Two Blondes Visit

Saturday was bright and clear. It was a beautiful day if a little cold. Naruto looked down at the board and frowned. He reached over and turned over his king, signaling he was conceding.

Shikamaru looked at him in surprise. "What's the matter? You usually never concede."

Naruto shrugged. "What was the point? You would have beaten me in six moves."

"Five moves. Want to play again?"

Naruto shook his head. Though he knew it was stupid he began scratching the cast on his left arm. It didn't help with the itch but he felt almost compelled to do it anyway. "I really hate this thing!"

"Don't be so troublesome Naruto. You should be glad you survived at all. Shikamaru said. "No one else in our class would have had a chance."

"That's right," munch, munch, munch. "You're really lucky."

Naruto knew what they were saying was the simple truth but he wasn't in a mood to hear it. He glared at the casts on his arm and right leg. Then for added measure he sent another glare at the crutches propped up on the bench next to him. "I suppose that I am but I sure don't feel lucky right now."

Hinata was standing behind him. She leaned against his back and put her arms around him. Since the hospital when he'd told her he liked her hugs she'd taken every opportunity to put her arms around him. She had noticed that whenever she did that his mood would improve and he would seem to relax a little. "Naruto-kun I know why you're unhappy. You keep looking at the obstacle course and the trail. I know you want to be working out, but please be just a little patient the casts come off tomorrow."

He turned his head a little so he could smile at her. "You know me way too well Hinata-chan." He let out a deep sigh. "But even after I get these stupid casts off I still won't be able to do a full work out. My mom says I have to rehabilitate slowly." His mouth twisted a bit when he spoke that word, as though it had a bad taste to it. "My mom says I won't be back to my regular pace for at least a month!" He looked at her with despair. "And I've already missed so much time not just training but in class too!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Naruto please stop being so troublesome. You only missed one week of class time and I'm sure we didn't cover anything important." He shrugged. "Well I don't think we did. I was asleep through most of it."

"Actually I brought Naruto-kun my notes on everything we covered in class so he hasn't really missed anything." Hinata said.

"You've been studying this whole time when you should have been doing nothing?" Shikamaru actually sounded disappointed. "Naruto I really am going to have to give you some lessons on how to slack off."

Naruto grinned a bit feeling his spirits rise just a little. "No thanks Shika, you do enough of that for both us." He looked about the rose garden. Even if he couldn't do anything he liked being outside. His friends had all come over in the late morning to keep him company for awhile. His mom had made them all cookies and snacks. Shika had brought a travel shogi set, Chouji had brought some extra chips, Kiba had brought Akamaru, and Hinata had brought the best thing of all to help him pass the time; herself. They had decided to hang out in the rose garden and enjoy the beauty and sweet scent. At the moment Kiba and Akamaru were playing around the front of the mansion. His mom had retreated back inside to give them all a little space.

"I guess I'm not really too worried about class, I mean I pretty much already know everything that's being covered. I'm more worried about the training time I'm losing. I feel like I'm wasting time doing nothing."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "You aren't wasting time you are recovering from a near fatal attack by two Jonins. Don't mistake not being able to do what you want to as being the same thing as wasting time."

Hinata nodded. "I agree. Please take it easy as you recover from your injuries Naruto-kun. I know how eager you are to get back to your routine but please take things slow and do not push too hard. You will be back to normal soon enough Naruto-kun. Do not hurt yourself worse trying to get there too soon."

"I know." He said gloomily. They were both right and he knew it.

All of a sudden Kiba came running around the corner of the mansion into the rose garden, Akamaru on his head barking. "She's coming!" He shouted out.

"Oh no!" Chouji cried out.

Shikamaru quickly closed up his shogi set and got up off the bench. "Well I'll see you again tomorrow Naruto!"

"Hey!" Naruto yelled at his supposed friends. "Are you guys going to just abandon me to face her alone?"

"Hell yeah!" Kiba dashed off.

"Yes!" Chouji waddled after him.

"I'm sorry Naruto. But like my dad says, 'a smart man knows when to cut and run.' We'll be back tomorrow." With that Shikamaru fled.

Naruto remained on the bench and watched them run for the woods on the estate. "Great, some ninjas they'll make, just abandoning a comrade to his fate."

Knowing what was coming Hinata quickly sat down on the bench beside him where the shogi set had been. She had a determined look on her face. "Don't worry Naruto-kun I won't abandon you no matter what."

"Thank's Hinata-chan I knew I could count on you."

It didn't take long for her to appear. Rounding the corner came an eight year old blonde girl half buried by a huge assortment of flowers. When he'd woken up he'd found his room filled with flowers and about half of them had come from Ino. He had thought it a very sweet gesture. When she had come over with the other students after class to visit him he had thanked her for the flowers and told her he appreciated her thoughtfulness. That had been a terrible, terrible mistake. He'd left the hospital the following morning and come home. And every afternoon Ino had shown up with a large arrangement of flowers for him that she insisted on hand delivering to him. After which she would want to hang out with him. He couldn't quite bring himself to tell her he wanted her to just stop giving him flowers and leave him a lone, so he would put up with her for an hour or two until his mom would come to his rescue.

When Ino saw him her eyes lit up and her smile expanded. "Hello Naruto-kun how are you feeling?"

"Fine Ino, thank you again for the flowers but you know you really don't need to give me any more of them. The casts come off tomorrow."

"Oh that's wonderful Naruto-kun! I'm so glad to hear that." She set the flowers down on a bench across from the one he and Hinata were occupying. She then placed his crutches on the ground so she could sit next to him on the bench. Only then did she, 'notice' Hinata. "Oh hello Hinata-chan! I didn't see you there. You know Hinata-chan I am sure you will be a great kunoichi especially when it comes to intelligence gathering. I mean you have a natural gift for being invisible. You have no presence at all. How do you do that?" As she said all that she took his right arm and wrapped herself around it.

Hinata gave Ino a slight frown. "Oh I just think you have trouble seeing me Ino. Naruto-kun has always seen me."

Ino's smile seemed to grow sharper. "Oh I know that! He sees you as his friend."

"Maybe so, but at least I don't have to invent excuses to come and see him outside of class. I'm welcome here anytime I want to come."

Naruto sighed as he knew it was going to be like this the entire time Ino was here. Hinata-chan was normally the sweetest person on earth but for some reason when Ino came around she seemed to develop some claws. It had surprised him the first couple times Hinata had argued with Ino around him. It was weird because listening to them talk it sounded like two girls fighting for a boy they both wanted to date. He knew that was what Ino wanted, but of course Hinata didn't feel that way.

After about two hours his mother mercifully put in an appearance to let Ino know he needed to get some rest. Mom walked Ino out and returned.

"Mom why did you wait so long to come and rescue me?" Naruto whined.

Kushina shook her head. "Because son if you don't suffer you won't learn anything. I told you not to give any of your fan girls any special compliments or attention. That only encourages them."

"But mom I didn't do it on purpose! I was just thanking her; I was just trying to be nice."

"Yes and this is the result." She let out a sigh. "I've informed her not to bring anymore flowers so you should be safe now. And I've gotten some good news. Your godmother should be arriving some time today."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Naruto!" That was all the warning he got before he was swept up and pressed face forward into Tsunade's bosom. Had he been several years older he might have enjoyed the experience. As it was he was fighting for breath as his godmother threatened to smother him. "Oh Naruto-kun! As soon as I got your mother's message I got back here as fast as I possibly could!" She pulled his face up so she could start giving him kisses.

"Naruto-kun I am so glad you are all right! Lady Tsunade and I were both grief stricken at the thought we might lose you." Shizune began giving him some kisses of her own.

"Thanks godmother, thanks aunt Shizune, but really I'm fine. Well… except for my hand."

Tsunade put him back down and took a look at the swatch of bandages that enveloped his left hand. She had the most serious look on her face that Naruto had ever seen there. "All right Naruto, I am going to do a full check up on you not just your hand."

About a half hour later Naruto was in his room while Kushina, Tsunade, and Shizune were in the study.

"How bad is it?" Kushina asked worriedly.

Tsunade frowned. "Well it's not good. Every bone in his hand was fractured and there was a lot of tendon damage as well." Tsunade looked murderous. "If the bastard who did this to him were still alive I'd break every bone in his body and see how he enjoyed it."

"Can you fix it?"

Tsunade slowly nodded. "I believe I can. But it's going to take at least ten separate operations and we'll need to give the tissue time to heal after each one." She sighed. "It'll probably take about two months to complete the series of operations and fully restore his hand."

"But once you're done he'll have full use of it again?" Kushina asked.

Tsunade nodded. "Yes, including being able to make hand signs." She looked rather embarrassed and troubled. "I'm afraid I won't be able to stay in Konoha during that entire time. I promise I'll come back each day he's scheduled to be operated on."

Kushina sent her old friend a sharp look. "What do you mean you won't be able to stay? If you're going to start telling me how you don't like it here or how it brings back bad memories I don't want to hear it. Your godson needs you right now and not just for the surgeries. There is no one I trust more to help him with his recovery. I want you here in Konoha the full time. You can stay right here in the mansion."

"It's not that, there are certain… difficulties involved with me staying in one place for an extended amount of time."

Kushina lifted an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. "What difficulties exactly?"

"It's complicated." Tsunade said.

"Then explain slowly and use small words." Kushina said without humor.

Shizune stepped in. "The Lady Tsunade is deep in debt and wishes to avoid her creditors."

"Shizune!"

"Well you are Lady Tsunade!"

Kushina sighed. "How much?"

"Don't you dare answer that!" Tsunade barked.

"A little over seven million ryu total." Shizune replied easily.

Kushina's jaw dropped. "SEVEN MILLION!" She stared at her friend in disbelief. "What is wrong with you Tsunade?! How could you possibly get that deep in debt?"

Tsunade looked a small child that had just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "Uhm, bad luck?"

Kushina just stared at her. "Shizune, do you have a list of her creditors and the amounts owed to each of them?"

"I do." Shizune nodded eagerly.

"Kushina I don't want your help! I refuse to take a hand out from a friend."

"That's good because I'm not offering you one."

"What?" Shizune said. "But I thought you'd want to help Lady Tsunade with her difficulties."

Kushina nodded. "Oh I do, but I'm not going to just hand over a small fortune so that she can go out and just do it again." She gave Tsunade a sharp look. "As I was trying to explain to Naruto earlier today if you don't suffer for your mistakes you don't learn anything."

Despite being a powerful Sannin Tsunade felt a bit nervous. "What do you have in mind?"

"You say you're having difficulties because of this money you owe? Fine then I'll pay off the seven million ryu you owe. I'll just take it out of your salary."

"Salary?" Tsunade asked. "What are you talking about?"

Kushina offered a very chill smile. "I'm hiring you as the Namikaze clan's private physician for the next four years. Until Naruto graduates the academy I expect you to live here and be on call for any medical emergency. And while you're here you can also teach me and my son some medical jutsus and do some baby sitting."

"What?!" Tsunade demanded. "You expect me to live here and baby sit for you?"

"For the amount of money I'm giving you, you should be glad I don't expect you to sit in my kitchen and clean fish all day. Seven million ryu is not pocket change, if you owe that much you really are in serious trouble. Is there anyone else who would give it to you?" A thought occurred to Kushina. "Or will you just sell the Shodai's necklace?"

Tsunade's hands immediately clasped the necklace to her. "Never!"

Kushina crossed her arms over her chest again. "Then how will you pay for your debt?"

Tsunade opened her mouth but no sound came out.

Shizune stepped forward. "Lady Tsunade is Kushina's offer really so bad? We get to finally stop running about all the time and get settled for a while. We also get to live in a mansion while working for one of Konoha's most powerful clans. And you get to spend more time with your godson. Aren't you always complaining you never get to see him enough? If you think about it Kushina's offer sounds like a wonderful opportunity!"

Tsunade gave her young protégé a sour look. "You know how I feel about this damn village."

Kushina sighed. "I know you lost people you loved and that the village reminds you of that. For me this house and the rose garden are filled to overflowing with memories of Minato. But it is also the home I share with my son. Seeing him every day means more to me than any memory could. I know he would like seeing you more and so would I. Isn't that enough to balance out the memories of the ones you lost?"

Tsunade looked at her friend solemnly. Normally she would argue that the other person didn't understand. But Kushina had lost not only the man she loved but her whole family except for Naruto. She lost more than I did, and she never ran away. Maybe it's time to try and face things. Tsunade let out a slow sigh. "All right, I guess your offer is a fair one considering what it's going to cost you. And I would like to see more of you and Naruto." She slowly nodded. "I guess I'll be the family doctor for awhile."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Try and make a fist." Tsunade told him.

Grimacing Naruto tried but only his thumb and pinky responded. The three inner fingers remained stiff and barely twitched. "That's as much as I can do."

Tsunade nodded. "That's all right Naruto. This is just the first surgery. I promise you by the time I'm done your hand will be as good as new." She grinned at him. "You'll definitely be able to make hand signs."

Naruto nodded. "I know godmother. And even if I couldn't it wouldn't matter."

She lifted a blonde eyebrow. "Oh?"

"If I couldn't use my left hand to make hand signs then I'd figure out a way to make one handed signs or I'd just become a shinobi who didn't use jutsus."

She grinned at him. "So far as I know there had never been a shinobi who couldn't use jutsus."

He looked at her seriously. "Then I'd be the first. My dream is to be Hokage and I won't let anything stop me from reaching my dream."

She looked at her godson sadly. She'd known him since the moment she pulled him into this world and of course knew what his dream was. But whenever he said those words she couldn't help but feel an ache in her heart. "Naruto, have you ever thought that being Hokage is not all fun and games."

Naruto looked at her in surprise. "God mother I've never thought that being Hokage was going to be fun or easy. My mother told me all about what it was like and I've talked to the Sandaime about it sometimes too. I know it is very hard and demands huge sacrifices, including your life sometimes."

"Then why?" She hadn't meant for him to hear that ache in her voice. "Why do you want something that won't bring you joy and may require your life?"

"Because I love this village and the people in it." The way he said it he seemed to think it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I want to protect them and do everything in my power to keep them safe."

"Even the ones who hate you?" She asked quietly.

He nodded. "Even them. I hope that someday I can win them over and have them finally see me for who I am. But even if I can't, even if some people will always hate me I still want to protect them. Because they are still part of this village and it is the Hokage's duty to protect the village."

He is just like his father! It was so obvious to her. She had known Minato since he'd become Jiraiya's student. He'd had the exact same earnestness and passion that she saw in Naruto.

There was a knock on the operating room door. "Lady Tsunade, the Hokage is here to see you." Shizune spoke excitedly. She the Hokage and Kushina entered the operating room.

"How did it go?" Kushina asked as she went to her son's side.

"It went about as well as I expected." Tsunade answered.

"Can I use my hand to spar with?" Naruto asked.

"NO!" Tsunade and Kushina said in a chorus. Tsunade expanded on the answer. "Not only are you not allowed to spar for the next two months, no using that hand for any training period. No push ups, no pull ups, no monkey bars, nothing that will put any stress on the bones and tendons. Understand?"

"But can't I at least…"

"NO!" Both women again answered in unison. Naruto sat back and admitted defeat.

"It is very good to see you again Tsunade." Sarutobi said. "I am also pleased to hear that this time you'll be staying in the village."

Tsunade frowned. She knew her sensei well enough to guess where he was going. "It's not permanent I still don't care much for Konoha. But I will be here at least until my godson graduates the academy. I have to work off a debt."

"I see, well in that case is there any chance you might be willing to teach some of our young medic nins? They would certainly benefit from your instruction."

That was very well said. She certainly couldn't deny the truth of that and she had been the one who had originally pushed for the creation of a corps of medic nins in the first place. Helping the next generation of medic nins save lives was actually something that appealed to her. She considered it. "Well old man I don't know. First off I already have a job so you'd have to ask my employer here if it would be all right."

Kushina grinned. "I have no objection if you want to teach on your off hours. Just so long as you're still available for babysitting duties."

"If I do agree to teach some people I decide the curriculum and who I teach. I would have to have final say in all matters concerning my instruction old man."

Sarutobi nodded. "Of course. Will you do so then?"

She frowned. She'd expected him to set up at least a few conditions. Part of her wanted to say no just on general principle. But then she thought of all the young ninjas out there whose lives might be saved if she did this. That settled the question. "All right."

"Excellent." He smiled at her. "I'll leave you to make arrangements with the hospital staff and inform them to give you whatever you ask for. I have work to do now but I really am very happy to know you'll be staying with us for awhile." With that he left the operating room.

Shizune noticed the look on Tsunade's face. "Lady Tsunade aren't you pleased with the chance to teach others what you know?"

"Of course Shizune, if I weren't I'd have turned the old man down."

"Then why do you look unhappy?' Shizune asked.

She sighed. "Because I know that old man, and I am sure he is up to something."