The 6th Great Ninja War
Chapter 0: Will of Fire
This is a little late coming because I was not sure I wanted to release this chapter. Some of you may not be expecting this chapter to take the turn it does, but I decided to go through with it anyway. At any rate, it's a very short one relative to the last few (and the next one @_@), so enjoy.
The next issue of the 6th Great Ninja War will be a super-chapter, as it is the penultimate chapter. Only two chapters remain before the conclusion (and epilogue) of the series!
The next issue of the 6th Great Ninja War will be a super-chapter, as it is the penultimate chapter. Only two chapters remain before the conclusion (and epilogue) of the series!
In the Hidden Leaf Village, Hasashi, the temporary incumbent Hokage, lay on the ground, defeated, as Gatsndshanks stood over his bloody body. Gatsndshanks had sustained significant injuries, but he was still able to stand, unlike Hasashi. The elders knelt, astonished by Gatsndshanks’ power and fearful that they may suffer the fate of death. They, too, had suffered severe injuries in retaliation against Gatsndshanks, but they had failed to defeat him. They reluctantly surrendered and stood away from Hasashi as Gatsndshanks looked coldly over his body. Gatsndshanks reached down to Hasashi and picked up his Hokage hat, examining it and then smiling. There was a slight rouge breeze, and then Gatsndshanks tossed the hat up before catching it again in a different position.
Gatsndshanks: I think the title of Hokage suits me, don’t you?
The elders were silent, looking scornfully upon Gatsndshanks.
Gatsndshanks: Oh, relax, will you. I’m not so bad once you get to know me. ~_~ In time, who knows…you may come to see that I'm not such a bad guy after all. Be glad Kirabi chose the most merciful of his subordinates to rule over you weaklings.
Gatsndshanks stumbled, his leg having been torn in his bout with Hasashi and the elders. He limped over to railing at the edge of the Hokage mansion. He looked over the village and saw that the shinobi were pushing back his own forces, their morale restored somehow. He sighed and took several steps back before heading toward Hasashi to finish him off. Then, a razor sharp blade nicked his cheek, Gatsndshanks managing to avoid the silent blade within a few tenths of a second as it passed from the air to the ground next to Hasashi’s defeated body. Gatsndshanks careened his head about his back, and behind him stood a familiar face with a not-so-familiar companion. Gatsndshanks smiled. He knew Kiwii would come for him, but there was a hint of resignation and disappointment in his tone, either because of his condition or because of the manner in which Kiwii had arrived, looking completely different from how Gatsndshanks had known him to look. “Where had the dark rings of restlessness and frustration gone?” Gatsndshanks wondered. These were not the eyes of the brat he knew—the brat he spent days tormenting—the brat who dreamed of nothing more than being acknowledged, if not to satisfy his honor then to kill his insecurity. Kiwii’s black irises were no more; in their place were stainless white rings that flowed like fluid in the wind. He was a mess, as usual. That much Gatsndshanks could latch on to in order to keep his sanity. But this new boy was no longer a boy. His beast companion stood by him like a dog his master.
Gatsndshanks: Come to watch my coronation, have you?
Kiwii: Sorry to say, Gats, you’re not going to become Hokage today.
Gatsndshanks breathed in air and exhaled loudly before falling to the ground on his bum, throwing his arms out to the side to look up at the cloudy sky.
Gatsndshanks: …have you come to kill me?
Kiwii looked taken aback, wondered why Gatsndshanks had fallen so easily. He then looked again, noting Gatsndshanks’ numerous blisters, bruises, cuts, and other wounds. Kiwii’s intent to kill began to quickly diminish, and he looked solemnly upon Gatsndshanks.
Gatsndshanks: Sorry to say, Kiwii…you’re not going to become Hokage either.
Kiwii: What…what happened to you?
Gatsndshanks: …disappointed? This isn’t exactly the epic bout you were expecting, is it?
Kiwii was dumbfounded, and for some reason, he could not make any other expression than a gaping wide look with his mouth hanging partly open.
Kiwii: ………
Gatsndshanks: Sorry to disappoint you, kid, but I just don’t have it left in me to fight. Not hunting you first was my mistake…guess it came back to bite me in the arse, eh?
Kiwii: ………
Gatsndshanks: Were you expecting to arrive in the nick of time and defeat me? Did you think you’d be a hero? All hail, Kiwii, then! Hero of Konoha…
Kiwii: ……you…I came to liberate Konoha but…
Gatsndshanks: sorry, kid. Heroes don’t exist in this world. You weren’t too early or too late. Just too naïve. A shame I can’t fight back as I am. I’d love nothing more than to beat that dumbass look off your face.
Kiwii: ……
Gatsndshanks: (sighs) The hell are you looking at? I told you I’m beat…
Kiwii: ………I don’t know. I guess I just thought--
Gatsndshanks: ……what happened to you? You look different.
Kiwii: ……I met Biku…after I was tossed aside like an empty wrapper, after I was thrown into the wind by the two people I thought would accept me and give me strength, I lost my will to live. But then, in that forest, I realized that without darkness to fuel me I was nothing. Then I met Biku. He doesn’t speak, but we understand one another. He helped me find my will to live again.
Gatsndshanks: …how touching. But that’s not what I meant…you. I can’t sense you anymore.
Kiwii: Huh?
Gatsndshanks: It’s like I’m looking at a ghost. What happened to you? That aura of darkness that used to emanate from you…what did you do to it?
Kiwii: I don’t know.
Gatsndshanks: I see…you said you lost your will. ‘Guess that makes sense. I mean what are you without that darkness in your heart? Nothing.
Gatsndshanks stood to his feet, almost against his own will. Kiwii readied himself, and his animal companion Biku stood on all fours, prepared to charge.
Gatsndshanks: Someone who is nothing does not deserve to exist in this new world. And I can’t die by the hand of someone like that. No! Can’t have that now, can we?!
Gatsndshanks grunted and rushed at Kiwii, but Kiwii’s retaliation was quick, and in one mighty thrust, he released a highly compressed cannon of steam-like air from his palm, knocking Gatsndshanks to the ground. The Hokage hat fell out of his hand and plopped toward Kiwii.
Gatsndshanks: *pant* Your wind is different. Is that your new power?
Gatsndshanks regained his strength and rushed again, his arms flailing, and he began weaving handseals, but as he was about to put his hands together to complete the final seal, Kiwii broke his form with a kick and then spun one-hundred-and-eighty degrees to perform a behind the back upward kick to Gatsndshanks’ face. With Gatsndshanks’ face turned upward from the kick, Kiwii turned to deliver a powerful two-palm strike, powered by the same highly compressed white air, to Gatsndshanks’ chest, sending him crashing through the stairway to the Hokage’s mansion. Kiwii relaxed his stance and waited as Gatsndshanks limped out of the stairway.
Gatsndshanks: Why? Why can you still fight?
Kiwii: When you and Kirabi tried to kill me, I ran back to Captain Roku and begged for his forgiveness, but he sent me away. Now I realize why he didn’t take me back. I still had a lot of growing to do. I may have lost my old will, but thanks to Biku here, I’ve gained a new will. To defeat you and set things right again. To write the wrongs of my past and protect my home from people like you. That’s my Will of Fire.
Gatsndshanks: ……the will of fire? What kind of childish idea is that?
Kiwii: ……
Gatsndshanks: You think you’re better than you are, Kiwii? Huh? Only children believe in bullshit like "The Will of Fire." You’re no grown man. Just a kid.
Kiwii: I’m more of a man than you.
Gatsndshanks: (chuckles) so you think you’re a big man now, huh? Big enough to be Hokage.
Gatsnshanks’ laughter became troubled. Kiwii looked at him uneasily as a sweat drop crept down his face.
Gatsndshanks: Then this is my last challenge to you.
Gatsndshanks abruptly drew a tanto from his sleeve and gripped it with both hands, prompting Kiwii to put up his guard, but to his surprise, Gatsndshanks turned the tanto inward toward his gut.
Gatsndshanks: You never could beat me, and I don’t expect you to now. You can become a hero. You can become Hokage. You can become the leader of whole ****in’ world! And it won’t change a damn thing. Because on the inside, you’ll always be scared little Kiwii.
Without another word, Gatsndshanks wrenched the tanto into his gut and drew his last breath before falling to the ground, smiling all the while. Kiwii looked on in horror and fell to his knees as Gatsndshanks' blissful smile mocked him in death, his tanto slowly filling with the blood that was spilling from his abdomen. Kiwii began to pant heavily and wondered what he had come for. Why had he returned? "What was it all for," he asked himself. He struggled to keep his composure as the clouds gathered above him and rain started to fall. He was blind to the arrival of shinobi reinforcements and deaf to the sirens and the shouts of relief that came with the revelation of Gatsndshanks’ death and the praises that were sung as the people of Konoha lifted up his name in reverent tones. Kiwii, the Hero of the Leaf. The sound of Gatsndshanks’ fleeing army was as silent as the evening snow, and to Kiwii, none of it was real.
With Gatsndshanks gone, he was left to his thoughts.
