Ok, this chapter will be a sort of interlude, it will be a series of reports Tsunade receives from Shizune on Naruto, both mental health and observations of his recovery. This is just a good way to get thru the year with him away in a quick manner that saves me from writing everything in detail, it also gives you an idea of what happened without telling you everything so I do have some things to work with when I continue the story, and besides these are all from Shizune's point of view. Man am I lazy
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything, especially Naruto, I wish I did, but I don't
Ok, now to answer questions/issues and what not from my beloved reviewers:
I'm still not sure of the pairings, but I am leaning towards to Naru/Hina, which it will probably be, so if you want to jump ship now because that pairing nauseates you, you may do so......now.
I'm not sure how I am going to deal with Sasuke and Sakura in the future chapters, but it probably won't be pretty, for Sasuke anyways, man I hate him.
I can't say why I like writing/reading imaginary characters getting it on, it must be my inner pervert.
--------Master of the House-------
Interlude – Monthly Reports to Tsunade
Dear Tsunade-sama,
At the end of our first month abroad, I still have no Idea where we are headed. Jiraiya-sama refuses to tell me where exactly we are heading, all he has told me is that we are going to meet an old friend of his who will be teaching Naruto taijitsu. While I have no problem with this activity, I do dislike his secretive nature about the location, but I believe he has our best interest at heart and wouldn't put into too much danger, I hope. I have bought more clothing for Naruto, as per you request, traveling clothes of which our inconspicuous yet covers him completely which according to Naruto is a very good thing. Naruto so far has yet to really open up to me or Jiraiya-sama, he still refuses to let us touch him, but at least he has begun to lessen the distance he keeps away from us over this month. From the few times I have talked to him, he seems to be incredibly bright, yet so unsure of himself, but what confuses me is that this is so different from the Naruto that I first met months ago. Jiraiya-sama has also begun to train him, ninjitsu only, but supposedly very difficult techniques for someone of Naruto's level, but everyday as we travel he seems to try and try again until he has made some progress. I have treated him for chakra burns and other chakra related injuries several times, of which I had to wait until he fell asleep to do so because of the aforementioned fear of letting anyone near him. Hopefully we will reach our destination soon and Naruto will have made some more progress mentally.
Sincerely,
Shizune, your faithful servant
Dear Tsunade-sama,
Three weeks ago we reached our destination, I wish I could tell you where but even I'm not sure anymore. Jiraiya-sama's friend is an older leaf Hunter-nin member, apparently a missing-nin of sorts and is not actively hunted. At first I was quite worried for all of us, but she does seem trust worthy, and in my own opinion quite strong. She has been training Naruto in stealth and taijitsu for the last three weeks. At first he was quite hesitant to let her near him, but he has made remarkable progress. While he still won't let anyone near him when he is not training, during the training period he allows her to touch him for the purpose of correcting his stance. What also shocks me is what he remembers, she only has to correct him a few times before he has figured out what he needs to do or how he is to stand. Another plus is that when he was injured a week ago, he actually let me come and treat him, not that he wouldn't have healed on his own. For Naruto this is a huge step, I am going to hopefully get him to open up to me in the next week or so and hopefully find out what exactly is wrong. One last thing before I send this, Jiraiya-sama asked me to tell you that so far there have been no signs of a certain organization, whatever that means.
Sincerely,
Shizune, your faithful servant
Dear Tsunade-sama,
Naruto has been sick for the last week and a half, and I am quite confused as to what exactly it is. All it looks like is a high fever, but it shows no sign of remission. He is constantly at a very high body temperature that any normal person would die at, plus he seems to be in constant pain and the last is the worse of it, he has gone delirious. One good bit is in his weak state of mind he doesn't mind at all if any of us get to close to him, but I am worried, if this doesn't end soon, Jiraiya- sama may bring him back to Konoha as quickly as he can. As for what has happened this past month, our group has left the home of the hunter-nin I mentioned, Jiraiya-sama refuses to let me call her by name in these reports. She will follow us for another two months and then return to her home, where we will two months after that as too check up on Naruto's progress. Jitsu wise, I have no idea where he is, all I know is that Jiraiya-sama has told me he has mastered a handful of very useful jitsu. On his mental condition, he has improved yet again, he now joins us for meals and even occasionally talks with us, it isn't much, but it is a definite improvement. I would have liked to get farther, but this illness has claimed his time for now. I hope you are well and that the training of your new student continues to go well, she couldn't be any worse than me at that age.
Sincerely,
Shizune, you faithful servant
Dear Tsunade-sama,
A most remarkable month this has been, full of many surprises. First off, Naruto's fever passed almost a few days after I had sent my last report, I'm not quite what happened to him during this time, but he seemed to absorb some of the Kyubi, or something like that, according to Jiraiya- sama. He is taller, although, he could just be in a growth spurt, he is almost eye-level with me, although that's not saying much as how short I am, but for him it was quite a change. He seems to be radiating a lot more chakra which has both Jiraiya-sama and Naruto's taijitsu sensei worried, so they were focusing on him concealing it, which he did in a matte of days. This amazed me to no end because I remember it took me a month to learn how to do so, oh well. Other then that all of his training is going smoothly, as far as I can guess, they tell me anything. On to the far more important matter of his mental health, I finally got him to talk to me about what had driven him to such a point that he would lock himself off in his mind. Apparently, Yamanaka-san was correct partially, Naruto had created a sort of split/fake personality to run his body while he hid in his fantasies. This was all a result of how the villagers had treated him growing up; he couldn't take it anymore, so he created the smiling idiot to take his place. What eventually happened was that the fake personality couldn't deal with the constant strain of life as Naruto, the breaking point being Uchiha-san's attempted betrayal. Naruto was very attached to his other self, when he lost him, it nearly destroyed him. Naruto still grieves for his fallen friend, but to make matters worse, Naruto claims to have perfect memory, that he can remember every event in his life with perfect detail. If this is true, it would explain why he trapped himself in fantasy, he would never be able to escape his own horrible memories. Now that I have gotten him to talk about it, he seems to be willing to get even closer to us, but I worry that he may become to dependant on us.
Sincerely,
Shizune, your faithful servant
Dear Tsunade-sama,
Not much has happened this month, Naruto continues to train and make good progress in both his taijitsu and ninjitsu. The hunter-nin who has been traveling with us will be leaving in a few days, but she has left Naruto and Jiraiya-sama with scrolls on what Naruto is to practice and learn. She also left me with a scroll and she wants me to teach Naruto all about anatomy, vital points and such. I am guessing this is related to his taijitsu training as I have seen Naruto training with throwing needles. We have entered a major city, as per Jiraiya-sama's orders I can't tell you which one, but while her, I have gone and bought Naruto some more clothing, he has started to outgrow his old clothing, and he is almost as tall as I am now. This fact alone made him smile, something we hadn't seen the entire trip, so hopefully we will see more of them soon. One last thing bothers me, he is still incredibly self-conscious about his appearance, especially his face. While we were in town he had a mask crafted for him, it's quite elaborate for all the things it does, but he never takes it off unless it is just our little group. I am worried that this is another type of emotional stagnation, but he does need to cover his face in town, so I have left him alone on this issue, hopefully it won't cause too many problems.
Sincerely,
Shizune, your faithful servant
Dear Tsunade-sama,
I am concerned, Naruto was sick again with the same symptoms, but this time it only lasted about two weeks. This concerns me because when Naruto got better he had gone thru more physical changes, such as he is burning all of his baby fat, while this seems normal at his age, it is moving at an accelerated rate. Another change is that he was also expelling more chakra than usual while he trained, enough so that Jiraiya- sama stopped him and started back on techniques for hiding his chakra. Jiraiya-sama seems very nervous about something, but we won't tell me, nor will Naruto, who also seems to know something. Other than that, there really isn't anything else to report, although I have included in this report my note on Naruto's physical condition, including the new changes.
Sincerely,
Shizune, your faithful servant
Dear Tsunade,
I am so very sorry for the delay in this report. I realize that it is over a month late, but with good reason, while we were returning to Naruto's taijitsu sensei, we were attack by two men I latter learned were Akatsuki, which Jiraiya-sama has explained to me, as well as there purpose. They had come for Naruto, but Jiraiya-sama as well as I would not allow such a thing. After a few dazzling jitsus and a very large summon used as a distraction we managed to escape the two. We spent almost two weeks evading them, but we had finally lost them, which also about the time Naruto came down with another fever, this time it was far more intense, he was so delirious that Jiraiya-sama had to use a seal on him to keep him from talking. A week after we had lost the two following us and Naruto had gotten sick, they had found us again. At first Jiraiya-sama managed to handle both of them, but eventually one held him up, allowing the other to make a break for Naruto's unconscious form. I positioned myself between the two, but I wasn't strong enough to stop him, he knocked me away and grabbed Naruto. In doing so, it brought Naruto out of his stupor just enough to attack him, catching him off guard and injuring him. In retaliation he stabbed Naruto in the eye, his good one, the pain causing him to lose consciousness. I attacked and yet again I was knocked away, but not before injuring the man, gaining his attention. As he attacked me, I did my best to keep up, but he was far better than I, it was when he stabbed me in the abdomen that I heard it, an extremely loud roar. Everyone present looked to see Naruto getting up, glowing red as his eye began to re-row fast enough for us to see it. Before the man I was fighting was even aware, Naruto appeared next to him and clawed out his throat. After a few more seconds of ripping the man apart, he set his sites on the other man. He jumped between him and Jiraiya-sama, and on all fours began to growl, forcing the other to back off. Naruto then circled around myself and Jiraiya-sama for a few minutes, watching the man who was watching us from the tree's, then he did something foolish, he through a kunai with an explosive note at Naruto. After the explosion cleared, Naruto was gone and Jiraiya-sama went after him. Following him we eventually heard a blood curdling scream and moments later came to a clearing to watch as Naruto had ripped the man limb from limb, it was one of the most gruesome things I have ever seen. Jiraiya-sama, fearing for my safety got between Naruto and I who looked at us with glowing red eyes as he leaked chakra everywhere. Surprisingly though, he never attacked, he sniffed the air a few times, walked up to us and collapsed, it was over a week latter that he awoke. What was so interesting was that he recognized us, once he identified us, I am guessing by scent, he felt safe enough with us to allow himself to rest. We reached the old hunter-nin's house a week after the attack where Naruto somewhat broke off contact with us, he didn't talk as much anymore and he was distancing himself. The other big change in his attitude was the fact that he never took off his mask anymore, the loss his remaining blue eye is causing him a great bit of confusion and self hatred. He has been training again for about a week, so I don't know if this is permanent or not, but I will try and get him to open up again and hopefully not worry so much about his face.
Sincerely,
Shizune, your faithful servant
Dear Tsunade-sama,
We have spent the last month at the hunter-nin's residence, making sure Naruto had learned all he could before he was sent off to learn on his own. She assured Jiraiya-sama and Naruto that the scrolls she had given him would be enough for him to master the rest of techniques himself, but to return in a year to ensure that he was doing them correctly. As one other final parting gift, she gave Naruto a set of arm guards that seem extremely heavy to me, as well as bulky, but she assure Naruto that he would need that for a later part of his training. During this time Naruto has opened up little, he still doesn't speak very much and he still refuses to take off his mask for any reason. I think that if the mask's lower section didn't come off around the mouth he would rather starve to death than take that stupid mask off, oh well. After examining him since his last fever, I could discover no visible change, until Jiraiya-sama was sparring with him and kicked him in the chest. At first I was worried for Naruto until he got up fine and Jiraiya-sama was hoping around on one foot cursing up a storm. Apparently Naruto's bones have become incredibly dense, Jiraiya-sama tells me that it is most likely a side affect of Naruto continuing to absorb more and more bits of the Kyubi. According to Jiraiya- sama, he will probably keep getting sick again and again for many years, at which time when he finishes he will have most likely absorbed all of the Kyubi. From what he tells me, Naruto will be about 22 when he has completely absorbed Kyubi, meaning he will probably be a force to reckon with.
Sincerely,
Shizune, your faithful servant
Dear Tsunade-sama,
The good news is that Naruto has started talking again; in fact, you could say it's more like the old days, he won't shut up. It's not that he is annoying, but his little period of quiet reflection seemed to build up a lot of emotions, ideas and other things that he needed to express, so he started expressing himself, a lot. Luckily though, he seems to have run out of steam these past few days, but he is at least talking to us a healthy amount. Jiraiya-sama continues to tutor him in jitsu, and whatever it is, it's quite powerful, as both have returned multiple times, burnt, exhausted and starving. We celebrated Naruto's 14th birthday, I was surprised when he took off his mask, not showing us his face, but wiping away some tears, before putting it back on. I figure almost no one has ever celebrated that poor boy's birthday. Not much else has happened in our month of travel and in a few days, we will leave out current encampment and begin the journey back to Konoha.
Sincerely,
Shizune, your faithful servant
Dear Tsunade-sama,
We have been traveling a month in the direction of Konoha and by the time you get this letter we shall be even closer, we should arrive in one month's time. Naruto has been sick again, although I can't tell what has been granted to him this time, the time in which he was sick has drastically shorter, only three days, hopefully in time he will be able to minimize the how long he is sick. Naruto continues to improve in all his skills and even started making jokes, not very funny jokes, but at least he is trying. I am worried about him, he is quite nervous about returning home, even though he would never admit it. He already knows he won't be accepted by the general populace when he returns but it is extremely important that he is around people that will at least treat him like a human being. Because of this, Jiraiya-sama and I are requesting that he be put on another team. Being with Uchiha-san and Haruno-san would be extremely bad for his mental health based on what he and Jiraiya-sama have told me of them. He also is requesting that he be given a different name and identity, he feels that the villagers are much more likely to leave him alone if they don't know it is him, and I am inclined to agree. He will need a new residence as well, any old apartment will do according to him, but I am requesting that he be placed in a slightly better location, a poor apartment may affect his mental state, and I want to avoid a relapse if I can. With that, I bid you farewell Tsunade-sama, I will see you in a month to give you my last report as well as the notes that I have collected over this year, and I look forward to seeing you.
Sincerely,
Shizune, your faithful servant
Ok, that's the end of the reports, yes I am aware some of them don't tell you much, ok, most of them don't tell you much. Also I realize that many of you are going, "Oh god, your giving him another name", but just bear with me, it will only be for a few chapters, just long enough for certain events to unfold.