Work Text
Zetsu was born unlike his brothers.When Hagoromo was born, Kaguya and her lover wept with joy, wrapped him in satin and knotweed and swaddled him tightly to their bodies at day. One day, he would be king of the Sun, glowing and glistening and too bright for everyone’s own good.When Hamura was born, Kaguya and her lover shouted with exaltation, wrapped him in silks of the richest cream and honeysuckle and hugged him dearly in the night. One day, he would succeed his mother and be king of the Moon, always watching with patience and forlorning.And Zetsu…Zetsu was born unlike his brothers, kings of Sun and Moon.While Hagoromo and Hamura were draped in garbs of wealth and fed beautiful berries, Zetsu was a black sludge, unable to stay formed to his mother’s hands. He slipped and slid, dripped through her fingers like a poison for six days and seven nights. A sort of evil, their village warned, something born from the womb's inner, dark thoughts.On the seventh day, Zetsu took the form of a blade of grass, thin and light enough to be rolled between the thumb and forefinger. And Kaguya stretched him, warped and twisted her newest offspring into the shape of a man, tall and strong as three combined. A jet-black figure with no face, no teeth and mouth. Only eyes of stoney yellow and a voice like gravel.“My darling son,” Kaguya would coo, both Hagoromo and Hamura still crying in their cradles, “You are not what they say you to be.”And Zetsu always replied, “Yes, mother.”And she sat with her children and her lover, their low table filled with bread and fruits offered as gifts from the humans they had taken refuge with. Zetsu could care less—rotten meet was the only thing he seemed to enjoy feeding on.“Rabbit Goddess,” Tenji loved calling her that, “Shall we see visitors today?”Tenji was this land’s ruler, Zetsu had come to learn. And his mother was—what was it called? A concubine? Hagoromo and Hamura didn’t seem to mind, but the title bothered Zetsu. The only one who could claim ownership over should be her children.
‘She’s ours, mine.’
Kaguya smiled, teeth trimmed with jewels and gold; she kissed his cheek and linger to whisper something into his ear, the mighty emperor turning a feverish red as he brought his eyes low to the ground in submission.“Why do you call her that?” Zetsu asked.“It’s what the villagers call her,” Hamura was quick to reply, face smug with knowledge, “She has given the humans peace, ended all wars. She is swift as a hare and gentle with her guidance.”“Kiss-ass,” Hagoromo snickered.His brother flicked a hand at his shoulder, the two grumbling to each other for a beat. They were what, a decade old now? Zetsu’s bothers looked like human children, small and sweet while he himself was gangly. Devilish. Like a freak with no features, only eyes to watch and judge.Kaguya smiled, “My sons, there is no need to bicker; I am these people’s savoir, Zetsu. Do you see it? With my words, I bring stability. With my fingers, I bring peace. With my love for this planet and the way it gives back, I have brought an end to war. My powers define me as a goddess, something you will all inherit.”“What will I inherit, Rabbit Goddess?”They stared at Zetsu, the twinge of discomfort in Tenji’s eyes not going unnoticed.Kaguya opened her mouth, revealing gold rods pierced delicately through her tongue, but no words came out, no saving grace nor psalms of patience. She was at a loss for words, left in embarrassed disbelief. Because Zetsu knew damn well what her answer already would be.“Well, nothing, my dear. At least, not yet.”She had given one son the moon and the other the great boiling sun in the sky and had left him nothing, save for the ground where he stood upon.“Perhaps you can leave me the Earth,” Zetsu mused, “When you go, who will protect the ground? Who will protect the waters and the plants and animals? Who will protect the grass?”“What makes you think your mother will be leaving so soon?” Tenji sneered.Zetsu shrugged, eyes boring into his skull, “Nobody can take power for forever.”Hagoromo and Hamura exchanged a quick glance, voicing an opinion that Zetsu really didn’t care to interpret.‘I don’t believe I’ve liked either of you, anyways.’ He reasoned.Bells chimed, echoing through the emperor’s dining room and shaking the walls. With a clap of delight, Tenji rose and offered his hand to the undisputed Queen.“It is time for service, Kaguya.”The Rabbit Goddess’ eyes twinkled with delight; Zetsu tried to roll his eyes. They were all playing pretend. He was never allowed to attend, but Zetsu had learned to watch without be noticed—he could see everything, melt into the shadows and the very pores of the soil to keep his eyes peeled. He could take refuge in the plants and hide behind trees better than any human ever could.What scared people most was that Zetsu saw everything.“Hagoromo, Hamura, please wear your robes for Ordinary Time,” Kaguya instructed, rising before the others, “We have a few testaments to get through and I want you both to be my Witnesses to Write this morning.”“And what of me?” Zetsu asked but already knew her answer.Kaguya’s dazzling smile faltered, eyes sinking, “My darling grassroot, I want you to watch from the crevices of the balcony. Enjoy the sunshine and the plants and insects up there.”So it was written, so it was said.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
A decade or two passed and the heirs to Kaguya’s conquest grew into powerful men: Hagoromo controlled the light and all things visible, his prowess and chakra capacities exceeding even his mother’s. He became a symbol of peace and protection, the villagers fawning over his need to mingle with mere mortals. People still disappeared, but there was less fretting over it now.Hamura, too, grew into the immense role he soon would fill—beautiful and reserved, he controls the night sky, ensured the diligence and safety of all things in the darkness. He became his brother’s closest confidant, a man of great patience as well as unbridled optimism. One would dare say his compassion outweighed his mother’s for their human followers. Of course, he also became a symbol of peace, standing side by side with Hagoromo as the future of the earth.But Zetsu understood little of their temporary peace; Kaguya had offered him something far greater as an heirloom. She took him one night when Tenji was asleep and his brothers were away, the two of them slipping down, down, down into the underground world. They arrived at a massive cavern, taller than any cave Zetsu has climbed into before.“Where are we?” He asked.“This, my pet,” Kaguya swept her arms out to their expanse, “Is a gift to you and only you.”Peering closer, squinting harder, Zetsu could make out bodies—hundreds of them all deathly white with tuffs of green moss and mold growing on the crevices of their skin. Zetsu’s stomach gurgled.“Food?”“No, an army.”The more he stared, the more Zetsu realized that these bodies weren’t dead at all, but alive. Really alive! A soft, eerie rhythm worked through these fleshy cocoons, shaking, and swaying them gently from the great big roots they were clinging to. Every once in a while, a ripple in the pattern was formed—cocooned bodies dropped, the ones crumpled on the ground covered in black sludge and the drone of carrion beetles. Zetsu felt his mother’s eyes on his skin.“Some don’t always survive,” She explained casually, “I promise you, though, they are all living better lives tucked away. The real world is far more deadly than we choose to believe.”“Why do I get this?” Zetsu asked, unsure of the proper response, “Why am I to receive this instead of what the others will be given by you?”He hadn’t meant to sound grateful, but Kaguya’s patient face shattered into something far more twisted. Like a trapped animal.“Because you will protect me when my family comes to take me away.” She whispered.“Family?” Zetsu thought he should laugh, “I am family to you. My brothers and I would never take you away. Who are they?”“My family lives up in the stars, my sweet,” Kaguya continued, “And they will one day surely grow jealous of all the gifts I have down here with you. You must…protect me from them. Make sure they never, ever set foot in our village land.”
‘Protect? You…you trust me to protect you? Me?’
“Who are they?” Zetsu repeated.“Aliens from above.”
‘Aliens from above?’
Then Kaguya cupped Zetsu’s face, ivory hair whirling in a fan as her fingers seemed to sink into his skin.“Protect me from them, my son,” She demanded, “When they return from the stars, protect me and keep me safe.”Zetsu felt his insides roll and squirm…he had never been called son before…“Through Hell or high water,” His mother was still going, sounding strangely desperate, “They do not like the choices I’ve made. They do not like that I have sons amongst the humans, made love and it my home. They do not like that I have become a God.”He had been waiting for this moment all his life, to be given something real, to be taken seriously and share in his brothers’ gifts. His mother believed that only he could protect her! That Zetsu could lead an army for her in her name. And so, he promised in the dark of the cave where little light touched the Great Tree’s roots to do just that.****But time kept going and no invaders came; instead, the village which had worshipped the Rabbit Goddess grew sour, a divide between Tenji and Kaguya apparent amongst their children; the emperor believed that his lover had grown too influential for their own good, while Kaguya found him to be weak-willed in the expansion of his empire. War was coming and Hagoromo and Haruma already were siding with the humans…so it made all the sense that Zetsu would side with Kaguya—somebody had to protect her, right?There soon became only one solution that was clear to Zetsu: if Tenji and his village were the root of the problem, then, perhaps they were the ones Zetsu should be worried about.
‘She promised me to protect her…I am a son of hers just as they are…’
One night, while his brothers and mother were asleep, Zetsu followed Tenji to the altar, unnoticed and unheard. On his knees the man fell, Zetsu aghast at the pleas he spoke.“Please, Gods of the stars and skies, teach my queen humility. As creatures of the Earth, we are too fragile for wars like the ones she is accustomed to. We will perish and she will have no one left to govern or love! Please, teach my Kaguya some shame, or punish her for her misgivings. She doesn't know better.”Zetsu’s heart dropped, ‘Star gods…aliens from above…you cannot punish her! You cannot take my mother away!'He dropped down from his hiding spot in the balcony, a mouthess shadow with teeth sharp enough to puncture stone. Tenji never saw him coming.“Please,” He was still sobbing into the alter, “please, I cannot lose her to such power and conquest! My village wants her dead! Please, please—ack!”Zetsu rose behind him, long arms engulfing his father in a death-like embrace; Teni struggled and kicked biting the hand that covered his mouth. But Zetsu was not a creature of pain and the teeth slid off his skin like silk.Slowly, he forced his fist into Tenji’s mouth, feeling the sensation of snot and saliva and tears run down his wrist. In a steady grip, he tore the man’s tongue from his head, the yank splattering blood and gunk all over the pristine floors. His body still writhing, Zetsu grabbed Tenji by the neck, slowly squeezing, staring his father dead in the eye and not uttering a sound.
Snap!
“Do not think you can send my mother away.”***They found him eating the corpse at the altar, teeth yellowed from flesh, bits of bone and skin caught between them. And Zetsu had never seen his mother so angry before.“Oh, oh my lover!” She wailed, eyes blazed with rage, “How dare you soil his remains! Demon, devil-child! I should have known you to be a curse the moment you crawled out of my womb!”Before Zetsu could speak, the ground rumbled beneath them, cracks splintering the surface and shaking Hagoromo and Hamura to their knees. Zetsu clung the earth, the three of them watch Kaguya’s hair whirl and twirl as the third eye in her skull exploded open.“How dare you touch what is mine!” She shrieked.“He wanted them to take you away,” Zetsu pleaded, “He wanted you gone!”“We cannot let you destroy this world!” Hagoromo yelled over the din, “These humans protected us, gave us their homes! But you are growing too ambitious for your own good. This ends now, or we will seal you away until you can come to terms with the war you are bring into these people.”Zetsu was appalled the conversation suspended in the air, “You knew?”“We could never share with you our plan,” Hamura continued, him and his brother rising to stand their ground, “You are nothing compared to us.”
‘But…but she called me her son too!’
Kaguya sank back down, seemingly touched by the fraught look in her bastard-son’s eyes, kneeling and clutching his face, nails puncturing the blackness like daggers on Zetsu’s cheeks.“My devil-son, can you not protect me now? Cannot you see that I am in agony? Even my lover, my sons have betrayed me, but not you! Not you…” Her gripped was becoming very, very tight, “Never you…please, help me one last time—”
RRRRRRIP!
Her hands were through his torso, but Zetsu didn’t seemed phased; he was too busy staring at the hole in Kaguya’s skull, where bits of pink and blue flesh fleck all that beautiful white hair. Hagoromo had burned out her third eye.“You…you killed her,” Zetsu sputtered, the weight of her body terrifying.“And she was ready to kill you too,” His eldest brother said coldly, “She could not be stopped and you would have had your head ripped from your shoulders. But change is necessary—the humans cannot survive with our interferences any longer. You have one choice: flee and hide in the shadows forever or come with us to the stars.”
‘Aliens in the stars…they take your mother…’
“No,” Zetsu’s voice was like gravel, “I…I am nothing like you. I am no sky God, no deity. You killed our mother!”“And she was ready to kill you! All of us!” Hamura snapped.“Sink away, then,” Hagoromo said, “Never return.”And Zetsu did; he seeped in the cracks, disappearing from the light. Because little did they all know, he would had company down below. And plenty, plenty of food.
‘I am no son, no son at all.’
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It had not taken Zetsu long to slither his way into the cave the Uchiha clan’s forefather, a withered old prick with a bone to pick and his body hooked up to wires. He was a babbling fool, droning on about the vengeance he would take and the peace he would restore; he talked of resign from the grave and seeing his clan flourish.All an illusion, Zetsu believed. It was all too easy to trick the man, make him believe that in exchange for a taste of the Infinite Tsukuyomi that Madara Uchiha would have an army—his army—at the disposal of his heir. A cheap trick, Zetsu worming his words of revenge and bloodlust into Madara’s failing brain, planting a seed of his own vengeance someday.The boy Madara had chosen wasn’t the best, in Zetsu’s opinion. He was quick to anger, even easier to embarrass and make feel small. Weak. He was too young and brash to ever learn the patience of long-term goals such as his own. But damn was he powerful; so much so that now they stood on a cliff, chaos unfolding in the depths of a Amegakure. Zetsu tsked at the scene around them, “Is this all really worth it?”Obito was only thirteen…shouldn’t there be more to his life? Shouldn’t he have a chance to change his mind?“Of course, it is,” He said, “That girl…if she lives, she’ll show Nagato just how much of their dream was only ideals. Yahiko could never lead them and the Rinnegan is too weak-willed, too easily persuaded.”Zetsu nodded; disagreement was useless. They were watching this young man destroy the cavern, the very cliff they stood upon shaking and swaying. But Zetsu had promised they were out of sight. That he had hidden this Uchiha protégé safely. Madara would die well and good before they could ever get the real work started.
‘I killed--They killed my mother—can this all really bring her back?’
But Zetsu hadn’t crawled in the dirt for almost a thousand years for nothing.They continued to watch Nagato rampage against Hanzo’s forces, watching men thrown in the air and burned alive where they stood. As always, the moon, had a lovely way of pulling Zetsu, making him sway and bob as he watched for her eyes. Always so lovely, the people of the moon were. Lovely like his mother, how she bathed him in moonlight every night, prayed the sun away.But all these pawns were meaningless. All this fighting had really been for naught; Obito had been clever worming his way into the Hidden Rain’s affairs, and he would be clever in worming his way—their way—into the Akatsuki.All was going swimmingly, Zetsu realized. Him and Obito had orchestrated the invitations towards new members, men who cared little for change and wanted an excuse to take out all their issues on nameless faces. Men that could be easily persuaded to lay their lives down on a whim.“Hatred is born from love,” Obito was droning, “Hatred is bred by wanting to protect others. In this world there can never be true peace. So, it is written, so it is spoken.”“It can never be wise to play God, Obito,” Zetsu warned.But his newest pawn only flashed his teeth.“Just watch me.”That girl was screaming and the Rinnegan user was hollering, but while Obito continued his slogan of peace and hatred and war and suffering, Zetsu saw only the way Hanzo was holding the young man with the orange hair. Yahiko, was it? Aliens never cared for their prey’s names.Hanzo was holding him too gently, as if he was still alive.“Oh dear…” Zetsu murmured.The Ten Tails had now emerged and the woman with angel wings was thrown off, but Zetsu knew she was alive. Women are so much tougher than they were given credit. His mother was Queen, once. Queen of the sun and the moon.Zetsu looked to the cloudless earth and sighed.
‘The sky doesn’t care what my poor heart wants, and the desert can’t hear my cries. The moon doesn’t mind that she left me all alone and she’s gone. So, so gone.’
They’d all die, this new Akatsuki. And Obito would never achieve his outlandish goals. Because people like them never really got what they wanted, did they?“Yahiko lives,” He heard Obito whistle.Zetsu looked perplexed, “Does that put a wrench in our plan?”“Not quite,” They were watching the woman, Konan, how she clung to Nagato, “She’ll be useful instead. In fact, there’s never been a better change of things for us.”“How so?”“Women have a particularly nasty sense of vengeance.”