Something Precious

Chapter Fifty Eight

"She is low on chakra and has a bleeding wound on her torso." Orochimaru supplied in a disgustingly indifferent tone. Naruto glanced at him distastefully.

"Why doesn't she use her Hundred Healings jutsu?" he questioned incredulously as if he doubted what the snake man was telling him.

Orochimaru's golden eyes narrowed. "She did. Her chakra ran out."

Jiraiya sat to the side watching the stranger with interest. "You don't happen to know any medical ninjutsu?"

Naruto bit his lip. "I do actually," he said and yet wondered if his feeble knowledge would be sufficient. He looked warily to were the future Kage was and began to approach, hoping she wasn't already dead. He wasn't sure if this had happened in the original timeline - at least Jiraiya had never mentioned it - but as demonstrated on Kannabi Bridge, something was different regarding this timeline, something other than Naruto and it made him paranoid, not knowing the extent or cause of this change.

Tsunade was unconscious and limp when Naruto knelt down beside her. He pressed two fingers to the soft inside of her wrist and agonizingly awaited the soft, sudden pressure of a heartbeat.

He held his breath as the skin was still. His mind was about to spiral into a panic when he felt it, the reassuring feeling of a weak pulse. He released the waiting breath. She was alive at least.

He looked down to where her arm was wrapped weakly around her abdomen, barely concealing a crimson stain on her clothing.

Glancing nervously to the mouth of the cave where he knew the Mist shinobi were due any minute now, Naruto gently maneuvered her until she was laying flat on her back, her arm falling to her side.

Naruto reached into his back pouch for a kunai as Jiraiya came to look over his shoulder at what he was doing.

With a quick jerk of his arm, the fabric of her restricting blouse was cut loose giving Naruto better access to the wound. His long fingers prodded the inflamed skin around the infected wound as gently as he could while still being proficient, checking to find anything that was stuck in the wound and causing the infection. Sure enough, he felt an unusual lump in the tissue.

"Jiraiya could you come here please," Naruto asked, expertly avoiding the man's gaze, but knowing the look of concern the older man would no doubt be wearing.

Jiraiya nodded though he knew the unnamed man was not looking. He crouched on the other side of Tsunade and looked at the man for instructions.

"Ok, I need you to hold the wound open like I'm doing now," Naruto said while demonstrating. Jiraiya winced at the sight at first, but after a moment he nodded and copied, his hands replacing Naruto's.

Naruto opened a pouch that was secured around his right thigh and took out a scroll with three seals painted across the pale paper. Using a basic summoning jutsu, he summoned a small box the size of a pencil case from the first seal and a bottle of disinfecting peroxide from the second. He opened the box to reveal various medical tools wrapped in gauze. He took a neatly wrapped pair of tweezers from their place and after disinfecting them and the wound with the peroxide, he took them between his fingers. He got Orochimaru to hold a flare above them, giving him just enough light to see the gleam of black metal among the haggard tissues of the wound. He quickly and expertly plucked out the infecting pieces before going back into the box and pulling out a needle and thread from another wrapping of white bandage.

He quickly sewed the wound closed, taking more time than he was comfortable with because of the way the tissue was torn. He used medical chakra to clear the infection but as he sensed the Mist's shinobi beginning to climb the mountain of rock, he only just had time to wrap the wound with sterile gauze from the third seal before commotion was heard from the mouth of the cave.

The flare burnt out as three heads snapped to the noise.

Let's see what you're made of kid." Jiraiya whispered as he stood up, preparing to fight the intruders.

"I think not," Naruto said, sounding like a scolding mother. "You have been trapped in a cave without food or water for the past week. You two say here, I don't want you dead." Naruto whispered back. That was only half true. He didn't give a shit about Orochimaru. Even if the snake-man had come to their side during the war, Naruto was still mad about him taking Sasuke; among other things of course. That guy was just a problem.

Jiraiya sighed and in a tone, you would use when telling a child that the Tooth Fairy isn't real he said, "Kid, listen. I don't doubt you're strong, but are you aware of just how many shinobi are out there? Why do you think that we haven't tried to get out before now? And you want to fight them on your own?"

Naruto had to remind himself that this Jiraiya wasn't the Jiraiya he was familiar with. This Jiraiya didn't know him so of course given the circumstances, it would only be natural to doubt him.

"I'll be fine," he replied, his voice back to the cold emotionless one he always had when he felt a particularly strong and negative emotion. When he was so strongly reminded of what he once had and that he will never have that again.

As a last minute thought he threw a bag of soldier pills on Jiraiya's lap thinning it would do no good to have them die from starvation. This time it was Orochimaru who was about to speak up, but by the time he got the first syllable on his tongue, Naruto was already at the cave mouth looking down at the enemies.

Both shinobi remaining in the darkened cave was struck with a sense of familiarity. Whoever this kid was, he held the air of a Kage and they were undoubtedly reminded of a certain Namikaze.

Naruto took a deep breath as he stepped to the very edge, and in the darkness, the glint of his teeth as he humorlessly smirked seemed particularly bright before he purposely took one more step and fell from view to a surely awaiting death.

Jiraiya sat, frozen in shock with his mouth wide open, ready to catch flies. "Did he just... .?" he stuttered disbelievingly, pointing at the empty edge of the mountain cliff.

Orochimaru was similarly disbelieving. He narrowed his eyes again and took a sharp breath. "I think so," he said.

". . . . We should help him." Jiraiya said. He looked at Orochimaru as if waiting for him to confirm that this was indeed what they should do.

For his part, Orochimaru didn't really want to. But well. . . this new person had already captured his interest so he couldn't just let him die, now could he? No, he very well could not.

"I suppose."

Jiraiya nodded at the affirmation, standing and uselessly dusting off his dirty clothes, Orochimaru gracefully following his lead. The each took a couple of the pills, immediately feeling better, stronger.

A sudden explosion was heard and the ground shook, like when their barrier had been collapsed. A powerful shockwave shifted the tiny gravel towards them causing them to raise their arms to keep it from their tired eyes.

Concern flashed through Jiraiya and he was quick to bite through the calloused skin of his thumb and spread the emerging droplets of blood on his palm. His hands blurred as they rushed through the hands' signs of one of his most popular jutsus. He slammed his hands down on the cave floor.

"Summoning Jutsu!" he yelled. A cloud of white puff surrounded him and then two giant toads stood tall and proud before him.

Beside him was his teammate who had used the same Jutsu to summon his snakes.

Together the two were as ready for battle as they could be at the moment. However, once they came close enough to view the fight they believed to be raging on before them, they paused.

"You know, on second thought, I don't think the kid needs our help."

Orochimaru silently agreed as they looked upon the field of mostly fallen Mist shinobi with Naruto finishing the last of them.

***

(A/n) so. . . . it's that time again. . . exams. My exams are coming in a few weeks so this will be the last chapter for awhile while I focus on my studies. Don't worry though, just like before I am not going to abandon you or this book, I promise.