Disclaimer : All characters and places belong to Masashi Kishimoto, ©1999-2008. Any characters and/or locations not recognized in the Naruto Shippuden universe belong to Jennifer Nicole Siciliano, a/k/a Grand Phoenix.

A/N: Revised July 11, 2008.

"Thus let me live, unseen, unknown,
Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie."
-- Alexander Pope, Ode on Solitude

"A palpable obscurity."
-- John Milton, Paradise Lost

Prologue

HE WAS ONE, AND HE WAS MANY. He was a diamond whose facets glowed at random intervals. In monotone, in color, in sepia, and in negativity, He could See All. He was Everywhere and He was Nowhere.

He was One who existed beyond mortality and within the reach of Death's doorstep. He was One who lived among men -- fragile, simple men -- and yet He resided in the realm far above the barriers of Earth, Air, and the Cosmos: the land that was Svarga.

He was One who saw the rise of Man's first civilization, from whence the dust they came from was pure and infantile. He was One who felt the darkness leak from their hearts. He was One whowatched the settlement collapse in despair and the opposing parties abandon the Cradle without a backward glance. It was He who performed miracles, who brought forth the rich and poor to establish diplomatic systems and founded what was known today as the Hidden Village Council. It was He who created the Shinobi race and led them to claim uncharted countries and forge foundations fitting of their name and affiliation. And, as time dwindled and aged, it was He who showed them the source of All Life and Stability, who taught them how to control it and properly utilize it from within the mind and from without the body. It was He who gave the Shinobi this gift, who programmed the channels of life energy into humans and other forms capable of producing it.

This energy, this source of life, was dubbed chakra. From these shapeless particles, miracles and wonders once demonstrated from Him astounded the Shinobi populace, surfacing alien and primitive emotions of sublimity and fear. Throughout the years, these techniques and its variations were recorded in arcane markings, its name lost in the vacuum of time. Later on, when nations fought tooth and nail, defensive martial arts were created to combat the more aggressive fighting styles developed by the imperial northern territories. The three main techniques stemmed from the philosophies of the Mind, Body, and Spirit were called Genjutsu, Taijutsu, and Ninjutsu, respectively.

As awe-inspiring as these stories may seem, there has been no evidence -- scientific or logistical -- of these events ever happening in the history of the Elemental Nations.

However, that did not mean He didn't exist.

His role in the world, whether it was active or passive, was unknown, and his life and very name remained a mystery to the Shinobi people. Unfortunately, there were very few sources on Him. The minority (a very small minority) who know of the One and Many claimed to have learned His existence in the libraries on non-Shinobi islands, provinces located on the south and east coasts of the Elemental Nations or along the scattered atolls beyond Sea Country.

Like the typical god in mythology, there were many different versions of the One and Many. One source explained that He was supposedly the Creator of the world (hence the religious figure Kami), rising from the bottomless depths of endless oceans the Earth with his mighty spear and droplets of salt. With His mate they descended from the heavens and cultivated the land which had come. Eventually they constructed a tall pillar around a sacred palace in willingness to reproduce in the new world. However, after complications with the mating ritual and two badly deformed children, He and His lover managed to bring forth eight great islands from their union, an allegorical interpretation of the creation of the Shinobi continent.

A second source stated that the planet had already become inhabited by homo-sapiens rapidly adapting to their surroundings. The aforementioned myth goes on to explain the One and Many observing the humans' actions -- actions that were put to the test of the Kālá Chakra, the Wheel of Time, after they fled the Seas in terror and confusion. It was an alleged fact, one that may have never seen the light of day, for them to fear what they did not know, did not comprehend. The oceans were not solid like the fresh soil beneath their feet, and what might have lay beyond the mysterious blue void was the End of the World, a horrible, damning aporia none wished to inflict upon or did not want to desire such a fate. Some things, He believed, were better left unsaid.

He had been calculating the days the humans migrated from the south and the east. He was always silent, mindful of their eyes and ears as He hid in rocks, trees, rivers, anything that would keep His identity a secret. He learned from watching that the nomads wished to find a place they could call Home, a Home where they could harvest crops, hunt game, mark trade routes and, most of all, live and prosper. It was not long after the exodus that they came upon seven family clans, each hailing from around the continent. Whether one family was once natives of the most brutal tundra or the harshest desert no longer mattered. They all had one thing in common, one dream yearning to come true, and it was so that these people turned to the task at hand.

For in their eyes came the light which filtered hope, pride, warmth, and harmony. And in their fervor they began to build their settlement one step, one day, at a time.

He continued watching.

Years passed, and progress was slowly being made. During this time houses and towers rose from their foundations. Markets dotted the core of the city and the makeshift government -- vaguely known as The Forum -- was organized at the northern regions away from the settlement. The population began to double as lesser known tribes and weary nomadic bands naturalized, and as more people joined the ranks uncharted territories became annexed by order of each clans' ruling head.

Allegedly it took four decades to accomplish the strenuous task, and it was with great joy

that the men, women, and children strived for the path ahead, the road which was forever changeable, forever inevitable. It was the past which shaped the present, the present which shaped the future, and the future which shaped both present and past. For it was in the hands of mankind to mold the meaning of their existence and the fates binding them to the Wheel of Time.

The chains which bound hell to its infernal gates loosened, and rage poured forth from the seeds of change.

Before His very Eyes, the serene and peaceful atmosphere of the society said to be a Golden Age quickly faded. A thick, dark cloud loomed over the civilization and the children of the earth suffocated. The dust churned into a sick soup of gore and ashes. None could say what happened afterwards, as the history of the Cradle's collapse could not be traced back to a window in time. A day in the life of John Doe where it took an unexpected (so true was the word!) turn for the worse and when the seeds of doom were reaped and sowed. There were theories, yes, of what may have been or what could have been: theories of anarchy among starvation, of wars with neighboring clans, of an ancient and deadly epidemic, and of civil unrest. But alas, fate would not allow such answers to be easily answered.

More so, it was never explained how the One and Many appeared before the disbanded wanderers in the wake of the disaster. Even more mind-boggling was the question that was on each and every historian's mind: why didn't He intervene? Why didn't He step in and salvage the peoples before it spiraled out of control? Why did He watch them Fall?

Perhaps, He wanted it to happen. Or perhaps, it was not His place to take action?

Nothing could be said.

The mystery that was the One and Many remained, and the world moved on.

There were other numerous sources on Him, but these yarns paled in comparison to the Rise and Fall of the Cradle. For some believed Him to be a god of neutrality, merely seeing events unfold and judging the world in preparations for the End of Days. The miracles He had been known to perform -- things the Shinobi are now able to re-enact, such as walking on water, healing the diseased, and raise nature from his beck and call -- made him renown as a benevolent factor. Though there was the slightest possibility that the One and Many was never present in the collapse, He was said to be a deity who nurtured the ninja race in their early lives, protecting them from the likes of convoluted barbarians who dare threaten the tranquility of His land.

But there was a dark side. It was a malicious light which shone on the One and Many, bleeding crimson, savoring the lustful sight of the color red and the shedding of scarlet tasting iron. On those accounts He was a hateful god, quick to temper and morbidly disturbed. He was claimed to be schizophrenic, at one point somber and arrogant, at other times insane and overflowing with wrath. A representation of anarchy, death, and sadism, He wreaked havoc on migrants through various methods of torture; physically, mentally, and spiritually. He destroyed them flawlessly and left them broken in blindingly hot fire, forsaken them with a toothy, maniacal smile as their mortal cries pierced the twilight.

He was everything good humans feared becoming.

He was everything bad humans yearned for.

He was merciless, murderous, unforgiving, horrific, terrible, and too real to be true.

And they all had one thing in common: there was no proof, no evidence, to back them up. So how could the One and Many exist when these anecdotes were put into question? How could He, a god of debatable association, live when there was next to nothing about Him? Was He truly a miraculous deity whose legacy was forgotten, or was He a fabrication given the Breath of Life by a creative, grandiose mind?

None could say.

Whoever He may be, the One and Many garnered a reputation in the non-Shinobi provinces. He had many names, names which labeled Him as The Mist, The Keeper of Time, The Magician, Father Coriander, and The Idealist. However, the one title that stuck with Him throughout the Ages of Men was simply set in stone for all the world to hear.

He was called The Enigma.

Yes, The Enigma. For the time had finally come for the world to know the most ambiguous of questions, the most provocative of answers. Not only the world, but the Elemental Nations as a whole.

Did the One and Many, The Enigma, truly exist?

None could say, save solely for the Bearer of Truths . . .