Chapter 58 | Those That Remain

"Each artifact has a pulse. It channels the chakra of its guardian and echoes it back to the Time Sphere with the help of the Life Sphere," Musashi had explained when Mio had asked him about the bodiless artifact sealed within the Black Sphere. "So long as you feel a pulse for every artifact, your guardians are safe. As Shugosha that's about the only thing you can ask for. You can't be selfish with the artifacts; you can only be selfish with the lives of your guardians. They are the most important part of being Shugosha, so it is your job to see to that they are always safe."

Mio shuddered awake, twisting as a sharp pain struck every bone in her body. She cried out, the sound ripping from her throat was a terrible wail. As if the skin had been stripped from her body, she was aware of the pulse that had faded. It had been as though her very core had been torn from her and every bone broken, smashed into millions of irreparable pieces.

She screamed again, clawing at her chest, feeling the burn of the wounds Gouki had given her, and cried. Tears burst from her eyes and streaked down her cheeks. Terrified, quaking in pain, and mourning a loss she should have prevented, Mio felt bitterness and anger mingling in with every other emotion coursing through her veins. She screamed out her agony once more because only in its release did she feel peace.

Mio turned onto her side suddenly conscious of the remains of Nishiki's tower and the bodies buried underneath them. Everyone would wake—everyone that was supposed to—and there would be enemies, thought she anticipated to see fewer numbers given the loss of both their leaders. Only a miracle would have saved them. Still, she had to believe the Mikazuki would continue to fight as they had been created for the sole purpose of accomplishing Ayuka's ambitions.

The thought filled her with dread.

She did not possess the strength to stand, so she crawled to Madara's side as he was lying closest to her. She touched his face, turning it slightly in the hopes it elicited a response, but he remained still and seemingly sleeping. However, she feared. Too weak to sense determine the pulse, despite the Time Sphere being within reach, she had no way of confirming who lived and which of her guardians had dead. Though Madara's artifact was dead, it did not make him any less her guardian.

She pressed her ear to his chest and waited, suppressing sobs and biting back the pain radiating from her.

And she waited, unable to silence her noisy crying as waking groans sounded all around her.

And waited, blubbering like a fool, clutching his arm. She pleaded quietly, uttering her words like a quiet prayer to a deaf deity.

Thump.

Mio was overcome with happiness, but it was short lived. Although, she was only able to account for three guardians—the two that had been conscious before Tobirama had activated the sphere from the other side and Madara—she had lost one guardian. The stabbing pain between her bones made sure to remind her.

She struggled onto her feet, incapable of putting any weight on her wounded ankle as she walked. There were many rising from the ruins, sidling out of broken stone and wooden planks, returning to do what they last were doing, recalling nothing else. The Kuronuma medical specialist that had been with her in the tower was carefully pulling out an unconscious Tobirama from underneath the destruction as if Mio had just finished giving her the order to save him over her. Yayoi was near, slumped over a hill of shattered wood and broken golden statues. Across the waste, she saw Izuna helping an Ito shinobi remove a large slab of stone to release Saori.

Mio wobbled to Yayoi's side, falling in beside her when her legs weakened and bent against her will. She leaned in to listen to her chest in search of a heartbeat, her own stilled in fear.

It was there—her heart—drumming with life.

As Mio drew back, Yayoi opened her eyes, smiling at her.

"We did it," the priestess croaked weakly. "We won."

Mio hugged her tightly, relieved to see it was not her, but released her quickly, grabbing hold of her shoulders. "Hashirama and Takuto…are they okay?"

"I kept him alive." Yayoi rubbed her face, shaking her head to rid herself of any remaining dizziness. She blinked at Mio, and then fixed her eyes on all her injuries. "Let me take care of your wounds. Don't go running off yet."

"You have to see Saori first."

Yayoi cast a look in the other guardian's direction, but only saw an Ito medic healing her. "She's taken care of—" Something in her face gave her away because Yayoi's eyebrows drew forward, as she asked, "Did something happen?"

Mio nodded, tears brimming in her eyes. "Someone died."

Yayoi jumped to her feet and ran to Saori's side, shoving the Ito shinobi aside.

Behind her, Madara had woken. He was seated and searching for dangers when he spotted her wiping her cheeks clean. In front of her, Tobirama was healing with the aid of the Kuronuma woman, blinking at the sky, his focus elsewhere but the span of clouds gathering above him.

It could only be two people. With Hashirama and Takuto accounted for, it could only be Saori or Taiga.

"She's unresponsive," Yayoi shouted.

Mio's heart sank.

"Wait! I think I hear a—"

Saori let out a startling gasp, coughing violently into her hand. Saori cast small glimpses at all the faces gathered around her and smiled. "I thought I died."

Mio felt winded, stunned for a second too long.

She rose, despite her weakness and pain, and ran. Shouts rang pursued her as she traversed the length between Nishiki's castle and the last location she had sensed the pulse of the Fate Sphere. She ran and ran and ran, fast as her legs would carry her. Bloody, exhausted, and near death when she came into the battlefield sitting in the outskirts of the castle.

There was destruction everywhere—a graveyard of shinobi weapons and poison water flowing between large trenches in the rocky ground. The Ito clan was gathered around Saori's fallen sister, Hibari, attempting to resuscitate her. There were Uchiha around Taiga, Jouji crouching at his side checking for a pulse. Any enemy that had risen against them had been defeated and Ayuka was nowhere within her line of sight.

Mio shoved past them and grabbed hold of Taiga remembering the way he asked her to promise to take care of Sako and Minako. She mustered her anger and punched him, furious that he had the audacity to do what he did, and was about to hit him a second time when Madara interfered by pulling her away. She cried.

How could she have been so stupid? Believing there was no ulterior motive to their conversations and falling into his stride so easily—how could she have been so gullible?

He knew he would die.

Yayoi came into view, sinking down to her knees beside Taiga, staring down at him baffled. This was a shocking development for all those present that knew Taiga. The man valued his life more than he cared for all the people he'd have to kill to see it undisturbed by the idea of death. He was a man one suspected would live forever, and with the Vision Sphere, the possibility existed—and yet, he was lying there, cold and dead. His heart would not beat. She did not need to search for a heart that no longer functioned.

She had arrived to Tobirama too late to save Taiga as she had sworn she would. Everything hurt.

Jouji approached Madara; a concerned expression marred his wrinkled, weathered face. "It makes no sense," he spoke. "He had been fighting the priestess. The next thing we knew, he was on the ground."

Madara released Mio as Saori came rushing into the battlefield, crying out for her sister when she spotted her surrounded by their shinobi. Izuna and several Ito shinobi ran after her. Mio watched Saori with a heavy heart, seeing her gather her sister's limp body and sob into the nook of her neck. Crying for the sister she could not protect.

Yayoi lifted her eyes to Mio pleadingly and in the softest voice, in the barest whisper, she asked, "What happened?"

Crushed. Yayoi was crushed. She had been so stunned when Taiga had kissed her in the dungeons. Mio imagined she must have been elated, after all the shameless chasing she had done, it had turned out her affections were not one sided if Taiga had risked it all to rescue her. Yayoi had probably been eager to have a moment where they might have the opportunity to talk…

But suddenly…nothing. There would be no talks. That kiss had been the beginning and the end. The one and only declaration she would ever receive from him—the only proof she had that she had stirred something in him.

"He protected me," Mio answered tremulously. "He made me promise everything, but he would not promise me that he wouldn't break your heart. If I had known—I would have protected him better—I—"

Yayoi's tears rolled down her cheeks. Mio crouched down beside her and wrapped her arms around her. The priestess grabbed onto her tightly, using her to anchor herself from the worst of her emotions. The silence between them was long, mournful, and full of regret.

"Why didn't he protect himself?" asked Yayoi tearfully. "Why didn't he use his sphere against Ayuka?"

Mio had not given that possibility any consideration because she always knew the Vision Sphere would not work on Ayuka. Truthfully, it would have been more accurate to say that Mio had gone to war against Ayuka knowing that none of the artifacts could ever defeat her, not as they were.

"The Vision Sphere only works if the person it's being used on has any guilt—any regrets," Mio explained grimly. "Ayuka has always been so driven by her goals that she has never cared who she trampled over to see them accomplished."

In the end, Mio did not think Ayuka gave her son's death any importance. It simply became another sacrifice towards her ultimate goal, so she did not see reason to goad when the opportunity presented itself. Ayuka had been so crazed in their last encounter that Mio feared speaking would have only granted her a swifter death and the thought had terrified her.

Mio took the Vision Sphere from Taiga's belt, the dull ache turning into a throbbing reminder of the feeling of having been torn asunder. She flinched, but held the jagged dagger close to her chest, hoping it eased her the same way pressing her Time Sphere to her cheek might.

She remembered.

"It's painful," Musashi had continued, his kind face filled with lament. The heat that had been radiating from the burning stones atop the brazier had warmed her chilled body. The conversation had left her frightened and dreading the duty of Shugosha more than any other had. "Losing a guardian is like breaking every bone in your body, like having your soul ripped to pieces." He had paused to take a gulp of tea, swallowing the boiling liquid audibly, and had taken a scrutinizing look at her, gauging her expression."You can find another to carry your burden, but the bones will never set correctly. You'll live knowing that you are not…right—physically, mentally, emotionally. You'll be all wrong. You'll always hurt, you'll always cry, you'll always feel the pain because you'll never heal. You can break every bone in your body again, but you will never remember how they were supposed to go."

Mio lost herself in the memories of the past, of her naïve self who held onto the belief that another would become Shugosha before her—the Mio that had learned everything with the earnest notion that she would have no use for it.

"Oh? I've scared you, haven't I?"

Musashi's laughter rang in her ears as if he were standing a few feet away from her, retelling his knowledge of the artifacts as he had spoken it to ever candidate before her. She envisioned his face in her mind, lightly wrinkled with the bushy white beard and a kind pair of eyes, always dancing, always brimming with curiosity and life.

"There's no need to be afraid. Though I won't pretend it is simple, you eventually learn to cope."

Unconsciously, Mio glanced at her hands clutching the jagged dagger, believing to have felt a ghostly warmth wrap itself around them. There was nothing, only emptiness.

"And if you can't?" She recalled herself asking.

Musashi had not answered. He had smiled and offered to refill her mug of tea; its contents had gone untouched and grown cold.

"Mio."

She snapped out of her solemn recollections and raised her head to Madara, who gestured forward. She extended her arm and he reached down, helping her stand on wobbly legs.

Atop the aftermath of a rockslide, a body shuddered to life, sucking in the sweet breath of salvation. It infuriated Mio to see the priestess gather herself onto a seat, blinking in awareness of her surroundings. As she rose, a curtain of her vibrant hair slid forward, covering her battered face, as she took hold of the Fate Sphere—the ancient, brittle scroll that had been her artifact since Kiyohime created them.

Mio put the Vision Sphere in Madara's hands and stepped forward as Ayuka carefully moved onto level ground, clutching the Fate Sphere to her chest like a swaddled child. Mio discarded any other weapons she had on her before halting and stared at Ayuka knowing she despised her. Hated the world she had created to have the artifacts and her child, and the methods she had gone around using to seeing it done. But for an instant, Mio sympathized with her.

The woman had nobody. Her husband and son were dead.

Ayuka stumbled and fell to her knees, weakened.

A miracle had brought her forth, but it would take her. Ayuka was dying. Mio sensed it.

Mio heard the shuffling of feet behind her and took note of Ayuka's wide-eyed look. She cast a glance over each shoulder to see Madara standing beside Izuna, Yayoi and Saori appearing to join them.

"You do not understand," the priestess uttered. "You do not understand what will happen!" Ayuka clasped Mio's wrists, letting the Fate Sphere fall between them with a 'thud', desperation oozing from her voice. "She will come and she will kill us all! You have doomed us! All of you! For fighting against us! We would have been safe in Nishiki's world had you stayed ignorant! The beasts did not exist there!"

Mio tugged her wrists free of Ayuka's grip and bent down to take the Fate Sphere. It no longer belonged to her; Yayoi had beaten her for it. Mio tossed the artifact to its rightful owner and the dark-haired priestess caught it with both hands. Ayuka's eyes were shining with tears she was too proud to shed as she bore the humiliation of having her artifact stripped from her.

"You have to understand, Mio," said Ayuka quietly, measuring her words to keep the emotion from spilling onto them. "You cannot simply take the spheres and go out there blindly. You will make the same mistakes as Kiyo—"

"I will not stand here and listen to you give me advice," Mio interjected edgily. "You have done everything in your power to manipulate me to drive your ambition. I can forgive that. All of that." Ayuka stared on in disbelief, though Mio swore she saw a hint of hope hiding beneath a mask of complete uncertainty. "However, you killed my family, you nearly destroyed my clan, you've toyed with the lives of my guardians and killed their loved ones, you have hurt my friends—killed many of them—and you even sought to hurt my son. You cost me the life of a guardian! Do you think I can forgive that? You have accomplished your goal in breaking me!"

Startled, Ayuka took a step back, wobbling on weak legs.

"Now, I am scared beyond everything in this world," Mio continued, after taking a breath. She felt insufferably sad. "I am terrified of what you have done! What this war has caused! You have succeeded in ensuring this world will fall into a greedy conflict for the artifacts, but if I can defeat you, I can defeat them. And I damn you for all the lives your ambition has taken and wrecked irreparably, and I hope you live the rest of your miserable life lamenting the deaths of those that loved you enough to accept your ideals, knowing that their deaths came at the expense of your ambition." She never though her voice could sound so loud. "I hope you repent."

A tear stumbled down Ayuka's reddened cheek.

"Know, however, that if you dare raise another army against me, my guardians, my clan, or my children that I will hunt you down like an animal." Mio grabbed Ayuka by the chin, forcing her to stare into her eyes as the priestess had done several times to her. "And when I find you, know that I will tear you limb from limb and obliterate all who you bring against me."

The priestess made a weak attempt to pry Mio's hand from her face, her nails digging into her skin horrified by the threat.

"Remember this if you so much as consider it. I do not care how long it takes," Mio said, voice trembling with fury. "I will live a thousand years if I must, but I will see you dead and buried with the rest of your traitorous legacy." She released her harshly, throwing her back so she hit the ground. "Now get out of my sight."

The priestess scrambled to her feet and sprinted away like a wounded animal. Mio breathed in deeply, hoping she did not see her again.

"What are you doing?" Izuna snapped. "You kill that woman, not let her go!"

Mio turned as Izuna pulled out his sword, the action a promise that he would see her dead, but she intercepted his path, finding her three guardians questioning her actions in their silence.

"She is already dying," Mio divulged. "She doesn't deserve the mercy of a swift death."

That settled Izuna's desire to run her down as he sheathed his sword. Though, that was as short-lived as expected when Hashirama and Tobirama appeared in the battlefield with Takuto and Nako trailing behind them. It did not take long for Izuna and Tobirama to be at one another's throats, despite their respective brothers' attempts to keep them from starting a battlefield that would pit the Uchiha against the Senju as they were accustomed.

Mio had always taken pride in having enough patience to fill an entire country, but whatever fortitude she had cultivated over the years had been reduced to an ever thinning thread. It had only taken a split second to see that thread of patience snapped and a few steps to reach Tobirama, who she punched across the face.

"Enough!" she shouted. "We are not savages!"

Before Izuna had the opportunity to make a snide comment, she had made a swift turn to punch him, taking him by surprise. "There will be no more fighting!"

She glared at Madara, who put his hands up as a sign of peace, and then rounded on Hashirama, who took cover behind his brother.

Tobirama glowered, folding his arms over his chest. "You win, Mio," he conceded reluctantly, his eyes narrowing at the Uchiha brothers behind her, "but this changes nothing between the Senju and the Uchiha."

"Nor do I expect it to," she said forcefully. "The truce was temporary. The Artifact War is done. If you want to continue fighting each other, then by all means do it, but you will not do it when I have so many bodies to bury. You will not shame those that I have lost with your stupid blood war."

The white-haired Senju inclined his head before reaching into his pack, procuring a chipped cup. The Universe Sphere. "You might want to see that this is sealed," he said, earning a blank stare. "I found this on Nishiki when I went to make sure he was dead."

"It's your artifact," she told him, refusing to take it back. "If you see fit to have it sealed, I will not protest against it. The Universe Sphere is too dangerous an artifact to keep lying around, especially when we have experienced its effects first hand."

"Is Nishiki truly dead?" asked Yayoi stuffily, weeping in silence.

Tobirama nodded.

"How did he die?" asked Hashirama, looking to Madara and Saori for answers.

"Poisoned," Saori answered, when everyone turned to her, she elaborated, "I poisoned him."

"Nishiki comes from a generation of Kuronuma where poison was so common they were immune to many," Takuto said, astounded. "When did you have the time to find something he wasn't immune to?"

"I poisoned all my weapons and string with every poison in creation and not," Saori said, earning an appraising look from Nako. "I also had Madara drink a tonic of antidotes to make sure he didn't die accidentally."

"That's incredible, Saori," Nako said. "You have to teach me all you do."

After receiving an answer, her guardians started up different conversations. Hashirama and Tobirama discussing the fate of the Universe Sphere, Saori inviting Nako to the Waterfall Country. Yayoi in her grief, comforted by the kindest words Madara and Izuna could utter. The world filled with noise.

Mio felt dust falling onto her shoulder and reached for her earring as it crumbled away into nothingness. The other earring did the same, dissolving into dust. And there went the Black Sphere.

The Artifact War cost them dearly. It destroyed two artifacts and it had broken her. She did not feel right. Not after Taiga's death.

As the sky began to darken, Mio bid farewell to Hashirama and Tobirama, the former entrusting her with Nako's care after the Uzumaki informed him that she was owed an adventure. Saori was the next to come forth to say her farewells, embracing her tightly with a promise to see her one day soon, as she desired to return to the Waterfall Country quickly to see that her sister and all of their fallen shinobi received a proper burial. Madara had ordered Izuna to accompany Saori with a small group of Uchiha that included Jouji to retrieve Sako and Minako from their country. Mio had sent a Kuronuma with Saori after receiving a messenger from Murakami Keishuu, the samurai leader, who asked her to bring her clan to the Iron Country for his indefinite hospitality—mostly because his country had not been used as a battlefield as her grandfather had intended.

"I am taking Yayoi to the Fire Country," Madara told Mio, preparing to leave. "We'll make preparations for Taiga's burial."

Mio nodded. As much as she desired to accompany him to see that Taiga was buried respectfully, she would be taking Takuto and Nako to Mt. Hyōga to see that her grandfather, Nishiki, and all Mikazuki had a proper Kuronuma send off. Whatever secrets their bodies carried, she meant to see them preserved.

She went straight to hug Yayoi afterward. "I'm going to take care of you," she promised, feeling the priestess's embrace tighten. "Have a safe trip."

"Thank you, Mio."

Takuto stole Yayoi away, giving her a bear hug and kissing her cheek until she turned beat red. "Thank you, Yayoi. You saved my life back then."

"It was nothing! Taku—stop kissing me, you oaf!"

Nako clapped Yayoi on the shoulder awkwardly. "I'm sorry about your boyfriend."

Yayoi bit her lip sadly, inclining her head, before she said, "Please don't trip on anything on the way to Kurata, Nako. I'm really starting to like you."

The redhead grinned and gave Yayoi a hug that had her protesting again.

Mio faced Madara, not prepared to say goodbye. She did not know how long she would spend with the Kuronuma clan.

"Come home quickly, Mio," Madara told her.

The sound of the word 'home' leaving his lips sounded so sweet to her ears. She believed she had nowhere to call home and yet there was a place. Thinking about it now, she imagined it was wherever he was. Her mouth split into a smile as she threw her arms around his neck.

"I will."

Madara surprised her by taking her by the waist. "We have things to discuss."

She nodded, feeling her ears burn with embarrassment, and pulled away from him. "Take care of Sako and Minako for me."

He inclined his head.

Mio saw him and Yayoi off, feeling a stab in her chest when Taiga's body was carried away covered in white.

Murakami Keishuu waited for her in the castle after his men had gone around picking up the bodies of the fallen. Mio, Takuto, and Nako traveled with him to Kurata with the group of Kuronuma that had accompanied the samurai leader to rescue their Shugosha.

It had been during the journey that one of the Kuronumas, an older male with a thick white mustache, had informed them of the formation of a Council of Elders in the absence of a figure of power. She had been told that as Shugosha, she had automatically been placed within the council as its core member, and that her audience had been requested to discuss the matter of a new leader. She had asked the same man about her nieces, Okimi and Enya's twin daughters, Yuuka and Noe. He had told her that Sako had been taking wonderful care of them and that she never separated from them, which had put her at ease.

There had been time in their travels for distracting conversation, but when they had arrived to the once snowy planes of Kurata, the samurai had left them to make their peace. Keishuu promised a feast upon their arrival to celebrate those that survived, and knowing he meant well, she smiled and said, "I look forward to it."

Takuto had led the trip down to the rivers beneath the mountain they had once called home. It had been upon the black water said to have come forth from Kiyohime's blood to protect her clan that she had bid farewell to Kuronuma Shinya, having set his covered body atop the river. Mio had watched it sink to the bottom, swallowed by its currents, and as he went, she had promised him that she would live a terribly long, fulfilling life being as strong as he believed she could become. She had cried in Takuto's arms, unable to shake the guilt that raked her body after she had said her goodbyes. She had wanted more time with her grandfather. More time than he could have ever possibly spared her, but in the end, she had realized she was content with what she had been allowed.

He had been wonderful. He had been everything she had wanted in a family. He had taught her to be stronger than her limits.

All of the good had been enough to give her strength.

Mio had remained long after as Kuronuma Nishiki, Mikazuki Gouki, and several Mikazuki had been returned to the black water. She watched them wishing them well.

At the end of the day, as she lied awake staring at the night sky, she prayed for peace.

"Mio."

She turned her head in the direction of Nako's voice and found her sitting up.

"Can we talk, Mio?" asked Nako, whispering.

Mio raised herself onto a seat, nodding. She patted the soft ground beside her.

Nako walked over quietly and sank down at her side.

"Did something happen?" Mio asked lowly.

"I…uhm…well," Nako fumbled for words, then reached into her bag to produce the Climate Sphere and presented it to Mio. "I know I was only temporary and that you have more important things to do than worry about all that, but I wanted to return this."

She stared at the ice-cold orb sitting in the palm of her hand and lifted her eyes to the Uzumaki curiously. "I was not planning to ask for it back," she admitted. "I wondered that if you wanted to keep it, I would not stop you."

Nako offered her the tiniest smile. "I thought about it…keeping it…and, well, it's fun knowing I can make it rain or snow forever, but"—and Nako thrust it forward for Mio to take—"this isn't for me. I mean it's an honor, but I barely survived the first Artifact War and I don't think I can handle a second one if there ever was one."

Mio took the Climate Sphere from her and smiled. "Thank you for taking care of it," she said. "You would have made a wonderful guardian."

The Uzumaki grinned playfully. "You are only saying that 'cause you want me back so badly."

Mio laughed, surprising herself. Nako joined her, giggling madly. Their voices rang with mirth until Takuto saw fit to throw his pack at them with a groggy, "Shut up!"

Mio journeyed to the Fire Country once she settled her business with the Kuronuma's council, though she only had a day to spare before Takuto wanted her back in the Iron Country. She ventured deep into the forest, through the familiar twining roads that she had taken as a child until she came upon the remains of her family's cottage.

Abandoned, neglected, and worn down, the cottage stood because of its sturdy foundation and the forest it had become a part of. When she had finally given Taiga's words a thought, after having thrown herself into enough work to keep her mind buzzing with distractions, she had come to one conclusion. The only place she knew that held any secrets had been the cottage where she had grown up. All of her parents' work had been hidden underneath the trapdoor. He could have meant any other place, but she had returned here, firmly believing this to be the place he meant. He would not make her chase after underlying meanings, he would stick the answer underneath her nose.

She entered through the threshold where there once had been a door and passed the destruction that had haunted her for years. She saw the grass and flowers springing from between the floorboards, admired the way the holes in the walls and on the ceiling had been covered by the overgrowth of the forest. She walked into the final room at the end of the hallway and moved the heavy armoire.

Mio swept her hand over the wooden surface underneath, brushing away the dirt it had accumulated over the past nine years and found the loose floorboards. She pulled them out until they revealed a deep hole. Atop a stone slab she found a small scroll and around it there were plenty others of varying lengths and sizes. She took the small one and unfurled it to reveal a small message written in Taiga's handwriting.

'Your grandfather told me I would die. Supposing you are here because I am dead means he was right. I leave the Uchiha's secrets to you along with the tablet Madara wanted so badly. Do with them as you will. They are yours to keep.

I hope your life doesn't end in tragedy, Mio.'

He had signed his moniker at the bottom, "The Nameless One," and it filled her with sadness. She tucked his last message away inside her travel bag and reached inside the hole, drawing forth the Uchiha tablet onto her lap. She stared down at it, seemingly unremarkable, the feeling of it in her hands did not bode well with her that she almost felt inclined to hurl it into the bottom of a lake. However, her sense of duty was stronger than that miniscule notion. This was one of the Uchiha clan's treasures, and it had been the reason Mio had sided with Taiga long ago.

She decided to take it to Madara.

Mio gathered everything inside the trapdoor and put it away in her bag after sifting through them to determine they were all the Uchiha clan's secrets. She returned all she moved back onto its rightful place and exited the cottage, promising to return one day to see it rebuilt.

She paused and stared back at her childhood home, remembering the day Sachiyo had come to carry her away from the scene of her parents' grisly murders. The pink peonies that grew outside were in full bloom and waving gently in the spring breeze when a thought filtered into her mind—an image that described a feeling that had no name.

The thought unfolded in her head like a memory, one of herself lying in a bed within that cottage with Takuto and Yayoi at her side, both looking vastly different than she last recalled. Mio's body shuddered, losing warmth, chasing the image from her mind as she started to walk away, searching for the path that would led her straight to the Uchiha compound.

She didn't turn back to the cottage, knowing a day would come when she returned to it and that when she did, it would be to die.

Mio followed a narrow, forest road to Uchiha territory carrying the tablet in her arms. There were shinobi guarding the area, one came up to meet with her before she was allowed to enter. Another shinobi had been sent to inform Madara about her arrival without her knowing and he wound up finding her on her way into Sachiyo's home.

"Should you be traveling on your own?" he asked, merely glimpsing at the stone tablet in her arms.

"Nobody could be spared to accompany me," she said dismissively. "It was an exhausting trip, but it was completely uneventful."

Madara reached for the tablet. "What is this?"

"Taiga made a bet with my great-grandfather and grandfather a long while ago, one he lost and the Uchiha tablet alongside the clan's other secrets were the prize," she answered, astounding him.

He took the weight from her arms and cast a glance at the scrolls protruding from her bag. "Izuna and I were certain we would never find any of this. We've been searching these last few weeks," he said, unable to mask his fascination as he scanned the surface of the tablet. He looked at her. "Did he tell you where this was?"

"Taiga knew he would die," she said after nodding, thinking of it saddened her. "My grandfather told him he would."

"And his death, it was inevitable?"

"I do not know."

Madara took a step back, gesturing her forward. "Let's go inside," he said. "Everyone will want to see you."

Mio went inside after him. She met everyone: Yayoi, Sako, Minako, Kana, Sachiyo, and Izuna. She was happy to see and talk to everyone, though she did not have much time to spare in the Fire Country, but she would enjoy the little that she had. She spoke to everyone for as long as she was able and stayed for dinner, prepared to leave as soon as she had finished her food, but Sachiyo insisted she waited until morning to return to the Iron Country.

Knowing she would not win against the old woman, Mio gave in.

Mio sat outside at the edge of the verandah staring skyward at the blinking stars in the sky. At night, just before she closed her eyes to sleep, she often thought about it all. From beginning to end. From the violent night that had started it all to the bone shattering ache that heralded its end. Everything in between was a surreal blur. Sometimes she woke in the mornings incapable of believing Nishiki and Ayuka would not torment her. That continued until word reached her that Ayuka had died. Mio had gone to confirm it and saw that it was true the second she had been standing beside the priestess.

The shoji opened and closed behind her. Madara sat down beside her.

"How are you?"

She stole a glance at him after he had spoken, curious he had chosen now to ask that sort of question. "Hm?"

"It's been weeks," he said. "How are you?"

"Did you bury Taiga properly?" she asked, leaning against the wooden post.

"Yes."

"Good."

Madara stared at her in silence, waiting for an answer to his question.

"Every time I think of him, I feel pain," she told him, twisting her body so her back rested against the post. "My great-grandfather told me that losing a guardian was like breaking every bone in your body and that the bones will never be set correctly."

"Was it?"

"It is worse," she said with a brittle smile. "He was right, my great-grandfather. I was terrified he would be. I hoped I would never have to see him proven correct." She paused. "I don't want to feel that pain again."

"How do you intend to avoid it? You have made enemies into guardians. Death will come for me or for them," he pointed out.

"I want to destroy them," she said, turning to him, understanding what he said to be the truth, "the artifacts. I mean to see them destroyed. Those that remain."

He did not speak a word, though his eyes fixed on her told her there were hundreds he considered asking.

"The artifacts once served a purpose, one that no longer exists," she continued, "and if I keep them—they are the reason I will never be safe. And I can become the strongest person in this world, but it will never be enough. I don't see a reason to keep them if they will only become the reason this world falls into a chaos it cannot be saved from."

Eyes brimming with tears, she added, "I want to have a future. I want to have a future with you. A long one."

"Let's see to it that they are destroyed so we can have that future," he said, allowing her to take his hand. He gripped hers tightly, pausing. "Do you have a plan?"

"A rather stupid one actually."

And he laughed.

Redesign | End

xl note: I wanted to ask about ending expectations last chapter, but I didn't want to have reasons to change my mind about how this chapter was presented. It's a lot of winding down after the last chapter and I felt it was appropriate. I hope that it served as a proper ending for part one...because in my heart it did.

With that said, I want to formally announce that while this is the end to Redesign, seeing as I drove this particular plot to an adequate ending, there is a sequel. It will be called Kintsugi (many thanks to HushedFable for the name and for every one else that suggested a name when I asked for the help). Kintsugi covers more canon events like the village founding and Madara's fall to darkness. It will pursue Mio's quest to uncover a way to destroy the artifacts after she finds out there are repercussions to the way the Nature and Black Spheres were broken. Kintsugi is the bridge between Redesign and Winter. It will answer all your questions.

I don't have a set date when I plan to write Kintsugi, though I already started it I want to get on ahead so I can bring you steady, weekly updates. (It might actually be released before the end of the year. It depends on schoolwork and other stories).

Now, you don't have to read Kintsugi. You can satisfy yourself with Redesign because it has the better ending (and make up everyone's fate). However, if you want to continue reading, keep this on your alert list. I will post an announcement when the new series is posted.

And to Taiga fans, I apologize for doing what I did, but I had no storyline beyond Redesign for him. He served his purpose. However, I am working on a few oneshots for Jigsaw that feature him that you will eventually find at my livejournal when they are done.

To Saori fans, I am sorry for scaring you. Saori has business to take care of in Kintsugi.

Finally, I want to thank everyone for reading (and adding me to your favorite/follow lists as it made me feel very special), especially those who have been with me since I first posted this (then took it down, then posting it again, then rewrote it - I was annoying with it), and a special thanks to everyone that continually reviewed (we even made it to 291, guys! I never dreamed of this!) because it was your encouraging words that became a real motivating force in seeing this completed. I don't think I would have been able to get through it without taking another hiatus (remember that obnoxious one at the beginning?) or giving into my end-of-the-story jitters and it probably been seven years before this got done! Thank you so much!

Thank you: Guest (Mio is not pregnant yet. She will be in the future, though, obviously, haha. Thank you for reading!), Loteva, and Anime93 for reviewing the last chapter!

I hope this story entertained you in some way, and I hope to see you in Kintsugi.

Please tell me what you think since we have come to the end (of part one). Ask me questions if you have them (about things you did not understand or about the future, which I will answer without spoilers).

12/14/14 EDIT!

The sequel, Kintsugi, is now available! Go off and read it! Enjoy it!