Chap-28 The Trail

Tobirama hazily stared in the darkness as he heard the lock click. His cell doors opened and he had to shield his eyes from the sudden invasion of the bright flame torch. It took him a few moments to adjust but when he did, he saw the visitor staring at him impassively.

"Kinslayer..." he spat, but it didn't evoke a single emotion from the Uchiha.

Naruto didn't speak and instead called for a chair which the guards provided quite quickly before bowing out of the cell. He then glanced at the Senju and was satisfied to see his wounds were healing thanks to Naori's aid.

Tobirama would still not be fight worthy for another few weeks, but he wouldn't fall dead either.

"Senju, how is your new accommodation treating you? I hope your stay here has been comfortable..." greeted Naruto with his trademark smirk,

"Mocking me, are you?" asked Tobirama with a scowl,

"Accurate assessment" agreed Naruto with a smile,

When their barbs died down, both Uchiha and Senju glared at each other intensely for several long minutes. The tension was almost breaking the air until Tobirama spoke...

"I underestimated you" admitted the white haired Senju, and was surprised when Naruto nodded.

"You're not the first to do so..." confessed Naruto,

"Why haven't you killed me?" asked Tobirama flatly,

"You know why..."

Tobirama could only think of one reason as to why he was alive and why the Yamanaka as well as the Hatake were still under the control of the Uchiha clan.

"Hashirama..." said Tobirama bitterly, knowing what price his brother must have paid for his life.

"You're an ungrateful bastard, you know that?" asked Naruto sarcastically,

"You don't know anything about my family! My life is not worth the loss it would mean for our clan, it would make the deaths of all those warriors meaningless if the Senju lose control over the Hatake and Yamanaka" said Tobirama seriously,

"Your brother thinks otherwise" pointed Naruto, making Tobirama slam his hands against the strong walls.

"He's a fool!"

The glare he received from Naruto made him shut his mouth and he couldn't help but wonder at the anger that arrived in the Kinslayer's eyes.

"You're lucky, Senju. Your brother is still alive for you to call him a fool, be grateful that you still have family that would give anything for your life. If the situations were reversed..."

Naruto stopped himself abruptly but Tobirama didn't need him to finish what he wanted to say. It was clearly visible in the Uchiha's eyes...

"Your father would have let you die"

At first he thought the Uchiha would either rebuff his claim or remain silent, but Naruto nodded much to Tobirama's surprise.

"Then why fight for such a family? Such a clan?" asked Tobirama curiously,

"For my brother"

Tobirama never saw a shred of doubt in Naruto's eyes. For the first time the Senju could respect his enemy's loyalty; for Tobirama despite his opposition to Hashirama's beliefs would never hesitate to lay down his own life for his siblings.

They both stared at each other knowing they were bitter enemies who would have seen each other dead if it was any other situation.

"Why are you not interrogating me for information?" asked Tobirama seriously,

"It's risky and can shatter your mind leaving you a living corpse. Your brother specifically asked for you to not be harmed in any manner or else the deal was off. We have agreed to those terms" admitted Naruto reluctantly,

"Yet I see in your eyes the desire to kill me..." remarked Tobirama, and clenched his fists when Naruto snarled at him.

''You killed my brother! Don't mistake this small mercy, Senju. I spared your sister's life in our very first battle, if I had known you bastards were going to kill Izuna I would have slaughtered her. Only then you would feel the pain that I feel everyday..." yelled Naruto furiously,

Tobirama glared at his enemy with twice the anger and hatred.

"I lost a brother that day as well! Your bastard clan killed my brother Kawarama and he was more important than all your brothers. Consider yourself lucky, Kinslayer, for if it was in my hands then none of your siblings or even you would have survived that day!" spat Tobirama viciously,

"Speak like that and I'll slit your throat right here!" warned Naruto, holding back his hands from grabbing a kunai from his pouch and finishing the deed.

"I'd like to see you try" challenged Tobirama with a smirk,

He watched in satisfaction as Naruto fought with himself, his hatred trying to overpower his sense of reason. In the end, the Uchiha could only sigh bitterly before falling silent.

Tobirama felt his own anger fade on seeing the heartbroken look in Naruto's eyes and he didn't need to be a scientist to imagine what was on the Uchiha's mind.

"You loved Izuna the most in this world, even more than Madara?" suggested Tobirama knowingly,

Naruto's murderous glare was all the confirmation Tobirama needed to know.

"One day I will kill you, Senju" promised Naruto, earning a smirk from the white haired boy.

"Likewise, Uchiha"

Seeing that he was getting nowhere, Naruto got up and was about to exit the cell when Tobirama's question stopped him.

"There is more to you than what you let people see..."

Turning back, Naruto saw Tobirama staring at him intently which was the motivation Tobirama needed to continue further.

"I imagined you to be a mad bastard. But when I saw you, that image shattered. They all call you Kinslayer, a heartless bastard who couldn't remain loyal even  to his own people and killed dozens of his family. A monster, but I wonder what kind of monster would sacrifice himself to save a clan who hates his very guts?" questioned Tobirama pointedly,

"I think this cell has made you lose the last of your sanity" chipped Naruto with a playful smirk, but Tobirama's knowing gaze didn't falter.

"Why did you do it?"

Naruto was left speechless by that question. Nobody had dared to question him on his darkest secret, most just assumed him to be a heartless monster while others were too scared to ask it. His family knew his reasons and his friends cared enough about him not to ask.

But Tobirama despite his hatred had seen through the mirage of lies and rumors.

He had seen through Naruto's soul itself.

"Why did you do it?" asked the Senju again,

Naruto clenched his fists as he remembered that fateful night, all those screams, all those who begged him for mercy, that madness and all that blood, most of all he remembered those haunted eyes.

"Loyalty"

Tobirama remained silent pondering over that mysterious answer as the Uchiha walked out of his cell leaving him in darkness.

Naruto carefully sharpened his new temporary sword with the help of a sharp iron stone. It was tedious work tending to the blade's edge but knowing that it could mean life and death on the battlefield made him do it without any complaint.

Still, this sword was so heavy and cumbersome to move around. If not for his years of experience in sword fighting, he doubted he would have been as effective in the battle against Senjus with this blade.

It made him yearn for Dawn even more, the weapon was like a best friend. No matter how many foes stood against him, if he had that sword with him then he could still win no matter the odds.

There was a strange pull that drew him to the blade, every Uchiha no matter how good or bad had handled that sword with great respect. Naruto had always felt some strange connection with the weapon, as if it held some great secret in it and gave him strength in his most dire hour.

Dawn was a bloodthirsty blood, having feasted on the blood of thousands over the eras that passed ever since the First War broke out between the Uchiha's and Senjus. It was a longsword, but still light as a feather, and its steel was coated in chakra that was rumored to be stolen from the Ten Tails by Indra himself in secret.

Naruto could believe all other aspects of the sword except the last one. He had held on to that belief for as long as he could remember until the recent battle with the Senjus...

He could still remember the moment Touka Senju's sword shattered before his own. The Senju woman was wielding a fine steel sword, probably passed down for generations in her family and yet it had shattered like glass. Now that he remembered it, even the Fuma clan head alongwith all his enemies who had wielded great ancestral swords had almost destroyed their ancient weapons when they clashed them against Dawn.

It made him hesitantly glance at the fox currently sleeping near him...

"Kurama..."

The fox opened one lazy eye on being called but was forced to open the other one as well when he noticed Naruto's grave expression.

"Did the Ten Tails exist?"

The beast gave him such an intense stare that made Naruto want to flinch but he defied that reaction and stared in his friend's eyes seriously.

"Yes. It was a holy tree which wielded the fruit of chakra every few centuries, it was forbidden to be possessed by any human. Until Kaguya Otsutsuki ate it..."

Naruto listened with rapt attention as Kurama regaled him the tale of the mystery woman whom most today believed to be a myth. The beast told him how Kaguya was not from their world, but some other universe which further added to Naruto's shock. The fox told him of Kaguya's struggles, her eating the fruit, descending into madness, her desire to rule supreme over the world with an iron fist. She became the judge, jury and executioner.

She gave birth to two sons, Hagoromo and Hamura who rebelled against her tyranny in the future. Both brothers had to defeat not only their mother, but also the holy tree that took the form of Ten Tails in order to gain back chakra from humanity.

Kurama recalled the time with a haunted look in his eyes,

The War for Dawn.

Kurama told him horrible tales that followed in the war, of never ending nights when the sun was concealed as darkness took hold of the world, of lands submerging into seas, mountains breaking apart like pieces, volcanoes erupting, and most of all the birth of unholy creatures which while looked human but were not. They were something else, and the leader of those creatures was the third tainted son of Kaguya born from her madness and hate.

In the end, the Otsutsuki brothers won and Kaguya alongwith the Juubi were defeated. However, Hamura sacrificed his life in sealing his mother away alongwith the shell of the Juubi in a place that was today known as Land of Water. It was a desecrated small continent where no life grew, no people lived and was said to be haunted by the ghosts of all those who died in the war. It was where Kaguya and the Juubi had made their final stand, so devastating was the battle that even today those lands were not suitable for habitation.

Hagoromo divided the spiritual power of the Juubi into nine beasts, the most powerful of whom was Kurama.

"I always knew there were more of you. But you never told me as to what happened to your brothers and sisters..." implored Naruto, and saw great sadness flash in the beast's eyes.

"We all scattered across the world to maintain the peace that the Sage wanted, but we failed as war spread everywhere. Men tried to use us for our power forcing my kind to hide, for centuries we remained hidden until one by one all my brothers and sisters vanished. I never heard from them again..." said Kurama sadly,

Naruto bit his lip wondering as to where his family and Dawn fit into the war.

"If this is true, then the Kaguya and Hagoromo clans are our great enemies. Is that why they came for you?" asked Naruto in horror, remembering the night when he and Kurama were attacked by those clans.

Kurama didn't want to speak but his friend's pleading eyes forced him to relent.

"Kaguya left behind a few of her illegitimate children who over the centuries grew into the clan you know as Kaguya. They waged war against the Uchihas and Senjus, even managing to influence the Hagoromo minor families to side with them. They both inherited the worst of Kaguya's madness, followed by the Uchiha. You all have her madness running in your veins, it is why the Sage had asked me to watch over the Uchiha" revealed Kurama,

"Why?" asked Naruto worriedly,

"Because it was Indra who nearly reanimated the Juubi again in his mad thirst for power. It was he who was about to unleash the apocalypse and trust me boy, if that creature is born again then the world of men shall fall" warned Kurama,

Naruto tried to keep his shock in check, he knew his people were impulsive, prideful and even arrogant. But they couldn't be mad enough to unleash that monster?

Kurama almost gave him a pitiful look before abruptly walking away, leaving Naruto with even more unanswered questions.

Indra was about to release the Juubi on to the world?

It was impossible for him to believe, but never once had Kurama lied to him. But everything the fox said had bitter seeds of truth hidden in it...

The Kaguya, Hagoromo, Uchiha and Senju were the direct descendants of Kaguya Otsutsuki.

The first two were completely power hungry and lusted for blood just like their female ancestor. While the Uchiha were prone to madness on losing things close to their heart, the Senjus were renowned for their legendary temper which they inherited from Kaguya.

Tajima, Madara and even Naruto himself had always felt there was a point where they would snap and do things no sane human would do.

Kaguya and Hagoromo clans were mad enough that they had made enemies of almost the entire world. But were too strong enough together to be challenged by either Uchiha or Senju. Only together could the descendants of Indra and Ashura alongwith their allies could hope to take on those mad men.

Most of all nobody knew where those two mad clans lived and it was one of the key reasons neither Uchiha or Senju had been able to destroy them completely.

Even kind hearted Hashirama was known to have a dangerous temper, the same trait was almost shared by most of his siblings and family. But comparatively the Senjus were much more sane than the other three great clans that descended from Kaguya.

It made Naruto wonder as to what was the true history of his world.

Kurama had perhaps kept watch over the Uchihas for a very, very long time. But it surely couldn't be just for the fact that Indra tried to revive the Ten Tails? No Uchiha knew even half the history which Kurama just told him, nor did they know any way to revive the Ten Tails.

He froze.

Memory after memory flashed before him, image of Dawn, that dark night, that madness, that blood, that fire, those screams.

For every day of his life after that incident, he had wondered the reason behind it.

And now he knew why it all happened.

It filled his heart with unspeakable horror making him dash towards the Yamanaka Castle.