Inside Konoha.
The moon hung high in the night sky.
Pale moonlight streamed through the window and spilled into the neat, clean room.
On the bed,
Sosuke lay with his eyes gently closed, but he wasn't asleep.
He rose quietly. Beside him, the beautiful Kyoka Suigetsu's long hair spilled across the bed. Bathed in the white moonlight, her delicate face looked like the finest work of art.
She was fast asleep, her breathing steady, a sweet smile resting on her lips, as though being by his side brought her the greatest contentment.
He glanced at her nearly naked, beautiful figure. Sosuke felt not the slightest trace of desire; his mind was perfectly calm.
As he quietly studied the girl who had mysteriously appeared by his side one day, Sosuke couldn't help feeling a deep, hidden curiosity about her.
This girl had given him enough power to stand at the pinnacle of this world.
She wielded power beyond this world's understanding and commanded Kido of immense might... Who was she, really?
No one had ever answered that question for Sosuke.
His own nature had also kept him from asking about any of it.
And yet,
deep in his heart, he had remembered the name Suigetsu had once used for him: Lord Aizen.
The meal Suigetsu had made tonight had been awful, almost unbearable, but Sosuke had eaten every bite.
It had stirred feelings in him unlike anything he'd experienced before!
Not the easy comfort he felt around Jiraiya and the others.
Not the careful wariness he felt around Danzo and the others.
And not the pretense and hypocrisy he wore around the villagers.
With Suigetsu, he had felt more relaxed and at ease than ever before. He could show his ambition without reservation, and turn into a slaughtering demon without batting