Disclaimer- I Don't own Naruto, It belongs to the creators. I just love it to death.
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Tsunade's eyes narrowed with concern as she gazed down at Naruto's fragile form, his bandaged body broken and battered from the brutal battle with Sasuke. The new skin on his chest, a gruesome reminder of the devastating blow he'd suffered, seemed to mock her, a constant reminder of her failure to protect him. She worried not only about his physical health, but also about the mental toll that this ordeal had taken on him. The pain and anguish etched on his face, even in sleep, spoke volumes about the turmoil that ravaged his mind. Tsunade's heart ached as she thought about the young ninja's future, wondering if he would ever be able to recover from the trauma he'd endured. She knew that Naruto's spirit was unbreakable, but she also knew that even the strongest of wills could be worn down by the relentless onslaught of pain and suffering.
It's been three days since Kakashi brought in the young blonde on his shoulder looking dead to the world with a hole in his chest. She had nightmares for the next two nights of that. The same horrible feeling of helplessness seeping back in. She knew if not for the kyuubi going overboard, Naruto was as good as dead. Hell he would have been gone even if she would have been at Kakashi's place at the valley of the end. Never did she think she would be grateful to a tailed beast. But nothing in her life is normal now. She blames the blonde gaki for this. Will probably give him a piece of her mind when he wakes up.
Checking the progress, her mind wandered to the mission and how horribly everything went wrong related to it.
Orochimaru outsmarted them again, a week ago she got a report of sighting of Sound shinobi attacking a village in Land of fire. Knowing time is of the essence and the pressure of being seen doing something against her wretched old teammate. She dispatched a team of jonin for it. This was a clear cut ANBU mission, but somehow she didn't have an ANBU available for that very moment. Something she found heavily strange since it's not hard for ANBUs to mix and create a temporary working team for B or A Rank Missions. Knowing that aside from the commander himself, there is only one person who has the power to manipulate ANBUs availability during such times, she knew it was not a coincidence by a long shot. But if Danzo is involved with Orochimaru, then his crimes which already are probably higher than any ninja in the history to ever exist, got upgraded with murder of the sitting Hokage as well. Thought the New Hokage with Furious Expression.
Damn you sensei! Damn you all fossils to hell ! She needs Sake for this. Any more nagging of those two codgers about losing the Uchiha and she will bash their head.
To think, they have the gall to just ignore what happened and demand an inquiry over 'losing' the Uchiha. As if 3 members of a 5 men team being in hospital doesn't scream proper effort to them. Clan hiers no less.
"Lady Tsunade, Elder Utatane-sama and Elder Mitokado-sama are waiting for you in the office. They are saying you must send a full jonin squad for retrieval of the Uchiha as soon as possible." said her student and companion.
"Ask them to go to hell, Shizune! I am not sending a single fucking genin for that brat! Much less a jonin squad."
"Sensei! You can't disrespect Elders like that!" replied Shizune, her face scandalised. God, why is her student still such a wimp? She is a Jonin for god's sake.
"I will say whatever the fucking hell I want to say to them, Shizune. This is all their fault as well. They let the Uchiha Brat think he shits gold. Now, he shat on their faces and they did not like it. But they want to put the blame on Naruto for all this. Even though he almost! Almost died trying to get that piece of shit back to this goddamn village!" I said, more like I shouted to the poor girl. But she had it coming. They are after her blonde gaki. She should defend her stance instead of cowering to those old coots.
"And your anger and language will only worsen his case Lady Tsunade. Naruto is not well liked in the political circle of the village for definitely wrong but obvious reasons. And Uchiha's name carried quite a lot of political clout for this village even now. They will use that to get more power from the clans against you. You may get away acting like that today. But they will use all the leverage they will gather to act against you when you may need support the most. And you will need it Sensei. They will not stop coming after Naruto, especially if Naruto starts training for real, which he needs considering the dangerous people who are after him."
Uh !! I sighed. She is right. As always. If she let her anger get the best of her now. They will just use it against her later. Probably, No, definitely to harm Naruto.
"Then let them wait for me a bit, Shizune. I am the fcking leader of this Village. They need to understand that. Rather we have to make them get that. I am not making the same mistakes Sensei did. Else we will lose Naruto."
Nothing to say, Shizune took her leave to check on other patients.
I sighed as I sat on the bed near the sleeping gaki. She never thought she would ever feel like this for anybody. Not since Nawaki died. To care about someone like a family. But the brat is just too much for her to maintain her facade.
"He will be okay, Hime. Brat is made of pretty strong stuff." Came the voice of her other wretched teammate. She scowled at him. Can't he come anywhere like a normal person? Atleast in hospital for fuck sake. Knowing better to argue that, I just turned back to the Status Report.
" How is he doing ? Normally he should have woken up by now, it's been three days." said the pervert. He tried but he couldn't hide the concern in his voice. She thought, smiling about it.
" He should, theoretically, But nothing looks normal here. Even by Jinchuriki standards. His body healed the vitals pretty fast but then there has been massive slow down in other recovery. Also there is this change in his chakra. Naruto before the mission had a negligible amount of Yin chakra, No doubt caused by Uzumaki Traits and Yang half sealed in him. But now as he is slowly getting his reserves back his Yin chakra seems to quadruple suddenly. It cannot be because of Kyuubi. Hell it should have gone even lower instead. And then there's the physical changes. Gaki grew up almost 2 inches in the last 3 days. His body, even though is recovering , still supported this growth. I had to give him 10 food pills a day to maintain his energy levels. Though both should be welcome changes, Not knowing the reason is a cause for concern"
"Heh, so the blonde gaki won't be gaki for much longer, eh Princess? As for the cause, I think Kyuubi this time healed him from the very core. This probably covered his malnutrition and chakra issues as well I guess. God knows that kid has never eaten a single healthy meal all his life. Even when he could afford it. His mother was the same. Ramen Loving freaks." Said the pervert.
And that is the core issue between them. Jiraiya does not have any serious bone in his body when it doesn't concern the village. He just can't have any personal issue with the seriousness it deserves. Always making light of the situation. If he had, then Naruto would never have to go through any of his suffering. I could put that in his face, but knowing the pervert, it'll only make him avoid Naruto more.
Dropping the issue. She changed the topic to the matters he would take seriously.
"Any Report on where Uchiha might be taken. I know the snake bastard has some bases but he won't put Sasuke in any place we could infiltrate easily. That should narrow down the search. Also while at it, I also want you to look at our own mission arrangements, Jiraiya, as discreetly as possible." She said while maintaining the hand based fuinjutsu seal for the sound barrier. One of the few nifty tricks she learned from her Grandmother.
"And Why is that ? You suspect something?"
"Not anything you don't already do. ANBU to get busy for the exact period when they are needed, Orochimaru to get access to the graves of my ancestors, and his political dealings. We both know Orochimaru would just kill and impersonate or install a cursed seal puppet instead of ever politicking with nobles. It speaks of a hidden ally whose ambition at least for now aligns with Orochimaru. I know only one person in this entire village who will be foolish enough to do so"
" Sensei has always been soft on him. No matter how many times konoha has to suffer losses of innocent and loyal soldiers due to that man's shenanigans. If u think he is involved then its high time this issue gets nipped for real, Princess, because with uchiha gone his full focus will be on Gaki."
"Why do you think I'm telling you this now, You old pervert. I know what he is after, I am sitting on it. And Naruto in his mind is the only way to get that. He tried this against sensei and Naruto and to an extent the whole village suffered due to sensei's weakness. We must do something about it. It looks too early as Danzo has very high political backing, but we cannot give him time to counter us." I said.
"What's the order then princess?" Offered the insufferable fool.
"Capture one, keep it secret, work on removing his seal without killing or damaging the soldiers. We need any form of evidence, verbal or written, we can get before we make a move against him. If we make mistakes, then Daimyo will get involved and that will not be in favor of anybody."
"On it princess. Will report any advancements. See ya!", and there he goes. I swear he acts more like a monkey then Sensei ever did ! Bloody Pervert.
I guess she should also go back to nagging those elders. The more she makes them wait, they will chew her head just as long. They took that only trait from her granduncle it seems.
She looked back again to the bed, one final time. Please Get well soon Gaki.