THE END WAR – COMMUNICATIONS

The Gavaria-Seblix Border

"West towards Okarin," Mitsuki says.

"Yes."

"Are you afraid?"

"He sent soldiers he considered weak to destroy our world. Every ally we have lost along the way has been his fault in one way or another, and he has remained undefeated in combat for hundreds of years. I would be stupid not to be afraid of someone like that."

"We'll find a way to win, I'm sure of it. We haven't gone through all this to lose to someone like him."

"No, we haven't."

Hashirama stands in the desert and looks at the distant waterfall they must climb to enter the nation of Okarin. It is a long climb they must undertake, but not one that will be difficult for those with 'death' energy. Mitsuki may struggle slightly but the 1st Hokage is willing to carry him if need be. For a long time now Mitsuki has been the only person he can talk to with only occasional meetings with others like Sarada. He has been a good friend to the 1st Hokage, and an excellent friend to his granddaughter. If this does not work out one of his greatest regrets will the effect it has on Mitsuki.

Hashirama suddenly grunts and falls to one knee. He holds his head in his hands and shakes as he tries to maintain control of his mind. Mitsuki knows what this means, it means that the Hive Mind has taken control of Hashirama once again. The 1st Hokage is doing his best to fight it, but there is no knowing what the sentient divine ability will do in the meantime.

Mitsuki quickly looks between the various followers of the Hive Mind. They are all slowly turning towards him. He assumes that as Tsunade is the only one among them to understand 'death' energy herself she is the only threat, but he is wrong. 'Death' energy begins to appear around all of them, and after a moment they begin to walk towards him. He remains in position, doing his best to stay calm. He can't escape from a 'death' user. Either Hashirama must save him, or he will die.

The new command from the Hive Mind to the others echoes in Hashirama's head.

"Senju Hashirama has been deceiving you," the Hive Mind says. "Eliminate him and Mitsuki!"

Tsunade suddenly leaps towards Mitsuki. Hashirama positions himself between his granddaughter and his friend. He yells for her to stop but she doesn't listen. He retracts his arm and strikes her in the abdomen, knocking her back. No sooner than he knocks Tsunade away, Hashirama is attacked by all the other victims of the Hive Mind. He swings his hand in front of his face, creating a massive wooden barricade enhanced by 'death' between him and the attackers.

Hashirama looks at Mitsuki and exchanges a nod with him, confirming that he is alright. A hand bursts through the wooden barrier, of course it is Tsunade. He grabs her wrist and implores her once again to stop what she is doing, but the Hive Mind's order seems to have worked. Neither Tsunade nor any of the others controlled by the Hive Mind are listening to his instructions anymore. They are trying to kill him.

The 1st Hokage has a way of fighting many opponents at once, but he wishes that the situation did not call for it. He expands the wood barricade into a massive dome that surrounds himself and Mitsuki as well as a space of several hundred meters behind them. He activates Sage Mode and his golden 'death' cloak. He tells Mitsuki to stay close to his side and pushes his hands together. He whispers what sounds like an apology to Tsunade and the others. Mitsuki understands, the 1st Hokage has no wish to hurt anyone but in this situation it cannot be helped.

Tsunade and the other 'death' users strike the dome in unison, collapsing it. When light fills the area inside of the dome it reveals Hashirama and Mitsuki with a titanic structure behind them. This is the True Several Thousand Hands technique, and each and every hand is enhanced by golden 'death' energy. Hashirama's eyes meet his granddaughter's and when he sees the hatred with which she is attacking him, he hates the Hive Mind more than ever before. Nevertheless, he has a higher duty as the 1st Hokage.

The many hands of his titanic structure strike forward with a deliberate softness. This technique could have been lethal for all of them, but Hashirama refuses to kill them. He was once a victim of this technique and hopes that they can all be saved in the same way he was. He knocks most of the warriors away with a single strike, but Tsunade continues to charge forward. He ups the intensity of the strikes gradually until her forward momentum is stopped, he then initiates a single, more powerful, multi-handed strike against her, knocking her back with the others.

While the last of the attackers has been repelled it won't take them long to stand once again. Hashirama grabs Mitsuki by the arm and leaps away as fast as he can, dragging the team member of the 9th generation leaders with him. He continues for half an hour away from Tsunade and the others, knowing that as a class 9 warrior he holds a significant speed advantage over them. When he is convinced that both he and Mitsuki are safe he stops and groans about the situation.

Hashirama shouts wordlessly and kicks a stone into the atmosphere.

"You couldn't have done anything about it," Mitsuki says. "The Hive Mind has nothing to do but think, inevitably it came up with a good command."

"I don't blame myself; I just hate that this keeps happening to Tsunade. Furst and the Hive Mind have cost her everything. She has lost her grandmother, her partner, and her free will. Do you know that since Tao Ma first killed me we have never had free will at the same time? We have not spoken in years."

"It isn't fair, but that's why you and I are fighting the Hive Mind. I am her teacher and you are her grandfather, that is why we will keep fighting for her until the end."

Hashirama sighs. "That's what I will do Mitsuki. One way or another, I am going to end her suffering. I will make sure our thoughts reach one another again, even if it is the last thing I do."

The Military Academy, Several Days Later

Mirai stands by the portal to a pocket-world and ushers the people of the Hidden Leaf through. They are passing through in great numbers and despite retreating to safety they do not look happy. Although they are non-combatants she thinks they feel they are letting the shinobi down by running away. There is nothing further from the truth. Now they are leaving Sarada and Clyde are free to lead the others as if they were a group of fighters instead of a civilian convoy.

Removing the Hokage's headwear Mirai glances at it. 10th Hokage, that is a burden she will have for the rest of her life. For all she knows she may be the last Hokage. She is the third member of her clan to have this honour. Now both the Sarutobi and Senju clans have hard three Hokage. She finds herself in elite company with people who saved her village, people who served as generals in the war, and people who saved the world. It is because of this great burden that she must put aside her personal feelings and lead these vulnerable people to safety.

Homeworld has made a big difference to the course of her life. Boruto first discovered the portal to this world in their own while they were scouting together. Back then the Shadow Hokage knocked her out for her own protection. It was through one of these portals that soldiers marched into her world, soldiers who would kill the entire population of the three other villages. She made many friends from foreign villages during her days as the Leaf's Military Leader, friends she lost during that invasion.

Thanks to that invasion though she was able to meet some remarkable people. If it weren't for Furst and Clyde's invasion, she would never have met her grandfather and grandmother. Their short-term survival was paid for by her cousin's death, that being 8th Hokage Sarutobi Konohamaru. Thanks to his noble sacrifice she was able to watch as her comrades learnt how to use the strange power of the invaders. She learnt that power herself, along with a strange power to fuse different elements that she later lost.

Prior to the second invasion she was accompanying Headmaster Kato Dan and his students. She was too weak to protect them against an invading General Elliot the first time around. She later fought him and defeated him. The person who she found most terrifying during that attack was the enemy's leader, a vengeful woman named Lara. She terrified her own subordinates, never mind her enemies. Lara lead the enemy in a terrifying battle which would have killed them all if not for the valiant actions of General Clyde, a man who would later become Mirai's friend.

Upon arriving in Homeworld they came up against a tougher foe than they had ever faced before, a blind aristocrat named Carmen. Around the same time there was an assassination attempt against Uzumaki Naruto. She believed this to be Clyde's fault and once again pitted herself against the Homeworlder, only this time Sarada was her enemy. That attack eventually turned out to be the fault of Shikadai, someone who was like family to her. It then later emerged that he only did that to deceptively join the enemy ranks.

With Naruto's assassination averted Mirai spoke with Lara and helped her to work out something about her own intentions. From that moment Lara insisted that Mirai teach her to move and fight like a shinobi. As the only pocket-worlder that Lara was civil with, Mirai quickly became close to the Head General of the Homeworld Military, someone she once found terrifying. She watched excitedly as they defeated the aristocrat Carmen and entered the dome around the Imperial Palace.

Later they were encountered by a class 9 opponent, Headmaster Muto Sora. While under his tutelage Mirai was able to gain some insight into Lara's past and why she turned out the way she did. She was able to watch Lara move past her previous desires to defeat Clyde, she watched as Lara began to care about people again. Eventually they were together when Muto Sora fell and the academy was destroyed.

Mirai was with Lara for her last days. Lara was separated from the others and encountered her daughter Hannah who had yet to gain any self-control. She was there for the last moments of the Head General's life after she was brutally attacked by Hannah. It was one of the most painful things she has ever needed to endure. It was the death of the person who she was closest to, the person who she understood better than anyone else.

Since then her attempts to become stronger have failed and until this moment she feels she has contributed nothing of worth to the rebellion. Although she was involved with his plan to infiltrate the Imperial Guard, she could do nothing to help avert General Elliot's death, instead she joined Clyde and the others, running to meet with Sarada. Now as she spends her final moments in Homeworld she thinks of Lara one more time and thinks again of the request that she made to new Head General Clyde.

She wants him to find Lara's daughter, to protect her going into the future. At the end Lara risked her life for the helpless, she will protect them on this front, Clyde must protect Lara's daughter on the other.

Mirai steps through the portal into the pocket-world and destroys it behind her.

She and the villagers are cut off from Homeworld!

Tamade, Gavaria

Sarada waits in the room that has effectively become her office. She wishes that she could consider training some of the shinobi who have yet to discover elements or doing something more useful with her time, but she cannot. Now her thoughts linger only on her mother. She did not know that her mother was alive, to learn as much only seconds before learning of her death is cruel. Her father is still out there somewhere, but it will never feel the same as it would have done. She curses King Erik for the damage he has caused to her family, wishing she had the strength to fight for payback.

Someone begins knocking at the door.

"Is it important?" Sarada asks.

The person does not answer, instead they continue knocking for over ten seconds. Growing bored of this, Sarada gets to her feet and approaches the door on the opposite side of the room. She opens the door and is amazed by who she sees.

"Hello Little Disciple."

"… Marti Nina."

"That's sensei to someone from your world," Nina says before entering and sitting on the chair opposite Sarada's desk. "It seems like you have done well for yourself since we last met. An office in Tamade, I thought this place was controlled by the Imperial Guard. Tell me, how have you convinced Swen and Odion not to attack you?"

"We uh… Odion is our prisoner downstairs… we sent a fake message from him to Swen."

"That was crafty. Did you get Odion's communication stone?"

"No, he destroyed it before we could do anything with it. We are… we claimed it was destroyed by accident. We sent the message to a nearby Imperial Guard camp and they sent it on. Like a series of beacons."

"Very wise."

Sarada doesn't return to her original seat behind her desk, instead she stands beside Nina. She has not seen her teacher in a very long time. Despite all the difficulties she has endured since she last saw the legendary teacher, Nina looks happier than ever.

"Nina… Marti-sensei, you look well. I thought you had died that day."

Nina chuckles. "I survived. In fact I did more than that. I met with Naruto again. He fought the Imperial Guard's generals, Nero included. He defeated her. One of my students defeated Nero. It was one of the best feelings I have ever felt, knowing that she could not end him, that she could not take another from me. I was finally happy to admit how I have always felt. My students are my children.

"Uchiha Sarada, 10th student, 5th daughter, the Little Disciple, it is good to see you again."

Sarada returns to her chair and sits down. "I don't have the best feelings about families right now."

"You know then?"

"That my mother died. Yes. I only learnt about it in the last few days when I bumped into Mitsuki. He told me that she died attacking a place called the Foundry, and that Naruto couldn't save her because he was weakened by King Erik."

"That is the truth," Nina says. "Naruto has become stronger since then but it wasn't easy. I'm sure you can imagine how he felt after your mother died. He blamed himself, your father blamed him too. However he found the motivation to keep going and he defeated the generals. Your mother did not blame him Sarada, she didn't blame anyone. I never met her but I'm sure she would be proud of the way you fought. I know that I am."

"Thanks Marti-sensei. It is good that you are here. Clyde and I are the only class 8 warriors available, any day now we were planning to charge into Otoriko. King Swen is planning to leave the city and meet with Queen Nadia according to his schedule. We're going to use that chance to take and hold the city, and Gavaria as a whole."

"Before you do that, have you been in contact with him?"

"Him?"

"Naruto."

"Not since that day, I've had no way to do so. Until recently I wasn't even sure that he was alive. I have no idea what he is doing right now."

"We believe that is in Ewoa," Nina says. "I have been working with the old Imperial Family since we last met. The latest information suggests that he may actually be the King of Ewoa."

"The King of Ewoa? Naruto? Is that really possible? We were in Ewoa until recently."

"I have never been a fan of the old Imperial Family. I was reluctant to work with them, but since Naruto is doing it I thought I should as well. I have spoken with Enri who is the former empress consort, and Terukatsu who is the Leader of the War Council. Together we have managed to produce a few of our own communication stones. I have a high-grade one here. I was going to Ewoa to try making contact with Naruto.

"There is a chance that we are close enough here in West Gavaria. Would you like to try contacting him?"

Nina throws Sarada the communication stone and the 9th Hokage looks at it for several seconds in disbelief. Nina has just thrown her an item that may put her in contact with her teacher, the one who everyone has been wanting to hear from for years now. Could this really work? Could she be about to speak to her teacher for the first time since the academy was destroyed. She takes the stone in hand, takes a seat at her desk and prays that it will work. She squeezes it and thinks of a message, hoping that it will reach him.

"Naruto. It's Sarada. Can you hear me?"

Nothing.

Nothing.

Still Nothing.

Sarada sighs.

"Sarada, is it really you?"

Nina smiles at Sarada's reaction. The Uchiha's body goes limp as she rests her head back against the chair. She sees the beginnings of tears in her 10th student – 5th daughter's eyes. There is only one reason that she would react in this way, that she would be overcome with such joy. She is in contact with Uzumaki again at long last.

"It's me. I'm here! I'm here! Is it really you? Please tell me it's really you!"

"You saved me the day Lara attacked our pocket-world. We went into battle with Clyde's colonels. That day we fought Hashirama and Boruto. You fought Boruto to a standstill, but Hashirama defeated me."

"It really is you. You're alive! Is it true what they say, are you really the King of Ewoa?"

"That's what they call me. They also call me the Pocket-Emperor of Homeworld. You can call me Naruto though."

Sarada laughs and hangs her head on the desk for a few seconds. It now seems like everything has been worth it. She has been holding on for so long, telling everyone that they still had hope, that Naruto was still fighting for them. She was right. Not only has Naruto been fighting for them but he has usurped the strongest of all the royals. He has become a genuine threat to the enemy they have hid from all this time.

"I'm in West Gavaria with most of the shinobi," Sarada says. "Lord 2nd, 3rd and 6th are all here with me, and Lord Kazekage too. Clyde is with me as well. Mirai left recently after becoming 10th Hokage. I'm just… I'm just… I'm just really glad that you are still alive and fighting."

"It sounds like you've done well Sarada. I'm proud of you. Do you… do you know about…"

"I know about my mother."

"I'm sorry, I tried to…"

"I know that it wasn't your fault. Please don't apologise. Let me choose where to direct my anger. If someone must pay for what happened to her it is King Erik. I will find a way; I will make him regret what he did."

"I know that you will."

"What do we do now? Are there plans for how to proceed with the war? Are we going to attack Okarin?"

"Sarada, attacking Okarin will be very dangerous but a recent attack on Dunstone has forced our hand. The attack on the Imperial Place is imminent. Tell everyone to get ready for a fight. The final battle will come any day now!"

In Reponse to Apoorv
Who asks several questions

Question: Can you drop a level by forgetting an element?
Answer: That's an interesting idea. I suppose it's theoretically possible.

Question: Will Sasuke ever reach class 9?
Answer: Unless he understands a new element it is mathematically impossible, revealing a potential new element would be a potential spoiler.

Thanks for reading.

In Response to iloveffn
Who asks several questions

Question: Can Ashen lose her crown?
Answer: It is physically embedded in her flesh, so it would be difficult. It is possible though.

Question: Can Ashen understand elements?
Answer: No, that isn't how the people of the Dark Dimension accumulate power.

Question: Does the crown give access to every element?
Answer: Only basic and transcendent elements, not double-transcendent like 'life'.

Question: Is there a 'music' element?
Answer: I haven't written one but there's no reason why not.

Question: Is there a 'technology' element?
Answer: Same answer, I haven't written about one but there could be.

Thanks for reading.

In Response to vellisavet
Who asks how dual elements work

You don't get additional battle classes from understanding multiple elements unless certain conditions are met.

Condition 1: Those elements must be of the same energy level type (basic, transcendent, double-transcendent)
Condition 2: Those elements must be the same tier (understanding, cloak, golden cloak).

If condition 1 and condition 2 are met then the elements sync and grant the warrior a combination bonus.

Thanks for reading.

In Response to YondaimeKamikage
Who asks why Naruto can't fly

I made various things harder to do in Homeworld than the pocket-world for the sake of the narrative.
For example it is harder to perform illusion techniques to the point where only Sasuke can do it.

Flying is one of the things that the different innate energy in Homeworld makes impossible.

I know it's not the best reason, but some techniques were incompatible with the plot I wanted to write.

Thanks for reading.

In Response to Sarada chan san
Who asks if there will be a detailed explanation of the device Furst used

I will reveal more details about it in the future.

Thanks for reading.

In Response to NicoFics
Who asks if Naruto could do the Genkidama

That is what inspired the Life-Gathering Rasengan.
Obviously I was inspired not Naruto, as he has never met Goku.

Thanks for reading.