CHAPTER: TWO

Kurotsuch waited on a metal bench that was quite uncomfortable for any news of the blond-haired Konoha-nin. Like before, she didn't know why she was concerned for the boy, it wasn't like she would ever see him again after this right? Kurotsuchi shook her head. She tapped her foot on the white linoleum floor and bit her lip. She was getting antsy.

'I need to move. Sitting here is just making me uncomfortable' the pink-eyed Iwa kunoichi thought. She swiftly sat up and paced up and down the hallway trying to get the antsyness out of her body. Kurotsuchi continued to do this for what she assumed to be maybe thirty minutes to an hour before finally, the blonde-haired Hokage walked down the opposite hallway towards her.

"How is he?" said Kurotsuchi quite rapidly. Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the girl before finally answering.

"Besides his obvious injuries, he should be okay. The hole closed up and his rapid healing is doing the rest of the work. He should wake pretty soon," Tsunade replied. Kurotsuchi let out a sigh of relief. Tsunade continued to eye the Iwa-nin with a raised eyebrow of curiosity. She wondered why a kunoichi from Iwa, Konoha's nemesis, helped Naruto. What was her angle?

"Why are you so concerned for him?" Tsunade asked.

Kurotsuchi widened her eyes then looked away, "I…I don't know myself. When I saw him I just felt like I should help him. Then your one-eyed copy-nin showed up which sealed the decision."

"Hmm," Tsunade hummed. So she felt something? Tsunade accepted the explanation - for now. She gave the girl a nod. "I have some business to attend with the Konoha council. He's in room 233, I don't know when he'll exactly wake but it's-"

"Soon," Kurotsuchi finished for the Hokage. Tsunade nodded and quietly walked off. Kurotsuchi quickly made her way towards room 233. After arriving in front of the white slide door, she slid it and was met but the sun shining its bright sunlight into the room. It illuminated the room, its light glinting off the various metals in the room. It also shined onto the blond. He was wrapped in bandages from head to toe, his eyelids closed, resting.

Kurotsuchi took one of the spare chairs and quietly pushed it next to the bed. She sat down and eyed the resting blond. Unconsciously, a smile made its way onto her face as she stared at the boy.

Hokage Tower

Tsunade sighed as she rubbed her the bridge of her nose. She wished that she could be anywhere else but here, in the vicinity of three screaming elders demanding action against the demon as the called him for hurting the 'Prince' of Konoha. Tsunade mentally snorted at that one line. These three were certainly during everything in their power to please the lone Uchiha survivor, she had to give them credit for that one thing.

"Tsunade," the sweetly sick voice of Koharu Utatane called out in clear disrespect, "the boy unleashed the Kyuubi's chakra. We all felt it, even from here."

Tsunade tsk'd. They got her there, unfortunately, even from how far away the place of the two's fight was, the nine-tailed demon's chakra was still felt all around Konoha by people who had the means to sense it and know the dark chakra. "I'm sure it was for a good reason, honorable elder," stated Tsunade with a bit of disgust.

All three elders shook their head in unison, "He purposely unleashed it upon Sasuke Uchiha," Homura clarified.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow in response, "And how do you know this?" she questioned. The three elders merely stayed quiet obviously not wanting to answer her question. This only made Tsunade tsk even more. The blatant disrespect that these three have for her honestly amazed her sometimes. They demanded respect but never gave said respect back.

"That doesn't matter," Danzo spoke up in support of his comrades, "what matters is, the boy must be punished," the one-eyed man said and slammed his cane unto the wood floor that made Koharu and Homura nod in agreement. Tsunade, again, was amazed. They wanted to punish the one person who brought back Sasuke Uchiha to them and not punish the person who willingly abandoned their village?

"Naruto Uzumaki fought and did his duty!" Tsunade shouted, face red with anger, "you would banish a hero and reward a traitor!?"

"Tsunade," Danzo began, "Sasuke Uchiha is the last user of the Sharingan that is within our walls. Don't you think his life is more important than this…boy," questioned Danzo with his lone eye closed in contemplation. Aside from himself, Sasuke Uchiha was indeed the last user of the Sharingan and Danzo needed to ensure that the raven-haired boy would be loyal to the village and not Orochimaru.

At the mere thought of the snake Sannin, Danzo scowled. He remembered when the pale-skinned Jounin was indeed one of Konoha's brightest shinobi. Some said that he would become Hokage and the strongest within the village. Of course, Danzo put a stop to those rumors. He knew what Orochimaru did in his spare time, his experiments that he had seen with his own eye once Orochimaru ran. But it was one of these experiments that yielded one of his most special subordinates, Kinoe, with the highly coveted Wood Release.

Tsunade looked at the old war hawk in shock. They were indeed intending to punish Naruto for simply doing his job. Danzo looked at the blonde Hokage with a certain look in his eye that Tsunade assumed was him confirming her worst fears.

"At the next council meeting, we will bring up the recommendation that Naruto Uzumaki be banished from Konohagakure for unleashing the Kyuubi's chakra upon one Sasuke Uchiha," stated Danzo with a rare smile gracing his old wrinkled face. Tsunade looked at the man with wide eyes. The other two Elders held their stares and nodded; agreeing with Danzo.

"Yo-you can do this," stuttered Tsunade. Danzo merely shook his head.

"While it is true that you have final authority on all matters regarding this village, they can be vetoed with a majority vote within the council," Danzo informed the big breasted woman. Tsunade merely looked at the man with an open mouth and wide eyes. It was indeed true that her orders or actions could be vetoed and overruled with a majority vote in the council; it happened rarely. The people of Konoha usually had faith in the Hokage but Tsunade learned, just now, that this little rule could be abused for more nefarious purposes - like banishing one Naruto Uzumaki.

The three elders stood up from their seats and nodded towards the Hokage. They swiftly left the room leaving the blonde Hokage to her thoughts. After a few seconds, Shizune entered the room with a concerned looking adorning her face. Shizune walked up to the desk and set down Tonton on the floor with gentleness ness.

"What was the decision?" asked Shizune with curiosity. She knew why the Elders wanted to see her teacher. The meeting took place to decided what to do with Sasuke Uchiha, at least that was what Shizune assumed. Tsunade looked up to her apprentice and frowned sadly at her. Shizune saw this and tilted her head with curiosity, what could have caused her master this much sadness?

"They…they're banishing Naruto," Tsunade whispered. Shizune froze for a few seconds. Banishing…Naruto? Why? He brought back Sasuke Uchiha, that was the purpose of the mission. To retrieve Sasuke. So why was Naruto being banished for doing his job?

"I-I don't understand, Tsunade-sama," replied Shizune confusedly.

"They're banishing him for unleashing the Kyuubi's chakra willingly," Tsunade replied back and uttered the last word with venom. Tsunade knew the game the Elders were playing. More likely fabricate evidence to support their decision, but she couldn't prove that their fabricated evidence is…well fabricated.

"But…he was only doing his job, successfully."

"Don't you think I know that!?" bit back Tsunade. Shizune flinched at the raised voice of her master and looked away. Tsunade, seeing this, frowned sadly again. "Sorry, Shizune," she whispered.

"I understand, Tsunade," Shizune replied with her own anger. Not at Tsunade, but at Danzo and the Elders. Most of the village couldn't see it but Shizune and Tsunade saw it, Naruto was a diamond in the rough, and they were going to banish one of their most promising shinobi with blind hatred.

Hospital

Kurotsuchi still sat on one of the chairs that were in the hospital room and stared at the young blond shinobi. It had been a few hours since she was informed that the boy made it out of surgery and would be just fine; he only needed rest. Kurotosuchi saw the peacefulness that the boy had while he slept, something she thought didn't usually adorn his face in this particular village based off the glares she got along with the glares Naruto got from several of the hospital staff.

She eyed the boy again with her pink eyes and wondered why he was this hated based off the glares she observed directed at her self and at him. Was he an annoyance to the village? No, she thought while shaking her head. If he was, he wouldn't get this many glares. Did he murder someone? No, she thought once again. If he murdered someone surely he would be in prison or executed.

Was he a jinchuriki like Roshi and Han? Kurotsuchi stared off into space. Yes, it made sense. Being a jinchuriki would elicit such a response from the village. Both Roshi and Han have experienced it back in Iwa, although not to this degree.

The pink-eyed girl knew most jinchurikis. Of course, there was Han and Roshi from Iwa. Yugito Nii and B from Kumo. There was the mad Yagura from Kiri who was currently fighting a civil war because of his actions. Then there was Utakata, the missing-nin from Kiri who she knew from researching the bingo book often. She didn't know who held the seven-tailed beast, only that she knew it was housed in Takigakure.

That only left the nine-tailed beast, the Kyuubi. She looked at the peaceful blond. "So, that's what you hold," she whispered out, mostly to herself than to Naruto. Her stare left Naruto and continued to look into space, contemplating. This lasted for about thirty minutes, at least Kurotsuchi assumed it did until a voice broke her out of her staring into nothingness.

"Who are you?" a voice asked with curiosity. Kurotsuchi jumped in her seat, "Woah! I didn't mean to scare you, miss," Naruto said while scratching the back of his neck, now sitting up.

"You didn't scare me!" Kurotsuch got out with a blush adorning her face. She had allowed her senses to dull while she sat in the room, something that normally never happened to her. This boy is affecting me, Kurotsuchi thought inside her head.

"Well, it looked like I scared you," replied Naruto with a grin. The grin dropped off his face as fast as it appeared, "who are you?" he asked again.

"I'm Kurotsuchi," the pink-eyed girl introduced herself, "I found you in a small clearing with another boy. You look almost dead from your injuries so I saved you along with Kakashi Hatake," informed Kurotsuchi while she eyed his reaction. Naruto nodded along with the information that was provided to him but then flinched and scowled quickly at the mention of Kakashi which Kurotsuchi didn't fail to spot.

'So, he doesn't like the copy-nin.' She thought.

Naruto offered her a smile and his hand, "Thank you for rescuing me, Kurotsuchi. My name is Naruto Uzumaki."

Kurotsuchi's eyes widened when Naruto finished his introduction. An Uzumaki!? I thought they were all gone? Naruto eyed the girl with curiosity. She was shocked but he didn't know why. "Is something wrong?" he asked curiously.

"No, no," the pink-eyed girl replied while she shook her head rapidly. So the boy was unaware to which clan he belonged to, that was quite curious. Why hadn't Konoha informed the boy that he was part of the clan that ruled Uzushiogakure? Maybe the Hokage would tell her once she informed her of her discovery. She shook her head, "How are you feeling, Naruto?"

Naruto tilted his head and stayed quiet for a few seconds. In all honesty, he felt absolutely fine, he was just sore all over, but that's to be expected when coming from a battle and healing. "I feel fine," he replied, "how long have I been unconscious?"

"About two days, give or take," she informed the blond. She saw his face scrunch up then go back to its regular appearance. "Do you have a question, Naruto? You can go ahead and ask it."

"Is Sasuke alright?"

"Ah, the Uchiha," she said while scowling, "he's fine aside from a few injuries," she again informed the boy. She didn't know why the blond was even concerned about the traitor. If what she heard from overhearing Konoha-nin while she was walking about throughout the village, that the Uchiha abandoned the village in search of power. An offer that was made by none other than Orochimaru.

"Good," Naruto whispered. So he hadn't injured Sasuke too bad, that was definitely good. It wasn't aiming to kill his friend just beat some sense into him then take him back to the village to complete his mission. He looked up and eyed the pink-eyed kunoichi. "From what village are you from then? You don't look like a civilian."

Kurotsuchi bit her lip at this. Was he going to be angry because of the village she came from? "I'm from Iwa," she replied slowly, worried how he'll react to this new information.

"Cool!" he shouted excitedly, "I've never met anyone from Iwa before."

"You-you're not angry?" Kurotsuchi asked quite shocked that he didn't hold the same relationship that most of the Village held towards Iwagakure.

Naruto looked at the girl as if she had grown three heads, "No? Should I be?" he asked confusedly. Why was he supposed to be angry at the girl that saved his life and that of Sasuke? "You saved me, why would I be mad at my savior?" Naruto questioned.

Kurotsuchi breathed a sigh of relief at what he had just said, "Forget I said anything," she stated, "It's just that Konoha and Iwa have hated each other ever since the third shinobi war."

Naruto tried to dig into his mind to see if the third shinobi war rang any bells. He wasn't particularly paying attention to the history lectures at the academy. He thought at the time that history was a useless thing when you're a shinobi. Was it going to save your life as a jutsu could? Of course, he had grown out of this mindset once he graduated.

"Third Shinobi War?" Naruto asked with an embarrassed face. Now it was Kurotsuchi's turn to look at Naruto as if he had grown two heads. How could this kid not know what the Third Shinobi War was? It was one of the more destructive ones behind the second shinobi war. It was solidified the rivalry and hatred of Iwa and Konoha.

"It was a war that involved all five of the Shinobi villages. The third Raikage died during it and it was the war that gained your fourth Hokage his nickname," she informed Naruto. The blond looked at the pink-eyed girl with a look that Kurotsuchi assumed with curiosity and amazement. Why amazement? she did not know.

"The Yellow Flash, right?"

"Yes," she answered Naruto. So he did now about that then. So he wasn't a total idiot, Kurotsuchi thought. The pink-eyed girl continued to stare into the cerulean blue eyes of the blond with a curiosity of her own. She couldn't quite place it but he looked vaguely familiar, as if she should know who he was, but there wasn't any information in the bingo book about him or his parents-

Kurotsuchi's eyes widened when she finally figured it out. 'Holy shit,' she thought. 'he's the Fourth's son!?' she looked up at the blond and her eyes widened even further. He was a carbon copy of the man from the pictures that she had seen when she was in the academy back in Iwa. How could Konoha not know who this boy's father was? It was so obvious that Kurotsuchi berated herself for not knowing from the very beginning.

Then she thought of the repercussions of her actions. She had just saved the son of the Fourth Hokage. The Yellow Flash and mortal enemy of Iwagakure. Onoki, her grandfather, was certainly going to murder her when he found out. She could already imagine the rage and the shouting match the two would have once she turned in her mission report to him personally.

"You look like you've just seen a ghost. Funny," laughed Naruto heartily, completely unaware with what was going inside Kurotsuchi's mind.

'Yeah, a ghost is definitely appropriate.' Kurotsuchi agreed.


So there's chapter 2! Sorry for the wait. Kurotsuchi just found out Naruto's parentage! Danzo and the elders are scheming to banish Naruto which will most likely to succeed. Will Tsunade inform Naruto of his parentage before his banishment? or will Kurotsuchi? Find out on the next episode of Dragonball Z!