AN: Note that I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or any of the characters from either Anime. This work is a fanfiction written out of my love for the series and not in any attempt to make a profit.

Proofread by: Author

So, we begin with a continuation and elaboration as to what was revealed at the end of the last chapter!

Oh, and apologies for the delay in the upload of this chapter. I didn't actually sleep this night, so all that's keeping me alive is my vanishing supply of tea.

Chapter 105: Fish, fish, no.


"You say you learned this just two days ago? Seems you have some talent." Tsunade commented, which made Jiraiya chuckle.

"She's not just talented, she's a genius all on her own. This little girl has already managed to become a Sage, and unlike me, she doesn't even need help to do it." Jiraiya boasted while Tsunade turned to look at Heikō with wide eyes.

"Impossible!" Tsunade stated, glaring at Jiraiya before looking over at Heikō again, who just chuckled.

"It's true, I'm actually in Sage-mode right now," Heikō told them with a smirk, reaching up to move her bangs out of the way, as they hid it without her forehead protector on, revealing her third "eye", opening it to reveal the exposed nerve present there.

"What is that?" Shizune asked, looking equally disgusted and curious.

"An optic nerve. It seems to be part of Human-Sage-mode, although the eyelids weren't there before, and it seems permanent now, even if I don't use Sage mode." Heikō explained with a shrug.

"May I?" Tsunade asked, walking up to Sakura, holding her right hand up, ready to reach out and inspect their forehead.

"Yeah, sure." Heikō agreed as Tsunade began using medical chakra to check her head, a frown appearing on her face almost immediately.

"It seems to have done more than just give you an incomplete eye. Your entire brain is scrambled." Tsunade comments and Heikō can't help but chuckle as she convinces Sakura to prank Tsunade.

The effect is immediate as Tsunade startles and pulls away from them, wide-eyed from what she had felt. Heikō can't help but laugh at Tsunade's reaction, while the other occupants of the room look between them in confusion.

"W-what, was that?!" Tsunade demands to know, sounding both astonished and horrified at once.

"That's not something part of my Human-Sage-Mode. That's part of my Kekkei Genkai. What you felt was me putting part of my brain to sleep. My brain reconfigures itself physically when I sleep." Heikō explained, mentally waking Sakura back up, feeling their physical brain re-align itself in their skull through their senses. Thankfully they didn't physically feel the changes to their brain. They had originally found the fact that the muscles in their brain could push and pull at their brain worrying, but once they discovered it all handled itself whenever one of them, or both of them fell asleep, it had been more fascinating than anything.

"T-that's… That's unheard of before. What's even the point?" Tsunade questions, bewildered, making Heikō shrug.

"I can't say for certain, but it seems to be some kind of physical reaction that changes my brain when I sleep or half-sleep. I think it's more effective than a normal brain relying on chemicals and hormones for a sleep cycle, as I can will myself to sleep, or wake up ready at a moment's notice, without feeling tired." Heikō explained in a half-truth.

Tsunade frowns at Heikō's explanation before she manages to compose herself again and goes back to using the mystical palm technique on Heikō's head.

"And this Kekkei Genkai of yours… What exactly does it do?" Tsunade asks verily, knowing full well that Kekkei Genkai secrets weren't usually divulged that easily. Of course, people always tended to be a bit loose-lipped around medical staff and usually trusted said medical staff blindly, if begrudgingly as Shinobi.

"Lots of things," Heikō answered vaguely, leaving Tsunade sighing in resignation as she realized she wouldn't get a better answer without forcing the issue, something she had no right to do

Finishing with her examination, Tsunade stands up. "Well, then we're done here. I've healed up all that wasn't already, the rest your body can take care of on its own. I'm out of here. Shizune!" Tsunade told them, turning to leave, shocking them all.

"Hey wait a minute! What about Sasuke and Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto immediately objected in anger.

"I don't care kid. You lost, so I'm not going back to die a fool's death for a village I don't care about." Tsunade responded in annoyance, while Shizune looked apologetic, and Naruto looked livid.

"Now Tsunade, please be reasonable, if not you, they're going to put-" Jiraya began, only for Tsunade to suddenly snap in his direction.

"I. Don't. Care." Tsunade repeated, slowly, punctuating each word with a scowl, before turning back to look at Sakura. "The only thing that'd interest me would be to possibly train that brat. I admit she has talent, but I doubt your precious village is willing to just hand her over to me for a few years." Tsunade told them with another scowl, intending to leave the room before Heikō spoke up again.

"Time wouldn't be an issue if you come back," Sakura told Tsunade rather bluntly.

"Brat," Tsunade says as she turns back to glare at Heikō. "That's exactly what I don't want. Don't overestimate yourself, you may have talent, but I'm not going back, just to nurture a promising young Kunoichi." Tsunade informed them.

"I'm a quick learner." Heikō offered, making Tsunade paused, frowning. "I mastered a completely new form of Sage-Mode in less than a month, and I'm close to learning the Mystical Palm technique now that I've only tried it two days ago." Heikō points out, only for Tsunade to huff in annoyance.

"Same thing, I'm not going back." Tsunade insisted.

"You could teach me here," Heikō suggested, which seemed to catch Tsunade's attention completely on Heikō, meeting her determined, unflinching until Tsunade shook her head.

"Alright, you know what? I'll make you all a deal. If you can master the Mystical palm technique in one week, I'll agree to go with you. However, if you lose, you'll be staying here with me as my second apprentice. Heck, I'll even throw in this necklace!" Tsunade exclaimed, holding up the necklace that hung around her neck, only for Shizune to gasp in protest, while Naruto didn't look all that pacified or on board with Tsunade's wager.

"Lady Tsunade! That's the precious-!" Tsunade began to protest, only for Tsunade to interrupt her with a glare.

Heikō narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What's so special about that necklace?" She asked, not even sure if the answer would matter, she was already considering accepting, to help Jiraiya and Naruto bring Tsunade back since she would be able to heal Sasuke and Kakashi-Sensei.

"That necklace is the only one of its kind in the world. If you were to sell it, you'd be able to buy mountains with it." Jiraiya began explaining. Heikō didn't much care for money, but she supposed it wouldn't hurt to upgrade their gear, as well as deposit a bunch of money to invest and save some for the future. However, Jiraiya hadn't been finished with his explanation. "It belonged to the First Hokage," Jiraiya revealed.

Naruto suddenly looked interested, while Heikō and Sakura considered the monetary value against the sentimental one. It would be incredibly rude to sell it off if they did get it in the bet, on the other hand, a lot of money could do a lot of good as well. Sakura wanted to dwell on the issue some more, but Heikō decided to take the initiative, as they would likely take some time figuring their priorities out, something they could do during the bet. Besides, they had accidentally moved away from the issue if they should even risk the bet in the first place, having been distracted by the potential reward. It was a dirty trick, in a way, but Heikō wasn't sure if Tsunade had even meant for it to be one.

"Fine." Heikō agreed, before holding up a hand. "But I expect to at least get some instructions from either you or Shizune, I had to figure out everything on my own to this point, and if I do this alone and pick up any bad habits, it'd be on you." Heikō decided, pointing at Tsunade who suddenly felt a little bit, annoyed at the added stipulation, but nodded. It was only fair to actually provide Sakura with the proper materials for their bet.


Sakura could only stare at the fish beneath her hands in dismay. She had asked Shizune earlier that day if it was possible to improve faster in some way, rather than waste the life of fish, repeatedly, over and over again until she succeeded. Shizune had informed her that normally, a Medical-nin in training would first have to read a library-worth of medical texts and books before they would even be taught the mystical palm technique. After all, it was considered a near-universal healing technique that could be adapted and controlled to suit the user's needs on the fly, as opposed to other, simpler techniques that were more limited in their application. Learning the other techniques and reading all the scrolls usually allowed students to grasp the concept easier, and faster, but Sakura didn't have that kind of time, as two days out of her seven were already up.

"We're just not fast enough," Heikō complained, as their control and intuitive talent for manipulating chakra had allowed them to copy the technique after being subjected to it for so long. Unfortunately, the technique was also quite draining in terms of chakra, especially when one tried to treat an urgent, life-threatening wound, rather than something smaller one could take their time with.

"It's a lot easier when not fighting against the host's chakra as well," Sakura added, having noticed a difference and compared healing themselves to trying to heal the fist. It was easier to heal the body using their own chakra after all.

Suddenly, Sakura stopped, frowned, and had an epiphany. The fish below her hands had already died, the chakra within it greatly diminished. With a sigh, Sakura slid the fish into a basket with two other fish that had died and would be served as dinner that night. She was beginning to hate fish.

Walking over to the cheap, empty aquarium containing nothing but a few fish swimming around in it, Sakura quickly shoved her hands into the water,r grabbing one of the fish, before pulling it out, barely disturbing the surface of the water due to applying the water walking technique over the fish as she grabbed it. As the fish fought against her hold, Sakura sighed and spared one finger to create a short needle made of chakra, before pushing it into the fish to create an injury.

Next, she used medical chakra to paralyze the fish temporarily and placed it down onto the provided scroll that would help her stabilize the jutsu and learn it properly. This time, Sakura tried not to flood the entire fish in medical chakra, or just focus it on the wound, but carefully push the chakra into the wound and surrounding tissue, allowing the natural regenerative abilities within the fist's own body step out as she accelerated the process, feeding them energy, without pushing it into them, merely leaving whatever was required within reach. After a few moments, Sakura smiled, as she looked down at her progress.

It had still been slow enough for the first to suffocate out of water, but her time had improved. With renewed determination, Sakura continued on with the next fish.


Heikō held her composure as she was healing the fish under the watchful eyes of Tsunade, Jiraiya, Naruto, and Shizune. Gone was the scroll meant for support in learning the technique, now, it was all Heikō and Sakura.

Working together in tandem, they managed to use their two chakra networks in tandem, providing double the amount of healing chakra to the technique at once, greatly decreasing the time it took them to heal the fish and give it a full diagnostic, before releasing it into a big pot full of water.

Looking up at Tsunade, Heikō managed a smile, while Tsunade wore a resigned expression. Jiraiya began to clap slowly before Naruto followed his example, slightly confused, yet smiling sincerely as he at least knew it was celebration-worthy.

"Dammit brat, you're too talented to give up on. I guess we're going back to Konohagakure, Shizune." Tsunade told her apprentice with a loud sigh, yet a small smile on her lips, as she handed Heikō her necklace.


AN: And so, Tsunade joins the party. A bit different from canon, and canonically, we're about a day behind Canon when it comes to the timeline. Either way, things are interesting. How will everyone react upon Heikō's and Sakura's return? I wonder.