WAR NEVER ENDS – OUR TOTAL LOSS
Outside the Hidden Leaf
Sarada stands looking at the ground, the fire gone from her eyes, no longer Rinnegan, Mangekyo, nor Sharingan, these eyes are simply Sarada's. This is the spot where her entire life changed just seconds ago. Where Boruto disappeared.
This night has been an emotional rollercoaster for the 9th Hokage. It started off poorly, she had believed that Boruto had once again refused to tell his family about their relationship. Then she rose from hell up to heaven, Boruto had told his father about them, he had asked her to marry him, she had said yes. All that euphoria, it should have dominated her life for months but once again, the rollercoaster twisted and turned and plunged her straight back into hell again.
"Hey" she calls out, her eyes still fixed to the same spot on the ground before her.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey" she calls out again and again cursing the world and imploring for someone to answer.
"Listen to me!".
Once more, the Hokage is greeted by total silence, the wind throwing her words straight back into her face. There is no answer to greet her calls, her pleas for a listener. Not even a squirrel, climbing up a lonely tree, or a bird, fleeing its nest in terror. It seems the world has taken great pleasure in reminding Sarada of her turmoil, of her loneliness.
"I know you can hear me" she mutters to the wind.
She laughs slightly to herself as she feels the last barrier to her heart break. The tears are coming again she tells herself, only this time is completely different to the last. "There is no way you would leave me like that".
"Not after coming this far" she whispers as she closes her eyes tightly and shakes her head, "Not after coming this far". Try as she might, she can't stop the outpouring of her soul, her tear ducts determined to convey the agony which she is struggling to do through words.
"You know, when I was growing up, it was all about the village, I wanted to be the Hokage" she recalls. Thinking back on it, Naruto was strange and to most people must have seemed a lot less cool than her father. She still admired him though, he had an important lesson that only he could teach, Uzumaki Naruto, a lesson that she valued just as much as her father.
"It was your dad who inspired me to be like that, to think of the village". That is what she has done, ever since that day, a shinobi who lives for the Hidden Leaf Village. "But then there were obstacles, so many obstacles that got in my way, obstacles that I couldn't overcome".
Sarada's eyes have dropped once again, looking at the last spot where Tao Ma's feet touched, the very spot where Boruto disappeared. Last time she raised her head and her cries went unanswered, no matter how desperate you are, sometimes this world just won't allow you to be at peace, sometimes nobody is there to help you.
"Your father didn't teach me the strength to overcome those obstacles" Sarada sniffles as she recalls the antics of her youth and one chaotic yet determined young man. "It was you who taught me to overcome them. I wanted to overcome them because it was all about the village".
"After that, I finally became the Hokage". Sarada's journey to becoming Hokage was perhaps harder than anyone's before her. Not only were the other highly suitable candidates to the post, Mirai, the fellow shinobi of her generation, Mitsuki and Boruto, but she was an Uchiha, someone feared in the village. "I overcame all of the odds and succeeded Konohamaru sensei".
"I became Hokage and it was all about the village".
The wind blows past Sarada, her hair strokes the sides of her neck, the only friend willing to comfort her in a world of nothingness. It doesn't help, those muscles that have helped her to become the 9th Hokage have started failing and as her vision has become blurred through her watery tears, her muscles have started to lose their rigidity as her entire body slowly becomes numb.
"Then this terrible invasion happened, it was so bad that even our fathers died". The first of Sarada's many losses, the sting feels worse each time and this time is no exception. "I had no idea what to do so I risked my life to bring help from the past".
"Again, it was all about the village".
A momentary rage overcomes Sarada as she continues, "And I trained". Her fist tightens as she thinks about it, her numbing sensation making her ignorant to feeling of her nails digging into her palm. "I trained and I trained and I trained!" she shouts.
Her entire body heaves as her breath accelerates to unhealthy levels. One thought calms her down. A thought of him. "But then you came along, you made me want to live for something other than the village. That's not something I had felt in a very long time".
"I wanted to live for you".
Sarada forces a smile as she thinks back less than an hour ago, to the happiest moment of her life. "You asked me to marry you and all the pieces seemed to fall into place. We had a future together, I had something more than the village to live for".
Tears drip from the end of her nose onto the otherwise dry ground below her but she doesn't notice. The blurred feedback from her eyes is replaced on its way to her brain, replaced by images of her dream future, together with Boruto. "For all the losses that I have suffered, I finally felt that I had gained something".
"I had so much to hope for, so many dreams". The sound of her own heartbeat echoes in her head as her last resistance against her own agony drops. "I dreamt of doing so many things together with you…".
And with her last defiant thought, she raises her head and screams to the world once again.
"And I still want to do them with you… Boruto".
Once more the wind throws the words back in her face. She no longer cares however, all she wants to do is rest with the dreamy vision she is witnessing. The vision of Boruto. She falls to her knees, wondering what she will do when she wakes up.
STOP!
She suddenly takes a deep breath and focuses on staying awake. The vision has moved. Boruto speaks two words to her in the vision, two words which remind her of her duty as the Hokage.
The vision says, "Go back".
Sarada wipes away a tear, the last tear she will allow herself today. She replaces her glasses and gets to her feet.
"Hashirama. I have to go back and see to Hashirama".
With that she turns and runs, as fast as her body will allow her. Into the cold harsh night. Once again, it's all about the village.
The Hidden Leaf Gates
"Open the gates!" one of the still timid gate guards yells to his subordinates down below. "It's the students!".
Nearby shinobi, young and old breath a sigh of relief as the gates open, with all the drama the danger the students were in slipped to the back of their mind. However, now they know for sure that they are OK, they are here unharmed. It was likely that they would have died if they had encountered either enemy who threatened the village during their absence, fortunately, if they were to be attacked by such an enemy, they would likely have all died and not been coming back at all. That is why the return of the younglings is such good news at this time.
At the head of the students, Naruto and Mirai walk in through the gates. The looks on their faces are vacant and unfocused, as if they have suspended all of their emotions in a distant realm and are just focusing on getting to through the rest of the day.
The various Hokage and the Kazekage run up to the newcomers, they have been through hell and back since they were last seen.
"Naruto" Minato calls as he arrives before his son, "So much has happened here. You wouldn't believe how bad it's been, we…".
"It can't be half as bad as what happened out there, dad" Naruto interrupts, ignorant to the full extent of damage to the Hidden Leaf Village. The attack on the village will come to affect him more than most, the victims of the attack are very close to him personally.
"What happened?" Hiruzen asks after a moment.
The look on his granddaughters face, the looks of terror in the eyes of the students, they are so quiet. Each student is wide awake, their eyes fixed on the ground at their feet, possessed by the whispers of the devil, recounting their bad memories to them.
"Dan…" Tsunade mutters as she looks around the group, "Why isn't Dan with you?".
Mirai almost breaks as she raises her eyes to meet Tsunade's. The eye contact doesn't last for more than a second before she breaks it again, looking to her feet, just like the students behind her.
"I…" Mirai mutters. "I… I… he… you see…".
A hand on Mirai's shoulder wakes her from her babbling. Her glassy eyes look to her left at the young man who is comforting her. Uzumaki Naruto.
"Take the children home" Naruto says gently, "I will handle this".
Mirai's heart feels like it is going to escape from her chest as she looks at him. He is so young, just entering his twenties and he has to put up with this. She is older than him, the military leader of the villager who has experienced a brutal war and yet she is the one struggling. This young man however, has taken the weight of the world on his shoulders time and time again and now he is stepping up and taking another responsibility away from her.
Mirai nods before walking away with the students. This world is so cruel to them, so cruel to her, so she dares not consider just how cruel this world can be if you truly bear the full burden. That is what it is to be the Hokage. That is what it is to be Uzumaki Naruto.
"The reason I left in a hurry is because I received an emergency call" Naruto explains, unlike Mirai he has preserved an unwavering heart despite all of the pain, he keeps his eye contact with Tsunade. "The students came under attack from a general, a general with an element just as strong as Clyde's".
"No". Tsunade shakes her head, denying the reality that she has already foreseen from Naruto's words.
"Dan died, defending the students from this general" Naruto admits. "I am really sorry, grandma Tsunade".
Tsunade rests her head in her hand, "This can't be happening".
"Tsunade" Tobirama calls to his niece. "Try to keep calm, you can mourn his loss later, right now we have to maintain appearances for the villager".
"Right now" he continues, "You are not Dan's partner, you are the 5th Hokage".
Sometimes, being the Hokage hurts.
"Naruto". Minato breaks the silence. "You should know of what happened here".
"What happened?" Naruto asks, knowing it must be important if his father will still bring it up in this situation.
Kakashi knows that what has happened is difficult for his sensei to say, so he says it himself. "A group of people in black attire turned up, we think they were from Clyde's world. One of them took Boruto with him".
Kakashi pauses, the expression on Naruto's face is hard for him to see as well, "Sarada took off after them but I don't know if she was able to save him".
"Boruto…" Naruto says under his breath.
Once again, the guards call for the gate to be opened.
This time it is the 9th Hokage, staggering through gasping for air. "Naruto" she calls weakly as she stumbles towards him.
"Sarada" he starts. "Where is B…".
"It's Hashirama" Sarada explains as she reaches Naruto and grabs hold of his jacket. "Lord 1st was attacked by those people in black. He was hit by that same stuff that leaks from Boruto's body".
Naruto is surprised once more. He had almost forgotten about that, Boruto had found the condition manageable recently but if anything ever did go wrong it resulted in an almost fatal incident. A death that only Naruto himself could avert. Sarada was one such victim, during the captained six contest.
"He's on the rooftop" Sarada explains as she works to gather back any energy she can, "Please follow me".
The Rooftop
Naruto follows Sarada to the rooftop that changed her life forever. The events that took place on that rooftop would have unforeseen consequences for everyone present. As Tao Ma had predicted, the events that took place here, today, would have a profound effect on the destiny of all of reality.
"Here he is" Sarada says as she runs over and points to Hashirama's body.
Naruto runs to Hashirama's side, looking over the body of his friend. Their relationship had certainly been strained over the years since they came here but every friendship has their ups and downs. Seeing your friend's dead body, seeing the death of a second friend in a single day, that will affect anybody, even Naruto.
Naruto gathers the power of 'life' on his hands. He couldn't try to save Dan but he can at least try with Hashirama.
As the others arrive on the rooftop, Tobirama is hit by what has happened here. This sight is traumatic to him. The body of the closest person in his world. The body of his brother. "Oh no…".
"Hashirama" Minato says the name to himself. It makes sense now, this is why he could not move to him using the flying thunder god technique.
Shinki analyses the situation calmly. The results of his analysis however, they won't allow him to keep calm. 'If we lose both Lord 1st and Boruto… Your power has saved people before Naruto, it's saved my uncle. Please, please save Lord 1st'.
The worst hit of all is Tsunade. She is instantly overcome by tears as she looks at the body before her. 'Grandfather… you can't leave me… not you too'.
Naruto pulses the power of life into Hashirama's body. Attempting to resuscitate not only his heart but his dissipated soul as well.
PULSE!
"Hey" he shouts at the body of the 1st Hokage, "What were you saying before, what were you talking about?".
PULSE!
"Ever since that battle with Peterson, you and have spoken freely with one another".
PULSE!
"We became so close back then, you and Mito, Hinata and I".
It was Sasuke's attack. When Sheer had brought him back from beyond the grave, Sasuke had attacked the survivors of the Hidden Leaf Village. Only two people realistically had a chance to stop him, Naruto and Hashirama, however, they were both injured.
It was during the period that they were immobilised that they realised how similar they were.
It was during the period following that they became the different people they are now.
PULSE!
"And even after Mito died, we spoke freely with one another. We may not have liked what each other were saying but every single word came from the heart".
PULSE!
"So you're not allowed to die, you old fool".
PULSE!
"You're not allowed to die because you're my friend!".
PULSE!
Naruto continues to pulse his power through Hashirama's body for several minutes. Much like Sarada before he is starting to lose feeling in his body. The real world feels like it is becoming an illusion, and it feels like his memories of the past are becoming reality. For that short while, he and Hashirama got along so well and now he will never have the chance to bring those days back.
PULSE!
"Naruto" Minato says his son's name gently.
"No!" the shinobi shouts back, knowing what his father is going to say already. "He's not allowed to die!".
PULSE!
"He's not allowed to…".
PULSE!
"He's not…".
Minato catches hold of his son's wrist firmly, breaking him from his near hypnotic mantra. "Naruto… that's enough… you've done enough…".
"He's not coming back".
The words pierce Naruto's very soul and he knows that they are true. This is meaningless now. To have the power of 'life' is not the same as transcending life and death. Sometimes, destiny must just be accepted for what it is.
Naruto stops pulsing the energy and rolls onto his back, exhausted.
Sarada shares his exhaustion, she sits down and leans against one of the walls at the edge of the rooftop. Resting her head in her arms, she drifts off to sleep.
"Tobirama, are you OK?" Kakashi asks.
The 2nd Hokage takes a deep breath.
"I'm OK, but we have to realise this day for what it is".
"Peterson was right, the war has already begun and the first battle…".
"… it's our total loss".