Chapter 5: A World in Tears
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[Shinobi Alliance Headquarters (SAH), Unspecified Location North-East of Takigakure, Shinobi World]
Current Time….
The skies above the relocated base of the Allied Shinobi Forces were generating a large amount of rain, matching the feelings of grief that the shinobi in the camp were experiencing. For the shinobi of Konohagakure, the feelings of loss hit them especially hard. It had been more than a week since the tragic death of Naruto Uzumaki after his battle with Tobi, and the emotional toll was still the same as it was the moment he died. Despite the feeling of emptiness that emanated across the Allied forces, however, they refused to give in to those feelings as they were determined not to let Naruto's efforts be in vain. For the Fourth Shinobi World War did not end with Tobi's demise.
The five kages, their bodyguards, and the leader of the Land of Iron's samurai, a man named Mifune, were now in the new meeting hall listening to the latest reports on the war effort. The Captain of the Intelligence Division, Inoichi Yamanaka, was the one delivering the updates.
"Our Commando Unit has just sent us the Intel the Akatsuki Remnant, as it was now called, left at Mountains' Graveyard during their withdrawal; they are now returning to base as we speak. The Commando Unit's report also states that Captain Yamato has recovered from his injuries and is also returning to base," the Yamanaka clansman explained. After a few moments of awkward silence Ōnoki, the Tsuchikage, decided to ask the one question that was on everyone's mind.
"Have they found anything regarding Naruto's…..remains?" he asked; though large traces of Naruto's blood had been found at the site of his battle, his body had not been located.
Many of the shinobi feared that the Remnant might have somehow acquired his body and might go so far as to use him as an Edo Tensei summoning; considering the fact that both Orochimaru and Kabuto were now, reluctantly, part of the Akatsuki Remnant, the possibility was definitely real.
"All the information that both the Commando Unit found regarding Naruto Uzumaki's remains, along with report from Naruto's friends, suggests that that Remnant were unsuccessful in their attempts to even find his remains; the reports also indicate that they didn't even begin looking for them until well after we had taken all of Naruto's blood as well as Tobi's remains," Inoichi responded. Most of the shinobi were just glad they didn't have to face him in battle though the location his body's was now something that unnerved the Allied Forces.
At this point Gaara decided to ask another, more pressing, question.
"What of the whereabouts of the Remnant?" he asked with a voice that indicated that he was in pain; with resealing of Shukaku within him occurring only two days ago his body was still readjusting to the return of the Tailed Beast to it's place within the Fifth Kazekage.
"There was no information regarding their current position and the Commando Unit could not sense their presence." Inoichi explained. Everyone in the room was starting to get frustrated. Yagura, who was also present at this meeting alongside the seven other non-Kage Jinchuriki, decided to voice his irritation.
"We should've finished Madara when we had the chance," the former Mizukage grumbled; this was a sentiment shared by the other Jinchuriki.
When Naruto had freed the other Biju from Tobi's control, more specifically from the Gedō Mazō statue where the Tailed Beasts were placed in after their extraction that was controlled by Tobi, they were sealed within the newly manifested Jinchuriki, as their spirits had also been freed by Naruto. Shukaku, since his previous host had been revived before that time, had been sealed within a large jar similar to the one that Gyuki and the Gold and Silver Brothers were sealed in.
After Sakura had treated the revived Jinchuriki for any injuries they received they went with Killer Bee to aid the Kages, who were desperately fighting to survive their battle with undead Madara Uchiha. Despite saving the Kages and inflicting serious damage to Madara, however, the reanimated Uchiha was able to escape from the Allied Shinobi Forces' grasp. He then freed Kabuto from the grip of the Izanami before forcing him and Orochimaru to fight for him despite his weakened state; the three then rounded up Black Zetsu and the remaining White Zetsu forces, 10,000 in total, before retreating to Mountains' Graveyard. The enemy vanished four days ago, despite the fact that the area around their last known location was a peninsula with very few places to hide. The Jinchuriki were especially ashamed of this; Naruto had sacrificed his life to save them and the shinobi world yet they couldn't even stop the second mastermind behind the war that claimed his life from escaping.
Mei Temuri, the current Mizukage, tried to console the Jinchuriki.
"You couldn't have known about his contingencies so what could you do? With the damage he sustained, it would take him no sooner than a month to recover even with the First Hokage's cells, regardless of whether he's Edo Tensei or not; we'll find him soon enough," she reasoned. As the Jinchuriki pondered their worth, Mei decided to ask Tsunade a question.
"Lady Hokage, how are the revived shinobi fairing in their recoveries?" Mei asked. Tsunade had not spoken much in the past week, except for when the situation called for it; along with Gaara, the Fifth Hokage found Naruto's death to be an unbearably bitter pill to swallow. She had also missed some of the meetings, though this was due to the fact that she was needed in the Logistical Support and Medical Division, who were overwhelmed with over 15,000 wounded shinobi still needing treatment for minor to serious injuries since last week.
"The most serious cases have been dealt with though we still have 12,000 more patients that need treatment for minor injuries. (she sighs) Though I'll admit we would be in worse shape if they hadn't been revived," she said During the course of the war the Allied Shinobi Forces' army had dropped from 80,000 to fewer than 30,000; as another testament to Naruto's heroism, however, he had used the Tailed Beast's chakras to utilize an unknown reanimation jutsu, which he hadn't revealed to anyone, instead of using it in his fight with Tobi. He had the jutsu sealed in a scroll which was in the black box that Naruto had asked Sai to bring to the Kages; when the scroll was opened the jutsu was released, reviving the shinobi who had perished up until that time; some of them, however, were still injured to varying degrees and had to be treated. The fact that the Allied Forces were able to relocate from their original base in the Land of Lightning in such short time was nothing short of surprising.
These issues, important though they were, were not the primary concern of the Raikage, who goes by the alias A; he made his main concern known at this point.
"Hokage, has his team finished setting up their camp?" he asked with a large amount of anger simmering in his voice; his contempt was not directed at Tsunade, of course, but at "him". Tsunade nodded in reply.
"Sasuke and his team just finished; Kakashi is now briefing them on their new duties," she said to which the Raikage sighed.
"I hope that we don't end up paying the price for trying to honor Naruto's last request," he grunted; as much as he didn't want to spare the Uchiha's life he, along with the rest of the shinobi alliance, were just unwilling to deny Naruto's last request.
When Sasuke was, along with the rest of Taka, arrested and brought before the Kages, A was the last one to consent to sparing them and had only done so for two reasons. The first one was that the Kages consented to his terms for the 2-year exile period that Sasuke and his team were sentenced to; in addition to fighting for the Allied Shinobi Forces, the members of Taka would have to go on various missions that were almost suicidal in their difficulty. The second reason behind A's mercy was found in a letter from Naruto which was in the same box as the scroll with the sealed jutsu; the last request Naruto made was, naturally, that Sasuke's life, as well as that of his team members, be spared. In addition to the terms of Sasuke exile A, out of respect for the fallen hero and out of fear of the response from the shinobi forces should he refuse Naruto's last wish, relented in his desire for the Uchiha's blood.
Tsunade understood what A was trying to imply.
"Only time will tell if he turns on us; rest assured, however, that we will do what is necessary should that happen," she replied. The Kages then refocused their attention to Inoichi's reports...
[Shinobi Forces Advance Camp, East of Shinobi Alliance Headquarters]
Meanwhile….
The small and secluded camp, located between the Land of the Waterfall and the Land of Sound, was like any one of the small outposts situated around the SAH with the only distinguishing feature being the shinobi residing in it. They were the most hated people in the shinobi world right now after the members of the Remnant, with one of them garnering particular venom from the Allied Forces. That person was now standing in front of his new commanding officer alongside his team as the commander was giving them their orders. The officer, Kakashi Hatake, knew this young man very well as they had once, alongside Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki, been a part of Konoha's Squad 7.
"….those are your orders as of right now. Am I to be understood, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked the young Uchiha.
"Yes," Sasuke replied. The orders they were referring to were rather extreme by the standards of the shinobi; Sasuke, along with his teammates Suigetsu Hōzuki, Jūgo, and Karin had three main missions. The first one was to observe any enemy movements that might prelude an attack on either the shinobi forces, the nations to the east of their camp which included the Lands of Sound, Hot Water, Frost, and Lighting, or the Land of Fire and report on anything they find; this would be the main duty for Karin as her Mind's Eye of the Kagura (MEK)makes her more than capable of observing such a large area. The second mission was for Taka to track down all those who were still marked with Orochimaru's Cursed Seal of Heaven; when Sasuke had revealed how he had, against all common sense, revived Orochimaru the prevention of more revivals occurring in the future was a top priority for the Allied Shinobi Forces. The third, and stickier, mission was to locate Madara, the rest of the Remnant, and their remaining forces; this was easier said than done, as even if Taka was able to locate this quarry would they still have to return to their camp and report their location before the Remnant found out that their hiding spot had been compromised. In addition, because Sasuke and his team were considered expendable by the Shinobi forces they also had to perform various other S-rank missions, all of them with almost no support; this was so the chances of survival for Taka were extremely low.
Kakashi, having finished his briefing, decided that it was time to head back to the SAH. When Kakashi was out of Karin's sensory range, Sasuke turned to his teammates.
"I need you guys to stay here; I need to be alone for a bit," he said; all three nodded in understanding. As Sasuke got out of their line of sight, Suigetsu turned his attention to Karin.
"Aren't you going to stalk him anyways?" he chided, expecting her to actually do so; he was surprised by her actual response.
"So he could try to kill me again? I told you already that I'm done with Sasuke. I'm here because I had no say in the matter," she replied very angrily before sitting on her began using the MEK. Suigetsu decided to leave her alone so as not to provoke her; he decided to speak with Jugo.
"Sasuke's been rather moody lately, hasn't he?" he asked Jugo, to which he nodded.
"Considering his relationship with that Naruto character as well as what happened last week, I'm just relieved that he's handling it as he is now. It's as if he sees himself as the one responsible for his death," he said; his words were certainly accurate to the letter. Sasuke, after swearing to kill Naruto himself only a few weeks prior was now, in the ultimate irony, the one person burdening himself with greatest amount of guilt over his friend's death even though he hadn't done the deed personally. He had been so focused on "purifying" his clan that he failed to realize that the true mastermind behind its destruction was the man aiding him in his efforts to destroy Konoha until it was too late.
As he stood in front of a small lake 20 yards from the camp, Sasuke cursed himself as he looked at his own reflection.
"How could I have been so blinded to the truth? How could have been so damn weak? Now because of me Naruto's dead; I only ended up shaming my brother and my clan in the end…" he thought as memories of his friend raced through his mind as well as Kurama's warning to him when they had crossed paths.
"You had better not kill Naruto, as you will only end up regretting it," he had warned him.
"I should've taken that damn Biju's warning to heart," the Uchiha thought to himself. After a few minutes of looking blankly at his reflection, Sasuke turned his attention to the edge of a large forest to his right.
"If you've come to avenge Naruto's death, I have no intention of stopping you, Shikamaru," he said with an emotionless tone as the Nara clansman appeared from the shadows.
"As much as some of us from the Hidden Leaf would've taken you up on that offer, just thinking of what Naruto would do to me in the afterlife is enough for me to pass; besides, the way some of us see it, you took a blow meant to Naruto and you were not the one that fought Naruto to the death, so you I have no reason to kill you as far as revenge is concerned," he said getting a raised eyebrow from Sasuke.
"Why are you here, then? Last time I heard you're the proxy commander for Gaara's division, so don't you have somewhere you have to be?" Sasuke pointed out.
"Sakura and the others needed to speak with you; we won't be going far, so just follow me," Shikamaru replied, motioning for Sasuke to follow him; after a few minutes they both arrived at a clearing 90 yards away from Sasuke's camp. The Uchiha soon stood before the Sakura, Sai, and the rest of the Konoha 11. Sasuke sighed.
"I take it you guys want something from me?" he asked. Kiba was the first to respond.
"Shikamaru told us that you're supposed to track down Madara; is it true?" he asked. Sasuke, though somewhat taken aback by this, nodded in reply.
"I'm guessing that you all are planning to fight him?" he asked.
"That's right." It was Sakura who had replied, surprising Sasuke.
"I'm surprised the Kages would allow you to go through with this," Sasuke stated.
"Milady and the others don't know that we're planning to do this, Sasuke; this is something we plan to do on our own accord," Sakura replied; while Sasuke looked at her with a bit of surprise evident in his expression, Neji decided to clarify what they wanted from him.
"Anyways, we're simply asking you to keep looking for him; if you do track him down, however, we want you to inform us and to keep it a secret from the higher-ups. Simply send the message to Shikamaru through one of your hawk summonings and we'll take it from there," the Hyuga said. Sasuke looked at each of the shinobi before he replied.
"I'll agree to it…. if you guys allow me to join you," Sasuke said; everyone eyes widened at this request. Sai was the first to voice his surprise.
"Are you sure you want to do that?"
Sasuke thought back to his memories of Naruto before he replied.
"Because of my actions Naruto is gone; I'm just as responsible for it as those two bastards even if I wasn't the one did the dirty work. As far as I'm concerned the only thing I could do for him now is to end this war by whatever means necessary," he said.
"What about the members of your team, Sasuke?" the question came from Shino; though Sasuke was willing to fight Madara his team, not knowing Naruto as well, were not as inclined to partake on this endeavor.
"When the time comes I'll place them in a genjutsu so that they won't get in the way. Do we have a deal?" Sasuke asked. After a few moments of silence Shikamaru decided to respond.
"This is such a drag… but if what everyone is saying about Madara is true, then we'll need all the help we can get," Shikamaru said, thereby earning Sasuke's cooperation; as the Leaf shinobi went back to the SAH they, along with the Uchiha, were unknowingly headed towards a collision course that no one in the Shinobi world could have ever seen coming…..
Next Time – The Gathering Storm