Chapter Eight: After the Reports

While everyone had been talking, Naruto and Jiraiya had shown up and entered the room via a window. Well, sort of. Both of them were perched on the sill looking at all the people gathered together in the room. Jiraiya was carefully storing away the expressions on the faces of Naruto's old team as Naruto just looked at the group and said, "You had orders."

Everyone turned startled eyes towards him and Kakashi turned white. He hung his head lower. How had he known? Sakura broke the silence that filled the room. Her face turned as red as her dress and her hands balled into fists. "Naruto," she screeched, "that is not the way you come into the Hokage's presence. Get down from there and greet her properly." She totally ignored Jiraiya next to him as Naruto ignored her. Not even bothering to answer her he stayed perched in the window with his mentor.

Tsunade was staring at Kakashi, "What orders and from who?" she asked as Sakura stood and moved purposefully in Naruto's direction. Sakura didn't know exactly what was going on here but she knew bad manners when she saw them.

Naruto didn't even spare her a glance as he looked at Tsunade. When he was sure she was listening to him he pointed to Jiraiya and asked, "Training?" Tsunade nodded and both of them vanished the same way they'd shown up.

"How rude!" exclaimed Sakura, still at least four steps from the window. "When I see him again,. . ."

"You will do nothing." said an equally angry Tsunade. "It has taken a long time for him to come home and I will not have you or anyone else drive him away. He is just now beginning to tell us what happened to him and you will not mess it up. Your banshee behavior towards him stops today. Kakashi. I asked you a question and I want an answer." It was then she noticed he had left.

"Banshee? I'm not a banshee. Just because he's rude and uncouth, don't equate me with that. Not my fault I got assigned as his teammate. At least I tried to work a miracle with him. At least my parents taught me right from wrong along with the manners of how to behave in society. I tried to teach him since that's obviously why he was put on our team. No way could anyone have really expected him to be of use to us in any way." Sakura put her fists on her hips and glared back at Tsunade.

Before Tsunade could say a word, Sasuke said, "Since when? At least I recognized his power. You saw only what you wanted to see."

"Yeah. Speaking of that, why'd you get those injuries anyway? I know you're stronger than I am and I'm stronger than he is, so how come he was able to hurt you but couldn't even scratch me?"

Sasuke fell to the floor rolling in laughter much to her dismay. Everyone else face faulted at seeing the Uchiha on the floor rolling in laughter. Except Sai. Sai was also amused but, not understanding emotions, he didn't see what was so astonishing about the Uchiha laughing his ass off. People did that all the time. Now he just said, "You honestly think you're stronger than Naruto? Wow, Ugly. I knew you had an ego but I didn't think you were blind as well. You should really get one of those walking canes blind people use so I don't forget that." Yamato and Tsunade both smiled.

"Just what is that supposed to mean, you little freak of nature?" snapped an angry Sakura.

Sasuke sat up holding his sides, tears still rolling down his cheeks. He gasped out, "He means the Dobe took pity on you. He didn't ever fight you since Sensei told him not to. If he ever had, you would have no doubt you are definitely not his equal in anything important. So you can do genjutsu and he can't sense it until it's too late. So you have excellent chakra control. If he had as little of it as you do, this village wouldn't still be here but he'd have the same kind of control you do. Lucky for you he has much more to command than you."

"That doesn't matter at all. All the chakra in the world won't do you any good if you can't control it. So what does it matter?"

"He can control it, Hag. Just not as well as you do because there is so much more of it," said Sai. "It was for him and Sasuke that Kakashi taught you all tree climbing. They both had enough chakra running through their systems that it was causing them problems. As to why it matters, that's really simple if you think about it, Ugly. You know, for having such a wide forehead you really don't think too well?" He looked puzzled as he concluded, "I wonder why."

Everyone in the room could have sworn they saw the steam coming rolling out of her ears and heard the familiar sounding teapot whistle as her fist connected with the side of Sai's face and sent him sailing into the wall. "If it's so simple, how'd you ever figure it out," she snarled.

"It really is simple, Sakura," said Yamato, going to aid Sai out of the hole in the wall. "Naruto has a lot more chakra than anyone in this room. That means long after the rest of us are on our knees he can still be fighting using jutsus more complicated than we could ever hope to perform. And that's with his own chakra. If he calls on the Fox's he can keep going indefinitely."

"How many tails did he go to when he transformed inside the barrier?" asked Tsunade.

Yamato sighed. "I really don't know. I didn't see the transformation And I didn't come to until we were at the campsite. Sakura didn't see fit to rouse me until then. Maybe if she'd roused me as soon as she brought him up," He pointed to Sasuke. "I could have helped him. I don't give up on him as easily as Kakashi did."

"I told you already. He died in the barrier because there's no way Kakashi killed one of the guards and that's the only other way for it to come down. From Sakura's story, it's obvious it was down when she came up with me. I think I saw at least seven tails when she brought me up but I'm not sure. I wasn't thinking too clearly."

"Then how is he alive here now, Sasuke?" asked Sakura. "I may not always like Naruto but I'd recognize him anywhere at any time and that is definitely him."

"I don't know but I know it's him also."

"Could the fox have brought him back?" asked Yamato. "Because if he went to that many tails, then yeah, he was dead. No way could his body have withstood that kind of damage. Even she couldn't have healed him. That's if she had even cared to." Yamato couldn't hide the disgust in his voice. It was very clear he didn't think very highly of Sakura as a medic and wouldn't trust her on a mission to care for him or the team. And it explained why he was always asking for a different medic on away missions where they might see fighting.

Tsunade shook her head. "According to my understanding of that seal the Yondaime used on his son, when Naruto dies Kyuubi dies also. It's possible that something happened during the battle that let the Fox seal the boy off so that it would seem he died without actually killing him but I have no idea what he could have done that would do that and still let Naruto survive a seven tail transformation. His body wouldn't have survived it even if the Fox had managed to safeguard his mind."

"Wait," said Sakura. "Did you just say the Yondaime used that seal on his son? I thought Naruto was the only person the Yondaime used it on."

'I did and he did. Naruto is the only one to ever bear that seal."

"But that would mean. . . ," stammered Sasuke.

"That Naruto is the Yondaime's son? Why yes, I do believe you're right." Tsunade looked at the two chunnins in front of her desk and smirked. "I can't believe you didn't notice it for yourselves. He looks just like him."

The meeting broke up as it was getting late. Sakura and Sasuke left but Yamato stayed with Sai. "You should know I believe Kakashi was following orders on that mission, as Naruto said. But those orders didn't come from this office. I believe he was told to use Naruto's powers to defeat Orochimaru and free the Uchiha. Then he was to make sure the boy didn't, couldn't, return here. Someone didn't want the boy to survive the mission. And that's why my request for a rescue team was never sent." He turned and left the office with Sai in tow.

Tsunade sent her assistant, Shizune, to the records room to retrieve the records on that mission so she could find the answers Kakashi hadn't been willing to provide. What Yamato had said made sense but she needed to confirm it before she took any actions against the group.