[Uzumaki and Senju Chapter 4]

XXX

The Hidden Leaf Village was a lush village with plenty of everything. Its people were kind, the food was great, and the history was something that you could read for hours and never get bored. Some visitors never wanted to leave, while others traded with the village just to come see it again.

One of the best features of the village was the immense forest that surrounded it. It was nature's way of providing for the Hidden Leaf Village. It produced rare plants that were sold in raw form or as finished products like salves and medicines for sick people all over the Elemental Nations.

There were large varieties of creatures that lived in the forest as well. Some of them were rare, and were hunted for their furs or other products, though this was highly regulated to make sure the species did not go extinct. There were also creatures such as deer and cow that lived in the lowlands that were killed and sold for their meats as well.

Of course they Hidden Leaf Village sold lumber, but this was also highly regulated as well. They couldn't go chopping down all of their protection else they leave themselves open for attack. Plus the name of their village would run hollow if the forest around them was chopped down. If that had happened hit would no long have any leaves nor would it be hidden.

Many had thought that with the First Hokage's wood style ninjutsu the village would be able to become self-sufficient by growing and selling trees as building materials, or selling flowers and seeds for various other purposes. These people had been highly disappointed when the First Hokage's children showed no aptitude for their father's kekkei genkai, leaving the village to find other ways to produce money outside of their ninja jobs.

The forest around the Hidden Leaf Village was one of the reasons that Konoha was as strong as it was. It produced more goods, therefore it didn't need to buy as much, and because they regulated everything so well the forest which gave them their resources continued to give them more and more.

Places like the Village Hidden in the Stones only had rocks that they had to mine if they wanted some extra cash, and those resources were not self-replenishing. They were also known for turning raw materials that they mined into goods as well making things like steel, iron, gears, jewelry, and anything else they mined up and could sell for a profit.

The Village Hidden in the Sand was a really good example of this. Because sand was really the only thing that was around their village they were not able to gather materials to sell or manipulate. If it were not for the Third Kazekage and his clan's Magnet Release bloodline limit which they used to pull metals out of the shifting sands, the village would probably have imploded on itself from lack of money and supplies.

Some villages did have plenty of products to use, alter, and sell such as the Village Hidden in the Mist. They lived where not only they could sell lumber, but also find exotic plants that were nearly impossible to find anywhere else. They were well known for the unique poisons they made out of the exotic fauna around their village. It was too bad that their village had always been so unstable as they could have come to close to Konoha or Kumo's power.

Because of the need and value the forest had to the Village Hidden in the Leaves young children were taught to respect the forest and how to identify the unique species of plants that it produced. It was a good way to educate the children, and it taught them important lessons about their village.

If children wanted to make some extra money on the side they were allowed to pick some of the less exotic plants that grew in bulk without being watched over by the F.P.C.D. which was short for the Forest Protection and Conservation Department. It was the department which regulated the amount of influence the villagers had on the forest.

Because of this shop owners were kind enough to give children a good deal if they picked these plants for them. It was usually inexpensive this way, and since it paid by amount children usually had a good incentive to work harder, thus teaching them another lesson, although in a more passive sort of way.

This was the reason that Naruto had been dragged into a nearby forest by his friend Kiba in the early morning. Apparently Kiba wanted to by some kind of new toy or something like that and since he knew that his mother wouldn't buy it for him (she wanted him to focus a lot more on training) he decided to work for it by picking Burdock.

Burdock was a very common plant in the Land of Fire and it was also very effective for curing skin diseases such as eczema and acne. As one could guess it was very popular and highly in demand from teens that had issues with that faze everyone went through.

Burdock was actually a rather useful plant as Naruto already knew from all his work he did with his mother. She had taught him how to make salves that would increase the boy's natural healing rate for a moment, salves that took the sting out of burns, and many other salves that made use of the Burdock plant.

Naruto was cursing his friend from taking him out of his clan's clan house in the village so early in the morning. It wasn't that Naruto didn't usually wake up early; it was just that Naruto had trained himself pretty good the other night and it had left him quite tired. He cursed Kiba and his bad timing.

Kiba was his exuberant self as always, which was surprising since Naruto would never have taken Kiba for an early bird. It didn't make the fact that Naruto still wanted to sleep any better though. Naruto's head would bobble back and forth on his head as he moved through the forest, but his mind could never wander off to dream land with Kiba's incisive talking.

Naruto wished his mother had been home when Kiba had come to get him, but sadly she wasn't. She had gone to the Land of Salt to help with miner's problems that had sprung up. Naruto remembered her talking about how idiots shouldn't apply salt to everything that they ate and she wouldn't have to leave her baby or something like that.

It wasn't new for Naruto's mother to leave the house and go do whatever it was that she needed to do on the village's behalf. She had done so many times while Naruto was growing up, though she was never gone for more than three or four days and never went on another mission for at least two weeks.

What Naruto wasn't used to was being alone. He had always had someone, be it Shizune, Kushina, or his mother there at home waiting on him, teaching him something new, or just playing with him whenever the mood struck him. At the moment his house was empty, and if he was honest he didn't like it in the least.

His self-proclaimed sister Shizune had been sent on a mission with an ANBU team as the unit's medical ninja. Medical ninja were not on every unit, even though Naruto's mother believed that they should be, but for ninja like ANBU they were usually taken along in case the worse may happen. After all the ANBU were known for delivering important information, and if one of them fell they would need someone to heal them so that they could complete their mission.

His other self-proclaimed sister Kushina was also out with the ANBU as well, though in her case she was actually leading the ANBU team. Her skills were some of the best in the village, and even though she loved playing and hanging out with Naruto she was still a ninja, so she still had to perform her ninja duties. Naruto didn't know where Kushina was, but she had promised him that wherever she was going, for whatever reason, she would come back to him alive.

Naruto wasn't a worry wart like some people, namely his mother, but he wasn't immune to worrying. He hated the thought of losing someone close to him, and never wanted to experience the pain of loss. It hurt him to think about the father that he never even meet; he couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose someone that he was close to.

At the moment Naruto's house was empty, and it would be for the next few days at least, so Naruto would just have to get over his loneliness if he wanted to keep up his upbeat attitude. But still he thought about how hollow his house felt when he woke up and Shizune was cooking them all breakfast with his mother and Kushina trying to help but only making thing ten times worse.

"Hey man you alright?"

Naruto's attention snapped back to reality as he looked forward and saw the curious look on Kiba's face as he stared at him. Naruto looked around and realized that they were still in the forest. Kiba had one of those braided baskets on his back full of Burdock, and Naruto could tell that the one on his back had gotten heavier while he was still caught up in thought.

"Yea, sorry I was thinking about some stuff" spoke Naruto as he let out an audible yawn that he tried to cover up with his hand, but it was pointless in the end. He was still tired from being up so early, and he hadn't even eaten anything yet.

Kiba was wearing his civilian close as they were dubbed by most in the village. Civilian clothing was basically what people wore that served no real purpose other than fashion, or just was not applicable in the ninja world.

Kiba wasn't wearing his mesh armor under his white shirt, and his pouch that held all of his ninja supplies was nowhere to be seen. He didn't have on any bandages, and Naruto was sure that his one latch sandals were not made for silent movement. It became even more apparent when the shirt that Kiba was wearing had the symbol for "Band" on the front of it. Yea, real subtle.

Naruto couldn't talk much either though, given that he too was wearing basically all civilian clothing with an exception or two. He was wearing an ordinary black shirt, though there was mesh armor underneath it, and regular dark green cargo pants. He didn't own any of those comfort sandals like Kiba had on, but he did own some that were made for medical ninja who were just going to be walking around the hospital, which he was now wearing. Around his neck was his great grandfather's blue necklace that had always been cool to the touch.

"What has got you so messed up that your spacing out while we are sneaking around possibly hostile territory" spoke Kiba as he looked about all dramatically. It made Naruto sigh, though his smile was still evident on his face as he watched Kiba move about acting like he was some kind of super cool ninja.

"I would have left you behind if we were in enemy territory" spoke Naruto in such a casual tone as he walked off from Kiba that it had made Kiba do a double take. His face was priceless, but Naruto couldn't laugh or else the joke would have ended way too soon.

"Hey you jerk that's messed up" shouted Kiba as he ran after Naruto. The entire time he ran his sandals smacked the bottom of his feet repeatedly causing popping noises the echo throughout the forest. "You couldn't leave your friend behind enemy lines that goes against Konoha's policy!"

"Dying goes against my natural instincts, so I guess they will just have to understand" spoke Naruto as he looked around. In the distance he saw a plant growing up behind a large bush with some spiky looking leaves on it.

"You jerk, when I become a great and powerful ninja you are going to wish that you hadn't said that" spoke Kiba with a pout on his face. His arms were crossed and his lips were poked out in a cute to a woman kind of way. Naruto thought that the only thing he was missing was a small puppy on his shoulder with those big droopy eyes that they had to complete the image.

"Ha, you a great ninja please" spoke Naruto in a sarcastic tone that had no real negativity in it. Naruto leaned over and picked the plant that had been growing behind the bush and smiled seeing that it was the plant that they were walking around collecting.

Kiba went on a bit more of a rant calling Naruto childish names while Naruto made childish jokes about Kiba and son and so forth.

XXX

The Hokage tower had been made by the First Hokage Hashirama Senju right after the treaty between the Uchiha and the Senju had been finalized. It stood as a pillar of justice and pride for their village as it had been the place that kage after kage had sat down to do business that had effected the village in countless ways.

Currently the Third Hokage was the one occupying the seat in the Hokage Tower, but he was not the latest Hokage. The Fourth Hokage had come and gone far too quickly in many people's opinion. It was sad to finally find someone capable to take the mantle of Hokage from him, only to see him die not a year later.

The Third Hokage was tired in all honesty. He had been Hokage for what felt like an eternity, and although he loved protecting the people of the Hidden Leaf Village being Hokage really did take a number out of him.

He had seen so much as both a Hokage and as a shinobi that all he wanted to do was rest. He had been Hokage through the end of the Second Shinobi World War, and the entire part of the Third Shinobi World War. He had seen men dying in the most brutal fashion, and had also the unpleasant duty to be the one who sent men of to their deaths.

It was a job that would have crushed lesser men, but not him, no Hiruzen Saritobi was not a quitter, and thanks to his efforts not only has Konoha prospered but his name would always be remembered through time. It was a great feeling, but like all things it had to come to an end.

Currently the Hokage was sitting at his desk puffing on his pipe that he had gotten from his late wife before she had passed away. He missed her greatly, but when he smoked tobacco that had been grown by his clan, the Saritobi clan, out of the pipe that his late wife had made for him, Hiruzen somehow felt at ease.

The tobacco that the Saritobi Clan grew and cultivated was also a highly sought after product that helped pay for Konoha's bills. It was a special tobacco that the Saritobi clan had created themselves that did not have the adverse effects of things like lung cancer that other tobaccos had, and for this reason the Saritobi clan had to watch out for thieves who would try and seal their seeds to make their own products.

Like the Saritobi Clan, all of the clans, and ninja of the leaf, did their part to support Konoha. The low level ninja did missions around the village to keep it in the best shape that they could, even if they hated it. The various clans made and sold things, or performed specific actions that brought them and the village much more income. The jonin and chunin paid a small percentage of their paycheck to the village, all in order to keep Konoha in top condition.

These implements had been created by the Second Hokage as he felt the shinobi life style would one day grow too much for commoners like civilians to live around, and thus came up with these ideas to allow Konoha to be self-sufficient in case the civilians left. It was a wise move, but so far the civilians seemed happy and content with no sign of a mass exodus in sight.

For some reason the Hokage had been feeling antsy. It was like he was waiting for something to happen, but he had no idea what it was he was waiting for. He knew that it was pointless to think about it, since no human could look into the future and predict future events, no matter how much the Uchiha and Hyuga said otherwise, but still it felt like something that his attention should be on.

He hadn't felt like this since the beginnings of the Third Shinobi World War, and that was what worried him the most. The thought that another war would break out and force the happy and content people of his village to start rationing supplies and kissing loved ones before they left for a battlefield somewhere was horrifying, but not something he had the power to stop.

As the Hokage mused to himself he heard a low humming sound. At first it was faint, but gradually it continued to grow and grow like a bee that had started flying directly towards your ear. You could hear its wings fluttering a bit at a distance, but when it was right next to your ear it sounded like someone was rapidly beating on a Congo drum.

"What is that sound" spoke the Hokage as he put his pipe down and started to look around his office. He noticed that the ANBU were looking at him oddly, but he ignored them and continued to search his office. At first he feared it was a sneak attack, possibly an assassination attempt, but after a few seconds he realized it wasn't, so he continued.

"Lord Hokage, do you need help looking for something" asked a rat masked ANBU ninja from the shadows. He had been watching the Hokage and felt that it might be possible the old man was losing his mind. "If you dropped something then I would happily get it for you."

The Hokage looked over at the rat masked ANBU and shook his head. "No rat it isn't that I dropped something, but I just keep hearing this incessant humming sound, and it seems like it is getting louder" spoke the Hokage. "I was just curious as to what it was."

Another ANBU began to speak, this time it was a frog masked ANBU. "I don't hear anything Hokage-sama, are you sure you are not light headed" spoke the frog ANBU knowing how the Hokage loved to puff his pipe. "You were smoking quite a bit of tobacco earlier."

The Hokage had the decency to blush knowing that it was true, but he was sure that his hearing wasn't going out. He had some of the best hearing in the village, so just a bit of smoke shouldn't be enough to mess that up.

"No frog I am sure that there is a humming sound" spoke the Hokage as he sat back down. He was starting to get anxious not knowing what that sound was, but took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves.

"I think I hear it now to" spoke the rat masked ANBU as he started to move his head back and forth. "What could be making such a noise that we can't find it?"

"Maybe because it is not in the office, but outside" spoke the frog masked ANBU as he pointed out of the window. "I think we may be in trouble Hokage-sama."

The Hokage raised an eyebrow when he heard his ANBU say that, but when he turned around his face went white as the blood left it. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, and even did a double take hoping that he had been hallucinating.

Up in the sky was dozens of flying devices that looked like humans were connected to the bottom of them. There were some larger ones, but there were only two of them out of all the flying devices. The worst part of all of it was the forehead protectors that were on the shinobi's heads that were flying around.

"Damn, it is the Land of Sky's ninja" spoke the Hokage as he stood up and got closer to the large window at the back of the Hokage's office. He placed his hands on the wooden railings and gripped them harshly causing his knuckles to go white, and the wood to squeak and grown under the Hokage's powerful grip.

Not many shinobi remembered the ninja of the Land of Sky. It had been a short war in which the Second Hokage easily won when a new nation and its shinobi threatened the power of the five great nations, and attempted to conquer the world. They had believed themselves superiors to all others, and soon were proven how wrong they were.

They had attacked the Land of Fire thinking that it would be their first conquest, but were stopped on the nation's border. It was as embarrassing defeat on the Sky Ninja's part for they quickly lost not only the power source of their flying village, but also many of them were put to the sword for trying to invade the Land of Fire.

Only a few hands full of Sky Ninja had been able to escape alongside their royalty, someone called the Sky Emperor, though where they had gone or what they did afterwords was a mystery. The Third had just assumed they had broken up into smaller groups or had settled down to become regular Joes, but it seemed he had been wrong.

"ANBU, put the village on high alert, Code 3" shouted the Hokage as he jumped out of the window the begin organizing his shinobi for a counter attack. He knew that they wouldn't be able to stop the Sky Ninja from attacking, but he was sure that they would be able to prevent any more damage than necessary from being brought upon the village.

"Yes sir" shouted the frog masked ANBU as he jumped out of another window flagged by two of ANBU as he raced across the roof tops towards the ANBU headquarters. The other ANBU who had been in the Hokage's office ran to the top of the tower.

When he got to the top he entered what was known as a command center and started to shuffle through all of the buttons and leavers that were inside of the room. Honestly there was a button for everything in that room, but soon he found the lever for emergencies.

There were over a hundred emergency levers and all of them were for something completely different. One of them was for if the village had caught fire and was to alert everyone to either help prevent the fire from continuing or, to get the hell out of the way. Others were for natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes, etc. it was only when he started looking at the bottom levers did he realize the one he was looking for.

At the bottom there were four levers all for in case they were invaded. Code One was if enemy ninja had broken into the village, Code Two was for if a large group of shinobi, or one powerful S ranked shinobi broke into the Leaf, Code Three was for when they were invaded by an enemy army, and Code Four was for if they were invaded by multiple enemy armies.

The ANBU ninja was thanking the gods that he didn't have to pull lever four and quickly grabbed hold of lever three. With a hard push and some pulling he was able to push the stiff lever over to the other side causing the words "Code Three" the go from a soothing green color to an eerie red color.

Instantly a loud alarm started to go off all thought the village causing villagers and shinobi alike to look towards the Hokage's Tower. The shinobi knew what that alarm meant and soon they were beginning to order civilians to head for safety and that genin should make sure that they all got their safely. The chunin helped the genin and the jonin went to find the Hokage.

XXX

Up in the skies over the Village Hidden in the Leaves was a large group of shinobi flying on machines that allowed them great mobility in the air, though not good enough to use ninjutsu. They had already compensated for this though with what they liked to call kunai guns. It was sad for a shinobi to use, but they did what they felt they had to do.

One of the leaders of the attack looked out towards the Leaf Village and saw many of the shinobi jumping around with the civilians who looked like ants from so high above scrambling around. He instantly knew that they had been spotted, and even if he hadn't seen what he had seen that alarm would have given them away anyways.

"This is Blue team to Squad Five to you copy, over" spoke the commander into his head piece as he and his men flew closer and closer to the Hidden Leaf Village.

"This is Squad Five, we read you loud and clear, what is your status, over" spoke the man on the other end. He was the head of the Intel unit back on the carrier, and also one of the men who gave the generals commands.

"The Hidden Leaf Village seems to have spotted us. We believe that they will attempt a counter attack, but do not believe that they will have time to set up effective measurements to defend their selves. Requesting a decision on what we should do, over" spoke the commander as he and his men continued to get closer and closer to the Hidden Leaf Village. He felt like a bird of prey closing in on his prey.

There was some static for a moment, but then Squad Five came back on line. "I just spoke with the general. He wants you to do a quick sweep while dropping as many paper bombs as possible before circling back around to use the kunai guns, over" spoke Squad Five.

"Roger that will proceed with the bombing, over" spoke the leader. "Blue team, listen up. We are going to attack them fast and hard giving them no way to defend themselves then circle back around to pick off the stragglers, over" spoke the captain as he grabbed his kunai gun and did a dive bomb maneuver towards the Hidden Leaf Village.

"Yes sir, over" shouted his men and they followed his example and dive bombed down towards the Village Hidden in the Leaves with evil intents in their hearts.

XXX

Naruto and Kiba were still walking around the forest looking for more sellable plants. They had been out all day, and honestly Naruto was starting to get bored. It wasn't that he didn't like nature, he loved it in fact, it was just picking the same plant again and again for hours, without stopping, was not his cup of tea.

He had tried to get Kiba to show him the puppies that his clan raised and looked after, but Kiba had refused with a huff. Naruto had been curious as to why his friend didn't want to go play with the puppies, but soon found out that Kiba was really trying to avoid his family at the moment.

Kiba had went on a long spill about his mom was always hounding him to train more, to practice his jutsu more often, to try and heighten his senses, which Naruto thought sounded fun, but Kiba didn't. He seemed to be tired of his mom trying to cram training down his throat, and had begun to rebel against doing it recently.

Kiba was also trying to avoid his sister since to him she was a major pain in the butt. Apparently his sister liked to tease him all the time, and enjoyed messing with him, something that Naruto didn't understand because he didn't have siblings, but in the end after hearing about how Kiba and his sister Hana were always at odds with each other he was kind of happy to be an only child.

As they walked through the forest Naruto felt a shiver run up his spine. He looked up towards the sky and saw small black dots flying over the village with two larger black dots close by. At first Naruto thought they were birds, but that feeling came over him again and he decided to rethink that idea a bit.

"Hey Kiba what are those things" spoke Naruto as he pointed up towards the black dots in the sky. Kiba turned around and looked up at the sky for a moment as well, but it seemed even he couldn't make heads or tails of them.

"I don't know, maybe some weird birds that like to fly high in the sky" rhymed Kiba, but then there was a large explosion that rocked the ground that they were standing on. When they both looked back towards the village they saw a single cloud of smoke rising up from the far side of the village.

"I don't think those are birds" spoke Naruto as he continued to look up at the sky. Like an avalanche all of the other black dots seemed to start falling from the sky at great speeds and the lower they got the better Naruto was able to make them out.

"Dude your being paranoid" spoke Kiba, though there was fear in his eyes. "I am sure that there isn't anyone who is stupid enough to attack the Leaf in broad daylight, I mean it would be suicidal."

But unfortunately Kiba had been wrong and explosion after explosion rocked the village causing shouts of pain and surprise to rise from the village. Black clouds of smoke continued to rise from the village and more explosions continued to go off.

"I think the Leaf is being attacked" shouted Naruto with worry and shock written all over his face. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, and just stood there for a moment trying to let his mind catch up with him.

"We have to hide" shouted Kiba as he tried to grab Naruto, but to his surprise Naruto pulled his hand away from his own. Kiba was shocked, but when he saw the strange look on Naruto's face, he knew he was going to regret whatever he friend was about to say.

"I can't go and hide" spoke Naruto as he took the sack he had been using to carry the burdock plants inside of and handed them to Kiba. "I made an oath and I am going to stick to it."

"Dude, are you crazy? Look at that we would die if we ran into a place like that" shouted Kiba trying to jar some sense into his friend. "Beside what are you talking about? What oath are you talking about, and why did you take it?"

"I am a medic and I took an oath that I would always do my best to ensure the health and life of my people. I cannot abandon them" spoke Naruto, though it was clear he was scared. "Kiba take my bag and hide in the woods until the fighting is over. I will go help the Leaf in the mean time!"

Kiba tried to stop his friend again but Naruto was already gone only leaving behind a few leaves. Kiba curse himself for being so weak and not being able to help, but he knew that there was nothing he could do about it now, so he grabbed his friends bag and ran into the forest to wait out the battle.

XXX

Tsunade had been having a terrible time in the Land of Salt. The people there had brains as hard as the rocks they mined, and their food was terrible as well. On top of all that the men were idiots and were not above checking her out every opportunity they got. She got so mad that she wanted to throttle them, but didn't, unless they tried something, then she would hurt them good.

The food tasted like it was literally made out of salt and they just figured out how to color it to make it look like some other kind of food. She was grateful for what little skills she had been able to gain while raising Naruto, so she would have either starved to death or had a seizure from salt overdose.

She had previously believed that she would only need to stay in the Land of Salt for a few days in order to teach the people there the harms of eating too much salt. The problem was she had not counted on them being all as dumb as rocks, so without Shizune who usually dealt with the idiots, Tsunade was forced to stay longer to drive her point across.

She had been missing her little Naru-chan since the moment she left the village, and was only getting angrier and angrier the longer she had to stay away from him. She wasn't an idiot, she knew that her feelings were a bit much, even for a mother, but she didn't care. So long as she had her little Naru-chan she knew that she would be happy.

She was happy and unhappy about Naruto's situation at the moment. She hadn't been happy thinking about her son being all alone with Kushina and Shizune, who knew what they may do while she was away, but when she learned that they were not going to be in the village while she was gone had made her a bit happier.

The part that made her unhappy was that Naruto was going to be alone. She knew for a fact that Naruto had never been alone for more than a few hours, not counting when he was sleeping, so she feared what may happen to him while she was away.

There was of course the wild delusion that he may be crying all alone asking himself why she wasn't there to comfort him, which had almost caused her to drop what she was doing and run towards the village to comfort her baby, but she realized that Naruto was growing up, and she couldn't smother him forever, no matter how much she wanted to.

There was of course the more likely, and less creepy, thought that Naruto was alone and unprotected. She knew that being the last Senju, and possibly reviving the Senju clan, had put a great deal of risk in Naruto's future. She hated it, but it was a fact, so he would have to learn to live with it in life.

She hated the idea that he could be kidnapped while she was away. The thought had her hands shaking and her heart racing everything she thought about it. the things that they would do to him were horrible as not only would they use him for breeding material, but it was highly possible they may also treat him inhumanly, something that also broke her heart to think about.

She was able to get over this though by focusing on her work and telling herself that it wouldn't happen. Naruto was a big boy now, he was living inside of the most powerful ninja village in the world, and she was positive that Hiruzen had placed ANBU to watch over Naruto while she was away.

To relax and get her mind off of such negative thoughts she had gone to a local casino. Of course she had given up gambling, but at the moment her nerves were so bad that she needed something to do in order to not freak out.

Her heart dropped when the moment she pulled the lever she got all sevens and coins started to pour out of the machine like water. She knew that with her luck this shouldn't be possible, so that could only mean tragedy was nearby.

"Ladies and gentlemen we have a winner" shouted the owner of the casino as he pointed towards Tsunade. All of the people in the casino started to clap for her, but they were shocked when Tsunade stood up and bolted out of the casino.

The people were looking around trying to figure out what had happened, before they looked down at the coins wondering to themselves if they could take them without getting into some kind of trouble. After a moment the tension broke and everyone jumped forward trying to get all of the coins for themselves.

Tsunade ran so fast and hard that she was leaving considerable impact marks on the ground with every step she took. To civilians she was moving so fast that the eye could not even see, yet she was moving with all of the ferocity and power of a runaway freight train.

'Please Naru-chan, please please be ok' thought Tsunade as she ran off towards the Hidden Leaf Village with speed that few ninja had ever obtained in their lifetimes.

XXX

When Naruto arrived inside the Hidden Leaf Village the destruction and utter chaos nearly overwhelmed him. Had it not been for his medical training, and his work he had done in the hospital with his mother, he was sure he would have frozen up or possibly even thrown up.

There were people lying all over the streets holding various limps in pain, or were not even moving at all. The stench of burning flesh hung in the air along with the scent of metallic blood so thick it was enough to choke someone.

Naruto had never thought a battlefield would be something like this. Sure he had expected people to get hurt, even some to die, but not on this scale. He knew that battles on this scale were not very common, but still the thought still wasn't very comforting to Naruto.

As Naruto gazed out at all of the wounded with the sounds of explosions, screams, and metal hitting metal ringing in the air he all of a sudden felt overwhelmed. He didn't know where to start, he didn't know what to do, he was at a loss of both words and thought.

It wasn't until a young girl caught his eye as she tried to push a burnt log off of an old woman that Naruto's mind and body seemed to come to. Naruto moved almost without conscience thought over to the little girl and easily picked the large burnt piece of wood off of the old woman and looked down at her.

The little girl looked scared and tears were flowing from her eyes, but what shocked Naruto the most was when he saw the little girl smile down at the old woman. Naruto noticed that the old woman's eyes were slowly starting to open and her hand had reached out and cupped the girl's cheek.

"There there Kotsuki, grandma is ok" spoke the old woman in a weak voice as she held her granddaughter like she as a priceless piece of art. "Everything is going to be fine."

"Grandma I can't lose you" shouted the little girl as she held onto her grandmother's hand. "Mom died, then father, then grandpa, but I was content because I still had you. Please don't leave me" shouted the little girl.

The old woman went to say something, but Naruto cut her off. "This isn't goodbye."

That was all Naruto had said, but it caused both the little girl and the old woman to look over at him in shock. The little girl had hope in her eyes, but the old woman didn't seem so convinced.

"Can you help her, please you have to do something" spoke the little girl as she held onto Naruto's shirt.

"It is ok, I will help her" spoke Naruto as he brought up his slightly shaken hands and began to channel chakra into them. Both the grandmother and granddaughter were amazed when they saw Naruto's hands start to glow a light green color before Naruto began to check over the old woman.

'This isn't good. She has multiple broken bones that are pushing in on some of her organs and damaging others. If I stay here I might be able to save her, but if I do that then I won't be able to help anyone else' thought Naruto. It was a horrible feeling that Naruto had never even fathomed was possible. The thought that he had the power to save lives, but he was still unable to was horrifying.

The old lady let out a low sigh that sounded something like relief. It made the young girl smile and Naruto as well, but even as Naruto worked on the old woman he could see people in the streets slowly dying from various injuries that he knew he could heal, but he just needed more time.

Naruto had heard that time was the only thing we could never get more of, nor could we get it back once it was gone. It wasn't a thought that had ever rung much with Naruto until today. Now he realized the truth behind those words, and it truly saddened him.

'I need to think, if I don't do something they will die' thought Naruto as he continued to rack his brain for something, anything that would allow him the ability to get to more people. 'Wait a second, if I had more hands then I could save more people, and the only way I know how to get more hands besides back up is the' and then it hit him like a sack of bricks.

There was only one jutsu that he knew of that would be able to help him at the moment. He had only learned it because he didn't know how to use any elemental ninjutsu, and the regular clone technique was highly ineffective. His mother had felt he needed something more than the clone jutsu in case he ever got himself into a sticky situation and needed to escape a stronger opponent.

Naruto wanted to laugh, but knew it would be seen as highly inappropriate at the moment. Naruto was sure that his mother had never planned on him using that jutsu for the purpose he was about to use it for. Made him wonder what else he could use it for.

The old lady and the little girl looked at Naruto in confusion when he pulled his hands away from the old lady and cut off the green chakra to his hands. The little girl thought that Naruto was about to tell her that her grandmother wasn't going to make it, and tears started to form in her eyes. The old lady seemed to accept her fate and closed her eyes with a saddened look as she held her granddaughter's hand.

"MULTI SHADOW CLONE JUTSU" was all they heard as they gazed up at the young man who had tried to come to their rescue. He had his hands in a weird hand sign and he was releasing so much chakra that even they could see it.

Naruto didn't know if this would work, but if it did he wanted it to work to its max, so he drew upon his large reserve of powerful chakra and started to mold it into his granduncle's original jutsu. Instantly a large cloud of smoke covered him, the old woman and her granddaughter, as well as a few blocks of the neighborhood.

When Naruto opened up his eyes he grinned, and so did all of the clones of himself as well. Looking around Naruto saw hundreds of himself looking back down at him. Naruto was getting excited, and felt his Senju and Uzumaki blood boiling for actions. With a loud and clear voice Naruto shouted "Do your medical duties and serve your village well!" That was the only order they needed, and soon all of his clone jumped down into the streets or ran across the roof tops to other areas of the village.

After he was done ordering his clones around, Naruto knelt back down beside the old lady and her granddaughter who were looking at him with gob smacked expressions on their faces. Naruto just smiled and began to reapply medical chakra to the old ladies body.

XXX

Hiruzen hated to admit it, but the flying ninja really were a pain to deal with. There were so many of them, and only certain long range jutsu, or thrown weapons really worked against them. Of course genjutsu worked as well, but like always it was a more situational useful thing, not an overall useful thing.

He had been trying to get his men in order while stopping as many of the enemies attacks as he could. The enemies thankfully were not able to use ninjutsu from their flying devices or else they would have been in much more trouble.

He wished now more than ever that Tsunade, Shizune, and Kushina were in the village. He knew he was going to get an earful from Tsunade for letting enemy ninja attack the village while Naruto was there, and if the boy was heart he feared not only for his life, but everyone's lives that she crossed.

The medical unit he was thankful to say was doing a wonderful job, and on top of that the hospital hadn't been hit by any of the bombs, so that was a big plus. He would have to thank Tsunade and Shizune for getting the medical ninja of his village into top shape as he was sure they were the difference between life and death for many of his shinobi and civilians.

Currently he had five main units that were defending the village, attacking their enemies, and coordinating their allies. Kakashi's team was in the northern sector of the residential area, Might Guy was in the southern district doing the same, while two of his elite ANBU were doing the same in the business and academy sector of the village. He himself was guarding the "Brain" of the village, being the place where all the decisions were made, as it was going to be needed greatly after this battle.

His current skill was not only reminding people why he was called the "Professor", but also why he was Hokage. Utilizing his vast knowledge of jutsu he was able to take out a large portion of the flying enemies on his own, and it had even forced them to rethink their attack. Now there wasn't anyone attacking his area, so the Hokage had sent many of his troops to back up his other commanders.

"Hokage-sama" spoke one of the ANBU as he appeared beside the Hokage. The Hokage looked over at him with a serious look on his face that made the ANBU shake for a moment before correcting himself. "I have news that you need to know."

"Report" was all that the Hokage said as he gazed up towards the few remaining Sky Ninja. Many of them had been whipped out in the hour long struggle to defend the village, and soon after they had gotten their acts together they had been able to put up an amazing counter attack for their enemies.

"All of the civilians who had been harmed in sector B are reported for and have all been healed my lord" spoke the ANBU, though he was amazed at how quickly the stern look on the Hokage's face changed to a look of shock.

'How in the world could all of the villagers in an entire sector be healed and taken care of? There are only five sectors in Konoha, not including the areas in which the ANBU headquarters is located, as well as the Hokage Tower, Hospital, and Academy' thought the Hokage.

"How is this possible" asked the Hokage as he turned around to look at the ANBU fully. "I thought most of the medical ninja were in the hospital or were healing the injured shinobi in hot zones."

"They were my lord, but it seems that one person didn't get this information and only healed those who he saw" spoke the ANBU still in his kneeling position.

This caught Hiruzen by surprise. The only person he believed could do something like that would by his old student Tsunade, but she wasn't in the village. Either some natural genius had somehow appeared from thin air, or someone had really been holding back on their skills.

Another thought that was running through his mind was what to do about said medical ninja. It wasn't that what they had done was wrong, but not doing as ordered was literally a crime when given by a commanding officer, especially during a time of need, unless the command was against the laws in the first place. While what the medical ninja done was nothing short of amazing, it also conflicted with his direct orders.

"What is the name of the medical ninja? Is he or she a part of the emergency unit at the hospital, or is the medical ninja a field medic from an ANBU squad" asked the Hokage truly interested in this newest development.

"Neither my lord, technically he is a civilian" spoke the ANBU knowing that this would shock the Hokage more than anything he had said before.

It was true; the Hokage's eyes nearly became the size of dinner plates when he heard this, but then a cold sweat start to run down his neck. He wasn't sure if what he was thinking was correct, but if it was he knew he was screwed.

"What is the name of this technical civilian" spoke the Hokage.

"It is Lady Tsunade's son, Naruto Senju" spoke the ANBU, right before he saw the look of fear in the Hokage's eyes.

'Shit' was all Hiruzen could say in his mind as he thought about how much worse and better his day had become all at the same time.

XXX

As Naruto and his clones healed the injured a lone Sky Ninja had flow down low and unleashed a barge of kunai at them, only to come face to face with Naruto Senju's fist, which had way more power than the Sky Ninja would have ever guessed. The power was so great in fact that it had sent him through one side of a house and out the other.

"And stay down" spoke Naruto as he pumped his arm with pride.

He was tired, which was odd given the only time he ever really got tired was after an intense day of training with his mom and sisters. Though with the massive shadow clone technique and the continuous usage of the mystical palm technique it really shouldn't have been that surprising.

Out of the corner of his eye Naruto saw something. Squinting his eyes he didn't like what he saw, but before he could do or say anything someone screamed behind him. Thinking there was another injured person he may have missed her turned around but was surprised to see a red headed girl hiding from another barrage of kunai.

If he didn't know any better he would have thought he was looking at a young Kushina, but this girl's hair was a bit darker, her skin had a fair tan as well, and she kinda dressed like a boy. Still, she had to be around the same age as him give or take a year possibly.

Still he had to save her and stop gawking so he leaned over and picked up a small stone about the size of his palm. When the flying ninja came back around to attack again Naruto put a little something special into his throw and watch with grim satisfaction as the stone flew through the air at impossible speeds to connect with the man's chest, pierce it, and then come back out the other side to do the same to the machine he was using to fly on.

XXX

The Village Hidden in the Leaves was a total mess. They were under attack from some unknown enemy who could fly using strange devices. It had never dawned on Amaru that she would be in such a situation in her entire life. She had believed that she would simply wander the country side saving lives here and there with her master and just helping were she could.

But this, this was madness. People were being hit with jutsu and weapons alike. If not that then falling debrief or shrapnel was tearing them apart. Her master had quickly run off to help as many people as he could, but in nth confusion they had gotten separated.

Lost with nowhere to do she buckled down and began to use what she had learned over the years to help people. Some were skeptical of her, though she was used to that. She didn't have one of their forehead protectors so they knew she wasn't one of them. Then of course there were not many people who believed a child skilled enough to actually be of any help.

Still, with the prospect of dying many people learn that they are much more capable of adapting than they had previously believed. When only one person can help save your life you didn't tend to complain or ask for a second opinion, you just accepted it.

At least they were grateful. She couldn't stand patients who did not appreciate the work her and her master did. It was an insult to her very being after all.

After she bandaged up her latest patient, a young woman who got to close to a falling paper bomb, she heard the humming sound of something in the air. Knowing what it was she tried to hide, but there was nowhere to go. Thankfully their weapons didn't seem all to accurate or she would be dead now.

Unfortunately the flying ninja was persistent and came back for a second try. Amaru was sure this was the end of the line for her, but then something hit the ninja and he went down hard. She didn't even have to question what had happened, all she knew was the look in his eyes told her he was dead no matter what anyone did.

She heard foot steps and pulled out her scalpel in case she needed to defend herself. She wasn't expecting a kid her own age to come around the corner though. His golden blond hair, big topaz blue eyes, and strange markings on his face.

During her quick once over she noticed he lacked a forehead protector that her master revealed to hear indicated a ninja's village affiliation. While she wasn't sure of the shapes on the forehead protectors she did know that this kid didn't have one, so he couldn't be a ninja.

"Hey you alright?"

Amaru was a bit surprised as her grip loosened on her scalpel a bit. It must have been all the fighting because her nerves were on end. To meet someone so relaxed was a bit off for her. Were all ninja like this even when people were dying around them?

"Who are you?" Ok that came out a bit rude but she couldn't help it.

The boy's eyebrow raised a bit but he grinned none the less. "The name is Naruto, I am helping evacuate the civilians and moving patients to the hospital. Hokage's orders so your going to have to move."

"I can't leave" spoke Amaru as she went back to trying to help the woman. "This woman has shrapnel in her leg and if left untreated it will move deeper into the muscle. If that were to happen she would lose function of her leg, possibly her leg, and most likely her life."

The boy walked up beside her which was surprising. Even more surprising however was when he began to examine the woman himself. She was a bit insulted believing he didn't think she was capable of diagnosing a patient. She had years of training after all.

After getting done examining the unconscious woman Naruto nodded his head. "Yes it does appear so..." He paused for a moment to think. "I'll have to remove them quickly or else we could get trapped by more paper bombs."

"You cant just extract shrapnel! That would cause all kinds of damage" shouted Amaru.

She tried to stop him by tackling him to the ground but he was a bit more sturdy than she had anticipated. She ended up being the one knocked to the side although it hadn't hurt. She got back up and went to try and stop him again, but noticed his hands covered in some kind of strange green energy.

He placed his hands over the woman's injuries and slowly small pieces of metal could be seen poking out of her skin. After another moment they came out completely. What was even more amazing was the wounds began to heal as well. After a few seconds the woman looked like she had never been injured in the first place.

Amaru was amazed, no that wasn't a strong enough word for it. She had been informed by her master that ninja had their own types of doctors called medical ninja but she didn't know how they differed from regular doctors. If this was what they were capable of no wonder ninja could get so injured in the field and then come home, get rehabilitated, and then deployed again so soon.

Once Naruto was done healing the woman he went to stand up. That was when he heard someone coming. Whoever they were they were fast and he quickly pulled out a set of kunai ready for battle.

Amaru saw the shift in the boy's demeanor and thought he was about to turn on her. It wasn't until her master came from around the corner shouting her name that she realized what was going on. With teary eyes she quickly got up and ran to her master where the two of them hugged in a father daughter like embrace.

"Oh, Amaru I am so happy you are safe" spoke Shinno as he started to examine Amaru for any injuries. "When we got separated I fear for the worst but it seems my worries were unfounded."

A bit embarrassed by the attention in front of her rescuer Amaru tried to divert the topic of conversation. "Master Shinno I am fine really! I want you to meet the boy who saved me." Amaru pointed towards Naruto who hadn't put his kunai away.

Shinno didn't seem bothered by the kunai and extended a hand. "Thank you young man. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have no idea how much Amaru means to me. You have my eternal gratitude for saving her."

Naruto looked at the man's hand and put his kunai away before shaking it. "It was no problem" spoke Naruto. "I was happy to help her. The name is Naruto... and you two are?"

Shinno's eyes got big with surprise. "Oh my word! I can't believe I forgot to introduce myself." With a bit smile he gestured towards Amaru. "This is Amaru, my medical apprentice, and I am Shinno, a traveling doctor."

Naruto looked up into the sky. Those ninja who had attacked the village had already retreated a little while ago but their shapes could still be see out into the distance. They had left right after he killed that last flying ninja.

"Nice to meet the two of you" replied Naruto before looking around. "What are two wandering doctors doing in the Hidden Leaf Village? Going to join our village or something?"

Shinno smiled but shook his head. "No, we were just stopping by to pick up some supplies. The Hidden Leaf Village does produce the highest quality in medical supplies after all."

"Yes, well we do have the Legendary Tsunade in our village after all. She keeps our medical teams up to par which is something I think everyone is happy about after today."

"MASTER MASTER" shouted Amaru as she walked up to her Master's side. "You should have seen what he was able to do! He used some kind of green energy and pulled shrapnel out of that woman's leg over there without hurting her then her wounds just healed up like that!"

Shinno looked from his apprentice to Naruto and stared at him for a bit. He chuckled lightly before smiling. "Wow that is impressive. It is rare for someone to have such skill in medical ninjutsu at such a young age. Your parents must be very proud."

"What you knew about that stuff master?"

"Of course, I have been around for a long time and have studied medicine for almost as long. It is not surprising that I have run into medical ninja before and have learned a bit about what it is."

Amaru was amazed. "Wow, I wish I could do that as well!"

Naruto grinned. "If you became a ninja you could learn how to do it." He looked out towards all of the ninja jumping around. "I have to go and report to the Hokage. If your business is concluded I suggest you leave before you get locked in by the Chunin."

"Thank you for the heads up" spoke Shinno. "Come along Amaru, it is time we move on."

Amaru nodded her head but gave one last look behind to see Naruto jump up on a roof top and go running around the houses. She was amazed at his potential, and secretly wished they could have stayed for a bit longer.