BLOND HAIR

CHAPTER 21: SLEEPING BEAUTY.

The next morning, Aoi woke up earlier than usual and checked her supply. After she finished checking, she leaved her apartment and headed towards the gate. When she was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, she thought about Naruto so she decided to take a de tour and stopped by Naruto's apartment.

Aoi climbed through the window. She squatted at the window as she watched Naruto who was sleeping soundly. She smiled when she saw him. She stayed for a while before she continued her journey for her mission, smiling as she remembered Naruto's sleeping face. " Just like him……," she murmured to herself.

Tsunade was walking towards the meeting room. Aoi was supposed to meet the Council but she had sebd her on her mission. It was on purpose. Tsunade would like Aoi to stay away from the Council so she sent her out for a mission. It would buy her some time to discuss with the Council on what they should do about Aoi. She went into the room without knocking. Both of the Village Councilors were clearly surprised to see her instead of Aoi. " We were supposed to meet Aoi, not you Tsunade," one of them announced. " I know but I just sent her out on a mission….," Tsunade replied as she took the seat in front of the Councilors. " Then we should wait for her to come back…," the male Councilors suggested. " But I assumed you have something to discuss with us. About Aoi, no?," he continued. Tsunde smiled, " Very wise of you." " So, start talking…," the female Councilors told Tsunade.

" Ok, first, let me told you what Aoi told me. About what happen to her…," Tsunade started. Both of the Councilors nodded, listening carefully. " Long story short, she was Sleeping Beauty," Tsunade shrugged. The Councilors raised their eyebrow, not understanding what Tsunade had said. Tsunade noticed this so she started to explain. " After she gave birth, she headed towards where the Fourth was. There, she used up all of her chakura to save him. She died there. That was what all of us assumed… well sort of. She did die but not really dead. That's what I think since I wasn't there and all…" The Councilors were shaking their head and was giving Tsunade a weird look.

Tsunade noticed and she raised her hand. " I'll explain. After she had gave birth, one of the nurse had given her some sort of drug. The drug was supposed to slow your heartbeat and at one time stop it. But after certain period of time, the drug would stimulate the heart and it would beat normally again. In short, she was revived. But since there was no good medic-nin like me at that time, no one realized this. And her body was stolen. So, she was presumed dead." The Councilors nodded.

" I assumed that wasn't the 'Sleeping Beauty' part," the female Councilors uttered. Tsunade smirked. " That was the part where the Princess was kidnapped: Her body was stolen from this village. I don't know by whom of why. But they didn't woke her up. They made sure she stayed in coma. After she was kidnapped, she was taken to some sort of facilities where they had done something to her. That would explained her stopped growth. She stayed in the sleep-like condition for about 10 years. Aoi told me one day, one of the researcher had overdosed the drug, causing her to wake up. Being in coma had weaken her so she had to stay for physiotherapy. She said the people there gave her quite a good treatment. She stayed there for a while, trying to revive her physical ability and power before she managed to escape. She was hunted down but she had recovered all her ability back so it wasn't a problem anymore. That was when she bumped into Team7." Tsunade ended her explanation with a sigh.

Neither of the Councilors said nothing. " Quite a far-fetched story..," the male Councilor expressed his opinion. The female one nodded, signaling her agreement. Tsunade nodded slowly. " I know. I was skeptical too at first but we all know Aoi. She won't lie to us. Beside, there's no point lying and if you think about it carefully, I kinda make sense…," Tsunade pointed out.

" What have you found when you checked her?," Tsunade replied at once. " Nothing weird. Except for the part that her body is 20 years old. Her body stopped growing before this but it started to grow like normal again. I think the drug effect was gone. As far as now, I think the drug has no side effect on her….."

" Sleeping Beauty…..," the female Councilors murmured. " But this Sleeping Beauty had lost her price charming. And she's determined to find answers about her past…." Tsunade looked up, staring at the two Councilors sitting in front of her.

" You know we can't tell her. We made a promise to the Third and Fourth……," the male Councilors replied, understanding what Tsunade was trying to say. Tsunade sighed. She knew they would said that. She knee anyone who knew the secret would say that. " I know. We're in a tough spot here. We can't tell her but if we don't, who know what will happen..."

" From now on, if anything happens, quickly consult us. This is a very delicate and complicated so we must handle it with care…..," the male Councilors announced strictly. Tsunade nodded and she walked out of the meeting room. She knew the Councilors were feeling like what she was feeling right now. They wanted to tell her the secret, the answer that she had been looking for but the promise the made had stopped them from doing so.

She just hoped that the Councilors could fine a solution as fast as possible cause she knew Aoi won't wait for the answer. She knew Aoi was willing to do anything to find the answer. And she knew Aoi won't stop at nothing unless she finds the answer. She can say that with confidence cause she just knew it. She knew Aoi….