THE BATTLE FOR THE EARTH – A BEACON OF HOPE
Naruto and Clyde's Starting Point
The 7th Hokage looks fondly over the people he had considered his enemies not moments ago. Their heads are mostly lowered, their respect for him is clear, they respect his power and his capabilities. That is not the true source of respect though, by now Naruto could have killed each and every one of them but he hasn't, he has spared them despite the terrible things they have done to this world.
Five Colonels, between they have destroyed four hidden villages. The fifth they had not destroyed only for one reason, because the shinobi of the hidden leaf had beaten them to it. Their sins against this world are not something that can be easily forgiven. This person before them though is not a normal person, he has an incredible desire to protect and redeem everyone he meets. That is why he was able to comprehend the element that is life. That is why he is so incredible.
Naruto's allies arrive by his side. They come in no great rush, instead walking to him calmly after their moments of celebration. Hashirama, the man who had played the most vital role in the secondary battle. Tobirama who in his own match had defeated the mightiest of the Colonels. Mirai who had raised team morale before freeing Hashirama in the final match. Kakashi who had become the hidden leaf's trump card just as Naruto had predicted. Boruto who had changed the tide of battle by going back for Sarada. And lastly, the 9th Hokage herself, who had summoned them all here.
"Good job, Naruto" Kakashi praises his student with a pat on his back, "You have really made me proud today. I'm prouder than ever before to have been your sensei".
"You beat them, dad" Boruto is equally as happy about this outcome. As the shadow Hokage he has truly had to endure this war on the dark side, he has gone for so long without seeing the light of day and now it has been shown to him. It is his dad who made that possible.
"Lord 7th" Sarada smiles. "Thank you. Bringing you back. Bringing all of you to the future. That was the best decision that I have ever made".
That is what defines these people from the past. The one thing that they all have in common, they are Hokage. This is why Sarada summoned them in the way she did. They had to truly believe in the will of fire, they had to define the will of fire, they had to set an ideal, that is the Hokage. This mental state, it is something hard to produce, something that needs to be protected desperately, to help with this, Sarada summoned their loved ones at the same time. To lose a loved one, you need only look at Hashirama to see what it can do to a person.
"So, you will keep your promise right" Tobirama asks of Peterson, his opponent in his own match, the first person he fought in the future.
"Don't worry, we will keep our promise" Peterson nods to Tobirama. "We will deceive the other Generals to protect you".
Tobirama sighs in relief. "Good" he declares. It may not be vengeance or entirely satisfying but this is the action of a Hokage, this is the right thing to do. His time as Hokage had been dominated too much by what he did in the shadows. It is a lesson he has learnt from the other Hokage, from Sakura's tale of shinobi history. If you have to act in darkness, if you have to hide what you are doing because it is dishonourable, it is probably the wrong thing to do.
However, not everyone agrees.
"That is not satisfactory" Boruto frowns.
Peterson starts as the shadow Hokage reaches for his pocket. Slowly, methodically, he unsheathes a steel weapon, despite their similar levels of power, to the Colonel it feels as if he is facing a demon.
"We have to kill them here" Boruto decides.
Peterson grinds his teeth momentarily, realising that this could be the end. If a battle is to break out between the two side here, Naruto will of course side with the hidden leaf village. That is all that is required to determine the outcome, with Naruto alone the battle will already be decided. He steps to the front of the invaders' group, he makes the conscious decision to take the first blow himself.
"Boruto!" Naruto shouts at his son.
A sideways glance, Boruto looks at his father and his eyes narrow slightly. He has a terrible feeling that he knows what his father is going to say. He has a premonition of something foolish, of a decision ruled by sentiment and not logic. That is the way of the Hokage, not the shadow Hokage.
"We're not going to kill them". Naruto confirms these suspicions.
The shadow Hokage has anticipated this but he is not prepared for it. "Are you joking" he spits, "This is it, the best chance we have ever had".
"They are before us and they are weak!" Boruto looks at his father as he points a kunai towards Peterson, "We will never get a chance like this again. A chance to kill them".
"Boruto is right" Hashirama concurs with his pupil. There is a definite similarity between their beliefs on this subject, they are near identical, "This is a golden opportunity, we can't afford to waste it".
"Kill them".
"I made a promise to the General" Naruto replies as he snaps his head between master and pupil, "I promised that we wouldn't touch his subordinates. As a Hokage, no, as a man of honour, I cannot go back on my word".
Despite these pleas, there is a true devil at work here.
And his name is Uzumaki Boruto.
"Then it will be fine if we kill the General himself?" he smiles to his father, "Even in your current condition you could protect us from a full power Colonel, right?".
Naruto is stunned, are these really the words of his own child?
"Killing the General is the only acceptable outcome" Boruto decides.
A hand touches his shoulder. The only thing that can pull a demon from hell is an angel.
"Boruto" Sarada whispers to him, "Don't, please just… just let this go".
The hesitation is clear in her voice, her hand trembles as she struggles to bring herself to do this. She is the Hokage whose people have suffered at their hands. She is the Hokage who had to watch the entire hidden leaf be destroyed at their whim. Of course, letting go of this grudge is difficult for her, it's near impossible. Still, more than that, she still has to be the Hokage. Since her youth, she wanted to be a Hokage just like Naruto. To take all this pain on and to destroy it, that is what it means to be the Hokage.
"Sarada" Boruto mouths.
"Boruto, this power that I have grasped" Naruto generates a small amount of life energy in his hand and gazes at it with a small smile, "It didn't come through training, it came through understanding…".
"Understanding?".
"Yes" the 7th Hokage dissipates the energy and looks at his son. "I understood that all life is sacred. It must be cherished and preserved if we are given the chance to do so".
"These guys can't hurt us anymore" he finishes.
Boruto tightens his grip on the kunai, his eyes obscured as he looks down to the floor, "I've had to live through the terror…".
"You won't anymore". Naruto takes hold of Boruto's arms, "I promise".
Boruto tugs his arms free from his father's grasp. "You are making a big mistake, Lord 7th" he quietly announces. He turns around and walks away, not looking back for even a second. After years of dreaming of this moment, of hoping for a day when the village could be relieved of its fear, it has not come. The chance to kill them has presented itself and it is Naruto who refuses to take it.
"Boruto" Sarada shouts as she runs after her comrade.
'So, it is you will do it, Naruto' Hashirama looks at the back of Naruto's head, 'It is you will doom us'.
'You haven't done it with weakness or treachery'.
'You will doom us with your ideological foolishness'.
"He was right you know" a voice comes from the centre of the Colonel's group, forcing all eyes to its owner. Forcing all eyes to Clyde. "You should have killed me".
"No, I was right" Naruto refutes Clyde, "All life has intrinsic value".
The General cannot help but laugh. He struggles doing even that much though, hindered by the blood in his mouth and lunges. "I don't know if I believe that… cough… but… cough… I like the sound of it".
"It's obvious that you have powerful enemies, that losing this contest will lose you a lot of friends" the 7th Hokage walks past Peterson and straight up to Clyde. He whispers to him, "I hope you and I can become allies in the struggle ahead".
Naruto turns around and walks away from Clyde. These words would be stupid coming from anyone else but Naruto knows something truly terrifying, something he learnt using Boruto as a proxy. Clyde has been seen speaking to another General, a General more powerful than himself. That happened on the other side of the portal. No matter how the invaders deceive her, one thing is for sure, this is just a single battle. The war is far from over.
To become part of that war, that may not be forced upon Naruto and anyone else may run away from it instead of towards it. Even Naruto may do this under normal circumstances. Something is different here though, it is the way Clyde and the others have reacted to his element, saying that only one person had controlled it before him. Life is Naruto's element, he understands the value of all life, so he cannot run away. Even these people who have made this world hell, to him their life is still worth protecting. So, he will do that, until the day he dies.
Clyde coughs once again as his laugh is stifled by blood.
"You have no idea what you are letting yourself in for, Uzumaki Naruto. I am the tip of the iceberg" he says, "If you involve yourself in our business, in our world, you will find nothing but pain and destruction".
"Or, perhaps you will be different" he smiles, "Perhaps you were granted that element for a reason".
"Perhaps you will become a beacon of light. A beacon of hope like none who have come before".
"I don't know about that" Naruto frowns while scratching the back of his head. "But… I will never give up".
These words hit the invaders like an earthquake. Naruto has said them many times before but now they hold greater weight than each of the previous times. In this battle he had been down so many times, his team had been in a hopeless situation so many times. For locals to defeat them in a captained six contest is unthinkable yet they have done it anyway. If not for this mantra, if not for the fact Naruto never gave up, would this be possible.
"You'll never give up, huh" Clyde repeats the words as if they are the most interesting he has ever heard. "The world presents you with such complex problems and you come up with such a simple answer. I will watch eagerly to see where that takes you, Uzumaki Naruto".
With the help of Sisto and Sheer, the General begins to limp away. When they are out of earshot Sisto cannot help but ask his commander about that exchange.
"General, is that guy really going to help us" he asks, "After everything we've done to this world".
"It doesn't matter" Clyde answers, "Either way, we are facing an impossible task".
"General" Sheer smiles, "It may be impossible, but I think we should try and overcome it anyway".
"Yesterday I would have called you crazy" Clyde copies the smile of his subordinate, "But Sheer, I think that is a good idea".
Grace and Burns wait a few moments, just looking at Naruto. It is hard for them to believe that such a person exists. How could someone endure all of that pain, take it on themselves and then discard it. More than that, he wants to help them, unthinkable. Then Grace recalls a metaphor she discussed with Sheer and Peterson.
In the metaphor, the Colonels had been referred to as the doomed children waiting for a saviour. At that time, they had all thought General Clyde was their saviour but it seems now that perhaps they were wrong. Perhaps this is all a sign, Naruto defeating them, sparing them despite everything. The first local to defeat a General. The second person to ever understand the element of life. If there is a hero they have been waiting for, perhaps it is him.
Grace and Burns turn around, leaving Peterson the only one remaining. He was the first Colonel to make contact with Naruto, and now he is the last to leave him.
"We will keep our distance" Peterson promises. "But Naruto, you are someone who has spared my family, who has done a great service to me, so I have a few words to say to you".
"Don't get involved in our struggle. As the General said, if you do you will find nothing but pain and destruction".
"Besides" Peterson's voice gradually quietens as he leans into Naruto's ear, "You will have problems of your own soon enough".
"What do you mean?" Naruto asks.
"Yesterday, I attempted to kill your son" Peterson begins, "But it wasn't because he let Martin escape, or because he was my enemy".
"It's because your son also has a bit of our power within him".
The memory comes flooding back to Naruto, he recalls the time he saw his son in agony. He recalls the time he saw a grey wispy energy leaking from his body. A constant source of pain for Boruto that he has only recently become able to sense.
"That..." Naruto whispers.
"So you have felt it to" Peterson smiles with admiration, to sense it with Captain level control, Naruto truly is a prodigy, "The power that is within your son, it is possibly on level with the General's".
"No, it may even be on par with yours. But your powers are very different".
"What are you trying to say" Naruto questions.
"Your son is not like you Naruto. He has already started on a different path. His power reflects that, the General's power of darkness may sound nasty but it has a warm feel to it because he is a good man".
"Your sons power is nothing like that" Peterson's voice becomes gloomy as he thinks of the power Boruto has. "Take it from someone who has felt this power in many people. Your son's power is cold, unbelievably cold".
"Watch him closely" Peterson says as he begins to turn away, "Otherwise he will become a disaster for you".
Naruto reflects upon what he has just been told as Peterson walks away. It's true, what he had sensed from Clyde had been intimidating. The golden darkness cloak had been on another level, but that was impressive because of a combination of quality and quantity of power. Examining Boruto's affliction is different, the quantity is so small but the quality is incredible, much like his own. As Peterson had said, it is cold, his power is incredibly cold, as if it shouldn't exist, as if when you are in its presence it is rejecting your existence.
"Naruto, what was that about" Tobirama asks.
"Oh, that's right, you didn't hear" Naruto remarks.
'I did' Hashirama speaks in his head.
"Boruto is walking down the wrong path at the moment".
'Boruto is walking down a different path'.
"It just becomes easier to sense when you have this power".
'That power is the key to seeing his brilliance'.
"Right now, he is lost".
'He is the only one who can find us'.
Kakashi is naturally worried, he saw first-hand what Boruto's power could do. He saw how Boruto nearly killed someone by accident. Ever since coming to the future, he has seen and heard of what Boruto has done, how he has had a ruthless streak unlike anyone else. Considering they are father and son, Naruto and Boruto could not be less alike. However, he also spoke to Boruto alone, he spoke about his feelings and he came to an understanding about the shadow Hokage.
"I wouldn't worry about your son Naruto" he comforts his student, "Sarada will put him on the right path. She is fated to do so, just like you were with Sasuke".
"I know" the 7th Hokage nods, "I have faith in her. As long as she is here, Boruto can be saved".
"Then, is that it?" Mirai suddenly asks.
"Mirai…".
"Is that really it" she asks again, "Can we just go back and rebuild the village now? Can we just go back and live peacefully?".
"Yeah" Naruto answers, "We can go home now".
Mirai smiles widely as she finally hears the words from Naruto himself. Naruto is the Hokage she spent most of her life under, he is the Hokage she witnessed do incredible things, the Hokage who avenged her father and saved the shinobi world. No matter what anyone else says, if Naruto says that it is over, then to her it is over.
The blonde shinobi takes a deep breath.
"I'm coming to your party, Himawari!" he shouts at the top of his lungs.
The Hidden Leaf Hill
"I know" she whispers, still hugging her mother tightly, "I love you dad".
Naruto and the other shinobi have achieved what they set out to do. They are safe to return to the hidden leaf village and create a new life for themselves.
While the others may have suspicions, only Naruto and Boruto know the truth. Only they truly know that the invaders come from another world. They are the only two who know about the portal that they travelled through.
Through that portal, Boruto had seen things more terrifying than they have experienced here today. He had seen a General more powerful, a warrior more ruthless than Clyde. Someone who would kill their own comrades, clearly that General and Clyde are worlds apart.
Indeed, only the 7th Hokage and his son know about the terrifying threat that is still posed to them.
They have their peace for now but peace is a fragile thing at the best of times.
Still, nobody can take it away from them, the great feat accomplished here today.
The shinobi of the hidden leaf village have won.
They have won the battle for the Earth.
Author Note
Hi Everyone.
That is the end of part 3 - The Battle for the Earth.
As well as this it represents an end to the first arc, if you can call it that.
There are some other things I want to cover in a part 4 (almost part 3.5). This should be relatively short so hopefully I will be back with that soon.
So, in response to kail990, no, it's far from being over.
I'll be back with part 4 soon and hopefully with part 5 not too long after that.
Thanks for all of your support through arc 1. You have all been very good to me and I'm very grateful.
I will try to take all of your advice on-board as I write part 4.
I hope I see you all soon.
Thanks,
Cbehrills