Rabbit Princess [Gaara] [2]

☾ 76 ☽

Tsukiko listened as Black Zetsu told them about how eons ago, a meteorite crashed onto the ground and grew a tree. And in the same place, years later, a glowing object came to a rest from the skies next to him, which prompted the nearby emperor, a young man, to send his soldiers after it. And when they returned the following morning, they brought a beautiful woman along.

It was Kaguya, and while she was initially suspected to be a spy from another land, she introduced herself to Emperor Tenji to be the protector of the Divine Tree. And thus, she was brought into the land where she made acquaintance with a servant named Aino.

Soon, conflict broke out between Tenji's land and another country over a lake as well over Kaguya. On the other hand, Kaguya and Tenji grew closer as the woman spent most of the nights looking at the sky and looking for peace, and Kaguya fell pregnant.

Tenji passed a decree that no one from his and would attack the enemy to prevent agitated attacks, but things went downhill when Kaguya was discovered in her hiding.

The enemy attempted to kidnap Kaguya but when she defended herself, killing several of the men, causing their leader Suzaku to bring complaint to Tenji, who had no choice but to invoke his own decree against Kaguya herself, giving out the order to execute her.

Kaguya and Aino, in the meantime, left for the Divine Tree, and were chased and attacked by Tenji's archers. Kaguya deflected their arrows, but couldn't keep with their numbers, as she was pregnant.

Realising this, Aino tried to warn Tenji about Kaguya's pregnancy, but was struck down on the way by the arrows. Kaguya, then, ate the Divine Tree's Chakra fruit, acquiring the Rinne Sharingan, casting the Infinite Tsukuyomi, and binding those caught in it in the roots of the Divine Tree.

"Mother loved this world," Black Zetsu told Tsukiko, Naruto and Sasuke. "She tried to love humans. But her wish was dashed so she ate the fruit of the Divine Tree to try to protect her children. However, ... Mother's real tale of despair begins from here... shortly afterwards, Mother gave birth to triplets. They were... Hagoromo, Kisshoten and Hamura,"

Just as before, Black Zetsu mentioned how Kaguya would stare at the skies and invoke the curiosity of her three children. Even Kisshoten, who Kaguya kept around her the most, was not indulged in thoughts by the mother.

Although Kisshoten was kept away from humans around them due to her sheer resemblance to her mother and the number of men that came to seek her hand, she would still join her brothers by sneaking out solving problems for those around them.

Upon one such occasion, where the three siblings went to resolve the conflict over water between farmers, the three of them found baby toad named Gamamaru, who had thinned the stream by placing a large boulder upon it. He helped them by driving away a dangerous bear that lived near.

This all impressed Hagoromo, Kisshoten and Hamura, and as the toad watched, Hagoromo moved the boulder and Kisshoten destroyed it with a punch to avoid further trouble.

Gamamaru told the three siblings about the mountains around the Divine Tree, questioning if they knew about them. They could identify it as the Peak of Demise but that they were not allowed to go there. Upon this, Gamamaru told them about how the Divine Tree was absorbing the land's power.

That was news to Hagoromo, Kisshoten and Hamura, who were told that the land thrived because of the Divine Tree. Gamamaru told them to see the truth beyond the peak themselves and left.

When the three returned home, they met a salesman who wished to get permission from Kaguya to sell medicine but was exposed as fraud by Hamura, telling him to leave, as they are able to cure illnesses themselves.