Tsuande was reading a scroll behind her desk in her office, researching for a way to return Naruto back to his original physical age, when a frantic knock on the door echoed inside her space. Scrunching up her face whilst glaring at the door in annoyance because of the sudden disturbance, the Hokage barked a 'come in!' and in walked was a panting Shizune with Ton-Ton the pig in her left arm.

"Master Tsunade!" exclaimed Shizune, earning an elegant raise of brow from her superior. Not waiting for a permission to speak, she said, "N-Naruto! He…"

"Naruto…he what?" Tsunade prompted.

"Someoned attacked him! Kakashi and Iruka found him in a trash bin all bloody!"

All the Hokage could do was widen her eyes as she stared in shock at her student; her mind was racing hundreds of miles as she thought of anything as to why Naruto was attacked, knowing that Konoha was in peace with other nations and no Akatsuki to look out. So, she concluded that someone in the village hurt the boy. But, why, she did not know.

. . . .

Iruka was slumping on the floor with his back resting on the wall behind him and head hung down in the hospital in front of the operating room where Naruto was currently tended by an experienced doctor in while Kakashi was standing and leaning back with both of his hands inside the pockets when the Hokage arrived at the area, rushing. The two noticed her arrival and the Commoner ninja was about to say something to their Hokage, however, said Hokage paid them no heed and proceeded inside to help whoever the doctor was in charge of the operation.

Kakashi merely watched as his companion sighed tiredly, hoping that his student would make it through since the boy was barely breathing when they made it to the hospital for help.

It was later at night when Tsunade walked out of the operating room and found two ninjas asleep on the floor across the room she just came out. She sighed and smiled tiredly at them, amused of how much they cared for Naruto to wait until they had fallen asleep, before taking three steps forward and shook the two awake.

Kakashi was the first one to open his eyes followed by Iruka with half a second and they both stood up straight upon seeing that their Hokage was standing in front of them.

"Lady Hokage…" trailed Kakashi off.

Knowing that her subordinates wanted to know Naruto's current status, Tsunade ushered them to her office and discuss the matter.

. . . .

Meanwhile, Sasuke found himself perched atop a tree branch, patiently watching the two men below prepared for the night.

Apparently, the two had yet to talk anything that would give him information that would possibly blow their way if they were indeed doing illegal things like the Hokage had suspected aside from the last dish the man in suit, his target, had eaten.

I hope this won't take me more than a week. Thought the raven haired teen with a frown; he was still worried of Naruto.

He believed and knew that Kakashi found the blonde boy and probably was sleeping by now, but the anxiety he was feeling since he left would not go away, rather, it only increased as time passed by. Since he knew worrying too much would hinder his mission, he made up his mind to brush his feeling off and make his mind focus on his target. I'll just have to finish this task as soon as possible and go home.

. . . .

"I see." Tsunade let out an audible sigh as she slumped on her seat and said, "Whoever did this to him made sure to handicap him."

Kakashi, who was staring absentmindedly on the floor, snapped his head up to look at their Hokage. "Handicap?" he inquired lowly as though he was talking to himself, but the Hokage and the ninja beside shim, Iruka, heard him just loud enough.

"What do you mean, Lady Hokage?" asked Iruka, worried.

With another sigh, Tsunade said, "Naruto has head trauma. The hit on his head was pretty hard. Base on the test we run, he lost consciousness for more than 30 seconds, which is not a good sign, and no seizures. We couldn't tell furthermore regarding his head trauma and its severity until he regains consciousness, but expect that once he wakes up he couldn't tell us how he feels though we'll know if something isn't right on him, like if he lacks interest in the things he usually likes, easily gets tired, appeared to be dazed, changes in sleep and eating pattern, cranky and irritable, has lost his balance, and cries too much. But, that's to be expected from a head trauma and is quite normal. What we have to look out for is if there's any changes in his speech, always vomiting, difficulty in recognizing people and places, headache that always gets worse over time, changes in physical coordination and behaviour, and other symptoms like if he has any difficulty with mental function, seizures and visual disturbances. If any of those symptoms appears, then we have to worry though I advice you not to, because I'll help him recover. So, you don't have to worry too much about his head injury."

"What about the wound at his lower back?" asked Kakashi, making Iruka looked at his way since the latter did not know of it.

Tsunade closed her eyes briefly, pressing her thumb and index finger on the bridge of her nose, before another tired sigh escaped her lips. "That's the bigger problem here. Something pointy and rusted thing had pierced his back. He probably received it after he was dumped by the culprit. Unfortunately, it damaged his spinal column and won't be able to use his legs for weeks. If this happen to normal people, they would have lost their ability to walk, but we're talking about Naruto here, so I assume the Kyuubi was helping him recover gradually and lessen the pain he's feeling. You see, while operating, the doctor who was in charge of Naruto said that the hospital is out of stock of anaesthesia and only injected Naruto half of the dosage he was supposed to have since it was what left, but the brat didn't even flinch or anything. I thought at first that he's dead, but no. his heart rate was OK, if not normal, and his breathing was fine. So I guess it was the Kyuubi's doing."

Even though they all knew, with Tsunade there as the greatest medic-nin in Konoha, that Naruto will surely recover, they still could not help but worry, because not everything will go according to the plan or what they hoped for.

They could only wish that everything will be back to how it was before.