Natsumi Uzumaki

Tsunade Senju Finale

Thud

Natsumi lied on the ground face-first, unmoving and unresponsive to Shizune's calls.

The brunette kneeled by the girl in seconds and rolled him to her back. "Tsunade-sama!" The older woman gave no response, much to her frustration.

Shizune grabbed the kunai Kabuto dropped and tore open Natsumi top. Then looking at Tsunade again, she cast aside the kunai and her hands went through a string of hand seals. "Shōsen Jutsu!" Her hands glowed green with the Mythical Palm Technique; placing her hands on the teenager's chest, Shizune immediately detected the problem.

Natsumi heart stopped beating. Whatever Kabuto had done to the young chūnin, had affected her heart. Shizune concentrated on restoring the blood flow as fast she could.

"Hang in there, Natsumi-chan," Shizune said to the unconscious red haired girl. Frowning with concentration, Shizune realised her efforts were doing little good. "What's wrong with you, Natsumi-chan ?"

From the sidelines, Tsunade twitched. "Tendons," she muttered.

Shizune looked relieved; Tsunade seemed to finally regain her composure. "Tsunade-sama, tell me what to do!"

Tsunade nodded and crawled over, probably not trusting her legs to hold her weight as she was still shaking somewhat and colour had yet to return to her skin. "Kabuto used a Chakra Scalpel to cut her heart tendons. You're not concentrating on the right area." Tsunade frowned with concentration; then, nodding with conviction she gently grabbed Shizune's wrists and redirected her efforts to the right area.

That damnable fool and his meddling!"

Their heads snapped up to the sound of Kabuto's voice. He emerged slowly from the bellowing dirt cloud caused by Natsumi's Rasengan; he walked slowly and awkwardly. The lint keeping his hair in a ponytail was destroyed, leaving his hair in a long grey mane.

His glasses were destroyed and he cast them aside. His purple tunic was, for the most part, torn to shreds, leaving his chest bare. It allowed the medical kunoichi to get a good view of his body regenerating as he wound caused by Natsumi's Rasengan swirled to a close.

Kabuto sneered at Shizune's disbelief. "Did you really think that fool could beat me? How she managed to defeat Sasaki, I do not know, but I'm not going to give her a chance to get back on her feet."

Kabuto bent to pick up his weapon; Shizune immediately regretted throwing it aside. "I'll kill all of you!" Kabuto cackled with an insane laughter.

Suddenly not so rigid in his movements, he rushed forward, aiming a killing blow at Natsumi's unconscious form.

"NO!" Shizune screamed, her Shōsen Jutsu faltering as she protected Natsumi with her body. She closed her eyes.

When no pain came, she looked up to the sound of blood spatter. Tsunade's eyes widened: Tsunade had moved faster than she had ever done in order to protect them, and did so with her body.

She bit back a scream as Kabuto's kunai plunged through her chest. Surely, it was going to kill her. And if his twisted smile was any indication, Kabuto thought so too.

He didn't smile for long however as, to both Kabuto and Shizune, Tsunade still somehow managed to swing a punch to his face with such force it resounded through the air and Kabuto flew backwards like a grey and purple missile.

Blood oozed out Tsunade's chest. She gripped the kunai handle and ruthlessly ripped it out. She did not even flinch as she did it, a true testament to her resilience.

'That kid... He – she's just like Kushina!' the woman realised with a stronger sense of clarity than she had ever experienced before. 'I... I have to protect her, even at the cost of my own life! I won't let her die!'