I do not own Naruto.
Wither
"A bridge of silver wings stretches from the dead ashes of an unforgiving nightmare to the jewelled vision of a life started anew." - Aberjhani
War.
It was something he had only managed to elude for brief periods throughout his lifetime. Sure, there had been periods of mutual peace, but it's foundations had been built on countless corpses and rivers of blood. He had, with all that was in him, tried to keep that peace for his people.
Amazing how that turned out.
Regardless, he would not go back on his solid principles - rather, he couldn't.
No matter how much he wanted to, he was powerless this time. His last battle, nearly two decades ago, had left him a former shell of himself. He couldn't blame anyone other than himself for his own incompetence at surviving with minimal injuries, but considering the force he had faced, he was outrageously lucky - something he had never believed in before - at surviving with his life.
Laying on his bed, he meditated on the information he had recently received, courtesy of his wife.
The Second Shinobi War has been ongoing for nearly two years. It had been merely less than two decades since the First Shinobi World War, which had ended with Konoha being the pyrrhic victor. Already, there'd been stories about various shinobi and villages throughout the common folk.
Konoha under the leadership of the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had adopted a strategy of divide and conquer, with forces situated at every shinobi nation that threatened them - which clearly were Iwagakure led by the Sandaime Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, Sunagakure led by the Sandaime Kazekage and Amegakure led by their village leader, Sanshōuo no Hanzō.
At the moment, Iwagakure was facing challenges from the efforts of Uchiha Kagami and his forces consisting mainly of powerful ninjutsu and close-combatants from both Uchiha and Senju clans. Sunagakure was pushing forward despite Shimura Danzō and a few dozens of highly trained ANBU and Jōnin retaliating with guerrilla tactics such as attacking supply lines and a few valuable dams which were very resourceful and of paramount importance to the Kaze no Kuni. Alas, the shinobi of Suna knew their territory well.
Amegakure on the other hand pushing back with Sanshōuo no Hanzō at the lead. The man had singlehandedly defeated an entire force of Konoha shinobi and only spared three - three of whom turned out to be the Sandaime Hokage's students. They had rightfully earned the title of Densetsu no Sannin.
Surprisingly, Kumogakure and Kirigakure hadn't acted outwardly in this war but the former was amassing forces within its territory. Kirigakure has been closed off since the untimely death of their Nidaime Mizukage, Hozuki Gengetsu, during his duel with the Nidaime Tsuchikage, Mū a few years before the war.
Hearing some movement coming from outside his room, his acute senses identified who it was before they even arrived there, and despite all this, he didn't bring his guard up.
There was a click and a squeak that followed the opening door. From his position, he could see the person peaking in from the door, causing a small smile to adorn his pale face.
"Tou-chan!" Shouted out a very young voice which was followed by hastened shuffling after a mop of blonde hair peaked out from the corner of the doorframe.
Glancing at the figure, the man smiled at his son. The boy had a shocking bright blonde for his hair and startlingly intelligent blue eyes - the boy looked much like himself, only brighter. With the distinguishing features aside, the boy had a goofy smile on his face.
"Minato, what have I said about shouting?" His humour reflected in his eyes as he watched the boy in front of him dramatically recite a rule he had given him, while rolling his eyes.
"But Tou-chan, I'm-" Minato said as he held out his open hand and another hand with four fingers in front of his father. "- I'm nine years old now, so I don't need rules." The blonde boy concluded by crossing his arms, causing the man to smile more.
"But your brother is older than you and yet he follows my rules, does he not?" He stated amusedly. Minato's lips parted slightly before he lowered his head in resignation.
"He's not that much olde-" Minato started but was interrupted when his father suddenly started coughing harshly causing his weak body to shake uncontrollably. Seeing his father's state, Minato ran out of the room and called to the rest of his family.
"Kaa-chan, Aniki!" A few moments later, there was a hurried thumping on the wooden floors of the hallway outside his room. A blonde haired woman ran to his side and she was quickly followed by their two sons.
"Tobirama..." The woman said in a soothing and sad tone - it hurt him. He was the one who had promised to care for her, not the other way around.
Senju Tobirama had failed dismally at that.
Ever since he faced the Kinkaku Force during the Second Shinobi War in order to protect his students, he had been gravely wounded. During the battle with Kinkaku, he had not only lost an arm but his chakra stream had been affected due to the poisonous composition of the Kyūbi's chakra. Despite his near defeat, he had managed to barely escape with his life to the only person he trusted with everything.
Namikaze Shihō.
With his defeat imminent within the Kaminari no Kuni and Hi no Kuni territories at the hands of Kinkaku, with the last of his chakra, he had teleported himself to his wife. The Namikaze clan had always been affiliated with his, the Senju, although they had respectfully denied joining Konohagakure no Sato. Understandable really, they were some of the finest mercenaries the world had ever known. But their number had dwindled down over the past decade, even before, due to the First Shinobi War.
During his recovery, he had discovered that he had also become something akin to a pseudo-jinchuriki. With her expertise at fūinjutsu, Shihō had sealed the chakra to extend his life. Selfish as it may have been, he couldn't be more grateful.
Looking up to his wife as she placed a warm glowing hand on his chest, he couldn't help but admire her. She was beautiful, very much so. His brother, Hashirama, had been one of the two people to have ever known about her, and even he had been stunned by her beauty. Her stunning golden locks swayed ever so smoothly as she moved, her brows creasing into a frown couldn't stop the raw emotion that glowed in her blue sapphire eyes. He noticed that she was speaking, becoming frantic by the moment, and that's when he realised it.
Death was calling to him.
Glancing over to the side, he could see Minato joining in on his mother's efforts of trying to keep him aware of his surroundings. He could see the tears flowing down his son's face as he tried desperately to keep him awake. It was a hopeless effort, unfortunately. Then he turned to the face the last person in the room.
Tobirama, despite being himself, was capable of loving others. Much like how he had loved his brothers, his people and his family, his love for his eldest son was insurmountable. He saw a lot of himself in the boy - his cunning, his strong will and his potential. The boy, despite being a young age of nine, could very well be the strongest of that age he had ever seen - even in comparison to his Hiruzen, who was as gifted as they come - his brother too, who is gifted. They reminded him of a powerful pair he once knew.
Staring up the boy, he smiled warmly despite the fixed look in his son's stormy eyes. It was a look of loss and pain, something he wished his son would never see again. Beckoning his son to move forward, he placed a hand on the boy's white hair - one which he had adopted from him.
"Naruto." Tobirama had named him that after the ancient story of the tempestuous god of the sea and storms.
He with the ability to help by all means.
"Tou-san, I don't know what I will be without you." Naruto started sombrely. His stormy eyes, as his namesake, were shedding tears of the element his father was known for manipulating to the finest degree. "Is there no...no other way?" He choked out as tears freely fell from his eyes. Tobirama shook his head slightly before giving his answer.
"Do you remember the origin of your name, Naruto?" He watched as his son nodded. "Keep it in your heart. The world is at war, unfortunately. The peace my brother strived for was only temporary. I know of your dream, and you do have the ability to help accomplish it." Tobirama paused for a moment to glance at his wife, to which she responded to with a hesitant nod. "You must go to Konoha, along with your mother and brother."
Naruto looked up after his father spoke. Konoha was the home of his father, and his mother had spoken highly of it too. He had always dreamed of going there to meet the rest of his family, the Senju clan. Amidst all his thoughts, he was harshly brought back to reality.
Tobirama's coughs returned twice as harsh to the point of him coughing out blood. He was laid back by Shihō, who had increased the chakra output on her healing hand.
"I fear my time has come, love." Tobirama said weakly while staring up to his wife. Even in her pain, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid his eyes upon. "Go with them to Konoha, Hiruzen knows. My family will take care of you."
Shihō glanced at her husband whose life was quickly fading away. She nodded weakly with tears streaming down her face.
"I will, I promise." She choked out while grasping his only hand. Tobirama smiled softly as he stared at his family for the last time.
"I will always love you..." He said with finality, his voice becoming weaker by each word. As his eyes were closing, he saw a flicker of red in a pair of stormy greys and two pairs of startling blues.
'I suppose our brothers were right in the end, Izuna.' He thought with a warm smile as he remembered his old friend.
Then, in the quiet lands of Yu no Kuni, Senju Tobirama passed on at the age of fifty-five.
"No!"
The pained scream was enough to startle everyone in the vicinity to freeze. The sight of the battlefield becoming more gruelling and cold by the second.
Ever since his father's passing several months back, he and the few handful remaining of their clan had journeyed from Yugakure no Sato, heading to Konohagakure no Sato. Amidst their journey, they had begun to be pursued by a strong group of shinobi.
The bloody oi-nin of Kirigakure no Sato.
Kirigakure had joined the war by forming an alliance with Iwagakure and Kumogakure to destroy Uzushiogakure. It had taken that alliance three days to decimate the home of his distant cousins, with the survivors scattering all over the world as free men or slaves.
Their group, being led by his mother, had managed to manoeuvre around the battlefields safely. Needless to say, with those few they had come across, had made him loathe war even more. Sometime later, they had attracted the attention of Kiri and they were being hunted down. All under the assumption that they were Uzu survivors, which they had discovered with a heavy price.
Still on his knees, having screamed out to the heavens, Naruto stared frozenly as the Kiri Hunter Nin pulled out his blade from a chest.
His mother's chest.
The dull blue eyes that stared back at him would haunt him for the rest of his life.
"Well, well, it seems they really aren't Uzumaki." Said a tall masked man of the hunter corps who seemed to be the leader of this group. He picked up and tossed Shihō's lifeless corpse to the remaining four children. "Kill them all." He said offhandedly, turning to the rest of his group. He was surprised to his team frozen at the something behind him. Turning around, his mask hid his shock at what he was witnessing.
The pale boy's usually blue pigmentation underneath his eyes and blue eyes had turned a dark menacing red. Lightning, originating from the blade in his hand, had begun dancing around his body. The blonde haired boy's eyes had also turned into a menacing red and was holding a tri-pronged kunai that seemed too inappropriate for one his stature.
Naruto glanced at his brother who was standing by his side. Somewhere in his mind, he remembered his father's words.
"Two brothers born of war, standing side by side, Hashirama and Madara were gods. Creation and Destruction in sync, they were a force unstoppable. With a word, they laid waste to thousands of armies."
"What were those words?"
Naruto watched as his brother closed his eyes, a light pigmentation appearing around his eyes, and clasped his hands in a snake seal. His lips tilted grimly, it was time. He began his own sequence and held a tiger seal.
"Mokutōn Hijutsu: Jukai Kōtan!" Minato shouted out, pouring as much chakra into the jutsu, making it surround and capture their dozen enemies.
Flaming orbs started appearing around Naruto, manoeuvring around him before they began forming a large orb of fire in front of both boys. The stunned and captured hunters screamed out in fear as the orb neared.
"Shakutōn: Shōkyaku!" Naruto shouted out as the orb of flames started burning the newly created forest, burning everything including the scalding hunters.
It was time for the world to meet their new gods of creation and destruction.
"Wither."
Mokutōn Hijutsu: Jukai Kōtan - Wood Release Secret Technique: Nativity of a World of Trees: A-rank, Offensive-Defensive-Supplementary; A technique developed by Hashirama Senju, where the user forces trees to grow on any surface, easily creating a dense forest anywhere they choose. A small plant can grow into a forest in an instant. By generating chakra, the user manoeuvres it as they see fit for attack and defence; and furthermore, this immensely powerful technique even allows them to capture the enemy at the same time. With their tremendous life force, the trees can pierce through earthen walls, and extend their branches at their prey in an instant. Even stating that Konohagakure wouldn't have been established without this technique wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Shakutōn: Shōkyaku - Scorch Release: Incinerating Flare: A-rank, Offensive; The user combines several of their flaming orbs to create a single massive one, which then violently explodes with enough force and power to incinerate a large area around it. When this happens, steam can be seen emitting from the area.