Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Summary: Naruto is dead, in a final act of revenge against the village. Now left with his mysteriously conceived son, can the Hokage make things right? Or will the boy turn out just the same?
Pairings: None yet
Rating: PG-13 for some language.
One last chance
Chapter 1: After the tempest
3 days later
The small group gathered at the Hokage tower for the funeral.
They all wore black, a sign of respect for the dead, for their dear friend who died three days before. As expected, the memorial service had only a few attendees. None of the villagers came, after all, who would want to grieve for a murderer?
Silence penetrated the air, since no one, not even Tsunade herself had any words to say. The only sounds were the noises of reconstruction coming from the south. Since there was little more that could be done, the group began to disperse.
Neither Tsunade, Kakashi nor Jiraiya wore any emotion on their faces, being the trained shinobi they were. Although Tsunade swore she saw a tear come out of Kakashi's eye (the one she could see anyway).
Iruka, on the other hand, began wailing his eyes out. On Kakashi's shoulder no less, not that the silver haired nin minded much. He had to be escorted home.
Similarly, Sakura and Ino were now being comforted by Chouji and Shikamaru respectively. Choji himself looked like he could start crying any second now. Shika's face no longer bore the same bored expression as it always did, rather something between sadness and sympathy. Lee had a sorrowful look on his face and was also bawling his eyes out. Gai followed suit.
Hinata was feeling absolutely miserable, something like the world was going to end. She had to be carried off by Ten-Ten and Kiba.
The other two, Neji, and Shino had no emotions on their faces as usual.
Hyuuga Hiashi was also present, he said nothing.
Sasuke was absent, he had disappeared.
---
The Hokage went back to her office, intent on drowning herself in work (or sake) to ease the pain. But before she could even reach her desk, nausea overwhelmed her. 'Not again' she thought. 'If this keep up I...'
The rest of her thought was cut off as she threw up.
'Damn. Maybe I should go to the hospital'
---
Tsunade somehow managed to drag herself to the hospital. Having used her medical jutsu on herself and finding nothing, she hauled herself to the already overcrowded hospital to find her apprentice.
Since the explosion three days ago, all available shinobi were scouring through the wreckage to find anyone still alive. All medical nins or anyone familiar with medicine had been enlisted to work at the hospital.
The scene at the hospital could only be described as complete chaos. Even three days later, the wounded were still piling up. And since the more critical wounded were being treated first (and who usually required more time to be healed and rested), there were patients piled up everywhere they could be. All the non-essential furniture had been moved outside, and all the surrounding buildings were also requisitioned for use.
'Finding Shizune in here would take a miracle' Tsunade sighed and realized she should come back later, after things quieted down. 'Otherwise I would never find her'
It seemed Lady Luck smiled on her, since Shizune literally ran into her.
After the head rubbing and explaining what she was doing in the hospital, the Hokage was ushered into an exam room. Fortunately, Shizune, being her apprentice and all, spared a little time to find out what was wrong with her sensei.
"After all, you're the village's leader, so your health is the most important". Right.
---
After doing a complete chakra scan with a medical jutsu, she looked her mentor in the face.
"Umm, well I found the problem." She was hesitant.
"Out with the bad news already." Tsunade couldn't bear it much more.
"How do you know it's bad?"
"It figures since I had such good luck finding you, something bad is gonna happen. Out with it already. I've been sick for three days now."
"Umm, according to my results, you're, well" she hesitated for a few seconds.
"Well what!?"
"I found the presence of red chakra in your system."
Silence.
"Oh crap!!!"
"..."
"Are you absolutely certain?" Panicking.
Shizune could only manage a weak nod.
Tsunade fainted.
"Hokage-sama!!!"
---
She was walking the corridors in her mind. 'What am I doing in here?'
The place was not gloomy like a certain blond-haired-boy's mind, Tsunade's mind was well lit, like a Las Vegas casino. It even had slot machines and pachinko to finish the effect.(1)
Walking around, she found a room that wasn't there before. A low snarling sound came through the doors. She walked in and looked. Only half the room was lit, the other half was shrouded in darkness. Splash. The floor was flooded, 'what the!?'.
You sure are brave to come walking in here.
She turned. Out of the dark side of the room stalked ... something... big. Make that very big. With two glowing red eyes and pointy teeth.
"Wha..."
Stunned silenceNice to see ya, baa-chan. (2)
"What in blazes are YOU doing in here?"I hope you don't mind, I'm borrowing some space in here.
My last body was destroyed, so I found a new host. Convenient isn't it?
"I don't care. Get the hell out now"
You're not very hospitable.
"And just how did you get in here in the first place?"
I ejected my chakra before that stupid brat blew himself up. I have some of his too if you want it.
"And about how long do you plan on staying inside of me anyway?"
Hmm, maybe forever, depends.
"GET THE HELL OUT NOW!"
No. Not yet anyway. This place isn't as comfortable as Naruto's though.
It grinned. Scary.
Say, I have a proposition for ya.
---
Meanwhile, Shizune had summoned Jiraiya and Kakashi. Knowing them, she would have to wait a while though.
---
"So you want to clone Naruto."
Yup.
"And put yourself inside of the baby with a seal."
Yup.
"And that's it?"
Yup.
"And you want to use me. What the hell do I look like, some sort of cloning machine!?"
Her eyes twitched. "And what makes you think I'll let you have a new body anyway. That's preposterous!"If they had one I'd use it.
So you don't agree?
"I'd rather keep you in here forever than let you run amuck in the world."
I had a feeling you wouldn't agree. So I took the precaution of transferring the DNA into you already.
She could only gape.
Lucky for you I'll make it quick, you'll have a nice new Naruto in three months thanks to accelerated growth.
"You, you did WHAT without my permission!"
The fox grinned.Look, I need a body, and you can't just make one out of thin air! Bunshins don't last long enough, not even Kage Bunshins lasts long enough for me. The only way was to make a new host!
Look at it this way, I'm running out of chakra. By the time I regenerate enough to take over his body, he'll have grown up already, and I'll be stuck in there for good. AND I'll out of your face. And besides, I know you thought of Naruto like your own son, this way, it'll be true.
"What kind of twisted thinking is that! You couldn't have gone somewhere else, like hell!?"
Much as I want to go home, I can't yet. I seem to have the handicap of not having a physical body.
"And why did you pick me?"
It seems you're the only female around here that doesn't hate the boy, and is old enough. (3)
"And you couldn't have picked a fox?"
Lets see YOU try to make a human baby from a fox.
"Sigh. I give up."
The fox grinned.
I always get what I want.
TBC
A/N: What happened that day will be revealed soon. The angst/action will come later. Update soon.
---
Notes
(1) - I somehow don't think the insides of everybody's minds are the same gloomy corridors like Naruto's.
(2) - 'Baa-chan' means old hag. It's what Naruto kept calling her, so the fox picked it up.
(3) - It's true. There's a surprising lack of adult females in the series.
Glossary
Pachinko - Japanese gambling machine. Similar to pinball.
Sake - Japanese rice wine.
Sama - Honorific to indicate someone of higher standing/rank.
Sensei - Honorific for one's teacher.