Freedom. Chapter 5: The Battle Of Stirling.
(Note: So far, this chapter has to be one of my favorite chapters of this fanfic and also one of my favorite parts and battles (which in my opinion is one of my favorite movie battles in movie history) in Braveheart. It's not only because of The Battle Of Stirling (at Stirling Bridge), but also (*SPOILER*) because of the famous "freedom" speech. Hope you enjoy the chapter! :D P.S. *Warning.* The following chapter is rated M (R) for violence, and mild coarse language. You have been warned.)
Disclaimer:
I do not own Braveheart or Naruto. Braveheart belongs to Mel Gibson, and Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement intended. All copyrights are reserved.
If there's one thing that I learned about war...
War is hell.
It's like... a nightmare that you can never wake up from... as if you were dead.
~ September 11, 1297 (The Battle Of Stirling)... ~
While William, Sakura, Naruto, Kakashi, and the rest of the Scots were on their way to the Battle Of Stirling, an army of 2,300 Scottish men (with 300 cavalry and 2,000 infantry) who were all soldiers stood on the battlefield looking forward to fighting the English which had 9,000 – 13,000 men (with 1,000 – 3,000 cavalry and 8,000 – 10,000 infantry), who like them were all soldiers.
All the soldiers were a little anxious about the battle though. A lot of questions ran through their mind.
Would they live?
Would they die?
Would they ever see their families and loved ones again?
Who knows?
Eventually, a horseman approached three men by the names of Mornay, Lochlan and Craig who were all on their horses.
"Well, what news?" Mornay asked.
"We're outnumbered, at least 3 to 1," the horseman replied.
"How many horse, then?" Mornay wondered.
"300, maybe more," the horseman said.
"300 heavy horse?" Mornay questioned in surprise.
"We must try to negotiate," Lochlan suggested.
"Who's in command? Did he have a scarlet chevron?" Mornay inquired.
"Aye, he did," the horseman responded.
Now, it was Craig's turn to speak.
"We can still negotiate."
While the four of them continued talking, two of the soldiers; a young man and a veteran in the Scottish army were overhearing their conversation.
"What are they talking about?" the young man asked the veteran standing next to him.
"I can't hear, but it doesn't look good," the veteran told him. "The nobles will negotiate. If they do a deal, then we go home. And if not, we charge."
"300 heavy horse; we have no chance," Mornay repeated his statement to Lochlan, Craig and the horseman that he said earlier.
Abruptly, the English infantry, calvary, and archers appeared on the battlefield.
The soldiers' anxiety started to kick in; their hearts starting to beat really fast as they looked at the English.
"So many!" the young soldier muttered to the veteran to which he gulped. "I didn't come here to fight so they can own more lands; then I have to work for them."
"Nor me," the veteran agreed as he shouted to the rest of the army:
"Alright, lads! I'm not dying for these bastards! Let's go home!"
The rest of the army agreed with the veteran as they were about to leave and give up in fighting the English. That is... until Lochlan rode on horseback to them, and yelled:
"Stop, men! Do not flee! Wait until we've negotiated!"
Just then, William and his men arrived with Sakura, Kakashi and Naruto on the battlefield just as the rest of the army was about to leave, until they stopped at Lochlan's request and looked at everyone who was with William.
Now, normally Kakashi would have his mask covering his left eye because of his Sharingan who he received from his deceased teammate Obito Uchiha long ago. However, now that Team Kakashi was ready to fight with William and the rest of the Scottish against the English, Kakashi uncovered his mask, revealing his left eye, but it was still covering his mouth.
By the time they got to the battlefield, Naruto was astonished at the English army, and then he looked at the Scottish army.
"Whoa. So this is what war is like," Naruto thought until he spoke up to William. "You know, I've never been in a war before. I'm kind of scared."
Naruto gulped.
"Don't worry," William looked at Naruto and everyone else with a smile on his face. "I'll protect you all with my life. No matter what. After all, that's what friends are for, right?"
Naruto clenched his right fist as an image of Sasuke came to his mind. "You're right, William. In fact, I'm ready for anything!" Naruto raised his fist in the air, as if he was pointing at the English army. "Bring it on! If it's a war you want, it's a war you'll get! Believe it!"
William nodded in agreement.
"Right. Now let's go," he said as they rode up to the rest of the Scottish soldiers and nobles.
"William Wallace?" the young soldier asked.
The veteran scoffed.
"Can't be. Not tall enough."
The young solider noticed that Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi were with William.
"Wait. Who are they?" he asked.
"I don't know. Why is there a girl here?" the veteran inquired as he grumbled with a chuckle:
"Heh. I bet she can't even fight. Actually, I'm not even sure if those three people that are with Wallace; well, most likely him, are strong enough to fight the English."
As soon as William and the rest of the men along with Sakura rode up to the nobles, Stephen spoke.
"The Almighty says this must be a fashionable fight. It's drawn the finest people."
"Where is thy salute?" Lochlan asked William, to which he responded:
"For presenting yourselves on this battlefield, I give you thanks."
"This is our army. To join it you give homage," Lochlan voiced in uncertainty.
"I give homage to Scotland," William replied.
"Wait. If this is "our army," then why in God's name is there a girl here?!" the veteran shouted.
"Yeah!" the young man replied.
That made Sakura so mad that she wanted to slap the two soldiers who mocked her, as if they were telling her that she was weak.
"I can fight!" she yelled as the rest of the army didn't believe her and laughed at her. However, Hamish, Campbell, William, Stephen, Morrison, Kakashi, Naruto and the rest of William's men were the only ones who didn't laugh at Sakura because they believed her.
But, as soon as those three words came out of Sakura's mouth, a surprised William remembered saying the exact same thing that he told his father before he (his father) went off to war to fight the English, but was tragically killed along with William's brother John.
~ Flashback (1280)...~
William told Malcolm that he wanted to fight, but Malcolm told him that he had to stay home so he wouldn't get hurt.
Then, as Malcolm was about to leave, William told him:
"I can fight!"
Malcolm turned around to look at William.
"I know. I know you can fight," Malcolm bent down to William's level, and looked deep into his son's eyes.
Before Malcolm died, he told William something that he would never forget:
"But it's our wits that make us men."
End of flashback...
Finally, William shouted to the army:
"If this is your army, why does it go?"
"We didn't come here to fight for them," the veteran yelled back as the rest of the soldiers shouted their agreements in unison.
"Home! The English are too many!" the young soldier complained, as if he was about to give up.
William looked at all the soldiers in front of him, and spoke:
"Sons of Scotland, I am William Wallace. Joining us in this war are three people who come from a ninja village called Konoha. Their names are Naruto Uzumaki, Kakashi Hatake, and Sakura Haruno, the girl that you just made fun of. They are here because they are on a mission and have to protect me in this battle. No, not just me, but all of us!"
"William Wallace is 7 feet tall," the young soldier interrupted him.
"Yes, I've heard. He kills men by the hundreds, and if he were here he'd consume the English with fireballs from his eyes and bolts of lightning from his arse," William said as all the soldiers laughed at him, which made Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi chuckle at William's statement. "I am William Wallace, and I see a whole army of my countrymen here in defiance of tyranny. You have come to fight as free men, and free men you are. What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight?"
"Fight against that? No, we will run, and we will live," the veteran objected.
"Aye, fight and you may die, run and you'll live. At least a while," William replied.
Then, with a booming voice, William said something to the army that Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura would never forget:
"And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!"
Those words made the Scots realize what they were fighting for... freedom.
("Scotland forever!") William screamed in Scottish as the rest of the army repeated the exact same thing, as if they were cheering.
William rode to Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, and the rest of his men.
"Wow. What you said back that there, William," Naruto spoke to Willliam in awe. "That was amazing. You're awesome!"
"Thank you, Naruto. Remember what you told me three months ago? About you imagining that I would become the King Of Scotland? Well, if I'm going to become king someday, then I'd have to make a speech like this," William answered as Naruto imagined William saying his freedom speech to the people of Scotland after he would possibly become their king. Then, Naruto thought of Sasuke and realized that if William ended up surviving this war against the English, William would help Team Kakashi get Sasuke back. In his mind, Naruto pictured William telling Sasuke part of the freedom speech, but instead of him saying, "They may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!", William would tell Sasuke, "You may take my life, but you'll never take... MY FREEDOM!"
"Now what do we do?" Stephen asked.
William looked at the English, and back at his friends. "Just be yourselves."
As William was about to ride to where the English army were standing, ready to face the Scottish, Hamish asked him:
"Where are you going?"
To which William responded:
"I'm going to pick a fight."
Hamish turned to Stephen, and said:
"Well, we didn't get dressed up for nothing."
Meanwhile, Team Kakashi watched William ride up to a soldier named Cheltham who was speaking with Mornay, Lochlan and Craig.
"Here are the king's terms. Lead this army off the field..."
William appeared right behind Cheltham and circled around him, but he continued talking, ignoring William. "And he will give you each estates in Yorkshire, including hereditary title, from which you will pay-"
William distracted Cheltham with his horse, yet he still ignored him.
As Cheltham was about to finish his sentence, William interrupted him.
"I have an offer for you."
Mornay introduced William to Cheltham.
"Cheltham, this is William Wallace."
Cheltham scoffed and continued talking until his sentence was once again cut off by William.
"From which you will pay the king an annual duty-"
"I said I have an offer for you."
"You disrespect a banner of truce?!" Lochlan cried angrily.
"From his king? Absolutely." William looked at Lochlan and back at Cheltham. "Here are Scotland's terms. Lower your flags, and march straight back to England, stopping at every home you pass by to beg forgiveness for 100 years of theft, rape, and murder. Do that and your men shall live. Do it not, and every one of you will die today."
While Cheltham laughed at William, William gave him a smirk.
"You are outmatched. You have no heavy cavalry. In two centuries no army has won without-" Cheltham was about to say until William shouted:
"I'm not finished!"
Naruto looked at Kakashi and Sakura, and whispered:
"Man. William sure is stubborn, isn't he?"
"Shh," Sakura shushed Naruto, so she and Kakashi could continue hearing William's conversation with Cheltham.
"Before we let you leave, your commander must cross that field, present himself before this army, put his head between his legs, and kiss his own arse," William insulted Cheltham as he went back to the English while William made a face at him.
"I'd say that was rather less cordial that he was used to," Mornay spoke up.
"You be ready and do exactly as I say. On my signal, ride round behind our position and flank them," William commanded.
"We must not divide our forces," Mornay worried.
"Do it, and let the English see you do it," William said.
"They'll think we've run away," Mornay fretted.
"Take out their archers, and I'll meet you in the middle," William replied.
"Alright," Mornay responded.
William rode up to Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi.
"William, what you just said back there to that soldier called Cheltham, about having his commander "put his head between his legs, and kiss his own arse." Don't you think that was a little uncalled for?" Naruto quizzed William.
"Well, he did deserve it. If Longshanks was here, I'd say the exact same thing to him... just like how I told you when we first met,"
Naruto remembered William's insulting words:
"You should pay a little more respect for me! Oh, here's a favor I have for you: put your head between your legs, and KISS YOUR OWN ARSE!"
After realizing what William said to Cheltham, Naruto thought to himself, while giving William a mad look:
"Jerk."
William glared at Naruto, and asked him:
"Hey. Don't give me that look, Naruto. What, do you want to team up with the English just so you can kill Kakashi, Sakura and the rest of the Scottish, including me? Is that what you want? Is it?"
Tsunade's words about protecting William echoed in Naruto's mind:
"There is a catch to his mission, however: You have to make sure that William doesn't die, otherwise the mission will be a failure. Understood?"
Finally, Naruto sighed, and answered:
"No. If you died, then I'd never forgive myself. After all, Grandma Tsunade did say we have to protect you, right?"
"Right. Now come on," William said as he, Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura went to go join up with the rest of the Scottish.
Everybody kneeled while a priest walked up to them, and spoke Latin.
Naruto looked at William, and told him:
"William, in case we die during this battle, I just want to say that I'm sorry for being mean to you."
William looked at Naruto.
"You too, Naruto."
Then, Naruto thought of Hinata.
"William."
"Yes?"
"If Kakashi-sensei, Sakura and I die before you, that is if you survive, promise me that you'll look after Hinata."
William looked at Naruto with a determined look.
"Don't say that, Naruto. The three of you are not going to die. I won't let you. I did say that I'd protect you all with my life no matter what, right?"
Naruto nodded his head silently, and looked at the sky, thinking of Hinata.
"Hinata. I love you."
Meanwhile, a commander named Lord Talmadge who was with Cheltham scowled at the Scottish.
"Insolent bastard. I want this Wallace's heart on a plate. Archers," he voiced as Cheltham gave the signal while the archers moved forward.
While Lord Talmadge and the English were waiting for a reaction from the Scottish, meanwhile, back in Konoha, everybody was starting to get worried about Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura, while at the same time, wondering if they'd make it out alive.
Hinata was the one who really worried about Naruto the most. She looked at the sky from her open window in her bedroom, and thought of him.
"Naruto...," tears formed in Hinata's eyes as she cupped her hands together, and prayed for him while crying. Neji was watching her cry as he walked to Hinata, and embraced her.
Meanwhile, back at Stirling, while the Scottish were staring at the English, Naruto not only thought of Hinata, but he also thought of Sasuke. He started to remember what Sasuke told him back at their fight in The Valley of The End before Sasuke went to Orochimaru.
Flashback (four years ago, 1293)...
During Naruto and Sasuke's fight, Sasuke asked Naruto:
"Why, Naruto? Why would you go so far for me?"
"Because this is the first time I've ever had a bond like this," Naruto replied with a smile. "That's why I'll do anything I can... to stop you!"
At one point, Sasuke declared to Naruto:
"If that's how it is, I'll just have to sever that bond!"
End of flashback...
"Sasuke..," Naruto voiced to himself as his thoughts were interrupted by the screams of the Scottish, Kakashi and Sakura. So Naruto ended up screaming with them.
"You bastards!" one soldier named Stewart screamed as the rest of them started chanting like animals trapped in a cage, wanting to break free.
One Scot walked forward and lifted his kilt as a way of insulting the English as the others (excluding Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi who weren't wearing kilts like William) did the same thing. Naruto stepped forward.
"Hey! You English pigs! Get a load of this!" he exclaimed with a smirk as he gave the English the middle finger.
Lord Talmadge scoffed in disgust at Naruto's impudence, and mumbled:
"Idiot."
As Naruto went back to the rest of the Scottish, the English archers drew their bows, and Cheltham signaled once more.
"Loose!"
Once the arrows flew from the English, all the Scots (along with Team Kakashi) crouched down behind their shields, while some of the Scots were hit.
Stephen looked at William, Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi.
"The Lord tells me He can get me out of this mess, but He's pretty sure you're fucked."
"Uh, I'm sorry, what?" Naruto queried with a raised eyebrow while Stephen began to laugh wildly like a maniac.
After the arrows stopped raining down on them, the Scots and Team Kakashi screamed. While Naruto and Kakashi (along with the Scots) began mooning to the English, with a fist in the air, Sakura shouted:
"SHANNARO!"
"This is so embarrassing, dattebayo. I just hope everyone back in Konoha doesn't make fun of me as I'm doing this to the English," Naruto silently suffered in embarrassment.
Afterward, Cheltham signaled the archers again.
"Ready, loose!"
The English archers shot their arrows at the Scots again, who like last time, blocked their arrows against them with their shields. Some of the Scots got hit by the arrows however.
William looked at Lochlan, Mornay and Craig who were with the other Scottish nobles, and yelled:
"Ride!"
Lord Talmadge was quite impressed that the Scottish nobles were fleeing from the battlefield.
"See, every Scot with a horse is fleeing. Our cavalry will ride them down like grass. Send the horse; full attack," he told Cheltham who gave a signal to the calvary to take down the Scots themselves.
Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura noticed that William and the rest of the Scots didn't stand an inch as they saw the English knights charging across the battlefield.
"Guys! Don't just stand there! Do something!" Naruto yelled with anime bulging white eyes.
"Wait, Naruto. I will give the signal in just a moment," William said as Naruto watched the English continuing to charge at the Scots. Naruto's heart began to pound, fearing that the English were going to kill them right then and there. Naruto heard William give the following commands to the Scots as the English kept getting closer to them.
"Steady!"
"Hold!"
"Hold!"
"Hold!"
"Any minute now...," Naruto told himself, anxiously as sweat started to pour on his face.
Finally, as the English reached the Scots, William screamed:
"NOW!"
The Scots and Team Kakashi raised up their long and heavy spears and the horses of the Englishmen crashed into the spears that belonged to the Scots and Team Kakashi. After that, throughout the rest of the battle, the Scots and Team Kakashi continued fighting the English, only this time, using their swords and shields.
An English soldier was about to charge at Naruto, getting ready to attack him, but Naruto stabbed the soldier in the stomach with his sword. Another soldier kicked Naruto to the ground.
"Naruto!" Sakura cried.
"Sakura! Concentrate on fighting the English!" Kakashi barked.
"Right!" Sakura agreed as she did what she was told, while Kakashi killed the soldier that knocked Naruto to the ground.
"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto uttered while Kakashi gave him a nod.
Meanwhile, William chopped one of the English soldiers' heads off with an axe. One soldier sliced him on the arm, but William kept fighting. Morrison poked another soldier's eyes out. Another chopped Campbell's left hand off as he screamed.
"Father!" Hamish shrieked as he continued fighting the English.
While the ongoing battle was fierce and brutal, a shocked Lord Talmadge started noticing Lochlan, Craig and Mornay making it to the battlefield and aiding the Scots and Team Kakashi's fight to slaughter the English.
"Send the infantry," Lord Talmadge ordered to Cheltham.
"My lord?" a frightened Cheltham panicked.
"You lead them!" Lord Talmadge demanded as Cheltham was about to head straight for William.
"William! Look out!" Sakura yelled as William turned his attention to Cheltham who was on horseback charging for William about to kill him.
"BASTARD!" William screamed as the two men went head to head as Cheltham ended up getting knocked off his horse, and was beheaded by William's axe.
Now Lord Talmadge was really scared.
"Retreat!" he called out to his men as they were on their way towards the bridge. Abruptly, Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi noticed this happening, got on their horses and headed straight towards Lord Talmadge and his men.
After killing every single one of them, Lord Talmadge fell off his horse after being hit by Naruto's sword.
"No! Please! Don't hurt me!" Lord Talmadge panicked with fear in his eyes as he started backing away from Naruto.
"Oh... I'm not going to hurt you...," Naruto replied as the chakra of the Nine-Tailed-Fox started to appear on Naruto's body which made his eyes turn blue to raging red eyes. "I'M GOING TO ANNIHILATE YOU!" he shouted as he took out his sword, jumped into the air while grabbing onto his sword, and screamed:
"THIS IS FOR SASUKE!"
Naruto pierced his sword right into Lord Talmadge's chest where his heart was, and blood splattered on the ground.
"I hope you burn in Hell, you rotten scumbag," Naruto declared as his eyes turned back to his normal eye color - blue, to which the Nine-Tailed-Fox's chakra stopped taking over him. He began to pant while wiping the blood off of his face with his hand.
"Naruto. Are you alright?" Sakura worried.
"Yes. I'm fine," Naruto said.
Afterward, Lochlan rode to Team Kakashi.
"Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura. It's a good thing I found you," Lochlan told them.
The trio turned around to face him.
"Lochlan. What are you doing here?" Naruto questioned.
"We've beaten the English. William is waiting for you," Lochlan answered.
"Oh! Right! William!" Sakura realized as she, Kakashi and Naruto ran to join William and the rest of the Scots.
By the time Team Kakashi reached them, they saw William walking up to the front of his troops who were all tired from their battle.
William raised his sword into the air, and screamed at the top of his lungs to the Scots who (along with Team Kakashi) cheered with him. William screamed once more.
The Scots began to chant:
"WALLACE! WALLACE! WALLACE!"
"You did it, William," Naruto congratulated William with a smile.
"No. We did it," William corrected him, referring to the Scots, Team Kakashi, and himself. Naruto grinned at William, while Kakashi covered his left eye with his mask again.
"Murron... thank you, my love," William thought to himself with a smile as he remembered Murron and stabbed his sword into the ground.
"It's funny. I could almost fall for him," Sakura smiled to herself, referring to William, but then immediately shrugged the thought out of her mind and shook her head. "Oh, get it together, Sakura. The only man that you'll ever love is Sasuke, right? Even though he broke your heart four years ago. After all, just like you told Stephen and Kiba – you and William are just friends, right?"
"They may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!"
Your words that day, William... I remember them well. In fact, those words will always be with me for the rest of my life until the day I die.
(Note: Finally! It took me a while to finish writing this chapter, but I did it, and honestly, I had a blast while working on it. This chapter is even longer than the first chapter because I put so much detail into it too, mostly because of the Battle Of Stirling. But don't think that the story's over yet though. It's just beginning. Anyway, now you see why I decided to name this Braveheart & Naruto fanfic "Freedom." It's not only because, well, Braveheart is about freedom (hence the famous "freedom" speech), but it's also because I discovered that one of the Naruto Shippuden endings (Ending 17) is called "Freedom," which I thought seemed to fit with the title of the fanfic. Now, as I was working on it, I noticed that both Braveheart and Naruto have to do with war, only except Braveheart has knights and soldiers while Naruto has ninjas. I was also thinking of the Fourth Great Ninja War (which I think is currently ongoing in the Naruto anime/manga right now at the moment; correct me if I'm wrong though) while I was writing this chapter. Another thing I did while working on this fanfic (this may seem kind of random and odd to some people) was that I created a playlist on my iPod in my iPhone (5S) for the fanfic, almost like a soundtrack for the story, as if you were watching a movie or TV show. For example, for the battles at Stirling and Falkirk, one of the songs that immediately comes to my mind is "Our Solemn" hour by the rock and roll band "Within Temptation," which is one of my favorite bands. So yeah. I just thought of bringing that up because I'm not sure how many people do that kind of thing when they're writing a story. Now, I know it was kind of awkward to have Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi doing the same things that William and the Scots did (such as screaming and chanting at the English), but I didn't just want them (Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi) to be standing there doing nothing. Luckily, unlike Kakashi and Naruto (who, along with William and the other Scots) showed off their buttocks to the English (no, I'm serious; in "Braveheart", the Scots actually did that to the English), Sakura raised a fist in the air, and shouted "Shannaro!" Yes I made Naruto give the middle finger (and I usually don't do that in my stories) at the English because I thought it would be kind of funny. Oh, and I'm sorry if I offended any people who are from England, when Naruto said "English pigs." Please don't take that seriously. Both England and Scotland (along with Ireland) I kind of thought of it. Anyway, I've been rambling on for too much now, so in the meantime, more chapters are coming soon, so please read and review! :D)