The 7th Hokage's Konoha

Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Kakumei – Arc 1: The Consumer of Worlds

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Chapter 35 – The 7th Hokage's Konoha

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A very few minutes after the most powerful kunoichi in the world unleashed her best weapon, the two Otsutsuki are standing on a devastated battlefield. In such a short time, every forest, hill or mountain within the area, for as far as eyes can see, were flattened, wiped off the map. Momoshiki Otsutsuki is quietly standing, holding the passed out body of Gozen Tomoe in the air with his telekinesis, and absorbing all the chakra out of her.

"At least she flattened the garden for us." he says.

"She was clearly superior to the two other humans we met in the third orb's dimension." says Kinshiki. "But she doesn't compare to the Rinnegan user."

"Who knows, maybe, if she had been younger, she would have at least managed to lay a finger tip on me." answers Momoshiki, still not flattered.

They go quiet. Kinshiki just stares and waits for his partner to finish consuming the poor warrior's chakra and life. When he's done, the world consumer drops her lifeless, mummified body on the floor and turns around to see what will soon become their divine garden. The soil is freed, and flattened, but it still needs some preparation.

Without a word from the young master, his partner understands his thoughts just by seeing the look in his eyes. Kinshiki holds his giant hand against the ground.

Doton – Daichidokaku

He lowers the ground on a large area and creates a village sized hole in the ground. Not satisfied by this little effort, Momoshiki takes a step forward and slams his own hands next to Kinshiki's.

Senjutsu

He infuses his sage chakra in the soil to reshape it as he wishes. 4 more holes, as big as the first one, appear. Momoshiki also fertilizes the ground and arranges the depth and humidity of the holes. He stands up and lifts himself up in the air to witness the new land.

"We'll plant 5 sprouts of Shinju here, so we need 5 holes." he says.

Kinshiki looks at the holy garden, ready to welcome plantations, and is suddenly bothered by doubts and missing details of Momoshiki's plan.

"… I understand that we'll get young hosts to eat the fruits,…" he says, curiously. "… but the trees you'll plant here are only weak sprouts ripped off the soil of weaker worlds. For those to be able to absorb all the energy and life of a planet such as this, we need to feed them enough enregy to awaken them first. I doubt that photosynthesis and slow nature consumption will do the trick. Where do you intend to find enough chakra for 5 trees at once?"

"Isn't it obvious?" answers Momoshiki. "The fox, Kinshiki, the fox… He has a connection with all 9 pieces of Kaguya's power. His chakra and the beasts' are more than enough to wake 5 trees up."

"I see… But isn't using those things' chakra only for this purpose a bit of a waste? The tailed-beast's power would serve you well against the Dragon Sage, don't you think?"

"There should be no worries about this. Did I forget to mention that we'll have to go after this planet's Daitengu, before setting on the harvest? His power will do the job, he should be far more powerful than any of Kaguya's fragments."

Kinshiki doesn't add anything. All his questions have been answered to with ease by his partner, so he understands that doubting the plan is useless. Trustful is all he should be.

"We'll plant the trees at last, to avoid drawing the Uchiha's attention." says Momoshiki. "For now, let's not waste any time and hurry to find the hosts."

"And we're going for the Uchiha's offspring and Inashiki's vessel first, is that so?" answers Kinshiki who flies up and gets by his master's sides.

Momoshiki doesn't answer, and just silently shows agreement. He opens a new portal, and they both fly through, leaving the place, and this continent's hero's lifeless body on the ground, to be found as a message by her descendants and subordinates.

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Two days later, in Konoha, Tsubai Minamoto was released from the hospital, and is about to leave with his wife. At the exit of the village, The 7th Hokage is waiting for them. Feeling hesitant, Tsubai looks at the gates, and then at his wife.

"I shouldn't let Sasuke down." he says.

"He's resting at his home too." answers Tokiwa. "Just come with me. You know you're not like him. You need, and deserve, a break."

Tsubai doesn't answer. Naruto walks closer to them and greets them with a smile.

"Yo!" he says.

"'Been a long time, noodle Kage." says Tsubai.

"So I'm noodle Kage, now?" he asks.

"Calling the Hokage 'noodle-boy' didn't really fit to me." answers the Minamoto.

"We're leaving, Hokage. Thank you for everything." says Tokiwa.

"Where's your boy? Isn't he leaving with you?" asks Naruto who notices that Takeshi's missing.

"Oh, he wants to stay here for a bit." she explains. "We're headed to Ryuka. He'll join us there when he's ready, then only we'll go home to Kiri with him."

"Got it… I'm sorry for Kobo." says Naruto, now with a saddened look in his eyes.

"I am too." answers Tsubai. "Look after Sasuke for me, Hokage."

"I'll do. And don't expect to join him on his travel again. Next time he leaves, it'll probably be to go after the enemies you met."

"That's exactly why I should go."

"Don't." yells Tokiwa. "Kobo died for him. Don't you think it's enough? If you go, all you'll get done is to join him."

"Wow, I thought you'd trust me more than that."

"Sana trusted her husband." she promptly answers. "Sakura can trust her man with this. I can't and I won't."

Tsubai doesn't answer, again, not knowing what to say. Naruto raises his hand and holds the Minamoto's shoulder, just as to say good bye, and lets them go.

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On the 13th training field of Konoha, Takeshi Minamoto is training, to complete the 6th Hokage's challenge. Around him, the grass is burnt on the ground, and dead fishes are floating on the electrified water of the river. Takeshi is standing on the water, and spreads lightning chakra all around him. He stops everything when he sees Kakashi come closer.

"Good morning, Lord 6th." he says, very casually. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to check on your training. How is it going?" answers and asks Kakashi.

"Good… I think. Check this out."

Takeshi performs a quick, but long series of hand signs, and gathers Lightning in the palm of his hand. Kakashi looks at it surprised, and flattered. In only a day and half, he already did half of the job. This must be thanks to Tentoki's help, but also thanks to his innate talent. However, there's still an important matter that he needs to warn him about.

"I've changed my mind." says the 6th Hokage. "I'll teach you Shiden."

"What? Really? Why now?" asks Takeshi, confused by this sudden decision.

"Oh, I'm just an old man from the past ages. This jutsu will be more useful to you than to me."

"Ok. And what's the real reason?" questions Takeshi, unsatisfied by the answer.

"You're smart… A bit too much." says Kakashi. "The real reason is, the tunnel effect."

"Tunnel effect? What about it?"

"You're gonna design your own Lightning hand blade, so I already feel that you'll make the same mistake as I did, back in the day. For this jutsu to really hurt, you need to throw it with enough speed to trap yourself in this effect. When I made Chidori, I overcame this problem only with the Sharingan. I created Shiden to overcome this weakness."

"When I move at high speed, I already feel the tunnel effect, and just go with it." says Takeshi. "I didn't feel it as a weakness. Also, Tentoki tells me that his body perception, and powers are designed to nullify the effect. So I just thought I'd wait to be a Chunin to overcome this problem with his power."

"You just became a Genin, and won't be Chunin before at least a few more years." answers Kakashi. "If you already feel the tunnel effect when you move, learning something else than Shiden will only add even more to it."

Takeshi stops to think. Whatever he is elaborating alone currently will end up being nothing more than a personal version of the Chidori. He, who already suffers this infamous tunnel effect, will only make it worse with this kind of lightning blade. But with Shiden, the problem won't occur as this jutsu was designed to not distort the user's perception and not depend on his movements and attention rate.

"… Okay, let's go!" he says, enthusiastic after having convinced hisown self to accept. "So how do we proceed?"

"Not so fast. Shiden is an S-rank jutsu, designed to kill. Learning it will be more complicated than any other lightning blade type jutsu. Plus, I'll just give you the basics and secrets, and you'll progress alone."

The two masked ninjas go on for a training session.

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Meanwhile, near the academy, Sasuke Uchiha is resting on a roof and looks down at the young future ninjas, exercising their weapon throwing skills. In the yard, Miss Hanaka, the academy teacher, is with one of the Hokage's clones watching over the young lings, while chatting. Behind Sasuke, Naruto lands on the roof and comes to sit by his side. Sasuke slightly moves his head and eyes to see him on his right side.

"How are you doing?" asks Naruto.

"Congratulations for becoming the Hokage." says Sasuke, who just thought that he still didn't say anything to Naruto about finally achieving his dream.

"Ah, You're welcome… I mean Thank you!" answers Naruto, a bit embarrassed. "… I've read all your reports."

"Already?" asks Sasuke. "That was fast."

"Well, Shadow clones, you remember." explains Naruto. "As the Hokage, I use them to be everywhere at once. There's one right here with Hanaka and the kids. Another is at my office. One is at the hospital, another is at my home with Hinata to take care of Himawari,…"

Sasuke doesn't say anything and just listens to him listing all his current activities.

"… And I've got a few of them in other places too. Like there's a bunch of me at Mount Myoboku with Gamakichi and Gamamaru, another one's attending a Killer Bee concert in Kumo, some others are doing D and C rank missions for which I didn't find any volunteers, and some are just chilling with my Biju friends… Anyway, they are really useful. About that, it's only using clones that I took action in Amegakure."

"Ame?" asks Sasuke. "What's happened there?"

"A revolution." answers the Hokage. "I helped the rebel group with throwing over the regime that took the power after the fourth war. Now the young head of the rebellion leads the village. In a few years, and with the other Kage's approval, I'll invite him to join the Shinobi Union."

"You've been busy a lot, huh?" says the Uchiha. "What about your skills. Sakura told me you're done catching up to your past self. But what else?"

"Oh, man! You don't even know the new me!" says Naruto, with a happy voice. "I feel great, and powerful. I earned my own Rikudo sage mode, but better. I improved in every possible way since our fight with Sojobo."

"So… Yin-yang release, the Gudodama, levitation, everything that made any of the two Madara's troublesome… You have all that again?"

"Along with my connection to every Biju, yes. I can borrow all their power anywhere anytime, even in another dimension. I also improved my shadow cloning jutsu. I can go up to 8, maybe 10 thousands at once. Also, It still takes time for preparation and sensing, but I can summon a clone to a localized point in space that is not necessarily next to me."

"I remember this. That's how you warned me for his birth." answers Sasuke, who looks over to his son, in the academy's yard. "But what about your other weaknesses? Like, your basic lack of variety in terms of talent? Are you still this bad with tools or bare hands,?"

"No way!" says the Hokage. "I've trained with the best Taijutsu user in the world, Rock Lee himself?"

"Rock Lee?… He must be the only one from the village that I actually remember."

"He remembers you too, for sure. He once said he'd love to fight you again."

"Rock Lee against me nowadays? Even at just Taijutsu, he won't beat me. This time, it's HIS body that won't keep up."

"Ah, so you even remember the details of your first meeting!" happily says Naruto. "Seriously, dude, you should take a break and get to know the 10 other boys and girls. They all know you very well, but you don't seem to remember any of them."

"Should I really?" says Sasuke, hesitatingly. "They all remember me for sure, but certainly not as a kid from the academy… More like an international terrorist and deserting ninja."

"Come on! I mean, sure, most people in this village are still scared of you, but the boys? Nah. They got it. They know who you changed. To them, you're just Sakura's husband now. Just go around, talk to them. You'll see. They're nice!"

"Maybe I'll do, after I'm done with Momoshiki." responds the Uchiha, suddenly becoming serious.

"… If you want to…" answers Naruto, worried by Sasuke's current state of mind, but not wanting to discuss it now. "How 'bout you? Did YOU improve these last years?"

"Yes." simply says the wanderer.

"Ok, but how exactly?"

"… After my chase for the Daitengu, I elaborated a way to greatly fasten my body with Chidori. I also improved my swordplay, and my chakra control to gain a better control of my Susanoo. I can control its size and durability. I' pretty sure even Kaguya's hair needles, or Sojobo's feathers wouldn't break through anymore… My sharingan also got stronger recently, and you should know why." he adds, referring to the curse of hatred, improving his eye power every time they witness traumatic event, like Kobo passing away in his arms.

"That's why you want to chase him down." quietly says Naruto. "What about Sakura, and Izuna, and Sarada? Don't you think they'd like to have you around a bit more."

"The kid doesn't like me anyway, so he won't be bothered if I leave."

"He doesn't like you?"

Naruto looks over to the kids, now doing hand to hand combat training. He sees all the kids gathered around the two big heads of the class about to go on a fight. Boruto and Izuna are fighting and showing off their skills. Sasuke notices Boruto's greatly advanced Taijutsu skills and use of the Byakugan. About his son, he sees that he isn't very skilled at Taijutsu, but is remarkably strong. With his sharingan, he sees the chakra flow through the boy's arms and recognizes his wife's way of fighting.

"Sakura teaches him Medical Ninjutsu?" he asks Naruto.

"She does. He's kind of a stubborn kid, but he's really invested in her teaching. Way more than he is at the academy. See, he can already use her strength improving jutsu, but can't do a single clone."

"You couldn't do any clone either, before the last year of the academy" answers Sasuke, to defend his son. "Izuna's just more focused on his personal objectives, like you were. You actually knew jutsus, but only those who'd help you mess with people."

"…" Naruto doesn't know what to say. "You're right… but… if my goal was to crave for attention, what is his goal? He's only invested in medical training."

"Maybe… he wants to go after his mother, and become a medic like her." supposes Sasuke.

The two heroes stop talking and just look as Boruto makes a joke out of Izuna. With his back to the ground, Izuna complains about the fight conditions and makes excuses. From the crowd of kids, a bunch of girls rush to Izuna and help him to stand up while cursing at Boruto for hitting him. Boruto just makes a stupid face. Sasuke watches, and cringes.

"Ah, yeah. That's something he has in common with you." says Naruto. "He's popular with girls. When we were their age, I thought it was all about your skill for them. But seems like it's more about the looks."

"Or it could be because he's the son of most of these girls' life model." supposes Sasuke, thinking that Sakura could be as inspiring for young kunoichi as Tsunade was.

"Maybe, but why isn't Boruto getting the girls then. Not to brag about it, but his father is the Hokage" proudly answers the Hokage.

Down there, Izuna makes the same cringing face as his father when he sees the girls arguing over him. In the group of girls, one of them gets angry and starts pushing all the others away. Another girl, wearing a pair of glasses, is holding her violent friend back.

"Tsk! Why do all kids have to be so one-dimensional." says Naruto, who then explains the scene to Sasuke. "The angry girl is Misora, and the one with glasses is Megane. They're some kind of chaotic duo. And I think it looks obvious, but they both have a crush on Izuna."

Sasuke doesn't pay attention to what he says and looks as Hanaka quits her conversation with the Naruto clone to stop the kids. In the middle of the girl group, she reaches for Izuna and lifts him up, to get him back on his legs. She then starts to lecture him about the excuses he made and the situation he caused. Izuna gets angry and yells at everyone that he didn't do anything. He blames it on the girls, finding excuses again.

Sasuke, still feeling awkward from the scene, looks away and notices two girls who didn't run to his son but are just standing back. A blonde little girl with black eyes, and a taller girl, with purple hair and orange eyes.

"Who are they?" he asks to the Hokage.

"The blonde one is Inoue. She's Ino and Sai's daughter. A shy little girl who always stands back and observes. She's a wise kid… And the other girl, with the purple hair, is Rebekka Tabiki. She's a bit older than the other kids. You probably don't know her parents, because she doesn't either."

Sasuke looks up at Naruto, and feels that he's about to speak from his soul.

"She's a war orphan. She's a stubborn young girl, who doesn't pay attention to boys, but wants everyone to pay attention to her… She's… Kinda like me at the same age."

Sasuke doesn't say anything and just stays quiet. He stands up, about to leave, when he sees that Boruto is looking straight up at their roof. The Hokage's son noticed their presence and was waiting for them to notice him back. When he sees Sasuke look at him, he just waves his hand. Suddenly another kid emerges from the crowd and catches Boruto's shoulders. He shakes the Hokage's son while asking for a fight.

Sasuke looks at this other kid, who looks really familiar. Black eyes, Black hair, bowl cut, green bodysuit…

"This one is Rock Lee's son." says Naruto, who noticed Sasuke's curiosity. "He's called Metal Lee. He looks at lot like his father. His mom's one of Lee's disciples from the Lee clan. Did I tell you that Lee founded a Taijutsu based clan and dojo?"

Sasuke doesn't waste anymore time listening to this, and doesn't answer anything. He just turns around to leave the roof. Naruto, sad that his friend just cut him off, follows him and decides to finally speak about the reports.

"So what about the Otsutsuki clan?" he asks. "There's a few of them, but you didn't report anything about how they went extinct."

"They aren't extinct." answers Sasuke. "What makes you think they are?"

"WHAT? They aren't?" exclaims Naruto. "But on the Moon, Toneri told us he was the last of his clan. Do you mean that those guys you met, along with Katashiki, are from another Otsutsuki clan than Toneri?"

"Whoever lives on the moon is a descendant of Kaguya. The real Otsutsuki clan is where Kaguya came from. I don't think they're from the continent. Judging from their attitude, I don't even think they're from Earth."

"They're aliens? Or inter-dimensional beings?" asks Naruto, confused.

"I think. You should have read that in my reports. Katashiki has lived for over 800 years. Kaguya and Momoshiki both were born nearly 2000 years ago. They're definitely not humans."

"Then what do you intend to do when you find these guys again?" asks Naruto, worried about the true nature of this people. "I mean, Kaguya was immortal. The only thing that could put an end to her was the Yin-Yang seal. And Katashiki was also sealed away by Tsubai. We're not sure if they can die."

"YOU are not sure." answers Sasuke. "I know it is possible to kill those bastards for good, and I will."

"You didn't mention this in your reports. Are you keeping this for you? Or are you just making assumptions?"

"Kaguya is different from the others. Her fusion with the God Tree made her different. They're not all as unkillable as her… But yes, I kept this information for me. You wouldn't have used it anyway. Even with assholes like those I met, you'd still hope to spare them. That's who you are."

Naruto doesn't respond, and just feels insulted. He stops walking and watches Sasuke who's still going forward through the roofs.

"You're going to go down the same path that wasted your youth again, Sasuke." says the Hokage.

Sasuke doesn't answer directly, but first stops and turns around to face Naruto.

"Do you really want to have this conversation now?" he asks him. "It won't be like with Itachi. I'll kill this bastard and that's it. No one's gonna lie to me, or use me like the last time. It's only me, and him."

"Let me help you in this case. This Momoshiki could be the whole union's problem if he comes to this continent. You don't have to do this alone."

"You know very well you're not suited for this job. Do you remember that you spared even the life of the man who manipulated me and killed your parents?"

"Let me prove you wrong!"

"You're needed here in Konoha. I'm not. People don't even want me around at all. If I'm busy killing myself in another dimension, they won't even mind."

"Don't say that! Think about Sakura, and your kids. Even if the rest of the village may not like you, they'll have to acknowledge your efforts and exploits sooner or later."

As they were arguing, loudly and rapidly on the roofs of Konoha, they're interrupted by a beeping sound coming from under Sasuke's cloak. Sasuke puts his hand under the cape and pulls out a small electronic device. He turns the sound off and looks at a little screen on it.

"What is that?" asks Naruto.

"A communication device used by mercenaries and bounty hunters." answers Sasuke. "Someone I know gave me this a while ago, to send her coordinates in case she ever needed to call me on some emergency."

"So there's an emergency?"

"Apparently." says Sasuke as he makes a black space rift appear behind him. "I'll go, and don't expect me to return until I bring you Momoshiki's head."

Sasuke steps back in the portal that disappears as soon as he crosses it. Naruto watches, worried, as he knows that his last words didn't reach his friend's mind.

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On the other end of the portal, Sasuke sets foot on the soil of the land of Lightning, just at the border of the East Ocean that connects the lands of Fire, Water and Lightning. Here, he finds Naomi Yuki, the mercenary with whom he worked when he first met Kobo, and when he hunted down the Daitengu. The blue eyed, blond haired woman, is sitting on the ground, with a young little girl sleeping, rolled in a blanket with the head resting on Naomi's lap. Sasuke looks at the kid, suspiciously. An extremely pale white haired little girl. She looks… cold. It is the first word that could come to mind at her sight.

The mercenary holds the girl against her, as to protect her from Sasuke's gaze. The Uchiha just stares at the kid and waits for Naomi to speak.

"She, and a bunch of other kids, were on a boat with me and other mercenaries this night." says Naomi.

"What happened? Why did you call me?" asks Sasuke.

"We had to escort the convoy of kids across the ocean and the continent." she adds.

"Child trafficking? Are you really doing such things?" says Sasuke.

"Not anymore, but it isn't the point." answers Naomi. "We were attacked. The boat sunk down a few hundreds of meters from here."

"What happened to the other kids? And the mercenaries?" questions Sasuke.

"I don't know. I lost consciousness after an explosion. When I woke up, the boat was sinking, some kids were dead and others disappeared. I stood up, killed all the mercenaries that still lived, and ran away with Shimo, this girl."

"Who did this?"

"That's why I called you. I couldn't see well. They just appeared on the boat, destroyed it in a second and then I passed out. But from what I saw, there was two of them, and they had horns. One was big and fat, like way over two meters tall, and the other was smaller, more human shaped. They fit the decription of the Katashiki guy you and Tsubai talked about, so I thought you'd like to know about them."

Sasuke doesn't say anything and thinks. Two horned men, one human sized, and one wider and taller. There is no mystery to their identity. He knows exactly who they are.

"I heard that ninjas from Kumo found one of the kids and brought him to their village. Maybe he's seen more than I did. You could ask him for more information." adds Naomi as she stands up and carefully lifts the little girl up in her arms. "Also, I have a favor to ask you."

"Which is?" asks Sasuke.

"This little girl… She's a member from my clan. She was supposed to be delivered and killed. I accepted this mission only to save her, and so betray my boss. I already killed the other mercenaries, and will now run away with her. So my boss and his rookies will come after me now. Could you just teleport us to a safe location, where they won't find us?"

Sasuke stares at her with respect. She is willing to give up on all of her career and work only to save this little girl from the same clan as her. At first, he thinks he'd have done it too, and then realizes that it's actually Kobo who did the same by saving him. He raises his hand and opens another portal.

"It leads to the land of Sound. Go find a woman named Karin and say I brought you here." he says.

"I owe you our lives, Sasuke." she thankfully says as she crosses the portal. "Also, I heard about Kobo. I am sorry." she adds before crossing the portal.

Sasuke watches at the space rift before closing it. He's focused on Naomi's last words. He thinks of what she called him for. Two Otsutsuki clan members came to Earth, and to him, they're obviously Momoshiki and Kinshiki. This means that they came to this dimension, to this continent. Whatever they plan to do here, he will kill them before they do.

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End of Chapter 35 – Next Chapter: The 5 hosts