Sakura watched with deadened numbness as the three leaders of the Phoenix race engaged in a very physical battle with each other.

Aoi was looking down his nose at the three mythical birds in disdain.

He clicked his tongue. "And these are the fabled Phoenixes of legend."

There were no fancy variously attributed flames being tossed around, as would come to mind when one imagined such a scene. The three were just pecking and clawing at each other with their sharp beaks and talons. There was a flurry of feathers as the hallowed blood of the holy beasts was shed in the Phoenix Realm.

Sakura thought that the Phoenix race could not sully its image further than it had already done, but that was when a few younger phoenixes swooped into the fray.

She had to admit that she was worried about them -- a quarter of the three leaders' respective wingspans at maximum, the birds looked tiny compared to Elrick, Oswald and Yvonne. It would have been terrible if they were caught in the crossfire. Their unrefined form of combat aside, Sakura could tell that the trio was powerful. The smaller phoenixes would be shredded if they were accidentally struck by their leaders' claws.

Or at least she was until the three Phoenix monarchs politely shifted the battle site to give the young access.

The little ones dove in and began to gather the fallen feathers, sorting them according to owner into three baskets with uncanny efficiency. It was evident that this was a practised procedure, and she had a sinking feeling that this was far from a rare occurrence in the mythical summons' realm. She recalled the regal woman dressed in a gorgeous purple kimono and the inhumanly beautiful twins who were so collected and proper.

Those elegant beings... were nowhere in sight. She remembered being told, at some point, that the Phoenix race looked down on the Kirin race for the latter being all brawn and no brain. With that being the case, what was going on here?

"They have been like this for how long now?" Sakura finally asked the Great Elder, a deceptively young-looking girl next to her.

Sakura knew that this was the oldest phoenix remaining in the realm. She was on her nine hundred and ninety-ninth samsara, though it had just started. The Great Elder's newly-reformed body was that of a child's, and it would only fully mature in half a century. There were a few ways to expedite this process, but they shortened the duration of a cycle and the Great Elder frowned upon it. If Sakura counted nine hundred and ninety-nine full samsaras, she could estimate the elder to be four hundred and ninety-nine thousand years old. A complete samsara, for a member of the Phoenix race, was five hundred years, an incredibly long time in human society. They thus counted their age in the number of rebirths they have undergone. Each time they faded to ashes and were reborn anew, they added one plume feather to a shrine safeguarded by the Great Elder -- the position held by the oldest surviving member of the race.

In every rebirth, there was a chance for a phoenix's existence to be extinguished permanently. When that happened, the enshrined feathers of that phoenix would lose their lustre and turn ash grey. Such an occurrence was not based on luck or chance -- it meant that the phoenix no longer had any will to live. Unlike other mythical races, the Phoenix race had the option to end their immortal lives other than dying in battle.

It was sad to see a loved one go, but the three clans celebrated each lost member's final rest. A phoenix's first plume feather that commemorated the first rebirth, on the other hand, was special. It would remain coloured even after a phoenix perished. This feather was precious to a phoenix, an item they would entrust to the being they most trusted in life after they died.

The remaining feathers, together with the ashes, would be scattered into the eternal flames of their birthplace, tying the phoenix's end to their beginning.

Sakura wondered how many more cycles this Great Elder would live through after she died at the end of her mortal lifespan.

"Six months," the elder answered her question with a smile.

Sakura took a sharp breath.

She almost did not dare to ask, but curiosity won over her apprehension.

"What exactly are they fighting over?"

The Great Elder chuckled, replying indulgently, "Christmas presents."

Sakura turned the words over in her head, but she was unable to find a meaning for that phrase.

"Huh?" she uttered intelligently.

"Naruto-sama has started a custom of exchanging gifts on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month. We call the annual event Christmas Day. Since these were the first presents we received from Naruto-sama, the youngsters decided to brawl over it to decide who gets to keep the most prized gem," the Great Elder explained simply.

Hearing a little girl saying the word "youngster" so casually was a bit disconcerting, but Sakura moved on from that point fairly quickly. Instead, it was the strange event mentioned by the elder that caught her attention. Why did she never know that this "Christmas Day" was a thing? As the classmate of the main recipients of the blond's various gifts, she was familiar with his gift-giving. However, those were not exchanges since Naruto gave those presents out unilaterally.

"I suppose that, after they settle that fight, they'll be fighting over who gets to give Naruto a present first?" Sakura said without much thought.

She did not expect the three phoenixes to hear her casual remark and suddenly stop fighting.

Yvonne transformed into her human form and addressed the twins, "Boys, our Ice Saintess has given her verdict. Whoever has the best present can take the diamond. Naruto-sama will be the judge -- we'll see whose gift can impress the Master of Mugetsu."

Sakura wanted to refute that groundless statement.

That was most definitely not what she said!

Elrick and Oswald shifted into their humanoid appearances and bowed their heads to Sakura slightly.

"Understood, Saintess," said Elrick.

Oswald continued, "We will cease our unsightly tussle."

Sakura covered her eye to stop it from twitching.

So these... bird-brains were well aware that they were behaving in a manner unbefitting their status?

"Although humans perceive our kind as one with endless poise, that is but one facet of the jewel that is a phoenix," the Great Elder, reading her expression, said with a giggle. "Youngsters play around and roughhouse. Status does not mean as much as you might think. Unlike the society of humans, we're more carefree. The Empress is the compass that guides the Phoenix race, and the two Kings are the friends, leaders and role models for the young. There's no fixation on acting as befitting one's status here, so just let go of formalities."

The trio split ways to begin their preparations for Naruto's Christmas present.

Sakura was thus left with the elder.

An awkward silence fell between the two females, though this did not affect Aoi.

"I... Great Elder," Sakura piped up.

The young-looking phoenix smiled. "Yes, dear?"

Aoi had transformed into his tiny bluebird form, spinning and flapping his way around Sakura's head without restraint.

Sakura managed to catch the distracting spirit, stuffing Aoi back into the brooch.

"Do you happen to know about... a strange phenomenon where someone might see strange colours?" she inquired timidly.

It has been ages since Sakura has had this feeling. It was as if she was back in the first timeline, a young student of the Shinobi Academy without a clue about the dangerous world lying beyond the walls of Konohagakure. She was curious about everything, keen to learn the things a civilian child would never have access to. She was an ignorant child, and this lack of knowledge always frustrated her.

The elder's eyes widened a fraction.

"Colours," she repeated slowly.

Sakura nodded her head, averting her gaze in discomfort.

She did not like being the one with less information, but such was her position ever since childhood. She lacked the natural advantage of other genin -- the upbringing of a reputable shinobi clan. Resources and clan techniques aside, being raised in a shinobi clan meant that they were familiar with the context of the shinobi world and weapons. Other than her, the only one in a similar (or admittedly worse) situation was Naruto.

Of course, unlike Sakura, Naruto flourished in the shinobi world -- evident from how he became the supreme leader of the forces of humanity.

"Did you see a tapestry of rainbow-hued threads?" clarified the elder.

"Yes, but I only saw it for an instant," Sakura admitted.

The Great Elder smiled at her, but Sakura felt a chill run down her spine.

"What you saw were the fates of human beings. Humans have what we call the threads of fate. These strings reveal the bonds between mortals. They also show the relationships between all sentient beings," explained the Great Elder, seeming focused on something close to Sakura.

"What's the difference between bonds and relationships?" Sakura asked -- she had a feeling that the elder was looking at her threads of fate.

"We refer to bonds as 'inevitability'. Some individuals are, for lack of better terms, predestined to encounter others, and the nature of their connection is also influenced by these bonds. Of course, this does not have any binding power. For future relationships, the thread can only show a faint possibility. The bonds only reveal which individuals are destined to cross paths or influence one another. On the other hand, relationships are opaque and unbreakable. One cannot go from being friends with another to a stranger. Even if the nature of the connection changes over time, the thread will not break. Whether love or hate, mutual or one-sided, a relationship will exist as an opaque thread of fate," elucidated the phoenix elder.

"So only humans have bonds," Sakura whispered.

The Great Elder nodded. "Humans live in a world where destiny is already written -- to some extent. Certain individuals are bound to cross paths and have a higher chance of forming a particular sort of relationship with another."

Sakura wanted to ask, but then it struck her.

This world they lived in.

Was the future not pretty much set? No matter what changes they made, even if there were differences from the last timeline, some things were bound to happen. Kaien being their teammate, Yamato becoming the team's temporary captain, Orochimaru's pursuit of Sasuke, Sasuke's companionship with Karin, and so many more. Even if the nature of the relationships changed, every meeting... almost felt predetermined.

None were exempt from this.

No, that was not quite right. Naruto was not affected. He met with people he did not encounter in the previous timeline. It also seemed that he did not meet some people he had been close to once. If she were to name an example, Konohamaru and his buddies used to idolise Naruto. If anything was fated, Naruto's meeting with his second-greatest admirer (what with the first being Hinata) and only self-proclaimed rival Konohamaru was certainly a fated bond that changed the latter's life completely.

Naruto chose who he acquainted himself with and forged his relationships with his own hands.

"How should I activate this vision again? I haven't seen those colours again since the time I wasted an exorbitant amount of chakra to weave a lousy chakra net," admitted Sakura, feeling somewhat abashed.

The Great Elder giggled once again.

"First, let go of how you have viewed the world thus far. You need to give up control. Just like the lightness you felt after you ran out of chakra, abandon your thoughts of what should and should not be," she instructed, holding Sakura's hands earnestly.

Sakura found the Great Elder adorable. Short, wavy pale blue hair curled around her tender face, markedly beautiful as was characteristic of the Phoenix race. Her eyes were silver, like all other members of her race, and burned with the bluish flame of the Ice Phoenixes. Her lips were like the bud of a cherry blossom, and that reminded her of poor Aoi, who had been shoved back into his vessel by his neglectful master.

She felt a bit guilty and poked the brooch. "Aoi?"

There was no reply, the brooch uncharacteristically empty.

Sakura had a feeling that this was not just him ignoring her -- he must have run away sulking.

"Don't worry about your little familiar," said the elder. "He's playing with the hatchlings."

Sakura turned to look at the group of young phoenixes. They were hardly hatchlings, but the elder used that term to refer to those who have yet to undergo a rebirth. It was the group that collected the fallen feathers of the three monarchs, and they dwarfed the tiny spirit in size. Aoi was in his bird form, sitting imposingly on the head of the largest so-called hatchling.

She released the breath she did not realise she had been holding.

She followed the Great Elder's advice to the best of her ability. Sakura emptied her mind, loosening the hold on her chakra and relaxing her muscles. She felt her eyes closing, and her awareness of her surroundings sharpened.

She heard laughter and opened her eyes, snapping out of her trance.

"I'm not telling you to meditate, dear. Tell me, Haruno Sakura, what do you see when you look at me?" the Great Elder guided her gently.

Sakura honestly replied, "You look like a blue-haired little girl, Great Elder."

The Great Elder inclined her head encouragingly, but Sakura did not know what else to say.

Was she to tell the elder her honest opinion, no matter how disrespectful it was?

The Great Elder spoke Sakura's thoughts for her, "You would see my physical immaturity, and you might find me cute due to my childish appearance. You see the disparity between my form and behaviour. You might find me uncannily humanlike, without any distinguishing features to mark me as a phoenix."

Sakura nodded mutely, feeling embarrassed to be seen through so thoroughly.

"That is what mortal eyes may perceive. You see my fleshly body and my mannerisms, but not the soul within this vessel. As a Saintess, your eyes are blessed with the sight to see through the mortal plane and glimpse the domain of souls. The ability to see threads of fate, however, is your talent -- an ability awakened by few among the Phoenix clans." The bluish fire in the elder's eyes blazed with greater intensity, causing them to glow blue. "The two of us are, presently, the only ones with this skill among the phoenixes."

Sakura felt a warmth in her chest at the elder's inclusion of her as a member of the Ice clan of the Phoenix race.

It was nice to be considered a part of this large family. Her parents loved her, and she loved them too, but it was not the same as having a clan. Finally, she has a group to rely on and fall back on. A place beyond the village she swore to protect with her life that she could call home.

"I can't see it," confessed Sakura, glum.

"That's fine. I did not realise the power of my sight until my first burning," the elder confided, her eyes crinkling in amusement.

Sakura mulled it over, her eyes widening when those words sank in.

"You managed to activate it during your rebirth?!" she exclaimed.

The Great Elder's gaze became distant. "I still remember it clearly. I felt... at peace and, for the first time, accepted the world around me as it was. It was an enlightenment of sorts." Sakura felt like she could glimpse the years that the phoenix experienced at that moment.

The elder grinned at her -- who knew when she had stopped reminiscing to focus on the present.

"That's it. Do not let the present or past cloud your vision. Be inquisitive, and try to look deeper," instructed the elder. "Not with the intent to change anything, but simply to see more. You should inquire, rather than control the focus of your mortal eyes."

Sakura took a deep breath, removing the chakra she had subconsciously channelled, futilely, into her eyes.

She relaxed completely and looked at the Great Elder.

The world had changed completely in that split second it took for her to change her viewpoint.

She saw the little girl still, but there were also the icy flames that symbolised the existence of an Ice Phoenix. At the same time, she saw the many variously-hued threads that were in various states of entanglement. She saw eight colours all around them. Between the elder and herself was a rich yellow thread. An array of jumbled yellow and orange threads linked the elder with the other members of the phoenix race. There was a red thread between the Great Elder and Oswald the Ice Phoenix King, and orange threads connected to Dark Empress Yvonne and Fire King Elrick. There were more strings from the elder, stretching an unknown distance. Red, orange and yellow, which Sakura had seen linked to the other phoenixes, were among the unidentified strings, but there were also green, cyan, blue, indigo and violet.

Sakura's gaze wandered from the cyan thread between the elder and her spirit to the spirit. Aoi had very few threads to bind him. Several thin cyan threads connected him to his group of playmates, but only one thread was thicker and linked him to Sakura's wrist by his neck -- reminiscent of a collar. It was green, which Sakura took to mean safe -- until she remembered that Oswald and the Great Elder had a red thread between them. There could not possibly be danger there, right?

"I... I think I see the colours again. What do the different hues symbolise?" Sakura hesitantly told the elder.

The Great Elder's expression lit up. "You will see an individual's soul. There are differences in the appearances of souls across races. The quality can be distinguished by the clarity of the aura, and there are individual differences such as the shade of colour. Humans have the greatest variation in souls, but they tend to have souls that resemble gemstones. Humans have beautiful souls in varying colours, and the colour of one's soul is reflected in the distinctive colour of the individual -- what you might also call the chakra signature. You can guess what a soul is like by looking at the chakra emitted by the being."

Sakura was unwittingly reminded of Naruto's brief obsession with gemstones.

He had scoured the world for every kind of sparkly stone in existence and amassed a whole collection of gems replicated with Onmyōton, which he critically inspected one by one before throwing them all out one day. She had no idea what could have become of that assortment of gemstones, all variously cut and polished to different degrees. Maybe they made their way into a jeweller's assortment, set as the centrepieces of expensive jewellery that few could afford even with their entire life savings. Maybe they were now a gem collector's prized collection, carefully placed on display -- so different from how they were strewn around the floor by their callous creator. Maybe Naruto destroyed them, reducing the beautiful stones to dust and scattering their remains across the continent.

Thereafter, she had seen eight pendants numbered from "一" to "八". They were not the most exquisite in design, but the crystals decorating them were nonetheless gorgeous. Each stone was cut and polished to maximise its unique beauty, and the gemstones were put together painstakingly to match one another. Those did not remain on Naruto's work desk for long -- the eight pendants disappeared with the blond when he went on his journey to gather the other jinchūriki, never to be seen again. Naruto had gone through so much effort to select the gems -- she thought it was just to match the jinchūriki's hair and eye colours at first, but the colours of the final products were a bit off for that to be the case. However, if each piece included gems that were selected based on the gem-like soul of the recipient...

"Elder, can someone see souls with the Rinnegan or Tenseigan? I mean, is there a chance that Naruto can see any of this?" Sakura inquired.

She knew that one's chakra signature echoed the colour of one's soul, but Naruto's fixation on gemstones was too uncannily suggestive of the elder's description of human souls.

Sakura did not realise that Naruto had to consider another requirement -- how well the centrepiece could hold chakra without allowing the seals within to dissipate. Since these amulets were intended as temporary vessels for the souls of the jinchūriki, they needed to contain chakra well. Even if the communication matrix activated with a wearer's chakra, the stone needed to be able to trap chakra -- it could not be overly chakra-conductive. Therefore, precious stones like the inert diamond which were unexpectedly conductive and hard to carve were considered useless to Naruto -- just like the pretty rock the three phoenix monarchs were fighting over.

Of course, diamonds had other uses.

Such as making extremely durable swords.

Though the brittleness and inability to absorb shock limited the possible applications of the extravagant material, it made beautiful blades -- the shortcomings were easily covered up if a seals master included some fūinjutsu in the hilt.

The Great Elder smiled at her mystically. "Naruto-sama's ability to perceive and understand all in existence is irrelevant to his possession of any dōjutsu. Either the Rinnegan or Tenseigan can merely grasp chakra and its colours. The realm of souls was beyond even the Rikudō Sennin, a man regarded by modern humans as a god, and your little familiar is the culmination of Naruto-sama's understanding of souls -- a sacred spirit."

Sakura felt like there was an important hint in those words, but it mysteriously eluded her.

"We, the Phoenix race, exist to straighten out distortions in time and space. Our ability to peek at fate, albeit rare within the race, is an extension of this, and symbolic of our role in ensuring the continuation of the fates of worlds," the elder explained further. "Since we both have this talent, it would not be wrong to say that you are in the same position as me." The Great Elder grabbed the pink-haired kunoichi's hands. "And, with us being equals, Sakura-chan can call me Ostara."

Sakura's brain ground to a halt.

She stared blankly into the Great Elder's sparkling blue-tinged silver eyes.

The elder, Ostara's eyes were startlingly clear -- devoid of the maliciousness and cruelty innate to humans.

Despite the years that her soul has weathered, Ostara was as pure as a human child. She sought companionship with Sakura as an equal. There was no ulterior motive behind her choice to tell Sakura her name. There was also no sign that the elder looked down on Sakura for being a weak and useless human being.

Sakura was used to being dismissed, to feeling worthless.

Naruto and Sasuke acknowledged her, but she always knew that both of them outshone her. While Sakura had caught up with Sasuke, Naruto was unbelievably far ahead -- so much so that it felt like he was only getting further and further away. Thus, her only goal had been to support her teammates. As the kunoichi and medic-nin of Team 7, she would always be vital to the team.

However, after their return, she did not even have that.

Naruto no longer needed healing, and Sasuke was skilled enough to have never gotten hurt thus far. Sakura learned miscellaneous skills in poisons-making and taijutsu, but she still fell behind Naruto. Even when it came to medical knowledge, Naruto was above her -- though he will never try to master the associated techniques. She was wholly inept in genjutsu, and her ninjutsu had always been limited by her lack of skill in chakra transformation. It was only Aoi's assistance that crossed these limitations. Aoi's telekinesis was a better distraction than any genjutsu she could cast, and his aid enabled her to use chakra natures previously beyond her reach. Even secondary elements treated as kekkei-genkai like Hyōton could be attained by Aoi without any effort from Sakura beyond supplying the spirit with chakra. However, Aoi was a gift from Naruto.

At least she knew that she still had the potential to change the tides of war with her novel toxins.

The venoms Sakura formulated were effective on not only humans but also white Zetsu clones.

Ostara's attitude towards her was different.

She saw Sakura as not just a companion, but an equal.

There was a marked difference between considering someone as a friend and treating them as a compeer, and there was something especially empowering about such an old being treating her as such. It was not just refreshing. It made her feel happy. It made Sakura feel needed.

After a long silence, Sakura whispered, "Ostara is a beautiful name."

Ostara beamed. "Sakura-chan has a pretty name too! I was told that exchanging names with a human makes you friends, so we are friends now. There's no need to be so formal with a friend."

Sakura wanted to ask who this person was, but she stopped herself timely -- considering Ostara's age, the friend was likely to have passed on.

"That's not exactly how it works, but telling someone else your name is usually how any form of relationship starts in the human world," Sakura acceded.

Ostara nodded thoughtfully. "So names are not as significant in human society as I assumed."

Sakura bit her lip. "Are names very important?"

She recalled how Naruto gave names to his clones and Aoi's fixation on receiving a name from him. It almost felt like Naruto was undermining the value of names... If naming a spirit had such significance, was Naruto also bestowing power or establishing the respective existences of his clones when he named them?

Ostara shook her head. "Not at all. They are only vital to the knowledge-based existence -- spirits. For other beings, possession or lack of a name does not affect their souls. Of course, it is another story if it's Naruto-sama granting an existence with a name. In doing so, a lucky soul experiences a qualitative change to their existence -- a change to follow the being through reincarnation."

Noticing Sakura's uncomprehending stare, Ostara tried to explain by giving an example, "Let's say a human were to receive a name from Naruto-sama. If he calls the mortal Mirai, their name would still be 'Mirai' after they are reborn in their next life. This name would follow the soul, all the way until the soul loses integrity and returns to the void."

Sakura blinked. "Does that apply to nicknames?"

Naruto gave out nicknames quite carelessly, after all.

Ostara chuckled. "There are restrictions, of course. Only an existence without a name can undergo a 'naming'. There's also a possibility of rewriting an existence's name, but that is not a simple task. Spirits, on the other hand, cannot be named so easily -- a name must depict a spirit for it to hold. Another difference would be that most beings can choose to name themselves, but the eternal spirits must receive names from others."

Sakura nodded slowly. "Then what do the different colours mean?"

Ostara pointed at a red thread. "You see this, right?" It was the thread linking Ostara to Oswald that Sakura noticed before. "It usually refers to unconditional love, though not necessarily one of romance." She then pointed at an orange thread. "Orange refers to love. The love between romantic partners and family tends to be in this category. A deep love for friends, too, can result in an orange thread." She then gestured at the yellow thread between them. "It's the most common colour between friends and comrades. Personally, I call yellow fellowship. It isn't uncommon for people with a yellow connection to date."

Sakura felt a bit disillusioned.

What happened to soulmates and fated bonds?

Where were the indicators of safe and dangerous relationships?

Ostara's classification of the threads of fate was just too mundane.

The Great Elder of the Phoenix race did not know the thoughts running through Sakura's mind.

She pointed at the green thread between Sakura and Aoi. "Green means liking or interest. It also means that there is some attachment, though it is not to the extent of fellowship. A crush tends to be in this category." Ostara then nodded towards the group of young phoenixes. "Cyan, the default colour of threads. It is formed from acquaintanceship, though such a thread might not appear if the individual is disinterested in another." She pulled Sakura along with her and pointed at a thread linked to someplace beyond the realm that was on Oswald. "The colour for that is blue. As I explained, no relationship can disappear completely. Disinterest or detachment from another party one has crossed paths with appears as a blue thread. An indigo thread," she tried to poke another of Oswald's threads, only for it to slip away, "is dislike. You should have noticed by now how we're making our way around the colour wheel."

Ostara pointed at a violet thread that was also from Oswald.

It was connected to some unknown faraway place beyond the mystic realm of phoenixes.

"That's hatred. In my experience, it is very easy for hatred to transition into love and vice-versa," Ostara stated.

Oswald's eye twitched.

"How many times must I say this, Elder? The Kirin Sovereign and I hate each other. That thread isn't ever going to turn red no matter how many times you say otherwise," Oswald grumbled to the senior ice phoenix.

Ostara rolled her eyes. "All youngsters say such things until the change comes."

Sakura could not repress a giggle.

Oswald looked at her irritably. "Not you too, Saintess. That foolhardy Kirin and I have no deeper relationship."

"Keep telling yourself that, Oswald," replied Ostara, unimpressed.

Oswald glared at her. "Even if we were hatched on the same tree, Elder, believe me when I say that I'll send you to hatchling duty."

Ostara duly shut up.

ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ

In the meantime, Aoi was having a hard time believing his ears. "What did you just say?"

The runt of the brood, a small dark phoenix only as large as a medium-sized dog, trilled, "The arch humans, the pinnacle of humanity, is no more."

The eldest, the fire phoenix who had allowed Aoi to sit on his head, added, "They went extinct over a millennium ago."

Aoi shook his little head. "It can't be. If even they are gone, why do humans thrive still?"

The youngest, also a fire phoenix and twice the size of the smallest of them, shrugged as she spread her wings out on a rock. "Ask Mugetsu-sama. Isn't the Master of Mugetsu-sama your creator?"

The smallest phoenix spoke again, "They were the minority. If you ask me, it isn't too strange. It would have been easier to wipe out the upper echelons than the entire human race. The humans have always outnumbered the ruling class of arch humans, after all."

Aoi deflated, remembering the harsh words he had spoken to Sakura during their first meeting. "For the lesser beings to be all that is left of a once-mighty race..."

The second-eldest, an ice phoenix with magnificent tail feathers, corrected the spirit with a sigh, "They are not lesser. All humans are mortal, and arch humans merely had an advantage over the ordinary folk. They were born to lead, but their souls were of the same quality as other humans."

"I thought that was all that mattered to a spirit?" chimed in the second-youngest, an ice phoenix barely any larger than the youngest. "Besides, don't forget that you're the familiar of a human."

Aoi transformed into human form and flopped on the rock to sun himself with the youngest fire phoenix.

Sakura was weak and useless, thought Aoi, but he supposed she had her redeeming qualities.

ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ

Sasuke watched the sunset -- it felt like he has seen this exact view ten thousand times already.

He focused his attention on the young foal of a Kirin, who was meditating on the highest peak of a mountain range in the secret realm. The mountain peak Sasuke was presently lounging on was only slightly lower, and it was so close that he could practically jump across to join his familiar in meditation. He was to watch over the Ruì's growth and progress in cultivation -- a long process that took many long decades to complete.

Which brought Uchiha Sasuke to this obscure drifting realm that had a time flow innumerably faster than that of his home world. It had a beautiful sunrise and sunset and tumultuous, stormy nights. During the day, Sasuke would rest while his familiar absorbed the energies of heaven and earth. At night, he would meditate with Ruì to master the power of lightning and storms -- which was the speciality of the Kirin clan. The meditation technique that Naruto had ingrained into him was undeniably helpful with either task -- though Sasuke was not keen to forgo sleep altogether to meditate with Ruì all day and night.

He was bored.

There was nothing to do in this space. Due to it being an incomplete world, this realm was very small. Other than the mountain range, there was an ocean -- though referring to them as such was a slight misnomer. The mountains were each the size of a building, with the highest peaks being comparatively narrow despite their height. It would be unfeasible to even make a living space for himself by digging a cave. Not only were the mountains ridiculously small, but also comprised mostly solid rock. Where the stone could be chipped away, the mountain's structure was also similarly precarious -- several mountains have crumbled due to Sasuke's efforts to dig caves in them. He did not even think of building a hut or digging a burrow -- the stormy weather would shred whatever he tried to build, without even considering the matter of materials.

For food, Sasuke had to go to the ocean -- a doughnut of water that marked the boundary of the secret realm. The waters were filled with seafood. There were crustaceans of every variety he could think of and various delicious fish, none of which were poisonous. There was an excess of seaweed varieties for him to forage, and a patch of strange underwater plants that bore fruit that resembled pears but tasted like tomatoes. For the first year, Sasuke enjoyed his days as a sort of summer vacation at a beach. There was no sandy beach to rest on, but the days were calm and the sunlight was relatively mild. The seafood was fresh and delectable despite his lacking culinary skill -- sashimi was always delicious, and good seafood was excellent when simply grilled with salt. The array of seaweeds allowed Sasuke to venture along the path of a sushi chef.

Out of necessity, if nothing else, Sasuke's experimentation quickly allowed him to grill up sheets resembling the nori he was familiar with. The lack of rice, or even a substitute for the grain, did not stop him. Sasuke mastered the art of filleting fish and preparing raw seafood by the end of the second year (if he did not miscount the days). Though his grilled seafood was always subpar, he would endeavour to cook the seafood in different ways -- lest he wanted to grow sick of the taste of sashimi. In the third year, Sasuke tried to smoke the fish (which did not turn out well, with the rain and winds coming every night) and boil soup (which was so bland that he resolved to never try it again). He also honed his mastery of the blade by carving the fish into various shapes that he perfectly recalled due to his Sharingan's capabilities. He then attempted the art of sculpture, but Sasuke quickly gave up when Kusanagi's blade began to dull.

Marubashi, observing his antics during his two-year holiday, finally decided to remind the temporary holder of his presence then. Therefore, Sasuke gladly made full use of Maru as a jutsu repository. He took two more years to master the repertoire that Orochimaru had boasted in life, learning them the hard way -- since he had no way to copy the chakra flow for the various jutsu from the spirit. Maru was a newborn spirit, and he was formerly human -- his ability to access the collective knowledge of spirits was somewhat iffy. He had no idea how to make use of the world's energies as a spirit and Sasuke was not his master, so it was not as if there was a contract between them allowing him to borrow Sasuke's chakra like between Aoi and Sakura. Moreover, a spirit used chakra differently from humans.

They triggered natural phenomena, similar to the function of the fabled Tenseigan Naruto possessed. In Aoi's case, he very simply converted chakra natures in his master's stead -- it was left to Sakura's chakra control to direct the elemental chakra in the manner envisioned by her. Aoi never expressly used ninjutsu since he did not need to do as such, and he could not induce a phenomenon of the world without a name.

As such, Marubashi's aspiration to learn all the jutsu in past, present and future as a spirit was quite ridiculous.

It was not as if he would ever be able to make full use of these ninjutsu techniques anyway, but the lingering obsession from his life as a human had been carried on as a part of his existence as a spirit.

After Sasuke finished doing even that, he was left staring at fish and practising his diving skills once again for an indeterminate length of time.

"It feels like your Kirin companion is the same size as it was a hundred moons ago," remarked Marubashi, easily weathering the stormy weather without a change in expression.

Sasuke was finally made aware of the passing of time -- so it has already been eight years and four months since their entry to the secret realm.

He could only hope that the time distortion was as great as the elders had assured them.

The fact that Naruto had yet to barge in to rescue him from this dilemma seemed to prove the elders' claims -- even if he was somewhat hoping for such a thing. Marubashi maintained his manifestation on Sasuke's request, adding some colour to the monotonous day-to-day. His familiar was always busy cultivating, lacking the time or motivation to deal with Sasuke's antics. It was rare enough for Ruì to join them in a meal, and the Kirin was usually in a hurry to return to his mountain peak to resume his cultivation.

The strong winds that could easily uproot trees whipped around the trio of a mythical beast, spirit and human but, while Ruì and Sasuke were pitifully sodden and had their respective fur and hair whipped into an incomprehensible mess, the manifested spirit Maru sat cross-legged next to his temporary caretaker while looking composed. His hakama was crisp, water sliding off its surface without soaking the fabric, and his hair remained braided neatly, though it flicked to the side in the wind -- the only sign that the spirit was currently corporeal.

Sasuke was sorely tempted to ask the spirit for tips, but he knew that he was supposed to master the storm in this secret realm as part of his training -- Sage of the Kirin clan and all that. His familiar, on the other hand, had no such requirements. As a Kirin, Ruì would be able to harness the true power of lightning and storms in due time. All he had to do was cultivate his strength and reach maturity faster.

"His horn grew a bit," Sasuke replied without opening his eyes -- he has learned through experience that it was better not to do so after the storm began.

Maru blinked a few times, then glanced between Sasuke and Ruì.

His golden eyes were alight with curiosity. "Is a Kirin's growth cycle linked to the size of its horn?"

The sodden Kirin foal opened his shocking violet eyes for the first time (during "night-time", at least) and turned to look at the spirit.

"I'm an oddity among the members of my clan. I have only a single horn, and I need to meditate to gather the energy of heaven and earth. Others need only to drink pure water from the heavens and eat the abundant fruit of the earth to accumulate energy to grow, but I can only obtain this energy from the world itself. A complete world's atmosphere has little of this unstable energy for me to absorb. Others of my age are already fully-fledged adults, but I am still a foal. Once I'm mature, I can adjust my size and polymorph into human form -- the elders said so," explained Ruì, revealing details previously unknown even to his partner.

Maru nodded thoughtfully. "I did think it was strange that a Kirin was meditating instead of eating."

His ability to access the collective memory was limited by his previous life as a human, but some things came to him without him trying to find out. For example, a foreign "common sense" told him that the Kirin clan's members could never resist food. This was a little-known fact to humans, and Orochimaru never thought of the mythical Kirin as a gluttonous race, but Maru knew that an adolescent Kirin spent the bulk of its time consuming its meals.

Sasuke was quick to raise his question. "If you're such an anomaly, why do they know that?"

The little Kirin wilted. "I don't know. Quán-daren and the others never told me."

Sasuke was contemplating whether to ask what that honorific meant when another shocking revelation hit -- from Maru this time.

"You're descended from a true royal bloodline. Your blood must be most pure if your soul is so clear," Maru thoughtlessly remarked.

Another of the things which felt like commonplace knowledge everyone should know. Marubashi, somewhat naïve despite his years as a human, failed to realise that these tidbits of information did not originate from his own memories. He could not access the collective racial memory at will, but the basics nonetheless found their way to him.

Of course, the phrase "true royal bloodline" meant nothing to Sasuke. However, that was not the case for Ruì, a veritable member of a mythical race. The foal understood what those words implied.

"I'll be at the level of a monarch when I'm grown?" Rui exclaimed, jumping on the albino.

The fun-sized spirit was knocked onto his back by the little Kirin's excitement, and Maru remained lying on the ground with some shock.

He had no idea how to react to a child's enthusiasm. It was not as if he had any experience with kids. Orochimaru had... some interaction with children, but that was while treating the said young as his experimental subjects. He often grew a bit more attached than he would have preferred, a glaring example being Anko -- he knew even in his twisted state that he held affection for that child, but that did not mean his behaviour then was acceptable.

The young Kirin on his chest was not the slightest bit deterred by Maru's delayed (or lack of) reaction.

"I even have a contract with Sasuke now!" Ruì chattered exuberantly, the docile Kirin who quietly meditated for four years nowhere to be seen.

The vibrating bundle of energy nuzzled the spirit's cheek.

"You're Marubashi, right? You aren't contracted with my lazy Sasuke, but can we still be friends?" Ruì asked, looking at Maru expectantly.

Maru nodded subconsciously, affected by the anticipation on Ruì's face.

Ruì hopped off Maru's chest and bounced around happily. "I'm friends with a spirit. A spirit! I'll brag about this for centuries. How cool is that?! A named spirit is my friend!"

Sasuke could not help but rain on his overeager familiar's parade. "I named Marubashi, Ruì."

Ruì solemnly ignored his contracted partner's words. "I'll give you my storm bead once I'm an adult, Marubashi. Let's stay in contact forever!"

Maru frowned as the alien word rang a bell in the racial memories he was connected to.

A storm bead was a physical construct. Unlike the first plume of a Phoenix, which was as much a spiritual object as it was corporeal, the Kirin's storm bead was purely physical. It was a bead containing the unique chakra of its owner and would be rendered useless should the chakra ever be detached -- not that Maru knew these specifics. Maru only had a vague feeling that keeping in contact via a storm bead would not work.

Seeming to read Maru's mind, Ruì added, "Your master can hold on to it. Marubashi's master should be a great guy too! It won't be hard to be a better guy than Sasuke, at least."

Sasuke's eye twitched. "Hn."

Ruì hummed mockingly, "Hnn."

"Is that actually a language?" Maru asked in fascination.

"He claims it is. I'm not learning it," replied Ruì, sitting on the ground with his four legs folded.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "And you call yourself my familiar."

Ruì imitated Sasuke's show of rolling his eyes. "I will do it if you can master storms before I do."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "You're willing to learn the Uchiha Hn?"

"You call it the Uchiha Hn?" Maru asked, his expression curiously blank.

"Naruto has always called it by that -- it kinda stuck. We did not have a name for it before," said Sasuke with a shrug, unbothered that Maru seemed to find the situation amusing.

In the previous timeline, Sasuke had only slipped into the familiar "Hn" when he was with peers -- he spoke in length (in proper Japanese) around those who were in higher positions than himself. It was his own variation of informal language, though he knew that Itachi may have used it more extensively. Of course, he had no such reservations in this life. When he resented his brother, he did not want to have anything in common with Uchiha Itachi. That included his "first language", the Uchiha Hn -- as coined by Naruto. Now that he knew the truth and had overcome his hatred, there was no reason to deny his roots.

Thus, the Orochimaru of this timeline heard Sasuke using the "Hn" just as if not more regularly than he did Itachi.

"Interesting," noted Maru, ending the conversation.

Both contractor and familiar sank into focused meditation, one trying to grasp the power of the weather and the other sucking the energies of the incomplete world.

ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ

"Three hundred moons," Marubashi dutifully reported.

Sasuke opened his eyes as the storm ceased and the sun peeked over the horizon, looking at Maru somewhat dully.

Maru explained briefly, "You wanted me to help keep track of time for you. I thought I would alert you with every hundred moons that pass."

Sasuke sighed, "Just say months. It's not that hard to make the transition."

Marubashi bobbed his head in understanding, proceeding to correct himself, "It has been three hundred months."

If Sasuke noticed Maru's avoidance of saying his name, he certainly did not show it.

"I wish we had soybeans here. I'm not even asking for rice at this point. I would kill for some decent shoyu (soy sauce)," grumbled Sasuke, eyeing the perfectly-grilled fish in distaste.

Maru was surprisingly skilled in cooking, though his skills were limited by the lack of ingredients in this place that supported no wildlife at all.

"You should be able to use Onmyōton like Naruto-sama. You can sacrifice that bit of chakra for your mental health," suggested Maru.

Sasuke was no longer struck by how almost everyone referred to his leader and best friend with that honorific, but he did wonder why not even his familiar had ever accorded him such respect.

"I don't know the chemical stuff behind it. I can't even tell how soybeans should be fermented to get shoyu, much less make it with Yin-Yang Release," Sasuke explained, glum.

Maru nodded in understanding. "I see. There are limitations depending on individual capability."

Sasuke groaned, "I might have been able to pull it off if I could remember exactly what shoyu smelt and tasted like, but it's been twenty-five years since I've last had a chance to use it. Ugh, I'm just so sick of seafood."

"You mentioned that you liked tomatoes," Maru commented.

Sasuke pointed at the water. "No need to make that. We have tomatoes here, even if the shape and colour don't match."

Marubashi tilted his head to the side. "The green gourd-shaped fruit?"

Sasuke enjoyed that as his main course in every meal, never seeming to tire of it.

Maru always thought that Sasuke just liked pears, but that was this realm's tomatoes?

Sasuke nodded. "I guess I'll just eat that to curb my hunger. After all, the elders said that our true bodies would not be affected by the conditions and time flow in this realm."

It did not make sense then, but Sasuke had since understood how Ruì planned to reach maturity with his body under (presumable) stasis.

Ruì just needed to have enough energy.

That meant Sasuke did not have to pay attention to his meals to maintain a balanced diet.

Tomatoes were the one thing he could never get enough of, though it would be a problem should his supply run out.

ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ

Fifty years after they entered the secret realm, Ruì finally completed his meditation and polymorphed into human form.

Five years after that, under Ruì's dedicated guidance, Sasuke managed to master the Kirin clan's method of controlling storms.

Ruì won their bet, but he learned to understand basic phrases in the Uchiha Hn due to his long-term exposure to the language. For that alone, Sasuke felt victorious despite losing to Ruì in his meditation speed. Of course, Ruì's rational deduction for Sasuke's loss was that his contractor's lazy and procrastinating nature prevented him from attaining enlightenment by himself. Sasuke did not bother to argue. It was true that he did not fully immerse himself in meditation, breaking his concentration once daily to devour a bush's worth of Pearmatoes before he rejoined Ruì on the mountain peak.

Ruì had the appearance of a teenager around Sasuke's age and build. His hair looked slightly messy with its streaks of silver, yellow and electric blue, and it was wavy and fairly short apart from a small bunch that was left long and reached just past his waist when braided -- which he did upon his first successful transformation to match his friend Marubashi the spirit. He wore the outfit that he first put on Sasuke upon departure from the Kirin realm when Sasuke first gained the title of Sage. It was the style of hanfu called Yishang, the top white with electric blue designs and the bottoms a silvery grey fabric. He opted for a dark purple overcoat instead of the navy blue one he picked for Sasuke, accented in gold and the same bright blue shade. Unlike a haori, this overcoat did not have designs woven into it beyond the accents on its sleeves -- though the material had a misty, cloud-like finish that was most definitely not possible with any weaving technique presently known to humans.

Marubashi took to nestling into Ruì's fluffy hair in snake form, comfortably residing there for most of the five years it took for Sasuke to master the power of storms.

"Finally, we can return," Sasuke muttered, emotional as he looked down at the small bush of Pearmato plant he was trying to bring back as a souvenir (despite Ruì and Maru's attempts to dissuade him).

"Should we drop by the Kirin realm? We need to let the elders know that we're back. Quán-daren was also awaiting our return," Ruì suggested.

Maru, his tiny serpentine body curled around a storm bead as large as his head, did not support or oppose Ruì's suggestion.

"Ruì, can you go inform the others in my stead?" Sasuke asked. "I want to bring this to be planted as soon as possible."

"Lazy," scoffed Ruì, yet he still moved to scoop Maru up and place the spirit on Sasuke's head. "I won't be answering your calls for the next few days."

Ruì transformed into his Kirin form, keeping to the size of a stallion -- a detail that Naruto would have laughed over. He nodded at his partner and Marubashi before galloping off, forming a crack at the edge of the space. Maru comfortably rested on Sasuke's head, unbothered by the change to his nest of hair.

That left Sasuke alone with Marubashi on his head.

Sasuke stared at the crack and the endless void that lay beyond it with a sense of hopelessness.

"How am I supposed to navigate through space-time without Ruì?"

Marubashi bounced off Sasuke's hair, Ruì's storm bead balanced on his head.

"Naruto-sama remade the Hiraishin no Jutsu, didn't he? He must have taught it to you," Maru reminded, hovering midair before Sasuke's nose.

Sasuke fell silent.

He never thought of that.

He had remained trapped in the secret realm for five decades because it just did not occur to Sasuke that he could escape without Ruì's cooperation.

Grabbing the tiny flying snake and plopping Maru on his head, Sasuke intoned, "Hiraishin no Jutsu."

Sasuke heaved a sigh of relief, only to freeze as he recognised a familiar face before him.

Kimimaro, the Orochimaru loyalist who bought Sasuke time to get to his master in both timelines.

The jade-like green eyes of the last remaining Kaguya were not focused on Sasuke but rather on the spirit on his head.

Sasuke had a sinking suspicion...

"Master," greeted the spirit, transforming into a white-haired child and bowing to Kimimaro. "Marubashi greets you for the first time."

Kimimaro's cold eyes softened slightly.

He held a hand out to the spirit, just like what Orochimaru had done for him those years ago.

"Hello, Marubashi."

The golden bracelet slipped off Sasuke's wrist and delivered itself to Kimimaro.

Thus, it all came back to the beginning, going full circle -- the true definition of rebirth.

Maru grasped that hand, full of warmth he knew he would never deserve.

He was lucky, Naruto had said before.

And Marubashi wholeheartedly agreed.