Naruto slowly opened one eye from his bed. The mattress of the hospital bed wasn't as comfy as the one at home, but it was still better than the majority of alternatives he'd slept on.
His heart monitor let out a constant beeping with his pulse. He sighed at the restraints. He could break them, but it would be a lengthy process. He could wait after all.
A few minutes later, Shizune looked into the room and saw he was awake. She smiled.
"Ah, good morning Naruto. How are you today? Or rather two days since we put you under. The sedative is only meant to last a few hours but you just kept sleeping. To be honest I'm not surprised."
"I'm a little restrained Shizune-san."
She let out a dry physician's laugh.
"Very good. Talon would have been proud of that one. Now, Tsunade-sama will be along to give you mission orders in a few minutes. Can I trust you not to run away until that has happened?"
He nodded.
She undid the restraints and he stretched his freed limbs. Then he pulled off the heart monitor patches to shut the monitor up. Shizune looked a little annoyed.
"Whilst not strictly necessary, I'd rather you didn't change that. It tends to freak people out when someone suddenly flat-lines Stay here until Tsunade-sama arrives."
"Hai."
Shizune smiled and walked away. Naruto got the sense that there were some other figures on the other side of the door. He activated his Byakugan with interest.
There was an ANBU on the other side of the door he didn't recognise. That was interesting. Why would he need protecting?
His memory sorted through and brought up a possibility.
Sakura. Ah. She had looked shocked when she had seen him, but she was one of the few who didn't know he had returned.
How much did she know? Would she really attempt to kill him? Then again, who knew about him that wanted to kill him? He considered everyone in Konoha.
Sakura? Neji, assuming the boy held a grudge and knew he had returned. Kurenai, but they had left on good terms hadn't they? Hinata?
The last name struck him as unlikely. Whilst she could fight, Hinata could have killed him when she had found him in an instant. Instead she had brought him back to Konoha.
He dismissed the matter as something he could consider afterwards and considered his priorities.
If, as he suspected, he was to be banned from partaking additional missions, then he had to do something. He considered possibilities and needs.
Near the top of the list was finding out what Baka's name had been, although nobody would tell him. It struck him as odd that the normally trivial bit of information was being withheld. Perhaps the mission records held the name.
He recalled the fight with the man, and his lack of real options for damaging him. He needed to learn some new techniques to fight with.
He looked at his bow and the small wire connected to the firing mechanism from the trigger. He recalled its purpose and knew what training he needed. He considered possibilities. He wondered what nature he was. He supposed the best for him would be a wind nature. The possibilities of powered bolts were certainly good.
On the other hand, it left him weak against some natures, and he wasn't a natural at the wind style of fighting. Wind style generally involved unpredictability and innovation, which he admittedly could do. Yet it was too open, too free for him to use. He was a sudden striker, a one shot kill.
He needed more power...more streamlining. A way to make a crossbow shot unblockable or untraceable. Either worked with his style. More stealth too, the crossbow sometimes gave him away.
He looked out of the window to see the sun rising. He'd had no idea of the time and now he knew. He felt a pang of guilt as he recalled Baka's words. He forced his analysing mind to stop. It was hard. He had spent three years watching shadows, hiding from sound and making sure nobody knew he existed. He'd been constantly analysing everything. He tried to switch off his brain and just take it in.
He stared as he tried to process the information differently to normal.
For a brief, brief moment he saw as he had been able to before. He saw the red-pink of the sky slowly expanding into the vast blue expanse. He saw white clouds, were they cumulo...no. It mattered not. The white and grey was stained with orange-pinkness. It was...
The product of variable light diffraction caused by the physical being of their planet and world, and laws of nature that he only knew a little about.
He sighed as his brain could not avoid analysing it from a logical perspective. For once, he longed not to be as good as he was.
Then his brain heard the footsteps outside his door and turned. He itched to take hold of a weapon but knew he didn't need it. It was a hospital. Nobody was trying to kill him.
Well, unless someone had already and the ANBU was on guard duty.
Tsunade entered the room. She smiled at the fact the lights were on and that he couldn't hide. It had to be good for him. He wasn't smiling, but that was normal.
"Naruto."
"Hokage-sama."
She gestured for him to sit and he did so. She pulled up a visitors chair and cocked her head as she normally did when examining him.
"My ban on performing missions still stands. You are badly injured enough that you should not fight; any additional healing effects from your condition aside."
He assumed she meant the Nine-Tails. His seals prevented most of its effects, but there was enough chakra to keep his healing accelerated.
"Aside from letting your injuries heal, I'm assigning you therapy as I said before. This will be performed by Hinata."
That was a surprise. He didn't bother hiding it. Tsunade quirked an eyebrow.
"You expected someone else?"
He honestly had.
"Yes. Shizune-san read my report first; she also is experienced in such matters. As such she is better qualified to perform such a task. You are also more qualified, as are the majority of the doctors and medical staff."
Tsunade smiled.
"But who do you trust more?"
He considered this. Shizune was by far the more experienced of the two, and certainly the more qualified. But Hinata was. He realised Hinata was one of the few people he could probably call a friend at this stage. More so than he could call Shizune a friend.
Then he remembered the conversation with her and the knowledge only they held. He had told her about his first real moment of panic like it was natural.
Tsunade smiled as she watched him think. It had taken some time to get inside his head and think like him, but it was working. She knew who he could trust and who he called friend. She had to try and enforce that.
"Hinata. It seems illogical though."
"Good. Sessions are every Monday and Thursday afternoon. If you do not attend then I will extend the mission ban. You will attend until the seal breaks."
A bead of sweat formed on his forehead. His body tensed and she saw him reach subconsciously for his burning side.
She placed a firm hand on his shoulder and forced his eyes to look at hers.
"I know. I'm afraid of what it was as well. If it scares you then it most likely scares everyone else as well. But you have to do this. This is an order. You know it is logical."
He nodded. A single tear ran from his normal eye.
"I know Hokage-sama. I am beginning to theorise that logic does not govern all decisions, nor can it be the correct choice in all situations."
She smiled. It was true. If he ever discovered love, it would be funny to watch.
"Good. I look forward to you conquering this, and then we can work on problem number two. Akatsuki. I assume you know what they are and what they are doing now?"
"They look for the Tailed Beasts. That much I know."
He did know why as well. Someone wanted to use them for a devastating jutsu. Naruto remembered Itachi's words, burned into his memory from the conversation they had shared.
Tsunade nodded.
"That's only the half of it. It transpires they want to capture all the Tailed Beasts and use them for a powerful jutsu. Jiraiya is off spying on them, and when he returns he'll have to examine you as well.
It made sense. She understood and knew what was necessary. Yet she did it differently to his former master. Danzo would have used brainwashing to achieve success in his operatives. He searched for the difference between the two.
"May I ask a question Hokage-sama?"
She nodded.
"Of course Naruto. You may call me Tsunade if it makes you feel more comfortable, hearing the sama just makes me feel old."
"Of course Tsunade. Why do you care?"
She looked a little more shocked than he had anticipated. Then her face softened into a smile.
"Normally that's quite an insulting question Naruto. I take it my way of dealing with you is different to that you have experienced before?"
It was true.
"In Root when I suffered a difficulty of challenge I was set harder goals to achieve to bring myself through. When I told Danzo-sama of my issues on the mission where I..."
She nodded as he paused.
"I understand. Continue."
"Indeed. When I told him of the issues he didn't react at all, and put me into isolation for a couple of days. It made sense to do so. I was not at optimal performance and needed time to resolve such internal issues before continuing. I did so as expected and did not suffer difficulties on my missions until the invasion."
Tsunade nodded, that was understandable. Danzo did not want emotion to form in Naruto. By having the young boy squash the emotion inside and hide it made sense. Well, made sense when thinking like someone running a hidden military wing.
"You have taken time out of your schedule to review my case specially, which doesn't make sense to me. You have greater priorities to attend to, yet you choose to care more. You bar me from missions but not as a punishment but as a benefit. It is a new viewpoint I have yet to fully comprehend."
So culture shock effectively. He was used to relying on himself so often that other people showing him kindness came as a shock. She smiled. He was damaged and nearly broken but somehow still functioning. He had been alone for years and that meant he still didn't understand basic concepts a child understood.
Yet it was still there. Underneath it all, he was still a good person. There was hope.
She realised she had done nothing but slightly smile at his confused face. He needed an answer.
"Well, it's my duty to care. Aside from being the Hokage and thus in charge of the well-being of all the shinobi under my command, I am first and foremost a medic-nin. My duty is to keep everyone alive. Physical well-being is the main part but mental well-being is, if anything, more important. If someone freezes on a mission or suffers an anxiety attack, they will likely die.
Your seal could break if you overstress. I think that you are going to, so when it breaks you could die easily. I want to prevent that happening."
He nodded. That was the logical part.
"That and you...are special Naruto. You're a Junchuuriki, even if you are a hider rather than a fighter. You are different and like a child in many ways. You are a good person. Do not forget this."
He nodded. He realised he hadn't heard himself described that way before.
"Now, any other questions Naruto?"
"Two actually."
Tsunade smiled.
"Firstly, can you recommend someone to train me on chakra channelling? In my fight with the Akatsuki shinobi I found myself without a real power option, and was forced to stall him out until hope arrived."
Tsunade rolled her eyes.
"He nearly killed you. You didn't do a very good job."
"Exactly. I wish to find someone capable of training me in chakra channelling. My crossbow is compatible with such an exercise. I can conceive of carrying chakra to improve strength or decrease detectability by casting a genjutsu onto the bolt."
Tsunade nodded.
"Hmm. I think I can find someone to train you in such arts. Give me a day to find someone suitable for it. The second question?"
"Why is there an ANBU outside my door?"
Tsunade sighed.
"Sakura did not take well to your return. We thought she had got over Sasuke's defection, but it seems she held out hope that he would return. Silly girl. When she saw you had returned, she worked out what must have happened. I have to give her credit for that.
She tried to kill you one night, but Shizune stopped her. She really wanted you dead. You killed both of her teammates, one who she loved and one who she thought would bring the other one back."
Naruto nodded. That was not entirely unexpected. Sakura had been nothing but hostile to him in the past, and his actions must have angered her further. Yet he had done only what was correct to do.
"She's been in T&I, not being questioned just being given time to think about what she was doing. I have to go and talk to her next. Hopefully she'll give up her grudge."
He accepted the information. When he was out of this place, he would be safe enough from her.
Tsunade tapped her fingers on the bedside table and clicked her fingers.
"Oh yes, I also came to check on your medical wellbeing, knew I forgot something."
Was she really the greatest medic in the elemental nations? She skimmed his chart in about ten seconds.
"Well. Your body is still not in good shape. The fact is I should never have yet you stay escaped from the hospital the first time. Your nutrient balance is down again, when did you last eat?"
He considered. He couldn't remember.
"I am unsure."
She sighed deeply and ran a hand through her hair roughly.
"You really are a machine. You don't know when to stop. You need to eat regularly, and sleep regularly. If you don't, your body will stop working properly and you will die. What do you like eating?"
Naruto considered. The Akimichi food had been good when he had had it the first time at the hospital. But it was a necessity and not a luxury food. What else had he ever eaten? He'd never really paid much attention aside from eating a relatively balanced diet. He did have one memory which dredged itself up from his memory.
It was old. Very old. A kindly middle-aged man in a booth, a much, much younger Naruto. Sitting on a big stool with the Hokage next to him. He was being told about someone who would be taking care of him.
The bowl had arrived.
Tsunade smiled as a tiny amount of drool formed on his lips.
"A good memory?"
Naruto snapped out of the memory.
"There was a noodle and broth dish I ate a long time ago. Served by a man in a booth? I cannot remember its name, but I remember it tasted good."
She smiled.
"Ramen?"
The word sounded familiar.
"Yes, I believe that was what it was called."
She reached for some paper and scribbled an address.
"Here you go. This is a good place to go for the stuff. I occasionally go there myself. If you do go, keep your hood down and talk to them. That is an order. Do not try to hide in public."
He nodded. It would be considered polite to do so.
"Now, another day's bed rest and good food, and then get to the sessions with Hinata. Stay safe, and give it a month or two. I'm sure you can wait that long."
He could. He would find things to do to improve himself. It was an odd realisation that he had never had more than a day's downtime in his life. Either he was training his skills alone, waiting for or on a mission, or eating and sleeping. Now he had a month or two to do things and face his fear.
His side burnt briefly for a moment and he mentally shut it out. He still felt a little tired, and if he was stuck here for another day, he might as well use the bed rest available.
He briefly considered that he could get used to long days of sleeping before crashing into it once again.
A/N
This marks the end of "part 3" of the story in progress, that is to say the end of the third in progress document I created. The fourth is longer than this one was, and if I keep that up, I can returned to updates every 3 days sooner rather than later. At least hopefully.
A continued thanks to all the followers, favourites and reviewers (854 reviews? flipping 'eck!) and I hope everyone keeps enjoying the story.