BACK TO SCHOOL – HYUUGA HINATA
Outside Mars' Home
As Minato looks at his daughter-in-law he begins to speak but loses his voice. He wonders how this all happened. Hinata is not a Hokage. She was a good shinobi but never reached the same level as the likes of Naruto, yet now here she stands far stronger than he is. When did she suddenly leap forward, when did she get this strong because he must have been looking away when that happened? Also this rage, where did she acquire this rage?
"Hinata, are you certain about this?" Minato asks, "Because in all honesty I'm just as angry as you but-"
"Minato!" Kushina shouts, silencing the 4th Hokage.
"I'm certain," Hinata answers without looking back.
Minato takes a deep breath and throws his marked kunai as far into the distance as he can send it. Using the nine-tails chakra within him, he connects his energy with Kushina, Himawari, Dai and Naruto, teleporting them away with the flying thunder god technique. Now he has made the decision to run, to believe in Hinata, and she is all alone.
Hinata doesn't wait another moment. The second Minato disappears the Hyuuga charges at her tormentor, dashing at him with as much speed as she can muster. As she steps forward she notices her legs are slightly heavy, largely dulled by adrenaline but heavy nonetheless. While her fatigue must be nothing compared to what Mars must be feeling, she is in far better condition than the class 7 warrior.
Mars turns to run from Hinata but the moment he steps down on his right foot he feels an agonising pain shoot up his leg. He keeps running because his life depends on it. This is the sort of pain that true soldiers have experienced many times, the military, the imperial guard, the shinobi, but to him it is alien. But, he must keep running, that is the only way he can survive right now.
With every second that passes the space between the two fighters closes. Mars is forced to zig-zag and run in other obscure patterns, desperately trying to find any way to shake Hinata off. He makes unplanned rotations, he forces Hinata to make sharp turns, but even with his greater battle strength he is unable to escape his predator whom has dexterity far in excess of his own.
Eventually Mars realises that he can run no further. He pivots on his left leg, keeping his injured right off the floor and instead using its rotary motion for momentum. He spins, his fist clad in some of the 'fire' energy that has started to repopulate his inner world and unleashes a strike towards Hinata.
"You'll make mistakes," Mars taunts her, "Just like he made a mistake when he decided to stick with you lot."
Hinata grips Mars' fist to prevent him striking using her left hand and begins to calculate how fast Mars' power is returning to him. He may not know the regulation battle principle, but unfortunately the mercenary's power is returning faster than she would have liked. Right now though, she is in the better position. Hinata grabs Mars' top with her right hand pulling him towards her and slamming their heads into one another.
As Mars staggers backwards Hinata steps towards him and begins a systematic exchange of punches. Mars tries to fight back but he feels this fight travelling in a familiar direction as all of his punches miss. He spots the unusual pattern in Hinata's eyes and determines that she too is gifted with boosted senses, not to the same degree as Naruto, but enough to give her supremacy over him.
When strikes do not work, Mars resorts instead to grappling. However, this new tactic doesn't serve him any better than the last, Hinata quickly overpowers Mars. The shinobi may lose in a direct test of strength, but in a game of footwork she would never lose to Mars, especially on an injured leg. She dances around him, turning him inside out by attacking from clever angles before knocking him to the ground with a strike to his injured leg.
When Mars back hits the ground all his composure disappears, luckily for him he does have a strength advantage, and more of his power is returning every second. He kicks Hinata three times with his good leg, forcing her backwards. Using this tiny bit of separation, he activates his divine ability, becoming invisible. With his advantage of invisibility, the mercenary sneaks up behind his opponent and grabs her from behind, tackling her to the ground.
Hinata tries to break free but has little success.
"Your senses aren't as good as his were, but you're strong," he says tauntingly, "Tell me, where do you think that power comes from? Do you think you've done anything to earn it, you haven't? Don't go thinking you are worthy of standing next to him."
Hinata slams her elbow backwards into Mars rib. An inefficient attack, her anger blinds her to her own tiredness as she continues to strike backwards. Ten times, twenty, thirty, eventually after fifty quick blows Mars releases Hinata.
Hinata gets to her knees and turns around, quickly striking Mars on the nose to prevent him from grabbing her again.
"Even if you know where this strength comes from, I don't want to hear it," she says.
She strikes Mars again.
"As far as I'm concerned."
Again!
"My strength comes from Naruto."
Again!
"I know that I could never trust a word you said!"
As Hinata tries to strike again her fist clatters down into the ground. Once again Mars activated his powers of invisibility. He grips Hinata's shoulder from below, scorching her with a hand set on 'fire'. While Hinata desperately tries to avert disaster by cooling herself with 'water' energy he strikes her abdomen repeatedly, again and again until the effects finally start to show.
Finally, Mars slams Hinata down into the ground before getting to his feet.
"You're probably right can't trust a word the big bad mercenary says can we, not a delicate little thing like you," Mars says sarcastically, "I don't know how you expect to stand by him when it gets tough. Too fragile if you ask me. I bet you'll run away at the first sign of trouble."
Hinata lashes out with both her feet, hitting Mars bad leg from either side in a scissor like motion. As the mercenary cries out in pain and falls onto his good knee, Hinata gets to her feet and slams her own knee up into his head. His head lashes backwards and the Hyuuga kicks him in the chest, sending him scurrying back along the ground.
"I met a couple of pocket worlders far worthier than you," Mars laughs.
"As if I would believe you."
"The woman with the pink hair, the man with the missing arm and the purple eye," Mars cackles, "I could hardly be making that up could I?"
For a moment Hinata's rage subsides. A woman with pink hair? A man with a missing arm and a purple eye? That's a perfect description of Sakura and Sasuke, but that's also impossible. She remembers Sasuke killing Sakura after being revived in the pocket-world, she remembers Sarada defeating her father to save the village. There is no way that they could be alive, but how could Mars have found out about them? Is there a traitor in their midst, can he read minds, has he bullied someone into betraying secrets?
"Oh that's right, I saw them not too long ago, they seemed competent but so afraid, so lost, so alone," Mars continues, "Another pocket-worlder abandoned hey. Another desperate crying pair of would-be fighters who you abandoned."
"What did you do to them?"
"I killed them," Mars lies.
"You're lying."
"Am I?"
Hinata's anger returns, consuming her once again. If Mars is telling the truth she will make him regret it with every fibre of his being. If Mars is lying, then she will make him wish that he had never met her.
Unknown to Hinata, every second of rage brings her a bit closer to the truth.
Every second of rage brings her a bit closer to understanding just where her power comes from.
The Imperial Convey, Returning to the Capital
The convey remains largely silent as it follows behind Jonas, Nadia and Swen, few daring to talk at risk of upsetting them. There is a terrible truth behind the death of Muto Sora, a terrible truth for the whole world. He may have been the last person whose death could have induced emotion within the emperor, but instead the ruler felt nothing. At least nothingness was what it appeared to be, but perhaps deep within him there is a bitterness, a resentment or a frustration, something that they can't detect that makes him slightly more dangerous than normal. There is definitely some feeling of hopelessness within the two royals. Right now, they are the last people any of them want to annoy.
"Can I ask the two of you something, after all, you two are the smartest in Homeworld," Swen says, "How exactly is this pocket-world different from the others, why is this one able to nourish divine energy? I could understand it if one person was able to harvest divine energy, but so many, you say why I doubt it, yep?"
Neither Jonas nor Nadia says anything to begin with. Jonas probably because he doesn't want to rush into an answer if it is disadvantageous to give it. Swen thinks that Nadia won't give an answer because she is like everyone else here. She is afraid of saying the wrong thing.
"That single world has produced more class 6 warriors than the military ever has," Swen finishes.
"It's possible that it's just luck, maybe slightly unlikely, but it's possible all the same," Jonas comments on the statistics, "The dark dimension didn't have divine energy, neither do the majority of pocket-worlds, but one in a million did have divine energy. Homeworld was that one in a million, perhaps it was simply dumb luck that a second world was able to use it."
They have gone way past believing in such dumb luck.
"It's even more of a coincidence that the second 'life' user came from that pocket world," Nadia says.
"Indeed."
"Although, perhaps there is some logic that the gods are applying to these worlds. Perhaps there can only be one 'life' user in each world," Nadia speculates, "Perhaps this was all pre-determined, perhaps it was always going to happen this way."
Jonas stops for a moment, bringing the royals and the onlookers from the convoy to a halt with him.
"Humanity witnessed the birth of its god this day Nadia," he says, "I assure you, that god didn't put any such rule in place when he created the pocket worlds."
"Of course, please forgive me for speaking out of turn my almighty deity," Nadia says before bowing sarcastically.
Swen feels like death the moment Nadia does that. He reconsiders his earlier opinions on the situation, Nadia isn't afraid, she has a death wish. He holds his head in his hands and prays to whoever is listening that Jonas doesn't bring any harm to her.
Jonas continues to walk onwards.
Swen breathes a sigh of relief, sharing a glance with Nadia. He understands why she was acting that way before now, she wasn't silent because she was afraid, she was watching Jonas. Her observations and predictions never stop, no matter how much danger they throw the queen into.
"We will find out more once Uzumaki Naruto is captured," Jonas says, "I will have him sent to one of the labs and I will take a great personal interest in the investigation of his body. I may even perform the dissection myself."
Nadia grins, "Lovely," she says, continuing in her sarcastic mood.
"Why are the pocket worlds even necessary to begin with?" Swen asks.
"Most science isn't necessary to begin with Swen," Nadia replies.
"But why are we still making them, maintaining them, it doesn't make any sense does it?" the king asks, "Think about it, we don't use the people in them like we originally intended to do, yep. We clear them out, but I don't see what we gout out of it. It just destroys military souls doesn't it? Doesn't it just waste their time?"
"Swen," Jonas begins.
"Yep?"
"There are some questions that even a king should not ask," Jonas says, pointing a finger in Swen's face, "If you dare go down this line of questioning again, your position atop your country's throne is the last thing you need to worry about, is that clear?"
Swen's mind goes completely blank. That was a threat, a serious threat and he knows it. He didn't need to look into anyone's mind to feel the sudden surge in killing intent coming from the emperor. He looks over to Nadia and sees that she is suggesting another bow to get him out of this situation, something he immediately refuses.
"Sorry, I won't ask about it again," Swen says.
Suddenly, a shout comes from nearby.
"My Lords! My King! My Queen! My Emperor!"
Jonas tells one of his subordinates to go and see what this newcomer wants. That subordinate quickly goes to find out.
"My emperor, a message from the mercenary Mars," the subordinate informs his master, "He has detained Uzumaki Naruto and is awaiting your arrival."
"Excellent, Nadia, Swen, we're heading to Mars' home right now," Jonas declares, "We have found the treacherous Uzumaki Naruto."
The aristocrats who accompany the royals and the empire begin to chant a battle cry as they follow their emperor to the west. They head back towards the home of the mercenary named Mars, and to find the empire's greatest enemy."
'Show me just you will escape this time, Naruto.'
Mars' Home
Hinata rushes Mars, kicking in the chest and knocking him onto his back. As the mercenary falls back onto the ground, Hinata repeatedly stamps on his injured leg. Her personality slips further and further as she is overcome by her own mysterious powers. Even as Mars cries out pain she doesn't stop, continuing to stamp on him.
Eventually Hinata seems to grow tired of this, she flicks Mars up off the ground as if he were a ball and kicks him backwards once again. The mercenary bounces back along the floor, spinning three full rotations during his backward hurtle.
Mars groans, "You can't control your power over long time periods, you haven't had time to mature yet. I'm going to make sure that you never get that chance, I'm going to make sure you fail, just as Naruto is going to."
Hinata loses control once again, she runs at Mars and attacks him. Her mind is almost completely gone at this point but the fists just continue to fly. The truth is though that every strike is less powerful than the last and every second Mars has regained more power than the one before. Mars laughs as he realises this, that he has done it.
Mars catches one of Hinata's punches, a crazed smile on his face.
"You're losing it aren't you, you can't keep up, you can't handle it yet," he says, chuckling madly, "When you're like this, even I could beat you."
Mars strikes Hinata once in the chest, this time driving her backward.
For a moment Hinata's mind is her own again and she thinks over what Mars just said. Why would he say that even he could defeat her? Isn't he supposed to be stronger than her, isn't he supposed to be a class 7 warrior, there is no way that he should be anticipating defeat in this fight? Whatever this power is, she knows that if she masters it she will be able to help Naruto, she will be a true threat to this horrible emperor who is hunting them down."
"I may have lost Naruto for the moment, but I'm still going to get my payday, just you watch," Mars howls.
Upon hearing his name mentioned, Hinata's rage flares up once again. Her power returns to her and she fires a beam of 'water' energy at Mars leg, ignoring him as he calls out to her for mercy.
Then it all goes wrong.
All Hinata's divine energy seems to slip away.
She even loses her ability to control 'water' energy.
Nearby
"Mother."
Kushina down to the floor to see that Naruto has woken up. His head resting on the robe his father placed down just a few moments ago. She is frightened by the speed of his recovery before she remembers just how powerful his element is, nevertheless, she is overjoyed to see that he has awoken.
"Naruto, are you OK?" Kushina asks.
"Hinata," he mutters, "Hinata, I don't sense Hinata, where is she?"
"She's still fighting Mars, she said would stay behind and finish him off."
Naruto's head feels like it's going to split open if he uses any more divine energy this day, but he forces himself to lucidity for the few moments it is necessary to use the one true sense. He focuses all his senses at first to find their direction of travel, feeling the tiny change in the ground made by their footprints. He looks back the way they came, he looks to the left and concentrates on Hinata, and no matter how improbably it may seem to the others, for a second he glimpses something important.
"I have to go back," he says, forcing himself to his feet, "She's lost control again."
Mars' Home
The mercenary gets to his feet and limps towards Hinata. Now she is doing nothing, she's not even moving. He feels no divine energy coming from her and concludes that he is now in control of the situation. There is a delight in the comfort of absolute power that he feels has been missing for years now. He has done it, he has won, but that is not enough for him. After what Hinata did to him, she must suffer, she must pay.
"The emperor will still be grateful to me for what I do here, even if I kill you," he says, "I am going to make sure that you are dead, I'm going to crush Uzumaki Naruto's soul, and I'm going to break this rebellion before it even starts."
Following Mars threat, he raises his hand above his head, creating a huge ball of 'fire'.
Hinata knows straight away that he doesn't need to do that. The dramatic nature of Mars' attack is beneficial neither to the attacks power nor its effectiveness. The battle is now over though, she lost herself in a moment of rage and now she is going to pay for it. However, if there is one good thing about this situation, at least Naruto got away.
'Naruto was able to defeat him at full power, he really is incredible,' Hinata thinks to herself, 'I hope that you stick by what you have said, that you never give up, no matter what. I will be watching you, always. And, don't become like Hashirama and Boruto, just keep doing what you believe in, that's what I want, more than anything.'
As Mars throws the ball of 'fire' in her direction, she closes her eyes for one final thought.
'I love you, Naruto.'
Hinata closes her eyes, as the heat descends upon her.
To Mars this is all over, he has only to inform Furst Jonas of what happened here and claim the reward for his efforts. To Naruto, there is nothing he can do, the distance between himself and his wife is insurmountable even as he tries to rush back. To Furst, this is an even that he will not soon forget. To Hinata, this is the end, the end of everything.
But then Hinata's eyes open again.
'Ah, I understand now, I understand everything,' Hinata says to herself, 'What a time to wake up, as always, far too slow Hinata.'
Nearby
Naruto watches in horror from a distance before closing his eyes. He stops using the one true senses and prays that everything he has seen is a lie. But even without his enhanced senses, he can feel the warmth in the air as the ball of flame explodes. From up close it must have been incomparably hot.
He feels to his knees.
"Hinata…"
This is the day Naruto's heart broke, that he understood the loss that so many others have felt.
This is the day that Naruto lost the person that mattered most to him.
This is the day that Hyuuga Hinata died.