xl note: So, welcome to the Redesign sequel. This has been brewing since September, which was not far off from when Redesign ended. I have just about finished outlining the entire story and have enough chapters to keep you entertained for the rest of the month. (By outlining, I mean re-outlining.) Considering this sequel is a little dependent on the bigger events of Redesign, it is suggested that you go read it. If you remember the Artifact War, the 10 Artifacts, Kiyohime, and the inner characters that died in the last story, you don't need to re-read to keep up. I will help you with guides and stuff.

The story will be a bit of a slow starter for the first 3-4 chapters as thing are established. It will also be a little lighthearted as it will feature everyone reuniting for some shenanigans because what is Mio, Takuto, Izuna, and Yayoi coming together without shenanigans. I am particularly going to enjoy Minako in this story since she is older and she is hopefully going to become awesome as the years go by.

Okay, onto some details and then you can start reading...unless you started reading and didn't read this at all. Anyway, this prologue takes place between the time Mio and Madara spent apart in Redesign 58 before Mio returns to the Fire Country. It's about Ayuka dying and Mio sensing it. The first chapter takes place 3 years post-Artifact War, making Mio 21, Madara 22, and Izuna 20. The first chapter also takes place after the current events in Of Ivory Lies, that IzunaOC story I am now shamelessly promoting that will eventually tie in seamlessly with this one.

I promise you a mini-character list. You will find it later.

Enjoy! :D

Warning(s): Fairly descriptive violence and mild adult themes, actually, everything included in the rating applies to the level of violence, death, language, and content of this story. This story contains a large cast of OCs to fill in some gaps. I will attempt at a middle ground with this as we will be exploring canon territory, which will bring us canon characters to work with.

PROLOGUE | The Reason for Mutiny

Uchiha Mio hated the sea. She disliked anything that made up a large body of water. As a young girl, she had nearly drowned and the experience had manifested into a fear. Something about sinking into water—enveloped by it—paralyzed her body. She hated the fact that the Sun Country was an island so far that it required a short voyage over sea.

She also did not look forward to having her boat sunken by Mikazuki Rikuto either, who was rumored to be destroying all ships that came near the Sun Country. She hoped her reaction time was better than his technique because she could drown. She never learned to swim after all. Even though there was a time that her childhood friend, Izuna, tried to teach her in the lake near his grandmother's house. She spent hours clinging to a tree while he struggled to pry her off, assuring her that everything would turn out well. She never believed him.

She simply didn't trust water this deep.

Mio endured the trip in silence, spending as much time in the boat's small cabin away from the sight of the sea that made her dizzy. She exited onto the deck when she felt their destination was close and sat, on the fisherman's firm suggestion, atop a wooden bench watching the island draw near.

It had taken her quite some time to find someone willing to bring her to the Sun Country. Every angler from the Lightning Country's coastal towns had stopped trying to catch fish near it afraid Mikazuki Rikuto would send them to their deaths. The one man that had agreed to take the risk was an aged male with a balding head, who had charged her an exorbitant price upfront. He had called it insurance to replace his fishing boat if Rikuto stayed true to his reputation, but she had a feeling he was asking far more than what his vessel and navigation was worth.

Regardless, Mio had paid his price, knowing Takuto would give her a stern lecture on stealing the clan's funds to spend on a trip to the Sun Country when she returned to the Iron Country, whether or not she had spent it.

Mio stood as she saw the Sun Country growing larger over the watery horizon, as if it had risen from the deep sea where it floated with its cluster of mountain shining under the sun and its forest growing taller with giant trees barren of leaves. She was taken by the scenic, pale shore that spread along the edge of the island, glittering as if there were thousands of tiny diamonds mixed among the millions grains of sand, when she found her eyes catching a flare of gold on red.

There was a man standing on the shore, his booted feet sinking into the wet sand when another wave rolled in under him, the tide rising as high as his ankles. He bore the rose eyes of the Kuronuma clan, but held a frightening resemblance to the man that had been her tormentor for half her life. His hair was vibrant under the strong sunlight, shining gold among red strands, as he sank down to the ground to plant his hands flat across the wet sand, leaving the imprint of his hands upon its darkened face.

He needed no introduction. By the look of him, Mio recognized him as Mikazuki Rikuto, and he was about to sink the old fisherman's ship.

A ripple passed beneath the boat, rocking it violently. The quick motion hurled her to the edge of the boat where she grasped onto its wooden railing with a gasp.

"I told you to stay seated!" the seaman shouted, drawing her attention away from Rikuto to the giant wave rushing to overtake the boat.

Mio pushed her body off the railing when the vessel jerked underneath her feet, knocking her over the edge and killing her reaction time. She hit the water headfirst, managing to suck in a breath, sinking down with white bubbles rising high above her head. Her clothes felt weightless on her slender form, floating around her when the ocean's current dragged her underneath the boat. The towering wave snapped the boat in half when it crashed over it. She heard several splashes above her as the boat's broken parts fell into the sea, but her eye caught something dark, turning to see the old man falling into the deep, unconscious with blood oozing from a wound on his head.

She couldn't hold her breath any longer. The panic swelled up inside her at the thought of drowning when the glass orb she wore on a black cord necklace floated up, glowing against the light that filtered in from the ocean's surface. The white mist inside it spun quickly, like a hurricane was contained inside the sphere fighting to break out, mirroring the drum of her heart.

She calmed herself at the sight of it, an idea surfacing in her mind, and looked around herself until she found the old man. He was close enough that she felt she could take hold of him. She could save him.

Mio reached for the old man, straining but managing to grab a hold of his fluttering sleeve as her lack of oxygen forced her mouth to open. She felt the burn of the salt water rushing down her throat as she jerked the angler forward, securing an arm around him, and closed her eyes tightly. She poured her chakra into the floating orb, activating it.

A round barrier encased her and the fisherman, dispelling the water within it. She dropped to the glass ground, coughing out the water she had swallowed, as the weightlessness of the barrier gently pushed them above the surface. Her sodden clothes hung heavily on her body, her tangled black hair stuck closely to her skin.

Mio stared at the unconscious old man, watching the blood dripping from his wound mixing with the water falling from his pointed nose where it puddled on the sturdy sphere underneath her feet, the coloring a pale pink hue with every droplet of red that fell into it.

Once she broke the surface, Mio deactivated her barrier, hoisting her body over the rippling surface after infusing chakra into her hands and then her feet to move above it.

She managed to stand when she caught a blur zipping past her periphery. To protect the old man, she threw him towards the pale shore of the Sun Country, directly at Rikuto who caught him in one arm. She leaned backward in time to see the shine of a blade slice through the air.

Mio reached behind her, grabbing hold of the handle of her curved dagger. She drew it with enough force to knock the weapon from her attacker's hand during their next attack. She caught that same hand and pulled him forward, twisting his arm behind his back until he fell on his knees. She made it clear that if he moved an inch, she would dislocate his arm completely with the same effort one took to snap a twig.

The man cursed, lowering his head.

"That's enough!" Rikuto shouted.

Mio released the man in front of her and watched him leap across the water until he reached Rikuto, who gave him a quiet order. The man made a beeline to the fisherman Rikuto set on the sand and bent down to assess his condition, peering down at the wound on his head. He pulled the unconscious man's arm over his shoulder and disappeared with him over the sandy hill.

"Why you here, Shugosha?" asked Rikuto.

Mio walked across the water to reach the shore, taking the time to squeeze the water out of her clothes. Rikuto stepped closer, towering over her.

Undaunted by his menacing presence, she said, "I came to see your mother."

Rikuto laughed, perhaps at the irony. "You came all this way to see a woman you swore to kill?" he asked. "You will have to forgive me if I refuse you, but that threat alone is reason enough."

"I am not here to kill her," she said honestly.

She had traveled to the Sun Country against her better judgment. She had made the trip determined to bury the horrors she had experience in her nineteen years of living by coming face to face with the woman responsible for seeing her pathways severed, twisted, rearranged, and pasted to align into the First Artifact War. She had wanted to say that she had wasted the first bit of freedom she had by paying her greatest adversary a visit, but she would have been lying if she said she believed the trip was for naught.

Motou Ayuka was dying. She had extended her life so long by killing every successor born to take the Fate Sphere from her until one snuck up on her. A Guardian lived as long as their spheres remained in their protection , once it passed onto another's, the previous Guardian perished. Most died by the unique, incurable poison the artifacts carried and dispensed when the artifacts changed hands, but a few withered once their age caught up to them.

Rikuto shook his head. "I will provide you with a new boat and will urge you to use it to return to your country," he said, his rose eyes narrowed with disapproval. "Allow my mother to die in peace surrounded by the people that care for her. Know that there is no need for you to punish her any further."

Killing Ayuka swiftly would have been too kind and Mio had not had that sort of mercy to spare on the woman. Not after everything Ayuka had put her through to gain control of the Time Sphere. The Time Sphere had signified her position as Shugosha and Keeper of Kiyohime's Artifacts, of which there used to be ten. The Nature and Black Sphere had broken since the conclusion of the Artifact War, a conflict that had only culminated recently costing many lives.

It had sounded a little ridiculous when she had thought about explaining it to someone unaware of the events that had transpired over the span of ten years. Kiyohime had created ten artifacts from one during an age plagued by war, worse than what it was today, and each item was imbued with great power. She had entrusted each to a Guardian, whose duty was to protect it, but Motou Ayuka, one of her Guardians, had betrayed her, determined to seize control of the artifacts to create an ideal world. However, Ayuka had been forced to bide her time until Mio's birth when she could set her plans in motion.

Ayuka and her son, Mikazuki Gouki, had caused her misery. She had not healed from it enough to say she would overcome it. She had nightmares every time she closed her eyes, every minute she relived the loss and pain she had endured. She still felt the excruciating ache in her bones from having lost a Guardian during the Artifact War. It had dulled, but it had followed her. She hoped after this ordeal, she could return to the Fire Country to visit his grave for the first time, as she had been unable to attend his burial because she had to perform the funeral rites for her grandfather.

"I will not leave this island until I have seen her," she said stubbornly.

Rikuto moved forward, reaching for her arm. "Then you leave me no choice—"

"Rikuto-sama!" A boy with a high ponytail jumped down the hill beyond the shore to run across the sand to reach Rikuto. "Rikuto-sama! The mistress wishes to see the Shugosha Mio, but she—"

The boy's eyes—a deep, molten gold color—met hers and her senses were invaded by a sense of familiarity when the image of him returned, always seated in a corner during his father's lavish banquets, his presence so meager he went unnoticed by all. He was a skinny boy with a gloomy face.

"Motou Ikki," she greeted, inclining her head politely.

Ikki's eyes widened, shocked perhaps at being remembered. He recovered quickly and smoothed out his features to a haughty expression as he tilted his face away, nose high in the air. He reminded her of his sister, Yayoi.

Rikuto exhaled. "Very well," he bit out, taking a step back as he turned. "Follow me."

The Sun Country seemed changed, not radically in the obvious sense of the word. She saw the forest that stretched beyond the large clearing that once served as a battlefield with its tall, barren trees rustling with the cold winds of the season. The island's atmosphere was thick, terse, and it put her on edge as Rikuto led her up the path to the Motou clan's temple at the top of the mountain.

Mio remembered Enki's castle as being an extravagant array of buildings surrounding a tall tower, but it suffered damages during a conflict between the Mikazuki and Uchiha. All that remained on the flat piece of mountain was an empty courtyard and the Sun Temple. She turned at the sound of explosions and stopped at the sight of black smoke rising to the sky.

"Shugosha?"

Rikuto stood at the entrance of the Sun Temple, underneath the black sunburst carved on the sign above the doors, waiting impatiently for her to move. Ikki glared at her. She tried to engage him in polite conversation as they were walking, hoping to speak to him enough that she might coax something she could take to his older sister, who had not seen him in quite some time.

Mio walked into the temple behind Rikuto, the foyer filled with golden statues honored by several burning candles. He walked up the staircase directly at right of the entrance, waiting on her when she lagged behind, fascinated by the inner temple. Nothing about it changed since the last time she had entered it, though it did bring memories of having had her blood forcefully taken in a room underneath the stairs.

She noticed there were more Mikazuki shinobi within the temple, each eyeing her with the same caution Rikuto extended.

Ikki ran up the stairs ahead of them and disappeared down a different hall than the one Rikuto led her down. Ayuka's lavish living quarters resided in the center of a maze of hallways surrounded by rooms aligned along the walls where she spotted a dozen set of eyes peering through apertures in doors.

Rikuto slid apart the shoji and stepped aside, allowing her to enter first.

Motou Ayuka, the High Priestess of the Sun Temple, was lying on a futon with her white hair sitting about her head in a neat array. She aged plenty within the weeks since the Artifact War's conclusion. Her smooth, beautiful skin wrinkled deeply and her once vibrant, red hair had gone stark white. She seemed a completely different person, one Mio might not have recognized had she not spoken.

"You have come, Uchiha Mio?" she asked slowly, then gestured at the entrance. "Leave us Rikuto. She will not harm me."

"Yes, mother," he bit out, sliding the shoji screen shut behind him.

Mio sat atop the cushion besides Ayuka's bedding and set her hands atop her lap. All the anxiety she harbored as she made the trip from the Iron Country to the Sun Country, the same one that threatened to turn her around, came flooding back into her system, presenting itself as a visibly tremor.

"Are you here to watch me die?" Ayuka asked bitterly. "I am unworthy."

"No," Mio replied evenly.

"What other reason have you to be here?"

"I want to listen to your reasons," Mio answered. "And I am not asking about your fear of seeing me grow in strength, I want to know the truth."

Ayuka laughed, staring at her with red-rimmed eyes. "You want to know about my reasons?"

Mio nodded. "You said I wouldn't understand and that I was a fool for stopping you. I want to know why you would think that."

The old woman coughed into her fist as she shook her head. "Why have you chosen this day?"

Mio hesitated while searching for the proper wording. She had come because she wanted an explanation, but knew that she would not have gone searching for it if she had not sensed Ayuka's imminent death approaching. "There isn't enough time for me to forgive your actions. You are dying and this is my last chance," she whispered, feeling it sounded insensitive. "You are the only one that remains. The only one that knows the truth of it all." She paused, swallowing hard. "I just want to know why."

Ayuka breathed in deeply, turning away from her face to stare at the ceiling. "Kiyohime descended from an ice mountain and was rumored to be the daughter of the gods because she possessed strange power," she began, her voice raspy. "War then was different from the ongoing wars today. Humanity was completely helpless against the war as it was constant and harsh. It did not care whether you were old or young, woman or man. Living in that era was hell.

"Moved by the state of the world, by the unfairness and cruelty of mankind, Kiyohime cultivated the power inside her body and created a Time Sphere. Around the same time, a horned woman called Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, who arrived from a far off land, ate the fruit of the Shinju. With the power she gained through the fruit's consumption, she put a stop to the wars and quietly settled to live among us. The people believed Kaguya's arrival to mean that their land was blessed and she was worshipped on a larger scale than Kiyohime.

"However, overtime, the horned goddess and the witch did not see eye to eye. Kiyohime believed peace could be achieved through genuine effort, but Kaguya considered her ideal naïve, asserting that humankind, who were capable of cardinal sin could not be trusted with their own fate. Kaguya believed they needed someone powerful to force peace and through her power, she asserted her dominance over the people of this continent, achieving her idea of a perfect utopia where war ceased to exist.

"Kiyohime committed herself to stopping Kaguya, but she did not possess the strength to best her. So, Kiyohime harnessed the power within the Time Sphere to create more artifacts, but she lacked in the power necessary to see it accomplished. Seeking more power, Kiyohime stole the power Kaguya had gained through the Shinju to create more artifacts from the Time Sphere. Angered by her interference, Kaguya marked Kiyohime, hoping to herald her death and repossess the powers she stole. In response, Kiyohime gathered children from all around the continent in search of Guardians while the wrath of Kaguya overcame our world like a shadowy mantle.

"Kiyohime purposely incited her, taking power from her to prove that she could. She did it knowing it would lead to this. To this war, to the wars of the future, to the rising of that devil woman long after her death. She brought innocent children into their war, making hosts of them. They became targets of Kaguya's fury. I watched them die. I watched them all die. I was part of the third crop of children and I survived ten groups after me. Every year, I welcomed another into her ice mountain. I accommodated them and aided them in every possible way. I grew to love them all and I watched them die, at the hands of Kaguya or the artifacts Kiyohime created to protect the world from Kaguya. They protected nothing and it infuriated me to see these innocent children dragged into their war."

Ayuka paused to cough violently into her hand, wheezing deeply to catch her breath.

Mio scrambled to the table in the corner after seeing a pair of ceramic cups and a pitcher filled with water. She poured Ayuka a cup and brought it to her, helping her onto a seat before placing the teacup into her shaky hands.

Ayuka drank deeply; her bony fingers wrapped around Mio's wrist, trembling like the rest of her fragile body. Mio helped her back onto her futon, pulling the covers over her body.

"All should have been well once those sons of hers sealed her away—Kaguya, I mean—but sadly, it did not spell an end," Ayuka continued. "I wanted to make sure, so I looked into the Fate Sphere and saw Kaguya's pathway continued through several generations, beyond mine, beyond yours. Hidden as it was, I could see it, woven underneath layers of pathways linked to her sons."

"What does that mean?" Mio asked.

"It means someone will come about releasing her and when they do, she will go to you, to whoever holds the Time Sphere, to reclaim what Kiyohime stole," she explained. "The power that gave life to the artifacts was Kiyohime's, but that which sustains them is Kaguya's. She did not offer her power willingly, it was stolen and it is said that it weakened her. If she were to descend onto this world again and gain control of the power running through each of Kiyohime's artifacts, we would be doomed. I did what I could to stop her from returning to this world, but I failed. I saw that in my desperation to redeem the Guardians that died around me for a useless war for the sake of peace. Ha! A war for peace? Ridiculous, is it not?" She gave a hearty laugh, though her eyebrows remained firmly in place, deepening the wrinkles on her forehead. "I did not care who I dragged down with me. I did not care all that much for Kiyohime's descendants, not enough to spare their sacrifice. So, I did not care what I needed to do to you to avoid ever having to meet that horned woman again, but it seems Kiyohime's will was strong in you."

Mio mulled over the story as the priestess finished speaking. She wasn't sure what her reaction to it should be. The story should have offered an explanation to everything, but it only filled her mind with more questions.

"You know, she is the one that made me aware of you when I killed her—Kiyohime," Ayuka said, drawing Mio's eyes from her lap. "I betrayed her because I wanted to take the artifacts and ensure Kaguya would not rise again, knowing she would not act herself. I wanted to see that they did not kill another person over power. Of course, at the time, I did not know what Kiyohime was talking about. She only said that a stronger bloodline ran through her own and that when it merged with that of a sage, it would give birth anew to a will greater than her own."

"So, Kiyohime and Kaguya started a war to bring about peace, but it only incited more chaos and you wished to put a stop to it because of the children the artifacts were killing?" Mio asked, unaware the skepticism of her voice until Ayuka pointed it out.

"You do not believe me?" she asked. "No, I understand. My behavior towards you was shameful, but I felt the need rising in me when I discovered you and your son. Two powerful Shugosha with skills I could benefit from to bring about the peace this land deserved. I figured it would not hurt to speed things up. I could secure the future that much faster. I thought I was saving the world. I was drunk on my own power, like Kiyohime and Kaguya."

"What did you think to do with the artifacts?" asked Mio. "Once you secured them in that universe Nishiki created?"

"I hoped to see them sealed, but changed my mind with time. I did not want to risk a flaw in my plan, nor did I wish to be completely defenseless." Ayuka looked to her after a brief pause. "I know that it will either be the work of an Uchiha or Senju if Kaguya were to reemerge, the two clans are tied to her bloodline. I could never see who it was."

Mio was at a loss. This was too much information to process in a single sitting. She felt overwhelmed by her own emotions of dread.

"I thought it might be you," Ayuka added. "That is why I sent Gouki to kill you, but Nishiki wanted to keep you alive. He told Gouki to spare you. Kill your mother and father, but spare you."

Mio closed her eyes briefly. She relived the night of her parents' murder repeatedly after it occurred. The memory never settled right, so she experienced it differently, making it hard for her to discern the events as they really happened.

"I was mistaken," the priestess continued. "I see that now, but I did see someone working on returning Kaguya to this world through the Fate Sphere. She will come after the artifacts. She will slaughter anyone connected to Kiyohime. What are you to do, Shugosha Mio? What can you do? This could happen within weeks, months, perhaps years, but you should know that you and your Guardians are the ones in danger."

"How will she be brought back?" Mio asked.

"How? I know not," Ayuka replied. "I do know that there is a connection with the tailed beasts. I thought by disappearing them in Nishiki's universe, we might be able to live in peace, but…"

Mio nodded, understanding she meant how they were defeated and the universe reverted to how it was supposed to be.

"And to answer your question, I want to destroy them," Mio divulged.

Ayuka's eyes widened. "Destroy them?"

"I have seen Shinra pursued by shinobi of all clans for the sphere he will inherit from me," Mio said. "I do not want to birth a child into a world where he will be in constant danger. So, I want to destroy them, but…"

"Ah? I understand." Ayuka nodded. "You came to ask for a clue as to where to go? Yes, it will be difficult to destroy the artifacts when the only way you know is exhausting them. That could very well take whatever life you have remaining."

"I believe Kiyohime left something after she created them," Mio said, having contemplated their creation for the greater portion of her time. She concluded that Kiyohime left something behind whether it was a secret scroll or a source of power. She imagined that despite her brilliance, Kiyohime must have had some guidance.

"She did." Ayuka breathed audibly, her chest rising and falling with great difficulty and pain. "It took me decades to realize it. There is a temple. They say Kiyohime isolated herself within a temple deep underground for weeks before she emerged with the Time Sphere. I do not know the details or the whereabouts of this temple, but I am certain that is what you seek."

Mio bowed low with gratitude. "Thank you, Ayuka."

"Perhaps, it is that I am dying," the priestess said, heaving, "perhaps, it is that I have been given the time to reflect…and that I was too daft to listen when Nishiki spoke to me…" A strangled sound forced its way past her throat and she sucked in a shuddering breath, the loss of him welled in her glassy eyes. "He must have thought me cruel." The tears rolled down the side of her face, disappearing into her white hairline. "I did not see it. I was too blind to see it. My ambition was too large." She raised her hands above her face, staring at them as they shook; the long, bony fingers curled inward, the nails long and sharp, painted black. "He hated me, I am certain he hated that he had to choose between myself and his clan."

Ayuka was never a person to Mio, harsh as that sounded. She perceived the priestess as someone ruthless, a fine line from being considered monstrous, but not quite human. One had to separate themselves from human emotion to do the things she did.

So, Mio found her tears to be an astonishing surprise, a show of something she believed to be lost to the priestess, her sympathy. Ayuka looked to be suffering and it pained Mio.

"He killed his sister because of me," said Ayuka, crying. "Tatsumi. She was a fine girl, headstrong and exuberant. She was only sixteen."

Mio sucked in a breath, saddened at the thought of a girl so young killed by her brother. She was told the story by her grandfather once before when he had enlightened her with a reason for the rift between his brother and himself. She knew that killing Nishiki had worked against him, too, as Nishiki survived his own death.

"It pained him, but I forced his hand," she continued. "I was certain it was her line that would pose a threat. Your grandfather was very unlikely, but I admit, I was never quite able to read his pathways, he blocked me early on without my knowing." Ayuka coughed into her hand, haggardly. "You should have seen his face when I asked him to kill Shinya. It might have been Tatsumi's death as well, but it was the first time Nishiki refused me. He must have hated me."

"I think Nishiki was the type of person that would do anything for the person he loved if it meant keeping a smile on their face," Mio said, interrupting another bout of Ayuka's regrets. The priestess turned to her wide-eyed and hopeful. "I am not justifying his actions because they were awful, but he did them for you. He cared enough about you that he severed his bond to his clan. I remember the day I married Gouki, Nishiki told me that he did not agree with my marrying his son, but he would not stop it because you were happier than he remembered. He only cared about seeing you smiling and happy. Nothing else mattered to him. The day he died was the day he rid himself of the burden of his family. You and his sons were his family. There was nothing he would not have done for you, Ayuka. Nothing. He was not miserable with you. He might have carried regrets, but I promise you that in death, he must have put those to rest."

Sobbing, Ayuka covered her face with her hands. "Forgive me, Mio."

Mio's heart skipped a beat.

"I wanted so badly for you to come," Ayuka admitted. "I needed you to be here." She removed a hand from her face and reached for one of Mio's, her eyes were glassy and distant. "I needed you to be here. You, Kiyohime's daughter."

The dying priestess squeezed her hand, staring at her face longingly as if trying to see Kiyohime through her.

"Forgive me," she pleaded. "I left you with nothing but misery when I should have guided you. We could have made a difference if I had not been so determined to fix Kiyohime's mistakes on my own. Forgive me."

Mio bent forward, her chest aching, and covered Ayuka's tremulous hand with hers. She felt that if she could take the pain from Ayuka onto herself, she would, if it made her passing any easier.

"Thank you, Ayuka."

The priestess's grip tightened. "Watch the Uchiha and Senju clans. Keep them away from awakening Kaguya. And protect your children. Protect that son of yours. Protect your bloodline."

She nodded, sensing the priestess's life starting to leave her slowly, and the ache in her manifested into tears that fell upon their clasped hands. "I will."

"Why are you in tears?"

"I am not sure," Mio admitted. "It just hurts."

"I fear you will not be able to endure this," she said, smiling bitterly. "Not with that heart of yours. Grow stronger. Stronger than you are now, so that you might have a chance to protect that heart of yours. Become a Shugosha that is feared by all. Live up to your potential, Mio. You cannot be weak."

Mio cried harder, clutching Ayuka's hand tightly. "I will."

"You are too kind, Uchiha Mio. I do not deserve this kindness."

Mio found it hard to leave Ayuka's side. Perhaps, she needed to see her die to move forward or maybe it was because her heart was weak. Whatever the reason, Mio stayed.

Rikuto offered her hospitality, confirming through her actions that she had not come to finish his mother off. She slept in a guest room near Ayuka's quarters surrounded by guards posted by Mikazuki Mahiro, a male shinobi that did not trust her, but spent most of her time beside the dying priestess in varying company each hour of the day. After the first encounter, Ayuka did nothing but sleep. Their conversation was the last she had.

The day the ache in her bones began to splinter, Mio stepped out into the wintry cold and stared into the dark sky, surrounded by the night's excessive noise. She went out hoping the icy air might soothe her pain, but it only made her nervous.

Ayuka would be dying soon, within the next twenty-four hours.

Rikuto walked outside to join her, holding a mug of steaming tea for her.

"Thank you," she said, taking it into her hands.

"You are too kind, Shugosha," he said.

"I know."

"You are too trusting as well."

"I know."

"How did traveling to the Sun Country seem like a good idea to you?" he asked, as if attempting to understand with a hint of exasperation. "I could have killed you like I helped in killing your family on Mt. Hyōga."

"I know."

"Then why come?"

"I don't have an answer to that question."

Mio turned to look at Rikuto, surprised to see him bowing deeply.

"I apologize for my involvement in Mt. Hyōga."

"There is no need to apologize. We were at war," she said. "We are shinobi."

Rikuto straightened, eyeing her curiously. She smiled.

Nothing could be done about war, but fight with the hope of winning it. Shinobi never questioned their orders, so one could not hold an army of them accountable for what their superiors asked them to do, unless they committed wrong out of their own volition.

Mio would not blame Rikuto. She found it difficult to blame him considering his personality. He was mild-mannered, despite his stern face, and surprisingly kind. He bore no ill will towards her and seemed grateful that she stayed behind to be at his mother's side.

She remained in the Sun Country until Ayuka took her last breath. The instant her chest rose, drawing in the last bit of oxygen, and sank, as it released it, was the end for Mio. She sensed a weight lift from her shoulders and it filled her with a strange peace.

However, the moment was short lived. There in the room surrounded by fire and dancing shadows, in the presence of the priestess' body, Mikazuki Mahiro threatened to kill her despite Rikuto's protests.

"You did this to her and you have the audacity to stay!" he shouted. "How dare you incline your head and pray for her? This is your fault! You have taken our mistress!" He spat at her feet. "But this will not end here! I will come after you! The artifacts do not belong to you, they are rightfully Rikuto's and we will come after you!"

Rikuto interposed his body between his angered clansman and herself. "Stop this!" he snapped. "My mother made us vow to aid Mio and to protect her bloodline! This was her last will!"

Mahiro shoved Rikuto with a force that sent the man to the ground and stomped towards Mio, seizing her by the collar of the white robe a priestess had lent her to attend Ayuka's funeral rite. "This will not spell peace for you, you little whore."

Ikki rushed to Rikuto as he got back on his feet, huffing and glaring.

She stared at him, eyebrows drawn, as she reached to take his hand in hers, crushing it. He ground his teeth to keep himself from making a pained noise. She could see others standing behind Mahiro, who supported his hatred towards her and believed it justified. She understood she overstayed her welcome and that she would be leaving as soon as she stepped out of the room, apologizing to Rikuto for becoming a burden.

"I will offer you no mercy if you dare bring trouble to my family," Mio assured, barely capable of controlling herself. She would not allow another person to trample all over her. She did not survive this long to relive it all over again.

Mio threw his crushed hand down and turned, walking to Rikuto. "I apologize for my intrusion."

She departed wordlessly that night on a ship provided by Rikuto with the recovered old man acting as a navigator. He had received treatment for the small wound on his head inside the temple and had been welcomed to stay until he had recovered. The old man had chosen to stay because he had promised Mio a roundtrip, though he had been a little more eager with that prospect when Rikuto gave him pick of the Sun Country's ships to replace the one he had destroyed.

Rikuto would later send her a letter of apology in the Iron Country, assuring her that no Mikazuki would stand up against her, her Guardians or any of her descendants as per his mother's last will. As she watched the scroll burn in her fireplace, she hoped he was able to uphold his mother's promise.

Glossary:

[ 1 ] Kintsugi. "Kintsugi or Kintsukuroi is the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with lacquer resin dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum." - From Wikipedia. The philosophy behind this art is embracing the flawed or imperfect.

A while ago, I opened up an entry with some polls for readers to pitch title ideas for the sequel, thanks to HushedFable, I was guided to Kintsugi, which turned out to be a perfect fit for the story. So, thank you for pitching this title. It was incredibly spot on.