CH 17: Learning [5]

Whenever she saw that photo she was tempted to smash it against the floor, but she was simply overcome by memories and nostalgia and ended up contemplating it with a practically incomprehensible mixture of feelings between happiness, nostalgia, resentment and envy.

Koharu put the object in the drawer when she heard a knock at the door and after sighing a little to control the emotions running wild in her heart, she recovered the sullen countenance that characterized her.

"Come in..."Said Koharu.

Tsunade entered the place, wearing her usual clothes, with a serious expression on her face. The two women never got along well even though Hiruzen Sarutobi was trained together with the older woman and in turn, trained the younger one. The older woman immediately hardened her gaze as she had in front of her the grandniece of her master, the Niīdaime Hokage and in turn, the granddaughter of the Shōdaime Hokage. tsunade took a seat in the chair in front of the desk.

"Well, I thought you'd be lying around like the vulgar alcoholic you are in some Fire Nation casino..." said Tsunade sternly, "What do you want? If you need another loan you can go back to where you came from, I'm not going to waste the village's money on your stupidities...".

"Relax, old woman..." Replied Tsunade with haughtiness "The truth is that I come here for an important matter and even though I can't stand you, you are the only one who can help me"tsunade finished with a serious tone.

"I hope it's not something silly," replied Koharu sullenly.

"No..."Tsunade hardened her expression "I hate to admit it, but only you can help me with the Kyuubi boy..."

"What's going on?" Koharu immediately became interested in the subject.

"It seems that the seal made by Minato to seal the beast had a slight flaw... I have been studying it for days and I realized that the mind of the beast has ended up prevailing over the boy's"Tsunade repeated the words she had rehearsed for hours to sound as if she really despised her beloved and adored grandson/master.

"I just thought that would happen"Koharu replied with a hardened look"The beast is too powerful for a simple seal to successfully contain it... Now explain to me why you have come to me and not to Sarutobi..."

"As if you didn't know..."Tsunade folded her arms "The old man is too soft and would surely try to convince me that the little boy can handle the Kyūubi..."

"Hiruzen was always a softy..." Replied Koharu with something like a smile on her face, "That's true," Koharu seemed convinced by the argument, "And why didn't you go to the village council?

"Are you kidding?" replied tsunade with disdain, "Those stiffs are jerks who would try to take advantage of the situation... I'm of the opinion that the brat should be killed to get rid of the Kyūubi, at least for a while."

"That's true..."Koharu nodded "Besides, in the end the brat containing him is still an Uzumaki" Koharu gaze hardened even more "What do you have in mind?"

"Kushina was always very naive, I can distract her and Konan so you can infiltrate the house and kill him..."Tsunade was perverse to keep the masquerade "Besides, we can always resort to the Yamanaka to make the two forget the feelings they have for that spawn".

"Now I understand." The words of the Hokage's advisor slightly confused Tsunade.

"What do you mean," Tsunade replied sincerely surprised.

"After all, you don't have the cold blood to murder your own grandson," Koharu's words left Tsunade incredulous, mostly because she didn't imagine that someone could know the secret.

"W-what do you mean?" Tsunade was visibly nervous.

"As if I didn't know..."Koharu made a grim smile "The spoiled granddaughter of the Shōdaime helping an orphan by simple conviction... Let anyone who doesn't know you believe it, besides Minato was quite similar to Dan Katou" tsunade looked away visibly confused to seem sincerely puzzled "But well... If you are willing to have me kill your grandson, I will do it for the good of the village".

"So be it..." Tsunade replied after a few seconds.

...

Koharu sneaked into the Uzumaki house believing that Tsunade had managed to neutralize the boy's mothers. In her time she was one of the best trained Kunoichi in the world, but since Sarutobi was a prodigy, she eclipsed her. However, for her that wasn't really a problem, as she kept a low profile this way and would always have the element of surprise in her favor.

She walked through the corridors and sensed a presence in the basement of the house, so she reached the stairs and began to descend with remarkable stealth....

As he prepared to end the life of Tsunade's grandson, he thought that in the end he was an Uzumaki and while only Kushina would be left for Konoha, he could then arrange a marriage for her to have another possible container for the Bijūu in the future, once the beast escaped the Meikai (Underworld) to return to life....

When she finished descending the stairs, she was surprised to find the boy folding his arms and staring at her.

"Wow, so the ability to sense emotions didn't come from Mito-sama, but from you, Kyūubi..." Koharu smiled softly.

"What are you talking about?" naruto hardenen his gaze

"I'm surprised you didn't act earlier, when Tsunade took the little boy's mothers away" Koharu watched Naruti carefully, believing that the fox had completely taken over him "Whatever, today you will simply die, I hope you're ready..."Koharu pulled out from among her clothes a Kunai with a handle slightly longer than a normal one

"You don't scare me..."

But naruto was only able to dodge the slash the woman threw at his chest thanks to his Sharingan, which was activated practically by instinct. However, the black shirt she was wearing did not have the same luck and soon manifested a cut that partially exposed the blond's chest.

"For an old woman, her speed is surprising..." Thought naruto analytically, looking closely at his enemy.

"I didn't think you could dodge me"Koharu lunged forward again "But you're not going to save yourself!"

Again Naruto had trouble dodging the woman, but in the end he was able to do so and avoid further trouble. However, Koharu continued attacking insistently all over the place, surprising the blond with her ferocity and that disconcerting speed for a person of his age.

"Are you surprised by my skill, Kyūubi?" Koharu smiled confidently when after launching a lunge that Naruto dodged, she threw a kick that sent him crashing into a wall of the room, falling to the ground seconds later.

"Damn..."muttered naruto, slowly getting to his feet.

"I may be old, but I was once the best Kunoichi in the world" Koharu Utatane glared at Naruto and said "Taijūtsu, Ninjūtsu, Genjūtsus, Fuinjūtsu, Kenjūtsu... There's no Ninja art I couldn't master".

"she's skillful" thought Naruto seriously.

"Well then, it's time to show you my skill-"Koharu performed a sequence of extremely fast hand seals {Katōn: Ryūgamu} (Fire Element: Dragon Bite)!

The Koharu's hands were surrounded by intense Katōn Chakra and again she launched herself towards naruto, who transformed his Sharingan into Byakugan. Koharu tried to throw a grab at naruto to burn him and managed to grab his right arm, causing Naruto to suppress a pained expression. However, using his Tenketsu to expel Chakra from his body, he was able to quickly free himself.

"He went from Sharingan to Byakugan in seconds..." Koharu looked wary "I've never seen anything like that before" She coolly focused on Naruto "What the hell are you?"

"If you defeat me, I might tell you then..." From the palm of naruto's left hand emerged a bone stake.

"Very well, I just hope you don't die first...".

The two rushed forward and during the short distance that separated them, Koharu took out another Kunai from her clothes that she quickly imbued with Chakra, ready to finish off the blond, who was about to impale the woman for the pain she had caused him in his arm to get even...

He would subdue her later.

"{Nikkōu no Jūtsu} (Sunlight Technique)... "To naruto surprise, the woman gave off an extremely bright glow from her entire body, which left him completely blinded by the enhanced vision of his Byakugan.

"What the hell...! " naruto launched his attack practically blind.

When he regained his sight, he was stunned....

His right arm was on the ground, severed at the midpoint between his elbow and shoulder. He grimaced in fury and let out a shriek at the ceiling as he grabbed the bloody stump he had been left with. Koharu, although her right shoulder had been pierced by the stake and she had lost movement, could be healed with Medical Ninjutsu.

"Ha... I wanted to break you in two" Koharu stood up with some difficulty to see the boy at her feet "Although well, in the end you're just a beast...- She slowly approached the boy, ready to decapitate him with the bloodstained Kunai she wielded in her functional hand -Well then... Anything to say before I kill you" Koharu took momentum to give him a direct blow at the base of the neck.