The Five's Promise

Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Kakumei – Arc 2: The Curse of Time

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Chapter 51 – The Five's promise

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In front of a laboratory in Otogakure, Sasuke Uchiha stands in confusion with Jugo, Orochimaru and Gentsuchi. Just back in a hurry from their excursion in Shin no Kuni, he's still shaken by the odd and disturbing discovery he just made.

Orochimaru, still curious about who this child really was, insists again and questions Sasuke one last time.

"What do you mean, you'd rather not know?" he asks. "If he's your son, you should be the one to know."

"SHUT UP!" yells Sasuke, whose incomprehension slowly turns into frustration. "I don't know this brat! Just forget it!"

Orochimaru doesn't ask anything more. From this response, he understands that Sasuke is incapable of providing any explanation. So he decides to do just as asked and forgets about it, not to bother his former student any more. Instead, he brings back the topic of the original purpose of this mission.

"Well, anyway, this raid was a success thanks to you." he says to Sasuke before turning around to look at his spy and student. "Gentsuchi, did you carefully take every piece of equipment and papers we need?"

The young girl stays quiet for a moment, looking at Sasuke and thinking of what just happened. She then looks up to her sensei and washes the questions off her mind.

"Yes, master, yes!" she answers, enthusiastically. "Everything is sealed in this one big scroll! All the notes and schemes and material!"

While she speaks, Karin Uzumaki comes running out from the lab. Having felt Sasuke's chakra again, she was curious about this early return and came out to see how their missions went.

"Already back, Master?" she asks Orochimaru. "Why so quick? Did something go wrong?"

The snake woman gazes at Sasuke for a moment, and tries to guess how he is feeling about what happened last. He elects not to speak of it to anyone for now, as this is probably not what the Uchiha wants.

"Nothing went wrong, Karin." he says. "We've simply been extremely efficient. We got all the resources we needed. Now, Sasuke, you just need to get Tsubai Minamoto to transfer the remaining details from your brain to mine, and we'll be done."

"Yeah right!" exclaims Gentsuchi, naively participating in the lie. "About that, Master, what will we do with the cloning?"

"You'll see, young girl. You'll see." he answers with a smile.

"… About that… Master." says Karin. "Mitsuki pooped in his diaper."

"Uh… Great!" says Orochimaru, ironically. "So I'm right in time to do my mommy duty again then."

He goes back to the lab with Karin and Gentsuchi, while Sasuke stays there looking at them as they leave. Jugo is still separated in two by the sword of the Ripper, and lies on the ground next to the Uchiha.

"… Did they forget about me?" asks the giant red-haired man.

Sasuke sighs, and lifts up one of the two halves of his friend. He pushes it into his other part's shallow side, making it emerge from itself at the same time. This way, he fixes Jugo and helps him stand up. The peaceful colossus gently nods in gratitude.

"You must be quite unsettled by this new version of Orochimaru, aren't you?" he asks Sasuke who doesn't answer but just agrees. "All this cloning plan is just his definition of good parenting, I suppose."

"Where did this urge to procreate come from?" Sasuke asks now.

"I don't know. He probably got this from Karin." says Jugo. "She had a child recently, but couldn't keep it."

Sasuke doesn't even listen to the answer, and just goes deep in his thoughts again, haunted by the young boy's eyes and face that look so similar to his. He tries to find an explanation for this.

"Jugo…" he starts to say. "Tell me the truth. Are you sure that Orochimaru has nothing to do with this kid's existence?"

"What?" responds Jugo. "No. I promise he didn't do anything. He and I were as shocked as you by this. And he wouldn't dare to do anything bad to you, you know. Not anymore."

"Then what could this boy be?" wonders Sasuke. "Did this Suto clone me?"

"I doubt it." says Jugo. "A clone is a perfect copy. This kid looked like you, but he wasn't identical to you. And so far, Suto's solution can only produce clones that are the same age as the original."

Sasuke remembers the boy's face, and agrees. Even his Dojutsu weren't the same. His Sharingan had a different pattern, and his Rinnegan didn't have any tomoe. But where does he come from then? The only remaining explanation is what Momoshiki said before dying. But what did he mean? Is this kid an illusion? A piece of his own soul? A reincarnation from the future?

Sasuke thinks of any crap that could solve this case, possible or not. Eventually, he gives up and, afraid of what Momoshiki might still be able to do, even dead, he decides to avoid thinking about it more. He raises his head and stares at Jugo right in the eyes.

"Not a word of this to anyone, is it clear?" he warns with a serious face. "Tell the same to Orochimaru and the girl. Nobody will know about this until I solve it."

Jugo gently nods again, with a trustful look in his eyes. Sasuke sighs again and opens a portal, to go find Tsubai and finally get done with this request.

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Hours later, In Hikarigakure, Sojobo, who got bored of hiding in the throne room and grew full of worries, is roaming around the castle's hallways. As he passes by a large gate door, he enters a nursery where he finds the pink-haired boy with the Rinnegan, Oshio. He is standing next to the Ripper who's lying asleep on a bed. Killin' Kiss is sitting next to her colleague and watches at Oshio who grows a chakra rod out of his palm, and promptly stabs Guroi with it. This rod, unlike usual, is completely white and serves as a chakra transmitter rather than a receiver.

The Daitengu gets closer, and doesn't say anything. He simply watches in silence as Oshio uses a unique Rinnegan ability that he's never seen before. Seeing the tall white figure that stands behind the Uchiha kid, Killin' Kiss cares to explain what happened.

"The weirdo scientist is dead." she says.

"I guessed it…" says Sojobo, who already had suspicions about it, since he earlier saw Sasuke and Orochimaru deal their memories through Tsubai's eyes.

He thinks of the task that he gave to the scientist, and tries to figure out an alternative. He wonders… He doesn't have many possibilities left now. He looks down to see the mercenary girl who's still staring at him.

"Tell me, young woman…" he asks. "Don't you have any problem with serving me?"

"I don't." she promptly answers. "I usually wouldn't do anything if not for money, but if it's a request from a god,… I see it as my duty to please him."

The Daitengu sees her faithful face, and wonders again. He needs hosts for his three dead children that are Akashita, Tenshi and Ryutoki, but he needs to be sure of their survival. He doesn't want to waste any time again. This woman, as surprising as she might be, isn't certified to be a suitable host for a tengu seed. Using her would only mean putting her life at stake, and he doesn't want to play with lives.

As a reliable yamabushi that still lives, he has Tsubai, Takeshi, Tokiwa and Kokoro. But only the body of a firstborn Minamoto boy can bear more than one tengu, which makes Tokiwa and Kokoro invalid candidates. Tsubai would never accept to help him. Takeshi is Sojobo's personal favorite choice, that he thinks is the most reasonable, but this outcome is also made impossible, as Tsubai would never let this happen either…

The only other suitable host, with a 100% chance of surviving the implant of a seed, he can think of is Saori Minamoto. As a member of the Minamoto clan, she's as good of a choice as her uncle Moritaka was. But getting in touch with her will be a hard task. He needs to stay discreet, and the land of Fire is now entirely the territory of Naruto Uzumaki.

Moreover, Saori would be able to take only one tengu, so he still needs two other candidates… Suddenly, as he remembers his past, his origins, and connects it to his latest days, the perfect solution occurs to him.

"Tell me, young boy…" he asks Oshio. "These two twins that were with you the other day. They are from the Yamanaka clan, the ancestors of the Minamoto, were they?"

"They were, yes." says the boy, quickly and blankly.

"Good. May I get in touch with them?" demands the Daitengu.

"… Ask them. I'm not their dad." answers Oshio. "And they're older than me, so I'm not the one to choose for them."

Sojobo makes a relieved face. It wasn't that hard to find a solution after all. Asking for the scientist's help was actually just a waste of time. It was just a parasite thought that came from Isami's dead memories. Not any Yamanaka would have a 100% chance of survival to a tengu seed, but these two kids were selected as inheritors by Momoshiki Otsutsuki. They have to be somehow special.

While the Daitengu celebrates this small victory alone in his mind, Oshio stands up and leaves the nursery. Kiss goes as well to follow him and ask about the Ripper's current status.

"So what about Guroi?" she says.

"I found him with a cursed seal spreading through his body." starts Oshio, while speed walking through the hallways of the castle. "I managed to suppress it before it overtook and killed him, but his chakra was still corrupted and sealed. Since I absorbed the seal rather than undoing it, it still had a negative effect on him. Right now, he's receiving my chakra from my white transmitter. It should act as a remedy. You just have to wait for him to wake up."

Killin' Kiss feels reassured, even if she doesn't really care much now that the possibility of this man and her becoming partners as yamabushi is dead. Right now, she's more bothered by her boy Oshio's attitude. He seems pissed, deceived, about something he didn't speak of.

"Hey, Pink head, say what's up?" she asks, provocatively to tease him. "You look kinda angry."

Oshio just frowns, and stays quiet, which doesn't please Kiss. A few more seconds are enough for her to understand what's bugging the boy, as they walk through the main entrance of the castle to exit.

"Ah, I see. You ran into that wandering hobo of a dad you have, is it?" she guesses. "And you're mad that he didn't gladly accept you as a new surprise son… Like, what were you expecting?"

As he hears the woman's words, the dark pink-haired boy breaks. He falls to his knees on the ground, back to the castle, and sits down crying.

"I don't know what happened!" he complains. "Maybe I scared him away… Bu-But I really would have liked him to acknowledge me, at least… To speak with me… I wanted him to be my dad!"

The mercenary girl just stays agape, standing behind the crying kid as he exteriors his feelings and remorse. Next to him, Kawaki, the brown-haired kid who's the oldest of all the boys, comes to sit by his friend's side. He saw Killin' Kiss and Oshio walk by in the corridor and was intrigued by his friend's apparent pain.

He looks straight forward to see the sky and village, then speaks in a compassionate voice.

"We're really alike, you and me…"

Oshio raises his head and looks to his left to see Kawaki sitting next to him. He doesn't know what it means, but wonders how someone else could relate to his situation. The brown haired boy goes on to explain his story.

"I was nothing but an orphan, growing up in an orphanage, and waiting for someone to adopt me. I wanted someone that would help me cope with the power I bear… Someone that could understand me, and help me accept myself. I wanted a powerful father… I wanted the most powerful father. When Momoshiki came for me, I thought it was him, the dad I was looking for… But look at us now. Momoshiki and Kinshiki only brought a bunch of broken kids together, in a broken place, and disappeared."

Oshio slowly wipes his tears away, and takes a deep breath in. He feels supported now, not alone anymore. Just like his friend, he looks straight forward to see the buildings, but more importantly, the people. He can feel the sadness and despair that reigns over this village that lost its leader and military force. Killin' Kiss, who still stands behind the two boys, sighs and shares her thoughts.

"Lord Momoshiki didn't disappear." she says. "He was taken away from us and from this village by your father, Oshio, and by the darn Hokage of Konoha… Naruto Uzumaki, that demon."

"All my youth, I believed he was the strongest in the world." says Kawaki, about the Hokage that Kiss just mentioned. "I was probably right all along. He's the strongest one, ruling his own land."

"They're lucky over there…" says Oshio, about the village of Konoha. "A powerful figure supporting the people, protecting it and ruling in peace."

"Naruto Uzumaki doesn't rule over anything." says Killin' Kiss. "He only leads the ninjas that serve under the Daimyo of Fire: a snobbish old man that wouldn't even be able to perform the most basic jutsu ever. The world isn't ruled by the strong, but by heritage. Territories are just passed down within families to people who command over the powerful and use them like chess pawns to make sure they keep their wine and privileges."

"That… is ridiculous." remarks Kawaki, amused by this concept, not much educated about it.

The pink haired Uchiha doesn't comment. He just thinks of it and acknowledges Killin Kiss' words. This last month, he spent it being educated, trained, built against his will by Momoshiki. And this kind of political system, he learned it to be somehow a constant across multiple worlds.

"It is…" adds Kiss, answering to Kawaki. "The only land that was truly ruled with power is this one… But still, Gozen Tomoe wasn't strong enough for Lord Momoshiki. Now the one who sits on their throne is the Daitengu."

Oshio listens, and watches with melancholy at the villagers in front of him, going through the streets of the village that lies down the hill that this castle sits on. He thinks of these leaderless people, and of the man who sits on their ruler's throne nowadays.

"He's powerful… But he has no regard for these people. This isn't his people." he says about Sojobo. "Those poor people deserve more respect. They deserve back what Momoshiki took from them."

"They have you." promptly suggests Kiss.

She steps forward, and crouches down, face to face with the two boys. Oshio looks at her, startled by her last words.

"They have you." she repeats. "Look at your eyes, your power, your heritage. There is a reason Momoshiki selected you first. The mighty, compassionate figure that should stand above these people, and that should lead them into peace and prosperity,.. is you, Oshio Uchiha. This village and land isn't like the others. It doesn't have to fall under the influence of an old greedy landlord. You can save it from this absurd hierarchy and bring balance to it."

Oshio recalls these words in his mind again and again, but doesn't find the motivation to believe them.

"Don't say this…" he says. "I'm way too young for such a responsibility."

"Not at all." responds the mercenary girl. "You're clearly mature enough, regardless of your age. And you have the eyes of a god. They say whoever wields this eye, in a time of disorder like this one, will either bring peace or destruction to the world. Hear that, you have the power and right to choose for the whole world, and whatever path you take, I'll follow you by."

She stares at the boy right in the eyes, putting as much sincerity as she can in her gaze, and holds her hand against his on the floor. Oshio looks back into her eyes, agape. Her words now reach his mind and wake him up. He suddenly stands up and takes a step forward to pass behind the sitting woman. As he keeps contemplating the village that he prepares to accept as his own, the two Yamanaka twins, Akiko and Fuyuko come out of the castle and join the three others, curious about this improvised gathering.

"Hey! Kawaki, Oshio… and you, girl." says Fuyuko, not knowing the name of the last person. "What is happening here?"

"This makes me think." says Kawaki to Killin' Kiss after hearing the blond boy's greeting. "You never told us your real name. We just kept calling you Kiss or Killin' Kiss until now."

"… Just call me Meinu. Meinu Imai." she answers, smiling.

Akiko, the other twin, looks at Oshio who stays silent, and guesses what he is worrying about judging from what Kawaki told him happened earlier.

"So, Oshio… Heard you met your daddy." he says, without care. "So what happened? He beat you up, thinking you were Momoshiki's son?"

"Nah he ran away." answers Fuyuko, his twin brother, guessing from Oshio's mind.

"… Shame." simply adds Akiko.

"What would you know of it?" Kawaki complains, feeling like they're mocking his friend. "You two weren't even taken away by Momoshiki. Your family's still in this village. You could just go and see them.

"Boy, being far away from my cringe ass dad is pretty good actually." Akiko responds.

"I still feel bad for Oshio." Fuyuko tries to make sure he and his brother don't sound too rude. "Until now, he still believed he could have one. A dad."

Kawaki doesn't answer and just thinks about it. To believe he could have a father. This is what he did his whole life, as well as all the other kids from his orphanage. Meinu Imai doesn't comment, she just grins, pretending to be amused by the boy's fake argument. She doesn't care about having parents, so she doesn't worry. Oshio, who wasn't paying much attention to what the others were saying, stayed focused on Meinu's words from earlier.

"… Kawaki, Akiko, Fuyuko, Meinu…" he calls to his friends. "Promise to stay by my side, as long as I'll be standing here in this land. In exchange, I'll promise to spread your vision of the world to this nation, and to the world."

After this trustful call, Meinu smiles again, and stands up. She widely opens her two arms, one naked and the other hidden under a long sleeve, and hugs the young boy's back. Kawaki also stands up behind Oshio and gets close enough to reach him with his arm, which the two twins also do. Just like that, out of pure trust and respect, the three boys together clench their fists and lie them against Meinu's shoulders.

"Promised." They all speak together.

Through this friendly ritual, The 5 young people who were brought together as human sacrifices by Momoshiki agree to form a unity. Meinu Imai, 16 years old, Fuyuko & Akiko Yamanaka, 10 years old, Kawaki, 11 years old, and Oshio Uchiha, 10 years old too. Together, they unite and create the group, unbaptized for now, that will reign over Hikarigakure and all of Shin no Kuni.

In the castle, back in the throne room, Sojobo looks over the scene from the windows. He specifically focuses his attention on the two twins and wonders.

"Yes… These two will be perfect." he thinks. "They're more than just Yamanaka. They have what it takes to survive a seed and a rebirth. But…"

His optimism is worn off by what giving the tengu to them would mean. Those kids coming to a union like they did just now means that to stay with his tengu, that he will reincarnate into the two twins, he'll have to stay with the Rinnegan kid. And staying close to this boy could easily draw the attention of dangerous people, especially Sasuke Uchiha, the man who hunted him down last time.

For now, it seems like the Uchiha is willing to avoid this boy, but will this situation remain? Sojobo isn't afraid of them, but of what they could bring upon him and his children. For now he decides to ignore the future and focus on the revival of his offspring. If he has to, he'll kill all these children and will only keep the two Yamanaka as puppet hosts for his tengu. But he hopes not to need to come to this.

Already certain about his next moves, he decides to give it a few weeks before doing anything, to see how the setting and the actors will evolve until then. Still standing by the windows, He looks down at Oshio Uchiha, and analyzes him again, his feelings, his love, his fears, his chakra, his face, all his similarities with Sasuke… Everything that makes him believably the son of Sasuke Uchiha.

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Meanwhile, in Konoha, the son of Sasuke Uchiha, Izuna, is lying on the couch with his usual grumpy face, daydreaming in silence. His mother, Sakura, comes into the room after having put her last born to sleep and goes to him.

"Come on, grouchy, time to sleep." she says.

"Mom… I'm 8, not 4." complains the boy.

"Eight? Is that all? Just one syllable? That's a baby's age, you know?" mocks Sakura. "Try this again when you have at least 2 syllables."

Izuna doesn't answer and looks away, sulking. Sakura notices his negative attitude, which is kind of a habit, except this time, she knows a source to tackle him.

"Still angry about your dad not being a pure angel?" she teases him.

"Nuh…" says Izuna. "I got it. Just when he was my age, he went through events that I couldn't even imagine happening to myself. He… was robbed from his childhood in some way. I recognize that… Maybe,… It could be that the village was in the wrong at that time."

At first, Sakura doesn't answer, and stays agape at her son's thoughtful speech. Then, she laughs and lightly punches the top of the boy's head to tease him again.

"Hey! Stop that!" complains Izuna.

"See? Looks like knocking some sense into this head isn't impossible after all." she mocks. "Now, go to sleep, stop sulking and be glad that you get to be a kid."

"I am a kid." answers Izuna as he sits up. "That's why I allow myself to always be so grumpy…"

"So being grumpy is a child's thing?" exclaims Sakura, laughing. "In this case, your dad did get to be a child."

"Was he a grumpy one?" asks Izuna, now curious about how his father was as a young boy.

"Always." explains Sakura as she sits down on the couch next to her son. "You would never see him smile, except when it was to mock Naruto… oh, sorry. 'Lord 7th'." she corrects, to mock her son's attitude from earlier.

"Not funny." complains the kid again.

"See? He was just like you. No he was worse, because it wasn't even silly with him." adds Sakura. "He was just always dead serious, sometimes even a bit too much…"

After these words, she stops, and gets her mind filled with memories from her early ninja career and academy years. Izuna, getting more and more curious, abruptly changes the topic.

"And were you already in love? When you were my age?" he asks.

"Uh?" exclaims Sakura, blushing. "Nono!… I mean… Not that young." She calms down and gives a serious answer. "At the academy, all the girls were falling for him, me included, but he didn't care about any of us… It's later, when we were together in Team 7, that I developed serious feelings for him… That I started to see him as more than just the popular kid. And around the same time, he experienced the same thing…"

"So he was the popular kid?" remarks Izuna. "Like me or like Boruto? I'm popular with girls because… I don't know, I just am. Boruto is less, but he's the strongest, even if it sucks to admit it."

"Hm?" wonders Sakura. "Sasuke was both. He was a strong kid like Boruto, but also a good-looking one, like you."

"Good-looking? Me?" exclaims Izuna.

"Of course you are! Why not?" says Sakura in a joyful voice. "I mean… When you're not as grouchy as you're at home."

"Oh don't worry… I'm usually not grumpy at the academy." he says, relieved by his mother's words.

"Ok, now is the time for you to tell me why you're asking these questions." Sakura asks. "Do you like anyone?"

"Me? Who? You mean me? Liking someone? Someone like… a girl?" Izuna panics, feeling busted. "No, surely not. I'm just asking… That's all."

Sakura bends over the boy and looks at him right in the eyes from very close, just a few centimeters away, and squints.

"Hmmm… I don't even need a Sharingan to recognize a liar's face here." she jokes. "So who's it?"

"Uh… Ok, there's someone." he says, grumpily. "But don't tell her mom, okay?"

"Telling her mom?" wonders Sakura, who leans back up and thinks of a mom she knows well. "Oh, you mean, Ino? So you like Inoue?"

"No! Don't tell her!" exclaims Izuna who bounces up with both feet on the couch and gets on his knees next to his mother. "If you do, I'll leave the village, and the land, and the continent, and the world, and will go on a quest for eternal solitude."

"Oh! It will be extremely hard to hold my tongue about this one." she says to tease him again. "But let's say I'll hold it in if you go to sleep now. Agree?"

"What? This is blackmail! This is bribery!" yells Izuna. "You should be ashamed to use such methods as one of Konoha's upper minds!"

He jumps off the couch and lands on his feet.

"I will go to sleep now, because I am tired and not because I'm agreeing to your evil deal." he says, trying to find an elegant way to accept his mom's proposition. "Yet, it would be very respectful of you to honor your part of the deal anyway."

Sakura laughs again and nods in agreement. Izuna looks at her, and puts off his serious face. He smiles back at her and runs toward the stairs, going for his room. But before he reaches the first step, he stops.

"One last thing Mom," he asks.

"Yes, Honey?" Sakura listens.

"… Do you and Dad intend to have another child after Sarada?" he says.

"Haha!" she laughs nervously, and downplays the question with a joke. "Why is that? We already have a young girl, and you, who counts as a dozen boys!"

"Haha!" Izuna laughs back, nervous too, and gets serious again. "I was just asking, in case I could, you know, possibly get a brother…"

Sakura stops laughing and turns around to see her son who just shyly looks away. She stays silent for a moment, and smiles, knowing just how to answer.

"Izuna…" she says in a sorry tone. "Even if we had a new boy now, by the time he'll be born, you'll be 10 at least. If you want a younger sibling, Sarada is here for this. And if you want a close brother,… That's what your friends are there for. Boruto, or Takeshi. You've been friends since you're toddlers. Aren't they like your brothers?"

"Yeah… You're right." says Izuna, who slowly stops hesitating and smiles again. "When I imagine a brother, I always find an older brother more fitting. So I guess you're right… Thanks mom."

"You're welcome!" she answers, peacefully, before yawning herself. "Now go to sleep. See? Even I need a good night now."

"… Okay!" he says. "Good night mom!"

Izuna runs up the stairs and heads to his room. Sakura stays sitting on the couch and rests her shoulders and neck. Looking at the ceiling, she thinks of what her son said at last, about his idea of an older brother.

.

End of Chapter 51 – Next Chapter: The new filth