Chapter 6
The bodies of the ROOT nin decorated the floor and walls of the cave, while their blood caked nook and cranny of the Foundation's headquarter. The ROOT was no insignificant force, yet now Shimura's private army all lay dead as the old war hawk lay there himself, pinned to the ground under the weight of the young Hatake scion's foot.
"GUKHHHH!" he tried to push away the foot eating away at his life, but all effort was futile as the bloodied young shinobi looked down at him with that piercing brilliant gaze of his.
"You are no different than your father," the war hawk taunted, as Gojo's eyes widened as he pushed down harder.
"Don't you dare mention his name with your filthy mouth," and he was weary as well, and some half dozen swords were pushed harder, and heard something crack, but before the man could die another loud explosion rocked the cave.
"Enma! Extend!" and in the blink of an eye, Gojo was hit from the side by a thundering force and was sent tumbling into the wall, as Sarutobi Hiruzen himself landed infront of his old friend.
"What the hell happened here, Danzo?" but the old war hawk's throat was too damaged to answer, so the answer came from the younger Hatake son, who pushed away all of the smoke and dust in the blink of an eye.
"Justice," and then he raised his hand, as a red orb formed in his hand as he aimed his finger at the Hokage himself.
"Red!"
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SAKURA HARUNO
The statement was so absurd that she found herself waiting for a laugh or a joke, yet despite it being nearly half a minute sensei's brother refused to budge, as she finally responded angrily.
"What do you mean by that?" she asked, and who was he to even ask that of her.
"Exactly as I said," he countered, as he took another bite of the food without any hesitation.
"Have you ever considered retiring?" and of course she had not. Who would?
"It is a viable choice. The mortality rate amongst the regular force is around twenty percent, and for the ones from a civilian background the number is around two times as high," and she had never heard that statistic.
"So, you have around a forty percent chance of dying in ten years. Add to that the fact that the Five Nations have been at peace with one another for some ten years now, and so by the laws of statistics we are primed to have another great war within the next half a decade or so," and that was a rather pessimistic view on things, and he was not quite done yet.
"And given how the Iwa and Kumo have largely recovered from their losses of the previous war, one could argue that the three of us are more equally matched than we ever were in the last decade or so," and one could twist his words as sort of treason, but he seemed to not care at all.
"That only reinforces my resolve," she answered resolutely.
"Why?" he asked, and she was not prepared for the answer.
"Because this is our home, and I must protect it," she answered, and he seemed unconvinced.
"I can assure you, as you currently are your contributions in its protection amount to nothing," and that was harsh of him, as Sakura's fists balled up.
"Your family's rather affluent, and I know well just how much your parents love you. You can retire right now and you will never want for anything," and he simply leaned forward.
"You are comely enough to bag a good guy. You could live simple and easy life. So, why risk yourself for a village where your contributions amount to less than nothing," and her answer remained unchanged.
"Konoha is my home, and I will die defending it," she argued vehemently.
"Even if it puts you against Sasuke-kun?" and that was absurd.
"Against Sasuke-kun?" she asked.
"What if the village gives you the order to kill Sasuke?" and she scoffed at the idea.
"Why would they ever do that?" and he shrugged.
"I can think of a few reasons," he countered seriously.
"Would you still fight for Konoha, or would you choose to protect your teammate?" he asked, and that was a very absurd question.
"What do you want from me?" she was out of her chair now, and she had come here to train, not answer absurd questions.
"I want to know why you want to be a shinobi? I want to know your motivation for choosing a profession where there is very high chance that you won't even see your twenties?" and she had already given him her answer, but it was not good enough.
"Do you draw your blade against evil, or do you do draw it against the enemies of the village? Do you draw it for yourself, or your family or do you draw it for the village?" and she made a face as she asked.
"What does it matter to you?" she asked in frustration.
"Will you train me or not?" she asked finally, and he smiled.
"I told you didn't I. I am not going to train you. I am going to guide you," and his smile was kinder now.
"Think about what I said, and meet me at the shop tommorow early in the morning," and that was some relief at least.
"That is if you still want to be a kunoichi by then?" and the question was absurd, but she was just happy to be done with this.
"Have a safe trip," and he gave her the rest of the pie, in a box as he waved at her from the shop as she walked out of the shop, and he had promised her some actual training for tommorow though on the road back home, his question kept popping up in her head for some reason.
"Why do you want to be a shinobi?"
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GOJO HATAKE
Gojo watched as the pink haired girl walked out of his shop in a daze, and found himself lamenting the fact that she was never truly aware of what it meant to be a shinobi, and the dangers it entailed.
He could only hope that one day she would be informed enough to see through all the propaganda around her and make the right choice, even if it was to become a Konoha nin, but first he would have to make sure that she lived long enough to reach that day.
"I never quite thought of you as the mentor type," a familiar voice called out from above, and Gojo did not need to look up to see who it was.
"I am not," he answered, and the giant of a man jumped down from his shop's roof and he was large enough to overshadow his entire being.
The man infront of him was one of the reasons Konoha had managed to survive as many tragedies it had. He was feared by most nations because of his prowess, but his true utility lay in his ability to gather intelligence and act on it in the most covert way possible.
He was the only living Sage in the world, the one and only Sage of Mt. Myoboku. Jiraiya, the Sanin.
"You are lying," he countered, and his relationship with the man was rather strange for the man had been one of Sakumo's friends, the only one who had the audacity to show up at the funeral when the entire villain had turned him into the villain.
"This is just a little favor to my brother," he countered, and the old man smirked.
"So that is your excuse," he retorted, and Gojo shrugged.
"It's not an excuse. My brother is a great shinobi but he is useless as a teacher," unlike the man infront of him, who had trained perhaps some of the most powerful shinobi active today.
"Naruto, and Sasuke will have help enough but the girl here is being left behind," and the man helping out Naruto was standing in front of him, and Sasuke and Kakashi's fighting style were too similar so he could help him easily.
"I am just trying to even the playing field," and he motioned for him to come inside.
"Sure, as you say," he answered, as he slid in.
In many ways, the two of them were both much alike for both him and Jiraiya-san were able to see through the village's propaganda, but the white-haired Sanin had been an orphan and owed the village everything. His personal loyalties to the village and its personnel kept him in duty, while Gojo's personal loyalties drove him out of it.
"It has bene some time since I have eaten up at your place," and he had last visited some five years ago, a few months after the massacre, to quell the fear within the populace. At least that was the public point of view, but the truth was that he had come down to broker peace between him and his old sensei.
"Sit. I will cook something up," and he walked to the back, as the Sanin plopped down on the chair, and he could see the man eyeing the blade on the wall.
"How's the seal holding up?" Jiraiya-san asked, and he had helped him design the seal on his blindfold, without which he would be long dead.
Hana's gift had evolved because of his chakra, but the ability had simply been too much for him. His rage had carried him through the first few hours, but the sheer volume of information being seen by them was enough to destroy him.
"Pretty good," and he had slowly let himself get used to the abilities, yet still he could only exert his full powers for only a limited amount of time.
"Do you still use that thing?" he questioned, as he pointed towards the sword hanging on the wall.
"Not really," and it was a shame, for that had been the core of his fighting style. Gojo put a pie in the oven and walked out to sit opposite to him.
"Such a shame. You were really good with that," and he was. But he was better now. Stronger and better.
"I am better now," he told him, forcing him to raise a brow.
"Those are some bold words," and he was not lying. Could he defeat the man sitting infront of him?
No.
Could he fight him to a standstill?
Probably.
And then they sat in silence as Jiraiya-san eyed him with a sharp narrowed gaze, and he knew well why he was here.
"There is a plot being hatched against the village," and he knew that well enough.
"You know very well that I am not the kind to participate in trickery," and he nodded.
"I am not accusing you," he clarified.
"I am asking if you have seen anything?" and he raised a brow.
"You know I won't say anything even if I did," and the older man sighed.
"One day you will have to move on?" and he would.
"I will start trying when Danzo and your sensei are dead," and Gojo was not blind to Konoha's faults, but no nation or village in this world was a saint. Each of them was just as heinous as Konoha in their actions, and it was one reason he had not resisted as much when they had forced him into becoming a Konoha.
And the words made the man tense up, but Gojo raised his hands.
"But I won't move against them unless they move against me first," and that was the deal they had struck, and for good reason. Gojo may be a liability, but Hiruzen Sarutobi saw the utility of his very existance.
His very presence acted as a deterrent, and many within Kumo still feared him for what he had done to their forces after they had tried to abduct the Hyuga princess.
"But that doesn't mean that I have to help them," Gojo countered, and the Sanin should have expected this.
"You are as stubborn as ever," and Gojo shrugged.
"I can say the same thing about you," he countered, and then the man sighed.
"Well, I knew this might happen but still I had to try," and Gojo chuckled.
"You can order me around once you have donned the hat yourself," and the old Sanin smiled at that.
"I am afraid that day is very far still," and so he used his powers to summon the piping hot pie to their table.
"Then let us enjoy the food until that day," and the old Sage rubbed his hands together.
"Why not?"
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