Warnings: violence

Chapter 9: In the Shadow

(excerpts from Chapter 2 of 'The Prince with Eyes Like the Sun'; manuscript delivered to Tanigakure no Sato from Ashoro, sender unknown)

The attack was unexpected.

One minute the caravan was plodding along the dusty road and, not a moment later, flaming arrows were raining down onto the dry canvas covers, remodeling the quiet forest path into a blazing inferno. From drowsing atop his steed, Shin(1) jerked to alertness. To his left a cart exploded, the burning splinters lodging into his horse's flank. The animal gave a loud, keening bray and fell onto its knees; only his quick reflexes saved the youth from being impaled by a flying spear and he jumped from his seat, clumsily unsheathing his daggers.

Amidst the chaos, Shin rushed towards the back of the convoy while dodging the scattering servants, his wide eyes frantically searching for his family. The rogues had made no attempt at negotiation and his heart clenched at the sudden, petrifying thought that the purpose of this brutal encounter may not be robbery but rather assassination. A bandit managed to clip him above the brow before the quick, instinctive thrust from Shin's dagger slipped past the man's guard and carved a deep cut across his neck.

Without pausing to look at his opponent Shin shoved the flailing man to the side and ducked under the nearest wagon to crawl to the other side. The carts and wagons had been strapped so closely together that slipping between them was impossible. Sliding on his belly, he made his way on hands and knees, his eyes desperately scanning the crowd.

"Otou-sama!" The terrified scream was ripped from his throat as he watched a group of bandits converging on his father's carriage. The guards had already engaged the enemy but two daring assassins had charged through the defense, focusing on the Kubo elder.

The taller of the two, a monster of a man wielding a massive nōdachi was attacking the four bodyguards with single-minded resolve. His fierce, relentless barrage of arching slashes and deep thrusts was keeping all four on the defensive. As Shin watched, their attention wavered from the second man for a couple of seconds. This small reprieve was all the assassin needed. He slipped past the warriors and with one vicious strike stabbed Kubo Fusazane through the heart.

Shin's agonized cry died in his throat as the damaged wagon collapsed on top of him and he knew no more.

He awoke under the rubble to the stench of boiling blood and burning corpses. Slowly, painfully, Shin dragged himself from under the charred remains of the cart. Whoever had survived the massacre had already fled; all that was left of the extravagant caravan were embers to fuel the fire ravaging his retainers' remains. In the face of such horror, the boy's mind shut down.

Mechanically, he made his way to an impaled body and wrenched the spear free. Using it as a walking stick, Shin haltingly made his way along the road, walking away from the bloodbath. He walked for two days straight until the path crossed the river bordering his family's lands. There, on the rocky river backs, he fell to his knees and cried.

Over the water, the sun bled red.

-0-0-0-0-0-

(previously, in the forests surrounding the Mountains' Graveyard)

"Pathetic... You wouldn't even deny that after more than a decade and a half of working with the Uchiha, you'd betray him on a whim! And not even one of your own!"

The liberating feeling of being close to death allowed me to speak as I wanted to, without checking my words to ensure I wouldn't say something that was not in accordance with this world, with this time period or with the knowledge I was supposed to have. It had made me passionate in my speech, frenzied in demanding answers.

"Do you know that Madara saw you as failed copies, deteriorating samples, decayed, degenerated genetic material?! What are you to such a man? What-"

"A tool, as you said yourself." he interrupted sharply, leaning down at my level "But, since you know so much about us, the better question is: what are you?"

-0-0-0-0-0-

"What I am? I'm a g-god!" I remember crying out, the shaky scream trailing into a hacking cough.

"I've seen the Rikudou Sennin speak with the infant Bijuu, I've watched Senju Hashirama fight Uchiha Madara at the Valley of the End and I've seen the fall of the heavens(2)." I waved my arm melodramatically, the sweeping motion meant to suggest that my knowledge was all encompassing.

Unlike most other Akatsuki members who could have - perhaps - been enticed with the promise of future knowledge, I doubted Zetsu would let me live, especially when I had just killed his siblings and had information which put him at odds with all the other members of their criminal organization, including the Uchiha.

Everything had gone to hell in a hand-basket and I remember thinking that I would be damned if I got eaten without at least trying to make Zetsu sweat.

"I'm an oracle, a seer. I've seen you cower before the avatar of Namikaze Minato, leeching off Obito's dying body. Don't you want to know about your de-death?" I tried baiting him, but I was tired - and terrified - and my voice quivered pathetically.

"An idle boast. I will show you yours before you show me mine." Kuro-Zetsu growled from his kneeling position.

The theatrical delivery and the unsettling nature of the revelations seemed to have only sharpened his belief that I was either insane or more of a threat than an asset. He was unmoved, unafraid and I could see it in his eyes when he decided that we were finished talking.

His black arm slowly lifted towards my face but, before it could complete its path, a high-pitched scream was heard, coming from a tree not far behind me and then a crash, as something - or rather someone - gracelessly plunked down next to me.

"Oh, Zetsu-senpai! Tobi had a really, really hard time catching up to you." came the masked man's falsely cheerful voice. It was clear that he had heard at least part of our conversation and was opposed to Zetsu disposing of me so abruptly. 'The bastard is right to be paranoid. I have just accused Zetsu of betraying him and possessing his body.' I silently mused, while the Uchiha threw an arm around my shoulders, jarring my arm and making my vision darken from the sudden stab of pain.

"But Tobi can forgive you for leaving so abruptly. The flames were so big and scary! It's much nicer here, with the tall, leafy trees and, oh! Zetsu-senpai! You've found a hurt, little-"

You could tell the precise instant when Obito became aware of the identity of the dirty child facing his teammate. His gestures stilled and his tall frame grew taut. The childish demeanor bled off like a clown's cheap makeup in the rain. His grip tightened painfully, fingers digging into my arm so hard that I couldn't muffle a cry.

"-You." he said in a husky baritone that betrayed nothing of the anger I could feel from his hurtful, unyielding grip.

"Me." I sneered weakly.

"Well, this certainly explains a few things." came the Uchiha's whisper "And raises many more questions."

"Tobi..." Shiro-Zetsu whispered dejectedly.

"I'm afraid I'm going to borrow the girl for a little while." Obito said, shaking me lightly "She's made such amazing claims and interesting accusations."

"Tobi, we..." Shiro-Zetsu interjected again. While his darker half held his silence, the white side's previously light voice was now quiet and brittle, his manner filled with consternation.

"I will be back shortly." he added, showing no sign of having heard his companion's interruption. "...Don't be a stranger... Zetsu."

I heard his parting words as in a dream, through an immense pressure squeezing me from all sides. The pain in my arm had grown to unbearable levels and I passed out.

I woke in a limitless place, the nature of which my brain immediately rejected, vainly trying to translate the surrounding black void into an understandable, familiar thing. I had been lying on a hard, cool platform and while my head was pounding, I felt surprisingly little pain from either of my injuries. With agonizing slowness, I raised myself to a sitting position and noticed that all my injuries had been tended to, the broken arm carefully splintered, the leg wounds wrapped tightly in clean bandages. The attention that had been paid to my well being momentarily threw me for a loop; it was so absurd, so at odds with what I expected of the masked criminal who had taken Isamu away from me.

Once I gathered my bearings I realized that the very man was seated behind me, lounging on a throne-like boulder, waiting in silence. Even as I turned to look at him, the Uchiha still refused to speak, the look expanding into a lengthy stare. Finally, I let my eyes drop from his mask and, with a sigh, decided to address him.

"Well, Uchiha," I whispered in a hoarse voice, perhaps rudely, rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand "from our previous meeting I had assumed that, unlike your partner, you'd be all for interrogation."

He stayed quiet long enough for the silence to become uncomfortable and I felt myself starting to fidget. At last, his answer came in a subtly amused tone that was plainly meant to provoke me.

"You're a great deal more hostile than the last time we met. What happened? Did the charade grow tiresome?"

"What happened?!' I asked "You happened, you... you madman! Murderer! I hate you! I hate you!" I hissed, leaning backwards and closing my eyes in an effort to lessen the throbbing pain inside my head.

"Do you? ...You've halved my forces, revealed sensitive information about me and mine, tried to alienate my allies and make a fool of me." I heard him listing my offenses in a low, slightly menacing monotone. I stayed silent.

While it was one of the few things which still kept me going, I knew he wouldn't appreciate the suggestion that I had succeeded in the endeavor.

"I think we can safely say that I hold a great, great deal of dislike for you as well." he finished quietly, betraying none of the hostility he claimed to feel.

Then again, earlier in the day he'd spoken on an equally amiable tone while gripping my shoulder hard enough to break.

"You sh-shouldn't have touched my b-brother." I said hoarsely "When I first started writing the books, I'd hoped that you and the rest of the Akatsuki would veer off your self-destructive paths." I swallowed a rueful laugh and, squinting, I tried to focus on the hole in his mask "Now, I'm just sorry you weren't in the base when it blew up."

"Your brother?" he had the gall to appear dismayed. "That nonsense you spouted the last time we met? You didn't honestly expect me to believe that lazy fool had anything to do with the books."

"He... didn't..." I falteringly agreed. "He d-didn't! But then, if you were already aware of the misdirection... why?! Why did you.."

"Again with that? I didn't kill your worthless brother and, to the best of my knowledge, neither did Zetsu. Though seeing how much trouble you've caused me, I wish I'd ordered your whole wretched line eliminated. I still might."

"A pointlessly cruel bluff... why try so hard to deny your involvement?" I scoffed. The madman's continued denials were baffling. Perhaps he believed that I would magically agree to help him in his deluded quest, offer some vital tidbit, if he convinced me of his - relative - innocence.

"He went missing right after our talk. You can't think me so thick so as not to put two and two together. What's your angle? Do you think it will get you more infor-"

"Have you considered, silly girl" Obito said spitefully "that just as you've caught my attention, you might have made other adversaries with your... your little games?"

I barked a short, hollow laugh and let myself fall backwards until I was lying on my back, with my uninjured arm slung over my eyes.

"Oh, this is rich! Is this the moment where you start pointing fingers? Maybe at Sasori - he was one of my first characters after all, and as a spymaster, he could've reasonably found out about my family. He's certainly heartless enough to interrogate a potential suspect without concern for their life."

I tried to put myself in the Uchiha's shoes and it didn't take me long to come up with yet another suggestion.

"No, your style would be different... You'd have little to gain from shifting the blame onto one of your pawns. But I know what you would do. You've done it before - or will do it again -, blame Danzo. Since I have spilled some of his dirty little secrets, this would tie in nicely, wouldn't it, eh?"

He didn't rise to my bait, if anything, he latched onto another part of my speech entirely. After a short silence, he carefully inquired, "And what precisely have I, or will I, blame Shimura Danzo for?"

"I suppose it won't mean much if I tell you that I... I believe that, in the event of Itachi's death, you plan on informing his brother about the truth behind the Uchiha massacre, including the names of those who ordered the clan's elimination... neglecting of course to mention your own involvement in the bloody affair."

"And we come full circle, to your uncanny ability of mentioning things you should have no knowledge of." He paused, as though to wait for some confession, then asked. "You've mentioned to Zetsu that you believe yourself to be a seer. How often do you have these..."

"...Mystical visions? Flashes of insight? Often enough." I answered in a wry tone 'After all, the knowledge is already in my head.' I silently added. "But I doubt you're interested in the gruesome death of a random farmer from Cha no Kuni ten years ago."

I wasn't even sure why I was playing this game. The man was still an enemy, though his continued denials had been noted and, frustratingly, had the ring of truth.

I balked at the idea but - in light of his repeated protestations - I considered that I could perhaps give him one chance to prove his innocence (in this matter). It was so tempting, so irresistible, the idea that it mightn't have been my fault (not wholly), that while I'd failed in my self-imposed mission, I could still bribe someone into bringing me my brother's killer.

Maybe then the guilt would ease a bit, would stop choking me whenever I thought about my family.

With my eyes closed I sat, mulling over every scrap of information I knew about Uchiha Obito, turning over the memory of our previous encounter, every hint that the madman could be telling the truth, that he could become a tentative ally. Could I trust him not to simply find a convenient scapegoat while demanding information to further the Akatsuki's goals? Perhaps if I told him the truth about Madara, if I told him the truth surrounding the death of his beloved teammate... Perhaps if...

I must have laid there for hours, considering and reconsidering. I wasn't smart or cunning enough to predict the madman's actions; and I wasn't so naive - or virtuous - as to believe in this man's inherent goodness. For all I knew, once made aware of the depth of Madara's manipulations, he could fly into a rage and kill everything in sight. But hope, hope is difficult to stamp out. Even if it's only the hope of doing something monstrous...

"Bring me hard, solid proof that neither you nor any of your associates were involved in my brother's disappearance. Better still, bring me indisputable proof of who was or, best of all, bring me their corpses back with the proof." I rasped "In exchange, I'll tell you all about your supposed perfect world, Madara's plans to double-cross you... and the crimes he's already committed against you."

-0-0-0-0-0-

(excerpt from Chapter 6 of 'The Prince with Eyes Like the Sun')

He had passed into Yomi-no-Kuni like a wraith. The world's color had slowly bled away until he was the only beacon of life in a realm of dark shades and frightening, senseless shapes that groaned and shifted at the edge of his vision. He didn't question when a hunched figure dressed in long, flowing robes appeared by his side and, gently holding onto his elbow, led him past the forest of absurd structures and into an eerie temple.

"Izanami(3)-sama is not here to hear your request, child." his companion's raspy voice floated into Shin's mind, a treacherous whisper of thought that had escaped his hearing.

"But, in her stead, I shall welcome you to her halls." Inside the temple, under the light of a thousand floating candles, the dead partook of a grand feast.

There were hundreds, thousands of seated figures, eating the strange fare and talking. The Shinigami stopped by many tables to converse with these specters. In reply to his queries the dead nodded their heads, gestured and rose from their seats to stand by the death god, darting around each-other and vying for his attention like butterflies flittering around an irresistible flower.

The deeper they walked into the temple, the more unsettled the young boy became. A host of spirits had joined in their slow walk, turning the stroll into a bizarre procession of eager, chattering figures whose voices the boy couldn't hear. At the death god's side, Shin felt himself fade into a shadow.

Eyes wide with terror, he tugged on the Shinigami's robes and the dark cloth slipped through his fingers like midnight smoke. Maddened, he scattered the tableware, toppled the chairs and tried to set them alight. In the blink of an eye, at some sign from the death god, his wreck was undone.

Falling to his knees, he screamed, threatened and pleaded but all to no avail.

THE END

-0-0-0-0-0-

(1) Behind the name: Shin - written with the kanji for true (真);

(2) Tsubaki is referring to Madara's Tengai Shinsei.

(3) In Japanese mythology, Yomi-no-Kuni (the realm of the dead) is the current home of the goddess Izanami. Yomi is not necessarily considered a separate realm from Earth but once one has eaten food from the Land of the Dead one may not return to the realm of the living.

Thank you all for reading and staying with me to the end! If you've enjoyed this, please take the time to leave a comment. Even something as short as a 'kudos mate' makes my day.

A/N: For those interested, a sequel is planned.

(Final spoiler regarding the protagonists of Tsubaki's stories: The Demon Who Became a Boy and The Boy Who Became a Demon - Gaara and Sasori;

The Miko's Last Dance - Hidan;

The Oni of a Thousand Eyes - Shimura Danzo and Itachi;

The Wizard Who Put a Kingdom to Sleep - Itachi and Sasuke (and EvilShapeshifter/MasterManipulator!Obito);

The Three Brothers of Vice - Konan, Nagato and Yahiko (and EvilShapeshifter/MasterManipulator!Obito);

The Prince with Eyes Like the Sun - Young!Obito and Madara)