Forewarning: I originally planned the first chapter of this fic to be the only chapter, a one-shot; but I decided I wanted to add a little something extra on the side so if you notice the rather noticeable change of tone here from chapter 1, you know why.

You can call it a bonus chapter, epilogue, whatever you want.

DISCLAIMER: All characters, and source material are property of their respective owners.

"Speech"

[[Song title to accompany the scene - Search the titles on Youtube and click on the first result]]

The Cynical Princess

It had been a few hours and dusk had turned to night,

Naruto idly wondered whether those lively children would be able to handle themselves as they left this great forest, and subsequently travel the remnants of this shattered world. Admittedly, he would have been worried, but he was confident that such worries would be unfounded considering his parting gift for them would give them little to no problems in terms of worrying about safety.

The shoji was closed, and certainly he wanted to sleep for the night yet for some strange reason he was feeling awfully wide awake. The broken moon was shining very brightly that night, so brightly in fact that the usually dark interior of his shrine did not require candles as lighting.

Seems the strange case of insomnia was something unavoidable, he might as well make himself a cup of tea. It has been awhile since he had one given how those kids had often kept him occupied and therefore unable to enjoy the refreshing aroma of freshly brewed sencha.

It was at this time that he heard a soft knock on the door; his attention was now directed towards the shoji which he could make out a clear outline of someone. It was feminine in build, and admittedly a little on the short side, it was however not one of the four maidens he had come to see as friends.

Naruto would have questioned who it was at this time of night that decided this was a good time for a visit, but a voice could be heard from the other side of the shoji...a voice he immediately recognised.

"Who else would conveniently decide to pay you a visit, at this time of night when you conveniently suffer from sleeplessness?" the voice spoke out. It had been a soft, borderline sultry voice...

"Well if you are so aware of who you are, I suppose you should be aware that you are indeed free to enter any time you want. You might even realise that I'm not big on formalities." The sage could hear the doors of his shoji promptly opened and gently closed as he started sipping on the tea he had just served himself. He had kept his eyes close just so he could savour the flavour of the beverage that he had grown to enjoy. He could hear footsteps approaching the table he was at, and soon enough could hear the person sitting opposite of him.

Without opening his eyes, he grabbed hold of an empty cup that laid face-down on the table and poured some tea for his guest. He could hear his guest grab hold of the hot cup and take a small sip from it, during this time no words were traded, as the two individuals sat facing each other in silence.

At least one was.

Naruto soon decided he should just entertain this guest of his after what seemed like a few minutes of silence; he opened his eyes to face his visitor. He had noticed that the night had been darker, possibly due to the clouds beginning to conceal the light of the broken moon. As such, all he could see of his late night guest were here eyes.

Her bright amber eyes had been unmistakeable over the years...they had always gleamed in the dark of night and they were no different now. Naruto idly noted that said eyes seemed to retain the same...personality when he had last seen them. They were sharp eyes...cold...calculating...unfeeling, yet he did notice that said eyes soften noticeably the moment he had diverted his attention to its owner.

The sage decided to break the silence,

"How many years has it been since you were here?" he asked his guest, taking another sip of his tea. She made a humming sound, seemingly contemplating a correct response to his question.

"You know how long it has been, but just to humour you...I believe it has been close to a fifty years Mi-" her response was promptly cut short by Naruto.

"Please stop referring to me by that...name. We are both different people, as you would obviously have known over the years."

His guest remained silent for a second, before giving off a silent sigh, "whatever you say..."

Satisfied that it was the end of it, the sage took another sip from his tea before he continued his strange conversation with this visitor of his.

"I suppose there is more to this than a mere visit, isn't it...hime-sama?" Naruto continued asking. He could clearly see his visitor looking visibly miffed being referred to as such but to her credit she did not go any further with being called that.

He kind of felt like a hypocrite now...

"Well if you were aware of what exactly you have done, you would know that this is more than a recreational visit." His guest answered, using that admittedly sarcastic response that he had just given to her awhile ago.

This elicited a mild chuckle from the sage. "So you already know huh hime?"

"Look who is asking unnecessary questions. You aren't the type who would get senile, neither of us are." His guest remarked before taking a sip from her cup.

Yes...he did realise he was asking question that he already had the answers to...

After all given their history, she would know exactly what he does most of the time, and he conversely would know what she does...he just never really cared to observe.

He saw his guest's ember eyes narrowed slightly, though he knew she had a sly smile on her face as she continued to speak, "I thought I would never see the day that you were anything more than a cynical old man who had lost faith in humanity..." the sage groaned in response.

"If I am old...then what does that make you?"

"Touche."

Naruto knew he still had to answer whatever question she would eventually ask rather than continue on this pointless bicker and cycle of small-talk, so he sighed and nodded, indicating to the unspoken question his visitor had given him. He noticed his visitor's eyes took on a serious gleam to it.

"Are you here to ask why I have chosen to give chakra to these four maidens?" he asked, but was mildly surprised to see his visitor's head shake.

"I know exactly why you have done what you did. I might even go further to say that those four are deserving of whatever you have decided to gift them." His guest spoke, this surprised him even more now.

"If that is the case...why are you here then? Surely there must be a reason as to why you would decide it is paramount to see me at a time like this." the sage asked curiosity and annoyance increasing at equal amounts.

His guest remained silent, but he could see the uncertainty and worry in her eyes albeit very mildly. Those amber orbs steeled quickly however as she asked the sage a question that he himself had been contemplating at the back of his mind.

"Why did you allow the powers to have succession?" she asked, there was an edge to her voice that he could identify quite clearly, the type of edge that would put any strong-willed person in a state of apprehension. The sage had been caught off guard by it.

Though it was not her voice that did so, it was the question she had asked.

Before he could give a response, his guest continued...

"I would have thought that you would have learned from ou-my son's errors before you had decided to make your gifts transferable from one host to another. I would have thought that you would know how the future holders of your gifts would no longer fit your expectations the way those four children have when you have given them." Her voice had been deathly calm, yet beneath that veneer the sage could see she had been angered by his choice.

"This is me, placing my trust in the four of you and whomsoever you trust in the future"

He remembered saying that, he could not say it was a mere oversight.

"Just remember Naruto, remember what your two eyes have seen...humanity never changed, and they will never change. Those four are anomalies, and it is because they were anomalies, that I find no reason to question why you have chosen them to bear a fraction of your power."

Just as his guest continued to speak, the clouds that concealed the light of the shattered moon began to disperse; with the unusually bright light of the moon now clear once again, it had been possible for Naruto to get a clear look at his visitor for what might have been decades since he has last seen her.

To say that this acquaintance of the sage had been attractive would have been a gross understatement; her long ashen black hair, pale white skin alongside her heart-shaped face, down to her crimson coloured dress would have been stunning to any man whom would have gazed upon her. The bright amber eyes and her cold and uncaring demeanour would have added to the strange, otherworldly and almost grim allure that many a person would have agreed on.

Though right now, it seems that the woman's expression was not one of uncaring apathy, but rather the opposite.

Naruto could see that she had been angered...or perhaps frustrated...considering how much he knew of her, it would have been easy to deduce that much. Though deduction would be unnecessary as his guest would very quickly explain to him why exactly she looked as irate as she did.

"Make no mistake...history will repeat itself when mankind is involved, and that little decision of yours will cause more harm than good in the future. Power is a temptation to humans, and absolutely power corrupts absolutely...so why did you act like a fool?"

Naruto would have commented on how with each passing word, his acquaintance had moved progressively closer to him and how by the end of that small rant she was basically face-to-face with him.

Yet he did not find that situation worth commenting, because he knew it was what she had said that held merit...

Power corrupts absolutely, it is capable of turning honest ideals into perversions of itself...may not be now, may not be for a long time...but he knew it was only a matter of time.

Why did he do it? Why did he allow his chakra to have succession? His rational mind had berated him countless of times; he would even say that he had made a significant mistake in allowing such power to linger on from one host to another.

Did he have second thoughts?

...no

He knew exactly why he did what he did, this was not mistake...

But it was a gamble, a losing bet...that much he had to admit.

He could see that his acquaintance still had her face dangerously close to him, her expression seemingly demanding some form of explanation from him. It kind of surprised him by how patient she was to gain an explanation out of him, whether weaker or stronger...she was never one who fancied being kept waiting.

"The years may have forced me to learn many things hime, but those four maidens have further opened my eyes that perhaps this existence we linger in need not always be so bleak and hopeless. As much as I know how much disappointment I might resort myself to...I would like to hold on to some shred hope, which is why I placed them into the four of them, rather than an entire people. I am still Naruto Uzumaki, and I doubt I will never stop being Naruto Uzumaki." the sage answered, he knew his response had been subjective. It had been ironic as he could remember loathing such subjectivity, and here he was using emotion to fuel his reasoning.

The woman did not move away from him, rather she continued to eye him with a calculative gleam in her amber orbs. It took a full minute for her to finally return to her position opposite of him. He could hear her chuckle, it was not a mocking chuckle from his past experiences with her, rather it sounded...resigned.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised...you never did change, even if you claim you did...knuckle-headed till the end even if it makes you look like a fool in the end. To think people regard you as The Sage of Six Paths..." she remarked, much to his chagrin.

He expression softened further, she said something the he would never have expected to come from her mouth

"But I am glad... I am glad that you never changed...Mikado (1)."

Naruto would have commented or protested to being called that name, but considering the rare and genuine smile on his visitor's face...he suppose it would be rude to take it from her.

Just like that, the shrine had been silent again, though there was no tension just like his time with the four maidens.

"I suppose it is time for me to take my leave." his guest finally broke the silence.

"So what will you do now? What will you do now that I have given you my answer?" the sage asked his visitor.

She shrugged, "I suppose...nothing."

"Nothing? Truly?" he asked, eyebrows rose.

"Even if I have decided to do anything, I know you would be able to stop me and subdue me without issue. But like I said, those four are anomalies; I know they are as stubborn as you to the extent that they will act on their goal for the rest of their lives. Although I am worried about your foresight...I will let you indulge in your idealism, at least until I know that the future hosts are less than ideal."

Her eyes narrowed and her smile was now gone, replacing it was the face he had come to recognise naturally from her.

Cold apathy and ruthlessness had been her visage as she gave him an ultimatum of sorts.

"Make no mistake however, when history begins to repeat itself and these successors prove to be incompetent in keeping humanity from turning this entire world into cinder, which I am sure is only a matter of time...I will claim those powers back on your behalf...and you will know that I have every right to do so, just as you and I already know that grimm were never truly the enemy they needed to worry about."

Naruto laughed humourlessly at what she said, "Just when I thought you have changed over the ages, yet here you are the same as ever Kaguyahime..."

The now named Kaguya merely gave him a confident smirk, "but I have changed, and I daresay you are the one who takes credit for it. If I haven't...I would have gone for your precious maidens and you would be holding me down and trying to find a place to seal me up again, which I doubt up there would be a viable choice anymore."

"I'd like to say it might have something to do with other influences but...a fair point I suppose..." her smirk grew as she now proceeded to open the shoji doors.

"Do get some sleep will you?" Kaguya remarked.

"I will once you leave." Naruto answered.

Kaguya looked towards him one last time before she left the shrine, a smile etched on her face. If he had to notice something, he would have noticed how unusually warm that smile was.

"Take care Mikado."

"I had hoped you would stop referring to me by that name. I am Naruto, I am already someone else."

"Well if you stop referring to me as Kaguyahime, I might actually think about it."

"What would you rather I call you then?"

"My name is Chujo (2) now. Like you, I am already someone else...much like how you are someone else...Now get some sleep." he could have sworn he saw her face turned slightly sorrowful as the shoji closed behind him.

The one whom was once known as the Rabbit Goddess finally left. Though Naruto knows very well that he would see her again...

Like she said, it was just a question of time.

"Chujo huh?" he suppose it is only right for him to refer to Kaguya by her new name.

He gulped down the tea that was rapidly cooling under the cold of the Autumn night, suppose he would need to get some sleep now.

All that is left are Remnants

[[Yuuhei Satellite- 最果てのコトバ]]

The moon was full, it was unbroken, its magnificence and beauty lighted the night sky.

No one would appreciate its beauty...

For the lands under the moon were far from unscathed...rather the opposite rang true,

Fires erupted across once green fields, and trees were either in flames or burned husks...

It had been scorched earth, earth that had been filled by the remains of dead men. Blood seeped into the scorched earth, and the stench of death filled the air.

There were still countless of men...all armed with knives, swords, and other terrible weapons...most of them bloodied as they fought without mind for themselves or others.

They were fighting each other...killing each other...they were nothing more than vicious beasts, that even beasts themselves would have trouble matching.

Blood curling screams rang out...roars of bloodlust filled the air as the sound of death overwhelmed the ears of those present. There was so much hate in the land.

It was during this unholy bloodletting that their vision focused on the moon once again...

The pale white moon seemed to change...gone was its pale beauty, replacing it with the scarlet colour of blood.

The sky was coloured red by the intensity of the changing colour of the moon...the lands below were bathed in the scarlet hue that even blood was indistinguishable from the charred earth.

It was then the moon changed again...markings started to bleed into the scarlet sphere, ripples with tomoes surrounding it became increasingly vivid with each passing second. The murderers that flooded the earth looked on, hypnotised by the vision of the moon.

Though as fast as the moon changed its appearance, it reverted to its pale white form once again.

Though that only lasted for mere seconds before a resounding bang could be heard across the lands...this loud resounding crack that was akin to thunder came from the sky above.

Battles and wars across the lands had ceased...as all the men who were slaughtering themselves a second ago froze and focused their views on the moon. What were once frenzied, fearless faces soon change to visage of worry and horror.

They realised their moon started to shatter...

From the shattered remains of the moon, pure black masses could be seen hurtling towards them. They numbered the hundreds, through to the thousands.

The masses of intangible blackness collided with the earth, spreading darkness across the land. To the minds of some of the warriors there, they felt a grim familiarity with the emotions that came from the darkness.

The same feelings of hate, bloodlust, rage and frenzy...

The same feelings they had felt as they slaughtered each other...

Masses started forming around the mass of humans, taking corporeal forms akin to the beasts and monsters that they had ironically mimicked unconsciously.

Bone-white masks adorned the faces of these tainted beings.

Their eyes burned a pure crimson...

Roars and howls rang across the Elemental Nations as the roars of men now devolved into screams of horror. Mankind knew what had happened that day, but in time their knowledge would be lost in time as humanity would be driven back to the brink of extinction.

But it was at that very moment where they knew so clearly.

Humanity was cursed, and they brought this curse upon themselves.

(1) Search "Tale of the Bamboo Cutter"

(2) Search "Chūjō-hime"

AN1:
Inspired by that certain someone many people h8 (but I love) in RWBY, and to a lesser extent "Tale of the Bamboo Cutter".

Shouldn't be too hard to identify who that person is I reckon. Considering the amount of outrage she has been getting from canon audience.

To think you folks wanted me to paint her has completely black rather than grey.

But like I said, I wanted to write this...so I did. Might not be the last as of yet since I wanted to delve into my own take on Remnant more. You want to know what the whole "Mikado" thing I'll probably delve on it there.

AN2:
Never expected this admittedly short story to get the attention it did, especially given that it was a "spur of the moment" kind of fic. Thanks I suppose, appreciate your words.