Hello everyone! I'm back with another chapter! As I said last time, I'll be updating this story twice a week now, instead of thrice a week, as advised by my close friend Mira (shoutout to you again hehehe ^_^)!
So, I'll be uploading a new chapter every Wednesday and Sunday late Philippine Time (instead of Tuesday-Thursday-Sunday like it used to be) =D
Anyway, here's the next chapter! Make sure to review and leave likes or kudos or whatnot! ^_^
Chapter 7: Friend or Foe
Jigen and Kakashi faced off in the open space beside the lake and trees of Senju Park. They had gotten quite far from the original site of their battle, and also far from the other residential areas and the evacuation area.
Jigen was dodging Kakashi's relentless charges and counterattacking with one hand holding his personalized submachine gun and the other a gold rapier, since he did not want to waste his chakra or use his own Karma Seal just yet. On the other hand, Kakashi was exhausting himself trying to hit Jigen with Purple Lightning, and sorely missing his Sharingan and the Chidori it allowed in the process. He was hit once by Jigen's weapon, and he felt that something small had lodged itself in the bone of his left shoulder. It bothered and pained him much every time he moved that shoulder, and it limited his movement and range, but he continued the fight anyway.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Kakashi looked to his side and saw Naruto joining him, once again in his yellow Kurama chakra coat. "How are you holding up?"
"Not exactly great, but I'm still alive."
"But mercifully, not for much longer," mused Jigen loudly. "Soon, Konoha will be a burning pile of rubble, a relic of a bygone era."
"We won't let that happen," Naruto bluntly replied. "And the ninja world will not end tonight. Nor will the ninja way."
"No matter what you say or do, this city will fall tonight," Jigen retorted with the same bluntness, and even a hint of detachment, as he inhaled deeply. "And now the winds will wail and the rains will weep over Konoha, and there will be no one there to hear."
Naruto clenched his teeth and prepared to strike. He looked at Kakashi, who nodded, and they both entered fighting stances, ready to engage Jigen at a moment's notice.
Suddenly, Jigen held his ear, listening intently into his earpiece. He nodded and talked into his earpiece. "Yes Number 5… Everyone still alive, please withdraw from Konoha right now… And Eastern Watch, prepare our Grand Finale, but wait for my signal before you start… Number 10, please make preparations to cover our leave. Thank you."
"Thinking about escape already?" Kakashi asked Jigen.
"I don't think so," Naruto shook his head. "Even though I won't kill you, you will still have to pay for what you and your organization have done to our village."
"Not really," Jigen smirked. "I was merely checking on the progress of our assaults on the other ninja nations, as well making preparations to ensure your destruction."
Naruto decided that he had heard enough, and formed a rasenshuriken in his hand. He threw it at Jigen, but Jigen dodged it easily. With one hand, Jigen fired his submachine gun multiple times at Naruto, and returned to locking blades with Kakashi with the other hand. Naruto jumped up and formed a rasengan this time, intending to hit Jigen with it, only for Jigen to sidestep once again. Naruto almost ended up hitting Kakashi with his rasengan instead, and Kakashi only got down and dodged under the rasengan at the last possible moment. Naruto landed hard as his rasengan exploded into the ground and made a large crater in the grassy park. As Naruto gingerly got up, Kakashi looked behind them and saw Jigen looking at both of them, his weapon drawn pointed to them.
"Is this all you have? I thought you were the Sixth and Seventh Hokages, the Heroes of the Fourth Great Ninja War? Konoha's finest?"
Naruto stood up, angry and defiant. "Not by a long shot, you know! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
With that, 20 clones appeared by Naruto's side, all in Kurama Chakra Mode. However, before anything could be done, Naruto felt the same pang he felt a while ago, when he saw Jiraiya-sensei once again. Naruto fell to his knees and the shadow clones all dissipated.
"Naruto! What is it?" Kakashi rushed to his side to check on him. "Is it your wound?"
"No, it's not that," Naruto replied. "It's him… He's here…" The two of them saw Kashin Koji landing by Jigen's side, his clothes partially wet and partially charred.
"What took you so long?" Jigen calmly asked him, his eyebrow raised slightly. Koji looked at him, then at Naruto and Kakashi.
"Well, I burned the son of Shikamaru with my toad oil," Koji replied with a sigh, "He's likely dead or dying as we speak. And I nearly finished off the daughter of Sasuke and Sakura, but she's wounded badly enough."
"Oh?" Jigen's interest piqued. "And you didn't finish her off? Compassion and mercy aren't some of your usual traits."
Koji scoffed. "I was only prevented from killing her by the damn spawn of Orochimaru, the Shigaraki heiress with her Gozu Tennou, Hinata the Byakugan Princess and her daughter, and the daughter's blonde boyfriend with the artsy scroll. They had surrounded me, so I chose to regroup with you instead."
Naruto breathed a sigh of partial relief, yet tension was still very much present in him. His wife, his daughter, Mitsuki, Sumire, and Inojin, were all alive. He was also very confused; he didn't know that Himawari and Inojin were actually together. He made a mental note to give them the talk after all this was over.
On the other hand, Naruto also felt a pang of fear and worry, since Shikadai was burned by one of Jiraiya's sage mode jutsus, one whose effects he had actually seen before. He was also concerned about the condition of Sarada, who had become sort of his protégé, student, and even friend, in the past couple of months. Sasuke had entrusted Naruto with keeping Sarada safe, so he was also worried about how Sasuke would react to seeing his only daughter being hurt under his watch.
"Naruto, what's the name of your daughter?"
Naruto looked at Jiraiya, or Kashin Koji, or whoever he was now. "No," Naruto thought to himself, "he's still Jiraiya. He's still Pervy-Sage. And I will bring him back."
"Her name is Himawari," Naruto replied to his former mentor and close friend. "Hinata actually came up with it."
"It's a wonderful name," Koji remarked, deep in thought. "She looks a lot like her mother. And you, my old student, you got very lucky. You actually ended up getting Hinata! And she's grown into a fine woman, if I may say so myself."
Naruto smiled. This really reminded him of his younger days, when he was training under Jiraiya, when the whole world was simpler, albeit more brutal, violent, and harsh. "Yeah, I would agree with that… I've been very lucky, especially after the war. Pervy-Sage… we have so much to catch up on, you know?"
Kakashi was stunned and gobsmacked upon hearing Naruto conversing with Kashin Koji, formerly Jiraiya, who only an hour ago had literally stabbed Naruto, the knife nearly piercing his heart.
"Talk about forgiving so easily," Kakashi groaned quietly. He then turned to Naruto and gripped his shoulder. "Are you really that naïve? He literally only stabbed you in the chest only an hour ago. He attacked the city and killed civilians and ninja alike. Now you think of him as a friend? And now you talk with him like an old friend?"
Naruto looked at him with annoyance, if not actual anger. "I'm sure he's only being manipulated by Jigen! Can't you see, Kakashi-sensei? It's Jiraiya… it's Pervy-Sage dammit! He would never willingly betray Konoha! Right Kurama?"
"Honestly," Kurama's voice from within Naruto spoke, "it's hard to tell. I mean… If this is really the same Jiraiya from all those years ago, I don't see him attacking Konoha for no reason at all. On the other hand, I'm sure that it would also be extremely difficult for anyone to put Jiraiya under genjutsu or to manipulate him in the first place."
"But Jigen has the Karma Seal, just like what Kawaki and Boruto have, correct? So there is a chance that he is only being controlled and manipulated into doing this, right?"
"Even if that's true," Kakashi pleaded, "now's not the time for sentiment. They're our enemies! We need to defend Konoha from them!"
"And if you want to do that," Koji interrupted Kakashi with crossed arms, "you'll have to kill us all, don't you?"
"If need be," Kakashi deadpanned, gripping his kunai and preparing to strike at them.
Naruto held out his arm to warn Kakashi. "You will not kill him. I will bring him back. I promise!"
Kakashi cursed internally. This was definitely Naruto, always insisting to not kill people, and instead wanting to rehabilitate them and "bring them back" to the road of good, just as he did with Sasuke years ago. It was practically his motto at this point. Kakashi conceded that it has always worked out in the end. But he was still worried. He wondered if Naruto was too blinded by his love and respect for his former sensei to see that the fate of Konoha and its people was dangling on the edge of a knife. One little step in the wrong direction, and Konoha will fall, and it will lead to the ruin of all.
As Kakashi looked to the side to think of a retort, he noticed Sasuke, Mitsuki, and Boruto running to them. The moment that Sasuke saw Kashin Koji, he roared and lunged for him with his katana. However, Naruto ran in front of Koji and caught the katana with his chakra hand outstretched, protecting his former master.
Boruto and Mitsuki stood there, shocked at what they were seeing. "Dad! What are you doing?"
"Have you… gone mad?" An incredulous Sasuke asked Naruto, rage and confusion seething from his voice. Both of his dojutsus were visibly stressed and angry.
But Naruto looked him in the eyes sternly as well. "I'm not going to allow you to kill Pervy-Sage! I will bring him back to our side, just like how I brought you back to the village all those years ago!"
"I don't care if you still see him as your old master. I'm going to make him pay for what he did to Sarada!"
"No, you won't! And he didn't kill Sarada, did he? So much for your payback; Sarada didn't die, and Jiraiya won't die either."
Sasuke clenched his fist, but he knew that Naruto was at least partially correct. At least, he knew that Naruto wasn't under genjutsu or anything like that. "This was really Naruto," Sasuke told himself, "stubborn as hell, and always believing in the good of everyone.
Naruto approached Sasuke, putting his hand on his shoulder. "I trust you, Sasuke. Place your trust in me too. I promise you, I can do this… I will do this. Trust me now, as you have all these years."
A low, quiet growl, coupled with light quadrupedal footsteps, was heard as Nue arrived, with Sumire on it. Sumire dismounted from her summoning creature and approached Boruto and Mitsuki. Sasuke turned to her and asked, "Sumire, how is my daughter right now?"
"She's is going to be okay. We stabilized her chakra levels and her vital signs. By the time I left, Aunt Sakura was working on repairing the damage done to her internal organs and her major blood vessels, but she told me that Sarada should make a full recovery."
"See Sasuke?" Naruto pointed out to him. "Sarada will be fine."
"Dammit…" Gritting his teeth, Sasuke backed off nonetheless, sheathing his katana and restraining his rage.
Meanwhile, as all of this was going on, Jigen was quietly coordinating the surviving Kara Inners, as well as the Kara Outers who were already attacking the other major cities of the continent. At first, while the assault on Konoha was still in its early and middle stages, and up to around an hour ago, he believed that the city was ready to fall, that its shinobi defenders would be overwhelmed, too weak and passive and peace-loving to put up actual, meaningful resistance. But as time went on, he was slowly proven false. The eastern press of Kara had been completely routed, and easily at that, by a group of young ninja who smartly used deception and guerilla tactics rather than meet them head-on. The northern attack went in strong and deep initially, but fell apart once enough reinforcements came, while the southern thrust, even with Jigen's help, had been stopped in its tracks by the Hokage, the Shadow Hokage, other heroes of the Fourth Great Ninja War, and some of the same young ninja from the eastern front, who Jigen now realized were the children of said war heroes. Only the western front saw true progress, and that was mainly because there wasn't anyone of note defending it. When the defenders of Konoha started massing on his position in the south, he realized that this siege could not be won. With this epiphany, he began organizing the plans for the retreat, as well as his parting blow to Konoha, using the confusion and hesitation on the side of the defenders to his advantage.
"Have all other units, aside from myself and Number 8, gotten out of the city?"
Affirmatives rang through the earpiece, but then one contradiction sprung up. "Negative! Number One, still here in the west; just let me finish these two girls off, then I'll go."
"No Delta, just leave them be. We're bombing Konoha to hell anyway."
An angry grumble was heard on the other side of the line, followed by a long pause. "Dammit… Ugh fine, I'll go!"
The preparations were now almost complete. There was just one final thing. "Number 10… you are to cover our escape… Are you ready for this?"
"…Yes. I'm in position. I'll wait for your signal."
"Very well. We'll appreciate all the time you can give us. Do your best… my dear son…"
"…Yes father… I will do my best. For our ideal future."
Jigen smiled and nodded at Kashin Koji, then waited. After Naruto and Sasuke settled their argument, Jigen addressed all the Konoha shinobi there. "My apologies to you all. Seeing as we do not have the remaining strength needed to win this siege, we have decided to concede defeat for now, and to withdraw from the city. This will prevent anymore vain and needless loss of life, both on your side and on ours. As such, I bid you adieu."
Everyone looked at him with confused and puzzled looks. "And who said we would let you leave?" Naruto asked him.
"Oh," Jigen clarified to them, "but I only said that I conceded your city. This one battle is over, yet the war continues nonetheless."
"No," Sasuke retorted. "We will to take you into custody, where I will personally interrogate you. Then we will put you on public trial-"
"For what?"
Kakashi stepped forward. "For destroying our city, for attacking and killing our people. And terrorism."
"Of that, I'm innocent," he spat back at Kakashi. "But to you, I'm guilty for a far worse crime: 'Desiring Progress and Equality and Change for Humankind'. For you, being the leader of Kara must be equal to terrorism and such… To you, being a subversive such as myself must be the same as wanting actual change, genuine progress, adapting and evolving for the future, the advancement of science, and a literal and metaphorical revolution in human history. In short, accepting Entropy in all its forms and beauty. I will not give up my life for that, not until my goal is done."
"Still, you destroyed our city-"
"I have not destroyed this city entirely," Jigen continued, interrupting Kakashi. "Not yet. I will not be able to, but I wish so badly that I could. Watching the city fall, and the unjust ninja way along with it, even for a short period of time, gave me so much more relief and hope for the future of the entire human species! They have a chance in the future to be better than the way you all want them to remain!"
"You're a monster!" Boruto exclaimed. "You think you're a messiah who will lead the world to the right place? You're nothing but a deluded terrorist who uses his ideals to justify the massacres of thousands of people."
"I only wish that I was the monster you think I am. I really do. I wish I had enough power to smite you all with the snap of my finger. I would gladly do anything to see you shinobi all dead and gone." The usually calm and collected Jigen was becoming more and more animated and agitated as his spiel went on. Even Kashin Koji was surprised; he had never before seen Jigen this passionate, loud, or even angry.
*******XXXXXXX*******
"Wasabi!" Namida shouted towards her girlfriend, while Delta was downed and dazed from a knee strike by Wasabi. "Keep her still! I'll try to hit her with another sound shockwave."
"I'll try," Wasabi replied hastily as she retreated to Namida's position, "but remember not to get me caught up in your sound waves!"
"When was the last time that happened?"
"You forgot already? My bed a week ago, remember? You scream-moaned right in my damn ear. I couldn't hear anything in that ear for hours!"
Namida blushed hard, as red as a scarlet sunset, when Wasabi mentioned that incident. She flashed back to what the two of them were doing in her room, the joy and wonderful feelings she was experiencing with Wasabi, and what eventually led to her half-moan, half-scream of lust. The same thing had occurred some months earlier, and they had to explain to Wasabi's parents what exactly had happened, so they had decided to come out. Luckily for them, Wasabi's parents accepted the two young lovers, and reassured Namida that she was part of their family already. They also forgave her for breaking some glass panes, as well as hurting their ears a lot, with her scream.
"NOT THAT!" Namida hid her tomato-red face. "When have I done that to you in an actual mission?"
Wasabi glanced at their enemy, who was still trying to get her bearings. "The last time was about… two months ago?"
"See?" Namida pouted, put her hands on her hips, and rolled her eyes. "That was so long ago!"
Wasabi could not help but laugh, and turned back to face Namida. "What would be more assuring is if it never happened, you know? But don't worry, I believe in you." Wasabi pulled Namida and kissed her quickly but sincerely, her eyes meeting hers and apologizing for the joking remarks just by looking, then ran back to return to keep on the offensive against Delta. Namida also moved up closer, but she made sure to stealthily sneak up, sticking to the shadows and staying behind pieces of rubble strewn across the streets.
Wasabi confounded Delta with her close range attacks and her utter speed and agility. Wasabi lined up thrice for attack runs, where she got in good hits, knees and claws to her torso and legs, while Delta tried repeatedly to crush her enemy with her hammer-arm or slice her with her sickle-arm, but to no avail. But on the fourth one, Delta instead countered with a side step, all the while transforming her right leg into a piston and her left leg into a claw that dug into the street. As Wasabi passed by her, she hit a well-placed thrust kick to Wasabi's side with her piston-shaped leg, sending Wasabi flying and tumbling like a barrel down the road. Groaning in pain for a few seconds, Wasabi nevertheless scampered off and lined up for another attack. Delta readied herself and her arms, which were still shaped like a sledgehammer and a war scythe, to inflict a world of hurt on Wasabi if she got too careless and too close.
Wasabi quickened her pace and sprinted towards her foe for the fifth time, but at the last moment diverted her course to her left and revealed a feint maneuver. Following Wasabi's movements, Delta looked around her and was surprised. While she was busy dealing with Wasabi's charges, Namida flanked right around alleyways and snuck up to her, using piles of rubble to hide. And now, Namida was right behind her, weaving her signs.
"Sound Style: Static Silence!" A wave of disorienting high-pitched static travelled from Namida to Delta.
Delta merely smiled. She was ready this time for her attack. "You'll only ever hurt yourself." She activated her dojutsus, her special purple eyes with vertical black stripes, and prepared herself to absorb the jutsu and send it back to Namida. However, much to her absolute shock, Delta was suddenly deafened, and she could hear nothing except ringing and static in her ears. "What the hell?" She asked herself inside her head. "Why did my eyes fail me? Why wasn't I able to absorb the jutsu? WHY?" Delta closed her eyes and tried to cover her ears to prevent further damage to her ears.
Namida paused in her attack, inhaled deeply once again, and sent another jutsu Delta's way. "Sound Style: Mach 1 Sonic Boom!"
Namida opened her mouth once more, and a literal sonic boom emitted from her mouth. Instantly, everything fragile in front of Namida broke; anything made of glass, clay flowerpots, and roof tiles, shattered. Even the weakened, burnt out, brick house in front of Namida finally partially collapsed. Delta tried and failed once again to absorb the sound jutsu, and so she was blown back into the collapsing debris of the brick house. Wasabi returned to Namida and gave her a high-five.
The celebration was very short-lived, as Delta got back to her feet, although she was visibly stunned and dizzy. She transformed her arms and hands back to normal, since she needed to support herself on the fallen debris and look around to check her bearings.
"Why? Why can't I absorb your attacks? My eyes are supposed to absorb, store, and emit any jutsus… Even your Hokage's Rasengans…"
Namida asked her cautiously, "You mean you can absorb and return any jutsus of the six fonons… err, elements, and their combinations?"
"Yes," Delta replied. "My eyes were designed for that very purpose… To be able to reflect any and all jutsus…"
"Then you don't know about the Seventh Fonon," Namida revealed. "Sound Style is commonly misidentified as a variant of the wind style, when in fact it is its own element. So… your eyes weren't designed to be able to absorb, store, and reflect, the Seventh Fonon of Sound."
"Enough with this; Namida, don't get carried away. Let's finish her off!" Wasabi determinedly remarked, as Delta slowly walked to them, her movements uncoordinated and groggy, as if she was drunk. Wasabi charged forward for the kill, but Delta saw her coming and reacted at the very last moment, partially from her grogginess and partially out of strategy. She stepped to the right and reached down to catch Wasabi, hooking her elbows on under Wasabi's shoulders. She then pivoted low and, using Wasabi's own momentum, swung all the way around, and then flung Wasabi high in the air, sending her crashing through the second floor of the house behind her. She then turned to Namida, who was looking on at the second floor, concerned about Wasabi's condition. Delta approached her very slowly, looking like she could keel over at any second.
Namida noticed her coming and breathed deeply before unleashing her signature jutsu. "Sound Style: Sparrow's Cry Jutsu!" The colorful sound wave hurtled towards Delta, who angled her head to the side and exposed the left side of her face to bear the brunt of the sound wave's force. She also fell forwards and instantaneously turned her limbs into clamps, which she dug deep into the concrete road and used them anchored her to the street. After Namida stopped her jutsu, she was surprised and confused to see Delta not selling the usually devastating impact her signature jutsu has. Delta was shaking off the shock wave as if it was nothing, and she was continuing to approach her, with her two arms transformed into a sword and a spear, while her two legs were now claws that stuck to the ground.
Namida fired off shock wave after shock wave, only to come up with the same result as Delta kept repeating her bracing motion. This began to cost Namida her chakra, and consequently the power in her sound jutsus waned and decreased as well. After the last attempt at a sound wave, Namida was able to see that Delta's left ear had a lot of blood dripping down from it, while her right ear was covered by her earpiece and was protected somewhat. Namida realized that her normal sound wave jutsus were now ineffective on her foe because she had already ruptured her left eardrum with her Static Silence and Sonic Boom attacks, while the right ear was protected and insulated from the outside by her earpiece. As Namida realized this and tried to come up with a better plan, Delta grabbed a high-explosive hand grenade and lobbed it straight at Namida, only for it to go wide right because of the awkward, unbalanced, uncoordinated way she threw it, which itself was due to her ruptured left eardrum. Still, the bomb blew up and sent Namida flying, and although she was out of the lethal range, she was still pelted by the fragments of debris and shrapnel that were kicked up by the explosion. Namida landed hard and skidded along the rough street, tearing gashes into her clothes and skin in the process.
Disoriented and dazed, Delta panted heavily while slowly walking towards her rocket launcher. Once she retrieved her weapon, she then glanced at Namida, who was still trying to get up to her feet. Delta aimed her weapon at her foe, readying herself for the kill shot. However, she was having a difficult time aiming, since her balance was off. The dizziness and lightheadedness were beginning to take their tolls on her, and she was also feeling an unsettling sensation in her stomach.
Before Delta could pull the trigger and release the rocket, Wasabi leapt from the collapsed second floor and slashed her claws straight down, cleaving the rocket launcher in half, triggering the rocket to fly upwards away from their area. The rocket flew by less than an arm's length in front of Delta's face, and it stunned her in the process. Wasabi kept on the offensive, advancing, punching, kneeing, elbowing, kicking, and clawing at Delta, who was trying to parry and block the strikes with what coordination and balance she had left. Delta was still being pushed back by Wasabi bit by bit, but as the hand-to-hand combat went on, Delta started to get the hang of the parrying, while Wasabi, who wanted to end the fight as soon as possible so that she and Namida could help out elsewhere, was getting more reckless with her strikes.
After noticing that her strikes were now being blocked consistently, Wasabi decided to try something else to gain the advantage once again. She feinted a punch, then spun around and delivered a devastating back elbow to the side of Delta's head, leaving Delta reeling and kneeling on one knee. Wasabi reached back and slashed down with her outstretched claws, but Delta rose up in time and lunged forward, hooking on Wasabi's arm at the elbow, and pulled hard on it while pushing her own body into the torso of Wasabi, lifting her up effectively. She then slammed Wasabi into the street, cracking the concrete below her with the impact.
Namida witnessed the judo takedown Delta had performed on Wasabi, and then she saw her blond foe pull out a red and black dagger from her waist and raise it high in the air. Out of instinct and desperation, she ran at full speed and tackled Delta, surprising her and making her drop her dagger. They fell to the ground in a heap, and as they rose to their feet, Delta struck at Namida, who only just managed to block it and still staggered back anyway. Delta realized that she had the advantage with taijutsu, and kept up her hard strikes. A straight punch and a kick were both barely parried by Namida, but a stiff knee strike to Namida's face fully connected, and Namida was knocked flat on her back, with fresh, deep red blood flowing from her now crooked nose.
Delta stood beside the supine Namida, and she again transformed her foot into a piston. Before Namida could getup or block with her arms, Delta stomped on her face with her piston foot and smashed her opponent's head against the curb, breaking her face in the process. Namida screamed in agony, as she felt the blood copiously pouring out from her flattened nose, cheeks, and the back of her head.
Not satisfied with her punishment just yet, Delta pulled out another high-explosive grenade, one with a longer fuse for a more terrifying and torturous wait. She removed the pin and was about to lay it on Namida's chest when Wasabi pounced, grabbing her wrist and hand. She clenched her hand extremely tight, her claw-like fingernails digging into Delta's wrist and drawing streams of blood. At first, Delta was shocked that Wasabi was still actually conscious, let along still fighting. A second later, she realized that she could not let go of the live time bomb in her hand, as Wasabi's grip was too tight.
"If you're going to kill us," Wasabi warned Delta, "I'll make sure you go down with us."
Realizing that the grenade was about to explode, Delta was forced by Wasabi to toss it backwards. Wasabi followed through with the motion, to make sure she actually let go of the bomb, as well as to make sure that the throw is strong enough such that the blast is as far from them as possible. The bomb detonated around a second and a half later, dislocating a fire hydrant and creating a tall fountain of water that drenched them and flooded the street. The blowback from the explosion was still considerable, as Delta was flung about a meter forward, while Wasabi was knocked straight onto her back.
After the blast, Wasabi rushed to Namida's side and was so relieved to see her alive, albeit bleeding heavily from her head. Her nose was broken and crooked, and her cheekbones seemed deformed as well.
"How bad is it?" Namida asked her, visibly and audibly in pain.
"It's ugly… but you'll live," Wasabi reassured her. "I'll treat you after… we deal with her." Wasabi carefully helped Namida to her feet. Namida almost fainted as she got upright, and was only held up on her shoulders by Wasabi, who herself was also already drained.
"I'm… so tired…" Namida informed her girlfriend, on whom she was leaning on for support, in more ways than one. "I can barely stand… I can barely breathe…"
"I know," Wasabi replied. "I'm spent too… I could use a long, relaxing break after this…" Wasabi looked back and saw Delta starting to get up. She felt something on her hand, and as she looked down, she saw Namida's hand clench hers. Wasabi interlocked their fingers and squeezed back.
"Defiant to the end," Delta mused as she stood up fully. "I could almost applaud you for that."
"Yes," Wasabi replied, "we're fighting to the end."
"Whether that end… is bitter or sweet," Namida affirmed, "…we're sticking together…"
Delta nodded and put her hand in her pocket. One last grenade was all she had, especially since her main non-chakra-reliant weapon, the rocket launcher, had been cut in half and destroyed earlier by Wasabi. She could, of course, transform her entire body into a weapon, but she was still disoriented and tired from the hard fought battle that had taken place. All of a sudden, static rang in her earpiece, which was followed by Jigen's voice. "Have all other units, aside from myself and Number 8, gotten out of the city?"
She pulled her hand from her pocket and replied into the earpiece. "Negative! Number One, still here in the west; just let me finish these two girls off."
"No Delta, leave them be. We're bombing this place to hell anyway."
"Dammit!" Delta cursed. "Though when I think more about it," Delta further analyzed the situation in her head, "this was probably for the best."
"Ugh fine," she relented. "I'll go."
Delta once again turned to her two foes. She now knew that the bond between those two girls was as real as can be. The way they covered for each other, worked together, fought together, and protected one another, even risking their own wellbeing for each other. They were both willing to sacrifice their own lives for the other's sake and survival. Those realizations touched Delta, and to her own surprise, warmed her heart.
"Hmm… Is a truce out of the question?" Delta asked the two of them.
"Wait… What?" They asked simultaneously, confused as to the sudden change in tone.
"I'm being made to leave by my lord commander," she explained. "I really hate to leave battles in any way undecided. And our battle will end in a draw, if my truce offer is accepted. So I ask you now: Truce?"
With that, she slowly pulled out the last grenade she had. "I won't remove the trigger pin," she reassured them as she gently rolled it to them. "That's my last weapon, aside from my personal knife. I don't have anything else. I swear on my honor and on my name, as Delta."
Wasabi and Namida looked at her with weary, suspicious eyes. But Wasabi knew that they were in no condition to continue the fight as well, especially Namida, who was barely standing, and leaning on her for support. "For Namida's sake," she reasoned, "I should accept the offer." The battle itself wasn't necessarily going the way she wanted it to either, as Wasabi knew that Delta now had the upper hand. The fact that she suddenly asked for a truce, when she clearly had the advantage, convinced Wasabi that Delta was not tricking them, not to mention the fact that she was also visibly miffed that her commander was ordering her to end the battle early.
"We… umm… accept your truce offer," Wasabi informed Delta.
"Thank you," smiled a relieved Delta. "But before I go, I do have to commend you two. Going toe to toe with me is quite the achievement, if I may say so myself. You both are very courageous, and the teamwork you two showed me stunned me. I've never seen a bond such as yours before."
"You bet," Namida gave the best smile she could. "The two of us… have been through so much together… both the good and the bad… Our bond has grown very strong over all these years…"
"I know exactly what you're talking about," Delta informed them.
Wasabi doubted her. "I don't think you do."
"I'm pretty sure I do," Delta insisted. "And I wish you two well. Keep your trust and faith in each other. I hope you two stick together, if you know what I mean." She remembered the reason why she had joined Kara years ago, and why she had willingly undergone so much suffering and pain to make her special eyes, her spare clones, and the drone that housed her computer-assisted brain and conscience. As a member of Kara, she had sworn to uphold her responsibility to promote and spread positive social changes and reforms, by any means necessary. This meant removing the old, horrible, conservative, discriminatory ideas that were still in place everywhere, by force if needed.
Namida and Wasabi looked at Delta, understanding what she was trying to say. "Unlike what homophobic idiots think, a lesbian relationship is still a real relationship," Wasabi affirmed her belief. "It's still love, no matter what form or shape it takes."
"You are correct," Delta told the two and let out a rare smile. "The whole reason why I've been fighting is so that the generations alive right now, and all the generations that will come after us, will stop having to experience the discrimination and injustices our world still has right now, to make sure that Mother Progress will overcome the bitch Conservatism is, along with all other obstacles standing her way. For that way, the world will truly change for the better. It was precisely because I have seen so much injustice around the world that I joined the organization you know as Kara in the first place."
"What problems are there still… in the world?" Namida asked. "There's not much problems in Konoha… as far as I know…"
"Don't be blind to the darkness of Konoha, young girl. Even in this strong city and nation, there are still those who live in abject poverty, barely scraping by, day-by-day, just to survive. And don't get me started on the homophobia here, I'm sure you two have experienced that yourselves."
Wasabi nodded, having experienced it first hand many times before, and as recently as earlier that night. "It's mostly old people clinging onto their old beliefs and their antiquated, judgmental lifestyles. They'll be gone soon enough."
"Some countries like Ame and Kusa are indeed progressing, yet inequality with regards to income, gender roles, and opportunity are still present. And in other poorer nations, such as Shimo, the Daimyo there and his fellow corrupt leaders bask in their wealth, while the people they rule, the very people they vowed to serve, starve and perish to supply them with more wealth. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. And men who are brave and stupid enough to point out and report the injustices are brutally murdered, and their wives raped, and their children kidnapped, to serve as brainwashed Anbu and slaves. Can you guess who carries out these vile acts? Their own Ninja Police."
"If what you say is true, we have to report that to the Hokage," Namida told her emphatically, "or any of the five Great Kages! They will act! Lord Hokage will act! He will never stand for this."
"They already know what is happening in Shimo," Delta revealed. "And even if your Lord Hokage wants to act, as long as one of the other Great Nations objects, they cannot. That's the veto rule in the Shinobi Union. To clarify, the Lands of Lightning and Water are against interfering in Shimo, and The Land of Fire, while sympathetic to the oppressed people of Shimo, is also hesitant to an extent. This is because it could take a bloody, costly invasion to stop the abuses, and they have sworn to peaceful methods only."
"As my father once told me," Delta continued, "'the ninja only serve to keep themselves in power, to protect the status quo.' For that, we swore to change it. We want change and progress, but as long as ninja are here, it will never be actually happen. As long as the shinobi keep the rich in power at the expense of the forgotten ones in society, we will never achieve justice and positive change. We will render the ninja way obsolete, and replace it with an actual, benevolent, progressive, and proactive, government."
Wasabi and Namida stayed silent. They were saddened at what Delta was telling them, and how hopeless the condition of progress seemed. To them, it now seemed as if Delta was not really an enemy, but rather someone fighting for the same causes as them, albeit using a different, far more radical method as her solution to the wicked problem.
Wasabi then recalled that her team had recently experienced a similar case during one of their missions two months ago, with nearly identical words and solutions proposed. "It's just like Trajano and the Scattered Asch, at the Land of Water," she compared.
Namida agreed. "You're right! He said the same thing before…"
Delta's eyes grew wide after Wasabi had mentioned those names. "Perhaps you two aren't so blind to the social realities after all," she mused.
"Hope is not all lost," Delta continued, looking at the two of them. "Not quite yet. Seeing you two gives me more hope for the future. Now, I believe in your generation, the New Generation, to carry on the fight for true progress. Maybe not in the same way we do, but for the same goals nonetheless. In any case, I need to go now."
"Wait!" Namida called after as she stumbled to the ground and grabbed Delta's dagger. It was a blade with a shiny sheen, with the red delta symbol carved into its black hilt. She looked at it for a moment, before walking to Delta. "This is yours, isn't it?"
"Yes," Delta told her as she sheathed it. "Thanks. By the way, if I were you guys, I'd take shelter now."
"One more thing!" Wasabi called after Delta before asking her, "Before you leave, how did you know Trajano?"
Delta answered, to the shock of the other two, "Trajano was my father." After bowing to the stunned Wasabi and Namida, the Kara Inner turned, ran, and left Konoha for good. Namida coughed loudly and leaned her entire body on Wasabi out of fatigue, since she was practically out on her feet. Wasabi wrapped Namida's shoulder around her neck, and led her to an abandoned building where she could treat her injuries.
*******XXXXXXX*******
A voice cracked onto Jigen and Koji's earpieces, distracting Jigen momentarily. "Number One speaking here… I'm out of the city now. We're just waiting on you, Number 4 and Number 8."
Jigen knew it was time. "Very well," he said over the radio. "Eastern Watch, launch it right now." He then turned his attention back to the group of shinobi before him. "It is time now for the dominoes to fall… And now the winds will wail and the rains will weep over Konoha, and not a soul to hear…" Jigen and Kashin Koji crossed the bridge of the park and fled south, to the outskirts of the city.
Sasuke and Naruto prepared to chase after them, but out of nowhere, something screamed overhead and slammed into the bridge they were just about to cross. It exploded, destroying the bridge and collapsing it into the water below. The blast knocked the group onto their backs, as a cloud of scattered wooden and metal shrapnel was blown in all directions. Boruto got up slowly, dizzy from the sudden shockwave pushing him backwards and knocking him down.
"What was that?" He asked himself out loud.
As everyone else got up, they turned around after similar, small booming sounds came far to the east beyond the city, and violent explosions shook and echoed within Konoha's ruined walls. The group climbed the great tree in the center of the park, and as they looked all around them, they saw buildings partially or completely collapsing, houses crumbling into rubble, fires spreading quickly, and metal shells and bombs being launched into the city exploding, launching shrapnel and smoke clouds in all directions. Screams for help were heard from everywhere.
"Everyone, stay here and hold your positions," Kakashi told everyone as the bombing and shelling transpired. Most of the younger shinobi were in shock and awe at the sight, and nobody knew what exactly was going on.
"But our people need us!" Naruto retorted. "Do you want us to sit here and do nothing?"
"Do you want to be hit by one of those bombs?" Kakashi reasoned when he replied to Naruto. "Or lose your son? Or lose anyone else here? I know you want to help everyone, but if we lose you, we're all lost."
"You're their shining beacon of hope, Naruto," Sasuke added, putting his hand on Naruto's shoulder, "and if you fall here tonight, Konoha's future is suddenly more uncertain. It will be thrown into utter chaos."
"Nobody else needs to go with me. And I don't care if I get hit. I will go and protect my city. That's my job and responsibility as the Hokage," Naruto affirmed, his conviction palpable. Sasuke sighed and shook his head.
"Fine," Kakashi groaned and relented after reflecting. "We'll go with you. You three," he looked at Boruto, Mitsuki, and Sumire, "stay here."
"No," Naruto said. "Only Sasuke and I need to go. Kakashi-sensei, please take care of the kids."
"Will do," Kakashi replied.
"You guys," Naruto turned to Boruto, Mitsuki, and Sumire. "Go back to Sakura and Sarada, and keep yourselves safe. Stay in shelter and wait until the bombing is over."
"Dad," Boruto hugged his dear dad tight. "Please… stay safe."
"I will, son. Don't you worry about me! I got this, you know?" Naruto stuck out his fist to Boruto, and he happily and proudly returned the fist bump to his dad. Shortly afterwards, Naruto and Sasuke ventured deeper into Konoha to protect to citizens from the raining bombs, while Boruto, Sumire, Mitsuki, and Kakashi climbed onto Nue and quickly made their way back to Sakura.
Nue ran through the abandoned streets that were bounded by tall commercial and office buildings, back to where they had last seen Sakura and Sarada. However, a huge explosion was heard north of them, and it was much bigger than any of the others in the shelling. Nue was startled so it came to a stop quickly.
"That explosion," Mitsuki pointed out, "I don't think it was one of those flying bombs."
"What was it then?" Boruto asked in return.
"There's a clearing up ahead," Sumire replied, pointing to an intersection onto one of the main streets five blocks away, which did not have many tall buildings around it. "We can take a look once we get there."
What is happening right now? Why are bombs falling out of the sky? WAAAAAAAAaaaaaaahhhhh! (...boooooooooooom...)
Well, one more chapter to go before the end of this arc! And you don't want to miss this! Chapter 8: Parting Shot, will be uploaded on Sunday, sometime after Boruto episode 112 premiers ! ^_^
All comments are welcome! If you guys want, answer in your reviews:
1) What do you guys think of Naruto being such a good guy? That he immediately forgives and protects the man who almost killed him earlier that night? XD
2) Delta VS Wasabi and Namida? ^_^
3) The fact that people can be fighting for the same thing, but with different and sometimes contradicting solutions? It happens in the real world more often than people think =O
4) This Trajano character, for Filipino readers out there? I'm sure you know who this one is... if not, GMG jkjk ;)
