CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Buy Us Time!
XXX
107 Days Since Sasuke
Winter was here. And as Naruto walked towards the Homebase gates with Hinata by his side, he could feel how stupidly cold it was about to get. Especially since the Kumo Base was a few hundred miles from the Land of Frost's border.
Hinata spotted Naruto's shivers as a cold breeze blew through the military city.
"Did you pack a jacket?" she asked him.
"Of course," Naruto grinned pointing to the black jumpsuit top he wore over his mesh shirt.
Hinata paused. "Don't tell me that's all you packed, Naruto-kun. You're going to catch a cold."
"It's just a cold. I catch them all the time, dattebayo."
"That's because you're never covered up. I can't believe you spent so much time packing but couldn't be bothered to pack any winter clothes," Hinata ranted, removing the bright red scarf wrapped around her shoulders. She aggressively wrapped it around her boyfriend's neck, multiple times, even throwing one end over his face.
"It wasn't my fault. I got a little distracted."
A bright red hue formed across Hinata's face. She turned away from him. Naruto's eyes widened. He scratched the back of his head for a moment before lifting the scarf's fabric to his face.
.
"It smells like you. I like it," he said, referring to the scarf.
Hinata giggled. "It's… just a little something to remember me by." She finally turned back to him and asked, "So, how are you getting to Mount Myoboku?"
"Pervy Sage said something about a Reverse Summoning Jutsu. I don't know. I just smile and nod whenever he's talking," Naruto replied. "What about you? What will you do while I'm gone?"
"Apparently, my family arrived at Homebase last night to spend the winter here. I haven't seen them in years, so I figured I'd see what they're up to," Hinata explained.
"That sounds fun. You can tell me all about it when I get back."
Both jinchuuriki slowed to a halt as they approached the village gates. Jiraiya stood under the massive 'welcome' sign, talking to a toad that was twice his height.
"Pervy Sage," Naruto greeted.
"Naru… hey! I told you not to call me that around other people!" Jiraiya snapped back.
Naruto tried to calm him down. "My bad. Force of habit."
Jiraiya pinched the bridge of his nose momentarily. There was no time to waste. Rather than lecture him about respect, Jiraiya chose to introduce Naruto to the large orange toad resting by the side of the entryway. "By the way, Naruto, this is Gamakichi. He'll be taking us to Mount Myoboku. Gamakichi, this is Naruto, he'll be your new personal summoner. You two better get nice and comfortable. It's going to be a long winter break."
XXX
111 Days Since Sasuke
The first snowfall of the year was upon them, meaning as the Land of Lightning's thick grey clouds rolled over the mountains in the north, for the first time that year, instead of rain, they brought with them flakes of pure white snow.
"Lady Tsunade… Lady Tsunade!"
"Huh?" the Hokage's eyes creaked open as her senses returned to her. She had moved her chair from its natural position at the head of the table to in front of the large, curved window, and fallen asleep whilst watching the snow fall.
Tsunade hadn't even realised how exhausted she was. It had been a long few months, and although she'd been Hokage for a couple of years now, nothing could've prepared her for the stressors of warfare. Just thinking about how many of her shinobi were out dying in the fields the past few months filled her heart with more sorrow than she could handle. Hopefully, this war would end as soon as winter was over.
"Lady Tsunade!"
"Huh?" still drowsy, she turned to the person who'd woken her up, expecting him to just tell her to go to her quarters.
"Shit! Lady Tsunade, we're so fucked! I… I don't know what to do!" the panicked man in a green flak jacket yelled.
No one ever yelled at the Hokage unless it was urgent, so she rubbed her eyes and tried to stand up. "What's gotten into you?" she asked in her husky post-sleep voice.
"The Akatsuki! They're coming! No! They're here!" he yelled. Waking her up.
"What?"
She pushed him aside and marched out into the main hall. She looked up at the translucent globe floating over the desk. It confirmed her worst nightmares.
"What do we do?" the man cried.
"Shit! Shit! Shit! Call back all the jinchuuriki! Naruto! Roshi! Yugito Nii! All of them! The Kage too! And… and tell everyone to fortify the walls, their homes, the barracks! Everything!" Tsunade demanded. "Where's Kosuke?" she called for the toad that'd been assigned to her by Jiraiya.
"Should I call for him, Lady Tsunade?" one of the assistants asked.
"Of course! Call for him! Call for Kakashi Hatake! Call for Kurotsuchi too! This is serious! Put the whole city on Red Alert!"
"Will do," the young woman said, leaving Tsunade alone in the war room.
The buxom blonde looked back up at the globe one more time. She scratched her eyes once more to make sure she wasn't overreacting. Unfortunately, if anything, she was underreacting. No amount of reacting to possibly measure up to the situation they'd found themselves in.
The dots. They were everywhere. The Akatsuki. Orochimaru's gang. And an army of White Zetsu clones. All of them. They were surrounding the Kumo Homebase and quickly approaching. How did she not notice this before? Just as Orochimaru had abused the map's update schedule to enter Konoha, they'd somehow managed to race from Ame to Kumo just in time for the update schedule to miss their movements. This was the worst-case scenario. The Akatsuki were making one final push before winter began, and everyone on the Allied side was nowhere to be found. The only jinchuuriki in the whole village was Hinata, and the only Kage were Tsunade and Kurotsuchi.
No words could possibly describe how fucked they were.
This was an invasion of the Kumo Homebase.
XXX
Hinata took a deep breath in as she stood in front of a decorated mahogany door. She'd finally mustered up the courage to confront her greatest fears. Or had she? She looked up at the building in front of her before looking back at the city behind her. She exhaled and lifted her fist to the door.
It swung open.
Hinata came face to face with a familiar face that she didn't recognise at first glance. A beautiful, young Hyuuga girl dressed in a tan kimono with long black hair that ran down to her hips. Hinata didn't know how to react, and from her hesitation, the younger kunoichi didn't know either.
She hugged Hinata. It was the tightest hug Hinata had felt in years.
"I never thought I'd see you again, Onee-san."
"Hanabi?" Hinata couldn't hold the tears. They started streaming down her pale face. "You've grown so much. I didn't even recognise you."
The seven-year-old brat that she left in the Hidden Leaf all those years ago had grown into a strong kunoichi. Hinata didn't know where to look. She couldn't even see Hanabi through the tears blurring her vision.
The tears were wiped off her face as Hanabi released the hug and decked her older sister across the face. A slightly less endearing gesture than the hug.
"What was that for?" Hinata backed away.
"You abandoned me for nearly five years. What do you mean 'what was that for'?"
"I didn't abandon you, Hanabi."
"You did! I lost you in the Konoha Crush! I thought you were dead! Why didn't you at least tell me you were leaving? Me! Your one and only sister!"
"Because I didn't know I was leaving myself. I was kidnapped by a bunch of Kumo shinobi during the confusion. Naruto and Gaara saved my life that day."
"Then why didn't you come home?" Hanabi asked. She was met by silence. "Was it something I said? Something I did?"
"No. Of course not… it wasn't you…"
"Then why didn't you come home?"
The atmosphere shifted as the quarrelling siblings were interrupted by a third party. "Hanabi, return to your room," Hiashi demanded.
"Yes, father," Hanabi didn't hesitate.
Hinata looked up at her father for the first time in over four years. The Hyuuga Head had aged heavily in the last few years. He was beginning to grey with deep wrinkles running across his forehead and cheeks.
"Hello, father."
"I'm glad you're alive. I was worried the secrets of the Byakugan would fall into the wrong hands following your desertion and inevitable death."
.
"Yes, father, I'm alive. But I grew stronger since you last saw me, I promise."
"Grew stronger thanks to that demon inside you?"
"Huh?"
"Yes, Lady Tsunade told me about how you became a host to that three-tailed demon. It disappoints me that rather than go through proper training and Hyuuga conditioning, you would take the easy way out and make a deal with the devil."
"That's not why I became a jinchuuriki. I grew stronger through proper Byakugan training."
"Byakugan training? Where on earth would you get Byakugan training outside of the Hidden Leaf?"
"From the…" she froze. She couldn't expose the secrets of the catacombs, especially not to her father. "From… from myself. I learned some techniques on my own and improved upon what I knew before."
"…" Hiashi's glare bore deep into Hinata's soul.
"I'm sorry."
"I don't want you to be sorry, I want you to be better… what did you think was going to happen, Hinata? That after abandoning your own flesh and blood for four years, you could just waltz back into the family, and we'd all accept you as if nothing happened? You dishonoured the Hyuuga name! I had to try and explain to other members of the Hyuuga Main Family why they had no heiress all of a sudden. Do you understand how embarrassing that was for me? And you haven't even told me why you left!"
"I left because I didn't want to be the Hyuuga heiress," she finally admitted. "All the traditions, the rules, the duties, the responsibilities. It's not for me."
"Oh? And what is for you? Running around with a bunch of hooligans? Hopping from village to village? Being… being a jinchuuriki? You were born into the most powerful clan in the Hidden Leaf, and you squandered it because you wanted to be that street rat's wh…" for better or for worse, Hiashi didn't finish his sentence.
.
.
.
"Well… luckily for you, you aren't the Hyuuga heiress anymore. Hanabi was much better suited for that role anyway."
"What does the Caged Bird Seal do, father?"
.
.
.
"Don't start with that nonsense."
"How could you allow such a cruel and unusual seal to be placed on your own brother's child? What could possibly justify placing that seal on half of your own flesh and blood?"
"The Caged Bird Seal exists to protect the secrets of the Byakugan from those who intend to steal it!"
"It exists to keep the Branch Family subservient."
"Oh? Did Neji tell you that one?"
"And what if he did?"
"Neji was brainwashed by his father to act as a weapon against the Main Family! He always has been a weapon formed against me… and you, and your sister."
"He was a child and you rigged him to explode!"
"So, you act like a shy and timid brat for so many years, and now you think you can come back and lecture me? Your father? Unfortunately, you don't understand how this family works. You obviously don't understand its rituals and traditions too, otherwise, you wouldn't have run away from them for four fucking ye-!"
An explosion sent tons of debris flying into the air.
Hiashi grabbed Hinata by the arm and threw her into the building before closing the door. Rocks and concrete battered the door, knocking both it and Hiashi to the ground.
"FATHER!" both Hinata and Hanabi, who'd been hiding around the corner this whole time, screamed in unison.
"What happened?" Neji rushed out from one of the rooms. A massive hole had been blown in the entranceway. "What's going on?" he yelled as plumes of black smoke rose from different sections of the Homebase.
"I don't know!" Hinata cried.
"Okay… you… you protect Hanabi and check on Lord Hiashi. I'll go check out what's going on with Lord Tsunade."
XXX
"An invasion, is it?" Kakashi said, walking into the war room.
Tsunade was standing in front of the curved window staring out at the Homebase. "Hm," she nodded.
"By whom?"
"Everyone that you could possibly think of."
"Pain?" Kakashi asked.
"Yep." Tsunade nodded. Kakashi went silent. She turned to him. He could see that she was trying to hide her anxiety under a mask of sternness. "Keep going," she demanded.
Kakashi's eye widened.
"Itachi?"
"Yep. Keep going."
"Orochimaru?"
"Yep. Keep going."
"Sasuke?"
"Yep. Keep going." Kakashi's heart sank into his stomach. "Why did you stop?"
"… Sasori?"
"Yep. Keep going."
"Konan?"
"Yep. Keep going."
"Tobi?"
"Yep. Keep going."
"I don't even know who's left," Kakashi admitted.
"You left out Juugo, Kisame, Sakon, Ukon, Tayuya, and the thousands of White Zetsu clones that have come to fuck us over!"
"Then what are we doing just standing around?"
"Hundreds of shinobi are manning the walls around the village. I've called for all the jinchuuriki and Kage to return."
"Han, Roshi, and Mei are in Kiri. They're weeks away, Tsunade."
"We have no choice. We have to hold out for as long as possible."
"You're telling me Pain is just beyond those walls and you think kunai launchers are going to protect us?"
Tsunade split the war room's table in half. "WHAT OTHER OPTION DO WE HAVE?"
The room went silent.
.
.
.
"A's not in the village. Temari's not in the village. Mei's not in the village. Onoki's dead! Give me another option… please… any suggestion at all."
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.
.
"I don't know," Kakashi said, "I need time to think."
"Well, there is none! As much as I'd love to walk out there and yell 'Wait! Our heavy hitters are a few weeks away, so come back after winter.' I don't think Pain would accept that as an excuse."
Tsunade's rant was interrupted by a bright red toad with blue markings appearing on the remnants of the shattered table. "You called for me?"
"Kosuke? You're our last hope for a bit of leverage. Head down to Mount Myoboku and tell Jiraiya and Naruto we're in trouble. They need to come back, now!" Tsunade pleaded.
The toad clapped its hands together. "Understandable."
"This invasion's got me wondering though… how did the Akatsuki know that our jinchuuriki and Kage weren't in the village? There's just no way they'd spring an offence just before winter otherwise," Kakashi noted.
A sword was rammed through Kosuke's stomach. Killing him instantly. There was no other toad in the Kumo Homebase. Tsunade watched as their only communication with Jiraiya and Naruto fell limp, a sword through its chest.
Tsunade and Kakashi were coated in the toad's blood.
"… Danzo?" Tsunade whispered. "Danzo, why?"
"You rat…" Kakashi said, "You really were the mole after all."
"Mole?" Danzo asked, rubbing the toad's blood off. "I'm no mole. I'm a saviour. I'm the one who's about to end this stupid war, Tsunade. I've spoken with the Akatsuki… they've agreed to end this war if we just surrender by tomorrow at dawn. Thousands of lives will be lost if we allow this conflict to progress beyond this moment. Rather call it and not risk any more bloodshed."
"No, Danzo, no… you're smarter than this. You know you can't negotiate with the Akatsuki. Blood will be spilt regardless. Their goal is to end the shinobi system as we know it."
"There's no use, Tsunade," Kakashi yelled. He rammed his right hand through Danzo's chest, "Lightning Blade."
Danzo coughed up a mouthful of blood. "Always the first to resort to violence. Just like your father," he said before fading away.
"Izanagi."
Danzo was gone.
Neji burst through the war room doors. "What on earth is going on?" he yelled.
"Our toughest battle yet is what's going on," Kakashi said. "The Akatsuki are here. All of them, including Orochimaru's gang and an army of White Zetsu."
Neji went quiet. "What's the plan?"
"We've got some of the smartest minds in Konoha in this room. The plan is whatever we can come up with to buy us some time until the Kage and jinchuuriki come back," Tsunade said.