Chapter 28:
Once Naruto and Sasame were the only ones left in the office, Naruto said. "You want to ask me something?" He already knew the answer of course, but he asked anyway.
"Y-Yes," Sasame said. "What was all that about?" She of course, was referring to the fact that Naruto and the others who were in the office just minutes ago, were not human at all.
Naruto expected the question, and so he went and explained who he really is, and how he came to be what he is right now. It took a while to explain everything, but he did it eventually, and Sasame finally knew what everyone else already knew.
"Why didn't I know this before," Sasame asked feeling a little betrayed? She felt that Naruto and the other didn't trust her, and that hurt her. "Everyone else already seemed to have known."
Naruto shrugged. "I didn't reveal most of this to anyone except Tayuya," he said. "Taya figured out most of it on her own, and most of the others found out from them. Some knew few things, but except Tayuya, none had the full picture of who I really am, until she told them."
Sasame nodded, satisfied with the answer. "Why tell me now?" She asked.
"There is no point in hiding it any longer from you," Naruto said. "You and Sakura were the only ones in the room earlier who didn't know, and since I had to tell Sakura, I thought it's a good time for you to find out yourself."
"Do you plan to turn me into a hybrid like the others," Sasame asked meekly?
"If you want me to," Naruto shrugged. "It will make you much more powerful, and will give you powers you will never get by any other means. Your life span will increase exponentially as well. You could live for thousands of years unless you are killed."
Sasame was really interested in all of this. Having that kind of power will make her perfect for rising the Fūma Clan back to its glory, if all of her descendants end up being human/hollow hybrids like she is.
That thought was all it took to convince her to go with it, and become a hybrid right then and there. She went and said so to Naruto.
"Good." Naruto said, before he approached Sasame, and let a drop of his blood into her mouth, starting the reconstruction process.
XXX
The next few days passed peacefully in the Land of Whirlpools. Sakura was getting to know the place, and starting to train her new powers, along with Sasame, who also started to train hers.
Naruto didn't have much to do around the place, so he personally trained the two, even though he could have left it to any of the other hybrids who have already gotten a hand of their hollow powers.
During the training, Sakura and Sasame showed that they have a lot of promise and Naruto was happy because it means he has two more powerful subordinates, one of which, was discarded by her own sensei and teammate and killed off so that the teammate could get more powers. It was a big mistake on their part and Naruto will make sure to train Sakura so she can make Sasuke and Kakashi regret their decision.
In those few days of training, Naruto focused in teaching Sakura and Sasame how to use Bala and Descorrer, as they are the two easiest hollow techniques to learn, along with Hierro, though Hierro is a passive ability, so Naruto doesn't have to teach them how to use it, only to beat them up a little bit, so that their defense will increase by itself. Once the two newly reborn girls learn Bala and Descorrer, along with strengthen their Hierro, Naruto plans to move to Sonido, and then finally, Cero. He hopes that in the meantime, the two girls will show at least some hint of their special powers… if they have them, of course. Then again, pretty much all of the girls who were reborn as hybrids and even Fu, who is a full hollow, have shown some special powers, few have even awaken them, like Tayuya, Taya, Saeko and Isaribi, with Suzumebachi getting close to awaken hers.
Naruto, Sakura and Sasame were in the middle of the training in the forest outside of where the city is being built, when they were interrupted by Saeko and Tayuya.
Naruto saw the expressions on their faces, and realized immediately that something serious happened, so he left Sakura and Sasame to train, while he went to meet his second in command and the best swordsman in his group of friends.
"What happened?" Naruto asked as soon as he was close to them, and far away from Sasame and Sakura, so that they won't hear the discussion.
Saeko sighed. "Sasori is dead," she said shortly, making Naruto narrow his eyes.
"How?" He asked.
"He went to the Tenchi Bridge close to the Village Hidden in the Grass," Saeko started to explain. "He was supposed to meet with a spy he had in Orochimaru's ranks. The 'spy', turned out to be Kabuto Yakushi," Naruto narrowed his eyes even more at the name, "but as it would turn out, Kabuto was no longer a spy, as Orochimaru has managed to release him from Sasori's jutsu, and ever since, Kabuto only pretended to be a spy for Sasori.
"During the meeting, Orochimaru showed up with some of his forces, and they took on Sasori. He fought bravely, but in the end was killed. Though, he was able to take out some of the forces Orochimaru brought with him, and while most were dead, one was still alive, barely, but alive. This slipped pass Orochimaru and Kabuto, who left, assuming that all their subordinates who were defeated, were dead and have decided to just leave them there as if they no longer have any use. I was able to take the one still alive and bring her here. She is currently being looked at by some of the medics in the village."
Naruto nodded after Saeko finished her explanation, and though he had some questions, he first sent Sakura to look at this new girl, as she is a medic trained by Shizune, so she is bound to be better than anyone he currently has in the country.
Sasame took Sakura to where the woman was being held, as she knew the country better, and Saeko told her where to go.
Once they left, Naruto asked. "What was your reason for not interfering in the battle to help Sasori?"
"I didn't see a reason," Saeko shrugged. "He was not exactly our friend, ally, nor a spy. We left him alive so he can get the word to the leader of the Akatsuki about us, so that he can asks us to join. He had no other use, so I saw no reason to interfere and draw unnecessary attention."
Naruto nodded. "Good call," he said. "Tell me about Orochimaru's forces and their power."
"Well, you already know about Orochimaru and Kabuto," Naruto nodded. "There was nothing special I noticed about them that is already known to pretty much everyone. Kabuto has a great medical knowledge, and is hard to defeat because of that, but he isn't a threat to even low S-Rank ninja. Orochimaru is really hard to defeat, though not because of his skill and powers, but because of what he has done to his body in his search for immortality. He is definitely a mid S-Rank ninja in skill, and it will probably take a while to kill him.
"As for the others Orochimaru brought with him, well, there was a woman I brought here. From what I heard, her name is Guren, and she has a Crystal Release bloodline," Naruto raised his eyebrows at this, "and she knows how to use it. I'd say that she is a high A-Rank kunoichi, the same rank as Kabuto, but could become stronger as she is just in her early 20ties.
"Outside of those three, all the others were grunts, with barely any skill, so it's no surprise that they are all dead, as Orochimaru only brought them to have a number to fight on equal ground against Sasori's puppets."
Naruto listened carefully, and once Saeko has finished, he said. "Good job. Now, I have another one for you," Saeko nodded. She already knew what the next assignment is and she was expecting it, since she is the only one who can do it. "Your job is to infiltrate the Akatsuki," Naruto said. "Their leader is probably searching for me, you and Fu, and among the three of us, you are the best for the job. I can't risk sending Fu, as they might end up recognizing her, and she might slip up in their presence after what they've done to her. As for me… I simply don't feel like doing such a mission, which leaves only you."
Saeko nodded. "Don't worry," she said. "I will not fail this mission."
Naruto smiled. "I know you won't," he said. "I have already taught you Descorrer, which means that with it, you can come here anytime, and report, without having to search for other ways to send messages."
Saeko nodded, and turned to leave, planning to go around the EN, and do some bounty hunting as a way to draw the attention of the Akatsuki. Before she left, Naruto wished her luck, with a smile on his face, making her smile back and thanked him. After that, she was gone… and I mean, she was literally gone, like, one second she was in the room, and the next she was no longer there.
XXX
Harry walked into the infirmary which was built at the lower level of the Land of Whirlpools, close to the harbor.
The hospital was nothing special. It was only there for temporary use, until the new, much bigger and better equipped one, is built.
He walked to the reception, and asked where the new girl, brought by Saeko and tended to by Sakura and Sasame, is? He was pointed toward one of the rooms down the hallway, and so, he went there.
Once he was in front of the door, he knocked, and once he heard, "enter', he went inside.
Inside of the room, Sakura was tending over the wounds on Guren's body, with the help of one other person who had medical skills. Sasame was also in the room, but she was standing in the corner, and just watching. She had no skills in healing, so she was standing at the safe distance, so she won't cause Sakura and the other medic to make some unwanted mistake because of her.
Naruto approached the bed, and looked at the woman lying in it. He looked her up and down, and had to admit that she is beautiful, not as much as the other girls in his group, but she is very good looking. On top of that, she has an interesting bloodline, and if she survives, and he convinces her to join him, she will be a great addition to his cause. (Guren looks just like she does in the anime)
"How is she?" Naruto finally decided to ask.
"She will live," Sakura said, not stopping the treatment, nor looking at Naruto. "Though, she did receive a lot of damage, so she will need a while to completely recover."
Naruto nodded, before he looked at Sasame. "Stay here and watch over Guren once she is treated," Naruto said, and Sasame nodded. "Make sure that when she is safe and when she wakes up, call one of the medics."
"Of course," Sasame said.
Naruto looked at Sakura, and said. "After you are finished with her, I want to talk to you about something." Sakura didn't look at Naruto, but she wondered what he wants. She didn't ask, but did nod in acceptance. "Meet me in the Szayelaporro's office. I will be there."
Sakura nodded again, and then Naruto left the room, leaving the others inside, while he went back to Szayelaporro's office to wait for Sakura, as he had nothing better to do at the moment.
XXX
Sakura has finished healing Guren as best as she could, which is not perfect, but hey, it's better than nothing, and Sakura is definitely better than any other medics the Whirlpool currently has.
She was currently in Szayelaporro's office with Naruto and Szayelaporro. Naruto as the true boss is seating behind the desk, Sakura as the one who is a guest, is in front of the desk, while Szayelaporro as a witness of a sort, is seating on the couch.
Seeing that there is no longer need to wait, Naruto asked a question he is very interested in. "What is the current situation in Leaf?"
Sakura looked at Naruto with surprise in her eyes, as she didn't expect that question. She thought about if she should answer it or not, as that would be a betrayal to the Leaf, but then she remembered that she was in the current situation because her sensei allowed her teammate to kill her, thus, she no longer has any loyalty to the Leaf, and never will.
Sakura sighed. "Where to start?" she asked more to herself than anyone else, but Naruto answered anyway.
"Start from the time after my execution. I know from before."
"Well, after you were executed, everything went to hell for the Leaf," Sakura said. "Once Sand, Wave and Spring found out, they broke the alliance, and declared Leaf ninja unwanted in their countries. Sometime later, they would form an alliance with each other.
"Anyway, as the time was passing, Leaf was getting weaker and weaker. Other nations weren't happy either when they heard about your death, even though they didn't know you. They heard that you were a loyal ninja, and was killed for doing your job, while the traitor was left free AND was even allowed to kill you. This all led to Leaf getting less and less mission requests, which was ruining the economy of the village.
"Then there was the fact that something was strange with Lady Tsunade. Everyone in the village knew that she cares a lot for you and no one understood why she would let you be executed. At the time of the execution, she was noticed to be acting weird, and some guessed that she might be under a very powerful genjutsu, but those who noticed, either didn't care, as it means that she won't fight your execution, or simply couldn't do anything about it, as they were overpowered. For months she was like a zombie, just going around the place and barely doing anything, until she finally snapped one day and was sent to asylum. She was there ever since and no one has heard any news about her current conditions, and no one knows if she is getting better or not, though we doubt that she is.
"After Lady Tsunade was sent to Asylum, Danzo was chosen as the Sixth Hokage, as there was no one else. Jiraiya was not interested and was barely seen around the village, and no one knows if that was because you were killed and he was against that, or simply because there was no reason for him to be in the village. With Jiraiya unwilling to be Hokage, Danzo was declared the next best thing, and was announced the Hokage two days after Lady Tsunade was sent to the asylum.
"The village started changing a lot after Danzo was named Hokage. It became more militarized, there were more kids trained to be ninja, and they were trained much harsher then before. He announce that his ROOT program is going to be the official way new ninja were trained. According to him, emotions were nuisance and unnecessary for a ninja, so new kids were trained to be emotionless, while those who were already a ninja at the time, went through months of rigorous training and conditioning. Some changed a lot, while some a little, but no one was the same after that." Sakura sighed, took a deep breath, and then continued to speak.
"The fact that Danzo was named a Hokage, and had the support of the Fire Daimyo, who by the way, was in agreement for your execution," Naruto narrowed his eyes at this, "didn't change things in the village for the better, in fact, it made it worse. Yes, the ninja were technically stronger, but barely anyone from the outside of the Fire Country wanted to have anything to do with the Land of Fire and the Leaf, and since there were less missions, there was no need for more shinobi. Of course, Danzo didn't care about that, and was pretty much draining the village dry to make it stronger, even though there was no way to return the spent money, thus, the near economic collapse of the village, which was only stopped because of the Fire Daimyo support who was giving the money to the village.
"The fact that the Leaf Village was increasing its forces and overall powers, scared the other nations, who then started to increase their forces as well, and some started making alliances in fear of the attack by the Leaf, which everyone knew will happen sooner or later because they all knew Danzo and knew he won't be able to control his desire to see the Leaf at the top of the EN, as the only village left.
"All that militarization and alliances made the EN into a bomb, just waiting to blow, and it's practically a miracle that it didn't blow up already and started another ninja war.
"With everyone increasing their strength, Danzo went even further and started to increase even more, since he had to make his ninja stronger as he will not have the support of any other country who will help the Leaf, which leaves it on its own.
"The reason Danzo sent us to save the Kazekage was because he wanted us to save him, but then, instead of returning him to the Sand, we bring him to Leaf, where he will either re-seal the Ichibi, or use him as a bargaining chip against the Sand, so that they will do whatever the Leaf wants them to.
"But then, that mission went to hell, and we didn't have a chance to grab Gaara, nor did we gain any support for the Leaf, for saving Kankuro and at least trying to save Gaara.
"That was also the second S-Rank mission Team 7 failed in just a week, which left Kakashi, Sasuke and me on edge because we knew that Danzo will not be happy. I have a feeling that Kakashi let Sasuke kill me in order to gain Mangekyo Sharingan, so that the two of them would be spared by Danzo. Also, since with me dead and Sai dying by Serafall's hands, that would leave Kakashi and Sasuke as the only members of Team 7 and Kakashi would be able to focus only on Sasuke. The again, Kakashi never did train me and Sai to begin with and only trained Sasuke, while I was trained by Shizune. Sai… well, he was originally a part of Danzo's ROOT, so he had training on the side and didn't need Kakashi."
Sakura stopped talking. She thought about what else to say, but nothing came to mind. She has pretty much covered the most important stuff that happened in the Leaf since Naruto's execution, and now it only leaves her to answer more questions that Naruto asks… if he asks them.
He did.
"What can you tell me about those who were on my side," that was one thing Naruto really wanted to know? Almost everything that Sakura told him so far, he already knew, but he didn't have a clear picture of who in Leaf was on his side, and who was against him, and he wanted to know, so he can make plans. "I know that there were some who were against my execution. I saw that that day on the platform, but I don't think I saw everyone, and my memories from that day are a bit hazy.
"Hm, well, I'm pretty sure you already know that most of the village was against you," Naruto nodded. "Many have celebrated that day, and the following days. In fact, the day you were executed has been declared a holiday in the Leaf village, and everyone celebrates on that day… well, almost everyone.
"Those who don't celebrate are few and far between, but there are some of them. For example, Team 10 is completely on your side," Naruto raised his eyebrow at that. He was surprised because Ino was on that team, and he knows she never liked him and was Sasuke's fan girl just as much as Sakura. He knew that Shikamaru and Chōji would be on his side, and he didn't know Asuma that much, so he didn't know about him. Though he is surprised that Asuma was on his side, considering that his own father was the Third Hokage, and he was against Naruto. "Team 10 was on your side from the start, and even now, they are on your side, even though they have changed a bit from the conditioning, they are one of the few who didn't change much.
"Then there is Team Guy. Neji turned against you after he found out that you were the Kyūbi Jinchūriki. He again went back to his old ways, and started spouting about fate, and how it was your fate to suffer and then be killed-off by your betters for the betterment of the village. Unlike him, the rest of that team was actually on your side. All of them, and since Neji is against you, he isn't really liked by his teammates and sensei, and even Tenten who had crush on him turned against him after she realized how bad of a person he is.
"I forgot to mention, but Ino also turned against Sasuke after he killed you and hasn't spoken a single word to him ever since. She hates his guts." Naruto was surprised but also pleased to hear this.
"Team 8. Well, Hinata was always on your side. She actually liked you since we were kids, and she was never the same after you were executed. She didn't speak a word to anyone in the village for months after your death, and even now, she only speaks to those who supported you. She has also suffered a lot since then," Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Since she has always supported you, and has refused to speak a single word to any member of the Hyūga Clan, she was declared to be unfit to be a Clan Leader, so she was branded with that damned seal of theirs, and then thrown into the branch family, while Neji had his seal removed and was brought into the main family. He was also promised to merry Hinata's younger sister, and their child will be the Clan Head after Hiashi and Neji. Hinata though, didn't seem to care that she was branded and tortured from time-to-time, and only trained herself to become stronger. She's actually stronger then Neji and her own father are, but no one in the Hyūga Clan will acknowledge that. Hinata was also supposed to be married off to some reach man from another country in order to make Hyūga a foothold into that country and to increase their wealth, but that was stopped the moment she said that if she was married off to anyone, she will kill that person on their weeding day, and then kill all of his family and friends. Once the word got out about that, no one even dreamed about marrying her. Of course, Hiashi and the Hyūga elders were furious, and tortured her until they got bored. It was actually a miracle that she survived AND stayed sane after the torture," hearing all this, Naruto was ready to explode and his eyes have turned black in anger, and has even let out his black and white aura around himself, scaring the life out of Sakura, who gulped. She wondered if she should stop speaking about Hinata, but one look from Naruto and she knew right away that she shouldn't leave out anything about the pale-eyed Hyūga girl, who was one of the few people who always liked Naruto and as such, he feels he owes them.
Sakura gulped one more time, before she continued. "A-anyway, few days after that torture, several Hyūga elders disappeared and no one ever found out what happened to them, or if they are alive. Hinata was suspected but there was no proof, so the mystery was left unresolved. Of course, since Hinata was the prime suspect, she was kept under close watch ever since, but no one has actually dared to try anything against her since then." Naruto smirked at that, and lowered his spiritual pressure, making it easier for Sakura to breathe. Seeing that Naruto has apparently calmed down, Sakura sighed and continued.
"As for the other members of Team 8. Kurenai is on your side. She always knew that you were a jinchūriki and never had a problem with you. She even started respecting you more than she did after your execution, and has started to hate Sasuke, Kakashi, Danzo and most of the village with a passion.
"Kiba and Shino… well, they are neither on your side, nor against you. They are smart enough to know that you were never Kyūbi, but they never liked you enough to put some word for you. As such, they are neutral towards you, but they still believe that you shouldn't have been executed."
While he was surprised a little that Kurenai was on his side, Naruto wasn't so surprised that Kiba and Shino were neutral. Unlike with Chōji and Shikamaru, Naruto was not so close to the two male members of Team 8 and on top of that, he has defeated Kiba in the Chūnin Exams in the most idiotic way, so he was almost expecting at least Kiba to hate him.
"You already know about our former team and our feelings," Sakura said, and Naruto nodded. "As for the others around the village, well, Anko was on your side and she was very vocal about that. She was attacked several times for supporting your until one day she had to run away from the village because she killed some of her attackers and she knew that if she stayed she will be executed," Naruto was VERY surprised by this, since he didn't hear about it. "She was declared a missing ninja by the Leaf, but she has basically disappeared since she escaped and no one has seen or heard anything about her ever since. That was about two years ago and since there was no word of her, most in the village think she is a corpse lying somewhere, so she was removed from the Bingo Book about a year ago."
Naruto made a mental note to find out what happened to Anko and if she was still alive somewhere to find her and ask her to join him.
"Then there is Iruka," Naruto was pulled from his thoughts by Sakura continuing to speak. "He was always on your side, and didn't like the fact that you were executed. After that day, he resigned as a shinobi and has left the village before Danzo become Hokage. Just like with Anko, no one has seen or heard from him ever since."
Another mental note by Naruto, this time to find Iruka and ask him to join Naruto's forces.
"Konohamaru and his friends are also on your side," Sakura said. "But since they are just kids, they couldn't do much. They are still a shinobi in the village, and are now Chūnin, all three of them. They graduated earlier after the new training regimen made by Danzo, and because they asked Asuma to train them. They are quite strong for someone so young and are one of the better teams in the Leaf. They don't speak to, nor tolerate anyone who isn't on your side. They don't even respect Danzo, but they still do their missions to a perfect success, and even though Danzo knows that they hate his guts, and that they are your big supporters, he doesn't want to dispose of them since they are such a strong ninja both individually and as a team. Their Genin sensei was Ebisu, but since he hated you, they didn't like him at all, and as soon as they became Chūnin on their first Chūnin exams, they said that since they are Chūnin now, they don't need sensei, and then sent him away. They've been on their own ever since, but they are still as successful as before, if not even more.
"The last ones I know for sure are on your side, are Ichiraku's," Naruto was not surprised by this, as he knew that Teuchi and Ayame were always on his side ever since they first met him. "As for the rest of the village, most are against you. I don't know if there are any more of them who are your supporters, but even if there are, they are very quiet as they most likely can't do anything to change things and others opinions of you."
Naruto nodded at Sakura's explanation. He was satisfied that there are some people in the Leaf who are on his side and care for him in one way or another. He promised himself right then and there, that he will do whatever it takes to save them all from the approaching apocalypse.
For now though, that will have to wait. Naruto has something else to discuss with Sakura, so he stood up from the chair and said. "Come with me. I've got something to show you."
Sakura looked strangely at Naruto, but stood up anyway, and followed him outside of the office.
"Where are we going?" Sakura asked few minutes later, while the two of them were walking down the stairs leading to the vault… not that Sakura knew that. She is still new in the Whirlpool, and doesn't know about the lower levels of the former Uzukage Tower nor about the vault.
"As I said," Naruto spoke. "I've got to show you something."
"But what is it?" Sakura asked again. She was very impatient, and it was showing on her face.
Naruto saw that Sakura is impatient, and smirked. "You will have to wait and see," he said, making Sakura huff. "You will be very surprised though. I'm sure of that."
Sakura rose her eyebrows, but said nothing. Few minutes later, they were in the chamber which splits in several corridors. Naruto didn't stop, and walked straight through the first corridor on the left side of the chamber.
A few more minutes of walking later, and the two arrived in front of the big, wooden door. Naruto bit his finger, let the blood drop on his palm, which he then pressed on the middle of the door. A second later, the entire door were covered in seal, which glowed for a few seconds, before the seal vanished, and the door opened.
"When I first found this room, it was empty," Naruto said as the doors were opening, letting bright light hit their eyes, and making Sakura avert her gaze from it, as the sudden light was bothering her after being in a dark corridor for the last 10 to 15 minutes. "So, while I was with Saeko, Fu and Juvia in the Land of Rivers last week," Sakura rose her eyebrows at this piece of information, "Szayelaporro moved a certain patient down here from where she was lying in a special room in a hospital ever since she was brought here few months ago."
The door finally opened, revealing a pure white room, with nothing but a bed in it, along with another door at the far side of the wall.
The appearance of the room didn't surprise Sakura nearly as much as the person who was seating on the bed, with her back pressed on the wall, with her knees under her chin and her arms wrapped around her legs.
The person was an old woman with long blonde hair and with some graying on it. By her looks, she looks to be over 70 years of age, but that was not nearly close, as the person in the room was none other than the famous, Tsunade Senju, the Fifth Hokage of Konoha and one of the Three Legendary Sanin of Konoha, along with the last Senju.
"H-how," Sakura asked in disbelief? "Why?" She was all but speechless and this was as much as she could bring herself to ask.
"After I found out that she was manipulated into allowing my execution, I was planning on how to rescue her," Naruto said. "But since she snapped and was sent to the asylum, and I didn't know where that damned place is, so it took me a while to find out where it is, and how to get her out of there, without anyone seeing us or anyone realizing she is gone, until we are long gone.
"Few months ago, I was able to find a person in the Fire Country capitol, who knew where the asylum was. After a few minutes of persuasion, he was more the happy to revel the information to me. After I made sure that he won't talk to anyone about me and what I'm searching for, I went to the asylum along with Saeko, and we were able to enter without being noticed and then find Tsunade. Once we found her, the hard part was over, and we simply left, using Descorrer.
"I brought Saeko and Tsunade to the Eastern shore of the Fire Country, and then sent Saeko back here, along with Tsunade. She has been in the secret room in the hospital, and ever since, she was looked over by all the medics we have… not that we have many of them, and they are not good for anything except minor wounds and illnesses.
"But you are here now, and you are better medic then any we have in the country, which is why I want you to look at Tsunade and see what can be done for her."
Naruto finished speaking, and Sakura looked at him. "B-But, why didn't I hear that she has disappeared from the asylum," she couldn't help but ask? "That is a major news and there is no way that the village wouldn't' have heard about it."
"Come on Sakura," Naruto looked at her with raised eyebrows. "You have lived in the Hidden Village, which means that you know that everything which can be seen as a threat to the village is eviscerated or covered up. I'm sure that Danzo and the council have heard of Tsunade's disappearance, if not that same day I took her, then the next one definitely. The reason no one else knows, is because they decided to keep it quiet."
"But why keep it quiet?" Sakura asked.
Naruto shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "There could be many reasons. They might have wanted to keep it quiet so that the other lands don't hear about it. Or there can be some other reason, I don't know. But it doesn't matter really. What matters is that she is here, and needs help. You need to check her out, and if you can help her, then do it, but if you can't… then I will have to do what needs to be done." Naruto said with narrowed eyes, making Sakura glare at him.
"You don't plan to kill her just because she is like this, do you?" She asked.
"What," Naruto suddenly looked at Sakura, shocked at what she asked. "No… I don't plan to kill her! Are you insane? What's wrong with you?"
Sakura instantly blushed under her mask at the way Naruto reacted and verbally attacked her. She had no idea that he would react like that.
"Sorry," she apologized. "But the way you said it, it sounded like you will kill her unless I find a way to cure her mind."
"Ok, it might have sounded like that," Naruto admitted. "But trust me. I have no intention of killing Tsunade."
"Then what do you plan to do if I can't heal her?" Sakura asked. "Also, if there is something you can do. Why didn't you do it already?"
Naruto sighed. "What I can do is turn her into a human/hollow hybrid," Naruto said, and Sakura's eyes widened. "That would fix her right up and she would be as good as new. The thing is, I like to give option to those who I offer that. If I turn her into a hybrid, she will become almost completely immortal, and the only way to die, would be if she is killed. So, what if I turn her and she is better, but then she doesn't like the fact that she is immortal. Not everyone wants that. Some understand that everything which is born and lives a life, should eventually die. Maybe her mindset is like that, and I don't feel like taking that away from her. Which means, that turning her into a hybrid, is the final option, one I will use only if there is no other way of bringing her mind back to normal."
Sakura nodded. She understood Naruto's reason, but she remembered that Naruto didn't give her the option of choosing. "Why didn't you ask me, if I want to be turned into what I am, or not?"
Naruto shrugged. "I didn't because you would have become a hollow even if I didn't do anything," he said, shocking Sakura. "The difference is, that once I turn you into a hollow, you can stay here. If you became a hollow naturally, then you would have ended up in Hueco Mundo, and I don't know if you'd be able to come here any time soon, and by that time, you could die, since Hueco Mundo is not a nice place to be. Trust me on that."
Sakura thought about it, and nodded in satisfaction. "What about the others," she asked? "Did you give them a choice?"
"All but Tayuya," Naruto said. "She was almost dead when I found her, and she couldn't make a choice, so I did it for her."
"What about Fu," Sakura asked, as Fu is currently a full hollow just like Sakura, which means that she was dead when she was turned?
"I found her corpse in the Land of Rivers, with her spirit floating above it," Naruto said. "I found out what happened and then told her her options. She accepted to be turned, so I did.
Sakura nodded, before she looked at Tsunade. "If we can assume that the reason Lady Tsunade is like this, is because of what happened to you, then why isn't she better now that you are near her? She must have realized somewhere deep down, that you are alive."
Naruto shock his head. "I don't think that she is like this simply because of what happened to me," Sakura rose her eyebrows at this. "She was put under a genjutsu, which should be impossible for someone like her who is a Kage Level kunoichi and has a perfect chakra control. Which means, that the genjutsu is extremely powerful, probably something which can only be cast by some Dōjutsu, or something. I think that after Tsunade was caught in that genjutsu, she tried to fight it, but was unable and because of that, her mind snapped. It means that, her state is not caused by my death, and I being alive can't do anything to fix her broken mind."
Sakura frowned. "But who could cast a genjutsu that powerful," she asked? "And if it is Dōjutsu, then which one?"
Naruto shrugged. "I don't know," Naruto said. "I don't know that much about the different powers of this world, even though I was born here. I never had a chance to learn much while I was alive, and even after I returned here and spent the last three years going all over the EN, learning and searching new powers, there is a limit on how much one can learn in that time. The fact is, that outside of the Mangekyo Sharingan, I don't know of any other Dōjutsu which can cast a genjutsu powerful enough to trap Tsunade is in, and cause her current state of mind."
"But if it is Mangekyo Sharingan, then that would mean that an Uchiha has cast that Genjutsu on her." Sakura said.
"It is a possibility," Naruto said. "But the only Uchiha left are Itachi and Sasuke. Sasuke couldn't have cast it since he didn't have Mangekyo back then, and I doubt Itachi would have any reason to do it, which means that it must have been someone else. Either there is another Uchiha somewhere out there, or, it is possible that there is someone with transplanted Sharingan, like Kakashi."
Sakura frowned again. "What about Kakashi," she wondered? "He has a Sharingan, so it is possible that he could have used it on Lady Tsunade."
"It's possible," Naruto admitted. "But again, normal Sharingan wouldn't work. He would need Mangekyo and I don't know if Kakashi's Sharingan has evolved into Mangekyo."
Sakura thought for a while. She thought if she has ever seen Kakashi do something with his Sharingan which should be impossible with normal Sharingan, but after a while, she still didn't come up with anything. She has never seen him do anything strange and nothing which she hasn't seen Sasuke do, and until recently, Sasuke only had normal Sharingan.
"We need to find out who did this," Sakura suddenly said, drawing Naruto's attention. "If I'm unable to do anything for Lady Tsunade, then whoever did this to her, might be able to do something, but only if we find that person and 'make' them reverse it."
Naruto smiled. "You leave that to me," he said. "Your only focus right now is to see if you can do something for Tsunade. I will try to find out who did this to her, and once I do, I will make them regret the day they were born." Naruto's eyes flashed black for a moment, making Sakura gulp, before they returned back to their normal blue color.
Sakura nodded, before she approached to Tsunade, and started to examine her. Tsunade stayed as she is, and looked like she didn't even register that Sakura and Naruto are there.
Naruto stayed silent for a few moments, only watching as Sakura was working, before he finally said. "I might be gone for a while," Sakura looked at him after she heard that. "If you have any information about Tsunade, then talk to Szayelaporro or Tayuya. They will inform me about what you said."
Sakura nodded, and then went back to work, while Naruto left the room, and went to make plans for the future and what to do next.