Chapter 107 - 'After' Arc- 6

This is what Hiro had been waiting for. He leaned forward, listening intently.

“Kuroko is vulnerable. Yuji has kept her out of the battle. Since the attempt on her life, he’s kept her under constant guard. That means his attention is divided. If we make an attempt on her life again, he’ll rush to defend her. If we capture her, and then torture her in front of him, we’ll win. Because there is a way to get rid of Yuji’s annoying little ability.”

“There is?”

“Oh, yes. Yuji has shown the ability to manifest the chakra outside of his body. Given that the chakra was given to him through an unsealing ritual, that means the chakra can be resealed. So we capture Kuroko, threaten torture and death- unless Yuji freely gives us his abilities.”
Kaname paused, a wicked smile crossing his face.
“Then we implant the powers in a new host. A host loyal to us. Then we incinerate them both. The ShiroKuro faction will fall. The Kuro side will have to surrender. We’ll have regained complete control.”

Hiro chuckled to himself. Knowing the future was always so pleasant. A pity Kaname didn’t also know the future.

“Your report is accurate, I’m sure. But you missed a detail. You’ll have to do better if you want to run the family.”

Kaname tried not to visibly bristle at that. “Detail? What have I missed?”

“This fight will never happen,” Hiro said plainly. “Because I’ve already got the answer. Something that hasn’t occurred to ‘Lord Yuji’ just yet…”
--
--

Jiraiya, Shizune, Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, Sai, Kakashi, and Yamato surrounded Lady Tsunade. Yuji could see ANBU black ops scattered around.

Quite a power play, thought Yuji calmly.
“Yuji,” began Lady Tsunade, “It seems that you’ve caused some trouble here. This…war, I’m told?”

“Yes, My Lady. War.”

“…I see. This ‘war’ involved you, and you are one of us. We cannot have war with a nation that has contributed so much to our rebuilding. Surely you know that…”

Yuji smiled. “I’m fairly well versed in politics after the last three years, yes. And there is a certain…logic to my actions. My message didn’t arrive to you in time if you’ve made the trip all the way here.”

Lady Tsunade cocked her head, then gestured silently for her honor guard to move aside.
“Message” What message?”

Yuji scratched his head, sort of embarrassed. “So many…didn’t think I’d have to say it like this…”

“They can leave…” Tsunade offered.

Yuji shook his had. “No, no, they’re all part of this, too, I guess. You don’t serve and/or work with people for so long without becoming involved. No matter how hard one tries to remain aloof, some people-” Yuji glanced at Naruto and Sakura, smiling even wider, “-Will insist on dragging you into their lives. But if I’m going to do this, then everyone should be here…”

Yuji opened a scroll, bit his thumb, ran the bleeding digit across a scroll, and then began to speak to it.
“Azami? Yes, sorry. Could you come here, please? Kojiro, too, if he isn’t fishing. Thanks! Oh, could you swing by and grab Asuna, Akari, and Shoki, too?”

Yuji rolled the scroll back up. Tsunade commented on the technique, asking what kind it was.

“It uses chakra waves to communicate with another person over long distances. You have to know the person’s chakra really well, so it’s sort of useless for battle. But I was thinking of marketing the technique to boyfriends and girlfriends who live far away…Ah, here they come!”

Up from the shadow of a large building came Azami, Kojiro, Asuna, Shoki, and Akari. There were murmured greetings all around. Those tapered off as all eyes shifted to Yuji.

“So, the reason that this battle won’t be a political nightmare for the Leaf is…?” Tsunade prompted.

Yuji’s face turned serious. Deadly serious. He asked Tsunade: “Would defending my fiance’s life and family be an acceptable reason to enter into this battle?”

The implications of that message hit everyone hard, and all at once. There were cheers and cries of ‘congratulations’ all around. Asuna was the last one to speak to Yuji. She leaned close in for a hug- but also to whisper to Yuji.

“This isn’t like with Miko, is it? You really love this girl?”

Yuji bowed his head. “I loved Miko, too. I was just too immature to realize it. But yes, this time is different. I’m doing this because I love her. Not because it makes sense politically.”

“…I see…If that’s the case, then I’m happy for you, Yuji. And proud, too.”

Asuna stepped back, holding Yuji at arm’s length, studying him. “Then, I guess I should give you your present.”

“Present? You didn’t have to…” Yuji said, surprised. Did they know in advance about this?

“Miko advised me on it, the last time she…visited,” Asuna said thoughtfully. “She said that she felt bad you had buried her in your old coat, and suggested I get you a new one. But then everyone else here found out, and they had an idea. You’ll see when you open it.”

At this, a large gift box was thrust into Yuji’s hand. With nods of permission from everyone, he unwrapped and opened the box.

Inside lay a new coat. But the surprise didn’t stop there. Emblazoned on the back, in white letters with red edging, were the words “Ten no Kishootsu”. They ran vertically down the back from the collar of the coat all the way to the hem (which was at about Yuji’s knees).

“You guys…” Yuji sighed, feeling a sudden rush of affection for all of them. There were more hugs all around. By now, Kuroko had returned. She entered the group timidly, which was so out of character for her that it made her immediately stick out. She was swamped immediately with congratulations of her own. She smiled brightly, eventually working her way to Yuji.

Kuroko stood before Yuji, head bowed. In an abrupt motion, she thrust a box upward to him.

“Fo-For you! It gets cold here and…”

Kuroko mumbled the rest of whatever it was she was saying. Yuji opened the box, surprised at what was inside.

It was a handmade scarf. It was all black material, but a small bit of white yarn at one end of the scarf spelled embroidered letters. ‘Yu + Ku <3’.

Kuroko wrapped the scarf around Yuji’s neck, arranging it so that the excess material hung in front of him. It complemented his usual wardrobe perfectly.

“Did you make this?” asked Yuji.

“…do you like it?”

“Of course!”

“Then yes.”

Scattered laughter greeted the couple. Yuji picked Kuroko up and kissed her, letting her know in his own way that he loved the scarf. Not the most masculine accessory, but it was the sweet intentions behind it that made it special. That, and Yuji had to admit that it was cold as hell here! He had been spoiled by the Leaf’s comfortable climate.

Looking to all his friends and supporters, Yuji finally felt like he’d found a place he belonged. He wondered what had changed. These people had been with him all along. His journey had lasted ten years, since the start of his training with the Third Hokage to this moment in time. In that time, he’d become strong. Strong mentally. Strong physically. And stronger emotionally.

His service to Naruto and Sakura had ended- at least in the true master/servant sense. Truthfully, Naruto was going to be Hokage someday, and chances are Sakura would be right at his side, as the ‘First Lady’ of Konoha. Sasuke would be up there, too. Kakashi, Yamato, Sai…and Yuji. Where he fit in, Yuji found he couldn’t guess. But that suddenly seemed okay. The uncertainty was…nice. For the last ten years, his life had followed a more or less linear course. Now, he had his chance to live life like a normal person. His fate was his own; his power his own to command.

I have to command it now, he reminded himself. I have to free Kuroko and the others from this oppressive household. Even if I have to dismantle this place board by board, with my bare hands. This tyranny can stand no longer.
-

The Leaf delegation stayed nearby, quietly supporting Yuji but staying out of the fight. Azami and Kojiro stayed even closer, standing by to help Yuji evacuate injured. He would have to fight alone, against who knew how many people. He hoped to avoid killing, but he knew how likely that was. Injury was a certain thing.

Azami and Kojiro also had another hidden duty. They were going to go with Kuroko, Shiroko, Shoki and Asuna to find the seal that was keeping Yuji from using his Heaven’s Temper chakra.

Yuji had already decided his battle strategy. Until he had his Heaven’s Temper chakra back, he couldn’t risk major confrontations. He decided to make a whole bunch of racket and do a whole bunch of damage. That way, he could run into a building and keep the number of people on his tail down. Less chance of killing anyone that way.

For once, Yuji had no thought of dying himself. It didn’t seem right, and if the years had taught Yuji anything, it was to go with your gut instinct when it made itself known strongly enough. He felt certain of his victory- if he did everything right. That wasn’t always the case. Sometimes you could do everything perfectly and still fall short of your goal.

Yuji decided on a diversion of bombs, dropped from above. He suspended nearly transparent wires from the trees, hanging on each end a bomb made of a mild explosive and a lot of smoke. The illusion he hoped to convey would be that he was flying overhead (therefore, using his Heaven’s Temper abilities), which would really scramble all his enemies. All of his enemies- not just the obvious ones. Another gut feeling Yuji had. Not everything was as it seemed to be; of that he was certain.
-

At precisely eleven fifty-seven that night, Yuji cut the one central wire supporting all the others. He had cut the strings suspending the bombs at different lengths so that they wouldn’t all fall at once, further giving the impression that he was flying overhead at a high speed. Since it was night time, he might just get away with the illusion. Whether it worked or not, he had his route mapped out in advance. He knew just which building he was going to head for.

All hell broke loose. Roads were destroyed. Buildings fell. Trees lay prostrate across the ground, their leaves burning with fire.

Yuji waited at the epicenter of this destruction, leaving only one exit. The enemies came, as he knew they did. As many of the ‘Kuro’ side came as the ‘Shiro’ side. The Kuro side had hoped to use Yuji’s abilities to put themselves in power. The Shiro side wanted to kill Yuji and reclaim his abilities, sealing them into someone on their side.

They agree they want to kill me, but they couldn’t agree on how to dispose of my carcass, Yuji thought with a bit of macabre amusement. Both sides of the family were approaching now and lining up to attack, heedless of whether their own mates or enemies were on the side of them. Yuji was the common enemy right now, and all eyes were on him.

He struck a heroic figure, with the light of a giant fire burning behind him and his coat billowing in the wind. He stared defiantly against the mounting numbers against him, waiting as long as he possibly could.

The more of them that are aiming for me, the less that will be after Kuroko and the others. Come on, keep coming…

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