Chapter Fifty-One
Lord Hiruzen Sarutobi stared out the window of the Hokage's private box, down to the arena of his villagers. Not mine anymore. He smiled. He'd given up the post of protector of the village almost fourteen years ago; he didn't miss it. He thought back to all Minato had dealt with juggling a wife, son, their various issues, and protecting the village. In that regard, Minato had already outshined his long reign as Hokage – no wars, he even managing to defuse several incidents that almost led to war.
A deep-seated tickle in his chest caused a fierce bout of coughing, so fierce that he had to withdraw the handkerchief from his Hokage robes. He coughed again, expelling miniscule flecks of blood into the white linen. Despite knowing it was a terrible idea, he replaced the blood-stained cloth and withdrew his pipe, filling it one more time, extracting his last wooden match, and lighting the contents for one last smoke. As he sucked in the cherry-flavored smoke, the red glow from the pipe traced his thoughts to Kushina. Teach my boy well, Kushina; don't let him take up this habit.
For a long few moments, he puffed the pipe, feigning aloofness to the suite's occupant. He'd known it was his apprentice since the day he'd heard the audio recording with Kakashi and Itachi. He knew that he would be the target, and he did everything to set this game up so that only the two of them would pay the ultimate price if possible. One last hurrah, one last time to protect this village. It's a good day to die.
"Hello, Orochimaru," he blew out sweet, acrid smoke, not taking his gaze off the window. He set down his pipe as he turned to see the snake sannin drop the façade of the Kazekage. "Tell me, what did you do to poor Lord Rasa?"
The pallid snake shinobi grinned wickedly, "The damn fool has been dead for months, now. He thought he could change his village's fortunes if he got rid of his kid and you all. It was easy to exploit his jealousy."
"Yes," he nodded, "Jealousy will drive you mad; is that why you turned on the village? Because you weren't chosen to be the Fourth Hokage?"
"You found my research dangerous, and you found my methods unethical," Orochimaru reached down on the end table, picking up the sake bottle Minato had poured from earlier. "Sooner or later, you would have ordered my arrest, just like Minato did to Danzo." A flash of realization crossed Orochimaru's face as he saw the bottle's label, "He knows, doesn't he?" Far from being unnerved, Orochimaru looked pleased
"Yes," Lord Sarutobi smiled, "your little plan was dastardly, but you left too many clues along the way." Keep him talking! "Your little armies that are inbound, are walking into a trap right now, as is your little friend down there!" Lord Sarutobi began to chuckle, taking great pleasure at the scowl forming on his opponent's face.
Orochimaru balked for the first time in recent memory. "Then why did you come?"
"You wanted to kill everyone in my village, and you wanted to kill me, both are unacceptable," he laughed, walking up to Orochimaru, "That part was simple, but did my old friend really sell me out to you? Is Danzo really holding your leash?" Know your enemy, and know yourself.
Now it was time for Orochimaru to laugh viperously, "You think that arrogant ass had enough foresight to see what was going on beyond his beef with you and Minato?" He poured them both a drink, "He thought he was setting himself up to be the Hokage, and he thought he could just screw everyone else along the way." He handed the cup of bitter wine over. "Had Minato not uncovered his little plan to murder the Uchiha, I would have murdered his ass, myself, and left him to rot with Lord Rasa at the border."
"Crescent Moon Canyon?" he asked.
"Not even that well-hidden, but who cares?" the viper shrugged. "Now tell me," he downed the cup of rice wine, "How would you like to do this?"
Lord Sarutobi took the last drink he'd ever take, savoring the flavor, but feeling bitter that he wouldn't have time to say goodbye to Asuma or Konohamaru properly. I'm sorry boys; hopefully my last message gets to you both. "On the rooftop, but one last question, if you'll indulge me? Why murder Naruto? Surely, you had to know that would cause us to be on our guard."
"Heh," Oorochimaru laughed, "you still don't get it. I'm not the big bad, here," his lips spread like a malicious earthquake. "All of this is a distraction. I really don't give a shit what happens to this village or that kid; all I wanted was to kill you! You could kill me today, but there are things in motion right know you can't begin to fathom. You really think this is about a few pissant villages and their rivalries? Too bad you're going to die today," an explosion blew a hole in the ceiling clear to the roof, "And you won't ever know what comes next, not just for the village, but the whole world!"
"Maybe," Lord Sarutobi set down the empty cup and gestured to the hole in the roof. "Ladies first," he grinned. Orochimaru jumped through the hole, and Lord Sarutobi made his peace with death, looked out the window one last time, "Good-bye." He leapt through the hole to the roof. My village, I leave you in good hands.
"All right everyone! This is real! Let's get in place to the northwest evacuation corridor!" Kushina shouted to the genin in the ready room as the alarm klaxon sounded.
"Emergency, all civilians please proceed to the designated evacuation area!" sounded over the loudspeakers. "All shinobi personnel proceed to your action stations, this is not a drill!"
"Mom, let's get going!" Naruto winced as he climbed off the improvised exam table, still clearly in discomfort despite the enthusiasm in his voice
"Naruto, you're leaving with the medics!" she insisted, placing her hands on her hips.
"And we're providing cover for them. The invasion has already started, and I'm not being carried out on a stretcher, Mom!" Naruto quipped.
"Naruto, this isn't a matter we're negotiating!" she bellowed in response, her red hair flailing.
"He's right, Sensei," a younger voice squeaked from behind, "Oto and Suna Shinobi already breached the barrier and are in danger of cutting off our evacuation route! The same one we need to cover if the civilians and medic are going to get to safety." Konohamaru was dressed smartly in black with his blue scarf around his neck. The assessment he gave aged him considerably in Kushina's eyes. He shouldn't be here, none of them should!
Shit! "Kushina," Akemi's clearly nervous voice quivered as she entered the room with Hanabi in tow, "Plan Orange is in effect, our priorities have changed!"
"Mom, I'm not putting my life over that of our people!" Naruto challenged. Plan Orange, formerly Plan Habanero, and Plan Red before that, was an emergency contingency if the village was in danger of being overrun. The village jinchuriki, first Grandma Mito, later Kushina, and now Naruto and Hinata; were to be specially evacuated to preserve as a last option to protect the village. Naruto and Hinata had both been read into the plan, knowing its likely implementation today. In fact, the plan had been modified – Gaara had been evacuated ahead under the guise of being injured from his match with Sasuke.
"Son," Kushina explained, "if the village is overrun…"
"Lady Kushina, we are shinobi and we swore to protect our people," Hinata broke in. "If Naruto refuses special escort ahead of the civilians, then so do I!"
"Hinata…" Kushina admire their bravery, but now was not the time for heroics. Is it not? Would that have stopped you twenty years ago?
"Mom, she's right, hundreds of innocents could die if we fail to provide protection! We can do this! Would you or Dad demand evacuation ahead of the civilians if the village were in peril?" Naruto pleaded.
Something in Naruto's voice trigged a flashback to the nightmare that plagued her for months after Naruto's birth – the horrific, vivid thought of what would have happened had Obito taken her and extracted Nine-Tails. Everything she saw vanished, and she saw her boy sitting on the swing in front of the Academy – alone in the world. After all the arguments you had with Lord Third, are you really going to repeat that mistake with your son? How many friends might have lived if you'd been at the front with Minato? Would Rin have been captured or Obito maimed if you'd been with them! "All right, Lord Hokage," she accented, "you win this time! But you are getting checked by the medics once the civilians are all clear – that's not negotiable!"
Naruto nodded, "Fine! Now let's go!"
Bedlam greeted them the second they reached the surface level. Panicked civilians were running aimlessly and the sounds of battle were frightfully closer than expected this early on. So much for planning! Kushina stole a quick glance at the stadium to see a barrier enclosing the Hokage's box. Dammit, you be safe, love! "Sensei, what are your orders?" Konohamaru's voice brought her back to the calm eye of the storm.
The four genin teams plus her own team all had their eyes on her. Her whole life she'd longed for a chance to prove herself and be respected – now it was here. "Ino, can you communicate to the civilians to follow us, that we'll provided cover?"
"I can try," the girl nodded. Her eyes went glassy, and Choji braced Ino as she went limp.
"Do it!" Kushina boomed, "Shikamaru, Lee, Sasuke! You three move on ahead and scout the way to our first checkpoint. If you meet any resistance fall back and do not engage, is that perfectly clear!"
"Yes, First Lady!" they answered in unison as they took off.
"What do we do?" Naruto asked, referring to his team plus everyone else not assigned.
"Start corralling the civilians this way; once we have them assembled, we'll get moving!" She turned to Hinata, "You and your siblings keep your Byakugan up; we might need to divert course depending on what happens." Hinata nodded, and the group began assembling the civilians.
The stabbing in Naruto's side eased slightly, but it could have been adrenaline numbing the effect. It doesn't matter; do you think dad would let food poisoning stop him right now? Don't even start about Mom! The Hokage did not run from danger, and Naruto wasn't about to start, either.
"This way, everyone!" He shouted to a group of civilians despite the squeezing in his guts. The group was now roughly halfway to the bunker in the side of the Hokage Monument.
As the civilians rushed past, he heard the words he'd feared, "WE GOT COMPANY!" Hinata screeched. Her Byakugan burned furiously.
"How many?" Mom asked
"At least six squads, all from Suna!" Neji shouted from the other side of the street."
"Shikamaru!" Naruto shouted, "like we practiced!"
"Konohamaru, Hanabi, Akemi," Naruto heard Mom order, "Keep the civilians moving!"
"Right!" Team Habanero answered in unison.
"Here they come!" Sasuke shouted.
Like hellish yokai, the enemy descended from nearby rooftops and out of the alleyways – six squads total. "Remember, how we practiced, try and take them alive!" Naruto commanded
"Shadow possession jutsu!" Shikamaru expanded his shadow into dark tendrils, the effort of splitting his concentrate caused the muscles in his forehead to twitch.
"Hinata, Neji! Go!"
Neji moved fast as Hinata, his leg now fully recovered. The first three squads went down in short order with their chakra blocked. The other three squads raced past the Hyūga siblings and into a swarm of insects. "Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto summoned two dozen clones and joined in the fray. The clones tackled the already stunned Suna shinobi, and Hinata and Neji finished the job.
Naruto grinned. Too easy! "More of them over here!" Temari shouted. Naruto twisted a bit too quickly to his left, and a knife dug into his right side. Goddamn! The wave of pain threatened to floor him, but he powered through to see another three dozen enemies approaching. Shit!
Before he could give any order, an overpowering blast of wind almost finished the job of knocking him to his ground. Temari's fan whipped back and forth, generating tornado-force winds that threw men and debris around like a child's toys in a tantrum. The wind release roared in Naruto's head like he was in the middle of a thundercloud. Already dizzy from dehydration, Naruto stumbled, losing focus until a strong set of arms locked him in place, "Easy son," Mom steadied him.
Something fearsome quaked below Naruto's feet. "SCATTER!" The adrenaline rush shook away dizziness and pain as he pushed Mom away from the eruption of a massive snake from underneath the ground. The creature was thick as three fully grown men standing atop each other. It roared like some prehistoric beast as hundreds of tons of raw muscle spewed from the ground. Holy shit! That's at least double the size of what we faced in the woods!
"Bringing Down the House Jutsu!" an even more massive shadow blotted out the sun, and the earth shook as a massive toad landed atop the snake, crushing its neck behind the skull. This time, the airburst did knock Naruto to his side, stinging pain cutting though him. As the dust cleared, he saw Jiraiya and Tsuande standing atop a massive toad. "You didn't think we could let you have all the fun now, could we?" Grandpa posed dramatically and winked.
"Grandpa! Your timing is impeccable as usual!" Naruto called out. Jiraiya dispelled the summoned toad, dismounting with Tsunade. Both of them smirked.
"Boss! Sensei!" a frantic voice called out breaking the triumphant moment. Konohamaru! He approached, his uniform torn and his mouth bloody.
"Konohamaru!" Kushina ran to the younger boy, "What happened?"
"We got ambushed, outside the shelter, a squad of them…. Kumo shinobi!"
Naruto watched Mom's right hand clutch into a tight fist, turning the hand red as her hair, "Where are Akemi and Hanabi?"
"They took Hanabi! Akemi is trying to keep up," he heaved, "she sent me to get help! They're heading for the commercial district!"
Naruto watched Mom's face turn to stone, "Naruto," her hair curled, "take the genin and get to the shelter!"
"Mom…" he said nervously.
"Go!" she boomed before turning to Jiraiya and Tsunade, "You two with me!" Mom took off with Granny Tsunade, Grandpa Jiraiya, and Konohamaru in tow.
"What are your orders, Naruto?" Sasuke's voice cut slightly, but was hardly defiant.
"Let's get to the damn shelter," Naruto deflated. As much as he didn't want to admit to it, Naruto was every bit as eager to get to shelter and get checked medically as his parents were. The stabbing pain in his right side had returned with a vengeance, and he was starting to get a bad feeling. Thankfully, the rest of the path was clear.
"Naruto!" Shizune waved as the genin teams approached. Naruto had never been so relieved to see Granny Tsunade's assistant. Get checked out, get some rest, and get back in the fight! Naruto felt his lip curl into a smile thinking about feeling better.
Relief washed away by the terror-stricken look on the woman's face. "Shizune! What's wrong?"
"It's Gaara!" she shivered.
"Gaara? What's happening to my brother!" Temari demanded as she approached.
"See for yourself," Shizune looked haunted as she gestured them along into the cold concrete tunnel deep below Hokage Rock. They moved past countless frightened looking civilians into the makeshift hospital deep in the structure. Gaara lay on an exam table shirtless. Angry black lines spread outward throughout his body like meridians on a map. The boy's face curled angrily, morphing between human form and tailed-beast form.
"Oh god…" Naruto felt cold all over. An angry cursed seal pulsated on the base of Gaara's neck.
"What the hell!" Temari shouted.
"Orochimaru must have suspected something," Shikamaru said aloud. "Or he must have decided to lay a trap just in case Gaara didn't make it to the finals."
"How long do we have, Shikamaru?" Naruto asked.
"No idea, man," he shook his head, "minutes, maybe."
The weight of everyone in the bunker landed in Naruto's stomach. Angry, pulsating waves of nausea jumbled with the thought of the One-Tailed Beast slaughtering everyone here. "We have no choice," he turned to Sakura and Hinata, "We have to get him out of here, right now!"
"Where, Naruto!" Temari punched him in the arm. "Are you going to treat him like a monster the way my father did!"
"No," he shook his head, "Shikamaru, you and Temari try getting my father or grandfather as quickly as possible," Naruto paused to heave against a wave of pain in his side, "We are going to take him to Training Ground Three."
"Training ground three?" Sakura looked at him curiously.
"It's close enough to reach, but far enough outside the village."
"I'm going, too," Sasuke said.
"Sasuke?" Sakura turned to her boyfriend.
"I know how he fights," he shrugged.
"You do realize you haven't taken on a tailed-beast, right?" Naruto chided.
"How hard could it be?" Sasuke smiled with an arrogant wink. Confident if nothing else.
"All right, let's grab the stretch and get him out of her," Naruto said.
"Naruto-kun," Hinata's soft voice spoke up, "What about you? You're very sick!"
"If Shukaku gets loose," Naruto shook his head, "then that's the least of our problems."
"What about the rest of us?" Neji asked.
"Someone has to stay here and protect the civilians," Naruto said. He turned to stare at Shikamaru and Temari and then to Sakura and Hinata. "Everyone understand?" Everyone nodded. "Good, let's go!"
Author's notes: Hi everyone. Thank you all as always for reading. I hope you're all well, and I'll see you all next week.