Demon of the Hidden Leaf

Ch. 25- The Long Road Home

xXx

Pain. She'd felt it before; from a papercut to broken bones. But never before had Shizune experienced what it was like to have her entire stomach savagely torn open. It burned, as if someone had lit the digestive sack on fire, yet there was also a terrible pulsing that rippled from where the woman knew her bellybutton should be and spread across her entire body.

Her body. Shizune didn't even feel being thrown through the air, her nerves never even registered hitting the earth. No, all that could be felt was that same burning, that same nauseating pulse, as Shizune lay on her side bleeding from the gaping hole in her body.

She was the apprentice of Tsunade Senju, the world's most renowned medic, and had healed a variety of injuries both mundane and life threatening over the years...but never before had the young woman been required to stitch together her own organs back together. There was no training for this sort of thing, no scenario that could be run, only the hope that such a fate could be avoided. Or that, in that very moment, Shizune would be of sound enough mind to mend herself.

She wasn't.

What Shizune was, was a terrible cocktail of shock and fear swirling around the burning numbness of her injury. Did she want to die? Of course not. But her mind wasn't in the right state to recall just which techniques she needed to repair the damage done to her stomach. Besides, the pain was starting to fade anyway, so why worry? And this...warmth that she could feel taking its place felt like she'd just climbed into a futon left to bask in the days light. Hmm~ A mischievous smirk made its way to the woman's face; a nap did sound nice. She'd been walking around with Lady Tsunade for hours and her body was tired...

Surely...she could close her eyes for a fiveminutes...and she'd be up again soon...

...Okay...maybe six minutes...

xXx

"MS. SHIZUNE!"

All activity around the battlefield ground to a screeching halt at the sound of Naruto's desperate cry. The three Sannin whipped their heads to look, and Tsuande's amber eyes widened in horror at the sight of her apprentice with her face in the dirt, blood soaking the front her her mesh shirt.

Shizune. Her first apprentice, who she'd taken in when the other woman had been just a girl, the daughter she'd never had...lay dying. All at once memories of those years together spread across her mind like a scattered photo album; the smiles, the laughs, the tears. All of it. All gone. There wouldn't be another night of hot spring baths together, no more comfortable nights simply enjoying each others company, no more of Shizune's well-meaning nagging to get her to quit her reckless behavior...

It was all gone; Shizune was gone.

And it was all her fault again!

Fury, the likes of which the Slug Queen never knew, began to seep its way into her veins. It burned, like molten lava, as it moved through her and centered in her sternum. The sharp, instant pain in her palms the only reason the blonde beauty even registered that she'd just bitten into the flesh with her polished fingernails. Tsunade's entire body trembled even with every single muscles tensed in agonizing rage, and through it all she never took her eyes off the dead form that was once her apprenctice.

If only she'd finished Orochimaru off sooner, if only she'd worked with Jiraiya instead of against him, if only she hadn't left the other woman alone against Kabuto, if only she'd never left Konoha...

...if only.

Without her even realizing it, Tsunade's chakra had begun to leak from her pores. The crystal-blue energy, wafting into the air like tendrils of smoke, radiated heat so fierce that the very molecules in the air turned to steam. Golden tresses fell over the woman's face, as her head dropped in an effort to erase the vision of Shizune's lifeless corpse, framing the female Sannin's features in shadow as her body continued to tremble.

How many times was she going to let this happen!? How many more people were going to suffer because she failed to act, to plan, to be there!? Such questions raced through Tsunade's mind as she imagined the deaths of Dan and Nawaki, of how she could have kept them safe had the woman simply been there with them, and now Shizune was being added to this terrible list all because she'd repeated that same stupid mistake!

Well, no more...NO MORE!

In a bright, brilliant flash Tsunade's chakra erupted from her very being in an angry blue flame. The ground beneath her feet gave way under the pressure of her power, stripping the earth of every single blade of grass within fifty feet of the furious Sannin. All other eyes on the battlefield looked on in disbelief at the degree of power, but Jiriya's own mask of amazement transformed into one of even greater surprise when he realized one very important fact...

Tsunade hadn't even released her Yin Seal.

This...This is the power of the Senju Clan!

The granddaughter of the First Hokage, grand-niece of the Second Hokage,sucked in a deep breath and felt her runaway power return to a steady flow. The tightness in her chest eased just a bit, but the icy rage at her core remained, intensifying when Tsunade shot her harsh gaze over towards Kabuto; her knuckles popped as she flexed her fingers, an image of the despicable little toad splattered across the ground clear in her head.

"You..." That single word came out in a guttural spit, the buxom blonde's teeth grit tightly. "You're going to pay for what you've done."

A cocky, over-eager smirk molded its way over Kabuto's disgusting face as he gave his attention to the woman challenging him. "Ha, and who's going to be the one to make me? Surely not you Tsunade. The Oni pill has given me more than enough power to crush the weakest of the Sannin; you may be the last Senju, but you are nothing compared to Lord Orochimaru!"

In an instant, the hideous laugh that followed was cut short by a bloody cough; no one, not even her fellow Sannin, could follow Tsunade as she launched forward to slam her fist into Kabuto's stomach.

Blood and bony gore splattered through the air right before Orochimaru's right-hand man found himself dropping to the ground...a hundred feet away from the lower-half of his body. A heavy numbness kept the teen from noticing until he attempted to get back on his feet.

"W-What—What did you do to me!?" Kabuto could feel his heart pump erratically as his enhanced body went into shock. The sleazy traitor's mind struggled to come to grips with the fact that he'd just literally been torn apart. "What kind of technique was that!?"

A shadow blocked the sun and drew the mutated Oto shinobi's blood-shot gaze away from his mutilated midsection, and up to the blonde kunoichi towering over him. It was a bloody cough that punctuated the way Kabuto's heart clenching in fear as he looked upon Tsunade's vicious image. Shadowed features and cold, merciless stare coupled with the older woman's imposing and lean physique finally reminded the younger shinobi that his opponent was called the 'World's greatest kunoichi' for a reason.

"Technique? Stupid boy, that wasn't any sort of ninjutsu, I tore you apart with my bare hands; my own power. You think that just because you've given yourself a pitiful little power-up that you're a match for me, but a pathetic little nobody like you won't ever be a match for the world's last Senju; you'll be lucky to ever even be a match for that blonde knucklehead over there at the rate he's going."

Kabuto felt as if his lungs were being squeezed as he tried to suck in enough air to keep his brain from going dark, his heavy heart continued to try and pump blood even as it flooded out through his bisected waist, and fear rushed through every living cell of the dying teen's body. And yet, even with all this evidence, the battered youth could not accept his defeat. "N-No...No! T-This can't be real; it must be a genjutsu! I couldn't possibly have been defeated by a drunken louse like you!"

Tsunade lifted her right hand, pointing a single finger at the downed young man, and began to build up a dense ball of lightning chakra at the digit's tip. "Simple-minded fool, choose to disbelieve it for the last remaining minutes of your miserable life if you want, it makes no difference to me, just no that both you and your lord will both burn in hell for the rest of eternity for what you've done to Shizune."

Kabuto Yakushi's life ended with a crack of one of natures greatest powers.

And yet Tsunade's icy fury did not dissipate a single iota. Instead the woman's overwhelming rage found a new target; the dead spy's master. Dark and cold, her stare would have been enough to make a normal shinobi wet themselves. But even if Orochimaru was good at masking his emotions, there could be no denying to himself that for the first time since facing Itachi Uchiha, a blanket of fear enveloped his very soul.

Should his former team-mate get her hands on him, he just may die.

Sweat beaded its way down the side of his pasty, white face as he struggled to swallow under the pressure of Tsuande's KI. Somewhere in the back of his impeccable memory the image of a frightened kunoichi filtered through his brain and the similarities between moments sparked the snake Sannin's own anger.

He was not some weak little genin. He was Orochimaru, Sannin of Konoha and soon-to-be ruler of the entire shinobi nations!

The tangy taste of his own blood splattered against his tongue as his fang pierced the corner of his lip, the sharp pain bringing feeling back to his legs, right before leaping into the air. He'd hoped never to reveal this to anyone, but it seemed he had no choice. Chakra flaring, Orochimaru began to concentrate it into his mouth, the power built and multiplied upon itself until the traitorous genius felt it sufficient enough to cover his escape...

Only to lose it as an elbow came crashing into his nose.

Blood instantly flooded the vile fiend's lungs as his tongue was sliced apart by his own teeth and as he soared through the air Orochimaru wondered how that one shot wasn't enough to kill him, until his answer came in the materialization of his attacker; Naruto Uzumaki.

He'd forgotten about the boy!

Twisting away from the next attack, Orochimaru retaliated with a fierce kick that the younger blonde had no hope of blocking before righting himself in the air and quickly scanning for the other two foes he'd been left alone to face. Tsunade was still just standing there, glaring at where he'd leaped from, but upon noticing Jiriaya missing the deserter stretched his senses and caught the sound of his old rival moving through the air.

Smirking at the other man's predictability Orochimaru caught the toad sage's down-swinging leg and jammed two fingers into the pit behind his knee before throwing the fool away like yesterday's garbage.

But the snake summoner didn't have long to gloat before he was being pressed by the brat again. However, now that he was more focused Orochimaru found it much easier to dance around the jinchuuriki's flying fists and feet; although the man gave Naruto respect for knowing not to try and engage him with kenjutsu, choosing instead to focus on speed rather than power.

Too bad it's still not enough.

Swatting away Naruto's back-fist the villainous shinobi took a shot at the boy's spleen before delivering a swift chop to the back of his neck to take him out of the game, but his serpent-like eyes widened as his foe burst into a cloud of smoke. Cursing to himself, Orochimaru scanned the area quickly, taking quick pleasure in seeing Jiriaya trying to move without the use of his right leg, but only finding Tsunade still stewing in her rage. The man's unasked question was answered though when his young opponent burst out from the ground in an effort to check him under the chin.

Leaning back on his heel Orochimaru Quickly delivered a hefty right into Naruto's gut and sent him flying back. With a second to breath, the snake Sannin took stock of his situation as he wiped the mess of blood from his face. As the bones in his face finished mending he saw Jiraiya finally getting back to his feet, behind him Naruto was hunched over, hand on his gut, but with a fierce gleam in his azure orbs, all while Tsunade continued to stare into nothingness.

That was beginning to worry the snake Sannin. He'd seen every side of his former female squad mate, but never in all the years he'd known her had Tsunade ever behaved this way.

There was a part of Orochimaru that was angry, that felt as if the last Senju was deciding he wasn't worth her anger, but a more silent part of himself was afraid; worried about just what sort of power Tsuande was truly capable of as the blood relative of the First Hokage.

That fear swelled and his heart stopped when the twin-tailed beauty finally rolled her head back, and stared at Orochimaru over her shoulder. It was a single eye, but the sheer level of hatred was unmistakable, and a shiver made its way through the snake summoner's body even as he steeled his core for the incoming fight. He would not be caught unaware like that fool Kabuto!

And yet the powerful nuke-ninja still found himself hard-pressed to duck under the kick aimed to take his head from his shoulders. Orochimaru felt the wind pressure leave a blood trailing down his cheek, even as he stepped back and prepared to wrap his tongue around Tsunade's throat, and barely had a second to bring his leg up to take the donkey-kick aimed for his stomach. The Sannin's teeth rattled as he grit them in pain, the feeling of his bones vaporizing into dust being just quick enough for him no to feel the full extent of them splintering apart first, before rolling across the field to end up on a lone knee.

Tsunade found herself just missing her former team mate's head as she went after him, the mid-kick sending a slice of pressurized air off before she turned to watch Orochimaru emerge from underground good as new, although she found herself capable of sensing the drain on his reserves such a technique had cost him.

The lone female Sannin had heard of her family's amazing abilities, had seen it in action with her grandfather and his brother, yet never before had the last of Senju bloodline ever believed she herself was capable of the amount of power! She'd felt it starting to build upon learning of Shizune's death, felt how difficult it was for her to control as she dealt with Kabuto, and even now the world's greatest medic found herself hard-pressed to reign herself in. As much as she'd wanted to immediately go and turn Orochimaru into a splat against the grass Tsunade was worried that a single step would fissure the very earth, so she waited, she breathed, and attempted to wrestle back control over her own power.

But it wasn't enough. I almost overshot him, and then again just now I had to stop short. Tsunade cursed mentally as she stared across the way at her wary opponent; he was handicapped, and clearly outmatched, but because of her meandering over the years she was unable to take advantage! She felt that familiar self-loathing creep up from her core, but this time the last Senju stomped it out with the promise that this would be the last time Orochimaru would ever escape from her, right before she watched him shunshin away.

Her senses catching movement before her sight Tsunade called to her fellow blonde not to move. "He's out of your range now, and Jiraiya won't be able to keep him occupied long enough for you to catch up and help."

"Well what about you; with power like yours how can you just be okay with letting him go! Especially after what just happen-"

"Because right now I can't control my power Naruto!" The kunoichi's tone was stern, and brokered no room for argument, yet the younger of the pair could hear something else too. She was angry, frustrated, with herself and her inability to fully avenge the woman who'd been the closest thing to a child she'd ever have.

And so Naruto stood down, going to retrieve his sword while his head hung in defeat and frustration. But when Tsunade's voice filled the empty battlefield again, her words brought hope back to his heart and lit the fire in his eyes again.

"...Not now, no, but then what sort of Hokage would I be if I was afraid of my own power? I will go back to Konohagakure, I will learn to control my family's power and make it my own, and then...and then I will avenge Shizune's death!"

With the sun settled high in the sky, the light seemed to wrap Tsunade in a brilliant halo, as if she were an angel of victory; her hair shone and eyes hard but brilliant. The shadows playing across her in perfect shades.

Naruto found he could do nothing but believe in her conviction.

With Shizune's corps sealed away the trio's trip back to the village was swift; the woman's funeral less so. Tsunade abstained from the Passing of the Hat in favor of a wake for her lost companion. Was it the best thing after the people had lost their former Kage? Absolutely not. Yet Tsunade found herself lost in her own grief; she did not require any of the villagers to attend, as they did not know Shizune, but she did refuse them their wishes to hold a festival upon her inauguration.

These were not happy times, and she would not pretend that they were.

But Tsunade wasn't the only one dealing with the hard truth of life. Upon returning home Naruto found himself locked inside his apartment, knees to his chest, staring blankly at the letter he'd received before the retrieval mission. Glad that Isaribi was busy with class, the whiskered chunin took the time to focus on all that'd happened during his last mission. Recalling how savagely he'd accepted the news, now the last Uzumaki only felt hollow as he recalled the scolding he'd received from Jiraiya days ago.

Was he being too rash, too quick to accept the words scripted in this letter, when he didn't actually know who'd written it?

A mental picture of Orochimaru offering Tsunade the lives of her loved ones in exchange for his hands again filtered through Naruto's memory and it left him feeling sick. What would he do if this letter turned out to be someone's attempt to manipulate him in such a manner, or worse, what if it was a trap? As much as he wanted, needed it, to be true Naruto's original zeal soured as these depressing notions made themselves known.

And as much as he hated to admit it, the Toad Sage had a point. He needed to start acting more like chunin, more level-headed, and stop letting his emotions get the better of him; no matter how much pain the truth may bring. There would be time to grieve and despair, to rage and explode, but not out in the field. So, it was with the letter crumpled in his hand, and a heavy feeling in his heart, that Naruto hefted himself up onto his feet and began the trek to the Hokage's office.

The newly appointed Godaime hadn't been present for the Nine-Tails attack, and as such would be one of the least likely people to be part of this possible conspiracy. Besides that, Naruto knew that the woman now had access to the every resource in the village; something he hoped would bring him answers sooner rather than later.

It was a risky plan overall, he never knew if his quest for knowledge may reach unwanted ears, but there was little else the blonde could think of aside from his original solo hunting or even desertion, and neither of those had been entirely appealing the first time either.

I just hope I'm not making a big mistake.

xXx

A/N: Is it a very large chapter? Absolutely not. But I found myself feeling stuck after writing that last line and decided that, after so long, I should post at least this.

I looked back over this story and realized one of my biggest issues is that I was trying to include too many people as focal points, and spin too many side-plot threads. Isaribi being a prime example. Not sure if I should go back and just erase those in a massive edit, or what, because I personally feel like those things are a major factor in why I haven't been updating. I honestly feel a bit intimidated by my own work.

Anyway, hopefully you guys still enjoy my story even though my updates have been so backlogged.