DECLARATION OF WAR – PLEA TO THE COUNCIL
Taigai, Aturia
Naruto and the others return to their hideout in the city having been unsuccessful. Yuuki Terukatsu was supposed to be their greatest hope of starting a war against the empire, but he doesn't believe in it, not in the way they do. Naruto has an ability to sway the minds of others, to create a great impression on them, but not even he can sway a man like that in such quick time.
Naruto looks around his comrades, judging what they will each be thinking. Ming Dai will be taking a pragmatic approach, wondering what to do next. Minato will be thinking about their immediate security now that they have failed. Kushina is probably worrying about how he is coping with the thought of having failed. Himawari doubtless thinks he will find a way to overcome it. Only Mito remains blissfully ignorant of the dire situation.
"Hey, don't worry, you've got out of worse spots before," Kurama says, somehow able to read Naruto's mind.
"I know, but I doubt that makes it any less disappointing for them."
"You'll think of a way."
Naruto tries. Strategy has always been Shikamaru's strong point, he feels somewhat lost without him. Other great thinkers have helped him throughout his life with planning and tactics, but none of them are here to help now. They must solely rely upon his wit and imagination to get out of this situation.
"Is there a way to start the war without the War Council," Naruto asks.
"In theory you could declare war yourself," Ming Dai answers, "But most people won't take any notice if you do it. What people need to here is someone with authority. That's why we need this man and the War Council. During the war with the Dark Dimension they were the ones who made the decisions, the ones that everyone relied upon. For a long time Yuuki Terukatsu was the most famous man in Homeworld. Without them everyone will know that we don't have the power to put up a fight, and they will ignore us."
Naruto walks over to a nearby wall and slumps to the ground. He rests his head against the wall and sighs, thinking of his past and how it will influence the future. The sad thing is he knows this situation all too well.
"We'll get past this somehow," Himawari assures her father.
"It's not that, it's just that I know what it's like to be alone. I spent years when I was younger with no support, when it seemed like nobody was looking after me. I know that Lord 3rd was making sure I was OK now, but I never really appreciated that at the time. I felt that everything was so hopeless, you know what I mean?"
"I'm sorry we left you like that," Minato says.
"It wasn't your fault, this is an unusual situation and you don't know the circumstances surrounding my birth, but I do. You two did everything you did for me and for the village, and the Hidden Leaf has always been thankful for that. There was just a little part of people though, a little part of them that couldn't help but associate me with Kurama's destructive past.
"Since everyone stayed away from me, I felt abandoned, like there was nobody who was going to stand up for me when it mattered. That's a big part of what made me who I am. I looked at the most cherished people in the village, at the Hokage, and I wanted to be like him. I wanted to take all the best parts of different shinobi and bring them all together. I was never perfect, but it was good enough that I started to be acknowledged.
"Everyone wants to be acknowledged though. Not everyone can become Hokage just by working at it really hard. I sometimes ask myself what I would have ended up looking like if I had failed if the power Sasuke and I have had gone elsewhere. I think that I would look the same as the people of Taigai look now. I didn't ever want to see people looking like that ever again.
"This is just one city though. There are many cities out there in Homeworld, and countless towns and villages with more people than I could hope to imagine. They're depending on our every action, otherwise their faces will be like this forever too. They will forever be hopeless, asking themselves who is willing to stand up for them."
Ming Dai lets Naruto's words sink in. Why didn't he notice that himself as he was walking through the streets? He has felt the same way Naruto described before, but he just didn't realise that everyone else was going through that as well. He speculates perhaps the War Council haven't noticed either. Perhaps, if Naruto is the one man capable of noticing, he is the only person capable of making them realise as well.
"The War Council meets at the same time every day," Ming Dai explains. "If you were to interrupt their meeting, perhaps you could bypass Terukatsu and appeal straight to the War Council itself."
"Do you think that could work?" Naruto asks.
"Well, if it were anybody else, I would say no, but with you there is just an outside chance that you will be able to change their minds."
Naruto smiles, "Very well, I'll do it."
Naruto now feels a lot more hopeful about the whole situation but there are a lot of question marks surrounding it all. If the War Council agrees with him can they override Yuuki Terukatsu himself? Will Terukatsu change his mind if the War Council does? There are so many different ways this could all pan out. However, a small chance of success is better than nothing. They have been facing long odds since the beginning.
"Hey Naruto," Kurama says.
"What?"
"If you didn't have the power from the old man you wouldn't have looked gloomy, you would just have died."
"Thanks for the words of encouragement Kurama, you're a great partner as always."
"I'm the nine-tailed fox, I'm not here to cheer you up."
"Yeah-yeah."
South Aturia
Hannah rests with her back in the snow, looking up at the evergreen trees rising above. There are not many cold places in Aturia, but this is one of the few. Perhaps due to her instinct, she seems to have found one of the few warm patches in the entire biome, perhaps due to some strange geological event happening below. This is a nice spot though, she wonders if perhaps one day she could return here of her own free will, having fulfilled some great purpose she has dedicated herself to. Maybe then she will finally have felt like a real person and not some tool for those more powerful than herself.
She hears a hooting in the air from a far above. She tells herself that it must be Claude returning from his reconnaissance of the immediate area. They came here because they suspected that it would be easy to escape the Imperial Guard here. They were right, since coming to this small corner of Homeworld they have evaded notice altogether. Unfortunately, that peace can only last so long though, Hannah's instincts will always be calling for more blood.
Claude returns and lands on one of the branches of an evergreen tree and looks down at Hannah below. It's not more than a second after he lands that she begins to cry. Given there is no immediate threat in the surrounding area he floats down and lands next to her head to console her.
"What's wrong Hannah?"
"I can already feel my instincts changing, soon they'll tell me to move again. I'm scared that they're just going to make me keep killing forever," she says. "What if I'm never able to control myself Claude? What if I am defeated by the Imperial Guard and I become their puppet forever?"
"We won't let that happen," Claude says. "Come on, if you and I work together we can probably keep running forever if we want to. Besides, you have to have faith that one day the right person will appear who can help you. You have to believe that Hannah, or you will lose the will to keep moving forward."
"I already lost that a long time ago."
Claude had been fearing that. Seeing Hannah fight her mother was one of the most harrowing experiences of his life. He spent the entire time wishing that he could intervene, that he could pull Hannah away and maybe even save Lara's life. He knows better than to cross Hannah once her instinct has told her to fight though. When those instincts direct her to fight, she is an unbeatable monster, a titan that cannot be stopped no matter what you put in her way. That is the nature of her divine ability, the most cruel and terrifying that Claude has ever witnessed.
"You know, all this time, I've never wanted to win a fight," Hannah says. "I always begin attacking people and I just wish that I could lose. When we first encountered my mother, I didn't know who she was, I wish she had beaten me back then. I wish that she could have beaten me the second time or those pocket-worlders could have beaten me. Sometimes I even think maybe the Imperial Guard wouldn't be so bad, at least then they could give me a clear direction and a purpose in life."
"You do have a purpose Hannah. I am here for you and we will find something that you want to do. No matter what we have to do we will find a way to make it happen, you and I."
Claude was a stroke of luck for Hannah, and a far bigger problem for the empire than he had any right to be. A class 6 master of 'flight', he should have been no threat at all when confronted with the class 9 King Max. It was a long time of planning and waiting that made him such a notable adversary to the empire. He escaped from the laboratories, bringing Hannah with him, snatching away one of the most formidable weapons the empire has every created. Claude did not see Hannah as a weapon but as a person. He saw her and treated her as a member of his own beast clan.
"Do you think the person that pocket-worlder recommended can help?"
Claude remembers. "Uzumaki Naruto, he's wanted by the empire. To reach the notoriety he has amongst the Imperial Guard there must be something special about him. However, if you want me to be honest Hannah, I don't know that he will be able to defeat you. I don't think anybody on your level is capable of defeating you. Maybe he has some other trick up his sleeve, that's our best hope."
"I really want him to win."
"We both do, I just want to temper your expectations. You need to hold on to hope, but don't put it all on this pocket-worlder. You have faced people with incredible skillsets before, but none of them have been able to stand up to you. What you have to do is work out a way to not attack him, then maybe can use his powers to help you."
"I don't think I can resist my instincts, no matter what I do," Hannah says.
"Then let's pray that I'm wrong, and that he's as incredible as that pocket-worlder thought was."
Unbeknownst to the two of them, there is a much more pressing issue than a potential meeting with Uzumaki Naruto. There is one man approaching for who Hannah is the ultimate prey, a man who has waited all his life for this encounter and who could not be more excited. To defeat someone with the instincts of a beast, perhaps there is nobody more qualified than Homeworld's great hunter.
Shao Chin draws near.
The War Council Chambers, Taigai, Aturia
Yuuki Terukatsu stands at the end of the great hall, having been asked questions by his fellow council members about an unexpected presence in the city. Naturally, many of the mighty and powerful members of the council have sources in the city, sources who saw Uzumaki and his fellows leaping across the rooftops. Terukatsu answered their questions with the truth, that he is here because he hoped that they would start a war, and that he declined the request.
There are very much mixed feelings about Naruto in the War Council. Some hold Naruto responsible for the death of Headmaster Sora, their greatest asset in any potential war against Furst and the royals. Some think a war would be stupid and that the losses would be so great that they could never be justified by any victory. Some believe that Naruto is a hero and their final chance to stand up to the empire, but that he will not be ready for many years yet, years that he will unfortunately not survive.
Ming Dai has an idea to change the hearts and minds of these council members though, an idea he is about to put into action.
Suddenly, the door at the end of the great hall flies open, a door which Yuuki Terukatsu, as the leader of the council, stands opposite from. The Uzumakis and Ming Dai all enter through the door, Naruto at their head.
"Hi, you probably recognise me from the posters, I am Uzumaki Naruto."
Whispers fill the hall as the council members look on at Naruto. His name is often spoken in militaristic circles where his true potential is recognised. Many say that he is a man with Endou Akashi level potential, the only person in the world with a talent that rivals the emperor. Though some in the war council are class 8 warriors, and most have been class 7 much longer than Naruto, they all know that they cannot compare to him. They are strong, but even if he dies, Naruto's name will forever be spoken when discussing great warriors. Even if he never reaches the heights of power that his innate ability may allow.
"I've come here because I've seen the people of this world suffering. I've seen their pain and it's appalling that you allow it to continue. You are the War Council, the strong people that the innocent civilians of this world look up to every day. Still, with all of your power, what are you doing to help those people every day, nothing! You can see them out the windows of your homes, you walk past them on your way to this building and you ignore their pain!
"Many of the rumours you might have heard about me are true. I was trained by Headmaster Sora. I've had many teachers in my time. I've been trained by legendary shinobi, by a man inhabited by a beast, by a man who had everything taken away from him and still went on to become Hokage. When I came to your world, I wondered if things would be different. Here I was trained by Muto Sora, by Marti Nina and by Rubio Juan. Each of them possess a family name you are not allowed to speak because it has been forbidden by the emperor. Yet you refuse to act.
"If there is one thing I know about my masters, its that not one of them would have stood for the mess in this world. They were all great people, many of them gave their life to help me get to this point because they believed in fighting back. Each of them wanted to make a difference, to save Homeworld from Furst and his empire. Why are you different? Why do you people, skulking away while your friends suffer, why do you insist that we do nothing? Why do you not act?
"I want to implore you together as the War Council, to look past the decision taken by your leader and to make a decision based on what I am saying to you now. Please, I don't know if I will be able to defeat Furst Jonas, but I believe in trying everything I can to do so. I will never give in and never give up. Help me, declare war, if you do it then people may have some hope. That is the only way we will ever be free of this tyranny."
As Naruto finishes speaking, Ming Dai thinks he has done a good job. Now the decision rests with the War Council.
The members of the council murmur to one another.
Ming Dai had thought that Yuuki Terukatsu may look more nervous about the situation, potentially being outvoted would be embarrassing for the council leader. However, Terukatsu doesn't look worried or concerned in the least. He is as cool as he has ever been. Ming Dai ponders if it might be a relief if he were outvoted, if all the decision-making power were taken from Terukatsu's hands and he were just allowed to move forwards.
Two council members, one from the left side of the hall and the other from the right approach Terukatsu. They each whisper something in his ear and he nods to them, signalling that he will uphold their decision.
"Uzumaki Naruto," Terukatsu calls out, "The War Council believes that any war against Furst Jonas is doomed to fail. Perhaps one day you will show us that you have sufficient strength to merit such a sacrifice, but that day has not yet come."
Ming Dai tries to console Naruto, to place a hand on his shoulder and leave together with him, but the 7th Hokage isn't done yet.
"You are saying it's not worth the sacrifice," Naruto begins, "Headmaster Sora gave up his life so that I could come here and talk to you. He thought the sacrifice was worth it. Did he die for nothing?"
Ming Dai looks back at Yuuki Terukatsu.
"We might have gone to war if Sora had asked us, but we will not for you, so perhaps he did."
Naruto nods to Terukatsu, it's not a decision he likes but it's one he understands. The truth of the matter is that the War Council is afraid, and they are claiming that they are holding back because of strategy. They haven't yet understood the message he wanted to get across. He will have to find another way to reach them.
Naruto leaves, taking his family with him.
Ming Dai remains, and waits for the Uzumakis to leave before turning back to face the War Council.
"My name is Ming Dai, I'm the other student of Muto Sora. I can't speak like Naruto, I know I won't change your mind, but there is something you need to hear.
"Our master would have been ashamed of you."