BLAZE

焔

The world outside my palace was strange, it wasn't the grandeur I was used to, but the world outside of my clan and lands, they were almost maddening, because I had spent twenty three years of my life surrounded my gold and silks, and it was barren of the life I had been so accustomed to. It was cold in this world where Temujin reigned, alongside the Okina clan that my mother was once princess of herself, and the powerful Mitsuki Clan, with their almost disgustingly powerful hold on their people's wealth. We stayed in the guest huts in the villages we passed when night fell, then rose earlier in the morning, so no one had a true idea of who we were, or even what we looked like.

It was always cold in this land, the wind blowing in like a funeral song, so mournful of these starving people. Most of the villages consisted of wooden fences, within were small huts of dried weavings and animal skins, not even a bit of stone to it, and around were only very small patches of scrubby grass for their cattle to graze on. Some of my clan was poorer districts, but even with their poor fortunes, architecture reigned, with villages made entirely of carved stone in elaborate deigns, and even the poorest of citizens were well off compared to these poor people. There were no mirrors, no perfumes, not silk screens, no calligraphy, no laughter; it was like they were dead while alive. There was barely anything to eat, no wines or meat because they needed milk and cheese, and couldn't afford to kill of their livestock. Rice and bread were stale and hard. The colors were wan, dark blues, greys, and some tans made of rough wool, and I looked severely out of place in my silks that I had to wear the scratchy fabric in the form of a cloak to hide the fineness, and even then, it was dangerous for me. My hair and skin were too soft from my upbringings, my skin pale from my time indoors, and my eyebrows were plucked. I screamed money and wealth, and if anyone heard I was here then they could profit from my capture.

I never gave much thought as to how this whole process would work with the Shinju, just that I would go get it and eat it and then I would be godly. It never occurred to me- no, I just never wanted to think of the journey it would take to get to the entrance into the Elemental Nation that would lead me towards the Divine Tree, then again never did I think I would take Asahi with me, and I certainly didn't want to imagine the difficulty it would take to get away from the clan to achieve my goal. It had taken convincing and promises of peace and jade and grain before I could escape the stresses of the clan, and I left my closest friend in charge (Ishii was close, but she would never be the Empress), and we left in secret of where we were going, even from those who deserved to know, such as the one in charge herself. This was taboo in our clan and in the other world, and we knew that, but Asahi would follow me to my old world if I asked him to, which was an advantage, I supposed, but it was also a thorn in my side because I never know what he wants. My every opinion was matched by his own, every thought I had whether it was crazy or idiotic was agreed upon with him, like I was his only thought.

"Here," He tucked the leather satchel into my hands, the one containing the scroll written by the blind monk from the other world, and I slid into under my cloak, hiding it from sight, while he collected his weapons up, strapping them back onto his person with skill. Our small stop hadn't been more than perhaps ten minutes, but it had been enough time to eat a small lunch, then hurry on, because our time was limited and we had to hurry on towards the Konran no Mizūmi, which was hopefully an entrance into the other world, but of course, the doubts whirling around my head were great enough to get me to hesitate in my journey. If CANON-Kaguya had managed with her lack of knowledge about this world, then obviously there was away, I had just yet to believe it.

I tugged at my hood, sliding it over my loose bun, and waited for him to finish, yet I looked back down the path towards the village, feeling of pity and humanitarian sentiments whirling around in my chest at the idea of those in the poor districts. Asahi took his place besides me, staring at the horizon of the valley.

"Feeling sentimental?"

"Not quite." I blew a strand from my face, "I can't explain. I feel pity for them."

"Pity never suited you,"

"And being mean never suited you. You don't want to help them?"

"Not quite." He mimicked, but there was something layered under the defensive line of mockery. I sighed, shaking my head, dropping the subject. The children were already old, have gotten long used to the foul stench of the latrines, the skin and bones feel of starvation, even the candles that smoked a terrible, choking scent. Of course, Asahi had to bring the topic back with his quiet lisp of, "What can we do?"

"Plenty," I remarked. "We could always come back; share our wealth with them, if just to give them something to live for." I turned my eyes towards the man I had known my entire life. "There's more to life than just...this."

"These aren't our people."

"They don't have to be; kindness cares for everyone."

Asahi doesn't say anything else about it, but there is a silent smile creeping onto his lips as he stares at the ground, eyes lighter, like I had just passed some test or exam, or I had just figured out the cure to sicknesses. We traveled down into the wooded areas, avoiding the bamboo forests entirely, because those were the dangerous parts of the world, seeing how well guarded they are, and we can't be caught in them. "How far until we reach the Mountain?" I questioned, and my faithful guard took his place by my side, flanking me in case of danger. He had more knowledge of the geography than I did when it came to these lands, especially because of his years in the military and his father's insistence on learning.

"Half a day, if we're lucky. We need move quickly, I've heard rumors of former samurai turned robbers lurking around. This is old Ringo territory, their military were brutal." He spoke urgently. "I don't want confrontation if possible, you haven't seen the cruelty of samurai yet, and I'd like to keep it that way. They'll kidnap you for no good reason, rob you, maybe worse, and then kill you." I ignored the way his hand inched over towards mine, like he ignored the fact I interlocked my finger into his, and we held hands as we walked. I liked to do that, like to have hugs and touch hands, because for eighteen years, I had no such luxuries like touch. I was too high ranked for him to do more than nudge my shoulder and we did that for years. The only ones who could touch me were my mother and the Empress, and neither one of them were too big on hugs and kisses, more reserved than you would think with their lack of maternal feelings.

"Concerned for my safety?" I teased lightly, if just to lighten the situation. "I'd say I would be fine with these old samurai; you did see what I could do with a dagger." I raised an eyebrow at the man, who rolled his eyes at me, and I mimicked swinging a knife with my free hand, thrusting it into an invisible man's abdomen. He signed, pressing his other hand into his bright tomato red hair, and shook his head slowly. Once, twice, three times while I looked on as innocently as possible, ignoring his inner battle to make a sarcastic comment or just let me do what I pleased without comment. He let out another sign, squeezing my hand lightly.

"Your spirit was endearing when you were younger." He murmured, "Now, it'll end with my heart giving out from stress when you rush into a fight with the most savage of warriors."

"I wouldn't provoke them,"

"No," He agreed slowly, mulling over it for a moment. "Kaguya, when it comes down to fighting or surviving, you would choose to fight any day and I would be left the position of forlorn wife, waiting to see if you come back with all of your pieces." The grin on his lips was enough to get me smiling to, looking at his lack of leg, then back at him as we both got the reference. I kicked his fake leg with the edge of my shinobi sandal, and he moved away, half leaping over a fallen tree, while I struggled.

It took some doing, but I managed to get my skirts over the log that was in our way without having to let go of his calloused hand, and I could see over the lines of tree that the mountain we were seeking out wasn't as far as I assumed, because it looked bigger than before, and we were closer. I turned my attention back to him, "Wife? I'm going to pretend you didn't say that just to prove a point that wives are more emotional than husbands. Besides I played that part when you off fighting with Ishii. You're a grown man, you'll survive."

Asahi gave me an almost affectionate stare, mocking cocking his head with a lover's pout, and I had to fight off the strong urge to roll my eyes at the idiot from doing whatever we was doing. "You were my wife?" He said, surprised, his eyes widen. "Did I miss the ceremony?" His expression changed into mock sadness, shaking his head. "War does that to people, making them miss their own wedding." For a grown man, he was sweet as could be and a good actor if anyone could say anything about it.

"It was a lovely ceremony." I probed. "I had some new eunuch as a proxy for you since you were and I didn't get an actual dress since you weren't there, but those details are for lesser people." I waved it off with a flick of my wrist, "He did a good job of standing in for you. Like I said, beautiful ceremony, and you didn't even attend. Shame, though, I'm not even sure if that man was a eunuch or just some random man walking by when I was trying for a marriage." I hummed ponderously, but he squeezed my hand even harder at my lies, and obviously I wasn't going well at lying, but he was grinning all the same, so he was amused.

Asahi gave me that same kind smile he always did, "The real one will be better." The joking undertone wasn't there like it was with the rest of our conversation, and I couldn't tell if he was being serious or joking, so I kept on with my teasing.

I shot him a halfhearted grin, "Here I thought your heart belonged to Ishii." I joked. "Are you proposing, Morning Sun?" It wasn't often I called him that, mostly when I was younger and I figured out what his name meant, and I would make fun of how it fit with his vibrant hair coloring, but in such a situation, it made it easier to rub it off as a jest.

He stared at me with those dark eyes, the ones I couldn't properly read on if this was going to be one of those embarrassing jokes he would tell Ishii later or if this was real. "That depends on if you'll say yes."

I rolled my eyes, opening my mouth when something exploded. I identified it as the familiar sound of bamboo on fire, the smoke filling the hollows until it made a loud pop, and we both went for the weapons we carried. Asahi moved to yank me away when the sound of hooves slamming against the ground knocked him over, and my dagger was tossed out of my hand when I tumbled to me knees.

"Robbers, get out of the way." I heard him shout to me, and the skill it would take for this kind of trap meant ex-samurai. I tried to stand, just as two men swarmed around Asahi, and right when I did someone yanked onto my arm so hard it hurt, and I felt my muscles burn as I was tugged onto the horse, someone holding onto my waist, and it hurt when my head slammed into the side of the beast.

"Kaguya!" I heard his furious scream, but I couldn't do anything to fight against the heavy arms around me, I was helpless.

I think that was the worst part.

.

My only experience with horses was when Lady Hinode tried to teach me, and those weren't the best experiences. She was a peerless horsewoman while I was a bumbling oaf who couldn't ride worth anything else. The first three times I tried, the horse would get angry, buck and neigh up a storm until I fell off into a puddle of pain from the throw when I hit the ground.

I knew that is took some experience to be able to ride like this, quickly and being able to tie a hostage, and from the looks of things, he wasn't letting me go anytime soon, not with the rope around my hands, and it cut deep into my skin, the friction burning. I can't tell you how far we got before I was knocked to the ground, dirt pooling around me alongside dust when I hit the ground, but I didn't even make a noise, just looked up at my kidnapper with as much resent as I could, and I was surprised to see someone no older than me. He had spiky, shoulder-length, pale red, almost brown hair and sported a goatee. He gave me a mock bow.

"Milady," He bobbed up and down, and then grinned a charming smile. "It's a pleasure."

"Most likely because you're not tied up."

The man- boy, because no self-respecting man would kidnap a young woman chuckled. "I suppose, and I suppose it could also be because you aren't a very grateful woman. I saved your life." He looked down at me smugly, like he was waiting for me to thank him for kidnapping, and I just stared at him.

"You saved my life? You kidnapped me, tied me up, and tossed me on the ground. May I remind you that you were the one to attack me?"

He blanched, "You are a snooty little noble! I'm not a samurai; I'm a traveler of sorts. Yes, I'm a traveler. I saw them attack you and your little friend and rushed in to save you, like any good gentlemen would, because those guys wouldn't be so generous with a beautiful young lady such as yourself, but then again, you'd probably make 'em slit your throat with such a mean attitude."

"I could only hope. So, my dear hero, why am I in rope?"

"I only tied you up because you bit me twice."

"I only bit you because you kidnapped me!"

It took me a minute of staring at him intently before I could rightly identify him, not by name, but by appearance, and he looked too much like Hagaromo Ōtsutsuki for comfort. I didn't say anything about it, but thoughts were whirling around my head as to why he looked so much like my future son. He flashed that smile again, looking almost trustworthy. "My name is Shinrai, sweetheart." He introduces, and something is very off about him, because while he does look extremely odd compared to others in this world, almost...human, I suppose.

"Tsuki." I reply almost immediately. "My name is Tsuki,"

"Moon?" He laughed, "Please, so noble blood will ever be named something so plain. Maybe, and this is still plain, Tsukibana, but nothing like just plain moon." Shinrai shook his head, patting my shoulders and crouching down. "Not in this world anyway." There was a subtle hinting there, like he didn't expect me to get it, but I did. He's from the Elemental Nations; he's human.

"That's my name." I lied again, "And the man you left behind is my husband, who is going to rip out your tongue when he hears the way you've spoken to me."

Shinrai hummed, "Maybe, if he isn't dead-"

"He isn't." I interrupted, but was promptly ignored.

"If," He repeats. "So let me guess, you two are lovers, but he's lower ranked than you and you were forced to be star crossed lovers? You're running away to the mountains to escape your noble life and seek a small happy home?"

I feigned innocence, if not confusion. "I'm not noble. I didn't run away, and you need to let me go."

"Not a chance, Hime. No civilian looks like you, eyebrows plucked and have you even ever been in the sun?" He questioned, but didn't let me answer before he continued on in his babbles. "I may not know who you are now, but talk reaches here quickly. Someone will report you missing, and the price I'll get on you, whether a princess or noble lady will be hearty. Sorry, sweetie, you're my lucky catch for today." He gave me an almost sympathetic stare, and I glared right back. "Then again, Tsuki, I may be inclined to let you go if you let me know why you're in the mountains since you insist you didn't run away with your supposed husband."

"You act so charming, and yet you're such a savage. I am inclined to tell you if you let me out of these ropes. I swear not to bite you again,"

Shinrai isn't as dumb as I supposed, and ignored my comment all together. He waited for my answer, and I smiled, because even if he knew, it didn't matter, the man was civilized, but I highly doubted he knew of it or anything about this little mission. "We're looking for Konran no Mizūmi."

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "You mean the Kindan no ike?"

"The portal to another world?" I narrowed my eyes, genuinely surprised.

"That takes you into a place with a demonic tree? Yeah, the Kindan no ike."

"It seems we have different names for it, but yes, I'm going there now, well I was until this happened." I reply dryly, and suddenly metal glints. I freeze; terrified my mouth and my mission have been pushed too far, so I slowly inch backwards, when he slashes downwards, for the blow.

The rope is gone off my hands, and he is pulling me up while my mind comes to terms with the fact that I wasn't dead, not again. I stared in shock at the man, who seemed to be melting down, muttering fuck under his breath, lost and confused, in his own mind.

"I-"

"Only one other person called it that...Your friends with that crazy lady with the scroll aren't you?"

"Crazy lady with a scroll...?"

He balled his hands into his shirt, looking frustrated and a bit worried. "Empress Lady or something, crazy. Crazy."

"Gekkō? The Empress?"

"Yūgana tsuma, is what she called herself, but yes the Ōtsutsuki empress." He began muttering; running a hand through his hair, then looked at me with wide eyes, like he realized something, and then cursed. "You're the new Ōtsutsuki matriarch, aren't you? I kidnapped Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, kuso."

"You knew the Empress?"

"The crazy women jumped through the waters and came to my world, then took me through it, just because she said she liked my charms." He groaned, looking at the sky. "The woman will haunt me from the grave. Kuso, get on the horse; we'll get you through the portal. We have to go fetch that boy that was with you if he's not chopped into pieces by now."

"Are you going to explain any of this to me?"

"Maybe another time, Hime. I owe her a debt, that's all, and I don't want her spirit coming after me for trying to sell you while you were trying to finish your duty as peace bringer. Crazy women will, you know." He mounted his horse, holding one hand out to me, and I stared in disgust.

"You kidnapped me." I hissed with all the fury an enraged woman could possess in a single moment in times of confusion and adrenaline. "I am not going anywhere with you." Hatred pulsed through my veins, hot and angry. "How the hell do you know Gekkō?" I

"Dammit, Hime, just get on. I didn't know it was you I was taking, okay? I...Amaterasu..." He starts to murmur under his breath, shallow words I can't hear, before he looks up. "I apologize. But if you wanna make it to see if your 'husband' is alive, then we have to hurry it up." He looked at me expectantly. "That crazy woman will haunt me if I don't help; she's crazy enough to do it." I glared at his offered hand, and then slid onto the back of it with relative ease, shedding the wool cloak in favor of having more accessibility.

I cannot, in conscious, tell you what the Empress did with this man, but I do know that she somehow managed to make my life a whole lot easier while dead. That crazy woman still can't give up control even in her grave.

The thought itself made me smile. Just a tad.

焔

Asahi attacked before we even got close to where we left him in the denseness of the forests, knocking Shinrai off his horse before either of knew what was happening. I tossed myself off the back of the animal as my dearest friend began beating the living hell out of the other man, kicking him in the chest with the stone leg, his katana gripped in his right hand, stained with blood, and I rushed forward to yank his arm back.

"Stop!" I shrieked. "We need this idiot alive!"

"Yeah," Shinrai groaned in pain. "You need me ali- Did you call me an idiot?"

"Are you okay, hime?" My guardian asked, pointing the sword at the soft flesh of neck on the man in the dirt, and I had his other arm in my grip, digging my nails in to make sure he didn't attempt murder yet, not when this man had the approval of my friend, my beloved empress.

"Fine. I'll explain later," I paused, looking at the thick crimson on his clothes, and went to touch him, frowning. "Are you alright?" I tried to pull his shirt open, but he swatted my hand away like it was burning.

"I'm alive."

"I remember Ishii saying that when you came back from the war and you came back legless, let me see."

"Just a scrap from the edge of blade," He looked down at Shinrai, pressing his foot into the man's ribs until he cried out, and then leaned down to his level, "You're lucky she was here." He gave a final kick that wasn't too strong because of my dark stare, and I followed him over towards the horse, and he looked at the sky, nodding approvingly at where the mountain was compared to where it was earlier.

"We're close. Why do we need him?"

"He'll take us to the Konran and then lead us while in the other world; he's not like us, he's from there."

Shinrai looked up; shaking from the small beating he just received before I could stop it. "I am?"

"You are." Asahi told him, dark eyes narrowed. I had never seen this killing intent in the man before, so I moved in between the two slowly, if just to guard the supposedly charming idiot who decided to challenge the authority of my guard. "And anything else she wants."

"I think I liked you better as Tsuki." He commented softly, and I laughed. Asahi jerked him onto his feet roughly, and then sheathed his sword, realizing the man wasn't that much a threat. He had horseman skills, but Asahi had sized him up enough to know he would win in a fight.

"Oh please, my parents would never name their princess so plainly." I recited. "Not in this world."

He scowled at me, "Snooty noble."

Asahi slipped his hand into mine as we began the journey, and I pretended not to notice Asahi step on his feet when we passed by, and I certainly didn't see when my red headed guardian kicked the other man's knees out from under him.

..

The walk itself takes the rest of the day due to all the setbacks, and it is difficult to navigate through the darkness to the cave, so they light a torch with a piece of wood and a flint, and we follow our guide through the darkness, the cave close and our anxieties even closer. I force Asahi to keep his hand in mine, and I wander seemingly aimless, dodging rocks and small holes that would trip me up, and I was actually navigating well in only the light of the fire.

"So, are you going to explain how you know the Empress?"

"That crazy bit-"

"I'd stop right there."

He gave me a wry smile. "She came out here, plotting and planning, you know, found the holy waters and tossed herself in. She came up gasping near the pond by my house, her entire outfit soaked- it was silk and satin, the good stuff- and she just glared at me, like I was crazy!"

"That sounds like her."

"She started yelling about a monk and a moon, and I didn't even know what it was. A moon! We don't have one, not where I'm from." He paused, touching the end of his sleeves were the thread was flayed, but satin-like yellow shaped into a crescent was left, untouched by the worn fabric. "It's bad where I live too, but here is different. They have something about them, the kids, elders, they have hope. We didn't have that. I didn't have that, and she just came marching into my little hut, tossing herself around in disbelief."

"She gave you a second chance, didn't she?" Asashi questions, quietly. "The Dowager Empress gave you hope."

Shinrai let out a lifeless chuckle, "No. She gave me money. Gold and silver that got me through until I was on my feet well enough to start trading, and she gave me a way out. Things are more civilized, advanced out here."

"That's why you owe her." I concluded. "She gave you wealth."

"She gave me a chance, which was enough. I didn't get hope from one inspiration speech or just because of a smile." He told me, and I may have laughed if he didn't sound so serious, because he may need to have this speech with Naruto Uzumaki if this was his true belief. "I got hope because there were still people left who didn't want to paint the ground red with blood for revenge or fun. There was at least one person left willing to help someone else out without anything in return, but just to be nice."

My insides clenched, because Gekkō was that, and much more. What she lacked mentally, she fulfilled in her actions to her people and to her decreased daughter. She was a friend, my friend, like Asahi and she still managed to meddle into everything more than he ever could.

"So-" My breath hitched and stared off into the darkness, careful of my step into the unseen. "She told you about the prophecy she's concocted?"

"Yeah," Shinrai shrugged. "I didn't know about Scary-Guy over there, but I at least knew one of her daughters would come, never thought she was the Clan Matriarch."

"Here," The light in front of us ducks away and Asahi tugs me forward, following the man into the darkness of the cave, and I lose my footing, just a bit and stumble into the barely lit cavern of cold rock. I was wrong my navigational skills were still, very poor.

"This is it." Shinrai calls out, and it sounds almost maddening loud in the small, hollow space. Asahi nudges my shoulder, and I take two steps closer to this strange place. The man raises his torch, the orange lighting illuminating the path in front of us, the terrain was rough, ragged and not well used except for maybe just the traveler. Asahi has his arms wrapped around me when we stumble in, while Shinrai seems amused as hell to see us struggle while he walks like it is nothing, like he is used to it- he is, so why he has the nerve to make jokes in his head about us is...

"Let me see the scroll," Asahi whispers into my ear, and I grab at my satchel, removing the worn piece of writing from my possessions, tossing it to him. His dark eyes narrowed in the darkness, not asking for Shinrai to give him light, instead just using what he could get by being close to read it. He nodded his confirmation. "This is the truest location we can get from this,"

"Truest like it correct or are you estimating?"

"Is there a difference when it comes to this world?"

I chuckled lowly, "I suppose there isn't." My companion stopped, tightening his grip on me in that moment (I was still shorter) so I jumped and twisted to see what exactly was up ahead. I paused to when I saw the famed the waters of some blind monk. It didn't look like water- not blue or clear, but a scarily glowing greenish coloring. It was strangely enough the most entrancing I had ever seen in either lives, which made my heart pound and stomach twist nervously in anxiety induced pleasure. It was strange- like my entire being was made for the waters of this place, like I was a part of it, and without my willing, I took two steps forward.

"You feel it too...?" Asahi trailed off, and then his eyes snapped back, dulled dark turning shiny. "Kaguya-" It sounded like he was underwater- was this like a Genjustsu? I took another two steps forward, not even feeling my body, but knowing I had tugged my arm away from his grip.

I heard Shinrai question him, "Is she okay?"

I swallowed hard, moving closer and closer, just kept going more and more. Asahi was steps behind me, trying to stop me with a firm hand on my shoulder, while our new companion was standing in front of the water, trying to figure what was going on- not that it would help, even I don't know what was going on.

"Kaguya-"

I dove into the water.

焔

A/N: I have, of course, returned after a long bout of illness and tiredness, so here is an early Easter present, my dear reviews. It is a bit longer than usual and written on only three hours of sleep, but I am proud of it none the less!

Also, I have been re-watching all the original Naruto episodes on Netflix, and Naruto Uzumaki was the silliest little guy in his youth, I swear. It's almost bittersweet, you know? Everything has gotten so serious when in reality, Naruto's beginning was a goofy, knucklehead ninja who was terrified of ghosts and wasted his Rasengan on making Ramen Noodles instead of saving Ayame with that technique. Ah...

The Good Old Days...

Anyway, there will be more updates with more detailing and perhaps more of this new..."traveler" Shinrai. If you feel like it, drop a review, what you like, what you don't like, or even just guess who this new character is.

Yours Truly,

Ender