I own nothing.

It wasn't suppose to be like this.

They were brothers, they are brothers.

"Indra please!" he yelled in a desperate plea. "Listen to me!"

Indra Otsutsuki. Eldest of Hagoromo, the Sage of Six Paths, with eyes that could see all and the mind of an amazing scholar. Revered throughout the entire land for his power and grace.

Not to mention a brother. A loved brother, who understood the bond brothers held.

And yet he still chose to break those bonds.

He was surrounded by a monolithic armor made of black energy, it radiated the power of his life, chakra, in immense waves.

The only thing that could match it was the adjacent figure, in a equally as large, more obscure figure of white. It was not shaped in the hard, traditional armor the Indra had, it was free flowing, adapting to what came it's way.

Those were once subtle differences between the two.

"Speak to me!"

Indra looked at him straight in the eyes.

"Ashura," he said in a painfully quiet tone, "fight me."

Ashura Otsutsuki. Second born to Hagoromo, the Sage of Six Paths, with the heart of his father and a will to achieve whatever he wanted. Known all throughout the land for his charity and sympathy, helping those who needed it.

Subtle differences that are now great canyons separating them.

"Why are you doing this!?" Ashura yelled for the umpteenth time. "Is this about me becoming heir? You can have it! I do not want it if it means losing you!"

Both him and Indra knew that if Ashura truly meant to give up the heir to the Six Paths, then he wasn't ready to begin with.

"No. This is not about Father's title, I do not care for that," Indra said. "I simply see how the world must evolve, and you are interfering with that."

"With what?"

"The world needs order!" Indra yelled with sudden passion. "People are murdering each other! Raping each other! Hurting each other! They need someone to guide them, to take them onto the right path!"

"Then let us do it together!"

"No." Indra shook his head. "You do not have the steel to punish those who deserves it. To be the fear that keeps the people's eyes forward. People like you are the reason the world is like this! Letting the horrible people go with nothing but a slap to the wrist! They need someone to eliminate the evil from the world. No matter how many must fall."

Who taught Indra to blame? To be selfish? To be evil?

It was not their father, he taught them better than that. Who could teach these things to Indra?

"Then brother..." Ashura could feel his heart sinking, "I promise I'll take care of your family..."

"No. I promise."

Indra was many things.

He was a teacher, a student, a helper, a traveler, a son, a brother, a father, a husband.

But once a person becomes a corpse, all those previous titles become null.

It wasn't an easy battle, of even particularly long. It was just a... a battle.

Slice there. Stab there. Block that. Find that opening.

Ashura just sat at the hole his brother was laying in. Indra hated all the stupid details of a funeral. 'Just bury me', he used to say, thinking his death was much farther way than it actually was.

The fight didn't feel eventful. Ashura knew it was suppose to. He knew that it was suppose to end with him cradling his brothers body, Indra whispering a few final words before Ashura cried into the sky.

But it was simply a stab, and then a dead body hitting the ground.

How dull for a battle between two strongest beings on the planet.

"Hello Ashura."

Ashura felt shocked, but couldn't express it.

Was Indra the only one who died? He felt pretty dead.

He turned around.

"Uncle Hamura... what are you doing here?"

Hamura Otsutsuki. Brother of Hagoromo, the Sage of Six Paths. One of the first two to be born with chakra, with power that even Ashura couldn't imagine. Known for slaying the Juubi and bringing stability to a dying world.

And a resident of the moon, something he and his brother created.

Traveling from the moon to the earth took time and energy, something that restricted frequent travel.

He had a reason to be here.

Hamura looked grave.

"Indra was a good man."

"Did you see him at the end?" Ashura questioned. "Rabid about ruling the world..."

"That was not him."

Ashura just waited for him to elaborate.

"When we defeated my mother, we noticed something shoot off from her," Hamura started, referring to him and Hagoromo, "We spent time looking for it, but not a single trace was found. We assumed it was just a rouge spark of power, my mother had a rather explosive demise, but we always kept an eye open."

"I assume that whatever it was you guys saw has resurfaced."

Hamura nodded. "Yes, some sort of offspring my mother created. It must have been the one to seduce Indra with darkness."

Ashura felt an anger flame up inside of him. The beast that ruined his brother was out there.

"Can we find it?" Ashura asked

"I have a few ideas of where," Hamura replied with a nod.

In terms of tracking the beast, Ashura new Hamura operated in ways not even he could understand.

Best to let Hamura keep his means to himself.

"Uncle, do you have any idea what exactly is the thing we are hunting?"

It was a tad late to ask, but to say the situation was out of hand would be an understatement.

"I have heard whispers," Hamura told him. "Nothing but small noises in the wind... Zetsu."

Zetsu...

The name of a soon to be corpse.

Ashura knew they arrived when the stench hit him.

Bodies, rotting bodies. Multiple bodies.

The smell alone could deter animals of all sizes, humans no exception.

They were still in a forest, but in front of them was a small rocky outcropping with a cave inside of it. Very well concealed, it would be impossible to see if there was not any indication it was there.

The smell was the indication.

"Do you see anything?" Ashura asked quietly.

Hamura had his 'White Eyes' activated. Ashura did not know the true extent of what it could see, but he knew Hamura had eyes that actually focused more on sight than his father's Rinnegan.

"I do not see anyone inside," Hamura told him. "Follow me."

Ashura complied and followed his uncle inside of the cave. He could not avoid gagging as he walked into the cave, the smell had intensified tenfold.

With watery eyes Ashura could only stare in shock of what he saw.

Humans. Desecrated humans.

Men, women, children... there was no prejudice in whatever this beast was doing.

Ashura looked at the freshest body that laid in the middle of the room. The skin was still the original color, it could not have been hours since it had died.

"Uncle... they were eaten..."

Hamura wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Apparently the beast who did this cannot finish his meals..." he commented with disgust.

Ashura noticed the closest thing to a table in the cave. He approached it and looked at the contents it held. Some sort of stone tablets laid on it, Ashura glanced at the writing and gasped.

"Uncle, it is making copies of my father's tablets!"

Hamura frowned and looked at it.

"It is false information," he commented. "It described how my... my mother is the key to salvation in this world. He wants someone to see this and try to revive Kaguya."

"Yes." A dark voice said from behind him.

Ashura jumped away as the beast stabbed an arm through Hamura.

"Uncle!"

The beast kicked Hamura back and chuckled.

"I used a prototype poison meant to paralyze the Bijuu. I think subduing Hamura is worth losing it."

Ashura took deep breaths to calm himself.

"I believe you know my name." the black humanoid figure told him. "Zetsu. The last child of Kaguya, the Rabbit Queen."

Ashura pointed his Shakujo at it.

"Your plans end today."

Honestly, the ability to sneak up on him and Hamura was terryfing. But a beast that hid in the shadows might not have the same prowness in battle.

Ashura rushed forward swiping his staff at Zetsu.

Who took the hit.

"I play no games."

Ashura was stabbed from behind.

"Your arrogance knows no bound."

Arrogance?

Perhaps.

Zetsu chuckled yet again as he started to fade away.

"I expected the two of you to be thorns in my side... not my dinner tonight..."

And he was gone just like that.

Ashura tried to stand up, but he could feel his chakra and muscles seize up. Whatever poisin Zetsu was talking about was unbeleivable powerful.

"A-Ashura!" Hamura suddenly called. He stumbled towards Ashura shakily.

Ashura could see the wound on his uncle. It was bad. Very bad.

He did not know how Hamura was walking, but he could only guess how long his uncle could last.

"I- I can fix this..." Hamura slowly spat out.

Ashura wished he could reply, but he did not have the energy.

"I... I am going to use all my power. Ashura. Do not underestimate him again... I am giving you another chance... Take it!"

And like that the entire world turned white.

Ashura did not fully understand what happened. He felt water cover part of his body.

He was... floating?

Ashura slowly stood up and looked around.

He was in a giant room, filled with nothing but darkness.

He felt a presence behind him and turned around.

Nine swaying tails met him.