Bad Things and Some Good Ones
Konoha Hospital.
It was a hectic night for many people. Medical ninjas worked for several hours to treat the genin who were found by Kakashi's ninken. Neji, in particular, was in a rather terrible state, and they had to perform a special treatment using his hair as a catalyst, in a sealing formation that required delicate chakra control to create missing flesh and muscle.
(This is from the series and still makes absolutely no sense to me since if it's a useful treatment, many of the other injuries would have been manageable just by cutting some hair.)
Choji wasn't entirely better, but the superiors knew he would be fine after getting through the worst part, and they paid more attention to the condition of two specific genin.
Kiba and Shikamaru.
The news that the only chunin promoted this year died so soon generated many rumors of bad luck, but since he fell chasing a traitor, he had a "honorable" death.
Shikaku wanted to send honor to hell; he wanted his son to live!
Kosuke spent half an hour consoling Shikaku for the loss of his heir, and anyone who saw the leader of the Nara clan would realize that he seemed to have aged a decade when he heard the news.
The man became an empty shell of his former self; even part of his black hair turned white and emitted a much colder aura.
Kosuke grimaced as he left the Nara clan complex after discussing the details of the burial, which was decided to be done jointly with the Yamanaka heiress found dead near the hospital, where they deduced Orochimaru's subordinates who took Sasuke acted against her.
Any possibility of the Uchiha boy returning to the village vanished the moment the heirs of two great clans lost their lives because of him.
No matter how he tried to explain himself later, the Nara clan and the Yamanaka clan would NEVER allow Sasuke to return to the village as if nothing had happened. The only way to lose his status as a renegade ninja would be when they saw his head in a red box.
Kosuke had a headache when he thought about the state in which the Nine-Tails jinchuriki returned and his determined attitude to do just that; wisely, he decided to keep silent about it and let Jiraiya, who had offered to train the boy after what happened, address the issue.
Frankly, he didn't like the idea of the jinchuriki leaving the village in his current state, but a Sannin should be a capable enough guardian to take care of him and train him. Although, once again, he didn't like the idea of the Sannin leaving either.
Two considerable powers leaving the village at once.
Naturally, he would demand periodic reports and wouldn't provide money as the Third Hokage did, as he wasn't willing to let the village pay for Jiraiya's vices as Sarutobi allowed these years.
Kosuke knew that Jiraiya had a considerable amount of properties and businesses in all territories generating substantial money, so he would have to start using his own savings to compensate for the period of absence as Naruto's godfather.
He wouldn't see a single ryo from him!
Now, his attention was on the Inuzuka clan boy.
When they found him, they noticed that he and his ninken had been treated by a third party. The boy had no training beyond first aid and wouldn't have been able to operate so accurately on his canine companion, much less with his injuries.
So when he woke up, those present (his sister Hana and his mother Tsume along with some Inuzuka ninken) informed him before starting to interrogate him about what happened.
And the answer raised even more confusion when they learned the identity of the third party and the reason for their help.
"I have no idea what he's talking about!" Tsume quickly denied the supposed favor given by the Seimeikage that saved her son's life, but she already had suspicions buzzing inside her head.
Don't let the wild and aggressive attitude fool you; there was a reason she became the Inuzuka matriarch, and it wasn't just because her husband ran away.
Was it the prick she and Kuromaro felt years ago?
From Enel's observed abilities, it could be the case.
If so, she considered it a good deal even if she didn't know for what purpose he wanted her blood. A few drops of it in exchange for saving her son's life and preventing her canine companion from being crippled were prices she was willing to pay again.
Kuromaro seemed to think about that too but kept silent.
At the end of the day, the Inuzuka clan came out on top, and that was what mattered. If they voiced their suspicions, the temporary Hokage might generate their own suspicions towards them, and they wouldn't have a way to defend themselves.
In any case, even though the Seimeikage said that the debt between them was settled, Tsume felt that the clan owed him, and she decided to remember it secretly for later.
Kosuke's thoughts, on the other hand, were focused on trying to isolate this information from Shikaku. In his emotionally sensitive state, he might try to rationalize that if Enel was around, he should have also been able to save Shikamaru by noticing him with his sensory abilities, and that line of thought would be very dangerous.
But hiding something from a Nara is usually, as their family motto goes, so troublesome...
Especially because he had no doubt that Shikaku would try to learn more about the events to extract any information about his son's killer or killers.
"Barely been Hokage for so many days, and things are already getting out of hand beyond my capacity," Kosuke didn't have Tobirama's sharp mind, and he didn't know how he managed to endure doing so many things simultaneously in the past when the village's administrative system was more inefficient and much more problematic.
He had to speed up the selection of the Fifth Hokage, the real one, and once achieved, forget about being the eternal genin; he would retire!
Fifty years is enough time for regrets.
Only... the situation with the disappearance of the Fire Daimyo was so synchronized that it seemed deliberately done to complicate things even more for him. Until his return or successor, the election process would find a much slower rhythm.
It wasn't impossible if he decided to take emergency measures, but then he would have to give explanations, and...
No, wait. It would be the Fifth Hokage who would have to do that when the time came, right?
Decided, since Kakashi is going to be left without a team to train, he might as well go up and sit in the Hokage's seat. He has the perfect reputation and background.
Sasuke left to be with a traitorous Sannin, Naruto will have his own training with a loyal Sannin, and Sakura... For the moment, he would assign her to Konoha Hospital since she seemed to have good chakra control and showed some interest in medical ninjutsu.
Tsunade's matter would be for the Fifth Hokage.
"Sir, we have good news!" an Anbu approached Kosuke panting. "The Hyuga heiress has appeared outside the village, she is tired but safe. The Hyuga clan has already gone to look for her, and we should be able to see her soon."
"Thank the Sage," Kosuke mentally shouted; not everything was negative, and there were still good things happening.
Little did he or anyone in Konoha know that Hinata returned to the village with a completely different look and a discreet seal on her body.
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