Author's Note
A promise is a promise!
I said I'd release an extra chapter for every 60 Power Stones, and you all met the goal. So, here is the bonus chapter.
Just a reminder: For every 60 Power Stones we hit, I will release another extra chapter.
Thanks for the support!
******
"Wow! This is awesome!"
Naruto slapped the stone wall, raising a small cloud of dust. "It's like a secret villain base! Are we gonna build a death ray? Or a giant robot? Tell me we're building a giant robot, believe it! We could call it the 'Fox Bot'!"
The Level 4 Sealing Chamber was a windowless bunker, deep beneath the Senju library. The ceiling was low, and the walls were covered with rows of sealing formulas that looked like a madman's scratches, designed to contain sound, chakra, and explosions.
The only light came from chakra lamps hanging from the ceiling, emitting a low, constant hum that vibrated in your teeth. Naruto, however, was vibrating harder than the lamps.
Karin, on the other hand, was practically glued to the door they had just entered. Her knuckles were white where she gripped her arm, so tight her nails must have been leaving marks.
"I hate closed spaces," she whispered, her red eyes darting erratically from one shadowy corner to another. "I hate basements. I hate being down here...."
Sakura crossed her arms, trying to look professional. Her voice echoed too loudly in the confined space. "It's just a bunker, Karin. It's functional."
"It's a deathtrap!" Karin retorted, her voice rising an octave. "The air doesn't circulate right. There's only one exit. One! How do we know there aren't traps? Or listening devices? Did you check for listening devices? I bet Danzo put listening devices in here!"
Naruto walked over to her and patted her awkwardly on the shoulder. "Calm down, Karin. If there were listening devices, I'd have smelled them by now. My sage nose is super sensitive. Or something."
"You can't smell listening devices, Naruto! That's not how they work!" Karin pushed him away. "And you!" She pointed at Sakura. "You're too calm! That's suspicious!"
"What? I'm calm because we're with the Hokage!" Sakura said, starting to get irritated. "This is the safest place in the village."
"It's the perfect place for an ambush!" Karin insisted. "If we scream, no one will hear us. We're going to die down here and they'll find us in a hundred years as mummies!"
"Karin, you're being irrational," Sakura said.
"And you're not being paranoid enough! How do we know you're not one of Danzo's spies!? Being the Hokage's apprentice would be the perfect cover!"
"Are you crazy?! I've been with Naruto and the team for months!"
"Exactly! Long term infiltration!"
Hinata, who had been quiet in a corner, stepped forward, though her voice was barely audible. "Karin san... please. Sakura san... She's not... she's not an enemy."
Karin stared at her. "You're too nice! You could be a spy too! Maybe you're all spies!"
"That's enough, Karin!" Naruto shouted. "You're scaring Hinata! And you're giving me a headache! Nobody here is a spy!"
"Silence, all of you!"
Tsunade's voice boomed in the small room, cutting the air like a knife. The hum of the lamps seemed to intensify for a second, and then everything fell into absolute silence.
Even Naruto flinched and stood at attention.
Tsunade stood in front of a large map of Konoha unrolled on a stone table. She wasn't wearing her green Hokage robe. She wore her battle uniform: a dark green sleeveless jacket, tight black pants, and combat gloves. She looked younger, tenser, and far more dangerous.
She turned slowly. Her face was impassive, but her eyes were hard as granite.
"Shizune informed me of your... antics... last night in the Senju garden. Though it wasn't necessary. I heard all of you, your noise is too obvious."
Sakura tensed like a piano string. Hinata looked down, her cheeks flushing. Karin seemed to shrink even further, as if she wanted the stone wall to swallow her.
"Master! We were just... arguing!" Sakura said.
"We were training!" Naruto said at the same time. "Just a little! Testing our moves!"
"You tested," Tsunade said, her voice flat. "And you broke three of the First Hokage's peach trees. And the greenhouse. Do you know how much it will cost to replace that glass?"
"That was Sakura chan!" Naruto blurted out, pointing at her. "Her punch is insane! I told her to hit the rock, not the ground next to it!"
"Shut up, Naruto!" Sakura snapped, her face turning bright red. "You provoked me! You said 'Bet you can't break that rock before I make a Rasengan'!"
"And you couldn't! You hit the poor greenhouse!"
"And I told them to keep it down!" Karin yelled. "I told them someone would hear us! But nobody listens to me! I said 'shut up, you idiots, they're going to find us out'!"
"I... I tried to stop them, Tsunade sama," Hinata murmured. "But... they were very... excited."
"Excited," Tsunade repeated, without emotion. "Ten points for initiative. Zero for discretion. What part of 'Secret Council' did you not understand? Did you think the Senju garden was soundproof?"
"But..." Naruto started.
"You nearly brought down the greenhouse, Naruto. A greenhouse. Three ANBU patrols on the outer perimeter heard the commotion. They had to report it. Fortunately, they reported it to me and not the Elders."
"It wasn't that loud..." Naruto muttered.
"The ANBU patrol two kilometers away thought a Biju had broken loose. Loud enough for you, brat?"
Naruto shut his mouth. "Yes, Granny."
"If Danzo didn't know you four were plotting something together, he probably suspects it now."
"Suspects... what, Master?" Sakura asked nervously.
"That you're not just a group of Genin and Chunin playing house. He suspects you're my personal strike team. Which, frankly, is what you are. And you just announced it to the whole village."
The group mumbled a collective, embarrassed "yes."
"Good." Tsunade seemed to relax a fraction, but her eyes were still fixed on them. She slapped the map on the table. "Here's the situation. Akatsuki is at the border, waiting. They know they failed to capture Naruto easily, but they don't know why. Danzo is in the shadows, right here in the village, waiting for us to screw up."
She paused, letting the weight of her words settle in the cold room.
"And Orochimaru... well, that bastard is probably in some dark lab planning how to ruin our day. All of them."
"They're all waiting for me to make a mistake."
"My return," she continued, her voice lowering to a conspiratorial tone, "and the absolute failure of Orochimaru's invasion has left them blind. Their intelligence is useless. They don't know what happened. They don't know about your power, Naruto. They don't know about the Falna. They don't know why Sakura is suddenly so strong, or why I look... like this."
She gestured to herself.
"And we are going to keep it that way. As of today, this bunker is your new home. Your training, your meetings, everything, happens here. No one in. No one out without my permission. Shizune will guard the entrance."
"YEAH!" Naruto shouted, his enthusiasm returning instantly, completely forgetting the scolding. "Secret bunker training! Like ANBU, but cooler! So we're gonna train down here for a week and then go out and crush them all! Believe it!"
Tsunade moved faster than the eye could follow.
One second she was by the map. The next she was in front of Naruto. She rapped him on the head with a knuckle that sounded like a rock hitting wood.
"Hey! Ow! That hurt! What was that for?"
"Shut your mouth, brat!" she growled. "I haven't even gotten to the plan and you're already screaming about 'crushing them'? You're the worst 'Secret Councilor' in history. Where's the secret? Do you want me to paint a sign on the Hokage Tower? 'Secret Plan to Kill Akatsuki in Basement B'!"
"But I'm excited! We're finally gonna do something!"
"You're going to shut up. That's what you're going to do." Tsunade turned serious, her gaze landing on Naruto, pinning him in place.
"Your idea from last night, about hunting Akatsuki. It was stupid."
Naruto blinked, visibly offended. "Hey! But that was your plan! You said we should go and crush them! You said we'd attack first!"
A faint blush appeared on Tsunade's cheeks. She coughed into her fist, looking away for a fraction of a second.
"Details, details. What I meant was we needed an offensive plan, not a suicidal one. A frontal assault on Itachi is suicide. His Mangekyo Sharingan would finish you before you could take three steps."
"His Mange what?" Sakura asked, confused.
"His evolved Sharingan," Tsunade said impatiently. "It's not just predicting. It's seeing the future a second before it happens. It's a genjutsu that can fry your brain in an instant. It's a black fire that doesn't go out. You think you can 'crush' that with a giant Rasengan?"
Naruto swallowed. "Oh. Well... maybe with two giant Rasengans..."
"You won't even see him coming. Even with your new skills, Naruto, you're not ready for that level."
"But you said you'd teach us...!" Naruto insisted.
"I said I would teach you how to hunt an Uchiha," Tsunade corrected him sharply. "Hunting isn't fighting. It's trapping. It's setting a snare. It's denying the enemy their advantages before they even know they're in a fight."
Her gaze hardened, and she moved slowly, settling on Karin.
Karin flinched visibly, as if she wanted to sink into the stone wall.
"The Sharingan can see through Ninjutsu. It can copy Taijutsu. It can predict movements. It's the perfect weapon of deception."
Tsunade stopped right in front of Karin, looking down at her.
"But it can't see through a pure bloodline. It can't predict a power it doesn't understand. And it certainly can't copy this."
"You. Karin Uzumaki. You are the key to all of this."
The silence in the room was absolute, broken only by the hum of the lamps. Karin turned pale, a sickly white.
"Me!?" Her voice was a high pitched shriek. "No, no, no! You must be kidding! It's a mistake! You've got the wrong person! Seriously! I don't fight!"
"Karin..." Sakura tried to say.
"No! I just... I just sense things! And I check tea for poison! And sometimes I scream! I'm good at screaming! And I organize files! I'm the one with the glasses! I'm the one who carries the files! I check supplies! I can tell you how many kunai we have in the armory... seventy three thousand... but I don't fight!"
"You must be talking about Sakura chan! Or Hinata! They're the ones who fight! I'm... I'm support! I'm the rear guard! Way, way in the back! In another village, if possible!"
"At the stadium," Tsunade said, her voice leaving no room for argument, completely ignoring Karin's panic. "When that idiot defended you, when you lost control, you awakened your bloodline power. The Adamantine Sealing Chains."
Naruto leaned toward Sakura. "What's Granny getting at?"
"Shhh," Sakura hissed.
"It's the most powerful Fuinjutsu of the Uzumaki clan," Tsunade continued, her eyes never leaving Karin. "The only jutsu in the world capable of completely neutralizing the chakra manifestation of a Biju... or that of a Susanoo."
"A Susa what?" Sakura asked.
"It's the Mangekyo Sharingan's ultimate shield," Tsunade said impatiently. "A giant, indestructible chakra avatar. Itachi has it. And your Rasengans, Naruto, will bounce off it like pebbles."
"Wait, a giant chakra shield? Like Gaara's, but... made of chakra?" Sakura asked.
"Like Gaara's, if it were a thousand meters tall and could cut a mountain in half. Yes, like that."
Sakura went quiet. "Oh. That... that's a problem."
"But the chains..." Tsunade leaned closer to Karin. "Your chains can pierce it. They can bind it. They are the perfect cage for the Uchiha."
"Cage?!" Karin screamed, latching onto that word. "I don't want to be in a cage! I hate closed spaces! I already told you!"
"You are the cage, girl! Focus!" Tsunade yelled.
"But... but I don't know how!" Karin cried, on the verge of tears. "It was an accident! I don't even remember how I did it! I was... I was scared! And angry!"
"Exactly!" Tsunade said. "And we'll get to that! For now, you need more power. Yours is too weak, too unstable. Naruto."
"Yeah, Granny?"
"Your job is to be her 'battery.' You're the host. She's the receiver. The Falna connection is the key to stabilizing her power and giving her the fuel she needs to manifest the chains at will. I need you to update her and make her a member of the familia."
Naruto got visibly nervous. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away.
"Oh... now? Here? In front of everyone? But it's dark and... cold and...! And Hinata is here!"
Hinata blushed deeply. "Naruto kun..."
Karin, who had been processing the word "cage," suddenly focused on the new information.
"Update me!? What does that mean!? What are you going to do to me!?" Her panic shot up again. "What is he going to do to me!?"
Sakura put a reassuring hand on Karin's shoulder, though her expression was a bit awkward. "Calm down. It's not as bad as it sounds."
"What is it?!"
"He's going to touch your bare back. With blood," Sakura explained, clinically. "It's... weird, but you get used to it."
"WHAT?! BLOOD?! NAKED?! That sounds like a sacrificial ritual!" Karin tried to pull away from Sakura. "I am not taking my shirt off in front of him! He's a pervert!"
"Hey!" Naruto yelled, offended. "I'm not a pervert! I'm the council leader!"
"A council of perverts! I'm out of here! I'm not going to be part of a cult!"
"Calm down, Karin!" Tsunade growled, losing her patience. "It's not a sacrifice! And you're not doing it now! You're a nervous wreck! And you, Naruto, are low on chakra from updating me. We'll do it tomorrow morning. Today, you just watch and learn."
Naruto sighed in relief, then muttered to himself. "Great. Now I'm the team's 'Official Pervert.' All for the mission, believe it!"
"Listen," Tsunade said, her voice low again, drawing everyone's attention. "Akatsuki is the external threat. We'll keep them busy with misinformation. But Danzo is the internal one. And he's smarter than Akatsuki. He won't attack Naruto, not directly. It's too obvious."
Her gaze shifted and landed firmly on Sakura.
Sakura tensed. She swallowed. "Me? Why me?"
"Yes." Tsunade smiled, but it wasn't a pleasant smile. It was grim, calculating. "Exactly. You're the unknown variable. He saw you at the stadium. He saw your strength. He saw a simple Genin, my student, yes, but still a Genin, shatter the ground with a single punch. He knows that strength is 'anomalous.' And he doesn't know where it comes from. The unknown terrifies him. Or, rather, it infuriates him."
"What... what is he going to do?" Sakura asked, her voice barely a whisper. "Is he... going to arrest me?"
"Worse. He'll watch you. He'll send his Root agents to follow you. He'll try to recruit you. And if he can't recruit you, he'll try to discredit you. Or kidnap you."
"Kidnap me?!" Sakura paled. "Master, I can't...!"
"I won't let him touch you!" Naruto yelled. "I'll crush him!"
"No, Naruto. You won't," Tsunade said coldly. "Because that is her mission. Sakura, you are going to be the bait."
"Bait?! I don't want to be bait! Bait gets... eaten!"
"You're going to be the loudest enigma in the village," Tsunade ignored her. "You're going to train in public. You're going to break things. You're going to be arrogant. You're going to let them see you. And while all of Root is following you, trying to figure out your secret... you, Hinata, and Shizune will become my scalpels. You will be my black ops team inside the village."
She looked at the still trembling Uzumaki.
"And you, Karin... you will be my hammer. The real training... hell... begins today."
Tsunade turned back to Sakura.
"Sakura. Your path is different from the others. You're not an Uzumaki and you don't have a Dojutsu. But you have something none of them possess: the most perfect chakra control I've seen since... well, since me."
"It's time you started the real training of a Sannin."
"Sannin training?" Sakura's eyes widened, a hint of excitement replacing the fear. "Am I... going to summon slugs?"
"Don't get excited," Tsunade cut her off. "You're not summoning giant slugs. Not yet. You're too weak to handle a contract of that magnitude. You're going to start something much harder. The first step to the Strength of a Hundred Seal."
Hinata gasped softly. "The... the seal on her forehead?" she asked quietly.
"Exactly, Hinata." Tsunade touched the purple diamond on her own forehead. "This. But it's not a jutsu you learn in a day. It's not a tattoo. It's a lifestyle. It's the absolute pinnacle of chakra control."
"What do I have to do?" Sakura asked, serious now.
"You are going to start storing a small, perfect amount of chakra in a single point on your forehead. Every day, every hour, every minute, without fail. Even while you sleep. It's a reservoir. A collection point."
"Like a... storage seal... on my face?" Sakura said, her hand instinctively going to her own forehead.
"Exactly. The slightest mistake, the tiniest fluctuation in your control, and the chakra dissipates. You have to start from zero."
"That... sounds incredibly difficult," Sakura murmured.
"It is. Most fail in the first month. It requires control bordering on madness. Do you think you have that control, Sakura?"
Sakura clenched her fists. "I... yes. I do."
"Good. Because if you fail, if you let the chakra overflow just once after you start storing it, you could fry your own chakra network. Permanently. It's a jutsu that makes you virtually immortal... as long as the seal lasts," Tsunade finished. "But the first step is the hardest: storing. It might take you years."
Tsunade put a finger in the center of Sakura's forehead. "Focus. Close your eyes. Feel the point. Here. This will be your new center."
Sakura closed her eyes, visibly trembling from the effort of concentration.
"I'm... I'm trying..."
"Don't try. Do. Take a speck of chakra. Not the mass you use for your punches. A... single... strand."
Sakura gritted her teeth, sweat breaking out on her brow.
"I can't!" she panted. "It's... it's moving! It's like trying to grab water!"
"Of course it's moving. It's chakra," Tsunade said, unsympathetic. "Control it! Dominate it! This is the first step, Sakura! If you can't do this, forget surviving Danzo!"
"It's not fair!" Sakura said, frustrated. "Naruto gets power, Hinata gets power, and I get... meditation!"
"They get raw power. You are learning to build a bomb. It requires more patience. Now, again. Feel the point. Forget the training ground. Forget Naruto. Just the point."
Sakura took a deep, shaky breath. "The... point... I... I have it..."
"Good. Now hold it. For the rest of the day. Don't let it go. Not for a second. That is your training."
Sakura nodded, eyes still closed, motionless as a statue.
Tsunade turned sharply to Karin.
"You. Your power is different. It's instinctive. It's rage. It's purely Uzumaki. You can't learn it like her. You have to unleash it."
"Unleash it? How? I already told you, I don't even know how I did it the first time!"
"Easy! Rage is the key! Naruto!"
"Yeah, Granny?"
"Make her angry!"
Naruto looked bewildered. "What? Now? How? I don't want to be mean to her! Look at her! She's about to cry! She's familia! That's cruel!"
"I'm not about to cry!" Karin shrieked. "I just... have dust in my eye!"
Tsunade rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Useless! You're too soft! The enemy won't ask her 'please' before trying to kill her! Karin!"
Karin jumped, as if she'd been struck.
"Your old team used you!" Tsunade barked. "They treated you like trash! They treated you like livestock! They bit you to heal themselves like you were a walking blood bag! Doesn't that make you furious!?"
"No... I don't...!" Karin stammered, backing away. "I... I was useful! I was part of the team!"
"You were a tool! A walking first aid kit! And now Danzo wants that tool! Orochimaru would have dissected you! None of them see you as a person! They only see you as an Uzumaki! A thing to be used!"
"Granny, stop it!" Naruto yelled. "That's too much! You're hurting her!"
"It's the truth!" Tsunade roared. "And the truth hurts! Itachi wants to kill your only living relative! Karin, look at him!"
Karin looked at Naruto.
"He's the only one you have left. Your only family. And you're going to let Itachi take him from you? You're going to hide in the library while Itachi tears him apart? Are you going to be useless again!?"
"No... no...!"
"YES! That's what you are! A coward! A scared tool who can't even protect the one person who treats her like a human being!"
"SHUT UP!" Karin screamed, her voice breaking. "You don't know anything! Leave me alone!"
Faint golden chains, almost transparent, erupted from her back. Four or five of them. They waved weakly in the bunker's cold air, like ribbons in the wind. Then, as quickly as they appeared, they vanished.
Karin gaped, staring at the spot where they had been. She fell to her knees, panting. "I... I..."
Naruto ran to her. "Karin! Hey! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" She pushed him away slightly, still trembling.
Tsunade smiled. A predatory smile. "Good. It's a start. It's weak. Pathetic. But it's a start."
"Do it again," Tsunade ordered.
Karin looked at her, horrified. "No! I can't! I... I don't want to!"
"I didn't ask if you wanted to! I said, do it again! Find that anger!"
"But... I can't! I'm not angry anymore! I'm just... scared!"
"Then use that! I don't care! Show me the chains!"
Karin gritted her teeth, tears streaming down her face. "I said... leave me... alone!"
A single, weaker chain shot out of her shoulder and hit the floor with a faint clink before disappearing.
Tsunade sighed. "Pathetic. Get up. We'll try again in an hour."
Finally, she turned to Hinata and Shizune, who had been watching the whole thing with a mixture of awe and terror.
"You two. Your training is simple."
Shizune turned pale. "Master... simple?"
"You're going to fight me."
The silence fell again. Shizune looked like she was going to faint.
"Master! But...! You're...! We can't...!"
"You can't what? Hit me?" Tsunade, in her twenty year old form, cracked the knuckles on both hands, a sharp sound that echoed off the stone. "Shizune! That Falna gave you elite combat skills you've been repressing! You've been hiding behind me, organizing my schedule and taking care of Tonton! Stop being my assistant and be the Jonin I know you are!"
Her eyes fixed on Hinata.
"Hinata! That 'Lion Heart' speed is a parlor trick if you don't use it to hit! It's useless if you can't hit an opponent who knows you're coming! Your Byakugan prediction is good, but your execution is slow! You react half a second late!"
"I want you both to attack me... now!"
Her voice came from behind Shizune. "Pathetic! You're reacting!"
Shizune barely managed to duck, spinning on her heel as Tsunade's fist whistled past where her head had been. The wind from the blow momentarily extinguished the nearest chakra lamp.
"Hinata, use your prediction! Shizune, use your analysis!" Tsunade shouted, reappearing in the center of the room. "Work together! Stop thinking like individuals!"
Shizune released a cloud of her "Poison Mist Bomb," filling a corner of the room with a purple haze.
"Shizune, to her left! She's gathering chakra in her fist!" Hinata shouted, activating her Byakugan, veins bulging around her eyes.
"Good! Now anticipate it! Don't just see it!" Tsunade punched the floor where Hinata was about to be, sending shockwaves through the stone.
Hinata moved like a ghost through the mist, trying to find an opening, her palms glowing with pale blue chakra.
"Hinata, go for her legs! I'll distract her upper body!" Shizune yelled, launching a dozen poisoned senbon.
Tsunade deflected them all with the back of one hand, never stopping. "That's it! Coordination! But your aim is weak, Shizune!"
Hinata attacked low. "Gentle Fist!"
Tsunade leaped, landing on the ceiling for a second, and then dropped behind them.
"You lost me! You're dead!"
"No!" Hinata yelled, spinning. "She's behind you, Shizune san!"
Shizune ducked as Tsunade threw a kick, but the Sannin changed the angle in mid air and clipped her on the shoulder, sending her crashing into the wall.
"Shizune san!"
"Don't get distracted!" Tsunade appeared in front of Hinata.
Hinata, wide eyed, attempted a Gentle Fist strike. "Eight Trigrams...!"
Tsunade caught her hand. "Slow! I already saw that blow coming! Your Byakugan sees the blow, but your body moves after! You have to move as I'm thinking of hitting, not after!"
Naruto and Karin watched from the side, completely hypnotized by the speed and violence of the "training." Sakura was still standing, trembling, eyes closed, focused on her forehead.
Naruto felt completely useless.
"Hey! What about me?" he yelled over the din. "I want to fight! Put me in, Granny! Fight me! This isn't fair!"
"You are the most important and the most useless one of all!" Tsunade shouted, dodging a chakra scalpel from Shizune (who was already back on her feet) and a palm strike from Hinata at the same time, without even looking at him.
She threw a small, thick, leather bound book at his feet. It landed with a dull thud.
"What's this? 'The Legend of the Gutsy Ninja'?"
"Your job is to read!" Tsunade yelled. "That's your mother's journal! Kushina Uzumaki's journal! It's full of her personal research on Fuinjutsu! She sealed the Kyubi! Figure out how she did it! Understand the philosophy behind the chains! You won't be able to use them until you understand why they exist!"
Naruto's face fell. "Reading?! But that's boring! I want to hit things! C'mon, Granny!"
"Your mother was a sealing genius! You're an idiot!" Tsunade shouted, as she blocked a combined attack from Shizune and Hinata. "Reading might balance things out! Now read and shut up! Or you'll be useless in this fight!"
"Ugh! Fine!"
Naruto complained loudly, dropping onto the cold floor. "Great... The only guy who wants to fight is the only one who has to do homework. This stinks, believe it!"
The fight resumed.
"Hinata, prediction!" Shizune yelled, prepping more senbon.
"Right foot! She's going to kick!"
"Mist!"
"You already used that trick!" Tsunade's voice came out of the mist just before a gust of wind dispersed it. "Shizune, your poison is too weak! You need something that works instantly!"
"Master, it's medical grade poison! I can't...!"
"Then make a new one! Hinata, stop aiming for my chakra points! You know I can block them! Aim for my eyes! My throat! Fight to kill!"
"I... I can't!" Hinata panted.
"Itachi will!" Tsunade punched her in the stomach. Hinata coughed, but used the 'Lion Heart' speed to fall back.
Naruto, meanwhile, was huffing as he read.
"Hey, Granny!" he yelled. "What's a 'Tetradimensional Containment Level'? It sounds like science stuff!"
Tsunade, while sweeping Hinata's legs out from under her, yelled back, "It's the theory behind the Reaper Death Seal, brat! Now concentrate or I'll make you memorize it!"
"But this is boring! 'The strongest Uzumaki seal always requires a price...' Blah, blah, blah... 'The chains are not a weapon, but an extension of the will...' What does that even mean?!"
"It means you have to want it, you idiot!" Tsunade roared, dodging a kick from Shizune. "It means you can't use them if you don't have something to protect! Now shut up!"
The "training" lasted for hours. The bunker echoed with the sound of impacts, panting, and Naruto's frustrated complaints about his mother's grammar.
********
It was night. The Senju Fortress was almost deathly silent, a stark contrast to the controlled chaos of the bunker below.
Naruto limped into the kitchen, his brain fried. He had spent the last six hours reading about "Advanced Sealing Geometry" and "Imposing Will upon Chakra."
"Ramen... I need ramen..." he muttered, opening the fridge. "Never... ever again... will I read about 'Chakra Vortexes.' My brain feels like... like mush."
He stopped. He wasn't alone.
Shizune was sitting at the kitchen table, alone, a steaming cup of tea in her hands. Tonton was asleep at her feet, snoring softly. She was in civilian clothes, rubbing a dark purple bruise that covered most of her forearm.
"Hello, Naruto kun," she said, looking up with a tired smile. "Tough training?"
Naruto collapsed into the chair opposite her, holding his head in his hands. "Tough isn't the word! My brain hurts! Reading about 'Containment Spirals' is worse than fighting ten guys! I feel like my eyes are gonna explode!"
He pointed at her bruise with his chin as he prepared his instant ramen bowl. "And you... are you okay? Your arm is... purple! Seriously! Granny's crazy! She almost took your head off with that kick this afternoon!"
"I think she broke a rib," Shizune said calmly, taking a sip of tea. "And this..." She pointed to her arm. "Was definitely dislocated."
"What?! And you're just sitting here drinking tea?! You should be in the hospital!"
"She already healed it. Or... well, she popped it back in." Shizune winced. "The bruise will stay. But..." She smiled. "It was worth it."
"You're crazy!" Naruto said, pouring the hot water. "You're all crazy! Sakura chan is still down there! She said she wouldn't move until the 'point' stayed still! She's shaking like a leaf, but she's not moving!"
"That's dedication," Shizune said.
"And Karin's asleep in a corner! And Hinata is... I think she's practicing her katas in the hallway! Muttering about 'anticipating'!"
Shizune laughed, a genuine, slightly relieved sound. "Well... at least she made me feel like a real shinobi again. Even if I am... very, very rusty."
"That's not true!" Naruto said, sitting down and starting to slurp loudly. "You were awesome! That poison mist was cool! And those poison needles! Poom, poom, poom! You almost got her!"
Shizune blushed faintly. "Thank you, Naruto kun. To be honest... even though I'm exhausted and probably need an antidote for my own poison... I haven't felt this... useful... in years."
"Useful?" Naruto asked, his mouth full.
"Lady Tsunade..." Shizune said, staring into her teacup. "I haven't seen that fire in her eyes since... well, ever. Since she found you, and since you gave her that power... it's like a part of her that was asleep has woken up."
"The Falna?"
"No. Well, yes. You gave her the Falna, yes. You gave her back her youth, her strength. But I think you gave her back something more important." She paused. "You gave her back her purpose."
Naruto ate his ramen, thinking about that.
"She was like this before, right? In the war?"
"Worse," Shizune said with a small smile. "She was terrifying. Relentless. But she also inspired... well, this. This feeling that we could win, no matter what. I haven't seen her like this in a long time. Since... since Dan."
The name hung in the air. Naruto stopped eating.
"I... I'm sorry, Shizune neechan. I didn't mean to..."
"No. It's all right." She gave him a reassuring smile. "It's just... seeing her train like this, seeing her plan an offensive instead of just reacting to disasters... it's good. You see, Naruto kun... for years, my job was... to keep her alive. To make sure she didn't drink herself to death. That she didn't gamble the village away. It was... a caregiver's job."
"That sounds awful," Naruto said.
"It was, sometimes. But now... her job is to make us stronger. And my job is to keep up with her. It's the first time in a decade that I'm not her babysitter. I'm her shinobi. And it's... it's a relief. It's thanks to you, Naruto kun. You gave her a reason to fight again. Not just to defend, but to attack."
"You're the one who keeps her sane," Naruto said, finishing his broth. "Seriously. You're the glue. Without you, Granny Tsunade would have already demolished half the village out of boredom or over some badly written report."
Shizune laughed. "I don't know if I'm the glue, but at least now I can dodge if she tries to throw a desk at me. That's progress."
"And I'll cover you! We're familia now, believe it! We've gotta watch each other's backs."
Shizune looked at him. The loud kid, the Jinchuriki, the Secret Councilor. The boy who, somehow, had managed to unite a jaded Sannin, her overworked assistant, a timid Hyuga, a traumatized Uzumaki, and a brilliant but insecure Genin.
Lady Tsunade called him her 'Councilor.' "He's something more," Shizune thought.
"Yes, Naruto kun," she said, her smile turning warm and genuine. "We are."
"Great!" Naruto said, getting up to wash his bowl. "Because if I'm going to be the 'sealing genius,' I'm gonna need help. This journal talks about 'blood seals' and 'sacrificial pacts,' and honestly, it's scaring me a little."
Shizune turned serious. "Sacrifice?"
"Yeah. It says here..." Naruto yawned. "'The strongest Uzumaki seal always requires a price. You can't contain something as big as a Biju without giving something in return.' I don't get half of it, but it sounds important. Will you help me figure it out, Shizune neechan?"
Shizune sighed, but her smile didn't fade. Her exhaustion seemed to be replaced by determination.
"Of course, Naruto kun. Bring the book. But first, get yourself another ramen. And make me a cup of tea. It looks like it's going to be a very, very long night."
*****
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