Jiraiya was as timely as usual to his meetings with the Hokage regarding the Kyubi attack investigation. However, there was something different this time. The first, less noticeable difference is that Jiraiya had a look of excitement on his face. That was good, as it meant that Jiraiya had made some important breakthrough in his research. Which might explain the second, more noticeable difference, Inoichi Yamanaka and Anko Mitarashi walking behind him.
"I got it, sensei!" Jiraiya claimed enthusiastically. "I got the definitive proof that will exonerate the Uchihas, and expose the real culprit behind the Kyubi attack!"
"Those are indeed excellent news, Jiraiya. Not only we will finally be able to put an end to Danzo's suspicions of the clan, but we will close Konoha's darkest chapter," Sarutobi replied as he gave a puff to his pipe.
"Anko, show him the report," Jiraiya instructed. Anko nodded, and handed the Hokage a folder with several files inside.
Hiruzen inspected the files, and as he did, his good mood slowly vanished while his expression grew somber. He looked at Jiraiya with a grave expression. "So you think that the perpetrator of the Kyubi attack was...Orochimaru?"
"Listen Hokage-sama, I know it sounds far-fetched, but when you put all the evidence together, it makes perfect sense," Anko hurried to explain.
"Enlighten me then."
Jiraiya cleared his throat and began his explanation. "I've been investigating that shady mercenary group, Akatsuki, for the past four years. Like I told you before, they were interested in the Tailed Beasts, and often incorporated missin-nin to their ranks. And guess who was among them? The snake bastard himself!"
"Jiraiya-sama brought a no-name missing-nin to Torture & Interrogation a couple months ago. My team and I have been scanning his mind, and made some interesting discoveries," Inoichi interceded. "The first one, as Jiraiya said, was that Orochimaru is part of the Akatsuki. I could see many memories of Orochimaru not only wearing the organization's uniform, a black cloak with red clouds, but having meetings with other members. Though he never met more than one member at once."
"The second one was that Orochimaru is creating his own ninja village somewhere, called 'Otogakure' or something," Anko added. "I think we should find and deal with that village as soon as possible before it snowballs into a bigger problem."
"While this discoveries are indeed worrying, I fail to see the connection between Orochimaru and the Kyubi," Sarutobi pointed out.
"Don't you see it, sensei? It's obvious that Orochimaru was a member of Akatsuki before he defected from Konoha. Besides his own ambitions, he wanted to be Hokage in order to increase Akatsuki's resources and had access to the Kyubi. But things didn't go as he planned, he defected, and a year later, when the seal on Kushina was at its weakest, returns, sneaks his way to the place she was being kept, kills the guards, takes her away and releases the Kyubi."
Anko decided to intercede. "Think about it, Hokage-sama. Orochimaru was the perfect man for the job. He's a really good infiltrator, knows Konoha ins-and-outs better than anybody else, and is strong enough to deal with even the strongest of our ANBU."
"After destroying Konoha, he would have handed the Kyubi to Akatsuki, and thus killing two birds with one stone. But once again, he didn't count on Minato's interference, who more than likely defeated him and then sealed the Kyubi inside Naruto, foiling his plans. And now he's building his own village in order to raise an army to try to destroy Konoha and reclaim the Kyubi again!"
"While those are believable motives, there's still the mystery on how Orochimaru managed to place the Kyubi under his control. It's well known that normal genjutsus, no matter how powerful, hardly work on Tailed Beasts, and the only two men being able to control them were Hashirama-sensei and Madara, ninjas on a league way above Orochimaru's."
"It is well known that Orochimaru was experimenting with Hashirama-sama's cells, and we know he produced at least one success in the form of Tenzo. What if that asshole finally perfected the process and gained the First Hokage's power?" Anko suggested.
"A terrifying thought, but unlikely. If Orochimaru had Hashirama-sensei's power for so long, he would have used it against us already," the Third stated. "While all of you made an commendable effort, I'm afraid that this won't be enough to publicly place the Uchiha Clan above suspicion."
Anko muttered a curse under her breath, while Jiriaya looked downwards, upset. Inoichi remained neutral.
"But you made a good job with this investigation. This 'Otogakure' is something that deserves further investigation. Inoichi, you and the rest of T&I should continue extracting all the information you can regarding this issue from the captive. I want daily updates on this."
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Inoichi and Anko said in unison, and they left the office.
"Jiraiya, we only need one more piece to finish the puzzle: the means used to control the Kyubi. If you can uncover that, then the investigation will be complete and we can pin Orochimaru as the main culprit of the attack."
"I will, sensei. I'm not going to stop now that we're so close to end this," Jiraiya stated.
"Meanwhile, I'll use the information you've gathered to dissuade Danzo from stopping bothering the Uchiha clan. You are dismissed."
"One more thing, sensei," Jiraiya mentioned.
"Hmm?"
"My investigation of the Akatsuki and Jinchuriki had me find some...interesting discovery tangential to the investigation."
"And that would be...?"
"Suna had created a Jinchuriki."
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. "Do you have any information...?"
"Yes. His name is Gaara. He's the youngest son of the current Kazekage. It seems that he's doing his best to keep Gaara's status a secret, but the boy is having a lot of trouble keeping the Tailed Beast under control, and such thing can't be concealed easily. My guess, the result of a shoddy sealing process. Plus there's the fact that we're only learning about this now. Only Kami knows how long that kid has been a Jinchuriki."
"More worrying news. I knew that Suna had the One Tail in their power, but it wasn't sealed on a person. If they decided to create a Jinchuriki now...I don't want to think about the implications."
"We know that Sunagakure is the weakest of the Five Great Ninja Villages. Maybe they decided to put their Tailed Beast to use in order to appear strong, to both potential enemies and clients."
"Even then, that's something we can't afford to overlook. Jiraiya, I'm going to prepare a trip for you to Suna. Once everything is settled, you'll inspect the Jinchuriki and uncover the reasons behind his creation. Suna is our ally and I'd hate to think that they're plotting against us, but you can't never be too cautious."
"Understood, sensei."
…
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Shizune jumped in time to avoid the incoming fireball, which exploded against the ground a couple meters in front of her. Her opponent was an eleven year old boy of average height with dull black hair tied in a ponytail and black eyes, wearing the Konoha Chunin Flak Jacket over his usual black shirt. Said opponent took advantage of the dust raised by his fireball and dashed at her at an ungodly speed. Two kunai clashed against each other multiple times, filling the air with sharp, metallic noises.
Shizune leaped backwards, and while she was mid air, fired a barrage of senbons at her opponent from her wrist-mounted needle launcher. Said opponent also jumped backwards to avoid them, and used a kunai to expertly deflect the ones he couldn't dodge. Once Shizune touched the ground, she was alerted by the sound of spinning shuriken flying at her. The shuriken hit the target, but the young medic-nin vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving a log behind.
Upon quickly retrieving his weapons from the log, Shizune's much younger opponent looked around, trying to locate his enemy. His ears picked a sharp whistle that signaled an incoming barrage of senbons. Activating his Sharingan, the male ninja threw a few kunai in the air, which clashed against the senbons, stopping their momentum and making them falling to the ground.
Shizune suddenly appeared behind the Uchiha, quickly forming a series of seals.
"Water Release: Water Wall!" Shizune's cheeks puffed, and she expelled from her mouth a large amount of water at the Uchiha, who suddenly burst into a murder of crows, flying in different directions.
Shizune quickly formed a hand seal and shouted "Release!" making the crows disappear. Knowing where her opponent was, she quickly turned around while delivering a high kick, which was parried by her opponent's arms. From there, the medic-nin and the Uchiha traded punches and kicks, until Shizune made the Uchiha trip. The black haired woman quickly pinned the boy to the ground, carefully avoiding eye contact.
"I think this is over," Shizune declared, placing a kunai on the Uchiha's throat.
"I guess it is," her opponent conceded.
Shizune put the kunai back on her pouch, and helped her opponent to stand up. "Nice spar, Itachi-kun."
"Thanks, Shizune-san. This time I managed to stay five minutes without using the Sharingan!" Itachi said proudly.
"I'm sure it will be ten minutes next time," the medic-nin said, smiling.
"Eh, I'm not so sure. I still can't beat you even with the Sharingan."
"No, but you will. You're improving at a really fast pace, which shouldn't be s surprise, given how you quickly you managed to earn a promotion! I'm sure you'll become a Jonin way before I do, haha!"
"Yeah..." Itachi sheepishly said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Plus I can tell that today you weren't entirely focused."
"Really? Because I thought I was as focused as ever..."
"Itachi-kun, you cannot lie to me. I can see that there's something troubling you. Care to tell me what it is?" Shizune's question was met with silence as the Uchiha prodigy looked at the grass below, and sat down. Shizune started to feel bad for pressuring him to talk about something he clearly wasn't comfortable with. She sat besides him. "Sorry Itachi-kun, it was not my place to ask. If it's something of personal nature..."
"Shizune-san...did somebody you love ever forced you to do something you don't want to?" Itachi asked.
Shizune was taken aback by such question, and wondered if Itachi had some problems with his parents. "Well...no. I'm lucky such thing never happened to me."
"Well, it's t-that..." Itachi stuttered a bit. He never talked about this with anybody else, not even Shisui, his cousin and closest friend. But then again, there was something about Shizune and her generally friendly demeanor that made him more comfortable to talk about personal matters. "My parents...they want me to join ANBU."
"And you don't want to," Shizune reasoned.
"Exactly. I know the kind of missions the ANBU do, and I don't want to do that, at least not yet," while that was technically true, Itachi purposely left out the other, much more meaningful reason for him not wanting to become an ANBU.
"Well, I'd say that the ANBU would greatly benefit from somebody of your talent, Itachi-kun. I'm sure you'll be promoted to squad captain in no time," Shizune replied, making Itachi sigh. "Then again, if that's not what you want to do...do you have any other idea?"
"Well, I was planning that, after being promoted to Jonin, I'd ask for a squad of Genin to train. I always liked the idea of being a teacher. Well, not an Academy teacher, but a ...field teacher, you know what I mean?"
"Yes, of course. In fact, I think I might do the same once I'm promoted."
"I'm sure you'll be an amazing teacher, Shizune-san."
"And about your problem...well, I don't know what else I could tell you other than talk to your parents, and make sure they know how you feel. If they really love you –and I'm sure they do– they'll understand you and let you choose your own path."
They spend a couple minutes there, silently sitting besides each other. A gentle breeze started to blow.
"Well...I don't know if it will work, but I'll try talking to them. Thanks for your advice, Shizune-san," Itachi said as he stood up.
"You're welcome, Itachi-kun. Same hour tomorrow?"
"I'm afraid not. I've been assigned for a mission outside the village."
"Aw, nuts! Now where I'm going to find a worthy sparring opponent that doesn't leave me all sore? Seriously, never spar with Tsunade-sama. That woman never holds back, not even with her children."
Itachi chuckled. "Well, she's the best medic in the world, right? She doesn't hold back because she will patch you up afterwards. Anyway, I better get going. See ya!" Itachi said as he headed back to the Uchiha compound.
…
Meanwhile, the firstborn of another clan head returned to her home as well. Hinata Hyuga was still smiling upon remembering the heated argument between Naruto and the history teacher regarding the Second Ninja War. Naruto insisted that the information on their textbook was wrong, since he claimed his parents were veterans from said war, and their version of a certain battle clashed with the textbook's description.
Hinata had the feeling that the Sannin, while undoubtedly skilled and powerful, had exaggerated their contributions during said war. Still, there was something heartwarming of seeing Naruto defending her parents' reputation so vehemently.
Hinata was now regretting not talking to Naruto sooner. After that afternoon in the park, Naruto sat besides her instead of his usual seat near Sasuke Uchiha. Though while she enjoyed his company most of the time, Naruto had an habit to loudly disrupt the class when the lesson failed to catch his interest, which could be kind of annoying.
One day, Hinata politely asked Naruto to stop interrupting the teacher when he was explaining the basics of chakra control. Apparently, Naruto already knew that already, and wanted to do something else. She was afraid that Naruto would take her request as some sort of betrayal and would cease their friendship, but his reaction surprised her.
"What? Oh sorry Hinata, I didn't know you were so interested in this, I'll shut up now!" he had happily replied.
Everybody was stunned at the Hyuga's amazing feat of convincing the hyperactive blond to remain silent. The teacher called it a miracle.
Now whenever Naruto didn't feel like listening the teacher, he often followed Shikamaru's example and took a nap instead. Unlike Shikamaru, there was times in which Naruto would snore loudly, prompting the teacher to throw the board rubber at him.
After class, Naruto and Hinata often went to the park to play together. People would murmur upon seeing the "Demon Boy" playing with the Hyuga Heiress, but neither paid any heed to those people. They were too busy having fun.
Other times Naruto would invite Hinata to his house. Whenever she went, they usually played with Naruto's two year old siblings, Hagane and Kaida. Hinata thought that maybe one day she could bring Hanabi to play with them given that they were only a year older than her.
Usually, the four of them were under Jiraiya or Shizune's watch. Tsunade would arrive much later, once her shift at the hospital was over. The three of them were always really kind and polite to her, and made their best to make her feel welcomed.
However, today was none of those days. Naruto had to meet his mother for some training at Training Ground Three, their usual training spot, so finding herself with nothing better to do, Hinata decided to head back home and maybe spend some quality time with Hanabi until her father called her for Gentle Fist training.
Hinata realized that, for all the times she has been in Naruto's house, she never asked him to visit hers. Then again, her friendship with Naruto was a secret to pretty much all of her clan. She was still thinking how to tell her father that she had befriended the "Demon Boy" everybody feared and avoided.
A nasty surprise awaited the little Hyuga, though. Upon entering the compound, she found it oddly deserted. No Hyuga youths training, no Branch House patrolling the place...she had a bad feeling about that.
After dropping her backpack and removing her shoes at the entrance, she started calling for her parents, or anybody else. Finally, she found another clansman: Ko Hyuga, a Main House member who was his usual caretaker whenever her parents were busy.
"Oh, Hinata-sama, I see you're back," Ko somberly greeted the Hyuga heiress.
"What's going on, Ko-san? Where's everybody?" Hinata asked, worried.
"Hinata-sama...something bad has happened...your mother..." Ko began. Hinata's skin turned even paler.
"Mother? W-What happened to Mother!?" Hinata panicked.
Ko grabbed her hand, and lead her towards her parents' bedroom, where most of the Hyuga, both Main and Branch house, were waiting outside.
After giving birth to Hanabi, Hinata's mother wasn't the same again. Her body was often in pain, ate very little –and more often than not would end up throwing up– and felt perpetually exhausted. They had called a doctor before which prescribed her some medicaments. They appeared to work at first, but after that the symptoms returned, and became worse each day. Hinata was afraid that something like this would happen anytime soon.
"You know Hikari-sama has felt really bad these past months. It appears that she got even worse. Hiashi-sama called the family medic in order to check her. We can only wait to see what he can do."
They didn't have to wait much until they heard Hiashi's angry and desperate yells.
"What do you mean that you did all what you could!? There has to be something you can do to save her!"
"I already told you Hiashi-sama, the symptoms are too advanced! You should have called me earlier than this!"
"We already called you once! Your medicine didn't do anything to get her better!"
"I'm sorry, Hiashi-sama, but I did all what I could. I can prescribe you some painkillers to make your wife's last days more bearable."
"GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Hiashi bellowed.
The medic left, and the gathering of Hyugas started to murmur among themselves. Hinata was on the verge of tears.
"You must remain strong, Hinata-sama. Is what Hikari-sama would have wanted," Ko said, who was also fighting tears.
Hinata felt her world falling apart. No, this was too cruel. Now that things were finally going better for her, she had to lose her mother? All because that doctor couldn't see that her state of health was way worse than he initially thought. If Tsunade had treated her mother, then...
Wait, that was it!
"What about Tsunade-sama? Can we call her to check Mother?" Hinata asked.
"We already looked for her. She wasn't at the hospital, and there was nobody in her residence. We don't know where she is right now."
Hinata's face saddened upon seeing her mother's last hope disappear. Until she remembered why Tsunade wasn't on the hospital nor her house.
"Ko-san, I know where Tsunade-sama is!" Hinata exclaimed in realization.
"You...do?"
"Yes! Come on, let's hurry!"
...
On Training Ground Three, Naruto was lying on the grass, panting heavily, with bruises all over his body. Every centimeter of his body was in horrible pain.
"Come on brat, get up! We haven't finished the warm up!" Tsunade vigorously shouted as she lightly kicked him on the sides.
"Can you please...tone down...the brutality...a little bit...please?" Naruto said between gasps.
"When you become a ninja and go out of the village, you will find enemies that will try to kill you, and won't hold back. So answer me, why should I hold back then? I would be a bad teacher if I don't prepare you properly," Tsunade explained, hands on her hips as she stared down at Naruto.
"I'd like to stand up...but I can't..feel my legs...or my...anything..."
Naruto swore that he would never call Jiraiya's meditation and chakra control exercises boring again.
Tsunade sighed, and rolled her eyes. She crouched before Naruto, and placed a hand on his chest, which started to glow with a green light. Soon, a pleasant feeling started to cross his body, slowly but surely erasing the pain. While the pain didn't disappear completely, it diminished enough to be bearable.
"You're such a wimp, you know? What would the Fourth think if he saw you complaining like that over a little rough training? You won't become Hokage anytime soon if you don't build some pain tolerance," Tsunade scolded as she healed him. "Better now, kid?"
"Yeah, thanks mom!"
"Don't expect me to go this easy on you all the time. Okay, let's continue. Get in the taijutsu basic stance, and try to dodge my-"
"NARUTO-KUN!" a high pitched voice yelled.
Both Naruto and Tsunade turned towards the source of the voice, and saw Hinata and an adult Hyuga running towards them.
"Oh, hey Hinata! Nice to see you! Did you come here to spar with mom and me?" Naruto asked, grinning at the idea.
Both Hinata and the unknown Hyuga stopped to gasp for air. They were both completely red and sweating, as if they have been running non-stop for quite some time.
"Tsunade-sama, you have to come with us, it's an emergency!" the adult Hyuga pleaded.
"Hey, hey, calm down! What's going on?" Tsunade asked.
"I-It's my mother, s-she's very sick, and our usual doctor c-can't do anything to m-make her get better!" Hinata explained, almost in the verge of tears.
Naruto gasped in horror, and turned to Tsunade. "Mom, you have to help Hinata! Please!"
"Alright, alright! Just let me go to my house first to get my medical instruments and medicines," Tsunade said.
…
Soon it became nighttime. Upon arriving, Tsunade pretty much kicked Hiashi out of the bedroom (since she didn't want an audience when treating patients in critical condition), and spent there the following hours. That didn't stop the Hyuga Clan Head as well as many other clansmen to gather in front of the closed doors.
Hinata was sitting in the hallway near the bedroom, with Naruto sat at her side, trying to comfort her to the best of his ability.
"Mom is the best medic there is! She'll heal your mom in no time, you'll see!"
Hinata didn't say anything, just nodded, and prayed to whatever deity is out there for her mom to get out of this alive.
Hinata then realized something: this was the first time Naruto was in her house. Besides that, now all the Hyuga clan, her father included, knew that she was friends with Naruto. But none of that mattered to her anymore. Her mother was the only thing in her mind right now.
Finally, after several hours that felt like days, an exhausted Tsunade exited the bedroom. She was immediately swarmed by nervous Hyugas. A glare was enough to make them to keep some space.
"Alright, I have good news and bad news. What do you want to hear first?" Tsunade asked.
"The...good news," Hiashi replied, trying his best to conceal his desperation.
"Your wife is out of danger now, she'll live," a chorus of relieved sighs filled the place, Hiashi's being the most audible.
"See Hinata? Your mom is going to be okay!" Naruto said to an equally relieved Hinata.
"She's very weak right now, but if you follow my instructions, she'll be fine in a few months," Tsunade added.
"And the bad news...?" Hiashi asked.
"Her uterus was beyond repair. She won't have anymore children again," Tsunade announced. Her statement was followed by several murmurs.
"If she's going to be okay, then that doesn't matter."
"Hiashi, your wife was afflicted by an infectious disease that I traced back to her uterus. It was in a very advanced state. Two days later, and she would had been beyond saving. Was there any complications when she gave birth to your youngest daughter?"
"Yes, there were, but the doctors said that she would be fine!" Hiashi protested.
"Evidently, those doctors missed something. Anyway, there's no point in fretting over that. I'll come here every week to check her progress. If I can't come for whatever reason, Shizune will come in my place. Now this is what your wife must do if she wants to recover..."
After Tsunade finished her explanations, she and Naruto were escorted to the compound's main gate. It was late and treating Hikari for so long had left Tsunade utterly exhausted. She prayed Jiraiya wasn't in the mood for sex. Oh, who was she kidding, that horny bastard was ALWAYS in the mood for sex. Oh well, at least she had a very good excuse to put him down.
"In the name of the entire Hyuga clan, thank you, Tsunade-sama. What you just did today will never be forgotten," Hiashi solemnly said as he bowed before Tsunade.
"Yes, thank you, Tsunade-sama," Hinata echoed as she bowed as well.
"Eh, it's okay, I was just doing my job. Besides, our kids are friends, right?" Tsunade said with a chuckle. Then she yawned. "Boy, after that, I feel like I could sleep for a whole week. Let's hope there are no emergencies tomorrow at the hospital. Come on brat, it's way past your bedtime."
"Coming! See you tomorrow, Hinata!" Naruto chimed as he waved at her.
"Come on Hinata, you should be in bed already too," Hiashi stated as he led his daughter inside.
"Can I see Mother first?" Hinata asked.
"Hinata, your mother needs to rest now. You can see her tomorrow morning."
"...alright then," Hinata conceded, a bit disappointed. After all that had happened, she wanted to see that her mother was okay with her own eyes. But she knew that her father was right.
"By the way, you didn't tell me you were friends with that kid," Hiashi noted in an oddly neutral tone.
"Err...s-sorry father, i-it's t-that..." Hinata stuttered, unable to form a coherent sentence.
"Were you afraid that I wouldn't let you be friends with the boy holding the Nine Tails within him?" Hiashi asked.
Hinata nodded. "O-Other parents t-tell their k-kids to stay away from N-naruto, and I thought t-that you..."
"I only would have forbidden such a thing if the boy proved to be a bad influence on you, and for the time being, it doesn't seem to be the case."
"So you're okay with him being my friend?"
"As long as he doesn't give me any reason to mistrust him and behaves properly, yes. And I'll let this time pass, but I don't want you to keep any secret from me again, understood?" Hiashi stated sternly. Hinata nodded.
The little Hyuga sighed in relief. Not only she didn't lose her mother, but her friendship with Naruto was safe for the time being. She wouldn't have any problem sleeping tonight.
Meanwhile, Hiashi couldn't stop thinking about Naruto and how his presence had affected his family. If it wasn't for him, neither Jiriaya nor Tsunade would have come back to Konoha, and thus the Hokage would have never attempted to intimidate the Raikage, and Hizashi would have ended up killing himself to placate Kumogakure.
And then there was his wife, would have been dead right now if it wasn't for Tsunade, as well as the fact that her daughter had recently befriended her adoptive son.
Then again, he wondered if he would really have allowed Hinata to befriend that boy before. Now he couldn't make an unbiased opinion on Naruto given that he owed him his wife's life. He never thought much about that boy, and the idea of Hinata becoming his friend never crossed his mind not even once.
While the Hyuga was one of the most traditionalists clans of Konoha, Hiashi wasn't a superstitious man. He had heard many people say, even those among his clan, that Naruto would only bring bad luck and misfortune to whoever was near him. Sure, the risk of the Nine Tails coming out was very real, regardless of how small it was, but Naruto being a bringer of bad luck was just ridiculous.
But now, it seemed that the opposite was true. Naruto's presence had saved the lives of two of his closest and most beloved people, on top of becoming his daughter's first and only friend. And while her progress in mastering the Gentle Step was going at a far slower pace than he would have wished, maybe he could convince Naruto to let her join him on his training with the Sannin.
But for some reason, Hiashi couldn't shake the thought that all this good fortune had a price tag attached to it, and that one day somebody would ask him to pay.