38. Aftermath (3)

"Not now Danzo, the village has already gone through enough loss," said Hiruzen, his voice tired as he looked up from the report he was reading.

Just when Danzo was planning to press the issue, the door of the house opened with a BANG startling its residents.

"Jiraiya?" called out the third his voice clearly indicating his surprise, not expecting his disciple's presence in the village, at least not this quick.

"What happened to my disciple's family? Are they alive?" asked Jiraiya, coming straight to the point.

Danzo had a frown form on his face which he quickly hid, while the third answered about the situation of Kushina, Naruto and the boy and asked a question of his own. "What happened to Minato? Do you know about his condition?" he asked thinking that was how he got the news about Kyubi's attack so fast.

"He is alive, but injured, he is undergoing treatment in a secure place." said Jiraiya, his voice containing a bit of relief from learning the news.

"Do you know anything about what happened yesterday?" asked Hiruzen.

"No, Minato was unconscious, I don't have much information, we need to wait for Aiko to regain consciousness." said Jiraiya. " Where are they? I want to see them" he added.

"Kushina's condition is very unstable, I suggest we keep her isolated and quickly come to a decision." interrupted Danzo a bit annoyed, as he noticed they were having a conversation completely ignoring his presence.

"What decision?" asked Jiraiya, frowning a little as he looked at the elder.

"We need to find a new host for the Kyubi, before Kushina dies and we luckily have a Uzumaki boy in Konoha, losing the Kyubi or letting it rampage again will cause serious losses on the village" said Danzo, he thought with Minato gone and Kushina dead he could easily control the boy and obtain Kyubi's power before Minato returned.

" You know what happens when the tailed beast is extracted from the Jinchūriki?" asked Jiraiya, his eyes turning sharp as pressure equal to Hiruzen leaked from his body locking on Danzo. He wasn't someone who lost his temper easily, but this was touching his bottom line.

"Her life is hanging by a thread, we don't know what will happen if we wait any longer, our medical ninjas aren't able to do anything." said Danzo, keeping a calm face, but the beads of sweat coating his forehead showed that he was anything but calm.

"What is the meaning of this?, they got injured trying to protect the village" said Jiraiya, his anger rising as he looked at his teacher feeling a bit disappointed.

"Danzo, we will do our best to treat Kushina and let nature take its course, don't talk about this anymore." said Hiruzen, his voice growing stern as he looked at his past teammate.

Danzo lowered his head hiding his expression, not pressing the issue further.

"Where are they?I want to check on their conditions myself." said Jiraiya, getting his emotions under control, obtaining the location from third.

"Danzo, Minato is just injured, not dead, So if I were you, I would think about the consequences, before I act against his family." warned Jiraiya coldly as he flickered away towards the hospital.

.........…

"Jiraiya-san" called out Aiko as the new visitor entered the room.

"Aiko-kun, you are in better shape than I expected." said Jiraiya, smiling a little, looking at the boy lying on the bed.

"So, can you tell me what happened yesterday, in as much detail as you can remember?" asked Jiraiya, his face turning serious as he sat near the bed.

"How is Minato-san, Is he alright?" asked Aiko before answering his question as the toad had said that he would inform Jiraiya about the situation.

"Minato is alive, injured but alive, the sage toads will heal him, no worries." he answered with confidence in his voice, making the boy sigh in relief.

Aiko then proceeded to tell about the incident to Jiraiya, about Kushina's kidnapping, the masked man, and the weird creature that used wood and changed its shape, and how Minato returned with the second half of Kyubi, naruto's injury and sealing of Kyubi.

"They were very strong, I couldn't defeat them." said Aiko, ending his recollection as he looked at the ceiling of the room in seemingly low spirit.

Jiraiya who had a serious expression on his face when the story began now had a dumbfounded expression on it as he looked at the boy. If what he said was true then the boy had not only managed to be alive after fighting the attackers but also saved Kushina's and Naruto's life and sealed back the Kyubi saving the whole village.

"You cut the Kyubi in half? Do you have that weapon with you now?" asked Jiraiya looking at him after regaining his composure.

Aiko nodded his head and summoned the sword using the seal he had placed on it, as he handed it to Jiraiya.

'He really can use Hiraishin.' thought Jiraiya taking the sword in hand looking at the boy. 'What type of monster did my Disciple take in?' He added in his mind as, using such a complicated jutsu at such a young age was no simple feat.

"Does anybody else know the existence of this sword?" he asked after inspecting it.

"No, only me and Kushina-san." said Aiko, frowning a little noticing the seriousness in Jiraiya's voice.

"Good, nobody should know the ability of this sword, Ok?" he said, thinking about the consequences if the word went out that Konoha had a weapon that could split tailed beasts.

"And Minato was the one who divided and sealed the Kyubi into Kushina and naruto, you don't know how he did it" he added looking at the boy, he knew that showing too much potential without proper background will only be detrimental to the boy and there were many people who would exploit him for his skills and saying Minato did it will increase his reputation and also deter the people aiming for his family.

Aiko frowned but nodded his head accepting the suggestion as he did not sense any ill will from the white haired man.

"Good, I will inform the details to the third and you take rest and remember what we talked about." said Jiraiya, ruffling the boy's hair.

"Jiraiya san, how is Kushina san's condition?" asked the red-haired boy as Jiraiya was about to leave the room.

"She is alive, but her condition is not too good, but don't worry we will save her." he said looking back at the boy.

"How?" asked Aiko, a bit hopeful as he had noticed the mark indicating Kushina was still very dim and there wasn't much improvement in it indicating that she wasn't healing from her injuries.

"As long as she is alive, there is someone who could save her." he said as a smile formed on his face.

"Who?" asked Aiko looking at the white-haired man.

"She is known as the best medical ninja in the world and was also my teammate, one of the three legendary Sannins of Konoha, Tsunade Seju." he replied, his eyes flashing with complicated emotions as he left the hospital room heading towards Kushina's location.