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Artwork: jessejzette - The 7 Generations of Hokage - Find jessejzette on deviant art.
A NEW WORLD – A FAMILY TORN
The Hidden Leaf Hideout
As the fires from Mirai and Sarada's fight begin to spread, the villagers cower and cover their eyes with their forearms. They are a good distance away, protected by walls of chakra and divine energy and yet they can still feel the incredible heat from the inferno. There is a fear that the villagers have never experienced before in the face of this fight. Mirai is the one fighting for their right to escape from this hell, but the one she is fighting against is their chosen leader. She is fighting against the 9th Hokage, Uchiha Sarada.
It is a one-sided battle, not in terms of results but in terms of attacks. Sarada remains almost perfectly stationary, using her dynamic abilities of 'creation' to neatly deflect each of Mirai's incoming attacks. This fight is not entirely easy for her though, because her objective is not to win, it's to avoid Mirai getting hurt and to avoid her getting past. This requires incredible skill that, so few possess, but the last Uchiha just may be one of the few.
Kakashi watches the two titans do battle with divine energy and raw chakra that far exceeds his own. His Sharingan darts left and right, following Mirai to each of the new angles she tries to attack from. He can just about keep up with his stellar visual prowess and experience with high-speed battles. He notes that this may make Mirai seem quick, which she is relative to him. For Sarada though, Mirai must appear to be moving in slow motion.
'No way I can intervene here' Kakashi determines, reprimanding himself for spending so much time observing. 'They are both too fast, my eyes can only just track Mirai and Sarada must be faster still'.
"Everyone!" Kakashi shouts, uncharacteristically loud for the usually subtle shinobi. "Follow me! We'll go around the back of them, hurry!".
Kakashi's on-the-spot thinking is nearly perfect. Given the short time available to make decisions, it would be almost impossible to think of a greater alternative. He is truly a strategical thinker who is capable of keeping up with the best of them. As he begins to lead the villagers around the fight though, he comes to realise that this perfect decision making, is also predictable decision making, at least to another Hokage.
A kunai lands in front of Kakashi, digging less than an inch into the ground as its point penetrates the soft grassy surface. With a flash of gold, a man wearing clothing of red and white appears and lifts the kunai up from the ground. He is here to block their path, a member of the Hidden Leaf Village who believes that the villagers should stay where they are. An Uzumaki Naruto loyalist, Namikaze Minato.
Kakashi stops and assess the blocker.
"… Minato sensei…".
"… Kakashi…".
The two lock eyes momentarily. Kakashi considers attempting a genjutsu, dismissing the idea based on Minato's incredible chakra and divine energy. A genjutsu won't work against someone like him, no, not against a jinchuriki. There is no quick way around this problem, the 4th Hokage, a space-time expert like himself, is ideal for controlling the masses in a situation like this.
"I suppose you are going to insist on stopping me here" Kakashi sighs. "There isn't any chance that I could talk you out of this?".
"There is no chance of that at all" Minato replies. "I actually hoped that I could be the one to convince you to change your mind".
"Sensei, I'm afraid that right now, I am making decisions based on logic and not on emotion. I'm afraid that I have some duties as the Hokage".
"I don't think you truly believe that Kakashi. I know there is still a sentimental element to your decision making, I have heard Naruto speak of it before".
"I see".
As Hokage, the teacher-student pair mirror each other in many ways. Their backgrounds and attitudes towards the village and towards being shinobi often differ. Despite contrasting methods though, their goals have often coincided, largely thanks to Kakashi's faith in his teacher. One thing they share, as the 4th and 6th Hokage, is the greatest achievement of each of their tenures. Each of them, in their own ways, can claim to have sowed the seeds for Naruto to become Hokage. Together, they created the greatest Hokage of them all. Uzumaki Naruto has brought them together, and now he is ironically tearing them apart.
"I am proud of you Kakashi. Those who disobey orders are trash, those who abandon their friends are worse than trash" Minato says, reciting a quote Kakashi had told him long ago. "I'm really glad that you learned from Obito. So please, let me beg you one more time, learn from Obito. He would make a different decision, he wouldn't try to run away here".
Kakashi lowers his head slightly before raising it once again. "Sensei, if you don't mind, I don't want to bring Obito and Rin into this".
"Oh?".
"This is a fight. A rematch from my youth when I was unable to defeat you. I want this to be an honest fight between Hatake Kakashi and Namikaze Minato".
"… fine by me…".
With words exchanged, they revert to the intense stare from before. Both men wait eagerly for some movement from the other, for some opening, for even the slightest change in environment that may make the other flinch. Kakashi uses this moment to quickly weigh up his advantages and disadvantages in this fight. As far as he is aware, Minato has a slight speed advantage, but his own space-time technique is superior. It should be close but if he fights carefully, then he should be able to win.
Just as Kakashi is thinking this, a pair of hands grab hold of his shoulders. Familiar hands. Minato's hands.
The hands belong to a clone of Minato's.
The clone uses the flying thunder god technique, placing itself and Kakashi right in front of Minato's original body. Although less than a fraction of a second has passed, the 4th Hokage has created and started to attack with a 'wind' enhanced rasengan. He pushes the rasengan, powered by divine energy, forward as fast as he can and hits something solid.
Any onlookers with slow vision would swear that the fight ended in an instant as the shockwave spreads from 'wind' on skin. They would be wrong though. Kakashi didn't have time to think, but he did have time to react. He allowed the rasengan to pass through him and hit the clone behind him, leaving just enough time to leap away and take a moment to compose himself.
'That attack… what incredible speed. It's nothing like Tobirama's, it's in a completely different league'.
Minato turns to his right, looking at Kakashi in his new position. "You've just had a taste of my full speed Kakashi. Enhanced by the 'wind'. The flying thunder god is not the only thing that makes me fast, in a straight line I am at least twice as fast as anyone else on the same level".
'It's true, he is a genius after all' Kakashi summarises. 'However, he is a genius I know better than anyone'.
Kakashi focuses his Mangekyo Sharingan on Minato as the 4th Hokage begins to sprint towards his student. After dismissing the idea of intervention in the previous fight, Kakashi had believed this would be slower, he is wrong. Minato is just as fast as Mirai and Sarada. However, he won't back down, watching carefully as Minato takes the marked kunai in hand.
'Come at me with every trick you have sensei, because since we last fought I have learned so many things. I guarantee you will be surprised'.
Minato casts his kunai forward, aiming for Kakashi's head with a feeling he tells himself should feel nostalgic. 'Flying thunder god level 2, the attack I supposedly used against Obito'. As he follows the path of his launched kunai he creates a 'wind' rasengan in his hand. It forms quick, so quick that it is beyond belief. Unfortunately, if this attack were to hit, it would hurt a lot more than the one he used on Obito.
Kakashi, as if to outdo his teacher, creates two balls of divine energy fortified chakra. In one hand, a 'lightning' rasengan, in the other a chidori powered by pure 'lightning' divine energy. What he wants to do with these two mighty weapons at this moment is anyone's guess.
Minato is unperturbed. 'It doesn't matter, you won't hit me'.
But he is then stunned.
Kakashi lets the kunai stab into his shoulder.
'He didn't let it pass through him'.
That instant, in a fight of speed, is all the time in the world. To hesitate for that long, this time it is Minato who makes a mistake. Kakashi, now having reached touching distance from his teacher, slams the rasengan and chidori together right in front of Minato's face. A tremendous amount of electricity is discharged through the 4th Hokage's body, stemming from the top of his head all the way down to his toes.
'I can't teleport away until I gain control of my nerves again' the Namikaze clansmen realises, 'The 'lightning' is delaying my retreat. Smart Kakashi'.
During this time when Minato is unable to control his body, Kakashi refuses to let him have a moment's rest. He throws his fists as fast as he can, knowing that his divine powers will prevent the electricity from harming him. His fists rain down again and again and again, crunching against the bones of his senior. Finally, Kakashi steps back for the strongest hit in his sequence, lifting his foot and aiming a kick at the rear of Minato's head.
Flash.
Just in time.
Minato teleports back to the spot he started to run from. He is grateful that among his preparations he cleverly hid a kunai under the ground. Not well enough hidden to escape Kakashi's sight but enough to escape his notice as he wasn't looking for it.
"I can tell from the first exchange alone" Minato smiles as he gasps for breath. "You are different from before. I am impressed Kakashi".
Without delay, Minato teleports to Kakashi's rear, throwing a rasen-shuriken at his foe.
Kakashi counters using a Susano to bat the rasen-shuriken away.
"You don't have time to be impressed sensei" he declares, "Because if you don't come up with something better, I am going to be the one who wins this time".
The Hidden Leaf Hideout
Forcing the villagers back from this new fight, Tsunade is quick to bark orders. "Alright, everyone follow me! We're going to go the other way".
"No, you won't" a voice replies to her.
She sighs, knowing the challenge that awaits her as she casts her eyes sideways and meets those of her uncle, Tobirama. The two of them, the only family left for one another after a series of betrayals and deaths. Made to oppose one another by contrasting opinions in a desperate few moments.
"Uncle Tobirama" she says sadly.
"I'm quite surprised by your decision Tsunade. Not disappointed but surprised" he confesses honestly. "Are you really ready to trust my brother again after all that he has done to you?".
Tsunade gestures to the villagers to get back, knowing that while Tobirama would never do anything to harm them, her fighting style is less controlled than his and is prone to collateral damage. If he refuses to get out of her way, this will be a personal, violent fight, just like Minato's with Kakashi. It's just their bad fortune, she supposes, that both teleporters have sided with the group who wishes the villagers to remain in the village.
"Trust my grandfather again? If he had acted in the best interest of the village in the past, Dan would probably be alive right now" Tsunade angrily declares. "If he had done what he should have done, I wouldn't need to feel this unbearable pain in my chest. But he did, didn't he, he betrayed us, didn't he!".
"Then why are you taking the villagers to him? Do you think they will be safe there?".
"Of course, they will be safe with him" Tsunade shouts, groaning loudly with how obvious it appears to her. "I disagree with his ideals, but I do not doubt his power, nor his desire to save the village".
"If you disagree with his ideals then why are you doing this?" Tobirama asks, "It isn't what Naruto would want. It isn't the side that you have chosen".
Tsunade was the most conflicted of all when it came to deciding what side she fell on. Since coming to the future, she has perhaps suffered more than any of the others who came with her. She lost so much, she lost what she did in even more painful circumstances than in the past. It built up a hatred inside her, a hatred directed at so many parties. She hates Clyde for what happened to Mito. She hates herself for what happened to Hashirama. She hates Lara for what happened to Dan. She hates Hashirama for the village being torn in two. When the only people who have truly done everything possible to help her are the ones still in the village, when they started to turn on one another, she was left with an impossible choice. A choice beyond what any Hokage should ever have to make.
"I'm doing this to protect our hopeless civilians" Tsunade says, "I don't trust Lara, I think that she is responsible for this".
Tobirama shakes his head and approaches who he considers his last relative. "You know that Lara couldn't possibly be Naruto's assassin, don't you?".
"I don't know anything about the invaders' power. What I can't see with my own eyes I struggle to believe in or understand" Tsunade admits. "I do know that Lara is one of the few capable though. I know that Clyde is the chief suspect. I know that if Naruto isn't safe here, nobody else is either".
Tobirama has confirmed it, she may be conflicted but Tsunade is stubborn if nothing else. She won't change her mind, she won't switch sides, even if he asks her to help prevent disaster. That means that he is going to have to fight her. Unfortunately, such a fight's outcome is inevitable in a way that for once, brings him no pleasure.
"All me to tell you how this fight will go. I am sure you already know but I will confirm your suspicions" Tobirama begins. "Your advantage in this fight is your power, a raw strength that exceeds what my brother ever achieved as a shinobi".
"I am glad you think so highly of me".
"I do. The chances are that if you get a solid hit in on me, I will die. I am well aware of this. But that 'if' is your downfall. Other than Minato, there aren't many people here who can keep up with me".
"No there aren't".
Tsunade is well aware that her Uncle is one of history's faster shinobi. She is the Hokage though, she has battled faster opponents before and won, that shouldn't be enough to hold her back.
"On the contrary, your power comes at the cost of speed. You will never hit me Tsunade, not in a thousand years" the 2nd Hokage proclaims confidently, "Without a support, an assistant to help you attack, you can't win a fight against someone with divine energy. This is a hopeless fight for you. Just give up".
The 5th Hokage laughs. "You speak of ideals Uncle, let me tell you one that I recently picked up. I never give up. I will fight if I have to, no matter how low the odds are".
Tobirama nods. "Very well". It is not the correct decision or one that will ever benefit Tsunade's cause, but he respects her very much for sticking to her guns.
The silver-haired Hokage teleports to his niece's rear and lands four light punches on her back. Each punch, while light, is aimed at critical points for maximum impact, such is the luxury of time that Tobirama is granted by his superior speed.
Tsunade turns and throws a punch towards her clansmen but it hits nothing but air. Tobirama doesn't even have to strain himself to dodge the attack. He knows from the speed at which the air moves that he was right before, the punch would likely have killed him if it had landed, but it didn't. With the attack avoided, he waits until Tsunade's arm has travelled well past his centre of gravity. He grabs her moving arm, using her own momentum to pull her arm around his waist and wrestle her to the ground.
Tsunade has a moment of grogginess as the rear of her head strikes the floor below. A moment of grogginess to her is equal to five kicks for Tobirama. The 2nd Hokage doesn't hold back, doing so would be insulting. He alternates the kicks between her head and her arm, harming both her ability to concentrate and her greatest source of attack.
By the time Tsunade can react, her arm has begun to weaken, so she instead strikes out with her leg, knowing that too could be the winning blow if it lands. It doesn't. Again, she hits nothing but air as Tobirama teleports backward five feet to avoid the kick.
After teleporting away, the 2nd Hokage uses a high-pressure beam of 'water' to push Tsunade down into the ground below. Tsunade is grateful for this, it hurts but it is an attack she can counter with strength alone. Much to her Uncle's surprise, she forces herself up through the powerful beam of 'water', getting onto her feet and walking slowly toward him. A woman possessed by a borrowed mantra to never give up.
Tobirama has calculated this though, it is still futile. Just as Tsunade is about to reach him, he stops the 'water' beam, causing her to lurch forward uncontrollably. Power can be a great help, but it can also be one's undoing. Using her momentum against her once again, Tobirama simply raises his handing, in doing so landing a mighty blow to her forehead.
Tsunade falls to the floor, clutching at her latest wound.
What Tobirama hates most about her struggles, is that he is sure she isn't done yet.
The Hidden Leaf Hideout
"Hey this is bad isn't it?" one of the villagers hysterically shouts, "We're going to die, aren't we?".
"Nobody is going to die" Shikadai says, marching into the centre of the group, "We are all here to protect you. Just stick with a shinobi and you will be fine".
"Please get me away from the fighting, I can't stand it any longer" another villager complains.
Hiruzen's mind is largely separated from the calls for help as he processes what is happening. 'Kakashi, Tsunade and Mirai. As long as one of them wins, we will have an escape route. However, whichever one of them wins will have to be the first one to win a fight, otherwise someone else will block that route. I can't join any of the fights, I have to stay here as a rear guard in case…'.
As if his thoughts have been heard by the heavens, the sound of scraping ice heads in his direction. A familiar sound that has haunted his dreams since he last saw it.
The child-like Brooks skates up to Hiruzen's side with a remarkable swiftness and jumps up to his level. She spins in the air with the elegance of a dancer. She is no dancer though, she is a warrior and her foot is headed straight for the underside of his chin. She knows that a strong blow here could well break something very important.
Of course, Hiruzen is aware of the danger of taking a strike. He leans backward, watching as the spinning foot glances just over the top of his nose.
Brooks isn't done. As soon as she lands, she spins on the spot and aims a punch towards Hiruzen.
The punch never reaches its intended target. 'Earth', commanded by the 3rd Hokage, begins to behave like water as a tremendous wave rises from the ground and knocks the two combatants away from the villagers. Brooks isn't like Sarada, Minato or Tobirama, she will have no qualms about killing a few villagers as collateral damage. Beyond all else, Hiruzen's focus turns to keeping her away from the people he has been designated to protect.
With the two of them separated, both of them get to their feet. Brooks athletically hops to her feet while Hiruzen uses the 'earth' behind him to raise calmly onto his own.
"Attacking yourself at the same time as your opponent? Suicide? No. You were just trying to get us away from the non-combatants".
"Of course. I have a duty to protect them you know" Hiruzen informs his adversary. The two of them have fought before, it is because of that he is very cautious. "The people of this village are my family. I had thought that perhaps you people from this world were starting to become part of that family too. It's a shame what you have done. Now it's a family torn in half".
"We haven't done anything. It obviously couldn't have been anyone from Lara's group and you're a fool if you think it was Clyde" Brooks huffs angrily. This sort of anger appears unnatural from her childish frame.
"I don't know how you did it, but I know it couldn't been anyone from the Hidden Leaf" Hiruzen says. "… no, it could never have been anyone from the Hidden Leaf".
"Believing in rhetoric above logic is a sign of incompetence, when did you lose yourself to such a way of thinking?
"And I suppose you are here based on your own supreme logic" Hiruzen lets out an almost incredulous laugh, "Or are you just following a tyrant's orders once again?".
"I am following the orders of someone I trust" Brooks points to Mirai, "Are you doing anything different".
Hiruzen looks to Mirai. The last thing he had expected when he came into the future where the stories of his own family. The glorious death of his son that planted the seeds for the village's greatness. The story of his grandson, forever dreaming of emerging from grandpa's shadow and eventually becoming Hokage. The story of his granddaughter, who didn't strive for power or authority but was bestowed it because of her abilities. A woman who summoned in a once-in-a-lifetime miracle to combine the elements, a power that put her above her allies.
"I suppose we are doing the same thing then" Hiruzen admits with a shrug of his shoulders, "I just believe that my choice of leader was better than yours".
"The second sign of incompetence, poor decision making".
Brooks slams her hands together, trapping Hiruzen in an igloo-like structure, constructed from 'golden ice'. A freezing cold prison that has trapped many of her foes for the few remaining seconds of their lives.
Hiruzen is no ordinary foe, he is one of the trio that defeated Brooks previously. Summoning Enma in his staff-form, he swings the weapon several times, knocking chunks of 'golden ice' towards Brooks. Forcing a dodge from Lara's general. Next, having escaped the prison, Enma is turned towards Brooks and is slammed downward as hard as the 3rd Hokage has ever swung before.
Brooks tumbles back along the ground. She presses her hand against the ground, pushing herself away from it for a single controlled bounce. During this controlled bounce, she creates a spear of 'golden ice' and casts the weapon in Hiruzen's direction.
A wall of 'earth' is the Hokage's defence of choice, it doesn't stop the spear altogether but slows it down enough so that he has the short time he needs to dodge it. Next, he uses the 'earth' beneath Brooks' feet as a weapon, using it to bring her towards him, raising the floor from horizontal to vertical. With Brooks heading in his direction, he once more swings the staff towards her.
Brooks defends herself with a sheet of 'golden ice', guiding the staff over her head and, thanks to Hiruzen's 'earth', arriving right before the 3rd Hokage. Upon arriving, she grabs his right arm with her own right hand. She pulls this arm, driving her left elbow into his head three times without answer.
To continue with the same attack is her mistake though. As she drives the 4th elbow towards Hiruzen's head, he dodges. He catches hold of her arm and wraps it around her neck, cutting of the flow of blood to her brain at the same time as controlling both of her most deadly limbs.
"You were foolish to think you could outmatch a shinobi in close combat techniques" Hiruzen claims.
Brooks slowly forces Hiruzen's arm back, and her own arm away from her neck. "You may have greater technique, but I make up for the difference with power. And my experience, it far outweighs yours".
As Hiruzen's arm separates from Brooks neck, a spike of 'golden ice' raises from ground and pierces through Hiruzen's shifted arm.
Brooks tries to follow this up with a stomp on the 3rd Hokage but he bravely pulls his arm away from the spike, despite his severe injuries, and rolls away from the incoming attack. As he regathers himself, he considers that his situation has just become rather grim.
'It's a major wound, but I can fight through it' he tells himself. 'I can't defeat her on my own but I can at least stall for time until one of the others can win'.