A/N: Sorry for the belated posting. It's been a challenge trying to figure out how various characters would move based on the various intel they may or may not possess. I'm now starting to better understand why novels sometimes take years to be made, especially when you want to make sure you as the author respect the characters' agency.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Normal Text

'Person thinking'

"Person talking"

"Jinchuriki talking inside his head with Bijuu"

'Bijuu thinking'

"Bijuu talking"

"Bijuu talking inside jinchurki's head"

Chapter 34 – Blond Chaos

"Well, this went pretty good." Said Naruto, panting in a full spread eagle on the edge of his training ground, his eyes following some clouds that were drifting lazily on the late afternoon sky. "I'm done though."

"Indeed. Tree climbing has certainly helped your chakra control. That said, it seems we cannot make use of more than the amount you used during the attack. Just make better use of it. The seal is too tight and even if we were to push it, the changes would be marginal in the short term."

"Yeah, I don't think forcing the seal like that is a good idea. I mean, we know too little about it and for all we know, we could both be destroyed by messing around with it. Besides, I need to become stronger on my own anyway. You bailed me out twice already. And then there's every time you healed me from wounds and burns and stuff. I can't keep relying on you forever. One day you'll be free and I'll have to stand on my own feet, ya know."

"You're actually serious about freeing me, aren't you?"

"What? Did you really not believe me when I first said it?"

"…"

"Sigh… I guess I'll just have to show you. Also, about that: there's something that's been on my mind for a while now."

"Hit me."

"Well, ya know how, in the sealing book, it says that storage seals store the objects in a pocket dimension of limited size?"

"Yes."

"Well, I mean, where is that dimension? How big is it? Can we use it for something else? Can we make a dimension of our own? How do the storage seals know how to store and bring things back, even when thousands of shinobi use the exact same seal matrix at the same time? The book doesn't get into more about it, but this stuff has been wracking my brain ever since we started studying storage seal theory."

"I suspect the secrets to those specifics are hidden in the several characters that were not explained in full in the storage seal matrix. That said, what insanity are you considering this time? Last time you asked questions like these, we ended up transforming this entire mindscape to our whim."

"Hehe, yeah, true. Umm, well, I was thinking: what if we could make a world for the biju, so humans can never get to you? A world all your own? I mean, what if other people like that Danzo guy show up? He was willing to use anyone in any way because he thought he was right. I just don't know of a better way to help you guys stay safe in case another crazy guy like that shows up."

"A world all my own sounds very attractive. That said, my pride cannot accept the idea of running away from humans. I can accept having such a realm as a sort of backup, for a tactical retreat or simply a vacation, but going there on self-imposed exile out of fear of mankind? Inconceivable. If you really want to help us, you need to think of something better."

"Sigh… Yeah, I figured you'd say something like that. But that can be a good first step, I think, until I can figure out something better… Ya know, it's kind of crazy that not more people study seals. I mean, we're on level one and we're already talking about bending time and space! It's kinda nuts!"

"Personally, I think it's a good thing that sealing is this complicated and time consuming to learn. In a way, I understand why the other shinobi villages rose against the Uzumaki. To have the ability to manipulate reality to this extent is beyond the power of even biju."

"Well, if you learn sealing, it might not be beyond you guys anymore, hehe."

"Indeed…" Naruto could swear he felt Kurama grin with terrifying mischief. "Still, it's impressive that your simple human mind can grasp such complex concepts."

"Hey! I know I don't know everything, but I'm still really smart for my age!"

"Keep telling yourself that, brat."

"You can be a real meanie sometimes, you know that?"

"And that's new, how, exactly?"

"Urgh… we'll talk later. I'm gonna go see how Natsumi-neechan is doing."

A few knocks were heard on the outside of Natsumi's new landlady office. Conveniently, the office was positioned in the flat right next to her regular lodging. The perks of practically owning the place he supposed.

"Come in!"

In came Naruto, a little worse for wear, but otherwise alright. Idly, as he entered, he noticed that just past him, one of the new girls living in their block went towards the exit, holding some money in her hand and a satisfied look on her face.

"Did you train hard, Naruto-kun?" Natsumi asked him warmly, thus distracting him from his musings.

"Huh? Oh, yeap! Finally figured out tree climbing and can use the cloak without hurting myself now!"

"That's amazing! We need to celebrate!... Right after I finish my work that is…" having finished that sentence, Natsumi's gaze landed on the pile of paperwork stacked on the side of her desk, an old thing found in one of the apartments that were refurbished.

"You look almost like Hokage-jiji, with that look on your face, hehe."

"Haha, funny."

"Didn't think doing this kind of work would eat up so much of your time."

"Honestly, I didn't think so either, but there's so much to figure out! It's exciting though! It's a new path for me and I'm really happy to be there for the girls, to help make their stay as pleasant as possible. Kami knows, we all earned it."

"Yeah, you can say that again."

"Also, a couple of the girls will open up a grocery store down at the ground floor. I made sure they knew who it was that influenced the Hokage to make such drastic changes over the past month. Needless to say, this is one store in Konoha that will surely never overcharge you on food supplies."

"Whoa, really?! That's awesome! Thanks a ton, Natsumi-neechan!"

Before she could respond, Natsumi found herself struggling to breathe, due to a seven-year-old blond hugging the wind out of her.

"…Air…" struggled Natsumi.

"Oh, sorry."

"It's ok." She said with a warm smile, still keeping her arms wrapped around him. "We, umm, might need your help though."

"How can I help?" he asked excitedly.

"Well, remember how you said you would help me with that S-rank pay to get me out of work?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, the girls who want to start the shop are short some money. I took the liberty of discussing with them about whether they would accept to give someone a share of their earnings if they helped cover that last portion of the funds needed to start things off and they said yes. So, I was thinking you could help them and you'd also make some money in return. It wouldn't be much, since it's just a small grocery store, but hey, some money is better than no money at all, right?"

"Oh, yeah, we can do that. And I have a better idea! I already get the stipend so I don't really need that money. Let's just keep that money earned from the store for our family, in case we need them for some emergency, or you can use it for some quick repairs in the block or something."

"For our family…Yes. That sounds wonderful."

"Cool. When do they need the money?"

"The sooner you make it available, the sooner we can get the shop started."

"Ok. I'll go to the bank to get them first thing in the morning."

"That sounds great."

"So, you said you're still gonna work for a while, right?"

"Yes."

"Ok! Then I'll go talk to jiji about the training progress and come back for dinner. I'm pretty sure he'll be excited to know about that too!"

"That sounds wonderful. And thank you for understanding."

Another loving hug later, Naruto bolted out the door, with an energy that made it seem as if he hadn't trained the entire day.

As she made her way to the Hokage's office, Tsunade's eyes were trained on the report on subject 0001: Shimura Danzo. Held in her hands tightly, a small thought in the back of her mind made her somewhat aware that she'd probably read the thing a hundred times too many. Alas, it was time to read through it one more time, to make sure she didn't miss any crucial details. This was too big. Too important. Too personal.

Just when she was about to reach the door, she felt something smack right into her from the hip down. Irritated by the interruption, she looked past the file and towards the ground, to determine who was going to find themselves on the receiving end of all her pent-up anger and resentment from that past several days of research.

"Hey, kid! Watch where you're going!" Tsunade shouted, only a second later registering the whisker marks, blond hair and unmistakably intense azure blue eyes.

"Umm, sorry lady. Didn't mean to do that." He said with a bow. Tsunade did not respond though. She just stared at the boy intensely, making him fluster. "Umm, anyway, I'll be going in now."

"Oh, so now you're also going to cut me off at the Hokage's office, huh?"

"What? You're going to see jiji too?"

"Yes. Now, if you don't mind, I'll be going in."

"What? No way! Look, lady, I'm sorry I ran into you, but I was here first."

"Oh, is that what you think? From where I'm standing, I was closer to the office door when you bumped into me. Also, since you don't seem to look where you're going, the least you could do is let me go in first as a sign of apology."

"Hey! I already said I was sorry! And no, I was here first. Sumire-san, tell her I was here first."

Sumire, who witnessed the entire exchange with mild amusement responded "I'm sorry, I will not get involved in this argument. I know better than to get between the two of you."

"Huh? What do you mean? No one ever scares you, Sumire-san!"

"Lady Tsunade does." She replied matter-of-factly.

"Tsunade?" Naruto then looked at the lady in front of him with curiosity. "Am I supposed to know who you are?"

"You should, if you know what's best for you."

"Well, I'm still a little boy and I don't know everything."

"Still a little boy, eh? But old enough to knock out chunin level shinobi and sneak around the Red Lights? Some little boy you are."

"W-what? How did you know?"

"Kid, I know more than you think. Now get out of the way. I have important business with the old man."

"W-what? No! No way! Over my dead body!"

"As you wish."

Suddenly, Naruto found himself grabbed by the collar of his T-shirt. The door of the hokage's office was busted wide open and, in a lightning-fast move, the blond boy was flown right out the window of said office, flying into the sunset.

A shocked Hiruzen stared at Tsunade's insane behavior.

"What in the name of all the gods did you just do, Tsunade?!"

"The kid said I could only enter your office over his dead body, so I obliged."

"I am beginning to reconsider my proposal for you to take him in."

"Good. Kid's annoying anyway."

"Are you really that unconcerned for his safety?"

"If what you told me about him is true, he's gonna be fine. If not, well, umm… I'm sorry?"

"If he breaks even a single nail on his body because of your stunt, I'll put a stop to any effort to cover your debts."

"You wouldn't."

"Yes. Yes, I would."

"I think I'll go check on him."

"See that you do."

Out the window she went, in hopes that the object of her ire did not, in fact, break so much as a fingernail. Following the trajectory, she noticed he was reaching the edge of the village, flying just over the village wall. She jumped and shunshin'd as fast as she could to grab him but it was not enough. By the time she reached the top of the wall the boy landed on the ground, on all fours, a red cloak surrounding him.

Instinctively, the boy sniffed the air and his nose caught her scent, on top of the wall, staring him down.

"You! I'll kick your ass for this!" swiftly, much faster than she anticipated, Naruto bolted in her direction, a feral fury in his eyes. Had she been any lesser woman, her knees would have weakened and buckled at the murderous intent oozing from the boy. But she was definitely not a lesser woman. She was very much the opposite of that, and she took great pride in that fact. Consequently, just as swiftly as she felt his killing intent, she pulled herself together and dodged his strike.

Claw strike after claw strike, punch after punch and kick after kick, Naruto tried and failed to land any blow on the female Sannin, and with each failed attempt to bring down his foe, his anger increased, but his focus did not fail. A couple of minutes into this fruitless exchange, Tsunade decided she'd had enough of him and disappeared from his view.

Naruto, for his part, stopped his flurry and tried to focus on finding her new position. He turned to strike at his six, only to do so one fraction of a second too late, for Tsunade had already left that position and moved to his back once more. A small flick to the back of his head sent him flying off Konoha's wall and back into the forest outside the village.

The boy felt like a million boulders had just struck him and struggled to his feet, determined to end this annoying woman. He looked in her direction, only for the female Sannin to once more disappear from his view and appear right in front of him, with her fist cocked back ready to strike.

As the punch neared his face, Naruto swore that, in that moment, he could see his life flashing before his eyes. These were his last moments on this Earth, of that he had no doubt. So frozen he was, that he didn't even register a third individual entering the scene, right before the strike hit him.

"Tsunade! I told you to find him, not end him!" shouted Hiruzen in anger. Tsunade's fist stopped right in front of his face, the shockwaves of the strike still sending him back a few meters and falling on his butt, in stunned fear. The female Sannin relaxed her posture and, with her striking hand now resting on her right hip, turned her head towards the old man, to greet him.

"Oh, come on old man, did you seriously think I was gonna hit him with that? I just wanted him to learn some manners, is all. Besides, when I arrived here, he was fine. Actually, he was pretty much ready to kill me just a few minutes ago."

"And you didn't think it might be wiser to defuse the situation, instead of facilitating its escalation?"

"As if he would have listened."

With a heavy sigh, the Third relented "… You two will be the death of me. Of this I am certain."

"You're being melodramatic, old man."

"Am I though?" Hiruzen then made his way to the still shocked boy and knelt down, in order to be at his eye level. The boy's chakra cloak was long gone, but there was no sign of burn, nor exhaustion.

"I see you have mastered the use of the chakra cloak." The old man said smiling proudly, a hand resting on his shoulder, in an attempt to comfort him.

"Wha-? Oh, right. Yeah. That's why I came over, ya know, and then this crazy lady threw me out the window! What kind of person does that?!"

"The kind that doesn't take lightly to disrespect, you little brat!" shouted Tsunade over the Hokage's shoulder.

"Tsunade, that's enough from you! Tell me, Naruto, are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine, I think. A little sore, but not from the cloak. Just from the fight."

"Well, I am glad to hear you are alright. And I am also very proud to see you have progressed greatly in a very short amount of time."

"Th-thanks, old man. Can I go home now? I need to clean myself up."

"Not before I actually introduce you two to each other. This is definitely not how I expected things to go, but when do I ever get what I wish for? Let's get back to my office and we'll close the matter there."

"Why would I want to have anything to do with this crazy lady?"

"You will understand once we get back to my office." Both Tsunade and Naruto understood that this was the part where they shut up and obey, because this wasn't old man Hiruzen talking anymore. It was the Hokage. The man hailed as the God of Shinobi. And when that part of Hiruzen came out, you either listened or faced the consequences.

Not long after that incident, the trio found themselves back in Hiruzen's office, with Hiruzen sitting in his chair and Tsunade and Naruto standing next to one another, each annoyed by the other's presence, but silent nonetheless. Neither dared face the Hokage's ire at the moment, each for their own reasons.

"Naruto, now that we are here, we can discuss the matter more openly. The reason I would like for the two of you to get acquainted is because the person standing next to you is, in fact, a distant relative of yours."

"What?!"

"Her name" said Hiruzen while gesturing gently towards the woman "is Tsunade Senju. The Senju clan is a distant relative of the Uzumaki clan, a clan that you are, in fact, part of."

"I really am part of the Uzumaki clan?! I thought that was just a name that was given to me because I was an orphan and stuff."

"No, it was not by accident. You are the only surviving member that we know of."

"W-wow. Anbu-niisan told me about the clan and how they were really great at sealing. I guess I have a new reason to learn as much as I can about it."

"It's why I encouraged you as well. That art is your inheritance, in a way."

"Huh… But why tell me this now?"

"I cannot tell you about your parentage yet, but you deserve to know this much. And I don't expect it to be much of a security risk that you know about it either. The Uzumaki are not considered a threat anymore by any of the great nations, so there is little to no chance of anyone targeting you for that reason alone."

"Umm, ok."

"Now, Tsunade" Hiruzen said looking at her expectantly "This is Uzumaki Naruto. He is, in a way, your family, so I expect you to treat him with due respect, even if you might not like him."

"Hmph, as long as he doesn't get on my nerves, he'll be fine. If he becomes annoying though, I make no promises."

"I suppose that's as much as I can ask from either of you at the moment. Do remember that you are both shinobi under my command though, and that the safety of my shinobi is one of my paramount responsibilities. As such, should any undue harm come to any of my personnel, it is my duty to act swiftly and decisively."

"Umm, I'm only an academy student?"

"A shinobi academy student. Among other things, when you enrolled, you signed a paper stating that, while a student of the academy, you are also to obey the orders of your Hokage, should they require your services. It's that particular stipulation that allowed me to involve you in the Uchiha matter and subsequently pay you for services rendered."

"Oh, right. Makes sense."

"Good, now that this matter is out of the way, Naruto-kun, was there anything other than the progress on the cloak that you wished to talk to me about?"

"Umm, not right now, no."

"I'm afraid we must cut our conversation short then. Tsunade here, is, among other things, the greatest medic-nin in the Elemental Nations and she's been involved in one of the matters relating to the incident you helped uncover."

"Oooh, ok. I get it. Secret stuff."

"Indeed."

"Ok, I'll see you around then, old man. See you too, crazy lady!" As he said that last part, Naruto bolted out the door, with a speed that would have allowed him to outrun Death itself (or so he hoped anyway).

"That brat! I'll kill him 'till he's dead next time!"

"Now now, Tsunade. I thought I told you to behave yourself."

"Only if he wasn't annoying!"

"I was hoping that, between the two of you, you'd show the most sense."

"Come on, old man. You know I'm joking, right? Anyway, he wasn't injured when I found him so you still have to cover that debt… You're still going to cover for that…right?"

"I suppose you did, technically, abide by my request, albeit through sheer luck, or rather, thanks to the boy's skill. Yes, the debts will be covered as discussed."

"It was a good audition though."

"Hoh, so the boy did impress you."

"He did not lose his cool at all. I mean, yeah, he was pissed at me, but he wasn't striking in blind rage and there was no sign of the Kyubi trying to take him over. I've seen what that's like in Kushina once, and the aftermath wasn't pretty. He on the other hand, was in full control. The only reason he lost is because I was just too fast for him to land his blows. A chunin level shinobi would have had a hard time dealing with him in that state."

"I guess Fugaku's predictions might just come true after all."

"So it seems."

"Now, Tsunade, what were you able to find about Danzo's body?"

"I had Shizune run tests to confirm that the First Hokage's DNA is indeed part of the arm's composition. We used some of my blood to determine any relation and it came back positive. The arm itself is fairly unstable due to the strong wood element chakra in the cells. The ANBU medic mentioned that, about an hour into their surveillance of the limb, part of the arm started to grow twigs and they were required to fuel it with a constant amount of chakra to prevent the rest of it from turning into a tree. The strong life force of Hashirama's cells is what kept the Sharingan stable and also prevented them from consuming Danzo's chakra to the point of actually killing him. That said, I remember you mentioning that Danzo had the eyes sealed prior to your battle. I was able to confirm that, indeed, the eyes, when covered, consume significantly less chakra, much like how Kakashi's transplant behaves."

"It is as I feared then…"

"Yes. Orochimaru somehow figured out how to harvest, cultivate and replicate the wood element ability. It is to a limited extent in this project, but, in a few years, Kami knows what he'll be capable of. That said, there is some good that might have come out of all this."

"At this point I'll take any good news. What did you find?"

"Researching this limb gave Shizune some ideas on how to create potentially live prosthetic limbs for amputees. She identified that the arm included more than just Hashirama cells. It also has the cells of a third party and it is those cells that really made this prosthetic successful. Somehow, those cells have the capacity to adapt their makeup in order to make foreign bodies compatible with them. This ability to integrate foreign elements is what allowed for the Sharingan eyes to make use of the Senju life force in grandfather's cells. More research is required but, judging from your report on Danzo's performance, it is safe to assume that the arm was linked to Danzo's nerve endings and responded to his commands flawlessly. Given the possibilities presented to us, we request permission to open a dedicated branch of research into the development of such live prosthetics."

"What would this branch entail, in terms of money and manpower?"

"Not much to be honest. Shizune will be leading the project since it was her discovery and insights that allowed us to even consider the possibility. I can only be an advisor on the project due to my other task involving the Uchiha. She will need one or two other medic nin to work with her full time in order for us to gather results efficiently. It will have to be trustworthy shinobi with proven loyalty to the village and a capacity to keep things secret."

"I see. That is indeed manageable. Where do you intend to conduct said research?"

"In the ANBU medical facility. It's the most secure location we have at the moment and I'd rather we have eyes on these specimens at all times. Having Orochimaru experimenting with my grandfather's cells is bad enough. We don't need more people getting ideas."

"Agreed. Then feel free to initiate the project as soon as possible. That being said, were you able to find ways to counter or disable individuals that might possess Hashirama's cells?"

"So far, the only idea we could come up with is for the opponent to somehow disable the host's chakra flow to the limb itself. Destabilizing the chakra flow would lead to the arm or limb turning into wood element and potentially even devouring the host body in the process."

"So, a properly targeted Gentle fist strike might do."

"In theory, yes."

"I see. Please assess the viability of chakra suppression seals on the host as well."

"Noted."

"Good work so far. Please keep me informed."

"Will do."