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Artwork: jessejzette - The 7 Generations of Hokage - Find jessejzette on deviant art.
A NEW WORLD – TOTAL DEFEAT
Returning to the Hideout
The attitude returning to the hideout is very much different to what it was on the approach to the imperial palace. People had doubts about Lara, they doubted that she would be a team player, they doubted that she would make a difference, they doubted correctly. There are no boasts though, no 'I told you so's', just a universal sadness and a feeling of helplessness. They have lost again.
"So, what exactly are we supposed to do now?" Mirai asks the Nara family members around her. "It looks like we did even worse last time than we did without Lara".
"It doesn't seem like there is much of a choice" Shinki admits, "Frankly, your prediction was right Shikadai, she held us back".
It leaves a sour taste in Shinki's mouth to say this. The Circle agreed unanimously to give Lara a chance to help them, to give forgiveness a go just as Naruto had wished. The Circle made a mistake by forgiving Lara. Shikadai had spoken above his station, he had passionately argued against Naruto despite his role being that of an administrator. A bit of passionate rebellion can be forgiven, it is to be expected in times of great stress. What isn't expected though, is for the Circle's administrator to be a better decision maker than the Kage within the Circle. That makes Shinki feel remarkably worthless.
"I'm not so happy to be right this time. You know, he's always been a hero of mine, Lord 7th that is. I've never shouted his name from the rooftops like others, but I've always admired him". Shikadai thinks back to his childhood. "He is now the Lord 7th from my youth. He is the hero we would all look at and trust, the hero of the Hidden Leaf. It pains me to see him proven wrong like this".
Shikadai's mind works logically, almost algorithmically, scoring events like this on their potential significance. Another loss is a terrible blow, both physically and psychologically. It could have a huge impact on whether they are able to assassinate Furst. Others can keep themselves going on the premise that there is still hope. That isn't how Shikadai thinks. He admits that there is still hope, but there is a lot less of it than before.
In the middle of the group, soldiers and shinobi alike have distanced themselves from the debate between Clyde and Lara. Even their most loyal servants work to keep a distance of at least ten meters from the military's two leading generals.
"Why did you do that?" Clyde asks angrily. "It was selfish, it was stupid, and it has completely ruined our chances of winning".
Lara snorts dejectedly, "Not so calm now are you?".
"No, I'm not calm!" the 'darkness' user fumes. He's not been this angry in a while. "Even if we were to try again and you behaved yourself, the psychological impact of this stunt may hold us back. We may never win now".
"Then how are you so quick to blame me?" Lara snaps. "I may not have helped but you didn't exactly achieve anything either. You almost held the other two back".
If this conversation had been explained to the Naruto who had been brought to the future, he may have understood why they were doing what they were doing. The military have been forced into fighting for this terrible regime, always too terrified to fight back. He may have thought it cowardice to start with, but this situation shows exactly why that isn't true. Even working together, the two strongest warriors in this world's military can do nothing in the face of an aristocrat's overwhelming power.
Towards the front of the group, Naruto and the Uzumaki family walk together. He is largely detached from their attempts to cheer him up, knowing that their failure to defeat Carmen could mean the rest of their lives is spent suffering tyranny.
Naruto sighs and looks at his open palm. "Can I really beat someone at a higher level? Or is that something I could only achieve when working with him?".
The question confuses others but Hinata immediately understands who Naruto is talking about.
"I don't know but Sarada is Sasuke's daughter" she says, "I feel like your fighting styles should be highly compatible if nothing else".
"You'll find a way, dad" Himawari adds cheerfully, "I'll always believe in you".
Naruto thinks back to how the two of them used to fight together. He thought at the time that it was because of their years of experience but that may not have been true. Working with Sarada, Naruto can fight at incredibly high level, but it still cannot compare to what he achieved with Sasuke. What he and Sasuke had was chemistry, pure synchronicity on the battlefield, something that cannot be taught or learnt. When they fought together, they understood each other's minds, they knew the decision the other would make and made it at the same time. Not even the delay it took to read the other's body language existed. They were purely running on instinct, on a divine autopilot. That is something that cannot be replicated, no matter how much Naruto wishes it could.
"We haven't got time to wait around with this" Naruto says, "I need to do something now, I need to generate more power".
"I could teach you my rasen-bomb" Minato offers, "Combined with 'life' it would pack quite the punch".
"No, it needs to be…".
"Bigger?" Kushina asks.
"No, not bigger" Naruto shakes his head. "It's always been bigger and faster and stronger and… no, what needs to change now is… it needs to be… calmer".
"It needs to be calmer, what do you mean dad?".
"It's the way I feel this attack should be" Naruto explains to Himawari. "It shouldn't be loud, it should be quiet. When everyone sees it, they should just be able to relax and know that everything will be fine. When this attack is there, it should mean everything to those behind it".
Minato nods, such an attack would be ideal. "To put it bluntly Naruto, you are the only one who will be able to create an attack like that. Only you could create an attack strong enough to put Carmen down".
"We knew that from the start didn't we?" Hinata asks. "If we didn't know it with our heads then we did with our hearts. This sensation you want the attack to give off, that's the way that we all feel when we see you arrive. We feel like everything will be OK".
"I'm not sure I believe that anymore…".
"… Naruto…".
Naruto looks to his open palm once again. It has never been easy being the hero of the village. He hasn't just become the Hokage, he has become the one that everyone turns to. That's fine, he's living his dream. While it is difficult, he got used to the responsibility a long time ago. He just hates not being able to live up to those expectations. He hates the feeling that this power is no longer within him. He wonders if that brilliance he once had is now hidden from him, somewhere deep beneath his skin.
"There has to be a way to win. There's a combination of brilliance that only the four of us can pull off" he says. "I don't know how the others will do it, or how I am going to do it for that matter, but I will need to be even faster, faster than Carmen".
"Being faster than Carmen won't be possible for a while will it?" Kushina asks. "Surely it would take you a long time to train to that level".
"I know, but there must be a way. Dad?".
"Yes Naruto".
"You and Lord 2nd, if you really challenged your reaction time, how quickly could you teleport?".
"… as fast as you need me to".
Kushina smiles. She had always thought that this is how Minato would be as a father. Always there for his family, just as he claimed he would be. If they had continued toward their original future unobscured, that opportunity would have been taken from him. He would have had only a few minutes to help Naruto on his path. Of course, she takes an equal amount of pride in what she and Minato managed in those few minutes. In such a short period of time, Naruto's parents had set him on the path to be the greatest Hokage of them all.
Suddenly, screams and shouts come from the rear of the advancing group. Panic seems to spread from back to front leading Kushina to wander what is going on. Of course, Naruto's sigh is a sign that he already knows.
"Hinata what is going on?" Kushina asks.
"It's Boruto" Hinata says, "He's here with Hashirama and that other guy".
Naruto turns around, walking in the opposite direction to the others. He projects his voice as loud as he can make it and shouts instructions to those who treat him as their leader.
"Everyone, go! Sarada! Clyde! Come with me!".
Naruto and Sarada are quick to get from the front of the group to the middle. Together with Clyde, the three of them run toward the back. Once again they must encounter the 'death' using trio, the eternal thorn in their sides.
As their subordinates flee around them, Lara and Elliot remain largely unworried and unafraid. Elliot can only wonder how his leader will react in this situation. She has been different to usual lately, not the same person she used to be.
"Lara, what do we do?".
"… take the others and go ahead, stick with Clyde's group. I'm going to stay here and see how this plays out".
Elliot doubts the wisdom of the decision but would never go against Lara. He nods and orders his subordinates to follow Clyde's and the shinobi. Not that any orders are required, the terror they experienced seeing Hashirama once again was already enough to set them retreating.
The foursome of Naruto, Sarada, Clyde and Lara are quickly left alone. The arena which was previously populated by thousands is now occupied by only seven mighty individuals.
Hashirama is the first to speak, raising his voice angrily. "Naruto, I doubted your decision before but now it looks like you have gone insane".
"What are you talking about Hashirama?".
"I was just fighting Carmen" Hashirama explains. "She told me something very interesting just before she broke the last of my bones. She told me how different she thought our groups were. How one of us accepted everyone and how the other rejected everyone".
Lara lowers her head slightly. It seems that she is now just a stray dog to be picked up by whoever is willing to have her.
"It turns out Carmen was right" Hashirama says, pointing a solitary finger at Lara, "Do you know who that woman is Naruto? Do you know!".
"Are we going to argue about this again? I told you that I wouldn't be swayed by your words".
Not only is Naruto's voice weak as he counters Hashirama's criticisms, but his slumped shoulders and his slightly averted eyes speak volumes to Boruto. Something is wrong with his father. It's not just his strange moral standpoint as usual, there is something more fundamentally incorrect behind those eyes. While he disagreed with his father before, Boruto recognised that Naruto was a shining beacon of hope. Boruto had thought that his beacon-like father blinded everyone. Like this he is blinding nobody.
"Naruto, the man who ordered my wife's death, that woman protected him. Uncaring about his dishonourable actions, blinded by her own desire to slaughter us" Hashirama recalls. "How could you side with someone like that? At least Clyde pretended to be remorseful, but she couldn't care less about us".
Lara glares at Hashirama. She doesn't know her own mind at this point. Does she want to reprimand him? No, that wouldn't make any sense, that would mean saying that she does care about them. Does she want to attack him? That would mean admitting that the last words did affect her, why should she care about those words. Or perhaps, what stings is that he is right and that it is her fault that they lost. Everyone else here is strong but there is still something weak about her.
"I did what I did to improve our chances of winning" Naruto answers.
"To improve your odds of winning? Is this all a damn game to you?".
"Dad, I'm really disappointed. I thought you were better than that, while I disagreed with you I begrudgingly respected you" Boruto admits. "This isn't a decision that warrants any respect though".
"You should shut the hell up" Sarada shouts.
"Sarada…".
"Did you come back to save the village from Lara's slaughter? Did you come as quickly as you possibly could for your friends" she asks. "No, you didn't. You waited for the best opportunity to bring us around to your way of thinking. A lot of people could have lived if you hadn't made the stupid decision to prove your point".
"They could have also lived if dad had killed Clyde at the end of the captained-six contest" Boruto retorts. "There is more blood on his hands than mine".
"That's nonsense! Clyde saved us from Lara, not you" Sarada screams. The shouting match escalates with each sentence. "Even if Clyde hadn't saved us, the death would be on Lara's hands, not Naruto's who could do nothing to stop her. You are entirely different, you just watched and did nothing".
Hashirama walks toward Naruto. "This is just the tip of the iceberg though, isn't it Naruto? This dissent cost you in your fight against Carmen didn't it. This decision you made cost you! It also cost the Hidden Leaf Village and it has even made the Circle nervous".
Naruto's mind should be racing with a thousand morale contradictions in this moment. Normally he would weigh up his own argument against Hashirama's and assure himself that he has indeed been right. He has always been so certain of himself, so right, never looking back to doubt himself except in the darkest moments. Even in moments such as that, he has ended up saying what he has always said.
However, in this moment Naruto's mind races with a different set of questions. One of them is how Hashirama found them. The other he speaks aloud.
"How did you know that decision made the Circle nervous?".
Interrupting Naruto's question, Hashirama punches his fellow Hokage across the face, starting yet another battle between the 1st and 7th Hokages.
Naruto stumbles back two paces, raising his head again just in time to see another incoming punch. Hashirama is strong but thankfully the 7th Hokage has a good reaction time, trained through years of battling speed specialists.
Naruto dodges the incoming second punch from Hashirama and counters with his own left fisted strike, hitting the 1st Hokage across the face just as had been done in reverse an instant before.
Hashirama's strength is his greatest asset, he won't be battled so easily. He drops to one knee, stepping forward and driving his elbow into the rear of Naruto's knee. He gets up as Naruto goes down, himself still perfectly mobile while his opponent loses one of his legs to stand on.
Hashirama throws a knee toward the side of Naruto's head but it is caught. Pulling his leg back, he takes a single step back and runs at Naruto. He throws the right knee at him again, this time harder. As Naruto catches it once more, it becomes clear that the right knee was not Hashirama's intended attack this time, it was just a smokescreen. Hashirama uses the forward momentum he built up to thrust his left knee into Naruto's head, rattling his brain as he drops to the ground.
Naruto manages to shake off the blow in time to refocus his mind before the next attack. He sees Hashirama's knees dropping towards him from above. He rolls out of the way and judging from the dent in the ground the attack made, he evaded just in time.
Facing Hashirama, who is now down to his knees, Naruto throws two punches while stuck on his back. After the second punch connects, Naruto spins on his back and kicks Hashirama in the chest, creating a small but appreciable distance between the two.
Naruto uses the separation between them to climb back onto his feet. In the time he uses to get up, Hashirama drags a kunai from his pocket and launches it at Naruto. The younger blonde shinobi only just draws his own weapon quickly enough but does manage to knock the kunai from the air with his own.
The collision of kunai functions as a distraction for Hashirama, he steps into Naruto's body and delivers a strong punch to the shoulder of his adversary. Naruto lets go of the kunai and now both warriors find themselves unarmed. Hashirama still claims the advantage he took by throwing the first punch.
Naruto throws a left footed kick toward Hashirama's head, but it is caught. This is just as he planned. He uses the grip Hashirama has on his left foot to swing his right foot in a different arc to the norm. His right foot catches the falling kunai he just dropped and sends it straight towards the first Hokage's head.
Hashirama is fortunate enough that the kunai strikes his head protector, stunning him rather than injuring him. A stun does not last long against such an opponent. Hashirama decides to use this moment to activate sage mode.
Naruto responds in kind, activating sage mode as well.
The two sages have mirroring thoughts, each landing a solid punch into the chest of the other.
Boruto decides to close his eyes and turn away from the fight. He can't stand watching the two of them fight like this. This isn't a fight of any great purpose nor is it one for any great cause. This is just the Hidden Leaf's two proudest children trying to hurt one another.
Sarada watches, reflecting on what the fight means. 'And nobody moves to stop them, not even me. This is not a battle of two causes… it's a battle of frustration'.
Naruto lands another punch but Hashirama's counterpunch finds his liver. The two hard hitters exchange shots in a battle of wills and it is Naruto who ends up dropping to his knees. Hashirama doesn't let this advantage go, wobbling Naruto with a hard kick to his chest. This is where the fight truly ends. Hashirama continues from this point to punch Naruto in the head.
Again, and again, and again… Hashirama keeps on punching.
Eventually a hand catches Hashirama's arm, stopping him. Another hand rests calmingly on Naruto's shoulder. The hands of Boruto and Sarada respectively.
The fight is stopped.
Lara watches Naruto awkwardly.
'On his knees, he loses again to the man who betrayed him. Uzumaki Naruto, why does everyone think so much of you'.
Taking Boruto's wordless point, Hashirama stops using sage mode and returns to shouting at Naruto.
"You were a fool to ally yourself with that woman. The leaf will tear itself apart and it will be your fault, Uzumaki Naruto!".
With his point made, Hashirama turns and leaves, taking Boruto and Tao Ma with him.
"Naruto" Sarada says, shaking the beaten Hokage's shoulder, "Naruto!".
"Are you OK Naruto?" Clyde asks.
Lara was right.
Naruto turns tearfully over his shoulder and looks at Sarada.
"It happened again didn't it…".
"… I lost to him…".