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Artwork: jessejzette - The 7 Generations of Hokage - Find jessejzette on deviant art.
A NEW WORLD – WINNING THE WAR
The Hidden Leaf Hideout
An army of 'golden darkness' darts rain down from the sky. Originally Clyde had struggled to do this attack, with it draining a significant amount of divine energy. However, with each second of combat his control improves little by little. It's a subtlety that only the strong will notice, the difference between good and great. It improves each time though, he refined it against Naruto, enhanced it against Lara and stabilised it against Carmen. Now, during this fight, he is doing more than he ever has before, he is multiplying his capacity and doing all three processes again.
Lara's improvement is also strong. She teleports to Clyde's side, placing herself slightly further away from him than usual. She knows that before now he has caught her out by predicting what she is going to do. That seemed to be a problem, but it is not truly, because if she stays out of his reach post-teleportation, his powers of prediction do not matter. When she does escape his prediction though, she still reaps the benefits, being just close enough to beat his reaction time.
Two punches from Lara, both dodged by Clyde. Predicted this time but not to Lara's detriment.
Clyde takes a single step backward, watching Lara's face change, watching the anger channel through her at his retreat. She steps in, refusing to allow his retreat, just as he foresaw when he made it. With Lara coming towards him, anger slightly clouding her mind, he strikes a powerful blow to her gut. Instinctually Lara teleports to his rear to escape another blow, but such instinctual retreats are never well thought out. This time Lara is not out of reach, so he turns and strikes her again. By forcing this animalistic fighting pace upon Lara, Clyde manages to get four successive hits before her brain can control the instinct.
Lara teleports away from Clyde, that's when he makes a mistake. He pauses for a moment, assuming his opponent's retreat would signal a brief pause in the fight. There is no pause, the moment after she flees Lara raises her hand and fires an ensemble of 'golden light' pellets towards Clyde.
The incoming pellets are not lethal, Clyde knows this all too well. He dodges though, it's pointless to accumulate damage when it's well within his ability to dodge. He weaves through the incoming stream. He takes note of the relative position of each incoming pellet immediately and after memorising them fixes his attention back on Lara. She is the real threat here.
Clyde catches only a glimpse of Lara as she teleports to his side. Even that glimpse is enough for him to predict where she is going. He leans to the left, knowing that her punch is incoming from the right. Turning his head, he sees that his evasion was wise, Lara was indeed going to punch him. However, he then notices something off about her position, she was too close, she wanted him to predict her movement.
Having foolishly dodged Lara's punch, Clyde walks into the path of the previously fired pellets. He gets hit several times successively, quickly being forced to put up a weak protective barrier around his arm as he raises it to shield himself.
'A distraction'. Lara strikes at Clyde, absorbing the pellets heading at herself while she does so. With him unable to counter, it is now her turn to attack uninterrupted. She senses the bending of his flesh each time she volleys another strike at his largely unprotected torso. He is helpless to stop her as the pellets continue to strike towards him.
The pellets are about to run out Lara notices. She has just enough time for one final attack. She channels energy to her right hand and creates a 'golden light' axe. She raises it above her head and slashes it down towards Clyde's neck.
Clyde spins sideways to move out of the way, using convenient timing along with Lara's selective memory to his advantage. He memorised the exact paths of each of the pellets previously, if there is a safe location to dodge to, he can avoid harm. Having avoided the first blow, he waits for the inevitable second blow and when it arrives, coats his hand in 'golden darkness' to catch the axe by its handle. The axe caught, Clyde kicks Lara in the chest, flipping her backwards and converting the axe from 'golden light' to 'golden darkness'.
Lara lands on her feet as she is separated from her weapon. She replaces her offensive tool with a defensive one, opting this time for a 'golden light' shield. The distance between the two of them less than ten paces, Lara charges towards Clyde.
Clyde attempts to throw the axe at Lara, their distance eight steps apart. Lara teleports forward two spaces, catches the axe and converts it back to 'golden light'. Lara takes another step forward, the space between them five steps and then throws the axe back at Clyde. Clyde catches, converts the axe and throws it back again, the space between them three steps. Lara uses her shield to knock the axe away before throwing it at Clyde, the space between them two steps.
Clyde ducks the shields and then the unabated strikes begin. They take it in turns to land strikes on each other, each of them slightly weaker than the last but the energy and determination of the two warriors never wavers. Clyde just catches a familiar look in Lara's eye and then switches to the sole use of his right hand. 'You will go down' he yells in his head. He throws one right-hand. Then another. Then another! Finally, one more. The last punch connects so solidly, so satisfyingly, that with the loud slap of knuckle against skull, Lara drops to her knee.
'Got you'. Clyde takes a quick step back to improve his position and then swings a kick straight at Lara's lowered head. All the while, he channels 'golden darkness' energy to his right hand in preparation for his follow-up attack.
Lara teleports five meters backwards, just avoiding the kick before she sees it. A 'golden darkness' dart in Clyde's hand. He is using the momentum built up by his kick to keep on spinning. She knows that an attack is incoming and in the spur of the moment does the first thing that comes to her head. She funnels 'golden light' energy to her hand and creates a weapon as well.
BANG!
Two darts of 'light' and 'dark' collide between the two mighty generals.
"A dart Lara?" Clyde asks through deep breaths. "That's not usually your weapon of choice. If I didn't know better, I would say that you were copying me".
"I want you out of my life" Lara replies, "I'm sick of seeing you everywhere I look. That's why I will aim above you, that's why I am aiming at Furst!".
"If you are fed up of me why are you copying my attacks? Why did you come running to me for help? Why did you".
"Shut the hell up!".
Lara teleports back an additional ten meters onto her feet and raises a hand before her. 'Golden light' energy begins funnelling into the space in front of her hand. Some of the energy leaks and gets pulled back into the funnel, enormously increasing the concentration of energy on that one single spot. This is the technique Lara used against Carmen, this is the concentrated attack.
"It's been bugging me for a while now, the way we seem to be connected, unable to separate from one another. So, I am going to show you an attack that's mine alone, and I'll put you down for good with it".
"You're even going to ignore that you need me to defeat Jonas?".
"Yes. Forget all that right now Clyde. This is about you and me again. With this attack, I will do what I couldn't do last time. I'm going to beat you".
There is something different about Lara as she says this, an undivided and uninhibited focus. Clyde has known Lara for a long time, always so powerful yet always so distracted. To satisfy her own bloodlust and act as she believes she must, she has always divided that attention into multiple behavioural patterns. Charging this attack, Lara is different, all her thoughts revolve around one central desire, defeating him.
"This is great. I'm glad that you want something so whole-heartedly, with such determination" Clyde begins. "But I can't let myself be defeated here, my whole world depends on it. You aren't the only one who has gotten stronger Lara, I've gotten stronger too".
"Then you better hurry up and do something, or you will die, Clyde!".
Lara fires her concentrated attack at Clyde, uncaring of the potential damage her beam of 'golden light' energy could do if everything were to go wrong. In her mind nobody else exists right now, it's just her and Clyde.
Clyde focuses his mind to the utmost and creates a thin but dense barrier of 'golden darkness' around his skin.
'Of Carmen's battle principles, two of them involve concentrated divine energy. One of them is the concentrated attack, the other…'.
In the midst of his internal monologue, the dense barrier around Clyde's body morphs from a minor protective layer, reshaping to resemble a suit of armour.
'The other is the concentrated defence!'.
The concentrated attack and defence clash for a few moments. The blaze of black and white draws the attention of the entire battlefield, distracting even Sarada and Mirai for a moment. They all want to know just what happened, what could Clyde and Lara have done now to cause an even greater explosion than last time.
When the 'light' and 'darkness' are gone, the result of the attack is made clear.
Clyde survived.
"You bastard…" Lara curses.
"It looks like I survived" Clyde laughs. Even he is surprised at his own success.
"Why" Lara asks, angrily pressing her fists against her head. "Why am I unable to kill you?".
"Lara, it seems that destiny is going to tie is together a bit longer. Because this is a fight that neither one of us can win".
The Hidden Leaf Hideout
Sarada takes a few deep breaths as she puts a tiny bit of space between herself and Mirai. Her eyes are taking in every little change in the battle, but observation alone is not a solution to the terrible predicament she finds herself in. Explosions send collections of shrapnel in her direction and she uses the rinnegan to instantly know the perfect position to avoid them all but when Mirai attacks relentlessly, even a god can do little to avoid being hit.
Mirai uses a pair of explosions, one pushing her up and the next pushing her down. The ground shakes as she lands in front of Sarada. Three strong punches are evaded. Next a right-handed explosion is dodged. Mirai isn't suffering from the same impatience as before though, if nothing else she is intelligent fighter and that last punch was merely a distraction. As Sarada dodges away from the punch, Mirai concentrates a myriad of explosions on her left hand and hits Sarada directly in the head with it.
Sarada stumbles back, reeling from the punch. Her daze doesn't go unpunished as Mirai fires an explosion at her, bringing yet more pain. Another explosion. More pain. And another! And more pain still! And an…
Sarada catches Mirai's arm.
"Mirai…".
BOOM!
The Sarutobi clanswomen doesn't wait to hear what the 9th Hokage has to say and instead volleys yet another explosion at her from point-blank range. It doesn't matter whether it's Mirai, Sarada, Clyde or even Naruto, a continuous series of attacks like this will take their toll on anybody.
But it's not enough.
Sarada emerges from the explosion only slightly more bruised and groans. "Mirai, don't you see how pointless this is. I thought I was slowly getting worn down before, but my condition is no longer changing. I don't know if adrenaline has kicked in or my divine energy has started trying to repair my body. I don't know what's happening. All of these attacks of yours hurt, but you're not getting any closer to beating me".
Mirai screams, "As if I would believe that".
Pulling her arm away from Sarada, Mirai pulls two wind blades to her hand and begins to attack with rapid speed. This speed appears incredible to a shinobi, greater than the Kage of the past, the sort of speed that would turn a shinobi into a war-hero. Against Sarada it proves useless. Each time an attack is thrown it is negated by a clever counterstrike to the wrist. Each slice from Mirai misses by just a centimetre but misses nonetheless.
As Mirai tries to increase the rate of her attacks, Sarada constructs a wall of clay between them using 'creation'. When Mirai runs around the wall and throws the two wind blades at Sarada, the Uchiha manifests a Susano ribcage to deflect them. With each action she highlights the hopelessness of the situation more and more to Mirai. The look of exhaustion on Sarada's face was once encouraging, but it is no longer changing. That exhausted Sarada seems to be able to keep going forever.
"Don't you see how pointless this is?" Sarada asks. "You're not going to be able to get past me. It's not even because I'm stronger than you are, though that is helping. It's because deep down you feel just the same way I do. You don't want to hurt me either".
Mirai hears the claim echo in her mind. Is that really true? Does she want it to be true? Sarada is a long-time friend of hers, being unwilling to hurt her would certainly be a good thing. However, a lack of will in these circumstances would surely speak poorly of her standing as a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf. Can that slightest hesitation in the back of her mind really be causing all of her attacks to fail?
Mirai, in her frustration, blasts the clay wall away with an explosion, then leaps backward to create separation from Sarada.
"Maybe you're right, maybe I don't want to hurt you. But I only need to overcome that feeling for a few seconds in order to defeat you".
Mirai starts to manipulate the 'wind', feeding oxygen into a dense point before her. It seems to the knowing onlookers that she is attempting her own spin on the concentrated attack. The true shock comes when she adds the spark of heat to the dense concentration. The first touch of flame detonates a million simultaneous explosions, and the compact ball of explosive energy sounds a roar that deafens almost the entire battlefield.
Sarada's mauve eyes almost bulge from their sockets as she gasps at the concentration brewing before her.
A nearby Hiruzen forces the back of his head from the floor to look at his granddaughter's actions. 'That's way too strong'.
Minato does the same. 'Where on earth is she getting all that power from?'.
'That can't be' Lara tells herself, not for the first time today. 'She has created a concentrated attack even more efficient than my own'.
Lara boasts a power greater than Mirai's. Her level transcends the Hidden Leaf shinobi just as it does Elliot's. The attack Mirai is trying to execute may not be as powerful as her own, but it is certainly more impressive considering her power. Not only that, but in this moment, with a highly weakened Sarada, it's just possible that this attack may be able to beat the 9th Hokage.
"I get that this is dishonourable but, in this situation, the only way that you can keep everyone safe is if you take this attack yourself. I believe that this attack can take even you down, Sarada!".
Clyde understands and fears the strategy. 'If Sarada takes that blow head on, there is no guarantee that she will be able to withstand it'.
Mirai has been driven too far by her desperation, everyone understands that, even her allies. This paranoia that the homeworlders will attack has caused her to forfeit everything and gamble on the actions of the Hokage. If Sarada were less noble, then she would evade this attack. If Sarada were loss noble, if this explosive attack were devoid a target, there is no telling which bystanders it may kill. All this due to a lack of trust.
"Sarada, if we both truly believe we are doing the right thing, then you will have no problems taking this attack, is that right?".
"… yeah, that's right".
Mirai inhales a deep breath of fresh air.
"I hope you don't regret this".
Shikadai cries out for action, "Go Mirai, let's take the villagers safely away from here".
With that final call for action, the containment disappears. The explosions stretch from Mirai towards Sarada, increasing in number from millions to billions and billions to trillions. The whole battlefield calls out in once, all praying for different outcomes and then shocked into silence. A call rendered soundless by the all-encompassing howl of the attack.
As the result comes clear, many question what Mirai is doing.
Mirai is winning the war.
Sarada emerges from all the dust and smoke brutally injured. Downed, unable to move, she took the brunt of the attack on herself, saving everyone else from injury.
Silence reigns for what seems like hours until Mirai walks forward. She walks, ignorant of everyone else and looks at what she has done to Sarada. This broken body belongs to the Hokage she swore to work for. This broken body is the price for the hollow victory Mirai has won. She has won the villagers' absolute safety.
"I won" she whispers, "I actually won".
Another deep breath. Stunned as she may be, the priority is still the villagers.
"Alright everyone, follow me, we need to go to safety".
The villagers hurriedly approach Mirai from behind. Nobody can realistically stop her at this point, she is offering a clear route to safety. From behind, she is covered by Shikadai, who ushers the villagers to follow. Truly, they have beaten the odds in winning this war and ensuring the villages safety. Now all that is left is to leave the hideout behind and seek safety in the embrace of the 1st Hokage. Or so they thought.
"That won't be necessary" a voice calls from in front of Mirai.
Mirai looks back from the villagers to Sarada. She questions her own sanity, there is no way that Sarada said that. That wasn't her voice, it wasn't a woman's voice at all. That voice sounded familiar, oh so comfortingly familiar.
Mirai raises her hand and uses the 'wind' to scatter the last of the ashes and smoke.
That smoke concealed a second Hokage.
"Thank god" Minato says as he rests his head back and drifts to sleep.
A villager is the first of many to cry out in joy. He is here.
"… It's Lord 7th!".
Never has a hero done so little yet looked so valiant. Stood there in his ridiculous jumpsuit, looking as healthy he has ever done.
Uzumaki Naruto.
The civil war is finally over.
A single of Lara's colonels breaks through the formation set up by Clyde's. Lara calls after her but her voice doesn't reach amongst all this excitement. That colonel is intent on attacking Naruto, clearly failing to understand the situation. She dashes closer and closer, exciting her powers of 'wind' as she does so.
Naruto waits until she is a meter of him but doesn't do her the courtesy of looking in her direction. He raises his left hand, pressing his index finger into his thumb and waits just a millisecond longer. With the colonel in range, he flicks his finger at her, sending just a tiny bit of 'life' in her direction and blasting her out of sight.
Naruto's eyes are fixed to the floor in front of him".
"Lord 7th" Mirai calls, "I…".
Naruto ignores her, heading straight over to Sarada and kneeling at her side. He places a comforting hand on hers, taking note of her temperature. It's a miracle that the explosions from before didn't cook her alive. He squeezes gently, stimulating his student just enough to open her eyes, waking from her semi-consciousness.
"… did I do well?" Sarada laughs and coughs simultaneously.
"Yeah, you did great Sarada. I am proud of you. You can go to sleep now, I will handle it from here".
Sarada twists slightly but instantly groans in pain. That pain is suddenly but pleasantly expelled from her body as she feels a warm coat of energy envelope her. It's 'life' energy, Naruto's specifically, and in a matter of seconds, all her pain and injuries have left her. She, like Minato, drifts quietly to sleep, completely confident in his abilities to deal with any issues from here onwards.
Naruto now looks to Mirai and the others.
"This fight doesn't need to go on any longer. You don't need to run away. Because it wasn't Clyde who attacked me".
Mirai shakes her head. "Clyde didn't attack you? But it must have been him. Someone strong enough to hurt you? Someone with 'darkness' as their element".
Naruto looks away from Mirai to the destruction that has covered the battlefield. Key people stayed loyal to him and that made all the difference. But those people have suffered. He looks to the emotionally distraught Tobirama and his fallen niece Tsunade. He looks at his teacher Kakashi, and the 'lightning' struck body of his father. He looks at the group of shinobi protecting his fiancée Hinata and working to keep Elliot down. Someone strong enough to hurt him? Anyone who can cause all this pain has done much more than hurt him.
"There is one person. I overlooked it too" Naruto admits. "But there is one person here strong enough to do it. He's questioned me for a while now. He even uses 'darkness' as his element but I had long since forgotten about it. And that person would be you…".
Naruto points just past Mirai and calls the name of his attacker.
"Nara Shikadai… he is the one who attacked me".
Whole groups of shinobi were forced to choose a leader to follow in this civil war. They considered who would best speak for them, who they could trust most, who would make the best decisions and more. With so many people from different times, they had often spoken the intellectual and articulate Nara clansmen. He had become a logical guide for many of them, a man who could absolutely be trusted. In an instant that façade is destroyed, and his status has dropped from a leader to a sinner. It all makes sense, there is no doubt about it. He has questioned Naruto's logic ever since this new alliance. Shikadai is the one who attacked him.
None are more distraught than his parents.
"Shikadai!".
"That's not true, is it Shikadai?" Temari asks her son. "Please tell me you didn't do that".
Many still look to him for an answer. It all makes sense, but they won't believe it until they here a confession from him. They have to know the reason for this, how could he have done this to them
"It's true" he admits.
"I conspired with Inojin and ChouChou. We tried to force the rational decision on the village. We tried to force Naruto and Sarada into an alliance with Hashirama and Boruto".
Shikamaru has seldom been an emotional man in recent years but this really gets to him. A constant companion to Naruto, he is also one of the Uzumaki clansmen's greatest admires. During his life, he has told Shikadai many stories that back up the legend of the 7th Hokage. In the Nara household, that noisy little brat that grew into the world's greatest shinobi was a hero admired above all others. But it seems that all meant nothing.
"How could you ever think like that?" Temari asks, "With all your genius, did you really think that logic would work?".
"It still can…".
As soon as Shikadai starts talking he is cut off.
Within a fraction of a second Naruto is before him, lifting him by the scruff of his neck, his hands practically shaking in anger. Naruto has been forgiving since coming forward in time, but this is a side he has shown less often. His downcast eyes and the recurring animalistic breath that masks his voice, they both speak to the pure rage he is experiencing.
"Forget about your plan. Thank the gods that you are still walking. After the pain you've brought to my student, to my father, to my teacher and my friends. You should be grateful that there is a single unbroken bone in your body".
"Naruto!" the voice of Kurama calls to him.
Hearing the voice, Naruto's anger lightens. He reluctantly releases Shikadai and walks away, positioning himself behind Shikamaru and Temari, offering each of them an apologetic pat on the back.
"The plan almost worked mom. Inojin has been in contact with Hashirama telepathically. He's expecting us right now" Shikadai explains. "If we had gotten away he would have come and killed the people from this world. Naruto and Sarada would have been forced to make an alliance with Hashirama and Boruto. Everything would have been great".
Shikamaru shakes his head. "You three. I can't speak on behalf of Ino and Choji, but for me, you make me feel sick!".
"Father, it was the most rational decision for the safety of the village".
Ino arrives, running up and joining Shikamaru, Choji not far behind her. "I don't think the three of you understand. It wasn't your decision to make".
"Shikadai" this time it is Mirai who speaks. "I thought you were like a brother to me. How could you make me do that to Sarada? What if I had killed her!"
"Do you honestly think you were going to kill her, Mirai?" Shikadai's voice is no longer that of the little brother she once knew. Now it is more the voice of a decision-making machine, an entity devoid of all human empathy. "I considered the possibility and I made the best choice possible, for the village!".
Shinki arrives, approaching Shikadai from behind after ceasing his fight with Blackburn. A fight that he now regrets every second of.
"Cousin, the decisions of the Circle, of Naruto, they may not be rational, but they are made using a combination of brains and heart" Shinki explains. "Even if they are dangerous decisions, they are the will of the village, they are chances we have collectively decided to take. You taught me something in the past, you taught me that those decisions are nor ours alone to make. I wish you had taken your own advice".
"Shinki is right" Choji says, "You three have all let the village down".
"Well then Uncle Choji, what would have us do? Wait for the village to self-destruct because our heart wills it?". The Circle's administrator shouts in the face of the man he once respected, a changed man from years prior. "Would you have me ignore my brains warnings and let us throw ourselves over a cliff all because Naruto says so".
Naruto steps past Shikamaru, approaching Shikadai again, this time more calmly. "Choji doesn't make the decisions around here, the Circle does. And I think the Circle will agree with me on this".
The latest generation of Ino-Shika-Cho have faced the judge and the jury. That leaves only one part of their trial left.
"Hashirama is expecting you. You will go to him" Naruto mercifully decrees. "I won't see you hurt but from this moment on, the three of you are exiled from the Hidden Leaf Village".
Shikadai immediately falls back on the democratic system he established. This is a majority decision which must be agreed upon by the majority of the Circle. He feels confident that they will agree with his logical decision making. He is wrong though, as he looks around the remaining members of the Circle, even his greatest supporters do not throw their voice behind him. The administrator's thoughts are his alone. The thoughts of the Circle say that he and his two teammates are to be exiled.
Shikadai has no other choice. He leaves along with Inojin and ChouChou.
"I hope you find what you are looking for with Boruto" Naruto whispers as he walks away.
Inojin passes his mother. She has endured the majority of this war with only one family member left. Following Sai's death, they only had one another to turn to and now even that connection has been broken. There are no winners in war.
"I did what I thought was best" Inojin tells her.
She manages to remain strong for a few more seconds. "Your father would be ashamed of your decision".
The final words spoken between them. Nara Shikadai, Akimichi ChouChou and Yamanaka Inojin leave the village for good.
As the three of them disappear from sight, a shinobi commander approaches Mirai. "Commander Mirai, what happens now?".
"What happens now? This battle is over. Tend to the wounded, we don't need to fight any more".
"The battle is over is it?" a woman's voice asks incredulously.
Lara teleports, arriving next to Mirai and angrily pointing at Naruto. "Is this supposed to be some kind of joke, Uzumaki! They made false accusations against us and then left us to a horrible death. How can I just overlook that?".
"I'm sorry, the people of my village made a mistake" Naruto gently offers her. "I hope that makes us even now".
"Makes us even? You think I care about being even?" Lara's anger is contagious, almost bringing Naruto's back to the surface. "This conclusion will not satisfy my bloodlust".
A comforting hand lands on Lara's shoulder. Clyde's hand. "Let it go Lara. Just take Naruto's offer and call it all square from here on".
"Clyde, this doesn't satisfy me in the least. You should know that better than anyone".
"But look around. See these people as I do and ask yourself, who is supposed to be satisfied by this? We are all equal because we have suffered from this stupid battle".
Lara analyses it. She has suffered, with Elliot being defeated and Brooks being almost exhausted by three foes. Those who wanted to leave suffered, with Tsunade almost losing her last family member because of this conflict. Those who wanted everyone to stay suffered, with Sarada putting her body on the line to save Lara's life. As Clyde says, war makes all people equal.
"Let it go" Clyde asks again.
Lara gently nods. "Fine".
"This war is over".
With the war finished, Lara teleports away, not in the mood to speak any longer.
The villagers, shinobi and captains all celebrate their own survival. The short but violent civil war is over with no fatalities. A valiant group lead by Sarada and Clyde has managed to save their lives.
There is no celebration for the leaders of these survivors though.
Mirai thought she was winning the war. That was wrong. She didn't win the war.
Everyone lost.