Naruto : Uchiha : Chapter 54

After several hours.

Naruto was on his knee, his hair shadowing his eyes while his breathing ran ragged with sweat dripping from his face like water.

Chen smiled, a genuinely happy smile at having had such a good fight with a child who had truly done his ancestors proud, by coming as far as he had with a long since thought forgotten style that people didn't even talk about these days.

"Naruto stop it, it's enough." Duy called to his friend worry clear in his voice, Sakumo was barely holding himself back at seeing his friend in tatters at having endured such long straight hours of taijutsu for the sake of a friend.

Naruto's hand made it's way to his hair, waving them to shake off his blood rush and sweat and looked up with a smile. His Sharingan was no longer active, not having the chakra to keep it active any longer from the large bursts he had been letting out in between their exchanges to gain a slight edge.

But the man hadn't given in even in the slightest.

The last hour had been brutal, with the man finally pushing him back with offensive since his endurance was giving in upon him. Had it not been for the stamina training Mito had made him go through, he would have hit the floor unconscious two hours ago.

"Had you gone all out, you might have landed a hit child. " Chen's voice was warm, containing a hint of pride making Naruto smile tiredly.

His friends were looking at him as if Chen were an alien of sorts. Had he not seen how quick the blonde had been on his feet till now for hours on end?!

"So you noticed?" he asked in a rasped voice, his throat dry as a desert and got a small nod from Chen causing all eyes to go wide.

"What, you were holding back?!" Sakumo shouted in shock, not believing his ears but Naruto ignored him for the moment, too busy trying to catch his breath.

"Why did you hold yourself back though?" Chen asked, curiosity getting the better of him. The child had impressed him, it had been years since someone had impressed him as much as he had, he dared to say.

Naruto's vision was losing focus now, the adrenaline draining out as the rush of battle was over and his instincts were now now dulling and giving way for sweet numbness.

"I know my limits…" he whispered, his voice weak and Tsunade had finally had enough of sitting silently by the sidelines. She rushed closer to him, slipping down on her knees in an instant and not seeing Chen's wide eyes who didn't even have enough words to contain his shock at what he had heard.

Tsunade gushed over him, instantly scouring through his bruised and tattered body worriedly. His forearms had turned a faint blue from enduring all the blocks throughout their bouts in the last hour, with nothing protecting them whatsoever unlike how he had them wrapped in a thick coating of medical tape for usual when he was in his shinobi gear.

"Hey…" she hushed him in a soft whisper when he tried to tell her he was okay, cupping his cheeks upon seeing his half lidded and unfocused eyes when his face finally plopped upon her chest and his breathing evened out into soft purrs.

He finally gave into the sweet nothingness of pure exhaustion.

"Baka…" she clenched his head in her arms tightly, worry etched upon her face. Even after all that he still hadn't landed a single blow on that damned old coot.

Chen stood behind her, a gentle smile seeing the girl holding him as if he were the most fragile thing in the world right now.

It didn't take a genius to see the pure adoration and care she had for him in her eyes.

"He had already realized I was far from his reach and he would have reduced his endurance had he pushed himself to pull out all his stops. Even in the heat of battle and all my taunts, he had the mind to think his situation rationally and act upon it accordingly, the boy is something else alright…" Chen's thoughts were cut off seeing Sakumo and Duy standing behind Tsunade a bit lamely.

They too wanted to check up on him but both knew how Tsunade was when it came to moments like these, and vice-verse with the bot she had clenched in her arms protectively like a mama bear.

Chen walked up to take the boy from her and offer him some of his natural healing ointments only to be stopped abruptly by Sakumo, who looked at him as if he were the one who was stupid.

"Don't…" the elder man's words died down hearing that comment and he fell silent while pursing his lips.

But he shook off the grip and went to help the boy who was clutched protectively in Tsunade's arms like a little baby.

Chen was stunned when Tsunade glanced dangerously at him, as if a predatory look had washed over her gentle face. Her arms gave the sleeping boy a soft squeeze of reassurance while her aura was downright murderous.

"Stay away from him…" she whispered dangerously, and Chen's eyes softened seeing how beaten up the boy really was, now that he was still and up for him to see. No wonder the girl was angry at him for his condition and he understood now why that silver haired gaki had tried to stop him.

She truly would have lashed out had he taken even a step closer to her, he had no doubt seeing the pure and unadulterated fury within her eyes.

Senju's and Uchiha's were rarely angry…, truly angry.

But when they were, the wisest choice was to stay out of their way no matter who they were.

Hashirama and Madara both had left two historical instants upon the world to show them what they were capable of if ever pushed into a corner.

And Kami be kind, the world still shook in terror upon remembering those two events in their lives.

Their bonds were a deep ones indeed.

Tsunade loosened her grip on the boy in her arms and turned around, letting him lean on her back and picked him up piggy back style with a hop. His cheek rested gently upon her shoulder while he slept like a log and would probably do so for a while now.

She looked back at Sakumo and Duy apologetically for leaving like this, who smiled understandingly and nodded, already knowing she wanted to apologize for leaving like this. But they couldn't blame her for it.

The two boys followed suit and started following her out, having nothing remaining here anyways.

"Come back tomorrow for your first lesson…" Chen's gruff voice made them stop mid-step before they continued on. "…and I'm sorry for my behavior to you." he mumbled, clearly a bit embarrassed at having to do this.

Sakumo shook his head in amusement and pulled Duy out before the boy started hugging his new master to death or made him change his mind by letting him live after that.

Tsunade walked out the forest, making her way through the busy streets of the residential parts of the civilian side all the while earning strange glances from everyone around her.

She couldn't care less for them right now.

Her feet took her to the only place she could think of right now.

...

( Uzumaki clan compounds )

"Coming….!" Mito's muffled voice came from behind the door, before it clicked open to reveal the red haired woman in her usual robes standing there.

Her violet orbs widened upon seeing the state of her apprentice lodged on her grand daughter's back, out like a light before she saw Tsunade's eye prickle with a lone tear in the corner of her tear duct.

"Baa-chan, heal him…" she whispered softly, barely holding back the choke that threatened to take over her voice. Mito's eyes softened upon hearing her little sniff and she motioned the girl in, hurrying her into the room she had reserved for Naruto years ago.

The little Senju heiress laid him down on the futon Mito laid out and sat on her knees by his side while Mito went to gather some towels to wipe his skin clean off those scratches and little wounds.

Tsunade couldn't help but let the slight giggle that escaped her lips when she looked on closely at his face.

He was still smiling in his sleep, no doubt he had enjoyed that brutal assault of a spar back then.

"Baka…" she broke into a fit of sniffling giggles, he was just so damned reckless.

Not once had his eyes or will wavered in that spar even when he was being beaten into the ground in the end. He was still getting up each time, countering and trading blows as if nothing had happened to him in the first place.

And even though she had mostly caught the sight of that small Uchiha symbol on the back of his neck, she knew he must have been smiling the whole time.

That idiot was too damn stubborn for his own good sometimes, not that she was any…ARGH!

As loathe as she was to admit it, she wouldn't have it any other way no matter what she told him when he was awake.

Her hand cupped his cheek, a soft gaze now looking upon his tired sleeping face with just a little smile etched across her lips. She leaned down, not knowing what had come over her.

Her lips hovered over his own, she could feel his gentle breaths tickling her lips and her eyes became half lidded. She moved in closer, nearly pressing her lips over his own…

"Alright?" Mito's voice cut through the silence of the room before trailing off in question seeing Tsunade's flushed cheeks and stiffly sitting posture.

"Is something wrong Tsunade?" she couldn't help but ask seeing the strangely acting girl, and looked on confused when the girl barreled past her side in a flash of golden.

The red haired woman blinked a couple of times before sitting down by the boy's side to start healing him.

Her grand daughter could be so…

Her eyes went wide in shock seeing a small brush of pink lipstick on Naruto's cheek, just near the corner of his lips.

Her eyes softened and she giggled herself, now understanding everything and wiped his cheek clean with a wet towel.

"Looks like I disturbed her…" she spoke in giggles, oh young love… she mused happily…

She wouldn't let the girl know she had come across the mark she had left on her possession.

Just thinking about it like that made her laugh. How much could she tease her?

Or maybe not. She would just let the girl sort it all out, she knew how big of a klutz Tsunade was in matters like these and it could be a negative impact on her if she were to make her realize she had been caught red handed in her attempt.

But it made her heart warm that the girl was falling for a boy who would be worthy to claim her heart in the future.

He would be a fine man for her little Tsunade, after all she had practically raised him for these past years. Tobirama would certainly throw a fit when the time came for the two of them to embrace their feeling completely for each other.

Oh the joys of watching from the side…

...

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