"No, seriously, Shizune-neechan. Are you sure this is the right address?"
Naruto stopped at the entrance to the property, his backpack slung over one shoulder. He gaped at the enormous stone wall surrounding the compound.
"Did we sneak into the Feudal Lord's palace or something? Will he get mad if we step on the grass?"
Shizune laughed nervously, adjusting her bag. "It's not grass, Naruto, it's moss. And yes, he'd probably get mad. And no, I didn't get the address wrong. Welcome home... I guess."
She opened the imposing wooden gate.
"After you."
Naruto swallowed and stepped inside. The stone path was wide and perfectly swept. The garden was a miniature forest.
"Whoa..."
They reached the genkan of the main house. It was huge. The floor was dark, polished wood, so shiny Naruto could see his reflection. A hallway stretched further than he could see, opening onto an inner garden where the sound of a small stream was audible.
"My entire apartment could fit in your bathroom," Naruto said, his voice barely a whisper.
"Probably," Shizune nodded. "It's... a bit large. The First Hokage built it. Lady Tsunade... she likes open spaces."
"Open spaces? This is a training ground! Can I practice the Rasengan in the hallway?"
"Absolutely not!" Shizune sounded alarmed. "That wood is a hundred years old! Besides, the acoustics are terrible. Come on, your room is this way."
Naruto kicked off his boots, leaving them in a mess. Shizune straightened them automatically before leading him down the main hall.
"It's... quiet," Naruto said, lowering his voice. "Too quiet. It's creepy."
"You'll get used to it. Most of the house is sealed off. We only use this wing." Shizune stopped and pointed. "Lady Tsunade's office and bedroom are at the end of the hall. Mine is here, on the left."
She slid open a rice-paper door. "And this one..."
She gestured for him to enter. "Is yours."
Naruto looked inside. It was a large, traditional room with pristine tatami mats and a direct view of the inner garden. In the center was a futon that looked incredibly soft.
"It's... clean," was all Naruto could manage. "Too clean? Where do I put my stuff?"
"In the closet," Shizune said, pointing to a dark wooden door. "And you will keep this room clean, understand? I don't want to find three-day-old ramen bowls under the bed."
"Yeah, yeah..." Naruto walked to his room's door and looked down the hall. He stood in the frame, looked left, and then across the hall.
"Hey, wait a minute."
Shizune crossed her arms. "Hmm."
"Your door is... right there," he said, pointing to Shizune's room.
"Uh-huh."
"And Grandma's office is... right there."
"Exactly," Shizune said, her tone becoming firmer. "There's no way for you to leave this room, not even to go to the bathroom at midnight, without one of us noticing. Or without tripping over Tonton."
Naruto dropped his backpack to the floor with a dull thud. It made a metallic sound.
Shizune raised an eyebrow. "What do you have in there? Weapons?"
"Ten cups of instant ramen, my orange pajamas, and my toothbrush," Naruto said, sitting on the edge of the futon. "The essentials."
"Got it."
"Great," he muttered. "So I'm a prisoner. A luxury prisoner with a nice futon."
"It's for your safety, Naruto. Akatsuki..."
"I know, I know! Akatsuki! It's always Akatsuki! Can't I just have one second to...?"
"I HEARD YOU, BRAT!"
Tsunade's voice echoed from her office down the hall, so loud it vibrated the paper doors.
"AND YES! YOU ARE! SO STOP COMPLAINING, UNPACK YOUR THINGS, AND THEN GET IN HERE! WE HAVE WORK TO DO!"
Naruto jumped. "Jeez...!" he muttered to himself. "And I'm not even yelling!"
Shizune smiled a little. "She has medical training. Hears everything. You'd better start unpacking. I'll go make some tea."
"Yeah, yeah. Hey, Shizune-neechan..."
"Yes?"
"Is Tonton here too?"
"Sleeping at the foot of Lady Tsunade's bed. Don't worry, she's watching you too. She's a surprisingly good guard."
Shizune slipped out of the room, leaving him alone.
Naruto sighed. He opened his backpack and took out the ramen cups. He stacked them neatly in a corner. Then he pulled out his orange pajamas. He held them for a moment.
He left the pajamas on the futon and then fell backward onto it.
It was the softest, most comfortable bed he had ever been on in his life. Way better than his lumpy mattress. He stared up at the dark wooden ceiling.
The silence of the house was strange. It wasn't the empty silence of his apartment, where the only sound was the wind hitting the window. It was a... full silence.
He could hear Shizune rustling around in the next room, preparing tea. He could hear the distant sound of Tsunade slapping a scroll onto her desk in the office. The water running in the garden.
He was... surrounded.
He sat up. This was too weird. He needed to test something.
He stood up, making sure not to make noise on the tatami. He tiptoed to the rice-paper door.
Very carefully, he slid the door open. Just an inch.
"Do you need something, Naruto?"
Shizune's voice came from her room, quiet, but perfectly clear.
Naruto froze.
"No!" he whispered forcefully. "Just... stretching my legs!"
"Stretch them inside your room, please. The tea will be ready soon."
Naruto closed the door.
He lay back down on the futon. A small, involuntary smile crossed his face.
For the first time, he wasn't sleeping alone. He was in a house, with people who were, literally, risking their lives to protect him. The feeling was so strange, so warm, he didn't know how to process it.
He closed his eyes for just a second.
"Hey, Naruto! Is this the place?"
Naruto shot bolt upright. Sakura's voice echoed from the entryway.
"Sakura-chan?"
"And don't push, Karin! You almost made me drop my sleeping bag!"
"Y-you stopped all of a sudden to look at that fish... Move, please!"
Naruto stepped into the hall just in time to see Sakura, Hinata, and Karin arriving, each carrying their own bags and rolled-up futons. Shizune came out to greet them.
Naruto blinked. "What... what are you guys doing here?"
Sakura dropped her bag on the floor with a thud. "Hokage's orders. We're the 'Naruto Guard Detail.' Eight-hour shifts. No breaks."
"I guess... you're so important you need three babysitters," Karin muttered, dropping her things. She adjusted her glasses, looking away.
"It's a sleepover!" Naruto yelled, his face lighting up.
"It's not a sleepover, idiot!" Sakura said. "It's an S-Rank protection mission. So don't try anything weird."
"Weird like what?"
"Like snoring! I heard you snore like a bear."
"I do not snore! Right, Shizune-neesan?"
Shizune looked away. "Well... at the hospital, the nurses did complain a couple of times..."
"Hey!"
"Naruto-kun," Hinata said, placing her bag neatly against the wall. Her voice was calm. "Shizune-san told us to get set up in the guest room across the hall. We'll be... close."
"This is the best!" Naruto said. "We're all together! We can play cards! I've got ramen! We can...!"
"Excuse me," Karin said, looking anxious. "Where's the bathroom? I... I should check the water perimeter... just in case."
"Karin," Sakura said, rubbing her temples. "It's the Hokage's house. I doubt anyone is going to try and get in through the toilet."
"B-but you never know! Mist shinobi... they're experts at silent water assassination. We should check the windows! Hinata-san, could you... activate your Byakugan?"
"Sure. Byakugan."
Hinata activated her dōjutsu. Her eyes scanned the structure.
"All... all clear. Lady Tsunade is... drinking? No, she's checking a scroll. And Tonton is asleep at her feet."
"Great! We're safe!" Naruto said. "Now, cards!"
"NARUTO!" Tsunade's voice boomed again, sounding impatient this time. "LEAVE YOUR GUARDS ALONE AND LET THEM GET SETTLED! AND THEN GET TO MY OFFICE! NOW!"
"Heard, Chief!" he yelled back. He turned to the girls. "See ya later! Don't start the fun without me!"
He ran down the hall.
Sakura sighed. "Secret Advisor...."
"Yeah," Karin said, smiling a little. "But it's amazing."
Hinata nodded, a small smile on her face.
"Okay... we should get organized," Karin said, though her voice trembled a bit. "Sakura-san, could you stay here? You could be the decoy."
"The decoy? Why am I the decoy?"
"Well... you're the loudest and your hair is... pink. If someone comes in, they'll see you first. Hinata-san, could we... take the outer perimeter? I need you to check the chakra flow of the ground. To look for listening seals."
"But Shizune-san said the house was safe," Hinata pointed out.
"It's never safe!" Karin said, almost squeaking. "What if the Hokage is a traitor? Or Shizune? Or the pig?"
Sakura sighed. "Karin, can you drop the paranoia for one second? Lady Tsunade is the Hokage. We're here to protect Naruto from outside threats."
"A threat is a threat! Fine... let's change. Hinata-san, could you stay here? Watch Naruto's door. D-don't let him out. Not even if he says he's hungry."
"Understood."
"And us?" Sakura asked.
"You and I... can go to the guest room. To decide the shifts. I-if it's okay, I'll take the first one, from ten to two. My sensory chakra works best at night."
"Fine. I'll take two to six. Hinata?"
"I can take the six-to-dawn shift," Hinata said from the hallway. "I'm used to getting up early to train."
"Okay," Karin said. "Now... I'll try to sense if anyone else is in the house."
She closed her eyes. Sakura and Hinata waited.
"All clear."
...
Naruto stopped in front of Tsunade's office. The paper door had a small ink stain on it. He knocked.
"Get in, brat! And close the door!"
Naruto entered and shut it. The office was... a disaster. Scrolls stacked to the ceiling. Books open on the floor. Several empty sake bottles were next to an overflowing wastebasket, and a half-full one rested on the desk.
"Wow. And I thought my room was messy."
Tsunade didn't look up. She was reading a thick scroll under a lamplight. "Shut up. You settled in?"
"Yeah. Shizune-neechan put me in the isolation cell. What is all this?"
"This," Tsunade said, tapping the scroll she was reading, "is why you're my 'Secret Advisor.' It's an intelligence report from Kumo about a group of bandits near the Land of Fire's border. Boring."
She tossed the scroll onto a pile that threatened to collapse.
"And this," she said, holding up another, "is a budget request from the sealing team for 'practice materials.' Denied. They want gold for their inks." She tossed it onto another pile.
"Did you call me here to watch you do paperwork? I thought we were going to train! Or at least eat dinner!"
Tsunade finally looked at him. Her eyes were tired and marked by fatigue. "I called you in here because you said you wanted to help..."
"Hey..."
"Don't look at me like that. I'm surrounded by elders who want my seat or who think a woman can't run the village. And Danzō... well, Danzō is Danzō. I need eyes that aren't compromised."
"Right." Tsunade leaned back in her chair, the moment of intensity passing. "Now. The real work."
"Huh?"
Tsunade pointed to a huge pile of harmless-looking scrolls in the corner. "Those are tomorrow's D- and C-rank mission requests. They're all approved, but I need you to sort them by priority."
Naruto stared at her in horror. "Sort them?"
"The 'dog-walking' ones go in the Genin pile. The 'fence-mending' ones go in the Chūnin pile. And anything that mentions 'cats'..."
"What about the cats?"
"They get burned!" Tsunade growled. "I hate cat missions! Especially the ones from the Feudal Lord's wife! That little demon Tora! Get to work! And if I hear any complaints, I'll have you cleaning the bathrooms with a toothbrush."
Naruto groaned. "This is worse than being a prisoner!"
"It's the life of a Hokage, brat! Get used to it! Shizune will bring dinner in here. You started late."
Naruto shuffled over to the pile and picked up the first scroll. "Find medicinal herbs... is this Genin or Chūnin?"
"Genin! Use your head! Next!"
...
Several kilometers from Konoha, rain fell in gray sheets.
A rural road, covered in mud. Two figures walked in the downpour, their black cloaks with red clouds dripping water.
"What a depressing town," Kisame Hoshigaki said, his deep voice rumbling. "And this rain... reminds me of home. Makes me want to... skin something. Are you sure this is the right route, Itachi-san?"
Itachi didn't stop. His eyes were fixed on the road. "That's what the reports say. An inn known for its tea. A likely place for a wandering shinobi to stop and gather information."
"Information... Why don't we just walk in?" Kisame grinned, showing his sharp teeth under the straw hat. "I heard Orochimaru's invasion was a complete failure. And that the Third is still alive."
"So I've heard," Itachi replied, his voice flat.
"Old man Sarutobi could barely stand ten years ago. He must be dust by now. And the village must be a mess. It's the perfect time to go in, grab the Jinchūriki, and leave."
"Why this stop? Why the subtlety? It's not your style. Your style is... how to put it? More... black fire and screaming?"
Itachi stopped. Rain dripped from his hat.
"Because the report also mentioned that Tsunade Senju had returned to the village."
Kisame's smile vanished. "Ah. The Sannin. The Slug Princess. The Legendary Gambler... and the Legendary Sucker."
"She doesn't lose when it matters," Itachi said quietly.
"Well, that complicates things. You think the old woman really came back to Konoha? I heard she was terrified of... well, everything."
"Tsunade alone isn't the problem," Itachi said. "The problem is what her return means."
"And what does it mean? That Konoha's taverns are losing money?"
"It means Hiruzen convinced her to take the hat. Or is about to. It means the village isn't as weak as we expected. And Orochimaru's information... is no longer reliable."
Itachi looked toward the horizon, in Konoha's direction, though he couldn't see it.
"Something has changed the flow of events. We must proceed with extreme caution."
"Extreme caution... Boring," Kisame grumbled. "But if you insist... I just hope this tea is good."
...
In the Root base, the air was cold and sterile.
Danzō sat on his stone throne, motionless in the darkness. Fū knelt before him.
"The report." Danzō's voice was harsh and dry.
"Surveillance mission failed, Danzō-sama."
The silence in the chamber was absolute. Danzō's single visible eye narrowed.
"Failed. That is a word I do not tolerate, Fū. Failure implies incompetence. Are you incompetent?"
"No, sir. My apologies. But the target is... impenetrable. Subject Uzumaki has not been alone for a single second since the council meeting."
"You elude Jōnin guards. It's your specialty," Danzō said. "You are trained to move unseen. What has changed?"
"It is not a Jōnin guard," Fū said, his voice monotone. "It's her. Tsunade. The subject has moved into the Senju residence."
"What?"
"He is sleeping under the same roof as the Hokage, her apprentice Shizune, and a rotating guard of Haruno Sakura..."
"The Sannin's apprentice," Danzō interrupted.
"...the Hyūga heiress, Hinata..."
"The Byakugan."
"...and the Uzumaki, Karin."
"The redhead? The one we found in the exams?"
"The same. Her sensory abilities are... sharp. He is never without at least two pairs of 'eyes' on him. And one of those pairs is the Byakugan. Approaching the residence undetected is... impossible. The property is designed for defense. Few blind spots. Too many ears."
Danzō gripped the arm of his stone throne. A faint cracking sound was heard.
"So... she hoards him. Locks him in her own fortress."
"She is protecting him, sir."
"Protecting!" Danzō hissed. "That sentimental fool! She's polishing the weapon and aiming it! She thinks he's a child... she's turning him into her dog, not the village's."
"Sir... what are your orders?"
"Withdraw," Danzō ordered. "Watch the others. The girls."
"Sir?"
"If you cannot get through the wall, attack the foundations. A Byakugan, a sensor, and... Haruno? What is she doing there? She's useless."
"Her medical skills are improving rapidly, sir. And her strength..."
"It doesn't matter. Find the weakest link. Find it. Now, go."
Fū disappeared into the shadows.
Danzō was left alone in the darkness. You think you can hoard the village's greatest asset, Tsunade... we shall see.
*****
Massive Update: Chapters 142-147 are here!
Hello my dear readers! Chapters 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, and 147 are now published and unlocked, so please enjoy the reading and thank you all for your support.
New Character Unlocked: Tenten
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