a round face. "The Motou clan is at war," he revealed, pausing to catch his breath. The four other scouts looked as weary as this one, which made him question the distance they traversed to come across any information.

"What?" Takuei asked, bemused.

"Obviously the Motou clan is at war," said Madara, annoyed. "The amount of chakra radiating from the center of the island is blatant proof of that." He tried not to glare at the older Ito assassin and turned to the flat-nosed male. "Did you find out anything the least bit relevant to our interests?"

One of his Uchiha stepped forward, a sensor shinobi with choppy brown hair and a prominent face. He stood taller than the other scouts that had accompanied him on the mission. "There is a village about twenty kilometers west of the war's epicenter that claim the war has been ongoing for the past twenty years and it is reminiscent to our clan's inner conflict," he explained smartly, his words piqued their interest. "The villagers say that after the Motou and Uchiha clans' war, the Motou arrived here where their leader took the title of king after subjugating the allied clans that invited him. He ruled a few years before dying and passing on his title to his eldest son, Motou Jikai, who faced opposition from his younger brother, Motou Enki.

Enki gathered support from several allied clans with the promise of freedom, something his brother refused to resign after their father conquered them and placed them under his complete control, and eventually titled himself king. He and his brother have since been at war for the rightful claim to do as they want with the island and those that inhabit it for the last twenty years. Both sides only have one allied clan remaining and by the looks of it, it won't be much longer before the war ends. There are many dead and many more dying. If we must act, now is the time, Madara-sama—"

"Kyouya?" called Takuei dubiously.

Madara sensed others as Kyouya had when he'd fallen into sudden silence. Drawing shuriken from the pouch at his back, he threw five that sang against the sandy winds and stabbed in a row three meters where his men stood. With his Sharingan activated, he saw the jutsu the five heavily clothed strangers wore come undone as the outlines of their bodies appeared out of thin air and bit by bit came into sight. A black sunburst was sown on the flap of cloth spilling from the front of their strange clothes and he knew it was the Motou's insignia. _But which side._

"We come without intention to fight," the man at the forefront began. He was bald and wizened with a missing front tooth and pale robes that swallowed him whole. "We are priests of the Northern Sun Temple, we were sent by Motou Enki to invite you to his castle. I am Aoto and am in your service, Uchiha Madara."

His stomach twisted in discomfort that showed up as a scowl on his face. "What does Motou Enki want with me?"

"Only that you listen to his story," Aoto claimed. "You may bring all your men if you deem it necessary or come alone."

Madara took a moment to think, then gestured to Kyouya to accompany him forward. He glimpsed at Takuei. "You may bring as many men as you want," he said before turning to leave the other Uchiha under another's command, Roka.

This was a necessary risk. One made on impulse that might have normally earned him an earful from Izuna, who was not here or in good terms with him. Sauntering up to the Motou priests, he wondered if Mio would have had an opinion to express, or would she have thought it was necessary to approach someone of power. He came under the guise of extending a proper alliance to the Motou clan seeing as several notes from Ito Tomoji resulted in failure. It normally took two leaders coming together face to face to discuss matters, not through letters, and if the Motou refused, he was supposed to subjugate them with Takuei's help. For any of that to happen, he'd need to meet with someone and instead of sending his own men to find that someone, Motou Enki sent for him. It was a suspicious action and he planned to get to the bottom of it.

Takuei brought along his flat-nosed companion, Fumio, and a gaunt woman called Mako, through a stretch of tropical settings that went far beyond a raging battlefield struggling to quiet under the veil of night. When the ground shook and a giant serpent leapt into the air snapping its fangs at a woman with vibrant hair, he found himself pausing to observe whether she lived or die. She retaliated with a strange technique that seemed to twist through the scaled monster with a disturbing crunch until it blew apart in chunks of cold meat. He watched pain show in her face as her arm snapped back as if the technique used had been done against her, but he knew better than that.

That was kinjutsu, forbidden techniques.

Fumio whistled low in observation. "That must've hurt."

"Do the Motou clan use kinjutsu?" Madara asked, evening his tone.

"Where do you think kinjutsu originated boy?" Aoto chuckled darkly. "The Motou clan has been around as long as the Uchiha and some say even further back before the Sage of Six Paths came around to save the world from the Ten-Tails."

_A difficult clan_, Madara thought, but he could learn a thing or two from them.

Aoto waved a hand ahead where near the bottom of a mountain he saw the structure of a temple bearing the black sunburst insignia and further above the road in an alcove near the center, the castle came into view with its dark blue roof tiles and tall protective walls.

He followed the wizened man's lead, casting one final glance to the battlefield to see the Motou struggling against their own kinjutsu users in a war that pit two sides of the same clan against one another. Regardless of the similarities, it seemed less like the struggle going on between the Uchiha powers. This was two decades in the making. This seemed more like what he imagined would be the conclusion of the Uchiha conflict if Mio didn't achieve what had been asked of her. Although, he didn't doubt her, he worried for her position. She'd never done a long-term mission like this before and she'd admitted it then that it'd be troublesome.

Madara entered through a massive gate into a heavily defended yard with Takuei and their three men following close behind, the center of attention to an audience of robed strangers and distinctly armored shinobi. His eyes traveled forward to the castle tower in the middle, five stories tall and fortified. There were several short buildings surrounding it with slim walkways that housed the more important members of the Motou clan and their royal family.

Far beyond the primary structures, he spotted barracks where he suspected their shinobi resided, but despite the tower's splendor, another edifice, small and near insignificant, sat off to his immediate right. It seemed to have been modeled like the temple at the foot of the mountain and from its grand wooden doors carved with the black sunburst of the Motou clan, spilled dozens of men and woman, even people younger than him. Unlike the pale robes Aoto and his priests were, these were bright red and lined with gold, they bore jewelry that weighed heavily down their necks and around their ankles and bare ankles they wore thick steel cuffs. Each wan face looked upon him and his men with scorn and he turned his back to them, ignoring their whisper insults and suspicions.

Aoto dismissed his priests, the group of five slipping out of sight behind a crowd of bright red robes, and followed a path towards the inner circle of the castle's territory that brought them through another gate, much smaller than the one that they first crossed. They climbed several steps and finally entered the elevated tower where a massive room awaited them illuminated in orange light provided by the torches along opposite walls.

A broad man with reddish brown hair awaited them in front of the first slim staircase. Standing perfectly still with both arms at his side donning imperfect armor a burnt orange color that consisted of broken or damaged pieces barely linked together. The dark clothes underneath were torn or singed as though he had emerged from battle a second ago.

"Seiko-sama," Aoto greeted with an inclination of his head. "Where is Enki Heika?"

Seiko pointed up with a gloveless hand. "Expecting the boy for tea." He redirected deep blue eyes to Madara and gestured to the stairs with a jut of his chin. "Come. I will take you."

"Only him?" asked Takuei curiously.

"Only him," Seiko answered. "Aoto-san, you may take the others downstairs. I will join you all shortly. Uchiha Madara, come with me."

Madara split away from Takuei and the others to follow Seiko up the staircase in silence. He led him up two floors from the bottom to a smaller space where rice-paper doors welcomed him into a finely decorated room. There he found a narrowed-eyed man awaited him seated in front of a short-legged table. There were scrolls hung from the wall, calligraphy on one side and ink painting on the other with matching flower arrangements flanking the two.

The new man stared at him with a crooked smile plastered on his pointed face and mussed brown hair slicked over his head, showing a receding hairline. He peered at him momentarily before his attentions went to the battered Seiko.

"You look terrible, Seiko-san," he said in greeting.

"I wouldn't if you bothered to get your fat ass in battle," Seiko retorted in an even tone. The insulted man laughed awkwardly as if attempting to dissuade the genuine offense as mere word play between old friends. "Need I remind you the state of your clan and your brother's? One, he has more men, and two, the Sone clan have more men."

"Yes, yes, my dear older brother has more people on his side," said the man with a wicked smile, "but I have that old witch. Ayuka has certainly helped, no? She is our strongest priestess and she has already given us good news. What do we have to worry about?"

Frustrated, Seiko's right hand fisted. "Pathways changing," he remarked stiffly, turning on his heel and storming out.

The shoji screens shut noisily in his wake and his stomping feet could still be heard even after he'd reach the middle of the staircase.

Madara stood with his arms crossed. "What is it you want from me?"

The decorated man chuckled. "Let me introduce myself," he begun, gesturing to the seat cushion across him, "I am Motou Enki, king of this humble country. That man you saw is my second commander, Mikami Seiko, leader of the Mikami clan of the Grass Country."

Madara knew close to nothing on the Mikami clan only that it existed.

"I would introduce you to my first commander, but she is in battle—stunning woman." Enki grinned. "You shall meet her later on, no doubt, and others as well. You will have much to do here."

He grew frustrated with his knowing tone. "Yes," he answered, forcing a smile, "once you and your brother are dead and gone, I will have plenty to do."

Enki chuckled hesitantly, once again trying to make a joke out of a threat. "Ambitious boy," he commented. "Have a seat? My story is a journey. You must listen attentively." He raised a teapot. "Would you care for tea? Or do you prefer sake?"

"I will have neither," he said evenly. At the thought of the mission objective, he reconsidered his tone. Failure would not be taken lightly by either Ito Tomoji or his grandmother and he did not plan to fail. This might as well be the first country he had ever conquered, but it would be conquered and he told himself that it would become the first of many to fall under him. "Tell your story and I will listen."

A knock disturbed the start of the tale and a servant woman with red hair crossed the room to deliver a scroll to Enki. "This came from the mainland, Heika." She bowed deeply and quickly retreated from where she came.

Enki stared at the scroll a moment too long before setting it atop the table. A distinct explosive tag sat at the seam of the scroll, one he easily neutralized and removed. He sat with the coded scroll humming with interest. "It seems the Uchiha clan is quite active in the mainland. Treaties with the Ito clan _and _the Mikazuki clan, I'm impressed," he commented, "but I do see why anyone might deem this necessary with the Nameless One off his leash."

He stayed perfectly calm even though it was strange to hear any news from Taiga's side. "Oh?"

"He is a dangerous one, I admit," said Enki, still reading the message. "How did your clansmen ever let him walk away without killing him? Now, the great Hiryuu is going through great lengths to capture him alive."

That came as no surprised. It had been predicted from the start that Taiga would become the most targeted player in the power game, but only Hiryuu would go after him so quickly…unless…

_"Speaking to you is useless. You do not understand the value of a Shugosha."_

The memory was fleeting and only Hiryuu and Konoe's voices echoed in his head arguing over Mio.

"You want to capture the girl as well," Enki said finally, he lifted curious eyes to him. "What is so important about this girl? Was she entrusted with some great secret?"

He wondered the same as well. Sometimes it had seemed Mio knew more than she let on, but mere observations had not provided the proof to confirm it. "Have you heard of Uchiha Genji and Kikyo?"

"No, not in great lengths," Enki admitted. "I do, however, know of Uchiha Chiho, Kikyo's mother." His eyes returned to the open scroll in his hands, a new smile playing on his mouth. "Do I have reason to believe this Mio is Chiho's granddaughter?" When Madara nodded, not showing his hesitation on the subject, Enki continued, "This is excellent. Undoubtedly so. It is not the Nameless One you want, it's the girl. What is her name?"

"Mio."

"Mio," he repeated in disappointment. He rolled up the scroll and tucked it away in his robes. "That is not a name to remember. Uchiha Mio. It has a strange ring to it, too common. Perhaps, there is another that suits her better."

"You promised a story," Madara interjected before Enki went on about Mio's name. If he paid the matter too much attention, he might suspect something was up. The news was as big news to him as it was to Enki. Hiryuu wanted to capture Taiga and Mio. It happened too early on. That ruined their plan.

"Oh yes, the story." Enki paused to have tea. He served Madara a cup and slid it over the round table in his direction, but he made no move to take it. "The story begins thirty-seven years ago during a time when the Motou clan and Uchiha clan started a war over land. History records it as being a decade-long war, but that is a twisted retelling. Truth be told, the war ended quickly. You see, a man descended from the mountains of Kurata, a Kuronuma intervened in the conflict and ultimately sided with the Uchiha clan. They say he had fallen in love with an Uchiha woman and as a gift to her and her noble clan, he offered to her clansmen his strength and it took him one day to completely obliterate the Motou shinobi on sight forcing the rest to pull back."

The Kuronuma man and Uchiha woman would be Mio's grandparents. On his deathbed, Eijiro had confessed that she had a grandfather whom she assumed would be a Kuronuma because he had explained that whomever her relative was, he had every intention of taking her to Mt. Hyōga, the residence to the elusive Kuronuma clan. He wondered if that was the reason Hiryuu wanted her. Did it have anything to do with a Shugosha?

"Of course, none of this appeared in any records," Enki went on. "It is simply said the Motou clan left and sought refuge with its allies on a nameless island off the Lightning Country's jurisdiction after a ten-year war. The truth is we had no allies here, only enemies, but after the defeat the clan had suffered at the hands of _one _Kuronuma, my father refused to face another. For the next two years, the Motou clan warred with the native shinobi clans here until each and every one of them subjected to our rule.

We established this as the Sun Country to honor our gods with clarity and my father ruled for a few years before passing and leaving his throne to my older brother, Jikai, and his wife, Miwa. The title should have been mine, so in opposition to Jikai, who was incapable of leading this country to anything but ruin, I gathered allies from a pool of subjugated shinobi clans with the promise of freedom, but to be…frank, the war did not start over my ambitions.

It begun over Miwa. Jikai's wife was a beautiful woman and I wanted her. I loved that woman to madness and though she was torn between my brother and I, she chose me. She ran to my side, but Jikai assumed I took her away as some ploy for revenge. With that, he gathered his men and plotted his first assault against me.

The beginning of the war was twenty years ago and in those twenty years; Miwa gave me two children before passing. In those twenty years, our shinobi allies whittled down to two and we have been in the same standstill as last year and the year before. I yearn for this war to end, but that is still my brother on the other side. However wretched I have been to him or however he has retaliated does not change the fact that we remain bound by blood."

Madara understood all too well. "I will do it," he announced, earning a skeptical glance from the sullen Enki. "I will kill your brother for you, but you will need to do something in return."

"A bargain?" Enki said gruffly. "Well, let's hear it."

"You will agree to an alliance with the Ito and Uchiha clan and we will have complete access to this country."

"You mince no words, young one," he responded. "If you can do what I have failed to accomplish these last twenty years then you may have your alliance and this country for all it may offer to you."

The conversation concluded there and Madara was escorted out to extravagant lodgings within the inner circle of the castle alongside his five traveling companions that were raving to engage Enki's enemies in proper battle after having watched the battlefield from afar.

Madara stood in a stuffy room with a window overlooking the water garden at the edge of the courtyard, observing passing strangers with fascination before turning away to find something to write on. He had not yet left anything for Mio to retrieve and he had planned to wait a while until he accommodated to a new setting before doing so, but now seemed like the right time. Until, he dug too far into his luggage that he discovered a wooden box.

He set it down on the tatami, staring at it trying to remember where it came from when the memory resurfaced in his mind, reminding him how long it has been since everything had begun.

.

.

.

Madara had watched Mio wander into the first room to her left and she had stayed inside, noiseless and nonexistent inside the broken cottage that had once been her home. It had been a bit of a surprise to learn that her parents had been its last inhabitants and even more that they had died there protecting her. He hadn't listened to the details of her arrival at the countryside home, only that she had been orphaned and that she'd become a spy for himself and Izuna (if not their servant).

Today, he'd mocked her parents by calling them weak and had seen her steadily grow anxious in her attempts to defend them. He had seen that mask of hers crack and for a split second, he'd felt shame. She'd gone away before he thought of something nasty to say and now, she was simply silent and it felt as though he'd been alone the entire time, like she had been imagined, a phantom of the past or a mere figment of his imagination.

He walked up to the room, the first to the left in a short hallway with only two other entrances, and touched the handle, pressing down and then forward. The weathered wood dividing them opened noiselessly and through the tiny aperture, the interior was the same as the rest of the house, a home so lost and neglected the forest had spread its arms to it, swallowing it under a mantle of green that bloomed across its broken roof and flowers sprouted from between the floorboards. Tangled vines slinked up the walls and drooped from the ceiling, stretching its long limbs to the damaged, lopsided mattress and Mio lying atop it, the water soaked into her clothes fell away into the lumpy surface beneath her.

She slept, he noticed by the sound of her breathing hidden away by the pelts of heavy rainfall above. The holes in the roof spilled streams of water onto the plants budding from the ground. She was in a deep sleep if she hadn't made a move to show the door opening had woken her and perhaps it had something to do with the house. She lived here nine years before having to leave it; this had been her home much like the countryside had been his for the last fifteen years. She must've felt safe enough to rest here. She hadn't fully recovered from that Kurata fiasco that left her asleep for weeks and he couldn't imagine waking up after so long wanting nothing but sleep. The medical specialist that had looked at her condition said she would need to rest after regaining consciousness, but she hadn't had time for that since they were summoned to the compound.

Madara frowned, abandoning the subject mid-thought and the room at once. He didn't care about any of that. Not enough to worry over it like Izuna. Mio was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, so he stepped away from the entrance and ventured into the room to his direct right.

This one was smaller and near empty. He suspected it might have been the neatest room at one time and that thought, without a doubt, told him that this room belonged to Mio. When he ventured in, he noticed both the bed and chest had been pushed from what must have been their places judging by the hollows in the wood underneath. He crouched down to touch the white lines etched on the ground, feeling bits of soft grass under his fingertips. His eyes swept to the rest of the flooring, blooming from between the cracks were dozens of undisturbed white flowers swayed quietly. The rummaging had happened long ago.

Someone had come looking for something they were sure would be in Mio's room.

Those parents' of hers seemed to have trusted her with some big secrets.

He straightened out to leave and stepped on an odd floorboard that creaked under his weight. He looked down, pulling his foot away before stepping on it a second time. It wobbled. _A loose floorboard?_ It seemed so obvious, even for Mio.

Madara pulled it from the ground and found it hollow. Lodged inside, he found a wooden box and tugged it free of the plants growing over it. He stared at it, as if trying to will himself to feel a little shame for going through Mio's things, but it wasn't something he hadn't done before. He opened it.

There were three scrolls surrounded by junk.

The rain came to a slow halt as he was about to rummage through the box and shut the lid, carrying it out with him. He left it near his things and ventured out into the cold. The storm clouds remained in the sky, casting a deeper darkness in the surrounding sylvan, but the worst of the rain seemed to be over. He suspected the worst they could encounter would be light rain, which made this the best time to continue traveling.

Madara returned inside, checking the contents of his bags before repacking his dried clothes in. He cast a glance at the wooden box he took from under the floorboard when he heard a loud creak and stuffed it into his bags, dropping everything to stare straight into the empty hallway. He was sure Mio had woken up.

Annoyed by his own sudden reaction to the sound, he decided to go wake her. He dug through her bags for dry clothes and headed straight into the larger bedroom. They would need to take advantage of the weather.

He stopped midway, remembering something. A long time ago, he'd heard his father mention that two spies used to live alone in a cottage in the forest. He'd been complaining about how odd it'd been before a kind-faced Uchiha had appeared from behind the door and had said, _"I'd be a lot more worried about living in this snake nest."_

Madara had been three when his father introduced the stranger as Uchiha Genji, the clan's finest spy. From then on, he'd always think of him as being the man that lived in the cottage in the forest because he'd never cared to remember his name.

_"Weren't you living in this snake nest before?" _Tajima had asked, grinning.

Genji had laughed. _"Yes, it was terrible,_" he'd answered, _"but I've got a little girl now. She's a ridiculous little thing."_

His mother had been alive then. She had appeared with Izuna in her arms yawning, having heard the conversation. _"I never imagined Kikyo as the type to have children," _she'd commented.

His older brothers had been alive as well. _"Yes, she didn't either," Genji had replied._

_"What's the girl's name?" his mother had asked._

_"It's Mio."_

Mio was Genji and Kikyo's daughter. Why didn't anyone mention it before?

.

.

.

The box was full of junk and sloppily written notes. Madara never understood why a bunch of junk meant anything to Mio until he began sifting through it. Every item came from a different area in the mainland; he recognized the clay dolls sold exclusively in the Wind Country and a chipped cup that bore the insignia of an inn he had stayed in when a job took him to the Lightning Country. There were colorful beaded bracelets he could never imagine on Mio and twin glass bottles of red paint that he saw no purpose for. He discovered broken shards of a wooden handheld mirror underneath most of the paper scraps, pulled an ancient deck of cards, and a silver hairpin encrusted in metal petals surrounding tiny blue gems.

He started picking up the notes next, reading them to find each signed by "mom" or "dad," all headed with a jolly "Happy Birthday, Mio" followed by the date. Every note was dated December 14 when Kana and Izuna had been celebrating her birthday in the spring, nearly three months from the actual day.

He wondered why she kept the information to herself. Why wouldn't she bother to correct them? He questioned himself for paying her shenanigans any heed—why did she do anything, really?—but it piqued his curiosity.

She did.

She worked in her own secret ways, keeping more bottled in than out. She had one stupid expression for everything except the rare smile she gave whenever Izuna came around. She also liked to be alone more often than not. He always wanted to know what she was thinking because he thought he needed a reason to justify her preference in no company. Maybe there were secrets there, maybe she saw the world differently, maybe she didn't think at all—he wanted to know.

It didn't take a genius to see why the box was important. For every birthday she received two presents and notes from the parents that died for her. It meant something. There were feelings here, feelings he tried to understand but couldn't, so he shut everything back inside (untouched scrolls included) and thrust it back to the bottom of his luggage where he planned to never look through it again.

He thought about tomorrow and decided to rest, pushing lingering thoughts of Mio from his head.

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: Okay, there were two flashbacks in this, I couldn't help it. Basically, if anything was ever muddled in Mio's chapters you will learn it Madara's chapter.

Also, I'm trying something crazy, so please bear with me on the strange updating schedule I'm about to embark on. I'm writing on ahead in this mini arc of sorts, so I have the next chapter finished and the one that follows that in writing (that I hope to finish soon). Expect and update in 3 to 4 days. I intent to join Madara and Mio's story lines as quickly as possible so that's the reason for the crazy updates (the delays were due to outlining and some time line stuff).

Moving on, thank you to **that0nelittl3girl**, **YamiKitsuneKami**, **Loteva**,** Aries01xD**, **crazyuser**, **HushedFable**, **surugasasa**, **Child from Chaos**, **VKLover13**, **RimaHatake**, **Frau Mannelig**, and **Tananna** for leaving reviews. I appreciate you taking the time to read this humble story of mine enough to comment on it! And thank you to the new favorites and follows I've received as well, I appreciate you just as much silent readers!

A preview to the next chapter is available on my LJ. Tomorrow morning I will post a detailed post breaking down this chapter on my LJ like I did for "The War of Kurata."


	24. On the Battlefield 2

Chapter **24** | On the Battlefield II

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><p>Madara and Takuei overlooked the savage battlefield. Bodies were littered across the wide field, the blood dry on them, the skin eaten from their faces by the black birds flying overhead and despite their presence, the war raged on over them. Their rotting forms were used as stepping stones until the limbs fell away from them to become one with the earth beneath them. The dead were not buried by their comrades, they were pulled under a thin layer of dirt cast on them by the onslaught of attacks exchanged by enemies and for a moment, Madara imagined that being the worst of deaths.<p>

He wondered if the fighting had escalated to the point that they no longer could spare a moment to bury their dead or had they simply not cared from the start.

Motou Enki and Mikami Seiko joined them in full armor with a familiar face coming up behind them in a stride. Her vibrant red hair sat in a high ponytail that slithered like the serpent at her back. Her eyes were almond shaped and the color of brass and her figure clothed in a red kimono top belted by a black sash bearing the white outline of the sunburst complete with dark trousers was strong but curved.

"This is Motou Ayuka," Enki introduced, "She is the first commander in this humble army of mine. Ayuka, you know these shinobi, yes?"

"Uchiha Madara, Ito Takuei, Uchiha Kyouya, Ito Fumio, and Ito Mako," she said pointedly going down the line to everyone in his group. She inclined her head. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, now, if you'll excuse me."

She gestured to a younger girl with black hair forward and the girl held out the small glass jars she struggled to hold. One by one, Ayuka starting with Madara forced him back a step to pack dirt into one jar and she did the same to the rest until she had gathered dirt from under everyone's feet. She excused herself, beckoning her two similarly clothed attendants to follow. The dark haired girl that provided the jars grimaced when her companion, a freckled girl carrying a gigantic scroll on her back, stumbled. The three disappeared and nothing more was said in regards to Ayuka or her companions or their strange behavior, though that seemed to be considered normal among them.

Enki and Seiko dove straight into strategies and explained the territories split between him and his brother. He revealed secrets of the Sone clan and admitted that Jikai's, his brother, army consisted of more shinobi than his own, many of them skilled Suiton users, which might him and Kyouya at a slight disadvantage. Madara decided to place the Ito at the forefront of the strategy he helped devise for Enki, who provided his remaining shinobi for him to lead through the fray. He warned them to steered clear of those in moss green robes, a symbol of the Southern Temple's priests that would be their biggest adversary, and deep violet ornamental gowns, the priestess of the same temple and wielders of the darkest arts.

"It will do you well to watch your step," Seiko advised. "The lands are perilous from decades of kinjutsu usage. Think of crossing through the battlefield as though you were walking on poisonous water. You don't want to fall in if you want to keep your life."

Madara stared beyond the hillside to a sea of dark earth where the clash of weapons was loudest and the swell of different chakra roared to life in the form of ninjutsu that tore the battlefield asunder. The only thought in his mind was jumping straight in to challenge the Motou on the enemy's side. He wanted to see their kinjutsu.

Enki stepped forward momentarily, pointing to a castle tower on the opposite side where he suspected was where the island ended. "My brother defends his castle. He will not leave," he explained. "That is your goal."

"Kyouya," he said, eyeing the sensory shinobi fleetingly, "we are going."

He jumped straight down, discarding the plan, gathering chakra at his feet to land. He heard Seiko curse and Takuei call to him, his voice edged with anger. He hit the ground safely, Sharingan activated, and felt a boiling heat radiating from beneath his feet that ebbed away at his chakra like a leech. Soon as Kyouya landed, he bolted straight into the battle ahead warning the shinobi at his heels to keep moving. If one stayed in a single place for too long, the earth underneath their feet would suck away their chakra. Madara thought to use that to his advantage as he came across the largest field of battle where the smell of blood and rotten flesh was the strongest.

Madara became an immediate target for Jikai's shinobi. He predicted their actions, anticipated their ninjutsu, and saw through the genjutsu used to fool many of Enki's warriors. Although weapons, small and as tall as he were hurled at him, and stone walls were raised against him, he swept through their first line of defense without so much as a scratch on him.

Takuei caught up to him with Fumio struggling to keep up and Mako rushing headfirst into the next line of assault with Kyouya joining her. The taller male planted his hand on his shoulder and smirked. "You leave this horde to us and take the Motou shinobi ahead," he said, unraveling the fine wire he kept wrapped about his wrists and passing chakra to it that made it spark with electricity. "Lay waste on that castle, boy."

Madara grinned, allowing Takuei the time to create an opening for him and Enki's shinobi to follow. With a snap of his lightning imbued wire, Takuei made his presence known and his name rang in fearful octaves that mingled in the air with Madara's own name.

Adrenaline rushed through his bloodstream. He was known even here.

Fumio and Mako used a combined wind technique that hurled dozens of shinobi off the slippery earth, Kyouya slashed his opponents down with a kunai, and Takuei rendered any Doton users useless with a snap of his whip. Once the inner area was cleared Madara shot forward with two dozen shinobi and another two dozen priests and priestess under his command. He split everyone into groups, sent the priests forward to accompany him with five shinobi towards the castle and left the remaining shinobi and priestess to deal with attacks sent in his direction.

The enemy quickly made note of their objective and attempted to strengthen their next line of defense halfway to his destination. They sent many violet clothed woman to the forefront, each rearing to commit to one of many dangerous kinjutsu in their arsenal and he watched the priestess' on Enki's side counter each by forcefully sealing their ability to cast other such techniques, leaving them defenseless and easy prey for the shinobi behind him. He learned how to spot kinjutsu at its early stages, each begun with a peculiar hand gesture he thought nonexistent until a shinobi explained that it is a special sign that protects the user from being dealt harsh repercussions from the forbidden techniques. Now, he wanted to try countering it, though he had been warned against doing so earlier on.

Enki had assured him that if he had wanted to see it for himself or learn it or defend himself from it, there would be a time for it. That time had been scheduled for after he killed Jikai, he'd be formally welcomed in the Sun Country, he and all his clansmen and allies would be equally received. It all rode on his killing one man and he had been killing men all his life. Home had been that house in the countryside with his grandmother and Izuna and Mio and it had been away from it, on the battlefield where he had lived watching men rise and fall and blood flow into the earth—that had been home too. He had seen terrible things, endured the worst of them, and he had survived them.

This pathetic war seemed to be about two brothers' inability to kill each other despite its conclusion being two decades overdue. It felt too easily resolved for something to have required the extreme of kinjutsu users, though as the southern castle came into view, he slowly realized that both sides had grown so frustrated and exhausted it had started to show in their lackadaisical fighting styles. He welcomed the cluster of enemies that put some effort into their attacks and gladly defeated them, but he had grown bored long before reaching the castle.

Kyouya and Takuei had caught up to him; neither sported any wounds only singed clothing from the splash of rotting earth. He ordered them to accompany him into the castle. He hoped that whatever men awaited them there would be worth the trouble and it seemed as though they also looked forward to the same.

"Perhaps worthy men await us there," commented Takuei, his eyes skimming the high walls of the southern castle. The wire he carried wrapped around his hands sat colored and dripping red.

Kyouya exchanged his kunai for a sword that had cut down several opponents.

Madara said nothing, he pushed forward as a new wave of shinobi came rushing towards them. Shouting coded maneuvers at one another, they surrounded him and attacked at once. Kunai and shuriken followed him wherever he turned. Streams of scalding water pursued him like a curse and when he raised a wall to protect himself, others came and they fell prey to his Sharingan. All turned against one another, butchering their own comrades while he slipped away disguised as a priest he remembered killing earlier.

The high castle walls loomed over him and within it he sensed great power. The adrenaline came back.

* * *

><p><strong>Southern Castle<strong>

* * *

><p>She had arrived a silent shadow dressed in pale robes stitched in black flower prints resembling the sunburst that had once represented a united clan. She had settled into the darkness with a welcomed smile on her ageless face. <em>Oh how beautiful she is<em>, he had thought upon seeing her pad across the room and he had thought it a thousand times in his lifetime. He had thought of it as he remembered this war against his brother, the selfish Enki that had chased his lovely Miwa until he had manipulated her to him. This dreadful battle had started on that day and he had grown wary since—wary of fighting and of mourning and of shame. For it had been shame that forced his hand, humiliation that his brother had enamored his Miwa, and dishonor that his Miwa had abandoned him to chase Enki. He had lived every day in torment, every year worse as he had watched his son, Heita, grow day by day resembling him less and his wife more. He had been a terrible man to Heita.

He had been waiting for her arrival to herald the end of war and she had haunted his room with her silence, carrying the Kuronuma artifact at her back and a jar of blackened earth in her hands.

_"…And _he _will come on the new moon and herald the end of this war,"_ she had begun, her opening words too soft for ears. She had found a seat on the floor far enough from his futon to unfurl the Fate Sphere as strands of muted red hair had tumbled down her shoulders. She had discarded the contents of her jar and he had watched with his own eyes as the paper come alive, taking the pile of earth and narrowing it into a straight line that had pointed at him. Below it, bits of stone and dirt had mapped out the story of his life. They had looked like the roots of a tree and the woman had read them in earnest. _"Do you wish to know?"_

_"When did you arrive?"_ he had asked, heart accelerated. His palms had been soaked by the fright of her presence because the beauty had masked ancient secrets and death. She had arrived several times before to many people calling death and death had come for them, taken them. _"When did you come from the Water Country?"_

She had smiled, her full red lips curved sensuously as though she had been staring at a lover. _"I will come when my family needs me_," she had answered, though they were distantly related. _"So do you wish to know what you may look forward to?"_

He had steeled himself, green eyes peering down at the answer below. A single line had meant one direction and that direction had the potential to branch out into several others, so he had told himself not to overreact.

_"Only one pathway exists for you, Jikai_," she had started, bright eyes watching, _"and it is to your death."_

Motou Jikai replayed the memory for the umpteenth time. Behind him, through the open window, he heard the clash between his men and his brother's—the never-ending conflict going on strong. He had not been right since the day that woman had slid into his bedroom to reveal he had come upon his final pathway.

It had been two weeks since that conversation had occurred and since then, he had increased the amount of shinobi guarding his bedroom and the castle tower where he spent most of his day. He had wanted to ask about what might remain of his castle, of Kazushige, his right hand man, of Heita, and the people that had supported and fought for him for the past twenty years when he had come to one grim realization. Like a wraith it had haunted him for the past two weeks and it had been the only thought in his mind since then.

He did not want to die. He waged this war knowing that either himself or Enki would die and no matter how many years they prolonged the conclusion, it would end the same. He had asked himself many times during those twenty years—_will it be Jikai or Enki? Who will carry the Motou clan?_

He had grown up without fear for death. It had seemed as though he had come to some form of understanding in association with the subject. He would die when the time came and would accept it. That seemed to have been the deal he had made with life as would any shinobi would have. Battlefields were everywhere and people died. He would fight and he would die. Eventually.

Dying had seemed so far away. Truthfully, he had never thought of it before—not once in his life, but the idea had been there and he had known long ago that he would die.

However, two weeks changed everything and every thought in his mind revolved around death. What would occur? How it might happen? No—_no_, _that's all wrong_. He knew how it would happen and by who's hand.

_"He will steal into your tower with eyes glowing red and a sword in his hand—Kazushige's blade if you can recall it," _the woman had detailed in a dreamy voice. _"There is power in those eyes of his and if you cannot bring your hands together, then you will lay down your life to him. Bequeath him with a last request and he will honor it."_

An explosion sounded close, rattling the high tower where he stood. Kazushige belted out his orders, for defenses to be fortified at the base of the castle and all remaining shinobi rushed to the site of the explosion. He did not dare peek out the window in fear of the red eyes meant to send him to the afterlife and that passing thought made him laugh.

He feared.

_I fear a child. It is a child I fear._

He laughed. Dust spiraled from the ceiling and the stench of death slowly gravitated towards him. It gathered around him like a miasma that wrapped itself about to wring his neck and he was overcome with mirth.

_"He is no child," _she had chastised when he had barked out a laugh. It had been so ridiculous then. _"At fifteen many have been men as young as twelve. So you must not hide your fear with mirth. You are being pathetic, Jikai."_

_"Silence!" _he had shouted, daring to touch her scroll and toss it. The dirt scattered and his final pathway gone, as if disappearing. _"Be gone, witch!"_

And she had gone, but the blackened earth remained destroying his hopes of that meeting having been a dream. He had servants clean it, but the imprint had remained to haunt him.

The shouts of wounded men echoed in the darkness and a great fire erupted from his courtyard. He ran a trembling hand across his bearded jaw and turned slowly to the sight of destruction. The flames devoured everything in their way, eating away at wood and growing brighter until a wall of water halted its trajectory to his tower. For a moment, the idea of it hitting its intended target brought forth hope now denied. Had it occurred, his pathway had changed, but it would not have been his doing. It would have been his killer's.

Jikai turned ready to take his sword and join his comrades, but his eyes cut through the darkness and bright red greeted him. _A Sharingan._ A cursed red evil stood in the shadows in red armor with a long sword, the blade reflected the chaos behind him and at the base of the finely crafted metal was the Sone clan's insignia, a budding sprout. It belonged to Kazushige and he feared the blood on the boy as there were no visible cuts on him.

He attempted to move, to reach for his own sword—to prove that old bitch wrong. He would not die today and he did not fear death. How tempting the words sounded in his mind, but his body neither moved and his mouth did not speak. He only stared at the reaper and stood reminded of his final conversation with the hag. It played in his head endlessly until every spoken word overlapped to the point he could no longer make sense of anything but the noise and those eyes.

He had seen that blood red a thousand times before in his youth, but it had never paralyzed him. The hag had been right; there was power in his eyes, such as the world had never seen before.

The boy stepped forward, his armor clinking lightly even with the noise outside. He had not yet lived half of his years, yet he would be his end. It made perfect sense no doubt, for the new generation to kill the old.

Beads of sweat formed and slithered down his face and the steel sat pointed to his neck. He had no intention of drawing out his torture and as the end came rushing forward, he forced words to leave his lips.

"You have chosen the wrong brother to kill," he said, sharpness cutting into the skin of his neck, bringing feeling to his hands as the Uchiha paused. "Kill Enki." He caught the sword in his hands and stilled the Uchiha's grip when he attempted to finish his job. "Kill him before he kills you."

The Uchiha boy that spelled his doom did not play a role in it. He held Kazushige's prized blade in his hands when Jikai took matters into his own hands and cut down and deep across his neck to feel the warm blood creep down from the wound. He decided to die that night parting with words of wisdom and dropped to his knees as heavy footfalls reached his ears.

As life left him, voices came to him, and he had chanced to wonder if Miwa might have lived had she stayed in this cold dank castle with him. Death rushed to welcome him and he learned the Uchiha's name when another man called him.

Madara.

And he hoped to hear his brother was welcomed into the afterlife with the same name.

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><p><strong>xl<strong>: I will say nothing about this chapter and see if anyone one sees what I did there.

I'd like to express my gratitude to **HushedFable** (Your name didn't show up in the last chapter, I apologize, I forgot that it's a period thing-lol this made me laugh and it shouldn't), **Loteva**, **Aries01xD**, and** Poche00Deea** for reviewing! :)

Thank you so much for reading. If you want a preview to the next chapter, you may find it at my LJ, link through my profile.

I also want to apologize for not having added more to the discussion entry I made for this mini-arc. I'm waiting to hit the next chapter before really going into extensive detail. So, yeah, if you haven't read what I wrote, you should. It has to do with Mio's grandfather, Shin, and how everything connects in the end.

The next chapter will take a bit longer to post, in the 5-6 day range, a week at the latest because I'm thinking of adding another scene during the editing process. So, I'll see you then. :)


	25. On the Battlefield 3

Chapter **25** | On the Battlefield III

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><p>Motou Enki exhaled, the cold clouding before his lips fading quickly, and felt overcome by emotion. The death of his brother, Jikai, as proposed by the Motou priestess, Ayuka, resulted in a jubilation that rang loudly at the foot of his tower and beyond his castle walls sounding like an endless celebration. He thought to feel deadened by the news, but he had known that only death would end the war and he'd rather it be Jikai than himself, selfish as it was, his brother was weak and emotionally unstable. The Sun Country would see better days under his absolute rule and without Jikai around to oppose him things would surely fall into place.<p>

And they had, it was the celebration he waited to end. However, his people deserved it, so he did not want to deprive them of their prize.

The rice paper doors slid open and shut equally quiet. Footsteps rang in his ears, drawing near, when Ayuka appeared in his periphery, her long twisting hair swaying behind her as invited herself into the seat across him. She settled the giant scroll between them, the Fate Sphere the Kuronuma clan had called it and she had been in possession of it far longer than the current Shugosha had lived.

"Do you not plan to celebrate, Ayuka-sama?" he asked courteously.

"I came to ask you the same," she answered with a brilliant smile. "Everyone is asking for you."

"A shame I do not feel celebratory."

"And yet you do not mourn either."

His eyes met hers in the dark and the brightness in her face faded away. "I apologize," she said without feeling and bowed her head in mock fashion. "I should not spell out such opinions to Heika."

"What do you need, Ayuka-sama? Speak now and be gone." He pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. He did not have the patience for her drawling conversation. He wanted the peace of his dark chambers and perhaps, in the later evening, a woman's company but not this woman—not Ayuka of the Fate Sphere, the ancient and the deceptive.

Ayuka carefully unfurled the Fate Sphere, a scroll of pristine quality and great power that was said to channel through her. She drew a tiny jar of earth from between her robes and begun to speak in a wondrous tone. "Something peculiar occurred this evening. I drew pathways to our castle's new residents. Five lives I expected and only four appeared."

Interest piqued, Enki drew forward, running a hand down his jaw. "What meaning does this possess?"

"I do not yet know." She discarded the contents of her jar atop the scroll's surface and although he anticipated it might form a visible line connected to several others, it remained a small mountain of dark earth and tiny glittering stones. "It does not matter how much chakra I channel into it or if I position it differently." As if to prove a point, she dragged the dirt to the other side of the scroll. "Do you see it does not activate? Every other jar I possess functions the same, but this does not and it...it irritates me."

"And this is…?"

"Uchiha Madara."

"But you have seen his pathway before?" Enki fought amazement. "This is untrue."

"No," she said quietly, "it is not. He does not exist in the scroll and that can mean numerous things."

"Numerous things?" he repeated in question.

Ayuka brushed a long red tendril off her shoulder. "It is his pathway that I cannot read, but through glimpses at others that have and will cross his path I have been allowed to delve into his futures. He will not pose a problem, so you shall not worry, not to you or to me. I will make sure of that."

That relieved him. "Have you encountered problems with Kuronuma Shinya?" She stayed silent a minute too long and that irritated him. "Well?"

"I had a thought is all…" She trailed off quietly, "when you mentioned Shinya, I remembered he can read the Fate Sphere."

"What is the meaning of this revelation?"

"There is one other person that I have difficulty reading." Ayuka drew back her sleeves and provided a thin vial of grassy earth. "I am blind to Uchiha Mio's life as well and it is only through the pathways of others that I am able to see her. Her grandfather made it so I could not and the sphere listened to him. What if he has shielded Madara from my eyes as well?" She paused. "I wonder what his intention may be…"

"Find it," Enki commanded. "Kuronuma Shinya is not a man to take lightly and you—"

"Be satisfied that the man cannot set foot on this island or it would be your death we might be celebrating," she said impatiently. "I have been battling that man far longer than you have been alive, so I will not have you command me to do anything that has to do with that man. It is being handled and handled well and if I were to fail, then you may gather up your pathetic army and attempt against his life. Until then, leave Kuronuma Shinya and the rest of the Kuronuma clan to me."

He bristled, but swallowed his pride. The Kuronuma trusted Ayuka and that had been enough for him to believe her capable of handling the reclusive clan. "That girl is the Shugosha, is she not? His granddaughter?" he asked, changing the subject. "How does it go with that one?"

"She is on the correct pathway as we speak, but I cannot see beyond what Shinya has allowed me to see," she admitted, her beautiful face marred by the crawling shadows cast by the firelight. "If I can put her on the same path as Mikazuki Gouki…she will be in possession of the Life Sphere and Black Sphere. The rest will surely follow. You may do as you wish with the girl."

"If it will bring me the ten artifacts, I would not mind taking a second wife."

"You needn't give her a proper title," Ayuka stated.

Enki felt no remorse for the girl, though it seemed to be a more appropriate emotion to the one he was feeling in that instant. His stomach knotted in anticipation.

"Is she pretty?" he asked wondrously, attempting to imagine the girl.

"She resembles her grandmother quite a bit."

Chiho. The name called back memories of the woman, jet black hair that fell below her chin like a curtain of silk and dark eyes, heavily lashed and profound. Her face was sharp and her cheekbones high and her lips were spectacularly curved. _Wonderful_.

Enki left his seat with that image in his mind and started towards the door. "If she is anything like Chiho, I will give her more than a title."

"If you seek a replica of Uchiha Chiho, you will be disappointed." Her voice forced him to a halt. "Chiho was all strength. Mio is the exact opposite, all weakness…I'll be surprised if she lives long enough to see the artifact war end."

"I do not mind it," admitted Enki, pulling open his doors. "Weakness is a sign of submission and when she comes to the Sun Country, I want her to submit to me."

He glimpsed at the piercing eyes staring back at him and the sinister smile she donned. "I do pray she does not herald your death, Enki Heika," she said, gathering her things to leave. "She has a tendency of bringing death to those that love her."

"I will not love her."

She let the Fate Sphere fall over her shoulder on a thick leather strap. "No, but you will love her gift and there is barely any distinction between the two."

* * *

><p>Ayuka emerged from the calm, her two attendants trailing behind her as if they were her shadows. "I have not yet had the chance to see you since the battle ended, but you were impressive."<p>

Madara spared her a cutting glance. He did not mean to discuss the subject of the battle any more than he had in Enki's tearoom after the strange developments in Jikai's chambers gave root to more suspicion and discomfort. He had successfully killed Motou Jikai (or so the story had been told), although it had not stopped his second-in-command from attempting to regroup to expel the Ito shinobi from the Southern Castle after only a week of occupation. However, their attempts failed and Sone Kazushige had been imprisoned. It had not been Madara's intention to let the Sone clan live. He had predicted their betrayal far longer than they may have considered it, but Enki had wanted to extend a helping hand as they had been the clan his wife once belonged to when she had lived as his brother's wife.

Enki summoned him that morning and he knew that today marked a new day of listening to him prattle on subject to subject without reason. He liked to talk. Incessantly. He spent four hours talking about printed fabric he hope to give to a dressmaker to make a dress for a daughter he had not yet met, but would according to Enki.

"Have you heard news of the Waterfall Country? It seems the Ito clan is experiencing some hardships," continued Ayuka, flicking back her hair. "They are not the only ones, either. I hear The Nameless One and Uchiha Mio are absconding in the Iron Country, I wonder what might occur if the samurai become aware that there are shinobi among them…or if the neighboring battlefields reach them."

He stopped and she did as well. "What do you want?"

"I am merely engaging you in conversation," she replied, smiling.

He was especially wary of this woman. "I'm not interested in your conversation."

She gestured her attendants away, both girls moving on forward looking back to him before disappearing up the staircase. She stepped forward, chin up and eyes sharp. "Let me make one thing clear to you," she begun, voice tame. "I am not on this island as your enemy. I would not be on this island serving under Motou Enki if you had not been here. You are the only ally I seek."

"I'm not interested," he repeated, turning towards the staircase.

"Uchiha Mio is in danger."

He halted, facing her. "Why should I care for that traitor?"

"Because she's not a traitor," Ayuka said calmly, eyes bright with the light of the torches on the wall. "She is faithful to you. She works for you. You have contacted her during your stay and she has answered you. Do not think to make a fool of me, I see things in a different light and read them in all their circumstances. That girl is in danger. There is a man called Mikazuki Gouki that wants to _collect _her and if he accomplishes that, there will be no stopping his ambitions."

"Whatever happens to that traitor is on her, not me," he stated, refusing to admit to it.

"Surely you have questions about her," she continued. "There is a mystery surrounding that girl. She is special, even for a Kuronuma. People like her are not born often enough in the world…"

Madara walked on ahead with an exasperated sigh. He did not need to listen to this woman or her assumptions, no matter if there existed a shred of truth in her words, he would not pay them any heed.

"Mikazuki Gouki will kill everyone around her if he deems it necessary. That includes your brother."

He rounded on her in an instant. "What do you know about my brother, witch?" he hissed, grabbing her by the front of her robes.

"Your brother wants that girl and if he wants her, it is already a hindrance to Mikazuki Gouki," she said quietly, removing his hand from her clothes and smoothing out the crumples. "I can tell you why he wants her, why she is so imperative to his cause, why he would kill anyone and everyone around her to get his hands on her, and why this involves that precious brother of yours. Your issue is not listening when you need to."

Ayuka passed by him, walking up the stairs ahead of him. He watched the flutter of her robes disappear and after a moment, he followed her. He had not been the only one summoned. He had been told that Takuei and Seiko would also be present, as well as Ayuka and the attendants that never left her side. He had learned that they were not simply her attendants, rather her students and they learned everywhere they went.

Madara was the last to appear before Enki and it earned him pointed looks from the priests summoned from the temple. He did not bother to sit even though the king insisted with a look that dared him to oppose.

Enki retracted his gesture with a smile that dispelled any worry for consequence, but the discontent remained etched in his narrow eyes. He awarded the room with his undivided attention, expecting to captivate his summoned audience. "What remains of the Sone clan will no longer be a burden," Enki begun. Apart from the Sone clan that fell during the battlefield, he spared the rest as homage to his dead wife who hailed from the once noble clan of faithful shinobi. He kept them in the northern castle under complete observation by Mikami shinobi and Ayuka, who put forth her efforts to reform the priests and priestess from the northern temple. "However, Ayuka-san plans to travel to the mainland for a few seasons." Turning to the redheaded woman expectantly, he continued, "Have you decided on whom you plan to leave at the temple? Aoto-san, perhaps? Maybe even Kousei-san?"

Kousei, the newly appointed and overweight Head Priest of the Southern Temple, stood smug at Enki's left, giving Ayuka a purposefully lewd stare that did not go unnoticed or unmentioned by the dark-haired attendant at her back. "Pig, eye contact," she said, gesturing to her eyes, "learn it."

The man turned bright red. "Forgive me, Hidenka-sama."

"Apologize to Ayuka-sama."

Ayuka raised her hand to silence the girl. "There is no need," she said, directing her eyes to Enki. "I will be leaving all temple affairs to Yayoi-hime and Kikumi-san." She gestured to the dark-haired girl first before the taller attendant. "I hope you will see no issue with my decision."

"No," said Enki, a tad tight-lipped. "No, I do think Yayoi is capable of taking over your work while you visit the mainland. Ah, but if I may, I'd like to assign someone to watch over her…if that is not too much to ask. She is my only daughter after all."

Takuei shot Madara a look, as if demanding if he knew about Enki having a daughter. The truth was he didn't, he only knew about the son called Ikki, a similarly dark-haired boy with the face of a snake, who eavesdropped on all important conversations in Enki's castle believing himself to be stealthy. Compared to any trained shinobi, he knew little about moving in silence and made unnecessary noise.

His response turned out to be a shrug.

"Madara," Enki called. "Would you mind?"

"Yes," he answered immediately. "I plan to head to the mainland to aid the Ito clan in their war alongside my brother. I leave in three days."

The door burst open behind them and a messenger came scuttling in, bending the knee to Enki as he offered a scroll for him to take. Enki took the offering and dismissed the man, smiling upon reading the news in the writing.

"Something wondrous has occurred," he said, voice dripping with delight. His shining eyes met with everyone in the room, but settled on him. "They are finally here."

"Who?" asked Madara, eyebrows drawn together.

"The Senju clan. They have answered my brother's final plea." Enki rose from his seat. "We should set out to meet them, Madara."

The bile rose to his mouth and his hands reflexively clenched. He was being played for a fool by a terrible liar. If there was anything he was certain about, it was the fact the Senju clan dropped the Motou as allies because they were problematic and that no matter what form the call arrived, they would not appear. That was unless the war that severed their treaty ended. He learned enough of that from the old priest, Aoto, who seemed too honest for his own good.

Madara took Katsura with him as he was not given the option to object and if the Senju clan did arrive, it would not be long before the mere presence of his clan and theirs sparked the next great battlefield in the Sun Country. Katsura had arrived two days ago with several more of their own, so they would not be short on capable shinobi, and though he did not yet trust them, Takuei and his Ito shinobi were present.

Enki traveled with a small entourage of priestesses with Ayuka at the forefront and her attendants struggling in the back where Madara and his group had dropped their speed to accommodate the two. It took too little time to reach the Southern Temple where envoys from the Senju clan awaited his arrival and lesser time for Madara to recognize Senju Hashirama from the quartet of travel-worn shinobi standing at the high, blackened gates in search of answers.

"Welcome Senju clan," Enki greeted from a distance. Ayuka stood to his right and Mikami Seiko at his left. "Unfortunately, you have arrived too late. Uchiha Madara has already killed my brother and I have no need for an alliance with you if I have the Uchiha and Ito clan at my back."

Hashirama spotted him with dark eyebrows knitted in concern, eyes wandering to the destruction left behind from two decades of war and Madara wondered what sort of thoughts ran through his mind at the sight of it all. However, in hindsight, the interesting bit of this development was that he would be fighting someone strong and perhaps, during said fight, he might be able to try a number of new jutsu he picked up since the last time he had faced off against Hashirama.

"It is our duty to protect the Southern Temple and Castle," one Senju announced.

Madara looked towards Enki, face void of the emotion stirring within him. Someone called the Senju clan here and that someone had not been Jikai that had asked him to kill his brother. This was one of his games and he was one of his pieces.

He clenched his hands into fists, knuckles whitening until he released them. He did not have time to fool around. He arrived to the Sun Country with the sole purpose of creating a treaty between the Motou and Ito clan, which he had been accomplished alongside other requests he had made that included an alliance with the Uchiha clan and free use of the island for whatever they saw fit. The sudden involvement of the Senju clan was unreal. The alliance they once had with the Motou clan fell apart because their inner conflict became a hassle they wanted no part in and it looked suspicious for them to arrive unless it had nothing to do with the Motou clan and everything to do with the Sone clan.

"Too late a duty to stay true to," Enki toyed, "unless you intend to wage war against myself and my allies." Turning to Seiko, he added a soft, "And what a sight it will be to see the Senju and Uchiha do battle. I hear they are always the bloodiest of fights."

Ayuka stepped forward, alerting the Senju across their group into a defensive stance. "I am Ayuka of the Fate Sphere," she announced. "I am resident to the Water Country where I am known as Hag."

Her confession eased the tension and she gestured to her attendants. Kikumi and Yayoi were quick to react to a call, but as Enki's daughter stepped past him, Madara's hand shot out to grab her by the arm.

Yayoi jerked around, dark hair whipping across her face. "Let go!"

Madara made eye contact with Ayuka, who smiled, and he let Yayoi go. He needed to do something if he planned to get off Enki's island alive and the structure of a plan appeared in his head as soon as Yayoi crossed his periphery.

Ayuka and her attendants walked up to the four Senju, but only forced one to step aside. Hashirama stared on as the redheaded woman gathered the earth where he once stood and trapped it in a jar she handed to Yayoi. She smiled to them all before trailing away with her girls, going further past their own group to return to the Northern Temple.

"I hope you find the remains of the Sone clan, they may serve you well," Enki said mockingly, then made a gesture to everyone. He turned to the leader of the Mikami clan. "Seiko-san, make sure our people leave the castle and temple. Bring everyone worthy. Everyone else, we are going."

Madara followed along reluctantly.

"I did not think you so obedient," Takuei commented, meeting his stride halfway along the treacherous road that had brought them to the Southern Temple from the start.

"I did not imagine you so mouthy," Madara retorted, going on ahead of the Ito clansmen.

Somewhere behind him, Takuei cursed.

_Let the fools be foolish_, he thought.

Madara returned to the Northern Castle to a message from his grandmother updating him on the situation in the Wind Country. There had been word that his father, Tajima, had encountered Uchiha from Hikaku's band of traitors scouting the new territories he had conquered in the last year. In her correspondence, his grandmother mentioned that Hikaku seemed to be following everyone indiscreetly with the exception of Taiga's group, which he found abnormal since he had been trying to ally himself with Taiga before the power split.

"Is there news from the Wind Country?" asked Katsura.

"Only that Hikaku's scouts are no longer there," Madara answered, handing the scroll to him to read. They were standing in one of the courtyards surrounded by silence after the messenger that delivered the scroll scuttled away.

"He has been following Hiryuu's steps more intently than others," Katsura mentioned. "I expected it to be Taiga, not that man." He paused, rolling the scroll closed. "I wonder why Hiryuu is so determined to capture Mio."

"I wonder."

"Do you question her betrayal?"

Madara stared at him strangely. "What?"

"She lived with you and your brother for six years; do you not question why she abandoned her loyalties to you?" Katsura elaborated. "She does not seem herself following Taiga."

"Hiryuu always warned us to be wary of her," said Madara placidly. "If Genji and Kikyo ever knew anything, she will know it now and she will know it all. Be sure she never caught you doing anything strange, she doesn't forget."

"Would not that be a better warning for yourself?"

Madara thought about it before leaving without answering. He never did anything strange or worth mentioning around her. Although, if Izuna were present, he felt the answer would have been different…but that would be if his brother were talking to him.

* * *

><p>Madara ran the misfortune of being followed by Enki's daughter, the raven-haired priestess that worked as Ayuka's attendant, and though she tried again and again to beckon him into some empty corridor or room, he went about his day ignoring her efforts to chase pursuits of more importance. That had gone on for several days with quiet unrest emerging from the Southern Temple where the Senju had settled prepared to aid Sone Kazushige after they released him from his imprisonment. Although, he had openly declared war on them, Enki chose to ignore their actions and forbade everyone within his castle walls to act against them. Madara conceded with the request to appease the amount of angry correspondences he received from his grandmother on his progress. He won Enki a country, but that did not make it Tomoji's country as it was meant to be, and quite frankly, he was growing irritable with all the nagging. He believed that if one wanted a country, they went out there and conquered it themselves, not send someone else to do it for them. If by the end of his trip to the ravaged Sun Country the country fell to him, it would be his, damn Tomoji and his assassin clan. He'd kill them all if he needed to, but if it would take this much trouble (enough to bring Senju Hashirama across the sea with a horde of his clansmen), he might as well keep the cursed island for himself.<p>

However, the day finally arrived that in her frustration the Sun Country's princess assaulted him going up a staircase and dragged him into a cramped space with strength unbecoming of her stature. The hazel-eyed priestess huffed grasping bent knees as she caught her breath, her pale cheeks were flushed and her hair fell in fine silk strings across her face.

"What is wrong with you?" he asked tersely, glaring down at her.

Yayoi reached for his shoulders and he stepped away, his back hitting the wall and her grab becoming successful. "Who…who…is that…man?" she asked between struggling breaths. "Uchiha Madara…I want to know…who that beautiful man is…please, tell me?"

He stared on, taken aback. She shadowed him day after day until she finally stuffed him in a cramped room alongside herself…to ask this stupid a question. "Who?"

"The one you were with at the temple this morning."

"Katsura?"

She broke into a dreamy smile that vanished in the split second she tightened her grip on his arms, her expression changing into one with more determination. "I need you to introduce Katsura to me. I will accompany you on the next meeting you have with him and you can do it nonchalantly, I don't want him to know what my intentions are."

"He has a wife."

"Is she beautiful?"

He shrugged. He never met the woman. The marriage had been a fairly recent affair.

"I can be his mistress. It matters not to a young maiden's heart." Yayoi dropped her grip on him, slid the door open, looked both ways and scampered out. She popped her head back through the entrance. "Can I call you Madara?"

He nodded skeptically.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow, Madara. Don't forget!"

Yayoi hopped down the staircase and left him in the closet feeling thoroughly confused.

After what seemed like a lengthy moment, Ayuka's freckled attendant appeared at the doorway staring at him oddly. If he remembered correctly her name was Kikumi. She was fairly tall and slender in scarlet robes with pale curls and dark eyes.

"I'd apologize for Yayoi's behavior if it was unusual," she said, sounding apologetic, nonetheless. "Ayuka-sama is searching for you."

Madara stalked past her. "Tell her I'm not interested."

"She insists," she called after him.

He wanted to keep a distance between himself and the woman. It felt better that way, despite her knowledge of Mio's loyalties and her cryptic mentions of Izuna. He preferred knowing nothing to knowing half the things she wanted to tell him, so if he could avoid her, he would, and he planned to turn down every meeting she attempted to schedule with him. He'd rather wait on the right opportunity to get rid of the Senju clan than listen to her ramblings. Enki and Takuei were enough of a threat to keep him on his toes; he didn't have the patience for more.

Madara left the castle tower and walked straight into his accommodations where the shadow of a woman greeted him.

"I said I wasn't interested," he informed Ayuka as she came into view. "When do you plan to leave for the Water Country?"

"When you decide to trust me and accept what I am trying to say." Ayuka strode closer to him, carrying the gargantuan scroll at her back. He watched her movements. "You have questions and I have answers. Do you not worry for your brother's life? His is an interesting life. What about your inquiries on your spy? Hers is a lengthy journey. What about your own pathway? Have you never been curious of what might become of you? Will you achieve your ambitions? Will you die an early death? What do you suppose my Fate Sphere has in store for you? Would you like to see?"

"No."

"You are a trying person, Uchiha Madara."

"I am not here to please you," he replied, and he gestured to the open door. "Leave."

"Enki Heika wants Mio as well." Ayuka strode to the entrance, reaching for the door to close it. She whirled around and pacing back to the center of the room. "So long as he wants her and you promise her to him, he will let you stay unharmed. Use her to your advantage, sell her to him if you'd like…it might do you well to rid her of your path and your brother's."

"Mio is of no importance to me. She is of no importance to my brother, either. Understand that she was a spy that betrayed our family and there is no room for traitors in our clan," Madara said strongly. Although if Enki wanted Mio as she claimed he didn't act like it when they spoke about her during their first meeting.

"How many times do you intent to repeat that question before you start to believe it?" questioned Ayuka. "If you won't ask questions, shall I? Well, let me start. Do you or do you not want your brother to die?"

"No."

"Do you want to know his pathways?"

"There is no dirt here for you to collect and my brother is leagues away," he responded, waving an arm over the space between them. He heard Aoto say that her readings came from the earth and it made sense after she had gone around collecting it when she first made his acquaintance.

"This is a different reading," she explained, drawing her gigantic scroll in front of her. She seated herself by a candle and unfurled the scroll. "You and your brother share blood. I can peek into his pathways through your bloodline. Bloodlines are a lot clearer than dirt pathway readings; you can say they are more attached to your sense of being whereas the other is based solely on decision-making. All I need is a drop of your blood and from it I can pick apart even the lives of your ancestors or your children or grandchildren should I choose to do so."

Madara broke the skin in his thumb with his canine and held it out for her as a bright red bead formed. She gently took his hand and guided it to the pristine center of the scroll, smudging it red. Instantaneously, he felt a hard tug from the object beneath his thumb taking with it a great quantity of chakra. He attempted to draw back, but Ayuka kept his hand firmly in place.

"You have more than enough chakra to spare, Uchiha Madara," she told him before releasing him. "That is enough."

He stared at red dot in the white center and saw Ayuka place both hands to either side of it until the droplet smudged across the page, sprouting long red tendrils that tangled into one another until the entire thing was filled with overlapping lines that he was certain no one would understand.

Ayuka's eyes scanned the strange crimson web and she traced a finger down a line that fell into knots as she hummed in wonder.

He found himself feeling like an idiot for allowing her to do the reading, but had it not simply been curiosity? He did not need to believe anything she said, even if she said Izuna was in danger, he would find a way to keep him safe.

She lifted her face to his and touched the center of the red web making it fade into white. "It is troubling."

"What?"

She smiled, almost victorious. "Mio."

"This was supposed to be about my brother," he snapped. "What does Mio have to do with anything?"

"People are born with bonds—individuals that will make a difference in the mapping of their lives," she begun. "It is simply said that you are connected to these individuals in one form or another, their appearance in your life or decisions concerning these people will open or close pathways for you."

"How does this relate to Mio?"

She rolled up her scroll. "Mio has the most pathways out of everyone I have ever read," she answered, set on pursuing the subject as if that would make him admit she was on his side. If she knew so much, why should he have to confirm it? "Of course, I have only seen as far as her twentieth year and there are thousands of pathways branching from the original and many more to come. Mio is very connected to people, but that is because she is Shugosha. Shugosha are naturally connected to people, they are surrounded by people."

"Shugosha?"

The memory of Hiryuu and Konoe arguing over her came to mind and the term echoed in the back of his mind. He kept returning to the image of the two in his mind, the threatening tone in Hiryuu's voice and the determination in Konoe's expression when she said she wanted Mio dead. He trusted she wouldn't give up until Mio died or she did.

"You have heard the term Shugosha before, have you not?"

"What about it?"

"A Shugosha is the protector of the Kuronuma clan's secrets and they are as supremely talented as they are rare." Ayuka drew a long thin box from her robes and slowly begun to prepare her smoking pipe. She smiled lightly. "Excuse me, it is only that I normally cannot see Mio through the Fate Sphere and I was a bit overwhelmed when I saw her through your bloodline."

"We don't have a blood connection," he pointed out.

"Ah, but you could. If you allowed Izuna to marry her." Ayuka puffed out a stream of gray smoke that slithered in the space between them. "The possibility is there, but as I said, if you want him to continue living you must not allow it. Mikazuki Gouki will kill everyone she loves and that will include your brother one day and he will have what he has always wanted."

"Why does he want her?"

Madara disliked the knowing smile the witch gave him in response.

"She is a Kuronuma, for one."

"She is an Uchiha as well."

"Oh yes," she drawled, tapping the ash from her pipe, "she is, but it is more important that she is a Kuronuma before an Uchiha. She comes from a special family in the clan itself and she is important for that reason alone. Remember? She is the Shugosha."

Madara frowned, shifting his weight on his left foot. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Only that she needs to be protected and Shinya of the Black Sphere will go through great lengths to accomplish it," said Ayuka, brightening when she uttered that name. "People will lay down their lives for that girl—that is the importance she possesses in this world. She is everything and she is rare and it has nothing to do with what she will do, but what will come from her."

"Come from her," he repeated in understanding.

Ayuka rose from her seat, hoisting her scroll onto her back. "I should be going now."

"You said nothing of Izuna," he reminded, forcing her to a halt.

"I told you to keep him away from Mio if you don't want Mikazuki Gouki to kill him." Ayuka stood at the entrance, facing forward. "Would you like some advice for yourself? There is a time and place for a deception as bad as you are thinking, only that you are committing the offense against the one person in the world you will regret your entire life."

"That tells me nothing."

She laughed. "Ah, but I have what I wanted. I hope we don't meet again, Uchiha Madara, but if we do, bring Mio to me, I want to see how your lives will intertwine in the future."

And she was gone.

* * *

><p><strong>Honorifics<strong>

Heika, "your majesty." I often write out Enki Heika and that would be something along the lines of "His Majesty, Enki" which sounds weird...but it feels right.

Hidenka, "your highness."

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: I feel like you should from now on expect everyone to be conspiring against the Kuronuma clan over Mio. Well there are exceptions, but you can count those in one hand, so let's not.

I updated that discussion post on my LJ, check it out if you have the time. It'll be a day or two before a preview goes up. And the next chapter will most likely be out within the next 4-5 days.

Thank you to **Rimahatake**, **Aries01xD**, **Loteva**, **HushedFable**, **MaxFlyFan**, and **YamiKitsuneKami** for reviewing the previous chapter!

Finally, thank you for reading. :)

P.S. I added a bit on the honorifics used above the note and apologize for not doing it before because I kept forgetting.


	26. On the Battlefield 4

Chapter **26** | On the Battlefield IV

* * *

><p><em>She fooled me<em>, Madara thought in contempt as he stepped up the long staircases of the castle tower. _She took my blood and made a fool of me._ His hands fisted at his sides. He did not think to trust her explanations as to what his blood meant to that scroll she carried with her, so there was no reason as to why he should assume her readings about Izuna or Mio would become reality. He chased the ideas from his head and started his ascent to meet with Enki that morning.

He nearly forgot about his charge when she came rushing out of the tearoom and twirled in front of him in her patterned robes. Yayoi grinned. "I wore my new robes today," she told him eagerly. "Do you like?"

"No." Madara continued to the staircase without a second look at her clothes.

Yayoi pursued him, her wooden sandals making a racket behind him. "You didn't even look at them!" she complained. "You should at the very least compliment a lady's wardrobe when she requests it."

He wondered who she thought he was as he reached the next landing. The girl intercepted his path and leaned against the railing of the next set of steps. "They are fine fabrics," she begun, fascinated, watching him pass and following him. "My father had them delivered from the Lightning Country. The gold thread was brought from a Merchant's Guild near your country. We receive our silver from the Frost Country and emeralds from Kurata. I have a chain link of emeralds, each prettier than the next, that was wrought by a famous jeweler there, but did you know Kurata is not famous for its emeralds? It's famous for its weapons. There is a man on the mountain called Shin. He is said to be able to mold metal with his hands. That's impossible, is it not?"

She blabbered on about her luxuries, going off on different tangents every so often only to return to the subject of her dresses and rings and necklaces. She silenced upon entering the tearoom where a pointed glare from her father managed the feat.

"Why are you here, Yayoi?" questioned Enki.

"Ayuka-sama left me in charge of the temple. I may sit on meetings if I wish," she answered courteously. "It is her wish."

"Ayuka's authority leaves with her. You have no place here. Leave."

Yayoi stood ostentatious, refusal pulsing through her like blood pumping in her veins and she meant to stay. "Father."

"No, Yayoi." Enki's tone firmed. He gestured Seiko. "Remove her."

"Yayoi-hime, please, follow me, I will escort you to your bedroom." Seiko gave her no choice but to submit the minute his hand grasped her arm in a vise grip.

Her defiance was worth nothing in this room and her only salvation had been Ayuka. Yayoi had probably been placed to report meetings back to her teacher and whatever Enki had planned to discuss today seemed like something he did not wish to share with the priestess. For a pair that looked so much like allies, they certainly acted more like enemies helping one another for the benefit of a common goal.

Was that common goal Mio? He wondered. Everyone that thought of getting their hands on Mio wanted something that came from her. He hoped it did not mean what he was thinking as he chased the disturbing thought away given Enki was at least four times their age. However, age never stopped men from seeking younger brides.

He was revolted, not so much the concept (as it was common practice) but the image it produced in his mind. Simply put, Mio should never be put in the same sentence as Enki or in the same room.

Something crashed, a ceramic vase split in dozen pieces to the point its original shape was unrecognizable, and his attention shifted elsewhere. He did not have the time to think of Mio, nor the incentive to dig deep enough for a shred of consideration over the warnings Ayuka had given him because in the Sun Country, the only ally he had was himself. Every Uchiha was either loyal to his grandmother or his father and they were present because it was an order and the Ito, without a doubt, obeyed his orders because he haphazardly secured the Sun Country for Ito Tomoji. However, if he met with any dissent from Takuei, the little favor he held with the Ito vanished. The Motou clan and the Mikami clan were unreliable allies and he immediately understood that there was a reason as to why Enki agreed to any of his terms.

Enki was toying with him now, attempting to attach strings to him to manipulate him like a puppeteer and Madara stupidly allowed his attention to slip off the subject over Ayuka's silly prognostications. Izuna would be fine. Mio would hopefully not become an old man's wife against her will. He needed to start thinking about saving his own skin before worrying about everyone else's and the key to all his problems had stalked him for days to his displeasure for a chance meeting with one of his father's shinobi. If he wanted favor, he could start there—using Yayoi to his advantage for simply being Enki's daughter.

Madara faced Enki directly, the sound of Yayoi's complaints vehement in the background. "She should stay."

The entire room fell silent, even Yayoi stopped protesting at the sound of his suggestion.

"Stay?" Enki queried, a smile quirked on his lips. The fool planned to play the statement off as a joke as everything else he found displeasing. "For what valuable reason should she stay?"

Meeting Yayoi's wide hazel eyes across the room, he gave her an assuring inclination of the head. "It is my duty to keep her safe," he said, returning to Enki. "I need her to stay in order for me to assure her safety for the duration of this assembly. I do not wish to take any blame for any injury that may occur if she were out of sight."

There was a pregnant pause.

"I see no issue with it if you want to see my daughter safe," Enki concurred finally, tightlipped. He gestured for Seiko to release her. "Let us commence."

Seiko let the dark-haired priestess go with a harsh shove.

"Seiko," Enki warned. "Yayoi is the princess of this country; she should be treated with absolute care." With fatherly concern, he followed his daughter's trajectory with his gaze from the entrance, rubbing her throbbing arm, to the empty space behind Madara. "Are you well, daughter?"

"That beast of yours nearly pulled my arm off," she grumbled.

"And that beast shall be put in his place."

Seiko turned away, arms folded over his chest, indifferent to the promise of punishment.

"Let us move onto a more interesting prospect," Enki decided. "The Senju clan has lost a few shinobi to ours…or rather, yours." His eyes zipped to Madara. "I hope you do not mind the honor."

Eyebrows knotted in frustration, he avoided clenching his hands into fists. "If it is Senju you want dead, I will bring them to you," he said courteously. "The Uchiha clan and the Ito clan are here to defend your crown."

"You may use us as you see fit," Takuei added with a suspicious grin.

"Good, good," Enki drawled, eyes dancing. "Then you do not mind engaging the Senju in proper combat come the morrow?" The quiet spread its long limbs along the room's space and he accepted it as an invitation to continue. "It is imperative for us to reach the Southern Temple as it has come to my attention that one of the Motou clan's treasures was not retrieved from the underground. This can wait no longer than it already has, it is of absolute importance that I have that scroll in my hands."

Enki brought the meeting to a close after asking for everyone to meet at the break of dawn for a short briefing following the start of a new war. The Senju clan was bound to wait, protecting what remained of the Sone clan and whatever that treasure might be—of that, Madara had no doubt.

Madara stepped out of the room with Yayoi at his heels. She made it without speaking for as long as it took for the others walking astride them to disperse.

"I will not be used!" she announced, infuriated. "You might think me stupid, but I know when someone is attempting to use me to bait my father and I will not have it. I am not an object, I am a human being, and you will not pull another stunt like this again if you want to be my friend."

The outburst came as a surprise. He did think her stupid enough to overlook it, but his observations were incorrect and he acknowledged that and her perceptiveness.

"I have no intention of being your friend, Yayoi," he replied easily. "I did you a favor. You would have otherwise been returned to your room to sulk, but I spoke in your favor and overturned your father's decision. Be grateful."

"I can see why you have taken this extreme. My father is a very difficult man and he has put you in an awful place, but the least you could have done was ask if I accepted your terms."

"Would that have made a difference?" he asked, curious.

"I wouldn't be confronting you now, would I?" she returned, hands on her hips. "I would have simply agreed to it. Ayuka-sama left me to stand in and report everything that goes on in those meetings, so I needed to be there and how I managed to get there would not have made a difference."

She relaxed the tension in her shoulders as she exhaled. "We can help one another. You may continue speaking out for me during these strategic encounters and I will allow you to use me as bait to ensure your survival in this country. If that is not enough, I am moderately trained in medical ninjutsu and have a knack for mending broken bones."

She sounded like a terrible merchant attempting to sell a bad product—completely unconvincing. "Are you hearing yourself speak?"

"I also require a formal introduction to Katsura-san."

He stared at her absently. He imagined he might have better use for Yayoi as she was not as ignorant as he initially assumed. She understood from the moment he spoke on her behalf that he planned to use her for the benefit of his own survival, which gave her some value to the grand scheme of his plans.

"I will introduce you to Katsura if you tell me of your mistress," he bargained.

She raised a finger. "Ah, ah, only after you have done it will any word of my mistress Ayuka leave my lips."

"You're surprisingly disloyal."

"I am loyal to love and love lies with that man," she proclaimed.

She was a fool.

Katsura appeared at the staircase searching for him since he approached him immediately. "Madara-sama, there is news of Ito Tomoji's impatience from your grandmother."

Yayoi beamed at Katsura admiringly. The man could not have had better timing.

"Katsura, we can talk about this afterward. First, introduce yourself to the Sun Princess."

"I apologize for my rudeness," said Katsura facing the girl politely. "I am Katsura."

"I am Yayoi, the Sun Priestess," she recited as if from a script. "If you need so much as a favor, you may call on me."

Blinking, Katsura nodded and excused himself.

"Happy?"

"I could die happy now."

"I have introduced you. Now tell me about the witch's scroll."

Yayoi snapped out of her daze and grabbed him by the wrist. "Here is not the place to speak of such things. Come."

She dropped hold of him and started down the staircase. He followed her descent and pursued her out of the castle tower. He chased her through mild crowds with only the flutter of the fabric of her dress serving as navigation until they finally arrived before the tall doors of the Sun Temple. Priests and priestesses spilled from the entrance and the scent of incense was thick in the air. She beckoned him to follow her further and he entered into religious territory where twin statues of gods flanked a wide altar. Several more members of the temple were before it performing duties as she slinked past undetected through a door to his left into a corridor of candles and religious paraphernalia in the form of green beaded jewelry and smaller statues of mythical creatures he had never seen before, but ruled the stories that established the Motou clan's religion.

Yayoi stopped walking after reaching a small, cluttered room at the top of a short staircase above a wide landing. There was hardly room to walk more than five steps with a moderate sized bed on one end and a wide chest at another. Clothes made of silk and necklaces of gold, pearls, and emeralds spilled from the partly closed trunk which gave evidence of other hidden luxuries making this tiny area Yayoi's bedroom within the temple, though she owned another across her father's quarters in the inner circle of the castle.

"Was the move necessary?" he questioned unhappily. He did not care to speak of such things out in the open as he had enough enemies in one country to last him a lifetime, what did it matter that they learned of his intent to uncover the secret of Ayuka's dubious divinations.

"Absolutely. Nobody is supposed to know of Ayuka-sama's scroll. It is forbidden to speak of it aloud," she said hurriedly. "The temple is the safest area as shinobi are not allowed to set foot on sacred ground and as you are the shinobi and I the innocent temple maiden that you chased in, our gods' wrath will only focus on yourself. I hope you don't mind."

He did not care. "How accurate are her predictions?"

Yayoi laughed. "You are off. Ayuka-sama does not make predictions, she reads pathways, which I assume she did for you since you are here asking questions. Pathways are the many directions one's life is capable of taking where different decisions have the ability of opening new ventures or closing others. It adheres to the principal that one is the master of their own future rather than the more favorable ideal that a heavenly entity has chosen your path in life. It is a special scroll. The Kuronuma clan call it the Fate Sphere because it can reveal anyone's fate to a person able to interpret it like Ayuka-sama."

"You did not answer my question."

"That was answer enough. Her readings are totally accurate depending on the decisions you choose in life. Whatever she has told you that has you so upset was the complete truth." Yayoi plopped down on the edge of the bed with a curious glint in her eyes. "So, what did she tell you?"

"That my brother would die."

"I hope you're not too terribly attached to him," Yayoi remarked.

Madara glared at her.

"Sorry," she said carelessly. "Ayuka-sama always said that death is an inescapable fate, one can avoid it once or twice, but it is so unlikely that a person might overcome it." Seeing as none of her words did much to lighten his mood, she continued. "Surely, Ayuka-sama offered you some kind of warn—"

The door slid open to reveal Kikumi, the freckled girl that also served as Ayuka's attendant, who gasped at the sight of him. She rounded on her companion. "What are you thinking bringing a shinobi into sacred ground? Why is he in your bedroom? I am reporting you to Kousei-sama this instant."

Kikumi sped off and Yayoi shot after her, the two girls disappearing behind the door.

"You do not tell the pig anything! Get back here!" shouted Yayoi.

"We swore oaths upon our gods, the same oaths you are besmirching by bringing a man into your chambers—"

"Nobody cares about the oaths, have you any idea how many harlots Kousei brings into this sacred temple!"

He heard a crash followed by Kikumi's yelp and the sound of a struggle.

"Act like a lady!"

"We are going back whether you like it or not. I will drag you if need be!"

"Yayoi-hime, you are absolutely disgraceful!"

"Shut your stupid mouth!"

Yayoi returned half-dragging Kikumi before pushing her into a seat on the bed and shutting the door. She smiled pleasantly, returning to her seat. "You have met Uchiha Madara, have you not?"

Kikumi stole a hesitant glance. "Briefly."

"If you want to talk about Ayuka-sama's Fate Sphere, Kikumi knows more of it because she's her successor," Yayoi revealed.

"What are you saying? The scroll is a secret between Ayuka-sama, ourselves, and the Kuronuma clan!" Kikumi protested. "You are impossible! What did he promise you?" One glance at the innocent bat of Yayoi's eyelashes seemed to have told her everything. "Are you serious? You sold these secrets for an introduction to a man?"

"He is not just any man!" Yayoi retorted. "I honestly do believe this will be the one!"

Madara rolled his eyes.

"You are a Sun Priestess! You are to remain pure until your service concludes!"

Yayoi chortled.

"You didn't?" snapped Kikumi.

"I have! And you can do nothing about it! Live in the shame of this knowledge, Kikumi, live in it!"

"You disgusting ogre! Why are you so disgraceful?" Her voice sounded as if she were on the verge of frustrated tears and her eyes were quickly turning glassy. "Ayuka-sama would be so disappointed in you—I'm disappointed in you!"

"That's fine! I feel far too good about myself to care!"

Madara took the moment of their distraction to slip away. However, their argumentative voices reached his ears all the way down the flight of stairs, but though the situation begun miserably lackluster, he came away from it with a new prospect. Kikumi understood the Fate Sphere best as Ayuka's successor, meaning if there were a way to chase away his doubt in Ayuka's readings and a chance for his brother to live, that girl had the answers.

On the following morning, Madara received a summons to the king's chambers and entered as a slender woman hurriedly gathered her robes from the ground before scampered out of sight. Enki sat in the comfort of his mattress covered in his finery and mirroring the knowing smile Madara had steadily grown to despise.

"Do not mind the girl," he said with a sickening laugh. "We did not expect you to be up so quickly. She was a wonderful bedmate, I promise you she was. I'd recommend her. I would not mind sharing."

He waited on an answer to his inquiring stare. "I am capable of finding my own women," said Madara evenly. "However, I am here because you summoned me. Speak, heika, I have an army to command."

"You were spotted in the temple. I hope you understand it is forbidden for shinobi, foreign or not, to set foot inside."

"I am aware."

"Let it not occur a second time." Enki waved him out. "Go on, off to your war councils."

Madara left knowing there was something hidden in the temple Enki wanted to keep a secret, which oddly reminded him of the scroll he wished for them to retrieve from the Southern Temple. Would the secrets of their kinjutsu be within this temple somewhere, or was it something more dangerous than that? He thought curiously, sealing away the information for he predicted would become useful in time.

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><p><strong>xl<strong>: Oh, hello there. This will be a quick end note. There is a poll running on my profile and a new announcement that has to do with what's going to be happening in October. I also want to apologize for cutting this chapter in half (but it had to be done) and for it literally being one month since the last update (school + studying + exams, you know the drill).

I would also like to thank these fabulous people: **Rimahatake**, **Loteva**, **HushedFable**, **Aries01xD**, **CeliaSingsSongs**, and** Meidou Rima** (Hello, Meidou Rima! Thank you so much for reading my story and enjoying it. Your words made me feel so wonderful and motivated to do better. Do you by any chance speak Spanish? Because if you do and it is easier, you can write to me in it. I'm fluent. :P) for being reviewing the previous chapter. I would also like to thank all the new readers that have favorited or followed (or both) the story! It always amazes me when people pick this story up with that summary.

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope to see you when I see you with more chapters to make up for my absence! Bye!

There will be a preview up for the following chapter up on my LJ either on Tuesday night or Wednesday afternoon...Pacific Time.

P.S. - I linked the story's character list in my profile. If you have no idea who any of these OCs are, check it out, otherwise wait a bit because I'm going to kill some off. Just kidding...or am I?


	27. On the Battlefield 5

This chapter features a lot of characters, please refer to the character list (link in my profile) to refresh your memory. I apologize for not having a quick summary of previous chapters either...I honestly couldn't think of anything. This is all self-explanatory, so I don't think you will get lost.

**1-17-14 Edit** - I have been writing Kikuchi instead of Kikumi since the last chapter and I apologize. Ayuka's successor is called Kikumi and I have remedied the mistake. If anyone catches me doing this again, feel free to yell at me.

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><p>Chapter<strong> 27<strong>: On the Battlefield V

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><p>Uchiha Madara met with Katsura after his brief encounter with Enki. Together they gathered their clan and the Ito clan under their command to make final preparations for the mission. The plan was easy in the sense that it wouldn't be. They were up against the Senju clan and as long as it and the Uchiha clan existed, they were always evenly matched in combat. This was the type of warfare Madara was familiar with, he understood how to navigate a battle against the Senju and how to pick apart the weaker shinobi from the strong, and he knew how to counteract most of what would be thrown at him from previous encounters with the Senju's arsenal of powerful jutsu. However, seeing that knowledge as an advantage was as good as not having any because the Senju were, if anything, experts in ninjutsu. It was their niche. They were masters of thousands of jutsu, and although his Sharingan offered him something of an upper hand, it had a tendency of falling short of Senju Hashirama's Mokuton.<p>

If Madara planned for anyone to reach the Southern Temple successfully, he would need to focus entirely on keeping Hashirama as far from the holy ground as possible. He trusted Katsura would be capable enough to push through all defenses surrounding the temple. Kousei, the Northern Temple's High Priest, and several of his best priests and priestesses would be available to Katsura as backup, and Takuei and his Ito clan would become Madara's, though he promised it would be unnecessary.

Takuei and his men, accompanied by a dozen Uchiha, set out first on Madara's orders. Down the treacherous cliff side and into the acid earth below, the shinobi sprang forward and out of sight into the hazy horizon. Among the Uchiha men, he included members of intelligence who would send back word via summon once the Ito clan secured all enemy locations.

Madara waited by the cliff side for the first message when Mikami Seiko appeared in full shinobi armor, behind him several members of his clan followed. Seiko wore a severe-looking scar across his temple like a badge of honor on his tightlipped expression. Not too far behind, Enki slithered his way to him with an easy grin and his flowing robes fluttering behind him. Yayoi trudged along the beaten path with a deep frown, holding up her pale skirts in an attempt to spare the expensive fabrics the mud damage.

"I haven't heard much action," Enki mused, his cold eyes falling on him in accusation. "Don't tell me you met with trouble? And I have so much faith in your abilities, Madara-kun. This is near shameful."

Madara bit back a reproach. No matter how tempted he was to ask the pig to retrieve his own scroll, he recognized the need for the alliance with the Motou clan was far greater than his desire to kill Enki. "Takuei's group has already been sent out to scout. A subgroup will break off to engage the Senju and Sone clan when I receive new information," he explained evenly.

"And you?" queried Enki, his tone layered with enough curiosity to hide the mockery underlying the question. "What will you do?"

"I'll move as soon as Senju Hashirama is spotted and distract him from the battle," he answered, too aware of everyone watching.

"Senju Hashirama? The Mokuton user?" the king mused, looking at Seiko.

"Yes, heika." He added the proper honorific to lessen the sharpness of his tone.

Enki had assigned him to front the mission, appealed to the whole of his most trusted companions and the Sun Country's newest allies that only someone as familiar as Madara would be capable of maneuvering through the horde of Senju shinobi, but now, he made a mockery of him. He talked to him as if he were a child in need of schooling, as though this was the first war he participated in, as if he had only gained his advantageous position because of the people that put him there—Enki, for example. Madara had no idea if Enki wanted him to grovel at his feet.

What did he expect to gain from humiliating him?

The Sun King cast a fleeting glance at Seiko. "Seiko-san, take your men and Kikumi-san here"—gracing her with a thin smile, he had unnerved the freckled priestess—"and capture the Mokuton user." His gaze swept back to him, a winning look. "Madara-kun, you will focus on the retrieval of the scroll—"

"Heika—"

"No," Enki said cuttingly. "You will obey."

Madara's hands coiled at his sides until his knuckles blanched. His nails brought him discomfort as they dug crescent shapes against his palm. Resisting the urge to start something he would regret, he stood there, the center of all attention, and he swallowed hard, the bile burning down his throat.

"Yes, heika," he spat.

Enki smiled, victorious, and walked away to meet his attendants, laughing boisterous at something one of his advisers must have said. Nobody spoke, only stared, and Madara turned away.

"Kikumi, come," Seiko's deep baritone rang above the buzz of voices.

"Yes, Seiko-san," came Kikumi's nervous reply.

Madara returned to find Katsura to leave him with a new plan before abandoning the larger group to regain what little composure he had remaining.

"He is doing it on purpose." Yayoi sidled to him. She glanced at her father's back as if to prove a point. "He knows it bothers you and that is why he is doing it. If you were indifferent, he would grow bored." She tied the bottom of her robes carefully with the excess fabric falling down her right hip, securing it from any further damage. "I heard he used to taunt Seiko, who had an explosive temper until he stopped caring."

_Indifference_, he thought, then cast a look off his shoulder to Kikumi, who was being briefed by Seiko. "Why her?"

"Kikumi is a priestess like Ayuka-sama—born to combat. She is more her student than I am," Yayoi explained. In the last couple of days he had learned that there were two types of priestesses—those that healed, like Yayoi, and those that killed, like Ayuka. "I would hate to be that Mokuton user. He won't stand a fighting chance."

"Why?" asked Madara.

"Kikumi's going to be stronger than Ayuka-sama," Yayoi told him with a grin. "She can fight alongside her now. That Senju boy is as good as captured."

"What use is he captured?" questioned Madara.

"Father will keep him for sport." At his disturbed expression, she elaborated with an exasperated sign. "My father likes to make prisoners real-live training dummies for all the kinjutsu users. So, I think he better start counting his blessings because nobody gets out of that prison alive."

Yayoi didn't even flinch as she said that.

"Truthfully, he was starting to get tired with his current crop," she added. "We also have a lot of new kinjutsu-users in need of practice and throwing them all out into this war is only decreasing their numbers. They're inexperienced and make simple mistakes that get them killed. Some can't even use kinjutsu correctly, so they're at a disadvantage." She shrugged. "Thinking it thoroughly, I hope the Mokuton user survives the initiation. I think he'd make a good pastime."

Madara grimaced, catching wind of the implication. "You haven't had enough with Katsura, have you?"

Yayoi smiled like a perverted old man and slapped his arm. "There is enough of me to go around!"

"Go away," he said, irritated, "you're an embarrassment."

The priestess giggled and sauntered to catch up with her father.

Madara wasted no time. He took charge of a new team, tasking Katsura with taking another group through the main battlefield as backup for Seiko, and with one final glance in the king's direction, he dove straight for the poison earth over the cliff side. The others were quick to follow, landing in a semi-circle behind him prepared for a dangerous mission of their own.

Madara was certain he was already perceived as a fool with Enki's relentless efforts to humiliate him and his conduct pre-mission supported the king's consensus. He was acting like a foolish idiot, like an amateur in the art of war. He finally felt like a normal, sixteen-year-old boy playing war games—an ignorant boy. Allowing his personal grief to play a factor in any part of this arrangement by taking rein of his actions would not ensure his survival in Enki's twisted world.

Accepting this newfound knowledge infuriated him, but rather than acting on his frustration—proving Enki right in mocking him—he emptied his mind of the unnecessary, recalling a time, seemingly forever ago when he stood beside his brother and Mio among the tall grass at his grandmother's countryside estate.

Sachiyo had brought Mio home from the Swamplands. He and his brother had been summoned home where they would be briefed on a new mission, one he had hoped would not involve Mio. She had little field experience and he had known she would drag them down, so he had prepared an argument as soon as his grandmother had begun to talk, but the opportunity had not arisen.

Mio had not been chosen to be an active participant in the mission. She had been picked to mete messages between them and the compound.

_"And Madara, one more thing," Sachiyo_ had said, _"keep a leveled head. I don't have the time or energy to plead the council to excuse another one of your mistakes."_

The mistake she had spoken of had been one that cost many lives, but the experience had brought more power to his Sharingan. So, he had not been too keen about making apologies.

"Mio, I need you to meet Jouji at the compound to give you any new information on the situation," Sachiyo had ordered as she walked away. "You will meet Madara and Izuna if you have anything to report."

Mio had nodded.

"I'm going to get more weapons," Izuna had announced, patting Madara on the shoulder and smiling at Mio, who moved away to let him pass.

"Shouldn't you get going?" Madara had asked, irritated.

Mio had stepped up to him and for the first time, it had seemed he had heard her voice clearly. "Avoid the nonsensical. Obey power. Erase the unnecessary."

"What?"

"My mother and father used to say it. It is my secret mantra," she had told him with a small smile. "There is no need to overthink everything. You have to do what you are told, you have to obey those in power, and forget everything that might be a hindrance, like your impatience."

Madara had nearly strangled her for talking down to him, but Sachiyo had caught him trying it and had punished them both, him for being violent with Mio and her, for not having followed her instructions. He had grumbled about her stupid advice the entire mission, but had not spoken a word of it.

Recalling that moment brought her mantra back into his mind: _Avoid the nonsensical, obey power, and erase the unnecessary. _If that was what it took for him to calm the growing tempest in him, he would follow her secret mantra.

He cleared his head of the memory and her secret smile, of his strenuous relationship with Enki, and of his desire to fight Senju Hashirama. The mission objective returned to mind: retrieve the secret scroll from the Southern Temple and kill anyone who opposes.

Madara pushed through the Sone and Senju's defenses in the surrounding forest, fighting swiftly with the aid of his Sharingan and his mastery of kenjutsu. The thrill of the battlefield woke in him once more, burning ardently with each formidable opponent he encountered. He savored the fight, the strategy of it, and overcoming the strain of his current limitations.

He survived several battles unscathed, but the Sone clan were powerful taijutsu users and he had several dents in what remained of his armor to serve as proof.

Madara's team continued onward until one of his messengers returned from the heated battlefield. He stopped to listen, ordering the rest of his squad forward. In a matter of minutes, his team would thread the dead portion of the sylvan.

"Seiko's squad captured the Mokuton user," the messenger informed him, breathless and battle worn. "Katsura's squad will challenge the priestesses in ten minutes."

"Five," Madara said. "He will make it in five and storm the castle. My squad will be ready to provide backup."

The messenger departed with the new information.

Madara sprang forward, running through the remainder of the clean forest to catch up to his team. Once among them, he gave them new orders and took the lead once more, guiding them in haste.

He saw the cut-off between the forests from a distance. The giant trees were tightly woven in white clothes and above their heads a spider web of chinking tablets bearing a Motou seal had forced them to a halt.

Madara gestured up for the others and scaled the nearest tree, reaching a branch high enough to overlook the black grime beyond the high wall of mud blocking their path.

The remaining forest smelled of rotting trees and burned flesh. Below, the floor was a thick, black substance that reminded him of the dark spiral towers the Kuronuma clan used against him seemingly so long ago. He recalled being burned by their cursed black water and being certain it would take his arm whole, not simply the flesh on his bones. The pain had been excruciating and it had haunted him for quite some time.

Staring at the dark pit, remembering the dull ache in his arm, he grew wary. This was nothing like the chakra sucking earth on the battlefield. This was someone's attempt at mimicking Kuronuma techniques and he didn't want to find out how effective they were in accomplishing it.

"The ground if forbidden," Madara informed him squad. "Follow my lead."

"The trees are rotting," one Ito shinobi exclaimed. "They won't support our weight."

It was a perilous road, but he saw why he had been guided towards it. The dangers within it were far too great for others to follow them through it, or even think of planning an ambush down the road.

"Then make yourself scarce," Madara advised, jumping into the first branch in front of him.

No sooner had he shifted his weight onto it that he heard it snap and he leapt onto another above, swinging from it onto another further from his squad. He turned in time to see the second limb plummet to the bubbling surface below.

It would be treacherous.

As he stared across the boiling sea at his reluctant squad, he knew this would become a graveyard to many. Himself included if he wasn't careful. Beneath him the base of the thick branch begun to splinter.

"No stopping," he called back to his team.

Madara maneuvered the rotting forest carefully, while others weren't as fortunate in landing on sturdy limbs to carry them onward. He witnessed several men fall to their deaths and watched as their skin turned ruby red until it fell away in chunks leaving behind white bone and expressions frozen in agony. The screams echoed through the forest like a haunt for trapped souls and it shattered the spirits of his most panicked shinobi.

He carried on with what remained of his squad and arrived to the edge of the forest, climbing the highest tree to a view of scattered bodies littered over the chakra-sucking murk that pulled them under with the laziness of quicksand. The mounting corpses looked the same, like something had sucked the life out of them with their skin tightened over their bones and their eyes bursting from their sockets. Some bodies looked so severe their skin was peeling off, but none of those sights were as terrible as what he saw inside the dead forest, watching the boiling liquid melt the flesh off his squad member's bones turned his stomach.

He thought he had seen the worst of war before, but this experience had proved him wrong. The battlefields here were vicious and an obstacle all on their own, his opponents were kinjutsu users that wouldn't care about sacrificing their life if it meant winning for their cause. This was war on a different scale, on a magnitude of humans against gods.

Plumes of black smoke rose from the Southern Castle, the high walls protecting it were in shambles, stacks of rubble, tumbling down with each reverberation strumming through the earth. The tower he remembered shrouded in darkness the day he slipped past its weakened defenses to kill Jikai. He took another man's blade to do the job—a sword of spectacular craftsmanship that bore the budding sprout insignia of the Sone clan. It cut like a dream and was weightless in his hands as if it were an extension of his arm.

_"You have chosen the wrong brother to kill," _the dead man echoed. Seeing the castle in its withered state brought his first and last memories of Jikai's final moments before he caught the blade Madara had swung to claim his life. _"Kill Enki." _The sheer amount of power in the man's grip had filled him with uncertainty. He had no control over the sword in the time Jikai had held it in his hand. _"Kill him before he kills you."_

Madara saw the truth. Jikai had left him with valuable advice, but it was not the time to think of killing Enki. _Kill him before he kills me. _The thought crossed him mind as he surveyed the field, spotting Katsura in the distance reading his attack against the Sone protecting what remained of their stronghold.

Among them, he recognized Sone Heita, Jikai's son and Enki's nephew, as the man leapt over the rubble to thwart Katsura's advances. Madara gestured downward, and he and his remaining squad jumped straight into the battlefield where they were spotted immediately.

He rushed several oncoming Sone shinobi, knocking anyone that came near him as far as possible. His remaining squad ran ahead to clear a path wide enough for him to slip into the Southern Temple.

The final line of defense came to him in the form of six shinobi, split into pairs, attacking him with a combination of taijutsu and ninjutsu of various natures. He admired the quick strokes of a lightning-based attack that sliced the armor plate off his shoulder, was thrilled to feel the ground start to quake under his feet, and consumed by the conviction in another's hand-to-hand style.

Madara learned the movements of his taijutsu, the subtly of them, and mirrored them against its master, eliciting a bark of laughter at first until Madara used a similar kick to break several of his ribs before he took him out of his misery by stabbing a kunai into his neck.

He fought the Raiton user with an arsenal of his best fire techniques, obliterating broken buildings and leaving ashes in their wake, as the remaining four shinobi, all Motou clansmen, gathered around the temple to erect a barrier to protect it. The Raiton user wounded him several times over, but Madara repaid him when he fell into a trap of explosive tags he had strategically attached as he ran around the courtyard of the broken castle. His enemy fell to the ground with a thud, expelling clouds of gray smoke from charred skin and seared clothing.

The remaining shinobi were prepared for him when he appeared to challenge them, not bothering to protect their temple anymore as they launched their attacks at him.

Members of his squad made an entrance with pressing news.

"The Senju are in sight!" one shouted.

Time was running out. Knowing this, he commanded his comrades to take over his battles as he ran into the temple. Its protectors tried to deny him entrance, but his men drew their attention away from him, distracting them long enough for Madara to enter a gigantic hall full of screeching children.

The room was bright with the light of thousands of candles and fragrant with millions of petals adorning the ground. He saw the golden statues of the Motou deities and the offerings placed before them. Boys and girls sat huddled in a circle protected by an old man as decorated as Kousei, a man who temporarily served as High Priest of this temple, but he stood dignified, different from the obnoxious Kousei. The old priest quieted the children with a wave of his hand and whispered words before turning his full attention to him.

"What are your intentions, boy?" called the priest, his voice a powerful echo in the hall.

"The scroll," Madara responded, moving toward the priest leaving behind a trail of blood, his and his enemies. "I want the temple's scroll."

The priest raised a hand. "Move no further."

He halted, his gaze straying to a snowy haired boy with pale rose eyes—a Kuronuma boy. In his arms, he spotted a thick scroll sitting atop a strange jagged weapon.

"Give me the scroll," called the priest.

The Kuronuma boy jumped to his feet and placed the scroll in his outstretched hand. Madara saw the Kuronuma insignia sewn onto the boy's white coat. He did not like being in the presence of a Kuronuma, not when it seemed he did not belong in the group of robed children, but he tried not to think of it.

"This is the scroll you seek, it is not a fake," the priest began, offering it to him. "If you take it, take it for yourself. Do not allow Enki to have it. He will attempt to control the beast and it will destroy us all."

Madara took it from him without a second thought and turned away, seeing no point in killing the man. Outside he called his troops and together, they absconded in the dead forest as the Senju spilled into an empty castle, facing a great loss.

- : - : -

Madara delivered the Southern Temple's scroll to Enki in person. The self-proclaimed king stared at him in feigned wonder, despite the malice underlying his tone exposed his displeasure in seeing him alive. He stood before him without any intention of prostrating himself as was expected of him being in the king's presence.

"You are an impressive shinobi, Madara-kun," he intoned, lips quirked into an awkward smile.

He tossed the scroll at him, watching him catch it clumsily. "I am leaving the Sun Country," he announced, turning away in his determination to take himself out of Enki's mess.

"You will not," Enki shouted. "I forbid it!"

He ignored the king and reached the exit.

"Stop him! Apprehend him!" yelled the king, infuriated. "Kikumi! Go!"

Motou shinobi appeared from the staircase, blocking his path, and stepping up to the entrance was Kikumi dressed in a new set of robes that dragged along the ground. He could hear Yayoi shouting in the background.

"Please, Madara-san, I would rather not use force," Kikumi said in a grave tone. The freckled priestess drew one of the medium-sized scrolls off her back, peeling it open at the edges as if in warning.

"Just let him go!" Yayoi protested. "He hasn't done anything!"

Madara stood rooted in his place, keeping his eyes on Kikumi and ignoring the rest.

_Avoid the nonsensical. Obey power. Erase the unnecessary._ Again, Mio's mantra echoed in his mind and the tension in his muscles relaxed.

Kikumi looked at ease and stepped forward, sliding her scroll back into its place on her back.

In the short span of time that it took for her it away, he formulated a plan and turned himself into the surprised priestess, whose only orders were to send him underground with the others. He could still hear Yayoi screaming at her father as he descended the castle tower's staircase in grim silence surrounded by Motou shinobi itching for a reason to attack him. The sound of her shouting ended abruptly, after Enki gave someone an order to silence her and return her to the village.

Katsura demanded an explanation outside the tower, one a Motou shinobi was too pleased to say had been an act of defiance and disrespect, followed by a warning about the brittle state of their alliance.

"It won't last long if this one doesn't learn to respect our king," he had added with finality.

Madara let his wrath boil and die inside him, pleased to see none of the Uchiha were satisfied by his imprisonment, though the same could not be said about the Ito, as he was escorted through the mountain road and down another path. It was a treacherous one if one did not know the trail as the walkway was crumbling and above, it rained pebbles, stones, and boulders.

He was taken through a cave entrance into a foyer of brown, rocky walls lined with blazing torches that cut through stagnant darkness. The ground beneath his feet surprised him with sleek, slippery patches that sparkled under the firelight. Further inside, once the scent of trees and mountain air was cut off from the cave, a foul stench took its place, of rotting flesh, disease, dried blood, and death. He presumed the prisoners Yayoi spoke of earlier were kept deep in the cave and shortly after having the thought, he confirmed it with his own eyes.

Madara stood at the edge the cave path that wove around the circular room like a snake expanded over the rocky walls lined with cells that spanned for several miles below. At the bottom, he saw sand mixed with a white powder the formed the sunburst of the Motou clan and before it was a giant stone throne flanked by rows of benches with the capacity to hold hundreds of people despite looking so small from his view from the top.

Kikumi ordered him cuffed as they ventured down the spiral walkway through the horrors of dying men and women and supplicating wails. He took in the sight of these ailing warriors and better comprehended his mistake in joining Enki's side. He had done it recklessly, believing he was enough to handle it, but he had been wrong in his arrogance.

One cage was opened for him, its face an arrangement of horizontal and vertical bars.

"The beams are reinforced," Kikumi explained. "Not even a Kuronuma could break them."

Madara stepped inside and watched the entrance close with a loud scrape of metal echoing through the room.

The other shinobi were quick to leave, most complaining about the smell or the creepy ambience, others went on to heckle the other prisoners. Kikumi stayed behind with a serious expression.

"Heika-sama will probably only have you here overnight," she said courteously. "Don't try to escape. Be patient and heika-sama will surely come to speak with you."

She moved out of sight and gathered the others with a sharp order, leaving out the same way they entered.

Madara turned to the heavy shadows of his squared prison and acknowledged the presence of another person. He took a few steps forward, the dancing light from outside reflected against reddish armor that looked to be crumbling apart, and saw through the darkness at the symbol on the person's collar, the Senju clan's insignia.

Carelessly, he kicked the body over to allow the light to reach him and cursed at the sight of an unconscious Senju Hashirama. The skin of his face was an angry red and a wound near his temple was still bleeding profusely. There weren't any other visible wounds on him, which probably meant he healed a great portion of them before he was captured.

Madara rolled his eyes and walked towards the entrance, staring at the hundreds of cells aligning the walls. He was stuck in some mountain underground imprisoned with his greatest adversary and the only thing he could think of that stupid mantra that put him in there in the first place.

He kicked the metal bars with a furious curse. _I'm going to strangle her_, he thought and hoped Mio could feel the extent of his anger in the Iron Country. However, he couldn't think of any other reason to have avoided the situation other than obeying Enki on a constant. He didn't have a reason to be angry with Mio when she had nothing to do with his predicament. She had offered him words of advice long ago, ones he wasn't obligated to take, but he did. They had worked to calm his temperament and helped refocus his thoughts in his time of need.

If he had entered the battlefield seething, he would have disobeyed all of Enki's orders and gone straight to fight Hashirama. He wouldn't have retrieved the secret scroll; he wouldn't have met the priest that handed it to him with word of a beast. _A beast?_

The Sun Country was a haunt for death and secrets. Now there was a beast with the ability to destroy everyone. He couldn't believe such a beast existed and if it did, it would be proof that eight others existed.

Madara's eyes darkened. How sure could he be that there was a tailed beast in the Sun Country? Where would they keep it? How did they capture it? The questions were endless and his interest was piqued. He wondered if the Ito clan knew of this, if that had been the reason for their desire to make them allies. He started to think deeper into it. Could the Senju clan have known?

Hashirama stirred, groaning in pain. "That girl hit hard," he complained, rising into a seat. He blinked into Madara's direction as if trying to focus on him. "What is this place?"

"The Motou clan's prison," Madara said curtly.

The expression on the Senju's face changed. "Madara!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing in here? Aren't you on Enki's side?"

"Don't ask stupid questions." Madara turned away.

Several men and women in the Northern Temple's uniform walked up and down the spiral walkway, taking prisoners from cell or returning them beaten and bloody with all forms of strange wounds.

Hashirama dragged himself towards the entrance, looking petrified at the sight. "What is this place?"

"Enki gives his prisoners to members of the Temple to do with as they wish," he answered.

"This is inhuman!"

Madara gave him that.

"We have to do something to help all these people!" Hashirama decided.

"We?"

"Yes, we!"

Madara bristled at Hashirama's audacity. "I'm not helping you!"

"Why not? There are people dying here!"

"You should be thinking about saving your own skin, not everyone else's!" Madara snapped. "Forget about them! We'll be lucky if one of us gets out alive!"

Hashirama grimaced. "You are here with me," he said stubbornly. "You do not look like you are ready to forfeit your life."

Madara considered Hashirama's aid for a short interval between pieces of his plan returned to remind him of what must be done. It would not be a foolish move, but it would be one he took with great reluctance. Whatever dreams he and Hashirama thought up when they were younger crumbled before the reality of their worlds and as they could be nothing more than mortal enemies, they met in the battlefields over and over until their battles became a spectacle—something known, a force that propelled their reputations into what they were now.

"I am not," Madara admitted. "I will not die. I cannot say the same for you."

"Ha! Is that a challenge?"

"No, it is obvious."

Hashirama shrugged with his hands held up at his sides in the crude gesture. Behind him, he heard the clatter of the wooden cuffs as they fell. "I seem to be doing better than you, so I will take my chances."

The irritation took over Madara like a shroud of rainclouds. "Who the hell do you think you are? Uncuff me right now!" he ordered.

"No need to yell," Hashirama complained. "I was going to do it anyway. Turn around."

Madara cursed beneath his breath far longer than it had taken Hashirama to rid him of his binds and had begun to pace the squared interior of their cell, annoyed at the Senju for having freed himself before him. He would have been able to do it after giving it some thought. The only option he had considered in that sense had been smashing his hands against the wall, but with the sturdiness of the wood, he would have risked hurting his hands and he had plans to use them to blow the whole underground structure to smithereens.

Hashirama stood by the entrance, holding onto the metal. "Where is your brother?" he asked suddenly, turning to him.

Madara stopped abruptly. "What?"

"Your brother," Hashirama repeated. "Your brother can get us out! Where is he?"

"He is where he is supposed to be," Madara answered.

The Senju frowned, but persisted. "What about the girl in the priestess garb—Mio, is it?"

"That is not Mio! Why are you bringing her up?"

"You said she was good at getting around! What if she found a way to get in here and break us all out?" Hashirama deducted. "We can deal with Enki afterward!"

Madara regretted having mentioned Mio to him in conversation. The topic of her had become the center of a misunderstanding in which Hashirama had believed her to be his sister until Madara had attempted to explain and another of the Senju's assumptions had taken its place.

"Stop talking about Mio," Madara said warningly.

"Oh." Hashirama smiled foolishly. "I see you are still sensitive about talking about her. What is she like—?"

"I am not sensitive about Mio—" Judging by the thrill in Hashirama's expression, Madara saw he had said the wrong thing. "She is not important!"

"Nobody talks about a girl that much if they're not important—"

Madara smacked him upside the head. "I do not talk of Mio!"

Hashirama rubbed the back of his head, looking incredibly wounded by his actions.

"Stop sulking, you fool!" Madara huffed. "What about your brother?"

"Tobirama is busy."

"Busy?"

"Busy."

Madara turned away. The conversation was going nowhere.

Voices reached them, soft whispers full of incoherent words, followed by several women clad in their red priestess robes.

Madara and Hashirama watched them through their confides as they made their pick of prisoners and ushered them out, leading several broken men and women pleading for mercy down the spiral walkway. The two stood perfectly still as the sounds echoed from the pit, screams of horror and the disturbing crunch of bones being snapped in two. The rest of the conclave of prisoners moaned in fear all around them, the sound of their voices shook the mountain until a drizzle of dust and stones fell from above their heads.

"Do you think you can leave them here?" asked Hashirama, as the prisoners were dragged back into their cells leaving a bloody trail. "Can you truly be so heartless?"

Staring firmly at an agonizing man whose skin started to fall from his face in chunks, he said, "This is bigger than this prison."

"They are being used!" Hashirama stated, forcing him around. "They are animals to these priests!"

Madara jerked his arm away. "They are not my family."

- : - : -

Motou Ayuka stormed into his chambers like a ball of fire and with a blazing look of suppressed ire, she frightened the woman from under his thrusting into scrambling for the sheets to press against her nakedness. With a quick command, Enki sent the anxious woman out of room and tiredly picked up a robe to drape over his shoulders. Drawing the obi around his large waist, Enki felt the passion drain from him and an annoyance replace it as he gave the priest his undivided attention.

Had this been any other person, he would have had them killed. Ayuka was the Fate Sphere's keeper and rumored to be older than time itself. She was not to be tampered with, else she would do everything in her power to bring about destruction and with the artifact the Kuronuma entrusted to her, she could so without batting an eyelash.

Her silence was as unnerving as landing in a pit of vipers and her discontent their venom sinking into the bloodstream.

"What?" he snapped. "What do you want? What is so important that you could not send one of your messengers?"

Ayuka stepped to him, her presence overpowering, and slapped him. It burned like a venomous bite and left its mark on his face, a glaring red bruise. He was left stupefied by her actions and turned to her slowly, unable to form a coherent response to the grave offense.

"You incompetent fool," she seethed, her hand still held in the air prepared to backtrack its early trajectory to strike him a second time. "You expect for the world to fall upon your lap as you do nothing in your overindulgence. If you want to stay here in your chambers and pin whatever girl you can threaten into submission and command an army of shinobi that hate you without consequence then allow me to do you the favor of taking your head now."

"You are insolent—"

"I am god! And my word is law!"

Ayuka struck him with the back of her hand, the knuckles of it breaking his nose upon contact, and he fell to the ground, onto a table that broke under his weight. The blood gushed from his nose and the pain exploded all over his face. He held a hand to it, feeling bruises going up the left side of his body and cuts from the splintered wood.

Several shinobi serving as his guards poured into the room from all directions, surrounding Ayuka in a threatening stance as two other went to help heave him back onto his feet. He stood shaken; the blood staining down the length of his silk robe, forever damaged, and waved his men away. They were reluctant, despite the evident dismay in the prospect of challenging Ayuka.

"Leave us!" he shouted with a harsher gesture.

Slowly, everyone did as commanded, backing away slowly and abandoning him to his fate with a suppressed sigh. It irritated him, but not as much as the humiliation.

Ayuka composed herself into an image of refinement. She held her head high with a proud mien complimented by the wrath in her eyes and knitted eyebrows. She rubbed her hands together as if removing dirt from them and let them fall daintily at her sides.

"You will explain yourself, Hag," Enki threatened. "I will not stand for your actions or give you audience for much long, so speak now or show yourself out."

"My wisdom is without fault," she said. "I have not failed you. I have guided the Uchiha brothers apart in the expense of their fame to bring the strongest to you and you have paid me in part by disregarding my counsels and throwing him into a pit of death with his rival."

"I cannot stand that boy's arrogance," Enki stated, reminded of the Uchiha boy's stride, the confident air about it. He despised it. "He thinks so highly of himself. Everything is beneath him. He expects to command armies, he is but a child."

"I repeat myself, and let it be the last," Ayuka said strongly. "You expect the world to fall upon your lap without you lifting a finger to attain it. You will accomplish it, in that your impudence is correct, but not only will it fall onto your lap, but bounce off it and into another's hands. And it will be that arrogant boy you so despise that kills you and burns your ignorant little kingdom to the ground."

Enki stared in disbelief. "You lie!" he accused. "You said he would pose no threat to us!"

"If the Motou clan leaves no descendants, it will be on your head." Ayuka exhaled. "Pathways change through actions and decisions and you have moved him through wave upon wave of change that has led to this result, you despicable lout."

He sank into a seat, weakened by her words, and started to listen.

"You asked me to bring Uchiha Mio to you," she said coldly, "and to do so you will need Madara on this island. There is no other way."

"How can you be so certain?" he cursed.

Throwing Madara underground with the others had come as a relief to him. He had been allowing him and that Senju boy to be prepared from the upcoming event so that he could enjoy a battle between the two in desperation to survive. He had planned for whomever the victor was to have a short interval of relief before allowing Kikumi to practice her Kuronuma techniques and see if the priests had truly uncovered the secrets of their craft.

"Because she will come searching for me and in that search, she will come to this island to ask for that boy's help," she revealed. "You will have her there. You must pit her into a corner that she cannot crawl out from and you must strip her of the artifacts. Madara will be doing everything in his power to stop her curse from reaching his brother and if you can ensure keeping Mio from him, he will be your most faithful ally."

"And you have seen this? You do not see a different outcome?"

"Only if you leave Madara in that prison to rot will the outcome change."

"And her artifacts will be mine?"

"Not until you make her yours," she said calmly, "but first, you must release Madara and return into his good graces if you do not wish to be betrayed."

"When? Tell me when to expect this girl," he demanded, thrilled by the power she would bring to him.

Ayuka closed her eyes as she inhaled deeply after placing a hand on the scroll at her back and begun to speak, "She will come a woman on the eve of her eighteenth year and—"

Enki watched her eyes snap open, a shock molding her expression as she took several breaths. "What is it? What have you remembered?"

"She will come a Shugosha," she breathed. "She will come bearing all artifacts with the exception of three."

"What three?" he demanded.

"The Nature, Fate, and Universe Sphere," she told him.

He tsked. "The Universe Sphere is of the core, is it not? Who will hold it?"

"I will investigate it."

"And the Nature Sphere?"

"There is no need for you to worry of it. Its guardian is in our midst and will be on our side if you free him."

"The boy again?"

"He is important," Ayuka replied. "If Shinya chose him to guard the Nature Sphere, there is no doubt. So open your eyes, heika-sama, that boy is the solution and whatever qualms you may have about him should be buried and forgotten."

"I will release him," he decided. "If he will bring me the Shugosha girl as you claim, I will release him."

Ayuka smiled victoriously and inclined her head in approval before excusing herself. She paused at the entrance. "You might want to release the Mokuton user too."

"For what reason?" he complained.

"He is needed on the other side. You cannot have him. He belongs to the world."

"What have you seen of that brat?"

"The truth. You cannot move what is not meant to be moved," she answered. "He is where he is supposed to be and your duty is to allow him to go towards his next destination."

- : - : -

Hashirama thought up elaborate plans and executed them, facing continuous failures, while Madara challenged his impatience as he waited for the audience promised to him. He observed the people that sauntered in and out of the prison; every person he had seen the previous day would be there the following day, which meant only a certain circle of the Temple's inhabitants frequented the place. He noticed a pattern to their use in prisoners, making specific selections—choosing healthier soldiers in place of those on the brink of death. The dying spent hours filling the room with a chorus of their ailing until one by one they submitted to their pain and Madara would hear a voice fade into a whisper and finally, into nothingness.

Madara had been imprisoned for seventeen days before Enki sauntered to him with a crooked nose and a bandage set across it. His face was bruised and swelling. The sight of him was a pleasant change from the arrogant man he had learned to despise. Not too far behind, he spotted his High Priest, the Mikami clan leader, Takuei, Katsura, and the surprising face of Motou Ayuka.

He was released from within and guided out of that hellish prison by Ayuka and Katsura. As he moved forward in silence, he heard Enki offering Hashirama a proposition that seemed to have something to do with meeting certain demands with his clan until he moved out of earshot.

"I hope you faced no strife while in your confinement," Ayuka told him once they were on the mountain trail. The Northern Castle was in view when she forced him to a stop. "Enki committed a mistake in humiliating you in this form."

Madara folded his arms over his chest, glancing at Katsura, who looked none too pleased.

"I have taken care of sending word to the Ito clan and your grandmother," Ayuka continued. "Of course, none truthful, but it is best for them to believe you are at least making some progress than none at all."

"What word was sent?" asked Madara.

"That you clashed with Senju Hashirama in a battle that ended in a draw," Katsura explained stiffly.

"Of course, my report was a lot more detailed than that," said Ayuka pleasantly. "I said you threatened to decapitate the king if you lost."

Decapitating Enki did not sound like a terrible idea, especially one to consider for the near future.

"I am amused," Madara remarked, walking past Ayuka.

Katsura trailed behind him. "The Ito clan is requesting the Motou clan's aid in war."

"War?"

"The continent is in chaos," said Ayuka, joining them. "Who would have thought that an agreement between acquaintances could start a war of this caliber? I doubt you would consider that."

She looked directly at him, as if it needed to be any more obvious that she was talking about his and Mio's agreement.

Katsura spared her a cutting glare, but continued to explain the situation with the Ito clan and hinted at his grandmother's impatience at his lack of progress. If his grandmother was irritated, Madara imagined Ito Tomoji was livid since he had expected quick results.

"How is my brother?"

"Well."

"Good," he ordered. "Have someone go on ahead to the Waterfall Country, we will be following soon."

Katsura stared at him oddly.

"Go," Madara said sternly. "Now."

Katsura rushed on ahead to make the order.

"I do hope you don't plan to leave immediately," said Ayuka. "There is much more left for you to do here before you go. Although, the Senju might not stay here long. Heita was wounded badly in the last battle and the Sone clan no longer have a leader. Enki has won his war now that he has the scroll."

"I prefer to keep my head on my shoulders," Madara replied. "I will be leaving with my clan, you can keep the Ito."

"You must understand Enki made a foolish mistake," the priestess stressed.

"Enki should feel fortunate I am not attempting against his life," Madara told her.

"You have a duty here; I made that clear to you."

"The only thing you made clear was that Mio was a danger to my brother and my brother is fighting in a war," he retorted. "If I should be anywhere, it should be there."

"You have more to learn here, Uchiha Madara." Ayuka started to walk ahead of him. "I will ensure you are granted leave during my next venture. You will see her then."

"See who?"

"Your spy. Uchiha Konoe will be attempting against her life with several Mikazuki shinobi, none of them among Gouki's inner circle, so you should not worry about your Sharingan failing you."

"You give Mio too much importance," he said, bored of the priestess's droning voice.

"Have you not heard?" she asked, smiling coyly. "Mio is everything."

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: I am utterly ashamed for this late update. For those unaware of the issue that led to this tardiness, well, my laptop crashed in November when the chapter was near finished and I lost all my work. My laptop was returned late November and I used December to basically gather my thoughts. At that time, I honestly, did not believe I lost too much when it came to this story. I only belatedly realized as I was editing this chapter (which also took forever because of rewrites) that I lost several important notes.

With that said, I am honestly trying not to freak out over any of my lost notes and keep a positive outlook. I lost the original outline for the story (including several twists and inner details), but I've written another and everything is heading in the same direction with obvious changes. So, I apologize ahead of time, but there will be a delay in updates. Especially in chapters like this one that tie into past chapters.

On the bright side, I am almost done with the next chapter. Give me a day or two to finish and edit it. You will see it soon and it is what set things in motion in Mio's chapters (17 - 22).

This chapter covers up until the 18th chapter. The next Madara chapter will feature Madara and Izuna reunited in the Sun Country and the last haul before returning to Mio's side.

I'll make a journal discussion post in a day or two to really refresh everyone's memory.

I want to tell everyone that reviewed that I am eternally grateful that you took the time to write something! The same thing goes for the sudden influx of favorites and follows, I am not worthy, but thank you for reading! I hope you will continue reading!

I promise it won't take this long again! (I'm just getting into the hang of things again, it sucks that school is starting up soon, though. Best of luck to everyone that has already started!)

Thank you for reading!


	28. The Slumbering Beast 1

The events in this chapter take place after Izuna's POV in chapter 19.

I always knew Izuna had it in him. Think of this as the introduction to his quest to conquer the world.

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><p>Chapter <strong>28<strong> | The Slumbering Beast I

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><p>The Waterfall Country had been cold on the day Ito Takuei returned to take Tomoji's place as leader. He had been called from his post at Madara's side in the Sun Country, leaving Ito Kaname temporarily in charge of his post until he assigned another shinobi to take over fulltime. Izuna had lingered an evening longer as a courtesy, he owed the Ito clan a debt after Ito Tomoji had taken him in and helped in his training, but also because Takuei had returned from the Sun Country with new information on the situation. Takuei had asked to see him before he had met anyone else where they sat in an empty meeting room.<p>

"Tomoji spoke highly of you," said Takuei. The sharp angles of his face were more pronounced. He looked thinner, emaciated for his tall, rangy build. "In fact, he spoke only of you. You were his second-in-command. I heard you were present when he was injured and that you dragged him off the battlefield after killing his murderer."

"I did what I was asked," Izuna replied, aware his even tone would get a rise out of the older shinobi.

Takuei raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise blinking into his eyes for a long second. "And that is what sets you apart from your brother," he said simply. "You are the obedient one."

Izuna felt a smile curl his lips.

"Do you find that amusing?" Takuei asked edgily.

Whatever information he brought from the Sun Country wasn't any he couldn't learn from his brother when they met. So, Izuna leaned forward, bring one leg up to stand. "Yes," he said, "because Madara is the obedient one."

Izuna left the meeting room and gathered the Ito clansmen that would be accompanying him to the Sun Country. Takuei was standing in front of the exiting cave when they made an attempt to leave. His arms were folded over his chest and his stance was rigid. None of the Ito shinobi at Izuna's back had informed him of their departure, so he assumed Takuei came to berate them all and send Izuna out on his own before proceeding to break the alliance Tomoji established with the Uchiha clan. He had expected no less from Takuei.

"You left our meeting early," Takuei began. "It was quite rude of you."

"I am in a hurry," he said with a smile.

"That is well with me. I only wished to inform you that the Ito clan will continue providing your clan with support," Takuei said. "You may keep this Ito village as a base of operations, but I will be moving the clan to a safer location within the next couple of days. Your grandmother will be entrusted with the information of our new dwelling as well as be charged with the fostering of Tomoji's daughters. Perhaps, in your journey, you might reconsider one to wed as originally intended. Our alliance needs to be stronger if we hope to survive the upcoming war."

"The wars have already settled here and we have endured them," said Izuna. "I have no doubt we will survive them. However, I do suggest you consider increasing your numbers. There are lesser clans in the Waterfall Country; some more powerful than you may think and they are open to an alliance. The Mikazuki-Uchiha alliance is growing stronger with every battlefield they conquer and we must strive to defeat their leaders."

"The wars we have endured to this day are mere child's play," said Takuei. "You will learn this when you arrive to the Sun Country, but that nation is ruled by a wicked man and your brother is his prisoner." He waved his hand in a swift gesture at Izuna's first attempt to interrupt. "You must listen carefully. I am certain the Sun Country is behind many things in these times of war and I have reason to believe it has to do with one of their commanding officers, a woman called Ayuka. If you dare enter that country, you must be wary of that woman most of all and you must obey the king. He is a power-hungry buffoon willing to sacrifice anything and everything for his goals. Whatever those goals may be, I do not want them to come into fruition if they will threaten the existence of shinobi. The Sun Country must be stopped."

"A world without shinobi?" he asked dubiously.

"I do not doubt it."

"I thought Madara managed to persuade them to join our alliance," Izuna said strongly. "What is he thinking becoming their prisoner?"

"I do not think he was given a choice. The only reason he is allowed to roam freely is because he is under the protection of Motou Ayuka," Takuei said hurriedly. "That woman is holding something over him. I do not know what it is, but you might be able to uncover it. He is your brother and you are close."

He nodded dumbly. The last time he had seen Madara had been three months ago and he had been furious at him for no other reason than being angry with himself. He had imagined his encounter with Mio would have been different and that when he had told her the truth about his intentions that she might smile and say she reciprocated his affection. However, Mio had informed him she had pursued Taiga out of love and that she had never seen him as anything other than a brother.

The scene replayed in his mind in an endless loop for days, reminded him of his humiliation and the fact that Madara had warned him against doing something impulsive (like chasing down Mio to protect her from Konoe). Izuna had wanted to punch his brother's face in for being right and he had been so angry at himself that he decided to ignore all of Madara's attempts at communicating with him. Even if he had let Madara talk, he would have badmouthed Mio and he had no desire to get angrier at him.

Izuna honestly did not see what Mio saw in Taiga. He was a rat.

"I will do what I can," Izuna replied.

"If you discover anything strange, report it back to me," Takuei said. "You will have the Ito clan's full support on the island. Kaname is standing in your place for the moment, but once you arrive, every shinobi will be under your command."

"What do you intend to do once you move the village?" asked Izuna, trying not to seem too shocked about becoming the commanding officer of all Ito clan affairs in the Sun Country.

"I am going to investigate the Mikazuki clan and offer a portion of my remaining army to your father. I heard he and his Sand Dome clans ran into trouble when a rampaging beast with one tail assaulted their campsite," Takuei said curiously. "How did they manage to defeat the beast? I heard it was powerful and that it was impossible to break through its defenses."

"The Sand Dome clans managed to seal it, but not without casualties," Izuna replied. The fact that the beast had been sealed in their territory had determined who kept it and his father had not been happy about it. Although the fear of it being unleashed again plagued them, they believed it to be one of the legendary tailed beasts and hoped to learn a way for it to benefit in their war.

Izuna bowed his head, cutting the conversation short. He gave Takuei an oath to follow through with monitoring things in the Sun Country and left.

He began a long journey through a continent plagued with war, but he faced no impediments from the Waterfall Country to the raging sea separating the Lightning Country from the Sun Country. He learned in his travels that he and rocking boats did not fare well together when he found himself leaning over the edge vomiting throughout the voyage.

Nevertheless, Izuna arrived at the docking port of the Sun Country. Above the skies were covered in storm clouds he had watched roll towards his destination on the ship and felt their light rain at his back as he stepped onto the white sand. The Sun Country from afar was a land covered in white sand and giant forests, but up close, he could see an enormous mountain located nearby.

Izuna walked onto a leveled path, his stomach's unrest subsided now that he was on land, but no sooner had the relief consumed him that a grand quake shook the ground beneath him. He managed to stay upright, but a little disheveled and with a cramping stomach, while others had fallen.

"I sense a large concentration of shinobi located beyond the giant trees," said an Ito sensor.

"A war against the Senju clan?" another Ito shinobi contributed.

"The Senju were called away from the island," Izuna replied. Information on the matter had been scarce, but he believed it to be true. Word of Senju Hashirama's return to the continent spread within a week's time and he had heard the Senju had been swamped with propositions requesting aid against the Mikazuki-Uchiha alliance's invasions. "An internal war, perhaps?"

The earth trembled with every shockwave. Distant explosions reached Izuna's ears. The dark clouds ahead thundered and lightning flashed, the rainfall increased, crashing down heavily on the ground, spotting the road ahead with giant puddles.

A voice reached his group and a young boy appeared from seemingly out of nowhere running towards the dock. "Captain!"

The boy looked very much like a member of the Kuronuma clan with his shaggy white hair stuck to his olive-skinned face and pale eyes wearing skins and furs appropriate for the extreme weather throughout Kurata. He came to a halting stop after drawing the attention of the ship's captain, the older man leaned forward the edge Izuna had claimed throughout the voyage with a glint in his green eyes, gesturing the boy on board.

Once aboard the ship, the boy caught Izuna staring and mouthed something to him, words he questioned after making sense of them.

_Beware the Hag._

The boy slipped into the ship's small cabin as the captain started making preparations for a return voyage despite the sea raging behind him.

"Where are we headed?" asked the sensor, drawing Izuna from perplexing thoughts.

"To meet my brother and hopefully find Kaname along the way," Izuna decided, walking on ahead of them in the direction of the castle structure situated in a flat surface with the mountain curved around it to form a wall.

"Shouldn't we greet the king first?" asked the dark-skinned shinobi to his left.

Takuei's description of the man came into mind. "Do either one of you want to go ahead?" he asked, regarding his modest group of seven. Silence was his response and with a shrug, he said, "Then, he can wait."

The last he heard of Kaname was that he was in charge of watching over the Sun Temple priestess, Motou Yayoi, whom Izuna met three months ago, in Madara's place. He was stationed in one of the villages behind the mountainous area and while heavy rainfall made it a hazardous travel, Izuna and his group found their way around to a cluster of poor villages filled with people that scrambled back into their homes at the sight of them. Their fear disturbed Izuna.

"Your brother is approaching," his sensor said.

No later had the man said it that Madara appeared in the distance, walking with Kaname. The two were drenched to the bone and in full armor. They had fresh wounds, lightly gauzed, and carried with them all their weapons, prepared to use them if necessary.

However, Madara saw it was him and his expression changed.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Did Takuei fail to mention he would send someone to take his place?" Izuna asked, bothered by his brother's tone. "He assigned me."

"Why didn't you send word beforehand?" Madara continued.

"I wasn't aware I needed permission to enter the island," Izuna remarked.

"The king is very strict when it comes to new visitors," Madara said. "You will need to present yourself to him. All of your men." He turned to the shinobi at his side. "Kaname will take you. Tell Enki that I sent you personally."

Izuna frowned, feeling more than a little annoyed as he followed Kaname's lead towards the castle in the mountains. He watched his brother run off to rejoin whatever battlefield was raging on the island and saw his presence was unwelcomed. Even Kaname, the brown-haired shinobi who was loyal to a fault, avoided all inquiries involving the king, island, or Madara's destination. His suspicion rose and a new emotion unwound in his chest, one he that made him uncertain.

The castle was a powerful stronghold with a high tower and various structures surrounding it complete with the Motou place of worship. The conditions here were vastly different from what he had seen in the cluster of broken down villages, as were the people wandering around—shinobi in armor and women in blood red robes—contrary to the others with their dirty clothes hanging off their emaciated bodies. The contrast between the two was worlds apart and it appalled him to think the king was responsible for allowing war to wear down on his citizens so much, they looked to be passing hunger. He had been present in similar situations with daimyo's before, but it was customary for them to notify their people to move to a safer location. However, he understood that not everything was possible and whatever conditions those people endured, they did it because a war needed to be fought.

Kaname asked them to wait outside the castle tower in the center of everyone's sight where the looks were as unwelcoming as his brother's reaction. Takuei's words seemed to be proving true. Perhaps his brother was indeed a prisoner—one of those privileged prisoners who had the right amount of freedom for the concept of hostage to go right over their heads, but had rules to remind them of it. If that was the case, Izuna prepared to meet the famous Sun King, hoping he attempted to take him hostage as well to find a way to circumvent the situation.

A woman in expensive robes and long red hair exited with a freckled girl holding an umbrella over her head. The strange woman stared him down with a slight crease forming between her eyebrows and a deceptive smile on her face.

"I never did expect to meet you, Uchiha Izuna," she drawled, feigning her astonishment. "I am Motou Ayuka, a priestess of the temple, and Enki heika's first commander." She waved in the direction of her shivering attendant. "This is Motou Kikumi, she is my successor."

Izuna smiled innocently. "Is the king going to see me or keep me out in the cold for the rest of the week?"

"I apologize, but the king is not available for visitors," she returned in a pleasant tone. "You should consider returning to the continent."

"I suppose he won't mind my removing the entire Ito clan from the island," he said, equally pleasant.

The cheer in Ayuka's expression went out like a candle. She leaned forward, lowering her voice. "You should not be here," she said. "This is too dangerous a place for a child."

"My being here in not your concern," Izuna said, the humor in his expression and tone remaining. "I came to greet your king as all new visitors should because my brother sent me here. So, will you move out of the way so I can get the pleasantries done with and assume my post?"

Ayuka did not budge.

Izuna shoved past her, eliciting a surprised gasp as she whirled around to chase him down, but was pushed aside several times more as his men stepped in after him. He heard her shout to the others to stop him from moving forward and Izuna met with resistance in the eyes of every Motou shinobi and holy man and woman in the building. Seeing they had drawn their weapons, Izuna dragged his sword from the sheath hanging on his back and gave his men the signal to follow him as he rushed the group of Motou on the staircase.

The once quiet tower sang with the sound of clashing metal and destruction. Heavy bodies came crashing through the walls, the inner structure of it suffered as its small confides made it difficult for anyone to maneuver through a fight without cutting a support beam. He met several Ito shinobi in Kaname's presence when he reached the second floor's landing and gave him an ultimatum, to obey him or die. Kaname spread the word to the others, informing them Izuna was there on Takuei's behalf and joined him immediately. A sizeable group broke away to join his companions downstairs while another group accompanied him upstairs.

Izuna went on ahead to thin out their numbers and reached the fourth floor when Ayuka hacked her way through the Ito shinobi in the staircase looking crazed. He activated his Sharingan and countered her furious assault with a single fluid movement. She maneuvered her blade and tried to strike from above, but he hit her wrist with the hilt of his blade knocking it from her.

She_ tsked_ as it clattered far from her reach and she brought her hands together, drawing back with both of her cheeks puffing. She unleashed her jutsu, spitting out a stream of grimy dark liquid with a reddish tint, and he jumped back onto the staircase. His eyebrows furrowing as he saw the ground broke away in chunks and fell away in ash. She looked displeased with the outcome and drew one of the giant scrolls at her back instead, peeling it apart to reveal many seals on it.

_More weapons?_

Annoyed, Izuna pulled out several kunai attached by strings. He threw them at her, missing purposely as she avoided them, running around the gaping hole and behind the sturdy beam to take cover while unsealing various shuriken and kunai that followed his trajectory around the third floor's landing. He came to a halt, standing across the room facing her. She prepared another barrage of weapons and he sacrificed his left shoulder to one of her daggers to set his trap for her. He felt the sharp metal stab into his skin deep with a force that knocked him into a wall and kept him still a moment too long.

He sent another batch of kunai at her, each of the handles were wrapped with explosive notes, and she drew a hatchet from her giant scroll to knock them off their course. When the kunai knocked against her weapon, each detonated, one after the other.

The shock in her expression was the last thing he saw before everything flashed white. Izuna escaped the explosion through a window to his left. He leaped from rooftop to rooftop and struggled to scale the high mountain wall surrounding the castle. Once he made it to the top, he sat down to watch the high, proud tower come crashing down, chunks of splintered, burning would, roof tiles, and the lavish golden decorations came falling from the sky like the rain. Everyone in the castle was running around frantic, shouting for their king and for Motou Ayuka.

The Ito sensor that accompanied him to the island met him at the ledge with one of their medics, who immediately came to his aid. He helped by forcing the dagger from his body, but might have caused more damage because the medic made a disapproving remark about being too forceful.

"Your brother will be displeased," a voice called off to his left.

Izuna recognized Kyouya, one of his clan's sensors, dark haired and brooding. He stood cross-armed and in full armor like the rest of them.

"Takuei-san will be livid," the Ito sensor added.

Izuna removed his cloak and the layers her wore under to allow the medic to allow him better access to his wound.

"Motou Ayuka will have you all killed," Kyouya continued. "She will order you skinned even if you are Madara-sama's brother."

Izuna rolled his eyes, flinching at a stab of pain on his shoulder. The medic pressed his glowing hands on his back, starting to heal the damage. "You are fortunate to have an arm, Izuna-sama."

"That woman is as old as time and you have made an enemy of her," Kyouya said, annoyed by the fact that he was ignoring him. "Do you know how difficult it was for your brother to repair his relationship with the king? That woman remedied it and you attempted against her life, your brother owes her a debt."

Everyone was fluttering below putting out the fires and sifting through the rubble, shouting endlessly until a strange silence fell. The robed men and women all rushed to meet a heavy-set man with burn wounds and a receding hairline being hauled around by shinobi bearing a black sunburst insignia on their clothes.

His booming voice echoed, reaching him. "WHO DID THIS?"

"Is he the king?" asked Izuna.

"Yes, that is the king," Kyouya confirmed.

"Tell him I want to meet him," he said, staring at the outraged shinobi. "Say that he must greet me here and that I hope we can be civil."

The two shinobi with him expressed their amusement with chuckles.

Kyouya did not budge. "I take orders from Madara-sama."

Izuna gestured for his sensor to go in Kyouya's steed and he jumped down to join the rest with a curt nod. The crowd surrounding their outraged king parted at the sight of the Ito shinobi making his way forward and Izuna watched, enthralled, as the expression on the man's face twisted into one of dark fury. He lifted his narrow eyes to him with a vicious snarl and in his anger, shoved past his people to stomp his way to Izuna.

"How dare you?" the king spat, his wan face reddening. "How dare you come onto my island and destroy my home? Who do you think you are?"

"I am Uchiha Izuna," he answered with a cheerful smile. "I traveled from the Waterfall Country to take Takuei-san's place as the Ito clan's representative."

Staring down at the king, Izuna had to wonder in what universe his brother would be taken prisoner by him. The mere thought of it was humiliating. Everything Takuei had warned him about, being wary of a woman called Ayuka, whom he fought against briefly, and the power-hungry buffoon of a king. He imagined conditions to be vastly different, but he arrived to the sight of withering villages and a fortress of a castle that served to fulfill a foolish king's overindulgence while shinobi fought his battles for him.

"I will have you killed!" the king threatened. "You trespassed and killed many of my men! You even dare injure Ayuka-sama! You have put an end to whatever alliance I had with the Ito clan! It is done, now get out!"

The medic patched up his shoulder and stood. Izuna started to don his clothes, though it made no difference as they were wet and heavy hanging off his shoulders, increasing the pressure in his shoulder. He jumped down to join the indignant king and offered him a mock bow.

"Can you afford to lose the Ito clan as an alliance?" asked Izuna. "I can ask every Ito shinobi on this island to vacate it, but you risk losing support from the Uchiha clan. I can take them from you, too, and I am sure you need my brother's protection and that of his shinobi to sleep through the night without the threat of betrayal."

Enki bristled. "Madara will not betray me easily."

"I am his blood," Izuna clarified. "You are nothing but a temporary employer and once your contract expires, Madara could easily raise an army with one of your enemies and end you with it."

"Nothing can be done, Enki heika."

Izuna looked past the king to Ayuka, who stood oozing blood from the burn wounds on her arms. To her right, her attendant Kikumi glared at him.

"There will be consequences!" Enki roared.

"We cannot lose the alliance to the Ito clan," Ayuka said, dripping venom. She held his gaze as she spoke. "They are imperative. However, we will not bend to the whims of an ignorant child. Consequences will be meted out…in time."

Izuna stood his ground, undisturbed by the implications in her tone.

"For the time being, you must go recover your strength, heika-sama," Ayuka suggested gently, finally breaking eye contact. "Kikumi will accompany you to safer lodgings. Leave the impudent child to me."

Enki left with reluctance, shouting curses and threats to him, and Kikumi followed.

"You are a bigger nuisance than anticipated," Ayuka began, moving forward to stand face-to-face with him. "You have come to this island for reasons unknown to me, but I intend to see you off, dead or alive."

"Until then, where will I be staying?" asked Izuna in response.

Ayuka walked away in silent rage, leaving him to do as he pleased.

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><p><strong>xl<strong>: I cut the chapter short by a scene in the end, but I only moved it into the next chapter. So, you have a Enki and Ayuka rant scene to look forward to.

Sorry about the delays! But there are more delays to come...I feel like I'm going to get swamped soon. I'll try to get through these chapters to start Mio's (admittedly, I've already about 6k worth of the first part and I love it...still needs refinement...but I love it).

I will post a preview to the next chapter soon.

Thank you **Aries01xD** and **Loteva **for reviewing the previous chapters! Thank you to everyone that favorite/followed the story!

And finally, thank you for reading!

Anyone else looking forward to Izuna making Enki miserable? Because he fucking will.

If the me from when I started the story saw what I have done, she would argue that Madara would be more prone to Izuna's actions because Izuna's supposed to be the kindest person in the world (with sass) and I would tell her to shut up because I dug the hole I'm living in. I just see him as being a young boy (remember he's only 15 here) going through the motions of life and the love of his life just rejected him because she's in love with a rat. Youth is so complicated in this story.

I need to be stopped.

Thank you for reading!


	29. The Slumbering Beast 2

Chapter** 29** | The Slumbering Beast II

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><p>"I want him removed."<p>

Ayuka sat next to a fire as Yayoi mended the burns on her arms. She listened to Enki's repetitive complaints about Madara's brother for the past five hours. The impudent boy had been delivered to his quarters within the portion of the castle he had not destroyed and had been given the same royalties as Takuei. Izuna had thanked them for their hospitality, gathered the Ito clan and had gone to have a meeting, one even her spies were unable to eavesdrop on.

Enki halted, glaring at his daughter. "Are you finished, girl?" he demanded. Yayoi quickly cut the gauze with a pair of short scissors and tucked it under the wrappings. She gathered her things and vacated the room. He kicked over one of the small golden statues decorating the room. "Damn him! I want him killed!"

The Fate Sphere guardian grimaced, her arms throbbing as she tried extending them. The bandages were a little too tight as she unfurled her giant scroll. She peered into its white surface after infusing it with chakra, pulling from its vast knowledge the whole of Madara's bloodline. In the web of Madara's pathways, she took a pick from the very core to isolate the Uchiha blood in him, the same that ran through his insolent brother's veins and began delving further into his many futures.

"His fate has already been sealed, you need not do anything," Ayuka said after a time. "He is fortunate to be alive, the pesky fool, and he will not last long from here onward."

"Then we must hasten his death!" Enki urged.

"Doing so would prove problematic," Ayuka replied, running her finger along the course of one of Izuna's shortest pathway. The shorter they ended, the more disastrous his death. However, all was not as she told Enki. When death appeared in a pathway and it was determined, written in fate that the individual would die, it would persist and with the petulant child, he only met his demise in few. Enki's rage needed to subside, she would, otherwise, be unable to leave to return to Mikazuki Gouki's side. "Madara is needed in this island and he is only here because I have convinced him Mio would bring about his brother's death."

"It will not matter if that brat is left here. Mio will not listen!" Enki complained, acting like a child without his precious toy. "She will not come here and obey! She will not become my bride!"

Ayuka bristled. "I do not understand your obsession with giving that girl a title! She is a girl! A young, stupid girl that will undoubtedly come here to be manipulated into giving us the key to obtaining the Kuronuma's spheres!" She sucked in a breath, calming herself into speaking softly in a musical voice. She lost herself a moment and the moment was gone. "Gouki is handling things concerning the girl. He is pushing her into a corner. She will come in two years with nine of ten artifacts."

Enki reveled in her promise, but he quickly shifted to anger, turning to her. "Even so, something must be done about that boy."

"Let Madara handle his brother."

"No, no, I want him to suffer."

"You need not worry about that," she said smiling. "You will be the envy of the world when you take Mio as your whore."

Izuna's affections for the Shugosha-to-be were like the first snow of winter, pure as it fell from the clouds in beautiful, intricate snowflakes, but it was new and inexperienced and when it hit the ground, it would be filthy mixing into the mud. Emotions changed and he was young. If he lived his life as he should, he would live a long one and he would come to understand that Mio didn't understand love.

Enki raised an eyebrow, perplexed.

"He loves her."

"Loves her?"

"Yes, he does."

At her confirmation, a sly grin curved his lips and his mood changed. "You must call upon your son, Hag. Call him here immediately. I have a proposition for him."

Ayuka rose from her seat, moving to him. She bore down on him, eyes darkening. "He does not work under you," she said, "and you will remember to never make a mention of him."

"Of course, he is your biggest kept secret, yours and that Nishiki-sama from the Earth Country."

She took him by the mouth, forcing his lips into a fat pucker. "Say his name again and I will cut off your tongue. I may need you alive now, but I won't for long if you continue acting this way and speaking things that should not be spoken of." She shoved his face away, watching him rub his face. "Understand, Enki?"

"I am the one that lifted your ban in this country, I allowed you back into the temple…and this, this is how you repay me?" he spat.

"Anger me further and I will ensure the Kuronuma artifacts become another's prize and not yours."

Ayuka exited the temple's hall, her skirts dancing in a whirl behind her.

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><p>Izuna stared at Kaname blankly. "You saw an Uchiha leaving the Sun Country?"<p>

The Ito shinobi nodded.

"And he was not one you recognized?"

"It was not," Kaname said, and at Izuna's insistence to elaborate on what he knew, he did. "He is of fame. I recall him from word of mouth. His grandfather was a powerful man and they say he is the first to be called if one needs information."

Izuna frowned. "An Uchiha leaving the Sun Country? A powerful grandfather?" he repeated, coming to a proper response to the man's description. "Did he, perhaps, look like a rat?"

Kaname arched an eyebrow, not catching the meaning to his question. "No, he did not," Kaname said, perplexed. "He looked very pleased on his way out of the witch's home."

The witch, Ayuka, opening her home to that rat, Taiga, got a terrible rise out of him. "If he comes again, kill him," Izuna ordered.

Kaname blinked, taken aback by the request. "Would it not be prudent to interrogate him? Takuei-sama sent you here to keep him informed of what goes on in the island, if we could understand why that Uchiha came into this island, we could—"

"Kill him," Izuna repeated. Taiga would not submit to torture or to pretty words. He would not trade for information unless you were willing to give up anything and only if that anything included something he wanted. Izuna was not interested in discussing any alliances with him, even though it meant he might see Mio again, and he did not have anything that he would be willing to give to loosen that man's tongue.

"If Ayuka is meeting him, she must want something from him. He might possess information she desires."

"What can she possibly give him in return?"

Kaname dropped to one knee to level his gaze with his. "Takuei-sama asked me to relay this information to you as soon as you were settled and he asks that you do not make a mention of it again. In fact, if you discover anything, you must feign ignorance."

"Speak," he commanded, curious.

"Ayuka is one of ten Kuronuma guardians."

Izuna listened carefully to Kaname's explanation of the Kuronuma's secret artifacts, each possessing a different ability—some stronger than others—which Takuei suspected the Motou clan wanted more than anything, but he had not discovered what Ayuka and Enki were planning to do in order to acquire them. He had uncovered the remaining nine artifacts were distributed between three Kuronumas. Izuna had asked for clarification when he needed it, but following the end of the story, he had asked about Ayuka.

"What does her artifact do? And what does my brother have to do with any of this?"

"She reads pathways in dirt and blood," Kaname explained. "She can see a person's life unfold from the minute of their birth to the day of their death and all the decisions that open new possibilities for them." He paused, surveying the shadowed room. "Takuei-sama believes Madara is important in bringing those artifacts to this place."

"They intend to use my brother?" asked Izuna. "For what? To start a war with the Kuronuma clan?"

"It is the most probable deduction."

Guardians and artifacts with unique abilities, he supposed if there was a modicum of truth to those ideas that the Kuronuma clan had done well in remaining hidden in the snowy mountains of Kurata playing at being ritualistic cannibals.

Mio was with the Kuronuma clan. They were her family now. He wondered if she knew anything about the artifacts and what they did and how important they were if Ayuka and Enki wanted to bring them to the Sun Country. The thought of her bitter smile filled his mind, accompanied by an echo of her rejection.

_"I followed him. I will always follow him," _she had said in an earnest voice. _"Taiga is…he is…the one I love."_

He paused, the dull ache in his chest returning.

"How do they propose to gather them here?" asked Izuna, opting for a distraction. Kaname's silence was telling. "Find out."

"Yes, Izuna-sama."

Kaname stepped out; leaving Izuna alone with his inquisitive thoughts, when a peculiar idea struck and he left his lodgings. He walked across the hall in the long building and searched room after room until he found his brother's things. As expected, Madara failed to unpacked and kept the large room undisturbed—making it easy to gather his things and leave whenever he wanted. Izuna took a seat at the table and waited.

Madara would be searching for him after news of that tower he destroyed reached him. Izuna expected an angry response, so he planned to make it easier for Madara by waiting in his room.

It took hours before his older brother entered, the irritation radiated off him in waves and laying eyes on him served to exacerbate the frustration.

"Is that why you came?" Madara seethed. "Did you come here to make an enemy of the Motou clan after Ito Tomoji sent me here to make peace?"

"No," Izuna said. "I went to greet the king as you asked me to do."

"Greet the king?" he repeated, outraged. "Is that what you call greeting the king? The king wants you assassinated! You not only made an enemy of him, but of the clan's witch!"

"The witch would not let me pass, I invited myself in and she ordered the attack," Izuna answered simply. "I wanted to greet the king."

Madara huffed. The exasperation in his face read in his tone. "I can do nothing for you in this country if those two are against you," he said warningly, pacing towards him, ideas forming in his head. He stopped, his eyebrows knit together. "You need to go. Get off this island before any more of your reckless actions have you killed."

Izuna leaned forward, arm propped up on the table surface and his chin rested in his hand. His body was slack and he was bored with his brother's reprimands. Nothing said was new. He jeopardized his position. He understood that from the moment he decided to push his way up the castle's tower earlier. It had been with good reason, though, after Kaname told him everything Takuei had uncovered about the Sun Country and what they wanted with Madara. He felt no guilt over his actions now, but he admitted he might have worsened his brother's position.

"Have you met Taiga?" Izuna asked, searching for a change of pace. His brother would find reason to reprimand him for something different later.

Madara blinked, the name itself shocked him. "No," he said. "Why are you asking after Taiga?"

"Because Kaname saw him leaving the island," Izuna replied. "He was visiting the witch's home."

"Why did he keep quiet until now?" Madara demanded.

Judging by his reaction, he had no prior knowledge to Taiga entering the Sun Country in the first place.

"Kaname may be loyal to you, but he answers to me."

Madara sat down at the table. The wounds Izuna remembered seeing on him had been tended to and wrapped in gauze and with the release of the tension in his body, Izuna noted how exhausted his brother looked.

"Why would Taiga reach out to Ayuka?" Madara wondered aloud.

"Taiga does not ask for favors," Izuna replied, "He is the one people seek out for favors."

Izuna watched his brother's face drain of color, the revelation dawning in his mind.

"What is it?" asked Izuna.

Madara shook his head. "It has nothing to do with you," he said, reluctantly avoiding his eyes. "I will have my men looking out for him. He will be captured."

Izuna eyed him suspiciously; the sudden change in attitude unnerved him. It made him consider the worst. "What do you know?" he asked, and his brother gave him a reluctant look. "You can't keep it from me, I will find the answers."

The two exchanged glares, and for a moment, Izuna felt as though they had gone back to the countryside where they grew up and they were in the middle of another argument over nothing of great importance. The moment didn't last. It was fleeting. The dangers were real here, as tangible as a stab wound in the middle of war. Izuna felt if Madara did not trust him with whatever knowledge he had, another war would erupt, and it would be between them.

"Tell me," Izuna said firmly. "I will not betray you."

"This is not about betrayal!" Madara shouted, slamming his fist on the table. "Don't concern yourself with this. It will be to your benefit."

Madara's eyes were wild, the anger shedding from him like a second skin. The room was engulfed in his vexation.

Izuna was left without a choice and stood. "Stay silent, brother," he told him. "And let your secret knowledge be worth my trouble."

His older brother remained resolute. However, as Izuna exited his room, he thought he saw a hint of hesitation in his brother, but he ignored it. Madara chose not to speak and he would not do so.

Leaving Madara's lodgings, Izuna started to walk back towards his own. He heard the rustle of clothes and quick footsteps, followed by a loud voice calling out to him.

"Izuna!"

He turned and soon as he had, he felt the impact of a sharp slap across his cheek. He stared blankly at the priestess, pretty in her gold dress robes with her black hair curling past her shoulders. He remembered her from the time they met earlier that year and with the memory came the realization that he almost killed her father earlier.

Izuna opened his mouth, ready to protest, but not to excuse his actions, but Motou Yayoi spoke first.

"Who do you think you are?" she snapped, her face pale and hazel eyes expressive with her discontent. "Coming into another person's country and doing as you pleased—it's unacceptable!"

Once more, he made an attempt to dissuade the situation, but Yayoi continued, leaving no room for his excuses.

"I can forgive your attempts against my pig of a father, but you wounded my mistress," she yelled, her voice so loud it cracked. "Ayuka-sama is a saint! She is a wonderful person and she has done everything in her power to keep the people of this country safe! And you, you are cruel even though she has helped you as well! She is helping your brother, she is helping your clan come together, she is doing so much for every one of you and you have repaid her cruelly!"

The sting of his cheek intensified. Every one of her words sank in like a needle into his flesh, each twisting his ideas into a web of doubts. Above all, he was growing exasperated.

"My brother is being held prisoner in this country—"

"By my father, not Ayuka-sama!" Yayoi protested. She raised her hands as though she might throw herself at him and smack him around until he truly listened to what she was saying, but somehow, she held herself back. "Ayuka-sama is helping him save you! He is still here because of you!"

Izuna tried to talk again, but Yayoi had prepared to interrupt him.

"You are so ungrateful—"

Madara stepped out into the hallway noisily. "Yayoi."

Yayoi bit back the rest of her words and turned, allowing Madara to stop in front of her. "You have said enough. Return to the temple and take care of your mistress."

"He needs to know what Ayuka-sama has done for him!" Yayoi complained. "He shouldn't even be alive!"

"Yayoi," he said firmly.

She let out a frustrated growl, gathered her flowing skirts and pushed past him.

"Yayoi is insane," Madara said stiffly. "She hears things. She doesn't know what she's saying."

Izuna took a step forward. "The woman that reads pathways told you I was going to die and she has kept you prisoner with the prospect of finding a way to avoid my destiny," he said, seeing his brother's face darken. "People are born and people die. I am going to die, Madara, and I might do it soon. Shinobi don't live long. You can't decide any of that, nor can that witch. You can't save me from something that is bound to happen—"

"You should not have made an enemy of Ayuka."

"Did you know she is trying to start a war with the Kuronuma clan?" Izuna asked. "Mio is a part of that clan. If she starts a war with her family, she is starting a war with her. That witch is usingyou to start a war against Mio's family."

"Mio is not our ally anymore," Madara argued. "When will you understand that? She is not our ally and she is not our friend. She is on Taiga's side and if Ayuka sought him out for something, it is to bring war to the Kuronuma clan—Mio would be helping him do that by being the connection inside of the clan."

"Mio would not betray her family, she's neutral like them," Izuna said. He spoke those words endlessly before and they rung empty. Today, they spoke the truth. Mio might have pursued a rat out of love, but she would not betray her family…not without a good reason. He always believed that, deep down inside. Perhaps, the notion grew from a seedling of hope until it blossomed into something he could confidently admit to being the truth. There was more to Mio's betrayal, more than she revealed, more than either one of them knew.

"She betrayed us!" Madara retorted. "We were her family until she left to follow Taiga because she loved him! How confident are you that she would not dare betray her own flesh and blood if Taiga asked it of her?"

"Because I believe in Mio, even if you won't."

Izuna started to leave, knowing that if he elongated the argument, he might develop an impulse to attack his brother if he dared to say another ill comment about Mio.

"Mio will get you killed!"

Izuna froze mid-step.

"Mio is a curse. Everyone she loves dies. Everyone that loves her dies." Madara continued in a blunt voice. "She is no good for you. And you need to stay away from her. If you don't, I _will_ kill her."

"Mio is not the enemy," Izuna said, facing his brother one last time. "Even if you speak of her this way, I know she is not your enemy. You could have killed her in the Iron Country like she could have killed me, but she saved me and you saved her. Call me a liar, but I saw how you protected her as you fell down the cliff and I don't believe any of your insults towards her are true."

It had happened instantly. At one point, a Mikazuki shinobi had been trying to drag him down, but Mio had appeared and thrown Izuna back, away from the man's extended arm. Izuna had scrapped his arm along the rocky road, feeling a burning pain as the rough surface cut into his flesh, but he had fought past it, watching in the blink of an eye, Madara reaching Mio's side and taking her by the back of the shirt. He had seen his brother lurch forward, unable to keep his feet firm on the ground.

Izuna had scrambled to the edge as Mio and Madara disappeared over it. He had caught a glimpse of the two before their backs had hit the steeped ground, had seen Madara extend his free arm to get a better grip of her to draw her into him. He had planned to protect her, but he had failed to grab her firmly and even when he had hit the slope first, his body hurled into the sea of slanted trees, he had not let her go.

Madara bristled, but said nothing. The conversation ended for him instantly and he left Izuna there knowing he was right. Mio wasn't the enemy.

* * *

><p>There was a secret war raging in the Sun Country—a battle between its population and disease, between the Sun Temple and the black sea of the forest, of a dead king's loyal followers and the Uchiha clan. As the northern kingdom flourished, news from the mainland painted the devastating effects of a world post-war—or rather the calm before a storm.<p>

The Lord of Kurata castle had brokered a secret treaty with the Mikazuki clan after having lived years against the Kuronuma clan's rules concerning the mountain. Meanwhile, Uchiha Tajima and Uchiha Hikaku continued their power struggle, one that had been predicted to end catastrophically, but further information concerning Hikaku's secret employer spilled into light—word describing the man to be an old acquaintance of Motou Ayuka and one she had been aiding in the shadows for decades. Uchiha Sachiyo lived in perpetual peace with Saori and Hibari, Tomoji's daughters, in the Fire Country recovering from illness while they continued to mourn the death of their father. Ito Takuei successfully relocated his clan, leaving the old Ito village to serve as a base for the Uchiha clan and went on ahead to uncover strange things about Mikazuki Gouki, none of which he dared relay through correspondence—coded or not. Uchiha Taiga, accompanied by Uchiha Jouji, continued to be seen at any place of importance. The former surprised Sachiyo with a visit and even suggested a treaty she outright refused.

To that point, the Kuronuma clan remained silent with the exception of Shinya of the Black Sphere, Mio's grandfather, who had been seen traveling plenty in the last month. His actions resembled Motou Ayuka, who had abandoned her post as Enki Heika's First Commander to return to the Water Country, even though rumor of her travels reaching as far as the Earth Country sparked a bit of dissent within the Ito clan under Izuna's command.

The Senju clan was solving a problem in Whirlpool Country with their longtime allies, the Uzumaki clan, but word of a new alliance between the Senju clan and another shinobi clan was said to have drawn Senju Tobirama and his following to a private meeting. However, Izuna refused to believe all information Taiga had unearthed, despite him being the most accurate source of all shinobi secrets, he was still prone to alter the truth to his benefit.

Uchiha Izuna remained the Motou clan's enemy, but continued to work for Takuei's benefit and had given him invaluable information concerning Enki and Ayuka's plans. He learned little due to his position, but what he did not uncover himself, he talked it out of one of Madara's men. Whatever plan they had to gather the Kuronuma artifacts, Ayuka had set it in motion long before the Motou and Uchiha wars brought the first Kuronuma out of Kurata. Apart from that, he overheard that Kikumi, her freckled apprentice, had journeyed to the Earth Country to meet Hikaku's lord to marry one of his sons.

While Madara returned to a dangerous battlefield against the remaining opposition of Enki's rule and rarely appeared at the castle, Izuna had been tasked with the safety of the king (as his brother believed it might put them in each other's good graces). Enki's castle underwent necessary renovations, which have since restored the damaged to all buildings in the inner castle and work had started on a new tower to replace the one Izuna had destroyed. Enki had ordered the castle tower to be larger than the first and for another building to be erected inside the inner castle for lodgings he had described would be fit for a queen.

That day, Enki ordered Izuna to the construction site at dawn, but he left the king waiting. Izuna knew Enki planned to goad about his future bride, a young girl from a shinobi clan he had been blabbing on and on about for weeks now, as if he cared what he did with his life. Instead, Izuna opted to hunt Yayoi down. She had been avoiding him after having slapped him and blabbed about all the goodness Motou Ayuka had brought into his life, but she had developed an annoying tendency of accompanying his brother out into the battlefield. She had been using the same excuse forever, one that nobody believed as practicing her medical ninjutsu was the last thing she was interested in doing and improvement on it was a foreign word to her. The last time someone was seriously injured, she had been tasked to heal them and she had nearly finished him off—would have if the overseeing medical specialists hadn't been paying attention to her actions.

Madara refused to take Yayoi with him after that incident and she had gone into hiding within the castle. She had gone to the one place she would be safe away from him: the Northern Temple, which had a suspicious ban on all shinobi access unless you were Enki.

Izuna walked into the temple through the back entrance that led into the kitchens. Compared to the scarce population within the castle walls, the occasional servant fluttering about or the Motou shinobi taking turns patrolling the area, the temple's kitchens were buzzing. The kitchens were a long hall of pots boiling over freshly stocked fires, long tables overflowing with the produce being diced by the many cooking priests and priestesses, and the apprenticed children rushed back and forth between their superiors and teachers offering their help. The walls were lined with torches that set the room aglow and it was heavily scented with spices.

Everyone worked so faithfully towards accomplishing their task that Izuna managed to slip past the bustling room to the entrance on the other end. He entered a narrow corridor that led him into the inner temple, which was lit by thousands of pale candles set in rows before the golden monuments of the frightening looking deities worshiped by the temple. Before it sat the front of the temple, the doors opened slightly to reveal the castle courtyard that divided it from the rest of the property, off to his right on elevated ground was a staircase that led to the priest's apartments where Yayoi had been taking refuge from his curiosities.

Although, she had let her guard down today as he spotted her alone and seated on the gold-trimmed cushion in a meditative state before her gods. She wore pale robes, plain but expensively tailored, and her dark hair plaited over her shoulder.

Izuna approached her without a sound, sensing a strange convergence of chakra drifting from underground that confused his senses, but he kept his sights on the task on hand. Outside noise drifted in, her father, the useless king, shouted his irritation to the world and ordered his men around to search for Izuna, who had failed to meet him, but Yayoi remained undisturbed. She sat perfectly still, legs folded under her body, back straight, and her hands held together before her inclined head, clutching jade beads between them that wrapped around her left wrist.

"I hope you are willing to speak now."

Yayoi gave a frightened howl, turning swiftly when his voice reached her ears. She scrambled off the cushion, the jade beads scrapping along the wooden floorboards as she came to a quick realization that she had not been about to become a target, but that she would be interrogated. It took a moment for the fear to subside and for her to realize she only had a moment before to hide the intruder before others noticed his presence.

She rushed him, dragging him up the narrow staircase and into a room that provided little moving room. It had a single bed, a trunk overflowing in precious cloths and jewels, and a shelf on the wall toppled with a box. Yayoi's anger flared, her face flushed with emotion.

"Shinobi are not permitted on sacred ground!"

Izuna remained silent, his eyes taken by the sight of a box facing outward atop the shelve above her bed toppled in blank scrolls but bearing the unmistakable Kuronuma insignia, the rising wisp of smoke curved like a snake with three dots aligned the arch on the top.

Yayoi noticed and blurted, "That was a gift from my father."

He didn't believe that. The box looked out of place among the rest of her compact luxuries. It was dusty and worn, the dark wood was chipping and in the corner, expertly hidden from view he read the first character of a name he knew too well.

Izuna reached for it as Yayoi yanked it off the shelf, the scrolls tumbling between them. She raised it, planning to hold it protectively to her chest, but its contents spilled onto the bed, landed with a dull sound at their feet, or fluttered gracefully to the floor. Bottles of red paint, a clay doll, colorful beaded bracelets, and a silver hairpin sat among other trinkets on the bed having been luckier than the cup that smashed into shards on the ground.

Yayoi froze in her panic as Izuna crouched down and picked up the first scrap of paper. He turned it. The sloppy almost unreadable writing drew his face into a scowl. The coded message was easily discernable to him, as he had helped create the method when he was much younger with two reluctant participants, and in it, he could see her loyalty seeping through her carefully chosen words. No other name appeared in his mind. Only Mio's.

He tasted bile—the betrayal. Madara's behavior toward Mio had been a tad more severe than usual since her supposed treachery. It made sense now.

Izuna felt he should have known better. Madara was a stupid liar and the proof had been present all along. How hard he tried to make Mio out to be a terrible person. It was painful to hear, hard to accept because Izuna knew Mio had become as important to him as she had to his brother, only Madara was less reluctant to accept that as fact. Mio had been the enemy for a long time after Hiryuu manipulative spiel started making sense to Madara. After Hiryuu was sent away and the rat had replaced him, Madara had lessened his criticisms of her.

He picked up one note after another, distinguished the ones written by Mio's sloppy hand from those left behind by her deceased parents, slowly starting to understand as Yayoi sank into a seat in shock.

It would make perfect sense that Madara would have convinced her to become his spy to protect him. Madara lived to protect him. Honor bound, Mio would have agreed to do the same. He was her friend. If Madara offered her a good deal there would be no reason for her to say no.

He sat down after going through all the information she had shared from the Iron Country, to Kurata, to details surrounding her living situations and her personal hardships that left him wondering what insincere things his brother must have answered. "How is she?" he asked, lifting his eyes to Yayoi.

"I don't know," Yayoi said slowly. "He does not like to speak of her."

_Is it guilt?_ "Why?"

She averted her eyes, uncomfortable saying anything at all. "I don't know." Slowly, she sank to the ground, setting the wooden box to her lap and reaching for the broken cup. "He cannot know of this."

"Why?" asked Izuna, holding all of her correspondences. "Are you afraid he might get angry?"

"He'll never trust me again," she admitted, indignant. "He thinks I'm enough of a nuisance now, this—hiding this was the only thing I have been able to do for him in this country."

Izuna said nothing, arching a curious eyebrow.

"I know my father intends to use him and that is the only reason he is not being kept in chains in the mountain," she said, the frustration seeping into her tone. She sounded more angry at her own actions than his prying, growing more furious after cutting her forefinger on one of the shards of the broken cup. She tossed it into the box with an angry growl and he noticed her hazel eyes watering. "He's such a stupid person."

He smiled faintly, understanding her sentiments. Madara was an idiot. A secret idiot. In his own way, a fool. He didn't even know it.

"I saw what you've done, he doesn't need to be sacrificing anything to protect you," Yayoi went on, a tear rolling down her face. She wiped it away quickly, hoping he hadn't seen the emotion pouring from her eyes. "He's so stupid." Furiously, she tossed one of the paints into the box and it cracked, the red oil bursting from it in all directions. She took the full brunt of its spill as it splattered across her face and sank into her white robes, but some reached him, a long line of red fell drawn across his cheek. "She's not worth this trouble! She isn't."

He words drew his full attention. She cursed as she stared at the red blotch staining her gown, whining about how it was ruined forever.

"Mio?" he asked, drawing watering hazel eyes to meet his. "Is this about Mio?"

"It wasn't," she said, tossing the box aside in her frustration. She started to dab at her clothes with a white rag she scavenged out of the overflowing trunk of items. "It wasn't until Ayuka-sama said something to him. Even she speaks so highly of that Mio, but I've seen her. She's not even pretty."

He normally would have come to Mio's defense on that front, but he had no time arguing about the reasons why Mio was prettier than Yayoi when she looked about ready to burst with all the secret information entrusted to her. "Why does she know about Mio? What has she said?"

"Mio needs to stay with the Kuronuma, stay there and not think of ever leaving. She is a curse—bringer of war and death," the priestess blurted, letting out a devastated cry because she couldn't get the paint out of her robes. "Ayuka-sama says Mio is everything—that she can do everything."

"What?"

"You don't understand!"

"Explain it to me," he urged.

She simply looked relieved to be speaking, of spilling the secrets she'd been burdened with. He sensed the impatience in her. She couldn't handle being the person everyone dumped their secrets onto, where she'd be trapped under them unable to speak even if the world around them was collapsing into itself and she knew the reason why. She was exhausted. She didn't have the capacity for these burdens and Izuna felt like the first person listening to her in a long time.

"Ayuka-sama said that she's seen Mio become a being of power and that's she trying to stop it from happening," Yayoi said quickly, twisting the useless rag in between her hands. "She's dangerous, Izuna. She's going to bring war and ruin into this world. Ayuka-sama is preventing it all from happening—she's been weakening her for so long, trying to force her off the path, but she's rising. She's starting to gain power again and soon she will have all of the Kuronuma artifacts and she'll be matriarch of their clan and she'll come here to kill Ayuka-sama!"

"Are you saying Mio is the enemy?" Izuna asked, flabbergasted.

"Ayuka-sama is trying to spare your life, Izuna. If you stay by Mio's side, you will inevitably die. That's what she told Madara and the reason he decided to listen to my father—he's trying to stop it. He's trying to protect you, but he's protecting her too. She was his spy."

"She isn't any more?"

"She can't communicate from Kurata, so they stopped talking a long time ago," she answered. "You two need to leave her to her fate. She will get what she deserves. You don't need to die for her, neither of you."

Izuna moved closer to her, his sandaled feet crunching over the broken shards. "Mio was nine when she came to our house," he began. "Mikazuki Gouki killed her parents and he would have killed her if our grandmother hadn't gotten to her house when she did. She didn't have anyone but us. We had six years to grow together before we were all separated. She's survived this far, through the Mikazuki clan hunting her down, she has lived—I know that he won't admit it, but Madara, as much as myself, want Mio to continue surviving. If your country is trying to bring her harm, you will not only have the Kuronuma clan to call enemies, but the Ito and Uchiha under our command as well."

Yayoi's lips trembled. "She doesn't deserve you." She rubbed her eyes. "She doesn't deserve you or your brother. She hurt you and he's stupid."

Izuna knew she was referring to the Taiga business, but the accusatory tone about his brother left him feeling strange.

The priestess wept in her frustration for what felt like hours. Izuna stayed behind to help her gather her things, but he kept all the letters she wrote to his brother, sure to bring them to him after he returned from an exhausting day hunting what remained of the Sone clan. Izuna dropped the whole stack of them in front of him and his brother lifted his eyes in shock.

"Mio the Traitor, was it?"

Madara sighed heavily. "We only wanted to protect you."

"By sending her to be with Taiga?" he snapped. "Have you seen the way he looks at her? That man's a rat and you let her go with him! He could be taking advantage of her as we speak!"

"Taiga knows too much about the Uchiha clan that we don't—Eijiro entrusted the Uchiha tablet to him as well and he's hidden it—"

"What use do we have for his secrets and a chunk of old rock that nobody can read?" Izuna interrupted. "Grandmother hates her so much it made her sick! I knew you were up to something! I knew it! And for what? To protect me! I can protect myself!"

"You're my only brother, I can't—"

"I'm going to die eventually! We discussed this!"

"Yes, but not because of her—"

"Does she even love Taiga?" asked Izuna, his heart pounding in trepidation.

Madara lowered his gaze shamefully. His actions spoke volumes.

"She doesn't," Izuna said, more to himself. "I knew it."

"It might be true…"

Izuna glared at his brother, feeling offended for Mio. "You are stupid. Mio would not love a man like Taiga."

"And you think she would love you?"

Izuna scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Why? Can no one defeat the Great Madara in matters of the heart? She wouldn't even look at you that way if you begged."

Madara bristled. "Mio is no prize!"

"You are blind, brother," he said grimly, "although, you seemed to have considered it for a time."

"How could I avoid it? Grandmother spent half our lives shoving Mio down my throat!" Madara snapped. "Do you think we deserved half the punishments she gave us? She wanted us together!"

"You have always been cruel to Mio! Why would grandmother ever consider putting you together with that intent?"

"That old hag is insane! She wanted us married to good women and she knew all along that Mio was a Kuronuma!" Madara argued. "Do you know what an alliance with the Kuronuma clan might have brought the Uchiha clan? Doing so would serve us better than having them as enemies when our Sharingan doesn't work against them!"

Izuna frowned, hating that his brother made a good assessment of the situation. It would make perfect sense that his grandmother did the things she had to gain an alliance with the Kuronuma clan. However, he didn't understand why she had chosen Madara over himself. He would have married Mio without issue. Mio was always at Madara's throat and his brother had spent more times making her cry.

Sachiyo was doing the same with him and the Ito girls. He was supposed to pick either Saori or Hibari to marry, but he had been avoiding the subject and had hoped that with Takuei rising as the Ito clan's new leader it would not come up again…until it had. Even Takuei wanted a solid contract with the Uchiha clan and he wanted him, not his brother, and deep down, he accepted it was his duty to come to a decision. However, if Izuna had the chance to marry Mio, he would be doing what his grandmother wanted all along. He could easily give Madara to the Ito clan. Hibari would have no qualms marrying him after having spent her time stalking and ogling at him when Madara was still in the Ito village.

Izuna's shoulders slumped, his frown deepening. Nothing could be done about Mio when she was in Kurata where he felt she was safest, but at least he knew that she had been in league with his brother and lying through her teeth in every exchange they had since her betrayal. He would leave the situation alone to focus on his brother's. "How do you plan to overcome your situation?"

"I am staying here," said Madara. "You need to return to the Fire Country or go assist our father in the Wind Country, but I need to stay here."

"For what reason?"

Madara's expression darkened. "I have a duty here, to Enki and Ayuka."

"You are letting them use you."

"The Motou clan is planning something sinister and they have allied themselves to the Mikazuki clan," his brother divulged. "He has come in this island to speak to Ayuka."

"Who?"

"The man that brought Mio to our home."

Izuna leaned forward. "You've seen him too?"

"I saw him rip a man's head off his shoulders with his bare hands." Madara stared at the floor, pensive. "The man is a monster. He has the strength of a Kuronuma."

Madara beheld the secret abilities of the Kuronuma, the black water that nearly scorched the flesh from his bones in his first encounter with them. But the Kuronuma clan were known for being exceptionally strong, physically capable of moving a mountain without the use of chakra—and of ripping the limbs off a person as easily as tearing a piece of paper. The darker legends kept them safe in their mountain and undisturbed, but they kept their secrets—and there were clans like the Motou rising to stake their claim on them.

Izuna believed his brother when he said the man had the strength of a Kuronuma. He had encountered him once before, a large man that was hunting for female spies that matched Mio's description. Dark haired, dark eyed, and with a lithe build. He had seen one die before his eyes and had recalled the way the man had not looked the least bit unfazed by his actions as he had surveyed his surroundings to ensure Mio had not been hiding.

That man was dangerous.

"He is a follower of their religion. The Motou priests won't let anyone walk into the temple, but I saw Ayuka lead him in. He stayed for hours. Days. And then he was gone." Madara paused. "He has a camp in the Fire Country, he has not moved since rumors of Kurata Castle's started to spread."

"Is he trying to kill her still?" Izuna asked, many questions springing into his head at once.

"The only ones actively trying against her life are Konoe and Hiryuu, but Mikazuki Gouki and Ayuka plan to keep her alive."

"He has been hunting her for years? Is that not the reason things have become so chaotic?"

Madara shrugged. "She might be the bait for something bigger." His brother stood. "I can stay here to find out, but you are an enemy to the king and you are not welcomed here. It is best you go to our father's side."

"Our father will need both our assistance," Izuna said, staring up at him. "You and all the Uchiha will have to follow. What does the witch think of this battle? I have heard she sent her assistant to be wed to a future lord."

"Kikumi is there to ensure our father wins the battle against Hikaku," Madara informed.

Madara excused himself, saying he needed to rest before returning to the hunt. Izuna stopped him.

"You have not attempted Yayoi, have you?"

His brother glowered. "What are you implying?"

"She seemed very attached to you when I spoke with her," Izuna clarified.

"I have not considered it, nor would I," Madara replied, sounding insulted that he even had to be asked. "Yayoi is in love with Katsura."

"Katsura is married."

"And she is determined to become his mistress." Madara rolled his eyes. "She also plans to become Mio's grandmother."

"What?"

"You witnessed her fawning over the man, did you not?"

Izuna had seen Yayoi's hazel eyes lit with delight when she saw Mio's Kuronuma grandfather from afar and she had done plenty of incessant blubbering on their way home. He had even thought he had heard her ask Mio to introduce them as she healed her, to which Mio had responded with a blank stare that left Yayoi in low spirits.

The shoji slapped into the end of the threshold noisily. Yayoi stood out in the hallway, sniveling into a handkerchief. "Is this where you have your joys?" she cried. "I considered you friends, but you are fiends—villains that speak so lowly of a young maiden's heart!"

"I am not your friend."

"I am not your friend."

Madara and Izuna were surprised the two had said the same phrase in unison.

"I hope you feel the burn of rejection when Mio tells you both she sincerely chose to be with that beautiful Uchiha man you both seem to hate!" she cursed. "Do not think to come crying to me when it occurs! I will not hear your woes, I will laugh behind your backs! I hope Ayuka-sama is right and you both end up killing each other like the pig king and Jikai for a stupid woman, no less!"

"I will take care of her," Madara grated, moving forward.

"Stay away from me!" she shouted and ran off.

Madara heaved a sigh, staying in place.

"Do you think she meant what she said?" asked Izuna.

The dark look that molded his brother's features could have stunned him into silence. "We are not Enki and Jikai. We are brothers and we will not fight over women."

Izuna patted his brother's shoulder. "Good, I worried there would be no way around hurling you into the river of black water in Kurata," he said in a joking matter.

Madara's expression changed. "What?"

"If you won't unify the Uchiha and Kuronuma clan, I will," Izuna stated, watching his brother prepare to protest. "You cannot object, brother, it is what grandmother wanted. Perhaps, you should think of wedding one of the Ito girls. Hibari still asks after you."

Madara frowned.

Izuna was about to step out of the room, but he turned back. "I was in the temple today." He earned a grimace, but Izuna continued, "I sensed a strange concentration of chakra emanating from underground. Is there a specific reason as to why the Motou priests restrict the entrance of shinobi?"

"You sensed chakra?"

"Yes, I planned to ask Yayoi about it until I found out about your letters from Mio. Takuei is sure the Motou clan is hiding something. What better place to put it than in the temple no shinobi can enter?"

Madara's eyebrows knit. "You will not attempt to—"

"I will be apologizing to Yayoi-san," Izuna said, stepping out with a smile. "I hope she will invite me back into the temple for tea."

Izuna left his brother, but in a matter of seconds, Madara was walking quickly to catch up to his stride. The two, in silent determination, were heading towards the temple…for vastly different reasons, but enough of a reason to do it together.

"You are going to get us both killed," Madara growled.

"At least it won't be Mio."

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: This chapter makes me want Yayoi to hit it off with Izuna...and then Madara can be with Mio...and then we can all get a happy ending. Regardless, I am still rooting for Izuna. I will root for him until the end! Anyone with me?

I am going to post a oneshot companion to this series in my journal, it's part of the whole compiling things that didn't make it into the story in a Journal Only series. It's interesting if you want to know why Taiga was in the Sun Country, but you can live without reading it because I'll eventually mention it. But go read it in my journal! It might not be up immediately (because of coding and the fact that I'm making party bags for my little sister's birthday), but it will be up for sure tomorrow. You will find it under the title "Jigsaw."

Thank you to the reviewers: **Loteva**, **CeliaSingsSongs**, **HushedFable**, **Johan**, and **Aries01xD**! You made my day and my butt work harder to finish this.

One more chapter to go in the "Slumbering Beast Arc" and then we go back to Mio...because I miss her. However, be prepared to feel her pain. She is going to go through so much in under 7k words and it just gets worse.

I am going to write that discussion after the next chapter because I want to explain who knows what and what is true and who is in the inner circle and the outer. It's a lot, but yeah, I will guide you through it all. Especially because Izuna knows more about the artifacts while Madara has no idea there is more than one artifacts (at this point).

I will also try to start that Winter vs Redesign history later today. And a preview will be posted as soon as I get that Jigsaw chapter posted!

Thank you for reading!


	30. The Slumbering Beast 3

_Edited version posted. Enjoy._

* * *

><p>Chapter <strong>30<strong> | The Slumbering Beast III

The temple stood a few feet away, the entrance wide open. Madara warned him of consequences that Izuna had no interested in listening to when all he wanted was to apologize to Yayoi in order to gain entrance into the temple.

"Do you have a plan?" asked Madara worriedly.

"Why does one need a plan to apologize to a person?" Izuna returned, giving his brother an odd stare. "I intend to be sincere."

"Is that all?"

Izuna shook his head in disappointment.

The two came to a halt before the gaping entrance of the temple and an older priest stepped out to greet them, shutting the heavy oak doors to an aperture.

"Do you have business here?" asked the priest.

"Yayoi," said Madara curtly.

The priest inclined his head, excusing himself back inside to fetch her. They heard the man shout at one of the apprentices to retrieve the princess, but the apprentice returned saying that Yayoi refused to meet them. The priest returned with a sullen, apologetic look prepared to break the news to them gently.

"Yayoi-hime is feeling ill," he began.

"I am not feeling ill! You inform them that I will not see them! Even if they apologize or surprise me with gifts!" came Yayoi's vehement outburst from within. "And if they try to buy my forgiveness, it better be made of jade stones from Kurata and gold from the Lightning Country!"

Madara grumbled an insult beneath his breath and stalked off, finding no reason to stay at the entrance like a fool waiting for Yayoi to see them. Izuna decided to persist.

"We are not the one's calling, it was her father," Izuna lied.

Again, the priest slipped back into the temple and a moment later, Yayoi reluctantly walked out. She folded her arms over her chest, showing up with puffy eyes. Yayoi was easy to cry.

"What does he want?" She surveyed the courtyard. "And where is Madara? He is always here to escort me."

Izuna gestured her forward and they began to walk. "I apologize for offending you, princess. My older brother can be crass."

She harrumphed. "Why should I accept your apology? I am not even your friend."

"We have not yet had a moment to formally know one another," Izuna said with an easy smile. "I am sure that the longer I spend here and the more we happen to speak that we will become good friends."

That seemed to have piqued her interest as she finally looked his way. "My father is not calling me, is he?" she asked, forcing them to a halt in the middle of the empty courtyard. "You have brought me out here for a reason, have you not? I am not stupid."

"I sensed a great concentration of chakra in the temple this morning," Izuna said, straight to the point. "I want to know what your priests are hiding there."

"Then you must live with your curiosity. Only those with special authority are allowed into the inner temple and I am not one of them," Yayoi replied, as smug as if she had finished telling him she _was_ one of those people. "Nobody mentions what happens there, only that it occurs and the result is a tangible concentration of chakra that keeps the island alive."

"Is it otherwise dead?"

"It is otherwise not as hazardous as it is now." Yayoi leaned forward, holding a hand cupped off the side of her mouth. She lowered her voice to speak again. "I have a feeling that whatever is happening down there, it is using a lot of the chakra stolen from the shinobi on the battlefield to get stronger and that it might have something to do with the defective sludge in the southern forest."

Izuna started to wonder why anyone would think to tell Yayoi anything of importance. He only reaffirmed her suspicions and she had already told him more than he thought to discover.

"Should you be saying any of this?" asked Izuna, doubtful.

"No," said Yayoi. "These are the country's secrets."

"Why speak them? Do you not fear being heralded as a traitor?"

Yayoi shrugged. "You don't lie to me like everyone else does," she said. "Everyone does it so simply. They think I'm stupid and that I only care about beautiful clothes and expensive jewelry—I do, but I have ears and I am not deaf. My head isn't empty either."

"Even Ayuka?"

"I care deeply for the mistress, but she thinks me the stupidest of them all," Yayoi admitted. "She brought me masters to teach me, but she thinks I have learned nothing. I refused to use kinjutsu, so she thinks me weak, and she dotes on Kikumi—she is her successor after all. I wasn't even considered for succession even though I am the best choice. I can see light in the Fate Sphere. Kikumi only sees a blank page. She's the idiot and Ayuka-sama is blind."

"Have you told her this before?" Izuna asked.

"Why?" She arched an eyebrow. "I'm not the one that's blind and I'm not the one that will regret it."

* * *

><p>Izuna traveled to the sylvan in the south where the trees were robust and ancient with thick trunks and sturdy branches. The further in he dwelled—the tough earth and fallen leaves crunching underneath his sandaled feet—he noticed the forest was going through a change. Alive and flourishing on the outside, but deep inside, he started to spot decaying trees wrapped in gauzy white cloth with brittle limbs covered in wooden talismans that bore the Motou clan's sunburst, as if warning against moving forward, and the faintest smell of death grew stronger and stronger until it burned in his nostrils. It was gradually becoming unbearable and he tugged off the sash holding his kimono top together and wrapped it around the bottom half of his face, dulling the stench of death that engulfed him.<p>

He reached a barrier after an hour of nonstop walking. A surge of scorching heat met him upon approaching, sweat beaded at his forehead and waves of steam marred his skin with red patches that throbbed. He peered over the barricade after scaling a nearby tree, lowering his eyes to a floor covered in a thick blanket of bubbling black sea that stretched far beyond his eyes could see. He lingered underneath the cover of a dozen interlaced branches and pointed leaves the size of lily pads. Overpowering the smell of death was that of burnt flesh and rotting trees.

Everything beyond the barricade looked to be losing a battle against the poisonous black substance on the ground. It was as if it was sucking the life from them, burning away the roots to sap at its insides until the upper part of the tree became too heavy for the bottom to carry and it snapped in two, crashing down to serve as sustenance for the sea. Many fallen trees floated atop the pitch-black surface, the bark covered in gunk that ate away at it. The steam emitting from atop the logs was visibly white and looked as though he might be able to grasp one of the many long tendrils of pale smoke and pull.

Izuna grew weary, having heard his brother had crossed the toxic half of the sylvan during the last battle against Motou Heita, Jikai's son and the last threat against the Sun Country crown, where many of his men had fallen to their deaths. The sea had been described to be like the black water that had given the Kuronuma clan their infamy.

He dropped down to the ground in time to feel the rumble of the earth. Stones rattled, the leaves and branches shuddered, and dozens of raven birds took flight with a cacophony of warning squawks. Like inside the temple, he felt an astounding concentration of chakra, stronger than ever, as if there were a wild beast on a rampage in the waters holding this piece of land afloat. The chakra came to his senses in different pulses, the first was strong and those that followed progressively weakened.

Izuna returned his attention to the barricade and down to his irritated skin. It was everything Yayoi had described. Once the pulsing faded, Izuna felt the heat radiating from the sludge beyond the barrier increase, making it unbearable for him to stay. Whatever energies had converged inside the temple, they were indeed producing all the hazards on the island. He understood what Yayoi meant to say when she told him it kept the island alive. It had not been dead, it had always been thriving with life—the natural sort of life where flowers bloomed and the trees were healthy—but that it was alive in the sense that it produced boiling water that resembled that which ran throughout Kurata's valleys.

He started to walk back towards the main road to help navigate the forest, but he stopped halfway there. He surveyed the area and found another in the forest with him. A boy with white hair and pale eyes dressed in furs and a pair of gray trousers paired with warm boots. The strangely shaped dagger Izuna remembered hanging from the slanted belt across his hip was in his hands and he was toying with it. The boy had been leaving the island when Izuna had first seen him.

The boy acknowledged him and stopped playing with his dagger, returning it to his belt and reaching instead for a satchel sitting beside him on the branch. He procured a small jar filled with a lime green substance and tossed it at him.

Izuna purposely sidestepped away from it, letting it smash to the ground, but nothing happened when the liquid touched the soil, it didn't melt or explode. It only darkened its color.

"I knew you would do that," the boy said, fishing out another jar from his bag, "so, I had Okimi make another. Those are nasty burns and you need to treat them if you don't want any scars."

He threw it towards Izuna, only this time he bothered to catch it. He peered at the bottle; the substance reminded him of the one the Kuronumas had given Madara after they had burned his arms with their techniques when a Kuronuma called Enya took Mio.

"Your brother was given one by my nephew Eito quite some time ago," the boy said, earning an odd stare from Izuna. "It might help if you were to dab it on now. The Sun Country's version of the Kuronuma water is—ehhh, if I could find the words to describe it they would be in poor taste."

"Nephew?" asked Izuna, uncorking the jar. He stuck his fingers inside and took some of the cool substance, swabbing it over all the reddened patches on his skin. The prickling the steam had caused died down quickly, replaced by a coldness that felt good on his flesh.

"Kuronuma Shin," he said, pointing at himself. He made a gesture at the rest of his appearance. "This is called a disguise. Precarious one, is it not?"

Kuronuma Shin, Mio's grandfather and Ayuka's nemesis. The fact that he was here and went around unnoticed was amazing. Ayuka knew what everyone was up to on the island.

"Does Ayuka know you are here?"

"You should tell her. It might be enough to kill her." Shin was amused. "The Sun Country is protected from Kuronuma Shinya, she boasts it so much."

"Should you not be with Mio?"

"I am always with Mio. You need not worry for her."

"You also have Taiga under your protection."

"I am letting him live, not offering him protection," Shin corrected, as if it were important for him to clarify. "You have, evidently, not met me."

Izuna finished applied the green concoction to all the red marks on his skin. "Am I supposed to believe that you came all the way here to give me medicine?"

Kuronuma Shin dropped down from his branch and dusted himself clean. "Well, I certainly did not come here to help your brother get a scroll from the Northern Temple or to advise you to take it inside the Southern Temple," he said simply. "I wanted to get away from things, but I should be going. Ayuka is not so self-sufficient that she would torture herself, so I must find a way to ruin her life for a spell. I know how long it took for her to capture the beast and how fast she'll lose it."

He started to walk away and in the distance, Izuna though he heard him say, _"She is so stupid" _while cackling.

Izuna hurried back to the castle, avoiding all questions concerning his appearance when Kaname caught up to him. He sent Kaname away after receiving an update on any new developments in the time he spent out and learned that Enki had called an important meeting for everyone.

He went into his lodgings to find Yayoi skulking through his things. She froze in place, looking up through a fringe of dark hair.

"I was coming to see you," Izuna told her. "But if you want, I can step out for a moment and you can put everything back where you found it."

Yayoi carefully set down one of his shirts and stood straight. "You were coming to see me? In your disheveled condition? I am touched."

"So you don't want me to leave?" he asked to be sure.

"No, stay," she said quickly, making herself comfortable in front of his table. "What do you need?"

Izuna sat down near her, watching her turn her body to face him with a smile. "My brother procured a scroll for your father—"

Yayoi glared. "Are you trying to use me again? Did I not warn you against this?"

"I am asking you for a favor," he replied, "as a friend."

"As a friend?" She perked up, a wide smile curving her lips. "What do you want to know about the uncle's scroll? It's a fūinjutsu. Someone from the Uzumaki clan gave it to the Sone clan, my mother inherited it and she gifted it to uncle on their wedding day."

Her face lit up after mentioning her mother.

"Fūinjutsu?"

Yayoi nodded. "It is."

"Where is it?"

"With one of my father's whores."

"Where is it? Madara and I are going to need it."

"You don't expect me to agree to any of this without asking for something in return," she said, earning a frown. "I like you and Madara. Madara lets me stay in important meetings and you don't get angry and tell me to shut up, but I want proper compensation."

"What do you want?"

"I want to get the scroll for you _and _I want to be in today's meeting. I also want a maid, a personal one that gets to come with me everywhere," Yayoi listed. "_And_ I want to do whatever you and your brother plan to do with the scroll, too."

Izuna agreed to all of her conditions and promised she would help them by allowing them inside the temple, an idea she was not opposed to do now that he was being honest with her (and that they were friends). She sounded very excited about exploring the restricted portion of the temple, explaining that she had been curious her entire life.

"Are you not the princess of this country?" asked Izuna incredulously. "Could you not have ordered your way in?"

Yayoi shook her head. "Princess is just a word in this country, it doesn't carry any weight. I have a younger brother, but you don't hear anyone talking about him and he is the heir apparent of this country."

Izuna arched an eyebrow. "You have a brother?"

"Ikki," she replied. "He was supposed to be a shinobi, but father has since been disappointed that he did not turn out the least bit like Heita. He tends to keep to himself these days. Nobody bothers him and he bothers no one. Some people just forget about him."

"Oh."

"Father and Ayuka-sama are the only important ones in this island. Everyone else doesn't matter."

"What about your mother?"

"What about my mother?" Yayoi answered softly. She offered him a tentative smile. "She is fortunate to be dead. My father and uncle started a war over her…only that she should have stayed with uncle…maybe she would still be alive."

"What happened to her?" asked Izuna.

Yayoi leveled her gaze with his, hesitatingly meeting his eyes. "Father called everyone into the courtyard. We were going to celebrate something—I didn't know what it was, but I was excited, so excited I made sure I had new clothes made before the day." She paused, still smiling slightly. "I remember bits and pieces about what happened. I remember it looked like we were in the middle of a festival and that my mother wasn't present until father had her dragged out into the courtyard. She was bleeding and bruised. Father said something. People cheered. Father took a knife and cut her throat." The emotion shone in her eyes, in her tears. "I was too young at the time, so the story eventually started to change every year until I started to agree mother died from an illness."

Izuna was unsure of what words to say to her, none she hadn't heard a thousand times before, so he stayed quiet.

"Now, he's boasting about a new bride." Yayoi snorted. "I hope the stupid girl is good in bed and knows to be quiet, else she might end up dead like every other woman that wasn't."

"Do you have any idea who his bride will be?" asked Izuna, having grown annoyed at Enki insistence in goading about the nameless girl whenever he was around. He spoke in such a way that if he were speaking about any woman Izuna knew, whether it be the Ito sisters or Mio, he would feel inclined to cut his tongue out and feed it to him.

"She is from an ancient shinobi clan," she answered. "I don't know more than that."

There were few ancient clans in existence. Uchiha, Senju, Uzumaki, Sarutobi, the remaining Sand Dome clans from the Wind Country, and the Kuronuma clan from Kurata, and while others existed in small numbers, the aforementioned ones were thriving still, which made the frontrunners in Enki's selection. He could think of reasons why any one of those clans would refuse to let one of their own marry into the Motou clan, so he imagined it would be one of the smaller ancient clans. But after what Yayoi finished telling him about her mother, he figured they would be smart in terminating whatever agreement they made.

Yayoi stared at the lime green substance on his skin. "Do you want me to heal you?"

"No, I have already started to heal," he said. It had nothing to do with the fact that she was a terrible, unreliable medic, but that the concoction Shin had given him had taken quick effect and his skin had lost the violent red color it had acquired by the barrier.

"Where did you get that green goo from?"

"A Kuronuma gave it to my brother a long time ago," Izuna lied. "It heals black water burns."

"Ayuka-sama says the Kuronuma clan has the best medical specialists. That might be the best jar of green goo the world has ever seen. For curing burns, at least. They say the old Shugosha can even bring a dead person back to life." At Izuna's expression, she continued. "Sounds incredible, right? But I bet the old man can't bring himself back to life, so what's the point?"

Yayoi continued her rambling for quite some time until Kaname appeared to fetch him for the meeting and Izuna surprised him by bringing the priestess along.

"The king will not respond well to this," Kaname warned.

"I am expecting the reaction," Izuna replied.

Madara gave him the same warning when he met up with them halfway to the inner courtyard where Enki had called the meeting and enlightened him with information that his father had summoned them to the Wind Country.

"I already informed Enki," said Madara.

"Can I go?" asked Yayoi.

"No," Izuna and Madara answered in unison.

"Why not?" she complained.

"The battlefield is a dangerous place for you, princess," said Kaname.

Yayoi rolled her eyes. "I can hold my own."

Everyone looked at her long and hard. She pouted in response, walking on ahead as she called them all names beneath her breath.

Enki was standing with the temple's high priest, Kousei, and Mikami Seiko, all surrounded by other important members of the Motou and Mikami clan. Once they arrived, the conversation seized and Enki stepped forward, the first to square in on Yayoi's presence among them.

"Yayoi, there is a seamstress in your rooms, she is waiting to take your measurements," Enki said passively. "Do not keep her waiting."

"Yayoi is staying here," said Izuna, drawing a glare from the king. "She is princess of this country and she is not the least bit knowledgeable of the politics. She should know what is happening in her own country."

"That is no business of yours," stated Enki. "Yayoi will know what is appropriate for her."

"Yayoi is an idiot," Madara said flatly, "and no good man will want her if she is not at least educated in basic politics."

Yayoi gasped. She turned quickly to Izuna, grabbing him by the arm and squeezing. "Did you hear him call me an idiot?" she hissed, beneath her breath.

Enki went into contemplative silence and inclined his head. "I suppose you might be in the right," he conceded. "Yayoi, you may stand for the meeting, listen closely."

Calling her an idiot worked, but Yayoi spent the entire meeting fulminating and taking turns glaring at either the side of Izuna's head or the back of Madara's. Kaname attempted to calm her, saying neither brother meant to call her names, but as soon as she made a comment about how believable they had sounded, Izuna and Madara admitted they weren't lying.

"If you want to marry into another shinobi clan you have to have more to offer than your looks," Izuna told her, mid-meeting. "You are smart, Yayoi, but if you don't start using your head, you'll have people like your father and Ayuka trampling over you. Nobody will take you seriously. You need to take a stand, too, and you should start by knowing exactly what is happening in your country and its people and thinking about making a difference."

Yayoi, who had been grasping onto his arm, slowly released him. Her entire expression changed and she looked onward and listened.

Everyone was gathered to endure more of Enki's goading over a bride and preparations being made for her arrival in advance. He spoke little of the Sone clan's refugees, apart from informing his shinobi to continue patrolling the smaller villages for what remained of his deceased wife's clan and to penalize whoever aided them. He talked about information he received from Ayuka, who had been traveling in search of Kuronuma Shin, and touched on the subject of the Mikazuki clan before he remembered something of more pressing importance.

"Ah, Uchiha Tajima has ordered his sons out of the country to aid in his war," said Enki. He made a mention of Kikumi celebrating her new marriage and how in the short timeframe, she had established communications with their father to aid him by providing inside information on Hikaku's army. "They will go with their entire armies to meet Uchiha Taiga."

"Taiga is in league with the Kuronuma clan," Madara spoke up.

"Uchiha Taiga will be there as the Motou clan's representative. He will be given an army of shinobi and priestesses to command on the battlefield. Use his aid well if you and your brother plan to survive."

Taiga must have made a deal with Enki through Ayuka, which explained his presence on the island before. He wondered what either Enki or Taiga benefited from working with one another until Izuna remembered his earlier conversation with Kuronuma Shin and reveled in the idea that if any of his actions wronged his ancient clan, Taiga would be killed.

"The Sun Country will be left vulnerable," Seiko acknowledged. "Any of our enemies could breach our defenses and destroy out island nation."

"Mikazuki Gouki will provide us with shinobi in the absence of the Uchiha-Ito alliance," said Enki.

Seiko arched an eyebrow. "Did Ayuka-sama order him into this position?"

Enki nodded and proceeded to end the meeting. The small crowd disbursed.

Madara approached Izuna, leaning forward. "When do you think we will have the time to enter the temple?" he asked. "We need to be the first ones off the island if we want to avoid Taiga."

"We can do it now," Yayoi piped in, surprising them by squeezing in between them. "I just need to find the harlot."

She scanned the area as new crowds began emerging from buildings and locked onto a woman with long chestnut curls in a patterned kimono. "I will be back in a second." She turned to them. "I am going to need one of you to stop me. I tend to get carried away with these things at times."

Without elucidation, Yayoi rushed the woman, tackling her to the ground as the crowd around them dispersed and she started to slap her across the face. Izuna and Madara reacted as soon as they saw Yayoi pull out one of the woman's pins, a long, golden one with a pointed end, and turned it to stab her with it. Izuna grabbed the raven-haired priestess from under the arms as she thrashed and continued calling the woman horrible things. The woman stared at her wide-eyed and crying, holding her reddened cheek as her attendants helped her back onto her feet.

"You are crazed, Yayoi!" she snapped.

Yayoi spat at her. "I hope all of your hair falls out, harlot!" she shouted. "I hope my father smothers you in your sleep, whore!"

Madara made a gesture to Izuna and he half-carried, half-dragged her away as she spewed her curses.

Yayoi broke out of Izuna's grip after they made their way into one of the buildings and brushed her hair back calmly. She stood there as if she had not finished attempting to stab a woman's eye out with her hairpin and fixed her clothes.

She reached into one of her flowing sleeves and held out an old scroll to the brothers. She smiled. "The stupid cow carries it with her everywhere," she said, knowledgably. "My father has a whore for different things."

Izuna took the scroll, stunned. "Yayoi, you are incredible."

She smiled like a fool. "I am, aren't I?"

"I suppose it won't be a problem for you to guide us into the temple then?" Madara said, remaining unfazed by what occurred.

"Not a problem. You will only have to come back to my rooms. I think I have robes that will fit you." Yayoi laughed at their disturbed reactions. "It was a joke. We can probably walk through the entrance during the purification ceremonies. Everyone will be in the hall. The rest of the temple will be empty."

"When does that start?" asked Izuna.

"In an hour, so I'm going to see if there really is a seamstress in my rooms. I want a new dress after all."

Yayoi walked off and disappeared into nearby hallway.

Izuna handed the scroll to Madara. "You keep it. I'm going to find something to eat."

"Wait—"

Izuna ran off before his brother could stop him.

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><p>Packing had been an easy feat to complete, but Izuna worried about the upcoming battlefield. He had a strange nagging feeling in his chest, like something wasn't right. It probably wasn't, but he couldn't think of a reason why it wouldn't be. His father had everything under control and he was the sort that knew what he was doing in any and all situations.<p>

A message from the mainland had arrived seconds after Izuna had made it to his lodgings. His father wanted them urgently and Izuna and Madara had no choice but to leave as soon as the ship returned, which would be in under half an hour according to the schedule. He had planned to put a hold on any temple exploration, but Yayoi had insisted it would be their only opportunity as purifying only occurred on special occasions—whenever Mikazuki Gouki or his brothers visited—or once a month and Madara had been determined to sate his curiosity.

Izuna was also curious to meet the source of the island's pulsing energy, but his worry remained—intensified, as if arriving even a moment later might determine the fight, teetering in favor of Hikaku despite the Motou clan's efforts to aid them by placing Kikumi in the Earth Country. However, his brief meeting with Kuronuma Shin came to mind. Mio's grandfather wanted him and his brother to go into the restricted portion of the temple. For what reason? He didn't know, but he wanted to the more thought he put into the idea.

Yayoi waited outside his lodgings. She took him by the arm as soon as he exited and started to lead him outside. He put in a complaint, but it fell to deaf ears and he chose silence for what remained of the trip. His brother was already at the temple with Kaname at his side.

"This is a terrible idea," Kaname said in the usual warning tone.

"Why do you have to be so critical?" complained Yayoi. "Ever thought to consider it might be a well thought out idea, one without flaw that will see you three safely to your boat?"

Yayoi waited expectantly for a positive response to her surprisingly eloquent argument, but the silence was heavy and pensive.

"Kaname is right, this is a terrible idea," Madara decided, "but, it's something we need to know about. If this is the only opportunity we have then we should take advantage of it. We have the time."

Yayoi would have hugged him if she didn't know Madara would shove her off him in the point of contact. She held back and beamed up at him before surveying the open courtyard in front of the temple, empty as expected from the decrease of shinobi on standby. The Motou clan was expected to send half of his army to Taiga to command in the Wind Country and without any Uchiha or Ito on the island its castle population was scarce. The few signs of life present were children from the temple too young to serve running through the inner courtyards which were filled with trees and flowers or the castle's servants, among them Enki's concubines who wore their expensive and luxurious jewels like badges.

"I'm going in," announced Yayoi, walking toward the temple. She tried her best to be discreet, but failed with her obvious actions.

She slinked indoors and remained inside for quite some time until she stuck her head out the door and signaled them in.

As he and Madara started to go, Kaname said, "I'll wait here."

And the brown-haired shinobi was left behind to stand guard as Izuna and Madara followed Yayoi through the illuminated altar, lit by the orange glow of a thousand candles who cast deeper shadows upon the stern faces of the golden faced gods the Motou worshipped. Golden gods that frowned upon them as they passed underneath their still gazes.

Izuna knew little of the layout. Only that the long hallway behind the altar was a one-way trip to the kitchens and a backdoor. Apart from the apartments up the single flight of stairs and Yayoi's cramped accommodations, he saw nothing worth mentioning.

Yayoi guided them through an entrance, sitting hidden from view, underneath the staircase in a little alcove decorated in padded walls emblazed with gold and precious gems. It looked every bit like an expensive sitting room and upon a table made of cherry wood was a tray complete with kettle and mugs. She pushed open the door and stepped into darkness, waiting at the entrance until after Izuna had crossed the threshold to close it noiselessly. He saw her bring her finger to her lips, asking them to be silent, and moved forward.

They continued the walk, coming upon stone walls and a chilling hum of voices. Chanting voices.

Izuna heard them clearly, but could not understand what was being said, when a new sound echoed into the dark corridor-the splashing of water. Over and over again. Like something plunging into water with a great force repeatedly.

Thin lines of light cut through the darkness from the apertures in several doors. Walking past them, Izuna peered in them for a split second each. He saw many priests and priestesses dressed in pale, translucent robes standing around what looked to be a spring of water in the far end of the room decorated in stones and cattails. A woman stood with the bottom half of her body submerged in water before she sank into the pool noiselessly, disappearing beneath its black surface.

It felt like they had traveled for a long time, but at the end of the corridor, they crossed the threshold of another door and from then on, traveled single file down a flight of narrow stairs lit by torches that lined the wall. There the chakra in the air felt heavy and as soon as it invaded their senses, Madara paused to look up at him over his shoulder. Izuna nodded, a natural gesture, and urged his brother forward.

Yayoi tripped off the last step after stepping on the bottom of her robes and hit the opposite wall. Izuna helped her up as Madara pushed forward to the squared room leading into the inner temple. The twin doors were made of smooth stone and covered in illegible talismans.

"You don't suppose they are opened, do you?" asked Izuna, joining his brother.

Madara's eyes had darkened with interest, but he did not act on his curiosity. He shrugged, seemingly indifferent.

"They should be," Yayoi said, tying her skirts up to prevent another fall. "Everyone knows better than to wander down here and there is usually someone guarding the place when it isn't time for the purification ceremonies."

"What are these talismans?" Madara pointed up at the doors.

"Protection charms Ayuka-sama created."

Madara stepped forward and touched the door. "If we open it, she will become aware someone breached her charms."

Izuna walked up beside him, pressing both hands to the entrance's surface. "Then, I should be the one to open it," he said, giving the doors a mighty push.

They were heavy and stubborn, ancient as if they had not been opened in years, but as he strained, he put more strength into his arms until the doors gave a mighty wail—a hollow cry that echoed up the narrow stairs they abandoned behind them. Madara helped him open them further, pushing them apart to create a wider entrance.

Yayoi rushed in with a squeal, disappearing behind a wall that looked like it was part of a cave with a sharp, rocky surface.

"Yayoi!" shouted Madara, running after her.

Izuna could hear their footsteps on the other side when Yayoi's came to a sudden halt and he heard, torn from her throat, a horrified scream. He left the entrance in a rush, running around the wall to a dark path leading into an open-sided walkway made of sedimentary stone, molded by the crashing waves. The walkway was lit by the sky and the air was strong with the scent of the sea.

He spotted Yayoi sitting on her backside, having fallen, with her hands held to her mouth, and his brother, still, and wide-eyed as he looked into the center of the cavernous room. As Izuna turned, he saw the gaping mouth of the cave, the view beyond was a darkening sky covered in mist. It took him a moment to realize that they were in a giant cave with a ceiling he could not see and a fifty-feet drop from the man-made walkways. He saw a tangle of white thread and gauze covered in sealing talismans that wrapped around in a ginormous rock sitting in the middle of the waters flowing into the cave.

Except the rock was decorated in spikes and it moved.

Izuna came to a skidding stop beside his brother, who stared without blinking. Izuna followed his gaze and in the rushing cover of night and crashing waters, he saw a red eye staring back at him. Activating his Sharingan, he could see the chakra running wild within the beast and felt the presence of another upsurge working its way through him, one that created wave after wave that crashed into the surrounding wall as the ground begun to quake.

Yayoi tried to grasp at the wall, but its surface was slippery and she fell to her hands and knees with a sharp cry. Izuna went to her side, taking her by the arm and opted to help her back inside the main temple, but he saw his brother draw his sword.

"Madara!" he shouted. "What are you—?"

Madara jumped off the edge and expertly cut away at the web of talismans keeping the creature imprisoned in the cave. Disappearing, he reappeared on the other side of the cavern just as Izuna and Yayoi made it to the short corridor near the entrance. Everything fell away in pieces, and in acknowledgment of its freedom, the beast emerged from the dark depths of the water, swinging its three mighty tails into Madara's direction.

It pulverized the wall before it dove into the sea, vanishing as chunks of the ceiling began raining down on them.

Izuna called out for his absent brother, seized by fear that the monster might have struck and killed him. He shoved Yayoi towards the door as the walkway began to crumble.

"Go!"

Yayoi hesitated at the entrance.

"Yayoi, now!"

Startled, the priestess ran.

Izuna started to turn, ready to jump into the sea to search for Madara if necessary, when his brother appeared, grabbing him from around the waist and jumping with him to the entrance just as a boulder fell where he once stood. He turned to Madara, tempted to punch him for letting that thing go, but they needed to get back to surface level before the cavern finished collapsing into itself.

Madara let him go at the entrance and Izuna sprang for the staircase.

"What was that?" Izuna snapped.

"It was a tailed beast!" Madara shouted, an edge in his voice. "It was a tailed beast! One of nine!"

Had he not seen the beast raise its three tails, he would not have believed it was, but Izuna had seen it. The beast was a creature of extraordinary power, a being a chakra that Ayuka had captured and been using to bring the island to life, to create the black water. And now, his brother had succeeded in setting it free where it might decide to wreak havoc on the island.

Izuna and Madara found their way out of the turmoil in the temple, evading all the priests and priestesses running amok, and casually met with Kaname, who handed them their traveling bags. But Izuna's heart was still pumping the adrenaline and his thoughts were racing. His encounter with Kuronuma Shin constantly resurfacing from the many questions surrounding Ayuka and Izuna felt that the man had known of the existence of the beast and had wanted them to find it—perhaps release it as well, and Madara had. But it presented a very dangerous question. At one point, Izuna was certain Shin had moved him to find the beast, he had made a mention of a creature, but Izuna had ignored it.

He witnessed the beast pulverize a wall. It turned it to dust—into nothing but particles. Who was Motou Ayuka that she was able to capture a beast of such power? And whom did Kuronuma Shin think he was challenging someone like that?

Izuna and Madara exchanged looks, perhaps in acknowledgment of a universal truth. It might have simply been him, but something happened in that moment. Something changed. Something big.

"The Kuronuma clan will not stand a chance," Izuna grumbled as he climbed onto the ship. The sea was deceptively calm. "Not if Ayuka was able to capture one of those beasts on her own."

Madara stared out into the shimmering waters. "We must retrieve Mio."

That shocked him.

"We must retrieve Mio and keep her from the Motou clan. She must never set foot in the Sun Country or come in contact with Ayuka." Madara curled his hands over the railing of the ship. "She needs to be protected."

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><p><strong>xl note<strong>: SURPRISE! NEW CHAPTER! SO QUICK! YES!

Actually, the original release date was Monday, but one of my professors forgot to mention she wanted all our assignments due on Tuesday and I fucking slaved all day to get those done that I had to push this chapter off until I finished the classwork. I apologize for the unedited-ness and hope it is not as bad as I think it is (it is, isn't it?), but I wanted this to be out now so that I could hurry with the Mio chapter! (And I was going to edited now, but after spending 10hrs in school...I need to sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

Thank you to everyone that reviewed the previous chapter! It is always such a delight to hear your thoughts and observations!

I am going to be doing the discussion entry for the last part of the "On the Battlefield" chapters and the three "The Slumbering Beast" chapters. So if you have anything you want me to address, please tell me about it. Especially if I told you I would do it because I have not been writing these things down and I forget.

A new "Path in Ways" preview will be posted on my LJ for anyone interested. :) Speaking of LJ, I posted two scenes (that were supposed to go in Redesign, but didn't make the cut) there and you can read them! I posted them under the name "Jigsaw" and this is basically going to be the label to all the things that couldn't make it into the final story but are just as important. Check them out if you have the time or would like!

Thank you for reading!


	31. A Path in Ways 1

**Summary**: Chapter 31 of Redesign takes place after the events of the 22nd chapter when Mio is confronted with the reality of what happens to previous artifact guardians - and what will be happening to her grandfather in due time - as Kurata is under attack by the Mikazuki-Uchiha (led by Mikazuki Rikuto and Uchiha Hiryuu - none of which make an actual appearance or mention, but are important) alliance. Important details to reacquaint yourself with, Mio's arranged engagement to Hisano's nephew (as orchestrated by Musashi), Tobirama fronting the Senju and Kuronuma army fighting off the enemies, _and _I think that's it.

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><p>Chapter <strong>31<strong> | A Path in Ways I

They began to loop—the tragedies—and melt into each other until it felt like she lived them all one after the next. The blood soaked fingers digging into her matted hair, the sweet whispers in her ear as the house came undone in Mikazuki Gouki's careless search, and the frozen expression on her father's severed head as her mother's warm body went cold against hers. Behind her—the air wiping cold lashes at her back—the voices of the massacred villagers echoed in her head, the Mikazuki's insignia drawn in blood on the snow propelled her towards the worst sights of it. The men were in pieces, the women were broken, and the children died beneath their mother's fading warmth, as she should have that day so long ago.

Slowly, the scene faded to the feel of a rusted dagger clawing at her back, the blood pooled underneath her, as she watched Eito forced to his knees, the bitter smile still on his face. Konoe chirped in her ear, raving as she carved away at her back, cutting chunks of flesh from it until she was numb from the pain. However, nothing prepared her to see the kunai draw a dark red line across Eito's pale neck or for the blood spilling from it to flow black and thick like tar. The dull knife came into view, reflecting the carnage of her back and a wicked grin from her pallid aunt before she stabbed into it again—

Uchiha Mio twisted underneath the pelt of blankets atop her, feeling as if something ripped across her back. She gasped for breath, the frosty air burning down her throat, as her eyes searched her yurt's familiar surroundings expecting the nightmares to have come alive with her waking. She rose into a seat and tugged off the loose top she had worn to bed, the cold rushing against her sweat-slicked skin. She patted her back in search of a wound that would not be there only to feel the scars of those that remained.

She felt she was going insane. The pain was too much to bear. How could anyone live with it? So much tragedy? How could they not resist the sweet bliss of insanity? She clutched her shirt to her chest and drew her knees up, leaning against them to rest her head on her knees as she tried to imagine something different—happier. She thought of her confrontation with Musashi and his revelation and her heart seized up. Her entire body tensed to the sound of the winds whipping against the tarp outside, threatening to smother the echo of a voice before it reached her.

She tugged on her shirt and leaned against her knees again, resting her head atop them.

_"Once a sphere has found a new host, there is no need for the old one."_

She opened her mouth and a pained, shuddered gasp escaped her—the oxygen struggling through her airways, pushing through barriers with the promise of asphyxiation. The image of Shin wrapping gauze over a bad contusion on his bicep entered her head as Musashi's words bellowed from the far reaches of her memory.

_"It mars the skin with terrible, painful bruises that slowly cover the entire body."_

The dread grasped her by the neck like a rope winding itself round and round and round over the pale flesh until it sealed her throat shut and the final breaths in her lungs escaped her with a deafening sound. She dropped back onto her bed, struggling with her crippling anxiety.

_"Before the sphere passes onto its new host, it releases a poison that runs through the bloodstream."_

Mio reached for her neck, fingernails digging into the constricted muscles. The metaphorical noose was tightening, killing her. _I can't breathe._ And the fear came rushing back.

_"It is the last burden for its previous host and it is meant to kill them after they have finished passing on their knowledge to the new host."_

She recalled the awful sound of her heart beating as she observed Musashi's unchanging expression while he spoke his truths, and the painful twist she felt in her stomach like the sharp end of a knife carving into her entrails. She felt sick. She remembered wishing, deep down, that she had half the strength her mother possessed when she lived to steady herself.

Mio wanted her mother now. She wanted her father. She wanted everyone that no longer existed. She needed somebody to cut the noose, to remind her to breathe. Everything in her mind and body was a panicked mess. The cold of her mother's dying body had returned atop her own, smothering her, and Kikyo's voice whispered to her while Musashi's baritone filled her head with bleakness.

_"Breathe Mio."_

_"Once it reaches the heart, it's over. It's incurable."_

_"Mio…breathe."_

_"Such is the life of a guardian."_

_"Mio, breathe!"_

The edge of her vision blurred into the dark shadows of the ceiling and tears.

The yurt's wooden foundation shuddered and creaked under the unending assault of the wintry winds.

_"Is my grandfather going to die?"_

Blood spilled onto her hands from her fingers stabbing into her neck, there was flesh under her nails.

She couldn't breathe.

"Takuto!"

Hashirama's face came into view. His warm hands clasped her wrists, forcing them from her bloodied neck.

She had not heard him enter, but the sight of him made her cry in shame. "I…I…" she struggled, heaving. She wept in desperation, speaking between heaves, each a painful ache in her chest. "I…can't—I can't…breathe!"

Hashirama bent her knees, assuring her everything would be fine.

Nothing he or anyone could do would stop Shin from dying. The poison would kill him. It would kill him as Gouki killed her parents. He would be dead like Eito and all those innocent villagers that died and she would be in that place again. In that sad, desolate plane where only she existed with all her nightmares. She could not handle it. Not again.

"I need you to relax," Hashirama said firmly in Takuto's absence, "and breathe. You need to breathe, Mio."

She shook her hand, tears rolling down her cheeks. She could not. She knew she could not do it.

"Yes, you can," he told her, repositioning her hands. He put one over her stomach and the other over her chest. "Breathe in through your nose."

Mio blinked away the tears that blurred her vision, feeling her heart pulsing underneath her palm and his hands resting atop hers, holding them firmly in place as her repeated his request. His tone was smooth and his insistence clear as he held her gaze.

"Breathe in through your nose, Mio," he urged, squeezing her hands in reassurance. He looked up in the direction of the entrance and called out to Takuto again, his voice drowned in the howls of the wind followed by a silence disrupted by her panicked wheezing. His eyes never left hers again. "You can do it, Mio. Come on, breathe through your nose."

Mio became aware of his hands. Their presence and warmth calmed her.

She nodded slowly.

As she inhaled through her nose, he went on speaking, "Exhale through your mouth. Take your time." He pressed lightly against the hand on her stomach after she expressed her understanding. "Use this hand to push all the air out."

She followed his instruction. She repeated it again—once, twice, three times, even a fourth time—until she regulated her breathing. The fear dissipated along with her nightmarish visions.

"Better?" he asked with a pleasant smile.

Mio swallowed slowly and nodded.

Hashirama helped her onto a seat and she quietly wrapped her arms around him in search of reassurance, crying in silence. He sat stiffly, stunned, but his arm dropped around her shoulders and his cheek pressed against the top of her head, easing into her unconscious actions.

"You're good," he said softly, patting her back.

Mio stared at the blood on her fingernails.

Takuto arrived inside her home to find them as they were without moving and his eyes followed the bloodstains on her blankets to her hands. "What happened?"

"I found her having a fit," Hashirama explained, separating from her. "She couldn't breathe."

Hashirama gathered water into a bowl and some linen cloths, taking both items to her side as she sat in between the two young men, both scrutinizing the damage.

Takuto lifted her chin for a closer look once he lit a candle and started to clean it as Hashirama rubbed the blood from her hands underneath the shallow surface of water. The tiny gashes were disinfected with a green paste that stank of herbs and stung upon contact before Takuto wrapped her neck in loose gauze. She was guided to dry her hands in a cloth and did so before any words were spoken.

"Does this happen often?" asked Hashirama.

Images of the first time flashed before her eyes, being unable to breathe as her mother commanded her to do. "It only happened once," she said slowly, batting Takuto's hand away from her face. "It's done. I feel fine. Thank you…both of you."

"You are not fine," Takuto argued, persisting in touching her face until she let him gauge her temperature. "You have been acting strangely since you talked to Shugosha-sama. Did he say something that upset you?"

Mio rested her head on her folded knees, hugging them to her chest. Musashi had spoken the truth and as alarming as it had been, she had been determined to step out of his home understanding that it was the nature of the spheres and that nothing could be done, as he had said. She had tried to keep her mind out of it when Takuto and Hashirama returned to her company, but it had been difficult to accomplish. The truth had been laid out for her to stomach and its impact had left her stupefied. She had refused to let it upset her, but that seemed to be the only emotion she could feel, coupled with fear—the agonizing terror of losing another loved one.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "It was not meant to be upsetting."

"It was bad enough for you to have a fit," Hashirama pointed out.

"I have not felt like I could not do anything since I met my grandfather," she said, exhaling deeply. "Yesterday, it was like I was nine again and withering from the inside out." Her eyes glazed with tears about to fall and she lifted her face to the shadows stretched before her dancing to the sphere of light emitting from the single candle in her home. "He brought me back to reality and it made me feel so useless…so powerless."

"What did he say?" Takuto persisted.

"He did not say anything at all," she answered. "It was Hiryuu's message."

"The one about the girl?" asked Hashirama, confused.

"The one about me," she said with a nod. "Hiryuu left me a hidden message."

"About the guardians?" Takuto guessed.

"And what happens once they are no longer guardians," Mio finished in response, the sound a bitter cry. "My grandfather gave these artifacts to me. I am the new host and he will die because there cannot be two guardians for a sphere at once."

Takuto and Hashirama absorbed the knowledge, staring at her in surprise.

"But you're the next Shugosha," Takuto stated. "Should that not—?"

She shook her head, silencing him. "The poison is already killing him," she divulged. "I know it. I am supposed to be the Shugosha, I should have all the answers, all the solutions, but the only thing I can think of doing is cry. He's my grandfather." The first tear rolled off her nose and a second followed down her cheek, the rest washed down her face. "I can't lose him, he's _my_ grandfather. He is everything…to me."

"How certain are you?" Hashirama asked, hopeful. "Perhaps it won't happen. Your grandfather is the healthiest man alive, only second to Musashi-san."

"There's a resonance between the artifacts," she whispered tearfully. "And it lingers for a little time between guardians. I can sense the poison running through his bloodstream. It is inevitable. There is absolutely nothing I can do."

Neither one of her companions could think of something to say, and she was glad for their silence. She was not seeking comfort when her mind was swimming in dangerous ideas. She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply and exhaled, finally feeling the air fill her lungs. However, nothing changed because even though she was breathing in air, it felt like water and she felt like she was drowning in her affliction.

Hashirama pressed his hand to her shoulder, startling her. "You should rest."

Takuto nodded in agreement. "Hashirama is right. You should go back to sleep," he said, starting to gather the medical supplies to return them to their place and stand. "I'll stay to make sure you sleep through the night."

"Thank you," she said, "but I will be fine on my own. I want to be alone for a moment…to think."

"We can come by periodically," Hashirama decided, standing up. "To check up on you."

Mio nodded.

Hashirama was the first to step out of her home, bidding her good dreams, but Takuto lingered at the entrance, facing in her direction. The concern in his expression was a combination of many emotions stemming from a lack of understanding and his own frustration.

"It was only one fit," she assured him, earning a frown. "They never happen twice in one day."

"Yes, but I'm worried," Takuto replied. "I cannot fathom half the things you have experienced in your life or what you are going through now, but wouldn't your grandfather be the first to tell you there is nothing you can't do in life?"

Mio found her smile—a small, bitter one, but she felt it. "Yes, he would."

"Good night." Takuto stepped back towards the entrance. "I'll be back in later."

Once she was alone again, Mio stood to walk to the water. She splashed cold water into her face and stared into the dark as if in a daze. Her mind went completely blank. She never expected to face such a feat in her entire time on Mt. Hyōga or in the presence of her grandfather. Shin had always been invincible in her eyes, like he might last an eternity. She longed to have an eternity to be his granddaughter—to experience his antics, to listen to his advice whenever she was too stubborn and learn from it. She wanted to know all about him and his stories. She needed him to be with her, so that she could make him proud when she finished her training and succeeded Musashi as Shugosha, but something deep down told her that she would never see him again.

After that last time, never again.

Unconsciously she reached to her ear, touching the Black Sphere, which once fueled her grandfather's life, and laid down on the floor, curling into herself. Even with two artifacts, she was powerless.

Mio closed her eyes and let the nightmares take her, but it was not long before she woke. She shook the frightful thoughts from her head and rushed to dig a bag from a chest of her things. She searched for a change of clothing and three more to take with her as well as the essentials. The idea that had dawned in her mind filled her with an insurmountable amount of fear, but she was being driven by the fact that she was no longer nine and useless. She would be eighteen in a week and a half. She held onto two artifacts and she would one day take Musashi's place as Shugosha. Her mastery of the black water jutsu was not where she wanted to be, but she had a grasp on it and had mastered one of several techniques she practiced with the Elder Uzuki.

She would not remain on the mountain a sitting duck. She planned to do something about this war by venturing out despite everyone's insistence in keeping her there and simultaneously seek out the one way she knew might help her grandfather overcome death.

It was a stupidly rash decision, reminiscent of her young self's actions in the past, but she was certain it would work. It had to work. There was no other option available to her and even this had been a stretch. She had been weak and in a sleepy haze when her grandfather had started his story. Shin had talked about the guardian of the Fate Sphere, a woman called Hag, who resided in the Water Country, and her ability to read pathways. She had learned more about the artifact through Musashi and its abilities to reveal the many possibilities one individual has in his or her lifetime dictated by actions and decisions of said person and those around them.

Mio figured that if she could take the Fate Sphere from Hag, she could find a way to save her grandfather. She believed she could find the answer in the Fate Sphere, one capable of circumventing death. With the Fate Sphere back in Kuronuma hands, she imagined the wars ending, sparing many lives. It meant the protection of her family, so she did not bother thinking of the risk of engaging Hag because she wouldn't be doing it alone. She remembered Shin had suggested she take Madara if she ever planned to meet the woman and while a good reason for doing so escaped her, she wouldn't ignore her grandfather's advice. Not when in memory it had been filled with conviction.

"What are you doing?"

Takuto's suspicious tone took her by surprise, but it did not stop her from packing her bag.

"I am leaving the mountain," she said.

"Are you insane? Kurata is in the midst of an invasion with people waiting to get their hands on you and you want to leave the mountain?" Takuto took several steps toward her, prepared to become the wall between herself and mission.

"I can stop this," she said, facing him. "I can save him. I can help everyone."

"It's too dangerous!"

"My grandfather would be the first to tell me there is nothing I can't do in life, you were the one that said it," she said, earning a frown. "I believe it."

At the first sound of noise, she and Takuto looked towards the entrance as Hashirama stepped in, rubbing his eyes as a yawn escaped him. The Senju shinobi took notice of the mess she made and the packed bag in her hand. He immediately became alert.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"She wants to leave the mountain," Takuto revealed.

"Don't do that," Hashirama said. "The Mikazuki and Uchiha are waiting for you to give up and turn yourself into them."

"I am not turning myself over to them," said Mio, earning an awkward look from him.

"Oh." Hashirama blinked. "When are we leaving?"

"Don't encourage this behavior!" Takuto shouted before rounding on her. "You need to reconsider your decision and take your position into account! You aren't just anyone, you are the next Shugosha. There isn't another one after you and you should know what happens every time Musashi fails to pass on his sphere."

"The collective weakens, he as well," she said exasperatedly. "I am not going out there blindly, I have a plan."

"A plan? Really? Are you going to find the grim reaper and kick his ass until he promises not to take Shinya-sama's life?" asked Takuto mockingly. "I understand he is your grandfather and that you aren't ready to let him go, but you can't cure him. The artifact poison is the strongest one in existence. There is no antidote for it. There isn't even a way to ease a person's pain once it starts taking hold."

"I know that," she said strongly. "I am leaving this mountain knowing that, but this is what you're supposed to do for family. You help them when you know you can and if you can't, you try. I have lived all my life giving up." She felt emotion stirring, rising. "It has always been so easy to give up—to resign myself to the flow of time and allow it to dictate what my life became. I have never truly taken charge of my life or made any conscious decision for myself. I have lived under people that decided what would happen to me and I have been content with it. But I have lost."

She hated the tears springing in her eyes now that she held Takuto and Hashirama's attention. "I have never believed in anything as strongly as I feel for this," she continued. "I believe I can make the difference. I can do something. I have never felt like I could do anything because I wasn't strong or confident, but that doesn't matter now because I can do something. And I'm not going to change my mind because I am someone's prize. This mountain is full of people I love and I can guarantee their safety if I can make this work."

"The last thing Shinya-sama wanted was for you to be put in danger, Mio—"

"I don't care what he thinks," she interrupted. "He can be furious all he wants when I bring him home." _Even it is to die here. At least then, he might die surrounded by the people that care about him the most_, she finished in thought.

Takuto stared at her helpless and turned to Hashirama for support, but the Senju had been won over from the start, only his eyes looked a little bloodshot. The tension in Takuto's shoulders loosened and he sighed. "How do you plan to get out? It's too dangerous to traverse the valleys in the shadow storm."

"Musashi's bears," she said, dabbing away the tears with her sleeves. "They come and go all the time."

"Yes, but those bears only listen to Musashi."

"I am willing to bribe them."

"And if that doesn't work?"

Takuto was determined to find a flaw in her plan, but she made sure to think of everything.

"I know an armadillo with a good nose."

"Same problem, that armadillo with a good nose is Shinya's summon, it won't listen to you. Not in this lifetime. You have a better chance with Musashi's bears."

"I will coerce it."

Getting nowhere, Takuto moved onto question her about her plan once she made it onto the battlefield.

"Find Tobirama and help clear a path for myself."

"Tobirama will never agree to help you," said Takuto with a victorious smile.

"He's right. Tobirama will drag you back to the mountain through the shadow storm by himself, but he won't help you," Hashirama agreed. "We should avoid Tobirama altogether."

"I make a convincing argument," she said in response. "If he refuses, I will have to resort to blackmail."

"Can you even blackmail him?" asked Hashirama, disbelieving.

"I am an ex-spy, I have information on everyone, but I won't need to use it. He will help me." Mio started to check through the items in her pack to ensure she had everything she might need. "You should get your things ready if you plan to accompany me."

"On it," Hashirama called, leaving her yurt.

"I am going too," Takuto said suddenly.

Mio looked in his direction, surprised.

He nodded. "I won't let you go out there on your own."

She went to hug him immediately, thanking him before he pulled away to gather his own things, but as he started for the door, she heard a sound. If she had taken a step back, she might have mistaken it as the rustling of her clothes, but she had remained perfectly still. Takuto backtracked, his eyes on her.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I heard something outside," she said, moving to the entrance and pushing it open to a long snowy road lit by burning torches.

All around her were several other yurts belonging to other members of the Kuronuma clan, but they were deathly silent and the bears that patrolled in the night were too far to make such a sound. She breathed in the scent of the cold and relaxed her body as Takuto stepped out.

"It might have been Hashirama," Takuto said, easing her worry of an eavesdropper. "He is right next door and he looked more asleep than awake when he was in here."

She nodded. Hashirama definitely looked exhausted when he walked in, but she would trust him even on a bad day.

"I'm going now."

"We should meet at the bridge," she said hurriedly. "It will be easier. I'll go find one of Musashi's bears after dressing. I'll have them at the bridge."

"I'll tell Hashirama."

Mio went back into her home and hastily changed into comfortable clothes, hung her bag over her head and shoulder, and started to gather all her weapons, hiding them away on her, before donning a hooded white coat to serve as a disguise. She stuffed the leftover concoction Okimi had prepared for her inside her bag in case she felt feverish and weak on the road due to having ingested the black water too soon in her training.

She left in a quiet rush, zipping past neighboring homes, aware of her surroundings and the possibility of being caught by one of the shinobi walking in and out of the mountain's caves. She ran towards the darkest area on the mountain, sneaking by Musashi's home in search of a particular group of his bears, a pair of bribable bears. When she arrived at the site, she sensed no one and approached, hearing the snow crunch underneath her booted feet.

She exhaled, a cloud of cold smoke appearing before her lips. The emptiness before her gave her reason to reconsider. Her uneasiness had intensified.

Mio rubbed her head, feeling stupid and scared. Hag was the strongest guardian among the few that remained; she was in the protection of the Mikazuki-Uchiha alliance with ties to the Water Country that ran deep, and Mio planned to take the artifact from her? She wondered in what world such a thought had sounded like a good idea, but she remembered she couldn't give up. Not for herself or the clan or her grandfather—she needed to hold onto that notion and believe that her determination would be enough.

_Do not be afraid, _she told herself. _Do not be afraid._

She soothed her heart with several deep breaths and recalibrated her thought process, refocusing her attention. _Avoid the nonsensical. Obey power. Erase the unnecessary._

Something soft brushed against her hand, drawing her from her thoughts and her heart jumped into her throat. She glanced at the sound of clinking objects and found a small, white bear holding a leather sack in its mouth. It set it down at her feet and stared up at her with dark eyes.

"They are waiting at the bridge, Shugosha-sama, yours to command," it said, not a hint of cynicism in his tone. "Go now, while you can still hide under the cover of the storm."

She nodded dumbly, picking the bag off the ground and stuffing it into her own bag. She thanked the bear without asking questions and headed in the opposite direction to the entry bridge, stopping in front of her great-grandfather's home. One of Musashi's bears must have been eavesdropping earlier, and although it had relayed the information to her great-grandfather, he had extended a helping hand.

Mio stepped closer to the entrance and bowed deeply. "Thank you," she said aloud. "Thank you so much."

She straightened and started to walk away when a voice reached her. "Make me proud."

Mio walked past Enya and Okimi's home when the front entrance burst open and her white-haired cousin stepped out with a rushed look and a misshapen, corked jug in her hand. She initially panicked when Okimi wrapped her arms around her, expecting the worst.

Okimi drew back a sad smile on her lips and made a gesture over their height. "Look at you, taller than me already," she commented with a laugh. Her eyes were filling with tears and the emotion was contagious. "I don't think I ever noticed until now. You're almost eighteen now. When is it? In a week or two?"

"It's in between," Mio said mournfully.

Her cousin handed her the misshapen jug. "It's freshly made," she told her, wiping a tear from her own cheek. "It should last you for quite some time…you know, in case you suffer another imbalance with the black water. I put spices in it. I think it'll taste a little better."

Mio nodded. "Thank you."

Okimi tugged off the silver band she wore around her index finger. "I remember you told me that your parents used to buy you gifts from the last place they were stationed," she started, sniffling. "This was my mother's. Pure silver from the Lightning Country where she met my father."

Understanding Okimi's intent to give it to her, Mio began her refusal early. "It is unnecessary."

"I have never had the opportunity to leave the mountain to anywhere other than the Iron Country, but I know that my mother traveled long and far with this ring on her finger," she continued. "I wanted to give you something you could treasure for this birthday…and I couldn't think of anything better. Please take it, Mio, it's safe with you." She laughed a little. "I have lost it over twenty times this month."

"I lost my other treasures," Mio admitted, feeling terrible about it.

"But you'll find them," Okimi said smiling, putting her hand to Mio's watery cheek. "You can do anything, Mio. You may not be the strongest Shugosha in history, but I feel like you might just become the greatest."

Mio averted her gaze. She didn't believe that. She was going down in history as the stupidest. "I have to go," she said quietly, taking Okimi's hand from her face gently. "Please take care of Sako and Minako. Please be safe with your twins." She looked at the snow beneath her feet, feeling the tears fall from her eyes and watching them disappear as they fell to the ground. She knew then that she was no good at sincere goodbyes. "I promise to come back with the Fate Sphere. I know it can help protect everyone. Take care of great-grandfather too and the bears and Takuto's family. I'm so sorry for taking Takuto away—"

"Don't worry about anything here," Okimi said hastily. "We will protect each other and we will wait for you. Worry about you. Keep yourself safe. Now, you should go before we start crying too much."

They were practically blubbering as they talked, the sobs came more frequently and the tears seemed endless. Okimi hugged her, tighter than before.

"I don't want to let you go," Okimi whispered. "I don't want to see anything happen to you."

Mio's chest was aching. She suppressed the urge to wail like a child in the middle of a temper tantrum as she clung to Okimi. "I'm so scared, Okimi," she admitted. "I'm scared of seeing Mikazuki Gouki…it's paralyzing. I'm terrified of meeting Hag. I don't know what I'm going to do if and when I meet either of them."

Okimi pulled back, holding her firmly by the shoulders. "You must not let them defeat you. You must be strong. Stronger than you are now. You have to be strong enough to survive."

Her words were reminiscent of those Musashi spoke so long ago when she asked about the war and whether they would be okay. He said they wouldn't for a long time and she wanted to make the difference in that future.

Mio nodded. "I'll come back."

Okimi cried harder, hugging her again. "Stay safe."

Mio put away Okimi's concoction and bid her a good rest as her cousin stepped back into her dark home. Mio slipped the silver band on her middle finger and looked at it for a moment admiringly, not having realized when Okimi forced it into her hands.

Shortly thereafter, Mio went to meet Takuto and Hashirama in front of the narrow bridge linking Mt. Hyōga to the rest of Kurata. The two were accompanied by a pair of Musashi's bears and they greeted her with a hint of surprise in their tones, having been skeptical of her ability to make the arrangement. She decided not to say anything about Musashi's involvement or Okimi's knowledge of it when she remembered the leather sack the bear left at her feet as Takuto discussed ridding arrangements with the two creatures.

Mio dug through the sack to feel the metal handle of a handheld mirror, the outer texture of a ceramic cup smooth against her fingertips, the sheath of a small weapon, and a necklace with a pendulous crystal gem that she struggled to see under the distant glow of a burning torch and two small metal spheres flanking it. Finally, her hand touched another surface that warmed against her, the roughness of a piece of parchment, and a small round object so cold it numbed her entire arm after she picked it up and brought it into the light. It shone a brilliant blue, the crystallized remains of a dragon's eye. She picked up the mirror to determine it was Okimi's—a mirror made of intricate black iron—and a spherical object that replaced the chill of the dragon's eye with a welcoming heat. Within it, she saw white and gray mist swirling restlessly, a dizzy dance.

_The artifacts_. Mio glimpsed over her shoulder, reminded how the other bear had called her Shugosha, and raised a hand to her mouth after, the leather sack open inside her belongings, its contents spilling into her neatly arranged items. She saw the piece of parchment among her things and took it, reading its surface in the hopes it offered an explanation. However, it read like a list of rules covered in riddles.

_- A Shugosha is supposed to be in possession of all ten artifacts after the inheritance period ends. It is a time of acceptance, a time when each artifact must familiarize with its new Shugosha._

_- It is a Shugosha's duty, thereafter, to return the artifacts to existing guardians and assign guardians for the artifacts that are without one. It is also in a Shugosha's power to take the artifact of an existing guardian to replace them with another._

_Mio, the Time Sphere is the ultimate protection and the only one I can offer you. Wear it off Mt. Hyōga and I can guarantee your safe passage through Kurata. Know that its importance lies not in its dormant power, but of what is sitting in the center of the raging storm within it. The answers are in our history, remember the stories you've heard. You are Shugosha now and you have much to learn, so open your mind. Let the other artifacts guide you in your journey until you can find them a new home, whether it be immediate or later in life, offer them to those worthy of them. They are not gifts. They are responsibilities._

Mio stood mortified with the parchment trembling in her hands and the emotion rushing back. The responsibility weighing heavily on her like a cloak made out of metal. She considered going back to leave the artifacts, knowing the Kuronuma clan's mountain village needed them more, specifically the crystallized dragon eye that protected the mountain. She could not think to leave Mt. Hyōga without its protection.

The Climate Sphere was surrounded by a chill that tickled her skin, but its resonance was guiding her in the opposite direction. The eight artifacts on her were starting to push her, as if they had a collective strength of their own and were using it to take her through Kurata's perilous valleys. Their calling was strong and ignoring them was hard to do.

"Mio."

She enclosed the tiny orb in her hand and turned to Hashirama. He lowered his eyes to the piece of parchment in her other hand and the empty leather sack at her feet. She sensed a question coming on and braced herself.

"You should probably help Takuto with the bears, one just threatened to bite his ears off," he said.

"Yes, but you should ask him what he said to it first," Mio replied. She looked past Hashirama to see Takuto whispering furiously at the larger bear while the smaller one sat back on its haunches enjoying their ridiculous display.

He smiled briefly. "We should go," he suggested. "We should go together, leave the smaller bear for Takuto."

"I agree." She stowed the blue sphere into her pack and reached for Musashi's, staring at the violent spin of the mist with an aggrieved expression. There was no time to lose and she needed to believe her grandfather parted with all his artifacts to serve more of a purpose than protecting her.

"Isn't that Musashi's necklace?" he asked, gesturing to it.

Mio fingered the torn black cord, finally recognizing the material of which it was made. "No," she said, biting down on her thumb until she broke the skin. "It's mine."

She brought the Time Sphere around her neck, pressing both broken ends together and letting the black water running through her veins to fall between the pieces and reattach it. The heated water formed a ring around it and she let it fall against her neck, the sphere itself twisting. She fixed it and tucked the Time Sphere into her cloak.

Inheriting the sphere meant Musashi was now in the same position as her grandfather. She needed to find a way to stop the poison from killing them before it was too late.

"Don't tell Takuto," she said quietly. "He'll overreact."

Hashirama nodded. "Promise."

Mio thanked him, striding past him. She moved to stop the arguing and asked Takuto to ride on his own while she and Hashirama would sit together on the larger bear. She stepped toward the massive mammal, petting the side of its face.

"The shadow storm is strong," it spoke, its voice ancient. "We will have to travel slowly."

"As long as you can get us through, I will appreciate it."

"Get on."

Mio moved around to climb on. Hashirama helped her after seeing her struggle before moving on to sit behind her. She noticed he put his hands on his knees and tried not to sit too close. She warned him about falling off as Takuto's bear started to cross the rickety bridge that filled her with fear, but he assured her he would be fine. As soon as the massive bear started to make its way across, she stiffened in her seat, digging her hands into her bear's fur to the point it had to complain to make her loosen her grip.

Takuto and his bear reached the end of the bridge. Slowly, they moved forward, disappearing into the shadow storm like a stone sinking into tar. She tightened her grip on the bear once again, fear stabbing into her heart.

"I can still sense them," Hashirama said, attempting to ease her worry.

She nodded.

The end of the bridge appeared, coming closer and closer—a wall of darkness—when she saw the bear cross it, the shadow storm opened its arms wide to welcome them. Mio stared into the pitch-black, unable to see a thing. She knew the bear underneath her was moving, judged it according to the way the muscles along its back contracted with each step, but it did not seem they were moving at all. She felt its soft fur underneath her hands. It was like water sliding through her fingers.

Mio took a sharp breath and it echoed all around her. Her fear was the pitch-black darkness—a monster hidden in shadows that took her and dragged her down.

She jolted at the feel of hands on both her arms. "Hashirama," she called nervously, her cry echoed back to her in shouts and whispers. She lowered her voice, frightened by the reverberating sounds assaulting her ears. "Hashirama."

"It's me," he called softly, removing his hands from her. His voice came in soft rumbles, almost like a breeze. "This is a strange storm."

"The shadow storm was designed to confuse all who attempt to cross it," the bear answered in its growling, ancient voice. "You are fortunate, Shugosha-sama, to have accepted us to guide you. We are of the few given special permission to cross without suffering its effects."

With her sight taken from her, she felt her anxiety double and her breathing quicken, each panicked intake of breathe coinciding with the rampant beating of her heart. What if the Mikazuki had found a way to breach the shadow storm and were using the shadows to their advantage? What if they were there sensing them, waiting for the perfect moment to strike?

She had six artifacts in one bag and two hanging from her ears. Eight of ten.

Eight of ten. They would fall into their grasps. All would be lost.

She couldn't breathe, seized by her fear. She was terrified. She wasn't ready. She was going out there to die, to be captured, to be tortured, to be in pain, to be used. She had been safe on Mt. Hyōga. Nobody could cross the shadow storm. Oh, but they had Hag. The guardian of the Fate Sphere was a force to be reckoned with, older than the artifacts themselves, her knowledge was vast. Who was to say that she had no knowledge of what the artifacts did? That is why she had sent the Mikazuki-Uchiha alliance to Kurata, to start a war—to shed blood upon the pale snow that should never have seen it and weaken the artifact, tear down their defenses.

Hands seized her and she screamed, jolting out of her sitting position and falling from place.

The paranoia won.

Her high-pitched scream echoed all around her in all frequencies, and among the noise, she heard Hashirama and Takuto shouting after her.

Mio crashed into the hard, cold ground after falling and rolled down giving her the impression that she landed in one of the steeper valleys. As her body was battered on the way down by stones and pointed icicles that shattered upon contact, a new worry invaded her thoughts. The black water river ran through the valleys, visible in the long jagged tears between the roads, and it burned hotter than the type used in the Kuronuma techniques. If she fell into one, the probability of her survival would be zero.

She attempted to stop her body from falling further by digging her hand into the snow. She felt her nails scratching the surface of ice and breaking as she skidded lower. She pressed deeper, reaching with a second arm and attempting when her back hit something hard. But she stopped. She lifted her eyes to a faint orb of light piercing through the darkness and the outline of Hashirama's jaw. She saw him clearly after several blinks, standing with two hands put together with a giant root arching behind him. It slid forward and whatever she hit moved.

"I have you Mio!" called Hashirama, sounding relieved.

Using his Mokuton, Hashirama helped her back onto the road where Takuto rushed to her side, holding the waning torch light over her head. Beyond the small orb of light, the darkness persisted. Firelight did not stretch far, but it should have lit more than it was doing now. She saw how easily it would be for someone to lose themselves that way, unable to see past a little circle of light.

Takuto handed the torch to Hashirama. "Hold it over her."

The blond Kuronuma took her hands, observing the damage she caused her fingers. Her fingernails were either chipped or broken, and they were bloody, with the exception of one, her left forefinger where the nail had come clean off. Underneath, her palms were bright red and bleeding from nasty scrapes. Takuto lifted her face by the chin, turning her left and then right, clicking his tongue before reaching into his bag for a swath of gauze and an clear liquid that stung when he pressed it to her face.

Takuto made quick of healing her minor wounds and bandaged several of her fingers. He made her drink water from his supply and carefully pulled her back onto her feet.

Together, they followed the road, marked by thin lines of visible dirt, and found their two bears waiting. They asked after her and she assured them she was fine, only having suffered a few scratches.

Hashirama helped her climb the bear again.

"Make sure to hold onto her this time," said Takuto. Before climbing back onto his own bear, he smothered the flames in the snow.

Mio's heart was still beating rapidly in her chest as she felt Hashirama hold onto her by the waist after climbing. The bear began to move and their traveling continued.

She closed her eyes, hands clutching the mammal by its fur and attempted to clear her mind of paranoid thoughts. She tried to remind herself that she was sitting atop a bear moving through the shadow storm with Hashirama at her back and Takuto in front so that she did not go back to believing the Mikazuki-Uchiha alliance had found a way in. She needed to remain calm.

She fought off the terror, but it remained at bay waiting for her defenses to weaken to overtake her once more.

The journey felt long on the winding road, but after a moment, the bear announced their arrival and instantly, as if crossing a thin veil, they emerged from the cloud of shadows into a vast, white field overlooking the battlefield.

Mio stared into the battlefield with no recognition of the terrain. She had no idea what a difference a persisting war made to her home. The thick blanket of snow was covered in broken weapons and banners that bore the Mikazuki, Uchiha, or Senju's clan symbol. And bodies. There were bodies everywhere she turned. Senju, Uchiha, and Mikazuki. Death was everywhere and indiscriminative. It had taken those that were determined to protect her and those that fought against them. Smoke rose and coiled in the sky, various techniques rained down from several directions.

Moving in would be dangerous.

"Mio-hime!"

Mio turned to meet the eyes of one of the Kuronuma shinobi that accompanied Saiko, who acted as Musashi's eyes in the war, and climbed off the bear to greet him. The shinobi met her halfway, looking exhausted and battle worn in pale armor.

"I need to speak to Tobirama," she announced. "Where can I—?"

"What are you doing here?"

She whirled around to see the white-haired Senju coming towards her, his eyebrows drawn in exasperation before he zeroed in on his brother, who stood at her side, and avoided meeting her eyes altogether. That miniscule detail did not sit well with her as she had grown accustomed to the fact that Senju Tobirama, if anything, talked to a person with a fixed gaze.

Hashirama lifted his hands, gesturing for Tobirama to calm himself, but the young man was beyond calm. "I can explain—"

"How dare you disobey orders?" demanded Tobirama. "She is the reason we are fighting this war and you brought her onto the battlefield. Do you want her to be captured?"

"There is an important—"

"Silence!"

Hashirama continued trying to make Tobirama listen, but he was not. Tobirama had taken her by the arm, prepared to drag her back onto the mountain himself, much like Hashirama had warned.

Mio took his hand and forcefully peeled it off. "You can drag me back to the mountain, but I will come back as many times as it takes to leave Kurata," she told him, catching his bothered gaze for a split second before he turned away. She felt insulted. "Why won't you look at me?"

Hashirama snorted. He knew something.

"Brother, this is not the time for your—"

"What is it?" demanded Mio.

"Because of the springs—"

"Brother," Tobirama said warningly, but she could see a hint of red on his face.

Mio blinked. _The springs? _She narrowed her eyes. "Is this because I walked in on you in the springs?" she asked, as if she had not done it and seen him nude. "I apologized."

Hashirama and Takuto were in cahoots. Tobirama could have killed and thrown the two into the black river if he'd wanted, but he bore with the humiliation, unable to look at her. Everyone's reactions made her realize the full meaning of her words, and what she meant by them. For whatever reason, it had not registered in her mind that she had seen him naked, or that the memory was forever engraved in her head in all its explicit detail, or that this was completely inappropriate.

She felt her ears grow red. "This is no time to be laughing!" she snapped.

"Aww, Mio, your ears are red!" Takuto pointed out.

Things worsened.

Only Hashirama and Takuto would find something to laugh at while a war was raging below. A part of her was envious, another was furious and wanted to help Tobirama throw them into the black river.

"Hisano is going to kill you," Hashirama blurted, staring at his brother.

Mio stared at the dark-haired Senju oddly. "Why would she kill him?" she asked. "I feel she would be angrier at me, I'd be too impure to marry her nephew."

Hashirama continued to laugh. "Consider it a preview for the future!"

Tobirama pinched the bridge of his nose, impatiently waiting for his brother to quiet down.

She grasped the immediate meaning to that. "You both are Hisano's nephews?" She nodded dumbly. "I'm promised to Tobirama, I understand."

"This is your fault," Tobirama accused.

"This is not my fault," she said defensively.

"You should always wear a towel in the springs, there's no excuse—"

"_Hashirama_—" Tobirama started, but turned, finally meeting her gaze "—and you, you are the one walking into the springs without being certain they are empty."

"She has absolutely no regard for these things," Takuto said in excuse.

"Stay out of this Takuto," she said, raising her hand to silence him.

"It is true," Takuto continued. "It's like you're—"

"This is between myself and your ill-mannered princess," Tobirama interrupted.

Mio grew livid. "Perhaps, you should tear a page out of the proper hot spring etiquette book and remind yourself not to exit a spring without wrapping a towel around your waist—nobody cares if you're naked now or later or whenever."

Tobirama was about to snap.

"And what about you?" Mio continued, her voice growing louder. "You are talking about my lack of manners, but I first met you half naked."

"I was dressing your wounds," Tobirama argued. "If I hadn't provided proper aid, they would have likely become infected and possibly life threatening, compromising the mission objective, which was your safety."

Hashirama stopped laughing, looking from his brother to Mio. "Who was half-naked?"

"She was."

"I was."

They answered simultaneously.

"What half?" asked Hashirama.

Tobirama and Mio glared at him in response and he responded by slithering to the floor and into the fetal position. "I'm sorry for existing."

"You required immediate attention," Takuto chipped in. "If he hadn't cleaned your wounds, it is likely you would have contracted a terrible infection. Konoe was not keeping you in the best conditions during your imprisonment."

She stared at the Kuronuma medic flabbergasted, but he simply shrugged. Tobirama looked smug and she rounded on him a last time. "That does not explain why he stared at my chest longer than he should of, and right in front of me."

"Why would you stare at her chest like that?" asked Hashirama, disheartened. "You were raised better than that."

"You are one to talk, Hashirama, remember the—"

"See, he does not deny it," Mio interrupted. "I hope you enjoyed yourself. It will be the final time you see the view."

Tobirama finally turned back to her, staring her down. "To make a proper threat, you must be sure the person you are threatening will feel loss by what it is you are threatening."

Mio huffed. She ran out of counterarguments. She never faced a situation like this before and she did not like the way it felt to lose to Senju Tobirama. She didn't feel like herself.

The two glared at one another for several minutes in a silent battle of wits that transcended the argument that had finished taking place.

"A part of me wants to defend Mio's honor," she heard Hashirama mutter.

"You don't ever want Mio to know you're defending her, she'll get irrationally angry and won't talk to you for a week—a month, longer if she wants," Takuto responded.

A disturbance in the air caught her attention at the same time Tobirama had sensed it and drawn his blade in response. She dragged her grandfather's dagger from her belt and cut straight across the gauze on her palms. Measuring the distance between the army of Senju and the velocity of the wind, as well as the instruments hidden in the howl of it, she drew a line on the snow, smothered in sizzling blood.

In an instant a perfect line of dark, spiraling towers of tar-like water sprouted from the earth several meters away covering the exact width of distance she desired upon activating the technique that successfully withstood the brunt of the Fūton hurled in their direction by the Mikazuki shinobi. Molding the right amount of both chakra and black water exhausted her, but it was suffering the consequences of defending against such a strong technique that hurt the most. Up her forearms, she felt tiny cuts tearing open as if she had been sliced by a sharp wind.

She removed her hand from the ground and the towers fell away into the cracks they created on the surface. The hardest part was over. She tested her ability to mold enough for another strong attack.

"Do you plan to exhaust yourself?" Takuto asked in warning. "That technique takes a heavy toll on chakra and I know you don't have much."

"It is the only technique I learned naturally," Mio admitted, touching the tiny black orb hanging off her earring to activate the artifact. "The technique they used would have killed many."

"Enemy approaching!" Tobirama announced, jumping off to join his men in the battlefield. His orders were brief, but his followers were plenty.

"Takuto, with me," Mio ordered, stepping forward. "Leave the Uchiha to us."

"Are you sure?" asked Hashirama.

"Just clear a path for us to get out."

"Tobirama!" Hashirama went after his brother, shouting. "Redirect our shinobi to attack only the Mikazuki. Takuto and Ohime-sama will take care of the Uchiha!"

Mio led the way towards oncoming Uchiha, sensing Takuto behind her, and for an instant, crossed Tobirama's path. She turned her dagger, holding it with a better grip, and swung horizontally at the first enemy to appear before her. The shinobi deflected her attack with a kunai, forcing her arm away in the hopes of leaving her open for a counter attack, but she turned fully, lifting her leg to kick him across the face the next time she saw his face. The force of the hit sent him crashing into another horde of enemies, cutting them off their path.

Quickly, she dove as a blade sliced through the air above her and cut at the shinobi's legs before pushing off the ice floor and shoved him back. He stumbled, but found his balance and her face. Recognition lit his harsh features and his mouth formed the shape that spoke her name.

"Mio."

And it echoed back in her head.

"She's here!" he shouted. "Mio is-"

And she silenced him. One quick but hard elbow to his face had done the trick. However, his voice had carried and it had reached the ears of the dozen Uchiha in her surroundings...and it was bedlam.

Shinobi came at her in large quantities as she attempt to slip out of view, but she did not succeed as on Uchiha caught her off-guard. The man grabbed her by the ankle on her way up a small hill and dragged her down. She yelped and struggled as she was forced on her back. The Time Sphere had fallen from inside her robe, hanging loose against her neck. She saw the Uchiha ready his sword to stab her in the hopes of immobilizing her while others reached her.

The blade came down, but something deflected it. The sword snapped in half. She watched a glassy barrier start to disappear and she scampered out of harm's way as a Senju appeared to attack the Uchiha.

Mio pushed past the Senju and Kuronuma defensive line. She saw Tobirama make a beeline to her and reached for her pale cloak. She caught on quickly and tugged it free handing it to him as Hashirama appeared to take it.

Hashirama pulled it on, hood too. "I'll lead them away."

"Takuto!" she called, searching behind her for the Kuronuma medic. He appeared seconds later pushing through the crowd of Kuronuma.

She had an idea, one that would convince the enemy to follow Hashirama in her white cloak, but the technique in question would be tricky. She had not yet perfected it and she had been advised against using it because of its consequences, but she had the support of the Black Sphere that hung from her ears. On any normal individual without the ability or physical condition to learn the Kuronuma's techniques, the sphere acted as a replacement for the criteria, making it easy to pick up a move and use it with reduced consequences to none. However, the technique would not be as strong as the original. But, if a Kuronuma used the sphere, he or she could use it to power their jutsu (as her grandfather had) or to perfect an imperfect move (like she planned to do in a moment).

"I'll give you a signal," she said, stopping Hashirama by the arm. She looked at Takuto. "I'm going to need a transfusion. After, you go with Hashirama while I find a way off the mountain."

Takuto shook his head in refusal. "Alone after a transfusion? No, that can be dangerous, and if you're going to drown everyone here, you might cause yourself an imbalance. I'm going with you."

She couldn't refuse him. She didn't want to leave him on the mountain. She knew she would need a companion like Takuto down the road.

"Tobirama, you take Mio and Takuto as far as the Iron Country," Hashirama said, as one Senju appeared to tell them the Mikazuki were pushing through their defenses with ease. He nodded and asked them to persist a moment longer for the sake of her safety. He returned his attention to them once more. "I can take care of everything here. I'll keep your shinobi safe."

He spoke that last line with a particular emphasis. She believed he would do everything in his power to keep that promise to her.

She nodded, and quickly reached into her bag, unbuttoning it to fish out one of her great-grandfather's artifacts—no, her artifacts. She held the crystal necklace out to him because somehow she knew it belonged with him and that it would keep him safe from death. That's what the artifacts did. They kept their guardian safe.

"What are you doing with that?" Takuto demanded. He then pulled her bag open to reveal the rest. His face changed, eyes narrowed as he probably considered she had stolen the artifacts from Musashi rather than having inherited them. "What are you doing with all of those? Those are the Shugosha-sama's artifacts!"

Mio dug through her bag a second time, procuring Okimi's artifact. It did not feel right leaving the mountain without one, especially for Okimi, who needed the extra protection to keep her family safe. "You need to return this to Okimi," she told him. 'Ask her to keep watch over me."

Takuto took it, pushing it into his small satchel of medical supplies, and nodded.

"Now, go with Hashirama."

Time ran out for conversations and Mio was protected from a volley of weapons by Tobirama, who rushed her to the opposite side of the battlefield while Hashirama disappeared in a swarm of enemies. Takuto caught up with them, drawing a needle and a thin hose from his bag.

"I'm ready when you are," he said, pushing the needle into one of the veins of his inner forearm. She saw the blood starting to slide through the hose, but he pinched it, forcing it to stop. "Tobirama, cover for us."

Tobirama went off to do as asked to clear a path for Mio to use her technique.

_– "Mio." –_

Mio turned abruptly. She heard her grandfather call her.

_– "Mio!" –_

Again, she redirected her gaze, searching all around her for her grandfather, whose voice she heard calling and presence sensed right beside her.

"Mio, concentrate," snapped Takuto.

Mio put her hands together, forming the first of the necessary hand gestures, when she noticed an Uchiha shinobi attempting to copy her technique with his Sharingan. He didn't get far before the strain of it overcame him and he turned white as a sheet before passing out.

She pressed her hand to the cold snow, activating the Blood Swamp technique. She felt the blood drain from her veins. The vertigo hit her hard and immediately. She saw three of everything and her head was spinning.

The ground shook many meters ahead where the Mikazuki-Uchiha encampment stood and crumbled away into a gaping red, boiling swamp that swallowed many whole. It continued to break apart at the edges, drowning all it dragged under the surface.

The mountain rang with bloodcurdling screams as Mio sank to the floor completely, wracked with weakness. Takuto quickly inserted the other end of the needle into one of her veins, beginning the transfusion.

"It was a distraction!" A booming voice reached her ears, drowning out the sound of her grandfather's call. "She is heading off the mountain!"

Tobirama reappeared before them.

Mio was struggling to hold onto consciousness, peering up at the sight of the Senju through heavy lids. Takuto held her head pressed in the nook of his neck, carrying her weight to keep her upright.

"She won't be able to travel in this condition." He shook his head, looking down at her. "You overdid it with the artifact. You can't control it yet."

"I'll carry her as far as the Iron Country," said Tobirama. "She will be safe there. I will stay until you can meet her."

Takuto finished the transfusion and wrapped gauze around her forearm. He helped her up as Tobirama crouched down for her to climb onto his back. She could not find her way until Takuto guided her and she wrapped her arms around Tobirama's neck, easing her weight on him.

The Senju shinobi rose, arms holding her legs.

"I'll leave her in your care," said Takuto, to the Kuronuma present, he ordered for them to distract any remaining enemies to ensure their exit from Kurata.

Takuto left in search of Hashirama. Wherever he was, the others would certainly be fooled she would be with him and that would buy them enough time to get away.

_– "Mio." –_

Her grandfather was calling again, but she couldn't see him, only sensed him near.

Mio's eyelids fell as Tobirama started to move through the battlefield. With the air wiping across her face, she slowly succumbed to the exhaustion. In the darkness, she saw visions of the pine forest, trees sprinkled with frost and snow, and the gaping chasm her technique had created. She sensed Hashirama and Takuto…she sensed them through the artifacts.

The feeling settled. She understood.

_I am Shugosha now._

And she was terrified.

* * *

><p><strong><strong>EDIT<strong>**: I want to apologize for a mistake I made. I mentioned Mio had 9 of 10 artifacts at one point, but I was lying, she's only carrying eight. 'Cause: Ayuka = Fate Sphere and Madara = Nature Sphere. I fixed it. If I still make a mention of 9, please tell me because I won't know otherwise.

**xl**: Welcome to Redesign Month! We are kicking off the month with the first part to the "A Path of Ways" arc! I have basically spent 30 chapters building up to these chapters and I hope you will enjoy them (starting with this one obviously).

I want to thank these lovely people for reviewing: **angrypixels**, **Inanari**, **Loteva**, and the anonymous reviewer (you will have your answer to your question soon, and you are so sweet).

_Things to expect in Ch 32:_

- Tobirama and Mio arrive at the Iron Country, stuff happens. Terrible stuff goes down.

- A proper explanation to the Kuronuma techniques and why they shouldn't be used.

- Mio discovers something about the Time Sphere.

- A Taiga appearance.

Okay, thank you for reading everyone!

I'll be posting a preview as soon as I'm done writing the scene I want to use. So, soon.


	32. A Path in Ways 2

Chapter **32** | A Path in Ways II

* * *

><p>The Iron Country was near. A few hours walk away. If she started to walk, she knew she would make it by morning, but she didn't want to put the extra strain on her body when she still needed to travel to the Sun Country. Mio planned to make the trip alone, even though she promised to wait for Takuto. He would be livid, but he would be safe. Shin had been the one to suggest she take Madara to the Water Country, not anyone else.<p>

She had woken from another nightmare several minutes ago, surprised with how far Tobirama had traveled with her on his back, and she had asked for them to sit a while, expecting him to be exhausted.

Mio walked along the inner forest picking up fallen branches. She quietly built a fire after returning to the clearing where Tobirama stood looking out for any oncoming threats, even though he had been sure to avoid being tailed by enemy shinobi.

He surprised her when he crouched down next to her. He offered her water to drink and as she took it, he said, "Now explain your stupidity to me."

She took a sip of cold water, hesitant as she drew the Time Sphere from her clothing to reveal it to him. The meaning behind her actions brought clarity to his expression.

"I am protecting my clan," she told him.

"You plan to use yourself as bait?" he said quizzically. "Is that why you left the mountain?"

"It is more than that," she replied, willing to divulge the vast information. "You see…" She proceeded to tell him about Hag and what she was expecting to do when she met her, while expertly avoiding to mention she would travel accompanied by Madara. She admitted to her grandfather's affliction and her desire to circumvent death.

"Defeat death?" he questioned. "You think your clan's artifacts capable of the feat."

"No," she admitted, "but I trust in my ability to think of a way."

"What use are those artifacts if they cannot stop death? What purpose do they serve?"

"To maintain balance," she said, giving him the same response Musashi had given her when she had questioned the ability of the artifacts. "Protecting my clan, saving my grandfather, stripping Hag of her artifact, ending the Artifact War—it is all maintaining the balance. I am righting an ancient wrong for which this power was bestowed. I don't fully understand it and I am frightened by it, but I will one day. I only hope I will survive it."

Mio's stomach was in knots and they were tightening. She unconsciously held the sphere to her cheek. For the first time, its surface was cool against her warm skin, and, as if by magic, all sense of anxiety crumbled away. She stared absently into Tobirama's face, which was turned towards the flames and highlighted by the shadows the orange-red light cast upon his hardened expression. He lifted his eyes to hers.

"The Water Country?" he asked calmly. There was not even a hint of curiosity in his voice. "That is where your journey ends?"

"Yes."

"I will take you," he said firmly, brooking no argument. He stood and started to gather her things, packing them away into her bag. "If we waste little time, we might make it in half the time it would normally take."

Mio jumped to her feet. There would be no talking him out of the decision, but she wanted to try. "It is unnecessary," she said quickly, attempting to snatch her bag from his hand. He pulled it from her reach. "There is much to do before I am able to see Hag. I cannot show up at her home and demand an audience."

"You are Shugosha," Tobirama said pointedly, moving towards the road between the trees. "That woman should have some modicum of respect to welcome you. You are her leader."

Mio scrambled after him, feeling rushed and lightheaded.

—_"Another one over the mountain."_ —

She stopped mid-step, looking over her shoulder to the clearing. She realized she had forgotten to put out the fire and retraced her steps.

"Mio!"

Tobirama sounded impatient.

She continued to the fire, feeling she heard Takuto's voice being carried by the wind. She walked back hoping she sensed him near.

— _"Mio." _—

She froze. She heard whispers. Many whispers that drowned the voices calling out her name. Takuto's voice was but a figment in her imagination as she smothered the flames and sprinted back to meet Tobirama. She looked back constantly as they delved further down the road.

"What?" Tobirama asked exasperatedly.

"Nothing," she answered.

"I would have sensed anyone near," he told her in the same tone. "We are not being followed."

She faced forward for the rest of the trip and ignored the whispers. She refused to believe in them as the night was alive with noise and she could have easily mistaken those whispers for voices when they could have simply been the breezes swaying the trees or the critters rustling between the shrubberies and scampering along the dirt path.

But in the quiet, she heard a voice calling.

— _"Mio."_ —

A woman's voice. One she did not recognize and for many hours, it had been the loudest. Hearing it echo had covered her in goose flesh. Despite feeling uncomfortably hot, she tugged a sweater over her head in the hopes the extra layer of warmth would prevent her from giving into the chills.

When they reached the Iron Country, Mio crossed the gates without the presence of Tobirama. She went to meet the samurai's leader in search of information concerning her grandfather and anything that might be useful towards her mission. She traveled for several minutes accompanied by the samurai guards her grandfather had assigned during her short stay, and in awe, they had stared at the Time Sphere dangling off her neck. She explained nothing of what they were already aware.

The samurai's leader inhabited a humble piece of land located in the heart of the Iron Country where he was surrounded by the many civilians that had sought shelter after the Mikazuki, under her aunt's orders attempted to breach neutral country to discover her. The man stood outside, speaking to one of the country's farmers as his herd of cows crossed the frosted greenery, and he looked younger than she had last seen him. However, she had never seen him upfront, only from a distance, as her focus had not swayed from her grandfather's rigorous training and the opportunity never quite rose.

At the sight of her arrival, the samurai's leader pulled away from his conversation, patting the farmer on the shoulder to send him on his way, and approached her, waving a hand to his samurai to dismiss them. His eyes caught the gleam of the artifact strung from her neck and she stared into his matured face, worn by stress and scarred at the chin and temple by battle. His irises were a lighter color that made his brown eyes appear brighter and his hair was swept back, few strands in the black hair were graying and attesting to his age. He did not look older than thirty years, but it was not in the same way as her grandfather. He simply was more youthful looking than most.

"Welcome back to the Iron Country," Murakami Keishuu greeted. He bowed deeply. "The Shugosha Mio, at last."

She inclined her head. It sounded and felt strange, but she needed to get used to hearing the title of Shugosha attached to her name from now on. "I want to thank you for receiving me," she said demurely. "I do not want to burden your country with my problems, but—"

Keishuu shook his head, interrupting her with a wave of his hand. "Absolutely not," he said and gestured her down the stone path to his verandah. "Sit with me, we will have tea."

She raised her hands in refusal. "I cannot stay long," she said meekly. "My journey is long and urgent, and I left my companion waiting at the gates."

"Companion?" asked Keishuu, managing to guide her to the front of the verandah with its sturdy posts and polished floors. One of his hands remained on her shoulder and the other hand made the adequate gesticulations to match his words. "Another shinobi? From your clan?"

"No, one of our allies. A Senju."

"A Senju?" Keishuu called one of his samurai and asked him to bring the Senju to him before turning to Mio. "Stay. You no doubt need the rest. I will have you and your Senju guard accommodated within my home. It is yours for as long as you need it, Shugosha-sama."

He offered her no opening to refuse his invitation as he asked an elderly housekeeper to prepare two adjacent rooms, then turned to her intent on questioning their food situation, but immediately looked away, asking the woman to have the cooks prepare a meal.

"You must be famished," said Keishuu.

"I have not had time to think of food," Mio admitted, but she did not agree with his observation. She felt the twist of hunger in her stomach, but she was unsure she would be able to eat anything at all.

Keishuu sat at the edge of the verandah as another servant appeared to deliver a tray of tea. He offered her a cup and she saw no reason to continue objecting to his hospitality. She took her seat, setting her bag next to her, and took the warm mug between her hands.

"I appreciate the generosity," said Mio. "I appreciate the kindness your country has extended to my clan, despite the hardships you have endured on my behalf."

"They were unavoidable," Keishuu replied calmly. "Shinya-sama did mention the Iron Country might face strife upon sheltering a Shugosha candidate. I accepted knowing this and we were able to protect you in this country until you departed."

Mio took a sip of tea. "Thank you."

"I am aware of your current situation," said Keishuu. "Uchiha Hiryuu and Mikazuki Rikuto have brought discord to your home, during the shadow storm no less."

"You know about the shadow storm?" she asked curiously.

"The shadow storm is the strongest season in Kurata—of impenetrable darkness that protects the Kuronuma clan's home from invasion, but it is when the Climate Sphere displays its weakness."

"_No one shall cross the storm as long as no blood be shed in its domain,_" she recited as she had read the words in Musashi's scrolls, those he had burned after she had read them once. "Blood has been shed and the shadow storm will soon offer Mt. Hyōga no protection."

"Yes, but escaping Kurata unscathed must have been a troublesome feat, one you should recover from, at least for a day," he said. "I offer you all the aid you desire for what remains of your journey."

Mio wasted no time. "Any information you have about my grandfather," she begun hesitantly. "I need to see him again."

Keishuu's eyebrows knit in consternation. "Shinya-sama's whereabouts are difficult to pinpoint," he admitted. "Last I saw him was two weeks past. He came to deliver a weapon."

"A weapon? I was not aware my grandfather was still crafting while on the move."

The samurai stood, pushing apart the shoji screens. "This is something he forged thirty years ago," he explained. "Come, I will show it to you."

Mio followed him into his home. The first room was lit dimly by a lantern on the wall. The short hall connecting it to a flight of stairs was covered in pure darkness. Keishuu led her to them and together they descended to another room.

"This is my armory," Keishuu announced, pushing apart the doors to welcome her inside.

Everywhere she turned, she found another piece of steel weaponry, finely crafted and beautifully maintained. An assortment of swords—katana, chokutō, odachi, wakizashi, kodachi—caught her eye before she drifted to find a collection of naginata and yari standing upright against the opposite wall. She found tantō, senbon directly to her left and shuriken and kunai right beside them. Every weapon she could name and even some she could not was in this large room, including many suits of elaborate armor.

"Your armory is impressive."

"Only with what your grandfather has found for us," he said, walking to a shelf of katana to draw one that was bound in cloth. He unknotted it and let the cover fall, revealing the sword's black tsuka. He held it out to her. "Your grandfather said you have a good eye for the craft. Have a look."

She wrapped her hand around the tsuka and slowly drew the blade. The craftsmanship was every bit her grandfather's work, meticulous and beautifully hammered into perfection. "The shape is remarkable," she said, drawing it up for closer inspection. She slowly ran her finger along the edge. "This has been well preserved."

Mio returned it to its scabbard. "But why keep a blade of that caliber unused for thirty years? Did he part with it so you might add it to your collection?"

"I only meant to keep it for safekeeping," Keishuu replied. "Two weeks ago, he asked me to keep it, the blade he forged thirty years ago for the new Shugosha."

He returned the katana to her hands. "I don't wield swords," she told him, feeling its full weight in her hands.

"He mentioned you might say that and asked me to tell you that the blade is yours to do with what you wish."

Mio kept the blade and followed Keishuu out of his armory after Tobirama arrived at the property.

"Murakami-san invited us to stay the night," she told him, earning a glower.

"We have little time to rest if you wish to make it to the Water Country before the shadow storm fades," Tobirama argued.

"I have not recovered from the jutsu I used in Kurata," she answered, truly feeling the primary effects to an imbalance rearing their nasty heads. "I need to rest. As do you."

There was no winning with Tobirama, but Keishuu proved a tad more overbearing for the Senju shinobi and managed to force him into the house for a somewhat extravagant meal.

Mio attempted to eat from the meat platters, but as expected, she could not stomach much and called it a night, arranging with Tobirama that they would depart early morning—soon as the sun rose to take advantage of the day. Someone had already set out the futon for her when she entered and Mio went directly to it, pulling her pack off her body and setting it down for the first time since she had arrived. She changed clothing, wearing something simpler, cooler to adjust her ever-rising temperature and started to rummage through her bag for the leftover concoction, determined to drink it before uncorking the new batch Okimi had made her.

She found and drank from it, a mere gulp, enough to make her want to gag and help her sleep through the night. She did not bother to move under the covers, only moved to lie on her side and curled her body around her bag, which contained the rest of her artifacts, and slept hugging it to her chest.

— _"…do whatever it takes." _—

— _"She is coming." _—

— _"We have days left…only days." _—

— _"The fat pig will die." _—

— _"How many mountains can I buy with this thing?" _—

— _"Izuna will go to the Fire Country."_ —

— _"Mio!"_ —

— _"You are not selling it!" _—

— _"She will be dead…" _—

— _"I think I'm cursed."_ —

— _"Breathe, Mio." _—

— _"Mio." _—

A piercing scream drowned out the plethora of familiar voices and it startled her awake. A name fell from her lips as soon as she jolted into a seat. "Madara."

It rang clearly in the silence. She pressed her hand to her forehead. She was drenched in sweat.

Madara's voice joined Hashirama, Takuto, and the woman. There were softer voices among the others, but the ones that stood out the most were that of her parents. She heard her mother's voice as if she had just whispered in her ear and her father's—she did not remember the sound of his voice until then—it had been so near and full of life.

The single feeling that emerged from hearing those voices was urgency. She suddenly felt a pressing need to leave. She needed to make quick work of the journey from the Iron Country to the Sun Country and it had to happen now. The artifacts were guiding her again—nagging her.

Mio quietly folded the futon and returned it to the shelf in the closet. She returned everything she moved back into place, exactly as she remembered it after stepping into the room for the first time.

She moved from her room to the adjacent room next door without making so much as a rustle and crouched down beside Tobirama, surprised to see he even slept. She plucked one artifact from her bag and set it noiselessly beside him.

Mio left the Iron Country.

- : - : -

The shuriken sliced through the air and stabbed along the ground where she once stood. The Uchiha shinobi made the hand gestures for a fire technique that scorched the tall grass. Mio scarcely avoided the attack, feeling the blazing sphere singe her arm, burning right through her sleeve.

She lifted her eyes, scanning the wide, open area for any sight of her enemy. She had traveled undisturbed and unnoticed for several days until she entered the Fire Country in the hopes of unearthing any information on the Mikazuki-Uchiha alliance that might help her go through the Frost Country without encountering Mikazuki shinobi on her way into the Lightning Country.

The Uchiha shinobi she had encountered was one of Hiryuu's and he was determined to drag her to his masters in order to claim the reward.

"You are a slippery one!"

Mio turned in time to deflect his attack with her dagger and punched him in the face, pushing him far enough to put a little distance between them. The shinobi reared up for another attack, but he froze with his kunai held over her head. She had already anticipated it and prepared a counterattack, but that seemed useless now.

She saw a blade protruding from his chest before he dropped to his knees, revealing a face she had not seen in a long time.

"You did not need to interfere," she said, annoyed. "I was preparing to defeat him."

Uchiha Taiga looked at her with an arched eyebrow, stepping on the fallen shinobi's back to tug his blade free. His eyes looked her over as if to prove she had not been anywhere near victory. "Oh?" He tilted his head in an amused way as he cleaned the blood off his blade. She noticed he had forgotten to have his hair cut as he held it tied in a low ponytail and he seemed to have also neglected to keep himself close shaven, but he had not changed as much as she had picture in her head. "I thought you might be surrounded by an entire army of Senju."

She heard the edge in his voice. It spoke volumes of his disapproval of the Kuronuma clan's involvement with the Senju clan. "I do not need an army to protect me," she said, easing away her irritation.

Taiga sheathed his sword. "Of course not," he said, "but your movements are a little sloppy and your reaction time is laughable."

She ignored the criticism. She had a persistent fever and constant waves of vertigo to blame for her lacking skill. She had been lucky that her triple vision had gone away an hour before the attack, else she would have been captured and back in Mikazuki Gouki's encampment, or worse in Hiryuu's presence.

"Why are you here?" she demanded.

"I was coming from Sachiyo's home," he said, surprising her. "You recall, we've become something like allies as of late."

"Sachiyo? How is she?" she asked, swayed by warm emotions. "Is she well?"

Taiga shrugged. "She's well enough. The Ito sisters have been taking care of her, so she's not lacking in anything in particular."

It finally struck her. "Sachiyo is your ally? Which means, the brothers—?"

"They are as well."

She instantly grew suspicious. "What are you plotting?"

"I do not plot, Mio, I observe," he said, "I thought you knew that."

"What is there to observe with them?"

"If you have not yet realized it, Madara is on the rise to power," he told her. "Once Hiryuu is killed, his Uchiha will no doubt amass under his leadership."

"And you want to be in the right place to kill him and become leader?" she accused.

Taiga barked out a laugh. "You think I would waste all this time running around the continent to become the first Uchiha clan leader in decades?"

— _"Mio."_ —

Mio looked around abruptly. Tobirama.

Taiga became alert. "What is it?"

Dizziness swept through her as she started to move away from Taiga and she teetered for balance. She picked up speed the farther she walked.

"Mio!" Taiga called, pursuing her.

"Disappear!" she shouted, holding a hand to her throbbing head.

The tall, dry grass brushed against her legs as she trudged away. It rustled behind her as Taiga took quick strides to catch up to her.

"What are you doing outside the mountain?" continued Taiga. "The Fire Country is full of Mikazuki shinobi, you won't cross it without running into hordes of them."

"I don't have to explain myself to you," she remarked. Her vision started to split.

— _"Mio!"_ —

She stopped abruptly, too quickly that she felt all the effects catching up to her all at once. She felt her knees go out under her and felt them crash to the ground seconds after she saw someone appear before her, securing a hold on her and disappearing once more.

Mio threw up the second she realized she wasn't moving and saw something held out to her. She turned to see a jug of water in the hand of Tobirama, the last person she wanted to encounter when Taiga was a mere fifty feet away.

"That is the Nameless One," Tobirama divulged. "He is a dangerous shinobi." He thrust the jug to her more firmly. "Drink."

She groaned as she took it and drank. She wiped her mouth. "Why did you come?"

"The Fire Country is full of Mikazuki shinobi," he said evenly, his eyes fixed on Taiga's movements. "Your safety is my priority."

"Hashirama needs your support," she argued.

"You are ill," he said, startling her. "You should not be walking, let alone traveling. I was tasked with protecting you and I will see it done."

"Mio!" Taiga started to shout as he moved closer.

"I might be able to divert him—"

"Do not divert him," she whispered harshly, reaching out to pull him back.

"You must tell your Senju friend that I am not the enemy!"

Mio felt her heart give a nasty squeeze.

Tobirama looked at her inquisitively. "What is he saying?"

"Mio! We must travel fast if you wish to see Madara!"

She was probably more shocked by Taiga's knowledge than Tobirama was at the mention of Madara. "What business do you have with that Uchiha?" he demanded beneath his breath.

"Do not ask questions," she said quietly.

A revelation dawned in Tobirama. "The path, you are taking the path north towards the Lightning Country," he said, taking her by the arm. "You plan to enter the Sun Country? Are you a fool? The country is brimming with your enemies—"

"I am an Uchiha," she blurted, feeling his grip loosen before it tightened into a death grip. "But I am not your enemy."

"If you are an Uchiha, you are my enemy," he assured her, the look in his eyes had changed. "Have you brought me to be ambushed?"

"I am Shugosha," she said, finding strength in her voice. She said it with meaning. "I have an alliance and it is to the Kuronuma clan and right now, they are in danger."

"Mio!" Taiga called one final time. "I will wait in the Lightning Country. I will offer you the protection Shinya asked of me."

Mio attempted to rise at the mention of her grandfather's name, but Tobirama dragged her down. She fell into place before him and did not struggle. She did not have the strength to run away.

"I have done nothing to you," she said loudly.

"The Uchiha killed my brothers," he remarked. "They killed my father, my friends—"

"_I _did not kill them," she argued. "I did not end any of their lives."

"Your cursed clan did!"

"But it was not me! You cannot blame me for the actions of others!"

"Have you not killed a Senju?" he demanded.

"No," she spat. The fury manifesting into knots in her stomach. "I have killed my own clansmen. Dozens of them. But not once have I killed a Senju."

"I do not trust your word."

He tossed her aside and stood.

Mio angrily got to her feet. "I don't need you to trust me," she told him. "I no longer care that the Senju and Uchiha are constantly at war, nor will I be surprised when they wipe each other off." She sucked in a breath to calm herself. She did not need the extra agitation now. It made her feel worse. "I appreciate that you bothered to come all this way only to have to feel like you wasted your time and for taking me out of Kurata and accompanying me to the Iron Country."

She hiked up the bag strap and started to go.

"You intend to get captured?"

Mio turned around slowly at the sound of Tobirama's voice. "I intend to get to the Sun Country."

"To meet Uchiha Madara."

It annoyed her to hear him say Madara's name. "Yes."

"The Uchiha clan is allied with the Mikazuki clan," he warned. "Uchiha Madara will hand you to them."

Mio ignored his warning and continued walking only to realize after a half hour trek that Tobirama had been following her the entire time in silence. She did not speak to him, only kept forward towards the Lightning Country.

- : - : -

Navigating the Frost Country had been the worst aspect of the trip because it was home to the Mikazuki clan and its many unknown allies, which meant Mio and Tobirama had made quick work disposing of enemies. Since their last encounter with the shinobi, one that had left her weaker than before and him with several wounds, they had been hiding near the border between the Frost and Lightning Country in a dank, watery cave. Conversation between them had been kept to a minimum and she had come to recognize his actions had been the result of his own sense of duty. He had sworn to the Kuronuma clan to protect her and he was honor-bound to see through to his word (back when he had no knowledge she was an Uchiha and he had told her he would take her to the Water Country).

Mio didn't hate him for it. She thought it admirable to a certain degree, but he had grown more unfriendly than what was considered normal for him, and above all, rude. It was definitely a conscious effort to make her feel ashamed of her Uchiha roots, and as she had no intention of denying them, she had started to use her Sharingan in battle again, knowing it annoyed him. He didn't need to know she hated it either.

Tobirama built a fire deep inside the cave of the fallen branches and logs she had gathered outside. The orange light crept along the rocky, slate-colored surface of the cave. He sat before it to warm himself against the harsh weather conditions. A storm had settled and heavy rain pelted down the surrounding trees.

She stood near the entrance, barely shielded from the rain. Every raindrop that managed to hit her felt good against her skin. Her fever had refused to leave her. Okimi's concoction was not working, which led her to believe it was more than the result of black water shortage in her bloodstream and more of an actual health concern. She thought it might be because she had not gotten enough rest since the blood transfusion in the mountain and that after she managed to sleep, she would recover with another cup of the concoction.

Mio pressed the cold surface of the Time Sphere to her cheek, feeling it draw the pain raking her body and replace it with calm, and closed her eyes. She drew it away from her face, allowing the orange light to catch in its glassy surface. She saw something within the restless mist that the sphere encased and quickly moved to the fire. She dropped into a seat, holding the sphere closer to the flames, seeing the mist begin to spin so fast she could see openings in its shield that revealed a solid object inside the sphere. The mist was hiding it.

Whispers reached her ears, startling her into whirling around in search of the source. She stood upright, alert, her muscles tensing and her jaw clenching.

"What?" asked Tobirama, pressing his fingertips to the ground and looking out the cave entrance. A thick sheet of rain obscured their view of the outside, but they were able to make out the shape of the trees.

"I heard voices," she whispered skeptically. That sounded insane because Tobirama shot her a look that affirmed the thought. She continued to make it worse. "I think I hear your brother." She squinted towards the entrance. "And Takuto as well."

"I don't sense either of them," said Tobirama.

— _"Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiooooooooo!"_ –

Mio twisted around completely, searching for the voice. Her breathing quickened.

– _"Mio!"_ –

She took several steps forward, hearing Tobirama stand beside her. "Takuto!"

Her voice echoed in the cave, shouting back at her.

"Mio," called Tobirama. "They aren't here."

"I can hear them!" Her heart pounded furiously in her chest, a new feeling overcoming her. "I can sense them."

And she did. Distantly, but close all at once.

Mio walked to the entrance, the sound of her breathing amplified in her head. She unconsciously clamped down on Tobirama's wrist, feeling him flinch. The voices, when not calling her name, spoke amongst each other like a buzzing in the back of her head.

"Nobody is near," said Tobirama.

She stared fixatedly into the haze of rain. An ever-spreading fog obscured her vision of the maple trees aligning the connecting road between the Frost Country and its neighbors. It ran through the entire country and split into smaller paths that led to its many villages. She squinted at the mist, watching for movement and listened for strange sounds in anticipation that had her heart racing and the small hairs at the back of her neck standing on end. Her skin prickled with goose bumps and a chill settled in her veins.

Mio blinked. Everything seeming to slow down in that millisecond it took for her lid for fall before her eye and rise. All noise had abandoned her surroundings. The rain froze, the insects that had been crying into the darkness and the wind that whistled through the night and rustled the leaves did not elicit a sound.

"I heard their voices," she whispered tremulously. _Why are there voices?_ She wondered why it had taken her so long to question this. "They're not here?"

She glimpsed at Tobirama in question and he offered her a curt nod. She let him go, her tense muscles loosened.

_Why am I hearing voices?_ Mio speculated that she had imagined those voices because she had been anxious about knowing what had happened with Hashirama and Takuto and the others on Mt. Hyōga. She had left her clan unprotected, without the Climate Sphere. The shadow storm had no doubt begun to fade.

A gentle breeze kissed her face, taking her out of her trance. The rain came crashing down, the noise filling her ears. Her eyelids fluttered, her breath returning to normal, as she felt someone standing over her, leaning forward to whisper against her ear. – _"Mio."_ –

She shook, overcome by a presence that had drawn near. "Grandfather," she said, expelling the breath she didn't know she was holding in. As soon as it left her body, clouding before her lips, she ran in pursuit of that voice. "Grandfather!"

"Mio!"

Mio ran straight and jumped off the edge of the cave. She landed in mud that splashed up her legs and nearly slipped as she bounded forward towards the road. She sensed him approaching, despite her senses being a tad hazy.

She slipped through the thick fog, barely able to see five feet in front of her as she turned in all directions. Shin stood nowhere in sight and her heart clenched. She wanted to see him, needed to make sure the poison had not weakened him. Her mind was playing tricks. She was imagining the voices again because she wanted to know something about them. Shin roaming the continent doing gods know what, Hashirama and Takuto having been chased by the Mikazuki-Uchiha alliance into the forest of pine trees, Musashi, Okimi, the twins, Enya, Sako and Minako, and the rest of the Kuronuma clan on Mt. Hyōga. She left the mountain with everyone in her mind and now she was hearing them, their voices having manifested in her head like a constant bell ringing.

She continued running for what felt like hours in her delirium until her legs throbbed. She stood surrounded by a strange wilderness with the torrential rain pounding on her back as she rested her hands atop her knees, regaining her breath.

"Grandfather," she whispered.

Mio desperately searched for him, turning in all directions when she heard a branch snapping. She whirled around abruptly, the word left her lips, "Grandfather!" before she saw Tobirama come to a sudden halt. She wanted to cry.

"We are the only ones here," Tobirama said loudly over the rain.

She held back her tears, biting down on her trembling lips. She trusted his ability to sense others in close proximity, more than she would trust her instinct from now on, and nodded.

The voices remained as she followed Tobirama back to the cave in silence. It was Takuto's and Hashirama's that sounded the loudest, both seeming to speak to one another more than anything, but from time to time, others drifted through their voices. She ignored them. They were figments of her imagination after all. She heard them because she wanted them to be safe. They manifested because of her desperation.

Mio closed her eyes as she leaned against the wall.

"You are a fool rushing out there in that manner," Tobirama criticized, tugging off his sodden clothes to set them by the fire to dry. "There are Mikazuki shinobi everywhere. They are a danger to you."

"You did not seem to care when you believed me to be in league with them," she said evenly, opening her eyes to look at his naked back. His suspicions had remained since her revelation and he had imagined it all to be some conspiracy against his clan.

He did not trust her, but he trusted his brother.

Tobirama said nothing in response to her comment. He changed the subject. "We can use the fog to our benefit, move through it and reach the Lightning Country faster. We should probably wait for the rain to lift."

She stared out the cave entrance and nodded. She rubbed a warm hand over the nape of her neck and sighed, drawing her knees to her chest to rest her cheek atop her kneecap.

Voices came in whispers.

The woman's was the loudest.

- : - : -

It took another two and a half days to find the single port that went to the Sun Country. Even then, the only ship that made the journey for the past ten years had stopped in recent years. It crossed the waters on special orders and very rarely allowed anyone without some form of affiliation to the Sun Country's king to arrive. Mio needed no such association because Taiga had been present when she arrived with Tobirama trailing behind her reluctantly.

"I will deal with him," Mio told Tobirama.

Tobirama stood back and unenthusiastically crossed his arms over his chest.

Mio met Taiga halfway, peering at the strange waters ahead with anxious concern. Taiga waved at Tobirama, determined to provoke him, but she grabbed his hand and forced it down.

"Stop."

"Quite protective of the enemy, aren't you?" asked Taiga in a strange, accusing tone. "Have you forgotten your roots because the Kuronuma clan decided to adopt you out of pity?"

She tightened her grip on his hand, starting to crush it.

Taiga reached to the back of her neck and grabbed her harshly, pulling her head back in retaliation.

She bit back a hiss.

Tobirama appeared beside her with his sword pointed at Taiga's neck. "You will unhand her," he demanded.

"Not until she releases me." Tobirama looked down at her hand, which held his hand in an iron grip. Taiga laughed in amusement. "Any tighter and she will break something."

She tightened her grip and he did the same.

"Mio," Tobirama said warningly.

Mio dropped Taiga's hand and he, in turn, shoved her back as he let her go. She stumbled, but regained her balance.

"We don't have time to waste," Taiga announced, rubbing his hand as he walked away. "The ship will only wait another minute." He headed towards the only ship rocking gently against shallow waves. "I'll be on board, get rid of your dog."

Tobirama took a step forward as if he were about to attack him, but Mio pushed him back. "I am going," she said loudly. "Please go back to Kurata and help my clan."

He stepped back, drawing away from her hold.

"The artifact I left behind—"

"—the cup," he said.

"My great-grandfather told me that he was looking for worthy clans to call his allies," said Mio, remembering a day that felt like it happened so long ago. "I didn't understand it then. The Kuronuma clan separated themselves from the shinobi world; they had no need for alliances. But…I know what he meant. I have to choose the alliances now and I've chosen the Senju clan."

She watched his eyebrows knit.

"I gave your brother the Power Sphere and I have given you the Universe Sphere," she said quickly. "That is the price I pay for your support, not simply with the Kuronuma clan, but with me. In return, you must protect them with your life. The Mikazuki want to have them and I have parted with the two that they absolutely must not have."

She gave him no chance to speak as she rushed to catch the ship as an old man aboard it prepared their departure. The older man offered her his hand when she froze up at the sight of the deep, blue water beneath it.

"The shinobi warned you might have a fear of the sea," he said. "The trip is but a few hours long and my ship is sturdy. You only need to sit back inside the cabin and wait."

One of his shipmates guided her to the cabin at the far side of the small vessel. It felt a bit cramped inside, but it was comfortable enough to hold a single bed and a bench that was already occupied when she entered. She took a seat at the edge of the bed where she could see Taiga face to face and heard the old man shouting orders to his men.

"It surprised me to see you accompanied by that Senju," Taiga mused.

Mio did not respond. Her stomach was starting to twist. She didn't trust the waves rocking the ship. She'd prefer to sleep through the short voyage, but she feared the safety of her artifacts and decided against it.

Taiga leaned forward to rest his arms on his knees. "Tell me, Mio, what is it that makes you coveted by so many. Indulge me."

"Should I include you?"

He smirked. "You are testy."

She ignored him, hugging her bag to her chest.

"Have you heard the stories?" he continued, the smile leaving his lips. His countenance grew serious. "They say there is a beast in these waters and that it is sinking ships."

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Can you imagine the thought of drowning?"

She knew the feeling all too well. It was painful. Water rushing into her lungs, the current pulling her under.

"I do wonder if it is painful."

She attempted to remain calm, but the ship gave a lurch forward that startled her into sinking to the floor with a yelp.

"Don't tell me you are afraid of the water, Mio?" asked Taiga, sounding innocent and mocking all the same. He left his seat with a chuckle. He approached her and crouched down before her, his hand reaching out to move the hair from her face. "You will need to find someone to trust in the Sun Country. The place is a snake pit and they all want you."

She felt a tinge of terror rising from her belly. "I will not stay long."

"While you are there, you must follow my orders," he continued, lowering his voice. "If you do everything I ask of you, I can guarantee you the freedom Motou Enki will take from you."

"You are the one I trust least," she replied, a shudder seeping into her voice. The voyage was not agreeing with her health.

Taiga left her in the cabin, shutting the door behind himself wordlessly, and she remained in the dark to face another of her fears.

Mio attempted meditation for the duration of the journey, but it failed when her stomach gave a nasty lurch and she began to vomit Okimi's concoction into a bucket. When the captain announced the trip was coming to a close, Mio stepped out of the cabin, hoping the cool air settled her upset stomach and saw the Sun Country for the first time in her life. She saw white sand sitting under clouded skies; there were mountains and forests of giant trees, and something electrifying in the air.

She reached the railing, hands curling over the wood, heart hammering in her anxiety and relief. Taiga moved in beside her.

"It is an ugly, dying island," he remarked.

She saw people crowding the beach before the Sun Country's tiny port. It unnerved her to think there were people expecting what she had considered a surprise visit, but it calmed her, as soon as she was able to distinguish faces, that there were more familiar faces than unfamiliar.

Standing at the forefront of the group of Uchiha shinobi was Uchiha Madara, his eyes fixed forward and his arms folded over his chest. He wore his armor and a gunbai at his back as if prepared for battle. Beside him, she noticed the terrible medical-nin she had met briefly in the Iron Country. Yayoi she had been called.

The ship stopped. The captain left it with a couple of his shipmates to secure it in place. Taiga jumped out of it without bothering to look back as he walked past Madara and clapped him on the shoulder, a gesture the other Uchiha did not acknowledge. He disappeared into the parted crowd.

Mio suddenly felt alone in a strange place.

Madara moved to the ship, extending his hand to her. "Mio, come."

She swallowed down the lump in her throat, staring down at his gloved hand inquiringly before taking it. He helped her off the ship. The last time she had seen him was when Eito still lived, before her capture, and that ached a little in her heart. She curled her fingers over his hand before he could pull away.

"I need your help," she whispered.

"You should not be here, Mio," he replied lowly. "This is a dangerous place."

"Then come with me," she said pleadingly. "I need you."

But the crowd parted once more. This time for a slender woman with red hair dressed in similar, but more luxurious, robes as Yayoi. Her eyes sought Mio out and fixed upon her unfortunate state.

Mio took a step forward, but soon as she did, her knees weakened, unable to hold her up. As soon as the rest of her heavy body hit the ground, she stared hazily as she was surrounded by others. Madara in her periphery, the redheaded woman above her. And her eyelids fell heavily over her eyes, consciousness leaving her.

Of two things she was certain. Taiga had not lied about the Sun Country being a pit of snakes and that Madara's artifact was not the only one on the island.

She walked into a trap.

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: I always hate when the time is switch forward. It ruins my sleep cycle. I also want to mention that I corrected a stupid mistake in the previous chapter about how many artifacts Mio is carrying. It was eight when she left the mountain. I have no real counting skills, but in the real world, I won't need any because I'll have an editor to remind me about them whenever I need them (someday...I can dream).

Moving on, two years ago, on the 9th of this month, I literally posting this story on a whim. It started on a completely different idea and evolved into something much bigger than the short, ridiculous story I had planned in the first place (the original idea is golden and I want to write it out someday as a oneshot, but yeah, one day). In two years, I have given you 31 chapters. I have to admit that I have an exact estimate of chapters for every story I write, but Redesign is an elusive one...so maybe in two more years I'd have given you 31 more. (Okay, let's hope it's not in two years, maybe less.) Anyway, it has been a real joy writing the story for this long and knowing that there are people out there enjoying it. If you were here from the start, thank you so much for your continued support! I hope you will see the story to the end...just don't abandon it now before I ruin your lives with romance! D:

Thank you for your reviews: **HushedFable**, **Aries01xD**, **Anime93**, **Loteva**, and the lovely **anon**.

New preview will be up in a couple days, probably Wednesday, Friday at the latest. Later today at the earliest.


	33. A Path in Ways 3

Chapter **33** | A Path in Ways III

* * *

><p>Mio dreamt of Mt. Hyōga as snow begun to drift down from the sky. She stood in the center of the alcove that housed the Kuronuma clan's community—once dotted in gray schemed yurts that provided them protection from the harsh seasons—surrounded by destruction. The yurts' lattice was either broken down to jagged, splintered edges or showed signs of having endured fire upon their wooden surfaces. The many layers of fabric that covered each circular frame sat crumpled on the floor, shredded to ribbons, and covered in the newly fallen snow.<p>

She glanced over her shoulder to the long bridge that connected it to Kurata to see it destroyed. She walked to inspect it to find the rope had been cut cleanly and feared the worst had occurred. She returned to the camp in a rush, digging through each destroyed home in search of anyone that might have remained alive, but found nothing until she came upon the entrance to the mountains caverns where the snow was dyed a red hue. She picked up a torch and lit the end on fire before she took her first step inside the labyrinth system of interconnected caves in the Kuronuma's mountain.

She did not walk far before she encountered the first body. She crouched down beside the fallen Kuronuma shinobi and pressed her hand to his cold, lifeless skin with an ache in her chest. His eyes remained open and dead—a deep pink in hue that she recalled used to be so lively. He was easy to joke, easy to laugh. This man used to chase Minako around the caves underground when Sako couldn't find her, and on occasion, Mio used to help. Of course, Minako always believed he was playing with her and ultimately, it would turn into a game, one that ended in laughter and with several of the children involved.

Mio pressed her hand to her mouth, stifling a sob, before moving on. She delved deeper inside, the sound of water dripping echoing with her footsteps, and uncovered more Kuronuma shinobi slain. Their lifeblood spilled upon the ground, the black water coursing through it had molded the cave floor into hollows. She continued forward, moving the fallen bodies to carry them out determined to give them a proper farewell. Tears stung in her eyes with every death she encountered. It was not only Kuronuma shinobi, but members of the Senju, Uchiha, and Mikazuki clan as well.

She reached the inner chambers after descending a stone staircase where the caves were larger and used to shelter the non-shinobi members of the clan once trouble had reached Kurata. She hoped to find it empty, a sign they might have all escaped, but she found herself gasping at the sight of all the dead people that littered the ground. Her entire body was shaking as she sank to the floor, suppressing the urge to scream in agony.

Tears rolled down her cheeks. Not even the civilians were spared.

— _"Mio."_ —

And the voice that echoed was like a fading memory in the labyrinth of death. It belonged to Musashi and it ached in her very soul. Following close behind was Okimi's, like a bright light in a dark place.

Mio woke in a daze, streams of sunlight blinding her as she tried to focus her vision on her strange surroundings. She glimpsed to her right and her left to a heavily adorned room. A black, squared armoire adorned in gold markings, a heavy, leather trunk that sat underneath a calligraphy scroll hung in display, an altar which held a golden statue flanked by two short incense burners etched in gold pictures of flowers and leaves that gave off white smoke drifting upward and filled the room with the scent of sandalwood. She spied an assortment of flowers standing atop a short table a few feet away from the entrance and finally stared down at the comfortable bedding underneath her. The blankets were thick and warm, the pillows were either decorative—of different colors with different pictures stitched on them—or of down feather.

"My bag."

She left the futon and tore through the room in search of her traveling bag.

The shoji opened and through them a woman in billowing white robes entered, her thick red hair braided over her shoulder falling to her waist. She smiled graciously as she bowed respectfully. The woman was the last person she saw before falling to the ground unconscious and realizing she had walked into a trap, one that was more likely set by Hag.

"I did not get the opportunity to introduce myself," the woman said. "I am Motou Ayuka, the person in charge of ensuring you are comfortable throughout your stay."

"I will not be staying," Mio replied.

Ayuka started to move around the room, her long skirts trailing behind her. She continued to talk, ignoring her reply. "Uchiha Madara will be in charge of you—"

"No—

"The king is interested in keeping you comfortable," Ayuka went on. She paused, her eyes falling on her. "You are a member of the Sacred clan, after all. You are revered and respected in this land, you most of all Shugosha-sama."

She wanted to question her knowledge of that title, but she buried the urge.

"The king is interested in speaking with your clan's leader about a potential alliance," Ayuka divulged.

"That is impossible—"

The redhead clapped her hands and two women in uniformed outfits appeared to answer her call with a respectful, "Yes, Ayuka-sama."

"You will prepare a bath for the young Shugosha. See that she is dressed and ready to sit with the king for breakfast." Looking to Mio, Ayuka smiled in a way that challenged Mio to refuse to follow orders. "The king is expecting you."

Ayuka made a move to leave.

"Where are my things?" asked Mio evenly.

She waved to the leather trunk.

Mio threw it open and found her pack. She dug through it in search of her remaining two artifacts, the dagger and the Dragon's eyes. She emptied out the contents in her search, not finding them among her things. She touched her ears to feel the Black Sphere, which held the Life Sphere sealed inside, still in her ears and felt the thick cord of the Time Sphere. She whirled around to come face to face with Ayuka.

"Where are my artifacts?" she demanded.

The smile on Ayuka's face disappeared. "In safekeeping, _Shugosha_."

Even her tone of voice changed, it dropped an octave, and when she called her by title, she said it mockingly.

Ayuka raised her hand intent on grabbing Mio, but it was deflected. She pulled her hand away with a hiss and held it in her other as Mio watched the sunrays shine iridescently against a spherical wall that had risen between herself and Ayuka as it begun to fade.

"I would have taken those, too," she said threateningly, "but as per usual, the Time Sphere is determined to protect you from such dangers."

Mio did not need guidance from her artifacts to know who stood before her. She steeled herself, hands curling into tight fists to stop herself from giving into her fear of standing before the powerful, ancient guardian.

"Return my artifacts," Mio ordered.

"You have lost, Mio," Ayuka said with a twisted smile. "And while you remain here, you must be obedient. I want no complications, no defiance. The artifacts need to be in their rightful place."

Mio swallowed thickly, keeping her eyes leveled with Ayuka's, repeating to herself that she needed to be strong as Okimi and Musashi had asked her. "You can take them, all of them, but it will not make a difference," she said with confidence. "I was born into this title. I am Shugosha and if I die, the artifacts die with me."

Ayuka eyes narrowed, she looked upon her like she an insect, so easily killed beneath her foot. "You are nothing but a vessel."

She felt the anger creeping in to replace the fear. She should have kept her mouth shut. She understood that, and wished she had, but her pride had taken over. She had one task and she had failed at it in part by losing two artifacts to Motou Ayuka. She had been sent from Kurata with the best of wishes and had been fearful of this encounter to the point it was paralyzing, but her clan was in danger. Her situation had complicated, but it had been to her benefit. Perhaps, unconsciously, all the pieces had fallen in place.

Mio only needed to endure and think up a foul-proof plan. She promised herself that she would not remain prisoner for long. That is what kept her pulsing with newfound confidence and standing up against a person that, like Mikazuki Gouki, brought out a powerful fear the felt to have emerged from the depths of her soul.

"Pray to your gods, Motou Ayuka, pray that I do not unearth the Fate Sphere and unseat you."

Ayuka's hand shot up again only this time, Mio was not protected. She grabbed her roughly by the face, bore into her eyes with merriment. "There," she said darkly. "I see traces of your grandfather, there, in your eyes, in your tone. You belittle me. You challenge me. Who are you? Who are you without the Time Sphere to protect you?"

She thrust her back into a wall. Mio withstood the pain raking down her back.

"I am Shugosha and you are not," Mio spat.

In fury, Ayuka struck her across the face with the back of her hand.

Mio felt the bruising settle in from the force of the hit and spat blood onto the polished floors as the older woman fisted her hand into her hair and gave her a harsh tug.

"You are not invulnerable." Ayuka laughed. "Your sphere only protects you when it feels another is attempting to steal it. Without such intent, I can have you tortured until you forgo your obstinacy and succumb to your new destiny."

"Do it."

She felt her cheek swell, but she did not allow the pain to control her emotions. She did not care for Ayuka's threats or the idea of being tortured for sport. She lived one nightmare after the next and relived them every day in sleep. She had not given up and she would not after another, no matter how difficult. She would not break.

Mio wrapped her hand around Ayuka's delicate wrist. She did not restrain her strength as she had with Taiga earlier as she tightened her grip around the older woman, feeling Ayuka's fingernails start to dig into her skin.

She finally heard something snap as blood dripped from chin and tore Ayuka's hold on her.

"I have not lost yet," Mio assured her.

Ayuka cradled her wrist in her hand and a look of pure loathing marred her beautiful features. Her eyes darkened with malice and Mio's heart pounded against her ribcage, the terror froze in her veins. With unprecedented force, Ayuka grabbed her by the head and slammed it into the wall.

Mio's vision spotted, the pain was immediate and explosive. She didn't have the opportunity to scream, only endure, as she felt her body forcibly dragged across the floor.

"Allow me the opportunity to teach you the consequences of your defiance," Ayuka bit out, and twisted her hand in her dark hair. She gave her a hard yank, pulling her out of the room by the hair despite her futile struggle.

Black blood ran down her face, the heat of it irritating her skin red. She could not find her voice to protest or scream, but she gathered what little strength she possessed as Ayuka started to haul her down a nearby flight of stairs.

Mio managed to clasp Ayuka's wrist and succeeded in wrenching her down. Ayuka tripped over Mio's body, but she held herself upright against the wall. Mio bumped her head several times as she tumbled down the rest of the staircase. She scrambled onto her hands and knees, feeling her stomach lurch and empty. She stared down wide eyed at the thick black substance she regurgitated, seeing it begin to melt away the floorboards.

She felt Ayuka's shadow fall across her body and the terror paralyzed her. She couldn't move when Ayuka stomped on her back, her body slamming to the ground. She coughed up more blood.

Ayuka seized her right arm. "I know you Kuronuma pride yourselves on you physical capabilities," she spat, forcing her arm further back, straining the muscles and making the bone creak. "You are troublesome, more troublesome than anticipated, so you will have to forgive me—I will make sure only our best medical specialists mend your bones."

She positioned her foot against Mio's shoulder blade and jerked her arm back until it popped out of her shoulder. A strange scream ripped from Mio's throat as the woman let her go. Mio sobbed into the cold floor, her body possessed by uncontrollable tremors.

Ayuka grabbed her by the hair and forced her head back. "Shall I dislocate your other arm? Perhaps, break one your ribs one by one?" she asked in mock kindness. "We have quite a journey ahead of us and I want it to be comfortable, for the two of us."

Mio opened her mouth, attempting to speak. She couldn't find her voice.

"You will have to speak louder, princess, if you want me to hear you."

She forced the words out, tears pouring down her face. "I'll go!"

Ayuka heaved her off the ground and started to pull her along. Mio struggled to keep up with her long strides as she held onto her limp arm, biting back the urge to scream. The Fate Sphere guardian did not care if she stumbled, and when she did, she merely dragged her. She was pulled across a courtyard before the eyes of many and shoved into a looming tower that spawned several floors. It was teeming with Motou shinobi who wore the black sunburst emblazoned on their clothes and stared with laughter in their expressions. All stepped aside as Ayuka moved from one floor to the next, yanking and pushing her along the way. If she tripped or fell, Ayuka hauled her back onto her feet.

The torment ended abruptly, with a powerful shove into a large room that knocked her to the ground. She took several heaving breathes, her body aching all over.

"What is this?"

Mio lifted her eyes. There were spots in her vision and blood drying on the side of her face. The blurry image of a man came into view. He was of tall stature and looked a bit on the heavyset side. The voice belonged to him.

"You wanted an audience with the girl, have it," said Ayuka.

"I expected her washed and properly dressed for breakfast," the man said, sounding irritated. "Look at her, what have you done to her?"

"Do not question me, Enki." Ayuka stepped forward. "Give me Rikuto's report."

Mio struggled to stand as she saw the man hand Ayuka a scroll with a report from Kurata, but she fell back into a seat. She recognized the name belonging to the Mikazuki shinobi that had accompanied Uchiha Hiryuu into Kurata to capture her. Whatever information that scroll contained, it frightened her.

"You are here for one reason," Ayuka began as she stopped to stand beside her. "You are here to bridge an alliance with the Motou clan and you will do so with marriage."

Mio had been wondering if the room might stop spinning soon when Ayuka's words refocused her attention. She fixed her gaze forward to the back of Ayuka's cascading red hair as it flounced with each of her movements, no matter how subtly she moved.

"What?"

She surprised herself by finding her voice.

Ayuka turned abruptly. "You will marry into the Motou clan and if you refuse, well—" She dropped the scroll in front of her. "If you continue to refuse, you will receive one of these every week."

Mio dropped a heavy hand atop the scroll and clumsily opened it. She blinked down at the words written upon it, reading past the blurriness and the black spots in her vision, but what she understood from it, she did not believe as she lifted her face to Ayuka.

"No," she said in disbelief. Her chest felt heavy with emotion and her eyes betrayed her before her enemies. She spoke again, a tremulous, foreign voice replaced her own—a weak voice, of a person she did not recognize. "Please, no."

There were names on the scroll's surface. Crossed out as if they were nothing but a name, as if they did not exist beyond it that it was so easy to remove them with a simple slash down the middle, but they were people. She knew the people with these names, they were family and friends, and she refused to believe that any one of them were dead. She wanted to hear Ayuka laugh and call her a fool for believing so easily before assuring her they were alive, but the report said in explicit detail that the Mikazuki and Uchiha under Rikuto and Hiryuu were able to reach Mt. Hyōga where they were met with Musashi.

"Surely, you must have known," Ayuka said, amused by her distress.

Mio stifled a sob with her hand, staring down at the scroll. Reading on as a tear fell and darkened the paper. '_The old fool tried to keep us from entering, but he did not last long._'

"I expect no less from a Shugosha," the Motou woman continued. "The ability to pinpoint a person, no matter where they are simply for being your guardian—it is a remarkable skill."

The further she unearthed in the scroll, the more devastation befell her until she came upon her cousin's name with a line eliminating it from the list. She let out a pained sound and leaned forward, fighting against the unbearable aches in her body to give into her suffering.

"No matter." Ayuka started to walk away. "We have given you our proposition. You may continue your insolence if you wish, but know that the Mikazuki clan will not stop until the entire Kuronuma clan is eradicated."

She shook her head, clinging to the feeling that these were lies. "It can't be true," she whispered, swallowing hard. "This can't—"

"Stubborn child. You are only lying to yourself." She heard movement, followed by Ayuka's footsteps approaching her again. "See for yourself, _Shugosha_. See that I am not playing games with you."

Another scroll was being rolled open before her, the pages sounding crisp and brittle.

"Look."

The sharp edge of a cold knife was pressed against her hand after Ayuka pulled it forward. It sliced through her palm and the blood that fell from it sizzled against the surface of the new scroll, but did not burn through it. Mio looked at the ancient thing, recognizing it by the resonance it gave off.

"I hope I do not have to teach you how to use the artifact," she said cruelly.

Using the same hand Ayuka had cut open, her only functioning hand, Mio pressed it against the surface transferring her chakra into it until she felt it pull against it, draining it from her of its own volition. She watched long thin strands start to appear on the surface, pathways that raced to reach completion, and she searched through her bloodline for the connections she held with her blood relatives. She recalled from Musashi's teachings that one only needed to think of it to reach it when it came to the Fate Sphere unless she simply wanted to see, then she did not need to do much.

She reached Eito's first, a life that ended too soon, and one that haunted her still. She relived the ending to her aunt's life, killed by the man she considered an ally. She watched the horror that had become her most prominent memory, a mother's body cold against her daughter and a father in pieces. She nearly jerked her hand away from the sphere underneath her palm, but endured the memory when it finally came rushing to her. Everything she did not experience firsthand, she remembered as though she had.

Mio let out a cry when she witnessed her great-grandfather's valiant attempt to protect the clan seconds before Hiryuu, the gray-haired Uchiha, appeared to give him the finishing blow. She saw Okimi emerge from the caverns with an army of Kuronuma behind her, her husband Enya at her side. She gave the orders and the Kuronuma broke their oath not to fight. Mio watched it unfold in a blur of blood, agony, and death.

Unable to stomach the truth, she drew her hand back, holding it against her chest. It took every remaining ounce of strength in her to stop herself from vomiting.

She found Ayuka's smiling face and closed her eyes briefly, inhaling deeply. Tears fell away from her eyes as she discarded her pride. "No more," she pleaded. There was no way around it and she was desperate. "Please, no more."

Ayuka's eyes danced delightedly. "Have you come to your senses, child?"

"Yes," she cried, giving into the pain. "So, please, stop hurting them. I'll do anything. Anything. Just stop killing them."

She sank into the ground, willing to prostrate herself in order to beg for mercy.

Ayuka stood. "You will marry into the Motou clan," she decided in a victorious tone. "You will marry the king of this country. Him. He is Motou Enki. Have you nothing to say, Enki?"

The man cleared his throat. She stared up at him with his pointed face, receding hairline, and expanding waistline. She saw disgust in his expression. "The next time you are summoned, you are to be presentable," he said briskly. He made a gesture in her direction. "Now remove her before the brothers' return from their excursion and have her mended beforehand as well. They are troublesome alone without incentive."

Mio touched the surface of the scroll once more and swept across it with her hand, smearing it with her blood. It was an almost unconscious action, but deep down, she understood it was something she was supposed to do before Ayuka remembered to take it from her.

Ayuka treated her no differently than she had when she first dragged her up the castle tower as she dropped her off in the room where she had woken up that morning. She was left in the care of two servant girls, who had no intention of hurting her. They helped bath her until a medical specialist appeared to set her arm back into her shoulder, something that stung in comparison to the emotional pain.

She was treated to many food platters, none of which she touched, and was brought gifts from the king in the form of silk clothes and jewels. She cared for none of the attentions, wanting to do nothing more than to sit in a corner against the wall with the rest of her pains.

— _"Mio!" _—

She blinked and her vision started to blur, but she held onto the strength threatening to seep from her eyes in the form of tears. The voices returned in soft whispers, Musashi's was the loudest and he called for her. She held her palms against her temples, fingers curled and buried into her dark hair. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, sounding like her grandfather's hammer when it hit an anvil. It was ringing—ringing like it was being smelted into a different shape.

"Mio."

She snapped out of her trance and glimpsed at the entrance before determining it was Madara. She tried to push herself off the floor only to realize her entire body was shaking and her legs were too weak to obey.

Madara stepped in front of her, his shadow fell atop her. She lifted her eyes, a strange emotion settling in her chest as she waited for him to speak.

"Who put their hands on you?" he asked tonelessly. "And why did you not kill them?"

"I do not need your worry," she answered in a similar tone.

"Mio, I am not your enemy."

"You let her steal from me," she said harshly. "You did nothing."

"I can do nothing in this country," he returned. "I am as much a prisoner here as you."

She was unsure whether she should trust his word or continue with her suspicions, but she wanted to believe him. She wanted to think that she still knew Madara, the one she promised to work under after the Uchiha clan split into different powers, the one she grew up with, but she couldn't. She saw Madara had changed when they met in that ghost town where Eito died. She didn't know what happened to him in the Sun Country. She only knew what came through information.

Madara reached out to touch her sphere only to draw back when it singed his fingers. He grimaced, staring down at them inquiringly. "Are you the Shugosha?" he asked, returning his eyes to her. "Is that what that necklace is? Does it determine whether you are or are not?"

"Is that important?" she returned in a lazy voice. She anticipated tears if she ever came to acknowledge it. She was Shugosha. One and only. Except, it just started to feel real to her. She didn't even question his knowledge. He should know as a guardian. Ayuka might have told him. She didn't care for the details.

"No," he said, rubbing his fingers together. "It is not."

Silence settled between them. His gaze constantly wandered back to her bruised face. Some of her skin had turned a slight pink after all the blood she lost when Ayuka slammed her head into the wall.

"Is it bad?" she asked finally, referring to her state. She hated how easy it was to feel safe in Madara's presence, especially not having noticed it until she had spoken.

"You have looked better."

"I have felt better," she whispered, crying again. Hesitantly, she looked up at him, seeking some comfort that might ease her pain. "Can I…trust you?"

She did not wait for an answer as she gave into her need to let go of all the emotional aches pulsing through her. She hoped his silence was a yes.

Madara stared at her wordlessly, at a loss.

She couldn't stop the tears once they had started and moved forward, reaching for him. He let her wrap her arms around him and pressed his hand against her back. She tightened her hold as the emotion intensified and cried with so much feeling it frightened her. Everything she set out to do, she failed. She came to the Sun Country for Madara, to take him to the Water Country and confront Hag, but she arrived and became her prisoner with him, if he was indeed telling the truth.

He gently pushed her from him after a moment, lowering his face to look into hers. She flinched as she shifted her body into a comfortable position and waited for him to say something as she wiped the tears and snot from her face. He made a face at her—a twist of his lips and a quirk of his brow was enough to tell her that she probably looked more a mess than she imagined, but he said nothing.

"Why did you come here?" he asked instead. "How did you manage to leave Kurata? It was teeming with Mikazuki and Uchiha, you could have been killed."

She shrank in her seat, bombarded by his questions and the lingering thought of what her actions had caused back home. She calculated her response, considering the possibility of a lie, but she swallowed down the lump in her throat. She fingered a loose threat along the seam of her shirt, hoping it distracted her from the tears.

"I…I came for you," she answered in a strangled whisper, as if it had fought its way from her throat to form on her lips. "I needed your help…" She lowered her eyes, brushing her cheek against her shoulder. The bruising made it a painful move despite how lightly it was. "But it no longer matters. All that I came here to do was for naught."

"For what reason?" he probed. "What was so important that you left the security of the Kuronuma clan? What did you expect to accomplish?"

On that note, she expected to accomplish much, but she ran the misfortune of running face first into a trap, one that cost her greatly.

"I wanted to help my clan," she said tremulously. "I had one task—_one_—and it took an instant to see it all fall apart." Her failure manifested into a shame she could not stomach. As Shugosha, she had few duties—ensure the safety of the artifacts by seeing they go to people worthy of protecting them, individuals that would not abuse of their gifts as Motou Ayuka had with the Fate Sphere, and keep the Kuronuma clan safe, through all means possible. She lost two artifacts in the Sun Country and she wasn't certain she could find them because she couldn't sense their resonance with the Time Sphere anymore and much of the Kuronuma clan had been slaughtered, her predecessor and cousin among the dead. "I wanted to protect them…I didn't want anyone to die, but…but it doesn't matter because they are either dead or dying." Frustration, sadness, and shame—it amazed her how easily they combined into one single suffocating emotion that constantly threatened to block her airways and drown the world in her tears. "I am here, yet the Mikazuki and Uchiha still raided Mt. Hyōga and killed my family. I can do nothing."

She covered her face with her hands, beginning to sob into them, repeating the words in her head. _I'm useless._ She did not deserve the title of Shugosha. Eito should have taken it. She knew he would have excelled at it. He was strong, despite his weak composition, and astute. The Kuronuma would not be dying if he were its Shugosha. He would not have been cornered into a marriage as she was. She believed he would have been perfect, so it was unfair that he had died so easily.

"You cannot know that, Mio," Madara said, his hand on her arm. "Whoever told you this must have lied because the Mikazuki and Uchiha were unable to push through the Kuronuma's defenses. They say it was impossible to raid the inner mountain."

"It is not impossible with Motou Ayuka whispering our secrets to them," she cried, sobbing painfully. "She told them how to circumvent our defenses. I didn't want to believe it…_I didn't_, but she showed me. She gave me the Fate Sphere—it would not lie to me. Why would it lie? I saw Hiryuu killing my great-grandfather."

She was nine again.

Nine and useless and alone. Utterly alone.

Stupid, too.

Oh, how stupid she felt.

Mio shrunk further into the ground, wanting to disappear. She didn't want to exist anymore. Not if this was going to be her life. A journey of consistent tragedy. Pulling her legs into her chest, she gave into her tears, crying inconsolably, for all the wrong in her life and for her dead. To the voices she would never hear again and all the advice they were supposed to pass onto her. To the smiles she would miss seeing during conversations they would never share again. To the faces of every person she had grown to love in such a short three-year period. To the Senju that had fought bravely alongside them and fallen, she remembered them fondly mingling with the Kuronuma shinobi around the fires.

She knew she would be unable to return to Mt. Hyōga—not to the horrific thought of having lost so many in that place or the shame of having failed them.

Madara loomed over her small body, taking her face into his hand and making her look at him directly. She saw nothing but a strange intensity in his eyes and the feeling of his artifact calling to her Time Sphere, his voice echoing in her head as the others once had. She froze, aware of the warmth in his hands seeping into her skin and the scent of saltwater, sand, and forest coming off him.

"I will protect you," he said. "I will protect you from your enemies and will take you from this place. I will return you home."

She sucked in a shuddering breath. Her mouth was dry, making it difficult to speak, but she was about to try when the shoji screens opened noisily. The sound startled her, made her heart jump and beat wildly.

Madara dropped his hold on her immediately and put some distance between them.

The two turned towards the entrance and Mio's heart skipped another beat at the sight of Izuna, whom she had not seen in almost three years. She saw him before her, water dripping from his wan face. His eyes were wild, his frustration palpable.

She felt their first encounter might turn unpleasant quickly and braced herself.

"What is this about you marrying the pig?" he snapped.

Madara's eyed his brother, perplexed, and then her with the same inquiring glance. "What?"

Izuna lifted a small scroll into view. "I went to force this report down Enki's throat to find him gloating about his engagement to _you_," he said, pointing at her. "What are you thinking? That man is a swine?"

"Is this true?" Madara demanded. "Have you promised yourself to him? Are you insane?"

"I had no choice," she said in a single breath. "They were—"

"You were too impulsive!" Izuna snapped. "You do not have the slightest idea of what you have done!"

She found herself desperate to make him understand. "If I did not agree, my clan would have been eradicated!" she explained. "Motou Ayuka made it clear that if I refused the proposition the Kuronuma clan would suffer. The Mikazuki and Uchiha have already taken so much from me, why should I let them take it all? It was desperate, but it was not impulsive." Her tremulous voice damped the strength she had tried putting into her words. "I can do nothing but this. I can do nothing but make this sacrifice to ensure the survival of the Kuronuma clan, so you cannot judge me for it."

"Enki does not want an alliance with the Kuronuma clan—"

"I know they want my artifacts," she interjected, then lowered her voice. She raked her fingers through her hair, pressing her back against the wall. "I know exactly what they want. I am not stupid."

"You can't agree to this," Izuna reasoned.

"I have no choice!" she shouted. "I will sacrifice everything for the safety of the Kuronuma clan! They are my family! I will do anything to stop their slaughter!" She pressed her body closer to the corner where she sat, averting her face and covering it with her hands. She did not want to endure the judgments, seeing as Izuna would have difficulty seeing her point of view. "I want to be alone."

"Mio, no…"

"We are going Izuna."

Madara stood with a heavy sigh and walked to the entrance to meet his brother. She peered at them between fingers and saw Madara clap his brother on the shoulder, steering him to the doors. Izuna stood reluctant, but after a moment, lowered his face and left without another word. She could hear them speak behind the closed doors. They were whispering loud enough for anyone nearby to hear.

"I am killing Enki myself—"

"We cannot attempt against Enki's life with Ayuka on the island," Madara said calmly. "You need to focus on your own mission. Takuei called for you, he has information that could help us."

She heard Izuna let out a frustrated sound. She listened carefully to the sound of his footsteps go and return. "Make her change her mind. We will find a way to help the Kuronuma clan, but it can't be this way. She can't marry that man."

"Would you do anything for the Uchiha clan?" asked Madara.

"Brother, don't—"

"Answer the question, Izuna."

Izuna did not answer. He stomped away until she could no longer hear his heavy footfalls. His silence spoke volumes. He would, and in that instant, he probably understood what she felt.

Once the quiet settled, it came rushing back. Her suffering racked through her body in increasing waves and it killed the promise she had left with Okimi. She promised to return with the Fate Sphere, she promised to protect them. She had been determined. It had fueled her journey to the Sun Country and it would be from that promise that she had drawn the most of her strength. She could no longer honor it, not unless she took a gamble in marrying Motou Enki and trust Ayuka would stop the Mikazuki from hunting her clan.

The weak, pitiful child returned to take her place. She was nine and in agony again, only it was not in silence and it was not two she lost.

She made a quiet transition from crying freely to staring blankly at the wall with a blank mind that allowed memories to come and go. She would cry when they came, shuddering violently, and would stop once the image left her. Everything would sometimes ache all at once and she would curl into herself and continue to weep.

* * *

><p>Izuna returned the following afternoon after several servants had come and gone, pestering her to eat and function as if she had not been mourning her dead family. He took a seat beside her and pressed a hand to her arm, nudging her carefully in an attempt to avoid hurting her.<p>

"Should I go?" he asked, a look of worry filled his features.

She shook her head and saw him smile, feeling sorry for her. She opened her mouth to apologize to him before coming clean about her deal with Madara. She wanted to tell him everything because he simply sat down beside her and tried to comfort her, despite the fact she had given him every reason to hate her as she had betrayed him in many ways. However, she found she could not speak.

"I know about everything, Mio," he said, as if he read her thoughts. "I know Madara made you follow Taiga."

She started to weep again.

He ran his hand over her fade, wiping away the tears, but more came to replace them. She rubbed them away with her palms and sniffled noisily as she shifted over the futon to sit. She cleaned the rest of her tears on the blanket. She imagined her face was puffy from the crying and for a moment, she felt embarrassed showing him such a shameful display.

"I thought you might be gone," she said quietly.

"I am leaving in a few hours," he admitted. "I'm traveling to the Waterfall Country, but I will return quickly. That is, unless you want to accompany me? Madara will help if I ask him to."

Mio smiled bitterly. She was too weak to travel after the state Ayuka left her in and the woman had stolen two of her artifacts. She couldn't leave even if she planned to abandon her artifacts because she was promised to the king of the country and she would need to stay true to her word for the sake of what remained of the Kuronuma clan. Even if she wanted to say yes, she couldn't.

"Why would you jeopardize your position asking me to do such a thing?" she asked tearfully.

"Mio, nothing can jeopardize our position here," Izuna assured her. "We have been on Ayuka's blacklist since she found out Madara released her precious Sanbi. She is determined to prove I put him up to it."

"Sanbi?"

"One of the nine legendary tailed beasts? Yes, Madara cut it free and it has since been a nightmare trying to recapture it," he went on.

Mio had forgotten how easy it was to speak to Izuna as she relaxed into her seat and listened to him tell her the story of when he first arrived to the Sun Country. He recounted feeling irritated by his brother's behavior and said it only exacerbated when Ayuka denied him access to see the king that he had attacked her in the process.

"I destroyed the castle tower," he assured her when she made a comment in disbelief. "They just finished rebuilding half a year ago."

She reached her hand to his and placed it atop his. Sitting with him, she felt it had been more than ten years since she had last seen him. She was reminded of how young they were when the Uchiha clan split into powers and how torn she was about leaving his side, forced to trust Madara that they were doing the right thing. They were young and foolish believing they could make a difference only that nothing changed.

Young, foolish, reckless. The three of them. They were. And here together, they were prisoners in some form.

They were older, but not much older. It felt like they were still fumbling through the darkness, running and running in search of a way out…for someone to help guide them, to pinpoint what they were supposed to be doing.

"You won't be gone long?" she asked, to confirm.

Izuna shook his head. "I will only stay two days in the Waterfall Country and return," he assured her. "Do not worry, Madara will protect you. I know he looks untrustworthy, but he isn't. He is one of your guardians, isn't he?"

Surprised, she nodded slowly. She didn't remember explaining the artifacts to them. "How do you know he is…?"

"Before leaving, Ito Takuei discovered the Motou clan was interested in the Kuronuma clan's artifacts. He learned each had a guardian and passed the information down to me once I came to take his post," he explained. "Your grandfather gave Madara the brush several months ago without explanation, but when he arrived here, Ayuka praised him for becoming guardian to the next Shugosha, which we eventually learned would be you. Ayuka is determined to steal all of your artifacts and she was upset you were short a few after you arrived—well, Madara told me later. I know Madara is supposed to protect you apart from safeguarding the artifact, so trust that he won't let you down. You are his friend after all."

Mio made a doubtful expression. "We are not friends."

The sound of clanking armor reached her ears as Madara stepped inside the room with a scowl. He looked ready to go off into battle. "Who'd want to be your friend?"

"Everyone wants to be my friend," Mio said frankly.

"That is because everyone wants to use you."

"Madara!" Izuna protested.

"Can you name a person that is your actual friend?" Mio challenged.

"I do not need friendships," Madara stated.

The bad medic appeared, puffing her cheeks out in irritation. Her long black hair wiping behind her as her expensive, flowing robes settled. "I thought I was your friend."

Madara glared at her. "You were eavesdropping again?"

Yayoi pouted. "I was bored!" she complained. "Besides, I wanted to say goodbye to Izuna before he left and see the famous Uchiha Mio again." The dark haired girl waved in her direction. "Welcome to my country, Mio. So, where's your grandfather?"

Izuna sighed. "Yayoi, please."

"I hope you mentioned me to him as you promised," Yayoi continued.

Mio made no such promise.

"Yayoi, you are embarrassing yourself," Madara said pointedly. "Leave now."

Yayoi frowned. "Honestly, if you do not wish me to speak to the Great Uchiha Mio, say it, I'll go." She huffed, picking up her dragging robes and walking to the door where she stopped, facing Mio. She grinned suddenly. "I also heard you are going to become my new stepmother. I hope you invite me to the ceremony, I would love to see you in some presentable clothes for once."

Mio felt her stomach drop. The mood turned sour. The bit of elation was gone.

"That is enough," Madara said, forcing her out of the room and shutting the doors.

Behind closed doors, she shouted, "Well it is the truth!"

Izuna excused himself as he made it to the door. "I'll talk to her."

Madara remained for a moment, staring her down oddly, before leaving the room.

Once she was alone, Mio took the opportunity to fish out Okimi's concoction from her things and taste it for the first time. She tasted the varied spices Okimi had mixed into the thick liquid and felt her stomach threaten to send it all out in disagreement to the odd mixture. It was worse than she could have ever imagined, but even so, she felt her eyes tear at the thought of Okimi scouring her herbs and spices for the ingredients in a rush to get it done. She imagined her doing this with the grace of an ox while attempting to keep it a secret from Enya, who no doubt knew, and be quiet for the sake of her sleeping twins.

Mio agreed to the proposition too late, but with it, she hoped she had at least saved the children and the civilians. Okimi's twins. Sako and Minako. Everyone who remained. She hoped Hashirama and Takuto were safe wherever they were and that the artifacts would keep them safe. She even sent good will to Tobirama, who despite his evident disapproval of her origins saw her to the Lightning Country—she hoped he survived the journey back, protected by the Universe Sphere. She thought of her grandfather, wondering what his reaction would be to the accepted marriage proposal. Would he say she did the right thing, or would he be angry? How disappointed would he be in her situation? Would he come save her?

She shook the questions from her head.

Mio returned to bed, lying down, and closed her eyes to dream of chaos.

And from the depths of her mind, she heard a voice rushing to meet her.

— _"You are where you should be. Now, you must survive."_ —

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: Is it just me or did this chapter read a little quick? I feel like I read it too fast before posting it.

I also feel like a terrible person.

Mio seriously needs to catch a break. This is getting insane!

Also, I apologize that Izuna and Mio didn't have their super, epic reunion (I mean you got the semblance of one here until Madara and Yayoi ruined it with their presences) because I am a terrible person. I want to say they will have beautiful conversations later, but I might be lying. We will see when he comes back from his trip. You are allowed to pitchfork me for sending him away at such a crucial time, especially because I'm rooting for him.

I am also sorry that this chapter wasn't out yesterday like it was supposed to be, but I ended up rewriting most of it. I was beating around the bush in the first draft and then said nope, scraped it, and this is what you got instead.

Thank you to these wonderful reviewers: **Loteva**, **HushedFable**, **Pianorabbit** (You had me cackling at "total pedoish moron." Oh how right you are. Enjoy your stay.), **Aries01xD**, **Tolly** (Thank you dear, you're amazing! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too!), and **RelocationAgent**.

Thank you everyone for reading!

So, is everyone ready to get skeeved out by Enki next chapter? I'm not. On the bright side, you get to find out how Ayuka plans to get her power hungry grips on the artifacts...but alas...it is pretty skeevy material. So maybe it is not as exciting.


	34. A Path in Ways 4

Chapter** 34** | A Path in Ways IV

* * *

><p>Kuronuma Shinya was the vision of perfect health when Motou Ayuka laid eyes on him. He leaned nonchalantly against the trunk of a barren magnolia tree by the fork in the road in the Frost Country. He came without weapons—a mocking gesture—and greeted her as if he were meeting an old friend. Ayuka brushed away a stray lock of hair from her face and approached with natural grace, stopping before him unable to contain her own elation.<p>

"It is unlike you to leave mid-festivities, Ayuka-san," said Shin with a playful grin. "I am sure the Motou clan has much to celebrate."

"Yes, indeed," replied Ayuka, nodding. "The festivities will run the length of a fortnight as soon as _heika_ makes the announcement to his subjects." She searched his smooth countenance for even a shadow of emotion, to confirm her victory against him, but his expression was unchanging. "I hope you are not expecting an invitation to the ceremony, we want to keep it intimate."

Shin waved his hand dismissively. "My granddaughter will not be short on marriage ceremonies," he replied. "I can easily attend one of the next four and find myself more welcomed."

"You are making assumptions again, Shinya," said Ayuka. "Why not come to your senses? You have lost. That girl is weak."

"That is your problem. You are quick to make rash judgments—impudent ones," Shin said, taking a firm step forward. "You forget, but the reason you targeted Mio was because you feared what she might become. She would pose a threat to your goals and you set out to weaken her." He breathed deeply, starting to wander away from her. "You had her parents killed, you made sure the Uchiha found her before I could retrieve her, you ordered Uchiha Eijiro killed to ensure a revolt among the Uchiha clan, which I will admit turned out better than you anticipated. You solidified an alliance between the Uchiha and Mikazuki and made it impossible for Mio to settle in the Iron Country until you made sure Uchiha Konoe captured her."

He clapped his hands in felicitations, looking straight at her.

"Do you enjoy counting your loses, Shinya?" she asked, smiling.

He laughed delightedly. "Loses?" he questioned. "Do you think these were myloses? Think, Ayuka-san, I was perfectly capable of reaching Mio before Hiryuu and Sachiyo were even in range to sense my presence. I could have easily arranged for Mio to do her Strength Training hidden from your spies. I was able to ban her from leaving Kurata when Konoe caught up to her. I could have taken her from Mt. Hyōga before the Mikazuki and Uchiha attacked. What do you think I have been doing all this time? Vacationing?"

Ayuka felt the smile slowly leave her lips.

"Open your eyes, Ayuka-san," Shin continued. "Mio is not weak. She has never been weak. She endures, Ayuka-san. That is how she lives. She survives."

"I cannot wait to see you dead," Ayuka said, eyes darkening.

"Since you came all this way to goad," he began, the light dancing in his pale eyes, "I will leave you with a piece of advice. Keep an eye on Motou Enki." He smiled. "We wouldn't want him dead before he even has a chance to marry the Shugosha."

"Enki's life is not in danger," she assured him.

She saw Shin's clone disappear in a cloud of white smoke and felt the anger in her start to boil over. She did not let it show in her face. No, the bastard was probably watching from somewhere near. She turned down the path where she had emerged, humiliated by the fact that she planned to go back. Returning to the Sun Country would be her best course of action. She wanted no failures.

* * *

><p>The announcement came days later in the presence of Motou, Mikami, Ito, and Uchiha shinobi, the members of the Sun Temple and the civilians that lived within the castle's walls—either in the servant's quarters or in one of the many luxurious rooms reserved for the king's concubines—were also present. Mio stood beside the king in deep crimson robes made of fine silk and wore a mask of ignorant joy as her husband-to-be told his subjects that he would take the Kuronuma clan's Shugosha as a bride. The news was quickly followed by a rancorous celebration that took place in a large hall with food and expensive wine.<p>

Mio sat surrounded by men that made her uncomfortable and tolerated their inappropriate conversation as she scratched at her skin, hating the feel of the fabrics on her flesh. Everyone that approached her had one of two intentions, to leer at her before asking about her womanly charms or to touch the artifact that made her Shugosha. She spent the entire evening aware of the inevitability of marriage to an undesirable man, who had no qualms palming the servant girl in her presence.

She searched the room for Madara. Ayuka had sent him as far back as possible when he had attempted to sit at her side, reminding him that his first duty was entertaining the country's princess, Yayoi. She saw him sitting at the beautiful priestess's side calmly sipping at a cup of sake. Yayoi was talking animatedly, more so than usual, which led Mio to believe she had succeeded in reaching inebriation like everyone else in the room.

The merriment was palpable, thick and suffocating in the air. Beautiful women in elaborate kimonos performed fluid dances as entertainment, enchanting the men with the way they played with their bright fans. A group of shinobi and priests began to play a game that made no sense to Mio that would only ensure they ended the night drunk. Some men snuck away with women, all full of laughter, as if they were in the midst of a cat and mouse game. Ayuka sat surrounded by people that reveled in her company and enjoyed her conversations. The king's son, Ikki, poked at his appetizers and observed the room in silence. Nobody spoke to him. It seemed nobody truly acknowledged that he was sitting among them, but he saw them and she could only imagine his thoughts.

The room was alive with noise. Motou Enki was guzzling down his alcohol with a woman on his lap, one he kept a tight arm around and one that glared at her when their eyes met. She stared at the untouched food in front of her and looked at Madara again. This time, their eyes met and she saw him tap the sake bottle before engaging one of the Uchiha near him.

She lowered her eyes to the sake bottle sitting on her table. She drank until the day became a blur and someone decided it best to remove her from the festivities when she fell asleep in her seat and started to snore.

Mio woke up the following morning with a splitting headache and a sensitivity to light. The servants came to wake her with breakfast, intent on helping her dress. She ignored them until they left her alone. She stayed buried under her blankets eating cucumber slices for breakfast and listening to the sounds outside the window and in the hallway until somebody entered the room.

Madara arrived to escort her to a gathering. He waited outside while she tugged on something comfortable. She splashed cold water on her face and patted it dry before leaving.

After she stepped out, she voiced her curiosities. "What is the purpose of the meeting?"

"To goad."

"Is that what he does?"

"Yes." Madara glimpsed at her, looking down to her sphere. "Can they take that from you?"

"No," she answered. "The only way it would leave my side would be if a new Shugosha emerged, but even then, it would be the same problem. The sphere will continue belonging to someone else and that someone is the only person that can use it."

"What do you suppose they want with it?"

"What?" she repeated. "That is the thing about the artifacts. Their purpose was lost after the first Shugosha died, but if anyone had an idea what they might do, it would be Ayuka. She has been a guardian since the first Shugosha, but I doubt she would tell us anything." Musashi had told her a story long ago about the first Shugosha creating the artifacts in an attempt to stop the Ten Tails, but it had been speculation on his behalf. He later had told her that he had had almost a century to figure out a reason and that he had only come up with that story.

Madara stepped in front of her as they entered the castle's stone courtyard. "As long as you keep the sphere, they cannot kill you?"

"No," she said. "If they kill me, the artifacts will be useless. The only reason they can retain their special properties is because my chakra is keeping them alive."

He drew the old calligraphy brush from his belt and stared down at it. "So that is why I can sense you through it?" he questioned. "It's had your chakra signature for the last couple of weeks."

"Since I became Shugosha," she said, nodding. She did not see the point to the conversation if he was trying to make one. "But what does that matter?"

"You can make demands," he told her. "You don't have to sit in that room all day and wait until Enki or Ayuka want to have you paraded around the castle. You might not be able to do anything for the remaining Kuronuma, but you can do more than agree to an alliance here."

Madara spotted a Motou shinobi and a priest appearing from behind a building, ready to cross the courtyard, and he started to walk away. Mio went after him, looking over her shoulder to see the two watching them pass. To live under constant judgment would be a stifling thing, but that seemed to be a part of the agreement she made. However, Madara made a valid point. Conceding to the marriage was not the only thing she was capable of doing. She didn't have to be the receptor for everyone's pity.

Mio had been stuck in between sadness and acceptance, where it had been much easier to collapse into a heap and continue crying than to open her eyes and see that there were survivors, and that for them, she needed to survive here.

She needed that push, but as she trailed behind Madara in silence, she swore she would not let her emotions consume her to that brink again. If it happened again and there was nobody around, who would save her? Nobody. She would have to do it herself.

"Thank you, Madara," she said, breathing in the crisp morning air. "I will make sure my stay here is a comfortable one."

Catching the sarcasm in her tone, he smirked.

The meeting partook in the upper landing of a three-floor building nestled closer to the mountain's face and, apart from the king, it included the presence of Ayuka, in representation of the Sun Temple, Mikami Seiko, the auburn-haired leader of the Mikami clan who was not convinced she was the right Shugosha, and an Ito shinobi, standing in for Izuna. She was surprised to see Taiga, who came accompanied by a male shinobi with maroon hair wearing a sleeveless shirt that revealed a carving on his bicep—the slashed crescent of the Mikazuki clan, an insignia she was very familiar with. Yayoi was also in attendance, standing beside Ayuka as if she were awaiting orders.

Mio and Madara were the last to enter.

Enki called her forward so that she might stand beside him as he began his meeting. He spoke of increasing the number of shinobi patrolling the poor villages surrounding the coastline behind the mountains as sightings of the Sanbi have become more frequent. In the list of changes he was having implemented, she gathered in his speech that Taiga had spent the last several days in the southern portion of the island with the Mikazuki stationed there, devising a plan to end many revolts orchestrated by what remained of Enki's deceased brother's army and the Sone clan. She heard the war had been ongoing and that no matter how many Sone and enemy Motou shinobi were taken down, dozens emerged to take their place. The Ito shinobi offered Enki information about the state of the Earth Country, which turned out to be another of the Motou clan's allies, making them a daunting enemy to have.

"How are the expeditions, Madara?" asked Enki.

"Well," Madara said curtly.

"The Sanbi is of great importance, Madara," Ayuka began, the first time she had spoken in the length of the gathering. Her silence had been unnerving, but not as much as her eyes when they fell upon Mio's face as she spoke. "We need to harness its power for the near future."

"The beast will be captured," Madara assured her, annoyed possibly by the doubtful look in her eyes.

Ayuka turned to Enki. "Why not have another assigned to Mio's care?" she asked. "Madara should remain focused on the Sanbi's capture. He does not have the time to watch both Yayoi and Mio."

Enki gave her a disapproving glance. "Then, I will leave my daughter's care in your hands, Kuugo," he said, looking at the Mikazuki shinobi beside Taiga. The Mikazuki nodded. "And further expeditions will wait until after the wedding ceremony."

"When is the ceremony?" asked Taiga, a question that had also been on her mind.

"A fortnight? Perhaps two?" Enki decided with a frown, then he gave a hearty laugh. "Perhaps, I'll marry her tonight."

"That would be impossible to do, Mio must be purified before such a ceremony takes place," Ayuka said firmly.

"Then have it arranged." Enki dismissed them all, but as she attempted to go, he called, "Not you Mio."

Madara halted too.

"You may go," said Enki, gesturing him out the door.

Madara made eye contact with her for a second before following through with Enki's orders. Enki waited for everyone to exit the room before guiding her through another door into a small sitting room. He stared her down in disapproval before offering a mug of warm tea.

"I have given you new clothes to wear, why do you refuse them?" he asked edgily.

"I am not interested in luxuries," she said courteously.

"All women enjoy luxuries."

"I do not."

"You will start. In due time, you will be queen alongside me, and you will need to look a part." Enki settled into a seat. "What are you waiting for? Sit."

Mio sat on a cushion across him. She set aside the mug of tea without having tasted it.

The older man frowned. "I meant closer. Beside me."

She moved to sit to his right, feeling her skin begin to crawl long before he ran his knuckles down her cheek. She stilled. "We have not had the opportunity to speak in private," he began lowly. "You have lovely skin, alabaster, unlike your Kuronuma clan. This is the Uchiha blood in you. Uchiha women are quite beautiful." She felt the small hairs in the back of her neck begin to rise in repulsion as he leaned forward, his breath brushing against her skin. "You look most like your grandmother. She was an exceedingly beautiful woman."

He toyed with a piece of her hair, his eyes dipping low. "You are lacking in areas, but you will do. It is not every day I am permitted to marry a Shugosha." He moved closer and she stiffened. His finger ran down her neck and it curled under the collar of her shirt. She felt his mouth near her face, lips ghosting over it. Her insides protested. "You are beautiful."

Before his mouth touched any inch of her, she pushed against him, using every bit of willpower to force down the repulsion. "I will not tolerate such behavior," she blurted, getting to her feet and holding herself. "This is inappropriate. We are not yet married. I cannot accept your advances, heika-sama."

He laughed at her. "It makes no difference, child, you will end up in my bed regardless." He patted his lap. "So, come, sit."

She wanted to vomit. "No," she said forcefully. "I won't. Respect my wishes to stay chaste until after the ceremony. I refuse to dishonor my family."

The amusement left his expression, fury came to replace it. "If I want to have you, I will have you."

He made an attempt to reach for her, but she moved away. "You dare so much as put a hand on me and I will break it."

"And endanger the Kuronuma clan?" He struck a chord and saw that he had. "My only desire is to see that no other man has touched you."

She never thought of other men or touching. She had been completely oblivious to that whole aspect of nature. The only crush she had ever had had been Takuto and that had not last long. She had focused herself on moving forward and growing stronger, not finding someone to kiss in the dark, so it angered her that this man had made such an assumption.

"You can't hold that over my head forever," she said, feeling the urge to smother him in his sleep.

"Those that remain are only alive because I asked the Mikazuki clan to stop," he said, "and I can easily ask them to hunt each and every one if you refuse me."

She swallowed bile. "I have conditions," she told him. If she could not avoid the situation, she would find a way to benefit from it. "If this is what you wish, I want to be more comfortable in this country."

A smile split his lips, proud of his victory. "I will indulge you. Tell me what will make you more comfortable."

"I want to be able to roam the island freely—"

"Allowed, but there will be restrictions. What else?"

"I want to be involved in all meetings in this country, whether strategic or political. If you wish to set a proper alliance with the Kuronuma, then you must treat me as a representative of them, as Madara is for the Uchiha clan and Mikami Seiko is for his clan," she said quickly. "The Kuronuma is comprised of ninjutsu and taijutsu specialists and if you intend to conquer in the mainland, it would be prudent to strengthen your army with us as your first line of offense. I can provide you military insight and advice on further movements in and outside of this country. I know strategy and I know the spy networks in and out." She paused for a breath. "If you want me as a bride this badly, then make use of my strength and knowledge. I am not a girl that wound up with the title of Shugosha, I earned it."

She set out to earn it. A part of her wanted to deserve it, believe that she could do more with it than become this man's wife because it was that or the lives of her clan.

"You need not worry for such things," he said, prepared to dismiss her second request.

"I want to be involved in the affairs of this country," she replied. "I will not sit beside you an ignorant queen."

He shrugged. "Very well, do as you will. Anything else?"

"To see that you are staying true to your word, I want to reestablish communications with the Kuronuma clan by asking for your permission to allow one of my own to come here to take care of correspondences between myself and what remains of the clan," she finished. "I want to have someone I trust at my side."

Enki stood. "I will have it arranged," he said, stopping at the entrance. "I will come to your rooms tonight."

Mio could not get out of the building fast enough. She returned to her rooms and poured fresh water into a basin. She soaked a cloth in water and soap, scrubbing her cheek and neck red in an attempt to get the sensation of his touch from her flesh. When she remembered how close she had come to feel his mouth on her, she vomited into a cleaning bucket one of the servants accidentally left behind.

She washed her mouth out and exhaled, starting to tug off her clothes when the door opened. She tugged her shirt back down as Madara entered and shut the shoji behind him. He walked to her briskly.

"What did he want from you?"

Mio shook her head. "I'd rather not speak of it," she said, "but he has given me permission to roam the island, participate in meetings, and have a Kuronuma with me to communicate with the others."

"Did he want anything in return?"

"Yes, he wanted something in return," she snapped, unconsciously holding herself.

"What did want?" he asked, but she sensed he had an idea. "Mio, tell me."

"He wants to make sure I am pure," she bit out reluctantly, averting her eyes. "Tonight."

"I'll have this taken care of."

With that, Madara exited.

Mio was left to wait. A servant came in to tidy up the room before lunch was brought up to her. She couldn't think of eating and merely picked at the food to make it seem like she ate some of it. She had a scalding bath nearing sundown and dressed in three layers of clothes as she started making plans of what she would do, feeling Madara might not follow through with taking care of the problem. In reality, she didn't understand how he would get it done. He might be able to prolong it for a night or two, but it wouldn't be long before Enki visited her in the middle of the night to claim what he was promised and she would have to bear it for the sake of her clan. Thinking of it made her sick all over again and impatient.

* * *

><p>Yayoi intercepted him on his way to the castle tower.<p>

"Not now, Yayoi," he said, pushing past her. When he had told Mio to make demands, he had considered the situation developing into this, but had been relying on Enki being too power-hungry to accept without striking up a bargain.

"What is the rush?" asked Yayoi, following him persistently. "Going to find father? Did he do something? Oh, tell me he did something! I want to rub it in his face during dinner! Did you hear he wants to sit Ikki and me down for a private dinner with Mio tomorrow? How absurd? He wants us to acknowledge her as our new stepmother. It's appalling!"

"Are you not the one that wanted to become Mio's grandmother?" Madara remarked.

"That's different," she sputtered, and in typical Yayoi fashion, she elaborated as if he had asked. "I would make an exemplary addition to the Kuronuma clan. I am beautiful and smart—don't scoff, Madara, I am a far cry from stupid—and I'm beautiful, wait, did I already say that? I am beautiful to an ethereal degree, then. I could offer her my wisdom—why is it that you are not taking this serious? I'm serious."

She ran ahead to block his path after she caught him eyeing her strangely, disturbed by her words. He stopped abruptly. "Do you think Mio cares for your wisdom?"

Yayoi averted her gaze, taking an obstinate stance. "She should."

Madara walked on after suggesting Yayoi to return to the temple and pray to her golden gods. She ignored him and pursued him further.

"I will stop talking about Mio then," she decided. "I know you hate it when anyone so much as mentions her name."

She was right. He never quite liked anyone to say her name. It had started when they were children, living in the countryside with his grandmother, after Hiryuu had told him Mio posed a danger to them all—to his family—and he had decided that when people stopped speaking of her, she stopped existing. He had held plenty against her because he had no understanding of the situation that surrounded her and it had been an adventure to realize that she had not been the problem, but the circumstances that bound her to the title of Shugosha and the nine other artifacts the Kuronuma clan had tried to keep secret.

Since then, it had become a habit—a bad one at first and one that caused misunderstanding—but it had evolved into one that had made sense. Mio had become an object, not a girl and no less a human being. To them, she had no value save the Time Sphere she had inherited and if they could not see her as a person, then they had no right to speak of her. If they had never met her, then they could not say her name.

The habit had no doubt worsened with her present.

"But she is the reason you're going to see father, is it not?" Yayoi persisted. "Has she started to cry again? The servants said that is all she has done: cry and sleep. How many tears does she possess? You know, from what Izuna described her as, I had imagined her a little different, personality-wise. She's a little boring."

He let Yayoi talk until she grew frustrated with being ignored and turned back to the temple.

Madara walked into the tearoom as Enki dismissed three shinobi, one from his clan and the other two from the Mikazuki and Mikami clan. Enki smiled amicably at the sight of him. The room possessed minimal decoration and served for the occasional tea ceremony. Enki spent his time alone within it, which made his suspicions rise at the sight of others. It was odd to see one person, three was confirmation he was planning something deplorable.

"There is no reason to explain yourself," said Enki. "She has told you. I never imagined you to be too close." He squinted at him. "What have you to say?"

"Come near her and I'll kill you," he said simply.

The anger surfaced quickly in Enki's face. "You threaten me?" he bit out. "Ayuka warned that I should beware of the youngest, but he is gone. Do I need to be wary of you too?"

"Be wary of all men," Madara said cryptically, watching his eyes narrow. "Mio is everything." With a smirk spreading over his lips, he finished, "Excuse me."

He turned to leave, but heard Enki scoff. "Do you think I care for the attentions of a novice?" Laughter escaped him. "That girl needs to be trained. She needs to learn how to satisfy a man."

Madara walked away. Enki wanted to get a rise out of him, as always.

* * *

><p>Mio was scratching her skin raw when Madara arrived once night had fallen. She jumped to her feet, meeting him where he stood, searching his face for answers. Her heart pounded in trepidation. "What happened?"<p>

He looked down at her reddened arm and back to her quizzically, catching her hand before she continued to scratch at it more. "If he appears here, I will kill him," he told her. "I'm staying the night."

"Staying the night?" she asked, facing difficulties with the thought. "You? Today?"

"He will not come," he said, walking inside, "but he might out of spite. Ask the servants for extra bedding when they come."

"Did you threaten to kill him?"

Madara shot her a look. "Stay here. There is something I want to show you when I return."

He definitely threatened to kill him.

"Okay."

He left.

Mio sat and waited for him.

When Madara returned, he guided Mio out of mountain where the castle had been built and took her far to the edge of a forest in a clearing that stood between the border between Enki's territory and what once belonged to the enemy. The entire time, Mio worried the weather would take a turn for the worse as the sky thundered and lightning flashed out at sea, the dark clouds started rolling in.

"The priests and priestess of the Motou clan are known for their kinjutsu," he began, moving through trees that stood too close together. "They had been tampering with the southern part of this forest using the Sanbi."

"The Sanbi?" she asked, following him between the trees.

"I think they made a sea of black water with some form of forbidden technique."

Mio hurried after him. Delving further towards the heart of the forest, she began to notice a change in the environment. The gnarled roots of trees looked brittle, the trunks easy to break, the branches snapped easily under her foot, and the leaves were discolored. The forest floor was drying, the soil unusable for growth, and it had nothing to do with winter settling in.

As they moved closer to an area radiating heat, she saw the trees wrapped in white and a web of wooden talisman strung from wire clanking gently in the wind. She singled out one wire and followed it to the trunk of a tree where it was wrapped around carefully near a barricade of rotting wood and metal.

The temperature coming from beyond the barrier had intensified since she first felt it. She glanced at Madara, who was struggling to remain still on level ground.

She moved to a tree and scaled it after making sure it would hold. Madara did the same with one beside it. The view from above exposed the black, heated surface bubbling and releasing steam. She saw the presence of rotting wood and human bones, the rotted flesh attributed to the pungent scent. It was unlike the rivers running through Kurata in the sense that it did not release clouds of steam capable of burning off flesh or had been tainted by the dead. The rivers there were scentless and the heat was contained to a short distance. It remained without disturbing its natural surroundings, unlike this that seem to be feeding off the forest.

It worried her. Black water was not supposed to exist out of Kurata.

She sank down into a seat and removed her shoes.

"What are you doing?" asked Madara.

"I'm going in."

"That killed several of my men! It burned the skin off their bones!"

Madara jumped to her side, but she went on to roll up her pants. She stood and tugged off one of the layers of her top, pulling the long shirt over Madara's head and tying it over half of his face.

"You should not inhale the steam. It could damage your respiratory system."

He took her by the arm as she made an attempt to jump over the barricade. "And you?"

"I trained to be in these conditions," she told him. She touched her right earring, infusing the Black Sphere with a bit of chakra to activate it. "If the Motou clan made black water, I should be able to mold it."

Mio pulled out of Madara's hold and jumped over the wall.

As soon as she landed into the thick, gooey substance, she keeled over.

"Mio!"

Madara leap to the wall.

Her chakra was being siphoned from her body and as it spread across the black sea, it rippled and the heated surface rose from her calf to above her knee. The temperature increased with it. She pressed her hands to the surface and attempted to mold it with her chakra alone, but it only drained her strength more.

The glow of the Time Sphere caught her attention and without warning, the light spread into a ball of glass that surrounded her, expelling the rising water levels. She fell as soon as it formed, slipping on the goo that remained, and scrambled onto her feet, finding it difficult to stay standing in the spherical shape. She turned around fully.

Madara stood atop the wall, looking as shocked as she felt.

She pressed her hand to the cold surface and stared down at her sphere, the mist had turned a violent red and the solid object it hid inside its whirlwind of pale mist sat almost completely visible. Its size reminded her of an acorn, but its shape was different and its color as well—it looked like a seed. A seed for a giant tree or something of the sort.

She touched all around her, starting to wonder how she would get out of the sphere's protection, before her depleted chakra caught up to her. She sank to her knees. The forest was starting to spin and her vision to darken at the edges of her vision. She steadied herself, arms spread to touch either side of her.

Mio rose, ready to jump. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, the protection dropped, allowing her a split second to leap to the wall before the black water came crashing all around the spot where she was standing. She barely made it to the wall, grabbing onto it by her arms only and attempting futilely to climb on before Madara appeared to pull her up and off the wall. He hoisted her up over his shoulder with an arm wrapped around her waist and put a great distance between themselves and the barricade.

He dropped her in the middle of a dirt path. She barely managed to stay on her feet, teetering over to fall, when he seized her by the arms.

"That was dangerous!" he snapped. "You could have died!"

She winced, focusing her vision on his face, surprised by his reaction. "Oh."

"Oh?" he continued. "Is that all?"

She was too busy letting the heat rush to her cheeks to formulate a response. She stared at him in silent amazement.

"Say something!"

"…I'm sorry."

His eyebrows knit together, confusion dawning in his eyes. "Why are you apologizing?"

"I don't know."

Madara looked down at his hands and released her. "Don't do that again."

"I won't."

She waited for him to go, but he didn't budge until she started walking.

They returned to the castle completely soaked, the storm raging all around them. Rain battered down to the ground, the sky was covered in dark clouds that flashed with lightning and roared with thunder.

Mio went straight to the bathhouse attached to the back of her building for a quick bath and a soak in boiling water to fight off the cold. She stared at the irritated skin of her legs while soaking and thought back to the black sea in the forest, concerned for what it meant for the Temple residents. What reason did they have to make a copy of the rivers in Kurata? Except it was only like the rivers in appearance and temperature. The rivers in Kurata did not drain chakra upon contact.

She hurried up to her rooms in a robe after a long soak in boiling water and changed into a comfortable pair of white trousers and a thin, loose black shirt before running out. She zipped past the servants carrying in her lunch and the extra bedding she asked for at Madara's request and bounded down the stairs to Madara's room. She calmed herself before knocking on the shoji's wooden frame.

"Who is it?" he called.

"Mio."

She heard noise from inside, heavy footfalls, before the door slid open noisily. He stared down at her, his body barring her entrance. "What is it?"

She peered inside, seeing Yayoi seated inside staring back at her.

Mio shifted her weight. "I wanted to talk," she admitted. "I will come by later."

Yayoi stood, walking up behind Madara and squinting at her arms. "You shouldn't be wearing a shirt like that. Everyone will talk about the bruises," she pointed out. "Where did you get those bruises?"

Mio looked down at the tiny bruises on her arms. They were appearing where Madara's fingers had once been digging into her arms after he had seized her so abruptly. She was as easy to bruise as her grandfather, even the slightest bit of pressure was enough to leave a mark.

"They are nothing. I bruise easily."

"Father might start thinking you enjoy—"

"Yayoi, go," Madara interrupted.

Mio was happy he had. She didn't want to hear Yayoi finish any sentence concerning her father.

She pouted. "Just don't come to me when Mio-sama bores you to death."

Yayoi stepped out after Madara moved out of the way. He waved her inside after looking down both ends of the hallway, but she stayed in place. "You should not have asked her to leave," she said, sensing she interrupted something about to happen. "You should have finished what you started."

"What?"

"With Yayoi," she continued. "I feel I have become a strain in your relationship with her. She never seems to have you to herself and she looks at me strangely when I pass. I do not want her to misunderstand our friendship."

"Yayoi simply does not like you," he deadpanned. "You are the one misunderstanding."

She blinked. "Oh? She doesn't?"

"Are you blind?"

"Are you intimate?" she blurted as soon as the thought formed in her head.

"Who are you to ask that of me?"

"My cousin told me some women tend to grow a strong attachment to a man after they have been intimate." That day had been an educational experience for Mio and she had had seeing Tobirama naked to thank for sparking the conversation. However, Okimi had great insight in relationships and Mio had been determined to learn her ways. "Yayoi is quite attached to you."

"What have you been learning on that mountain?"

"Everything."

"My dealings with Yayoi are nothing of the—I don't need to explain myself to you!" he snapped.

Mio smiled with a shrug, feeling a strange smothering feeling starting to wrap its hands around her. "Can I come in?"

"Just get in already."

She walked in and slid the door behind her. She plopped down in front of his window to listen to the rain fall heavily to the ground. He sat at her side. She glanced at him. The silence between them was bizarre.

He caught her looking. "Do you plan to marry him?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "I don't have a choice."

"If your clan was not in danger?"

"No. I would have just focused on retrieving the Fate Sphere." She sensed that would not have turned out too differently. Ayuka would remain insanely strong and Mio would stay at a disadvantage. However, she would not have to marry Enki. She would not have had to experience that horrible advance he made earlier.

"Izuna loves you," he said without preamble.

He commanded her attention with his words. She didn't believe him. It had been too long. That idea had been lost to her, a part of her had come to terms with it on the mountain, although she had held onto some hope.

"What?"

"I was rarely kind to you as we were growing," he said. "I judged you from what I heard and did not think you capable of much anything other than manipulation, but you are more than the opinions formed by a child. Izuna has never doubted your character and I can't make decisions for him in this matter, I can only accept them."

She wondered if he was apologizing in his own strange way and if it was supposed to feel like the air was being wrung from her lungs. She continued to listen, waiting for some explanation to the awful way she felt.

"Ayuka said you would only bring him death—that you are cursed—but I am starting to see that she wanted me to become an obstruction to keep you from accepting Izuna to become Enki's wife."

Her heart started to hammer in anticipation. "Is that why you asked me to reject him?" The hurt in Izuna's face had been painful for her to endure without admitting her lies. She had wanted to apologize repeatedly until he saw she did not love Taiga. "I felt terrible for it."

"Izuna loves you. If you love him, accept him. Marry my brother."

She cursed her fate. The words she believed would never leave Madara's mouth had. He wanted her to marry his brother. She could imagine her life with Izuna perfectly. It would be peaceful and happy. She trusted Izuna. She cared for him. She could see a life of laughter and perfect harmony.

The weight of reality brought her back.

"If I had a choice, I would," she said slowly.

"We have time," he said. "You can think up a plan."

"Why do I have to think of a plan? I have to meet a dressmaker tomorrow!" she told him. "I have never met a dressmaker!"

"Where do you think your clothes come from?"

"You and my grandfather," she replied. He arched an eyebrow. "I don't like new clothes. I once had my cousin wear all of mine for weeks before I took them back."

She had been devastated when she'd been given new robes and the shiny adornments from Enki to wear around casually. She'd hated wearing them and had only worn them after Ayuka appeared to threaten her into them, criticizing her by saying she had been acting like a child. There was something about new clothes she didn't like, perhaps it was the fabric or the smell. She remembered her mother considered it a bad habit and berating her father for indulging her. Sachiyo on the other hand, found it curious and useful, and always passed down Madara's clothes because she was usually too tall for Izuna's.

She had since tossed all the new clothes in a pile to have the servants wash them until they were comfortable to wear.

"Get used to the treatment, you're about to become queen of a country and nobody wants a ruler in hand-me-downs."

"You know the Sun Country better than I do," she said forcefully, resting her head on his shoulder. She folded her legs, listening to the heavy rainfall. She shifted until she felt comfortable. "You should be the one thinking up a plan."

"You need to focus, Mio."

She frowned, sinking further into her seat. She scratched the inside of her wrist. She shifted slightly so her back was pressed against his arm completely.

"Why are you getting closer?" he asked suddenly.

A yawn escaped her. She doubted she could process a proper thought. The enervation that came from having had her chakra drained caught up with her a second time. Madara was also surprisingly warm. Near heat was where she had felt safest. It reminded her of the hot springs in Kurata where she had done most of her meditation and the sweltering fires the clan built during the harsher storms to keep them warm.

"Mio."

Madara called her name, but his voice sounded distant, like it came from a mile away. She felt arms wrap around her neck and they dragged her down—pulled under the surface of freezing water that drowned her lungs.

Mio opened her eyes, readjusting to the familiar setting of her room and the presence of several blankets thrown atop her body smothering her in heat. Everything felt to have happened an instant ago—she was awake and then she was asleep. It was like blinking, but she saw that she had slept. She was buried under the covers and hearing voices nearby.

"The servants are starting to speculate." She recognized Ayuka among those in her room, not by her, voice, but the presence of her artifact. "She is seen more often at your side than the king, to whom she is engaged, not to mention that it is inexcusable that you have been staying in her room. If her reputation is sullied—"

"It won't matter," came Madara's reply. "The king plans to marry her regardless."

She heard Yayoi huff. "I don't understand the appeal."

"Mio's appeal is one of power," Ayuka said, as if reminding her apprentice. "She has already exercised that power over Enki. There is a Kuronuma coming to the island because of it."

Like a bird trapped in a cage, her heart fluttered as if it were trying to escape. She listened carefully, hoping to hear when she should expect the Kuronuma to arrive.

Yayoi _tsk_ed. "A Kuronuma? When?"

"Another couple days," said Ayuka.

"And the Kuronuma clan?" asked Madara. "Are the Mikazuki clan holding them hostage?"

"No. The remaining Kuronuma are protected by the Iron Country, the Senju and the Uzumaki clan." The new voice belonged to Taiga. "They managed to escape somehow and now, even if the Mikazuki clan wanted, they can't do anything but sit and wait until they aren't as guarded."

Protected. That single word made Mio's heart squeeze in hope for their survival…and her own.

"Who is the Kuronuma?" asked Madara.

"Another guardian," replied Ayuka with a hint of humor.

_Another guardian?_ She never chose guardians apart from Hashirama and Tobirama. _Did Okimi's mirror choose another guardian? That's impossible…_

"So what's wrong with her?" Taiga asked. "I've never seen her sleep this long before."

"Poor health," said Ayuka. "The artifact takes too much of what she does not have. If she intends to live, she will have to find her successor. For now, its best she continues to rest. She won't be needed until her marriage." Her footsteps drifted and through the opening in the blankets, Mio was able to see the flutter of her robes as she moved. "Come, Yayoi, we must prepare for the purifying ceremony." She paused at the entrance. "If she wakes, send her to me. I have much to explain to her at the temple."

Taiga remained in the room a moment longer, but he seemed to have moved closer to her.

"Have you nothing to do?" asked Madara.

"Much," Taiga answered, "but perhaps, you should start to listen to warnings."

"I don't have to listen to Ayuka's orders," he said. "I don't trust anyone on this island, least of all you."

"Stay away from Mio."

Taiga's tone was forceful.

"You do not choose who is near her," Madara said. "She is not yours, nor will she ever be."

"Yet."

A cold chill ran down her spine. The promise in his voice made for an uncomfortable situation and she cursed her stupidity. How could she ever think of agreeing to become Taiga's under any circumstance? She had done it for the sake of his wife, but he didn't seem to care whether Sako was with another man or not. Though, at times, his body language had confused her, he had not openly requested she enter an intimate relationship with her—not like Enki, who attempted to do so in explicit detail. But she did not see any benefit to the agreement she made, which made her wonder why Taiga suggested it in the first place.

She didn't want to think about it.

Taiga's footsteps disappeared down the hall.

Madara shut the shoji screens and turned as she sat up, shoving the blankets off her.

"How long was I sleeping?" she asked, ignoring all other pestering urges to question everything discussed in the short conversation she overheard.

"Two days."

She set her hands to her lap, stunned. "And before that?" she asked slowly. "How long?"

"Three."

She knew that she had been dropping in bed exhausted as soon as the sun went down, sleeping well over the usual amount of hours she had grown accustomed to and still she'd wake with aching muscles and a heavy head. She understood her condition and her need to rest, but for the short time she had been awake and wandering around the castle, she had been able to stabilize the production of black water in her body. She had anticipated it might take another day or two before she had become healthy.

"How much did you hear?" asked Madara, pouring water into a mug and held it out for her.

She took it with a small, appreciative smile. "Enough," she said. "I am relieved that the Kuronuma clan is safe, but I fear that this is only a momentary lapse of peace. And if we plan to—"

Madara covered her mouth. He pointed to his ear and then jutted his chin in the direction of the door. Someone listened. She offered him a small nod and he removed his hand from her face. "You should rest."

"Did Ayuka not want to see me?" Mio began to stand only to realize Madara had as well and that they were standing face to face. Her voice died in her throat. "Madara?"

"I'm accompanying you."

Mio grabbed a kimono top and pulled it on over a cropped shirt she did not remember having on when she fell asleep. She let herself believe the servants changed her as she made her way out with Madara.

The castle was a ghost town as Mio and Madara made their way to the temple.

Only Mio was allowed through the temple entrance to see Ayuka and was escorted to a small area with a table by the staircase. She refused the tea offered to her while waiting. Ayuka walked down the staircase, stopping in the center to gesture her up. Mio went after her, abandoning her seat, and saw a narrow hallway that connected many smaller rooms together. She was not taken far, only past the first four entrances.

Ayuka gently pushed her into the fifth room where a woman awaited. Mio realized immediately that it was the dressmaker she dreaded meeting, knowing by the bolts of fabric she brought with her and a line of measuring tape. As the woman took all the necessary measurements, doing so meticulously, Mio watched Ayuka observing her.

"How much did you hear?" Ayuka asked, smiling from her seat by the entrance. Her eyes fell on the dressmaker. "Amaya. That is enough for now. Have a few minutes to yourself."

The woman bowed deeply to them and left them alone.

"You don't think me capable of holding onto the Time Sphere," said Mio, making sure Amaya's footsteps had gone away. "You want me to find my successor. How will you benefit from that? It will solve nothing. You will only have another _vessel_ and no artifact."

Ayuka leaned back in her seat, the delighted smile on her face widening. "That is where you are wrong," she said, excited. "Your successor is a curious one. From the beginning, the Time Sphere has chosen its Shugosha. Since then it had always been one, but after your grandfather killed Nishiki, the Time Sphere was forced to look among other candidates to choose a Shugosha. Do you understand what I am saying?"

"You believe there is another candidate out there?" Mio asked dubiously. That would be impossible. She was certain she was the only chance of survival for her artifacts.

"The Time Sphere is changing," Ayuka corrected. "Naturally, if the Time Sphere can choose its own guardian, there must be a Shugosha that can choose a guardian for the Time Sphere—one capable of changing the line of succession."

"There is no such guardian," she said confidently.

The redheaded priestess stood gracefully. "You are correct to say that," she said, walking to her. "No such guardian exists…_yet_. The point is that he will. In the near future." She pulled her sleeve back surprising Mio when she placed her palm to her lower abdomen. "Here."

Mio's breathing accelerated. Her heart, too. "What?"

"The Shugosha I want is not you, Mio. I want the one that comes from you."

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: A bit of a transitional chapter, but a very important one as we now know why Mio is so important. And it turns out she's not the one Ayuka wants!

On the plus side, Madara's given Mio his blessing and it seems he does plan to see her safe. A new Kuronuma guardian is coming to the island.

The next chapter should have some concrete artifact talk and more on Mio's future. She might even think of getting a little serious! (Yeah, Mio! Stop being wishy washy!)

Many thanks to** Loteva**, **RelocationAgent**, **angrypixels**,** Aries01xD**, and **God of Twilight** for reviewing the previous chapter.

I'm getting to the tricky part of the story...so bear with me as I do my best to provide something presentable. (Saying that makes me want to look this over again, but I'll do it tomorrow because sleep reading is a no-no.)

Maybe the next chapter will be the end of a Path in Ways?

I apologize for that gross Enki scene. I read it over with disturbed face.

Thank you for reading!

PS - I forgot to add this in when I first posted, but I want to hear from you guys concerning one thing. See, I've been rooting for Izuna and Mio for quite sometime...I think this cheering them on started during The Slumbering Beast, but a part of me has always been pro-Izuna/Mio because they can be so charming together. BUT, given that this is a MadaraOC story, I want to know when you start rooting for Madara/Mio to make it. If you've been rooting for them from the start (cause I mean to some degree you must have), you tell me, if you've been skeptical, then tell me when you've been won over.

This goes for other potential couples as well. I'm simply curious.

I'll be C&P this in the next chapter! And then, I'll use the results to make a fabulous poll. :D


	35. A Path in Ways 5

Chapter **35** | A Path in Ways V

* * *

><p>"And you are confident in this information?" asked Uchiha Izuna. He stood surrounded by the damp wilderness that wrapped around the Ito clan's village with the light of several paper lanterns strung along the edges of the willows providing a flickering orange glow.<p>

Ito Takuei, the rangy leader of the Ito clan, sat atop a stone, sharpening the various weapons he used in his craft. The slight light darkened his eyes and hardened his features, made the angles of his gaunt face menacingly sharper. He ran the edge of a short blade against the surface of small whetstone on his lap. He paused a moment to measure the sharpness of his blade against his thumb. It made a clean line across without needing to apply any pressure. Blood bubbled out, a thin streak, and he cleaned it against his pants.

"If you have any doubts, ask the source yourself," said Takuei. He repositioned the short sword against the whetstone again. "He will tell you himself."

Takuei had been investigating the Mikazuki clan since he returned to the Waterfall Country and he had discovered the reason why they had targeted the Kuronuma clan for a relatively new shinobi clan, one that otherwise would not have had the sort of intel on the Kuronuma artifacts as they did. But the information had not ended there, there was another tidbit of information he wanted to be sure was the absolute truth because it could help release Mio from her imprisonment in the Sun Country. It could help him and Madara, too.

"He is here?" Izuna questioned.

"You need to sharpen your senses," a voice called behind him.

Izuna turned swiftly and the Kuronuma stood there, directly behind him, with a peaceful smile. "You? You're Mio's grandfather," he said, looking at him more keenly. He was as he remembered him during their brief meeting years ago. Giant in stature with stark white hair. "Is this where you have been? Mio has been searching for you! She went to the Sun Country to take back Ayuka's sphere in order to save you and you have been here? She's a prisoner there!"

"Mio will find me at the end of her journey," Kuronuma Shin replied. "There is no need for you to grow agitated."

"Did you not hear a word I said? Mio is Ayuka's prisoner," repeated Izuna slowly.

"I know where Mio is and the conditions she is enduring," said Shin. "I am here on business—"

"You should be helping her! Ayuka put barriers to make sure you do not cross the island, but those have been gone since the Sanbi escaped! You can help her," he interrupted.

"Izuna, you must listen to what Shinya has come to say," Takuei cut in, moving onto sharpen a kunai. "It is important."

"Isn't Mio the center of the Kuronuma clan? She is supposed to be protected," Izuna argued, eyes narrowing at Shin, who remained nonchalant. "She is the Shugosha and Ayuka wants to use her to gather the artifacts."

"Mio is capable of protecting herself—"

"I know that, but this is Ayuka, that woman is—"

"I oversaw Mio's training and gave her the tools necessary for her survival. Ayuka, Mikazuki Gouki, it would not matter who corners her, she can handle herself," Shin said, surprising Izuna with his interruption. "It is because others insist on protecting her that she finds solace in that security and forgets what she is capable of. She grows lazy and let's herself become the victim of others."

Izuna fell silent.

"Why do you think you are here and Madara is still on the island? You are too overprotective of her." Shin waved a hand in dismissal. "Now, I was here on business. You wanted to know whether Takuei told you the truth of the Mikazuki clan, right? Yes, Motou Ayuka founded the clan to go against the Kuronuma clan, and yes, some of the older members are missing Kuronuma children. That is why when you fought them, you couldn't see their chakra with your Sharingan. And yes, one of the Kuronuma in the Mikazuki clan is her son, and yes, he _was _the rightful heir to the artifacts."

"He was?"

"The rules are that you can only be Shugosha if you have not spilled the blood of another," Shin explained.

"Was there another Shugosha apart from Mio? Did he kill them?"

Shin shook his head. "I have long lost my claim to the artifacts, but a Shugosha remains a Shugosha through the bloodline. The blood he spilled was mine and without realizing lost his claim." The Kuronuma folded his arms over his chest. "Unfortunately, Ayuka has long been aware and plans to remedy this."

"Does she have a way?"

"Ayuka always has a way. She's crafty."

"What is it?" asked Izuna. "Does she plan to have Mio killed?"

"Mio dies and the artifacts die with her. They feed off her chakra and recognize only her as their universal protector and will not go with another even if they are stolen."

"Then what is it?"

"You're not going to like it."

"Tell me."

"Mio is the matriarch of a new bloodline. At the start of every line of succession, the Time Sphere gives birth to a new ability. The option of choosing a successor from a crop of worthy candidates, a shield that protects the sphere from being stolen, the ability to hear through the artifacts, you understand, right?" Shin explained calmly, drawing even Takuei's attention. "The ability Mio is passing down to her successor is the power to change the line of succession meaning anyone can seize control of the artifacts."

"That is how Ayuka plans to give her son the artifacts?" asked Izuna.

Shin gave a curt nod.

"Then we must find her successor," Takuei suggested. "If we can get our hands on her successor, we could—"

"That would be impossible," Shin interrupted.

"Why?" Izuna demanded. "If we got rid of her successor—"

"Her successor has not been born yet."

"We should kill its mother," Takuei suggested, lifting his kunai to the light. "Mio would stay Shugosha longer and Ayuka would be forced to stop her plans."

"Mio is the matriarch of a new bloodline," Shin repeated. "She is at the beginning of it. Her successor cannot be anyone that wishes it, let alone anyone from another bloodline."

The realization dawn on Izuna and he felt his body go heavy. "It's her child?"

Shin nodded, once more. "Yes, it is her child."

Izuna started to pace, trying to process what that meant. He couldn't think of anything no matter how many times he tried and finally looked at Shin in search of the answers his head wouldn't provide him. "How is this…how will Ayuka…?"

"Ayuka threatened Mio into accepting a marriage to Motou Enki—"

His blood boiled as his hands fisted at his sides. "All that goading he did," he bit out. Enki had devoted hours into speak of his bride to be, had spoken disturbing things, had done that and more in his presence! It finally made sense. He must have known how he felt about Mio and after the trouble he had caused this was his way of exacting his revenge. "Mio cannot marry that man."

He started to march forward, determined to return to the Sun Country to see Enki dead, but Shin stopped him. "You came for information on the Mikazuki clan," Shin started, voice serious. "You have your information. It is time you use it to help those trapped on that island."

"I don't know what Ayuka's son looks like!" Izuna snapped. Mikazuki shinobi frequented the island since it had been made public that Ayuka was working with them closely, but she never treated one differently.

"You do," Shin asserted. "And I do. He is Ayuka's weakness."

Izuna strengthened his belief that his brother would keep Mio from marrying Enki. "Where is he?"

"In the Fire Country."

"Then we must go there."

Shin dropped his hand back to his side. "I need to stop at the Iron Country before further travel," he said suddenly.

"Why?" asked Izuna sharply.

"The Mikazuki clan happen to be hunting down one of Mio's guardians. I'm going there to warn him about sharpening his senses too."

"There are guardians apart from Madara?"

"Three of them."

"Who?"

"Universe, Reflective, Power," Shin answered. "And the Universe Sphere guardian is in danger of death."

"Why would anyone be after one guardian?"

Shin made a face as he explained. "Unaware, Mio assigned the Universe Sphere to a new guardian even though its current guardian is among the living."

"Why did Mio have the sphere?"

Shin suddenly laughed. "You see, I was certain I killed him," he said, speaking as if he were in the middle of a joke. "Stabbed him right through the heart." He patted his chest. "Felt the life leave him. Proceeded to hurl him into black rivers of Kurata. He was dead. Dead as could be. And if he wasn't those rivers should have done the rest of the work. Let's say he survived and all this time, he's wanted his sphere back to change the history of things using the artifact except he'd never reveal himself to Musashi and with him dead, he can do what he's wanted."

Takuei rolled his eyes. "Tell me, Shinya-sama, are you or Ayuka to blame for this war?"

"It was a combination of myself, Ayuka, and her husband." Shin flinched when it looked like Takuei might hit him. "I am trying to rectify things! This was supposed to be for the sake of the clan, never did I anticipate it would turn into this!"

"Ayuka's husband?" asked Izuna, feeling like he was the only one to have heard it.

Shin straightened out. "Yes, and if you think Ayuka is dangerous, you should probably remove yourself from the Artifact War altogether because that man is a monster."

"Didn't you say you killed him?" Takuei demanded. "Can't you do it again?"

"I was the Black Sphere's guardian at the time, without it I wouldn't have been able to overpower him."

"And if he is so powerful, why hasn't he made his move?" asked Izuna.

"He already made his move," Shin said. "And when he gets his hands on the Universe Sphere, you will feel it hit."

"But weren't you going to warn the new guardian?"

"I have absolutely no faith that the combined forces of the Senju and Uzumaki and what remains of the Kuronuma clan will keep that man from his sphere."

"Then who has the Black Sphere now?"

"Mio."

Izuna was exasperated. "I'm going."

Shin walked after him, bidding Takuei a quick farewell.

"Who is Ayuka's son?"

"You're not going to like it."

"Just tell me!"

* * *

><p>A child borne from her would be Shugosha…that alone did not surprise her. She became Shugosha as the start of her own bloodline, which meant any one of her children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren could inherit her title from her. None of that shocked her.<p>

Ayuka took her hand from Mio's abdomen with a tender smile. "It would be best if he were born quickly."

A Shugosha with the ability to choose another Shugosha for the Time Sphere left her flabbergasted.

"Do your duty as a woman, Mio," Ayuka said, "and change the line of succession. That is your fate. You must accept it."

Amaya's return changed the ambience. Mio turned away from Ayuka's vigilant gaze and prepared to start a fitting for the robes, but her head was plagued by the revelation. She considered the possibility that Ayuka was bluffing about the existence of a Shugosha with that type of ability. She went onto torment herself with the fact that Ayuka was right in calling her a vessel. She was. For the Shugosha they wanted.

"How long have you planned this?" Mio asked. She planned to arrive at the Sun Country to coax Madara into helping her confront the Fate Sphere guardian, but never did she anticipate it would be a trap or that it would develop into a marriage. She never thought it had absolutely nothing to do with her, but her successor, who had not even been a thought in her head yet, let alone a possibility she was in the midst of considering that far into her desire of the future.

Madara just accepted the idea of her marrying Izuna and that had been under the condition his brother asked. She had pictured a harmonious life with him, but had not imagined children. She wanted them. She knew deep down that she wanted a large family, but the time to think of forming it would take place years from today.

Mio bet her life on the notion that Hag had been leading her to this revelation. She only wanted to know when it began.

Waiting on her response, Mio obeyed the dressmaker when she was asked to lift her arms so she could wrap white fabric embellished with gold etchings. She swallowed thickly, listening to the fabrics whispering against her clothes as Amaya draped and tugged at them and distant voices beyond the room. Her hearing was amplified in her trepidation.

"How long?" Ayuka repeated slowly. She tapped her index finger to her chin. "It has been quite some time. Almost forty years have passed and you were to become the Shugosha to fear. So, you see, Mio, I have known of you far longer than you have existed and I saw what you were capable of doing. You would be troublesome, a force of which even I would have struggled to take the artifacts from, but that was easily remedied." She paused, a small smile spreading across her lips. "I figured it would be easier to kill you and discover a way to breathe life into the artifacts, but your future revealed it would be unnecessary. The Shugosha I need is your son and he will take care of giving me the artifacts. All I needed was to drive you into a corner. It was easy."

Mio battered away Amaya's hands. "You have been changing my pathways," she said, the panic blooming in her chest, leaking into her voice as it rose into a shout. "How long have you been helping the Mikazuki clan?"

"I founded the Mikazuki clan to take care of pests like you," Ayuka revealed. "The Time Sphere was meant to pass down to my son and your great-grandfather deprived him of his birthright. He was the only son of Nishiki—ah, I see recognition in your face, you have heard his name before? And how could you not have?" The mere utterance of Nishiki's name brought her face to life. "Nishiki was the strongest. Shugosha-to-be. We made plans. We wanted things to change. He knew the truth of the artifacts, unlike you, the ignorant."

Her great-uncle Nishiki's whose only fame on the mountain stemmed from his unfortunate death and the person who killed him, her grandfather. Killing Nishiki had stripped Shin's right to the Time Sphere.

She could see it in the light of her eyes that Nishiki meant more than Mio could ever hope to understand to Ayuka. She understood better now.

"So you have hurt me for the fault of others?" asked Mio, her stomach turning into knots.

"They have already received retribution, but your grandfather is persistent," she said, "like you. The two of you are stubbornly persistent. I can see it in your actions though you pretend at defeat. Deep down, although I am blind to it, I can see that you are merely strengthening yourself for when it is time for you to strike again." She shook her head. "I might have liked you better had you been more like your mother. She certainly knew when to give up. Even better had you inherited your father's nature." She smiled. "Contrary to what you may believe, I did not hate your parents. They were impressive shinobi."

"That did not stop you from having them killed," said Mio.

"It couldn't be avoided. Necessary sacrifices were needed to bring you to the island," Ayuka went on easily. "And finally, here you are."

"I was a girl when you ordered Mikazuki Gouki to kill them," she said, and it felt strange for her to realize that had happened nine years ago. "I needed them to be in my life—"

"Is that all you are capable of doing?" Ayuka interrupted. "Everything is a tragedy for you. Crying has been all you have done. Will your tears ever dry? Or, do you expect me to sit here and watch your suffering? Do you think I care for it?"

"You have been hounding me because my great-grandfather chose me to inherit, because my grandfather killed Nishiki, and for your own ambition," Mio stated, her broken tone betraying her emotion. "You have taken so much from me and you want my son, too? I have done nothing to you, and yet, you want everything from me. What else do you want? "

"You are right. You have not done anything against me. You are a wonderfully brittle creature, Mio. That I did not anticipate."

"You will not have them," Mio said, finding strength inside her. An inkling, but it was enough. "The artifacts will remain safe under the guardians I choose and I will make sure that you never have them."

"How can you say that when you have had two of your artifacts taken since arrived?"

"Because I'm determined," she stated. "And I swear to you that I will be Shugosha until you're dead."

Mio went straight out the door and rushed out the temple. She didn't run to her room, she ran off the mountain until she exhausted her legs. She went as far as a clearing sparsely decorated by barren white trees and shrubbery. She gave into the urge to scream, feeling the terrible revelation turning into a dull ache in her chest.

Ayuka changed her pathways, each horrific memory she had was suspect. For all Mio knew, Ayuka was to blame for everything that went wrong in her life. How much did she change to stop her from becoming the feared Shugosha she should have? Mio thought to curse her weakness, but a notion surfaced in her head. What was to prevent her from being that Shugosha that the witch feared?

Nothing.

She exceeded her threshold for pain and everything that caused it. All that remained was for her to move forward, to stop allowing Ayuka to dictate what became of her life. She wouldn't be an easy prisoner and she wouldn't marry Enki. She would do everything she wanted to do from that moment onward and would make sure what remained of Ayuka's time as Fate Sphere guardian hell. She didn't care if that meant living through four generations of Shugosha, she would do it, and she would live making sure Ayuka didn't come near her artifacts again.

Mio stayed lying on the clearing floor, surrounded by blades of grass wet with moisture from the rain. She didn't budge when she heard a pair of tentative footsteps reach her or as a shadow cast over her body. She remained motionless and facing forward, staring at nothing in particular while she allowed her thoughts to help tame her emotions because she needed a better grasp at them.

A wrinkled hand fell atop her arm, gently rocking her. "You should not be out in this forest all on your own," a stranger's voice reached her, temporarily snapping her out of her reverie. She looked up at the tiny old woman staring down at her with big, clear blue eyes. "You have nowhere to go?"

"I am lost," she said simply. "No doubt someone will find me in time."

"No, no, not today, come on." The old woman attempted to heave her up. "Come with me. I will give you food and shelter until someone comes asking for you."

Mio let the old woman lead her out of the clearing. She carried a basket covered in herbs, whose combined scents were intoxicating.

"I am Kiyo," the woman introduced. "And you, girl, do you have a name?"

"Mio."

Kiyo lived in an underpopulated town by the coastline near the port in a hut with walls covered in shelves and jars of herbs. She invited her to sit, make herself comfortable, as she prepared and served her tea. She waddled off to put her newest pickings into the appropriate jars while Mio took in the sight of it all. Her home was small with only enough room for a table and a bed that sat behind a sheer curtain hanging from the ceiling. It smelled sweet. A bit of every herb was in the air.

"What do you do with these herbs?" asked Mio, seeing many the Kuronuma medics were accustomed to using for concoctions.

"I make medicine," Kiyo answered smiling. "If you have any ailments, come to me, I can have something prepared for you."

"Ailments?" she repeated absently. She looked up at the woman's wrinkled face. "Nightmares?"

"An exact remedy does not exist, but there are herbs that can guarantee you a peaceful sleep," said Kiyo. "Do you have trouble sleeping?"

"No, I am good at sleeping." Lately it was the one thing she did.

Kiyo joined her at the table after tidying up. "What do you do?"

Mio grew frustrated with herself and the fact that she could not think of an answer to that question. Her body shook.

"I have not seen you on this island before," said the old woman, changing the subject. "Did you arrive recently?"

"Yes, I'm from the Kuronuma clan," Mio said quietly.

"A Kuronuma? Ah." Kiyo nodded. "There is word the king is marrying someone called the Shugosha of your clan. In a fortnight? Or is it less?"

"Less. I am marrying him in a week."

"So you are not lost?"

Mio smiled bitterly. "Not in that sense."

She drank deep from her cup.

"You are nervous?" Kiyo searched her expression, trying to read it. "It is normal. You are young and this is your first marriage."

"I am not nervous," she told her.

"Ah." Understanding dawned in the old woman's face. "You do not want to marry him. That is not surprising."

"No, I don't want to marry him."

"Is this your clan pushing you together?"

"No," she said quickly. "No, it is his priestess."

"Ayuka-sama?"

Mio nodded. She could smell precipitation hanging in the air as another storm approached. She took another drink from her cup and let it atop the table, excusing herself. Kiyo stood to walk her out.

"Do not wander off," Kiyo advised. "This is a dangerous island."

"Would you mind if I came back?" asked Mio before leaving. "I only have one friend in the castle…and he is often busy…I don't want to be alone."

Alone surrounded by enemies. Not when she needed to think. She couldn't think with all the noise.

"You are welcomed to return." Kiyo smiled kindly. "Come as many times as you want."

Mio beat the storm to the castle and went to her rooms to catch a late lunch. She slipped inside, closing the door shut quietly, and turned. Taiga was inside, rummaging through her things. She made a beeline to him as he dug into the contents of her trunk and caught his hand, forcing him around to face her.

"What are you doing?" she demanded. "What are you looking for?"

Taiga leisurely picked her hand off his wrist and held it up in the air. "And where have you been?" he asked. "The witch has the entire castle looking for you."

"Is that what you are doing? Searching for me in a leather trunk?"

He grinned. "There is no telling whether you've been hiding. She says you left upset," he said in a curious undertone. "What did she do to you?"

"What concern is this of yours? Are you not the one banding together with the Mikazuki clan?" she asked. "Were you not the one that told me to trust you? How do you expect I do that?" She explicitly recalled him saying that he would guarantee her the freedom Enki would take from her if she obeyed all his orders, except he hadn't given her any and she had scarcely seen him on the island.

Taiga took a step forward and she took one back, remaining cautious of his actions. He grasped her wrist firmly. "Have you considered that the only reason I had been _banding _together with the Mikazuki clan was to keep them from you?" he asked. "Do you know how many of them do not care under whose protection you are in? They want to torture you. Some of them want you dead. The fact that Mikazuki Gouki didn't kill you when you were a child is a stigma on their clan. Not once had one of their targets survived a sweep and here you are."

She took a breath. "Let my wrist go," she said. "Please."

He dropped his hold on her and she clasped her wrist against her. She rubbed against the rings of reddened flesh where no doubt a bruise would take form.

"What do you want in return?" she asked, knowing none of his kindness came with a price. "Do you want me as Enki does? Do you want an artifact? What is it that you want?"

"One day, perhaps," he said with a shrug. "Everyone is in such a rush to have you that you could say I am…losing interest."

Taiga wanted her to become his and nothing had ever stood in the way of his staking his claim. She would not have denied him, as she had promised herself for Sako's sake, but he had never made any real attempt. He moved close, so close she could see the tiny cracks on his lips and even count his eyelashes if she'd wanted, however, none of that had been the initiation into more.

Like now, his intention seemed evident to her. He wanted to make her uncomfortable.

She stepped up to him, standing a few inches from his body. She didn't believe his advances. They were a lie. She was certain of it. If he wanted her as much as he claimed, he would have had her. So, she put on her own front to test her theory. No matter how much she pushed, he would pull away, leave her with some cryptic words to keep her confused, and leave.

"Losing interest?"

Taiga lowered his eyes, suppressing a grin. "I heard even Enki doesn't want you," he said, gaze flickering to hers. "He laughed about it. Said you were so innocent, you probably did not know how to kiss a man. He asked my opinion of it."

"What did you say?"

"I told him what he wanted to hear."

She saw him raise his hand to take the side of her face. "What was that?"

"That I would tell him once I found out for myself."

Mio shook her hands to keep them from fisting as the tension returned to her body. "Oh."

He arched an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Are you going to?"

He chuckled, letting go of her face. He took a step back. "And prove him right? No."

Taiga walked towards the entrance.

"I don't understand what you get out of making me uncomfortable," Mio started, "but I know you don't want me."

Taiga stopped. "Have you ever wanted someone?"

She was taken aback by the question. "In what sense?"

He turned slowly, raising his hands in gesture. "Have you ever wanted to possess someone? Make them yours in every sense of the word." At the sight of her confusion, he attempted to elaborate. "Take Izuna for example. Have you ever wanted him?"

"No, I don't want to possess him, I want to be with him," she said, perplexed. "What is this about? I don't understand."

"You have proven my point," he said. "You answered your own question. You do not understand what it is to want someone for yourself, Mio. You have never felt that desire—that need—to make that one person completely yours. And if you don't feel that for Izuna, then you should let the poor bastard know it before he wastes the rest of his life chasing someone that won't ever want him the way he wants them. You and I know he deserves better than that."

"Can it not develop over time?" she asked, suddenly ashamed that she never thought about Izuna in that perspective. "My bloodline converges with his in the future; it is possible that I only need time for it to develop."

"He is not the only one in that bloodline," he said knowingly.

Taiga stepped out as Madara walked in and his words were still fresh in her mind, but she could not fathom considering them after she promised Madara himself that she would marry his brother. She wouldn't entertain that sort of thought and she knew nothing could ever possess her to betray Izuna. Madara wouldn't breathe the words betrayal when it came to his brother. It would be an impossible though.

Madara followed Taiga suspiciously, shutting the door behind his back. He faced her with the same inquisitive look. "What did he want? And where have you been?"

She felt flabbergasted and completely stupid. "He came to frustrate me," she said. "I feel he is manipulating situations for secrets. I don't believe he really wants me."

"Mio, he is twice your age," Madara said, eyeing her strangely.

"I'm not Yayoi, I said nothing of wanting him back," Mio snapped. She calmed herself at the sight of Madara avert his eyes and shrug. "I don't know what he wants from me, but it is something if he going through all this trouble to make me believe he _desires _me. He wouldn't even kiss me when I would have let him."

"Should you be telling me this?" asked Madara.

"Who else am I to tell? You are the only one I can trust on this island."

"I do not want to hear of such affairs," he said. "It is unsightly to think of you with any man."

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"Oh."

That made her feel strange.

"What did Ayuka want with you?" Madara walked across the room to open a window. "She wanted you back in the Temple as soon as you were found."

"I met the dressmaker. I was being fitted."

"I doubt a dressmaker alone was enough to make you run," he said assuredly. "What did she say to you?"

"That once I am married and with child, I should start counting my blessings," she surmised, earning a look. "As per my luck, I am to be the mother of a Shugosha that can change the line of succession. I suspect that I will die and she will be left to raise my child, manipulating him or her into making her Shugosha."

"She expects you to have a child with that pig?"

Mio sat down against the leather trunk packed with the luggage she brought with her. "Did you ever imagine you would be here one day? A prisoner with no one to trust? In this strange war? With me as company?"

He calmly took the seat beside her. "No, but the wars would have persisted and we would have continued fighting in them," he said. "And any one of us could have died."

She understood when he said "_we_" he meant the three of them: Madara, Izuna, and her. She felt a little twinge in her chest, staring at him with a hidden admiration. "But we're alive," she said, short of breath. She saw what he saw. "Even if we are prisoners here, no matter what Ayuka wants from us, we are alive."

"We are alive," he repeated. "The three of us."

Mio lowered her eyes to her hands folded on her lap, the words echoing in her mind. She lifted them again to look out the window, the rainstorm ebbing into a light shower, and she sensed a pulse through her sphere. She slid forward, sitting with her back straightened, and her eyes keen on the sight of the drizzle coming down. She blinked and it all slowed down. She heard herself breathing, felt her lungs expand and contract, in frightening detail, and she sensed them, like a candle being lit in a stretch of pitch-black darkness. Many lights blinked on. She counted seven. Three remained with her.

The artifacts.

The Universe and Power Spheres were together in one place, sitting far from her. The Reflective Sphere moving towards her. The Nature Sphere beside her. The Fate Sphere across her. The Climate and the Vision Sphere, the ones stolen from her—they were close.

— _Mio!_ —

Mio snapped out of the trance and followed Madara's voice to meet his eyes.

"You have been strange," Madara admitted.

"No," said Mio. "I have been adjusting."

"Adjusting?"

"I found the stolen artifacts."

"How did you accomplish that seated here?"

"I'm Shugosha," she answered, "and I have my strength back." She took the Time Sphere in her hand. "I only need to uncover the secrets of this orb and make a few changes."

"Changes?"

"I cannot sit here doing nothing," she told him, seeing him grasp at her choice in disjointed subject matters. She found her strength after grappling in the dark for so long. "I will not sit around and do nothing as Ayuka succeeds."

"You thought of a plan?"

Mio nodded.

"I want to hear it."

"I plan to make what remains of Ayuka's plan a hell," she said, leaning forward with a smile, "and she will do it all herself."

* * *

><p>Kiyo welcomed her the following morning. Mio had risen at the break of dawn and had left Enki's castle for a morning sprint. She had run aimlessly for the first hour, determined to explore the island only to discover that it was in a worse state than she had previously anticipated. She had climbed a high ledge covered in dry grass and wilted flowers that overlooked a village in poor state, one that had its inhabitants living in squalor, and she had moved through an abandoned battlefield that radiated the chakra it had stolen from others.<p>

Mio had crouched down in the center, pressing a hand to the mushy dark earth beneath her feet and concluding after a few minutes that it had poisonous properties. She had set her hand atop her knee and had turned in every direction to see the black earth stretch far. It had been in that instant that she had decided to appear before Kiyo in search of the quiet and the strong smell of herbs and flowers permeating through her home to gather her thoughts.

The castle was filled with noise and it took everything out of her to beat it all into silence.

Kiyo guided her to a seat and offered her breakfast. Wishing not to be rude, she accepted and smiled in appreciation after the old woman set down a bowl of hot freshly boiled rice, miso soup, and pickled vegetables. Mio picked up her rice bowl and held her chopsticks in her hand, taking one of the vegetables between them and holding it to her mouth.

"You are red in the face, child," Kiyo commented. "What have you been doing?"

"Running," she answered, taking her first bite of food. She ate rice and drank from the bowl of hot miso soup. She savored every bite. "This is delicious."

"You flatter me," said Kiyo, chuckling. "This would not stand to what you are used to eating in that castle."

"Motou Ayuka only allows me to eat fish," she said, the mere thought of it turned her stomach. Ayuka was a pescatarian and given her success in the lifestyle, she wanted Mio to transition into it through salted fish, so that she might learn to enjoy the delicacies. "Only salted fish."

She never hated fish. She hated touching them, not eating them. But her opinion was changing fast.

"You come here whenever you want," Kiyo decided. "There will always be warm food here. You are welcomed for whatever reason you might have, but I must give you fair warning. This village is a curious one and does not see visitors often, not even from the neighboring towns, so the folks tend to get a little rowdy around anyone new. They all want to meet you."

"Will they teach me to play hanafuda?" asked Mio curiously. She saw the servants playing the card game often enough to make her curious about learning, to pass the time while Ayuka celebrated her victories, but there she didn't dare ask anyone in the castle to teach her.

"You do not know how to play?"

"No."

"And that's all you ask in return?"

Mio nodded. She needed the quiet and the peace.

"I have a granddaughter, Tsuruko, she is very good at hanafude," Kiyo mentioned after breakfast ended. Mio was crouched down in front of a large wooden tub of water and suds, washcloth in hand, cleaning the dirty dishes. "I'll bring her over. I think you too will get along well."

Mio returned to the castle in the afternoon, sauntering in without a care. She took a bath before returning to her room to change into a simple robe and obi and pulled out the deck of hanafude cards Kiyo's granddaughter lent her in order to practice. She set the old cards out in front of her and pulled a hand for herself, making matches and counting points.

The door slid open noisily and someone entered. She knew without turning that it was Madara by the pulse of his artifact.

"What are you doing?"

She leaned back to look up at him. "Playing hanafude," she said. "Do you want to join?"

Madara frowned. "You were supposed to be thinking up a new plan."

"Hanafude is the plan. I decided to learn it." She returned her attention to the game. "Do you know how to play?"

"No."

Setting a card from her hand to one of the ones sitting face up to make a match, she said, "Maybe you should learn."

Madara left her room likely thinking her behavior foolish.

As afternoon neared, she allowed one of the servants to plait her hair after it had dried before another came to leave the broiled fish and rice bowl she would be having for lunch. Mio ate the rice and continued playing cards on her own, realizing that as her understanding of the game expanded, her level of enjoyment went up.

Taiga dropped in for a visit before night fell, observing her from the windowsill where he had taken a seat. "Hanafude, Mio?"

"Do you know how to play?" she asked. She was certain he showed up after the servants started to talk about her strange behavior. She was not the type of person to do anything while imprisoned. She stayed put and picked at her food, she went to wherever she was called, and spent an adequate amount of time with Madara since he was assigned to watch her.

"I might."

"How about a game?" she suggested, gathering the cards from the floor to shuffle into a deck.

Taiga complied by taking a seat across her. "Have you given up? Is that the reason for your odd behavior?"

Mio prepared the game, dealing cards for them. "Enki heika gave me the permission to do as I pleased. I am learning hanafude," she said. "You didn't expect me to cry every day, did you?"

"You seem almost indifferent to your losses, it is a worrisome detail."

"I'm not interested in your criticisms."

Taiga took the cards dealt to him. "What are you planning?"

"Why does anyone have to be planning anything if they want to learn hanafude?" Mio shot back. She set down her first card, matching the patterns and tallying the points in her head. "Besides, I'll be married in a week, so the only plan I have is to enjoy my final days as a free woman."

"By playing hanafude?"

"Should I be doing something different?"

Taiga made two matches that doubled his points and put him in the lead. He grinned. "Some women seek the comfort of a lover," he began. "A few attempt to escape, the rest cry their misfortune. You are here playing hanafude."

"I made the conscious decision to stay on this island," she answered, drawing a card from the deck in the center. "Why would I stand in the way of my own survival by having a lover or attempting to run?" Her eyes flickered up, meeting his. "And suffering over the idea that I would be marrying a man like Enki would be redundant. I always knew I would marry and I never deluded myself to think it would be someone of my choice—do not look at me that way."

She had seen his face contort into one of disbelief and had anticipated his next choice of words. "What about Izuna?"

"You were right," said Mio, evening out her tone. "You were right about Izuna. About the fact that I cannot feel for him what he feels for me." She stared down at her cards contemplatively. "I only want to be with him because he wants me to be with him. I don't deserve it…so, I don't want to continue being delusional."

Taiga laughed softly. "You think that would convince me that you are not planning something?" he asked, humored. "Where have you sent Madara? He is rarely away from your side. Did you finally sink your claws in him?"

Mio thought to laugh, the humor almost escaped her, but she buried it away. "It is amusing to see how you perceive me," she said seriously. "I am not the woman you set me up to be. I do not sink my claws in anyone. And Madara does not take orders from me. If you want him, you can find him if you look."

"Hmm."

The game continued in silence until it neared its conclusion.

"You never asked after Sako or Minako," she said quietly. "You never came to me to ask after them. You entrusted them to me and I—"

"What did you want me to say on the matter?" asked Taiga.

"I imagined they were important to you," she went on. "She is your wife and that is your daughter and I don't know what's happened to them."

"What would I have accomplished in asking you? You said it yourself, you know nothing." Taiga exhaled a breath. "Whether they survived or didn't, we won't know until that Kuronuma arrives to the island. I will ask after them then." He looked at her. "And you will tell me that they are safe."

"Yes."

At the end of a somewhat challenging game, Taiga got to his feet and left. He patted her shoulder on his way out the door and left her in the quiet.

Enki had a jade necklace and a bottle of expensive wine delivered to her room with an inappropriate note that asked her to visit his rooms with only the green stones on her body and that he would teach her the wonders of depravity. She took the note to the fire warming her room and watched it curl into itself after tossing it into the flames.

Mio raised the necklace to eye level, turning it slowly. The necklace was made of silver links and the front was embedded with square jade stones. She lifted her hand to compare the silver of the necklace with the ring Okimi had given her. The band was beautiful, crafted with precision, and its simplicity was its selling point. The necklace was obvious in its beauty. It was a piece of arrogance and a promise of all the luxuries Enki could provide her.

"Shugosha-sama," a gentle voice called, followed by a quiet knocking against the wooden frame of the shoji screens.

Mio threw the necklace into a small chest that sat atop a rectangular table against the wall. It was overflowing with earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings she had received since she first arrived. The box sparkled in the opaque light of the candle that sat beside it. The jewels were all a darker hue than their usual clear, bright colors where they would remain neglected.

She slid open the shoji to the sight of a mousy, nervous girl. "Heika-sama has called a meeting on Ayuka-sama's behalf."

Mio walked past the servant, feeling the ends of her robes flutter at her ankles with every swift step she took towards the castle tower where she sensed the presence of two artifacts. She reached the meeting hall where she stood alone in the center of the yawning room with Ayuka, Enki, Kuugo, and the Motou shinobi that sealed the door behind her. Their intent was made clear and she fortified herself to keep the weakness from taking over. She anticipated this moment. Standing without an ally to rely on, like a cornered mouse surrounded by death traps.

Kuugo sauntered to her, leaning over her after she was near, and smiled. His proximity upset her, he had a similar feel to Gouki. There was an unnerving nature to him, but no matter how much her instinct nagged her to move, she willed herself to stay in place, staring onward as he walked around her like a beast hunting its prey.

"You came quickly," said Ayuka, sweeping to her with Enki at her heels. "Good. This is of extreme importance."

She glanced over her shoulder at the shinobi baring the entrance and the few others standing in want of orders. She returned her eyes to Ayuka. "Did something happen?"

"Where is the Universe Sphere's guardian?" asked Ayuka, strangely calm.

"The Universe Sphere's guardian is where he is supposed to be," Mio said simply.

Ayuka sucked in a sharp breath. "Mio," she began, breathing out slowly, "this is serious matter. I need the Universe Sphere."

"You cannot make do with the artifacts you have stolen?" asked Mio, feeling the brunt of her anger when Ayuka grabbed her by the neck and squeezed. Mio made a strangled noise, her hands shooting up to grip the hand threatening to squeeze her throat shut.

Everyone around her said nothing, only stared on in silence.

"Who has the Universe Sphere?" Ayuka demanded. "Who did you give it to?"

Mio felt her grip tightening, making it impossible to speak a word, let alone a gurgle. She curled her hands over Ayuka's, sinking her fingers under her palm, and yanked it away from her neck. Tossing aside, Ayuka's hand, she reached to rub the soreness from her throat and took a step back. Ayuka took her hand to her chest, holding it there and stared, outraged by that display of defiance.

"How did you expect me to talk?" Mio asked, walking past the priestess. All eyes were on her as she continued to move towards the wall and she turned to face them once more, seeing the fury in Ayuka's face.

"Then speak!" Ayuka ordered. "Where is the guardian of the Universe Sphere?"

"Give me a reason to tell you the guardian's location," said Mio. "What do you want with my guardian?"

"They cannot have the Universe Sphere!"

"That is not your decision to make."

Ayuka took a step forward, the anger radiating from her. "That sphere already has a guardian!"

"Its last guardian died long ago," Mio said, remembering the last guardian had been Nishiki, Musashi's son and first successor to the Time Sphere. Her grandfather had killed him and it had spurned the far for which he had been known.

"You will tell me where the Universe Sphere is and you will ask no questions!"

Her reaction spoke volumes. Nishiki was alive, but he wouldn't be for long with the Universe Sphere under Tobirama's guardianship.

A laugh escaped her lips.

Everyone else stared flabbergasted, at her and then Ayuka.

Ayuka's face was struck by confusion. "Why are you laughing?" she asked slowly. "What is it you find so humorous?"

She cleared the humor from her expression, but could not stop it from seeping into her tone. "Kuronuma Nishiki is alive," she whispered. She stared into Ayuka's face. Nishiki was such a sore spot for her that the mere mention of it gave her away. She had never seen the woman without composure. She had seen her furious, but she had remained poised. "Has the poison taken affect yet?"

"Give me the name of the guardian."

"What? Can't your Fate Sphere find it?" she asked carefully. "That is what you do, isn't it? You can read every pathway."

"I am blind to your guardians," Ayuka spat. "It is surprising that you only had the Fate Sphere an instant and after that I was blind to everything connected to you! How did you do it, you little witch? What have you done to my sphere?"

Images of herself running her bloodied hand across the surface of the giant scroll appeared in her head. She had done it unconsciously knowing it would do something, but not knowing what that would have been.

Ayuka grabbed her once more, crumpling the collar of her robe. She visibly relaxed. "If you are trying to protect your guardian, you have nothing to worry about. He has held the sphere for too little time, he will not become afflicted by the poison."

"The fact that you are in a panic over returning the Universe Sphere to Kuronuma Nishiki means the poison has already taken root and that it is spreading," said Mio. "The only reason that would happen is if the Universe Sphere accepted my guardian. If you take the sphere from my guardian, they will die, and I like my guardian."

Ayuka shook her. "You will tell me who has the Universe Sphere or else!"

She shoved her harshly into the wall, dropping her hold on her.

"I don't know who you think I am," Mio said, straightening her back. "You can torture me until your heart's content, but I will not utter my guardian's name. Do as you will with me, but you will not have the sphere."

"Kuugo!" called Ayuka.

"Yes, Ayuka-sama." The redheaded Mikazuki shinobi stepped closer.

"Return the Shugosha to her room and make her talk." Ayuka lifted her chin, the proud mien had returned to her beautiful face. Her eyes fell on her and a smile appeared on her face. "Then strip Madara of his artifact. Have him tortured until this one loosens her tongue. You will give one up, Mio, I can guarantee that."

Kuugo took her by the arm and started to pull her away.

"Were you not the one that said Madara was important?" asked Enki, his voice edging on annoyance. "That is why you did not let me kill him!"

"It was only important to keep him alive until Mio was a prisoner in the Sun Country."

Mio was shoved out of the hall by the Mikazuki, other shinobi following behind them, and dragged back to her rooms where she was thrown inside. She scrambled back to her feet, but Kuugo shoved her back down. He ordered two Motou shinobi to stand watch while he went to retrieve Madara.

She would not sit quietly. She stood, tightening the knot on her obi, and walked to her leather trunk to unsheathe her dagger. The Motou shinobi drew kunai in anticipation, but she moved through them quickly. She slashed one across the torso and when the other came at her from her left, she grabbed him by the arm and twisted it around his back until she broke it. She slammed him face first into the ground and kicked him across the face, knocking him unconscious. The other shinobi was groaning, attempting to pick himself off the floor, but the wound was too deep and he was in too much pain. She stepped over him to reach the door and left the room.

Mio paused, eyes closed, and pinpointed Madara's sphere across the island. She went after the slow pulse of the Nature Sphere, running as fast as her legs would carry and avoiding any shinobi. She didn't make it far before the Motou released the temple's priestesses, who caught her on as she crossed the chakra-sucking battlefield and surprised her by attempting to use the Kuronuma's techniques against her. The combination was all wrong, the black water was laced with poison and while it did burn, it did not scorch, and their movements were sloppy. They didn't have the physical capabilities to use the Kuronuma techniques to their full potential.

A wave of thick, black liquid crashed over her. It was lukewarm, but it soaked her to the bone. The priestess that managed to land the attack had been looking particularly smug, until she activated the Black Sphere to support her attempt at copying the technique from what she had seen her use. She created a tall wave of scorching black water and watched a few fools attempt to withstand the attack, only a chorus of sharp screams reached her ears.

She took the opportunity to escape only she realized after she had shaken off the Motou that Madara had moved. She stilled, heart pounding. He hadn't been moved, his artifact had.

Mio changed direction, going towards the ruins of Motou Jikai's castle. She learned the Southern Temple was the only building that had remained intact after the war between the two halves of the Motou clan.

The anger in her turned into something else. It changed into an emotion she had never felt before because she had always chosen pragmatism. She had learned at an early age that impulses wouldn't get her anywhere. They would likely have her killed faster than her occupation. She had felt fear and overcoming it had been her driving force, but none of that had accounted for the strange, new emotion she felt bubbling in the pit of her stomach like a sickness.

She wondered if that was what hatred felt like—wondered if it tasted like bile on her tongue. She didn't like it, but she couldn't help feel it at the thought of Ayuka.

Mio walked through the ruins of Jikai's castle, stepping over the fresh corpses of Mikazuki and Uchiha shinobi. The bottom of her robes were soaked in blood and her bare feet were throbbing and covered in tiny cuts. She moved through the broken entrance, following a trail of fresh blood.

The inner structure of the temple seemed more intricate than the temple in Enki's castle. There were carvings along the wooden beams holding the structure upright and the wooden panels, though ancient and worn. Kunai and shuriken were embedded in the walls and stabbed into the floor, and there was blood, dried and darkening the wood or fresh and the stench mingling with the dusty smell.

She heard a sound and whirled around. Nobody was hiding in the shadows.

Mio started to search the floor for a trapdoor.

A cough.

She stopped to listen. She heard it again and waited until movement followed.

Mio jumped back onto her feet. It was coming from the other side of the temple. She ran across, sinking to her knees, and found the trapdoor. When she opened it, she found no one inside the crawlspace and ran out of the building, searching frantically until she found a dying Uchiha.

She helped turn the man over, saw the blood spilling from his mouth. Her pulse raced at the sight of the gaping wound on his torso and pressed her hands against it to staunch the bleeding. She had seen Takuto and Okimi do this all the time and they had been naturals at it, but she was not. Her stomach turned.

"What happened?" she asked.

Struggling to speak, the man barely uttered a word before he started to choke on his own blood. She pushed him over so that he wouldn't drown in it, but he grabbed her by the arm, forcing her attention back to his face.

"Do…something," he spat.

She blinked at him, perplexed. A shadow fell across her and the man's eyes were bulging, looking up over her. A strong arm wrapped around her neck and dragged her across the broken stone courtyard. She reached for the arm, kicking her feet in her struggle, but it was tightening too quickly.

She couldn't breathe.

Mio buried her fingers into the muscled fresh and tried to break it, but as she heard the bone start to creak, she saw black. Her consciousness went soon after.

* * *

><p>Mio opened her eyes slowly, finding it hard to adjust to the dim lighting. The sounds echoed, giving her the impression that she was lying in a cave. Underneath her, the surface was hard and her side was throbbing from having been on it for an undisclosed amount of time.<p>

A hand fisted in her hair, forcing her head back to the front of the cave. A bloody person was lying across in an unconscious heap, arms bound tightly like hers.

"You are making this harder on all of us, Mio," Ayuka crooned.

Straining to turn her head, she could see strands of the priestess's long, red hair.

"Look at him." She pulled harder, making her strain. She saw him clearly, barely. Madara was in terrible shape and in need of attention. "That is what your silence has done. He can be saved, but whether or not he will be is your decision to make. One guardian or another. Him or the Universe Sphere guardian. Choose."

She said nothing.

"I do hate using force against you, but you leave me no choice," Ayuka said. "You only listen to pain. Never reason. I have to take from you to make you do what I want. I don't enjoy it."

"I won't give either of them up," Mio spat, the hatred reigniting. "They are my guardians! They protect my artifacts and I protect them! That is what a Shugosha is supposed to do!"

Ayuka _tsk_ed. "I will ask you one more time. Choose."

Mio closed her eyes shut tightly, straining hard against her bounds. They were stretching and thinning. A little more and they would snap. "Kill him," she bit out. It was a risky gamble. "Do it. Kill him. I choose the Universe Sphere. Tell Nishiki. Tell him that he is dying because of your incompetence. Tell him that you could not break a child. Tell him."

The binds started to tear, once it ripped a little, she managed to tug her arm free. She yanked Ayuka's hand from her hair, enduring the pain of having some of her hair pulled out in the process, and pressed her hand against her face. Mio slammed her, head first, into the floor. She leaned forward, feeling Ayuka's fingers digging into her arms as she began to shout.

"You are supposed to be weak!" Ayuka shouted repeatedly. "You are supposed to be weak, how dare you?"

"I am not weak," Mio said.

"Ayuka-sama!"

Mio was yanked to her feet by several arms and she let it happen. Ayuka sat up, her eyes wild, as others began pouring into the strange dimly lit cave. One of the new shinobi tried to help her back on her feet, but she jerked her arm away and stood up.

Ayuka took the sword of one man and stabbed her through the stomach. Mio bit back the scream, but the pain was immediate, sharp, and constant until she twisted the blade and it turned explosive.

"I may not be able to kill you, but I can hurt you until you wish you were," Ayuka threatened, turning the sword again until she elicited a scream. "You will be weakened. You will become nothing. I will break you."

She expected to feel a strum of fear rushing down her spine, but it was absent in the presence of pain. "Do it."

Ayuka took the challenge. "Kuugo, gather men and leave the island at first light. Find Uchiha Izuna and kill him."

Mio struggled against the four shinobi holding her back. "No."

The priestess smiled victoriously. "Give up the name quickly, else Izuna meet his destiny and die." She cast a sidelong glance at Madara. "He won't appreciate it. He has been a faithful prisoner for the sake of his brother—to protect him from you and the messes you bring. It is a shame he did not listen to my warnings, that he can still believe that you are not toxic."

Ayuka waved her hand and Mio was thrown to the ground. She hit the ground directly, the sword twisting further into her body. She cried out, coughing out blood, and landed on her side. "Use this time well," she said, her footsteps nearing. The sound of rustling reached her, followed by the sound of something falling. "Think about what you would be losing and consider your partner's opinion. And next time remember that if you try this again, it will only continue getting worse."

As the priestess removed herself from their new prison, she stopped. "The purification ceremony is in three days."

The purification ceremony meant one thing and one thing only. Marriage. Mio would be married to Enki in three days.

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: It ain't looking well for Madara or Mio. D:

The delay for this chapter was due to a birthday party, two earthquakes (I felt nothing, really not serious), homework, and Orange is the New Black (thanks Aries01xD for the recommendation, I finally marathoned it and that ending was fantastic). I'm behind on my writing for the next chapter, so there's a chance I won't be able to have it ready to post on the 31st like I wanted. I still hold onto the idea that I can get it done. If not, you will see it in the first week of April.

Also, I asked a question in the previous chapter. I was going to C&P for anyone that might not have seen it (since I posted the chapter then edited it to add the question in), but I was lazy. You can just go back and check it out. I'm just curious for answers, so far I've gotten really interesting ones and I'm curious to read more if anyone has any other responses. If not, that's fine. :D

Moving on. Many thanks to these wonderful reviewers for making my week: **crazyuser**, **MoonlightArrow**, **amaya-tsuki-chan**, **Red Lips 'nd Cloudy Eyes**, **Loteva**, **Aries01xD**, **Hina** (Hello~ so happy you have been enjoying this story and thank you for answering the question!), and** HushedFable**!

Thank you for the new follows and possibly favorites! It's been such a joy!

Thank you for reading!

I'll try to post a preview tomorrow.

I seriously wish I had a question to ask after this chapter...but I can't think of anything now. Maybe next chapter!

Bye~


	36. The Death of Kings 1

Chapter** 36** | The Death of Kings I

* * *

><p>Mio panicked at the sight of all the blood around Madara and hated that her next reaction was to become squeamish. Her extensive medical knowledge extended to the understanding of how to clean and dress a wound, neither of which she did well.<p>

She made a dangerous gamble that day, one that weighed heavily on her conscious. She endangered Madara's life for the sake of proving that Ayuka's plans for him had not ended and that her threat to see him killed had been a bluff. She had no answer as of yet, only the fear that he had been left in such a terrible state that he might die without it truly being her intention.

Mio started to unbuckle the pieces of his broken armor. She grew frustrated by her own clumsy fingers and the unconscious shaking of her hands. She often shot glances at every shadow on the wall, gauging her location from the little she knew of the island, but went back to tearing at the fasteners when the knots turned cumbersome for her nervous fingers. Once stripped of his armor, she wiped the sweat beading on her forehead and shuddered as she took in a breath. The scent of blood stung, burning in her eyes until they began to water.

She sniffled noisily. She cleaned her blood off her hands before she peeled back his shirt to see a deep gash across his side that threatened to bleed him to death and a stab wound through his left shoulder that had left the arm limp. There were several other cuts, some shallow, others deep, but the few endangering his life had been the first she inspected.

She bundled up the bottom of her robe and tore a long strip of fabric. She pressed it to the bleeding cut. The blood soaked into it quickly. No matter how much pressure she applied to it, it continued to bleed and he was growing pale.

Mio held her hand under his nose, but did not feel his breath. She held her head near in the hopes of hearing something, but she didn't. Her heart throbbed wildly and she pressed her ear to his chest in search of a heartbeat. Nothing came. The only sound she heard was that of her own frantic breathing and her heart's palpitations. A tear rolled off the bridge of her nose, followed by a choked up sob.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, the guilt gnawing at her chest. She rubbed a tear from her eye. "I'm so sorry."

A hiss reached her ears and she lifted her head, tears running down her face. Madara scrunched his face up in pain and let out a groan. She touched his face, placed both hands to either side of it. The shock ebbed away her sadness and replaced it with hope. "You're alive," she whispered. He cracked open one eye with great difficulty and then the other, having trouble focusing on her face. "Stay awake."

His eyelids drooped, but he fought against the drowsiness, attempting to move. He uttered her name beneath his breath and it shook her.

"Madara, stay awake," she urged him, backing away so quickly she hurt herself. She had completely forgotten Ayuka stabbed her.

She pushed past the sharp pain and ran in the direction of the entrance to the cavern. She reached it to find a giant boulder blocking the entrance, sealing them away to endure Ayuka's torture. She pressed both hands flat against its surface and tried to push it, putting every ounce of her strength behind her palms, but as soon as she applied pressure, her pain doubled. She bent over, hand shooting to cover it, the blood flowing from the stab wound doubled and as it did, her strength depleted.

Mio pulled her hand from her stomach slowly. The blood dripped from it, splattering to the floor in large quantities. She cursed Ayuka for leaving her to bleed out to death as she had left Madara.

She endured the horrible pain, wheezing as she stumbled backward, assessing the boulder one last time. She needed enough energy to help Madara and enough to break the boulder. She never tried to break a boulder before and new that if she ever did, it would be something smaller. She thought it through. Her legs were stronger than her arms, so she would need to rely on that strength alone.

She braced herself for the recoil as she took one last step back and lifted her leg. The movement betrayed her concentration, sending a paralyzing ache through her body from the stomach wound, but she managed to slam the sole of her foot against the surface and saw results. She made a dent and the cavern shook with a horrid sound, but the pain that shot up her leg weakened her a long minute. She distracted herself by wondering how many shinobi it had taken to push the boulder into place. She tried to imagine it through Ayuka's eyes to push past the excruciating pain as she kicked the boulder a second and a third time, until the center crumbled revealing a short walk before the edge of a cliff. The force of the last hit was enough to do away with the rock. It crumbled completely.

Mio fell back as the obstruction cleared away in the form of broken pieces bouncing off one another as they rushed downward. She rushed to her feet, letting out a cry as her hand shot down to hold her stomach.

She made it to Madara's side, careful about touching him with her bloody hands as she pulled him onto her back. She struggled with attempting to stand. In her condition, he felt too heavy for her to carry even though that training in the Iron Country had been grueling in terms of the daily weight increase. She should have been able to pick him up and go, but that was if she was in perfect health.

She stood with trembling knees and her entire body radiating pain. She was bleeding and crying and swore she sprained her ankle. She could have easily given up and as interesting as a prospect that presented to be, she didn't want Madara to die. And she had a chance to help him.

She didn't know how she was going to do it, but she was going to take him to Kiyo and hoped the elderly woman could help him while she looked for an Uchiha medic.

Mio stopped abruptly once outside, staggering. She sensed a new sphere on the island.

_The Reflective Sphere guardian?_ That meant a Kuronuma on the island. A new thought surfaced in her mind. There were more medical-nin in the Kuronuma than hunters and shinobi combined. She turned away from the direction of Kiyo's village and chased the pulse of Okimi's sphere, praying she had made the right decision.

She covered a lot of ground before realizing whoever held the sphere was coming right at her and she forced herself forward. If she reached them first, she might be able to hide them from Ayuka, unless she already knew they were on the island and she was running head first into another of her traps. Why else would she not place any shinobi around the mountain that held her and Madara captive? She was either going senile or plotting some more torture. Mio guessed the latter, but that didn't stop her from running. She didn't care because she would find a way.

Mio was stumbling towards the end, vertigo catching up to her, but she persevered. Once she reached the poisonous battlefield, she would see the Kuronuma that had taken Okimi's place as guardian and it meant help. Her ankle twisted and she came crashing down to the floor, unable to escape the excruciating results of her fall.

And then a voice reached her. The artifact pulse was practically at her ear.

"Mio!"

Pushing herself up, careful with Madara as she set him on his back, she sat up searching for the voice. Her heart started pumping harder, louder. She stared forward, watching the shrubberies shudder as a person emerged from behind them. She let out a painful sound at the sight of Takuto, windswept and dirty but alive. With what remained of her strength, she got to her feet and ran straight for him, throwing her arms around him. She couldn't believe it. He squeezed her gently before pulling away, his eyes going straight to the wound in her stomach, and she went limp, unable to stand the pain any longer.

Takuto caught her. "No, Mio, stay awake!"

She felt her eyes rolling back and her vision going black. She heard him curse and felt the hard ground underneath her back. He started to tug at the obi around her waist, determined to heal her, but she catch his hand. "Madara first," she whispered, struggling for breath. Her own voice sounded distant, but she needed to warn him. "Island is not safe. Take us to Kiyo. She lives close. Near the coast by the port. She has herbs. She has—"

It felt like she was dying. When she closed her eyes all the pain left her. It felt a lot like dying.

If she survived, she never wanted to feel that feeling again.

* * *

><p>A fire was burning near her, the firewood crackling at her ears and the heat warming her strangely cold skin. She woke with a hammering heart, searching everywhere in the quaint room. The single window showed the sea from an elevated place, the direction reminding her of the long houses with many rooms in the coastal village. She didn't give thought to anything else because her mind went straight to Madara and the hope that Takuto worked the miracle he needed to survive.<p>

Mio searched for Madara immediately after waking, ignoring the lingering pain the wound had left behind, exiting the small room into a long wooden hallway filled with rooms. She remembered pressing her ear to his chest in search of a heart that seemed nonexistent and remembered the ache and fear that ran through her in response. He had been limp when she had pulled him onto her back and his breathing had been shallow, almost absent, the entire time she had been running towards the Reflective Sphere guardian.

She found Madara in Takuto's care. The blond Kuronuma medic was changing the bandages on his burns in the yellow-orange glow of a fire burning on the hearth. He lathered the injury with a green paste dotted with black specks that carried a strong smell.

"Is he okay?" Mio asked quietly, shutting the door closed at her back.

"He will be," answered Takuto. "I got to him in time to give him the antidotes to the three poisons in his body. You were right in asking to heal him first, though you had internal bleeding and damage to an organ which was not made any better by you carrying him on your back."

She reached his side, putting her left hand on his right shoulder and leaning in to rest her cheek on the top of his head. "We are alive because of you. Thank you, Takuto." She covered her mouth with her other hand as she stared at Madara, seeing the rise and fall of his chest. "I thought I might lose him and—"

Takuto suddenly turned his head and she took a step away as he looked up to her with an odd expression. The unassuming air about him gave his thoughts away.

"He is a guardian," she whispered harshly. "He is my guardian and I put his life in jeopardy. I gambled with his life, Takuto."

"I know," he said, finishing his work bandaging Madara's arm before moving onto the awful wound on his side. The skin was flaming red, but the wound had been sealed to a certain extent. At her disturbed face, he decided to elaborate. "I want to leave no scar." He left his seat and gestured for her to take it. "You tried to save him, you weren't gambling with his life. You took a risk finding me instead of another."

She sat, her mind abuzz with questions she couldn't ask because she thought back to the time she uttered the words, _"Do it,"_ as Ayuka threatened Madara's life. She did it to prove a point, but if she had been wrong, Madara would have been killed in the instant she spoke those words and she would have been to blame.

"No, not that," she admitted, compelled to speak the truth of her situation. "Hag wants the Universe Sphere. She wants it returned to Kuronuma Nishiki—he's alive, grandfather didn't kill him—" She paused for breath, a dull ache in her stomach made her shift uncomfortably. He stopped what he was doing to face her, eyebrows knitted in disbelief. "She asked me to choose between my guardians, Madara or—"

"To—"

"Don't speak that name!"

She keeled over in a fit of coughs, holding her stomach with both arms. She recovered after a moment.

"You chose the Universe Sphere," said Takuto, pressing the edge of a small knife into the red skin and begun to reopen it. Madara made a hissing sound, but remained still.

"I did it because I felt Ayuka was not done with Madara, that she still needed him for something. I chose the Universe Sphere because I didn't think she would hurt him, but I shouldn't have said anything." She lowered her face to conceal her watering eyes. "I feel I should have stayed silent, but I said it and I feel guilty for it. He could have died. It's not on me to play with his life. It's his life. I don't want to be that type of person. I don't want to be like her."

Takuto's concentration didn't waver as he offered her a response. "You did what you thought was right. Maybe it was a bad decision, but you are alive." After making a perfect incision, Takuto healed the wound and left behind no trace of its existence. He covered the area with black paste. "You are alive and he is alive."

That didn't help her feel any better. He was still hurt because she couldn't give up Tobirama's name. If she had, Madara wouldn't have been tortured. But if she had, the Mikazuki clan would have gone after Tobirama and killed him n for the sphere.

"I involved him in my mess."

Takuto washed his hands clean of Madara's blood in basin of warm water and dried them on a cloth. He walked to the door, opening it wide. "Come on, Mio," he said. "He needs to sleep and we need to talk."

She rose from her seat and followed him back to the room where she had woken. He sat her down at the edge of her bed and crouched down in front of her, reaching to take her hands. He held them clasped between his and stared up at her, his dark rose eyes full of concern. "You should be resting, Mio," he advised. "Leave me to worry for his recovery."

"It is impossible," she said. "I cannot think to rest. Ayuka is probably hounding us and it won't be long before she has her underlings plowing through the villages." The thought brought a question to mind and she leveled her gaze with his. "How did you manage to get away? Enki would not send for you without shinobi to watch you. How are you here, Takuto?"

He pulled one hand away and reached into his clothes. He tugged out the handheld mirror made of black metal shaped in an intricate design. Okimi's artifact. She longingly pressed her fingertips to the cold surface and filled with the sadness she thought to have overcome. It came at her with a force that left her chocked up in emotion and unable to speak.

"You used Okimi's sphere?" she said quietly.

He nodded.

"I don't understand. How did you inherit the sphere? Did it choose you?" There were ways to circumvent the rule, but she was the one that chose who held what artifact, and if the artifact wanted Takuto, then it would want Takuto.

"Musashi-sama once told me the artifacts pick up on the subtleties—an inner desire, a rumination, an afterthought," he explained, following the lines of the intricate design with his eyes. "He said that an artifact knows a Shugosha's heart. I think you unconsciously chose your guardians, thought about the people you wanted at your surroundings. That would explain how Uchiha Madara and myself have acquiesced to artifacts without you assigning them directly. You gave the Reflective Sphere to return to Okimi and Shin gave the Nature Sphere to Madara. It would make sense."

"My great-grandfather…?"

She had seen him fighting bravely, had watched him die by Hiryuu's hand, and had experienced a pain so devastating as she recalled those images. Okimi and Enya stepping out together, side-by-side, with an army of shinobi at their back. She felt the second Okimi's voice disappeared from her head that she had died.

Takuto read the situation and his mood changed as well. "Hashirama and I…we didn't make it," he said quietly. "Not in time to save everyone."

She nodded.

"Okimi was alive when I found her."

The emotion poured out into the form of a single tear. "She was…?"

Takuto turned away, intent on changing the subject. "You should rest."

"I need to know."

"Okimi was trying to heal his wounds," he said. "She was…she was holding onto Enya—a part of him. She held on, saying one of them needed to survive because of Uzuki."

He paused, fumbling for words, and she clutched his hand to stop herself from sobbing.

"Uzuki, too?" she asked tremulously. Uzuki, the stern Kuronuma Elder that had taken over her training after Shin left the mountain. She was Enya's mother. And Enya, Okimi's husband, who she had always remembered laughing.

He nodded as he raked his hand through his hair, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. "She wanted so badly to save Enya…she had no idea she was fighting a losing battle," he said. "I tried to help her. Tried everything I could think of and everything she taught me. The life I wanted to save so badly was the one I lost. She cried about her girls. Mio, they don't have anyone."

She heard the break in his voice and reached forward to wrap her arms around his head. He let out an awful sound as he grabbed hold of her.

"I have nobody, Mio," he cried, and it broke her heart. "They took my family. All of them."

"We have each other," she said, the tears dripping from her eyes. "And the twins, they'll have us."

She felt him shaking in her arms. She couldn't think to ask him of Sako and Minako, not yet. If that fate had befallen so many others, she was terrified of discovering what might have happened to them. It had been a hard hit in part of the Mikazuki-Uchiha alliance. A Shugosha and a guardian were lost and she could barely come to imagine how many more children had been left parentless. She couldn't ask Takuto for anything else, only listen to the echo of his pain in her ears and in her head.

Takuto pulled away, frustrated by the betrayal of his emotions, and wiped away his tears with the back of his hand. She understood that.

"I'm sorry, Mio," he uttered, his eyes bloodshot. "I apologize for my shameful behavior. I want to be strong for you."

She appreciated the gesture, but she shook her head. "No," she said. "The only one that needs to be strong for me is me. You need to be strong for you. And we, as guardians of the Kuronuma clan need to be strong for the next generation. To do that we have to get off this island, we need to defeat Motou Ayuka and take back the Fate Sphere."

Takuto squeezed her hands. "Are you prepared to go against her?" he asked. "I know you have been suffering here. I saw what she has put you through."

The Reflective Sphere was an artifact capable of two things while imbued with its guardian's chakra: reflect the actions of another connected to the artifacts and reflect the chakra of whomever the guardian chooses to different locations. Takuto had been taught about the artifacts in detail by Musashi at a young age before Okimi had chosen him to become her apprentice and he had no doubt been using his sphere to catch glimpses of what was happening on the island. She had reason to believe he had been using the artifact to confuse Ayuka's sensors, much like she had unconsciously blinded Ayuka's ability to read the pathways of her guardians.

"I did not need the Reflection Sphere to hear your crying," he said, chasing away her assumptions. "Hashirama was worried we had sent you to your death."

"You could hear my voice?" she asked slowly.

He nodded. "It's normal. It's your chakra running through the other artifacts. Sometimes it happens. You should be able to control it once you are Shugosha longer."

"I heard everyone calling my name. I thought I was going insane. I…I heard Okimi's voice. I heard it fading."

"She did call for you," Takuto admitted. "She wanted to say sorry for lying before."

"When?"

"When she hugged you. She said you would not be the strongest Shugosha, but that you would be the greatest." Takuto smiled bitterly. "She lied. She thought she might scare you if she told you the truth."

"The truth?"

"Shin told her a long time ago that Ayuka feared only one Shugosha. The First. But that there would be another—"

"Me," she said. "I know it's me. I know that she's been guiding me from the path I was supposed to take—the one she fears—and that that's the reason she has killed everyone around me."

"You know?"

"She's told me. She told me right after she admitted it wasn't me she wanted but my firstborn."

"Your firstborn."

"My firstborn will be able to change the line of succession. She wants her son to inherit the title of Shugosha."

"Her son?"

"I am expected to wed Motou Enki and provide Ayuka with my own successor. She wants me to do this quickly. In less than a week now."

Takuto was at a loss for words. "What do you plan to do?"

"I'm going to become the Shugosha she fears."

"How?"

"The only way I know how," she said lowly. "I'm going to get inside her head."

* * *

><p>Kiyo appeared at the end of the day to deliver food. She was happy to see her moving around and to know that Madara had survived the night. She had been the one to point Takuto in the direction of the wooden long house. It was owned by her daughter's husband, who rented the rooms out for anyone in need, and Takuto had indeed used the Reflective Sphere to keep Ayuka's sensors running amok in the island, which had most villages on edge as the Motou and Mikazuki shinobi had garnered a reputation for their ruthlessness. Either Kiyo or her daughter, Tsuruko, accompanied by her clingy son visited them to leave them food. Mio promised to find a way to repay them for their kindness, but they asked for nothing in return. Their kindness had been refreshing after having endured life in Enki's castle where it had gone extinct.<p>

"So why are we playing hanafude?" asked Takuto, pairing a card to another with a similar base.

"I was doing it to annoy Ayuka, but I found it to be quite…addicting."

"I hope your new plan does not involve playing hanafude."

"Eventually, we are going to return to Enki's castle and submit to Ayuka's wishes."

"I'm sorry, _we_?" asked Takuto, staring at her like she were crazy.

"I agree with him," came a struggling reply.

Takuto craned his neck to look back and Mio stretched to glance over his shoulder as Madara slowly pushed himself onto a seat atop his bed. A moment later, they panicked. The two leaped out of their seats to push him back down, their warnings overlapping.

"You need to rest!" Takuto stressed.

"You'll reopen your wounds!" shouted Mio.

Takuto zeroed in on Mio after letting go of Madara and standing to his full intimidating height. "I closed his wounds. All of them. Do you know how hard that was? He needs to rest."

Mio nodded and turned to Madara, pushing him by the shoulders back onto the bed. "You need to rest."

Madara stared at her with an annoyed look. "That hurt."

She let him go quickly with an apology.

Takuto decided that if Madara refused to continue resting his body, then he might as well help him onto a seat so that they could team up against her.

"If his artifact can guarantee you a safe passage off this island, why not use it?" stated Madara.

"I am not going to leave this island in such a manner after all that she has done and all that I know, I am not going to go so easily," Mio said stubbornly.

"Do you enjoy being tortured?" Madara asked.

"No, but—"

"Why would you go back?"

"Well, I—"

"No, Mio, why?"

Mio frowned. "Stop interrupting me and I'll tell you."

Madara gestured for her to continue as he leaned back with a leisure air that irritated her.

"I have a plan," Mio started.

"You have a plan," he repeated, interrupting her once more. "I hear a lot about this plan, but all you seem interested in doing is playing cards to annoy Ayuka. That is a stupid plan, even for your standards, Mio. Think harder before I have you shipped off this island with your Kuronuma friend because it might serve your mind better to avoid any more abuse."

Takuto followed the conversation attentively. He fixed his eyes on Mio. "You should tell him the rest of your plan," he advised, "before he ships you off this island and I help."

"I'm going back to marry Enki." Mio had devised a proper plan during her recovery period at the long house and it had not been an easy plan to accept. The look on Madara's face gave away his exasperation, especially after he had told her that he would not let her marry him and had even gone out of his way to keep the man from coming to her rooms for the early consummation she traded in exchange for freedom, Takuto, and inclusion in meetings. Madara looked ready to interrupt, but she continued to elaborate. "I need a powerful ally on the island—"

"Enki is powerful because he is under Ayuka's protection. She is the powerful one."

"But he defied her by allowing me freedom and by asking someone to bring Takuto here," she responded.

"And you were repaying him by allowing him into your bed," Madara challenged.

"I wanted to have an advantage over her," Mio said strongly. "Enki can be that advantage."

"What do you intend to do?" asked Takuto. "Enki is Ayuka's puppet and his only purpose is to impregnate you with this change-the-line-of-succession child. I doubt she chose him for being the smartest man alive. If he is a pawn, he is her pawn and I am sure she did not have to lift her skirts to make him her pawn, so you should not have to degrade yourself to that level even if you are determined to gain the upper hand."

"I was trained to do what was necessary for my goal," she said. "These are my artifacts and they are in her hands and the possibilities of what she wants to do with them are vast, each more frightening than the last, and I don't want to be around to find out what. There is a reason the artifacts serve no unified purpose since the First Shugosha. There is a reason that information was supposed to die after the first generation. I don't want to be Shugosha that unearths it all and has to think more about the future than the past."

"Enki will be a useless ally," Madara stated. "Do what you will, but that man will do nothing but drag you down. What is necessary is for naught."

"But he is easy to manipulate. Takuto said it, Enki is a pawn," she answered. "And what difference it would make to have him become my pawn than hers. He is still the king of this country."

"This is not a good argument, Mio," said Takuto. "I might as well take you with me to the Iron Country now."

"I can retrieve the artifacts stolen from you," Madara added. "It will be easier not having to worry what Ayuka decides to do to you next or that Enki might force himself on you at any time of the night."

"I appreciate the concern, but I am not asking to be protected."

"Half the job of the guardians is to protect the Shugosha," Takuto reminded.

"I don't want your protection, I need your support," she told them. "Believe in my plan and my ability to execute it."

She stared at them expectantly, willing to prostate herself and beg when Takuto agreed to her simple terms. Madara remained stubborn a while longer believing her plan—what he had heard—to be a stupid one, but he gave in on a single condition.

"What is it?" Mio asked.

"Who keeps the Universe Sphere?" Madara fixed her a stare that made ice run through her veins. "Whose life did you choose over mine?"

The question she dreaded had to be the one he asked as a condition to support her.

Takuto rose. "I am going to find Kiyo-san."

He carefully set the Reflective Sphere atop the table before exiting. She cursed Takuto for fleeing, though she had not put the action past him. She braced herself for the worst and swallowed hard, but she found herself unable to speak. The guilt she felt was already too much for her to stomach, the confrontation was something she wanted to avoid as she had no way to form an acceptable excuse for having offered Ayuka his life to protect another's, but it had been in the moment. She had been determined to keep the Universe Sphere on her side and had been confident that Ayuka had need of Madara alive, so she had taken the risk.

"Well, Mio, do you intend to tell me?"

Mio shook her head. "I apologize for taking a risk, but I cannot reveal that guardian's name. The fewer people know his name, the better."

"Is that what you call it? A risk?"

"Do not toy with me! You would have acted no different in a similar situation!" she said, bothered by his tone. "I knew that Ayuka would not kill you and that what she had done was done to frighten me into revealing the name and whereabouts of the Universe Sphere guardian I chose. You must understand that the Universe Sphere is not an artifact to be tampered with."

"Not an artifact to be tampered with?" he repeated, and she caught a hint of curiosity underlying his serious tone.

"It isn't." Mio rose from her seat. "This won't happen again. You being hurt at my expense. I won't let Ayuka use my guardians against me. Not again."

Madara grinned in amusement. "You think to protect me, Mio? Do you think I am in need of your protection?"

"No," she told him, feeling her body tense as he rose from his seat. Though she knew his body was still weak and burdened by pesky aches, none of the pain showed in his expression as he came to stand before her. She unconsciously balled her hands at her sides, eyes fixed on his face. "I know that you do not need my protection, but if I can make yours and the Uchiha clan's stay on this island easier, I will. If you consider that protection, and if it is beneath you, turn a blind eye towards it, but that will not stop me."

He seized her by the arms, startling the air from her lungs. "If you are that eager to grovel at Ayuka's feet and please Enki, be my guest, but do not expect me to help you. I will believe in your plan and in your strength, but I want nothing to do with it. Protecting the Uchiha clan is my duty, not yours. Yours is to your artifacts. Do what you will. Shameful or not."

Mio wrenched herself out of his hold, more conscious of the little details like proximity and word choice. "Enough," she said in a voiced edged with irritation. "I don't need to be reminded of my duties, I know them, they were hammered into me on Mt. Hyōga. And I don't need you to remind me of what my actions will entail in concerning either Ayuka or Enki. I am not going to challenge them halfheartedly or am I going to do so with boundaries when I don't have the luxury. I was once a spy and I knew that at times it required me shredding all sense of morality. This is another mission to me and if inviting Enki into my bed is what stands between my success or failure, I will do it and that has nothing to do with you. I am not your woman."

She began to leave, but he caught her wrist and spun her around. Adrenaline was pulsing through her veins, heating her frustration and throwing her mind into further chaos.

"No one will have you disgraced," he said firmly.

That fueled her anger. She tugged her wrist away, having had enough of the topic. "If they do not want me disgraced, they did not want me at all."

She accomplished walking out the door without being caught a second time, feeling her ears going red she tried to hide them with her hair unable to explain the reaction, and zipped past the hallway where she encountered Takuto returning with a bag.

"Tsuruko-san made snacks," he said, attempting to show her.

She walked right past him, uttering a brisk, "No."

"You okay?" he shouted after her. "Your ears are red?"

"Splendid!"

Mio stepped out of the longhouse and sucked in a deep breath of cold air. It felt like there wasn't enough oxygen in the world to fill her lungs completely or cool wind to help wean her frustration. In moments like these, she wanted to run, run until every muscle in her legs was screaming in pain. But her circumstances prevented her from taking the risk of leaving the village. Instead, she walked briskly to Kiyo's home.

Kiyo welcomed her warmly, guided her into a seat where Mio was able to watch the elderly woman grind a handful of herbs to mix into a bowl of boiling water. She offered her a mug of passionflower tea to calm the tension in her shoulders. She drank it peacefully sitting by the heat of a fire, feeling increasingly uncomfortable in all her layers, which was a good sign. It meant she was fully recovered. She could withstand the coldest winters the Climate Sphere could conjure in summer clothing. It meant many things. She wouldn't need the support of the Black Sphere to perform basic Kuronuma techniques, though it was not correct to say she was without strength since she arrived. She retained her physical capabilities—she had broken Ayuka's wrist with ease and she could have done worse, only she didn't have the will to do so—but with a clouded mind one tended to forget their teachings. She remembered hers now. The blood, the sweat, the tears, the internalized complaints and hopes the torturous Strength Training subsided. She survived Uzuki's training.

Relaxing with her back pressed against the wall, Mio remembered her time with Kuronuma Uzuki. She taught her the hardest techniques first.

"_Grandfather said it was a step by step thing,_" Mio had told the older woman.

Uzuki had a strict look about her, a woman that brooked no argument. Her seriousness was a contrast to that of her son, Enya, who was often described as a man drunk on happiness—happier chasing around his wife, Okimi, or playing peek-a-boo with his daughters.

Mio closed her eyes tightly, flinching at the thought that she would never see Enya or Okimi together, chasing one another around the Kuronuma village atop the mountain, or watch him with interest as he attempted and succeeded in sending his twins into fits of delighted giggles. She continued to remember Uzuki's teachings to keep the sadness from overwhelming her into frustrated tears.

"_The harder techniques do not come in pairs, they rely entirely on your ability to mold chakra and the black water flowing through your bloodstream," _Uzuki had explained. "_Master one and you master all of the easy techniques. That is how I will teach you and how I expect you to learn. And learn you must do quickly. You do not have the time others have, Mio."_

Mio had nearly cried when Uzuki introduced the Spirals Technique as the first move because it required near-perfect chakra control, something she had struggled with on the constant. It was the reason she was terrible at ninjutsu and did not even utter the word genjutsu, which brought some level of shame considering Uchiha had a tendency of overachieving in those respects and the fact that she had a Sharingan she hated to use because even with the extra help she was hopeless. Uzuki had challenged what little control she had of her chakra, she had taught her the strongest defensive and offensive techniques, but it had been up to Mio to complete them.

She had the power to create another swamp to swallow Enki's castle whole. If she used the Black Sphere's support, she could make one capable of dragging the entire mountain under, but that brought on the threat of another imbalance and the possibility of disrupting the island so much it sank. The last thing she wanted was to die drowning, so she was limited to a few techniques—the easy ones she learned through the challenge of handling the hardest ones. But at least this time, if she went up against Ayuka, she would not be defenseless. Knowing the power coursing through her veins was the product of her hard work and that of the teachers and of the support of the Kuronuma medics reinforced her strength. She carried the trust they placed in her as they passed down the secret techniques to her. She carried their will.

She swore, breathing in the heady scent of burning sage and in her peace of mind, that she would do everything in her power to retrieve the artifacts stolen from her and the Fate Sphere. She would defeat Ayuka on this island. She didn't know how, but she would when she integrated herself into her life as Enki's bride. She would return accepting of her fate and with a name on her tongue, one that would send her on a wild goose chase. She would deal with Kuronuma Nishiki after she found her grandfather.

Mio dozed off in Kiyo's home, lulled by the tea and soothed by the aromatic scents. Sleep was dreamless. She had long forgotten its comfort.

* * *

><p>Madara was gone when she woke the following morning, returned to his Uchiha clan, and she hated the bitterness she felt knowing he left without telling her anything. After yesterday, she expected no less, but something wasn't right. Mio made the decision to follow late that afternoon. Ayuka would be expecting her after seeing Madara and she knew Hag wanted to meet the Reflective Sphere guardian to begin plotting a way to pilfer his artifact. She visited Kiyo's home and left with a small bundle of herbs. With her daughter, she was given two meals for the trip, though she did not say it would be too quick to enjoy the rice balls on the road.<p>

"Will you be okay with becoming that man's woman?" Takuto asked as they stood at the edge of the small coastal town.

"I worry he may not want me for being too inexperienced," she admitted, the only setback in her ploy had been that.

Takuto put both of his hands on her shoulders. "I swore to Shinya-sama that I wouldn't, but I can help you with that."

She stared at him blankly, almost baffled that he had the gall to say it. She pulled his hands from her shoulders. "I appreciate the good intent, Takuto, but I refuse."

With a bright smile, he proceeded to push the hair behind her ears. "They're not even red—your ears," he pointed out. "Does it only happen after you have a heated argument with Uchiha Madara?"

She pushed his hands away. "What are you implying?"

"Nothing," he told her. "We should go before the sun completely sets. I am looking forward to sitting in on a king's feast."

She didn't want to let him down by saying that Ayuka might make him only eat fish like she had her, so she sprinted on ahead of him, using the time to clear her mind. With Takuto at her side, she felt a little more confident.

They arrived at the ominous entrance to the sight of the Motou shinobi exchanging glances after letting them pass. Another shinobi went on ahead to inform Ayuka of their arrival and not a moment later, the redheaded priestess was there to greet them at the courtyard. Her eyes went straight to Takuto, scanning his visage with quirked lips, but she later returned them to her and a crease appeared above her eyebrows signifying her displeasure.

"I am quite disappointed that you escaped your punishment, Shugosha-sama," she began. "I returned the following day to speak to your further, hoping that you might succumb to my request before it was too late to save Uchiha Madara."

"I have returned," Mio said. "And I will tell you of my Universe Sphere guardian, but knowing it will not be enough for you to locate him."

"No, but you can do that with your sphere, can you not? You will guide me to your guardian after you are wed to Enki." Ayuka smiled brightly at Takuto. "You are in time, comrade, our young Shugosha is to be married. It is a joy that she might have someone she cares for in the ceremony."

"I'm delighted," said Takuto, mirroring her smile. "I wouldn't mind meeting her future husband either."

"Oh, there he is, cajoling with one of his many harlots." Ayuka pointed to the other courtyard across them and sure enough, Enki was grabbing handfuls of a brunette's backside as she giggled into eternity.

Takuto leaned forward and whispered, "You are no marrying that."

"As angry as I was, I am not anymore," said Ayuka with a flounder. "We have a special guest on the island. Come you must meet with him, he has been asking to see you for since he arrived."

Her mind jumped straight into conclusions. She took Madara prisoner a second time and was going to kill him this time to prove a point.

Ayuka dismissed the two servants at her side, asking them to take Takuto to his lodgings as they were going to the temple, and as someone without special authorization he was not allowed to set foot inside it. She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before separating.

Mio followed Ayuka with her heart full of dread and her strength wavering. She latched onto it. "Who am I meeting?"

"My son," Ayuka answered simply. "He is here for a short visit, but he refused to leave without seeing you first. He is fascinated by you; perhaps it's the fact that you are heirs to the Time Sphere. I heard you had a special connection with Eito before he died. You might have a connection to my son as well. A special one."

She noted the decrease of Uchiha and Ito shinobi and sudden increase of Mikazuki shinobi, even among the Motou shinobi, all of them smug and wearing their bisected crescent carving proudly on their skin.

Ayuka guided her through the temple doors, the building feeling a little more daunting than she remembered it. Stepping in, she saw a thousand lit candles and hundreds of dancing shadows along the floor and walls. She saw the darken shade of the golden statues and the gods that frowned upon her, but her vision shifted quickly to the sound of laughter drifting from the tiny seating area by the staircase. She saw dozens of bright faced girls flocking around a man seated with his back against the wall.

Ayuka approached, waving her hand to chase away the girls that went off with disappointed looks.

"What harm did it do to leave them?" asked the man, his back broad and deeply muscled. His black hair was cut unevenly; a portion of it fell down the side of his sharp face.

"You have asked for Mio and Mio has come. You intend to greet her with a harem of women at your sides?" Ayuka chastised. "Show some respect, she is Shugosha."

The man stood, easily towering over Ayuka. "Shugosha now," he responded. "How long until Enki does his duty?"

The air left her lungs as he turned. She saw a face that had haunted her dreams for nine years and the bright green eyes that had been seared into her memory. All strength abandoned her, her knees shaking violently before they buckled and she fell to them and watched as he stepped closer in that familiar way that reminded her of her mother's body growing colder on her lap.

Mikazuki Gouki took her by the face. She was paralyzed with fear, the one she would never overcome. Slowly he turned her face from one side to the next, inspecting her. She expected his next move to be closing his hand around her neck and squeezing the remaining oxygen from inside her, but he merely let her go.

"The second pathway," he said in a decisive tone. His green eyes never leaving hers.

"Then it shall be done." Ayuka slithered forward into view and handed Gouki a sack radiating pulses. Three artifacts. "Take this."

"No," Mio spoke, much louder than intended.

She earned puzzled looks.

"What are you doing? Those are mine," she continued, wheezing for breath. The pressure of seeing him face to face after so long was too much. She lived in fear of his name after that dreadful day and had never even dared to breathe it, fearing he would appear at her call to continue tormenting her. "One of them belongs to Madara!"

"Gouki will be taking them with him for safekeeping." Ayuka suddenly laughed. "I was not born yesterday, Mio, I know if I kept them here any longer you would try to take them and I can't have that." She patted her son's arm and he shot Mio a smile as he went with her artifacts. She could say nothing. "The purification ceremony is being prepared for you."

Ayuka clapped her hands and the dozen priestesses that were flocking Mikazuki Gouki returned. The redheaded priestess did not tear her gaze away from her face to regard them and with a callous voice, she said, "Strip her bare."

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: The Death of Kings will be the longest and second to last arc in this story (maybe, I still haven't made up my mind about where to end the story yet, I'll talk about it on my LJ later, cool? Maybe later in the afternoon and host a quick poll). Note that the title is in plural, so prepare your hearts and start your speculating. Anything can happen.

I don't even want to say anything, so I'll just say thanks to all these wonderful people that reviewed: **Loteva**, **CeliaSingsSongs**, **Inanari**, **RelocationAgent**, **Tolly** [I seriously want to do something long, but I'm having trouble deciding how to do it, but I'll talk about it at my livejournal as mentioned above. Thank you for the review!], **Aries01xD**, **crazyuser**, **HushedFabled**, **jubchili**, **amaya-tsuki-chan**, and **yourhappyplace **x1000. You are all wonderful and have made my day at various stages of things gone seriously wrong. So thank you for all the kind, encouraging comments. I hope to continue keeping you all entertained with this story.

The next chapter will feature Izuna POV and Shin antics, Takuto and Yayoi antics, and finally Mio and Madara playing hanafude! The baddies will also be featured. :D

Preview will be up soon. Give it a day or two. I'm feeling a little lazy about updating my journal.

Thank you for reading!


	37. The Death of Kings 2

Chapter** 37** | The Death of Kings II

* * *

><p>The clothing was torn from her body and cast aside in shreds. She was paraded through the long hallway behind the staircase and thrown into a room filled to the brim with the priests and priestesses of the temple. All the chattering ceased and the sound of rushing water emerging from deep inside the room reached her as she stepped forward shielding her body with both of her arms from their eyes. She smelled flowers and fragrant oils. She felt the smothering heat of being in a room full of too many people. Her stomach twisted into knots and her mind was restless.<p>

A path cleared for her to pass and she walked through it to the edge of a large pool of water lined with stones and cattails, its dark surface covered in white water lilies. A small cascade flowed from an opening in the rocky wall, crashing gently over the surface to create sudden ripples in the water, and slipped away through a horizontal fissure on the other edge of the pool.

Ayuka followed close behind having donned a white robe made of translucent fabric and silver necklaces encrusted with emeralds. Half of her long red hair was twisted atop her head, held together by a beautiful hairpin. Beside her stood Yayoi with her dark locks swept back into a braid and a jeweled dagger in her hand.

"Your hands. Show them to me," Ayuka ordered, making a hasty gesture.

Mio stared down at her bare body, decorated only in the Time Sphere that hung from the dark cord around her neck. She hesitated, aware of all the eyes upon her, but slowly obeyed. She held her hands out, palms up, for Ayuka to see.

Ayuka reached for the dagger in Yayoi's hand and drew the blade forth. "I dreamt of initiating the Shugosha into the temple," she began slowly, holding the knife so it caught the light of the candles held by those standing in a semicircle around them. "I imagined it would be an enlightening experience for someone so damned. I do hope you tell me when it is over."

She clasped Mio by the wrist, startling her heart into a quick hammering. Her eyes met hers, darker in the light and in intent. "Abandon your strength, Mio. It will only hurt for a moment."

Mio felt the edge of the blade as the priestess cut deep into her flesh, running the dagger in a line atop her wrist, rupturing the veins. It hurt as expected, a quick, sharp pain. Ayuka did the same to her other hand as well and returned the sizzling dagger to Yayoi, who held it pinched between two fingers as far from her body as possible.

The blood flowed quickly from the deep wounds, seeming to leave faster with every dreaded pound of her heart. She stared at the blood, her breath starting to grow erratic. Ayuka turned her around and pushed her in the direction of a hidden step by the edge. Catching on, Mio quietly entered the pool to face a whirl of terrified thoughts at the realization that it was deep and she never learned to swim out of an irrational fear of drowning. From where she stood, atop the tiny step, the water was at her knees.

"The Purification Ceremony is the divide between life and death," said Ayuka, gesturing her forward down another step that made the water rise to her waist. The priestess did not follow her in. She crouched down by the edge, reaching out to wrap her hand to the nape of Mio's neck. "You have lived Mio in the impure world surrounded by fools, and you will die to shed that part of your life."

Mio's panicked breathing mirrored her heartbeat as she looked into Ayuka's pleasant smile. If she made her take another step down, Mio would have a fit, though she doubted she needed to go that far down to have that reaction. She was already in the cusp.

"I doubt I will be able to sustain you long enough for you to drown, so you'll have to excuse the extremity of my actions."

She did not have the time to process her words when a quick, devastating impact took her consciousness.

A searing pain woke her from the darkness and her body was limp and heavy underwater. A new surge of fright possessed her and she lost it, fighting against the several arms holding her under. She thrashed, causing violent ripples in the surface of the blood tinted water, but more arms broke through the water to keep her there. She continued to struggle, yanking away the hands holding her limbs, until she ran out of air and unable to control the reflex, she gasped.

Water rushed into her lungs, burning its way down. She was drowning and her sphere was glowing, but it would not protect her, not unless it was in danger of being stolen. If it could have protected her then and there because she was in trouble, she might have never had to experience drowning all over again. She fought a losing fight, the blood loss caught up to her.

She was dying and it was slow and excruciating, but as she neared death, the cold sinking into her skin, she felt her body being pulled out of the water. She was weak, but she felt hands pushing down on her chest and then, nothing.

* * *

><p>Kuronuma Takuto sensed a chilling distress—a paralyzing fear. He tasted it. It possessed him like a malignant spirit and he understood whatever Mio felt was worse.<p>

The servants guided him to a dingy room covered in cobwebs and left him with clean bedding. He stood by the entrance breathing shallowly in an attempt to circumvent his allergies, but the smell of dust was sharp and he was fighting against a persistent itch in his nose. He wouldn't be able to sleep in there if he scrubbed it down, but then again, he didn't consider the thought long when he shut the door and started running down the hall in search of Mio.

He exited through a door that led to the back of the building facing the mountain wall. He breathed in the fresh air, distracted by the buzzing noise of the castle. He heard heavy breathing and with a troubled look turned around to see the fat king having his way with the brunette he had been fondling when he first saw him. Although, the woman was in the throes of passion, she happened to open her eyes in the moment he caught them, saw that he was there and started pounding at the king's back while screaming for him to let her go.

The king whirled around a bit disoriented as he tugged his clothes shut. He stared at Takuto blankly and Takuto stared back feeling his stomach churn in disgust at the disheveled sight of him.

"Who are you?" the king barked.

"I'm a Kuronuma," he answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. It was.

"A Kuronuma?"

Takuto inclined his head. "You sent for me by means of Mikazuki shinobi."

Enki arched an eyebrow, realization dawning. "Ah yes, the Shugosha asked for a Kuronuma at her side," he said. "You made quite a mess in the port. Ayuka-sama was not pleased with your conduct."

He had his preacher's tone. He wondered if that was part of his kingly duties—to have that tone.

Takuto killed the Mikazuki shinobi on the ferry when they refused to let him pass. They had been determined to deliver him to the high priestess, Motou Ayuka. "I apologize," he began, "I would have buried them, but the Mikazuki and Kuronuma have a long history of animosity."

The king looked stupefied.

"Do you happen to know where Uchiha Madara is?" asked Takuto.

"He has gone hunting."

"Ah, hunting, fantastic. I had no idea there was anywhere to hunt on this polluted island." Takuto laughed. "Curious." He started to walk away, but paused, turning around fully. "Oh, yes, I almost forgot. The Kuronuma clan wanted to thank you for choosing Mio to become your bride. She is a very special woman in all of our lives."

The stupid king did not seem to understand sarcasm as he nodded like a fool. "Yes, yes, of course," he said. "Mio is a lovely girl. I am blessed."

"On the mountain, when a man chooses his bride, whether the union is arranged or happens out of mutual affection, he is expected to be fiercely loyal to his lady that if he so much as shames her, the Kuronuma capture and torture him as retribution." Takuto smiled at the king, amused by how quickly his expression begun to change as he started to understand the meaning of his words. "First, we pull out his teeth, one at a time, and we move onto the tongue—cut it off. It dulls the screams for when we peel off his skin. We do it with freshly sharpened knives so that they can slice through the flesh with ease. Some men are persistent and they live through it, but not long through the burning. We cook the meat off them and feed it to the wolves. We used the bones to make the lattice of our homes. Human bone is strong. It can withstand the harshest of storms."

Enki paled, looking as though he were about to be sick, and the woman that accompanied him stood with her back to the wall, horrified.

"And the woman that tempted the man from honoring the bride he chose is treated no different," he said, raking his gaze over her. He made her visibly uncomfortable. "We do not feed her flesh to the wolves. It is too tender, too sweet." He licked his lips and she flinched. "It would be a waste."

She let out a shuddering cry, tears bursting from her eyes, and she gathered her skirts to flee. Her frightened cries still reached him despite the distance she managed to put between them. She startled the servants as she passed.

Takuto returned his eyes to Enki, a bright smile on his face. "Have a wonderful evening, heika."

He left the king to fetch Madara. The Motou shinobi at the giant castle gates shot him a wary gaze as he sprinted past them. He followed the road along the mountain and reached the bottom where the king's village sat full of lively residents. He passed them by without a second glance, noticing the difference between the people of that village, which sat so close to Enki's castle, and the coastal village where Kiyo and Tsuruko lived. In that single glimpse, he saw Motou and Mikazuki shinobi patrolling the area, keeping an eye out for newcomers like himself.

Takuto knew Madara was near by the number of Uchiha standing near a precipice overlooking a long drop into a sea of rocks weathered by the waves crashing against them. Madara and several of his men scaled back up the wall with fresh wounds and their weapons drawn seconds after he arrived.

Madara spotted him and walked to him briskly, dismissing all that approached. "What do you want?"

Takuto tugged out his artifact and poked at its reflective surface. He tilted his head to the side when an image replaced his reflection, one of Mio offering her wrists to the redheaded priestess but he noticed there wasn't a stitch of clothing on her. The Reflection Sphere tended to delay events, meaning it would be some time before he could see if she was being tortured. He waved the image away.

"Mio is being kept in a long room, underground somewhere. There's a whole mountain wall and water, water covered in white flowers," he told him.

"A long room underground with water?" repeated Madara. "That is in the temple, under the staircase."

"Temple under the staircase." Takuto nodded in understanding. He had seen where the temple was. He started walking away and stopped when Madara did not follow. "Are you coming? The Shugosha is in a precarious situation."

"My duties are not done here."

"Have it your way—"

Takuto looked down at his artifact, quick to sense something was wrong and tapped its surface. Nothing appeared. It was not working and that meant one thing. "She's dying," he said slowly.

"What?"

"My artifact is dead, meaning she is either close or already there," he said quickly. "I'm a Kuronuma and I am good at what I do, but I can't bring back someone dead. So if she's alive, I don't have time to waste explaining things to—"

Madara took off and Takuto sprinted after him, surprised at how fast he moved.

An ancient priest forbade them from entering the building he called sanctuary, but the two pushed through, Takuto taking the lead after entering a hall covered in golden statues and lit by a thousand candles. He sensed Mio elsewhere, and instead of taking the doorway underneath the stairs, he took the staircase to the second landing. Madara followed without question when a group of priestess stopped them.

"Shinobi are not allowed in the temple!" one shouted.

"We need to inform Ayuka-sama!" a second responded, looking frantically to one of her companions.

"But Ayuka-sama is in prayer!" a third informed.

The group of seven priestesses suddenly parted as a towering male walked forward. His black hair was wild and his eyes a deep green shade, "The Kuronuma can stay, but the Uchiha will go," he told them and a path cleared for Takuto. "I will take you to Mio."

Madara fisted his hands, a silent threat against those that tried to force him to leave.

"He is a guardian too," Takuto stated.

"I don't sense an artifact on him." The man looked to Madara, dark eyebrows drawn in concentration.

"It was taken from him by the priestess."

"Ah." Reaching into a small sack at his hip, he procured three artifacts—a dagger, a calligraphy brush, and the dragon's eye. "Climate, Nature, or Vision Sphere?"

"Nature," Madara bit out.

The man threw the calligraphy brush to him. Madara caught it midair and inspected it carefully before putting it away.

"The Uchiha will stay so long as he doesn't lose that artifact a second time," the man decided, then waved his hand to the small crowd. "Go to your prayers."

Takuto and Madara followed the stranger further through the upper floor of the temple. There were many doors leading into small rooms and several hallways separating them. They took five different hallways and came upon the entrance of a spacious room.

The futon lay in the center of the room and Mio was atop it, lying on her side. He crouched down beside her, taking her wrist to find it bandaged. The other was the same. A fresh bruise covered the bridge of her nose and right cheek. A cut on her nose and another over one eyebrow, even her lip had been busted.

Takuto checked her heart rate and analyzed the rest of her body to find her a little short on blood, which explained the bandaged wrists. He expected the cuts to be deep and vertical. Her black water supply would be low. The little beads of sweat on her forehead were an indication of her developing a bad reaction either because she lost a lot of blood or because she lost almost all her supply of black water, both were equally alarming.

"What was done to her?" asked Madara. "She was not to be harmed."

"Purification ceremony," the man replied. "As a Kuronuma, restraining her would have proven difficult, so other means were exercised to subdue her during the ceremony. It will not happen again, that was only the initiation."

"Initiation to what? The Motou cult?" asked Takuto, voice on the precipice of control. "Initiation and purification? Is this a shrine to the Kuronuma clan's legacy? Are the gods you worship the artifacts we possess? She is Shugosha, this was unnecessary."

The man grinned. "The ceremony is mandatory for those marrying in this temple. Death was necessary for renewal. She will now live to marry Enki and her duty to serve him as a wife," he said. "You need not worry for her health. She was treated by the best specialists in this temple."

That irked him. Kuronuma carried their secrets in their blood. Mio had been drained of hers, an idea that birthed many worries. His annoyance was not entirely unselfish and about his devotion to preserving the clan's secrets, but because he never grew to trust anyone outside the clan with the ability to heal another Kuronuma.

"I'll take over the remainder of her healing," Takuto announced.

"Suit yourself."

The man started to leave. With his back turned, Takuto could see the carving on his back, the lashed crescent of the Mikazuki clan. Knowing it and the green eyes that haunted Mio's sleep, Takuto knew the man's identity.

"I also ask that you return the artifacts to her," Takuto told him, "and when you do that you do not show your face before her again."

"She will have her artifacts when she asks for them," the man, Mikazuki Gouki, said. "A Shugosha should not be this weak."

Madara followed Gouki with his eyes as he exited and sealed the room shut. "He should not be on this island," he stated, walking across the room to reach Takuto's side. "Why is he here?"

"I am more concerned by the fact that he returned your artifact when you asked," Takuto said. "I do not trust his intentions, but there is no time to dwell on it. I need to go through Mio's belongings." He stood. "Guard her."

Takuto left the temple to Mio's room and gathered a bag, filling it with clothes and the corked jug Okimi had given Mio to help her. He dropped by his dusty accommodations and took his bag before returning to the temple.

The black-haired priestess was in the room when he arrived and she shot him a disgruntled look.

Takuto arched an eyebrow, pointed at Mio. "Your handiwork?"

"She's alive, isn't she?" she replied with a careless tone. She swept her hair off her shoulder in a snotty way. "I did a good job."

"You can't even do a proper blood transfusion," Takuto said snidely, rummaging through his bag to procure the instruments necessary to do a transfusion.

"She's alive," she repeated.

Takuto got to his knees in front of Mio. Madara watched him from his seat in front of the futon, his arms folded over his chest.

Takuto drew the blanket back and gently pushed Mio onto her back. She sighed, but did not wake. He glanced at the Motou priestess in distrust. "Should she be here?"

"She is trustworthy," Madara answered.

The Kuronuma medic pulled out a thin hose and a pair of needles. He inserted one needle through a vein in his inner forearm, pinching it as the blood started to spill. He changed his blood type as it left his body and molded more with the black water in his system. He cleaned the inside of Mio's arm before pushing the needle through her vein and beginning the transfusion.

He pulled out gauze and a small knife.

"What happened to her face?" asked Madara.

"Part of the purification ceremony involves rebirth," Yayoi began. "Mio was too strong for a single person to hold underwater and Ayuka thought it might be best to render her unconscious…" Lowering her voice, she finished, "…by slamming her face into a rock."

"You are savages," Takuto cursed.

"We are not the savages! We do not live on a mountain and eat people! We do not possess the power of monsters! We are believers!" she argued. "Don't you dare call us savages!"

"The temple was founded on the basis of protection," Takuto spat. "The First Shugosha would have never harmed another in any form to initiate them into her household. Motou Ayuka turned a temple of protection into one of fear and death. Savagery is when you stand by as a girl is stripped bare and tortured before the eyes of every priest and priestess in this building. You watched her tortured and drowned and did nothing."

"You do not even deny that you lot are cannibals," she remarked, sounding proud.

"Enough, Yayoi," said Madara evenly.

"He insulted me!"

"You drained her of her blood and drowned her," Madara pointed out. "She was not to be harmed."

"She was supposed to undergo the Purification Ceremony to marry my father! She agreed to it, nobody forced her, this was her decision!" Yayoi complained. "She was told the Purification Ceremony was about the divide between life and death, she accepted what that meant and did not make a move to get away. This was not our temple's fault, this was hers."

"The reason I am here and your country still has the protection of the Uchiha and Ito clan is because of her," Madara told her. "Your mistress has nothing to hold over me with my brother gone. Know that I will not hesitate to kill every shinobi under her command if she continues to cross me."

Takuto glimpsed at the young priestess once he finished his transfusion. She stared at Madara, scandalized. "You would not attack an entire country for a single person!" she stated.

"I would attack an entire country for far less," he answered, then rubbed his temples with his forefinger and thumb. "Go to your mistress, I'm weary of you."

She huffed. "I'm going," she announced, heading to the door where she stopped. "I'm going, but father and Ayuka-sama are hosting a feast for Gouki-san's return. She wants everyone in attendance. It's tomorrow evening."

Takuto tugged off the bandages around her wrists and found a badly healed cut. It was basic medical ninjutsu and Yayoi could not even accomplish it. He produced a small knife.

"Hold her down," he told Madara. "This might wake her."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm fixing the priestess's mistakes," he said. "Now, hold her down. Use all of your strength. If she wakes, calm her. She was almost drowned. She might have a fit at the sight of her own blood."

Madara pressed his hands down on her shoulders and she shifted under his hold, frowning uncomfortably.

"Hold her down."

The Uchiha nodded.

Takuto wrapped a hand a few inches above the scarred flesh, prepared to hold it in place if she woke and tried to jerk it out from under his. He cast a final glance at the Uchiha before he begun to cut along the scar Yayoi's handiwork left behind.

Mio made a strangled noise and attempted to move her arm, but he applied pressure to it. He decided to do it quickly and moved the knife down, making a quick and easy cut.

She woke with a gasp and fear took root in her. She was looking everywhere, but not seeing that she was safe. She attempted to jerk her arm away, beginning to wheeze. Her struggle was growing more panicked to the point she was letting out frightened sounds.

"Stop! Stop!" she repeated, scared.

"Talk to her," Takuto ordered, biting down on his thumb until he drew blood. He let a few droplets fall into the open wound and she screamed. He ran his bleeding thumb against her, moving it up slowly, cauterizing the laceration on her wrist before the blood spilled and made a mess of the floor.

"Mio," Madara began. "You're not in danger. Takuto is healing your wounds!"

"It hurts!" she cried.

Madara glared at Takuto and the Kuronuma shrugged. "She's not wrong, it's supposed to."

"Make haste," he bit out.

She screamed out again and with the pain, she spoke a name, her aunt's—the woman that tortured her for days until her back was bloody, infected, and raw. Her eyes were open, but she was still asleep and she was dreaming her nightmares and falling before her demons.

He finished mending her wrist, leaving a red line against her skin. He touched her forehead, cheek, neck and felt a thin layer of sweat starting to form. She was growing warmer, much warmer than what was normal. He tried her pulse again, which had been normal, and saw that it was erratic. He cursed and dug out Okimi's concoction from his things.

"What is wrong with her?"

"Mio overcame very demanding training over the past three years. She was expected to learn what the other Kuronuma learned in a lifetime in a short amount of time. She suffered the repercussions," he answered in explanation, uncorking the jug and putting it to her mouth. "Mio can reproduce black water in her body, but every so often, she can't and suffers a period of extreme illness that, if left untreated, could result in her death. The black water is like your chakra, you run out, you die. Simple." A bit of the liquid rolled from her lips and Madara tried to wipe it, but Takuto stopped him by doing it himself. It would have burned him. "The contents of this jug are a remedy to that problem. It reintroduces black water into her system. If she gets enough, she should be able to mold it and produce more. It takes time, and she is completely vulnerable while she is undergoing the recovery period, but it saves her life."

Mio coughed and shifted uncomfortably as the liquid passed down her throat. "It would be incredibly stupid of her to die now."

"She is reckless," Madara pointed out. "It is unlike her to be so reckless."

"Have you met her grandfather?"

"He chased me out of three different countries," the Uchiha remarked. "We met."

"You can say he awakened the latent gene in her," Takuto answered, then smiled, "but she's learned to have fun. The children on the mountain loved her. I never would have expected it, but they're surprisingly drawn to her—the children." He laughed at the memory of Mio being chased around by a mob of children around Minako's age. She liked to play with them, though she never admitted it. "Minako introduced her to all of them."

"Taiga's daughter?"

Takuto nodded. "I heard Taiga was on this island, I have not seen him."

"He does as he pleases."

He had wanted to tell him that his wife and daughter were safe since he'd send a coded message to the Iron Country that went unanswered due to the Mikazuki-Uchiha alliance intercepting all correspondences leaving and entering neutral country.

Mio twisted out from under Madara's hold and went back to lying on her side. The concoction worked quickly and she was resting peacefully.

Takuto's eyes fell on her other wrist. He wouldn't be able to sleep if he left her wrist to scar, so he pushed her onto her back again and moved to the other side of her. He gave Madara a look and the Uchiha put his hands on Mio's shoulders, his eyes lowering to her bruised face.

Takuto cleaned his knife and burned the edge with a candle he lit. He tore the gauze from her wrist and got to work.

* * *

><p>The nightmares were prevalent in sleep. She dreamt of fighting beneath the surface, her face throbbing in pain, wrists bleeding profusely, and breathing in water. The strong arms holding her under belonged to Mikazuki Gouki. She clawed at his arms and kicked at the water, but her strength was never enough. He was a Kuronuma too. His father was Nishiki, the strongest Kuronuma to have lived only second to the First Shugosha, and he would have taught him the secret techniques of their clan. He would have trained him himself. And his mother was Ayuka, a fit with her husband in terms of strength and clever. Gouki would always win.<p>

She opened her eyes with a gasp and scrambled out of her seat, moving until she hit a wall. She was breathing heavily, looking around. She saw two other futon apart from the one she had abandoned in her fright.

Takuto and Madara both raised their heads and stared at her half asleep. Takuto pushed himself out of the bed, grabbing her blankets. He wrapped them around her tightly as a yawn escaped him.

"I'm here, you're safe," he said, reaching out to put his arms around her.

She hugged him, but her eyes searched for Madara's face. She tightened her hold on Takuto, feeling strange when he smiled in her direction. Her chest felt tight. She was happy to see him after everything that had happened, the argument and his leaving without saying anything. He had been furious, but it seemed everything would be fine between them.

"Your ears are red," Takuto whispered.

She pushed him away. "I have a fever," she said lowly. "My ears can be red."

"We need to talk, Mio."

She didn't see why her ears needed to be the subject of any conversation. "We don't."

"It will be a short talk," he promised.

"Tell me now," she said. She didn't want to go to sleep dreading the conversation.

"Mikazuki Gouki is here," he said, surprising her. "Did you know?"

She nodded, his name alone made her tense. "He's Nishiki's son. Everything makes sense now. Ayuka gave him the artifacts so that he can take them from the island."

"He returned mine," Madara said, sitting up.

"Why would he do that?" Mio asked.

"He said that he would return your artifacts if you asked."

She was baffled. "Ask for my artifacts? What does he want in return?"

They were silent. She didn't want to think what he wanted. She barely survived the Purification Ceremony, she needed to rest, but she was wary of the nightmares.

"Where are we?" she asked, settling comfortably against the wall. She would stay up a little longer to sort her thoughts. "Another prison?"

"The temple," Madara answered, standing.

"Where are you going?" she asked suddenly.

"Out," he said, sliding the door shut noisily after stepping out.

Her insides twisted.

"Was it his brother you wanted to marry or him?" Takuto asked, the question taking her by surprise.

"His brother. Izuna." She smiled. "Madara gave me his blessing to marry him. I wanted to tell you, but I never had the opportunity."

"That was nice of him," Takuto remarked.

"What is with that tone?"

"He really wants the best for his brother, that's nice to know," he answered.

"He cares a lot about his brother."

"Isn't it funny that we're on an island where two brothers went to war over one woman?" He laughed.

"Why are you bringing that up?"

Takuto shrugged with a laugh. "I just thought it was funny." He patted her on the shoulder. "Get some sleep, Mio. We have a feast tomorrow evening. Your future husband is hosting. Did I tell you I caught him rummaging through a woman's skirts yesterday?"

"I do not care what he does."

"You should be wary he doesn't stray, you wouldn't want another woman to win his favor."

He wanted to make a point, not that he had not finished making it before when both he and Madara told her that her plan was stupid. Madara had told her he wouldn't be helping her with any of it, so it surprised her to see him in the room.

"Stop it."

"That is what you wanted, no?"

"I only need his power within this country. It will be to our benefit."

"You will regret doing this."

"I don't want to fight with you Takuto."

"We won't fight, just really think about it. I don't want you to sleep with him. Madara doesn't want you to sleep with him. Shin would have killed him. You heard what he did to Tasuku from Kurata Castle? Pulled his eyes out and tried to force him to swallow them and it had been for looking at you wrong."

She wouldn't deny that her grandfather was overprotective when it came to men. "He wanted to make you disappear."

"See? And I genuinely wanted to spend forever with you."

That surprised her. She never thought of spending forever with him, she was curious about him. She wanted to kiss him because being with him made her feel strangely. When she first met him she didn't feel like herself around him, but it had been short lived. She enjoyed their conversations and thought his mouth was perfect, but she knew it wouldn't work. She didn't know how she knew, only that it was the truth.

"What changed your mind?" she asked, curiously.

"When I found out we share grandchildren," he answered with a frown. "Shin threatened me outside the house, told me our children make beautiful children together and that we would make ugly children. He made sure to emphasize it."

"That snake," she cursed. How much of her life had her grandfather plotted on the Fate Sphere? She looked at Takuto. "He could be lying."

"I know that now, but at the time, I wanted him to stay away from me. Did you notice he forged whenever I was in the house?"

"He also sharpened the weapons."

"And polished them."

"Did you ever catch him chopping wood?"

"Yes. He made it my business to see how well he handled an axe."

"He must have butchered your image of him."

"His image remains unsullied, despite the subtle threats. He was only looking out for you. He wants the best outcome for you," he replied. "I don't blame him. In his position I would have done the same, wouldn't you?"

She agreed, but said, "He's embarrassing."

"He's family."

She laughed.

The door opened and Madara returned, he looked at them and went straight to his futon.

"I wonder what grandfather is doing now," she said aloud.

"Hounding someone out of a country," Madara answered.

"Accurate," Takuto commented with a smirk.

She laughed and stood, deciding to go back to her futon. Takuto followed to his own, making himself comfortable under the blankets.

"What is wrong with your grandfather?" asked Madara.

"Nothing," she said. "He's perfect."

"On the mountain, people would have killed you for suggesting there was something wrong with Shinya-sama."

"Isn't he the traitor that killed his brother?"

"Not much of a traitor if his brother is alive and Ayuka's husband," said Mio in Shin's defense.

"Ayuka's husband?"

"And Mikazuki Gouki is their son."

Madara sat up. "What?"

Mio and Takuto turned away from him at the same time. "Goodnight."

* * *

><p>The temple disappointed Mio when none of its inhabitants owned a deck of cards for Hanafude. In an effort to make it up to her, a couple of priests gave her a board to play Go. Madara had been teaching her how to play all morning and Yayoi, the foul one, had been complaining about it the entire time. Takuto had spent the time reading and observing Mio. She had shown signs of recovery that morning when they had gone running, but the illness attached to her condition was deceptive. Her sudden burst of health could have been a coincidence, but she had been doing well. Even her temperature had leveled.<p>

There was a certain level of patience in Madara's tone as he was teaching her another special move and she was quietly watching him, not the board.

Takuto and Yayoi exchanged looks and insults before leaving the room together, surprising Mio by the decision.

"I'm going to steal your friend like you stole mine," Yayoi told her.

"I'm not your friend, Yayoi," Madara answered.

"He is your friend. He only won't admit it," Mio said. "I can tell that you are important."

Madara glared at Mio.

"You're easy to read," she responded to his dark look.

"Stop talking and learn something," he snapped.

"We're going," Takuto announced.

Yayoi took Takuto to the kitchens. There were so many people running around the large room that walking through it would have been difficult, but once they had settled near an older woman dicing fruit, they were comfortable picking at the large platters she was filling.

"What is with you men and that one girl?" Yayoi complained. "I haven't met one that is adverse to that woman."

"Are you jealous?" asked Takuto, finding it curious. "Have you seen how men look onto you? I doubt you are without a lover."

"We are not talking about me," she remarked. "We are talking about her."

"Mio represents a lot of power. Nobody cares who she is, only what she can provide. They look to her with eyes hungry for that power," Takuto explained. "It probably doesn't hurt that she is pretty."

"I'm not talking about those fools," Yayoi replied. "Madara treats her differently. Delicately. He threatened Ayuka this morning, did you know that? He told her the same thing he told me. He would take the Ito and Uchiha clans and wage war against us."

"Mio's his Shugosha. The artifact he holds is alive through her chakra and with that chakra, we, as guardians, can sense more of her so long as she cannot control her power." Takuto stole a slice of apple. "When she first arrived to the island, she did nothing but cry."

"She was pathetic. For someone with that much strength to cry?" Yayoi huffed. "It was embarrassing to know she was Shugosha, that Ayuka-sama was supposed to serve under her."

"You lived sheltered, surrounded by people willing to do all you asked them to and you are jealous of one girl that was dealt a terrible fate by your mistress because she is protected?" he asked. This was absurd. He didn't understand Yayoi's grudge against Mio unless she was in love with one of the two Uchiha brothers and neither paid her any mind because they were so fixated on Mio. "Her parents were killed by Mikazuki Gouki when she was nine, she risked her life by putting the blame on another, she has been chased all around the continent, captured and tortured by her own family. She's been an object to everyone to be inherited, to be won, to be taken. She is not a person to them. She is a thing and she knows this and she has suffered through it trying to stay strong. Your mistress has caused her great pain. She has ordered more than one person she loves dead and Mio has been powerless to stop it."

"Ayuka-sama did those things for a good cause," she said defensively. "Mio was going to become a tyrant. She was going to take everything from her. Ayuka-sama earned her position as guardian and she wants to pass down her legacy to the person she thinks deserves it. She would kill my mistress when all she has done has been good. She's served the Kuronuma clan through three generations of Shugosha and she has done it faithfully. Things were taken from her when she became guardian. She only wants to get them back. She is not evil like you think her to be. She has done so much good in her life, with me and Kikumi and so many other children."

Takuto thought it was a shame that Yayoi was so brainwashed by Ayuka that she could not see the terrible things she committed.

"No matter what we do, Ayuka and Mio will confront each other and only one of them will be victorious," he told her. "You must make your peace with that. I have."

Yayoi lowered her eyes, a sad look in them. "Ayuka is a mother to me. When my father killed my mother, she picked me up. I will have nobody without her."

"Your position is not that different from Mio's. No father or mother, her clan where she found home almost completely obliterated. She is trying to save her grandfather, trying to protect her guardians and her clan, and she doesn't care that she has to marry your father to accomplish it. All she wants is to stop the persecution of her clan by yours. There are a dozen orphaned children on the mountain and she blames herself that it happened."

"She should have given Ayuka what she wanted," Yayoi stated. "She could have avoided everything if she had."

"Listen to yourself," he said, disgusted by her words. "You don't have the responsibility Mio has as Shugosha. She has to safeguard ten powerful artifacts by passing them onto others that she alone has to keep safe. She has ten artifacts to protect, nine people to protect, and she has to do it in a time when your clan's Artifact War will show the rest of the shinobi clans in this world that they exist and that her future son can change the line of succession. She will never rest. None of her guardians will ever be safe. The Kuronuma clan could die out and it would be Ayuka's fault."

"That is her fate to shoulder because she would not give the artifacts to Ayuka-sama. They are supposed to go to their true Shugosha."

Takuto tossed the fruit he had picked up back into the pile, hearing the older woman complain. "I am done trying to explain this to you," he said. "You are so determined to stand behind your mistress that you cannot see wrong in her actions. She's attacking a girl, one that has not lived a dozen lives like she, because she would grow up to not let her do whatever the hell she wanted with the artifacts. Mio came to take the artifact from Ayuka because she's abusing it. She's revealing to the world that the artifacts exist. She's started a war because her husband was killed and his father did not acknowledge her son to inherit. She thinks she is entitled to all these things and you believe it because it is her word, but think about it, how do you know that Mio was not supposed to inherit her artifacts and live as Shugosha when you have not once bothered to know her. She is a thing to you. She is a person to me and Madara and to Izuna. You cannot throw a tantrum because you don't think she deserves to be spoken to kindly or treated gently. They grew up with that her."

"You could be wrong about Mio," Yayoi said stubbornly. "She could turn into a tyrant."

"The only one to blame when she turns into a monster will be Ayuka."

Takuto stormed out of the kitchens, having had enough with the ignorant girl and returned up the staircase, stomping towards Mio's temporary room, but he stopped short. Madara was standing outside.

He pointed to the sealed doors. "Who?"

"The pig," he answered lowly.

Takuto leaned forward to listen.

"…for two days," he heard Enki announce.

"Two days what?" asked Takuto beneath his breath.

"They will marry," Madara answered, irritated. "He wants Mikazuki Gouki to be in attendance, so he moved the date."

"I have a surprise for you during today's feast," Enki went on. "Wear this. It is quality silk. The silver is from the Lightning Country and the jewels from a land far from this one."

Enki left the room, casting a look at Madara and a fearful one at Takuto. The two filed into the room. Mio was holding red robes decorated in gold in her arms. Atop them was a long chain necklace with large red jewel and matching earrings.

"Are you wearing that?" asked Takuto, pinching the necklace between his forefinger and thumb. "This is a blatant way for them to steal the rest of your artifacts."

Mio stared at the trinkets blankly. "He was strangely kind," she said, then looked to the two of them, "which one of you threatened him."

"We agreed I wasn't going to help you marry the swine," Madara remarked.

"I don't need your help marrying him," she told him. "I can do that on my own."

"Everything else then!"

"You threatened him again, didn't you?"

"I remember seeing the two of you playing Go together and you were doing it peacefully," Takuto reminded them, not understanding how they could find ways to annoy each other until one or both of them was shouting. "Can we go back to that?"

"He thinks he needs to hold my hand as I marry Enki," Mio argued.

"Would you like me to take you to his bed too?" Madara challenged.

"Be my guest. You can hold my robe for me."

Madara shot her a black look.

"I was the one that threatened him," Takuto admitted, receiving glares from the two. "I told him I was going to skin him alive and eat his concubine."

"You told him you would eat his concubine?" Mio sounded surprisingly exasperated.

"I figured someone needed to do it. He was on the woman in the back of the building," he told her. "How do you expect to control him if he is in every other woman's bed?"

Mio sucked in an audible breath and obvious sign she had not thought that one through.

"He will take you where he wants, he's an animal," Madara said, forever irritated by the thought. "Are you prepared for that?"

"I am prepared for all of it, unsavory as the situation is, I am going to marry him in two days' time," she said firmly. "The lengths I am willing to take to make my plan work are not any of your business."

Takuto took a conscious step back. "That does not stop the plan from being stupid."

She rounded on him. "Then you are with him?" she demanded, a fire sparked in her. "You will not help me even if it means helping all of us?"

"No, Mio, I'm not going to help you ruin your life," he told her.

"Leave," she ordered, pointing to the entrance. "I do not want to see your faces unless I have to."

Takuto's chest ached. The anger in her words stung. His decision hurt her. He hesitated. She would be alone. His job was to be at her side and keep her safe. He wanted to do that more than anything with Mikazuki Gouki in the Sun Country and because she could suddenly collapse.

Madara took a threatening step toward Mio and she backed away, dropping Enki's gifts between them. "You've lost my protection." He took her hand and placed his artifact in it. "And my favor."

She stared up at him wide-eyed. "What?"

And his hand left hers as he turned away from her. She reached out to grab his arm, but Takuto caught her. He saw the hurt in her eyes when Madara left the room without his artifact.

"You can't stop him from renouncing his position."

She remembered her anger, though her eyes were wet, and jerked her arm away. "Leave me!"

Takuto followed Madara out the door, sliding it shut. He heard a thump when she collapsed to her knees and the sound of a sob ripping from her throat. She was alone with her stupid plan. Nobody would stop her now.

He felt terrible. He believed in her strength, but she had endured too much in a short amount of time to expect her to be strong. He thought of wrapping his arms around her, soothing her tremors, and asking for forgiveness. However, he stood by his decision. She was relying on impulses to get her out of a tough situation without considering the consequences. He wanted to spare her the grief of becoming the woman of a man that would not love her—to whom she would be an object of power and an occasional warm body. She didn't see past the idea that manipulating Enki through marriage was not the only option. They were three people. Something would have come up.

He faced forward. Madara's hands were fisted at his sides, knuckles white with the strain.

"You can stop her from doing it," Takuto suggested.

"And spare her the lesson?" Madara snapped. "Let her make her mistakes and regret her stupidity, and she will learn."

* * *

><p>Mio was in a miserable state when she took the empty seat to Enki's left. She arrived in the silk robes he had given her, but not the heavy jewels. She refused to remove her artifacts because she was now carrying four and a part of her was still weeping on the inside because of it. She didn't understand why it hurt so much when Madara placed the calligraphy brush in her hand. She didn't know where that wretched cry came from, only knew that Takuto turning his back on her had fueled it and she wept until her eyes stung and her voice was hoarse.<p>

Everyone with even a modicum of importance within their respective clan was present in the hall. She recognized several familiar faces among the Mikami, Motou, Mikazuki, and Ito clan. She could name the few that had been introduced to her, but she tried to seem indifferent to how upsetting the bustling environment made her. She was in no mood for festivities.

Madara sat beside Taiga, both drinking. Yayoi was at Ayuka's side as always, making sure her sake cup was full. Gouki sat across his priestess mother surrounded by other Mikazuki shinobi. Seiko of the Mikami clan was drinking to Enki's right, conversing with the woman beside him.

She searched the entire hall for Takuto, but saw that he was not present. She wondered if he preferred to stay away from the clamoring to avoid her. She had spoken rashly when she had asked him to leave and never show his face before her and now she worried she had ruined their friendship in a single turn.

She blinked up, feeling tears threatening to pour out. She didn't know what she was doing anymore. She was marrying Enki in two days. One day after the night was over. She was growing anxious. She didn't want to marry him.

She looked at him and knew that she didn't want to marry him.

Enki caught her staring and leaned close. "I do remember we had an agreement," he whispered. "I brought your Kuronuma here, you have been involved in the country's meetings, and you were given the freedom to move around. I held my end."

Turning away from him, she felt her skin crawl. "I will hold mine."

Moving even closer, he whispered, "I will look forward to it." He straightened in his seat and oddly pleasant smile on his face. "There is something I want to get out of the way before I send for you, of course."

"What?"

"You are without experience," he told her. "I do not have the time to waste to teach you what I like, so you will learn."

"Learn?" she asked, shocked.

His expression darkened. "That Kuronuma of yours threatened to skin me."

"What have you done to him?" she demanded in a whisper.

"The question is what you will do to get him back," he replied. "I can order him dead if you disobey."

Mio reached her limit. She failed Takuto by allowing him to wander into a trap. He was in danger now as Madara was then. The shinobi to her other side had set his blade between them and she reached for it faster than the room could react. With her free hand, she grabbed Enki by the leftover wisps of hair on his balding scalp and dragged the blade to his neck. Every Motou shinobi made a move to retaliate, but she pressed the knife closer to his neck.

"Leave her!" ordered Enki, panicked. "Do not touch her!"

Ayuka rose from her seat. "Don't be silly, Mio," she said slowly. "You shouldn't do this, you are ruining the feast. We worked so hard to prepare this for Gouki."

Madara and Taiga stared in interest along with the rest of the Uchiha and Ito clan.

"You are ruining the feast, Mio," Enki said. "If you anger our guest—"

Ayuka took a cautious step forward. "Give me the sword, Mio."

"Kill him."

Mio lifted her eyes and met with Gouki's. He spoke. She recognized his voice and the effect it had on her. Her hand was trembling. She couldn't shake the fear, but she tried. She tightened her grip around the hilt of the blade, exerting no control over her strength and felt it starting to break.

"What are you saying, Gouki?" Ayuka snapped. "This is the king of our country."

"And he is useless," Gouki answered. "He is not needed."

"This is not what was agreed!" Enki bellowed.

"Kill him, Mio," Gouki told her. "You do not want to marry him, do you? Kill him."

If she killed him at his bequest, she felt something might change in her and she removed the sword from his neck, stabbing it to the ground.

Gouki smirked.

Enki shoved her forward harshly and she tripped over her skirts. She hit the ground hard.

"Do what you want with her," Enki ordered, and his men grabbed Mio forcefully by the arms. A few others emerged from the gathered group, meaning Enki spoke specifically to them as everyone else looked skeptical. He turned to Ayuka before leaving out a different door. "We will speak of this tomorrow."

"Everyone out!" Ayuka shouted. "Now!"

The guests rose and started to leave as Mio was slammed to the ground again, her arms restrained at her back. She struggled against the men pinning her down, but one stabbed his knee to her back. Sharp pain shot up her spine and she cried out. She struggled futilely, watching people go and growing desperate.

"Madara!" she shouted when she saw him. Taiga had already gone.

Madara stopped.

"Help me," she pleaded, terrified of what might happen to her once everyone left the hall. Her arms were still trembling. She saw him staring down at her without emotion and she knew he would not help. "Help Takuto. Please, help Takuto."

Madara left wordlessly.

Ayuka stood at the entrance, the last to leave with the exception of the seven men staying behind. She sighed when she stared down at her, a disappointed expulsion of breath—the emotion reading in her beautiful face.

"She is marrying in two days," she told them. "Don't touch her face and if you break her, you fix her. Understand?"

Mio screamed in fury.

"And keep her silent," she continued. "I don't want to be disturbed."

There was laughter all around.

"And Mio, I do pray you will learn plenty." She slid the doors shut with a smile gracing her red lips. "Enjoy."

Mio was twisted around and her robe ripped down the middle. She abandoned her fear. She was a Kuronuma and Kuronuma weren't weak. She didn't need anyone's help.

Closing her eyes shut as she felt the weight of a man on her body and four pairs of hands pinning down each arm, she activated the Time Sphere. Its shield went up instantly, the force of it as it erected around her sent the shinobi flying. She watched them crash into and through the walls and slide across the floor on their backs with audible complaints as she rose to her feet.

She deactivated the shield, surprised that imbuing more chakra into the sphere provide a complete defense. She tightened the ruined remains of her robes around her body and retied the sash around her waist to keep it in place.

The Mikazuki shinobi she sent crashing through the walls reemerged through the rubble, behind them in the adjacent rooms the servants went off screaming. The Mikami shinobi on the floor jumped to his feet, quick to draw his blade. The two Motou shinobi simultaneously tugged on gloves.

"The Kuronuma power comes from the blood; do not shed a drop of her blood."

The Mikazuki attacked her first, using their poison weapons skillfully, followed by the Mikami, who proved quick enough to challenge her reflexes and waved a sword as a weapon. The Motou used taijutsu she recognized as that she learned from Uzuki. She avoided the Mikazuki's blades, but when the Mikami shinobi twisted his sword around to hit her with the back of the hilt, she slipped down and swept her leg under him. He dropped his hold on his weapon as he fell and she caught it midair, bothered by its length. She didn't like swords, only fought well with daggers, but she made due with her limits.

One Motou shinobi nearly caught her off guard after she managed to deflect the Mikazukis onslaught of attacks and thrown them back. He came out of nowhere aiming a punch to her ribcage, one she suspected would have shattered one or two of her ribs, but she caught him with the back of the hilt in the face. As he dropped, the other Motou punched her in the stomach, knocking the air out of her lungs. She felt her body lifting off the ground and crashing an instant later. She held onto her sword.

She fought against the pain and jumped back onto her feat, activating her Black sphere with a flick of her finger against the dangling black pearl.

She cut the inside of her palms and smothered the blood over her fists. She charged them before they could lurched at her and saw they shifted to defend themselves, arming themselves against the blood boiling in her fisted hands. The Mikami shinobi used a water technique that slammed her to the wall and soaked her to the bone. Despite his efforts, steam continued to rise from her hands. His attack had no effect. She went after him for trying and punched him straight in the face. He landed on his back screeching as he clawed at his burning face until the skin begun to peel away and he stopped, the entire room suddenly falling silent.

A part of her felt a thrill run along her bloodstream, her heart was pounding wildly.

She kicked the next attacker through another wall, elbowed the one that followed in the face and broke his nose, the two that followed became the targets of the little black needles she spat in their direction that seared right through their throats and left them dead.

There were four shinobi remaining and her anger peaked. She took kunai and shuriken from the man with half a face and threw them towards the three Mikazuki who shot them down with their own projectiles. It gave her a second long opening to force the Motou shinobi whose weight she had felt atop her body to his knees, her arms position around his neck before she gaze a slight tug. It cracked. She pushed him to the floor, stepping over his body.

She picked up one of the kunai near her.

"If you come quietly, things will go smooth—"

Faster than he or the other two Mikazuki could react she threw the kunai in her hand and embedded it in his throat. The blood flowed from the wound; he consciously jerked the kunai out, but started to choke on his own blood, dropping to the floor twitching wildly. She stepped over to him, kicking him across the head. It snapped with a disgusting crunch.

One of the Mikazuki shinobi took a step back, but the other came at her. He swung his poisoned blade with enviable skill, but his movements were slow. She caught his wrist, the one holding the dagger and snapped it. He swung his free hand, aiming to punch her in the side, but she caught it as well and broke it. He cursed at her, spat at her feet, and she rewarded him with a quick death.

The last Mikazuki tried to run away. She reached for the sword and threw it as one might a spear. It went straight through his heart and he dropped to the floor.

Breathing heavily, she sank into a seat in the center of the hall. Everything around her destroyed, plates and cups smashed to pieces, food littered everywhere, rubble tumbling down broken walls. Her heart pounded wildly.

She heard screams and the sound of heavy footfalls approaching the hall. She did not lift her eyes, only stared at the ground preparing for the worst. The rustling of armor, the thick stench of blood and burning flesh prominent in the room, and still the footsteps drew near.

The servants were screaming.

She saw sandaled feet stepping over one of the gaping holes in the wall and watched them approach. He led a trail of red all the way to her and dropped something heavy before her. It rolled over like a ball, but settled—a head, Enki's head. His terrified expression forever frozen on his face made her look up to Madara, who was drench in another's blood.

"You killed him?" she whispered.

"Did you want him to live?"

Mio stood on shaky legs. "But my plan," she said, stunned. "My plan."

"It is done," he stated, moving to her. "He would have died regardless."

Enki ordered the seven shinobi to bring her great harm. She had killed them for the sake of her own honor and because the fact that it was meant to subdue her irritated her. She had killed them to scare Enki into a different agreement, one that did not involve anything of a sexual nature. She had thought up her plan, fixing everything that had fallen apart to make it work, but it wouldn't work at all if Enki was dead.

"Why?" she yelled, startling herself with the powerful emotion in her voice. "Why did you kill him?"

"He planned to break you in, Mio! Is that not enough reason?" he retorted.

"You left me here after I asked for your help! You abandoned me—!"

"I believed in your strength," he interjected, wrapping a hand around her arm. That strange feeling returned. "You proved it. You did not need my help. There isn't a scratch on you."

Mio pulled away from his hold, too conscious of the heat coming off it and the blood soaking into her clothes. "You ruined everything," she cried. frustrated. "With what Gouki said this evening, it would have been easy to sway him out of her favor. I could have gotten back our freedom. We could have returned to the continent."

"You were not supposed to become Enki's wife," he assured her. "I would have killed him. I would have killed him, Mio, if he so much as breathed your name in his sleep."

She swallowed audibly, hands fisted at her side. "I—"

"Stop, Mio. He is better off dead."

He moved closer to her, moving his hand down the back of her head to the nape of her neck. She didn't move her hands up to push him. Her palms were still bleeding and she could hurt him, but she also knew she couldn't stand being so close to him.

She didn't understand.

"Why?" she demanded, her fury peaking. "What I did had nothing to do with you? You wanted nothing to do with this plan! You told me to do what I wanted! So, why? Why did you have to interfere?"

His grip on the nape of her neck tightened and his eyes darkened. She followed a droplet of blood down the bridge of his nose with her eyes and felt it fall onto her chin. She was too aware of how close they were together and how naturally her heart reacted by speeding up.

"You expected me to stand by as that swine put his hands on you—"

"That was not your choice to make!" she interrupted, surprised she sounded coherent despite her clouded mind. "That was my decision! I am not your woman! And if I was, even then, you cannot decide what I do or don't do! I am not your spy! You do not command me anymore! Why did you have to kill him? Why would you do this to me?"

"I want you."

Mio felt winded, as if she had taken another punch to the gut. The three words she never imagined would come out of Madara's mouth did and judging by the presence of seven dead bodies and herself, he said it to her. It was stupid to think he hadn't when they had been arguing. She was left stunned, but she felt it pang in her chest.

"We are going," he said quickly, not giving her the time to process it.

He took her by the wrist, but she didn't budge. She tugged him to her and acted on the impulse to kiss him—a soft, innocent kiss. She drew away from him hastily, but he pulled her back in place, holding onto the nape of her neck as he returned her chaste kiss with an intensity that left her insides aquiver. She felt everything as she tasted the blood and wine on his lips and it was good—a powerful sensation that quickened her heart and further clouded her mind. She could think of nothing other than kissing him. Madara and his firm lips on hers guiding her. If she had doubted his proclamation, however clearly he had spoken it, she no longer did.

…But she remembered Izuna and pushed against him, all feeling leaving her cold. She didn't need to speak his brother's name as she stared up into his eyes for it to be clear in his mind.

They made a mistake and they couldn't even look at each other because of it.

* * *

><p>Kuronuma Shin meditated often while on the road. He forced them to make many stops on the journey to the Iron Country, one that included a detour that took them to the destroyed remains of a Kurata without snow. It was surprising for Izuna to see it as he did that day, the three villages, once filled with people, were abandoned and its homes and shops falling apart. The Kurata Castle he remembered with its high, protective walls was now a mountain of rubble. He followed Shin through the confusing, interconnected valleys of Kurata until they reached the end of the main, dirt road. Beyond a giant rift, he saw flat land before a mountain face and saw that there was once a bridge connecting the mountain across to the valleys. It had been cut, the remains hung on either side.<p>

"Mt. Hyōga," he told Izuna.

Small wisps of smoke rose from the destruction beyond the other end of the bridge. The snow was still melting there and the cold still present in the breezes that swept through him.

Shin stood silent as he stared out across the rift for hours and before sunset, they journeyed to the Iron Country. They took a narrow bridge to reach its gates where a pair of samurai stood guard. Seeing Shin was enough for them to stand aside, but the Kuronuma waved them away.

"I want to speak to Keishuu."

One of the two guards went off to fetch Keishuu, leading Izuna to believe that might be the name of Mio's other guardian. As they waited, the samurai glancing at Izuna warily, Shin took the time to sit atop a rocky ledge with his arms folded over his chest and his eyes closed.

Izuna paced in his impatience.

Shin left his seat when an older man with graying strands of black hair crossed the gates. The Kuronuma greeted him and introduced him to Izuna as Murakami Keishuu, leader of the samurai and of the Iron Country.

"I did not expect to see you here again, Shinya-sama," said Keishuu. "Your granddaughter came several weeks back. She asked after you."

"How did she look?" asked Shin.

"Terrified," answered Keishuu.

Izuna remembered Mio as nothing short of fearful when he came to her. Fearful and devastated. The only thought that crossed his mind then was that he wanted to comfort her and now, he wanted to see her to make sure she was doing fine. Madara would no doubt take care of her, though he seemed reluctant at first to agree saying that he would have enough to worry about with overseeing both the Ito and Uchiha clan as well as keeping an eye on Taiga. He understood his brother had enough responsibility weighing down on him with Ayuka pressuring him to recapture the Sanbi. He agreed after Izuna reminded him that he had a responsibility as her guardian to protect her, thought it looked to him that all Madara had wanted was to stay away.

He figured his reluctance had had to do with that time Konoe captured Mio and he had gone to the Mikazuki camp in the Fire Country to help, only to face off with Mikazuki Gouki and learn that Mio had escaped. In the situation, if Madara had not shown up then, Mio would have probably been recaptured as more Mikazuki shinobi were going to go after the few that went initially. Taiga had shown up then, speaking of an alliance. The rest had fallen into place.

"What of my clan?" continued Shin, drawing Izuna's attention away from his thoughts.

"No Elders remain," Keishuu answered. "They need a leader, Shinya-sama. They need you to return to them, they will listen if you gather them."

Shin smiled bitterly. "They will have a leader, but that won't be me. Send my gratitude to the Uzumaki clan for coming here to aid the Senju in protecting our future."

Keishuu nodded. "What has brought you here?"

Shin fumbled with words. "My brother…Kuronuma Nishiki will be coming to the Iron Country." Keishuu's eyebrows knitted in disbelief. "He lives, yes, and has been operating from within the Earth Country. Mio has passed on his artifact to another; its new guardian is in danger. Pass my warning down to the Senju brothers, neither one of them should appear on the upcoming battlefield. Take the civilians from this country and move them to the Waterfall Country, send the brothers down as guards. Ito Takuei will find them. He will keep the civilians safe. He owes me a favor."

"Kuronuma Nishiki will bring war to neutral country?" asked Keishuu.

"The Artifact War ends in the destruction of your country." Shin did not mince words. "It ends here or it does not end ever."

Keishuu sighed. "You will be here?"

Shin nodded.

"You are asking too much of me, Shinya-sama."

"I tried everything to avoid this outcome," Shin said apologetically, "but it was unavoidable. The Kuronuma clan will rebuild your country. You have my word."

"Let this be the last I hear of the Artifact War while I still live," said Keishuu, agreeing with great reluctance. "You may have my country."

Izuna heard Keishuu order one of his samurai to start gathering all civilians in the country, entrusting him with the information regarding the Artifact War. He made no mention of Kuronuma Nishiki.

"Where will you go from here?" asked Keishuu.

"To the Earth Country," said Shin. "I have unfinished business there."

"With your brother I presume?"

Shin shrugged with a smile. "I have news from the Sun Country."

"When did you have time to have news delivered?" Izuna demanded. He had been watching Shin like a hawk, even when he was supposed to be resting. He knew he wasn't following around a clone and that there weren't any clones running around, so he didn't understand how he was gathering information.

"I have good ears?" Shin answered in a questionable tone.

"That makes no sense!"

"What is the news, Shinya-sama?"

"Motou Enki is dead," said Shin, looking at Izuna. "Killed by your brother."

Izuna was relieved to hear that Enki was dead and that Mio wouldn't have to marry him, but that made him wonder what sort of monstrosity Enki attempted to try his brother's hand.

"That was faster than you predicted," Keishuu commented.

"Some of us are more impatient than others," Shin replied. "Mikazuki Gouki is on the island with Ayuka. He is too close to Mio."

"I can return to the Sun Country," Izuna said immediately. He couldn't leave Mio or Madara to deal with Gouki alone. "Someone needs to tell Mio that war is coming to the Iron Country."

"Yes," said Shin. "You can go to the Sun Country after you come with me to the Earth Country. What you hear there is what you will take with you. Come, we have much to plan."

"You want to leave Mio in an island with Mikazuki Gouki?" demanded Izuna.

"Mio will endure it."

Shin bid Keishuu farewell and started walking away from the gates. Izuna followed him with a frown. He had half a mind to leave him there and return to the Sun Country, but something told him that if he tried, Shin would drag him back.

As the thought crossed Izuna's mind, Shin smiled at him.

"How are Madara and Mio?" asked Izuna. "If you received news from the Sun Country, you should know if anything has happened to them."

"The Ito clan is doing well. You should have asked after them. The young woman you left in charge was struggling, but Madara has been good help," Shin answered, avoiding the question. "Also, it looks like—"

"Did something happen to Madara and Mio?"

"No."

"Then, how are they?"

"Guilty, I would assume."

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: If you enjoyed that last Madara and Mio scene, starting next chapter I am going to do my very best to guilt trip us all for liking it. Until then, I'm going to bed because my subtlety has been terrible these past few chapters, but hey, practice makes perfect.

To these wonderful people: **MoonlightArrow**, **Loteva**, **angrypixels**, and **Aries01x****D** for reviewing the previous chapter!

Some things will make better sense next chapter. Here are some things you can look forward to:

- Nishiki's appearance.

- Ayuka's backup plan.

- And you might learn Shin's secret.

I will have a preview up on my LJ in 2-3 days because I have midterms to study for. :'( Spring break should be 4 weeks at least.

Thank you for reading!

He took her by the wrist, but she didn't budge. She tugged him to her and acted on the impulse to kiss him—a soft, innocent kiss. She drew away from him hastily, but he pulled her back in place, holding onto the nape of her neck as he returned her chaste kiss with an intensity that left her insides aquiver. She felt everything as she tasted the blood and wine on his lips and it was good—a powerful sensation that quickened her heart and further clouded her mind. She could think of nothing other than kissing him. Madara and his firm lips on hers guiding her. If she had doubted his proclamation, however clearly he had spoken it, she no longer did.

…But she remembered Izuna and pushed against him, all feeling leaving her cold. She didn't need to speak his brother's name as she stared up into his eyes for it to be clear in his mind.

They made a mistake and they couldn't even look at each other because of it.


	38. The Death of Kings 3

Chapter **38** | The Death of Kings III

* * *

><p>In his head, he had killed him a thousand times. The day he had decided to keep to his promise came with a rush of adrenaline and the reminder of her fear-stricken face coupled with a plea. He would have turn against the entire room if she had insisted, but he had willed himself to move because he had remembered her in the candlelight asking that he believe in her strength.<p>

He believed in her, who had done nothing but make rash and stupid decisions since she had arrived to the island and yet remained a threat to Motou Ayuka. He had seen the power contained in that sphere she wore around her neck, had seen her touch the poison grime on the island without it burning the skin off her bones as it had to the shinobi that had once followed him through the dead forest. He had no doubt that whatever the other two artifacts she held did, she had complete control over them, and so he had cast away his worry of her after exiting the hall.

He had sent Taiga and Yayoi to find Takuto, asked Kyouya to deliver a message to Ito Kayami and Uchiha Otoya so that the two could be ready for the attack when it came. Killing Enki would not be an easy feat, not in the idea of putting a knife through his heart but in the fact that it would give Ayuka the means to attack the Uchiha and Ito clan, both clans which had proven too difficult to control. She had wanted to create alliances to amass shinobi—there was power in numbers—but her ability to control their actions had steadily declined since Mio appeared. Izuna had asked Kayami to ensure the Ito clan would protect Mio and he had asked Madara to do the same. The appeal had gone over well, the Ito clan held a grudge against the Mikazuki clan whom were united with the Motou clan through blood and they had no interest in seeing their plans come to fruition. Neither did the Uchiha clan, not when it involved the Sanbi, Mio, and her artifacts.

Madara had caught Ayuka watching him as he crossed the courtyard, almost in anticipation of the threats he'd made against her and her country at Mio's expense, but she had turned away and had stepped into her temple with a sudden indifference that had annoyed him, her son not far behind. If he had a way to describe Mikazuki Gouki, it was that everything was beneath him and he saw that he had inherited that from his mother. The one conversation they had shared in his first stay had been a laborious one for the man, one that had no interest in a child half his age. He had expressed himself the same when he had returned his artifact with only the knowledge of it having been taken from his mother, as if even orders from Ayuka held no importance and that following them was another chore—all beneath him. In every subtle action, he had seen it.

He had turned around and had stalked after Enki, encountering Kyouya on his way. "Have Mio's things gathered and sent to Jouichirou's ship," he had ordered, and at his shinobi's skeptical look he had elaborated, "The man owes me a favor, he will do as I say. You will see that Mio makes it off the island and to the Fire Country. Take her to the countryside and do not leave her side until I relieve you of your duties."

Kyouya had gone away.

Madara had continued into the castle tower until he had reached Enki's inner chamber—an elegant room filled with ancient finery that smelled of incense and spirits—after having disposed of his shinobi guards under the cover of silence. And he had entered as quietly as he had slain his men, sliding the doors shut with a light snap.

Enki had whirled around quickly, holding a pipe in his hand. At the sight of him, the tension in his body had dissolved. He had the audacity to wave a dismissive hand as he tucked kizami into the small metal bowl at the end of his smoking pipe. "If you have come to beg for the girl, you are wasting your breath," he had said, lighting it with the end of an incest stick he pulled out of the burner. "She is to be my wife. I will have her how I want."

Madara would have wrung his neck, wrapped his arms around his fat neck and twisted until he heard it snap, but he had known that that would not be enough to sate him. Knowing that he had no care of the fact that he had asked seven men to have Mio tried. He would have her abused and tortured. Madara had no patience to stomach the lengths Enki had gone to humiliate Mio and for what reason?

No matter the reason, his actions had no justification.

He had no desire to hear reason.

Madara had drawn the sword at his belt and had watched Enki visibly stiffen at the sound. The man had once made a name for himself when he had fought his own wars and not had others done it for him. He had been a force, a source of power when the Motou clan had been known for being strong enough to hold their own against the Uchiha clan, but he had given it all away for a woman he grew bored of and his overindulgence.

"What do you intend to do boy?" Enki had challenged. "Avenge the honor of your whore?" He had laughed. "She so innocently shied away, claiming she was pure, but I am not blind. Ayuka warned me about you, I thought it would be Izuna, I was certain it would be him, but she knew that it would be you. He hides the truth well, she said. She had to glimpse at your bloodline to see it." The humor had lingered in his voice, but he had lowered his head. "I have been a pawn from the start, an idiot she could control, a stepping stone. You think a Shugosha as powerful as Shinra comes forth from Motou blood? There are few powerful, ancient clans left in this world and I can name them all in a single hand: Uchiha, Senju, Uzumaki, Kuronuma, and Sarutobi. Shinra is heir to two of those clans."

"Shinra?" Madara had questioned. "Is it not Shinya you speak of?"

"Shinya is her grandfather," Enki had answered, looking over his shoulder to the red eyes boring down at him. "Shinra is her son." He took a drag of his pipe and blew out a string of white smoke. "To be that man, to be that man's father. He could give you the artifacts by simply willing it. He only needs to think you worthy, she said and filled my mind with the idea that I may be that man. I will not be that man now that you have come to kill me, but I am wasting your time. Precious time."

Madara had raised his sword. He had intended to torture him until he had grown bored of it, but he had wanted to silence him then.

Enki had grinned. "Ayuka will not have what she desires most. Not if those men have her first. That Shugosha will not exist and he will not be yours."

He had made a clean cut across Enki's neck and had felt the warm splatter of blood across his face as his head went airborne. It had hit a wall and had bounced over the tatami.

Madara had kicked his body over and had stepped over it to reach his head. He had stared upon his face frozen in shock and terror. The fool had not anticipated his death would come too soon, he had probably imagined Madara would have continued asking questions and prolonged his life.

He had no intention of divulging any of this to Mio. He had found no satisfaction in killing Enki, not as he had anticipated, not when he had killed him a thousand times in his head, not when he had wanted to tear him apart limb from limb until there had been nothing left to pull off. He had not gone to her with Enki's head seeking anything.

No, he lied, he had gone to make a point of his death. He had dropped his head before her to show her that she had planned to do something stupid and that he had put an end to it. He had thought she would have realized it on her own, but he had found her resistant, angry, and confused. She had been helpless.

Madara watched Mio tie a new sash around her waist with shaky, clumsy fingers and still he remembered killing Enki.

"I need to find Takuto," she announced, growing frustrated with the knot that she nearly tore it apart. "Enki took him and—"

"I sent Taiga," he told her, keeping his distance from her.

She avoided meeting his eyes. "I don't trust him."

"Yayoi is with him."

"She hates Takuto."

Madara turned her towards the door and pushed her forward. "You are meeting Kyouya," he said. "Do you remember him?"

"I'm not going without Takuto," she said, resisting.

"You are not staying here."

"I have things to do on this island! My artifacts are here, Takuto is still a prisoner," she reasoned, twisting around. "You are here and I—"

"We are not arguing over this, you are going!" he ordered.

She flinched.

"Kyouya will take you to the Fire Country. You are going to stay with my grandmother," he said, and watched her shake her head. "I will send Takuto to you with all of your artifacts."

"And you?"

"Worry about Izuna, not me," he said, had done it unintentionally and seen her eyes drop to the ground, as Kyouya appeared at the broken doorway. Madara gave Mio another push forward and looked to Kyouya. "Go now."

She shot a final look at him as she ran on behind Kyouya.

Shinobi were fast approaching and he knew they would be after her. He turned to meet them with a kunai in hand and his Sharingan activated. He swept through them with ease, sensing more running in her direction. Kyouya would steer clear of them, but there were too many to avoid completely. He rushed after them, feeling the ground tremble as he turned a sharp corner to the exit. The doors wide open, he saw Mio jump kick a Mikazuki shinobi through three walls of freshly erected stone. More were running to her, targeting her, shouting orders among them was a Mikazuki leader, warning them all against spilling her blood.

He rushed past her, climbing atop the rubble with his hands together. He drew back as he molded the chakra inside his body before unleashing a giant orb of flames at the army of Motou shinobi, offering Kyouya and Mio the opportunity to disappear.

He jumped straight into the battlefield. Even he hadn't anticipated something of this magnitude would result from the death of a man that was not loved by his people, let alone respected by his shinobi. Nobody cared for him. Even he knew that in the end he was a pawn to further Ayuka's twisted scheme.

.

Madara knew the moment Mio had boarded the ship and by that time, there were few enemies standing up against the Uchiha and Ito clans. Yayoi rushed to his side, Takuto and Taiga not far behind.

"Ayuka-sama is going to kill you!" she shouted.

"Not if we kill her first," Taiga commented, wiping blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.

"You three will stay away from her!"

"I'm not trying to kill her," said Takuto, looking a little battered. "She's the one trying to kill us."

"She is defending herself!"

"Do we need her?" asked Taiga.

"I don't think we need her," Takuto agreed.

"Go back to your mistress, Yayoi," said Madara, looking past Yayoi to the temple entrance, which remained heavily guarded against his shinobi. "Tell them that—"

The heavy doors opened and Mikazuki Gouki stepped out. All fighting ceased. He walked towards them, his gaze fixed on him. "You are proving troublesome, Uchiha Madara," he said loudly. "You brought chaos as Ayuka predicted, killing Enki in that form."

Madara stepped forward, meeting Gouki halfway through the rubble covered courtyard. Taiga and Takuto moved along with him, wary of the Mikazuki shinobi, but Yayoi stayed behind gravely silent.

"He was a pawn," Madara responded.

"Yes, and he was meant to provoke," Gouki said, looking around in wonder. "He provoked. Look around you and see what you have done."

Enki was not the only one present to provoke.

"However, I am not here for you. I want the girl," he said, pointing at Yayoi. "We have business."

"Business?" Yayoi repeated, stunned. "I have no business with you."

"I have a job for you," Gouki continued. He turned and made a gesture at one of the priest's standing outside the door. The old man rushed indoors and emerged just as quickly, hugging Ayuka's giant scroll to his chest. He offered it to Gouki who then held it out for her. "Ayuka is losing power because her time as guardian is coming to an end. How else would a novice like Mio be able to blind her of the lives of her guardians?"

Yayoi could read the Fate Sphere, but she was not successor. Kikumi had been chosen to succeed Ayuka, but she had been shipped to the Earth Country to marry a lord's son and since the clash of Tajima and Hikaku, Madara had not heard of her.

The priestess took a step forward, a slow, hesitant one.

"I know you can read the Fate Scroll, Yayoi," said Gouki. "There are few in this world capable of taking the scroll and unearthing its secrets without equal trade. You are one of them."

She looked around her, lingered on Madara's face, surprised by all the things Gouki said to her.

Seeing as she had no intention of moving, Gouki returned the Fate Sphere to the old priest and turned to them fully. The air around him was electrifying, crackling with menace, and Yayoi was quietly submitting to the pull of it. He did not need to give her orders.

"Yayoi, stop," Madara called, and she stilled. He walked on ahead, pushing her back in Taiga's direction. He kept his eyes steady on Gouki. "She is staying with me."

"Gouki!"

Everyone looked up to the temple where Ayuka stood, the annoyance evident in her face.

"What are you doing?" she snapped, stomping towards him. "You have let the Shugosha go!" She noticed her artifact in the old man's arms and rounded on her son. "What are you doing with my artifact?"

"Mio will come to me when the time is right," he said easily. "Nishiki sent me to unearth the name of Mio's Universe Guardian."

"Mio has blinded me to the pathways of her guardians!" she seethed. "That is why I need her here!"

"You don't need her when you have this one."

He gestured towards Yayoi and the look she received from Ayuka left her cold. A silence between them spread, a thick and suffocating thing.

"You?" asked Ayuka, voice shaking with fury. She made an attempt to grab the priestess, but her son looped an arm around her waist and drew her back. "You? You are the reason I am weakening!"

Yayoi winced. "Ayuka-sama, I—"

A wild look in Ayuka's eyes took them by surprised. "You imbecile!" she yelled. "I have given you everything! I have been a mother to you and this is how you repay me! You come to me to steal! You little—"

She yanked her son's arm off and slapped Yayoi across the face with a force that knocked her to the ground. Gouki pulled Ayuka away before she did more and shoved her behind him, earning an insult himself.

"Acknowledge it, Ayuka, your guardianship has come to an end," he snapped. "Even the Fate Sphere you treasured does not want you."

Takuto gently pulled Yayoi onto her feet. She remained stunned.

"We can remedy that," Ayuka spat, drawing a dagger from her sash. "She will meet the same fate the others who have appeared to oppose me have."

Yayoi stared on, horrified.

"Mio will come to me," he assured her. "Maybe then you might treat her well enough that she rewards you with the Fate Sphere."

"What makes you think Mio will go to you?" Madara challenged.

Gouki smiled and he was gone. In a split second, the Mikazuki was upon him and a blade was embedded into Madara's stomach. He coughed blood. The pain was excruciating as the man thrust the dagger—that was now missing from Ayuka's hand—in deeper and a guttural sound escaped him as he leveled his eyes to Gouki's whose were full of humor.

"You are too weak to think of challenging me," he said darkly. "There are two people in this world that can stand against me and they are closer to death than you are at this moment."

Madara drew his own sword and swung it at Gouki's head. He felt the Mikazuki's blade leave his body as it clashed with Taiga's kunai. Madara dropped to the ground on one knee, blood splattering on the pale ground underneath him as it fell from the gaping wound in his stomach and he vomited more.

"You cannot kill Madara!" Ayuka yelled, growing red-faced.

Taiga turned swiftly, aiming the end of his kunai to Gouki's neck, but his arm was caught and in retaliation, Gouki kicked him away, sending Taiga's body crashing into the nearest building.

Takuto and Yayoi went straight to him, the Kuronuma quick to help him back onto two feet.

Madara glared at Mikazuki Gouki, ire burning through his veins. Fast and monstrously strong. He couldn't anticipate any of his movements and that infuriated him. He couldn't think of a way to counterattack someone much faster than he, especially if he could wield the jutsu the Kuronuma were famous for. His artifact couldn't imbue his weapons with black water and if it could, he heard stories of what had happened to the Uchiha that tried to copy the power.

Ayuka's shouts went ignored. "Mio will come to me," Gouki assured them. "Until then, enjoy your peace." He started to turn, but stopped part way. "I want every Uchiha and Ito out of the Sun Country before the day is out. If there is even one shinobi or spy left on this island, trust I will hunt you until you and all your men are dead."

* * *

><p>Mio remembered Uchiha Kyouya from her youth as one of her mother's protégés, but she recalled him differently. In that time, he had not yet grown into his prominent face and his brown hair had been much longer, but he remained tall and lean. She had never spoken to him before, not until Madara assigned him to deliver her to the countryside within the Fire Country, and even then, conversation was short and polite.<p>

The journey itself had not been without danger. Once Hiryuu had caught wind of their departure from the Sun Country, he had his men waiting to ambush them at port, but they had defeated their enemies and escaped through the treacherous mountain ranges of the Lightning Country where they had remained for days, evading more of his shinobi.

Mio dreaded returning to the countryside knowing Sachiyo would be there. She was terrified of seeing her after all that happened, even though she knew Sachiyo had been informed that she had betrayed her on Madara's orders. She didn't know what to say. What could be said?

In the eve of a harsh storm, after Hiryuu's men had abandoned the mountain ranges to take cover from the terrible weather that preceded it, Mio and Kyouya crossed the border into the Frost Country. Using the cover of night, they traveled until they reached the countryside and the first breath Mio took within its vast plots of land and buildings filled her lungs with its wintry embrace. The lake water was freezing cold when she reached in to wash the dry blood off her face and the trees surrounding it were losing their leaves to the icy winds.

Ahead, she could see the roof to Sachiyo's home. She walked after Kyouya, watching the house come into view, different in its addition of a second story, which explained how she was able to view the tiled rooftop from the lake when she had never before.

She saw a woman exiting through the double doors holding a basket of clean linen in one hand and pushing the loose strands of brown hair behind her ear before lifting her eyes, spotting them.

Kana. Kana was the fondest memory she had of the countryside, apart from Izuna.

Kana dropped the basket, the linen rolling off the verandah and onto the muddied floor. She rushed down the three steps and waited until she and Kyouya stopped in front of her. She sucked in a breath before moving forward and drawing Mio into a hug.

Mio stilled in her arms, her heart beating a mile a minute. She couldn't speak, almost as if she had forgotten her voice.

The woman drew back, touching her hair with a small smile. "I can barely recognize you," she said, sounding a little choked up. "It's been almost four years since I last saw you, look how much you've grown." She started moving back towards the verandah steps, gesturing her to follow. "Come, Sachiyo asked to see you as soon as you got here."

Kana turned to Kyouya and thanked him, expecting him to go on his way to realize that he had no intention of leaving Mio's side. The older woman frowned. "Do you honestly think she is going to be attacked inside this house?" she asked, earning a glare. "I don't care if Madara asked you to follow her, be gone!"

"Let him stay," said Mio, attempting to ease the tension between the two. "It doesn't bother me."

The older woman huffed, but took her by the hand and led her into the house with Kyouya following close behind. The hallways were as she remembered them, the floors beneath her feet were clean and it smelled of pine and incense. She caught two girls, near her age, peering at her through an aperture between a pair of sliding doors as they passed on their way to Sachiyo's bedroom. She saw everything around her, but didn't feel she could believe that she was inside this house again. She had a firm belief that she would never have the opportunity to return and if she had it would be once time had weathered it down.

Mio was a ball of anxiety after Kana gave her a gentle push into Sachiyo's room and slid the door shut behind her, convincing Kyouya to remain outside. Mio stood uncomfortable in her filthy, ripped clothes unable to make eye contact with Sachiyo, who sat atop her bedding. The room was stuffy with heat and it smelled of powdered medicine.

"I imagined you would make a mess of things, child," Sachiyo spoke, voice gravelly. She patted a cushion next to her bedding. "Sit. We have much to discuss."

Quietly, she obeyed and sank into a seat where she could see Sachiyo's frail hands folded atop her lap. She watched one rise and reach for her chin, guiding her eyes up to look at Sachiyo's wrinkled face. The wrinkles on her face had doubled, but the pride in it had not ebbed, and her hair had turned completely white. Her body was emaciated and weak, her hand on Mio's chin was trembling.

"If you wanted to protect those girls," Sachiyo began, "all you needed to do was ask. I would have done everything in my power to keep you safe here with my grandsons. You would not have had to worry of Izuna. You know better than anyone else that Madara would have protected him regardless of the situation."

Mio nodded. "I know."

"And yet you obeyed him?"

She stared into her dark eyes, her mind going back to the time when he had looked at her and asked that she go after Taiga to inherit his secrets. He had always been so convincing to her. He had a way of speaking that made her feel so…so—

She nodded because she couldn't say the truth. _I couldn't help it._ "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have."

Sachiyo removed her shaky hand from under her chin. "Why are you apologizing? I know the truth," she said, then smiled. "Your grandfather took great care of you." She touched the side of Mio's face, staring into it with wonder. "I am happy that you are here, that I can see you again before this sickness takes me."

Mio took her frail hand and pressed it against her cheek as a tear rolled onto it from her eye. She didn't need to say anything.

* * *

><p>Izuna crept along the wooden beams in the ceiling staring down into the hall where a single man sat enjoying his lunch. The man was the rumored Kuronuma Nishiki. He possessed the stature and build one expected from a Kuronuma male, evident despite his sitting position. His head was shaved, the only trace of his while hair were the contrast of his eyebrows against bronze skin, pale eyelashes, and the hint of stubble along his chin.<p>

Shin entered the hall through the front door as if he were walking around in his own home. Nishiki paused mid-drink and stared at him with merriment in his rose-colored eyes.

"I wondered when you would come, Shinya."

"Ayuka has kept me so busy these past forty years I had forgotten you were alive, Nishiki," he said when a kunai stabbed straight through him. The clone disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Nishiki rose and moved about the room as if in search of him. "You have not changed Shinya," he called, his voice echoing. "Are you that afraid to face me without your precious Black Sphere?"

Izuna swept the room to find Shin sitting behind Nishiki's dinner, eating the pickled vegetables with his brother's own chopsticks. Using his Sharingan, he was able to tell that that was the real body.

"There was a girl living in this country, a native of the Sun Country," Shin begun, making his presence known. Izuna imagined he was referring to Kikumi, who had moved to the Earth Country to marry a lord's son. "What has happened to her? I wanted to see her."

"She married my eldest son," said Nishiki. "She did her duty as a wife and gave him a son. She is now dead."

"Because you saw fit to kill her. Is Ayuka so afraid of losing her sphere that she has to kill all the successors it chooses?" asked Shin, stuffing more food into his mouth. When he swallowed, he continued. "I also don't recall ever fearing you, brother."

Nishiki whirled around in mild amazement. "What is it that you have come here to do?"

"Other than eat your dinner?" Shin asked. "I came for a visit. I wanted to see you, Nishiki, and make sure the black river did not melt you away as it was supposed to when I kicked you into its current. I lost my candidacy for the sphere because of it."

"What does that matter? You did not want to become Shugosha."

"It crossed my mind."

"…And so the title has gone to a nobody," he spat.

"Her name is Mio and she is my granddaughter, respect her," Shin defended. "I don't remember you without manners."

"She is a weak child."

"Underestimating me was your downfall Nishiki, do not let that be the reason a weak child kills you next time."

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: I definitely wanted to be that guy that split all the POVs into individual chapters just to get to chapter 40 because damn we're close, but I figured one transitional chapter was enough. The next few chapters are build up to basically more evil.

By the way, I swear I killed Enki about a thousand times until I settled for this death. It was fun up until it wasn't. Cause he dialogues (and it's not all nonsense).

I also hope that the fact that Ayuka is weakening can explain why she's been so hardcore lately. It's kind of like having an itch you can't scratch and it's there until it drives you nuts. Not justifying her actions because she obviously intended to do all those things at some point, only she's a little more patient.

Anyway, I ended up omitting stuff because it made better sense to put it all elsewhere! I'll see you at the end of next week after midterms with something more exciting. Until then gnaw on this! (Lol gnaw is such a funny word.)

As always, many, many thanks to: **MoonlightArrow**, **HushedFable**, **crazyuser**, **CeliaSingsSongs**, **psychoticluv**, **Aries01xD**, and **Loteva** for reviewing the previous chapter.

Thank you for reading!


	39. The Death of Kings 4

Chapter** 39** | The Death of Kings IV

* * *

><p>Nishiki grinned.<p>

Shin picked up his rice bowl and started to shovel rice into his mouth. He mirrored the man's smile after setting the empty bowl aside.

"What is your purpose here, Shinya?" asked Nishiki, moving closer to the seated Kuronuma. "I know you too well to know you do not move without reason."

Shin drank out of Nishiki's mug of tea. "Yes," he confirmed. "I came to scope your defenses." He set it down. "Did you know I practically walked in here? There wasn't a guard in sight. You have gotten arrogant."

"Have you made the right decision in coming here with only a brat at your side?" Nishiki looked up and caught Izuna crouched atop the beams of the ceiling. "Perhaps it is my time to kill you and drag your body through the rivers of Kurata."

"I would like to see you try," Shin challenged in an easy tone. "After all, only one of us can live, and so long as we both remain, brother, the war persists. I want the war to end and you have made a mess of things."

"You and Ayuka made the mess," said Nishiki dismissively. "Gouki and I are cleaning it."

Shin rose from his seat and made his way around to meet the man halfway. He gestured for Izuna to join him and the Uchiha obeyed, dropping down from the ceiling. "So are we," he informed him. "I'll see you in the battlefield."

"Not if death takes you first."

Mio's grandfather let out a bark of laughter as he walked around his brother. "I leave you with the same advice."

Izuna chased after Shin, perplexed by what had occurred in the castle, once they had put a large gap between them. "He is your brother?" he snapped. "That man is your brother?"

"Older brother," Shin answered, "and he's a bastard."

"You tried to kill your brother?"

"We were born into a world where only one of us can live," the Kuronuma replied. "Whichever one of us survives will decide the outcome of this Artifact War and the Time Sphere's line of succession. I attempted against his life because it was my duty as a guardian to protect the artifacts from falling into the wrong hands. Nishiki and Ayuka planned to dismantle the artifacts with the hope of creating a new world where they would rule. And the world would've been a dark one, one you never want to experience."

* * *

><p>They were called Saori and Hibari and they were sisters, daughters of the late Ito Tomoji and Sachiyo's charges. Mio was introduced to them when they took a late breakfast. The older sister, Saori, was a demure young woman that minded her manners. She had long, straight brown locks that she wore plaited down her back and a clear set of eyes. Her sister, Hibari, was a head shorter than Saori with a round face and a body that curved unlike her sister's tall, slender physique, and her auburn hair was cut to shoulder length and curled at the ends. She let her sister do all the talking when Mio was around.<p>

After meeting them, Mio had returned to the lake with Kyouya standing close by, watching her as he was ordered. She sat cross-legged on a stone bench with a box of manjū Kana gave her on the way off the property. She offered one to Kyouya before taking one herself to eat. He sat down on the other side of the bench with a shudder as an icy wind swept past them. That morning had been full of buzz as two messages arrived, one from Izuna in which he talked about traveling with her grandfather and that he would remain at his side for an unforeseen amount of time, and the second came from Taiga, requesting that the remaining Uchiha go to the Frost Country as their group encountered Hiryuu's men. Taiga's coded message confirmed that all the Ito and Uchiha had left the Sun Country.

Both messages were two weeks old.

It left Mio wondering what to expect when they arrived and if she was as safe as Madara assured her in the Fire Country with his grandmother. She admitted that there were dozens of shinobi patrolling the countryside and many more prepared for an attack. When she explored the grounds, she found that giant wooden walls had been erected to serve as protection. More buildings had been built as the outer countryside now served as the Uchiha clan's compound and village. With Taiga and Madara working together, most of the clan had been united, which had brought back some semblance of normalcy within the clan, one that all could appreciate. Mio liked to see the unity after having seen it all fall apart and wondered if there would come a time when the whole clan came together. Although, once she considered the thought, she believed it would happen after Hiryuu met his own demise, a prospect that did not seem likely given the Mikazuki's adamancy in protecting him.

"It's freezing," Kyouya said, following a sneeze. He tugged the scarf wrapped around his neck over his reddened nose.

"Hiryuu will come here," she said. She left the Sun Country where Gouki and Ayuka were her tormentors and arrived in the Fire Country where Hiryuu was close enough to take over the job. He had already tried to capture her in the Lightning Country and knew that his failure would not stop him rather it would give him incentive.

"Madara-sama asked for me to bring you here because this is the safest place you can be," Kyouya told her, shivering in his seat.

She looked up into the cloudy sky that warned of oncoming storms. She predicted heavy rainfall by the quality of wind and the state of clouds. She saw they were near full but not yet bursting, but knew that it wouldn't be long before it came. Perhaps tonight or tomorrow. She predicted the gray skies would hold until three days.

Mio closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, the cool air filled her with peace. It wasn't as cold as it would be under the influence of the Climate Sphere like in Mt. Hyōga, but it was enough to remind her of the snow underneath her booted feet.

She was uneasy, her heart was uneasy.

Kyouya jumped to his feet. "I'm starting a fire."

She stopped him before he stalked off to gather branches to burn and walked together with him to Sachiyo's house informing him that she had changed her mind about staying outside. She went upstairs to the room Sachiyo gave her after she was told that her old bedroom was turned into a closet again. She took a seat with her back pressed against the wall and allowed the uneasiness to settle. She took the Time Sphere and pressed it against her face, its cool surface was quick to soothe her.

A knock startled her out of her trance.

"Come in," she called.

The door slid open quietly, Saori peering in. "I apologize for intruding," she said softly, "but Sachiyo-san asked me to call you."

"Did something happen?" she asked, standing up quickly.

Kyouya appeared beside Saori. "Madara-sama's returned."

Mio rushed downstairs and out of the house surprised to see Sachiyo sitting in the verandah with Hibari.

"Did you run down the stairs?" asked Sachiyo, watching her before something caught her eye and she turned away. "Ah, a Kuronuma that is not your grandfather. I forgot others existed."

Mio left the verandah and sprinted towards Takuto, who ran to her with a smile. He drew her into a tight hug. He pulled away and she touched his face, feeling a weight lift off her shoulders knowing that he was in one piece, though he was covered in tiny cuts and bruises.

She felt someone pat her shoulder, turned, and saw Taiga waving in greeting. He had bandages wrapped around his forehead and his left hand.

"We brought Yayoi," said Takuto, moving away to reveal the priestess.

Yayoi shot her a black look and trudged past her with Madara walking close behind. The two continued on ahead.

"What happened?" she asked.

Takuto turned her around, moving her forward. "I'll tell you later."

Mio and Takuto approached Sachiyo and the others. Yayoi stood dejectedly besides Madara after he finished telling her that the priestess would be staying with them indefinitely.

Sachiyo grimaced. "She will be your responsibility," she told him, then turned to Takuto. "What can you do?"

"Medical specialist," he answered politely.

"Are you any good?"

"You won't find anyone better."

Sachiyo nodded. "He will be your responsibility, Mio."

Hibari helped Sachiyo onto her feet before she and her older sister flocked around Yayoi, quick to lead her inside the house.

"There are plenty of empty rooms upstairs for your guests," Sachiyo told them before stepping back in. "Lunch is in an hour."

"Kana!" Taiga shouted on his way into the house.

"Where can I wash up?" asked Takuto. "I have to finish treating Taiga's wounds."

"Around back," she replied.

Takuto excused himself and disappeared around the side of the building as Madara relieved Kyouya of his duties leaving the two alone. She considered slipping away while his back was turned, but he faced her and gestured her to follow with a quick, "We need to talk."

"Talk about what?" she asked defensively.

"This is not the time, Mio," he said. "Come with me."

Madara left his gunbai and pack behind with the exception of a sack he handed to her.

She stared at him oddly as she peeled it open. "What is this?"

"You have Taiga to thank for that."

Something bright caught her eye and she lowered her eyes to see the artifacts Ayuka had stolen and given to Gouki sitting at the bottom of the burlap sack. "How did he—?"

"Do not worry about the details. You have your artifacts like I promised."

Mio began to follow him, shoving the shining dragon's eye into her pocket where it grew cold and placing the sheathed Vision Sphere behind her sash. She had a dozen questions to ask, but fought against the curiosity to speak them.

"Do you control the Fate Sphere?" Madara asked suddenly.

"In what sense?"

"Do you control who inherits it?"

"I could if I wanted," she said, perplexed by the question. "But that has never been the case. Ayuka was chosen by the sphere itself. It's the only sphere apart from the Time Sphere to do such a thing. I'm sure she can chose who it goes to."

"Yes, there was another priestess called Kikumi that was supposed to inherit, but she left to the Earth Country," Madara replied, then propelled the conversation forward. "Gouki mentioned there was someone capable of reading the sphere without equal trade."

Equal trade had been the only way she was capable of reading the Fate Sphere. It meant either finding ground an individual stood upon or taking blood in order to read pathways, but she had learned through Musashi that Shin had a rare gift. He had never needed to do either of those things.

"My grandfather can."

"Is he the only one?"

"Yes. He's the only one."

"Gouki thinks Yayoi can do the same."

Something about his tone of voice did not sit well with her. "What happened on the island?"

"Ayuka tried to kill Yayoi," he replied. "She is weakening because her sphere found a new guardian. Ayuka said this."

Mio put one and one together. "You mean she thinks Yayoi is the next Fate Guardian?" At his curt nod, she huffed. "No."

"What do you mean _no_? We can use this to our advantage. You went to the island to take the Fate Sphere from Ayuka, now there's a possibility you can and that possibility is her."

She frowned. "I don't want to hear the plan."

"Have you not recovered from the stupidity of yours?"

"I made a mistake," she retorted. "I was wrong, and I understand that now. You can't hold that against me forever. I'm not perfect, but I'm trying to do what is expected of me."

"What is expected of you?" he challenged.

"I need to protect the artifacts. That is my duty as Shugosha. It is expected of me."

"Why?"

"Why?" she repeated, taken aback.

"Why are you protecting something you don't understand? Do you know what the artifacts do?"

"They protect."

"Protect what?"

"I don't know!"

"Focus on learning what they protect, and then I'll tell you what should be expected of you."

Madara shoved past her.

She whirled around and stomped after him, furious that she had missed him in the time she had known nothing about what was happening in the Sun Country. Immediate as she acknowledged that she had missed him, she realized why she felt uneasy (only then she thought it had to do with being in the dark about everyone's wellbeing) and it suddenly irritated her that she lost all sense of professionalism in the face of feelings she didn't understand. She didn't know why she was thinking about it when she was chasing him. They didn't have the time to think of such things and yet, she wanted to know if he'd meant what he said in the Sun Country about wanting her and she hoped whatever his answer would be might explain her inclination towards a similar feeling.

She made the first move. She could make it again.

Mio berated herself. "What happened in the Sun Country?" she asked again, hoping to change the subject. She hated how terribly guilty she felt after having such thoughts, but something was not right. She missed Izuna like an ache and yet, she knew that when he showed up, she wouldn't be contemplating kissing him. "How did you get out?"

Madara stopped so abruptly she nearly slammed into his back. "Gouki let us go."

"Just like that?"

"He is certain you will go to him."

"What reason will I have to do that?"

"It doesn't matter. You won't go to him under any circumstances."

None of that helped recalibrate her brain onto a different wavelength.

"And another thing," she started and waited for him to turn around. The house was in sight behind him and shinobi were watching every inch of land where they were standing.

He stared at her and waited. "What is it?"

"Did you mean what you said?" she asked, feeling her insides twisting. "In the Sun Country? About me?"

She prepared herself for the inevitable confession that it had been a ploy to stupefy her in order to make throwing her off the island easier. It would sting a little, but she would survive it. This was Madara after all. Whatever curiosity she felt towards him would die out as quickly as it appeared.

"Do you think I would toy with that sort of thing?" he answered with an edge in his voice. "Why would I do that to my own brother?"

She lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"It was a mistake," he continued. "It won't happen again."

There was a pang in her chest that sounded like heartbreak, but she remained still. "I might want it to," she admitted, though it ached to do so. She was betraying her better judgment. "Again."

Madara took a single step forward; his eyes fixed on her face, and raised a hand. He clenched it midair, pulled it back, and turned his back on her. She felt a shuddering breath leave her as she watched him leave, her chest pounding rapidly in her chest. The humiliation settled in.

She returned to the house, absent of thought and a little dejected. She believed she should have kept her mouth shut, that she had the restraint for it but ignored it and she shouldn't have given into blurting out her truths. She put him in a bad situation and later went to join him. She didn't want to think of Izuna, but he came to mind and so did the desire to feel the curiosity she felt towards his brother to be felt for him. It would be easier with Izuna. She believed everything would always be easier with Izuna, effortless even.

It wouldn't be with Madara. It would be frustratingly difficult and potentially problematic, but it would never be easy.

Mio went searching for Takuto after lunch to find Kana standing outside the bath holding a kettle in her hand. "He likes his baths the same you do," she said when she spotted her. She was about to seal the door shut. "Are you going in?"

"Yes."

She reached the door and earned a wicked grin from Kana. "Should you be going in there?" Lowering her voice, she asked, "Is he more than a friend?"

"No, he is just a friend."

Kana looked disappointed as she walked away.

Mio stepped inside the small room as Takuto poured a bucket of steaming water over his head. She took a seat at the edge of the bench beside the wooden tub.

"You're a little more intrusive than usual, did something happen when you talked to Madara?" he asked. "You were a little evasive of one another during lunch."

Lunch had been a sullen affair with Yayoi crying into her soup, Saori and Hibari trying to comfort her, Taiga annoying Kana, Takuto attempting to eat modestly, and Mio, Madara, and Sachiyo sitting in silence picking at their portions.

"I need to know what happened in the Sun Country."

"Madara didn't tell you anything."

"He is keeping things from me."

"He swore us all to secrecy."

"What?"

"Well, it would be more accurate to say he threatened all of us into secrecy," said Takuto, pushing his wet hair back. "He is determined to keep you out of trouble. You have to admire that."

"Are you keeping to his side?"

"Before Gouki attacked Madara—"

"You let Gouki attacked him?"

"The next time Gouki asks for permission to attack Madara, I'll politely decline," he told her, and she glared at him. "Before Gouki attacked Madara, he informed us all that you would be going to him."

"Madara mentioned that," she said. "He assured me I wouldn't be going to him under any circumstances. It's ridiculous, I wouldn't dream of going anywhere near Gouki." Then it dawned on her. "Was he wounded badly?"

"I imagined there would be poison," Takuto admitted, starting to scrub his arms. "I healed him, checked for poison, found nothing. But Gouki said you would go to him to save Madara."

"There was no poison?" she asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," he said. "Hand me a towel."

Mio tossed a towel at him and stood, moving out of the way as he made it across the small room to the tub. "I'm going."

"Mio."

She paused. "Wha—?" She turned around as he was climbing into the tub, baring all his bits, and shielded her eyes. "Takuto! You have a towel! Cover yourself!"

"Shut up! Nobody asked you to come in here while I'm in the middle of a bath!"

"I'm going."

Mio exited the bathroom in a rush as Takuto shouted, "Wait, Mio, I wasn't finished!"

She whirled around to see Sachiyo standing with Saori at her side, the latter staring at her wide-eyed. Sachiyo shook her head in disapproval.

"A Kuronuma, Mio? You can do better," said Sachiyo. She patted Saori on the shoulder. "Let's go, Saori, I think it is time for me to rest."

"Sachiyo-sama," Mio called, going after her. "He is not my lover."

"I did hope you would make better choices as an adult, but I was wrong," Sachiyo continued, waving a dismissive hand. "There is no need for you to feel ashamed. When I was your age, I had plenty of lovers. I didn't have time for them, but I did welcome them when they came." Looking at Saori, she said, "You should consider doing the same. How many men dote on you, child? Pick one and enjoy yourself. You are young. You are both young, take a chance. Live a little."

Sachiyo broke away from Saori when she spotted Kana and called her to help her get to her room.

Saori glanced at Mio apologetically. "You will have to forgive her, it's the medicine," the Ito girl explained. "It helps with the pain."

"Oh."

That made sense.

"You should not take any offense in what she says."

Mio nodded and walked away. On her way up the stairs she ran into Taiga.

"I need to speak to you later," she told him.

"Am I in trouble?" he asked with a grin.

She arched an eyebrow. "What? No."

"Forget it," he said, internalizing a laugh. "Will you be in your room?"

"Yes."

"I'll meet you."

Mio entered her room and started to rummage through her things until she dug up the artifacts Taiga managed to retrieve. She sank into a seat in front of them and decided that like her artifacts she would need to carry the Climate and Vision Spheres in case anyone tried to take them again. The Time Sphere would protect all of them.

She wrapped the bright blue Dragon's eye in layers of bandages to keep its cold surface contained and slid the oddly shaped dagger that was the Vision Sphere behind her sash.

She dropped onto her side and sighed.

She didn't realize she had dozed off until she felt someone nudge her cheek. She opened her eyes and focused on Taiga. She had completely forgotten she wanted to talk to him. She pushed herself onto a seat, rubbing her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I fell asleep."

"You don't sleep well, Mio, you should try it," Taiga said, sitting down in front of her. "What did you want to say?"

"Thank you," she replied. "You brought the lost artifacts to me. I am indebted to you, Taiga. I—"

"Don't say you'll do anything to repay me, Mio," he interrupted. "Your willingness to do anything is what has made a mess of things."

She fell silent. She couldn't argue against that. All she had done since she left Mt. Hyōga was make a mess and she couldn't fix it, not on her own.

"I don't know what I'm doing," she admitted, dejected. "I left the mountain with an objective, with my head properly screwed on my shoulders, but I am fumbling through everything. I have never been so clumsy with life."

Taiga stared in astonishment. She mirrored his reaction because he was the last person she would have a conversation of this magnitude with considering her lack of trust in the man. Not to mention, he had made a living off making her exceedingly uncomfortable.

"Perhaps you have unrealistic expectations," he offered, calm once the surprise blew over. At her skepticism, he elaborated, "You left the mountain on a suicide mission. Somehow, you imagined you would outsmart the oldest person in the world, retrieve her artifact, and everything else would solve itself. There was a mountain full of Kuronumas expecting you to solve all of their problems when you left, but they are all mostly dead now and the ones that remain are expecting you to avenge the clan. You are expected to fight a war over ten artifacts you barely understand. You want to shoulder the burden of it all because you are Shugosha and that is what Shugosha do, they shoulder burdens, they are problem solvers, they fix things that are broken—they are everything that is great in a world deteriorating in war." He paused. "Do you see that? There is a lot of _you _happening in that brain of yours. Did you forget there are supposed to be nine other guardians apart from you? What about the shinobi clans being dragged into this Artifact War Ayuka started? It won't be long before the entire country knows that the Kuronuma has been sitting on top of a gold mine all this time and that they entrusted it all to an eighteen-year-old girl that has no idea what she is doing. Do you know what's worse? The fact that you're stupid. That is not helping anyone."

"Oh."

"_Oh_, is right, Mio," Taiga told her. "Think about your situation. You are in perfect health, are stronger than ever, and have nine of ten artifacts under your control. You are in Uchiha territory where you are guaranteed safety. Madara will obliterate an entire nation if you asked him to do it. That Kuronuma friend of yours is an exemplary medic, which the clan was in dire need of. Yayoi has a proclivity towards ignorance, but that girl is more than a pretty face and bad medical skills. The Ito girls. Saori is brilliant, not a fighter, but exceedingly brilliant. Hibari, delicate as she looks, can kill a person in under a minute. Take advantage of what is around you to survive."

Taiga just finished giving her advice.

"Are you ready to stop being stupid?"

"Yes?"

"Good."

Taiga stood as footsteps were approaching and she jumped to her feet to see him off. She opened her mouth to thank him again when the door slid open to Madara.

"We have a meeting tomorrow morning," he said to both of them.

"Perfect." Taiga stalked off, and after reaching the stairs, he shouted, "Kana!"

She waited until the older shinobi was out of earshot to apologize to Madara, who rested his hand on her door.

"Why are you apologizing?"

She put her hand on her door as well. "Because I see your face and all I want to do is apologize to it." She tried to slide the shoji door shut, but he kept her from doing it.

"Taiga?"

"I called him to thank him for the artifacts," she said, the knots in her stomach doubling. "Do you want to come in?"

Wordlessly, he stepped inside her room, sliding the door shut behind him. She quickly went around the room to reorganize it and make it look presentable. She shot him a nervous smile, hating her feelings knowing that tomorrow morning she would need to set them aside. That and she knew he viewed his actions as a mistake. She wouldn't push the subject for her sake and his and in consideration of Izuna.

And yet, she invited him into her room. She didn't mean to, it just came out like the bit about apologizing to his face. She remembered the last time she felt like an idiot was when she liked Takuto. It made no sense, she was certain she had spent all her time staring at Madara with respectable admiration, not an ulterior motive. She wondered if she had been so invested in her own denial she never noticed it before.

"What will you be discussing tomorrow morning?" she asked, in need of conversation.

"You, your artifacts, and your guardians," he said. "Ayuka will want all of us in one place at one point."

"I don't doubt it." Mio dragged out her futon from the closet. She planned to lay it out to distract herself from looking at him for too long or gravitating towards him so that she might feel what she experienced that day in Enki's castle.

"There are two other artifacts left unaccounted for, one has a guardian that is currently in danger of being killed by Kuronuma Nishiki," he began. "You know where they are?"

"Yes."

"You will need to tell me."

She imagined that conversation, and no matter what, it always ended in disaster.

"Takuto mentioned Gouki attacked you," she said, watching his brow furrow. "Are you well? Physically?"

"Yes," he bit out.

"The Mikazuki clan fight with poison," she went on. "What if—?"

"The dagger he used was Ayuka's. He never drew his own blade."

"And you feel no different?"

"No."

"And if you did, you would tell me?"

"No." Madara took a step away from her. "There would be no need for you to worry. I am healthy. Takuto could have told you that."

"He did."

"Then why ask?"

"I wanted to hear it from you."

"You have nothing to worry over if Takuto detected no poisons."

Burning. Mio was burning. Her temperature skyrocketed and was radiating off her body with every subtle shudder that ran through her. She compelled her body to stay glued in place. She dedicated too much time to the subject.

"I should sleep," she said quickly.

She didn't want to be a mistake.

Madara nodded and exited the room.

* * *

><p>Takuto joined her the following morning for a run, though he complained the later half after growing exhausted. Mio was sure he sprained his ankle out of spite when the sun decided to peek through the breaks in storm clouds as they were forced to stop. He treated himself and coaxed her into carrying him on her back up to the house. As she made her way back, she encountered Sachiyo and Kana sitting out in the verandah, the two quick to turn a perfectly normal situation into an uncomfortable one as they made jabs at the two being lovers.<p>

She set Takuto on the edge of the verandah near them. It wouldn't be until another half hour before the meeting began.

"The swelling should go down by tomorrow," Takuto said. "We can start sparring then."

Mio sat beside him, taking her sphere into her hands. When she concentrated enough, she sensed a pulse emerging from the location of every artifact, the stronger the pulse the closer, the weaker the farther. If she encountered danger, a small infusion of chakra, the artifact encased her in a sphere, one whose limits she planned to test later. She would need to find a way to make it so it activated on its own, as a reflex, like it had when Ayuka attempted to take the sphere from her neck.

"Wouldn't that worsen your ankle?"

"Sometimes you have to push past the pain," Takuto replied with an impressive grin.

"And yet you couldn't push past the pain to finish our run?" she asked.

Takuto untied the weights from his other leg and held them up. "You expected me to run in these," he complained, letting them drop onto the barren ground below where they sank into the dirt a centimeter a second with gravity's help. "Have you any idea how heavy they are?"

"Kuronuma should be able to carry three times their weight," she said in explanation, starting to remove the weights around her legs and wrists. "Do you know how long it took for me to make these? And how difficult it is to increase the weight of hardened black water? I stayed up a great portion of the night working on them so that we could start the day with a refreshing run."

Takuto gaped at her, reeling in every word.

"Three times their weight, not any more than that!" he snapped after recovering from his astonishment.

"I did it," she replied, "and then I carried you on my back. Sachiyo-sama and Kana are snickering about how ridiculous a lover you must be."

"I never claimed to be as strong as you, I am only better versed at medical ninjutsu."

"I know no medical ninjutsu."

"There is it. We are a balanced team if you do all the heavy lifting and I work on keeping you in one piece."

That gave her a thought after a brief recollection of her conversation with Taiga came to mind. She would need to utilize what was around her. "What if we leave the heavy lifting to Madara? Taiga can take espionage. You take Yayoi as a student and teach her something. Hibari takes the shadows. Saori takes strategy. Izuna remains in a diplomatic position and I work on defense."

Takuto looked at her in confusion. "What?"

"Yes," she said, clapping her hands as she stood. She set her weights down. "We need to prepare for the worst. There is no telling what Ayuka and Gouki are planning on the island or if they are making plans to leave it soon. Also, Hiryuu is nearby and always prowling the area searching for me, so we have him to worry about in the Fire Country. Then, there's the issue of my other guardians, one of which is being targeted by Kuronuma Nishiki. We have to work something out that would be beneficial to all of us and if we can work together—"

"The Senju and Uchiha will not work together. Under no circumstances." Takuto shook his head. "Do not even think of mentioning that to Madara. Do not even give names to your other guardians. Some things are better left unmentioned."

"They are my guardians too," she defended. "Hashirama was the first guardian I chose. I left the strongest spheres in his and his brother's protection."

"Understandable, but you of all people know the Senju and Uchiha have never gotten along," he reminded her. "If by some series of unfortunate events, Tobirama is captured by Kuronuma Nishiki, we will make a mention of it in casual conversation and try not to blow it out of proportion. Sound good?"

"No."

"Good, it wasn't supposed to, now go to your meeting and mention nothing."

Mio decided to keep her mouth shut after mulling it over on her walk to the compound where she was greeting by a nostalgic bustling environment that made her chest warm. She found her way to Madara with the help of a group of mischievous Uchiha children that nearly knocked her over as they rushed through the hallway, attempting to escape from a pair of furious men with crude drawings on their reddened faces. She aided in hiding them away after the smallest child asked if she was hurt and they repaid her by taking her where she needed to be, adding a curt tour about the new compound that was situated in the center of a small village she heard had previously been abandoned by their ancestors. She had seen several homes and many Uchiha families walking up and down narrow streets. She had known they used Sachiyo's vast lands for farming and distributed the food evenly between the families, though they were taking from the reserves now and sometimes required going to the nearest market town to gather ingredients they did not have.

The Ito clan had set up an encampment beside the village where they had the freedom to move all along the Uchiha territory without restriction.

"Are you making friends, Mio?" Taiga teased, grinning at her from his seat on the tatami floor, referring to the children. He took a swig of the sake in his flat cup. Beside him, a raven-haired woman with narrow eyes and full lips made sure his cup remained full.

She ignored him.

Mio recognized the Ito woman that represented Takuei in Izuna's absence, Kayami. She sat with another Ito shinobi at her side, a scrawny boy with messy blond hair and freckles along the bridge of his nose. Sitting in the corner of the room was Yayoi, dressed in borrowed clothes that she no doubt hated after having grown used to the finery she had in the Sun Country, and she was sullen.

"Should she be here?" Mio asked Madara, gesturing in the priestess' direction.

"Does her presence bother you?"

"No," she said, feeling the priestess' eyes burning into the back of her head, "only I feel she is holding a grudge against me."

"Ignore her."

She didn't have a choice, so she resolved to see it done, though Yayoi's persistence made it painfully uncomfortable.

"What about Ito Saori and Hibari?" she asked. "Shouldn't they be here?"

"Saori and Hibari don't partake in meetings," he answered. "Someone speaks to them later about anything of interest."

Madara handed her a map after Jouji entered the room, excusing his tardiness as a result of one of Taiga's demands. The older Uchiha smiled at her, going to stand at her side. He patted her on the shoulder.

"Unfortunate what happened on the mountain," Jouji told her. "You have my condolences, Mio."

She thanked him with a bitter smile and heard Madara call her to the short table. She reached his side and spread the map across the surface at his request. The first portion of the meeting involved the discussion of enemy positions and new potential threats rising against them with the promise of a revelation from the Motou clan. People had started to make assumptions the minute the Mikazuki-Uchiha alliance entered Mt. Hyōga and attacked the Kuronuma clan and plenty of their history came into light, though skepticism still reigned and that had kept them safe.

"It's only a matter of time before Motou Ayuka proves the Kuronuma artifacts do exist," said Taiga confidently. "And Hiryuu will come searching for Mio."

"Hiryuu is actively plotting an attack against the compound," Jouji added. "No doubt in the hopes of finding Mio here and returning her to Mikazuki Gouki."

"We will strengthen our defense," said Madara. "Double the amount of shinobi on patrol and increase the amount of men scouting the outer area of our territory."

"What about her?" asked the freckled boy, who she learned was named Jin. He acted as the eyes and ears of the Ito sisters.

"What about me?" Mio asked, offended by his tone.

"Should she be walking around freely?" said Jin, looking past her to Madara. "Out in the open without a guard?"

"Mio can protect herself," Madara answered in a tone that brook no argument.

"That is beside the point," Taiga offered, "Hiryuu is searching for her everywhere. Wouldn't it be best that his spies continue believing she is everywhere other than here? Maybe we should confine her. Keep her hidden until we can spread enough lies to convince him to look in a different location. With the Gouki and Ayuka threat, we might as well keep the amount of armies coming at us to a minimum."

Mio glared at Taiga and he smiled in response. She never would have believed that he would say something like that after giving her reasonable advice yesterday night.

Madara's lengthy silence upset her because she knew the minute he turned to her that he would be agreeing with Taiga. "You will remain indoors until Hiryuu's focus can be diverted elsewhere," he told her, and turned to Taiga. "Take Kyouya with you. He will be expected to be at her side. Send word as soon as you see results."

Taiga removed himself from the room, taking Jouji and the narrow-eyed woman serving him liquor with him. Mio took the opportunity to attempt to protesting, but Madara held his hand up to stop her as he regarded Kayami and Jin.

"Send someone to take the news to Takuei," he ordered. "After you have finished, track my brother down and bring him back to the Fire Country."

Kayami and Jin nodded and left the room.

"I should have a say in what happens to me," Mio said, irritated.

"You can decide whether you want to stay here or with my grandmother," he told her, calling Yayoi as he exited the room.

Yayoi shoved her out of the way when she tried to get through the doorframe and she hit the hallway wall. The priestess snickered and walked on gracefully behind Madara. She was growing frustrated with Yayoi's treatment of her. The priestess acted as though it were her fault Ayuka decided to kill her, like Mio deliberately ruined her life.

"Madara," Mio called, catching up to him outside the compound. "Keeping me confined to one place is no different from what happened on the island. I'm not comfortable being your prisoner."

"You're not my prisoner," he assured her. "We are taking precautions to ensure your safety here. Until Hiryuu is turned away from our territory, you will be allowed to move around at will. Until then, you are to remain indoors."

"I can protect myself, you said it yourself," she reminded him.

"We need to remain vigilant of Mikazuki Gouki," he argued. "If we can stay prepared for one of his attacks, we might be able to survive it."

"Gouki is unconcerned. If he said that I would go to him, then he is confident I will do it of my own volition," she retorted. "He does not care what I do here. He will not invade this territory."

"For once I agree with her," Yayoi added, rolling her eyes at the grimace he shot at her. "However, I still support that the best course of action is to send her to Gouki so that maybe then, they could leave us all out of their mess."

"This isn't our mess, all of this is Ayuka's fault," Mio corrected.

"Your grandfather had just a big a part in this as she did."

"But it was Ayuka and Nishiki who decided to recalibrate the artifacts into something they aren't," she snipped. "My grandfather tried to stop this from happening."

"Don't try to justify your grandfather's actions," Yayoi spat. "He is no better than Ayuka."

"Enough!" Madara interrupted. "There is no use putting the blame on anyone when we are already involved. It won't solve anything."

"I know what will solve _everything_," said Yayoi, staring at Mio with malice.

"Mio's welfare is not up for your discussion," he said edgily.

"It is not up for yours either," Mio retorted.

"No." He rounded on her, standing few feet away from her as he confronted her with a glower. "You have no say on this subject. This is my territory and my clan and they are under my protection. You are here seeking refuge and if you want to live, you will obey my orders."

"If that is the price I must pay to stay here, then I will go," she decided impulsively. She would return to the Iron Country, reunite with the remaining Kuronuma and the Senju clan to discuss a proper plan of action, one that did not include her confinement. If she was going to fight in this war, she wanted to be an active participant, not someone that was ordered to stay behind closed doors because she needed to be protected. "I will leave."

She whirled around, determine to reach Sachiyo's home and gather her things. She would be sad to leave Sachiyo and Kana, but she couldn't stand the idea of sitting around doing nothing all day until Madara saw fit she could leave the house.

Madara stalked after her and Yayoi rushed behind him.

"Let her go," she heard Yayoi shout. "You have to renounce her and send her to Gouki before she gets us all killed."

Something inside her snapped.

Mio turned abruptly, shoved past Madara, and with a white-knuckled fist, punched Yayoi in the face hard enough to send her tumbling several feet away. Yayoi let out a pained cry as she clasped a hand to her bloodied nose and turned over on her back over the ground, stomping her feet.

"I have had enough," Mio shouted. "I have tolerated your unfounded hatred of me for weeks on end! As unfortunate as the reality is, I am not responsible for your misfortunes! I am not the reason Ayuka tried to kill you!"

"You're a monster!" cried the priestess as she rolled around in pain.

"And you're a fool!" Mio dragged Yayoi onto her feet, though she thrashed and complained the entire time. "I am not the tyrant Ayuka spoke of," she continued, staring as large tears poured out of the priestess' eyes. "I am completely lost and overwhelmed because I never asked for this. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm making mistakes at every turn. I am not powerful. I don't even like to fight. I'm not even doing any of this out of revenge." She took in a breath, feeling Yayoi shuddering in her grip. "What I am is pigheaded and I have people that I want to protect too. I am not the enemy, Yayoi. I don't want to be your enemy."

Yayoi let out a blubbering cry, surprising Mio when she fell into her arms. "I did everything she wanted!" she cried, her tearful words almost incoherent. "She was everything to me and she tried to kill me, Mio!"

Mio glanced at Madara and he shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck in confusion.

She slowly wrapped her arms around the priestess and felt Yayoi do the same, grabbing her from around the waist in a tight embrace that cut off a little of her air supply. Her actions paved way for more of the priestess' inconsolable crying.

"My nose hurts so much," Yayoi cried, the first coherent sentence after a lengthy rant.

Mio gently tugged Yayoi's arms from her and stared into her bloodied face. "That's because I broke it." The priestess let out a tiny gasp. "Takuto can fix it. I'll take you to Takuto."

Takuto was where she left him and he was the first to laugh at the fact that Yayoi's nose had been broken. Mio excused herself inside the house to change her shirt since Yayoi left it bloodied only to belatedly realize that Madara had followed her inside. She stopped on her way up the stairs to meet him face to face.

"The Iron Country is the first place they'll check if you go," he said. "You are safe here."

She walked down two steps, but she still stared down at him. Again, it appeared so naturally that she hated its presence's persistence when he came near. Her mind was in a deep fog. "I don't want to be hidden."

"Hiryuu will try to invade if he is certain that you are here. You will go to Gouki as a result."

"I can use the Time Sphere to protect myself," she told him, confident in her ability to erect its barrier with a dose of chakra. Mentally, she was determined to find a way to make it go up whenever she was in danger like she planned yesterday evening.

"Give it a week, Taiga works quickly."

She stayed silent. She didn't like the idea of sitting around indoors when she enjoyed being outside. She didn't like the fact that she needed to be protected to such an extent. She never would have realized this much danger came with being Shugosha; she only saw it as being a wealth of responsibility. The pressure was mounting and she was feeling overwhelmed because she couldn't let go of any of the things that put her in the position, so she clung to it, though she was acting strangely.

She hated how her sense of responsibility was making her commit thoughtless mistakes. She also understood that if she stayed indoors she would continue on her steady decline to becoming a mess, though at certain intervals she suspected she reached that a long time ago.

She was having second thoughts about leaving as well, reminded that she had no idea what she was doing anymore.

"You can do anything you want after he sends back word."

Mio nodded and dejectedly made her way upstairs to her room. She changed out of her shirt and tugged on a kimono top. She took the sullied one downstairs to wash the blood out in the back of the house where the laundry was done. She took her time washing it thoroughly and took advantage of the fact that she was alone to enjoy the silence.

Takuto found her when breakfast was being served.

She barely ate anything during and left early to go upstairs and lie in bed in an attempt to grow used to the four walls encasing her. Takuto went to keep her company, allowing her to rest her head on his lap after she finished telling him what happened in the meeting.

"You should think of it as a vacation," he said, looking at the bright side of things. "You went through hell and back in the Sun Country and Madara has given you a short break."

"Except I don't have to listen to him," she said darkly. "I shouldn't have to listen to what he says."

Takuto ran his hand over the side of her head, brushing back her hair. "He is looking out for you."

"I understand that."

"Good, let him take care of you."

Mio felt her ears warm at the idea of Madara taking care of her in a more obvious way. Nothing particular came to mind, but the thought of him alone was enough to bring color to her face.

Takuto looked down. "Are you serious? That made your ears red?" he complained as he started to brush back her hair over and over and over. "You feel something for him, don't you? And don't say it's ridiculous because even Yayoi said there's something between the two of you."

"When did you have a talk with Yayoi?"

"When I set her nose straight after you broke it."

"What did she say?"

"The same thing I did. There is something between the two of you."

"You two would misunderstand a professional relationship."

"I saw the way you look at him, Mio. Do you know why you were terrible at Go?"

"It's a difficult game. Anyone can be terrible at Go."

"You were staring at him the entire time he was teaching you," he told her in his amusement. "You never once looked at the board."

Mio frowned, feeling her eyes start to droop. "I don't want to talk about Madara."

"You'll have to admit it eventually."

"It doesn't matter because he is Izuna's brother and I am his friend."

"You don't feel this way for Izuna, do you?"

"No."

But she wished she did as she yawned into her hand.

"And for Madara?"

"Yes."

He patted her shoulder and started to get up.

She sat to leave him room to stand, the possibility of a nap dead. "Where are you going? I was falling asleep."

"I'm taking your advice and teaching Yayoi something useful," he said. "We have our first lesson this afternoon. What are you going to do?"

Mio touched her sphere. "Stare at this thing for hours."

"Perfect. Good luck with that."

"Good luck with Yayoi."

She took a bath before doing as she had told Takuto and stared at her sphere for hours, practicing her control over raising its shield until she could manage encasing her body on the floor in a semi-circle. She was enjoying herself up until she realized it was too draining to keep doing much longer, so she left it to rest and her body as well.

The door startled her awake at a time when she had not been aware that she had fallen asleep lying on her belly. She turned her head to look at Madara.

"Is that what you've been doing all day? Sleeping?"

"Yes."

Madara shut the door behind him and went to her. "Kana has a deck of hanafude. If you asked her, she would sit and play with you a while."

She closed her eyes, and then felt his hand on her arm. She was imagining his hands on her body because she would in her somnolent state and it was a very disappointing realization that she wanted his hands on her.

"Mio," he called, shaking her. "Mio!"

She opened her eyes. "What?"

"Is something wrong with you?"

"Takuto and Yayoi know that there is something between us," she said absently, though concerned of what the two might do with that kind of information, she was increasingly heavy limbed and tired.

"Did you say anything?"

"No." She rolled onto her back, stretching, and then moved onto her other side, her back towards him. Sleepily, she continued to speak, yawning halfway, "But Takuto is a blabbermouth, the whole compound will know by tomorrow morning."

Madara pulled her on her back. "Why are you wasting your time here sleeping? Do something."

"Do something?" she asked, eyes narrowing. "For what reason? There is nothing between us but a mistake." She tugged free of his hold and returning to her side. "This mistake is going to sleep."

She showed him she decided in the peace of her mind, though in a moment of wakefulness, she wished she could bring it up in conversation as easily as she had in her dream and say it.

In the stillness between sleep and being awake, Mio felt a warm pressure on her lips.

* * *

><p>Mio woke the following morning from a nightmare and to the startling realization that Takuto, Yayoi, and Madara were standing around her. She took in the lackluster looks plastered over the two medics' faces and the serious one on Madara's face with a hint of incredulity. Her heart was still hammering in her chest from having stepped through mounds of bloody snow recovering the dead from Mt. Hyōga before a hand had broken through the ground and dragged her underneath a lake of freezing water where she had been drowning.<p>

"Did something happen?" she asked breathlessly.

"Nothing, we all simply agreed that it would be a joy to watch you sleep," said Yayoi with an annoyed smile. She clapped her hands. "She is awake. Can we move on? I'm meeting Saori and Hibari for a walk."

"I promised to accompany Kana into town," Takuto added.

She stared at him oddly.

Takuto shrugged. "Stop looking at me like a pervert, she asked."

"You best bring her home safely, lest Taiga have you murdered in your sleep," Madara advised.

"Is he on every woman?" complained Takuto. "I feel like the entire female population"—at this Yayoi beamed at them all and the Kuronuma noticed—"except Yayoi, is spoken for by him."

Madara turned to Mio slowly with a look that dared her to deny that.

"I might have agreed to become his at one interval in life," she said with a dismissive air, averting her eyes.

"Is there no one in this world you have not promised yourself to?" he snapped, visibly suppressing a frightening rage.

"She's also engaged to a Senju," Takuto blurted. "Oops."

"You said not to speak of the Senju clan!" she complained, throwing a pillow at him.

The temperature dropped to a frightening chill.

"An Uchiha and a Senju?" Madara repeated.

Although, the idiot knew he had blabbed, Takuto felt the need to correct him, "Technically, Mio is a Kuronuma and it was Musashi's last wish she marry into the Senju clan."

Madara glared at him.

Yayoi clapped delightedly. "This is fantastic!" She looked at Takuto, pleased with herself. "You're worse than I am."

"My great-grandfather arranged it," she said, shooting a glare at Takuto. "I couldn't say no." Her nonchalant response darkened his expression. "I didn't think it was important to devote too much time on who I would marry."

"I feared she was determined to marry one and take everyone else as a lover," Takuto said jokingly, but a deadly glare from her and Madara made him dissolve into a weak laugh. "I apologize, you should probably be discussing this alone considering you gave her your blessing to marry your brother."

"He gave her his blessing, but he wants to keep her for himself," Yayoi added, and she turned to Takuto with a mischievous grin to match his.

"Why are you two here?" Mio demanded.

"Madara said it would be in my best interest to meet him here," Takuto replied, then changed the subject. "So, would I be overstepping any boundaries with Taiga by walking Kana into town?"

"Yes," Madara snapped. "That's his sister."

"Oh?"

"Taiga has a sister?" Mio blurted. "I thought he was an only child."

"Even I knew he had a sister, where have you been?" asked Yayoi, all high and mighty.

"Who is the Senju you were to marry?" asked Madara, standing over her in an intimidating way.

Mio's stomach growled in protest, but the sound went on ignored with the atmosphere growing terse under Madara's scowl. "Can we eat?"

"What is the point of knowing who? She's been marrying everyone. I'm surprised Taiga hasn't asked you to be his wife," Takuto commented.

"Taiga isn't interested in me in that way," she corrected.

Yayoi sighed. "I'm interested in him that way."

"He's married," Madara and Mio said in unison.

Frowning, Yayoi spoke, "Look, Mio is never going to answer your questions and Madara is not going to stop asking you them, so I don't understand why it's necessary for us to be here when you two clearly have some obstacles to overcome in your relationship, primarily the guilt of having allowed something to develop between you when all you have ever wanted was for Izuna to be happy by marrying Mio, even though neither one of you considered the possibility that you might be better suited for one another." She sucked in a breath after that long rant. "And before you take my word for this, I am not saying this because I read your bloodline or anything…because I did and that has nothing to do with it."

The priestess appreciated the silence with a great smile.

"If you'll excuse us." Yayoi looped her arm around Takuto's and started guiding him towards the door where she paused, glimpsing at the two over her shoulder. "Before you start slandering our good names, the entire compound already knows. Even Izuna knows. And if you want someone to blame, blame your grandparents because they're terrible people."

Yayoi and Takuto waved at them as they departed, the two scoffing at their stupidity, and walking down the staircase around the corner, their laughter drifted up to them.

Madara sat down on top of a wooden chest of her things.

Mio pushed herself off the floor, realizing she never moved onto her futon. She rubbed her eyes, feeling a little off that morning after having to follow that strange conversation.

"Do you say yes to every man that shows an interest in you?" he asked, watching her move around the room.

She gave the question some thought as she poured water into a basin and washed her face. "I do what I think is right," she admitted, patting her face dry.

"And for that same reason, you would have said yes to me."

"I haven't said anything to you," she said, lowering her eyes when he lifted his. Heart accelerating, she clenched her hands at her side. "I don't understand what I feel with you only that I don't have a choice." She heard him stand and walk to her. She didn't dare look at him because impulse would likely take over and she would not say what she, herself, needed to hear. "I spoke an empty word to those before. I said it because it was for the sake of my clan, to make him happy, to let her love someone that will love her back, because it was my duty. But if you asked me to be yours, it would not be an empty word."

His hands rested against her neck, his thumbs brushing against the line of her jaw. He said nothing.

She reached to take his hands with tremulous hands, curling her fingers over them, and raised her eyes meeting his. "I want to be yours."

Outside, the bulbous gray clouds begun to thunder and heavy rainfall pelted over the rooftop. The house groaned as it settled, its floorboards creaked noisily as its inhabitants walked around downstairs.

Being with Madara would be trying and exhausting, it would be explosive with little peace in between wars. It would be like fumbling through the dark, like experiencing delirium through the shadow storm. It would be painful when Izuna came to mind and there would be guilt. But she didn't think any of those thoughts because she remembered that warm pressure on her lips when Madara took her into his arms and kissed her because she didn't feel like a mistake.

* * *

><p>Steam billowed from the pitch-black surface of the water. The water lilies that gave the room a sweet aroma rotted away under the pool's harsh conditions. Entering the room was a dangerous feat, not anyone was capable of enduring the heat radiating from the water.<p>

Ayuka entered behind Gouki having shielded the bottom half of her face with a thin sheet of fabric. Outside everyone was rebuilding once more and awaiting further instruction, though half of the Mikazuki clan had been sent back to the Frost Country. Hiryuu reported movement in the Iron Country. Nishiki sent word that Shin had finally gone to meet him and that he had asked after Kikumi. She suspected he would. The man knew more than he should and she had no way of knowing how. She had only shown him the Fate Sphere twice in his lifetime and though he could read the pathways, he could not have seen and memorized all of them.

Gouki paused at the edge of the boiling vat of blood water without protection, proud of the Kuronuma blood running through his veins. The heat did not mar his skin; it did not irritate him either as he crouched down to reach into it.

"The rivers are hotter," Gouki informed her.

She had taken him to the black rivers of Kurata as a child when she had gone to present him to Musashi as his one true successor only to be spurned for the sickly Hagane. She had shown him the rivers because that was where his father had been killed. It had been in a time when she herself had not known Nishiki had survived.

"I drained Mio dry of nearly all her blood," she said. "This is the closest we have ever gotten to creating black water."

"It should be enough for your priestesses," he told her, "but not enough for my men."

Ayuka stared at the boiling surface in disdain. She had practiced for years to accomplish the difficult feat, had learned the scrolls of ancient and forbidden arts in the hopes of replicating the black rivers of Kurata. None of it had been easy. The only way she could think to do something of this caliber was to find a freshly trained Kuronuma before the dark water settled in her veins. That made it easier to extract. A skilled Kuronuma, one that had years of training hid their clan secrets well, but Mio was too young to have learned much. Shin had practically beaten all her current knowledge in her in a quarter of the time it took others—though she would not deny she had a certain gift for it—and it made her an easy target.

"I might be able to perfect it," she decided after staring into the pit. "But I will need more blood, Kuronuma blood, and a sacrifice."

The Motou clan had its secrets too and she had had years to master them all.

"I will have everything sent to you before I leave for the Earth Country," said Gouki. "Also, Nishiki forgot to mention there was an Uchiha traveling with Shin when they met."

Ayuka saw into the pathways of Shin's life many times to have memorized those leading up to his death. If an Uchiha traveled with him, it would not be long before the poison reached his heart. "He is dying. At last."

A smile lit up her face. With Shin gone, the Kuronuma clan would be left completely vulnerable for Nishiki to reappear and become their leader. With the Demon clan at their back, convincing her own people to turn against Mio would be easy. The Kuronuma clan loved Nishiki and they had shunned Shin for having killed him, which had led to an internal fight that resulted in Shin leaving Mt. Hyōga. It hadn't been until Musashi had forgiven him that Shin was allowed to return to the mountain.

Ayuka paused on her way to the exit, whirling around to see her son standing at the edge of the pool staring into the dark waters in deep concentration. "That reminds me," she started, drawing his attention from the water. "How long until the poison begins affecting Uchiha Madara?"

"The poison should have already taken root," Gouki said with a grin. "Mio will come find me in a fortnight to plead for his life."

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: I took an English midterm last week and I swear, I felt like an idiot throughout it. I was also supposed to have written this wonderful essay for the same class on Friday, but I only have only had an introduction and one body paragraph - the procrastination is strong in me. It's due on Thursday, so I wanted to get this chapter out of the way so I won't have to worry about it while I procrastinate on this paper a little more and stay up until 5AM to finish it Wednesday. Wish me luck, guys, 'cause after this I have this literary research paper I have to write and if it's on something stupid...I just can't with all this poetry I've been reading.

Sorry about the semi-rant.

Somehow, everything is shaping up nicely. I plan to do a POV for one of the Senju brothers because stuff is going to down in a chapter or two. It'll probably be Tobirama because writing out the things that go through his mind are going to be such a delight.

Thank you to these wonderful people: **LeoInuyuka**, **Loteva**, **MoonlightArrow** (You can only imagine the sticky situation after this chapter. Thank you for reading and good luck on your exams!), **Ashura Son of Sage**, **HushedFable**, **Anime93**, and **Aries01xD** for dropping a line!

Yassss to chapter 40 coming up.

Oh, question, question! Is there anything you would like to see? Just curious. I never ask these. But it would be fun to see what comes up and whether it's going to pop up sometime soon. :D So if you have and answer, tell me~

Thank you for reading everyone!


	40. The Death of Kings 5

**40** | The Death of Kings V

* * *

><p>Mio stayed indoors sleeping in her restlessness and dreamt her nightmares when sleep was deep enough and waited in silence and solitude for Taiga to send word that might eliminate her confinement. There was nothing to do inside but eat, sleep, and catch glimpses of the outside world through certain strategically placed windows even though the rainstorms had obscured the exterior lands of Uchiha territory with a pale mist and unending sheets of torrential rain. She was turning into a laze on purpose because Madara was growing visibly annoyed by her reaction to his restrictions, to which when confronted about them she had always assured him that they had no effect on her with an honest "I don't have to listen to you" that silenced him.<p>

Madara had gone away to a deal with a problem with another clan, whose name she hadn't caught. She was too busy ignoring him and secretly wishing him a safe excursion in her head to say anything. She was angry about his intention to keep her holed up in Sachiyo's house.

That had been a week ago. In that week, Izuna had sent word to the compound in a coded message that had spoken of Kuronuma Nishiki's lack of movement in the Earth Country and the rumor that Mikazuki Gouki had reentered the continent. She had kept the thought from her head, but it had resurfaced in her sleep where she had had no way to escape it and the people that haunted her.

That afternoon as the skies thundered mercilessly and the rain pounded over Sachiyo's house, Mio sat in her room using the opportunity to exercise her meditating skills. Despite her persistence in lounging, Mio had occupied most of her time in uncovering the secrets of the artifact that made her Shugosha. She learned that through the feeling of fear and an increased dose of chakra, she could erect an automatic barrier to protect herself. She tested the amount of chakra necessary to strengthen it and make the dome around her larger. It made for an exhausting pastime, but it made the days seem shorter and she appreciated that when she had been limited to Sachiyo's house only. She kept busy as she waited.

Mio knew Yayoi was sitting outside her room peering in through a thin aperture. Her persistent looks came in between her and her concentration. She made no move to walk in or attempt to speak to her, so after a series of failed meditations, she finally turned to the direction of the door.

"What is it?" she asked calmly.

Yayoi strolled inside the room, as she had expected her to do from the start rather than sit outside looking through a crack, and sat in front of her. "You have officially become a woman," the priestess began, snatching Mio's hands and holding them clasped between hers. She sounded strangely proud for someone that had opposed the idea on the island. "I thought I might give you advice. This is a new world for you; I have a wealth of experience—years of it. I mean, the last thing you want to do is mess everything up and lose him. I mean what if a more beautiful woman tempts him and he leaves you without a second thought."

"But Madara chose me," Mio said, the confusion knitted in her eyebrows.

"Yes, he did, but Mio, you haven't seen every woman in this world, one of them could be the one," said Yayoi, dreadfully serious. "And you, you end up being the stepping stone that starts their relationship."

Mio was suddenly upset. "What?"

The priestess nodded. "Yes."

"But he wanted me," she said weakly. "He told me."

"That's what men always say," Yayoi said dismissively. "They say it to every woman—" She must have seen something in her expression because she faltered and quickly changed the tone of her voice. "But this is Madara! He's not like that! I didn't even think he liked women—" The horror increased in Yayoi's face. "I mean, not that I think he liked men! I just—" And she dug her hole deeper, looking deflated. She sighed and fixed her eyes on her, a newfound strength in her eyes after fumbling for composure. "You have to make sure he's happy, Mio. So happy he never strays because if he strays, you'll have a real problem getting him back."

Mio frowned, though confused by all the mumbling Yayoi had done; she had a reply to her words. "If he strays, I won't want him back."

Blinking, Yayoi smiled weakly, "You won't?"

"He is mine," she assured her, "but if he one day decides that he does not want me, I won't stop him. I won't stop him from wanting other things. He can do as he wishes with his life, but his doing so should not inadvertently control mine."

Yayoi opened her mouth to speak, but at that point, Mio was unable to hide the shame she felt after speaking those words. "This has to be worth something," she continued, her chest tightening like a fist. "This has to be worth hurting _him_." She understood that the morning after the two had reached a medium on the subject. It wouldn't do if the emotions he stirred in her were the result of curiosity and impulse colliding. She wanted it to be more than that. Feeling the cold settling in her body, Mio lowered her eyes. "It can't be youth or impulse, it has to be real, but I don't understand it…and I have fears—"

The priestess sprang out of her seat, rushing out, and Mio swallowed down her words, the crushing reminder that Yayoi had never been on her side when it came to either Madara or Izuna made her feel foolish for having said such things to her.

She dropped back onto her side, hearing the thud of the Time Sphere when it fell to the floor. It rolled into view, the mist slowly in its rotation around its inner surface allowed her to peek at the object it hid. She distracted herself from her guilt-ridden thoughts by wondering about that peculiar, round item of the sphere, having seen it as nothing but the center that distributed the chakra it took from her to the nine other artifacts. It had its hidden powers, but she had yet to understand the meaning to its existence apart from her knowledge that it was meant to protect. Madara had tasked her in discovering it, but she had had that pending in her mind long before when Musashi had told her the purpose of the spheres and their creation had become a cluster of expectations created by the Shugosha that held it.

Behind closed eyes, she saw Izuna, proving no distraction was enough once the thought was ingrained into her head.

Yayoi returned in the same rush that had taken her from the room and with a loud thump placed something before her.

Opening her eyes, Mio recognized the wooden box sitting before her eyes and slowly rose to a seat finding the familiar wears on the smooth surface from the years it had spent hidden beneath the floorboard. She left it behind nine years ago because of what it represented, only to have asked for it to be brought back to her and meet with the news that it no longer rested underneath the floorboard where she had last seen it. Now it sat in front of her again, delivered to her in the unlikely hands of Yayoi, and her mind went blank as she took it into her hands.

She found no words as she opened it and found her treasures. Throughout nine years, she collected gifts from her parents, gifts that arrived on her birthday from wherever they would be at the time. She had cherished them, though some were small and inexpensive their value to her was immeasurable, and she had been devastated when she believed she had lost them. When Okimi had given her the silver band she still wore, she feared she would lose it because she had lost these, and yet, there they were before her.

She noticed other items among those she remembered and when she counted them, there were nine, each she recognized emerging from a different area around the continent as the others had, only it had not been her parents collecting them. She started pulling each out, holding every item in her hands long enough to admire its details and feel, and setting them aside. She particularly lingered on a wooden carving of a canary with its smooth surface and accurate depiction, the carving was perfection despite the fact that it was a bird.

Her mother and father's letters were underneath everything. She picked one up and stared down at the writing. She had forgotten their handwriting. She had forgotten their faces. In her nightmares, they were ghosts. Ghosts had no need of a face. That saddened her. She remembered her mother, proud and strict, and her father, powerful and bizarre, but she realized that she only remembered them as they were the night they were killed—her mother listening to her reciting a book by memory, her father chopping wood before her mother's body lay atop hers cold, shielding her, and her father in pieces around her. The day cursed by death and ambition. The box, their gifts, and their letters were all she had left from them that wasn't a terrible nightmare.

And she missed them.

"How do you have these?" she spoke, alas finding her voice.

"Madara left them to me for safekeeping," Yayoi replied. "He wanted to keep this from his brother, so he gave it me, but Izuna found out that he kept something that was yours. One of the paint bottles broke. It ruined my dress."

"There are new gifts here."

"Forget everything I said earlier," Yayoi told her. "Madara collected these over the last four years, he returned with something new every time he left the island and added it to your collection. I have been watching him long enough to know you are not an impulse. He would not sacrifice his brother's happiness for an impulse."

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Let go of your fears because they will only get in the way, take it from me, I'm experienced."

Mio smiled with tremulous lips, grateful for the conversation.

"But, please don't hide this from Izuna," Yayoi suggested. "You can't hide this from him. You can't pretend he will stay away forever because he will be coming back and he needs to hear it, though he already knows it."

"Did you read the sphere to tell you that?"

"He's been watching you and Madara since you were younger. He was there when Madara sat at your side after you arrived to the island and he saw the way you look at him, I don't need to read anything to see it in his face. Whether he accepts it is another story."

"I never asked for it to be this way," she said, averting her gaze.

As she said this, she knew Madara felt the same about the matter. That it was mutual regret and guilt and shame because they could not feel the way they were supposed to. She adored Izuna, he was the first person she trusted after her parents' death, but she did not feel that powerful emotion that drew her to Madara. She did not see Izuna and feel her breath hitch and never unhitch, there was never that intensity that left her body tingling. It wasn't his lips she wanted on hers or his hands touching the length of her back and brushing the hair from her neck. She never thought of the little details with him, only that there would be a marriage and she would be a dutiful wife—a good, faithful wife—that would live to adore him more than anyone else.

"You don't choose who you love, only if you want to be with them," said Yayoi, reaching to pat the top of her hand. "That's what Saori always says."

Upon feeling the priestess' hand settle atop hers she knew what she had been intent to deny before. It was the same connection and faith she had felt when she knew the Power Sphere belonged to Hashirama and the certainty that the Universe Sphere was meant for Tobirama and the faith she had with her grandfather's choice in Madara, as well as Takuto and Okimi's sphere being kindred.

She stared into the woman's face. "You'll be my Fate Sphere guardian."

Yayoi blinked, drawing back her hand immediately. Speaking these truths probably reminded her of Ayuka wanting to kill her.

Yayoi quickly gathered herself. "I should get going," she said hurriedly. "I'm supposed to meet Takuto for my next lesson."

"Yayoi," she called, the priestess froze at the entrance. "Thank you for talking to me. I'm sorry I have spoken out of turn. The last thing I wanted was to upset you after you took the time to talk with me."

The priestess turned around with a smile and it looked terribly sad. "Madara should be coming back soon, maybe today, maybe tomorrow," she said cheerfully. "You should make use of that feminine charm of yours, I'm sure you can convince him to let you move around the territory again."

"How do I do that?"

"The same way you attracted him to you, only ten times stronger!"

Mio tilted her head curiously, not fully comprehending how she had attracted him to her.

Yayoi caught on and with a deep sigh, she rubbed her temples before looking to her determined. "We will do something about this!" she told her. "We are going to talk tonight. Just us."

* * *

><p>"Look at them," Yayoi whispered harshly, ripping a long strip of fabric from old clothing.<p>

Takuto and Yayoi had been enjoying the drumming of rainfall against the rooftops inside a quiet room where he had been helping her perfect her knowledge of herbs. The old woman Kiyo had gifted him several from her collection to take out of the Sun Country and he had discovered them while sorting through his things, seeing them had given way to the idea that it might do Yayoi some good to know how to differentiate between medicinal and cooking herbs and which served as both. He had taken the opportunity to show her of his extensive knowledge, promising to find other plants the Kuronuma used for their medicine. She expressed interest in learning the contents of the green paste they used for burns, but he asked her to be patient, as he would teach her mixtures once she had firm grasp of all the herbs and their uses, as well as the spices, flowers, and plants that could be utilized for medicinal purposes.

Since Madara had returned from a skirmish outside Uchiha territory, he had made a coincidental entrance through the back of the house where Takuto had left Mio to play with the Time Sphere. She had been compliant since Madara had ordered her to stay indoors and she had since spent her time lying on the ground with her artifacts, silently regressing into an entity of silence and fortitude in her boredom.

Having overlooked Takuto and Yayoi's presence across the small yard in the other room, where the two watched with interest through the open window, Madara had failed to shut the door. The torrential storm beat against the tiled roof of Sachiyo's home, the sheet of rainfall that stamped across the small yard between the two rooms left large puddles that splashed against the walls leaving them muddied.

Madara was tugging off his armor, piece by piece, his eyes on Mio when the door of that room opened and Kana appeared to deliver a wooden tray holding two steaming mugs of tea, a kettle, and meat buns. At Madara's questionable look, Kana said, her voice reaching them faintly but coherently, "I saw you coming this way and figured that with that storm you would want something warm." She set it atop a table sitting outside Takuto and Yayoi's view into the room. "Make sure she eats."

"She hasn't?"

"Little," she responded. "I'll go prepare a bath for you."

Madara thanked her and she excused herself. He finished setting aside the last plate of his armor, but it did not help that his clothes were drenched and that he was leaving a mess.

"How long do you plan to sleep?" Madara asked, though he received no response from her.

"I don't understand," Yayoi said lowly, so her voice wouldn't carry. "Look at them. Does that look like two people happy being in each other's company?"

Takuto glimpsed at Mio, motionless where she lay. "No, that is called defiance."

"I didn't expect him to be back today," Yayoi said, crawling closer to the window. She nearly knocked over a bowl of crushed herbs as she edged closer, but Takuto managed to swipe it and other items from underneath her. She curled her hands over the bottom of the window and made an annoyed sound. "What is she doing acting like that?"

"She's throwing a fit. She hasn't been happy about staying indoors."

"It's not like she's tried to escape, nobody was going to stop her. I've seen her break arms like they were twigs, who wants to stop that?"

"She knows the reason she needs to stay hidden is to keep herself safe—you can say she has no interest in challenging that, but you can't stop her from finding it annoying," Takuto explained. "Leave them be, we haven't finished here."

"If she wants him to let her do as she pleases, she needs to _distract _him," she said with such obvious emphasis that Takuto laughed.

"You are joking?"

The look on her face answered his question. He quieted, careful not to let his voice carry to the other side. If they could hear Madara, he could probably hear them.

"You are not joking?"

"I am not joking."

"Mio is straightforward with what she wants. She doesn't know how to be subtle," he said. "You told her to use her feminine wiles; her charm is that she doesn't have any. She's couldn't seduce a man if she tried."

"Any woman can seduce a man with the right conviction," Yayoi argued lowly.

"She doesn't need to seduce Madara, he already likes her," Takuto told her. "She needs to be honest and tell him that she wants to run."

"Running away won't help make things better."

"Not like that. Running keeps her calm. Training keeps her distracted. Pain keeps her focused." Takuto continued crushing a pungent smelling herb into tiny specs. "There is no doubt Mio feels guilty about what happen in the Sun Country. She was actually trying to seduce your father so that he would do as she wanted."

"That was clever of her," said Yayoi, as Takuto frowned, she continued. "Honestly, she would have gotten what she wanted if she had gone through with it. My father was an idiot, he would have fallen for her ploys if she had gone into his bed. She would have had the upper hand. Ayuka had no intention of killing father because she had wanted him to be the father of the next succession line. Can you imagine a boy with that level of intelligence? How much easier will he be to manipulate? Sure, the ideal had been Gouki—"

Takuto was forced to stop her there. Everything else made sense, Enki was an easily manipulated fool, the chances are Ayuka predicted a son produced between him and Mio would have taken after him in that respect. An easily manipulated Shugosha would be a dream for Ayuka. A Shugosha that would be her grandson was a frightening thought to consider. "Gouki? As in Mikazuki Gouki?"

"What other Gouki is there?" she asked, perplexed. "Yes, him."

"Why don't you ever say these things aloud?" he said exasperatedly. "This is vital information, Yayoi. Do you know what this means? Gouki is so confident that Mio will go to him because he's going to be the next to marry her."

"He won't marry her," she assured him. "He's been married to Kikumi. She was supposed to be Ayuka's successor, but she couldn't read the sphere. Mio's the mistress." Yayoi glimpsed out the window, the storm increasing in tenor. "It doesn't matter who fathers the child. Ayuka plans to kill Mio as soon as she gives birth to it and raise it as her own."

"I imagined," said Takuto. "But I am left to wonder where Gouki's confidence stems from? What are we missing?"

The door to the room slid open noisily and Mio trudged in with a dark look. She sank into a seat at the door after closing it, pressing her back to it. The two silently stared at her in confusion, swallowing down the remains of the conversation knowing the subject of Gouki upset her.

Takuto opened his mouth to question her when he saw a thin line of blood run over her lips, dripping from her nose. She must have felt it as she hesitantly reached to touch the top of her upper lip to see it come away a reddish black. It flowed freely from there and she let out a panicked gasp that propelled him off his seat to reach her.

"I need ice," Takuto stated, seeing more blood.

"Ice?" Yayoi questioned.

"Bring me ice!"

Yayoi rushed out of the room through another entrance.

"Sit up straight, tilt your head forward," he ordered, coaxing her into the position. He reached back for one of the empty bowls he had lying around and placed it on her lap. "Don't swallow any of the blood, just spit it out in here." He reached to touch the soft part of her nose. "Pinch here."

She obeyed with a tremulous hand.

His eyes fell to the sphere hanging outside her clothes; the mist of the artifact up close was spinning at hurricane speed signifying recent use.

"What are you trying to do with that sphere?" he asked, the disapproval unconsciously seeping into his voice.

She was breathing a little erratically through her mouth. "I'm strengthening the sphere's defensive abilities," she told him in her excitement. He had heard that before, but had no faith in past Shugosha abilities being altered. "It won't just protect me from having the sphere stolen, but it will erect automatically at the first sign of danger and dissolve when it's safe."

Takuto saw that she held onto all the spheres with the exception of his own, the Senju brothers, and Ayuka's. That was six spheres to one person, he could only imagine the amount of chakra they drained in one day. "You need to find guardians for your other spheres," he suggested. "You can't be expected to carry those around forever. They drain too much of your chakra."

Yayoi came rushing back before Mio had the opportunity to speak with the ice he had asked for. He wrapped a large chunk in a cloth and pressed it to Mio's cheek.

"You are playing dangerous games, Mio," Takuto berated her, pulling her hand away from her face to see the bleeding had not yet stopped. "This is happening because you are not strong enough to handle such power."

Splatters of blood hit the bowl, sizzling right through its ceramic surface.

Takuto raised her head and saw the flow of blood had begun to ebb after holding the ice to her face. "Good, it's stopping," he said, then looked at her. She stared back at him a little disoriented, her mind elsewhere. He snapped his fingers in front of her face before pressing each thumb above both eyes, peeling them open to her discontent. "Focus on me, Mio."

Yayoi quietly sank into a seat nearby, her gaze going from Mio to him. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing you need to worry about, just observe for now," Takuto dismissed.

They say Musashi inherited the Time Sphere after the Second Shugosha pushed her body to the limit with the artifact and it shut down. Perhaps Mio had not realized the strain because she had become so determined to make use of her confinement by familiarizing with the sphere and all its powers, but this is how Takuto recalled it had started in the stories.

Mio obeyed his light command and made an effort to focus on him. He asked her to take deep breaths as he held a hand over her heart to see that it soothed her overtime. As her heart rate returned to normal so did her clarity and his relief.

"You cannot tell Madara," she said firmly, looking at both him and Yayoi. "He cannot know. He will take them from me."

"You need to find guardians for the other spheres," Takuto suggested, holding her hands in his. "You can find worthy people to take them…at least temporarily. If you take them back before the artifact becomes familiar, they won't suffer the consequences."

"I need them still," she assured him, taking back her hands. "So don't tell Madara. I will know if you do."

"Mio," he pressed, ready to insist on the matter. "You can't—"

"They are to stay with me until I am done with them," Mio said sternly, silencing him. At the door, she turned back and spoke alarming words. "Thank you for helping me. Thank you for always helping me, Takuto. Everything you have done for me—thank you."

"There is no need for you to thank me, Mio, I would do anything for you," he told her.

She left the room.

Takuto glanced at Yayoi who stared back at him.

"Did something happen?" she asked quietly.

"No," he said. Mio had uncovered the true power of her artifact and she now tried to harness it. He had seen her erecting barriers and it had been nothing to be wary of, but she had no doubt been doing more than that. "Nothing. We should keep going. It will be dark soon."

Yayoi picked up the bowl, dropping the sodden, bloody cloth inside it. There were several holes burned through the bottom where the water from the melted ice could spill. She held it up over her head watching the droplets fall through like the rain outside, few tinted red.

"Did you believe Ayuka when she said Mio is going to be the strongest Shugosha?" asked Yayoi, the question surprised him.

He believed in Mio. He believed in the fact that Okimi and Musashi were certain that she would exceed expectations and that Mio could achieve all that she desired. However, neither Okimi nor Musashi were alive to watch her behavior as of late. They were not being put through the motions of uncertainty, fear, and worry. Her carelessness was exhausting. She was too unyielding to listen, so there was no reasoning with her.

"If she could overcome her reckless nature and if she were determined, I believe she can accomplish what she wants," he answered honestly. "Mio doesn't know what she wants. Your mistress—"

"She is my mistress no longer," Yayoi interjected, a fierce look about her.

It had slipped his mind, so he apologized and corrected himself as he spoke again. "Ayuka has no reason to fear her."

The priestess returned to looking at the bottom of the bowl, her gaze distant. "She has every reason to fear her," said Yayoi in a wondrous voice. "It is the fact that she is reckless and willing to spend her body to achieve full control that will no doubt make her the Shugosha to fear. Ayuka doesn't understand that the power she saw within her is not passed down. Every Shugosha is different, aren't they? Kiyohime the Winter Witch, Tamatori-hime, Musashi the Peacemaker."

"Kiyohime created the spheres," said Takuto.

"Tamatori strengthened them," Yayoi continued.

"Musashi buried their legend."

"Mio can only move up from there. What do you think they'll call her?" Yayoi set down the bowl, letting the remaining water soak into the tatami. She returned to her original seat where she shuddered, her skin covered in gooseflesh. "The Fate Sphere is a frightening old scroll."

Takuto nodded slowly. Her ability to read it was the frightening thing.

* * *

><p>As promised, Yayoi snuck into her room when everyone was downstairs and started to rummage through her clothes with a furrowed brow. She went through the entire trunk and turned to her with a quizzical look. "Is this all?"<p>

"That is what I plan to wear, yes," said Mio skeptically.

"You might as well stay naked all day long if these are your options."

"I don't want to be seen naked by everyone," she said with a frown, reminded of the Purification Ceremony and everyone's eyes on her naked body standing there in the center before a pool of water covered in water lilies. "Once was enough."

"I meant to ask if this is all the clothes you own and that if it was, you were better off naked."

"I put away my winter clothes and the silk I received in the Sun Country."

"Bring me all of it."

Mio complied with her request, digging out the pale, fur-lined clothes she wore on Mt. Hyōga and the colorful, silk fabrics she was given. Yayoi was delighted going through the new batch of clothes; she expressed a distinct like for the patterned kimono tops and fur vests she brought from the mountain.

"Is it true you sleep on beds made of fur there?" Yayoi asked, holding a silk robe patterned in camellias against Mio's skin. She had done the same with several other articles of clothing, but had lingered on this one and a moss colored robe outlined with white branches. "This is the one. You'll wear the black one."

"We slept on furs, but the beds were not made of them," she answered her initial question, taking the black robe from her.

"Put that on quickly."

Yayoi went to a box she brought along with her, turning her back long enough for Mio to slip into the robe and knot a sash over her waist. The priestess turned to look at her, nodding at her good work, before readjusting the sash.

"What am I supposed to do again?"

"You will be kind to him," began Yayoi. "Be sweet on him. Kiss him a lot. Oh, and let him touch you."

Mio felt like a virgin on her wedding night. Yayoi was the experienced relative prepping her for the moment. "How is that going to help?"

"Once you have his attention, you will talk to him, but make sure you are in a position where he cannot refuse you."

"What kind of position is that?"

Yayoi seized her by the arms and looked her in the eyes. "Come on, Mio, think. What sort of position am I referring to that will ensure in a man telling you everything?"

"Do you want me to torture Madara?" asked Mio, starting to understand, though perhaps not how torturing would help anything other than to ruin their relationship. "I don't understand how any of this will change his mind."

"Yes, you're going to torture him! You are going to offer yourself to him, but not give yourself up."

"_Oh_." Mio cocked her head to the side.

"Please, tell me that you understand a little of what I am asking you do to," Yayoi pleaded.

"You want me to seduce Madara?" said Mio, understanding.

"Yes!"

Mio felt she could learn a lot from Yayoi as the priestess started to give her explicit examples of what she wanted her to do when she met with Madara later while applying color to her lips.

"…If you do all that, you'll be able to do whatever you want," Yayoi concluded. "Just make sure you devote yourself into keeping him happy, understand?"

"I worry that I may be no good," Mio admitted. "I have never pleasured a man before."

"All you need to do is mind your strength," said Yayoi. "You will learn the more you try it. Don't overthink anything and enjoy yourself."

She wasn't sure she wanted to try half the things Yayoi had told her.

"It will probably be a little uncomfortable at first," Yayoi continued, "but if you continue trying it, about three more times, you should start feeling good."

The priestess didn't stay long after that, leaving Mio to her thoughts. She removed all her artifacts save the Time Sphere and her earrings, stashing them away under a floorboard she pulled out under her trunk before going to see him. She heard him earlier, walking past her bedroom to reach his, and hesitated at the door, imagining he would be exhausted after his mission. The moment didn't last long.

She entered, sliding the door shut behind her. She caught him in the middle of writing, sending a coded message to another in the presence of a giant bird that squawked at her upon entering.

He glimpsed at her, barely noticing Yayoi's efforts, and said, "Taiga sent back word."

"Did he?" she asked partly excited.

"He encountered Hiryuu's shinobi. Nothing more." Madara looked at her a second time, this time his attention focusing on the distance between them and her face. "Have you become tired of protesting?"

"My back was starting to hurt," she said in response to his insult. She could already see Yayoi's disappointed face when she told her they only fought and that she possessed no charm to seduce him.

He finished quickly and rose to give the scroll to the bird, sending the winged beast on its way. With the bird gone, Mio finally approached him and as she reached him, felt his hand on her face, thumb on her lips brushing across it. "What are you doing dressed in this manner?"

"I came to earn back my freedom through seduction," she replied honestly, resting her hands over his shoulders.

He grinned, gaze rapt on her lips. "Seduction?"

She drew closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck securely, and kissed his lips. Her mind went blank upon contact, allowing emotion to take over and the fact that she wanted to kiss him the entire time he had been away. She had wanted to be enveloped in his arms.

Madara drew back, staring down at her with a new emotion in his eyes that translated through her as intense desire. "Stop listening to Yayoi," he told her, pressing his lips to her ear as he lowered his voice. "It won't help you. I intend to keep you safe no matter the methods you try to use against me."

Her insides quivered as his head dipped low and she felt his warm mouth part slightly against her neck. There went her breath, hitching in her throat, and her heart, pounding in her chest in anticipation. She fisted her hands at his back, grabbing handfuls of his shirt. His hot breath snaked down her chest, his lips tasted every inch of her neck, lingering as if to savor the taste until they took her mouth again. She kissed him urgently and held him close, feeling still that it was not close enough.

She realized she was panting when they separated, chest rising and falling rhythmically. Their foreheads pressed together, entangled where they stood, they stared into each other's eyes with her face growing warm.

"Are you this warm because you're a Kuronuma?" he asked lowly, running his hands up and down her arms, further tantalizing her senses with the deliberate slowness of his touch. "Or is there another reason?"

She swallowed thickly, staring at his lips. Her temperature was warmer to accommodate the black water in her bloodstream, but the heat was rising from the pit of her stomach since he started to kiss her neck. She unconsciously licked her lips before answering, "Both."

He suddenly straightened and looked off towards the window. He sensed something.

"What is it?" Mio asked when she heard a voice echo to her from a distance.

In unison, they spoke.

"Izuna."

"Grandfather."

Not a moment later did a knock disrupt the quiet of the room and a voice called forth, "Madara-sama, your brother has returned."

"Where is he?" asked Madara.

"In the surrounding forest. He should be entering the territory in a few minutes."

Mio started to pull away from him, unable to escape him fast enough. He pulled her back and took her by the face, kissing her with a bittersweet intensity that made her want to cry. The next he looked upon her face, he said, "I'll speak to Izuna of this."

"Mio isn't in her room," another voice came from the hallway.

Her heart sank into her stomach, the dread slowly creeping in. She didn't want to see Izuna unhappy. She didn't want him to know because it would make him unhappy and she wouldn't be able to stand it knowing that all he wanted was to be with her and she repaid him by being with his brother. All the kisses and caresses felt shameful to her. She couldn't look at him as she pulled away. She didn't fully consider what would happen when Izuna returned when she had been so accepting of Madara. She put it out of her mind.

Reality finally came knocking and she was terrified of it.

"Madara-sama, Mio is not in her room," called the first voice.

"She's with me," Madara said. "Have Kana make preparations for his arrival."

When the two shinobi went away, Madara turned her around fully. "I will talk to Izuna."

"And then what?" she asked, feeling worse. "We apologize and he turns a blind eye to our relationship? He says something that is cruel that turns out to be the truth? He tells us we are insane and that we don't make sense—I could understand that because we don't." She sounded panicked. "I don't want to have doubts. I don't want to have doubts about you, but I feel guilty. We betrayed him. He won't understand what this is—I don't understand. I am barely starting to understand! What I do understand is that the way I feel with you and about you is so different. I know that when you are away, I miss you, and that when you are near, I want to be with you."

"I will make him understand," he assured her. "So keep it from your mind until I have spoken with him. None of this is your fault, you don't need to excuse yourself. I asked you to be mine—"

"And I said yes," she interjected. "I said yes knowing that I wanted to marry him if he asked and that you approved. I said yes fully aware of these things and I—we shouldn't—" She stopped herself when the door slid open and Takuto stormed in with Yayoi scrambling in behind him, both breathing heavily. "Takuto, what—?"

Takuto grabbed Mio by the arm and yanked her towards him while Yayoi shoved Madara towards the table. She didn't understand their actions until she saw Izuna rounding the corner after climbing the staircase. He was sopping wet. She wrapped her hand around Takuto's wrist tightly, making him flinch. "You said you would not be covering for us."

"We panicked!" shouted Yayoi.

Izuna's face lit up at the sight of her and her insides twisted in her guilt. She was relieved to see him unhurt, happy to see him again after only having seen him for a couple hours in the Sun Country, but she found herself walking to him with some reluctance. She reached him and wrapped her arms around him in greeting, the weight of her and Madara's betrayal pushing her down. She felt the apology stuck in her throat as her grip around him tightened.

He let out a pained sound, patting her back. "Mio!"

She pulled away, letting her apology out and dropping her eyes to the ground. "I'm happy you are well."

He laughed lightly, holding her by the arms gently. "What are you wearing?"

Yayoi appeared with a frown, shoving Mio into the nearest wall. "Haven't you learned a thing about women? You don't insult what they are wearing," she chided him. "So, did you bring me anything from your travels?"

"You just pushed her into the wall," Izuna commented.

"I survived," Mio said, tugging her robe closed over her chest. She realized belatedly that anyone could look down her chest and cast a glance in Madara's direction as he walked past her to clap his brother on the shoulder in greeting.

Takuto introduced himself.

"I have things to discuss with the both of you," Izuna said, looking at his brother and then at Mio. "There are things you must know of Kuronuma Nishiki. We need to prepare ourselves for an attack. Mikazuki Gouki has returned to the Earth Country and they intend to invade the Iron Country in search of the Universe Sphere." His eyes lingered on Mio, a secret glinting in his dark eyes. "Oh, and Mio, your grandfather's downstairs arguing with my grandmother."

"My grandfather?"

Izuna smiled. "Yes."

Mio slipped past them and ran down the stairs, his voice reaching her from the nearest sitting room mingling with Sachiyo's. She stormed inside and watched the giant, snow-haired man turn with a stupid smile on his face. "Oh, hi."

"Is that all? You worthless man," Sachiyo huffed. "That child has been worried sick about you and all you have to say is _hi_? This is why Chiho left you."

"Nobody asked—"

Mio ran straight to him and wrapped her arms around him and let out a sob, the tears were an immediate reaction. "Where have you been?" she demanded, crying into his chest. "I needed you."

"Shinya-sama, you're alive!"

Takuto was standing at the doorway, his eyes looking terribly bloodshot, with Yayoi, Izuna, and Madara standing in the hallway behind him.

Shin sighed. "Come here, Takuto."

Takuto walked over and hugged her grandfather shamelessly. "Mio's been committing stupid mistakes, I tried to stop her like you asked, but she won't listen!"

Mio glared at him.

Shin merely patted Takuto on the back with a shushed, "There, there. We know how she is."

"Ugh, what a disturbing display," Sachiyo complained. "Yayoi come, help me get to my room. I cannot stand being in this room."

Yayoi crossed the room to reach the old woman and helped her get onto her feet, though her eyes were glued to Shin in a dreamy way.

"You are only bitter people love me," Shin said, hugging them tightly.

Sachiyo gestured her grandchildren away. Madara and Izuna merely stared at her, before Madara asked Izuna to accompany him to the compound and when questioned about it, he answered, "We need to talk."

"It's pouring out there," Izuna complained.

"You're already wet."

"Talk outside!" Sachiyo snapped. "And clean up this mess."

Madara and Izuna walked into another room where there was an exit into the long verandah outside.

Shin let the two of them go, placing one hand atop Mio's shoulder as he zeroed in on her. "You are discovering new power within the sphere, I'm going to help you sort that out," he said, "but we need to find temporary guardians for the spheres. You're not strong enough to carry them all. Not yet." She nodded reluctantly and saw him turn to Takuto, putting his other hand atop the blond's shoulder. "The Kuronuma needs a strong leader; I will make sure you become one capable of supporting both his people and his Shugosha."

Takuto and Mio exchanged looks and immediately turned to Shin, his words finally sinking in. "_What?_"

"Takuto's going to become the next fearsome Kuronuma leader and you its Shugosha; I promise once the Artifact War is done people will cower at the sound of your names. So, I want the two of you up before sunrise. I suggest you go to sleep now."

Shin started to usher the two out of the room, their protests falling to deaf ears.

"I have questions!" Mio said loudly.

"You will have answers tomorrow. Sleep. You need to be ready for tomorrow's training session."

"_But—!_" Takuto began.

Shin managed to guide them to the foot of the staircase and forced them into taking the first step before letting them go. Mio and Takuto turned at the same time, confusion plaguing their minds as her grandfather stared up at them with a fond smile.

"This is the end of your journey, Mio," he said, reaching to take her small hand into his. His rose eyes blinked in Takuto's direction as well. "Everything that needs assembling has and it is only waiting on the two of you. This is no longer about potential. This is about using what is already in you and using it well. I am here to help you. Both of you. One last time."

* * *

><p>Madara dragged him outside with uncharacteristic urgency and stared at him with furrowed eyebrows, contemplating to speak whatever swam inside that mind of his.<p>

Izuna had a dozen things to say about his travels. He came face to face with Kuronuma Nishiki, learned of the man and Ayuka's intentions with the Kuronuma artifacts, he had heard more of Mio's succession line, and he would be under Shin's guidance during his stay. There were many things he wanted to speak about and ask about. He wanted to know all the details about the Sun Country, Enki, Yayoi's surprising appearance, and about Mio, but he waited for his brother to speak.

His brother did not speak.

"Where is Taiga? I didn't see him when I came in," Izuna asked, hoping the change of subject would force the words out of his brother's mouth.

"He went to confuse Hiryuu and his men," Madara answered. "Hiryuu is determined to drag Mio out from wherever she's hiding to return her to Gouki."

"I heard Gouki is looking forward to seeing her again."

Izuna stood quiet after receiving no further response, his body growing cold.

"Wasn't there something you wanted to say?" he asked as he started to shiver. He wanted to have a warm bath and eat before thinking of resting. "Did something happen?"

Madara met his eyes, and suddenly, his entire demeanor changed. "I wanted to exchange information with you in the compound," he said, "but you should probably have a warm bath before you catch a cold." He moved towards the shoji screens. "I'll have Kana prepare one for you. We can talk tomorrow morning."

As his brother stepped inside the house, Izuna knew his evasive nature meant he was keeping a secret, one that he could not even tell him. He frowned, worried that it would be serious, as he stepped through the threshold. He wandered out into the main hallway, catching sight of Takuto when he kissed Mio's hands, which he held in his own, and offered her a bitter smile. The Kuronuma mussed her hair before going up the stairs. Seeing them together made Izuna felt a twinge of emotion, one that wanted to hear there was only friendship between them.

Mio whirled around, appearing to have been about to step down, jolting at the sight of him.

He wondered about her clothes. It was quality silk and quality silk molded in a provocative way on a body, one he had not overlooked when she had gone to greet him. There was something about Mio, something prettier.

"Izuna," she said, surprised. "I thought you would be with your brother."

"He went to see Kana about preparing a bath."

He caught himself staring at her neck when she spoke up, drawing his attention back to her pale face. With her eyebrows furrowed and a melancholic look in her eyes, she said, "Did he say anything?"

It wouldn't surprise him if Mio knew what his brother was hiding. They had developed a system in their youth when she and Madara shared secrets. Whatever Madara could not tell him, he employed Mio to have it done as she did a better job at being blunt and unbiased—well, a little unbiased as whenever anything affected Izuna negatively, she took his side and helped him shame Madara into doing whatever he wanted. He figured old habits were hard to abandon and that she would be telling him what Madara could not.

"He said he wanted to exchange information," he told her, "but I know he wanted to say something else."

She was downcast—the appearance of shame. "Oh."

"Did he say anything to you?"

Lifting her eyes to him, she said in a tone similar to his brother's, "It would be prudent. I hear you have information about Kuronuma Nishiki." She took another step up the staircase, changing her mind about going down. "I should be going now. Grandfather wants me and Takuto up before sunrise."

He bid her a good night with a smile on his face and watched her go, the fabric of her skirt fluttering with every step she took upward, the camellias printed on it a vivid white.

The smile disappeared from his face.

This never happened. Mio didn't keep Madara's secrets, not for long, not from him. He sensed whatever they had between them was grave; too much that they did not want to involve him. He knew exactly what they were doing. They wanted to protect him and he did not need protection.

"Cowards."

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: Firstly, yassssssssssss, 40 chapters!

Secondly, I rearranged scenes between this chapter and the next, so more entertaining scenes happen in the next chapter. Do expect drama, though. I seriously wanted to challenge myself with a "how-long-can-I-keep-MadaMio-hidden-from-Izuna" thing going on, but we all know Izuna knows everything. Needless to say, the drama is going to be good in the next chapter. :D

Yayoi is ridiculous and I love her, but she's like there to poison Mio's innocent mind. D:

Announcement! I have these two polls running in my LJ, you can find a direct link through my profile! So, go vote and offer your opinion on them if you have one! I would really appreciate one or the other, both are, however, fantastic.

Another thing, this is my final month of school, so updates will be slooooooooooooow for the rest of May. I wish everyone experiencing finals good luck, mine aren't for a few weeks, but there's the pressure of final assignments needing to be turned in (and my procrastination needing to be stopped).

Anyhoot, thank you to these lovely people: **MoonlightArrow**, **Loteva**, **amaya-tsuki-chan**, **ice devil cat demon**, **HushedFable**, and **crazyuser** for reviewing and being such a huge motivation for my continued effort to write this story. My gratitude also goes to my silent readers because I know you're there and that, while you may not be saying anything, you are still reading...or at least I hope you are. DX

Thank you for reading!

Preview for the next chapter will be up in a couple days.

**Question of the Chapter **(Optional): This question stemmed from a reviewer giving me awesome scenarios about how Izuna finds out (I'm waving at you amaya-tsuki-chan) about Madara and Mio, and while I have the scene written down already, I'm curious to see if anyone has an idea. So, how do you think Izuna will find out?

If you want to be surprised, sit back and enjoy the ride. Shin is going to make a man out of everyone in the next chapter. (See what I get from watching Mulan?)

Byee~


	41. The Death of Kings 6

Chapter** 41** | The Death of Kings VI

* * *

><p>The subject of his inevitable demise came up during breakfast to the backdrop of Sachiyo's growly voice saying, "Serves you right, you pariah," alongside her grandfather's dismissal of the topic in its entirety. He learned to avoid it and did so whenever she or Takuto brought it up. Speaking of it was off the table, no matter how much they tried to slip it in every conversation. Their questions went unanswered, and so, they started training.<p>

However, Mio had been faced with the inevitability of parting with a few of her artifacts, and while she debated on who to make a temporary guardian, Shin put Takuto through the motions, which turned out to be a fancy term to beating him bloody until the sun rose. Takuto was tasked with healing himself mid-battle given that he was a medic and vulnerable in any dire situation and he needed to minimize the damage dealt to him. For two hours straight, he was banned from avoiding any attack leaving him in a terrible state by the time Madara and Izuna emerged from their home.

Mio sat with her artifacts tucked inside an open bag she had on her lap when the two approached.

"Is this fight supposed to be one-sided?" asked Izuna, pointing in the direction of the fight.

"Fights with that man are always one-sided," she answered, acting distracted so she would seem indifferent to Madara's presence. She was frustrated with him for not telling him, and herself, for not being able to say it either. She hadn't been prepared to tell him anything, only to hear him say something about it, and while she contemplated it, she couldn't find the courage to admit it.

"Will you be doing the same?"

"No, I don't know what he's planning to do with me." She sealed her bag shut. "I'm taking recommendations for temporary guardian positions."

"Have you considered Saori or Hibari?" Izuna suggested.

"But I just met them."

"Get to know them. They're trustworthy."

"What about Taiga?" said Madara.

"I don't trust him."

"You don't have to. He's a temporary guardian," he said. "Don't give him any power."

"I don't control who gets power."

"Maybe you should learn."

She grimaced, pushing herself off the moist grass. She rummaged through her bag and thrust the calligraphy brush into Madara's hands. "Don't think of returning this to me again."

"You aren't healing fast enough!" shouted Shin.

Mio cringed at the sight of another wound rupturing over Takuto's left shoulder and watched his ongoing struggle to avoid another of Shin's attacks as he simultaneously attempted to use the blood spilling from the wound to cauterize it. He managed, but received a terrible blow to the head, delivered by the back of Shin's dagger, that knocked him off his feet.

Shin assumed a neutral stance as he wiped the sweat from his brow and sheathed his dagger. "Good work, Takuto," he told the beaten Kuronuma, who was breathing haggardly lying on his back. "We'll continue in two hours. Until then, spar with Izuna."

Takuto sat up as Shin handed him a jug of water. He guzzled it down for a whole minute before taking some water and splashing it over his dirty face.

Her grandfather approached them, not a scratch on him, and faced Izuna. "You're up."

Izuna glimpsed at Takuto hesitantly. "Should he be fighting in his condition?"

"I'll be surprised if you could take him in his condition." Shin laughed. "There is nothing like fighting a Kuronuma that feels cornered. They're vicious. So, I suggest you don't hold back."

Izuna walked off to help Takuto back onto his feet.

"I'm going to need the two of you closer to the house." After saying so, Shin directed them to the exact spot he wanted them around the muddied backyard. "This is perfect. Now, Mio, give me your artifacts."

"All of them?"

"Save the Time Sphere, but yes, all of them," he said, holding out his hand to take the bag she offered.

She reached for her earrings and placed them atop his palm, feeling strange without them dangling from her ears. The Black Sphere with the Life Sphere sealed within it had been the first artifacts she ever possessed. She felt a little naked without them, but all the same, without them, she felt lighter.

"Takuto mentioned you can work your shield," he said, staring at her expectantly.

"Yes."

"Perfect." He took the sphere into his hand and turned it until its surface caught the sunlight and reflected it back to her face. "I want your complete focus on the sphere, understand?"

She nodded.

"Madara, over here." Shin gestured him a little further away, not too long a distance. "You have one task and that is to destroy that building behind her."

Madara stared at him in disbelief and Mio opened her mouth to shout, but Shin continued, while looking at her. "You're going to protect it by any and all means possible using that sphere."

"There are people in that house!" Mio shouted, prepared to fight it.

"Think of it as incentive," Shin said with a shrug, turning to Madara. "I can see the doubt in your face, but look, I'll show you an example. Ready Mio?"

With only those last words to serve as a warning and a blur of hand seals, Shin released a torrent of black water from his mouth directing it towards the house and in the split second her heart was in mid-jolt, she erected a barrier, clear but iridescent in the sunlight, that took the brunt of the searing attack. She heard the sound of the boiling water sizzling against the surface. The remaining force of the technique was deflected back to her and it knocked her to the ground.

She scraped her arm after landing and skidding across the muddy backyard, the grime soaked into her clothes and clung to her hair. Her heart was pounding as she raised her body onto a seat, wiping her face clean of the mud with a gasp of breath.

"See, perfect reflexes," Shin said admiringly, wiping the edge of his mouth clean. "You have nothing to worry about, now try it."

Her grandfather moved out of the way as Madara took a couple steps back to stand directly in front of her. She braced herself for a painfully exhausting morning as she stood, the mud squishing noisily beneath her feet.

"Concentrate, Mio," called Shin. "Concentrate on expanding the shield and fortifying it or it won't hold."

Mio nodded, fisting her hands at her side. She watched Madara as he drew his hands together to form the first hand seal and waited in anticipation of his attack, her arms stinging and mud running down places it shouldn't be. She knew exactly what to expect when he produced flames from his mouth and they targeted the house behind her, a yellow-red blaze swirling towards it at high speed as it expanded once airborne.

She felt the sphere take from her chakra and its barrier appear before she had a chance to activate it. The artifact erected a dome-like barrier around her. She had a moment to make it expand, the heat radiating from the flames caressing her face, and managed with great difficulty to make the dome-like barrier surround Sachiyo's house in its entirety. From within, she saw the fire rush upwards against the surface, its power pushing her backward until the flames blew over and she was thrown off her feet by the recoil.

Adrenaline was pumping through her veins. The only thought running through her head was that it had worked. At the first sign of danger, the sphere reacted on its own and tried to shield her the same way it would have had it been in danger of being stolen. However, it was draining and she realized she was standing on shaky legs as her grandfather approached her.

Shin patted her shoulder. "If you can rewire the sphere to expand to that size, you are certainly capable of adding a new skill to the artifact," he suggested, as Madara came to stand before them. "With that out of the way, it's time for you two to spar. Taijutsu only. Mio needs to practice her form and you need to practice your discipline." The two stared at one another awkwardly. "Perhaps then you'll be able to work through your frustrations without you putting your inappropriate hands on my granddaughter."

She nearly choked on her saliva. "G-grandfather!"

Madara was quick to glare at her in accusation.

Shin left them, his laugher ringing in their ears like a siren of shame. Neither of them made a mention of it and went straight to sparring for what remained of the morning. Shin returned her artifacts after Madara finished proving himself the repeated victor of their challenges, though they were struggles, and complimented the oldest Uchiha brother on his impeccable reflexes before sauntering off to stop Izuna and Takuto's fight.

Mio stalked off with her artifacts in hand to the well on the other side of the house. She drew a bucket of water from the reserve and scrubbed the drying mud off her face with the bottom of her shirt, though she struggled to find a clean spot on it. Distracted with cleaning the grime off her skin, she failed to notice she wasn't standing beside the well alone until she saw a hand pass between hers to dip into the water. She lifted her eyes slowly, whatever trance she had been in, broken, and found Madara splashing water onto his face.

He ran his hand down his neck where something caught her eye. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and tugged it down, to his exclamation, and saw a bruise, stretching over his collarbone to his neck. A deep violet color gave it a painful and soft appearance, though when she pressed her fingers against it he neither flinched nor was the flesh underneath her fingertips anything but taut. It would be completely normal to see a few contusions on Madara especially after his last excursion. However, time, place, and occupation had nothing to do with it because she had seen a bruising like this on another and with the thought resurfacing in her mind, she felt inclined to search him.

"It's a bruise, Mio, you have them, too," he said, pulling her arm forward to show the length of green bruises that had appeared.

She chased dark thoughts from her head when she heard Takuto and Izuna's voices drawing near and snatched her bag off the ground, walking past the two the second they appeared. Takuto called out to her, but she continued forward, hearing Izuna shout to his brother, "What did you do to her now?"

* * *

><p>Everyone crept away, quiet and careful, like insects threading new territory wary of nature's vicious predators and it was so easy to see who belonged to what group. Madara disappeared in a hurry, something about Taiga sending a new message to the compound and wanting to discuss things pending with everyone, though Izuna wanted to sit him down to speak about what he had learned, hoping to use the time to unearth whatever secret his brother had buried. He decided to engage in the conversation with him before sleeping.<p>

He wanted to believe Sachiyo and Kana as well as Saori and Hibari were innocent of any knowledge, but he had his suspicions. Sachiyo and Kana knew everything about everyone—intuition, maybe, but then again Sachiyo had taught Mio most of what espionage entailed and she would take a secret to the death just to spite a person and Kana was Taiga's sister, something good had passed down that line after all.

Saori and Hibari would know by default. Yayoi could not keep a secret to save her life, particularly those prone to cause her stress. She would have needed to confine in someone and they would be her first choice. Though he heard Yayoi and Mio were getting along, after Mio allegedly punched her in the face and broke her nose, he did not think they were at a stage where the priestess wanted Mio to know everything.

Izuna met Takuto yesterday, who Shin described as Mio's confidant on their journey to the Fire Country, and knew trying to gain a secret out of a Kuronuma would be useless. He did not plan to pursue it, however, when he entered the sitting room after lunch and bore witness how everyone found an excuse to go, Yayoi and Takuto were the last to head for the door, excusing themselves to continue the priestess's training.

"Why is it"—and the two medical nin froze at the door as he sauntered to a sitting cushion and sat—"that whenever I enter a room, everyone is in such a hurry to leave?"

A strange look passed between them before they erupted into booming laughter, as though he had spoken the most ridiculous thing in the world. He misjudged the Kuronuma seeing by the visible apprehension causing him to hunch and the fact that he and the priestess were speaking nonsense.

"Hurry to leave? Bah!" said Yayoi between fits of forced laughter.

"Nobody is in a hurry to leave!" Takuto assured him.

"So, grandmother and the Ito sisters decided to go because they have better things to do?" Izuna challenged. "And you two?"

The laughter ceased.

"You might have finished your training, but I have not," said Yayoi. "I had to wait for Shinya-sama to release Takuto."

"I remember Shinya asking you to rest," Izuna told Takuto.

"All Yayoi will be doing is reading, nothing overexerting on either of our—"

Izuna smiled. "They why not do it here? I have been gone for too long." He looked at Yayoi. "We haven't had a chance to talk since I returned."

Yayoi and Takuto reluctantly returned to their seats, seated rigidly and passing glances. Two blabbermouths itching to speak.

So, he started by asking the priestess about her day.

"It was good," was her meek reply. She stopped herself before asking him the same question since they spoke about it over lunch.

His grandmother had been furious at Shin for putting her home in danger and by default had grown frustrated with Madara, for going through with it and the fact that he literally tried to leave ashes in place of their home, and Mio, for not stopping the two. They were given leftovers to eat as a punishment.

Madara decided to forgo eating when he left his share of leftovers in front of Mio. He remembered the moment because Mio looked completely miserable staring down at the food before her grandfather felt enough pity to take it from her.

This was strange of Madara—perhaps Mio noticed it too—as he believed in eating regularly to maintain the body healthy for conditioning and Izuna saw that he had not bothered with breakfast that morning either. If he dared to assume, his brother skipped dinner last night as well. It was not right.

A long silence passed between them. Yayoi and Takuto looking more and more jittery with every minute.

"Weren't you going to read?" Izuna asked, the mere sound of his voice made the two jolt.

Takuto thrust a book into Yayoi's hand and she opened it to read.

The Kuronuma stood quickly. "I should bring samples," he said, and Yayoi made a noise in protest to his leaving. "I think I might have to look for them. You should come."

"Yes," Yayoi replied, starting to stand. "I need to learn how to find these myself."

There they were attempting to run away.

"Before you go." Izuna stopped them. "I want to know what happened in the Sun Country."

Yayoi tapped her chin, surprised by the inquiry. "What happened indeed?" She turned to Takuto. "What did happen in the Sun Country?"

"It was so long ago, I completely forgot," Takuto answered in a sheepish tone. "What did happen?"

"Well, Mikazuki Gouki was there," she started.

"Oh yes, yes he was," said Kuronuma. "We also discovered he is Ayuka's son."

"Yes! And that Kuronuma Nishiki is alive!"

"What else? What else? What else?"

Takuto and Yayoi seemed to be thinking hard on the subject, taking it on as a challenge they would conquer together and he knew they were merely wasting time to stop themselves from speaking the great secret. If Takuto was Mio's confidant, Yayoi was Madara's, strange as it was.

"I can continue asking you other unrelated questions, but I have to meet with the Ito clan and you are wasting my time," Izuna interrupted their whispering. "I want to know what you are so determined to hide and why Madara and Mio have decided against telling me."

Yayoi suddenly burst into tears, covering her face, and he was taken aback by her emotional distress. "Madara killed my father!" she cried miserably. "He was a terrible person, he did horrible things, but he was my father and Madara killed him!"

Takuto shot him a disapproving look as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders in comfort. "We are hiding nothing," he said. "We are simply recovering from what we survived in that country. You will have to excuse us for acting strangely and not wanting to speak of it, but you would do well in asking your brother if you want to know that badly."

Amidst despairing sobs, Yayoi added, "Or Mio."

"You heard her," Takuto said, sliding the door open and stepping out. He guided her along the way.

Izuna grimaced once the shoji screen was closed shut. He was surprised to find the two blabbermouths were better at diverting his attention with excuses than his brother and Mio put together.

Nobody wanted to speak of it. He could not think of anything that would be so terrible nobody would want to speak of it.

It had to be something he did not expect.

Izuna left the room as Saori stepped in with a wooden tray in her hands. The two collided and everything atop the tray toppled over, crashing to the ground between them, shards of the ceramic cups sprang in every direction, the boiling liquid soaked into the cracks of the wood, which made the two move out of the way. He saw the kettle bounce off the ground and roll face down, spilling what remained of its contents.

Coincidentally, his grandmother and Kana were making their way down the hallway across them. Sachiyo stopped, looked at the mess and then at them sternly. "One of you best clean up that mess," she said, before wandering off. He thought he heard her say, "Clumsy, that one," before the two erupted into light laughter.

Saori quickly sank into a crouch and turned over the wooden tray. "What fortune?" she said with a huff. "Your grandmother comes at the most inopportune times."

Izuna laughed because it was true and went to his knees to help her gather the broken pieces, warning her about the sharp edges as he watched her delicate hands throw several tiny shards into the serving tray. "As long as we keep the floors clean, she will forget all about it," he said, reaching over to grab the kettle by the handle. "I was surprised you left like the others at the sight of me."

"No," she said quickly. "I went to bring tea. I thought you three might want something warm. Hibari is fetching cakes."

"Takuto and Yayoi left."

She frowned. "Did they?" she asked, sounding forlorn about it, but at the sight of the mess in front of her, she said, "Well, it would be for the best since I already spilled the tea and broken four good cups."

"That was my fault, I bumped into you."

"I should have been paying better attention."

"I wasn't thinking at all," Izuna insisted. "I planned to hound Madara for the rest of the day."

"Is this about everyone avoiding you?" she asked curiously. At his sudden exasperation, she said, "There was terrible tension in the room during lunch, though it was amusing to see Yayoi's attempts to diffuse it. And Takuto, he's charming as well, isn't he? Yayoi thinks highly of him."

"Does she?"

"Yes, but I think she's disappointed he's young, else she would make a better pursuit of him than Taiga-san."

"Do you know anything about it?"

Saori's cheeks reddened. "Yayoi speaks of such scandalous things—"

"No, not about Yayoi," he said quickly, he could imagine the things coming out of Yayoi's mouth when she talked about men she liked. He once sat through a complete rant about her adoration of Taiga's masculinity and handsomeness and how perfectly suited they were to one another, stressing the importance of him coming to realize the perfection. "About what everyone is hiding?"

"She's been surprisingly tightlipped recently," she said. "I do believe it has to do with your brother and Mio, though I could discern nothing from either one of them, I anticipate it is grave."

"Mio used to tell me everything," he admitted, the idea of it being no more saddened him. "She seems to rely on Madara more than she does me these days."

"I was happy to meet Mio, whom you speak of so fondly," Saori said, changing the subject. "She is quiet, very quiet, but she is polite and pretty."

"But…?"

Saori averted her eyes. "Nothing," she said. "She is lucky to have so many people worry about her, to have you care about her so much. She is quite willful. You should have seen how angry she was when Madara asked her to stay indoors."

"I'm surprised she listened. Does my brother seem more overprotective of her than anyone else?"

"I don't think I have seen Madara be overprotective of anyone that was not you," she said. "It makes sense, though, you three grew up together. It must have been like siblings."

"I doubt he ever saw her as a sibling. He hated her growing up and she hated him."

"My father always said that hate was closer to love," she said, then added in explanation, "People invest a lot of time when they hate."

Izuna laughed incredulously. "Love? That's ridiculous. Why would Madara and Mio love each other? That—" The humor left him, blown out of him like a flame, because in a strange way, it made better sense than other possibilities. Still, he planned to reject the idea. "Do you think that's it?"

"What?"

"Do you think there is something between my brother and Mio?" he asked, a little too loudly.

"I rarely see them together—"

"Yes, but I left him to protect her in the Sun Country—to think my own brother—" His blood was boiling, but he was also jumping to conclusions. He needed to stay levelheaded. There was no need to make assumptions of bonds that did not exist between Madara and Mio, sure they were older and had betrayed him once before, but automatically believing there was love between them was ridiculous. Mio was a touch affectionate with his brother because it annoyed him and they shared secrets, but neither of the two was enough to build up from. "No. I'm overreacting."

"I apologize, I feel I must have spoken out of turn," said Saori sadly. "I did not mean to see you upset or to bring doubt into your mind. If you love Mio so badly that you have grown this upset at the prospect of another taking her from you, you should make it clear to her that you want more than just her friendship. Perhaps, she feels the same."

He shook his head. "I can't ask her to become my wife in a time like this. She has too much to shoulder. I would be a burden."

"Humans are terribly funny, Izuna," Saori continued, eyes swimming in tears. "Sometimes when we are trapped in a corner, when life has dealt us a harsh hand, all we want is to be comforted by the people we love. We want to feel safe, like we have a home to return to after so long a journey. Mio is going through a horrible time in her life. You should comfort her. Be her peace and quiet. Love her more than anything in this world and be happy."

Izuna stared at her as the tears in her eyes rolled down her face, perplexed by the sudden emotion. "Why are you crying?"

"Because it's the only thing I can do," she whispered. "We love indiscriminately. Sometimes we fall in love with the wrong people and we do everything in our power to find the right people, but we can't. We are stuck on the wrong because it feels right."

He reached out to pull her into an embrace, his own heart betraying a beat, and breathed in the jasmine in her brown hair. She trembled in his arms, crying quietly. He kissed the side of her head, understanding completely. "Even in a million years, I could not deserve you," he told her. "Perhaps, after those million years, I will and we could be together then."

She shook her head, pulling away. "We don't choose who we love. It happens," she told him, having said the same words to him when he had learned Mio loved Taiga. "My only expectation was that Mio was worthy of you. I have none concerning my own feelings, only that they exist but will not be acted on. You do not need to feel responsible. I will surely find a husband I will learn to love. I will be happy then and this will simply be my youth."

He did not think to insult her by offering his brother to marry her as Takuei wanted a marriage to solidify their alliance, but knew that he wanted to be certain that whoever her husband would be, he would be deserving of her.

Saori wiped her tears. "Kana-san told me Mio likes to play a card game, hanafude," she said, smiling sweetly. "You should play with her. I have a deck. Maybe she will tell you what you need to know and you will ask her what needs to be said."

* * *

><p>Mio took the empty seat beside her grandfather on the verandah as he stared onward, dazed. Twilight would not come for another half hour, the slowly transitioning sky dimmed, allowing a few stars to shine through dispersing storm clouds, as she looked above. With everyone busy at strategic meetings, excursions, early evening walks, or lessons, Mio took the opportunity to speak to her grandfather, paying close attention to choosing an adequate time and place to ensure he could not slither away.<p>

Nevertheless, Shin was always wary of private audiences and it was understandable. People went to him for information, though he never seemed to mind, lately his behavior was distant but focused. He was determined to drill whatever last knowledge he could impart with all he deemed worthy of it. She even spotted him speaking to a glittery-eyed Yayoi—who no doubt stopped listening the moment he called her name to gush about his acknowledging her existence in her head—before stepping out. Perhaps hoping to find himself alone with his thoughts or simply for the solace of the notion, either way, Mio did not contemplate the idea of leaving him to his peace. It never crossed her head when she saw him sneaking away or after he saw him sitting silently with his eyes glued to the sky admiringly.

She found herself unable to start the conversation, could not even find a new, impressive way to bring it up. She was nothing like Takuto. He had a way with words when he wasn't confessing everyone's shameful secrets.

"Should we speak of the future?" asked Shin. "I know a lot about it. I have always known more about the future than about the present. Ayuka used to live on the mountain in my youth. Kiyohime's daughter. She was her favorite." He paused. "Nishiki loved her instantly. He worshiped her, the fool."

"Why are you telling me about the past?" she questioned, only because he made a mention of the future.

"I came to apologize to you, Mio." He did not look to her, only continued to speak. "And you need to learn the truth. I am no better than Ayuka or Nishiki. Or their little abomination."

"Apologize?"

"We were one being split in two, an incarnation from a world that no longer exists," he begun. "Tatsumi. My sister. The Life Sphere was hers. I wanted happiness for her. She was supposed to have it all. I saw it in the Fate Sphere like I saw Nishiki uproot her pathways until she fell ill and died. Nishiki and Ayuka planned to build an empire where the world lived in fear, conformity, and worship. It would have been a terrible, unjust world Mio and your birth within it symbolized its downfall. Recklessly fearless, you would have put an end to their control." He paused to take a breath, to ensure she listened and followed the story. "The child came from the bloodline, mine and Tatsumi. Ayuka feared Tatsumi would become troublesome, pigheaded and restless as she was, so she took a gamble and Nishiki did what needed to be done. In their perfectly uniformed utopia, there was no room for nonbelievers. It was my line. I knew. And knew that they would come after me. I wanted to live, Mio, so badly I wanted to live. So, I killed my brother to live. It was either me or him. We both wanted to live, but I wanted to live more, you have to understand that."

She saw it in his eyes, the intense desire to survive in this world, and her heart clenched because his words could not be clearer.

"I have manipulated your pathways as much as Ayuka," he confessed, expression twisted into one of extreme guilt.

"I know," she said simply.

"I could have given you a better life, but I have led you down the worst so that it would strengthen you."

"I know that also."

"Mio, you don't understand what I have done—I have sacrificed you, my own granddaughter—"

"You did these things because you had no choice," she interrupted firmly, shocking him. "I understand that and I do not hate you for it. I do not know what world you saw in your readings, but if it pushed you into using me as a pawn, it must have been terrible."

"Mio, I'm s—"

"Please, don't apologize," she said quickly. "Ayuka has taken so much from me. My mother and father—"

"I could have stopped Mikazuki Gouki. I could have killed him before he laid a hand on your father…on Kikyo—I sacrificed my _own _daughter." He spoke her name with such a pitiful expression. He let his only child perish to drive her forward. "I could have stopped him, Mio, but I chose not to because you needed to go to Sachiyo—"

"Stop," she snapped, her chest aching. "St—"

"I deliberately sent you to the Sun Country to suffer because I needed Madara to be on your side—"

"Grandfather, stop it!" she said loudly, covering his mouth in the hopes that would be enough to silence him.

Still, his eyes were full of sorrow and regret.

"I don't want to hear it," she told him. "I came for a different reason."

Shin removed her hands from his mouth. "You need to listen to this, Mio," he said. "Every warning given to you of my actions was rightly made. To counter Ayuka, I have controlled every aspect of your life. I have, in a way, conditioned you into becoming this person and it was a loathsome thing of me to argue about choice only to have taken all of yours from you. I spoke to you of freedoms I never planned to allow you so that we could reach this point. We are close, Mio, to victory. We can stop Ayuka and Nishiki from abusing the artifact's powers. We can be free."

She came to ask him about something completely different, and now, she sat with her heart pounding painfully. "Even if we do manage to find victory here, others know of the existence of the artifacts," she said quietly. "And once this war takes place, they will have their proof. What are we to do then?" The question echoed in her mind and she made a realization. "No. Don't answer that. I don't want to know about the future. I don't want to speak of it. None of that matters until I—_we_ end this internal war."

Her grandfather sighed heavily. "No matter how many truths I unearth, your opinion of me will not change? You will not be angry?"

"No," she replied. "I won't be angry. You had your reasons and I had mine. I understand what Ayuka intends to do is wrong. I know manipulating pathways in the Fate Sphere is abusing its power. I know it must be stopped. I am not giving up on ending this, but…I need you to stay." She had seen the true meaning of his words and they were crushing. All she had wanted to do was save him and she was failing at it, but that did not mean it was the end. He could still fight it. She believed that. So, she didn't need his attempts to make her hate him lessen the pain she already felt at the inevitability of his death. "I need you to be here, grandfather. You cannot leave me like you did on Mt. Hyōga."

Devastated that that might have been the last she ever saw of him, she quietly allowed the sorrow to take her as death tried to take her strength.

"You have to promise me you will stay until the end," she continued, seeing the regret in his face. "Tell me that you will see the Artifact War end and Kuronuma Nishiki defeated and that we will gather the clan and be a family. We might have to impose on Keishuu for a time, but we will no doubt pick ourselves up and be a proper clan."

Shin shifted in his seat and took her hand, rubbing the top of it with a callous thumb. She saw the black bruises peeking out from under the collar of his kimono shirt and beneath the sleeve that was supposed to hide the ones on his wrist. He shook his head solemnly. "I cannot promise you any of those things, Mio," he said, smiling bitterly. "My time here has passed. Death is near and it is inevitable. I know you are aware and that it makes you sad, but this isn't something you can stop."

"But maybe Takuto"—she sobbed, startling herself as the tears dripped from her eyes—"Takuto is good at these things. He knows poisons. He can find a cure if you'd let him and—"

Again, he shook his head.

"You said I could do anything," she blurted tearfully, squeezing his hand for comfort. "If I was determined, I could do anything."

He laughed, a sadness rung in the sound and it stayed with her. "You can do anything. Anything. Except this."

"But Madara, he also—"

"I know, Mio," he said as a trail of blood dripped from his nose. "I saw them too. However, he can be saved. You can all be saved, but you need to make a sacrifice."

She stared at his blood in fear of its significance. "Why does Mikazuki Gouki have this poison?"

"It functions the same, though Gouki developed a deadlier version that compacts the long term effects of the original into weeks. Signs of it are undetectable, even on the skin, one's heart simply stops beating," he explained, holding a handkerchief he drew from his pocket to his nose. "He has an antidote, Mio. One."

"Can it save you?"

"No. It's different," he answered, breathing strangely. "It's too different, it could kill me faster. The poisons are different. One is pure, the other is tainted. The antidote nulls the tainted, but you have to make the sacrifice."

"I have to go to him."

He nodded.

Mio stood up in a rush, the idea foreign. "I need to think—"

"He will die—"

"He says he's fine—"

"Let's talk about the future."

"I don't want to talk about the future!" she snapped, starting to walk away.

"You need to start a war! You need to bear your losses and outlive your enemies!" he said loudly, forcing her to stop. "Save the artifacts, be happy, marry, have your children, have that family you want so badly but cannot admit to wanting. Love, Mio, love and be loved. That is everything I want from your life. Happiness and love. You are my family, Mio, and I want the best for you."

She trembled with her hands fisted at her side and her eyes closed with tears dripping from them. Her mind was convoluted with too many thoughts to process. She needed time to sort them, not speak of the future.

"He is the one you love and you will not let him die."

"I don't want to talk about the future!"

And she ran.

* * *

><p>Izuna found Mio in the llama pen, brushing back a llama's thick fur as the animal ate out of a bucket. She turned towards the entrance of the beaten at the first sound of his approach and smiled a little distantly before returning her attention to the pale animal, continuing to pet it. He held out Saori's hanafude deck to her and saw it caught her eye. Interest lit her face.<p>

"I heard you like to play hanafude," he said, amused by her reaction. "I wanted to see if you wanted to—"

"Yes," she said quickly.

Mio accompanied him indoors to play. She sat in her silence, expertly sifting through the cards to shuffle them for their first round of play, but her eyes were focused elsewhere. Outside. She stared out the open window as a breeze brought the dewy scent of petrichor into the room and caressed her dark waves across her cheeks. She sat near, so close, yet he felt a distance widening between them that never existed before.

Lost in her secret thoughts, fighting her personal conflicts, hoping that a smile, as the one she shot at him, would be enough to hide there was so much going through her head. She set the deck off to the side where they would be able to reach it after leaving a few cards behind for their hands. He played hanafude with the Ito sisters in the Waterfall Country, it wasn't a game they enjoyed but it had been a way to pass the time between his coming and going to aid Tomoji with the wars.

He soon discovered that her distraction would not ebb with a simple game of matching cards, though she did attempt to enjoy it.

"What is keeping your mind busy?"

Mio lifted her eyes to him, a startled look. "What?"

"There is something on your mind," he said, finding her behavior a reason for concern. "I can see it."

"Ah, no, nothing too bad," she said easily. "I was thinking of temporary guardians."

"You should consider Saori and Hibari," he responded, though at the thought of the eldest sister he felt a little guilt. "They would make good guardians."

"The oldest, perhaps," she said, "but I can't be sure until I establish a connection."

"What about Yayoi? She's hated you long enough, connection enough."

"Yayoi is already one of my guardians," she told him, "though I would appreciate it if you did not mention it to her. She isn't happy about it."

"Oh?"

"Ayuka is losing power because Yayoi is her successor and the guardian I choose to protect the Fate Sphere," she replied. "It's a sore spot for her."

He sighed. "I can understand how. She worshipped Ayuka."

"Yes, and she tried to kill her," Mio finished, and then looked out the window. "I want Yayoi to be safe. Here. But I know she will go."

"Go?"

"There's a man in the Lightning Country she needs to meet."

Izuna stared at her skeptically.

Mio decided to excuse herself to think further on the subject of parting with her artifacts, but as she exited, Izuna stopped her.

"Have you tried making your current guardians temporary ones?"

She turned to him slowly. The idea had not dawn on her, he could see it in her face. "One artifact can exhaust a person. Two could kill one."

"And you are holding how many?"

"I am an exception to the rule. The Time Sphere keeps me alive," she said. "It will always keep me alive."

"Madara has chakra to spare for two artifacts."

"More than one artifact would make him an easier target for Ayuka," she said. "She has a special place in her heart for your brother."

"I don't understand what she sees in him," he said jokingly.

Mio laughed, thanking him for sitting down to play as she walked off. He stopped her a second time, reminded that he had wasted his time with the game and done nothing. She faced him. "I want to talk about the future."

Her eyes slowly widened. "What of the future?"

"I want to be in it," he spat, unable to say it any other way. "I want to be in yours."

"You are definitely going to be in it, I do not doubt it," she answered, clearly misunderstanding.

"I want you to be my wife!" Her face twisted into one filled with doubt and he elaborated, cutting her off as she was about to speak. "I want to make you happy, Mio. I know I can do it. I want to protect you and make sure that your son isn't born to someone of Ayuka's choosing. He can be ours and we can protect him. You won't have to worry about anything."

She stared stunned.

"Say something," he said breathlessly, after a pregnant pause.

"Please don't make me think of the future."

"Why?"

"I do not want to speak of it," she said, rounding a corner where she froze in her tracks.

Izuna pursued her to find her staring up at Madara, aghast, and when he stopped walking, she took the opportunity to run away.

"What did you do to her?" Madara asked. "I've never see her run away so quickly before."

"Nothing."

* * *

><p>Mio sat in an empty room at the compound, determined to sleep there in place of her own accommodations in Sachiyo's home. The compound was a quiet structure at night, not a creak to be heard, and she needed the silence to reorganize her thoughts, separating them to consider in length. She wanted the peace to commit to a necessary sacrifice she, otherwise, would have avoided. She told herself that she would do the same for anyone else, and she knew she would, but her chest was erratic—in an evident state of panic like the rest of her.<p>

She quietly meditated. She noted Madara's lack of appetite had continued into the evening and that he had other dark, painful bruises on his body. She remembered Mikazuki Gouki was confident she would go to him and she understood that she had no choice but to sacrifice herself. If he had the antidote, as her grandfather said, it could be useful to more than just Madara. It could help her grandfather if Takuto broke it down enough to learn how to make a separate cure for her grandfather.

However, Mikazuki Gouki's name alone brought fear into her soul and it was the type one didn't shake off. Facing him with people she trusted at her sides was one thing, confronting him alone was outrageous. She could not even imagine it, but she made plans to prepare herself. They wouldn't be impulses, they would be calculated movements in the hopes of banishing her fear of what would come to be.

Secretly, she left Sachiyo's home to avoid meeting Izuna. She felt the confession about to leave her lips, but in a split second, she managed to stay quiet as he admitted to wanting to make her his wife. She swallowed down her desire to get hers and Madara's relationship out in the open so that Izuna could comfortably hate them for the rest of their lives (now that she was certain he wanted her hand in marriage). She knew Madara heard when she encountered him on the way out, but avoided him on her way out to circumvent speaking about it and growing frustrated because they were unable to admit their shame.

She was not surprised to see Madara enter the room after that thought. It was not that she wished to avoid him either, but because she came to a quiet conclusion that evening and desired to be with him.

"I heard you were running around the grounds unprotected," he began after sliding the door shut.

"My grandfather left me with a task. I was only seeing it done."

"So you found guardians?"

"No, but you will," she decided, walking to him after picking up her bag. She took his hand and placed the strap atop his palm. "They are temporary, but it's important you choose wisely."

"I am not like you grandfather, I can't choose where the spheres go."

"No, but I can," she said. "I choose they go to you so that you may find them a temporary host."

He ignored the artifacts, his eyes fixated on her. "You are…distant," he said slowly. "What are you plotting?"

"If I were to be captured," she began, paying close attention to the tenor of her voice so it rang with curiosity rather than the truth. "Would you come for me?"

"You don't like to be saved," he replied.

"But if I was taken, surrounded by enemies without a chance of escape, without the hope of it." She swallowed hard, pausing to stare at the shadows crawling across his face. "If I gave up and I had nothing. Would you come for me?"

"You won't be captured, Mio," he assured her, taking her face into his hands. "I won't allow Mikazuki Gouki to come near you."

She slowly placed a hand over his heart, feeling it weak against her palm. It beat strangely. "No," she said, smiling. "I won't be captured. So, don't disappoint me." She moved her hand up to his face. "Tomorrow, go to Takuto. Ask him to draw your blood again and compare it to my grandfather's."

"For what reason?"

"Because you have not touched food, you are covered in the same bruises as my grandfather, and it makes no sense why you would have the same poison running through your veins as he does!" she said all in one breath. "I am worried—"

She froze as a trickle of blood fell from Madara's nose, and as he reached to touch it, his body was seized by pain that ripped a yell from his throat. She reached for him, bearing his weight until it dragged her down, by then his entire body was overcome by violent, painful spasms. He coughed and vomited blood.

A curse escaped him in the split second between the next wave of tremors and the last. Her mind, in a panic, could think no thoughts as she tried to soothe him in her arms.

There was supposed to be time.

Her heart beat fearfully, each hammer an increasing wave of alarm. She was terrified by the pained noises he made, the wheezing of his breath, his blood sinking into her clothes, his body cold atop her. She closed her eyes, burying her face on his chest sobbing, paralyzed by her fears. Her fear of the memory this moment brought forth and the thought of losing him because she had to think about going to Mikazuki Gouki. She had to think about it!

_Why?_ She questioned herself then, wishing she had the power to take his pain from him.

His grip tightened around her arm, drawing her attention to him. He could barely breathe, could barely speak without more blood pouring from his mouth. She stared at him, her tears dropping atop his wan face.

"I'll save you," she promised, reaching for the black cord holding her sphere. "I'll do everything for you to live. Please fight it."

"_NO!_" he snapped. "Mio…_don't_…"

"I will save you," she whispered, the sound of footsteps reaching her ears. "I can save you, but you have to save me too."

He no longer spoke her name, his body no longer shook though the pain remained, and his dark eyes stared absently at her.

"Please come find me," she said, rocking gently with her mouth pressed against the side of his face. She continued to cry. "I'm scared. I'm so scared of going, but it's the only way."

She ripped the cord as the doors slid apart, Takuto, Yayoi, and Izuna stopping mid-step at the sight before them. She sat with his body in her arms, holding him as one would a lover—quiet and gentle as if they would break—and covered in his blood, the fear evident in her expression. Takuto and Yayoi sensed his condition through the artifacts, no doubt. Madara was fading fast and she could do nothing about the poison until she held an antidote, but she believed in her ability to prolong it.

None of the three made a move to approach her. Perhaps, they were wary of what they did not understand. She couldn't tell.

Mio wrapped the black cord around his neck and bit her thumb until it bled to use the black water to secure the artifact. She reached for the tiny orb, whose protection she was seconds from abandoning, feeling its surface rise in temperature and pressed it to her forehead, eyes closed. She tampered with the orb enough times to discover its secrets. It became what it needed to become for its Shugosha.

She needed it to become his because the Time Sphere would not allow him to die.

Some invisible thread snapped inside her as the power was siphoned from her and given to him, yanking him out of darkness with a gasp. However, the power proved stronger and though, his eyes met hers in his delirium, he fell back into her arms unconscious. She leaned forward over him to watch the mist inside the sphere spin restlessly, sensing that its power had settled.

"What did you do?" Yayoi asked, reaching her side.

"She just made Madara Shugosha," Takuto answered, amazed. "You did it, Mio."

"There is no time," Mio said, rushing to stand only for vertigo to hit. Izuna reached for her, keeping her upright. "I have to go. I have to go."

"Go where?" Takuto demanded, moving to help Madara with Yayoi to his left.

"For the antidote," she said, stumbling out the door in her weakened state.

Izuna pursued her. "I'll go with you!" he stated. "If this is to help Madara, I'm going!"

"No! You can't come with me!" she said loudly, her legs were shaking. "If you go, I'll become a coward and I won't be able to save him—"

"He's my brother!"

"I know, but—"

"Nothing, I'm going."

"You have to protect him!"

"And who will protect you?"

"He will," she admitted sadly. "When he wakes and he is better. He will."

Izuna's eyebrows furrowed. "No?"

"He is my future," she said, the rest of her heart breaking at the sight of the despair in his face. "I love you, Izuna, but he is my future and that won't change." She was too stubborn to let it change. "I love you, but I need to go alone for his sake and yours. I do not want Mikazuki Gouki anywhere near you."

"You are going to Mikazuki Gouki?"

"Yes."

"Do you think Madara would want you to do that?" Yayoi shouted from the entrance. "He was trying to stop you from going! He doesn't want you to have another of your stupid impulses! You're doing everything wrong! What are you trying to accomplish?"

"I'm trying to start a war," Mio answered firmly, "so that we can finally have our peace."

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: Build up for the next chapter, which I have high hopes in it turning out to be everything I want it to be. It'll be delayed, so expect to see it in 2 weeks...on a Saturday.

So, Izuna finding out wasn't too dramatic. There is a drawn out confrontational scene between the two of them that's already written, but takes place later, so there will be a follow-up. Obviously, given the circumstances, it isn't going to become anything bigger at the moment. When thinking about the moment, I always knew Mio would be the one to blurt it out. The problem was finding the right words, so that took a bit. Mio's primary struggle with her relationship with Madara, apart from Izuna, was that she didn't understand her own feelings only that they were big, so Shin can go around spouting whatever he wants, but she is not in love with Madara, though she could be. So, she couldn't say, "I love him and I'm going to save him," because she wouldn't believe that herself. However, she does believe in the Fate Sphere despite her wishes to avoid future talk (we're definitely going to break this down later) and she does believe that there is a long future for them to share. I mean, if you really think about it, it could be anything. It might not even be romantic, but she was not lying when she said he's her future and that's a huge clue to bigger things later. In the end, her saying he's her future turned into the better option.

I might write a short follow-up scene for the next chapter to continue Mio's declaration or simply start in p2 of this arc. We are literally halfway to the finish line guys! I can't wait to write these next couple of chapters!

Thank you: **Loteva**, **crazyuser**, **amaya-tsuki-chan**, **HushedFable**, **Sieben Nightwing**, and **Aries01xD **for reviewing! Also, a special shout out to those that sent me such lovely PMs after the last update! And that's not to say for the handful of new readers I seem to have attained over the last month. I hope that you can continue to find something in this story to enjoy.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to read!

Question time (totally optional): Shin talked about the world Ayuka and Nishiki wanted to create, can you imagine it? And are you curious to see it brought into the story, if so, do you think it would turn the tide towards the good guys or the bad guys?

I'll post a preview for the next chapter within the next couple of days at my lj. Bye~


	42. The Death of Kings 7

Chapter** 42** | The Death of Kings VII

* * *

><p>Yayoi twisted the washcloth between both of her hands, squeezing the water tainted with blood from it onto a basin. She drenched it once more in water, wringing out the excess, and pressed the cloth to Madara's face continuing to wipe him clean while Takuto sat at the table tinkering with the blood he extracted from him and the one he took from Shinya. Izuna stood restless, unable to sit long enough without voicing what was running through everyone's head.<p>

Outside a storm had come to settle with harsh rainfall and thunderous skies.

Mio was gone. Nothing anyone said or did would be enough to drag her back, though Izuna had persisted in accompanying her, the shock of her confession left him stunned. She loved him, but her future was Madara. Yayoi thought Mio could not have said it any better and as her eyes fell to Madara's pale face, she saw what Mio must have when she held him in her arms with her tear-stricken face. The pain tangible, even in her words, the fear visible, in the body that betrayed her emotions. She went to Mikazuki Gouki, the man Takuto described as her nightmare, and Yayoi knew what awaited her there when she sacrificed herself for an antidote. That is what she went to do, certain that an anti-poison drove her to him, because Madara was her future. She wanted him to live badly. She saw the extent of her feelings then and they were real, true enough for her to make him her successor.

"I never heard of a Shugosha with this kind of power," Yayoi admitted, reeling from the revelation. "Only her son, but…"

"Her son would have the power, yes, but it would be an inherited skill," Takuto spoke, ripping apart a dried herb that had a strong smell. "Each Shugosha awakens a new skill within the sphere. Kiyohime gave birth to them; she connected the ten spheres to her own so that she would be able to keep her guardians safe. Tamatori believed in power, but she feared the sphere could be stolen, to prevent that she rewired it to cast a shield to prevent it from occurring. Musashi was without successor, so he willed the sphere to create options. And when Mio met a limit to her power, to save Madara…"

"She saved him by making him Shugosha?" Izuna asked to be certain.

"She prolonged his life by changing the line of succession. The sphere will attempt to keep him alive for as long as it can, giving me enough time to make an antidote." He paused, a dubious expression. "Hopefully."

"She wanted him to live this badly," Yayoi susurrated, understanding, "so badly she changed the line of succession to keep him alive long enough to do something about it."

Takuto set a stoppered vial atop the table. "This is unsettling," he said, all eyes falling on him. Everyone had been waiting for him to say something since he started to work and they had exhausted themselves with asking only to be shot down. "I extracted the poison from his blood and Shinya-sama's and while they are structurally the same, there are small differences between the two that literally draw a clear distinction between the two. One was tampered with and can be tampered with further, so I might be able to change it into an antidote capable of nullifying the effects, but it will take time and I need to buy ingredients."

"But you can do it?" asked Izuna.

"I can only guarantee a cure for Shinya-sama," he admitted, at the despair in both Yayoi and Izuna's faces, he continued, "There are properties in the poison I do not understand, but if there are poison experts among your camps and they know, I might be able to work something out."

Izuna's face brightened with hope. "Kayami," he said quickly, "and we have two Uchiha medical specialists with extensive poison knowledge."

Takuto stood. "I want to meet with them immediately."

Izuna nodded, determined to still his unrest through keeping busy as he slid open the door.

"What about Mio?" Yayoi asked aloud.

They had—as if their minds melted into one—ruminated over Mio's situation, but Yayoi felt she was the only one mentioning her name and truly thinking of what she had done. She couldn't believe she was the only one worried about Mio.

"We can do nothing about Mio," Takuto said. "She has her survival instinct and we have Madara to keep alive. He is our Shugosha now. We can't worry about Mio." He guided Izuna out of the room, but paused himself, turning. "You can watch him?"

"He is stable now," Yayoi answered. "I can handle it."

Izuna thanked her as the two left her alone with Madara. She continued to clean the blood off him thinking of what occurred with Mio bent over him bawling. She had held the sphere to her forehead and had had her eyes closed as if in prayer, the tears dripping from her face. One second it was her she sensed above all, the next, Madara had taken her place when he woke with a start.

Yayoi saw strands of what would become of Mio's future and in those glimpses, she saw a Shugosha unlike those before her. Kiyohime created the spheres, Tamatori-hime strengthened them, Musashi buried their legend, and Mio…

She didn't understand her actions only that they were strange in a mysterious sort of way and that they could only be carried out by someone of her strength.

Yayoi barely understood the rare gift everyone spoke of, wondered if everything was supposed to come to her in pieces. She saw some things clearer, brighter and vivid, when they involved Mio, as it was her chakra that powered the artifacts from which her guardians drew their strength. She had seen all these strings of images that revolved around Mio as Shugosha, but she wondered if she changed everything by making Madara Shugosha. Did that mean she was no longer on the path of becoming the Shugosha Ayuka feared?

Was she walking to her own demise? Or was she pursuing a new pathway?

No, that wasn't right, Yayoi thought. The future had not changed. Mio's son was still Shugosha then and his strength came from her ability to change the line of succession.

Yayoi looked upon Madara, watching the rise and fall of his chest. Did that mean he would return the artifact to her? Could he do it? Or was that what Mio had meant to say when she said he was her future?

A name came to her, whispered distantly by a familiar male voice she couldn't pinpoint.

—_They call him Shinra. He has no mother or father. He is neither theirs nor ours._—

And with the voice came flashes of the boy, small with dark unkempt hair held in the arms of a brown haired woman she did not recognize rushing down narrow streets set between low buildings casting wary glances in every direction. She wore a band wrapped around her forehead with a metal protector that had a symbol carved into its center resembling a leaf.

Yayoi's body pulsed, her skin running hot. The images came to her in a rush, for the first time in chronological order, and made her head throb painfully. She held her head with both hands, frightened by this new development. She folded into herself, breathing haggardly, though she wanted to stop the strands running through her head from forming thoughts she couldn't contain, but she found she did not have the strength.

She rocked in her seat, eyes sealed shut.

The unfamiliar woman continued her trajectory down those strange streets as shinobi appeared running across rooftops aiming weapons at her. The boy lifted his face, pale in the moonlight, and his eyes were an expressive, sharp onyx color.

Yayoi opened her eyes suddenly and a shuddering breath escaped her. She had a splitting headache that brought tears to her eyes and a heavy weight on her chest.

—_But it is his mother's eyes he possesses._—

"His name is Shinra."

She startled, eyes lifting to the entrance where Mio's grandfather stood.

"What?" she asked in a tremulous voice.

"You and I are alike," he told her. "I can draw pathways from the Fate Sphere as you can. I can sense when another is doing the same and can see what they see. You have seen a strain of a future that is yet to be decided."

"You saw it too?" she asked falteringly. "That boy—that boy is hers? And that woman? Who is that woman? What is that future?"

"That boy is of little importance—"

"Where is she?" Yayoi continued, desiring answers believing they might relieve her of the pain. She found herself feeling so strongly about the situation that her voice was coming out strained. "Where is she? Where is his father? Where are they? Why let that child be hunted? Are they so irresponsible?"

He smiled gently. "You do not listen, child," he said. "You do not understand the Fate Sphere. It is not an exact science. A person has billions of decisions to make and those decisions can make a considerable difference to what their future will be. You have seen a time that has not yet been decided in a world where the boy was left without parents as an infant. Both dead."

"Then it does not happen?"

"You must learn to control this gift Yayoi, delving blindly into any pathway can be extremely dangerous."

She knew he would not answer her, so she remained silent in the midst of her own recovery. Whatever the gift was, it had never manifested as it had that night.

"Mio and Takuto are on the correct path. The two will in no doubt become the people they need to become," he said. "You are the one lacking here. You do not believe in your gift. You fear accepting it would make you a target of Ayuka—it will, no doubt about it, but you cannot fear her forever. You need to learn control and I am willing to teach it to you…with one condition."

* * *

><p>Senju Tobirama swore he cared little for Uchiha Mio, confessed he had accompanied her the remainder of the way to the Lightning Country because his brother had entrusted him with seeing her to safety. Whether ushering her to the Lightning Country to take the ferry to the Sun Country had been an appropriate decision, he had no care for it. He left her there to fend for herself, angrier at the truth of her words than his unbridled hatred for the Uchiha clan. He understood that under different circumstances they were natural enemies, would be no matter how many layers of peace were added to hide a past covered in bloodshed. The Uchiha were an unstable flock, one he did not want to think of ever trusting, let alone work with. There was no such thing as peace between them. He was not as blind or as easily swayed as his brother was in that respect.<p>

The Uchiha and Senju clan were born to wage war against one another until only one remained.

However, Uchiha Mio was Shugosha to nine guardians who were each assigned a Kuronuma artifact, of which he and his brother were members, and through her chakra, which he could recognize as easily as his own, the artifacts were powered. He already had ample ability to sense anyone coming near, it had given him the upper hand in various missions, but the connection Mio unconsciously made with each of her guardians seemed to amplify his ability. He sensed Mio clearly, like one knew a person was standing nearby with a glance—he felt her as if she were always near. Hashirama sensed her as well, but not as he did.

Hashirama did not know the instant Mio had entered the Waterfall Country several days ago or her trek through the jungle that surrounded the hidden Ito village. Nor did he realize she was trudging through stormy weather towards the gate, but that had been in part to his chasing after Uzumaki Mito.

Tobirama was the first to know Uchiha Mio had entered the Ito village, though he did not admit it. He remained in his post as she arrived with her legs caked in mud and the layers of clothes she wore hanging heavily off her small shoulders. He noticed something different about her, though he was unable to place it until after his brother dragged him from his comfortable distance to congregate with their Shugosha after she had been given the time to have a proper bath and served a warm meal.

Ito Takuei was present, curious about the girl he heard so much about, but had yet to meet, and judging by his disappointed grimace, she was not as he expected. Uchiha Mio was not the ideal in her current situation. Small and thin—a brittle woman—with neutral features on a pale face that contrasted against the blackness of her hair. She looked suited for quiet work; though he knew better than to think it was her rightful place. He had seen the Kuronuma power surge through her. Lean and agile, she had a heavy hand and a skill for ending battles quickly.

Takuei had never seen her in battle.

Tobirama frowned when she regarded him with a weak smile in greeting. He saw the difference in her face and the absence of presence. "Where is your sphere, Shugosha?"

"What are you asking?" Hashirama demanded, determined to get through the pleasantries before settling his curiosities. He had wanted to know about the Sun Country badly and had needed someone to reassure him he would be participating in a war from which they had obviously been excluded. His brother had made plans. None would come to fruition.

Tobirama glared at his brother. "A simple question she should be able to answer herself."

Mio reached into the bag sitting on her lap and procured a bundle of cloths she carefully unraveled to reveal a glass sphere. Unlike the sphere he remembered hanging from her neck, it contained nothing inside. "I haven't made it yet," she told him, then turned to Takuei. "You said you knew where Mikazuki Gouki resided."

"That is the last place you should be venturing to," Takuei warned, though his curious eyes remained on the empty sphere in her hands. "There's no use starting a war if one can avoid it. Jeopardizing your safety would endanger all the Kuronuma clan's allies and with the ease the Mikazuki clan has been picking at our ranks, we will not last long enough to put an end to it."

"If you are worried about the safety of your clan, you can retreat," she replied. "I am not going to ask you or your shinobi to die for me. You are the Uchiha clan's allies—"

"We have extended our hospitality to what remains of your decimated clan," Takuei interrupted, clearly insulted. "And we have given shelter to two of your guardians along with their Uzumaki allies. The Ito clan is risking their lives because your grandfather guaranteed us peace."

Peace had not been the only thing Kuronuma Shinya guaranteed the man, Tobirama thought, exchanging a look with Hashirama.

Mio's eyes swept the room, the tension in her shoulders lessened. "I am not here to offer explanations for my actions. I came to ask after Mikazuki Gouki's whereabouts," she said edgily. She was in a rush. "If you will not tell me, say it now so I know that I am wasting my time and allow him to find me instead."

"The Earth Country," Takuei answered. "He is there standing in for Kuronuma Nishiki."

"Is Kuronuma Nishiki on the move?" she asked quickly, wrapping her sphere in the cloths.

"His intentions are unknown, but he has not made a move to invade our decoy countries," the Ito clan's leader admitted. "Though more and more of his spies have been spotted attempting to find this location. He is aware we are hiding what he is searching for. He is toying with us."

"Trust my grandfather has handled this," she replied, but after a pause added, "If he hasn't, I will do something about it."

"You were running from Mikazuki Gouki," Hashirama began, drawing her attention to him. "He wants to destroy you, Mio. All he has done is hunt you. Why do you want to go to him now?"

"That isn't important," she said dismissively, turning away from him to face Takuei. "You need not do anything for my sake, but I will ask if you would be so kind as to give me shelter for the night."

Takuei agreed, leaving her.

"You lost your sphere, didn't you?" Tobirama accused.

"What are you talking about? The sphere is right there," Hashirama said, pointing to the bundle on her lap.

"That isn't her sphere," Tobirama argued. "That one is empty. I sense nothing coming from it. Where is your sphere?"

"I know where I left it," Mio said quickly.

"For what purpose did you leave it behind?"

She looked annoyed by his badgering. He was annoyed with his own badgering. Hashirama looked on in stunned curiosity.

"That doesn't concern you," she said sharply. "I had my reasons."

"What do you intend to do with a fake?" Hashirama probed, attempting to diffuse the tension. "Has it something to do with what occurred in the Sun Country? We heard plenty through Murakami-san."

"You needn't worry for me," she answered. "You have to see that you remain safe and that you continue protecting my artifacts. I apologize I never asked if you would accept them or even had the opportunity to explain their abilities."

"I have, more or less, seen what the Power Sphere is capable of doing," Hashirama answered. The crystal necklace she had given to him did wonders to enhance his abilities. It had given him a permanent upper hand in any battle and he had familiarized with the artifact enough that he had some control over it.

She had given him a cup.

Mio looked to him with a strange expectancy.

"What?"

"I know you acquiesced with the Universe Sphere," she began, using terminology he did not understand. "Have you unearthed its abilities? Wondrous, aren't they?"

"Your cup is broken," Tobirama answered, biting back his frustration. "It does nothing."

"Have you tried to use it?"

"It does nothing!" he repeated forcefully.

"It creates worlds!"

"It's a cup!"

"Did you expect a map?"

"I expected everything but a cup," he answered. "A cup that creates worlds is ridiculous."

"It creates worlds?" Hashirama said aloud, thoughtful. Quickly, he turned to her. "Can it create countries?"

"Yes."

"Is that why Murakami-san is willing to give up his country to war?" asked Hashirama. "It's supposed to be the site of the Artifact War, no? I heard your grandfather promised the Kuronuma clan would aid in rebuilding it."

"Murakami-san is giving up the Iron Country?" she questioned, confused.

Hashirama nodded.

"Your grandfather promised an end to the Artifact War," Tobirama added. "He promised safety to his people and a gift to ensure the protection of the country for generations to come."

"Yes, it can build countries," she said after a lengthy pause.

"Isn't that incredible, brother?" Hashirama clapped him on the back, though he did not receive the response he was expecting.

"You have absolutely no idea what the Universe Sphere does, do you?" Tobirama challenged, feeling another sneaking suspicion about her.

"I am Shugosha, I know everything."

"I am having doubts about that."

"About what?"

"You are not Shugosha anymore."

"That's impossible," Hashirama interjected. "You can't stop being Shugosha, can you?"

"Is that why you're going to Mikazuki Gouki?" Tobirama continued. "He took your sphere in the Sun Country and you plan to get it back."

She did not deny it, not even in her silence.

"You think you can survive a direct confrontation?" he asked. "Even if you are still guardian to two spheres, the Time Sphere is what provided you with the most protection and that man wants you dead."

"That man does not want me dead," she answered as Hashirama was about to volunteer to accompany her. "The truth is, I am the only person capable of walking into their territory and emerging unscathed so long as I am going of my own volition. Motou Ayuka and Mikazuki Gouki do not want me dead. They need me…more specifically, they need my son."

"Are you with child?" Hashirama exclaimed.

"No!" she said quickly. "No! I'm not!"

"Then why do they want your child…if the child does no exist?"

Mio offered them a brief explanation of her circumstances. The curator of the Fate Sphere saw within Mio's pathways the birth of a child capable of changing the line of succession. Doing so meant the Kuronuma clan would lose control of the artifacts to another with nefarious intentions and that would potentially put the entire world in danger of their whims. She informed them Mikazuki Gouki had a stronger right to the artifacts as the son to Kuronuma Nishiki, who had been Musashi's sole successor decades ago, but that he had been passed over for another and that he would more likely become the next Shugosha through the assistance of her son.

"Anyone can become Shugosha?" Tobirama asked.

"Anyone with a decent amount of chakra, yes," Mio replied.

"And it's your firstborn that will have this ability?"

"Well, no," she said strangely. "You see, the abilities a Shugosha inherits are abilities previous Shugosha created."

"Then, you would have to create the ability in order for your child to inherit it," said Tobirama.

"Yes."

"So if you don't develop the ability, he won't have it?" asked Hashirama.

"Yes, he won't."

The conversation did not move forward. It ended with Tobirama stepping out and Hashirama following close behind as a Minako went running down the hallway with Sako following close behind.

"She will likely sneak out in the middle of the night," said Tobirama. She had done it with him once before and it had taken him some time to track her down, though he suspected finding her would be easier this time around if she indeed scampered off like a thief in the night.

"And you will go with her," Hashirama decided.

"What?" he snapped.

"You're taking the night shift, so follow her when she goes," Hashirama told him. "I can take care of everyone here."

"I never agreed to—"

"You can't think to leave that poor girl to run headfirst into danger alone? You are not that heartless—"

"That girl is an Uchiha. We are shaming our clan by even holding her artifacts," he spat. "How long before she has her clan attack us?"

"Why would she do that?"

"Our clans do not—"

Hashirama did not let him finish, shooting him a disappointed look before leaving repeating his words. He was to watch Mio, follow her when she left and keep her safe. Seeing as she made it to the Waterfall Country unaccompanied and without a scratch on her showed she was more capable of handling whatever foolishness she pursued. She did not need someone to watch her on the constant and he did not want to be the one assigned to such a job because he seemed to be the only one aware that there was Uchiha blood in her. He did not trust she would remain loyal to them as Hashirama believed once the Kuronuma's war ended.

He learned enough about her since he had last seen her, knew she had roots with the likes of Uchiha Madara and Izuna. He had heard she had influence over them, but that had seemed unlikely. There had been plenty rumors he had dismissed apart from that one, particularly those that spoke of the two brothers guarding her better than their own lives, which he had never seen them do for anyone but themselves, and she was currently in the Waterfall Country without them.

Despite his reluctance, Tobirama returned to do what Hashirama had asked him to do and remained near Mio's temporary lodgings. Sako and Minako were still with Mio. He caught a glimpse of them together. The brown-haired child was resting her head against Mio's lap and the blond woman's back was to the door. He paused in front of the aperture, the light caught in the glass sphere Mio held drew his attention to the fact that Mio was holding a smoking pipe in her other hand.

He watched her take a drag of the long pipe before drawing back and bringing the top of the sphere to her lips. She let out the smoke inside the glass sphere, white-gray it curled strangely as it sank slowly like falling through a tank of gel before it turned around a round object within it.

Sako went over to take the pipe from Mio and put it out, returning it to its container as she sank back on her haunches fascinated by the sudden glow of the sphere in Mio's hands. Minako quickly rose to a seat, curiosity brimming in her round face.

"How did you—?" asked Sako, unable to finish the sentence when the mist inside the sphere begun to spin wildly the more Mio blew into it. "This is incredible, Mio."

Mio corked the sphere with a black cord, lathered the rim with blood from her thumb, and let the glass sphere fall like a necklace in her hand. "This will be enough."

"But should you go alone?" asked Sako worriedly. "You haven't gone to see the Kuronuma clan yet. They want to see you, Mio. They have so much faith in you."

"I don't know what to say to them," Mio admitted, lifting her eyes.

She caught him staring and he stepped away from the aperture, feeling a rush. He stood silent, unable to eavesdrop from his new distance, and thought about what he had seen. She brought that sphere to life to the point the strange disconnect he felt in her presence had gone away to be replaced by the connection he had developed upon becoming a guardian. He sensed her all around him, strongly, and strove to put some distance between them, knowing no matter how far he wandered, he would be capable of finding her if she so much as took one step outside the Ito clan's village.

He reached the outdoors, stilling at the curving verandah surrounding the house where he stared onto the dirt path sitting between two homes leading into a courtyard. The Kuronuma walked around restlessly, the lot of them were uncomfortable in the rainy weather conditions of the Waterfall Country. This land did not carry the wintry conditions they were accustomed to, though the new area provided the protection they so desperately needed. They longed for the home the Mikazuki clan had destroyed where the land was covered in frost and snow as far as the eyes could see and the air chilled down one's lungs, threatening to spread into the bloodstream to freeze it. This place was not Mt. Hyōga. It was not home.

Tobirama understood that well. This was not his home either and neither was Mt. Hyōga. His home was a small village in the Fire Country in an area surrounded by tall trees with his brother and the people of his clan. There were instances he longed to return to the fleeting peace his village provided, times when he could appreciate his own bedroom and bed.

Seeing the restlessness of all who did not belong within the Ito village made him want unattainable things, things he was more than aware would be unattainable in these harsh times. The world did not seem to be heading towards peace, not with talks of an Artifact War. It was rushing straight into destruction and the harbinger was a girl. An Uchiha no less. He was almost not surprised.

He did not need to look to know she was standing beside him, her hands clutching the wooden rail of the verandah's edge. He did glimpse at her eventually, saw her tighten her grip on the wood until it started to bend unnaturally as she stared off at the restless Kuronuma hoping that they might see their Shugosha safe once more. Upon hearing of her arrival, he had heard they wanted to see her, but considerate of her travels, thought it might be best to let her rest. They believed she would gather them and speak to them, but she stood beside him instead with nothing to say.

"You make artifacts?" he asked, what he had just seen flickered through his mind.

She laughed. It was a strange sound. "No," she said. "I can't. I would die if I even tried."

He pointed to the sphere she wore around her neck, the mist inside spinning around the surface shielding whatever sat in its center. "Then what is that?"

"It's a fake."

"Obviously."

"Were you expecting a different answer?"

"An explanation," he told her, disliking her tone of voice.

"I do not have one," she admitted.

"If you go about things blindly, you call forth consequences."

"Yes, but wouldn't that stop me from ordering Madara and Izuna to attack your clan, would it?" she asked, surprising him. She turned fully to him. "I know you dislike me for being an Uchiha and that asking you to trust me would be incredibly foolish of me, but I am still not your enemy. No matter how hard you try to make me your enemy, I won't be."

Tobirama frowned, stepping in front of her. "You are correct in assuming that I will not trust you," he told her. "Every drop of blood in your veins is cursed and you cannot be trusted. The proof of it is in your eyes, you are already a fallen one."

"My eyes?"

"You awakened a Sharingan?"

"Yes," she said skeptically. "That is the proof? A Sharingan I barely use?"

"Barely?"

He had seen her use it throughout their travels. She was properly skilled with it.

"Contrary to your stubborn belief, I do not like to use it, not every Uchiha does or can," she retorted. "I avoid it."

"Avoid it?" he challenged. "You never stopped using it in my company."

"I was doing it on purpose and obviously my intention worked as you are now bringing it up," she said. "I don't have a need for the Sharingan, so you have no proof that I cannot be trusted. You would have to see that for yourself as I am right to assume you will not let me go without following when I leave tonight."

"At my brother's request," Tobirama told her so that she would not misunderstand. "If he was not so determined to see you…_protected_ I would not—" He stopped himself short. "I do not need to explain a thing to you!"

"If you plan to shadow me to the Earth Country, do so without your artifact."

Mio took a step back, turning to look down the dirt path sitting between two buildings. She looked upon the Kuronuma children bounding across, giggling loudly, and their parents watching them from the sidelines.

He wanted ask why she wanted him to leave his artifact behind when she had told him once before that he should not think of leaving it anywhere. He wished for a proper reason for her contradiction, but when he opened his mouth, a different question escaped him.

"What reason do you have to neglect those people?"

The inquiry took her by surprise. "What?"

"Have you truly nothing to say to them?"

"What am I supposed to say?" she asked, not meeting his eyes. "Many Kuronuma died at my expense. What am I supposed to say? I cannot apologize because it doesn't make a difference. It won't bring back our dead. And I can't tell them that we are on the losing end of this war or that we are in more danger of being killed than ever before. There is nothing I can say to them that might give them hope. I cannot give them hope when I am going to the Earth Country to make a dangerous trade with the man that ruined my life. What right do I have to say anything to them?"

He found he had said enough and chose silence, his eyes on her. She visibly shook. The emotion in her voice sounded like she was more frightened.

"I am not the person they need me to be," she said. "I am not even their Shugosha."

Tobirama did not plan to be swayed by her display, but he did feel a little stupid for some of his mistrust. This girl was a mess…or perhaps, she was simply well versed in acting a role.

"You're a coward," he accused.

"I never said I was brave," she said. "I'm pigheaded and I do what I feel is right at the moment—I'm impulsive, but impulsivity is not bravery. You are right, I am a coward and I cannot face them."

Mio walked away from him and her attitude bothered him, but not as much as it irritated him to acknowledge it was a hindrance. He remained at the verandah for several minutes before he finally returned to his post watching over her. She did not leave her quarters for several hours.

She emerged then with a sullen expression and obvious reluctance as she walked to the cluster of houses within the Ito village where the Kuronuma clan were staying. He followed her there, though he gathered she would have preferred he had not. He watched the Kuronuma swarm her with elated expressions, coming at her with hundreds of questions and relieved exclamations. Many of them cried—the children especially, who seemed to idolize her for being Shugosha—recanting their experience with the Mikazuki-Uchiha massacre of their loved ones to her as she held onto as many hands as possible, listening to everyone speaking at once. The Kuronuma were a clan that never saw inner conflict, not in the recent generation at least.

Hashirama was standing at his side before he knew it and Mio was sobbing in the arms of an older woman. Everyone surrounding her hoped the ongoing conflict ended soon and they expressed high hopes in seeing her come back victorious. Their faith was placed entirely on her and realizing this, Mio slowly disengaged them wiping away her tears.

"I am no longer your Shugosha," she told them, and the shock among them was immediate. "I gave my sphere up to save someone important to me. He is your new Shugosha and he is in danger. And I want to save him as much as I want to save you all, but I have already failed you and I feel so ashamed to ask patience of you as I try to make this right."

The Kuronuma were silent and her lips trembled, her voice did as well.

"I have not forgotten this clan, you are everything to me," she continued tremulously, "but I want to save him. I want to save him so badly." Sako appeared to stand beside her, taking her hand in hers and giving it a gentle squeeze. "If I can save him, he will protect you. He will protect you better than I ever could."

Sako turned her head to Mio. "What about you?"

Mio shook her head in response, pulling away from everyone around her. She moved several steps back and told them that she needed to rest, but Tobirama and Hashirama were aware they would not see her again tomorrow though she promised they would.

She gathered her things when night fell and left the Waterfall Country.

Tobirama pursued her under the shroud of darkness under Hashirama's orders. If left alone, she would no doubt walk straight to her death, he believed that now. He doubted she had a plan. She looked to be fumbling. Fumbling and trying to save someone. The new Shugosha, she had told them all and he wondered who it was, unable to sense anyone through his artifact but her as the center of it all.

He did not deny she was talented with the artifacts. Neither he nor his brother could find a proper explanation for them. The only one able to provide them with information had been Kuronuma Takuto, but he had not divulged enough because he admitted the only thing he truly knew was their history and that they worked because Mio, as Shugosha, powered them. They lived because she lived and they held power because she gave them power. The chakra that filled the core of it had her signature. Though she claimed another was Shugosha that signature had not changed, but her influence and power over them had weakened.

She was weakening.

Tobirama came to a sudden halt atop a hill, sensing another pursing him and waited when the person in question jumped up to join him. "Mito," he called, unable to hide his surprise. The woman, Uzumaki Mito, stared on ahead aware of his mission with eyes darkened by the shadows of night. The vibrant red of her hair was also dulled in the darkness. "You should not be here."

"Hashirama-san sent you alone to chase the Shugosha into enemy territory, it was a thoughtless decision," she told him. "I offered to assist you."

"Then he won't be long to join us?" Tobirama assumed.

"He won't be coming," she said. "He said he wouldn't if there was a substitute."

At the word, Tobirama knew who that substitute would be and dreaded it when another shadow made its way to join them atop the hill. The new shinobi to their left was a prominent member of Mito's clan from a cluster of special families meant to serve others as protection. She was not the sort he liked to keep company with as she was—

"Why are we standing here?" demanded Uzumaki Nako, a lean kunoichi with short red hair. She spoke so her voice echoed loud enough that it made Mio come to a sudden halt while she was still in his line of sight and with the Uchiha aware of their pursuit, she made a quick move to disappear. Nako, oblivious to her actions, held a hand over her eyes, scanning the area. "Looks like ya lost her. We should get movin'."

She took a few steps forward. "Don't ya worry I'll take the front an' keep ya safe from an ambush."

There were people in this world with the potential to be a great shinobi, but lacked the conviction to see it done, and there were those with the conviction and potential for it that simply lacked in all things that made a good shinobi. Uzumaki Nako was the ladder—loudmouthed and graceless. He did not deny she had her talents and skills, but most times, she was like a bull in a glass shop.

Nako stepped forward and slid down the hill with a loud scream.

Tobirama tensed. "Enemy fast approaching."

He sensed several shinobi drawn to the noise and jumped down after Mito to gather Nako. The girl was rubbing her lower back when they reached her and Mito commanded her to follow. If they ran fast enough, they would be able to outrun their enemies and catch up to Mio.

He left behind traps that slowed their pursuers down, but that bought them too little time.

They reached the Earth Country border quickly, not three hours of traveling under the shadow of night, but by then, it had been too late. As soon as they stepped into the country, they were ambushed by dozens of Mikazuki and Uchiha.

Nako stood before Mito, shielding her protectively. Tobirama saw the situation for them was dire and that attempting to escape would be the more prudent route to take than facing them head on.

The Mikazuki crowd parted, giving way to a man with hawkish black eyes and a scarred face. He recognized him, Uchiha Hiryuu, a clan elder in the past and now the leader of the Uchiha allied to the Mikazuki clan.

Impossible to move with more shinobi gathering, Tobirama, Mito, and Nako forfeited their thoughts of escape as they would not manage without casualties and allowed Uchiha Hiryuu to take them prisoners. With them, they traveled through the Earth's Country difficult terrain, hidden in the shadows by the large boulders dispersed throughout the land. They were taken to an encampment where the first person he saw was Mio and before her was a man with unruly dark hair of intimidating height.

The three were dragged near by the Mikazuki assigned to handle their capture where they were close enough to catch wind of the conversation that seemed to have started mere seconds ago and continuing undisturbed by new presences.

"Ayuka was correct to assume you would come quickly if Uchiha Madara's life were in danger," the man before her spoke, grinning amusedly.

Tobirama felt himself tense. It wasn't difficult for him to put one and two together. Madara was likely the Shugosha she spoke of to the Kuronuma. That bothered him more than having a mere Uchiha girl as Shugosha. He wanted no association with Madara, not in any sense that placed him at the top of the pecking order.

"I came to make a trade," she started, opening her mouth to continue but saying nothing. Her eyes were suddenly drawn by the stoppered bottle the man procured from the inside of his pocket.

He held up a clear liquid. "You want to make a trade for this?"

"Yes," she said evenly, in her feigned courage.

Tobirama could see that she was suppressing the trembling of her body.

"A trade for that antidote and for them," she continued, waving a hand in their direction.

The man did not look. They were beneath him. His prize was before him. He cared nothing of what surrounded them.

"You have paid the price for this flask, but do you suppose you have any more to give up for their lives?" the man asked, challenging her.

"I am here, but I never promised to be anything but present," she said. "I gave no assurance that I would remain here without the intent of escape or that I would be obedient. However, if you spare them and allow them to go free, I will do what is asked of me."

The green-eyed man turned to them. "Which one of you is the fastest?"

Tobirama purposely looked to Nako, who stared at him strangely because he was the obvious choice. The Mikazuki zeroed in on her and threw the stoppered bottle to her. She caught it, looking confused, perhaps more at catching it than its contents.

"You will take that to the Fire Country," the man ordered. "Search for the Motou princess."

Nako hesitated at the prospect of venturing into Uchiha territory as it was inadvertently being asked of her when Mio spoke up, "My grandfather will meet you."

"I cannot leave, Mito," Nako told Tobirama, hoping he might reason with the Mikazuki and Mio.

"Go, Nako," Mito ordered, surprising her. "Do as the Shugosha asks. If she is an ally of the Senju clan, she is an ally to the Uzumaki clan."

Warily, Nako was allowed to venture out with the antidote in hand. The Mikazuki with them, turned away, prepared to leave them.

"I asked for their freedom as well," Mio said, forcing him to stop. The fear seeped into her voice giving it a tremulous ring.

"No," the Mikazuki began. "Your promises have only granted that woman freedom to deliver the antidote, but for these two, you will need to be as obedient as you said you would be. I have high expectations for you, Mio, do not disappoint me." To the nearest shinobi, he said, "Take the prisoners to the hole. And have someone scrub the Shugosha down. I have no desire to wed a filthy woman."

Mio was taken aback. "Wed?"

The Mikazuki turned once more. "Have you not been told?" he asked. "That son of yours cannot be born if you are not wed."

She could no longer hide her tremors. "I can't marry you!"

"You should have considered the consequences of killing Motou Enki," he told her. "Sacrifices must be made. I killed Kikumi to accommodate you. You should be grateful I am willing to go through such lengths to achieve Nishiki's goals." His expression darkened. "Else you would have been dead under Kikyo's body as was intended."

He walked away as a male shinobi took her by the arm.

Tobirama and Mito were in the process of being sent off to uncomfortably unsanitary imprisonment, but her name escaped him. "Mio!"

She looked to him, eyes shining with tears, and bowed her head as she was being dragged away. She apologized.

Apologized for what reason, he wondered. Was it because they were captured? Or because she could not trade anything for their freedom? What reason did she have to apologize to them? Why would she bother to do anything for them? He turned, hearing the sound of Mito's voice, strong and unafraid of their precarious situation. He saw her pull her arm away from the shinobi that reached for it. "You do not need to drag me, I can walk."

The shinobi gestured her further down a long dirt path with a mock bow, but his actions went on ignored by Mito who walked on with her head held high. Tobirama followed, listening to the whispers perforating through the encampment. Few dared speak the name of their Shugosha, they had been forbidden from doing so, but they spoke of her regardless and of the marriage. They spoke of her with malice on their tongues.

"The girl is an enchantress," one woman hissed. "Drove the young master to kill Kikumi-sama."

"The poor child!" another female added. "What will happen to their son?"

"He will surely be passed over by whatever heir the Shugosha provides him," one man told them.

"How much more will our poor mistress be shamed?" cried the first woman. "Even in death she will not rest."

"How long before this clan falls apart to accommodate that harlot?"

Uchiha Hiryuu stayed behind amongst the people, arms folded over his chest, and watched Mio with a smug expression, a face that shone with victory as if they had been feuding for an eternity equally matched and he won the first battle, alas. "She will be your mistress in the new world," he assured them, earning protests and sharp gasps at the thought. "Would it not be best to rid the world of her instead? She, whose mere existence has thrown your world into chaos?" He looked to them, his words enraged the people against Mio, and continued, his voice dropping low, "She is manipulative. A snake. She destroyed the unity of my clan, pitted us brother against brother, and she has come to destroy yours."

Dangerous whispers twisted around the encampment. Talk of murder and sabotage. Hiryuu fueled them all, encourage all who would listen.

"We must kill the intruder," the shinobi said, clearly and repeatedly.

Distantly, he saw Mio glance over her shoulder having heard it all, but she is not grief-stricken by the words and if she was, she does not show it. She pretends at strength, of that much he was aware. He believed she was not devoid of human emotion, and admitted, to some degree that he misjudged her as he listened to Hiryuu and his allies accuse her of being the instigator. She charmed their leader into killing his wife, leaving their son motherless, and she would continue to manipulate him until she sat beside him in the new world. He did not understand the concept of a new world, though it alarmed him to assume it had to do with the artifact Mio had explicitly asked him to leave behind, which he had not.

Nobody cared to hide their disdain. They simply did not care enough for Mio to do so. She was, as Hiryuu said, a snake, one that manipulates and controls and instigates. They were victims trapped in her web and there they would remain if they said nothing. Banding with Uchiha Hiryuu was the answer to many. He was someone that despised her enough for a reason he twisted to fit the mold of their misfortune. These shinobi would not pretend she was a welcomed sight, not even for their leader.

Tobirama and Mito were chained and imprisoned in a ditch strewn with rotting carcasses that drew the presence of crows. Dozens were spooked when they landed atop mounds of decomposing flesh. True to the rumors, the Mikazuki clan was known by their skill in battle, their ruthlessness, and the cruelty they showed their opponents.

The stench surrounding him was vile. It turned his stomach. The sight was worse. Inhumanity displayed in violence and broken pieces. In empty sockets and peeled skin, in headless torsos and painful sores, in devoured flesh and pink innards spilling over unmoving forms, the Mikazuki's violence floated in a sea of putrid, congealed blood. He beheld this vision once before in the Kuronuma's Mt. Hyōga.

Trekking through Mt. Hyōga with snow swirling above him he moved past the Kuronuma's yurts with their grey and white schemes turned inside out with their wooden lattices smashed into splintered remains. He went through the caves, interconnected within the mountain where the hot springs were located, and found them overflowing with desecrated bodies. He encountered many the further he dwelled searching for survivors with others too stunned to enter. He could detach himself from the moment. War brought the worst in many. He recognized the faces and names of many of the Kuronuma shinobi he discovered.

The horror had been further inside the mountain where bodies floated upon a sea of boiling blood that consumed their flesh for nourishment. He had found few survivors on the other side of the cave.

Mito held a hand to her nose, horrified by their surroundings, unable to turn in one direction without finding something worse on the other side.

Above them, the man he saw speaking to Mio, the man she would marry, crouched down at the edge of the hole. "I sense an artifact on you," he said, looking directly at him. "Vision? Power? Which are you?"

Tobirama glowered up at the man, saying nothing.

"You may keep your artifact," he told him. "It will do you no favors in this prison. However, Mio's progress here will dictate whether you survive at all. I must warn you against escape. Simply warn you. I have not decided whether to obliterate your clans would be punishment enough."

"You would not dare," Mito cursed, glaring at him.

The man grinned, rising. "Perhaps it would be enough."

There they remained surrounded by death, hanging onto the survival dangled above their heads with silent obedience.

* * *

><p>Motou Ayuka slid apart the shoji screens and entered with a scroll in hand. She approached the pool of boiling, black water at the corner of the Ceremony Hall. It had taken days of deep concentration and an insurmountable amount of chakra, which would have been made easier with the assistance of a tailed beast from who she might siphon off, but she had managed through the use of her clan's most protected jutsu to create black water as pure as the rivers in Kurata from Mio's blood. Since the Senju cut the bridge into Mt. Hyōga, reaching the black rivers was impossible, and without the Kuronuma's Shugosha there to do her duty and keep them running, they would dry up in time.<p>

Nishiki sat submerged in the bubbling black surface, his naked back towards her. He did not look over his shoulder to see his intruder. He remained immersed in his thoughts.

"Gouki has written," she spoke. "Mio is with him."

"And Uchiha Madara?" asked Nishiki.

"On his death bed," Ayuka replied.

Nishiki reached for a nearby towel as he rose, moving up the stone steps. The water ran down his powerful body, revitalizing him. He wrapped the towel around his waist and stood before her, towering over her. "You have done well, Ayuka."

Ayuka smiled proudly. "Gouki also mentioned he captured an Uzumaki and a Senju," she said, earning a curious tilt from her husband. "One of them is a guardian."

"One can only assume it is the Senju that holds an artifact," he said, interested.

She nodded.

"Which?"

"The Universe Sphere."

Nishiki reached for the neatly folded robe at the edge of the pool and dragged it on. He grinned at the news. His artifact was within reach. The sickness that marred his tanned body would seize once he acquiesced with his sphere again and they could be together in the new world. There would be no need to hide from one another there, nor would anyone exist with the power to cause them further suffering. In the new would they would rule.

They would be happy.

Ayuka stared up at her husband with complete adoration. "We are close, Nishiki," she whispered in her elation.

He touched her face. "It is too early to celebrate," he said calmly. "We remain at risk so long as Shinya lives."

"He is closer to death," she assured him. "I can sense he is dying. He will not last."

"And we will have our world then," he said, "but first, we should go to the Earth Country."

"Are you certain you would not want to stay here a while longer?" she asked, worried he had not replenished his strength enough to do so.

"Our son is to be married," he said, moving past her to the entrance. "I am eager to meet this frightening Shugosha. I want to see her face as she is wedded to the man that killed her mother and father."

Ayuka laughed, following him out. "She shall be devastated."

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: I promise better chapters when finals are over. I literally just finished my research paper tonight and I am feeling physically ill at the amount of writing I had to do about a subject I did not like. I was not going to post this chapter, but I seriously needed to read over something I actually enjoyed writing to forget my research paper, haha.

The next update will be in June, probably the second week. You will get two chapters. Previews for those chapters are already up!

Thank you **nightchildx **and **Loteva** for reviewing! Thank you all for reading!

PS - I posted another Jigsaw chapter at my LJ. It's the prologue to Ayuka's story. It'll be a few chapters long. So if you're interested in reading, hop on over there.


	43. The Death of Kings 8

Chapter** 43** | The Death of Kings VIII

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><p><em>Tonight<em>, she thought with dread, _tonight I will marry Mikazuki Gouki_. There was nothing she could do about the matter but endure it. She would have to because she had not heard word about Madara's condition and the enemy shinobi were saying that the antidote Gouki had given to that Uzumaki girl had been a fake. She worried that she had not considered that beforehand knowing that it would not be unlike Ayuka to do something so underhanded.

She paced the spacious room—furnished wood beneath her bare feet. There was a low bed to her far left, two windows to her right, a set of drawers sat behind her flanked by a pair of bamboo plants, and a closet which held extra bedding and coverlets (for the coming winds, a handmaid had told her). In the high space beneath the shelves of the closet was a large, leather chest where her few belongings had been arranged and the new clothing had been added.

The sliding door closest to the windows led into a small room, a measure of four and a half tatami, with a small alcove where an altar was nestled and atop the black surface, sat a golden statue with an incense burner sitting in front of it. Offerings to the golden statue were made in blood, but rarely within the castle's walls. Kuronuma Nishiki had a temple built for his wife in the tower where he had had erected the daunting solid gold statues she worshipped, the area had been restricted to all.

The rice-paper doors she chose to pace in front of led to a roomy sitting area and from its doors one had access to the rest of the building.

Another door near the bed that led to a short staircase connected to the bath. She walked down the steps, learning her surroundings, and found the bath area small. She discovered a door that led into the ground level of the structure. The building where she resided made up the western wing of the castle, which proved to be much larger than Enki's in the Sun Country. The only shinobi allowed within the castle walls were on patrol, keeping invaders out and keeping prisoners in.

The castle was situated in a part of the Earth Country that had faced a bit of strife throughout the years. Nishiki and the lord of the neighboring territory were at constant war. When she had been transported from the Mikazuki encampment near the border, surrounded by Mikazuki and a pair of Uchiha that did not dare look in her direction, they had been attacked by one of the Earth Country's shinobi clans in an attempt to capture her. Word of her presence had spread, talk of the Kuronuma's Shugosha marrying the lord's son reached all neighboring territories and treaties had been set between many of them as they came to the conclusion that a joint attack would produce better results. However, none of the shinobi that attacked her then had anticipated the presence of Mikazuki Gouki. He had made quick work of them all, leaving the road littered in bodies. One of Nishiki's advisors had asked him to spare one so that he may send word to his employer that the Shugosha would not be taken, but Gouki had laughed and killed them all.

"You will leave the bodies here," Gouki had told his men. "They will be example enough."

There were more servants in the castle grounds than shinobi and noblemen put together, but that did not make her feel safe. Both Ayuka and Nishiki were within the castle walls. Neither one of the two ventured to the west wing of the castle as their apartments were located in the south wing, which sat closer to the tower. Gouki was temporarily staying in modest accommodations in the north wing, but Ayuka, when she had appeared to make her visit, assured her that her room would be theirs to share in marriage. After that conversation, Mio had trouble keeping still inside her spacious rooms, thinking and dreading the day of the ceremony.

Mio startled at the knocking, the sound distracted her from her dark thoughts. She went and slid the doors apart, surprised to see four handmaids, all kneeling before her in a sign of respect. The oldest woman of the four glanced up at her utterly confused by her behavior, but stood. The other three exchanged glances and followed her lead. They were uniformed in a violet kimono without a pattern and a dark obi combined with an apron that fell to the same length of their skirts. The four wore their hair tied in a tight bun.

She was informed they were there to dress her. She moved aside and allowed them to cross the threshold. Each handmaid walked in a different direction, gathering items from within the drawers. One brought in a pair of long boxes she set atop the bed, another came with a square box. The older woman excused herself a moment and returned accompanied by two men carrying a wooden tub between them with several other women bringing in buckets of water to fill it. The ofuro tub was set inside the spacious room and filled almost completely, the steam rose in long, delicate tendrils from the surface.

Everyone with the exception of the first four handmaids remained and helped her undress. She stepped inside the tub and sank down into a seat with her legs drawn up to her chest. The water was fragrant from the pomegranate, raspberry, and vanilla scented oils added in with the soap that bubbled around her naked body.

One woman poured water over her head and lathered soap into her hair while another took the suds floating over the water on a washcloth, which she used to clean the length of her arms and back.

Mio felt herself dwindling in the water, her body small and still. The thoughts running through her head were aplenty. She thought of Madara in her arms, his blood soaked into her skin, of Izuna's pained expression at the revelation of their relationship, yet his insistence to follow her for Madara's sake and her safety made her heart clench—he loved them. She knew how he felt, it was a natural knowledge, but she saw it in that moment, so thoroughly expressed. She thought of the Kuronuma in the Ito Village and those in the Iron Country preparing for a fight, of Sako and Minako who stood before her perfectly healthy. She thought of everyone in the Fire Country, even Taiga. She worried for Tobirama and the Uzumaki girl.

As a bucket of hot water was poured over her head, the shoji slid apart and Ayuka entered. The woman was dressed in deep green robes, her red hair brushed out into neatly arranged waves that fell down her lower back. She gestured for the women to leave the room and the four did with their heads bowed. The last to exit slid the door shut.

Ayuka picked up her skirts, walking around the ofuro tub and coming to a stop before her. "I arranged for a physician to come see you."

"Do I seem ill?" asked Mio.

"I understand what you had with Uchiha Madara was serious," said Ayuka. "In a perfect universe, he would be ideal, but you are troublesome enough alone. I would not have the patience to deal with a pigheaded child with a god complex."

"But you want the child," she said. "What difference does it made who his father is?"

"I do not know," Ayuka admitted. "That is the thing about this child of yours. He exists in your pathways. _All of your pathways_. He is never different—"

"I do not like to speak of the future," Mio interrupted.

"The future is now, Mio," the priestess said. "If you are not with child now, you will be soon."

Mio blinked. "Is that the reason for the physician?" she asked. "You think I am with child?"

"Are you?"

There was a strange anxiety about Ayuka when she asked her. The opportunity was perfect.

Mio grasped her knees, nails digging into her skin, and for a moment dropped her eyes to the surface of the water. "I-I don't know," she said, her voice a tremulous whisper. "I have never—I don't—" She looked up at the priestess, lips parted as she forced words out. "But…would that be impossible? I would…I would have to be married."

Ayuka looked aggrieved, sighing. She composed herself. "The physician will come." She picked up a towel and handed it to her. "Come out of the water."

Mio did as she asked, standing she wrapped a large towel around her body and stepped out.

"You did not marry him, did you?" Ayuka demanded.

She merely stared up at Ayuka with a frightened look that sent the priestess into more nervous pacing until the physician appeared. The wizened woman hobbled into the room and ordered Mio to lay on her back without preamble.

Mio nervously approached the edge of the low bed and seated herself, holding the towel tightly at her chest. The woman introduced herself as Yamada before shooting an irritable glance at Ayuka's nervous pacing.

"You should step out, Ayuka-san," Yamada told her. "I do not need for your nervous energy to frighten this girl any further."

Ayuka surprisingly excused herself, leaving Mio and the physician alone.

Yamada washed her hands thoroughly, asking Mio to lie back. The woman performed a quick and uncomfortable examination that resulted in the physician's skeptical look followed by its evolution into one of annoyance.

"You are wasting my time, girl," said the physician, wiping her hands clean after washing them. "You have never lain with a man, yet you are presumed to be with child. You are driving that woman insane." As she said this, she looked towards the entrance. "She was convinced the possibility existed."

"I never said I was," Mio said innocently. "She never asked."

"Then why are you wasting my time?"

"I did not call you here."

Angered, the wizened woman stormed out of the room where Ayuka awaited, dreading confirmation, to receive Yamada's fury. Mio tugged on a robe and cinched it at the waist by a sash as the old woman shouted at the priestess for having rushed her to the castle to waste her time. Yamada insulted Ayuka in every possible form and proceeded to leave her, stunned, to step back into Mio's bedroom, her own anger incited.

"I am humiliated!" the priestess snapped. "You did this on purpose!"

"I am not the one that called the physician," Mio replied. "You are the one that made the assumption that doing so was necessary."

Ayuka took her by the chin, her fingers pressing hard. "Your little mind games will not work on me," she spat. "I will make sure you are miserable here."

"Your efforts would make no difference, I am miserable wherever you are," Mio retorted.

The priestess laughed darkly. "I wanted to wait," she began. "I wanted to wait until after the ceremony to tell you this, to relish in your distress, but if you want to continue being miserable, I will not stop you." She was unable to contain her delight. "The antidote you traded yourself for was a fake. I asked Gouki to give it to you because I wanted Uchiha Madara dead. I knew it would hurt you. I wanted you to know your efforts were for nothing."

Mio's heart skipped a beat. She knew the possibility existed.

"Uchiha Madara is on his deathbed as you stand here to be wed to my son," she continued gleefully. "You will never see him again."

The Time Sphere could not prolong his life forever if he was already dying, it could keep him well for a time enough for an antidote to reach him—that had been the plan. Her chest throbbed painfully and her eyes threatened to shed the tears that had gathered there. She bit the inside of her mouth to force back the emotion and stared, fortified, at Ayuka attempting to reject the reality of her words.

"The antidote was not a fake."

Mio and Ayuka turned in the direction of the entrance where Mikazuki Gouki stood. The towering man stepped forward, gesturing at his mother to step away from her. "I remember telling you that I do not want her bruised."

"What did you just say?" Ayuka demanded, facing him fully. The sight of them was fascinating like watching two equally venomous vipers preparing to attack one another.

"I gave the right antidote to the Uzumaki."

"Why would you do such a thing?"

Mio sank into a seat at the edge of the bed, heart thundering in her chest, and watched the scene unfold, the revelation sinking in. She did not know whose word she should trust. She did not think she could trust either one of them, but the hope awakened in her by the idea that it might not have been a fake.

Gouki shrugged, unfazed. "Do I need a reason?"

"That boy is problematic!"

"He is not of our concern." Gouki shot Mio a quick glance. "We have who we wanted. Why are we paying any mind to another?"

"This was not planned!"

Ayuka stormed out, Gouki watched her until she turned the sharp corner and disappeared. He returned his eyes—bright green like in her nightmares—to her at the sound of her shifting over the bed.

"Is it true?" she whispered. "Was the antidote real?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Why not?" he replied, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

Gouki left the room.

She alone could think of many reasons as to why it made better sense for the antidote to be a fake. He could tell her none.

The handmaids returned in time to see her prepared for the ceremony.

Mio reminded herself to breathe, as her mother had that terrible night. She did nothing else but stand atop polished floors and allowed the women to work.

Each handmaid took on a different task. The oldest woman clothed her in silk—expensive silk that slid across her limbs like liquid fabric—of various pale hues. She worked with deft fingers, folding the robe this way and that over her slim, shivering form and tied the sash around her waist in the traditional knot. She smoothed out the wrinkles, lined the skirts. She took great care to create perfection in the dress she draped over her body.

Another ran a comb through her hair, smoothing it out into shallow waves she gathered to braid down the length of her back. She picked up her plaited hair and folded it underneath the base of the braid, tying it in place with a white ribbon. She lined several fine-toothed combs decorated in flowers and other decorative kanzashi made of silver and encrusted with pearls along the pale band. The same woman attempted to replace her earrings with a pair of pearls, but Mio moved away quickly, refusing them.

The third woman powdered her face and colored her lips. She ran the brush across her lips careful to outline them. She lined her eyes in black, sharpening their shape. Once finished, she held a mirror for Mio to stare at her reflection. Admittedly, the sight had taken her by surprise because she never owned a mirror and her interests in looking at herself were near nonexistent, but once her initial reaction settled, she took the mirror and stared. She did not recognize herself reflected in the glass and it bothered her, but she returned the mirror to the handmaid that kindly offered it to her with a small smile.

The fourth handmaid prepared the room. She had ordered for the ofuro tub to be taken out and had other servants cleaning the floor, asking them to stay behind so that they could polish the floors once the room was empty. The handmaid replaced the bedding, smoothed its surface until all the wrinkles went away, and rummaged through the leather trunk in the closet to procure a change of clothes she set atop the neat coverlet.

Mio unconsciously watched this woman's every movement, reminding herself to breathe, wishing she would stop laying out her marriage bed. The drumming in her chest felt exaggerated. It was a brewing storm of restlessness and dread.

Within the next few hours, she would marry the man responsible for the death of her parents. She would be expected to act the role, share his bed, and bear him a son. She would die in this marriage. She did not need to come to any realization. She was simply aware that she would be dead. She would not survive long as Mikazuki Gouki's wife. She did not possess the strength it required. She longed for escape, but she would not attempt at it until Tobirama and his Uzumaki companion were released. She prayed for patience and inner strength. She wished her nightmares were willed away. She desired anything but this day.

Her mind was full of thoughts—dizzying, anxiety-fueled thoughts.

The shoji slid open and a man stepped forward, his presence alone made the servants scamper into a line behind her where they bowed deeply. He stared at her with curious, rose-colored eyes. She sensed power in him, a bottomless pit overflowing with static energy that filled the room and wrapped around her like a boa constrictor about to asphyxiate its victim.

Kuronuma Nishiki made a beeline to her. He stood at a daunting height with a powerful body as expected of any member of the clan. He had a shaven head, his eyebrows and eyelashes were white. The angles of his face gave him a severe look that lacked in kindness. He bore little resemblance to her grandfather, though he did possess the same youthfulness leaving her to wonder how he had accomplished remaining young without his sphere.

She swallowed hard, clenching and unclenching her hands at her side. The strongest Kuronuma to have ever lived, second only to Kiyohime, was standing in front of her. He stared at her face with evident disapproval, a hint that she was not what he expected to see, but his eyes did not linger long. They fell to the Time Sphere, the artifact that would have been his had her grandfather not attempted against his life.

"You resemble her," Kuronuma Nishiki commented, eyes flickering back to her.

Her. She heard that before. She resembled her grandmother, Chiho. It had been one of the reasons why Enki found her bearable. However, hearing those words coming from his mouth were strange. Shin and Chiho did not meet until after Nishiki had been killed, or rather presumed dead. He should not have known her grandmother. Perhaps from afar, from watching his brother as he schemed against him.

Nishiki grinned. "I forgot to introduce myself," he began, "I am—"

"I know who you are," she answered quickly, though she did not say his name. He went by an alias here, the handmaids would wonder if they heard her call him Kuronuma Nishiki.

A few handmaids gasped at her back, though they were shushed by the older woman immediately.

"Are you done with her?" he asked the women behind her.

"Yes, Takezou-sama, she is done," the older woman answered courteously.

"Thank you," he said, and then he extended a hand for her to take. "Come. I will escort you."

Mio reached for it, feeling his fingers curl underneath her own and grasp them. He gave her a gentle pull forward as he turned and led them out of her accommodations to the hallways. There he let go of her hand, allowing her simply to walk beside him.

"How is my brother?" asked Nishiki.

"I would not know," said Mio, "I have not seen him."

"I may not be Shugosha, but I am guardian still—"

"Only if you find your sphere."

She saw him grin in her peripheral vision. "Your guardian has yet to weaken me," he said, "but I am not angry that you gave my sphere to another. You did your duty and I was dead."

"My grandfather threw your body into the black rivers—"

"Have you asked him why?" asked Nishiki.

"He said you were going to do dangerous things with the artifacts and that he could not allow it to happen."

"Ayuka told me he would attempt against my life that day," he told her. "I only felt I knew my brother better."

The two walked downstairs and through a pair of opened doors leading into a courtyard filled with barren wisteria trees where a handful of people were gathered, among them, Ayuka and Gouki. They stopped for a moment on the verandah and looked at one another.

"You should not be marrying my son," Nishiki said. "You should be marrying another. Not my son."

"I don't want to marry your son," Mio answered. "I can barely look at him."

"Yes, this is atrocious."

"If you understand, why don't you stop it—this marriage?"

She forced down what little hope blossomed when he called it atrocious because she could not believe anything that was being said by these people. Her grandfather did not warn her of Kuronuma Nishiki, only told her he was dangerous, and that alone was enough for her not to trust him or his words. She steeled herself, expecting nothing of this day but a marriage she did not want.

"Ayuka is happy," he answered, looking at his beautiful wife. "She is happy that the plan is working and that you are here. I will not stand between what makes her happy." He waved her onward. "So, go."

Mio was married under the gnarled branches of a wisteria tree to the man that haunted her nightmares for the better part of nine years. She survived the moment and swore she could survive all that followed, knowing it would be difficult to escape.

The festivities to follow were filled with contempt from a handful of Mikazuki shinobi Hiryuu had managed to turn against her with everything he had said when she had arrived at the encampment. They had loved Gouki's first wife, Motou Kikumi, and were under the impression that she was killed upon Mio's request. They had fabricated many lies to paint her as the enemy. She knew a few servants felt the same way about her, but they could only express such feelings amongst themselves. The shinobi did not care. She didn't either.

Hiryuu's presence was the only thing that bothered her. The smugness on his wrinkled, old face whenever he looked in her direction, as if he were gloating a victory she was not aware of.

Mio excused herself from the celebrations early on. She was lying on the floor with the fake sphere pressed against her face when Gouki noisily entered the room. She missed her sphere, its cool surface and the way it soothed her when she pressed it to her face. She did not turn in his direction, only listened to the sounds he made as he removed his clothes.

She went to him wordlessly, already dressed in the silk the handmaid left behind atop the bed. He sat at the edge of the bed, his body long and muscular, and she should have been calm. She prepared for the moment she would face him, strengthening herself with her own resolve, but it was an unconscious reaction. She saw him and she was paralyzed. She saw him and she saw herself back in the cottage, her mother growing colder atop her body and her father all around her. Her body shook.

Gouki was aware. It amused him.

"The faster you are with child, the faster we can end this," he told her, reaching for a hand she moved further away from him. "I do not care if you imagine another. Your lover. Whoever you wish. I do not care."

"I would not shame him that way," she said, finally allowing his hand to wrap around her wrist.

He dragged her closer, his eyes never leaving hers. "You are afraid of me still?"

She answered nothing. He did not seem to care. He dropped her on the bed, her back pressed fully on the mattress. She found her stomach twisting in revulsion and herself unable to stare at him directly, her eyes fluttering in every other direction except to his face.

Mio squeezed her eyes tightly and when he pushed apart her legs, she wanted to scream. She did not cry, though her situation did threaten to wring out her tears, and she did not struggle.

There was no point.

She endured it as was expected of her. Her mind was a blank, as empty and vast as the snowfields in Kurata, and her body numb. She tried to form a thought powerful enough to take her from the suffocating weight bearing down upon her or the pain between her thighs. Nothing worked.

He left when it was over and she could appreciate that. She covered her shame, dragging the robe over her shoulder and tightly around her body feeling cold and defeated. She turned over and curled into herself, the first and last shuddering breath to escape her echoing in the dark, empty room where it lingered…and died.


	44. The Death of Kings 9

Chapter** 44** | The Death of Kings IX

* * *

><p>There was no feeling in his body only the hum of numbness, though he remembered there used to be pain. There was no sight only darkness, a frightening yawning darkness—a hollow existence. He was no longer conscious of his unconsciousness only that it had come with a string of nightmares. A man with green eyes that pierced through darkness like the one surrounding him standing in the center of a cottage, the blood running down his large body glistened in the moonlight cascading down the hole on the roof. A woman's body lay upon him, positioned protectively over him, growing colder with every step the man took forward. Around them were the severed remains of a man. There a foot, there an arm, and there an empty face lying tilted on a head separated from its body. And his chest was governed by tightness, by painful numbness, by an awareness of inevitability and death.<p>

His breath was shallow, his body too paralyzed to remember how and when to breathe.

And then there was rushing darkness and the death of Kuronuma Eito. He saw a pale neck sliced by steel. He witnessed a smile upon the Kuronuma's face. He remembered him as a formidable opponent, quick and crafty.

The visions continued. Different visions he began confusing as his own, but he learned to separate them. Especially when the visions showed him himself through the eyes of another, by the river skipping stones in painful ignorance, in battle with his body splattered in blood and a gunbai in his hand, or beside him running across water with the Sanbi rampaging in front of him. He lived every one of those moments as if they were his own. When he learned to separate his from theirs, he heard voices that called to him.

More prominently, he heard hers. Mio.

—_Madara._—

Ringing. Her voice was ringing. —_Madara._—

There were other voices but hers was the loudest. Louder and louder it rang like a warning. He sensed something was wrong, but he could not move from the prison of this darkness.

—_Madara!_—

He lost himself between consciousness and unconsciousness.

—_Come find me._—

.

.

The voices were no longer in his head. He heard them all around him.

"Why isn't he waking up?" Izuna. He recognized his brother anywhere. "You gave him the antidote! It was supposed to work! You checked it! It worked! Lest that Uzumaki switched it! Did Tobirama ask you to switch it? The bastard would!"

"I never even thought of switching it!" A female argued. The Uzumaki, he presumed, though he was less concerned with the topic of the conversation than the fact that there was an Uzumaki in their midst.

"Then you admit you would have, had you the opportunity!" Izuna accused.

"Why can you not take your arguing outside?" Yayoi complained. "Shin-sama left me to meditate and to meditate, I need quiet."

"He left you meditating five hours ago." Takuto chimed in. "You should be so immersed in your meditation that you should not be bothered by the arguing."

"Nobody asked you!"

"Are we certain he is not dead?" Taiga. He wondered when the older man returned from his mission before he began wondering when Mio might take part in the conversation.

"His breathing is shallow, but he is alive," Takuto answered.

"What about the antidote?" Izuna demanded.

"It worked. His breathing is shallow!" the Uzumaki argued.

"Shallow breathing answers nothing!"

"You should be thanking me for bothering to make this trip!" the Uzumaki shouted. "I came fully aware the antidote was for Uchiha Madara. I could have smashed it in the ground and left him to die, but I decided to come! You should be thanking me!"

"The reason you have the antidote is because of Mio's sacrifice," said Yayoi.

Sacrifice. The word alerted him.

"Oh, he isn't dead," Taiga remarked. After a small pause, he continued, "He moved."

"Was it because I said Mio?" asked Yayoi.

"Maybe he can hear us?" Taiga suggested.

"Madara, if you do not wake within the next several hours, I'm going to smother you," Izuna threatened.

"There will be no smothering!" Yayoi exclaimed. "You don't come near Madara! He's Shugosha! You're not allowed to touch him. Go away, unworthy one!"

Shugosha?

Mio was Shugosha.

"Threatening to smother him won't wake him. He needs to do that on his own," Takuto said.

He could not be Shugosha.

The next Shugosha was her son.

The son had the power to change the succession line, not Mio.

His consciousness wandered back into the darkness.

.

.

"Kuronuma Nishiki and Motou Ayuka are in the Earth Country." Taiga's voice reached him first as he resurfaced.

"That is never a good sign." Kuronuma Shinya sounded dire. "We should take cover from the upcoming natural disaster."

"Now is no time for your jokes, Shinya-sama," Takuto berated. He paused, but then continued in an exasperated tone, "Why are you in here? Madara needs his rest and I need to finish this antidote!"

"And I need to meditate!" Yayoi added, equally fervent.

"I remember asking you to run your laps for this morning," said Shin.

There was a lengthy silence, broken only by a noisily open door.

"Yayoi! This is where you are!" called the Uzumaki. Her recognized her voice from before and wondered why nobody thought of kicking her out of their territory. "I have been looking everywhere for you! Come! Now is the perfect time for a run!"

"I will join you," Taiga said suddenly. "I need a good way to clear my mind."

"I do not know how I feel about running with an Uchiha," the Uzumaki grumbled.

"Open your eyes, child, there are Uchiha everywhere," Shin said because it was the most obvious thing in the world. "There is one there in bed dying, his brother is right next to him—he is an Uchiha too—"

"Fantastic observation, Shin-san," Izuna said sarcastically. "Do you have any others?"

"None appropriate for innocent ears," Shin answered, then continued. "You will find Uchiha to the left and Uchiha to the right. If you turn completely, you will see a sea of Uchiha."

"I will go!" Yayoi decided, only because Taiga would be going.

"Ah, if Yayoi comes, I will feel much better," said the Uzumaki.

"I will meet you downstairs," Taiga said.

He heard the shuffling of their feet and the door sliding shut.

"They captured Senju Tobirama and Uzumaki Mito," Taiga revealed. "The Uzumaki and Senju clan are planning to mobilize against Nishiki."

"That isn't news," said Takuto.

"Why did you keep it to yourself if you knew?" asked Izuna, irritated.

"If any one of you bothered to speak to Nako, she would have told you herself."

"Senju Tobirama?" asked Shin.

"Yes."

"We might as well give up hope now," Shin said dramatically. "Tobirama is the Universe Sphere guardian."

Universe Sphere? The one Ayuka wanted was that bastard Senju? He cursed and the curse echoed in the deep recesses of his mind. It had to be him.

He listened. Despite it all, interested in the direction of the conversation and wanting for today be the day when his body broke free from the paralyzing darkness. He needed to open his eyes to silence the whispers in his head and to stop the images perforating his mind through the bleakness, appearing from the back of his head. He would have to learn to control the new power pulsing through his body.

He learned to distract himself with control to keep himself from growing impatient with every new piece of news that arrived over Mio's situation. He saw it in her face when she held him, her arms wound tight around him. The tears were dripping from her face. He tried to think of a time when he had seen her crying so much, only nothing came to mind because he saw the moment she decided in her head to run to Mikazuki Gouki. He saw the recklessness dawn on her as if it was her last hope.

Perhaps it was.

He did not pretend to understand it either, though at the time he had not believed it. He expected she would be sitting beside him with the others.

He wanted to live. He thought about the Uchiha clan as the excruciating pain raked through him and did not like the idea of leaving his brother alone to lead it. He could not leave Mio alone either. He did not want her to be alone.

She was out there doing something reckless on her own. She was with Mikazuki Gouki as he had assured him…and she was terrified.

Terrified, alone, and panicking.

Endure it, Mio. She had the strength to endure it. She was stronger than she seemed, much stronger than he first thought. Endure it.

—_I will save you, but you have to save me too._—

.

.

"This is absurd."

Yayoi's voice sounded distant as if behind closed doors. He sensed Takuto within the room, perhaps working silently on the antidote. Kayami and others came and went, offered him answers to his questions and guidance when he needed it. He had been working diligently in a silent space in the room for several days.

Madara had lost his sense of time and learned to measure it by the lengthier intervals in which he had been conscious of his surroundings. He came to this time to a chorus of disbelieving opinions.

"She wouldn't do that," Izuna came in support of Yayoi's astonishment. "She is terrified of the man. She would never agree to marry him."

"Mio paid the price for saving your brother's life," Shin said. "I expected no less from her journeying to the Earth Country. She should have been conscious of the possibilities."

"But Mikazuki Gouki is married to Kikumi!" Yayoi cried helplessly. "Where is Kikumi? How is she dealing with all of this?"

"They are saying Gouki killed Motou Kikumi to marry Mio," answered Taiga. "They say she convinced him to do it."

Yayoi made a painful sound.

"Taiga and I are going to the Earth Country," Izuna told them.

"Can I make a suggestion?" asked Shin, like a child about to ask permission to do something he should not.

"No," came a chorus of replies.

"It was only a suggestion," Shin said quietly.

"If you are not volunteering your time to help your _granddaughter_, then we do not want to hear any of your suggestions," Taiga replied.

"I was going to volunteer to help your cause, but I see—"

"You are not going anywhere," Takuto snapped. "I am nearly done mixing this antidote for you and you want to leave?"

"You found a cure, Takuto-san?" came the Uzumaki girl's astonished voice. "This quickly? This is impressive, you would do—"

"Nako!" shouted Ito Kayami. She came again to help Takuto.

There was a loud crash followed by the sound of several things breaking into smaller pieces. A weight fell upon his chest, heavy and obstructing.

The room was tight with panic, nobody thought to breathe a word, until slight movement followed by a groan broke the silence.

"I am so sorry!" the Uzumaki cried. "I did not mean to break…everything?" She gasped. "Did I break the antidote? I am so sorry, Takuto-san!"

"You nearly fell on Madara!" Yayoi snapped.

He felt the weight on him lift. Her reaction offered him some explanation. She probably threw herself on him to keep the Uzumaki from doing so herself.

"That's not important!" Kayami retorted. "The antidote—it's ruined!"

"Phew, that is a relief," Shin said. "I had no desire to drink that ugly gray gunk."

"That is unfortunate, Shinya-sama," Takuto began, "but I managed to save that ugly gray gunk." There were sounds of relief passing through everyone, like a drawn out sigh. "And if you want to leave the Fire Country, you are going to drink it."

"It could kill me faster," said Shin. "I could drop dead this instant and it would be your fault."

"I have not been slaving for the past three weeks on an antidote guaranteed to accelerate the poison's effects."

"Is it me or have you been in a mood as of late?" asked Shin, innocent enough.

"It is you!" snapped Takuto.

"You are completely irresponsible," said Taiga.

"Hilarious coming from you. Where is your daughter?" Shin countered.

"Waterfall Country, with her mother where she is safe," the Uchiha answered. "Can you say the same about your granddaughter?"

"She's only been married, not killed," Shin returned. "And I know exactly where she is."

"Married to a monster," Yayoi protested. "He killed Kikumi to marry Mio!"

"He killed her father and mother, your daughter, as well," Izuna added.

Married to Mikazuki Gouki.

With everyone finding a flaw in Shin's attitude towards Mio's actions and situation, Madara detached himself from the conversation and concentrated on the artifacts, whose hosts he sensed so clearly.

Two sat in the room with him. He sensed two guardian-less artifacts somewhere within the building, but he could not pinpoint them, though he believed he could.

Another guardian he sensed far, with two others in a single location. That would be Mio as she carried two artifacts without the Time Sphere and there were three sitting within a reasonable distance. The artifacts pulsed, each like a heartbeat—the further away a guardian was, the weaker the beat.

She was the weakest.

This offered him no comfort. It only assured him she was alive. She could be wounded badly and he wouldn't know.

Izuna, Taiga, and Kayami left for the Earth Country.

Not long before they had gone, Shin followed after having ingested the antidote Takuto mixed together.

And he remained still in the strange warmth and darkness, within a nightmare that stubbornly repeated itself as he teetered between consciousness and unconsciousness, for the first time unable to do anything for Mio's sake.

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: Double, double update! These two underwent so many changes, but I hope they have all been for the better. The ending was of the previous chapter was so hard for me to write. Sometimes I need to be stopped.

There are approximately 3-4 more chapters of this arc which I am writing simultaneously. I will do this more seriously starting Friday. These chapters come early because I've been stressed for finals and editing them took my mind off it. Thankfully, my last two finals are tomorrow and after that, vacation time! Vacation time = more writing! I seriously want to finish this before starting school in the Fall, so fingers crossed.

Oh, oh, oh, I had a question posted in my journal (you fill find the entry under the preview for 45) about posting. So if you haven't voted, please do. And since we're all here, I don't have a set day when updating happens (but it used to be Saturday), so does anyone have a preference? Mon-Sun applicable. XD

Next, thank you to **Loteva**, **Aries01xD**, **HushedFable**, and **Kettobase** for reviewing! :D

Also, I had this poll on my journal about Mio's marriages, so now you know the first husband. I will link it in the preview for chapter 45, which should be up by the time you finish reading this chapter, for anyone curious.


	45. The Death of Kings 10

Chapter** 45** | The Death of Kings X

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><p>Madara opened his eyes.<p>

Yayoi sat to his left, eyes shut, with an aura of tranquility about her in her current meditative state.

He found his body aching as he lifted it to a seat. He supposed it was the result of having been asleep for too long. Looking down, he found Mio's sphere around his neck when it should have been around hers protecting her.

"It's about time you woke up," came Takuto's voice from behind him.

He did not realize Takuto was sitting in the corner of the room nor did he expect to find him there. "Why do I possess Mio's sphere?"

"Because Mikazuki Gouki poisoned you with one of the deadliest poisons in existence and in an attempt to prolong your life whilst she procured an antidote to said poison, Mio made you Shugosha."

"And Mio…?"

He needed the confirmation.

"She is now married to Mikazuki Gouki as part of the exchange." Takuto possessed a different air about him. "Izuna and Taiga set out with Kayami and Shin to challenge the Mikazuki clan and retrieve Mio."

"Why did you remain?" He glimpsed at Yayoi. "Both of you."

"Because we are guardians and our duty is to protect you."

Madara frowned. "Mio is the one in need of protection. You all allowed her to go to the Earth Country—"

"I would have gladly followed Mio to the Earth Country," said Takuto, "but she tasked me with saving you, prolonging your life further—beyond the power of the Time Sphere if need be. She left to trade her freedom for an antidote to save you. She probably had no idea if it was real or a fake. I stayed to make sure Mikazuki Gouki did not make a fool of her and that you would survive. As you can see, you are alive. Healthy I might add and completely immune to all forms of artifact poison, as are Yayoi, Shinya-sama, and myself."

"You did your part," Madara acknowledged gratefully, but that did not sooth him completely. Mio remained in danger. "Why did you not go with Shin if you were done with your duties here?"

"Because I was waiting for you to wake," the Kuronuma answered. "Mio said she wanted to start a war and that she wanted you to save her. Yayoi and I are here to follow you if you decide to follow your brother into battle."

Then there was no time to waste.

Madara disturbed Yayoi's meditation to ask her to prepare to leave. She let out a startled cry at the sight of him, admitting that she had not expected him to wake for another couple of weeks.

"Your timing is perfect," she said, nodding. "Izuna left a few days ago. If they traveled quickly, they should be in position to invade. Unless they have already invaded, then we might be a little late."

"Has there been other news concerning Mio?" he asked, as Takuto gathered his things into a bag.

Yayoi stared at him sorrowfully. "She's married."

"I told him," Takuto commented. "I expected him to be a little more devastated, but what can we do?"

"You aren't even a little devastated?" asked Yayoi.

"Why would I be devastated?" Madara asked, irritated.

Takuto and Yayoi gapped at him.

"Does Mio mean nothing to you?" demanded Yayoi. "You should be seething at the thought of another man putting his hands all over your woman? You do know everyone is calling her your woman, right? Your enemies are targeting her, or so intelligence says. You should take better

care of Mio and stop letting her run off to do reckless things like this."

"I do not recall owning Mio. She does as she pleases, and if I remember correctly, you used to hate her," Madara said, hoping to dismiss her prying.

"That was before she hit my beautiful face," Yayoi admitted. "I like her now! She could use some work, like maybe comb her hair out more often because when you look better than she does on a daily basis it's a cause for worry."

"How do you know she does not comb her hair? She wears it up all the time," Madara answered, feeling stupid for paying the comment any mind. The fools were sucking him into their gravitational pull of stupidity.

Yayoi made a face that said his comment had proven her point.

"Are you saying she's untidy?" asked Takuto, offended.

"I actually feel she was reasonable looking," said the Uzumaki, who he found sitting behind Takuto's worktable. He did not see her there before, but judging by the open door and the trail of crumbs, she had entered while everyone was getting off topic. She was lean with brazen features and short red hair, her eyes a clear green. "She is not as beautiful and refined as Mito-sama, but she is not a troll. Tobirama said she was a troll."

"Who are you?" Madara asked, ignoring her remark. Tobirama was half blind and a fool. "And why are you here?"

"Uzumaki Nako," she introduced. "I stayed because—"

"She stayed to break everything," Yayoi interrupted. At the Uzumaki's affront, she continued, "Do not make that face, you have done nothing but wreck the place. It is as if you came here to cause turmoil only nobody is taking you seriously so you have adopted the part of the klutz to grab everyone's attention."

"I stayed because I wanted to," Nako corrected snobbishly.

"She stayed because she doesn't know her way back to the Ito Village," Takuto said. "And when given a map, she managed to run around in circles for three days until Izuna felt enough pity for her to offer her to stay…until you woke and decided what to do with her."

Madara stared at the Uzumaki, preferring not to deal with her when there were bigger issues at hand. He trusted his brother was careful with the type of information that passed within the compound with the Uzumaki. However, the bigger concern was Takuto's attitude. He did not understand the easiness members of the Kuronuma clan brought. The world could be ending and a Kuronuma would find a way to start an inappropriate conversation that would draw others to adopt the same mannerisms.

"I expect you both ready in ten minutes," he ordered, looking from Yayoi to Takuto, both nodding. He faced Nako, the Uzumaki straightened, arms firmly at her sides. "If Uzumaki Mito was taken captive with Mio, the Uzumaki and Senju clan will mobilize if they cannot agree to terms with the Mikazuki clan. You can find your way to them if you travel with us to the Earth Country."

Nako nodded. "Got it."

Turning to Takuto, he continued, "I want the remaining artifacts." He sensed them within the building, but like the time in his sleep, he could not pinpoint their exact location. "A Shugosha can assign guardians right?"

Takuto nodded. "Perhaps you should wait for Mio to make a decision—"

"Mio is not Shugosha," he said, silencing the Kuronuma. "I am assigning guardians."

"You should reconsider," Yayoi reasoned. "You need to learn a few things about the artifacts before assigning them."

"Once you do, you should distribute them properly as well," said Takuto. "Too many artifacts within one clan would cause a rift between our current collective."

"Doesn't the Senju clan have two?" asked Nako, though her comment went on ignored.

"The guardians will be temporary," Madara clarified. "The Uzumaki will take one of the artifacts. Show them to her and have her choose."

"I want the eyeball," said Nako excitedly. "I heard there was an eyeball. Unless Hashirama was lying, I want the eyeball. There better be an eyeball."

"Mio will be angry," Yayoi said.

"With me," Madara remarked, then gestured to Nako as he headed for the door. "Give her the Dragon's Eye."

As he made his way down the hallway, he distinctly heard Takuto say, "She's going to be furious."

Madara did not think she would mind. He realized quickly that the artifacts drained chakra constantly, especially if one person carried more than one as he had grown accustomed. Mio's sphere was vastly different. It took more chakra from him, chakra that he later felt surging through his Nature Sphere as he had once been able to distinguish Mio's.

However, if she was to be bothered by his decisions, Mio could do as she pleased when they reunited. Let it be furious with him for giving an artifact to someone she did not approve or not, he would deal with it when they were together.

He readied himself quickly and gathered the three that would accompany him. The compound was vacant with only members of their intelligence division were seen passing through on errands. He ordered one to send a hawk to his brother informing him of his traveling before leaving.

The Uzumaki girl ran on ahead to scout only she met with numerous incidents that made him take the lead. Takuto and Yayoi traveled at his sides like a guard, which made him think of Mio and her desperate need of someone to guard her, not from other shinobi but from doing something as reckless as accepting to marry Mikazuki Gouki, compromising her future, for an antidote that could have been a fake.

_An antidote that should have been a fake_, he corrected mentally. Ayuka did not do things ethically. She did things efficiently by doing all that they required without paying any mind to the questionable methods employed to see her vision done.

He questioned the antidote when they sat around a burnt out campfire at the break of dawn. They had taken several minutes to discuss the safest routes and other details concerning their movements. Yayoi had complained the entire time, though a journey with her in silence would have been a bad omen.

"Why do you suppose Mio was given the right antidote?" Madara asked.

"Sabotage," Yayoi offered. "Clear sabotage. Someone must have switched the fake antidote with the real one at the last minute because I know for a fact that Ayuka does not want you alive anymore."

"I was not aware she wanted me alive before," he replied. He hadn't. She put him through situations from which he narrowly escaped death.

"She attempted to seize some form of control over you, which she had accomplished by revealing parts of a single pathway that she could spin into a tale of truth," said Yayoi. "She obviously realized controlling you was out of the question, so what need did she have for you?"

"Ayuka has a knack for using underhanded methods to accomplish her goals," Takuto added. "She controlled the outcome of many aspect of Mio's life through the use of underhanded methods. Sending Gouki to her parents, asking Hiryuu to force Sachiyo to take a detour to the cottage knowing she would take Mio and propose raising her. The day she arrived to the Sun Country, it was not mere coincidence. Ayuka planned it. You can assume she has done the same with your life with many of our lives."

Nako asked who Ayuka was after that and received a brief, but accurate description of the woman. "Our highly calculating and intelligent Fate Sphere guardian who is also a tad unhinged."

"A tad?" Yayoi asked dubiously.

"I did not want to be unkind," said Takuto.

"Has she given you reason to be kind?" Madara asked.

"She never singled me out, I am not Mio and I'm not you," he replied, then caught Yayoi staring at him with a bothered expression. "I am not you either."

The priestess scoffed. "Do not think yourself so special," she said. "Ayuka will eventually come after you personally for knowing too much."

The conversation continued where it begun and concluded with speculation.

They traveled faster to cover more ground. Madara assumed Takuto navigated using his artifact, a handheld mirror made of intricately designed black iron. He looked down periodically, taking in whatever he saw reflected in that glass and processing with deep concentration, each time doing so before pinpointing them towards a new direction.

Yayoi's complaints doubled throughout the next couple of hours. "I have a bad feeling about this," she said continuously. "Something is going to happen. There are people there that should not be there."

"Maybe we should stop," Nako suggested.

"No!" Yayoi snapped, though she realized she had spoken too loudly and attempted to rectify it as she continued. "We have to get them out. There are people there that don't belong and we have to get them out."

Madara sensed a large concentration of chakra pulsing from Yayoi that made him come to an abrupt stop. Takuto zipped past him, reaching Yayoi and placing his hands on her shoulders, grabbing her before she moved further. He guided her to a seat, one she initially refused because it was on the dirt road which showed she had some grasp of reality, though she continue urging them forward to take those that did not belong out of danger.

"You are not listening, Takuto, we have to get them out."

Takuto managed to sit her down. He crouched down before her, his hands still on her shoulders. He called out to her numerous times until she met his eyes. He reached out to touch her face and she flinched.

"Who do we need to protect?" asked Takuto patiently.

Yayoi touched his hand, drawing it from her face. "I don't know," she said. "I can't see it clearly. The pathways are diverging. I don't have a grasp on one."

"She is reading the Fate Sphere?"

The priestess nodded gravely.

Takuto stood, turning swiftly and walked to Madara. Nako took the opportunity to speak to Yayoi.

"What is it?" asked Madara, starting to hear voices. Yayoi's voice echoing with the pulse of an artifact he sensed from her that she did not possess. He did not understand being Shugosha. He found it curious and draining, but seeing through the eyes of a Shugosha brought absent vibrancy to the mundane. "She's not a guardian yet. She should not be…"

"_Pulsing_?" Takuto finished. "The Fate Sphere has been transferring ownership to her for the past several weeks since Shin started training her. He wants her to make the Fate Sphere reject Ayuka completely so that we would have an advantage when it came to running straight into the Earth Country."

"What can she do?" Madara asked, glimpsing at Yayoi. She sat biting her nails in her anxiety, the pulsing he sensed becoming into a rhythmic beat.

"Remote reading," Takuto said. "That's the best explanation for it anyways. She has the same ability as Shinya-sama. The two are able of accessing the Fate Sphere without it being before them. They naturally draw pathways from it and transcribe them in their head without using a medium like Ayuka, who used dirt and blood. Shinya-sama is capable of determining exact pathways. He reads outcomes better than Ayuka ever could. He says Yayoi could be the same. It's almost like predicting an exact future rather than seeing the ever-changing future. It's about predicting decisions and actions, he says, it takes calculation and one knowing a person well—you understand, deciphering them."

Yayoi's gift would be useful once she mastered it, but it could be dangerous.

"What are the drawbacks?"

"It is a constant mental strain. Anyone without discipline would likely go crazy. And it takes decades to master, as expected of any sphere."

Madara looked upon Takuto's mirror. "And yours? What does yours do?"

"I can see things."

"Like Yayoi?"

"No, Yayoi can read pathways. I can see things—anything, anyone that I want in whatever situation they may be at the moment I decide to see them."

He recalled him constantly looked down at its surface. "You have been using it to navigate?"

"To an extent. I was using it to pinpoint your brother's location to ensure we are heading in the right direction."

He nodded, prepared to pursue a different inquiry, but another question escaped him. "Can you see her?"

Takuto understood and nodded.

"Show me."

The Kuronuma tapped the surface of the mirror and handed it to him as his reflection disappeared in the ripples of a new image that rose from the depths of reflective glass. The artifact showed her to him lying on her side in the middle of a large room with her black hair fanned out in waves behind her head. Her thin body was clothed in silk brocade that outlined the curve of her body. She looked as she had always looked in her silence, defeated and miserable. There was a table toppled with different platters of food, but it was untouched. Not even the tea had been sipped and the steam that curled above its green surface was thinning out. She did the same thing in the Sun Country. She avoided the food at times, wary of the cooks preparing it, cooks that worked with her enemies and could easily poison it.

He noticed something else. Lying beside her neck, hanging from it on black cord, there was a sphere.

"She has a sphere?"

"Mio made a fake," Takuto offered in explanation. "She chased down the best gaffer she could find to have a glass sphere made. She went to the Earth Country with a plan. That alone was a comfort."

"Is that possible?"

"If it wasn't, it is now," said Takuto. "Mio is learning her way around the artifacts. She is doing it quickly."

"You know of the artifacts in detail?" asked Madara, seeing his knowledge was extensive when it concerned the artifacts.

"To an extent."

"What does the Time Sphere do?"

He tested the depths of his knowledge with an easy question because he was highly suspicious of the artifacts' unique gifts.

"It unites the other spheres," Takuto answered easily.

No, that was not the answer he wanted. The sphere could do more. He sensed it in the deep darkness. It was more than a connection to the other artifacts and their guardians. He woke with the sphere and felt different. Something in him changed with the sphere.

"What does the Time Sphere do?" Madara repeated.

Takuto stared at him long and hard. "I told you what it does."

"There is more power in this sphere than in my own."

"It's the kingpin," said Takuto. "Kiyohime created it first and from it created nine others. It is as strong as it needs to be. That power is in reserve."

"What does it do?"

Takuto sighed. "The Time Sphere protects its guardian by all means possible against all that poses a threat to him or her," he told him. "It makes its host nearly impossible to kill."

"Mio was aware of this?"

"Not initially, at least not at first," Takuto admitted. "I feel she unconsciously became aware and grew reckless because of it. She has always been keen on survival. That is what she's good at, it's how she survives."

Madara nodded. "She no longer has the sphere."

"No," the Kuronuma said. "She does not."

Silently, the two were aware of what that meant. Mio's recklessness had been accounted to by the Time Sphere that protected its Shugosha from death, but she no longer had the artifact to guarantee her safety. She had a fake, though how good a fake it was a cause for concern.

Yayoi gathered herself from the ground, dusting her simple skirts. She composed herself with Nako at her side. Takuto went to her, taking her arms by the elbows gently, and spoke to her in whispers. She nodded in response, staring up at him with watery eyes.

"We continue moving forward," Madara said when Takuto gave him confirmation that Yayoi would be able to make the rest of the trip.

They reached the Earth Country as the Uchiha clan under his brother's leadership decimated two of its clans. He reached Taiga after having heard his brother advanced towards Nishiki's castle, masquerading as him to incite the participation of Ayuka, Nishiki, or Gouki. However, no word had reached Taiga from Izuna.

"There is a possibility we lost communication along the way," Taiga admitted.

Madara believed in his brother's strength and because of it was sure he was safe, but communication between the two would need to be reestablished. This meant finding the shinobi that were no doubt intercepting their courier birds and it would not be hard for Madara to accomplish this.

"Where is Shin?" Yayoi asked curiously, appearing beside him.

"Do you want him for gawking purposes or do you have a serious inquiry that simply cannot wait?" asked Taiga in teasing manner.

Yayoi was reduced to a puddle of coquettish swaying. She slapped his arm with a giggle. "You know me so well, Taiga-kun," she said, all grins. "I do not understand how you cannot see the amount of perfection we could accomplish together."

Madara shot a look to Takuto, hoping it would prompt him to do something like remove Yayoi while he spoke to Taiga, but the Kuronuma shrugged. Behind him, the Uzumaki managed to slide down a length of stone with an ear-splitting scream. Takuto rolled his eyes and went after her.

"Oh? Are you seducing me, Yayoi?" asked Taiga, prepared to humor her.

Madara spotted Jouji surrounded by young shinobi he sent in different directions and made a beeline for the older man, knowing he could get somewhere with him than with Taiga when he was so pleasantly distracted.

"Is it working?" Madara heard Yayoi ask coyly.

"It might be."

Irritated, Madara turned before reaching Jouji—though the Uchiha was aware of his approach and waiting for them to meet—and shouted, "He is obsessed with Mio, open your damn eyes, Yayoi!"

Yayoi gaped at him, though his initial shout startled her.

"That is quite right," Taiga said, taking a step away from the horrified priestess. "I was in the process of storming the castle and rescuing a princess. Perhaps my actions might merit a—" Although he did not speak the word, he put his index finger to his mouth to indicate what the expected outcome would be.

Huffily, Yayoi stomped to him after Taiga jumped from the rock wall to join the shinobi under his command. "What is wrong with you? I had him!"

"You will find someone better," Madara informed her, but she seemed genuinely upset. "He is only toying with you, it's what he does."

"He is going to steal your woman!" she snapped. "You gave him permission to steal your woman! Knowing Mio, she might just marry him because he rescued her."

"What is more upsetting, this or my thwarting your advances with Taiga?" Madara asked, because he suspected she cared more of his indifference to his romantic entanglements than his intervening. Not that he was indifferent to his affection for Mio. It was simply not the time to discuss these matters.

"This!" she snapped. "How can you be so cruel? Mio came here and married the man she hated most in the world so that she could get an antidote to heal you. You don't seem to care. The reason you are here is for your brother's sake, not hers."

"It is not the time," he told her, turning to Jouji. "Where was my brother headed?"

Jouji semi-turned and gestured him along the edge of the border. "Up that way. We captured some shinobi that pinpointed Kuronuma Nishiki's castle in exchange for their lives. Izuna-sama is pursuing that lead."

Madara gathered Takuto and Nako informing them that they would move along the border to meet his brother before he acted. Yayoi followed reluctantly, asking any and all that passed her by for Shin's whereabouts. Nobody seemed to know where the Kuronuma went only that he was within the country at one point and disappeared the next.

The second time he found Taiga, he threw the Vision Sphere in his direction. "Keep that out of enemy hands," he told him, earning a horrified look from Takuto, who went onto assure him that Mio would kill him for making The Nameless One a guardian. He told the Kuronuma that he would deal with Mio's wrath when it came, hoping that she would be unharmed when it did.

As the four moved along the border in the direction Jouji pointed them towards, Madara stopped abruptly in the center of one of the many gigantic rocks. A powerful pulse shot through him that nearly knocked him over. He recognized this fast-approaching chakra and drew his gunbai when he caught sight of the first Senju. He attacked him with a powerful wind technique that knocked him off his trajectory, driven by instinct, and felt his blood rush as he activated his Sharingan.

"What are you doing?" shouted Nako.

Hashirama was close.

Madara spotted him and moved forward, only stopped when Takuto clapped a hand on his shoulder and through sheer strength kept him immobilized. "What are—?"

"We are here for Mio's sake. They are here for their captured comrades and because Mio is Shugosha," said Takuto sternly. "This is not one of your battles. The artifacts were founded on protection. You will not sully them with your blood wars." He stepped forward authoritatively. "I will speak to them. Nako, come with me."

Takuto went on ahead with Nako in tow to meet with Hashirama.

Vexed, Madara took Yayoi and continued onward to meet his brother. He could not see why Mio made not one but two Senju guardians. She was an Uchiha. They were natural born enemies that could not sow friendships without them falling apart. He and Hashirama tried once. They shared their dreams of unity and a village where shinobi could live peacefully. However, it was impossible. Soon as they had known one another's true identities and had seen things for what they were, they had acknowledged the truth.

He did not care what the Senju did only that they did not interfere with his reaching Mio.


	46. The Death of Kings 11

Chapter** 46** | The Death of Kings XI

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><p>The Mikazuki shinobi transferred them from their imprisonment surrounded by rotting corpses to a castle that sat in the far north along the border. Nobody wanted to be near them and it was understandable. They smelled of decay, grime, and dried blood. Within the high walls of the castle, surrounded by their captors, they were introduced to its lord, a giant male with a wide muscular build and the rose-colored eyes of the Kuronuma clan. He introduced himself as such, Kuronuma Nishiki, and admitted to having used the alias of Muto Takezou, which placed him dead center in the war against the Sand Dome clans of the Wind Country and an ally to the deceased Uchiha Hikaku seemingly forever ago.<p>

Kuronuma Nishiki welcomed them as his guests, informed them that they were under the protection of Uchiha Mio. When Tobirama asked for her whereabouts, he told him that she would likely find them once they settled.

Long after Nishiki was gone, Tobirama realized he could not shake a dark feeling. He likened the strangeness to their current circumstances, and once they improved, it would go away. Despite the fact that they remained prisoners of the Mikazuki clan, they weren't in that hole surrounded by death or its stench. He could appreciate the clean smell because he did not recognize it anymore.

Mio appeared hours after they had settled and thoroughly bathed. One of the servants told them the entire upstairs apartments of the south wing were theirs throughout their stay. They were standing in front of table when she walked in, food had been brought to them earlier, though neither one of them trusted enough to eat any of it. Four women in violet uniforms attempted to follow her in, but she politely asked them to stay outside because she wanted to have one private conversation.

"Our lord has forbidden we leave your side," an aging woman said sternly. She placed herself in the threshold preventing Mio from sliding the door shut. "Our lady would also disapprove your coming to the south wing without your husband."

"He is not my keeper," she said edgily.

The four women displayed their immediate disapproval, talking over each other and urging her to reconsider or think of the consequences.

Tobirama saw Mito advance towards the scene and opened his mouth to call for her, only he did not get the opportunity to formulate her name when she had already shut the door on the handmaids. She proceeded to break off a stem from the bamboo plant beside the entrance and pushed it between the wooden frames, successfully sealing the entrance shut. He did not blame her impatience after the Mikazuki's hellish treatment.

The uniformed women were banging on the doors, ordering that they be opened.

Mio stared at Mito in amazement, lips opened partially. "Thank you."

Mito inclined her head and walked back to Tobirama's side. "It won't be long before they remember there are other doors, so if you have come to say something, you must speak it now," she said, facing her.

Quickly, Mio crossed to them. "Did they take your belongings?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"Why is that important?" asked Mito.

Tobirama understood and went to retrieve his sphere. He held it out to her. "You want this?"

Mio took it from him. "I knew you would bring it."

"What are you saying?" he demanded, hearing an insulting emphasis in her words.

"You are thick," she answered, taking one of the cups from the table with her to the nearest window where she discarded its contents. "You did this on purpose."

Truth be told, he completely overlooked it. "It is a useless cup. It can do nothing."

She thrust it forward. "This useless cup used to belong to Kuronuma Nishiki," she informed him. "This useless cup is the reason he is showing his face because when I gave it to you I never anticipated he was alive and there can't be two guardians for one sphere."

"What does that mean?"

"The predecessor dies," she answered. "Do you think Kuronuma Nishiki wants to die? He doesn't, but he is. Do you know what he has been doing? He's been looking for his successor so he can kill him and take back the sphere."

"You should speak of such things from the start," Tobirama berated.

"You would not have listened," she remarked.

"It won't be long before Hashirama and the Uzumaki clan come," Mito said. "No doubt, the Kuronuma and the samurai of the Iron Country will assemble for you as well if they have not already."

"And the Uchiha clan."

There were more voices outside. The women panicked, pleading men to knock down the door. She switched their cups.

"You will come find me and bring me that cup," she said, putting his Universe Sphere into the hollow sleeve of her robe. "You say nothing of your artifact."

The shoji screen was forced open by a disgruntled Mikazuki shinobi that reached out to grab her. He took her and shoved her harshly towards the broken entrance. Mio made it outside, but the shinobi went and took her by the arm. Her hand shot up to his wrist, a flash of pain in her face.

"Unhand her," Tobirama said.

The Mikazuki turned, eyebrow arched. "Did you say something?"

"Unhand her," he repeated.

The Mikazuki shinobi laughed, staring at Tobirama and then Mio. "Have you no shame, harlot? Is this one your lover too?"

"And if he is, that is not your business," Mito said, managing to look dignified as she said it.

Tobirama and Mio stared at her, their surprise nearly giving away her lie.

"I explicitly remember Kuronuma Nishiki saying you are not to harm us," Tobirama said, making it evident that he meant Mio as well. "Any of us."

"I do not serve Kuronuma Nishiki!" the shinobi spat.

_Dissent within their ranks?_ Tobirama glanced in Mito's direction and she nodded, no doubt thinking the same.

"You serve my husband," said Mio strongly, though she spoke the word _husband_ with disdain, "and if you leave so much as a bruise on me—"

He let go of her wrist and stormed away with a huff. The women in the violet uniforms ushered Mio away before she had a chance to say anything to them.

"We can play on their weaknesses," Tobirama said once they were alone. "We go before Hashirama thinks of engaging the Mikazuki clan in battle."

"It would be best," Mito agreed. "However, we need to take her from here."

Tobirama nodded. He crouched down to touch the floor; eyes shut, and sensed all shinobi near. They were surrounded by twice the number he had counted on the way through the castle, but noticed there were fewer numbers in the east. Going east would guarantee their way to the Waterfall Country's border. He told Mito this.

Mito called in one of the many Mikazuki now standing guard outside their door. Soon as he crossed the threshold, Tobirama attacked him from behind, knocking him unconscious to take his weapons and distribute them between them as theirs had been confiscated. Hearing the loud thud of the Mikazuki's fall, others quickly followed. These did not last long once there was a sword in his hand.

"I will go after Mio," Tobirama said. "Head for the Waterfall Country. We will meet you in the Ito village."

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><p>A servant was busily cleaning the blood off the floors when she entered. She took a step back, unsure of advancing; the man scrubbing lifted bloodshot eyes to her but dropped them quickly and resumed his duties. She moved forward, nonetheless, stepping around the ghastly amount of blood fleeing ill.<p>

"Does it amuse you that everyone thinks you a whore?"

Mio startled, swiveling to find Gouki in the threshold leading into the bedroom. He was fastening his kimono top shut, meaning he had been guilty of the mess and had changed out of his stained clothing.

"One of my men claimed you were that Senju's lover," he began.

"And you killed him?"

"Well, yes, I killed him."

It surprised her to see Gouki for the man he was—detached and disinterested. He did as he pleased and rarely as others wanted, which made him a difficult person to control for the calculated plans of his mother. He had killed her parents on what she believed had been a whim and had only spared her life because he had been in the mood to listen to Ayuka. He had pretended to hunt her for many years to follow, amusing himself, until she had been captured and taken to him. He had killed her aunt, Konoe, when she had attempted against her life. He had accepted to marry her because he had liked the irony, but he had a wife, one he had killed to make it a possibility for them to marry not caring that there had been a child in the middle, one that needed his mother. He had given her the correct antidote when Ayuka had asked him to give her a fake.

She peeled back the layers of his intentions to realize his motives were his own and that it did not matter how hard she tried to understand, she would not. However, she had no desire to understand a thing relating to Mikazuki Gouki. She would be in the Earth Country temporarily. What she experience there, she hoped, would be a fleeting memory years from now in a world where Nishiki, Gouki and Ayuka were dead and their legacy buried.

"Would it not be strange? For an Uchiha and a Senju to be lovers," he continued. "Enemies from birth 'till death and, perhaps, beyond that. The irony is insurmountable."

"You butchered my mother and father," she reminded him. "You attempted against my life multiple times. I would have faster married a Senju than settle for you."

"Ah, but you do not hate the Senju." He grinned. "They are not your enemy nor will they ever be. Admit the truth, you would faster die that settle for me. I do not mind the truth."

"Do not treat my life so simply, I would not forfeit it."

"Go on. I know you are not finished."

"Forfeiting my life is giving up," she said. _And I can be strong. _She would not fall to that point. "I do not give up so easily."

"Of that I am aware."

Gouki walked around the remaining blood, the servant scrambling out of his way, and came to a stop in front of her.

"Who is it that you love? The Senju, as this man claimed"—and he waved a hand to the blood—"or Uchiha Madara? Is it his brother? There are so many rumors of Uchiha Mio, Shugosha of the Kuronuma clan. They say you are beautiful beyond words and that men fall to your feet in your presence—how else could they explain all the men that want you? Everyone wants to know the answer."

She hated his proximity. Standing so close to Gouki felt wrong. She did not like it.

"Am I expected to answer that?"

"The Uchiha is your lover, the Senju your husband," Gouki said. She did not understand the direction of the conversation. "Ayuka told me you chose your Universe Sphere's guardian over Uchiha Madara."

Her heart skipped a beat in horror.

"He is your Universe Sphere's guardian, is he not?"

"Who?"

"Senju Tobirama."

She did not breathe. "No."

He tilted his head. He did not believe her. "Hmm."

She steeled herself. "I won't let you have the Universe Sphere," she said, though admitting it would do her no favors. "I won't let you hurt him to get it either."

His grin faded and he turned his back to her. "We were speaking of my killing my subordinate," he said easily. "I am willing to go through these extents for you. You should feel grateful."

"Grateful? For what reason?"

He faced her, his expression telling as though it were the most obvious thing. "That I am defending your honor." He walked away and waved his hand, remembering something. "Nishiki wants to speak to you. About his condition and what you can do about it. Go meet him and return here."

Mio went to the entrance. His voice reached her a second time, startling her.

"I am not the one that wants the Universe Sphere," he said. "I want none of your spheres."

"I do not believe that."

"Good," he answered, sounding relieved. "I worried you were stupid enough to trust me."

Mio met Nishiki as he wandered underneath the wisteria trees where she had been married. He paused to have a look at her, but continued moving until he reached a verandah on the opposite side where a kettle and two cups of tea had been set out with warm snacks. He gestured for her to sit beside him, but she only moved forward to stand close enough for their voices to carry without being too close.

"Your handmaids tell me you have not been eating," he started, taking one of the mugs into his hand. "It is understandable. You do not trust the food. It may be poisoned. I promise you it isn't. I can guarantee your safety here until after you have provided Gouki with a son. What happens to you after is beyond my power."

He reached for the other mug of tea and took a sip as if to prove a point.

"You asked me here for a reason, so do not pretend you are concern about my wellbeing."

"You are not wrong," he admitted. His voice did not change, but his words were cutting. "I do not care for your wellbeing. You are not worthy of the Time Sphere. You are a weak child and it will not be long before you are dead. You bring death to all those that surround you. You are a curse and you have brought your curse here. The reason you are here, alive, is because by a series of unfortunate events my sphere, my birthright, is hanging from your neck instead of mine. You are useful to me. You are useful to my cause."

"And what is your cause?"

Nishiki stood. "I am in need of my strength," he said, advancing towards her. "I need to replenish my strength and the black water running through my veins. For that purpose, I need your blood."

Mio backed away warily as he continued walking. "What?"

"Ayuka failed to drain you of it completely in the Sun Country. She failed to turn it into a proper black water spring, but she will attempt it again." Nishiki reached out to take her by the shoulders. "It should be done now before you are with child."

She tried to wiggle free, but he clamped down harder, surprising her with his strength. She stared up at him, wide-eyed.

"You will help me regenerate, child," he said, "and then, you will return my Universe Sphere."

"I will not give my guardian to you," she said, determined to keep her body from expressing the fear coursing through her veins.

"Do not think me a fool," he told her. "I was guardian of the Universe Sphere for decades. It is a part of me and I can feel its pulse coming from that Senju."

He reached for the sphere hanging from her neck and she sealed her eyes shut, flinching, erecting a barrier through the fake sphere that deflected his fingers. Amused, Nishiki laughed, but with a balled fist, punched through the barrier and took the sphere in his hand. "And this," he said, dropping his voice to a dangerous low. She heard the glass cracking under the pressure of his grip, her heart hammering in her chest. "I was the Time Sphere's successor long before you were born and I can sense a fake no matter how good the fake is."

He crushed it. Glass shards flew in all directions, falling to the ground with a chilling sound.

He unclenched his hand, and from the center, a crushed walnut dropped to the floor between them.

She dispelled a shuttering breath. His hand shot up to her jaw, forcing her to look at him instead of all around her. His eyes were ablaze. "You are a clever girl, I will not deny you that," he said. "How you managed to create a fake sphere is beyond me, but you have failed. I know there is a new Shugosha; I can sense them now without your fake masking their presence." He looked around as if he were sniffing out her chosen Shugosha, then his eyes went back to her, voice booming. "Where is the Time Sphere?"

Mio caught sight of Ayuka running out of the building behind him and heard the sound of her gasp. "Nishiki! What have you done?" she shouted. "You broke the Time Sphere? How did you-? This is blasphemous—"

"The Time Sphere would not shatter so easily!" Nishiki snapped, silencing her. "This is a fake!"

"A fake? Impossible!"

"Where is the real one?" barked Nishiki at her.

"It is useless," Ayuka stated. "She will not speak when it is demanded of her nor when she is tortured. Bring our prisoners. We will see how long it takes for her to break her silence. If she does not speak then, an army of Uchiha is coming this way." She smiled widely as she held a scroll out for her to see. "They say Uchiha Madara is leading it. I suppose Gouki's insubordination worked to our benefit."

"I will take care of him personally," said Nishiki, then turned to Mio. "I will bring you his body."

Mio laughed, feeling their wrath reach a pinnacle. "I dare you to try," she challenged. "Kill Uchiha Madara and the spheres will die with him."

"He is Shugosha?" Ayuka shouted, outraged.

Nishiki dropped her to the ground harshly, moving to take his wife before she launched an assault on her.

Mio landed atop several sharp ends. They embedded themselves into her skin, the pain harsh, but not strong enough to steal away her attention from the fact that Madara was coming to the Earth Country. _It would be over soon._ She continued to laugh, further angering them. Ayuka was thrashing.

"I will kill you! You are of no use to me!" the priestess threatened.

"How will you ever come to possess the spheres?" Mio asked. "If I am dead, the power to change the line of succession will die with me. My true successor is my son and he is the only one that will inherit that power."

A Mikazuki shinobi came running into the courtyard, battered. "The prisoners have escaped!"

Mio was shaking with laughter, knowing they hated the sound of mockery. She did not care. She had her victory. She would be rescued. Madara was here. She secured their lives. She could not be killed because she had the power to change the line of succession. They could not kill Madara because he was Shugosha and doing so would render them useless.

Nishiki walked to her, handing his thrashing wife to the shinobi, and with one swift kick to the face silenced her.

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><p><strong>xl<strong>: There are two chapters left in "The Death of Kings" arc...and the next one is intense. Only one chapter next week. Expect it on Friday! :)

I wish I had something uber-interesting to say about these last two chapters, but they are what they are and I like them for it.

Thank you to these marvelous people for reviewing: **amaya-tsuki-chan**, **Loteva**, **Anime93**, **crazyuser**, **Kettobase**, and **HushedFable**. Many thanks for all the new favorites/alerts as well. I hope to continue entertaining you! :D

The chapter 47 preview has already been posted on my LJ. Go forth and have a gander, see what awaits you next Friday.

Thank you for reading! :)


	47. The Death of Kings 12

Chapter** 47** | The Death of Kings XII

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><p>Senju Tobirama slayed all enemy shinobi he encountered and moved swiftly through the castle to reach Mio. He noted an increase in shinobi, not only of members of the Mikazuki clan, he saw others from different clans, some whose signature he did not recognized, but whom he came upon and fought and learned their strengths as a collective. He was challenged by members of the Motou and Mikami clans. The nearer he was to reaching the pulse of his artifact, more shinobi appeared to face him.<p>

He survived every fight, though not without sustaining a fair share of wounds.

He reached the site where his artifact should have been, where Mio should have been. He rushed in expecting her to run out. He sensed her moving, but when he stood before a courtyard filled with wisteria trees barren of their lush bright flowers, he felt a chill strum down his spine. The open-sided verandah sitting across from him held two mugs of cold tea and a kettle. There were droplets of blood on the ground and near it sat the Universe Sphere, turned upside down.

It was a trap. He saw it all too clearly now, but it was too late. He had already fallen for the trap. He had the moment he set foot inside the courtyard. He had the instant a sharp pain pushed through him and the blade of a sword appeared protruding from the center of his chest.

Tobirama cursed.

A hand ran over the top of his head where it clamping down and tugged his head aside harshly as the blade ground against his insides.

"Did you come here for your Shugosha or your sphere?" asked a woman beside his ear.

He gnashed his teeth, tasting the blood as it spilled from his lips.

"You found the Senju?" called a voice behind him. Shortly after, Mikazuki Gouki walked across the courtyard towards the verandah.

"Here for your wife?" said the woman behind Tobirama.

Gouki said nothing as he walked up the three steps onto the verandah. A servant slid the shoji doors apart and Nishiki walked out with an unconscious Mio in his arms. She was limp, her face was bruising and bloody, the front of her clothes was also stained red.

"What did—?" Tobirama coughed up blood. He took a haggard breath, unable to finish his sentence when he felt the woman twist the sword to silence him.

Gouki took Mio from Nishiki and pulled her body over his shoulder. He cast one look in his direction before walking away.

Nishiki stepped down from the verandah, took the artifact from the ground, and came to stand in front of him. What Tobirama failed to pinpoint before he had now. The strange feeling he had upon meeting the Kuronuma had everything to do with the fact that he was his predecessor.

The two of them stood face-to-face, the sphere sat in Nishiki's hand where it continued to siphon from his chakra as well as the Kuronuma's. Nishiki had power over the artifact, Tobirama felt that, but he was not the only one.

"You have given me quite some trouble, Senju Tobirama," Nishiki said. "You have your Shugosha to thank for prolonging your existence, but it won't be long now. You will weaken and the sphere will be mine as it should have remained."

The blade was drawn from his body and he was pushed down to the floor onto his knees. His hand shot up to his chest, blood quickly left him. His vision hazed, his body weakening. He would bleed out. The weight of his body dragged him to the floor where he remained, fighting against the pull of exhaustion.

Tobirama raised his eyes to Nishiki, who suddenly looked away. He sensed something.

"What is it?" asked the woman, who came into view. She was slender with long red hair and a bloody sword in her hand.

"Do not kill him," the Kuronuma said. "Do not touch him. I will kill him once it is time."

"What is the point to keeping him alive?" she demanded. "Kill him and the sphere is yours."

"If you killed Motou Yayoi at this time, you would solely govern the sphere you share, that is your impression," Nishiki said. "However, the act needs sufficient preparation. If you killed Motou Yayoi now when she holds more power over your sphere, the sphere will reject you as its guardian and trade your life for hers. You should know this, Ayuka, it is one of Kiyohime's laws."

"Do you think the witch trusted me with the inner dynamics?" the woman called Ayuka snapped. "She did not trust me!"

"She did well in mistrusting you," the Kuronuma replied. "Look at what you have done with her spheres? Look around you, Ayuka, at the mess you have created and the people you have involved." He took her by the jaw, a gentle clasp. "You could not be happy with what I gave you."

"You have given me this," Ayuka said strongly. "We can save this world, Nishiki, because of you…I am able to save the world like I was supposed to."

Nishiki turned away as Tobirama's vision continued to darken. He could only distinguish the presence of others through their voices. Even then, he was fighting against falling unconscious. If he let the darkness take him, he abandoned his fate. He risked dying, but he learned something as he had lain still on the ground bleeding into the white courtyard. He held more power over the Universe Sphere. If he died while holding more power, the sphere would kill Nishiki to trade his life and return him from death.

He could not move his arm far enough to reach one of his weapons, nor did he think he was strong enough to kill himself fast enough. His muscles were starting to stiffen. The Mikazuki used poison in their weapons. It did not surprise him to think he was poisoned.

"Where are you going?" demanded Ayuka, the sound of her footsteps distanced.

"My brother is here," Nishiki answered, retreating.

"Nishiki!"

"Have the Senju boy removed from the courtyard," Nishiki ordered. "Take the Motou clan south. Kill anyone you believe poses a threat. I will activate the sphere when the time is right."

"Let me take care of Shinya!" the woman shouted.

"Do not fear for my life, Ayuka," Nishiki said, assuring her, "I have no intention of forfeiting it to my brother."

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><p>Mio regained consciousness with a start, jolting at the feel of a damp cloth wiping the dried blood on her face. She tried to raise her body, pushing herself up by the elbows, but a strong hand pushed her back onto the plush bedding. She searched above her, straining to see who was pressing the cloth against her face, growing panicked. Her head pulsed and felt heavy. Her entire body was strange, quaking as her skin grew tepid.<p>

"You are edgy."

She recognized that voice. Uchiha Hiryuu.

She attempted to sit up a second time, but he kept his hand firmly on her shoulder keeping her in place. She needed to get out. She could not be in the same room as Hiryuu. Not with their history. She deliberately ruined his connection with Sachiyo believing he was to blame for the murder of her parents. She had had information her mother and father had hidden that showed he had been in communication with shinobi with the slash crescent carved on their flesh. She had assumed his part in the death of her parents had been much larger than what it truly had been.

Hiryuu had blamed her for losing favor with Taiga's grandfather, Eijiro. He had blamed her for many things and had been vicious towards her henceforth. It had never been a surprise. He had wanted her dead from the start. He had tried to turn all who would listen against her and had caused a rift between her and Madara, who had been suspicious of her for several years after Hiryuu had gone away.

He had been doing the same with the Mikazuki in the Earth Country and many had horrible opinions of her because of it. He had made her a villain in a situation she never chose to be in. She had come into her position out of necessity, but she had not asked Gouki to kill his wife and leave his son without a mother. She had not enchanted him. She had not come to sow discord.

Mio's breathing quickened as the cloth fell beside her head and his hand move to her neck. She did not dare move. She was starting to feel strange and she knew it was her exhaustion and the starvation catching up to her. Or perhaps, she had worried herself to sickness. Maybe she was overdue for another imbalance. She had avoided using any Kuronuma techniques to circumvent it, but that could have been her problem. She probably needed to find a medium so she did not grow ill so often.

His fingers curled around her neck slowly. "I should have killed you that day in Sachiyo's home," he began, his scarred face heavily shadowed as he leaned forward to meet her eyes. "It would have been easy. You neck was smaller. I would not have needed to apply too much pressure to snap it."

Weakly, she began to claw at his hands, her throat shutting at his grip tightened. Fury blazed in his eyes. "You have done nothing but spoil my plans," he spat. "You think I will allow you to be saved?"

She found herself blinking away tears as darkness begun to creep from the corners of her eyes. She opened her mouth, but only gargled sound.

She couldn't breathe.

Her fingernails dug into his skin, drawing blood. His grip tightened.

Something warm splattered atop her face and his hands loosened. She focused on his face to see the tip of a sword protruding from his neck being drawn out slowly. He turned quickly, choked out an incoherent word and dropped to the floor, revealing her savior. She gasped for breath, coughing when she took too much of it in, bending over.

Gouki came to her side and placed a hand on her back, but she moved away from him like a wounded animal.

"I have no intention of hurting you, you are my wife," he said as if that would be enough. "War has been declared against us by Uchiha Madara. He is coming for you."

She wanted to cry because it sounded like the truth after what Ayuka said before Nishiki knocked her unconscious, but too much happened in too little time. She sat with blood on her face, dried and fresh, and Hiryuu on the floor, the life leaving his body quickly. She did not understand Mikazuki Gouki's intentions, but he protected her from certain death, traded her the correct antidote against his mother's orders, and killed his mouthy subordinate after he had accused her of being Tobirama's lover. He said he would protect her honor, that he would not hurt her because she was his wife.

He confused her. She didn't understand. She hated it. He killed her parents. He committed so much wrong against her, promised her at one point in her life that he wanted to be the one to kill her. He had told her grandfather what he planned to do with her in explicit detail.

"I will not let him take you," he promised, reaching out to run his hand over her head, brushing back her hair. "You are my wife. You are mine."

She stared up at him, unable to draw away from his touch, compelled by his words. She did not understand his actions, nor had she any intention of doing so. Her throat ached and her head was still spinning. She did not want to be his prisoner. She did not want to be anyone's prisoner. Not anymore. Not ever.

She saw the dagger hanging off his hip. He saw her looking and smirked. She reached for it, and with great ease, he swatted her to the ground where her land was cushioned by Hiryuu's body. Gouki dragged her by the leg towards the door where she fell over the expanding pool of Hiryuu's blood. She turned quick, reaching to take one the kunai that had spilled from Hiryuu's open pouch, seeing the long red lines her body had on the floors.

She stabbed it between the floorboards and forced him to a sudden stop when her body would not budge. She let go as he dropped her leg and put her hands together, attempting to remember the hand seals she had seen her grandfather use when they trained within the Uchiha's territory. She saw them, a blur of them, but she caught them all. She mirrored them, combined her chakra with the black water, and felt her cheeks grow with the boiling liquid before she spat it out at him in a torrent of sizzling tar-like water that made him recoil.

Mio jumped onto her feet and ran out the room into the hallway, hearing the sound of Gouki's voice rip through the silence. "Mio!"

She scrambled, her legs shaking, fully aware that he would be upon her in a matter of seconds. That jutsu would do nothing but slow him down. She reached to touch her earrings, activating the Black Sphere. She began to mold chakra and black water for any necessary moves she might need to retaliate. All around her there were frightened servants rushing in the opposite direction she was headed, meaning she was running in the right direction.

Her path was intercepted by Mikazuki shinobi; the trio had different shades of rose-colored eyes. Kuronuma. They were not the first Mikazuki she had seen that were Kuronuma since she arrived, but they would be the first since she discovered the clan had been made up of kidnapped Kuronuma children when it was first started.

She stopped abruptly, turning the kunai in her hand, ready to attack, but a shadow loomed over her, expanding the shadow beneath her.

The castle was seized by violent tremors. The ground beneath her feet shifted, moving like waves rolling along the surface, knocking everyone to the floor. Her enemies struggled onto their feet, but dropped to the floor repeatedly.

Mio rolled out of the way when she saw several buildings uprooted from their foundation before they were swept towards them, flung through the air by a powerful force. She covered her head protectively, feeling the residue from the decimating battle as it rushed through them. Planks of broken wood banged and several tiles smashed against her curled body.

She heard a body crash into the damaged building behind her completely destroying it. She was buried under the rubble when all movement stopped. She pushed back, feeling something sharp against her back. As she tried to wriggle free from beneath the wreckage, she felt the splintered end of a long piece of wood scraping against her back leaving long red lines of blood down the length of it. She bit back a cry, pushing forward when the weight atop her was lifted and an arm shot forward, taking her by the wrist.

Mio jerked back, prepared to fight despite the numbness spreading across her body, but she found it was unnecessary. She was pulled forward so that she could look upon the face of her grandfather, which was a bit bruised and splattered with drying blood. He grinned at her like a fool and dusted her shoulders clean of wood residue as she stared up at him, stunned. His presence made her question whether or not she was buried underneath mountains of wood, rice paper screens, broken furniture, shattered ceramics, and spilled silk from leather trunks. She saw the stone from the courtyard and bamboo plants snapped in half with their leaves floating along the winds soft currents.

She saw bodies beneath the debris, some shifting, others lying still with blood pooling underneath them and spilling over the wreckage. She snapped back, facing her grandfather seeing that the sight of destruction lain out before her eyes was the truth. She had woken from darkness to Hiryuu and she had watched him die. She had been assured by Mikazuki Gouki that she would not be taken from him and she feared he would keep his promise. She had escaped and would have been caught, she had felt him looming over her before the earth shook, rising and falling like waves before a powerful wind destroyed every building in its trajectory.

She looked in the direction her grandfather came crashing from and saw something rising into view. An armored figure surrounded by blue colored energy appeared. There were fires and spiral tar-like towers crashing into one another. A powerful fight raged in the distance and her heart clenched at the thought it was Madara and Nishiki.

"What is happening?" she asked, looking to him. "Who were you fighting?"

Shin wasn't looking in her direction. He was staring past her. "We have someone else to worry about."

Mio turned as Gouki rose from the rubble.

"I wondered when you would show your face, uncle," said Gouki.

Shin shrugged, handing Mio a dagger. "Did you ever doubt I would?"

"Do you plan to leave Uchiha Madara to fight your battle?" asked Gouki.

"It is always best to get rid of the little nuisances before going after the bigger ones."

Gouki grinned and lurched forward, reaching her grandfather before she had the opportunity to stop him. He swung. Shin leaned far back avoiding the hit and touched the ground, flipping backward. As he did, he kicked Gouki with a force that sent him flying and crashing to the ground. Shin landed sluggishly, his movements drawing her attention to the wound on his side oozing black blood.

"I weakened Nishiki," Shin told her, unconsciously holding a hand to his bleeding wound. "Enough for Madara to be enough to hold him back, but he has the Universe Sphere. You have to go. You have to take the sphere from him and find Senju Tobirama." Staring forward, he continued as Gouki returned to his feet wiping the blood from his mouth. The sound of Madara's name elated her, it was all the confirmation she needed, but the words that followed left her stun. "We can defeat him quickly if we work together. We can help Madara after."

Mio found the mere suggestion paralyzing. Fighting Gouki in her mind was absurd. She would never. He was too strong. Her legs were shaking. "What?"

"You need to defeat him, Mio!" he said fervently. "He has been your tormentor for nine years! He has caused you endless suffering! You must defeat him!"

"She is a frightened child," Gouki shouted, running at them. "She would not dare!"

"He is a man, flesh and bone," Shin continued, springing to meet Gouki part way. The Mikazuki shinobi clocked him in the jaw before pulling out a sword from his belt. Her grandfather drew a hidden dagger that clashed against his.

Mio watched the two fight. Gouki goading about her cowardice, her grandfather urging her to take a stand against the image her nine-year-old self had created. She took cover several times when the two launched their arsenal of dangerous techniques that slow but steadily turned the battlefield into a stretch of bubbling black water.

"This isn't about revenge," Shin shouted, sending a wave of black water at Gouki. "This is about freedom. Your freedom. He took your peace of mind. He has tormented you and has made you suffer without so much as lifting a finger. You are terrified, I understand, but you must overcome that fear! He is human and he can be killed!"

She had an important decision to make. She could revert to that child of nine who created a monster or stand up against him.

Mio drew the dagger her grandfather had given her as she saw Gouki hit her grandfather hard with a torrent of black water. She lunged at him. She would overcome that fear because she needed to be brave. She attempted to stab his back, but met with a swat that sent her crashing into the black water beneath their feet. She lifted herself, jumping back, narrowly avoiding the kunai that sank into the sizzling black surface.

She landed briefly as spiral of black water shot up from the surface at her.

He targeted her directly for the next several minutes. The extensive use of Kuronuma techniques proved redundant as they were practically immune to its deadly effects, though the force of each attack left bruises and scratches, it did not knock them down.

Mio used her speed to her advantage. The first time she had landed a hit on him, one that made him bleed, she felt the knots in her stomach come undone. She never held any expectations for such a day to arrive, not even when she decided to start a war. She imagined Gouki would die by someone else's hand and that she would not need to face him. She was still running away from him then.

It felt liberating to do the opposite of that.

He was of overwhelming strength. His punches were powerful. Each blow she took directly made her bones creak in protest and her flesh turn into a violent red contusion.

Mio spat the blood in her mouth and wiped the corner of her lips. She looked to her grandfather from the corner of her eye. He inclined his head. He looked more exhausted than she felt and she had suffered enough blows to the head to worsen whatever condition had already been creeping in, not to mention the giant scrape running across her back was irritated. She swore there was splintered wood inside the length of the wound, but she could fight despite her affliction. She worried for her grandfather.

The poison running through his system was sapping at his strength, his movements weren't as smooth as she recalled them, his reflexes had dulled, and he suffered a terrible wound while fighting against Nishiki, one she saw bleed profusely throughout their bout with Gouki.

Gouki had the upper hand. He repeatedly knocked her down, sent her crashing into the ground, or hit her with a powerful technique that threw her several meters away.

Shin was the only one with the skill and strength to fight Gouki. He had a higher chance of defeating him without her contribution. With her involved, he kept an eye on her, always securing her safety over his own. He intercepted many attacks Gouki directed at her, as many as he could while evading an arsenal of others.

She attempted to take the bigger burden the next time they rushed Gouki. She threw punches he narrowly evaded. When he reached to grab her by the neck, she ducked and Shin jumped in, pushing him back with every jab of his dagger, a twisted, sharp metal he hammered into existence.

Shin slashed downward, rupturing Gouki from right shoulder to mid-torso. Gouki retaliated swiftly by grabbing him by the neck and thrusting a sword through his stomach.

Mio ran up behind Gouki, jumping and wrapping her legs around his neck and throwing herself back. She touched the ground with her hands and slammed him to the ground behind her. She dragged herself onto her feet, sweat dripping from her chin, but Gouki grabbed her by the ankle and pulled her back.

She smacked straight into the floor with a grunt.

"Mio!"

She lifted her face as Shin tugged the sword out of his body with a pained sound. She turned back to Gouki as she struggled to get away and saw him drive a kunai through her ankle to stop her. The pain shot through every part of her, pulsing like a heartbeat, and it ripped a scream from her throat.

He repeated the words, those he spoke after killing Hiryuu. "You are mine! You will not be taken from me!"

Shin kicked him across the face, allowing her the opportunity to scramble away.

She turned over, falling back with tears running down her face, watching her grandfather about to drive Gouki's own blade through his head. He stood about to end her nightmare, a vision she suspected would never come to be. She learned to live in the unfair world where her nightmares gained victory after victory. She was content having Madara, having Takuto and Izuna, having her guardians and doing her best to protect her artifacts from falling into the wrong hands. She believed that there would one day be a day when Ayuka succeeded in her plans. It would not have happened quickly. She never thought she would give up so easily, but she knew she would die and that whatever happened afterward would be up to Ayuka, Nishiki, and Gouki. But one of three would be dead in seconds—seconds that did not come fast enough.

"Stop!"

Stupidly, unconsciously, and against her better judgment, she hesitated and the blade coming down upon Gouki's head to deliver the final blow came to an abrupt stop. She stared insipidly, confused by her voice's betrayal. She did not mean to do it.

Why would she save his life? Did she feel indebted after the times he had spared hers? It made zero sense and she sensed her stupidity reaching new levels, but her grandfather had stopped. That was unlike him, too. He was ruthless when necessary and she knew, deep down inside, that he would not have stopped if she had throttled him to take the blade from him.

But he did.

Shin stopped and turned, meeting her eyes. He looked completely at peace. "Mio?"

Mio saw the blood bubbling from within his mouth spill and her eyes widened in horror. Behind him, Gouki, the victory etched in his bruised, bloodied face. Shin looked down as she did, their actions reflections of each other as if they stood before a full-length mirror, and together they saw the hand protruding from his chest and the blood spilling from it like a river of black tar that stained the front of his white clothes.

Gouki offered her a bloody smile. "This makes the set."

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><p><strong>xl<strong>: I need to be stopped. I just need to be stopped. Like immediately.

Until someone stops me, I would like to thank these lovely people for reviewing the previous chapter(s): **Loteva**, **Anime93**, **Kettobase**, and **Aries01xD **because your awesomeness keeps me going. Shout out to my silent readers as well because I know you're there and I only hope that I am entertaining you more than I am disappointing you. I apologize for both. Thank you for any new follows and favorites because I will always get excited when either one of these happen.

There are officially 11 chapters left for this story. I actually went and did the math (and the outlines). I decided to end this story at a specific place after considerable thought, though if I had gone through with the original plans, it would not have come together as nicely as this does. However, there will be a continuation because Mio's story is far from done. You will see what I mean when you read the remaining 11 chapters. I hope this is good news and not bad news (I know how people feel about sequels). I will have more information about this at the end of the story, so take this like a head's up.

I don't want to leave you all hanging, so if I can finish the 50th chapter over the weekend, I'll post 48 on Monday (I only need to edit it again because of rewrites).

Before I run away like I should have as soon as I posted this, I want to say that I had an extra about the artifacts (what they look like, what they do, etc) for my LJ, but it'll probably be posted sometime Saturday because I haven't finished editing that "All I Wanted" chapter I have planned for today. On the plus side, the preview for the next chapter is already at my livejournal (link through my profile), so you can go check it out...unless all my scheduled entries have been backed up. In that case, tell me, so I can fix it.

Thank you for reading! Questions, comments, pitchforks mobs? Tell me about them below. :3


	48. The Death of Kings 13

Chapter** 48** | The Death of Kings XIII

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><p>Mio caught her grandfather's body as it fell and sank to the ground on her knees with him. She grabbed at the back of his clothes, words escaping her, while staring up at Gouki with her eyes wide open. The feeling that bloomed in the pit of her chest and swept her body like a wintry chill was crippling. She heard the sound of blood splattering on the ground between them, rushing from him in large quantities that burned through the broken wood and cracked floor.<p>

"Mio," Shin whispered, his voice forced and shaky. His hands clumsily clutched at her clothes as if he was trying to hold on, to her, to life—she did not know what. She felt warm droplets fall on her shoulder and knew they were tears. He coughed, blood splattering against her shoulder. "I—I'm sorry I…can't st-stay."

She let out a strange sound as she held onto him, the rush of emotion struck her harshly. She whispered repeatedly, "No, no, no, no, no, no." She covered the gaping wound on his back with her hands as if that would be enough to stop the bleeding, to stop the life from leaving him. "No, no, no, no, no, no."

She was supposed to save him too. He was supposed to stay with her until he finished teaching her all the things he had not already. He was supposed to be around to help defeat Nishiki and Ayuka. They were going to go help Madara. She needed his support. She needed him to be around in the future. If her mother and father could not be there or her cousins and her great-grandfather, she believed her grandfather could. He would outlive them all. His and her enemies combined. She imagined he would be around when she had her family and that he would help her train her son, the one Ayuka was after. Together they could do something. They would not have to let Ayuka win. That's what she had been thinking throughout their battle. They could accomplish anything together, as a family.

Alone, she felt defeated.

She felt that if her grandfather remained, she could find her strength. She would not run around in circles. She would have him and he would guide her, but that might have been a childish thought or another unconscious act of cowardice.

Perhaps it was selfish.

Was it selfish? To want your family to stay with you forever? She wondered, clinging and suffering.

"I—I sh-sh-should 'ave b-been kind—er to you," Shin continued, the warm droplets falling from his eyes sank into her clothes, each tear was like a heavy stone. "I—I sh-sh-should 'ave s-sa-sa-sav…ed y-you…then. Pro-protec-ed y-ou. Kep-t y-ou sa-safe."

She wished she had found her voice in time to tell him that he did all of those things as best as he could and that she understood all the times he neglected to do them. She wanted to assure him that he had done so much more for her and that that had been enough. She wanted to say that he would be okay, but she could not when his murderer was looming behind her.

She could say nothing.

Gouki came up behind her, wrapping an arm around her neck and pulling her back. She clung to her grandfather's body, feeling him grasp weakly at her. He had been holding onto her. The entire time. It was not life he had been grasping. It was her.

Gouki dragged her to her feet and continued to do so for several feet of her thrashing and shouting. The emotional pain overshadowed her physical ailments. Her entire body had gone numb. She had her impediments. One of her ankles had been stabbed through and carrying her own weight brought waves of relentless pain, she was bleeding everywhere, and her exhaustion had doubled. She barely had the strength to struggle.

"Let me go!" she cried, sobbing. "Stop! Let me go!"

She was turned around viciously, forced to look upon the face of Mikazuki Gouki. Blood crept from his mouth, bruises and scratches on his hardened expression.

He shook her by the arms and silenced her with his booming voice. "Have you not had enough?" he snapped, bloody spittle splattering across her face. "Accept your fate!"

She managed to break free of his grasp and tried running back to her grandfather as best as her damaged ankle would allow her. She could do nothing to save his life. She was no Shugosha. She was unable to make him a guardian. However, she could try to save him. She might be able to help him. Find a medical specialist, have them save him.

Gouki caught her wrist pulling her back against his bloodied chest. She felt his arm wrap around her and she continued her struggle. She was sobbing and shouting incoherently as he started to half carry and half drag her out of the premises.

Mio elbowed him in the stomach and, as if in reflex, he dropped his hold on her. She fell to her knees. Her grandfather's dagger was in arm's reach and she reached for it as Gouki loomed over her, his shadow darkening the space around her. She took it in her hand and turned rapidly.

She swung at him with a closed fist, he caught her hand and the distraction was enough. She stabbed the dagger into his neck. His free hand shot up to her neck reflexively, clamping down.

He knocked her to the ground, bearing down on her with his weight. She gasped for breath only when she did, his grip tightened around her neck. He pulled out the dagger from his neck, blood poured from it. She managed to hit his jugular, stabbing it in deep.

He clamped a hand over the wound in his neck and opened his mouth. Crimson flowed from it. "Th-This makes no difference," he said hoarsely, loosening his grip on her neck. His hand made its way down her chest, between her breasts, and stopped over her lower abdomen, leaving behind a trail of blood. In a broken, pain-filled voice, he continued, "It is not over. My child could be here. Inside you. I would have killed him too."

Mio's tears rolled down her face, her voice came out a shaky whisper. "W-Why?"

He slumped forward atop her unable to keep himself up. His body twitched, the blood pooled underneath her.

He stopped moving after a moment. He bled out quickly.

She pulled herself out from under him and hobbled towards her grandfather.

Gently, with a heavy heart, she pushed him on his back, holding his head in her hands. There was no movement in his body and the usual heat of it had been replaced by a frigid cold. She wanted him to stay an eternity at her side. She said it before that she was not ready, but what could she do? She leaned forward, kissing the side of his head, her tears blurring her vision.

"Thank you for everything," she whispered painfully. "I love you, grandfather."

Mio wiped her tears. She tore pieces from her garment and used them to dress her ankle wound, tightening it to lessen the pain. She took all of her grandfather's weapons and concealed them in her clothes.

"Mio!"

She turned abruptly, surprised to see a group of Ito shinobi running towards her. At the forefront was Ito Saori, properly dressed for battle and wearing a number of small wounds like a badge of honor. Saori's eyes fell on Shin and immediately went to Mio, her expression saddening. In Saori, Mio finally saw what Madara and Izuna had.

Saori approached Mio. "I am terribly sorry about your grandfather."

Mio nodded, staring at the shinobi standing behind her. She reached for the earring with the tiny black sphere dangling from it and tore it. In it, the Life Sphere was sealed. "Where is your sister? And Izuna? What about Takuto and Yayoi? And Taiga?"

"Izuna went to Madara and my sister is with Taiga engaging Ayuka. Yayoi never left Madara's side. Takuto should be with Uzumaki Nako."

"Where were you going?" she asked, focusing her attention on the battle. She would have time to mourn after the fighting was done. She would return to bury his body where it could never be found.

Her grandfather told her that he had weakened Nishiki enough for Madara to hold him back, together with his brother, they could overcome him, but he had alluded that Tobirama had been captured. She needed to ensure the spheres were distributed. If she carried more than one, she would be the ideal target. The artifacts needed to be protected, but so did her guardians. She decided to go straight for Tobirama.

"The Senju and Uzumaki clan are here," Saori began in elucidation. "Uzumaki Mito returned to them, but Senju Tobirama did not. I'm looking to find him. Takuto asked me to go on ahead."

"I'll go with you," said Mio, then extended her hand to the Ito sister. "Take this with you. I don't have the power to make you a proper guardian, but Madara and Izuna suggested I did. I believe you are capable enough to take care of the Life Sphere."

Saori took it, pinching it between forefinger and thumb. She stared at the black gem in wonder. "This is beautiful, Mio, thank you," she said. "I will guard it with my life."

Mio started to walk—hopping her way was the more accurate description of her actions—when Saori called out to her. "Perhaps we should have a medical-nin have a look at your wounds before proceeding."

There was a medical specialist among the Ito shinobi that guarded Saori and he spoke against moving in the condition of her leg, explaining that there was need for further medical treatment to repair the damage Gouki left. She refused because she knew Tobirama was in danger and that she might have a chance to save him before Nishiki got his way.

"I will take you," Saori told her medic. She turned to Mio. "You can find him, can't you?"

"I'm no longer a Shugosha," Mio admitted, "but I can probably pinpoint an area."

Since the Time Sphere united the spheres, making it easier for the Shugosha to sense where all guardians were no matter the distance in between, she believed she might be able to find Tobirama through Madara's sphere. She would not find the exact building where he was being held—because he was being held—but she would have an area. She could explore an area. She could find someone lost in an area.

"We will go together. You tell me where to go." Saori crouched down in front of her, arms back to pull her onto her back. "Come on, Mio, climb on."

Mio put her hands on Saori's shoulders, finding it strange to be in his situation with Saori. The older girl seemed more suited to be surrounded by opulence and beautiful things, like the Uzumaki that was taken prisoner, not in the wreckage of war with blood and death wherever one turned.

"Saori-sama, I will do it," one Ito shinobi said.

Saori waved him off. "I can do it." She called forth three of the shinobi with her and gave each of them orders. "Please go on ahead to Taiga-san, Madara-kun, and Takuto-kun and inform them I found Mio. If anyone asks, tell them we went to find Tobirama-kun together."

The three shinobi went in different directions to deliver Saori's orders, leaving her with a smaller group that would accompany them as they searched for Tobirama. Mio wrapped her arms around her and felt the older girl's hands under her legs as she hoisted her up.

"Which way?" asked Saori.

Mio concentrated on the connection between her Black Sphere and the Time Sphere. She focused completely on Madara, feeding more chakra into her artifact to reach him and had his own echo back. She had a clear reading of the others with Madara's pulse. He had so much chakra something like this was simple. She could only imagine how much more she could do if she had his chakra. She did not expect an exact location, but that is what he gave her.

She pointed forward to a distant building beyond the ruins. The castle tower.

"That way."

Saori started running towards the dark tower with her shinobi guard following close behind. Mio looked over her shoulder, casting one final glance at her grandfather's body.

"I hope you were not harmed, Mio," Saori began. "Before. In the time you were prisoner."

"No, I was not harmed," Mio answered, though not in the sense Saori was implying. She did not want to ask the following question, but she could not stop herself. "Has Madara recovered fully? Should he be fighting?" _Against Nishiki no less. _She had dozens of questions concerning him alone. She could tell nothing from him being nearby. "Should I—?"

"Takuto looked into the antidote you sent back to confirm it was a functioning remedy," Saori elucidated. "He found a cure for Shi—"

Mio lowered her eyes. She understood she meant to say Shinya. "He did?"

"Ah, yes," she said awkwardly. "He did with the antidote. He made his own."

She smiled weakly. She knew that if anyone could it would have been Takuto.

"Madara-kun is in perfect health," Saori continued. "You need not worry about him, Takuto-kun would never let him leave the house without knowing for a fact that he was healthy. He was cured and he is strong. With Izuna-kun at his side, the two will surely defeat Nishiki."

Mio nodded. She trusted her word.

There were a number of Mikazuki shinobi surrounding the castle tower's perimeter that attacked them on sight. The Ito guard that accompanied them attacked with kunai attached with fine string using it to ensnare their enemy like a spider's web, trapping them so that if they moved a muscle the string would dig into their flesh.

Mio fought a member of the Ito clan before. They were lithe and silent as assassins, meticulous in their traps, weaving the different strings unique to their techniques for every purpose imaginable. Their style was a deadly art form.

The Ito shinobi cleared a path for Saori and Mio. If anyone neared them, Mio shot them down with the kunai and shuriken Saori carried with her.

Before reaching the tower doors, one Motou priestess appeared in her violet robes and begun the hand seals of a familiar and devastating Kuronuma technique.

"Put me down!" Mio ordered.

Saori went down on her knee, allowing her to stand up. Mio gently pushed her back, made the necessary hand seals and erected a wall of stone as a spiral of black water shot up towards them. The wall smashed on impact, the heat radiating from the attack reached them, though they were still a meter apart. It came surging towards them, giving them little time to react, but Mio managed to activate her Black Sphere, reach Saori and pull her under as she activated a defensive jutsu that protected them from the priestess' attack.

Mio flinched as it hit a new wall, feeling a deep ache in her chest from the recoil and bit down on her lip. The black blood oozing from her wounds was drawn to create the curved black wall that shielded them.

"Mio!" cried Saori, her eyes searching all her wounds for the presence of another.

"I'm fine," Mio told her, reaching for the dagger on her belt. The slight weight she put on her hurt sent a sharp pain rushing up the rest of her body. She could only handle that much, any more would completely damage her ankle with little chance of recovery. "I can defeat the priestess, but you have to go on ahead and storm the tower. I will catch up."

"I can't leave you here, you're hurt."

"The Motou priestess and priests use Kuronuma techniques that only I can counteract. I can do this much!" If the Motou priestess was there to measure strengths, she would not win against her.

Mio did not give Saori the time to make an argument out of her decision, though she doubted she would. The older girl was mild-mannered.

Saori slipped out from under her and jumped onto the nearest roof, rushing forward. The priestess drew a scroll from inside her robes and unsealed several weapons from within, directing them at Saori, who caught sight of them and deflected them with her own kunai and shuriken. One kunai stabbed the priestess in the leg, and in the sunlight, Mio was able to see the string attached to it and wrapped around Saori's gloved hand.

Saori gave the string a hard yank and knocked the priestess down on her backside. "Please come quickly, Mio!" called Saori, ripping the string with the sharp end of a knife she carried.

Mio took care of the priestess quickly. She attempted to use the spiral technique, but Mio countered by using her Blood Swamp technique. The technique dragged down two Mikazuki shinobi that jumped in to help the priestess, which had been a stroke of luck. She did not have the strength to survive a fight against the two of them. She barely had any left to continue moving around so freely, but the timing was not right. She needed to move forward.

One of Saori's shinobi found her hobbling towards the tower and offered to carry her. Several tower floors were littered with defeated shinobi and dangerous webs of string. The shinobi carrying her rushed up the remaining flights of stairs to ensure Saori's safety and when they reached the topmost floor, they found Saori dressing the wounds on Tobirama.

Mio was set on her feet beside Saori and she dropped down to her knees, silently assisting her as she attempted to staunch the bleeding. Underneath him lay a pool of blood that had soaked into his clothes. She called out to him, hoping to see his expression twist into one of disapproval at the sound of her voice, but he was unresponsive. His heart, when she pressed her ear against his chest, was a silent, worrying murmur.

Saori asked for her medic, but the shinobi standing behind them said, "Our specialist died in the early battle. It was unavoidable."

"We have to take him to someone that can heal him," Mio said frantically. "We cannot have him weaken any further. If he weakens any further, Nishiki will invite himself to active the Universe Sphere."

She touched his face and a fever boiled beneath his flesh, but he was unmoving and his breathing was shallow. His condition was worsening as the minutes ticked on and neither one of them could do a thing about it because they did not have the least bit of knowledge in anything concerning medical ninjutsu. She would have used her blood to cauterize the wound on his torso, but the black water running through her system was not suitable for such a task and neither could she mold it so it became the type necessary for it. The Kuronuma's medical specialist carried a specially made formula within the structure of the black water, medicinal herbs that helped speed healing processes or minor antidotes to neutralize common poisons.

"Find the closest medical-nin and bring them here immediately," Saori ordered.

The Ito shinobi left them hurriedly.

"We should wake him," Saori suggested. "If he continues to sleep, he will weaken faster."

Mio agreed and started her attempts to do so, calling out to him endlessly. He did not react for a while and suddenly, as if he were only sleeping and not on the verge of death, he opened his eyes. Slowly, blinking and focusing on her face.

He saw her, she knew he did, and his lips parted. He formed incoherent words in a strings of whispers, but none she was able to decipher. Despite that, she held her ear by his lips and listened. She distinguished few words in between, noting he struggled to form a complete sentence with her name thrown in without the usual disdain.

"Sp-Sphere," she heard.

Mio drew back. "The sphere? Yours?"

He nodded slowly.

"Nishiki has…it…"

He glared at her accusingly.

"I did not have the opportunity to hide it," she snapped, hurting herself in the process. As she bent over with an arm wrapped around her stomach, she made a realization and snapped forward once more, staring down at him. "Nishiki has the sphere!" She reached forward, unconsciously placing her hand on his cold wrist. She felt him move beneath her light clasp. "Do you hold more power or does Nishiki?"

His fingers grazed hers.

"You?" she assumed.

Struggling, he parted dry lips and let out a pained breath. "Y-Yes."

"You are certain?"

With a slight nod, he gave her the affirmation she needed.

The Ito shinobi burst into the room with a Kuronuma in tow. She recognized the younger girl as one studying under one of the medical specialists on the mountain. She had not been with the other Kuronuma in the Waterfall Country, leading her to believe that Murakami Keishuu and the Kuronuma under his command were also in the Earth Country. She never thought she would see the samurai mobilized, but she might today.

Mio rose to her feet only to feel her leg bend and her face twist into one of pain.

The Kuronuma girl rushed to her side, holding her up with gentle hands, and called out to her with a stricken voice, one that showed her the hardship she had endured—expressing all that she had been absent for when My. Hyōga had been attacked. Under different circumstances, Mio would have taken the time of ask her for forgiveness for leaving Mt. Hyōga without the Climate Sphere to protect the clan. She regretted leaving, believing that she would be able to take the Fate Sphere from Ayuka. If she had never gone, Musashi, Okimi, and Enya would have been alive. Everyone that died on that day would still be present, and together they could have done more than a quarter of what their clan used to be could.

"You must hurry," Saori urged, still holding the bloody bandages against the wound on Tobirama's chest.

Mio held her arm out, stopping the Kuronuma medic as she took a step forward, reaching for her supply bag. "Wait."

Everyone stared up at her in shock.

"I hate to take this type of risk without proper confirmation, but if we allow Nishiki to activate the Universe Sphere—"

"He has the Universe Sphere?" the Kuronuma girl gasped.

Mio nodded. "At this moment, Tobirama has more control over the Universe Sphere than Nishiki, but as long as he's wounded and weakening so is his hold of the artifact. However, if he dies now—"

"No!" came Saori's surprising protests. Everyone swiveled around to face her. "Too many people have already died! No more!"

"If he were to die with more claim to the sphere than Nishiki, the sphere would reject Nishiki and trade his life for Tobirama's," Mio finished. "He would be revived."

She had no complete understanding of the notion when her grandfather had caught up to her minutes after having left the Uchiha's territory to start her journey. She had an idea where she had wanted to go, someplace with a large market to ask for a glassblower, but she had to plan the minor details. She had to travel unnoticed. She had plenty on her mind.

Shin had called out to her. There had been no preamble. He had simply said, "When two guardians share a sphere, the one with a stronger hold over the artifact is the successor, the one losing power is the predecessor. It is supposed to be a clean break, but a predecessor can challenge their successor to reclaim their sphere. However, Kiyohime implemented laws if such an occasion arose. The first law was that it was forbidden for a predecessor to challenge their successor unless the sphere is rightfully their own. The second was that if whoever held the most power were killed, the sphere would automatically trade the survivor's life for the one who perished."

Mio had given him a hard, confused look. "What?"

"I wanted to tell you something interesting before leaving," Shin had replied with a grin.

"Should you not be stopping me?"

"Oh no, I believe in you. Go save your future! "

Mio had turned a beet red and had completely forgotten his story as she had become engrossed in overanalyzing her proclamation that Madara was her future. She had had an embarrassing first hour, overthinking her words and wishing she had simply described the relationship as a mutual attraction because that sounded normal. Going on and calling a man her future had various implications she had never considered. She had spoken the words because she had wanted to explore what came after with Madara.

In those thoughts, she forgot her grandfather had even been with her. She remembered them earlier at the sight of Tobirama. The memory flooded back in.

She sank back to her knees beside him and grabbed his hand, staring firmly at his wan face. "Can you trust me?"

Weakly, he inclined his head. He had no choice either. She imagined he had his reasons to want to stay alive.

The tower shook violently, knocking the Ito shinobi on his backside and Saori to the floor. Mio leaned forward to cover Tobirama's body when a wooden beam broke from the ceiling and came falling on them. The Kuronuma girl attempted to intercept it, but when she moved, she was thrown to the ground by the aftershock.

Powerful winds were howling. Several cut through many areas in the building endangering their lives. The tower let out a screeching sound as it started to tip forward, having broken apart somewhere. Everyone slid down the slanted floor and hit the wall. The combined weight of everyone broke the top half of the tower.

"Shugosha-sama!"

The last thing Mio remembered doing was grabbing hold of Tobirama's body and attempting to position herself in a way she could cushion his body. She remembered a hand grabbing hold of her arm, pulling back, and saw Saori seconds before a small golden idol hit her across the head.

Remnants of the top of the tower pinned her to the wreckage that cushioned her from the fall when she regained consciousness. There was something strange about the air, something electric that sent a shiver down her spine. A horrible pain shot through her arm, alerting her to the fact that the fall had broken her arm. She let out a pained sound as she tried to lift herself from the rubble, sensing a pulse that left her staggered.

Mio searched her surroundings and noticed movement underneath the rubble. She spotted Saori's gray clothing nearby and part of the Ito shinobi's face near her, eyes snapping open. She found Tobirama buried a few feet from her and tried to remove the debris that had fallen on top of him when she heard a familiar voice shouting orders.

_Madara._

She would see Madara again. Good. She did not want to die without seeing him again. She was starting to acknowledge that her wounds were more severe than she thought. If they weren't treated, she would die.

"There!" Madara shouted. "I see Mio!"

"She is going to kill you for breaking your sphere!" Yayoi told him. "You should let me handle her! I can let her down gently."

"Shut up and focus!"

Mio wanted to curl up and cry at the sound of that, but the powerful winds she had experienced could only be explained by acknowledging they were techniques conjured through the Nature Sphere. She hoped Yayoi was lying about the sphere breaking because that was impossible, though if it were true—and judging by the tenor in Madara's voice, it was—there could be unforeseeable consequences nobody was equipped to face. She prayed it wasn't. All the spheres were important.

"I see Saori!" Izuna called back. "There!"

"Forget Saori! We need to get as far from here as possible!" yelled Yayoi.

"Go ahead and warn as many people as possible!" Madara ordered.

"Of what? He activated the sphere! We don't know what that does exactly!"

_The sphere activated?_ That explained the electricity in the air she supposed. Everything was changing.

"Just go!"

"STOP!" Mio coughed violently after yelling, hacking up blood. It was no use warning anyone. If it already happened, it would do what it does and they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. That spoiled her plan to use Tobirama's death to kill Nishiki.

She heard everyone come to a rushing stop atop the wreckage. She tried to raise her body enough to turn onto her back, but she had no strength and fell back against the lumpy, broken surface beneath her.

Madara cursed beside her and her heart sped. She bit down on her dried lips to stop herself from crying out as he carefully tugged her and laid her on her back, one of his hands cradling her neck. She blinked up at him, a ray of sunlight blinding her for a quick instant. She smiled at the sight of him. Few cuts and bruises and a little blood on him, nothing in need of immediate worry afflicted him and that relieved her.

"You look terrible," he told her.

"I don't care," she replied weakly. She turned slightly and saw Yayoi making a disgusted face down at her, giving her the impression that she looked terrible. "Yayoi, please find the Kuronuma medic. Tobirama is buried under here too, he's badly hurt—"

"You're badly hurt!" Madara reminded her.

She ignored him, continuing. "Help her heal him. You cannot let him die."

Yayoi nodded and disappeared from her sight.

She would give Nishiki the benefit of the doubt. The objective had been gaining control of the Time Sphere. She wanted to believe that he would not make the artifacts disappear, but he would have complete control over the other spheres. Tobirama could be pivotal in defeating Nishiki in the new world if they remained linked through the Universe Sphere. She needed him to survive.

Madara ripped the Time Sphere from his neck and held it before her. "Take it. It won't let you die."

"What about you?" she asked weakly.

"I have the Nature Sphere," he answered.

"…That you broke."

His expression said it all. He broke it and he felt no shame over doing so.

Mio reached for it, numb fingers touching the cool surface. She did not have the power to take it back, but it comforted her to feel it. The sunlight caught in the glass and it shone beautifully, the mist spun restlessly. She watched it spin until the mist turned a violent red.

"It is time," she said and closed her eyes. It was time.

"Mio," Madara called strangely.

"Thank you for saving me," she told him. She was elated. "Thank you for finding me."

"Mio."

She heard him shout for Yayoi. He held her tightly in his arms and his soft voice reached her, deep and rich. His breath brushing against her skin. She enjoyed the sound of his voice and thought that she wanted to hear it, low, at her ear. Only his.

She was too tired to stay awake and succumbed to the darkness.

The new world came in like a shadow. It crept in slowly and before anyone was aware, it had already settled.

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: PEOPLE ARE DYING LEFT AND RIGHT!

I'm having a "hide your favorites" moment. So, please, go hide them. Hide them from me.

Who am I kidding? Everyone that has died has been planned from the start. I think only one person that was supposed to die didn't when she was supposed to. Maybe there's still hope for all your remaining favorites?

Universe Sphere world next chapter (out on the 27th). I figured I shouldn't leave you hangin', so this is why I posted earlier than I normally would, not because I finished the 50th chapter like I was supposed to. I haven't. It's been giving me lip, but I probably will tonight. I will not rest until I finish writing these chapters! DX

Thank you** a Wiccan**, **wanderfab**, **Sieben Nightwing**, **Loteva**, and **Kettobase** for reviewing!

Thank you everyone else for reading!

New preview is up at my LJ.

Also, I dreaded writing the last chapter and this one because of Shin. Any thoughts? I think I might write up something in LJ for anyone curious about mine.


	49. The Guardians of the Time Sphere 1

Chapter** 49** | The Guardians of the Time Sphere I

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><p>Mio woke in the center of a massacre. The wintry air was perfumed with blood and decay. The white landscape beneath her feet was sullied by the dead carcasses that had been left behind. Each body she could discern from those around her wore the Uchiha crest and most of them were in pieces or burned beyond recognition.<p>

She breathed in the cold, panicked, and her eyes dropped to her bloodied hands where she found that the indent of a weapon was seared into her palm from a tight grip. She found the weapon at her feet, buried under a thin layer of red snow. She looked around her, horrified at the memory that she had been the one that killed the Uchiha around her—sought them out and slaughtered them. They were Madara's shinobi. She recognized. She knew she would never hurt them.

And yet, she had. She contemplated the action. There were memories in her head of hunting them down for crossing into Kuronuma territory, but they were blurry. The evidence was in her mind and all around her. She killed them, completely aware that she was incapable of doing it.

She did not remember many things like being in near-perfect health or wearing furs, let alone being in weather suited to wear furs. What she did recall was the excruciating pain throbbing throughout her body and lying weak in Madara's arms watching the Time Sphere's mist spinning into a violent red color in warning.

She sucked in the putrid stench, a shudder going through her, and started to walk.

Nishiki activated the Universe Sphere. This was his doing. This was a game under his absolute control. She needed to be cautious because she should not have remembered the new world being any different from their world. Acknowledging this, Mio reached for her ears to feel the earrings hanging from the lobes. The Black Sphere was still in her position, and by the feel of them, she could activate them on whim.

They did not rid the world of the spheres. Good.

Mio wandered through the stretches of unfamiliar territory, snow hills rolling endlessly from a giant ice mountain. There were other new memories in her head that guided her towards the mountain where the Kuronuma clan was supposed to be settled. This was not Mountain Country where Mt. Hyōga had been, this was a different country—one they called their own—where only their clan existed.

She reached high gates made of frosted black stone. They served as the only entrance into her clan's territory. Two shinobi in black armor stood guard, both straightened at the sight of her and seemed to look more alert in her presence.

"Shugosha-sama! Welcome back!" one greeted.

The second guard looked about her. "Where is Takuto-sama?"

"He was not with me when I woke," she admitted.

Another Kuronuma emerged from within the gates and ushered her into a lively village full of her clansmen. They swarmed her upon sight and bombarded her with questions, asking for Takuto. She gave them the same response she had given the men at the gates.

An elderly male appeared from the parted crowd and approached her with a feeble smile. "You are a welcome sight, Shugosha-sama," he said. "The small council will convene for you."

Mio nodded, deciding it would be for the best to go along with things to avoid rousing suspicions. She followed the wizen man into a hall in the center of the village where several Kuronuma waited standing around a table piled up with scrolls. She advanced towards the table, brushing back the hair from her face, seeing the dried blood on her hands in her periphery as it moved past her.

She swept her eyes to the other Kuronuma who went on ahead to ask for the absent Takuto only to receive the same response as everyone else.

"This will not do," said one council member, who possessed a powerful visage and a thick mustache. "We cannot seem weak. Without Takuto-sama in this country, we need a leader."

"The Shugosha-sama will be enough," another council member, with the darkest shade of rose eyes, replied to a chorus of acceptance from his colleagues.

The elderly man came forward besides her, looking up to her with a certain expectation. "Then it is settled, the Shugosha will lead temporarily until Takuto-sama can be located," he said, turning to the others, "This was no doubt the Uchiha's doing. Capturing leaders has always been their best tactic, but they will not defeat us, not when we are this close to avenging the death of our patriarch and our Shugosha's lord husband."

Mio breathed in slowly, preferring to keep her mind off the subject of her grandfather, who through doctored memories she saw he had been the patriarch of the clan, and Gouki. She recalled the truth as the council members argued about their next course of action. She tasted bile on her tongue at the memory. She stopped her grandfather from dealing the final blow. She distracted him, giving Gouki the opportunity to kill him. She remembered and the guilt was immediate and heavy.

She pushed aside various scrolls from the table, revealing the world map underneath them. The others too distracted by their arguments to pay her any mind. The continent was the same. Every country was intact and located where they were supposed to be. She suspected the governing structure remained the same, but as she thought this, she saw a long needle stabbed in the Earth Country. She reached for it, but drew back. She recognized the area as the one that housed Nishiki's castle and wondered why it merited a makeshift flag.

"What do you think, Shugosha-sama?" asked the mustached council member.

She visibly startled and looked to the man that had spoken. She heard nothing of the debate happening apart from the war occurring between the Kuronuma and Uchiha clans. The Uchiha clan was to blame for the death of Shin and Gouki. The Kuronuma clan had taken both deaths as a serious offense.

"It is sacrilege!" the wizen man exclaimed. "They are savages! Not even through equal exchange will we receive our patriarch's body back! They will see him sullied to acquire our clan's secrets! We cannot allow this to happen! We must attack at once!"

"Takuto-sama and the Shugosha-sama have already attempted to retrieve the body by force and this is what's happened. Our greatest medical specialist has been compromised," the mustached man interjected with similar fervor. "We must come to an agreement."

"What happens when the agreement those savages set out is keeping our patriarch's body? What then?" a younger council member asked. "We must answer the Uchiha clan with war. Let us do our country a favor and rid it of the threat those savages pose."

The tension among the six council members reached its peak a second time, the room dissolving into furious shouts and threats of violence amongst them.

Mio intercepted as two of the youngest members grabbed at one another. "Enough," she said loudly, commanding their attention. She could see what Nishiki had done by pitting the Kuronuma clan against the Uchiha clan. She only wondered if the same applied to her other guardian's clans. "We are a peaceful clan and my actions were anything but. There must be a treaty. We will not sully our ancestors by turning into a clan lusting for battle. We have one job and that is to remain neutral. Those were the terms set by Kiyohime, those are the terms, I, as temporary leader, set today."

The four that opposed the idea of a treaty gaped at her, but the others were prepared to write up reasonable terms to send to the leader of the Uchiha clan. She left them to do that and retired to her home.

The Kuronuma village was not like the one on Mt. Hyōga where its members lived in yurts constructed of intricate latticework covered in felt. The homes were tiny wooden lodges that sat side by side in rows surrounding the hall made up of black stone. Hers was a cozy household with little to no furnishing as she walked from room to room. She owned all that was essential for living comfortably.

Mio filled a ceramic basin with warm water and carefully scrubbed the dried blood from her hands and face. She found a change of clothes in a closet in the next room and tugged them on. She pulled on a new pair of boots after discarding all her filthy clothing and left her home.

She covered her head with the pale hood attached to her cloak. She went out through the gates. The shinobi posted at the site suggested she take a couple of shinobi with her in case she ran into another group of Uchiha invading their country.

"I can take care of them myself," Mio assured them.

She walked back to the vast pale landscape. Pieces of it reminded her of Kurata, particularly an elevated part of land further down the mountainous range that was covered in pine trees that were pale from the recent snowfall.

She ventured towards the great pine forest as the cold winds started to pick up.

The flap of powerful wings startled her and quickly she lifted her head up to the cloudless sky to the sight of a great falcon soaring effortlessly above her searching for prey among snow mounds. She hoped the stupid bird froze to death and continued south.

Mio came to a sudden halt. There was someone standing at the edge of the pine forest, tall and all dressed in black with hair down his back. Her heart skipped a beat and her steps quickened. Stupidly, she stumbled forward to the person, seeing something that hung from their neck catch the thin stream sunlight that burst through a break in the clouds.

_My artifact._ That was her Time Sphere.

It might have been a mistake running headlong to the elevated ground, but she took a chance. She jumped up and took several steps towards him, boots sinking into the snow.

"Madara," she called hesitantly.

At the sound of his name, he turned. She saw he recognized her, not as an enemy, but as an ally. He moved to her silently, reaching for her as she reached for him. She grabbed him by the neck and dragged him towards her into a powerful embrace. He pressed a hand to her back and held her near.

"Please tell me we are not having an affair while our clans are trying to massacre each other," she whispered, drawing back to stare into his face. "What is the last thing you remember?"

"Finding you half dead in the rubble," he answered, then averted his eyes. "Is this the Universe Sphere's doing? Are we inside it?"

"The world was made inside it, but this is…" She paused, unable to explain it. "This is…a new universe released from the sphere." This particular sphere had been difficult for her to understand when she had been learning about every artifact for the first time. "It's a lot of things."

Madara stared at her strangely. Her explanation did anything but elucidate. "What?"

"I can't explain it," she admitted. "Think of it like this. It's a new world with Nishiki in control. He can make changes as guardian, mold things he doesn't like into new things that he does like."

He returned his eyes to her. "Do you have any reckless plans to solve this problem?"

"If we retained our memories from before the sphere was activated, we can assume the other guardians did as well," Mio began, though she had formulated no real plans. "We need to come together. Nishiki and Ayuka are powerful and they are the only ones standing between us and the Universe Sphere. So, you are going to need to give back Takuto."

"What?"

"Takuto was captured by your men. I want him back."

"We don't have him."

"Are you sure?"

"We don't have him." Madara paused. "Now that you mention it, nobody I asked knew where Taiga was."

"Why is Taiga relevant—?" It hit her like a ton of bricks, her tone changed quickly. "You made Taiga a guardian?"

"I am Shugosha. I can choose whatever guardians I want, like you chose to give a sphere to Senju Hashirama. You think I enjoy hearing him shouting in my head?"

"I gave you the sphere to restore you to health, not for you to choose guardians without my permission," she retorted. "Where is my last remaining artifact?"

"I gave it to an Uzumaki," he responded.

"For what reason?" she asked exasperatedly.

He shrugged.

Livid, Mio held out her hand. "I want my sphere back."

"Oh? You want it back now? You did not seem to want it before when I offered it to you."

"Because it's the only thing keeping you alive, but if you are so determined to misuse it by making guardians I do not approve of, I want it back."

"Taiga is an acceptable choice, you cannot deny that."

"I do not trust him."

"He risked his life to accompany Izuna to save you," Madara said. "He has done enough for the Uchiha clan and for you to redeem himself."

Mio put an end to the argument. "We need to find our guardians."

"How do you suppose we do that when our clans want to murder one another?" asked Madara.

"I had two of my council members write up a treaty and send it to you, assumed you are still leader. We will sign it and penalize acts against it."

Madara nodded. "Then, I should stop my team's invasion."

Mio took a step back about to turn, but did not. She thought to ask him if the Uchiha clan possessed her grandfather's body, but doubted they did. It could have been more word of mouth to cause strife between them.

He stared at her expecting her to say more, but she decided against it. "We will meet soon," she said instead.

"Yes," he said in response.

* * *

><p>Mio approved of the terms being sent to Madara finding them easy to agree upon during their meeting. The two would be standing face to face expected to act the part of enemies. She did not feel up to the task, but she did hold onto a slight grudge against Madara for assigning guardians without her consent. She did not like the idea of Taiga running around with one of her spheres. She liked it less that there was a complete stranger handling another of her spheres. She chose her guardians based on the connection they shared, whether it be a bond of familial, friendship, cordiality, or professional circumstance. There needed to be a connection and a certain level of trust. Usually, the artifacts themselves told her which person was appropriate for which sphere. She had not found the right guardians for the Vision and Climate Sphere.<p>

She had requirements that needed to be met before forking over a sphere, though it felt easy to let the first couple artifacts go. She knew the recipients.

She did not feel she knew Taiga completely, much less the Uzumaki.

Mio stood on the flattest piece of land farthest from the Kuronuma clan's village in the mountain with her boots several inches deep in the snow. Serving as her protectors were six shinobi, each one larger than the last with the biggest standing at about seven feet tall, his body massive and muscled and intimidating. Two of her shinobi were guarding a small crop of tortured Uchiha they had been holding prisoner for information that they would be returning as part of their agreement.

The Uchiha arrived with double the shinobi following Madara.

One Uchiha carried a body wrapped in white and brought it to her, tossing it at her feet. "Your body, princess," he said mockingly, "as promised."

A Kuronuma released the Uchiha prisoners and with the same mocking tone said, "Your men, my lord."

Mio crouched down in front of the body, fearing she would have to stare down upon her grandfather's lifeless face again. She pulled back the sheet from the shinobi's face and her heart seized. It was him. Pale as the snow beneath him, but colder than the night storms. She covered his face, tucked the sheet inside to keep it from revealing itself, and grabbed hold of his body, hoisting it up over her shoulder.

One of her shinobi offered to take it from her, but she refused. She would carry him.

She met Madara's eyes and saw confusion drawing his eyebrows. He had not seen the body before she pulled apart the sheet. There were questions bordering on demands he wanted to ask, but with everyone watching their every move, even the quick look they shared roused suspicions. Everyone stared at them, from one face to the other.

"We will be powerful allies to the Uchiha clan," Mio said. "As the Uchiha clan will make for us. Let us bury our hatred for one another and create peace amongst our brothers and sisters."

Madara offered his hand for her to take and she shook it, firm.

"We will celebrate," said Madara evenly, withdrawing his hand. "In our country, we will accommodate you and as many men as you wish to bring with you. We will be expecting you, Shugosha."

"The Kuronuma clan looks forward to your hospitality."

They parted without another word, two leaders returning to their homes. The two agreed on a plan to use the celebration as a means to formally come together and leave when the opportunity presented itself. They planned to travel until they found the other guardians.

The sound of a cannon reached them.

Mio turned, seeing the Uchiha looking further beyond to a cloud of red smoke.

Another cannon boomed, another cloud of red appeared in the sky.

"Red smoke," she caught herself saying.

"Another execution," a Kuronuma answered.

"That is the second one this week the Emperor has executed," another Kuronuma added.

_Emperor? Execution?_

Neither term sat well with her, not without drawing from the deep recesses of her body an emotion so rooted to her being that she felt physically ill. Her heart thundered in her chest, the fluttering in her stomach became a web of knots that tightened, tightened until…

A third cannon fired into the air, filling the pale sky with another burst of red smoke, when she realized she had been scratching her arm raw. She glanced down at her arm and saw it was covered in hives. She stopped, her skin throbbing. Something was wrong, something was terribly wrong.

Mio touched her right earring and sensed the other guardians through Madara's sphere. Everyone with the exception of three were scattered, the three that were together were hard to pinpoint. She looked to Madara one more time, he and his clansmen were standing in place, everyone staring up except him.

He was looking at her.

She let go of the earring and inclined her head, he did the same, and she turned away, returning to the village.

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: The next couple chapters are going to build up gradually. Nishiki's universe is deceptively like what we are used to in terms of governing, but there's a little extra. You'll be introduced as we move forward.

Thank you to **Loteva**, **Guest**, and **Kettobase **for reviewing the previous chapter! :)

I've officially met my writing quota for this story for this month (it was totally unprecedented and unexpected, but I did it and well, YAY!). I'll most likely be posting the next two chapters at the same time on July 4th and then I'll be taking a week off to finish off the story.

Thank you for reading!

Preview for the next two chapters will be up at my LJ by the time you finish reading this.


	50. The Guardians of the Time Sphere 2

Chapter** 50** | The Guardians of the Time Sphere II

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><p>Many of his clansmen were against the treaty he signed with the Kuronuma clan. All of them were on edge at the idea of coming together with the Shugosha, and when Mio arrived flanked by men with stark white hair, the Uchiha around him tensed. She only came with two Kuronuma. The Uchiha viewed her actions as arrogant. They greeted her with forced smiles and strained words of welcome that made their hostility clear as the sphere hanging from his neck. She was not welcomed in their village, not by his clansmen. The whispers that went on behind him claimed she would to do them what she had done to other clans—destroyed them from the inside out. That was her reputation in this world, a cold, calculating woman that had a talent for stirring chaos within any clan.<p>

The clan believed she suggested the treaty to eliminate the Uchiha. That she would lash out against them for the Kuronuma clan's missing leader and the death of their patriarch. She apparently had done worse for a lesser affront than the blood war between them.

Madara stepped down from the long verandah of a wide building and met her with cordiality when others had with wariness. He heard a man claim she had the ability to charm any man and that he would be her target, but he had listened to their opposing murmurs since he invited her and her clan to a feast that would celebrate their truce. They needed any excuse to convene and map out their next course of action. This would be less likely to rouse as many suspicions as any other encounter.

He led her to the verandah he had abandoned. Within the large building, everyone was waiting for her arrival to start the feast as servants stood outside ready to be called in to deliver the food. He asked for several of her favorite platters to be prepared and hoped they were decently made as he gestured her to sit beside him.

Mio dismissed the Kuronuma stalking after her and one of his men pointed them to a pair of empty seats nearby where they would be able to keep an eye on her.

Once seated, Madara leaned in, drawing her attention. "Did you think it prudent to bring only two Kuronuma?"

"Should I have brought more?" she asked quietly.

Subtlety gesturing to his men, who observed them intently, he said, "They think you arrogant. Most would gladly show you that this is not a clan where you can make truth of your reputation."

With a curious glint in her eyes, she answered quizzically, "What? Will they attack me?"

"No," he assured her. "I have forbidden it."

"Then there is no need to worry." She turned away as the servants were ushered inside carrying stacked trays with equal servings for everyone. They came to them first and set down their food. Mio thanked the young girl that did so with a pleasant smile and proceeded to stare down at every plate in front of her before glancing at his, seeing they were identical. "I imagined two Kuronuma would make me seem less threatening. I had no intention of seeming haughty."

"Have you any idea what your reputation is in this world?"

"I have a reputation?" she asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"Of infiltrating clans on the basis of peace and destroying them," he answered.

"I can hear Ayuka mocking me from her castle," she said, picking up her chopsticks. "Ayuka and Nishiki are having their fair share of fun. They made you practically inhuman. In reputation." She lowered her voice and lifted her eyes to survey the room. "Where is your brother?"

"Later," he told her, taking notice of all the eyes watching them.

For the remainder of the evening, they spoke very little to one another—limited it to when it was completely necessary. She barely ate, picking at her food for the greater portion of the night as everyone was growing restless sitting in her presence and the two men she brought along with her.

"You barely touched your food," he said once everyone had more or less finished their dinner.

"I am not hungry," she said simply. She did not even touch her tea.

Madara ordered one of his shinobi to help her Kuronuma guards find their lodgings for the night once the dull affair concluded with nothing changed between them. The Uchiha's mistrust was evident as they left the hall and the Kuronuma were no different.

Mio was pushing herself out of her seat, but Madara spoke up to stop her. "We have matters to discuss, Shugosha."

She froze and sank back down into a seat. Her guards made a move to stay, but she gestured them away, saying, "I will be safe."

The Kuronuma left her with great reluctance.

He dismissed his own shinobi and waited standing as they exited the hall.

He caught Mio stealing glances whenever she had the opportunity and he wondered about her thoughts. They had not spoken for too long, not as he would have liked. They were strangers—enemies—in this universe and there was no doubt that if they had been like everyone else, completely ignorant of the truth about the new world, one of their clans would have been obliterated by the other. Nishiki and Ayuka created the new world to have all the guardians kill each other, but he contemplated that idea as it made no sense after serious consideration. What would be the point of doing this in Mio's case? It was her son they needed to change the line of succession. And they couldn't kill him because doing so would render the artifacts obsolete.

Yet…they were enemies in this world. Was that to rid the Kuronuma and Uchiha clan of their other guardians, Takuto and Taiga?

They were being used, he determined.

Madara directed Mio to his own quarters after everyone had gone their way. He shut the shoji screens behind him as she advanced to the center of the spacious room, looking in every direction curiously. A single lantern filled the room with yellow, flickering light, giving her appearance an glow. She touched nothing, but he knew that if he made it clear he would not mind, she would have gone through everything as if she were attempting to learn him.

She moved quietly through the room, standing still before the shelves overflowing with scrolls to stare upon it admiringly. She spotted the hot sake sitting atop a round tray with a pair of choko cups at the short, square table in the center of the room. She peered through the shoji screens that led into his bedroom, but sealed them shut when his voice reached and startled her.

"What have you uncovered?" he asked, reminded of all the times he had spoken those same words to her when she was a spy. He had always been eager for new information and had rarely been beaten out on questioning her findings.

"Nishiki is executing people in the Earth Country," she said in a crisp tone. "He picked up a crop of treasonous citizens and plans to execute one or two every day." She reached into the bag she wore slung across her body and procured a scroll she offered to him when he approached. "Takuto recorded everything into several scrolls. I did not bring them all, but this is enough to explain the rest."

He opened the scroll and read scribbling about the mechanics of their current monarchy and how it came to be. The cannon fire and different color smoke signals were written about in great detail, though he had learned enough on the subject when he first saw a red cloud curl across the pale blue sky.

"Did he do this with an awareness of his situation?" he questioned, if so, there would be a possibility for a hidden message within his other writings.

"I believe he was completely unaware, we should have all woken at the same time in this world," she replied. "I do have an appreciation for his insistence in keeping track of such things. It is in his personality."

"You are certain Nishiki is in the Earth Country?"

"Nishiki? Yes," she answered, looking up at him dubiously. "Have you not seen a map or attempted to find our guardians?"

"I've seen a map," he told her, arms folded over his chest. "As for finding guardians…my grasp on the ability tends to…fluctuate."

The Time Sphere had been giving him trouble since he woke in the middle of that snow-dusted pine forest about to invade the Kuronuma clan's village. He believed he had an idea how it functioned after waking from the deep darkness, but he had overlooked its complexities. Doing so had cost him the Nature Sphere, which now sat broken and powerless in his pocket. He had not anticipated that the strain of using the two artifacts at once would destroy one.

"Three guardians are in the Earth Country," Mio said. "The rest are scattered throughout the continent." She read the doubt in his expression. "I can access the sphere's abilities through my Black Sphere. I can teach you to use the sphere. It might guarantee your survival."

"Might?"

She shrugged with a grin. "Might."

"I thought you wanted the sphere returned," he reminded her.

"Only when we are safe and the artifacts cannot be used in this manner a second time," she began. "Only when our friends and family and our clansmen cannot be harmed and Ayuka and Nishiki are dead."

A yawning silence expanded through the room as the two lock eyes and saw nothing but one another, hearing nothing but the quiet drum of one another's hearts. In the stillness, Madara realized—truly realized—that Mio stood in front of him and that she was without bruises or wounds. She was not dying in his arms, the pulse of her artifact was powerful and her voice the only one ringing in his head making sure he did not forget she was in front of him, safe.

Madara walked to her and she leaned back lifting her eyes to him. He took her by the neck and kissed her. She hesitated a second, but opened her mouth against his the next allowing him to deepen the kiss. He wrapped his arm around her waist and dragged her against his body. She draped her arms around his shoulders, folding them across his back.

It lasted an instant before they drew apart. She could not meet his eyes. There was hesitation in the way she was standing. He did not know what horrific things she went through on her own with Mikazuki Gouki as her husband and he did not ask. A part of him did not care to know. He knew exactly what had been done to Mio, but knowing would not make him think less of her. She was his woman, poor decisions and all, but she was his.

She spoke his name as she brushed her hands across his cheeks and stared at him like she thought the world of him. "I am happy to see you well," she said softly. "I was terribly happy to see you well then."

"You were reckless, Mio," he berated, knowing she meant seeing him on the battlefield after the activation of Nishiki's sphere. "You were in constant danger without your sphere."

"I did not want you to die."

Madara rested his forehead against hers, closing his eyes and breathing in the cold smell of winter coming off her furs. She radiated nothing but warmth. However, the cold clung to her almost like a second skin. "Your grandfather found me on the battlefield," he told her, knowing she ached after seeing him dead, but he knew not to take such things seriously. He would surely be alive in their world. Ayuka and Nishiki only needed him gone to continue with their plans. That man was definitely hard to kill, even for Nishiki. "Had it not been for his idea to fight side-by-side, Nishiki would have killed me. He said he did it for the sake of _our_ future."

Opening his eyes, he saw Mio's face flushed a light pink, though there was more color in her ears. She averted her gaze. "He is a terribly embarrassing man. I apologize." She was babbling. "He is always speaking such nonsense."

"Yayoi and Takuto might have mentioned something you said before going," he said, fighting the urge to laugh at her horrified reaction. "Something about '_he is my future._' What was it again?"

Her hands were folded behind his neck, her lips molding into a sullen frown as she stared up at him through her eyelashes. "Yes," she said, quietly reluctant, "but I don't like to speak about the future."

"He is not the only one that has spoken to me of our future, Mio," he said, feeling her stiffen in his hold. The fact that she had said something about their future had reminded him of everyone else that had made a mention of it. "Enki did as well."

"What?"

"He spoke to me of your son," he divulged, observing for even the subtlest change in her expression. "He said he would be heir of two ancient clans and that Ayuka was foolish to believe someone like him could be his father."

"It can be anyone," she said evasively. "He only needs to be mine to inherit my power."

"I am your future, Mio, and we hail from two ancient clans."

"I am from two," she interjected. "I am both Kuronuma and Uchiha. Trust me when I say he only needs to be mine. Who fathers him is of little importance. It decides nothing."

Mio attempted to pull away from him. Running was her default response to anything and everything that made her uncomfortable.

"I don't want to talk about the future," she said, finding him unyielding in his hold on her. "I don't like to think of it. I don't like it. Please, if anyone saw us like this…"

She stole a glance at the door as if someone could walk in any minute, expressing a worry that would hide her evasiveness. Nobody would dare storm inside his quarters without his permission. They were safe here to do everything they wanted without fear of being seen or disturbed.

"How much have you seen that you do not want to speak of it?" he questioned, sliding his hands to her hips and drawing her closer still.

"Enough," she answered. "I have seen enough. I should go. I'd rather not tarnish your reputation with your clansmen with overstaying my welcome in your quarters."

If she had wanted to leave his arms, she could have done so with ease, but she waited for his grip to loosen. He leaned forward and lowered his voice because he did not want to let her go. "We can be careful," he said. "We don't need to talk about the future. We can just—"

Mio surprised him by kissing him, her arms around his neck. She molded her body against his and he could think of nothing other than her breasts and his desire to touch them along with the rest of her. He wanted to have her the moment she told him that she wanted to be his, but his brother had arrived shortly after and that complicated things. His brother was well aware of their relationship; he had made it known when he had punched Madara in the face when he and Yayoi had caught up to him in the Earth Country, shouting, "You hated her!"

He had no adequate response, nothing that would not merit a second hit. There had been no exact moment to when his opinion of her had changed. There had only been a blurred line in between the before and after, nothing more. He had attempted many times to find when it had occurred, but he had come short. He had always been bothered by the others—Taiga and his inappropriate comments about her, Enki and the disgusting way he always raked his eyes down the length of her, even Izuna and his fondness of her—but it could have been his misunderstanding what clearly might have been a sibling bond.

Except he noted he liked her face and the length of her hair. He enjoyed watching her do her warm-up exercises before training, seeing her body tighten when she stretched her arms high over her head as she breathed in deeply and then exhale in a way that made every muscle in her to relax. It was beautiful. However, there was always more. There was something in the way she spoke, in her subtle movements, in her behavior, and in her actions that were appealing to him. He could have seen similar mannerisms, speech patterns, personality traits in any other woman, but it was not any of them that interested him. It was something about the combination of all those things in Mio that made her the focus of many of his thoughts. Whether they were near or far, she was not outside his mind. She invaded his senses as silent as smoke and crept through every inch of him until there was only her. It felt like it had happened overnight. But when they touched, it was like there had been a time when only they had existed.

Except, he could not ignore the fact Izuna was in love with Mio. He didn't understand that one either, but he wasn't going to question when he didn't have his own feelings sorted out. He ignored his own want of her for his brother's sake. Izuna deserved to be happy with whomever he wanted and if that meant giving up what he wanted, he would do it.

He thought he had the resolve to do it.

There had been multiple opportunities for him to bury his inappropriate thoughts of Mio underneath the memory of others, but his traitorous mind returned to her. He compared everyone before to Mio and knew that if he let her go, he would continue to do so after she was out of his reach. He did not fathom the thought of another existing that could stir such powerful emotions within him that would drive him to overlook his brother's own happiness to be selfish with his own because that resolve he wanted to have did not exist.

Izuna had not given him the opportunity to offer an excuse after he had punched him. Madara could not have said, "I like her face," because many did. The little things about her had drawn the attention of others like his brother, so he could not say them either, nor could he excuse his hostility towards her because he had meant it for a long time. When Izuna had demanded a reason, Madara had seen how much Izuna had wanted to be with Mio. He had seen what he wished he hadn't because it had brought the guilt back and it was strong.

He could not explain it and she couldn't either.

There was something more. Something strong between them. It didn't have a name and it didn't care who was hurt in the end because it brought them together. That was the reason he could not speak of. He would not speak of it. It was theirs. Another of their secrets.

Izuna had composed himself and directed the focus back to Mio, but had warned him against hurting her. Madara could only lower his head and promise he would not.

Mio kissed his mouth and moved slightly, pressing her lips to the corner of his before drawing away as she inhaled deeply.

"Sake?" he offered, leaving her side to pour himself a drink at the table.

"No, thank you, but I'd prefer not to drink," she said, following him. She took the tokkuri from him. "I will pour for you."

He sat and held his small choko cup to her. She filled it after sitting down to his right.

He observed her watching the contents of his cup. He only took a sip the first time he brought the choko to his lips, the second time he emptied it. She was ready to pour more sake for him, but he took the tokkuri from her and set it aside on the table.

"We will be able to speak freely on the road," he told her.

She nodded.

"The room I had prepared for you is in the other building if you would like to retire for the evening," he informed her, watching her shift in her seat.

"Are you asking me to leave?"

"No."

"Would they not speak?" asked Mio, her lips curving into a smile. "If a Shugosha entered their leader's private quarters and never left? I hear I have a particular charm capable of ensnaring any man."

He almost laughed. "I did not take you for the kind to worry of your reputation."

She leaned forward into the table, propping her arm up. She waved her hand dismissively. "My reputation cannot kill me."

"Then, we will let them speak of you and your charms."

"You are making fun of me," she said, shaking her head. "There is no charm to speak of."

Madara scooted over to sit in front of her, taking a strand of her dark hair and pushing it from her face. "That is true," he said, earning a small laugh from her. "I have met women far more charming than you."

"Have you?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. He wondered if that was jealousy he noted in her voice. "Why don't you chase after them instead? Leave me be. I can marry your brother like you wanted."

He grabbed her by the waist and dragged her to him, making her get on her knees. She set her hands on his shoulders and slowly straddled his lap. His desire for her was ignited and in her actions, he could sense hers. "All of those women fear me," he said, craning his neck to have a better look at her. "You do not. You think yourself my equal."

"Oh," she said quietly. She ran her hands up his neck, thumbs gently brushing over his Adam's apple. "Should I cower at the sight of you, Uchiha Madara? Or would you rather I stroke your ego?"

She leaned forward giving him the impression that she might press her mouth against his, but she did not. She lingered an inch away and when he attempted to close the gap, she pulled away another inch.

She was teasing him.

"You can do whatever you want," he told her, watching her black eyes light up.

She licked her lips and he could feel her soft tongue breeze past his mouth. His finger dug into her hips as he grasped at what remained of his self-control. He did not want to simply throw Mio to the floor and ravage her. He wanted to take his time to learn all the things that made her tremble, moan, speak his name, and the things that drove her to the point of ecstasy, but he did not trust his impatience.

"I should go," she said against his mouth.

Mio started to get up, but he grabbed her by the elbow. He pulled her to him and swiftly changed their positions as he pushed her back to the tatami and pressed his body to her. He did not give her the opportunity to speak because his lips were on hers before she started to formulate the words in her mind. He ran a hand down the length of her. He found the curve in her body and cursed the wool fabric standing between his palm and her naked flesh. He slid a hand under her thigh and moved it beneath her knee, pulling her leg to his waist while she kissed him. Her soft mouth yielded to him, her tongue met his in a slow, deliberate dance that brought his attention to the blood rushing to his groin.

She liked to kiss slowly, enjoyed the feel of his touch tantalizing every nerve ending on her lips. He appreciated her patience for these things, her fixation on them because as annoying as he thought it, he wanted to let her teach him what made her feel good. When he took control, taking her by the back of the neck, he moved his mouth against hers gently and she responded with a slight arch in her back, making a sound so quiet he nearly missed it.

He cursed, drawing back.

She stared up at him…_hurt_. Did she think he was running away from her? He ran a hand over her head and kissed her reassuringly. He got on his knees to pull his shirt off and tossed it aside.

She blinked. Perhaps, she had not considered how far they would be going.

"Are you afraid?" he asked, feeling the evening's cold whipping against his back.

"A little," she admitted tremulously. Her hands went to the sash cinching her waist where the neat knot sat. "I'm a bit afraid."

"Of me?"

He worried she might say yes. That something inside him frightened her.

"No. Not of you."

Although it relieved him to hear those words leave her lips, he felt inclined to say, "Do you want to stop?"

She answered first by unknotting her sash and shrugging off her wool and fur-lined coat to reveal the simple, high-collared shirt underneath. It molded to her body like a glove, outlined her breasts and her slender waist. "No," she answered, sitting up to peel the shirt from her skin. "I want to be with you."

He watched her slowly expose her midriff and bare her breasts to him. He pressed her back against her furs, feeling their soft surface with his fingertips before taking them against her skin. He touched her flesh—smooth and ivory and sensitive—and ran his fingers over the length of her collarbone and down her sternum and lower still until his hand reached the top of her trousers. She caught on when he gave the fabric a tug and helped him remove the last barrier between him and her naked body.

Madara pressed up against her so she could feel him, hard and throbbing against her inner thigh. She stared at him, but it was not fear he saw there in her eyes, it was the same desire he felt had knotted in his stomach. He wanted anything to keep himself from losing control and rushing her, but he found himself unable to do so. Not when she grabbed him by the neck and kissed him fully, teasing him with her tongue. She ran her free hand down his back and moved her hips, grinding against his shaft, eliciting from him a groan.

He seized her wrists and set them over her head, keeping them in place with a single hand. He did not want to give her control. He took it for himself and pushed his other hand between her slick folds, feeling his finger slide easily inside the intense warmth within her. Mio closed her mouth and made a sound—a short, sudden indication of her surprise and immediate pleasure. She accommodated quickly to his fingers, no sooner had he first inserted them in her that she began rolling her hips to his stimulation.

He took her breast into his mouth, running his tongue teasingly over her hardened nipple and Mio cried out, fighting weakly against his hold on her wrists. She writhed and with an arousing voice, called his name. He thought this was how he preferred she speak his name, ask for him in a lingering whisper, always at his ear.

Madara teased her to the point her insides were clamping down on his fingers. Her folds were slick and when he pressed the head of his erection between them in place of his fingers, he entered her slowly as she sucked in a shuddering breath, followed by a quiet mewl. He expelled the breath he had been holding in and lingered in the heat radiating around his shaft, hotter than he could have ever imagined and tight, so tight it was threatening to wring him dry, but when he moved it created a delicious friction that drove him over the edge. He drew his hips back and thrust into her for the first time.

A curse accompanied the low rumble in his throat, but he moved again and again and again, each time burrowing himself deeper. He ran his tongue up from the base of her neck to her chin and heard her giggle.

Mio moved with him, undulating her hips, and allowed him to push further inside her. She was panting, eyes closed thoroughly enjoying his attentions. She was squirming underneath his weight when she suddenly stiffened and the tenor of her voice changed until she had gone silent.

He stopped, drawing his lips from her neck, and stared down at her. Her chest rose and fell at an alarming rate, every muscle in her body tightened. A panic attack?

He released her and took her by the neck. "Mio."

She did not respond and it worried him that she would succumb to whatever caused the attack. Her breathing had turned erratic.

"Mio, open your eyes," he whispered. "Look at me." His took her hands and raised them to his face. "Mio, look at me."

She opened her eyes and obeyed his words. Focusing on him, she seemed to have become aware and relaxed with a few deep breaths. She touched his face with trembling hands and whispered, "Madara?"

He swallowed. "Yes."

"Don't stop," she said lowly, her anxiety dissolving. "I'm okay. So, please…"

And he didn't. They would not have another opportunity like this on the road and they were completely aware, so they took advantage of the late hours and continued exploring deeper pleasures atop his comfortable bedding in the other room. It was not enough until they had exhausted one another, until she could no longer leave her marks on his skin, the long red streaks across his back, or he on hers, the small bruises on her hips from where he had dug his fingers in to drive into her faster.

There was heat and passion. There was more of the unknown. It was everything he imagined and more. His connection with Mio intensified the act and he sensed she felt it too. But then it was over.

In the afterglow, there was silence as they steadied their breaths and disentangled their sweat-slicked bodies. They cleaned themselves and dressed in simple robes.

Madara sat on his futon drinking with Mio lying on her stomach in front of him. She was watching the flame of a candle dancing, fascinated by the sight. He felt like a fool staring at her as if looking away for an instant would give her sufficient time to go. He preferred to keep her near, he realized. Close enough to touch her.

She folded her arms under her head and rested her face against them. "I should go."

"You can stay," he told her. "You have to stay true to your reputation."

"We do not need our actions to be publicized," she replied, frowning at the mention of her reputation. "I am supposed to be in mourning."

"For your husband and grandfather," he said. "What do Nishiki or Ayuka gain from having Gouki dead in this world?"

Mio rose into a seat. "That was not their intention," she said. "Gouki is dead in this world because he is dead in ours. It's the same for everyone else."

He recalled Shinya's body during the trade. "Your grandfather too…?"

"Yes, but now is not the time to speak of such things," she said quickly. "We must now focus on gathering our guardians."

"We will."

They would go their separate ways tomorrow morning. He had informed the clan that he was going to find Izuna and bring him back to the Fire Country, so they were aware that he would be leaving. Mio and her Kuronuma would have a sudden emergency to attend to and would go as well. She would eventually meet him at a town along the country's border, from which they would navigate towards the Lightning Country in search of Taiga.

Mio did not stay the night.


	51. The Guardians of the Time Sphere 3

Chapter** 51** | The Guardians of the Time Sphere III

* * *

><p>Madara left his clansmen an hour after Mio and traveled straight to their meeting town. He arrived the following morning after running for several hours without rest.<p>

Madara rented a room at an inn under an alias and waited. He did not see Mio arrive until the second day. She found him on the street. He had gone to collect information after he discovered the town received travelers from various parts of the continent with interesting details about the state of their respective countries.

"You're late," he told her.

"I did not have a choice."

"What were you doing?"

"I had things," she answered dismissively. "Private things."

"What?"

"This doesn't concern you, Madara!"

He huffed.

"Is there anywhere we can go?" she asked. "Somewhere we can speak?"

"I rented a room, but there's a restaurant down this street if you are hungry."

Mio chose the restaurant. She mentioned it would be a better idea to be seen as a couple of travelers like most of the people that went through the town than two suspicious figures huddled around. Inside the quaint establishment, Mio chose a table in the center that sat against the wall. She dragged the chair back noisily and let her bag drop to the ground with a thud as he took a seat across her. He drew a map from his belongings and handed it to her.

A boy in a long apron approached them and offered to bring them something to drink. Mio asked for water and he wanted red tea. The boy left and returned quickly to deliver their drinks. He went over the items on their menu when Mio asked and she ordered more than he thought her able to eat, but she put that idea to rest the minute she started on her fifth dish.

Once the boy came to take several empty plates from the table, Mio smoothed a map over the vacant surface and stopped him from going.

"Do you know if there are any glass shops near?" Mio asked, standing next to him.

"There are many in the Wind Country," the boy said.

"What about going up to the Lightning Country?" Mio drew a line, pointing out a route for the boy to peer into the map. "Through here."

"There were traveling merchants heading to the Grass Country, I think I might have heard someone there was good with glass."

Mio smiled. "Thank you."

The boy grinned and walked off, casting a glance in her direction as he went.

"What are you doing?" asked Madara, tired of watching her in silence.

"I'm making another dummy sphere," she told him. "A Time Sphere. Another one, exactly like that one."

"For what reason?"

"I have a plan." At his disgruntled appearance, she added, "A good one."

"We are supposed to be searching for our guardians, not hunting down gaffers to make you another glass sphere," he reminded her. "Who is the guardian closest to us? You can tell who is who, can't you?"

"We are traveling towards the Lightning Country," she said, drawing a line from their position to the country in question where he faintly sensed the pulse of a guardian. She reached to touch the sphere, wondering as she wrapped her hand about it why it did not burn her as it had him when he was not Shugosha. "Vision Sphere. That voice is…Taiga's—you gave the Vision Sphere to Taiga?"

"You seem upset," he pointed out.

"The Vision Sphere is a torture device," she told him. "If you were going to give Taiga any sphere, it should have been something completely harmless, like the Life Sphere."

"Give me the Life Sphere, I'll trade with him, you can take the Vision Sphere," he replied.

"I don't have it."

Madara stared dumbly. "Why did you suggest it?"

"I was giving you an example. You cannot assign guardians at random. You have to find someone suited for the sphere and its power."

"Is this the same criteria you used to make Senju Hashirama one of your guardians?"

"I am not going to discuss the guardians I chose."

"Uzumaki Nako mentioned something," he started. "She said the Senju have two artifacts. Who is the other guardian? Which is the sphere?"

"Is that Uzumaki carrying my Climate Sphere?"

"Who apart from Hashirama did you assign a sphere?" He pressed, hoping she did not speak Tobirama's name.

Staring him directly in the eyes, she spoke the white-haired bastard's name. "Tobirama." She ended it with a worse revelation. "I gave him the Universe Sphere."

"Are you a fool? They are our enemies!" he snapped.

He was the one she traded him for in the Sun Country. It bothered him to know that in her weakened state, she ordered Yayoi away from herself to save Tobirama. That Senju's incompetence brought the Universe Sphere to Nishiki and put them all in danger.

"They are your enemies if you would like, but they are not mine," she said firmly. "The Senju clan are allies to the Kuronuma clan."

"You're an Uchiha."

"I am not asking you to make peace with them," she said, furious. "I am not asking you to do anything for them. I am asking you to help me gather my guardians so that we can return home. Do you think I want to be here?"

She did not let him answer. "I don't. I want to be home. I want this to be over. I want to bury my grandfather. I want to breathe because I feel like I am suffocating."

Mio sank down into her seat and took a shuddering breath. "I have a plan," she repeated.

Madara did not respond, only waited for her to elaborate. He was furious.

"The capitol is in the Earth Country, Nishiki and Ayuka are there," Mio started. "There are three guardians in the Earth Country. I can sense three guardians in the Earth Country. I cannot be certain who each one is, they're too far, but they are there for a reason. Nishiki and Ayuka are not stupid. They would keep their weaknesses close while the rest of us are pitted against one another to fight. Tobirama and Yayoi must have more influence over their respective artifacts than Nishiki and Ayuka, so they must keep them alive."

"Would it not be easier to kill them?"

"Due to Kiyohime's succession laws, they would be at risk of welcoming their own deaths," she answered. "A predecessor can challenge his or her successor for control of the artifact they hold. It is supposed to be non-violent. If a successor that holds more power is killed by the predecessor, the artifact will kill the predecessor and trade their life in favor of the successor."

"Nishiki and Ayuka cannot kill Tobirama or Yayoi because they would die instead?"

"Yes. The artifact goes to the strongest."

"You think they are holding them captive in the Earth Country?"

"Yes, until they can win over their control of the artifacts. However, we are uncertain of the conditions they are under and are unable to gauge who is stronger amongst them, so it is better we rush this journey to collect the others."

"We can go straight to the Earth Country," Madara said. "You are Gouki's widow, you would not be denied at the entrance. We can end things quickly. Nishiki is powerful, but so are you. If we work together, we can defeat him. They can't afford to kill us."

"Yes, but we are not impervious. They can beat us within an inch of our lives. They would capture the people we love and torture them in our place. We need the support of our guardians. Nishiki and Ayuka use spheres. They use Kuronuma jutsu. This is their world to control. We do not know the inner functions. What we can do is move around and gather information, we can learn what we do not know, and we can gather the others who might know something we do not. The artifacts are stronger together than they are apart."

"We got to the Lightning Country for Taiga, then," Madara decided.

"But first we head to the Grass Country for the gaffer."

"We go directly to the Lightning Country. Taiga moves too quickly for us to take any detours," he stated. "You can find gaffers in any country." He left his seat. "Are you done eating?"

"Why?"

"We are going. If we travel now, we might make a faster trip and increase our chances of finding him in the Lightning Country."

Mio carefully folded the map and returned it to her bag. She gulped down the rest of her water as Madara left money to cover the bill on the table. He waited for her outside and heard the boy bid her a good journey. She thanked him politely and met him outside.

They traveled through the Fire Country using a merchant's route Mio recognized on the map. She made it a point to avoid shinobi clans, stressing that anyone that died while the Universe Sphere was activated would be dead when it was inactive. Madara understood. Nishiki could have easily turned their allies into enemies, so he agreed to her terms when it came to moving from place to place. However, he disagreed with the pace. Using this particular route meant they had to walk it like everyone else as it was rarely empty, though when it was, they ran through it.

On the eve of their third traveling day, the Lightning Country's border seeming an eternity away, Mio charmed an old man with a horse-drawn wagon. He offered them a ride in the back with his merchandise and even shared his food. His trip was short, only another town over, so he had rations to spare. His wife had packed him a big lunch having expected him to be gone longer than he would be.

Madara was sure they heard the man's entire life story for the umpteenth time as they sat around a fire on the side of the dirt road.

"What about you?" the old man asked, staring at Mio across the fire.

"We are looking for someone in the Lightning Country," Mio answered, delighting the man.

"A relative?"

"A cousin, yes," she said smiling. "I worry he might be gambling again."

It amazed him how easy she lied. The conversation ended when Mio found a way to return to the old man's stories about his family. She knew how to keep him talking to avoid speaking of themselves. Seeing that made him see what she had been doing all along. Keeping him from asking unnecessary questions. Madara wondered when he had become so thoughtless that he had been blind to her actions.

The following morning, the sky was full of red smoke.

"Another three executions." The old man whistled low as if to stress a point. "Have you heard?"

"What?" asked Mio.

"A thief swiped the Emperor's artifacts and sold them to a couple shinobi clans that don't want to give those back though the Emperor, himself, ordered his army to find them and bring them back." The old man folded his arms over his chest. "Except, it's proving difficult. The shinobi that have the artifacts—they say they're magical, these artifacts, and one's even a dragon's eye, too—aren't jus' any old shinobi. They've got that one that build's forests, they says he's a powerful one. The only one that can stand against him is some shinobi with red eyes, they say that one's a downright savage." As he said this, he noticed Mio look in his direction with a hint of a smile. "There's also these white headed ones from the Swamp Country, oh, those are a scary bunch. Nobody dares travel up there…cannibals. The lot of them are cannibals. Rumor has it they've got this giant of a man, captured by the capital—thank the gods—"

"Who was capture by the capital?" Mio asked quickly.

"One of the cannibals," the old man answered. "They say he's the leader. Serves him right, eating people that way. Oh, but they're trying to get their hands on the girl. There's a lady there that's a monster, a beast of a girl. They say she can pull the spine out of a man without much trying."

"Can you?" Madara asked, loud enough for her to hear.

Mio glared at him.

"Wonder if they've gotten rid of the giant," the old man said. "Pretty sure they will see it done before the festival."

"Festival?

"The Winter Festival. You should see it. Took the wife…"

Madara stopped listening.

Once the old man arrived to his destination and apologized to them for not going further, the two were able to travel at a faster speed as the roads were emptier the closer they were to the Lightning Country. Mio's demeanor changed, her worry, no doubt, gnawing at her over the idea that Takuto might be the third guardian stuck with Nishiki and Ayuka.

Another canon blasted into the sky and dyed it red, the smoke spreading like a disease across the blue.

Mio stayed guard that night and refused to sleep when he took over. She was lying on her back inside a tent, the flaps wide open so she could look up at the night sky through it.

"The old man was senile, Mio. He said Hashirama builds forests."

"Well, he does, doesn't he?"

"That's not the point."

"Takuto can see everything with the Reflective Sphere. It is a useful artifact to have if you want to have eyes everywhere," Mio said. "I did not think of it before, but it makes sense. They could be watching us. They could be watching us now."

Madara contemplated the fact that Nishiki and Ayuka could be looking into the artifact. "You can blind Ayuka from searching any of us out through the Fate Sphere," he said, finding her staring at him appalled. "Can you not do the same with Takuto's sphere?"

Her expression did not change.

"What?" he demanded. "What is wrong?"

"Nothing. Do you have any ideas?"

"Why don't you take the sphere back? You can do that can't you?"

Mio lifted herself onto a seat. "You can do something," she said. "I have an idea. Come here."

He left his seat to crouch down in front of the tent's entrance. She reached for the Time Sphere and he was certain she was going to heed his suggestion and take back the artifact. She took the black cord holding it in place and snapped it. She caught the sphere when it fell.

"I don't know any sealing techniques," Mio said, looking up to him expectantly.

"I know some."

"Strong enough to seal an artifact?"

He stared at the artifact, long and hard. It was powerful. Strangely powerful. An ordinary seal would not be enough. "No."

Mio rummaged through her bag and tugged her dagger free of its scabbard.

Finding her actions curious, he asked, "What are you doing?"

"Rendering the artifacts useless," she said. "If you cut off the linchpin, you cut off everything connected to it. None of the artifacts will work without your chakra flowing through to them, which will be problematic when it comes to hunting down guardians, but Ayuka and Nishiki won't be able to see us through Takuto's sphere, if they did, indeed, catch him for that reason."

"Would it deactivate the Universe Sphere?"

"The Universe Sphere isn't active. It doesn't need to be to keep things as they are since this is a different world. We would have to go activate it again to get back to our world."

Madara nodded, understanding. "So, the artifacts will be completely useless?"

"Yes, but it should not make a difference to you since you broke the Nature Sphere," she commented.

"The Nature Sphere broke on its own," he said defensively, remembering the strain he sensed within his original artifact when he activated it since he became Shugosha. "I don't think you should be activating other artifacts with the Time Sphere active."

"You are overstepping your boundaries, Madara, there have been four Shugosha before you and each one of them has had several artifacts on them and active numerous times and not once did an artifact break," she berated. "Kiyohime made the artifacts to be nearly indestructible, but you succeeded, you broke the indestructible."

"It was not indestructible if it broke!" he snapped.

"I don't know what you did to the Nature Sphere—"

"I did nothing but use it."

"I have used the Black Sphere with the Time Sphere and it hasn't broken," she argued. "Why would you break my sphere?"

"I did not do it purposefully!"

Madara sensed others approaching.

"That gave you—"

He clapped his hand over Mio's mouth, alerting her to the crunch of snow beneath heavy steps across the dirt path. He turned her face to him, meeting her eyes. She nodded slowly and he let her go.

Voices drifted to them, several of them.

"I thought I heard a woman's voice."

"Could've been an animal."

"We should look around, one girl might fetch us a pretty penny."

Madara squinted in the dark, attempting to see the figures standing in the middle of the road, but his vision only blurred. He took Mio's hand and found it gripping her dagger.

"Nah, forget it. It's a long way to the Sun Country."

"They pay well."

"Only if she's a pretty one. It could be a man. They pay ten percent for a man."

The man that suggested searching the premises was convinced that the possibility of it being an animal was larger than it being a person and moved on ahead. It was not until after an hour that he and Mio made any noise. They were completely still as a new storm rolled in with cold winds rushing through them, though with Mio beside him, he found himself warm. She did not even seem to shiver, like this was a breeze in a hot summer.

Mio put one of her coats on his back. The Kuronuma dressed in clothing made of wool and lined with fur. It was warm and it carried her scent.

"This does not mean I am not angry that you broke my sphere," she informed him.

"If you can make a dummy Time Sphere, you can make another Nature Sphere."

"Yes, I can, but I don't want to die making a replacement," she responded. "I don't have the kind of chakra you do. I need to be mindful of how I use mine."

"If you had more chakra, you could make more?"

"Only if I want to die." Mio ripped one of her shirts and placed the Time Sphere atop it. "It would be stupid for me to die after coming this far. Too many people died at my expense and for the artifacts. I am not going to die making more of these. Not when there are people like Ayuka that don't know how to use them."

"Then for what purpose were they created if not for power?"

"Protection. Kiyohime made them to protect."

He did not ask any other questions regarding the artifacts themselves, only spoke about what she was doing. She explained that she would create a shell around the sphere using black water. She did. She cut deep into palm, pressed her hands together in a hand seal over the sphere. The blood dripped from between her hands wound around the artifact, spinning quickly like the mist inside it until it covered every inch of its surface…until the Time Sphere was a black, unresponsive orb that no longer ate away at his chakra.

She wrapped the artifact in the torn up shirt and put it inside her belongs. "We should keep moving," she said. "We need to catch Taiga before he leaves the Lightning Country."

Madara helped her pack up her tent and gathered his own belongings, feeling lighter without the Time Sphere. Strange. It had only been his for a short amount of time, but with it, he truly felt invulnerable, without it, he felt limited.

"Is this how you felt without the Time Sphere?" he asked once they were walking on the road. "Lighter? Weaker?"

Mio was walking ahead where he could keep her in sight.

"It was strange," she admitted. "I used to endure fewer beatings with the Time Sphere…you can say I missed it."

"For that purpose alone?"

She looked over her shoulder. "I hate being kicked in the face."

"Who kicked you in the face?"

"That's a long story."

"This is a long journey."

"I am worried that you would prefer to discuss this particular subject instead of our plans moving forward," she said, then turned, continuing to walk backwards. "Nobody can hurt me. Ayuka would not dare."

"You wore that artifact too long, you think you can run around recklessly without getting killed. You're not immortal, Mio."

"I might as well be. Ayuka won't kill me. She won't dare touch me. Nobody will."

"What is it you are planning to do?" asked Madara, suspicious of her behavior.

She smiled. "Let's find Taiga."

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: I definitely feel I should have warned you about the previous chapter, but I didn't think it was so terrible it needed a warning label and if I had it would have spoiled whatever reaction you had after reading through it. I was also planning to edit it out (and you know shamelessly post it on LJ), cause of site guidelines and all, but it wasn't as graphic as it could have been, so I decided not to touch it. I usually don't even address these things, so I'm going to pretend I didn't. It's a shame the strikethrough function doesn't work here, else that whole first paragraph would be crossed out. But you can picture it, no? Do that.

Moving on.

Happy Independence Day, America! For anyone outside America, Happy Friday! Here are your two chapters as promised! Again, I'll be reiterating what I said last week about that break I was going to take and say something and not make any promises.

Because summer is doing me dirty, I'm recovering from a chest cold and I'm over the worst symptoms of it, but since this happened and it was completely unprecedented, I have not finished the 52nd chapter as planned. I'm still taking next week off and may or may not come back for the week after. However, this depends entirely on my health. (If by some chance I find myself writing more...you can expect regular updates regardless of my health - I need something to do other than play Fire Emblem all day. See, I can do that.)

So, in short, no promises that there will be any updates within the next two weeks due to bad cold. If so, guaranteed update will be on the 25th of this month.

With that being said, there will be a preview for Ch 52 up at my LJ sometime next week. (I did write something, I just need to prepare it.)

Many thanks to these wonderful people for leaving reviews: **Loteva**, **Kettobase**, **K**, and **TheBrokenRe****flectio****n**.

Thank you for reading!

And holy shit, we broke 50 chapters! D: Someone save meh!


	52. The Nameless One

Chapter** 52** | The Nameless One

* * *

><p>Kuronuma Nishiki sat in front of a long table toppled with scrolls, small wooden chests, and blank sheets. He kept the Fate Sphere unfurled upon the sleek surface of his desk and the Universe Sphere at arm's length, never far from him—not again.<p>

Ayuka watched him tap the surface of the mirror with a languid drum with the points of his fingers. He had plucked the Reflective Sphere from Kuronuma Takuto's hands after throwing him into the dungeons with Yayoi and the Senju boy they had captured. He had taken it to observe the others and had sought each guardian through unearthing their spheres. He had seen the famed Senju Hashirama standing before the storm barrier cast by the Climate Sphere's new guardian, a woman with short red hair, Uchiha Taiga traveling through the Frost Country, silent as the traitorous snake he had proven himself to be. He had followed a girl in the Waterfall Country with brown hair accompanied by Uchiha Madara's precious little brother, Izuna. And when he had searched for their Time Sphere guardians, he had found them together.

Nothing could have been done about that as he had wanted things to run their course and she had not argued against it.

Nishiki continued to drum his fingers along the mirror. He had taken it to search for Madara and Mio and he had found them surrounded by darkness until the image of the two faded into the reflection of his face. He had not spoken since.

Ayuka felt the deep-rooted connection between her and her Fate Sphere gut out like a candle at the end of its life. She did not have words to express her astonishment, only that her husband described it perfectly in his silence.

Nishiki laughed. "That little witch," he spoke. "She's smarter than she was in your vision. Weak, but she's smart."

"Did the Universe Sphere not work on her?" asked Ayuka, though what occurred had no other explanation.

"Have her summoned here," he ordered. "Unharmed. Nobody touches a hair on her head."

"I thought you wanted to let things run their course," Ayuka argued. She did not have the patience to come face to face with Mio after several days of peace within their new world. "The guardians will be at war and the artifacts will come back to us. Mio was not supposed to come here until we needed her."

"We can have her see a physician here," said Nishiki. "She could be carrying our grandchild. She should be taken care of." He stopped tapping the mirror's surface. "And if she is conscious in this world, you can ask her about Gouki's death."

Ayuka shut her eyes, taking a deep breath. She did not like to speak of Gouki, not after she learned of his death. She had not been right since then.

"Ayuka?"

"I'll have someone sent."

* * *

><p>The Lightning Country was brimming with shinobi patrolling the streets in full armor, prepared to fight off any threats, when they arrived to the first town along the border. Mio observed the way they moved, always surveying their surroundings, and determined they were searching for someone. She and Madara slipped under their radar, falling in with the traveling merchants that arrived to set up for market. She caught the eye of a farmer's son down the road and managed to get into the good graces of his father to the point the man offered to take them the rest of the way in the back of his cargo wagon. He asked them to help him set up his stand, she did not mind the temporary job as it would give them a cover while they went searching for Taiga.<p>

Madara walked up to her as she helped carry a crate full of merchandise up the small road to the market entrance. The farmer's son was waiting there to direct her towards their area among the other traveling merchants.

"Will you be okay here?" he asked, glancing up the road to the jubilant, brown-eyed man staring at her expectantly. He did not like wandering in the company of strangers, though he accepted it was a good way to blend in and that she had a knack for it.

She nodded. "Search the taverns and the expensive inns," she advised. "I will keep an eye out for him here. He frequents markets."

Madara started to turn, but she stopped him. "Check the brothels."

He inclined his head and went.

Mio walked up the rest of the path where the farmer's son quickly took the crate off her hands, though he seemed to be struggling with its weight more than she had. She did not protest, nor try to take it from him. She thanked him and followed his lead to where his gray-haired father was opening crates behind a large table.

"Where'd that brother of yours wander off to?" the farmer asked.

She offered to help open the remaining crates and he handed her a long metal tool to see it done. "He went to find an inn," she answered. The story with this farmer was different. They were going to the Lightning Country to see the sights and because they were searching for the jewelry sellers it was famous for as her companion would be buying something for his wife back home. For the sake of not being questioned too much over the fact that he was traveling alone with a woman, she told the farmer that he was her brother.

"Might be a good idea," the farmer said, then ordered his son to do the same. The young man was reluctant at first, but he went.

Once alone with the farmer, Mio knew there wouldn't be as many questions being asked. She stayed at the man's side for as long as it took to set up his stand and wandered off with the pretense of finding food. She knew exactly how to find Taiga in the Lightning Country. She understood how he moved from place to place in search of information and was certain she could track him to one of the adjacent towns. He returned to a site twice to pick up on anything he missed the first time and to cover his tracks. Madara thought it strange that she specified this particular town instead of where she had last sensed the pulse of his artifact, but she lied about wanting to go through the market to find a gaffer (knowing that was a useless idea). She swore to apologize to him later.

Mio took every busy venue out of town, not bothering to evade the heavily armed shinobi patrolling the streets. She was stopped twice by two different groups and was questioned about whether or not she had encountered any suspicious characters.

"Should I watch out for anyone in particular?" she had asked the second time she had been forced to step under the shade of a canopy. She had been standing in the center of a half circle of four shinobi that looked to be from one of the more dangerous clans in the Lightning Country. She had no interest in fighting them, so she had threaded carefully.

"Only suspicious shinobi," the older shinobi had told her.

"You should not be walking around alone. These are very dangerous shinobi," another had warned.

She had smiled. "That is not a problem. I am meeting with my elder sister and her husband. They're nearby."

They had sent her on her way, but had lingered and watched her every move until she had thought it prudent to walk into the first restaurant she encountered down the road.

After she had left the establishment through a back entrance and taken the alley into the street on the other side of the road, she hurried through the rest of her trip.

Mio arrived in town by late afternoon. She went straight to the shopping district and followed a drunkard with a gambling addiction to a brothel in the outskirts of town, though one needed to look twice to see the business for what it was. Taiga always said women were better at wringing out a man's secrets, especially drunken and satisfied men. When he had divulged that tidbit of information to her on the road, she had made the mistake of asking if he had loosened his tongue often with that kind of woman. She had not meant anything by it and he was probably aware, but he had cornered her that day when her grandfather was nowhere in sight and had said, "Would you like to try it?"

She sat down at a soba cart across the street and ordered food to fill her empty stomach. She spoke casually to the cart owner's wife, who did not ask too many questions. She stayed as long as it took for her to be noticed before paying her bill and walking to the nearest inn.

She was aware she was being followed the instant she walked inside. Despite it, she rented a room and went to it, down a long hall connecting the main building to the second one behind it. She entered, but when she attempted to close the door behind her, someone pushed it open.

Mio turned around quickly as the door closed shut and lifted her eyes to meet Taiga's. He looked weary despite having shaven the scruff from his face and cut several inches off his messy brown hair. He wore the clothes one saw on any commoner of the Lightning Country only with a bag slung across his torso.

"I heard there was someone being blatantly suspicious," he started, reaching back to turn the lock. "I should have known it was you." He gave her a lopsided smile. "Been a while, hasn't it, princess?"

She prepared herself to deal with him for how many hours it took to convince him to join her and Madara on their journey to gather the rest of her guardians. "We need to talk."

"Oh? Should we have a seat?" he asked, then gestured to the bed off in the corner. "On the bed, perhaps?"

"If you need to sit, sit, but I am perfectly fine standing," she said.

Taiga sank into a seat on the bed. "Well, what's this talk about?"

"Madara and I need your help."

"Ah? Madara is here, too?" he questioned, looking around as if he would find him hidden somewhere in the room. He smiled at her. "Let me guess, you have him running around taverns and brothels in the next town over?"

"Why do you ask if you are already aware?"

"Are you trying to keep me a secret?" he asked with a playful smile.

"Madara and I need your help," she repeated, ignoring his comment. "We cannot stay here—"

"No."

"As much as I dislike it, you are a guardian to my spheres and you have a responsibility—"

"Yes, so tell me, who do you plan to marry to solve this problem?" he interrupted.

Mio bristled. "I am not here to be mocked. I am here asking for your help."

"And I am refusing your request."

"What do you want?" she asked exasperatedly. "What can I do to make you agree to help us?"

"You can do many things, but none Madara would approve of."

She did not even bat an eyelash. "Tell me."

"When I think of something suitable, I will tell you."

"Then you will come with us."

"Perhaps, you haven't bothered to tell me what responsibilities I have to an artifact that does not even work."

Mio dragged a chair to the front of the bed and sat. She explained everything he needed to know about her having to cut off the Time Sphere's power to stop Nishiki and Ayuka from using their own artifacts against them. She proceeded to inform him that she and Madara meant to gather their guardians, though when he asked what she planned to do after she had accomplished that, she had promptly responded that she had not considered further than that.

"Do you know where these other guardians of yours are?" asked Taiga.

"Three are in Earth Country," she answered.

"Who?"

"Takuto, Tobirama, and Yayoi."

Taiga made a face at the sound of Tobirama's name. "And you are certain?"

"Of their location, yes, once we have the others, I can navigate us straight to them."

"And how do you suppose we find the others?"

"I will leave that to you," she told him.

"Okay," he said simply.

She was taken aback. "Okay?"

"I'll do it."

Mio did not drop her guard. "Thank you."

Taiga stood and headed for the door. "I'll ask my men to return to the Fire Country. I'll find you when I'm done here."

She turned away from him, feeling in part relieved that he had agreed to go, but she was not fully trusting of his actions (or the fact that he even said yes). She refused to be as she heard the door creak open, but shut just as quickly. She whirled around as Taiga wound an arm around her waist and pulled her body to his. She put her hands to his chest reflexively and looked at him crossly.

"You owe me a reward," he said, touching her face with his free hand.

Mio recoiled. "For what?"

"Listening to you," he told her with a strange smile. "There's a price for everything."

She reached for his arm and pried it off, slipping from his grasp. She would not let him toy with her this way. "Enough."

Taiga shifted his weight and stared upon her curiously. "If I remember correctly, something like this did not bother you before," he pointed out. "Back then, you would have let me do as I wanted." The smile that spread across his lips was full of amusement. "Oh? Does this have anything to do with Madara?"

"There is nothing between us," she lied.

"Then, you shouldn't mind if I took my reward," he said. "I did go off to rescue you without being asked to do so, though it's a shame I did not make it to you."

He reached for her again, grabbing her by the face and drawing her to him harshly. She saw him leaning in to kiss her and she responded by pressing both her hands over his mouth. Her heart thumped nervously as she stared at him and he looked back because there was a glint in his eyes that told her she had made a mistake. She should have gone through with it and regretted it later, but she couldn't do it. She didn't think she could ever allow another to make such an advance with her.

Taiga took her hands and drew them from his mouth, laughing. "Admit it," he said mockingly. "You are his."

"Why are you doing this to me?" she asked, tugging her hands from his hold. "I don't understand. Why are you doing this to me?"

The humor left his gaunt face and his eyes darkened. "Why?"

"Just stop with this," she said, her voice strained with emotion. "You don't mean it. You don't want me. You are playing with me and I've had enough. What do you want from me?"

Taiga pushed her hair behind her ears and stepped closer, holding her face in his hands. "I thought you were like me," he said, observing her reaction, which was immediate skepticism. "I wanted you to be like me." He shrugged and let her go with something of a disappointed sigh to follow. "You're not. I see that."

Mio followed him quietly as he stepped further from her. Her stomach felt empty and full of air. "How?"

He shocked her by answering her question in a voice that rang with honesty foreign to a man like him. "I did not have anyone."

"You have Minako—"

"I am incapable of keeping anyone," he clarified.

"You had Eijiro-san and Sako. You have Jouji that believes in you. You have Kana."

"I was surrounded by people that never trusted me enough to leave me on my own," he replied bitterly. "And Kana, ha. She hates me. She would faster see me dead than accept I am her brother."

"Minako loves you," Mio told him. When Mio had gone to the Waterfall Country and met Sako and Minako, the small girl waited for the right moment to ask her if she knew anything about her father. "You can't assume she will turn her back on you. You were never unkind with her. You were—" He might have been absent because of his duties, but she remembered he always took care of his daughter.

He shook his head. "I am fine with it. Sako has done a good job with her and she will continue to do so. But I—"

"What about Yayoi?" she asked suddenly. "She doesn't care."

The mention of her name made him laugh. "There's Yayoi."

Mio took a seat beside him, drawn by his honesty. Anything could force him to clamp up again, but it seemed neither Minako nor Yayoi would, which she found curious.

"I want to know," she said, for the first time reaching out to touch the top of his hand. She recalled what his grandfather had said about his parents. She remembered what her own grandfather had said about them. She thought about what Taiga said of wanting her to be like him and she imagined that all the people standing outside his world had their backs turned to him and gathered from what he said, that those that weren't, would one day. He was alone and surrounded by mistrust. "But you should know that if you were less likely to betray the people around you, we would feel more inclined to stand by you."

Taiga glowered.

"Madara trusts you," she continued. "He gave you one of my artifacts."

"Madara has an ulterior motive," he replied. "He wants the Uchiha tablet. He wants my secrets."

"Yes," she admitted. "So what do you gain from allowing Madara to lead the clan? You have ulterior motives too."

"If you have not noticed, I like being alive and I will continue doing everything in my power to stay that way whether that means using or betraying you or whoever I see fit."

She exhaled deeply. "Taiga," she began, meeting his eyes. "Madara gave you one of my spheres and made you guardian. I think he made a stupid decision and I know you do too."

At that, he nodded. "He gave me a pretty good artifact, though," he remarked. "It appeals to my sadistic side."

"Yes, and we will speak of that later," she continued. "But you are a guardian now. I am willing to trust you completely for the duration of this journey. Whether you have ulterior motives or not, I will stand beside you because I am a guardian, too, and when I was Shugosha I promised to protect every one of my guardians. I won't set you apart from the others for the things you have done in the past. I will not care for them. All will be forgotten. I just want your word."

"My word?"

"Yes, your word that you will not betray me."

"And that is all you'll need?"

She nodded resolutely.

"Fine," he told her. "You have my word. But only you."

She would take what he could offer. "Okay."

Taiga left his seat. "I will find you when I am done with my business."

Mio stood. "Why did you come to this country? What are you looking for?"

He took the doorknob. "Who?" he corrected.

Taken aback, Mio asked, "Who are you looking for?"

"The priestess," he said, though it wasn't spoken as a joke.

"Yayoi?"

"Odd, isn't it?" he told her, looking at her over his shoulder. "She's remarkably persistent and very honest."

She nodded, shell-shocked. "Indeed," she said. "She will be ecstatic."

He raised a finger to his lips. "She's not allowed to know."

Mio could keep a secret. "And she will not."

He opened the door and took his first step out when she had spoken up a second time, her voice reaching him as soft as she had uttered the inquiry. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Depends," he answered, turning around fully behind the door's threshold. "Is it a stupid question or a good one?"

Something about his attitude compelled her to question him further because she felt he would be honest and because he, himself, made her think of all the days she believed she would be alone. It was not that she was never curious, rather afraid of speaking the words because he would likely mock her, but she had the courage now. Perhaps, she was overstepping her boundaries, but she wanted to know. "Why were you not given a name?"

Taiga's face lightened with surprise, but he recovered quickly. "I had three elder brothers," he said. "Shuuji. Jirou. Tomoo. They all died before I was born. When I was born, I was expected to follow in their footsteps. Grow old enough to wield a kunai, go out into battle, and die young. What reason did anyone have to give me a name? I was born to serve the effort. Sad to say, I'm the only one that survived it. The one without a name. The Nameless One."

He laughed and he went, saying enough to pique her interest further but too little to make much out of it.

Mio left the inn an hour after Taiga had gone feeling as though she had taken a piece of him with her, a very secret part of him. She went to search for Madara but ended up being found herself and he seemed angry.

"Where have you been?"

"I found Taiga," she confessed.

"Where?"

"That's not important, I found him and he is going to meet us."

"Was that your intention all along? You wanted to find him so you sent me to look somewhere else?" he demanded.

"Yes," she admitted. "But I had my reasons."

"What reasons?"

She averted her eyes. "I'd rather not say."

Madara grabbed her by the arms and shook her. "What stupid thing have you done?"

"I have done nothing," she remarked, wriggling free from his grasp.

He waited for her to say more, so she did. "I never said my reasons to finding him myself were all that remarkable. I only needed to speak to him."

"About?"

"About his becoming a guardian not being a choice I would have made."

Madara released her. "Do not think you can lie to me, I know how you lie."

She opened her mouth to speak, but the sound of a kunai slashing through the air kept her silent. Madara's reflexes were quicker than her own and by the time she whirled around to see the group of shinobi standing on the rooftop across the street, Madara's own kunai had struck down those aimed at her and managed to hit one of their enemies between the eyes. The man's reaction came belatedly as he fell from his perch to the dirt road.

"The fool," one shinobi cursed. "He was told not to aim at the girl and he did."

Another, presumably the leader, walked to the forefront. "Princess, we have been asked to escort you to the palace," he said. "Now, you can come quietly or we can—"

Mio stepped forward, planning to see through this without a struggle. "I'll go."

She could accomplish plenty under Nishiki and Ayuka's nose and she trusted Madara could carry out what needed to be done with Taiga at his side.

"What?" Madara snapped, grabbing her by the arm and jerking her back. "You will not!"

She pulled her arm away, gesturing for the shinobi on the rooftop to wait. She turned to Madara. "Taiga will find you and you will find the rest," she whispered, then reached for her bag where she carried the Time Sphere and handed it to him. "Go to the Waterfall Country. Find Saori. Then go to the Uzumaki. She will take you to the Senju. And please try not to kill each—"

"This is reckless!" He took her roughly by the arm. "I will take you from this place by force if I must, but you are not going to go back to Nishiki."

"Why don't I help with that?" Taiga dropped in from the roof above them and the shinobi became alert, whispering to one another words that did not carry onto her. "You take her. I'll distract them."

"That's not necessary, I will go," she stated, prepared to pry Madara's hand from her if it meant breaking it. "I have a plan!"

"Sad to say, but your plans are stupid," Taiga said behind her. "So, let me enlighten you with a better plan."

There was a sharp pain in the back of her neck and instant darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: If things work out the way I want them creatively, we will see more action in the chapters to come. So, let's all cross our fingers and hope that everything works out! On a different note, I'm feeling better so to everyone that wished me well, thank you so much! The cough is still here, but it'll go away in a week or two or more (you know, eventually). Because of that this chapter is a week early, or rather five days early?

Chapters from now on will be a little sporadic. I usually update on Fridays, like 12AM (Thursday), but like I mentioned in my LJ, my aunt came to visit from out of the country and I've given up my room to accommodate her. I'm living out of my living room, atm, which is fun 'cause I get to make use of the pullout couch. XD The problem is I can't write with anyone around and well, everyone is usually in the living room. D: I usually try to get some writing in at night, but I can't stay up late (and this is terrible because I enjoy doing all my writing overnight). LOL

So, in short, you may see the next chapter to this series later this week (like over the weekend) or see it early next week. In other writing news, I'll try to put out chapters for All I Wanted and Winter, though those won't make an appearance before the 30th.

I'll see you then~

Preview will be up in a couple minutes!

Thank you to these lovely people for reviewing: **Loteva**, **Kettobase**, **crazyuser**, **HushedFable**, and **TheNinjaOfEpic **because you've all helped bring this story to 260+ reviews! And it continues to amaze me how far I've gotten. I did not expect to break 100, nor 50. Actually, my expectations were low. Very low. So I keep getting surprised by every new favorite and alert and review I get. So, everyone that's helped me get this far (considering we're getting to the end...closer and closer these days), continue being amazing. My only hope is to keep entertaining you! :)

Thank you for reading!


	53. The Burning Forest

Chapter** 53** | The Burning Forest

* * *

><p>Mio squinted as soon as she opened her eyes, irritated by the consistent gusts of wind and water sliding down her face. She was slumped over Madara's back as he ventured through tangles of giant trees glistening with fresh rainwater. She recognized the terrain by its watery scent and knew they were somewhere in the Waterfall Country searching for the Ito clan.<p>

The cloak drawn over her head shielded her from the droplets falling through the canopy of branches over their heads, but it felt stuffy, her body was running on a higher temperature than what was considered normal. There was more. There was something not sitting right in her stomach and all the movement was making things worse. She latched onto the front of Madara's shirt, alerting him of her woken state, and said with urgency, "We need to stop. I need to get off."

Madara landed atop the next branch and set her down. Mio sank to her knees and emptied the contents of her stomach over the ledge. She washed her mouth out with water and sat back against the tree, feeling the worse combination of lightheaded and dizzy possible. Even sitting, her mind felt like it were swimming in a violent sea.

"I have a condition," she began breathlessly, finding Madara staring down at her with his eyebrows drawn in apprehension.

He went down on one knee and said, "I know about your condition. Those shinobi in the Lightning Country were going on about seeing you safely to the Earth Country because of it."

"Why would they know about my condition?" she queried.

"Everyone knows about it," he told her, staring at her seriously. "Everyone knows you are with child."

She gave him a long, hard look. She had a belated reaction. "Eh?"

"You were married to Mikazuki Gouki for weeks," he said. "It's understandable."

"What?" she asked as she narrowed her eyes.

"There is no need for you to feel ashamed—"

"I'm not with child."

She knew her body. She figured that if something changed within it that she would catch it in time to ask for help. Besides, she did not spend all those weeks as Gouki's wife twiddling her thumbs. She was fortunate to find Kiyo, who was drafted from the Sun Country to aid Nishiki with his own illness, in Nishiki's castle and the old woman did her the favor of preparing a tea to prevent gestation. Had it not been for that, there would be a great chance she would be carrying Gouki's son, though she would not admit it to anyone else from then on, as it would be to her benefit.

She would have lied to Madara about it, but she did not want to.

"What?"

"I'm not carrying his child," she repeated forcefully, irritated by his shock. "I have a condition. It's a problem with the black water in my body. Like that time in the empty town where you fought Eito. I've felt the symptoms coming and going for some time and I thought I could avoid it, but I can't."

"What is going to happen?"

"I am going to get worse," she told him. "I won't be much help once I do, but there is still time before then." She stood up far too quickly that her vision blackened and her head felt as though it were full of air. She held onto the tree to steady herself. "It would be best if Nishiki and Ayuka believe I am with child."

"That is your plan, isn't it?"

"I don't have the Time Sphere, I cannot simply raise a shield and protect myself from any attack," she admitted. "I would rather not find myself in too terrible a state." There was a dull ache in her ankle where Gouki had stabbed her with his kunai. Sometimes it was numb and difficult to walk, sometimes she moved and pain ripped through it. It was a ghostly ache, but it reminded her of her hesitation and of her grandfather. It took her back to the real universe where she felt as though she were hurt beyond repair.

"You can take the sphere back," Madara told her. "I am not keeping it from you."

"I will not allow Ayuka or Nishiki to make you another target to hurt me," she said. "You are…" She confused herself with words. She did not want to say the wrong thing. She looked around, seeing Taiga was out of sight, and took a risk to kiss Madara underneath the shade of the large, flat leaves concealing them. "I don't want you to be killed."

If he died…she would…

Mio abandoned that thought as her drumming heart drowned it with noise. Regardless, she did not think she had a proper way of finishing it.

"I won't be killed by the likes of them," he promised, turning around to crouch. "Come on, we must keep going."

She patted his shoulder. "I can continue on my own. Just lead the way."

Madara nodded. He jumped to a high branch above, took it and swung from it onto another at a further distance. Mio went after him. She did not think any of her plans were particularly stupid. They had a tendency of putting her in danger, but if allowed to reach fruition, they would guarantee the safety of many. She was certain of that. However, hearing how reckless her ideas were, she wanted to start sharing them before acting on them impulsively. She figured that if she wanted Madara to stay out of danger, he might want the same and that it was a bit unfair of her to throw herself into danger so thoughtlessly.

Taiga appeared the closer they were to reaching the heart of the Waterfall Country where they stopped. They found shelter from a sudden rainstorm beneath a tangle of leaves and branches from a line of trees that formed an alcove behind their backs. Mio sank down into a seat atop the grassy floor to catch her breath. She did not feel as though she were in tiptop shape, not with her sides aching from the exertion. She drank water between breaths, though not enough to quench her sudden thirst.

"You should not be on your feet," said Taiga critically. "You shouldn't be on this journey."

"I wouldn't be on this journey if you had let me go with those shinobi," she bit out, but she was only being nasty because she was the one that started this trip and she planned to see it end. A mixture of rainwater and sweat ran down her face. "I would be in a bed, sleeping this off."

"I offered to continue carrying you," Madara said pointedly.

"I felt perfectly capable of making the trip on my own," she argued.

"Well, you won't be able to from here on out," Taiga replied, and then turned to Madara. "I can carry her the rest of the way. It isn't far from here, perhaps, another half a day if we don't stop or encounter any of the hunter clans."

"Hunter clans?" Mio asked, wheezing.

"That's what we're calling them—all the clans aligned against us," said Taiga, "There's a couple in every country and they're good at tracking people. Rumor has it the Hyuuga clan is one of the hunter clans in the Fire Country, so we'll have them to look forward to when we go back for Senju Hashirama and Uzumaki Nako."

The Hyuuga clan was one to avoid. Like the Uchiha, they possessed a formidable dōjutsu that gave them quite an advantage in battle and coupled with their famous Gentle Fist they were more than a little dangerous. She never had the honor of facing off against one, but knew Izuna had when they were younger and that had nearly ended badly. Most of the Uchiha clan had wanted to go against them, not only for Izuna but for all the shinobi that had been on the same mission. Eijiro had spoken against doing so. It was never to their benefit, making an enemy of the Hyuuga clan.

Madara scoped the area that Taiga dictated might guarantee a quicker, safer trip to the hidden village where the Ito clan was rumored to practice their arts. She heard from Madara that Taiga had found the Lightning Country to be a hotspot of information if one knew how to maneuver their way through it. She imagined he was following a lead for human trafficking ending in the Sun Country where Yayoi should have been and that perhaps, he had found the intel necessary to make the trip, though the following step had been finding a discreet way to travel since Nishiki put out official decree for all guardians to be captured. In the scrolls she had seen, she was referred to as the imperial princess and spoken of as if she had been captured by the Uchiha clan. Her retrieval had been stylized as of extreme importance and urgency. Her reward was rumored to be twenty times worth more than the capture one of her guardians.

Mio traveled on Taiga's back, weighed by the exhaustion of her illness and tricked by his movements into a debilitating sleep that only helped worsen her state. When she felt everything had stopped moving, she was listening to the sound of both Taiga and Madara's voices calling for her to wake. She felt cool water droplets falling on her face, though it seemed as though they sizzled like dropping water onto a heated pot.

She could not tell left from right. She could not pry her eyes open, so she gave in and slept.

* * *

><p>When Mio would not wake, they took a detour to a small village on the opposite direction of their destination. There was a single inn—a dingy traditional structure in the middle of nowhere that did not get many visitors, a fact one could determine by the look of astonishment on the middle-aged woman tending to the front desk. Taiga took charge of renting a room and they were given the largest, and presumably, cleanest one in an auxiliary building that came with its own bath. After showing them the way and offering to send up a servant to take their orders for a meal, which Taiga refused as he gave her a simple food order to remember, the owner set out to fetch the village doctor.<p>

Taiga unfurled Mio's map over the surface of the square table and scanned her markings upon its surface with a critical eye. He had looked over it many times before and admitted Mio had done an exemplary job with marking everything of importance, claimed it had made it easier for him to look around. "It would be best if you went on ahead to find Saori," he said, and when Madara nodded in agreement, he drew a clear path for Madara to follow on the map. "If you take this route, it'll be easy for you to reach their village. Use your name to get you through their security if necessary. If all guardians retained their memories in this place, she should have also. Bring her back. We must move quickly to reach Takuto. He's the only one able to make a remedy for this illness, right?"

"Any Kuronuma medic should be able to make what she needs," Madara answered.

"Finding a Kuronuma medic that will do us this favor will be difficult. It's best to stick with the one that'll remember us," he said. "A shame all our medics are compromised. And just when Takuto worked a miracle with Yayoi."

Madara gathered a few items to take with him to reach the Ito clan's hidden community. Mio would be left in Taiga's care, and though, he learned not to trust the man, he had no choice. He understood that under their current circumstances, it would be easier for him to reach Saori without a hitch and for Taiga to take Mio elsewhere if any of the hunter clans tracked them to this backwater inn.

Taiga stepped into the adjacent room as the servants delivered their food.

Madara tried to wake Mio before going, but she offered no response. Her heartbeat was strong, though her skin was burning and her breaths were shortening. He set a damp cloth on her forehead and stood as Taiga reentered the room.

He did not dare say anything that might speak true of the assumptions running through Taiga's head and walked past the older shinobi with his shoulders squared and the promise that he would return quickly so as to not delay what remained of their journey.

"I won't hurt her," Taiga said, speaking the words like an oath. "If that is what you fear."

Madara came to an abrupt halt and looked over his shoulder at Taiga's back.

Taiga turned with a teasing smile. "Don't trust me?"

"I doubt you trust yourself."

At that, he laughed, but there was no expected comeback.

Madara left, needing to assure himself that Taiga's would keep his word and not hurt Mio.

He traveled towards the Ito village moving swiftly through treetops. He followed the trail Taiga had shown him on the map and found it easy to lose himself in its twists and turns. He spent enough time with the Ito clan to spot their snares and avoid them, but he did notice a few changes the deeper he trekked.

He came to an abrupt stop when a wave of heat hit him and drew his attention skyward to the billowing smoke. He spotted flames engulfing a cluster of trees and the fire was spreading quickly, latching onto everything in its surroundings. The end of the trail ended there.

The Ito village was in the center of that fire, and at the thought, Madara jumped from his perch, prepared to rush headlong into the flames. His first move to do so was met with a surprise attack that hit him like a ton of stone and sent him crashing into a tree in the opposite direction.

He recovered quickly, righting himself before he hit the ground and landed on his feet. He lifted his face and saw that he was surrounded by members wearing the symbol of the hunter clan that had been chasing them since they had entered the Waterfall Country.

Madara prepared to fight by activating his Sharingan. He did not think the Ito clan so incompetent they would fall prey to this type of attack. He would find them as soon as he dealt with these shinobi.

* * *

><p>The nightmares returned in short strains of vivid color, they unfurled and smoothed like a map of terrors she kept close to her heart. In the violent retellings, she found herself cowering and powerless because the fear was strong and it was paralyzing. It owned a piece of her that she would never have back and that little bit was enough to hold power over her. She would go back every night to the slaughter of her parents, to the vicious carving of her back, and to the violence she faced in the Sun Country. There would be moments when she felt the weight of her parent's murderer upon her body and be reminded of the way her heart seized each night. The suffocating burden that was her duty and her want to relinquish her hope to see an end to the nightmare.<p>

…And then…she would feel the blood upon her face, her voice wrung out of her in shock, as her eyes settled upon the wound through her grandfather's chest.

She woke. Startled. Her heart thumping wildly in a way that made her chest feel too small to contain it. And she searched, finding ceiling, floors, and bedding. She did not recognize her surroundings and wondered if the nightmare meant to continue.

Her throbbing head met with some relief when a damp, folded cloth was set atop her forehead. She lifted her eyes, stealing a glance at Taiga's profile.

Parting dry lips, she called hoarsely, "Water."

His fingers slid under her chin, tilting her face to an angle to press the water jug to her lips. She tasted the cool liquid, felt it spill from the corners of her mouth, and when it came too quickly, she coughed. He drew the drink from her and slipped his hand behind her neck, pulling her up slight to offer her water again. Things went smoothly that time and she was returned to the comfort of the futon.

Mio touched the side of her face with the back of her hand. Her skin was hotter than normal, but not as bad as before. However, she was aware that if she attempted to travel in her condition that she would collapse. The symptoms were tricky, coming and going, always hesitant on whether it was the right time to settle. She suspected they might leave her after another day or two of rest, but there was a possibility things could get worse. She was only made aware how problematic this condition was to become if she had no access to her medicine.

"Where are we?" she asked wearily, looking to Taiga and wondering where she might find Madara.

Taiga placed his meat skewer in his mouth and pulled up a map, pointing to a remote area far from the Ito village. She took the map from him and brought it closer, fascinated by the new markings he had made since she last laid eyes on it.

"Hungry?" asked Taiga, offering her a meat skewer.

She took it and bit into the beef.

"I sent Madara to fetch Saori," he informed her. "He should be arriving to the village as we speak."

"Oh."

"Oh?"

He was fishing.

"What?" asked Mio.

"Is that all you have to say?"

She was not biting. "About what?"

However, he did not give in easily. "About him?"

"What about him?" she questioned, sounding perplexed.

"You have no intention of accusing me of purposely sending him off alone?"

"No," she replied, "because I know you did it. I trust there was a reason behind your decision."

"He had his reservations about leaving you in my care," he said, changing the direction of their conversation. Fishing, again. There was a playful smile on his lips as he stared down at her, expecting more of a reaction than she was willing to give. "It reminded me of something interesting Ayuka once said to me."

"Ayuka says plenty," she said calmly, biting into another piece of meat. She chewed slowly to busy herself as she awaited his response.

"She told me a bit about your involvement with Madara and Izuna and how deep your connections to them ran, pathway-wise."

She did not like where this was going. "Whatever she told you is questionable—"

"Something in particular stood out," he continued, ignoring her tangent. "Something about Madara."

"She has not been able to read the Fate Sphere since Yayoi started to gain control of it," she went on, refusing to acknowledge his words. "What she sees are lies."

"And your converging futures."

"She is also blind to my pathways and those of my guardians. She is not a reliable source of information."

Their voices were overlapping.

"Is that what you tell yourself?" asked Taiga. "He will—"

"Stop!" she said loudly, the sudden outburst sent her into a heap of coughs. She took the blanket to her mouth to muffle the sound.

"It seems I have no need of saying it aloud for you to know what I mean," Taiga said peacefully. "You probably have not considered the consequences of these actions, have you?"

Mio struggled to sit. She batted his hands away when he tried to help her and managed to get it done on her own. She took a few erratic breaths before speaking. "No," she admitted gravely. "I have not because he is my future. Whatever that comes to mean is not important now."

"And if there is a choice?"

"I have already made my choice."

Mio lowered her eyes to her covered lap and chased the thoughts from her mind. There was no place for her future doubts in her current situation. She needed to think of reuniting with her scattered guardians and releasing those that were captured before it was too late to save them. She took a deep breath and finally looked at Taiga.

"Tell no one what Ayuka said," she said firmly. "We have to remain focused."

Taiga shrugged.

A strained silence stretched between them. Neither one of them made an attempt to diffuse it. They allowed it to perforate the room and spill between the cracks.

"I heard of your grandfather," he said, and the memory stabbed her through the heart. "You have my condolences."

Mio inclined her head, accepting his words for their sincerity.

"He believed you could handle things on your own after he was gone," Taiga continued, "that there would be no force capable of moving you from deciding what became of your future and the artifacts. But you have your work cut out for you if your answer to everything is giving into the enemy. You gain nothing being a sacrifice."

She understood that. Logically, she did. It was stupid. All of it had been, but it kept everyone safe. It worked for them, but not for her and she did not consider being selfish.

"He is still expecting you to do great things, so you should think about what you are planning to do when you come face to face with Nishiki and Ayuka. Do you plan to kill them both?"

She swallowed hard, nervous. She had not planned that far ahead.

"I can help you, Mio."

She nodded because she could think of nothing to say. She turned to face the open window and stared out to into a withered garden. There was a new chill settling in her bones. "I am afraid I cannot meet everyone's expectations," she said quietly. "They say I am to be the fiercest Shugosha to ever live. I am to be feared. I am to do wonders with the artifacts. I am to bear a son that will inherit all of my gifts and more. I am supposed to lead the Kuronuma clan to peace and continue to keep the spheres safe."

"And?"

"And I am afraid to be any of those things."

"Do you not think that it is normal to be afraid of those expectations?"

And she looked to him, hoping he meant to help her when she said, "I can't afford to be afraid."

"Everyone can afford to be a little afraid," he told her, then reached for a bowl of rice and offered it to her.

She took the bowl and the chopsticks he handed to her shortly after. She stared down at the rice.

"It's fortunate that you don't need to worry about meeting any of those expectations any time soon," Taiga said. "You don't need to be the strongest or the most feared. There's nothing left for you to do with the artifacts when you made them useless. You don't need to think about your future or whether you are going to bear Madara sons."

Mio breathed deeply to keep her chest from tightening.

"You need to take the lead, Mio, and become Shugosha again," he advised. "Once we scoop up Saori, Hashirama, and Nako, you need to have a plan ready to infiltrate the Earth Country. This plan needs to involve everyone. As much as you want to protect your guardians, it's their job to protect you. So let them do what they were meant to do in this amazing new plan you are about to think up."

"So will you help me with this plan?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes," he replied with a nod.

"Why are you being so…helpful?"

"Your grandfather once told me that I would have to choose a side eventually," he divulged. "Something tells me he knew Madara would be stupid enough to give me an artifact and that I'd be more involved in this mess than I wanted to be."

There was no doubt in her mind that her grandfather knew all of those things and more. Perhaps, he had seen all of her fears and this world and had seen an end to them all because she remembered all of the things he said. He never once doubted her.

And maybe there was a reason he failed to warn her that Taiga would be a guardian.

She nodded, knowing that she made the right choice in trusting him. "So have you chosen a side?"

"I chose yours. You should take it as a high compliment seeing as I am here not plotting to betray you."

Mio set the bowl of rice on the floor. "You have to help Madara."

"Madara can handle himself," he said, smiling. "If everything has gone over well, he should be on his way back with Saori."

"Oh? Then why are you smiling?"

"Because I doubt anything went over smoothly."

* * *

><p>Madara suspected he was the bait halfway through his battles against these shinobi. They were tracking him specifically and making demands about Mio's whereabouts. They were under the impression he had taken it upon himself to lead them astray while Taiga went off with Mio to a secret location and persisted in their attempts to wring the information out of him. Though the Waterfall Country's hunter clan was proving difficult as he suspected others would be. They were relentless. No matter how many he defeated, more would appear to challenge him and he knew they intended to exhaust him.<p>

He saw it working, but exhaustion rarely deterred him from battle. If one gave into the weight of it, they lost the fight and he wasn't interested in losing this one or any other.

One shinobi produced a cutting gale that swept the flames across treetop, setting them ablaze. He countered with a fire technique that overpowered it, but his attack was cut short when a blast of mud water caught him off guard. He landed over charred ground, surrounded by the heat of the fire engulfing what used to be the Ito clan's hidden village.

Madara blocked an attack from another shinobi before he had a chance to breath and had gone after another, disarming him and hurling him into one of his comrades. He saw more of them coming towards him and prepared his next attack by bringing his hands together to form the necessary seals for a technique meant to repel them when a flash of steel caught his eye followed by a strange silence.

Almost noiselessly, several of his enemies fell to the ground with wounds tearing across their chests and shoulders. Those that remained looked around, but a quick move was enough for them to cut themselves on the fine string webbed around them.

_The Ito clan and…_

Someone dropped in beside him as the last shinobi were panicked and when he turned, he was surprised to find his brother. Izuna faced forward, his sword drawn, and pointed in the direction of what remained of the hunter clan. These were the last of them.

Madara dropped his hands and drew a kunai instead.

Together, he and Izuna finished them off with ease.

Once it was over, Madara looked at his brother knowing he was not a guardian and that he did not know this world wasn't theirs. "You have been missing for some time," he said, starting from what he remembered had been the last reports concerning his brother. "I was starting to think something had gone wrong."

"It did go wrong," Izuna replied with a grim expression. He saw the bandages on his hands and around his head. "I was attacked by one of these hunter clans. They're looking everywhere for you and Taiga and that witch Mio from the Kuronuma clan."

Izuna definitely had no idea this was a different world. None. He never would have forgiven himself for calling Mio a witch. Under no circumstance would he insult Mio, not even after he had confronted him about what Mio had said. Izuna had accused him of seducing her, shouted it at him after he had reminded him of how much he had hated her.

"What did you take from the Emperor?" Izuna demanded. "What have you done?"

Madara walked to a web of the near-invisible string. He reached to touch it and felt it rip through his glove. He pulled away to stared down at his thumb and forefinger, seeing a thin tear in both and a bead of blood appear on his index finger. He needed a reason to bring up Saori. "This is the Ito clan's attack," he said, serious, looking to his brother. "Are they the hunter clan that attacked you? Did you copy this technique?"

"The Ito aren't a hunter clan. They captured me after I was left for dead," his brother divulged. "One of their shinobi, a woman, called Saori made sure I was nursed back to health. She made sure her clan did nothing against me and they listened." He paused, looking about the area. "They're after her too, like you. This hunter clan's the only one that succeeded in finding her village…and in seeing it destroyed."

"The Ito clan is here with you?" asked Madara.

A rustling sound drew his attention to the portion of the forest that was white with the ashes. Saori emerged, staring to him wide eyed, her face smudged with soot and her clothes singed. She approached him hesitantly, shooting a look in Izuna's direction.

"It's fine," Izuna said. "This is my brother, Madara. He won't hurt you. I've told him about how you saved me." His brother looked at him. "This is Saori."

Saori was the only guardian without another nearby to confirm whether or not she was the only one with memories of the event that brought them to this strange world. He had been fortunate to have been planning an attack on the Kuronuma and that she had been thoughtless enough to wander about unguarded. They had been lucky, but Saori had not.

Madara left his brother's side, walking up to Saori. "Mio told me she made you a guardian," he said lowly, soft enough for her to hear and nobody else. Her expression changed into one of hopeful recognition. "Only guardians weren't affected by the Universe Sphere's activation."

"Everything is strange," Saori said quietly. "It looks the same, but it is so different. There's an Emperor and hunter clans and they're after us because they think we've taken his artifacts. What is happening?"

"There's no time. We must hurry before Mio weakens more," he replied. "Find a reason to leave; I will have Izuna return to our village."

"Is Mio ill?"

"Yes, and we don't have time to waste now. There will be more hunter clans after us." He reached for the map that helped bring him to this place, knowing Taiga had marked the location of the inn. "There's an inn indicated in this map, one in a small area opposite of your forest. Meet us there."

Madara left her side to rejoin his brother, who looked at him strangely.

"Have you met?" Izuna asked.

"I was only expressing my gratitude," he said. "Izuna, you must return to the compound. The clan needs a leader while I am absent."

"And where do you suppose you're going without me?" Izuna demanded. "You already sent me on a mission nowhere when we were supposed to be invading the Kuronuma clan's territory. We have to go back, they captured our men."

Madara made use of the opportunity to explain the treaty he formed with the Shugosha, but that did not blow over well. Not even when he assured him that they had returned all the men they had been keeping prisoner.

"Did that witch sink her claws into you? You should be more careful!" Izuna berated. "She has made peace with other clans only to tear them apart from the inside! You are endangering the clan by agreeing to this treaty!"

"I will explain my reasons to you when I return, but you needn't worry about the Kuronuma clan, they are our allies now and for good reason." Madara turned his brother around and gave him a push. "Take care of your duties. I will return as soon as I settle my matters."

Izuna frowned, but he did not put up a fight. He went silently.

Madara would have preferred to have his brother by his side, but he was not a guardian and there was no time to explain everything to him in a way he would understand. He wanted to protect his brother and keep him far from the battlefield this time around, though he had provided great support when he had fought against Nishiki.

He waited a few minutes before returning to the inn. He found Mio standing and when she saw him, she seemed to have expelled the breath she had been holding and though it looked like she would go to wrap her arms around him, she didn't. She approached him slowly, her cheeks red with the fever.

Taiga was seated by the table reading his map, acting completely oblivious to his presence.

"Should you be standing?" Madara asked her quietly.

"I feel better," she replied, scanning him for wounds. He had a few cuts and bruises apart from being covered in ash. "Hunter clan?"

He nodded. "But I found Saori…and Izuna." He saw she tensed at the mention of his brother. "I sent him back to the Fire Country. Saori should be coming to meet us soon."

"Good," Taiga interjected, standing. "We need to move. We've been here too long. We need to cover our tracks, so I'll be dealing with the inn staff."

He purposely walked between them to exit the room, smiling at him as he went.

Mio pulled a sweater on and started to gather her things.

"Are you good to travel?" Madara asked, taking the strap of one of her bags.

"Yes," she replied, swiping the bag from him. She pulled it over her head and set it across her torso. "For a while at least."

Madara helped her gather the rest of her things and walked out with her. The two stood side by side at the entrance, quietly staring out into the empty road. He found himself thinking about her current state and wondering whether she should be allowed to travel. She should be resting.

Things should have never escalated this far. He and Izuna should have been able to defeat Nishiki if they had been given the time to do so, but they failed. In that moment, they had to choose between going or continue fighting until the sphere took effect. He and Izuna chose to go when he sensed several pulses weakening because Mio was one of them. And he would have gone the instant he felt the change…but Nishiki had attacked him head-on as if he had seen that Madara was contemplating turning back.

"I think I see her," Mio said.

Madara looked in the direction Mio was facing and spotted Saori running towards the inn. The Ito girl went straight for Mio, which surprised him, and her arms wrapped around her neck. She held her and looked at her with relief.

"You look fine," Saori said, "better than I remember. I was worried that you might not be—"

The quiet that surrounded them was disturbed by a thunderous sound followed by a rain of wood and a scatter of leaves. The three of them swiveled around to the sight of the inn's staff running out into the streets when another explosion hit the establishment, obliterating its entire eastern building.

Taiga came running out the front entrance and he went straight for Mio, shouting. "No time to cover our tracks. We have to lose them!" He gathered Mio and threw her over his shoulder, jumping into the nearest tree and losing himself after his next leap. Not long had he gone that Madara and Saori bore witness to several shinobi in red masks go after them.

It was Mio they wanted.

Madara and Saori followed after them.

"We need to throw them off our trail," Madara shouted.

"Leave that to me!" Saori responded, bringing her hands together as she fell back to do as she said.

Madara looked over his shoulder to see her standing with three of her clones that then used a transformation technique to look like him, Taiga, and Mio. He saw her leave and her clones go in different directions.

He navigated the jungle to stay out of her way, tracking her as best he could and masking his own presence. Saori could find them easily, even if she wandered off a great distance. She was good at sensing others, though it was not her specialty.

Madara caught up to Taiga and Mio after what had felt like hours of travel. They were sitting at the bottom of an embankment where the trees twisted and grew at an angle, providing them with the sufficient amount of coverage to stay unseen. Mio was covered in scratches, but Taiga suffered a wound to the stomach. He appeared pale and sluggish as he washed the blood from the injury with a jug of water and a piece of ripped fabric from the bottom of his shirt.

"Where is Saori?" Mio shouted.

"She created a diversion for us to get away," Madara responded. "She'll catch up to us soon enough!"

Soon as he finished speaking, Saori dropped down to join them, out of breath and a little battered. He had not sensed her so close, but imagined that was the point in her hiding herself from anyone that could.

"I outran them," she said with a laugh. "I did it." Then she caught sight of Taiga's bleeding stomach. "Oh, you're hurt. Let me have a look at that."

Mio slid out of the way to allow Saori to get through. She stared at the wound before speaking a second time, "I can help you with this." She pressed her glowing hands to his abdomen and saw it healed within seconds. "There you are."

Everyone looked at her flabbergasted. She beamed at them.

"You know medical ninjutsu?" asked Madara.

"How did you forget to mention this?" questioned Taiga.

"I have basic knowledge," Saori answered. "Extremely basic. I wanted to be a medical specialist like my mother as a child, so I started basic training, but I eventually grew bored and tried my hand at a few other things before deciding against them all."

"We could use a medic," Madara said, looking to Taiga who stared back at him. In silent agreement, the two returned their eyes to Saori. "Can you do something about Mio?"

Saori glanced at Mio. "What's wrong?"

"They are exaggerating because I feel fine," Mio admonished.

"Exaggerating? We took turns carrying you across the Waterfall Country because you were unresponsive!" Taiga revealed.

"Well, now that you mention it, you did feel warmer than normal."

"That's normal," Madara answered, receiving strange looks. "She is always that warm." He caught on to their meaning as soon as Taiga grinned at him. "It's a Kuronuma thing."

"Yes, I believe Takuto was also incredible warm," Saori said. "It was like the heat radiated off his skin. The Kuronuma would be a wonder to have around during the colder seasons."

"It is extremely uncomfortable during the summer," Mio grumbled. "And I did have something of a fever."

"She was so hot I though her blood would boil out of her skin," Taiga corrected. "That was not something of a fever."

Saori moved to her and excused herself as she reached to touch her forehead. "If this is your normal temperature, you should be fine. Do you have any other symptoms?"

"Dizziness, nausea—"

"But dizziness and nausea is normal in your condition," Saori said, smiling as she lowered her eyes to Mio's stomach. "News travels fast. I almost didn't believe it, but it makes sense." And as she brought attention to her nonexistent condition, Mio made that face she did in uncomfortable situations—the little crease between her eyebrows was present and her eyes were narrowed in a way that highlighted her discomfort. "You must be exhausted. It's completely natural, but don't worry, I'll take care of you."

The awkwardness melted away from her expression. Mio nodded with a small smile and thanked her in her quietest voice.

Saori turned her back to Mio. "Climb on, Mio, we have a long way to go."

"I can take her," Madara offered.

"It would probably be best if you were free," Mio said, reaching to wrap her arms around Saori's neck. "If we get attacked again, you should be free to take care of it."

She would not take no for an answer and something told him that Saori wouldn't either.

"We should get going," Taiga decided, starting down a narrow path along the river at the bottom of the embankment. "If we continue straight, we should have no trouble with any other shinobi."

"We won't be, they're still chasing after one of my clones," Saori revealed, following Taiga's lead after hoisting Mio onto her back. "I don't think they know it's a fake."

Madara looked back to the giant trees with their twisting limbs and lifted his eyes further up where the sky was filled with a red cloud, the color of death. Everyone noticed it, but there was no telling if that meant they were too late for one of their own.

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: I promise you there will be a preview within the next 24 hours. I was eager to write up this scene between Saori and Mio to serve as the preview (you know before it loses its magic), but it's 6AM, so I'm going to bed (since I already forgot parts of the conversation while editing this chapter, but I'll improvise, it'll be as good as I first imagined it). So, the preview is forthcoming.

On that note, this chapter was delayed by such things as: the heat (it is hella muggy and gross here), my marathoning In the Flesh (and dying with my feels), family visits, YouTube videos, my cold throwing me off my game, and possibly some "end-of-the-story" jitters.

I'm actually starting to think I should have waited to finish the next chapter and do a double post because they go better together, but considering this took forever to finish, I wanted to post it and try to get the next chapter done as quickly as I can (because Hashirama needs to have screen time and he's going to be hilariously depressed for a great portion of the next chapter...for obvious reasons. You know, Mito hates him and all. Nako won't be making any of this any better). Does that count as a spoiler? Oh, I wish we had a strike option, because I would strike it all out!

Taiga and Mio are going to great things together. Seriously.

By the way, there's a couple short scenes I wrote with Taiga in my journal where that bit about choosing a side originates. If you're interested in reading those (if you haven't already), I'll link them at my LJ.

THANK YOU TO THESE LOVELY READERS: **Loteva**, **HushedFable**, **Kettobase**, **crazyuser**, and** Ninjagirl2211** for reviewing!

PS. - I have been organizing events into chapters since there is only so much left to happen. I don't think I can stretch things out at this point, but I'm not sure how many chapters are actually left for Redesign. I want to say 4, but it might actually be 3. I think for the finale, it'll be two chapters. I might do a short epilogue-like chapter, though (but only if this means I get to end in an even number).

So, we have The Raging Storm as 54, The Journey's End as 55, and maybe two others (or just one). If it's two it'll be an odd number, OMG and a 7 at that! NOOO. SO the safest bet? 58 will be the last chapter. Prepare your hearts. If anyone has been reading Winter, you know shit's going to go down. And once I get that preview up, you will see the emotional starts next chapter.

I need to sleep.

Thank you for reading!

**Edit**: I keep forgetting to mention that extra I wrote on the 10 Artifacts. There's a link on my profile that will take you to the entry at my LJ if you haven't seen it yet. I enjoyed writing the origin story for each one because Kiyohime was a riot.


	54. The Raging Storm 1

Chapter** 54** | The Raging Storm I

* * *

><p>"Three rooms?" asked Taiga, arching an eyebrow. Behind him, the man at the desk waited patiently for a decision to be made, a smile on his face as he looked from one shinobi to the next.<p>

"Two," said Saori, looking back at the older shinobi.

They were standing in the entrance hall of an inn situated in the countryside, about a few hours away from Senju territory, discussing rooming arrangements. Rather Taiga and Saori were making all necessary decisions while ignoring the fact that Madara and Mio were nearby listening. Taiga was still fishing and he wanted to make use of Saori to see the fruits of his efforts.

"Mio and I, You and Madara," Saori continued, gesturing at the pairs as she spoke them. She did not see the purpose of renting three rooms, not even with all the hinting Taiga had done to spell it out for her.

Madara cut between Taiga and Saori, reaching the desk. "Three rooms," he said, taking the money from Taiga, who was grinning at Mio, to pay the man who gave him three keys in return. Madara only shot Mio a look before handing a key to Taiga and another to Saori. He kept the third for himself and walked off to find his accommodations.

"You should probably follow him," Taiga said, still smiling. "You might lose your way."

Saori's face brightened. "Oh? My room is a double." She reached over for Mio and took her by the hand, leading her away. "Let's go see our room."

Mio grinned at Taiga as she passed and saw him grimace before stalking off in the opposite direction where Madara had gone to find his own room. Saori guided her up a staircase and into the first room to their left. There was ample space for the two of them and two sets of bedding stacked in the closet. Saori made sure to see to that everything was suitable for their overnight stay.

"We should take advantage of the hot springs," Saori suggested, staring out the window from which she could see the stone surrounding the steaming water.

From where she stood, Mio could see the fog clouding over the tiled roof and admitted to herself that a dip in a hot spring would be quite soothing to her aching muscles. She appreciated that the symptoms to her black water imbalance had blown over, but the persistent fevers left her exhausted.

"Was this a prudent choice?" Saori asked, sinking into a seat on the windowsill. She gestured around her to elaborate on her meaning. "Choosing this inn apart from others. There are smaller, cheaper rooms out there. We can afford that and it would be a little less obvious. Besides this inn is in such a nice state, I wouldn't want to see any hunter clans destroying it."

"This inn is within the daimyo's jurisdiction," Mio answered, having taken some time to get acquainted with the politics with Taiga's help during the trip over. "And this particular area is under the protection of the Sarutobi clan. The Fire Country's hunter clans don't want to risk upsetting the Sarutobi clan after past encounters gone wrong and the Sarutobi clan is not interested in the riches the Emperor is offering, so they are not actively patrolling their territory searching for traitors. This inn is as neutral as things are going to get for us, so long as we continue acting like a group of medicine sellers, we won't encounter trouble here." She eased the tension gathered in her shoulders. "We won't be staying long enough to attract any attention."

Saori beamed, reaching for a bucket filled with bathing sundries provided by the inn. "Bath then hot spring?"

Mio took the bucket from her, approving of her suggestion. She grabbed their towels on the way out. Saori was carrying their robes when she caught up to her as she descended the staircase.

Excitedly, the older girl leaned forward to say, "I always wanted to sit in a hot spring."

"You never have?" asked Mio.

"Never. Hibari and I always wanted to, but when you're an Ito, you're not allowed to leave the village until you finish your training," she explained, straying from their conversation for an instant to ask one of the servants about where to find the bath. Once they were directed, she continued, "Is it the same for the Kuronuma clan?"

"I think there was dubious consent wherever leaving Mt. Hyōga was concerned," Mio admitted. "We had an agreement with the lord of Kurata concerning the three villages under his jurisdiction, so no actual permission was necessary in going to one of them, but if it meant leaving Kurata, one needed to ask my great-grandfather. Unless you were my grandfather, in that case you did as you pleased."

Saori's smile faded a little, her face saddening. "Shinya-san was an incredible man," she said. "My father hated him, but he had a lot of respect for him. I spoke to him often when Madara was recovering. He told us stories, Hibari and I."

"Nothing embarrassing I hope."

The older girl shook her head, laughing a little. "He talked to us about my father and my mother. Everything we did not know about them, he told us."

They paused a moment after entering the bath and removed their clothing before entering the adjacent room with only a towel to cover themselves. They each took seats on a pair of wooden stools and started to wash themselves while continuing their conversation from before seeing as they had the room for themselves.

"He told me that my father did not want Hibari and I to pick up our craft," Saori said. "He feared we would meet the same fate as our brothers, but that my mother spoke to him. She said that it would be our choice and that if he feared for us, it was unfounded because women were powerful." She smiled softly as she lathered her hair with a sweet scented soap. "My mother was a sweet lady. Your grandfather claims she was a princess my father spirited away, but I don't know whether to believe him or not. It sounds outrageous, doesn't it?"

"My grandfather was alive for so long," Mio answered. "He wandered the world for many years. There is no telling how much he knew about everyone. Your mother might have been a princess."

"You're right. There's no telling, she was very well mannered," she said. "My mother was a kind woman. Sweet. But I don't remember much apart from that. I feel she died before I could remember more. What about your mother?"

Mio slouched a bit, stumped for words. She did not talk about her mother or father, not for quite some time. It was like the subject had gradually become taboo because the last memory of them haunted her so persistently.

She did not speak immediately because she was not sure were to begin.

Saori waited patiently for her answer.

"My mother was strict," Mio began, calling back her memories and speaking slowly. "Brusque. She liked things done to perfection. She was never unkind with me, but I…with her…" She paused, awakening emotions she had long set aside because she had learned the truth on that violent night. It had been a painful reality, one she hated to have seen then. "There were times I was convinced she did not like me. I felt like I had always done something wrong. She was so distant at times, difficult to speak to. I was never not intimidated in approaching her." She stole a glance at Saori, who was looking back at her, concern furrowing her brow. "But she loved me, fiercely, as all mothers should love their children." Mio wrung the towel between her hands, the emotion taking hold of her. "I abhor that it took her sacrificing her life for mine for me to truly see how much she cared for me."

And for a time, they let the silence linger between them because the memories in their heads were of the bitter sort, though few of them were sweet.

The hot springs gave them ample opportunity to relax and they stayed inside the therapeutic water for a time. They returned to their room upstairs to eat the meal set out for them.

"Did we order food?" Saori asked, though she was delighted there was food.

"No."

Mio stared down at the servings, noticing something that made her smile.

"What?" asked Saori, staring at her.

"There is no fish," she replied, though it was not much of an answer. She knew Madara was the one that made the order because he was probably the only one to see that she had long grown tired of eating fish after their lengthy trips. Hell, she had been tired of catching them.

"Do you hate fish?"

"No, but I do grow bored of eating it."

They sat and ate, appreciating every bite of their delicious meal. A few members of the staff appeared later to take their empty plates and left them in the quiet.

Saori made a few strange jokes until one made her laugh. There was another short silence before Mio spoke again.

"You were with Izuna," she began, having held onto asking after him for some time, "Was he okay?"

"We found him wounded near the village, the lookouts mentioned he looked to be wandering about as if searching for something—does this world have this kind of effect on a person? Do you think he knew there was something hidden despite not having his memories?"

"I cannot say for certain," Mio answered. "It might be. Nishiki was not in complete control of the sphere when he created this world, so there were probably limits to what he could accomplish. I think this place is only a slightly modified version of ours because he did not have the strength needed to do as he intended. We were lucky this was as he went."

Understanding, Saori nodded and continued, "Izuna was nursed back to health, I made sure of it. Though, it was strange he did not know who I was," she said, amused. "I think he might have even insulted me."

Mio cracked a smile. "Madara said he called me a witch."

"Now we know that is not right," Saori replied, biting back laughter. "I doubt he will ever forgive himself for even breathing the word. He loves you." There was something about putting that in words that made Saori's laughter subside and a small smile to take its place. "Izuna spoke to me about you. Often. As often as he was able. He liked talking about you."

"I know." Mio bit her lip because it hurt her to be reminded of how she hurt him.

"Izuna understands, though, about you and Madara."

"I don't understand it."

"He is perceptive—"

"Madara and I—I don't understand it, but I know that it's different. Izuna has every right to be angry. He has every right to call me a witch and much worse," she said strongly. She hated to speak about her and Madara, but she could not stop herself from spilling it all for Saori. "I had no right in hurting him. I didn't, but with him…with Madara, I have no choice. It is him or it is nothing and I could not be satisfied with nothing so I had to have him."

Saori put her hand atop Mio's. "Izuna is furious because he loves you, but he is not going to hate you for the choice you made. Not you or his brother. There are things that cannot be stopped and you two were one of them. Not anyone can deny it." She smiled in an infectious way, though all Mio wanted to do was sink into the ground, buried in her guilt because she felt it would never leave her. "I believe he loves you enough to see you happy and his brother makes you happy. And he loves his brother enough to see that he does not make a mess of what you created together."

Mio laughed because she could see that happen and it only worsened her guilt. Izuna was good. Too good. Even if it had been him that she loved, she did not feel she deserved him.

She found herself needing to change the subject when Saori surprised her by doing it herself as she let go of her hand.

"Mio, can I ask you a question?"

Mio nodded. "Yes, go ahead."

"There is something that has been bothering me," Saori began, sounding so distant and hesitant. "You see, when I woke up—rather, when I came to my senses in this world, I was in the middle of a war council. Takuei was speaking about one of the hunter clans. Apparently, we had been long at war with them and everyone was planning their next course of action. I was certain it must have been a dream because the last I recall was being buried under the rubble of the tower. I considered for a minute that I might have died, but figured death would not be so cruel as to stick me in the middle of a war council, so I was convinced it was a dream. A terribly boring one."

She paused, swallowing thickly. There was something about her rigidness that made Mio tense under the feel of a strange emotion crawling under her skin. There was a certain joy in the way Saori spoke that it was easy for anyone to overlook the ache lingering beneath all its layers of mirth.

"Still, I interjected. Hibari. I wanted to know where Hibari was," Saori continued. "She should have been at the meeting too. Takuei would never hold a war council without us. And so, I asked. If there was a reason for her absence, I needed to hear it because I did not understand it. The entire room fell silent. And they all looked at me as if I had asked something strange, but nobody spoke a word to me about my sister. I asked a second time, a third, and their faces did not change until one man took pity on me and told me that she was…" There was a sob clawing its way from her throat and Mio did not need her to say it to understand what she meant to ask. "You see, the news of your grandfather and of your husband having died reached our end and I wanted to know. If they died then and were dead now, if perhaps that meant she—" It squeezed out of her, a rough sound filled with sorrow. "It was excruciating—the pain—when he said Hibari was gone. I knew it could not be a dream. This world had to be real because I never felt this ache in me in dreams. And I—"

She stopped speaking abruptly and stared at Mio with her large shining eyes, expectant. She looked to her for even a smidgen of hope.

Mio did not like being the one to say such things, but she would not give her hope where there was none. "Anyone dead in our world is dead here," she whispered, hearing the older girl let out a shaky sob. "I'm so sorry, Saori."

Saori accepted the apology and stood suddenly, biting back tears. "She was all I had left," she sobbed, holding a hand to her mouth. "I couldn't even keep her alive." Mio made a move to stand and offer comfort, but Saori extended a hand to stop her. "Excuse me, I need to be alone."

She exited the room, sidling past Taiga, who looked to have been about to knock. He stared after Saori until she disappeared down the stairs and invited himself in.

Mio was aware Hibari had been fighting alongside Taiga against Ayuka. "What happened to Hibari?"

"Oh." Recognition filled his features, his eyebrows drawn. "Did you just—?" She nodded and he retracted his steps. "I should talk to her."

"Taiga," she called after him.

Taiga halted. "What?"

She shook her head. She decided not to ask about Hibari's death. She never had the opportunity to know the girl except for a few short conversations. It was not her place. "Forget it."

He left her.

Feeling overwhelmed, Mio found herself unable to sit still. She thought too keenly of the pain-stricken face Saori had made when she told her the truth and of the honest talk she had with Taiga days ago because it was eye opening. Takuto, Yayoi, and Tobirama came to mind. The Uzumaki she was never formally acquainted with and Hashirama as well. Somehow, in this world and outside it, because of her, they were suffering.

How many people did they lose? How many loved ones? How many of them were alone now because of this Artifact War, because of this mess Ayuka started? How many more would die for this cause? She did not want any of her guardians to experience such things.

Mio stepped out of her room and walked down the stairs. She paused on the final step, eyes on the inn's other guests as they wandered about alone and in pairs, chattering or in silence. She walked towards the hallway across the staircase and entered Madara's room without knocking, catching him as he was tying a sash around his waist.

He stilled, conscious of her presence, and looked over his shoulder to make sure it was her before continuing with what he was doing.

She slid the door shut behind her and advanced towards him, resting her forehead on his back.

"Did something happen?" he asked. "Are you feeling sick again?"

She shook her head and wrapped her arms around him.

"No?" He took her hands. "Have you eaten?"

She nodded.

"That isn't it either," he said with a frown. "Will you sit with me?"

Mio sat beside him as he ate and remained in his room even after he finished. She did not speak throughout his meal, only stared at the table's wooden surface thinking about everyone that had died and dread those that might.

The two were leaning against the wall with her head resting on his shoulder and she drew lines over his forearm with her index finger. She liked feeling at ease with him because somehow he understood that he should not ask any further questions concerning her silence. She did not know what to say because there wasn't anything to say.

It wasn't like she could decide to stop the war against Ayuka because she was tired of seeing her guardians suffering alongside her. Nothing could be done. Only finish quickly. She could not stand it. She didn't want to be here anymore, she didn't want to fight. She wanted to go home, though the thought made her wonder if there was a home waiting for her and if there was, she wondered where was it. The cottage where she grew up? The Iron Country? Kurata? Mt. Hyōga? Everywhere she had found her place had been destroyed. There were places she could no longer call her own because she never felt like she belonged. She wanted to go home. Wherever that place was. Wherever it was Madara had promised long ago. She needed to be there where her mind was not in chaos.

But she wanted to go now because her chest was tight and aching. And this world was stifling. She could have been in the center of it all and still feel insignificant. She did not want to feel like she needed to try to be either or.

Her eyes watered against her will, blurring her vision. She imagined Saori standing somewhere alone outside crying for her dead sister. Takuto, Yayoi, and Tobirama in a dark prison somewhere. Her grandfather dying in her arms, telling her that he should have treated her better.

"I don't want to fight anymore," she admitted, though it made her angry to do so, and as if in reflex, Madara covered her eyes with his hand and drew her close. She clenched her jaw because her lips were trembling, but felt the action guide the tears from her eyes down her face. "I want this to stop."

"I will fight in your place," he told her, his mouth pressed to the top of her head. He lowered his voice further, but it remained firm. "I will make them suffer as they have done to you. It won't be long now, Mio. There are only two more guardians to gather before we challenge Nishiki and Ayuka." He tightened his hold around her. "You can be strong until then."

She nodded because it was her only choice, but her crying did not stop. Everything was so close and yet she wanted to give in again. She couldn't, but she felt too much pain. She bottled her own even though all she wanted to do was give into the sadness, be awash by the emotion—overcome—but she did not want to let that happen. She believed she could hold it all in until everything was over, that she could put up a strong front, but she was not that strong. Not after all the times she had been beaten down. Everything was latching onto her now and weighing her to the ground.

However, because of all those things, she could not give up. She did not have the luxury of saying she did not want to fight anymore because she would. She would fight until she couldn't because everything was riding on them, her and her guardians. Acknowledging this only made her cry harder, inconsolably.

Mio stayed with him until her tears ran dry, though she felt too tired to go after growing comfortable resting her head on Madara's lap, feeling his hand on her arm, the heat of it leaving an imprint on her skin through the thin fabric. He had spent the time reading reports and information Taiga had gathered, speaking to her about them during intervals. But they had remained in silence mostly, a soothing quiet where only the sounds about them could be heard and admired.

Eventually, she felt she had remained too long and returned to her room, surprised to see Saori sitting at the table reading a newspaper. The older girl's eyes were a little red, but not as puffy as hers, and when their eyes met, the two smiled at one another. Saori patted the cushion beside her and Mio walked towards it to join her.

She would set aside her weakness to overcome it and see an end to Nishiki and Ayuka's plans.

* * *

><p>Rumor of a storm preventing ships from crossing from any country to the Whirlpool Country emerged whenever they attempted to collect information that might help them reach the Uzumaki clan. This and evidence that the Senju clan, led by Hashirama, had gone to launch another attack against them had been common knowledge.<p>

"I can do it," Saori said, undeterred by the demands being asked.

They stood in a circle whispering in the middle of a town by the docks surrounded by travelers alike discussing a matter pertaining to acquiring useful information.

There was a fisherman, one claiming to have come face to face with the rumored storm enough to describe it detail for detail. However, he was a drunk and a pervert and he would prove difficult to sway into conversation, which brought feminine wiles into discussion.

And everyone agreed to sacrifice Mio, except Saori.

"I can make him talk," Mio said in response. "It is not something I am against doing."

"It is her previous profession," Madara said. "And she is good at it."

"Old men have a proclivity for Mio," added Taiga, earning a glower. "This is her forte. That man is easy prey for her."

Mio sucked in a breath, annoyed. "Don't say it as if I am doing this on purpose."

"You might as well be. Look, that guy has not taken his eyes off you," Taiga pointed out, and when she glimpsed a middle-aged man shot her a grin. "See?"

"That proves nothing," Mio responded, glaring at him.

"Mio has that charm, Saori," Taiga continued, then looked Saori from head to toe. "Men look at you and they see their daughter. Nobody wants their daughter making advances at them."

"And what do they see looking at Mio?" Madara asked, jaw clenched. And in that inquiry, Taiga found victory.

"What do you see?" the older shinobi asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"We best figure this out, I can see him walking down the street," Mio pointed out.

They dissolved into rushed whispers. Saori persisted in taking Mio's place, but she was denied. Mio handed two bags to Madara before leaving to engage the walking man.

Mio went straight for him until she bumped into him hard enough to draw his attention. She fell on her backside as he turned with an irritated air, prepared to snap at whoever collided with him. She counted herself lucky when the ire vanished from his expression and he offered his hand to her instead.

"Didn't see you there," he said, helping her onto her feet.

She bowed her head apologetically. "Forgive me, I was not looking," she said, shyly raising her eyes to meet his face before dropping them to the floor.

That simple gesture alone was enough for the man to ask her to accompany him for a drink.

She stared up at him as frightfully innocent as she could muster, holding her hands clutched to her chest as if to calm a rampant beating in her chest.

"I shouldn't," she said, "I promised my mother—"

"It is only one drink," he told her, and his face was close enough to smell the alcohol in his breath. "I'm sure your mother would not mind. Besides, it's what a gentleman does when he bumps into a lady."

"I-I—" She hesitated.

"One drink," he persisted, then wrapped his arm around her shoulders, turning her in the direction of a tavern. "In there. One drink and you can go finish your errands."

From her periphery she saw the others walk past her melting into a crowd of strangers and leaving her all the room she needed to see this through to the end.

With a bite of her lower lip, she inclined her head, allowing him to guide her inside the establishment. She was invited to sit to his right and given her first taste of strong alcohol.

She drank with him, allowing him—as one drink turned to five to six to seven—to place a hand on her thigh. She bore with it because once the alcohol started to take effect on the man, she was sure his tongue would loosen.

That did not happen.

"Have you heard about the storm?" she asked, forcing his hand to her knee to keep it from slithering further, but worried when his arm wrapped around her waist. He entertained himself with the curved where her waist connected to her hip. Her entire body was burning and she did not think she could sit still any longer. She needed to move around, run a few dozen miles before the feeling subsided.

"You want to hear about the storm?" he questioned, slurring. "Is that all you want to know about? Aren't there other more interesting things you want to learn about?" And he inched closer to her ear, whispering to her of his desire to show her what he kept hidden in his pants before his tongue darted out and touched her ear.

Mio slammed his face into the table to the immediate, stunned silence of establishment's many patrons. She then proceeded to drag him from his seat to the door, all eyes following her in astonishment.

She took him into the depths of the surrounding forest and threw him against a tree. By then the others found their way to join her.

"Did you forget your training?" Taiga berated. "You ease the information out of them."

"He was insufferable," she said huffily. She felt strange in a light, dizzying way that made her feel interesting. The man crossed a line back in the tavern and she acted on reflex when she grabbed him by the back of the head and forced it into the table. She admitted to herself that Taiga had made a good point. She did forget her training; rather, she purposely disregarded it. It had not been the first or the last time a man was trying to trail a hand up her thigh.

She could separate work from personal experience before. It bothered her to see herself as unprofessional, but she felt her desires translate into actions.

Mio caught Madara staring at her a bit too intently. "What?"

And he looked to be taken aback by her tone.

Taiga snorted, earning quizzical glances all around. "She's drunk."

"I am not drunk," she denied. She did not get drunk.

_Drunk?_ The word made her scoff. None of them were in this feeling with her. Except the fisherman. He lived in the feeling.

"Isn't that bad for her condition?" Saori gasped. "No! What are we going to do?"

Everything was hazy, particularly the edges of her vision.

"I have never seen her like this before," Taiga responded. "I wonder what kind of drunk she is. Watch yourself Madara. She might be coming after you tonight."

Madara rightfully ignored him. "We need to do something about the fisherman."

Mio appreciated the suggestion and went into her pack in search of her water jug, which she emptied over his face. The splash of cold woke the fisherman with a start and then his meaty hands covered his face, a pained groan escaping him. His eyes lifted.

"What did you do to me, you bitch?" he grated, bloody spittle coming from his mouth.

She reached and grabbed him by the collar. "Tell me about the storm surrounding the Whirlpool Country or I will slam your head into this tree," she threatened, and a part of her was thrilled by his reaction.

"It's a storm!" he spat, his bloodied saliva splattering across her face.

Mio stared at him in quiet rage and the man felt it as his jaw clenched and the rest of his body tensed along with it. She let him go slowly, reaching to wipe her face clean of his spittle, as she mentally decided which of his ugly faces she was going to punch first.

Taiga had to pull her away to stop her from making true to her threat.

"I know it's a storm, you drunken imbecile!" she snapped, and in her first attempt to fight against Taiga's hold set herself free and sent him to the ground. She grabbed hold of the fisherman again, seizing him by the collar and forcing him to eyelevel. "Now, describe it. Bit by bit. Detail for detail. Everything."

"Mio!"

Everyone's voices overlapped in calling out to her, but she heard none of them.

The drunken angler stared up at her wide-eyed and with a stutter, he said, "E-everything?"

"Everything."

And the man spilled because his other option was becoming a part of the tree trunk at his back.

"It is monstrous," he started, stammering as he went, "like a hurricane, spinning around the entire country. Believe me, I took my ship out close and went all around. All the same. It was like a wall of water and thunder and wind—"

She held her hand up, silencing him, and turned to the others.

"What do you think?" asked Madara. "Is this the Climate Sphere's doing?"

She faced the fisherman. "How long ago did you see this?"

"I just came back from that trip," he blurted.

Mio made a gesture with her hand. "You can go."

And the fisherman stared up at her in disbelief, like if he went, she would drag him back and hit him. She'd feel inclined, but there was no time for that.

"Now," she said forcefully, sending the fool scrambling onto his feet and running as fast as they would carry him.

"Mio?" Taiga called.

Mio looked at him. "It's the Climate Sphere," she told them. "And it works in a similar form to the Universe Sphere in which it only needs to be activated once for its effects to remain. Similarly, activating it again would stop it."

"Except we can't activate it because you shut the Time Sphere off," said Taiga. "What do you suppose we'll do when we get there?"

"I doubt the Uzumaki knows she is responsible for activating the sphere in the first place," Mio answered. "I can remove the block from the Time Sphere temporarily and see to it that she dispels the storm."

"You expect Nako to make the storm she most likely conjured up by accident go away?" asked Taiga skeptically.

"I'll dispel the storm," Mio decided, judging by his tone that leaving such a large responsibility for the Uzumaki was ludicrous.

She walked away from them. She needed to sit before she started seeing doubles, but that was when she felt _it…_like a punch to the gut that knocked the wind out of her. She keeled over, holding an arm wrapped around her stomach, and as her knees met the ground, she heard the sound of Saori gasp and a pair of pained grunts from Madara and Taiga ring simultaneously.

It affected her the most. While they recovered, thoroughly confusion, she remained on the ground temporarily paralyzed by little pulses of pain running through her body.

"What was that?" Saori asked, tremulous.

Taiga cursed as he straightened, running a hand down his stomach.

Madara gripped his side, his face drawn in pain.

"I think…" She trailed off, feeling it again. She withheld a cry. "Something is wrong."

"Wrong with what?" Madara demanded.

"Nishiki," she croaked. It was like her insides were being crushed and her chakra festering in their channels. She knew exactly what was happening the second her body jerked as if upon impact. "He is trying to overpower me."

"You?"

"Nishiki is Musashi's true successor," she started, struggling with each word. "I did not think it possible, but he is fighting me for right to the Time Sphere like he is battling for right to the Universe Sphere."

"You, but why are we all feeling like he is draining our chakra, too?" Taiga asked, every word a struggle.

"Because he is exerting his right over all the spheres," she answered, expelling a breath. She took another gulp of air, but her chest ached as if the ribs were being forced open before the pain subsided.

Madara helped her stand. She thanked him quietly and turned to the others, the light dizziness that made her feel like a floating cloud had gone away, leaving only a dull pounding in her head and a body racked with little pains. Softly, questioning herself she said, "How is this possible?"

Nishiki broke no laws when the sphere was passed over him to the whirl of Musashi's other candidates. He did not exist when her grandfather had killed him, but he had been alive and how he was capable of hiding himself from the power of the artifacts was no doubt a forbidden act.

_Oh._ It hit her suddenly. The ceremony she suffered through in the Sun Country came to mind and the purpose for it had been made clear to her by Nishiki in his castle that her blood was being used to create a black water spring to help him regenerate his strength. Perhaps, her very blood infused with her chakra was helping him make a stronger claim.

In this world, he had his strength. All of it. And that meant many things. He would be difficult to defeat, more so than in their own world, and taking the Time Sphere from Madara would be easy for him. If they lost their claim on the spheres, there would be no stopping him.

This was a game to him and he was showing her. She tried to gain the upper hand by stopping the flow of chakra that powered the other artifacts and he responded in turn, assuring her he could steal all her artifacts if he wanted. She felt that.

He was toying with them.

"What is it?" Saori asked.

She faced her with fear in her heart spreading like a slow disease. "We should hurry and gather Hashirama and the Uzumaki."

"We'll need a ship," Taiga said. "That'll be hard to do when nobody sane wants to travel to the Whirlpool Country."

Mio glanced in the direction the fisherman had gone and faced the others. "I can get a ship."

"I don't think we should ask that man to do us any favors," Saori said.

"I never planned on asking," Mio admitted, walking away.

"I'll go with you," Madara said, walking after her.

"We're going Saori," Taiga called. "We need to restock."

As soon as the pervert spotted her, he tried to make a beeline across a crowded street to the docks. She caught him before he had his chance, grabbing him by the back of the shirt and dragging him to her side.

"You are taking me to the Whirlpool Country," she told him.

"You let me go!" he complained, but one glare from Madara assured him he would not be getting out of this one. They came to a reluctant agreement. "But my ship and I stay intact!"

"I'll consider it," Mio said, letting him go with a shove. "Take us to your ship."

"Stop with the shoving!"

She kicked him in the back of the knee and he smashed face first into the dirt ground.

Madara looked at her and grinned. "You should stay away from alcohol."

Mio flushed, indignant. "I am not drunk!"

* * *

><p>The following morning, Mio caught the perverted fisherman, introduced as Shuuichi, sneaking glances at her since she woke that morning with a pulsing headache and to the realization that she was on a wooden boat surrounded by salt water. She stared back at him with a deepening frown as the boat rocked against the waves of the sea that carried it to its destination, the slightest movement making her stomach twist into tighter knots. She did nothing on the ship other than sit close enough to the ledge to vomit when the need came and next to someone she could hold onto as it was not big enough to have a cabin where she could hide with a bucket. The man brought back fish for a living. He did not do it often and he did not do it to excess, he had no need for a giant ship with a cabin, only a large net to cast into the water and room to carry a large haul.<p>

"You are certainly quiet," Shuuichi observed, standing leisurely with his hand on his waist and his eyebrows raised.

She offered no response, only stared back at him. She felt partly ashamed of her actions yesterday, but did not feel he needed an apology. He certainly deserved having his face slammed into a table, perhaps not as hard as she had seen to it, but he had it coming at the rate his hand was wiggling up her thigh, not to mention he put his tongue on her ear. She admitted her more brusque actions were the result of her alcohol intake in her quest to wring information from him. The hard liquor was something she did not want to try again if the first shot made her feel like a cloud. However, it was the second and third had been the problem.

It was embarrassing.

"She is usually that quiet," Taiga answered, walking into view. He shot her an amused look. "Yesterday was…well, it was a good day for her. Wasn't it, princess?"

Beside her, Saori told her to ignore him and continued to twine fresh string over her wrists. Mio had focused on Saori's actions, observing the way she carefully wound the near-invisible cord around each protected wrist with a gloved hand. It took her mind off the fact she was out at sea with her insides rocking like the modest vessel. But when she took a moment to notice her surroundings—the spray of water and the smell of salt—her mind automatically went back to the feeling of being weighed down by water and the rush of it burning past her esophagus, reaching her lungs before the blackout.

She had clutched the wooden bench underneath her until her grip left long jagged lines along its surface with a rooted fear the anguish in her that would not subside. Yet it had. Always.

The sky thundered and the sudden change in the weather compelled Mio to rise from her seat beside Saori. She lifted her eyes as a curtain of rain fell from a spiral of gray clouds. Lightning streaked across and the flash lit the area for a second only to follow with a booming sound.

Mio turned, the rocking underneath them increasing in force, and found Saori rising to her feet and Madara advancing towards her side from the far end of the ship. She stared beyond the ship and saw clear, sunny skies and tame waters beyond the horizon that was steadily disappearing as a new wind started carrying the ship forward at a faster speed. They entered the Climate Sphere's radius of dominion.

"What is happening?" Shuuichi cried.

She jerked around at the sound of his voice, but not without first seeing the looks of astonishment on Saori and Madara's faces. She followed their eyes and her heart skipped a beat.

A towering wave was rising higher and higher, lifting the ship up the slope of its growing waters. She listened to her own heart beating, her breaths growing shorter. She could not swim. She would drown.

Her pulse accelerated further and her body reacted to her mounting fear by becoming paralyzed, though she heard the sound of her name being called from somewhere far, ringing like an echo. A hand wrapped around her wrist and its owner jerked her back, but she saw it—a glimpse of it. Water spinning wildly like a hurricane surrounding the Waterfall Country protectively with jagged strands a lightning zigzagging across it's pale surface like giant snakes swimming in the sea.

The giant wave finally swallowed them whole.

* * *

><p>The dungeons rang with pained moans or pleas, but never hummed with silence. The burning walls and bars were specially reinforced with black water to prevent escape, though certain prisoners required special means to remain imprisoned. Those cells were special.<p>

Torture for them was entertainment for others. Senju Tobirama witness many die upon the bloody sand, some by his hand and others through public executions on ground level surrounded by screaming spectators, but there was a war brewing within the dungeons between those that wanted to survive, those that desired freedom, and those that were guardians—the thieves…_them_. He, in the cell located in a dead end within the labyrinth that was this dungeon, Yayoi, the weeping one in the prison to his right, and Takuto, in the cell beside Yayoi's who had seen the most torture of them all. They were targets of a different kind, reserved for the public stage but no less forced into the prison games that had left them in tatters.

Though there was no connection left for him to fight for, Tobirama was long aware that he lost the right to the Universe Sphere from the instant he woke from the darkness to a stagnant world without light that carried the scent of death and blood like a perfume.

Tobirama stood before the black bars, so close he felt the heat radiating from them, waiting for the sound of footsteps to turn into their path. There was a system, an order in which prisoners were elected for execution, marked red by their jailor—the redheaded priestess who appeared in all her luxury to taunt them, though had only recently become aware that had they retained their memories by some fluke. Only one cell was marked red at once. As soon as that occurred, the prisoner was left to dread their final week among the living, and he knew it would be their time, sooner than later. Neither one of them controlled their spheres. They were turned into pawns to push the Artifact War into its climax and to be sacrificed.

Nishiki and Ayuka expected them to relinquish their lives so they could seize full control of Mio. The loss of a few guardians would no doubt be enough to drive her into submission, into losing her will to fight back. And it would work. Tobirama knew it would. She had a weak heart, a fragile one, and though she tried to overcome her weakness, it shone through. The deaths of three guardians she swore to protect would be too much for her.

_She should be stronger_, he thought as he waited, _she should remember what it means to be a shinobi. _

Ayuka came into view, though she did so alone when she normally came with an assistant or two, holding the brush in her hands, leaving splatters of red ink on the floor as she walked. She paused in the center where she could easily pivot and have a look into each of their cells as a smile curved her lips.

She had done this before, stood and stared at them with the brush in her hand as if wondering which of the three would be the first to be killed, but she had gone a few cells away and marked the prison of a small old woman Yayoi recognized from her country. "She collected herbs and made teas with them," Yayoi had said after the cannon had signaled her death not too long ago. And she had said it regrettably. "I had seen her in the Earth Country during the fighting. She was hiding with some of the servants. She pointed us in the right direction. She told us she had been taking care of Mio in secret and—"

Yayoi had not finished because she had dissolved into tears. Takuto had to reach for her hand from his cell. If they sat against the wall, they could touch, those two, and they often sought the warmth of one another, though the flesh on Takuto's hand had been burned off and the bandages he had tied around his hand had stuck to the exposed muscle, becoming infected. Brilliant medical specialist as he was, it had become a custom to drain him of blood to keep his strength at a manageable level, so he could not even heal himself, and Yayoi had been brutalized, her hands broken only to be healed to be broken again, so she could not help him either.

Takuto rarely spoke. Tobirama often wondered if he was alive in his cell, and if he would survive any longer.

Ayuka did not walk away that time. She stepped forward and drew a long line in dripping red ink across one of the cells. She smiled, crouching down to level with the wide-eyed priestess who had received her death sentence.

"Do not be afraid, Yayoi," she cooed. "I will ask for it to be done swiftly. For all the love I once held you, I wish there to be no pain when death comes for you." She scrapped one long nail down the length of a burning bar. "Not after you have learned your lesson."

The redhead stood and started to leave.

"You won't win, Ayuka!" Yayoi shouted, reaching out to grab hold of the burning bars that hissed when they came in contact with her flesh. She winced, but bit back the scream aching to tear its way from her throat. "I have seen your death!"

Ayuka stopped abruptly, turning slowly. Her lips were smiling, but her eyes were not. "And I have seen yours." She looked to all of them, advancing towards Takuto's cell where he drew a line across it and then Tobirama watched her reach his, her eyes boring into his. "All of yours. Pray to your gods, children, for you have rejected my mercy and must pay the consequences."

She marked the black bars in one swift stroke, the red ink splattering across his face. He did not wince.

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: Part 2 will be posted later today. I'm still editing it...and there are rewrites! D:

I am seriously starting to feel this story is about how I'm going to torture a group of ten people. Like, how far can I go? I've already shipwrecked Mio, Madara, Taiga, and Saori. Yayoi, Takuto, and Tobirama have their death sentence and have been enduring ungodly torture while imprisoned. You'll see what Hashirama and Nako have been dealing with in the next part. So? How have I been doing in the torture department? I'm starting to feel like GRRM. Like, did things really just get worse? Worser than worse?

I'm sorry I didn't have Hashirama make an appearance in this part. I was going to cut off part one much earlier on, but decided to set up for part two. Splitting this chapter in two was a last minute decision I made after I realized how long it was turning out to be. I mean this part alone is 8k (and normally I let it slide, but I couldn't this time...creative decision, haha).

Thank you: **Loteva**, **HushedFable**, **Guest1** (Thank you for reading and reviewing, hope you enjoyed this chapter.), **Guest2 **(I'm happy you found my story worthy of reviewing, thank you so much for reading it and I hope you continue to enjoy it!), **Kettobase**, **LittleMissSugarLess**, and **Scarlette Winter** for reviewing. You have all been wonderful support. Thank you to everyone that has added this story or myself (because of this story) to your favorites or alert list.

I am seriously at the point where I am starting to feel very emotional with every new chapter that I post because I am seriously going "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" the entire time! I am going to continue being an emotional mess as I finish rewrites for part 2 and prepare it for posting.

By the way, I posted a preview to that chapter on my livejournal. It's in Madara's POV, but I'm probably not going to keep things rolling as Mio's POV (that Tobirama POV was necessary because he be the only POV character in that dungeon)...so savor the scene...'cause it'll probably end up in Jigsaw or worded differently through Mio's POV.

Thank you for reading!


	55. The Raging Storm 2

Chapter** 55** | The Raging Storm II

The raging sea swallowed her whole, throwing her body under its vicious currents intent on dragging her into its coldest depths. She heard the hollow sound of another crash above her head and imagined it was the ship falling into the sea with her. The railing she had grasped onto had broken under the power of her grip, allowing the impact of the wave to send her overboard. She fell from quite a height that when her body hit the water it was like she had fallen atop a rock hard surface, the blow made her gasp for the breath it had stolen from her.

Water surged down her throat, flooding her lungs, and darkness obscured her vision. Pain encased her—searing, excruciating pain that clawed down her esophagus and throbbed in her chest.

She hated the sea.

The beautiful, deceptive sea.

* * *

><p>The enormous wave had taken the ship. He was certain. He felt the water crash over the deck, splintering the wood with the sheer force, and he knew the wooden vessel would not survive it.<p>

But something shot out towards the ship, wrapped around it as the water turned it on its side and everything came to an abrupt stop. Madara's body was hurled to the railing with the others, whose bodies hit against the hard wooden surface keeping them out of the water. He looked up to see several limbs branching out of the thick wooden trunks holding them upright. He recognized Hashirama's Mokuton immediately and knew the shinobi was not far when he heard a loud splash behind him.

Madara jerked around, searching for the others, Mio in particular knowing of her fear. He had seen Saori grab hold of her arm, but when he found her lying unconscious across the wooden railing far from him, Mio was not with her. Taiga was climbing over the thick limbs wrapped around the ship, lugging the fisherman with him, eyes scanning the surface of the water.

Madara stood up, reaching for the bag slung across his body, when a dark head broke out of the surface below with another. Hashirama idled in the water, taking a breath before his dark eyes found Madara's and he reacted quickly when he realized the woman in his arms was Mio, he exclaimed.

Hashirama swam towards the ship. Madara went to meet him, reaching for Mio when he offered her to him and dragged her onto one of the tree limbs encasing the ship, though it was Hashirama who determined she had swallowed water. The Senju placed his hands over her chest, pumping as he counted lowly, until she finally coughed up the water. She did not wake. She slumped back into the tree and remained unconscious.

The Senju climbed onto the broken ship on his own, his eyes going to Madara before catching sight of Taiga above him, who smiled at him with a glint of malice, and finally the fisherman who was on his knees prepared to worship him for saving his life.

"This is no coincidence," Hashirama said gravely. "That you two would gather here with Ohime-sama."

"It isn't," Madara responded. "Nishiki captured three guardians, Takuto, Yayoi, and your brother."

Hashirama's face changed. "What? Tobirama too?"

"What? You never noticed he was missing?" Taiga asked, rather sarcastically.

"I was told he had gone on a mission."

"This isn't the time for such discussions," Madara pressed, irritated. "Nishiki plans to publically execute the three of them."

"Mio there decided we should gather the rest of the guardians and go off to rescue them," Taiga added. "Coincidence over. Do us a favor and make sure none of your Senju try to kill us while we're here. We still have to get out hands on Nako."

"She made you guardian?" Hashirama asked flabbergasted.

"No," Taiga said, then pointed at Madara. "He did."

"But you can't do that! It's against the rules!" Hashirama stated.

"What do you know about rules, you fool?" Madara snapped. "I'm Shugosha now! I can make whoever I want a guardian!"

Hashirama stared at him with a deep frown and it was obvious where this was going when he took a sluggish step aside to sulk at Mio's side.

Madara sighed. "There's no time for your moping," he said, watching his tone.

The Senju stood suddenly, clapping his hands together. "That's correct. We still need to rescue Mito-san!"

Madara and Taiga narrowed their eyes at the man, both uttering in confusion, "Eh?"

"Mito! She is in danger!" Hashirama started passionately. "Surrounded by this stormy wall, trapped alone in her fortress, she needs to be saved!"

"We're not here for that Uzumaki!" Madara snapped. "We're looking for Nako!"

Hashirama faced him. "Lucky for us, Nako is there with her." He reached down to pick Mio off the floor. "Let's go!"

The Senju was about to climb up, but Madara forced him to stop. "This is only temporary," he stated. "For Mio. Once this is over, we go back to enemies."

"I understand that," Hashirama answered, alas serious. "But we are guardians to the Kuronuma's Artifacts, we can't remain enemies forever. Do you think Mio will allow for any infighting among her guardians?"

"That matters not," Madara told him, determined to see an end to their bitter war. "Once this war is over, the Uchiha clan will no longer have guardians among Mio's collective."

"And you expect her to let us kill each other off because of that?"

"She has no choice. This started long before she chose us as guardians."

Hashirama climbed, agreeing with his silence that the truce would be temporary, though it was obvious to Madara that he did not agree with it. Madara followed him, carrying Saori on his back.

The Senju went on ahead, leading the way across a bridge of brown bark and into a cluster of trees twisted into one another that created a barrier against the violent waters. Hashirama ordered his shinobi to stand down as the sight of both Madara and Taiga had them alert and drawing weapons, prepared to launch an attack upon the slightest bit of provocation.

* * *

><p>Voices—soft-spoken but argumentative—drifted to her, reviving her from a death-like sleep.<p>

She opened her eyes to dark figures along the walls.

Mio did not expect to wake, but she did, and she was wrapped up in the warmth of a crackling fire. Hard ground sat underneath her body and rain pelted against the rooftop above her head accompanied by continuous booming thunder. She rose shakily to a seat and found her bag beside her. Though her throat was dry and aching, she reached for her pack in search of the Time Sphere and found it bundled in the cloth she left it. She set it on her lap, holding it near, looking around her once more when she realized the mass of tangled trees molded to create a roof above her head. She followed the trail of them, searching beyond the fire, she snuffed out, to see them create an arching entrance, but she did not see the rain until further ahead where she could also see a part of the wall encasing the Whirlpool Country. Lightning scrawled across it like a current.

She quickly jumped to her feet and sprinted past the entrance. She needed to have a closer look, but someone grabbed her by the arm, dragging her back several steps before she jerked away, turning swiftly.

"Where are you running off to?" asked Taiga.

Saori appeared beside him. "You shouldn't be running, Mio," she said worriedly. "You nearly drowned. If it hadn't been for Hashirama, you would have."

Hashirama? That explained the trees. His name compelled her to look for him and she found him. She had not seen him since the Waterfall Country and expelled a breath in relief before approaching him. She thanked him and walked closer only to have someone pull her back by the shirt. She whirled enough to find Madara, his face in perpetual grimace.

"You should be resting, Ohime-sama," Hashirama told her.

She shook her head. "No, now that you're here, I have to—"

"I've already told him all he needs to know," Madara interrupted crisply, directing his glare at the Senju, "though he does not seem to understand that we are not here to rescue anyone. We are here to retrieve Nako. Only Nako."

"Are your shinobi in danger?" Mio asked, concerned.

"Not so much his shinobi, but his wife, who hates him," Taiga answered, beating Hashirama to the punch. The wording alone depressed the longhaired shinobi. "Well, hate is a strong word, seems like she does not even think he exists."

Mio stared at Taiga dumbfounded. "What?"

"This should not be made light of," Saori interrupted, patting Hashirama on the shoulder. "It is a serious concern. We do not know what forms of dangers are within the Climate Sphere only that it is causing trouble for us on the outside and considering we are heading in, we might as well make sure Uzumaki Mito is well too."

"Ah." Mio clapped her hands, recalling the beautiful Uzumaki that had been captured alongside Tobirama in the Earth Country. "When did you get married?"

"About two months ago," Hashirama answered with a grin.

"Congratulations."

"There is a time and place, Mio," Madara bit out, radiating impatience. "We do not have much time left if Nishiki wants to rob you of the spheres."

"He is baiting us," Mio corrected, sounding lax despite the gravity of the news. "He would have taken them if he wanted in that instant. He knows I severed the chakra flowing through the other artifacts and made them useless, and he made it clear to me that he knows it."

"He could be bluffing," Taiga said. "He barely activated the Universe Sphere to create this world."

"Yes, but we don't know what kind of power he gave himself apart from naming himself Emperor," she answered. "He made subtle changes in the foundation of our original universe to create this world. He could have given himself more control of the artifacts to start and has simply been building up to the point that he could threaten me this way."

"So he has no use for you?" asked Taiga. "I mean, since he is trying to take the artifacts."

"No, he does," she said. "My son is very much successor whether he likes it or not. He cannot take the Time Sphere from me, not if he wants to inherit the power I awakened within it." She paused. "But I also find it strange that he made the decision to show me what he is capable of doing. It bothers me." And as if on cue, her hand went straight for her arm to scratch at the hives she had not noticed appear. "I have a bad feeling about this, but we need to move forward. For Takuto, Yayoi, _and _Tobirama's sake."

She heard the grumbling at the mention of Tobirama from both Madara and Taiga. If she left them alone to see things through, they would likely let him die. It did surprise her to see the three of them peaceful, granted, Hashirama only acted defensively when the need arose and figured Madara and Taiga were tame because Saori was present. Mio appreciated that she could rely on Saori to create adequate environments for different situations and that she had taken care to see her two Uchiha guardians got on with the Senju while she was out. She doubted a temporary cease-fire would be enough for Madara.

"So, where is this Uzumaki Nako?" Mio asked, changing the subject.

Everyone looked in the direction of the storm encircling the Whirlpool Country and she sighed, a part of her having hoped the Uzumaki had activated the sphere outside the island—unlikely as that sounded.

"Have you tried attacking it?" she asked, looking to Hashirama.

"It rejects all attacks," Hashirama said. "They are all thrown back at us."

There seemed to be no way around it after giving several tactics a thought. "We're going to need the Time Sphere," she said, then turned to Madara. "I am going to need you."

He nodded.

Mio considered reclaiming the sphere for herself, but knew it would not be necessary. Not yet, at least. She didn't know how to go about Nishiki's baiting.

Madara took Taiga with him to retrieve the Time Sphere, leaving her alone with Hashirama.

"You made him Shugosha?" the Senju asked curiously.

She smiled, looking at him. "You have to admit that since he has been Shugosha the artifacts have been more powerful," she said. "The spheres would be safer in his hands."

"Except he made The Nameless One a guardian," Hashirama commented.

"_Temporary _guardian," Mio corrected.

Blinking, Hashirama asked, "You can do that?"

She nodded. "So, who is this Uzumaki Nako?"

"She was assigned to support Mito," he said, folding his arms over his chest as he stared off in the direction of the wall of water. "She lacks balance, but is otherwise a well-versed shinobi. Very reliable."

Mio set both hands on her hips, staring at the results of the activated sphere with him. "As a guardian?"

"You should reconsider Madara as Shugosha," Hashirama whispered, leaning over her. "It will only feed his ego."

She snorted.

"Here they come," Saori said, drawing their attention to the two Uchiha making their way back to them.

Madara handed her the bundled Time Sphere and she unraveled it, taking the heated sphere into her hand. She beckoned the others to follow her closer to the protective wall where the spray of rainfall and raging sea dampened their clothes.

"You should leave your shinobi here," Mio told Hashirama, who ordered his sizeable group to stand down. Though, they were highly suspicious about allowing their leader around the Uchiha leader, the Nameless One, the Kuronuma Shugosha, and an assassin from the Ito clan, Hashirama had a way of chasing away their worries. So, when he asked them to remain in the nest of trees he created until they returned, they stood by, giving them room to do as they wanted.

Mio reached for the dagger Taiga had sitting behind his belt. "Have you had anyone sent to see the extent of the wall?"

The wall of water was high, hiding far beyond the clouds and even further still to prevent aerial infiltration, and it manipulated the waters surrounding the island nation at an extended radius. That left her to contemplate whether it ran under the surface in some form.

"There's an electric current underneath the island that forms a net," Hashirama said. "I tried to destroy it, but it's stronger than it seems."

"With or without the Power Sphere?"

"Without," he answered. "Would it have made a difference if I had used it?"

"If you know how to use it." Mio went to stand beside Madara. "I'm going to break through the wall. I need someone to make sure the opening stays open long enough for us to make it through."

"I can take care of that," Hashirama said, preparing himself.

"Can someone find a weakness in the chakra flow?" Mio asked, looking to Taiga or Madara.

Taiga stepped ahead, activating his Sharingan and scanned the wall. He pointed to a specific area. "It's tiny, but the flow is weakest there."

She thanked him as he fell back in with them.

"This has to be done quickly," she told them, looking to each of her guardians, those she had chosen herself and those she had not. "We cannot allow Nishiki the opportunity to use the Reflective Sphere to locate us. He will send every hunter clan after us and ruin our chances of infiltrating the Earth Country on our terms. We cannot allow that, so we cannot fall short here."

Everyone exchanged glances before settling on her face and nodded. And though she knew everyone was working together temporarily, she could not help but like that they were willing to work together for her cause.

Mio used Taiga's blade to stab through the black water molded to the sphere as hard as she could muster. The glow of the sphere shone through the cracks and she returned the weapon to Taiga, breaking off the shell with her hands, feeling the surge of backed-up chakra rushing back into her earrings. She thrust the Time Sphere back into Madara's hands, took Taiga's dagger again as she walked towards the edge of the clutter of trees under her feet, and reached for her ear, activating her Black Sphere. She cut a deep line across both her palms, feeling the blood sear against her flesh as it spilled, and she drew them together.

She sped through the hand gestures required for the technique, molding both her chakra and black water together to duplicate it before slamming her hands to bark under her feet, hearing it burn. She left the rest to the Black Sphere.

Dark spiral towers burst through the surface of water, crashing simultaneously into the area Taiga pointed out for her where she infused more chakra to further double the amount of black water in the technique and tripled its force with the help of her sphere. The more force she added to the technique, the more lightheaded she became, but when she added another burst of chakra that sent a new dark spiral into the location she saw the zigzagging lightning crackle in response and flitter away like tiny insects skittering away from danger.

She gnashed her teeth to keep her steady her body because she was starting to lose feeling in her body as it grew numb.

A powerful wind came howling at her. The Climate Sphere was fighting back, but she did not budge. The gale shoved against her, trying to knock her down, but she anchored her body by sinking her feet into the tangle of trees meshed together. The next gust came charged with electricity and while jagged, blue lines managed to cut through her skin, she did not let up. If she did, it would give the wall time to recover the damage she had caused it.

_A little more_, she told herself and willed the Black Sphere to strengthen her attack a second time. And when the artifact obliged, she saw the explosion of water and lightning as her spirals successfully drilled through the wall.

"Hashirama!" she called, and he was beside her bringing to life more trees as she let her technique run its course, watching it disappear through the gaping opening. A line of trees formed a bridge across and curled along the edges, creating a circle to allow them entry, but the Climate Sphere was attempting to recover, lightning bouncing across the wood stifling its attempts. The combination of water and wind battered at Hashirama's technique at once and signs of wear were visible the second it had settled, but they used that short amount of time to sprint across the bridge, throwing themselves through the opening before the Climate Sphere broke apart the trees, zapping the chakra from them to heal itself.

Mio landed clumsily on the other side, falling into the residue of her technique, while the others managed to hit the ground still on their feet, infusing chakra into them to avoid the burn of the black water. She stood quickly, reaching Madara to take the sphere and once more encased it in a shell of black water, cutting if off once more, hoping that she had accomplished this all before Nishiki had the opportunity to pinpoint their location and send more hunter clans in their direction.

She breathed heavily, sitting back down, not taking the opportunity to look around her, though the Whirlpool Country was sparsely covered in trees where they had landed, it had several pillars bearing the Uzumaki's crest.

"Hashirama?" she called, breathing haggardly.

"We're close," Hashirama told her.

Saori went to her side and offered her a bundle with three squished rice balls. "You lost a lot of blood. You should eat something." She also procured a jug of water for her once she took a rice ball and stuffed it in her mouth, hungry after using so much energy. "Ah, Mio, at least let me bandage your hands!"

"…It's the cluster of buildings over there," Hashirama said to Madara and Taiga, who were both standing near the Senju.

Saori took the bundle from her. "You'll get it dirty. Wait a minute."

"I want another one."

"It's not too far," Hashirama continued.

"The Uzumaki clan is one of the three hunter clans in this village," Taiga commented. "The Miyake clan and Kumaya clan are the other two if I remember correctly. Know anything about the two?"

"The Kumaya clan have bears," Hashirama answered.

"Bears?" asked Taiga.

"Incredibly large ones." And the Senju gesticulated to emphasize the size of these bears. "Twice the size of a Kuronuma. And they are rumored to be just as strong."

"If we encounter them, we leave the Bear clan to you, Mio," Madara said, looking at her off his shoulder.

Saori was putting a rice ball in her mouth to keep her from getting her hands dirty. She nodded, though she was more curious to see these bears than she was about facing them in battle. Saori saw to that her hands were washed clean with fresh water before bandaging them up.

"Anything on the Miyake clan?"

"The two inner houses specialize in something different," Hashirama answered. "The third, lesser house protects the other two and they're the dangerous ones. Weapons specialists."

Madara looked to Taiga. "I leave them to you and Saori," he said. "Hashirama and I will handle the Uzumaki clan."

Hashirama snapped to face him. "What?"

"Did you forget the Uzumaki clan is one of the many clans that want to capture us?" Madara asked. "We cannot approach them thinking they would welcome us upon sight. There is a lot riding on our captures and Nishiki did not forget to increase ones greed in this world."

"But Nako is a guardian too."

"I doubt they'd make the distinction," Taiga said, then looked back to the barrier. "She saw a reason to activate the Climate Sphere."

"The artifacts are tied to their guardian's emotions," Mio explained. "That wall there was powerful, fueled by what could only be a powerful emotion. She could be in danger."

"You aren't insinuating that the Uzumaki clan would do something against one of their own, are you?" asked Hashirama.

"This is not our world, Hashirama," she said, standing once Saori gave her the okay. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Everyone you know is here, but they are not the same. Mentalities have been changed. All guardian clans have been made into enemies. That is why you and your men were here, to attack the Uzumaki clan. And why the Kuronuma clan and Uchiha were pitted against one another as well. We only have to be careful not to kill anyone."

"Someone is approaching," Taiga announced quietly.

Immediately they scattered to hide from the small group of redheads to appear atop a concrete dais in the center of four pillars.

Mio had to pull Hashirama back when he recognized Mito was among the shinobi that had appeared and slapped a hand over his mouth when she saw he was about to call out to her. She had been right in following after him.

"It seems they have escaped," Mito announced to her companions as she surveyed the area. Her voice barely reached her ears. "They could not have gone far."

"How do you suppose these outsiders made it through that?" one of her comrades had asked, facing the Climate Sphere's defensive wall. "Nobody's been able to come or leave since this went up."

A female shinobi with short hair bounded towards the puddles of black water emitting steam. Mio thought she recognized her from some time ago, though she could not be certain until she saw her face. She remembered the face of the shinobi that had been released on the day Mio gave herself up to receive the antidote for Madara.

Had that been Nako?

As she thought this, Hashirama attempted to speak.

She removed her hand from his mouth and he whispered, "That's Nako."

The Uzumaki below all turned in their direction and she covered his mouth again. They eased up since there was no movement or sound, returning to their conversation as Mio observed Nako. There were rings of bruises on her arms, barely covered by her sleeves, and around her neck. She did not believe she had the Climate Sphere in her possession and wondered if it had been integrated with the island.

_She is hurt._

A male shinobi asked Nako something that Mio did not catch and the girl answered, "The only clan I know that uses this sort of technique is the Kuronuma."

The emotion that flashed across her face lit her eyes and it made Mio's chest tighten.

"We have to take her," Mio whispered, then stood upright to jump in. Hashirama followed her move.

"What? We can't attack them," Hashirama replied, reluctant.

And a kunai came whizzing past her head, stabbing into a branch above her. She and Hashirama stared at one another wide-eyed. Neither one of them saw that one coming, but as they had been discovered, they had no choice to reveal themselves.

"Hashirama!" Nako sounded surprised to see him, then looked at Mio. "And you're the one married to Mikazuki Gouki."

"Was married," Mio corrected.

"A Senju and an Uchiha," Mito observed, "how strange."

"I believe this is the princess the Emperor is searching for," one male shinobi relayed.

"Was she not a Kuronuma?" another questioned.

"I am a Kuronuma," she clarified.

"We might need to be captured," she heard Hashirama whisper to her.

"The Shugosha," Mito confirmed, nodding slightly. "You should be able to dispel this storm."

She said nothing.

Mito gave her order to the man beside her, and then she beckoned Nako to follow, taking her away with her. Nako looked over her shoulder as she went, staring at the both of them, wishing to speak words she did not dare.

The four shinobi that remained, made a move to draw weapons, but Mio raised her hands in resignation. She did not carry any weapons else she would have discarded them. Hashirama followed her lead and rid himself of his weapons before holding his hands up.

The Uzumaki approached them cautiously and unwilling to set aside their weapons in case they were tempted to attack. Mio was taken by the wrists, her hands dragged behind her back.

And they were taken to the clutter of sturdy buildings up ahead. They were ushered into an empty shed within their territory, the small building surrounded by shinobi, and were told that they would meet with their leader.

Once they were entirely alone, she noticed Hashirama was sulking.

"What is it?" she asked quietly.

"She didn't even look at me," he answered darkly. "Not once. It's like I don't exist."

It was exactly as Taiga had said. The atmosphere turned a little cloudy with his sitting there quietly holding his knees.

"You should not take it personally," she told him. "You should think of this as her being controlled."

"Then she needs to be saved!" he said suddenly, standing. "We need to save her too."

"The only way she will be saved is by taking Nako with us to the Earth Country and putting an end to Kuronuma Nishiki's plans." Mio remained standing, waiting impatiently to meet the Uzumaki clan's leader. She took care to analyze every bit of the Uzumaki's territory to find a way to leave when the opportunity presented itself. "You know the layout of this place, yes?"

"Yes, the Senju and Uzumaki are good allies."

She nodded. "Good," she said. "I'm going to steal the Climate Sphere and Nako. I'm going to need you to make sure we have a clean exit."

* * *

><p>"We should not let those to be near each other," Taiga said with a heavy sight.<p>

The Uzumaki were gone, but they had taken Mio and Hashirama prisoners, which did not surprise him considering the Senju had been quite noisy, despite Mio's efforts to silence him. Madara stood by. He did not disapprove completely of their actions as it would take them closer to the Climate Sphere and Nako. However, it would have been better for the lot of them to have been captured to better increase their chances of leaving.

"Mio should be safe with Hashirama," Saori said reassuringly.

"Yes, she best be," Madara answered.

"What do you suppose we should do now?" Taiga asked. "Are we expected to go after them?"

"No," Madara said. "We should secure ourselves a ship to return to the continent."

"I can do that on my own," Taiga said. "You two should follow after them in case they manage to make things worse…like kidnapping Mito in the process."

Madara would not put it past them to do something stupid.

"With all that sulking he's capable of doing, he will likely manipulate Mio into agreeing to doing something that stupid," Taiga continued, further voicing Madara's thoughts. "He needs to be stopped." He put a hand on Madara's shoulder and another on Saori's. "Take care of the children, you two."

With that, Taiga went off to find a ship.

"I am worried for Mio," Saori started. "She did not finish eating."

Madara looked at Saori, who was staring rather upset at the remaining rice balls in her hands. He worried too. That Mio might have used too much of her recovering strength that it would bring back her fevers and deep sleeps. But he reminded himself that she was not alone. Hashirama was with her and that she trusted him. A part of him trusted him too, but he would never admit it. They were enemies. Working together because of a temporary truce, but things would go back to normal when this ended.

And it would end soon.

Finding Hashirama and seeing Nako brought them closer to accomplishing what he and Mio set out to do after leaving the Fire Country. They were two guardians away from gathering them all.

"Let's go," he said, deciding that Taiga had a point after all. "We should advance with caution. There is no need to attract the attention of either of the other hunter clans."

* * *

><p>Mito accompanied the older male, who introduced himself Uzumaki Tougo, the leader of the Uzumaki clan, and Hashirama stood beside Mio expectantly. Mio understood his desire for Mito to recognize him, as there had been a moment when she had been running to Madara hoping that he had retained his memories as she had. Mio did not know what she would have done if she had been the only one, so in a sense, she did not fully comprehend, but it did bother her that he would meet with disillusion. Especially because Mito did not seem to be interested in him as much as she was intent on her, which made her feel a terrible glare directed at the back of her head.<p>

"You are Shugosha," Tougo hummed, staring at her curiously. "There are stories of you destroying clans left and right. They say your last target had been the Uchiha clan until you were captured by its leader, but here you are. Without the famous Uchiha Madara in sight, accompanied by my greatest enemy."

Hashirama's jaw clenched. And she felt the hostility that had perpetrated that subtle action, radiating off the man like heat from a fire.

Tougo tilted his head. "Why is that?"

"I escaped Uchiha Madara and his allies," she lied seamlessly. "I have been running from him for quite some time. Had it not been for Senju Hashirama, I might have never made it this far. He has helped me escape Madara numerous times and he plans to see me home, but I heard that one of the Emperor's artifacts was causing trouble in the Whirlpool Country. One can assume that it is not only the people on the outside that are suffering because of this seeing as you are trapped within its protection."

The older man shook his head. "There is no proof that the Senju has come all this way without an ulterior motive."

"We can set aside this war," Hashirama spoke, going along with her story. "I came here at her request. Not to launch an attack. I am here alone. Many of my men drowned when the change of weather hit and those that remain are beyond the storm imprisoning you."

Tougo did not seem to like that Hashirama took the liberty to speak and in turn, Hashirama was not quite pleased with himself as Mito barely spared him a look. Her eyes were still on her and she knew she was contemplating a question.

"You came all this way to dispel the storm?" asked Mito, her tone serious but full of intrigue. "How did you manage to get through it? We have tried everything, but it heals itself whenever it sustains any form of damage."

"It is my job to know these things," Mio answered. "I can bring it down, but I will need the object and the person that erected it."

"Have Nako and the treasure brought here," Tougo ordered.

Mito excused herself, leaving to do as was asked of her.

"I will test your credibility, _Shugosha_," the man told her, fixing her a cold stare.

It did not help that he was this suspicious. However, she knew that when he brought Nako and the sphere to her that it would not hurt as much to know that his intuition was accurate when it came to her actions. She would give the signal as soon as she had confirmation for both. If she was being swindled, the lies would continue.

The shorthaired Uzumaki entered holding a marble-sized object in her hand and presented it to her as the Climate Sphere.

"Here you are," Tougo said, gesturing to the girl who kept her eyes downcast.

Mio reached for the marble when Nako offered it and crushed it in her hand, letting the tiny black flecks fall to the ground. She earned a satisfied look from Tougo.

"I asked for the real artifact, not a fake," she told him. She expected as much from the man.

"You will follow me," he said, exiting the tool shed.

Hashirama made an attempt to follow, but the invitation to leave had only been extended to her and he was held back. Nako walked behind her silently and they exchanged glances in which Mio offered her some reassuring words. _I am here to help you_, she mouthed. _We are here to help you._

Mouthing, Nako answered, _I cannot leave Mito alone in this place. It is not safe._

_You have no choice, _Mio finished, turning back to the man leading her as they entered a room that chilled her to the bone.

The artifact was there, inside this room, making its presence known to her. She could not help the shudder that ran through her body, coiling strangely up the length of her back, making her straighten and twist. It was the chakra it was exerting that made its pull so strong. Frost glossed over the wooden walls, freezing over the beams holding the structure upright and creating icicles. Both Uzumaki stayed behind at the entrance, but she stepped up to the sphere to see it sitting in a frozen basin in the center of a table.

"Tread carefully," Tougo said. "The sphere has killed all who have gone too close."

"Has it also bruised the woman that activated it?" she asked, looking to Nako, who flinched. There was something about her submission that bothered Mio. The hurt look in her eyes was severe, like she had been disillusioned. She avoided eye contact, tensed in the presence of her own people, even when she walked from them; she did so cautiously like the slightest bit could set them off.

"That is none of your concern." Tougo glared viciously at her. "You are here because you can dispel the wall surrounding the country and because we are contracted to deliver you safely to the Earth Country."

Mio took the dragon's eye into her hand, the cold stabbing into her skin spread up her arm. The heat of her body collided with it, dulling its effects immediately. It was not active, it did not possess its otherworldly glow, but it radiated power. The Universe Sphere was the same.

The most she could do with the sphere alone was weaken its barrier enough to shatter it, but the storm would zap the chakra from her technique and use it to heal itself as it had before. However, Madara was still carrying the Time Sphere. She could power it again and seal it quickly. Doing so would make for a cleaner escape.

"Do you know how to swim, Uzumaki Nako?" Mio asked.

"How is that rele—?"

Mio lunged forward, jumping and kicking him straight in the chest, and sent him flying through the doors.

Nako gasped. "What are you doing?"

She swept Nako off her feet, throwing her over her shoulder and rushing out after pocketing the sphere. She stepped outside and there were Uzumaki gathering, many carrying scrolls, others rushing to help their leader back onto his feet, though he rejected all offered hands. As soon as they attacked, she leaped onto the roof and ran across it, jumping off the other side faster than any Uzumaki could intercept her path. She could out run them.

"What are you doing?" Nako screeched, struggling against her hold.

Mio sprinted to the wooden shed, not bothering to drop Nako when she went after the shinobi standing guard. She came to an abrupt halt when she saw two needles stab into the back of their necks and they all dropped to the floor unconscious. Saori appeared, falling gracefully from the roof, and when she did, she heard the sound of destruction behind her, which could only mean Madara had gone to take care of the shinobi chasing her.

"What did you do?" cried Nako, staring horrified at her fallen clansmen. "Are they dead? Why did you kill them?"

Hashirama burst out of the shed. "Nako, are you ok—?" His eyes went wide, perhaps at the sight of flames consuming the buildings at their backs and then he looked around himself. "What's happening?"

"Time for you to show us a way out," Mio stated, making him turn into the opposite direction. "Let's go!"

"I can't leave Mito here," Nako shouted. "Hashirama! We can't leave Mito here!"

Hashirama made a move to turn, but Mio interjected. "We take her with us and we make things worse for us and for her. She needs to stay where she belongs! If we tamper with these things, we risk her life and if she dies in this world, she will die in ours! There is nothing we can do but leave! And we have to go now!"

That was enough for Hashirama. He understood, though Nako did not. This was incomprehensible for her and it was understandable, for someone to be so loyal to another that they were unwilling to leave them behind. It was admirable.

Hashirama took the lead and took them far from the Uzumaki's territory where they would be safe for a short interval of time. Once out, Saori mentioned Taiga had gone to find a boat.

"A boat is good," Mio said, over the sound of Nako's protests. "Does anyone know how to work a boat?"

"I suppose Taiga would," Saori replied, doing the same. "Why would he suggest to find a boat if he did not know how to use it?"

"Good point."

"We have to go back!" Nako cried, seizing Mio by the shoulders. "You are supposed to be the reasonable one. You should—"

The redhead suddenly slackened and fell unconscious into her arms. Mio saw the needle sticking out of the back of her neck and Saori standing there with an innocent smile.

"Saori-san!" Hashirama started.

"I felt she could do with some sleep," she said with a slight shrug. "Would you like to rest as well? I have more." She showed him a small flask containing other needles. She told Mio earlier that she had learned the trick from Takuto, and praised him for being a wonderfully patient teacher, and that it was an interesting way to avoid killing. It put a person right to sleep when combined with a group of plants and chakra. "They're strangely therapeutic, too."

Takuto would have made a great asset on this journey.

Vertigo struck Mio and she slumped against the tree, quickly setting Nako against the trunk.

He would be incredible help.

Saori helped her upright, then lifted her eyes to the raven above them flying around in circles. When it swooped down to meet them, Mio ducked. Saori went on ahead, raising her arm to allow the bird to perch atop it, and received the tiny scroll it held in its beak. Once it delivered its message, the bird disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"It's from Taiga," Saori said, reading. "He has a boat. Oh. He had a run in with the Miyake clan." She held the unfurled scroll back another inch. "Ah. He took the boat from them." She showed the scroll to both Mio and Hashirama. "He's told us where to go, but Madara…"

"Madara will find us," Mio told her. "We need to keep going."

And they went. The four of them crossed the Whirlpool Country to reach a shore opposite from where they had first landed. Throughout their journey, a bad feeling pursued her and lingered heavily like smog after they had gathered by the calm seaside before a small boat.

Taiga had one look at the unconscious Nako and lifted his eyes to Mio. "Your doing?"

"It was Saori's."

"You don't say," he said, turning to Saori who only smiled. "And here I was thinking you were all fairness."

"She was looking a little exhausted," Saori replied. "I only looked to make her more comfortable in our travels. They are exhausting."

Taiga laughed.

Madara was the last to appear and Mio rushed forward to take his arm around her shoulder, keeping him standing. He was wounded and he was slumping against her. She should not have left him fighting on his own.

"We don't have time," he urged, reaching into his bag for the Time Sphere. "Remove the storm."

"Taiga!" she called.

The older Uchiha took Madara from her and she clawed the black water from the Time Sphere until she tore the shell from it, hearing Madara grunt when the artifact took chakra from him. Mio left the sphere in Madara's hands and went to Nako's side, crouching down as she reached for the Climate Sphere in her own pocket. She set the dragon's eye inside Nako's hand and curled her fingers over it.

Recognizing her as one of nine guardians, Mio felt Nako's hand grow ice-cold in her own. She fed it her chakra and it latched on. She had given the Climate Sphere her chakra before, but she never tried to change anything about the winter storm that ruled over Mt. Hyōga.

She activated the sphere and the skies thundered as if in protest, but the clouds were clearing quickly, sunlight breaking through them. The walls of water zigzagging with thunder came crashing down as she willed them to fall and melted into waves that swept across the surface of the sea, the electric current it carried snuffed out upon contact.

Taiga rushed them onto the small boat and he alone pushed them off the shore and into the water. He handed Hashirama an oar and kept one for himself. Together, they rowed farther and farther away from the shore until they were but specks in the eyes of those that gathered atop the pale sand, too late to stop them.

And now they were seven with six fully functional artifacts and a broken one.

Saori tended to Madara's wounds while Mio sat, unable to shake the tremble in her bones. She was anxious because it was time.

"What are we going to do once we make it back to the Fire Country?" Hashirama asked, looking over his shoulder to all of them.

Mio did not give it any thought. "I am going to become Shugosha again and I'm going to make these artifacts mine."

Nishiki would not dream to take the artifacts from her. Not now. Not ever.

* * *

><p><strong>xl<strong>: You can blame the two day delay on my shitty internet. For that I apologize.

I ended up doing a lot of rewrites on this...so it came out a little different than originally planned, but I'm cool with it. I don't have much to say really. I'm still wigging out about the next chapters, so wish me luck on them. I really want to do them justice. My biggest fear at this point is not doing them justice and the end falling flat. And that simply will not do because the ending is everything!

Here's a quick question, would you prefer the weekly updates or do you want me to give you the last 2-3 chapters all at once? (Basically, can you handle the suspense?) I'd appreciate any responses if you'd like to contribute. :)

A million thank yous to **Loteva**, **Little****MissSugarLess**, **StealthyFiction**, and **HushedFable **for reviewing. Again, I apologize I couldn't give you part 2 when I promised! I will be prompt with my other promises.

I might take next week off though depending on the responses received from my question.

Thank you for reading and reviewing!

I'll post a preview for the next chapter when my internet stops being so slow. (I seriously don't want to attempt LJ right now. I already tried.)


	56. The Journey's End

Chapter **56** | The Journey's End

* * *

><p>The waters were calm, the small boat drifted undisturbed along its smooth currents with Hashirama and Taiga propelling it forward. Mio quietly panicked, holding her bloodied hands against the wound on Madara's side, steering her focus from the blood sliding between her fingers and thinking of everything but the erratic beating against her ribcage. Saori was doing everything in her power, but there were things she did not know and knew that if she attempted them, there would be consequences. Though Madara was willing to take the risks, she was not and Mio appreciated that decision, but they were a while from reaching the harbor and she knew he would not last long.<p>

Saori ripped a long cloth off the bottom of her sleeve and handed it to Mio. "Help me dress the wound, you hold him up," she ordered. "The best we can do is try to stop him from bleeding out."

Mio carefully followed the older girl's instruction and wound an arm behind Madara—who groaned in response—to lift his upper body enough for Saori to slide the cloth underneath his body. Soon as she tightened it around his abdomen, the cloth was soaked red. Mio bundled up the remains of his shirt and pressed them against the wound, hoping that if she applied enough pressure it might stop, but the blood, thick and warm, slithered underneath her palms, spilled between her fingers. The strong metallic stench burned in her nose and it worried her—it tormented her—because she was useless.

She felt a hand fall on her shoulder and turned her head upward. Hashirama put his hand under her elbow and helped her on her feet. "I can heal him," he told her. "Take the oar."

She nodded, stepping over Nako's unconscious body to sit beside Taiga where she took the oar in trembling hands. Taiga put his hand on her knee, startling her into realizing she had not bothered to row the boat. He reached for her oar and pulled it in simultaneously with his own, leaving them in the middle of the sea drifting as Hashirama and Saori sat crowded in the back pulling apart the cloth they had struggled to put on him.

Taiga grabbed hold of her hands and put them into the water, with his thumbs he begun to wash the blood from them. She watched the bright red dye the sea a darker shade and the subtle currents wash it away. She felt his hands, his thumbs, rubbing the blood from her shaking hands.

He pulled them from the water once clean and looked at her, his grip on them was strong.

"It's not far as far as it seems," said Taiga. "So help me the rest of the way."

He returned the oar to her and took his own. And she breathed deeply, steeling herself and rowed.

* * *

><p>Mio could see the harbor with its wooden docks and anchored boats. She saw shallow waves rolling onto a shore of white sand and a cluster of buildings that sat behind wooden railing above a small embankment that constituted the small beachside town. Though her anxious thoughts started to ebb, she did not turn because she knew they would all come rushing back. She could hear Hashirama and Saori speaking throughout the journey, but she avoided paying close attention because she had been sitting at Madara's side feeling his blood run through her fingers. She had been trying to push past her personal feelings to keep a level head, but that only left her with a feeling of being overwhelmed.<p>

But Hashirama was there and he said he would help. She believed him and held onto his words. Madara would be fine. He would need to rest and eat, but he would be perfectly fine because—she told herself with required insistency—he had overcome worse. There was strength in him.

Taiga jumped out of the ship when they were near the beach and guided it to the shore. Hashirama walked to the center of the boat, holding himself balanced though the boat was slanted. He cleaned his hands before putting one on her shoulder, offering her a reassuring smile.

"Everything is fine," he told her. "He needs to sleep it off."

"Thank you."

Hashirama stepped out into the wet sand and reached into the boat to pull Nako into his arms. Mio went back, grabbing hold of Madara's arms to hoist him on her back.

"Where are we going from here?" asked Saori, standing to help her.

"Another inn," Taiga responded. "But it will take a few hours to get there. How does that sound?"

Mio stood on wobbly feet and stepped over the row of benches on the boat. Taiga held his hand out for her to take, aiding her as she stepped down onto the mushy ground below. She nodded when she realized he was looking to her for a response. "Good."

Taiga took the lead, guiding them through the familiar forests within the Fire Country and further past them until they reached a ghost town she recognized from long ago. Walking down the familiar street, she remembered fighting Ito Kaname and Uchiha Katsura as Madara took on Eito before the dizzying consequence of her black water had caused her to fall from a rooftop. A tiled roof she focused her eyes on as she walked past it.

She soon stopped in the middle of a street, remembering Eito's death and the smile on his face as the knife cut through his neck. After that, she had her first encounter with Mikazuki Gouki since he had killed her parents when he murdered her aunt, Konoe. Hateful as she was, she did not deserve the end she got.

The town was alive with memories, none of them good. The difference from the town in her memories and the one before her were the people. It was swarming with people that stared and muttered. It was filled with children that cut people off in the middle of the streets and shouted joyfully. There were different smells of cooked meat and roasted fish and of wine and perfumed women.

The inn Taiga had chosen stank of tobacco, but despite its acrid scent, one could rent larger accommodations for a cheaper price. A man escorted them to the back of the main establishment. He answered the few questions Taiga had concerning utilities before going on his way. There were three bedrooms and a sitting room where they left what little of their luggage remained except the bag she still carried slung across her shoulder. Taiga accompanied Mio into one and Saori entered the one next door with Hashirama.

He set out the futon and excused himself to bring them sustenance, but she heard him ask Saori to take her water and towels. "And once you've done that, leave them be," he finished. "You two should rest. Enjoy the bathhouse meanwhile."

Saori came in several minutes later carrying a bucket of lukewarm water and a handful of towels. She set the wooden pail on Mio's right and handed the towels directly to her. "Do you want me to help?"

Mio shook her head. "I can do it."

"There's tea on the table. I can bring you some."

"I'll go once I'm done."

Saori left her alone with Madara.

Mio left one towel hanging off the edge of the bucket and placed the others aside. She reached over Madara's body and quietly undressed him. She cleaned the blood and grime off him carefully, noiselessly, and with a restless heart. She inspected him for any other wounds, small as they may be, as she ran the damp cloth over the planes of his chest. She wiped his palms clean of even the slightest speck of dirt and felt his fingers twitch.

She folded her hand over his and leaned forward, her face near his, and called to him softly. She heard a quiet rumble in his throat and the tightness in her chest lessened. He had been unresponsive the entire trip and that had made her nervous that there was something wrong, though he was expected to be sleeping a bit and she was assured he would get back on his feet. She believed that, but she worried, and it was a worry that made her ill.

"Madara," she whispered, touching his face with her free hand.

His face twisted into one of pain and he gripped her hand tightly for many seconds.

However, he did not wake.

Mio sat back and sighed. He would wake in time, she told herself, despite her anxiety. She pushed back the loose strands of hair that fell over her face and stood. She threw the small towel into the bucket and searched the closets for the linen pinstripe robe provided by the inn. She dressed him in it before leaving the room, taking the wooden pail with her, to give him the peace and quiet necessary to see to a quick recovery.

Saori offered her tea a second time and this time she accepted, tugging the bag from across her shoulder and setting it beside her. She drank deep of the warm liquid after receiving the mug, allowing it to heat her body.

"How is he?" asked Saori.

"Sleeping," she answered, quietly scouring through her bag and drawing out the Time Sphere. At Hashirama and Saori's quizzical stares, she said, "I wanted to wait for him to wake, but it would be a waste of time."

"What do you intend to do with that?" Hashirama questioned, pointing at the shelled sphere.

"I am going to take it back from Madara," she said, which would be the easiest part. She was not Shugosha since she handed the artifact and all its responsibilities to Madara, but she had not severed its connection to her completely. "The artifacts won't be strong for some time, but will be as I recover the chakra I've spent."

She dug a kunai from her bag because the last time she had clawed apart the black shell, her fingers had been left bloody and aching. The dull pain came and went since the time as the throbbing in the ankle Gouki had stabbed.

"You should wait until you've recovered it completely," Hashirama suggested. "It won't be any use if the sphere drains you clean and kills you."

"It won't," she said confidently, recalling a memory from seemingly long ago of her great-grandfather schooling her on what he called her birthright. She positioned the kunai above the coated sphere.

Musashi had taught her of Kiyohime—her origins, her legends, her dangerous heists, her laws, and her reasons. He had warned her that the spheres depleted chakra as that was how they drew power and had informed her that as Shugosha, she would be the keystone of the other nine artifacts, her chakra divided into ten equal parts to keep the others alive. She had worried she did not possess enough for that type of work, sure that as soon as she beheld the sphere and claimed it as her own that she would be drained until it killed her.

And in a calming tone, he had told her, "_Every Shugosha before you did not die from being drained, they have died because of the betrayals. The people we seem to trust most are those that somehow find a way to see to our deaths._"

Mio stabbed into the outer layer of the black shell with all her strength, hearing it crackle as thin, jagged lines spread across the center of impact. Musashi's words still reached her.

"_In a way, they are right to say we are cursed. We are given a burden that is both a curse and a blessing and a duty that is neither here nor there,_" he had continued, his rose eyes glittering in merriment. He had loved the stories, confessed it had been his favorite part of being a Shugosha—learning its origins. She shared his sentiment, remembered the warm feeling that bloomed in her chest when she listened to it all unfold, though she did not always like the meaning of it all. Like whenever someone called her a curse, she knew she was, but she did not like it. _"We must accept that we are a plague and that as long as the artifacts exist, war will rage to possess them."_

She brought the kunai harder against the surface, sharp black shards bounced across the tatami and slid along the sleek table with a quiet scrape, until the shine slipped through the darkness and she sensed the surge of Madara's chakra flowing back into her earrings. She tore the rest of it with trembling fingers, the two times she stabbed the shell the force of it had vibrated back to her hand in waves of pain, which had led to the surprising realization that had not fainted from the exhaustion. She had literally driven her body to its very limits and the Kuronuma techniques she had used, helped propel her to that point. And she knew, she might need to go past them.

Mio released the Time Sphere from its shell, the pieces sitting on her lap and all around her, and sucked in a breath. She pressed the orb to her forehead, closing her eyes and cradled it in her hands, as she had when she had given it to Madara and willed it. Through contact, she could see into its inner workings and tinker with them because she knew the sphere became what it needed to become for its Shugosha—a fact she was certain Nishiki knew all too well—and it needed to become hers. She grappled at the connection she weaved between it and Madara seemingly forever ago and severed it, quick as a snap.

The artifact returned to her, as if it knew its place, and it transferred all its reigning powers to her as swiftly and strongly as a punch to the gut, leaving her near breathless when the gasp escaped her. It alarmed the two in her company, but they settled as quickly as the wildly spinning mist within the orb had, her chakra no doubt flowing through their own spheres.

Quietly, Mio dispelled a long breath as she opened her eyes to face Hashirama and Saori, though her vision blurred and her eyelids felt as though they weighed a ton. She smiled reassuringly to them as they might have been able to sense that she was weakening, which was true, the Time Sphere had taken a long draw of her chakra leading her through the threshold of exhaustion. However, she did not lose her concentration as she was not done with her maneuvering with the sphere's inner workings.

It took everything out of her to sever the Time Sphere's connection to the three artifacts in Nishiki's possession—of quarantining the dose of his chakra she recognized mingling among her own and those before her—and sealed the channels that delivered her chakra to power them. She hoped that would be enough to stop him from attempting to steal her right to the artifacts as he had before. She did not want to feel that pain again, like he was ripping something from inside her very slowly—a crippling ache that had forced her to the ground.

She fashioned herself another cord made from molding her blood and black water and hung the sphere around her neck where it made her feel safe.

Taiga returned as she stood to return to Madara's room. "The food is coming in a few minutes. You should eat something."

"I'll wait for dinner," she said, though it might be prudent to find another inn to hole up in since there had been ample time for Nishiki to track them through the Reflective Sphere. She paused at the threshold. "Is there another place we can go?"

"Yes."

"We should consider moving before nightfall."

"More of a reason as to why you should stay and eat," he stated.

Mio gestured to the three of them. "There are three of you and three of us, you can carry us there," she deadpanned, taking in their wide-eyed expressions. "I call Hashirama."

"You're joking," Taiga bit out.

"I am," she admitted with a small laugh. "I'll eat something before we go."

"We can make lunches with the leftovers," Hashirama suggested.

"We can!" Saori chimed in, excited by the thought. "You are a genius, Hashirama."

"I'll wake you when the time is right," Taiga said with a huff. "Sleep well."

Mio nodded, sliding the door shut behind her.

"You are so doting, Taiga," Saori commented. "All this time I thought you wanted to bed with Mio."

Hashirama made a sputtering sound. "What?"

Even Mio was surprised to hear that come out of Saori's mouth.

Taiga snorted, probably folding his arms over his chest. "As if it never crossed any of your minds."

"I would never think to betray Mito!"

"I think she'd be warm."

"S-Saori!" Hashirama stammered.

"She _is _warm," Saori emphasized in a simple tone. There was a lengthy pause before she added, "What? I was only making an observation."

Mio covered her reddened ears as she dropped down into a seat beside Madara once more.

She stayed upright for several minutes before dropping down to her side as the voices in the other room lowered to whispers after the food had been delivered. She stared at Madara's profile, allowing her heavy lids to fall over her eyes repeatedly until finally, sleep had taken hold of her.

She did not sleep more than an hour, though she tried to will herself to steal away another thirty minutes at the least, but she opened her eyes. Blearily she stared ahead of her, directly before her were familiar pinstripes and dark blue cloth. Slowly the blurred veil before her eyes disappeared with every slow blink. She recognized a faint smell, one she loved, and buried her face close where she could almost taste the faint sandalwood and sunlight that clung to his skin. Underneath her head was his arm, muscled but surprisingly comfortable.

And she realized she wanted to sleep longer because of the comforting heat shared between them under the thick blanket.

Mio moved and her muscles wailed in pain. She flinched, forcing her body to turn over on its back. She hit the tatami beside the futon and groaned. She imagined to have crawled under his blanket and wondered if that was her conscious' way of telling her she wanted to have done it from the start, only she was too busy overanalyzing if it was proper in their current situation.

She stretched her tired arms high above her head and sat up, feeling the Time Sphere fall across her chest, bouncing slightly on the cord.

Mio left the room to take advantage of the bathhouse, finding Hashirama alone reading one of Taiga's scrolls. "Where are the others?"

"Nako is still asleep," he answered. "Saori decided to rest as well and Taiga went to the bathhouse last I heard."

"You should rest too," she suggested. "I can stay here."

He smiled. "I didn't exhaust myself as you all have. I'll rest when we arrive to the next inn," he told her. "We need someone at full power after all."

"I leave it to you then."

Mio made a quick trip to the bathhouse. She sat in the warm bath water for a little over ten minutes before returning to their lodgings to eat leftovers, though she did not eat much. She didn't need to in order to fill her stomach. She and Hashirama spoke about their travels ahead.

"Taiga and I have progressively worked on a plan for the Earth Country, though nothing is concrete," she admitted. "Considering this is Nishiki and Ayuka's world, they are prepared to defend against us, and they have the Fate Sphere from which they can draw all our pathways and the possibilities they create."

"We'll think of something," said Hashirama in a reassuring tone.

She nodded. "There's no use giving up when we're this close, is there?"

"Exactly."

Nevertheless, she was nervous and that normally bred anxiety, which led to impulses. She resisted.

* * *

><p>They took advantage of nightfall to put some distance between their previous location to their last where they would finalize the plans on taking on Nishiki and Ayuka. The mere thought was surreal. Mio traveled feeling as if she were in a dream, fully convinced this wasn't reality because so much time had passed since she first woke up in a field of bloody snow surrounded by death.<p>

Nako had woken on the second day of their stay, but she had preferred the stillness of the room and the shield of her blankets. And they had time, so everyone unanimously agreed to let her have it to adjust. Explanations would come later.

With Madara awake, they convened around a square table in the sitting room. The rooms in this inn were a little more lavish than the last and a tad bit expensive, but Taiga said that they might as well enjoy a warm bed and food before they abandoned the luxury before setting out to do what needed to be done.

"How are you paying for this?" asked Madara, a question that they each at one point had wondered.

Everyone stared at Taiga, awaiting a response he gave with a slight shrug of his shoulder. "I stole it."

"From?" Madara pressed.

"Will you believe me if I said I woke up with all the money?" Taiga asked with a smile.

"No," came everyone's immediate response.

"I stand by my first answer," he stated. "Now that we've been informed of my thievery, can we move on?"

Taiga laid out the map across the table for everyone to see. It took him some time, but he procured a record of the Earth Country that depicted the Emperor's castle down to its last inner and surrounding detail. When he set it down, Mio could see he had already started to play out different entryways for infiltration and had marked them accordingly.

"Mio and I have been in talks about infiltrating the Earth Country," Taiga began, "as a compromise, of course, to spare us the misery of having to rescue her a—what time are we on now?"

"That is not the least bit important," Mio interjected. "We have decided it would be best to infiltrate."

She was happy to have been able to return the conversation to where it had begun.

"We are at an advantage," Taiga said. "With the new decree, we can at least be leisure about our time."

"A new decree?" asked Saori.

"The hunter clans have been asked to stand down," answered Taiga. "They are not to act unless we engage them first. Rumor has it he has asked this of them before we even reached the Whirlpool Country."

"It makes perfect sense that we did not encounter the Hyuuga clan," Saori said wondrously, looking at them all. "I did not want to fight one of them. Not at all."

"And if you noticed, we have only been chased by hunter clans that had absolutely no intention to see us captured, except that one in the Lightning Country," Taiga continued.

"But that's because Mio is expecting," Saori stated. "I remember, you told me about that one."

Hashirama looked to Mio and then Madara with a smile. "You're expecting? Congratulations."

"Why are you looking at me?" Madara snapped, sputtering.

"Well I'm not blind," Hashirama offered casually.

"That is but a misunderstanding," Mio interrupted, though her ears were bright red with her embarrassment. "And none of that is relevant."

"Nishiki was probably expecting to see us as soon as we reunited," Madara added, quick to see the subject changed. "Why else would he ask the hunter clans to stand down? He is clearing a path for us. An easy one. And if we take it, we fall into his trap."

"He has already allowed us to make it this far," Mio added. "Takuto was captured for his Reflective Sphere and I do not think Nishiki would be too daft not to use it. The mere fact that he called back the hunter clans is proof that he has been watching us." She sucked in a breath. "But I have put an end to that. We have the advantage."

"Yes, but that does not stop him from trying to take the spheres from you," said Taiga.

"It isn't that he's trying to show me that he can take the artifacts, but that he can kill us all at a whim's notice," Mio responded, drawing everyone's attention to her, in silence asking that she elaborate. "He could have made himself Shugosha if he had had the strength and _if _it he had no use for me. But he did not have the strength and he has use for me. However, because he lacked the means to see to all the things that he could have had, he is, instead, exerting his control over us. Our lives are in his hands." She paused and swallowed the lump in her throat because speaking about it made it real. "He had enough power to infuse enough chakra in every sphere to give him a boost if he fought us for them."

Recognition dawned in Saori's face. "The one with the strongest connection lives," she uttered.

Mio nodded. "And he would kill himself ten times if it brought him the artifacts."

"Can nothing be done?" Hashirama asked.

"I will see that it is done."

The conversation steered with Taiga leading the discussion on modes of infiltration. "We can confirm this when we are near," he said, pointing to a side of the castle. "But this is the weakest defense. Ignore it. It's a blatant trap." He started pointing out other potential openings. "Everything is a trap. The castle is impenetrable and we have to enter with that mentality. There is no way we are going to get in without getting captured because that is exactly what Nishiki and Ayuka are planning."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Hashirama asked.

"We enter from all sides."

Everyone listened intently until Taiga saw fit to continue discussing tactics after he returned from finding any useful information around the town.

"How much longer do we need to make plans?" asked Madara. "Nishiki is already expecting us. Why make him wait any longer?"

"How long will it take to reach the Earth Country?" asked Mio, curiously gauging at the amount of time she had to spare. It had taken several days to rework the sphere into making it easier to manifest its shield, she would need time to recalibrate every other sphere in their possession and that could stretch out into months—years if she wished it to be perfect.

"Around four days at our current pace," Taiga answered, and surprised her by looking to her and saying, "Do you need more time?"

"More time?" she repeated distantly, asking herself. _Could I manage in four days' time? _All that needed accomplishing, she wondered, but her imprisoned guardians came to mind. "Four days will do."

It would have to be enough.

"We leave tomorrow night, then," Madara stated.

"Ah, therein lies the problem," Taiga said, all eyes on him. His own eyes went to the shoji across the room where a hallway led them to their rooms. "You see, someone is going to have to get that one out of her room and willing to travel."

"I'll talk to her," said Saori. "I think it might be best."

Everyone echoed their support in her volunteering.

As everyone stood to go about their own preparations, Mio spoke up, "I want all of your artifacts."

They stopped moving, turning back to face her quizzically.

"I want to make sure they protect you as the Time Sphere protects me."

Mio collected the spheres from her guardians—even Madara's broken Nature Sphere to his astonishment—and gathered them into a ceramic bowl. She had taken it off the table in the main room, stealing it away to her room where a shroud of darkness greeted her. She did not linger at the entrance. There was no time for over analyzing or second thoughts.

She took a seat before them, taking each into her hands. Her chakra flowed through them, as did that of the guardian that possessed them. She would borrow that bit of chakra to her advantage and promised herself as she removed her earrings that nobody would die in Nishiki's castle. She took her Time Sphere off as well, setting it atop the others and watched the mist within it start to propagate, spreading like fog and unfurling in bulbous shapes around the object it kept hidden behind its mist.

_"Kiyohime made the artifacts from her blood," _Musashi whispered in her head. _"She created a technique so dangerous to give birth to these artifacts. A forbidden technique. One that puts the life in jeopardy."_

But what did she care for her life here? If she survived on the little that remained, she would be alive in her own world—gravely injured, but alive.

_"Will I have to learn this technique?"_ Mio had remembered asking. She had been afraid of the word "forbidden."

_"Absolutely._" His words echoed clearly in her mind as if he were sitting across her, guiding her through the motions of said technique. "_Change needs to be made. No matter what kind of change that may be, whether it be for the best or for the worst. Each generation of Shugosha awakens something new within the Time Sphere. We carry different strengths and they blossom here."_ She closed her eyes and saw the image of him—the memory of the older man with the white beard—jutting his thumb at his chest, over his heart. "_The Time Sphere becomes what a Shugosha needs it to become. It is a mystical orb. They are all mystical artifacts—ten, created from the blood of our ancestor, blood that runs through our veins. And in the Kuronuma clan, blood is power."_

She brought her thumb to her mouth, piercing it with her canine, and opened her eyes to draw the Kuronuma crest atop the glowing orb. She clapped her hands together, activating the technique. The black water in her blood sizzled, gave off a stream of white mist that drew her attention to the ceiling before she followed it back down to the orb to see that it was empty. No fog. And in the center was a flower fruit, large and slightly resembling a peach.

She stared at it strangely, sensing it overflowing with chakra that did not belong to anyone, and looking deeper, she saw what needed to be done.

* * *

><p>"Mio."<p>

Mio stirred, hearing voices drawing nearer.

"She's responding." Hashirama.

Saori responded with a relieved sigh. "Thank goodness."

"Mio." Madara shook her as he spoke.

She forced her eyes open. Everyone was crowded around her, staring down at her with worrisome expressions.

"What did you do?" Taiga snapped, hoisting her up to a seat atop the futon.

Something wet trickled across her mouth from her nose. She tasted the blood as a smidgen of it fell between her lips. The blood flowing from her nose was an indication that what she had finished doing had taken a toll on her. That alone was not the only sign. Her body was tremulous and weak.

"Well?" Taiga pressed.

Hashirama handed her a handkerchief and she held it to her nose, staring at all of them blankly, mirroring their confusion.

"What?" she uttered.

"What did you do?" Madara repeated.

"Why? Do you feel any different?" she asked, expectant.

The four guardians exchanged quizzical looks and directed them back to her, each simultaneously asking, "What?"

Mio scrambled between Saori and Hashirama to find the ceramic bowl that held the artifacts. She brought it to them asking them to take their respective sphere; even Madara took the two pieces of his broken Nature Sphere at her insistence. They looked upon them, perplexed.

"Activate them."

"This one is still broken," Madara pointed out.

"Activate it."

"You said you couldn't fix it, that it would kill you."

"It would have," she said in elucidation. "I'm not strong enough to do it on my own, as you can see it is still broken in two, but I found a way to repair it temporarily. The Nature Sphere is as good as gone after a few uses, so use it wisely."

Madara frowned and she could almost read his thoughts from the look on his face. She glared at him, which provoked him into a grimace he directed at her.

"Mio, I don't know how to activate the sphere," said Saori, holding the little black gem pinched between her forefinger and thumb. "You said it was always active."

"Do you think it's smart to activate this in here?" asked Taiga, waving the dagger around.

"You infuse your chakra into the gem like you would with your string," Mio said to Saori, then turned to Taiga. "Feel free, we are now protected against the Vision Sphere."

Taiga turned the dagger over, his disappointment reflected on it. "That's a shame."

"Activate it!"

"Relax, I'll do it."

"Is it supposed to feel different?" asked Hashirama.

"Does it?" she asked, curious.

The Senju blinked up at her. "Maybe you have to do more than activate it? Like use it?"

Madara grabbed hold of the nearest object, which happened to be a cup, and drew the kanji for ice before tossing it across the room. It shattered upon contact, leaving the point of impact covered with frost.

"What do you know? It works."

Mio felt the activation of the Life Sphere as soon as it was done when the pulse of every one of her guardians came blaring into her mind. She teetered, dropping the bloodied cloth to the ground, her hand coming to her head as another wave hit her. She wobbled to Saori's side and took the gem from her, terminating its activation.

"I need to fix that," she mumbled to herself, and regarded Madara. "The Nature Sphere looks like it works well. We can try the others later."

"Ah, Mio, your nose is still bleeding," Saori said, alarmed.

She pinched it as she went around collecting the spheres from everyone again and set the bowl with them inside where she found them. She heard them whispering behind her back, drilling Madara about her actions as if he had any knowledge and whether or not they should allow them, and when she turned to face them, they quieted down as if they had not spoken a word. The suspicious smiles gave them away.

Taiga pointed to his nose. "You've got a lot of blood coming out of that."

"It'll stop."

Mio picked up the handkerchief and put it back to her nose.

"You should eat something," Saori suggested.

"Maybe you should go on a walk," said Hashirama. "I can go with you."

"How long was I asleep?" Mio asked.

"A couple hours," three guardians echoed.

"Two days," Madara said, earning looks from the others. He glared at them. "She needs to know." He faced her. "Two days. How long did you intend to sleep?"

"Not two days," she admitted. _I'm not strong enough then, _she thought sadly, but did not let it deter her from trying again. She took in her surroundings. They were as she remembered them. "We haven't moved."

"We would have," Hashirama began, "but you see, Nako, she isn't recovering well."

"Oh."

She needed to do something after she stopped her nosebleed.

Seeing Mio was standing and seemingly full of energy, the others exited with the exception of Madara, who offered her tea. She refused it.

"What are you doing?" he asked, bothered by the fact that he didn't know. "You said fixing the Nature Sphere or making a new one would kill you, and yet, you've gone and fixed it."

"Temporarily," she emphasized. "Only temporarily and I did it using the chakra you left in it as well as the portion I could siphon from Nishiki's. I barely did anything at all."

"It doesn't show," he said firmly. "Are you trying to kill yourself?"

And she heard something in the edge of his voice that made her heart squeeze. She swallowed thickly. "No," she said, "but I am doing everything in my power to make sure Nishiki does not have the option of killing any one of us on a whim. I have been strengthening the spheres with the technique Kiyohime used to create them—it is taking its toll on my body, yes, but it won't matter what happens to it here because this isn't our world." She started to pace and decided to lie, confidently. "I know my limits. I will not cross them."

"Do not deny you won't if it guaranteed our victory," he snapped.

"I would," she said honestly, carefully dabbing away at the blood to see it was not flowing freely. "But I won't die. I can keep myself alive for as long as it takes to activate the Universe Sphere."

The possibility hung between them, heavy and imminent like a shroud.

She planned to see an end to the conversation as she settled back atop a cushion, but she spoke regardless, "But if I do die, I want you to take the sphere as my successor."

"No," he said snappishly. "You leave that damned sphere to one of your Kuronumas. Don't you dare leave it with me."

"It can't be anyone else," she said, referring to the living. "You'll have to marry a Kuronuma, however. I could introduce you to someo—"

Madara grabbed hold of her, startling her, and dragged her onto his lap, her back flat against his chest. His free hand snaked its way up her chest before grabbing hold of her chin. Every muscle in her body tightened when she felt his face upon her neck, his lips brushing against her flushed skin leisurely venturing up to her ear. His breath danced across her flesh, like a ghostly, teasing touch.

With his proximity she feared he might be conscious of her heart's loud beating and grew anxious.

"I am not interested in marrying a Kuronuma," he murmured at her ear, low and deep. Her body shuddered involuntarily and she knew if he touched any part of her, she feared she might melt. "Or any other for that matter."

And then he did, his other hand abandoned her arm, roaming her body over the thin layer of clothing separating it from her flesh. He cupped her breast, kneading it gently, the palm of his hand caressing her sensitive nipple, eliciting a gasp. He moved his other hand from her chin to her mouth, silencing further sound.

He pressed hot, open-mouthed kisses along the curve of her neck. "Quiet now," he whispered, removing his hand from her mouth to tug her kimono top off one shoulder.

Heat pooled in the pit of her stomach and she felt delirious.

She reached for his hands, taking them off her body, reluctant to allow things to escalate further out of sheer embarrassment. But she did turn her head and pull his face to hers, pressing her lips to his. He slanted his mouth to deepen it, teasing the seam of her lips with his tongue. She opened her mouth to him and the searing kiss stole all functionality from her. If he pressed her, she would not deny him, but he did not.

Mio pulled away from him breathless.

"I'll marry you," he said, meeting her eyes and he was serious. "If you asked."

She opened her mouth to say something only to remember she had forgotten how to speak.

* * *

><p>Saori exited the room with a tray of cold food. She set it at the table with a glum expression and looked to Mio for help. "She isn't eating," she whispered. "She isn't sleeping either. All she does is cry."<p>

"Let me speak to her," Mio said, walking up to Nako's door, though she doubted in her ability to do so reasonably.

"She doesn't seem to want to talk, either," Saori confessed. "I tried speaking to her multiple times, but she does not answer me."

"Leave it to me," Mio said quietly, attempting to sound more confident than she felt. It fooled Saori as she smiled and nodded, reassured. Mio slid the door apart. "I am sorry for disturbing you, Nako, but I need to speak to you."

She entered the dark room, sealing the door shut behind her. Nako was lying on the futon, buried under the thick coverlets. And if it were possible for her to burrow further than the blankets, she would have and would have chosen to stay.

Saori being the most adequate person to speak to the Uzumaki, Mio did not believe she could make a difference. Sometimes one needed to heal. The silence was welcome company. It did not question you. It did not ask if you were okay. It kept you company, but it never pitied you. But it was deceptively kind and she did not believe secluding one's self helped in any way.

"You don't have to say anything to me," Mio began. "I only want you to listen." For all she knew, Nako was sleeping and all her talking was for naught, but this conversation felt long overdue. It was informative and relevant to their experiences in Nishiki's world. "You must have been so scared when you woke. Alone in the Whirlpool Country. Everyone different." She sat atop the cushion beside the futon. "I apologize that you were dragged into the Artifact War without real knowledge of what that entailed. I am even sorrier that I am asking you to remain my guardian for the remainder of the journey." She dropped her eyes to her hands sitting atop her lap, feeling awkward. Situations like these where comfort and tact was required were difficult for her. "I don't know what horrors you faced. I can only imagine them if the artifact was driven into activation."

Changing the subject to something she understood better lessened the tension that rendered her body rigid. "The artifacts protect their host," she said. "They do so in a way to keep you out of direct harm. I saw the bruises however and I know they must ache even now. Even after they are gone, they are a dull ache." She paused. "I hope you understand that what was done to you there, in your country, was Nishiki's doing. It is the effect of this world and Nishiki's influence over them." The clans within the Whirlpool Country were known for their good-naturedness towards one another, only lashing out at the shinobi clans that bore them ill will. "Nobody controls the changes made within their psyche here. They have become pawns, greedy for power only the Emperor can provide, and their actions in obeying them should not be held against them." She saw the Uzumaki girl stir, lifting herself onto her haunches, the blankets sliding off her slouched form. And her eyes bore into Mio's, red-rimmed and glistening green, and she recognized the resentment. Tasted it. "You cannot hold this against them. They had no—"

"How would you feel if your entire family treated you the way mine have treated me?" Nako snapped, giving Mio no time to speak up. She scoffed, speaking harshly, "What would you know? You don't have no family to speak of. You do not under—"

Mio grabbed her by the collar in a burst of fury. "You are not the judge of what I understand or not."

Having heard the shouts, Saori appeared at the entrance. "Mio?"

"What you are asking me to do is incomprehensible," Nako continued loudly, baring her pain for the two of them to see. Anger made it easy for her. "You are asking me to forget, to forgive them! But you do not know what it feels like to be treated like a thief, a pariah, a monster! I was not even human! I was shame!"

Mio's grip tightened because it was not fair to either party, but Nako refused to understand that the Uzumaki clan had become another set for Nishiki and Ayuka to toy with and that their actions did not reflect who they truly were. The people she loved and respected, those she grew up alongside, they would be the same people when they returned to their world. "If I can look into the eyes of my enemies and forgive every vile thing they have done to me, then you can forgive the people that you love because none of this is their fault." She released her with a shove and stood. "And I have a family. I have Takuto, I have Sako and Minako, I have the Kuronuma clan, and I have my guardians. And if I they had put me through hell and back in this world, I would forgive them because none of it would be their fault."

"They were going to kill me!" the Uzumaki shouted, a desperate, crying edge in her voice made Mio shudder. "They would have killed me!"

Mio stormed out of the room, blood boiling.

Hashirama intercepted her path in the hallway, caught one glimpse at her and knew she was upset. She figured anyone would be able to tell. "What's wrong?"

She reminded herself to breathe.

"I heard shouting." Taiga appeared to join them.

Again, _breathe in, then out._

She needed to keep a cool head and be understanding. Not everyone could forget something so vicious and she could only imagine what she had gone through. She found herself fighting off frustrated tears. "I was too cruel," she whispered. "I said some very cruel things to her."

Hashirama reached for her arm. "It'll be okay," he said. "All you can do now is apologize and Nako will forgive you."

"I don't want to apologize to her, she is being completely illogical," she replied, and when Hashirama made a move to walk in, she snapped, "Nobody goes in there."

She stormed down the hall with a huff, the two men following after her.

"Where are you going?" asked Taiga.

"I'm going to buy something," she replied and put out her hand for money he reluctantly put inside it. "Thank you."

"Should I go with you?" Hashirama asked, exchanging glances with Taiga.

"No, I can go on my own."

Mio returned to the inn after a lengthy walk in the afternoon air. She walked towards Nako's room where she found Saori waiting in the small sitting room separating hers and Nako's room.

"Welcome back," Saori said politely. "Would you like a meat bun? They're still warm."

She took one, thanking her, and walked straight into Nako's room before Saori could ask any questions. The Uzumaki girl was buried under the covers again and sniffling, but she peered up with reddened eyes to see who entered, only to groan with exasperation.

Mio sat at her bedside, setting the meat bun beside her. She pulled out the hanafude deck she purchased during her walk. She did not expect her words to reach Nako, nor did she expect to have one conversation capable of changing her opinion of her. No, she wanted to talk about stupid, insignificant things and take her mind off the bad for even an instant.

"Would you like to play hanafude, Nako?" she asked, shuffling the deck.

Nako ignored her as expected.

"My mother and father never taught me any games," she started. "I had no need for them. I grew up learning skills that would be necessary in my line of work. Hanafude was not one of them. I always wanted to know how to play something. Hanafude. Shogi. Go. Anything." She paused. "But I needed to accept that they were useless to me, thus unimportant—unnecessary."

She set out the cards between them for a game, knowing she was listening and that she would not play.

"I was taught to play hanafude recently," she continued. "I did it because I wanted to annoy Ayuka—she's the Motou priestess we're fighting. It worked by the way. Honestly, I never thought I would enjoy it as much as I do." Lifting her eyes to the bit of red hair sticking out from under the blankets, she asked, "Have you ever played hanafude?"

Again, there was no response.

Undeterred, Mio continued to speak. She talked about anything that came to mind, particularly those that were of interest to her because those subject came with ease. She offered to her ears her desires for the future and her own fears about them because they were fighting to come out, clawing their way. It was liberating.

Until finally, after hours of speaking more than she had in weeks, Nako spoke, "I know what you are trying to do. You want to go fight your war. All of you."

"Only because we are all desperate to go home," Mio answered truthfully, "and because there are people we care for that are at stake. Takuto, Yayoi, and Tobirama are being held prisoners and will be executed if they have not been already." She severed her connection to the spheres in Nishiki's possession so she did not know what awaited them up ahead. "If there is a chance they are alive, I want to see them well."

"And if they are not?"

Mio lifted her eyes to the ceiling. "I don't know what I'll do," she admitted, "but I want this to be over. I'm exhausted of all this fighting."

Nako slowly rose into a seat, uncovering her puffy face, and wrapped the blankets over her body.

"I apologize," Mio said, staring into the Uzumaki's bloodshot eyes. "I was cruel earlier and I apologize for it. I do not know how you were hurt and I will not pretend I do. And yes, I am here because I need your help, but I will not force you to offer it when you are unwilling. I do not want to rush you and I would have given you all the time in the world to help me if there was a time in the world in which you would." She felt dreadful for having spoken so harshly, even going so far as saying in her fit of anger that she would not apologize. She sank down into a deep, respectful bow. "I am so sorry."

Mio stared at the tatami underneath her face, the silence spreading between them.

"I came for a different reason this time," Mio admitted honestly. "Because I'm stubborn and because I want to tell you something. When we return to our world, when we are all together again, come with me. You can come with Takuto and I to our home—though we are not sure where that may be, there are many roads up ahead and many adventures to find one suitable for us. A little exploring might do us good after this is over, so stay with us. You do not need to go back to the Whirlpool Country; you do not have to face what you went through in this world, not until you are ready. I'll take care of you."

She lifted herself, unable to gauge at Nako's reaction. The redhead only stared at her blankly.

Mio quietly set the untouched meat bun in front of her and left the hanafude cards spread all around her before standing, excusing herself. At the sliding screen she turned to seal it shut and saw as Nako reached for the food, bringing it to her mouth. She smiled behind the closed door, her heart a little at ease.

* * *

><p>It had taken another day before Nako left the comforting darkness, which had kept her company for so long, and had handed Mio the hanafude deck asking if she would teach her to play. Mio had felt a swell of excitement at the thought and had assured her that she would not find a better teacher.<p>

Nako had convened with them later for one final talk about their plan and appointed herself the same task the others had and thanked them for bearing with her for the last couple of days. That same night, they had left the inn behind them and made the grueling trip to the Earth Country.

Standing in the outskirts of Nishiki's territory, they saw where the hunter clans had absconded. They stood all around, within the castle and around it, atop the giant stones surrounding it, hidden and watching, though they remained unnoticed.

Mio stared on ahead as Madara tried to hide his excitement for the upcoming battle while he spoke with the others over the final details. There were watchtowers along the tall, black gates and clutters of interconnected buildings within the castle surrounding a hexagon shaped courtyard covered in dried blood. If she closed her eyes and concentrated, she was able to pinpoint the pulse of the artifacts inside and knew that finding them would mean facing off Nishiki or Ayuka, or worse, both.

"Do you remember your position?" asked Taiga, distracting her mind from manifesting fears.

"Yes," she said, taking hold of her Time Sphere and bringing it to her face. The cool glass relaxed her, reassuring her that she had done all that she could with the artifacts. All she hoped for now was that they protected her guardians.

"Let's go," Madara said, the first to jump down from the giant stone from where they were perched.

Everyone else went in a different direction, splitting up until they could come together into pairs.

_Be safe._

The end of the road had arrived, so quickly Mio could taste the outcome.

* * *

><p><strong>xl note<strong>: Before anything, I want to thank **Loteva** for suggesting hanafude because I was desperately stuck in that particular area and it helped me finish the chapter earlier than I thought possible! The alternative was not as adorable. Sorry, I love Mio wanting to play hanafude...even if it is to annoy others. :X But honestly, I always write out of order, but this chapter takes the cake on that. I wrote the second to last scene first, then the first, etc...it was insane keeping things linear (but I hope I caught everything while editing).

Secondly, the story won't end on a disgusting odd number, so you have two more chapters to go after this one and that is officially the end. So, story ends on 58. AND I will be posting weekly since that was the more popular response, every Friday.

Thirdly, I want to thank: **Loteva**, **Kettobase**, and **HushedFable** for reviewing! :)

And lastly, for anyone curious, Mio totally ran away from Madara after he said what he said.

I'll post a preview for the next chapter in a day or two.

Thank you for reading! :D


	57. Pulse

Chapter **57** | Pulse

* * *

><p>Taiga sought a simple but efficient plan of infiltration. The first step had been to enter from all directions and that had been done with a cacophony of destruction and black rubble raining down the forceful intrusion. Hashirama, Madara, and Mio had been chosen specifically to amass the most attention by using their more damaging techniques—their intent centered solely on destruction. Taiga, Saori, and Nako had followed in laying out their traps for the sea of enemies that waited to attack them.<p>

Taiga had created half a dozen explosive traps before the shinobi chasing after Madara had noticed, only to realize after one misstep caused the trigger to all. And from the western gate, Mio had been able to see the ignition of said traps—a grey, yellow-red contrast against a still, stark sky. The ashes, flecks of white brimming with light were swept across the rooftops, spinning wildly as if they were about to be drawn into the twist of a tornado when Madara swung his gunbai repelling a dozen of Water Technique users from the southern gates. His attack had ended with a blast of fire from his mouth that left the road to the courtyard decimated.

Saori had dealt with her enemies in silence, webbing her sharp string from road to road, and had trapped them all until a quartet of dark haired shinobi with pale, lilac eyes had intercepted her path. The last Mio had seen of Saori had been of her drawing a shuriken, undaunted by her Hyuuga challengers.

Hashirama had demolished the reinforced eastern gates, erecting giant trees that had trapped several in their moving limbs. He had cleared the path for Nako, who had a group of summoned birds she had coated in stone that slammed into any and all that came close to engage her.

Mio had used up a large amount of her chakra with the destruction of the western gate and had, henceforth, relied on her taijutsu to clear a path to her destination. She had memorized the layout of Nishiki's castle, that had been her duty and it had been easy—a simple, focused look would have burned the map into her memory permanently, but she had no time relying on natural gift alone. She had studied it throughout the trip between strengthening the artifacts and sleeping off the weakness it called in her. So every time she closed her eyes she could see the twists and turns of every street within its black walls and picture the design of every floor going up its castle tower as well as the labyrinth that was the dungeons.

The second part of their infiltration involved partnering in which Nako would be the decoy disguised as Mio would be accompanied by Hashirama, the two sweeping through the dungeons in search of their imprisoned friends. Mio and Taiga would be down there as well, setting traps along every entrance to act as a signal. Madara and Saori had the toughest job, distracting Nishiki long enough for one of them to steal away the Universe Sphere for another decoy mission.

Mio fought the Lightning Country's shinobi determined to see through an end to their numbers. She swung her dagger vertically, feeling the cold, jagged steel slide across the flesh of a man's face where it left a deep red line that burst with blood. A strike came at her from the left and though she spotted it through her periphery, the blow connected with her jaw, the force knocking her several stumbling steps away where others waited to hit. She caught her balance before one had a chance to grab hold of her and she snatched him by the neck. Tightening her grip against his throat she heard him choke before she sent him flying onto two of his clansmen. They sacrificed the opportunity to attack her to catch their comrade, though not long had they done so did they toss him aside like garbage.

She brushed the blood from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, pain throbbing in her face, and swept past an oncoming group of four. She sprinted through each one, wounding them with her dagger, and ran into a narrow space between two buildings. She heard the sound of their running across the rooftops as red tiles crashed to the ground in pieces. When she reached the end of the narrow walkway, they cut her off in a group of three.

She could not shake them. She had very little stamina remaining as the breaths leaving her came up short and ragged.

They came at her once more, the first with a punch she blocked with her left forearm and she kicked away with as much force as she could muster. The second attacked her with a kunai that dug deep across the flesh of her neck where it would have ruptured her jugular had she been even a second late in moving her head back. She grabbed hold of his arm and broke it before dragging his weight across her back to flip him, slamming him to the ground. The third grabbed her by the face and smashed her body to the ground, the impact crackled through the ground around her.

It left her stunted, robbed of every feeling but the pulse of pain. She managed a long, strangled noise that sounded as though it had been wrung from her throat.

The man prepared a finishing attack, readied to dig his fist into her stomach. She saw it coming, envisioned the speed and power behind it and imagined it crushing her bones and stealing the last bout of oxygen from her lungs, leaving her powerless to the gentle tug of unconsciousness.

His fist collided with the half shield erected by her artifact and the power he had intended for her vibrated past his knuckles and through his arm shattering the bone. He fell back with a terrible scream, holding onto his arm.

Mio blinked up with a wide smile on her face as the sheen of the shield catching the light. _It worked, _she thought, heart thundering with excitement. The sphere shielded her the instant it knew she was in grave danger and acted offensively when it repelled the shinobi's attack.

She pushed her body onto its side, heaving it up on shaky arms and slowly pulled herself back onto her feet. She searched her surroundings. The three at her feet seemed to be the only ones to have managed to follow her all the way there. It took her a moment to see where she was and another to know what road she needed to take to reach her destination. There was blood flowing from a gash in the back of her head when she reached back to see the damage done.

The shield came down. The shinobi still agonized the pain of the shattered bones and she saw fit to see him put out of his misery. She kicked him swiftly across the face, rendering him unconscious, and limped her way through another narrow passage between buildings.

The fastest way to the dungeons was blasting a hole through the ground. Taiga's explosions were meant to do just that, acting themselves as decoys.

After Mio grew accustomed to the pain, she started running, cutting down any lingering shinobi she encountered by the eastern gate until she reached a large gaping hole in the ground covered by twining trees. She slinked under Hashirama's Mokuton and jumped down into the abysmally dark maze where Hashirama, Taiga, and Nako awaited her.

Of the three Hashirama had retained the less injuries, though he had sustained a few scratches and cuts here and there, his armor had protected him from any terrible injuries. Taiga had a busted lip and a bandaged shoulder with blood seeping through the cloth. Nako had sprained her ankle after tripping down the hole and endured several bruises and scratches from that alone, though she did have a bandaged cut across her abdomen she was particularly proud in showing.

"As always, you look worse than all of us put together," Taiga commented.

She imagined she did with drying blood crusting in the back of her head and the contusions peeking through cuts in her clothes. Her knuckles were bruised and bloody, her legs throbbing now that she was standing still.

Nako used a Transformation Technique to take on her appearance and Mio confirmed she indeed looked terrible. The Uzumaki pulled out a small map Mio had drawn up for her and Mio guided her through the path she was supposed to take to reach the beginning of the map. Once she and Hashirama understood where they would start and where they would all convene, they were off to search for their imprisoned guardians.

Mio and Taiga went together to set up traps.

* * *

><p>It unfolded before their eyes. The dark spiral towers erupting from the western gate, the wave of trees protruding under the eastern gate demolishing all that stood in the way of their growth, the scorching flames blasting away all shinobi that appeared to challenge by the southern gate. And the silent killers slinked their way through; the Nameless One with his weapons, the Ito girl with string so sharp it could cut through a building if she so willed it, and the Uzumaki summoning a pest of stone animals to support her.<p>

The amount of clans they gathered to go against them did not matter.

Ayuka's impatience grew palpable as she tightened her grasp over the windowsill, but only because she had been unable to execute the three guardians in their possession. They had encountered a minor inconvenience along the way. Mio had done something to the spheres, something he could not undo with the chakra he had implanted in each, in fact, he was certain she had used it against him. He withheld that morsel of information from Ayuka, knowing Mio had made changes would have put Ayuka in a mood Nishiki had no interest in worsening.

The redheaded priestess spun away from their deteriorating kingdom.

"Where are you going?" asked Nishiki.

"I am going to the dungeons to kill the children," Ayuka said ruthlessly. "And you? What will you do? Continue standing there and do nothing as these _children _threaten our peace?"

"We were always aware they would come," answered Nishiki coolly.

"Yes, but to allow this much destruction!" she snapped, waving at the sight of billowing smoke outside their window. "You can stop them! You have healed yourself using that Kuronuma's blood! Handle them, Nishiki!"

"Do not bring my actions into question, I have my reasons," Nishiki said firmly. "Go about your business and see that it does not end in another disaster."

Ayuka bristled. "Have some—"

Interjecting rather rudely, he added, "And if you encounter the young Shugosha, do not think to harm her." She remained valuable to their cause. "Do what you will with the rest."

His wife stormed out of the doors that opened for her, pretending not to have heard a word he said, kicking at the patterned skirts that fell to her ankles.

The ever-predictable Mio would be heading straight for the dungeons. Her actions were clear from the moment he saw her spiral towers tear through the ground like black geysers, melting all they touched—even weakening that which he had strengthen with his own black water. She slipped through the western gate, challenged those that came her way, no doubt leaving with wounds to tell of her survival. The clan he had defending that particular area hailed from the Lightning Country and its shinobi were powerful taijutsu users. They were relentless in their pursuit and ruthless in their battles. She would be inhuman if she left without a scratch—and thinking it through, Nishiki believed he gave her too much credit as he would be astounded if she had a single breath left in her lungs.

But his brother's words rang in his head like a haunting sound: "_Underestimating me was your downfall, Nishiki, do not let that be the reason a weak child kills you next time._" The little witch had proven sly and extremely clever, more so that he anticipated giving her credit. She discovered the chakra he imbued into the artifacts when he created their new universe and used it to repel him. She severed the connection between the Time Sphere and the three artifacts in his possession, which put him in a precarious position—a defensive one.

He had known from the instant that she had done it, that he would be defending against her.

If Ayuka had any luck, she would capture her in the dungeons and hopefully it would be after she killed their three prisoners.

Yes, he did underestimate her, but that did not matter.

The pieces had fallen into place.

Beyond the window, a powerful gale carrying swirls of flames torched several rooftops and he could see Uchiha Madara leap onto the courtyard, countering the giant wave of water the Water Country's shinobi conjured with a wave of his gunbai. Producing a towering wall of stone that absorbed its impact, the water coming down along the sides crashed onto the pale ground covered in rubble.

Madara swiped his gloved hand over the handle of his gunbai wiping away something before drawing half a calligraphy brush which he used to paint on the kanji for fire.

Nishiki stepped closed to the window as the young Uchiha swept through his oncoming enemies, eyes glowing red, body spiking with chakra, and a giant battle fan sparking fire with every swing. He cleared the path between himself, though not without signs of exhaustion. He had been fighting for some time now, endlessly—more enemies had lunged themselves at him than they had in any other battle. But he had an upper hand as he suspected of the others.

The Nature Sphere.

Nishiki had fought the Uchiha before, heavily protected by a glowing set of ribs he summoned with that elusive dōjutsu of his. Madara had wielded the power of the Nature Sphere in his gunbai during that power and had challenged Nishiki's Kuronuma technique's with every nature transformation in existence, each he had seen swallowed by the black water—invigorating it to lengths Nishiki did not think possible. And in the course of the battle, Nishiki had seen the Time Sphere around Madara's neck destroying the Nature Sphere until it had snapped in two, its power lost to them forever.

But it worked again.

Nishiki saw him use it and it was a fascinating sight to bear. Ayuka feared Uchiha Mio would reach her potential and put an end to their goals as she had in that journey they had taken decades ago through the Fate Sphere and into the Universe Sphere. The weak child had grown among his clansmen, trained and protected. When she had inherited the sphere, and her artifacts had been threatened, she set out to put an end to it. She had gathered her guardians, men and women she had chosen again, and had hunted them. He and Ayuka had fallen.

A smile curved his lips. _The cunning witch brought back an artifact._

He wanted to see the extent of her power.

Madara would be his target. And once dead, Nishiki envisioned prying the restored artifact from his cold, dead hand to see its strength first hand.

A laugh escaped him as he watched Madara as he came together with a woman with chestnut colored hair and the two sprinted forward to Nishiki's tower.

Nishiki walked to the artifacts he had sitting on the table and took the Universe Sphere, the ceramic cup shook as he infused it with his chakra, filling it to the brim.

He had an adequate surprise for these intruders.

* * *

><p>The ceiling rippled with shockwaves and the dank maze's foundation gave a shrill cry, followed by the desperation of its prisoners echoing through the twisting paths. Mio found the far side entrance once the tremors subsided and the dust drizzling from the ceiling settled along the damp floor. She slapped explosive tags along the staircase leading down the entrance and set up Saori's string over the surface of the steps to trigger them. She finished swiftly and moved along to meet Taiga, who would be doing the same in the secondary entryway.<p>

When the ceiling rattled a second time and the metal bars sealing each individual prison screeched, Mio took cover, feeling tiny stones bouncing off her arms and rolling onto the ground where they vibrated with the rest of the maze around her. She lifted her head slightly as the tremors subsided, pulling her arms away from her head, and rose on shaky legs to sprint across several lanes. She considered releasing the people from within their cells, seeing most peer out from behind the bars with a pleading curiosity and hearing many shout across paths asking for her help. Many of them were weak, bloody, and agonizing while nursing fractures that were starting to heal incorrectly. She thought of it considerably to the point she almost had pulled apart the black metal bars securing them within a square of filth, malnourishment, and blood, but setting them free would put them at a higher risk of dying.

Mio turned into the second lane to her right.

"M-Mio!"

She stopped abruptly, whirling around as she searched for the voice's source. She turned away from the path she had entered and stalked back into the connecting lane.

"Hashirama!"

"Mio!"

Mio's heart jumped into her throat and she ran into the direction of the voices, skidding down the slippery ground as she made a hasty turn into a dead end filled with prisons. A wave of heat hit her, the temperature seemed to have spiked the instant she entered the new lane and it seemed to have to do with the back part of the area, which was covered in a cloud of pale steam. She stumbled forward, righting herself before sprinting into the hot mist.

"Mio!"

The two voices overlapped. Clear enough to distinguish without the echo. Tobirama and Yayoi were both standing behind scorching black bars; the white-haired Senju directly in front of her and the priestess to her left. She searched for Takuto, relieved after seeing them.

"Takuto is here!" Yayoi waved a hand covered up the forearm in red gashes and horrible blisters towards the cell beside her. "They've been draining him of blood! You have to get him out! You have to help him!"

Mio turned back, cupping a hand over the side of her mouth. "Taiga!" she called, raising her voice enough for the echo to carry. "Taiga! Hashirama! Nako!" She heard the sound of her voice reverberating across the maze, bouncing off the walls until it faded into nothingness.

She went straight to Takuto's cell, reaching for the bars only to jerk her hands away instantly. She stared at her palms and they were a violent red, steam rising from them. The black water solidified into these bars had been pure like the rivers in Mt. Hyōga. Touching it burned away her nerve endings.

Takuto was lying weakly on his side, barely awake, barely breathing.

Mio reached for them a second time, biting back her body's instinctive need to recoil, and pushed past the pain. She sucked in a deep breath and held it in as she gathered her strength into her hands. She gave the bars a hard yank, one that made the hinges squeak in protest and scrape against the walls around it. The heat seared away the flesh of her palms, bringing the pain back in pulses and wringing a cry from her throat.

She wrenched at the bars a second time and felt the strengthened steel bend underneath her grasp. She pulled down repeatedly, each time more and more forcefully, until she broke the bars apart.

Mio ran to his side, sinking to her knees, when the others rounded the corner. Taiga went to her while Hashirama and Nako rushed towards Tobirama's cell.

"Don't touch the bars!" she shouted in warning, gathering Takuto in her arms. Blood ran down the length of her forearms. "They're made from black water. Use explosive tags."

"Didn't you think of that?" Taiga asked snappishly.

"I used them all!"

Taiga asked Yayoi and Tobirama to stand back as he slapped a few explosive tags along the corners of the bars.

Mio quietly pushed the matted blond hair from Takuto's face with the back of her hands, feeling pained by the state of him. "Takuto," she whispered numbly. He was sickly pale and dying. She hugged him to her body, rocking gently with him in her arms. "You'll be okay. I promise you'll be okay."

Taiga, Hashirama, and Nako sprinted into Takuto's cell with her when the explosives went off. Two walls of metal walls fell to the ground with a thundering sound.

Yayoi came scrambling into the cell, falling to her knees before making it to Mio's side. She picked herself up long enough to make it and sank into a seat. Mio opened her arms for her to settle into them and felt Yayoi's arms wind around her as a startling sob ripped through her throat.

Taiga approached her, reaching down to put a hand atop Yayoi's dark head as she started to cry and looking at Mio, he said, "We did it, Mio."

Mio rested her cheek against Yayoi's head, feeling a rogue tear fall from her eyes, and nodded. They saved them. Lifting her eyes, she made eye contact with Tobirama who offered her a respectful nod.

She patted Yayoi's arm. "We have to get you out of the castle."

Yayoi stared up at her, wide-eyed and frightened. "No, I have to stay and help you!"

"No," she said firmly. "You conserve your energy and make sure Takuto stays alive." She turned to Hashirama, pleading. "Hashirama, can you…?"

Hashirama nodded, walking to her. With little help, he hoisted Takuto onto his back.

"Tobirama will stay in my place," he told her. "He can still fight."

"Thank you, Tobirama," she told him.

Yayoi ripped at her skirts, taking Mio's damaged hands and using the strips to bandage them. "I promise to keep him alive. I'll do everything in my power to do it. But you have to stay alive." She glimpsed at Taiga. "All of you need to stay alive." She made eye contact with Nako, and then Tobirama. "You too, you klutz. Don't think I left you out or anything. So don't come back dead, any of you. Stay alive."

"We will," Mio assured her, watching her cover her blistering hands with a strange fascination in realizing the throbbing in her stomach overshadowed the pain of her burns. She imagined it was her anxiety manifesting into a dull ache. "Thank you."

The priestess rose, following Hashirama out of the cell when Taiga grabbed hold of her wrist. He dragged her to him, his right hand cupping her face before he dipped his head and stole a kiss. Nako immediately covered Tobirama's eyes with a sharp, "Don't see this!"

Mio lowered her eyes to the ground awkwardly. That she did not expect.

Taiga pulled away from Yayoi with a smirk and the priestess stared up at him, the world having dissolved into nothing. "Stay alive, priestess."

Nodding dumbly, Yayoi walked into Hashirama and snapped out of it. She ran after Hashirama as soon as he sprinted away. Not long after they had gone, an echo of Yayoi shouting, "Shut up!"

Tobirama pried Nako's hands from his face with an irritated look and barked at her to remain focused. She responded by straightening out with a deep frown that seemed strange to Mio seeing on her own face.

Taiga helped Mio back onto her feet as she gave him a quizzical glance. "Jealous?" he teased.

She smiled. "Absolutely not."

Another shockwave rippled across the roof and dust rained down on them.

Mio moved forward to give a new set of orders when the entire underground quaked violently. She was forced to the ground by Taiga, who covered her with his body from the chunks of ceiling slamming to the ground. She sealed her eyes shut, tightened her hands into aching fists, and waited for the shaking to end. Her heart was hammering in her head, her blood boiling. Literally.

"What was that?" she whispered harshly.

"Those were my explosives," Taiga remarked.

She did not think they would be that strong.

Tobirama's voice drifted to her from behind two giant boulders sitting by the entrance of the cell. "It's Ayuka."

Mio jumped to her feet and called out to the others to follow. They would need to put some distance between themselves and Ayuka. They moved through the maze with her in the lead, directing them towards the gaping hole underneath the tangle of trees, while Taiga and Nako set traps along the way.

Tobirama matched her pace. "What are your plans?"

"Evade Ayuka until Saori gets the Universe Sphere," she responded, stealing a glance at the light bruising on his face mingling with the dirt. "And then…" She trailed off, facing forward. There wasn't much of an answer after then.

It had nothing to do with not having planned it completely, she had given Taiga her plans, but with her qualms about the artifact. Nishiki had made changes over a steady course of time completely possible with the little strength he had when he activated the sphere. She had thought his decision to activate the artifact had been a rash decision to stop her from killing him by the nature of Kiyohime's laws.

Mio realized it too late. He had not been strong enough to create his perfect utopia, but he had anticipated his weakness and molded the new world into becoming everything he needed to see all his endeavors fulfilled as well as his own victory realized. She had had a terrible feeling burning in the pit of her stomach, pulsing through her like the dull ache in her ankle, and understood she had not seen the end of Nishiki's trickery since she had discovered his chakra within the artifacts.

There was more.

There was something bigger.

Rising.

Building.

A dreadful thing.

Simply lingering like stagnant water. Foul. And rising.

Mio climbed out of the hidden opening, crouching down, one hand pressed to the mass of trees, as the others slid out from the dungeons.

The ground trembled as they rose to their feet, using the twisting limbs as cover from the shinobi roaming in search of them.

"Have they gotten far?" Mio asked quietly.

"Yes," Tobirama answered. "Far from this place."

Taiga urged them forward into a narrow space along remaining buildings. Behind them a surge of energy burst forth from the ground and Mio's eyes went straight to the violent geyser shooting up from the depths of the dungeon, the dark water falling came crashing down to the ground, the poison water Ayuka had tampered with splashing across the courtyard, leaving nothing but ashes in its wake.

They jumped to the rooftops and saw that which was reinforced with black water had remained standing and it included the few connected buildings. Mio stopped abruptly, stumbling a few steps across a few broken roof tiles. Ayuka had not spotted them yet, but she was walking across the ashen courtyard searching for a hint of them, the poison water pouring from her flowing sleeves filling the area in a black murk that resembled the dead forest in the Sun Country.

A hand seized her upper arm, startling her. Taiga had returned to drag her along, the others further ahead, leaping from the rooftop of a stout edifice out of her view.

"What are you doing?" he asked lowly.

"I have a bad feeling," she said absently, observing Ayuka's movements ahead. The way her skirts dragged along the floor wetly, sagging as if weighed down by water. She had swept her long, red hair onto a high ponytail that swung side to side with every languorous step she took forward.

Rising. Rising.

Like bile in her throat it was rising.

The frightening feeling.

"We are going," Taiga stated, pulling her in the direction the others had gone.

Ayuka's eyes swept towards them, locking in on their location, and a smile spread across her red lips.

Rising.

The air rippled.

Ayuka was upon them, drawing the sword.

Mio felt the stab of the sharp end before it dug its way through the skin and muscle of her shoulder to scrape bone, but it had been a moment. The length of a blink. The explosion of pain she anticipated never came because Senju Tobirama was quick, faster than her eyes could follow, and his attack took the priestess by surprise, sending her crashing into the shallow poison she had been spreading.

Tobirama landed before her, eyes narrowed in scrutiny. "What are you doing?"

She swallowed thickly, repeating the only words she found herself capable of uttering, "I have a bad feeling."

Taiga wrapped an arm around her waist and carried her off as she watched the three floors of the castle tower being swept away by a powerful wind. The clearing cloud of dust enabled her to see the tall shadowed figure to be revealed as Kuronuma Nishiki, powerful and unmoving.

Ayuka appeared again, leaping across rooftops, and she held her hands together in a hand sign that made Mio pry off Taiga's arm to release herself. Tobirama passed her by, turning at the same instant as Taiga did when he tried to reach for her. Mio drew the dagger at her back and hurled it at the priestess before another of her geysers would obliterate the buildings and her companions.

"Stay away!" she shouted to her guardians. "I'll find you!"

The dagger sank deep into Ayuka's chest, blood spurting from around the wound. She barely flinched, but she did lower her hands. The priestess brought her sword up and Mio saw the blade slide through the black cord around her neck.

Mio witnessed that moment as an opportunity to grab hold of Ayuka, but just before her hand grabbed hold of the priestess's fisted hand, she heard the sound of the blade slicing through the cord. And then, she watched the Time Sphere fall and bounce off the rooftop, though she tried to reach it, she missed.

She heard the tiny splash as the poison water swallowed it whole, and she knew she had lost her only protection in this world.

Ayuka's free hand grasped her by the neck and hurled her across the tiled roof. Her back shattered several on impact before she rolled down the slanted tiles. She grasped hold of the tiles, fearing her body's contact with the black water underneath. Several tiles cracked, providing her little aid, but she grabbed several, pressing down with her feet until everything stopped moving. She felt every bump becoming another bruise on her body; her arms trembled as she hoisted herself up, her legs dangling over the ledge.

Mio picked herself up.

The priestess removed the blade from her chest and threw it back at Mio, who caught it.

"Give up, you little beast," Ayuka spat, wiping the blood from her mouth. "You will not win in this world."

"What you are doing is abusing Kiyohime's legacy," Mio responded. "You are slandering the purpose of these artifacts by doing what you will with them. You cannot expect me to do nothing."

"Do not speak of what you do not understand!" the priestess yelled. "Kiyohime was a fool—"

Mio attacked Ayuka with her dagger, swiping her across the face. Ayuka took a step back, narrowly escaping her first strike. She kicked her across the stomach sending her stumbling back and over a ledge.

Ayuka fell and Mio fled as the clouds above were gathering and darkening.

* * *

><p>Uchiha Madara showed himself by swinging his gunbai and commanding a gale that ripped through the three floors above his ceiling, leaving the sitting room completely bare under the storm gathering sky. The girl accompanying him coiled string along his arm, unusually sharp and biting into his flesh, and her identity came to mind: Ito Saori. He recognized the techniques having encountered an Ito shinobi under precarious circumstances in his youth. A properly trained Ito was true to their myth—an Ito shinobi could kill a person a thousand different ways before said person realized they were dead.<p>

He smiled. This would have been an interesting fight had he the time to fight it.

"Should you be here?" he asked leisurely, noting a look pass between the two. "Ayuka has gone after your _companions_?"

Nishiki molded black water, allowing it to spill with the blood oozing from the thin injuries the Ito girl inflicted on him. The string snapped, releasing him. He used his own blood to cauterize the wounds, preferring not to bleed out.

The boy did not speak; he activated his Sharingan—for protection, as he knew better than to use it any other way—and lunged at him with his fan. Nishiki caught hold of the gunbai, breaking a whole chunk of it with a meager tightening of his grip, and smashed his fist into the boy's face, sending him barreling back in time to grasp one of the Ito girl's strings as it came whipping towards him. It cut into his hand as he wound it around his fist, jerking the girl towards him and kicking her aside.

Nishiki felt something wrap around his leg and almost laughed, his eyes meeting the girl's as she crashed into the wall and sent a current of electricity that succeeded in reaching him. It barely stung. He drew his dagger to slice the string in half in time to block one of Madara's attacks. His focus shifted to the boy, who looked very determined to see him distracted.

_Ah._

They came for the artifacts.

_Of course._

"You should not have come to this place," Nishiki said, deflecting several of Madara's attacks. "Had you remained ignorant, you might have lived longer."

He elbowed him in the face and as the boy registered the pain of the broken nose he had been awarded, Nishiki jumped, kicking him across the head. When he whirled around, he caught the Ito girl skulking. He lurched forward to attack her, but he ducked away at the last minute from a great ball of fire that gave the girl ample time to slither out of his grasp.

Nishiki held a single hand up in a sign before running his bloodied hand across the floor activating a technique that sent a ripple through the air. Long, black lines ran jaggedly across the floor searing through the wooden floorboards, reaching where both his enemy stood and breaking the ground beneath them. The two fell under where a trap awaited them, a boiling swamp.

Quick as lightning, Saori netted her string to cushion their fall far above the boiling swamp below and as her back hit the tightly layered string, she threw a volley of long needles. Nishiki jumped back, evading them to see the strings attached to the ends unwind and shoot in all directions faster than he had time to anticipate the technique. The string multiplied, attaching itself in every surface available, ensnaring him in her trap.

Smart one.

Nishiki had encountered the technique before and cut through the web when his eye caught sight of an explosive tag attached to one particular string that served as a trigger. He reached for the string before it slacked, but his action had the opposite effect. The note detonated, the blast engulfing the entire floor, obliterating it. He took cover in a shield of black water, activating the technique at the last minute, but the force of the blast sent him flying off the ground and into the battlefield below. He molded double the amount of chakra and black water to stretch the shield around his entire body so he fell into Ayuka's poison water fully protected from its effects.

He landed, waved the technique off and jumped onto the nearest roof, where he did the hand signs quickly, his eyes catching sight of the two guardians within the castle tower. He pressed his bloodied hands to the roof tiles and sensed the surge of black water rising from the ground beneath the tower. Everything shook as the dark water spiraled and broke through the surface, slithering through the floors of his tower, as two other spiral turrets stabbed their way through the sides of it. The building fell apart around them, the wood and metal of which it had been built melted away into the currents of his technique.

Madara and Saori shot out of the tower surrounded by his Sharingan's peculiar defense, a ribcage emanating blue energy. He had seen it manifest further in their first battle, but it had not provided much protection once he was able to find its weakness. The two separated after landing safely on a rooftop across him. The expanse of the courtyard sat between them and the remains of the buildings Ayuka had destroyed with her butchered version of the Kuronuma techniques.

Nishiki could not sense Ayuka from where he stood. He fixed his gaze onto the guardians, who were staring back at him, eyebrows drawn in determination, and smiled.

Madara undid his defense. He had lost his battle fan and the skin of his forearm was blistering from the steam Nishiki's techniques radiated. His breathing was a little labored, Nishiki presumed it had been from his undone technique, as it seemed to drain much of his chakra, and in it, he saw an opening for ending this silly infiltration of theirs.

They had come to take the artifacts from him, but the Fate Sphere had gone with Ayuka, and the Universe Sphere and Reflection Sphere were on his persona. Unconsciously he had reached to touch the two artifacts sitting inside the bag he carried to find it shredded, while the Reflective Sphere remained tangled inside the it, the Universe Sphere was gone. His eyes snapped back to the rooftop across the courtyard and only found Madara. He searched past him and caught sight of Saori escaping towards the southern gate.

Nishiki leapt onto the next cluster of rooftops after her, but Madara intercepted his path. He engaged him in battle, taking his dagger from its sheath to stop the swing of the guardian's sword. With his free arm, Nishiki reached back to elbow him across the face, but Madara caught his arm.

"You and Mio have a surprisingly similar style," Madara told him, sounding arrogant. "Your taijutsu will not work on me."

Hmph. A similar style was inevitable. He taught Shinya to fight as he taught Mio.

"Well enough," Nishiki answered, slamming his foot over the rooftop, breaking through it. "Taijutsu was never my specialty."

Madara lost his footing, but still tried to block Nishiki's next attack, when the entire castle started to rattle.

Nishiki summoned another spiral tower that burst through the area where Madara had been standing, though the brat managed to avoid its dangerous effects by encasing his body in that defense of his. Madara's sudden movements send him barreling towards the sea of poison water below and Nishiki pinpointed Saori, running after her.

Madara was at his back again, narrowly saving himself, sending weapons cutting through the air. Nishiki evaded them until he noticed the strings connected to the handles, which he used to guide them everywhere he moved until they were close enough to him that they exploded into flames. As one kunai caught fire near his face, he spotted the kanji for fire written upon them.

He took the hit directly, the fire lapped at the side of his face, but it was nothing like the fire that burned deep in the core of the black water rivers running through Mt. Hyōga. Fire alone could redden his skin, but it did not hurt. He whirled around quickly, imbued his dagger with chakra and sent it flying at Madara. It reached him, lightning fast, stabbing him in the stomach.

Madara crashed over a rooftop, reaching for the handle of the blade to draw it from his body.

Nishiki halted several feet away using another Kuronuma technique that sent shockwaves throughout his castle and left the Uchiha lying on his back as a wave of black water rose to swallow his castle whole.

He reached the southern gate, pausing to feel the weakened pulse of his artifact moving through the surrounding mountain ranges surrounding his castle and making up the Earth Country. She would not get far. He knew the ranges better than anyone.

Nishiki moved, but a hard tug in the center of his chest paralyzed him. The Senju was fighting for control.

* * *

><p>Mio's legs were throbbing as she sprang across the mountain ranges in the Earth Country, her lungs blazing after running for what felt like hours with Ayuka hounding her. The priestess had caught up several times and attacked her and she had narrowly escaped each time with fresh wounds. Ayuka did not care if she dragged her back half-dead and she had made that clear to Mio.<p>

She ran with the fear that things might have gone terribly wrong. That every time Ayuka tracked her and pinned her to the ground for even a split second, their once ingenious strategy had been buried under poison, chakra-sucking black water and rattling shockwaves that promoted rockslides to block every exit she could think of on the run. She had lost the Time Sphere to the depths of Ayuka's technique. Reaching for it would have cost her an arm or worse, her life. She had no desire to sacrifice either. She had persisted onward, determined to reach Tobirama while Madara and Saori got their hands on the Universe Sphere.

She had no need for it. The Universe Sphere was a trap.

Mio rushed because she needed to reach Tobirama and guide him through repossessing the Universe Sphere. She had given Taiga instruction prior to the infiltration; though he had only stared at her strangely and she worried she failed to make things clear.

She made a sharp turn and bumped into Taiga. He seized her by the shoulders, righting her before she fell backward, and found every contusion and wound on her. He looked past her and urged her forward. She ran behind him, following him up small cliff sides that took them to long bridges connecting to adjoining mountain ranges.

"I asked him to do as you said," Taiga told her, reaching back to help her climb a particularly steep slope. He glimpsed at her neck. "Will you be able to do this without the sphere?"

Mio nodded. "I only need Tobirama."

"So, what is this bad feeling of yours?" Taiga asked, glancing over his shoulder to gauge her expression.

"You have been acting strangely," Mio said, changing the subject. She imagined it was a nervous tick, but Taiga had not been himself for quite some time and it bothered her to think there was something going on inside his head hindering his peace of mind. But he had not been at peace for some time. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"I believe we already had our heart-to-heart," Taiga said dismissively. "What more do you need from me? I gave you my loyalty. Don't tell me you distrust me now?"

"No, I trust you," she said seriously. "You have been a great help, but I feel you overworked yourself."

"Is that not what a guardian needs to do for their Shugosha?" he asked, turning fully after pausing in the middle of a narrow path along a mountainside. "Devote oneself to the protection to their Shugosha, sacrifice themselves for the betterment of the collective? You are the Shugosha I choose, despite the fact that I would have never become a guardian had it not been for Madara's stupidity. I respect you. Him, not so much."

She smiled weakly. They continued to walk in silence.

"Taiga, promise you won't break Yayoi's heart after this," she said suddenly. "I don't want her to be hurt."

Taiga grinned, stopping to look at her strangely. "You truly care about everyone but yourself, don't you?" He scratched the back of his head. "Were the other Shugosha like that?"

She could not answer that completely. Musashi was. He cared about his clan to the point he sacrificed himself for them. For the two Shugosha, she only had stories.

The older Uchiha laughed a bit. "Before I take any vows, you have to promise me something."

She nodded quickly.

"Sako and Minako," he started, and her heart seized. "You keep taking care of them when I can't. We have to be on rotation with them. You take the evenings and I'll take the mornings. And if Yayoi gets jealous, you set her straight. Make sure she knows I came all this way to rescue her."

"I promise."

"And another thing," he continued. "That boy everyone is so eager to steal. It's Madara's, isn't it?" At her expression, he added. "Sate my curiosity for once. I know you know. Who will I tell? I have no friendships to speak of?"

He sounded eager and looked at her expectantly.

"I'm your friend, Taiga," Mio said, evading the question.

"See? And would I need to tell you again?" he asked playfully.

She felt a sudden tug at the corners of her mouth as she answered, "Yes. He is."

The knowledge came to her with the factual notion that it would not work any other way and she had accepted this fate for herself. She did not have the nerve to tell anyone else. Especially Madara.

"Drat," he said playfully. "I should have known that stupid grandfather of yours swindled me into this bet."

Rising.

"But you can't tell anyone!" she snapped, her face burning with embarrassment. "And what do you mean bet?"

"Don't sound so angry, us older gentlemen were only having fun. That Musashi bet you would choose duty over love and wed the Senju like he wanted you to with whom you would have that rumored firstborn. Shinya said it'd be Madara, though you hated each other, because it didn't work any other way. I bet Izuna. I always thought he'd have a chance because you'd be too stubborn to accept you were in love with his brother." He laughed and pointed at her. "Your ears are red."

"Please, stop talking!"

"Don't you want to know where to find the prize to the bet?" Taiga asked. "Your grandfather isn't here anymore, so he'll have no use for it. I feel he would have given it to you anyways. He had no use for it from the start."

She was curious. "What did you bet?"

"When we get out of here, take a trip back to your cottage. It's where everything was hidden."

Taiga took a step forward when he stopped suddenly, his attention snapping towards the sudden explosion of geysers erupting from the ground. Ayuka came into view, leaping from place to place reaching them faster than they had time to escape.

They had no choice but to engage her.

* * *

><p>Nishiki trapped Saori in one of the Earth Country's dangerous mountain ranges and attacked her carelessly. His only interest was in having his sphere returned. Without it he could not stay connected with the others and he did not want to jeopardize his claim on the artifacts when that annoying Senju was determined to take the Universe Sphere from him. This had Mio written all over. He did not understand how she managed it when it had taken him activating the Universe Sphere to relieve the Senju of his guardianship, yet there he was, like an insufferable insect buzzing around his head taunting him.<p>

Saori came at him with an arsenal of weapons, each sharper than the last. He was through her attack. Another method of ensnarement. Quick, silent, and deadly. This child had fair training, he gave her that, but she was young. Too young to think to challenge him and see victory.

_Ah._

Nishiki swept through the torrent of attacks, slicing through fine silk-like string. Weapons rained down around him, some clattering, others stabbing into the ground, and the Ito string fluttered like long tendrils of seaweed with the passing wind. He saw emotion flit across her expression, a hint of astonishment, that she quickly masked with a cool mien. She would not be giving up, no matter how frightened or desperate. She had steeled her resolve.

It irritated him to see someone so determined to prevent something they did not comprehend. Not that he pretended Ayuka's motives were heroic, she had her reasons to rebel and he offered his support because he could not understand her methods. He had been the balance. Though to say he had innocently followed her ideals out of love for her would be a misconception as he had his own motivations driving him. Those were for love.

Saori would sacrifice herself, else she would not be standing before him. And he hoped that when death came for her that she had no regrets for dying for a lost cause.

Nishiki did not hold his strength back when he attacked her. The girl had plenty of fire, but it had not taken him long to extinguish it. She had fought bravely, but had learned in her struggle against him that it was not enough. She consistently weaved traps, but he never allowed her to complete any.

Once the light left her eyes, Nishiki straightened his robes and tugged free the Reflective Sphere. He dropped it atop her body like a parting gift and leapt onto the road off the side of the mountain.

Ayuka was near. He considered aiding her, sensing Mio with her. She was torturing her. He did not doubt it. No matter how many times he told her not to hurt Mio, she would not listen. It would be a good thing for her to do. Kill the girl so it might kill the artifacts for good. Let the legacy die with her.

Nishiki decided not to go to his wife. He tried to pinpoint the Senju boy instead...except he couldn't.

He pressed a hand to his chest. Had the girl succeeded in poisoning him?

Nishiki coughed into his hand, drawing it from his mouth he saw it covered in blood. _She did._ As though realizing it was the trigger, the immediate symptoms assaulted him and he collapsed on the hard ground unable to see past the black sheet that fell before his eyes. The agony that followed set his blood on fire, the feeling reminding him of the black water that had swallowed him whole and he remembered his brother.

"_What are the rivers like?" _Shinya had asked, his image surfaced in Nishiki's mind alongside the memory. A boy, not yet twelve, had always stared upon him expectantly, wondrously. With admiration.

"_They say Kiyohime-sama's blood could melt the meat off bones,_" Nishiki had answered, smiling and full of youth, "_And that when she died, she willed her blood to protect her descendants and it abandoned her, melting into the ground to create a bed to serve as its new home._"

Even then he had known only one of them could live and he sorely wished Shinya would have.

* * *

><p>Mio took a shuddering breath as she drew her dagger, exchanging a passing glance with Taiga, who unsealed a sword from a scroll and pulled it free of its scabbard.<p>

Rising in her throat like bile, the feeling came clawing.

Together they leapt to meet her. If they kept her from flooding the mountain range with her poison water, they would be fortunate. They were two and she was one, Mio told herself. It would be easier to find opportunity to defeat her.

Taiga blocked a swing of Ayuka's sword with his own and the blade of hers suddenly lost its silver shine, taking the form of a dark blade that cut his weapon in half. She brought her sword down across his chest and there was a splatter of blood across her face before Mio watched his body fall into a narrow bridge below.

Mio was not strong enough to defeat her with jutsu or without it, but she believed she could distract her long enough for Taiga to rejoin her. She saw him move, far below her, and it had ebbed away the worry she had had the instant she saw the blood.

She swung a punch at Ayuka, who deflected it with her arm, and surprised her by crushing her fist into her face. She did not recover when the priestess kneed her in the stomach and kicked her into the nearest mountain.

Every bone in her body screamed in protest. As she expelled a breath, a searing blade slid through her lower abdomen. The explosion of pain succeeded in relieving any urge she had to breathe and drew from her a screeching cry of utter agony.

Ayuka smiled, sweetly as she remembered.

Mio did not bother with the hand seals, relying completely on her Black Sphere, and felt a build-up in her chest before she activated the technique, sending a torrent of black water that hit Ayuka in the chest from her mouth. The force behind it sent her flying into the mountain below where her body created a crater and the residual water flowed from her in thin rivulets, searing through the rock.

Mio drew Ayuka's sword from her stomach and threw it aside, hearing it bounce off several surfaces until it fell, not making a sound into a place she did not want to think of in fear of whatever death trap lay beneath the ranges. She jumped onto a slope to reach the road after shooting a skeptical glance at Ayuka's body, hoping she did not stand up as quickly as her resistance to the Kuronuma techniques would allow. She reached the slant, but slid, unable to stand due to the throbbing of her wounds, grappling for the protruding stones on her way down. She hoisted herself up onto the road and walked it towards the bridge where she had seen Taiga land.

Taiga was sitting, holding a hand to the diagonal wound across his chest that bled profusely, and she ran to him. "I'll take you to Hashirama," she said, alarmed. "I can sense him. He's not too far."

"I'm fine," he said. "Help me up." She offered him her hand and he clasped his own over her wrist. "We're almost to the others."

She tugged him onto his feet and he walked on ahead, sluggishly. She followed him to the end of the bridge where he turned to her, taking a look at her condition once more and then away, over her shoulder.

"It's okay," she told him. "You don't have to lead me there, I can still sense Nako's pulse. I can find them. Let me take you to Hashi—"

Taiga grabbed hold of her, switching their places and shoving her aside. She hit the ground hard on another wound; the pain of the impact, which blinded her because of it, left her a little disoriented. She slowly came to, hearing the sound of shuffling or simply a muffled noise her ears could not distinguished followed by a sound she could. Blood falling and splattering across a hard surface.

Mio blinked away the spots in her vision as she turned and saw two figures standing over her. She lifted her eyes as Ayuka pulled a sword from the base of Taiga's neck. Mio's body moved on its own, rushing to catch his body before it fell.

Ayuka breathed an irritated sigh as she cleaned the blade of her sword with a handkerchief. "There," she stated, speaking like a livid parent would to a naughty child. "Have you had your fun? Will you come peacefully now or do I need to drag you by the hair. I care not what choice you make, but that you make it now."

She stared up at the priestess horrified, incapable of movement because the weight of Taiga's body on hers was much heavier than she could carry. It was not a physical weight. An emotional one. Too much chaos in her mind. Too much ache in her chest.

She was stunned.

It made her wonder why she had to carry the weights of so many dying.

Mio felt something cold against her hand, the hilt of a blade. Taiga put it there before she found his grip on her other hand

He was not dead.

He would not die. Not if she hurried. He would make it.

"I'll go," she uttered, choking back a sob. Taiga's grip tightened around her hand. "I'll go with you."

Carefully, she set Taiga aside and rose to her feet, heart pulsing in her head. She hid the short sword behind her back.

"Good," Ayuka said. "Let's go."

Mio attacked her in the split instant she dropped her guard and thrust the sword deep into her torso, blood spluttering across her face. Ayuka screamed and grabbed a hold of her face, slamming her head against her forehead. But Mio took the full brunt of the hit, and she did what she had dreamt of doing since the torture she had endured in the Sun Country, kicked Ayuka over the ledge of a mountain.

Ayuka's scream echoed throughout the Earth Country as she fell into a fog of uncertainty below where soon her voice was but a whisper in her ears.

Taiga had lost consciousness when she reached to pull him onto her back with tears in her eyes, making promises of life. She pinpointed Nako's artifact and went rushing to her side. She could not allow Saori to put herself in any more danger when she was so frightened to admit her connection to the Time Sphere had weakened with their separation. The pulse of the artifacts was so weak. She could no longer sense Madara or Saori, and Taiga was but a tiny beat in her head.

Mio traveled as quickly as her tired limbs allowed until she reached Tobirama and Nako hidden within a large crevice in a mountain beneath the primary road. Nako ran to her and helped take Taiga off her back, while Tobirama remained seated cross-legged and in deep concentration. Nako looked down at Taiga with a gasp and then turned her attention to Mio.

"Find a way to stop the bleeding," she said urgently. "If we can hurry, he'll be fine."

"But Mio, he—"

"We need to hurry!"

Nako remained crouched at Taiga's side as Mio went to Tobirama, dropping down into a seat. She grasped his hands. He flinched, but he did not break his mediation.

"I can only spare a little chakra," she told him. "I'm giving it to you so that we can finally end this."

Finally, her words were true.

She transferred the bit of chakra she could spare and felt the pulse of his claim on the Universe Sphere grow stronger. Her body slackened, her hold on his hands loosened, but he seized them and held on tightly, surprising her. She tightened her grip on his hands to steady herself because she sensed the build-up of chakra.

"You have to will the artifact to go back to the world it used to be," she spoke. "Imagine all you remember about it. The sphere will do the rest. Just send all the chakra you can to it."

And his hands crushed her aching ones in his iron grip, alerting her of every step he took towards reclaiming the sphere.

She sensed it through their touch. It was time.

"Activate it," she ordered.

And the world sank into darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>xl note<strong>: Is this a bad time to tell you my computer did not want to start up? It is, isn't it. One chapter left and all. Anyway, I edited this entire chapter on my tablet and it was a pain with all the rewrites, so I'm just not going to say much...other than I apologize for any mistakes (I promise to fix them when I have my laptop back in function). I will continue writing, on my tablet if I must, but I'll do it! You will get your final chapter next Friday if it's the last thing I do!

Thank you to these lovelies for reviewing: **Loteva** and **Anime93**.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this one! You'll have answers next chapter. I promise to post a preview when I can.


	58. Those That Remain - The End

Chapter **58** | Those That Remain

* * *

><p>"<em>Each artifact has a pulse. It channels the chakra of its guardian and echoes it back to the Time Sphere with the help of the Life Sphere,<em>" Musashi had explained when Mio had asked him about the bodiless artifact sealed within the Black Sphere. "_So long as you feel a pulse for every artifact, your guardians are safe. As Shugosha that's about the only thing you can ask for. You can't be selfish with the artifacts; you can only be selfish with the lives of your guardians. They are the most important part of being Shugosha, so it is your job to see to that they are always safe."_

Mio shuddered awake, twisting as a sharp pain struck every bone in her body. She cried out, the sound ripping from her throat was a terrible wail. As if the skin had been stripped from her body, she was aware of the pulse that had faded. It had been as though her very core had been torn from her and every bone broken, smashed into millions of irreparable pieces.

She screamed again, clawing at her chest, feeling the burn of the wounds Gouki had given her, and cried. Tears burst from her eyes and streaked down her cheeks. Terrified, quaking in pain, and mourning a loss she should have prevented, Mio felt bitterness and anger mingling in with every other emotion coursing through her veins. She screamed out her agony once more because only in its release did she feel peace.

Mio turned onto her side suddenly conscious of the remains of Nishiki's tower and the bodies buried underneath them. Everyone would wake—everyone that was supposed to—and there would be enemies, thought she anticipated to see fewer numbers given the loss of both their leaders. Only a miracle would have saved them. Still, she had to believe the Mikazuki would continue to fight as they had been created for the sole purpose of accomplishing Ayuka's ambitions.

The thought filled her with dread.

She did not possess the strength to stand, so she crawled to Madara's side as he was lying closest to her. She touched his face, turning it slightly in the hopes it elicited a response, but he remained still and seemingly sleeping. However, she feared. Too weak to sense determine the pulse, despite the Time Sphere being within reach, she had no way of confirming who lived and which of her guardians had dead. Though Madara's artifact was dead, it did not make him any less her guardian.

She pressed her ear to his chest and waited, suppressing sobs and biting back the pain radiating from her.

And she waited, unable to silence her noisy crying as waking groans sounded all around her.

And waited, blubbering like a fool, clutching his arm. She pleaded quietly, uttering her words like a quiet prayer to a deaf deity.

_Thump._

Mio was overcome with happiness, but it was short lived. Although, she was only able to account for three guardians—the two that had been conscious before Tobirama had activated the sphere from the other side and Madara—she had lost one guardian. The stabbing pain between her bones made sure to remind her.

She struggled onto her feet, incapable of putting any weight on her wounded ankle as she walked. There were many rising from the ruins, sidling out of broken stone and wooden planks, returning to do what they last were doing, recalling nothing else. The Kuronuma medical specialist that had been with her in the tower was carefully pulling out an unconscious Tobirama from underneath the destruction as if Mio had just finished giving her the order to save him over her. Yayoi was near, slumped over a hill of shattered wood and broken golden statues. Across the waste, she saw Izuna helping an Ito shinobi remove a large slab of stone to release Saori.

Mio wobbled to Yayoi's side, falling in beside her when her legs weakened and bent against her will. She leaned in to listen to her chest in search of a heartbeat, her own stilled in fear.

It was there—her heart—drumming with life.

As Mio drew back, Yayoi opened her eyes, smiling at her.

"We did it," the priestess croaked weakly. "We won."

Mio hugged her tightly, relieved to see it was not her, but released her quickly, grabbing hold of her shoulders. "Hashirama and Takuto…are they okay?"

"I kept him alive." Yayoi rubbed her face, shaking her head to rid herself of any remaining dizziness. She blinked at Mio, and then fixed her eyes on all her injuries. "Let me take care of your wounds. Don't go running off yet."

"You have to see Saori first."

Yayoi cast a look in the other guardian's direction, but only saw an Ito medic healing her. "She's taken care of—" Something in her face gave her away because Yayoi's eyebrows drew forward, as she asked, "Did something happen?"

Mio nodded, tears brimming in her eyes. "Someone died."

Yayoi jumped to her feet and ran to Saori's side, shoving the Ito shinobi aside.

Behind her, Madara had woken. He was seated and searching for dangers when he spotted her wiping her cheeks clean. In front of her, Tobirama was healing with the aid of the Kuronuma woman, blinking at the sky, his focus elsewhere but the span of clouds gathering above him.

It could only be two people. With Hashirama and Takuto accounted for, it could only be Saori or Taiga.

"She's unresponsive," Yayoi shouted.

Mio's heart sank.

"Wait! I think I hear a—"

Saori let out a startling gasp, coughing violently into her hand. Saori cast small glimpses at all the faces gathered around her and smiled. "I thought I died."

Mio felt winded, stunned for a second too long.

She rose, despite her weakness and pain, and ran. Shouts rang pursued her as she traversed the length between Nishiki's castle and the last location she had sensed the pulse of the Fate Sphere. She ran and ran and ran, fast as her legs would carry her. Bloody, exhausted, and near death when she came into the battlefield sitting in the outskirts of the castle.

There was destruction everywhere—a graveyard of shinobi weapons and poison water flowing between large trenches in the rocky ground. The Ito clan was gathered around Saori's fallen sister, Hibari, attempting to resuscitate her. There were Uchiha around Taiga, Jouji crouching at his side checking for a pulse. Any enemy that had risen against them had been defeated and Ayuka was nowhere within her line of sight.

Mio shoved past them and grabbed hold of Taiga remembering the way he asked her to promise to take care of Sako and Minako. She mustered her anger and punched him, furious that he had the audacity to do what he did, and was about to hit him a second time when Madara interfered by pulling her away. She cried.

How could she have been so stupid? Believing there was no ulterior motive to their conversations and falling into his stride so easily—how could she have been so gullible?

He knew he would die.

Yayoi came into view, sinking down to her knees beside Taiga, staring down at him baffled. This was a shocking development for all those present that knew Taiga. The man valued his life more than he cared for all the people he'd have to kill to see it undisturbed by the idea of death. He was a man one suspected would live forever, and with the Vision Sphere, the possibility existed—and yet, he was lying there, cold and dead. His heart would not beat. She did not need to search for a heart that no longer functioned.

She had arrived to Tobirama too late to save Taiga as she had sworn she would. Everything hurt.

Jouji approached Madara; a concerned expression marred his wrinkled, weathered face. "It makes no sense," he spoke. "He had been fighting the priestess. The next thing we knew, he was on the ground."

Madara released Mio as Saori came rushing into the battlefield, crying out for her sister when she spotted her surrounded by their shinobi. Izuna and several Ito shinobi ran after her. Mio watched Saori with a heavy heart, seeing her gather her sister's limp body and sob into the nook of her neck. Crying for the sister she could not protect.

Yayoi lifted her eyes to Mio pleadingly and in the softest voice, in the barest whisper, she asked, "What happened?"

Crushed. Yayoi was crushed. She had been so stunned when Taiga had kissed her in the dungeons. Mio imagined she must have been elated, after all the shameless chasing she had done, it had turned out her affections were not one sided if Taiga had risked it all to rescue her. Yayoi had probably been eager to have a moment where they might have the opportunity to talk…

But suddenly…nothing. There would be no talks. That kiss had been the beginning and the end. The one and only declaration she would ever receive from him—the only proof she had that she had stirred something in him.

"He protected me," Mio answered tremulously. "He made me promise everything, but he would not promise me that he wouldn't break your heart. If I had known—I would have protected him better—I—"

Yayoi's tears rolled down her cheeks. Mio crouched down beside her and wrapped her arms around her. The priestess grabbed onto her tightly, using her to anchor herself from the worst of her emotions. The silence between them was long, mournful, and full of regret.

"Why didn't he protect himself?" asked Yayoi tearfully. "Why didn't he use his sphere against Ayuka?"

Mio had not given that possibility any consideration because she always knew the Vision Sphere would not work on Ayuka. Truthfully, it would have been more accurate to say that Mio had gone to war against Ayuka knowing that none of the artifacts could ever defeat her, not as they were.

"The Vision Sphere only works if the person it's being used on has any guilt—any regrets," Mio explained grimly. "Ayuka has always been so driven by her goals that she has never cared who she trampled over to see them accomplished."

In the end, Mio did not think Ayuka gave her son's death any importance. It simply became another sacrifice towards her ultimate goal, so she did not see reason to goad when the opportunity presented itself. Ayuka had been so crazed in their last encounter that Mio feared speaking would have only granted her a swifter death and the thought had terrified her.

Mio took the Vision Sphere from Taiga's belt, the dull ache turning into a throbbing reminder of the feeling of having been torn asunder. She flinched, but held the jagged dagger close to her chest, hoping it eased her the same way pressing her Time Sphere to her cheek might.

She remembered.

"_It's painful,_" Musashi had continued, his kind face filled with lament. The heat that had been radiating from the burning stones atop the brazier had warmed her chilled body. The conversation had left her frightened and dreading the duty of Shugosha more than any other had. "_Losing a_ _guardian is like breaking every bone in your body, like having your soul ripped to pieces._" He had paused to take a gulp of tea, swallowing the boiling liquid audibly, and had taken a scrutinizing look at her, gauging her expression."_You can find another to carry your burden, but the bones will never set correctly. You'll live knowing that you are not…_right_—physically, mentally, emotionally. You'll be all wrong. You'll always hurt, you'll always cry, you'll always feel the pain because you'll _never _heal. You can break every bone in your body again, but you will never remember how they were supposed to go._"

Mio lost herself in the memories of the past, of her naïve self who held onto the belief that another would become Shugosha before her—the Mio that had learned everything with the earnest notion that she would have no use for it.

"_Oh? I've scared you, haven't I?_"

Musashi's laughter rang in her ears as if he were standing a few feet away from her, retelling his knowledge of the artifacts as he had spoken it to ever candidate before her. She envisioned his face in her mind, lightly wrinkled with the bushy white beard and a kind pair of eyes, always dancing, always brimming with curiosity and life.

"_There's no need to be afraid. Though I won't pretend it is simple, you eventually learn to cope._"

Unconsciously, Mio glanced at her hands clutching the jagged dagger, believing to have felt a ghostly warmth wrap itself around them. There was nothing, only emptiness.

"_And if you can't?_" She recalled herself asking.

Musashi had not answered. He had smiled and offered to refill her mug of tea; its contents had gone untouched and grown cold.

"Mio."

She snapped out of her solemn recollections and raised her head to Madara, who gestured forward. She extended her arm and he reached down, helping her stand on wobbly legs.

Atop the aftermath of a rockslide, a body shuddered to life, sucking in the sweet breath of salvation. It infuriated Mio to see the priestess gather herself onto a seat, blinking in awareness of her surroundings. As she rose, a curtain of her vibrant hair slid forward, covering her battered face, as she took hold of the Fate Sphere—the ancient, brittle scroll that had been her artifact since Kiyohime created them.

Mio put the Vision Sphere in Madara's hands and stepped forward as Ayuka carefully moved onto level ground, clutching the Fate Sphere to her chest like a swaddled child. Mio discarded any other weapons she had on her before halting and stared at Ayuka knowing she despised her. Hated the world she had created to have the artifacts and her child, and the methods she had gone around using to seeing it done. But for an instant, Mio sympathized with her.

The woman had nobody. Her husband and son were dead.

Ayuka stumbled and fell to her knees, weakened.

A miracle had brought her forth, but it would take her. Ayuka was dying. Mio sensed it.

Mio heard the shuffling of feet behind her and took note of Ayuka's wide-eyed look. She cast a glance over each shoulder to see Madara standing beside Izuna, Yayoi and Saori appearing to join them.

"You do not understand," the priestess uttered. "You do not understand what will happen!" Ayuka clasped Mio's wrists, letting the Fate Sphere fall between them with a '_thud_', desperation oozing from her voice. "_She _will come and she _will _kill us all! You have doomed us! All of you! For fighting against us! We would have been safe in Nishiki's world had you stayed ignorant! The beasts did not exist there!"

Mio tugged her wrists free of Ayuka's grip and bent down to take the Fate Sphere. It no longer belonged to her; Yayoi had beaten her for it. Mio tossed the artifact to its rightful owner and the dark-haired priestess caught it with both hands. Ayuka's eyes were shining with tears she was too proud to shed as she bore the humiliation of having her artifact stripped from her.

"You have to understand, Mio," said Ayuka quietly, measuring her words to keep the emotion from spilling onto them. "You cannot simply take the spheres and go out there blindly. You will make the same mistakes as Kiyo—"

"I will not stand here and listen to you give me advice," Mio interjected edgily. "You have done everything in your power to manipulate me to drive your ambition. I can forgive that. All of that." Ayuka stared on in disbelief, though Mio swore she saw a hint of hope hiding beneath a mask of complete uncertainty. "However, you killed my family, you nearly destroyed my clan, you've toyed with the lives of my guardians and killed their loved ones, you have hurt my friends—killed many of them—and you even sought to hurt my son. You cost me the life of a guardian! Do you think I can forgive that? You have accomplished your goal in breaking me!"

Startled, Ayuka took a step back, wobbling on weak legs.

"Now, I am scared beyond everything in this world," Mio continued, after taking a breath. She felt insufferably sad. "I am terrified of what you have done! What this war has caused! You have succeeded in ensuring this world will fall into a greedy conflict for the artifacts, but if I can defeat you, I can defeat them. And I damn you for all the lives your ambition has taken and wrecked irreparably, and I hope you live the rest of your miserable life lamenting the deaths of those that loved you enough to accept your ideals, knowing that their deaths came at the expense of your ambition." She never though her voice could sound so loud. "I hope you repent."

A tear stumbled down Ayuka's reddened cheek.

"Know, however, that if you dare raise another army against me, my guardians, my clan, or my children that I will hunt you down like an animal." Mio grabbed Ayuka by the chin, forcing her to stare into her eyes as the priestess had done several times to her. "And when I find you, know that I will tear you limb from limb and obliterate all who you bring against me."

The priestess made a weak attempt to pry Mio's hand from her face, her nails digging into her skin horrified by the threat.

"Remember this if you so much as consider it. I do not care how long it takes," Mio said, voice trembling with fury. "I will live a thousand years if I must, but I will see you dead and buried with the rest of your traitorous legacy." She released her harshly, throwing her back so she hit the ground. "Now get out of my sight."

The priestess scrambled to her feet and sprinted away like a wounded animal. Mio breathed in deeply, hoping she did not see her again.

"What are you doing?" Izuna snapped. "You kill that woman, not let her go!"

Mio turned as Izuna pulled out his sword, the action a promise that he would see her dead, but she intercepted his path, finding her three guardians questioning her actions in their silence.

"She is already dying," Mio divulged. "She doesn't deserve the mercy of a swift death."

That settled Izuna's desire to run her down as he sheathed his sword. Though, that was as short-lived as expected when Hashirama and Tobirama appeared in the battlefield with Takuto and Nako trailing behind them. It did not take long for Izuna and Tobirama to be at one another's throats, despite their respective brothers' attempts to keep them from starting a battlefield that would pit the Uchiha against the Senju as they were accustomed.

Mio had always taken pride in having enough patience to fill an entire country, but whatever fortitude she had cultivated over the years had been reduced to an ever thinning thread. It had only taken a split second to see that thread of patience snapped and a few steps to reach Tobirama, who she punched across the face.

"Enough!" she shouted. "We are not savages!"

Before Izuna had the opportunity to make a snide comment, she had made a swift turn to punch him, taking him by surprise. "There will be no more fighting!"

She glared at Madara, who put his hands up as a sign of peace, and then rounded on Hashirama, who took cover behind his brother.

Tobirama glowered, folding his arms over his chest. "You win, Mio," he conceded reluctantly, his eyes narrowing at the Uchiha brothers behind her, "but this changes nothing between the Senju and the Uchiha."

"Nor do I expect it to," she said forcefully. "The truce was temporary. The Artifact War is done. If you want to continue fighting each other, then by all means do it, but you will not do it when I have so many bodies to bury. You will not shame those that I have lost with your stupid blood war."

The white-haired Senju inclined his head before reaching into his pack, procuring a chipped cup. The Universe Sphere. "You might want to see that this is sealed," he said, earning a blank stare. "I found this on Nishiki when I went to make sure he was dead."

"It's your artifact," she told him, refusing to take it back. "If you see fit to have it sealed, I will not protest against it. The Universe Sphere is too dangerous an artifact to keep lying around, especially when we have experienced its effects first hand."

"Is Nishiki truly dead?" asked Yayoi stuffily, weeping in silence.

Tobirama nodded.

"How did he die?" asked Hashirama, looking to Madara and Saori for answers.

"Poisoned," Saori answered, when everyone turned to her, she elaborated, "I poisoned him."

"Nishiki comes from a generation of Kuronuma where poison was so common they were immune to many," Takuto said, astounded. "When did you have the time to find something he wasn't immune to?"

"I poisoned all my weapons and string with every poison in creation and not," Saori said, earning an appraising look from Nako. "I also had Madara drink a tonic of antidotes to make sure he didn't die accidentally."

"That's incredible, Saori," Nako said. "You have to teach me all you do."

After receiving an answer, her guardians started up different conversations. Hashirama and Tobirama discussing the fate of the Universe Sphere, Saori inviting Nako to the Waterfall Country. Yayoi in her grief, comforted by the kindest words Madara and Izuna could utter. The world filled with noise.

Mio felt dust falling onto her shoulder and reached for her earring as it crumbled away into nothingness. The other earring did the same, dissolving into dust. And there went the Black Sphere.

The Artifact War cost them dearly. It destroyed two artifacts and it had broken her. She did not feel right. Not after Taiga's death.

As the sky began to darken, Mio bid farewell to Hashirama and Tobirama, the former entrusting her with Nako's care after the Uzumaki informed him that she was owed an adventure. Saori was the next to come forth to say her farewells, embracing her tightly with a promise to see her one day soon, as she desired to return to the Waterfall Country quickly to see that her sister and all of their fallen shinobi received a proper burial. Madara had ordered Izuna to accompany Saori with a small group of Uchiha that included Jouji to retrieve Sako and Minako from their country. Mio had sent a Kuronuma with Saori after receiving a messenger from Murakami Keishuu, the samurai leader, who asked her to bring her clan to the Iron Country for his indefinite hospitality—mostly because his country had not been used as a battlefield as her grandfather had intended.

"I am taking Yayoi to the Fire Country," Madara told Mio, preparing to leave. "We'll make preparations for Taiga's burial."

Mio nodded. As much as she desired to accompany him to see that Taiga was buried respectfully, she would be taking Takuto and Nako to Mt. Hyōga to see that her grandfather, Nishiki, and all Mikazuki had a proper Kuronuma send off. Whatever secrets their bodies carried, she meant to see them preserved.

She went straight to hug Yayoi afterward. "I'm going to take care of you," she promised, feeling the priestess's embrace tighten. "Have a safe trip."

"Thank you, Mio."

Takuto stole Yayoi away, giving her a bear hug and kissing her cheek until she turned beat red. "Thank you, Yayoi. You saved my life back then."

"It was nothing! Taku—stop kissing me, you oaf!"

Nako clapped Yayoi on the shoulder awkwardly. "I'm sorry about your boyfriend."

Yayoi bit her lip sadly, inclining her head, before she said, "Please don't trip on anything on the way to Kurata, Nako. I'm really starting to like you."

The redhead grinned and gave Yayoi a hug that had her protesting again.

Mio faced Madara, not prepared to say goodbye. She did not know how long she would spend with the Kuronuma clan.

"Come home quickly, Mio," Madara told her.

The sound of the word 'home' leaving his lips sounded so sweet to her ears. She believed she had nowhere to call home and yet there was a place. Thinking about it now, she imagined it was wherever he was. Her mouth split into a smile as she threw her arms around his neck.

"I will."

Madara surprised her by taking her by the waist. "We have things to discuss."

She nodded, feeling her ears burn with embarrassment, and pulled away from him. "Take care of Sako and Minako for me."

He inclined his head.

Mio saw him and Yayoi off, feeling a stab in her chest when Taiga's body was carried away covered in white.

Murakami Keishuu waited for her in the castle after his men had gone around picking up the bodies of the fallen. Mio, Takuto, and Nako traveled with him to Kurata with the group of Kuronuma that had accompanied the samurai leader to rescue their Shugosha.

It had been during the journey that one of the Kuronumas, an older male with a thick white mustache, had informed them of the formation of a Council of Elders in the absence of a figure of power. She had been told that as Shugosha, she had automatically been placed within the council as its core member, and that her audience had been requested to discuss the matter of a new leader. She had asked the same man about her nieces, Okimi and Enya's twin daughters, Yuuka and Noe. He had told her that Sako had been taking wonderful care of them and that she never separated from them, which had put her at ease.

There had been time in their travels for distracting conversation, but when they had arrived to the once snowy planes of Kurata, the samurai had left them to make their peace. Keishuu promised a feast upon their arrival to celebrate those that survived, and knowing he meant well, she smiled and said, "I look forward to it."

Takuto had led the trip down to the rivers beneath the mountain they had once called home. It had been upon the black water said to have come forth from Kiyohime's blood to protect her clan that she had bid farewell to Kuronuma Shinya, having set his covered body atop the river. Mio had watched it sink to the bottom, swallowed by its currents, and as he went, she had promised him that she would live a terribly long, fulfilling life being as strong as he believed she could become. She had cried in Takuto's arms, unable to shake the guilt that raked her body after she had said her goodbyes. She had wanted more time with her grandfather. More time than he could have ever possibly spared her, but in the end, she had realized she was content with what she had been allowed.

He had been wonderful. He had been everything she had wanted in a family. He had taught her to be stronger than her limits.

All of the good had been enough to give her strength.

Mio had remained long after as Kuronuma Nishiki, Mikazuki Gouki, and several Mikazuki had been returned to the black water. She watched them wishing them well.

At the end of the day, as she lied awake staring at the night sky, she prayed for peace.

"_Mio._"

She turned her head in the direction of Nako's voice and found her sitting up.

"Can we talk, Mio?" asked Nako, whispering.

Mio raised herself onto a seat, nodding. She patted the soft ground beside her.

Nako walked over quietly and sank down at her side.

"Did something happen?" Mio asked lowly.

"I…uhm…well," Nako fumbled for words, then reached into her bag to produce the Climate Sphere and presented it to Mio. "I know I was only temporary and that you have more important things to do than worry about all that, but I wanted to return this."

She stared at the ice-cold orb sitting in the palm of her hand and lifted her eyes to the Uzumaki curiously. "I was not planning to ask for it back," she admitted. "I wondered that if you wanted to keep it, I would not stop you."

Nako offered her the tiniest smile. "I thought about it…keeping it…and, well, it's fun knowing I can make it rain or snow forever, but"—and Nako thrust it forward for Mio to take—"this isn't for me. I mean it's an honor, but I barely survived the first Artifact War and I don't think I can handle a second one if there ever was one."

Mio took the Climate Sphere from her and smiled. "Thank you for taking care of it," she said. "You would have made a wonderful guardian."

The Uzumaki grinned playfully. "You are only saying that 'cause you want me back so badly."

Mio laughed, surprising herself. Nako joined her, giggling madly. Their voices rang with mirth until Takuto saw fit to throw his pack at them with a groggy, "Shut up!"

* * *

><p>Mio journeyed to the Fire Country once she settled her business with the Kuronuma's council, though she only had a day to spare before Takuto wanted her back in the Iron Country. She ventured deep into the forest, through the familiar twining roads that she had taken as a child until she came upon the remains of her family's cottage.<p>

Abandoned, neglected, and worn down, the cottage stood because of its sturdy foundation and the forest it had become a part of. When she had finally given Taiga's words a thought, after having thrown herself into enough work to keep her mind buzzing with distractions, she had come to one conclusion. The only place she knew that held any secrets had been the cottage where she had grown up. All of her parents' work had been hidden underneath the trapdoor. He could have meant any other place, but she had returned here, firmly believing this to be the place he meant. He would not make her chase after underlying meanings, he would stick the answer underneath her nose.

She entered through the threshold where there once had been a door and passed the destruction that had haunted her for years. She saw the grass and flowers springing from between the floorboards, admired the way the holes in the walls and on the ceiling had been covered by the overgrowth of the forest. She walked into the final room at the end of the hallway and moved the heavy armoire.

Mio swept her hand over the wooden surface underneath, brushing away the dirt it had accumulated over the past nine years and found the loose floorboards. She pulled them out until they revealed a deep hole. Atop a stone slab she found a small scroll and around it there were plenty others of varying lengths and sizes. She took the small one and unfurled it to reveal a small message written in Taiga's handwriting.

'_Your grandfather told me I would die. Supposing you are here because I am dead means he was right. I leave the Uchiha's secrets to you along with the tablet Madara wanted so badly. Do with them as you will. They are yours to keep._

_I hope your life doesn't end in tragedy, Mio.'_

He had signed his moniker at the bottom, "The Nameless One," and it filled her with sadness. She tucked his last message away inside her travel bag and reached inside the hole, drawing forth the Uchiha tablet onto her lap. She stared down at it, seemingly unremarkable, the feeling of it in her hands did not bode well with her that she almost felt inclined to hurl it into the bottom of a lake. However, her sense of duty was stronger than that miniscule notion. This was one of the Uchiha clan's treasures, and it had been the reason Mio had sided with Taiga long ago.

She decided to take it to Madara.

Mio gathered everything inside the trapdoor and put it away in her bag after sifting through them to determine they were all the Uchiha clan's secrets. She returned all she moved back onto its rightful place and exited the cottage, promising to return one day to see it rebuilt.

She paused and stared back at her childhood home, remembering the day Sachiyo had come to carry her away from the scene of her parents' grisly murders. The pink peonies that grew outside were in full bloom and waving gently in the spring breeze when a thought filtered into her mind—an image that described a feeling that had no name.

The thought unfolded in her head like a memory, one of herself lying in a bed within that cottage with Takuto and Yayoi at her side, both looking vastly different than she last recalled. Mio's body shuddered, losing warmth, chasing the image from her mind as she started to walk away, searching for the path that would led her straight to the Uchiha compound.

She didn't turn back to the cottage, knowing a day would come when she returned to it and that when she did, it would be to die.

Mio followed a narrow, forest road to Uchiha territory carrying the tablet in her arms. There were shinobi guarding the area, one came up to meet with her before she was allowed to enter. Another shinobi had been sent to inform Madara about her arrival without her knowing and he wound up finding her on her way into Sachiyo's home.

"Should you be traveling on your own?" he asked, merely glimpsing at the stone tablet in her arms.

"Nobody could be spared to accompany me," she said dismissively. "It was an exhausting trip, but it was completely uneventful."

Madara reached for the tablet. "What is this?"

"Taiga made a bet with my great-grandfather and grandfather a long while ago, one he lost and the Uchiha tablet alongside the clan's other secrets were the prize," she answered, astounding him.

He took the weight from her arms and cast a glance at the scrolls protruding from her bag. "Izuna and I were certain we would never find any of this. We've been searching these last few weeks," he said, unable to mask his fascination as he scanned the surface of the tablet. He looked at her. "Did he tell you where this was?"

"Taiga knew he would die," she said after nodding, thinking of it saddened her. "My grandfather told him he would."

"And his death, it was inevitable?"

"I do not know."

Madara took a step back, gesturing her forward. "Let's go inside," he said. "Everyone will want to see you."

Mio went inside after him. She met everyone: Yayoi, Sako, Minako, Kana, Sachiyo, and Izuna. She was happy to see and talk to everyone, though she did not have much time to spare in the Fire Country, but she would enjoy the little that she had. She spoke to everyone for as long as she was able and stayed for dinner, prepared to leave as soon as she had finished her food, but Sachiyo insisted she waited until morning to return to the Iron Country.

Knowing she would not win against the old woman, Mio gave in.

Mio sat outside at the edge of the verandah staring skyward at the blinking stars in the sky. At night, just before she closed her eyes to sleep, she often thought about it all. From beginning to end. From the violent night that had started it all to the bone shattering ache that heralded its end. Everything in between was a surreal blur. Sometimes she woke in the mornings incapable of believing Nishiki and Ayuka would not torment her. That continued until word reached her that Ayuka had died. Mio had gone to confirm it and saw that it was true the second she had been standing beside the priestess.

The shoji opened and closed behind her. Madara sat down beside her.

"How are you?"

She stole a glance at him after he had spoken, curious he had chosen now to ask that sort of question. "Hm?"

"It's been weeks," he said. "How are you?"

"Did you bury Taiga properly?" she asked, leaning against the wooden post.

"Yes."

"Good."

Madara stared at her in silence, waiting for an answer to his question.

"Every time I think of him, I feel pain," she told him, twisting her body so her back rested against the post. "My great-grandfather told me that losing a guardian was like breaking every bone in your body and that the bones will never be set correctly."

"Was it?"

"It is worse," she said with a brittle smile. "He was right, my great-grandfather. I was terrified he would be. I hoped I would never have to see him proven correct." She paused. "I don't want to feel that pain again."

"How do you intend to avoid it? You have made enemies into guardians. Death will come for me or for them," he pointed out.

"I want to destroy them," she said, turning to him, understanding what he said to be the truth, "the artifacts. I mean to see them destroyed. Those that remain."

He did not speak a word, though his eyes fixed on her told her there were hundreds he considered asking.

"The artifacts once served a purpose, one that no longer exists," she continued, "and if I keep them—they are the reason I will never be safe. And I can become the strongest person in this world, but it will never be enough. I don't see a reason to keep them if they will only become the reason this world falls into a chaos it cannot be saved from."

Eyes brimming with tears, she added, "I want to have a future. I want to have a future with you. A long one."

"Let's see to it that they are destroyed so we can have that future," he said, allowing her to take his hand. He gripped hers tightly, pausing. "Do you have a plan?"

"A rather stupid one actually."

And he laughed.

Redesign | **End**

* * *

><p><strong>xl note<strong>: I wanted to ask about ending expectations last chapter, but I didn't want to have reasons to change my mind about how this chapter was presented. It's a lot of winding down after the last chapter and I felt it was appropriate. I hope that it served as a proper ending for part one...because in my heart it did.

With that said, I want to formally announce that while this is the end to Redesign, seeing as I drove this particular plot to an adequate ending, there is a sequel. It will be called Kintsugi (many thanks to HushedFable for the name and for every one else that suggested a name when I asked for the help). Kintsugi covers more canon events like the village founding and Madara's fall to darkness. It will pursue Mio's quest to uncover a way to destroy the artifacts after she finds out there are repercussions to the way the Nature and Black Spheres were broken. Kintsugi is the bridge between Redesign and Winter. It will answer all your questions.

I don't have a set date when I plan to write Kintsugi, though I already started it I want to get on ahead so I can bring you steady, weekly updates. (It might actually be released before the end of the year. It depends on schoolwork and other stories).

Now, you don't have to read Kintsugi. You can satisfy yourself with Redesign because it has the better ending (and make up everyone's fate). However, if you want to continue reading, keep this on your alert list. I will post an announcement when the new series is posted.

And to Taiga fans, I apologize for doing what I did, but I had no storyline beyond Redesign for him. He served his purpose. However, I am working on a few oneshots for Jigsaw that feature him that you will eventually find at my livejournal when they are done.

To Saori fans, I am sorry for scaring you. Saori has business to take care of in Kintsugi.

Finally, I want to thank everyone for reading (and adding me to your favorite/follow lists as it made me feel very special), especially those who have been with me since I first posted this (then took it down, then posting it again, then rewrote it - I was annoying with it), and a special thanks to everyone that continually reviewed (we even made it to 291, guys! I never dreamed of this!) because it was your encouraging words that became a real motivating force in seeing this completed. I don't think I would have been able to get through it without taking another hiatus (remember that obnoxious one at the beginning?) or giving into my end-of-the-story jitters and it probably been seven years before this got done! Thank you so much!

Thank you: **Guest** (Mio is not pregnant yet. She will be in the future, though, obviously, haha. Thank you for reading!), **Loteva**, and **Anime93** for reviewing the last chapter!

I hope this story entertained you in some way, and I hope to see you in **Kintsugi**.

Please tell me what you think since we have come to the end (of part one). Ask me questions if you have them (about things you did not understand or about the future, which I will answer without spoilers).

**12/14/14 EDIT!  
><strong>

The sequel, Kintsugi, is now available! Go off and read it! Enjoy it!


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