WAR NEVER ENDS – PLEASE HELP ME
Clyde's Headquarters
Sarada can feel her heartbeat in her ears. This can only go one way. This is not a battle where she is trying to defeat her opponents, it is a battle where she is attempting to touch a cube. She need not worry about what will happen after that, she can tell from the tone of their voices that the colonels won't try to kill her. Even if they did, after touching the prison she would have freed Naruto and there is no way anyone here could stand up to him.
They wait for a moment, who will blink first.
Sheer releases her grip on Hinata and dashes for the midpoint between Sarada and the prison.
Sarada activates the unique powers of her rinnegan, transforming into a streak of light as she launches towards the prison.
These two are the undisputed speed masters of those present, Sarada with her unique rinnegan abilities and Sheer with her control of 'wind' and years of study into its use. The first exchange will all come down to who reaches that midpoint first.
Sheer reaches that point first, her 'wind' cloak active, ready to block Sarada's path.
Sarada's weakness in this form is her mobility. Her manoeuvrability is severely limited, she cannot turn sharp corners quickly, otherwise she would skirt around her opponent.
The 9th Hokage returns to her human form and lands on her feet, knees already slightly bent and hips twisted to concentrate her power for a right-handed punch. Chakra gathers on her hand, lighting it up like the sun for the 'solar punch'. She unwinds her body, throwing everything into the punch at Sheer.
Sheer narrowly dodges the punch, feeling the sensation of the air blowing against her skin. This air pressure, so many would find it unpleasant but it is different to her. Even under present circumstances she smiles slightly, this is the closes she gets to being at home, this sensation.
Sheer lightly pushes Sarada backwards, determined that she shouldn't kill her. As many people as possible must survive this day. Behind Naruto, Sarada is a priority, someone truly powerful who could be of use.
Two of the other colonels finally arrive at the midpoint. Burns takes hold of Sarada's left arm and freezes it solid while Grace uses her powers of fire to propel her arm into Sarada's gut. The distance between the Uchiha and the prison increases, that is a success for them.
All the while one anxious colonel maintains his grip on Hinata. They must keep her back, they have to spare one person to do that. He should be fine by his own calculations, unless destiny moves against them. Unless Hinata displays that same freakish power from before once again.
Sarada has no time to waste in freeing Naruto. She activates her complete-body Susano, instantly dwarfing everyone she is fighting against. She lifts the right foot of the Susano and stomps down towards the top of the prison; unaware of whether it will free Naruto but certain that it is worth the gamble.
The colonels are not willing to find out either. 'Earth' sprouts from all sides of the prison, forming into a small mountain around it as the peak spikes out towards the falling foot of the Susano. As the two collide the mountain is destroyed but at a cost to Sarada, the foot of her Susano is knocked away. A successful defensive move for Colonel Dred.
The repulsed foot is an ongoing problem for Sarada. Sheer flies up into the air right in front of Sarada, not ten meters from the face of the Susano. Holding both hands out, the colonel sends a repeating barrage of 'wind' divine energy at the attempting rescuer. There is an initial struggle between the two former adversaries for control but as Sheer closes the distance between them and initiates a succession of ultra-close-range blows she achieves her goal and pushes the Susano down onto the floor.
Recognising the Susano for the problem it could become, Grace engulfs it in a sea of 'fire'. The Susano slowly begins to melt yet Sarada cannot dissipate it carelessly, lest she get pulled into the flames herself.
"Idiots" Sarada curses, "Do none of you realise what is at stake in this battle? Everyone could die!".
Wordlessly, Grace continues to melt the Susano.
"Just give it up Sarada" Sheer sighs; "Go back and fight alongside the general if you must".
The rinnegan darts between the various military-sourced assailants. This isn't time for hysteria or argument, this is the time for analysis.
'I am slightly stronger than they are but there are far more of them'. Sarada's eyes are then drawn through the shattered mountain to the still pristine cubic structure within. 'If Naruto were in this situation he would… he would never give up'.
She shuffles through the hundreds of battles she has had. She considers the fights of her father, her sensei and her master. They so often had fights where they had to deconstruct their opponent's techniques and find a weakness. The situation here should be even easier, these people are not masters of trickery, all it should take is a bit of deception and a bit of inspiration.
Sarada crosses her fingers, creating a single clone and activating the last of her unique rinnegan powers, increasing the gravity for each of the colonels significantly. This level of gravity manipulation won't slow them down that much but it will stun them for at least a moment and that opening is what she is counting on.
The clone falls to the ground, creating a skeletal Susano within the complete-body one as it melts. The complete-body Susano is functioning as little more than a shield now as its little sibling creates a bow and arrow in its much smaller hands, just as her father had done yesteryear.
Sarada allows herself to fall onto the string of the bow and her clone commands a release. The Susano's grip on the bowstring is loosened and as it and the clone disappear, Sarada's real body is sent flying towards the cube. Her speed even greater than in her initial form. Combined with the stun from the gravity, this should be enough, nobody should be able to stop her now.
"Go Sarada!" Hinata yells.
'Move' Sheer tells herself, 'Move, move, move'.
'This way. This is a path to freeing him' Sarada smiles, 'They can't stop me under so much pressure. This is what he would have done'.
'MOVE!'.
Sarada stretches her hand forward. 'Nothing. Nothing is going to stop me now. Now help us, Uzumaki Naruto'.
BANG!
She is knocked away again. Again!
It is Sheer.
Sarada instantly knows the situation has changed.
The colonel takes heavy breaths, more from panic than exhaustion. Finally, she raises her head to look Sarada in the eye.
She looks forward, through a brand new golden 'wind' cloak.
"Sheer!" Grace calls excitedly.
"She broke through…" Dred adds.
Indeed. The third member of Clyde's group has had a breakthrough. This time it is Sheer. It couldn't come at a worse time for Sarada.
"Sarada. Thanks to that burst of speed I understood the true nature of 'wind'" Sheer explains. "Thanks to that burst of speed. This fight ends here".
"There is no way you are getting to him now".
The Battlefield
The situation is bleak in the fight against General Brooks. Hiruzen, Tsunade, Peterson, all three of them are enormously accomplished. The Hokage with so much experience yet such a steady nature making him ever the natural leader. The healer who would sooner take all the damage onto her own body and destroy it with her own power. The warrior, with so much talent and yet has dealt with so much misery. Despite these claims to fame, these personal victories, they are inferior to Brooks in so many ways. She is more talented, has a better understanding of the fight's flow and has more experience than the three of them combined.
Peterson tries a series of close range attacks on her. Despite her looks though, it is nothing like fighting against a child. She skilfully uses her miniature frame to doge each incoming blow before finally countering the last one. She calculates her punch, foot hard into Peterson's liver. Even the follow-through is calculated, setting the colonel on a path towards the 3rd Hokage.
Peterson sees a chance to save the two of them. He intensifies his golden 'lightning' as much as possible, melting a small patch of ice in front of Hiruzen's feet. The Sarutobi clansmen catches onto this plan, stepping into clearing, digging his heels into the ground and catching Peterson.
The terrain has truly become an obstacle to them.
"Thanks" Peterson heaves. "She's tough, her battle experience is far in excess of my own".
"I've fought tactical battles like this before" Hiruzen says, tapping the ice with his foot. "This girl is different though, there are no openings or weaknesses in her technique. She has too much experience combined with too much talent".
Brooks places her hand over her mouth, mocking her opponents with a yawn. "Hey, you guys are boring me, I've had enough of this fight".
"Huh?".
Tsunade is taken aback by this. After all the training she has done to fight on this level, after all the suffering and the struggle, she has finally reached a new plateau. She had believed that this power would make a difference, the strength that could hurt even a general. Nothing has changed though, even together with her teacher and Peterson, she cannot bother Brooks.
Brooks, she concludes, is a monster.
"It's obvious that to beat you guys, I need only target the weak link".
She tauntingly lifts her tiny fingers up before a smiling face and clicks.
Raising from the ground behind Tsunade is a spike made from golden 'ice'.
It quickly becomes apparent to Hiruzen that she won't dodge this. She is too slow, relying solely on power to stay in a battle where everyone else has superior speed. He should have seen this coming he tells himself, he should have realised that Tsunade would be a weak link, he should have told her, even at the expense of her feelings.
CRASH!
Red liquid pours from the wound made by the spike.
But it is not Tsunade who falls to the floor, it is Peterson.
He protected her.
"Hey are you OK?" Hiruzen shouts.
"Peterson…".
Brooks laughs. A child's laugh is not meant to sound so menacing. "I didn't think you were so noble Peterson" she says. "Not that it matters, now the biggest obstacle is out of the way. I can finish cleaning up the trash".
Hiruzen loses patience. Knowing that this is the quickest route to defeat he lunges forward anyway, such his rage. There is small part of his mind still running the numbers on this battlefield; they have already won one battle. If they lose here that will put the two sides equal, so, giving into his rage may not be so bad if he can at least do a bit of damage.
As Hiruzen attacks with a fist coated in 'earth', Brooks glides away over the golden 'ice' floor, tripping Hiruzen up as she does. Her face is more befitting of a child now, a smile to announce how much fun she is having. This isn't a fight anymore, this is playtime.
Brooks circles the 3rd Hokage twice more before creating a golden 'ice' spike and stabbing it down towards him.
He evades, rolling his body lengthways to his right to doge the first attack and left to dodge the second.
Brooks lowers the back of her hand so it is parallel to the floor and then swings her hand up as if to roll something along the length of her fingers. As she does from underneath her arm a series of freezing cold spike appear, each rising into the air and falling towards Hiruzen on the ground.
His roll this time is continuous in a leftward direction. Each time he turns he hits the floor with his hand before turning again.
Brooks runs towards Hiruzen but as she does, from each of the spots Hiruzen touched rise 'earth' spikes. They are no obstacle though, she skates between them, whistling like she's on a trip to her local trader.
Brooks approaches Hiruzen. Even as the 3rd Hokage rolls away she closes the distance, her speed so superior. With the distance between them just a meter she creates a blade without hilt, made from golden 'ice'. Her intentions not flashy, she stabs it down towards him.
He manages to save himself at the last second by constructing a barrier of 'earth'. The barrier rises from the floor either side of him and converges in front of his head. As the blade pierces the barrier it stops just short of his forehead.
Hiruzen kicks Brooks in the chest, pushing her back two steps as he gets to his feet and charges her once more.
A lazy attack full of openings. The general sees right through it, timing her own punches such that it forces a miss. She then proceeds to punch Hiruzen in the arm three times. She feels the give each time she connects, there is something solid, his bones and each time it gives a little more.
Hiruzen blocks a fourth punch and slips behind his opponent, only to be hit with a spinning backhand. He spins three full times in the air before hitting the ground again.
Nothing. Nothing he is doing is working. This is a hopeless fight.
Seeing Brooks coming, the shinobi drops a smoke bomb, cover for his follow-up omni-directional fire jutsu. The fire jutsu just about manages to melt some of the older parts of the ice. Deciding this satisfactory, he retreats into one of the regions he has melted, grasping for any advantage he can get.
Brooks shakes her head. "Run for as long as you like old man. Now that I have taken the advantage, this fight is as good as over".
Tsunade drops to her knees beside Peterson. A plethora of emotions run through her. Sadness, confusion, anger, rage, pity. She curses herself, why is she feeling these things now of all times, why must this be so difficult for her?
She looks at the battered blood-soaked body of her ally. "Why, why would you do that?".
"Shut up" Peterson grunts through the pain. He grasps at his wound, the spike still in place, "Just go… go and… and help him…".
Tsunade doesn't know what to think. Was her grandfather not right? Don't these invaders bring chaos with them everywhere they go? Or was Naruto right? Are these people finally showing that they truly do regret their former actions? Are they doing this for their own selfish desires, are they doing it for survival, or are they doing it for some righteous greater purpose?
She looks at his wound. The spike is firmly lodged in his body, died red by the scar it has made in his chest, another one to his ever-growing collection.
"There is no way I would let anyone with a wound like this fight again" she says, inspecting Peterson's chest closely.
"What are you doing… I told you to…".
"Shut up! You have a nerve, coming to my world, ruining my life and then speaking to a doctor like that".
"A doctor?".
Peterson wonders if Tsunade is deluded. This is too great a wound to even consider mending in the midst of a battle. The stakes are too great to try anything new here aren't they? Has her own hatred of the invaders driven her insane?
"Dammit. I'm the Hokage, how could I be looking at someone like you as a patient. After all you have done to my village, all the suffering you caused" she screams, "You nearly killed my grandfather and my uncle. You nearly killed so many people I swore to protect. You are responsible for the death of so many dammit… dammit… dammit!".
"Stop it…" Peterson whimpers.
That look on her face, he can't stand it. He never wanted to be this person, someone who caused these mixed emotions. He always believed that people would either be with him or against him. He never thought that someone like him would cause these feelings. A good person made to do bad things, he always believed that to be impossible. Perhaps it is impossible, perhaps when someone can force another to do that, they have stopped being a man and have become a god.
"You tried to destroy the hidden leaf… so why do I have to be the good person…" she asks, her hand moving toward the spike.
"… what are you going to do?".
Tsunade's hands are suddenly covered in a green chakra. She places one hand on the wound in his chest and the other on the thick, freezing cold spike. As slowly and gently as possible, she pulls the spike from Peterson's chest.
He screams in agony for the first few moments but then supresses it. He looks into her eyes and sees her wavering, knowing that he is responsible for doing that to her. He must take responsibility for his role in this, for what he has done to these people. So, he takes the pain and stays silent, accepting it, pushing himself through all barriers.
"I am the Hokage. I should be the one to protect the people of the Hidden Leaf but…" she finally pulls the spike from his chest.
"There is no way… as a medic I should never say this to someone so badly wounded…".
"But please…".
"Please, I can't afford to lose anymore loved ones…".
"I can't afford to lose my teacher".
"Please… help me…".