Chapter 53
SHIKAMARU NARA
Shikamaru had long been aware of the truth of their world, yet never before had it been as evident as it was now. The Nara clan was thought of by many as lazy, yet more than that, the clan simply understood the truth of this world better than anyone else.
And that truth was that death was inevitable. That you could chase power as much as you want, yet death was a certainty. You could get outnumbered, outflanked, or outmaneuvered.
You could prepare as much as you want, and yet in the heat of battle, all those things would become meaningless, for life was simply too fragile. He had learned it first when one of their classmates from the academy had died, and now once more that cruel reality was revealed to him, as he found himself staring at the tombstone of his own teammate.
'Ino Yamanaka' the stone read, and he did not know if it was deliberate or coincidence that she was laid down just beside her best friend, who had died two years earlier.
"They always were together," and the funeral had taken place a week ago, and Shikamaru had not been able to come back then, yet now, as his other teammate finally woke up from his slumber, he called on him to visit the grave.
He couldn't deny him. Not when he was still wrapped in bandages and clinging to life, and so he was here at last. At the place which was a slap to his intellect, promises and powers.
And in all their time together, Shikamaru had never seen his friend so broken, but one could say the same thing for him.
"I should have been there," he whispered through gritted teeth, and that was his greatest regret. For he could have requested to accompany them on the mission. He could have been there to help them when Pain had come, and yet he was not.
He was here, watching clouds while his teammates fought for their lives.
"It wouldn't have changed anything," Hikari whispered, and he knew that he had no malicious intent by those words, yet it stung nonetheless.
He had seen his medical reports, and by all intents and purposes, Hikari still being alive was a miracle. His entire body was covered by wounds, and his chakra network itself had been damaged by the sheer strain from his fight with pain.
"You don't know that," Shikamaru uttered through gritted teeth.
"If there is anyone to blame for it, then it is me," Hikari whispered as Shikamaru's head snapped towards his friend.
"I simply flew too close to the Sun, yet I never stopped to consider that others would suffer for my mistakes," and Hikari looked up at the skies.
"I was the one who pushed the Akatsuki to their limits. If I had been a little bit more cautious, then none of this would have ever happened," and maybe he was right, but he was doing just as he had been ordered to do.
Going after the Akatsuki had not been his personal choice, but a mission. The truth was that the fault lay with them. It was easy to forget sometimes, but Hikari was the same age as them.
He was their batchmate, and they should have known better to put all that burden on his shoulders alone. He should have known better.
But it was simply the easier thing to do. Hikari was strong. Stronger than most of the shinobi within the village, and he made it so easy to rely on him. Despite facing two S-ranked nins before, he had gone nearly toe-to-toe with the leader of the Akatsuki, and had nearly killed him if not for that masked nin.
It was so easy to let him handle it all, for he never complained and nearly never failed. Hikari Hyuga had the highest mission success ratio within the village, and yet they had failed him now.
"The Akatsuki would have come for us sooner or later," he said, and he hated himself for being so pragmatic even in this scenario.
"This is not your fault. We will get back at them," he promised, and his friend nodded.
"Kumo has agreed to join the truce, and now Iwa is left with no choice but to accept it as well. There is to be a five-kage summit soon, where they are going to decide upon the next course of action," and despite the pain that they were in, the Akatsuki had suffered a major blow during the attack.
They had lost two members, and the identity of their leader and his powers were now known by Konoha. Simply put, they were running out of time.
"Has Lady Tsunade woken up yet?" Hikari questioned, and he shook her head.
"Not yet," and much of the panic within the village came from that, for the attack had not just cost them a kunoichi. No, it had cost them their own Hokage.
"The daimyo is considering naming Lord Jiraiya as the Rokudaime Hokage," and few could argue against the choice. Hikari was strong, yet he was simply too young. And he knew for a fact that if such an ordeal had come up just a few years later, then the choice would have been him.
"He is the best choice," and while they were there, he heard someone walk up to them, and he glanced to the side and saw that it was the very person they were speaking of.
"You are Shikaku's kid, aren't you?" and until now, he had mostly seen Lord Jiraiya smiling widely whenever they had met, yet now even his smile had dimmed as Shikamaru nodded in return.
"I am," and he nodded.
"You look just like him," and the giant man came and stood beside him, his eyes glancing at Ino's name inscribed on the stone for a second before he added.
"Could I have a moment alone with your teammate?" and Shikamaru glanced at Hikari, who nodded, and he could not yet walk.
"I will be fine," he answered, and with that, he walked away, leaving the two of them alone in the place.
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JIRAIYA—The Toad Sage
Jiraiya had long dreamt of a peaceful world, one where children were not forced to fight in wars or suffer from the consequences of one. He still remembered the Toad sage's prophecy, and for a long time, he had believed that Minato would be that child of Prophecy.
But he was wrong. And now he saw hints of Minato in his son, and just as he felt that the world had begun to heal, he was reminded once more of the nature of their world. He had never truly doubted the legacy or the prophecy offered to him until now, yet Nagato and Yahiko's betrayal of his teachings had made him question his choices.
"I have been told that you are going to be the Rokudaime Hokage," the boy cut through the tension with his words as Jiraiya nodded.
"I can only pray that such a day doesn't come," he answered, and every day he woke with the hope that Tsunade would wake up and spare him this responsibility, yet her condition remained the same as she refused to wake up.
"Still, I believe you were hoping that title would be yours one day," Jiraiya teased. Many within the village had thought that Hikari becoming the Rokudaime Hokage was a foregone conclusion, and his meteoric rise to fame had only fuelled such talk.
"It doesn't matter. I can wait," answered the boy, and so he was still determined on his vision.
"I promised her that I would don that hat one day," and he saw the fists ball up at that.
"And I intend to keep it," and he had underestimated the boy's resilience.
"In many ways, it is good that I am not the Hokage yet," and now he turned his head to meet his gaze.
"Why?" he asked, and there was a cold chill in that gaze as he answered.
"Because killing for revenge does not quite suit the mantle of Hokage," and so the answer was clear, as Jiraiya's smile vanished.
"So you have made your mind already," and he had come here for one reason, to ask the boy his intentions regarding Nagato and Konan.
"I am not like you, Jiraiya-sama. I do not champion for peace. I desire it, of course, but I have only ever hoped to protect the people I care about," and now his eyes fell to the tombstone once more.
"And your pupils have taken my most precious person for me," and he took a deep breath, and he could feel his chakra roaring forth, as he uttered his final ultimatum.
"I have no mercy to offer them," and he had an idea that it would be like this.
"Won't killing them just prove Pain right?" and the boy shrugged.
"I do not invalidate their pain and suffering. Ame has suffered greatly because of the wars of the Five Great Nations, but he could have used his powers to better his own village. He could have used it to help people, and yet he chose to act out for revenge, and so I shall do the same," and Jiraiya closed his eyes.
"You will nominate me to head-to-head the Akatsuki subjugation unit, and then I shall have my revenge. Peace can come afterwards or not. I do not care, but Nagato will die by my hands," and there was vehemence in that voice.
"That is the only future I can promise you right now," and he had come to ask him if he still wished to be a part of the Akatsuki subjugation squad, and now he had his answers.
"He was your student, wasn't he?" the boy questioned, and Jiraiya looked to the skies and saw the clouds gathering together once more to cast a dark shadow over them all.
"Yes. They both were," and he still could not believe that they were both still alive and had chosen such a path in their life.
"Are you here to ask me to spare them?" and no, Jiraiya would never do that.
"I have no right to do that," for he had no right to enforce his ideals on someone else.
"Then why are you here?" Hikari questioned, and Jiraiya had come here with only one purpose.
"In your report, you mentioned a masked shinobi?" and he nodded.
"Yes, I did," Hikari agreed, and Jiraiya had seen him for himself as well, and for some reason, he had felt a sense of familiarity with him, and so he had scoured through their records only to stumble upon something rather troubling.
A small message left to him by Minato, before he had met his death.
"I believe that same shinobi was responsible for Minato's death and the Kyubi incident," and that did not seem to surprise him again. Jiraiya had no way to prove this, but he could sense his shadow all over this conflict.
"He was also involved in the Uchiha clan massacre," and he was perhaps indeed the most dangerous shinobi they faced. His powers remained a mystery, and all they had until were speculation.
"You have the Byakugan," and now he turned towards him.
"Do you have any idea who he really is under that mask?" and the boy took a deep breath.
"There are seals within that mask that make his face invisible even to the Byakugan, but I do have two guesses...."
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