บท 6: War and Peace
"Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it."
Naruto looked at the two people who walked closer; they stood just behind Hagoromo; Naruto recognised the first one as Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, and the God of Shinobi.
But he couldn't recognise the second one despite feeling that he had seen him before, but his power was enormous; while Hashirama wasn't trying to scare little Naruto, the second one was purposely releasing his Killer Intent at the young boy.
Naruto suddenly felt pressure all over his body, and everything felt cold, his knees suddenly felt weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground, his skin feeling like little blades stabbing him and piercing his flesh and bones.
His nails felt like they would fall off from his fingers, his nose started burning along with his ears, but despite all that, he refused to fall unconscious or collapse.
Seeing Naruto losing all colour and his breath quickening, Hashirama immediately understood what was happening, turning to his friend.
"Stop it Now, Madara", He yelled at him, and Kurama had started countering his KI with his own, but it wasn't enough against the Mighty Uchiha Madara.
During all this, Hagoromo stood silent and analysed the blonde. To say he was surprised that Naruto hadn't lost his consciousness would be the understatement of a century.
Instead, Naruto was still standing on his feet firmly, refusing to even fall on his knees, let alone lose consciousness.
Madara kept quiet and narrowed his eyes at the little brat; while he wasn't exactly using his full KI but instead only ten percent of it, he was still surprised by the kid's stubbornness.
After a few seconds, Madara stopped his KI, and the brat was still standing on his foot, breathing heavily, his head down, looking at the floor.
Hashirama sighed in relief that his friend had stopped his attack on the kid but couldn't help but be impressed by the kid. He was sure anyone else would lose their consciousness by now, and Naruto was still standing.
Slowly raising his head, Naruto looked at them with Rinnegan in both of his eyes, Hashirama gasped, but Madara, for the first time, had a slight smile on the edge of his lips.
Seeing the brat, Madara was reminded of his little brother.
The evening was late when the almighty leader of the Uchiha clan, Madara, was called away urgently from a meeting to come to his brother's side. Three days went by since the younger man was injured gravely in battle with Senju Tobirama, his condition on arriving back at the compound critical. Much hadn't changed over the days, his condition fluctuating from steady to life and death in a matter of hours. For the last day, though, he was getting weaker and weaker, having internal bleeding that even the best healers couldn't stop.
Madara was not yet informed of this. Now, being rushed in, he prayed it was good news of his brother's condition, that Izuna had made some miraculous feet of recovery. Alas, it was far from that.
Madara entered the hallway leading down to his younger brother's room, which was at the very end of the long stretch of space. A mask of indifference held its ground on the outside, though on the inside, anxieties were riding high. His only footsteps echoed on the hardwood floor, slowly creeping closer into earshot of the man who stood in the doorway of the room. As he finally entered, walking past the clan's best medic, a solemn glance was spared alongside a single pat on the shoulder.
The elder stared down at his brother lying motionlessly on the futon bed; it was lucky the doctor had decency enough to slide shut the bamboo framed door behind himself. Madara traipsed gingerly forward, kneeling at his sibling's bedside.
Izuna stirred in his sleep, blinking his naturally dark eyes open to meet the gaze of his beloved older brother. He gave a soft, weak smile. The clan leader's brother knew he wasn't going to make it, not this time. He informed the doctor to get Madara so that he could relay his final thoughts and wishes. There was something he needed to give him.
"Big brother," he croaked, voice quiet from barely having the strength to speak anymore.
"Do not speak, little brother; you need your rest." Madara interrupted, concerned for the younger's well-being. Izuna just shook his head softly.
"I'm dying, Madara; there is nothing the doctors can do for me at this point." He replied bluntly, needing only to get the facts into his older brother's head. Said brother had a look of shock, of pain, on his face. It couldn't be. He'd known the injuries inflicted upon him were grave, but not that they would prove to be fatal in the end.
Izuna sighed gently, seeing from the expression given that this came as pain and a shock. Did he want to leave his only brother? Of course not; Izuna's wish had only been to make him happy and proud. But most importantly, he didn't want to leave Ari alone; she needed him, he needed her.
"There is no escaping it, and it's my time. I'm sorry to be leaving you, big brother, but there is one thing I want you to do for me and one thing I wish to bestow upon you to aid in this final request." The younger held authority in his tone, seeming wisdom beyond his years. The elder masked his sorrows, for now, listening intently to the younger's request.
"I want you to protect our clan, do it no injustices. Do not trust any who spill the blood of our clansmen," the life in the onyx eyes of the speaker was slowly fading, "To help you... take my eyes. I know your light has slowly been fading; you need to remain strong as a leader."
"Izuna... I will protect the Uchiha with all my might, but I cannot take your eyes." Madara was shocked at what his brother told him to do as aid. Take his eyes? He couldn't possibly do that. As for protecting the clan, that was a given.
The younger stretched over, grabbing one of his brother's gloved hands in both of his own. Their gazes met, the dimming onyx of the dying sibling almost pleading. "Please, big brother." Though his voice was soft, the wanting for this to be done was ever so clear. Being unable to refuse this request, Madara slowly reached over and... completed the task once his hand was released.
Blood ran down Izuna's cheeks, seeming to take the form of red tears from closed eyelids. However, there was a faint smile on his lips.
"I love you, big brother..." He relayed his last words; last breath lost, last sign of life gone. Uchiha Izuna was dead.
Madara's face distorted with pain, sadness, and grief, bloodied hands shakily grabbing his brother's cooling body, drawing him into his arms – the gifted eyes set aside safely for the time being. He cradled the body so closely, so protectively, placing his forehead against Izuna's. His eyes were squeezed shut; teeth gritted together as he tried to stop the tears pricking at his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Izuna, I couldn't protect you; I couldn't keep the promise I made to myself in boyhood. I have failed you." He clenched the fabric of the younger's clothing, silent tears escaping and hitting the pale, cold cheek of the recently deceased man.
He continues, "This time... this time I will fulfil wishes. This time... I will not fail you."
The Uchiha's head rose slowly, eyes opening to reveal the Mangekyou Sharingan, casting its scarlet glow as the last light of the day faded into the blackness of the night.
Izuna's body was placed back on the futon, a small piece of cloth covering his face. Madara remained there for hours, allowed no one to enter the room, death threats quickly spilt. There was one thing physically different of his appearance now; the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, blazing from eyes underlaid by fresh tear stains, the glowing windows burning with the flames of pure hatred.
On this day, Madara lost all hope. Though he had been blessed with a newfound light, never before was he surrounded by such overpowering darkness.
"This one is a brave one", Madara whispered to himself.
He then focused on Kyuubi behind bars. "This is how I always wanted to see you... behind bars," Madara taunted Kyuubi, who smirked.
"At least I'm not Dead", Kurama replied, earning a laugh from Hashirama.
They all focused back on Naruto.
Naruto, still breathing heavily, felt the pressure all around him suddenly disappear, his hands on his knees but still standing. He refused to give up, and he couldn't; he never will.
Slowly raising his head, his eyes focused on the man with red armour. He saw a glimpse of surprise on his face for a second but disappeared as soon as it appeared.
Meanwhile, The First Hokage wasn't trying to hide that he was surprised to see the kid still standing and not mentioning the Rinnegan. Hashirama had never personally seen a Rinnegan before, but he knew how it looked like.
When he was alive, Senju Clan still had scrolls from the time of The Sage of The Six Paths, and in one of the scrolls was a drawn of the Rinnegan.
The first Hokage never knew how someone could achieve that kind of power but didn't care to know that power like that could destroy the world or save it.
While Hagoromo couldn't help but see both Ashura and Indra in Naruto, his eyes just like Indra, but ... kinder and softer and with Ashura's face and attitude.
Kurama smirked seeing Naruto standing up to the damn Uchiha, especially his Rinnegan showing the Uchiha that he had achieved something that Madara could never succeed in his life.
"Well Done, Naruto"
Naruto suddenly felt a massive pressure on his head, feeling like his head would split open, his Rinnegan slowly disappeared, and his eyes turned back to blue, Naruto felt himself falling on the floor, but he didn't want to fail.
Clenching his teeth and gathering every bit of power he had left, he moved his right leg forward before he could collapse, Still Standing.
Naruto stood up again, breathing heavily but still there, sweat rolling down his face. Hagoromo and Hashirama smiled at him while the Strange Moody guy was giving him a nod of acknowledgement.
A smile slowly spread on his face, and Hagoromo decided to continue with what he wanted to do; none of them had that much time left until they returned back.
Clearing his throat, The Sage glanced at them. Understanding what he wanted, both Hashirama and Madara took a step forward.
"Naruto is good to meet you; in case you don't know who I am, my name is Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage of The Hidden Leaf Village", Hashirama introduced himself, smiling at the little kid.
Naruto smiled back and turned to look at the other one, who looked hesitant for a second before sighing in annoyance.
"My name is Uchiha Madara, the Rival of Hashirama and the Greatest Uchiha of all Time" Madara introduced himself with a slightly colder tone than Hashirama.
Naruto just looked at both of them in silence before deciding to ask a question that had been bugging his head since he saw them.
"Not that I don't like your company, but why are you here, and how are you even here?" Naruto asked, looking at them before turning to look at Hagoromo, who stood silent.
"They're here to tell you the story of their time", Hagoromo explained, and Hashirama sat in a cross position.
"Now, this will take a while, so hear me carefully", Hashirama stated, knowing that due to his explanation, what the child would do when he grows up depended on it. He wanted Naruto not to be another Madara or even worse.
After listening to his story for a few hours, Naruto stood silent. No one said anything; even Madara raised an eyebrow at the kid for not talking.
After a few minutes of silence, "You were able to stop the war by uniting the clans with Madara and creating a village that everyone could call home", Naruto started smiling. Still, he wondered why they didn't try to untie all the other villages.
If a single person ruled the five villages, United, there would be no wars. At least that's what Naruto thought.
Hashirama nodded his head while Madara kept quiet.
"Why did you not try to unite the other villages as well?" Naruto asked, looking at the first Hokage.
At this question, Hashirama lowered his head slightly, almost in shame, while Madara snorted.
"I did try, but the other villages didn't want any alliance with us", he replied, with a sad smile.
The first Hokage didn't want to admit that the Kage's had refused any peace treatment; he had captured and given each village a Bijuu or two in hopes for peace.
But all that stopped nothing as a result of their arrogance and greed. The Second and Third Wars followed the First Ninja War. It was never Stopping.
Madara wanted to say that he had suggested just forcing them into submission; he and Hashirama were more than enough to deal with anyone foolish enough to oppose them.
While Naruto thought that if they had done that back then, if they had United all five big villages, he would still have his parents with him. And maybe none of the great Shinobi wars would have happened.
Naruto thought but decided to keep quiet at his thoughts for now.
Turning to look at Hagoromo, "You said you knew about my father; who's he?" He asked.
"Very well"
The blonde felt a chill on his body when he heard him; for a long time, he had wanted to know who his parents were; of course, Naruto always had his doubts about the identity of his father being The Fourth Hokage since he looked very similar to him.
Blue eyes and spiky blonde hair just like Naruto, but that raised the question of why he was left living in a small apartment.
Deciding to listen to Hagoromo, the blonde turned his attention to the older man.
"Your father is Minato Namikaze-Uchiha, and Kushina Uzumaki-Senju", Hagoromo said.
Naruto's eyes widened, he flinched slightly, and silence took over the room, he heard him, but Naruto still felt like he didn't listen to him.
My father is the Fourth?! Kushina? Who Is She?!
Naruto felt his breath stuck on his throat, and his first thought was how his mother looked like; why did his father seal Kurama inside him? Naruto liked Kurama, but everyone hated him because of it; he didn't have a family.
Naruto felt his eyes suddenly burning, and his vision was fuzzy. Am I Crying?...
He now knew the truth, and his parents would never hug him, they would never tell him tales at night, they would never kiss his cheek. They would never scold him. They would never celebrate his birthday. They would never be happy and proud of him.
Naruto fell on his knees sobbing, his hands on the floor, Hashirama rushed at Naruto, but Hagoromo raised his hand before he could reach him.
Naruto felt more tears burning his cheeks, his eyes crying and not stopping; his eyes turned red and puffy. Shaking his head, Why was life so Unfair?
He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, and he didn't bother to look at whoever was near him. He didn't care, and he wanted to be Alone.
"Leave me alone, and I want To Stay Alone."
.
.
.
.
"I'm really sorry, Naru-kun. I'm sorry for not being able to be with you."
Naruto heard those words; he still kept his head down, he must have imagined, that tone? He had never listened to that kind of tone before, full of Love, and the tone was so kind, the kindest he had ever heard before.
Slowly looking up, he saw blonde hair and a face looking at him; he had kneeled in front of Naruto and was looking at his blue eyes with his own.
Naruto looked at the man but couldn't believe his own eyes, and he felt his heart beating on his chest, more tears on his face; he threw his hands around his neck. Was he really there?
"Tou-chan?!!" Naruto screamed, hugging him, but he pulled his head away and looked at him again, making sure that he was actually there with him and wasn't a dream.
"Yes, Naruto is me," His father said, and they both hugged again.
Naruto hugged him tightly, afraid that he would disappear and leave him alone.
"I missed you," Naruto said, crying.
Minato felt his heart hurting from his words, and he didn't need to ask to know that his life wasn't a happy one. Her words suddenly returned back to his head.
"You know how Jinchuuriki's are treated."
Minato, of course, knew that, but he had hoped that someone would take care of his son, hoping that Leaf village was different from the others, they owned him that much, he and Kushina lost their lives for the village, they owned to him, they all owned to Kushina, they owned to them to treat Naruto as he deserved, to have a loving family.
Pulling away, he stared; he could see Kushina in him; his face was just like hers. His nose, his smile, and especially his jawline.
"Naruto, you live with someone, right?" Minato asked, dreading the answer.
Hashirama and Madara were interested as well; they both knew it mattered a lot how a child was raised, which would indicate how he will be when they are fully grown. Especially Hashirama, who dreaded that Naruto might decide to become an enemy of the village.
"No. No one is with me, the Hokage visits me once a month to give me money, but that's all," He stated with a slightly colder tone, and Minato felt like he was directing the blame to him, not that he could blame him.
"Wha-at about Jiraiya-sens..." Minato asked, almost pleading, hoping that at least his sensei was looking after Naruto.
But the young blonde just gave him a confused look, not knowing who this Jiraiya was, and in the end, he just shook his head, confirming what they already knew.
Minato felt his heart drop; he felt like going there and just screaming at everyone. How dare Sarutobi leave his child alone.
"Minato, your friend Shukaku tried to adopt Naruto, but The old Hokage refused anyone to adopt Naruto", Kurama suddenly said.
"Why?" Hashirama asked; Minato was in shock to ask himself but was listening to the answer.
"He said, him being raised by a clan would create unbalance, and I don't need to tell you why the Civil families refuse to raise him", Kurama explained, much to the shock of Minato and the confusion of both Madara and Hashirama.
"What do you mean? Naruto being a Jinchuuriki is a SS- secret of a Village, no one should know about it, and that knowledge is punished by death if you spread it," Hashirama stated; he had created that rule when Mito-chan had become the Jinchuuriki.
But looking at Naruto now, he knew that everyone in the village knew about his status as a Jinchuuriki, which was beyond risky; it was simply a miracle that no enemy Shinobi had killed or kidnapped Naruto...yet.
Madara shook his head in disappointment, he knew peace made people weak and stupid, but this was beyond ridiculous.
Minato bit his lower lip and, trying to calm down, what they had done, they have spit in his grave. He became a kage to protect the village, and they rewarded him by simply treating his son like garbage.
"Naruto, as much as I hate to say it, we don't have long", Hagoromo suddenly spoke.
Naruto turned his attention to him, still standing close to his father.
Hagoromo turned to Minato. "Can you please show us your little secret, Minato Uchiha" Hagoromo stated, earning a surprised look from Minato, Hashirama and Madara.
Minato glanced at his son before his eyes changed to Mangekyo Sharingan.
His Mangekyo looked like a whirlpool, and in the centre was a black hole with three tomoe in the middle.
No one looked surprised by it except Madara, who narrowed his eyes and took a step closer.
"Who were your parents?" Madara asked with a cold tone that Hashirama knew very well.
"My father was Idari Uchiha, my mother wasn't an Uchiha, and she told me that he died of illness before I was born", Minato answered.
Madara studied the face of this fourth Hokage and couldn't help but notice a slight similarity between him and...
He shook his head and decided to ignore it for now. But his gut feeling didn't go away.
"Naruto, you are the reincarnation of both of my sons. Just by looking at you now, I know you will be powerful, but I want to ask what it is that you want to do," Hagoromo asked, wanting to know what Naruto had decided to do with the power he had.
Naruto understood why Hagoromo had told him the story about his mother.
Looking straight at Hagoromo, his eyes turned A Fully Matured Sharingan.
Hashirama looked impressed with him unlocking his Sharingan at such a young age; in some ways, Naruto reminded him of Madara.
"This world has suffered for a long time, but when Hashirama and Madara-sama United the clans of the Land of Fire, they stopped the wars between clans. I will unite the five great villages. Only together we can create peace," Naruto stated.
Hagoromo smiled at him, and so did Minato, who patted his back, while Hashirama thought if such a thing was even possible in the long run, while Madara thought that might work, but a lot of blood will be spilt.
Suddenly all four of them started shining and slowly disappearing.
"Tou-chan!" Naruto screamed in panic and went to hug his father. Hugging back, Minato looked at his eyes, crying.
"Naruto, I want you to remember that whenever happens. Your mother and I will always love you. No matter what you do, I will love you always," he said, looking directly at his eyes before disappearing.
Hashirama gave him a reassuring smile; Madara kept quiet with his eyes at Minato. At the same time, Hagoromo hoped that what Naruto learned today would make him make the right decision in the future.
Disappearing, soon they were gone, and the only thing left was Naruto standing alone again.
Naruto fell silent when they disappeared, and he was alone again.
"Naruto," Kurama asked, concerned for him.
Naruto kept quiet, and his mind had enough, everything blackened, and Naruto welcomed the darkness like an old friend.
His only thought was.
"Why there's so much... Pain?"
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