CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

Cost

"Well this is soul-crushing," Shikamaru said to himself, leaning back into his chair. Glancing at the table before him, he checked the time on a clock placed on top it.

1:30pm.

"My goodness," he lamented, allowing his hands to drop to his sides and trying his best to ignore the intimidating stack of paperwork before him. Kakashi had asked him to stand in for him while he spent his anniversary with Anko. The Hokage had promised him the work would be lighter that day and although it was technically true, Shikamaru wasn't exactly fond of any kind of paperwork.

"Why does that idiot even want this job?" he murmured to himself, thinking about a certain jinchuriki. Just one day of being acting Hokage had already killed any minor passion he had for the position, and he was starting to understand why Kakashi was in such a dour mood those days. With a great push, he finally decided to get back to work.

As he lifted a stamp to a document, Shikamaru was distracted by a new presence in the room.

"Shikamaru sir," Kakashi's secretary made her way into the room, a file in hand. Placing it on the table, she bowed to leave with a few words. "mission reports from yesterday."

"Thank you Anri."

As she left, Shikamaru started to study the document. "This is such a drag….." he sighed, subconsciously stamping his way through the files. As he read through the mission reports, his mind went to the high ranking one his old classmates had been sent on. It had been five days since they heard from team Sakura, and Konoha's leadership was beginning to worry. Hanabi joining the rescue mission meant at the moment, the Hyuuga clan was without an heir, and that didn't help alleviate the already tense mood in the household.

"I just hope they're okay," Shikamaru said to himself, continuing his tasks. The sudden appearance of a dark portal in the room caught his attention, and the Nara immediately halted his work.

"Sasuke?"

As the portal expanded, the person that stepped out of it was anything but the Uchiha. Shikamaru felt the hair on the back of his neck stand as he regarded the strange, pale skinned woman that made her entrance.

"Hmm? You're the Hokage now, Shikamaru Nara?" Mikasa asked the young man in the Hokage's seat.

In a moment, seven anbu guards appeared in the room, weapons drawn and protecting Shikamaru. The leader of the guards raised his voice to order the stranger to leave.

"Intruder! You are trespassing in t-"

He never finished his sentence however as a chakra rod suddenly appeared in his throat, silencing him as he tumbled to the floor. Shocked, the other anbu guards engaged Mikasa but they all found themselves impaled by the same objects shortly after. Watching his guards drop dead, Shikamaru quickly went into action.

[Shadow possession jutsu]

Mikasa watched as Shikamaru's shadow extended all the way to hers, wrapping itself around her and holding her in place. Unmoved, she rolled her eyes and started to absorb his jutsu.

To her surprise, the shadows still remained on her, holding her in place.

What? How?

Mikasa watched helplessly as Shikamaru made his way towards her. Frustrated, she tried and tried again but to no avail, she was unable to absorb his jutsu.

My chakra network must have taken significant damage

"Who are you? What's your business here? Shikamaru asked his prisoner. He could've sworn she looked vaguely familiar….

"You've truly forgotten who I am, Shikamaru?" Mikasa asked, forcing a smile. "After all the time we spent together too, it breaks my heart."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes in thought, trying to recall where he had seen that face before. When the realization came to him, it hit him hard.

"Mikasa?" Shikamaru gasped, hand instinctively reaching for a weapon behind him. "How did you….what happened to you?"

Mikasa tried again to get rid of his shadow possession and sighed in relief once she saw the shadow get absorbed into her skin.

"It's a long story," she replied. "The real head scratcher here is how you ended up becoming Hokage in such short notice. I'm proud of you."

Shikamaru scanned the office, looking for an escape route. He was certain that whatever business brought Konoha's serial killer to the Hokage's office was certainly not a good one.

"Kurosaki, why are you here?"

Mikasa extended an arm, manifesting a chakra rod inside it. "To carry out my duties," she coolly replied him. "As I promised you earlier, I am here to save the world from every form of suffering."

Shikamaru didn't quite understand what exactly she was talking about but he had an idea.

She's after the Hokage's life

"Is that why you're after the Hokage's life, Mikasa?"

"Affirmative," she replied. "Ending your life in particular would please me Shikamaru," Mikasa spoke, traces of anger beginning to appear in her voice. "After all you did to me…. It's good to see you got commended for your actions."

At that point Shikamaru started to fear for his life. Mikasa had a right to have a grudge on him, at least from her own point of view and now he was isolated in a room with her. Still, if she was only looking to kill the Hokage, he couldn't let her go after Kakashi himself. Feeling a bead of sweat form on his forehead, Shikamaru swallowed nervously and continued, steeling himself.

"Killing me won't bring this world any closer to peace Mikasa."

The white haired woman he was addressing remained silent for a moment, studying him. Shikamaru began to feel his knees weaken, and he fought to remain composed. After what seemed like an eternity, she spoke.

"I'm not here to kill you, but if you make yourself a hindrance to me I won't hesitate." She took a few steps closer to him. "I'll ask one last time, Shikamaru. Where is the Hokage?" she demanded, fixing him with a stern glare.

Shikamaru went over his options one more time. Mikasa had seemingly provided him an avenue to escape and possibly warn other shinobi of her presence, but her space time ninjutsu meant she could possibly reach Kakashi before any guard. There seemed to be only one option to take if he wanted to carry out his duties. At the end of the day, he was a shinobi of Konoha, and he was sworn to protect the Hokage.

Flashes of his friends and family members went through his mind as he made up his mind, digging deep for whatever courage he could muster. A particular smiling face with a head of blonde hair tied in puffs popped up in his mind and he fought back a tear that was beginning to form in his eye.

"As much as I despise this job, you're speaking to him." He addressed Mikasa, feeling his heart beat faster and faster.

Mikasa studied him speechlessly. For a moment it looked like she believed him, and Shikamaru began to prep himself for the inevitable. But then her eyes told a different story, showing signs of distrust.

Shikamaru felt sharp pain in both his legs in an instant, collapsing to the floor to discover they had been impaled with her chakra rods. He gritted his teeth in pain as he watched Mikasa walk towards him.

"Why?" she asked, watching Shikamaru twist in pain on the floor. "Why did you think you could hide the truth from me?"

Leaning on his desk, she continued. "The Jougan allows me to see whatever it is I want to see, as long as it exists in a measurable form. I know that your Hokage is on a date with his wife as we speak, they look very happy I might add," Mikasa said with a sweet smile.

"Then why did you even bother interrogating me?" Shikamaru grunted.

"Well, you see" Mikasa strutted over to Shikamaru, who was trying to crawl away from her.

"I wanted an even better reason to kill you."

Naruto knelt beside Sakura's body, Sasuke by his side staring into nothingness. He gently took her hand in his, and as he recalled their childhood together he could do nothing to stop the tears he had been holding back in the heat of battle from pouring. In the span of a few hours, he had lost two of his childhood friends. And the fact that the person responsible for the death of Sakura was still out there hurt him badly. Placing a hand on his chest, Naruto made one final promise to his late friend.

"I swear on my life, I will avenge you."

Rising to his feet, Naruto placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "I need to get back to Konoha, we need a medical team here and we haven't contacted them in days."

Sasuke could only manage a small nod in reply., prompting Naruto to repeat his demand.

"I understand" he finally replied, rising to his feet. "I don't have much chakra left though."

"It's okay, I'll help with that."

Sasuke took a deep breath, looking into the distance. "How's Hinata doing?"

Naruto looked back at Hanabi and Konohamaru attending to Hinata's unconscious body. "She passed out, but she's still with us."

"That's good…" Sasuke whispered without making eye contact with Naruto. Feeling the urge to comfort his friend, Naruto placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder again.

"I'm sorry about…." his voice trailed off.

"We should gather everyone together," Sasuke said, finally facing Naruto. As hurt as he was, he still had a mission to complete.

"Alright, I'll go get everyone and then you open a portal for me to get to Konoha and get help okay."

After finalizing his plan with Sasuke, Naruto made his way towards Hinata's position. Kneeling beside her was Hanabi who was trying to resuscitate her sister. Konohamaru went to meet Naruto before he made it to Hanabi's side.

"Naruto, she's still with us but she's not looking too good. Moegi is still inactive."

"Alright, get her and go to Sasuke. We're leaving soon."

Konohamaru immediately left to get Moegi's body while Naruto went to Hinata's side.

"She's barely awake but…." Hanabi's voice trailed off as she shifted her gaze to the ground and away from Naruto. Reaching for her hand, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as Hinata finally opened her eyes.

"Naruto-kun…."

"Yes, Hina it's me," He shifted closer to her to take her head in his hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Mikasa…." Hinata's voice came in a slur, ignoring Naruto's question. "I-is she?..."

Naruto hesitated, debating if telling her the truth in her condition was okay. "She escaped, but I'll find her and bring her to justice."

Hinata blinked her eyes, blankly staring into the sky. "Did it work…my chakra?"

"You helped me a lot, I should be able to beat Mikasa when I find her thanks to you," Naruto smiled at her.

"Thank goodness" Hinata breathed a sigh of relief. To her side, Hanabi asked her a question.

"Sister, just how much chakra did you give him?"

Hinata looked around, searching for Hanabi. Unable to find her, she gave her reply with a single word.

"Enough."

Hanabi deactivated her dojutsu and faced Naruto with a worried expression. "I can't detect any chakra inside her….and she appears to have lost her sight."

"What?" Naruto didn't believe what Hanabi had just told him. "What do you….."

Then it slowly started coming together for him. Hinata's eyes had completely lost their colour and she hadn't made eye contact with either of them ever since she regained consciousness. Looking down at her, he waved his hand in front of her face to no reaction.

Why….why would you do all this to yourself?

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata's voice distracted him from his thoughts.

"Hinata….did you infuse me with all of your chakra?"

Hinata didn't reply him right away. Remaining silent, she felt for Naruto's hand, gently holding on to it.

"It…It was the only way."

Naruto felt his heart sink. Hinata had sacrificed everything for him to keep him alive against Mikasa. Although he knew it was of her own will, he still felt heavily indebted to her.

"Hinata… Why did you do that? You didn't have to!"

Hinata smiled weakly at him as she gripped his hand tighter. "Naruto-kun, even though I was weak, I couldn't bear to see you struggle alone. You mean everything to me." A tear rolled down her cheek as she continued. "It was my fault that you were in that situation. If anything had happened to you….I wouldn't have been able to live with myself."

Naruto held her tightly, tears streaming down his face. "But at what cost? You've given up so much… I can't lose you, Hinata."

To his surprise, Hinata maintained her smile. "I'll be fine, I will live." Reaching up to touch his face, she continued, her voice barely a whisper. "Naruto-kun, If this is what it takes to see you win, then it's worth it. I believe in you, and I always will."

Naruto placed his hand over hers on his cheek. His voice shaking with emotion, he addressed her. "Hinata, you can't see anymore… How can you say it's worth it?"

"Because even if I can't see with my eyes, I can still feel your presence. And that's enough for me," her voice softly replied him. "I spent all that time pushing you away, preventing you from sharing my burden…..I tried to make decisions on your behalf without your consent Naruto."

Hinata searched with her free hand for Hanabi by her side who slowly took her hand in hers. "I was so stupid, making stupid decisions to mask my own insecurities. If this is what it takes to fix everything, then so be it. I'm so sorry for all I did….the pain I put you through."

Hanabi tearfully ran her hand through Hinata's long hair. "I have already forgiven you, I hold nothing against you Hinata. I understand you did everything you could with the intention of protecting us."

Naruto gently took her in his arms, lifting her in a bridal carry as he made his way towards Sasuke. Leaning down to kiss her forehead, he whispered to her, "I promise you, Hinata, I will find a way to bring your sight back. I'll do whatever it takes. I love you too much to let this be the end."

"I've always known you'd become something amazing, Naruto. And I love you, too. More than words can say." Hinata replied, holding on to his shoulder for support. "I only wish I could still speak with Kurama, to properly tell him how sorry I am."

"He heard everything, don't worry." Naruto replied. "He says he'll let this slide, but no more lone wolfing from you." Naruto beamed a smile at her in his arms. "We're a team, me and Kurama, and if you're with me, you're his family too. It goes beyond watching TV together y'know?"

"I know" she softly replied. "Thank you." Looking around, Hinata decided to ask where they were headed to. "Where are we going?"

"To get help. You need a doctor."

"Oh…Sakura couldn't make it to where I was?"

On hearing her name Naruto stopped in his tracks. He realized that Hinata was unaware of what happened to Sakura and didn't know if telling her now was the best option.

"Where is Sakura anyway, are she and Sasuke okay?" Hinata asked, expectantly waiting for an answer.

Naruto took a deep breath and made his decision. She had the right to know.

"Hinata, I need to tell you something."

Mikasa watched the young man squirming beneath her, blood flowing from his wounds. Under his supervision, she had undergone through unimaginable pain. Pain inflicted on her for trying to live up to the destiny she believed in. The destiny of being the vessel to bring everlasting peace to the world.

"What are you waiting for, psycho bitch!" Shikamaru cursed, fixing her with a glare. "Go ahead and finish the job already, don't drag it out."

But Mikasa didn't make any move. She stood there, speechless as Shikamaru's frustration grew.

"No."

Shikamaru couldn't believe what he was hearing from her. "What? Why?!"

"I won't kill you now, not when you haven't seen the world I will build." Mikasa replied, staring outside the window facing the great stone faces. "When I have shown you the future you tried to prevent the world from achieving, then I will kill you Shikamaru."

Shikamaru felt his mouth open in disbelief. "You….you won't win," he growled, his voice laced with pain.

Mikasa laughed at him and redirected her attention outside the window.

"Just watch Nara, that's all you can do in your state. Shut up and watch."

Shikamaru opened his mouth to say something as a portal suddenly appeared at the other end of the room.

"Sasuke?"

But Mikasa's expression told a different story. She recognized who it was without ever turning to look at him. Her fingers beginning to tremble around her staff, he steeled herself and raised her voice to address him.

"Naruto, you finally returned."

As Sasuke's portal closed, Shikamaru caught sight of his old friend at the end of the room. Bathed in the aura of his sage of six paths mode, Naruto's chakra cloak burned white with the impact of Hinata's sacrifice. The Jinchuriki swept his eyes across the room, finally settling on Shikamaru on the floor.

"Where is Kakashi?"

Shikamaru opened his mouth but found himself interrupted by Mikasa.

"He's on a date," she smiled as she stepped into a portal she created. Panic written all over his face, Naruto ran up to Shikamaru.

"Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine, just go to Kakashi before she gets to him." In that moment, the door opened to several shinobi entering the room.

Naruto rose to his feet, honoring Shikamaru's request. "Take care Shikamaru." And with that he disappeared in a flash of light, hurrying to his old sensei's chakra signature.

In the bustling atmosphere of Konoha, a serene evening unfolded at a quaint restaurant where Hokage Kakashi and his wife, Anko Mitarashi, celebrated their wedding anniversary. The air was filled with laughter and the aroma of delicious food, creating a warm ambiance around the couple who cherished this rare moment of peace.

"I don't remember it tasting this good" Kakashi commented with a mouthful of food, drawing laughter from his wife.

"Of course you won't when you live off coffee and Ramen."

"Hey, neither of those are bad," Kakashi grumbled, stuffing another fork of chicken into his mouth.

"Don't talk with your mouth full honey, you're the Hokage."

"So?"

Anko shook her head and took a sip of her wine, beckoning the waiter to serve them while looking at the menu. "I wonder how their Tonkatsu-"

The appearance of a portal at the side of their table interrupted Anko before she finished completing her order, and as Kakashi watched the strange woman step out of it he knew his family's life was in danger.

Kakashi, ever vigilant, reacted instantly, leaping to shield Anko from Mikasa . "Mikasa!" he exclaimed, his voice tinged with concern and readiness for battle. "What are you doing here?"

Mikasa's lips curled into a sinister smile as she faced the legendary Hokage and his wife.

"Hatake Kakashi the sixth Hokage, it is an honour," she said with a courtesy.

Kakashi watched her intently as Anko whispered behind him. "Mikasa? Isn't that the killer?"

The restaurant fell into a tense silence as Mikasa made her presence known. Driven by fear, a waiter tried to make his way out of the building only to find himself impaled by three chakra rods.

"Anyone that moves will die," Mikasa declared, not breaking her eye contact with Kakashi. "I am here to carry out my mission, Hokage," she said to Kakashi with a sneer.

"And I'm guessing it has something to do with harming Kakashi right?" Anko, though pregnant, stood beside Kakashi with unwavering resolve. "You won't touch my husband," she stated firmly, her eyes narrowing in defiance.

"Oh but you have no say in the matter, first lady." Mikasa coolly declared, stepping closer to Kakashi. "My business here is your husband, but if you choose to become a hindrance to my goal, I'm willing to make adjustments."

Kakashi studied Mikasa carefully, waiting for her to make a move. "Anko, stand down. I can't let you get hurt."

"Nonsense!" Anko replied, resolute. "No way I'm letting her harm you." As she spoke, her hand took on the form of a large white snake, ready to strike.

Mikasa rolled her eyes at Anko's resolve. "You've made your choice."

[Purple lightning]

Kakashi struck at Mikasa with his signature jutsu with impressive speed aiming to catch her off guard, but she was up to it, evading his attack and knocking him to the side. Anko followed suit shortly after, trying and failing to seize the chance to damage Mikasa.

With blinding speed, Mikasa unleashed a barrage of powerful strikes, overwhelming Kakashi and Anko. Kakashi, renowned for his lightning-fast reflexes, countered her attacks with his signature techniques, while Anko utilized her formidable skills to defend herself and her unborn child.

However, Mikasa's power, augmented by the abilities of Otsusuki Kaguya and Isshiki, proved too much. She swiftly gained the upper hand, her attacks driving Kakashi and Anko back despite their valiant efforts. The restaurant became a battlefield for a short while, tables and chairs overturned in the chaos as Mikasa pressed her advantage resulting in her cornering the Hokage and his wife in no time.

"Let this mark the beginning of a new era" she declared, raising a hand towards the couple to launch her weapons at them. Unwavering, Kakashi held Anko tight, waiting for Mikasa to make her move.

Just as Mikasa was about to deliver the final blow, a powerful presence surged through the air. Naruto Uzumaki, the hero of the 4th great shinobi war, appeared with a burst of speed and determination, his eyes blazing with resolve. "Mikasa!" he called out, his voice cutting through the chaos.

Mikasa turned to face Naruto, a dangerous glint in her eyes. "Naruto Uzumaki," she sneered, recognizing her old foe. "You've come to interfere again? This time, I won't let you stand in my way."

Naruto's fists clenched at his sides as he stood between Mikasa and his mentors, Kakashi and Anko. "You've caused enough pain," he declared, his voice firm and unwavering. "I won't let you harm anyone else."

Mikasa laughed heartily, turning to give Naruto her undivided attention. "You don't even have what it takes."

The air crackled with tension as Mikasa and Naruto locked eyes, each prepared to unleash their full power in a battle that would decide the fate of Konoha and its people. The restaurant, once a place of celebration, now echoed with the signs of destruction as Naruto and Mikasa prepared for their final confrontation.