Author's Note:
Italics refer to someone's internal thoughts, while words or phrases outlined with apostrophes, such as 'this', simply mean emphasis.
On the outside, the village seems like it always does; peaceful and quiet. Granted, the giant walls surrounding this isolated society prevent anyone outside of the village to see any activity happening within its borders, but the general feeling that one got when approaching the village, in spite of the appearance of the barrier, was peace of mind, as the four giant gates on all sides seemed almost inviting. Konohagakure no Sato, within all five of the great shinobi nations, was among the most stable, peaceful kakurezato; little internal strife, a startling low criminal and homicide rate, and a stable, strong leadership under the Hokage, Tsunade.
Today, in spite of her strong will and similarly strong voice, Tsunade was, for the time being, uncharacteristically silent. She gave little emotion, and what emotion people detected from her had a hint of depression. She had right to be; after everything that had happened over the years. Konohagakure was silent, but peaceful was not the word to describe it; subdued would be better. This village, along with the help of other kakurezato, had slowly reduced the Akatsuki's numbers, but the groups influence and power has grown exponentially in spite of it, and, to Konohagakure, this simple fact proved tragic. Sarutobi Asuma, the son of the Third Hokage, died at the hands of Hidan, the immortal Evil-God cleric. While Asuma was avenged, and other members of Akatsuki were eliminated, Pain, murderer of the legendary Sannin Jiraiya, copy-cat ninja Hatake Kakashi, and many other high-level shinobi, was still at large as one of the two heads of Akatsuki. And who knew his true power of this Pein, or the other presumably lead Akatsuki, Uchiha Madara, or, hell, any of the other remaining members of Akatsuki. This weighed heavily on the Hokage, as the deaths bore down on the emotions of most of the village.
But one person refused to accept defeat. He had to lift the spirits of the village, even if it cost him his life or, worse, a day of reprimanding by his sensei.
"Get back here, you brat!" The voice echoed through the street, which was lined with businesses and flooded with people. Business owners, aggressive merchants, stubborn customers bent on getting a bargain, and passerby all turned to what has become an all too familiar of a sight; a short, skinny 13-year-old kid with spiky brown hair and a forehead accessorized by a green pair of goggles, running as fast as he can with a wide grin on his face. Unlike most shinobi, he wore his hitai-ite around his right arm, just below the shoulder. "Konohamaru!" Konohamaru felt the gazes that were weighing down on him lift as everyone turned to the source of the voice. Everyone knew that voice; it was the old geezer that ran the old weapons shop down the road; however, what they saw, instead, was a clown, a clown whose ferocity was nearly masked by the perfectly done red and white makeup and big bulbous nose. But that hair, that voice. He didn't, they thought seriously, but the more they looked, the more they realized. And the louder the laughter became.
"That's what you get for sleeping on the job!" Konohamaru yelled as he ran off. I am legendary. His face burned in pain caused by his disastrous attempt at subduing his comically wide grin. These turn of events reminded him of only one person. Naruto-sensei, I'll be even better than you'll ever be. But the thought, which typically inspires him to become even more mischievous, in the circumstance that such a thing was even possible, today it dampened that oh-so-exuberant feeling. His smile faded somewhat. I wish you were here; you could see me in all my majesty. While he did want to see the look on Uzumaki Naruto's face when Konohamaru finally tops the master prankster, he also just wanted Naruto's presence. The blonde, spiky haired teenager, dubbed Konoha's "Number-One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja" by his peers, was Konohamaru's role model and, in the world of pranks, his teacher and guide. But Naruto has been away from this village on missions at an unusually high rate, and his so-called student had no clue where he was at.
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Elsewhere, somewhere in the rice fields that were formerly the Land of Sound, a young ninja was in deep meditation. He loathed the thought of doing such a hideous act, being so still when so much always needs to be done, lives to be saved, threats to be averted. But when he got down and did it, he always calmed down, his thoughts came to order (relatively speaking), and his spirits lifted. And being right next to one of the many rice fields intensified the calm, as the rustling of the wind through the fields seemed to drown out any straying thoughts that occurred through the shinobi's mind. The only place better would be inside one of the fields, but then he'd get yelled at. Not to mention that he'd be soaked from the pool of water needed to sustain the plants.
Uzumaki Naruto's destination was Sunagakure, in the Land of Wind to the southwest. However, given that the mission allowed him a weeks journey, over three times the amount of time needed to transverse the distance, he took a detour to the north, thinking that having a clear mind would help on this duties. Not that it mattered; this was a D-rank mission that he took only because it gave him an excuse to come to his personal meditation spot. The only reason he was even given the opportunity was because the Jonin and Chuunin were busily preparing the village for the next Chuunin exam, which is to occur in a fortnight, and most of the Genin were, as a result, given a break from the action. He figured that picking up supplies and decorations for the exams would be a healthy break from his training, a fact he only accepted due to his recent, inexplicable fatigue. It had to be all that training, Naruto thought, but I've done worse and recovered way quicker than this. Guess that damn fox is too lazy to help me out. Either that or he needed a vacation too. It only took a second when Naruto came up with a conclusion, one that put a small grin on his face. Yeah, right.
Naruto knew that the Kyuubi's chakra still permeated his body. He tripped over a small pebble a few hours ago in his pursuit of the perfect mediation spot, scraping his hands and knees to the point where blood was dripping constantly out of them; now, the only evidence of his fall were the holes in the knees of his black pants. No scars, no scabs, not even a bruise. So why the hell was he so tired? Yeah, it had to be the training. Satisfied, he headed back South, aiming to be back in the Land of Fire's borders by night fall. He only had a few hours, but his fatigue didn't stop him from running down the path, jumping into the tree line the moment he distanced himself from the rice field and entered the surrounding forest. Although he attempted diligently to focus, his mind once again wandered and thoughts flowed through his mind; thoughts of Uchiha Sasuke, the friend that betrayed the village, his deceased mentors, Kakashi and Jiraiya, and of Konohagakure itself.
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"Hey, kid." Konohamaru heard from behind him. He successfully managed to avoid detection by most of the townspeople, but one person managed to find him. Not only that, to Konohamaru's chagrin, this person was able to avoid detection, even in the middle of the street. Worse of all, this person didn't even know the legend he was speaking to.
"The name's not kid," Konohamaru yelled as he whipped around to face his enemy. "The name's Konohamaru."
"No reason to yell," said the other ninja, pacing leisurely towards the young Konohamaru. This ninja was taller, a chuunin by the looks of it. Although most of his details were invisible in the night, what stood out was his hair; it, to Konohamaru's slight amusement, resembled a spiky tropical fruit.
"Sorry, pineapple-san," Konohamaru sneered.
"So troublesome," was the reply. Although it was too dark to see, Konohamaru knew that the person who now stood mere feet from him was glaring at him. "You know, I don't appreciate being called a fruit."
"Sorry, Nara-sensei." Konohamaru, defeated, looked at the floor. Nara Shikamaru sighed, then, smiling lightly, kneeled down so that his eyes once again met Konohamaru's.
"Nah, I should be the one apologizing. And I don't deserve the title of 'sensei.'"
"But sensei, you've been leading us on all sorts of missions and stuff while Ebisu-san is away doing other stuff."
"Kid, I can only imagine how 'Ebisu-san' would react if you gave me a higher honorific than him."
"I don't care. He's a pervert anyway!" Konohamaru's grin returned in spades, fading only slightly when he saw Shikamaru slowly turn around and walk away. Konohamaru stood in place for a second, then, an idea springing into his head, he sprinted down a nearby alleyway and disappeared out of sight. Now Shikamaru was alone. Not that it mattered to the shadow user anyway.
I meant to ask him why he's trying to pull a Naruto at a time like this. 'Pulling a Naruto' was the term many of the villagers had used to describe Konohamaru's recent prank-prone habits. It was meant to be derogatory, as most of the villagers hated Naruto, but Konohamaru took the term with pride; it was proof that Konohamaru was living up to Naruto's greatness. Shikamaru sighed. But he's probably the only person in this entire village who isn't depressed. It is so troublesome to walk through this city with everyone walking on eggshells. Perhaps these people do need to lighten up.
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Next day, elsewhere in the Land of Fire
"Itadakimasu!" Naruto, in his experience as a genin, knew that packing well was key to survival. He also knew that it was a must to build the perfect fire; a fire just warm enough to cook a bowl of instant ramen without melting its plastic container. Grinning evilly at the steaming bowl in front of him, he knew that no bowl of ramen on this planet stood a chance against him. He had a clump of noodles in the pair of chopsticks he held expertly in his hand when...
"What the...?" He kicked dirt into the fire, extinguishing the flames immediately, grabbed his backpack and his ramen bowl, and hid behind a nearby tree. There, he waited anxiously, eyeing the gap in the trees where he thought he heard something move and, at the same time, still diligently slurping noodles with the aid of his chopsticks. It didn't take long before the culprit showed up.
"Idiot."
Hearing the voice right behind him, Naruto lept into the air, aiming for the canopy of the tree above him. He landed on a branch, but his balance was off, and he flipped over. He managed to focus his chakra on his feet and hand upside down, but the damage was done. What was left of his ramen bowl was now spilled on the forest floor. "You'll pay for that!"
"There is a possibility of rogue shinobi in the area. It is advised to hold your current position until the investigation is complete," the culprit announced flatly. Then a hint of sharpness and sarcasm entered the ANBU's voice. "Although if your idea of stealth is anywhere near what I have just seen, you'll probably just get killed anyway." He wore a completely black jumpsuit, accessorized gray armor that strapped over his shoulders and wrapped around his abdomen. His hair was long and unkempt, and his face was covered by a mask resembling a bird.
ANBU, Naruto thought quietly as the masked shinobi disappeared in a puff of smoke. Although he trusted most of ANBU, with the exception of the Root division and its leader, Danzo, he doubted what he was told. While "staying still" would have been perfectly logical for most genin, Naruto was not like most genin. Even with his latest ailment, his skills surpassed most genin. Then again, it didn't hurt being among the oldest, most experienced genin in the village; everyone else had ascended to chuunin status. Besides, if he waited around too long, the people at his destination would get ticked off. As strong as he was, he did not want to tick anyone off. Especially people in control of puppets, giant metal fans, or the sands themselves. Besides, he was too exhausted to deal with any repercussions of his tardiness. His mind made up, he checked his surroundings, concluding that the ANBU had left the area completely, further justifying his doubts, and swung himself from his still upside-down position and leaped away towards his destination. At this rate, he should make Sunagakure by nightfall.
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"Yay!" Konohamaru exclaimed. He, along with his two teammates, Moegi and Udon, were standing in front of the Hokage's desk, and he no longer sported his green goggles. They had reason to be excited; not only was it their first "B" rank mission, but they were also heading in the direction of the Land of Wind. That meant that they were bound to come across Naruto, and Konohamaru could tell Naruto of all his nefarious deeds.
"So, correct me if I'm mistaken," Shikamaru, leaning against the doorway of the Hokage's office. "There is a new structure that was recently built within the borders of the Land of Wind, without the consent of that country's Feudal government. Since that government doesn't want to tarnish the reputation of the villages within its borders, they decided to let us do the dirty work. Sounds simple enough."
"That is correct," Tsunade answered, leaning forward on her desk, her arms crossed in front of her on top of a bunch of papers. "Dismissed."
The three genin made no effort to hide their ecstasy as they sprinted out the door of the office, forcing Shikamaru to shift his weight to avoid getting ran over. Once the yells and cheers died, away, Shikamaru turned to Tsunade. He didn't have to grab her attention; he knew that she was expecting him to say something, as they knew each other too much to believe otherwise.
"What you explained to these kids was nothing more than a C-rank mission," Shikamaru explained. "Given the lack of ANBU presence in the village since the time this building was first spotted, I will assume that they are also investigating, so we may come across a few of them as we approach the village. If this is true, and you still feel the need to investigate, that would only mean that the ANBU are hiding details from you and are acting out of their own accord. Lastly, since you are only deploying this as a B-Rank mission, in spite of this, our true objective is to simply conclude whether or not a more thorough, risky investigation is necessary."
"Very good, Shikamaru," Tsunade replied, smiling at the prodigy. "However..." This caused Shikamaru body to tense up slightly. He didn't remember the last time he heard any of his predictions countered.
"ANBU is acting out of its own accord, but not entirely in secret. While I did not give the authority to initialize this investigation, neither did I veto the request; as a result, due to ANBU's limited autonomy, what they are doing is legal. Also, the groups investigating are updating me with information, and..." Tsunade went silent, unfolding her arms and leaning back on her chair.
"The information you've received troubles you," Shikamaru predicted.
"Not so much the nature of the information," Tsunade replied, grimly, "but the sheer lack of it." Shikamaru's eyes widen slightly.
"You mean to tell me that, after several months of investigation, ANBU still doesn't know what the hell is going on?"
"More or less," Tsunade's face brightened slightly, and she stood up.
Most days I can read this woman like a book, Shikamaru thought, but today it's like trying to predict a five-year-old with schizophrenia and multiple-personality disorder.
"And that's were you come in," Tsunade continued. "I specifically timed this mission so that you will meet up with Naruto Uzumaki on his way to the Sand Village. You will tell him to abandon his current mission, as the current mission has far higher priority. The five of you will head to the designated location, where you will devise a method to penetrate the outer walls of the building and find as much information as possible. That is all." Tsunade had purposely left out a small bit of information, and was not disappointed when Shikamaru gave a sly smile.
"Tsunade-sama," Shikamaru stated, "what you are leaving out is that ANBU could have penetrated the outer walls, but are wary of doing so. So you need some way to penetrate the walls without putting lives at risk. You figured that the best way to do this is to take advantage of Naruto's and Konohamaru's kage bunshins, and you also figured that I would be the best way to devise a plan and improvise, since Konohamaru can only do about four or five clones before tiring, an impressive feat in and off itself, and Naruto isn't up to his usual self." Tsunade was slightly surprised by this last remark.
"Oh?"
"If you'd let me explain, Naruto's stamina, likely due to his recent training, has left him drained, and his rate of recovery is sluggish, even for 'normal' shinobi. You were not aware of that, Tsunade?"
"I was," the Hokage said, leaning onto her feet and stood, breaking herself from Shikamaru by gazing out the large window behind her. "His recovery has been a bit slow for his own standards, but he should be fine by the time you reach him."
"No," Shikamaru replied. The sharpness of his tone, uncustomary to a Nara, caused the Hokage to pivot around and face the usually relaxed shinobi. "When someone exhausts themselves to the point that Naruto does, their initial recovery is typically slow, but as they rest, the rate of stamina recovery typically accelerates. Naruto, due to his unusual chakra, goes through the process faster but still follows the same pattern. Or at least, he should.
"However, I've been watching Naruto train before he went on this mission, and his recovery over the last two weeks have slowed significantly, maybe even plateaued" Tsunade eyed him carefully, bracing for whatever the Nara was about to say.
"Not only may Naruto recover back to his full strength by the time we meet," Shikamaru concluded, his voice returning to its flat, unemotional state, "but his chakra may never fully recover again."
Tsunade knew what the young man was talking about, but that still didn't stop her somewhat frightened appearance. In her days as a medic-nin, she saw a small number of patients that have suffered Chakra Saturation Fatigue, a very rare condition typicaly afflicting shinobi with exceptional amounts of chakra or, more commonly, shinobi that artificially increase their chakra reserves. According to medical logs, when a person's chakra system starts becoming exhausted, the systems responsible for producing the energy increase their metabolism and, therefore, increase the rate of chakra production. When the levels of chakra become too great for the body to bear, the system decreases its production. In rare cases, however, the system can overcompensate and permanently stifle its own production, leading to chronic fatigue effectively and, in extreme cases, ending that person's life as a shinobi. There was no known cure or treatment.
"So what do you expect Naruto's strength will be if your assumption is true?" Tsunade asked, worried.
"Far better than most who suffer from Chakra Saturation Fatigue," Shikamaru replied, confirming Tsunade's original suspicions. "He should still be able to handle about half a dozen shadow clones, more than most Chuunin..."
"Tsunade," a woman in black hair and a black kimono walked into the doorway, interrupting the conversation. "An ANBU wishes to speak with you."
"I'm sorry, Shikamaru, but that concludes our meeting, Shikamaru," Tsunade asked. "But there is two other things I must state."
"I'm listening," Shikamaru said, his back already to Tsunade.
"Due to Naruto's predicament, the rank of this mission has increased to A-rank. Also, and I forgot to mention this to you earlier, you will be followed by a backup team." She turned to the woman. "Shizune, I'm aware that you were listening to our conversation."
"Aye," Shizune responded quickly.
"You are to round up two other medic-nin and leave the village two hours after Shikamaru's team leaves. You are to track them to their destination and administer any medical help they and any ANBU may need."
"Aye!" Shizune didn't know whether to be nervous or excited; being Tsunade's personal assistant, she had not been on a field mission in nearly three years. Tsunade trusted her more than anyone else in the village, and she knew it, but such a fact didn't repel a slight feeling of unease. Shikamaru, on the other hand, was indifferent. Deciding that he heard everything he needed to hear, he walked out the doorway where he was leaning. Tsunade paid him no mind.
"While I trust absolutely what Shikamaru said, there is still several aspects of Naruto's condition that have me worried, Shizune." Shizune just stood still, listening intently. "First, Naruto's training largely involved the use of senjutsu."
"Senjutsu?" Shizune was surprised. "You mean, where they manipulate the energy of their environment? At that young of an age?" The only reason Shizune, as well as Tsunade, know about this technique was through Jiraiya. Although the old perverted hermit typically kept the secret under a tight mental lock, he wasn't nearly as careful after he had a few too many saucers of sake in his bloodstream.
"That is correct. Senjutsu becomes effective when its user enters 'sage mode,' or 'hermit mode' as it can also be named, radically increasing the user's strength and allowing him to use the energy of his environment as his own chakra. Naruto may very well be the only human capable of such a feat. Two things concern me, however. First of all, outside of this initial transformation, Senjutsu, while reliant on the user's chakra, isn't abnormally demanding of it. There should be no circumstance where his system should be forced to compensate for chronically excessive levels of chakra, the cause of Chakra Saturation Fatigue. Secondly, he has suffered levels well above those endured during senjutsu due to the Kyuubi, especially in his confrontation with Orochimaru; had he this condition, it should have occurred immediately following that fight or earlier.
"There is more information we need to know about Naruto's health, and I need to stay and help the village. Shizune, you are the only one I trust who can trust in this..." Tsunade thought for a minute. "No, there is one other medic I recommend you take with you..."
