THE FOUNDRY – THE HERTZ COMPOUND

Above the Crystal Caves

Terukatsu has always had mixed feelings about the imperial family, even before they ascended to the throne. He had been running an organised force before they emerged in the war against the Dark Dimension. After that Homeworld's operations became less pragmatic and more personal. Each member of their elite group, with the exception of Furst, acted on impulse repeatedly, often abandoning their mission in favour of their personal feelings.

Terukatsu knows that their way is better. The way the Endou and Muto families motivated people to fight in the last conflict changed the course of the war. The decisions those families made, the way they inspired people and saved people that nobody else could save is what eventually made them this world's leaders. Uzumaki Naruto fits into the group perfectly, perhaps taking their ideals to even greater lengths than before, but the War Council Leader can't help but wish he would wear something less distracting than his ridiculous orange jacket.

Fussing about appearances isn't usually Terukatsu's profession but starting a rebellion from the ground up makes it important. People need to want to side with you. That is a lot easier when they take you seriously. His role has become too political for his liking.

"It's important for the four of us to go through things," Terukatsu explains. "We are the current and future leaders of the rebellion after all. Learning how things work now will help you to make decisions in the future."

"Good thinking," Hinata says.

"It seems that it won't be long before the two of you take charge of this rebellion," Enri says. "I am sure that when that happens our recruitment will speed up again. We just need to work on spreading your names for now."

"Spreading our names?" Naruto narrows his eyes, "I don't really get that. I know people haven't really heard of me but surely, they have heard of Hinata. Isn't she the rightful ruler?"

"Everyone you meet has heard of Hinata. Remember Naruto, those who have understood an element stop ageing soon afterwards, we don't die of old age. Most powerful warriors remember the old days when Akashi was on the throne. Some warriors are too young to remember that though, and those citizens who live a normal life definitely won't. Generations have been born and died since Homeworld was free."

"It was General Clyde who went to your world," Hinata says, "Clyde will remember the days of my father's reign. Most of the people who served under him won't have remembered that. They will have only known a life of invading world's like yours and taking charge."

Naruto leans forwards, "OK, basically we need to get famous. Even more famous than we are now. How are we going to do that?"

"By doing the challenging missions," Terukatsu answers. "As I know Enri has mentioned, from now on she is going to be used tactically. We will either use her to instantly win a battle instantly when royals aren't present, or to take royals away from battles so we have a chance of winning."

"You can't just beat the royals?" Naruto asks.

"No, I'm afraid I can't," Enri admits.

"Then how do we defeat them?"

"For that we are just going to have to wait on the two of you," Terukatsu says. "Don't let that dishearten you, the progress I have witnessed from you has been remarkable. In a short time the people who came from that pocket-world have become strong, very strong. I believe that it won't be long before you are ready to take on the royals. When that happens, I am sure you will be able to beat them. Then we only have to worry about the emperor."

Naruto's shoulders slump. He looks beside him and notices Hinata fidgeting with her ring. This brings a small grin to his face. It seems that perhaps some of the other Hinata's habits were inherited from her counterpart. The more time progresses and the more Endou Hinata and Naruto get to know one another, the more the shinobi realises that the empress and her other half aren't so different. She is nervous beneath the façade of the high and mighty empress; she doesn't feel like she can put a foot wrong either.

Enri sees their discomfort. She looks between them. "Do you two want to know a secret. I've been keeping track of the resistance's numbers after certain key events. The numbers really started to increase just after word got out that the two of you were going to work together. When I joined, the rate of recruitment didn't change at all. Right now people aren't joining because of me, they're joining because of you. Don't worry about trying to do anything different to what you have already been doing. The two of you are amazing already."

"Yes, it's important you believe in yourselves," Terukatsu adds. "I don't mean to put pressure on you with this information, I mean to encourage you. It will be hard to accomplish your goals, but you have known that from the start. The emperor has wanted you dead for years now and you are still here. Do you think you are ready for the biggest jobs of your lives?"

"This may be a great purpose, and a lot of pressure comes with it," Hinata admits. "But I have been training to do this my entire life. I was born for this. We will do something spectacular, and people will flock to join us."

"Good, Naruto, are you ready?"

"I don't think anyone is ever ready to do something like this, but I will always try my best. I'm never going to give up," Naruto says.

In Naruto's inner-world Kurama watches on. In his mind he is cursing the three Homeworlders for what they are saying. Naruto was already going to do something spectacular long before they came into the picture. Everything that has happened since they arrived has ramped up the pressure on the 7th Hokage. Nobody knows how he is feeling better than Kurama. The nine-tails knows that even Naruto has a breaking point and he that he is moving dangerously close to it.

"Great then let's discuss the Hertz Family Compound. As we mentioned previously the Hertz Clan is one of the most successful in all of Homeworld. Its reputation may be second only to the Muto Clan. A family known for its combination of seers and warriors, their mightiest warrior at present is the King Hertz Erik."

"What is Erik's element?" Naruto asks.

"We don't know. We know it has something to do with the stars. As for what it actually says on the tablet in his inner world, I imagine that only the other royals know. Don't make the mistake of judging Erik entirely by his element though, he is strong. Even if he is the weakest of all the royals, he is one of the most skilled fighters to have ever lived."

"That's why I am luring him away," Enri explains. "The Hertz Clan is strong. There is only likely to be one person there not from the clan, that will be General Yasmine. I will be leaving her for Terukatsu to deal with. The rest of the resistance will be from the warriors of the clan. They are strong, but nothing that you can't deal with. While Erik is away, you chase away Yasmine and the Hertz warriors, then the compound will be ours. With a fortified position, Erik will think twice about attacking us."

"I have spoken to Boruto and Hannah since they fought Yasmine," Hinata reveals. "They both agreed that even when they worked together, they couldn't defeat her. If Naruto and I were to fight her with the two of them we may stand a chance, but I wouldn't count on it."

"Don't distract yourself with Yasmine," Terukatsu says, lifting his chin. "You will be needed for the fight against the Hertz Clan. Leave her to me."

"Are you absolutely certain that you can defeat her," Hinata asks.

Naruto shares his wife's doubts. He has clashed with a General before, specifically General Rana. Rana embarrassed him, taking his most powerful attack as if it were nothing. At that time Rana did retreat from Terukatsu, but that was because of the superior numbers of the War Council.

"Nothing is certain, but I am the leader of the resistance right now. You need to trust me to get the job done, just how others will need to trust you in the future."

"You certainly don't lack for confidence Mr Yuuki. I hope that when I sit upon the throne of Homeworld I will have the chance to reward you for your service to this world. I trust you, but I will warn you as well, don't be overconfident. Furst is never overconfident, that is why he has maintained his grip on this world for so long."

Naruto lowers his head and smiles. There will be a lot of people to honour should they retake Homeworld from its evil dictator. From the military who helped to protect his world, to Lara who gave her life, to the War Council. That is not considering all the shinobi from his world, they have gone above and beyond what he ever expected of them when he found out he was the 7th Hokage. Everyone has already given everything they have to get this far; he wishes that he didn't need to ask them for more.

"Mother, do you think this plan will work?" Hinata asks.

"Yes, I do believe that this is going to work. I still detect some reluctance coming from our pocket-world representative at this meeting. Tell us honestly, what do you think of this plan? Do you believe that we can succeed?"

Naruto considers it. Can they, absolutely. Will they, he is unsure. That isn't what is most important right now though. If he has his doubts about the plan will the truth do any good. Is it his duty as a leader to tell a helpful lie every once in a while? For advice on this he turns to Kurama, who has witnessed the decisions of many leaders in his life.

"You're not comfortable with it, are you Naruto?"

"No, I'm not. Defeating a general is a tall order, even for Terukatsu. Yasmine is no pushover Kurama."

"Then will you tell them that?"

"No, that's not what they need to hear right now. I need to do everything right Kurama. That way even if Terukatsu fails I can pick up the pieces."

"I believe the plan will work," Naruto says. "I believe in Terukatsu and his leadership abilities. If he is leading us into battle, then the Hertz Clan won't know what hit them. We will take the compound then we will move on the Foundry."

Terukatsu and Enri accept this at face value but Hinata is unsure. Some part of her changed when she regained a few of her memories, that awakened an empathy that she lacked previously, particularly an empathy for Naruto and his position. She senses that there is some part of Naruto hesitating. She like Kurama and Sasuke has developed an understanding of the way Naruto's mind works. While her understanding is to a lesser degree than in her other life, she still feels it. He is worried.

"You and Boruto are my students, I expect you can defeat a General all by yourselves now," Enri smiles.

Hinata suspects this is the last thing Naruto wants to hear, but most of her just hopes that her mother is correct. If not today, then one day she knows Naruto will be able to defeat a General. She hopes that when he reaches class 8, he will stand at the very top of that level. The position of the most powerful class 8 warrior has been held by Head General Safura for as long as she can remember. If Naruto can't defeat her on that level, perhaps nobody ever will.

The Hertz Compound

Yasmine grins as she strolls through the Hertz Compound. She is entitled to great respect in this place. There is only person for whom she drops her bubbly attitude, that is the emperor himself. Furst inspires a loyalty in people, a loyalty born of fear and respect. In the presence of Homeworld's most powerful warrior, Yasmine is too afraid to act her usual laid-back self. King Hertz Erik is different though, she has worked with him for years and knows that he will not harm her.

Yasmine reaches the end of a walkway and turns to a small abode on the right. It is much smaller than the royal palace, but Erik likes to spend time here. He is a man who has always wanted to live the lavish lifestyle of a king, but he cares deeply about his roots. This place is what elevated him from a mighty warrior into a king.

Yasmine enters Erik's residence and removes her shoes, loudly proclaiming "whoops," as she almost trips over. She goes through a series of mocking bows as she approaches the king, formalities which he is not interested in. He is interested in the benefits of his status, not all the little procedures that go with it.

"What happened?" he asks.

"Uzumaki Naruto and his son had the help of a 'spacetime' warrior. With his help they infiltrated Rara Prison and rescued Endou Hinata. I tried to catch them, but they used all kinds of sneaky tricks, really made my head hurt."

Erik slams his hand into the table before crunching it into a tight first. He scratches his light blue hair, slowly at first but then more quickly as the irritation increases. After he is done the silence is only filled by deep breaths.

"I had come to expect better of you Yasmine," he says. "You had the chance to end this war in one day, but you blew it. I could have been Furst's favoured royal, I could have elevated you in the Imperial Guard, given you authority second only to Safura's. You didn't just let me down, you let yourself down."

"I'm very-very-very sorry. I promise I was doing my best, but they had all these funny tricks. One bounced all over the place, one disappeared, one was able to foresee my every move. Very tricky."

"You promise you were doing your best?"

"Well, maybe a little lie. You've got to leave something in reserve, after all I knew we would be fighting again. I want to give them a big shock next time we battle."

"Don't you think winning this time would have been better?"

"I thought I would win. The portal was closing. Uzumaki Naruto and Endou Hinata were supposed to be strangers, I didn't think their teamwork would be good enough to slip past me."

"They were supposed to be strangers. The Imperial Guard knows when the two of them first met, why does their coordination come as a surprise to you."

"They weren't just well coordinated through discipline, they had been fighting together for years, and I'm only one little general. It turns out Uzumaki Boruto is the child of Uzumaki Naruto and Endou Hinata. They haven't known each other for a short time like we thought, they're married, they have a child, they are more united than any of us could have known."

Erik sighs. "Uzumaki Boruto, the crown prince, despite his previous mission statement. It took the Imperial Guard longer than expected to work that little detail out. The royals have known for some time now the relationship that existed between Naruto and Hinata."

"Oh, you have?" Yasmine tilts her head, "Very impressive. How clever of you."

Yasmine is not as surprised as she should be that Erik has kept this information from her. The royals are constantly playing power games against one another, and information is power. Erik has constantly lost in his struggles against Nadia, the Queen of Seblix has taken much of his territory over the years. When the royals speak to each other they share revelations, things nobody else could have worked out. On the thrones of Homeworld, there is someone who can control almost anyone, a genius who can almost perfectly predict the future, a mind-reader, a master of chaos, the scientist in charge of the laboratories and Erik, the leader of a clan full of seers. It is only natural that their information gathering abilities are vastly superior to the Imperial Guard's.

"The emperor found out about this connection between Naruto and the Endou family previously," Erik reveals. "I don't know if one of the others told him or if he worked it out himself. He thought we should know so that we could best direct you against the rebels. If you had followed my orders to the letter this information needn't have spread any further."

Yasmine looks at a wall, attempting to feign interest. "I never was very good at following instructions. Acting on instinct is so much more fun, don't you agree."

"Where are the exiled imperials now?"

"I took a group of colonels to Naruto's last known position. I was going to arrest him," Yasmine reveals. "Unfortunately, there is quite a large rebel force gathered there. Not only is Yuuki Terukatsu there, but the camp is being protected by our former empress."

"Muto Enri is helping the rebellion?" Erik considers this. "I knew she had returned but it was not yet clear that she was willing to risk openly supporting the rebels. Now that she is here it complicates things."

"But, can't you just get rid of her yourself?"

"Killing a fellow class 9 is not easy, even for me. Enri is one of the weaker fighters on our class, but she is good at running away and her abilities make mounting a defence a tactical nightmare. Based on Nadia's predictions about what the rebels will do next, it will be impossible for me to be here to defend the compound."

"Enri is going to fight you?"

"No, she is just going to draw me away. She has underestimated your powers though. Yasmine, you are to remain here and defend the compound against any unwanted visitors. This time if you see Uzumaki or Hinata, you are to kill them, is that understood."

"Yes boss, next time I see them they are dead-dead-dead."

In Response to S's Question
About if Naruto can use the 8 gates without repercussions

I suppose in theory he could.
I'm not sure whether he knows to in pratice.

As it stands it's not my plan to have Naruto use this technique though.
Who knows, perhaps that will change in future.

Thanks for reading.