Author's note: I'm sorry this chapter took so long, but I ran into a bit of a writer's block when working on the end. On a positive note, I reached the part of the story I have prewritten, so there would be several quick updates.
A.N.2: Now reposted with less grammar and spelling errors.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Near Konoha~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The group had been traveling at a steady pace for several days until they reached the outskirts of the great forest, in which the Village Hidden in the Leaves stood. Upon seeing it, Tsunade paused.
"What it is?" Naruto asked.
"Nothing, squirt," she replied. He looked at her dubiously. "It's just that..." she began, then stopped and shook her head. "It's just me being sentimental. Let's go."
"Let's go," Jiraiya agreed. "We shouldn't dawdle if we want to reach the gates before sunset." The group moved again. But they covered barely a mile when they stopped again, this time because of Naruto.
"What's the matter?" the Toad Sage asked when he saw the chuunin standing still on a branch, hypnotizing the nearby foliage and sniffing the air.
"I thought I smelled something," the blond boy explained, "but it was too faint and I can smell it anymore."
"What was it?" the spymaster inquired.
"I'm not sure," Naruto shrugged.
"So close to the village, it's probably nothing," the white-haired man shrugged. "And besides, there are teams of ANBU making rounds around here, so even if it was something, they would deal with it. Let's move on." He turned around and wanted to jump further, but at the moment a strong gust of wind brought more of the mysterious smell. This time it was strong enough for Naruto to recognize.
"It's blood! Fresh!" he exclaimed.
"Really?" Jiraiya asked, suddenly all serious. Tsunade shuddered.
"Really," the jinchuuriki confirmed.
"So close to the village? That doesn't sound good. We have to investigate," the Gama Sennin decided and took off in the direction the wind was blowing from.
It didn't take them long to find the source of the smell. Despite somebody trying to conceal it, they discovered the remains of four Konoha ANBU buried under a heap of dry leaves.
"Who could have done it?" Naruto asked, looking around nervously. Tsunade stood several paces away, pointedly looking the other direction. Shizune was watching her with worry in her face.
"The enemy, who else," the Toad Sage shrugged. "And they are still close, this happened less than half an hour ago."
"How did they get so close to Konoha?"
"It must be a small infiltration team, but strong enough to take on a squad of ANBU. Any larger force would have been spotted long ago."
"Are we going to go after them?" the boy inquired.
"Yes," the Gama Sennin confirmed. "And you, be careful. No needless heroics. Whoever those guys are, they are above your level. So don't get yourself killed."
"Got it," Naruto nodded. "Let's go."
"Let's go."
They followed the trail. The enemy tried to cover their tracks and they didn't do a shabby job, but Jiraiya was too good to let it fool him. They ran for a few minutes when Jiraiya, who had been running at the point, suddenly jumped up and latched himself onto a high branch. Naruto, running right behind him, didn't react in time and ran straight into a tripwire. A hail of kunai flew from a nearby tree, heading right for him. Naruto crouched down. Most of the kunai flew right over his head, only two embedded themselves harmlessly in his chuunin vest. Fortunately the creator of the trap didn't count on someone so small tripping it.
Just as Naruto wanted to sigh in relief for surviving it, an all-too-familiar sizzling sound reached his ears. Explosive Notes! And they were somewhere below him. And he was in the flying through the air, with nothing to grab onto to change his course. He did the only thing he could think of: trying to counter the explosion with opposite force. He took a deep breath, quickly filling the air with Wind chakra. And then he Screamed. The gust of chakra-charged air clashed with the flames of the explosion and pushed them back. Then the flames gained strength for a moment, but then the Tags burned completely and the fire died down.
Naruto landed on a nearby branch, breathing heavily. That had been too close for comfort.
"Nice job, brat," Jiraiya remarked sarcastically. "Now they know we're after them."
"Sorry," the boy offered weakly.
"Honestly, didn't you see the wire? It was in plain sight."
"Stop arguing, they're getting away," Tsunade reminded them. They resumed pursuit, this time with more caution. They found two more traps, but they managed to bypass them without setting them off. Then suddenly Jiraiya waved his hand, signaling them to stop.
"They're close," he announced looking around. Then an Exploding Note suddenly went off behind his back, throwing him into Tsunade.
"Closer than you think," somebody announced as kunai and shuriken began raining from the trees.
"Earth wall!" Jiraiya called despite his shaken state. The jutsu created a barrier around them, stopping the attack.
"Raiton: Shuurai!" called somebody outside. In the next moment a shock of electricity ran through Jiraiya's wall, disrupting the chakra in the jutsu, making the wall crumble. This was further assisted by an Exploding Note slammed to the weakened place. When it detonated the wall, the attackers realized that the space inside was empty. The Konoha ninja used the Moguragakure no Jutsu to escape. Jiraiya was dragging Naruto with him, because the chuunin knew no Earth techniques.
"Doton: Retsuda Tenshou!" another voice cried and the earth started twisting, forcing the four Leaf shinobi to come out lest the soil would crush them. The attackers were already waiting for it. As soon as they saw Jiraiya's white head emerge from the ground, one of them immediately slashed it in two with his sword. The head dissolved into mud. In the next moment, he was hit by a Katon: Endan, courtesy of the real Jiraiya, who appeared from the earth a few paces behind him. The attack was strong enough to deep-fry him, even signing the ninja standing next to him and setting his sleeve on fire. Then one of his colleagues attacked Jiraiya with an Earth Spear. The Sannin dodged. The battle was underway.
Naruto jumped to the nearest tree as soon as he emerged from the ground. Despite his confidence in his abilities, he knew that he was nowhere near his companions and shouldn't get in their way. Jiraiya had informed him earlier that in such battle, his main concern should be staying alive and letting him deal with the enemies. Unfortunately for him, it looked like simply staying alive was going to take a lot of work. One of the enemies, who he now recognized as an Iwa ninja, pegged him down as the weakest one and decided to take him out of the fight before he could stab somebody in the back.
The Iwa ninja attacked him with a punch. Naruto jumped to the side at the last moment and the fist hit the tree trunk, shattering it, sending splinters flying everywhere. The boy blinked in surprise. He had never seen somebody so physically strong, except Tsunade, but he had never seen her demonstrate her legendary ability at full power. He had no time to ponder over it. He was forced to dodge a kick aiming at his midsection. He jumped on the next tree, drawing his ninjato in the process. He did it just in time to block another punch. That Iwa man was really fast in following him.
Naruto tried to gain some distance, because the enemy shinobi was clearly superior to him when it came to close-range combat. But the man wouldn't let him. He surpassed him in speed as well. It was all the young chuunin could do to avoid the strikes. He couldn't even concentrate on charging his blade with Wind chakra. His first attempt didn't sharpen the blade enough and after the Rock shinobi nearly knocked it from his grasp, he couldn't do it again.
Then followed a blow he couldn't dodge. He had barely the time to put his sword in the path of the fist. The impact sent him flying. 'Damn it,' he thought, 'he struck the edge with his knuckles and they weren't even bleeding. Just how is he doing it?'
But the flight gave him the time he needed. He ignored the pain in his hands and concentrated on the flow of chakra into his sword. Before he landed, there was a sharp, deadly and invisible extension on the blade. He finished just in time. The enemy had jumped and now was waiting for him on the tree. Naruto twisted in the air and slashed his sword at him. The Iwa ninja dodged. 'So he saw the blade,' the chuunin thought. 'He's good. But he dodged. Does it mean Wind chakra can hurt him?'
He landed on a branch, automatically using his chakra to stick to it. The enemy watched him cautiously, pondering his next attack. It gave Naruto the time he needed to adjust the grip on his ninjato to one-handed and activate the Whirlwind fist on his left arm. The Rock ninja still didn't attack. It made warning bells ring in the blond's head. What was the man up to?
Naruto attacked. The enemy made a half-hearted attempt to block it. Naruto's weapon sliced right through his arm, making it dissolve into mud. 'Clone!' the boy though just as he heard the tell-tale sizzling of an activated Exploding Tag. A Kawarimi with a nearby log got him out of the way of the blast, but his clothes were still singed. And then he realized he landed on another Explosive note. 'Damn him, he guessed where would I dodge,' the Konoha shinobi thought as he flung himself far away from the blast note. The explosion sent him flying even further.
He rolled on the ground, grateful that he didn't crash into a tree. Unfortunately he lost his weapon during his flight. Fortunately the Iwa shinobi lost sight of him and Naruto had time to gather his bearings. He stood up, activating his Whirlwind Fist.
A subtle shift in the air informed him that somebody was attacking him from behind. He lunged to the side, narrowly avoiding the fist intended to crush his spine. He pivoted on his heel, punching the attacker's back. The Wind blades enveloping his forearm destroyed a large chunk of his flak jacket, but didn't wound him any. The Iwa nin retaliated with a punch aimed at his ribs. Naruto blocked with his left forearm. It felt like the bones there were breaking, but they held. And blood appeared on his opponent's fist. If his forearm didn't hurt so much, the boy would have smiled. First blood went to him.
Unfortunately first blood meant little in a life-or-death battle. The Rock shinobi spent only a fraction of a second to reassure himself that all his fingers were still attached before he charged at Naruto again. The chuunin dropped to the ground, trying to take out one of the attacker's legs. The Iwa ninja jumped over his swing.
Naruto took a deep breath and as the enemy was turning around to attack him, he let out a Scream. He didn't manage to charge it to its full power, but it still sent the larger man skidding backwards, tiny cuts appearing on his body. He didn't let it faze him and after a second he charged again. By that time Naruto was jumping into the nearest tree, creating a bunch of Shadow Clones on the way. The Iwa ninja hesitated, losing sight of his original target. Then he began destroying the clones one by one.
Naruto hid in the tree, taking a short breather. He couldn't beat his opponent just by strength alone. He was too fast to let him use his more powerful jutsu and the weaker ones had little effect. And Naruto's left forearm still hurt too much to be useful in the fight. He needed some strategy to distract the Iwa shinobi and sneak up on him with something powerful. But what kind of distraction the man wouldn't see through? And what kind of technique would be strong enough to break through his hardened skin?
The Rock ninja destroyed the last of his clones, but Naruto already had a plan in mind. He quickly formed a new bunch of clones and sent them to attack. They attempted a Firestorm, but the man blocked it with a Mud Wall. He followed with Doton: Doryuu Taiga, which turned the earth under the clones' feet into mud, dragging them down and dispelling them. Then he broke out of his protective shell, looking for his original opponent.
That was what Naruto had been waiting for. Another batch of clones were already in action. Three jumped straight at him, their Whirlwind fist activated. The Rock Ninja threw three shuriken, reducing the clones into three puffs of chakra smoke. Then he turned around to face the one coming from behind. And paused. That ball of chakra in its hands, could it be...
The moment of hesitation nearly cost him. The clone with the incomplete Rasengan was nearly upon him. He quickly snapped out of his shock and dodged the attack, punched the clone and destroyed it. He barely noticed someone behind him until that someone nearly hit him. He leaned forward, the attacker's punch becoming only a slight tap on his back. He whirled around, kicking the clone into oblivion. Then he registered a familiar sizzling noise and a burning sensation on his back. That last clone placed and Explosive Tag right inside the hole in his vest! He reached back, trying to remove it, but he didn't make it. The Tag went off, killing him nearly instantly.
Naruto exhaled in relief. That had been close, but he prevailed. He jumped to where he spotted his dropped ninjato in the grass and picked his up. During the fight, he moved away from where the others were battling. So what should he do? Go there and possibly get in the way or wait and possibly let some of his comrades get killed? It was a tough choice. In the end he decided to look how the battle was going. He sent a clone. A minute later he received its memories.
Jiraiya was doing well. He could see the mangled remnants of two of his opponents and the Toad Sage had no trouble keeping the remaining two at bay. It was just a matter of time when he would prevail.
Tsunade was worse off. As one of their enemies was killed in front of her, she got sprayed with his blood and she froze. She was standing there trembling, her mind locked in the past, probably not even realizing that there were two highly skilled Iwa shinobi out for her blood. Shizune did her best to protect her mistress, but to Naruto it looked like it wouldn't be enough. He waited for nothing and rushed to their aid.
He arrived in the nick of time. The bigger of the Iwa duo had engaged Shizune in a fierce taijutsu battle she couldn't disengage from and the other one used the opportunity to slip behind Tsunade and tried to slit her throat. He was forced to abandon his intent when Naruto jumped from a tree, kicking his shoulder and pushing him away.
The Rock ninja recuperated quickly, slashing at Naruto with his kunai. The boy ducked underneath it, but the man sent him flying with a kick to his chin. Believing his opponent to be down for the time being, he turned back to the defenseless Tsunade. He didn't count on how quickly could Naruto recuperate. Though the boy wasn't sure whether he still had all his teeth, he quickly sat up and hurled three shuriken at the enemy. The man blocked them easily, but was forced to abandon his attack on Tsunade.
"You don't have enough, brat?" the man sneered. "Then I'll have to teach you! Doton: Doryuusou!" Naruto tried to jump away the moment the ninja started calling out the jutsu, but he was too slow. Spears formed from the earth, trying to impale him. He managed to avoid most of them, but two hit him anyway, one sliding along his ribs, the other piercing his side. He cried out in pain. The Iwa ninja pressed his attack. He threw a hail of kunai at the chuunin. Naruto, slowed down by his wounds, wasn't able to get out of the way. Some of them got lodged in his flak jacket, but some pierced his legs and arms. He barely managed to protect his head and neck.
"Still alive?" the Rock ninja remarked. "I'll have to do something about that."
Naruto realized that his situation was dire. He grabbed his ninjato with his left arm (his right one was injured too badly to move properly) and charged it with Wind chakra. The Iwa ninja leapt closer. Naruto slashed at him. The man threw a kunai, hitting Naruto's arm and making him drop the sword. Then stepped on his forearm. Naruto nearly cried in pain as the already bruised bones were nearly crushed once again. The boy took a deep breath, attempting a Slicing Scream. A foot stomping on his chest made him release the air before he could charge it with chakra. Then, with a sadistic smile, he knelt down, intent to stab Naruto in the throat.
Naruto gathered his strength and tried to block the attack with his right arm. But he was too injured and all he managed was to deflect it to his chest instead. The Iwa ninja pulled the weapon out with a sickening sound, ready to stab again. Naruto could do nothing to stop him. He could barely breathe. The wound in his chest prevented him. He knew he was going to die. He wanted to do something about it, but his body wouldn't move. He could only watch the kunai descend.
And then it suddenly disappeared from his field of vision, alongside with its wielder. He blinked in confusion. What did just happen? He turned his head. Or maybe his head just fell on its own because he couldn't keep it upright anymore. There he saw Shizune battling with his would-be killer. The young medic had overcome her earlier opponent and rushed to his assistance. Naruto watched her exchange blows with him. He could immediately tell that she was losing. Her previous battle rendered her left arm nearly useless and she was favoring her right leg.
He wanted to help her, but he was unable to. He was too tired and cold. That meant his wound was really, really bad. He didn't feel this weak even after falling off the cliff during his first mission. Just what did that man hit? He could feel Kyuubi's healing trying to do its magic, but it was too slow. It couldn't even stop the bleeding. Maybe if he released more of its power? But that would mean he'd lose control over it. And then what? And what if he didn't do it? He was too tired to think about such serious matters. He just wanted to sleep. A part of his mind told him that he probably wouldn't wake again, but he was too tired to care.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Near Konoha~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shizune fought with all she had, but she was barely keeping herself alive. Only Tsunade's rigorous training in dodging and evading saved her from a fatal injury, but she could already tell that it won't last. With one hand injured she couldn't block effectively and her leg wound prevented her from moving around freely. Her opponent was nearly uninjured and stronger than her. Only her speed was still keeping her in the fight. She needed some edge, but what? She had used up her supply of poisoned needles and the Rock ninja didn't give her the time necessary to form handseals. Not that she could form them properly with two of her fingers broken. So what else was there to do?
Before she could come up with anything, there was a white blur and the Iwa shinobi fell down dead.
"Jiraiya-sama!" the medic nin exclaimed, relieved.
"Are you alright?" the Toad Sage asked.
"I'll live," Tsunade's apprentice answered. "But Naruto is wounded!" She raced towards the prone boy. She checked him over briefly.
"It's bad," she concluded. "The bleeding is too severe and I can't stop it. I think even his bronchi was damaged, but I can't be sure. I can't activate my healing jutsu properly." She held out her injured hands. "We need Tsunade-sama to help him." She looked to the still inert form of her teacher. Jiraiya did the same.
"And the princess is still out of it," he muttered. "Hey, Tsunade-hime, snap out of it, you have a critical patient here." The woman didn't react. She continued staring in the distance and shaking. "Hey, Tsunade-hime, snap out of it. Naruto needs you." Did the expression in her eyes change? Jiraiya wasn't sure. Otherwise she showed no outward sign of having heard him. "No choice now," the super-pervert sighed and grabbed Tsunade around her torso, making sure his hands grabbed her bosom. Usually that would have earned him a punch strong enough to send him to lower Earth orbit. In these circumstances, he would have welcomed it, but now it had absolutely no effect.
He lifted the prone woman and carried her over to Naruto. "Wake up! He needs you, see?" Tsunade just shivered harder. "Suiton: Mizurappa," Jiraiya said, spitting a small jet of water on Tsunade's back. He made sure to use as little chakra in the technique as possible, but it still toppled the woman over. But the cold water accomplished what his groping couldn't. Tsunade woke up from her stupor.
"W-what..." she stuttered, obviously still in shock.
"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune shouted. "Please help him! He's dying and I can't heal him!"
"B-blood," the blond Sannin muttered, about to slip back to her catatonia.
"Get a hold of yourself!" Jiraiya shouted. "He needs you! You can tremble all you want afterwards!"
"So much blood," Tsunade whispered. What was in front of her was interposed with her memories. Who was lying prone before her? Naruto or Dan? Did it matter? Both of them were bleeding, their life seeping away, flowing into the dark soil and onto her hands. Her hands were covered in blood as she tried to help him, her hands glowing with the Mystic Palm technique, but it was all in vain. The bleeding wouldn't stop. The artery was sliced open. She moved her fingers, concentrating her healing on that spot. It started closing faster. She nodded to herself. That was one problem solved. Now for the tear in his bronchi that was giving him trouble breathing. It wouldn't do if he drowned in his own blood.
Shizune was watching with equal part hope and disbelief. Tsunade was actually healing Naruto. That was a good sign, despite the faraway look in her eyes, suggesting that she wasn't fully conscious of what was going on. She barely dared to breathe, fearing that she might break the Sannin's concentration. If Tsunade realized now that her hands were covered in blood and snapped again...
Tsunade meanwhile was working relentlessly. She didn't really see who she was treating, only the open wound in his chest. And the blood leaking out, but slowing down. Was her technique working or was there no more blood left in the body? It was the first. It must be the first. She couldn't let Dan die on her again. She wouldn't survive it.
Finally, after what felt like eternity, the wound was closed. It was still far from healed, but it wasn't bleeding anymore. Dan will survive. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, uncaring that she was smearing the blood on her face. She sighed in relief. She looked at Dan's face. Only it wasn't Dan. She blinked in confusion. Who was that boy? What did happen? And then it started going back to her. They had been attacked on their way to Konoha and the child in front of her was Naruto. And Dan was long dead. She blinked back the tears the memory of him brought. She had no time to fall apart. The patient still wasn't out of danger.
"Shizune," she called.
"Tsunade-sama?" the girl asked with disbelief.
"Help me secure him for transport. We have to get him to Konoha quickly."
"Yes." Shizune smiled. It was good to see her teacher so focused and business-like again. And most of all, uncaring that she was completely covered in blood. The young woman wasn't sure whether her phobia was completely gone or whether it would rear its head again, but now she finally had hope. If Tsunade could overcome her fear once, she could do it again.
They were almost finished securing Naruto for transport, when Jiraiya appeared with an unconscious Iwa nin slung over his shoulder. "This one's still alive," he explained. "The T&I would like to have a chat with him. That is if he lives that long. I messed him pretty bad. It's worrisome how they were able to get so close to Konoha undetected. And judging from the amount of Explosive Tags they had on them, they were about to blow something up."
"How did they intend to get into Konoha?" Shizune asked.
"I wish I knew," Jiraiya sighed. "I just hope they didn't count on inside help."
"Traitors?" Tsunade questioned.
"I hope not. Because that's the last thing Konoha needs."
Nothing more was said. The procession headed somberly towards the village gates and the hospital.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hokage's office~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Welcome home, Tsunade," Sarutobi greeted his old pupil sincerely.
"Sensei," the Slug Princess replied. She didn't trust herself to speak more. The return to her hometown stirred more emotions in her than she had expected. At first, she was too preoccupied with tending to the wounded boy to think about them, but now she couldn't hide behind her cold professionalism anymore, they hit her with full force. She had a hard time categorizing what each of them meant.
"It's been so long since you visited here. Maybe even too long."
"It doesn't feel long enough. And yet sometimes it feels like an eternity," she spoke, grateful that her voice remained steady. The Sandaime chuckled.
"Time has this annoying habit to flow both too fast and too slow. But that doesn't matter now. We have more pressing concerns to address." Both their faces turned grim.
"Yes," she sighed. "So what do you want me to do, sensei? Because I don't think I could go into battle again. For the first time in ages, I've been able to look at blood without freezing, but I don't want to see it spilled if I don't have to."
"Your greatest value was never on the battlefield anyway," the Third replied. "What about returning to your old duties as a medic? Would you take over the Konoha Hospital?"
"That's a lot of work," she grimaced.
"It's also a lot of money. From what I've heard, you still need to settle many debts," the village leader pointed out.
"You're right," she sighed. "I'll do it. I don't want to, but I'll do it." Sarutobi smiled.
"That's more like the old Tsunade I remember. I'm grateful you regained your spirit."
"Thank a certain brat for that. Whenever he wakes up."
"I intend to."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Konoha~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naruto's wounds were healing quickly. Three days after receiving his injury, he was already trying to slip from the hospital, insisting that he was fine. He was caught by the ever-watchful Tsunade who insisted he wasn't fine, which she knew better than him, because unlike him she was a trained healer, and forced him back to his bed under the threat of tying him to it. The boy grumbled, but didn't dare to disobey her.
Just as he was finally released when even the legendary medic couldn't find anything wrong with him, his team returned to Konoha from a mission. Naruto found it out when he was suddenly tackled by the Haimaru siblings in the middle of the street. Before he could get up, he was surrounded by Tenzo, Hana and Hotaru, all of them happy to see him again. He noted that his teammates seemed to get stronger during his absence. After a lengthy session of catching up, the team resumed their regular training routine.
Before they were sent for missions together again, Jiraiya approached him with a solution for his Kyuubi problem. He placed a seal around the red mark that prevented the Kyuubi's power from emerging every time it was smeared with blood. However Naruto could still use it to summon Kyuubi's chakra if he used a certain sequence of handseals before smearing it with blood. Naruto thanked the Sage wholeheartedly. Though the Toad Hermit warned him that the new seal wasn't as durable as the old one, it meant he didn't have to worry about even slight scratches anymore. He could return to active duty.
Then followed months of doing missions and engaging in battles with his team. Tenzo was sometimes with them, but mostly he was assigned to other duties. Though they faced enemies, nothing of note happened during this time.
The situation on the frontlines changed only slightly. A joined attack from Konoha's and Suna's forces pushed the Iwa army back, but they regrouped quickly and were now trying to regain lost ground. In one of the battles, Hana and Hotaru were wounded. With Tenzo away from the village, it made Naruto the only member of the team capable of active duty. He thought he would spend several weeks in Konoha honing his skill until the girls were able to rejoin him, so he was surprised when he received a message that he was to report in the Hokage Tower for a mission. He walked to the Mission Room, anxious to find out what was in store for him.
Next time: Naruto's mysterious assignement. And some canon characters will be making their first appearance in this story.