A/N: So how do you all like my personal take on Madara's background? And my new cover for this story? I drew it myself! A very Happy New Year to all!

WE TOO, WILL BE STORIES IN THE END

'Ma, that would be because a long, long, long time ago, I wasn't an ayakashi; I was a human.'

Natsume paused to make sure he hear his sensei correctly. 'What!'

'I was a human. It was when I died that I received the beast form.'

Natsume took a delayed breath in shock. 'You were a human?'

'Yes - I was a human a very long time ago.'

'When is a very long time ago?'

Madara smirked. 'When even villages didn't exist.'

Natsume gaped at the human form of his sensei. Never could he have thought of anything like that. That his sensei was once a human. That he had lived before agriculture hadn't even been invented, thousands of years ago. 'And?'

Madara laughed at Natsume's expectant words. 'I was part of a tribe. We were a small group of hunter-gatherers, nomads, who travelled wherever nature took us. It was nature that unexpectedly took me. I thought that I had died, and I had, but my essence which for all intents and purposed was myself, remained on Earth as a spirit.'

'Does that happen often? I mean, humans turning into yokai when they die?'

'Not at all. I have only heard of a couple of other ayakashi who were human when they were born. I'd imagine it happens even less now, with how disconnected the humans are to the spirit world.'

'So before, more humans could see? There were more people like me?'

'Oh yes. Back then, humans were more in touch with nature, and everyone was able to see yokai and accept them as a part of the world.'

Natsume smiled at that. 'It must have been a good time.'

'Yes. That it was.'

'What happened, when you became a yokai?'

'Like I said, yokai were a well known part of the world. So even when I died, I lived with my people. It was like normal life, like nothing had changed. I was young, and naïve. I was foolish enough to think that I was the same as them.'

Madara's words tumbled out without pause as he recounted.

'I played with my friends, and then their children and grandchildren, and before I knew it generations upon generations had passed, each one taking people that I cherished away from me. It hurt, unbelievably so, but I managed somehow because I could see everyone live on in their descendants. Soon, I became the totem of the tribe. I played with every generation, so everyone regardless of age trusted me. I knew the whole history of the tribe so the youngest would gather around the fire at night and I'd tell them all the stories that they could wish for. The parents knew that I'd take good care of their children. I'd had the experience of many years, so the elders would ask me for guidance and advice.'

His eyes, that has been smiling before, now dulled.

'I watched as all the people I knew in the world grew older and died before my eyes.'

'Sensei...'

Natsume watched as shook his head, his eyes crinkled at the corners in his bittersweet memories. He stood up, extending a hand down.

'Shall we carry on?' The gesture was genial, and so different to before. Natsume took the hand, allowing himself to be pulled up and marvelling at the little interaction which had not been possible before. They had rested for longer than planned, and it was about time they carried on. But this time, the dynamics were so different. It wasn't Nyanko-sensei being carried by Natsume, or Natsume riding on the white beast's back: they were standing next to each other; side by side.

''From now, it going to be you and me, and the never ending road. Are you ready?'

Natsume looked back one more in the direction of the village and the people that he had just left. Determination filled him. He nodded.

'Yes.'

They started walking.

Natsume, 'Will you tell me sensei? About when you were human, and after that?'

'Oh? What do you want to know about?'

'Everything. Your life: the people and yokai you've met, the places you've traveled, the things you've seen. Surely in all this time, you have many tales to tell?'

Madara laughed. 'One or two. But I'm warning you, it's a very long story.'

Natsume tuned his gaze to the landscape in front of them. 'Oh, but we have a long way in front of us.'

A smile played on both their lips.

'Okay, then, let's get going. You know what, I think it's perfect weather for flying.'

'Mn. I couldn't agree more.'

~part 1, complete~