Smells good

—So, Enel rescued you in the middle of the snow, Haku?" Shizune asked as she walked toward Konoha alongside the cute child, no, the adorable boy. Haku had been very clear about it, and as medical ninjas, even they found it hard to believe at first due to his general physiology, his unchanged childlike voice, and the neutral ninja uniform from his village. His skin was even better than Shizune's!

"Mmm!" Haku nodded.

Enel didn't interrupt their conversation, knowing that Shizune was simply trying to find out more about him from a different angle that would seem more casual. Tsunade had been silent since they left the teahouse, indicating that she was either listening or lost in thought as they approached the village's overly large gate.

It was interesting; the same ninja who had welcomed Enel was about to approach their group until he noticed Tsunade's presence and ran in the opposite direction, most likely to inform Hiruzen of Princess Senju's return.

"What's your plan?" Enel asked Tsunade.

The legendary bigwig tilted her head and glanced at him from the corner of her eye without stopping her stride, responding in a low voice so that no one else could hear.

"Check some things, and then... confront my... confront the Third Hokage," Tsunade was going to say 'master,' but if half of the things in the book were true, Hiruzen didn't have the right to be called that. In fact, of the three in their group, she was the one who received the least training from the current Third Hokage.

As the heir to the Senju clan, she possessed all the jutsu scrolls collected by the clan and an unrivaled library that she could access. Her physical and medical techniques were perfected on her own. In hindsight, she had never really learned anything useful from Hiruzen. It was more like Hiruzen had benefited from becoming her master. It was disturbing to realize this only now.

Jiraiya received the most attention and effort from Hiruzen, followed at a distance by Orochimaru, who also began using his own efforts to pursue his path when he realized he wasn't getting much attention. The same Jiraiya who came to believe that he could betray the village his grandfather founded and threatened to kill her if it came to that. The same Orochimaru who crossed moral boundaries by conducting experiments on newborns because his master refused to support him as a researcher. She could have helped Orochimaru stay on the right path, provided funds for a joint medical and research laboratory, and prevented the Will of Fire promoted by Hiruzen, which was different from that of her grandfather, from brainwashing Jiraiya and making him so loyal to the village that...

But she didn't.

"Aren't you worried about leaving them alone together?" Tsunade asked Enel, somewhat intrigued.

"I think Shizune is a good girl. She shouldn't do anything wrong."

"You know I didn't mean that," Tsunade rolled her eyes as they walked toward the Senju complex.

"Don't worry; Haku doesn't like killing," Enel replied calmly. "If someone crosses the line... at least they'll still be alive when I'm done."

Tsunade nodded. "Good; it seems that Enel had knowledge of Danzo and his Root," she thought. "The fact that he didn't kill the village's ninjas is good; it will prevent bigger problems."

Enel sensed that Tsunade didn't quite understand the full meaning of his response, but he shrugged it off and followed her. Regarding not killing... he might have taught Haku some advanced anatomy, so his attackers wouldn't die following his wishes. Sometimes, death wasn't the worst thing that could happen to someone. Haku had been learning how to use senbon quite well and had accompanied Ameyuri during her "hunts" for bounty ninjas to gain real experience.

He estimated that in two or three years, his ability to paralyze limbs, senses, or leave his enemies quadriplegic would be unbeatable. Enemies were left defenseless, and he didn't kill anyone. Everyone was happy. Well, maybe not the enemies who failed and lost both control and feeling in their entire bodies. But if someone dared to go against his people, he couldn't care less about their fate.

Perhaps they could sell the paralyzed enemies to a tribe of cannibals to make some extra money. Or they could sell them to Orochimaru; he never seemed to have enough bodies for his experiments, and subjects as "fresh" as these should be of great use. So many possibilities.

"I didn't expect to return so soon..." Tsunade's murmur brought Enel back to reality, and he realized they had arrived at the Senju clan's complex.