Act II: Chapter 1

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'Thump'

'Thump'

'Hiss'

'Thump'

'Thump'

'Hiss'

'Thump'

'Thump'

'Hiss'

I opened my eyes with a strained effort. I didn't know where I was, but it was filled with white and foggy. My mouth was dry, my jaw ached, and I had the urge to gag all of a sudden.

In my peripherals, I could see a long clear tube rising out of the bottom of my vision. I moved my right hand towards it out of instinct. Pain lanced up my right arm, my shoulder, and continued to my back. It was no small amount of pain either. It was fucking bad. Even still, I powered through it and continued to feel the gray tube, wondering what it was attached to my face for. Eventually, I felt tape that spread over my lips and went in random directions to my nose and jaw.

I frowned, and moved my tongue. Sure enough, I felt the tube.

That's when the panic set in.

I tried my best to sit up and more pain appeared on my torso scattered in many directions. However there was one location on the right side of my chest that screamed pain, that dwarfed all of the other locations. It was enough to cause me to stop trying to sit up and just sit there.

I gagged as I realized there was something shoved down my throat. I did it several times before I calmed down and focused on breathing.

Had I not realized that this was a ventilator and could cause serious damage on the way out, I would have ripped the thing out of my throat forcefully.

Instead of that, I grabbed my chakra and pulsed it forcefully, angrily. That got a reaction immediately, but I did not expect the person that appeared. He looked almost the exact same as the last time I saw him, except he was not wearing the traditional garb of the Hokage. He was actually in civilian clothes.

"Sorry Naruto. I stepped out to get some tea." Hiruzen said as he lifted the tea for me to see with his left hand.

That was when I noticed it, and I frowned. His right arm was nowhere to be found. There wasn't even really a stub that I could see. It was just gone all the way to the shoulder. That caused a chain reaction in my memories. I remembered that I had successfully sealed off Gaara's chakra and stopped the One-tails' rampage through the village.

I also remember the destabilizing wind ninjutsu it was preparing and the explosion that occurred after that sending me ass over tit through the air. The impact must have caused more damage than I expected it to.

"A gift from my former student." He commented as he saw where my eyes were on his body. He raised the tea to his lips and took a tentative sip.

I tried to speak for the briefest of moments and had to ignore the urge to gag again. Instead, I raised my hand and began to sign towards him.

'Get him?' I asked simply. There was so much I wanted to know from the invasion. It happened so differently than in the anime. Were we successful? Did we lose? Did any of my friends die? All of these questions filtered through my head.

Hiruzen saw me sign the question, and then he looked towards the direction he came from. "That will have to wait." He muttered as he took a step back. I hadn't been paying attention to my sensing ability until that moment. I sought out whoever it was he was expecting. And boy was I impressed.

I have been around a lot of chakra monsters recently. Hiruzen, Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Neji were enough to raise eyebrows. I never expected another person to impress me as much as Neji did with their chakra. Not only was it over double what Hiruzen's was, but it was refined and honed to such a degree that it made the Sandaime look like a chunin level shinobi.

"Did you not feel that!? That's a code blue patient damn it!" The female voice yelled as her chakra signature continued to get closer and closer to my location. "If he calls, you fucking answer!"

I saw Hiruzen smirk and bring his tea up to his lips calmly. Although his eyes did flicker to the newcomer.

"Mr. Uzumaki, I apologize for the delayed response." Once I saw the blonde hair and attached it to the chakra signature, I knew who it was. Yet the anime did not do Tsunade Senju justice.

Even with the angry look on her face, she was an angel. Her cheekbones were perfectly placed beneath her eyes. Her nose was straight, and the perfect size. She had the most symmetrical face I had ever seen. Then you added her hazel eyes on top of the mix, and I realized why Jiraiya was obsessed with the woman. I was beginning to be, and I was a couple of decades too late to be with her.

The seal in the middle of her head further accentuated her beauty somehow.

'Okay.' I signed to her before pointing to the ventilator shoved down my throat.

'Out.'

"It's not that simple." Tsunade said quickly as she realized what I wanted.

My chakra pulsed and my eyebrows furrowed. I was not asking her a question. I wanted this fucking thing out of me.

Her eyes narrowed at me just as fast. "Don't get pissy with me young man!" She said as she pointed a finger at my chest. "I'm the one in charge and I say when it comes out."

"Tsunade…" I heard the Sandaime warn.

While I would not want the woman to be on my bad side, I also wanted the ventilator out immediately. So I sent chakra to my right arm and as fast as I could I reached up and grabbed the ventilator.

My wrist barely left the top of the bed beneath me before she caught it. We met eyes and I could tell that before she was only indulging me. Her eyes held a threat that I knew she could deliver swiftly.

"You're just as difficult as your mother, you know that!"

Before I could react to what she said, she reached up and put a finger to my temple. The lights went out immediately.

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Hiruzen POV:

"I fucking hate you sometimes."

Despite the comment from my student, I sipped on the tea blissfully. This wouldn't be the first time I was on the wrong side of her wrath and I doubted it would be the last. Although I doubted my ability to survive her onslaught now…

I wiggled my right hand, only for nothing to happen. It was gone and although I could still feel it attached to my body, I could still remember how to move it, nothing would happen. Not even Tsunade could regrow something that was disintegrated. Not without giving up what little life I had left.

Tsunade sniffled, just like the first time she saw Naruto laid in bed. It had taken Jiraiya and Neji three weeks to find Tsunade, and it was only when she found out Kushina's child was not only alive but in an induced coma did she return. That was one of the harder secrets I kept from her. Hopefully, it will be the last.

"I could not have you take him." I told her as she summoned her legendary chakra and went to work.

"I would have too! I fucking would have…" She muttered as her guilt turned to anger. Had she ever visited the village, she might have run into him. Hell she might have felt him if she was anywhere near the academy at the right time. Naruto was an Uzumaki and his chakra was beginning to prove it.

"He is a valuable asset." I told her strategically. She would have to begin thinking in different terms if she was to fulfill her duty. I was only allowing her access to the Hospital during certain hours. The village needed to see her leading them and it was impossible to do if she was stuck between these walls.

Tsunade didn't answer then. She was busy pulling the tube from his chest, just as he asked. She could never deny Kushina of anything either. It had taken everything I had to keep her pregnancy, and subsequent birth, a secret from Tsunade. Kakashi hadn't spoken to me for months after that.

'"If I can't have him then send for Tsunade! You know that she…"'

'"No! And should you go against my word Kakashi…"'

'The things I have done for this village…'

"Your haemophobia seems to have come to an end." I commented as I saw a bit of blood dribble out of Naruto's mouth. Tsunade didn't even pause to continue her work when it touched her hand. She was accelerating the healing of Naruto's lung significantly within the span of a couple of minutes.

I noticed her hands go to other parts of his body and realized that she was going to heal all of his bones and cuts in one go. She rarely did so for other shinobi.

"Uzumaki are similar to Senju. They can take a lot of damage." Tsunade commented. She knew that I was curious, and I didn't even have to ask a question.

'Her skills are still there then.'

"I'm going to wake him up now. Are you fine with that?" Tsunade asked as she pulled away from Naruto. Her healing ability might have improved since the last time I saw her work. That was a feat I thought impossible.

"I would like nothing more."

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Naruto POV:

When I came to again, Tsunade was standing above me. You would think that the first thing I noticed when waking up was the fact that the ventilator was no longer shoved down my throat. Or maybe the fact that all my pains from earlier were little more than aches. That was not the first thing I noticed.

Tsunade's massive tits and the cleavage it produced in front of me was the first thing my eyes went to.

"Well you're obviously feeling better." She commented as she stood up and fixed her shirt to reveal a little less cleavage. I was heartbroken.

Hiruzen snorted into the tea he was drinking, and chuckled a bit.

"I should…" I couldn't stop the coughing fit that ran through me. My throat was abnormally dry, itchy, and slightly uncomfortable.

Tsunade handed me a cup of water once I stopped coughing and I slowly drank it. It immediately soothed most of my throat after a moment.

"You were saying?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I should get injured more often."

Even though the words were raspy and I almost coughed again through the sentence, it still had the intended effect on the room's inhabitants. The Sandaime choked on the tea he was drinking, and I'm pretty sure I saw tea come out of his nose. His coughs quickly evolved into laughs though.

"Like I've never heard that before, brat!" Tsunade said as a dark look took over her face. After a moment though, I couldn't help but see the smallest smirk on her lips. She at least thought it was funny.

"Thank you." I told her genuinely. If I never felt the sensation of having a tube shoved down my throat again, it would be too soon.

"It's the least I can do. Sensei here tells me you played a pivotal role in the invasion." Tsunade replied as she jerked a thumb to where the Sandaime was recovering from choking on his tea.

That reminded me of our earlier conversation, and I immediately went to ask him about the details of the invasion again. Tsunade had other plans, though.

"Before I let you two talk." She interrupted, knowing I was about to ask for a briefing on the invasion. "You have medical orders." She said pointing at me again.

"Two weeks no strenuous activity. In case you've never been seriously injured before, I will spell it out for you. If you so much as throw a kick or run at a civilian pace I will chain you to this bed, do you understand?" She asked as her tone turned serious.

I frowned, not understanding why that was necessary. She had just healed me to near perfect health. Why did I need to take it that easy? I couldn't even run?

"Just because I stitched you back together with chakra doesn't mean you're in fighting shape. You suffered no less than twenty fractures, five of which were on your spine. You had debris the size of my arm sticking out of your right lung, collapsing it. I had 3 different sessions of regrowing the damned thing for the last week. You're lucky you can even walk again, let alone breathe the way you are right now. All those bones will be weak and brittle for a little while longer." Tsunade explained with a stern attitude and a wagging finger.

'Oh wow… I got more injured than I thought.'

"Chakra isn't perfect Naruto, your body needs time to adapt to the changes." She continued, after I didn't answer for a moment. "I hear you're interested in fuinjutsu. You may occupy your time with that, or just take a small vacation in the village. Consider it an order from your new Hokage."

My eyes widened. I had already suspected she was the new Hokage, due to Hiruzen's missing limb and civilian attire. I just wasn't expecting to be told that way. Nor was I expecting the Hokage to take time out of her day to heal me.

"Yes ma'am." I responded in the only appropriate way, considering her rank and position.

Tsunade smiled wide. "Oh? Where did that playful personality go now?" She teased as she turned around and walked out of the hospital room. She made sure to close the door on her way out, to give us some privacy. I turned my attention to the former Hokage sitting in the chair of my room.

"Anyone close to me?" I asked. We both knew what I meant. Who died damn it?

He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he set the empty tea mug on the table to his side and produced a pipe from somewhere on his left side. He stuffed it into his mouth before reaching up with a single finger and lighting it.

"I just had a lung regrown, and you're smoking in the same room?" I couldn't help the joke, it was just too good of an opportunity.

Once again, he didn't say anything. Instead, he stood up and went over to the window before opening it and sitting on the windowsill and blowing the smoke from his pipe outside. It was a nice gesture. But he still didn't answer me. I decided to at least do something useful while I waited.

It wasn't at all to stop the panic that raced through me at his long pause. Was he trying to figure out the best way to tell me someone passed?

I swung my legs over the side of the bed and scooted myself to the edge. Tsunade was right about chakra not being perfect. My back ached all the way down, and when I took a deep breath, sharp pain lanced through my chest and up to my shoulder. Thankfully, my muscles hadn't atrophied too much and I still felt strong. Then again, I used to walk around with a ton strapped to my limbs so I wasn't really sure how bad my strength had waned. I wasn't even sure how long I had been in the hospital, actually.

The breeze from the air conditioning flew through the hospital gown I was wearing. I realized that I was naked underneath it all, and I swiftly ignored that. I was a shinobi, and I just had a life threatening injury. There were bigger things to worry about.

When I stood up, I got dizzy for the slightest moment and I grabbed the rail on my bed. My eyes found my destination. My navy long sleeve shirt and pants were sitting there along with my kunai pouch and some white tape. Unfortunately, the shirt and pants were ruined with countless rips and tears. Not to mention the bloodied hole in the right side of the shirt.

However, when I dug through my kunai pouch I found my custom storage scroll.

"It's good work. Although should you have anything useful in there when you die, it will be lost forever. It's the main reason I didn't have you more to wear when you woke. Your apartment has nothing but old clothing." Hiruzen said as I sent chakra into the seal.

In a puff of smoke, a new change of clothes, along with my fuinjutsu enhanced armor appeared. I swiftly went about throwing on my clothes, enduring the small dizzy spells and the one moment where I felt out of breath. Still, I managed to get it all on, while wearing the hospital gown so as not to flash a former Hokage. Luckily, my headband hadn't been damaged and I tied that on as well.

"All things considered, the invasion was a resounding success. We took casualties, but dealt such damage to invading forces that it'll take them a decade to recover. Our chunin population was hit the most, but luckily we have promising young shinobi to fill their roles." Hiruzen told me, relieving some of my worries.

"The Kazekage was killed in our battle, but Orochimaru escaped when you and Neji stopped the One-tails' rampage. Like I said, the invasion was a resounding success." He told me as he stared out the window.

'That is indeed good news. So Rasa was the one I felt perish in the battle…'

"And yet I continue to fail in my personal endeavors." The Sandaime continued. His chakra rolled with the statement. His calm ocean of chakra was vibrating underneath his skin.

"He was hailed as a genius for a reason…" I muttered, trying to console him.

"The three of my students combined couldn't hold a candle to me in my prime." He spoke angrily and his chakra continued to rumble my senses. I didn't know what to say. This was a rare moment of anger for the man in front of me.

I wasn't sure if I believed him though. The Sannin were powerful, and Jiraiya was a sage. I couldn't imagine anyone being able to slap him, Tsunade, and Orochimaru around except Madara or Hashirama.

"I will no longer fail, Naruto." He told me as he reigned his chakra and emotions back under control. "You have so much potential, and I will see it realized."

'Knock'

'Knock'

"Naruto?"

I looked at the door as I recognized Sakura's voice and chakra signature. Beside her was Lee's small and undeveloped chakra, along with Gai's honed and refined chakra. My team had survived, thank the heavens.

"One moment." I called out as I turned back to the Sandaime. He was gone, as was his chakra. I couldn't even find it on the edge of my senses.

I moved to the door, my mind in a whirl all the while. Did he just tell me that he was going to train me?

I opened the door and by the looks on their faces, they were surprised to see me in the shape that I was in. Gai recovered the quickest, but his rapid eye movement told me that he would let Lee and Sakura react and greet me first. Sakura did not disappoint.

Water immediately pooled around the rims of her eyes, and her lip trembled. She didn't waste any time then, and quickly barreled into me. I knew it would hurt, but I allowed it and didn't let the pain from the impact show. Instead, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close as she cried into my shoulder.

"It's good to see you too." I joked with a smile and a wink towards my male teammates.

I made sure to inspect the two of them thoroughly with my eyes. They weren't favoring any side to them, and beside the cut here and there they looked normal. In fact, they didn't look like they had been in a battle at all. Lee smiled at me before moving forward and hugging me over Sakura's shaking form. I returned it as best as I could without detaching myself from the girl.

"I'm fine Sakura." I told her as I rubbed her back, trying to get her to calm down.

"She was the one to find you, Naruto." My sensei told me. That was really the only explanation I needed. From all the injuries that Tsunade had listed, I must have been a sorry sight to see. She must have found me extremely fast, because if I had a hole in my chest I couldn't have had very long to live.

'She was worried for me.'

"Ruined a dress too." She mumbled into my chest before pulling away from me and immediately wiping her eyes. I smiled at the joke.

"I owe you my life, then." I said.

"So do I." Lee commented. It seemed like Sakura had performed admirably during the invasion if she had saved Lee's life as well. However, she had a ways to go, physically, until she could become a chunin.

"Stop it." She said after a hiccup. "The only reason I didn't die during the initial attack was because of you two."

"Enough of all that, let's go eat as a team. Like we used to." Sensei stepped in to distract us, Sakura especially. She was a little too emotional at the moment.

"That would be great."

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A month.

That's how long I had been in the hospital. And every single day my team came to visit me after they finished their training. Guy even forced Sakura to go home most nights because she was so worried for me. I was slowly reevaluating my relationship with my teammates after our dinner. They actually cared for me even after all that drama about my rapid advancement.

They were initially told that my body would simply stop functioning at a certain point. They said that most shinobi weren't given the resources that I was, especially when there were others with similar needs. However, I knew that Hiruzen had pulled strings on that front. He had probably sent Jiraiya and Neji to retrieve Tsunade with me in mind.

That was another reason I attributed his slight change in attitude earlier in the day. He was angry at himself for my injuries. He was angry at himself for letting Orochimaru escape again. He was probably angry at just getting old as well. I felt for the old man, I really did.

My heart was full from the day. I didn't realize that all of these people cared for me the way that they did. It was a good feeling.

"They told me you would die in that bed."

I hadn't felt the person that said that, but I also didn't have the reactions at the time to jump or be surprised. I was too wrapped up in my thoughts. Already, the damage from being in the bed for so long was showing.

Shikamaru's chakra revealed itself to me and at the same time, shadows began to part near my left. He was leaning on my apartment building, and using the shadows around him to hide himself. Already I was curious about how he had managed that. After all, he was actively using chakra with that technique, and I still couldn't sense him.

"It's good to see you too, Shikamaru." I told him. He wore the standard gear for a chunin over his toned frame. The only thing I did notice, however, was the slight tan line he had between his jaw and the top of his neck. No, not a tan line, but a dirt line.

'As if he's been wearing a mask recently… Anbu.'

It was an easy deduction, and I was sure that he wouldn't have revealed the information to any of our classmates. He also wouldn't have allowed me to notice the dirt, if he didn't want to.

"You got promoted." I commented as I gestured to his vest.

"So did you." He winked. "I'll admit this isn't exactly a social visit. I was sent by the Sandaime to retrieve a certain fuinjutsu book. And to trade you for this one." Shikamaru held up a small scroll, which I assumed would hold the information inside.

My eyebrows raised as I was slightly surprised. "Interested in seals, are you?" I asked as I dug into my pocket and retrieved my storage scroll. It took me no time to find the actual book. I kept it on my person, so that when I used the shadow clone jutsu, it was replicated and my clones didn't have to fight over it.

"A classmate of mine has shown how… effective they can be." He answered with a smirk as he walked over and handed me the new scroll. I accepted it and handed him the beginner one. I was done with it anyway. It was about time I moved up past the basics anyway.

I smiled at the compliment. "Good luck." I told him as I began to walk away. But before I did, I made sure to leave him with another comment.

"Make sure you don't pass me up too quickly, yea?"

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A/N: Boom!

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Shikamaru with work ethic, and the drive to become strong… scary.

Anyway, not too much was done here. Naruto wakes up in the hospital to find out that he got real fucked up by Shukaku. Tsunade has returned to the village and taken up her role as Hokage. And it's already been a month! Imagine waking up after a month, it must be miserable. But at least he's alive!

And the Sandaime has committed to bringing out his potential. I wonder what that could mean? What else is he going to do while missing his dominant hand?

The political ramifications will be expanded on in the upcoming chapters.

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