Naruto was restless. It's been 2 weeks, and there wasn't much progress. So far, it was discovered that currently, the virus was in the Incubating phase in their bodies, so they weren't able to spread it to others. They also found that the rate of growth was directly related to their metabolism and chakra level.
Naruto's crazy metabolism and chakra rate have caused him to be furthest in the illness. The symptoms were already beginning to show. His lungs itched, and he wasn't able to exercise long without coughing. Shisui and Itachi were a lot slower in progress, and if nothing went wrong, they would show the first signs after a year.
Orochimaru and Tsunade were frantic. Working day and night testing different theories. Others wanted to help, but there wasn't much to do without getting in their way. As a last-ditch resort, there were stasis seals prepared to freeze their body in time so they could be kept safe until there was a solution.
Naruto couldn't contact Kurama or his sage powers at the moment, and he exhausted all other options, so he was waiting. There was only so much to do when you were limited to the lab. He spent a lot of time working on seals and meditation. But he was bored, so he decided to do some light Kenjutsu katas to pass the time.
He picked a tanto from near the wall of the room they emptied out for training and started. He let his body relax and flow through the motions. Orochimaru put some seals on him to completely stop the usage of his chakra in hopes of buying him more time.
Naruto couldn't sense anything around him and was taking it as a challenge. When he first started training his senses, one of the things he always worked on was things that could affect his chakra sensing.
There could always be things that can escape his detection, so it is necessary to work on being flawless. Naruto focused on his breathing and heartbeat. Moving in a way to keep his heart rate low yet having fast movement.
He also had to focus on the power behind each blow; if he used too much force in each blow, he could tire quickly, and his breathing could directly influence the strength of each blow. He didn't know how long he was at it, but when he finally felt the aching of his muscles and his lungs were starting to burn, he stopped.
He saw Itachi sitting nearby with two bottles of water, looking at him. Naruto approached him and sat beside him, taking the water gratefully. Finally, Itachi decided to talk. "Naruto-kun. I wanted to ask you this for a long time, and I need you to answer me truthfully." Itachi said hesitantly.
"Sure, Itachi. What is this about?" Naruto asked. He could feel the urgency in Itachi's voice, so it had to be important.
"You were using a tanto," Itachi said matter-of-factly.
"Yes?" Naruto said, voice between confirming and questioning.
"You always preferred your spear but haven't used it in a long time. You were also using your left hand, but we both know you are right-handed." Itachi said.
"I mean, I can use both my hands equally well. I don't know what you are getting at." Naruto said in denial.
"Naruto. Please. You don't have to hide it. Shisui and I have been noticing it for a while. How you've been using a lot more one-handed signs and how you use your left hand to throw or use weapons. You also use your left hand for all delicate tasks like seal making. Tell me did it happen that day?" Itachi asked. He looked so desperate as he looked into Naruto's eyes.
Naruto knew that he couldn't lie or pretend that both his friends deserved the truth. "It was not your fault," Naruto said, taking a deep breath.
"But it was if I…" Itachi started.
Naruto held his hand up to stop him. "No, it was not. When I healed you in Kiri, I knew I was already at my limit and that using chakra in my arm would damage the nerves. It was my choice, and I would do it over and over again in a heartbeat." Naruto said with a smile.
"But you shouldn't have done it. it is my fault for accepting and…." Itachi tried to argue again.
"No. Itachi, I need you to listen to me. It was not your fault, and I never gave you a choice. I'm happy you are alive and healthy. Plus, it's not like I can't use my arm at all. I can still perform all sorts of mundane tasks. The damage only prevents me from delicate things since there are small tremors, and I can't use too much force when using ninjutsu and taijutsu."
"There are still tons of things I can do, and it doesn't matter thinking about the things I can't. All I care about is that you are safe and well and that we both survived. Please, Itachi, don't ever blame yourself for it." Naruto said.
Itachi looked into his eyes for a second longer before pulling him into a hug. "I don't think I can ever stop blaming myself, but I know you wouldn't let me. So thank you." Itachi said, squeezing Naruto a bit more.
"Hey. I mean, I know if the situations were reversed, you would have done the same. I'm so glad to always have you and Shisui by my side protecting me, so let me do the same for you." Naruto said and let himself enjoy the embrace a little longer.
"Want to go annoy Shisui?" Naruto asked with mischief in his voice.
"Hn." Was Itachi's answer.
It took them a month before the first breakthrough. After constant monitoring and experiments, they reached the conclusion that the disease can not be, in fact, spread by air or the person. There must be a source of whose nature they weren't sure of.
It wouldn't make a difference, but they were allowed to go back to the village. Naruto was still banned from chakra use, and so were Itachi and Shisui. They were taken off duty for the time being. They also had to report daily for check-ups for the first month and gradually less if deemed sufficient.
Naruto wanted to get back to ROOT, but his father didn't want to let him go. After a short argument, his father directly sent a messenger to Danzo and basically ordered him to let Naruto stay for a while. Of course, Danzo had no choice but to accept since Minato had quite a bit of blackmail from him.
Naruto spent a while like this. He was ordered to act as Hokage's secretary. He was in the office all day with his father, helping with all sorts of tasks. In his free time, he worked on seals since many of his seals didn't need chakra for creation, and he had some orders to fulfill.
Kakashi was also on babysitting duty, watching him 24/7. It all worked perfectly since Kakashi's last mission gave him a broken leg, and he was benched for the next 3 weeks. Naruto enjoyed Kakashi's company and actually learned a few things from him.
They were bonding in a way they never got to in the past. Kakashi was taking the role of older brother but not in the way Itachi or Shisui were. He was more of an older brother who would pop out once in a while to hang out and have fun but then get back.
It was what worked best for them in the situation they were currently in. They weren't forcing themselves. Kakashi was very close to his father, and he was at first a bit hesitant to be that way around Naruto, but Naruto pulled him aside one day and assured him that he was ok with it.
Naruto told him that he respected the relationship he had with his father and how he was only beginning to build his own and wouldn't want his relationship to be at the cost of an older one. It took a fair bit of talk, no jutsu, but Naruto got through to him.
So since then, they made a point of spending time with each other doing some activities they could both enjoy. Their summons were close, so sometimes, they would train them together. Other times they would discuss ninjutsu theories or work on other projects together.
Naruto was currently helping Kakashi with his chakra reserves. While Kakashi's reserves were well above average with years of training and also due to his white Hatake chakra, he still had problems going on all ninjutsu battles due to most of his techniques being so chakra-consuming.
So far, their experiments helped them find the best way to increase Kakashi's reserves. Kakashi did best with exercises that had to do with circulating his chakra in his body. His chakra was heavy, and moving it around his body helped with strengthening the pathways so he could access it faster.
Also, the circulation was stimulating for his core, so he would naturally build more. They came up with a particular exercise. Naruto commissioned a special ball made out of chakra conductive metal. Kakashi would put the ball near his center in the beginning and use chakra to move the ball around his body.
He would do it repeatedly in a clockwise and counterclockwise manner. This also helped with using all his tenketsus, which was the point of the exercise. They planned on putting weighting seals on the ball and gradually increasing the weight to add more difficulty to the exercise.
There were, of course, other exercises recommended by Tsunade, but since Kakashi was often on missions having an exercise that he could perform anywhere without the need for much space or causing noise was useful.
They were also working on utilizing his white chakra, but there wasn't much to go on. Kakashi was already looking at some of his clan scrolls, but most of the records were destroyed since they were unattended for years in a basement.
Naruto, of course, gave Kakashi an earful about the importance of preservation of documents. They were now working on salvaging the scrolls. Kakashi trusted Naruto enough to go through most of the scrolls except the ones deemed clan secret, which he was now working on.
Hatakes were known for their raition jutsu and their bond with wolves. Naruto was going through the jutsu scrolls, and unsurprisingly, they were mostly raition. Of course, there were a few from other natures, probably from defeating enemies.
Naruto was using a special kit they had in ROOT for restoring documents. Most Jutsu scrolls were made in a way to not last very long so shinobi could take their secrets to the grave. The papers were thin and dry, so they would crumble easily, and the ink was made to fade.
Usually, there was a period of 5 years best suited for their use. Afterward, they had to be rewritten. Usually, within each clan, there were ninjas proficient in this art, and they spent most of their time working on the scrolls.
They were primarily shinobi who were taken off active duty due to injuries and such but were still capable enough to handle this task. There was also a sub-division of the sealing division that dedicated its efforts to this task.
Sometimes clan kept a large number of non-clan-related jutsus. If the number of their scrolls were too much for them to handle internally, they would ask the sub-division for assistance. But mostly, their jobs were working on library scrolls.
Naruto was trained in the art and was using his kit to work on the scrolls currently in front of him. It was a slow and delicate job, but seal masters were the best suited for the job since they were required to have perfect calligraphy and delicate touch.
Kakashi left Naruto for a minute to make them some tea, and Naruto kept at his work. There was something about old scrolls that fascinated Naruto. Maybe it was the smell of old paper and ink or the texture. Naruto didn't know, but it was definitely very calming.