"There is no lie that will remain to be hidden forever."

<>

"What in the hell are you doing back here?" Madara asked, his eye narrowing even more, if possible. Everyone became quiet. Sasuke was taking in his ancestor, drinking the view of the old man. The last time he'd seen Madara, he'd been in the prime of his youth, the enhancements from Kabuto only enhancing the Uchiha's incredible abilities. He and Hashirama had made peace before he died for good, Sasuke thought, even though he hadn't been there to witness it. He didn't know how he knew. 

This Madara looked a bit different than that one had. This one had one tired eye, Sharingan activated. That eye was not Madara's, Sasuke knew. It was probably one from the stockpile of eyes Madara always seemed to have. After all, his real eyes had been given to Nagato in Amegakure. This was only further proof that at least in this respect, things were going the same way.

Obito barely looked at Madara, before turned around and walked right out of the room. Sasuke bit his lip to avoid smirking, because this was the greatest disrespect. Obito hadn't even addressed the elder in the room- he'd barely looked his way. Madara bristled, his entire body tensing. Kakashi looked at Sasuke, then followed his friend. Naruto growled at Madara threateningly, and left the room the way he came in, knowing that Sasuke would want to talk to Madara alone. There was no one left in the room, and finally Madara turned back to the last person. If Madara was surprised about his former student leaving him with a child, he didn't show it.

Sasuke stared at his ancestor silently, and the man stared back. They looked at each other in silence for a moment, before Sasuke walked closer to Madara. His hands were crossed behind his back, and he wandered over, seemingly curiously. "You've been causing a lot of trouble, old man."

He was standing right in front of Madara. Madara leaned back, putting his wrinkly hands on his the fabric over his knees. "Do I know you?" He drawled, looking at Sasuke through bored, liddled eyes.

"Ah, yes, how rude of me." Sasuke said, sarcasm slipping through. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke, son of Uchiha Fugaku, current leader of the Uchiha clan." Sasuke leaned forward, making sure he had all of Madara's attention. His face was inches from Madara's own. "You, are Madara Uchiha." Sasuke said, leaning back. "And you have a lot to answer for."

"Obito told on me?" Madara asked, his great voice rumbling even with his old age.

"Obito said nothing about who you were, I knew by my power and my power alone." Sasuke corrected, backing away so he could lean against the wall casually. Madara was different this time, and something was making Sasuke extremely unsettled on how easy this was. "As I said, there are things you must answer for. You have a plan. You needed someone to put it in motion for you, so you chose Obito." Sasuke stated. The only way one could talk to an Uchiha male was becoming important. They didn't care about you or your problems unless they directly affected them in some way. Leverage was key. Uchiha were dominant creatures in Madara's time. It was their way, or the highway. They were in the business of purposely underestimating people, then being strong enough to handle themselves when it came back to bite them in the behind. Sasuke needed to play to that if he was going to talk to Madara.

Madara sat back in his bed, leaning against the wall. "Is there a question in there somewhere or...?" He deadpanned. Sasuke's gut lurched. Is this an impostor?

"No questions yet, for now just explanations. I do have quite a few questions, but those will be addressed later." Sasuke scoffed a little, shaking his head. The idea that for once he knew better than a grown up was entertaining to him. "We have a bit of time." He continued, eyeing Madara curiously. The old man was really just sitting there. This was not characteristic of him at all.

"Alright, boy, let's cut to the chase." Madara crossed his arms over his stomach, laying back against the wall his bed was pressed against. "You are aware of my plan, that much I can see. What I want to know is how do you know about that in the first place? You're just a brat. What are you, ten?"

"Nine."

"Lovely. I want to know how you know." Madara said. Obviously he didn't care one bit about Sasuke's age. Sasuke was confused, and his mouth dropped a little bit.

The Madara he'd met so long ago had been all business. Absolutely full of hatred and killing intent, ridiculously deceived. He would've already tried to kill them, like, five times by now. But this Madara seemed more... chill. Still uptight, but a bit more relaxed than he would've been normally. Different. It was weirding Sasuke out. Madara was sarcastic. It was interesting. Like Madara knew that he couldn't do anything to Sasuke because of old age, and he was so bitter he wanted to destroy Sasuke but could only do so with sarcasm and insults. Now that he thought about it, Sasuke realized that he was so happy he wasn't Madara right now... he'd probably been sitting here, alone, for years. Still, this behavior was entirely unprecedented. Perhaps they'd somehow changed things in Madara's timeline as well?

No, impossible. I would've remembered being reborn there, I think.

"How did I do it?" Sasuke asked, getting back to the task at hand. "It's really not an easy answer. A summary is one that I can show you, but that's it." Sasuke dropped the genjutsu and turned on his dōjutsu. The Rinnegan and Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan appeared in his eyes, and he felt his chakra hitch a bit.

Madara, who hadn't previously seemed surprised about anything, leaned forward. "Impressive, kid. Very impressive."

"As you can see, I am a bit of a prodigy." Sasuke said, thinking about it. Even Madara hadn't gotten his Rinnegan at the age Sasuke did. Though he did achieve the Mangekyo quickly. And in skills, Madara had been previously unmatched. Now, Sasuke was sure he could take this pathetic old man out no sweat. But if he was restored to the way he was during the war, with all of  Kabuto's... enhancements on his dead ancestor, there would be a bit of a fight. "A prodigy," he repeated.

Madara threw his head back and laughed. "That's what happens when you give youth power. I don't think you understand, child," Madara suddenly became very serious. This time it was his turn to lean forward towards Sasuke. "With those eyes, you have been given the power of a God. Prodigy? No. A God."

Sasuke pretended to be thoughtful. This, at least, reminded him of the old Madara. "I prefer the term prodigy, if you will."

"Where did you even get that?" Madara asked. "Did someone give it to you? Someone must've, because to earn that you'd need both mine and Hashirama's chakra, and you have neither."

Sasuke chuckled a little. "Oh, ancestor, you have much to learn. And I'm here to enlighten you. That is not the only way to attain the Rinnegan." Sasuke knew Madara was slighted by the implication that he was a fool, and watched as the older man narrowed his eyes.

"There is one more. It would have had to have been given to you by the Sage of the Six Paths himself." Madara scoffed, looking at Sasuke, as if daring him to say he was wrong. Madara shrugged his shoulders. "Which is impossible, as he is dead. Long dead. If he was ever alive in the first place."

Sasuke decided not to answer that. "Getting into the real reason why I'm here. You've been lied to." Sasuke tapped his foot on the floor a few times, thinking about how to word his explanation in a way this senile old man would understand. "Tricked. Duped. Used, you could say. You thought you were the one in charge, pulling the strings, I'm sure, but you aren't, and that's the truth." He snorted a little bit. I sound like the dobe.

Madara looked interested, though not necessarily in the positive way. He seemed mildly offended that a nine year old would come here and disrespect him- as if he was unsure whether or not to care about the insult. "Do explain."

"Your friend Black Zetsu." Sasuke watched Madara's eyes narrow. 'How do you know about him?' He'd say. But Sasuke wouldn't go into detail, and Madara wouldn't know. "He told you things, many a year ago. You don't know what I mean, so let me enlighten you." Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan began to glow, and he put them both into a genjutsu. He was nowhere near as skilled at it as his brother or Shisui was, but he could form a basic one that got the point across. Genjutsu wasn't really his area of expertise, but he did know how to use it.

Sasuke pulled Madara's memories from his head in an effective genjutsu that Kakashi had said Itachi taught him when they worked together in the ANBU in their first life. Sasuke watched Madara find the shrine and read from it, then Sasuke turned on his Rinnegan and pulled the power from the genjutsu shrine. He froze the moment, focusing in on the shrine. Madara, now back in the prime of his youth, stood next to him with his arms crossed. If he was irked about Sasuke digging through his memories, he certainly didn't show it.

"Keihatsu." Sasuke said, and suddenly they were shown a close up vision of the Shrine, but it looked a bit different than before. "This is a couple hundred years before you, Lord Madara," Sasuke said, and the genjutsu zoomed in on the Shrine. Both activated their jutsu and Sasuke read aloud for both of them since Madara's Eternal Mangekyo currently wasn't there. Madara read what he could with the Sharingan he had, but only Sasuke could see the full message. "There are a ton of clan secrets here, but there is something I think you need to see." He pointed to a specific part. "Can you read this?"

"Only the secrets of the Mangekyo Sharingan part. Instructions on how to obtain it, how to use it to control the tailed beasts, and such." Madara, who was young in this genjutsu by Sasuke's doing, leaned forward and read off the stone. He leaned back a bit. "Nothing I haven't seen before."

"I'm sure." Sasuke said. He pointed at a specific part near the end. "My lord, this is the story of Otsutsuki Kaguya." He read the story word for word, beginning with Kaguya defending the tree, and all the way down to the princes- Otsutsuki Indra and his brother Asura. Madara listened intently, Sasuke couldn't tell if he had already known this information. Then, after Sasuke explained to Madara the creation of Black Zetsu and where he came in, he showed Madara another part of the stone. His genjutsu translated the stone for Madara so that he could see that he was telling the truth. Madara scanned it, going through it all, and didn't find anything in there about the Infinite Tsukuyomi being the savior of the Uchiha Clan. 

Madara stood up from his crouch near the shrine and looked at Sasuke seriously. "Is your genjutsu accurate?"

"My lord, this is the original, unedited by Black Zetsu." Sasuke said, bowing his head to Madara. Sasuke appeared in his twenty two year old form in his genjutsu, and was surprised that Madara hadn't asked him about it.

"How do you know?" Madara asked skeptically, narrowing his eyes at the younger man. Sasuke was only around two years younger in this genjutsu, being in what he imagined his body would look like.

"Because I wrote it." Sasuke didn't know what happened in that moment, but he knew it was Hagoromo Otsutsuki's voice echoing through the genjutsu. He wasn't sure how it happened, perhaps it was the Sage's chakra inside him echoing his will, or perhaps a part of him was attached to the shrine. Or maybe he was making a special appearance here as well, like he did in the past.

Madara looked around warily for the owner of that voice, but found no one. He looked at Sasuke. "Is this your doing?" Sasuke looked at him with widened eyes and shook his head. It truly wasn't him this time.

"My son, come home. Asura awaits."

Madara simply looked for the voice again, saying nothing. Sasuke knew exactly how his ancestor was feeling, it had felt this way when he saw the Sage for the first time. As if that man truly was his father. Maybe it was the Indra in his blood peeking through. If the Sage was talking to Madara, as Sasuke was sure he was, then by Asura he was most likely referring to Hashirama. That reminded Sasuke of the other question he had.

"My lord, if I may," Sasuke spoke up, and Madara turned to him. "You were lied to. Deceived. No one holds it against you. Do you understand me? You can... stop this, now. You can go home."

Madara was silent for a few moments more. "Why do you think the way you do?" He asked Sasuke, standing in front of him. The venom in his voice as he talked was obvious. So many pent up years of bitterness were probably coming out. "You have so much hope for humanity. All they will do is destroy themselves. You don't owe them anything."

"I have a theory." Sasuke told his ancestor, trying to figure out how to word this. "Humans won't destroy each other, they will be destroyed by irresponsible leadership. And if you go through with the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan, you will be sentencing them to death with no hope of return. You will have killed them, bringing out a monster that not even yourself can contain. Sure, I owe them nothing, but if some- pardon my language- fucker destroys the planet and I happen to be one of the damn beings living on it-"

"I see." Madara rumbled, turning around. His hands locked behind his back as he paced to the original shrine again, rereading the translation. "Boy," he said, turning around. "How do you know that much? What will happen if I continue with the Eye of the Moon plan?"

"With all due respect, sir, you will have killed yourself and everyone with you. Failure is heavy. Especially after you've died before you can protect everyone. I know because I've been dead before."

"Ah, you're from the future." Madara said, finally understanding. "This is your true form, then, I suppose?" He asked, finally addressing Sasuke's change. "How far?" He asked, referring to how far he had come from in the future.

"Far enough to know what happens if you do this. Your actions killed my family." Sasuke said, swallowing back bitterness. He'd thought he was over it by now- after all, he still had his family in this timeline- but he supposed that getting them back didn't completely cover the trauma of losing them in the first place, though it was a pretty effective band aid.

Madara looked at Sasuke curiously. "Then why are you here? Why are you trying to help me? Shouldn't you want revenge?"

Sasuke avoided his ancestor's prying eye, bringing his hand up to his mouth. He rubbed it, wondering what to say. "I figured you deserved to at least know the truth. You ruined my life. I wanted to make sure you didn't ruin yours." He inhaled sharply, exhaling slowly, before continuing. "I spent most of my past life chasing revenge, hating everything and everyone who ever loved me. Believe me when I say, it isn't worth it."

Madara was quiet, looking at Sasuke in what appeared to be either awe or horror. Then, confusion. For a moment, Sasuke was worried the memories of Madara's past life were catching up with him. "Izuna." He said, and Sasuke had to look at him then.

"Indra." He corrected. "I am the second in the identified line of Indra reincarnates. I know I look like your brother, but technically," he lowered his voice as if to break the news to him gently. "I'm you."

They spent some more moments in silence, Sasuke watched Madara ponder everything he had just been told, his brilliant mind working out all the snags. Finally, Sasuke thought, Madara would finally be able to stop for a moment. Maybe rethink himself. Sasuke tried hard to ignore how easy this was turning out to be. Too easy, maybe.

Sasuke frowned. His hold on the genjutsu was weakening a bit. Madara must not be doing very well outside the genjutsu. Something inside him confirmed his suspicion. Madara is going to die soon.

He sighed a bit, crossing his arms. What a pity. A genuine shame that his life was to be wasted like this.

"Did you kill Hashirama?" Sasuke asked, trying to keep the conversation going. It was like a dying fire in the fireplace. Sometimes it could be coerced into a burst of flames, but when it died out, it was gone until someone lit another one.

Madara shook his head. "Why would I kill the person that helped me?" He asked, sighing sadly. He appeared to be back to normal, and Sasuke could still feel his life force. He was trying. There was the famed strength of Madara Uchiha. 

Sasuke was shocked. He hadn't even entertained the idea that this lifetime might be different than the last one without any editing done by Team Seven. "What?"

"Hashirama was my best friend. Or, so he said. When I showed him the truth- or what I thought it was, he spent a long, long time trying to convince me I was wrong. However, I was adamant that this was the only way. We did fight, but Hashirama decided to have mercy on me instead of killing me." Sasuke narrowed his eyes. How did Madara know he'd be killed? There was no time to think on it, though, because Madara continued. "He still thought he could change me. He agreed to help me fake my death, and supplied me with what I needed to survive, but nothing else. He visited me at least once every week, trying his best to convince me I was wrong, still, but I didn't relent. I did, however, swear to do no harm to anyone innocent while I lived. I did this because I owed him. I found a loophole that would still allow me to fulfill my plan. My original plan, as you undoubtedly know, was to be brought back by my student, so technically I was fulfilling my promise. I no longer tried to kill Hashirama, I had given up on that, and even in my deceived mind it could still register that he was no threat and he only wanted to take care of me. We were still friends when I discovered he died. I tried and tried and tried to find his killer, but I never did. I still hunger for revenge from whoever they are." Madara said, exhaling from all the talking. This genjutsu was taking a toll on him.

Sasuke didn't notice, however, completely in shock. It's all different now... we can stop certain things, but in reality we have no idea what is coming up. That's... unnerving.

"I did get the Rinnegan by taking some of his DNA, but I only allowed it to manifest after he died. By then, I had become too weak to wield it, so I gave it to a child in Ame."

Nagato Uzumaki still has it... that's a relief, we don't have to worry about tracking it down anymore. But... if Madara didn't kill Hashirama, who did? His story turned out admittedly better, because at least he didn't hate Hashirama, and Hashirama didn't have to live with the guilt of killing his best friend.

"Who is your successor, Madara?" Sasuke asked finally.

"No one. I have no successor. No one inherited my dream." Sasuke's brows furrowed. That does not add up. Who started the Akatsuki, then? "Only my skill." Madara continued. Sasuke uncrossed his arms, running one through his hair in thinly veiled anxiety. "I have no successor, only a pupil."

"Who? Madara, explain." But Madara's eyes were suddenly blank, and he grew still. Sasuke didn't even think he could see Madara's chest moving. He isn't breathing? "Hey, Lord Madara," he said, walking forward, waving his arms. The genjutsu Madara seemed to have frozen. Sasuke wondered if the outside Madara had died, and that was why. He frowned, sighed, then undid the jutsu. He opened his eyes,(a million times shorter now, to his irritation) standing beside Madara's bed, with his hand on the old man's forehead. He removed his hand, and backed away. Madara's eye was still open, his breathing labored, but there. Sasuke sighed in relief, then blinked in confusion at himself. 

"I used to have company," Madara said absently, startling Sasuke a bit. "There used to be... beings here, I called them Zetsu. They were created from Hashirama's cells and were every bit as idiotic as he was." Sasuke watched at his side, respectfully choosing to keep his mouth shut. "With them here, I wasn't completely alone. It was relieving. A nice reminder of my best friend of so long ago.

"They weren't real, human. They weren't Hashirama, and it would make me angry sometimes. I equal parts hated him and missed him. So I used to kill them, sometimes. I would kill one or two when I got angry, but not all of them, because I didn't want them to leave. And they didn't leave. Even though they knew I'd probably kill them, one day. It was another one of Hashirama's idiot qualities." Sasuke nodded. He understood that part, at least, because he knew someone similar. Three people, really. "Then Obito came, and I knew my time was almost up. He was the first human I had interacted with in years, and I'll admit, I liked him while he was here, even though he was a lovesick brat. His spirit reminded me of Hashirama, too. So I tried and tried to impart what I thought was true to him,  because I failed with Hashirama, but he left me the day Rin died. I had failed again. Then my pupil came along." Sasuke noticed he cleverly didn't bring up the pupil's name or gender. "I wasn't lonely anymore.

"But they left, too, eventually. A couple years ago, actually. I'm dying. I've always known I'm dying. I tried everything to prolong it, so maybe I could come back one day by imparting it to my students, but it all leads here. I even absorbed the Zetsu's life forces to keep myself alive. I guess I did end up killing them. They should've tried to leave." He heaved a heavy sigh. "So I've been here, by myself, waiting for death to claim me. Now you tell me that the idea that I sacrificed everything for... was a lie. And now... well, I'm still dying. I suspect I don't have long. I don't care anymore. I'm so very tired."

Sasuke felt his heart swell with pity for his old ancestor. He bit his lip, looking away. He didn't regret telling Madara, he only regretted the idea that Madara was going to die before he did some real good.

Madara sighed, closing his eyes with an air of finality. "I always thought I was going to die alone. This doesn't surprise me. Leave now, child. I thank you for your revelations, and apologize for the suffering I put you and your family through during my first life."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Who said you're dying alone? I'm not going anywhere."

Madara looked at him, his one eye widening in surprise. He was obviously not expecting that. Sasuke steeled himself, digging his heels into the ground subconsciously, just in case the old man tried to force him to leave. Not that he could, but one never knew with Madara.

But he never tried anything, oddly, he just looked at him, startled.

"Why?" Madara finally asked, his voice becoming silent and raspy. It was clearly becoming harder for him to breathe. A blind man could see Madara wasn't going to last long.

Sasuke examined his ancestor, inwardly making his peace with the fact that Madara would be leaving soon. "You lost your best friend, your brothers, your clan, your village, for a goal that was a lie. No matter what you did to me in the other timeline. Everything is fine now. It's past time for me to let go of it. You don't deserve the things that happened to you. I am one of the last direct descendants of yours, and by Kami I will give you a proper burial. I especially won't let you die by yourself.

"The only thing I ask is that you reconsider your hatred. Rethink your mindset. It is not too late to save you. You deserve to see Hashirama and Izuna again." Then Sasuke put a hand over Madara, resting it on Madara's forehead and closing his eye. "I want you to die the good man I always thought you were."

Madara nodded his head weakly, accepting Sasuke's conviction. He couldn't say anything else, so he simply sat in silence, waiting for death to take him. Sasuke stood with him in the last few moments of silence. "Thank you." Madara choked out, before his chest stopped moving. There was no heaving, no choking. He'd died peacefully, thank Kami.

Madara Uchiha was no more.

Sasuke remained standing over him with dry eyes. Were he any other person, he'd probably be crying. But he wouldn't cry for Madara. Madara despised weakness. Besides, what reason was there to cry? Madara was free.

They went to the nearest town and had him cremated. He'd want his body to be claimed by the fire. They turned back to go home, but not before Sasuke scattered his ashes over the Valley of the End from the top of Madara's statue. It was almost poetic that his ashes be spread there. He'd want to be carried away by the wind, which was his main chakra nature. He'd want to fly away, drifting freely into the fresh air.

And he'd most definitely want to leave next to his best friend.

With one last sorrowful look at the man who would've been a god, Sasuke and the others turned around and left to home- Madara and Hashirama's village, the Hidden Leaf.