"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune gasped. "Naruto... Naruto has finally woken up!"
Tsunade felt a momentary surge of relief that she quickly masked with a weary sigh. She rubbed her temples, the headache that had been brewing all day finally settling in.
"Tell Kakashi to see to him first," she commanded, though her voice lacked its usual sharpness. "He's better at handling Naruto's brand of chaos than I am right now. I'll be down to the hospital in a while."
Inoichi stood up, sensing the shift in the room's energy. "I will take my leave, then. There's much to digest in those reports."
Tsunade nodded absently as he exited. She looked back down at the files on her desk... the bodies of the Sound Four, Chunin promotions, the potential of the Kaguya survivor, and there is Naruto.
~~
For the second time in years, the act of drawing breath didn't feel like swallowing glass.
Kimimaro's eyes flickered open. He inhaled deeply, and waited for the familiar, agonizing of his failing lungs but it never came. Instead, there was only the cool, sterile scent of medicinal herbs and the strange, buoyant sensation of a body that was no longer actively trying to die.
Tsunade Senju. The name even Kimimaro, in his unwavering devotion to Orochimaru, had to respect for her skill. She wasn't called the Legendary Healer for nothing.
He sat up slowly, his muscles feeling responsive and there are no restraints. That was a bold choice on Konoha's part, or perhaps a testament to their confidence that I won't escape. He scanned the room, his gaze settling on a figure lounging in the far corner.
The man was the picture of nonchalance. He wore the standard flak jacket of a Konoha Jonin, he had silver hair and his forehead protector was slanted, hiding his left eye, while his right was buried in a small, orange book that Kimimaro recognized from Lord Orochimaru's secret intelligence reports.
"Kakashi Hatake, The Copy Ninja." Kimimaro thought.
Lord Orochimaru had often spoken of how strong Kakashi was . A man who possessed the Sharingan without Uchiha blood in his veins. Kakashi was a fascinating anomaly... a research subject that had been deemed "insufficient" only because his body couldn't handle the ocular strain as efficiently as a true bloodline possessor.
Kakashi didn't look up immediately. He turned a page, his thumb lingering on the paper for a second before he spoke. "So, the sleeping beauty finally joins us. How are you feeling?"
"I have never been better," Kimimaro answered. His voice was steady, devoid of the raspy wheeze in the lungs.
An awkward, heavy silence filled the room. Kimimaro wasn't one for small talk, and Kakashi seemed perfectly content to let the silence fester. Finally, Kimimaro decided to address the agenda.
"If you are here to interrogate me regarding Uchiha Sasuke, save your breath," Kimimaro said. "He left on his own accord. There was no coercion, he simply realized that your village had nothing left to offer him. Perhaps you should just forget him. Or does the idea of losing the last survivor of the Uchiha hurt the village's reputation too much?"
Kakashi's thumb stopped mid-page. He slowly closed the book and slid it into his pouch. When he looked up, the visible eye was closed; it was dark, and dangerous.
"I appreciate the honesty," Kakashi said, his voice dropping an octave and slid his forehead protector up. "But you don't know a thing about that boy. And a word of advice? Don't speak his name like that in front of Naruto. It won't end well for you."
The three-tomoe Sharingan began to spin.
Kimimaro felt a tug of a genjutsu... the world beginning to warp, the colors bleeding to a diseased Kimimaro dying a painful death and Orochimaru lay dead by his side. But he didn't panic as he took another of those painless breaths and tapped into the sage energy at the base of his neck.
The Cursed Seal of Earth responded instantly. Black, jagged markings crawled across his skin, spreading from his chest to his face. The Sage transformation wasn't just a physical boost; it gave a natural resistance to Genjutsu. The influx of natural energy acted as a violent disruptor to the foreign chakra Kakashi was trying to weave into his mind.
The genjutsu shattered.
Kakashi blinked, a flicker of genuine surprise crossing his features. He hadn't expected Kimimaro to dispel a high-level Sharingan illusion with such efficiency.
"Lord Orochimaru speaks highly of you, Kakashi," Kimimaro said. "I will never drop my guard. You are strong, but I am no longer the dying man." He retracted the seal, the marks receding as quickly as they had appeared. "I am here for a reason. I have agreed to a stay of three years in service to Konoha. I intend to honor that deal."
"Hehe... Don't go scaring our Kakashi too much. He's had a rough week."
The voice came from the windowsill. Jiraiya sat there, perched like a toad, a smirk playing on his face. He hopped down into the room, his presence immediately shifting the atmosphere from tense to suffocating.
Kimimaro's instincts screamed. His body moved before his mind could catch up, shifting into a low battle stance. With a sickening schlick sound, he reached into his shoulder and pulled a gleaming, white humerus, a bone running from his shoulder to arm.
"Jiraiya," Kimimaro whispered, his voice trembling slightly. It was the natural reaction of a predator realizing it was in the presence of an apex. "The Legendary Sannin."
"Hehehe! I see my reputation precedes me," Jiraiya laughed, though the humor didn't reach his eyes. He took a step forward, and the sheer pressure of his chakra made Kimimaro's breath stop in his throat. "I'm pretty popular, it's true. But listen well, boy. I don't care what kind of deal you struck with Tsunade. While you're under this roof, you'd do well to control that mouth of yours."
Jiraiya's expression turned cold, the jovial mask falling away. "Boy, while you are here know your life's worth and know who let you live. If Tsunade hadn't drugged me back at that castle, your 'Lord' Orochimaru would be a memory by now. Don't make any stupid moves. "
He turned his back on Kimimaro and looked at Kakashi. "Come on. Naruto just woke up."