"Your mission was successful? Congratulations, and here's your pay," A woman who looked to be around twenty years old, with blonde hair tied in twin ponytails, a green jacket with the kanji for 'gambling' in the center of her back, and gargantuan assets said as she marked something down on a pad with a black paintbrush and handed the three shinobi small envelopes containing their paychecks. "Now, would you mind telling me who these three people are?" Tucker immediately zipped in front of the three members of Team 10.
"I'm Tucker Foley. That's T.F., or Too Fine," he said, then waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Tsunade's left eyebrow twitched.
BAM
"I'm too beautiful to die!" Tucker wailed as he sailed through the third wall in a row. By the time he reached the fourth, he'd run out of speed and simply crashed against the wall and fell to the floor.
"You're several decades too young for me," Tsunade yelled at him as he stumbled through the Tucker-shaped holes in three successive walls back into her office. Just then, the door to her office flew open.
"Tsunade no baa-chan!" Naruto called as he entered the room. Tsunade's eyebrow twitched again.
BAM
"Owie…" Naruto muttered as he landed in a heap on top of Tucker.
"I'm not old!" Tsunade shouted.
"Hey…Naruto…" Tucker mumbled. Naruto looked down and saw whom he'd landed on.
"Tucker?" He looked up. "Sam? Danny? What are you guys doing here?"
"I'd like to know the same thing," Tsunade growled. "Now, could someone please explain to me who these people are?" Naruto got up off of Tucker and stepped to the front.
"A while ago, before the Chuunin Exams, Sasuke, Sakura and I were sent to their hometown in order to fight the ghost of Zabuza Momouchi. A little while after that, Danny came here, to Konoha. We trained him and he became a shinobi of Konoha. I don't know why he came back, or why Tucker and Sam are with him, though…" he explained.
"We were given vague instructions, but first tell us something. Isn't the hokage an old man? When did he retire?" Sam asked. Immediately, everyone's gazes became downcast. Except for that of Shino, who seemed to be immune to all displays of emotion.
"During the final stage of the Chuunin Exams, which genin participate in if they want to be promoted to chuunin, a man named Orochimaru attacked Konoha. Orochimaru is a missing-nin who was once loyal to the Leaf and had even been considered for the position of hokage after my sensei, the Third, retired. However, it was discovered that Orochimaru conducted multiple experiments," the way Tsunade said the last word made everyone cringe. "He experimented on both humans and animals, trying to create a jutsu that would allow him to live forever."
"That's horrible," Sam growled, the animal-rights activist in her flaring up. "A person like that deserves the worst punishment imaginable." She was shaking with rage, her eyes blazing.
"I agree with you," Tsunade said. "Anyway, after being exiled from Konoha, he formed his own village, the Hidden Sound Village. He made an alliance with the Sand, Sunagakure, and the two villages attacked Konoha. During the attack, Orochimaru fought and killed the Third. As one of Sarutobi's students, I was chosen to take his place as the godaime hokage. Now, why are the three of you here?"
"Clockwork told us something about helping Naruto and Sakura bring Sasuke back, but I don't really understand…what happened to Sasuke? Did he get captured or something?" Tucker asked. Tsunade chuckled dryly, and Naruto's gaze became stony.
"I wish it were so. During the attack and its aftermath, Sasuke realized that he wasn't nearly as powerful as he'd originally thought. I don't know whether or not he ever told you this, but Sasuke's goal in life is to kill his older brother, Itachi. He wants his brother dead because Itachi massacred the Uchiha Clan." Tucker and Sam gasped.
"I know…it was a horrible sight, seeing all of them. I was a medic-nin at the time, so I had been assigned to check for survivors along with ANBU. After seeing the carnage…I couldn't eat for days afterwards. Anyway, Sasuke must have thought that he'd never gain enough power to defeat Itachi on his own, so he ran away to join Orochimaru." Sam and Tucker shuddered. They were forcibly reminded of what Danny had told them of the alternate timeline, in which Danny had fled to Vlad after the Nasty Burger accident. Just then, Danny's eyes fluttered open.
"What…" he muttered in the crazy-sounding voice.
"What happened to him?" Tsunade asked.
"His most powerful enemy used a jutsu on him," Sam explained. "I think he called it the mangekyou sharingan, or something." Tsunade gasped.
"Are you serious?"
"Y-yeah…why?" Sam asked, concerned. Tucker noticed that Naruto was breathing heavily, and beads of sweat were forming on his spiky hair.
"Danny needs to go to the hospital. Now." She turned to team 10. "You three are dismissed." Shino and Kiba filed out, but Hinata remained in the room.
"I-is it okay if I s-stay with D-danny?" She asked timidly.
"Only qualified medic-nins will be allowed to treat him directly, but you may wait in the hospital and visit him when the treatment is finished. You all may." She easily picked Danny up with one hand and left her office, Tucker, Sam, Naruto, and Hinata following in her wake. They left Hokage Tower and made their way to the hospital, attracting many a confused gaze from any nearby villagers. Once they entered the hospital, Tsunade transferred Danny to a pair of medic-nins, who took him to the ER for treatment. The four teens all sat down on a bench outside of the room Danny was being treated in.
"N-naruto? What's wrong?" Hinata asked. Tucker and Sam looked more closely at Naruto and saw that he was pale and even more nervous than before.
"The mangekyou sharingan," he said. "I was there when Itachi used it on Sasuke…it wasn't a pretty sight…Sasuke was screaming bloody murder once it was finished."
"So was Danny," Tucker said.
"What happened to Sasuke after that?" Sam asked worriedly.
"He was hospitalized for days…after that we fought, then he decided to go with the Sound Four and join Orochimaru…we tried to get him back, but failed. But I will bring Sasuke back. I promised Sakura that I would, and I never go back on my word. That's my nindo," he asserted.
The next few hours were very tense. The four of them rarely moved from their positions on the bench, and barely, if ever, spoke. After a couple of hours, Hinata began to nod off. She leaned sideways and rested her head on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto chuckled and put an arm around her shoulder. They remained like this for some time, until the light above the door to the room Danny was in turned off. Everyone jumped, and Hinata woke up, when the door opened and Danny was wheeled out on a gurney. The four of them rushed over to him. He was still unconscious, but he looked more peaceful. His eyes were still, instead of darting around inside of his head like before.
"Uh…excuse me…but I have to get Danny to his room…" the medic-nin wheeling the gurney said.
"Of course. We're sorry," Hinata said as the four of them pulled back and allowed the man some space. He wheeled Danny down the hall, then rounded a corner and was out of sight. Half a second later, a pink-haired kunoichi ran up to them.
"I just got on break," she panted. "I heard Danny came back, and was in here. What happened?"
"Yeah, he's back…Sam and Tucker are here, too," Naruto said. Tucker and Sam peered out from behind him.
"Hi," Sam said.
"Hey, guys. Good to see you again."
"Sakura…you cut your hair," Tucker noted.
"Yeah…" Konoha's Cherry Blossom said with a high-pitched laugh as she fingered her short locks. "I cut it during the Chuunin Exams…it's more practical this way."
"So how did those go, anyway?" the chocolate-skinned boy asked. "Did any of you end up getting promoted to chuunin?"
"Just one, a guy named Shikamaru. You haven't met him yet," said Sakura. "But what happened with Danny? Why is he in the hospital?"
"Remember when Sasuke was here, the day before he ran away?" Naruto asked bluntly.
"I don't think I'll ever forget…" Sakura murmured, her gaze set on the ground. A single tear made it's way down her cheek. Naruto immediately realized what he'd done and tried to console his friend.
"Sorry! I didn't know it still hurt you this much! Honest!" Sakura merely nodded, and Naruto took this as an apology.
"Anyway, the thing that put Sasuke in here is also responsible for Danny." Sakura nodded again.
"Listen, I have to go…my break's over…I'll see you guys later," the kunoichi said softly, then turned tail and fled.
"Nice going," Tucker noted sarcastically.
"Shut it…" Naruto growled.
"So…what should we do now? Danny's still unconscious, what do we do until he's feeling better again?" Sam asked.
"I say we go get some ramen!" Naruto shouted excitedly. "To Ichiraku's!"
"Danny mentioned that place at lunch the other day, when he brought that cup ramen," Sam whispered to Tucker as the four of them left the hospital building. It wasn't long before they arrived at Ichiraku's.
"One Miso Ramen, ojii-chan!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Make that two," Hinata added.
"Uh…can I have one of those also?" Tucker asked.
"Me too," Sam said. "It doesn't have any meat in it, right?" Hinata and Naruto shook their heads.
"Coming right up, Naruto and friends!" the old man said happily, and began preparing the food.
"Did Danny ever tell you about Ichiraku's?" Naruto asked.
"He mentioned it, said it was really good."
"Ichiraku's is the best ramen ever!" Naruto asserted. "Believe it!" Ayame placed the four bowls in front of them.
"Here you are," she said kindly. Tucker opened his mouth to respond, but Sam quickly shoved her hand in front of it, keeping him from saying anything.
"Thank you very much," she said. Ayame gave them a confused glance, but didn't say anything and simply turned around and returned to the interior of the ramen stand.
"You can't start hitting on every girl here," she chastised.
"Whatever you say, Sam. Whatever you say…" Tucker replied as he broke his chopsticks. Sam sighed as she broke her own chopsticks, and the two of them began eating the ramen.
"This…is awesome!" Sam exclaimed.
"Yeah! This is, like, the greatest food ever!" Tucker added.
"Another bowl, please!" Naruto shouted. Tucker and Sam looked over and were surprised to see that he'd already finished his bowl.
"Coming right up!"
"So, where can we stay while we're here?" Sam asked the two ninja.
"Well, when Danny was here he stayed with me. But I don't have enough room for three people…maybe they could stay at your place, Hinata?" Hinata shook her head.
"I d-don't think my f-father would be very p-pleased with that arrangement."
"Hm…maybe they could stay at the Uchiha Complex, then."
"Would they be allowed to?"
"Sasuke's not here; it's not like there's anyone else living there. The only problem would be if he demands rent or something when he comes back."
"P-perhaps, since D-danny is a r-registered shinobi, he can p-perform missions as the m-missing m-member of team 7 and earn rent money."
"That's a great idea, Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed as he hugged her happily. A blush immediately creeped up the Hyuuga heiress' face, and a second later she'd fainted.
"Uh…does she do that often?" Tucker asked. Naruto sighed and nodded.
"I'll take her back home…" Naruto mumbled. He picked Hinata up, carried her outside the ramen stand, and jumped away. Just after that, Ayame placed a bowl of miso ramen in front of Naruto's empty place, and put the bill in front of Tucker and Sam.
"Ryou?" Sam asked as she looked at the bill. "I've never heard of that currency…" She and Tucker sighed as they resigned themselves to a seeming eternity of washing dishes.
Word Guide (since this is posted as a DP fic and not a Naruto fic, I feel that I owe it to all of you to put this up):
kanji-One of the three Japanese alphabets. Kanji is derived from Chinese. It is comprised of hundreds of symbols, each of which represent an idea rather than a letter or sound.
baa-chan-Grandmother. The word no is a connecting word, making Tsunade no baa-chan mean 'Granny Tsunade.'
mangekyou sharingan-Literally, 'Kaleidoscopic Copy Wheel Eye.' In Naruto, it is the most advanced form of the bloodline limit sharingan.
kunoichi-female ninja.
ojii-chan/ojii-san-Grandfather. Here it is taken to mean 'old man'.
nindo-way of the ninja.
I just want all of you to know that I've already written most of chapter 5. However, college applications are due in a couple of weeks, and my parents are starting to go into 'college overload', so I'm not allowed to write any FF until the due date (January 1). But since chapter 5 is practically done anyway, it should be up within a couple of days after the first. See you then!
