A Different Path

An Ancient Legend

Sasuke's POV

Sasuke and the others were jumping from tree to tree, scraping the hollow branches. The wind rustled the leaves gently as it ruffled the ninjas' hair. The sun was barely rising from the sea of greens, its razes tickling Sasuke's pale skin.
"The Sage of the Six Paths? Isn't that an old legend?" Asuma played with the cigar in his teeth, a little taken aback by the blond's question. Kurenai and Kakashi seemed quite surprised as well. Only the rookies, and Guy of course, remained clueless.

"Yes. But it's actually true." Their knowledge-hungry gazes made Naruto speak. Sasuke could tell, not like the others, that Naruto's shoulders had slightly relaxed and his gaze, on the road and hidden in the shadows, softened a little. The raven liked that. "Long before we were born, shinobi were actually just mere humans. They had no incredible power, only brains, muscles and weapons. I won't tell you the whole legend, just the part that includes Toneri." He straightened his face. The others seemed captivated while Choji munched on some snacks and Kiba scanned the surroundings since ancient history was too much for his damaged brain to handle.

"Kaguya Otsutsuki, the first human to have chakra, had two sons. Hamura Otsutsuki, the guardian of the moon, and Hagoromo Otsutsuki, also known as the Sage of the Six Paths. When it was his turn, he had two sons of his own. Indra and Ashura." Kiba interrupted him.
"And what does this have to do with the guy we're fighting?" Sakura punched his head, earning a groan from the boy.
"Shut up and listen!" Her eye twitched before returning to normal. The pinkette gave the blond a weak smile, as if she wanted to apologize somehow. Naruto ignored her completely, sighing and rolling his eyes soon after.

"As I was saying, the two sons were completely different. Indra had a natural talent for shinobi life while Ashura would only struggle to catch up to his brother. But Indra had no idea what teamwork is. Ashura realized things with the help of others."
"So how come they were brothers? If they were so different." Ino swayed away her blonde locks.
"Opposites attract each other. It's simple logic. They make up for what the other doesn't possess." Shikamaru explained it to them. It seemed familiar to Sasuke but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"They were really close. That was until Hagoromo had to decide to whom he should entrust the reins of Ninshu, the Ninja Creed, after he'd die. He chose Ashura because he was full of light and loved the people. As a result, Indra protested, especially since he was the first born. In the end, Hagoromo died from an illness with his sons next to his death bed. A little time later, Indra started a fight with Ashura which eventually turned into a war, lasting many thousands of years. Of course, they died, but their descendants and reincarnations carried on. In the end, they came to be two clans which were at war. The Senju and... The Uchiha." Sasuke's eyes widened and his muscles tensed. He could feel the other's pitying gazes on him. Naruto stared talking again before the raven got a chance to say anything.

"But that's not important. On the other hand, Hamura - Indra and Ashura's uncle - guarded his mother, Kaguya, after she had declared war to human kind. The two brothers managed to imprison her into the moon. I don't know how many children he had, but I do know that Hamura's great, great grandson was Toneri." He closed his eyes for a moment, letting the others know he had finished.
"But how do you know all of this? The legend that's written on the Fire Temple's walls contains only a small part of what you've said." Asuma narrowed his eyes.

"I met the Sage." After a few shocked or laughing remarks of 'But isn't he dead?' and 'You're crazy', Naruto explained his words. "He's left some of his chakra inside the Earth, so he would be able to appear in front of the ones he desired. A few months ago.. An.. Incident occurred and I couldn't work through it. The Sage appeared before me and made me awaken the Six Paths Sage Mode."
"So you're basically saying you possess the power of the mighty Sage?" Kakashi concluded while the others thought he was bluffing. Well, all except Sasuke, of course.

"To be able to declare yourself the new Sage, you need to have three things: the Senjutsu, chakra from all nine of the Tailed Beasts and the Rinnegan. And that visual prowess is something I do not possess or desire to." The blond waved his hand dismissively as a sign to end the conversation. He usually doesn't talk much, so he seemed to get tired of it.
Tailed Beasts? What are those? Tsunade said something about a Rinnegan and I know about senjutsu, but Tailed Beasts?

"And.. How did you meet Toneri?" Sasuke turned his gaze on him for a few seconds, that question still on his mind. Naruto didn't seem to like the Sage-talk so why not ask him about his 'friend'. For a moment, the teen seemed somewhat confused, as if he knew nothing at all. A broken machine. Sasuke instantly regretted asking. Naruto quickly regained himself as his eyes clouded.
"It was about a year after I left the village." Sasuke's shoulders stiffened. And also about the time when I woke up from my one-year coma to hear that my best friend had vanished. His eyes clouded as well. "I was in a small town somewhere in the Land of Wind, on my way to the Kazekage to deliver a mission report." Kiba interrupted him. Again. But this time he was actually a little hurt.

"So while we were working our asses off trying to find you, you were doing missions for some other villages?" The Leaf shinobi were surprised by his rather 'new' way of talking. Emotional talking. Naruto remained silent as they barged through the forest. Sasuke didn't completely agree with the idea but he still felt the need to defend his friend. If that's how he could call him, that is.
"He needed to get ahold of money, somehow, dog-brain. And since he was running away from the Hidden Leaf he had no other choice but to take on missions from other villages." The raven told the other man with his back turned, looking at him with the corner of his eye, still jumping through the trees. Kiba didn't have time to argue about the nickname.
"Sasuke's right. He needed money to live rather peacefully, at least." Shikamaru joined their tense conversation. Kiba lowered his gaze onto the road, defeated.

Naruto sighed softly before he was nudged to carry on.
"After walking slowly around the town, I reached a.. Dirty part of it. Taking a turn I came across a boy around my age, with a big gash on his chest, unconscious in a pool of blood." Hinata and Ino gasped while Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. Shino and Neji remained silent, as always. "I couldn't just leave him there, so I decided to treat his wounds." This time Lee's voice covered the blond's.
"Why not bring the not-so-youthful boy to the Hidden Sand's hospital?"
"He would have bled to death on the way there and also, I knew nothing about the kid. He might've been a thief for all I cared, that the Sand refused to tend to. Besides, I could heal him easily." Sasuke wanted to ask him if he knew medical ninjutsu as well but Naruto's voice carried on. He didn't feel like interrupting again. There had been enough of those.

"We became best friends. But soon after, he started to crave power. His ultimate desire was -..Is to become the new Sage. And of course, to prove that he's stronger, by taking me out."

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Huff! Another chapter up! Phew, it's hard to write long chappies these days! 😅Anyway, if there're some things you don't understand you can text me and I'll see what I can do to explain them to you. But still, if I plan on revealing them in the chapters to come, I won't divulge my ideas. Gomen!
Btw, some would say comments can harm one's heart but I just love reading them! Don't be shy, write up anything that comes into your mind. If you don't, I just feel like no one actually likes this story.. No matter how many votes it gets..
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~See ya!~
~Bella~
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