THE GENERALS – LEAVING NARUTO

West Seblix

Ming Dai and Shao Chin approach Hinata under the cover of a large tree. It is raining hard; it rains like this in the jungle every day. It is hard to hear anything in this weather, you need to raise your voice even when stood right next to someone. Some people have extraordinary senses though, people like Naruto can hear even in an environment like this. That is why they have walked so far from the 7th Hokage and the remainder of their group, so that they may have a moment to talk alone.

"Why have you asked us to move so far away?" Dai asks.

"So that Naruto won't overhear us."

"I managed to work that much out myself. I mean why didn't you want Naruto to hear us?"

Hinata uses her full sensory prowess to check that Naruto is still seated away from them. He has noticed that they are missing; of course he has, how could he not, he is Naruto after all. However, he has remained in his original position, choosing to give them the privacy that they so clearly desire.

"If Head General Safura has captured Sasuke then we must free him," Hinata says. "He is a friend of the rebellion, and if nothing else he could reveal crucial information to the enemy."

"Do you believe he would do that?" Dai asks.

"No."

"You want to help him because he is Naruto's friend, don't you?"

"I want to help him because he is a friend of the rebellion," Hinata counters.

"It doesn't matter why you want to help him," Shao Chin says, interrupting his bickering comrades. "What matters is why you are telling us this without Naruto present. You want us to fight Safura without him, don't you?"

"Of course I do! Have you been watching him since Sakura… since what happened? It is like he is a completely different man. He has lost something, perhaps some kind of belief in himself. Only one thing has changed, yet it has changed everything about him. I don't fully understand what it is that sets him apart from the rest of us, what my uncle saw in him, but I know that right now it isn't there."

Ming Dai sighs. "I agree," he admits, "That mission was something special, he was in the best place he could be mentally. He helped get them to the Foundry, he helped to fight off a royal while they destroyed it, and then he did the majority of the work getting them back. When they returned, he found energy when nobody else could and saved Himawari. He did everything right, it was brilliant. That was the Uzumaki Naruto that made people believe in him. This… this is somebody else we're seeing now."

"He can't take on the generals," Hinata says.

"No. I agree, he cannot."

"Aren't you oversimplifying things?" Shao Chin asks. "This may not be Naruto at his best, but that is still one of the rebellion's leaders. Let's say he is performing at half his peak performance; a half-peak Naruto is still one of the strongest people there is. This is also his best friend we are talking about. Doesn't he have a right to be in this fight? Don't we have a duty to maximise our odds by taking him?"

"You fought Safura once, didn't you?" Hinata asks Shao Chin.

"Fought? I tried to attack Jonas and she stopped me effortlessly."

"The generals represent a change in the fighting. There are other class 8 warriors in the Imperial Guard, but none like them. The difference is their skills. You see, Naruto uses the One True Sense, one of the most useful skills around. I use a few similar skills myself and I'm sure you have plenty of them you use for hunting. Now imagine you had one for punching, one for kicking, a skill to block almost anything and one to dodge more efficiently. The generals know many skills, more than anyone else in the Imperial Guard, skills for almost everything.

"Then look to their leader, to Head General Safura. She doesn't just know skills for fighting, she knows the best skills for fighting, she invented many of them herself. If she had an element allowing her to become a class 9 warrior, she would have gone on to become a royal. There is no half-peak fight against someone like her. You have to get everything perfect if you are going to have a chance at surviving, you have to fight a flawless fight.

"Do you understand now Shao Chin. Even Naruto with his divine oddity cannot go into a fight like this without his head in the right place. I think that one day soon he will become the most powerful class 8 warrior, but if he were to fight Safura that day would never come."

"We could bring Hannah with us. I know she is only a class 7 warrior, but with her instincts—"

"She would tell Naruto. Her loyalty is to him, not the rebellion."

"Shouldn't we just run then?" Shao Chin asks.

"And leave Sasuke?" Ming Dai says.

"I'm sure if he had a vote that is what Sasuke would tell us to do. If our goal is to defeat Safura when the moment comes and for Naruto to survive long enough to surpass her, let's just stall this fight."

"Do you think you can convince Naruto to wait?" Hinata asks.

"… no, I don't."

Dai nods. "OK then Hinata. You and I will fight Safura. Shao Chin, I assume that you can take us to the Head General and that we can rely on you not telling Naruto."

"In the circumstances it seems like the best option we have. It seems like the only option we have. I have met the Head General before so finding her should be easy. I won't tell Naruto you are doing this. However, you know that if this goes wrong, he will find Safura. Persuading him to leave Sasuke and you will be impossible, Hinata."

"I know," Hinata says, "That is why we can't afford to fail."

The Next Morning

When he searches for Hinata he can't find her anywhere. He tries this for a minute conventionally and then activates the One True Sense, still Naruto can't find Hinata. That's when he realises that his plans to tackle Head General Safura and her team have been ignored. Not only is Hinata missing but Ming Dai and Shao Chin are also gone. Shao Chin's disappearance means he is probably leading the other two to the enemy so that they can fight in his place.

Naruto wishes he could find some sort of sign about where they had gone, a note or anything, but he cannot. Without Shao Chin there is no way for him to follow them, no way for him to find Head General Safura. In the absence of the elite hunter, Naruto cannot initiate that fated conflict. He feels that the last bit of trust anyone was willing to place in him has slipped away. Finally he is enduring the last consequence of his failure to save Sakura.

Then as he notices everyone else is looking at him, an idea hits him. They have probably known for a while now that the others disappeared, but they may also prove to be his salvation.

"The Flying Thunder God technique," Naruto says.

"No," Minato answers.

"Did you say no?"

"That's right Naruto. I said no."

"You do realise what has happened, right? Hinata and Ming Dai have gone after Sasuke. They have taken Shao Chin with them. He is the only one who can take us to Sasuke, but if he is still in range it is not too late. If you take me to him, we can still talk this over."

"I understand the situation perfectly," Minato says calmly. "I can't take you to them Naruto, not like this."

"What if they lose? Can you promise me that they will be OK?"

"No, I can't."

"And can you promise me I wouldn't make the difference if I went?"

"I can't promise you that either," Minato admits.

"Then take me to them!"

"I've thought this decision through Naruto. I couldn't stop them going, but I understand their reasons, and I can stop you going. You are not in the right headspace to fight an opponent like this. The chances are that they are going to their defeat, with or without you. The only way that I can make their decision mean anything is if I keep you here now, at least until you are ready."

"You don't have the authority," Naruto says.

"Authority? The old you would never have spoken like that."

"I am a class 8 warrior, and one of the leaders of the Homeworld Rebellion," Naruto says, doing his best to sound official. "In the absence of Hinata I am the highest ranked authority present, I am in command. Dad, if you insist on doing this for the rebellion then take this as an order. Take me to Hinata."

"In that case I resign from the rebellion."

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"We are both Hokage Naruto. I have a duty even more important though, I am your father, and I can't let you do this. Because, if you went after them now you would be throwing away everything you have fought for. I can't let you do that."

Naruto paces, he looks at the others, without exception they seem to be on his father's side. Even Hannah, despite her loyalty to her teacher, seems to be of the opinion that Minato is right. He doesn't care about the logic of the situation now though he just wants to keep everyone safe. Without everyone's help there is nothing he can do.

"I don't understand what you want from me," Naruto admits.

"We want you to stop focusing on the past and try to build a better future, just like you were before."

"You want me to stop focusing on the past? That's all I can think about," Naruto says. "Ever since we went to Fayoth I was putting pressure on myself, I thought I had to be perfect. Everywhere we went you all told me to stop. You all told me that nobody is expecting me to be perfect, nobody expects me to get everything right. You told me that the me in front of you was all you wanted.

"Then we went to the Foundry and I did everything right, we did everything right. We accomplished an impossible task, and when we came back with barely any energy left in our bodies, I brought Himawari back from the dead. Then what happened? We lost Sakura. Boruto, Himawari, Sasuke, Hashirama, Tsunade, they all left because I couldn't save her. You all told me that you didn't want me to be perfect, and when I got one thing wrong everyone left.

"When you all tell me that you want me to go back to how I was before I don't know how I am supposed to believe that. The last time people gave me advice they all left when I took it."

Naruto departs.

Minato doesn't know what to say to that. Naruto performed a miracle when it was required of him before and his reward was people leaving him. Naruto's best friend blamed him for something that wasn't his fault. The resistance needs him to keep going, to make people believe in him, but every time Naruto does that, he will be reminded of the truth Sasuke imparted to him. People around Naruto end up sacrificing for his cause not because they believe what he is saying, but because they believe in him.

Mana follows Naruto as he walks away from the others.

"Hey!"

Naruto increases his pace.

"Naruto! Stop!"

Naruto reluctantly stops, "What!?"

"You can blame everyone else in your life for abandoning you when things get tough and frankly, I wouldn't blame you. Your kids left, your best friend left, yeah that sucks. You didn't deserve any of that. But you seem to have missed the obvious thing, the thing right in front of your eyes. You can't give up yet, you have to keep going like you were before."

"Mana, if I'm not perfect—"

"Then things will go wrong. Sometimes, right or wrong, people will blame you for them."

"Then why should I keep going!?"

"Because Hinata stood by you!"

Naruto hadn't realised but Mana is right. Sasuke has been Naruto's best friend for years. Boruto has been his son, has known Naruto for his entire life. Himawari has known him for almost as long and stuck by him her entire life. Hashirama became Naruto's friend shortly after their journey through time. Tsunade has for years been Naruto's Hokage. They all knew who he was and that he wasn't perfect, yet they left him. Hinata doesn't even have her memories of Naruto and she was a close friend of Sakura's, if anyone had a good justification for leaving Naruto it was her. Yet Hinata has remained with Naruto, why would she do that?

"I don't understand," Naruto admits. "She doesn't remember our past. Why is she standing by me?"

"She would never admit it Naruto, but she has seen you do things, remarkable things. You became her mother's student, you escaped the caves, you fought a general, you fought a royal, and you even destroyed the Foundry. Maybe everyone else is overlooking what you have accomplished but she is not. While others are looking at your defeats, she is looking at your victories.

"It may seem like your Hinata, this Hyuuga Hinata is far away right now Naruto. But I have known Endou Hinata all my life, she is a sister to me, and it has been a very long time since I've seen her like this. She is fighting to protect you Uzumaki Naruto because she believes in you."

"Hinata believes in me?"

"Of course she does."

"But the others—"

"Impulse," Mana says dismissively. "Hashirama could hardly stay after what happened. Boruto and Himawari probably thought they could find a way to stop the Hive Mind. And Sasuke, he was in pain. One day I'm sure they will return and admit that none of this was your fault."

"I know it was different, but Sasuke wasn't the only one who cared for Sakura. Hinata was her friend, why are they taking it differently? If Sasuke is saying I'm so dangerous why is Hinata acting like I'm this great hope?"

"Idiot, it's because you are a great hope. To us Homeworlders you just appeared one day. Since then you have done the unthinkable. Defeated Clyde, Lara, even Carmen. You rallied the War Council and destroyed the Foundry. You did what nobody had ever done before and when you lost someone everyone acted like it was the biggest failure of your life. If that is you when you fail, I can't wait to see what it looks like when you succeed."

"… thank you, Mana."

"No problem."

Naruto hears approaching footsteps. He expects that is his father, attempting to console him. He ignores it, waiting for Minato to speak the first words. It is not Minato who has arrived though, it is someone he has not seen since Fayoth.

"Oh dear, the slumped shoulders, the demeanour and that pitiful voice. This pathetic attitude really doesn't suit you, moral support."

Naruto turns around, it is one of his teachers from the academy, Nina.

"Nina, you are here? How did you find us?" Naruto asks.

"I was searching for General Nero, for my revenge. When I discovered that the generals had united, I thought my luck had run out. How wrong I was. Imagine how lucky I feel now that I have found you of all people, my most promising student."

"Nina, I've been—"

"A fool? Yes, you have. Sometimes it seems like you understand everything, but you are always quick to remind us how far that is from the truth. People don't want you to be perfect, do they?"

"No."

"Why did I come here? Why did I come to you?"

Naruto understands now.

"It's the way people look at me, isn't it?"

"I came here because you are Uzumaki Naruto, we were told that you were going to save us. You have shown time and time again that you can be that man, that you can overcome any obstacle in front of you. You do something that nobody else can do, not even Headmaster Sora. When you look into people's eyes and them that we can win, they believe you!

"So now is the time moral support. Look into my eyes and tell me, are we going to win? Can you defeat Head General Safura?"

Mana draws air deep into her lungs. She hopes that Nina is right. She looks into Naruto's eyes and hopes to see that spark of life that has been missing. She sees him look at his open palm before clenching it tightly into a fist. She watches Naruto raise his head and look Nina directly in the eyes and make his claim.

"Nina, I will defeat Head General Safura!"

Mana feels a wave of relief wash over her. Those are the eyes of the real Naruto. She doesn't understand how he does it, what part of him gives him the power to make people feel this way, but nonetheless it is very welcome. Suddenly she feels like everything will be OK, this is the Naruto who can accomplish anything!

"Good," Nina says, "Then stop slumping those shoulders, we have a lot of work to do and not very much time to do it."

"Work to do?"

"Yeah, her imperial worship isn't here," Nina says sarcastically, "I assume that means she's fighting Safura. Last time it took you days to learn the One True Sense, if her worship is fighting then we've only got a few hours this time. Defeating Safura as you are right now, very challenging. So, let's find out just how much you and I can achieve in a few hours.

"You and I, Uzumaki Naruto, let's accomplish the impossible one more time."