CHAPTER 13: Hokage vs. Mizukage

Koga Village

Shinn and Stellar are doing their job but they tried their very best not to wound the people of Koga too seriously. They just knocked a Koga shinobi out when they saw Athrun and Cagalli nearby helping out with the evacuation. They ran forward and were blocked off by some Koga shinobi who thought that they were after the civilians

"Step back" Athrun ordered them. "I'll take care of these two, hurry up and get all the people into the shelters!"

The shinobi obeyed and immediately helped out with the evacuation. Athrun, Shinn and Stellar put on a show by pretending to fight each other till they reached a remote part of the village.

"You guys are early!" Athrun spoke as he panted. "We have yet to finish evacuating"

"Sorry but are your people safe?" Shinn asked.

"Everyone, I guess. But for some reason, my mother was nowhere to be seen"

"Mizukage? Oh no, Stellar got a bad feeling about this" Stellar, who was keeping a lookout, spoke over her shoulder.

"Hokage sama was also nowhere to be seen after he ordered us to commence attack" Shinn added.

"This should mean that they will meet up somewhere quiet and …"

"Then we've got to find them fast! Before a dangerous battle begins"

Shinn and Stellar went to search the areas surrounding Koga while Athrun returned to find Cagalli, informing her about what he had just found out.

Koga village – Far outskirts

"It's been a long time" A shadow in the darkness spoke as it approached another at the opposite end.

"Yes indeed and I shall not forgive you for attacking my village tonight" She stepped into the moonlight, revealing herself as Lenore Zala.

"One of your ninjas have kidnapped my daughter and escaped" He too stepped into the moonlight, revealing himself as Siegel Clyne. They both were in their shinobi clothes. "Do you think that I will step aside and do nothing about it?!"

"I assure you that that ninja who kidnapped your daughter is not one of us. He's probably trying to frame us and make us fight another war. Surely you understand, Siegel, we've not fought for at least 20 years now. Would you let someone like him spark another war?"

"I shall not hear your lies! I can tell, as I've cross blades with him before, that he's one of your ninjas"

"You then leave me no choice. The peace that we've kept between each other shall then crumble by your misunderstandings!"

Both of them drew their weapons slowly and quietly, preparing for a fight anytime.

Koga village

"Cagalli!" Athrun yelled as soon as he saw her in the distance

"What is it Athrun, everyone in this area has successfully evacuated except this child. I think his right leg is broken, he can't even stand at all"

The boy was crying as Athrun bend down to examine it and when he does, he explained the situation to Cagalli as softly as possible

"That's really bad" Cagalli stood up when Athrun finished talking

"Guess so … And I guess his leg is really broken"

"Let me help" Lacus came out of nowhere, bent down and placed both her hands onto his leg. After about a minute or so, his leg was fully healed. The boy stared at her as she helped him to stand up.

"There's a shelter over there, go to it. I believe that you can find your mum there" She indicated and the boy ran towards it.

"Lacus, why are you here?" Athrun asked.

"I heard the news that war broke out and decided to come back to stop it"

"Where's Kira?" Cagalli later asked.

"He's currently looking for Mizukage and my father"

"So my brother knew about it too?"

"Yes, and I hoped that he would be able to find them before they even started fighting"

Lacus, Athrun and Cagalli ran off to find Shinn and Stellar, as well both Hokage and Mizukage

Koga village – Far outskirts

Siegel drew his sword while Lenore drew her long knifes. They both ran towards each other, with Siegel stabbing the ground, causing the ground to move like a water wave toward Lenore. Lenore then quickly stabbed these 'waves' at its weak point, causing the 'waves' to become frozen solid.

"Impressive, Lenore"

"You too, unfortunately, your icy powers are no match against my ground attacks"

"I don't think so, don't forget, I haven't forgotten the point of weakness in your attacks"

"You sure have a good memory but that's not all! Depending solely on those weaknesses that you recalled won't fully save your life!"

They ran towards each other once again. This time, Lenore focused her energy on the nearby stream, causing the water freeze and forms the shape of a huge ice dragon. The dragon went directly at Siegel who barely dodged the first attack of the dragon ramming into him due to its fast speed. The dragon turned round and went back at Siegel, who focused his power into his katana and stabbed the ground hard, creating a solid ground barrier and the ice dragon rammed into it, shattering into countless pieces of ice. Siegel then leaped over that ground barrier and went directly at Lenore, who is ready to strike back. But he was knocked off course in midair and was headed to a huge tree due to the impact. He quickly used the earth to pull the tree slightly aside as he grabbed hold of a tree branch and jumped back onto the ground. Lenore was surprised by the person who helped her.

"Kira-kun? Are you training?"

"Mizukage sama, I shall explain everything later, but for now, the both of you must stop this fight"

Siegel was taking a closer look at him and recognized him almost immediately

"Now I have proof Lenore! He was the one who kidnapped my daughter! Though he wears a mask that time when we crossed blades, I still remembered those eyes!"

"Kira, did you?!"

Kira looked down onto the ground, still in defensive mode, as he spoke.

"Yes, I admit that I did take Lacus away from the village, but …"

"You should have told me that!" Lenore became furious. "Not just that, you shouldn't have done that in the very beginning! Didn't you consider the consequences? Didn't you think that war might break out once again due to his foolish act on your part?!"

"In your opinion right now, it may sound foolish, but after I explain it all to you, I believe that you will come to my point of view"

"KIRA YAMATO!" Lenore was starting to flame up. "Till now, at this very point in time, you still trying to tell me that you're not responsible for all these?!"

"I don't mean that, it's just that …"

"Enough!" Siegel interrupted. "I'm not here to listen to the both of you arguing. Lenore, let's settle this once and for all!" He held up his blade, preparing to attack.

"Fight me in her stead" Kira replied before Lenore could even speak. "Mizukage sama, if I'm truly at fault, I should be the one fighting, not you"

"Kira, as the mizukage, I'm also responsible for every mistake that every Koga shinobi make"

"No, this is my mistake and mine alone. I did all these just on my personal opinion, nothing to do with the village"

"Like I've said earlier, I didn't travel all the way here to listen to the both of you reasoning things out!" Siegel launch an attack, the ground shook and it came at them in the form of a wave, twice the size of the one he did earlier.

Lenore stepped forward but Kira jumped in front of her, drew his katana and swing it across the 'wave'. The wave stopped at that position and as Kira landed back onto the ground, the top half of the 'wave' fell off sideways, as it's been cut into half. Furthermore, the both half turned black and fell back onto the ground as ashes. Both Lenore and Siegel were taken back upon seeing his power. It's an ability that they've never seen before.

"Hokage-sama" Kira broke the silence among them. "Since I was the one who kidnapped your daughter, you could just come after me and kill me, don't have to drag my village along"

"I see that you've grown more powerful than the last time we've met, Kira Yamato. But saying that won't change my mind about destroying Koga"

"Look, this conflict between both villages is caused by the government"

"Who would believe that?"

"I have evidence that both Koga and Iga were peace-loving villages till the government stepped in and created plans to make both sides fight and destroy each other!"

"Is that really true Kira?" Lenore spoke after some time of silence.

"I cannot believe it in the first place, but I swear that it's the truth"

"No one will buy that story as it's …"

"I will" A voice interrupted Siegel from the bushes.

"Lacus?!" Siegel was taken back when his daughter stepped out of the bushes.

"Father, our true enemy is not each other, so please stop fighting!"

"What's the meaning of this?" Siegel asked her. "Why are you siding with them?"

"Father, Kira did kidnap me but it's solely due to the fact that he loved me"

"If he truly loves you, he should give way to your wedding!"

"I didn't tell you back then that I don't have any feelings for Yunna!" Lacus exclaimed

"Lacus …"

"I didn't want to marry Yunna back then, but I feel that I got to keep my relationship with Kira from you for the time being. I'm sorry …"

"If that's the case, then …"

Siegel was interrupted by the sudden change in weather, from a clear blue sky into a black sky with thunder roaring. The wind became much stronger than usual and some weak trees became uprooted, as if there is a tornado coming. Kira went to Lacus' side and held her tightly whereas Lenore and Siegel stabbed their blades into the earth to prevent them from being blown away.

"It's been a long time" A voice came out of nowhere "I was surprised that this war would end so easily solely by two people"

"Who's there?!" Siegel exclaimed.

"Hahaha … I don't expect you to know me Siegel Clyne, after all, I was never one of your people"

"This voice … you're …" Lenore started to recall.

"Lenore Zala? I'm amazed that you're now Mizukage, impressive!"

"You're … you're … Rau Le Creusset!"

"I'm honored that you still remembered me" Cruz came out of some bushes.

"Why are you here?!" Lenore asked, with her face looking stern.

"I came to watch your match against the Hokage, as I believe it's going to be interesting"

"This is a war, not a playground for you!"

He signed. "Is this the way you greet an old friend, Lenore?"

"You're no longer one of us, you said that yourself!"

"My, my, your temper is still as short as it is in the past"

Lenore went up to Cruz and swings her knifes at him, each of which freezes anything that it came in contact with. But Cruz blocked the attack just with his hand, holding on to the blade without receiving damage. All four of them were stunned but Cruz merely smiled.

"Is this all you got, Lenore? I was expecting that you've grown much stronger during these years. If I had not been banished, I would have became the next Mizukage"

Cruz pushed her back and went forward and placed his hand onto her shoulder. Something black appeared between his hand and her shoulder and blood began flowing out. Lenore clenched her hands in pain but she could not get out of his grip as there was a force preventing her from moving, coming from Cruz's hand. Kira went forward and swung his katana at him, while Cruz stopped it with his other hand.

"Do you think a mere kid like you can stop me?"

"Kira …" Lenore spoke with a weak voice. "Stop it … you won't be … able to defeat him"

Cruz smiled once more. "Be good and listen to your leader boy"

But Kira's smile wiped the smile off Cruz's face. "A mere kid huh? You haven't see what I've got"

Kira twisted his katana sideways and a ray of blue light outlined his entire body. His pupil became bigger and a darker purple (SEED mode) and a large field of energy came flowing from the earth into his body. The blade of his katana turned from silver to a shiny black.

"This is …" Cruz was speechless upon seeing this power, a power that he never thought an 18-year-old teenager can ever possess.

Kira once again swung his katana, with twice his original speed and this time, he managed to slash Cruz's hand slightly, forcing him to release his grip from Lenore. Cruz jumped back slightly as Kira slowly turned back to his normal self and his blade turned slightly back to silver.

"Seems like I've underestimated you kid" Cruz said with a smile as his hand was bleeding. "But that doesn't really matter now, I've got what I wanted" He left with a loud and evil laugh and the weather regained its peacefulness. Kira walked over to Lenore who is sitting on the ground holding on to her injured shoulder.

"Mizukage sama" Kira started but was interrupted by Lenore.

"I'm alright"

"I don't think you are" Lacus said gently. "Here, let me help"

Lacus placed her hands over Lenore's shoulder and it began to heal.

"Thank you, princess"

"Lacus, will do"

Sorry to those who wanted to read the next few episodes as I took a rather long time to finish working on this chapter. I admit that the battle wasn't that all exciting but I did this as I wanted to make the story as long as possible, so forgive me!

More reviews please! And thanks to those who comment many times! I really appreciate them!