Chapter 50
(Konoha Hospital)
A few days had passed and Hinata regained full mobility. However, Naruto was still stuck on bed rest as he had yet to fully recover. Thankfully, he was able to move around a bit without any severe pain. He was happy to have a few visitors in the forms of Shikamaru, Kakashi, Kurenai, Teuchi, and Ayame. Shikamaru wasn't able to stay long as Temari promptly dragged him back into his room, despite his repeated assurances that he was alright. The meeting with Teuchi and Ayame was also short but more because they needed to return to their stand. They did bring Naruto and Hinata a big meal of ramen and told them to get well. Kurenai and Kakashi stayed the longest and as they were the only ones other than Tsunade who knew of Hinata being dead a few days ago, all four had quite an emotional time together.
"Are you alright Naruto?" Kakashi asked softly as Hinata and Kurenai became engrossed in their own conversation.
"I'm fine Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said with a large smile.
"Don't insult me Naruto." Kakashi whispered sternly as the fake smile on Naruto's face disappeared.
"I've seen that look on the face of some of my past comrades. It's the look of one who has done something horrific and hasn't figured out how to come to grips with it." Kakashi said, though he failed to mention that he himself had seen that very look on his own face in the past.
"I killed all of them." Naruto said as his eyes glazed over.
Kakashi already knew about Naruto's infuriated rampage through Danzo's compound. While he knew that Naruto knew that it was necessary to finally rid them all of Danzo once and for all, that didn't make killing such a large number of people in such a short amount of time easy for the young ninja. He had slaughtered about a hundred ninja. Most chunin didn't even have that many kills under their belt.
"You did what you had to Naruto. Had he been left alive he would have gotten away and tried something like this in the future." Kakashi said in a comforting tone.
"I can see their faces." Naruto said softly.
"They won't go away for a long time. In fact there is a chance that they never will. Something like that will always stay with you. All you can do is make sure that it doesn't overwhelm your spirit." Kakashi said.
"How do I do that?" Naruto asked as he looked up at Kakashi. His eyes showed that he was desperate for an answer. Kakashi knew many ninja who had actually been forced to quit as they hadn't been able to find a coping mechanism with which they could deal with the death that they saw. A ninja either learned to cope with the stress or they could let it consume them and they would either mentally break down or become psychopaths.
Truth be told, Kakashi's interest in Icha Icha was not mainly due to the great story line, though that was certainly a part of it. In a novel, if a character should die, the reader always has the opportunity to turn the pages back to a time before the character's inevitable death. Thus, the reader could detach themselves from the death. Real life was different and in all cases, other than Hinata, the dead stay dead and no amount of wishing could bring back the good times and soothe the pain and feeling of loss. Icha Icha was Kakashi's coping mechanism.
'At least it used to be.' Kakashi thought as he looked over to Kurenai who was still conversing with Hinata.
"The best way to make sure that your spirit isn't crushed is to find something that can force you to deal with it and continue on." Kakashi said giving Naruto a significant look.
Naruto followed his line of sight and felt his spirits lift as he gazed at Hinata. He knew that having her back was enough to soothe his broken heart and revitalize his fallen spirit. He vowed then and there that he would never let anything happen to her again. He would make sure that nothing happened to his love.
"I understand." Naruto said with a true smile.
'I'll give my life to protect the future of this village. Naruto, Hinata and the others are the ones who will lead Konoha into a bright new age.' Kakashi thought as Kurenai and Hinata ended their conversations and looked to their perspective love interests, wondering what they had been whispering about.
'Then again, who's to say that I can't find a bit of happiness along the way as well?' Kakashi thought as he wrapped his arms tightly around Kurenai, causing the genjutsu mistress to blush and Naruto and Hinata to laugh in amusement.
(Council room)
Tsunade watched as the council members began to file into the room. She had gotten all of the information she could out of Naruto, Kakashi and the other recuperating genin and was ready to address the council before they once again began to cry and moan about wanting information. She was going to be the one in the driver's seat and reveal the truth, well most of it anyway. Hinata's resurrection was still something that she was going to keep under wraps.
"I called this meeting today to tell you to fate of Danzo who had been strangely absent from the previous meeting." Tsunade said as the council began to mummer amongst themselves. Tsunade looked at Hiashi and was annoyed that he hadn't reacted.
"Danzo is dead." Tsunade said simply. The council exploded in shouts of denial, shock and in some cases elation.
"Danzo is dead? Who is responsible?" Hiashi asked, his expression never once changing.
Tsunade took a deep breath before laying down what she knew would be a bomb.
"Naru-chan killed him and his entire legion of root anbu." Tsunade said in a calm tone.
There was complete silence as everyone in the room was shocked by the knowledge, everyone except for Hiashi, Tsunade and Shikaku that is. Tsunade and Hiashi already knew that Naruto had killed Danzo and Shikaku was even smarter than his genius son so it was clear that he had already figured it out. The silence didn't last long before the council once again erupted in shouts of fear, rage, and once again elation.
"So Naruto took out the old war hawk? That's certainly surprising." Inoichi said with wide eyes.
"The old geezer must have really done something to set the kid off. It's amazing that he would be able to take out a legion of root anbu." Chouza stated in wonder.
"How can you shinobi be so calm?! It's obvious that the demon brat has killed an honorable elder and must be slaughtered!" Shouted one of the civilian council members as the rest of the civilians aside from a few shouted their agreement.
"Hokage-sama we demand that you kill irk!" said the fat councilman before his head exploded. This occurred as a result of Tsunade moving across the room at speeds that few of the shinobi could even see and planting her super powered fist through the foolish man's head. The killing intent running off of Tsunade was ten times worse than what they experienced a few days ago.
"Does anyone else have any demands for me?" Tsunade asked in a soft tone. The council members wisely kept their mouths shut and sat back down.
"While he did break the third's law Hokage-sama, his fears are valid. Killing a council member of Konoha is a high crime and the boy is now subject to the council's decision, not just your own in determining his fate." Hiashi said calmly. Inside he was ecstatic however. He had been trying to figure out a way to incriminate the boy without giving himself away and Tsunade had given him the rope he needed to hang the boy.
"What Hiashi-sama says is correct. Normally he would fall under your jurisdiction. However, if he proves a threat to the village as a whole then he can be brought up on charges by the whole council." Homura said after sharing a look with Koharu.
"That's right and I can tell you right now that he will feel the full punishment for his crimes! He will be executed!" Shouted one of the civilians, feeling bolder now that Hiashi and the two remaining elders seemed to be on their side.
"Oh he had a very good reason for killing Danzo." Tsunade said after fixing Hiashi with a glare.
"Oh? And what would that reason be?" Hiashi asked.
Tsunade proceeded to explain everything that had happened and how Danzo and Orochimaru were behind the kidnapping attempts and the subsequent battles.
"This is all speculation. Without some sort of hard evidence to verify your claims, we cannot accept anything the boy or his friends said." Hiashi said in a smug tone. The civilians also had smug looks on their faces as they knew that they were about to finally be rid of the boy.
"I don't' care whether or not you believe it or not. I didn't tell you to try and convince you. I already believe that it is true and don't hold Naru-chan responsible for anything." Tsunade said with a smug look of her own.
"And should the Daimyo learn about this? I'm sure that he would agree with us." Hiashi continued on the attack. He smiled when he saw Tsunade frown.
"I doubt he would call for the boy's death considering the fact that he is the container of the kyuubi as well as a few other circumstances." Koharu said though not many understood what she meant by "other circumstances".
Tsunade, Koharu, Homura and Shikaku knew about Naruto's parentage and knew that the Daimyo would learn about it as well should the civilians pursue this course of action. It was doubtful the man would be happy to learn what had happened to the leaf's greatest Hokage's son and to call for his execution would not go over well.
"Then I say we banish him from the village!" Shouted one of the members.
"I think that would be a good idea." Hiashi said, knowing that by himself, the boy would be easy enough to kill.
"I concur." Koharu and Homura said simultaneously. They didn't hate Naruto but they also didn't want such a loose cannon free in the village.
"You aren't going to banish the hero of the leaf village! He just killed two huge traitors of our village and you dare attempt to punish him for this?!" Tsunade shouted in fury. She was not the only one upset. Shikaku, Chouza, Inoichi, Tsume and Shibi were also enraged. However, they knew that should it come to a vote, which it would, they would be out voted.
"I'm afraid that it is out of your hands." Hiashi said smugly.
"Very well." Tsunade said with a deep sigh as her shoulders slumped and she walked to her table. The civilians felt victory in their grasp at her dejected tone and knew that they had won.
"What are you doing Hokage-sama?" Homura asked as he saw Tsunade begin to write on a scroll.
"I'm just making a checklist of everything I plan to take with me once you banish Naru-chan." Tsunade said in a nonchalant tone.
"W-what?!" Shouted one of the civilians.
"If you banish him then you will need a new Hokage for I shall go with him." Tsuande said much to the shock of the council. However, she was quickly backed up.
"The Aburame clan will secede from Konoha and follow you Tsunade-sama." Shibi said.
"As will the Yamanaka."
"As will the Akamichi."
"As will the Inuzuka."
"Troublesome, as will the Nara."
The council members were stunned. The entire shinobi council with exception of the Hyuga was threatening to leave the village for the boy.
"Have you gone mad?! This is the village that was created and led by your grandfather." Koharu said in shock.
"I'm aware of that. But my Grandfather and Granduncle didn't protect the village. They were protecting what the village stood for the "will of fire" and should Naru-chan be banished then so this principal will also be thrown out of our village. I refuse to sit here and allow you to try and get rid of the future of Konoha because of your own hatred and jealousy. There are plenty of other villages that would welcome him with open arms and I'm sure that a few blood limit clans would also help sweeten the deal. It's your choice. Do you still want to attempt to banish him?" Tsunade said with a smirk as she leaned back in her chair. This was one gamble that she knew she wouldn't lose.
"I withdraw the proposition." Hiashi said in a calm tone, though he was seething on the inside.
"As do I." Homura said.
"As do I." Koharu said as well.
The civilians, seeing that they had lost their support, lowered their heads in submission. Without Tsunade and the shinobi clans, they would be overrun by their enemies in mere weeks.
"Well I'm glad that we got that cleared up. I would have hated to have had to summon Gamabunta to destroy you idiots." Tsunade turned around to see Jirayia in the doorway, a stern look on his face.
"And just where have you been?" Tsunade asked in a curious tone.
"That's not important right now. You need to get the civilians to the bunkers and tell the remaining ninja in the village to prepare for battle." Jiraiya said in a grime tone.
"What? Why?" Tsunade asked in surprise as did the rest of the council.
"Orochimaru has amassed a large army and they are a few hours away from the gates." Jiraiya said simply.
(A few miles outside of the village gates)
Orochimaru was beyond furious. He had not only lost his sound five as well as Kabuto, but he had also lost Sasuke and any chance he may have once had in gaining the sharingan and learning every jutsu in the world! With Sasuke gone, only Itachi remained as the last pure blood Uchiha in the world. Kakashi wasn't of Uchiha blood and trying to take his body would never work as it wouldn't do him any good without a pure blood Uchiha. Trying to take over Itachi's body was suicide. He had attempted at one point when he was still a part of the Akatsuki. It had resulted in him losing his hand to the Uchiha and was forced to flee les he further incur the wrath of Itachi.
Without his elite guards and medic gone, as well as the loss of Sasuke, Orochimaru had finally snapped. He was going to raze Konoha to the ground the matter the cost! He had taken all of his remaining soldiers as well as any rogue ninja he could find and given them the curse seal. Only ten percent of them survived but he immediately sent these remaining ten percent through the process of reaching the second form. He had around two hundred and fifty curse sealed ninja with him and most were already little more than beasts in terms of mental capacity. It not only took a strong body to survive the curse seal but a strong mind as well. Few were able to retain their sanity or mental capacities in the second form, but Orochimaru didn't care! He would let these powerful beasts loose on Konoha and let them wreak havoc.
He had been watching Konoha closely and knew that they had suffered losses during the previous invasion. Since then he knew from Danzo's spies that Konoha had been attempting to keep up its appearance of strength by sending a majority of its most powerful members out to take on A and S-class missions. This meant that village was ripe for destroying. A larger village and attack force would have been noticed well in advance by Konoha scouts and the village would have had time to recall it's ninja to prepare. However, this was not the case with Orochimaru as his force was small but powerful. They had been able to sneak into fire country and were on the war path towards Konoha. They had killed the ninja guarding the borders and Orochimaru was confident that the village had no idea that they were soon to be upon them. He would soon summon Manda to break down their walls and set his abominations free. He would personally kill Tsunade and without their leader, the village would fall before him and he would finally see the leaf village burn!
"Forward! Kill them all!" Orochimaru shouted to his troops as they advanced to their second curse seal form, broke into three separate forces and began to run full speed towards the village.
(Konoha council room)
"Send out an order for the civilians to get to the shelters." Tsunade ordered the civilian council. They all scrambled out of the room with as much speed as they could. The earlier argument was forgotten for the moment. No matter the differences between them, the safety of the village outweighed everything else.
"Clan heads go back to your compounds and gather all of the ninja you can find. I want you to split the forces in half. One half of the forces will meet the enemy head first in the forest with the clan heads acting as generals over their ninja. The other half will remain in the village as a last line of defense as well as reinforcements. Go now and defend our village. Do not allow them to reach our walls!" Tsunade shouted out. The clan heads all nodded as one as rushed out to their compounds.
"I can't believe that he would try this." Tsunade said to Jiraiya when they were alone.
"It's the perfect time to strike. Roughly half of our forces are out doing missions to keep up appearances of strength. With a small enough task force, it wouldn't be that difficult to sneak up on Konoha and attack." Jiraiya told her.
"But a force that small can't be all that powerful." Tsunade said as she looked at her old teammate.
"They can be if they have the curse seal. That's neither here nor there. I'll be going now." Jiraiya said as his face took on a grim look.
"Going where? I need you to remain in the village in case Orochimaru's troops break through. I'm going to deal with the snake myself! I owe him for trying to kill Naru-chan and his friends." Tsunade said with a fierce expression.
"No Tsunade. It's my job to end Orochimaru. If I have the guts to take him out all those years ago then none of this would have happened. It's my fault and I plan to correct it. Besides, you're the Hokage. It's your job to stand tall and be the symbol of strength for the village." Jiraiya said with a small smirk.
"Are you sure you can do it Jiraiya? You know that Orochimaru was always the strongest of us. Not to mention that he was your friend." Tsunade said in concern.
"I'm hurt that you have no faith in me Tsu-hime. Don't you know that I've gotten much stronger over the years? Don't worry I can do this." He said with a wide smile.
"Make sure you come back alive you baka. I don't' want to lose you." Tsunade said as she gave him a surprising hug. She had lost so much in her life already that she didn't want to lose anyone else. Jiraiya may have been a pervert but he was loyal to a fault and was probably the only person in the village who knew her better than she knew herself. He was her constant. Someone she could always count on to be there for her without a moment's pause. The thought of losing him was not something she could put into words.
Even more surprising than the fact that Tsunade hugged Jiraiya was that the toad sage made not one perverted comment or action towards her. He wrapped his arms around her and returned the hug. He loved Tsunade. He had for a long time and he knew that he would never stop. He had also accepted that she had fallen in love with Dan and believed that he would never be anything more than a friend, but he could always hope.
"Don't die baka." Tsunade said in an affectionate tone as she moved back.
"Careful Tsu-hime, I might actually start to believe that you care about me." He said with a teasing smile as he disappeared.
Tsunade waited for a moment before she moved to leave the tower and coordinate the remaining troops in the village.
'Come back to me Jiraiya.' She thought as she left the tower.
(Nara compound)
Shikaku gathered a force of twenty of his clansmen and made to defend the western front of the village. According to Jiraiya, the enemy had spread out into groups for the attack. Each of the groups was coming from a different direction while the largest force was coming straight towards the gates with Orochimaru as its leader. The Nara was never a clan that relied on power and Shikaku knew that they wouldn't be able to take on such a power force especially with Orochimaru there.
"While it's very troublesome, we are ordered to take out the enemy to the west. Let's go." Shikaku said in a bored tone as he led his clan out of the village gates and into the forest.
(Akamichi Compound)
"Find the enemy and crush them! These are our orders and we will accomplish them!" Chouza shouted as he led his troops to meet up with the Nara and the Yamanaka. These three clans had always been close and they would work together to take out one of the larger invading forces. There would be three fronts. As the village had the mountains to their back the attacking forces would have to come from the west, east and south. The Nara, Akamichi and Yamanaka were going to meet up and attack the western forces. The Inuzuka, Hyuga and Aburame were to attack the eastern forces while Jiraiya would take a majority of the non-clan ninja and anbu in the village to the south to face Orochimaru head on. Should the other clans finish off their opponents quickly then they were to move towards the south and help Jiraiya.
"Let's go!" shouted Chouza.
(Hyuga compound)
"The branch members of the clan will remain here to defend our compound and the village. The main house will accompany me to attack the enemies outside of the village." Hiashi said as the hyuga ninja in front of him nodded their understanding. As they moved out to gather their equipment, Hiashi pulled a few main house members to the side.
"I have a separate mission for the five of you. There are a few loose ends to be taken care of in the hospital. Clean up the mess." Hiashi said sternly. He had chosen five main house members who had no love for either Naruto or Hinata. Their dark smirks were enough to tell Hiashi that they would have no problem with their orders.
'Now that that's taken care of, it's time to defend my home. By the time I get back that boy should be dead.' Hiashi thought as he took his clan members to attack.
(Inuzuka Clan)
"I don't see why we have to fight with those pansy Hyugas. We can handle this all on our own!" Kiba yelled out as he walked beside his fellow clansmen.
"Shut up runt! I don't have time to hear your whining." Tsume said with a growl that made Kiba shrink back. She was no happier than he to have to work with Hiashi of all people but she was going to follow orders. Besides it had been a while since she had been able to cut back and have some fun.
"Listen up! Our orders are simple. We kill anything that is not of our village. I don't care who you are with, whether it's our clan or the Aburame or Hyuga. Work with them and repel the attacks. Half of you are going to remain in the village should a few get past our lines. In the unlikely event that should occur you had better dispatch them before they cause any damage. Is that understood?!" Tsume roared out. She was answered with affirmatives from her clan and howls from the canines.
(Aburame clan)
"Dispatch your opponents as quickly and efficiently as possible. If your hives begin to grow short then withdraw immediately." Shibi said to his men and women. They all nodded in understanding as they split of into two groups. The group behind Shibi ran to meet up with the Hyuga and Inuzuka.
(Western gates)
Shikaku, Inoichi, and Chouza had met up and gathered their troops together. In all there were about sixty clansmen and women who would be under the command of the clan heads. However, only about half of these were jonin in skill level. Most of the higher trained shinobi were still out on missions and wouldn't be able to make it back in time.
"Ino-Shika-Cho back together again." Inoichi said with a smirk.
"I'm glad you're so amused, this is going to be so troublesome." Shikaku responded.
"Not as troublesome as what will happen should we fail." Chouza said always the most serious of the trio.
"Let's go." Inoichi said as they left the gates and rushed into the trees to combat the enemy that awaited them.
They came into contact with their opponents no more than a mile outside of the village. They were shocked to see a group of cursed sealed enemies in front of them and knew that this battle wouldn't be easy.
"Chunin level ninja stay with the jonin. This isn't going to be easy." Shikaku ordered. His face was stern and any laziness was gone from his demeanor.
"I'll make a hole! Spiked Human Bullet Tank!" Chouze shouted out as his body expanded. His long hair began to stiffen and spike out as he rolled down into the group of seventy five enemy ninja. His attack only hit a few, but it served its purpose of splitting them apart. Chouza came out of his roll and was immediately attacked by one of the brainless monstrosities. However, the beast's attack was thwarted when a long black spike erupted out of its chest. It could only look down in wonder before it was skewered by no less than ten more. Chouze looked behind it and gaze Shikaku a smile of thanks.
"Don't be so hasty. These guys out number us and are more powerful than half of our forces. We'll have to be very careful." Inoichi stated as he met up with his two other comrades. They look around and saw chaos. Chouza attack had broken the enemy's lines but they had quickly recovered and were already attacking the three clans.
"It's going to be a long day." Shikaku said as they watched ten enemy ninja rush towards them.
(Eastern gates)
"I trust you are willing to listen to my orders?" Hiashi said to Tsume and Shibi as they all met up.
"As long as the orders are sound." Shibi returned calmly. Tsume simply snorted in derision at the Hyuga's tone. It was apparent that the Inuzuka and Hyuga clans had no love lost between them. The Hyugas were looking at the Inuzuka members as if they found their very presence slightly offensive. The Inuzuka were visibly snarling at the Hyuga's looks of superiority. The Aburame clan simply stood back and observed.
"We will hit them hard and fast. The Aburame's insects will find their location and then the Inuzuka clan should attack first with the Aburame clan backing them up to catch and stragglers who are injured or disoriented from the first attack. My clan will come last as the last overwhelming force." Hiashi more ordered than proposed.
"And your clan will take the least amount of casualties as well." Tsume all but growled.
"I would have thought that your clan would be all too happy to attack first. You are so hot headed that way." Hiashi said with an upraised eye-brow at Tsume.
"Enough. Hiashi's plan has merit Tsume-san. We will just have to very careful and be sure to support one another." Shibi said before Tsume could explode onto Hiashi like she desperately wanted to.
"Fine! Let's go and you had better stay out of our way Hiashi. I would hate for you and your clan to get your cloths dirty in a real fight." Tsume said as she and her clan left the gates.
"So uncivilized." Hiashi retorted as he and his clan followed.
'This may be problematic.' Shibi thought as his clan brought up the rear.
(Main gates)
"You all know what's going on and what's at stake. Do not allow them to breach the walls. If you see Orochimaru then fall back immediately! He's mine!" Jirayia shouted as he led half of the remaining konoha forces through the gates and into the forest. He knew that he was going to come across his former best friend and this time only one of them was going to walk away alive. He was determined to finally end the threat that Orochimaru posed to the village.
(A few miles outside of Konoha)
"Well this is certainly interesting. You think the snake will actually win this battle?" Kisame asked his silent partner.
"It matters not. Despite Konoha's best efforts, the snake's forces will eventually get inside of the village. When that happens we will sneak in during the confusion and do what needs to be done." Itachi responded I his usual tone.
"Can I finally kill that snake for what he did to our organization?" Kisame asked with a shark like smile.
"I really don't care. Should Orochimaru get in our way then do what needs to be done. If not then we won't worry about him. He's hardly strong enough to pose a threat to either of us. Don't forget our mission Kisame." Itachi said as they looked on as the first signs of the battle began to take place.
(end)
Here's chapter 50! I want to say Happy MLK day to you all. Dr. King was a great man would did much for our country. I am very happy to celebrate his achievements for the civil rights movement.
How is this battle going to run its course? Who is going to protect Naruto from the forces outside as well as inside the village? What role with Kisame and Itachi play in the final outcome? That is a secret! Till next time, Kyuubi123 out!
