Oni to Ryuu ni Tsuite - Complete synopsis (2/2)

Oni to Ryū ni Tsuite – Complete synopsis (Part 1/2)

06.  Revenge and Redemption
07.  Pain and Hope
08.  Phoenix Burn

06.  Revenge and Redemption

Orochimaru was dead. Killed by his favourite pupil, no less. This is what Senryū overheard during one of his solo missions, mostly from former Sound prisoners who were now on a spree, and casually told Choryunami, knowing she would have not been unaffected by such an update, but also hoping she could quickly overcome whatever shock she could feel and easily recover from it. As for him, he was mostly annoyed by the fact that someone had deprived him of the pleasure of killing the monster. Senryū had been too detached and optimistic, though. She was incredulous at first: Orochimaru had promised her immortality, for himself and for her, had she chosen to spend her life by his side... how could he be dead? But there seemed to be no room for doubt... and in spite of all her efforts to convince herself to go on and live her life anew, that was too much for her to bear. All her sense of guilt exploded like never before: if only she had come back to her village in time, maybe she could have stopped the damn Uchiha... maybe she could have saved her sensei. But she had never come back, she had even stopped trying, she had abandoned him, and now... he was gone. Gone.
Of course Senryū would not bother to comfort her. Her desperation was simply outraging for him and the memory of his sister. He just guessed that Choryunami’s crisis was going to be over soon and gritted his teeth: after all, she seemed to have gotten so much better, lately. But of course it wasn’t that easy. That incident seemed to have reawakened all that Choryunami had tried to hide and bury inside for all that time; she thought she had convinced herself of what was right to think and do, but her heart was so damn hard to persuade. So, she couldn’t just stay there without doing nothing. It was too late to bring her sensei back, but for sure she could not just let his murderer get away with what he had done. Soon, her guilt and despair merged with anger, and she knew this time nothing could have stopped her from confronting him.

The news of Orochimaru’s death quickly reached Konoha, too. Maybe for a moment Shodanya thought that for those latest years her brother could have acted just like she had when she lived at the Sound, and that he had done at last what she couldn’t: free them all from the evil sannin and finally come back to the Leaf. But of course that was such a silly fantasy to make up. His heart was tainted, his will was dark and impossible to bend: he was just keeping on walking on his personal path of revenge, and couldn’t care less about her nor their home. This thought crushed her as well. It was too much to face. She couldn’t keep on playing the good loving girl in the peaceful village anymore. Soon her final resolution was made: she had to find Sasuke again, this time to kill him or be killed by him, no turning back. Nothing else mattered anymore. Before the Leaf could organize their plan to pursuit Itachi, hoping to easily find Sasuke this way, Shodanya left once again in secret, ready to face her doom. She found her brother travelling alone, cold as usual, not even surprised, annoyed nor amused to see her again. He just waited for her move, which was not long in coming. Another furious clash followed, but Sasuke was even more powerful this time, and soon he brought his own sister to her knees. She then summoned Roosoku to cause a huge explosion, but... she did it not so much to try one last desperate attack, as to be hurled as far as possible from his brother and save her life: all her efforts to keep her heart shut and detached seemed to have failed at last. There was someone she loved, back at the Leaf, no use trying to keep on denying it, and suddenly she realized she couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing him again. The explosion, though, didn’t throw her far enough from the battlefield, but it was loud enough to attract someone else who was roaming not far, looking for Sasuke. It all happened very quickly: Choryunami, who had fled her refuge as well, appeared running from the woods. She stopped only the few seconds necessary to spot Sasuke, and then charged him furiously, screaming with rage. The Uchiha didn’t even move: he just looked Choryunami in the eye and activated his Sharingan, using a technique that resembled a Tsukuyomi enough to make her relive in her mind again and again Orochimaru’s gruesome death. Her furious scream turned into a heart-rending outcry, as she grabbed her head in her hands and crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Shodanya could easily imagine what had just happened: she had tried to stop her brother with a desperate scream, pleading with him not to hurt Choryunami, but it was no use; now, almost out of chakra and barely able to stand, she somehow found enough strength to summon Yoru, one of her winged demons, and ordered her to take her and her friend far away from there. She brought Choryunami back to Senryū, explaining what had happened with few essential words and offering her and her demons’ help in case he could not heal her alone; then she flew away, to some quiet place to get better, until she recovered enough chakra to fly back to Konoha. She was ready to face the consequences of her latest inexcusable act, but maybe not as ready to confess that very love that had led her to save her own life, against all her plans, and come back home...

Senryū knew a thing or two about Sharingan techniques, so Choryunami’s recovery was steady. He seemed very let down by what had happened, though. He became even more silent than before, and although he kept taking care of the girl he seemed more and more distant and suspicious. When Choryunami recovered her senses, she was crushed. She truly was useless and powerless, then. If only she had had that legendary power granted by the dragons, she could have had a chance to stand against Sasuke and make him regret all he had done. But maybe that’s what that legendary power actually was, after all: no more than a legend. All her life felt as if it had always revolved around something that didn’t even exist. Lies, only lies and stories that led nowhere.
Soon it was time for her and Senryū to move to a new refuge, but during their transfer they were attacked again, this time by former Sound prisoners who were still on the run, and finally enjoying their freedom and peculiar powers, usually developed thanks to the terrible experiments they had undergone in those latest years, now with no real mission nor purpose to follow. They were just wild and eager to unleash their monstrous skills, and in the end forced Senryū to use his Oblivion once again: his technique had become more powerful, but now it also required more time for him to recover after its side effects. A few of the enemies were weakened but still able and willing to fight, and it was now up to Choryunami to deal with them: tired of hiding and in need of more power to face her furious opponents, she used again the second stage of her curse mark and transformed, knocking them out with relative ease. As she was still breathing hard and Senryū was still lying unconscious, she went back to her human form only to realize a hooded figure was standing nearby, partially hidden in the vegetation and clearly looking at her, pondering over what she had just done. She got ready to attack at once, but the stranger lowered his hood and revealed his identity, slowly stepping forward. Choryunami was petrified by what she saw, and her heart skipped a beat; in front of her was Kabuto. Half of his face was now scaly and white, one of his eyes had become golden and snakelike just like their deceased master’s, and he was smiling sweetly, almost unnaturally given his disturbing appearance, just like he used to do when he was taking care of her back in the Sound Village: that same smile that seemed to conceal a hidden pain that anyone, except her, had never seemed to be able to discern. Still fascinated by her powerful mutated form and by her undisclosed but undying loyalty towards Orochimaru, he hastened to speak and explain, knowing too well he didn’t have much time before Senryū woke up, and he didn’t need such a complication. He briefly told her what had happened to him after Orochimaru’s defeat, and it all sounded strangely horrifying, saddening and endearing to her, all at the same time: it was as if she felt the urge to do something for him, to ease his evident physical and emotional pain, without even exactly knowing why. But there was no time, and now he had something much more important to tell her: in all those years, he had never stopped looking for the Tokimasa scroll, the one which would have granted Choryunami the power to summon the dragons of the legend. Although he had never managed to find it anywhere, he was sure he was finally in possession of the one thing that could lead her to its location, but she was the only one who could find out more about it and its real purpose. He pulled out a scroll from his cloak, opened it and revealed a complex seal: as soon as he activated it, a sinuous sword in a blue and golden scabbard appeared in his hand. The blade had belonged to the Tokimasa who signed the contract with the dragons, he told her, and he knew this for sure. Of course he omitted that he had found it right in the grave of that very ancestor, after he read some new information about the origins of the Tokimasa clan which led him to look for something useful where the ancients themselves were guarding it. Now it was up to Choryunami to find out how to locate the scroll; he could not help her anymore, and time was almost up, so he placed back the ancient sword inside the scroll and handed it to the girl. He gently caressed her face and smiled again before disappearing, probably never to be seen again, as Senryū slowly came back to his senses: when he saw how shaken Choryunami looked, he just mistaken that distress for the consequence of a particularly tough fight.

As Choryunami seemed to have changed a bit since the news of Orochimaru’s death and both she and Senryū had been silent and distant for a while, he didn’t really notice anything strange in her after that day. In secret, though, Choryunami was thinking over and over about Kabuto and his sudden appearance, about his struggle, the sword, and how to use it to eventually get to the scroll. In the end, she decided the only place where to start any research was her now abandoned home, back in the Rice Field Country. As Senryū seemed to plot something on his own, going on short missions alone, she announced she needed to go to her old house to try and reconnect with the roots of her clan; those days she constantly looked very thoughtful and seemed to really need to stay there alone for a while, meditating on her life and what she was supposed to do next. Senryū didn’t really like the idea of leaving her on her own, since he didn’t truly know what could be in her troubled mind, but he was too busy with his own business to constantly look after her anyway, and maybe that retreat could have been actually useful to her. She travelled alone, and the initial fear and anguish slowly gave way to a peculiar peace, as she began to feel again that tranquillity that nature alone used to grant her when she was little. She found the old Tokimasa abode severely neglected, but luckily not in ruins. She hadn’t seen home for long years, and that sight caused a lump to form in her throat. Still, she really wanted to settle there for a while, to clean a bit the place while she sought clues and inspiration. She looked in the library she was barely allowed to get close to when she was just a little girl, and searched for precious information inside the scrolls and books that were stored there, but found nothing resolving. She spent some days like that, polishing the golden dragons around the house as if hoping that they could whisper a long sought-after answer in her hear, until that one day when she went out in the now fallow garden and resolved to give some beauty and harmony back to it. That’s when she lingered a bit more in front of the tiny temple near her bedroom window, reminiscing about how much it used to fascinate her and make her fantasize long ago. She indulged in the memories, and stepped inside to see if the broken stone dragon statue was still there: it had always been like that, and she used to wonder all the time how that incident could have happened. Only now, though, she noticed that the two stone fragments of the dragon, the head and tail, didn’t really seem to have been roughly broken... a silly thought formed in her mind, the thought of a child, she was well aware. But everything about that place felt like childhood to her, and she decided to indulge in that ridiculous idea. She extracted the sword from the scroll, slowly unsheathed it, and then tried to place it on the two parts of the statue, as if they were some kind of pedestal. The blade fitted perfectly in a fissure inside the tail, while the hilt fell perfectly into place on the neck’s side. Choryunami smiled; it still felt a bit silly, but also strangely satisfying. She probably had just found the old place of display of the sword, though, nothing more... then, all of a sudden, a whisper of polished stone surprised her, and she could barely believe her eyes when she saw that a narrow passage had just appeared under the small altar of the dragon. She looked around, closed the door of the temple, and sneaked in the short passage, which led down to a very small chamber containing nothing more than another tiny dragon statue, that even in the semi-darkness seemed to sparkle of the purest gold. No trace of scrolls, though, nor any other clue. All her excitement quickly weakened, though she still couldn’t help admiring the golden dragon. It seemed even more beautiful than all those inside and around the house, and that she had always loved so much. It was deliciously polished and smooth, so she stood there for a while running her fingers across its glimmering shape... and when she reached the mouth and tried to touch those tiny teeth which seemed so incredibly sharp, she couldn’t hold back a brief scream, because the golden dragon, as fast as lightning, had just bitten her. She had only time to see a small drop of blood on her finger, and just a hint of red in the motionless dragon’s mouth: a moment later, she wasn’t there anymore.

The place where she was now looked like a huge cave, with a tall, golden wall right in front of her, across that spacious natural room. For a while, nothing moved in the semi-darkness, as she stood still looking around, trying to find out where she was and what she was supposed to do there. Then she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. Something very small and as dark as the cave was quickly moving towards her, almost as if dancing through the air. It didn’t look like an insect, nor a bat, but she instinctively tried to dodge it when it got too close to her face... That’s when she realized what the creature was, though she couldn’t help wondering whether the sudden darkness was tricking her eyes. It was a dragon. A tiny dragon covered in iridescent black scales, not much bigger than a common lizard, and it was alive. It was staring at her in awe, suspended in the air, as if he was the one who could barely believe what he was seeing. He looked at the drop of blood now clotted on her finger, and seemed to smile, slowly getting closer again. Now that she could see it more clearly, Choryunami could only stare, unable to move, as the creature drew near enough to gently touch her face with its minuscule claws. She slowly held out her shaky hand, and let the dragon land there. Then it seemed to speak, but she couldn’t say whether its words came from its mouth or maybe she was hearing them straight in her head. “He knew you would have come, in the end”, he said. “He will be happy to see you’re here”. Then he happily took flight towards the golden wall. Choryunami looked around once again, wondering who the tiny dragon was talking about and seeing absolutely no one. Then, as soon as she realized that the golden wall was decorated with a dragon scale motif, it began to move. It was no decorated wall: it was an actual, huge dragon, which slowly uncoiled and revealed its majestic horned head, looking at her with a gaze that seemed to contain all the ages of the world. When he spoke, his voice sounded ancient as the stars, and indefinable as the farthest future. He knew who she was, her blood could not lie, and he was bound to offer her the legendary scroll to sign in the name of the old pact that connected the dragons to her family. His name was Tenkai no Ryūjin, the “dragon god of the heavens”, while the little one who had welcomed Choryunami upon her arrival was Uchyū no Nagareboshi, “shooting star of the endless cosmos”. Five more major dragons lived there, he said, but they were somewhere outside the cave, roaming around their island, or maybe farther away. She would have known them once the right time came. Now it was time for her to sign with her precious blood, and this way in the end the legend was fulfilled. He warned her, though: he could see the darkness and anguish in her heart. They, the dragons, were going from then on to be bound to answer her call and help her in battle whenever she needed their help, but the technique to summon them would have required more than her unique blood: she was going to need a rightful spirit, in constant search of the dragons’ wisdom. They could not answer the call of a heart heavily tainted by hate and rage, merely craving conflict and war. Her path was still winding, he said, but he could see hope in at least one of her possible futures: now it was time for her to go back and keep on walking on that path, trying to find the answers she still needed, now with her new power to discover and master. In a flash of light, she was suddenly back to the small chamber under her home’s garden, looking in disbelief at her hand marked by the bite of the sculpted dragon and the small wound she had inflicted herself to sign the contract.

In the meantime, the fateful fight between the Uchiha brothers had taken place, and had ended with Itachi’s death. When Zetsu came to Tobi, who was fighting against Naruto’s team, to tell him about the outcome of the fight, Shodanya was there with the Leaf team, and was shocked by such a revelation. Shortly after Tobi and Zetsu fled together, and thanks to Hinata’s Byakugan, the Leaf ninjas ran to the site of the battle, with Shodanya desperate to find Sasuke in time and know more about what had happened to her brothers. But it was too late: no one was there anymore, and no trace of the fight was left.
Once back to the village, Shodanya told Kakashi she needed to be alone, and that she was resolved to quit being a ninja, and saying so she untied her forehead protector from her arm. She had no more dreams to fight for, anything left to believe in. Hours later, in the dead of night, Kakashi realized she was going to leave again, but this time she promised him she didn’t want to fight nor to leave for good: she only needed to find Sasuke and know all the truth from him. Also, since she wasn’t a ninja anymore, she wasn’t going to need anyone’s permission to do as she pleased. She found Sasuke shortly after sunrise, and he agreed to tell her everything, away from his allies. So Shodanya learnt the truth about Itachi, how he had plainly disobeyed an order to save her life instead of killing her together with all their clan, and how everything she had always believed about her family was wrong. She was shocked to know about the way he had died, and that all he had done, even in that last fight, had been to keep Sasuke safe, to the point of even freeing him from Orochimaru, who had been living inside of him since the day he had absorbed and “killed” him. Sasuke’s cold words once he finished to tell his story implied he was going to speak no more. He told Shodanya they were going to move, so sending someone to catch him would have been useless; she replied she had never intended to spy on his position to send someone else after him. She knew what she needed to know, now, and Sasuke just wanted to be left alone, so she came back to the Leaf Village with the help of one of her demons, went to Kakashi to tell him she was already back and then just lost herself to a sleep filled with anguished nightmares. When she woke up, she was alone. Kakashi had already left for a mission, so she was free to go out and train on her own, her own way.
In the following days, Kakashi tried as usual to stay by her side, to make her smile, to understand her silences. Shodanya was still confused by the latest revelations, and was struggling to come to terms with them. At the same time, though, she was trying to open up as much as she could, trying more than ever to leave her darkest side behind. One night, as Kakashi was asleep by her side, she confessed her love to him, blaming herself for her cowardice but also vowing she would have found the strength to tell him again looking into his eyes, sooner or later. As soon as she fell asleep, Kakashi smiled faintly and hugged her tighter, without waking her up. He wasn’t sleeping.

In the meantime, Choryunami was still alone, trying hard to learn how to use the summoning technique, but with no success. She tried to focus on the dragons’ words, on their cryptic teachings, and on her desperate need to call them to help her fight the boy she despised so much... but it was all in vain. Day after day, she began to believe she had just dreamt of her encounter with the dragons. She was so shaken and confused, after all...
She decided it was time to go back to Senryū, to see him again, tell him about what had happened to her and keep on training, maybe with a bit of his help. But he didn’t seem particularly impressed when they met again: he was extremely able in gathering information and staying up to date with everything relevant happening around, and he seemed much more interested in those news he had just acquired: the Uchiha brothers had clashed, and Itachi had died... but not before sealing away, with one of his overpowering techniques, Orochimaru, who had emerged from Sasuke’s cursed seal, alive, only to be defeated in a matter of seconds. Senryū always seemed to feel an undeniable pleasure when telling her, with a complete and intentional lack of tact, of her old sensei’s defeats and... deaths. He had come back, then, she thought, breathless; he had never been really dead... but now it seemed his soul was sealed for good, with no chance of coming back.  And once again it was all because of those damn Uchiha. Incapable of thinking straight, and unable to keep her temper, soon she stormed off again. She didn’t even know what she was looking for, or who... or did she? And it wasn’t long before she ran across Shodanya again, and she definitely didn’t look like feeling much better than Choryunami. She was probably going to “train” again, but stopped when she saw her old friend. None of them knew exactly what to say, and the tension between them was too much. When Choryunami said she had recently met Kabuto, Shodanya exploded with rage and concern: Choryunami tried, without much success, to calm her by telling her it was no big deal, but couldn’t stand it when she understood that the Uchiha girl wasn’t worried for her as much as she was for her twin brother. Choryunami poured on her all her grudge and resentment, still upset for the loss of her master and from the hate she harboured towards Sasuke, but Shodanya became cold and merciless, telling her she couldn’t really know nor understand anything about love, loss and revenge, since she had never had anything in her life if not a huge lie she couldn’t help believing, blind to any truth, cruelty and betrayal.
Suddenly, Choryunami stopped screaming and stared into Shodanya’s eyes, desperate: if she couldn’t understand, then she wanted the girl to show her, with her ocular powers. She wanted to see everything, to know everything, and then she could have decided if she was grieving for nothing or not. Shodanya was reluctant at first, but then accepted, fighting the pain she was feeling inside: what she was about to show Choryunami was something she had never even had the strength to talk about... but she didn’t step back. She activated her Sharingan and took Choryunami with her inside an illusion made of memories, where Choryunami saw and felt everything: the three Uchiha siblings playing in the garden in a peaceful Summer night; their special bond; Itachi’s change, and the twins’ apprehension about it; the night of the massacre; all the grief and sorrow Shodanya had endured in her life; the news of Itachi’s death, and then Sasuke crying on a cliff, finally aware of the whole truth... then the illusion was broken, and they were back again in the place where they had met by chance, breathless, crushed. Choryunami realized she was crying; when Shodanya turned around to run away, to hide her own tears, she grabbed her and instinctively hugged her. The younger girl didn’t even try to fight to set herself free from that grasp: she let herself go, maybe for the first time, and cried uncontrollably, venting all her pain and desperation, as Choryunami, still shocked and deeply moved, gently sobbed, holding her tight and feeling as if everything inside her heart was suddenly changing, this time for real.

07.  Pain and Hope

Choryunami soon went back to her and Senryū’s hiding place. He barely asked her where she had been, and she, for her part, had not much to tell him: she sure wasn’t going to reveal those intimate and torturous secrets Shodanya had just shared with her, and had also learnt not to expect much help nor support from him as she tried to master her summoning technique. It was almost as if he had grown more and more suspicious, and for some reason he somehow seemed to trust her even less than when they had met for the first time. Choryunami, though still shaken and confused by those latest revelations, tried to understand what was wrong, what seemed to torment him and keep him silent and distant... but to no avail. She could only try and focus on her lonely training, now. And as she was about to try again, she could feel clearly that something was now different inside her. There was still turmoil in her heart, but hate and grudge seemed to have faded, making more room to understanding and to a growing will to look for truth and wisdom. What Shodanya had shown her, first of all, made her realize how wrong and devastating revenge could be. There was no hope in it, no chance to make things right through it: only the certainty of more destruction and self-harm. It had been so shocking, so confusing... and so clear.
It was almost as if that clarity let her control chakra more accurately... and after a few more tries, something happened. Some kind of ethereal puff of sparkling mist, a dark iridescent reflection, and suddenly she was looking at a familiar face: tiny Nagareboshi had just appeared in front of her, and just like that time she had found the dragons’ den he looked even more surprised and happy than her to meet again. It took Choryunami a little time to be sure it was happening for real... but it was all true. “Boshi” quickly became a loyal friend and mentor, and very soon she got used to his comforting presence and advice.
From that day on, under the little dragon’s guidance, Choryunami quickly perfected her ability to summon those majestic creatures, and met more of the ones living on the island she had quickly visited, those who were bound by the legendary agreement: the second dragon she learnt to summon was Koimori no Karuiha, “light leaf of the thick forest”, a relatively small, bronze-coloured dragon who seemed made of the same ground, rocks and leaves he used to dwell in. Then Choryunami managed to summon a third dragon, Seikuwa no Kinenkō, the “golden flame of the sacred fire”, a creature of the same bright colour of a lively blaze, with a soft mane as warm as a gentle bonfire. The powerful but courteous beasts greeted the girl as if she were an old friend, and seemed happy and honoured to be acquainted with her. Everything seemed to finally begin to go for the best, even though Senryū still seemed so unusually cold and lost in who knows which thoughts... but a new catastrophe was about to unleash not far from there, and to harshly affect someone she had grown so deeply fond of.

Looking for Naruto and especially for the demon fox he carried within himself, Pain, the Akatsuki leader, launched a vehement attack on Konoha, right while the boy he was looking for was away, training at Mount Myōboku. Shodanya joined the defence forces of the village when the battle had already begun, right in time to see Kakashi stabbed by Pain... and then realize seconds later that it was only a clone. Kakashi asked Chōji, Chōza and Shodanya to create a diversion for him to attack Pain during the short amount of time during which he couldn’t use his power to control gravity, but in the end his attack couldn’t reach the “real” Pain. Thrown away by the enemy’s power, Kakashi and Shodanya ended up trapped under the rubble, and she came back to her senses only to see Pain shooting to death a helpless Kakashi with a nail. With his last breaths, the jōnin ordered his teammates to inform the Hokage about the nature of Pain’s powers, and to find a way to defeat him; then he told Chōji, whose father had just been killed in the attack, to free Shodanya and run away, taking her to a safe place. She, of course, struggled to free herself from Chōji’s grasp and refused to abandon Kakashi to his doom, but with an irrefutable authority he ordered her to live. With his last bit of chakra left, he sent the bullet Pain had just shot against Chōji to another dimension, and then closed his eyes.
As soon as she couldn’t see Kakashi anymore, Shodanya suddenly seemed to calm down, but she was actually threatening Chōji to stab him if he didn’t let her go. He told her he wasn’t going to go back on his word to save her, but she pulled out a kunai: she didn’t hurt him though, but cut her own hand instead and promised him she had a way to get faster to their destination. She summoned Hiruna, but then ordered him to take Chōji away, to the Hokage’s palace, and then to come back to her at once. Then she summoned Ketsuki, a demon with a blue, translucent body and healing powers, to fix only her wounded, paralysed legs, enough to run back to where she was coming from, towards the battlefield, towards Kakashi. But just when the battleground became visible again, Hiruna threw himself at her from the sky, already back from his mission, and took her away, higher and higher, farther and farther from the village, against her will. As Shodanya began remonstrating for his insubordination, a deafening roar exploded, and Konoha was cancelled by Pain’s overwhelming, merciless power. On the ground, Sakura desperately called for Naruto, and he finally came back, in his new sage attire. The demon could hear their voices, and Shodanya asked him to let her listen, thanks to her power to get telepathically connected with her summons. They heard Naruto saying that he could now sense people’s chakra, but couldn’t feel Kakashi’s. Shodanya told Hiruna to put her down at once. Slowly, she walked back to the place that was once Konoha, and that now was only an empty crater, covered with few bodies protected by Tsunade’s slugs. She found him, and in the end found the strength to get close to him, too. But as much as she desired to see his face one last time, she couldn’t touch him. Realizing what was in front of her, she screamed, a single note of utter desperation. And then ran back, away from the battle and from Kakashi’s dead body, terrified, destroyed by sorrow. Soon her body couldn’t bear such exertion anymore, so she summoned Hiruna again, and flew with him to one of her familiar clearings in the forest, where she used to “train”, well aware that Kakashi would have firmly disapproved of that habit. As if challenging him to come back to stop her, she summoned Roosoku and began her self-hurting ritual one more time, then again, and again. After the sixth explosion, Shodanya was left with no energy, lying on the ground, breathless, as the rain began to fall, alone with her crushing thoughts and regrets. She was ready to let go. But before she lost her senses, she saw some sort of shadow getting closer, calling her name.  But she had no more energy to answer that call, nor to stay awake anymore. She was ready, and willing, to die.

Choryunami perceived an eerie vibration in the ground. It could have been an earthquake, but she felt that something wasn’t right. Nagareboshi, who was with her even then, saw her anguish for not knowing what had just happened, nor where, and revealed his true power: just as Karuiha’s powers were linked to earth element and Kinenkō’s were related to fire, the tiny black dragon had power over space, and was able to see every place in that precise moment in time. It only took him seconds to realize that the Leaf Village had disappeared: Choryunami’s anguish turned into panic, and she summoned Karuiha to get there as quick as possible, flying swiftly and stealthily through branches and leaves. Once they reached the place, she left the dragon on guard and got closer to what was left of Konoha alone: the sight was terrifying, and resembled the unsettling calm after an extreme, devastating storm. She got closer, shiftily, until she saw Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi standing not far: listening to what the Jōnin was saying, she learnt that Shodanya was missing. Gasping, she was about to summon Nagareboshi again to ask him where she was... but as she run back to the forest to hide and reunite with Karuiha, as soon as she reached the silence among the trees she clearly heard an explosion in the distance: the dragon of course noticed, too, and understood at once that their new destination was the place where that rumble had come from.
Choryunami found Shodanya as it started raining: she was covered in nasty burns and deep, bleeding wounds. Choryunami called her name, shocked, running to her, but she didn’t answer. When she quickly checked up her conditions, though, she realized she was still alive, so she took her in a nearby little cave, quickly located by Karuiha thanks to his connection with the ground, to shelter her from the now pouring rain and provide her first aid, saving her life. Night had fallen when Shodanya finally woke up. Choryunami, who had never left her side, reassured her and asked how she had gotten hurt like that. Shodanya sneered as she replied, but then was back on the verge of tears: she was still alive, then, and she couldn’t stand it. She had failed again. Desperate, she confessed that she had found someone who wanted to save her from herself and stay by her side, just like Senryū had done with Choryunami, and though she had fought him and hurt him again and again, in the end she had completely surrendered to him. But the promise she had made that night when he was asleep... now she couldn’t keep it anymore. Crushed, she asked Choryunami whether she had ever told Orochimaru that she loved him, catching her completely off guard. But she didn’t even have time to recover from that unexpected question, because Shodanya insisted: had she ever told Kabuto? Choryunami was completely caught out, but Shodanya wasn’t finished: had she ever told Senryū? Speechless and unprepared, Choryunami was overwhelmed by a swarm of thoughts she had never paid enough attention to. Kabuto’s name seemed to reawake in her something she had never truly noticed, while the thought of Senryū made her look away for a moment, just like when Shodanya had mentioned him seconds earlier. The wounded girl revealed that she had never done that, except for that one time when he couldn’t hear. At last, she uttered Kakashi’s name, and Choryunami seemed even more confused than before, since she had seen him alive after the disaster. One thing, though, was now clear: at least Choryunami knew what to do to begin with. She told Shodanya to rest a bit more, and as the rain had just stopped falling she took her back to the Leaf Village at once. She easily found Kakashi, together with Gai, so she gently woke her friend up, and with a sweet smile she invited her to look: Shodanya was so shocked by what she saw that she clung to Choryunami, almost scared... then she unsteadily walked towards Kakashi, who grasped her when she stumbled. When Shodanya tried to explain, he stopped her, telling that he didn’t care, not even about anything she could have done, and the two tenderly hugged.
Choryunami kept watching from a distance, but her sweet smile now was only hiding a bitter feeling and an unrelenting thought. As Shodanya finally told Kakashi that she loved him, Choryunami turned away, summoned Kinenkō and left, before the other girl had the time to call her back. There was something she had to do, and it couldn’t wait any longer.

The fire dragon took Choryunami back to her refuge, and she let him stay there among the trees, watching over her, as if she felt that she needed a friendly presence to give her enough courage and strength to face Senryū. She couldn’t stand it anymore: a heavy burden had been weighing on her heart for too long, and now it was too much, no matter how she kept trying to ignore it. She didn’t want to keep on hiding, pretending she was something different from her true self, and with the man who was supposed to love her, moreover. She found the renegade Mist ninja where she expected to find him, in a small clearing not far from their hideout, and he noticed at once that there was something strange in her. She spoke nervously, from a distance, and her gaze was at the same time fearful and resolute... and in the end she told him: “If you truly love me, you have to accept what I am. You have to accept this.” And she entered the second stage of her curse seal, transforming right in front of his eyes.
Senryū was aghast by that sight, but managed to keep his composure. He slowly breathed a couple of times, then he calmly replied: “I can accept it”. Choryunami smiled, a hesitant, hopeful and relieved smile, as he slowly walked towards her, with a serious expression on his face. Then he added, whispering upon her cheek: “ If you can accept this”. And as he uttered those words, he mercilessly pierced her body with a row of thick, sharp bones emerged from his stolen right arm, running through her right on the side of her heart. The girl was so surprised she didn’t even scream, breathless from the shock and the pain. As Senryū silently pulled back his bloody bones, she transformed back into her human form, flopping to the ground in agony. Her desperate eyes found no compassion in his sad, disappointed gaze: he just lingered there for few seconds, watching her writhing in pain without a word nor a change in his grave expression, then turned his back to her and left her to die.
Choryunami was aware she was losing too much blood. Shocked, betrayed and scared, she knew she had not much time to think and act if she wanted to survive. She tried to tampon her deep wounds using her Shadow Snake technique to squeeze her body, then summoned Nagareboshi, who gasped at the sight of his dying summoner. But she couldn’t explain, now: there was only one person she could think of that could save her life, and he had to locate him at once. With one last painful effort, she looked at Kinenkō, who was hastening to her from the forest, and whispered to the tiny black dragon: “Take us to him.”

The fire dragon gently took Choryunami in his claws and kept her against his warm mane as they took flight, while the girl used every bit of her strength not to pass out and to keep control over her dragons and snakes. Fast as lightning, they flew over the sea, until a small rocky island appeared in sight, and when they were close enough Kinenkō let out a melodious roar, beseechingly calling the only solitary dweller of the hideout that began to be faintly visible on the cliff wall. A deft figure appeared, attracted by such an arcane sound, and stood on a grassy ledge: before Kabuto could even stare in the distance to find out what was approaching, a fiery dragon gracefully landed in front of him. But he had no time to behold the creature he had been researching on for so long: his astonished eyes went from the dragon to the girl covered in blood the beast was carrying... he recognized her at once, and gasped. She had done it, then. She had brought the dragons back! ... And she was dying. His train of thought was interrupted again by a new apparition: a minuscule black dragon rushed to his face, flying, stared into his eyes and spoke, as the other creature carefully laid Choryunami on the ground: “Save her.” Unable to speak, she looked at Kabuto for a moment with pleading eyes, teary from the betrayal and pain: then she lost consciousness, the two dragons vanished and so did the snakes on her body, revealing the nasty gashes all over it. It was even too clear that he had to act quickly if he hoped to stop the haemorrhages and heal her devastated body before it was too late. He picked her from the ground and hurried back to his laboratories, getting ready to operate on her at once.

Kabuto’s medical skills had only improved during those latest few years: although he was now facing a desperate case, he cold-bloodedly got everything ready in seconds in one of his personal operating rooms and single-handedly took care of everything. He cleaned the wounds, checked how deep they were and proceeded with the most effective treatments, regenerating the tissues and boosting the production of new blood cells in her body. Luckily her vital organs had not suffered damages he could not still heal. Only when her conditions seemed to stabilise at last, he paused and allowed himself to wonder how she could have gotten herself in such a state. When she finally woke up, a couple of days later, she was still too weak to speak, and could only give him a heartfelt look filled with gratitude when she recalled what had happened and realized she was still alive; then, after a few more days, she began to feel better, even though she was still bedridden, and told Kabuto what had happened, hardly keeping from crying. More than by her tragic account, though, Kabuto was deeply impressed by the loyalty she still seemed to address to their old master, even after all the time she had been away. Maybe Orochimaru was right when he looked so unconcerned about her abduction: somehow, he could probably sense her feelings through her cursed seal, and knew she would have come back one day, once she had collected all the information and strength she needed to fulfil her purpose. And now she was back indeed, the girl who could summon dragons, right as he prepared to start a war and was going to need her unique powers more than ever. While he waited for her to recuperate completely he continued his experiments, and among other things he tried again to inject some of her Tokimasa blood in his own body, with a view to the day he could have signed the legendary contract himself. But no matter how much he had improved his procedures and techniques over the years: that particular blood seemed to refuse to mix with others’, at least in any artificial way. It seemed to simply disappear or dissolve, leaving no trace in his veins.
In the meantime, Choryunami kept getting better and better, not even too slowly, considering what she was recovering from. Kabuto divided his time between mysterious training, dark experiments and taking care of the girl. Day after day, his body was more and more covered in white scales, and his mind constantly busy with some unhealthy obsession: Choryunami noticed it, but instead than being scared or unnerved she felt pity for him. He wasn’t so different from the years they had spent at the original Sound Village, after all: even back then, she had always had the feeling that behind his smiles, his kindness and his silences a deep, unknown sadness was hiding. Even now, beyond his strange behaviour and his disturbing appearance, she could sense pain and grief, and a desperate loneliness so well concealed that hardly anyone could have ever noticed. She was still sure that under that sly cover still beated a kind heart that, for some reason, had never had the chance to come to the surface. Moreover, Shodanya’s point-blank question was still resonating inside her head, and during her recovery she had had all the time to realize something so unexpected and so obvious: how much she had really missed him, and how her confusion and obsession for her old sensei had kept her from acknowledging her true feelings, so undisclosed even for herself.
One day, Kabuto examined her as usual to check her conditions, as she laid on one of the many examination tables in the hideout: she seemed to have recovered completely. She was definitely out of danger and everything in her body was back to normal. Before he left her, though, he asked if she could use her curse seal and turn into her second stage form, to make sure nothing wrong would happen. The thought scared Choryunami at first, since the memory of what had happened the last time she had done it was still vivid and painful, in her mind more than in her body. But he reassured her and encouraged her to go on: when the transformation began, now that he could comfortably witness it so closely, he couldn’t but be astonished by the perfect control she had on the process, and by the plain consciousness and self-control she was able to keep while in that state. It was amazing, and he didn’t hide his content admiration. He found it beautiful. Choryunami was used to see only horror, disgust and hate in the eyes of whoever saw her in that state, but this was not the case: she felt accepted even in that forbidden form and it felt somehow wrong and... pleasant. Kabuto told her she could deactivate her seal, now, and turned around to let her transform back. But just as he took his first step away Choryunami stopped him, grabbing his arm with the end of her tail and pulling him closer. She was back to her human form in a heartbeat: sitting on the table, she leaned forward and kissed him. For the first time in her life, she listened to her truest feelings, and was the one to decide who to love.

Although Kabuto seemed to reciprocate Choryunami’s feelings, it was clear that his darkening heart was only concerned by his warmongering plans and his desire for revenge. This time she was able to see it all distinctly, but didn’t want to give up on him anyway: now she had a chance to give him some of the honest love he hadn’t had for so long and to save him from darkness, she was going to do anything she could to break his curse of grief and hate. She knew too well how it felt, to be lost and confused and spiralling into madness and despair, and she didn’t want him to end up the way she had risked to do. Though he would never reveal anything about his past life, the scars on his soul were always so evident to her, and now she had finally understood how much she loved him she just wanted to soothe his pain and stand by his side.
But the only thing Kabuto saw in that relationship was the possibility of some remarkable advantage. He knew how loyal he could make her through her feelings: Orochimaru had been an excellent teacher at that. But above all, he had his experiments to carry out, and with her at his complete disposal everything was going to get much more interesting. While on the island, Choryunami kept on practicing her summoning technique, and learnt how to call a fourth dragon: Mitsukumo no Namida, “tear of the honey cloud”, an aquatic beast covered in turquoise scales. While she trained, Kabuto managed to take some samples from the dragons’ bodies, and used them in his project to “revive” a new Manda, stronger and deadlier than the original one. But one of his most ambitious plans was still to mix Tokimasa blood with his own: if he could not do it directly in his laboratory, maybe he could try to add a step to the process, and have a sample of his blood naturally mingled with the dragon summoner’s. It was so ridiculously simple now... he only needed a small tissue sample, so its new test subject could have been taken very soon, as soon as it started developing. Everything was going to be done and over with Choryunami not even knowing she was pregnant.

In the meantime, no matter how hard the girl tried to dissuade Kabuto from his plans: he kept on going on personal missions she’d rather not know what they were about, and his eyes were every day more filled with obsessive avidity. Her heart was breaking as he slowly fell deeper and deeper in his own trap of lust for power and revenge. One night, he looked even more delirious than usual. When she asked him what was going on, he revealed he had finally found the way to enter the Ryuchi cave, and he was going to leave before the sun rose. No need to work more on his blood experiments, now he had the chance to become a dragon himself. It was finally time for her to follow him and be at his side, just as she wanted, to be with him on his quest... but she refused. She knew what he was going to dive into: she knew it could only bring him to destruction, not to victory nor to his true fulfilment. Once again she desperately tried to stop him and open his eyes, but in vain. When he realized there was no way to convince that silly girl to follow him, he just left her behind. No matter how strong he was or he was still going to become: she knew who and what he was most likely to face, and he was crazy and confused, and all this could only mean he was walking right towards his death. She just couldn’t save him; a crushing truth almost impossible to bear. But there was nothing else she could do, if not desperately trying to find something else worth living for... a reason, a purpose, something to give her strength. But everything felt like a failure, now. She only had her dragons left, and the secret that could lead her back to their island to seek counsel and comfort. For a few days more she stayed there on the laboratory island, as if hoping to see Kabuto coming back, his mind changed, his heart healed... but of course nothing like that happened. There was only silence, and her growing sense of fatigue. It had to be stress coming from the recent happenings, and she just decided to wait until she felt better before leaving that place. But her condition didn’t seem to improve; in the long run, she noticed more symptoms and hints that something wasn’t quite right... until she checked and finally realized she was expecting a child.
It was a shock at first. She had no idea what to do, and how to face the situation. But very soon her fear turned into something deeply different: that child was the reason she was looking for. If she could give him life, and all the love that Kabuto had so stubbornly refused, then maybe her life wasn’t going to be that meaningless anymore. She was alone, and a war was about to start, but she would have clung to that tiny hope with all her strength. She would have found a way, somehow. First of all she just wanted to leave that place, and to fly back home.

Before the war started, Choryunami and Shodanya got to meet again, and both knew that could have easily been the last time. Choryunami briefly told her friend what had happened after she had taken her back to the Leaf Village, and in the end, not even knowing how to word it, revealed she was expecting. Shodanya was incredulous at first, and could barely conceal her look of reproach for everything that meant: but then she summoned Ketsuki at once, so that he could examine her and make sure she was alright. After a short check-up, the demon sweetly smiled and then, looking first at his summoner, then to his patient, lifted two fingers. It took Shodanya only a moment to understand, while Ketsuki explained everything inside her mind: Choryunami was having twins. It was another shock for her: but a moment later she was smiling in tears. Shodanya seemed more worried than her, though: she asked her what she was going to do, now, and Choryunami looked more resolved than ever. Of course she was keeping the children, and there was a place where she could take shelter during the war, after all. She pleaded with her not to see her as a coward, even though it looked like she was going to hide from the war... but Shodanya understood: both of them had something to fight for, now, and they could only do it in different ways. Not knowing if they were ever going to see each other again, the two girls hugged and left for their fates: Shodanya to fight alongside the Shinobi Alliance and the one she loved, Choryunami to protect the hope and the future she now carried in her womb.

08.  Phoenix Burn

Choryunami took with her from the laboratories all the medical supplies she could among those she thought she could need during the upcoming months. She briefly stopped at the Tokimasa house and then, trying not to think too much about Kabuto and his ill-fated choices, entered the small temple in the garden and went back to the dragons’ island, seeking refuge among them and trying to leave all the madness and pain behind. In mid-december, not long after the end of the war, she gave birth to twin girls: she called them Ryūko, the “dragons’ daughter”, and Fushichō, the “immortal bird”, and later they would have been known also as the Jade Dragon and the Silver Phoenix. She took them back home only when Nagareboshi assured her that it was safe out there. Choryunami didn’t feel much like seeing anyone, and preferred to stay isolated in her ancient dwelling, at least for the moment. She had somehow come to terms with Kabuto’s loss, though she still loved him dearly through their daughters and missed the peaceful man he could have been, he who was never going to see those beautiful children. She still hadn’t found enough strength to ask her dragons if they knew how he had died, or if he had been buried somewhere. She was too afraid of the possible answers. One day, though, not much more than a year later, Nagareboshi saw how she was still silently grieving for him and couldn’t restrain himself anymore. When he tried to locate him, he couldn’t help telling Choryunami at once, even though she had never asked him to reveal where he was: he was alive, in the outskirts of Konoha. The girl covered her mouth in disbelief and burst into silent tears, overwhelmed by relief, guilt, and an uncontrollable desire to see him again, even though she felt quite worried too, not knowing what he could have become nor in which conditions he could be. She hoped he was alright, but she couldn’t be sure... that was only one more reason to go to him as soon as possible, after all. She left for Konoha riding her trusty Kinenkō, with her daughters entrusted in his warm claws, while Nagareboshi guided them as usual. The scene Choryunami found in front of her when they arrived was quite unexpected: they landed not far from a wooden building, around which some children were playing, as a young man wearing a black robe carefully watched over them. No need to say they all were quite surprised as well when a dragon landed right in their yard. The kids were in awe, while the man, someone Choryunami had never seen before, approached her, cautious and wary. She immediately introduced herself and asked about Kabuto, unable to hide her urgency and concern. The man, whose name was Urushi, looked sincerely surprised, but he offered to guide her inside the building. In the meantime, the children seemed to have already made friends with the dragon, and Choryunami, with a sweet, amused smile, assured her host that the gentle beast would have taken good care of them while they were in, while she followed him holding her breath and her daughters’ hands. She waited outside the door of a room while Urushi went in; moments later, another tall figure appeared on the threshold, almost in a rush, his silver hair tied in a tail, his skin whitish, his eyes golden and bright. He was wearing Urushi’s same garment, but even under that new appearance Choryunami immediately recognized Kabuto, who was now looking at the girl with the same surprise and emotion that was in her eyes. The most amazing thing, though, was that every trace of grief and hate seemed to have vanished from his face, leaving only that light Choryunami had always been so sure was hiding somewhere inside him. There were so many things she would have wanted to ask, but she suddenly couldn’t utter a single sound. That useless effort and her growing agitation brought tears to her eyes; Kabuto tried to say something, but then his gaze met the two little girls, who were shily looking at him, intimidated. Luckily there was no more need for those words that just seemed unable to come out. His renewed heart understood, moved, grateful. He could barely hold back his tears as well as he stepped forward and hugged Choryunami, tight, in silence. Probably seeking that forgiveness she had already granted him.
For long seconds they stood like that, in front of a puzzled Urushi; then Kabuto turned towards him and quickly explained, while also telling Choryunami that he was his brother and that he had first met him when he was only a child and was accepted and housed in that same orphanage. But they had so much to tell each other, to explain... so she left her girls with Urushi, who took them outside and introduced them to the other children. In the meantime, Choryunami and Kabuto, whose new character was almost unrecognisable, sat together inside to talk: he told her, not without pain and regret, of his deeds during the war, of his fight against the Uchiha brothers, and of the way Itachi, back from the  dead to join his army of resuscitated ninjas, had saved his life, both refusing to kill him –and keeping Sasuke from doing it- and forcing him to reconsider his whole life thanks to a frightfully powerful jutsu. He had said he wanted him to live and above all not to die before he could make amends for his past mistakes. At first it had seemed a terrible punishment, but the truth was that had been his salvation. Choryunami was deeply moved by his words, and eternally grateful to that young man that in the past she had even come to despise.

Not much is known yet about Shodanya’s and Choryunami’s lives from then on. It is said that Shodanya and Kakashi married and had a child they called Sakumo, but things could even had gone differently. It seems that the two girls didn’t get to keep particularly in touch after the war: it is possible that Shodanya’s renovated relationship with her brother Sasuke made things difficult for Choryunami who, even though she didn’t really hate him anymore, was never able to get along with him.
On the contrary, it’s believed that Choryunami and Kabuto didn’t marry, even though their love and mutual respect only seemed to grow with time. Kabuto kept on taking care of the Konoha orphanage and mostly lived there, while Choryunami liked to stay at her family home, visiting the orphanage from time to time and soon winning the little orphans’ hearts with her kind manners and, not less important, with her homemade sweets. Anyway, she and Kabuto met from time to time and when possible they spent some days together. In the following years they had three more children: a boy they called Itachi, in honour of the man without whom he could have never been born, another boy, Yujin, and a girl, Satori, who immediately became her siblings’ little princess. In the meantime, Choryunami gradually learnt to summon also the other three of the main dragons under the Tokimasa contract: Aozora no Denteki, “electric breath of the blue sky”, a deep blue and ultramarine creature, linked to the powers of lightning; Ookaze no Raimei, the “thunder of the strong wind”, white and iridescent and lord of air currents; and at last even the massive and majestic Kamiten no Ryujin, who had the unfathomable power to see, of the specific place he was standing in, the past and all the possible futures that could happen there: something impossible to share with a human mind, but that could still bring inestimable wisdom and advice.
Through a harsh and winding path, then, destiny seemed to have reunited two lost dragons at last. The legend of the Tokimasa clan was reawakened, and their legacy was going to live on for many more years to come.