REBIRTH OF THE LEAF – A DAY OF DISCOVERY
One Week Later, Another Hokage Summit
The Hokage are all in attendance of the summit once again. These meetings have been taking place daily since the village rebuild began. It is not the long-term intention for every Hokage to attend every day, that is simply a temporary measure during this dark period of the villages history. According to the decisions they have already made at the summit, they are operating on an assumption that an attack is imminent. Once they have a fully prepared village, one that can quickly leap to its own defence in the event of an attack, then, they will have days when not every Hokage will attend.
Today is not such a day. Today all the Hokage there have ever been, except for the deceased Konohamaru, are in attendance. From the position number 1 where Hashirama is positioned they increase in number as you look clockwise. Hashirama, Tobirama, Hiruzen, Minato, Tsunade, Kakashi, Naruto and Boruto and Sarada, with the last two operating as a single individual. Only one of the usual suspects is absent. The middle of the circular table is vacant, the spot where Shikadai usually stands. Shikadai is normally the first to arrive at these summits and is often the last to leave, taking his administrative duties very seriously.
Boruto has noticed a change in Shikadai's attitude ever since his return. Previously, he had always worked hard, despite the lazy impression he gave people who were first meeting him. Lately this has changed, he still gives off that lazy impression but the work ethic behind it has morphed. Previously he always knew when to stop, but ever since their return he seems to have been working harder than ever before. Many dismissed it as giving into the demands of the situation, but Boruto, one of Shikadai's closest friends, can't help but worry that something more is going on.
The door opens and a man with black hair enters. A member of the Nara clan enters. It is not Shikadai though, instead it is his father, Shikamaru.
"Shikamaru" Naruto mutters the name questioningly. As a shinobi, Shikamaru has naturally been active in the rebuilding of the village and in its defence, however, his duties have been minimal compared to Shikadai's. Shikamaru is old now, especially compared to when Naruto knew him, he has already given most of his life to the village and has had little expected of him in the crisis that ensued after his son took his job.
"Hi" Shikamaru says waving to the previous Hokage. He is one of the few people to have met each Hokage before they were summoned to the future, having met the 1st and 2nd previously during the 4th great shinobi war and living a portion of his life in the reign of each other. "I'm going to be hosting your meeting today". He walks to the centre of the table as if nothing is unusual.
Kakashi looks to his side, only to see his pupil looking at him with an inquisitive look. "It's Shikadai's turn to search for the portal" he explains.
Ever since Boruto decided to inform the Hokage summit of his discovery shinobi have taken turns looking for the portal which the invaders are using to arrive in this world. The search has been slow and methodical, with groups of familiar shinobi searching different areas each day. As Kakashi explained, today is Shikadai's turn to search for the portal.
"I've taken over his duties while he's gone" Shikamaru shrugs his shoulders as he holds up the large wad of paper left to him by his son. As a former Hokage's assistant, he is familiar with having large volumes of paper to sort through but this is far more than he is used to. Shikadai's method of working is excessive even compared to his. "The village construction is nearly done, so things aren't that bad now".
"We're sorry to trouble you" Sarada offers politely. While Sarada tries her best to be polite to everyone, she is especially so to Shikamaru. The Nara clansmen was the Hokage's assistant throughout her youth and through much of her adulthood, she is used to conversing with him about a great range of subjects, including missions and village security.
"It's fine" Shikamaru waves his hand dismissively.
Minato leans forward clasping his hands together. "So, what's on the agenda for today".
Shikamaru holds the paper up before him, slightly closer to his face than is natural, something Minato assumes to be necessitated by his deteriorating sight in his old age. "A reminder" the black-haired shinobi reads aloud, "Next week we will be accepting debate topics from the villagers at these meetings".
This is something essential for all forms of government. To debate the topics of interest to their citizens.
Minato nods his approval. "I see, it's important that we discuss the things that are important to them".
"I hope they focus on important issues" Tobirama harrumphs as he leans back and crosses his arms.
"Tobirama?" the elder of the Senju brothers looks questioningly towards his sibling.
"What we need to discuss now is defence, water and food supplies, shelter and technology" Tobirama reminds them. These issues largely cover what they have discussed at the summits until this point. "It would be a waste of our time if we instead discussed leisure facilities".
Tobirama's concern is not unfounded. While it is easy for them to maintain their focus as veterans of war, for the other citizens of the Hidden Leaf it is not so easy. Many of them do not understand combat, in their eyes, the Hokage of the past returned and managed to defeat the mightiest of their opponents. The Hokage know that things are not that simple and that if the two sides were to fight once again, the Hidden Leaf village may not be able to defeat the invaders. Compared to this danger, restaurants and playgrounds are of little concern.
Shikamaru writes this down in a small notebook he has been keeping in his jacket pocket. "I'll try and get them to focus their questions Lord 2nd" he says as he notes it down.
"Please see that you do" Tobirama nods.
Shikamaru tucks the notebook back into his jacket pocket and holds the agenda up to his face. "OK, the next thing we have to discuss is a name".
"A name?" Naruto prompts for more information.
"For this gathering. Something like 'The Hokage Centre', something that describes what this place is".
"I see" Sarada scratches her chin, "So, it's a name for our government".
It is an unprecedented situation for this sort of gathering to be required. Typically, the position of Hokage is handed to someone younger before the previous Hokage retires, or, someone else is chosen after a previous Hokage's death. This has mostly been the case apart from the transitions between the 3rd, 4th and 5th. With the 5th Hokage being older than the 4th Hokage was when he died and the title of incumbent Hokage being passed back from the 4th to the 3rd upon his unexpected death.
"How about 'The Circle'" Hiruzen offers with a smile.
"Lord 3rd, please elaborate on this choice" Shikamaru requests as he gestures back towards the Hokage from his youth.
"Well, besides the obvious reason that we are all sat in a circle" he begins, "The name is symbolic of something else. There is nobody at the head of this table, everyone has a say here. No one opinion is worth less than another".
"Lord 5th" Shikamaru gestures towards Tsunade, switching the conversation to her, "Would you agree with this choice".
Tsunade smiles with a nod. "It's a good choice". Her agreement is somewhat natural, her philosophy as a shinobi and as a Hokage are heavily influenced by the man two places to her right. Her teacher and mentor, Sarutobi Hiruzen, not only her sensei but the Hokage throughout most of her life.
Shikamaru checks with each attendee of the summit and they unanimously agree with this choice of the name.
"Very well, then, from today forward, this gathering shall be known as The Circle".
Later that Night, Tsunade's House
Tsunade returns late at night. This has been a trend with her lately. Ever since she started attending the gathering now known as The Circle, she has had little time to spend at home. She has been going to sleep late and waking up early. She has never complained once though, it is not a job she wanted in her youth but she is a Hokage nevertheless. Tsunade throws herself into her duties headfirst, just like a Hokage should.
"I'm home" she calls out as she shuts the door behind her.
Turning she walks into the living room where two people are waiting. Two chairs facing an open woodfire. One is her partner, Kato Dan, who she had expected to see waiting here for her. The other is unexpected though. The man she requested help train her, Mitsuki is also waiting for her here.
"Mitsuki" she starts, "What are you doing here".
Orochimaru's son slips his finger to his mouth. He places it vertically across his lips as a gesture requesting silence. He then removes it from his mouth and points it towards the other occupant of the room, towards Dan.
Tsunade looks questioningly at Dan who seems not to have even noticed that she has entered the room. Her partner is instead staring at the open fire, as if he is in a trance. Judging from Mitsuki's gesture though, Dan is concentrating to the utmost, thus Tsunade does her best to remain silent.
Suddenly, Dan's eyes widen to their utmost as he concentrates on the fire. The fire increases enormously in heat and in size.
The fire is out of control!
Mitsuki is quick to react. He is a master of many jutsu and a fire is easy for him to control. His hands quickly weave through a series of intricate signs as he gathers water in the pit of his stomach before spitting it over the raging inferno.
It doesn't work though.
Mitsuki's water jutsu, doesn't put out the fire.
As steam fills the room, the situation starts to become worse. Tsunade looks left and right assessing how the fire will potentially spread through her new house. She considers the worst-case scenario, that it could spread through the village, that she would have to use her medical ninjutsu on hundreds of people.
Dan is the calmest man in the room. Without flinching he stretches out his hand towards the fire, placing his open palm parallel to it and extending his arm to its full length. He hesitates for a moment, acting like he's waiting for something. Then, he stops waiting. He throws his hand down as if gesturing for a dog to sit. Miraculously, this is all it takes.
Dan puts the fire out.
Naruto and Hinata's House
"Thanks for the food" Naruto shouts as he begins to tuck into the meal Hinata has prepared for him.
It is unusual to eat this late at night but more than anybody, Naruto is working hard during the day. He works the hardest of anyone on the construction of the village, doing more physical labour than anyone else and after that is done, he goes to The Circle to offer his opinions on how the village should move forward. He has to deal with all of this at the age of 17. He is not yet an adult.
As Hinata tucks in as well, Naruto grins to her. "I didn't know you were so good at cooking".
"Neither did I" Hinata confesses, "Himawari convinced me that my cooking was good, it gave me a confidence boost".
Naruto contemplates this for a moment, it makes sense. Himawari has been eating food made by Hinata for more years than Hinata has been alive. That's a situation that is unlike to repeat ever again.
Naruto and Hinata made the decision to move in together after the village reconstruction began. It has been slightly awkward for both, it was not until after Kakashi became Hokage that they became a couple. It was many years later still when they got married and had children. Despite this, it is for those children that they decided to become closer to one another. The unusual circumstances have meant they share children long before they would have done. Those circumstances mean they will be together often, even if they didn't live together and when they were together, Boruto and Himawari would refer to them as mother and father.
"I see" Naruto smiles, "How is Himawari doing…".
In the middle of his own sentence, Naruto leaps to his feet. He quickly turns on the spot and looks at the wall before him with wide eyes. His mouth agape, Naruto tries to think of something to say a few times but doesn't manage to get anything out. The power that he is sensing in this moment is clearly of great surprise to him.
"Naruto" Hinata looks wide-eyed up towards her children's father, "What's wrong?".
"The invaders' power" he mutters, "Someone else is using it!".
Tsunade's House
A pleased smile comes to the face of Kato Dan. Clearly these happenings are in line with his wishes. He opens his mouth and three perfect sounding words come out. "I've done it".
"What happened?" Mitsuki leans forward as he asks.
"A stone tablet appeared in my subconscious" comes the response.
"Just like with Lord 7th" Mitsuki smiles.
"Yeah. The stone tablet was covered in dust, but underneath there was clearly a word. It said fire and then…" Dan holds his hand up. With a thought and very little effort, flames engulf his hand, flames which share the heat of the fire he created a few moments ago, "I felt an overwhelming power from the stone tablet, my body channelled the power, from my subconscious to reality".
Mitsuki takes this opportunity to find out as much as possible about this strange power. A power that so far, they know very little about yet in the future they could be very depend upon. "So, understanding the true nature of fire is what helped you to make a breakthrough".
Dan nods.
"The first one following Lord 7th" Mitsuki smiles, "You beat Boruto and all of the other Hokage to that achievement. Very impressive".
"Further and further" Tsunade mutters as she clenches her fist.
Her partner looks at her. "Tsunade…" he whispers.
"I keep falling further behind you all, dammit, I'm the Hokage, it's my duty to protect the village" she says as she squeezes her fist so tightly that her entire hand begins to change colours.
Mitsuki is the one Tsunade asked to train her to overcome this issue. He had one initial suggestion about how to do this. One especially relevant to Tsunade seeing as she was part of the legendary sannin.
"Have you considered my suggestion?" he asks, "Shall we go to that place".
Tsunade pauses for a long while, considering how well she would be fulfilling her duties if she stays and how much better she could fulfil them if she goes.
"Tomorrow, I'll give notice to The Circle and leave the village" she declares, "I'm heading to Shikkotsu Forest".
"I'm going to learn sage mode".
Tsunade does try to persuade Dan and Mitsuki not to come with her, that they have important duties in the village and that they would be best served by staying. Neither of them listen to her. Mitsuki feels a great duty to the village and to Tsunade as her trainer, he argues that he can help the village more by going with her. Dan, as Tsunade's partner, makes a different argument. He argues that even before his duty as a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf he has a duty to Tsunade as her partner, something she is very grateful for.
This is the day that Kato Dan becomes the second local to comprehend the invaders' power.
This is not the only major discovery made this day.
The Land of Wind
In the Land of Wind, three shinobi are searching for the portal. These three shinobi are arguably the most well-oiled team in the Hidden Leaf, not just today but in history. These three are the Ino-Shika-Cho formation of the current generation. Nara Shikadai. Akimichi ChouChou and Yamanaka Inojin.
"This is tedious" Shikadai moans as he surveys the sandy landscape.
Inojin turns and smiles at his teammate, "You always say that".
"Well, that may be true" Shikadai confesses as he rests his head in his hands, "But honestly, searching the Land of Wind is a real drag".
"You helped to decide who would be searching where" Inojin retorts.
ChouChou agrees, "That's right, if this is anybody's fault, it's your fault".
Shikadai was present in what is now known as The Circle when the decision was made to search for the portal. The search will increase greatly in speed when Naruto finishes his work on constructing the village and is able to use his thousands of clones to search for the portal instead. They have come with a pre-prepared excuse if they are found by invaders. They are to claim that they are searching for survivors. Following these decisions, Shikadai drew up a rota, specifying when different groups of shinobi would search for the portal.
"I didn't decide where I would be searching. I only decided when I would be searching" Shikadai explains as he sighs. "I left where I would be searching up to Boruto and Mirai, after all, they know best where we should be looking".
"They sure did give you a boring place to search" ChouChou whines, "Nothing but sand".
"Perhaps they thought I would be familiar with this place".
"That's right" Inojin starts as he recalls stories from Shikadai's past, "Your mother is from the Hidden Sand Village, right?".
"Yeah, that's right". Shikadai thinks back to his memories of the Hidden Sand Village. It is a long time ago since he last went there with his mother and father. He and his father had often complained, when they finally managed to pull themselves away from the Hokage, they instead spent their holiday visiting the Kazekage. The Nara family cannot seem to escape walking side-by-side with the Kage.
"Ah" Inojin exclaims as he points past Shikadai and ChouChou, "There is a cave over there".
"Go on then" Shikadai closes his eyes as he returns to his thoughts, "It's your turn to check it".
"Yeah, yeah" Inojin sighs as he approaches what must be the hundredth cave they have seen today.
Shikadai returns to his thoughts. It is not only the Hokage of the past and present that make him feel like dwarves. Now that he thinks about it, his mother comes from the Kazekage Clan, the most revered clan in the Hidden Sand Village. His Uncle had been just like those Hokage of the past, his power had made him seem like he could do anything. When the invasion came to the Hidden Sand Village, they surely won't have been given an easy time of it.
"Still, what's wrong with you lately" ChouChou asks her teammate with a serious tone.
"Wrong with me?".
"Lately you've been acting all down" she explains. ChouChou has been Shikadai's teammate for years. With the exception of Inojin and possibly Boruto, she knows him better than anyone in their generation. "Is something wrong?".
Shikadai sighs. "Hosting these meetings with the Hokage, it made me realise just how small I am".
"Small?".
"For years we have fought against this enemy. No matter what strategy I created, no matter what crazy plan my mind concocted, it was useless against the foes we faced" he begins. "It felt like I was doing nothing while the enemy advanced on us. Then, suddenly, these people came from the past. It was like everything was different for them, it was like they were giants".
"It irritates me" Shikadai continues, "I want to be able to make a difference, just like they can. Know what I mean?".
"Shikadai…".
Shikadai's mind doesn't work like other peoples. Behind his laid-back exterior, he is always thinking. His observations are right. Before the Hokage from the past came forward in time, everything was different. In the Captained Six contest, four of the seven competitors were Hokage of the past, Hashirama, Tobirama, Kakashi and Naruto. Three competitors were from the present, Sarada, Boruto and Mirai. All three of those from the present were only able to realise their true power after the Hokage of the past came forward. It truly is as if those from the present day can do nothing, while those from the past can do everything.
"Guys come here quick!" Inojin's voice booms out of the cave.
Shikadai and ChouChou look at one another for a moment before dashing towards the source of the voice. Whether Inojin has found the portal or run into a terrifying enemy, something has clearly caught the Yamanaka clansmen off guard.
When they arrive in the cave, they are looking down from a vantage point. A rock overhangs the cave below like a balcony over a beautiful view. The view is more beautiful than any sunset though.
It's people.
About 100 people.
Someone rises up at the front of the group, riding on a cloud of fine grey particles.
Riding on iron sand.
When that man reaches the height of the vantage point he sends out a warning. "Whoever you are, you better back off, or I'll…". He stops. Stunned as his eyes come to rest on the foreheads of the three shinobi before him. "Hidden leaf he mutters".
He forces himself to take a deep breath, to make sure this isn't an illusion. As he looks into Shikadai's eyes his heart is thumping in his chest as he asks the fateful question.
"Cousin, is that you?".
Shikadai smiles emotionally. "Shinki" he mutters, "It's me, it's Shikadai".
"You're still alive, I can't believe it".
Shinki steps onto the vantage point and hugs Shikadai tightly. He had never expected to see his cousin again after the Hidden Sand fell and now he finally is doing just that. The people below, evidently survivors from the Hidden Sand, cheer in delight as they finally see another shinobi. This has been a long time coming for them and now that it has they couldn't be happier.
The Kazekage reunites with his cousin after so long.
It's cause for celebration by both the Leaf and the Sand.
The Hidden Sand Village, has also survived!
Author Note:
Hi All.
Firstly, as has surely become clear so far in part 4, this part will be largely dedicated to 'minor' characters. It will also feature survivors from other villages.
This was not originally going to be the case but two reviews inspired me to create this part as an addition.
So I would like to give thanks to Link0011 for that. If you want me to remove this acknowledgement just let me know.
The other thing I would like to address is Tsunade training in sage mode at Shikkotsu Forest. I'm not sure this is possible as I don't have any recollection of sage mode training happening at Shikkotsu Forest. I also don't recall anything in the anime or manga that would make this impossible either. I am sorry if you do, it's too late now, I've already written it and I'm not going to change it now.
As always, thanks for reading,
Cbehrills