Hello! This is a VERY long fic...like, 5 pages? XD But, i worked very hard on it! LOL! I thought of this when listening to 'This is War' by 30 Seconds to Mars and needed to write it...hehe.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Or 30 Seconds to Mars' song 'This is War'
No pairings
Warnings: Blood, gore, Kyuubi-awesomeness, Gaara
Please, enjoy!
A warning, to the people
The good and, the evil
This is war
To the soldier, the civilian
The martyr, the victim
This is war.
Naruto received the message of the impending war early Monday morning. It came from one of his spies; inherited from Jiraiya. He had just gotten into his office, sat at his desk and started his paperwork when a wolf jumped through his window, looking tired.
"What is it?" He asked, worried that something had happened.
"Intelligence." The wolf replied, panting. "War is on the horizon. The new 'Akatsuki' and its armies gather. Prepare for a full-scale war." With that, it disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto sank back down into his chair and stared out his window to his village.
"If they want a war; they're going to get one." He rose, called in his assistant and told him to gather the villagers; their Hokage wanted to speak with them.
It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie
The moment to live and the moment to die.
The moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to fight.
To the right, to left
We will fight, to the death
To the edge of the earth,
It's a brave new world from the last to the first
To the right, to the left
We will to the death
To the edge of the earth
It's a brave new world
It's a brave new world
He stood on top of a podium, looking down into worried faces, some with the Konoha symbol shining proudly across their foreheads, draped around their necks or fixed onto their sleeves. He had his standard guards, advisers and friends standing closely behind and beside him. 'For moral support.' The old hag had once told him with a smile. The shinobi in the crowd weren't worried, no, they were apprehensive. The civilians, however, were terrified.
He had not sugar-coated the warning; 'get out now or die'. The civilian's faces paled even further and some of them scurried away, but the majority of them stayed, alongside the shinobi, who saluted as one.
"To the edge of the earth, we will fight to the death, Hokage-sama!" They chanted. Naruto grinned, removed his robes and tied his own forehead protector across his head.
He looked to his right, saw Sakura, Shikamaru and Hinata give him brave looks. On his left, Kakashi, now past retirement age, Choji, methodically munching his chips, Kiba, soft-eyed and gazing into the rising sun and Konohamaru, who was staring at him with a slightly worried look on his face.
"Don't worry, guys! I'm too pretty to die!" He said, grinning at them. Kiba snorted and Kakashi chuckled. Sakura smiled fondly, as did Hinata and Konohamaru grinned too. Choji almost choked on his chips and Shikamaru rolled his eyes lazily. He turned to gaze at the Hokage Mountain. His face, grinning. The old hag's, scowling. His fathers…looking regal and proud. The Third's, looking grandfatherly and the first two Hokage, gazing blankly in opposite directions.
He smiled, thinking how far they had all come; Konohamaru was his most trusted assistant and friend, Sakura was his best medic and everyone else followed him with loyalty and almost-blindness, which had gotten them literally lost on more than one occasion. It truly was a brave new world; one that was threatened. Well, he wouldn't stand for that! He'd fight to the death! He'd fight to the edge of the earth and return with a souvenir! He grinned again, adjusting his headband.
A warning to the prophet, the liar, the honest
This is war
To the leader, the pariah, the victim, the messiah
This is war
It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie
The moment to live and the moment to die
The moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to fight
To the right
To the left
We will fight to the death
To the edge of the earth
It's a brave new world
From the last to the first
To the right
To the left
We will fight to the death
To the edge of the earth
It's a brave new world
It's a brave new world
It's a brave new world
Sasuke sat on a chair, staring at a wall. One of his generals from his army was bowed at his feet.
"Konohagakure has accepted our declaration of war, Uchiha-sama." He muttered.
"No." The general looked up, afraid; to see a dark smirk come over Sasuke's lips. "He accepted it. He wants war."
"Of course, Uchiha-sama." The general muttered, automatically.
Sasuke stood. "No holding back today. Order all armies to mobilize. Contact every village that owes allegiance to us. Leave. No. Loopholes. Not like last time." Sasuke said, not even looking at the general anymore.
"Yes, Uchiha-sama." The man muttered and left, hurrying away to carry out his master's orders.
Sasuke kept smirking, boring a hole with eyes in the wall in the direction of Konoha. "Your day has come, Hokage-sama." He said, his voice dripping with venom.
The general ordered all his-Uchiha-sama's!- men to mobilize and spread the news and sent dispatches off to the other villages that pledged their shinobi and samurai. Most of the men in his-Uchiha-sama's!-army were rouges forced down onto their knees, backed into a corner and placed without thought in the front line; the shield as it were, for Uchiha-sama to break through and destroy Konoha's defences and its Hokage. Most men would rather be at home with their families, but were forced to serve in the large army because of their village debt to Uchiha-sama. Most were honest men, trying to make a living. Making a living or not, most of them would die. The general felt no pity, only duty. Uchiha-sama commanded it, so shall it be.
Far away in a large complex, a woman with long, light blonde hair and pale lavender eyes sat up from her bed with gasp, clutching at where her mother's jewel should have been. She looked down, panicked, before she remembered she gave it to the only boy who could defy his own fate; Naruto. She hoped he would deter his fate this time too; as she had seen him being stabbed cleanly through the chest by a mysterious, black-haired man. They were surrounded by fighting. His once beautiful orange jumpsuit was stained with his blood, his eyes; rolled back to show the whites, glowed red. He literally exploded, a large, nine-tailed fox crawling from underneath him, snarling and foaming at the mouth. The dark-haired man's eyes widened and he took a step back, disregarding the blood and bone clinging to him. The fox looked down at the body that hosted it for twenty years and snarled dangerously at the black-haired man, poisonous saliva dripping from its gaping maw and hissing as it splashed onto the ground.
"You have killed my kit, now I shall destroy you!" It had snarled, launching at the black-haired man and biting him in half, the boy's guts spilling onto the ground as his legs fell to the ground.
The fox growled once more for good measure, before turning sad eyes to the mush that was once a blond-haired boy. He sniffed at it cautiously before turning his head to look at the boy's allies and his enemies, all who had paused in their fighting to witness the death of the one who called the war and the one who had promised to end it. The pink-haired girl was crying, leaning on the boy in the green jumpsuit. A silver-haired man was staring in horror at his student, tears streaking from his one good eye. Soon, most of the boy's allies were crying silent tears or sobbing so loudly it sounded like they were in pain. A girl with long, almost black hair fell to her knees, gasping for breath as she sobbed. Shion had awoken right then and called immediately for her aide.
"Get me to Konoha!" She ordered. He saluted and asked her if she wanted to travel in her palanquin. "Does it look like I have time for such petty things?" She screamed. "Get someone to get me to Konoha; FAST!" he hurried out, yelling for the fastest runner.
The war was approaching; quickly. Shion arrived quicker. She barged into Naruto's meeting.
"Shion!" He said in surprise.
She gripped his arms. "You mustn't fight, Naruto-kun!" She pleaded.
"Why not?" he asked, perplexed.
"He'll kill you! You mustn't!" She was starting to sound hysterical.
"Alright, sit down! Someone get her a glass of water or something." He directed her with soft, but firm hands to his vacant chair. She sat down, breathing heavily. "Now, tell me everything." She did, almost in tears as she did. When she finished, Naruto looked down. "Hmn. That's certainly disturbing." He mused.
"I just predicted you'd die because of this man you are going to fight and all you can is that it's 'disturbing'?" Shion asked incredulously.
"I've defied death before, remember?" He asked. She did; she could still see it clearly; the vision of Naruto's chest being made Swiss cheese of by Moryo. But he defied her vision. As he expected he would now. "And even if I don't, Kyuu will take care of it for me. I made him swear on all nine of his tails." He added cheerfully. Kakashi shook his head slowly, as if he couldn't believe his ears, which he probably couldn't. "Now, I believe our meeting is over?" It was more of an order than a question and his friends, advisors and the council filed out one by one. "Come, Shion. I want to show you my office!" He was that hyperactive blond boy again, the one excited by the most simple things.
After a tour of Konoha from the Hokage himself, Shion was exhausted. Naruto led her to her quarters and left with a cheery goodbye, promising to see her in the morning. Shion stared after him for a moment, imagining how much he had grown, figuratively and literally. Shion sighed, slid closed her door and collapsed on her bed, her hand clenched around the jewel Naruto had given back to her.
Naruto entered his own apartment, sitting in the middle of the floor and closed his eyes, reaching deep inside himself. He landed in a familiar sewer and he looked up at the massive bars. "What is it, kit?" Kyuubi asked.
"Will we die?" Naruto asked mildly. The demon was silent for a long time.
"Probably."
Naruto rolled his eyes. "You're helpful, aren't you?"
"Just being realistic, brat." Kyuubi replied slowly, peering down at him through the bars. "But probably not. You're too stubborn to die." That statement was said with a mixture of irritation and affection and Kyuubi's breath ruffled his hair. "Get some sleep, kit. You'll need it if you're going to do this." Naruto smiled at the demon and faded back into the real world, where he sprawled on the floor and, too tired to move, drifted off to sleep.
Naruto awoke with a start, his internal alarm clock blaring at him to get up. He sat up, stretching. Today was the day. Today was the day he would die, or better yet, get severely wounded. Yay. He stood, walking into his kitchen and scratching his head. He looked out the window and grimaced at the ruckus. "Calm before the storm, my ass." He muttered. Civilians were packing left and right, leaving the village. Suna nin had arrived a day before Shion but Naruto had yet to see Gaara. A knock came from his door. "Coming!" he called, strolling to the door and opening it, to reveal Gaara.
"Naruto." Gaara greeted. Naruto grinned at him. "Heard you needed help." Gaara smirked a little.
"Hey Gaara! Not really, just wanted to be prepared!" Naruto grinned at him for a moment before laughing. Gaara's smirk turned into a small smile.
"It's always good to be prepared." Gaara agreed. They shook hands, Temari and Kankuro behind Gaara grinning at the blond.
"Let's get out there, huh?" Naruto said, sweeping some weapons onto his person and trotting out the door, a grin on his face. He shut and carefully locked his door. Most of the morning was spent preparing the shinobi, helping evacuate those that needed to leave; like Kurenai, whose child was only a few years old and couldn't possibly fight, despite what Kurenai said.
"How would you feel if he died, sensei?" Kiba asked roughly. Kurenai was silent before she sighed, turned and took her boy away, down the escape route all others leaving had taken.
Konoha was attacked at noon. It was over in a few minutes. Naruto prowled the edges of the battle, killing an enemy nin when he could get the chance. He met Sasuke at ten past twelve, looking bravely into the Mongekyo Sharingan. All of his training had prepared him for this moment. Surprisingly, their battle lasted only seconds. Sasuke shot forward, his katana charged with electricity. Apparently, he neglected the fact Naruto could move fast, as he was sliced in half by Naruto's own katana before he realized what happened. Naruto stood over his dead body, raised his katana and plunged it into the earth by his former friend's head.
The rest of the enemy was quickly subdued, most of them surrendering themselves as soon as Sasuke had died.
I do believe in the light
Raise your hands up to the sky
The fight is done
The war is won
Lift your hands
Towards the sun
Towards the sun
Towards the sun
Towards the sun
The war is won
It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie
The moment to live and the moment to die
The moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to fight
To the right
To the left
We will fight to the death
To the edge of the earth
It's a brave new world
From the last to the first
To the right
To the left
We will fight to the death
To the edge of the earth
It's a brave new world
It's a brave new world
It's a brave new world
A brave new world
The war is won
The war is won
A brave new world
The people of Konoha cheered and stretched their hands up to try and touch their Hokage, their sun, who was standing on his podium again. He smiled sadly. "Today is a day of happiness; our war is won! The enemy is defeated. Celebrate, drink and party! It isn't a day to be sad!" But you could see in his eyes, he was sad he killed his friend, sad he couldn't change his mind. The village skilfully ignored this and happily complied to their Hokage's orders.
"You did the right thing, Naruto." Sakura said.
"I know. But that doesn't mean I have to like it." Naruto muttered.
"Enjoy what you have now. You never know when it will be ripped from you." Kakashi said wisely.
"Thanks, sensei." Naruto muttered, smiling once again at the faces on the Hokage Mountain. "But you can never enjoy it until you don't have it." He said.
Naruto; only a few years later, still a young man, died from a heart attack. The village was devastated. A thorough examining of his will and an autopsy showed the Kyuubi's malevolent youkai was slowly destroying his body and nothing could be done. He had known this, and yet had done nothing to stop it. In his will, he stated he wanted Konohamaru to be Hokage and he had sealed away all forbidden scrolls, with only a Hokage able to open them. Konohamaru had become Hokage and had led the village on to prosper in his nii-san's name. Naruto had become a legend, the story of his life being told even long after the people who had been there died.
So, what did you think? Please review, it makes me happy and fuzzy inside.
The end was kinda rushed, I know, but it's midnight and I need to sleep.
~SOA
