The Iron Man
"So, who exactly is this 'Iron Man' we're going to see?"
Hashirama asked this early in the journey; they were traveling at a fairly leisurely pace, certainly enough to talk to each other.
"Shall I debrief him, sir?" Yamato said, in response to this.
Hatake raised his hand. "Nah, I'll do it." He motioned for Hashirama to come closer, and once they were walking side-by-side, Hatake began to tell his story.
"As you can probably guess, the Iron Man—well, Tetsu-jin, if you wanna get fancy—isn't his real name," Hatake began. "He's actually from a clan you might know: the Nara."
"The Nara clan! Yes, I was in talks with them back then. They were interested in joining us, along with the Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Sarutobi clans…"
"Mm, yeah, their whole generational alliance thing, isn't it?" Hatake said.
"Yes, their alliance was one of my biggest influences in planning Konohagakure." Hashirama's voice fell somewhat. "You know, clans working together…"
"Yeah, I know," Hatake replied. "Insular as they are, they still helped your brother in putting together TATE, however indirectly. I guess great minds draw from the same wells."
Hashirama smiled slightly.
"Anyways, back to the Iron Man," Hatake said. "His real name is Nara Shikamaru. He's the current clan head; took over when he was, eh, sixteen, seventeen years old. His parents were killed in battle so he took over a bit earlier than expected."
"I see…"
"He's always been kind of a brat, really," Hatake continued. "Squandering his wealth on stupid stuff, messing around with peasant girls but refusing to marry—totally spoiled rotten. Couple-a years ago, though, someone put a hit out on him. Got him kidnapped an' dragged all the way to the Land of Wind. An' after that, while he was being held hostage, this kid named Sasori got a hold of him."
"All the way to the Land of Wind…? That's quite a distance," Hashirama said. "Who's this Sasori? What clan is he from?"
"Clanless, s'far as we know, but he had Shimura clan ties. Puppet jutsu user." Hatake sniffed. "A seriously deranged kid. Nara Shikamaru's a top-class asshole, to be sure, but I wouldn't wish what happened to him on anyone."
"Um… what did this Sasori person do?" Hashirama said, in the silence that followed.
"Sasori began converting his body into a puppet, while he was still alive. Replaced his blood with preservatives, replaced his bones with metal, bleached and dried his skin, even cut out his heart while it was still beating and put it into a container to keep him from dying until the transformation was complete."
"H-How is something like that even possible…?"
"This Sasori kid was as smart as he was insane. He had means. Horrifying, isn't it?"
"Indeed…" Hashirama said, trying not to imagine any of this process.
"Long story short, Nara managed to escape by learning puppet jutsu himself—through observation or something, I don't know if he had help. He got control back of his body, and blew Sasori's workshop sky-high before running off into the desert. Some nomads found him and got him home," Hatake said. "Since then, he's been making a bit of a name for himself as an armor designer. Publically at least. We didn't know he was the Iron Man until only recently."
"Ah, so he wasn't public about it?" Hashirama said.
"Hell no. We actually thought he was some sorta Uchiha weapon for a while, a remotely-controlled human puppet or something. I mean, we knew what Sasori was capable of, and he wasn't exactly a good guy." Hatake shrugged. "It wasn't until we started having skirmishes with him that we realized he wasn't attacking the guys the Uchihas liked going after. He was defending them from the Uchihas."
"Oh, I see," Hashirama said. "Then… why didn't he just say who he was?"
"Put yourself in his situation," Hatake replied. "Going public would put his clan and his allies all in danger of an Uchiha attack."
"Ah, of course…" Hashirama said. "How do you know who he really is, then…?"
"We have some really great spies, so we figured it out eventually," Hatake said. "We sent Karin over a while back to infiltrate the Nara compound and gather information, and later gain the trust of the Nara clan and their allies. We wanted to protect his privacy, after all. Last thing we want is for potential allies to think we're willing to screw them over."
"Sounds reasonable," Hashirama said.
"Yeah. And then the jerk goes and makes a public declaration anyways, saying he's the Iron Man." Hatake said. "Having Karin over there ended up still working in our favor eventually, but still."
"Mm…" Hashirama thought for a moment. "So you thought he was a… puppet, at first? Controlled from a distance?"
"Yup. Sure didn't look human."
"Is Nara-san himself no longer human, then…?"
"Oh, he's human all right," Hatake replied, with an edge of annoyance. "Even though Sasori went and ruined his body, he's still got a human heart. A fickle, immature, very human heart."
Yamato, who had taken a place beside Hashirama, was wearing a smile of pained politeness, or knowingness.
"But he no longer has a human body, yes?" Hashirama said.
"Flesh and blood, no. Wood and metal, yes. Hence the whole 'Iron Man' thing," Hatake said. "He's kind of shiny, besides."
"I… suppose I follow," Hashirama said. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the logistics of a person with an artificial body.
"I know this sounds confusing, but Nara's the kind of guy that doesn't like playing by the rules," Hatake said.
"And we want him on our side…?"
"Better to have him sorta with us than neutral or against us," Hatake replied. "He fights well, and beyond that he's one of the most brilliant tacticians currently living."
"Is that so…!" Hashirama said.
"Oh yes, Nara-san is particularly brilliant," Yamato added. Hatake just sighed in mild distaste.
"At any rate, his contemporaries, the Yamanaka and the Akimichi heirs, are far more reasonable than he is," Hatake continued. "Which is a good thing, especially since Shimura Danzo got killed."
"Shimura who?"
"Old, bitter Sarutobi clan associate that would rather blow up his allies than let them disobey him, or leave him behind. Yeah. He's the one that ordered the hit on Nara, we eventually found out. He apparently thought the kid was too much of a menace to lead his clan or work effectively for him. Nara took care of him personally after Shimura went and kidnapped the Yamanaka clan heir himself; she found out Shimura was up to, see."
"He sounds like a… very unpleasant person," Hashirama said. "This Shimura Danzo, I mean."
"It's people like him that end up being more dangerous than the Uchiha clan," Hatake replied. "So paranoid they'll kill their own allies."
"I see," Hashirama said.
"I feel you'll like most everyone in the compound these days, though," Yamato added, brightly. "They're very cooperative."
"Akimichi and Yamanaka at least, they're decent," Hatake said, and that was apparently it for conversation about the Iron Man until they actually arrived at the Nara compound.
Hashirama had been there before, in the past, and was surprised to notice how little it had truly changed.
The three compounds were structured almost like castles: great houses at their centers, around which were smaller houses, laced with gardens and trees. The compounds themselves were square in formation, and as Hashirama and the others crested a hill that overlooked it, it almost appeared as if they were stacked atop each other, though which compounds formed the base and which was on top seemed to change depending on the direction of one's approach. A great, circular wall surrounded them all, dotted with gates.
The fact that this settlement—his Konohagakure in miniature—was still standing brought a strange sense of relief to Hashirama's heart. These people had survived and were doing quite well, thank goodness.
"We'll enter through the Yamanaka gate," Hatake announced, as they got closer. "They're friendliest with us, it'll go faster."
The Yamanaka gate, it turned out, was attended by a pair of yellow-haired guards, who held their hands out at the sight of Hashirama and his companions, squares forming in the space between their fingers.
"Hey, we're from TATE. We come in peace." Hatake had his hands raised as he approached.
One of the guards lowered his hands slightly. "Haven't heard from TATE since that red-head left. What brings you here?"
"A meeting with the clan heads," Hatake replied.
"What for?"
"A discussion of some new developments regarding the Uchiha clan. For the sake of goodwill, precaution, all that. So we all survive. May we come in?"
The guards exchanged glances, and for a while didn't say anything. Hashirama was almost startled when one of them finally said, "Ino-sama will see you. Go on through."
Hashirama glanced between them, befuddled, as the gate opened and they passed in.
"Yamanaka clan mind-speaking," Yamato whispered to him, helpfully. "Hatake-san's a big fan. If we'd gone through the Akimichi gate it'd have taken us a lot longer, besides."
"And forget using the Nara gate," Hatake added, without whispering.
"Ah, I see…" Hashirama said.
Hatake apparently knew where he was going, because he led them through an avenue of plum trees to a residence near the easternmost wall.
"Ino-san's house," Yamato whispered again.
"The clan head, right?" Hashirama said. Yamato nodded. "She doesn't live in the big house?"
"Goodness, no. That's for everyone to use."
A woman had appeared; she was wearing a violet kimono that was cut to just above her knees, and her obi matched the pale gold of her hair. Hashirama could feel his face growing a little warm. Had fashions changed so much that women now exposed that much of their legs…?
She smiled warmly as she approached them, and bowed. "Yamato-san, it's so good to see you again. Same goes to you Hatake-san," she said. She tilted her head slightly, blue-green eyes widening. "And who is this with you?"
"Senju Hashirama," Hatake said.
The woman—Yamanaka Ino, Hashirama had to assume—covered her mouth with her hand. "Senju Hashirama? As in… the one that was sealed up in that tree?"
"The very same," Hatake replied.
Her smile grew, and her eyes almost seemed to gain a luminance to them, like light behind glass. "Is that so!" She bowed again. "Senju-sama, my grandmother told me many stories about you and your deeds. I'm honored to meet you."
"Oh, um, please…" Hashirama said, bowing himself, and trying to look at her face and not anything else.
"Please, the three of you, won't you come in?" Ino continued, beckoning with her hand. "I'll have tea brought. Then we can talk about these… developments of yours, Hatake-san."
"There's nothing I'd love more," Hatake said.
"Is it that jasmine tea we had last time I visited?" Yamato said, cheerfully, as they entered. "I enjoyed that very much."
"Anything for you, Yamato," Ino replied.
"A pepper as always," Hatake noted.
"You flatter me, Hatake-san."
Hashirama felt increasingly awkward as they gathered together in the common room of Ino's house. Yamato talked to her casually, like an old friend, while tea was brought to them by servants, seemingly without any sort of verbal order. Hatake lounged, but didn't say anything, even seeming to doze a little. Even though he'd taken his shoes off, Hashirama was still wearing his heavy, red-and-silver breastplate, and he didn't know if or when he'd be able to remove it here. Madara's fan lay beside him like some sort of dormant dog.
"So, then." Ino put aside her tea. "I assume you're here with intelligence about the Uchiha?"
"That, and the fact that Senju-san here's finally awake," Hatake replied. "That's pretty important."
"Mm." Ino nodded a few times. "Well, Senju-san's presence is pretty self-explanatory. What's happened with the Uchihas?"
"The rumblings are getting stronger. It's join or fend for yourself at this point, Yamanaka-san," Hatake replied. "TATE is preparing. We're gathering our allies. Your clan, and your allies, might be safer with us than on your own."
"You've told me all this before," Ino replied.
"Their first strike could come within the month, Yamanaka-san," Hatake said.
Ino's eyes were lowered as she received this. "You're sure about this?"
"As sure as we can be," Hatake said. "Yamanaka-san, your clan and your allies are incredible warriors. The last thing I want is for you and yours to be swallowed up, as it were. It would be a great loss for everyone."
"Hatake-san, I appreciate the warning, but you can't possibly think that the three clans, plus the Sarutobi clan, aren't enough to protect ourselves."
"I think Senju-san might be able to change your mind about that," Hatake said, casually. "Since he's dealt with them first-hand and can tell you himself how much danger we're potentially facing."
"Hatake-san…!" Hashirama's chest felt tight in his armor. "Please, don't use me to scare people."
He received a host of glances in reply, but no words.
"…certainly, the Uchiha clan is powerful, Madara-sama especially, but…" He sighed, his eyes wandering back to the fan on the floor beside him. "Yamanaka-san, I'm not going to threaten you, and I don't want to scare you, either. But I truly don't want to see your home destroyed. That's the last thing I want."
Ino made a laugh-like noise in her throat. "Oh, you're sweet. Please don't worry about us. The well-being of my clan is, of course, first in my mind at all times. And, of course, I've considered a retreat and an alliance with TATE." She sighed. "It's my comrades I have to convince."
"This is the first I've heard this consideration," Hatake said.
"And that would be Shikamaru's fault," Ino replied, flatly.
"Figured it was."
"Shikamaru is… the Nara clan head, yes?" Hashirama said.
"When he's home," Ino said, managing to inject a little honey into her annoyance.
"I would like to talk to him myself, sometime," Hashirama said. "If you could introduce us, maybe…? I feel maybe I'd be more of a help on that level."
Ino wove her fingers together on her lap, and tilted her head in the other direction. "Let's take this meeting to the Nara compound. If we don't ambush Shikamaru, then I doubt we'll be able to meet him."
-/-
The Nara compound was nearly identical to the Yamanaka one, even up close, and had changed just as little from Hashirama's memories. The people that wandered about within, who said hello to Ino and the others, were dark-haired, and much slighter in build than the stocky Yamanaka they'd seen before.
But instead of wandering off to a smaller, side-house, as they had for Ino, they instead entered the large central mansion.
"Shikamaru's workshop is further in." Ino sighed after speaking. "I keep telling him to move it, but does he listen to me?"
"Ino-chan, do remember that I live here," a voice said. "I'm his assistance."
"Ah… that is true," Ino replied, naturally, and apparently to nobody.
Hashirama looked around to try and locate where the voice had come from, but all he saw were sliding doors and wooden pillars and tatami mats. "Who… said that just now?"
"Oh, that's just Asuma-sensei," Ino replied. "He lives in the house."
"Yes, but… where is he?" Hashirama said.
"Everywhere, really," Asuma's voice replied. "My heart's in the center of the house but my influence is around the entire foundation."
Hashirama felt like he was beginning to lean slightly sideways, despite himself.
"Ah, so is this that ghost Karin was telling me about, then?" Hatake said, glancing about the ceiling easily.
"Pardon me, but I am not a ghost," Asuma said.
"Asuma-sensei's heart was integrated into the foundation of the house by Shikamaru after there was an accident, a few years ago," Ino said. "He manages things here now."
"Your… body is the house, then?" Hashirama said.
"Something like that," Asuma replied, and quickly moved on. "Ino-chan, is there anything I can do for you?"
"Is Shikamaru home?"
"I'm afraid not. He's out doing rounds with Chouji."
Ino sighed. "Of course he is. Did he say when he'd be back?"
"Do you think he did?"
Ino sighed again. "I'll call him home, then…" She placed her hands on her temples for a moment, closing her eyes, but she opened them a moment later. "Oh, and, Asuma-sensei, you could probably keep the windows and front door open. There's a nice breeze today."
"Of course, Ino-chan."
As Ino returned to her meditative expression, the front door behind them slid open, and the rasping slide of windows being opened echoed throughout the rooms and the main hall of the mansion.
"…goodness, no wonder Karin talked about a ghost," Yamato said.
"I prefer 'displaced soul,' thank you," Asuma said.
"Oh, pardon me," Yamato replied.
"Signs and wonders," Hashirama said to himself, quietly.
Ino sighed once more, returning to them all. "Well, he'll be here soon. As soon as I mentioned we had a Senju guest he said he couldn't not come."
"Ah… I suppose I'm fairly important, then?" Hashirama said.
"He thinks you might be worth the trouble," Ino said. She paused. "His words, not mine. Let's go wait for them by the gate, it shouldn't take them long to get home."
They ended up waiting for a little more than a half hour, at the Nara gate. One of the Nara guards even asked Ino if she wanted for tea to be brought to them, which she declined, kindly. Hashirama began to grow uncomfortably warm in his armor, the early summer afternoon passing over the surrounding trees and offering little shade.
He was thinking of finally taking it off when the Iron Man arrived.
Hashirama was confused, initially, as there seemed to be two of them, at first.
One of them was an enormous figure covered in polished silver plate, well over nine feet tall. It wore a helm worked exquisitely with the face of a demon or a ghost, eyes and mouth narrowed nearly to slits.
The other was much smaller, by comparison; shorter than Hashirama, but only just. It was human in shape, certainly, but from the way it bounded and flew out of the forest, it seemed far more like a bird of prey or some other hunter. Its armor was red-painted metal, inlaid with gold; it too wore a helm, though a golden one, smooth and nearly featureless, with the same narrow-slit eyes and mouth worked into it. It was painted over with red highlights, almost like that of a kabuki actor.
The effect of both of the figures, rumbling and flying towards them with great speed, their faces inhuman and expressionless, was frightening indeed.
"What manner of creatures are these…?" Hashirama couldn't help himself.
"The Iron Man, and his war machine," Hatake replied.
The "creatures" stopped just short of the gate. The smaller of the two descended from its strange darting flight and landed before them, and immediately shifted into what was undeniably a vexed, and very human, stance, its hands on its hips.
"This what you called me here to see, Ino?" Its voice sounded male, and somewhat hollow.
"You took long enough," Ino replied, and looked up. "You okay there, Chouji?"
The giant silver figure was taking off its helm; a man's wide face with small eyes was beneath, cheeks decorated with Akimichi tattoos. His hair was cut close to his skull, and he'd obviously been sweating profusely. "I'm fine, Ino," he said.
"Hey, hey, talk to me, not him," the smaller figure said. "You called me over, right?"
"If you say so, Shikamaru," Ino said. "Hatake-san and Yamato-san from TATE are here."
"Ugh, those guys?" the smaller figure, apparently Shikamaru, replied.
Hashirama could see, now that he was coming closer, that in the center of his chest was a round emblem that had the Nara clan crest painted on it in blue, and that a similar crest was on the man called Chouji's armor.
"Also, 'Yamato'?" Shikamaru continued, gesturing to the man in question. "I thought his name was 'Yes-man.'"
"It's a pleasure meeting with you again, Nara-san," Hatake said, flatly. Yamato didn't say anything, just continuing to smile.
"If you're here to ask me to join your super-secret resistance army thing, I'm still not interested." Shikamaru began to walk past them and towards the gate.
"I'm not here to ask you," Hatake said. "I just brought someone with me that might put some things into perspective for you a little better."
"Yeah, like who? Another double-agent of yours?" Shikamaru said.
"No, Senju Hashirama."
Shikamaru stopped walking. His helmet—or was it his actual head?—rotated just a little too smoothly on its neck to face Hashirama.
"Were you actually listening to me when I hailed you and Chouji?" Ino said.
"Of course I was listening. I just thought you had come up with a particularly creative reason to get me back home, so it must have been important," Shikamaru replied. He reached Hashirama, and was looking him up and down, his head bobbing as he went. "Pretty flashy armor you got there."
"Um… thank you?" Hashirama replied.
Shikamaru snickered. "So you're the real Senju Hashirama, huh? The guy that thought he could actually make peace with the Uchihas?"
"I'm not sure how I can be anyone else," Hashirama said.
"Hm." He turned to Hatake. "So, when your little maid-monsters don't work, you bring me dead figureheads, huh, Fury?"
"He's the real deal, Nara-san," Hatake replied.
"Whatever." Shikamaru walked past them all and into the compound, and promptly jumped into the air and away from the rest of them in his strange diving-flight.
"Oh dear. Do you want me to get him?" Chouji said. He carried his helm under one arm, and was wiping at his forehead with the other.
"He'll be in the workshop," Ino said, shaking her head. "Hatake-san, Yamato-san, Senju-san, I'm very sorry. This might take a while."
"Nothing we didn't expect going in," Yamato replied, cheerfully.
They returned to the mansion in short time, the front door still open, as Asuma had left it.
"If you're looking for Shikamaru, he's getting changed," Asuma reported, as they went in.
"Excellent," Ino replied, and kept going through anyways. The hangers-on—minus Chouji, who said he was going to get changed himself—followed her pace, quick and deliberate.
They found Shikamaru standing in front of what appeared to be a series of human bodies lined up against the wall of his workshop, all of them in various states of undress, and seemingly asleep.
"Hey, hey, excuse me? A little privacy?" Shikamaru said, looking over his shoulder.
"You're just switching bodies, it's not like you're naked," Ino replied, folding her arms.
The metal man shook his head. "Fine, just give me a minute."
He worked his hand around the blue crest in the middle of his chest, and pulled it out; it seemed to be a canister of some sort. He stood in front of one of the bodies lined up against the wall, and pushed aside the front of the robe it wore to expose a black hollow in the middle of the chest. The canister went inside of it, and a few moments later, the metal man was still, head nodded forward.
And quite suddenly, the body against the wall opened its eyes, and stretched, as if waking up. "Okay, that's better." He adjusted his robe to close it, and scratched his scalp, making his loose black hair that much messier. "I hate having to do business in my suit."
"What… just happened…?" Hashirama said.
"I can swap my heart between bodies I've made for different purposes." Shikamaru had his hands spread slightly apart, his fingers flexed and glowing with chakra. The metal body he had previously seemed to inhabit began moving away from him, and came to rest against the wall like all the other bodies. "What, Fury didn't explain it to you?" he said, when he returned to them.
"I'm sorry, it's just, techniques like this didn't exist in my time," Hashirama said. "I'm still trying to… figure out how things like this work."
"And you think this guy somehow can help us with our current problem, Fury?" Shikamaru wore a small, sarcastic expression; his face seemed far too elastic to be a carved, artificial creation, and it made Hashirama feel even less at ease.
"Strength is strength, regardless of when or where it comes from," Hatake replied.
"Mm, no, I don't think that's right," Shikamaru replied. "I mean, in battle, do you continue to use tactics when they've already been proven ineffective?"
"Tactics, huh," Hatake said.
"Shikamaru…" Ino was sighing, shaking her head again.
Shikamaru didn't seem to notice her. "Say this guy's the real Senju Hashirama—nobody's seen him for eighty years, so, who's to say, but I wouldn't put it past you to throw a fake at me." He gestured at Hashirama, loosely. "Even if he's as powerful as my father and my grandfather said he was, he still lost against Uchiha Madara, and he caused the deaths of who knows how many people as a result. How is someone like that going to be any help against the Uchiha? Much less now?"
"Shikamaru, honestly!" Ino said.
"I'm not joining you, or your little friends, especially if you're going off and pulling shit like this," Shikamaru said. "There's no room in this world for idealists like Senju Hashirama. Idealism doesn't work."
Hatake didn't say anything. His arms were crossed, his expression patient.
"…young man, I may have failed in the past, and even if I can't correct every mistake I've made, even if I can't reverse all the damage I've done, I still have to at least try to fix things." Hashirama's tone was quiet, almost gentle. "I owe it to the people I've let down to do this. If I don't try, I've failed."
Shikamaru looked back at him, his mouth drawn low. He adjusted his robe again, a plain, white workman's jacket, trimmed with green.
"The hell, Fury," he finally said. "Where do you find guys like this?"
"Sealed up in trees, I guess," Hatake replied.
"I… really am who he says I am, you know," Hashirama said.
"What, you think I don't believe you?"
"You said yourself I might be-"
"Yeah, forget it," Shikamaru said. He tilted his head forward. "That fan you got with you. That's Uchiha handiwork, innit?"
"Yes, it, um… actually belonged to Madara-sama. But TATE gave it to me for my use," Hashirama replied.
Shikamaru scoffed. "Madara-sama, huh. Well, whatever." He crossed the room and went to a workbench, where what looked like a half-finished wooden torso rested. "I'm still not joining TATE, but I won't be an ass. Ino, let's have a party tonight."
"Excuse me?" Ino replied.
"You heard me." Shikamaru reached for an adze, and began working. "Get the kitchens going, prepare the sake, all that. Senju here deserves a welcome-back party. Asuma, can you find me a chisel?"
"Right away, Shikamaru," Asuma said, his voice much louder there in the workshop than it had seemed in the lobby.
Ino shrugged. "Well, all right. I'll take our guests to the Akimichi compound, Chouji should be changed by now," she said, gesturing to the exit.
"Are we done talking here?" Hatake said.
"Yup. See you at the party, Fury." Shikamaru just continued to work.
"Trust me, you might as well be invisible when he's working," Ino said, waving her hand. She smiled. "I'll introduce you to Chouji."
"Well, it's nice to see that Nara-san hasn't changed much," Yamato said, brightly, as they left the mansion.
"He's… well, I've seen more difficult people…" Hashirama said.
"He's been worse. And just between you and me," Ino said, looking back over her shoulder at them, "I think we'll be able to work something out tonight. I'll make sure of that."