Naruto was not happy, not in any way shape or form.

Kakashi had been horrified when he'd seen which cell as empty, and he'd exchanged panicked looks with the Anbu, who had rushed off to inform
Tsunade of the development, which appeared to be that one Yakushi Kabuto, who hadn't been killed because even after almost three years he still had valuable information left-he'd been giving enough tiny snippets of information to keep himself alive, but not enough to actually do more than show that they still needed him, had been freed and was likely long gone.

Of course the automatic finger of blame was pointing towards Orochimaru, and when they'd gone to see Tsunade after the rest of the Anbu squad arrived to deal with the bodies and take up temporary prison guard roles Kakashi had stated as much.

It was Naruto who had quietly pointed out that what had happened implied something much more concerning than just the traitors escape.
The timing implied Akatsuki involvement-or at least Obito's involvement. That had to mean that at the very lead Orochimaru and the Akatsuki were allies of a kind now-and, as was far more likely, Orochimaru was very probably a member once again.

It was grim news, and Tsunade had managed to hold her temper surprisingly well, all things considered, though Naruto noticed that her poor desk had cracks running through it that hadn't been there just the day before.

"That slimy bastard of a snake. We should have known he'd do something like this." Naruto could feel the anger rolling off of Tsunade, the betrayal.

"We should have executed Kabuto but he knows too much."

"This is the one who tried to kidnap Sasuke-kun yes?" Itachi was in the corner of the office, and his expression was tight.

"Yeah, yeah that's him." Naruto nodded, running her fingers through her hair. "I'm pretty sure Sasuke-kun could handle him no so it's... it's bad but we don't have to panic massively over Sasuke's safety right now." she had faith in the Uchiha-their spar had been impressive as hell, and she knew they'd both been holding back somewhat, neither of them wanting to destroy the area around them too much.

"Permission to go and tell my brother Hokage-sama?" Itachi's voice was quiet, and Tsunade nodded, "Yeah yeah, off with you, make sure Karin-san is okay too while you're at it. And Sai-san."

"His injuries were less severe." Naruto shook her head, "Karin-chan was the one who was really hurt."

"This is a disaster." Tsunade let out a breath as Itachi slipped out of the room, "Kakashi, leave us."

"Yes Hokage-sama."

"You can go and join Itachi-san and Yamato at the hospital, Rin-chan will undoubtedly be glad to see you and glad for any support you can offer."

With that Kakashi left and Tsunade turned her gaze to Naruto, "Jiraiya's already gone to see if he can track them. If it's the Uchiha then the chances are he won't be able to track him."

"Wonderful." Naruto's voice was tight and angry, "But at least it does give us a bit more information I guess."

"Oh?"

"We know that technically the Akatsuki are down five members, if you count Itachi-san. I took down Hidan and Kakuzu when they first came after Fu-chan, and I took down two today. They're supposed to have five members and we know three of them-or know of them anyways. Kisame, Pain and Obito."

"And now we know that there's a high chance that two more of the members are Orochimaru and now likely Kabuto as well." Tsunade followed her line of thought, "Which means there were two members we don't know about and three empty positions."

"Probably not empty by now." Naruto shook her head, "Think about it, Obito sent the two today in like lambs to the slaughter. He knew I'd take them out, it was part of his plan."

"He probably had some replacements ready in the wings." Tsunade realised, nodding along. "Which means that with Kabuto recovered from our prison they likely have everyone they want now." Tsunade shook her head, "That doesn't exactly bode well for us Naruto-chan. Or for Fu-san."

"I might have a plan on progress." Naruto admitted, "Kurama's going to see if he can make a connection with Chomei-if he can we'll be able to pull them into a shared mindscape and there's a chance we'll be able to get information from her, a chance she'll be able to tell us where she's being kept."

"Good." Tsunade nodded, staring at Naruto for a long moment before letting out a breath, "Right now though you need to go home Naruto-chan-"

"Wait what?"

"You need to sit down and breath. If Kurama's working on the connection then there's nothing you can do there, and you're not a healer so you can't help with Karin and Sai. You've had an extremely long day and as much as I'm sure you'll deny it you need to rest,"

"But Baa-chan-"

"No buts brat. You might be my chosen successor, and in a months time you'll be free to order me around as you like but right now I am the Hokage and you're one of my shinobi and you are going to go home and have a nap. You're doing a great job of hiding it from everyone including yourself but you're dead on your feet."

"I am not." Naruto protested quickly, defensively, "I mean yeah I guess it has been a pretty intense day-"

"I don't want you collapsing on the way home kid." Tsunade shook her head, "Listen, you've done amazingly, but there is nothing else you can do right at this moment." her expression softened when she saw the wide eyed desperate look on the blonde's face and she stood and moved around her desk, gently laying her hands on Naruto's shoulders, squeezing very gently before she grabbed Naruto's chin gently and made her tilt her face up to meet the older woman's eyes.

"But Baa-chan-"

"If you make one point I can't counter I'll let you do what you want." Tsunade offered gently, "Tell me one thing that you can help with?"

"I should be there for Karin-chan-"

"Karin-chan wouldn't want you to be on the verge of collapse sat at her bedside fussing. She has everyone else there right now, you'd just be in the way."

"I'm not on the verge of collapse."

"Naruto-chan." Tsunade shook her head, "Today has been a very intense day-have you even eaten?"

"I..." Naruto hesitated, "I think I had some Dango with Itachi-san." she offered after a moment. "After I told him the news."

"I see." Tsunade nodded, "You've been on the go since this morning yes?"

"I mean... I guess so but-"

"Look me in the eye and tell me that you're not feeling the drain-not necessarily physical, but mentally. Today has been very rough, a lot of ups and downs, you're bound to be emotionally worn out."

"It started as a good day." Naruto's voice was suddenly very quiet and she looked down, "I was so happy... a bit nervous but happy."

"And then everything went crazy and you haven't given yourself the chance to just sit down and breath since. I'm going to let you in on a secret kid, do you want to know what the biggest risk to the health and safety of a Kage is?"

"Enemy shinobi?"

"Not even close." Tsunade let out a soft chuckle as her hand left Naruto's chin and she brushed her hair out of her face, "The real threat is burnout Naruto. This job isn't an easy one. It's filled with tough choices and responsibility, it's a horrible job at times, worth it yes, but horrible too. Peoples lives are in your hands, you feel like you have to be there for everything. But you can't, you need to learn that sometimes there's nothing more you can do and the best thing you could do for yourself and your village is to let yourself rest. Look me in the eye and tell me that you're not drained right now?"

Naruto's shoulders slumped and she looked down. "He did it all today to ruin it for me. I... he chose today just to hurt me."

"And he succeeded." Tsunade sighed, gently folding her arms around the younger blonde, resting her chin on top of Naruto's head as she pressed her face into Tsunade's shoulder while Tsunade gently rubbed her back in soothing circles.

"I shouldn't let myself get so worked up." Naruto sniffled, her voice somewhat muffled as Tsunade let out a heavy exhale.

"Stop being stupid Naru-chan." Tsunade shook her head, "You're fifteen, you're still young, you've handled everything amazingly, and now you're with someone you can trust and you don't have to keep up the strong face with, there's nothing wrong with showing weakness around people you trust. Everyone has moments kid. It's all about knowing who you can trust to show your weakness to, and when you need to just take a few hours to breath and sleep."

"Who do you go to?"

"Sensei usually." Tsunade shifted slightly, pulling back to look at Naruto, "He might have made mistakes but he'll always be my sensei and he knows how heavy the burden is. And you'll have a lot of people you can turn to Naruto-chan, including me."

"Right." Naruto nodded, "I... will go home and have a nap I guess."

"Good." Tsunade patted Naruto's cheek, "I'll send someone to pick up that letter of yours in a few hours once you've had some sleep."

"Thank you." Naruto let out a weak laugh, "I feel like I'm thanking everyone over and over again, does that sound dumb? I just..."

"Team Seven are your support network." Tsunade's voice was knowing and fond. "They're probably the ones you'll rely on more than anyone else, I'm just glad they're there for you enough that you feel the need to thank them, though I think they'd probably say that you don't need to, now shoo, off with you."

Naruto nodded, giving a small smile and a nod before she Hirashined home, to her bedroom, and she let out a breath as she flopped straight onto her bed, closing her eyes, instantly slipping into her mindscape, where a familiar warm tail automatically wrapped around her and drew her in close so that she could curl into the soft cosy fur, closing her eyes as she did.

"Hey Fuzzball."

"Brat." the rumble of Kurama's voice was soothing, "The Senju woman is right. You need to rest for a bit."

"I want to stay here to rest."

"Of course." she felt Kurama shifting to make her more comfortable as she let herself snuggle down in the familiar comfort of his warmth.

"I'm sorry about earlier." her voice was quiet, "I know I already apologised when my my mom here but-"

"Brat it's okay." Kurama huffed the words, "What you did wasn't right and I won't lie and say I'm happy with your behaviour but you were upset and scared, and angry too. Given the things that I've done when angry I can hardly stay angry at you. Besides, you're sorry and that's the important thing."

"I was horrible to you, I tried to take your chakra when you told me not to I-"

"Brat I swear if you don't shut up I'll sit on you. What's done is done and I'm not going to hold what you did against you. You've never held my actions against me before and when we first met I repeatedly threatened to murder you."

"I guess." Naruto let out a weak little laugh, shaking her head, "Still I acted like a brat-"

"You are a brat, but you're my brat."

"Why Kurama that's almost sentimental of you-"

"For that I'll eat you."

"No you won't." Naruto almost hummed the words, letting her body relax until she was practically boneless within the giant foxes warmth. "You love me too much."

"Do you want to test me?"

"Nah, we both know I'd win."

"Sure you would brat." the rumbles were so soothing when he spoke, and Naruto could feel herself slowly drifting off as he spoke again, "You just rest. I'll find your annoying friend and Chomei."