Kaede was busy tending to her flowers in the backyard when she noticed someone was at her house.
"What do you want?" Kaede asked. After all, she knew the man was from the Nara clan.
"Ahem... your son was hospitalized after an incident this morning during training."
He couldn't stay longer, not with someone they had been warned not to provoke.
"Wait! What happened to my son?"
Her heart was pounding, wondering what could have happened. Was he bullied? She was the one who had told him not to stand out during training. She couldn't go after the man who was leaving.
"I need to see my son."
She went back to the backyard, closed the door, and then went to the hospital. "Please be okay, son," she said inward, tears running down her cheeks.
Getting to the hospital, she saw the nurse at the counter. "Where is my son? Please tell me," she said to the young lady opposite her.
The young lady looked at the crying woman and could understand how a mother would feel. After all, she was a woman as well.
"What is your son's name, ma'am?"
"Megumi Nara," she replied. She saw the nurse checking her large book for her son's name.
"Ward F."
She didn't wait to hear the rest of the nurse's words. Getting there, she saw her son, his face swollen, his hands and legs bandaged. This was not an incident that was supposed to happen in a training session; this was a clear message.
He was targeted by someone within the Nara clan.
She could not control her killing intent. Other people in the ward were shaken. The lively room was silent, filled with a pressure that only a powerful shinobi could face head-on.
"Those bastards, they are conspiring with the Hokage!" She was gritting her teeth.
"What did I expect from the clan that backs the Hokage?"
"I guess leaving this clan suits us better now." She had made up her mind for the worst, but she never believed that her husband's clan would betray one of their own. But one thing was clear:
"That bastard who hurt Megumi must suffer."
The Clan Meeting
Inside a small room, five elders sat with Shikaku in the middle. Naosuke was on his knees at the table after the incident at the training grounds.
"Why did you call us at this time of the day, Shikaku?" Tsunayoshi asked with a smile on his face. He had received reports that Megumi was already hospitalized and how bad his injuries were.
Shikaku could tell from Tsunayoshi's reaction that he was the one who gave the order. "I called all the elders for a serious matter we need to attend to."
Tsunayoshi was in a good mood and couldn't let Shikaku prolong the matter. "Don't tell me you're talking about that disgrace who was acting proud in training."
"Since you know what happened," Shikaku smirked. The elder had fallen into his trap without knowing. "Care to explain why you sent your follower after my nephew?"
"Everything I did was for this clan, and you have the guts to call that chakraless brat your nephew? In all my life, I haven't met a chakraless child before." Tsunayoshi defended himself with that one line.
After all, he was once a lackey of Danzo during his youth.
"Tsunayoshi, what you did was wrong," the man beside him intervened. "But before punishing Naosuke, we should ask him what happened personally." Elder Tomonori said before giving a nod to Tsunayoshi.
"That woman has been nothing but a bone in the throat. We should send them away," Elder Daburo added.
"That's true. Who knows if that boy is Kenji's son or a bastard?" Elder Tsunayoshi added more fuel to the fire.
"You should know that we are not as powerful as those evil Uchiha, but we have maintained our reputation and relationships as the Hokage's faction."
"Sacrificing one useless boy for the betterment of the clan will be Megumi's greatest achievement he will accomplish."
Shikaku knew he couldn't do anything at this point. He wasn't prepared that all the elders would support Tsunayoshi's points.
"I'm still saying Naosuke is guilty of his crimes, and you are saying something else."
Tsunayoshi had won. He didn't respect Shikaku, even if he was the head of the Nara clan. "Look at the way you talk, boy. Are you going to keep backing that woman and her worthless son?"
"What did you see in that child that you wanted to gamble our clan for that virus?" Tsunayoshi roared, slamming the table in front of him.
Elder Tomonori backed his friend up. "Let me remind you, Shikaku, your forefathers always followed the Hokage and the Sarutobi clans for our well-being, and they will protect our descendants like you were protected now."
"Pick your side, Shikaku: Megumi or the Nara clan?"
Shikaku's emotions, which had been stable the entire time, couldn't believe they were telling him to choose between his brother's son or letting the Hokage break the agreement between their clans.
"Hmm... You are free to leave."
Naosuke stood up and bowed before the elders.
Clap! Clap!
"Wow, nice discussion, everyone." A female voice was heard from the entrance. Turning to see who it was, they saw Kaede with her eyes staring down at Naosuke like a predator eyeing its prey.
"What are you doing here, woman? This is not a place you can just enter."
The elders were sweating bullets after seeing Kaede. They still remembered the scene where this woman killed Danzo's men as if they weren't human.
"I'm here to see the supervisor who was in charge of my son's training. I want to ask why my son was hospitalized, Elders and Clan Head Shikaku Nara," she said with a smile that did not reach her face.
Naosuke felt overwhelmed by her killing intent. "I need to get out of here." He turned to ask for help from the elders but was surprised the elders were not in a good condition.
"He was being cocky and couldn't respect his senior, so I had the right to discipline him," he said with a smirk.
"Who do you think you're talking to, boy? It seems your clan didn't tell you who I am." With a powerful, chakra-infused punch straight to his face...
Boom!!!