All things Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Dwellin just collects with the action figures and writes fanfic.

Chapter 1

The slender, dark haired assistant gave a polite knock to announce her intended entry thereby giving the person inside time to hide any sake` bottles in evidence.

Shizune paused for a breath and let it out a sigh before knocking again. She may be the assistant to the person considered the head and heart of the village yet the beleaguered aide often secretly thought her job should include the title of glorified babysitter to an unmanageable adult. Although, she had to admit, as she blew an errant bang out of her eye, things had been getting better over the past several months.

She waiting a moment and before entering the office. With a covert glance around, she quickly took in the deceptively calm scene of a hard-working Hokage hunched over a stack of papers in front of her.

Shizune was not fooled.

Her superior could have at least pretended to check the schedule which had been nudged out of the way so that it was precariously perched on the edge of the desk. It was obvious to the assistant that the Hokage certainly had no intention of rescuing it, let alone paying attention to what was written there.

Why do I even bother?

Knowing her superior as well as she did Shizune noted that the older woman held fingertips to her temples as if her head was as fragile as spun glass.

Shizune softly informed, "Your two o'clock is here. Remember, you wanted Ibiki's update on the new prisoner?"

"Right, right" breathed out Tsunade cursing the pain reverberating and stabbing at the sides of her skull as if trying to break it in pieces. She could swear that one and only one bottle of sake was consumed the night before and now it felt as if the Konoha marching band was parading around inside her head… with out of tune instruments.

"Let him in," she muttered as she finally gave in and released enough power to wipe away all traces of a night of gambling and drink. Her head still felt tender but at least it didn't feel like her eyeballs were going to pop out of her head from the unrelenting pressure of a hangover gone wild.

"He's already here, standing in front of you."

Tsunade managed to lift her head to get a glimpse of the village's special elite ninja and head of the interrogation division before leaning back in her chair to rest her head and close her eyes.

"Report," she managed in a rough whisper.

As usual Ibiki's scarred face gave no hint of his thoughts as he started his report in a flat monotone with saying, "Hokage, the girl was very informative. We used our least invasive methods at the end and found her to be very susceptible to them."

It was some time later when Ibiki slowed, taking a breath while watching his superior intently to make sure she was able to follow along in her current state.

At his pause she opened her eyes and gave him a sharp look he was quite familiar with, she hadn't missed a word of what he was saying.

Observing the impatient look she was giving him and he quickly pressed on with his report.

Ibiki then paused again to give Tsunade's a chance to respond, but from her half-lidded stare he wasn't sure if she was still with him or not. That is, he didn't think so until she waved her hand gesturing for him to continue. Taking a breath, he delivered the rest of the report. At the conclusion, he also gave his standard appraisal that the enemy should be eliminated once it appeared that any further information couldn't be gleaned.

He eyed his superior. One elbow was on the desk propping her chin in hand gave her the appearance of being deep in thought. He gave a mental shrug; nothing for it but to forge ahead and restate his opinion.

Tsunade let out a sigh that caused her massive chest to rise and fall. Ibiki kept his eyes fixed on her face as she asked, "And how about Madara and Sasuke? Anything new in that area?" The Hokage lifted her head enough to peer up at Ibiki with one open bleary eye.

At the moment the thing she most appreciated about this particular ninja was that his voice was quiet and smooth.

He lowered his gaze to the floor in front of him as if giving him a moment to collect his thoughts and get them in order before replying. Tsunade closed her eyes again ready to listen.

"It appears she knows almost nothing about Madara or his plans. What she does know has more to do with Sasuke…which is a troubling matter all on its' own. Put that with what Naruto saw and heard and we get the same. One thing we have learned is true; she is a sensor of the first degree. We have never had anyone in our village with the depth of talent and range as she exhibits. Shame she's an enemy."

"Great. Little or next to nothing about Madara. What does she have to say about Sasuke then?"

"He's dark, yet fascinating."

Now one tawny eye opened and narrowed as she studied him. "I don't care about her opinion on whether she finds dark-haired men attractive…"

The look wasn't lost on him so he cut in and quickly explained, "She's describing his chakra."

"What about his chakra being dark?" Shizune interrupted without meaning to.

Tsunade lifted a hand and gestured lazily for Ibiki to continue.

He sighed a bit. He preferred the use of facts. Feelings were iffy, unstable things and he didn't like dealing with them. The thing was, the Hokage wanted to know what the prisoner had said and this is what the prisoner had talked about.

"She said that his chakra was changing. When she first knew him, it had been…" his mouth twisted as if tasting something foul and disgusting, "Sexy!" he finally spit out. "Then it turned dark and darker while growing malevolent and bitter among other things, but those the words were the most frequently used."

The Hokage's head lifted off her hand and now both eyes open to give him her full attention. Even Shizune leaned forward. Obviously it meant something more to them than it did him.

"She also said that it was changing with each battle he fought since killing Orochimaru." The only show of expression on the scarred man's face was a downturn of his mouth.

In the same monotone voice he said, "She can be erased if that is your desire."

Tsuanade felt the headache that had disappeared come back with a vengeance. She would do what was expedient for the village make no mistake about that. However and here she rubbed her temples again. There was always a twinge in her gut when it finally was time to give such an order. Not that she ever allowed it to show on her face though.

She pondered the problem of this female that wasn't exactly the glowing picture of mental health and emotional stability. What was the wise decision here?

"Oh, this is something interesting we found out just today."

Tsunade lifted her eyes to stare at him blearily. "Yes?"

"Her clan name is Uzumaki."

Silence descended over the room to the point one could have heard a leaf float down and land on the desk.

Hangover completely forgotten, Tsunade shot to her feet, slammed her palms on the desk and leaned forward to demand, "Are you absolutely certain of this?"

"The file on your desk has a photograph of her," Shizune said with a strained smile. If Tsunade-sama had bothered to open the folder and read the contents she would have seen it for herself.

Ibiki's face mirrored only momentary surprise before falling back into its usual bland, impassive expression. He inclined his head in affirmation while saying, "Of this we are most certain. There was no reason for her to lie. Besides, she does have the requisite red hair."

Tsunade slowly sunk to her chair considering the news. Uzumaki? Could it be?

"Unbelievable." Shizune muttered to herself.

"After all these years, another Uzumaki? What are the odds?"

"Very low," remarked Ibiki even though the Hokage had been speaking rhetorically. "Few survived; and any descendants are scattered to the four winds, mostly married into other clans and families so it is hard to determine exactly where the bloodline will turn up. Just the occasional redhead popping up here or there has given us a clue as to where they settled."

"I wonder how close of a relation she would be to Naruto." Shizune asked, curious. Then eyeing her superior, "Or you?"

As the scarred man began to speak, two sets of eyes were pinned to him as they held their collective breath.

"Of course once hearing the name she knows that makes him a descendant of that clan as much as she is, but as to how close or far apart they are, she doesn't have a clue."

"If Naruto finds out that she is of his clan and we have her… eliminated, he is not going to be happy," stated Shizune.

"He and I both," was the instant reply.

"I can have this done, and it may be better if he doesn't know," said Ibiki in a toneless voice.

Tsunade took a moment to look out the window of her newly built office. It still had that new paint smell to it, all thanks to the upheaval of the devastation Pein had poured out upon them. So much wanton destruction. Would an insignificant nobody out of a dead clan have a negative or positive impact on her village? It was hard to say, but then, look at Naruto. The Hokage turned her attention back to her subordinates.

"You may leave Ibiki. I haven't made my decision yet so nothing is to happen to her to make her disappear, understand?" Here those famous honey-colored eyes turned to the pin a hard stare at the commanding officer of the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force. It brooked no disobedience. He fought to not fall back a pace.

Ibiki Morino was rarely intimidated by anyone, but as he looked back into those cat eyes studying him from over laced fingers he felt a chill race down his spine. Dropping his gaze he nodded, "She shall not be touched. I'll treat her like my own daughter."

"You don't have any children." Shizune pointed out.

With a bare touch of a smile on his lips, Ibiki replied, "If I had a child who was a spy for Orochimaru, threw in with the traitor Sasuke, had more than a passing familiarity with torture, human experimentation, and interrogation, while also being a science lab rat herself, and then was stupid enough to let herself get caught, then yes, she'd be just like a daughter of mine."

"Odd sense of humor you have Ibiki Morino," responded Shizune.

"Yes, yes, all well and good," the Hokage said while making a slight flap of the one hand to indicate to Ibiki he was free to leave, indeed, there was a hint of insistence to it. He bowed and exited the room, leaving his Hokage to her thoughts.

Shizune bent down to scratch TonTon behind the ears, who received such attention with closed eyes and making small grunts of appreciation. She knew Tsunade already had plans in mind for the criminal but just needed a few minutes to collect and arrange her thoughts.

"Hmmmm, Shizune?"

"Yes my lady?"

"I do believe I have a way that will ensure it works for the good of all Konokagakure."

Shizune held her tongue, knowing Tsunade as well as she did, the whole thought wasn't quite completed yet.

A quiet chuckling moved the impressive chest of the Hokage until it bloomed into rolling laughter to the point Tsunade was leaning back in her chair and pounding on the table with the flat of her hand.

Shizune couldn't understand how her superior wasn't clutching her head in pain.

"This is great!" The first female Hokage managed to choke out between peals of laughter. Shizune decided it didn't matter how the Fifth was able to ignore the pain of a hangover and began grinning along with her, the laughter was that infectious.

"Really?" she chuckled even if she didn't know why they were laughing.

Pounding the desk again while sending out hooting snorts of mirth to fill the room, the Hokage chortled and chuckled while Shizune joined her with muffled giggle but when it nearly turned into a snort she slapped a hand over her mouth to keep such unladylike sounds from escaping.

"Oh my!" roared Tsunade, I can see it all now!"

Shizune found herself chuckling again.

"Not to mention the fortune I'll make!"

Shizune stopped laughing, almost forgetting to breathe. Holy sainted Hokages! They were all doomed!

"Whaa, what are you planning on doing this time?"

The Fifth stopped laughing, eyes narrowing as she leaned forward to prop her chin in a palm. A languid smile slowly stretched across her lips filling Shizune's heart with dread. Surely no good would come of this.

"Here's what we are going to do. We are going to have our best mind healers and psych teams take on this mislaid child of a lost clan, and we are also going to integrate her into Leaf. She will become one of us. And I have a couple of other ideas that I will keep to myself for now."

"Are you sure about this? She's not exactly the most stable of personalities."

Tsunade looked up at her dark-haired assistant and held her gaze before a wry smirk formed. "Very few shinobi are, Shizune, very few are."

Then she ordered, "Make sure of it. I am of a mind that this is going to happen." The younger woman turned to leave but before she could take a step, Tsunade spoke again.

"Oh Shizune, one more thing before you go. Send for Kakashi, I want to talk to him."

"But why?"

"Don't question my orders! Bring me Hatake and drag him by his spiky locks if you have to! I want him here pronto!"

"Yes of course my lady, I'll see to it right away!"

Shizune crossed the room, stepped out the door and beckoned to one of her several aides. After whispering instructions in the young man's ear she stepped back in the room and shut the door behind her. Turning to her elder she hesitated a moment, seeing the blond woman's head sunk down on crossed arms. Obviously the night before was catching up with her.

Tsunade rested her head in the crook of a forearm. Now that the momentary excitement was over, weariness was overtaking her, and she wanted nothing more than to take a nap.

As if by magic, a glass of something that looked like juice and a couple of painkillers appeared at her elbow.

Swiveling her head until one eye was free to peer over her crossed arms, Tsunade studied the glass suspiciously.

"What is this?"

"Just what the doctor ordered, everything to replace what you depleted last night in your drinking bout."

"It wasn't a bout! You make it sound so sordid. It was a carefully planned and executed attack on my liver. Now where's the rest of my bottle?"

"Dumped."

"I don't know why I keep you around."

"Because of the love."

The Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village groaned and swiveled her head back down to shut out the light and the increasingly irritating assistant of hers. It was going to be a long day.

Til next time,

~Dwellin