The Hokage's office in the Senju Fortress was too quiet.
Tsunade stood by the window, looking at the village, and her reflection in the glass was a mask of tension.
The door opened without warning and Tsunade turned the instant the latch clicked.
Kakashi entered first, but he wasn't walking with his usual laziness; instead, his posture was upright, that of an ANBU on active duty. He was carrying Sakura on his back, "princess" style.
She was awake, but visibly exhausted, with her head resting on his shoulder and covered in concrete dust. Her eyes met Tsunade's and she offered a small, tired nod.
"Sakura. Are you hurt?" Tsunade asked.
"I'm fine, Master," Sakura murmured. "Just... dusty. And tired."
Right behind him, Shizune entered, who had quickly gone out to meet them, and she was carrying Naruto the same way, though he was completely unconscious, snoring softly against her back.
"Put them on the sofa," Tsunade ordered.
Kakashi moved carefully, setting Sakura down on one end of the sofa, and she curled up, closing her eyes for a moment.
Shizune, on the other hand, approached the other end, crouched down, and simply dropped Naruto. There was a dull thud and a muffled "Oof!" from the unconscious genin.
Tsunade raised an eyebrow.
"He's fast asleep, Lady Tsunade," Shizune said, brushing the dust from her hands. "He didn't feel a thing."
"He's snoring," Kakashi confirmed, his single visible eye curving slightly.
"Naruto..." Sakura murmured from her end of the sofa, her eyes still closed.
"Close your eyes, Sakura. You're safe," Kakashi said, and then he looked at the Hokage.
"Report," Tsunade said, cutting him off as she crossed her arms. "And don't skip the bad parts, Kakashi."
"Mission failed on the political front, Lady Hokage," Kakashi said in a low murmur.
"I don't care about the politics yet, I care about the state of my team."
"Targets secured," Kakashi said. "Sakura has some scrapes and minor bruises. Naruto is exhausted, but physically unharmed. The threat was neutralized."
"Good. Now the politics," Tsunade said, her voice turning colder. "Proof?"
Kakashi stared at her. "None."
A muscle in Tsunade's jaw tensed. "The agents?"
"Four in total," Shizune chimed in, her professional tone returning. "Confirmed by Sakura."
"And?"
"Two neutralized on site," Shizune said, "By Naruto and Sakura. The two who fled..."
"Killed themselves," Kakashi completed.
The silence in the office grew thick.
"Before you could get to them?" Tsunade asked, though she already knew the answer.
"They used the pills the moment they saw me and there was no hesitation," Kakashi said, his voice devoid of emotion. "Root poison pills. They followed the Silence protocol, so we have no living agents to interrogate."
"We have nothing," Shizune whispered.
"We have nothing," Kakashi confirmed.
The sound of flesh hitting wood echoed in the office as Tsunade slammed her fist against the window frame with a purely human frustration that made the glass vibrate.
"Dammit!"
She spun around, her amber eyes blazing. "I knew that bastard wouldn't leave any loose ends! I knew it!"
Shizune took a step back. "Lady Tsunade, your voice..."
"I don't care about my voice!" Tsunade snapped. "He knows we saw him! He knows that we know it was him, and he still dares to have his dogs touch my Genin in broad daylight! It's... it's disrespectful!"
"He's testing your limits," Kakashi said quietly. "He wants to see how far he can push before you push back."
"Oh, I'll push back!"
"Naruto..." Sakura murmured from the sofa. "He's awake."
Naruto was sitting up, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. "Huh? Granny? Kakashi sensei? Shizune neechan?"
He looked around, confused. "What happened? You carried us all the way here? How cool! I feel like a VIP!"
"Quiet," Tsunade said, pointing at him. "And you," she added, pointing to Sakura. "Both of you. Your turn. What exactly happened? And I don't want the 'cool' version, Naruto, I want the facts."
Sakura sat up, her voice firmer now, as it seemed the brief rest had helped her. "We were ambushed by four agents who weren't wearing insignias, just porcelain masks."
"Root," Kakashi murmured.
"Yes," Sakura confirmed. "Their initial target was Naruto, clearly. They called him 'Jinchuriki' and the order I heard was 'neutralization'."
Tsunade frowned. "'Neutralization'? Not 'capture'?"
"No," Sakura said, very certain. "The exact word was 'neutralization'. I think they wanted to knock him out fast and take him."
"Yeah!" Naruto said, now fully awake and leaping off the sofa. "They were about to grab me, but then Sakura chan hit the ground and they got scared! It was awesome!"
"Calm down, Naruto," Kakashi said.
"They got scared?" Tsunade asked, ignoring Naruto and focusing on Sakura. "Why?"
"I think it was because I showed more strength than they expected," Sakura said. "The formation broke and then... they switched targets."
"To you?" Tsunade asked, her voice dropping dangerously.
"Yes. They called me the 'primary threat', and one of them caught me with a wire and immobilized me."
"And then the other guy tried to put a weird seal on Sakura chan's forehead!" Naruto said, suddenly serious. "He had a scroll and everything, so I got in the way! The scroll burned up! That's what matters!"
Tsunade's eyes narrowed and she looked at Kakashi. "A seal. Did you see the scroll?"
"I saw the scraps the agent dropped when Naruto hit him," Kakashi said. "A Mind Suppression Seal."
"Figured," Tsunade said, nodding grimly.
"But... why?" Shizune whispered, horrified. "Why a seal like that with a wire?"
"Think, Shizune," Tsunade said. "They weren't going to kill her. At least, not at first."
Shizune brought a hand to her mouth. "They were going to... interrogate her. Right there."
"No," Tsunade said. "Worse. They were going to extract her. They were going to put the seal on her to silence her and control her mind, and then take her away to interrogate her at their facility."
"They wanted Naruto's secret," Kakashi said.
The room seemed to drop several degrees.
"And if they couldn't get it," Tsunade continued, "the seal would silence her permanently."
Sakura turned visibly paler.
"They were going to hurt her," Naruto said, his voice no longer carefree.
"Yes," Tsunade said. "They were. And they killed themselves before Kakashi could question them, so we lost the proof and we lost the witnesses. Danzo won this round."
"Granny."
Naruto's voice was so quiet that everyone in the room turned to look at him.
"What?" Tsunade snapped.
"We didn't win this political battle," Naruto said, "and that's what matters now. You're right."
"And what do you suggest, brat? That I sit here and smile while he plans his next move?"
"No," Naruto said. "But you can't do what he wants. You can't go kicking his door down. Danzo will act more cautiously, but we don't have proof, and the Council will remove you if you attack Danzo right now without clear justification."
"That's my complaint, brat!" Tsunade snapped, slamming her own desk. "It's the complete lack of respect for the chair I hold! He's publicly challenging me as Hokage and forcing me to sit here and swallow my rage!"
"And he was expecting exactly this," Naruto said, stepping forward. "He expected you to come out screaming and slamming doors, so he could point you out to the Council and say you're impulsive and irrational, and that you can't handle the pressure of being Hokage."
Tsunade glared at him, but the boy didn't back down.
"Don't do it, Granny. Don't give him the satisfaction."
Tsunade watched him for a long second as the noise and boiling anger settled. Finally, she let out a long sigh, and the tension seemed to leave her shoulders, replaced by a cold, calculating calm.
"Damn noisy brat," she muttered. "You're right and you're using my own trick against me. Well played."
"Huh?"
"Nothing."
Naruto nodded, but his own anger hadn't vanished, so it shifted toward Sakura. "I'm angry about those Root agents," he said, his gaze fixed on her, "but what hurts most is that Sakura chan had to risk herself because of me."
"Naruto, that wasn't the plan," Sakura said, sitting up straighter. "The plan was..."
"I don't care about the plan!" he snapped, surprising her. "The plan worked, but I still feel responsible."
"Your job was to make her the target, Naruto," Tsunade said, her voice softening for the first time. "And yours was to not leave her alone. You both did fine, so it worked. It's over."
She looked at them both, exhausted and covered in dirt on her sofa. "Now, get out of here. Both of you. Go to the dining hall and get something to eat, for real this time. And have Sakura check your head properly, because you seem dumber than usual."
"Hey!" Naruto protested.
"Come on, Naruto," Sakura said, standing up and grabbing his arm. "She's right, your chakra is all over the place. And I'm starving."
"But I had to save you! I'm the hero!" Naruto said as she dragged him toward the door.
"You're the one who showed up sleeping! I won!"
"It was a tie!"
The door closed behind them, their voices arguing as they moved down the hall.
"Kids," Tsunade sighed, rubbing her temples, before she straightened up. "Kakashi, Shizune, stay. We have to clean up this mess and we have to assume that Danzo..."
The door had barely closed when it flew open again, without a knock, and Jiraiya burst into the office. He was clearly coming off a long journey, with dust on his cloak and a scowl on his face.
"Tsunade! You're not going to believe the ridiculous paperwork you made me fill out at the front gate!" he boomed, waving a crumpled form.
"It's protocol, Jiraiya," Tsunade said wearily. "Deal with it."
"It's me! The Toad Sannin! Since when do I fill out form '14B' for 'S Level Visitors'? It's humiliating! The guard asked me if I had 'hostile purposes'!"
"Since Danzo started using every little protocol breach to undermine my authority. Sit down and shut up, I have a headache."
Jiraiya stopped. His gaze flicked from Tsunade to Kakashi and Shizune, as the smile vanished from his face. "What did I miss? And what the hell is going on out there?"
"Out there?" Shizune asked.
"The village! There are rumors all over the village about an attack by crazed ANBU!"
"They weren't crazed ANBU," Tsunade said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "It was Root."
Jiraiya's expression instantly darkened. "Root. Danzo? Did he do something stupid?"
"Worse," Kakashi said. "He tried to abduct Naruto and Sakura."
"Crap," Jiraiya sighed. "Are the kids okay?"
"They're in the dining hall, arguing about who saved who," Shizune said.
"Good. Good. At least they're okay." Jiraiya ran a hand through his hair. "But Tsunade, this is bigger than that."
"Bigger than Danzo attacking my team in my own village?"
"No, listen," Jiraiya said, his tone turning serious. "This isn't a simple village rumor, because you know I have my sources: the people on the street, the merchants, the ramen stalls... even some of your own Chunin guards at the gate."
"Get to the point, Jiraiya," Tsunade said.
"They're talking about it not being ANBU or Root."
Shizune frowned. "What? Then who?"
Jiraiya leaned forward. "They're talking about the Sound Village and they're saying they were sent by Orochimaru to take the Jinchuriki."
A heavy silence fell over the office.
Tsunade, Kakashi, and Shizune exchanged a look.
Tsunade was the first to react. A slow, dangerous smile spread across her face. "Danzo... That son of a bitch is fast."
"It's a lie!" Shizune said. "We know it was Root!"
"Of course it's a lie, Shizune," Tsunade said, sitting down for the first time. "It's an alibi."
"His elite agents," Kakashi explained, understanding, "were defeated by two Genin and he can't let that humiliation become known, so..."
"...He creates an external enemy," Jiraiya finished, his eyes widening. "Deflects the blame. Is Danzo actively planting the 'Sound attack' story?"
"Of course he is," Tsunade said. "Jiraiya, you were the one who came, so you're in the clear for now. How sure are you about the source of those rumors?"
Jiraiya sat down heavily on the sofa where Naruto had been. "Enough to know it didn't start organically, because it's too specific and too fast. People are talking about 'ninja with Sound headbands', which means this has Danzo's fingerprints all over it."
"He's giving us a public alibi," Kakashi murmured. "An enemy we can all hate."
"An enemy the Council will approve us hunting," Tsunade said. "Damn manipulator. He thinks he's backing me into a corner. He thinks he's giving me an out."
"The situation is complicated," Jiraiya said, changing the subject abruptly. "Danzo is one problem. Orochimaru is another. But Akatsuki..."
Tsunade stared at him. "What? Akatsuki? What do you have for me?"
"Akatsuki. They're reevaluating their tactics. The good news is that an attack on Naruto isn't imminent."
"Good," Tsunade said.
"The bad news," Jiraiya continued, his face darkening, "is that the other Jinchuriki teams are on the move. We aren't the only ones on their list, Tsunade, as they have a timeline and we are on it."
"How soon?"
"I don't know. Months, maybe or years. But they're moving and they aren't waiting, instead they're preparing to hunt the others, one by one."
Tsunade tapped the table softly with her fist. "Fine. One problem at a time. Danzo gave us an alibi. He gave us an enemy."
She stood up, her energy renewed. "So we'll take it and throw it right back at him."
She looked at Kakashi. "Officially, as of this moment, it was an attack by the Sound Village. It failed thanks to the rapid response of Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno."
"Got it," Kakashi said.
"This gives the Council the public enemy it wants," Tsunade continued, "and it justifies an increase in training for my teams. Specifically, my Jinchuriki team."
She turned to Jiraiya. "Your job and Kakashi's is twofold: track the 'real' Akatsuki trail. Forget the rumors. I want facts. I want to know where they'll hit next."
"That's tough, Tsunade," Jiraiya said. "They're ghosts. After stopping in Tanzaku they disappeared."
"Then become better ghost hunters," she retorted. "Mine is to buy time and prepare my team, and we need that timeline you mentioned to be delayed indefinitely."
******
Later that day, the team was gathered again in the Bunker.
Naruto and Sakura looked better after eating. Hinata and Karin were there, having been summoned, and they looked nervous about the sudden meeting.
"You won the tactical fight," Tsunade said, her voice echoing in the underground space, "but we lost the political proof. Today's incident was an important lesson, because Danzo erased the evidence."
"But we beat them!" Naruto said.
"And they killed themselves!" Tsunade shot back. "We have no proof and we can't move against him, which means he'll try again, in a different way. And next time, he won't be so sloppy."
Tsunade stopped in front of Karin.
"Your sensory and tracking ability is our secret weapon."
"I... I just did what..."
"But it wasn't enough," Tsunade cut her off. "Your Adamantine Chains training becomes the team's number one priority."
Karin paled. "Me? But... but I can barely make them appear! They aren't even solid!"
"Then you'll learn," Tsunade said. "We must prepare, as they are the best containment tool we have. Danzo wants Sakura for the information, but now that he knows Sakura isn't weak he's going to reevaluate his attack strategy, and those chains are the only thing that can stop both of them. You must master the physical manifestation."
Karin swallowed, but her fear was replaced by determination. "Yes, Lady Tsunade. I'll do it."
"Hinata," Tsunade said.
"Y... yes!"
"You'll continue your Byakugan training, because I need you to be our eyes, but you will also be Karin's support. Your Gentle Fist can help stabilize her chakra if it gets out of control. Sakura, you continue with the Seal and you are the field leader. Your job is to make sure they work as a team."
Finally, she turned to Naruto, who was unusually quiet, examining one of his mother's scrolls on the wall.
"Naruto."
He looked up. "Yeah, Granny."
"Drop the Rasengan for a day."
"What?!" he exclaimed. "But I'm so close to...!"
"I said, drop it," she ordered. "Go back to reading your mother's journal, because your Fuinjutsu and your innate understanding of Uzumaki chakra are the theoretical foundation for those chains."
"What? But why me? Karin's the one who has to make them!"
"Karin has the raw power," Tsunade said, pointing to her, "but you have the instruction manual," she added, pointing to the scrolls. "She feels the chakra, while you, thanks to your mother, understand the theory. You need to help her control the physical manifestation, so you will work together on this. End of discussion."
They put Naruto and Karin to work in the center of the room, with the journals and scrolls spread out between them. Sakura and Hinata watched from the side, ready to provide support.
Danzō can have his doubts and his plans, Tsunade thought, allowing herself a small, grim smile, but every day he doesn't attack directly is a day Naruto learns more of Kushina's legacy and a day Karin gets stronger. Time, for now, is on our side.
"Enough for today," she said aloud.
The team jumped, surprised.
"Naruto, Shizune, Kakashi, come to my office. I need you to sign the official report about the so called 'Sound attack' for the Council."
Naruto pointed at his own chest. "Me? Why me?"
"You were the main target of the 'Sound attack', brat," Tsunade said, "so your signature makes it official. And Sakura, you'll sign as the primary witness."
"Awesome!" Naruto said. "I'll sign! Can I draw a fox on it?"
"No."
Tsunade paused and looked at the rest of the team. "The rest of you, rest and eat. Whatever."
"And tomorrow?" Sakura asked.
Tsunade turned to leave. "Tomorrow will be worse."
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