THE BATTLE FOR THE EARTH – MY PARENTS AND MY DREAM
In the Valley
Sarada stands, fixed in her position as she gawps at Sheer. "My father…". 'Who is this woman, she claims to know my father but that's impossible. My father only fought one battle in the war and that was when a General killed him. It was that man up there'.
"That's right" Sheer smiles, clearly revelling in Sarada's difficult emotions. "That man could only have been your father. He was, wasn't he? He had eyes just like yours".
The Uchiha clanswomen gasps. There is no doubting it now, there is nobody else who could possibly be mistaken for having the same eyes as her. Only one other person from this world can use the Mangekyo Sharingan, at least, only one other person could since the invasion first started. That is none other than her father, Uchiha Sasuke.
"You…" Sarada gnashes her teeth as she imagines how this woman and her father met.
"I was the one who revived him" Sheer explains, "He wasn't easy to make into an insane warrior but it went better than the other one, he showed no signs of losing his mind at all, right up until the moment he disappeared".
Sarada's eyes transform, switching from their previous deep red colour to a strong shade of purple, not dissimilar to Sheer's hair. As the tomoe are replaced by several rings, it becomes clear, the rinnegan has activated.
"So, it's your fault" Sarada grunts as huge amounts of chakra flood from her body, seeping through the very pores of her skin. "It's your fault that my mother is dead!".
"Oh, is that so?" Sheer's smile becomes even more sadistic.
This situation is better than she has dreamt in her wildest dreams. Not only is her opponent the relative of one of her experiments but the experiment has affected her on such an emotional level. For someone who has mastered the art of psychological manipulation in battle, this is the jackpot. An opponent with an obvious to read mentality, with a massive weak point to probe at, who is reacting the probe so well.
"Tell me, did he kill your mother" Sheer taunts.
Instead of replying, Sarada flies into a rage.
She transforms into her comet form, flying towards Sheer at a greater velocity than she has achieved in the form previously. The second before she reaches her opponent, she changes back into her human form, smacking Sheer as hard as she can. It should be understood that Sarada's chakra control is on a similar level to her mother's, combining that with the added momentum from her comet form, each of these hits is incredibly hard, perhaps even harder than Hashirama could hit in his battle against Madara.
As Sarada pushes Sheer back, it looks like a one-shot attack that could kill even the toughest of Captains. With that, many people assume that this is Sarada's all-out attack, something that she will not be able to replicate.
These people, are wrong.
Before the purple-haired Colonel's backward momentum can halt, the 9th Hokage appears in her path once again. A result of increased speed from her comet form. This starts a deadly cycle, with Sarada knocking Sheer all over the valley. The trenches formed by the Colonel's body forms straight lines all throughout the already battered valley. From a bird's eye view it appears like a children's drawing.
It would seem making Sarada go into a rage was a mistake.
The 9th Hokage, is dominating her opponent.
The Hidden Leaf Hill
"Shikadai, look at that" ChouChou looks into the valley in awe as she shakes her teammate by the shoulders. "Sarada is totally beating that woman, she can't even get a hit in".
Inojin would be amused by this childish behaviour if the situation weren't looking so good for their side. "It looks like the Hokage will do her bit, just like she has always done".
"Don't get so excited!" Shikadai responds, sounding particularly displeased.
This confuses his teammates as well as many of the other shinobi from the past and present. If this isn't a cause for excitement what is, this is a completely dominating performance. The only one match that can compare to it is Hashirama's match.
Hashirama's match.
Gasps pass the lips of many people as they start to realise this.
"Yes" Shikadai nods, realising they have understood. "Lord 1st totally dominated his opponent too but he lost because he pushed himself too hard without much training in his new form".
"Boruto, has Sarada used this comet form much?".
"She's used it a lot before" Boruto explains as he looks on. "But, she has never been this fast before, she has never used so much chakra to do it".
"Indeed" Shikadai reaffirms his position. "If she keeps going like this, she will run out of chakra and we will lose".
"Would Sarada really fall for that?" Metal asks.
"Not normally but that woman said something to her before they started. Lady Hinata, with your Byakugan you can lip-read an opponent at this distance, right? Would you mind telling us what she said?"
Hinata has a troubled look on her face as she turns to Shikadai and explains. "That woman claimed that she brought Sasuke back to life. Sarada let slip that Sasuke killed Sarada, so the Colonel is using it against her".
"She did it" Boruto tightens his fists and begins to walk towards the bottom of the hill.
TAP!
A hand touches Boruto's shoulder, stopping him from walking any further.
He turns around to look at the owner of this hand, Senju Hashirama.
The older Senju brother leans down and whispers into Boruto's ear. "Save up this hatred, it will be useful to you but don't unleash it yet. Unleash your anger later, got it, Boruto?".
Boruto works hard to restrain himself but he is really struggling. It was not only Sarada, but Boruto also received Sasuke's last words, in particular something was requested of him. Sasuke asked that Boruto look after his daughter. 'That Colonel is the reason Sarada and Master had to suffer so much. Yet, I have to hold myself back. I want to kill her, I want to kill her more than anything in the world'.
"There you have it" Shikadai finishes. "This woman is playing Sarada, making her waste chakra. We are falling right into their hands".
In the Valley
"SOLAR PUNCH!".
Sarada gathers the energy of the sun on her fist, unleashing it on Sheer in one almighty blow.
This blow is what many hidden leaf shinobi pray will finish her opponent. Sarada has wasted so much chakra in this fit of rage that if she is unable to defeat Sheer with it, it will be bad. To these people, it's a toss of a coin, on one side this punch is successful and they live, on the other it fails and they die.
As Sheer's body flies to the other side of the valley it creates a small crater, dust rising from the ground around her, temporarily obscuring her from the vision of the majority. Naturally, Sarada is not in that majority, she is in a minority with the likes of Boruto, Himawari and Hanabi. A minority who can see Sheer clearly.
The punch… has not worked.
Sheer is in a bad way though, she emerges from the dust coughing blood onto the floor beneath her. A hole ten seconds passing before she is able to clear her mouth of the vile red liquid.
"Lashing out in a fit of rage" Sheer begins with an unearthly sneer. If looks could kill, not a single person on the hill would survive. She had prepared for a lash-out, never though, had she expected it to be that strong. "You will regret using so much chakra all at once".
Having said this, Sheer activates her elemental cloak. As Peterson mentioned previously, Sheer's element is wind. Therefore, her cloak is almost invisible, but there is a noticeable build-up of air around her. The differences in pressure causes a rippling effect that outlines the Colonel's body. It is only at this point where she uses her elemental cloak, despite Sarada having user half of her chakra.
Sheer disappears from view.
Sarada's eyes dart to the side of her sockets, being the only shinobi who can Sheer move, she thinks only one thing upon seeing it. 'Fast'.
Sheer's body finally reappears behind Sarada. The first thing the silver-cloaked warrior does is throw a high kick towards the head of her opponent. To avoid this kick, Sarada leans backwards, pivoting her upper body around her hips without even moving her feet. Something that would be impressive to a normal person but is nothing to a shinobi.
Despite her impressive reactions though, the 9th Hokage is only playing into Sheer's hands.
With Sarada in a near immobile position in front of her, Sheer releases a wind enhanced punch into the Uchiha's chest. With Sarada lacking any form of reliable balance in this position, she is unable to dodge. The punch takes her off her feet, slamming her into the ground.
Now it's Sarada's turn to bleed. A few flecks of crimson escape past her lips as she bounces up off the ground.
Sheer is not done though. Not after the way Sarada attacked her.
BANG!
Once again, the Colonel swings her fist into her opponent's midsection. Bouncing Sarada off the ground a second time. Then, as the 9th Hokage hangs helplessly in the air before her, the purple-haired Colonel delivers a swift kick. Emulating Sarada's punch earlier, sending her enemy across the valley.
Once more, Sheer's body disappears, using a movement technique that is seemingly exclusive to wind-users. She appears in Sarada's flightpath catching her by her dark-black hair before shoving her head into the ground face first.
As Sarada's glasses shatter in her face, cuts appear all over her skin. If her face were visible, it would make a truly brutal picture.
1…2…3…4…5…
At the count of five, Sarada has managed to push herself onto her hands and knees. She doesn't continue to push to her feet though. Instead she reaches for her shattered glasses, his fingers edging closer towards the frame as she attempts to balance herself properly on one shaky hand.
"What are you doing" Sheer laughs as she kicks Sarada in the gut. Not waiting for the count to finish, Sheer resets it with this bone cracking kick.
The Hidden Leaf Hill
Once again Boruto begins to walk towards the valley, seemingly unaware of what he is doing. In a trance like motion he begins his approach. It's as if he has no control over his own body, like something in his mind has snapped.
Hashirama does not bother speaking, instead this time he grabs Boruto by the arms, preventing him from leaving. No matter how much the blonde shinobi struggles, there is no way he can outmuscle the 1st Hokage.
"Naruto" Hinata starts, struggling to watch what is happening, "Can't you do something?".
"I want to" the 7th replies, "But if we interfere in this match the village will die here and now".
"Then she will die!" Boruto finally speaks. "Is that what it means to be the Hokage old man. To stand there and watch as one of your comrades dies. Someone who looks up to you. I thought you took her on as your student".
"Boruto" Naruto smiles, "Believe in Sarada. She may have made a critical mistake lashing out earlier".
As Naruto says this, Sarada pushes herself to her hands and knees once again.
"Still, she is the 9th Hokage. She won't give in here, just you watch".
In the Valley
This time Sarada reaches for her glasses uninterrupted. She pushes the large chunks of glass out from the frames before bending them back into shape. Upon reaching her feet, she weaves the signs for a very simple wind jutsu. A burst of air leaves her mouth, completely clearing the frames of even the smallest glass shards.
'Now give in to that hatred' Sheer begs in her head. 'Come at me with everything you've got and let's finish this'.
To give into hatred. This is not the way of the Hokage. It is not the way that Hashirama preached when he became the first Hokage. Despite some bumps in the road, it is not something that was endorsed by any Hokage since.
So Sarada breathes deeply. Standing perfectly still. Not a thought of hatred in her brain.
"Sometimes you can't afford to lose" she recalls Naruto saying, "So even if it's impossible, you just win".
"Why… why aren't you attacking" Sheer steps forward, eyes wide as she approaches Sarada, "I forced your father to kill your mother, aren't you even angry".
"…".
"I turned him into one of our soldiers, I removed his mental capacity. Why aren't you lashing out again?".
Sarada smiles. "Sometimes you can't afford to lose".
"Huh".
"I thought about those words, what they meant. True, I was angry when I found out who you were but then I had a thought" the 9th Hokage explains, "Do I have to win because I am angry about the dead".
"…".
"No! I have to win because I want to protect the living".
"You…".
"My parents may have wished to see you die, to see you crushed. That however, is not my will" Sarada continues with a stern expression, "My will is still that of Uchiha Sarada. I have to win, when I became the Hokage I swore to protect the leaf. That means I have to beat you".
"You think you can beat me in that condition, you're crazy" Sheer takes a moment to laugh, mocking Sarada for her speech.
Suddenly, a terrible howling noise starts to emanate from Sheer's body. Sarada feels the pressure of the gales Sheer is creating. Truly there is not anything that can compare to this wind pressure.
"I will end this with a single punch" the Colonel boldly declares.
In a moment, she disappears.
In the next she appears right in front of Sarada, throwing a punch towards her.
With the punch bearing down on Sarada, the Hokage activates the final of her rinnegan powers. The power to manipulate gravity, she activates this power, resulting in gravity pushing things away from her body. This of course has the greatest effect on Sheer's punch which slows down slightly.
'A repellent power' Sheer snorts internally, 'You are still vastly inferior to me'.
This prediction, does not come true.
At the last second, Sarada dodges.
'Impossible!'.
The Colonel gasps as she sees the orange lit hand of her opponent, blazing with energy from the sun.
BANG!
Sarada throws her first punch at Sheer.
As she does this her mother comes to mind, she thinks back to what Sakura had said when she first discussed becoming the Hokage. "If you want to be the Hokage go for it, I'll support you all the way".
BANG!
The second punch connects, this time bringing with it recollections of Sasuke.
"So, you want to be the Hokage huh. The most important thing? Well, if you were to ask me, I guess it would be…".
BANG!
The third punch hits. Heralding thoughts of a conversation with Konohamaru.
"The most important thing".
"Yeah, what do you think he said it was?".
"Your father, I have no idea".
"He said the most important thing is to never give up".
BANG!
The fourth and final punch connects with a force greater than any punch before.
A force that places Sheer onto her back.
As such, the count begins!
The Hidden Leaf Hill
'You did it Sarada' Naruto pumps his fist in celebration, 'You held back a trump card until the very last moment and used your determination to reach your opponent'.
'It's not like she got a luck shot either' Mitsuki notes, 'Each of her punches, they were stronger than any I saw from her mother or father'.
In the Valley
1…2…
"Uchiha Sarada" Sheer says, her voice barely a whisper but still enough to attract the Hokage's attention. "Sometimes we don't have a choice, sometimes we are forced to do things by circumstances we can't overcome".
3…4…
"What will you do, when you no longer have a choice?".
5…
"When I don't have a choice" Sarada repeats this as she looks into the sky, "I'll try and overcome the impossible anyway".
6…
"I will never give up".
7…
"Because if you can't afford to lose… you have to win".
8…
"Overcome the impossible huh" Sheer repeats the words as if they were spoken by a great philosopher.
9…
"I wonder, is such a thing possible for us".
10…
"You win, Uchiha Sarada".
As the count reaches ten the people of the hidden leaf celebrate. Their Hokage has come through for them as she always does. This is only their second victory over a Colonel but one which is essential to their survival.
As Sarada gives a thumbs-up to the hill she notices one person who isn't smiling, who isn't celebrating. She notices Uzumaki Boruto.
It is Boruto's turn next.