Homecoming

I'm going to Japan today for a month and a half, I'll post the last chapter when I return! Thank you for reading, hope you enjoy :)


Part Seventeen
The Will of Fire


"It's not a war," Shikamaru stated quietly, without bothering to stand up. "It's an isolated incident."

"How can you say that?!" the other ninja wasn't as calm, as he slammed both hands on the table, in front of the counselor. "Two teams have been annihilated within one week!"

"Kiba, I understand how you feel…" Shikamaru glanced at his age old friend. "But those incidents are not related as far as we know. Our teams were ambushed by Hidden Mist Anbu groups that have been hired… just like our teams were hired."

Kiba gritted his teeth and straightened up, without taking his eyes off Shikamaru. "It's far too suspicious. Our intelligence pointed that there's a movement in-"

"Kiba, calm down," Shikamaru sighed. "This is so tiresome."

"Sitting quietly and doing nothing will only bring more casualties! The best defense is to attack!"

"We will not start a war." Both men turned to look at the third speaker.


Tsunade brushed her sleeves and entered the room. Even with her usual young façade, she looked more exhausted than usual. She glared at both men and huffed, "You're making too much noise."

"Hokage-sama!" Kiba clutched his fists. "Please listen first."

Tsunade sighed. "I told you, it's too early to interrogate Uchiha Sasuke."

"Sasuke is my friend," Kiba's voice changed drastically. "But he's also the sole survivor from both teams, and he's essential to our investigation."

"I know, give him one more week, Kiba. It's all I ask." The Hokage walked over to sit by Shikamaru's side and rested her hand on her forehead. "I am so tired."

"Kiba, have you considered there could be another reason for what happened?" Shikamaru asked quietly.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Kiba perked his head.

"About Sasuke."

"Huh, what about him?" Kiba stuck out his lower lip.

"Maybe instead of looking for conspiracies among our allies, check out what Sasuke was doing before the mission."

"Shikamaru," Tsunade intervened. "That's enough."

"I don't understand," Kiba said, scratching his head.

"We all know Sasuke has a drinking problem, and we know the cause just returned," Shikamaru stated.

"He's not drinking on missions!" Kiba growled. "Why are you spewing this nonsense?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "I'm not saying he did. I'm just telling you that you can't jump to conclusions about the failure of the mission. I just want you to look at all possibilities when you start the investigation."

“And I’m telling you, it’s not because of Sasuke… it’s because our Hokage is–“ Kiba bit his tongue when Shikamaru’s eyes shifted to Tsunade, who was sitting next to him.

“I’m sorry, Hokage-sama…” He quickly bowed in apology.

Tsunade was about to speak up when a knock on the door made all three of them turn around. A man dressed in healers uniform stepped in. "Hokage-sama… we have problems."

Tsunade got up, a horrified expression on her face. "Again? I was just there!"

"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama, it's urgent." The medical nin bowed and left the room.

"Hokage-sama…" Shikamaru started saying, but she raised her hand, gesturing at him to silence.

"I'll be back soon." She left the room, leaving the two men staring at each other in awkward silence.

***

The Fifth Hokage stepped into the darkened hospital room. Her heart was racing just a little bit faster than the sound of the heart monitoring machines.

"What's going on?" She approached the assembly of medical nins who were talking frantically to each other.

"Hokage-sama!" One of them turned to her. "We don't know what happened… everything was fine just a moment ago, then after you left," she explained. "All of the sudden the vital signs started going off the charts."

"Please leave, all of you," Tsunade ordered quietly as she stepped closer to the scene.

"Hokage-sama! You mustn't.. you're already at your lim-"

"Leave now," Tsunade repeated firmly. "I'll take it from here."

The medical team exchanged stares in silence, before leaving the room in a blink.

Tsunade sighed and closed her eyes briefly, listening to the chaotic sound of the life-supporting machines. Few rays of sunlight invaded the room through the blinds, coloring the bed in warm stripes.

"Hey kid, what's bothering you so much?" she asked with a wry smile as she approached the bed.

Tsunade leaned in, watching intently the movement of the patient's lips behind the oxygen mask. Aside for the mouth, the face was covered with a white cloth with charms scribbled over it.

"You have to slow down, your heart won't be able to take it," Tsunade whispered calmly, her hand started glowing with green energy.

A frail hand with a few tubes inserted through the veins reached out and grabbed her wrist.

Tsunade's eyes widened. "Shizune?!!"

"Ryo… ichi…" came the weak whisper. "…Ryo… ichi… is…"

"Shizune!!" Tsunade shouted, her voice rising above the loud warnings of the machines.

Her heart started beating faster. How many years had it been since she last heard that voice?
A warm feeling spread in her chest, she recognized it immediately.

Hope.

After the incident she did everything in her power to revive her longtime companion. Her mind was set on the goal. She was not going to lose another important person again. For years she wallowed in the sorrow of losing her beloved brother and lover, and Shizune was always there to support her, even when she had become a cranky old hag. It suddenly hit her, how she had taken that girl's support for granted.

Until that fateful day.

"Ryo…" the voice died out when Tsunade put her hand on the cloth.

"Sleep now…" Tsunade whispered, feeling the seal on her forehead burning, but she paid no attention until she could feel the other woman relax. The beeping sounds of the machines returned slowly to normal.

"Shizune…"


Tsunade felt her strength weakening. The random shivering that crossed her worn-out body increased and her hands were shaking violently as she reached out to open the door. She noticed by the dwindled, wrinkled skin of her hand that her genjutsu had worn off.

Her blurry eyes landed on the rim of a white gown. She closed the door and leaned on it, trying to adjust her breathing before raising her eyes to the man in front of her.

Shikamaru, dressed in his white counselor robe, slanted a look at the Fifth Hokage, before clicking his tongue.

"Ah-ah," he said with a sigh. "The genjutsu wearing off a lot quicker nowadays, don't you think?" He raised his eyes to her. "Isn't it the fourth time I see you like this, just this week?"

Tsunade frowned. "I've just used too much chakra-"

"Let her go." Shikamaru cut her off sharply. "You can't keep her like that forever, it's been what? Five years?"

"It's none of your business," she said and furrowed her eyebrows.

"I'm the Hokage's counselor. I'm thinking about what's good for you – and the village."

"I cannot let her die before I-" she burst out, but stopped in the middle when the weariness gained the upper hand again.

"She sacrificed her life for that kid," Shikamaru said, more gently this time. "Don't you think you should honor her decision?"

Tsunade remained quiet.

"And, one more thing. Kiba is an idiot, but he is right. It's time to select the next Hokage, you have to rest and take care of yourself," he added after a bit. “Those who wish to destroy the bonds that Konoha formed with the other villages are taking advantage of your weakening.”

"I know that, but Naruto is not ready," she said.

"I've made a list of suitable candidates-"

"It has to be Naruto."

"They're all young and strong, I'd like you to go over the names-"

"Aren’t you listening to what I say?" she cut him off in anger. "I will not allow anyone but Naruto to succeed me."

Shikamaru sighed. "Like you said, he's not ready. And there's the problem with Fire Country lord's wife. To put it bluntly, Naruto screwed up his chances and we need a new Hokage now.”

"Well to hell with that bitch, Naruto is going to be the next Hokage and I won't hear another word about it!" Tsunade called and turned to walk away.

Her body betrayed her and she fell down. Shikamaru's quick reaction prevented her from hitting the ground.

"Hokage-sama! Are you okay?" She heard his panicked voice as her vision turned black.

***

Kenji wiped the blood from his face and looked up to see Ryoichi standing over him. The boy reached out his hand to help him get up.

Kenji brushed away the hand and got up on his own. He looked at his brother intensely.

"Listen, Kenji, let's-" Ryoichi started saying, but Kenji cut him off, punching him square in the face.

Ryoichi staggered backwards and rubbed the sore spot, then looked at the blood on his fingers.

"What the hell are you doing?! I'm here to help you!" He shouted at his brother after a moment.

"Think you can trick me pretending to be my brother?!" Kenji shouted back. "I'm not stupid!"

"You're super stupid, you idiot!! It's me!" Ryoichi shouted back at him.

"I'm not an idiot to fall into such an obvious trap! Bah!!" Kenji stuck out his tongue, and then positioned himself offensively, his fists held up. "I'm going to kill you!"

"Moron, I've come to help you!" Ryoichi gritted his teeth.

"My brother would never come help me of his own will!"

Ryoichi sighed. "I didn't, Hikari made me."

"Oh…" Kenji relaxed and straightened. He chuckled nervously and rubbed his head. "Ah… well, so it is you… sorry…"

"Of course it's me you idiot!"

"Yo!" they were interrupted by the other shinobi. "Are we in the way?"

Before the boys had a chance to react, they were both thrown back with the intensity of his fists.

Ryoichi hit the ground and caught his brother in his arms. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think…" the boy muttered, feeling up his head injury.

They got up and faced the third ninja. When their attacker lunged at them again, both jumped into the opposite directions, evading his attack.

They met with the other two, however. Ryoichi blocked the kick, crossing his arms over his chest, he then quickly grabbed his opponent's foot and tossed him away. He looked to see Kenji fighting the other one, with their first attacker sneaking behind him.

"Kenji, get down!" he shouted and performed a seal quickly.

"goukakyuu no jutsu!" he shouted and a sent a fireball roaring at their direction.

He saw Kenji sliding down before the big fireball engulfed the enemy.

"Got you now, assholes…" He smirked.

The flames dissipated and the boy was taken aback when there was no sign to the Cloud ninja.

"They escaped…" he mumbled and looked at his sides.

"Brother! Behind you!" He heard Kenji and turned around, barely escaping a triple attack. He felt his left arm burning and looked down to see blood trickling down his forearm.

“Brother!” Kenji rushed over to him. “Are you okay?”

“Look out, they’re going to attack again.” Ryoichi shrugged off his concern. “If you die I will not stop laughing at you, loser.”

“Same goes to you, bastard,” Kenji growled back.

The three Cloud nins attacked the boys again, seemingly unfazed by the shurikens both child ninjas threw at them.

Ryoichi tried another of the fire jutsus. He still hasn’t mastered the jutsu completely, but he figured it could at least stall the enemy.

Kenji’s eyes widened as he watched one of the cloud nins, unaffected by the fire that surrounded him, reaching out to him through the flames. The fire died out, leaving the man facing the boys with a manic grin.

Ryoichi was startled for a minute, when suddenly he felt his lips cut when another Cloud shinobi punched him square in the face. He fell to his knees and spat blood.

"Brother!!" Kenji yelled and tried to get up. Before he managed to bounce back, he was stricken down by the spear, his leg pinned to the ground and he screamed in pain.

"Idiot…" Ryoichi mumbled and wiped his mouth.

The boy looked at his blood covered hand and rubbed his fingers together, feeling the red substance. "How is it possible…" he whispered. “There’s nothing… nothing…”

"Agh…" Kenji was still whimpering in pain, his hand wrapped around the spear, trying to remove it from his leg.

Ryoichi got up again and gazed at the three ninjas intensely. Something wasn't right. He gritted his teeth and frowned. 'Genjutsu? What is it that leaves them invincible?'

"Now, say goodbye," one of them sneered. "We only need one of you."

"Ahh!" Kenji tried to suppress another scream when the spear was removed from his leg.

“Which one will it be?” The Cloud nin looked back and forth between the boys. “Which one of you will be more useful?” he snorted . “Who gets to live and who gets to die… any volunteers?”

Ryoichi felt the pain searing through his eyes and he yelped, clutching his face with his hands.

‘You’re a weakling.’ He heard the voice again. ‘Your father will not come for you. Looks like no one will come for you. I should just kill you now. You’re a waste. You’re trash.’

He screamed.

“Brother! Brother!!” Kenji crawled over to his brother’s side and shook him. “Brother!!”

“He didn’t come…” Ryoichi clawed at his wound. “Father didn’t come to save me…”

“What… Brother…” Kenji mumbled in confusion, but quickly pulled his brother away when the Cloud shinobi landed his spear to strike at them.

Ryoichi raised his head, a trail of blood poured from his eyes like tears.

Kenji blinked as he looked at him. “Brother….” He tried wiping the blood from his brother’s face. “Brother, your eyes… you have it!!”

He removed his hand to reveal the 1-comma sharingan in Ryoichi’s left eye.

“…Well, kinda…”

***

Naruto stopped running, and stood on a high tree branch. He could sense some trace of chakra behind him. Were they followed? The scent was so faint and remote that it might have been an animal, but Naruto had experience with concealing chakra that made him grow up paranoid. He returned his eyes to the girl. She was trying to catch her breath, her shoulders sagged as she rested her hand on the tree.

"Hikari-kun," he said softly and leaped to the branch she was standing on. "We must continue," he told her.

"Unn." She nodded and looked around. "Just a moment." She continued scanning the area, looking left and right.

"You know the way, don't you?" Naruto asked carefully.

Her eyes widened as she caught sight of something. "There it is!" She skipped to the next tree, nearly falling, and then skipped to another tree, Naruto on her tail. She fell forward, her fingers touching a big X mark, done with a kunai.

"That's the way…" she whispered and gave Naruto a small, tired smile.

"Let's go then." Naruto smiled and petted her head briefly. He threw another glance behind, before helping Hikari find the next X marked tree.

***

Ryoichi got up, quickly wiping his face with his arm. Something was different. He could see. The three ninjas’ movements became translucent, almost in slow motion. It was weird though, as they launched to attack they didn’t seem human, until suddenly he noticed them shift.

“Kenji, from below!!” he yelled to his brother as he quickly jumped to avoid the strike.

Kenji was surprised as the nin uppercut him, but managed to avoid a complete hit.

“If you have the sharingan, you can at least warn me a little faster…” he muttered.

“Shut up, I’m still not sure how it works…” Ryoichi huffed back. Why did he even bother to warn him…? Wouldn’t things be easier if his brother wasn’t around?

The nins trying again to attack didn’t give him much time to ponder. This time he grabbed Kenji’s sleeve, forcing him away.

“We can’t do this….” He whispered, trying to catch his breath. “They’ll kill us both… we can’t go on like this for long…”

“I’m not running away!” Kenji raised his voice.

“You rather die?”

“Well… If I die protecting the village, it’s okay.” Kenji shrugged.

“You’re an idi- they’re coming from behind, look ou-“ This time the warning he gave was too short and they were both thrown away.

Shit. Ryoichi thought as he searched to see where his brother had landed. The enemy had managed to separate them.

His vision became a little blurry. His one sharingan wasn’t natural, or maybe not developed enough, to fully aid him. He could feel it sucking his chakra. He noticed before, while evading the nins’ attacks that were coming from the ground, that his reaction time had become slower.

As Ryoichi analyzed his new ability and restrictions, one of the nins used his illusion again to cover his real attack. Ryoichi prepared himself, clinching a kunai in his pouch. Before he could fight the nin that he saw coming for him, Kenji yelled something, and Ryoichi noticed, too late, that he was being attacked from his blind side as well. Before he could do anything to defend himself, Kenji jumped in, blocking his way and suffered a spear hit in his other leg. He cried out and fell to the ground. Ryoichi fell back next to him.

That’s it? That’s all we can do? The desperate thought started running in his mind, poisoning him. He suddenly felt unable to breathe. The pain clasped his body tightly and he was hurting with every pulse of his racing heart. Is this the end?

You’re trash. Nobody is coming for you.

He looked at Kenji. The boy was holding his injured legs and trying to stand up. Ryoichi decided that if his lessen brother was trying to continue fighting, as hopeless and idiotic as it was, he was not going to lose to him. He tried getting up, ignoring the pain that seared through his beaten-up body.

Suddenly Naruto came roaring out of the woods. Ryoichi’s eyes widened as he watched his ex teacher, looking fierce and beastly running towards them, in an almost inhuman speed. A halo of unnatural red chakra surrounded him, leaving a tail like that of a comet in his path.

“Doton! jigoku jishin!” Naruto yelled and smashed his hands on the ground – if he was doing any seals, Ryoichi couldn’t see. His sharingan was already gone.

The ground started to shake violently until huge rocks broke up and rose to the air, exposing the real bodies of the three ninjas.

“Naruto-sensei!!” Kenji cheered, seemingly the pain in his legs disappeared.

Naruto fought like an animal, tearing the three of the cloud ninjas faster than Ryoichi could follow. He just watched stunned, as in mere seconds, Naruto finished off the three men he and Kenji fought so hard just to fend off.

The earth stopped shaking and a deep silence fell in the woods. Even the birds could not be heard.

Still sitting on the ground, next to his brother, he looked up when Naruto, now with a human appearance, and shining blue eyes, approached them, looking concerned.

“Are you two okay?” he asked and leaned to have a look at their wounds.

Ryoichi was still too stunned to talk. That’s the power of a real ninja... He thought. No… it’s beyond that…

“What are you?” he asked in conviction, looking sharply at Naruto.

Naruto just smiled secretively and started attending Kenji’s injured legs.

“Ryo-kun!” Hikari suddenly landed not far behind them.

“Hikari-chan!” Kenji smiled and waved at her.

“Well, you seem just fine…” Hikari said and started walking towards them, when suddenly a shadow leaped at her.

“HIKARI-CHAN LOOK OUT!!!” Kenji screamed and Naruto turned around sharply.

He saw the nin he had knocked unconscious launching at the girl with his spear. He prepared to move when suddenly, in a matter of a split second - out of no where – Sasuke, in his civilian outfit still, stood in front of Hikari and the nin rammed his spears into him instead.

Sasuke grabbed the spear with two hands and sent electricity jolts up the metal. The nin screamed and fell to the ground, motionless.

“Sasuke!!” Naruto rushed over to him. He pulled out the spear and Sasuke fell into his arms.

Naruto carefully sat down, cradling Sasuke into his lap.

“Is the… girl all right?” Sasuke asked weakly.

“Yeah, yeah. She’s fine… don’t talk,” Naruto said and looked at Sasuke’s torso. It seemed vital organs were hit, and the blood was spreading fast.

“You’ll be fine…” Naruto smiled, feeling tears welling up in his eyes.

“No…” Sasuke let a little wry smile. “This time… it’s my turn…” He raised a shaking hand to touch Naruto’s face.


TBC