Hey guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter, not quite so action packed but this one's more about the aftermath of the fight.

When Naruto woke it was in a hospital bed, and she felt like she'd gone ten rounds with Kurama.

She opened her eyes slowly, wincing when she shifted and white hot pain shot up through her arm.

As soon as she moved there were hands pressing her shoulders down into the bed, and she saw her mom leaning over her, face pale with bags under red eyes.

"Mom?" her voice was hoarse, and Rin was blinking back tears.

"I'm here sweetie. You had us all scared there for a minute."

"What happened?"

"You passed out from severe Chakra exhaustion. Sasuke nearly killed the Anbu who tried to drag him back. He thought you were dead for a moment there-"

"I remember seeing him before I passed out."

"I think seeing you like that brought up some bad memories of his family." Rin reached out, gently brushing Naruto's hair out of her face, "He'll need a bit of space. How are you feeling?"

"Crappy. What happened after I left to go after the Hokage?"

"The attack started, and it was finished pretty quickly, Gaara used his sand to bind anyone who tried to attack and the rest were easy to pick off. After that most people gathered around the barrier where you were helping sensei-not that the Anbu let anyone close enough to see what was happening so your cover's intact. The Anbu who saw you use Kurama's chakra were sworn to secrecy."

"Kurama's hurt-"

"Sandaime-sama said as much." Rin sighed softly, "Naru-chan you're lucky you be alive... you..." she swallowed hard, "I'm not sure exactly what happened on that roof- though I'd very much like to be told but I know you had to fight Orochimaru and I know that Sandaime-sama says he's certain he would have died if it wasn't for your presence."

"Glad to be of service." Naruto raised her left arm, saluting playfully-and Rin gave her a warning look.

"I don't want to lose you honey."

"I know mom." Naruto hesitated, eyes flicking to her right arm-which was wrapped in bandages.

Rin followed her gaze and sighed, "The broken bones have been healed but the abrasions are being stubborn-you'll have to let them heal naturally or get someone better than me to heal them."

"There's no one better than you."

"There is." Rin frowned, "Jiraiya-sama wants you to come with him on a trip. Sandaime-sama wants to have Tsunade-sama return home and get the medics up to standard." Rin admitted, "And he thinks that she's probably the best to heal your arm-and he says it should be sooner rather than later."

"Right." Naruto nodded, "When would we leave."

"I imagine he'll give you a day or so and he won't make you travel too fast given the fact that you're recovering." Rin paused, "You don't have to go sweetie-"

"I need my arm healed sooner rather than later." Naruto bit her lip, " I won't be able to switch the seals for Kurama until it's healed."

"Right." Rin nodded, sighing to herself, "That makes sense. Well you won't be the only one going-Sakura's pestered him into agreeing to take her too. She's planning on begging Tsunade-sama to teach her."

"That'd be awesome." Naruto smiled, "I would say I could train her while we're travelling but-"

"But you will be taking it easy." Rin's voice was sharp, "I will not lose you Naru-chan, you need to take care of yourself." she grabbed Naruto's uninjured hand. "I was so scared-"

"I'm sorry mom." Naruto bowed her head, biting her lip hard, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"I know you didn't, and I am proud of you princess, so proud of you, what you did was amazing but the thought that I could loose you-"

"I know." Naruto gave a faint smile, "I'll be careful." she paused, "I did it. By the way-the attack I used on Orochimaru it.." she was smiling wider, a proud look on her face, "I call it the Rasenshuriken."

"He'd be so proud of you." Rin's voice was soft, "So so proud honey-"

"Rin I have your coffee and a pinkie-" Kakashi had let himself in, he was holding two steaming cups of coffee and Sakura was just behind him. And he was frozen for a second, staring at Naruto before the corners of his eyes wrinkled up slightly, a proud gleam in them, "You finally woke up then Naruto-chan. It's about time-"

"NARUTO!" Sakura almost barged past Kakashi, scrambling onto the bed and hugging Naruto-careful not to touch her right side. "Don't ever do anything that scary ever again do you hear me?"

"I do." Naruto rolled her eyes, hugging Sakura back, "I'm glad to see you too by the way-"

"Hush." Sakura slapped her arm. "You scared everyone so much."

"I'm fine." Naruto paused, "Well, I will be soon. So I hear you and I are going on a trip with Ero Sennin."

"Yeah. If you're going to find Tsunade-sama I'm coming with. She's legendary, I am so gonna get her to teach me." Sakura had a determined glint in her eyes-and Naruto didn't doubt her for even a second.

"If you guys are staying here I'll go and tell the nurses you're awake Naruto." Rin stood up, "I need to stretch my legs anyway-besides the Hokage and Jiraiya will want to know that you're awake too."

"We'll stay." Kakashi moved to sit down in the chair Rin had just vacated, pulling a book out of his pocket-and Rin's eyes narrowed. "Kakashi-kun you put that book away right now."

"Hm... no."

A moment later the book was knocked out of his hand by the clipboard that had been hung on the bottom of Naruto's bed, and Kakashi pouted at Rin.

"Rin-chan you're so cruel to me, this is bullying-"

"I'll show you bullying if you pick up that book before I get back." she shot back, smiling despite her words, and Kakashi was smiling too.

"You're a cruel woman Rin-chan-"

"No, I just don't take any of your crap like your other friends-" She paused, "Well, I know how to handle your ridiculousness better than Gai does so it still counts." then she gave an evil grin, "That's it-if you pick up that book before I get back then I'll tell him you want to challenge him-"

"No!" Kakashi's panicked expression made the two girls and one grown woman laugh.

"Good. Now you just make sure my dumbass of a daughter doesn't somehow get herself hurt some more and I'll be back soon-"

"Rude!"

"I speak only the truth." Rin shot back as she walked out of the room and shut the door behind her.

"Hmph." Kakashi turned his head to look at Naruto, his gaze softening, "I won't pester you with questions your mom already asked, but I am curious since the Hokage is refusing to give anyone details of what happened, are the rumours that Orochimaru used Edo Tensei true?"

"I-I think that was what it was called." Naruto said after a moment of thought, "He brought people back from the dead."

"That would be the Edo Tensei." Kakashi frowned, "You're lucky to be alive-"

"Believe me I know."

"Can I ask who it was?" Sakura asked almost eagerly, "Who did you have to fight? There's so many crazy rumours going around-apparently one of the Anbu told someone that he saw the Shodaime and the Nidaime!"

Naruto flushed, "Uh-"

"Oh Kami are you saying they were true?" Sakura hissed, "That-holy crap!" She almost squealed the words, pressing her hand over her mouth. "You fought against the first two Hokage's!"

"Keep it down." Kakashi's voice was sharp, "The longer that's only a rumor the better." he paused, "Though I have to say that makes it even more impressive Naruto-chan... which is the problem if this gets out and people actually believe it then a lot of people will be looking into your past."

"That's not good." Naruto bit her lip, "I didn't plan on telling people, not really."

"Good." Kakashi paused, "I am proud of you Naruto-chan. The Hokage was very clear when he said that without you he'd be dead."

"I just did what I could." Naruto looked down at her hands, at the pristine white of the bandages on her right hand, "Orochimaru still got away-"

"Naruto-chan there are a lot of people who wouldn't have done half as well as you." Kakashi reassured her. "You should be so proud of yourself."

"You really should." Sakura shifted closer, "As your best friend I order you to be proud."

That made Naruto laugh-though that probably wasn't for the best because it made her chest ache.

Sakura clearly noticed her pain because the pink haired girls brows furrowed, "Rin-san said that she couldn't fully heal you... and she said that Kurama can't heal you either."

"He... he got hurt." Naruto admitted stiffly, biting her lip, "Are you guys okay if I check on him actually?"

"Of course." Sakura nodded quickly, "You do what you have to do."

"We'll make sure that when your mom comes back she knows what you're doing."

"Thank you." Naruto shifted, closing her eyes and letting her breathing go even, and then she was inside of her mindscape and she rushed towards the cage that held Kurama, who was curled into a tight ball in his cage-and three of his tails were missing with stumps where they should be.

Her eyes filled with tears as she reached the cage and reached inside, pressing her hand to the giant fox's muzzle-and Kurama opened one eye, shifting his head slightly to lean into her touch.

"I'm sorry." her voice was tight, her eyes shining with tears as she spoke, "Kurama I'm so sorry you're hurt because of me-"

"No." Kurama rumbled ,"Because of that damn snake... him you're going to let me eat when the time comes."

"If that's what you want." Naruto shifted, pressing her face between the bars, the cool metal framing her face. "I'll let you eat him whole if you want. Kami this is my fault I shouldn't have used your power-"

"You didn't realize." Kurama shook his head, "I don't think Rin-san ever mentioned it and I never did either. I assumed you know and she assumed I told you, then again neither of us ever thought that you'd end up fighting the man."

"Still." Naruto shook her head, "It was my fault you're hurt-"

"Stop that brat-you're already paying the price I don't want you beating yourself up anymore-or I'll eat you." Kurama pressed his head up against the bars and managed to slide a paw so it was just outside, and Naruto shifted, laying down and resting her head on his paw, taking comfort in the warm softness of his fur.

"How long will it take you to heal."

"A few weeks, a month perhaps." Kurama admitted, "I had a third of my chakra ripped away, even I take time to heal from that, and it will take a lot of my chakra. I won't be able to heal you unless it's life or death."

"That's okay, I can handle a month of normal healing." she closed her eyes, curling her fingers into the fur, "Besides hopefully Tsunade will be able to heal my arm-"

"She'll only be able to heal the skin if she can even do that much."

"What does that mean?"

"Your attack." Kurama sounded unusually concerned, "It's powerful-very powerful and very dangerous-those tiny little wind chakra blades it creates don't just shred your skin."

"What do you mean?"

"They do more damage, on a much much deeper level-I believe the word would be cellular, they slice apart a persons chakra network-Orochimaru will never find someone to heal his arms because of the damage you caused, but it does it to you too... not as badly but if you use it too much you won't be able to use your right arm to wield Chakra."

"Oh." Naruto opened her eyes slowly, "So I made an attack that I can't even use unless I'm in a suicide fight?"

"Essentially yes. There may be some way to prevent the problem but for now we can't risk it doing more damage than it already has."

"Fine." Naruto half huffed the word, "No Rasenshuriken for me." she smiled to herself as she said it, "But still... I totally finished my dads jutsu. Even he couldn't do that." there was an almost childish pride in her voice and Kurama chuckled, a rumbling sensation she could feel even through his paw as the fox shook his head.

"You truly are something else Naruto. Rest now. Your friends will wake you when your mother returns-you'll need plenty of sleep if you wish to head out to find Tsunade tomorrow."

"I do. I want my arm to be healed." she let out a little yawn, "Then I can do your new seal." technically she could let Jiraiya do it but she wasn't sure she was entirely comfortable with that idea-not because he wasn't a fuinjutsu master, but because the seal she'd created felt personal, it was her seal, hers and Kurama's, if anyone should be responsible for it it was herself.

"Just don't push yourself too hard." Kurama shook his head, "Be careful brat, I don't want you hurting yourself more in a reckless attempt to give me a bit more freedom. I can wait."

"I know." Naruto sighed tiredly, "But I want to make you happy Kurama. I love you."

Then there were several moments of silence as Naruto started to drift off, and the last thing she heard before she was completely asleep was Kurama his voice barely above a whisper, "I love you too brat."