Note-Disclaimer: While I did my best to portray real-life medical procedures… not completely wrongly and make the fantastical elements (as in, anything Chakra and jutsu related) sound/read as realistic as possible, do NOT try any of the procedures described here without consulting an expert such as a real medical doctor first.

I bear no responsibility if someone mimics something I've written here in their life, as this is fiction. Any site I publish this to also bears no responsibility.


A month or so had passed since Naruto had met his new Jounin teacher. The man had been having the three of them do teamwork and tactical drills and teaching them when and how to use what they knew as training; nothing else. At least, of what he knew about their skills. That was on top of way too many D-ranks! To Naruto, learning only those things and losing so many hours in a day was torture. According to Tsunade, Yamato's methods were good. Naruto thought that the man was holding them back, but there had to be a reason Tsunade approved, so he wasn't complaining. Yet.

There was also the fact that the Daimyo (Feudal Lord) of Fire Country had agreed with the choice of Hokage the Third's advisors and the Jounin council had decided on, which had made Naruto relax a bit in relief.*

Naruto had also thought some things over and decided to put more effort into learning medical skills due to fully realizing that they were a literal lifesaver, which he was going to tell his aunt soon. He was in Shikkotsu Forest at the moment and was due to meet her in a few minutes.

He looked around. 'Shikkotsu Forest always looks so different when it's so early in the morning,' Naruto thought to himself. The eerie effect of the twilight, just before sunrise, made the trees of Shikkotsu Forest look even more haunted than usual. Naruto shivered a bit, but it was out of excitement – Yamato's reading habits had rubbed off on Naruto, even though he still didn't trust the man; the horror genre appealed to Naruto much more than he'd have expected from books.

On the other hand, Naruto had started learning about architecture, too. That was mostly because he wanted to learn how to build houses, though, the way ANBU Wildcat had made a small one using Mokuton. He had talked it over with his aunt, and Shizune- well, Shizune had had a point. A lot of things would go into making a Hidden Village and housing was one of the most important ones. Naruto felt like he was forgetting or missing something all of a sudden, for some reason.

A creaking noise sounded to his left, making Naruto turn to look. Another came from behind him, which made him get into a taijutsu stance. Something that sounded like laughter was coming from- "Auntie Tsunade?" Naruto said, "what the hell?"

Tsunade's laughter and snorting took a few more seconds to stop. She said, "Ha, you can't be a ninja if you're paranoid, Naruto. You need to keep vigilant at all times, but paranoia will kill you as surely as laxity will," turning serious, "besides, all those pranks you and Biwako have tried to get me with- well, I couldn't just let them pass," then starting to laugh once again.

Naruto groaned in annoyance, but he didn't protest further. He only said, "Well, I have another announcement to make!" Tsunade looked ready to say something mocking, so Naruto continued hastily, saying, "Wanna be a medic-nin!"

His aunt only raised an eyebrow.

Naruto then said, only slowing down a little, "I mean, I haven't put as much effort as I could have into becoming a medic-nin,Tsunade-sensei. I've decided to do my best at that, for real! I'm still gonna learn frontline skills and about leadership too, though. Especially Mokuton."

Well, maybe something will just click and I'll find how to use Mokuton to suppress Shukaku….

His aunt smiled; just a little upturn of the lips for a moment. She said, "That's great and all, Naruto, but you've been overdoing it for a long time, and now you have even more things to learn. Watch out, because you can and will burn out – especially if Shukaku helps."

Was that true? Naruto thought it over for a bit. He actually had a social life, though not that great of one; he slept as normally as was possible for him, all things considered. He hadn't been overworking himself! Tsunade hadn't told Naruto anything about that, except when she had had him cut down on the clones, and that was for another reason- wait. Auntie Tsunade told me that the memories might overwhelm my young brain, but now that I know more about the Shadow Clone and the Wood Clone, I know that it takes a huge number for that to be a problem.

The mental fatigue could also be a problem, but it was only one if the user of the clones was at their limits already or, again, if using a truly huge number. Naruto said, "Ugh…. You tricked me again, didn't you?! When you told me to cut down on the clones, you were worried about me overworking myself, not anything else!" Seeing Tsunade cross her arms under her chest, Naruto couldn't help his annoyance. He said, "I'm just fine! I've been training like this for two years and you never said anything!" Talking more loudly.

What made Naruto pause was that Tsunade didn't shout back like usual. She calmly said, "Naruto. What are your hobbies?"

Without thinking it over, Naruto said, "Taking care of my garden, reading manga and recently, reading horror books and books about architecture. You know that, Auntie Tsunade!" Not getting where this was going.

"How much time have you spent the past few months just doing something to relax or for pleasure? You yourself, not your clones," Tsunade said, bringing Naruto up short. Thinking it over for a few seconds, he came to a startling realization.

I- I haven't put more than a few hours a month taking care of my garden for about half a year. These days, it's all about getting money for my future project, so I mainly use clones! I've been learning about architecture to help with the project, again. I haven't read a manga in- in- I don't even remember! Naruto looked at his aunt, whose expression was unreadable. Even her Chakra wasn't giving away anything. He gritted his teeth, then said, "Reading horror stories is my only real hobby these days, and I only started it a month ago!"

Rubbing his forehead, Naruto forced himself to look at his aunt again. He had finally realized that she had a really good point; that didn't keep him from being angry, though. Angry at himself, at his aunt, at- at everyone and everything, maybe. He wasn't certain why.

Tsunade had let him stew in his thoughts, Naruto realized, but she opened her mouth again. She said, "Now, do you get why I tried to limit your training? Not to mention it's fortunate that, before meeting me, neither you nor Biwako got any serious injuries with all those elemental ninjutsu and all-out spars without proper supervision and that the only permanent damage either of you had from training accidents was Biwako's mild nerve damage in the wrist."

Naruto didn't reply out loud beyond sighing. He knew he had to think over some things, though. Tsunade gave Naruto a kiss on the forehead and left, poofing away.

"…Naruto-kun," Katsuyu said, "you are about to be late to your meeting with your team!"

Naruto immediately jumped to his feet.

He had been about to ask Katsuyu for help when they beat him to the punch, saying, "I would like you to try using the Reverse Summoning jutsu to reach the Seal in the Uchiha district, Naruto-san, instead of letting yourself get back to where you started."

Naruto said, "I haven't gotten it down well enough. It takes me a bit of time to succeed, so I'll probably be late!" A bit agitated.

"Then do it fast enough this time, Naruto-kun," Katsuyu said, though not unkindly.

Naruto realized that they were right… as was his aunt. He likely would have to cut down on his training time, but there were other ways to make sure he'd get stronger. He would try to find tricks to make the most of his training time – take full advantage of everything he had in his arsenal and concentrate fully whenever he trained.


Naruto had managed to use the Reverse Summoning jutsu to get to Konoha in record time, but he wasn't sure if he had managed what he had set out to do.

Reaching the bridge of Training Ground Three, in a run -almost sprint- Naruto bled off his momentum gradually, coming to a stop on the railing sideways, sticking to it with Chakra, breathing a bit faster than usual.

"So kind of you to join us, Naruto," Yamato said dryly, which made Naruto realize he was late. "You are four minutes late," the man then said.

Naruto bit his lip in his frustration; mainly aimed at himself.

"There will be no formal admonishment. As long as you understand that this won't be tolerated again, that is," Yamato said, his face going completely blank in a creepy way.

"Understood, Yamato-sensei," Naruto said between clenched teeth, his frustration directed at someone other than himself, this time. 'Well, it's better than the opposite extreme, at least,' Naruto thought to himself. Kakashi had gone from being late by seconds or minutes every time to making the entire village wait for almost an hour, late to his own inauguration ceremony.

Yamato nodded, saying nothing else to Naruto. Then, he said, "We have been requested for a relatively urgent mission."

Naruto perked up. Requested?

Mito was the one who spoke first, saying, "What do you mean 'requested', Yamato-sensei? They said 'Team Seven'?"

Yamato shook his head. He said, "The request is for you, Mito. No; to be exact, the request is for the best Sealing user Konoha has in its ranks."

Mito let out a 'hmm', then said, "Why isn't Per- why isn't Jiraiya-sensei going?" Folding her arms in front of her chest. "Not that I don't wanna go!" She then said, a note of urgency in her voice.

Yamato smiled for what felt like the first time, saying, "Well, we asked him. He said, and I quote, 'Bah! Let Mito go! I have better things to do. Besides, the kid can do stuff with Seals that sometimes leave me with an open mouth, and I taught her,' end quote."

Mito was very flattered; the blush and smile on her face made that obvious. Naruto itched to ask Yamato what the mission was about, but someone beat him to the punch.

Biwako said, "Yamato-san, what and where is this mission going to be?"

Yamato hummed and didn't reply, making Biwako grimace and also annoying Naruto.


The moment Team Seven entered the Administrative building, Naruto realized there was something off. Looking around, he noticed Mito was on edge and Biwako was starting to be like that, too.

Once inside Kakashi's office, Naruto could tell there was tension in the air. Kakashi's only visible eye focused on Naruto. Kakashi's facade of Nara-level laziness nowhere to be seen. The man said, "Well, well. Can you answer a question of mine, Naruto?"

"What is it, Hokage-sama?" Naruto said, making sure to use the title to distance himself from the idiots who would disrespect Kakashi.

Kakashi put a few pictures on the desk. Naruto bent down to see- whisker marks in red marker on various throats? 'So, she managed it perfectly! You go, Mito!' Naruto thought to himself. He hadn't been sure when Mito had asked to be the one to do the actual job, but she was the more stealthy one, strangely enough.

"So, going by your triumphant smirk, you know something about this," Kakashi said, his expression unchanged.

Naruto shrugged, realizing that yes, he was smirking.

Kakashi leaned back in his chair, then said, "Well?"

"Well, what?" Naruto answered back before he could stop himself, ignoring Yamato's reprimand without even looking at him.

"What do you know?" Kakashi said, his body language making him look lax.

"I know that they likely deserved it," Naruto said, losing the smirk in favor of raising a corner of his upper lip in a sneer. After Kakashi made a gesture for him to continue, Naruto said, "They may or may not have been the culprits behind what happened at Ichiraku's."

Yamato took over at that point, one of the photographs in hand. He said, "This throat is too small to be an adult's or even a teenager's. Just- just what were you trying to say here?" His voice sounding more frantic than Naruto had ever heard it.

Naruto looked between Kakashi and Yamato, his eyebrows lifting despite himself. He said, "Who says it's me who did this…?" Secretly, Naruto wondered if Mito had realized what she was doing but been too furious to hold back, or hadn't fully understood the implications. The sudden gasp from her told Naruto that she hadn't realized. Hopefully, the scoff Naruto had just let out had covered it.

Yamato gritted his teeth, but Kakashi was looking straight at Naruto again. He said, "Naruto, did you do this? Or maybe clones of yours…?"

"No. Not me, not my clones," Naruto said, truthfully.

"Do you know who did this? Were you involved?" Kakashi then said, insistent.

Naruto said, "Maybe and maybe. Now, is there anything else, Hokage-sama?" Wanting to move on to more important things.

Kakashi and Yamato shared a look, then Kakashi said, "That is all. Tell Chiriku-san to enter in a moment, Yamato."

Naruto sighed as quietly as he could – all this was all kinds of stressful. Dealing with the people of Konoha in general was stressful, even with those he liked. Fortunately, they hadn't realized what Mito was capable of if her loved ones were threatened. Hmm? Naruto strained his hearing, because he noticed Kakashi saying something else to Yamato.

"Even if it loses me political capital, I'm not going to back off," Kakashi said at a low volume near Yamato's head, "the Third was weak – that much, Danzo is right about. I won't repeat the Third's mistakes, even if I'm not sure how many were his own."

Naruto wasn't sure what Kakashi was talking about – was the man under pressure to- what? Punish Naruto? Or was it something else? It could be something irrelevant, but Naruto would keep his ears peeled and his eyes open.

Yamato walked out of the office and said, "Will the one named Chiriku come in?"

A minute or so later, a tall bald man walked into the office. He looked to be around thirty- no. This man was definitely much younger than that; maybe twenty-five, Kakashi's age, despite the lack of hair. The robes he had on were definitely strange clothing, as was the fact he had the symbol for 'Fire' on a sash around his waist – something about the clothing was nagging at Naruto. There was also something peculiar about the man's movement and body language, even when bowing to Kakashi.

Just as Naruto realized that the 'Fire' sash showed the man as a member of the Twelve Guardian Ninjas, Kakashi made a gesture, prompting the bald man to straighten himself and say, "Hokage-sama, well met. Asuma seemed to hold you in high regard, from the things he told me."

Kakashi paused for a moment, then said, "Chiriku-san. I've also heard some extremely good things about you from Asuma. It's great to meet you."

Chiriku's expression shifted and he said, "If only our meeting could have been under better circumstances…," his face looking as if it had aged a decade in seconds.

Naruto could see Mito shift in place from the corner of his eye, maybe out of impatience. Well, truthfully, Naruto really wanted to get on with the mission, too. He suppressed that urge, though, and made sure to pay attention.

Chiriku said, "One of the young trainees at the Fire Temple has some kind of uncontrollable power. We need an expert on Fuuinjutsu to help the young man with that problem, because while we have plenty of experts of our own, none can do anything about this – it is outside of all our specialties, so to speak."

Yamato nodded after hearing that. He said, "Well, we have one of the foremost Sealing users in the world. What do you think, Mito?" Turning to her.

At almost the same time Mito spoke, Chiriku did a double-take. She said, "I've got this, no problem!" Grinning.

Chiriku said, "Wait. The expert is a fresh Genin?" Looking at Mito, his eyes open wide.

'Isn't he supposed to be a monk?' Naruto thought to himself. He had thought monks were unflappable.

After Kakashi explained that Mito was fully qualified, Chiriku seemed somewhat mollified.


Chiriku gave the all-clear to travel through the trees. He said, "I have shinobi training and this is a true emergency," sounding very impatient for a monk.

All five of them were able to keep at a decent clip, though Chiriku kept pushing for a faster pace, until an exasperated Yamato told him off for asking too much of Genin.

"Well, actually, Yamato-sensei… this is a pretty comfortable pace; I can go faster very easily," Naruto admitted.

Yamato looked at Biwako and Mito, and both nodded. At an unspoken signal, Team Seven sped up significantly, with Chiriku increasing his speed soon after to keep up.

…Less than two hours later, Chiriku told them they were almost there. The five of them dropped to the ground. None of them was breathing noticeably harder, but Naruto shivered – he had a bad feeling about this. Yamato still directed them to move in a slow jog to arrive ready for anything. Biwako sighed, saying, "This isn't good; I can smell death," making Chiriku move faster, leaving them behind. Yamato sped up, making the rest of them speed up, too.

Just a few moments later, Naruto started realizing what had felt so wrong. He looked at Mito, but she wasn't releasing any Bijuu Chakra. He looked down despite himself, but of course, there was no Chakra leakage. The traces felt much more like Mito after having used the Kyuubi's Chakra than Shukaku, though.

After going up a lot of stairs fast, they arrived to a scene out of nightmares: blood and some gore -including body parts- were scattered around the yard of the temple, distracting Naruto from everything else. He could hear Mito retching and had a hard time withstanding the smell, even while covering his face with a sleeve; even though he had worked as an assistant to medic-nins before.

Biwako, even if she had the best nose, was able to keep her stomach settled, though Naruto could tell by the movement of her fingers and her slight shiver that she had been affected, emotionally speaking.

A few moments later, Chiriku came out of the temple, running. He said, "Please help Goji and Chuukaku-dono! Does one of you have training in medical ninjutsu!?" His voice coming out hurried and his breathing hard.

Naruto considered hiding his skills, but he couldn't bring himself to stay idle in the face of so much desperation – he wasn't like Konoha's citizens. It also helped that the monks weren't exactly Konoha citizens, themselves. Maybe Mito and Shizune are rubbing off on me. Then, Naruto said, "I have some. I can't make any promises-"

Chiriku waved Naruto off, saying something about a small chance of survival being better than certain death. Yamato signaled for Naruto to carefully spend his Chakra to stay battle-ready behind Chiriku's back, to which Naruto nodded.

Even before Naruto reached the room where the injured were being taken care of, he realized that the traces of Bijuu Chakra were just as strong in there as in the courtyard. Entering the place that served as the Temple's infirmary, he noticed what seemed like a monk applying cold compresses on the foreheads and under the armpits of two other men; ones lying on beds.

"Chiriku-san," the man said, "I'm doing my level best, but…. Where is the young medic-nin you mentioned earlier?"

Feeling strangely hesitant, Naruto walked forward and checked the patients. I feel like my hands are shaking and yet, they're perfectly steady, like usual. He did some routine check-ups, just in case there were more problems than the obvious, then started healing both the men's obvious wounds, mostly in the shape of claw marks and heavy bruises. All those injuries were accompanied by burns.

Naruto made sure to stem the bleeding and apply burn paste while still keeping the wounds a little bit open, then changed the compresses. After that, Naruto set to isolating the Bijuu Chakra using the Mystical Palm.

The younger man, who had had worse wounds, had more Bijuu Chakra in him and a higher fever, was first. That Chakra… it's extremely potent! Naruto was having a hard time keeping hold of it with his own-

'Wait,' Naruto thought to himself, 'it's getting easier! The Bijuu Chakra is getting less- volatile?' Maybe it was his Bloodline's properties extending to his Chakra.

Once Naruto had gotten the traces of Bijuu Chakra in the man's Chakra Circulatory System closer to the surface, he unsealed a scalpel and made two incisions, widening the mostly closed injuries. Naruto ignored the cries of alarm he heard in order to guide a visible cloud of red Chakra into his own hands. He surrounded the cloud and spun it using his own, green colored Chakra, not knowing what else to do to contain it.

Wait…. Did it just get smaller? Naruto examined the red cloud more carefully. According to the Second Hokage's notes, absorbing Chakra called for the absorber to either spin their own in such a way that it matched the other Chakra's natural spin in a certain way -though there were no details about the 'certain way'- or use tilted Chakra of the opposite alignment if it was Yin Style or Yang Style Chakra. The former applied in this case.

Naruto, thanks to being a Sensor-type, knew just which parts of the red cloud were diminishing. After a little bit of trial and error, he realized that what was needed was spinning his own Chakra in the same direction as the other one was spinning naturally.

No. It doesn't always work. It only works sometimes. Why…? Naruto had never read anything about that, but his hypothesis was that the revolution of Chakra wasn't the same on every part of the spin; he had noticed that it slowed down or even stopped every- 700 to 750 milliseconds, maybe? He just had to predict the point where the revolution slowed down and the exact time, apply his own Chakra in such a way that the opposing Chakra was diverted.

Naruto set out to do just that. After more trial and error, he realized that a spiral was the best shape to use to absorb it into himself, though not all spirals were equally good, and his diminished Chakra Control because of Shukaku's presence made it harder for him to be fully precise. He would have to test his findings and hypotheses more later.

When did all the red Chakra disappear? Naruto realized he had zoned out with a start. After realizing what had happened and where he was, he checked and confirmed that the patient was stable, bandaged the cuts and moved on to the next one, the elderly man.

The entire process took a lot less time on this patient, with Naruto noting that the best spirals to make his Chakra follow in order to absorb the opposing one efficiently were bigger for every quarter turn by approximately fifty to seventy percent compared to the previous quarter turn.

Checking the patient's stability, Naruto immediately grew alarmed. His pulse was erratic and soon disappeared – after a quick check, Naruto was near certain that the man was going into cardiac arrest! I should have realized! His heart couldn't take the strain; he's old! I should have treated him first! Naruto started doing CPR. Since it wasn't a lung problem -Naruto had checked-, he used only his hands, no mouth to mouth.

He looked at Biwako, but her blank expression made Naruto rethink his idea of asking for her help. "Does anyone here have proficiency with the Lightning Element?" He asked while pressing on the elderly monk's chest repeatedly.

Chiriku came up to Naruto, saying, "I do! Sensei(*2), what should I do?" Sounding frantic.

Ignoring the warmth in his chest from being addressed with respect, Naruto told Chiriku how much power he should use and where. "Test it out a few times on a wooden object – just don't set it on fire," Naruto said, looking at Chiriku's attempts. "Too little. Too little. Too much. That's it. Now, do it. Shock his heart."

Chiriku did so. Naruto checked the pulse, then said, "Again!"

On the second try, the heart started beating on its own. Naruto started chest compressions again until the man's heart was working as it should, adding a bit of healing Chakra to make sure there would be no permanent damage to the patient's body, mainly the brain, feet and hands.

Having finished the treatment of this patient, Naruto went back to the younger patient. The man was just fine; his fever had dropped significantly and he was even waking up already. After taking care of the wounds with more paste and creams to make sure there would be little to no scarring and applying bandages again, Naruto left the man to check on the old man again.

"Goji!" Chiriku said when the younger patient groaned.

Goji moved a bit, but Chiriku tried to keep him in place-

"Chiriku-san, don't!" Naruto said, moving further away. The vomit that soon stained Chiriku's robes proved that Naruto had made a wise decision.

After that, Goji seemed to be in good health. Being trained in medical ninjutsu himself, the man said, "This is a miraculous level of healing! If I hadn't witnessed the difference in my state, I'd say this is impossible for anyone but Tsunade-hime!"

Naruto felt his cheeks heat up, and Biwako's knowing smile made things worse. Such glowing praise -praise in general- was something Naruto had only started getting used to relatively recently.

Unfortunately, Chuukaku wasn't in very good condition. Chiriku was visibly shaken, looking at the much older male solemnly. Naruto had set up a seal on Chuukaku to warn Naruto and Goji in case the man's heart started beating too erratically or stopped.

Yamato took aside Chiriku, telling him something about 'the next step'. When they returned from their talk, Yamato said, "We are going to have to track down the kid monk, Sora. I have some torn cloth from the kid's robes, but I'm not especially good at tracking. Are you able to track him with your nose?" Turning to Biwako.

Biwako nodded, but Naruto could tell that something was on her mind. Within moments, her eyes narrowed and her body flexed subtly, showing that she was focusing on the mission.

Before setting off, Yamato said, "Listen. Make sure to let me engage first if there's the slightest chance of hostility – you three are Genin and I'm a Jounin. Even if the one we're looking for is close to your age, you've noticed the damage he's caused," putting them into formation.

Naruto couldn't even be annoyed by that, because the images Yamato's last sentence brought to his head were horrible and really vivid. 'I hope the old monk is fine,' Naruto thought to himself. The four of them kept on following the trail and, unfortunately, Naruto's Chakra sense wasn't of much use. Either Kakashi hadn't told Yamato about it or Yamato had realized-

"Naruto," Yamato said, his expression a bit more strained than usual, "can you find Chakra that doesn't belong? Does your Chakra sense help? Biwako is a great tracker, but it's better for more of us to be prepared."

After putting his finger on the ground, Naruto was able to be more precise, which made all the traces of Bijuu Chakra interfere less. The thickest concentration of Bijuu Chakra was-

Naruto quickly used a Water ninjutsu with a single-handed hand-seal, aiming it at Biwako's back, a bit to the right, with enough force to spin her a bit and help her avoid- red claws!?

Sighing in relief, Naruto sent a few Shadow Clones to cover Biwako. He heard grinding of teeth and a whimper from her, which made Naruto worry.

Mito stepped in front of Biwako, too, which left Naruto with his back on them, covering the rear. He also scanned his surroundings, with his Chakra sense and otherwise, his heart beating really fast and his breathing a bit erratic.

What Naruto truly wanted was to check on Biwako, but they were in the middle of a fight and one of his clones had already examined her enough to tell she only had moderate bruising – apparently, the force Naruto had used in his ninjutsu had been just right. That wasn't enough to make him worry less, though-

(Crack!)

The sound of trees breaking made Naruto turn his head immediately. Something was off about the sound, but Naruto molded Chakra in a specific way, activating his Chakra Sensing. His brain took a moment to process things, then, 'Yamato-sensei- Yamato-sensei has Mokuton?!'

There was no time to think it over, as the malevolent Chakra was getting stronger by the minute, reminding Naruto of what had happened with Shukaku.

"Hehe, I've left an impression, haven't I?" Shukaku's voice said, making Naruto snap at him.

To be exact, Naruto said, 'Not the time, Shukaku!' And focused on following the fight.

A big, clawed ethereal hand attacked Naruto almost out of nowhere, but he had already managed to use Kawarimi (Substitution / Body Replacement) to get out of the way. The next second, Yamato was there, forcing the berserker away with a Mokuton jutsu, confirming what Naruto had sensed earlier.

Naruto decided to help, to get the mission out of the way and keep the girls safe, so he went through hand-seals for an Earth ninjutsu, making the enemy's footing harder by using many earth spears-

The berserker jumped on the sides of the earthen spears, destroying them easily, almost accidentally one after another, without providing a good opening.

That's such bullshit!

"Now, you know how I felt when you and your girl sealed me again," Shukaku said in Naruto's mind-

Pain went through Naruto's side, with Naruto having instinctively dodged enough not to be eviscerated but not enough to escape the slashing damage. He felt the by-that-point familiar pain of Chakra burns.

"Aahhhh! Ow! Ow, ow, ow!" Naruto said, his every move sending burning agony through his left side. Unfortunately, Chakra burns weren't exactly something one could get used to withstanding… or maybe they were worse than usual. 'I don't have time!' He thought, forcing himself to move quickly, letting out little whimpers.

A gust of wind from Mito made the berserker back off a few steps, but it wasn't enou-

(Bzzzzt!)

Something that looked like a Lightning Spear from Galaxy Conflict (*3), a manga Naruto had read and liked, went through the berserker's torso, not even slowed down by the thick cloak of red Chakra, the two tails too slow to block.

Deciding not to gawk at Biwako's jutsu too much, Naruto retreated further, using the Diagnostic Mystical Palm- "Owwww!" Naruto shouted out. 'Apparently, my Chakra burns are more serious than usual,' Naruto thought to himself, gritting his teeth. He just curled up in the fetal position, a ways from the action. Unfortunately, that put pressure on his wound, so he moved back to a more open stance, unable to suppress a whimper.

By the time Naruto felt well enough to move again, Yamato had caught the berserker with a Mokuton jutsu, but the wood was already starting to crack. Then, the man went through unfamiliar hand-seals, causing Naruto to pay more attention.

"Kakuan Nitten Suishu," Yamato said, wooden pillars erupting from the ground. The wood covering the berserker glowed a bit, or was that Naruto's imagination? The vines that erupted from the pillars and snagged the berserker before it could fully break free were definitely there, though.

Making sure to write down the hand-seals and memorize the feel of Yamato's Chakra first, Naruto walked closer to the man. "Is it over, Yamato-sensei?" Naruto asked him.

"It appears so, Naruto," Yamato said, nodding. "To be certain, steer clear of the-"

There was no warning. Yamato's legs just sank into the ground, the likely Doton jutsu stopping him for less than a second… it was enough. A massive force slammed into Naruto from the right before he could manage anything other than throwing a few shuriken behind him.

Recognizing the force as a powerful blunt Wind ninjutsu, Naruto managed to turn so that he was facing the direction he was going, but was also feet-first- just in time to slam into a tree, absorbing much of the impact by bending his knees, then launching himself at another tree, which bled off most of the rest of his momentum.

Unfortunately, Naruto was too weakened to move as well as he could and would have normally, so he ended up with scratches on his arms and legs due to tree branches and other injuries in his legs from the impact of the landing. In fact, landing like that had made his feet feel like they had been hit by a Lightning jutsu!

He sensed for his teammates' Chakra and kept his ears peeled, his feet still unstable from the pain. After a moment of thought, Naruto sent Chakra into his ears, forgoing the use of his Chakra sense. Whoever it was, they were very stealthy; too good at fooling Chakra sensors for that to help.

Following his ears, Naruto managed to reach the others' location. Much to his relief, everyone seemed more or less fine. On the other hand, their target wasn't there anymore. "What happened?" Naruto asked, and he could tell he wouldn't like the answer, already.

Biwako had an expression vicious enough to curdle milk on her face, causing Naruto to worry even more. Before Yamato could speak, she said, "What do you think? We've lost the target!"

Naruto looked from Biwako's furious face to Mito's perplexed expression to Yamato's more controlled reaction, though for the first time, the man looked honestly worried. Yamato said, "This- I was not expecting this type of opponent, I will freely admit."

"Who- who was it?" Naruto asked, not getting why Yamato looked so unnerved and Mito so confused. Even Biwako's fury was more than he would have expected, even at such a major failure.


*Yes, I had forgotten that in canon, it's the other way around (the Daimyo picks; the advisors, Jounin and such approve/reject). I'll just roll with it, hahaha.

*2 It's not just teachers who are addressed that way. Doctors and respected artists (including mangaka) can also be addressed as 'sensei'.

3* Yes, yes, I did go there.