The battlefield was a chaos where rocks lay shattered and pulverized by the force of impacts, while the Konoha Jonin moved with the slowness typical of those feeling adrenaline leave their bodies to make way for a dull pain and deep exhaustion.
"Kakashi!"
Might Guy's voice rang out in the air, but it had lost all its youthful joy as he knelt beside the motionless body of his rival, who lay face up with open but completely empty eyes. Nearby, Asuma wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his chakra trench knife.
"Shikaku, talk to me! How is everyone?" Asuma grunted.
"Inoichi! Status report!" ordered Shikaku, whose voice held none of its usual laziness.
"I'm on it! Kurenai... is unconscious, but her vitals are holding and she is stable."
There was a collective sigh of relief from Asuma and Guy, although the tension did not disappear entirely.
"But it's Kakashi," Inoichi continued, and panic returned to his voice. "I am trying to enter his mind, but the chakra... is designed to reject any intrusion, so I can't pull him out, Shikaku. His heart rate is erratic, although his system seems stable..."
Sakura, who was standing several meters away, felt the ground disappear beneath her feet upon hearing the diagnosis.
"Kakashi-sensei!"
The girl ran toward him, stumbling over shattered rocks and debris to drop to her knees at his side just as two figures landed next to the fallen group with a dull thud.
"Don't touch him, Sakura!"
Tsunade's voice was an order that stopped Sakura in her tracks, while the Sannin pushed Guy aside without the slightest gentleness.
"Out of the way, Guy. I don't need you crying over my patient and contaminating the area, since your youth will ruin my medical chakra."
Tsunade knelt beside Kakashi, ignoring Guy's protests about "the power of his rival's youth" while Sakura watched her teacher's body in horror.
"Tsunade-Sama... what...?"
"Sakura," Tsunade interrupted her. "Go to Kurenai right now. You are a medic and medics don't cry, they work, so tell me what you see."
Sakura startled, for the order snapped her out of her panic immediately.
"Yes, Tsunade-Sama!"
She ran the few meters separating her from Kurenai, who lay motionless while Asuma protected her, and Tsunade focused back on Kakashi with a grimace of distaste.
"Idiot. He looked him in the eyes, of course he did."
"Inoichi," Tsunade said aloud, knowing Shikaku would be listening. "Get out of his head right now."
"But, Tsunade-sama!" Inoichi protested. "If I can find a breach, maybe...!"
"I SAID NOW!" Tsunade yelled, and her own fury resonated across the battlefield. "You can't fight a Mangekyo with a Mind Transfer Jutsu, idiot! It will only drag you down with him and fry your own brain! You are interfering with my treatment, so get out!"
Inoichi cut the connection abruptly and slumped against a rock, bathed in cold sweat and panting from the effort, which confirmed the danger.
"Alright," Tsunade said. "No interference."
Her hands glowed with green chakra and she placed them on Kakashi's temples.
"I'm not breaking the genjutsu," she murmured with her face contracted in concentration. "I am severing the connection it has with his chakra network, a delicate operation where I am forcing the Tsukuyomi into an isolated loop."
It was a technique that only she, with her Sannin level medical control, could attempt.
"Sakura! Tell me how Kurenai is!" she yelled without removing her hands.
"Tsunade-Sama! It is three, no, four broken ribs on the left side and her breathing is shallow," reported Sakura, who closed her eyes to focus and feel the energy flow as Tsunade had taught her. "There is a contusion, but I don't think anything is perforated, for although the chakra flow is restricted by pain and swelling, it isn't cut off and I don't detect internal bleeding."
"Good!" Tsunade shouted from the other side. "Your diagnosis is good and you are learning! Now stabilize her and align those bones, but don't try to heal them completely, just adjust them and use your chakra to hold them in place. Buy me time!"
"Understood!"
Sakura got to work on what was the first time she performed a field procedure on her own, and although the fear of failing was overwhelming, the direct order from her teacher was more important.
Hinata and Karin approached cautiously.
"Sakura-san, can we... can we help?" Hinata asked.
"Hinata, I need clean bandages from my pack, please," Sakura ordered without looking up. "Karin, just... watch my back and make sure no one gets close, I need concentration."
The two girls obeyed without hesitation, and Karin drew a kunai while her red eyes scanned the surroundings, feeling useful again. While Tsunade and Sakura worked frantically, Jiraiya saw that the medical situation was under control and approached Kisame's remains, of whom little was left other than a pool of blood and pieces of the Akatsuki cloak that the sharks hadn't devoured.
But the weapon was still there.
Samehada lay on the ground with the bandages partially torn to reveal the blue, scaly shark skin underneath, vibrating and emitting a low hum as if it were a hungry and confused animal that had just lost its master.
"Well, well," Jiraiya murmured as he approached with unusual caution. "You're a picky creature, aren't you?"
The sword reacted the moment the Sannin got close and slid across the rocky ground like a snake until it stopped a few inches from his boot, where the bandages on the hilt seemed to move and twist to "sniff" the immense chakra Jiraiya emanated.
"Whoa, easy there, gorgeous," Jiraiya said with a half-smile as he took a step back. "I know my chakra is top quality, but I'm not on the menu, so show some respect for a Sannin."
"It doesn't want you out of respect, but out of hunger," interrupted Tsunade, who had already stood up after stabilizing Kakashi and was now observing the weapon with a calculating expression.
The Hokage walked slowly toward the sword, ignoring the worried looks from Shikaku and the ANBU who had just arrived.
"It is a living sword that absorbs chakra to heal its wielder and grant them energy," Tsunade murmured to herself, rubbing her chin as she analyzed the tactical possibilities. "My Strength of a Hundred Seal does the same, but it consumes my own reserves and shortens my life, which means having an external source to handle regeneration and chakra supply would allow me to fight without restrictions for much longer."
"Hime, you aren't thinking of..." Jiraiya started to say, but he stopped when he saw the determination in her eyes.
"It is heavy, brutish, and requires absurd amounts of chakra just to control, which fits my combat style perfectly," Tsunade said as she crouched and reached for the hilt. "Besides, Danzo would kill to have an advantage like this, so the best way to ensure it never falls into his hands is for it to never leave mine."
Tsunade grabbed the hilt firmly and Samehada reacted instantly, projecting spikes from the handle to damage the intruder's hand, but the green chakra of Tsunade's medical technique flowed immediately, healing the wounds as fast as they appeared and forcing the sword to submit to a more concentrated and powerful chakra than that of Jiraiya or Kisame.
"Easy," Tsunade whispered with a ferocious smile as she lifted the gigantic sword with a single hand as if it weighed nothing, feeling the weapon begin to purr as it fed on her immense latent power. "From now on, you work for me."
"By my authority as provisional Hokage," she announced loudly while carrying Samehada on her shoulder, ensuring everyone present understood there was no room for argument. "I claim this weapon as my personal armament and spoils of war following the elimination of Kisame Hoshigaki."
Jiraiya let out a sigh of relief mixed with disbelief.
"Well, I guess that saves me having to ask me to seal it, although I warn you that thing will ruin the office upholstery."
"Consider it my new pet," Tsunade replied before turning to the rest of the group. "Listen up! Naruto, Hinata, Karin! Help the medics prepare the stretchers for Kakashi and Kurenai! Sakura, you stay with me!"
"Asuma, Guy!" she shouted, pointing to the perimeter with her free hand. "I want a one-kilometer security perimeter to ensure there are no more Akatsuki surprises! Shikaku, Choza! I want a full report of this battle on my desk by tonight!"
The orders were given with absolute clarity that left no room for doubt, for the battle was over and Konoha, now with a much more dangerous Hokage, had won.
The journey back to the Senju Fortress was somber but not depressing, for it was the exhaustion of a hard-fought victory where the euphoria of having survived two Akatsuki members was beginning to settle. Kakashi and Kurenai had been transferred directly to the intensive care unit of the central hospital, with Shizune personally supervising their transfer, so when Naruto, Sakura, Hinata, and Karin crossed the fortress gates, the sun was beginning to set.
"Wow," said Naruto, his voice sounding too loud in the dark wood foyer. "That was... intense. I'm so hungry I could eat Kisame's arm."
"That's gross, Naruto," Sakura said, though a faint smile appeared on her face.
The boy let himself drop onto the main hall sofa since the Kyubi's chakra had completely retreated, leaving him exhausted, sore, and above all, hungry. Sakura sat on the tatami floor resting her back against the sofa, pale and covered in dirt and Kurenai's blood, but her green eyes shone with a feverish, almost manic intensity.
"Helping Tsunade-shishō," she said quietly, looking at her own hands. "It was incredible, because the way she controls medical chakra is everything I want to learn."
Hinata sat on a nearby chair, hugging her knees.
"You... you were amazing too, since you used your power and kept sensei stable, which was incredible."
Karin remained standing by the door, rigid, as if she wasn't sure she had permission to sit or relax.
"Hey, Karin," Naruto said from the sofa. "You can sit down, you know? We aren't going to bite you, unless you're a chicken leg."
Karin looked at him and the tension in her shoulders seemed to lessen a bit, so she gave Naruto a smile and sat cautiously on the edge of another chair.
Shizune entered through the front door, breaking the silence.
"They are stable," she said, and her voice was a tired whisper.
Everyone looked at her expecting more details.
"Kakashi-sensei is in a coma just as Tsunade-sama said, but his vitals are strong and stable, and although his mind is safe, he just needs time to heal from the psychic shock." She paused and looked at Sakura. "And Kurenai-sensei will be out of commission for at least a week, but she will live. Both will live."
A collective sigh of relief filled the room.
"Now," Shizune said, forcing a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "The Hokage gave me a final order and said... 'Feed those brats and make it real food this time, not that instant trash Naruto eats'."
She pushed a cart she had left in the foyer, which contained a huge, steaming tray full of fresh fist-sized onigiri, hot miso soup, chicken teriyaki, and steamed vegetables. Naruto was the first to react, lifting his head from the sofa to sniff the air.
"FOOD!"
He lunged at the cart like a wild animal, grabbing an onigiri with one hand and a chicken leg with the other.
"Naruto, you idiot!" Sakura yelled, though she herself was grabbing a bowl of soup with trembling hands. "Use chopsticks!"
"Eating like this gives it flavor!" he said with his mouth full. "And hands are the original chopsticks!"
Hinata and Karin approached more timidly.
"Come on, Karin," Sakura said softly, serving her a bowl of soup. "Eat, you earned it."
Karin accepted the bowl. "Thank you."
Within minutes the group of genin was sitting on the floor eating in a hungry and grateful silence, something noisy and messy but exactly what they needed to start feeling human again.
"We were amazing," Naruto said with his mouth full of rice, breaking the silence. "Totally! Did you see how I gave Chakra to Karin? It was great!"
"We could have died," Sakura said, giving him a light punch on the arm.
"But we didn't die!" he defended himself. "And it worked! Our whole plan worked!"
"We took a lot of risks," Hinata said, though there was deep admiration in her voice. "But everything turned out well."
Naruto turned toward Karin, who ate in silence watching them as if they were a strange species.
"And Karin-chan! Your chains! That was spectacular and you looked too cool!"
Karin blushed intensely and averted her gaze to her soup bowl.
"It was... luck."
"Well, it was incredible luck!" said Naruto before shoving another whole onigiri into his mouth.
They were exhausted, dirty, and sore, but they were alive and, for the first time, they weren't just together on the Hokage's orders, but because they had survived something impossible. The front door opened again making everyone tense up, but it was Tsunade who walked in shuffling her feet, with her Hokage robes wrinkled and stained with Kakashi's blood. She stopped in the doorway of the living room observing the scene of the four genin sitting on the floor eating as if there were no tomorrow and talking over each other surrounded by empty plates.
"Granny?" said Naruto with his mouth full of chicken.
She approached slowly and, with a groan of exhaustion that seemed to shake her whole body, sat on the tatami floor with them, crossing her legs. The gesture was so unexpected that everyone stopped eating and stared at her, while Shizune rushed to serve her a cup of tea.
"Tsunade-sama... don't you want to rest?"
Tsunade accepted the cup and simply held it between her hands feeling the warmth, while the silence stretched out becoming uncomfortable. Naruto, as always, couldn't stand it, so he looked around and raised his own half-empty rice bowl.
"A toast!" he shouted.
Everyone looked at him confused.
"To us!" he said with a smile so big and bright it lit up the room. "The best team in the world that kicks Akatsuki butt and eats chicken teriyaki!"
Sakura and Hinata smiled, infected by his energy, and although Karin lowered her gaze, a small, almost invisible smile formed on her lips. Tsunade raised her own cup of tea and a genuine, proud, and strangely happy smile, one that none of them had seen before, lit up her face.
"You did a good job today, all of you," she said, and the praise, coming from her, was deafening.
Sakura, Hinata, and Karin blushed with pride.
Tsunade looked at Sakura. "Your control under pressure was flawless."
She looked at Hinata. "Your support and courage were crucial."
She looked at Karin. "You did incredible Karin, nothing of this would have been possible without your help."
And finally she looked at Naruto. "And you, brat... you were a reckless idiot."
Naruto deflated.
"...But," Tsunade continued, "you were our reckless idiot and your chakra control was decent."
"Decent?" Naruto shouted. "It was legendary!"
Tsunade smiled, a real smile.
"To the team," she said with a soft voice that resonated more than any shout.
She paused and her gaze settled on each of them, one by one, including Shizune who watched from the cart.
"To family."