Nothing without you

Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Kakumei – Arc 4: Might Makes Right

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Chapter 105 – Nothing without you

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In Konoha, next evening after the chaotic battle that resulted in the destruction of the capital, the massacre of the Fire land's feudal family, and finally the surrendering of Kakumei's leader. Lying on the same bed as for the last 2 months and half, Naruto Uzumaki is calmly woken up by a familiar presence that's been missing for a while.

"Finally! You're waking up." the echoing voice of the fox is heard.

Naruto gladly smiles and turns around in his inner world to see what was taken from him returned. Before he can face it, he sees the Kyubi's massive clenched fist fall down to crush him. In panic Naruto leaps away and clumsily lands on his butt. He looks forward and sees Kurama raise his fist again to strike a second time.

"Hey bro! Come on! Chill! What's going on?" he shouts out to calm his friend.

"You bastard!" Kurama yells before catching Naruto in his hand and firmly holding him between his fingers. "You left me behind for 3 months. Trapped in a Genjutsu in another asshole's body! While you were here sleeping it off!"

"Hey, listen! I'm sorry! I told you already! But it was the best way we had to let the kids settle their differences." Naruto tries to reason with the Biju. "It worked didn't it? They freed you! And they won, did they?"

"You had to give me away for this?" Kurama keeps yelling.

"I'm really sorry dude! But I wasn't in a better situation either ya know?"

Kurama lowers his clenched fist and sighs. He however keeps frowning and tightens his hold on his jinchuriki.

"Don't you dare do something like that again! To me or any other Biju."

"Man, I'm a victim just as much as you in this!" Naruto yells, tired of hearing these complaints as if he was the only one responsible. "We finally see each other again and that's how you greet me?"

"You don't understand! It's just that…" Kurama eases himself and lowers his hand to let Naruto on the ground. With his head down, shyly looking aside, he says "I need to be with you. I'm nothing without you."

Naruto stares agape at his inner friend while sitting on the ground. He never thought of it this way until now. For the first half of his life, the Kyubi was the power inside him that he couldn't ignore, and that he painfully needed to progress. But now that he's come this far, the roles are reversed. It is now him who is essential to the Biju. Without him, Kurama and the others are only collectibles for their new enemies.

The Hokage compassionately smiles at Kurama's last words and gently lays his hand on the beast's fingers.

"I get it bro. you missed me." Naruto says. "I missed you too."

Outside of his inner world, the Hokage opens his eyes and sits up. He's immediately greeted by a tight hug from his wife who was sitting by his side, which he gets startled by but accepts gladly. He looks behind Hinata and sees Hanabi, Shikamaru, Kakashi and Boruto proudly stand there, happy to see him again. The Hokage gazes at his son and smiles back. He senses the presence of his two other students within the village as well as Sasuke's.

"I knew I could trust you guys!" he happily says.

Feeling oddly fine, Naruto gets out of bed to stand before the little crowd. He breathes in, claps his hands against his cheeks, and makes the single optional hand sign for his most iconic jutsu.

Tajuu Kage Bunshin

Suddenly, all around the village, clones of the 7th Hokage appear and get back to their jobs, helping the villagers, accompanying those in need and saving the lonely ones. All as if nothing had happened these last months.

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At the ninja academy, parents and families are gathered at the entrance as the youngest students leave to go home. Among the people waiting appeared a clone of the 7th Hokage and the surprised crowd very quickly gathered around him. In this mass is Kanojo Doroku, the aspiring journalist and daughter of the academy's janitor. She's obviously unsettled by who stands in the middle, but is brought to a better understanding of how Boruto has been behaving lately.

Next to this pool of cheering and confused people, two parents stand aside and wait for their child, not surprised by Naruto's return. When the kids step out from the school, they see those who came to pick them up all distracted by something else. Himawari, standing in the middle of the other children, activates her Byakugan to see who got that much attention.

"Daddy!" she exclaims before running and leaping over the crowd to land directly in her father's arms.

Sarada Uchiha comes out a bit later than the other, side by side with a white haired, white skinned, yellow eyed young boy. The boy looks over to the two parents who stand aside from the gathering and smiles.

"See you tomorrow, Mitsuki." Sarada says ready to leave head down, when her friend holds her back with his hand on her shoulder.

"You might want to go this way." the kid says, still staring at the man and woman who wait for their daughter, hands held together.

Sarada raises an eyebrow and looks aside to see this couple. A pink haired woman dressed in red, and a dark purple haired man dressed in blue. She immediately recognizes her parents. Both of them, her mother, and her father that she hasn't seen in 3 months. Without a word, she hurries and runs to Sasuke who grabs her with his arm and tightly hugs her, glad to reunite with his last born, like he hasn't seen her in a decade.

Sakura, next to them, thinks of their two other children. Izuna is currently in the hospital again, recovering from the intense efforts he did and all that his body went through. Oshio is in a much more complicated situation. He's currently jailed in the Hokage's mansion, and is waiting for his fate to be decided.

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So came to an end the nearly 2 years of conflict between Kakumei and the Shinobi Union. The world was warned of Naruto Uzumaki's return and accepted it way faster than his previously announced death. A Kage summit was rapidly organized and took place in Konoha, where all the Kage hurried themselves to greet Naruto in person.

This council, as expected, debated the captured enemy leader's fate. Most countries of the continent obviously wanted him executed, but it was elected to spare him, since Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura demanded it. The word of these 3 ninjas, the 3 most powerful humans alive, has too much value to be ignored.

To conciliate everyone's opinions, Kurotsuchi mentioned the profit that could be made from Oshio's captive abilities. His healing white rods are a tool too valuable to be thrown away. If it can serve the Union, it is better to keep him alive. Therefore, Oshio Uchiha was sentenced to prison for an undetermined time in Iwa's international containment area.

As Sasuke Uchiha now considers it his own mission to make Oshio's survival worth it, he plans to dedicate his travels to searching a way to break Momoshiki's reincarnation process that would imply his son's death. To give himself more time and slow down the consumer of worlds' machinery, he and Naruto combined their abilities and energies into an elaborated seal that they placed on Kakumei's former leader to contain and hold back Momoshiki's chakra.

About other members of Kakumei, Kawaki who had been spared by Boruto after the last battle, wasn't found in the ruins of the capital of Fire. He's considered missing and has been set as a target to capture alive in the Union's bingo book. Meinu Imai, known as Killin' Kiss, is still roaming free. She has been designated as the main operator behind Kakumei's crimes and as 1st priority S-rank criminal to capture. All other members of the group are considered dead or missing.

For outer members such as Kawaki's elite squad, only 5 of them survived the battle of Hikari. Imi Nakamori, born mute, has however lost his hearing. Sorito Kijima still has no way to get back the senses that Minoka's experiments took from him. Akira Shiin is terminally ill from an unknown disease and Oshio's white receiver is still the only thing that keeps him alive. Julia Tomoe has been tasked with looking after Fuyuko Yamanaka who may have survived the battle of Hikari. And Minako Onikuma will not get the reunion with her mother that Kawaki promised her.

With Kakumei's fall, these 5 survivors have to convert to simple ninjas of Hikari. The village of Hikari has suffered from its weakness resulting from its leader's departure and what remains of the feudal order of the Shinobi Union has taken advantage of it. Despite the death of most of the Daimyo and their heirs, it is still, in every land of the ninja continent, the feudal system who rules. Even though it is Anastasia Tomoe, second daughter of Toshima Tomoe and granddaughter of Gozen Tomoe, who was named ruler of HIkari by Oshio himself, she had to submit to the demands of the feudal families who claimed compensation for the damages done by Kakumei.

About Meinu Imai's 3 subordinates from Ketsugakure, Seiki Tomoe is imprisoned in Konoha since her participation in the plan to take down Naruto Uzumaki. Pai Tomoe has been captured by Kaza Kamizuru and has been jailed in Iwa's cave prison while Kiseru Tomoe managed to get away but is trapped in the land of Earth, missing the means to travel as easily as Killin' Kiss.

With this Kage summit also came an inevitable scolding of the council by the Hokage. Having been made aware of the temporary state of war that immediately occurred right after his incapacitation, Naruto made his disappointment clear to his colleagues.

There was nothing more than reprimanding that he could do, for the consequences of these battles can't be reversed. The lands of Fire, Wind, Grass, Hot water, and Waves have lost the entirety of their feudal families. The lands of Water and Earth still have single inheritors left, but they're far too young to claim any responsibility before at least 10 years. Only the land of Lightning still has its Daimyo, but he's the only one left from his lineage.

Aside from politics, nothing will bring back the victims of this war. Maroi and Narui of Kumo will never see Saeko again. Mariko Uchida and Teru Uchiha left their village and won't ever return, deceived by a system that left Mizuno and Mio to die. In Kiri, Sana, widow of Kobo Uchiha, is now alone, separated from her son as well.

On the other hand, Karina Yamanaka will never reunite with her two siblings Akiko and Fuyuko. Hikarigakure and the lands of Heart, that have been used and tormented by conflicts since the falling of Gozen Tomoe, finally return to her heirs, but will never fully heal from the wounds left by this dark age.

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This council and all the decisions taken occurred within 2 days after the battle of the capital of fire. After the Kage of other lands left Konoha with their ninjas, only a squad of Iwa-nins set to escort Oshio to their prison stood there, waiting to complete their mission in a few days.

The next morning, Sasuke Uchiha felt a certain presence in the village. Therefore, he went to the ninja cemetery where he expects to find the person he thinks he identified. As he suspected, standing before the grave of the 5th Hokage, Tsunade, is the last remaining of the legendary Sannin, Orochimaru. Back to his masculine form, he wears the same outfit as most of his life, but more civilian in appearance.

"I knew I'd find you here." Sasuke says before stopping to stand a few meters away from the snake man.

"I am the only one left of my former team,…" Orochimaru sadly says. "I don't have Jiraya's guts, or Tsunade's carelessness. All I have is a fear of death that will forever keep me away from them. With her gone, there is nothing left that binds me to Konoha."

"You knew it would happen." Sasuke guesses. "This is why you've created a new bond by yourself. A young boy named Mitsuki is in the same class as my daughter. If I'm not mistaken, this is the name of your son. The one you showed me back when I first met Oshio."

"Oshio… Who would have thought this shy looking boy would go this far…" Orochimaru comments. "His group attacked my village as well. I've lost all the material and research notes we got from Suto. If it wasn't for the Yuki woman and her student that you brought to us, Karin, Jugo, Gentsuchi… Everyone would be dead by now."

"Mitsuki has become a grown up child now." Sasuke says, ignoring his former master's remarks. "This means you left him be and stopped cloning his body. Should I deduce from this that he became able to master what you needed him to? And from the fact that you left your female self behind and are back to a younger male body, should I deduce that you don't need Suto's cloning formula anymore anyway?"

"Huhuh!… Really clever, as always, Sasuke." the snake man says as he turns around and activates a jutsu that he's waited all his life to finally master.

Sennin Mode

Orochimaru's hair gets grayer, his skin becomes scaly, his eyes sclera go darker, the purple marks around them become thicker, and two pointy horns grow on top of his head. This is his Sage Mode. The power he unlocked by possessing the body of his sage son's clone.

"To repeat myself. My fear of death will keep me from joining Tsunade." Orochimaru says. "I have lived so far with the only objective to become immortal. To know that the Otsutsuki clan and the Juubi are the only paths to reach this goal lowered my expectation. But with this new power, my wish is resurrected. If Tsunade's Byakugo seal could make your wife and son as powerful as they are now, there is no reason for me to give up. I will find the means to reach this level, and I will pursue my quest."

Sasuke doesn't answer. He doesn't know how powerful Orochimaru has become with this new power, but he is certain that it is far from the enemies he wants to face. He isn't aware of how strong Sakura and Izuna are now thanks to the energy of the Shiva O Seishin. It may be enough to oppose the lowest celestials he's seen, but there is no way it can be of any help against gods that even he can't reach, such as Naobi Otsutsuki.

He can't tell what rule made this woman spare him exactly, but neither can he tell if this limit will hold forever. Right when he and Naruto thought their worst problem would be to face the so-called Dragon Sage, the existence of another person just as frightening comes up.

To break out of these thoughts for a moment, he stares at Orochimaru who turns off his sage mode, understanding that it isn't enough to impress his former student. Sasuke decides to ask another question he had for him.

"I've heard that a shugonin of the land of Earth named Kentai was killed by Kakumei."

"And I don't think Karin will ever forgive me for this." the snake man replies before Sasuke can ask his question. "I don't know why she still stays by my side after all the pain I've caused her…"

"How about Naomi and the little girl?" Sasuke asks at last. "Are they still in your village?"

"They left after Kakumei's attack on Otogakure." Orochimaru says. "Apparently, one of your son's colleagues, Meinu Imai, was someone they shouldn't have met."

"Meinu Imai…" Sasuke thinks to himself, intrigued by how troublesome this young woman seems to be. "Anyway, if Naomi ever is in trouble again, she'll call me."

After these words he turns around to leave. Seeing his former student go away, so little concerned about what he came to see, Orochimaru wonders just how much more complicated the things that busy Sasuke's mind must be.

"You're not taking me seriously, are you, Sasuke?" the snake sage shouts to the Uchiha before he leaves. "You don't believe I can reach my new goals, even with that power! I have the powers of the legendary Shodai Hokage, and of the Ryuchido's Great White Snake! Has this all just become irrelevant to the battles you fight?"

"You shouldn't make a scene before that grave." Sasuke calmly replies. "My opinion or thoughts don't matter to your perspective. Pursue the ideal you want. I won't stop you. You're not my enemy. But if you take that path, you'll become theirs. If they come after you, don't expect me to help you. It's already enough to have to watch my own back."

Orochimaru can't argue with that answer. Sasuke is right. But even though he makes it sound like the Otsutsuki clan is out of his reach, it doesn't weaken his intentions. Of course, they're not a force to be reckoned with, but he will come in prepared, limiting the risk for himself and his allies. He just needs to make sure he doesn't go against Sasuke, as it is possible, by the future, that the celestials become more than invaders. Before finally leaving, the Uchiha clarifies one more thing.

"Your new power aren't of my concern." he says. "I just came here to hear about your son. After all, he seems to be friend with my daughter."

About his son, Orochimaru's glad that Sasuke didn't elect to reveal his origins to anyone. Aside from any plan he has for the future, he only intends for Mitsuki to go down his own path, unaffected by the burden of his parent's past. After these words, Sasuke walks away, leaving the former Sannin alone with his grief.

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At the same time, in the hospital, Izuna Uchiha finally wakes up from two days of recovery. As soon as he becomes conscious again, he sits up, eager to know how his last battle turned out. He looks around and sees his mother before him, and Inoue sitting by his side.

Quickly he notices that both his arms are here, even the one he lost against Oshio. Thanks to the chakra of the Shiva O' Seishin now sealed in his forehead, his limb was fully regrown. Such healing was impossible with simple mitotic acceleration. Then, he's unsettled by his sight. He was supposed to have lost his temporary eyes. Why is he able to see again, and why does he feel like his vision is even better than ever before?

"Oshio gave them back." promptly answers Sakura to calm Izuna's confusion. "He's been sentenced to prison and will be sent to Iwa this afternoon. He won't be executed, which gives us time to save him… He apologized and gave his eyes to your dad, telling him to return them to you."

Izuna raises his eyebrows and makes a shocked face. It means he now has the Eien no Mangekyo Sharingan that Oshio developed. He has several questions but doesn't know if any is worth asking. Just to be sure, he asks the most important one.

"What about Momoshiki Otsutsuki? He's still gonna come back to life."

"About that, Naruto and your dad have put a chakra seal on Oshio themselves." she replies. "Something that should prevent Momoshiki from progressing. It turns out his growth mostly relied on your brother's dependency on his energy. By using your eyes, Oshio prevented himself from going blind and didn't need that guy's chakra to heal. And by using the Biju Chakra at the end, he found an alternative. Momoshiki Otsutsuki is still slowly taking over, but the seal should slow him down significantly. Thanks to it, Sasuke should have some years left to take action."

Izuna accepts this answer and just looks down. Laid on his lap, He sees the hand of Inoue, who's been silent since he woke up. He holds on to it firmly and thinks of what is to come. Sakura, to cheer him up, changes the topic.

"So… How does this power feel?" she asks about their last summoning.

"Oh… It's… special." her son answers, a bit troubled by his new nature.

"Naruto had a look at it." Sakura adds. "To make it short, it's almost the same as his own chakra. He said what we both have in our foreheads now equals the reserve of the Juubi itself."

"Seriously?" Izuna exclaims. "Tsunade's last lesson really was worth it then… Am I on par with Boruto now?"

"Possibly." Sakura says. "He also got way stronger… Anyway, don't think it gets us any close to your dad… He developed the ability to use natural and Rikudo energy on his own as well… But Boruto's and our powers are much more mysterious. Naruto would like to have a look at it himself later again. If you're up for it."

Izuna quietly laughs, amused by the idea of a new fight against the Hokage. Feeling perfectly fine, he raises his arms and wonders why he is even in a hospital. While moving his hands around to become conscious of his regenerated limb, he unintentionally touches the shoulder of Inoue who's still next to him, he looks at her face that he didn't see for 3 months almost, and stays silent, hypnotized. Sakura, seeing this, decides to leave them on their own.

"You can leave as soon as you want." she says. "Naruto and Boruto will be waiting for us at the 3rd training ground. Also, Oshio should be escorted to Iwa tomorrow morning. Your dad and Boruto will leave right after that."

She exits the room and leaves Inoue and Izuna alone, sitting next to each other while holding their hands. Inoue, seeing that Izuna stays silent, tries to answer a question he may ask.

"Boruto is leaving the village to follow your dad on his mission." she says. "He has to learn how to use his new eyes and stuff, so your dad said the best thing is to have him along."

Izuna doesn't answer. He's not even sure if he really heard what she just said. He saw her moving her lips, heard her relaxing voice, but didn't pay attention to what she said. The sound and sensation alone was enough for him.

"I can see your face. With my own eyes." he remarks.

Inoue widely opens her eyes, remembering what Izuna said a few days ago when they were sitting on that bench. He can finally tell her something that he has wanted to for a long time. She has a good idea of what it is, and it makes her happy and anxious at the same time. She promised her sensei, Naruto, that she will confess to Izuna and not the opposite.

Izuna, however, seems to be as anxious as her and doesn't find the courage to say what he thinks. Instead, he breathes in and tries to go progressively. Inoue, in the same inner panic as him, has the same thoughts and reaction at the same time.

"I missed you." they both say simultaneously, which makes them smile uncontrollably.

"I need to tell you something!" they say together again, followed by a tiny pause, just long enough for them to clear their minds. "I love you!"

Both said it and heard it together. They feel relieved that this serves as an ultimate proof of their feelings' reciprocity. They think of Naruto who was right all along for both of them, and can't stop themselves from laughing. Izuna tightens his hold on Inoue's hand, alerting her and stopping her grin.

Seeing her almost serious, he stares right in her eyes again, and tries to take an initiative. He raises his left hand and puts it on her shoulder next to her neck. Then, he stops, having no idea how to go forward. Inoue, knowing really well that Izuna isn't the kind of person to get this done alone, bends over by herself and finishes Izuna's action.

She brings her head to his, holds on his cheek with her free hand, and immediately joins her lips to his. They stay like that, having their first kiss for a minute as they both find an inner peace they've long craved for. Behind the door of the room are Ino and Sakura spying on their children, clapping into each other's hands, satisfied that this relationship finally plays out.

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End of Chapter 105 – Next Chapter: Kakumei - Epilogue