Author Note: A larger chapter with some actions (sort of) after a long time.
Drop your thoughts in the review section. Your words inspire me to write better, faster and larger.
I hope you enjoy it.
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The Sannin and the Android
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Naruto squinted at the thick, leather-bound medical ninjutsu book resting on her lap. Her gaze was flat, as if the book was a minor inconvenience rather than a necessary study tool. With mechanical precision, she flipped through the pages, her speed robotic, eyes glazing over words that seemed to bleed together into a useless mess of diagrams and chakra terms.
"Dattebayo," she droned in a monotone voice, snapping the book shut with a loud thud. Dust billowed around her, and she stared blankly, as if waiting for the particles to settle in some orderly fashion. She cleared her throat, her voice low and strangely detached. "Whoever wrote this book clearly doesn't know how regular geniuses think. All this 'chakra flow' nonsense... It's designed to confuse lesser minds."
Her gaze shifted slowly to Shizune, who was watching her with a mixture of fear and exasperation. Shizune's eyes flicked nervously between Naruto and TonTon, the little pig nestled at her feet. TonTon gave a soft, nervous squeal whenever Naruto's eyes landed on him, as if he sensed her passing thought about ramen-broth-flavored pig stew. Shizune had taken to keeping TonTon close, just in case Naruto got any culinary ideas.
"Shizune," Naruto's voice was flat, barely curious. "Where's Granny?"
Shizune sighed, visibly deflating. "Lady Tsunade is… drinking."
Naruto tilted her head with mechanical slowness. "Drinking what? Water? Ramen broth?"
Shizune's sigh deepened. "...Sake."
Naruto's eyes widened slightly, her face maintaining an eerie stillness. "Oh. Fascinating. She can eat so much sake… I wonder if we are relatives. Dattebayo."
Meanwhile, across the room, Sasuke stirred, peeling himself from the bandages that had been wrapped around him after his last battle. He flexed his arms, rolling his shoulders with a wince. His face contorted as memories resurfaced—memories of that last brutal encounter with Itachi, who hadn't spared him even an ounce of mercy.
His expression darkened as another, more recent memory crept in: Naruto, in all her weirdness, stomping on his face. Right. On. His. Face. And why? Because he'd been lying there, practically unconscious, as she loomed over him like some bizarre ramen-obsessed demon. He hadn't done anything wrong… okay, maybe she'd been hovering a bit too close, but that was her fault, right? Not his.
Strangely enough, though… the memory wasn't entirely unpleasant. In a very confusing, messed-up way, it was sort of… nice? Sasuke grimaced, shaking his head violently, as though trying to exorcise the thought from his mind. 'Focus, Sasuke. You're here to kill Itachi, not to dwell on… appealing toad-printed underwear or creamy skin…'
Naruto's voice cut through his thoughts with all the warmth of a glacier. "This book is beneath my understanding," she declared, holding it with two fingers as if it were a contaminated object. With a casual flick, she tossed it aside, barely even watching as it clattered to the ground. "I require… hands-on experience. Shizune, fix his arm."
Shizune blinked, confusion momentarily breaking her usual calm. "But… he's already healed."
Naruto's gaze turned to Sasuke, her expression blank, eyes almost unblinking. She moved toward him with slow, deliberate steps, her posture eerily calm. Sasuke's face twisted in panic as he scrambled back, already halfway into a yell.
"You lunatic! Don't you dare come near me!" he screeched, practically throwing himself off the bed in his hurry to put distance between them.
Naruto's head tilted at an unnatural angle, her voice unchanging. "You sound… alarmed. As if I would do something… unsettling."
"Unsettling? Try pure evil!" Sasuke's voice had a sharp edge, laced with genuine fear.
Before Naruto could respond, a small pop echoed through the room, and a tiny, young toad appeared on the floor in front of her, blinking up at her with what could only be described as a complete lack of enthusiasm. "Message from Jiraiya," the toad announced, as if this were an everyday chore.
Naruto stared down at him, her expression blank. "Oh. Understood," she said, her tone as flat as a stone. Her reaction to a talking toad was no different than if someone had handed her an ordinary envelope.
The toad blinked up at her, visibly unimpressed. "Uh… and you are?"
Naruto puffed up slightly, though her voice remained detached. "I am the future Hokage. Naruto Uzumaki. The White Flash of the Leaf, the—"
"Oh, right. The creepy girl Pops talked about," the toad interrupted, without a hint of apology.
Naruto blinked, her head tilting to the side. "Pops?"
The toad barely shrugged. "Gamabunta, the Toad-Chief. I'm his son, Gamakichi. Nice to meet ya."
"It's only logical to feel nice meeting me," Naruto nodded sagely, her voice devoid of any actual warmth but full of self-satisfaction. "Dattebayo."
Shizune cleared her throat, her gaze darting nervously between Naruto and the toad. "Uh… Gamakichi, what's the message?"
"Oh, right," Gamakichi said, scratching his chin as though he'd nearly forgotten the purpose of his visit. "Someone named Orochimaru kidnapped a lady named Tsunade. Pops said it was kind of a big deal, so, you know… figured you'd want to know."
The room fell into silence. Shizune gasped, her face turning pale as she frantically looked around, as if expecting Lady Tsunade to appear right next to her, safe and unharmed. Sasuke's eyes went wide, a flicker of concern breaking through his usual stoicism.
Naruto, however, just stared blankly. "Oh. That's… unfortunate."
"Where's Jiraiya-sama?" Shizune asked, her voice a mix of worry and frustration.
Gamakichi's face remained blank. "He's lying unconscious in a bar downtown. Didn't look too good, honestly."
"Understood!" Shizune straightened, determination flashing in her eyes as she marched out of the room, Sasuke following with a reluctant glance over his shoulder at Naruto, who remained as unbothered as ever.
Left alone, Naruto sighed in a long, flat exhale. "People… do not appreciate a proper dramatic entrance," she murmured, more to herself than to anyone else. Her expression was as serene as a mountain lake, her tone as flat as a board.
She reached into her pouch, pulling out a thick kunai with an almost lazy movement, inspecting its edge with the same dispassion she might have reserved for a dull rock. She lifted it slowly, holding it in the air with deliberate precision. "I have… unlocked a new skill," she stated in her usual robotic monotone hinting excitement.
In the empty room, she struck an oddly stiff pose, her voice barely rising above a murmur. "Dattebayo."
In a flash of white light, she disappeared, leaving only a faint scent of ramen broth lingering in the air.
Û~Û
With a blinding flash of white light, Naruto appeared right in the middle of the bar… or what was left of it, anyway. The place looked like a hurricane had rolled through after stopping for a drink. Broken glass littered the floor, tables were overturned, chairs were splintered beyond recognition, and unconscious patrons were scattered around like props in a horror show.
Naruto surveyed the chaos with a cool, almost bored look, as if destruction was just part of the usual ambiance. She raised her voice, somehow managing to sound both robotic and loud at the same time, like an unenthused machine on max volume. "PERVY SAGE." Her voice cut through the stillness like a knife.
Silence.
She frowned—well, as much as someone with her emotionless expression could frown. Her voice went up another notch, loud enough to shake some loose dust from the ceiling. "PERVY SAGE."
There was a grumble from beneath her, and a somewhat strained, groggy voice groaned, "Ugh… what happened… you moron of a brat, get off me!"
Naruto blinked and looked down, realizing she was standing on Jiraiya. Specifically, her heel was about an inch away from his… sensitive areas. "Oh, you were still asleep," she noted, in a tone that suggested he had personally inconvenienced her by daring to be unconscious. Without hesitation, she picked up a nearby half-empty bottle and dumped the contents all over his face.
"HEY!" Jiraiya spluttered, water (or whatever suspicious liquid it was) dripping down his face.
"Just waking you up properly," Naruto said flatly. "Dattebayo."
Jiraiya sat up with a long, exasperated sigh, wiping his soaked face. "Do you have any idea what Tsunade put in my drink?" He shook his head, looking utterly defeated. "She slipped something in there. Paralyzed me, completely knocked me out. And then… Orochimaru showed up. Took her away."
"Oh," Naruto replied, her expression blank, voice devoid of any real urgency. "So… we search for the hag?"
"Yes, of course!" Jiraiya tried to push himself up, wobbling like a newborn fawn, but his legs buckled immediately. He gave her a pleading look, gesturing towards his incapacitated limbs. "I can't move, Naruto. You're gonna have to carry me."
Naruto gave him a look that was somehow both bored and vaguely disgusted, as if he'd asked her to carry a sack of rotten fish. "I don't do lifting," she replied simply, folding her arms.
"Come on!" Jiraiya wheezed, still attempting to stand but failing miserably, flopping back down like a fish on dry land. "You've got super strength, don't you? It'll be nothing for you!"
Naruto's gaze remained unmoved. "No. I don't carry dead weight. Dattebayo."
Jiraiya groaned, sounding both exhausted and insulted. "You're calling me dead weight? After all I've taught you? All the amazing techniques—"
"—that I already knew," Naruto interrupted with a slight smirk. "Come on, you're the legendary Toad Sage, aren't you? Hop along."
At that moment, the door banged open, and Shizune and Sasuke stepped in, their faces a mixture of concern and bewilderment. Shizune took one look at the wrecked bar, her eyes widening in horror, while Sasuke gave a long-suffering sigh, already sensing the chaos that lay ahead.
"Huh, great timing," Naruto said, her gaze snapping to Sasuke, her tone as flat as always. "Carry the old perv and follow me."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed, and he looked like he'd rather eat a mouthful of kunai than comply. "Why should I carry him? He's your sensei!"
But Naruto had already turned on her heel, striding toward the door with robotic determination, as if his protest hadn't even registered. Sasuke clenched his teeth, threw a sharp glare at Jiraiya, and with an overly dramatic sigh, hoisted the older man onto his back like he was hauling a sack of rice.
"Finally," Jiraiya muttered, though his tone was more exasperated than thankful.
As they stumbled out into the street, Shizune shot Naruto a curious look. "How exactly do you know where Lady Tsunade is?"
"I don't," Naruto replied, her tone entirely unconcerned, as if this minor detail was irrelevant. She kept walking with a purposeful stride. "We're going to look for her. Dattebayo."
Sasuke nearly tripped over his own feet, Jiraiya's weight wobbling on his back. "And I have to carry him?!"
Naruto sighed in exasperation, stopping in the middle of the bustling street. "You are so annoying." She shot him a flat look, then made a cross-shaped hand seal. "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu. Dattebayo."
In an instant, the entire street was filled—no, swarmed—with identical copies of Naruto, each one dressed in a frilly black dress, with short white bobbed hair and the same unsettling, sapphire blue stare. Hundreds of identical Narutos, like an army of creepy, blank-faced porcelain dolls, poured out into the street, spreading in all directions.
Civilians froze in their tracks, some dropping their grocery bags, others taking steps back with faces of sheer terror. No one dared to move, transfixed by the sight of what could only be described as a small army of unsettlingly emotionless girls. Each clone marched off with stiff determination, as if programmed for a mission only they understood.
"There," Naruto said, looking rather pleased with herself, though her expression barely shifted from its usual stoic calm. "That shouldn't take more than a few seconds."
For the first time, Sasuke, Jiraiya, and Shizune all looked genuinely relieved, though they still cast wary glances at the clones bustling around them.
A few seconds passed.
Then a few more.
Naruto blinked, cocking her head to the side like a malfunctioning robot. "Ah. Found them."
And without a word of explanation, she vanished in a flash of white light, leaving Sasuke, Jiraiya, and Shizune standing in stunned silence.
"Um…where did she go, exactly?" Shizune asked nervously, glancing around as if Naruto might pop up beside her any moment.
Sasuke, who had finally run out of patience, grumbled something unintelligible under his breath before unceremoniously dropping Jiraiya onto the ground with a loud thud.
"Hey!" Jiraiya yelped, glaring up at Sasuke. "That hurt!"
"Oh, sorry," Sasuke replied in a tone that suggested he wasn't sorry at all. He dusted his hands off as if he'd just disposed of garbage.
Meanwhile, Shizune scanned the area, sighing in frustration. "So… do we wait for her to come back, or…?"
Jiraiya groaned, still lying sprawled on the ground. "We're doomed," he muttered, staring up at the sky in resignation. "Totally doomed."
Û~Û
In a dark, crumbling warehouse that looked like it had last seen visitors around the time dinosaurs roamed the earth, Tsunade stood with her arms folded, giving Orochimaru a withering glare. The walls were peeling, rust coated every metal surface, and a single flickering bulb cast an eerie yellowish glow over the entire scene. Somewhere in the distance, a rat squeaked, clearly expressing the same sentiment Tsunade was—annoyance.
"No," she said, her voice flat and final, for what felt like the hundredth time that hour.
Orochimaru, looking as desperate as a man with two stumps where his arms used to be, practically growled. "Come on, Tsunade! I'm begging you. Please fix my arms. Do you understand the pain I'm in?" He sounded like he was attempting to squeeze tears out of his eyes, which were just as unsettling as his usual soul-sucking stare.
Tsunade raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "But you don't have any arms left to fix," she replied, deadpan, barely bothering to mask the sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"Then regrow them!" Orochimaru snapped, his face contorted with both fury and desperation, looking like a snake on the verge of tears—if snakes could cry, that is.
As their argument heated up, Kabuto, Orochimaru's loyal lackey, stood off to the side, watching the back-and-forth like it was a daily soap opera. He leaned back, folding his arms with an amused smirk on his face. Beside him stood a girl with short, messy hair, who looked equally entertained.
"They get along well, don't they?" she remarked in a bored monotone, her expression barely shifting.
Kabuto shrugged, keeping his gaze on the dysfunctional duo. "They were teammates for a long time, after all. They know each other's… quirks."
There was a pause, and then the girl tilted her head, her voice coming out like a glitchy robot's, curious but completely devoid of emotion. "Say… if he doesn't have his arms anymore, then how does he… you know, handle his business in the bathroom?"
Kabuto sighed deeply, his face filled with the tragic resignation of a man whose life choices had somehow led him here. He held up his own hands and wiggled his fingers in distaste, as if they were forever tainted. "I do it for him," he muttered, his tone suggesting he'd prefer almost any other job in the world.
"That's disgusting," the girl said, her blank expression unwavering, as if discussing the weather.
"Indeed," Kabuto replied, though he couldn't help a slight twitch of a smile. He turned back to watch Tsunade and Orochimaru, who were now arguing so loudly it sounded like two angry crows screeching in an echo chamber.
"Hey, is wiping Orochimaru's butt your new part-time job?" she added casually. "You must be desperate then."
Kabuto's eye twitched. "No," he replied coolly, though his pride was clearly wounded. "I have my own goals, and this is trivial compared to the rewards I'll gain."
The girl, whose robotic monotone somehow managed to convey a hint of sarcastic curiosity, cocked her head. "Hmm, so what's your goal? A certificate in… nursing criminals? Dattebayo?"
Kabuto's eyes narrowed in suspicion at the odd verbal tick. "'Dattebayo'? Wait a minute…" He looked at her, his eyes widening.
The girl blinked, and with a slow, emotionless motion, pointed a finger at herself. "What? I know I am attractive," she said, her tone as arrogant as it was deadpan, "but staring like that is just rude."
Kabuto's eyes went even wider, realization dawning on him like the world's worst epiphany. "You?!"
"Me?" she asked, her voice calm as ever, as if she couldn't understand why he was acting so surprised.
At that moment, Orochimaru whirled around, his face twisting in utter horror as he recognized the figure standing there. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "You?!"
Naruto pointed at herself with the same eerie calm. "Me?"
Even Tsunade, who had been rolling her eyes at Orochimaru's whining for the past hour, suddenly did a double-take, her expression flipping to one of total disbelief. "You?!"
Once again, Naruto lifted a finger to herself. "Me."
Orochimaru, his face a portrait of absolute revulsion, let out a shriek that echoed through the empty warehouse. "You little pest! Do you have any idea the kind of state I'm in because of you?! My arms are—are—" he trailed off, too incensed to finish the sentence, his nostrils flaring as he fought to find the words.
Naruto tilted her head slightly, her expression as blank as ever. "I didn't know you needed help with… your… wiping your butt. Sorry, sort of. Dattebayo."
Orochimaru looked like he was about to explode, his face twisting with rage. Before he could spit out a venomous retort, Kabuto leapt forward, his hands glowing with ominous blue chakra, his face set with deadly intent. "You're going to regret showing your face here!" he snarled, lunging toward Naruto with all the fury of a man defending his boss's… personal dignity.
Naruto didn't even flinch. She stood perfectly still, watching Kabuto charge with the enthusiasm of a toddler learning to run. The moment he reached her, she sidestepped his first strike with lazy precision, almost as if she was bored.
Kabuto growled, taking another swing, but Naruto tilted her head to the side, dodging with ease. "You know," she said, yawning mid-sentence, "you could really improve your form. Maybe move your right foot back a little? Or just, I dunno, stop sucking so much?"
Kabuto's eye twitched. He lunged again, his chakra-laden hands slicing through the air with deadly accuracy… only for Naruto to step back, barely lifting a finger. He growled, trying a high kick, but she ducked, slipping past him as if he were moving in slow motion.
"Honestly," she continued in her robotic tone, "you really should consider taking some lessons. This is just embarrassing. Dattebayo."
Kabuto, his patience nearing its limit, charged in again with a roar, his hands now glowing with even fiercer chakra. But just as he closed in, Naruto suddenly appeared behind him, her hands clasped together in a familiar, mischievous gesture.
"Oh, by the way," she said with her trademark deadpan, "this one's called the Thousand Years of Death."
Before Kabuto could react, Naruto jabbed her fingers right into his backside. Kabuto let out a high-pitched yelp, shooting forward through the air like a human missile. He landed a few feet away, skidding to a stop as he clutched his… sore area, his expression a mix of rage and humiliation.
With a grunt, he staggered to his feet, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment and pain, before glaring daggers at her. "You… you little…!"
Naruto just yawned again, barely concealing her boredom. "Are you coming back for more? Because honestly, you're giving me a headache," she said, dodging his attacks with even less effort now, her movements so effortless it looked like she was half-asleep.
Kabuto threw punch after punch, but Naruto sidestepped each one with the ease of someone dodging a particularly slow butterfly. "Maybe try lifting your left arm higher? No, no, that's worse… Yeah, this is hopeless."
Meanwhile, a few feet away, Orochimaru was still pleading with Tsunade, his voice becoming more desperate with every passing moment. "Tsunade, come on! Just heal me already! You know what I'm capable of if I get my arms back. Think of all the power we could have!"
But Tsunade didn't hear him. She was too busy watching Naruto fight Kabuto with that half-interested look of someone flipping through a particularly dull magazine. The whole scene had turned into a surreal circus, and Tsunade couldn't look away.
Orochimaru's pleas grew louder, his voice cracking. "Tsunade! I'm begging you!"
But Tsunade simply smirked, folding her arms. "Why would I want to stop this show? I'm getting free entertainment," she murmured, a sly grin crossing her face.
Naruto delivered one final, bored yawn, dodging Kabuto's desperate punch as easily as stepping around a puddle. And the chaos, as absurd and ridiculous as it was, continued on with no end in sight.
Kabuto, still clutching his sore behind and looking like he'd just been on the losing side of a sparring match with a cactus, crawled weakly across the warehouse floor toward Orochimaru. He dragged himself with all the dignity of a wet cat, leaving behind a trail of dust and wounded pride.
Naruto watched him with a peculiar look, her face a serene, emotionless mask. Then, with a slow, robotic motion, she reached down and gently patted Kabuto on his head, as if he were an adorable but mildly irritating pet. "You've got potential," she intoned, her voice flat yet somehow condescending. "But you really should know when you're outmatched. Dattebayo."
Kabuto's face flushed, more from humiliation than exertion, as he gritted his teeth and finally slumped at Orochimaru's feet. "Lord Orochimaru…" he gasped, glaring at Naruto as if he could will her out of existence with his eyes alone.
Orochimaru, with that ever-present sneer of his, looked down at his pathetic henchman. "Kabuto, don't just lie there. Summon something useful!"
Kabuto nodded, gathering the last shreds of his strength, and fished out a vial of Orochimaru's blood. With shaky hands, he smeared the crimson liquid on his palm, then pressed his hands together in a series of signs, muttering under his breath. "Summoning Jutsu!"
A massive poof of smoke filled the warehouse, swirling in the dim light, before dissipating to reveal an enormous purple snake with glinting scales and yellow eyes that gleamed with pure disdain. The creature loomed over them all, flicking its tongue and glaring at Orochimaru like a particularly unimpressed landlord.
"Why have you summoned me, Orochimaru?" Manda hissed, his voice filled with venom and impatience. "This better be good, or I swear I'll—"
Orochimaru, his face twisted into a forced smile, pointed a shaky stump of an arm at Naruto. "Kill… her, Manda. Do that, and I'll… I'll give you a thousand men! Roasted, even."
Manda narrowed his enormous eyes, considering the offer, his tail flicking with interest. "A thousand roasted humans, you say?" He licked his lips. "Fine. But if you're lying, I'll start with you."
While this grotesque negotiation was happening, Naruto, still unfazed, picked at her nose absentmindedly. Not that she had any actual need to—it was spotless—but she seemed to think it added to her already bizarre charm. "Huh," she mumbled, examining her fingernail, "a bigger snake."
With a sigh that sounded almost like mild exasperation, she shrugged, then formed her own hand signs, slowly and deliberately, as if she were bored. "Summoning Jutsu. Dattebayo."
Another poof of smoke filled the air, albeit a much smaller, less impressive one. When it cleared, standing proudly on the ground was… an elderly toad. Small, wrinkled, with a stern expression and holding a wooden staff, the creature looked around, taking in the scene with a single squinty eye.
Kabuto burst out laughing, clutching his stomach as if he'd just heard the punchline of the universe's greatest joke. "That… that's your summon? An old toad?"
Orochimaru chuckled darkly, and even Manda hissed a low, mocking laugh that echoed through the warehouse. "How pathetic," Orochimaru sneered, looking down at Naruto with a twisted smirk. "Summoning something like that—how weak."
Naruto's usually blank face turned a shade of embarrassed pink, her expression resigned as if she, too, questioned the summoning choices made on her behalf.
The old toad squinted, adjusting her tiny spectacles as she looked from Kabuto to Orochimaru, and then to Manda. "Excuse me," she croaked, her voice raspy but firm, "but are you three seriously bullying a little girl?"
Orochimaru rolled his eyes, scoffing, "She's hardly—"
"It's the other way around!" Kabuto interrupted indignantly. "That thing is the bully!"
Shima, the old toad, raised her staff and tapped it on the ground, silencing them instantly. "You oughta be ashamed, you lot," she scolded, her gaze firm and unyielding. "A big, slithering snake, a so-called 'medical ninja,' and a poor excuse for a man with no arms left. All ganging up on a child. What would your mothers say?"
Kabuto's eye twitched, and Orochimaru looked like he'd bitten into something sour. Manda, however, seemed undeterred, coiling up as if ready to strike. "I don't have time for this nonsense. Out of my way, toad, or you'll be my appetizer."
Shima didn't bat an eye. Instead, she raised her hands, her fingers moving in a series of quick seals. "Toad Oil Flame Bullet!" she croaked, inhaling deeply.
With surprising speed for her size, Shima spat a thick stream of viscous oil at Manda, coating him from head to tail in a slimy, combustible mess. Before he could react, she snapped her fingers, igniting the oil in a burst of fiery orange flames. Manda hissed, thrashing about as the flames engulfed him, the entire warehouse lighting up like a bonfire.
Kabuto shielded his face from the heat, his jaw dropping as the elderly toad launched into a dizzying display of powerful toad techniques. With a wave of her staff, Shima summoned a massive tidal wave of water, dousing Manda in one swift motion that sent the snake skidding across the warehouse floor, steam rising from his charred scales.
"Sage Art: Tongue Bind!" she shouted, her voice carrying a terrifying authority.
A monstrous pink tongue shot out from her mouth, wrapping around Kabuto like a whip and yanking him off his feet. She slammed him into the floor, then swung him into a nearby stack of crates with enough force to make the entire warehouse shake. Kabuto hit the ground, dazed, eyes spinning like a cheap carnival ride.
She then threw acidic saliva at Manda who gasped in pain.
Manda hissed furiously, his pride and scales both scorched. "That's it! I'm out of here!" With a final glare at Orochimaru, who was still cowering, Manda vanished in a puff of smoke, no doubt off to nurse his wounds and reconsider his taste in alliances.
With a sharp huff, Shima turned her gaze back to Orochimaru, Kabuto, and the mess they'd made. "You boys need to learn some respect," she scolded, shaking her head with a disappointed look. "Picking on a poor little girl. What would your ancestors say?"
Orochimaru, who was now huddled in a corner, simply glared, unable to muster a reply. Kabuto, nursing his bruised ego and body, could only give a pitiful moan of pain.
With that, Kabuto performed a hand sign, glaring at Naruto, noting the faint smirk on her lips. Then, he and Orochimaru vanished.
Shima dusted off her hands, muttering about the "youth these days" before turning to Naruto with a much softer expression. "You did good, child," she said warmly, her wrinkled face softening. "Didn't need to come in, but I couldn't stand to see those ruffians mistreating ya like that."
Naruto gave a stiff nod, her robotic tone softening just a fraction. "Thank you," she murmured, though the arrogance still lingered in her gaze. "I… well… I didn't know what would've happened to me if you hadn't shown up."
Shima chuckled, clearly charmed. "Ah, don't worry, dear. Next time you're around Mount Myoboku, I'll treat ya to some nice, crunchy crickets. You earned it." And with a wink, the old toad vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving Naruto standing alone, looking oddly pleased.
From the shadows, Tsunade, who had witnessed the entire spectacle, sighed with relief, her mind churning as she watched Naruto's odd antics and blank stares. She couldn't tell if Naruto was cunning enough to fool her opponents into underestimating her, or just so spectacularly dense that it bordered on genius.
But before she could dwell on it, Tsunade felt a wave of dizziness hit her—the drug's effects finally taking hold. She staggered, the world spinning around her, and felt her legs give out. As she fell, she felt an arm catch her in mid-air.
It was Naruto, staring at her with a look that was… vaguely disturbing. Her eyes glinted oddly as she said, "Huh, finally, a proper patient to fix. Dattebayo."
Realization dawned on Tsunade as Naruto's gaze became almost too intense. "No…!" she gasped, her voice weak as the darkness closed in, "Don't… touch…" But her words faded as she lost consciousness, the last thing she saw being Naruto's eerily glowing eyes, staring at her with an unsettling determination.
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Û~Û
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Author Note:
I hope you liked this chapter. It was reaaally fun to write. Dattebayo.
Next chapter: The Fifth Hokage.
Thanks for reading this chapter. Stay tuned for more.
Till next time!