new era.

[marvolous.]

Everything was different.

Where was I? All this land around me was so... foreign. Not only that, but I felt different as well. My mind, once that plagued me with the thoughts of many and the darkness of insanity, was for once clear. T'was like waking up from one long nightmare, the feeling of finally being free from the realms of a pseudo reality created within the depths of my mind an unimaginable ecstasy.

Still - where was this place? The smell of blood and death reeked of that of a battle, but how was that possible? War was but a distant memory now, the last one having ended only but three years ago - right? We were now in a time of peace between all the nations, so why does this lingering sense of death seem so new?

And why - the most puzzling of all my thoughts - was there a dying Konohagakure child sprawled along the ground? Dying could not even fully describe the youth's current state. His body, quite simply, was in pieces - his arms were severed, and his head barely clung to his body. It any normal instance, a person with this magnitude of damage would be instantly dead, however, there was something about him that kept him clinging to life.

It was almost as if instead of blood, the boy's insides were nothing but water; his limbs, as well as his head, all seemed to have been connected through such. A Hozuki, no doubt.

How I managed to find this dying child without any recollection of such was troubling, yes; however, what was really perplexing was what was inscribed in the weapon in his hand - a kunai... with my Hiraishin seal?

[King]

He'd never seen anything like it.

Though he'd been in countless battles; killed countless men, it all paled in comparison to the swath of destruction that the yonbi had left in its wake. The skies were black, darkened by the ceaseless fires that burned high and fierce; the earth was cooked, entirely scorched in some areas while others had been completely reduced to ash -- regions that did manage escape the fiery touch became stark contrasts to the barren wasteland, abruptly stopping as if segregated by some fault.

"Stay close," he spoke to Kirino while his eyes carefully surveyed the area, "I don't want you getting lost here. Who knows what the yonbi may have left behind."

Moving with even more caution than when he simply looked, Ashura steadily made his way through the firelands that dominated this region of Kusa no Kuni's features. It didn't take him all that long to stumble upon the scene of a dying boy at the feet of a perplexed ninja -- a boy that, to Ashura's horror, he recognized.

"Nii-san?" His voice was fragile and shaky, as if it would break at any moment. Stepping closer, the boy's face coming into view over the taller shinobi's shoulder -- though still at a distance -- Ashura's eyes widened. "N-n-nii-san?"

As if entranced by the dissolution before him, Ashura simply pushed his way past the man, falling to his knees to scoop his brother in his arms. His clothes were drenched in water, but he didn't care; Ota was hurt, badly, and probably wouldn't make it that much longer. Realizing his brother's time was more than likely limited, tears poured from Ashura's blood-shot eyes -- but they were not the tears of joy that Kirino had seed previously. No, these were the tears of horrid, agonizing torture.

"W-what happened? Ota, talk to me!" Cradling his sibling's in his arms, Ashura did his best to keep the hozuki conscious and 'with him'. "No, no, no! Ota, please, talk to me - you can't do this! I found out about our parents!"

[marvolous.]

Nii-san? I stood there, beyond perplexed - where had these two come from? I had noticed the female long before my eyes had even recognized that small child. Despite baring no similarities what so ever, it was clear that this child knew who the dying boy was. Still, I said no words to either of the two; instead, I just watched, trying to collect my thoughts.'

Only after a couple minutes did I finally move. With the subtlest of movements I found myself hovering over the dying child and his brother, my fingers bounding in one notion to grasp the kunai from his hands. I examined it for a moment, allowing my digits to peel over the surface where my Hiraishin sealed resided. Instead of offering my aid to the dying shinobi, to which I easily could have, I did something unorthodox.... I turned and walked away.'

Not a word was said. Not a single explanation given to who had quite literally eviscerated the child. Nothing. I was used to death, it wasn't anything new to me - however, as ignorant as I was being, I had no idea what my response - or lack thereof - would mean to the newcomers.

I had better things to do anyways.

[vetti vedi vicious]

Kirino rubbed her head, then her lowered eyelids. The series of naps that had landed them here left her hair disheveled, and her overall state groggy and inattentive. For the last few minutes she would just open her eyes to make sure the road was under her feet, then close them again while still walking. As soon as the girl was able to focus in, to actually observe the are she had been walking through for the past while, it came as a bit of a shock. If it was anywhere, it was here that the Yonbi she had only just recently heard about attacked. Kirino was sharp enough to at least figure that much out.

The annihilation of the landscape quite quickly brought Kirino to her senses. This was not the type of place you would want to doze off, to possibly be picked up by a looter, or crushed by flying debris coming from god knows where. Anything was possible, and in the same one needed to be ready for everything. That, and Kirino had just plain walked through fires before, and with the number of blazing wrecks scattered about, she was set on not letting it happen again. Ashura spoke, causing her to look in his direction. Over the past few moments the girl had almost forgotten her companion was here at all.

He gave good advice.

When they stopped, it took Kirino a few extra steps to recognize why. A body that looked as if it had been literally torn limb from limb, and a man looking over it. It took all of the girl's strength not to just throw up in her mouth or begin gagging. Her face thus emoted a sternness that was odd, and borderline comedic in any other situation. 'I can handle this, if he can,' she would tell herself. The heart that was pounding in her chest told a different story. All she could do was hope the man was a medic and not an assailant.

When Ashura spoke again, it did very little to calm Kirino. The boy seemed scared, or perhaps humbled..? She couldn't tell, but that scared her more than anything. This was his brother? If that was the case, it certainly didn't bode well. Kirino followed, but trailed behind a bit. She had no idea what to expect at this point and certainly wasn't going to take any chances.

It wasn't until the boy actually moved past the man that Kirino's heart truly sank. That was what was left of her brother? It was shocking enough that Ashura could still recognize the body at all by how disfigured it was. The sight alone almost brought Kirino herself to tears, but once again, she knew it was best to at least stay strong. The urge to run up and comfort the boy was equally strong, but with this man still being a variable, she wasn't going to chance it.

Ashura's shouting certainly didn't make things easy for her.

It was a truly heartrending. Yet, the man didn't seem to mind. It appeared he wasn't a threat, but the fact he wasn't helping either made things only more confusing. Instead, he just took an object, a weapon, from the dying man's hand. Without speaking, he turned and left, leaving Kirino absolutely baffled. With as much panic as sadness, she shouted out to the man, trying to choke back any cracking in her voice.

"Sir!"

She ran towards the man in the most non-threatening way possible; on the verge of tears. Slowing as she approached, Kirino tried to recompose herself, speaking again.

"Anything you could do to help, please. I don't know- Anything, please."

The distraught emotional wreck that was Ashura became Kirino's desperation. Her empathy knew no bounds. Thoughts of risks and precautions no longer concerned her.

[King]

Ashura could make out a defeated smirk on his brother's mangled, watery face. Even at a time like this, the white-haired sibling managed to think back to their bet -- the entire reason why Ashura had left the Hidden Leaf in search of their parents. The bystander was all but ignored as he retrieved his kunai and went to exit, though the gesture was noted. Could he be-- no, Ota was far too skilled for that. Besides, it wasn't as if he'd motioned to attack the darker-haired sibling and his companion when they arrived. There were so many possibilities, yet so little time to sort through the chaotic mess and figure out what was what.

Ashura's attention was jerked back to his convulsing sibling.

"O-t-a --- ?" Before the sobbing youth could usher another word, his brother bursted into a fountain of liquid right in his arms, drenching his cloths. Ashura's eyes grew wide with grief as a pain he'd never known possible, a pain neither his mind, heart, or body had ever felt, surged through him like liquid fire. It burned his flesh, and his eyes, wide with grief, could not fight back the flood of tears that poured forth. A thunderous, gut-wrenching scream ripped from his throat: "NII-SANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!"

In that moment-- that very instant --Ashura's innocent, childish mind shattered. Recklessly, his smashed his forehead against the rubble beneath him, as if trying to release the agony coursing throughout his body. His clawed hand-- donning his gauntlet --dug through his clothes, burying into the naked flesh of his chest, as if he were trying to rip out his own heart. "NII-SANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!" He screamed again, and again, while slamming his face against the floor until it bloodied.

Rolling around the floor like his body was on fire, Ashura tore at himself, as if it was somehow his fault that the hozuki had perished. He drug himself across the floor, cutting himself along the jagged rocks, rustling his raven hair in the dirt. Over and over he cried for his brother, begged him to return - he knew it was for naught, yet knew not what else to do. It was all too surreal, like a bad dream. Yet the pain that he felt in every cell of his body was very real, and a solid reminder that he was very much awake.

Again he screamed, refusing to believe his sibling had perished -- his sharingan activated, swelling with ebony and crimson. Ripping himself from the floor, Ashura charged the fleeing man with a speed so great, the earth was torn into a cloud of dust and debris. A clawed gauntlet slung forward, fingers pressed together in the form of a spear, leading his charge at the older man's spine.

He would pay for what he'd done to his family.

[marvolous.]

"NII-SANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!"

It had been years since I had heard pain like that. I knew what it was like to lose a brother to war - hell, I knew it better than anyone. However, seeing - or rather, hearing since I still never turned around - brought no feeling to my countenance; years of dulling my emotions had done that to me. Nothing. Not even an acknowledgement towards the girl as she tried to persuade me to help.

I was far too focused on recollecting my own thoughts to worry about a casualty of battle. Far to focused, infact, that I almost did not even notice the incoming assault by the child - almost. Though my body had been in a state of catatonia for seven years - of which I was still oblivious about - my natural shinobi instincts remained on point.

With the littlest of effort I turned on the balls of my heels, the boy's kunai placed in my pouch as I whipped around my body to face the advancing shinobi. With the movement my eyes evolved into a state I had grown so accustomed to, beckoning forth my sharingan that had remained dormant for so many years. Not only did it allow my mind to process everything in fractions of seconds, but it also granted me the ability to dodge the child's attack with little ease - a byproduct of having years of experience utilizing my kekkei genkai and being a master of Hiraishin.

Thus, as the child neared me I shifted my body to my right, narrowly avoiding his strike and giving me the prime opportunity to deal a crucial blow. But I didn't take it-- no, instead my right hand shot outwards for his throat, my left doing whatever it could to ensure his 'clawed' hand was ensnared as I did so. Even with a Sharingan eye like my own, my movement was so graceful and precise that it made avoiding such extremely difficult.

His speed was impressive for such a young child, but the difference between our eyes was unmistakable. "Don't be stupid." Had contact between my hand and his throat been made, I would utilize his momentum to lift his petite body into the air and slam him straight back into the earth.

"Losing your own life won't bring him back."

My eyes never left his own, the intensity between our sharingan almost... nostalgic. It couldn't be...

[vetti vedi vicious]

He wasn't responding, and Kirino was beginning to panic. What was she supposed to do now? Was there anything she could do to help? The boy's screaming stung her, chipping away at her as it grew louder, more intense. Her desperation increased incrementally as Ashura's pain did. At loss as to what to do, she would look back to the boy and then to the man walking away. The best she could muster was a;

"Please..."

She turned a moment later back to the Uchiha on the ground, who at this point had being injuring himself, much to Kirino's dismay. Calling out to him, she began running towards the boy, not sure what to make of his actions, but distraught and intent on stopping them immediately.

"Ashura!"

Standing at his side, she began to kneel down to come to his level, but stopping halfway through. Ashura had begun simply thrashing on the ground, as if he was on fire, or possessed. Kirino had to step back, fearing for her own safety at this point, then looking to the man. He was still walking away, making it clear he was anything but interested in helping the two as the distance between them increased.

There was little else she could do now but attempt to calm the boy down, as well as herself. However, while turning her head to face the boy, she was knocked off balance, a massive emission of energy forcing her to a side. Kirino raised her arms to cover her head and crouched, quickly returning to a regular stance to see what had happened. It appeared that, in the blink of an eye, Ashura had made his way over to the man, who threw the boy back without breaking a sweat.

The man's speech, as well as his previous actions, assured Kirino that he had no intent to fight the boy, but she couldn't be so sure when it came to Ashura. Her role in the situation at this point could only be that of a spectator, the strength of the two before her clearly much greater than her own. It would be foolish to attempt to restrain Ashura, but then again, Kirino wasn't known for her wits. For the time being, she remained motionless, though prepared to move if the situation required drastic action.

[King]

Ashura had been caught. He the boy not been wracked with guilt and pain, both physical and emotion, perhaps the outcome of the brief skirmish would have drastically different. However, as it stood, he'd been severely outclassed. There was naught he could to but stand there, tears pouring from his eyes as they burned -- seethed with a fury that the foreign man should have found frighteningly familiar.

Had the black, which had replaced the white of his eyes-- a trait of Sharingan unique to one strain of Uchiha, those of a cursed bloodline --not informed the recently revived Soratsu of the boy's identity, Ashura's words would.

"You'll pay," he cursed through gritted teeth. "You'll pay for what you've done -- as soon as I find my father. He'll make you pay for this!" he promised, screaming. "KOUKETSU UCHIHA WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO HIS SON, YOU HAVE MY WORD!"

A gurgle of water.

Ashura's expression was blank, his Sharingan vanishing in that instant. The gurgle sounded again, and with all his might he'd wrench himself from the man's grasp and make his way back to the puddle his brother had deteriorated into. Ota was weak, but still alive; and that was all that Ashura needed to know.

Instinctively, his hands molded together in the shape of several seals, and with an explosion of smoke he summoned a jar to his hand. "Hold on, Ota!" he commanded, funneling his sibling into the jar. And once he was inside, the boy would begin to feed his chakra into it, almost like life-support.

It was guaranteed he'd survive, but any chance was better than nothing. And in this brief glimmer of hope, he'd forgotten everyone around him.

[marvolous.]

I was wrong.

The 'difference' between our eyes wasn't as unmistakeable as I had thought. In fact, even as one of the strongest Uchiha to ever wield the Sharingan, my eyes were the ones that failed in comparison to the child's. To him - as well as everyone else - the genetic strain that made his eyes the way they were was just that, a genetic strain.

However, to me, having known the only other known Uchiha with such a strain, it was much more than that. Kouketsu was the only one of our kind who had those eyes, and also was the only one with the ability to fully manifest the Mangekyou Sharingan. It wasn't a coincidence that his son wielded the same deathly eyes. I didn't need to hear his words to come to that conclusion.

As much I wanted to believe that conclusion, it wasn't plausible. The war that both Kouketsu and I started had only just ended a couple years ago, leaving his children - all whom were conceived prior to such - to be as old as the new treaty between the nations, three years old. This child, by the looks of it, was at least 8.

"His son." I repeated - it wasn't a question, just a flat out statement. By the time I spoke the child was already back to his brother, doing all he could to keep him alive. I didn't pursue him, but instead merely tossed the kunai I had taken from his brother's body into the ground right next to woman he was with.

"Don't lose that." Though I had just realized it, I had given that very same kunai to Otaku just days after he was born; it had been a gift, and was the only thing that assured me that I wasn't hallucinating. "Your mother will kill me if you do."

I was gone before the words even left my lips.

exit.

[vetti vedi vicious]

The tension in the air fluctuated, from rage, to anguish, then both repeating in that order. It was Ashura that ultimately restrained himself, understanding he was outmatched. Even with that, he still had a message for the other Uchiha. It was only after this that the boy returned to the fallen man, having heard something Kirino missed. At a complete loss, Kirino moved towards Ashura, no longer perceiving the other as a threat.

Stopping, she noticed the rapid handseals, then something completely bizarre. The man disappeared into a jar that the young Uchiha had conjured. This was, if anything, disturbing to Kirino. Did the boy think that mess of a corpse was still alive? Maybe he actually was alive. Both possibilities seemed absolutely ridiculous, though perhaps not in the context of all of the insane things that had just happened moments earlier.

With the boy's focus on nothing but fueling the jar with chakra (Kirino oblivious as to for what purpose this was), she turned to face the man still standing over the situation. He had spoke just after being shouted at, but again, Kirino missed it. She did, however, manage to catch sight of the Kunai that planted itself in the ground next to her. His words were confusing, and his actions even more so. It appeared he somehow knew Ashura's parents, and that the weapon was some sort of memento. Why such a man refused to help Ashura was baffling for Kirino, but she took mental note of his words regardless.

The man gone, she turned back to the boy behind her, who appeared to be completely absorbed in his current task. She dared not interrupt after how the boy had just lashed out. In such an emotionally fragile state, though Kirino wished she could, it appeared to be too dangerous to attempt anything, from comforting to simply speaking. She saved her words for later, just watching for the time being, silent, trying to take in all that had just happened.

[King]

Once his sibling had been fully submerged within the canteen, Ashura managed to gather some of his bearings. He fell back, heaving, trying to catch his breath.

One crisis had been adverted, but they still had a fairly decent journey ahead of them.

"I-- I'm sorry," he muttered to Kirino, knowing he'd acted like a ravage beast only a few moments ago. He didn't have time to have a thorough conversation, though; he had to find a lake, or some kind of body of water, for his brother to recuperate.

Ashura was on his feet in a matter of seconds, hastily walking the way from which they came. He'd seen a lake not too far back, and needed to get there as fast as possible. Glancing over his shoulder, he hesitantly gestured for Kirino to follow.

"This way!"

[vetti vedi vicious]

The process seemed relatively painless. Ashura was all over the place emotionally, or so it seemed, yet seemed to have returned to a more stable state. Kirino calmed herself as the boy did, taking quiet, yet deep breaths. When the ambiance was broken by Ashura's speech, Kirino raised her head, almost in a panic. His voice was calm, but that had no effect on what she had just seen, the side the boy had just revealed. Eyes wide open, her sight centered on the Uchiha, her figure tight and tense. Moments later, an exhale relaxed her posture. He was calm now, and she needed to be calm now. Even if the boy did have another episode, there was nothing she could do about it, worrying was pointless.

"It's fine."

Her tone was a bit shaky, but composed enough that she didn't stutter. With that they took off, not another word spoken besides the boy's shout. She could see he was a bit wary too now, but the reason as to why he would feel that way was up in the air for Kirino. Was he worried about being judged, or perhaps angry he had shown his true colors and that she would catch on? Either way, it was a bad situation to be in, for a good number of reasons.

She followed Ashura.

[King]

Sometime later...

Ashura's brother had been fully healed with the help of the aforementioned lake. It'd taken a lot out of the young Jounin, but his sibling would be fine; that's really all that mattered to him. And with that catastrophe adverted, Ashura was able to tend to his own self-inflicted wounds.

The cuts looked worse than they really were. Most of them were simple superficial, though several had actually bitten quite deep. Honestly, he didn't even remember what happened after he saw his liquid brethren. Everything was a painful haze, one he wished to leave in the past where it belonged.

Ashura's brother had already returned to Konohagakure, with tales of their parents for the third of the triplets, their sister. Ashura would've went with him, but he'd business to finish; there was still the matter of actually finding their mother and father. And who else could do it better than the young Uchiha and Kirino?

"So, where to now? He asked, as if the previous moments hadn't happened. "Actually, lets head to Earth. I think that's where my sensei went."

[adero]

Moved

[vetti vedi vicious]

And so they had arrived.

Through their journey, an air of silence held strong. This was mostly perpetuated by Kirino. Her mind was elsewhere, attention slow and thick. A bug could land on her face and she wouldn't flinch, but the appearance of a mountain in the distance would consume her focus, heaving slowly into her eyesight as if a mound of molasses. The scenery of the area reminded her of Fire country, but without the endless forests, massive trees, and lakes. It was sunny, the grass was a beautiful hue of green, and the land stretched out far and beyond until hitting a distant skyline or tower of rock. While continuing onward she felt weightless, the pain in her legs fading as her mind flipped around.

The scenic surroundings weren't the only thing captivating her, however. The events of the recent past kept her mouth shut, burdening her thoughts. She continued to question what sort of child Ashura was, what sort of quest he was on, his motivations, his goals. It was all very worrisome for Kirino, all conclusions seeming extraordinarily bleak. Negativity wasn't her thing, but there didn't seem to be any light at the end of this tunnel, any hope for anyone involved, including herself.

Yet, she continued with the boy at her side, remaining silent. A question asked would only be returned with a nod or a bleak smile. There was little to hope for and far too much to worry about for Kirino. In a rare and odd turn of events, she had become legitimately invested in the past, present, and future of the Uchiha that she had only recently discovered had another side to him, a side that he claimed would be explained later.

She stood strong, however, for the boy needed her to. At his core he seemed both enraged, and perhaps at the same time, completely vulnerable. Goto had never dealt with anything this serious, with this many variables and considerations. The academy didn't teach ambiguity, only good and evil, only "us and them." So what was she to do? How was she supposed to cope with this sort of burden, with this self-bestowed responsibility?

For now, she continued walking.