The Missing Hokage

Note: This is my attempt at the "Missing Hokage Challenge" offered by Perfect Lionheart. I've read a large number of the stories submitted for this challenge and have liked most of them, so now I'm going to attempt my own.

"Normal Speech"

'Normal Thought'

"Demon Speech"

'Demon Thought'

Jutsu

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other media.

Chapter 1: The Beginning at the End

(The Valley of the End)

"RASENGAN"

"CHIDORI"

Naruto and Sasuke rushed at each other, signature attacks blazing in each of their hands for a final strike, due to Sasuke's slightly taller size his attack landed first, spearing Naruto in his right shoulder, slightly piercing the boy's lung. The immense jolt of pain was enough to cause the blonde to lose the concentration he'd used to maintain his balance on the damaged terrain, and he fell forward. The Rasengan, formerly aimed for the Uchiha's forehead protector, slammed directly into the traitorous youth's stomach, sending him flying backward straight into a wall.

As Naruto stood there panting, every cell in his body screaming out in pain, he managed a foxy grin. "Beat you…teme." he smirked before promptly falling unconscious from pain and blood loss.

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Hatake Kakashi hopped through the tree surrounding the Valley of the End accompanied by his nin-dog Pakkun. As he approached the valley his eyes instantly locked on the prone form of his fallen student: Sasuke Uchiha. The boy, his prodigy and his pride, was lying on the ground unconscious. Kakashi quickly went over to check on his injured student, before sighing in relief. None of his prodigy's wounds were too severe, multiple small wounds, a couple bruised and broken bones, and some minor head trauma, but no threats of brain damage or permanent disablement. With any luck and some proper medical treatment his star student would be on his feet and training again in no time.

"Kakashi!" shouted Pakkun, who had rushed over to check on the injured Naruto. "Naruto's not in good condition, he's got a pierced lung and some other serious injuries. It looks like his healing ability just can't keep up with this level of damage. If we don't the kid to an emergency room he'll be dead in a few hours."

"Good." stated a cheery Kakashi, eye smiling at his faithful ninken.

"GOOD?" shouted out a shocked Pakkun. "Didn't you just hear me Kakashi? If we don't get him to a hospital soon your student will die!"

"Exactly." stated Kakashi still eye-smiling. Noting Pakkun's shocked expression he decided to explain while he lifted Sasuke off the ground. "Naruto's always been a failure of a ninja. Naruto's too loud and brash to ever accomplish anything of any importance, and he lacks the skills necessary to become anything higher than a Chuunin. Sasuke, on the other hand, is a prodigy, the last survivor of the great Uchiha clan. With his skills restoring the Uchiha clan and even becoming the first Uchiha Hokage are easily within his grasp. With Naruto's death Sasuke will gain the Mangekyou Sharingan, and thus grow even stronger. In death Naruto will be able to do much more for Konoha then he could ever do in life." finished the gray-haired Jounin.

"Kakashi that's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard! Besides if the blonde's such a failure how the hell he beat your precious prodigy here." growled out the diminutive canine.

"He probably caught poor Sasuke by surprise with some dirty demon trick." responded the one-eyed Jounin shrugging his shoulders, making sure not to injure his precious cargo. "Just another reason he should die. I refuse to let that demon gain any more strength." stated Kakashi quietly to himself, though Pakkun's sensitive ears caught it. With those final muttered the gray-haired copy ninja leapt back toward Konoha, leaving his summon and his abandoned student behind.

"That lying two-faced little bastard." growled out Pakkun. "He just used that half-assed excuse to justify letting the pup die due to his prejudice." The small ninken then turned to Naruto. "Rest easy pup, there's no way in hell I'm gonna let you die like this. You're too good a pup to let that happen." stated Pakkun somberly, remembering the encounters he'd had with the pup during the Chuunin exams and a few times thereafter on smaller missions. The kid was loyal to a fault, just like his own kind, and ninken would never let their own kind die.

With those final thoughts Pakkun rolled back his head and let loose a loud howl, a howl too loud for a dog as small as him to release naturally. Seconds later he and Naruto were surrounded by a large number of puffs of smoke. Surrounding the two was the remainder of Kakashi's Ninken Squad.

Before any questions could be asked Pakkun spoke up, "No time to explain boys, Naruto here's been severely injured and we have to get him back to Konoha before he croaks. I'll explain everything else on the way. Shiba, Urushi, help me get Naruto up on Bull's back. Everyone else, spread out and do a quick search to see if you can find something to help stop the kid from bleeding out." ordered the diminutive Ninken, with the rest of his squad quickly following their diminutive leader's orders.

It took the three members of the Ninken Squad only a few minutes to get the injured blonde onto Bull's back, and a few seconds later the remainder of the squad returned. One had brought an herb that if chewed and applied to a wound would instantly cause the blood in the surrounding area to clot, preventing further blood loss. Pakkun immediately got the Squad moving toward Konoha while remained atop Bull to apply the medical herb. After he was done, he began to tell the members of his squad exactly what Hatake had done, much to the numerous growls from the squad of Ninken.

The dog summons of the ninken contract were some of the most loyal summons one could find, and as a contract summons they required anyone who summoned them to share their strong sense of loyalty. To hear that their summoner had openly betrayed a fellow member of his pack, worse a pup under his own protection, was an affront to everything their clan stood for. Kakashi Hatake had just crossed a line, and now his summons were not happy about it.

Urushi, a slim dog with shaggy beige fur, white marking, and traditional Japanese angry eyes, which were now narrowed in rage, was the first to voice his opinion, "That rat! I swear once we get to Konoha I'm going to rip off the bastard's arms for this." he snarled out, revealing a set of very sharp teeth.

"You can have his arms, I intend to rip out his throat." growled out Shiba, a shaggy red-furred dog with a black crest and small eyes, not to mention a set of shark-like teeth. Urushi and Shiba were the primary combat dogs for the squad and as such were the most hot blooded.

"We should tell the boss about this as soon as possible. Hatake's crossed the final line." stated Bisuke, a dull yellow-furred dog with dark circles surrounding his eyes and the kanji for shinobi marking his forehead, in his usual dreary tone, though the other dogs noted a hint of disappointment in the usually calm dog's monotone.

"I'm with Bisuke, Hatake's been on thin ice with the boss since he got his friend Obito killed, this news will really set her off." stated Ūhei, a lean dog with short red and white fur, narrow eyes, and bandages wrapped around his head and shoulders.

"You're right." stated Pakkun somberly. "Bisuke, Ūhei, I want you two to go and report to the boss about this. Tell her Hatake's finally gone too far on this one. We may have given him a second chance since his father was probably the greatest summoner we've ever had, but what he did to the pup is unforgivable."

"What do you suggest for his punishment Pakkun-san?" questioned Guruko, a small yellow dog with white markings and a pair pronounced fangs on the edge of his mouth.

"Complete banishment from our contract and those of any of our allies." growled out Pakkun.

This shocked a number of the ninken. Complete banishment meant that not only would the person banished be unable to use their contract, or any of the other clans that the ninken had allied with over the years, but any of their descendents would be automatically refused the right to summon as well. Not only that, but any summoner who had done something so degusting or insulting to his summons to earn this level of punishment would likely find it nearly impossible to convince even an unallied summons clan to allow him the right. Basically it meant that the person's entire line would lose the ability to properly sign summoning contracts. It was the most severe punishment the summons could pass on a summoner, reserved for only those who betrayed their summons on the highest level.

"Are you sure about that Pakkun-san?" stated Akino, another yellow-furred dog who wore a pair of sunglasses and a scarf around his neck. "The Hatake clan has held our kind's summoning contract for generations. If any Hatake is forbidden from signing our scroll again, we'll need to find a new summoner, unless we want to risk leaving the summoning scroll out for Hatake to find and destroy in an attempt for revenge."

"I know its extreme, but what Hatake did to the pup violated the very basis of our clan's laws, that merits the most severe punishment we have. As for a new summoner, I already have a good idea on someone who'd fit our needs perfectly." stated Pakkun with a soft chuckle, as he looked backwards at the unconscious blonde riding behind him.

"The fox child?" asked Bisuke calmly, no insult meant, merely a question.

"Yup." stated the small pug. "I've only met the kid a few times, but each and every time I have, he's been willing to risk his life to defend his home and his friends. That's the kind of loyalty that our kind requires of a summoner."

Bisuke and Ūhei both nodded their heads, if their leader was willing to vouch for the pup then that's all the assurance they needed.

"We'll give the boss your message and suggestions." stated Ūhei, before both he and Bisuke disappeared in twin puffs of smokes.

'I hope I'm right about you pup,' thought Pakkun, 'or my tails gonna be in some severe fire.' the small ninken then let out a soft sigh before ordering his team to move double time.

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(Konoha Gates – A short time later)

Standing at the gates of her village, Tsunade Senju was worried. Most of the Sasuke Recovery Team had made it back already and all of them were injured in some way or another. She had just finished operating on Chouji, who was suffering extreme chakra exhaustion and internal damage after using the Akimichi 'Three Colored Food Pills.' The boy had been in a rough spot but luckily she was able to stabilize him. Now all the boy would need was a little rest and he'd be fine. Neji had suffered a number of piercing wounds throughout his body, but the boy should recover in time. Kiba and Akamaru had also suffered a large number of physical injuries, mostly severe cuts and a few broken bones plus, and were also suffering from chakra exhaustion, but they'd both full through after some recovery time. Shikamaru had suffered the least amount of injuries of the group, whether this was due to his tactical expertise or just sheer dumb luck she couldn't tell. The only problems with him were a slight case of chakra exhaustion, a broken finger, and a number of minor cuts and bruises. Finally, Rock Lee was suffering from several injuries from his fight with the bone-wielding Kaguya, not to mention a severe hangover, but he'd be fine with a little rest. Now the only remaining member missing was the person she'd come to view as a younger brother, or even as a son at times. Naruto Uzumaki.

Surrounding her were several others. Standing by her side, as always, was her assistant Shizune, who seemed just as worried about the young blonde as she did. Tsunade knew that the younger woman cared for Naruto, though the exact nature of those feelings was unknown to her, but she guessed it was close to a sibling relationship.

Nearby the three Sand Siblings also stood waiting for the blonde's return. Temari and Kankuro both seemed mildly nervous, but Gaara was the alarming. While the young red-heads face remained as stoically calm as ever, anyone with any experience reading people, which thanks to her years of experience gambling, despite her loses, Tsunade had in spades, could tell how nervous the young man was. It wasn't all that surprising really, considering all that Naruto had done for the younger Jinchuuriki. Naruto had been the one to save the formerly psychotic red-head from his lonely existence by beating some sense into his head, both literally and metaphorically. Now Gaara considered Naruto both his personal savior and his closest friend; it was only natural for the red-head to worry for his safety.

Standing nearby was Hinata Hyuuga, a young kunoichi who Tsunade knew had a monster crush on Naruto. She'd seen herself on multiple occasions how the shy, soft-spoken Hyuuga would get all nervous and twitchy whenever her little brother was around, even fainting dead straight if he got too close to her. The young Hyuuga had seemed to have some serious self-esteem and confidence issues that needed to be worked out, but she had a lot of promise. Personally, Tsunade liked the girl and thought she and Naruto would be good for each other. The blonde's endless confidence and warm nature would help build the Hyuuga girl's own confidence, while the soft-spoken Hyuuga might actually be able to calm the overly energetic blonde. She was certainly a better option than Naruto's current crush.

Speaking of that annoyance, Sakura Haruno was also among the group waiting for the blonde's return. However unlike the rest of the group that was waiting for the blonde, she seemed more interested in her traitorous teammate than the loyal one who'd set out to retrieve him. She had once considered the girl a possible applicant for apprenticeship under her, but that thought had been thrown out the window a long time ago. The girl was arrogant, pushy, and had an overly-inflated opinion of herself, not to mention her nearly complete lack of skills, besides nearly perfect chakra control. Still that facet had made her an appealing applicant, considering the control requirements necessary for medical jutsu, not to mention her own supper-strength techniques, but since this entire debacle started and the girl kept ranting on about how 'Naruto-baka' had better not hurt 'her Sasuke-kun' the elder blonde's opinion of the pink-haired girl kept falling lower and lower. The girl had practically begged Naruto to bring Sasuke back, and now she was ranting insults about the blonde. The only thing keeping the Slug Sannin from turning the pinkette into paste was her overriding worry for her little brother.

Suddenly a figure appeared in front of the group. Standing tall in front of them was Kakashi Hatake, and resting on his back was no other than Sasuke Uchiha. The masked ninja quickly spoke to the blonde Hokage, "Hokage-sama, I've brought back Sasuke, but I'm unsure about his current condition. I need you to take a look." lied the one-eyed Nin. He was quite certain about his student's condition, but needed a moment to catch his breath and prepare himself for the questions that would soon follow covering the demon brat.

Tsunade nodded her head and did a quick diagnostic jutsu to examine the Uchiha's injuries. Nodding her head upon completion she stated calmly, "The Uchiha's fine, other than a few broken bones and some other minor injuries. The concussion he's got on the back of his head is pretty bad, but he should wake up in a week or so." She then noted the Jounin's solitary form. "Kakashi," she breathed, her heart quivering at the possibilities, "where's Naruto?"

Kakashi hung his head in mock sorrow while doing his best to keep his voice and face a mask of empty emotions. "I'm sorry to say, Tsunade-sama, but sadly Naruto Uzumaki didn't survive this mission." he stated in a voice filled with false sadness and sorrow.

"No." whispered the blonde Sannin as she felt her heart break. Around her similar looks and voices filled the small crowd waiting for the blonde's return. Hinata and Shizune both looked close to breaking into tears, and Gaara and his siblings wore masks of pure shock and sorrow. The only one unconcerned was the pink-haired Haruno who was too busy crooning over her 'injured Sasuke-kun' to even notice.

"Sadly it's true." stated the apparently grieving Hatake, doing his best to hide the smirk beneath his mask. "I'm afraid that he took too many injuries in his attempt to bring Sasuke back unharmed. When I arrived Sasuke was already unconscious and Naruto was on death's door. I held him as his heart stopped, and he whispered his final wish to me. 'Take Sasuke home, and make sure he's safe and happy.' those were his last words to me. Naruto was truly a ninja who understood the true meaning of loyalty." finished Kakashi with a suppressed sob, while inwardly he was smirking quite with more than a bit of pride at his deception.

While kakashi was primarily a combat Nin, that didn't mean he lacked an ability to lie or deceive people. The story was perfect, just the right splash of details without being overly thought-out. Even the blonde's false dying wish sounded perfectly like the blonde's overly caring nature. This story not only kept Kakashi's hands clean, but it would make sure the overly sentimental Hokage wouldn't take any actions against Sasuke for the younger blonde's death. She wouldn't dare go against her beloved 'little brother's' dying wish if she could help it.

Kakashi's moment of smug superiority was shattered a second after it began when a new voice spoke up. "That's the second biggest load of crap I've heard you say today, Hatake." shouted out a grizzled voice from behind the shocked Jounin, who instantly recognized the voice. Turning around slowly, not sure whether he wanted to see what was behind him, the silver-haired Copy Nin's eyes widened at the sight behind him.

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Tsunade's world had shattered. Her baby brother was dead, again. She'd lost yet another precious person. The elder Senju was so lost in her own grief that she barely heard the remainder of Kakashi's story. Only when the third voice had cut, did she even bother to raise her head. Thinking it was some fool who'd dare mock her now dead brother's legacy she prepared to turn the speaker into mincemeat, only to stop short at the sight she saw before her.

Standing in the center of the road was a massive ninken, one she recognized as belonging to Kakashi's own squad. Sitting atop the dog's massive head, was the undeniable speaker, a diminutive ninken she recognized as Pakkun. Surrounding the massive ninken was four of the remaining six members of his Ninken Squad. Finally, lying right behind the diminutive Pakkun and across Bull's massive back, unconscious but still breathing if the slow and sporadic rising and falling was any indicator, was one Naruto Uzumaki.

Forgetting everything else for the moment, she ran straight for her little brother. As she approached the small ninken still perched on the giant's head spoke up again, "Lady Tsunade, boy am I glad to see you. The pup's in bad shape." said the small dog worried eyes focusing on the younger blonde shinobi.

Tsunade went to work in an instant. With a little help from Shizune, who'd followed right after her, the two removed the injured Genin from his perch across the large dog's back and gently laid him flat across the ground. She did a quick diagnostic jutsu again and the results were grim: a pierced lung, several broken bones, and severe blunt force damage and electrical burns to several of his internal organs. A normal person would have died instantly from this collection of injuries, but Naruto was no normal person. Kyuubi's chakra seemed to be doing its best to heal the boy, but with the severity of his injuries, all the fox's chakra seemed to be capable of doing was to keep the blonde breathing, and even then it was barely able to do that.

Tsunade gritted her teeth. She'd just gotten her baby brother back from an apparent death and she'd be damned ten times over if she was going to lose him again. Barking out orders to Shizune, she got to work. Working in perfect tandem the two did everything they could to heal the blonde. Luckily, the fox seemed to be enhancing their efforts considerably. Not only did the fox do its own work in healing the blonde's injuries once it no longer needed to focus keeping him alive, but its chakra also seemed to enhance their own healing jutsu. Tsunade was still shocked at the regenerative abilities the fox seemed to grant Naruto. The blonde was at death's door mere minutes ago and now he was on the fast track to recovery. Normally it would have taken hours of work just to stabilize the blonde followed by months of recovery time, but now their work was done in less than half an hour and given the rate of healing combined with her own medical jutsu the blonde would be back at full strength in a few days.

Tsunade was soon shaken out of her contemplation by a chorus of growls and snarls and the pained scream of a one-eyed ninja.

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Kakashi Hatake was in shock. His own Ninken had betrayed him, bringing the blonde demon brat back to Konoha. Thoughts ran through his head. With this new development he was in considerable danger. His own story just a moment ago claimed that the blonde had died in his arms. Calming himself the Jounin quickly formulated a plan. He could easily claim that he was mistaken about the blonde's death, stating that he wasn't a full medic like Tsunade. Granted he'd probably be in a lot of trouble from Tsunade for nearly letting her brother die, but he'd survive it. Then all he'd have to do was kill the demon brat before he got a chance to recover and dispute his claim on the blonde's last words. All that would take would be a little effort and some good poison. The only problem was his traitorous ninken, Pakkun. If the dog told Tsunade what had happened his goose was cooked. He needed to get close enough to Pakkun to forcibly dispel the summons. Then he could re-summon the dog in an area where they could work this out. Worse case scenario, he'd simply cancel the contract with the Ninken, stating that he and Pakkun had a major disagreement about what had happened and the dog had gotten the contract cancelled before he could explain what had happened.

Plan set into his mind, the one-eyed Jounin started to move forward, only to be stopped halfway. As soon as he'd even approached the downed blonde with the small Nin-pug sitting by his side, the rest of his former squad launched into immediate action. The remaining Ninken launched themselves at their former master and each latched onto him and held him down while the silver-haired ninja screamed in pain. Shiba and Urushi, being two of the larger and stronger dogs of the pack, both latched onto an arm holding it down and to the side, preventing the Copy Nin from using a single a jutsu or attempting to dispel them. Guruko and Akino, being smaller and with a lot less power, latched onto the man's ankles, gripping tightly and jerking, causing the man to fall to his knees. Lastly, Bull appeared behind the downed shinobi and bit deeply into the man's right shoulder while putting his massive weight to good use and pinning down the already injured Hatake.

Turning around Pakkun growled at his former master before stating coldly, "Do you honestly think we're going to let you get anywhere this pup after what you tried to do to him Hatake?"

"Pakkun I…" started the silver-haired ninja before he cut off by a snarl from the diminutive ninken.

"Save it." snarled out the pug. "I've already sent Ūhei and Bisuke to inform the boss about exactly what you did to that pup, and I've already gave her my recommendation for your punishment. Complete banishment from not only our contract, but from all of our allies' as well."

Kakashi's visible eye widened in shock, he knew full well what complete banishment would mean. Neither he nor any of his kin would ever be able to summon again. "You can't do that!" shouted out the shocked ninja.

"I can and I did, and it's the least you deserve for betraying the pup like you did." growled out the enraged Ninken.

"Excuse me." stated the voice of the Fifth Hokage, who'd observed their entire discussion, seemingly forgotten by the two. Kakashi did NOT like the eerie calm that now filled the Sannin's voice; it did not speak well for his chances of survival. "Pakkun was it?" she asked smiling at the small ninken. Getting a nod from the small dog, she continued, "Given your reaction to his story, and the obvious proof of Naruto still being alive, when Kakashi told us…Now what was it. Oh yes, 'I felt his heart stop as I held him in my arms.' Was that it Kakashi?" she slowly turned calm and cold eyes to the now sweating form of Hatake Kakashi. Before the ninja could speak up in his own defense she returned her attention back to the small pug before her. "I can only assume that Kakashi's story was fabricated in some way. Would you mind telling me what really happened."

Pakkun nodded his head, and launched into his explanation. He told them, nearly word-for-word, exactly what happened in his conversation with Kakashi in the Valley of the End, including Kakashi's little statement at the end. Following closely by his and his squad's actions to get the blonde safely back to Konoha. At the end the pug asked if the young blonde would be alright. After getting a solid confirmation from the elder medic, he nodded to his squad and had them dispel, before telling the Hokage, that he may have some things to discuss with the blonde when he woke up and asked if she would mind sending one of her slugs to his clan's territory to alert them when the blonde regained consciousness. After getting an assurance that she'd do just that as soon as the Naruto regained consciousness she bid the pug a fond farewell. After the dog dispersed in a cloud of smoke she turned now baleful eyes onto the form of Kakashi Hatake, who was currently shaking in fear and looked ready to piss himself.

"So Hatake…any last words before I begin to turn your head into mush?" she asked with an evil smirk while cracking her knuckles.

Before the scared shitless ninja could even utter a squeak for mercy a high-pitched and shrilly voice made itself known. "Why should Kakashi-sensei be punished? Naruto-baka deserved to be left for dead after he tried to hurt Sasuke-kun." shrieked out the pink-haired form of Sakura Haruno. She was currently standing over the downed Naruto with her leg held, seemingly preparing to kick her now revived teammate in the head for daring to hurt 'her Sasuke-kun.'"

Tsunade's only thought was which would hit the pinkette first, her fist or Gaara's sand?

Surprisingly it was neither.

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Hinata Hyuuga was having a really emotional day. First her cousin had been admitted to the hospital nearly dead from numerous wounds inflicted while trying to bring back the traitorous Uchiha. She couldn't describe the fear or remorse in her stomach, she and her cousin had just started to get back to being close thanks to Naruto-kun. Then she'd felt unimaginable relief after finding out he'd recover. Then came new fear accompanied by a sense of dread and worry as she waited for Naruto-kun to return from trying to retrieve the traitor. Then came the heart-wrenching despair upon hearing that Naruto-kun had died from his sensei, but luckily those thoughts and feelings died in a moment after the ninken appeared carrying an injured but still breathing Naruto. Following the relief were flashes of the most extreme rage she'd ever felt as she listened to the tiny pug recount how Hatake had left Naruto-kun to die, for a half-assed excuse to help the Uchiha gain power. The sight of the pink-haired Haruno, the girl Naruto-kun always showed so much kindness and compassion to, the girl she'd kill to just be in her place, standing over the injured form of Naruto, ready to kick the injured boy for fulfilling his promise to her, did something that no one thought possible. It pissed the normally kind-hearted Hyuuga off, big time.

Hinata Hyuuga snapped.

Before the pink-haired fangirl could bring her kick to bear Hinata Hyuuga was in front of her. Hinata stood stark still in her Juken stance, her Byakugan flaring in rage, and a shocking amount of killer intent focused directly on the pinkette in front of her.

"Hinata-san, what the hell are you doing? Get out of my way." shouted the pinkette, either ignoring or not noticing the killing intent that flared around the pale-eyed girl.

"I should be asking the same question Haruno. Naruto just fulfilled his promise to you and now you're trying to hurt him even more."

"I asked Naruto-baka to bring Sasuke-kun back to me, not beat him up!" shrieked the fangirl. "The baka couldn't do a single thing right. This is the one time I ask that idiot to help and he goes and fouls it up. That little dobe is just…." her word were cut off by a palm strike directly to her stomach.

"How. Dare. You." each snarled word accompanied by another strike from the lavender Hyuuga. "Naruto-kun has always risked his life for you. Always helped you whenever he could, and you have the nerve to say something like that. You ungrateful BITCH!" with that final shouted insult Hinata sent the girl flying with a double palm directly to her oversized forehead. Before the girl could move to strike again a hand caught her shoulder. Turning she saw the grinning face of the Fifth Hokage staring down at her. Hinata gulped, realizing had she'd just done, she'd attacked another Konoha nin in front of the Hokage, that was ground for immediate and severe punishment.

Wasn't she surprised when the Hokage patted her on the shoulder and said happily, "Couldn't have said it any better myself." she said flashing the girl a warm grin.

Tsunade wasn't a woman who normally liked surprises, but the actions of one Hinata Hyuuga were certainly an exception to that rule. 'Maybe, I actually do have a good candidate for a second apprentice.' she thought happily remembering the scroll Kurenai had given her on the blue-haired Hyuuga, stating her near-perfect control. After giving the girl another pat on the shoulder, she called, "Shizune get Naruto-kun and Haruno-san to the hospital, I'll handle the Uchiha myself when I'm done with Hatake. Hinata-chan would you mind helping her with Naruto, I think she might need an extra hand? I also want to see you in my office in a few days about a special offer I may have for you." Hinata nodded her head while blushing deeply, and went over to help Shizune with Naruto, with the Sand Siblings following close behind to provide an escort. Once the two had left, Tsunade turned her attention back to the still cowering form of Kakashi Hatake.

Her evil grin returning to full force she stated sweetly, "Now where were we?" she asked while cracking her knuckles.

For many hours later the screams of pain of one Hatake Kakashi filled the streets of Konoha.

After beating the bastard Hatake to her heart's content, she picked up both his and the Uchiha's unconscious bodies and left off to the secure medical center where these two would recover until it was time for both of them to face sentencing for treason.

While she carried the two Tsunade couldn't help but smile. Her brother was going to be fine, and she had a good prospect for a second apprentice. All was right in the world.

(The Next Day)

"YOU WANT ME TO WHAT?" shrieked out the Slug Sannin turned Godaime Hokage.

End Chapter 1

Here's my take on the challenge, please tell me what you think.

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