Without Warning (Naruto Fanfiction)

Chapter 25: Each With Their Own Problems

After a short silence, Shizune laid eyes on a small blue scroll set at the edge of the Hokage's desk. She opened it and was surprised to find that it was the report made by Sasuke when he and Naruto had been tasked to bring Karin to Konoha. She quickly skimmed through the document though there was truly no need for it at the present time.

But she immediately realized that it was perhaps heaven's intervention that she noticed the out-of-place scroll.

"Tsunade-sama!" 

Tsunade stretched her hand, palm up, expecting Shizune to give her another scroll. When a few seconds passed and nothing landed on her hand, she looked up with an annoyed expression. "Shizune!"

"It's the report from Sasuke's and Naruto's bringing Karin to Konoha."

"I need reports from the Raikage right now,Shizune." Tsunade said tiredly.

"But Tsunade-sama," Shizune moved closer to Tsunade, opening the scroll wide enough so Tsunade could see. "It states here that there was a young, blonde child with Karin at her hideout. And the location of the hideout is within the same vicinity where we found the potential young Uzumaki child who did not have the signature red hair."

"It couldn't be--" Tsunade didn't finish her statement and grabbed the scroll from Shizune's hands. Her eyes roved over the report once, twice, until she fully absorbed the information. "It is highly likely that it was her." Shizune nodded profusely.

"Shit! Now of all times!"

"What do we do, Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade bit her lip, already deep in thought. "We will focus on the Raikage's report first." She spoke decidedly but was unfinished. "But in the meantime, call for Ibiki to assist us with this report. He has the documents of the people we have been keeping tabs on for finding remnants of the Uzumaki clan's descendants. If he can dispatch a message to the daimyo to deliver a scroll to Sasuke once the group arrives in his land, that would be the best possible option at the moment."

"Okay, I will get to it right away."

"Please make sure it's set as an urgent message. Only Uchiha Sasuke or Uzumaki Naruto are allowed to see its contents. Not even the daimyo is allowed to open the scroll, understood?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama. Understood." Shizune turned and left the room to find Ibiki. If they're lucky to get the little girl to return to Konoha with them, they should be able to maximize the Uzumaki clan's growth for later on.

Tsunade moved towards a bookshelf that lined a portion of her office left wall. She was searching for the record of all Konoha ninja who had been sent out to fight in the Great War. Ultimately, as a leader, Tsunade still hoped that the Raikage was incorrect in his musings regarding the missing parts of the bodies. If ever it comes to reality that they are indeed facing such a threat, it would be difficult keeping the information from going around the Shinobi Alliance. We'll need to start here later on when we get the list of cadavers from Konoha. And there is also the matter of Hinata's attacker. 

Tsunade sighed, resting her head for a moment on her open palm. "This has become far too complicated for a post-war rebuilding. I hope Kakashi is having an easier time."

* * *

"Kakashi-san, we can't locate them." 

Kakashi sighed as he nodded to the ANBU officer who reported. It had been a good thirty minutes when Kakashi realized he could not sense the presence of either Hinata or Karin as they took their supposedly short break. He had let his guard down, and so did the two ANBU with them. He guessed it was due to the tension between the two most powerful shinobi -- Naruto and Sasuke -- which had caused them to zero in their attention on a possible fight that could have broken out between the two. Thus forgetting to keep tabs on the two ladies who had wanted a bath somewhere.