Naruto: Shy Fox Chronicles

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Shy Fox Chronicles

Chapter 3: Scars of Loss

The weeks were long and arduous since the Nine-Tails attack. In the aftermath, the search for the missing and dead was conducted through the rubble. Despite the heroic sacrifice of the Fourth Hokage and the loss of hundreds of shinobi, there was a grisly toll upon the civilians. Most of which were from those that attempted to hide in basements and other buildings. It was work that even the most hardened of shinobi dreaded, seeing the twisted and contorted faces of terror upon the mangled corpses.

From there came rebuilding. Despite no formal plan from the higher ups, many ate the cost to start rebuilding. Indeed, some of the larger clans donated sums of their own war chests to help those who had lost everything. However, to everyone's shock, the Uzumaki and Kamishini not only donated large sums of money but even put in the back breaking labor to do it. Most shinobi loathed performing D-Rank missions, but these two clan's members formed entire work gangs to work for free.

As all of this was underway, the leaders of said clans gathered for some weeks with Tsunade and her council. Despite Kushina's condition, she insisted quite violently, and Tsunade's neck can attest to the violence, to be there. Leaving Naruto at home with her extended family, she sat in the Hokage's chair in front of the table full of the most powerful men and women in Konoha. Even Hiruzen, despite his retirement, was invited. Mostly to keep the unwanted, if required, guest in check.

"I apologize for my tardiness. I had… business to deal with regarding the rebuilding process." Danzō told those present for the meeting.

"It's quite alright, Danzō. It's not like we have a meeting to decide the reconstruction and thereby the fate of generations and all." Kushina answered him cordially, if coldly.

"I was merely making sure we had managed to secure all the necessary supplies. It wouldn't do for us to run out of supplies too early, now would it Lady Hokage?" He replied, trying to hold back his disdain at having to address Kushina by that title.

"Fugaku-san, can you have your boys check to make sure all those supplies are still there? You know, a second opinion and all." Oda asked, turning to the leader of the Uchiha on his right.

"I had already intended to, Oda-dono." Fugaku replied to his fellow clan leader.

"Please. No need to be so formal. We are all mostly equals here." Oda said, directing a stern gaze to the leader of the shell formerly known as Root.

Gritting his teeth, Danzō took a deep breath to calm down. "You will all be happy to know that we, based on the inventory I took, should theoretically have more than enough supplies for the repairs. We may even be able to expand the village a bit if we have enough left over." He explained, trying to watch himself.

"Expansion is a luxury. If anything, we need to consolidate. Rethink our defensive layout and structure." Seishin said, getting approved nods from most present.

"Very true. Though it wouldn't do for the Uzumaki and Kamishini clans, as the newest clans to join our village, to not have their own compounds within the village. If we have supplies left over, they can be put towards that." Danzō told them, trying to make his intentions clear.

"We are exceptionally good at making do with small spaces. Something I hear you've gotten used to as well, Danzō-san." Oda answered, his face turning to a stern glower. 

Danzō fought back the urge to glare at the old man as he nodded. "Fair enough. It is admirable that you're willing to make do with what we can provide for now." He replied, trying to not step on any toes quite yet.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Danzō, but that will not be necessary. We Uzumaki pride ourselves on resourcefulness and making do." Oda countered, getting further looks from Danzo, as the new clan's humility began to impress the other clans.

"We Kamishini are used to being constantly on the move. We are more than capable of getting by on more spartan living conditions until better ones can be provided." Seishin said, adding in his own two ryo.

"Is that all you wish for, Danzō-san, or do you have something else to bring up?" Hyūga Hiashi, leader of the Hyūga clan, asked drolly, clearly getting bored with the Root leader's attempts at courting influence.

"There are two more things that must be addressed. What is to be done about the knowledge of both Kushina-sama and her son each having one half of the Nine Tails inside them? As well as when we should begin the child's training and emotional conditioning to be able to control his half's power." Danzō explained, deciding to cut to the chase.

Soon a chair was flung as Oda rose violently from his seat, metallic-looking claws made of chakra forming around hands, as Fugaku and Seishin had to hold the ancient pillar of the Uzumaki back. This sudden change in the old Uzumaki shocked everyone. Even Danzō looked somewhat surprised at it.

"Touch that boy and I will kill you and all your slaves! He is a baby, a human being, not a mold of flesh for you to contort into a monster!" Oda roared, fighting both the Uchiha and Kamishini heads to get at the old Anbu leader.

"Oda-sama, calm down!" Seishin told him, trying to hold the ancient shinobi back.

"He isn't worth it!" Fugaku added frantically.

"Great-Grandfather. Please calm down and be seated." Kushina said with shocking amounts of calm and discipline, stunning the room to near silence.

"Yes, dear." Oda said before sitting back down, though clearly not happy about it.

"I thank you, Lady Hokage. At least someone here can see sense." Danzō told Kushina, surprised that she had so easily calmed the ancient, fiery redhead down.

"It would be completely unadvisable to perform such an action." Hiruzen piped up, gaining Danzō's ire as his old rival just couldn't go quietly into retirement.

"And why would that be, Hiruzen? The child has one half of the most powerful being in this mortal plane sealed within him. Even one half of the Nine Tails is more than a match for more than half of the other Tailed Beasts at once. If he is not taught to control his emotions and that power along with them as soon as possible, it could spell disaster." Danzō insisted, trying to make the others see sense.

"Say the boy's name." Hiruzen said simply.

"I will do more than that. Uzumaki Naruto's training must begin as soon as possible. The moment Lord Fourth Sealed half of the mightiest of the Nine inside him, young Naruto was robbed of the notion of having a normal life and childhood." Danzō shot back, a bit of frustration peeking out.

Hiruzen then stood up before looking Danzō square in the eyes. "If Lords Hashirama and Tobirama were here, they would have run their blades through you without a second thought." Hiruzen spoke, with an authority on the matter few others could.

Danzō's one visible eye widened in shock before he sighed and nodded. "I see. Forgive my harsh words, I misspoke. I am simply-"

"Every other village that has held a Tailed Beast has had catastrophe every time they switched Jinchūriki. Why? Because they were incapable of effectively managing such power. Hashirama, our founder, was the one who brought every Tailed Beast to heel and gave them the beasts to strive for peace. If he had wanted to, we could have had all of them. Why did he not? Peace. To create a Jinchūriki for war, a weapon made flesh, you deprive the world of a chance of peace. Because the host cannot have peace with themselves. Why would we want to destroy someone like that? An innocent babe that we all have seen and held in our hands. Can any of you in good conscience vote upon that after having looked into the innocent eyes of a baby?" Hiruzen said, his voice flowing with passion. Not a single word he spoke, it was clear, he did not mean. As his eyes burned with the will of fire itself.

Even Danzō was perturbed by what his old rival said. He may have been a man of cold, hard logic… but even he could see what the former Hokage was saying. To condemn the boy to a life like that so soon would be a level of cruelty he was not sure he could completely live with if it harmed the boy's progress. Regardless of how much it would benefit the village overall.

"Very well. We will leave that as a matter to be discussed when the boy is old enough to have a say in-" Danzō began to say only for a large chakra chain to pierce the wall next to his face, barely missing impaling him through the head and instead scratching his cheek as his eyes widened in shock.

This made the room go ice cold. Any heat, any passion, any fire of rage snuffed out by a cold abyss of wrath that had befallen the room. Everyone followed the links of the chain that had nearly killed Danzō towards the head of the table. From the slender pale hand of the Hokage herself. As her eyes burned with a cold fire that could scour bedrock. That dreadful gaze boring now squarely into Danzō's soul.

"You may help train him. Only under supervision. And only when the Uzumaki clan deems him ready to begin training." Kushina stated, without an inch of wiggle room to be found in such a stone-cold statement.

It took all Danzō's self-control to not begin sweating bullets at that moment. He knew that, if he said one thing wrong in this moment, the redheaded Hokage before him would personally execute him in broad daylight, consequences be damned. And, from the look in her eyes, she knew that he knew that and would not hesitate to do so.

"Now then, what is the next topic of discussion?" Kushina asked as she sat down, her voice instantly changing to a far warmer and friendlier one, sending chills up everyone's spine in the process.

Clearing his throat, Danzō nodded. "First and foremost, we must decide what part of the village will be the first to undergo reconstruction. Which of the most damaged parts takes priority." He said, treading lightly.

"For once, I agree with Danzō. We need to organize the repairs." Nara Shikaku, the head of the Nara clan, added, voicing his opinion.

"I put my vote towards housing. Without people, we have no village. And discontent will grow the longer we are without housing." Akimichi Chōza, the head of the Akimichi clan, piped up, his voice booming with the resonance from his sheer size.

Yamanaka Inoichi, head of the Yamanaka clan, nodded in agreement with his old friend and former teammate. "Agreed. Right now, we need to make sure the village stays on a united front. The best way to do that is to start with housing." The platinum blonde haired man added.

"I would like to add, in conjunction, the creation of communal gardens and fishponds. To provide a further bit of food security and means to foster closer communities." Hiashi brought up, getting agreements across the room for that.

"The Uzumaki clan can assist in those efforts, Hiashi. You provide the cash; we can set them up. One of our clan families are exceptional gardeners and herbalists." Oda said, proverbially reaching across the aisle, getting a smile from Hiashi. 

"We will also need to assess how many shinobi we still have capable of going on missions to bring in funds and resources." Aburame Shibi, leader of the Aburame clan, was brought up.

Kushina turned to look at the Anbu commander, a fox-masked Anbu. "Can your information specialists assist temporarily in speeding up such a process, Commander Fox?" She asked, surprising everyone with such an unorthodox idea.

Commander Fox nodded in response. "I can have my second in command, Monkey, begin organizing them immediately." The Anbu commander's older, more seasoned voice replied.

"You really should consider retiring, Fox. You have done more than your fair share of service to the village. Perhaps promoting Monkey into the position?" Hiruzen said respectfully.

Fox nodded in response. "Monkey is a good shinobi and is well respected within the ranks of the Anbu. He would make for a good successor for me. And retirement would allow me to have time to spend with my grandchildren." The aged Anbu commander replied, seemingly considering the idea.

Kushina raised an eyebrow. "I take it you don't intend on retiring until you're sure Monkey is ready to manage it, Fox?" she asked the Anbu commander, a light grin on her face.

One could almost feel the smirk behind Fox's mask at that. "We have a saying within the ranks, Lady Hokage: The Anbu never die or retire. They just get reassigned." He said, almost sounding amused.

"I'm sure your grandkids would see it very differently." Kushina jested, getting a snort from behind the mask of the Anbu Commander. Eliciting chuckles from nearly everyone there.

After a few closing statements, all of which went over Kushina's head, Tsunade helped close the meeting earlier than expected, as it was clear her charge had burned through even her heightened stamina after birth. With everyone filing out, chattering amongst themselves, Tsunade got Kushina into her wheelchair, before carting her back to the hospital.

"I told you to take it easy today." Tsunade sternly said to her ward.

"It's not my fault that that old bag of bones threatened my baby's childhood. I wasn't going to stand for that." Kushina replied, almost childishly.

"Kushina, if you don't control your anger more and let others manage things for you for now, then you're going to be in no shape to help Naruto. You're lucky your family made it through the war." Tsunade sternly answered her, as Kushina slumped into the wheelchair.

Kushina sighed a bit. "I know. I'll try to take it easier. It's hard to do that confined to this damnable wheelchair." She replied.

"If you're good for the rest of today, I promise you I'll bring Naruto in tomorrow." Tsunade said, as if bargaining with a child.

Kushina looked at Tsunade sternly. "You promise you'll bring him in tomorrow?" She asked.

"A Senju never goes back on their word." Tsunade sighed at how troublesome her ward was being.

Kushina smiled and nodded. "Okay. Well at least the village has one of the few hospitals with food that doesn't suck." she jokingly said.

"If your cousin tries to sneak a bento box in again, I will beat you with him." Tsunade threatened her.

Kushina pouted. "Oh, come on, Tsunade. He's just trying to help. Right, Rea?" She said, looking at the shadows as she and Tsunade turned to look.

Out walked a man with gravity defying, medium length, spiky dark red hair. He was on the taller side and was wearing a dragon mask with a flame pattern on it. His outfit consisted of a black cloak complete with gloves and shinobi sandals, all with a crimson flame trim to them. The two could almost feel the mischievous smile beneath that mask.

"How could you tell I was there, Big Sis Kushi?" he asked, slowly taking off his mask to reveal a handsome face marred by a single scar across his forehead and grayish purple eyes.

"Kushina's diet is being carefully monitored for maximum recovery rate. You're not helping." Tsunade sternly said to the now unmasked man.

Rea waved off her concerns. "Come on, old lady. A little cheat day never hurt anyone. Besides, we can't have Big Sis Kushi getting depressed eating the same things every day, now, can we?" He replied with a smile.

Tsunade then stopped and put the brakes on the wheelchair. Rolling up her sleeves, she turned on her heels to face him. Her eyes now staring at him with a fire akin to a real dragon's. Which got a far more concerned reaction out of the spiky-haired Uzumaki.

"Um… Did I say something wrong?" Rea asked nervously.

"Old lady? Boy, I'm only in your mother's range." Tsunade said as she cracked her knuckles.

Rea paled upon realizing his mistake. "D-did I say, old lady'? I meant to say, 'bold lady'!" He nervously replied.

It was little to avail of him as a punch to the gut sent him flying across the village. Those who were in his flight path could swear to this day the distinct sound akin to a squealing schoolgirl could be heard. 

"... Did you kill him!?" Kushina asked in concern.

"Sad part is probably not. Those Thirteen Shadow Dragons from the Uzumaki clan are tougher than yesterday's leather on top of bent nails." Tsunade sighed out, as an almighty crash could then be heard.

"... I'm okay! Think I've got a couple broken ribs, but, otherwise, I'm okay…!" Rea's voice called out in the distance.

"Right. Time to get you dinner. It's chicken and broccoli tonight." Tsunade said, unlocking the brakes.

"... With melted cheese on the broccoli?" Kushina asked hopefully.

"On the condition you skip the soy sauce with your rice. That stuff is too high in sodium." Tsunade said.

The redheaded Hokage sighed and nodded. "Fair enough…" She conceded.

The Next Morning

Kushina groaned as her body ached from soreness, and she swore she slept on her side wrong. As the rays of sun began to peak through the blinds. Soon however the door opened, which caused Kushina to groan further and squirm. 

"Rise and shine, Kushina. Breakfast is here." Tsunade's voice said.

Kushina groaned in frustration and exhaustion. "Five more minutes…" She moaned in protest.

"And keep Naruto waiting?" Tsunade's voice asked.

"... Damn it, fine. I'm up." Kushina replied with a sigh, throwing off the covers.

Opening her eyes with a yawn, Kushina soon saw Tsunade carrying a tray of food with one hand, and cradled in the other was her blonde bundle of joy, who clearly decided to take a nap on the trip over as he snored ever so cutely. The sight brought an instantaneous smile to Kushina's face.

"A Senju never breaks their word." Tsunade said with a caring smile.

Kushina smiled and reached for her son only for Tsunade to stop her. "Up, up, up! Food first, then baby." The blonde medic told her sternly. "And trust me, after how your family tuckered him out yesterday, he's not going anywhere fast."

Kushina sighed but smiled and nodded. "Fair enough." She replied, waiting for Tsunade to put the tray of food down.

On the tray, alongside with a cup of breakfast tea, was the usual assortment. Steamed rice, miso soup, a rolled omelet, grilled fish, a small salad, and a small plate of pickles. Sighing, as this is about the fifth time this week, she gave her thanks and began to eat. She tried to eat at a normal pace, knowing Tsunade would get on her about that. Once she finished chasing down the last bit of pickle with her tea, Tsunade gently handed Naruto over to her.

Cradling him gently, Kushina planted a gentle kiss on her son's forehead. Little Naruto squirmed and fussed a bit before calming down, slowly opening his eyes. Looking up at his mama with his limited amount of vision, he gave her a big, toothless baby smile. Seeing his blue eyes light up, Kushina smiled sadly, wishing Minato could be here to see and experience this. Kushina felt tears well up in her eyes at the thought of her deceased husband.

A tear fell onto Naruto's cheek, getting a reflexive wipe from his chubby baby arm and the furry onesie he wore. Despite hardly being able to see what was going on, he could hear something was off with his momma. Instinctively, mimicking what he did with himself, he brought an arm up to her right cheek and waved his arm, trying to dry the tears. It was mostly ineffective, but the action of concern from her baby boy got one of the biggest smiles out of Kushina.

"I love you too, Naruto…" Kushina told her son, snuggling him gently. With Naruto giving out a big giggly baby noise, happy that he was able to help.

To Be Continued…