THE FOUNDRY – OUR HOKAGE
Outside the Hertz Compound
"Ow!"
Himawari calls out in pain as Hashirama strikes her over the head once again. She looks up at the grinning 1st Hokage. If she had known that learning sage mode would be so painful, she might have tried to think of other solutions. Ever since this training started Hashirama has been there ready to strike her with that staff.
"Very close," Hashirama says.
"Where did you find that staff anyway, it's not standard issue."
"Mitsuki kept it after he trained Tsunade to use sage mode. He thought keeping something like this around might prove useful one day. Turns out he was right."
"Is there no alternative to you hitting me?"
"The alternative is that you permanently turn into stone. I doubt your father would be very happy if I let that happen," Hashirama chuckles to himself.
Himawari smiles discretely. Hashirama is now laughing and joking about. This is no longer the man she has been afraid of for the last few years, this is the 1st Hokage she respected when he first came to the future. Despite the pain her confidence is growing that she made the right decision. Even if her father cannot bring her back, Hashirama will, and he won't use the Hive Mind to control her. He is back in control.
Inside the Hertz Compound
"You have a plan?" Naruto asks.
Boruto nods, "If it all goes well then nobody needs to die, you're not going to like it though."
"I'm sure it's better than what we have at the moment."
"We're going to head through the void just like my masters planned. We get to the other side and we destroy the Foundry as we always planned to. If everything goes well nobody will have died yet."
"But Theresa and Philip—"
"They said that somebody would come back dead. They didn't say that somebody would end up dead. That's why we wait until we have destroyed the Foundry before killing someone."
"You want to kill someone?" Naruto asks incredulously.
"Only temporarily. Normally that would mean game over, but if anyone can give someone a gentle death it's me. Then when we come back, we need someone who can bring that person back to life. If anyone can do that dad, it is you."
"We kill someone and bring them back to life? You're right, I don't like the plan," Naruto says. "I admit that it's possible that we could do that if we work together, and if everything goes perfect. That's depending on a lot of things though, and I've never done this before."
"You brought back Sarada."
"She wasn't dead yet."
"The same principle applies."
"I'm not sure it does."
Boruto frowns. Something has been different in his father recently. What he doesn't realise is just how much the stress is mounting for his father, to a point where even he cannot endure it. Boruto is witnessing the limits of a shinobi's endurance. Many believe a shinobi is defined by their ability to endure and for that reason he is learning just how great a shinobi can be.
"Dad, we have a backup plan if you're not able to do this, a backup plan that is certain to work."
Naruto smiles. "Then why didn't you tell me that?"
"Hashirama is teaching Himawari sage mode. That way if we bring her back using that technique, she will be able to retain her mind."
"By that technique you mean—"
"The technique that Clyde and Sheer used to revive the Sasuke from this time. The technique that Tao Ma used to recruit deceased sage mode users into the Hive Mind."
Naruto stops smiling.
Outside the Hertz Compound
Hashirama smiles at his latest student's progress. It seems that divine energy gives you a great advantage when it comes to mastering natural chakra. Himawari is learning faster than he did. It is clear though that she has extraordinary talent, that few people even with her power could do this so quickly.
Himawari is currently motionless, absorbing natural chakra rapidly. The 1st Hokage has been teaching her for less than a day but is proud of what they have accomplished. He realises the irony of his situation; he has spent most of his time in the future fighting to destroy Homeworld, yet it has been his great honour to teach both the Crown Prince and Blaze Princess.
Himawari rises to her feet, a new and distinct yellow pigment around her eyes. She smiles, the world seems so much clearer now. She feels weightless compared to before, like her body and mind are much more in tune than previously.
"Does it always take that long?" she asks.
"It will take time to begin with, but you will get faster," Hashirama explains. "I am your teacher and you come from a family of sage mode users. It is only a matter of time before you fully master this technique as Naruto has."
Inside the Hertz Compound
"If we go ahead with this plan the things that happened to Hashirama and Tsunade might happen to Himawari as well," Naruto says, "I don't think I could live with that."
"I can't guarantee Himawari will be free from the Hive Mind's control," Boruto admits. "But I believe Hashirama is in control now, and I believe she will be too. Even if we bring her back using 'life' instead of that technique, we can't be sure she will be immune."
"You're not selling it very well Boruto."
"I'm saying that to give everyone the best chance all we need is for you to succeed. Do you think you can do that father?"
"I can do it. But if Himawari ends up—"
"This is her risk to take and she has chosen to take it. But if it doesn't work, she wants to take responsibility for the failure. Since she might not be able to control herself, I am willing to take responsibility as well. Failure would be on us dad, not you, so let's do this."
"And how would you take responsibility?"
"If Himawari is unable to control herself after this I will find a way to bring her back. No matter what it takes, I won't let her hurt anyone."
"… very well."
Outside the Hertz Compound
Hashirama throws a punch towards Himawari.
Himawari catches the punch.
They are both now confident that their training today has paid off. Himawari started today as a powerful shinobi, but that base has been consolidated now. Thanks to the head start divine energy and her background has given her, she has understood the use of nature chakra and unlocked sage mode.
Later that Evening, Inside the Hertz Compound
Himawari knocks on the door to the room her father has been using. It all seems so trivial now, risking their lives and all the complications that go along with it. Their family has had to go through so much for this world and their sacrifices probably won't be stopping any time soon. She has decided to take the risk on herself this time, but she is sure that is no consolation to her father.
"Come in!"
Himawari opens the door to see her father sat cross legged in the centre of the room. The creases on his brow show her that he has been in deep thought for some time now. Boruto said that he didn't take the idea well but that he was willing to go along with it. Now Himawari just wants to help him overcome his fears.
"I've finished learning sage mode," she says.
"That was quick, very impressive."
"I've had some tuition in the past, plus I think my other training has helped."
Naruto's downward gaze is telling. Normally after hearing about a breakthrough like this he is happy, but now he is anything but. Her progress in these complicated techniques is progress towards the moment where she will risk her life, progress towards a moment that will hurt him greatly. When Hinata died it took him too long to cope with it, if she died who knows what he would do.
"I don't like this plan of yours Himawari."
"We don't have anything better."
"We could kill me instead."
"Then who would bring you back. Face it dad, there is nobody else better suited than me to do this. Besides, you've been taking crazy risks until now, who am I to do anything less?"
"If I fail—"
"Do you plan on failing?"
"No of course not!"
"Then it's not a problem. No ordinary shinobi could have defeated Clyde. They couldn't have saved us from Hashirama or Lara. No other shinobi could have gotten past Carmen, or defeated Mars despite his battle class being higher than yours. You convinced the council to declare war and mastered a second element. There is nobody like you dad, so if I have to bet on someone doing the impossible, I'm betting on you every time."
"This is different. It's not a matter of skill or willpower that I'm worried about, it's what can and can't be done. Your grandfather came from this place, he used tier three 'life' energy, maybe even he couldn't bring back the recently dead. I just wish I knew that this could work before I bet your free will on it."
Himawari understands Naruto's concern and wishes there were some way she could help him with it. He is right though; this is full of unknowns and risks. There is every chance that all of his fears will come to pass.
"You know, there was a time when you were the 7th Hokage that you did something interesting, I'd like to tell you about it. It would have been in your future. You see, there was this crazy group of shinobi who loved to fight. They believed that since there was no war shinobi had turned soft, so they fought against each other. It was sport but it was more vicious than the five kage wanted, so you tried to stop it.
"Most of the shinobi stopped when you asked. I mean, you were the five kage, what chance did they stand of standing against you. The five of you had all been through the war they craved, and you were much stronger than they were. There were a few rogues who disagreed though, and they vowed to continue, they vowed to remind shinobi of the importance of war.
"These rogue shinobi played a clever political game. They caused disruptions in the smaller villages to pit the five kage against one another. You all knew it was happening, but the circumstances were beyond your control. You tried to keep things calm, but eventually the others were getting desperate. Unless something was done to stop the rogues, war was inevitable.
"What do you think the great 7th Hokage did?"
Naruto shrugs. "I suppose I must have stopped them somehow."
"No, you retired. You didn't know what would happen, just like you don't know what will happen now. What you did know was that Sarutobi Konahomaru was going to become a great 8th Hokage. You chose to believe in him, and your decision paid off. You need to believe in yourself now because I do."
"She's right, Naruto," Kurama says.
"You're right Himawari, of course you are. We all need to believe in each other, otherwise there was never any chance to begin with. I believe that I can do this. I just know that I have to do everything perfectly, otherwise it will all go wrong."
"You don't need to be perfect; you just need to be you. That's a promise that I'm making to you. You've done everything right, if things go wrong now the blame will not be yours, it will be mine and Boruto's. I'm going to help you to destroy the Foundry and I won't suffer a scratch, he will kill me so perfectly that bringing me back is easy and then Sakura will come so close to bringing me back that all we need from you is a nudge. Have you got that?"
"… yes. Thank you, Himawari."
Elsewhere in the Hertz Compound
Hinata has few people who she happily shows weakness in front of. Her role as the empress is to inspire and lead others, she wants them to view her as an invincible hero. There are two people to whom she will show her weakness though. Her oldest friend who was raised as her sister, Yoshida Mana, and her newest friend who comes from the pocket-world, Haruno Sakura.
The latest uncomfortable topic that Hinata is discussing with them is her failure to lead an attack on the Foundry. It was supposed to be another call to arms, even greater than those that came before. This would mean something more than the War Council getting involved, this would be a sign that even without their involvement the resistance could get things done.
"We could try and take down a royal," Hinata says.
"Or we could make it rain purple coins," Mana jokes.
"There must be something I can do Mana. I'm not just worried about recruiting new people to the cause anymore, I'm worried about losing them. News will spread that King Erik defeated me, and that he defeated Naruto. If the two of us can't stand up to a royal, then why would anyone bother to stick around. Our cause must look hopeless."
"Don't give up," Sakura says. "For the villagers from my world this must have looked hopeless from the beginning, but they're still around. They're holding on so that they can see tomorrow."
"I'm not giving up. I'm just looking for a path to take."
At this perfect moment, Naruto and Himawari arrive. They bring with them a daring plan to alleviate Hinata's concerns. They describe to her the plan to risk Himawari's life and to destroy the Foundry. They tell her the details, what Himawari, Boruto and Naruto must do. It is dangerous without a doubt, but with the great risk comes an equally great reward. If they can do this, the rebellion will soar higher than ever before.
When they finish telling the details of their plan to Hinata, Mana and Sakura, the Endou clanswoman is unimpressed.
"I gave my final word on the matter; nobody is going into the Foundry. How you thought this ridiculous plan would change my mind is beyond me."
"You gave your final word on what your followers would be doing," Naruto says. "We don't need any of them for this plan. Sasuke, Sakura, Boruto, Himawari, Hashirama, Tsunade and Hannah are the ones who need to come with me. I know all of them are willing."
Hinata looks to Sakura hoping that she will speak against the plan. Sakura doesn't utter a rebuke though, her eyes downcast not out of depression but to avoid Hinata's gaze. Even Mana looks unwilling to criticise the idea.
"Himawari and Boruto are my children too," Hinata says.
"They are old enough to make their own decisions. We couldn't stop them if we wanted to."
"Hannah is from Homeworld—"
"Don't even try that. It wasn't anyone who follows you who helped her. She was helped by a member of the beast clan and then by the shinobi of the Hidden Leaf. As far as I'm concerned, she's not a member of your military, your Imperial Guard, or the War Council, she is my student. She may not use chakra, but she is just as much a shinobi as I am."
Hinata shakes her head. "They said that one of you would return dead. More than one person could die over there. Are you certain that you will succeed in destroying the Foundry? Are you sure that Boruto won't die instead, or that you won't die yourself? This plan doesn't account for any possibility—"
"Other than complete success, right?" Naruto says. "Hinata, complete success is what we've always needed. I know the pressure is on, that's why I need to fight for that ideal outcome."
"Is it not enough for you that I don't want you to take this risk?"
"… it might have been once, but not right now. There are some things that a shinobi must endure for the people they care about, this is one of those things."
Hinata recalls what Sakura said to her about finding a way to take the pressure off. In moments like this only she can get through to Naruto. She thinks about releasing her grasp, about letting herself fade away and hoping that her other self will take control. She thinks it could work, that Hyuuga Hinata might come rushing to the surface with something to make him stay.
But her work here is too important to be distracted by her other self. She tenses her grasp on consciousness, focuses on staying in control. She realises that Naruto may need Hyuuga Hinata right now, but the rebellion requires Endou Hinata going forward.
"I know it sounds crazy Hinata, but Himawari is right. We need to take this chance. We destroy the Foundry, and we take away one of the enemy's greatest advantages. We can do this, and with this plan we can make sure everyone comes back," Sakura says.
"And what would you do Sakura, would you risk your own life like this?"
"I once made a promise that I will protect my people, I'm going to keep that promise, even if it involves risking my own life."
"… since I met you you've become a friend. Not many people have given me what you have, the opportunity to be truthful, not just with you but with myself. You are the only connection to my other life I am truly comfortable with. It's not dignified for a princess to beg, but that's what I'm doing. Ask him to stop this, ask them all to stop this, don't go through with this because the cost is going to be too high."
"I have to go through with this."
"Why, because Naruto says so?"
"Yes."
"He's just one man, one man who doesn't realise what a huge risk he is taking. This will end badly!"
"It's because he's not just one man, he's our Hokage."
In Response to Mark's Question
About the other Hokage making a potential breakthrough
The other Hokage may well make breakthrough.
However, they are not the story focus right now, so even if that does happen it may go unwritten.
Of course I can't say for sure whether they will breakthrough, that would be spoilers.
Thanks for reading.