"Empyreal Paradox"

By Nes Mikel

Acknowledgment;

I herby acknowledge that the work of fiction presented here is for my own personal amusement and entertainment purposes alone. Most of the story, characters, place names and other etc stuff in this fiction are copyright Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi, Weekly Shounen Jump, and any others I might have forgot.

For non up-to-date readers, this fiction contains characters and events introduced post-timeskip and spoilers up to the latest Naruto manga chapters.

I also humbly suggest reading Garden of Sanctuary and Medusa Javelin first before reading this fiction. Although not a requirement, many things in this fiction will not make sense unless they have been read beforehand. The links to both fictions are in my profile.

With that said, enjoy.

"Empyreal Paradox"

- Chapter One -

"Ascendancy"

n – the state of being in governing or controlling influence

Sitting on top of the large slab of concrete that originally belonged to some other building, he looked up at the cloudless sky above him, and as he puffed on his pipe he noticed the bright moon lighting up the sky above tonight. So bright, in fact, that the four torches burning on top of the four pillars that held up this open tent proved almost useless for the purpose of illumination. Although it could've been argued that they at least provided heat, seeing as they were in the midst of a windless midsummer night, the air hot and sticky, that purpose too was proven null. The only reason it remained burning was practically for intimidation purposes.

The rather young-looking white-haired man finished exhaling the smoke he contained in his lungs and sat his pipe down on top of another large slab of concrete rubble right next to him and exchanged it with his chopsticks and his nearly forgotten bento box that had been sitting on his lap all this time. He then calmly proceeded to unwrap bamboo wrappings of the bento box so he could unravel its mouth-watering contents he was sure to find inside. Although the timing for the unwrapping was inappropriate, he was merely following the advice of an age-old proverb.

Hara ga hettewa ikusa wa dekinu.

War cannot be fought when hungry.

It was a time of war now.

On this particular day, the right half of his bento box was stacked with his favorite side dishes like the grilled chicken with sesame seeds, the assorted steamed vegetables, a slice of apple and his most favorite, the tamagoyaki – omelette squares cooked with salt and sugar. The other half was packed full with white rice sprinkled with a touch of vinegar and the long-standing staple food for all bento boxes, the sour-tasting pickled apricot people believed that would prevent rice from going bad. Typically placed inside a rice-ball or on top of a bed of rice, the umeboshi stared back at him from the surface of the open bento box.

"Curse them." He mumbled under his breath, cringing at the sight. For a while, the man continued prodding the tiny food with his chopsticks, debating to himself if he should shove it down his throat and get it over with or throw it away in some random direction in a fit of fury.

"And I told them specifically." The man said after he sat his chopsticks down, plucking the small pickled plum out of the box with his fingers after he decided on the latter option. "No. Damn. Apricots."

If looks could kill, the poor unfortunate apricot would've been burned to ashes from the man's glare alone. Unfortunately for him, that was only wishful thinking, and so he opted out for sighing out his negativity instead. Umeboshi was the one food he hated with a passion. "It just ain't my day today."

WHAM!

Of course, he was perfectly aware of someone sneaking up behind him, eventually becoming the large man with the gigantic sword in his hands. He also was perfectly aware of the large man's intent of wanting to cleave him in two with that deadly blade of his, and so he only had to tilt his body slightly to the left. He felt the blade pass him by harmlessly, missing him completely and cleaving the unfortunate chuck of concrete he was sitting on into two instead.

Still sitting on the intact half of the large slab, the man lazily leaned his head all the way back so he stared at his opponent straight in the eye upside-down. "And you just had to make it even worse."

"As expected of a former Hokage of the Hidden Leaf." The large man said, grinning as he extracted the giant curved blade out of the rubble. "You are a worthy opponent, Lord Seishi."

His head still upside down, the lazy eyes of the man referred to as Seishi narrowed slightly as he recognized the man in front of him. "The 'Butcher of Kusagakure', Mizouchi Rukyou. The sword-wielding berserker who scours the lands to seek the strongest of men just so he can kill them. I wasn't aware that you have joined the ranks of the Mist…" He trailed off when he noticed the scarred Grass forehead protector the man wore around his neck. "…or perhaps not."

"I hold allegiance to no one." The large man replied with a sneer as he shifted his trademark weapon from his left hand to the right.

"I suppose you're only along for the ride, then." Seishi calmly observed as he slowly stood up and turned around to face his opponent directly. He wasn't dumb enough to turn his eyes away from his opponent, however. He was not the one to take any chances.

"Hah!" Rukyou burst into light laughter, looking pleased. "I had only taken advantage of them. The Mist had done their part in scattering your village's defense. I am here to test you, and to kill you. I had always wanted to see how their most infamous traitor of all fares in battle. I never would've expected you sitting here in the open all by yourself though, in front of the village gates no less"

Seishi's lips puckered at the statement. "So the 'Butcher' has been reduced to a mere mercenary. Oh how the mighty have fallen, eh Rukyou?"

The stupid grin on the missing-nin from the Hidden Grass was wiped off clean. A deep, low growl sounded from the inner-depths of his vocal cords. "Don't you dare compare me to a mere mercenary." He seethed, crouching down and readying his weapon.

"If you've taken up the job to assassinate me then you're no better than those others, no?" Seishi replied with a shrug.

"Silence!" The swordsman lunged forward, swinging his sword in a large, horizontal sweep aiming to decapitate the former Hokage of the Hidden Leaf. Seishi rolled his eyes and only had to squat down in order to avoid the attack, but had to suddenly step to the right when he noticed the swordsman had somehow summoned another blade into his other hand and was swinging the blade down at him in a vertical arc. Only his sharp instincts shaped by the years of experience in battle had allowed him to avoid the same fate as that poor boulder from before, but he cringed when he heard a sickening crackfrom under his foot.

Rukyou, meanwhile, had jumped back, putting a safe distance between his opponent and himself after his adversary had successfully dodged his attack. He was looking mildly amused. "I had intended to test you at first… but you actually managed to avoid my kagenigeki – the shadow second strike. You are most impressive, Lord Seishi." He grinned evily. "You are a worthy opponent indeed."

Seishi, however, wasn't listening to him. "Ahhh, dammit!" He shouted, looking dismayed at the crushed object underneath his foot. "You made me step on my chopsticks! Dammit, how am I supposed to eat my food now?

The stupid grin disappeared from Rukyou's face a second time. "Enough with that foolish act of yours, Lord Seishi!" Rukyou violently threw both of his swords down, stabbing both of them down into the ground. He pointed an accusing finger at Seishi. "I demand you take me seriously! I will give you an opportunity to discard those foolish items in your hand so you may take up a weapon instead. I will give you my word that I will not attack you during that time."

"Foolish items?" Seishi asked, looking back and forth at the umeboshihe still held in between his fingers in his right hand and the bento box he held in his left. Raising the hand he held the umeboshi, he said, "Fine, I admit this pickled apricot is, but this?" He raised the hand he held bento box in slightly. "You accuse this of a foolish item? How dare you!"

Rukyou looked at Seishi as if he were insane. "You intend me to fight with that… that box?"

"Of course not! You don't fight with bento boxes, you eat food from them!"

"Then what-"

Seishi coughed once to clear his throat before he launched into his long speech. "When you're crunched for time and don't have time to go out for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, the bento box is the only smart option out there for everyone! Bento boxes are a great way to maximize your nutrition without hassles, and they incorporate some culture in the process as well! Packing food in a bento box is an ancient tradition that dates as far back as the early days of the Reign of the 22nd Emperor, back when there was no such thing as technology for refrigeration. We owe their invitation thanks to the ordinary farm worker, spending long days out in the field without time to sit down and eat a complete meal. For them, packing food from home was essential. Transporting food in its freshest form was even more important in those days, especially because of the long excursions, travels, and trips through different climates common in everyday life. The bento box concept then evolved from this need for food transportation and wholesome packed lunches."

"Um…"

"A substantive meal could be composed of a portion of rice, with a side of fish, cooked vegetables, or other meats. Bento boxes are made from materials such as bamboo leaves like what I have here, or oak bark, and eventually evolved into the more common metal renditions we know today. Oh, and I said that bento boxes incorporate culture as well, right? Well, our food culture appeals to the aesthetic sense, incorporating variety, balanced flavor, and visual appeal in almost all dishes, and our bento boxes are no different because they are designed with efficiency and flexibility in mind. The key thing to remember about packing a bento is considering the balance of food components, since bento food is usually eaten a period of time, so it's essential to lay out the food in the most effective way lest it goes bad."

"Uh…"

"Traditional bento is composed of a 1:1 ratio of side and rice dishes. Fish, meat, and cooked vegetables are usually set aside in one compartment, and rice is filled in the other. Some bento boxes have enough space for small bowls, in which case a cold soup, sushi, or other smaller items can be added for variety-"

"That is enough!"

Looking at the enraged form of Rukyou charging at him with both of his swords in hand, Seishi sighed. "See, this is the problem with you young ones. You never listen to you elders, even when they're offering you good advice."

"Silence!" Rukyou almost-screamed as his twin swords came bearing down on Seishi's unmoving form. "I have been a fool for even thinking that you were competent!"

CL-CLANG!

"Well then, looks like you are a fool indeed."

Clink… clink…

"What…? But… but how…!"

Just precisely before the moment of impact, Rukyou felt something solid hit both of his swords, stopping them in mid-air – but that was not what surprised him. What surprised him was that both of his swords, made out of one of the strongest metal alloys known to man, had been sliced cleanly off the hilt and point. The broken blades clattered uselessly onto the ground.

"Did you know?" Seishi said, his smirk wide. "That water, with enough pressure, can cut through even diamond?"

Rukyou couldn't close his gaping mouth shut. "A water cutter…? But… but you didn't… you didn't even make any hand seals!"

Ignoring Rukyou's outburst, Seishi was staring at the man's face, looking mildly mischevious. "You really ought to close that gaping mouth lest I put something like this in."

"Something like- gwah?" He wasn't even given a chance to ask what the former Hokage meant with those worlds when the missing-nin suddenly felt a foreign object travel up his mouth and throat. He collapsed down into one knee, chocking out the sour taste in his mouth. What was this thing?

"Finally found a use for this stupid umeboshi!" Seishi said, laughing.

"Y-You… chea… ter…!"

"All's fair in love and war." Seishi's tone of voice changed, as well as the expression he wore behind the metal faceguard on his face. Setting his bento box back down on the ground floor, he pulled a small kunai out in front of him. "Pucker up, Rukyou. You got your wish. I'm coming after you seriously now."

"No, wai-"

"Suiton: Hijutsu. Chisame."

Water Element, Secret Technique.

Bloody Rain.

"That was… different, sensei."

Seishi noticed the young man walking towards him as soon as he finished his eating from his bento box and folded the now-empty bamboo container and tucked it away in his back pouch. Allowing the brown-haired middle-aged man with a goatee on his chin some time to catch up until he was standing next to him, Seishi then noticed that the man had this curious, if not confused, look on his face.

"But I think you went overboard." The man said, looking genuinely concerned. "Did you really have to use Chisame on him?"

"The guy had the balls to accuse me of being the Mist's traitor, when they were the ones who betrayed me instead." Seishi replied as he eyed the large red stain painted on the dirt floor not so far away from him. It was all that remained of the famed 'Butcher' of the Hidden Grass. "But I did it mostly because it put a good show on for those good-for-nothing Mist-nins who were no doubt spying on our battle. Probably sent out Rukyou just to test me. Isn't that right?"

Seishi's smirk grew wider as he sensed several chakra signatures running away from him as soon as he mouthed those words, no doubt of because what he just said. He turned his attention back to the young man standing still beside him. "You disapprove of my methods?"

"I just wished there was an alternative solution to resolve this conflict."

Seishi responded by closing his eyes. "Those years of peace had made you soft, Monkey." He said, slowly opening his eyes again as he stared at his prized apprentice serious. "That feeling of pity should've disappeared the moment the Mist invaded our village. Discard all that pity you may still have for those foreign shinobi, Monkey. They are our enemies now."

There was a long silence between them. He would have preferred a lively argument, or even a fight to the dead air that was a sharp contrast to the usual lively conversations between them. Only, this time the situation was more serious, and both of them knew it.

"Night has fallen." Seishi commented off-handedly as he slowly rose up from his sitting position, standing shoulder to shoulder to his apprentice and breaking the tense silence between them. "Almost a full day has passed since the invasion now. Has the situation improved any?" He asked, walking past him and towards the former massive village gates that had since been splintered into thousands of kindling from the invading force's initial assault. "Surely, you didn't come all the way out here just to check up on me? I may have retired and passed the title to you, but you know I alone am more than capable enough of holding the ground here."

His apprentice was quick to follow his steps and walked in line behind him. "You don't have to stand guard in front of the gates anymore." He said.

"Oh?"

"Information and Espionage has confirmed that their commanding officers had ordered a full retreat – except for those forward scouts you just chased away just now, of course." The man then snapped his fingers, and at his signal several dozen ninjas cloaked in black capes and dressed in lightweight armor similar to the more-heavy design he wore appeared behind them. "I can now spare enough men to take your place as forward guard." He said. "Your strength is needed elsewhere now, sensei."

A small, proud smile soon appeared on Seishi's face. "Very well, Monkey. You're the boss of the mountain." He spared a quick glance at the elite male and female shinobis standing guard around him. "I'm counting on you people."

The ANBU guards that surrounded them clicked their heels and saluted their former leader. "Sir yes sir!"

Chuckling, Seishi bid them farewell and together with his apprentice he walked underneath the large gaping hole the gates left them and took his first steps inside the village he had been protecting for the past twenty or so hours. "What else can you tell me, Monkey?" He asked as soon as he put a good distance between himself and the gates.

"There are some small pockets of Mist-nins still fighting in the village." The current Hokage told his predecessor. "But with your help, as well as from those three, it's only a matter of time before they're subsidized. I'd wager it's safe to say their invasion failed, sensei. It's our victory. We are now refocusing our efforts on-"

"No."

"Pardon?"

"It's not our victory, Monkey." Seishi mumbled bitterly. "Far from it. Those bastards did a good job in delivering a blow to our village. Our village is damaged, and yet, theirs remain intact. That hardly qualifies as a victory in my opinion."

"But-"

He interrupted his student's protest with a sigh. "Never mind, Monkey. Forget what I said. The important thing right now is to focus on the now. You were saying?"

His successor nodded back at him. "We are now refocusing our efforts on moving and clearing out the necessary debris, assigning mostly rookie Genin and Chuunins to the job. Multiple rescue operations are also underway to save several people still buried underneath the collapsed structures."

Seishi lightly bit his lower lip at the news. "Those bastards actually did a good number on our structures? I thought the Hokage Tower was the only one that was badly hit."

"Unfortunately, no. Although you had stopped the majority of the invading force after you volunteered for the position of front guard, it appears now that the ranks of the first wave of invasion forces was filled with collateral damage specialists. Not only was the Hokage Tower demolished, a good portion of the Southern Industrial district and the North-Western Residential district were also hit quite badly. Most of the still ongoing battles are fought in that region too, and it's been hampering the rescue efforts in that area."

"Can you tell me any good news, Monkey?" Seishi said in a strained voice.

"Besides the fact that the Mist's invading force is now in full retreat? Well, I don't know if I can call it good news, but at the very least the rescue efforts around the Hokage Tower is proceeding along smoothly, and…" His student trailed off, shifting his gaze about and around him nervously.

Seishi wasn't the one to miss out on such a thing. "And?" He asked, his curiosity piqued.

"…While working away to clean away the wreckage, one of the excavation works found a hidden entrance to what looks like an ancient underground ruin we never knew it existed running underneath the Hokage Tower. From what we can tell from our initial expedition, the network of tunnels appears to travel down into quite deep depths."

"Is that so... I never knew such… I always did wonder why my brother chose this location to build the tower." Seishi said, amused. "He never told me his reasons. It makes me think if he had chosen this site for such purposes."

His student stared back at him, befuddled. "Sensei, are you suggesting that perhaps maybe… something's down there?"

The former Hokage chuckled at his student's antics. "Now wouldn't that be nice, eh Monkey? To find the very key that'll end this war. Maybe that's why my brother built the tower at that location, for our decedents to use the secrets sealed in the ruins when Konoha is in peril."

"You really think so?" His apprentice asked with both of his eyebrows raised.

A teasing smile still on his face, Seishi shrugged. "Perhaps. But who knows? Either way, there's only one way to find out. Speaking of which, who have you assigned to field the excavation process for the ruins?"

"I have requested the help of the Hyuuga clan." The man answered. "They were reluctant to lend their hand at first, but they eventually conceded and they have sent us one of their Branch family members to help map out the underground passageways. The girl should already be at the site helping the other workers out."

Seishi nodded, satisfied with his answer. "What else can you tell me about the Mist? Has Information and Espionage uncovered any of their plans that might hint at a second invasion?"

"Well, I wouldn't worry about them coming after us again anytime soon. Their attempted invasion on our village had set off a chain reaction, it seems."

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"The reports we've received are conflicting and chaotic, but from what we can decipher it seems that, almost simultaneously, the Hidden Cloud had launched an invasion against the Hidden Mist taking advantage of the fact that the brunt of their forces were busy invading us. Interestingly enough, the Hidden Stone then took advantage of the Hidden Cloud's absence of force and launched an invasion against them, and the latest reports say that the border patrols spotted a large Hidden Sand force moving in on Hidden Stone territory."

"I'll be damned." Seishi said. His voice was devoid of excitement and was instead replaced with a feeling of astonishment. "One treaty broken right after another."

His student nodded back at him solemnly. "It seems the Third Great Ninja War has indeed begun."

Picking up on his student's depressed mood, he approached him and placed a comforting hand on his open shoulder. "You did all you can, Monkey. You gave peace your best shot."

His student's eyes drifted elsewhere, avoiding his eyes. "My best shot wasn't enough."

Seishi released his hold on the shoulder and took back a step, crossing his arms in front of him. "I know you love peace and abhor war above all else, Monkey." Seishi lectured. "But you have to accept that this world has been plunged into a world of war yet again. Now stop whining and pull yourself together. You have your people and a village to lead."

It appeared his encouragement had a profound effect. The sparkle of fire his apprentice had just lost was now burning brightly in his eyes again. "Of course! I shall not fail you, sensei!" He exclaimed proudly.

"Now that's more like it." Seishi said, grinning from ear to ear. "Now, lead the way, Monkey. We have resistances we need to crush. Can't let your students have all the fun, no?"

His student laughed back at him. "No, of course not."

Both student and teacher soon dissipated from view in giant swirl of leaves.

The student. Commonly known among the world as the 'professor', the diplomat who strived hard for world peace, the third and the most current Hokage whose reign had so far lasted ten years in this village hidden amongst the leaves

Sarutobi Sasuke.

The teacher. Known now as one of the legendary two brothers who had originally founded the Village of the Hidden Leaf, he was the former Second Hokage of Konoha Village and the best Water Element Ninjutsu specialist known throughout the entire world.

Kazama Seishi.

There were so many things she wanted to say to him.

Truthfully, she wasn't even supposed to be down here. They were taking a break from their excavation work right now, the others chatting amongst themselves on the debris-free courtyard right next to the ruins of the Hokage Tower and she was supposed to be up there and among with them.

So far, their work had been going along smoothly. Before the break they had been shoveling rubble into the small, wheeled carts they had built to haul away the rubble that blocked a few certain passageways. They used a simple but effective system in where one worker will fill up a cart, and once it was full they would pull on the rope attached to it and whoever was working behind them would at that point pull the filled cart back and push an empty one right back up.

There were occasionally paths that were blocked, most likely by the walls giving in from wear and age, but with the help of her bloodline limit once they cleared the debris they were usually rewarded with new paths that would lead them further down into the underground floors. And in one such blocked path they dug away just hours ago, she found a lateral split in the tunnel, a crevasse formed by some upheaval in the earth that had most likely been caused by the explosive shockwave when the Hokage Tower constructed above the underground ruins had collapsed. It was less dangerous than it appeared to be at first, where one side of the split fell away into a deep, vertical crevasse that was barely more than a stride across, but upon closer inspection she discovered the split to be endlessly deep, for a stone dropped into it produced no sound of impact.

She wasn't really paying attention at first to what kind of task was assigned to her. All her father had told her was that perhaps she could, for once, be useful to him and told her that she was to be assigned to a mundane task any of her other clansmen could easily complete. Knowing full-well of his intentions to provoke her so he would have another perfect excuse to discipline her, she emotionlessly obliged and set off to accomplish her task.

She was grateful, however, to see one of her brothers – the younger one, and her favorite – see her off when she was about to leave her clan compounds. She had hugged him around his legs, her height still too short to reach him around his body, horrified to see him battered but relieved to see him all right after her father had commanded all Branch clan members to the war front when the Hidden Mist invaded their village. Only she herself was spared from the order, but only because she was too young and deemed unworthy on the battlefield. She was viewed as a liability.

The happy thoughts that surfaced upon their reunion, however, soon disappeared when she heard the tragic fate of several of her fellow Branch house family members.

She spoke in almost incoherent tones, her voice shaking. "Then… then Juubei-san… Hyouma-san… even Okoi-san and Saemon-san…!"

Her brother's only response was the silent closing of his eyes. It was a gesture she knew that held the definition of his affirmative.

She cried out, sinking to her knees, banging both of her clenched fists on the ground just in front of her brother's two feet. "…Why… why must fate be so cruel…! Okoi-san… Saemon-san… they were wed together just a week ago! Even knowing the dangers, father had-"

"Don't blame father for this, sister." Her brother said, crouching down next to her and hugging her with one arm. "It is those from the Mist who took away their lives. Father knew what must be done in order to drive those nins out of the village. It's unfortunate, but they died for the sake of protecting the clan. I'm sure they-"

"Don't give me that, Hizashi-niisama! Just because I'm young doesn't make me ignorant!"

"Quiet, sister! They will hear…"

"It's not fair!" She continued, ignoring him. "It's just… it's all so… not…" All the remaining strength in her legs left her as she broke down onto the ground floor, crying as her brother hugged her closer into his chest. "Uu…waaaaaahhh!"

She would've forsaken everything the clan stood for right there and now if it weren't for the comforting words her older brother threw at her soon after.

"…You must be strong, sister." Hizashi said, cradling his sister's tiny form in his arms. "Be strong. If not for the sake of the clan, then at least be strong for my sake, sister, and for the sake of Okoi and Saemon as well. They wouldn't want to see you like this. You have a duty to fulfill."

Wiping her tears away and somehow finding the strength to continue again, she waved goodbye to her good brother and hastily made her ways towards the now-ruined Hokage Tower. She soon met up with the young Chuunin ninja who was directing the efforts on excavating the ruins underneath the Hokage Tower, and although her ability was being doubted on at first for being so young, she soon showed them what her blood was capable of by drawing up a quick sketch of the first layers of the underground passageways. It was only when she was being showered with the impressed praises from the other workers did she notice the pattern in her own drawing.

She recognized them.

The underground passageways were woven in the same pattern as the corridors that led towards Naruto's dungeon when she was still 'Haruno Sakura'.

And now, she was here, after she had snuck out after the excavation crew had opted for a break and ventured down into the corridor ruins all by herself. Slipping through the deep crevasse she found earlier which she suspected would lead her down to the place of destination, she clutched the handle of the oil lamp through her teeth and then focused chakra into her still-underdeveloped chakra coils to will her hands and feet to stick to the rocky surface of the wall of stone as she climbed down. After nearly losing hold of the rocky wall at least half a dozen times, she finally reached the bottom and found herself in the middle of another long corridor that looked similar to all the earlier ones – with one major difference. Wind.

And now, she was here.

"…Sakura… chan?"

In reality – or at least, what appeared to be reality to her – she had only been called by that name by the same person only six and a half years ago, the same day when 'Haruno Sakura' died and she herself, 'Hyuuga Setsuka', was brought into this world through her mother's womb. But for Sakura, it had felt like an eternity had passed since she was last blessed with that raspy voice of that stupid, blond-haired blue-eyed kid she fell in love with so long ago.

"Naruto…!" Tears in her eyes, she reached down and hugged the stupid blond idiot with all of her strength.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Sakura-chan! You're… you're killing me here!"

She blinked, once, then twice, and finally a third time before she realized that Naruto was actually complaining at her show of affection. Forcing a smile to her face, she lightly let go of him and allowed Naruto some time to catch his breath, and it was only then when she noticed that he was naked from head to toe. A blush quickly crept up to her cheeks and she quickly spun around, squeezing her eyes shut in hopes of pushing out that indecent memory.

"Hey, hey, Sakura-chan! What's the matter? What are you turning away like that for? It's not like-"

"It's because you're being indecent in front of a lady, you idiot!" She randomly swung a fist behind her head, but she didn't count on her fist actually finding its mark. The unfortunate recipient of said fist flew all the way back towards the far wall of the dungeon. Stunned at first, soon a low rumble echoed from the pits of her stomach until it evolved into full-fledged laughter.

Even after all this time, he hasn't changed at all!

"That really hurt Sakura-chaan…" The whiny voice came back from the other side.

"Honestly, Naruto, I'd say you deserved that." Sakura said as she picked up the lantern from besides her as she callously approached the defeated boy. Setting the lit device behind her as soon as she spotted Naruto lying face flat on the floor, she crouched down in front of him making sure to avoid eye contact with the lower half of his body. "You all right?"

"All right? You're the one who caused this…" Naruto said as he slowly sat up from the floor, rubbing his left cheek that had comically been swollen by at least three fold. She noticed, however, a thin, wispy white stream steaming out of the swelling and bore witness to the swelling healing itself at a rate too fast to be considered natural. Soon, the only legacy that remained of her monstrous punch on Naruto was a small red mark that could've been easily dismissed as just a blush.

Kyuubi's regenerative powers.

He still has it inside of him…

She grimaced at the display, but was careful enough to hide most of that expression away from him. Lowering her head and quickly squeezing her eyes shut, she snapped them back open again and stuck out a tounge, smiling mischievously at Naruto. "Sorry! Here, let me make it up to you, then!"

"Hm? What do you me- ahhhhhh!" Naruto was quick to cover up his own two eyes with his hands when he saw Sakura slowly taking her kimono clothes off her body. "Sa-Sakura-chan! What are you doing?"

"Heheheh. Like what you see, Naruto?"

"No! Well, yes, but… I mean no! Please, Sakura-chan! Put your clothes back on!"

"Sheesh, don't be such a wuss." Sakura said as she approached him from behind. In a move that startled Naruto, she draped the long sleeves of her simple white kimono dress over his shoulders. "Here, wear this. It should be long enough to cover the necessary parts up."

Reluctantly accepting the garment, Naruto's fidgeting mannerisms told Sakura that although he wanted to turn his head around to and see her with his eyes, he was using all of his willpower not to. The deep blush that tainted his cheeks only served to confirm that. Again he tried to protest. "B-But…"

"I'm still wearing my hakama pants, and I do have bindings over my breasts so you're not going to see anything indecent." She told him. "Unless you of course prefer looking at a naked body of a six year old."

"Six year old…?" His blush faded away as he finally turned around and stared at her seriously for the first time. "I've been meaning to ask you this, Sakura-chan, but… what happened to you?" He reached out with his hand and touched her cheek with a brush of his fingers, as if to confirm that she was truly here with him. "You look so different… and your eyes… what happened to your eyes? Just what…?"

Sakura winced at his words as she gently pushed his hands away. "It's… it's a long story, Naruto. I'm still not sure what exactly happened, either. Sometimes… this… this all feels like a dream to me."

It was the one fear she was deep down always afraid of.

What if this was all just a dream?

She was suddenly snapped out of her reverie, however, when Naruto all of a sudden grabbed her hand and tugged it towards him until she felt the flat of her palm over the bare portion of his chest the kimono didn't cover. "Do you feel this, Sakura-chan?"

Because his actions were so sudden, she at first couldn't comprehend what was going on. "W-What?"

"My heart, Sakura-chan."

Realizing now what he meant by his words, Sakura could now indeed feel the steady rhythmic beat of his strong heart, and the warmth that radiated through it. She nodded.

"Do you still think this is a dream?"

Despite herself, she soon found herself smiling.

Leave it to Naruto to be the one to drive those fears away.

"I'll tell you everything, Naruto." Sakura said, finding the resolve she so desperately needed to tell him of her tale. "Everything."

From within the shallow safety the night shadows offered her, Utono Kagerou could do nothing but grind her teeth in seething anger as she watched two of her comrades, one male and one female, both of whom she knew very well, place their hands on the wall in the ultimate display of surrender. Of the three Konoha nins that surrounded the two, one of them, a pale-skinned male, was searching through their robes for any other concealed weapons while another one, this one a blonde female with a sizeable bust, stood guard in front of them with her needle weapons drawn. The last of the three, a white-haired male with red tattoo lines running underneath his eyes, was making a conscious effort in trying to be as loud as possible while searching through the wooden house Kagerou herself was just in moments ago for any other possible enemies. If it weren't for the white-haired man's obnoxious, loud personality, she was sure she would've been caught red-handed just like her comrades had been. Not that she would've surrendered to them like they had, though.

She noticed that one captive comrade, the female one, was standing there with tears in her eyes. Kagerou could literally sense the waves of raw fear pulsing from her, and Kagerou cursed herself for having this stupid ability of being so empathic to the feelings of others. It disgusted her. Mist shinobi were known to keep on fighting no matter what, and those two had tarnished their reputation by surrendering to them so willingly! Love was a foolish emotion, she concluded. They had surrendered because they didn't want to see each other killed. How pathetic. As shinobi, they were failures.

Her master pulled her gently by her arm. "Come along." He said in a low voice. "They will begin to notice us if we give them a reason to."

Kagerou allowed the scowl on her face to disappear as her empathic abilities told her of her master's distress. She noticed that his sweat had glued his hair to his head, and she could sense that her master's leg was throbbing with every stride. For her master and herself, it had taken a miracle for them to escape from the hands of those three ninjas who were currently busy interrogating those traitorous two.

Nodding back at him, she quickly weaved through her memory for the necessary hand seals in order to execute the technique that will teleport both of them to another, more safe location. Soon, the process was complete, as both the student and teacher sunk into the depths of shadows only to reemerge out of another, different shadow inside an abandoned house about fifty meters away. It wasn't much distance, but if she had attempted to teleport them across any larger distances she would've been forced to knead more chakra, chakra that would undoubtedly be detected by those three living legends.

Better safe than sorry was a golden rule to live by.

"What do you think of our enemy?" Her master asked softly as soon as both of them had caught their breath a bit.

"Are you referring to those 'Sannins' we just escaped from, or the ordinary Konoha ninja or its civilians?" Kagerou asked.

"All of them. They are all the same."

"The civilians are no one's enemy." She told him.

"They are your enemy as surely as any other Leaf ninja."

"They've done me no harm." Kagerou whispered back as she dimly remembered watching a group of elderly men and women pulled to their feet and thrust against a wooden wall by what she presumed were Leaf Chuunins when they hadn't moved along quickly enough less than an hour ago. "It's their shinobi who are looking for us. The civilians are forced to endure a house-to-house search for our sake."

"If any civilians spotted us, we would be surrounded by their shinobi in a matter of seconds." Her master told her. "Our mission would end, and we would be captured, interrogated, and then killed. The civilians are your enemy through the potential danger represent."

"Traveling by boat across the Land of Water is potentially dangerous. That doesn't make the boat my enemy."

"In that case, probability is your enemy." Her master said. "At any moment in time, all beings are subject to many potential dangers. You must regard each danger as your enemy, and combat it as best as you can. You must choose safe methods of sea travel, or," He made a slight gesture towards the Konoha shinobi searching the houses besides the road. "If you wish to conceal your true nature, you must hide inside a disguise."

Kagerou said nothing for a moment. They simply could've disguised themselves with a simple henge, but she knew her master was paranoid to the extreme. She knew something in her master's past altered his perception in some way, and although she hadn't bothered to find out what exactly caused him to behave this way, it did bother her to think just how her master seemed to find comfort in thinking that he lived in a world that was determined to end his life.

"What if I die of old age?" She quietly argued as she ignored his suggestion of ambushing the pair of Konoha guards for their uniforms and instead erupted into a cloud of smoke by executing the henge that transformed her into a typical run-of-the-mill female Leaf Chuunin. "The natural end of life is something you can't avoid or hide from." She said. "Surely, life itself is not our enemy."

Her master laughed, softly and to himself as he mirrored her actions and henge'd himself into another ordinary-looking Leaf shinobi and transformed his giant sword into what looked like a giant fuuma shuriken. "No," He answered after the transformation was complete. "Your enemy is time. Or, to be precise, your enemy is entropy."

"You make it sound as though the whole world is determined to kill us." She said before she could stop herself. She quickly covered her mouth up with her hand, ashamed to have said something so unnecessary. What was she thinking? They were in the middle of an enemy village with no hope for help or reinforcements. She overhead the famed 'Sannin' talking amongst them of the crushing fact that the invading Hidden Mist forces had already retreated. It was do or die now – their options were now limited and she didn't like either one of them. Their success meant escape, failure meant death. Thankfully, her master didn't bother commenting on her outburst. In her heart, she breathed out a deep sigh of relief.

After working out a few small details in the event they were stopped for questioning, they walked out of the house. Pushing down the nervousness that crept up whenever squads of Konoha ninjas passed them from either direction, they continued down the night roads in search for a possible escape. Kagerou supposed that the news of their disappearance had already reached the ears of any nearby sentinel (no doubt thanks to those 'Sannin') and so had tried to talk her master into the possibility of working out more complex details so they would appear less suspicious. He insisted otherwise. "Better use the time to travel then to waste time by working out needless details." He said.

The road they followed twisted and turned, but it seemed to be heading towards the center of the village's general direction. They tried a few side paths occasionally to see if they could scale the large walls the surrounded this Hidden Village but her master was quick to spot the genjutsu wards embedded along the giant walls. They had the effect of cancelling out any simple genjutsus nearby, and would've resulted in their needless exposure. Their situation was seemingly getting worse with each passing moment.

Their salvation came from an unexpected source.

It was the Sannin themselves.

"Goddammit!" Jiraiya exclaimed. "Where the hell did they go? Orochimaru, are you sure those two we captured didn't know of their whereabouts?"

"Even if they did, Jiraiya, they wouldn't be stupid enough to hide in the same location for long." The sharp-eyed youth with almost all white skin told his fellow Sannin comrade. "Utono Kagerou and her master are no fools, especially so her master. He is not considered the most feared among the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist for nothing. With our forces running a sweeping scan, it is only logical to think that they are changing their hiding locations frequently. I wouldn't be surprised if they're already out of the village by now."

"And may I remind you, Jiraiya." Tsunade cut in from the side. "You're the one who let them get away. If you weren't trying to ogle Kagerou…"

"I wasn't ogling!" He protested.

"Yeah right." She snorted, not believing a single word. "What was it you said back then after you two exchanged your first blows? Oh, right: 'I'm not trying anything. I always put my hands there.'? Honest to god, that was the worst pick-up line ever."

"I was trying to persuade her to just give up…"

"Forget it, Jiraiya. You're not convincing anyone."

"Awww man, not you too, Orochimaru!"

"Forget them for now." Orochimaru said seriously. "If they are indeed still hiding inside the village, Sarutobi-sensei and Nidaime-sama will deal with them. I heard that sensei was calling Nidaime-sama back from the front and asked him to help round up the other remanent forces. We should refocus our efforts elsewhere, and that effort now should be poured into helping the wounded and to whatever recovery work we could possibly do."

"Orochimaru's right." Tsunade said, agreeing with him. "I'm going to be really busy now helping patching those wounded up, especially the ones around the Hokage Tower since that region was the worst hit. I expect you to help me carry the wounded back to the Hospital with me, Jiraiya."

"Whaaat? But come on, Tsunade, can't you do it by yourself? With your freakish strength, you won't need my-"

A single glare was all it took to change his mind.

"-meandmystupidmouth… of course, Tsunade, I'll be more than happy to help you."

"That's more like it." She grinned wickedly.

"Hey, wait a moment." Jiraiya exclaimed, a thought suddenly occuring to him. "What will Orochimaru be doing then?"

"I too, shall head towards the Hokage Tower, partially to lend a helping hand in the cleaning effort, but mainly because I wanted to see what the deal with the excavation process was. Last I heard they had dispatched a girl from the Hyuuga clan to assist in the mapping. I've heard she's quite talented for her age. I always wanted an opportunity for myself to see just what exactly she's capable of."

"Hey, that's not fair! That sounds like an easy job!"

"Can it, Jiraiya. Let Orochimaru do what he wants. You're stuck with me."

"Why are you always so nice to him, Tsunade! Why wouldn't you choose him to be the one that'll handle your dirty work sometimes?"

"Oh, maybe because you always try to peek on me whenever I bathe and he doesn't?"

"I don't always peek on you! And the only reason Orochimaru doesn't is because he's gay!"

"Jiraiya, for the last time, I am not gay. I am merely not interested in women at this stage."

"Ah hah! Denial! See what I mean, Tsunade? That's proof, right there!"

"Jiraiya, do us a favor and just shut up…"

As the three of them walked away towards their common destinations, not once did the dynamic trio notice the two figures carefully concealed in the nearby shadows. After they disappeared, the two figures silently emerged out of the shadows in their still henge'd forms and exchanged two quick glances with each other.

"I believe we found an alternative method for leaving this village." The elder of the two said.

"I believe so too." Kagerou smiled back.

Focusing a brunt of chakra into their legs, not caring that they were near exhausted in capacity, they made their way towards the Hokage Tower with a burst of new speed.

"Ascendancy"

n – the state of being in governing or controlling influence

"Empyreal Paradox"

- Chapter One -

-END-

Author's Notes:

So ends Chapter One!

Um, again, this is the first edition version. Probably still riddled with grammar errors and such. I always seem to find errors better once the story's online for some strange reason… I'll get around to fixing them eventually. Right now I'm just too tired and sleepy…

Anyway, first things first. about the use of OCs. While I do realize that there are many canon characters I can still use even considering the timeline for this story, it has come to my attention that the story simply cannot proceed without introducing several OCs since canon characters aren't simply enough to make the story entertaining enough for me. Therefore, despite my dislike for using OCs in stories, I really have no other choice. This is especially true for characters filling the 'enemy role', so to speak, but so far in my story I have been successful in incorporating the OCs only into filler roles – BUT there will be some semi-important OC characters introduced in this story later on to for the sake of plot progression.

About the names for the Second and Third Hokage I introduced this chapter. I am a firm believer in the theory that the original model for the First Hokage is Kishimoto Masashi himself and the Second Hokage is, in fact, modeled after Kishimoto Masashi's real-life twin brother Kishimoto Seishi. So, to honor that theory, in this story the First Hokage's name will be 'Kazama Masashi' and the Second Hokage's name 'Kazama Seishi'. I think it's quite fitting, actually.

The reason for the Second Hokage having the 'Kazama' name should be apparent enough. But as for why he's not dead yet, the manga didn't specifically say exactly when he died, and instead we are only privy to the detail Tsunade gave us in Chapter 158. To quote: "My grandfather and the Second both focused too much on bringing peace to our home more than anything else… but as a result they just died in the middle of their dreams, just like losers". So there you go. The manga never says they both died at the same time, and so I'll be using this to my advantage.

Oh, and I like bento box lunches but hate umeboshi with a seething passion. Now you know where that idea came from. Attack of the killer apricots! P

As for the Third Hokage's name, from what I remember (I never really did bother putting in real research for this one) 'Sarutobi Sasuke' is the name of an actual ninja in Japan history, which, obviously, was the model for the Sarutobi name. I'm also quite fond of another theory (from where I can't remember) that Sasuke was named after the Third Hokage. I'm merely adopting the idea here. But just to avoid confusion, whenever I do refer the Third Hokage by name I will most likely refer him as just Sarutobi.

And last but not least… holy crap! So many reviews just for the prologue! I was just blown away! Thank you everyone, for your support and encouragement!

See you all next chapter!

- Nes Mikel

Chapter One, Complete, November 13th, 2006