"And this scroll contains Sasuke Uchiha in perfect condition," Naruto added, his voice entirely detached. "Well, mostly perfect. He might have a broken rib or a fractured jaw from my punch. I didn't exactly have the time or the inclination to conduct a full medical survey on him."
Tsunade accepted the heavy scroll. With a sharp snap of her fingers, two Anbu operatives materialized silently at her flanks. She handed the scroll to Shizune.
"You two, escort Shizune to Inoichi's office immediately," Tsunade commanded, her tone leaving zero room for debate. "I want every single detail extracted from the heads of both prisoners. Tell Inoichi and the T&I Department that they have my absolute, unrestricted permission to go to the extreme to get this information. I don't care what mental barriers they have to break. If anyone from the council complains, tell them to come directly to me. I will deal with them myself."
The two Anbu nodded sharply. "As you wish, Lady Hokage." They vanished alongside Shizune in a swirl of leaves, heading straight for the depths of the Interrogation Division.
Tsunade let out a breath and turned her gaze back to the blonde shinobi standing before her desk. "You did excellent work today, Naruto. Taking down Orochimaru and securing these two... this mission report will elevate your official record significantly."
"Eh, there's no need for that, Auntie Tsunade," Naruto replied, turning toward the door. "I had a personal grudge against the Uchiha for what he did three years ago anyway. Just make sure those two stay exactly where they belong."
Naruto was half-turned to leave when a voice shattered the heavy, professional atmosphere of the room.
"Lady Tsunade, I completely disagree with this!"
Everyone in the room froze. They all slowly turned to look at Sakura. The collective exhaustion in the room was palpable; everyone knew exactly what was coming, yet they had to humor her.
"Sasuke-kun does not deserve this treatment!" Sakura pleaded, stepping forward with desperate tears welling in her eyes. "What he did three years ago was under Orochimaru's toxic influence! Naruto, you shouldn't hold it against him! He didn't know what was right and what was wrong. Lady Tsunade, from a medical standpoint, you must understand! Sasuke-kun wasn't mentally sound back then. We can't torture him like this!"
Naruto stopped dead in his tracks. He dragged a hand down his face in a slow, agonizingly tired fashion. Behind him, Kakashi let out a muffled sigh, and Jiraiya pinched the bridge of his nose.
"He's not in his right state of mind?" Naruto repeated, his voice dangerously low.
He turned around, closing the distance between himself and Sakura in two terrifyingly fast steps. He stood directly in her face, and for the first time since returning to the village, he stopped suppressing his sheer, crushing killer intent. The air in the office immediately grew heavy, cold, and suffocating.
"Why don't we just say he was never in his right state of mind from the very beginning, Sakura?" Naruto hissed, his blue eyes boring a hole straight through her. "Why don't we just say the entire Uchiha clan was never mentally stable? Huh? One brother slaughters the entire clan, and the other backstabs the very village that raised him! What's next? He fires a lethal lightning jutsu at us—actively tries to murder every single one of us a few hours ago—and if he had succeeded, what then? We just forgive him? We let him come back and play ninja? Is that what you're trying to tell me?!"
Sakura stepped back, trembling under the weight of his aura, but her romanticized stubbornness flared. "I'm not saying that! I'm just saying Sasuke-kun deserves a fair trial! He was lonely! He just needs love!"
"Your love?" Naruto scoffed, his voice dripping with absolute venom. "Oh, please. I'm going to say this straight to your face: if he actually wanted your love, he wouldn't have tried to fry you into ash today. Nobody needs your delusional love, Haruno Sakura."
Something inside Sakura snapped. Blinded by rage and insulted by the blunt destruction of her fantasy, she pulled her right arm back, violently channeling a massive surge of medical chakra into her fist. With a furious shout, she swung directly at Naruto's face.
CRACK!
A concussive shockwave of displaced wind blasted through the Hokage's office, violently fluttering the paperwork on Tsunade's desk.
Sakura's eyes widened in sheer horror.
Naruto hadn't dodged. He hadn't even flinched. He stood perfectly still, his left hand raised effortlessly, catching her fully powered, chakra-enhanced strike squarely in his palm. He held her trembling fist with an iron, unbreakable grip.
"Sakura, STAND DOWN!" Tsunade roared, violently slamming her hands onto her desk as she shot to her feet.
But she didn't need to intervene.
Before Sakura could even attempt to pull her hand away, two figures blurred into motion. Kakashi materialized on her left, his hand firmly gripping her wrist, ready to dislocate it if she moved an inch.
On her right stood Sai. The pale Root operative had his standard-issue tantō unsheathed, the razor-sharp edge of the cold steel resting mere millimeters from the side of Sakura's neck.
"Haruno-san," Sai said, his fake smile completely gone, replaced by the dead, chilling gaze of a conditioned assassin. "I strongly advise you to calm yourself. You are in the Hokage's office."
Sai didn't particularly care for Naruto on a personal level yet, but he was a creature of logic and military hierarchy. He had witnessed Naruto's absolute superiority in leadership, power, and tactical capability today. To Sai, Naruto was a highly valuable asset to the Hidden Leaf. Sakura's emotional outburst, however, was an unstable liability that needed to be neutralized immediately.
Author's Note
Hey everyone!
I need a little help from you all. Since I'm not much of an artist, I'd really appreciate it if you could share or comment pictures of outfits you think would suit the characters.
I'm especially looking for outfit ideas for:
Naruto
Hinata
Ino
Temari
And any other characters you'd like to see redesigned.
Feel free to post as many references as you want. Casual clothes, mission outfits, formal wear, seasonal outfits, or anything else you think fits their personalities.
Your suggestions will really help me visualize the characters and make the story even better.
Thanks for all the support, and I can't wait to see your ideas!