Chapter VI

Disturbing Mutations

True to her position as Hokage, Tsunade took care of the paperwork that piled up and never ended. Despite the recent events and this most depressing month, she remained the steadfast pillar of her village and did not let emotions get to her, although a pain constantly pinched her chest now. Naruto was her protege, a shinobi she loved like a big sister to her little brother. The fact that he was missing, coupled with the countless rumours that he had passed away, affected her greatly.

It was to Naruto that Godaime entrusted her priceless necklace after losing a bet with the latter. This once cursed jewel had snatched the life of her lover, and her previously adored younger brother. Somehow, she believed that the curse had not left it and was back after three years to unjustly take its new owner to his doom.

Tsunade did not show it, but sometimes, between two cups of sake, she let out a lonely tear.

With disinterest and weariness, she read the outlines of the documents of small importance before, yes or no, approving them. Even her assistant, Shizune, remained silent, content to pet Tonton, Tsunade's little pet pig. Given the circumstances, she was not telling the Hokage to take her job more seriously…

In the corridor, the echo of running footsteps was heard and Godaime immediately raised her head, quickly imitated by Shizune. The door of her office opened wide. She recognized one of her breathless chūnins. Frowning, she waited for him to speak up.

"Lord Hokage!"

"What's going on?"

A short silence. The shinobi needed some time to regain control over his raging breathing and thus, be able to formulate two words in a row.

"It… It's Uzumaki Naruto! He's back in the village!" he said.

Tsunade got up from her chair and abruptly put both her hands on the desk.

"What did you just say?!" she cried out in a scream.

"He's currently in intensive care…"

"I'm going there right now!" she exclaimed, cutting him off before waving at Shizune. "You're coming with me!"

"Yes!" nodded her assistant who ordered Tonton to wait for their return in the Hokage's office.

As the shinobi were left behind, Tsunade and Shizune took the path leading straight to The Konoha Hospital. The two women shared similar thoughts and feelings; their hearts were heavy and bruised. They could not believe it. They were expecting a horrible bad taste joke, convinced to find nothing but disappointments mixed with a touch of despair.

The countless searches all over the country had been for naught. No leads, no clues, nothing. Weeks in nothingness gave nothing and suddenly, from nowhere, one of the two kidnapped victims had been found. Nevertheless, they were relieved to know that Naruto was alive although worries plagued their minds. Several questions swirled like destructive tornadoes, theories and hypotheses flowed… However, for the immediate moment, their priority was the boy with sapphire eyes visibly in critical condition. Unanswered questions would wait.

Quickly, they arrived on the scene. Being medical-nin themselves, they knew where to go and hurried to the intensive care unit. Inside, Tsunade was greeted by one of the nurses assigned to Naruto's care. At first glance, she seemed to be waiting and watching for her arrival since she was very close to the doors.

"Lady Tsunade! This way!" hurried the young woman, telling Tsunade and Shizune to follow her to the room where Naruto was.

In the meantime, she gave the Hokage the medical file so she could take a look—which she did right away. As they passed through the doors, Godaime's organ of love pounded against her chest in spite of herself. At the sight of the boy, she had a very bad feeling; at this, astonishment tore her breath away. As for Shizune, she gasped in surprise and covered her mouth with her hand.

Hesitantly, Tsunade approached the stretcher on which Naruto was lying. Except for a cloth hiding his intimacy, the medical team had removed his clothes to better examine him and provide him care. His stomach wound had been sutured and bandaged, like the one on his right arm. He was on life support, and an oxygen mask covered his face. IVs were installed in his forearms, one of which was used for a blood transfusion. Electrodes were taped to his temples, chest and abdomen.

While this hardly worried Godaime since he was stable, other details sparked anxieties in her, as did the team in charge of the teenager.

First of all, Naruto was just flesh and bones and was below the threshold of malnutrition. His body had been thoroughly cleaned, but he still stank badly; this particular and disgusting odour stung the nostrils to be forced to pinch the nose. His hands were armed with long, wild, razor-sharp claws. In the middle of his chest, a strange black mark was imprinted on his skin; it had the appearance of a hollow diamond in its centre and on which shapes resembling flames were drawn above and below. The most disturbing and eye-catching was the presence of a thin tail of the same black covered with very short fur. The tail in question was so long that it was taller than Naruto himself; at this, the tip was extremely bushy and the ebony hairs at the end of it were very long.

Dumbfounded and confused, Tsunade blinked repeatedly. Her hazel eyes were unable to move away from the suspicious limb.

"What is that..?" she asked, grabbing the tail to feel it between her fingers, as if to make sure it were real.

"It's a real tail," the nurse replied grimly. "It's connected to his lower back, to one of his lumbar vertebrae. We've X-rayed him to look at that tail and there are a lot of caudal vertebrae. It's prehensile."

Mechanically, Godaime bent and twisted the tail in all directions, in unimaginable positions. This bizarre limb showed great flexibility and was very prehensile.

"We also found almost two centimetre canines in his upper dentition," the young woman added. "But that's not all. After stabilizing him, we discovered that strange designs mark the entirety of his back. From the tail to the back of the skull."

Saying so, she gave her a sheet of parchment; on it was a sketch on which said markings had been drawn on the teenager's body. Abstract and simple symbols, in a mosaic-like composition, adorned his entire back and extended down his neck to get lost in the blonde mane. The shapes were similar to tribal tattoos with spaces between the black shapes. The use of this drawing was only temporary; the medical team was waiting until Naruto's life was no longer in danger before taking a picture of those markings imprinted on his skin.

"We don't think these are mere tattoos…"

The Hokage nodded to validate her thought. Everything was shrouded in mystery, and the number of questions kept piling up on top of each other. She was hardly surprised that he came back seriously injured … but this way? It wasn't one of her darkest and most outlandish theories. At first glance, Naruto had been a test subject of experiments that were sending shivers down the spine. What had happened so that the teenager literally found himself with an extra limb, a tail covered in black fur and not blonde, moreover?

Unfortunately, that was not all. According to the report, Naruto had a deadly fever above forty-five degrees Celsius… However, although his body was boiling like fire and was excruciatingly hot to make the slightest touch unpleasant, the boy was stable as if he had only a thirty-nine-degree fever. Knowing that it was certain death if the temperature reached forty-two degrees, this strange and inexplicable phenomenon made her arch an eyebrow. She had to read the lines several times to make sure she had read it correctly.

In addition to the body temperature incompatible with life, Naruto was immune to medical ninjutsu. The medical-nins were unable to heal the slightest wound and no one understood why. They had tried everything … in vain. The teenager's body resisted all possible techniques. It just had no effect on him. This sudden immunity alarmed everyone, much more than this suspicious body temperature issue… Naruto's condition was much more precarious since only traditional healing methods were still working on him—something that had saved his life by the way.

On the surface, despite the many strange mutations and that he was dangerously underweight, everything was fine. Yet that did not rule out the possibility of a deep-seated problem.

The young woman answered her question before it was asked. "We've already drawn several samples of his blood for analysis."

"I see. Tell the analysis directory that I will lead the operations myself."

Once Tsunade finished reading the medical report, she glanced briefly at an unrecognizable Naruto, victim of abuse she dreaded to know. She felt sorry for him.

"As soon as the blood transfusion is done, dress him and put him in the observation room," Godaime ordered the nurse and the other members in charge. "His condition must be carefully monitored. If he wakes up or if there's the slightest change, even insignificant, let me know immediately."

In heart, the medical team nodded aloud. Tsunade handed the report to Shizune who hurriedly read it in turn. Godaime walked out of the room with a determined step, with her disciple on her heels. In search of an explanation and an answer, she looked for the shinobis and kunoichis who had found Naruto; the questions tickled her boiling mind, and her chest was hammered relentlessly.

Out of intensive care, she ran into Kotetsu and Izumo who came to meet her, offering a formal greeting.

"You're the ones who found Naruto?"

"Affirmative," they confirmed at the same time.

"Where?" Tsunade asked, frowning.

The two men exchanged a look. Izumo decided to speak. "In all honesty, Naruto came back to the village on his own. We were guarding the gates when we spotted him in the distance, shortly before he collapsed unconscious."

A light in the void gave hope.

"Lady Tsunade," Shizune began, a cold sweat beading on her temple. "Since Naruto came back on his own, do you think he could..?"

"I think so," Godaime guessed, crossing her arms. "We'll be able to know more when he wakes up. He might just be the key to solving all these mysteries. However…"

A fleeting silence, dark thoughts and shared fears.

"I don't know what experiments have been done on him, but it doesn't bode well at all," she said grimly. "We'll know more with the next exams…"

"Indeed," her assistant whispered, her head bowed.

A silence.

"Shizune. Make sure that comings and goings in the hospital are closely supervised. In addition, access to intensive care is now strictly prohibited for anyone who has no business setting foot there. If Naruto escaped, the enemy might relaunch an assault to retrieve him. Assign Anbu units in the perimeter, ready to act if we're attacked."

"Understood!"

Tsunade turned her attention back to the two shinobis.

"Return to your post and keep all strangers out. On further notice, Konohagakure is temporarily closing its doors."

Immediately, Godaime turned on her heels to take over the analytical repertoire and lead the operations.

Alone, Kotetsu and Izumo sighed painfully.

"Looks like we can forget our holiday tomorrow … and the others," Kotetsu sighed in a weary voice.