"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 Three -

"Efface"

v – to erase, to remove completely from recognition or memory

The cloaked figure that hovered high above the Konoha Village grounds that bore witness to the entire war proceedings finally stirred when it noticed its surroundings was slowly being saturated with the smell it loved the most. Breaking its stoic silence, it slowly emerged out of a gigantic log, one of the many logs that made the enormous wall that surrounded the village. Opening its real eyes for the first time in five days to watch the scenery in front and below, the being stirred its neck to ease the stiffness associated with being fused with a solid material for an extended period of time. Granted, only the head and its associated appendages emerged out of the timeless log, but that was more than enough to allow itself to expend its senses even further than it was normally capable of, thus allowing the figure maximum intake of the smell it loved the most.

It was the smell of burning human flesh.

Well, saying that it liked the smell of burning human flesh the most would be a lie. There was one more thing the figure liked more than the taste and smell of its favourite food being cooked as a unfortunate result (or fortunate, in this case) of a burning building collapsing on top of several hapless civilians, but that will have to wait for another day. For now, its cravings had been satisfied. It would be best to retreat and become one with the log again so it could continue to observe the unfolding drama below just like it was instructed, and...

"It's time, Zetsu."

"Already?" It replied out loud a few seconds after, almost like an afterthought.

"Yes." The other replied to its question, this time immediately. "There is work to be done."

"Time really does 'fly' by. Get it? Just like how a real flytrap would eat an insect-"

"Is that our attempt at satirical humour? If so, not only was that a poor attempt, we don't it amusing."

"We do."

"We are wrong."

"That is what we always say."

An outside observer might find this self-conversation most odd, but for 'them', it was the naturalist thing in the world. To Zetsu, conversing with oneself was simply just another part of everyday life, and it accepted itself the same way humankind accepts how the sun comes up in the morning and comes down at night. It should be noted, however, that there are always, always exceptions to everything, no matter how concrete something seemed. Just like how the sun never sets or never rises in the Polar Regions during certain specific seasons, Zetsu too was an exception.

Zetsu looked human, talked human, but Zetsu itself was no longer among humankind.

"If our eating habits are any indicator, that is."

"Were we reading our own minds again?"

"What a strange question. We are we. Of course we were."

"We sometimes forget that we are one. It is unsettling."

"It is not like we can do anything about it."

"That is why we said it is unsettling."

Zetsu's normally expressionless face shifted as the dark side of its face crooked into a mockery of a grin. "How long do we reckon our task is going to take?"

"We've discussed this before. They have told us we will take three days to prepare if we start now."

"That long? No wonder they instructed us for chastity. It was all for this moment, are we right?"

Zetsu ignored itself. "Are we satisfied with inhaling the aroma of what we chastity from? If so, we are to begin, starting right now."

"We're no fun."

"We know."

Before it could mouth another word protest to itself, Zetsu's head already sunk back into the solid wood.

Only the silence of the still-raging war remained about.

The henge'd Utono Kagerou instinctively flinched when her empathetic abilities alerted her of yet another casualty among the ranks of her fellow comrades. And this time, it was one that she actually recognized too.

"Who is it this time, Kagerou?"

Her master, of course, was not the one to miss such a flinch.

God, she hated this ability.

"Takagi." She spat out the name as if he were venom itself, avoiding her master's cold gaze, gritting her teeth as she did so. "He's dead. Miwako's been hit too... she's been rendered comatose."

"The Mitarashi heir and her husband. Your former teammates."

"I didn't need to be reminded the connection I had with those two weaklings."

Her master chuckled darkly. "I find it admirable. They were your former teammates, yet not only did you not lift a finger to help them, but instead you used them, suggesting to me that we use them as scapegoats to cover our escape from the Sannin. And am I correct to assume they just now attempted to escape and they failed?"

There was a brief pause before Kagerou gave her master his answer. "No reason they would be rendered... immobile by Konoha nins otherwise, Master. As foolish as it might sound, Konoha does follow the international rules when it comes to prisoners of war. Foolish if you ask me. It's just another proof of their idiocy."

"Oh yeah? If we're so idiotic, then why were we able to kick your asses back to Mist so easily?"

Kagerou's eyes widened slightly when the Hyuuga girl she held captive with her kunai suddenly talked back. Her surprise faded away and a sinister sneer replaced her face when she saw the girl's half-turned head, staring up Kagerou with determination in her eyes despite the kunai pushed up against her slender neck. Determined she may be, Kagerou's empathy told her of the hint of fright the girl held deep within. She was only being brave. How cute.

"So you saw through our disguise." Her master commented as he and she both cancelled their henge technique to reveal their true forms. "The Byakugan your clan possesses is indeed worthy of admiration."

The girl appeared not to be fazed in the slightest. "Even a halfwit could figure out that you're no Konoha nin with the way you two talk." The girl shot back.

"You've got spunk, girl. I'll give you that." Kagerou told her. "But I suggest you watch your attitude in front of my Master!" With her free hand she grabbed the back of the girl's head and tugged her hair back sharply. The girl screamed a painful yelp as she lost her balance and fell backwards, or at least tried to. Her pink hair was the only thing that was saving her from falling down completely.

"Sakura-chan!"

In a moment of carelessness, something that until now Kagerou thought was impossible to extract out of her master, the boy successfully swatted away the kunai that held him captive away from her master's hand and proceeded to rush against Kagerou in a foolish attempt to rescue the girl. Kagerou's shock of seeing her master caught by surprise quickly eroded away in favour of yet another sly smile as she quickly readied herself for what she was sure would be a useless attack. So the kid managed to shake her master off by catching him in surprise. But so what? She's seen stranger things than her master getting caught off guard throughout her years as an elite apprentice of the Hidden Mist's Seven Swordsmen. Kagerou wasn't even worried in the slightest bit. After all, what can a kid like he do?

"No! Stop! Don't do anything!"

Despite all the pain the girl was suffering through, she must've seen her would-be rescuer out of the corner of her eye as she suddenly cried out a warning. The girl's attempts were temporarily successful as the boy listened to her pleas and stopped dead in his tracks.

"But Sakura-chan..." He started to protest.

"No! Listen to me Na-"

But of course, the blond-haired boy would hear none of it. "Like hell I will!"

Kagerou sighed. How predictable.

Oh well. She thought. So be it.

Hitting a pressure point in the girl's neck, Kagerou let go of the now-unconscious girl's hair and allowed her to drop to the ground and moved in to intercept the boy, who by now appeared to be thoroughly pissed off. "You bitch!" He shouted as he took a wild swing at her. "What did you do to Sakura-chan!"

As Kagerou easily dodged the punch the kid threw at her, she wondered for a brief moment what these two children were doing in what appeared to be the basement of the Hokage Tower ruins. The girl she could understand – she was a Hyuuga, and from what she could deduct from the conversation she overheard from the Sannin, the girl was here to help the rescue workers search and dig up bodies trapped underneath the rubble. But the boy, what was he doing here? Was he a survivor she just now saved? Was that why he appeared to be wearing nothing but the loose yukata which looked as if it originally belonged to the girl? But if so, why was he naked in the first place?

But those questions faded away when she sidestepped another punch, this one forcing her to pay at least a bit of attention. Deciding to be a little generous as her playful mood started to kick in, she gave the boy the answer to his earlier question. "Chill, kid. I only knocked her out. I can't play around with you if I have to drag around a screaming little girl in my arms, now would I?"

Kagerou's empathy told her that her comment only served to piss off the boy even more, a fact that was further reinforced when she dodged another punch that was swung in a bigger arc than the last. This kid really is predictable. Kagerou thought happily. This is going to be fun!

"Is this really necessary?"

She faked a startled look as she continued to dodge the flurry of attacks. "Master, can't a girl have a little fun?"

"Underground we may be, that still does not change the fact that we are surrounded by hostile enemies." Her master replied, not sounding all that happy. "We may have slipped past the all the rescue workers working around the Hokage Tower to locate this Hyuuga girl, but it will only be a matter of time when they notice the girl has gone missing. We should get on with the plan as soon as possible."

"Think of it as releasing all that pent-up stress I built up until now, Master. I'll be a good girl later and get us out of here like we originally planned. Pretty please? Besides, he's just a kid. What can he do?"

It was her master's turn to sigh this time. "Don't make too much noise."

Kagerou flashed him one of her best smiles.

"S-Sir! You can't! Sen-sama is resting, and-"

"Quiet. I'll meet the bastard whenever I want, for whatever I want. Get out of my way, servant."

The head of the Hyuuga house was just on the verge of drifting off into comfortable sleep when another visitor found himself in front of his room yet again. But unlike his previous visitor – Hiashi – this one announced his presence in a much louder and violent fashion. Sen pushed the blankets off his body for the second time this night and sat up and turned to the entrance of his room, where through the paper shouji doors he saw the silhouette of both his guest and servant, the shadows cast by the pale moon glowing faintly outside. He noticed that the servant was trying her damnedest hard to not let this visitor get into his room by tugging hard on the guest's sleeve which Sen was, to say the least, impressed. For a mere child to stand up against a full grown man like that, she was quite courageous.

But Sen also knew her struggles will prove futile soon enough. That man was way out of her league. Sighing quietly, Sen quietly stood and as he reached for his nightgown he called out to his servant outside. "It's all right, Mikoto. Let him in."

Sen could see Mikoto's head snap up to attention at the sound of his voice. "S-Sen-sama? Are you-"

"I'm awake now. Let go of his sleeve, Mikoto, and let him in."

Reluctantly releasing her hold on the man's sleeve, Mikoto bowed once towards the door. "Y-Yes sir…" She then got on her knees and opened the shouji door elegantly to the side to reveal the man she had been struggling with just a second ago.

The man did not look pleased.

"To what pleasure do I owe you this visit?" Sen asked.

Without a word, the man walked right up to where Sen stood and punched him right in the face. Sen could hear Mikoto's surprised gasp in the background and was about to caution her not to interfere, but the man solved that problem for him when he tripped up the little girl and stomped her on the back when she tried to intervene, her painful yelp her only reward for trying to help. The man then grasped the hem of his nightgown and dragged his face close to his so they stared each other eye to eye, blazing red against cold white.

After a tense few seconds of silence, the man finally spat out his words. "You fucking barbarian."

Sen was beginning to think that perhaps sending every single member of the branch house to the war front wasn't such a good idea after all. He couldn't count on the main house people to help him out of this one for sure, anyway. The cowards.

"And I see that you still believe that violence solves everything." Sen replied calmly, acting as if he didn't practically care. "I'm surprised the guards even let you in."

"They're having a nice chat with a good ol' buddy of mine. Name's dirt. Remember him?"

"I figured as much." Sen's eyes then drifted downwards, towards the whimpering Mikoto who was silently crying underneath the man's feet. "I ask that you let her go. She is uninvolved."

The man snorted, almost on the verge of a laugh. "Hah! And since when did you start caring for your servants? I heard you threw another one out just three days ago for spilling tea in front of you."

"She was also a gossip, as you can see from how quickly that news spread and exaggerated. The tea was simply the last straw." Sen's eyes drifted back towards the man's angry stare. "Let her go, Kazuki."

Uchiha Kazuki said nothing as the tall, dark-haired man let go of both Sen's collar and his foothold over Mikoto. A fearful look on her face, the tear-stricken Mikoto quickly crawled away from the violent Kazuki, and as soon as she got back on her own two feet, she broke into a run to escape the wrath of the present-day leader of the Uchiha clan.

"And you call me a barbarian." Sen said after he saw her gone.

"Pfft, it's not like I injured her or anything. All I did was taught her not to mess with me."

"Masaki will be most displeased if she saw you for what you are today."

Sen did not resist when Kazuki slammed him into the wall.

"Don't you fucking dare mention her name in vain! You have no right!"

"She is – was my wife. I believe that's more than enough qualification. Whereas you, on the other hand…"

"Finish that sentence and I'll fucking kill you."

Sen continued to remain emotionless and unimpressed. "Release me." He demanded coldly.

"Give me one reason why the hell I should." Kazuki snapped.

"I could list a dozens of reasons for why you should release me. Where would you like me to start?"

Sen noticed how Kazuki's facial expressions turned from anger into disgust, an indicator telling him that his resolve was fluttering about slightly. Instead of coming back with his usual barrage of insults, "Just try me." was all Kazuki said instead.

Sen decided to start it simple. "It is a time of war. Protecting our village takes first priority."

"Don't make me laugh. All you did was hand out death sentences to your branch house members as you comfortably slept your butt off. 'sides, the Mist have turned tail and ran. The village is secure enough for me to come over so I can kick your ass for what you've done."

"Not only have you assaulted the guards guarding the clan mansion, you are in direct violation of several privacy laws."

"As if I give a rat's ass. We practically own Konoha police."

"The Elder Council will not look on this incident kindly."

"Those geezers ought to be roasted and turned into barbeque pork in hell's kitchen. I doubt they have the guts to kick me off the Council anyway."

"You have no business interfering with what goes on in my family."

"I make it my fucking business." Kazuki growled as he drew his face closer to his so their noses were practically touching. "And in case your oh-so precious intelligent brain of yours forgot – and as much as I hate to admit it – we are family, related by blood, cousins a million times removed. God, I wish we weren't fucking related."

"That makes two of us."

"Is that all you've got to offer in petty excuses?" Kazuki threatened. "Now if you ask me, snapping that small neck of yours sounds mighty attractive to me right now…"

A small smile on his lips, Sen gave Kazuki his answer.

"It's late."

Kazuki did not look impressed.

"You're fucking kidding me. Is that the best you can come up with?"

"Your wife must be worried sick over you."

Kazuki's deathly hold on Sen's neck suddenly went stiff.

"You of all people should know it's not wise to keep Kokone waiting." Sen continued, fully aware of what he was saying was tearing Kazuki up inside. "Especially now that you've got two children to look after… what were their names again? I remember Fugaku, but the name of your little girl always escapes me…"

"You bastard…"

"I don't recall you daughter having a name quite like that."

Uchiha Kazuki's entire body was shaking in fury by now. "...You… fucking… sonnova..."

"Will you let me go now?"

Kazuki reluctantly released his hold over Sen and took a step backwards. "Don't you dare think I'm finished with you, you hear me?"

"Oh, I hear you." Sen answered him as he started to readjust his nightgown. "I have already long ago accepted this as a never-changing fact of life until the day comes where one of us is dead."

"You first."

"Let's hope so."

There was another tense moment of stillness as the two men, respective leaders of the two strongest bloodline limit clans that took residence in Konoha Village contemplated what their next words were going to be. There was a lot to be said between the former two best friends, but throughout their years of friendship and their eventual separation, the two of them had reached a point of understanding where exchanging words was almost unnecessary.

It was Kazuki that spoke first. "Masaki never would've chosen you." He spat his words out distastefully. "If only she hadn't discovered that she-"

"Be careful of what you say Kazuki." Sen cautioned, rubbing the tender spots on his neck from where the Uchiha clan head grabbed him as he did so. "If Kokone ever got a wind of what you said right now, she will never forgive you."

"She already knows." He murmured. "And she accepts it."

"So she knows that you still care for Masaki. She is dead, Kazuki. Get over it."

"Because of you."

"No." Sen corrected him. His smile was already long gone, and what replaced it instead was a sad, cheerless look. "It was not because of me."

Only to be quickly replaced with a look of pure hatred.

"It was because of her."

His voice was tight with a mixture of anticipation and apprehension.

"How is she?"

"It's going to take another hour or so Sen-san." The female obstetrician in front of him replied, looking as relaxed and unruffled as one could possibly be. "Perhaps longer. The baby will arrive when she's good and ready to enter the world."

Sen drummed his fingers on the tatami floors, frustrated. First their daughter was three week premature and now she's taking her sweet time being born? He told himself he wouldn't be this uneasy over their daughter's birth, but the news only served to add more fuel to the cold flames of anxiety.

"There's nothing to do but wait." The doctor told him again. "After all, the Lady Hyuuga was pretty heavily sedated-"

"Sedated?" This put Sen instantly on the alarm. "Why was Masaki sedated? Who ordered this? I told you people I wanted a natural childbirth-"

"Uh, Sen-san? She was already sedated when your people wheeled her into the clan compounds."

"…That's… that's impossible!"

"You mean you didn't know…?"

Ignoring the surprised look on the doctor's face, Sen hastily stood up and headed for the door. "I'm going over." He said with his back turned. He was already out of the room before the obstetrician could even say a word.

Sen had set up the birthing facility for Masaki down the hall from his own room where he had been waiting. Originally he had no desire to be present during the mess and blood and pain of childbirth, especially so when he previously witnessed the unpleasant scene when his two sons were born. But when the obstetrician claimed that Masaki was heavily sedated when she was brought into the clan compounds, it alarmed him. He had to see what was going on.

As Sen raced down the short corridor between his room and the birthing facility, he came to the conclusion that Masaki had been doing drugs again when she was supposed to be off all of them. Unconsciously and unintentionally, anger started to boil inside of him. She promised him, for god's sake, she promised him! She promised him to stay clean while she was carrying their daughter! He already had her detoxified two… no, three times, and now it appears that she went right back onto them, pregnant or not. She was the one who told him that she wanted a daughter for crying out loud! But now? Now she apparently doesn't give a damn about their daughter anymore. Her and her damned depression. If anything were to happen to their daughter, he would never forgive her…!

In his frenzy, Sen had forgotten that Masaki was the only woman he had ever loved. After having drabbled with so many other women, he had fallen truly in love with Masaki. But she never loved him. He knew that. She loved that bastard Kazuki and probably still does. She's having this baby just so she can have a daughter just like Kazuki and Kokone does now, in order to appease her own selfishness.

He violently slid open the shouji door that lead to the birthing facility sideways, startling the green-gowned nurse sitting in the waiting room along with most of his clan relatives. The woman jumped to her feet, sloshing green tea onto the clean tatami floors. "S-Sen-sama! What are you-"

He walked past her, ignoring everything and everyone.

"I wouldn't go in there Sen-sama! There's nothing-"

He slid open the door the birthing room. Masaki lay on the bed, unconscious or asleep, soaked with perspiration, pale as death. Three women in green surgical gowns and masks stood to one side of the bed, a male doctor on the other. Her pale-white eyes mattered with a hint of blue were closed, and her normally straight flaming red hair was matted with sweat. Yet despite all that, she still looked so beautiful, yet so vulnerable. He fell in love with her all over again.

The male doctor, a burly, square-shouldered individual, came up before him and blocked his view of his wife. "You're not gowned." He pointed out from behind his mask.

He was telling him to get the hell out of here.

Annoyed, Sen went back out to the waiting room and demanded the nurse there to find him a surgical gown and a mask. In less than five minutes he was dressed, with plastic booties over his feet, a mask, gloves, and a ridiculous cap pulled down over his ears.

Walking back into the birthing room, he noticed that it was ominously quiet. Masaki had yet to move. The only sound in the room was the slow clicking of one of the monitors clustered around the head of the bed. Sen stared at the machines for a moment, and observed that the clicking sounds seemed to be coming from the heart monitor, counting off Masaki's heartbeats.

It all sounded terribly slow.

"Well?" He whispered to the doctor. "How is she doing?"

The doctor drew in a quick breath before he replied. "There are some… complications."

"Complications?"

"Her heart." The doctor explained. "The strain of labour has placed an unusually severe workload on her heart. Before you arrived, her heart kept on beating erratically, resulting in tremendous internal blood loss. We actually ran out of blood at one point since she requires Hyuuga blood, thereby limiting donors, but we've managed to keep her stable for the time being thanks to several of your clansmen waiting outside."

"Her heart? What about the auxiliary pump?" Being among a clan that specialized in the Jyuuken form of combat, Sen held a decent amount of knowledge when it came to know how the human body worked.

"It's doing its job." The cardiologist among the group of doctors said firmly from the other side of the bed. "But…"

"But?"

"There's a limit to how much workload it can carry." The doctor finished it for the cardiologist.

"Will she be all right? Will she get through this all right?"

The doctor looked away from him.

Sen wasn't going to let him off that easily. He grabbed the doctor's shoulder. "What about my daughter? Is she all right?"

The doctor looked back at him, but his eyes wavered about. "…The baby will be fine, Hyuuga-san. Once we get her out of her mother."

It was at that precise moment when Sen finally understood. She was going to die. Masaki was going to die. The only woman he'd ever loved in his whole life was going to die giving birth to their daughter…! "No!" He shouted as he approached the bed and grasped onto her frail hand. "Hang on to me, Masaki! Please! Please don't leave me alone…"

"We're doing everything we can, Hyuuga-san." The doctor said from behind as he placed a comforting hand on Sen's shoulder. "Would you like to wait outside?"

Sen nodded, and a medic escorted him out through the door before she hastily went back into the birthing room. The nurse in the waiting room sprang back to her feet again and offered the Hyuuga clan head a zabuton pillow to sit on. Snatching the pillow out of her hands and slumping down onto the ground with the pillow underneath, Sen barely heard the whispered words between his fellow clansmen of the main house. He was so distracted in his mind it took him a while to notice the nurse had put a steaming cup of green tea in his hand, of which he ostentatiously poured it onto the tatami floors. The nurse looked surprised, but then backed away and remained standing by the shouji doors of the birthing room when she noticed his dark mood. It was growing darker and darker with each passing moment.

It was the squall of a baby's first cry that finally stopped his murderous train of thoughts.

Sen shot to his feet. The nurse was still standing in front of the door. Sen was about to push the nurse out of his way and tear his way into the birthing room if need be, but before he could do so the door slowly slid open. The doctor came out, pulling the mask off his face, followed by a nurse that held a small bundle within her arms. He looked tired. They both did.

"How are they?" Sen asked.

"…Your daughter is fine." The doctor said, unsmiling as he gestured over to the small bundle with his chin. In it contained one of the smallest human beings he had ever seen.

It was his daughter.

"We'll run her through the usual tests in a day or so, but she appears to be normal." The doctor told him. "A little scrawny, but that's not unusual for a premature baby."

"And Masaki?"

"The Lady Hyuuga… well, ah…"

"…Is she all right?"

The doctor slowly shook his head.

Despair hit him at full throttle. "…Please don't tell me it's true."

"I'm sorry, but she didn't make it. Her heart stopped and we couldn't revive her. She had simply lost too much blood."

Sen gaped at the doctor. "She's dead? Masaki's dead?"

The doctor's eyes were avoiding his. "I'm very sorry, Hyuuga-san. We did everything that's humanly possible."

"I can't believe this. She killed her." Sen muttered, pointing at the bundle the nurse held. "That… that thing has taken the life of my wife away. It killed her."

"Hyuuga-san! It's not the baby's fault…"

"It killed her." Sen repeated. "It killed Masaki."

"You're one twisted sonnva bitch, you know that?" Uchiha Kazuki repeated the same insult he threw when he and Sen first voided their friendship fourteen years ago. "You wouldn't believe how much easier it would be for me – for all of us if you blamed someone other than Setsuka for Masaki's death. The doctors, the drugs… hell, blame me for all I care. I am, after all, responsible for a part of it."

"I cannot even if I want to."

Kazuki snorted at this predictable answer. "And why's that, huh?" He demanded. "Because you think the doctors were only doing their jobs? Because the drugs were her only means of escape from her depression? That's a load of crap and you know it. But fine, let's say those excuses hold – but what about me, huh? What about me? Why can't you simply accept me as the one to blame and not your own fucking daughter who you just carved a death seal into! For crying out loud, Setsuka's not only your daughter, but Masaki's as well! Get that through you goddamn thick skull!"

"It is the law of the clan."

"Bullshit! The law of your clan states that any second child born from the main house will be demoted to the ranks of the branch house, and a branch house member will only have his or her caged bird seal carved in when they turn ten. The only time your clan can carve a seal earlier than that is when a member of the main house turns three, and any branch house member that's closest in age to that main house member will have his or her caged bird seal carved in and be assigned to protect that member. Hizashi was the second one born and thus was demoted to the ranks of the branch house, and when Hiashi turned three he was naturally the branch house member closest to his age and thus had the seal carved in… but Setsuka's the third child! She was supposed to remain a main house member!"

"You forget, Kazuki, incompetence is also a cause for demotion."

"Another load of bullcrap. That law has only been executed once, way back then when one of your clasmen got wasted on sake and knocked up our ancestor."

"Ahh, yes. The origin of the Uchiha Sharingan."

"We don't find our origins practically amusing either. The point is, Sen, I don't see how Setsuka could show incompetence of that calibre. Explain that."

For the first time in their conversation, Sen did not reply.

Kazuki sneered. "What, cat got your tongue?"

"The other clansmen of the main house didn't protest to my decision."

"That's because they're a bunch of pussies. They're all afraid of you."

"Afraid of me?"

"Yes. Because you've changed, Sen."

"Changed? Since when? Since I broke off your friendship with you?"

"No."

"Since when, then?"

"Since Masaki died."

Sen again remained silent.

Exhaling out his frustration, Kazuki continued. "You know what I think, Sen? You want to know why I think you're doing all this? I think it's because, deep down, you hate Masaki."

This got a reaction out of the usually emotionless Hyuuga clan head. "Me? Hate Masaki? Impossible. I still love-"

"You hate her for a lot of reasons, Sen. You hate her for the fact the she died. You hate her for the fact that she left you all alone. You hate her for the fact that she chose drugs over you. You hate her… you hate her for the fact that she was never truly yours."

Sen swallowed a nervous lump in his throat. "That's not tru-"

"And because you hate Masaki," Kazuki interrupted him. "You hate Setsuka too, because Setsuka reminds you too much of Masaki. You see Setsuka as every impurity Masaki held within, your forever reminder that Masaki did not love you back. You want to destroy that image of Masaki so the only thing you have left of Masaki is your own perfect image of her. That is why you seek to torment Setsuka in every way possible."

"Even if what you say is true-"

"Even if what I say is true? Hah!" Kazuki was hollering in laughter. "Sen ol' buddy, I speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the goddamn truth! Damn man! It hurts doesn't it! For someone like you who continues to live in denial, the truth hurts more than anything in the goddamn fucking world!"

Gritting his teeth, Sen shot Kazuki a lethal look. "Leave. Now. You have overstayed your welcome. I will resort to force if need be."

Kazuki merely shrugged it off. "Fine. I already accomplished what I came here to do." He started to head for the door, but paused when he started to slide it open. "But remember this. I will do whatever it takes to protect Masaki's memory. I cannot change for what you are now, Sen, but if the worst should happen to Hiashi, to Hizashi, to Setsuka, to anyone...

"I will kill you."

He slammed the door shut.

Sen continued to stand there motionless for a full minute when a sudden sound snapped him out of his daze. Instantly activating the Byakugan, he glared at from where the sound came from.

He instantly relaxed when he saw her for what she was.

"U-Um… Sen-sama, are you all right…?"

"Mikoto. Did you not go back to your quarters?"

From behind the doors, Sen could see the girl nod apologetically. "I-I'm sorry… but I couldn't sleep after Kazuki-sama had…" She tumbled off.

It was understandable. She was only a little girl after all. "Come inside, Mikoto."

"Y-Yes sir…" She went down on her knees and slid the shouji doors open and bowed down deep. "Is… is there anything I can get you? Tea? Or perhaps another blanket…"

"How long have you been working in this house for, Mikoto?"

The sudden question seemed to startle her. "Um… two months, sir."

"Two months. And how old are you?"

"Six, sir."

The same age. "You had a little sister?"

"Y-Yes." She looked frightened. She was obviously not used to being in the presence of the Hyuuga clan leader. "She's two years old."

"Do you love her, Mikoto?"

"I do, sir, very much. She's… she's the only family I have left."

This made Sen curious. It was Hiashi that first brought Mikoto in to work under the Hyuuga household as a servant, and Sen had only half-heartedly listened to his son's reasoning's before he gave him the go-ahead. "What happened to the rest of your family?"

She looked troubled at the question. Sen was uncertain if she would answer, but she eventually did. "They're all dead, sir."

"I'm sorry."

"N-No, it's okay. In fact, I'm more than grateful for the Hyuuga house for taking us in after the fire."

The fire. Ah, so she was a Haruno, then. "It's strange." Sen said.

Mikoto looked confused. "What is, Sen-sama?"

"I've only known you for a short time, yet I feel like I can trust you more than any of my other servants."

"Um, thank you sir."

"You're very mature for your age." Sen continued. "And despite your short stay here, you are also very loyal. You tried to help me by trying to stop Kazuki, and you actually came back to check up on me after he had left when you could've stayed in your room. Were you not scared?"

"I-I was. But when I was about to fall asleep, I heard this noise outside my quarters, and… I saw Kazuki-sama, so I followed him, and, um… I just kind of acted on my own…" Mikoto bowed her head down again. "I-I'm sorry if I acted out of place, Sen-sama! I was only trying to…"

"No, it's all right." A look of contempt crossed his face. "Mikoto, let me ask you something."

"Y-Yes? What is it, Sen-sama?"

"How would you like to become a ninja?"

Despite her outward show of confidence as she continued to work feverishly in the hastily-built makeshift field hospital located in the central plaza of Konoha Village, Tsunade was frustrated beyond belief. It wasn't that things weren't going smoothly – everything was in order and the injured that were brought in were handed off to the correct specialists – but quite the opposite. It was going too smoothly. And in a time of war, this meant one of two things: either they scored such an overwhelming victory over the Hidden Mist invading forces hardly anyone was injured, or the dead outnumbered the injured and there simply weren't enough patients to administer treatment to.

Tsunade had a sinking feeling it was the latter of the two cases.

Her fears were cemented further when she had to keep finding other, smaller things to do instead of administering direct medical treatments. It wasn't like she enjoyed seeing the faces of injured people, but in times like these, she certainly preferred the faces of the injured rather than the cold, unmoving bodies of the unliving.

She felt the cool summer breeze wash in through inside. Someone had opened the flap of her medical tent. "How are things, Tsunade-hime?" The particular someone asked.

Tsunade sat her pen down and rubbed her eyes. It has been a long night. "Orochimaru." She rolled up her medical report and deposited it next to the pile of scrolls sitting on top of the table. She then turned to her teammate. "Please tell me you have some good news."

"Good news?" The snaky man sat himself in a chair besides her. "I'm afraid I'm the carrier of no news. Must I have something to report to see how my teammate is doing?"

"Thanks for caring then." Tsunade said flatly as she unrolled another blank scroll before picking up her pen. "If you have nothing to report then get out. I have things to do. I thought you were going to the Hokage Tower ruins to see that Hyuuga girl you were curious about anyway?"

"I was turned back by the Chuunin in charge of the excavation. Dan I think was his name. Ring any bells?"

"Dan? Wasn't he that blond loser that ended up being teammates with Sakumo and Midori back when we were Genin? I remember him being the class clown in the Academy."

"Yes, the very same."

"And you let him turn you back?"

"There was no point in me staying there. Apparently the girl has gone missing."

"Missing?" Her pen stopped. She refocused her attention on Orochimaru. "Do you think that maybe…?"

"The possibility exists. If Utono Kagerou and her master are still inside the village, then they are most likely having trouble getting past the genjutsu wards embedded inside the Konoha walls. If they have indeed captured the Hyuuga girl, Kagerou can then use that same ability she executed against those two Mist nins we captured and find a way past the wards. The Hokage Tower ruins are not far from where we fought them last, after all."

"Pisses me off every time I think about what they did to escape." Tsunade said angrily. "Honestly though, if what you say is true, then I'm rather surprised they aren't trying to force their way past the walls, knowing what they're capable of."

"I believe they're fully aware that they'll be pursued in full force if they tried." Orochimaru offered. "And perhaps they are trying to take the girl back to the Mist as a trophy. Many are after the secrets of the Byakugan, after all."

"I guess you have a point. Who's in charge of guarding the walls?"

"Sakumo's team. A full platoon of ANBU are also stationed in the front gate when Nidaime-sama was relieved of the front guard position."

"No chance of anyone escaping past the walls by pure force, then." Tsunade sighed. "As much as I hate to do it, I guess we ought to send in a report to Sakumo's team to keep an eye out for any stray Hyuuga girls. No telling when Kagerou and her master will try to escape using the girl and her along with them."

"About that-"

"I've already received it from Orochimaru, Tsunade."

A sudden crackling sound alerted Tsunade of yet another visitor inside her medical tent. Well, more like an image rather than a visitor though.

"Damn it, Midori. If you keep on doing that, someone might get hurt one of those days."

"By punching that unfortunate someone by reflex with that monstrous strength of yours? Rats. You figured it out. Looks like you managed to escape death this time, Orochimaru. I'll keep it in mind to try harder next time." The playful, electronic voice of Hatake Midori emanated from the flickering image of a green-haired woman in her twenties in front of them. It was the image projecting technique she was so famous for. She was Konoha's best information specialist, the 'Konoha's Unseen'.

"Your technique is impressive as always, Midori." Orochimaru complemented. "You can project an image out of thin air… gather visual and audio information from anywhere, anytime… even conveying messages across entire landscapes, as if distances mean nothing to you. Sometimes I wonder if you're even human. A ghost, perhaps."

It was true. With the exception of Sakumo and perhaps the two Hokages, not one Konoha ninja had ever seen Hakate Midori in person, not even the Sannin themselves. For all Tsunade knew, the image of 'Hakate Midori' she was so used to seeing could've been fake. She was one person that certainly deserved the title of the 'Unseen'.

"I'll take that as a complement Orochimaru. But I can assure you two that I am a living, breathing, one hundred percent flesh and blood human being." Midori's image told them. "But since we're not here to discuss the validity of my existence, let's get down to business."

"What do you want?"

"Straight to the point? I like that in you, Tsunade."

"Can it Midori." She wasn't all too happy with being friendly with a member of their rival group.

"Very well.Now, 'as much as I hate to do it'…"

Tsunade groaned at the sarcasm when Midori repeated what Tsunade herself had said just earlier. Midori only giggled, and Orochimaru remained indifferent.

"…I need to ask you Sannin a favour. Or, more specifically, you Tsunade."

"Me?"

"We kind of have a situation on our hands. Remember those two Mist nins you captured after you let Utono Kagerou and her Seven Swordsmen master escape?"

Tsunade was starting to get ticked off. "Don't remind us."

"Oh my, I'm so sorry. Didn't mean to hurt your pride."

She was getting increasingly tired of her sarcasm. "I thought you were trying to ask me for a favour? Not the best way to go about that, now is it?"

"My bad. What I'm trying to say is, well, they too actually escaped."

"Escaped?" Orochimaru asked.

"Mmhmm. Knocked the escort team out cold. It seems that a certain someone didn't search them for weapons all too carefully…"

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed.

"…But anyway, the good news is that my network grid detected their attempt, and when they tried to force their way through the walls Sakumo intercepted them and 'dealt' with them, so to speak. The bad news is that one of them turns out to be pregnant with a baby girl."

Tsunade was beginning to see where this was going. "Did Sakumo listen to their last requests or something?"

"Yep."

"Why me, though?"

"You're the only medical professional who knows how to handle an injured pregnant woman and not let the baby die who's even remotely available."

It was true that she wasn't overtly busy at the moment. She settled into her professional mood. "What are their conditions?"

"The father is dead. The mother's comatose; skull caved in is what Sakumo says, and he's done whatever emergency treatments he could to keep her stable, but…" Midori's image flickered for a brief second. "Hang on one second."

"What's the matter?"

"Oh, it's just Kaede requesting some 'private girl time'. I needed to expand my network grid to cover for her."

Orochimaru looked puzzled. "Private girl time?"

"She means bathroom." Tsunade answered.

"Ah."

"Good thing Jiraiya-kun wasn't here, hm?" Midori chuckled.

Tsunade forced herself to smile. "For once, I agree with you."

"Agree with what?"

Speak of the devil. "Hello Jiraiya." Tsunade unhappily greeted her other teammate who unceremoniously invited himself inside the medical tent.

"Hello there Jiraiya-kun!"

"Oh, hello there Midori-chan!" Jiraiya greeted Midori when he noticed her projected image. "You look beautiful as always!"

"She is married, Jiraiya." Orochimaru reminded him.

Jiraiya faked a hurt look. "Is there a law that doesn't allow me to praise the beauty of a beautiful maiden?"

"If I ever were to become Hokage, I would make it a law to never allow you near a female being within a fifteen meter radius." Tsunade countered.

"You have my vote on that one!"

"You two are so mean!"

"Why are you here, Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked.

"Why am I here? You're the one who ordered me to go outside to help the rescue workers out and carry the wounded back here. I did just that. There's a bunch of them out there now, Tsunade, fifty-nine of them in total. They need you out there, Tsunade." Jiraiya then turned to Orochimaru and pointed a finger at him. "What's he doing here?"

"Not now, Jiraiya." With a tired look on her face, Tsunade turned to Midori. "Sorry about this, but looks like I can't leave here for the time being. You told me that Sakumo kept the mother stable for the time being, right?"

"That's right."

Tsunade turned to Orochimaru. "You're free for the moment right?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose I am."

"Do me a favour and go pick this comatose mother up, will you then?" Quickly snatching a piece of paper off the desk, she scribbled a couple of notes down on the scrap piece of paper and handed it to Orochimaru. "Here's a couple of do's and don'ts when you carry her back here. Got it?"

"Very well. Where is this mother located?"

"Position 9… er, I suppose you wouldn't understand my network grid positioning system. I guess I will guide you there then."

"Then we should leave now."

Midori's image nodded in agreement. As she and Orochimaru were about to leave the medical tent, Midori turned back and nodded her thanks. "Thanks for this, Tsunade. I guess we owe you one."

"Let's call it even." Tsunade smiled. "Your team is keeping an eye out for Utono Kagerou and her master for our sake after all. We help you clean up your mess, you help clean up ours. Looks even to me."

"I guess that's true." Midori smiled back. "Even it is." Midori's image then condensed into a small green ball and the ball of light flared out of the medical tent, guiding the way for Orochimaru who followed it with comparable speed.

Tsunade rose from her chair and rolled up her sleeves. "Guess there's some real work to be done now. Follow me, Jiraiya. You can actually help me-"

"Argh, dammit!" He suddenly exclaimed.

"What's the matter?"

"I forgot to ask Midori-chan if she could teach me her image projection technique!"

Tsunade sighed, not even bothering to ask Jiraiya what he was going to use the technique for. She had a good idea. She just hoped Midori was sensible enough to not teach Jiraiya that technique. She wouldn't allow the king of all perverts to invade the privacy of all Konoha women, now would she?

Or would she?

She worried for the future.

Naruto was beginning to realize that he was, to put it in extremely simple terms, out of shape. He was beginning to realize that even being able to move his body like he wanted after millennia of inactivity was a miracle in itself, but wishing for his body to move like it did before his imprisonment was just wishful thinking. He had only thrown a dozen or so punches at this lady, who he identified as a Mist ninja from her forehead protector around her neck and he was already getting tired. The only thing that kept him going now was the fury of seeing his precious Sakura-chan knocked unconscious, but that fuel too was burning up very quickly. He knew that this woman was only playing with him. It would only be a matter of time before she decided this was boring and finish him just like she had promised. This basically left him with two options.

Option number one: Run away.

That option was obviously out of the question, especially so if it meant leaving Sakura behind. He also sincerely doubted if they would let him go just like that when they made it clear they didn't want to be discovered. From what he'd gathered from what Sakura had said earlier, Konoha was currently at war with the Mist and their invading force was in full retreat. This meant that these two ninjas were trying to kidnap Sakura so they can force to her assist them in order to leave the village unnoticed.

This, however, also meant that if he could somehow find a way to gather attention to himself, it will put these two Mist nin on the disadvantage. However, that method came with a lot of other disadvantages, the most notable one being signing his death warrant. He had no interest in being dead after being this close to freedom.

Then there was option number two: Defeat them.

Even if he were at one hundred percent, Naruto sincerely doubted that he could defeat them. He may be rusty but he thought he could at the very least accurately gauge the enemy's strength, and from the three minutes he had been fighting this lady he guessed she was as strong as Haku, if not slightly stronger. He noticed that their combat styles were incredibly similar, and from the weapon pouches sown on her outfit he could tell that needles were her weapon of choice, and as if that wasn't enough she too was a Mist nin just like Haku was – well, Haku wasn't technically a Mist nin but he was trained by one, so it still counted. As he was now he didn't have a chance in hell of beating her, much less the man standing quietly in the corner who he guessed was even stronger than the woman. The only reason he had been able to beat Haku previously was because he went berserk and lost control of Kyuubi.

In fact, for the past minute or so he had been trying that very same strategy, trying to stir himself into such fury that the Kyuubi inside of him will erupt out and turn the tides of the battle. But for some reason he couldn't fathom the bastard fox continued to remain unresponsive, as if it had suddenly gone mute. He knew the Kyuubi was still inside of him – he could still feel the demon's lingering presence inside his mind after all – but no matter how loud he yelled, screamed, pleaded even, the fox remained silent in his mind.

This was not looking good at all.

Art is a bang, yeah!

Naruto's face cringed when he suddenly remembered the playful Akatsuki man's favourite words as the woman dodged another kick he threw. Why was he remembering such things at a time like this? Was the fox trying to tell him something?

Oh to hell with it. Might as well go with the high-risk high-return plan.

The one advantage he knew for certain he held over these two Mist ninjas was they underestimated him. All they knew of him was that he was some half-naked six-year-old looking kid that crawled out of the Hokage Tower basement. In no way would they image he was in fact a demon container who survived through the loop of time trapped in the dungeons underneath for a near eternity and was the Hidden Leaf's Number One unpredictable ninja before his confinement in the dungeons.

Well, he'll show them!

Cupping his hand together and focusing everything he had into his two small hands, he was satisfied to find that his chakra was answering to his every beck and call for once as the blue ball slowly started to form in his hand.

"Eat this!" He shouted as he began to trust the concentrated ball of chakra at the shocked woman in front of him. "Rasengan!"

"Efface"

v – to erase, to remove completely from recognition or memory

"Empyreal Paradox"

- Chapter Three -

-END-

Author's Notes:

Ladies and gentlemen, you have the permission to pelt this author with tomatoes and orange peels to your heart's content. After six months of inactivity, this author has finally updated his story. Yes, about time! It's about time I say!

I'M. SO. SORRY!

As for my excuse, all I can say is... computer games suck the life out of you. Don't let it steal your soul kiddies. I nearly sold mine to the devil.

All joking aside, this chapter came out very differently from what I originally intended to be, especially Naruto's little flashback of Deidara – that totally came out of nowhere. I love the little bugger and I can't help but give him some screen time, especially so when the latest manga chapters seems to be hell bent on killing him off. The only scene that came out according to plan in this chapter was, in fact, Zetsu's reintroduction into the story, and even that has been heavily altered. In the end I ended up introducing two more OC characters into the story (Kazuki and Kokone) even when I swore I would try to avoid introducing OCs into the already character-heavy world of Empyreal Paradox... but, eh, life doesn't always go according to plan. I want this story to be epic, and adding more human interaction and drama is the way to go. Of course, plot progression suffers as a result (as you can see from the fact that Naruto still remains underground), but… oh well? I think one of those days I'll post a link up in my author's profile listing every single character introduced/mentioned in Empyreal Paradox just so people can still keep track of who's who. I'm sure after six months of inactivity, people are going: Who the hell is Sen? (Hiashi, Hizashi, and Setsuka's father) Who the hell is Midori, a self-insert? (Sakumo's wife, and no, I'm a guy and I'm very much straight) Hell, who the hell is Dan? (He's actually canon, people) Stay tuned.

I also apologize in advance if anyone was upset over Kazuki's excessive swearing. One may think that there's no way a man with a mouth like that would never end up the leader of a clan like the Uchiha, but eh, why not I ask, why not? Might as well give them clan leaders some other personality than the traditional ice cold robots who never listen to the younger generations like they usually are, no? And in case people are confused, yes, Kazuki and Kokone are the (eventual) grandparents of Sasuke and Itachi.

As for the age old question of: "When's the next update?" the answer is "I don't know." I try to aim for at least one update per month, but, well, you see how well that went. I do love to write and I do want to see Empyreal Paradox eventually finished, but there's simply so many things to do and so little time. All I can ask is to really, don't expect anything. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Reviews, questions, comments, always welcome. I will actually try to make an effort to answer them this time around instead of shying away like I usually do.

Till the next chapter!

- Nes Mikel

Chapter Three, Complete, June 1st, 2007