Orochimaru's POV (Hokage Manor - Hidden Leaf Village)
He shifted his eyes, looking for signs of his subordinates. Kimimaro, or what was left of him, was left smiling next to an Anbu member. He frowned at this, unsure what to smile about in failure. Guren's scene was odd. Plenty of dead Anbu, and he could smell her blood. Perhaps her body had been destroyed. He sunk into the ground as the barrier started to fade. Losing them both was unfortunate, but he had replacements in mind. It may be time to recall Kabuto. With roars of anger and despair, the Sannin escaped this battlefield, unaware his subordinate did as well.
Various shinobi rushed into the bloody scene as the barrier disappeared. Screaming and sobs were heard as they realized they had lost both legends. Some went off hoping to find the Sannin and avenge their Kage. Others lost to grief simply shouted, cried, raged, or some form of all three. Others seemed stunned. But before any decisions could be made, the two men's bodies seemed to disappear, in their place were the tired but alive bodies of both. The various shinobi immediately celebrated the pleasant surprise.
"Thanks for the chakra Sarutobi. I didn't have enough to pull off a Kotoamatsuki to convince him of our death without it. Shame to lose nine Sharigan in one day, but necessary in this case." Danzo commented. The bandages were removed from his face, now revealing a blind Sharingan.
"You realize you will be facing significant charges for this?" Hiruzen asked, standing next to the man.
"I made the mistake, and I am prepared to pay for it," Danzo answered simply. You'll find most of the Root gone, though. I may not be necessary to the future of the Leaf, but the Root is. Hopefully, they'll learn from my mistakes."
"You won't face death, my old friend. Not after this, but you will be imprisoned immediately! And any who have left the Leaf will be treated as traitors!" Hiruzen yelled as he stood. His eyes were focused, but the pain was in his eyes. "This will be indefinite for the charge of treason!" The crowd of shinobi hesitated before several restrained Danzo. "I want all clan heads and civilian members of the council in for a meeting yesterday!" The men hustled off, eager to help now that they knew they were fine. Hiruzen watched sadly as Danzo was escorted away. He knew he was within his right. But as always, his old friend left him feeling conflicted. Working with the Snake, then betraying him to no personal benefit.
"What are you thinking, old friend?" He asked out loud. Silently wishing for the wisdom many have credited him with.
Naruto / Tsunade's POV (Traveling - Fire Country)
Naruto groaned tiredly as he woke up, confused as to when he had fallen asleep. His eyes were facing the sky, and his entire body ached deeply, more so than he was used to. He could earnestly say he had never been as tired as now. But he was glad to see he was alive. His mind seemed to finally catch up, the tired fog cleared in an instant. The thoughts of the battle previously held snapped into his mind. He attempted to race up to his feet but realized he couldn't move! His mind raced as he figured he was somehow restrained. His attack had failed, and the man must've taken him! He once again attempted to move, but his body was numb. Drugged, the captors had drugged him then! He wasn't in a building based on the moving outside sky. It was moving; he must be in the process of being carried away!
"Ino! Neji! Kakashi! Where are you? Are you okay? Some creep is carrying me off!" Naruto roared as he desperately attempted to move any part of his body.
"Hey bastard, don't make any assumptions. Especially when youse is talking about the Boss. At least if ya know what's good for ya." A gravelly voice responded.
Naruto's eyes widened considerably as he realized he wasn't alone. Yet the voice didn't sound like the giant sword guy. His willpower allowed him to move his head to the side to stare at the man. He had short, red, buzzed hair. His eyes were green and heavy, underlined by bags. His features were sharp, sticking out amidst a flurry of freckles. A lit cigarette rested in his mouth, the man puffing repeatedly with no hands. He wore a kimono left undone tied at his waist, and his upper body was covered in bandages. On his wrist was a scroll wrapped around it so the blank side was exposed. Showing a small seal in the center.
"Bastard, don't ya know it's rude to not answer?" He started angrily, drawing a dagger from the kimono as he approached the blonde. Naruto was helpless as the man lowered the point to his throat.
"Screw you, bastard! Where are you taking me!" Naruto demanded defiantly.
The man chuckled at Naruto's counter with his own tick. "I like your spunk, ya bastard." He countered happily. "Ya can relax though; Boss saved the lot of youse. Personally, I don't care much about shinobi, buncha entitled hypocrites in my opinion. Would've probably let the bunch of youse die. But the Boss says we gotta help out the Leaf. So here we are." He flicked the tiny bit of cigarette off the white surface they stood on. He draws another from the scroll on his wrist and lights it with his finger. "The Boss told me to come grab her and youse. So I brought the manager to get youse home safe and sound."
"Manager? Boss?" Naruto asked, confused by the strange smoking man. The hell was he talking about, why was he talking this way? Where the hell was the others.
"She did mention you were unconscious. Shame you missed what was sure to be an epic ass-kicking. Well, at least youse had the honor of being saved by The Big Boss Tsunade. I'm the number two man of said greatness, Dez the Smoker. Your everyday thug." He said with a smirk.
Naruto's eyes widened when he heard the name of their savior. He may have never been a book nerd, but there weren't many female shinobi as renowned as Slug Sannin Tsunade. "Wait, so who's the Manager?"
"That would be me, young sir." A female voice quietly interjected. Naruto and Dez both turned to see a basketball-sized slug on the ground facing them.
"Mam!" Dez dropped so quickly to the ground that his cigarette went out.
Naruto merely raised an eyebrow at this, shocked at the man's reaction.
"Your manager is a tiny slug?" He asked, confused. "Is it like a all knowing sensei or something?"
"I am indeed a slug, though I doubt many would call me tiny. I am named Katsuyu. This is merely a small portion of myself, used for current communication with you. The rest of me is currently carrying you and your friends. You're actually riding another section of myself." Katsuyu explained.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.
"If you'd like, Dez, show him. It will be a bit simpler than explaining." Katsuyu asked, the slugs' tone somehow polite and demanding.
"Right away, Mam!" Dez hollered, jumping up, picking up Naruto with both arms and holding him over his head.
"Put me down you…" Naruto was stunned into silence as he saw where he was. The team was riding on a glamorous white slug with three blue stripes on its back. It was quickly the size of a large mountain sliding through the forest they had traveled through to arrive at the mission. The slug looked fairly innocuous except for its ability to crush trees beneath it with no complaint. He had heard about summoning creatures. Even the tale of Katsuyu, the acidic slug known to be in the service of Tsunade. But the stories and reports did not do it justice. Something like this could destroy villages! His eyes strained as he looked for his friends. Further up the slug, Ino and Neji were resting, both sitting up and awake. Kakashi was there too but, unlike the others, was unconscious.
"Thank God. I was worried about them. Are they hurt?" Naruto asked as he finally relaxed a bit.
"Well, youse all had been thoroughly beat down by the time Boss ran off the bastards," Dez added as he held the blonde. "Time to put you down."
"Hold on, at least bring me to my friends!" Naruto hollered as it looked like Dez prepared to slam him.
"No way in hell, ya dirty shinobi bastard!"
"Dez, please help the boy." Katsuyu interferes softly.
"Damnit, yes, mam." He said grumpily as he continued carrying the immobile blonde. Now, walking him over to them as the miniature Katsuyu faded into the original. "Ya lucky the Manager is so kind."
"Whatever, bastard," Naruto replied with a smug grin. He expected a poor reaction from the temperamental man, but he merely dryly chuckled instead.
"Not bad, brat. But that's my word! Ya, absolute bastard!" Dez replied as he threw the blonde savagely into the resting Ino and Neji. The three turn to a ball of limbs as their instincts fail them in their exhausted bodies. They manage to untangle in a few minutes, all three glaring at Dez. The man merely smiled as he walked towards the back of the slug. Joining Tsunade, standing on the back, seemingly prepared for some unseen ambush.
"Naruto! You're okay! I'm so glad, I didn't think we'd make it." Ino called as she hugged the prone blonde. Holding him close, she whispered, "We must discuss what you did. But I'm going to let it go for now. I'm simply too happy we're all okay." She almost cried before letting go of the blonde and sitting back, seemingly allowing Neji some chance.
"Naruto… I'm sorry." He said, simply looking down, ashamed. "Before, I had failed you both as comrades simply due to my arrogance. Now, I fail due to incompetence. I left Ino to battle a Jounin on her own. Arrive after you have been beaten down. I just want to be shut down as if I'm nothing. I'm supposed to be some genius, yet I'm nothing more than an arrogant failure."
"Neji… I'm sorry, too, Naruto. If it wasn't for you getting back up, we would've all died," Ino said dejectedly.
Naruto felt lost for a moment before he smiled slightly. "I guess we're all failures then, huh?" Neji and Ino both stared back, stunned before Ino smiled back.
"We'll have to work harder to make sure next time that bastard comes, we can kick his ass!" Ino is now fired up. She didn't truly feel better but recognized that Naruto was attempting to uplift them. Neji looked confused by the two before he gave an exhausted smile.
"I suppose that is logical… if not a bit simple," Neji added. The three then grew silent. It wasn't necessarily awkward; there was more tension in the air. All three young adults seemed to be inside their minds.
"I… I don't know how to go about this sensitively. But I can't stop thinking about it." Naruto broke the silence.
"What do you mean, blondie?" Ino asked.
"I-I was outnumbered, and I kept giving them outs. I tried to let them go… But they wouldn't back down. So I killed one of them. Some woman, she couldn't stop me, and I… I killed her… just because it was easier. I could've tried to restrain them. But I was too worried about you guys, so I cut her down like some kind of sick fuck!" Naruto yelled, his voice breaking throughout the shout.