Chapter 2 - 1

The apparent offset of a foreground object against the background when your perspective changes. At a given instant, the Moon appears among different stars for observers at widely separated locations. These subtle changes in position are called its parallax.

Differences in constellations are due to a different perspective in a different location.

These changes, the parallax, can be measured.

The Land of Grass was a misleading name.

The title presumed that the nation would span far with the lush fertile soil supporting tall prairies of wheat or barley. It implied the presence of cattle or horses, feeding on the tough stalks of flowering meadows. The Land of Grass had not been named for its purpling strands of towering reeds, it had been named for the prehistoric sedge that bloomed tall like lotus flowers with blades as broad as Sasuke's hand. The flora ignored soil, instead it grew where the water fell and arched its leaves to collect within its core. The air burned wet and humid, cascading sweat down Sasuke's neck. Mosquitos and other insects droned loudly as Bakashi stomped over the tropical strands of "grass'.

The nation had named itself intentionally this way, although the nation hadn't provided shinobi of significance in many generations, it's difficult terrain and disorienting forests operated well within the realm of standard Shinobi.

The birds were louder here, hoarse shrieking things with long tails and feathers made from cobalt silk. Sasuke watched them for hours, sitting astride Bakashi's thick saddle as a wild bird cried like an infant but resembled creatures Sasuke had seen in cages.

The ground was permanently wet and boggy, the slick stink of detritus permeated everything just as the nightly rain did. Bakashi had made a horrible cry in the night, shrieking to an unseen predator that left Sasuke on guard. The shinobi trails through nations were always clearly established- the burn of chakra warded off natural wildlife. Civilian pathways were treacherous with broken palm and sleeping vipers, sickness hung heavy in the ambient air. There was no wonder that the Land of Grass remained neutral for so long, it was agonizing to traverse on foot.

Its eastern side nearest the Land of Fire had been spotted with deep ravines and tropical waterfalls. Occasional outcroppings collected water spray and bloomed large colourful flowers. It's deep churning rivers bred large slippery fish, unlike the whitefish Sasuke knew from the rivers of Konoha. They were slippery with oily flesh, no flash of scales, and dripping mucus.

Sasuke caught one freakish animal, as long as his leg and dribbling slime-like earthworms. Amaterasu told him, don't let it drop, and the foreign thing electrocuted him with a barking cough.

Sasuke had seen eel before, the type dredged from the southern coasts. The river monsters were disgusting like the silt they called home and Sasuke near gagged on the texture of its meat. Electric eels?

Sasuke had passed through several towns. The Eastern territory had been deeply paranoid, demanding to know why he passed through the routes. Sasuke had stopped nearly daily, providing crudely drawn papers he pretended he couldn't read. Patrols of Grass shinobi hadn't recognized him, the mule a better disguise than any clothing. They searched his bags, pausing on the preserved meats and grains, and lack of any true suspicious belongings.

Somewhere past the warded paths, where Sasuke had felt the seals buried in the bamboo trees, the shinobi had relaxed and offered him their suggestions. One nin looked at him and asked his age, then gave him mission rations and a pitying look and a scroll of paper that would 'let him through' unscathed.

Sasuke blissfully pretended to be illiterate. He rode slowly on Bakashi's back down the mountainside. Through the scattered civilian villages where he traded money for food and clothing. A bar of homemade soap that he used in the many rivers to try and keep any form of sanitation.

Now, near the western border, Sasuke felt tired and relieved to finally leave the humid swamp of tropical parasites. Traversing the distance would be immeasurably less if he funnelled chakra and travelled like a shinobi- the Land of Grass held multinational prisons of the highest calibre. Sasuke was for all purposes now, wanted by the law. Riding Bakashi through a hellhole on the back of a smelling ridiculous animal, was the easiest way to travel.

The eastern border of the Land of Earth spanned high and far as the rocky spires of its mountain ranges pierced the clouds. The subtropical humidity of Grass' land fell directly from the mountain's peaks. Bakashi peered up, flickering his ears back and forth and baring his teeth angrily.

It had been nearly nine months. The phantom pains of unknown knowledge had been replaced with the deep throb of growing bones. Somewhere along the cascading waterfalls deep in Grass country, Sasuke succumbed to hunting Muntjac and small game that tasted like venison and wild boar. The fatty grease made him sick, but growing pains didn't care about fragile genetics.

Bakashi walked on worn hooves, snorting angrily at the low hanging branches that dare suspend near his face. Nipping at a branch, the mule bleated an offending sound.

"Stop it," Sasuke scolded the animal blandly. The mule trudged along, smacking its long ears angrily. The animal's haunches were round, bouncing with each shift of its pelvis.

Aoda watched from the darkness of the forest. The impenetrable wall of bamboo and creeping vines made a curtain of thorns and stinging ants. Aoda, with his sleek scales and indescribable vision, thrived.

"I like it here," Aoda told him contently. "It is warm and wet, it feels soft and full of life."

Sasuke would argue against that. The insects were horrible, Bakashi smelled like sweat and grime, and Sasuke hadn't known clean clothes in weeks. "Not for humans."

Aoda sighed teasingly. A large palm from shuddered and collapsed from the corner of Sasuke's eye. Aoda tended to move near silently, his actions were that of childish delight and enthusiastic destruction. "You humans have such frail skin."

Sasuke said blandly, "you lost in a fight against a rat the other day."

"It wasn't a rat!" Aoda hissed furiously, finally appearing ahead of the path with venomous glowing eyes. "It was a foul thing! Large with teeth!"

Aoda had fought a wild boar, the type native to Grass with spiralling tusks that would pierce their skull and ultimately kill them. The animals were smaller than what Sasuke once hunted- the ones large enough that Shinobi were deployed to cull the animal.

Aoda opened his mouth, revealing the fleshy innards of his mouth and the hundreds of miniature fishing hooks lining his jaw. His fangs were flush to the roof of his mouth, rarely drawn unless attacking. Aoda said grumpily, "you saw it, Lord Sasuke!"

"It wasn't that big," Sasuke said, urging Bakashi to brush right past the giant serpent. Aoda wailed a noise of dismay, knocking his large head against a nearby palm tree.

"You're a liar!" Aoda wailed angrily, thumping his body along the dirt trail. "How cruel!"

Sasuke clicked his tongue, ignoring the summons. For all that Aoda was powerful and large, he was still childish. Time had matured only the snake's size, not yet his personality.

Aoda sulked, climbing small tropical plants that crumpled under his weight. His body now stretched as broad as a man's torso.

On Sasuke's pilgrimage to the land of Earth, he failed to forget despite how avidly he tried. Bakashi protested loud and angry, every bit as impatient at Naruto. Amaterasu whispered him words of advice and knowledge, explaining concepts calmly with a wistful candour. Aoda, adept at coming to ridiculous conclusions reminded Sasuke every day of the team he left behind. The snake had grown so large, the only way to track his size was compared to that of Kakashi-Sensei's torso.

It is not a gentle life, Amaterasu told him quietly. Nostalgia, an understanding shared through nightly dreams and prophecies. Yet, one much better to what it could have been.

Sasuke knew how true the dragon said those words. The alternative was a garish malady of torture and experimentation- of grotesque wings breaking through his ribcage again and again as chakra scalpels cut them free. At night he dreamt of rage so raw and sour, it consumed him until existence meant killing Itachi Uchiha; Sasuke would do anything for power.

"It's still not good," Sasuke said flatly, "I'm wanted across the continent."

That wouldn't have changed, Amaterasu told him with dark amusement. This time, nobody knows where you are.

"True," Sasuke said. Aoda had found something of interest, lifting his massive bulk until he towered tall like a young tree. His face peered at the sky, keenly aware of a small green shape along the brush.

"Hello!" Aoda greeted enthusiastically. He flicked his tongue and urged Sasuke to look as well. "Ah, yes. Lord Sasuke says we travel towards the sunset."

The green vine shifted, revealing a small camouflage snake. The little animal was no longer than Bakashi and as thin as Kusanagi. It flicked its tongue and Aoda confirmed its silence cheerfully.

"Lord Sasuke, will you not speak?" Aoda asked him, looking down at his summoner curiously. "He has asked you a question."

Amaterasu thrummed in amusement, and Sasuke felt annoyed he had to explain he didn't understand snake language usually.

"Ah," Aoda said, apparently comprehending far sooner than Sasuke anticipated. "My fault- we forged a covenant but not to my kin. Allow me to fix this error on my part!"

Sasuke knew enough about his loyal summons to recognize a bad idea before it happened. Sasuke lifted one arm, barely managing to redirect Aoda's excited strike. Bakashi screamed, leaping from a standstill in a rare ability all mule's possessed. An incredibly annoying ability, considering it threw Sasuke onto the jungle floor.

"Aoda!" Sasuke growled, trying to shove the man-eater size serpent off his body. "Stop this!"

"Of course, Lord Sasuke," Aoda agreed, sinking one of his kunai fangs into Sasuke's arm. Wrenching his arm free, the wound bled a strange yellow fluid similar to flower nectar.

Aoda looked far too pleased and not at all ashamed of his action. The green tree viper above looked down at the sight with a curious tilt to its triangular head. "Will it not die?"

"Lord Sasuke has formed a covenant with me," Aoda explained to the snake, "he will not die with my blood and bite!"

The tree viper appeared confused but politely greeted Sasuke with dumb animal intelligence. Sasuke, a tad dumbstruck, reciprocated it's greeting. The viper settled back on its branch, and Sasuke whistled shrilly for Bakashi to return. The mule wouldn't, because it was stubborn and ridiculous, but it would run no further.

The edge of Grass loomed closer and the chill of mountain air swirled ominously. In Konoha, it would be snowing. The village would be constructing monuments made of ice, carefully sculpted overnight from civilian crafters, and displayed with lanterns around the village. The cats in the Uchiha District would become plump with their winter coat, eyes luminous and dens furnished under broken porches. The vendors near the marketplace poured tapped sap and syrup from the famous redwoods over blocks of ice. They'd roll them into candy, wrap it around Dango and sell it by a half dozen.

It is alright to miss it, Amaterasu told him. Once Sasuke would have argued with the creature.

Now, Sasuke looked at the looming presence of the first mountain he had to pass and the threatening haze of snow above the clouds. He tugged his mesh shirt tighter to his skin, obscured under a simple traveller's cloak, and said, "we need to move on."

Aoda groaned, pouting grumpily. His anger was understandable, the mountain cold was dangerous and no place for the great serpent. He would leave, sleeping in Ryuchi cave until Sasuke passed the slopes to his intended destination.

The Howling Wolf Village- a strange middle stance between a shinobi hidden village and an established city. The village was small, a powerful scattered settlement along the base of the Three Wolf Mountains, on the southern ridge of the Land of Earth. Sasuke had never seen or heard of the land before- but Amaterasu told him everything he needed to know.

"I don't want to leave you, Lord Sasuke," Aoda confessed quietly. "Orochimaru has become...upset."

Bakashi began to walk again, irritated but obliging. Sasuke said apathetically, "of course he would be upset."

Aoda agreed. "He has lost precious pieces. His arms, his sword. His servant is more...mean. He looks like Manda before she ate my kin."

Sasuke thought with a quiet noise of contemplation. "Kabuto."

"Yes," Aoda confirmed, "he is growing greedy. Angry with his progress."

He seeks to gain knowledge of the sage, Amaterasu said quietly. Sasuke found the thought concerning- but not one particularly threatening. "Will Orochimaru have Kabuto sign the scroll?"

Aoda made a noise. "It's odd, how much you know. I do not believe so, Orochimaru is...angry."

The snake paused and tilted its head, flickering its tongue in deep thought. "Orochimaru should maybe eat the servant."

"That would solve some problems," Sasuke agreed flatly.

The last village before the border spanned wide, hiding under the shadow of Earth's summit. It's tourist population divided itself evenly with rock climbers and mountaineers, and Earth-travelers curious to see the jungle. Sasuke was not a rare sight. He had finally reached his growth spurt, coaxed along with horrible herb concoctions he bought from sporadic apothecaries. Hopefully, they had helped a bit with his subtle malnutrition. Whitefish and gentle foods suitable for Uchiha were not plentiful in Grass' jungles.

Sasuke could see over Bakashi's back when dismounted. He would have towered over his previous horse, Fish-Cake, and run the animal into the mud. Bakashi showed no signs of exhaustion or damage, the animal could kick a tree and suffer no injuries.

"Don't get in trouble," he warned the animal, giving it one firm pat along its neck. A small handprint of dirty sweat clung to Sasuke's hand, Bakashi snapped his yellowing teeth at him affectionately before becoming engrossed with the water trough. The nearby horse, a large bay animal, looked at Bakashi in alarm and skittered as far sideways as its rope would allow.

The side bags on Bakashi could store a surprising amount. The animal hauled weight well, never balking under the unexpected addition of firewood or an occasional carcass. Bakashi only protested Aoda's girth, now a potential threat to the animal.

Sasuke withdrew his collection of letters, fastened with fraying hemp rope. The village center drew crowds, lingering on its stone steps and long shadows. Sasuke strode up the steps and pulled his travelling cloak tighter around him, wishing for a warm bath and food he didn't need to cook himself.

The village city center had a small desk where a secretary worked to exchange letters and information. The spot was a bounty point, suggesting occasional bounty hunters and mercenaries interspersed with the crowds of travellers and merchants. Sasuke drew the eye;'s attention, but only from his pale skin despite having trekked across all of Grass.

"Here," Sasuke said subdued, depositing the letters on the small wooden desk. The secretary looked up, a large man that may have been a deterrent to most, but Sasuke knew the man had no skill with Chakra. "Letters from down the road."

The secretary took the small bundle of letters with a suspicious eye. "Someone hire you to run letters?"

"Just on the trail," Sasuke said blandly, "travelling along the path."

The secretary grunted, slicing the twine with a very sharp letter opener. He sorted the small stack, taking a short glance at the crudely written names on the front before dispersing them into piles. "Nothing here is official."

Sasuke translated that as 'you're not from a village.'

"Just along the road," Sasuke repeated flatly. "I'm travelling to Earth."

The secretary squinted at him, then at the clearly dirty travelling cloak that Sasuke had wrapped around him tightly. The chill in the air from the looming mountains existed as a present threat.

"Right," the man said slowly, "and you've been on the road long?"

Nin do not know the speed of oxen and horses, Amaterasu explained. Sasuke nodded towards the window behind, in the rough direction of where Bakashi had been tied. "A few months. Since before the first harvest in Western Fire."

The secretary nodded, all suspicion slipping away. It felt an impossibly long time to be on the road, but a reasonable one given the locations each of the letters had originated from. Sasuke had lowered himself to playing courier, and now it was finally paying off.

"Understood," the secretary agreed, sliding a plain scroll out from under the desk with a collection of stamps and different ink sticks. He asked calmly, "do you have any documentation with you?"

Sasuke withdrew a scroll that he had received from a passing escort of Grass nin, offhand permission from an apologetic chuunin. Sasuke had played the part of a tired straggler well. "I was given this."

It was accepted, returned politely to him as well as a new sheaf of paper embossed with three different stamps, one red and two black. Simply low-level documentation of the village and permission to travel across the border. One stamp from fire, signifying where he originated from. A paper trail that set him apart from the new edition bingo books where Sasuke Uchiha was listed with a significant bounty. Return alive, to Konoha.

"Enjoy your stay in LuYuan," the secretary said, drawing out another scroll of paper with various dotted symbols along the lines, "this is the city. Here- can you read?"

"No," Sasuke lied. The man frowned a bit and began to speak slower as if illiteracy equalled incompetence.

"Take your animal down the third road, here- and there is a hostel here with a barn. This city is safe, there are shinobi travelling back and forth- you know shinobi, right?"

Sasuke bit his tongue and made sure to speak with a slightly wavering voice, "the...ninja?"

"Yes, don't bother them," the secretary said slowly. "Take your animal here, and you can stay here. Here are some coins for your courier. This will let you stay the night. Which route will you take into Earth?"

Sasuke accepted the coin, a painfully scarce amount that would last him only a day in the cheapest of beds. He was fortunate to have a wide selection of goods and currency already, sealed inside small scrolls taped to his inner thigh with his brother's clothing. The traveller's pants were shapeless and masked the bandages and weapons. "I plan to take the flourishing slope."

"Not the Ray pass?" the secretary asked, looking clearly skeptic at the thought. "Few travel that way- are you not heading to the hidden city in Earth?"

"No," Sasuke said quietly, "I'm travelling south."

The secretary looked at him baffled for a few moments. Very few people would struggle all the way into the Land of Earth only to travel south. It was a long, treacherous way interspersed with wild animals and very few settlements.

"Alright," the man said after a few seconds, pointing out a few more locations on the crude city map he displayed, "you are best to equip yourself well and visit the shrine to beg for safe passage."

'I don't need your gods,' Sasuke wanted to tell him. Amaterasu laughed a high whispering chuckle that left a fire burning along Sasuke's arms.

Bakashi had stirred up trouble with the horse next to him. The mule apparently both claimed the entire water trough for itself and managed to scare the poor horse into standing as far away as possible. Sasuke returned and patted the stubborn animal, mounting its saddle and untying it. "Stop being a pest."

Bakashi flipped its ears around, trotting off with no more than the slightest nudge. The horse shuddered at their pass, giving them a wide side-eye.

The streets of LuYuan were not paved. They had been built out of doton and steadily trampled under thousands of cloven hooves. Large carts and wagons tottered around, lead by farmers or ranchers each with new objects and cargo to import or export. Once the city had been within the Land of Earth, but maintaining LuYuan had been difficult since the Village-Below-The-Rising-Mountain took clear time and effort to visit. The Land of Grass claimed it, maintaining a steady truce and open borders for nin and merchants.

Sasuke was not an unusual sight. There were hundreds of people looking just like him; dirty and tired, worn from the road with patched clothes and tied hair. Civilians weren't trained to utilize or feel chakra, they carried sheathed knives and hunting bows- the boldest wore iron swords across their hips and eyed Sasuke warily.

Sasuke was young despite having finally grown. To survive on the road at his age insinuated he had some form of power or wildness about him. A bastard outcast from a clan, maybe with a bloodline ability that forced him to walk without company.

'Civilians are stupid,' Sasuke thought bitterly, guiding Bakashi into the attached stable alongside a hostel. The horses inside the stable looked tired, marked with strips of ribbon that must have signified ownership of some kind.

The hostel owner assigned him a bed marked by colour. A matching blue ribbon tied itself around Bakashi's stall, his saddlebags untied for once to rest near the bales of straw.

There was nothing to prevent thieves from stealing his goods- worn blankets and cooking pans. His valuables were kept sealed at all times, hidden under his clothing where they would never leave him.

Bakashi hissed over the edge of his stall, spooking one curious-looking workhorse twice his size into pressing against the far wall.

'That monster would scare any thieves away,' Sasuke thought with dark amusement.

Amaterasu burned in agreement, chuckling a hissing noise like burning logs. It is aptly named.

Sasuke hadn't thought of Kakashi Hatake in a while. Not since he last crossed a powerful waterfall that breathed mist and fog like one of the man's mastered jutsu. He never heard the crackle of lightning in the loud darkness of Grass' jungle, he could only see the intermittent flashes.

It is alright to miss him, Amaterasu said quietly.

Sasuke once would have protested, defended that he cared little. The road of isolation was a lonesome one.

"He is a good man," Sasuke said simply, shuffling down the road towards the market district. Amaterasu rumbled wordlessly, a hot weight around his shoulders and down his right arm. He is.

Sasuke smiled slightly, a lost expression in a sea of a hundred travellers fighting to purchase what they needed. There are shinobi on the rooftops.

Sasuke didn't look and he dared not flare his chakra to feel. The shinobi would feel any change in their environment, even those untrained.

Sasuke clicked his tongue and held his head low. The storekeeper charged an elaborate price for a travelling cloak made of fur. The boots and legwarmers left Sasuke's coin-purse a significant amount lighter. He contemplated a subtle genjutsu, only Amaterasu could lull him into ignoring it.

The shinobi wore forehead protectors with the symbol of Earth. They were laughing, drinking alcohol near the balcony of an inn. Sasuke watched them as subtly as he could, keeping his hair veiling his gaze.

They aren't a threat, Amaterasu said. It knew because there were no barriers between them. Yes, they may have information on Itachi.

If he had passed through this village, there was a chance he had been spotted. If so, there would be posters at the bounty outpost.

After, Amaterasu whispered, after.

The morning was brisk and fresh with a chilling cold of overcast snow. Sasuke could see it along the shadow of sunrise, directly West near the mountains. The public baths were chilling, absent of any visitors. Sasuke washed the grease out the best he could, picking the dirt from below his fingernails. Once he ascended the mountains, he wouldn't have the comfort of a bath.

'At least nobody will sense me using chakra,' he thought viciously. His skin felt sour, the water spilled away grey.

The time the sun had truly risen, Sasuke was clothed in his heavier cloak over the mesh undershirt and ANBU gear. There would be no visitors to scrutinize which corpse he had robbed to get such quality gear.

The bounties with the highest risk are at the back, Amaterasu guided his hand. Pinned to the wooden board with broken Senbon Sasuke pulled the various missing posters. He looked at them, folding the worn paper to stuff into his pocket for safe-keeping.

"Aren't you a bit young for bounties?" someone asked him, the low thrum of chakra a secondary alarm. Sasuke looked over, eyes dark and blank.

The stranger came to a stop at the board, perusing the new names and drawn faces. "Then again, I've seen how scary some shinobi are. I once met a girl I swore was twelve- it turns out she was over twenty! Knocked me down with a hard doton, that's for sure."

He knows, Amaterasu said warily, fire burning hot below Sasuke's skin. He must be a sensor.

'Rare,' Sasuke dreaded. Amaterasu corrected him, unfortunate.

"I'm just passing through," he said quietly. The man chuckled gruffly, pulling down an A rank bounty with a quick glance.

"I can tell," the man said bemused, "you're desperate to be unnoticed. You're wearing something with seals on it, that's what gave you away."

'The ANBU armour,' Sasuke realized quickly. The man looked at him fully, rolling up the bounty with practiced movements.

"What are you doing here, kid?" the man demanded flatly. "Who are you, an undercover nin? A hunter nin? You look a bit young for jounin. Tell me, if I look through these bounties some more, am I going to find your face?"

Sasuke thought frantically. For once Amaterasu seemed just as hesitant to suggest anything.

The man looked at Sasuke from foot to bottom, unable to see any of his gear from below the traveller's cloak. "I'll admit, you're good. I can't tell anything at first look. Give me a reason not to take you out right now."

Sasuke closed his eyes and avoided eye contact. "I'm just travelling through."

"Where?" the man asked sharply.

Sasuke found no reason to lie. "The Howling Wolf Mountains."

The man jolted slightly, so infinitesimally small Sasuke would have missed it without the hyper-awareness of Amaterasu's eye on his throat. The man said, seemingly calm, "those mountains have quite a beast around them. And some potent herbs."

The man stepped forward and towered over Sasuke, despite the small difference in height, "and not the medicinal kind either."

It wasn't any new information. The Howling Wolf Mountains grew a variety of rare herbs and flowers, equally deadly and equally beneficial. Those that harvested the flowers turned them into an array of products, and the notorious narcotic.

Saigenzai , Amaterasu called it. The shinobi said with a carefully measured voice, "ah, the pill of ascent."

Sasuke let his body twitch, staging a sideways step in the false reaction. The shinobi breathed a measured breath before sighing loudly. "I should have figured, with pale skin like that…"

Sasuke said nothing. Let the man presume he was a shinobi seduced by simple pleasures, travelling to get a fix. Better an addicted burnout than a missing-nin to be hunted.

"...be careful, kid," the man warned in a low voice, "there is a beast around the mountains."

"I already know about it," Sasuke said.

The shinobi shook his head, "a different beast. A monster disguised in a man. Be careful."

The rocky climb of the Land of Earth felt different. The air became thin, light and clear like the freshest forests of Konoha. The swamp humidity melted. The broken bedrock grew grey lichens and scraggly pines burst through the mountain.

Sasuke let his mind slip, meditating steadily and focusing on the warmth of the sun although he no longer felt its heat. Sunlight warmth was rare, forgotten above the treeline. Bakashi's breaths turned to steam, puffing in rhythmic clouds.

A few days at this rate, Amaterasu told him. The snow drifted above in gentle swirls. The sky would be bright, and the moon near holy to look at.

'When we get there,' Sasuke asked quietly, keeping his face low in his collar, 'what do I look for?'

Amaterasu said with brief flashes of objects and vials and an apothecary that smelled of flowers. Medicine. Kotaro, a medicine made in different forms to treat the most violent of illnesses.

'How much?' Sasuke asked.

As much as you can carry, and then more. It is our bargaining chip, and more.

Amaterasu had never said explicitly in words, but somehow, Sasuke knew his brother was sick. Wracked with an illness impossible to know, with symptoms muffled and disguised so severely even Amaterasu had no answers.

Sasuke dreamt of a battlefield made from villagers, harmless women and children in the Land of Sound that were murdered, slowly, by his hand. He felt the hot splash of blood, the comforting weight of Kusanagi in his hand as he split throats and pinned men to the ground via spilling entrails. His sword met the metal of trained mercenaries hired to stop him, and he cut them down one by one.

When he woke with his arm throbbing of dreamt butchery, Amaterasu provided flashes of colour from far off places. This is the sight of Kami Waterfalls, in the Land of Rivers. This is the Bone Forest, on the border of Fire and Sound where the trees have turned white from minerals. This is the glass oasis, forgotten in the Land of Sand.

Sasuke looked at the dreamscape, where the horizon melted into the sky and stars glittered above and below across the black crystal ground from a hundred lightning strikes. He asked, 'is Itachi dying?'

Amaterasu told him, we will ensure he doesn't.

Aoda knew since his hatching that he was destined for great things. He was the first of his clutch, born under the hot sun and stronger than all his kin. He was told as a hatchling by the White Snake Sage, 'this one will be our messenger.'

Aoda presumed he would be contracted and sworn into binding like that of Manda- the monstrous creature who had lost grips with sanity in wake of poison. Her venom became stronger, her speed fast and her mind lost as her strength grew. The White Snake Sage refused to speak of her, lounging on her throne and gifting prophecies of meaningless words and finding each new clutch unimpressive.

She looked to Aoda and said, 'you, you will be the messenger of the gods.'

Aoda never thought that he would be tasked with subterfuge against Manda and the summoner. Although, it was exciting, and he had a keen idea the White Snake Sage would agree with him. She was fond of eccentric ideas and chaotic activities.

If Lord Sasuke asked Aoda to deliver a message, then Aoda would ensure he would do so with his dying breath.

The den of Ryuchi Cave felt smaller than it once was. His oasis and home below the surface burned with the warmth he had not felt in days. He greeted his kin, inquired to their health, and basked in the praise of his new size and glory.

"Aoda, you are so large now!" his sister gasped, a fraction of his size. "You will one day rival that of the sage!"

"Never," Aoda disagreed with good cheer. Manda, he could live outgrowing.

The forests of redwoods, called Konohagakure he had been told, smelled like home and warmth. Nothing like the humid heat and dampness of the jungle where his simpler kin spoke from the treetops. Aoda moved as stealthily as he could, ascending the trees that had once felt too large to exist. Now, he could wrap his body around its trunk and greet his tail fondly.

He moved in the direction of Konoha, the city of light that his kin always warned against. Now, his lord asked him to visit its walls with a parcel entrusted near his heart.

'I will not fail you, my lord,' Aoda thought determined. He knew the direction to go and knew there would be challenges before him.

He did not rest for two nights and chose to bask under the noon periodically to recover his strength. He made sure to feast on the tropical not-rat before his departure from his lord. He would not need to eat for many more days.

The third sun of travelling he felt the walls and life buzz above his jaws on the forgotten third eye. He felt the chakra burn and the power of shinobi travelling a perimeter he avoided with no thought.

The deer of this forest looked so strange now, and the ground felt soft below his scales. He had not thought of the deer before, but now they would be a suitable meal.

'Human human…' Aoda mused, trying to determine which one would be the proper target, 'which of you creatures are worthy of my message?'

Lord Sasuke burned with a chakra bright like magma below the Ryuchi Cave. He basked in the sun and let its power sink through his blood. Aoda saw him in the darkest night, so Aoda planned to find the brightest light in all of Konoha's forest.

He slithered, enduring. The walls of Konoha were large and impenetrable by human hands, but the dens of wild animals smelling of fox and badger established burrows below its stone. Aoda's third eye saw the thrum of chakra slide along his body, accept his presence as all animals could.

Inside the walls, the city glittered like Lord Sasuke's campfires. The air smelt of hot sweaty animals and roasted grease. Aoda found it unsettling, but his lord had been specific with his message.

'I will go to where the humans with power stay,' Aoda decided, seeking the closest waterway to carry him. The canals, Lord Sasuke told him, connected all throughout Konoha and fed to all quarters of the city. Aoda was not one born from water, or made to climb; his scales were made to slide along the rock and race across grasses faster than any creature.

Aoda ignored his distaste at being submerged, especially with as much silt and human-filth polluting the route. 'Anything for Lord Sasuke,' he reasoned and kept moving.

The training grounds were as his Lord described them, the location comprehensible and the simmering burn of remnant chakra a siren call like that of pheromones. He focused, the third eye all reptiles had on the roof of their skull saw the chakra and sun and Aoda knew he had reached the lake.

Aoda surfaced and slithered through the mud and grime towards the lush grass and tall redwoods. Lord Sasuke told him carefully where the rock was- an important rock although Aoda failed to understand why. 'Humans are so strange.'

Aoda found a tree with a branch to support his weight. He climbed it, surrounding its trunk and inching upwards at a shrew-pace, and coiled tightly to rest. Now he could let the sun warm his blood, and his scales settle.

The sun began to lower which Aoda knew meant his prey was less likely to arrive. He could be patient, all reptiles were.

Aoda sat through the night when dew deposited across his scales and he startled one sparrow into stumbling from his tail. Aoda watched it amused, flickering his tongue in greeting. The bird looked ready to faint, such a little thing.

Aoda settled into rest, watching the rock for his guest. The sun was warm, but the stilted weight of winter had muted it somewhat.

Aoda bemused himself with smelling for chakra, tracing the remnant smells with creatures he had seen before. There were dogs, lots and lots of dogs.

'Ah, there you are,' Aoda thought as he smelled a human walk from the city. He smelled like the wild, the scarce flashes of mountain wind that tasted of Lord Sasuke's strikes and feral creatures. The fore bringers of dogs and hunting hounds. A unique smell, one that Aoda would not forget easily.

The human settled to look at the rock, unable to sense a wild animal with no apparent chakra about it. 'Silly humans. Your eyelids make you blind.'

Aoda began to uncoil, his body stiff from his length vigil. The man turned quickly, shifting attentively. Only seconds before he found Aoda on his perch.

A forked tongue tasted the surprise, the shock and carefully controlled panic. Aoda lowered his body, a noose with slit pupils that greeted the human with a distorted practiced voice, "Are you the human I have been sent to find?"

The human jolted, looking alarmed. He took no step backward but crossed his arms in false relaxation. Aoda knew the secret of hiding tension in his body, this man mastered it better than any human Aoda knew.

"Depends," the man said calmly, "there's a lot of people Orochimaru would want to talk to."

Aoda hissed loudly, what a mistake he had made! "I am Aoda, and I am here not for that creature."

One eyebrow lifted and the human asked, "oh?"

'Lord Sasuke said he would be a strange human,' Aoda speculated, 'and I would know when I met him.'

Aoda's body touched the grass and he lowered the rest of his length until his tail could drop. He slithered forward, lifting his head upright in a polite posture to greet the man. The human tasted uncomfortable, unnerved by his size. Aoda had promised Lord Sasuke not to eat a human, but this man did not know that.

"I will not eat you," Aoda tried to soothe the human.

The man said slowly, "...thank you...for that."

Aoda nodded his head in a jerky movement Lord Sasuke showed him. The man did not seem pleased still.

"So uh…" the man said slowly, "...why is there a giant snake talking to me?"

"I was told to find you," Aoda said contently, "and I have!"

"You have," the man agreed. Aoda peered at the human curiously, his eyes were not made for colours or shapes but the male had the strangest face. "So, how can I help you, Aoda?"

'So polite,' Aoda nearly swooned. Aoda pressed further, making sure to not entirely surround the human, he had been told it made prey animals uncomfortable.

"What is your name, human?" Aoda asked curiously, "I believe you are the one I came to find."

"Where are you from?" the human deflected stealthily. "Are you a summon from a shinobi?"

"Yes!" Aoda crooned delightedly, "my Lord said a name but I know not the word in my tongue. Are you the crackle of wood and the hiss of fire?"

The human clearly had no idea what he meant, but it didn't bother Aoda. The man said, "maybe I am. Is Anko injured?"

Aoda flickered his tongue- remembering to keep his face away from the man lest he scares him. "I do not know Anko."

"Ah," the man said calmly, his body tensing poised to strike, "she's a wonderful person. Has snakes for summons as well."

Aoda bobbed his head pondering the human, "I have come from Ryuchi Cave with biddings from my Lord."

The man hummed contemplatively, tapping his chin for a reason Aoda didn't know. "Ryuchi Cave? What an honour a mystical snake came to visit me. It must be my special day."

Aoda tilted his head and flicked his tongue curiously, "you are a strange human. Are you-..."

Aoda opened his mouth, struggling to pronounce the name that Lord Sasuke spoke with lips and tongue. Two crackles of wood and the hiss of fire. "Ccck- Ccck-Hssss?"

The man's eyebrow lifted. "Ah, I see the problem here."

Aoda nodded, feeling glum at his failure. "I am to find Ccc-Ccc-Hsss and deliver my message."

"Well, I may be able to help," the man said, jamming his hands into his clothing. "I'll go get the Lord Hokage if that is alright with you?"

"Oh, yes," Aoda agreed pleasantly. The leader of the village was one Lord Sasuke explained would suffice. "They know Ccck-Ccck-Hss."

"Wonderful," the man said, giving a tiny wave before vanishing with leaves and a pulse of chakra. Aoda settled on the grass to patiently wait, humans were so strange.

The village leader appeared and Aoda recognized her from the stories of his kin and Manda's fits of rage and screaming. The woman was a sage, blessed by the slugs and touched with the chakra of the rain in the sky. Aoda bowed his head in respect, offering a polite (if excited), "Lady of Shikkotsu Forest, It is an honour to meet such as you."

The woman lifted her eyebrows, the man from before near her side. She said loudly, "what matters does a snake of Ryuchi Cave have in Konohagakure?"

"I am searching for a human," Aoda said, knowing now his quest could reach completion, "the crackle of wood twice, and the hiss of fire."

"Ah, they said that before," the man explained sheepishly. The Hokage looked unimpressed, then over at a tree in thought.

"Two crackles…" she mused, snapping her hand twice before whistling quietly. She tilted her head, looking unimpressed and asked, "were you perchance looking for a nin called Kakashi?"

Aoda smacked the end of his tail against the dirt in delight. "Yes! K-K-Sh!"

"Oh," the man wilted visibly, "well, uh, hi?"

Aoda slid his head to face the man from before. He tasted the air, content that the Lady of Shikkotsu Forest would not let him draw a weapon. "You are K-...Ka-ka-shhh? Kakashi?"

"Uh, yes," the man said, clearing his throat slightly, "I wasn't anticipating a snake from...anyone."

"I have come for you," Aoda said. He bowed his head and forced the muscles of his throat to contract. He retched a horrible noise, jaw crackling like little fish bones as the scroll surfaced from near his heart and slid to the ground. It smelled a tad of digesting not-rat, but it was unharmed.

"Well," the man said blandly, "why does that smell like a boar?"

The Hokage pinched the bridge of her nose and looked very unimpressed. "This is your message for Kakashi Hatake? Do you know what it is?"

"No, I do not know your human language," Aoda apologized, "I am Aoda, first of the ground clutch, deemed the oracle by the White Snake Sage."

"Oracle?" the Hokage asked.

Aoda confirmed, "I was destined a messenger by the White Snake Sage. I have formed a covenant bound by blood."

"That explains why you're not associated with Orochimaru," the Hokage mused, "a select blood blond with a summons is rare and difficult. You'd have to specifically be summoned then contract bound, normally this is only in families and clans."

Aoda knew this, he didn't understand why she was saying this. The man, Kakashi, stepped forward to pick up the scroll, riding it off its outer cover. He cracked the seal (made from sap Aoda found in the jungle trees) and pulled open the paper.

He said something Aoda didn't understand, then nearly dropped it. "This- this is Sasuke's handwriting."

"Yes, my Lord," Aoda agreed happily, "Lord Sasuke tasked me to bring you his message."

The Hokage looked upset. "That brat is five months late in his report."

Aoda brightened. "A report, Lady of the Slugs? I have been present with Lord Sasuke for many of your moons, what is it you must know?"

Kakashi looked a tad surprised by that, reading through the paper quickly, "you were with him the entire time?"

"How is he?" the Hokage asked curtly.

Aoda tilted his head, he was large enough to eat her if he wanted. "He travels slowly."

"Slow?" Kakashi asked, looking more and more alarmed by the second.

"Yes," Aoda confirmed determined, "he bleeds from sleep. He Breaks bones and sees visions during the moon. He rides a foul creature, with four legs that I am not allowed to eat."

The Hokage stilled, looking a bit worried. "He's wounded? Even now?"

"Every night?" the man asked, looking professional and serious. Aoda understood why his Lord trusted the man so highly. "He has visions every night?"

"Has he been attacked at any point?" the Hokage asked, "Has he been discovered?"

"No, Lord Sasuke is very sly," Aoda tried to soothe. "We travel slow but steady. He learns much, and sees far beyond my sight."

"Every night…" the man repeated, sounding sad. "He only wrote about the information we can use. Border skirmishes to look out for. Future problems in Sound, well, more problems in Sound."

Aoda did not know humans well, but he could tell through the whispers of the air and the taste of the wind that this man was sad. Not the sadness of loss or hardship brought, but the distinct aroma of expectation and failure yet again. The acceptance that lingered after every shed skin, sunken deep in his bones until ever heartbeat gave it lift.

'If he is the man that Lord Sasuke sent me to find, then he is important,' Aoda rationalized. The human was a sad creature, a lonely beat that resembled the lost grazer that lingered after its herd moved on. Manda would have preyed on any of Aoda's kin that smelled so strongly of misfortune. Humans, Aoda knew, were not as aware of each other.

"If you are K-Kakashi," Aoda said slowly, determined to name the man correctly, "then you are he that Lord Sasuke calls Kin."

Kin of Lord Sasuke demanded respect. Not adherence or obedience- Aoda would never extent his loyalties to outsiders. The human smelled lonely and sad, yet endured strong enough that Lord Sasuke spoke praise of the human's existence and guidance. That alone proved something to Aoda.

He bowed his head, averting his eyes to gaze at the strange legs of the human male. He waited, motionless until the human would react. If Lord Sasuke deemed him Kin, then Aoda would treat him properly.

"Aah," the man said a tad airily, shifting his feet where he stood on the ground. Aoda watched and knew that the chakra of the ground had not relinquished its indulgence, the man held strongly despite his poor posture and elastic bones. The human said, "no no, none of that. I'm nothing special."

"You are Kin to Lord Sasuke," Aoda repeated. He may not have firm bonds to his actual kin and clutch, but the word of his Lord had quickly become his life. The casual dismissal of a human meant nothing to him. "You are Kakashi."

The man paused subtly before he sighed. Reluctantly, he waved one hand in a feeble expression of submission. "Fine, but there's no need for bowing. Maa, who knew my cute little student would speak so highly of me."

The Hokage rumbled a wordless noise. Aoda nearly snapped his jaws at such blatant self-depreciation. It was carefully worded, crafted like a sword to instill such careless effort it nearly lacerated Aoda's barriers. The man, Kakashi, had truly developed a vicious dangerous disguise.

There was little to say to such a dangerous creature. Aoda realized with a small festering dread, that Kakashi bore the same scales and marks of the False-Sage and his chakra. Not identical, but the similar markings and cowl of a sheathed cobra; Kakashi was a dangerous human who could destroy mountains with no more than his skin and bone.

"Manda would be wary to eat you," Aoda said, "you smell of the sky during storms. Of the spark that ignites the forest fires and burns them to ash."

Kakashi looked at him with spiritual knowledge. He had seen third-degree burns take and return to baby skin, seen cataracts leached and bled from milky eyes. Mending broken legs is considered old easy work that leant permission for Kakashi to snap them.

The snake summons, a creature not entirely of the natural world, saw this and knew it well. The serpent said: "You have exhausted your body so what ails you can be drawn free and broken by the world."

Kakashi tilted his chin slightly in a nameless symbol that translated across all intelligent life. A whisper made from the creak of his jaw and skull, 'what about it?'

The spirits and sage had made demons in every shade, every shame and form to better hide across the living. Aoda tasted the air and scrutinized the blinking impression of scents and smells and the acrid taste of calm vengeance. Snakes had always been known for their subtle words and hidden bite, Aoda recognized a pale face and dark eye.

"I have no concern for Lord Sasuke," Aoda divulged, "you reared him."

The human said nothing for a long time, and then bowed his head in return and said in equal honour: "Thank you, Aoda."

It had been so very long since he had seen himself, and he was sure he had changed very much. The Land of Earth crackled ominously with a collection of sounds. Sasuke did not rest often from the following of a sound, but when he did he fastened Bakashi to a tree or rock and searched his skull with his fingers. The skin on his face and scalp were soft and told him his hands were now rough where they once had been nimble. When his clothes constricted and broke from stress Sasuke felt he did not grow bigger, but older and by growing older he felt smaller.

He crossed all of River without chakra. Now his coils burned and singed under the inexorable surges that melted his atrophied pathways and forged them new. Each step landed with a shattering quake that thrummed along the bones of his feet and nestled shy of his ankle.

The sun draped itself behind an intangible curtain, Amaterasu's glowing eye failed to pierce the veil and provide its warmth on the mountain ridges. Shivering became a routine movement. Bakashi's fur thickened like Konoha's moss.

Amaterasu existed more than a distant guest in Sasuke's home, it was not a visitor to entertain in the parlour and offer tea for its troubles. The dragon's fire shed a flicker every step from home. Once, the beast twirled itself a conflagration and told secrets sold by a devouring hunger. Each campfire Sasuke made took a bit from Amaterasu's armour, each wisp of morning breakfast fuelled by the dragon's mystic presence.

So far from home, Sasuke walked a groove worn into the bedrock and wondered when the scales became visible. When Amaterasu's face had first emerged from the blaze and when could Sasuke count the spines of its mane and recognize it's bladed claws by touch.

Sasuke held Kusanagi every day and felt the knowledge of Amaterasu's piercing talons. He looked at Sierra and pondered when they too became familiar.

"We're different now," Sasuke said. Bakashi ignored him following obediently with clicking hooves and heavy cargo made from preserved fish and rice.

Amaterasu rustled, its presence had changed both in mind and feel. The eye on Sasuke's throat watched, always.

We are, Amaterasu agreed.

"What are we?" Sasuke asked, voice flat and monotonous. Not entirely him but admittedly something he grew into. "You've been burning out."

Amaterasu weighed warmly along Sasuke's throat, ruminating. Have I?

Sasuke outgrew Itachi's ANBU uniform, maturing and lengthening. The metal mesh struggled around his broadening shoulders, his ankle bones peered out from the hem of his trousers. Sasuke adapted, slitting the fabric and stitching it with sutures to tide the period until Shisui's uniform would fit. He felt older and felt much smaller with every night he slept.

"You're fading," Sasuke said, "did you think I wouldn't notice?"

I knew you would, Amaterasu said patiently and bemused. It was not a secret.

Sasuke frowned slightly, his eyebrows scrunching. His hair brushed against his neck, longer than it had ever been. "You didn't tell me, which is as good as lying."

If you denote lying to withholding information, then your view on the world is a horrid stance.

"You're a God," Sasuke said without heat, "I thought to lie would be dishonourable to something like you."

That's not your true fear, Amaterasu said knowingly. You are afraid I will abandon you.

Sasuke considered the groove in the mountain trail. It tilted downward at a worrying descent, raw gravel and broken shale crumbled below his furred boots. He grasped Bakashi's harness and clicked his tongue twice, the animal walked obediently with heavy steps and downturned ears. Shale crumbled and cracked along the precarious fall, showering dirt across the ravine. Bakashi knickered, lifting its muscular neck in protest but strength became irrelevant with chakra's unfair privilege.

Amaterasu quieted politely, its eye watching from Sasuke's neck and the other from the horizon. It said, once both Bakashi and Sasuke settled in the gorge: We are coalescing.

"I see your visions in my dreams," Sasuke said flatly. "To know those things suggest Sasuke Uchiha in a different life had importance to the Gods. The Gods allowed that life to happen, they allowed my clan to die."

Amaterasu whispered, say it.

"What is your name?" Sasuke asked with cold-numbed lips. "Fallacious-God?"

A fallacious god? Amaterasu asked, entertained. How you have grown.

Bakashi huffed, jerking his face free to graze on the flora of the valley. Dragon's head bloomed in shades of purple with cornflower spotting the lichen coated rockslides. The spruce trees were small compared to Konoha, and still, they protruded high towards daylight.

"The floods must be horrible in the spring," Sasuke mentioned quietly. They had stayed below the snow-line so far, but eventually, they would breach it. Then, Bakashi would test his fluffy coat and Sasuke would nurture the hearth of Uchiha Katon.

A hawk cried from the top of a tree, it's wings broad and dark as it flapped itself out of the gorge. The animal looked large enough to hunt the mountain sheep or the spy goats that balanced on sheer cliff faces.

Bakashi lifted his head, gnawing on blue flowers in his massive jaw. Prey animal instincts demanded he gazes around, frozen in shoddy camouflage.

Amaterasu too drew heavily, his eye scanned a precursory sweep before settling in discontent caution. There are eyes in the valley.

But they couldn't determine the source. Bakashi's ears swerved, flaring and drooping as his nostrils gulped crisp air and exchanged it for steam.

Sasuke reached for Bakashi's bridle, holding it carefully in a loose grip. He felt the eyes on him, ambiguous and vague.

I can't determine where, Amaterasu told him, sounding a tad annoyed at the inconvenience. A new skill, something I haven't seen before.

There was a chance, a ridiculously small chance, that it was his brother. The mountains and gorges of Earth gave rise to countless caves and tunnels. Dwindling across the peaks could last forever or no time at all. The Ninja War between Fire and Earth lasted an eternity within the land of Grass for that very reason. Fire was too powerful to invade, and Earth too impenetrable to pass.

Sasuke could try to outrun his visitor, but that required him to abandon Bakashi. He could survive easily without the animal, but it would be a tedious cold life that fared worse than mission rations.

Ah, Amaterasu said, then we'll welcome them.

Sasuke made a fire from broken spruce limbs assembled in a small circle. The shale rocks splintered under pressure but heated well enough to become a cooking surface. Bakashi tried to bite him, early snagging his tied hair before deciding to feast on mountain sage.

When Sasuke's guest appeared with caressing alpine air, the teen constructed a small camp. Sasuke offered one slow hand in greeting, not bothering to rise from his seated place or open his eyes in cautious greeting.

The man, presumedly a nin, clinked loudly with rattling plates. He smelled of fire and burning herbs, a corrosive wash of chakra.

It felt like fire, unlike Amaterasu's heat. A humid ache and blistering poison that left Sasuke compelled to retch. A horrific overwhelming sensation that left him longing for the blissful cold of the mountains.

"You are far from home," the man said, "little boy."

Sasuke trembled, the chakra felt sickening, a boiling pain surpassing nausea. His eyelids stayed closed- red imprints of his capillaries swam in disorienting patterns. He felt his hands shake and sweat pour from the nape of his neck.

What is this? Amaterasu asked. The beast sounded alarmed, frustrated and confused. What is this chakra?

Sasuke inhaled a gulp of hot air and forced his eyes open. Sickening.

The shinobi in front of him towered taller than any nin Sasuke had seen before. Entirely covered in red armour, the man looked down with a forehead protector of Iwa. His mere presence burned the air, boiling it into discernable mirages.

The nin, taller than a work-horse, reached forward with a black-gloved hand. Sasuke gasped for air, shuddering under the sweltering heat.

'Uchiha are descendants of dragons,' Sasuke remembered hazily. He sweated into his eyes, vision distorting, 'we burn.'

Amaterasu said, let me.

Sasuke gaped for air and couldn't breathe, his lungs refusing to inflate with furnaced air. Boiling his blood, his tears melted his face and left blisters along his nose.

Let me, Amaterasu said. Sasuke did.

Sasuke Uchiha jerked through a backwards movement, raising with a heavy shudder. He opened his eyes, unblinking through the oppressive heat and met the cause of his condition.

"Shinobi-san," Sasuke said hoarsely, "stop."

The Iwa-nin did, if only due to surprise. Sasuke couldn't see the face of the attacker under the broad hat and scaled armour.

"So you are a missing-nin," the man said through his mask. "I felt your chakra mountains ago. You moved slowly, and I was curious."

Sasuke nodded, his body still and controlled despite the red flush of burns on his skin. "You attacked me."

"A risk," the shinobi agreed, looking at Bakashi with a blank look. He towered over the teen- barely out of boyhood and tilted his head in blatant curiosity. The campfire crackled slightly with the pungent fumes of pinewood ash. "You travel like a civilian."

"I am as such," the other said hoarsely, "and you attacked me without reason or cause."

"If I search my bounties, will I find you there?"

"No," the boy claimed with a hoarse wheeze. The mule nearby snorted and whined anxiously, skirting as wide as its rope would allow.

The shinobi moved and so did his armour. Each scale clapped like the shale plates and layers of the mountainside, rattling in scales and decorative clatter of dragon bones. He settled into a kneeling stance, still well within the ability to draw a sword or knife and slit the boy's throat with no more than a thought.

"Who are you?" the shinobi declared bluntly.

"A traveller," the boy claimed just as everything about him suggested. His story had evidence and proof and yet- it felt so horribly wrong and indecent.

"You're travelling the wrong way," the nin said with a near laugh. He said, scathing with cynicism, "Iwa does not take kindly to missing-nin. Harmless, or not."

The boy looked at him with half lidded eyes, a pallid face no form of sickness but simply that of strange bloodlines. The boy said, calmly and without urgency, "do you know, shinobi-san, that you are being hunted?"

He scoffed, scaled armour rattling like Kuso's rattlesnakes. "I can sense everything in the valley, child. There is nothing that can hunt me."

The boy blinked slowly, eyes never truly opening. The burns on his face flushed a warm pink below his eyes where boiling tears had killed the flesh. The child reached out with slow obvious movements to add a stick to his fire and coax the embers to flicker into being. The boy said with a halfhearted disinterested, "I have heard about you from a distant...ally. You are Han, the Roaming Nin of Iwa."

Han was not surprised that the boy knew him, he was known everywhere either by his armour or by his power. Han grunted low, the mask disguised his expression but it didn't seem to bother the child in any way. "Who is your distant ally who knows of me?"

Han was sure that any foe he met never survived. Either his fists broke their ribs and organs, or his steam boiled their blood from their mouths.

The boy looked at Han with a strange expression, flat and vacant. A waxy sheen like crop-blight touched his grey eyes and changed them to something new. The boy said, with a certainty that unnerved the nin, "Kin of yours, or a connected bond I've never understood."

Han shivered an impossible cold that never touched his skin with boil-release and his furnace on his back. "The Tsu-."

"Not you," the boy said with coal-tar eyes, "Jinchuuriki of the Steam."

Han boiled the air, snapping the fire and sweltering it with darkened smoke. It struggled, flaring weakly before extinguishing under the oppressive humidity. There were no survivors who knew who he was- not the creature caged and it's distant melodic cries. He was Han of the boil-release, not a cage or vessel for-.

"I know your name," the boy said strangely, "Kokuō."

Kokuō, he said. Han staggered under the heavy sound of it, the quiet lonesome whispers of a name forgotten and remembered for all the wrong reasons. There were seals and scrolls inked across Han's memories, and with certain words, they rolled open and told him things he had known once and forgotten with age. The feeling of long meadow grass and summer air below his feet. The open welcoming depths of the ocean he had yet to see. The cooling touch of rain on his back under the blistering balm of the hot sun.

Kokuō, the boy said, and the beast shifted minimally and subjected fear and whispered to him it's quiet broken question.

"How?" Han asked, feeling cold under the mountain air with his blood and steam filling his lungs and throat. "How do you know that name?"

The boy blinked again, unharmed and unremarkable. His face remained flat. His eyelids twitched and faltered along the burned tear ducts, twitching subtly before only the right opened with a venomous swirl of blood.

Han jerked, nearly falling from the change of scenery. The pebbles and river-rock shifted below his armoured sandals, grinding quietly and splashing along the shallow water. He stepped to better ground, splashing warm water and parting tall flowering reeds.

"Who is he?" the boy demanded- suddenly childish and demanding.

Han twisted, focusing chakra which refused to move and boil the teen where he stood on a rock.

"What did you do?" Han demanded sharply, "What is this genjutsu-."

The other snorted and rolled his eyes, both bright and dark like the mountain clouds. He looked nothing like his state before. "This isn't a genjutsu."

Han began to understand that, as the water sloshed about with rippling waves from a hundred droplets of rain. It came on suddenly, with no sound or warning, wetting the air with warm moisture that felt not oppressive.

"Amaterasu, who is he?" the boy asked. Han presumed it a name, but not one he had ever heard before.

Han, the Jinchuuriki of the Five-Tails, something whispered through the cracks of thunder. It spoke like the chirping of lightning chakra, the high pitched whistle of electric strikes on mountain summits.

"The Five-Tails?" the boy asked, eyebrows lifting in an unimpressed look. "Tch, I'm disappointed."

Han took one step forward, fists curling so tight the treated leather of his gloves creaked ominously. The unknown voice chuckled in nondescript amusement, speaking in a distorted stolen voice of the boy in front of him, his blow can crack the mountains. Do not be so quick to judge.

Han scowled and found a beast of unknown origin crawling through the heavy fog. The steam rolled about, hissing quietly as rain burned under a black fire that boiled the riverbed and the shallow pools. A dragon, a mighty animal Han based his steam armour on and fought tooth and claw to channel it's legacy. Han faced the animal- missing one eye and the majority of its left leg and clasped one arm quickly across his breastplate.

"Honored-Beast," Han said in a rumble, not bowing his head but showing respect.

The dragon rumbled wordlessly then looked beyond to a new focus. Kokuō, the Gobi.

Han turned to look at what piqued the dragon's interest.

A beast with a white-crown and wide eyes looked up from its shackles and said, "What are you?"

Han knew that voice from his mind and memory, the quiet respectful commentary on the valleys of mountain fjords. The Gobi, the legendary 5-Tailed Beast had never shown itself, too timid to speak openly.

The dragon said I am Amaterasu. I have a message for you.

The Gobi shifted its head the best it could, its chains and shackled pinned it to the river-rock where the small water doused along its lower jaw. Its cloven hooves sprawled uncomfortably around it, each tail bound with metal coils and ropes that dug deep into the rubbery texture of its skin. "I don't trust a message from a creature that names itself a god."

Amaterasu, the dragon, looked taken aback. The boy smirked, trying to hide his laugh behind one hand and a fake cough. Han felt very off guard.

You won't listen to me, because I call myself that name?

"I don't trust humans," the creature corrected quietly, nostrils flaring wetly in a quick breath, "I don't trust you, who claims to know me yet shows no proof."

The dragon paused, its long claws dragging across the river-stone and breaking pebbles on silver blades. Its lost leg, a mere stump along its upper limb, dragged across the rocks absentminded. The creature settled itself across from the Gobi, it's body a careful crescent with the child standing in its apex.

That is fair, Amaterasu admitted slowly. I have a warning for you, Kokuō. There are forces hunting for you.

"There are always humans hunting me," the Gobi said, "I am always hunted."

"Will you stop whining and actually listen?" the boy said dryly, scowling outright.

Han took one step forward, towering over the child, "and who are you to speak so rudely-."

"Sasuke Uchiha," the boy deadpanned with red glowing eyes, the fabled Sharingan Han believed extinct. "Amaterasu thought you were important enough to warn. I don't care if you don't listen."

"I do not like Uchiha," the Five-Tails complained worriedly, eyes rolling back to Amaterasu nervously. "What are you? You exist within the Cursed-Blood but are not bound like I."

I am something else, Amaterasu deflected. It's eye, a unique spiral of multiple layers affixed itself on the Gobi. Will you listen to me?

"Who sent you?" the Gobi asked. "I don't trust you yet."

Your kin, said the Dragon.

"Who?" the Five-Tails asked nervously, "my brothers and sisters do not talk so openly, and do not trust. You know my name but that can be learned through other means-."

Amaterasu said with a calm measured voice stolen from Sasuke Uchiha, y our father, Kokuō.

The Gobi jerked the best it could, mouth opening the smallest bit to show rows of tiny triangular teeth and it's pale pink tongue. It breathed quickly, eyes round and stunned. It said, with a fluttering tremble to its words, "Oh, I see that you are not a thief for that eye. Did...did he send you to us all? Is he…"

Amaterasu opened its mouth, serrated teeth and empty void that could eat the bedrock and clouds like Iwa stories told. The black skin and scales, it's void of an eye, Han marvelled at the legendary myth that breathed its voice with chirping crackles. Kaguya approaches.

Kokuō thrashed about, it's wide eyes turned round in panic as it screamed a noise like the whistling wind. Han clamped his hands over his ears, the boy Uchiha stumbled to one knee. The dragon recoiled as the Gobi screamed a sonic wail that brought stars to Han's eyes.

"No! No!" the Five-Tails cried in terror, "I am not- that foul chakra, that horrible monster-."

I am here to prevent it.

"Please, please!" the Five-Tails cried, near trembling at the thought. The polite respectful chakra-beast looked horrified at the unknown name. "Prevent that- that sick…"

There is a group hunting the Tailed Beasts, known as the Akatsuki. Amaterasu explained quickly. They plan to gather them and revive the Juubi.

The Gobi shuddered terrified, Han felt his throat thick with the infectious leach of fear and steam clogging his throat. "Yes, yes I will warn my sisters and brothers. I have not spoken to them in so long-. What do you need, prophet of my father?"

Sasuke Uchiha looked just as baffled as Han felt. The dragon closed its mouth, the flickering fire of its head flared and succeeded as it considered itself. I aim to delay the events of now.

"Until a proper time," Kokuō understood implicitly. "Then I will aid you, and spread my word to those who can hear me."

Amaterasu stared silently before it arched its serpentine neck and bowed respectfully to the chained Chakra Beast. Thank you, Kokuō

"Han," the Gobi said, finally addressing its vessel for the first time with urgency. "You must aid this prophet."

The Chakra Beast had never asked Han of anything. It refused to speak to him for the first decade of his life, then only sparingly when needed. Han had only seen the beast a handful of times, never as fully as this.

There was panic in Gobi's eyes, fear and terror that extended beyond that of self-preservation. Whatever the dragon said, the name Kaguya, spanned further than a simple threat. Han found himself helpless to ignore such desperation; he nodded and clasped his hand to his chest, bowing wordlessly to the creature.

"Thank you, Han," the Gobi said in unfiltered relief.

"I'm a sensor," Han explained in blunt words. He led the route out of the valley, walking slowly to accommodate Bakashi's timid footsteps. Sasuke knew that animals tended to avoid Jinchuuriki, something which made finding and capturing a certain feral cat on D-rank missions ridiculously difficult.

Sasuke grunted a small Hn, watching the behemoth of a human avoid a patch of broken shale. Han explained in the light of the morning dawn, "I can hear and sense all across the valleys, every movement and sound of wild animals."

"That's how you found me," Sasuke summarized. "And why you're difficult to attack."

Han scoffed, spewing a roll of steam from his nostrils. " Nobody can surprise me, even clones provide a shape that I can hear."

Echolocation, Amaterasu told him. The creature had been quiet since both men left the mindscape the Mangekyo triggered. Amaterasu, exhausted from the strain of using Sasuke as a conduit, receded to rest until necessity demanded otherwise. The great dragon lingered in the hazy outerbanks of consciousness, once soothed with Han's presence, it would sleep until such a time where Sasuke awoke it. Or when adrenaline and the siren song of bloodlust jolted it to awareness.

"Can you find people?" Sasuke asked. Bakashi tripped over a crumbling bit of shale, Chakra hauled the animal further up the slope until it walked on stable footing. Han looked at the animal, gold eyes crinkling in disgust.

"Of course I can," Han said, offended. "I presume you're trying to find this group then?"

"The Akatsuki," Sasuke clarified, his throat tightening slightly on his next words. "My brother."

Han's shoulders lifted in a vague movement with an unknown meaning or interpretation. "An unlucky family then. I thought the Uchiha were dead."

"They are," Sasuke agreed quietly, "my brother and I are all that are left."

"And your brother is a terrorist," Han said dryly, eyes crinkling into a smile. Sasuke found it ironic that Kakashi's apparel gave Sasuke the skills to read Jinchuuriki's face. Wearing masks was not common for shinobi, it was irony that led Sasuke to know a masked man's face. "Unfortunate for your bloodline."

Sasuke twitched and felt compelled to correct the behemoth shinobi with a slight barb to his words. "My brother is...complex. He isn't a target of mine."

"Clandestine," the Iwa nin said with a careless shrug. "I don't care for your affairs. I am only helping you because you carry a beast inside you, and my beast demands I help."

"I'm not a Jinchuuriki," Sasuke said quietly, muttering the words. Bakashi snorted, struggling over a rocky lip. Sasuke helped the animal, considerate of its abilities.

"You may not be a Jinchuuriki, but you have something within you," Han said, watching the shorter man from the corner of his eye. "Do you know the tales of Iwa?"

Sasuke's hand tightened on the rope of Bakashi's bridle. The boy looked at him with a careful glance, eyes flashing red. "I know you have waged war against the other nations. Your second Tsuchikage killed Kiri's Mizukage."

"They killed each other," Han corrected without any sign of emotion.

"...Iwa fought Konoha and Suna in the Second Great War," Sasuke said quietly, "then against Konoha in the Third Great War."

Han grunted in agreement, using one leg and a chakra-powered kick to shatter a boulder that fell along the path. Bakashi shrieked, settling under Sasuke's firm hand and a minor genjutsu on the herbivore's mind. Han swept the debris aside, resuming the path. He spoke in a steady voice, "you know our history, but not our tales."

Sasuke frowned slightly, guiding Bakashi to a flattened alcove along the mountain path where the ass pressed itself against the rocky wall and scratched itself happily. Sasuke clicked his tongue in annoyance at the sight, surveying Han with half lidded eyes.

Han instead looked over the valley they spent the night in. The cloud cover fell low, spruce trees protruding through like needles on thorny sand lizards. The mountains gleamed a flat grey, speckled with black and coal that fueled Iwa's furnaces and forge.

"Our history is bloody," Han said with little inflection, "our people travelled as nomadic clans, ushering goats and herds through the valleys between flood seasons. The winters are cruel, and farming is impractical."

Sasuke nodded slowly. There was no reason to speak, it was rude to disregard the history and ancestry of any clan, no matter the current societal relationships.

"Our many clans travelled according to the seasons," Han explained bluntly. "Our ancestors walked these paths with their livestock and living, struggling to survive the brutal winter. We found shelter in the caves, burning sage and worshiping the Imugi- the lesser dragons of the mountains. Children of the dragons, yet to ascend the frozen peaks and wishing to climb higher."

Han tapped his fingers along his red steam armour, large scales rattling at his touch. "Each nomadic group had a name for their clan Imugi. The Ishimi, Miri, Youngno, Bari, each ornate and scaled like giant serpents competing to survive a thousand years, only then could they climb the mountains towards the heavens."

Han tapped his armour and explained, "they were good luck to see. They meant the cave would keep my ancestors warm for the night, and provide safe passage for the sheep and goats. If there were no Imugi in the cave, a goat would be slaughtered and left in the dark to keep the spirits away for the night."

Bakashi scuffed at the ground, nibbling on lichen and lapping his long tongue on the frozen ice that gathered from the frozen springs. Sasuke patted the animal, watching Han with a respectful nod. Han said with a low rumbling voice, "then, the clans found a creature stronger than the Imugi. A monster in the mountains with a temple it protected. So one of the nomads offered all their herd and home and decided to take the monster's power for itself. They made the city of stone and captured the beast to fuel its furnace. They tore apart the ground for coal to stay warm in winter, and left behind the caves."

Han sighed quietly, scuffling one foot on the gravel. "The Imugi were upset, but never cruel. With no visitors to their caves in the mountain, they left for warmer grounds and food. They left the valleys, but without their protection, the winter became colder, and Iwa burned hotter and raged. If the Imugi left because we did not offer blood, then we would provide blood from others."

Han looked like he finished with his story, something that left Sasuke uncomfortable with the ramifications. "So Iwa decided to wage war against others."

"They did," Han agreed with a nod, "and the mountains now are named too dangerous to walk, because the dragons have left and no longer warm the caves."

"The Uchiha are descendants of dragons," Sasuke said quietly, lowering his chin with as much respect he could offer. He tucked his face into the fur scarf along his coat, nose burning from the cold air. "Our ancestors were dragons, they blessed my clan and gave us our eyes and breath."

Han nodded, clearly accepting such a preposterous statement. "The true dragons lived at the top of our mountains, above the clouds where the snow lay thicker than cattle. When the Imugi left, the dragons found no reason to stay."

Sasuke tilted his head at the notion of that. "Do you worship the dragons?"

"Not anymore," Han scoffed. "If Iwa worshiped the dragons, they would stop the war and fighting. Instead, now, Iwa remembers the dead and fights for revenge. The dragons left our mountains. Not all clans stayed when the village formed, some left for further places where the crops would grow or the goats wouldn't freeze."

What Han suggested felt like sacrilege, like an unknown history that the clan elders would dismiss immediately. The Uchiha were an ancient noble clan- to propose that they came from the land of Earth would deny the origins passed down from history. It would reject the teachings the Uchiha had always known- but the stories sounded true.

"They say the closer to the peaks you climb," Han said, pointing North and skywards, "the further you drift from the ground, the more the earth steals from your skin. They were pale, ghostly to match the snow."

Sasuke thought that history fascinating. Uchiha were not common characteristics- the pale skin and grey eyes. All of Konoha were tanned with brown hair, more unique now that genetics changed but in ancient warring states- the Uchiha were different.

The Hatake, Amaterasu contributed quietly, the nomads.

Sasuke ran his fingers along the fur of Bakashi's neck. The Hatake, the wolf clan.

Yet...two synonymous clans never existed within a single village or civilization. The Abarumbe Clan settled to combat the Kamizuru Clan in Iwa. Suna's poisons were countered by Konoha's healers. Kumo's stealth combated Kiri's shroud tactics.

There was a balanced set, a scale made in warring times for the various nin clans yet- the Hatake was a clan that directly contrasted the Inuzuka clan. The colouration suggested they too came from a mountainous region- the further North, the paler the skin became. The further north, the more lightning struck and the more fire became necessary to survive.

Suddenly, the weight behind Han's words became significant.

"It is likely all of the world comes from origins we don't know," Han said, "history is written by those who survived the trials of life. It is not explained by those who had suffered."

Sasuke asked, "why are you telling me this?"

The man tried to kill Sasuke immediately upon meeting him. Even now, the nin was not kind or gentle with his words. He was harsh, aggressive and angry with the world. Han looked at him with a sort of resolute frustration that only came from decades of mistreatment. The world was not kind. The mountains were cold and lonely.

"...The Five-Tails had never spoken to me so clearly, not like she has with you," Han said flatly. "She does not care for violence."

'The Gobi rejects the belief of Iwa,' Sasuke realized, understanding the significance of both history and worship. Something thought to be a god of chakra, one of nine, yet somehow, not.

"You intend to reach the Three Wolf Mountains?" Han asked, confirming what Sasuke said the earlier night. "The next valley there is a trail to the left. It winds between the slopes and is longer than the mountain passages. Use your animal, there is greenery there and wild deer. Three days in that direction, you will reach the village at the speed of your ass."

Sasuke knew he could make it in one day if fuelled by chakra, he was unwilling to abandon Bakashi now. "Thank you, for your help."

Han nodded shortly, hesitating slightly before he added, "there is another Jinchuuriki in these mountains. Rōshi, the Jinchuuriki of the Four-Tails. He is quick to anger but old. I will pass along your message if I sense him."

Sasuke heard the unspoken warning, and the permission to mention their meeting. "Thank you, Han, Kokuō."

Han paused before bowing his head slowly. "...She thanks you, Uchiha, Amaterasu."

Sasuke tightened his grip on Bakashi's rope, tugging him gently to begin the descent to the next valley. Han watched him from the plateau of the mountain crest, a silent red-figure adorned in scales that glinted subtly like Amaterasu's neck. Bakashi snorted, lifting his ears and followed obediently as Sasuke guided him along the old nomad decline. Before Sasuke reached the bottom, clouds swallowed the peak of the mountain and left him entirely alone on his walk.

The Three Wolf Mountains rose from the ground in moss-covered ridges like the arching Pires of three claws. Hooked back, they ascended in a manageable climb before piercing straight towards the sky with small serrations. Aptly named, they resembled the talons of a canine, with a small ancient village settled in its open palm.

The Howling Wolf Village did not resemble any form of hidden village Sasuke had seen. Instead of industrialized concrete or wooden boards, the homes were built from the ground itself with refined chunks of rock. Chiselled into place, each home existed half engraved to the ground with ancient thatch and moss-covered roofs barely above Sasuke's head. The doors were sunken, buried into the ground with chiselled steps worn soft by decades.

Bakashi snorted, walking along with the stone cut roads that supported the movement of carts or feet. The mist and fog of the nearby mountains swirled on the adjacent slopes, hiding the village from sight and dispersing pleasant cool moisture that beaded on Kusanagi's sheath. The villagers that Sasuke spotted looked at him with minor interest, evaluating his clothes and fur cloak then dismissed him just as easily.

Sasuke hadn't seen buildings made from individual stones and rock. Doton created reinforced barriers from solid slabs; the Howling Wolf Village built itself from callused hands and foraged boulders, chiselled with iron tools into careful shape. The cracks filled with mortar of crushed slate and clay, the thatch woven from harvested grasses and symbiotic moss that absorbed the rain.

Bakashi turned his head, baring his teeth at another ass that peered out from a stone fence made from stacked plates of slate. The ass flapped its ears, curving its body to protect the thick woollen sheep that lay across the rocky ground. Bakashi snorted, ignoring the animal with a gentle nudge from Sasuke's shoe.

There was a sort of quiet sedation in the air, in the cool mist of the village. Sasuke glanced around at countless locals, mothers with children running back and forth with thick woollen cloaks and carved sticks. There were no nearby rivers or oceans for fishermen to use, instead, the rocky landscape gave rise to extensive pastures marked by ancestral stone corrals and warped wood gates. This side of the mountain, the spruce trees didn't grow- instead, bracken and heather dotted the rocks. The Howling Wolf Village was made entirely of rocks.

Sasuke whistled a shrill short noise, drawing the attention of a group of children. The youngest squinted up at him, wearing a woollen felt cap that covered their hair and eyebrows.

"Yes, traveller-san?" she asked, voice immature but bright and inquisitive.

Sasuke lifted one arm to gesture ahead of him, "where are your room and board?"

"Oh! The lodge!" the girl said excitedly, the boy near her shoulder shifted his weight and jammed his hands into his pockets. Sasuke ignored him, focusing on the girl, no older than seven years. "Down this road, Traveller-san! Mishki-san has the lodge and burns it all-round! Do you have things to sell, Traveller-san? Did you come from Taniku?"

Taniku was the nearest northern city in Iwa, countless weeks of travel by mule. Supplies from Iwa likely came seasonally when the floods had yet to fill the valleys and cut off the trails. The village technically was a hidden village from their association with shinobi- but not in terms of chakra abilities.

"No," Sasuke said flatly, "from Grass."

The girl looked interested, curiously squinting at the side bags and harness on Bakashi. "That's a nice mule, traveller-san. You must have come a long-."

"Kio-chan, let's go," the boy said quickly, tugging on the girl's arm and dragging her out of reach. Cautious, a good trait for surviving in such a...isolated region.

The lodge was little more than a rectangular building with a central open hearth. Logs preserved and petrified by bog arranged themselves into a loose oval around the fire, a heady warmth that smelled of greenwood and herbs that left Sasuke's eyes watering.