The Child of Prophecy
Chapter 6
And just like that, a green light seemed to appear before Naruto's out stretched hand before rocketing towards Minato's lifeless body. Upon reaching Minato Namikaze's body, the green light lifted him up into the air before encompassing him with a blindingly strong light, and just as soon as it started, the light was gone and Naruto caught his father's now breathing body.
Naruto couldn't be more drained of energy, and just like that Naruto collapsed next to his father, oblivious to the shinobi that dropped all around them.
"Hokage-sama. Alright, Turtle and Cat, carry these two to the Hospital and inform me when they awake." The ANBU Commander appeared on the scene and began barking out orders.
With those two gone, the Commander ordered his ANBU to begin cleaning up the destruction the Kyuubi caused. The village survived another possible disaster thanks to the quick thinking of the Fourth Hokage and his son, along with the exhausted forms of Kakashi and Itachi that they found on top of the Hokage Monument.
It was several hours later that Naruto woke up to the over-powering scent of chemicals and sterilized rooms. He quickly realized that he was Konoha's hospital, and he then remembered all that happened the night before. Needless to say, he was very drained emotionally at seeing his father die and then brought back to life through Naruto's Rinnegan. Although, if you can imagine Naruto's confusion, Minato's was far worse. He had been to the other side, he had walked aimlessly through the fog of the afterworld before being dragged back and forced into his body. Minato looked at his son on one of the other hospital tables, beaming with pride.
Itachi was also on a bed, feeling much more happy than he had in awhile. Even though he didn't do anything close to damaging the Kyuubi like Naruto, he and Kakashi saved the village three times in a row from the Kyuubi's most powerful technique, and that was an achomplishment that made him proud of his skills.
Suddenly, the door was thrown wide open, and Kushina walked in with Natsumi held in her arms. Both Naruto and Minato smiled at seeing the duo.
"So this is the first time I'm seeing my little sister. She looks just like you, Mom." Naruto said.
"Really? Well I guess since you resemble your father, it's good that someone shares my amazingly good looks." Kushina said before waving at an imaginary crowd.
"Kushina, I'm glad your safe." Minato said before hugging them both.
Soon enough, Naruto was asked to join in, and the Namikaze family was enjoying a family hug that lasted awhile. The tension from the previous night abaiting in the light of the new day.
Naruto then noticed Itachi and Kakashi, who were lying down in their separate beds.
"Thank you two for buying me enough time to use my jutsu last night. I doubt this village would have stayed standing without you two here. We're pretty awesome for just being teenagers, and already stopping attacks like the Kyuubi from destroying our village." Naruto said before smiling and looking out the window at his village.
"You all three did well, and I'm going to use this opportunity to promote you three to Jonin. When we get out of this hospital, you three will be recognized in front of the village as the heros of the leaf!" Minato said before standing up and trying to get to his office, at least that would have happened had Kushina not slammed the door shut and force them to remain in the hospital for the remainder of the day. Even though they all wanted to be elsewhere, they each had severe Chakra exhaustion, and actually agreed to resting in bed another day.
The day passed by boring, with the only form of entertainment being the random visitors that came in and thanked them for stopping the Kyuubi before more people were killed. There was to be a funeral for the people who lost their lives the following day, and everyone was welcome to attend. That thought put the four in depressed moods since they partially blamed themselves for not subduing the Kyuubi earlier, regardless of the fact they knew they did extremely well.
Soon enough, they were allowed to leave to sleep in their own beds, but they were required to have a final check up the following day before they were released completely.
The funeral was depressing as expected, but they received applause from the whole village when they were promoted to Jonin for stopping the Kyuubi. No one was made aware of the fact that Natsumi was the new host, as it would cause unnecessary troubles for the Namikaze family.
Naruto, Itachi, and Kakashi proudly stood on the edge of the Hokage Tower, bathing in the applause, but not letting it get to their heads.
The following years passed by relatively normal, ANBU mission after mission for Naruto, Itachi, and Kakashi. The three grew more powerful with their training, and some even considered them to be the next legendary Sannin, even though they were not all trained from the time they were genin like the original Sannin.
"I wish it didn't have to come to this Sarutobi-sama, but the tension with the Hidden Rock is just getting worse with every passing day. I heard a rumour that they were behind the Kyuubi attack, and had hired the masked man to do it. Lately, we've been getting reports that they are forming an alliance with the Hidden Cloud village along with several smaller countries, if they do not stop I fear it will only lead to war." Minato said before slamming his hand on the desk, cracking it.
"Dammit! I have to react in the best interest of my people. Somehow I have to stop this before it can escalate any further!" Minato yelled before he heard a knock on the door.
"Enter." Minato said calmly trying to restrain his frustration.
"Hokage-sama! This is a letter from the Hidden Rock, signed by Onoki himself." A messenger reported before handing Minato the letter.
As Minato read the letter, he couldn't help his hand squeezing so hard that blood was dripping down his palm.
"I am too late." Minato Namikaze said before using his Chakra to power up the intercom system that ran throughout the entire village.
"Villagers and Shinobi, this is your Hokage. After several failed attempts to calm the hostilities between us and the Hidden Rock, it is now inevitable."
All over the village, people stopped what they were doing to listen in. Several had already realized what Minato was about to say, and were gathering their children in doors.
"Just a few moments ago, Onoki, the leader of the Hidden Rock sent a letter that I just received. As of right now, we are at war with the Hidden Rock! Now we must show the Hidden Rock why we are the strongest Hidden village in the elemental nations! We are Konoha! We will show our enemies our resolve and our will of fire to protect our village! All Shinobi Chuunin level or higher are to report to the stadium to receive instructions. Shikaku Nara, please report to the Hokage Tower to help me plan. We will not fall!" Minato finished before asking his predecessor, Sarutobi, what he should do.
"Minato-kun, Konoha has emerged victorious in the past Great Ninja Wars, so all we must do is allow the will of fire to guid us to victory." Sarutobi, The Third Hokage, said while placing a hand on Minato's shoulder.
Just then, Shikaku appeared before them looking more alert and focused than usual.
"Shikaku Nara, reporting Hokage-sama!"
"I guess this truly shows how dire the situation is, a Nara not acting like everything is too troublesome." Minato said before taking a seat a gesturing for Sarutobi and Shikaku to sit as well.
"We have about half an hour to discuss how we're going to do this before we have to mobilize our troops and send them off, so how should we organize our troops?" Minato asked.
"In the past wars, we have always sent out Chuunin and low-level Jonin to be the most forward position, while the Genin remain in the village and train to become Chuunin before sending them off. High-level ninja have always remained in key positions to support our troops, but since our enemies have fought us before, I doubt they would forget our strategy, and will plan a counter." Sarutobi said before summoning a messenger to contact his two students Jiraiya and Tsunade and ask them to return to the village.
"That does sound like a decent strategy, but I agree, we should change a few key spots to surprise our enemy. What do you recommend, Shikaku?" Minato asked.
"Our ANBU should play a bigger part in the war than last time since your famous jutsu will be countered by now. There is no way the Hidden Rock will have forgotten how easily you single handedly defeated a large group of enemy, and they will have devised a counter by now. Here's what I think we should do with the ANBU."
On the other side of the village, Naruto sat in the Exam Stadium with Itachi and Kakashi next to him.
"I can't believe we are actually going to war, Itachi." Naruto said while looking up at the sky.
"I know how you feel, Naruto, but we are going to have to focus on what's at hand if Konoha is to survive this war. It is logical to think that us three will become some kind of secret trio designed to cause major damage on Iwa." Itachi said before joining Naruto in looking at the sky.
"You two, listen up. I've already survived one ninja war, and we will survive this one as well. Here comes the Hokage now." Kakashi said before remaining silent.
"Ninja of Konoha, some of you have doubts about going to war, so let me say this. War is an ugly, horrible thing, and I did everything in my power to stop Onoki from declaring war. But now that it is absolute, how should we react? Should we just abandon Konoha to these Rock Ninja? No! We will fight until there is nothing else! We will stand and protect Konoha because it is our home!" As the Hokage was giving his little speech, the number of expectant and determined faces increased exponentially until everyone in the stadium was shaking with resolve to protect that which matters most: Konoha.
"So let me begin by separating you into groups. Every clan-born ninja, come down here and group into your individual clans. Next, every remaining Chuunin will head to the Village square to be given directions. Next, every Jonin, not in ANBU, will meet at training ground 1. Finally, every ANBU member will meet at the ANBU Headquarters, dismissed! We have a war to win!" Minato said before teleporting to his office to resume discussing strategies with Shikaku as Sarutobi left to organize the clan ninja.
Naruto, Itachi, and Kakashi all entered the ANBU Headquarters right behind each other, nodding at several other masked ANBU. Getting the hidden message, they also donned their masks, becoming Deva, Crow, and Inu once again. The gathered ANBU we greeted by the sight of the ANBU Commander who began barking out orders.
"…you six will head to Point Gamma to defend until you are relieved by a group of standard ninja. Dismissed. Deva, Crow, Inu, you three are the only ones left remaining because the Hokage has a special mission for you. Unlike the Sannin, who we always kept near each other, you three will be split up do to each of you being extremely capable ninja. Crow, you will be stationed at Point Beta right on the front lines, your mission until further notice is to defend Kannabi Bridge at all cost, you will be supported by a large group of Chuunin and low-level Jonin, but you will be there as support. Dismissed!" And with that, Itachi disappeared into the night, wondering if he would ever see his friends, Konoha, or his little brother ever again.
"Inu, you will be stationed at point Delta near Morosaki Hill. It is where the new ANBU Headquarters will be located and you will be in charge of training new recruits and using your ninja dogs to relay messages that require haste. Dismissed!" And suddenly, only one member of the neo-Sannin remained.
"Deva, I am sorry to say that you will have the most dangerous and near-suicidal location, Point Alpha. Your Rinnegan, and your Toad Summoning Contract will be a huge boon to the force there. Since we have always lost this point in past wars, we are ordering you to retreat should the threat become to high; we can defeat them at other positions. Due to the nature of your powers, we are only sending a small force that will be helpful to you. Several Hyuuga's who will always watch your back, along with Jiraiya himself, who will be in charge of the Point. You are dismissed. And good luck, Naruto." The Commander said before watching his favourite ANBU member disappear, his hand trembled with rage at the fact they were sending out mere boys to the front lines. He then disappeared to a private meeting with the Hokage and the Shinobi Council, they had a war to win.
After a day of extremely fast travel, Naruto arrived at the top of a hill that overlooked a plain that seemed to stretch on forever to the front, and a forest behind him; this was Point Alpha, on the edge of the Land of Fire. There was a small tent stationed at the top of the hill, and it looked like the Konoha Shinobi were still setting up. Naruto quickly recognized his God-fathers voice and entered the tent.
"You better have a damn good reason for- Oh Naruto, I'm glad to see you." Jiraiya said before returning to look over the roster sheet for their small force of seven ninja.
"Good to see you as well, Jiraiya. What kind of forces do we have?"
"We have, along with us, a Nara, an Inuzuka, two Hyuuga's, and a Yamanaka. Fairly diverse, but we both know that many will not survive this war. Since I'm here, I'll do the majority of the Toad Summoning, while you cover me with your Rinnegan abilities, if it gets too intense, I will use something called Sage Mode, which you will be unable to keep up with. If it comes to that, retreat back to this hill and once again defend it from attacks. Let us go relay the strategy to our small force." Jiraiya said before he and Naruto left the tent and called everyone for a small meeting.
"Listen up everybody. Scouts report that we have 10,000 enemy ninja heading this way and they will reach this point tomorrow." This got gulps of fear from most of the ninja. One even asked why they were being tasked with an impossible goal. They couldn't defend this hill outnumbered by this many.
"Listen because I'm only going to say this once. None of you are going to be attacking the enemy ninja. This position is a false one, and we are meant to cave by tonight. Our mission is not to defend this position, but to kill as many ninja as possible before retreating to Point Beta and meeting up with the main force there. The enemy will be coming here expecting a long drawn out fight like the prior war, but instead Deva and I will launch our most powerful attack in order to kill them. With seven of us here, I hope that we will be able to eliminate at least 1,000 of them by the time we retreat tomorrow night. Nara here will be helping us plan certain attacks that will cause the most deaths, while the Yamanaka will remain in the base to communicate with HeadQuarters. The two Hyuuga's and Inuzuka will assist Deva and I by watching our backs. Good luck everyone, and understand that Command has us numbered this few for a reason. I expect that we will have no casualties, but make your peace tonight because none of us are retreating until I feel that we have killed a sufficient amount of enemies. Dismissed." Jiraiya said.
Everyone in the camp went about their duties by collecting firewood and cooking dinner and the usual camping experience; although, there was always a nervous tension in the air that didn't disappear the entire night.
It was about mid-afternoon when a Hyuuga alerted everyone to the fact he could see the enemies marching just on the horizon, it was time for the first skirmish that usually dictated the outcome of the war.
On the other side of the plains, several Rock Ninja were eagerly awaiting this battle. They had received information from a scout claiming that there was close to 500 enemy ninja. They were pleased that they had them outnumbered 2:1 and expected a victory here. They were correct in their assumption, there was no way they would lose, but the cost of victory might be extremely high today.
"Everyone! Charge!" And with that command, the Rock Ninja all yelled and charged at the small hill across the plains. They only made it about half way when the front line found themselves struggling to run, they all looked down to see that they were running through a mucky swamp. Before they could wonder why there was a swamp in the middle of the grassland, the Rock Ninja started sinking.
"Toad Swamp of the Underworld!" Jiraiya called out before the swamp swallowed up roughly 65 ninja and killed them underground.
Every rock ninja that was still alive looked up in the sky where the voice came from to hear a jutsu that sent shivers down their spines.
"Toad Summoning Jutsu: The Three Warriors!" Jiraiya yelled before three large poofs of smoke appeared and landed with a large thud in front of the Rock Ninja.
When the smoke cleared, the Rock Ninja were witness to the sight of three battle ready bijuu-sized Toads, with the largest supporting a small group of ninja on its head.
"Rock Ninja! Fire!" And just when the Commander of the Rock Ninja, Itsumo, ordered, the Rock Ninja all went through similar seals before a large amount of stones were hurled at the largest toad.
"Gamaken, Gamahiro, scatter and start attacking! Deva!" Jiraiya yelled before the two toads on either side of them vanished and reappeared somewhere in the middle of the enemy force, demolishing everyone. Deva jumped to the front of the Toad and yelled out "Shinra Tensei!" which halted all the rocks and let them fall to the ground harmlessly. If he had put more Chakra in the technique, he could have sent them flying back towards the Rock Shinobi, but with the other two Toads in the crossfire, he didn't want to risk it.
"Gamabunta! Start killing." Jiraiya calmly said before 'bunta rushed forward and began slashing large groups of enemies with his over-sized tanto.
This continued for about an hour before Gamahiro and Gamaken has ran out of Chakra and returned to Mount Myoboku.
"'bunta, give me some oil!" Jiraiya yelled before Gamabunta spewed out an extremely large jet out oil towards the rock nin, Jiraiya also ran through some seals and called out one of his favourite techniques "Combination Technique: Toad Flame Bomb!" As he lit the oil on fire, creating a raging inferno that encompassed many Shinobi who had forgotten to hide behind a Rock Wall.
With that final jutsu, Gamabunta disappeared and the group landed on the ground, with only Jiraiya breathing hard since he was the only one to use a lot of Chakra, Naruto's Rinnegan barely used any.
While they were still covered by the smoke of Bunta disappearing, the Hyuugas alerted the group to rocks being hurled at them. With a small spin, the Hyuugas deflected the rocks with their Kaiten(Heavenly Spin).
"More coming from below," the Inuzuka called out from his heightened sense of smell. "Gatsuuga!" He called out before spinning in a small tornado and scewering the ninja underground before returning, covered in blood and gore, but otherwise unharmed.
Naruto was busy protecting Jiraiya from random attack while he summoned Ma and Pa, the toad sages that enabled him to go into Sage Mode.
"Deva, all I need is five minutes. Cover me until then." Jiraiya ordered before concentrating on gathering Nature Chakra, which is fundamental to Sage Mode.
A quick stab to the left, a duck, a block from a kunai followed up by a slash to their neck, a dodge, a kill, another kill, a wound on this thigh, a wound on his neck, a fatal wound through his heart, the young Inuzuka fell to the ground, lifeless.
"Damn it!" Deva yelled before quickly killing an enemy that was going to strike Jiraiya. He then looked to his left and saw that one of the Hyuugas was wounded and about to be finished off, but, "Almighty Pull" Deva calmly said before the enemy flew towards him and he quickly killed her.
"Everyone! Gather around me! I'm going to use a technique that will buy us a little time! Shinra Tensei!" Naruto yelled and forced a larger amount of Chakra into it, repeling everything in a fifty meter radius around his group away. The huge blast kicked up enough dust to hide in for a few minutes, which luckily was all Jiraiya needed. They emerged from the dust with Jiraiya transformed into a Toad-Human Hybrid with Ma and Pa perched upon his shoulders.
"Showering Needles Jutsu!" Jiraiya called out before his hair shot hundreds of needles at the Rock nin. Some of them countered with a rock shield, but others weren't quick enough and were punctured by the flying needles. Screams erupted from the enemy and most lost control and charged, unorganized. This is what Jiraiya preferred, as he disappeared so fast that only the Rinnegan was able to keep up. Unfortunately, none of the Rock Shinobi possessed the Rinnegan, therefore, Jiraiya demolished them soundly before returning to the group.
"I think that we have succeeded today. Deva, begin." Jiraiya called out before looking around sadly at the bodies of the Inuzuka and the Hyuuga that Naruto had tried to save, the wound was too great and he died. All that remained was the Nara that looked a little scraped up, Deva, a Hyuuga girl, and hopefully that Yamanaka was still alive hidden in the base. He dismissed that hope when he looked up to see that the base was ablaze. In their slaughter, they had been flanked and were now surrounded, the only way out was to open up a path.
Jiraiya and the other defended Deva as he gathered enough Chakra, but sadly, the Nara perished while defending. Naruto finally clasped his hand together and what emerged was a small black sphere, which rose up into the sky.
"Planetary Devastation." Even though it was spoken calmly, the words carried over the enemies and some of them gulped in fear at the power those words seemed to convey. Their fear was correctly placed as the gravity seemed to change before small rocks seemed to rise into the sky. The gravity got stronger, however, and before long, boulders accompanied by people rose into the sky and were crushed. Most of the surviving ninja recognized what was happening and used their widely used Earth Tunneling Jutsu to retreat before they were sucked up as well.
In the confusion, Deva, Jiraiya, and the female Hyuuga escaped. Naruto controlling the gravity around them to remain the same as they fled towards Point Beta in reverent silence at the lives lost. They had managed to take more lives than expected, numbering in the 3,000 area, but the losses were great as well. They had lost 4/7, which was most likely due to Jiraiya running off in Sage Mode, a thought that plagued Jiraiya's mind the whole way back.
They were only able to make it back because of the Chakra Naruto had absorbed from some of the attacks being shared among them, along with some Chakra pills.
When they arrived at Point Beta, they were immediately brought into the makeshift hospital and fell asleep almost instantly, the day's events finally catching up with them. The last thing he thought of was the lives that they had lost, and a few silent tears dripped down his face. He hated this stupid war.