Inside the Hokage's office, Tsunade leaned back in her chair, fingers laced together on the desk as she studied the two squads standing before her.
On the left was Team 7, led by Kakashi: Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno.
On the right, Team 1, led by Yamato: Takeshi Kobayashi, Yu Satō, and their newest mber... Karin.
Tsunade's lips curved upwards. She was in a good mood.
The administrative reform plan Shinichi had proposed before leaving the village had finally been put into action.
A huge chunk of routine work had been handed off to different departnts, cutting the files on her desk by nearly seventy percent.
She no longer had to spend all day buried under mountains of paperwork.
The thought made Tsunade want to cheer on the inside. But a mont later, her gaze slid to the still-substantial stack of docunts left, and her smile vanished.
She sighed, raising a hand to scratch at her hair...
"But... why is there still so much left?!" She slumped back in her chair, staring up at the ceiling. "Sure enough... this place just isn't right for ."
Before she could finish her complaints, a loud voice cut through her self-pity.
"Granny Tsunade!"
Naruto strode up to the desk and slamd both hands down on it. "Today! Today you absolutely have to give us a higher-ranked mission! At least a B-rank!"
Tsunade raised an eyebrow, fighting the urge to punch the blonde clear across the room. "Oh? That fired up?"
"Of course!" Naruto clenched his fist. "Even Shinichi is out there handling S-rank missions! How can we keep doing stuff like finding lost cats and dogs?!"
Beside him, Sasuke snorted. He was already wearing the standard green Chunin vest. "Dead-last, mission rank isn't sothing you get just by shouting."
Naruto whipped around, glaring. "What did you say?!"
"Strength," Sasuke said flatly. "Do you have it?"
To drive the point ho, he pointedly brushed a speck of imaginary dust off his Chunin flak jacket.
Naruto's face went red with fury.
"Why did an arrogant jerk like Sasuke get to beco a Chunin while I'm still a Genin?! That's not fair!"
Tsunade massaged her temples. She honestly had no idea how to handle Naruto.
Seeing the situation heat up, Kakashi stepped in with a pacifying eye-smile.
"Naruto, Sasuke's Chunin promotion was a unanimous decision by the village elders, based on his performance during the Chunin Exams. After all... his showing in the third stage was pretty outstanding."
"My performance wasn't bad either! Besides... I have already learned a new jutsu!" Naruto shouted, his voice bouncing off the office walls.
"Learned a new jutsu?" Sasuke tilted his head, glancing sideways at him. "You think you're the only one improving, dead-last?"
He raised his right hand. A faint spark of electricity danced across his fingertips, then vanished.
"Besides..." Sasuke lowered his hand, crossing his arms and lifting his chin. "I am also the Third Hokage's disciple."
He paused, rembering the day Hiruzen Sarutobi had taken him as an apprentice and made that bet with Jiraiya. A slight smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.
'I might not surpass Shinichi... but lose to Naruto, this dead-last? Absolutely impossible!'
After Lord Third had taken him on, the news of the master-disciple wager quickly spread throughout Konoha. It turned their already fierce rivalry into sothing closer to a feud between sworn enemies.
"As the Third Hokage's disciple, I'm destined to walk ahead of you," Sasuke said with absolute certainty. "When the ti cos, Lord Jiraiya... will definitely lose."
"You...!" Enraged by his teammate's attitude, Naruto's glare sharpened. Then, suddenly, a lightbulb seed to go off in his head.
He struck an exaggerated pose, mimicking Sasuke's manner.
"Don't get so cocky! I'll definitely beat you! Just like how Shinichi trashed you at the Ninja Academy gates, I'll personally..."
He didn't get to finish.
Sasuke's expression went dark. He crossed the distance in a flash and clamped a hand firmly over Naruto's mouth.
"Shut up!" Sasuke hissed, his eyes flashing a silent warning. "Didn't you promise ?! You're not allowed to bring up that incident ever again!"
With his mouth covered, Naruto could only let out muffled sounds, thrashing his arms and legs wildly.
The office went quiet for a second, then a few quiet chuckles broke out.
Karin watched the scene, her gaze flicking between the two boys. She adjusted her glasses, a genuine smile curving her lips.
Her ntal state was completely different now. The old timidity and fear had faded, replaced by a youthful brightness that actually matched her age.
In Konoha, she wasn't exploited or forced to stay constantly on guard like back in Kusagakure. She didn't live in fear from one day to the next.
Instead, she had received genuine care from her teammates, Takeshi Kobayashi and Yu Satō, along with Yamato-sensei's instructions.
Her gaze swept over her two reliable teammates, noting how Yu stood confidently beside her, then shifted to Yamato, who wore his usual reassuring smile.
Finally, she looked toward the sunlight streaming through the window. In her mind's eye, she saw the black-haired boy who had appeared during her darkest mont, pulling her out of Hell.
'Thank you', Karin whispered in her heart. 'And... Mother...'
Her fingers brushed her bangs and traced the hard tal edge of her Konoha forehead protector.
'I've truly found it now. I've found my place... and comrades willing to stand at my side!'
Watching the farce play out between the two troublemakers, Tsunade wore a thoughtful expression. She had initially been surprised that her teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi, would take on another apprentice...especially Sasuke.
After the recent string of tragedies, the Third's ntal state had been deeply depressed.
Tsunade had actually worried that the old man, who'd spent his whole life serving Konoha, might never bounce back.
But the reality was completely different.
The renewed smile on Hiruzen's face the last few tis she'd seen him proved it was exactly what he needed. Surprising, but hardly a bad outco.
A faint, unconscious smile touched Tsunade's lips.
'It seems... Jiraiya played this one pretty well.'
"Hmph. Anyway..." Tsunade cleared her throat, ready to steer the troublemakers back to their mission assignnts.
Poof!
A cloud of white smoke suddenly burst to life beside her. As it quickly faded, Katsuyu appeared on the desk.
The sudden summoning caught everyone off guard. Once the white smoke cleared completely, Katsuyu's soft voice rang out. "Lady Tsunade, it's certainly lively in here."
Tsunade's brow furrowed. "Katsuyu? Why did you summon yourself? Is there an urgent matter?"
"Yes, quite urgent," Katsuyu replied, her optic tentacles swaying gently. "Lord Shinichi entrusted to bring back important news and an object. Right now, that object is inside my body."
Tsunade's eyes narrowed. Not wanting to press for details in front of the Genin, she swiftly grabbed the two mission scrolls she'd already prepared. "Kakashi. Yamato."
She tossed the scrolls to the two Jonin, who caught them securely.
"The mission details are inside. Team 7, escort a rchant caravan to the Land of Snow. Team 1, investigate the wild beast attacks on the Eastern Border." Tsunade's pace was rapid, leaving no room for argunt.
"Read the specifics yourselves. Now, take your missions and go."
"Prepare imdiately. You leave in half an hour."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Yamato, Kakashi, and their respective teams were burning with curiosity about Katsuyu's sudden appearance, but their professionalism ca first.
"Karin." Tsunade's gaze shifted to the red-haired girl at the back of Team 1.
Karin's body tensed.
She stood ramrod straight, her eyes behind her glasses sharp with intensity, terrified of falling short of the Hokage's expectations. "Yes, Lady Tsunade!"
"Do well," Tsunade said after a mont.
"I will!" Karin nodded firmly.
"Alright. Dismissed." Tsunade waved a hand.
The two squads didn't linger. They turned and quickly filed out, the heavy wooden door closing gently behind them.
Now only Tsunade, Shizune, and the quietly waiting Katsuyu remained in the room. Tsunade stared at the closed door for a mont, then turned her attention back to the slug.
"Tell ", she said. "What did that boy have you bring back?"
Katsuyu didn't answer right away. The central part of her soft body swelled, rippling rhythmically.
Squelch!
A figure was unceremoniously spat out from inside Katsuyu's body, landing softly on the floor. It was Fu. Her eyes were shut tight, her breathing steady, as if she were simply asleep.
Shizune stepped forward, looking down at the unfamiliar unconscious girl. "Who is this?"
Tsunade frowned, quickly scanning the girl's face and clothing. She couldn't match the teenager to any known bingo book entry or intelligence report.
"Lady Katsuyu," Shizune asked, "who is she?"
Katsuyu's tentacles swiveled toward the unconscious girl on the floor. Her soft voice provided the answer... "She is the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki of Takigakure. Her na is Fu."
Tsunade stared in disbelief. Shizune's jaw dropped.
A mont of absolute silence fell over the office.
Shinichi had left the village claiming he was going to find a Jinchuriki to test his Wood Release on... so how had he ended up kidnapping another village's Jinchuriki and mailing her straight back to Konoha?!
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