Rotted Rowan

Opening Banquet

Art was drawn by myself on DA. 

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Warning: All warnings are addressed at the bottom of chapter 2.

Beta: Cyndaquil123

Side note: Happy (very) belated birthday, Cantrona! Thank you for all your support and I sincerely wish you the best experience this year.

"If I'm crying in the wind, if I'm crying in the night -

Will there ever be a way? Will my heart return to white?

Can you tell me who you are? Can you tell me where I am?

I've forgotten how to see, I've forgotten if I can.

If I opened up my eyes there'd be no more going back -

'cause I'd throw it all away, and it all would fade to black."

- Bad Apple

It all looked the same to me.

Corpses blurred together. Uchiha. Senju.

Nothing but death.

Who cared about the outcome of the battle?

Everyone lost this.

There could be no winning.

How many more loved ones must I bury today?

I don't want to love anymore if it only ever leads to this.

I'm sorry.

. . .

. .

.

The kimono was incredibly uncomfortable. Each step felt stiff and awkward and I struggled to maintain a graceful walk. My grip tightened on my tessen, and my eyes roamed around the hallway as we walked. Kanako continued to move at a sedate pace, her kimono layers sliding silently among the marble flooring.

She must have sensed my gaze on her because she turned her head and gave me a wink. I returned with a wink of my own, preparing my mindset for something more proper that befit the first of many banquets.

This banquet wouldn't be as large as the coronation banquet, but it would be the largest banquet in the week until then. The welcoming feast was exclusive to the noblemen, women, and royalty that was invited to the coronation. It would go on well into the night and at midnight fireworks would shoot throughout the city, to launch the start of the celebratory week.

My goals for the night were simple.

One: Mark every individual on Madara's list with white Zetsu spores. These spores would gather data on them for three months before returning to the cave. This gave the spores plenty of time to collect information on the noblemen after the hubbub of the new daimyo died down.