Categories > Anime/Manga > Naruto > Innocence From Ashes
Innocence From Ashes
Chapter 5
Tsunade listened to the unlikely tirade from an obviously overwrought farmer with a hint of irritation. She’d finished most of her paperwork, had deemed it a day well spent, and had been sipping on her sake, Shizune frowning behind her, a fat Ton Ton in her arms just behind her.
She’d just managed to get a pleasant buzz, when the guard had arrived with this oxen like man, one arm wrapped in a bandage, raving like a lunatic, shouting something about Kyuubi, and almost wetting his pants in his anxiety.
“Why don’t you start from the beginning?” She almost snapped. Damn delusional farmer. Had just a whiff or two too much from his moonshine bottle obviously. Kyuubi was securely locked into Naruto, wherever her missing brat was now. She felt a longing pang in her heart. Naruto, where are you?
One blonde brow arched, as she listened to some wild tale of a succession of naked little boys pillaging the farmer’s clothesline. She wondered what the hell this had anything to do with the Ninetails. She began to wonder about the man’s sanity, when he launched into a bizarre accounting of little boys not being little boys, but some sort of shape shifting hellspawn of demon kind. She snuck a look at Shizune, who appeared utterly rapt in the farmer’s words, but gave her superior a jaunty wink at the ludicrousness of such a tale.
“And then, I heard a voice shout Naruto and it turned into a howl, and the damn little fox yelped out the name Sasuke just before it changed, and then there was a loud screaming and the damn nine tailed demon leapt over the fence and then…”
Tsunade stood up so fast, her face so intent, the farmer fell back with dismay, his words dying in his mouth.
“Say that again!?!” She roared.
The farmer quaked, his knees knocking almost as loudly as they had when he’d seen the massive red fox leap over his fence.
“K…kyuubi… j…jumped…”
She waved that away irritably. “No, you said the name Naruto. Where did you hear that?” She demanded fiercely.
“Naruto? That aint a name,” The farmer almost stammered, confused. “It’s a fish cake, aint it?”
Tsunade couldn’t suppress the rolling of her eyes. Back wood hick farmer! How could anyone not know the name of Naruto? It had only been spread far and wide over the known lands for the last seven years. “It’s a name, trust me. So, the little wolf howled out the name of Naruto, and the fox did the same with the name of Sasuke?” Her voice was demanding, even as it quavered slightly.
The farmer scratched his head thoughtfully, recovering himself. “Well, yeah, ‘cept, actually, now that you mention it, the fox said Sasuke first, then the cub said Naruto.”
Tsunade fell shaken back into her seat. Could it be? But no… the farmer said they were little boys, ten at most. Her Naruto was twenty two, and even as short and slender as he had been, he surely wouldn’t pass for a ten year old boy. She squeezed her eyes shut, heart aching.
“But who cares about all that?” The farmer was back to ranting, waving his arms. “The Ninetails is back, I tell you. That’s the important thing! Call out the ANBU, call out all your ninjas! Call for reinforcements. We’re all gonna die otherwise!”
Shizune saw her mistress was too stricken to react to this, so she broke in soothingly. “Naturally, naturally. But back to your story. We have to have all the facts before…”
Tsunade only heard snippits of the conversation that followed, so lost was she in her bleak and sorrowful thoughts.
Naruto! Where are you!
“So, what your saying is the boy turned into a fox in your hands, and the other boy into a wolf? Sounds like this ‘Sasuke’ was only trying to protect his friend, don’t you think?” Shizune’s voice was a muted comforting sound in her ears.
“Well, I dunno… yeah, when you put it that way, I guess so…” The farmer’s rough voice faded away once more.
Sasuke, when I get my hands on you, I’m going to pound you into a bloody pulp.
“So, this ‘Kyuubi’, he stopped when the kit and cub reached his side? He didn’t jump on you, tear you apart? He took up the babies and ran away with them? Now that doesn’t sound very demonic, does it?”
“But… but… I saw it, I swear! It had nine tails and everything! And it was as big as my little girl’s pony! No! It was bigger, like a horse!”
I’m going to rip out your black Uchihan heart and feed it to you before I gut you and leave your stinking entrails to be devoured by the vultures!
“A horse? Are you sure? Why, I am certain that Kyuubi was taller than the Hokage’s tower. What did you have for lunch? Are you sure you didn’t eat something bad that made you sick? You know, I’ve heard of such things….”
“Enough!” Tsunade said roughly. “This is preposterous. You couldn’t have seen children turn into wild animals. I won’t even begin to wonder what you’ve been drinking to have seen such a thing. As for the Ninetails, you couldn’t have seen it. It’s impossible. Even if… if… he’s dead, he would take the damned demon to hell with him.” Tsunade blinked away furious tears. Stupid farmers and their home made rot gut. She’d heard about worse. When would they ever learn? And to bring this outlandish tale to her, now, when Naruto…
Shizune gave the Tsunade a worried look. The big blonde was about to cry. “There, now, you see? The Hokage would know such things, naturally. Come… let me take you to the clinic, and have you looked at. Food poisoning, or worse, alcohol poisoning can be very dangerous…” She quickly led the protesting man away.
Once she was alone, Tsunade grabbed the sake bottle and downed the rest of its contents recklessly. She struggled to shake off her heartache. Stupid man! Where was another bottle? Just as she got up to rummage for one, Shizune returned breathlessly.
Seeing that murderous intent look in her eye, she opened her mouth soothingly. “Tsunade-sama, don’t let it get to you. The man was obviously suffering from…”
There was a loud caw as a messenger hawk alighted on the windowsill, a little scroll tied to its taloned leg with the red tape betokening urgent news.
”Dammit, what now!” the Hokage snarled, then grew cold when the hawk shifted nervously. The Hyuuga symbol was clear to see on the leather band around its other leg.
“It’s Neji-san’s bird,” Shizune said in a hushed voice. She moved quickly forward to relieve the bird of its scroll. It immediately cawed again, and then took off, obviously not instructed to wait for a reply. A report from Sound, at last!
Shizune quickly unrolled it and began to scan its contents. A moment later she gave a choked cry, and her hands began to shake.
“What? What? Dammit, what?” Tsunade snapped anxiously, leaping up and snatching the scroll away, before reading it herself. The first thing she noticed, was that it wasn’t even in code. What…
Hokage-sama;
It is with deep regret that I must inform you that Uzumaki Naruto is dead, as is Uchiha Sasuke, Otokage of Sound. They both passed three days after we departed from Konoha. A temporary kage has been appointed in the interim, and the treaty was signed, and all contracts ratified. We are returning home immediately, and should be there within a day or two of your receipt of this missive. A full report will be given at this time.
Again, my condolences; for you, and for us all.
Hyuuga Neji, Mission Captain.
Tsunade couldn’t see; couldn’t see that her hands were shaking so badly the parchment rattled, couldn’t see that Shizune had shaken off her own grief to stare at her in frightened concern. Couldn’t see that she herself had gone chalk white, lips bloodless, eyes devoid of any and all vitality.
“No…” it was a choked whisper.
“Hokage-sama…”
“No.” A little louder, her voice shaken and almost wild.
“Tsuande…”
“NO!” A full bodied scream.
She hurled the evil missive away, and smashed her fists down upon the massive desk, which first cracked right down the middle, shivered, and then crumbled to matchsticks.
Shizune ran from the wild, unstoppable tornado that her beloved Mistress had become, and hovered anxiously in the hall with the two ANBU guards assigned to the day duty.
“Fetch Iruka-sensei,” She told one of them shakily. “And send for Jiraiya… now.”
It was some time before the sounds of mayhem and enraged screams and pointless threats died down to stillness and muffled sobs. And just as a white faced Iruka arrived, having heard the din long before, the dark haired woman crept inside the demolished room and found Tsunade sitting huddled in a corner, face a mask of tears, and trembling like a child.
“ ’Nade…” Shizune said softly and took her most precious person into her arms and comforted her as best as she could. “I’m here…”
And Tsunade turned into the warmth of her long time companion with a soft, crushed whimper.
Chapter 5
Tsunade listened to the unlikely tirade from an obviously overwrought farmer with a hint of irritation. She’d finished most of her paperwork, had deemed it a day well spent, and had been sipping on her sake, Shizune frowning behind her, a fat Ton Ton in her arms just behind her.
She’d just managed to get a pleasant buzz, when the guard had arrived with this oxen like man, one arm wrapped in a bandage, raving like a lunatic, shouting something about Kyuubi, and almost wetting his pants in his anxiety.
“Why don’t you start from the beginning?” She almost snapped. Damn delusional farmer. Had just a whiff or two too much from his moonshine bottle obviously. Kyuubi was securely locked into Naruto, wherever her missing brat was now. She felt a longing pang in her heart. Naruto, where are you?
One blonde brow arched, as she listened to some wild tale of a succession of naked little boys pillaging the farmer’s clothesline. She wondered what the hell this had anything to do with the Ninetails. She began to wonder about the man’s sanity, when he launched into a bizarre accounting of little boys not being little boys, but some sort of shape shifting hellspawn of demon kind. She snuck a look at Shizune, who appeared utterly rapt in the farmer’s words, but gave her superior a jaunty wink at the ludicrousness of such a tale.
“And then, I heard a voice shout Naruto and it turned into a howl, and the damn little fox yelped out the name Sasuke just before it changed, and then there was a loud screaming and the damn nine tailed demon leapt over the fence and then…”
Tsunade stood up so fast, her face so intent, the farmer fell back with dismay, his words dying in his mouth.
“Say that again!?!” She roared.
The farmer quaked, his knees knocking almost as loudly as they had when he’d seen the massive red fox leap over his fence.
“K…kyuubi… j…jumped…”
She waved that away irritably. “No, you said the name Naruto. Where did you hear that?” She demanded fiercely.
“Naruto? That aint a name,” The farmer almost stammered, confused. “It’s a fish cake, aint it?”
Tsunade couldn’t suppress the rolling of her eyes. Back wood hick farmer! How could anyone not know the name of Naruto? It had only been spread far and wide over the known lands for the last seven years. “It’s a name, trust me. So, the little wolf howled out the name of Naruto, and the fox did the same with the name of Sasuke?” Her voice was demanding, even as it quavered slightly.
The farmer scratched his head thoughtfully, recovering himself. “Well, yeah, ‘cept, actually, now that you mention it, the fox said Sasuke first, then the cub said Naruto.”
Tsunade fell shaken back into her seat. Could it be? But no… the farmer said they were little boys, ten at most. Her Naruto was twenty two, and even as short and slender as he had been, he surely wouldn’t pass for a ten year old boy. She squeezed her eyes shut, heart aching.
“But who cares about all that?” The farmer was back to ranting, waving his arms. “The Ninetails is back, I tell you. That’s the important thing! Call out the ANBU, call out all your ninjas! Call for reinforcements. We’re all gonna die otherwise!”
Shizune saw her mistress was too stricken to react to this, so she broke in soothingly. “Naturally, naturally. But back to your story. We have to have all the facts before…”
Tsunade only heard snippits of the conversation that followed, so lost was she in her bleak and sorrowful thoughts.
Naruto! Where are you!
“So, what your saying is the boy turned into a fox in your hands, and the other boy into a wolf? Sounds like this ‘Sasuke’ was only trying to protect his friend, don’t you think?” Shizune’s voice was a muted comforting sound in her ears.
“Well, I dunno… yeah, when you put it that way, I guess so…” The farmer’s rough voice faded away once more.
Sasuke, when I get my hands on you, I’m going to pound you into a bloody pulp.
“So, this ‘Kyuubi’, he stopped when the kit and cub reached his side? He didn’t jump on you, tear you apart? He took up the babies and ran away with them? Now that doesn’t sound very demonic, does it?”
“But… but… I saw it, I swear! It had nine tails and everything! And it was as big as my little girl’s pony! No! It was bigger, like a horse!”
I’m going to rip out your black Uchihan heart and feed it to you before I gut you and leave your stinking entrails to be devoured by the vultures!
“A horse? Are you sure? Why, I am certain that Kyuubi was taller than the Hokage’s tower. What did you have for lunch? Are you sure you didn’t eat something bad that made you sick? You know, I’ve heard of such things….”
“Enough!” Tsunade said roughly. “This is preposterous. You couldn’t have seen children turn into wild animals. I won’t even begin to wonder what you’ve been drinking to have seen such a thing. As for the Ninetails, you couldn’t have seen it. It’s impossible. Even if… if… he’s dead, he would take the damned demon to hell with him.” Tsunade blinked away furious tears. Stupid farmers and their home made rot gut. She’d heard about worse. When would they ever learn? And to bring this outlandish tale to her, now, when Naruto…
Shizune gave the Tsunade a worried look. The big blonde was about to cry. “There, now, you see? The Hokage would know such things, naturally. Come… let me take you to the clinic, and have you looked at. Food poisoning, or worse, alcohol poisoning can be very dangerous…” She quickly led the protesting man away.
Once she was alone, Tsunade grabbed the sake bottle and downed the rest of its contents recklessly. She struggled to shake off her heartache. Stupid man! Where was another bottle? Just as she got up to rummage for one, Shizune returned breathlessly.
Seeing that murderous intent look in her eye, she opened her mouth soothingly. “Tsunade-sama, don’t let it get to you. The man was obviously suffering from…”
There was a loud caw as a messenger hawk alighted on the windowsill, a little scroll tied to its taloned leg with the red tape betokening urgent news.
”Dammit, what now!” the Hokage snarled, then grew cold when the hawk shifted nervously. The Hyuuga symbol was clear to see on the leather band around its other leg.
“It’s Neji-san’s bird,” Shizune said in a hushed voice. She moved quickly forward to relieve the bird of its scroll. It immediately cawed again, and then took off, obviously not instructed to wait for a reply. A report from Sound, at last!
Shizune quickly unrolled it and began to scan its contents. A moment later she gave a choked cry, and her hands began to shake.
“What? What? Dammit, what?” Tsunade snapped anxiously, leaping up and snatching the scroll away, before reading it herself. The first thing she noticed, was that it wasn’t even in code. What…
Hokage-sama;
It is with deep regret that I must inform you that Uzumaki Naruto is dead, as is Uchiha Sasuke, Otokage of Sound. They both passed three days after we departed from Konoha. A temporary kage has been appointed in the interim, and the treaty was signed, and all contracts ratified. We are returning home immediately, and should be there within a day or two of your receipt of this missive. A full report will be given at this time.
Again, my condolences; for you, and for us all.
Hyuuga Neji, Mission Captain.
Tsunade couldn’t see; couldn’t see that her hands were shaking so badly the parchment rattled, couldn’t see that Shizune had shaken off her own grief to stare at her in frightened concern. Couldn’t see that she herself had gone chalk white, lips bloodless, eyes devoid of any and all vitality.
“No…” it was a choked whisper.
“Hokage-sama…”
“No.” A little louder, her voice shaken and almost wild.
“Tsuande…”
“NO!” A full bodied scream.
She hurled the evil missive away, and smashed her fists down upon the massive desk, which first cracked right down the middle, shivered, and then crumbled to matchsticks.
Shizune ran from the wild, unstoppable tornado that her beloved Mistress had become, and hovered anxiously in the hall with the two ANBU guards assigned to the day duty.
“Fetch Iruka-sensei,” She told one of them shakily. “And send for Jiraiya… now.”
It was some time before the sounds of mayhem and enraged screams and pointless threats died down to stillness and muffled sobs. And just as a white faced Iruka arrived, having heard the din long before, the dark haired woman crept inside the demolished room and found Tsunade sitting huddled in a corner, face a mask of tears, and trembling like a child.
“ ’Nade…” Shizune said softly and took her most precious person into her arms and comforted her as best as she could. “I’m here…”
And Tsunade turned into the warmth of her long time companion with a soft, crushed whimper.
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