A light sigh escaped Tsunade's moist lips as she gazed over her village, the mighty country of Konoha. At least, it was supposed to be her village. She wasn't sure that any sole person could boast the possession of Konoha anymore.
It was quite a nice day; the sun reflecting off of the buildings, the grass still wet from last night's gentle precipitation. A gentle breeze stirred the multicolored leaves below, dropping them to the ground at various paces. The weather was moving on steadily, leaving behind the people it affected despite their protests for it to wait up while they recovered from their wounds.
Despite her rather melancholy mood, and her certainly rotten predicament, Tsunade couldn't help the humorless smile that took the place of her troubled frown: that last sentence was probably something the Third would have said.
Her grip on the iron railing of the Hokage tower's balcony tightened and Tsunade twitched slightly, not allowing her stone cold facial expression to shed tears. Tears signified weakness, and weakness was not an option when you had an entire nation watching and following your every move, and when you had enemies just waiting to see a crack they could exponentially widen.
If only the Third was still alive. He would know what to do, as he always did. But the Third wasn't alive.
The humorless smile faded off of Tsunade's face, and a pained grimace took its place. It was as if the entire village was a large mouth, and it was repeating the same sentence over and over, "Help me, help me, help me, help me…"
"I'm trying," Tsunade whispered to no one in particular, burying her face in her hands. Her epic battle against tears was over. She had lost.
The plague was sudden and deadly, striking while Konoha was already at one of its lowest points: engaged in war with the outcast clan of Sabaku, a clan of shape shifters who carried a Kekkei Genkai that allowed them to morph their body's consistency to that of mere sand.
The war had been fairly one-sided for quite a while in Konoha's favor, seeing as the Sabaku had lost nearly all of their ninja skills over their many years away from civilization. The only way they had survived the steady onslaught was because of sheer numbers; they had spent many years collecting members. For nearly every ninja Konoha had, Sabaku had two, perhaps even three.
A final, unexpected attack – one that Tsunade had orchestrated from start to end – from Konoha had knocked Sabaku on to the ground, and, for a while, it seemed as if they wouldn't get back up. It was then, however, that they released their ultimate weapon upon their enemies: the Plague.
It was still a question mark as to how, when, or where it happened, but everybody knew that it had happened. A Konoha ninja had grown sick while fighting a Sabaku, and he spread that sickness to his partner, and he spread it to two, and so on and so forth until nearly a quarter of the village was sick.
It hadn't been anything to worry about at first: just a minor cough, perhaps some vomiting every now and then. But as more people contracted the illness, it grew worse; the minor coughs turned into coughing up blood and mucus, and the vomiting morphed into diarrhea.
The way the sickness itself developed inside of a victim's body was phenomenal, perhaps even groundbreaking in the medical world: the sickness absorbed its victim's chakra and transformed it into mucus, which spread to more mucus until finally the host body was one big walking ball of disgustingness.
And there was no possible cure.
Any medic that heard those words would probably scorn the one who said it, as Tsunade did to that poor messenger Nin, the one who had run nearly ten miles from the border to the heart of the nation to inform his Hokage of the bad news.
An anxious laugh emitted from Tsunade when she realized just how much confidence she had lost over such a short period of time, and she ran a hand through her hair in a nervous gesture, not bothering to wipe the drying tears from her face. What was the point, anyway? They would simply keep falling.
Medical Nin were taught from a very early age that there was a cure to every ailment, no matter how fierce, no matter how slim the chances of survival. That was the mentality Tsunade was wearing when she sent Sakura to tend to the first patient. She was determined that this was merely a cold:
Not even three days later, Sakura came back in shock: the patient had died, despite her using all possible methods.
Tsunade had sent her home angry that day, saying she had failed with perhaps a bit too much excitement than was necessary. The next day, she had personally gone to tend to the newest victim. He died, as well, in an even shorter time period then the first: exactly one day and nineteen hours.
Soon, it became worse: the victims began to die on the same day that they contracted the sickness; the Sabaku began to power through Konoha's 'iron hard' defense, breaking them to the core. People were dropping like flies in the heat. Tsunade was helpless, more helpless then she had ever felt before.
To add to the sorrow, Sabaku hadn't relented in their assault. That was two things for the Hokage to worry about, both of them with seemingly no possible cures.
Tsunade nodded absently as the glass door was opened and slammed, feeling the presence of someone leaning over the iron railing next to her. She didn't have to look to know that it was Shizune returning from the hospital.
"How many deaths?" It wasn't exactly the cheeriest first question, but this wasn't a very cheery situation, after all.
"Eighteen and counting," Shizune replied, her voice quavering. Tsunade guessed she was crying. Her lips shifted to ask another question, but she was interrupted by her assistant's quiet confession, "We've found another cure."
The statement wasn't said or received with much enthusiasm, as it usually was; nearly every week, Shizune informed that the scouting ninja had found a new 'cure' to the disease. Every time that happened, Tsunade put together a squad of ninja to chase that lead, no matter how thin it may seem. None of the ninja returned.
"Where?" Tsunade still refused to look up, her voice being muffled by the iron railing.
Shizune answered, "Literally the middle of nowhere. Apparently, a mountain range between the borders of Konohagakure and Kumogakure. A fresh water spring with 'mystical healing properties'. It may not be much, but it's our biggest lead."
It was quite obvious that Shizune herself had doubts about this 'cure'. It sounded like something one might read out of a children's fairy tale, Tsunade noted as she curved her lip upwards in disgust.
Flicking a hand toward the village, she questioned, "How many available shinobi?"
Shizune looked up with a gaze full of sadness, her fingers tapping together. "Tsunade-sama, you can't be serious; not a single squad has returned! You've sent four squads!"
Choosing not to reply, Tsunade instead wearily pushed her hair out of her face and let her previous question hang in the air, still waiting for the answer. Shizune sighed, defeated, and answered solemnly, "The most we can spare on this wild goose chase of a mission is two Genin."
"Send them here."
A frown darkened Shizune's face, and she gazed skeptically at her Hokage with puffy red eyes. "This can be possibly classified as an S-rank mission," She persisted, "Why send a pair of unlikely Genin? If anything, wait until someone like Hatake Kakashi or Yamato returns; this is practically suicide, sending those poor children out!"
"Send them here."
With another sigh, Shizune realized she was defeated once more. She pushed off the banister and made her way out of the Hokage tower, not eager to suffer yet more casualties.
Uzumaki Naruto was not expecting visitors.
He never really was, to be honest. The sudden outbreak of Plague only further diminished the possibilities, seeing as no one in their right mind would want to be outside in these conditions: not only was the plague contagious, it was airborne. People could get sick simply by taking in the fresh air.
Seeing as Naruto wasn't expecting visitors, he was doing one of the only things he could have been doing at the moment: eating ramen. However, he was also doing something he never thought he would have been doing before: eating ramen with a frown on his face.
Naruto was one of the more adventurous shinobi of Konoha, as everybody knew. Being held down wasn't an option for him; he either got to go anywhere he wanted, or nowhere at all. It even showed in his fighting style: he preferred to utilize the entire battlefield to his advantage, casting ranged attacks and melee attacks at his choosing.
Hence why Naruto was a very sad ninja at the moment. He'd been in his apartment for two days straight now, with no missions, no visitors, not even any quick trips outside to take a breath of fresh air; all of those things held a possibility of him getting sick.
"Sick, sick, sick," He muttered angrily as he idly stirred the ramen broth in his bowl. "I'm sick of being told I'm gonna get sick if I do anything!"
Having lost his appetite all of a sudden, Naruto placed the bowl in his microwave and fell on to his bed with a huff, leaving him staring up at the chipped ceiling. A groan escaped his lips; Sakura was in the hospital taking care of patients, Kakashi-sensei was out on an intelligence mission, and Sasuke was…who knew or cared where the hell Sasuke was? Probably with that bastard Orochimaru right now, observing Konoha at its weakest.
"Damn you, bastard," Naruto cursed with just a hint of longing hidden in his voice, licking his lips and rolling over to one side. "Leaving us here to suffer while you drink to your health." He knew he wasn't really angry, however. Simply more bored then anything.
He should be fighting right now, dammit! Or going out to scout the Sabaku, or something! Exactly what he should be fighting still remained a mystery, but anything would be better than this! Eating and sleeping and pooping, eating and sleeping and pooping, over and over and over and over…
Naruto didn't know how long he laid there, just staring out of the window at the apartment building directly next to him. Nor did he know how many times his bell buzzed before he noticed it, but it was probably quite a few.
"Go away." Naruto's voice was little more than a whimper as he told off the intruder, despite knowing that they couldn't hear him. After a few more buzzes of the bell surrounding him like an angry bee that he just couldn't run away from, the boy grudgingly rolled out of bed and approached the door.
"Who is it?" He attempted to mumble through the hard oak wood, his facial expression displaying annoyance, "I thought I told you people that I don't wanna buy any cookies. Leave me alone."
"Uzumaki Naruto," A sharp voice said clearly, "Your presence is requested with Hokage-sama."
Naruto's head perked up, and all traces of infuriation left his face. "Tsunade-baa-chan? What does she need?" He mentally slapped himself for that sentence. Of course he knew what she needed. "It's about that plague thingy, right?"
"Your presence is requested with Hokage-sama," The voice repeated in the same monotonous tone. Naruto grumbled, zipping his jumpsuit all the way up. People could at least try to talk, ya know. "Coming."
He was rather surprised to see, instead of Tsunade, Shizune standing on his doorstep with an expression full of worry. "Tsunade-baa-chan's assistant? Where's that pig that you usually have?"
Choosing to ignore Naruto's rather rude outburst, the woman simply handed the boy a thin gas mask and headed out the door, implying that he follow her. Tying the mask around his face, Naruto groused once more, "Everybody's laconic now. Everybody wants to be emo. Lovely."
He followed the woman outside, however, and they made their way across the village in silence.
Not for the first time, it struck Naruto how simply peaceful the village seemed to be in light of this pandemic, or whatever they called it. No, there were no parents rushing their children to the academy; no, there were no citizens making idle talk with the stand over; no, even Ichiraku was closed down. The only things that currently inhabited the streets of Konoha were the occasional passerby, and wild animals.
As they were climbing the stairs of Hokage tower, Naruto asked, "Aren't you gonna at least tell me a little bit about what Tsunade-baa-chan needs?"
Shizune remained silent, much to Naruto's chagrin. "Well, fine then," He mumbled. "Be like that."
His anger melted away at the sight of Tsunade, who had returned from the balcony to her usual perch at her desk. "Tsunade-baa-chan!" He cried in glee, adjusting his forehead protector. "You called me?"
Tsunade nodded. "Yes, Naruto." Shizune smirked in amazement at the sheer steadiness of the Hokage's voice; it was hard to believe that she had nearly broken down just an hour ago. Apparently, this was why she had been chosen to do her job.
Tsunade leaned over her desk, and spoke in a low voice, "I have a mission for you."
"A mission for me?" Naruto feigned surprise, though he grinned inwardly. This day was just getting better and better. "Well, what does this mission consist of?"
Tsunade flicked her hand to a seemingly empty corner of her office. "I already informed Hinata-chan of the details. There's no time to waste explaining it to you. You'll have to go now, and she'll fill you in."
Naruto's eyebrow tilted up, and he shifted his stare to the corner. He hadn't even noticed Hinata at first – possibly because she was attempting to hide –, but now it was quite obvious that she had been there all along: short blue shoulder length hair cut through the darkness like a hot knife through butter. Raising a hand in greeting, Naruto gave a lazy smile. "What's up, Hinata?"
The girl blushed profoundly and averted her eyes, managing a mere wave before she darted from the room and bounded down the stairs, her head lowered. Naruto stared after her in confusion, not even noticing Tsunade's deadpanned stare. The Hokage shook her head in wonder, before adding in a grave voice, "You need to go now, Naruto. This plague is serious. I'm quite sure you've heard of it. I'll tell you this much: you're going to the border between Konohagakure and Kumogakure. Don't stay in one place for too long."
Naruto gave a grim nod despite not fully understanding the advice. Shrugging off his doubts, he saluted and spun around to exit the room. Just as his hand was hovering over the doorknob, he hesitated. "Tsunade-baa-chan," He began, his voice just as grave, "Why did you send me, of all people? I know I'm good, but why not someone like Neji, or even Lee?"
Tsunade and Shizune shared a glance, and Tsunade nodded. She had expected this question long before the boy's arrival. Carefully avoiding Naruto's query, she simply said, "Lee and Neji are on missions with Gai. Now go." She flicked her hand to the door, and turned her attention back to the paperwork on her desk.
An uneasy nod from Naruto, before he left the room in silence, presumably to meet Hinata at the village gates.
After the boy left, Shizune tentatively asked one last question, "Do you think they can really do it, Tsunade-sama?"
Tsunade sighed, and scribbled her signature on another sheet of paper, not bothering to look up.
"We can merely hope, Shizune. We can merely hope."