541A/N: I do not own Naruto or High School DxD.
The Prince of Darkness
Prologue
Earth-shaking strikes which tore asunder the foundation of the world; Heaven sundering beams and spheres which distorted the skies to display a cornucopia of lights. The average viewer would be lost in the sheer beauty caused by the battle which had re-shaped the landscape forever, and left its scar permanently on the soil which would never see life again. Even as the skies where saturated with colors and chakra, and the earth was uprooted from itself and scattered across the winds like a leaf caught in a blizzard, two figures had continuously battled against each other, in their final showdown, moving faster than eyes could track, faster than sound could follow, with each and every clash resulting in more devastating chaos.
But all things must come to an end.
The two men, both having their respective arms blown off from their final attack, one stood above the other, staring blankly at where there was a spiral mark on the other's chest that had tore open the skin and ruined the ribcage, leaving a faintly beating heart visible.
"So… in the end, I couldn't beat you Naruto" the man on the ground coughed as his breaths became labored. He was out of Chakra, out of stamina and out of willpower.
The second man grits his teeth and clenched his one remaining arm hard enough for it to draw blood. He let out a roar to the sky as he began punching the earth, over and over again.
"It wasn't supposed to be this way!" he said "It was never supposed to end this way Sasuke! After everything, after all that we've been through!
"It was always going to end this way." Sasuke coughed "Either I killed you, or you killed me. There is no middle-ground."
"No! We could've-"
"We could've what?" Sasuke asked "I'm wanted as an international criminal. I was part of the Akatsuki. I turned my back on the village and I have the same last name as the man who started a war simply because he couldn't handle the fact that his crush died."
"You helped seal Kaguya! You helped stop the war! They have to under-"
"Not everyone is as understanding as you Naruto." Sasuke said "No one will forget what I did simply because you vouched for me, if I did return to Konoha, I would be an outcast forever."
"But you're not like that anymore! You've changed!"
Had he? Naruto's words had never gotten through to him. Words had never been his strong suit as an Uchiha; he always expressed himself in actions. But Naruto's fists had finally communicated to him the message he should have understood long ago. The blond was more than just an annoying teammate or a pest, no; he was an equal, a rival, a friend.
A brother.
Irony, Sasuke noted. It was only when he had realized that Naruto was a brother to him, was someone who had unshakable faith and determination in him, that was when he was about to die, at his hand. The parallel between his situation and that of him and Itachi was so similar, that Sasuke couldn't help but manage a smile on his face. It was a genuine smile, which did not go unnoticed by the blond.
"We both had messed up lives didn't we Naruto?" Sasuke said "I had everything, and yet I lost it, and you had nothing, but in the end, you've gained everything."
His entire life, he had been played like a puppet, manipulated into doing others biddings from the very moment he wanted to become a shinobi. He had been manipulated by Itachi into hating him, manipulated by Orochimaru into willingly becoming his student, manipulated by Danzo and by Obito. It was as though his path was pre-destined ever since, and ultimately, this was the outcome. Killed and defeated by the one person who could have understood him. It was ironic, how their roles could have been so easily reversed, and he would have been the one standing over Naruto's body, and lamenting about how things could have ended differently.
But things hadn't turned out differently. And even has his life flashed before his eyes, and as he recalled all his choices ever made, all based on anger and hate and rage, he realized where he had gone wrong.
Everything could have gone so differently.
If Obito had never attacked Konoha with the Kyubi, if the suspicion hadn't gone on to the Uchiha clan; if his father had never brought about the idea for the coup, if Itachi hadn't been one hundred per cent loyal to the village, if Danzo had never ordered the massacre and if Itachi had simply told him the truth.
If, If, If. The blame could go to anyone or anywhere, but there were no more ifs, his choices had been made, and here he lay, ready to face the music for what had been his own error in judgment, for what had been his own mistakes.
"Hey Naruto," Sasuke said "I think you'll make a great Hokage."
The teary-eyed blond, shook his head. All he ever wanted from Sasuke was acknowledgement as his equal and rival, but this was never the way he wanted to achieve it. This wasn't how he had pictured it. "How can I become the Hokage when I can't even fulfill a promise to bring my best friend back to the village?"
"I'd like to be buried beside my parents." Naruto gave him a glance at the seemingly weird change of topic "You promised Sakura you'd bring me back didn't you?"
Yes he did promise her that. He just never specified how he'd be bringing Sasuke back – Dead or Alive. At the very least, Sasuke would have finally been brought back to Konoha, and Naruto's promise would be fulfilled.
The blond wiped the tears from his eyes with his one remaining arm and regained a faux smile "Yeah. So I guess I will end up bringing you back to Konoha." His grin finally seemed to come back in place "And I'll be the best Hokage Konoha has ever seen. Believe it!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes, feeling his strength finally leaving him. "Dobe."
"Teme."
The two laughed like old friends, and for a moment, they had forgotten the circumstances around them. The betrayals and battles, the conflict and chaos, and all through it, the understanding bond that kept them connected.
It was with a final breath that Uchiha Sasuke closed his eyes and whispered under his breath "Thank you Naruto. For everything."
With those five final words, the last living Uchiha on the face of the earth ceased to be.
Redemption was something that demands that you seek forgiveness for your past misdeeds. That you atone for your actions; that you acknowledge that you could, in fact, be wrong.
Perhaps if he had more time, but then again, perhaps not. Redemption was a rare and special thing after all; it was not for just anyone.
But then again, he was Uchiha Sasuke; he wasn't just anyone.
~~~~~ The Prince of Darkness ~~~~~
Cold and darkness intertwined. The absence of heat and the absence of life; he knew he was dead, even as he walked through the darkness, and saw all around him, shinobi who had fought through the war and had been the casualties, gently strolling along, each on their own path, and none paying attention to the rest.
"Weak. Pitifully weak. To consider you an Uchiha is an insult to the clan."
There they were, the final two Uchiha, Obito and Madara, squabbling amongst themselves in the darkness. The soul of the final Uchiha had seemingly returned to the land of the dead, and there was a part of Sasuke, that felt the unbridled rage at seeing the duo.
Obito might have changed his ways, but Sasuke would never forget that it was due to the convoluted plans of these two men that his life had been ruined.
He felt for his chakra, and found nothing. Of course, he was dead, and chakra was an attribute of the living. But there was the energy there, the raw and untamed spiritual energy, which had not yet fully dispersed, he was only dead for a few seconds after all, and it would soon vanish afterwards.
It would be enough.
He summoned whatever was left of the spiritual essence within him, and lunged. There was no killing intent, no overwhelming pressure, no sound, nor wind, just the complete and total surprise of the enraged soul of Uchiha Sasuke extending his one usable hand forward to pierce the chest of Madara Uchiha.
Obito jumped back in surprise "S-Sasuke?"
The entire reason the war had escalated was because there were techniques which could be utilized to bring back the dead and people like Madara from the Impure World. His body had been taken over by Kaguya, but his soul had returned here, and Sasuke would forever prevent Madara's soul from being revived.
He grasped at what he assumed was the 'core' of the soul inside of the stunned man, and proceeded to rip it out and crush it within the palm of his hand.
The image of Madara twisted into one of shock, surprise and then, strangely enough, acknowledgement and respect.
"You, are a true Uchiha."
Those were the only words he had uttered before he had dispersed into particles and vanished completely from existence.
Sasuke shook his head at the cryptic words before he rendered his gaze on Obito, who could tell quite frankly, that he was his next target.
He wasn't Naruto. He wouldn't forgive Obito, the man who was an unwitting pawn that had caused a war and ruined his entire life, simply because his crush had been killed by Kakashi. No, if anything, he deserved to be eliminated for starting a war for such petty reasons.
He attempted to strike out, only for him to be stopped by a massive corporeal being, wielding a blade, with white hair and fanged teeth. The being, as he had correctly assumed, was none other than the Shinigami itself.
"Do you know what you have just done?" the voice of the massive being bellowed across the darkness but Sasuke did not back down. He could deal with whatever punishment the Shinigami could give him later, for now, he felt the small doze of spiritual energy he still had waning, and if he didn't use it soon, he would become powerless like the rest of the souls in the place.
Rather than answer the Shinigami, Sasuke dashed forward with whatever energy he had left, and lunged at Obito with his hand extended, intending fully well to crush the soul of the man just as he had did with Madara.
He was met with the sword of the Shinigami about to bisect him in two.
Dodging was impossible, and all that he could do was either block or counter, but the being was incorporeal, and the blade would possibly sever his soul as well. So what was he to do?'
It was an idea, a completely crazy idea that sprung out of nowhere, but all the same Sasuke raised his hand to meet the incoming sword.
"Human Path."
It would be the results of that idea, that would forever change the world as it was known.
Sasuke only had spiritual energy available to him, yet, he summoned upon that spiritual energy to use the one power of the Rinnegan that he had deemed useless in his fight against Naruto. The Human Path had the power to read minds by stealing the souls of humans, but what would happen if he had activated it with raw, unfiltered spiritual energy against a massive incorporeal being that was said to be the avatar of death?
The result was the bloody Shinigami letting out an ear-piercing screech that Sasuke was sure could have shattered glass. The last Uchiha absorbed the sword of the Shinigami, and then proceeded to absorb the Shinigami itself, as Sasuke's mind was tormented with billions of flashing images of deaths, and thousands of memories all pumping through him within seconds.
Fortunately or unfortunately, he was already dead, so he couldn't die again from the information overload that would have left the brains of mortal men a steaming pile of flesh had they ever attempted to perform something as completely stupid as absorbing the shinigami.
Sasuke collapsed and Obito rapidly took this as his chance to flee from the younger Uchiha, lest he suffer the same faith as the avatar of death.
Had he stayed any longer, he would have noticed an extremely tall skeletal figure move over the Uchiha's soul and vanish with it.
~~~~~ The Prince of Darkness ~~~~~
"Tell me Hades, to what do I owe this unexpected visit?" the voice belonged to a woman, who could only be described as indescribably beautiful. With pale skin that was as white as snow, elegant black hair, casually dressed in loose fitting robes and jeans with an ankh necklace on her neck, she had the air of a goddess.
"Death-sama, I believe I have something that might interest you."
The body of a boy was tossed forward, and as he hit the white of the skeletal ground, his 'consciousness' returned to him with a vengeance. He struggled to remember his name and identity amongst the several billion memories of individuals dying over and over and over again. His eyes were rolled into the back of his head, his face a calm serene blankness that one could almost mistake for retarded stupor, and all the same, he kept mumbling the names of the people that 'he' had reaped.
The being on the throne let out an amused smile "Well, isn't this a surprise."
The 'God' of Death, Hades mused alongside with the personification of demise "Quite a special one. He absorbed one of your Vanguards, the Avatar of Death in his own universe and timeline."
Death stalked down from her throne, and looked the boy into the blank eyes, "His soul is shattering. It is being flayed away by the souls of the millions that the Shinigami has reaped. He is simultaneously reliving the lives of millions of people, down to their final moments, all in a matter of seconds."
Hades made a noise of disbelief "A human soul can only take so much before it is exhausted. That much information pouring into him should have annihilated him instantaneously. Yet, he still exists."
Death laughed as she cupped the boy's face into her hands "He is from the Uchiha Clan."
"The Uchiha Clan?"
"Yes." Death said "I believe they have a technique which allows them to cram several hours or years of experience and torture into a single second. He must have been exposed to this technique several times as a human, as such; his soul is able to withstand such a feat."
Death smiled, an eerie, haunting smile as though she were a cat that had caught the canary. Ideas slowly forming within her mind, she almost licked her lips in anticipation "Yes, he will do quite nicely."
The personification of Death captured the Uchiha's lips in hers, for a brief second which seemed to have lasted a small eternity, and then, like a curse had been lifted, his face shifted from it's blank, suffering state to one of slight pleasure and his pale dark eyes returned to him.
Then it took him a moment to realize he was being kissed, that he leaped back in shock and no small amount of confusion. He tried to remember who he was, and what was going on, amongst the jumbles of memories. He was a tailor, then a trader, a father, a knight, a samurai, an assassin, a woman, a boy, a girl, a lover, a friend, he was all these things and more, and it took him a while to remember, who he truly was.
The memory lit up like a light bulb. He wished it hadn't.
He was Uchiha Sasuke.
And he was dead.
Blinking, he realized that the being in front of him was smiling, and for some reason, it made him feel insurmountably frigid. He might not exactly have displayed his preference for the fairer sex, but not even he could deny that the woman in front of him was insanely beautiful.
"Even in death, you manage to surprise me Uchiha Sasuke."
Considering the fact that, he knew next to nothing about how the undead world worked he answered honestly "You know who I am?"
"I know who everyone is." She said "However, it is not who you are that bothers me so much as what you have done."
"I have done a lot of things." He said truthfully and slightly guiltily as well "But I don't remember doing anything to offend you."
"You absorbed my Shinigami. No one, neither past nor present, in any timeline nor universe has ever been able accomplish that feat."
Sasuke shrugged, his lips somehow morphing to utter the sentence "There's a first time for everything."
The being let out a shrill chuckle at the comment "Yes, I suppose there is. And as it may, you have provided me with quite a unique opportunity."
Sasuke did not like the sound of that.
"Tell me Uchiha-kun, would you like another chance at life?"
The rush of emotion that fueled him was almost impossible to describe "Another chance? But… I'm dead."
"You did not answer my question Uchiha Sasuke. Would you like another chance at life?"
The Uchiha's mind swam in turmoil. Perhaps, redemption would be nice. Perhaps, atoning for his various crimes in life would make him feel –– whole. There was so much he had done, so much he hadn't done, and ultimately, to die at the age of sixteen, having made so many mistakes, and haven seen and done so little – it wasn't to be.
"Yes."
"Then that is all that is required Uchiha-kun." Death let out a small, creeping smile "Normally I am forced to partake of noting but neutrality – to sit idly and watch the repetitive flow of time as civilizations and life are remade and destroyed. But with you –"
The smile stretched further, and seemed out of place on the features of the beautiful woman.
"Oh yes, this is just perfect."
Sasuke glanced at the strange woman. There was a foreboding feeling in his gut, the same one he had usually gotten on instinct, but ignored.
"It is settled Uchiha-kun. I can return you to the land of the living, however, this entails three things." She said "First, you are not the only person lining up for rebirth. You will have to fight a thousand worthy souls, possibly more, and only if you attain victory will you gain your prize."
"Fight?'
"The powers you possessed in your life will be given unto you once more to fight."
"I see."
"Second, when you are reborn, it might be in an era that is not yours, your memories and abilities will be lost to you at first, but can be regained over time, and you might not be reborn as a human."
"I can accept that." Sasuke said, "And the third thing?"
"You will become my Avatar – the Avatar of Death."
The condition was one that held the most weight, and Sasuke felt like he was being offered a deal with the devil. But he had no choice to accept, it was either this or whatever the sad dreary afterlife had for him, and his story wasn't over yet.
Not just yet.
The Last Uchiha accepted, with a slow, stiff nod, and the personification of Death tried her best from letting a magnificent smile ripple on her features.
"Hades, do take Uchiha-kun to his destination, I believe he has seen more than enough death for one lifetime."
The God of Death nodded, and in an instant, the boy and the being were no more, leaving the beautiful woman alone in her throne room.
Or so it seemed.
"Up to your tricks again aren't you?" The voice of an old man echoed, softly as though fine-tuned by the muses themselves "You forgot to tell the boy his fourth condition. The body he is to inhabit was meant for that wayward son of mine."
"It's of little consequence. Little Lu-chan has been dead for the same number of years you have, despite his peak strength during the war, I have faith in the Uchiha."
"It is unlike you to have faith of any sorts." The man said "Even more so unlike you to interrupt the flow of time. There is an order to the way the universe works my old friend. And we have both seen the outcome of what happens when one tries to alter it."
Death scowled. "I fail to remember asking to be lectured by you old geezer, be gone from my sight. Your era of prominence is at an end."
"And that is where you are wrong old friend," the old voice said, before slowly fading "If anything, it is just about to begin."
~~~~~~~ The Prince of Darkness ~~~~~~~~
Sasuke had lost count.
The Sword of his Susanoo severed thousands.
Amaterasu set legions screaming in agony.
Shinra Tensei deflected and flattened.
Kirin devoured the multitudes.
All around him, souls perished, fell, died, crumbled, and reduced to ash. Some had let out desperate pleas like the mewling of infants, others had been driven to the brinks of their sanity, and in the end, calling it a battle would have been a misnomer, rather, it was a brutal massacre.
In the end, only two souls remained, and Sasuke found himself entering a stalemate against an opponent whose strength was ridiculous, even for him.
The combatants stood far from each other, gazes locked in mutual respect.
"What is your name boy? I believe an opponent worthy enough to fight me to a standstill deserves his title to be written across the heavens."
"Uchiha Sasuke."
The Man had nodded.
"Lucifer Morningstar."
The two combatants glanced at each other, no words needed to be said.
They lunged.
And darkness became their world.
~~~~~~~~ The Prince of Darkness ~~~~~~~~~
The Underworld
Sitri Territory
"There's another child?!"
"How didn't we realize this?"
"It doesn't matter! Push!"
A pained groan of effort tore through the otherwise silent night-air. Short, strained gasps followed afterwards along with heavy breathing and more groans
"One more time! Push!"
The sounds reverberated in the same continuous pattern, before abruptly stopping as a new sound was thrown into the mix and drowned out everything else.
The sound of a baby's cry tore through the room and into the air, echoing its presence and it seemed as though the whole world shifted into a standstill.
A child was born.
"It's a boy!" One of the midwives said excitedly before wrapping said child in a towel, and slowly bringing him to his mother. Said mother had dark black hair that was highlighted with an ethereal ebony tint. She had royal lilac eyes that depicted one of the strongest forces in the world; the love, only a mother had for her child. Bringing her child closer to her she began to observe his features, he had a thick black hair, and similarly colored eyes which shone with a certain sense of purpose.
"What shall we call him Sitri-sama?"
Shifra Sitri glanced at the younger twin and her third child, and as she looked at the boy, she felt the strange, powerful compulsion to a name, a Japanese one for that matter, yet, it did not seem out of place.
"We shall call him Sasuke… Sasuke Sitri."
A/N: In honor of reaching the 200k word mark in DxD- GOTYE, and as a bonus Holiday story to my readers, this story is inspired by The Devil's Dark Knight and its brief revamp. Even though the author has seemingly vanished off the map, I could not stand the idea of a rare Sasuke-centric DxD xover fic being abandoned. So I decided to create mine.
Silent Songbird.
