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Madara
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Deep into the earth, a series of endless tunnels were home to the inhabitants of Ryuchi cave. Countless mortals were lost within the jungles of the surface, but to enter the cave — one must have the intention to call upon the serpentine gods of old. Three trials must be overcome to attain an audience with the snakes whom lived in the caves.
And even more rare, would a mortal be granted a meeting with the Naga Queen — a woman of such beauty many mortals that had the misfortune to find her were struck blind, only to fumble around the subterranean tunnels until the cold comfort of death offered them their only escape.
Madara Uchiha grew up hearing these stories — of course they were non-sense. At least, he’d always thought so until he became desperate enough to hope they weren’t. Honestly, he’d mostly forgotten about the folklore until his brother fell ill. In between Izuna’s fevered dreams he asked Madara to read to him. The Lore of Fire had been one their grandmother read to them long ago in their youth — when there had been five brothers. Now it was only Madara and Izuna, and possibly he’d become the sole survivor if this didn’t work out.
Or, possibly this fool-hardly quest would end in Madara’s own demise and Izuna would be the sole survivor for however long his body fought. The tales of the snakes of Ryuchi were varied and oftentimes terrifying. One story had been about a young woman whom charmed the king of snakes and been granted a great boon.
So,when Izuna fell into an unconscious state and could not be roused, his heart beat slowing, Madara set off on this mission. He’d read about the jungles within the unclaimed lands between Fire and Rain. He studied about snake charming — moving in such a fluid motion that a snake mimicked your movements in a state of alert, but without attacking — surely that would come in handy.
The journey into the jungles were treacherous on a good day. However, every day felt generally fatal on the normal during the last decade of this waring states era.
He had to wonder if the constant conflict and grief suffered during his lifetime was the standard for all people. And if it wasn’t, what was the secret? Living a long life during an era of peace seemed like a pipe dream — achieved only through one of his clan’s powerful genjutsus. Maybe that should be his new goal?
Unfortunately, Madara’s vision was failing making it that much more challenging to survive day to day. What use was a blind ninja? Though with Izuna’s life on the line, he would risk everything. He used all the senses available to him to navigate the hot, humid jungle, shoving aside vines, slicing especially dense foliage with his small sickle when necessary and hoping he wouldn’t run into any hungry pythons. He’d incinerate them if he had to, but really hoped to avoid any unnecessary destruction.
He doubted the snake goddess would be fond of helping him, if he set her jungle on fire.
The inhabitants of Ryuchi cave were notoriously particular about those that visited their lands with intent. If you stepped out of line just a tiny fraction, your life was forfeit and you’d become nourishment to the snakes if you were fool enough to seek them out. Though, for example, if a child was lost and stumbled accidentally into the woods, the snake goddess without have one of her lower serpents guide it out safe and sound.
Madara was not in the Ryuchi domain by accident. It wasn’t his intention to harm the home of the snakes, but he needed their help. He would prove himself worthy of their aid. Or he’d died trying and Izuna would inevitably die in a day or two and they’d meet in the Purelands.
Madara’s first challenge was straight forward enough, to find the stone marking outside of the cave’s entrance. He traced his finger over the engraving and felt the sharp pang of the uneven stone pierce his flesh. The moment his blood touched the quartz the earth began to rumble, revealing the secret entrance.
Seeming to appear out of nowhere, a crimson and pale pink snake adorned with yellow diamond scales upon its head seemed to twine around his ankle. Madara stood absolutely still sensing the creatures immense chakra. Once it twined up his leg, forked tongue dangerously close to his crotch, it spoke.
“I ssssssuggest you keep your handsssss to yourself if you want to keep them attached,” she warned, her voice a melodic rasp.
Before Madara could respond she unwound from his body and slithered towards the cave’s opening.
Madara licked his suddenly parched lips, grateful the creature didn’t pierce him with venom-laced fangs. The stories weren’t completely nonsense, considering the bit about snakes that could talk was apparently true. With renewed determination, Madara plunged deeper into the dark abyss of the unknown. He prayed he’d not just signed a death warrant for both himself and his beloved brother.
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OoO
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Sakura
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For the past few centuries so few mortals ventured deep into her jungle. This one tasted delicious. The moment his blood touched the key to her domain she wanted more. Even fewer made it past her serpentine underlings. And Sakura was hungry— so very hungry.
She stretched her coils in her full form, her shoulders brushed against the stone walls of the cavern. Her claws dug deep trenches into the stone beneath her, the terrible screeching sound of hardened keratin upon the soft limestone. Then she allowed herself to shrink down to her diminutive form. She peered into the murky waters that flowed through underground clouded by white stone that drew mystical energies from the environment. The calcite cloud allowed Sakura to observe the outside world. She dropped a small sample of the man’s blood from the stone outside and watched as the waters began to show her his progress.
He’d picked his way through the second challenge and was halfway through the third. He might very well be worthy to seek an audience with her. He had smelled absolutely delicious with a woodsy smoke scent that made her think of distant forests. She would love to tangle her claws through the long, raven mane that fell down his back.
As he drew near, climbing the perilous cliff, Sakura reverted back to her true form — filling up the majority of the cavern. She flicked her tail, knocking it against the a stalactite and sending it crashing to the ground as she stretched her girth.
The man crested the the steep, rocky incline. He was so tiny as he found her in the darkness! His eyes shown an eerie crimson that matched half her scales. As he stood on the ledge, his vision seemed to have acclimated to the lack of light and he spied her. The mortal sucked in a shocked gasp as he took in the sight of the snake goddess in all her glory.
Before he could fall back, which his feet seemed to stick momentarily to the steep stone wall, but surely she imagined it. Humans couldn’t channel their energy to cling to walls against gravity’s force! Then again, humans didn’t have crimson glow-in-the-dark eyes. Interesting. Was this man something more than human?
“It’ssssss a long way down, human,” Sakura warned, plucking the man up from certain death and holding him between her thumb and index finger for closer inspection. He remained perfectly still — a strong buzz about his body seeming to coat him with a faint purple glow. “Curioussssss,” she murmured. It would be easy to squeeze his small form — the leather armor might protect him from arrows, but it would do little against her strength. Though, she was remiss at the idea of pressing his gory bits outside — he’d likely be delicious given how nice he smelled. However, she was more interested in what desperate desire motivated him to brave such an impossible quest.
“Why do you sssssssseeeeek me, human?” Sakura hissed, enjoying the way his eyes widened as he took in her massive size in its entirety. Her coils filled the entire massive chamber. Upon reflex, her pincher grasp started to close but she met resistance — a deep violet ghostly skeleton formed around the man, dwarfing his body and Sakura opened her hand, allowing the man to fall back upon her palm. The man floated within the middle of a ghostly samurai that continued to expand in size until it was roughly the same height as her from the waist up — his tiny human body at level with her eyes.
“I have come seeking the healing power of your scales,” he answered, his voice steady with his bravado. “My brother is dying and will not last the week without a miracle.”
Sakura tilted her head and studied the man. Her scales had no magic other than preventing her from abrasions on the hard stones of the caverns. However, she did possess the ability to heal a mortal injury— though — it was not a gift to be shared lightly. She doubted this human had any idea about what he asked and the true cost. However, he passed the tests to reach her. Surely, he was worthy, but was she willing?
She stuck out her forked tongue, tasting the man’s scent and licked the length of the purple entity from its waistline up its neck. It buzzed with power and she coiled the length of her serpentine lower body tight as she felt a flood of desire course through her cloaca as she found him compatible.
“What price are you willing to pay?” Sakura asked. She knew the power he requested, it was not given lightly —an all purpose elixir in its diluted form. And it was difficult to procure. Would this over-confident, determined, creature be able to charm her? Not every person could be a snake charmer. Those that failed were reduced to stone under her gaze— her eyes capable of manipulating stone and earth.
“Whatever is required,” he vowed.
She smiled, venom beading on the tips of her fangs and then dripping to the cave floor, sizzling the limestone. It disrupted the feet of the luminescent spirit warrior armor, but they quickly reformed. She studied his eyes, glowing so bright in her dark cave. It had been hundreds of years since there had been any light in her cave aside from the bioluminescent fish that swam in the cloudy underground streams and the glowworms in some of the more distant tunnels. Creatures that lived perpetually in darkness usually lacked skin pigments and appeared pale pink or white. His raven hair fascinated her and while she only saw him for a moment outside her cave, his skin had been sun-kissed.
“What issssss your name, mortal?”
“Madara,” he answered. “U—-. Madara.”
Interesting, he chose to not give his family name. Though, it hardly mattered. Only humans liked to identify themselves with so many names.
“Are you sssssure, Maaaaaadarrrrrra?” She hissed his name, her tongue scraped across the ghostly cheek of his warrior armor.
He nodded. “Absolutely.”
Sakura considered the logistics. This man was so much smaller than her kind. She could shape-shift. Though while that would make the logistics easier for him, it would diminish the power of the elixir and there was a strong chance she’d accidentally turn him into stone. “Who is it you wish to save?”
“My brother,” Madara answered.
“Is he a brother of your blood? Or of your heart?”
“Both,” Madara answered. “He’s my younger brother. We have the same mother and father.”
“Then sssssince I do not have hisssss blood, part of your essssssence will sssssuffice. The elixir will only work on you or him. — or any other ssssibling I ssssupposssse. It will not work on a parent or a ssssstranger,” Sakura explained. “It isssss linked to your particular genetic code.” She poked her sharp nail against the unyeilding armor around him. To resist her claws, meant it was indestructible. “What issssss thissss?”
“This is my susanoo. A protective construct composed of chakra. What do you mean an elixir? It’s not a scale?” Madara’s voice held uncertainty for the first time.
Was he worried his bedtime stories had led him astray? She could still choose to devour him, but he smelled nice and this susanoo seemed a troublesome obstacle. She even thought that she would try very hard not to turn him into stone. “We must copulate to create the elixir,” Sakura explained.
Madara’s eyes grew wide. “What?” He croaked before he cleared his throat, his jaw twitching as the muscle tensed. “How?”
Sakura laughed, the sound reverberating throughout the caves. She stroked her clawed finger over the belly of Madara’s violet susanool armor. “You will need to enter my body and release your seed upon my walls.”
“I may be a virile man, but I am merely a human — how could I possibly produce enough?” Madara’s skeletal armor began to shrink around him until he was down to his normal size, but his human leather armor was coated in the chakra shield of his susanoo.
This particular union had risks — he would be able to kill her if he thought to do so at such a vulnerable position. However, he’d also be in a precarious position and she could suffocate him with offal.
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OoO
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Madara
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He’d done a lot of thing for Izuna over the years. Having sex with a giant snake goddess was certainly the most unusual. At least the Sharingan granted him the ability to see in the infrared spectrum. He stepped inside the cloaca of the naga queen and the scent of her slick was heady and there was something about her voice that excited him. And she was beautiful in a monstrous, terrifying sort of way.
He still wasn’t exactly sure how he managed to work himself up. Who knew that his lifestyle as a shinobi and the subsequent loneliness would come in handy? Literally. Jerking off was easy enough. However, what he hadn’t expected with the quivering of her inner walls.
Madara practically had to crawl out of her, his feet were so slippery with her secretions. His long hair was plastered against his head and back as he stumbled outside of her body, falling to his knees in exhaustion.
Then the very stone beneath him began to rumble and with his heart pounding, he witnessed the behemoth begin to shrink.
Crouching before him, one gentle hand upon his shoulder and the other brushing back his hair from his forehead was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Her hair was long and pale, her eyes glowed a bright jade in the darkness. Her face was lovely now that he could appreciate it in its entirety - high cheekbones, piercing eyes, full lips, and amber jewels embedded in the center of her forehead like those worn by the married women of Kumo. The snake lower torso had split into a pair of legs covered in crimson scales like a pair of skin-tight pants. Her breasts were free and he couldn’t help but stare down at the soft, rounded flesh with the rosy tips. He knew they would fit perfectly in his palms, but he bit his lower lip, thinking how he'd like to take them in his mouth and suckle.
“I would have been a little more enthusiastic, if you’d looked like this,” Madara murmured.
She laughed, that familiar chuckle but softer now. “You were enthusiastic enough.” She cradled his face and brushed her lips against his.
When she pulled back, Madara felt dazed. “Do you have a name?”
“You may call me Sakura,” she answered, smiling softly. “Would you like to try to copulate again with this form?” She closed her eyes briefly, seeming to sway slightly. “I would not mind. It has been so long since anyone has come to see me.”
Madara felt his lips twitch. Having sex with a beautiful, magical woman that was going to save his brother’s life? “I believe I would enjoy it.”
He bent at the waist and slid one arm under her knees and the other behind her back. She laughed breathlessly at the sudden movement and he ducked his head to latch his mouth over that tantalizing breast. As he swirled his tongue around the nipple, her hands became tangled in his hair as she arched against him. Madara released her breast with a wet pop and grinned down at her flushed face.
He was definitely going to enjoy this time around.
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OoO
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Sakura
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She could feel the magic working within her body. Her muscles were deliciously loose. For a human, Madara was a large man with a solid muscular build, but his hands while calloused and strong — were soft and gentle upon her body.
Sakura would not regret her decision to help this mortal, even if the cost was rather high. It had become clear that Madara had experienced precious little joy in his life. She found herself moved to help ease his burdens just a bit more — find a way to help him be strong enough to handle life’s tribulations. She had a little more magic to offer.
Madara drew Sakura close against him in a crushing embrace. Sakura brought the sharp nails of her index fingers against the pads of her thumbs. Once a bead of blood formed over each thumb she rubbed it over Madara’s closed eyelids.
“What?” Madara’s eyes fluttered open. The brilliant crimson irises faded into pale lavender. “What did you do?” Madara whispered, staring at her as if truly seeing her for the first time.
“The first coupling was to save your brother. This one, was to save you,” Sakura whispered. This man would live longer than most mortals. The consequential toll on herself, would be great. Sakura accepted the debt. She couldn’t help but be drawn to this Madara. Her desire to help him was greater than her own desire to live..
Sakura indicated for him to bathe in the nearby stream. Her lower body released the humanoid legs and shifted back into her snake lower torso. In her diminutive form, she slithered to her nest to create the coveted elixir.
Snakes were an interesting species. Most laid eggs and others gave live birth. Sakura had not laid an egg in nearly three centuries, back when the last of the ancient male nagas abandoned the mortal plane for their home dimension. At the time of the mass exodus, she hadn’t quite understood her resistance to leave the human world. Though now, perhaps she’d finally understood.
An egg with a pale green shell with purple markings appeared. Sakura hugged it for a moment and then carried it towards the dripping wet Madara where he stood by the underground stream wringing his long hair out. His clothes remained stretched out on the stone floor, almost completely dried, but he stood as naked as her- the V of his abdominals drawing her attention down to his manhood. He's been right in that their second copulation had been far more satisfying than the first. It had felt deliciously novel to be cradled against this human's solid frame with his cock stuffed deep inside her core.
Sakura held the egg out towards him. “Your brother must eat the yolk and his life will be spared and his body will be healed.”
Madara took the egg and studied it. He looked down into her eyes. “Is this—was this —did we make this?”
Sakura nodded. “Yes, left here it would one day develop into a naga-human hybrid. To save your brother’s life, he must consume your potential child.” She tilted her head again. “This also means you will not have any children of your own in this life, because you will be sacrificing your fertility.”
Madara stared down at the egg and then at Sakura. She flicked the end of her long serpentine tail impatiently.
“To save my brother, I must sacrifice my child?” Madara asked, his voice cracking with emotion.
She had not expected him to be so sentimental. She almost smiled. “Such is the price of denying Death its payment.”
He placed the egg within some sort of magical scroll and tucked it inside the pack he’d carried. He began to dress in silence, his thoughts his own. “What about you? Will you be okay?” He finished securing his shirt and then slipped his pack over his shoulders. His lavender eyes piercing in their attention to her. He pursed his lips together into a thin line and she could almost read his mind — he’d wanted to offer her a place with him.
It was a foolish thought of course. Naga and humans could not live together.
“I will die of course,” Sakura answered matter of fact.
“No,” Madara whispered, his face ashen. “The cost was supposed to be mine.”
“Your concern is touching,” Sakura murmured, gently carding her fingers through that wild mane of raven hair. “It’s far too late for that.”
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“Why did you do it?” Orochimaru asked. He gestured towards the tunnels that led to the surface. “Now you will wither and die. The human’s brother would only last a few decades at most.”
Sakura continued through the tunnels, shrinking down until she was in her snake form, feeling the hardened earth beneath her belly as she slithered towards the sunlight. She laid down on the warm sunning rock not far from the cave’s entrance. The all purpose elixir was powerful, but the cost was the naga’s own immortality.
However, by creating it using the human’s DNA, Sakura had tied her own future to the spirit of that mortal. Death was only appeased by very expensive bribes.
She would be reborn — one day — maybe a hundred years from now — but as a tiny mortal. And her spirit would be bound to that of Madara’s. In spite of the sun’s warmth, Sakura could still feel the chill within her body as she slowly lost the magic that made her immortal. She might have years, or maybe days.
It didn’t matter. She smiled as she started to fall asleep in the comfort of the sun’s warmth. In spite of centuries living deep within the earth’s mantle, she finally felt a connection to this plane of existence.
What would life be like as a mortal?
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One Hundred Years Later….
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Sakura crouched on her haunches to pick up the small garter snake that had slithered into the family garden. Her partner would freak out if he knew it had come so close to his precious tomatoes. She wasn’t sure why their family seemed to have a connection with snakes. Sure, her husband had trained at Ryuchi cave in his youth, an impressive feat, though not nearly as impressive as her own training at Shikkotsu forest.
She allowed the snake to curl into the crook of her arm and smiled while she stroked the back of its head. It was probably the early morning light playing tricks on her, but she could almost detect a pink diamond pattern to its scales. There was no such snake species with such a pattern though.
Then, as if sensing the snake’s wayward adventure, another snake lurked near the garden’s edge. This one was such a dark black, it’s scales almost appeared violet.
Sakura set the snake down close to the garden’s edge and it darted immediately towards the other. Side by side, the two serpents vanished into the thick forest that bordered the village.
“Everything okay, Sakura?”
She stood, brushing her hands over the knees of her leggings and turned towards her husband. He had a bag over his shoulder, ready to go on another mission no doubt. He’d grown his hair out over the years, but still, it seemed too short for her liking, but he complained that his hair was a thick, unruly mess of tangles.
“You’re leaving,” she commented.
He dropped the bag with a thud onto the ground. He held out his arms towards her in invitation. “Just for a couple of days, then I’m taking the next month off. You’re welcome to come with me. Your skills of healing are always more appreciated by the villages we service than my fighting skills.”
Sakura stepped into his arms and appreciated his natural smoky, woodsy scent. “I’ll need an hour to prepare.”
“I’ll wait.”
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FIN