Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto. It would be nice if I did though.
Author's Note: Let me just say this...WOW! I didn't expect so much attention. lolz. A couple days after I posted the first chapter I checked my e-mail and had around 30 different e-mails saying I've been put on Story Alert, Author Alert, Review Alert, Favorite Author, Favorite Story, the works. So thanks a lot. Don't worry though...that stuff doesn't get to my head that easily. Now to answer some questions...
avatarofdiscord: Naruto makes his first appearance this chapter. Lolz. Wouldn't be much of a Naru/Tayu if he wasn't in it.
crazyfoxdemon: If you've checked my profile, you know I'm the noob of fanfiction lol. Betas check grammar errors and all that stuff right? You'll have to explain that to me sometime. As for your other questions...Most of them can be answered this chapter.
Redd9: The anbu is an OC. Don't worry though, unlike other fanfictions where the OCs become main characters mine will be rather insignificant for the most part. I don't like OCs because they usually end up shadowing other characters that are important to the series. No offense to other people out there that use OCs...I mean...I used one right...
Anyway...I know you already started reading and totally skipped the author note...so I'll shut up for now...ON WITH THE FIC!!
The view of the night sky from the window of the Hokage's tower was simply phenomenal. The stars and constellations were very bright tonight, complementing the Hokage Mountain in the distance. Tsunade hated nights like this. It only served as a reminder of the night that her beloved Dan died.
Tsunade closed the blinds on the window deciding that she'd had enough air for a while. Looking around the room, Tsunade finally set her eyes upon the pile of paperwork she had been sleeping on earlier. She whined; looking at the paperwork gave her a headache, but it came with the job sadly. Grabbing a bottle of sake from her secret stash behind the first hokage's portrait, she went over to her desk and began reading through the different bills awaiting her approval.
"Bill for Renovations and Additions to the Hokage Mountain." Tsunade read aloud already bored. "Sure, why not. Who doesn't want there face plastered on a mountain." Tsunade hammered the approval stamp onto the paper and signed her name before discarding the bill into her finished pile.
"Bill for the Restoration of Itsuki Onji's Restaurant." Tsunade read aloud again taking a swig of the sake. "Whatever." She said stamping her approval stamp and signing her name again.
"New genjutsu books for the Ninja Academy." Tsunade grumbled getting tired of this really fast. And the sake wasn't even giving her a buzz. Where's the fun in that? She sighed stamping her seal on the paper and signing her name.
After nearly an hour of signing bills and an empty bottle of sake, Tsunade just stopped. She couldn't take it anymore. She hit her head against the desk to calm her splitting headache, before deciding to take a quick nap.
Just when she was about to fall asleep, a whirlwind of leaves appeared in her office. Tsunade looked up to see a tall, well-toned anbu soldier with long, spiky black hair and a standard anbu face mask carrying two ninjas, one with six arms and one with long red hair, on each of his shoulders.
"Corpse duty reporting in." The anbu said throwing the six-armed corpse on his left shoulder towards the door and setting the red-haired corpse on his right shoulder as gently as possible in front of him. This did not go unnoticed by Tsunade, but she decided she would chew the anbu out before questioning him.
"Hideo, how many times must I tell you? You can't just barge in unannounced, unless it's a life or death situation!"
Hideo just tilted his head down in what Tsunade believed to be a dejected manner (after all she couldn't see his facial expression).
"Why? Why must all women shout at me? I'm not even a pervert like Kakashi-senpai, yet I get yelled at more than he does!" Hideo pouted sadly, milking his broken heart for all it was worth.
Tsunade wasn't buying it. Hideo always did this to try and make her feel bad, but that was only to get a lighter punishment after he'd done something to screw up a mission. Honestly. What can you do wrong while collecting corpses?
"Hideo, cut the crap. My head hurts and I don't feel like dealing with you right now. Tell me what you did, let me debrief you, and then get out." Tsunade said softly her headache being the only thing keeping her from yelling at him.
"I apologize, Hokage-sama, but I'm afraid I forgot to write my mission report. Please forgive me." Hideo replied falling down to the floor, putting his hands in front of him, and bowing apologetically.
"Tch. Grow some balls. Tell the hag the real reason you fucked up your mission. But it probably isn't necessary anymore, unless she's fucking retarded."
'A survivor…interesting,' Tsunade thought before taking in the words the survivor spoke. 'Wait a minute…'
Tsunade looked over her desk. The red-headed corpse/survivor that Hideo had set down just called her a hag! Her eye twitched. Nobody called her a hag and got away with it (living or dead).
Tsunade glared at the red-haired survivor/girl. The girl turned her head towards Tsunade quickly. 'She seemed to know that she was being watched,' Tsunade observed without softening her glare. As soon as the red-haired girl's eyes met her own, an all-out glare match ensued. Five minutes past with neither showing sign of backing down.
Tsunade smirked. 'This girl has a lot of spunk.' Tsunade blinked. The red-haired girl smirked. 'Damn, lost focus,' Tsunade thought conceding defeat.
Hideo sighed. "Forgive her, Hokage-sama. I do not think she knows how to show respect."
"Like you're one to talk," Tsunade said causing the anbu to give a nervous laugh. "Now then, I would really like to hear about this mission."
Hideo nodded before giving a detailed synopsis of the mission's events. Tsunade wasn't really listening until he started reporting his discovery of Tayuya. The Hokage listened intently to Hideo's description of how she was positioned under the logs. The Hokage then looked over at the girl giving a medical analysis with each area of her body dented inwards.
'Two broken shins, two broken ankles, a broken wrist, at least two broken ribs, and probably a crushed pelvis considering the amount of pressure on her. It would be a piece of cake compared to piecing Rock Lee's arm and leg bones back together (and he was even out of the hospital right after surgery).' Tsunade thought. 'She's lucky. If any normal doctor attempted healing her she'd probably keep those scar indentures for life.'
"Hokage-sama…uh…can I go now?" Hideo asked.
Tsunade jumped. She had forgotten he was here. "Yes, take Miss Tayuya to the emergency room, get Six-Arms to the autopsy room, and get out of my office! I'm heading over to the hospital now. She had better be there when I get there, or it's your head." Then, without letting him say anything, Tsunade got up from her desk and walked out the door.
Hideo was shocked. "What the fuck?! I got my ass handed to me for not using the front door! But YOU, an enemy sound ninja facing execution, get into a staring match with her and now she's going to heal you! You called her a HAG and she's going to heal you!" He vented. "Unbelievable. I'll never understand women."
Tayuya smirked. She had to admit that she agreed with the anbu on this one. Somehow, she had escaped certain death twice now. She must have gained a little of the Hokage's respect through that glaring match. Hell if she kept this up she might just be able to get out of this shithole of a village.
Tayuya cursed in pain. While she was busy planning her escape, the anbu had recklessly picked her up. "You fucking asshole! Did I say you could pick me up?!"
Hideo just slung her over his shoulder, ignoring her screams of pain. "Suck it up. You'll be better in no time. I'm not ready to lose my head, and besides, this makes me feel better about you getting off the hook."
Then for the second time that night, a whirlwind of leaves swept them away to a new place.
He was running. He had to catch up to him if it was the last thing he ever did. He ran after him, never letting up on his pursuit. He followed him over the massive bridge that extended to the wave country. He followed him through a dark forest. He fought a sand demon in his way to continue his pursuit. He followed him all the way to the top of the monument located in the Valley of the End.
"WAIT!" He cried resting on the head of the First Hokage. The friend he had chased for so long stopped on the head of Madara Uchiha and turned around.
His friend looked at him with a smirk on his face before replying. "We're nearly there. Don't tell me you're giving up now. Loser."
He looked at his friend for a moment before noticing a pale man standing right behind his friend. He tried to warn his friend, but it was too late. He looked in horror as the pale man bit into the left side of his friend's neck before dissolving into the ground below him.
He looked back at his friend. Darkness shrouded his body like a black haze. When the haze finally cleared, a demon resembling his friend came into view. The demon looked at him with a cold and deadly gaze.
"I will gain the power needed to avenge my clan. I will sever any bonds that I have made to gain that power." The demon said in a cold voice. "I live in the past. Not the present. So…I will cut my ties to the present." The demon began charging up a lightning ball in his hand. The sound the lightning gave off was that of a thousand birds.
He could only look in pity at what his friend had become. It was so fast he didn't even see it coming. The demon stabbed the lightning ball through him. The last thing he saw was the demon…his friend walking away. Then he was swallowed by the bright light.
"SASUKE!" Naruto cried awakening from his nightmare. "Just a…bad dream." He breathed heavily looking around.
He had forgotten where he was, but it didn't take him very long to remember. The hospital room was shrouded in darkness save for the light coming from the lamp of his nightstand. Funny, he didn't remember a lamp being there before. Under the lamp was a note. Naruto took the note and read over it.
Dear Naruto,
Why are you asleep? That is not very youthful of you! I give you this lamp as a way to help you remember the power of youth!! Gai-sensei told me the lamp represents the burning fire of youth hidden deep inside you. Don't ever forget your youthfulness!
Rock Lee
Naruto sweat dropped. He couldn't begin to think of a word to describe the gift. Thoughtful? But why a lamp? No, he wasn't going to question it. It was probably some quirky thing between Lee and Gai that he could never understand.
The door opened. Naruto put the letter back on the nightstand and looked towards the door. It was Shizune wheeling in a stretcher holding a girl probably only a little older than he was. Shizune looked over at Naruto and smiled before wheeling the stretcher over to the other bed. With strength Naruto didn't know she had, Shizune lifted the girl out of the stretcher and placed her gently on the bed opposite Naruto.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up, but Tsunade-sama insisted she be put in here with you." Shizune whispered walking over to Naruto's bedside.
"I was already awake, but what time is it? Naruto asked loudly.
"Shh. It's nearly five in the morning." Shizune replied. "Tsunade and I had to pull an all-nighter fixing her up. She had three broken ribs, both her legs and ankles broke, both her arms and wrists broke, and a crushed pelvis. It wasn't pretty fixing her up. Plus there was that neck wound. That's what took the longest time. Tsunade couldn't fix that herself so she sent me to get Jiraiya and they were able to heal it."
"Wow! I didn't know Ero-sannin could do medical ninjutsu." Naruto whispered quietly.
"He can't really, but he is the expert when it comes to dealing with--"
"That's Enough Shizune."
Naruto looked over to the door and saw Tsunade leaning in the doorway. Tsunade had the look to kill. Shizune went pale before saying a hasty goodbye and scurrying out the door.
"Go back to bed Naruto, and don't disturb your roommate. You'll be sorry if you do." Tsunade said cryptically before stepping out of the room muttering about migraine medicines.
When Naruto heard the door close, he looked over at the girl. There were a lot of questions surrounding this girl. To his dismay, it was too dark to see if it was someone he knew. Although irritated that he would have to wait until tomorrow to meet his roommate, Naruto turned off the light and fell into a slow and restless slumber.
Morning came quickly to the bustling streets of Konoha. The sun's rays were now high enough to bounce through the window of the hospital room and land directly in Tayuya's eyes. Tayuya closed her eyes tighter hoping to embrace the darkness of her eyelids, but was denied her slumber and forced to wake up.
When Tayuya opened her eyes she wondered where the hell she was, but the memory of being drugged to sleep by the hag came back in a flash. She felt sore all over, but a million times better than before. Had that hag actually healed her completely? Figuring it wouldn't hurt to test herself, she sat up in her bed slowly. She was surprised to feel no pain. She then flexed her wrists. No pain. She continued testing her body with different movements until she was satisfied. No pain, whatsoever. Only the soreness you would feel after a very taxing day of training. Tayuya didn't like admitting it, but the hag knew how to heal. Tayuya couldn't help but smile.
Her smile, however, was immediately wiped off when she saw the young man on the other side of the room. Had he been there the entire time? The young man looked over in her direction before looking down at the bed beside him.
"Gaara of the Desert? Why the fuck are you here?" Tayuya asked the man.
Gaara looked back at her before replying. "Temari told me she killed a sound ninja fitting your profile. A girl with red hair and a bad mouth. Guess she was wrong."
If Gaara was any normal person, Tayuya would probably have cussed him out and told him to answer the fucking question. However, Gaara was anything but normal. According to Lord Orochimaru, he was in a completely different league as a ninja. That's why Tayuya decided to just re-ask her question.
"Why the fuck are you here?"
"I was sent as back-up for the Konoha ninjas in retrieving Sasuke. Now I am visiting a friend who was hurt during the mission. That's all you need to know," Gaara replied looking back at the bed beside him.
Tayuya set her gaze on the bed beside Gaara. On the bed lay a young man covered in bandages with spiky blond hair. Tayuya narrowed her eyes at the man in the bed. It was that little bastard who tricked her and chased after Kimimaro! Now she was curious. Nobody had survived an encounter with Kimimaro and lived to tell the tale.
"Are you shitting me? That little bastard survived a fight with Kimimaro and completed his mission?" Tayuya asked. If that was the case…would Lord Orochimaru want her back? Would he…kill her if she went back?
Gaara looked at her calculatingly. "The bone freak died. It was sheer luck. Uzumaki got these wounds from Sasuke. Sasuke went to Orochimaru alone. That's all I've been told."
Tayuya looked down. If Sasuke went alone…that meant…Jirobo…Sakon…they were dead too… She was the sole survivor of the original Sound Five...If she went back…what would happen?
"Well, I'd better get going. Tell Uzumaki I stopped by when he wakes up." Gaara said walking towards the door. 'I can understand why she was spared. It's a high stakes gamble. For the Hokage's sake, I hope this bet pays off.' He thought as he closed the door leaving the young girl to her thoughts.
Author's Note: And that's chapter 2. I know I know. It was hard to get through it, but you did it so congrats again. I'm hoping everybody stayed in character. If they didn't just tell me. I'll work on that and the grammar errors. If anyone's wondering that Rock Lee letter was the most random thing. It was midnight when it popped in my head and I couldn't help but laugh. Too much caffeine and not enough sleep will do that to you. Anyway, I don't know when I'll get around to Chapter 3. Christmas Break is over for me and I'll be working on this and homework at the same time. I'll try and keep posting on a regular basis though. So don't worry. Please Review!! Reviews help motivate me to get the chapters done faster. So it is important that you review. lolz. See you when Chapter 3 is done. Later.