At the centre of the village, the prestigious office of the Hokage, beneath the memorable faces of the previous Kages. The Fifth Hokage prepared herself to address her people.
The Shinobi had already started gathering around for a few hours. Talking, discussing the memories they had, their implications. They wondered what she was going to say... was it a formal apology?
The hottest topic was obviously the Uchiha Clan. Nevertheless, it was difficult to tell.
Kakashi Hatake stood in one corner; one could tell he hadn't slept well. In his mind, there was only one hideous memory that he couldn't take off his head; it corrupted his mind like a dangerous parasite.
'Rin... why? Why did I have to see that?'.
In the middle of his predicament, the Fifth Hokage finally took the stand. Tsunade looked down at the crowds of people assembled, then she looked at her side where Itachi was standing, as if waiting for her input. He nodded at her, and Tsunade took a deep breath.
...
"Citizen of Konohagakure. My fellow Jonin, Chunin, Genin. I would like to begin by recounting a small tale of mine. After a devastating blow to my person, self-esteem, my feelings… I felt obligated to leave our land in search of anything that would make my life worthwhile. I bet most of you have found yourselves in this spot. When we are war-torn, we wonder if the sacrifices made were worth it. Such was my spot at the time".
Tsunade looked around, no sight of him at first, until finally. While glancing high up in the sky at the sun. She saw a man overshadowing the circumference.
She gasped, unable to hold her smile. Just watching the silhouette of the man she loved, in front of the bright sun that he represented, she felt warm... she felt the words come by themselves. Ray stood high up in the sky, and except for her, no one else seemed to notice him. The brightness in the sky stopped her from seeing his flustered expression, shivering body and panting breaths.
"Back then… the Sun wouldn't even shine for me. I warred in Amegakure, and my heart stayed there, a land where it rains forever without light or hope. But not anymore. A new sun shines for me".
She looked down ruefully, "And this new sun has shown me the rightful path we are to follow. In a foreign land, farther away than we could ever see, there exists a world without war. A world of peace, a modern civilisation that has learned to solve its problems by discussing with its enemies, sitting at a table, arguing, by mediating… a world where we don't have to lose our loved ones. That world was created after wars, after sacrifices. But ultimately, it serves as a lesson to us all. THAT WORLD IS POSSIBLE!"
Every gasped and discussed. A word without war? A world where they could sit with the other lands, the other villages, and solve centuries of bad blood without spilling any more?
It sounded ridiculous, ludicrous.
Tsunade looked to the side, Azrael stood up next to her.
"As most of you know. My beloved friend, Azrael… is from this world. She is what in that world they call an 'Angel'.
Azrael portrayed all of her twelve wings and flew up in the skies. Shocking more than a few.
"Impossible…"
"Is she using some jutsu to fly…?"
"But she didn't do any hand signs".
"Azrael, this Angel, is responsible for the auroras; she is the one who has imparted to you the memories of our past. And the reason for that is… that a nation that doesn't know its past it's fated to commit their same mistakes!"
!!!
Tsunade said a line that struck in her, a line she read in a book back on earth.
"If we want to flourish, if we want to grow stronger, freedom. If we want to become a civilisation of peace, we must embrace our history, whether it be good or evil! We have to acknowledge our mistakes. The massacre of the Uchiha Clan was ordered by my respected teacher, someone I loved and appreciated dearly, the Sandaime, Hiruzen Sarutobi, aided by the support of the Elders, by Danzo, the criminal, the manipulator".
Everyone stood silent.
"It was a mistake. It was a mistake we will never be able to remediate. It is a sin that will forever stain our history. But we must acknowledge it. Because if we don't, we will allow ourselves to be manipulated further by the daimyo, by as many danzos as they send our way. WE WON'T!"
"WE WON'T!" Clamour.
"We are Konohagakure. Our mission, our path, is to protect the Land of Fire, not to protect the selfish and greedy motives of one individual. We won't be manipulated anymore. I, the Godaime Hogake, will see through that".
"YES!" Clamour.
"But to achieve that… if we want to achieve this peace, it is time that we stop seeing each other as separated clans within one land. We are all human beings with red blood, sharing one history and one culture. Be it Nara, Hyuga, Senju, Uchiha, Aburame, Sarutobi, Hatake, Hoshigaki, Haruno... Uzumaki... we all share one territory, one history. Now that we have become aware of our past, of our history, it has made us more powerful. Let's promise to one another that we won't allow tragedies like the ones in the past from ever occurring again and at the same time, let's promise to ourselves that we will do our best to ensure we can have a happy and peaceful life with our comrades with not forgetting to undermine the strength and determination that has brought us to where we are. Weakness has no place in any Shinobi path, but we must acknowledge our different strengths and work together to attain peace, each respecting the role and strengths of the other. I can tell you now, there are myriad worlds out there, you would all be amazed at how beautiful those worlds are, but those worlds also have societies with problems, they also have evil people, they also have periods of darkness".
She let her words sink.
"We are not perfect, but no one is. The best way we can honour the memories of those who shaped the present with their past actions, is by giving it our best now in the present for the sake of the future, just so the next generation can reunite with one another, look back and remember that at some point in time we stood up here, reflecting and being thankful of how things are, being thankful that at some point, someone back there sacrificied something for our sake".
Cheers, applause, tears.
Jiraiya and Orochimaru looked at their old comrade stupefied. How could this gorgeous beauty be the same drunkard glamping addict they once knew?
The Toad Sannin smiled, 'No, this was why she was supposed to be all along… if we had supported her properly'
Cheers resonated as Tsunade allowed Itachi to take the stand, and then, the cheers became even stronger.
"Itachi Uchiha, the hero of Konoha. The Shinobi who, for the sake of our village, has harboured the greatest sacrifice. To stain his own hands with the blood of his clan to preserve peace. To live in darkness and isolation to protect the truth… Itachi Uchiha has to serve as an example. And he has to be THE LAST ONE who has to be obligated to sacrifice so much for peace!".
"Itachi-nii, THANK YOU!"
"You're amazing, boy! I'm so sorry for you!" Everyone cheered Itachi. Mikoto was behind, looking at her son in tears. Sasuke was there too, also crying as he supported his mom.
"As Hokage-sama said, we are all victims of the tragedies of the past. Whether it be you or me, we have all worked hard to preserve the safety of this village, each in our own way. Do not be discouraged by your past or my past; let's work together for the sake of the future. Our village deserves it. My name is Itachi Uchiha, Jonin of Konoha".
Itachi stood proud, pointing at his bandana that was no longer torn, showcasing the prideful emblem of Konoha, the Village Hidden behind the Leaf.
"And I will do my best to ensure that I not only preserve the peace of this village, but I also stop any threat from trying to weasel its way into our lines, trying to convince us with its skewed ways how peace is supposed to look. WE DECIDE OUR OWN PATH!"
"YEAAAAHHH!!!"
"I LOVE MY VILLAGE!".
After the darkness, a patriotic sentiment shrouded everyone. Galadriel waved her hand, and glitter started falling from the skies, harmless fragments that made the day look even more special.
The whole day, there was clamour, and the Hokage announced that for that day, everyone could eat and drink whatever they wanted, and it would all be in the village.
Of course, the village didn't have the funds to do such a thing... Ray took it on himself to provide whatever was necessary.
It was his gift to the village.
Tsunade then stood up with a smile of joy, looking at the people beneath, clamouring in patriotism. This is what she needed in order to execute her plans: a morally strong village. She looked at her man high up in the sky. He understood and started to descend.
The whole village watched yet another anomaly fly, descend from the skies as if he were a God.
Tsunade stretched her arm to catch him with a broad smile, but that's when she noticed him a bit odd, flustered, his countenance red and flushed.
'Ray... are you okay?'.
'Everything is alright...' He sent back, she didn't believe that for a moment, but her announcement was more important.
"I would like to make an announcement of my own. I, Tsunade Senju, am planning to marry in two days' time. This is my fiancé, Ray Lux. We have been engaged for a long time, and we plan to have our ceremony here in the village. Everyone is invited to participate".
Everyone gasped. Tsunade Senju, the Slug Sannin, was getting married.
There was a round of applause and cheering, although most of them looked at Ray with scepticism, especially because of the colour of his skin; they thought he was from Kumogakure, a lifelong enemy of Konoha.
"My name is Ray Lux. I am from a faraway land called Japan. I intend to care, love, and appreciate your Hokage until death do us part. I heard she's a bit of a treasure here, so I will apologise ahead of time for taking this treasure of yours~".
"BE SURE TO TREAT OUR HOKAGE WELL, RAY-SAN!" Some ladies screamed in glee, a lot of people thought he was quite handsome, they particularly liked his long black hair that reached his back, they could also faintly see the shining tattoos on his body and wondered what those were.
"THAT'S RIGHT, BASTARD! TREAT HER WELL!" Jiraya screamed, but just then, everyone shut up, and they were able to tell that it was him who screamed.
Tsunade looked down at him with twitching brows. The man excused himself and ran away for his life before it's too late.
"This man is stronger than you all think. So long as he is my husband, our village is blessed!"
Ray thought, in order to make the moment more memorable, it would be nice to give them a bit of a display. He stared at Galadriel, who smiled in return. After a brief mental exchange she gasped and giggled. She shot up to the skies.
*RUMBLE!!*
The next second, the world shook, and in front of the stupefied gazes of everyone, including Tsunade (who was seeing Galadriel's true form for the first time), a beautiful Midnight Elf in all her glory stood proudly, her body reaching the skies.
The whole village went quiet.
Azrael descended, her massive head hovering over the clouds like a meteorite. Terror, absolute terror, struck everyone's hearts.
'Hi, everyone!~' Instead of talking and destroying everyone's eardrums, she opted for sending a mental message to everyone, talking in their heads.
"W-What…?"
"Are you telling me, this gigantic titan is on our side!?"
"What the hell. The Kyubi is small compared to her!"
"Garadieru-sama! Please greet me!"
The terror eventually subsided after, well... they were not attacked and obliterated by the titaness in one punch.
"You never told me she's this big!" Tsunade shoved Ray to the side in disbelief; even she couldn't help but be completely aghast. Galadriel was just too big; when standing upright, she was so tall that the clouds reached her waist. In order not to destroy the village, she was flying too. Otherwise, she would ruin a whole street just by stomping on it.
This was more than a mere display of strength; if she wasn't a God, what was she?!
"Well, to be fair, me neither... she looked way smaller back then, I guess its because this village is very small compared to the Baharut Empire" Ray whistled, staring at his Midnight Elf wife, who was having conversations with everyone.
After a while, she became small once again and descended into the crowds now with her more humanoid, acceptable size. She was flawless. Even Itachi was stupefied and couldn't help but touch his eye with renewed gratitude.
He had taken the eye from such a powerful entity...
'It's no wonder I can see so much more now... she is... strong, yet kind'.
...
Suffice it to say, everyone was looking forward to the ceremony. The crowds dispersed, people clamoured, and Galadriel was invited to a lot of stalls to buy and get stuff for free while she was accompanied by a lot of kids; she loved being surrounded by kids.
Azrael kissed him and left with Mikoto, Sasuke and Itachi to spend their day together and discuss the future of the Uchiha Clan.
"Master, since the ceremony is going to be soon, we should make our preparations~" Haku appeared and said out of nowhere, making Ray perk up.
"O-Oh, yeah, what preparations?"
Haku noticed that her master's behaviour; she read his aura and felt nothing was odd, but still frowned... after some consideration, she smiled and thought her beloved master was just nervous to get married.
"I think, since this is such an important moment for you, we should all be present. I am going to broadcast the news in the group, we are all coming here to congratulate your marriage~".
"You girls don't have to..." Tsunade bit her lips and trailed off.
"Ara, you don't want to see us?~" Haku teased her with a slight mock-angry frown.
"I never said that! It is just... I feel it is unfair for me to have my ceremony when..." Tsunade trailed off.
"I want them to come", Ray said, looking at Haku, "Maybe if a lot of them see with their eyes how it is, they see Tsunade being so happy, they will want to do it as well... I plan to do this for everyone in the future. Please prepare everything, Haku. I want all of them to look beautiful and be quite comfortable here," He sent Tsunade a sidelong glance.
"Especially Grayfia".
Tsunade gasped and bit her lips, "No, I will deal with Grayfia directly... I will make sure she feels very comfortable, I will even invite her myself".
"Fufu, okay, then we shouldn't waste time. By the way, master... is there something bothering you? You look... odd" Haku frowned, her eyes losing their warmth and getting cold.
Hasshaku-sama was so used to seeing him, feeling his aura, the speed of his heartbeat, the flow of his blood, the energy he emitted... the beauty of his expression, his usual calm demeanour.
That she couldn't help but think something was not right.
"Everything is okay, Haku... I just had... a bit of a steamy moment with Albedo," Ray said, then Haku and Tsunade's countenance changed in realisation. The latter even sighed and bumped his side lightly, calling him a 'pervert', telling him to restrain himself a bit.
"Oh, so that's what happened~ that nasty succubus, she will be busy here once we leave, so I will let it pass, but she has been taking a lot of milk recently, it is not fair~" Haku disappeared in motes of darkness the next second and started addressing the group.
"Albedo... or Kushina?" Tsunade glared at him with a wicked smirk. Ray sweated.
"Albedo told me her plans; she should be travelling the Land of Lightning right now with Konan from Amegakure. Hikari and Mikoto are both here... but how curious... Kushina is not here".
"A nice coincidence~" He said, earning a light tap on his head from Tsunade.
"You'd better make sure to restrain yourself with Kushina, brat! She loved Minato very dearly; it won't be easy for her to move on. So restrain yourself a bit with her and don't push her around".
'Push her around... more like she pushing me around...'