Saruto | The Bloodline Prophecy (Part 1)

Chapter 7: The Bond

"You spoke to him?"

"Yes, I am sure."

I could feel the entire room staring at me. They probably thought I was out of my mind. Uncle Shikamari sure thought so. I eyed him in a serious gaze as he stood next to my grandfather at his desk.

From the corner of my eye I could see the tremendous view from outside the hokage's office. It always took my breath away. It used to. Now all I see is a room that I get murder missions in. It was nothing but my job as an Anbu. The hokage's personal S-Rank shinobi. It gave me a different feeling than as a kid. I could feel the fiery tension before Shikamaru and I. He had always been a skeptical man but good to my family. Always has been. I know he only wants what's best for the village. Even as an old man I had nothing but respect for him.

"Tell me again what he said?"

"Yes, Lord Hokage," I quickly replied, "You are the bond between the sun and moon. Look to the past for the answer to the future."

I watched as he placed his hand on his chin. He was in deep thought. I never knew my father to be so skeptical. The room was silent before Shikamaru whispered something in his ear. I watched as my grandfather's eyes darted to his position.

"Right," he nodded, "We still can't identify the man who attacked you on the night of the Blood Moon."

Suddenly a dark figure emerged from the shadows of the room to reveal himself. I smirked as the serious looming figure challenged the chair.

"His name is Chinoshiki."

Sasuke.

I watched as my grandfather walked to my side and confirmed the seriousness of the situation. I looked at the faces of Shikamaru and the Hokage. Each intrigued to learn more as to what my grandfather had to say.

"On my early travels after the 4th Shinobi War I encountered a devastated village. There had been no survivors."

His face grew grim. The world survivor always hit him in the heart. His history and past were a mystery to those around. People know pieces of it but not everything. Not even my own mother. At least not the entire story. The only person that truly knew him was the Hokage, my grandfather. Their past together was the biggest mystery I have held to myself for my entire life.

"All that was left was an insignia on the ground. It read Chinoshiki," he then proceeded to shoot me a side look, "I didn't think much of the time because the investigation took me to dead ends. Rumors went around that the village was caught in a cult. But I know now that it means a lot more than that."

"How do you know it was Chinoshiki in the forest?" Naruto remarked.

"Because stories went around that an Otsutsuki member by that name had spent centuries craving shinobi blood. But he was never sated."

I get why he never told anyone about this. It seemed like a ghost story until now. They had never seen a clan member like that. Never heard of him before this moment.

I skuffed up the air around me before closing my eyes to remember his features. The inhuman nature he gave off and his reaction to me. As the sunlight from outside peered on the desk, I scanned the papers it luminated. I tried to observe the writing. Some kind of clue was bound to show itself. It had too.

"We got word back from the scientists and they confirmed our theories," Shikamaru remarked, "from the vile of blood we extracted from you, the Otsutsuki clan member responded accordingly."

"And that means?" I questioned.

I watched as Shikamaru adjusted his coat and looked down to pick up a file on the desk.

"It means that whenever they exposed the clan member to a different vile of blood, he did not react."

It's something in my blood? I didn't need to say it out loud to think what everyone else is thinking. It was all too obvious. Something about my blood meant something to the Otsutsuki. What was their endgame? Did it have something to do with the cracks in the forest and the blood moon?

The words of my father echoed in my head. He had to have been sending me a message. It wasn't meaningless. I know it. Sasuke must have noticed my inner turmoil because he acknowledged it.

"Saruto, do you have something to share?"

I thought long and hard about what I was going to say. I was just all intricate and complex for me to understand.

"I was just thinking about what my father told me." I lowered my head to stare at the ground.

It ate me up to not know the answers, something evil was at play and I was clearly stuck in the middle of it.

"I am the bond between the sun and moon?" I spoke out, stuck in a daze.

There was silence in the room as the four of us pondered on this. What could it mean?

From the corner of my gaze I could see my father rubbing his hand nervously. He seemed to be in deep thought. I wish I could know what they were all thinking. The rubbing continued before he lifted his left hand. I watched as he observed the bare skin. His eyes locked on the palm. Staring at him, I tried to read his face. Then suddenly he slowly switched to his right hand, the hand that had been lost in the war. He continued to stare at the bandages. Observing the wrapping, he thought deep. Then his eyes widened.

"Sasuke!" Naruto alerted his attention.

Raising his head to look at him, I noticed Naruto show his left hand to him. Moments past and Sasuke couldn't understand what he was trying to tell him. I didn't and I don't think Shikamaru did either. He probably thought Lord Hokage lost his mind.

"The Sage of Six Paths!" He remarked before Sasuke's eyes widened.

I remember reading about that at the academy. But it had been so long. Parts of the information eluded me.

My grandfather then glanced down his left shoulder and lifted what was left of it. As if he was looking at his own hand.

"But how?!" My grandfather questioned Lord Hokage.

"The bond between sun and moon," Naruto repeated before staring back at his hand, "It's the seal that Hogoromo gave us."

Shikamaru starred in wonderment at the circumstances. He must have been just at I to know the truth. I could tell he was quietly waiting to chime in.

"But Saruto was not given that power?" Shikamaru pointed out.

He was right. I wasn't. However, Sasuke was quick to answer.

"No," he paused to gather his thoughts as well as heed our attention, "But he is the descendant of both Indura and Ashura."