Chapter twenty three – Bolide
A bolide(French from the greekβολίς bolis, "missile" or "to flash") is an extremely bright meteor, especially one that explodes in the atmosphere. In astronomy, it refers to a fireballapproximately as bright as the full moon, and it is generally considered a synonym of a fireball. In geology a bolide is a very large impactor.
Hashirama stared for a whole minute at the window before shaking his head in an attempt to get his thoughts in order. Nervously he looked back at the entranced door where he wondered if Kurou was still waiting. He had not come in when master Yasu had screamed, nor during their conversation. Maybe he had left?
He was also contemplating what all this really meant. There was suddenly the absurd possibility that Naruto - his childhood friend and someone who he had always felt he knew - was a time traveller.
And if this was true, was she from the future or the past? From the way the stranger had talked it sounded like the future, Sasuke had known his name and said he should be dead. That they weren't born yet. It had to be the future...
How far into the future then? Five years? Twenty years? Maybe even forty? But that would be absurd. It was further than he could even imagine. It was twice as long as Hashirama had even been alive. Longer than most lived in total.
How on earth had that come to be? Who was the 'old guy' who had done it? Naruto had also said she had killed them both by changing time. What did that mean? Had she killed their counterparts by killing their parents or something? So they would not be born? That seemed too much out of character for Naruto, and he didn't see the point of it anyway. Maybe killing that Uchiha could be justified. He seemed odd. Strange. Evil somehow. Especially since he was talking about killing his friend.
With a deep breath he tried to make sense of the chaos inside his mind. This was far from the first time Naruto had either surprised or even shocked him. Her being a jinchūriki had truly been an eye opener, and it had taken him a long time to come to terms with it. His eyes narrowed then.
Naruto was a jinchūriki.
Could that have happened in the future?
His head was so full of questions he had a hard time focusing on what mattered and what needed to be done first, time travel stuff was not the most critical thing right now.
He looked down at the spot Yasu had been sitting just fifteen minutes ago.
The area looked just as it had been earlier. A bit of dirt stuck to the corners where the cleaning staff had been less thorough in their job. The small table lamp still giving a warm and weak light which filtered through the room.
What was he supposed to do now? When would Naruto even return? Was there even anything he could do? And Sasuke…
Hashirama had three choices.
The first one was to go back to the office and drink a bottle of sake. It was quite tempting. Maybe he'd even find Nara Shika and ask him if he wants to bet on the result of the next genin exam.
The second option was to go back to his office and do some work, and maybe inform his brother about the latest event. It was less tempting. His brother would get really angry for letting Naruto do what she just did. Probably give him a speech about inter village relationship and the code of conduct between clans.
The third was following the duo out the window and demand answers.
With a snort he realized there had never been a choice to begin with.
Naruto looked at Sasuke running over the rooftops with her. They were heading for the gate in silence and she was having problems looking away from him.
Even if he still was set on the path of destruction and revenge. Even if he hated her and had completely given up on their friendship. Just looking at him made her heart sing.
Sasuke was here. In the past. With Naruto.
Sasuke was someone who knew her better then anyone in this time line, and he had agreed to help out. She wasn't even controlling him. This was his choice, and it made her chest lighten a bit. The heavy weight on her chest had eased up slightly and she was basking in joy from the simple pleasure of seeing someone she thought had been lost to her forever.
Naruto had missed this bastard so much she felt her eyes glisten, but forced the tears back. If she didn't get her act together soon Sasuke would probably call her an idiot and remind her that they had an assignment he wanted to get done, so she better get a grip on herself. For a change, Sasuke bad mouthing her would actually make her happy now. The thought made her chuckle and draw Sasuke's attention back to her.
For a moment they just looked at each other. Something passing between them that she hadn't felt with him since before the chūnin exam.
Understanding.
Despite how much she fought it, Naruto felt the corner of her mouth lift up. Sasuke didn't react to it, but his eyes was a bit less hard than earlier.
Yes, Naruto did understand Sasuke better after getting thrown into the past. She, just like him, had lost everyone she loved.
Everything she had fought for.
All her accomplishments.
Even her own identity.
They were all gone.
"Naruuuuto!" Cried suddenly a deep male voice from behind them just as they came to a stop in front of the gates. Two guards visible at each end of the opening were looking curiously in their direction.
"Hashirama?" Asked Naruto uncertainly and peeked at Sasuke to see his reaction. He looked as he always did. Unreadable. Of course.
"I'll come with you." Exclaimed the Hokage as he stopped in front of them. Naruto's eyes widening and her mouth opened slightly in surprise.
"But… The village?" She asked and gestured to the buildings behind him. Most were asleep by now, and there was barely a lit window to be seen in any of the dwellings.
"Oh, I'm sure Tobirama can deal with everything while I'm out." He answered with a slightly nervous smile.
"Does he know you're leaving?" Asked Sasuke with on eyebrow raised, his voice dripping with scepticism.
"Um… No. But he'll be fine. My brother knows most of what needs to be done anyway." Explained Hashirama and Naruto looked hard at him. She was under the impression that Tobirama would ground his older brother for the rest of his term in office whenever he found out about this.
"Your choice." Said Sasuke with a shrug while Naruto bit her lip uncertainly.
Was this a good idea? He already knew way too much, and if he came along he'd be bound to find out even more. She had to explain things to Sasuke, and there was no one who could stop Sasuke from saying whatever he wanted. And her first best friend wanted answers, just like Hashirama apparently did too. Was this the best way to deal with this?
"Alright." Naruto said hesitantly, pretty sure her reluctance was visible on her face and turned to walk with the other two up to the gate.
She noticed Hana was one of the guards today, Naruto was trying to figure out how to explain the situation when she noticed the Uchiha was looking wide eyed at Sasuke. Confusion written all over her face as she tried to figure out who he was. It was obvious Sasuke was too out of place to pass by discreetly.
"Are you leaving Hokage-sama?" She asked after an awkward silence. While Hana was talking to Hashirama, her eyes kept glancing towards Sasuke. The guy didn't seem faced by it, and looked more bored then anything else from the guard's behaviour. It didn't surprise Naruto, after all, Sasuke had never lacked attention and was well used to ignoring people in general.
"Yes, I'm leaving with Naruto to catch up with Madara." He said smiling reassuringly to the young woman who nodded absent-mindedly.
At the name of Madara Naruto noticed Sasuke's hand twitch slightly, making Naruto wonder how on earth she was going to explain that one…
Madara was jumping sideways as an incoming kunai swirled towards him.
At his best this fight would have been over and done with in less then five minutes, but right now he was exhausted. Dawn was upon them, and he had now been fighting more or less constantly for over a day.
Their backup had arrived last evening, and thank kami for that, since he was unsure how much more some of his subordinates could take.
He was now also worried about Naruto, who apparently had ditched her mission to come back them up. Which was not only uncharacteristic of her, but also spoke of some emergency somewhere else.
He looked quickly over to where his younger brother was fighting, reassuring himself that he was still alright, before charging down his opponents. Using his gunbai in creative ways he managed to disarm his enemy before swinging it like a bat to hit her hard in her side, making the Yuki woman fly a few meters where she fell unconscious.
For a few moments he took his lack of opponents as a way to catch up on his breathing. Madara was sweaty and dirty by now, feeling slightly light headed as he looked around and noticed with a jolt that Katsu was missing.
Automatically he sought out his brother again. Finding him engaged with two Terumī ninjas.
They just kept coming.
When they took down one, another replaced them, it was like Naruto's kage bunshin and her endless chakra reserves. One could always be replaced.
It didn't make any sense, since he knew perfectly well that no one used their ninjas like this.
They might be foot soldiers, but their captains couldn't possibly be stupid enough to use this much force on just four groups of Konoha shinobi. There was still many of their strongest ninjas not here, like Naruto and Hashirama, hell, even Tobirama. Not to mention some of the ninjas within all the other clans which now made up Konoha.
What the hell were they after?
He noticed how they targeted him and Izuna specifically, but that was just good thinking. They were known as the strongest within the Uchiha clan, so of course they would try to get them out of the picture.
Katsu was seen as the third strongest, and had seemingly been taken down, at least Madara couldn't sense him anymore. Where was he? He wasn't amongst the fallen bodies lying around either.
Were they after the Sharingan? It wouldn't be the first time, but there was no way he'd let them get that.
Again, he wondered where the hell Naruto was and why on earth she wasn't here to help like she was supposed to be.
Forcing himself to calm down he prepared for his next opponent - an old Yuki ninja who'd been throwing ice needles at them for half a day - and tried to remind himself that wherever she was his blonde was more then strong enough to take care of herself.
With his hand folded tightly, his eyes hard and his mouth set in a frown, Tobirama stared hard at Hana who stood nervously in front of him.
His mind was spinning with different scenarios which would force his older brother, the Hokage of Konoha, to leave his village without a word when he knew perfectly well that they were under threat.
Naruto had been with him, and some unknown guy who'd resembled Izuna - but wasn't him.
What on earth was going on? Why hadn't he been informed of this? Now the village was basically under his responsibility. No one had gone straight out and said it, but from the way everyone was coming to him to receive orders, it was more than obvious.
Itama seemed just as confused, he hadn't heard anything either, and that pissed him off even more.
Tobirama tried to focus on his anger so he didn't have to be worried. Because if he was worried for his older brother - who hadn't even had the decency to leave a note - then he might take it out on some poor bastard who would be in the wrong pace at the wrong time, and most likely asking the wrong question.
Tobirama detested not having all the facts.
"So he said he'd go help Madara? Did he at least explain why he felt his presence was needed? Both his, Naruto and this random look-alike?" He asked, coming off as perfectly calm, even though his insides were in an uproar.
"No, he didn't-" But Hana was stopped in the middle of the sentence by the office door being opened with surprising force, and a nurse came sprinting in. His eyes wide and full off fright.
"What?" Tobirama asked urgently, forgetting that Hana was still technically giving her report, but much more worried about whatever this man had to say instead.
"Uzuni Yasu is missing. We can't find him. I went into his room half an hour ago with his breakfast, but he wasn't there, and then we searched, but still nothing!" He said all this in one breath, and Tobirama's self preservation instinct kicked in immediately.
That instinct was constantly looming in the back of his mind and made sure he always covered every base so things went as smoothly as possible.
It was the one that made him nag at his younger brother whenever he did something careless, since he couldn't bare the thought of his brother ever getting hurt.
The instinct which always made him double check Hashirama's work so he wouldn't miss anything and that way make sure his older brother was doing well.
Because if they were okay, then so was he.
The instinct which always went off at full force whenever something dodgy was happening in his village, the old on or the new, it didn't matter. They were both his village now.
And right now, the alarm bell was blasting inside his chest as he looked back at the man in white yukata, sweating bullets while he waited for Tobirama's reply.
Great. This was just what he needed to make his day complete, and it wasn't even lunch time yet.
They were hiding behind the boulders as another attack blared towards them. This time a fire technique. It wasn't as good as what most of the Uchiha could manage, but seeing as all of them was out of chakra it meant their opponents attacks were a hell of a lot more potent than their own.
Madara cursed as he dragged his brother behind him. Making sure he was covered from two sides. The boulders behind him, and Madara in front.
Tōka was lying unconscious in Shin's arms with a nasty burn over half her face. The smell of burnt skin was being ignored by them all, but they couldn't ignore it completely.
"Fuck. What the hell is going on? I thought there was a group of rebels at the borders, not a damn army." Muttered Shin hastily and held Tōka a bit tighter to his chest. "Why the hell did captain have to go back?" He finished, and all of them silently agreed.
"She's not here. Which means we'll just have to do without her right now." Snapped Izuna and tried to wriggle free from his position, but Madara pushed back and made sure he stayed put.
"We're surrounded, Madara-sama. What do we do?" Asked Yuko and swallowed heavily. The backup had done most of the main fighting since they arrived, but they hadn't been strong enough to allow the rest of them to get some rest.
Madara closed his eyes. Already knowing what he had to do, but knowing there was no way in hell he'd make it. He was out of chakra. His body felt like led. But they needed a decoy, and that could only be him.
"I'll go. You guys get back. Run to Konoha as fast as possible to get help, I'll distract them." He answered, and felt his brother stiffen behind him.
"No." Hissed Izuna and he felt his hand gripping hard over his upper arm. "I'll go." He said instead, which pissed Madara off even more.
"Forget it, Izuna. I'm going. I'm the leader here, and you guys are my responsibility. Out of all of us I'm the most likely to succeed, so stay here until I have their attention, and then fucking run. You." He said and turned to a guy he couldn't remember the name off. A Yamanaka chūnin he'd met properly for the first time today. "Make sure my brother follows, fail to do this and consider it a breach of order."
His words held complete certainty, his eyes hard and his mind decided. If his brother got out of here he would survive, and that would make everything else worth it.
The Yamanaka nodded seriously, and he moved next to Izuna who was gripping his brother's arm so hard it was stopping his blood flow, and would definitely leave a bruise.
With one last glance at his brother he turned and threw himself out of their hiding place. Knowing he had only taijutsu and kinjutsu at his disposal, and having to make due with that.
Their enemies had been sneaking in slowly, and he managed to take down one before he'd gotten properly to his feet. Using his kama to cut the guy's throat.
Ice needles flew at him again, none of it hitting him since he used his gunbai as a shield. And then moving sideways away from the others in a desperate attempt to get them to follow.
Madara almost gaped when he realized it worked.
How thick were these guys? It was so obvious he was a decoy even a six year old could figure it out.
It became blurry after that, he was fighting fifteen people at once, all who could do ninjutsu while he tried to doge and attack at the same time, and while his hand slashed out, his gunbai turned on it's side to chop some woman in the neck he realized something important.
They weren't trying hard enough.
They weren't trying to kill him, but weakening him. It was what they'd been trying to do all along.
Of course... An important hostage who they could also get a very good pair of eyes from. The eternal Mangekyō Sharingan made possible after he took his father's eyes, and when Izuna unlocked his own Mangekyō Sharingan Madara had given him his own eyes.
So who had been the main target? They knew both his and Izuna's eyes were special compared to other Uchihas. But they didn't know just how special they truly were. No one did except himself, Izuna and Katsu.
And Katsu were gone.
But why would they think holding him hostage would achieve anything? Without his eyes Madara was worth very little, and even they must have realized that.
After all, a blind ninja usually had employment issues, no matter what their old position might have been.
What where they trying to achieve?
How had he let this happen?
A life of war against someone like Hashirama, and then these idiots were going to be the end of him?
Why was his body moving so slow?
Was he about to pass out?
He had so little chakra he couldn't activate his Mangekyō now and his normal sharingan was flickering in and out. Just a bit longer. Keep them occupied just a bit longer, and then the rest would be safe. They'd get help and then these bastards would pay.
With a soaring pain running through his back he realized he'd been stabbed. A blade was sticking into his thigh, and he staggered as the blade was pushed out again and then stabbed into his other thigh where his armor wasn't protecting him.
He fell down, his body too tired to keep up anymore, and stared up as his enemies closed in around him. His teeth gritting together as he slashed out his Kana at the closest blurry figure. But it was stopped, someone had taken a hold of the shaft and pulled on it hard, making Madara loose his grip.
He was defeated.
Hopefully it had been enough.
This was what he knew would happen, all that was left now was to see if he'd been wrong about the hostage thing. Hands gripped his arms and legs. Forcing them still while he felt more then saw someone grab his face, knowing they were about to rip out his eyes, and he brazed himself for the pain. Closing his eyes tightly.
His eyelids were forced open by prying fingers, and all he saw was the palm of a hand with fingers trying to shuffle into the inside of his eyelids.
And then the hand was gone.
He stared up at the cloudy sky before a face obscured the view, looking worryingly down at him.
For a shocked moment he wondered if he had fainted and was now deep in some dream, making him see what he wanted to see instead of what actually was. Because there was no way Hashirama was here.
"Are you okay?" The dream Hashirama asked carefully, and it was only now he realized he was no longer being restrained anymore.
His ears were still rushing with blood, and it made it hard to hear much. His head had been so full with cursing his opponents existence to actually take in what was happening around him.
Shaking his head he realized he was not dreaming, since he was still just as tired and in a lot of pain. Especially in his legs.
With some effort he sat up just in time to see Izuna running towards him with the rest of their group. "Big bro!" He shouted and was suddenly afraid his younger brother was going to throw himself at him in a bone breaking hug. It was what he'd used to do when they were kids, but he was not up to that right now. It would also be extremely humiliating.
As if the situation wasn't enough off that already.
"What? Why are you-?" He started, and was then distracted by the flood of chakra surrounding them. His head snapped to the far right, his eyes seeking out the chakra signature to find his blond.
Relief washing over him as she saw her go ballistic at their enemies.
He was surprised he hadn't noticed her before now. She was in full kyūbi mode, chakra arms going in every direction as she fought the rest of the army single handedly.
Man, how he loved that woman.
With another shake of his head he tried to get a grip on himself. This was not the time to get distracted, and he noticed Hashirama was already healing him. Green light surrounding his hands as he concentrated on his legs.
"Lie on your stomach, Madara. It will be easier to heal that way."
Tiredly he did as told. Slowly turning and lying down so his head was propped up against his folded arms he got a better view of what was happening with Naruto.
And felt very confused. Because she wasn't alone as he'd previously presumed.
She had help. Some guy was fighting with her, but he was moving so fast it was hard to get a good look at him. As far as he could see he didn't recognise him though. Black hair and pale skin, at least paler than Naruto - even if that didn't say much - and very skilled.
He couldn't place his fighting style together with anyone he knew. And he'd watched all the tests on everyone within the village. What the hell?
"Who?" He asked looking up at Izuna who was now sitting next to him, also watching the fighting with wide eyes.
"No idea." His brother answered as the stranger cut a man in two at the waist. Yes. Cut in two. That was just brutal.
"Eh… That's Sasuke." Said Hashirama in an odd voice. Almost nervous. Peeking over his shoulder he saw the Hokage's eyes flash between Madara's wounds and over to where the duo was fighting.
"Sasuke? That looks nothing like Sasuke." Answered Izuna confused. Madara had to agree, he looked nothing like that guy. For one, he was pretty sure Sasuke was shorter, and he had brown hair, not black.
"Not Sarutobi Sasuke, this is another Sasuke." Answered Hashirama just as Sasuke and Naruto charged in unison at the remaining five enemies. A wind and fire jutsu being released at the same time and flawlessly merging right before it hit their opponents.
"Who is that? He just did the great fireball technique! That's an Uchiha technique." Hissed Yuko from somewhere behind him. Madara didn't comment on it, but he agreed with her. Who the hell was that?
Hashirama didn't have an answer for her, he just told them to ask Naruto later since he'd met Sasuke for the first time last night and didn't really know much about him, except that he seems to know Naruto quite well.
Madara didn't have to see his facial expression to know there was something he wasn't telling them.
"You've been poisoned, Madara." Said suddenly Hashirama, looking hard at his wound.
"What?" Snapped the Uchiha back and turned towards his old friend.
"I don't think it's anything too serious, there isn't a lot of it in here as far as I can find, but you probably feel pretty sluggish. We use this type of poison ourself when holding captives. It's a sedative of sort." Explained Hashirama and started working some more.
"You can fix that right?" Asked Madara tentatively. He knew what Hashirama was talking about, they used it quite frequently on the more dodgier missions they took.
"Well, I can help a little, I don't have an antidote here, and it's really not my area of expertise, but it's not dangerous. It has more of an effect if you were not completely drained of chakra. It gets stronger if it had any chakra to eat off, so you should be fine. I'll try and get some out of you, but really, you can also just wait it out." Explained Hashirama and continued working while Madara sighed.
No wonder he'd been having problems fighting. He just couldn't figure out when he'd been poisoned though. Was the poison in the blade that stabbed his legs? But he'd been out of it even before then.
"Can you tell how I was poisoned?" Madara wondered aloud and Hashirama looked thoughtful for a moment and slowly nodded his head.
"I think you've been hit in your left ankle by a needle or something a bit larger."
Hashirama shrugged as if to point out it was his best guess and looked over at the Yamanaka who was still keeping close to Izuna looking a bit nervous. Of course, he hadn't manage to fulfil his assignment after all.
When on earth had he been hit by a needle though? The only needles had been the ice attacks, and they couldn't be poisoned could they? Maybe if the water had been poisoned then it would make sense, and thinking it over for a second time he settled with that.
He had used his gunbai to protect his upper body and most of his legs, but it couldn't reach down to his ankles.
His attention settled on the two coming towards them now, both looking completely fine, which made his pride take a hit. Why, oh why did they have to come at the last minute when he'd been in such a humiliating situation.
It was cringe worthy.
Madara was already feeling a lot better. Hashirama was one hell off a healer even if it wasn't what he specialized in. He was actually better at healing himself then healing others, but he was a far cry from useless when it came to patching up his comrades.
The Hokage had finished his job and Madara sat up just as Naruto and Sasuke came to a stop in front of the group.
He had already noticed the strangers odd looking eyes of the unknown guy. They were completely abnormal. Not only was his pupil black, but also the white of the eye shared a similar shade, making it hard to understand where he was looking. His skin was cracked, as if he was a dummy who'd been thrown out from the roof of the Hokage tower, and he had an aura of arrogance which could be spotted a mile away.
Getting to his feet he let his question show on his face as he looked at Naruto. One eyebrow rising as he noticed the strange look on her features.
Happy?
Sad?
Anxious?
It was hard to read her, all Madara knew was that something was making her feel strongly. And he could guess what.
When no one said anything he stepped up to the guy named Sasuke and reached out his hand. "I'm Uchiha Madara, thanks for helping, I haven't seen you before but Hashirama said you're named Sasuke." His hand hang loosely in the air while Sasuke looked emotionless at it, making no attempts to take it.
"Are you both deaf and stupid too?" He added, feeling his temper rise at the clear rejection and impoliteness of this stranger.
"Sasuke." Said Naruto warningly, and the stranger looked coldly back at Madara before turning to the blonde.
"Now that we've saved this pointless group of people, should we get going?"
It wasn't just Madara who got pissed off by that comment, and Izuna took a furious step forwards. "What the hell? There's no need to be rude. We've been fighting for over a day non stop, outnumbered and without rest. Just because you came when there was barely anyone left and got the easy portion doesn't prove anything of your strength. At least none of us has to hide behind Naruto to come off as strong." He snapped, pointing accusingly at him in seething in anger.
Sasuke studied his brother for a second, and it was only then Madara realized how much they looked like one another. Same face shape and eyes, similar nose and even their hair would be similar if Izuna chopped some of his own off.
"Who is this? I haven't seen him before." Asked Madara and looked at Naruto for answer this time.
"This is Sasuke. Eh… I've known him since I was a kid..." She said uncertainly, and he noticed how her eyes flickered to Hashirama who was now getting to his feet.
"Sasuke is helping Naruto hunt down black Zetsu, but since I can't go with you I'd think it would be good if you brought Madara along, Naruto." The Hokage said, focusing on the blond who shifted uncertainly from foot to foot. This was news to the Uchiha leader, and he spun on the spot to face the Hokage instead.
"I can't go on some wild ghost chase. I'm needed here. There will be more attacks, Hashirama, and you know that. What the hell is going on?" He made it clear that the question was made to both of his childhood friends.
"He is not coming." Said Sasuke while looking at Madara, his tone of voice making it seem more like a fact then a suggestion. This made the Uchiha leader even more angry, and he let it show. "We've been delayed for long enough. I thought we didn't have a lot of time?" Said Sasuke in a bored tone.
"We didn't have much time because of this attack, teme. I was supposed to be here long ago but I had to go back and get you first." She said, her tone suddenly more recognisable, her old annoyance slipping through her attempt to be casual.
Madara looked to Hashirama who seemed dead serious. "This is not up for discussion, Naruto. It's an order. Madara is coming with you." He used all his authority in this command, and there was a feeling of uneasiness in his expression, which made Naruto soften a bit.
"I understand you're worried, Hashirama. But there's not much Madara can do, and he's wounded and need to get some sleep, right now he'll just… I'll be fine, there's nothing to worry about." Said Naruto, and Madara had a feeling Naruto was trying to say that his presence would only slow them down, and that didn't sit well with him at all.
Sasuke looked as if this conversation bored him to death, he had one hand on his hip and the other still gripping his blade. It was a facade though, Madara had the feeling Sasuke didn't like whatever was happening.
"I'll go. Hashirama healed me so I'll be fine." Said the Uchiha leader before he could stop himself. For whatever reason he didn't want Naruto to go alone with this stranger, especially because the Hokage seemed hell bent on the same.
"Don't be reckless. When was the last time you slept, Madara?" Asked Naruto with a frown, her eyes again darting to Sasuke, and then back to Madara.
"Two days ago, but that's not the point. We received an order from the Hokage, so I'll be going with you." He answered with a shrug of his shoulders. Naruto looked hard at Hashirama, still not agreeing to this.
"Yes you two have my orders. And before you go off seeking black Zetsu we have a few clans trying to attack us, Naruto. I don't know how you are going to track down black Zetsu, and it might take a very long time. So therefore I believe we have to focus on the threats against Konoha first. You will take Madara with you, let him have some rest first off course, and then you will check on the situation. Pursue the enemies of Konoha and give me an update of how things stand. Madara has his falcon summons and can easier reach me than you can. In other words, black Zetsu comes second right now. I hate that creature as much as you do Naruto, I would like nothing more than seeing that thing dead, but it's not worth your life to catch him. You're have not acted like yourself since my wife's death, and I think you're rushing too much already. Letting Sasuke come here was already a slip of my judgement, you rushed me, and as a precaution I'm sending Madara with you. If Sasuke starts going against you at least I know someone is fighting with you." Said Hashirama harshly, his eyes trailing to Sasuke after he'd spoken his mind.
Madara tried to figure out how exactly going after black Zetsu would be more dangerous then going after their enemies, and came up blank. He was definitely going now, if this Sasuke was a threat to Naruto then there was no doubt about it in his mind.
"I could go with her too." Said suddenly a deep voice, and they all turned to see Kurou standing with his katana pointing downwards while his attention was directed towards Hashirama.
"Kurou." Said Naruto and her fists were now clenched at her side. He was dressed in a black travelling cloak and his red hair was in a disarray. Clearly he must have followed them from Konoha, and been running from a distance so he wouldn't be detected.
"Please reconsider this. Both of you. I'll do as you ask Hashirama. I'll find out what's going on with Konoha's enemies, and I can do this on my own and I can send a clone back to Konoha with reports."
"I'm coming with you, Naruto. Hashirama-dono has no say over what I do. I'll be joining you and so will probably Madara-san." Said the red head while walking closer to the gathering.
Madara sighed and gestured towards the area Naruto and Sasuke had been fighting earlier. It was clear that Naruto was opposed to this, and while the stranger didn't say much, it was clear he didn't seem to like the idea of Kurou to tag along much better than himself.
"Let's stop discussing this. Hashirama did a good job healing me, so I'll be good for now." He explained and waved Naruto towards him. Wordlessly she walked up to him. Sasuke following her movements with hawk eyes which were still impossible to get a clear read on. Was he worried? Angry? Exasperated? It was hard to tell.
"I don't care what you want right now, Naruto. I'm coming with you so stop arguing, we're just wasting time here. And don't think you can get out of explaining this later, eventually I want you to tell me the whole truth." Madara said so low that only Naruto and a few of the ones closest to him such as Izuna overheard it.
The blond jinchūriki's eyes narrowed, but after a few seconds she shrugged and nodded in defeat.
It was a very tense group of ninjas walking through the forest some hours later. For once Madara and Kurou was completely on the same page, and they stayed next to one another while Sasuke and Naruto walked a few steps in front of them.
Kurou seemed to be as weary of Sasuke as Hashirama had been, and Naruto felt dread seeping into her as she came to the conclusion that Kurou most likely had been listening at the door during the exchange in the hospital room.
He knew.
Only Madara was still confused about what was going on, but he was smart enough to realize Sasuke was not one to take lightly. Surprisingly he was refraining from asking, at least for the moment.
Sasuke for his part was keeping up a first class could shoulder towards their two companions.
Every now and then he would send the Uchiha leader a glance, but never said anything, he probably didn't like that Madara was walking behind him either.
They were following a trail the rebels had left behind. It lead north east towards the currently empty country between fire country and the borders of lightning.
There had been a lot of people travelling here, it was very obvious from the tramped soil and bushes. Clearly Madara and his groups had been under a lot of pressure at the boarder earlier.
The sight of him being forced down by those enemy ninjas had made her blood go cold the moment they had arrived. For a moment she had panicked, and it was the first time she realised just how much she cared for Madara.
It shouldn't really surprise her should it? Hadn't she saved his brother for much of the same reason? Hadn't Izuna meant so much to Madara she would never have done it. Not just for the future, but for him as a person as well.
Her head tilted downwards while they walked, her thoughts drifting back to the bonds she had here in the past contra those she had back in the future. It was odd that the idea of Madara dying was something very painful to her. She was as attached to him as she had been to her closest friends in the future. Maybe even more.
Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi-sensei. Jiraya and baa-chan. Gaara, her graduation class and team Guy. Madara was now in the same classification as them. Just like Mito had been.
Looking towards him she noticed how pale he was, and looked swiftly away again.
They probably needed to rest soon. Sasuke would be annoyed, but there was no getting away from the fact that all of them except the edo tensei were lacking in sleep.
As evening started colouring the sky in yellow, blue and purple they'd made camp on the edges of a hill, and without any words exchanged Kurou sat down to take the first watch.
He probably already knew that as a dead person Sasuke wouldn't need to sleep, but still stubbornly stayed awake while Madara and Naruto tried to get some rest.
While Sasuke and Kurou sat wordlessly opposite each other, Madara who lay not to far away from Naruto caught her gaze and held it. She wasn't sure what he was trying to communicate, but the way he didn't blink indicated there was something he wanted her to understand.
The silence continued into the night. No one speaking but everyone wanting answers, Naruto the only one who could answer most of them but also the one reluctant to do so. As Madara finally released her gaze and turned to look up at the sky she let a deep breath out. Copying him she turned to lie on her back.
Konoha was being attacked, and Naruto didn't know if this was something that had happened in the original time line or not.
Sasuke was being unusually patient with her at the moment, or just reluctant to talk with her, it was hard to tell. Kurou was probably questioning her sanity, and was here to make sure Naruto did not do something stupid. And Madara… Yes, where was Madara in all this?
The sky seemed so wast where she lay looking up. She was attempting to change the world and still for it remain the same. But she was just one small person in this very large world.
Naruto might have powers greater than others, but in the end she was alone, and she was so afraid of failing.
Was this what Itachi ad felt on his forsaken mission? This helplessness, with the feeling of being cuffed to her goal? She couldn't escape it, and this had to be seen through, there was no other road for her. Not to see her old friends, not to find peace, not to be selfish.
At all cost, it had to be done.
Author note: Thanks for reading everyone! Great that you take the time to look at this story.
Long time since last update, isn't it? Sorry, life is kicking my ass these days, and for some reason this chapter was so hard to write.