Chapter 40- Moving Onward

Minato Namikaze struggled to open his eyes. He felt the weight of the earth suffusing throughout his body.

This eyelids refused to move at first, and his struggle soon ended.

Minato, still caught in the haze of semi-conciousness, fell back to the exercises that had been drilled into him since he was a young lad in the academy.

He focused on his body, noting each and every stimuli. He was a little cold, and he felt restrained, as if heavy chains were upon his wrists and ankles.

Minato started at his toes, and tried to wiggle them. After a few seconds of effort, they slowly responded to his thoughts.. Moving up his body, he tensed his calves, his legs, his abs, his back, his chest, then diverted from his shoulders down his arms, stretching and exerting each muscle along the path.

Finally, he craned his neck the slightest amount, tugged at his lips, and tried once more to open his eyes.

They finally creaked open, and Minato could feel the slight pull and stick on gunk and crust that had glued his eyes shut.

There was a person leaning over him, but his eyesight was blurry. As he reached for his chakra in an attempt to sense who the individual was, a sharp pain wracked his abdomen, and he coughed in a sputter.

The figure above him brought a glowing green hand to his stomach, and he felt the immediate relief from his paroxysm of pain.

The figure spoke, and in a distinct and familiar voice she cautioned him.

"Don't reach for your chakra, you've got extensive damage to your coils, and we would rather not have to put you in chakra restraints, they would severely hamper your recovery.

Just relax, and let me explain."

Minato released his hold on his chakra and tried to stare through the blur in an effort to identify his caretaker. As he tried to even himself out with a deep breath, a shudder caught him in the middle and started a small coughing fit.

The figure spoke again, and Minato noticed that the voice was feminine in character.

"They really made a kid like you Hokage, didn't they?

You got a whole life to live kid, no need to waste it this early."

Minato blinked a few more times, and slowly the Figure of Tsunade Senju revealed itself.

He opened his mouth to speak, but his jaw was locked shut.

Tsunade recognized the struggle in his eyes and put a warm hand on his shoulder as she comforted him.

"You've been in a coma or a long time. Your recovery will take a while. For now, you need to rest and regain your strength. Just close your eyes and sleep."

Minato felt the fatigue wash over him and he felt that a quick jaunt to dreamland wouldn't hurt anything.

As his eyes drifted closed and his breathing eased, he heard Tsunade whisper.

"Happy New Year, by the way Yondaime-sama."

When Yama and Shijin sent off the final wave of genin of the Operations Division, the two had decided to follow them into the field. The duo were operating completely within a drought of information, and communications between the nations were still in tatters.

Yama and Shjin had argued about it for a short while, but eventually the two came to an agreement that their best option was to head out towards the border between the land of Fire and Kusagakure. Kusa had been the hotbed of the Third Shinobi War, and if any conflicts stemming from the war to break out, this would be the place where the flames were reignited.

Yama wasn't sure what he could do to smother the conflict in its infancy if it started to rekindle, but he knew that if he weren't there, he wouldn't even have the opportunity to try and stop it.

Kusa had the highest probability of being where the Third Shinobi War would restart, so that is where they went.

Yama and Shijin were currently at the Base 3. The 5 bases of Konoha were numbered clockwise starting near the Land of Rivers, and Base 3 was somewhere near the border of Takigakure and Kusagakure and the Land of Fire.

The base was at this point fully operational, but it was extremely busy deploying troops towards the 25 border outposts that fell under its jurisdiction. The five forts had already been manned, but setting up the chain of command between the forts and the outposts was proving to be a logistical nightmare.

The genin of the Operations and Messaging Divisions were greener than green can be, and though they were hard at work, it was debatable if they were actively hurting or helping the process. Command hoped that this period could be used to practice though, and the newbie genin would eventually get the hang of it.

Besides, it was better that they were struggling now, before open hostilities had opened, rather than the other option,which was to learn under threat of death and conflict.

Yama watched the hustle and bustle about him with an anxious disinterest. His anxiety was building, and he could feel the storm approaching, but he couldn't tell much more beyond that.

It was simply a gut feeling that got worse and worse with each passing second, ticking up and up over and over again.

It was this night that something finally changed.

As Yama looked up into the dark night sky, he gazed at the first Full Moon of the Year. At its apex, the moon shone bright and cast distinct shadows across the land.

It did not bring back fond memories for either Yama or Shijin, but it did remind them why they were here, and what they were meant to do.

Yama felt the hair on the nape of his neck stand up, and the dour cloud of dread that had been following finally coalesced into a leaden blanket of despair. Emotion roiled under his surface, and he felt sick to his stomach as it dropped to his feet.

The emotions crawled up his throat, hate, rage, wrath, fear, guilt, and with them a mouthful of bile found its way into his mouth. As he swallowed everything back down, he looked to Shijin, who was seated beside him.

"We're too late, Shijin. I don't know how I know, but I know. It's coming.

I can feel it. It won't stop. Its growing, its breathing, its coming back to life in a roar of flames."

Shijin noticed the manic look in his friend's eyes and was about to say something when a silver flash appeared from nowhere, and a small fox was suddenly on top of Yama's had.

The fox raised a paw and slammed it down onto the crown of Yama's head. The fox growled out.

"Control yourself imbecile. If you refuse to give up you burden, you must at least not let it control you.

You are simply sensing negative emotion across the continent. All the malintent and the emotion that goes with it is simply being concentrated in you. Just take a deep breath and let it flow through you.

It only grips you as hard as you let it. Imagine yourself as a rock, unflinching in the face of the current.

Stable. Unyielding. Unmovable.

Breath in.

Feel the emotion crash against you.

Breath Out.

Feel the emotions break upon you.

Breath in.

Scatter the remnants and let it slip past you.

Breath Out.

Let it slip away and return unto the origin.

In and Out.

In and Out.

Don't let it concentrate. Just let it flow."

The manic look in Yama's eyes slowly faded, and their normal crystal blue shined once more.

Yama breathed in and out.

Ginou sat there silently as Yama further calmed himself.

Within five minutes, Yama was completely normal once again, and Shijin finally asked his question.

"What exactly are you feeling, Yama?

What's coming?"

Yama steadied himself for a few seconds before leveling an even gaze back at Shijin.

"The War is here.

We're going to have to change plans. It's already started, and it came alive in an inferno.

At this point, we have no hope of extinguishing it, but we might still be able to contain it."

"So what do we do?"

Yama felt a small smile creep into his face. One of the things he appreciated the most about Shijin was that the man had always been a man of action. Yama had nobody he rather have at his side.

Yama let a wry grin appear on his face.

"I don't know, but plans have always been your strong suit. I'll just go where you point me."

Yama would swear he saw the slightest hint of a scowl on his friend's face, but maybe he imagined it.

Yama felt himself calm. No matter what they have to do, they'll be able to do it if they stay together.

They can even face down the entire world.