Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Raising the Curtain ❯ Checkup ( Chapter 1 )

Several Days A Month

By wiiTneSs

Beta'd by the awesome and wonderful: Seraphina2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did...mwahahaha

Summary: Sasuke's back. Konoha is in peace, for now. So Naruto turns to more pressing matters: finding a cure for his secret illness. Neji seems 2B up to something! FemNaru

 

Spoilers alert to those who don't know team Hawk.

Chapter 1. Checkup

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Today's date is twenty-something. It's coming soon. I know it's coming. Naruto bit his lower lip. He launched off the tree branch with renewed vigor, becoming nothing more than a blur to an untrained eye.

“I see Naruto-kun is still bursting with the spring of youth! Yosh! I, too, cannot lose!” Lee exclaimed with tears trailing down his cheeks.

Neji stared in disbelief and amazement as he watched his two teammates fly pasts him, unimpeded by their wounds. Uzumaki's leg was still bleeding, too…Not willing to be outdone, the proud Hyuuga hastened his pace and was in no time back to observing the oddity of Uzumaki Naruto.

How the sheen of sweat coated him, the light pant he made each time he jumped off a branch, how the sun made his golden crown of hair glisten, how his deep, ocean blue eyes stared ahead, how…Neji shook his head. His observation was getting too full of unnecessary details.

Being aware of your surroundings in detail was important for a ninja's survival reasoned another part of the Hyuuga prodigy. Neji nodded to himself. Thus Neji went back to observing Uzumaki and attempting to divulge his secret of success. Or was it luck again?

Rock Lee was a good several meters ahead.

*****

“Asama-dono has been successfully delivered to Tea Country. We encountered two ambushes: one near the border between Fire Country and Tea Country, and the other near Lake Sandyu.”

“Both attacks were by mist-nin. They committed suicide before we were able to capture them.”

Tsunade took another swig of sake as she listened to Neji, Naruto, and Lee take turns narrating their two-week-long mission.

Mist-nin was known to work for anybody, no matter how unbecoming the reason, as long as they paid a grand sum. Even if Leaf diplomats from one of the great hidden villages were to go to Mist Country to inquire about the attacks, there was a very low possibility they would reveal anything. Worse, Konoha relations were already walking a fine line with Mist. If further problems aggravated this relationship…

“World peace is at stake here, Tsunade! We should do something about this before it gets more serious.” Naruto frowned imagining harm coming to his new friend Asama.

“Hokage-sama, perhaps we should plant spies in both the Tea and Mist Country?”

Yes, in fact, Tsunade already had spies in both of those countries, but they had obtained no significant information. Perhaps an increase in the amount of spies would be more efficient.

“We cannot rush into this. I will discuss this with the council. You are all dismissed. Naruto, you stay.”

Naruto waited until his teammates were out of earshot before he turned his eyes tinted with worry to Tsunade. Shizune nee-san was busy putting up a sound barrier. “Obaa-channnn my sickness seems to be getting more painful.”

“How's the duration?” Tsunade prodded his body as Shizune put various pieces of equipment on him.

“Same. About five to seven days.” Naruto pouted. “When will I get better? What if I never get better?” Naruto scrunched up his face horrified. “And yes, I have been eating correctly. Yes, I have been eating vegetables and fruit as you said. My bowel movements are fine. No allergic reactions.”

“Shizune.” Tsunade moved to examine the Kyuubi seal. By now, she had almost all the lines and squiggles memorized.

“No fever. Heartbeat is normal. Blood pressure is within range. Lungs are clear. No glands are swollen. Chakra level is 45% lower than normal. He is two millimeters taller than last month's checkup.”

Tsunade sighed, pouring herself a cup of sake. She couldn't find anything different today, either.

On the other hand, Naruto beamed as the problem escaped his mind for five seconds. Other words seemed filtered out; he was only hearing about the growth part.

“Haha! I'll be the tallest, biggest, greatest ninja in no time!”

Tsunade hid a smile. Glad to see her brat still had some joy in him. It was always like this with him, though, seeing the bright side of things. He or rather she, would be a great Hokage one day.

“I have finally located Li Furuichi, the most famous seal master of this generation. Unfortunately, he is in Zhongguo, so it will take at least two weeks for him to arrive at Fire Country.”

“Wow. This guy must know some awesome jutsu, ne?” Naruto grinned, his eyes gleaming with delight and mischief. He would definitely be pestering this dude to teach him something cool and new.

“C'mere, brat.” Once close enough, Tsunade gave Naruto a good pinch.

“Ow! Shizune nee-chan! Obaa-chan is bullying me again!” Naruto rubbed his reddened cheeks.

“You better respect the man when he comes! No pranks!”

“Hai, hai.”

“Alright! You're done for today. Continue doing what you are doing. I suppose you haven't had your—“

“Yes, I know!” Naruto cheeks reddened in embarrassment, this time not because of the pinch Tsunade gave him.

“You should be use tod it by now, brat.”

“Yuck. I don't think I can ever get used to it.”

“I will give you low missions this week then.”

Shizune giggled at Naruto's cute face. His large blue eyes made him look like a pouting baby.

“Hai, hai. Then I'll take my leave now. Bye, obaa-chan. Bye, Shizune nee-chan.” Naruto bowed low.

Tsunade let a small sad smile grace her face. Her right hand reached for her big bottle of sake, only to grasp air. Confusion flitted to her face for a split second.

“NARUTO!!!!” The glass windows of the Hokage tower splintered and rained down upon a poor unsuspecting chunin, who was carrying a stack of files too high to see.

Naruto chuckled as he continued to run down the street. He paused when he saw a being surrounded by a dark cloud and headed towards it.

“Oi! Teme!” Apparently Naruto was immune to the young man's expressionless expression, which seemed to have `fuck off' stamped on his forehead. Or he was just plain dense.

“When you get back from the mission? How was pulling the weeds?” Naruto snickered. “Oh , better yet. Guess what? I am two millimeters taller! Take that teme!” Naruto practically glowed with pride. “Soon you won't be looking down on me. Next time I will be the one looking down on you!”

Sasuke, as usual, ignored him and continued to trudge under his doom cloud.

Naruto's grin wavered a bit at seeing unresponsive best friend. Were they even still considered friends?

He's definitely still mad at me. Naruto's heart plummeted at the thought of losing yousomeone he cared about. Nevertheless, Uzumaki Naruto didn't know the meaning of giving up. So he continued to ramble on about his mission and the things he saw and did. When he ran out of things to talk about, Naruto just walked by Sasuke's side in silence.

They arrived at the Uchiha compound after twenty minutes of walking.

“So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow at noon?” Naruto give him his biggest smile. “At the usual training ground?”

Sasuke stare down at Naruto. The boy's kind sky eyes shined with compassion. He abruptly slammed the door in his face.

Naruto's heart gave a lurch at the blatant display of rejection but his smile didn't drop until he was several good paces away from the Uchiha compound.

“Mah mah, I'm so tired.” He was unsure if it was because of the long mission, or because of restraining himself from beating the shit out of Sasuke and telling him to wake up. Or perhaps it was his seemingly incurable sickness. Or perhaps it was everything.

He looked up at the serene purple sky the darkness would soon embrace. His pace lost its energetic bounce and his shoulders slumped forward. His head bowed, the shadows veiling his face. A tingle ran down his spine. He could feel his bones cracking and shifting. His chest expanded to fill in the binds while simultaneously his pants became loose, though not loose enough to drop them.

Those who looked would see nothing out of ordinary, but merely a rustle of the distasteful thick orange and black jumpsuit which may have been the winds passing.

As soon as her transformation was complete, Uzumaki could feel the first drop of wetness. Naruto lifted her head up. “Mwahahahaha! Nothing can best this Uzumaki Naruto!” She was prepared this time. No more “accidental” injury like last time.

A/N: My second fic for Naruto. Hope you enjoy! Oh yeah…I haven't forgotten `bout my first fic…T-T