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Chapter 4 - [4]:sharingan

She got there and saw everyone else was there too and talking in a heated debate. Hiashi, Shikaku, Tsume, and Chouza looked like she felt, irritated and wishing they were anywhere else, preferably with those who were still in treatment. Some of the other members on both sides looked irritated too, like they agreed that this could have waited another day.

One of the civilians saw the slug sannin approach. "Hokage-sama, is it true that the fox has already endangered the lives of several of our shinobi?"

Tsunade sent out so much killing intent right then it almost felt like she was trying to summon the Manda equivalent of the slugs. "Listen good everyone, I am NOT in a good mood right now. I do NOT appreciate being interrupted when I'm working to save people's lives. I do NOT appreciate people ordering me, the hokage, around like they outrank me and demanding I attend meetings that I DID NOT CALL! AND I do NOT appreciate those meetings starting BEFORE I EVEN SHOW UP!" She paused to glare at each and every person there. "Now, first thing first, who here thinks they can demand I show up here or get punished if I refused?"

No one answered, prompting Tsunade to cross her arms. "That oh-so-kindly-worded request didn't write itself people. Answer me now!" Still no one answered. "Fine. Since no one here has got the balls to admit it, give me one damn good reason why I shouldn't declare this meeting adjourned."

Summoning up their courage, Homura spoke first after clearing his throat. "Hokage-sama, not to make light of the grave insult to your authority, but there is a subject being discussed already that you should help settle." He paused until he was certain he had her attention. "It has come to our attention that the mission to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha from the clutches of Orochimaru was a success, but there is question regarding if Naruto Uzumaki went too far to ensure success here."

Some of the civilians looked like they wanted to shout out derogatory comments about Naruto, but held their tongues since Tsunade was already ready to beat the crap out of someone who crossed her. A wise choice, since her next choice of words were quite angry. "How exactly did this come to your attention?"

"We asked our friends in the Anbu about why four genin, one chuunin, and a couple of jounin were sent out of the village all of a sudden." Koharu answered.

Tsunade frowned. "Anbu reports are confidential and not meant to be open access to anyone who happens to ask."

"We heard that the demon brat took the last Uchiha out of Konoha to kill him and pretended to be part of the search party to avoid suspicions. Is that true Hokage-sama?" Another civilian asked, changing the subject.

Tsunade glared. "Let me guess, you're either assuming that, or you heard that from someone you know full well hates Naruto. Doesn't anyone here actually want to here the truth, or does everyone just want to speculate and rant anti-Naruto propaganda?"

No one answered, but everyone did look curious about the details of the mission. Tsunade, still irritated, decided to get this over with. "Now, since everyone's so damn curious, here's the real facts about what just happened. Now, during a strange breach of security, four jounin level shinobi from Orochimaru's forces came to Sasuke Uchiha and convinced him to go with them to Orochimaru's side. Once I learned of this, I send out a team of jounin ninja to intercept them, but also requested chuunin Shikamaru Nara to assemble a second team to stop Orochimaru's men and bring the Uchiha back. Today I learned they succeeded in their objective, but several of those involved are undergoing major medical care to stabilize them so we cannot currently gain more details on what happened on the field."

"So the Uzumaki boy is not to blame for all this?" One of the more sensible civilians asked. She was a middle-aged brunette wearing a yellow shirt.

The civilian next to her, an older man with a pot belly and black hair, looked at her angrily. "You're an idiot if you believe that Shinju. Can you really believe that four enemy ninja got in and out of the village without being noticed, and got taken down one by one by mere genin, and that the last Uchiha would desert the village his ancestors helped to create?"

She glared back at him. "It makes more sense than the Uzumaki boy betraying us now by after fighting for us during the invasion rather than against us, or that the Uchiha would leave the village simply because one person annoyed him. If you all admit he's petty enough to leave the village because he can't stand being one-upped, then why do you respect him so much?"

"Sasuke Uchiha is not petty! He was abducted!" A different civilian shouted.

"Then why are people accusing Naruto of being responsible if you admit that?" Shikaku asked.

Koharu was the one to answer. "We found out that Sasuke is now is the prison hospital. Clearly he was unfairly attacked and Shikamaru says Naruto was the one to go after him personally after the others in the group were occupied elsewhere."

"Are you unaware that Naruto himself is in the hospital too? And suffered three direct chidori hits? A move known only to Kakashi Hatake... and Sasuke Uchiha?" Tsunade asked.

"Why is he not dead yet?" One of the civilians asked. "He should be executed for endangering the Uchiha like this."

There were a few murmurs of agreement, but before it could grow into a large cry for Naruto's death, Tsunade slammed her hand again. "Where the hell do you get off making such a demand? By all accounts, you're punishing him for doing his job."

"His job was to bring Sasuke back, not to endanger him." Koharu countered.

Tsunade glared at the older woman. "Sasuke had no restraints against endangering naruto. So was Naruto not allowed to defend himself or subdue Sasuke with force if he refused to comply?"

Tsume snarled at the civilians trying to come up with an excuse to justify the situation the way they wanted to see it as. "Enough you idiots. If Sasuke actually wanted to come back like you think, then why didn't he fight back against the Oto nin? You all claim he's the best in his age group, yet nothing was done until we sent out other genin to do something about it. So you have to admit Sasuke's either not as strong than you give him credit for, or he was trying to get away with them."

"Even so, Naruto Uzumaki must still be punished for what he did." One of the more stubborn civilians stated.

Tsunade was even madder now. "That is not the point, and I think you all are deliberately missing that to avoid the real issue here. On what grounds do you have to justify such a course of action?"

"We need to make it clear to the boy that we will not tolerate him using the fox's power to endanger our more prominent shinobi." The same civilian replied.

Tsunade arched an eyebrow. "And what gives you reason to believe Naruto used any of the fox's chakra in the first place?"

"How else could he survive having three terrible wounds when one alone is enough to kill? The sand-using boy from Suna survived one and we all know he's a mosnter, so how else do you justify the Kyubi brat still breathing?"

"Why isn't someone killing him right now so we can be done with the son of a bitch once and for all?" A different civilian bitterly asked.

Tsunade punched the wall, creating a large crater. "First of all, Naruto will not be punished for doing his job, which was to bring Sasuke Uchiha back by any means necessary. Punishing him for that will accomplish nothing other than creating hostility in all the ninja, who will fear what they may have to endure if they succeed or fail their own missions. Second of all, Shikamaru Nara was the one in charge of the team and gave Naruto the order to go after Sasuke solo while he and all the other members were otherwise unable to continue on their objective. That does not deserve punishment, but if you're so damn convinced it does, then Shikamaru Nara deserves punishment too since as team leader he is responsible for what the team does."

She cast Shikaku a glance to show she didn't agree with this but needed to get the point across. The Nara head understood completely.

Danzou surprised everyone by being the next to speak. "Hokage-sama is completely right. Naruto Uzumaki should be reminded to better control himself, and maybe some measures should be taken to help ensure that, but downright punishing him will cause more trouble than good."

That shut the civilians up. Danzou had always been sympathetic to their needs and concerns, but if he refused to take their side they lost a big factor in getting the results they wanted. He in fact was one of the biggest reasons they never got any ninja to actually kill Naruto, since he needed Naruto alive in order to use him.

Tsunade looked relieved. "Good, now that that's settled, Sasuke Uchiha does deserve punishment as he was not under orders and acted against the village. Whether you believe he left voluntarily or not, he was close to being acquired by Orochimaru and thus having the sharingan used against Konoha. It's likely that the snake will send more for him, so Sasuke needs to be kept out of sight to prevent anyone from taking him or him being able to leave a second time."

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