Konohagakure no Sato :
Konoha Hospital :
It was midnight. The moon hung in a slightly chilly sky, and roughly 90% of the village's population was already completely knocked out, dreaming peacefully. But inside the Konoha Hospital, the atmosphere was exactly the same as it was during the day.
Hospitals never really sleep.
Naruto sat alone on a hard bench on the third floor, his eyes glued to the glowing "In Use" sign above the operating room doors.
(...With Tsunade-nee, everything's gonna be fine.)
Despite that thought, and his absolute, unshakeable trust in Tsunade's medical skills, Naruto's highly calculated mind and normally steady heart were actually feeling a slide of genuine nervousness. Maybe he wouldn't have felt this way before, but tonight, after witnessing Yugao's actions firsthand, something fundamental had shifted inside his chest.
(....To think she was this determined.)
The second Jiraiya had infiltrated the compound and triggered Sadako, the Shadow Clones had already alerted Naruto .
But Naruto had purposefully held back. First, to figure out what Jiraiya actually wanted, and second, to test Yugao's threat response. It was a bit surprising that she hadn't recognized the Sannin, but it made sense. Jiraiya had a massive reputation, but without the internet or instant media, faces were highly guarded secrets. You might know his name, but recognizing his face in the dark? Very difficult.
But her failure to recognize him wasn't the issue. Naruto stared at the heavy OR doors again. With his own advanced medical expertise, he could have easily scrubbed in and participated in the surgery, but Tsunade had flatly declined. So, here he sat.
Zoning out in the sterile hallway, Naruto replayed Yugao's final actions on a loop. With his heightened Hound senses and the Eternal Forge, he had heard every single word of her exchange with Jiraiya.
At first, when she was captured, Naruto had fully intended to jump in and maybe even throw hands with the Sannin. But when Jiraiya started asking for the name of the house's owner, Naruto hit the brakes.
He waited to see how Yugao would respond, just like any normal tactical commander or Human would do considering that things will be safe in that situation.
And the result?
(.....Just like Kakashi..... she was ready to die.)
But then, a sharper, heavier realization pierced right through that thought.
(...NO...!! She was ready to die for ME... when she could have easily just said a few words and lived.)
Naruto bit his lip, his brows furrowing deeply. It was supposed to be a simple, standard stress test for her loyalty. She had passed with flying colors—an absolute confirmation that she was a highly secure asset who could be fully trusted and utilized. Tactically speaking, it was something worth celebrating.
(Then... why don't I feel good about it, though?)
The hollow feeling in his gut wasn't because Yugao was physically outmatched or weak . It was something entirely different. Those final, desperate actions, and the words she spat out when she thought she was taking her last breath..... they touched a nerve that no one else ever had.
(...She wasn't giving her life for the "Jinchuriki," or the "Village's asset" or because it was her "duty" as an asset.... She was doing it solely for Uzumaki Naruto.)
Unable to sit still, Naruto stood up and started pacing the hospital corridor, wrestling with a totally alien emotion.
Treated as the Demon Fox since birth, brushed off by the villagers, molded into a tool for the shinobi forces, and valued only as an absolute weapon and village asset... Naruto fully understood his worth on paper. But what he saw tonight completely broke that mold.
This wasn't a shinobi dying for the Will of Fire. And it was completely different from Kakashi. Naruto knew all about Kakashi's traumatic circumstances and the heavy demons haunting his so-called "teacher's" heart. Because Kakashi's protective resolve extended broadly to Sasuke, Sakura, and basically all his "comrades," Naruto had never given it this much weight.
(...Is this what loyalty actually means?)
An exclusive, singular loyalty to him. Not to his title, not to his power, but purely to Uzumaki Naruto—historically the most unwanted kid in the entire village. Sure, things had started changing recently, but only because he had grinded for it. He had worked incredibly hard to earn the respect of his peers.
But Yugao's loyalty?
(Just what did I do to deserve to have this kind of loyalty...... or obsession?)
Remembering the raw emotion in the kunoichi's final roar before she was knocked out, Naruto felt something strange.
He felt SEEN.
Like someone had finally looked past all the layers and truly connected with him. It was a wildly disorienting feeling for someone who had been violently ostracized for the first ten years of his life , since his birth .
Honestly, if it wasn't for the grounding memories of his previous life, he might have completely lost his grip.
Regardless, pacing the halls, he felt deeply uncomfortable. He understood the tactical logic behind Kakashi's protection, Hinata's admiration, and even Ino's friendship. He knew they might put their lives on the line for him.
But actively witnessing someone gladly impale themselves just to keep his secrets safe? It hit different. Especially knowing he hadn't done a single thing to actually earn that level of devotion from her.
Eventually, Naruto's pacing slowed as his sensory net picked up a highly familiar chakra signature just a few rooms down.
(...Of course he would be here, I almost forgot.)
The chakra wasn't sluggish and dormant like a typical sleeping patient; it was restless and circulating. Deciding he needed a distraction, Naruto walked over. He knocked twice and casually let himself in without waiting for an answer.
Sitting up on the bed, staring blankly out the window, was Uchiha Sasuke.
Hearing the door click, Sasuke snapped his head around. Seeing Naruto casually strolling in this late at night completely threw him off.
".....What are you doing here at this time?" Sasuke asked, narrowing his eyes.
Naruto sighed, letting one of his mental partitions continue crunching the Yugao situation while he focused his main attention on his teammate. He dragged a chair over, sat down beside the bed, and mirrored Sasuke's gaze out the window.
"...Attacked," Naruto answered bluntly.
Sasuke's eyes immediately widened. He went completely still before asking quietly, ".....Was it the same person?"
Naruto instantly understood the thought process. Sasuke thought Orochimaru had come back for round two.
"...Nah, different," Naruto clarified.
Sasuke gave a short nod. His dark eyes quickly scanned Naruto up and down, searching for any signs of damage. Finding absolutely zero injuries, he asked, "You dealt with them?"
"...Nah, my guard fought with him."
Sasuke's tactical mind immediately started spinning. There were two major pieces of intel in that sentence: first, the fight was between the intruder and the guard, not Naruto; second, Naruto used "him"—meaning the intruder was a lone male.
"...Then why are you in the hospital?" Sasuke pressed.
"...My guard got injured...so I took her to the hospital."
"..What about the intruder?"
"Just a scratch... and now, no idea," Naruto replied, his voice maddeningly casual.
".....What do you mean, a scratch?" Sasuke demanded, clearly frustrated by the lack of detail.
"When I fled with my guard, he was just scratched, I guess," Naruto replied offhandedly, still staring at the moon.
Yes. Just a scratch.
That was exactly what Naruto's kinetic vision had processed during the clash. While Yugao fully believed she had dealt a crippling, mutually assured destruction blow to the Sannin, Naruto saw the cold, biological reality of the physics involved.
Yugao had driven the blade entirely through her own chest cavity, bleeding off a massive amount of energy & resolve in the process. By the time the steel crossed the physical distance between them and met Jiraiya, its momentum was severely compromised.
Factoring in the dense fabric of the Sannin's clothes, whatever light armor he wore underneath, and Jiraiya's own micro-second muscle contraction to physically recoil from the strike, the blade had barely penetrated a finger's depth into his abdomen. It was a superficial flesh wound at best.
(...He even defended against the Rasengan, too.)
In the broader ninja world, reacting to the instantaneous spatial displacement of the Flying Thunder God—especially when paired with the grinding, point-blank kinetic force of a Rasengan—was practically impossible. But what Naruto witnessed was textbook Sannin-level reflex.
Jiraiya's hair was already hyper-saturated with chakra from his previous ninjutsu state. The absolute microsecond Naruto teleported into his blind spot, those hardened follicles automatically tracked the threat and shifted, creating a dense, steel-like physical barrier between Jiraiya's ribs and the lethal rotation of the Rasengan.
(...Well, I wasn't going all out anyway.)
It was true. If he had genuinely wanted to blow a hole through the man, he wouldn't have aimed for the heavily guarded side profile.
But All things considered, Jiraiya handled the ambush incredibly well.
After successfully connecting the Rasengan and using the resulting shockwave to safely retrieve Yugao's limp body, Naruto hadn't wasted a single millisecond. He simply teleported directly into the Konoha Hospital, heading straight for Tsunade's office, knowing full well she'd be pulling a late-night shift to handle the influx of injured Genin from the exams.
After that, things moved in a blur. Tsunade immediately whisked Yugao away for emergency treatment and standard trauma protocols. When she rapidly questioned what had happened, Naruto simply replied with a blunt "attacked," offering zero details. Yugao's critical condition took absolute priority over debriefings.
Naruto's heavy thoughts were suddenly cut short by Sasuke's voice.
"You fled??"
Hearing the utter disbelief in that tone, Naruto turned to look at Sasuke. The Uchiha was staring back at him as if he had just grown a second head. Seeing the absurd look in his teammate's eyes, Naruto paused for a moment before answering completely seriously.
"Even though it was a different person, he was just as strong. The man gave off the exact same oppressive feeling as that Sannin, Orochimaru..... An absolute S-rank threat."
"Did you not even fight him and just... run?!" Sasuke demanded.
"...I only exchanged a single move. And that was just to rip my guard out of his hands... After that, I ran."
"......."
"we are inside our own village after all , there was really no reason to take any risks....So I ran "
"...And that man didn't chase after you?"
"..Yeah..!!" Naruto replied easily, completely omitting any mention of the Flying Thunder God.
Sasuke fell dead silent. The words hit him significantly harder than expected. To Sasuke, Naruto was his absolute rival—a towering wall that he was determined to surpass. Hearing the person he considered his benchmark casually admit that he tucked his tail and ran away without a fight, like some scaredy-cat, delivered a heavy mental blow that Sasuke was totally unaccustomed to.
(Running???... Without even putting up a fight... Is this really okay?!)
Naruto studied Sasuke's profile. After thinking it over and remembering the raven-haired boy's obsession with strength and his last words , he quickly understood the cause of Sasuke's mental crisis . But Naruto had absolutely no intention of explaining his tactical mindset unless explicitly asked.
Yes, he ran. It was something no classic, hot-blooded "protagonist" should ever do, but he did it anyway, and he'd do it again in a heartbeat. Not just to plant the narrative of his vulnerability with the village higher-ups, but for his own sake.
After all, if he didn't prioritize his own life, who else would?
*Creak*
Suddenly, the hospital room door swung open. Both Naruto and Sasuke snapped their attention to the doorway to see a massive man standing there.
Sasuke immediately narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"
But the answer didn't come from the man. It came from Naruto.
"The attacker."
Hearing that, Sasuke instantly vaulted off the bed, shifting into a lethal combat stance. But before he could even form a hand seal, Naruto grabbed him by the collar, forcefully hauling Sasuke backward toward the window.
Both boys stared at Jiraiya with high vigilance. Even though Naruto already knew the full context of the situation, he still needed to play the part perfectly to ensure no red flags were raised.
Seeing the kids' hyper-aggressive reactions, Jiraiya threw both his hands high above his head to show he wasn't a threat.
"Wait, wait! It's a massive misunderstanding! I am not an enemy!" Jiraiya tried to explain hastily.
But neither Naruto nor Sasuke relaxed their postures. Seeing their completely unfazed, hostile glares, Jiraiya dropped his shoulders in defeat and called over his shoulder for backup.
"I am really a Konoha shinobi, you know! Tell them, Tsunade!"
Hearing Tsunade's name, both boys shifted their gaze as the slug princess stepped into the room right beside Jiraiya. She looked at the two tense Genin, shook her head, and let out an exasperated sigh.
".....Well, this idiot is indeed a Konoha shinobi... Technically, he's my teammate, just as the two of you are."
Hearing that, both Naruto and Sasuke looked bewildered.
Sasuke spoke first, his tone sharp. "But didn't he attack Naruto and injured his guard?"
While Sasuke didn't know the deeply classified Jinchuriki secret, he still knew that Naruto—or at least their team as a whole—was highly valued, given the ANBU guard detail, especially after the incidents in Wave and with Orochimaru.
Hearing Sasuke's accusation, Jiraiya practically jumped to clear his name.
"I'm telling you, it was a total misunderstanding! I didn't injure her! That girl pegged me as a hostile enemy and literally drove her own sword through her chest just to get to me! It was never my intention to hurt anyone!"
Hearing Jiraiya's frantic defense, Sasuke glanced sideways at Naruto.
Naruto simply gave a short, confirming nod.
Seeing Naruto validate the story, both Jiraiya and Tsunade let out massive sighs of relief, glad the blonde kid was taking things so calmly.
(Well, considering Naruto's intervention at the time, he probably saw the whole thing happen anyway,) Tsunade thought.
Jiraiya smiled, visibly relaxing. "Thank G—"
"How is Yugao, Tsunade-nee?"
Naruto sliced right through Jiraiya's words mid-sentence, completely ignoring the Sannin to direct his question exclusively to Tsunade.
(As expected... ..He hasn't let go of Jiraiya's mess at all,) Tsunade thought, instantly picking up on the freezing temperature of Naruto's tone. She softened her expression and answered.
"Well, with me on the case, she will be perfectly fine in no time."
"No time?"
"She'll be back on her feet in three days. After all..... unlike someone, she had enough brain to not cut any ribs when she ran herself through."
"Is that so."
Naruto nodded, absorbing the medical reality. It seemed Yugao still retained a level of tactical self-control, ensuring she bypassed her own ribcage to maximize the blade's lethality even in a suicide strike.
Naruto gave Sasuke a brief nod, then turned back to Tsunade. "Can I see her?"
"...Well, sure, but she is heavily sedated and unconscious, you know," Tsunade warned.
"It's okay," Naruto replied smoothly.
"Naruto, you're injured yourself. You can go home and rest. With me here, everything is going to be fine."
"........Nah. I will stay by Yugao-nee's side."
Naruto stepped away from the window and headed straight for the door, deliberately treating Jiraiya as if he were nothing more than empty air.
Seeing the boy about to leave, Jiraiya hurriedly spoke up , just like Tsunade he also understood that the so-called 'misunderstanding' was far from over .
"Listen, I am really sorry about what happened tonight. But as I said, it was a huge misunderstanding. Harming a comrade from our own village was never my intent—"
"It's not me you should be apologizing to, Senior."
"...."
Naruto didn't even pause. He completely ignored Jiraiya's presence, stepping out into the hallway and leaving Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Sasuke standing in the stifling silence of the room.
Seeing the heavy atmosphere, Tsunade sighed and turned to follow Naruto, leaving Jiraiya entirely alone with the Uchiha.
(...It seems like a very troublesome misunderstanding has occurred.)
Jiraiya stood there, acutely aware of how badly he had just messed up or the situation that became a mess without most of his fauly .
He realized the hard way that just because you explain a misunderstanding, apologize, and have Tsunade vouch for you, it doesn't actually fix the damage you caused.
(Maybe I'm pushing this too fast... I'll just wait and talk to him after that Kunoichi fully recovers.)
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Author's notes :
Well , I finally got a direction to go with ,
as for misunderstanding , well it would be 'cleared'
As for summons or other things
well no spoiler though .
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